Hello, again, minna! :D  Here is the next chapter, yaay~  I hope you all like it, haha! ^.^ ♥ I dedicate this chapter to pinkmage!  This person's awesome, so go fan her if you havent! :')  Thanks so much for the feedback you've always given me, too! ^^  It means a lot, haha~!  Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!  Finally, the riddle is solved and they can continue!  Feedback is very much appreciated, as always!  Until next time, everyone!!

яу-¢нαи, тнє иαℓυ ωяιтєя ☆

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"Master!"  Freed exclaimed, running over to Makarov who was sitting on one of the bar stools.

The guild was currently empty right now, since most of everyone had gone out on jobs.  The only ones that were there right now was Mirajane, Makarov, and Freed.  Freed had stayed behind simply because the master had asked him to, and help him do a little digging.

"What did you find out, Freed?"  Makarov asked, his voice rough.

"Master, it really is true.  The mages responsible for the robbery of the Disappearant Staff were the two mages, male and female, who attacked another monument in another city and stole the Casing of Magic!"

Makarov's eyes narrowed.  "I knew it..."

"What should we do, Master?"  Mira asked, looking worredly at him from across the bar.

Makarov was silent for a moment.  "Those arifacts are powerful weapons, and now that they were stolen...it can only mean something bad."

He looked back up at Freed.  "I want you to try and figure out pattern, and tell me if they are planning to grab something else."

"Understood."  Freed replied, nodding.

"Thank you, Freed."  Master Makarov replied.

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Lucy sighed, standing at the view again.  She'd had been there in the early hours in the morning, unable to fall back asleep.  Lucy had wanted to clear her head anyway, so she decided to come back here, since she like it a lot.

This was a good idea.  Lucy thought, smiling slightly.  I feel better; I'm ready to take on that message again!

Betting that everyone was probably looking for her, Lucy decided to head back.

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"There you are, Lucy."  Erza replied.  "Where in the world were you?"

"Just taking a walk."  Lucy replied, sitting down on the sofa as the team re-grouped - this time - in the lobby of Forward Arrow.  "I thought it'd be a good idea to try and clear my head."

"Alright!"  Natsu exclaimed.  "Let's do this!"

Lucy set the notebook onto the table, and everyone stared at it intently.

"Shrouded by many, located in the middle of attention.  Giving mystery and the solved tales, breaking despite the notoriety, find the image of past.  Find the answer, you find the clue.  To your next travel."  Lucy replied, repeating the entire thing over again.

"We need to think of something else..."  Erza murmured.

Giving mystery...and..solved tales..  Lucy thought, raking her mind for anything that matched this.

Natsu was staring stupidly at the paper.  "This is so annoying..."

There was at least a five minute silence, everyone trying their hardest to find some resemblance in the riddle with anything.

Suddenly, Gray sighed heavily.  "This is hopeless..."

" 'Breaking despite...the notoriety...' "  Lucy continued softly, a finger resting on the side of her cheek in thought.

"I don't know how we're going to do this!"  Happy muttered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't go giving up so easily!"  Carla scolded him.

"A-Aye..."  Happy replied, rubbing the back of his head.

The image of the view flashed through Lucy's mind, and her walking through the middle of Ibani.

Lucy gasped softly.

"Keep trying!"  Erza ordered, looking over at Gray and Natsu.

"That's it!"  Lucy exclaimed, slamming her hands onto the table.

Everyone looked shocked, but then they grinned with hope.  

"Do you know what it is, Lucy?"  Natsu exclaimed excitedly.

Lucy nodded vigorously.  "It was staring at me right in the face, too!"

She pointed to the first line.  "Where is says 'shrouded by many', it's completely surrounded, right?"  Lucy exclaimed, her excitement growing.  "Then, that means it's in the middle of the city!"

"But we already checked the middle of the city, Lucy!"  Wendy replied.

