Our Idiots

Chapter 25 // There Isn't Time

Chapter 25- There Isn't Time
Laxus's POV
"Uuehr," exclaimed Mira as her head jerked back and the fragile tea cup was slammed back down onto it's floral saucer. She fanned her tongue (which hung out of her mouth in a ridiculous manner) with her manicured hand, and shook her head like a dog with fleas.
"I bu'nt ma tongue," she mumbled, her words slurred due to the way the body part in question was still sticking out. I was unable to figure out wether she looked cute or plain stupid- probably the later.
After Jellal and Erza left, Mira had remembered that she was booked into some weird beauty thing, so I (having nothing better to do) tagged along to see what women called relaxation. Personally the thought of having my face painted with a thick brown mud and my toe and finger nails scrubbed and shaped was far from appealing, however I was a bit jealous of the back and shoulder massage that a young transgender masseur had provided.
Now we were sat in a slightly steamy room being served with herbal teas (when I asked for a strong coffee the waitress just looked at me in confusion) and miniature pastries, the soothing flute music that played in the background almost sending me to sleep.
"So, what do you think?" Mira asked, having recovered from her burnt tongue.
"Think of what?"
"Of this! All of it- the hotel, the ocean, the holiday..." she waved an arm around, gesturing to the window that was blurred with condensation.
"I don't know," I replied truthfully, shrugging with indifference. Mira sighed, and took another careful sip of her tea.
"That's just it, Laxus- that's exactly it. It feels as if we've been here an age but in reality it's only been a few days."
"No, we've been here at least a week haven't we?" I asked, confused. I wracked my brains for memories of dusk and dawn but found none.
"You see? We arrived only yesterday yet-"
Mira was cut of by the sound of the door crashing open, and automatically I sprung to my feet, sinking into a feral stance. My caution was misplaced- Levy and Juvia stood in the doorway, panting heavily, words tumbling from their mouths to create a mess of language that was impossible to dissect.
"Levy? Juvia? What's happened?" Mira asked, jumping to her feet and rushing to the two bluenettes. Juvia collapsed against the wall, gasping and clutching her side. I noticed that her feet were bare and scratched.
"Somethings happened, there isn't time to explain. Come on!" Levy panted, grabbing Mira's hand and tugging her from the room.
The waitress stared at the exchange with wide, confused eyes, but I couldn't spare a second to apologise for the ruckus.
I grabbed Juvia, swung her over my shoulder, and sprinted wordlessly from the room, but instead of wondering what lay ahead a single word of Levy's sentence remained caught in my head, playing mockingly on my mind.
Time.

Mira's POV
We finally stopped running, slowing to a walk as Levy led me down a pebbled path.
"It's just round this hedge," she explained, her speech still distorted with heavy breaths.
Laxus lowered the recovered Juvia to the ground and our little group slipped through a gap in the sculpted hedges into a little garden. Erza, Jellal, Lucy and Gray were all stood waiting, their arms folded anxiously across their chests.
"They're gone," Lucy explained, and my own anxiety grew further- who was gone? What was going on?
"Of course they are- Natsu was never going to wait," Levy sighed.
"I'm sorry but what the Zeref is happening?" asked Laxus, voicing my own thoughts. Gray quickly filled us in, leading me over to the open grave stone. The eight of us sat, staring down into the tunnel that was lit only by the single shaft of light let in by it's entrance.
"Why would someone take two cats?" I murmured, and Gray merely shrugged.
"I have no idea."
I looked at Laxus, then to Erza and Jellal, Lucy, Juvia and finally Levy.
"Fairy Tail never leaves it's comrades behind."
With that I leapt down into the rock, a fall of a metre or two, and by the time I landed I had switched to demon form. After I'd stepped out of the way the others followed, lowering themselves down as far as possible then dropping into the dank stone passage. Finally only Levy was left, and I reached up a hand to help her down. She hesitated, chewing her lip, and I suddenly noticed the missing member of our group.
"Gajeel... I have to go find him," she murmered and I nodded in understanding.
"We'll go on ahead then," I smiled, but Levy merely offered a wobbly grimace in return.
"Stay safe."
Then, she was gone, and we were faced by a sinister uncertainty lessened only by the need to help our friends.

A/N
I'm so sorry for how long it's taken me to update, I thought maybe it was time I told you the reason why I've not been updating over the past year (and also the inspiration for Autumn Skies, my new Miraxus fanfiction). Last year, in December, I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and anorexia. I don't want to go into detail, but last year I spiralled down, lost 20kg and got really sick. However, I'm now a lot better and am back at a healthy weight- I'm generally coping with depression and anxiety too, though I do still have my rough patches. When you guys ask me to update, I understand that you don't mean any harm but it makes me quite anxious, so instead could you maybe just comment to let me know you're enjoying the story? I'm sorry to complain when you've all been so amazingly supportive of my writing, and I know how frustrating it is when an author doesn't update, but I hope you can understand why I can't update as frequently as I like.
Thanks loves xx