A/N: This will be the first chapter to semi-circulate around a character other than Delaney. I thought you might enjoy getting a cute little peek at the crushing between Eve and Kayra. Hence this chapter!
-dedicated to borgianamae as a good luck on exams!-
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"Come on, Kay. Let's go check the rooms down that hallway!" Kayra followed along after Eve as he lead the way down a deserted hallway. Her fingers clutched onto his arm as she peeked into old, dusty rooms. Eve didn't seem to mind towing her along, but she wished she could be more like the others. Confident and smart and gorgeous. Delaney didn't feel the need to hold onto Laxus every second of the day and they were already a couple! Or that's what sorcery weekly had told her on the way to Magnolia.
"Are you coming?" Eve had stopped suddenly, looking back over his shoulder. The sudden lack of movement sent Kayra bumping into his back, her nose reaching the top of his shoulder.
"Oof" She stumbled back a little, looking embarassed.
Eve smiled brightly as she looked up at him, his hand moving to hold onto her arm. "Sorry about that. I forgot how close you were"
She cringed as he mentioned her clinging to his arm as if it was life support. How could she do this to him? He was a Trimen and potiential flirt who'd probably wanted to be paired up with one of the others. Lucy or Kaesha maybe. Not the girl he was stuck with everytime Master Bob made him tag along on one of her jobs.
She looked down suddenly, pulling her arm away and moving past him into the dusty hallway. Kayra was strong too! She knew she had to be for Master Bob to have sent her on this mission! He had to have seen some use for her magic along the way. There was no way he would send her just so she could hide behind Eve and the others for the entire time.
"Kay.." Eve was suddenly behind her, his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Fine" She walked away from him to the next room, carefully opening the door to an empty study. A piano sat in one corner, covered by the white sheets that seemed to layer on everything else in the room. Something was dangerously off. A glint of light caught off a picture frame in the back corner, drawing her eyes.
"Kayra? Which room did you go into?" She hadn't realized just how far she'd stepped into the room until Eve's voice called to her from the hallway. He appeared in the doorway, his face drawn up in concern. "Kay? What's going on?"
"I just wanted to-" She didn't finish as the door slammed shut in his face, leaving her in total darkness. "Eve? Eve!"
She scrambled to the door, finding and sliding her hands up and down, trying to find the doorknob. Her fingers met the edge of the door in its frame and traced the lines, trying to find the glass handle.
"Kayra! It's locked! I can't get it opened!" Eve called, the door shook as if he was pulling on it.
She froze as a blue light illuminated the door in front of her, casting her shadow over the wood. Eyes wide, she slowly turned toward the light, forcing herself to leave Eve pounding on the door from outside. The source of the light was a medium sized sphere levitating in the center of the room. It's light seemed to come from nowhere as it hovered, bouncing slightly up and down over a musical stand. It floated toward her, the light casting brighter across her face.
"Eve! Get me out of here please!" She turned, hands shakingly pulling against the handle as the light came closer. "Eve, please!" There were tears coming to her eyes.
"What's going on? Eve!" She heard more voices in the hallway as she turned. The light was nearly in her face now, giving her just enough room to duck under it and stumble to the other side of the room. She nearly fell as she did so, catching herself on the piano and causing an off-key peal to ring out across the room. The light had started in her direction again, moving just as slowly as it had before.
"Hibiki! Ren!" Eve sound half relieved as he spoke. "Kayra is stuck inside!"
The light was coming closer, it's reflection warping off the surface of paintings surrounding her. She had to do something before it got her. Something to buy time until they could open the door. She took a deep breath, coughing at the dust that filtered into her lungs. Her fingers fumbled until they found the card in her holder. She tugged it out, holding it up between her and the light. "Summoning Magic: Card Seal!" She threw the card away from her, hoping it would catch the light in the seal she'd opened on its surface.
The card did nothing, sticking to the surface before being thrown back at her. She ducked at the last second, wincing as the speed of the throw buried the card in a painting just behind her. Whatever this was, she couldn't beat it with normal magic. Needing to give herself time, she ducked away from it again, hurriedly moving to her position near the door once again.
'Kayra?! Can you hear us?" Hibiki called out this time, no doubt trying to use Archive to open the door by force. Wind was blowing out from underneath it, signalling Ren's presence as well.
"I'm fine!" She ignored the light in her explination, not wanting to worry them. "But hurry, please"
The light was again drifting lazily toward her, it's speed almost mocking her. She closed her eyes for a breif moment, hoping she could calm herself enough to think.
"There you are, my child" Her eyes jerked open as the voice came from the light. The surface of it rippled, opened, and then allowed the same woman from before to materialize in front of her. "Sweet lttle Kayra has come to see old Gaiza"
"Leave me alone" Kayra whispered as the woman adjusted the tunic she was wearing.
"Kayra? Who's in there with you?" This time it was Ren's vocie that spoke.
"So you have visitors, do you? Three knights coming to rescue the little princess before she gets herself lost" Gaiza cackled.
Pressing her back to the wall, she ripped another card from the holder, throwing it at the woman. "Summoning Magic: Shadow Prison!" The dark arms she expected erupted from the card, surrounding the woman in a cage of them.
"You're casting all wrong, my dear. Your magic is called Summoning Arc, not Summoning Magic." The woman crooned, her fingers reaching for Kayra through the arms of the shadows.
"Leave me alone!" She cringed against the wall, desperately hoping they'd open the door to her left soon and save her from whatever was going on.
"Kayra!" The door burst open, revealing the three members of the Trimens. Eve was first through the door.
"Eve" Kayra's voice was ragged but relieved as she pushed away from the wall, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Kay? Are you okay?" Eve wrapped his arms around her tightly as the others scanned the room, pushing into it and looking around.
"Why'd you throw this card?" Ren crouched to grab the card she'd thrown, the shadow spell having broken.
"How did-" Hibiki had paused next to the piano, noticing the card buried in the painting there. "What happened in here?"
"Kayra?" Eve smoothed her hair, his voice concerned.
She buried her face in his shoulder, trying to keep her tears from spilling over as she clenched her fingers in his shirt. "There was a ball of light. I tried to seal it but it threw my card back at me and it got stuck in the painting. Then that...that woman came out."
"Shhh" Eve shushed her. "It's alright, Kay."
"What woman?" Ren questioned. "The one from earlier?"
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.