10. Enemies?

"This town… it wasn't even labeled on our map. Who knows how long these bodies have been rotting here for…" Gajeel pinched his nose together to block out the sickeningly sweet, pungent smell of rot. He was 90% sure Wendy was holding her breath. They were at least a few miles away from the small town, but due to their sensitive noses they could smell from miles away. "Hey," he grunted, handing her a mask. "Just wear this." Wendy took it gratefully, letting out a small sigh as she put it over her nose and mouth.

Unfortunately for Gajeel, he had to keep his senses in the air. He might sniff out something that could help them find out what the hell happened. He was reluctant on taking Wendy's first mission out here, but Erza insisted that she had her first job with him. He wasn't sure how Wendy would ever want to be part of his division, what people called the 'Clean Up Crew'.

It was basically scouting the area first hand, which meant finding all of the dead bodies, and finding clues that may lead to what happened. He was going to go solo since it was a village of only a couple of houses. The only reason why he knew about this place was because of reports from a larger town, Oak Town, about a nasty smell that had been around for a couple of days.

"How ya holding up?" Gajeel scrunched up his nose as he unpinched it. He flared out his nostrils in an attempt to tone down the strong smell, but it made no difference. He should be used to it by now, but once you smell the scent of corpses, it would stay as strong as the first time.

"I'm fine, thank you." Her voice was muffled from the mask. He could only hope that it blocked out most of the smell. "Why did you leave Lily behind?"

"Same reason why you left Carla behind. I usually take him out with me, but having you is enough . He hates doing these anyways." Gajeel shrugged. "Anyways, for now just look around, but make sure you're in my sight. Don't touch anything, and if you find any clues tell me first, okay?" Gajeel squeezed her shoulders, staring at her with a hard expression. She nodded once, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Good, let's meet back in twenty."

Wendy watched as Gajeel turned around, his sole focus on the corpses. She had to hide her hands in the pocket of her coat the whole time so he wouldn't notice them shaking. Sure, she had seen dead bodies before; she was an apprentice under Porlyusica since she was young, so she had seen plenty.

Yet, seeing them out here in the open was different from seeing them cleaned and pale on the steel table.

Some of the bodies were burned black, far beyond recognition. Others had stab wounds, gunshot wounds, bruised marks around their necks or arms. They didn't die without a fight, that was for sure. The brick houses had been reduced to rubble, as if it had been this way for centuries. Wendy couldn't imagine how this village used to look normal before.

After several minutes of walking around, Wendy couldn't stand being unable to smell anything. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to find anything.

Reluctantly, she pulled the mask under her chin, almost crying out as the scent hit her sensitive nose. She didn't want to drag Gajeel down with her complaints, she was supposed to be helping him. Among the flesh of corpses, she caught a whiff of… life.

Wendy gulped and nervously glanced around her surroundings. "H-hellooo?" Even though she had mostly whispered, her voice was loud in the still air.

"L-Lucy?! Natsu? Are you back?" A head popped up from behind a brick wall, a bright blue cat.

"Oh!" Wendy jumped up in surprise. Another talking cat!

"A-are you one of those bad guys?!" The blue cat demanded as he cautiously took a step back.

"Oh- no. No no no no of course not!" Wendy exclaimed and took a small step forward. "We're, well-"

"Who's this little runt?" Gajeel loomed behind Wendy menacingly with daggers in his eyes.

"He's not an animal, he's human!" Lucy protested, trying to snatch away Natsu's body away from the veterinarian.

"Darling, if this is what a human looks like to you, we're going to have to sedate you and put you under the care of Porlyusica personally." The Vet looked at her as if she was crazy; Lucy could certainly feel herself becoming crazy if she didn't have Natsu in her arms in the next minute. She already lost Happy, she wasn't going to leave Natsu out of her sight. She liked to call it 'motherly instinct'.

Lucy's frowned deepened and she pointed an angry finger at the Vet. She smacked her lips together, creating a popping sound. A bubble landed on top of the nose of the vet before bursting. Lucy made sure to plug her ears with tissues beforehand. The Vet screamed, along with the ridiculously loud noise that came from the bubble. She caught Natsu in her hands and ran out of the building, back into the infirmary room.

