Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews! I always enjoy reading them and they keep me motivated to try and update quicker! Well Sorry this update took so long I've been helping my uncle settle back into his normal routine.
As always sorry for the grammar/spelling errors I do try re-reading but after the third time I'm done with it!
Chapter Nine
(Gray's point of view)
There were so many of them, honestly not even Lucy could have seen this one coming. Natsu being the idiot he was probably just seal our fate. If Natsu even managed to make it through this chaos. I felt my body being slammed into the side of a random shop building stealing the breath from me. Of course the guy didn't loosen his hold from my shirt, instead he just slammed me into the building repeatedly until I was sure my lungs had given up on me. Once he dropped his hold on me my body instantly connected with the ground and the weird guy standing in front of me made some crackling sound resembling that of a laugh. Before I could even catch my breath his metal boot collided with my side and a cracking noise could be heard even by my ears. No doubt about it the guy broke some of my ribs on the right side.
"Give it up ice boy ain't no way outta this alive, but ya know we need the little star mage so less work for us in the long run." He let out another crack of laughter throwing his head back to show just how amusing he thought the whole thing was.
"What do you want with Lucy?!" Each word sent a searing pain through my chest as I held in the cough that crawl up my throat.
"Lucy so that's her name, ya know I'm really lookin' forward to meeting your Lucy I heard she's a real beauty." The disgusting man smirked licking his lips, there was no way I was gonna let this filthy scrum bag get Lucy.
"Yeah well you're gonna have to get through me first." Standing up I placed a hand on my right side encasing it in ice to help stop the bleeding and help numb the pain. "No way in hell am I gonna let you have Lucy." I crouched slightly feeling my magic cool the air around us.
I knew I would have to take this guy down fast he still hasn't revealed his magic but I could feel a strong aura of magic oozing off of him. I was running on my last bit of magic after dealing with three other goons before I got caught up with this one. I needed to take him out quickly and let Lucy know they were after her as well, though I had no idea why they wanted her. Maybe I could get the guy to reveal some of intel he had. I didn't know where Natsu was but the flame brain was on his own now. He jeopardized our mission and now our enemy knew we were here. I felt a little bad leaving Natsu to these guys but if they wanted Lucy then I needed to worry about her first and foremost. Natsu was strong and wouldn't go down without a fight. Right now I needed to focus.
Taking a deep breath I tried thinking through every possibility. The guy stood a whole foot taller than me, he was built like Elfman and hit just as hard as him as well. He had an eye patch over his right eye along with a metal leg, maybe if I attacked from the right in his blind spot and went for his leg it would give me the advantage. It was kind of a dirty way of fighting but I didn't have many options and I really needed to get back to Lucy. With some sort of plan in mind I take another deep breath and hope this goes somewhat as planned unlike this mission.
"Why do you need Lucy?' I huffed trying to get any information out of him.
"She summons spirits we need a certain spirit and she's gonna summon it. Shame though it might kill her in the process guess I'll have to have some fun with her beforehand." He threw his head back laughing. "You don't need to know the rest since you're gonna be dead." He stopped his laughing and quickly adjusted his stance.
I waited a moment letting the man before me make the first move, I didn't want him to get a chance to use magic once I got close enough. The man started charging at me his shoulders slumped and arms at the ready for what would end up as him tackling me. I stayed rooted in place waiting for the right moment to step out of his direction and line of sight. Once he was close enough I bent my body down and swivel to the right catching his leg with my arm and twisting hard disconnecting the metal leg from his body. His body hit the ground with a loud thump and I quickly called on my magic. Placing my palms on his back I encased him in many thick layers of ice so he wouldn't be able to catch up with me and find where Lucy was. Standing back up I felt the pain in my side, even with the layer of ice I applied it still ached. I took a deep breath glancing down at the man again to make sure he wouldn't be moving any time soon. Not truly sure if he would break the ice that held him captive I decided to make a few ice cages around him just in case. Feeling a little better about it I turned away from the creep and ran quickly as I could back to where Lucy was.
I ran back the way I came hoping the path would be clear since I already took of out the people I happened upon. I didn't have any time to waste trying to fight off anymore of our enemies and I could only hope Natsu was strong enough to deal with the ones he encountered. Reaching the edge of the town I could see the tree line where Lucy hopefully would still be. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I seen the blonde leant against a tree. She handed Freed back a communication lacrima before attempting to stand. Her legs shook slightly still trying to regain strength back from the attack I hit her with. I felt horrible when my magic hit her instead of Natsu, I was so pissed at the pink haired idiot for hurting Lucy and I ended up doing the same thing.
It was easy to forget that Lucy couldn't handle the brunt of our magic. Natsu's flames never seemed to really burn me thanks to my magic and my ice never seemed to really freeze Natsu. Erza had her regular armor altered shortly after our team formed so if she ever got caught up in our fights our magic wouldn't affect her. Not to mention Erza already had special armors that were more than capable for dealing with our magic should we get out of control. Lucy though she had no way of defending off our magic and we easily forgot it.
