Just Another Bunch of Doomsday Chasers
"Okay, we have no choice," Levy let out a sigh and pulled the others to a stop.
"What do you mean?" Yukino asked. "Are we going to go tell Natsu-san?"
"Hell no. We're going to split up to look for Lucy."
Carla crossed her arms over her chest, "That doesn't sound like a good idea… Isn't the point to stick together?"
"The point is to keep wild Lucy out of trouble," Levy corrected. "We don't necessarily all have to be together in order to do that, so long as at least one of us has our eye on her."
"She's right," Wendy said. "I mean… this is a festival. It's not like there is any danger to justify us all needing to stay in a group."
"Our main objective is to keep Lucy from injuring herself or doing something stupid," Levy said. "So let's split up here to go look for her. Then, twenty minutes before midnight, we will meet up over there by that flag pole!" she pointed at the tallest structure erected in the center of the festival grounds. "Hopefully, one of us will have found her by then."
"Alright," Yukino nodded. "That sounds like a good plan."
"And if you run in to Erza or Gray, let them know the situation," Levy added.
"Very well," Carla's wings appeared on her back and she took to the air. "I will conduct my search overhead." She flew off.
"I'll head back down this alley," Wendy said.
"I'll check by the bonfire," Yukino said.
"And I'll go look near the performers," Levy finished.
And with that, the girls split up.
"Hey, isn't that Wendy-san from Fairy Tail?"
"Fro thinks so too!"
Wendy noticed the two Exceeds sitting on a small round table outside a fried octopus stand and walked up to them. "Hello there," she greeted respectfully, clasping her hands in front of her body.
"Wendy-san, is Carla here at the festival with you?" Lector asked. "She sure is pretty, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is here with me. Although I don't know where at the moment."
"Did you two get separated?"
Frosch blinked up at her quietly, happily eating a piece of octopus.
"No, actually, we split up because we are looking for Lucy."
"Lucy-san is missing?"
"Yes," she glanced down the alley, searching the faces around them. "She disappeared a few hours ago and we haven't been able to catch up to her." She turned back to the Exceeds. "You two wouldn't happen to have seen her lately, have you?"
"Hm…" Lector tapped his chin in thought. "I can't say I have."
"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch added.
"No, huh?" Wendy sighed. "I see. Well… that's disappointing, but not that surprising. There are so many people here…"
Lector stood and nudged Frosch, "We'll help you look for her, Wendy-san!"
Frosch raised his paws and giggled, "Yeah, Wendy-san!"
"Really?" she smiled down at them. "That would be really helpful! Thank you!"
"It's no problem," Lector shrugged, smirking. "That's just the type of cats we are! Aren't we, Frosch?"
"Fro thinks so too!"
"Alright," they turned and headed through the crowd. "Where should we start looking first then?"
"Well I've already—"
"Excuse me, young miss?" a voice interrupted Wendy from behind.
The dragon slayer and her two cat companions turned. Two men stood behind them, wearing matching deep maroon jumpsuits and black hats.
"Can I help you?" Wendy wondered.
"Well you see," the man that had spoke before smiled and took his hat off, revealing a shaved head. "We couldn't help but overhear your conversation just now."
"That's right," the other man removed his hat as well. Another shaved head. "You said you are looking for your friend?"
"Uhm… yes…"
"Lucy Heartfilia, right?" the first man clarified.
"Ah…" Wendy's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"
"We recognize you from the Grand Magic Games last year," the second man said. "We're big fans, actually."
"Go Fairy Tail!" the first man cheered and then they both chuckled.
Wendy smiled, "Oh, well thank you."
"Yes, well, the reason we are speaking to you," the first man cleared his throat. "Well, the thing is that we've seen Miss Lucy Heartfilia walking around not long ago."
"You have?" Wendy hopped excitedly. "So you know where she is?"
"Well it was a few minutes ago," the second man admitted. "So she might not be there anymore, but we could lead you to where we did see her. She can't have gotten too far from that spot."
"Oh would you? That would be so helpful!"
"That's great news, Wendy-san!" Lector said with a big smile. "We may find her sooner than we thought!"
"Fro thinks so too!" the two Exceeds high fived.
Wendy smiled and turned to the men, "Thank you so much for going out of your way to help me!"
"Oh no," he grinned and offered his arm. "Trust me, it's completely our pleasure."
She took his arm and they lead the way through the throngs of people.
Yukino sighed and stepped down from the large stone she had climbed on top of in order to get a higher vantage point.