"Please refrain from using magic in the infirmary." A young woman with long, white hair smiled at her, unaffected by the loud noise. "Many people are trying to rest up, so it is best to stay quiet."

"S-Sorry…" Lucy muttered, cradling Natsu in her arms.

"Cute bird you got there." She leaned in and raised her hand. "May I?"

Lucy nodded, hesitantly taking a closer step towards the maiden. She stroked his soft, red feathers at the top of his head.

"I've never seen a bird like this before. What kind is it?"

"He's human." Lucy sighed out. She had said this for the 500th time already and it wasn't getting any less. "He's been cursed. By day he is a bird, by night he's a human." Lucy cut it short, giving her another quick smile.

"A curse? No wonder his magical energy is so unstable." She looked back at Lucy. "My name is Mirajane by the way, and yours?"

"Lucy. This is Natsu." She had learned to not say her full name due to past acknowledgements in the afternoon. They have been giving her the stink eye since then.

"Beautiful names." Mirajane touched Natsu's wing. "Where were you guys originally from?"

"A different country, we came to Fiore looking for Lumen Histoire." Lucy's eyes gleamed at the sudden thought; Mirajane probably knew something about it.

"Lumen Histoire?" Mirajane's eyes hardened slightly. "It's best that you be very careful with those two words. The people in Fiore tend to take legends very seriously." She advised, lowering her voice to a whisper. "The people that caught you are part of a larger group that is aiming for the same goal that you have." She leaned away again and folded her hands in front of her. "As we are, to keep it out of their hands."

"So, we're not really on the same team then are we?" Lucy mumbled with distress. Now they were against two of the strongest armies on this land.

Fantastic.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Mirajane laughed quietly. "But if it is used for good intentions, I believe it will be fine. Besides, whoever finds it first gets to use it the way they want to. Not without a fight, of course, so best be prepared if you do end up ever getting it." Mirajane tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Be careful, it seems like you are unaware of the dangers here. Take care, I must tend to other patients."

Lucy gave her a quick bow, out of habit, and caught herself midway. "As well as you." she quietly added, but Mirajane was already walking out the door.

Well, Lucy would just stick with them until they helped her find Happy. They did promise they would.

Natsu shifted in her arms, weak and fimble. "She mentioned that your magic was unstable…" Lucy murmured and went out of the infirmary. The smell of medicine and the sight of sickly people made her nauseous.

She found a spot on the bench outside and checked Natsu, for the millionth time, if he had any other unforeseen injuries. "What will happen if you stay like this…?"

"As long as the curse continues to stay with him, it won't get any better." A blue haired girl peered from her book to look at Lucy. "Since his magic ability is enormous, switching from a human body to smaller form will cause strain to his mind." She pushed up her glasses and flipped through the book she was reading. "Psychologically, he might go crazy due to that. Either that or he'll die since the enormous amount of magic will collapse inside him. More likely the latter. Definitely better than the former."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Lucy skeptically asked.

Levy held up the book, Black Magic and Curses. "I've been reading about it recently and-" The girl, for once, looked up at who she was speaking to. Lucy's face was stricken with panic and despair as she grabbed the book from Levy's hands.

"But don't worry!" She waved her hands. "As long as you can keep him in his human form he should be fine. I'm Levy McGarden, by the way."

"Yes, so I've heard…" Lucy murmured as she ran her eyes up and down the page. "But my magic isn't really on par yet." She handed the book back to Levy. "I'm Lucy. This is Natsu." She gestured down toward the red raven on her lap. "We also have a cat-"

"Oh! I've heard. We'll definitely find him. For the mean time, you can come to the library with me. I can help you with the inscription spell for your friend." Levy motioned a hand towards Natsu. "It's hard learning it on your own, so it's better if I help you with it."

"Really?" Lucy's eyes lit up. Porlyusica was only good at apothecary, so she had learned most of her other spells by herself with her mother's old, complicated magic book. "Are you also from Fairy Tail?"

"Yup, I'm Fairy Tail's Scholar." Levy held up the book and smiled. "I'm basically the brains for finding out everything about our enemies. Which is why I'm reading more about Black magic and Curses, since most of the criminals we've been finding are using this type. Those who use Black magic or Curses are usually known as Shade Witches, since they're much more different from the typical magic that we know. Information about them is minimal, since they were thought to have died off long ago." Levy let out a sigh. "Which is why most information about them is in the old language."

