Hello my dear readers! I'm so sorry that this took so long! I had a school project to do (I'm in 8th grade! Don't yell at me for dumb school crap!) and it was done over the last three days! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!
Chapter 9: Nothing is Ever Easy
The hallway was quite except for the pounding of feet echoing throughout the place. Doors were frantically being flung open by Natsu and Happy. Gray and Erza kept up with them, trying to explain that they should actually search for the girls. What Happy and Natsu were doing, it was definitely not searching. It looked more like they were trying to make the mansion to crumble to the ground by flinging the doors open and harshly slamming them shut after.
"Natsu, stop this nonsense now," Erza yelled as she glared at him. Natsu instantly stopped and turned to face Erza. A look of fear seemed to be plastered to his face. Happy stopped as well and sat on Natsu's head.
"A-Aye," the two stuttered simultaneously. Gray and Erza then stopped walking to catch their breath. Gray sighed as he looked at Erza.
"You couldn't have done that sooner," he questioned. Erza glared at him and Gray instantly shut up. "The girls are probably somewhere we wouldn't look. So, why not check the basement," Erza said. Natsu, Happy, and Gray nodded. The group of four then ran to the basement. There they found a shocking sight.
The floor was covered in blood; some blood was fresh and some of it was old. The room smelt like rust because of all the blood. There were girls throughout the room, they were all alive but most were horribly injured. The girls wore blood soaked clothes and had cuts over their bodies.
"We've come here to save you, Gray and I shall bring you out," Erza said seriously. Erza took a step forward only to step on a trap. An alarm went off and two mages appeared before the group of four. Both mages were in plain black cloak. The one on the left lifted his right hand up and shot out a powerful blast of sand. The mage on the right requipted a sword and ran towards Erza.
Erza quickly grabbed the sword that was at her side and raised it up to defend herself. The two swords clashed and a ring of metal hitting metal could be heard ringing throughout the room. Erza swung her sword only to have it clash the man's sword yet again. Erza and then man then proceeded to fight.
Meanwhile, Natsu was going against the mage that was blasting out sand. They figured out that he used earth magic when the mage had covered his hands in earth. The mage was using his fists to fight. Clanging of metal could still be heard throughout the room. The girls were in a corner, scared for their lives.
"Fire Dragon's Roar," Natsu yelled. He then blew a long line of fire at the mage. The mage jumped out of the way, but his foot was caught in the attack. The black cloaked mage seemed to wince when he put his right foot which was now badly burned on the ground.
"Earth Magic: Spear," the black cloaked mage said. The mage lifted his hands up, when he did a several long and sharp pieces of earth levitated in the air. The mage then slammed his hands onto the ground, which made the spears fly towards Natsu. Natsu dodged most of them, but two of them had given him a few cuts. There was a deep up on the upper part of his left arm and a small cut on his cheek.
"Fire Dragon's Iron First," Natsu yelled, charging at the mage. Natsu's left fist was engulfed in flames right before he made contact with the mage's stomach. The mage wheezed as the air was pushed out of his lungs. The mage slammed into the ground and fainted when his head hit the floor with a sickening crack.
Natsu looked around to see Erza still fighting. Gray had been getting the girls out of the cold basement a little at a time. Happy was helping Gray get the girls out of the basement. Natsu looked back towards Erza just in time to see her deliver the finishing blow to the other mage. Erza had a few cuts and bruises covering her body, but it wasn't something that a day of sleeping couldn't fix. The mage slumped to the floor, his cloak drenched in blood.
"All the girls are out," Gray said. Natsu and Erza faced him, seeing that Happy was standing next to Gray's leg.
"Aye, all the girls are free. Let's go get Lucy and get outta here," Happy said. A smile was on Happy's face at the thought of getting Lucy. Sure he didn't know Lucy that well but he still liked her a lot. Natsu smiled and so did Erza.
"What are you two waiting for? If you keep standing there then I'll find Lucy first," Gray yelled as he ran down the hall. Natsu glared and ran after Gray with Happy and Erza following behind.
"You idiot, I'll find Lucy first! I can smell her scent," Natsu said. Natsu turned left at the first intersection in the halls. He then ran to the end of the hall and slammed the door open.
"Lucy," Natsu yelled. He stared in shock as he looked at Lucy. Erza, Gray, and Happy stood behind Natsu with the same look of shock on his face as they stared at Lucy.
Lucy stood before Sir Evergreen with her Celestial Keys pointed at him. Lucy's hands were trembling and covered in blood. She had bruises and cuts covering her body. There was a pool of crimson red blood at her feet; it was Lucy's own blood. She was panting and struggling to stand up. Taurus stood before Lucy, but was starting to disappear in a golden glow. Lucy then seemed to notice the group of four at the door.
"Sorry… I couldn't get… rid of him," Lucy mumbled. Her knees then gave out and she fell face first into her own pool of blood. The group's eyes widened and Sir Evergreen's maddening laugh echoed throughout the room.
"Lucy!"