Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry the chapter is late again, I got caught up with stuff at home. Hopefully I will be able to get another chapter out this weekend. No guarantees, but I'll do my best. As always, that you for your continued support. I am happy that so many people are enjoying the story. Feel free to review, comment, or make suggestions. I love hearing from you guys. With that said, enjoy the new chapter.
All credit goes to Hiro Mashima.
It was around midnight when Natsu and the others got to the mayor's house. Natsu lead them to the house, but before he had the chance to knock, Erza stopped him.
"Let me take care of this." Erza offered. "I know you and Lucy were the ones dealing with the mayor before, but we need to be careful how we do this. We don't know how much the mayor knows about the Bosco Covenant. He might be innocent. We have to play this out right."
"Ok," Natsu nodded. "But if he proves to be an enemy, I get to take over.
"Deal." Erza said, turning to the door.
"Mayor Plum!" She yelled while knocking loudly. "There was an incident involving your soldiers and the train, we need to speak to you immediately."
Much to their annoyance, there was no response from inside the building. Erza knocked louder.
"Mayor! I know it's late, but this is an emergency! Please answer your door, it's urgent!" She yelled again.
Once again, there was only silence in response. This angered Natsu greatly.
"It's my turn." Natsu growled, stepping forward. "Plum, answer this door now or I'll break it down!"
Silence.
"You have to the count of 3! 1…..2…..3!" Just as Natsu was going to kick the door in, Gajeel stopped him.
"Did you hear that?" Gajeel whispered.
"Huh?" Natsu stepped back and looked at Gajeel in confusion.
"Listen carefully, I could just barely hear it. It sounds like someone is trying to speak, but it's very faint and muffled."
Natsu closed his eyes and listened. To his surprise Gajeel was right, there was very faint noise coming from inside the house.
"You're right. Someone is in there and they are awake."
"I hear it too!" Wendy whispered, opening her eyes.
"Should we still go in?" Levy asked. "It could be a trap."
"I don't think it's a trap," Jellal replied, "at least I don't think the mayor is setting a trap. Think about it logically. If it was a trap, there would either be no sound at all or it would be louder so that we could all hear it."
"That does make sense." Gray nodded. "Good thinking. It could still be dangerous, but if we are smart about it we could…"
Gray's though was cut off by a crash as Natsu kicked the door down and ran into the mayor's house.
"So much for that idea." Gray sighed.
Erza and Gray were the first two into the building after Natsu, with the rest of the group following close behind. The house was dark and Natsu was nowhere to be seen, though they could hear him crashing about what they believed was the living room.
"Natsu get back here and be quiet." Erza whispered.
"What does it matter Erza, if it's a trap then they already heard us coming." Gray stated, his irritation palpable.
"It would be better if we moved through the house as a group than going on our own." Erza shot back quietly. "Natsu get in here now."
"Fine." Natsu reappeared into the hallway.
"Now, can you still hear any muffled noise?" Erza asked.
Natsu closed his eyes and listened again.
"Yeah, it's coming from upstairs." Natsu opened his eyes and turned to face the staircase. "I can lead us to where the sound is coming from."
"Good. Please take us there, but move slowly, just in case there are any surprises."
Natsu complied with her command and started up the stairs. The noise led them a room at the end of a long hallway that matched the hall that was on the floor below. A low light was shining from the cracks around the door. They stopped outside of the room and without speaking they split into two teams outside on either side of the door way. Erza held up her hand and counted down, 3…2…1.
They burst through the doorway to find the mayor bound and gagged in a chair. Natsu scanned the room and could not see nor scent another person in the room. While Erza, Jellal, and Gray searched the room, more thoroughly, Levy, Wendy, and Juvia went to check on the mayor.
"Mr. Mayor are you ok?" Wendy asked as she removed the gag.
"Yes, I'm fine thank you. Some crazy men dressed in black came in and tied me up. Their voices sounded familiar, but I don't know who they were." Mayor Plum explained frantically as the girls untied him. "Thank you for freeing me. I was trying to yell for you to come in, but with the gag it was hard to speak."
"Understandable." Erza said. "Now you said you were attacked by some people in black? Did you catch or understand anything they were saying?"