Lucy shook her head.  "This is meaning the very middle of the middle; the center!"  Her eyes gleamed.  "The building in the middle of the city is the famous museum!  And then, when it says 'located at the middle of attention', it's raised on some sort of platform or hill!"  Lucy stood fully up now, stretching her arms out in a pleading guesture.  "The museum is raised on a hill, as if in a spotlight; just like in the riddle!"

Lucy then pointed to the next line.  "And here, where it says 'giving mysteries and solving tales', it's talking about the artifacts inside the museum!  Artifacts that tell their stories of the past!"

"I get it!"  Gray exclaimed, grinning.

"And when it says 'breaking despite the notoriety'; notoriety means famous!  So, it really says it can't help but fall apart despite its famousness!"

"It's true!"  Erza replied, impressed and smiling as well.  "The museum is famous not only in this town, but across the continent."

Lucy nodded.  "Uhn!  Then 'find the image of past'...it means to find a painting inside the museum that'll resemble Ibani's past!"

"And that's where we'll find our next lead!"  Natsu exclaimed, jumping up.

He turned to Lucy.  "Way to go, Lucy!"

"Thanks!"  Lucy exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"You're so smart, Lucy!"  Wendy exclaimed, and everyone else stood up.

"If we go to the museum, find the picture that resembles Ibani hundreds of years ago, we can figure out where to go next!"  Gray exclaimed, pumped.

"Let's go!"  Natsu and Lucy exclaimed together.

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"Here we are!"  Lucy exclaimed, jittery from excitement.

"Alright, let's go!"  Natsu exclaimed, and everyone yelled in excited agreement.

Entering, everyone saw what the inside looked like.

Right in front of them was a grand staircase, which probably led to the two other floors.  To the left and right were hallways, which must've led to the other rooms where more artifacts and art products resided.  The walls were painted peach, the carpet a royal red along with the railing a chocolate brown.

Erza turned to look at the group.  "Alright, I'll instruct who will be paired to search for anything that resembles Ibani's past."  She scanned everyone.  "Lucy, Natsu, Happy; you two take the third floor."

"Aye!"  They shouted at the same time, but was shushed by one of the workers.

"Gray and Wendy, search this floor."  Erza continued.

"Right."  Gray replied, and Wendy nodded excitedly.

"I'll search the second floor."  Erza replied.  "If any of you cause any trouble, you will be punished.  So, be on your best behavior!"

They all nodded.

Lucy jogged off first, turning to look at Natsu.  "Let's go, Natsu!"

"Right!"  Natsu exclaimed, grinning as he chased after her, Happy following above his head.

"Ready, Wendy?"  Gray asked, and Wendy nodded.

"Absolutely."  Wendy replied, looking determined.

Erza smiled in amusement, turning around to take the stairs to the second floor.

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"Master, you won't believe this!"  Freed exclaimed, rushing through the doors to the guild.

Makarov turned, looking at Freed in surprise.  "Did something more happen, Freed?"

Freed nodded once with strain, his face stressed.  "Yes.  The two theives have stolen something else!"

Makarov's eyes widened.  "Already...?!"

The Rune Mage nodded again.  "They attacked a museum this time.  They took a sword called the Vertaleire, leaving nothing but a trace of their doing!"

"This isn't good..."  Master murmured, looking at the ground in thought.  "Why are they taking sacred items?  Are they preparing for battle?  And if so, what battle?"

"And that's not all, Master..."  Freed murmured, stressed.

"There's more?!"  Makarov exclaimed softly, his gaze scrutinizing as he turned back to Freed abruptly.

Freed nodded, his eyes shaking in the shock that still hadn't left him.  "I was able to dig into these two individuals more, and I found out that..."

"Found out what?"

Freed gulped.  "That they are somehow tied with Rogue!"

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"You see anything, Wendy?"  Gray called over to her, looking into the glass containers of magic fire and old magic weapons.

Wendy was reading the plaque of an old suit of armor, Carla by her side.  "No, not yet.  All of this stuff relates to other places besides Ibani."

Gray nodded, thinking the same thing.

