Lucy POV:
We arrived to a tiny town and stood outside the only tavern. We walked in and were greeted by the innkeeper
"Welcome to the Hungry Traveller."
I chuckled at the irony of the name. How accurate!
" Are you looking for food, drink or a room" continued the innkeeper.
"We'll start with some food," said Sting,"And then..."
"Loads of food!" cried Wendy-cutting off Sting mid-sentence.
"And then," continued Sting with a pout on his face,"We might take you up on your offer of a room!"
The innkeeper ushered us to a table and as we sat down, I froze.
"Wait," I whispered.
"What was that?" asked the innkeeper.
"Wait a moment" I asked.
I turned to face the group.
"We have no money," I said
"What!?!" screamed Levy
"But Lucy-nee, I'm hungry" whimpered Wendy
"What will we do?" asked Sting "We can't go much longer without food!"
The innkeeper appeared again.
"No money, no food!," he said.
Just as we were about to give up and get out, a young girl(who I assumed was the innkeeper's daughter) run up to him and whispered something in his ear.
He stared at the wall.
Then, he burst into tears.
I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort him. Wendy hugged his waste and his daughter(with a sullen expression) went back to the kitchen.
"What happened, kind sir?" asked Levy.
"My home, " he cried.
He paused.
"I have a daughter," he said- he paused to blow his nose, "Her name is Akari. She is my whole world...But since before she was born she has been paying for my sins."
He burried his head deeper in my shoulder and I held him-seeing a father who cared for his family, a concept foreign to me until...
Flashback:
Lucy POV:
"Lucy!"
It was that melodic voice-which could only belong to one person, the only person who had ever managed to steal my ability to speak.
"Sting!" I called back.
Sting, my shred of bright hope in this dark sea of despair. The lifeline thrown to me from the heavens to get me out of my house in one piece, unbroken.
"I have a surprise for you!" he said.
Honestly, I would be more surprised if Sting came to meet me once without a surprise.
"What is it?" I asked,slightly intrigued.
"Well, I can't very well tell you now, can I?" he teased, " It won't be a surprise if you already knew."
"Alright!"I cried and against my better judgement I let Sting put a blindfold over my eyes and lead me to his surprise. How could I resist that grin?
It felt like we'd been walking for hours(though it probably had only been 5 minutes). Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air and we came to a halt.
"Are we there yet?" I asked
"Yes," he breathed down my neck.
He took off the blindfold and I saw the Magnolia Hills unfold before my eyes. Behind them, complementing the colourful spectrum of plants was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen.
"Where are we?" I asked-though I didn't really care. I was just happy to be with Sting. Away from home. Away from my duties. Away from the dreary life I am forced to lead in our small town.
Sting placed his hands on my shoulders and he turned me around.
Infront of me stood a regal mansion with vibrant gardens and a massive pond right in the middle.
"Sting, are we...?"
"Yes," he said, "My parents want to meet you!"
He knocked on the door and a well-dressed man around 45 years old opened the door. He took my coat and ushered me to the living room where an elegant woman about the same age as the man was waiting and nervously adjusting a vase.
The evening unfolded with Sting's parents asking me millions of questions about my life, my hopes, my dreams and paying attention to what I was saying. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I had parents. And I loved that feeling.
Back to now:
Lucy's POV:
"Miss, are you alright?", the man's voice snapped me out of my dream.
"Yes," I replied, "I'm sorry! Please tell us what happened, we might be able to help."
"Thank you!" he replied and he continued his story, "When I was a teenager, I left home and I joined a guild, Unbeknownst to me, that guild was one of those considered dark guilds. The guild I joined was Oracion Seis."
There were a few gasps but the man continued with his story, not even noticing.
"I lived with them and worked there until one day, I came back from a job to find that during my two year absence, there had been a revolution in the guild with a colleague of mine, called Brain having assumed controlled. Upon my return, I told Brain that I wished to remain at the guild and that my allegiance lay with him. He accepted me and I rested in my own bed that night feeling safe for the first time in many moons. The next morning, I woke up with 100 men from the Magnolian army awaiting me to arrest me. I tried to plead with them only to be informed that it was Brain who had turned me in. As I was dragged along the streets of our unforgiving city, I spotted Brain. I screamed profanities at him at the top of my lungs but he just calmly replied
'We only have room for the strongest.'
I knew not how he knew and I saw the confusion on the soldiers' faces. This afternoon, they discovered what he meant.
In the end of my 2 year mission. As I retrieved the ancient relic I was sent to find, I accidentally triggered a final trap which drained all of my magical power. I was in dire need of more magical energy for as you know, a mage's life energy is their magic.
I was given the life-saving treatment and then put in prison for ten years.
There I met the woman of my dreams and she became pregnant with Akari. Two weeks before Akari was due, we were released from the prison. We made this tavern and one week into bussiness, my love gave birth to Akari. I instantly fell in love as my whole world shifted to to orbit this beautiful baby. Unfortunately, Akari's mother didn't survive. I kept the tavern and I raised Akari here-filling the role of both her mother and her father.
When Akari was one month old, a letter arrived from the prison saying that I was now expected to pay for the life saving treatment that I received in prison. This year's installment is due tomorrow and I am unable to provide a single penny to pay.
When that happens, they are going to take the Hungry Traveller from me and then I will trully have nothing to leave Akari. all these years, she has stayed home to help me run this place. She hasn't even gone to school."
And the tears start again but he continues.
"As a last attempt, we managed to get a band in to provide some entertainment and earn us enough money tonight for me to be able to ask for a short extension for the installment. However the band just cancelled."
I helped the old man sit on a chair and I stood on the stage.
"This song is dedicated to families all across the world."
Author's Note:
I'm soooooo sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I have just been under a lot of pressure. I hope you can forgive me and that you enjoyed this extra-long chapter.