The Lost Arcs -Fairy Tail AU-

Light on the picture

Kayra nodded against Eve's shoulder. She couldn't help the few tears that fell onto his shirt as Hibiki and Ren bent together in a whispered debate. Eve didn't bother trying to join in, only tilting his head so he could rest it against hers. "You're alright, Kay. Just don't cry" He whispered to her as he felt the wetness on his shoulder. 

"We should head back to the entryway" Hibiki's voice was softer than it had been before, his tone moving from panicked to understanding. "Come on" 

Eve dropped his arms from around her and smiled brightly as she looked up. "You heard the man, Kayra. Let's go"

Ren and Hibki walked out ahead of them with Kayra and Eve trailing behind him. She looked back into the dusty room, wondering just how the woman knew her, and the suggestion she'd made on her magic. She had felt something wrong with the room from the start, but she didn't remember the few steps she took that allowed the door to close behind her. That little bit of her memory was blank. 

Kayra was startled from her thoughts as she bumped into Eve for the second time. He had stopped and waited for her when she'd slowed down, a smile still spread across his face. He isn't worried at all...or if he is, he isn't showing it. She took a step back when she ran into him, moving her hand to grab onto his arm. 

"Kay" She was startled as Eve spoke, his hand tugging hers away from his arm. She was stunned for a moment, wondering if Eve had finally decided enough was enough. Her worries were ended when he wrapped the arm around her waist, tugging her close to him as they began walking again. "It'll be alright" His fingers tightened on her waist. "I won't let anything hurt you" 

She blushed as his lips met her temple for a split second. Eve had...kissed her? Up ahead, Ren and Hibiki were glancing over their shoulders, smiling at the two behind them. Hibki winked to her as he turned back around. 

"There you are!" They emerged into the wide entry hall, where the rest of the group was in waiting. Erza looked furious as she looked over the Blue Pegasus group. "Where were you! We've been waiting her forever!" 

"Kayra was trapped in a room with the woman from earlier. It took us a while to get the door open" Hibiki's voice was grave as he spoke, drawing everyone's eyes to him and then to her. 

"She was...trapped?" Erza blinked. 

"What happened?" Jura's eyes looked from Kayra to Eve. Expecting one of the two of them to talk. 

"We went down the hallway Erza pointed out, splitting with Hibiki and Ren where the hallway split to the left and right. When we were about halfway down the hallway I noticed Kayra wasn't in sight. I found her in a music room near the end of the hallway. She turned to walk out but the door slammed shut and seemed like it locked from the inside. Even magic couldn't open it." Eve said, looking directly a Jura. 

"And what happened inside the room?" Jura's gaze fell on Kayra. 

She thought back to the moment quickly, scanning the details in her mind. "It was the last room on my side. I opened the door, but noticed a light flash across one of the paintings in the back of the room. It was dark so I stepped in to get a better look. I heard Eve call my name and saw him in the doorway, but when I tried to leave the door shut. I tried getting it open from my side, but then a ball of light formed in the middle of the room and came after me. I attacked it when it got too close...but the first time it knocked my spell back and buried the card in a painting. Then it turned into that woman from earilier. I caught her in a shadow spell just before they got the door open, but she'd broken the spell and vanished" Kayra shook her head quickly. 

"The painting you saw the light in, where was it?" Hibiki asked her. 

"In the back corner, above the piano" She answered. Her eyes widened in sudden realization. "It was actually the same one that the card hit when it was thrown back" 

"I thought so" Hibiki nodded. "It's probably just a random observation, but that painting was of one of the girls in the one up there" He nodded toward the staircase. "A little girl with a purple dress and blonde hair."

Kayra looked away from Hibiki, her eyes falling on Delaney. The Fairy Tail wizard was standing next to Laxus, her arms crossed over her chest as he kept an arm around her shoulders. Delaney's eyes were flitting between Kayra and Eve; going from the way Eve was standing directly next to her to her own body slightly leaning against him as they stood together. A bright smile was sneaking its way onto her face as Kayra felt her own cheeks heat up. She remembered Delaney's exclimation when they were on the train and her arm had been bleeding. 

"Did anyone find any signs of where this woman was going?" Jura asked as they stood in a circle. 

"We found this picture" Kagura offered it to Jura with a grim face. "It could be dated with the guild that used to be here, but it wasn't dusty and it was laying on a broken desk. The wood looked like it had been splintered recently." 

Jura nodded, taking the photo. Kayra and Eve crept closer, looking over the wizard saint's arm at the same time the others crowded in. The picture was slightly faded, but it portrayed a high castle wall with a dark blue flag flying on the turret. The image on the flag was impossible to make out, but they could faintly see people moving along the top of the tower. 

"Strange" Lyon Vastia spoke first. 

"Strange indeed" Jura agreed.