"No," she murmured. "I suppose she wouldn't have come this far out. I can barely even hear the music anymore." She sat down and took a deep breath. "Although I admit it feels nice to get out of that crowd. Maybe she wanted some space or fresh air…" She glanced around at the dark ruins surrounding her. She ran her fingers over the keys hanging at her waist. "Maybe I should call someone to help me look."
She thought about it for a second before scrapping that idea, "No… anyone I summoned would probably end up being useless in this situation." Pisces would probably start a commotion about the seafood stands, no doubt ending in the destruction of half of the festival. Libra would abuse her gravity manipulation magic in order to win prizes in the hammer game.
She sighed.
"No. I'll just keep looking by myself."
She stood and brushed off the front of her dress. She took one step down towards the festival once more.
"Leaving so soon?"
Yukino whirled in the direction of the voice and was met with a blast of magical energy to her left temple. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her body dropped to the ground.
A man in a maroon jumpsuit picked a speck of dust from his black hat and returned it to his shaved head.
"Come now," he said with a smirk. "Stay a while."
"So you guys lost Lucy, huh?" Happy asked Levy as she leaned on the flag pole with a sigh.
"She just disappeared," Levy said. "We were all talking and the next thing we know, she's gone. Poof."
"Should I go ask Natsu if he's seen her?"
"No! I don't want him to yell at me!"
Happy frowned, "But you lost her. So you deserve it."
She glared at him, "It's not my fault that she snuck away like a ninja!"
He shrugged, "Well… what if she's in trouble?"
Levy paused, "Trouble? Like what?"
"I don't know. But Lucy attracts trouble like a fish attracts me!"
"Yeah but this is just a simple festival. What kind of trouble could there be here? There are people everywhere, just eating, partying, having a nice time. I can't imagine there'd be any danger—"
"Remember when Lucy got sucked into the infinity clock?" Happy interrupted.
"Well… yeah, of course," Levy looked away.
"And when she got kidnapped at the Grand Magic Games?"
"Uhm…"
"And when Minerva decided to torture her instead of knock her out like the others?"
"Ah…"
"And when Phantom Lord kidnapped her?"
"Yeah but—"
"And—"
"Okay! I get it!" Levy snapped. "Lucy's a trouble magnet!" She sighed and stood on her toes, glancing around, "I know that. But maybe one of the others found her." She frowned, "Where are they? They should've met me twenty minutes ago! It's almost midnight!"
Happy stared up, "Hmm… so is that the comet?" He pointed at a bright light in the center of the sky.
"Yeah."
"It doesn't look like it'll be here at midnight," he said. "Since that's in only five minutes."
"Well, midnight was just an approximate time of arrival," Levy said. "Judging by the size of it right now, I'd say it's still about an hour away."
"So if I went and told Natsu that Lucy was missing, he'd be able to sniff her out in that time. Should I go—"
"No! I told you not to!" Levy sighed. "Where the heck are those other girls?"
Happy flew up and turned in a circle, scanning the festival. "I don't see them."
Levy rubbed her temples. "This is too stressful. I never should've come."
Happy flew down to her, "Oh, don't worry about it Levy. I'm sure everyone is okay. It's a festival! They are probably off having fun somewhere. You should too—"
"Excuse me."
Happy and Levy turned. A man in a maroon jumpsuit stood off to the side of the flag pole. He tipped his hat at the two of them and then held his arm out towards Happy. Between his fingers was a sheet of paper, folded into a tight square.
Happy took the paper from the man and then went about unfolding it. Once it was open, he read the lone line scribbled across it.
We've taken her.
"What is this?" Happy said out loud. "Taken who? Lucy?" He lifted his head, "Hey what is—" He froze when he realized that the man was no longer there. "What the… Hey, Levy. Check this out. It says—" He turned and froze.
Levy was gone.
"Levy? Where are you?" he swiveled in the air, searching in a wide circle for the little blunette. "Levy! Where are you!" he flew up and scanned the grounds but the solid script mage was nowhere in sight.
It just wasn't possible. How did she disappear just like that? He was only looking away for a few seconds. It was as if… as if she teleported away.
"This isn't good," he mumbled and took off through the air. "Lucy must have been kidnapped. I need to tell Natsu quick. I bet he'll be able to find her easy with that nose of his. But where the heck did Levy get to? She doesn't have teleportation magic…"
He froze midair.
"Wait…" he glanced down at the piece of paper clenched in his paws.
We've taken her.
