It call happen in the matter of seconds, and only Happy was the one to catch the scene. It all played out right before him. His pink haired 'mama', or partner, vanished in front of him with blue flares. Nothing was left in her place. Except for her beloved scarf that she held dear to her heart. Happy caught the scarf before it fell to the ground.
It was covered in ash; unlike the ground. His paws turned it over and sideways, looking for anything of his beloved partner. "Natsha? Natsha?!" he cried out. His claws gripped the fabric, and smooth it over his shoulders. His wings fluttered in the breeze as he left his small house on the riverside. He only knew of one place to go. His second home.
The Guild.
Everyone stared as he went headfirst into the doors. When he looked into their faces, he saw concern, confusion and distress. His bottom lip chattered as water filled his eyes.
"Happy, what's wrong?" Mirajane questioned. She was one of the first to hurry to his side. She bent low onto the ground and her hand touched his fur.
Others approached the small blue cat. They stood around him in a circle, waiting to hear his words. They gave a path as Master appeared. He stared at Happy with a face full of concern for one of his own children. "Happy..."
"Na...Nat-" he couldn't even finished her name. Something felt like it was blocking his throat. He coughed and cried. He was in a state of chaos.
Gajeel took a sniff of the air. 'Pinky's not here...' This was only half the truth.
"Give him some room," the Master ordered, and everyone obeyed. "Mira, get the poor lad some water."
She nodded gracefully and withdraws to the back of the guild. She took a glass and filled it with ice cubes and cold water. The sliver haired girl returned to the two, who retired to a table. "Here," she held the glass out.
His small paws took the glass and took a small drink of it. "Thanks..." his voice was low and hushes.
"You're welcome."
"Will you tell us what's the matter?" Master questioned.
The blue cat looked into Master's eyes. "Natsha, she...disappeared. Flames appeared, and she was nowhere to be seen. I looked in the house. Around...and I came here..." His paw felt against the fabric around his neck.
"Flames?" the old man repeated.
"Blue. They just sparked, and covered her in...seconds. When they were gone, so was she. She left behind her scarf..."
The old man looked back to the other Dragonslayer. "Gajeel, do you know anything about this?"
"All that I know, is the cat's right. She's not here, nowhere in the city."
"Happy, where did this happen?"
"Our house on the riverside. We were just about to come here."
Master nodded. "Wendy, Gajeel, I want you two to follow Happy to the spot. Freed, does this sound like anything we have encounter in the past?"
The green haired, which was standing on the second floor, looked down at the two. He placed his finger onto his chin and paused for a second before coming to an answer. "Sounds like magic dealing with modes of transport. As of now, we have only deal with one case of transportation magic, and that was from Doranbolt. This could also be a type of airspace, in which we only encountered with Aria."
"But..." Wendy started. She got shy all of sudden as everyone turned to look at her. "Doranbolt...could only use it on himself."
"Even if that is the case, we can't be sure Transportation magic wasn't used. It is not that we are blaming Doranbolt of kidnapping our Natsha, just listing out the possibilities of what could have happened to our pink haired friend. But I do believe Airspace could also be counted out with the same rules applied."
Master nodded at Freed. He looked back at the other members of the guild. "Warren, I will need you and Max to contact Hibiki. We will need all of the information we can get on transportation. Gray, go with Gajeel and Wendy to the spot; don't want all of the Dragonslayers disappearing. And Erza, I will need you to contact our old dear friend, Aria, and see if he has any news."
"Understood," the redhead nodded.
"Levy and Lucy. You two will be on research duty. I want you two to use those glasses of yours to search our archive of anything concerning disappearing in flames. It could also be a type of fire magic. A mixture of both? Lisanna, could you use one of your animal forms and search the forest around her house?"
The younger sliver haired girl nodded. Her older brother looked at Master, "Anything I can do?"
"You may follow any of the groups, or travel with Mirajane to meet up with Doranbolt."
He nodded and looked at the eldest sister.
"One last thing," the Master turned to Freed. "Do. Not. Tell. Laxus. No matter what. If he questions about why everyone's gone, say quests. If he questions why everyone's busy, say quest matters that have to be dealt with."
They all nodded and separated into groups. Erza was the first to leave, with Mira and Elfman being second. Those three had the longest route to travel. Next group was the five going to the riverside. The rest stayed inside of the guild. Master ushered the two girls into the library portion of the guild; both were amaze at the size. So many secrets hidden within these pages. "Why haven't we been in here before?" the blonde questioned.
"Not only has this library held magic books, but things of great danger. I'm trusting you two being in here. Some things are not to mess with."
Levy nodded. "Is...there a-any curses on these books?"
"This room has been protected by Freed to break any curses."
