Chapter 3

As the pair made their way back down the mountain, Lucy sighed in relief as the air steadily grew warmer. To her right, Natsu strode beside her, telling her about Fairy Tail's history with Everlue.

"We've had a long history with Everlue." Natsu explained, grimacing.

Turning back to look towards him, she could see the anger radiating in his eyes. "He had kidnapped a few of our younger members a while back," Natsu continued, "When he refused to release them peacefully, Fairy Tail launched an attack."

Lucy could guess as to how that turned out. There had been plenty of times where an Alliance guild had attacked or even gone to war against some faction living outside of the towns. Even her father had run into a few issues with some guilds in the past, often leading to a very stressful next few weeks.

"We managed to get them back, but Everlue was strong. He had hired plenty of mercenaries and many of us were injured by the end." As he finished, he pulled up the sleeve of his vest, revealing a long, jagged scar tracing from the top of his shoulder down to the middle of his bicep. "This was from one of the mercenary mages. He was able to summon axes and control them in any way he wanted. Got me when I wasn't looking."

He let the sleeve fall back down, covering the scar. "Ever since then, it's been a constant rivalry with him. The sucker does anything he can to try and prevent us from achieving our goals. For the most part, it's just a minor inconvenience, but there are times when he has hurt us big time."

Lucy almost wanted to question him further, but as she noticed the stressful look upon his face, she held her tongue. Instead, she said, "Don't worry, Natsu. We will find Macao and bring him home."

He turned towards her with a small smile, running a hand through his hair. "Thanks," he spoke, letting his hand fall back to his side. "I'm surprised that you actually came. No one else would've, that's for sure."

"I-I'm not sure why I came," Lucy explained, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I just felt that it was the right thing to do… And besides, like I said earlier, I have to make sure you don't end up doing something stupid."

He chuckled at her words, moving closer and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She could feel the heat rise to her cheeks as he raised his other hand and let out a cheer. "Well, the reasoning doesn't matter! It's just great that you came!"

Letting go, he pointed down to the keys wrapped around her waist. "Besides, I still haven't gotten to see your magic yet!"

It was her turn to giggle. She unconsciously reached down and gripped her key-chain, shifting the keys between her fingers.

"I've been waiting to show you my spirits, actually. But it just takes a lot out of me, so I have to be careful of when I use them."

She noticed the slightly confused look on his face, but he nodded anyway. Turning back to face down the mountain path, he suddenly grinned and pointed with his index finger. "Look, Luce!" he shouted, "There's the beginning of the forest! We've finally reached the bottom of the mountain!"


It took them another three hours to finally reach the end of the forest, but that didn't stop Lucy from becoming disoriented from the seemingly endless number of trees. It was only when Natsu quickly grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from walking past the tree line that she finally noticed the gigantic structure in front of them.

The walls of the complex were large. Large enough that they were towering over Lucy's smaller form, and she could only just make out the tips of the mansion over the tips of the wall. The gate was made of iron, sturdy enough to be able to withstand any physical attack that could be thrown at it. And by the light golden glow that shone around the iron bars, she was sure that it had some form of magical enhancement as well.

It reminded her of her home; at least what her father had turned it into after her mother's death. She could make out the forms of a few people standing in front of the gate, large golden spears held in their right hands. Their uniforms were a dark-blue, with black boots. And even from the edge of the forest, Lucy could make out the bright-red roses pinned to their chest.

Turning back towards Natsu, she was taken aback by the intimidating look on his face.

"Wait here," he spoke, ignoring the quiet protest from Lucy as he pushed her head lower. Stepping out of the tree line, he ignored the guards as they turned towards him and lowered their spears, demanding that he stop. They tensed as he got further, with one even running back inside the gate to alert the others.

As Natsu came to a stop a few feet away from the guards, Lucy could see that he was talking with them, but she couldn't make out his words. Natsu seemed to pause as one of the guards turned towards the mansion and waved a hand. Suddenly, the earth behind Natsu erupted in a spray of rocks and dirt. As the earth settled and the dust cleared, Lucy could no longer see Natsu. There seemed to be a giant standing in the way. From the back, it looked like it was wearing a maid's uniform and had pink hair, but she couldn't make out any other details.

