Chapter Thirty-Eight

                                    

                                          
In my twisted and painful thoughts, I didn't know I could be sidetracked by surprise. However, when I saw Levy flinch and grip the edge of the coffee table with tremendous force, my mood shifted momentarily.
                          
"Lev?" I called, placing a hand on her shoulder while her body sat frozen. Her eyes were glossed over, and I knew her mind was stuck in a message.
                          
My mind jumped to Layla's face as I tried to think of what Levy could be reading. Was I already too late? 
                          
I became hasty. 
                          
"Levy?!" I called, my fear shooting through the roof at the idea of what Gray could have done.
                          
"Levy!" Jellal's voice suddenly rang, and I looked up to see him next to her, his face reflecting the fear in mine. I turned to see the hotel room door shut with a click, and was distracted momentarily at her brother's speed. I returned my focus, and Levy's eyes began to clear.
                          
"Lucy." She said.
                          
"I'm right here." I replied, and her face slowly turned to meet mine. When I saw the suspicion in her eyes, I knew she hadn't called for me... She was answering to our concerned expressions, "What did you read?" I asked, controlling the emotion in my voice, making it sound flat.
                          
Jellal's eyes shot up to mine, and then down to Levy's, and then back to mine again. He was confused, as he could feel the chaos, but all he could get from it was calm exteriors. Levy's face was blank as well, and I sat, waiting patiently for her answer.
                          
"... Nothing." She said, her voice remarkably calm and convincing, "It was just the mirror room again."
                          
I nodded, looking away with an expression of uninterest. They bought into it... But they were still wary.
                          
"Did you want lunch?" Levy asked, and I shook my head.
                          
"I'll grab something at the airport." I said, and she and Jellal nodded in unison. As I got up to head to the bathroom for a shower, it was as if I adopted Jellal's sensitivity to emotions. I could feel Levy's urgency to get me out of the room to be alone with him. She needed to tell him they were doing something wrong, that they would fail...
                          
The shower was hot and long, another failed attempt at mimicking Natsu's heat. I'd never feel it again.
                          
I concentrated on every little task. Ways I could get around them, get away from them, get far enough where they couldn't catch me, and leave as quickly as possible so I wouldn't run into them anywhere. The peaceful mood Jellal created helped me brainstorm.
                          
I was happy when we left for the airport by seven. The anxiety was beginning to build past Jellal's calming air, and it was getting harder to concentrate on what I needed to.
                          
"Levy?" I called from the backseat, noting how much she had been shooting glances at me during the ride.
                          
"Yes?" She answered, leery.
                          
"Tell me how the messages work again. Things change?" I inquired, and she sat up slightly.
                          
"Yes, things change," She said, sounding slightly hopeful, "Some are more certain than others... Like the weather... But people change their minds, in the most minute of ways... And then the entire future shifts." She explained.
                          
I nodded thoughtfully, "So, you couldn't read about Gray being in Clovertown until he chose to come."
                          
"Exactly." She said, her voice balancing on hope and pain.
                          
... And she couldn't see me in the mirror room with Gray... Until I decided to go.
                          
This is going to be impossible, I thought. There's no way I'm getting away from them.