Fright Night
By Bloody Flames
SUMMARY: Natsu's missing and he may be in danger! Lucy's panicking. Who's the mysterious boogie man? Will this incident bring them together?
To all who read 'Lessons in Life', I'm sorry I can't update it yet. I just have no idea on how to continue it. Maybe it's writer's block. But I made a new story. I hope you support it like how you supported my first one. Please leave a review. :)
Prologue
As Mirajane told her very scary story, Lucy can't help but feel goosebumps all over her body. She can't stop the flow of her thoughts which was filled with scary imaginations about the boogie man that kidnaps fire mages.
'This story is so not true', she thought determinedly but still it bothered her. 'What if this story is true? What if he kidnapped Natsu? What will I- wait. Did I just say that I'm worried about Natsu?! Well, that's perfectly normal since he's my nakama. But he's really an idiot and he'll go with anybody who offers food. God! Where's that idiot anyway?' the worried blonde roamed her eyes all over the room to look for the pink haired dragon slayer but he was nowhere to be found. Lucy, now panicking, stood up and scanned the room for the second time. But still, no pink haired fire mage.
"Natsu..." she whispered. "Natsu? Natsu!" she shouted frantically while running and feeling her way across the dimly lighted room.
"Lucy!" "Lucy, what's wrong?" "Lu-chan?"
"N-N-Natsu. He's missing!"Lucy cried to her dumbfounded guild mates.
"What? Flame head's missing?" "Natsu-nii is missing?" "Natsu-san?" "Everyone, search for Natsu at once."
"Lu-chan, he'll be okay. He's strong." Levy reassured her best friend as she draped her arm over Lucy's shoulders to comfort her. The celestial mage's knees gave in and she slid to the floor, trembling and hugging herself. Too overcome with worry to notice the opening of the guild's doors to reveal the silhoutte of a cloaked figure dragging an unconscious-or worse, dead -man.
"Are you looking for him?" the cloaked man said as thunder boomed and lightning followed, illuminating his features which made all the mages gasp with fright.
This got the attention of Lucy and she directed her eyes towards the door only to make her more frightened than she already was. For the man by the door was the boogie man.
+Earlier+
It was a dark, gray, cloudy morning which brought the promise of rain in the afternoon. It was also windy that's why all the people outside wore their coats close to their body. Only two certain people weren't wearing any coats and seem like they did not mind the cold. Guess who the idiots are? You're correct! Natsu and Gray.
Team Natsu was supposed to go on a mission but the bad weather prevented them from using the train, making them cancel the mission for a while. And now, they're walking back to the guild.
"Why did the bad weather show up now when I badly needed the money for my rent?" Lucy complained while looking at the gray sky, not noticing the bickering idiots in front of her, causing her to trip over them to the ground, face first.
"It's okay Lucy. You can always stay at my place. There's a lot of room for you." the red haired mage said, not noticing the enraged celestial mage attacking the scared Natsu and Gray. The blonde can be much scarier than Erza if she wanted to, and this terrified the fire and ice mage.
Just as Lucy was about to land her fist on Gray and Natsu's heads, Erza turned around and automatically, the trio had their arms around one another like close friends.
"They like each other~!" said the blue cat in the background.
"Natsu, Gray, are you two fighting again? And Lucy, why are you between them? Are they bothering you?" the exquip mage glared at the two mages beside Lucy making them sweat buckets.
"No, Erza. I.. Uhm.. Asked them to shield me against the wind." the blonde gave an awkward smile and a nervous laugh. 'Believe me. Believe me, please!' she thought desperately.
The red haired mage walked towards Lucy making the blonde very nervous. But all Erza did was pull Lucy from Natsu and Gray, and gave her The Hug.
Clank! 'So hard!' the celestial mage thought as her head made contact with Erza's armor. "Lucy. All you had to do was ask me. But I left you bare to the cold gusts of the wind. I'm sorry for my irresponsibleness. Please punch me." the exquip mage said, making the blonde sweat drop. "Now, now Erza. There's no need for that."
