The group went back into the mansion holding bundles of clothes, Erza seething over being tricked. There was a silent tension around the group. Ms. Spetto opened the door with a confused expression on her face, looking at the mages with dresses and tuxedo's slung over their shoulders and the slightly emotionless faces. They dumped everything into a pile in the entrance.
Everyone was silent for a moment, standing around the pile of clothes. "So will we have to wear them or not?"
Nobody gave an answer until Erza spoke up. "Well have to check carefully for binding or tracking spells first." she was grinding her teeth together and her fists were clenched. Never trick Erza. That was the rule that everyone learned when she first met her.
Ms. Spetto pressed her lips together. "Um, there's a call from your guild waiting for you, Lucy. they just called as you left." The blonde perked up. "In the study." The group followed Lucy's quick pace down a hallway or two then opened the door to the study. It was a room run with books and shelves, nearly covering all of the dark blue walls. There was a desk with an inkpot on top, a comfy chair beside it, and another smaller table with a clear orb sitting on a stand.
Lucy and the others rushed up to the communication lacryima. The blonde pressed the button and a dozen faces peered through the ball, including a dozen raised voices. "Hey Team Natsu and Team Kura, how's it going!" they all cried at the same time. Lucy smiled. There were the Strauss siblings Lisanna, MiraJane and Elfman, a slightly tipsy Cana, Wakaba and Macao, Romeo and Wendy standing next to each other waving, and her best friends Levy, Juvia and Charle. Everyone was smiling.
"Hey guys!" The group replied simultaneously. The people inside the orb quieted down and moved further out of the line of vision so Master Makarov could peer at the group.
"How's the mission going?" he asked gruffly.
"Good. We are getting closer to Damien and Eric every day." Erza explained to him what had happened since then, leaving out certain details so Natsu wouldn't hear. Master sent a knowing glance at him.
"That's good to hear. So you'll all be going to Aceto's ball in two days?"
"Aye!" Happy cried.
"They said we would see them there, so they must be waiting for us." The Knight said. "but we will be careful and follow their smell too in case they try and trick us."
Lucy butted in. "I'm sorry, but Master, how did you guys know where to send the call?" Makarov's face darkened.
"We got mail from these villains too. A man underneath a spell stumbled in the guild, handed the note to Mira, and then collapsed on the floor. He woke up minutes later and said he didn't know how he'd gotten there. He lived in a nearby village, took a nap, and suddenly woke up here, at the Guild." Everyone's eyes widened.
"Would it be the FDC device?" Kura asked, knowing that Lucy couldn't open her mouth on this case. Everyone looked at Natsu, or shifted their eyes off of the Celestial Spirit mage on the other end of the line. Natsu'd had the most experience with the FDC, along with Lucy, since he was the one controlled by it for a short period of time before it was destroyed.
"This man didn't remember how he'd gotten there? Then I'd say no, he wasn't controlled. I remembered everything, like how I'd hurt Lis—...Lisanna." Everybody noted the crack in his usually strong voice but no one made a move on it.
"Then it must have been a hypnotizing spell." Master mused. "But anyway, we knew you were here because..." he looked behind him. "Someone get me the note." Mira ran off and returned seconds later, handing it to the short man.
"HELLO FAIRIES," Makarov read. "HOW ARE YOU? I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE PRECIOUS PAPER ON FORMALITIES. YOUR GROUP WILL BE AT THE HEARTFILIA MANSION BY THE TIME YOU GET THIS NOTE. HAVE SOME CHAT TIME WITH THEM. THEY HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED MORE DARK SECRETS ABOUT EACH OTHER AND THEIR GROUP IS READY TO TEAR APART. FROM, DAMIEN AND ERIC." He stopped reading, looking up at the tense Fairies. Silence filled the air.
"Could I talk to Lisanna? I haven't seen her in awhile." Natsu asked slowly, breaking the silence. Everyone held their breaths as the Take-Over mage pushed through the crowd. Natsu smiled, but it quickly turned into a pout.
"Alone?" he narrowed his eyes through the orb and then turned to look at his companions. They backed off. The group exited the room quietly.