She gave out a breath of relief. But she was still not up to see the great dangers within these books. "C-Come on, Lucy..." The blonde gulped.
"I will be outside," the Master called and left the library. He closed the door behind him. Even if he trusted his children, there were still some who trouble loves to follow; which was usually Natsha in quests. 'Come back, brat,' the Master thought to himself. He walked pass Warren and Max. The two were now connected together on the same line. "Hibiki, this is Warren of Fairy Tail. Please connect."
This continued for a few moments, until the other person picked up his line. "You got Hibiki. What's going on?"
"We called to ask about a subject," Max stated.
"Continue."
"Transportation magic. What do you have on that?"
"Give me a moment, I'm pulling it up. Anything to narrow it down?"
"Teleporting someone else, that is not the caster."
The other line went silent for a moment as clicking away started. "There's a few. Here, I'm sending them to you."
A screen appeared in front of Warren and Max. "I should really learn this type of magic," Warren stated out loud.
"It's pretty useful," the man on the other end smiled. "There are three types. Teleport. Gravity Force. Angel's Beam. They all involve transporting. Teleport create an illusion while the other moves to the other side, hidden. Gravity Force castes the user into the air, and travel faster than light to a different location. Angel's Beam is somewhat the same, but uses a beam of light that flashes before the user disappears. Leaving opponents blinded by the light."
Warren looked at the old man. "Beam of light isn't exactly what we were hoping for."
"More flames," Max added.
"Transporting with flames?"
"Yes."
"Like...hot air balloons?"
"No...Teleporting magic."
"I will search for it-" His line got cut off. There was statics before he came back, "Sorry, I have to run right now."
The line was cut off, and Max was zapped by the sudden withdrawal. "Ouch," he moaned as he rubbed his head. Master raised his eyebrow. "Teleport. Gravity Force. Angel's Beam. Those were all that had teleporting others away."
"I'm guessing none included flames?"
"None."
"Well, we gotten more leads. Hopefully he comes back with more results in the future."
The two nodded.
Large footsteps stroke down the staircase. Each step caused a loud crept and thump. While a piece of cloth dragged behind them, falling down to the next step with each footstep. The thumping grew louder and louder, until it reached the bottom. The two boys turned to look, and slowly backed away. A hand grabbed Makarov's shoulder. "What's going on?" the rough voice questioned.
The small man gulped. Too soon.
...
The five mages walked through the city; Natsha's house was located south of the river. As they traveled between the others, something halted Gray. He was looking at a man who was sprouting nonsense. "A grand beast in the sky, I tell you!"
"You're drunk," complained the other.
Lisanna turned back and stared at the blue haired male. "Something wrong?"
"Just was looking at something," he shrugged and went on with the others. Gray matched pace with Lisanna as they made it to the river. He turned south and started walking along the blue water. He and Natsha used to fish in these waters, but now the water that traveled through the city was cleared as sink water. The others turned, with Happy walking along the stone that blocked the water from flooding the city. His pace was slower than usually; it wasn't home without Natsha there laughing.
"This is the spot?" Wendy questioned. Happy led them to his and Natsha's home. She looked around at the unkempt yard and trash around the home.
Happy itch his head, "We just got done with spring cleaning."
"Looks like a dump," Gajeel confessed.
"It's Natsha, alright," Gray agreed.
"Let's get...back..." The small girl tried to change the topic. "Where was she standing?"
His small paws pointed to where grass was laid flat on the ground from numerous times she traveled through it. In the middle, next to a fairly sized rock, was it. "She was waiting for me outside."
The two Dragonslayers moved to it, and took a sniff from the air. They could smell the traces of Natsha, trash, and a small lingering magic. Fire magic. "She used her own magic," Gajeel stated.
"Then how could she disappear?"
"It's Fire Magic. Happy, could I see the scarf for a moment?" The blue haired girl questioned. Happy unwrapped the cloth from around his neck and handed it to her. She took in the scent. It was Natsha's scent, with a hint of Happy's. She moved it toward Gajeel, hoping he could smell more than she did. He took the end of it, and stuck it against his nose. Natsha. Happy. Lucy. Ashes. Chili peppers. "Was this covered in ash?"
Happy nodded. "It must have fallen off when I ran here."
He nodded. "Once again. Friggin' Fire magic."
"But there's still an unknown scent too," Wendy added. "I can't tell what exactly it is...but it's familiar."
Gray rolled his eyes. He didn't know why the hell he was dragged along with these two. The most he could provide was agreeing Natsha's house was a mess, but other than that, there was no need for him to come along. Of course, he wanted to help find Natsha, but this wasn't much of a help than if he stayed at the guild for another order. Now they had to go back to the guild, which was a ways away from Natsha's house. "Is there anything else to do while we are here?"
"Get Lisanna-san?" Wendy suggested.