The pink haired young man rested his chin on his palm, watching the blond girl across from him. She was holding his blue, winged cat, as the latter ate a roasted fish. It had been over a week since they had been on a job, mostly due to the fact that it had been raining non stop for the last two weeks, and the streets were beginning to flood as the river and nearby lakes began to oveflow. Strange things had been happening around Fiore lately. The inceassant rain was one of those things.
"Ugh... I can't stand it much longer!" Natsu said, slamming his fist against the table, startling the blond and the cat.
"Natsu! You made me swallow a fish spine!" the blue cat wailed, coughing dramatically.
"Natsu... I know it's hard for you to stay cooped up for so long, but what can we do? The roads are blocked, we haven't recieved any requests in the last week and Master Makarov said we have to wait it out" his blond friend said.
"I know, but Lucy, this is bullshit! I just wish it would stop raining already" the pinkette said, locking his hands behind his head and sighing. "Oi! Juvia!" he called across the guild's hall. A pretty, blue-haired water mage looked up from the book she was reading. "Can you make the rain stop?" Natsu asked her.
"No, I cannot. Juvia is a water mage, not a weather mage. It was not Juvia who summoned the rain" she snapped.
Natsu sighed again. Tension was high in the guild because everyone had been staying there for the last week, on Makarov's orders. "Just in case there's any... funny... business" the master had said. Though what kind of funny business he was talking about, Natsu could not be sure.
"We're running out of booze" Cana said, slowly sipping sake from her cup. Normally she would have been downing a barrel of the stuff, but it was as she stated. They were running out of booze. And other supplies.
"We are running out of food, too. We have enough for at least another four days" the white-haired demon woman said. She turned her pretty face to the master, who was sitting crossed-legged atop the bar. He looked deep in thought. "Master? What will you have us do?" she asked him. The master remained silent. Mirajane cast a glance at Cana who only shrugged.
"Tomorrow, the Guild Masters have a meeting with the Magic Council. The strange happenings, the abnormal weather... it is all sounding serious. I want two of my children to go out to buy supplies. Ask the merchants here, and if nothing is available here, go to the next town. You know where the guild's vault is" he said calmly.
"I volunteer, Master" the red head said.
"I will go with Erza!" Natsu said at once. Anything to get out of this place for a while!
"Natsu! I'm going too!" Happy, the blue cat, said.
"No" Master Makarov said.
"What?! Why not!" Happy wailed.
"Erza and Juvia can go" the master said simply. Juvia blinked and looked around.
"WHAT?!" Natsu bellowed. "Gramps! Let me go too!" he pleaded with the old man. Makarov shook his head.
"I need you here, Natsu" he said.
"But why?" Natsu persisted. Erza, the fairy queen, placed a hand on the pinkette's shoulder.
"Enough, Natsu. The master has his reasons" she said calmly. Nevertheless, Natsu knew to drop the subject. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.
"We leave tomorrow at dawn. Good night, brats" the old man said, drinking the last of the sake in his cup. He jumped off the bar top and climbed the stairs to his room. He didn't know exactly what was happening in Fiore, but things were beginning to worry him. The impromptu meeting the Council had called was proof that something strange was definitely going on.
"Bummer, eh?" the ice mage said, plopping down next to Natsu.
"Shut up, Gray, I'm not in the mood" Natsu snapped.
"Calm your ass down, flame brain, I meant no harm" Gray said. "What do you guys think is going on?" he asked, looking grim.
"I don't know. The Master looks worried" Lucy replied, resting her chin on her palm.
"It is to be expected" Mirajane said from behind them. Having washed the last of the dishes, she had closed the bar for the night. Cana and Erza followed her. The demon pulled out the day's news paper. It was soggy with rain, but still legible. "Master forgot this at the bar... look" she said, splaying the paper on the table for all to see.
Third Small Town Falls Victim
by Arizbeth Justice
Two weeks following the strange incident that surrounded the small town of Emerald in Joya, where the entire town was wrecked and every resident was found dead, authorities recieved another grim report. The town Aldebaran, in Stella, suffered a blow. Residents of Aldebaran fell ill and more than half of the population perished. There is no known reason the illness that spread across this town, and unfortunately, there was no cure.
Now, yet another town falls victim to tragedy. A lone hunter returned to his home in Woodsburrow, Bosco, only to find his family dead. No wounds, no sign of a struggle. "Like something just took their life force" Mr. Cyan said, hardly able to control himself. To his horror, when he went to call for help from his neighbours, he found that they too, had perished. And so began his nightmare. Every house told the same story. A story of death. A story of loss. Authorities have yet to discover who or what is behind these mass kilings and they ask citizens to be extra cautious. They urge everybody to report any suspicious activity or person.
Stay safe folks, and lock your doors at night.
The group of people gathered at the table were horror struck as theyvread the news arrticle.
"Who would do such a thing?" Juvia whispered without really expecting an answer. She had joined the table, sitting next to the ice mage.
"Or what" Gray said seriously.
"Do you think... maybe it's Zeref?" Cana asked worriedly. Erza shook her head.
"I don't know... it doesn't seem like the type of thing Zeref would do" she explained.
"This is Zeref we're talking about!" Gray said hotly. "He sics his demons on innocent people!"
"Exactly Graym Think about it. Zeref always has someone else do his dirty deeds for him. Be it a demon like Deliora, or a dragon like Acnologia, Zeref always has someone else" Erza said.
"It could be one of his demons" Natsu said.
"Maybe" Erza agreed.
"But there have been no witnesses" Mirajane stated.
"No... but that hunter is tue sole survivor of Woodsburrow... maybe he saw something that could help explain all this" Lucy said thoughtfully.
"Whatever it is, it seems the Magic Council and the Guild Masters don't want anybody to find out. This article was printed and adressed specifically for Master Makarov. I imagine the other guild masters got one too. I suppose they want to avoid mass hysteria and panic, but how long do you think they can keep something like thid quiet?" Mirajane asked, folding up the wet parchment and putting it back into the pocket of her apron.
"I don't know. We will see what the master tells us after he comes back from the meeting. But for now, we have to go to sleep. Me and Juvia have to be up early tomorrow" Erza said, signaling the end of the discussion. Everyone pushed away table and said their good nights, heading to their assigned beds.
The basement of the guild had been made into a shelter of sorts, with a large number of beds for the mages to sleep on. Most were already occupied by sleeping mages, and Erza quietly made her way to her bed. Removing her boots, she let her mind wander to Jellal. What was he doing? Was he ok? Did he know about the strange happenings? Pulling tue covers to her neck, she closed her eyes and hoped that Jellal was somewhere safe too.
"Natsu?" Lucy whispered. She and Happy were curled up on a single-person bed, and Natsu was lying on the floor with a couple of blankets. She and Natsu, along with Gray, Juvia, Mirajane, Lissana, Elfman, and Reedus had to stay in the guild hall, as there were no more beds in the basement. It was quiet, the only sound was Elfman's snoring.
"Yeah?" Natsu answered quietly.
"I'm scared" the blond girl confessed. Seconds later, Natsu's warm, strong hand grabbed hers.
"Don't be. I won't let anything happen to you or to Fairy Tail" he said, giving her hand a squeeze, "I promise".
Lucy smiled to herself in the dark. She knew he meant what he said. And she knew Natsu Dragneel kept his promises. She drifted off to sleep, aware that they hand't let go of each other's hand.
A/N: Double update! Please review and leave me your thoughts! What's going on in Earth Land? What will our favorite guild do? Stay tuned to find out! xoxo