Natsu raised his arms in a placating manner, taking a few steps back. But before could get far, the maid quickly grabbed him, raising him high above her head. With a roar, the giant sent him flying back towards the forest. As Natsu's screams grew dimmer, the maid brushed her hands together before disappearing in a hole in the ground, with the guards resuming their former positions.

Lucy winced at the crack of Natsu's head hitting the tree. He collapsed to the ground moaning in pain. After he shakily pushed himself back to his feet, he turned towards her, rubbing his head.

"Well, that didn't work."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "You think?"

A small, cheeky grin formed at her words, and she couldn't help but find it slightly humorous as well. "We should find another way to get in." she continued.

He nodded in agreement. Grabbing onto her hand, he pulled her along the tree line. They moved around the Everlue complex, away from the eyes of the guards and main gate. Eventually, the forest met the edge of a large pond, and the pair stopped where the waves crashed against the land.

"If I remember correctly…" Natsu muttered, his words trailing off. He took a few steps into the water, not even bothering to take off his shoes. Bending over, he reached into the water, seemingly searching for something. It only took him a few more moments, but he eventually straightened back up, clutching something in his grasp.

"Here it is!" he exclaimed, hold up what looked to be a small rock. Lucy didn't understand what it meant, but from the excitement on his face, she assumed that it was something good.

He messed around with the object in his hands for a moment, poking and prodding at the surface. But eventually, with a puff of air being dispelled from within, the rock began to faintly glow.

"We used objects like this during the attack on the mansion," he explained, stepping back onto the land, "It's a magical stone created by the master. It allowed us to walk straight through the outer walls instantly."

He chuckled, "I guess that there are certain perks to having a master that is widely renowned such as ours."

Walking away from the pond and forest, they made their way up to the gigantic wall. There was a light hum in the air, one that signified the presence of a magical enchantment. Shivering, Lucy didn't really want to find out what kind it was.

Natsu walked up to the wall, inspecting the rough black brick that layered it before placing the small stone against it. It flickered red and green, before a beam appeared. Before Lucy could admire the magic, the lights disappeared, and a small doorway appeared, cutting a perfect arch straight through the wall.

"Well," Natsu spoke, turning back to Lucy with one hand outstretched, "You ready?"


The wooden floor creaked under their feet below. Every creak sent a wave of terror through Lucy, as she could only pray that no one heard them.

After making their way through the wall, they had quickly entered the mansion. Somehow, which Lucy still couldn't believe, they had made it in without being detected. Which was a miracle with how Natsu seemed to not understand how to stay quiet. Several times, Lucy had to practically jump on him in to prevent him from doing something stupid. Like trying to eat the fire from the grand fireplace.

They had eventually made their way downstairs, where Natsu had told her the dungeons had been last time. If anything, this didn't look like the home of a dungeon, if the regal tapestries and hundreds of self-portraits had anything to say about it. They littered the walls around them, covering almost every inch. Lucy was sure that all this decor had cost more than the original price to build the mansion.

There were doors spread evenly throughout the walls every few feet. Natsu stopped at every one, placing his ear against the polished wood and attempting to hear anything inside. So far, there had been no luck, and as they were approaching the last few doors, Lucy could feel her hope begin to dwindle.

But suddenly, Natsu jolted away from the door he had been listening to. Before Lucy could react, he sent a flaming fist toward the door, busting the door down. She jumped in fear, her head whipping back in the direction they came from, just waiting for an army of guards to begin pouring in. But after a few moments of silence, with no sign of any other people, she sighed in relief.

Turning back to Natsu, she found the hallway to be empty besides herself. Taking a few tentative steps towards the door, she grabbed onto the door-sill and pressed herself against the wall, peeking inside.

The room was nothing special, only containing a bed, small lamp, and a chair. A dingy old carpet was spread across the tiled floor. Natsu stood by the far end of the room, holding on to a long metal chain. He was crouched over someone, who seemed to be breathing from what she could see. Their form was dirty, with tattered clothes and matted dark-blue hair.