"This…" Happy gulped. "This is about Levy. They've taken Levy."
He crumpled up the piece of paper and smacked his forehead. "I can't believe I let them take my friend away right in front of me!" He turned towards the dragon slayers' hill. "I've gotta tell Natsu quick!"
"I told you I don't want to go anywhere with you."
"Yes but—"
"If I don't want to go with you, I'm not going to go with you. Are you stupid? How do you not understand that? Please leave me alone before I get angry and smash your face in with this," Lucy hefted the doused torch in her hand.
The man in the maroon jumpsuit held up his hands, "I understand why you feel the way you do… but if you'd please listen—"
"I can see you're an idiot," Lucy growled. "I told you I'm not interested in what you have to say, didn't I?"
"Yes… but—"
"So then that means you need to pick up and back off," Lucy tapped the charred end of the torch against his chest. "I don't have the patience for your flirting or whatever this is," she ran her fingers through her blonde hair and let out a sigh. "To be honest, all I want to do is find some taiyaki, meet up with my friends, and sit down to watch the sendoff. That's all I want to do. Not go with you."
"I understand. You see—"
"Even though I've been eating all night," Lucy continued, resting the torch on her shoulder, "I still feel hungry. Is that weird or what? I mean… I've had so much festival food. Not to mention all that damn fire… but God do I want some taiyaki right now. Like… so bad. I would give my left leg for some goddamn taiyaki."
The man perked, "That's actually what I came here for!"
She cocked an eyebrow at him, "What? Taiyaki?"
"I run a taiyaki stand here at the festival," he explained, pointing over his shoulder at the food alley. "I'm trying to get more customers so I've been walking around looking for people to come buy some—"
"Well then let's go," Lucy immediately headed towards the food stands once more, grabbing his arm as she passed.
The man stumbled after her, blinking in surprise.
That was too easy…
Happy flew through the sky in the direction of the sendoff point. He had to get to Natsu and tell him about Levy. There was still time before the comet arrived. They could still save her.
But why was she kidnapped in the first place? The last person to target Levy was now in love with her. She couldn't have any enemies out for her head, could she? And if she did, why would they bother giving Happy the note? It was as if they wanted them to try to save her. If that was the case, then would running off to save her just play directly into their plot?
"And here we were talking about how often Lucy gets kidnapped…" Happy mumbled. His eyes wandered down to the festival below and caught on a familiar face. "Ah! Gajeel!"
The blue Exceed swooped down and placed himself directly in front of the iron dragon slayer, who was munching casually on a handful of screws.
"Gajeel!"
"What the fuck?" Gajeel took a step back, "What're you doin' here? Did that flame ass send you? I told those dumbasses I was just comin' down here for a quick snack," he swallowed the screws and then took a large bite off of a strip of sheet metal held in his hand. "I'm on my way back up right now."
"No, that's not it," Happy denied, panicked. "You gotta do something quick!"
"Huh?" he cocked a pierced eyebrow, "What the hell you talkin' about?"
"I was just with Levy," Happy said. "But then this random guy walked up and handed me this piece of paper, but I unfolded it to read and then by the time I got done reading it, Levy was gone!"
Gajeel swallowed the rest of the iron and then leveled Happy with a red stare, "She probably just ditched you."
Happy shook his head and passed the crumpled note over to the dragon slayer, "She disappeared in like… two seconds! And this is what the note said."
Gajeel smoothed the page and read it silently. He didn't speak for a moment as the words sunk in.
Happy watched him anxiously.
"Gajeel?"
The iron dragon slayer suddenly smashed the note between his hands and dropped it to the ground. He lifted his nose to the sky and turned slowly. He sniffed the air, searching for the familiar scent of his favorite bookworm. It wasn't long before he caught a whiff of the lingering breath of books and watermelon. It was the best smell. It turned his heart in his chest. He would know that smell anywhere.
"Hold on for a little while, Shrimp," Gajeel growled and rushed off in the direction the scent came from.
"Wait!" Happy called. "Gajeel!"
But it was no use. The dragon slayer was beyond words. Happy stared after him for a few seconds before rising above the festival crowd once more and turning towards the hill. It didn't make sense that Levy was kidnapped. What did she do to make someone want to take her? Of all people…
Happy froze. His mind turned back to his conversation with Levy at the flag pole.
"Where are they? They should've met me twenty minutes ago! It's almost midnight!"
"Uh oh…" Happy muttered. What if… What if Levy wasn't the only one that had been kidnapped?