"Lucy, it's okay." Kura rubbed the blonde's back. The Stellar Spirit was hiccupping, trying to keep the tears out of sight but failing miserably. Once she'd judged herself far enough from Natsu's good hearing she burst into a dash, trying to get as far away from the study room as she could. She didn't know Kura had followed her to where her mother's gave once was, sitting in plain sight but where she thought nobody would find her.
Kura had looked down at the crying girl, curled up into a ball on the side of a path. She had pushed her limp body up and let her hiccup and snot all over her vest, patting and rubbing her back. At first, Lucy held back the tears, but eventually she had just given up trying to push Kura out of the way and burst into a wet mess.
Erza and Aiko found the two and sat down next to them, the Knight picking up Lucy with her bare hands and placing her into her lap. Aiko flew over their shoulders. Erza hugged the girl tightly and put her head resting on Lucy's shoulder, and the poor girl clutched on like the Knight was a lifeline. They didn't speak, but knew that they would be there for one another and help Lucy through these sad, sad times.
Somebody closed the girl behind him, leaving the study empty except him and Lisanna. He spoke up first. "Hey Lisanna! I miss you." he smiled, glad that he saw her face again. It'd be even better if he saw it in real life, but this would have to do.
The Take-Over mage let out a slight, shaky smile. "Yeah. I— uh... miss you too." Natsu instantly targeted the tense note in her voice and asked her about it.
"Hey, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" He was instantly concerned. Lisanna was always cheery and an optimist. The tone in her voice wasn't saying that now.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Natsu didn't believe her.
"No, seriously, what's going on over there? Did somebody make you upset?" Natsu scowled, imagining running over there as fast as he could so he could snap their heads off. Anyone who made his guildmates upset would get a good beating. Anyone who made his girlfriend upset would be killed.
"No, no!" Lisanna breathed deeply. "T-there's just... something I gotta tell you."
He blinked. "Yeah?"
Lisanna took in a breath. "Natsu..."
"Mmm hmm?" the Dragon Slayer smiled.
"I'm... breaking up with you." Natsu didn't get it the first second.
"wha-... what?" His voice cracked. The beautiful Take-Over mage shook her head as she reached down and pressed the off button. The orb turned clear again, the connection broken. he stared at it for a few seconds.
He couldn't speak, he couldn't even breathe. His throat closed up and his lungs shriveled. There was an empty hole in his chest, feeling like he was shot in the heart. He clutched onto his scarf, fingers clenching at the scaly material, wide-eyed as he felt the pain in his chest.
Natsu knew there was a word for it. Heartbreak. He'd never expected it to happen to him. Heck, he'd never thought he'd get a girlfriend. A mate that caused him enough pain to last him a lifetime. Take fighting Hades, no, take eating Etherion and times it by a hundred. That's what it felt like, that gaping hole in his chest. Add a billion-hour train-ride or two. He'd never experienced such pain.
He felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. Before he collapsed, he rushed to the window, opened it, and jumped, landing on his feet and running for the hills.
Natsu vowed would never trust his heart to anyone again.
Lisanna cut the connection quickly. Taking in a deep breath, she leaned back on the counter for support. Everyone, watching from a distance, was quiet. Mira went to help her little sister, who found tears forming in her eyes even though everything was fake.
She knew she'd had to do it eventually. She couldn't watch the pained expression on Lucy's face if she continued. Sure, she'd had a crush on the Fire Dragon Slayer when she was younger, but once she returned from Edolas she'd found that Natsu had found a new female partner. The crush quickly faded, seeing those two.
Everyone knew they were perfect for one another except them. When Lucy came back from the first mission with Damien, bandaged and casted thoroughly, but came back alive with Team Natsu and Kura, Aiko and Ren, and then shortly started dating Natsu; it wasn't a surprise. Everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later, they possibly just needed a push before the two started going for the other.
Of course, finding out Lisanna was 'dating' Natsu was a surprise.
"We know. Damien is somehow alive and took Natsus memories. But we'll find the antidote." Erza, beside Lisanna waiting outside the stall Lucy was crying in, said.
Lucy's voice spoke out shakily from the stall. "We'll just have to lie to him and go along with it. And we'll find Damien, no matter what it takes."