"Yes, they said something about the dragon, orders, and stopping the meddling wizards. Like I said, they sounded familiar, but I can't place them." Mayor Plum looked around to the wizards. "Now that I can see you guys more clearly, you guys look a little rough. What happened?"
"The Bosco Covenant happened, that's what." Natsu replied shortly.
"The Bosco what?"
"The Bosco Covenvant." Erza explained patiently. "Apparently they are a dark guild from the bordering country of Bosco. They've been acting as soldiers in town for the past couple months. They are under the orders of the Commander."
"The Commander? That's impossible! He's been nothing but loyal and trustworthy since he and his men have arrived here. He's a good soldier and an even better man!"
"I know this seems very hard to believe considering we are strangers, but you need to believe us!" Erza replied. "He led his men to attack us at the train station."
"I don't believe you!" Mayor Plum shot back hotly.
"Well, better believe us 'cause we're telling the truth!" Natsu yelled. "He and a group of his men attacked our train as it arrived in the station. We were able to fight back against the soldiers, but he blew up the train. He took Lucy and killed one of his own men. If you want we can check the barracks and see if anyone is still there. Even better we can take you to the train station to see what's left of the train, I'm pretty sure the soldier's body is still there!"
"Natsu that's enough!" Erza cut him off. "I believe he got the point." She cleared her throat. "Mr. Mayor, I know that this is hard to believe, but everything Natsu just said is true. The Bosco Covenant has been capturing dragons and killing them. When Natsu and Lucy came to investigate they knew their time was limited, especially since they went back to Magnolia for backup. They attacked our train and took one of our guild members. I'm very sorry to be reporting this to you, but it's true."
"I understand." Plum lowered his head. "I'm sorry for all of this mess. The Commander didn't want me to send out a request for help with the dragon, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt, that's why I asked for wizards. Now that I think about it, if you guys are really telling the truth, then it makes sense, why he didn't want any extra help."
"We are telling the truth." Natsu replied hotly.
"I know, it's just hard to believe." Plum sighed. "I'd say let's check the barracks, but I know what I'll find there and I don't want to waste your time."
"Well, thanks for that." Natsu muttered under his breath, causing Erza to elbow him.
"What can I do to help you?" Plum asked.
"Can you give us any extra information about the soldiers that were stationed here?" Jellal asked. "Any accents or anything out of the ordinary?"
"You know what? They did have a slight Bosconian accent and were good with forestry, but I associated that with living on the boarder." Mayor Plum shook his head. "Like I said, they were trust worthy and I never doubted them for a second. I'm very sorry."
"It's ok." Jellal rested a hand on the mayor's soldier. He looked to Natsu and Erza. "What should we do?"
"The only thing we can do," Erza shrugged, "we go on to Bosco. The soldier said that their headquarters was in Bosco Forest. We can start there."
"Wait!" Wendy cut in. "Shouldn't we go check the cave to see if Vlad is still there or if he was captured? If he's still there we can ask him if he knows anything about the forest and if he's gone, there might be clues."
"Good thinking Wendy." Carla smiled at her.
"Yes, nicely done." Erza nodded in approval. She looked out the window and frowned at the darkness. "Natsu, with it being so late, will we be able to find our way to the cave in this darkness?"
"We can get torches! Every minute we waste here is another minute that those bastards could be hurting Lucy." Natsu all but shouted.
"I know, but I don't think it's a good idea to go charging in blindly. If they know we are here for the dragon, they could be lying in wait for us. As it is, you're still limping. I don't think Wendy every got the chance to look at your ankle. We should stop for now and move on at first light. I'm just as anxious to find Lucy, but we can't save her if we are captured ourselves." Erza reasoned.
Natsu sighed.
"Fine, but I'm leaving at first light for the cave whether you're with me or not."
"Don't worry, we're all with you." Erza said softly. "Come on. Let's find a place to stay. The sooner we get some rest, the sooner we'll be ready to leave."
Author's Note: I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I know it wasn't very actiony (I don't think that's a word, oh well), but the action is coming. Let me know if anyone is too ooc and I'll do my best to fix it. Thanks for the read! Until next time.