"I can't believe you let that idiot leave," Sting let out a sigh.
"You said for yourself that the comet won't be here for another hour," Rogue said, staring up into the night sky at the slowly nearing comet. "He said he'd be back in five minutes."
"It's been ten minutes."
"Relax. He'll be here. It's best if he has enough iron in his belly anyway, right?" he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at his twin dragon. "Besides, you let Natsu leave too."
Sting scoffed, "Well that's different. Natsu-san said he needed to take a piss. That shouldn't take very long at all."
"If he actually just needed to take a piss," Rogue said, "Then why did he head down the hill instead of just going behind the trees?"
Sting was silent for a moment as he mulled it over, "Maybe… he's shy?"
"And that was twenty minutes ago."
"Maybe he needed to take a dump and was too polite to say it?"
Rogue rolled his eyes, "His nose has been twitching all night. He went down there for food, just like Gajeel-san. You're no better than me."
Sting sighed, "Fine. But either way, they'll both be back soon."
"And if not?"
"Eh," he waved a hand, "Not gonna happen. So let's not even think about it."
Rogue frowned.
"Anyway," Sting stretched his arms over his head, "How should we do this? Should we all stand in a circle, rear back, and just belt out a big ol' fuck you to the sky when it's within range? Or should we do something a little more theatrical?" Sting jumped and waved his hands flamboyantly to the side of his body, "Something with a little more pizazz?"
The shadow dragon slayer chuckled, "I doubt you could convince Gajeel-san to do something with pizazz."
"Oh I dunno," Sting danced in place, snapping his fingers, "He's a natural born performer, don't you know? Maybe he can sing and roar at the same time. While shredding on his guitar."
Rogue let out a laugh, "I'd like to see that!"
"Excuse me."
The twin dragons turned to face the man in the maroon jumpsuit standing directly behind them.
"Oh," Sting said. "You're not supposed to be up here. This is where we're going to be sending the—"
The man stretched his arm out, folded paper pinched between his fingers.
Sting stared at it for a second before flicking his eyes up into the man's face.
"What's this?"
"For you," he replied calmly.
Sting hesitated, but then took the note from the man, who then tipped his black hat at the twin dragon slayers and headed back down the hill to the festival.
"What the hell was that about?" Sting muttered.
"What's on the paper?" Rogue asked.
Sting unfolded the note and read out loud, "We have taken Miss Agria and the two Exceeds…"
Rogue and Sting were silent for a moment before a beam of light flashed from Sting's hand, obliterating the piece of paper.
"Yukino, Frosch, and Lector have been kidnapped?" Rogue whispered.
"C'mon," Sting lifted his nose to the air and sniffed. He caught onto a familiar scent and headed in its direction. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Rogue argued. "But the sendoff—"
"We've got time!" Sting snapped. "If we both go together, we'll destroy these guys in five minutes flat and be back in ten. Let's go! Our friends need us! We can't waste another minute! Who knows what they'll do with them!"
Rogue took a deep breath and nodded, "You're right. Let's make this quick."
Sting returned the nod and they both took off in a sprint in the direction of the scent Sting had caught wind of.
"Ahhhh," Natsu let out a satisfied sigh and patted his stomach as he crested the hill once more. "Much better," he belched and covered his mouth. "Man, they have some good food here. I'm glad I brought extra money. I'm a little late though. I hope Sting and Rogue aren't mad," he glanced up at the sky, which had taken on a vibrant orange hue as the comet drew ever nearer. "That thing sure is getting close…"
He lowered his eyes again, "Hey Sting! How are we gonna do this th—"
Natsu froze.
"Sting? Rogue?" he glanced around at the platform in confusion. The two Sabertooth mages were nowhere to be seen. "Gajeel?" but the iron dragon was also not present.
Natsu propped his fists up on his hips. "Where did those guys go?"
He glanced back up at the sky.
Half an hour, maybe. He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. They'll be back before then. They have to.
"I'm just saying," Gray said, "You and I both being the godparents would only open up a whole shit ton of cans of wormy whoop ass."
"What do you mean by that?" Erza took another bite of strawberry cake, sighing as the delicious explosion of flavors erupted on her tongue.
"I mean, think about it. If you were the godmother and I was the godfather, Juvia would think that we are secretly together. Which would mean her crazy would just explode into even nuttier tsunamis of terror and hate."
"I think I can take her."
"That's not the issue," he glared at her. "She wouldn't attack you. She isn't suicidal. It's my ass that would be grass in this situation!"
