A few days had passed, and things had more or less gone back to normal. Natsu and Happy brawled like idiots, Natsu kept challenging Erza to challenges and losing, and Happy kept begging to see Lucy's 'shiny red butt', followed by either a chase scene or completely KOing Happy. The only thing really different was Gray. He was being far nicer and more accommodating, both at home and at the guild. Now that he knew where her drinking habits came from, he offered to get the beer each night in lieu of her, even though it was originally his idea for her to do the shopping when agreeing to let her stay. Which was something Lucy asked him about while walking towards the guild one day.

"I'm just saying," Lucy told Gray, "That was one of the things you made me do in order to live rent free."

"Well I thought it would be nice if I took that burden off your hands," Gray said, carrying a bag of sake for the other idiot guildmembers, "You're welcome."

"I just don't see why it's that one," Lucy said, "Why not one of the harder labor tasks like pulling weeds or moving heavy equipment?"

Gray wouldn't tell her this, but the reason for that was because the more manual labor made her sweat. Which in turn meant Lucy would shower once she was done. And as Gray learned after the first awkward encounter after one of Lucy's showers, her vanilla perfume seeped off into the towel she used to dry herself off. He wasn't yet bold enough to smell her directly.

The thoughts of Lucy's aromic scent disintegrated when they both approached the guild. It was quiet. Too quiet. There should have been loud rambunctious noises, either from a keg party or a duel between guildmembers. Neither one of those scenarios were occurring. Gray opened the door to find that the inside was just as quiet.

"Hello?" asked Gray, "Anyone home? Hello?"

No responses. This shouldn't have been happening.

"Anybody here?" asked Lucy.

"Oh, is that you, Lucy?" came a voice from behind.

Gray and Lucy turned to see Makarov, the elderly guild master, coming in from the entrance. The old man was more than twice as small as Lucy, and had to bend his neck upwards to see her.

"Where is everyone?" asked Lucy.

"Do we have a day off or something?" asked Gray.

"I did give everyone the day off," Makarov said, "Except for you, Lucy. You're needed elsewhere."

"Why her?" asked Gray.

"A very special someone has asked for Lucy alone to complete a very important job," Makarov replied, brushing his hand through his gray mustache.

"What job is that?" she asked.

Makarov cleared his throat, "It states, and I quote...come home."

In less than a second, Makarov sent Gray flying into the wall, nearly breaking it.

That's not the old man's magic, Gray thought, That's not the old man at all!

"Lucy, run!" screamed Gray, "He's an imposter!"

In confusion, Lucy turned to face Gray just as the fake Makarov head-butted her in the stomach. Lucy clutched her stomach in pain just as the fake Makarov flipped her onto her back. He would have clobbered Lucy in the face were it not for Gray charging at him with ice attacks.

"I'm gonna stall him!" shouted Gray, "Just run!"

"Can't happen, boy," the fake Makarov said, "I'm not leaving without the girl."

Lucy ran into the cellar as Gray battled the imposter. She nearly sneezed a couple times as the battle upstairs sent dust and sand falling down from in between the wood above her. She pushed several boxes aside to get as deep into the cellar as possible. She curled up into a fetal position, waiting for the action to end. She really regretted having left her Celestial keys back at her old home; they could have come in handy.

Gray, she thought, Don't let them take me.

She had heard, a little too late, the sound of a vortex opening up from the wall behind her. Before she could see who had come out, she had been struck across the head and everything for her went black.

Upstairs, the fake Makarov was being significantly worn down. His fake magic was no match for Gray's ice magic. The first blast he used to send Gray into the wall was merely catching Gray by surprise. The scars left on his face slowly peeled away the fake mirage being used, slowly revealing someone else's face, though not entirely.

"Isaac! We've got her!"

Both Gray and the fake Makarov, who apparently was named Isaac, turned and saw a woman made completely of shadow emerge from the wall. The only part of her that was not shadow was her eye and mouth, both of which were glowing yellow. And slumped over her shoulder was Lucy, whose arms and legs swayed as the mysterious shadow woman walked towards them.

"We've got what we came here for, Isaac," she said, "Now let's go."

"Not so fast, Inez," Isaac said, "There's one other matter to take care of."

Without warning, Gray was blasted through the entrance of the building, sliding across the stone pavement and crashing into a line of crates. Some of the scratches left on his body began to bleed, as evident as the blood trail following him left on the ground. As soon as he got up, he could see Natsu, Happy, and Erza running towards him.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Erza, "Why is the entrance destroyed?"

"And why weren't we invited?!" screamed an appalled Natsu.

"This wasn't a keg party, you idiot!" snapped an angry Gray, "It was a kidnapping! Two people showed up and took Lucy!"

"Lucy's gone?" gasped Happy, "But why?"

"My question is, who were they?" asked Erza.

"Apparently their names are Isaac and Inez," Gray replied, "And Isaac disguised himself as the old man."

"Master Makarov?" asked Erza, "Just what kind of mage can imitate him like that?"

"I don't know what their magic truly is," Gray replied.

Gray turned towards the ruined entrance of the guild, seeing the damage that had been done.

"But I have a pretty good idea of who they're working for..."

The green fields of the Heartfilia estate were long and seemingly endless, making the return journey that much more difficult. The stone path leading up to the mansion was equally as long, but much more dreadful.

"Let's just get this over with," Isaac moaned, "I can't stand this dick."

"He's our employer," Inez said, carrying an unconscious Lucy over her shoulder.

"Still a dick," Isaac said as he rang the doorbell.

The ridiculously tall door to the mansion was opened not by the usual maid or servant, but by Jude Heartfilia himself. He wanted to make absolutely sure none of the other servants knew he hired two mercenaries, both powerful mages, neither of them belonging to any guild, to bring his daughter back home. Nor did they know what his intentions were. The tall, mustachioed man looked down on the two mercenaries, one of whom had his daughter slumped over her shoulders.

"The package as requested, sir," Inez said, "Alive and unharmed."

"Take her up to her room," Jude said coldly, "And wait for me in my office to discuss compensation. I have something immediate to attend to first."