"Gone..." Levy murmured, tears finally breaking free, falling like scattered pearls onto the open pages, staining them with dark watermarks.
She knelt down, her hands trembling as she tried to pick up the magic book that held countless fantasies and stories, but her fingers shook too much to grasp it.
"No... impossible..." Romeo stumbled backward, hitting a chair behind him with a harsh sound.
He couldn't believe that the powerful, composed senior, who always seemed to be in control of everything, would leave in such a way...
"How could this happen..." Alzack and Bisca exchanged glances, both seeing immense shock and endless grief in each other's eyes.
Alzack clenched his fists, Bisca covered her mouth, and tears silently streamed down her face.
The entire Guild Hall fell into a dead silent ocean of sorrow.
Sobs, suppressed whimpers, and heavy sighs intertwined, the air seemingly congealing into cold lead, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts, making it hard to breathe.
Sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting dappled shadows, but it couldn't dispel the thick, unyielding gloom.
Just then—
"Da da da... da da da..."
A light, almost abrupt, pitter-patter of footsteps, accompanied by the faint scraping sound of something being dragged across the floor, came from the small corridor leading from the back door of the Guild Hall to the kitchen.
The sound grew closer.
Then, a small cat, covered in soft, satin-like blue fur, laboriously carrying a fresh fish larger than her body, its tail still faintly flapping, trotted into the hall with light, quick steps, her head bobbing.
It was Yuumi, Ezreal's Summoned Beast, who he almost never recalled to his Dimensional Summoning space, long "fostered" in the guild, serving as a mascot (and occasionally stealing food).
"Meow~ Today's fish is so big! Enough for two meals!" Yuumi proudly shook her little head, her bright blue eyes curved into crescent moons, completely oblivious to the strange atmosphere in the hall.
She was just about to find a quiet corner to enjoy her "feast."
However, when she finally looked up and saw the scene before her, she was utterly dumbfounded.
Everyone was staring at her with an incredibly complex, shocked, disbelieving, and even... a hint of wild hope in their eyes!
That look, as if she wasn't just a cat who stole fish, but... a savior?
"Meow? Meow meow meow? What's wrong? Why is everyone looking at me like that?" The fish in Yuumi's mouth dropped to the floor with a "plop," its plump body bouncing twice.
She blinked her round, big eyes in confusion, her little paws anxiously scratching the ground, and her tail stiffly stood upright, "Meow~? What happened? The fish... the fish fell..."
Silence!
Absolute, suffocating silence!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The river of sorrow was cut off by a suddenly appearing giant rock; everyone stared blankly at the confused little blue cat, their minds empty.
Shock, confusion, disbelief... countless emotions washed over everyone's nerves like a tide, finally converging into a giant wave of ecstasy strong enough to overturn reason!
"Yuu... Yuumi?!" Max was the first to cry out, his voice sharp and distorted from extreme excitement and disbelief!
His hollow pupils suddenly contracted, staring intently at the blue cat, as if to confirm this wasn't an illusion caused by excessive grief!
"Yuumi! It's Yuumi!" Lucy suddenly covered her mouth, tears gushing out again, but this time, the tears were mixed with immense shock and a wild joy, like clutching a life raft in despair!
"She... she's still here?!" Natsu suddenly looked up, the extinguished flame in his eyes reigniting with a "boom!"
That flame was no longer the frenzy of battle, but a dazzling light of incredible, burning hope! "Yuumi! You weren't sealed?!"
"How is that possible?! Ezreal... he didn't self-seal, along with his Summoned Beasts..." The cold air around Gray fluctuated violently, ice crystals forming and shattering at his feet!
He stared intently at Yuumi, a raging storm churning in his icy blue eyes; reason told him this was impossible, yet the scene before him was so real!
"Yuumi!" Mira almost pounced, crouching down, her voice trembling uncontrollably, her hands reaching out to touch Yuumi, but stopping mid-air, "You... how are you here? Your master... Ezreal he... he..."
"Meow~? Master?" Yuumi was even more confused, tilting her little head to the side, her bright blue eyes full of innocence and bewilderment, "Didn't Master go on that very dangerous mission? Yuumi has always been at the guild, meow! Master rarely calls Yuumi back, meow, this fish... Yuumi caught it herself, not stole it, meow!"
She seemed to remember something and quickly used her little paw to pull the fish that had fallen to the ground closer to her, looking at everyone warily.
"Always at the guild..."
These words, like heavenly music, exploded like thunder in the dead silent hall!
Master Makarov, who had been hunched over, as if all his spirit had been instantly drained, aging ten years in a flash, his small body suddenly trembled!
His eyes, which had been cloudy and dim with grief, like dusty glass beads, suddenly erupted with an astonishing light, like the rising sun!
"Wait!" Makarov's voice carried an uncontrollable, almost choked excitement and incredulous joy; he suddenly looked at Erza, Max, and the others, his small body trembling slightly with emotion, "You said... Ezreal self-sealed himself in... his Dimensional Summoning space? Along with his Summoned Beasts?"
"Yes... yes, Master!" Erza's voice also became urgent, a spark of hope igniting in her eyes as well, "He activated 'Dimensional Seal: Eternal Slumber'! Sealing himself, the crystal ball core that was completely corrupted by darkness, and all his Summoned Beasts... all together! We saw it with our own eyes!"
"Summoned Beasts... sealed together..." Makarov repeated, his gaze sweeping like lightning over the still confused, even a little wronged (because her fish fell) Yuumi, then he suddenly looked at Erza and the others, his voice rising with excitement, "But Yuumi is still here! She wasn't sealed in! She's standing here, alive and well!"
"This... this means..." Cana's breathing also became rapid, the empty wine bottle in her hand clattered to the ground, she didn't bother to pick it up, just stared intently at Yuumi.
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