Chapter 4

"Wendy, what are you looking at? Don't wander off, child!"

"I'm fine. This is such a pretty bag. Mine is starting to fall apart."

Wendy and her Exceed friend were wandering the streets of Magnolia, having finished tidying at the guild. They were, of course, followed by Happy, who was trying his hardest to win Carla over.

"I brought some extra fish if you want some. Are you hungry?"

"You know perfectly well we ate twenty minutes ago, tomcat. It's a wonder you're not bursting at the seams." Quipped Carla.

"Carla, what do you think? Should I get the bag?" The she-cat flew over to Wendy, leaving Happy to sniffle and eat his fish miserably. He wandered a little ahead and sat on a crate, hanging his head sadly.

"Happy!" Happy looked up, and shouted excitedly,

"Natsu!" But as he started to fly towards his best friend, he stopped short. He noticed Lucy dangling from Natsu's arms, Loke carrying Erza, and Gray stumbling along behind them. Natsu ran to Happy, saying,

"Happy, where's Wendy! Erza's hurt, we need Wendy—"

"I'm here, I heard you shouting, what do you—oh no, what happened?" Wendy had run up, Carla hot on her heels. Loke stepped forward.

"Erza's been hit on the head, hard. She's been bleeding for an hour, maybe two. There's no time to take her to the guild."

Wendy quickly knelt down. A blue glow enveloped her hands as she gently touched Erza's head. After a moment, she spoke softly.

"She'll live. She's lucky the wound isn't magical. I'll stabilize her for now, so we can get her comfortable in the infirmary."

"Uhn—" Lucy groaned, opening her eyes.

"Lucy! You're hurt, too—" began Wendy.

"Erza. Help Erza. I can wait." Said Lucy firmly. Natsu looked down, but she refused to make eye contact, her face drawn with pain.

"Oh-okay. There. She's safe, for now." Said Wendy, standing up.

"To the guild, quickly! We need to get out of the street!" exclaimed Carla. "What on earth happened?"

Gray and Natsu pushed forward without speaking. Loke followed, still carrying Erza.

"We'll explain later."

~.~

That night, the guild hall was silent as the senior guild members grouped in the infirmary by Erza and Lucy's beds. Natsu and Gray were still quiet, sitting in chairs between the two beds, Gray's hands bandaged, Natsu with a dejected Happy perched on his shoulder. Loke had just finished explaining the day's events before bidding them farewell and disappearing back into the spirit world. Juvia had initially rushed to Gray's side, but he was unresponsive, so she settled for watching him from a distance. Mirajane was helping Wendy and Carla change Erza's bandages, her lips a thin, angry line. Master Makarov was standing in the middle of the floor, his fists clenched, furious. Macao and Wakaba were sitting in chairs by the wall, their arms folded tightly. Jet and Droy looked like they might be sick. Levy, unsure of what to do, had sat on the edge of Lucy's bed, a scared look on her face. Laxus and Gajeel, though in separate corners, had the same attitude, deceptively casual, but faces black with anger.

Gajeel spoke first. "Huh."

They all looked at him. "Speak up if you have something to say." Said Makarov, whose every vein looked ready to explode.

The Iron Dragonslayer took his time before replying, "She was playing with you. Her intent was not to kill, but to break."

"That's crystal clear to me. Your point?" demanded the old master.

"Figuring out why is what we should do first. Breaking people is very easy once you stop caring. It could be she's working for someone, or she was just bored."

Gajeel stood tall, and stared intently at the floor. Everyone recalled his attack on Levy, Jet and Droy years before, and remembered that he knew what he was talking about. "Once we know why, we can better protect the guild and catch her sorry ass."

Laxus looked at Gajeel with interest. He had never heard him hint about his unsavory past before, and now, he recognized the tone that Gajeel used. Laxus hadn't branded and humiliated any of the guild members, but he had forced them to fight each other and had nearly destroyed all of Magnolia. Somehow, he had never made the connection.

"Gray." Everyone snapped back to earth at the soft sound of Levy's voice. She was standing in front of the ice mage, her hand on his shoulder. "Loke said he saw and heard everything that passed between Lucy, Natsu, and the fire mage, but that he wasn't present when you and Erza encountered her. Do you remember anything that might indicate what her motives were?"

Gray raised his head and blinked hard. "She-she knew me. She looked at my face and she knew…everything. It felt like she could see inside my head." He shook his head as though dusting off cobwebs, and looked at Levy. "There was something wrong with her voice. It kept…changing. And she cut Erza's hair. Why would she do that?"

Levy stood up, turning to face the rest of her guildmates. "That could mean anything. I don't know what to make of it. But something is wrong with this picture."

"What isn't wrong about this picture?" said Macao.

"It's sick." Agreed Wakaba.

"Erza might have something more to tell us when she wakes up." Said Mira, having finished putting away the bandages.

Makarov took a deep breath, then nodded his head. "I agree. Tell me as soon as she does." He looked at Natsu and Gray and paused. "Natsu, Gray? Come with me." They stayed put. "I'm not asking you to leave Lucy and Erza for the night, I just want to talk to you privately for a moment." He waited until Natsu and Gray had slowly stood up before he walked out of the infirmary door, followed by the two mages.

~.~

Master Makarov led them up the stairs and into his office, which was dimly lit. He strode towards his desk, and leaned against it with a sigh. Turning towards the two wizards, who stood next to each other in the middle of the room, he said, "Now. Everyone has the basic idea of what happened. But I believe there's more that you can tell us that Loke may not have observed. Is there?"

Natsu finally ended his silence, his voice shaking, "All I know is that she hurt my nakama, and she will pay!"

"Natsu, please keep calm!" warned the master. Natsu's hands were on fire, and his head had started smoking.

His voice began to rise in volume, "She hurt Lucy and I couldn't do anything! She didn't have the guts to give me a fair fight! I'll kill her! I'll—"

He was cut short by a cold, bandaged hand on his shoulder. Gray was standing very still, and he raised his head and looked at the master. "She knew exactly how to get to us. I don't know how or why, but she knew my weaknesses, how to get inside my attacks. She grabbed Lucy's keys, and kept Loke out of the game. And somehow, she knew how to not have to fight Natsu, how to make him stay back. She even knew—" He paused.

Natsu had quieted down, and as Gray recalled how easily they had been defeated, he had hung his head.

"What, Gray?" asked Makarov. "What else did she know?"

"Nothing," replied Gray shortly.

"She knew about Igneel," said Natsu. "She knew about my scarf, and she took it." They looked at Natsu, surprised. Somehow they hadn't noticed Igneel's present was gone. His neck looked naked and forlorn without it. "Gray, how could she know about that? What else did she know about you?"

Gray struggled with his words, taking a long time to answer. "She…she knew about Ul, and Ultear."

Master Makarov's brow was knitted together tightly. "This is serious. There's almost no way for anyone to be that powerful. To use some kind of telepathy magic and dragon slayer magic—"

"She's not a dragon slayer," interrupted Natsu. "I'm positive. She swallowed my fire, but she doesn't smell right."

"Well, we can't do anything until we have more information," said the master. "Natsu, Gray, I don't think I need to tell you not to run off seeking revenge. You need to heal, and your teammates need you. The time for payback will come soon enough. You are dismissed." The two mages nodded and walked quickly back to the infirmary. Makarov closed the door behind them, and stayed facing the door for a long time.