Remembering all over again

Chapter 2

As the lost, pained girl floats lifelessly beside her guardian, thanks to him using his levitation magic, the group of confused and conflicted teens followed behind them. Everyone was silent, waiting to reach their destination, or even a simple explanation for why their proposed dead guild member had spent her last 11 months here without knowing anything. The purple, blood like liquid dripping from the sister of a notorious ice Mage's nose, mouth, and now left eye, continued, as if her body was trying to repel something unholy.

Soon enough, the travellers were guided to a large amount of stone stairs, to which Wendy internally cried her heart out over how much exercise she'll have to put inti this project. At the top of this grand stairway was a large, blocky, dark blue, wooden, simple arch, what looked like gold rope holding the ends together. At many steps, to which Carla carried her tired owner up most, they came to a  small shrine temple, made of old wood and cloth, dark blue banners, a brink work path trailing their path to the antique building. The old man led Fairytail's strongest to the shrine with statues on either sides of them. Both statues were identical. A tall, ruling woman stood high with one arm raised in the air, stone balls that were chiselled to look like snowflakes fired out of it, magically flying above her head. She wore a long, stone kimono, which look like it was being blown by wind for it to part slightly, showing off her bare feet. The kimono as beyond beautiful, and certainly expensive, if it were real. Strands of cloth, almost of fringe design, flowed down the back. Her hair was let down, looking neat and tidy as it was blown back by the same wind that had pushed her kimono previously. Her face was a combination of pure elegance and of commanding nature, someone The Great Titania Erza would idolise if born in the same era.

All in all, they terrified the lot of them. They were large statues towering over the group of ant like humans compared to the goddess, who wouldn't be? And the silence that grew uncomfortably on them, wasn't helping.

Wendy cowered to Erza, shaking as her big sister held her close. Gray was stuck in his thoughts, wondering why the hell he wasn't speaking up about the current events. And Natsu was contemplating whether to fly up to he top of the statue with Happy to do something unspoken of to a shrine statue. Everyone was feeling different things, as diverse as all their personalities and traits.

After finally passing statues, a weight on Wendy's shoulders which she didn't need lifted, the door before them magically flew open to let light in on the dark room. They all stepped in. The room was almost completely empty and took up the entire width of what it looked like outside, maybe even more, except for a small podium at the other end. Beams creaked uneasily as they walked slowly, hesitant to be leaving their only escape root behind. Light shone through the paper windows in the highest levels of the room, even maybe some sky lights, but no one was paying that much attention to the architecture, rather the object that was enclosed from their sigh.

Lucy still float ominously beside them as the old man sat in front of the wooden casing, resting his hands on his knees. He cleared his throat, making the younglings straighten up to their elder, even if they had no clue what was going on. "So. Why aren't you freaking out?" Was the first sentence the old man asked. Of course they froze. They didn't know the answer. The circumstances were that strange for permission to do so, but the stress of not knowing anything was too much for them to lash out.

Erza was to speak up, being the oldest and first to adjust. "Firstly, who are you and what is this place?" She bowed before him, on one knees as she bowed her head respectfully.  "Ho ho ho. Don't be so formal Miss Scarlet." The old man chuckled, his voice boomed surprisingly around the empty room. "Y-You know who w-we are?" Wendy stuttered, losing the former confidence she had been building for the past year. "Why yes Miss Marvell. I've been watching over profit for many years. As you had come in contact with her, I had to do my research." He clicked his fingers, a tea set with eight tea cups appearing with it, the China tea pot with the same floral design as the cups began pouring itself. "Would you like any tea? You have travelled far, no?" He offered with one hand, holding his own as the others flew to it's costumer. Happy... well happily took the cup, instantly enjoying its sweet aroma. Carla sighed at the Tom Cat, taking the cup with care and lightly sipping, careful not to make a sound. The boys sat beside Erza as she sat down normally, but still with a straight back and proper etiquette, and took their own cups. "To answer your question, Miss Scarlet. I am Lord Yamanokami. Priest of the shrine and Lord of the mountain. But you can call me Lord Yama." The Lord chuckled once again, being much less formal than the tense red head. "You own the entire mountain?" Natsu gasped, jumping up and spilling the tea on himself. As he hopped around, 'oo'ing and 'ahh'ing as he tried to fan the boiling liquid off him, Erza sighed. "Yes Mr Dragneel." He showed them a closed eye smile through he aged face. "Yamanokami, that means Mountain God." Wendy commented, searching through her extensive knowledge she had collected over the 12 months away from her other, older sister. Not having the loud and happy girl around to make her play made her bury herself in books, the joy in which Lucy and Levy had showed her. "Correct Miss Marvell. Those days spent in the library did good on that young brain of yours." The old man now had a straight line smile as he watched the dragon slayer cry about the tea on his shirt. "I am, in fact, the mountain God of this land. Which is why the Goddess Elsa left the shrine in my hands." He turned his attention back to the group as Erza jerked Natsu by his arm, pulling him to sit down. "WHAT?" They all screamed at him, making him stick his finger in his eye after to make sure he hadn't gone deaf. "Yes. Of course, I do take new form every time I reincarnate, but I am a god. In fact, I've been teaching Lucy Earth God Slaying magic." He gestured to his student, for was still recovering from her attack not that long ago. "WHAT?" They all announced again, but a little quieter than before. "Yes. She had completely finished her training in Ice God magic when I found her on the side of the road at the bottom of the mountain." He explained. "We have another question." Gray stood up, trying to look as composed as he could, hoping he wasn't offending the ancient God in anyway, in fear of his rathe coming down on him. Which would certainly hurt a million more times than Erza's attacks... wouldn't it?

Lord Yama nodded, telling him to continue. "I-In what state..? How did you..?" He couldn't find the right words to use. How was he supposed to as the old man how his sister looked after Galuna Island? It certainly wasn't a normal question to ask a guardian, especially a God. "You which to know how much your sister was harmed when I found her?" The God asked, reading his mind word for word. "Yes sir." Gray looked back to him. "Right. Settle down children, its story time." Lord Yama chuckled as Wendy snuggled up to Erza with Carla in her arms, as if she were a teddy bear, and Happy sat in Natsu's lap. Gray getting comfortable himself.

It was for sure, this would be the best story Wendy would ever hear from all her time in the library, but was it going to have a happy ending?