"My mother's magic book was also in the old language. So I also had to study about it. I can help you out from time to time." Lucy offered. It was the only thing she could do to repay back, since everything was practically stolen from her.

As they were engrossed in a deep conversation about the old language, a dark shadow hovered over them.

"Hey, shrimp."

Levy looked up, startled by the sudden change in lighting. "Oh! Gajeel, how was it?"

"I can't find anyone else around here from Fairy Tail 'cept for you. We just got back. Where's Makarov?" Gajeel took a side glance at Lucy, but for the most part acted as if she wasn't there.

"Hello, Levy." A small girl appeared besides Gajeel, breathless from running.

"Makarov should be at the camp we made outside of town. You didn't see him? He was at the West gate."

"Erza contacted me and told us to meet someone at the infirmary." Gajeel slung his backpack over his shoulder and opened it. "Somethin' about someone missing a cat over here…"

Happy's head popped out from the sack, his face spotted with dirt.

Natsu opened his eyes, expecting the darkness that usually came with it. Instead, he was welcomed with a blinding light.

Something he did not prefer.

Damn, where was he? He blacked out after meeting Lucy… was he still in that wretched place?

Natsu looked down at his body. His torn pants was now replaced with white trousers, his chest was bare but they were covered in clean bandages. His ankle was also properly wrapped up. The only visible injuries was his bruises.

Of course. Whoever had bought him wouldn't want him to be all bloodied and bandaged up. There was no sign of Lucy or Happy. That was the worst part.

He got up from his bed, barely wincing from the ache that came from his body. The room was small, only supporting the bed he was on, two bookcases, a desk and a chair, plus a small bathroom on the side.

Natsu turned the chair over and broke off a leg. He swung in the air a couple of times to see if he even had strength. Hardly any, but just enough for a few good swings. Was he even capable of magic?

A small flame flared up above his palm. Definitely not, but he could start a house fire. Natus waved his hand out and extinguished the flame.

First, he would bust out of the house and go find Lucy. then they could find Happy together and get the hell out of the area. Simple and easy.

Natsu held the piece of wood up and inched towards the door. He clutched the handle and opened it.

His mind was wired to do one thing; if he saw someone, he would swing at them.

Natsu was flung to the ground on his butt as the impact between his wooden leg and the energy hit.

"What the heck Natsu!" Lucy had her hand up, a small shield of plasma energy was between her and the piece of wood, which had exploded into splinters. She drew her hand back in a fist, the plasma shield was swallowed into the air. "What were you thinking?!"

"Uh…" Natsu blinked rapidly as he shook his head out, his head still buzzed with confusion.

"C'mon, get up." Lucy held her hands out for him. He grabbed them both and hauled himself up. "Ah geez, you're bleeding again." Lucy looked down at his stomach where the bandages had taken up a new color of red. "Sit down on the bed. Or else you're just going to hurt yourself again." Lucy looked over at the broken chair and sighed. "Natsu… you broke the chair." A slight whine was in her voice as she shuffled around the room for the first aid kit. "Well we can't really fix it either since we broke the chair leg…"

"Oh geez, we're gonna have to go on the floor then. Lucy sat criss crossed on the ground and ushered him to sit in front of her.

"Where the hell are we?" His voice came out rough and scratchy.

"Um, we're in the Fairy Tail. It's some military branch that work for the Kingdom of Fiore. This is where their first division reside in, Magnolia." Lucy unwrapped the bloody bandaged and got the alcohol wipe to clean it up. Natsu hissed through his teeth.

"Don't you have magic to heal it or somethin'?"

"I only use it on emergencies." Lucy frowned. "Besides, I already used it on you. It's not good to use too much magic to heal someone. You know that. Too much magic isn't good…" Lucy grumbled and tossed the alcohol wipe into the trashcan. "Alright, arms out."

Natsu lifted his arms and watched Lucy wrap the bandage around him. "Alright, I'm gonna check the other bandaged areas okay?" Lucy went on her knees and leaned into him. "Okay?" She looked at him again as she touched his shoulder.

"Okay." He managed to sputter out.

"Rate the pain from one to ten." She pressed on his shoulder.

"...four."

His neck.

