The Firefly Effect | jerza

19:00

After a restless night, and a torturous morning math lecture, I manage to meet up with Jellal at Fairy Tail for lunch. I spot the blue-haired boy at the back of the shop, where he sits at a small table and picks at his half-eaten sandwich. Upon approaching him, I waste no time diving into the discussion.

"So you're saying this is a map?" I ask skeptically, holding up the silver button. "Don't lots of things need keys?" He reaches out and I drop the silver trinket onto his palm. 

"That's true, but a map is the most practical thing. At least for me," Jellal answers.

I shrug in response.

"First you find a random button in the woods...Then a girl tells you about a key..." Jellal whispers, examining the button. "The lines look a bit like a U-shape, don't you think?"

"This really is a game," I say sadly. "Lisanna's murderer must think this some sort of twisted game."

"Which means we'll do anything to win it," he replies, sticking the button into the breast pocket of his jacket for safekeeping. "Come on. Let's ask Professor Dreyar for some advice."

~ ~ ~

"It's my lunch break," the tiny, old man grumbles, hardly sparing us a glance. He appears to have been immersed in a journal called the Sorcerer Magazine. The cover, I realize much to my horror, displays a girl in an extremely revealing bikini.

"How old is Fiore University?"

Makarov snorts. "Don't you know the history?"

"Mavis Vermillion founded it. Her ghost haunts the school," I say, though it comes out as more of a question.

The man doesn't deny my words. "She was only eighteen years old when she founded Fiore University. She died ten years later." Makarov takes his time opening a package of sugar cookies. "This university is only two decades old."

"How did she die?" Jellal says quietly.

"No one knows." A few sprinkles tumble from the cookie wrapper. He glares at the crumbs with annoyance.

"We were wondering if there were...any maps of uni," Jellal manages to say at last.

The professor raises a bushy eyebrow. "Of course there are. I believe there's a map on one of those brochures they give to freshman."

I quickly take the lead. "No, no. What Jellal means to ask is if there are any old maps."

Makarov grumbles something about 'being too smart for your own good' under his breath. "Very well. Come with me. And remember the oath you swore when you signed those confidential packets. Yes, I'm talking to you, Scarlet."

"Me?"

"You cannot tell Lucy Heartfilia."

"But she's on the..." I sigh. "Okay."

Professor Dreyar shows us to a small, enclosed room near the teacher's lounge. Stacks of cardboard boxes line the south wall and when he pulls one of the boxes down (with some difficulty, due to his short stature) papers go flying.

"Lecture halls change every school year. It was Mavis' tradition to document every single detail. Not sure how this helps with the Lisanna case, but help yourself." Makarov ambles toward the door. "Oh, and nothing leaves this room, understood?"

We nod simultaneously.

~ ~ ~

"Ul, you look really exhausted. Did you pull an all-nighter again?" Meredy asks her roommate who is currently collapsed on their fluffy, neon green carpet.