Lisanna bit her lip. "That mean's I'll be dating Natsu." There was a slight shock to it. Even though she's had a crush on him before, she wasn't feeling so good. Her stomach twisted nervously.
"Yeah. We can't tell him that I'm actually his girlfriend since he doesn't even remember me. It'll be forced if it happens. The only solution is for you to be what he thinks you are." Lucy's voice cracked.
"I can't do that. You're the one meant for Natsu. I may have been his childhood friend, but things have changed." Lisanna protested. It was true. She had no feelings for Natsu other than him being a friend. The past was the past.
"Well, break up with him. You're officially dating him now." the Take-Over mage heard Lucy get up and the door was pushed open. Lisanna inwardly winced. The blonde looked terrible. Her eyes were ringed red and her hair was slightly disheveled. "I'm gonna tell Master what happened and hopefully call a meeting." She said dully, moving past the two guarding the door, looking at the mirror hesitantly before exiting the bathroom.
The Take-Over mage hadn't forgotten the hopelessness she got a glance of in the mirror. A hollow-eyed look of despair. She couldn't keep dating Natsu, even though it wasn't really dating, and she didn't have feelings for him.
Dumping Natsu was harder than she'd thought.
"'You feeling okay?" Mira asked. Lisanna let out a shaky laugh, wiping away her wet eyes.
"Yeah! I don't know why I'm crying though." She said.
Master hobbled up to the girls and used his magic to climb up on a table. "You are just feeling empathetic. You feel Lucy's pain as well as yours. I am concerned for them though," he admitted.
Lisanna wiped her eyes, let out a shaky gasp and cleared her throat. "I'm fine now."
"Good." Mira smiled.
Ms. Spetto opened the door for Lucy, Kura and Erza, knowing exactly where Lucy would go and her friends would follow, but letting them take care of it. She sent a knowing smile at the two comforting the girl.
"You can sleep in the guest rooms tonight. Get some sleep. You'll need it. Third hallway, second door to the left." Ms. Spetto watched as the two knights' helped Lucy walk, whose legs looked like jelly. They disappeared around the corner.
Gray and Ren waited outside the study for Natsu to open the door or give them a signal for them to go back in. As soon as Lucy broke off, the girls left to follow her, leaving the guys behind.
Ren leaned against the wall, and Gray sat, leaning against the heavy oak double doors. "Oi, what's taking Flamebrain so long?" Gray muttered, trying to start some conversation between the two. Ren didn't answer, so the Ice mage shut up.
The non-mage suddenly stood. "Up." he commanded. Gray got up, confused. Ren pushed the doors open and Gray peered inside. Nobody was there, but a window was open, letting cool air blow around the curtain slightly. The communication lacryima was turned off.
"How'd you know?" the Ice alchemist asked, looking over at the darker-skinned man.
"Good hearing. Comes with lots of hunting." Ren walked inside. "It's not as good as the Dragon Slayer's but it works." He looked around. "Seems he ran through the window."
Gray scowled. Natsu running away..? It didn't seem realistic in his mind somehow. Even though they fought a lot, Gray was still the Fire Dragon Slayer's best male friend, and Natsu leaping out the window after talking with Lisanna was strange.
Talking with... it clicked. "Oh," he said softly, feeling slightly empathetic for his friend. Lisanna had dumped him, even though they weren't actually dating. That must have been a hard blow to his pride.
Gray looked out the window to look for his friend. Unfortunately, he was already gone. The sun was beginning to set also, so the Ice mage turned back, leaving the window open so he could climb back in again later. Ren followed him, and they headed to the guest rooms.
Despite what Gray thought, nobody saw Natsu that night.
WAHHH! Now I feel bad. Doing this to them! I feel guilty. *pouts* Is it weird that I keep writing 'Dragon Slapper' rather than 'Dragon Slayer?' lol i'm weird.
For my constant review-ee, Dyeni: yes, I trolled and now i'm a heart-breaker! I feel so devious and so bad at the same time. yes, Erza's P-I-S-S-E-D. I hope this chapter's satisfactory!
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but press the review button, and Review, maybe? ;3