After clearing another room, Wendy, Carla, and Gray kept going into the other exhibit rooms, still having a few more left until they ran out.

"Well, let's keep searching, then."  Gray replied.  "It's gotta be around here somewhere!"

"Gray's right."  Carla replied.  "But we should be okay..."

Wendy nodded.  "We don't have to worry; if it's not on this floor, I'm sure it'll either be where Erza is, or where Natsu, Happy, and Lucy are."

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Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had searched the third floor without a trace, and fear of being wrong began to build in Lucy's chest.  However, they figured out there was one more floor, with only one exhibit room.  So, they had climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor, looking around as soon as they got there.  

Lucy stopped, staring at a large frame holding a painted picture, which also was on a wall right by a railing that looked out all the way down to the first floor.  Most people had left now, so it was only Lucy and her group and then one other stranger.

"This is..."  She said softly and somewhat dazedly.

She looked at the plaque on the wall beside it.

Picture of the town of Ibani hundreds of years ago.  

Created by Zelem Martene

This is it..!  Lucy thought, her excitement growing.  This resembles Ibani in a way!

"Natsu!"  She whispered firecely, not worried about him not hearing her.

Of course as expected, Natsu heard her, turning to look at her in puzzlement.

'Found it',  She mouthed, pointing to the picture.

A grin that stretched from ear to ear appeared onto Natsu's face, and him and Happy raced over.

"Good job, Lucy!"  Happy exclaimed.

"You found it!  Yosh!"  Natsu replied, clenching his hands together in excitement.

Lucy smiled happily, feeling really good about herself.  

Turning back to the painting, Lucy noticed something weird.

First of all, the painting was a small village in the country side, and the small buildings were surrounded by wheat fields.  The sky was clear, the color of a bright sky blue and contained with birds flying high.  Trees were off in the distance, along with mountains.

But then the image seemed to...shimmer.

"Lucy?"  Natsu asked, stopping when he noticed Lucy had gone quiet.

"Natsu, Lucy might be seeing something again!"  Happy whispered fiercely, trying to get him to quiet down.

"Alright alright, I get it!"

Lucy tried blinking, but it continued.  The painting's surface seemed to vibrate, turning into a spiral and sending a flash of light into Lucy's mind.  It made her gasp in so much surprise, that she went flying back on impulse.

But the railing was there.

Slamming into it, Lucy felt herself trip and start falling over the railing, sailing out into open air.  Her eyes were wide in disbelief, but her hand had outstretched itself on impulse.

"Lucy!"  Natsu exclaimed, shock and fear in his eye as he acted fast.

Literally slamming into the railing and completely leaning over it, Natsu caught Lucy's hand just as she started to fall downwards.

"Lu..cy..!"  Natsu muttered against the strain.

"Natsu...!"  Lucy whimpered, fear completely evident in her eyes.

Slowly but surely, Natsu pulled her back over the railing, dropping to the ground with her leaning against him.

They panted heavily for a few moments, but then Lucy looked up at Natsu in gratitude.

"I'm sorry, Natsu!"  She exclaimed quietly, leaning her head back against the railing.  "T-The picture blinded me and sent a wierd wave of energy through me..."  She looked up at him.  "It surprised me!"

Natsu shook his head.  "No, it's alright.  There's no way you could've expected that, right?  ...I'm just glad you're safe."

"Me too!"  Happy exclaimed, and Lucy smiled down at the cat.

She petted his head, then smiled at Natsu.  "You didn't even let me fall, this time."

Natsu grinned.  "Course not!"

Suddenly, they realized that their hands were still connected from when Natsu had caught her hand and pulled her up and over the railing.  Slowly, and embarissingly, they let go, looking away.

"Let's go, then.."  Lucy murmured, standing up.

Looking at the picture again, this time it didn't swirl, but flashed images through her mind.

Lucy had it memorized a second later; the next clue.

Finally, they could keep going!

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Stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter 10: To the Ruins of Dragons!