"Three. It just aches a lil." Natsu was staring up at the ceiling because he could feel her breathing on his skin.

Not good. Tempting. Natsu's face grew flushed.

"Alright, that's not too bad then." Lucy leaned back and touched the tender spot on his cheek. "Big bruise here and a cut. Rate?"

"Five." His eyes darted down to her and back up at the ceiling. Damn, he really wanted to hug her.

"Let's try to get that down to a three." Lucy frowned and scooted back even further. "Extend your legs." She ordered. he quickly obliged and she rolled up his trousers, which revealed the nasty bruises and bandages. There was one wrapped around his thigh, his calf, and his ankle. All of them were on his right leg.

"I'm surprised your leg is even intact." Lucy joked. "Your thigh and calf are fine, so I won't check those. I already have for the last two days-"

"How long have I been out?" Natsu was still flustered. He felt too vulnerable, even in front of Lucy.

"Only four days-"

"Four days?!"

"Surprisingly, you didn't transform once after sunset hit four days ago." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "I think it was because your body was in critical state and if you had kept transforming in and out…" Lucy became quiet and gently pressed around his ankle. "Rate?"

"Six." Natsu was back to looking up at the ceiling.

"Maybe you'll stay human for a while." Lucy said hopefully as she helped him up.

"Yeah, sure." Natsu scoffed and leaned on his left leg.

"Oh, we also found Happy!" Lucy smiled wide. "He was all caked in dirt and he wouldn't let go of me until yesterday, poor cat. He didn't leave the spot where we were ambushed."

Hazy memories from the night infiltrated Natsu's mind, but all he could remember was getting torn away from the both of them, the camp fire illuminating their peaceful, sleeping faces as he was being dragged away. And then blackness.

"Knew Happy would always find his way back to us." Natsu tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. " He placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder, startling her. "We should go though. Get Happy and leave while we can." Natsu looked behind him and at the dark hallway out the door.

"What? Why?"

"They could be dangerous Luc-"

"Natsu, they helped us." Lucy took his hands into her own. "Without them I'm pretty sure we would've been buried alive."

After moments of silence, Lucy looked up at him. He was being unusually quiet and she couldn't pinpoint why. "Alright, okay. We'll leave." Lucy whispered. "But, let's stay for a bit longer. They're also trying to find Lumen Histoire-"

"All the more reason to leave."

"But wait. Let me finish. I'm sure they have more intel on it than us. Far more. They've been trying to find it for years and they just don't read it from the books like us. They actually explore and search so they have experience in it." Lucy's voice lowered to a soft whisper. "Apparently there's a lot of people from Fiore looking for it, so it's better to stick with them until we know what we're up against."

Natsu grit his teeth, but didn't oppose. "Why the hell would they want to help us anyway? We don't have anything to offer."

"Well, I don't know. They're from the Kingdom. They're supposed to help people in need? Plus, they're going to let us go on some of their missions with them. The one who saved us, Cana, said she'd give us a 'tour' of Fiore, so I guess she'll be our escort."

Lucy played with her fingers. "Well actually I mean they offered me something pretty interesting."

Natsu frowned.

"It's nothing too big. I mean someone's helping me with magic right now and we're getting closer to what we came for-"

"What did you do?" Natsu gripped her shoulders.

"They wanted me to join-"

"And you accepted it?!"

"No! Well," Lucy smiled nervously, "okay yes I did accept it but I demanded that they'd let you and Happy in too since we're a package deal and Cana was impressed by what we did, magic wise, and it's only temporarily. We won't stay for the rest of our lives. It's not like it's official anyways since we'd have to go through training. It's more like… volunteer work? But of course we get food and housing. Besides it's not official because they'll do background checks and mini tests for us. Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that." She mimicked his frown until his expression grew indifferent.

"Lucy…" Natsu whined with a groan.

"Don't worry about it." Lucy looked up at him and smiled, but worry was etched on her face. "The sooner we lift the curse, the better it will be for you. They're our best shot at pinpointing where Lumen Histoire is."

A/N: Longer chapter since you guys had to wait so long! I'm sorry for the wait D^: but here it is! Hope you guys enjoyed it (^8

Prooobably should've proof read this, but if there are any major mistakes that you cannot stand just pm me and i'll change it heh.

Stay tuned! xoxo