"Enough drama. Can we go inside the guild now?" Natsu asked causing Titania to glare at him which made him run as fast as he could inside.
The others followed and noticed the lack of noise in their normally noisy guild. "Okarinasai!" Mira cheerfuly greeted.
"Where's Master?" Erza asked as she ordered her favorite strawberry cake.
"He's at his office sorting the complaints from the council." the white haired mage replied as she served the cake.
"Waah! It's so boring. We can't even go outside without being blown away by the wind." Lucy said. At that moment, the heavy rain poured. "and getting drenched." she added.
Just then, all the lights went out. "Geez. And now a black out? What a nice day." the celestial mage said sarcastically as she sipped her juice.
A lone spotlight shone on the stage where Gajeel sat with his guitar. "Let me entertain you and rid everyone off their boredom." he said and prepared to sing.
"Oh for Mavis' sake, get off the stage Gajeel!"
"Shoo-bi-doo-wah!"
"Metal head! Give mercy to our ears."
"Shoo-bi-doo-wah!" And a riot broke out. As usual.
"Ara, ara!" Mira said as she climbed the stage and retrieved the dropped mic. "Minna. Who wants to hear a ghost story?"
This caught the attention of the whole guild. Silence reigned for a minute before all guild members expressed their agreement to her suggestion.
And so she started.
"There was this story about a boogie man who hated fire mages very much. He kidnaps them and tortures them alive. He skins them. He puts them in a boiling pot of water. He laccerates them. He opens their chests and insert his hand towards their hearts and squeeze it until it burst." A hush fell on the guild as the storyteller let her words sink in.
"This boogie man always wear a cloak and a black mask with small holes for the eyes, which makes a person from afar mistake him with no face. He lures his victims by being kind at first and offering food with sleeping potions. He then proceeds to his horrible deeds." Once again, the white haired mage paused to let her listeners imagine the boogie man. Only the loud splattering of the rain on the roof was heard.
"The boogie man is like a thief in the night. He just comes and gets you when you least know it." Again, pause and silence.
Until a panicked voice tore through the silence. "Natsu? Natsu!"
+Flashback ends+
Lucy watched as the cloaked man-or should I say, the "Boogie man"-dragged the body-which really was Natsu- inside the guild, towards where Lucy sat. Everyone was immediately on guard and stood protectively in front of their nakama.
"Who are you and what do you want? Why do you have our nakama?" Erza said as she pointed her sword towards the stranger.
"Now, now, that's quite dangerous young lady."the man said as he backed away from Erza.
"We asked, who the hell are you an-" Gray started to say but was interupted by a groan from the body on the floor. "Where on earthland am I?" said a familiar voice.
Collectively, everyone gasped and said, "Natsu!".
"I know my name, thanks. But I thought I was on a boat towards our mission. Ah! Blurgh. Boat." and he got sick on thd mention of transportation.
"Towards our mission? But the weather is so bad, Natsu. Not to mention your motion sickness..." Lucy said as she walked carefully towards Natsu, eyeing the boogie man suspiciously.
"You said you badly needed money for the rent so I decided to go on with the mission. I don't want to see you homeless, do I? Besides, without your apartment and comfy bed, where will I sleep?" the fire dragon slayer gave off his signature goofy grin. Seeing it again made the celestial mage teary eyed with relief. "Thank God you're safe...How can I live without you, you idiot?" she murmured momentarily forgetting the sharp hearing of the dragon slayers. However, when she realized that she said it out loud, Lucy blushed crimson and so did Natsu.
"They like each other~!" said a familiar blue cat in the background which made the couple blush more.
Everyone in the guild sweatdropped including the Boogie Man.
"Lets get back to business. Who are you? What were you planning to do with Natsu?" Gray questioned the cloaked man.
"Now, now. Gr-" the man started but was interrupted by Natsu.
"Oi, Ice Queen. What are you talking about? This guy saved my life!"
