Basket and Stars

Chapter 26

Lucy smiled back. So it seemed Gajeel had at least told the two of them what she was planning to do. That was probably for the best too.

She didn't have to look around for long, before she found the old master sitting by the bar desk, enjoying a bottle of some kind of alcohol, dressed in his ridiculous 'joker' costume, with Cana sitting close, but with a barrel rather than a bottle.

She quickly made her way to him, hoping he still had yet to be drunk. "Excuse me, master." She called out to the old man.

The guild master looked up from his bottle and at the blonde in front of him. "Ah, yes. What is it, child?" He asked her, putting it down with a goofy smile.

"There's something I would like to tell everyone..." She trailed off, and looked out over the very much noisy guild. "If you would please." She said and gestured towards her friends and family.

Makarov stood up on the desk and cracked his back, before looking out at everyone with determination in his eyes. "BRATS! CALM DOWN!" He bellowed through the hall, easily overwhelming everything else and instantaneously silencing the whole building. "Lucy would like to say something." He said before plumbing down and giving the blonde the spotlight.

Lucy nervously rubbed the back of her hand, what with the entire guild's attention on her. "Thank you, master." She thanked him with a little smile. "So, uhm, there's something I'd like to tell you guys..." She started slowly. "And I should have told you earlier, but..." She trailed off.

"It doesn't matter, you're telling us in the end, right?" Mira asked, gently urging her to continue.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She agreed, her determination awakened with the barmaid's forgiveness. Although that didn't make it any easier so figure out where to start. "Do any of you believe in the existence of other worlds?" She started.

This question earned her a lot of confused frowns from her guild mates. "Lucy, you insanity's showing again!" Cana said, beginning to chuck down another barrel, while some began chuckling at the drunkard's word.

Lucy shook her head. "I do." She said, once again silencing everyone in the room. "Because every time I go to sleep or get knocked unconscious, I go there. To another world." She said.

"Child, what is it you're telling us?" Master asked her confusedly.

Lucy smiled. "It's hard to understand, I know, but it's... Well I guess you could say it's an ancient tradition for Celestial mages." She said, finally feeling a little comfortable standing in front of all these people, who she loved and cherished, listening to her intently. None of them seemed about to consider interrupting her. "Every night, when I fall asleep, or when I'm knocked out, I will go to this other world, Earth. It is a world without magic, but... More focused on technology I guess. It's a test the Spirit King put every Celestial mage through when they're around 17 to 20 years old." She told them.

"Why is this, if I may ask?" Freed inquired from the second floor, where the remainder of the Thunder Tribe sat, even though none of them were actually S-class.

Lucy turned to face the green haired mage. "Of course, Freed." She reassured him with a smile. "It's because at this point in time, every Celestial mage's magic goes through a 'transformation' of sorts, in which our magic reserves get very small and... Well..." She trailed off. "In this period of time we're weak." She said and didn't look at a single person in the crowded hall. "In most cases, we feel week. We can see how quickly our friends keep progressing and how slowly we do ourselves. But in the rare case someone does not actually think or feel like that, there will be people telling said person they are." She explained. Realizing she was about to go off topic, she quickly returned to what she was doing. "Anyway, that's the basis of the test, actually. The Spirit King shows us another world, in which we won't be the weak ones and where we'll be accepted by the people there..." She trailed off, trying to prepare herself for the last part.