Chapter Ten: Kidnap The Magicteers

Everyone was back on the road. They were almost to Crocus, the same place the dance was being held. Princess Lucy is the host and on that day she had to choose a prince to marry, but the only love she had for was Natsu, the magicteer. Elfman was steering the horses again, Natsu and Lucy were on top, while Gray and Juvia were inside. When they arrived at Crocus, two guards gave them directions to the palace that they were staying at. Gray walked Juvia inside, but she wasn't so pleased.

"I'm sorry about earlier today. I just get a little paranoid sometimes. I promise that I will get stronger."

"You better, we could have gotten killed, but...you're lucky we didn't and I accept your apology. Goodnight, Gray."

"Goodnight."

Gray walked away and waited for Elfman and Natsu. Elfman stood next to Gray. Natsu finally walked the princess inside, but he didn't want to leave her.

"Thank you for saving us, Natsu."

"No problem, your highness. I just wish my fellow magicteers and I were stronger. We could have prevented those bad guys capturing you in the first place."

"It's not a problem at all. You did your best, and you still succeeded."

"Thank you, princess. Your kind words will always help us."

Lucy laughed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The princess was just about to walk away, but she turned back around and kissed Natsu. Then she walked away and entered into a room, with the door slowly closing. Natsu was so happy, he fell to the floor.

The next day, Laxus found out about the failure his minions made and came inside his secret lair.

"I got a problem! Those three knuckleheads are tougher than I thought!"

"Yeah? So?" Gajeel asked.

"So, quit hanging around. We got to change of plans. Now, we have to do a switch over tomorrow night at the dance. Now listen, we're going to have to beat those off one by one."

Later that day, at the castle in Crocus, Lucy was on her bed and Juvia was next to her brushing her hair. Lucy was drawing stick figures of herself and Natsu with hearts everywhere.

"Aww, Lucy and Natsu, such a cute couple together. I can just see it in my dreams."

"You must really love him, don't you?"

"It's like destiny, Juvia."

"Good thing destiny doesn't control my life."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, well, look at me. If I were, I'd probably get stuck with...Mr. Cold."

They both laughed. Outside at Lucy's room, Elfman was guarding outside as a dog. He saw a door open a few feet away and changed back to his original form.

"Oh, oh, bad guys?"

There was a shadow of Natsu's head on the door.

"Uh, attention magicteer Elfman."

"Natsu? Is that you?"

"Uh...uh, yes Magicteer Elfman. I am a need of your assistance."

"You sure are talking funny."

"Uh, I got a bit of...a cold. Yeah that's it."

"Oh, do you need medical assistance? Let me help!"

Elfman ran towards the shadow and it disappeared. Elfman entered a room and saw the shadow again.

"Over here Elfman."

Elfman ran towards it again. He followed it outside and look to his right to see the shadow again.

"Over here."

He followed the shadow again and ran across a bridge. In an alleyway, Lieutenant Evergreen was holding a Natsu shaped head and was impersonating his voice.

"Almost there, Elfman."

Elfman saw the shadow on the wall and it disappeared before he got to it.

"Hello? Natsu, you there? Where did he go?"

All of a sudden, it went dark and a shadow of Evergreen was on the wall and it frightened Elfman.

"Oh oh."

Evergreen got closer to Elfman and knocked him unconscious.

Back, inside the castle, Gray was guarding one area and was practicing his ice magic.

"Okay, what to do. Um… imagine a...sword!"

Nothing happened.

"Dammit. Ice make a sword!"

All the sudden, and I sort appeared in his hand.

"Woah! How did I do that?"

He then heard footsteps around the corner and three guys were wearing what looked like Laxus masks.

"What the…?"

The guys were making weird noises, but it didn't scare Gray away.

"Ah, beat it you guys."

"I told you guys these masks won't work. Let's go a little hardcore." One of the guys said.

The guys took off their masks.

"Hey it's you guys again. Don't move." Gray took out his ice sword that he made and pointed it at them, but the sword vanished.

The bad guys laughed and then had serious faces. They took out the most deadliest weapons ever. Anything you can think of, they had it. It scared Gray and he ran off. He went outside and into a village and jumped into a barrel. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but he sneezed. The bad guys heard it and started rolling the barrel. They opened the barrel later on and tried to grab Gray, but he went out the other way but his head got stuck onto the guillotine wood.

"What the hell is going on?"

He sees pictures of Laxus laughing at Lucy stuck in a cage.

"Oh oh!"

He also sees graves of his friends and himself. Captain Laxus appeared in front of him.

"Captain Laxus?"

"I'm in such a good mood." Laxus pulled the lever and the blade fell. Gray was praying that his ice magic would work and freeze the machine and luckily it did, just barely almost beheading him and it broke into a million pieces and he ran off.

"Come back here you little twerp."

Back at the castle, I was looking for Natsu.

"Natsu, Natsu! Come quick, come quick."

"Happy, woah, slow down. Where are we going?"

"Just follow me, please!"

Natsu to the post that Elfman was supposed to be guarding.

"Elfman isn't here!"

"Well, where is he?"

"I don't know. I can't find it Gray either."

Natsu looked around and found ice on the wall.

"Gray?"

Natsu looked closely at the ice.

"Something strange is going on here."

"Wait, I hear something."

"What do you hear, Happy?"

"Psst!"

"Who's there? You better come out or I'll come after you."

Inside a metal armor, the head came off. It was Gray.

"Gray? What on earth are you doing here? Why aren't you at your post?"

"We need to get you an Elfman out of here before he comes for us."

"Elfman? Where is Elfman? He is not at his post either."

"Oh no, they got him, too."

Gray took Natsu's hand and started running.

"Wait, Gray. Who has Elfman? Why are we running?"

"Captain Laxus has Elfman."

From that point on, Gray was speaking too fast and a lot of gibberish.

"Gray, I didn't understand a single word that you said."

"Agh!"

Gray carried Natsu outside, but Natsu held onto a pillar and Gray accidentally let go, without noticing.

"Gray, wait!"

Gray stopped in his tracks.

"We can't leave our post like this. What would Captain Laxus say?"

"Captain Laxus is the bad guy."

"Captain Laxus is the bad guy? How do you know that?"

" I saw him trying to kill me."

"Did he try to kidnap the princess as well?"

"Exactly!"

"But he made his magicteers."

"It was all part of his plan. He lied to us."

"Well, lie or no lie, we don't run from danger. We can take down Laxus together."

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"Gray, wait. Remember how we saved the princess?"

"Well I...I was hiding."

"Hiding? Well, tonight, you came to warn us and that took courage. Come on, I'll be right beside you, we are friends after all."

"I just can't, I'm sorry." Gray ran away into the darkness.

"Oh no, I can't believe he left us like that."

"It's alright, Happy. He'll come back, I just know it."

"Wait, I smell something fishy, and no it's not the fish this time. It's a evil smell."

"What are you smelling?"

There was an evil laughter behind a pillar. A shadow came out and it was Laxus.

"Well, well, well. If it ain't the one magicteer."

"Captain Laxus, by the power in me, I will arrest you."

"Oh, oh, oh. That's a good one." He laughed. "Well how about this, by the power invested in my fist, I clobber you."

Captain Laxus threw a large punch at Natsu, but it was unavoidable it made Natsu unconscious. Natsu regretted everything.