"Who're you calling Ice Queen, Flame brain?!" the ice mage got into position for a fight but was stopped when Erza "gently" placed her arm before him. (By the meaning of Gently here, its actually the opposite.)
*Ooof* 'Not so hard Erza' the ice mage said in a strained voice which made the guild members wince and sweatdrop.
"I would like to apologize for our rudeness and thank you if its true that you saved our comrade." Erza said while bowing formally to the boogie man. "Why don't we let the mister introduce himself? If you may do so, sir."
"Thank you, Erza. I'm surprised you don't recognize me at all." the boogie man said as he removed the cloak and black mask. Everyone squinted to get a good look at his face because it was really dark. Natsu, now recovered, ignited his hand to help his guildmates. And together with everyone, he gasped as he saw the familiar face of his savior.
"GILDARTS?!"
"Well, I'm glad you recognize me now. I was walking to the guild when I saw an upturned boat. I dove into the water to help and learned that it was this idiot who decided to sail in this bad weather." Gildarts explained then gave a sneeze after.
"But why is your voice different?" Lucy asked, still puzzled.
"Its because of my cold. Speaking of, does anyone have a tissue?" the S-class mage answered while looking for a tissue. Cana handed him a handkerchief which he gratefully received.
As Gildarts blew his nose, not one of the guild members spoke a word. Then a small laughter broke the silence. Everyone looked upon its source and saw Lucy. Everyone was puzzled but couldn't help but smile as they saw their dear nakama laughing again. Another laughter followed. Then another and another until everyone was laughing with relief.
"What are waiting for? Let's party!" Gildarts said as he dragged Erza and Cana to the bar. The guild roared delightfully in response. By that time, electric power returned to the guild. In no time, everyone was drinking merrily and enjoying their booze.
In the middle of his fight with Gray, Natsu noticed that a certain blonde was missing. He threw Gray off him and walked towards Mirajane.
"Mira, have you seen Lucy?" Natsu said worriedly.
"If I'm correct, she went through the back door. She said she wanted-" the white haired mage was not finished with her sentence when Natsu hurriedly rushed out through the back door. This actiom made Mirajane smile triumphantly. "-fresh air."
"It seems like your plan worked after all." Gildarts said as he ordered booze.
"Of course. That was one of my most perfect plan." the pretty barmaid said as she served the booze. "It will not be long and we'll all be attending a wedding."
Gildarts chuckled and said "Your one naughty kid." He chuckled again when he saw something through the window. "But I believe you."
+back to Natsu and Lucy+
"What are you doing here all by yourself? Shouldn't you be enjoying the party with everyone else." Natsu asked as he approached Lucy.
The blonde was so startled that she lost her balance and would have fallen to the ground if not for Natsu's fast reflexes. Natsu's hands were on her waist and he was hugging her so close that their faces were only inches from each other.
"Are you okay?" the fire mage said and Lucy can feel her face warming up not because of Natsu's hot breath and hot body pressed against hers-well, partly because of that- but because of the position they were in. Anyone who would look at them from the window will think of something else from their intimate position.
"I-Im fine. Can you please move back a little? This position's making me uncomfortable." Lucy said as she gently wriggled uncomfortably from Natsu's warm hands.
In response, Natsu pulled her tighter and closer to the point where their noses almost touch. "Why should I? You look really pretty, Luce. Can I kiss you?" The blonde's eyes grew wide as her brain registered the dragonslayer's request. Her mouth opened for a response but without waiting for a reply, Natsu claimed her soft lips.
*this is the scene that Gildarts saw from the window*
"I'm sorry for making you worry. I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. Will you be my bride be mine forever?" Natsu whispered to Lucy as he looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes which was now glowing happily with tears.
"Of course yes Natsu. I gladly accept your offer. I love you too you idiot." replied Lucy as she stared at the grinning face of Natsu. "And I will always be yours. And you will be mine. Forever."
And under the glowing light of the moon, they kissed again and sealed their promise of forever.
I hope you liked it! :D