In-Between

Chapter 45

"Thanks. Where did you find stones like these?"

"You don't really find them. You have to make them."

"What do you make them from?"

"Body parts of imps."

"Eww!" Wendy said dropping it. "Don't tell me you killed imps to make this."

"Of course not. I took their decayed skeletons and crushed up the bones to make it."

"That's gross."

"Perhaps but hey whatever works."

She looked at the stone in disgust. Though it made her sick to her stomach to think about what it was made from, she never could know if there would be a supernatural emergency while she was gone. So she picked it up and put it in her dress pocket.

"I'm going to go talk to my parents about going to stay with my uncle."

She left the flat. Once alone the three ghouls turned to look at Lucy's body which was still motionless.

"How long do you think she'll be like that?" Natsu said.

"Cana said it could take days." Gray said. "You know what I would like to know is why didn't she ever tell us that she worked at that club?"

"She was embarrassed to." Juvia said.

"You knew?"

"She told me but she made me promise not to tell anyone else. Apparently she was worried you two would think less of her."

"Why? It's not like she's a strip dancer not that I would think less of her if she was one."

"Oh you know how she is about men. She has a very low opinion of them and thinks they're all either stupid and perverted or judgemental and mean."

"Why does she think that?" Natsu said. "Where did that belief come from anyway?"

"I don't know. I don't think she even knows where it comes from. It's like an instinct or something."

"Maybe she was an amazon in life."

"Natsu the amazons weren't real." Gray said. "They were the stuff of myth and legend."

"Whatever. The point is this hatred toward men is really annoying."

"If you ask me it might have something to do with her flashback." Juvia suggested. "I'm not a psychiatrist but last night she looked like an abuse victim."

"You think she could've been abused when she was alive?"

"Possibly. But I don't know for sure."

"Should we talk to her about it when she wakes up?" Gray asked.

"We can try. But there's no guarantee that she'll tell us anything. She might not remember anything to tell us."

"I still can't believe how she acted back there. I mean she is violent but she had never tried to hurt anyone seriously. Last night though she was ready to take us all out."

"I'm just glad that Wendy didn't see any of that." Juvia said. "Being as young as she is she probably wouldn't understand that it wasn't Lucy's fault and the attack would have most likely made the poor thing scared to death of Lucy."

"Oh God that's right what if one of us goes crazy like that in front of the kid?" Natsu asked. "We'd probably traumatize her."

"Or worse." Gray said. "Actually hurt her."

"I don't wana even think about that." Juvia said. "Besides we can't hurt the living...Right?"

"Um..." Gray said. "Technically we can because we can touch them."

"Oh dear." 

"Maybe we should talk to Wendy about this. Explain to her what we're going through and make her understand."

"Do you think someone her age would? It might scare her if she doesn't understand."

"She is mature for a twelve year old and it'll probably be way more terrifying to her if it happens again and she doesn't know what it is."

"You have a point there. Alright we'll talk to her about it when she gets back from Edolas. However we have to handle this delicately and not go into too many gory details."

"Of course but we also have to be straightforward and blunt. Make sure that she gets the truth."

"In a gentle way."

"With calm reasoning."

"And emotional support."

"You guys sound like parents discussing how they're going to tell their kid about sex." Natsu joked.

"You know you're not really helping." Gray said.