The woman's voice echoed through the woods, sending shivers down my spine. Then I heard a giggle which didn't belong to the woman. The dark aura surrounded me, giving off bad vibes. That 'cat' wasn't going to survive for long.

"Lucy! Surrender yourself."

I turned to face the red-haired woman with confidence ringing in my voice. I spoke to her acidly, something she didn't expect.

"ERZA! This isn't the time to be fooling around. Don't scare me like that again." She noticed my sour mood and chuckled to lighten the mood. "It was just a joke, Lucy. Here, your keys."

I brightened up at the word, and crawled to her, hugging her long slender legs. "Thanks, Erza." I smiled. I let go of her, and faced that annoying cat.

"STUPID CAT! DON'T GO OFF SCARING ME LIKE THAT!"

"Luu-ccy's s-sca-ared..."

"I'm not! Shut up you damn cat!" I flushed.

"Erza, what happened to you?" i looked at her. She seemed bruised and cut, like she'd been in a serious battle.

"We were all defeated in an instant, Lucy. We need your help."

"Huh? Who defeated you?"

"That guild's master. Elastic... Fare. He had the same mark as Misha."

"Misha... You saw her other mark? Now that I think about it, she did belong to Elastic Fare before she joined us. Rather, her fake join. How did you know?"

"She hid it in a very different way. It was on the nape of her neck. We were having our usual scandal at the guild when she was turned upside down. I was behind her, and am the only person who saw the mark. She is angry about that, so when she came to know, she threatened me. That was not bad, but Natsu threatened me too, after that."

I was stunned. Natsu, threatened Erza? For what? From what I could see, he was not in cahoots with Misha and her gang. Or was he?

No, no that was not possible. No way was that possible. But then I remembered it. He made a deal with Misha which she didn't keep up. Does that mean he betrayed Fairy Tail. He couldn't... he loved the guild..

And oh, the deal was about not harming someone dear to him. How could I forget about that? Was I doubting Natsu? The one I finally developed feelings for?

I felt guilty and confused. Guilty because of doubting Natsu, even if it was for just a moment. I felt confused because I couldn't think of a reason for him to threaten Erza.

I was angry with him for that. No matter the reason, he shouldn't have threatened Erza. She was a great friend even if what she did sometimes wasn't very pleasing. And she could get really scary. I didn't want to remember the times.

But when it came to her friends, Erza would never do something to harm them, or even hurt them on purpose. She was one of the most supportive people I knew... knowing Erza so well, I could say that. She was one you could trust.

Natsu was in serious trouble... he better be prepared. I won't let this slide without an explanation from him. But the very next moment, I chuckled. How did he even threaten Erza? He'd have to be scarier than Erza to be able to do that. Meaning, Erza would have been scared of him in that moment.

Natsu could be intimidating, yes, but only in front of an enemy, well, mostly. The thought of Natsu threatening Erza, and she obliging with it, or even getting backed into a corner to do it, was spine chilling.

I broke out my trance after what seemed like a few many seconds.

"I'll tell you everything to you in detail later, Lucy, if you don't already know about it. Just go defeat that master. I heard their lackeys saying only you could beat him. He's too strong for us."

It was a little shocking, that coming from Erza.

"Happy!" Erza called.

"Aye, sir!"

I took my keys from Erza and Happy flew me to the guild.

Okay, this was serious. I had magic power remaining because of the spell, and I was not sure if my physical condition was good enough if it came to a fist-fight.

Happy dropped me off outside the guild and went back to fetch Natsu. Indeed, that would be a great help. I faced the guild hall, which had things strewn about in every possible manner, my guildmates lying on the floor, all of them covered with bruises. Some of them tried to get up, but it seemed to be all in vain.

I made my way through, trying to ignore the saddening sight in front of me. I'd just have to take care of this 'Lucius' person, and then my friends would be safe.

Just a little while, and all would go back to normal... Elastic Fare... they wouldn't get away with hurting my friends. Determination was set in stone on my face. I would defeat him. I couldn't lose...