M-P: OK guys, just to keep you and myself entertained, let's play a game. Can you guess who the cloaked figure with long blue gloves is? And who can guess what the Wonders of Magic are? I'll try to put as many clues as I can into the chapters.
The next day, I arrived early at the guild. I had left Natsu and Happy asleep in my house. I sat down at a table on my own and put my head in my hands. That dream, and that nightmare. How do they add up? I had dreamed about crying in Natsu's arms and had a nightmare about someone Natsu told me was going to hurt me. To finish off, he knew something about the person who had saved me from that racoon's attack. Something that he didn't want to tell me. I groaned with frustration. Oh Natsu. Why can't you just talk to me? Sighing, I lifted my head. Turning my head, I saw Natsu leaning casually against the wall beside the request board. I gaped at him.
"How long have you been there?" I asked, my whisper ringing clearly across the empty space.
"I got here just after you did. Lucy, why are you here so early? Even Mira isn't here yet." His tone became accusing.
"You weren't going to pick a job by yourself, were you?" His expression was furious.
"You promised, Lucy!" I walked over to him.
"I wasn't going to pick a job, I swear." I said, placating him. He relaxed, but his wary expression remained.
"Don't be mad, Natsu. I just wanted to think about that nightmare." And the dream that I had about you. He pouted.
That guy . . . he's a dragon slayer." He admitted. I gasped. So, I was saved by a dragon slayer? Was this linked to my dream last night? The wonders of magic? Why wouldn't he tell me? I was about to ask him just that when the door opened. Mira, Erza, Levy and the Master walked inside, but paused when they saw me and Natsu.
"We're not interrupting anything, are we?" The Master asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. It was only then that I realised how close I was standing to him. Jumping back, I stuttered,
"N- no! That isn't what's going on at all!"
"Then why are you two so early today?" Levy asked. Natsu just looked at all of them. His frown was deepening with each thought that seemed to be flitting across his mind. With no warning, he marched to the door.
"Natsu!" I called, taking half a step forward with my arm outstretched.
"Where are you going?" The other guild members asked.
"To get Happy." He snapped, before slamming the door shut. I could feel the questioning glances of the other mages on me, waiting for some sort of insight, but I kept my eyes on the door and offered them none.
It was almost midday and Natsu hadn't returned. My blood was beginning to lose heat.
"Gray, Erza, Wendy. I'm going to find Natsu!" I called, pushing away from the table I was sitting at and walking purposefully to the door.
"Why?" Gray called.
"He stormed out of here earlier this morning." Levy piped up.
"HUH?! Natsu was here before everyone else?" He and Gajeel gaped. I didn't have time for them.
"I'll come with you, Lucy." Erza said, walking behind me. I stopped for a moment, then began walking again, not bothering to reply.
*0*0*0*0*
After packing my pink backpack, I headed to the train station. The chances of Natsu still being in Magnolia Town were pretty slim if nobody had seen him.
"So, Lucy, where are we going?" Gray asked, taking in long strides to catch up with me when I walked past the guild.
"To the next town." I replied briskly. Nobody said anything afterward, sensing my cold determination.
By the time we arrived at the next town, I had begun to have doubts. Natsu's sense of smell was so good it was creepy. What if he had scented us and he decided to bolt? I sank to the ground in the middle of the street, attracting strange glances that I didn't really care about.
"Natsu!" I cried, praying with everything in me that he would hear me. When nothing happened, I rose after a few minutes, and began to walk blindly through the streets, useless tears forming in my eyes. Before I realised, I was running a mindless, blurred path. Thud. I fell back into a wall in what I now noticed was a small alley street. Looking up, I felt my pupils constrict. Standing there in front of me was a young man, of average height, with muscular arms and messy hair, which was spiked at some points. His face was covered in shadow, but I could see a pair of red eyes blinking at me through the darkness and one side of a pair of elongated canines twinkled at me. So much like- I gasped
"Wha-?"