I took a quick glance behind me to make sure no one had followed me I didn't want to give away Lucy's location. Once I was certain no one followed I ran the rest of the way to Lucy before she could try and go fight off the enemy. Knowing Lucy she already had some sort of plan in mind and would see the mission through no matter what. This mission though wasn't something we could risk Lucy doing and there was the issue if this mission was even within our abilities. Sure Team Natsu was strong but we weren't S-Class, Erza was S-Class but even she knew better than to take Natsu out on a S-Class mission.
"Lucy!" I ran up to her reaching out to steady her a bit better. "We can't stay here we need to get you back to the guild now! This dark guild that's involved are after you, they need you to summon some spirit for them." Everything came out in a rush as I tried to pull the blonde with me back down the path we came from.
"Gray hold on!" She raised her voice slightly pulling her wrist from my grasp. "We can't leave Natsu and Happy behind!" She gave me one of her looks that showed how determined she was and I groaned knowing that she had her mind made up.
"Lucy please don't do this don't give me that damn look! If they get you and force you to summon this spirit it could fucking kill you! Damn it Lucy don't put yourself in danger over that shit head! Natsu charged in knowing that this mission was dangerous. If it makes you feel better I'll stay here and look for him but you need to go back to the guild. It's not safe and too risky for you to be here." I tried to talk some sort of sense into her but I knew it was pointless.
Lucy wasn't one to have her mind changed once she decided on something. Though Natsu was an idiot that always put us in this kind of danger Lucy would never abandon him, even for her own safety. After all Natsu was the one who brought her to Fairy Tail. All we really knew about Lucy before joining Fairy Tail was she had been traveling looking for keys and wanting to join a wizard guild. She didn't belong anywhere before. Natsu happened to find her and bring her to our guild and she quickly became an important member of our family. Team Natsu also started with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy before Erza and I joined in. I knew no matter what I told her nothing would convince her to leave him behind for her own safety.
(Freed's point of view)
"Lucy-san please forgive me but I must agree with Gray. We know nothing of our enemy other than what little your crow spirit found out. We can't put you in harm's way especially when it's you they wish to have." I knew that somehow we needed to get Lucy out of here I promised Laxus that I would keep her safe if she were captured they I would be failing him.
I didn't know Lucy well but she seems like quite the intelligent young lady and she truly is a very gifted mage. She even seemed interested in Laxus and she had no idea he was the master's grandson. Above all Laxus was interested in her. I knew he had been enraged when he found out about her team-mates attacking her even though it had been an accident. In that moment I felt like I had already failed my dear friend but if we couldn't get Lucy out of here then no doubt I truly would fail in keeping the blonde safe.
"Freed I know you and Gray mean well, really I do, but I can't leave Natsu and Happy out there." She sighed reaching for her keys. "If it's intel we need then it Grandpa Crux who should have our answers." She pulled out a silver key and quickly but calmly called out the spirit of the Southern Cross.
"Lucy-sama," The spirit simply nodded his head seeming to already understand what the blonde needed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
I felt my eyes widen slightly did he really just fall asleep during such an important time. Lucy and Gray didn't seem the bit surprised by the spirit's actions. I didn't understand what was happening, clearing my throat Lucy glanced at me and giggled.
"Oh that's right you haven't seen Crux research before. Remember I told you yesterday how Crux can research anything when he enters into a deep sleep." I recalled yesterday evening when I first met this spirit and remember her telling Laxus and I this.
"Yes it must have slipped my mind sorry if I've interrupted." I spoke quietly not wanting to disturb the spirit while he searched for much needed answers. "If you will excuse me for a moment I shall check the runes and make some modifications for your safety Lucy-san."
"Thank you Freed maybe we should expand the area we are limited to if it isn't too much trouble since we may need to camp here." She said softly before taking a few steps to a nearby tree to sit.
"Allow me to help you Lucy-san." I reached out to steady the blonde helping her sit with her back against the tree for support. "I'll be back once I've checked everything." She simply nodded and smiled closing her eyes.
Putting some distance between the other two mages and myself I walk to the edge of the rune barrier and pull out my communication lacrima. I needed to contact Laxus on this matter. Lucy was now endanger and her life was on the line. I didn't know all the details yet but Laxus needed to know how drastic the situation had change in a few short moments. He would probably be irritated with me calling him again so soon and once I explained the issue with Lucy his mood would only worsen. Taking a deep breath I poured a small amount of magic into the lacrima and focused it on Laxus while saying his name. A few moments went by before the lacrima lit up and revealed an furious Laxus.
"What the fuck do you want?" He seethed as the very annoying face of the guild's local playboy peeks around Laxus.
"Oh if it isn't your favorite fanboy Freed." Loke snickered. "Am I interrupting something between you two?" He raised an eyebrow causing Laxus to lose his anger and strike him with his lightning, Loke screeched as he fell to the floor unconscious.
"I'm going to kill this fucking idiot." Laxus growled rubbing his temples. "What do ya need Freed? I believe we just spoke a few minutes ago."