"Natsu…" The figure croaked, staring up at the pink-haired dragon slayer. "Is that you?"

Natsu nodded, grabbing onto the shoulder of the man. "Yeah," he started, "We tried to find you up on Mt. Hakobe, but found Everlue's banner. I assumed that he had kidnapped you, so here we are."

The figure coughed, the chains attached to his hands rattling. "We?"

Turning back to the doorway, Natsu spotted Lucy staring from the hallway and waved her in. As she stepped into the room, the man turned towards her. "Macao, this is Lucy. She only joined the guild a few days ago and is already helping me break the law!"

The figure, Macao, let out a chuckle, his voice raspy. "Sounds like a typical day in the guild."

As she listened to them chatting away, she could feel her nerves slowly begin to dissipate. Sure, there was still much that she had to learn about this new lifestyle, but she was already learning about so many different things. And despite the crazy situation she put herself in after only one day, she didn't regret it. Not for the first time in the recent days, she was finally beginning to feel that leaving her father's estate had been the best choice.

Lucy waved towards Macao, who only nodded back. "Do you think you could get those chains off?"

Letting out a boisterous laugh, Natsu gave her a thumbs up. With one swift motion, Natsu lit his hands-on fire and burned right through the chains, melting the old, rusted metal. As Macao flexed his bruised wrists, Natsu placed his hands under his shoulders and pulled the older man to his feet.

"You good to go?" Natsu questioned.

Macao shook his head wearily, rolling his shoulders. "I think so," he answered, "This old man hasn't been through something like this in a while."

Natsu smirked at that. Turning back towards Lucy, she watched him walk back over to her. "So, what's the plan?"

Glancing back out into the hallway, she found it just as empty as it had been for the past few minutes. "We need to escape," she said, leaning back into the room. "I think we should try to escape through the passage again."

Natsu nodded in agreement. While they had been talking, Macao had made his way over to them and was now standing right behind. Flicking his fingers a few times, he ignited a few different color flames on his fingertips.

"Looks like I still have some magic left." he spoke, "We need to watch out for the pink-haired maid. I'm not sure what kind of magic she uses, but it's nothing to ignore."

Rubbing the bruise on his head, Natsu grimaced. "I know."

Reaching over to tug on Natsu's vest, Lucy jerked her head in the direction of the hallway. "We should get going."

"Aye."

Natsu stepped out into the hallway first, tilting his head to the side as he listened for any possible enemies. Seemingly satisfied, he waved to motioned towards his two companions. Following the dragon slayer, they made their way down the hallway, past the infinite amount of Everlue paintings once again.

They had barely made it to the first corner when Natsu suddenly stopped, with Lucy slamming into his back. Macao managed to stop by grabbing hold of the wall.

Natsu turned back towards them, eyes wide. He frantically, started to push them back down the hall, ignoring Lucy's protest. "We need to go!"

Right as he finished, the ground beneath them began to tremble, making them stumble forward and fall to the ground. With a sudden BANG the floor beneath them erupted, sending splinters and nails flying everywhere. Before any of them could react, the giant, pink-haired maid stood before them.

Lucy yelped and tried to shuffle back, not noticing the call from Macao. When he back collided with something hard, she diverted her eyes from the giant lady before her to the object behind her. There was a pair of legs standing there and looking up, she met the creepy smile of Everlue.

"Hu-hu-hu, what do we have here?" he questioned, his voice crackling. Bending over and pushing his fingers together, he leaned closer to Lucy. "Looks like we have a mage trying to run!"

Attempting to shuffle away, she couldn't go far before the giant maid jumped in front of her. With one swift motion, the giant grabbed Lucy and held her high above her head. Lucy wriggled around as much as she could, but it was to no avail. The maid's grip was too strong.

"Let her go!" Natsu yelled, pushing himself onto his feet. Macao was mumbling as he lay on the floor in pain.

"No can do, Fairy Tail mage!" Everlue exclaimed, "She'll be coming with me!"


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