"Right you are Laxus-sama but the situation has changed drastically since we spoke. It seems while Gray tried to collect Natsu he ran into one of the stronger members of the dark guild. The man told Gray that they were rather happy that Lucy-san took this job since they need her. Gray was vague on the details but it would appear that they need Lucy-san to summon a spirit and the summoning could kill her. I'm not sure how to continue from here Laxus-sama." I sighed watching as his expression changed from one of annoyed anger to unreadable.
"Where is she right now?" He asked as his eyes searched the area around me.
"She is with Gray resting as her spirit of the Southern Cross searches for answers. She is very determined to stay and finish the mission. Forgive me Laxus I feel like I'm failing horribly on this mission and I don't quite understand what I should do. As a member of the Raijinshu I know I must finish the mission failure isn't an option. However I don't want to put Lucy's life on the line in order to complete this mission. You asked me to watch out for her Laxus and I don't know how to do that with the way things stand. It doesn't help that we've no idea where that nitwit Natsu ran off to. I'm out of my element here, how Lucy manages to work with these fools through every mission is beyond me." I stopped suddenly realizing that I had started to rant other then attempt to get some advice. "Apologies Laxus I didn't mean to interrupt your mission with irrelevant matters."
A few minutes went by as Laxus processed through everything I knew at the moment. I've known the man for a long time and I couldn't seem to get a read on his thoughts. I knew he would be worried about Lucy whether he wanted to admit it or not. If it were up to me we would be leaving this moment and get Lucy back to the guild. She needed to be protected and even with the rune barrier that would keep our enemies at bay there was no way for the three of us to fend off an entire dark guild plus the bandits. If were the Raijinshu we could do it easily only because we knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. We spent many hours of the day training so we could work flawlessly together and know the others movements without needing any sort of communication. Lucy's team didn't seem to have any sort of function. They would be a far more capable team if they would listen to Lucy's plans, the girl truly was smart and could quickly formulate and adjust her plan of action without complicating the mission. Really if Team Natsu would just go through with one mission according to the blonde they wouldn't destroy nearly as much.
"What is your location?" I was pulled from my thoughts as Laxus' voice broke through the silence.
"We are on the outskirts of Acalypha Town." I answered.
"I'm in Onibus my mission shouldn't take too long try to keep blondie out of trouble until I can get there. I'll contact the geezer and let him know about the change in your mission also if Natsu shows up make sure he isn't being controlled. Just to be safe you might want to adjust your runes. Contact Bicks and Ever let them know what's happening and see where they are, if they can have them head your way as well." I nod my head but before I could reply I heard Lucy scream as the air began to chill and an icy snow began to fall.
"Freed watch out!" I turned my head to see Lucy running towards me clutching her side as blood seeped through her fingers. "Get down!" She screeched her body colliding with mine cause me to drop the lacrima as we fell to the dirty ground.
I watched horrified as a man with a eye patch and a metal leg appeared from thin air, spinning a knife around in his hand he crackled with laughter as he slashed out connecting the knife with Lucy's flesh. I couldn't do anything as the blade cut through her shirt and into her back causing the blonde to cry out. I didn't know how this man breached my barrier I didn't feel any disturbance. Quickly as the man appeared he vanished, as gently as I could I moved Lucy off of me trying to examine her wounds. The cut in her side being the deeper of the two, I knew that we needed to stop the bleeding but we weren't safe here. Not knowing what to do I panicked as Lucy's breathing started to become uneven.
"Freed w-we need to m-move. T-teleport somewhere s-safer. C-Crux said P-Phoenix." Before she could finish she fell unconscious, I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me.
"Well, well Little Lucky Lucy I never would've thought that was the Lucy we needed." The man from before appeared again holding an unconscious Gray by the throat. "I don't know whether I should give her to the master, keep her for myself, or trade her in for fucking randsom." He crackled tossing Gray aside his body crashed into a nearby tree and the man stepped towards us. "Maybe I'll just do all three, it's not very often such a beauty falls into my grasp." He took another step taking out a knife that was coated in blood he licked the end of it. "Lucky for you pretty boy they want you alive." He suddenly disappeared leaving me open for any attack I reached for my rapier but I wasn't quick enough.
I felt the knife sink into my shoulder as the man twisted the handle causing the muscles to tear and bone to crack. It couldn't end like this. I pleaded with my body to move to fight back but my body wouldn't obey. I felt my eyelids grow heavy as I hit the ground I seen the lacrima I had been using moments before. Laxus still on the other end watching with wide and shocked eyes as we were all defeated by one man. The lacrima finally shut off from lack of magic connection on one end and the last thing I remember before the darkness claim me was the name Heartfilia.
XXX
Well everyone I'm back and I hope you enjoyed the update. First off let me clear up something about the locations and towns in Fiore. I'm not too sure where Acalypha is located all I know is that it is believed to be within walking distance of Magnolia according to chapter 129/130. So I'm only making an assumption though!
So I think it's safe to say from this point on things are going to get serious. Sorry for any errors I only briefly scanned through this chapter, if you notice any horrible mistakes feel free to let me know and I'll try to correct it.
Well let me know what you think about the update I love reading your reviews!
**MidnightsFireflies**