Erza finished off the rest of her cake and dropped the fork down on the plate. "Maybe that just means that you should confess your feelings for her before Lucy's baby is born so that there is no doubt and she will have no reason to be jealous?"
Gray's cheeks flamed, "Are you stupid? Who said I even have any feelings for that psychopath?"
Erza stared pointedly at him.
He looked away, "I just think that I should be excluded from this whole thing. I don't want to be the godfather. I don't want a brat following me around anyway."
"So if Natsu and Lucy asked you to be the godfather, you would refuse?"
He was silent.
Erza smiled, "You big softy."
"Shut up! It's not like you can just refuse something like that, okay?" he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Even if I don't want to be it… it's still a huge honor to be chosen, ya know?"
She nodded, "I know what you mean. I'll fight every woman in the guild if it means I get to be the godmother."
Gray chuckled, "You're insane."
"Erza! Gray!"
Carla landed heavily on the table the two Fairy Tail mages sat at.
"Carla?" Erza blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"Are you okay?" Gray offered his hand as the Exceed's legs shook and she almost toppled over. She clutched him gratefully, breathing heavily.
"H-here," she panted, offering a note to Erza.
She took it and unfolded it silently.
"We have taken the sky dragon slayer," she read out loud.
"Wendy… Wendy…" Carla sobbed. "She's been kidnapped!"
"Kidnapped?" Gray repeated, eyes wide. "No way! By who?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "Some random man approached me and handed me the note without a word before disappearing in thin air! That's not all. I ran into Happy and Sting and Rogue on the way here. Apparently Levy, Yukino, Lector, and Frosch were also taken. Sting, Rogue, and Gajeel all went looking for them!"
"All of them?" Erza whispered. "What's going on here?"
"What a minute," Gray snapped. "Something's strange here. Wasn't Lucy with you guys? What about her? Where is she?"
Carla shook her head, "I don't know. She slipped away from us hours ago and we all split up to look for her. That's when the others were taken."
"So she still might be okay?" Erza said. "We should find her and protect her from also being kidnapped!"
"If they've captured the others, then there's no doubt they have Lucy as well," Gray snarled. "She can't use her magic. There's no way she could have defended herself. If the others, who are capable of defending themselves, were unable to avoid being stolen, then there's no way Lucy could have."
"Damn it," Erza stood. "C'mon. We have to find them. And quick. The comet is almost here. Everyone is gathering to watch it be sent off."
"We have to save the others and get the dragon slayers back together as soon as possible," Gray acknowledged, also rising to his feet.
"Carla," Erza looked to the white cat. "Where's Happy?"
"He was on his way to tell Natsu the situation," she replied.
"Shit," Gray cursed. "We really have to hurry. If Natsu goes after Lucy… there won't be a single dragon slayer up there to defend against the comet."
"One might as well be none anyway," Erza snapped. "There's no way he can deflect it by himself! C'mon, we have to find the others immediately!"
"There's no one to blame but myself," Lucy admitted and leaned back in the wooden chair she was tied to. "I let my guard down at the mention of taiyaki. I ought to be ashamed of my weakness."
"So long as you recognize your fault," the man said, twirling his hat on one finger.
"Oh wait," she said, cocking her head to the side. "There's one more person to blame…" Her face morphed into fiery rage, "YOU! FOR KIDNAPPING ME YOU DIRTY PIECE OF RAT FECES! UNTIE ME AND FIGHT ME FAIR AND SQUARE YOU WORTHLESS SHITBAG!"
The wooden door of the dark, cold room opened and two more men dressed identically to the first walked inside.
"Jeez, Emilio," one of them said. "Yours has got a mouth on her, doesn't she?"
"What're you guys doing here?" Emilio asked, flipping his hat onto his shaved head. "I thought you were supposed to help Jax with the twin dragons."
"Eh. Everyone knows Jax is faster on his own. We'd just slow him down."
"Well," Emilio sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Can't say I'm not relieved you're here. This one is a handful. Not to mention the trouble that is sure to chase after her once he finds out she's been nabbed."
"Speaking of which," the second of the newcomers moved closer to Lucy and examined her curiously. "You never delivered your note, did you?"
He shrugged, "Eh, he'll figure it out eventually. Or, if I'm lucky, the comet will hit before then."
"I don't get it," Lucy suddenly snapped. All three men faced her. "What's your objective?" she narrowed her eyes. "To draw the dragon slayers away from the sendoff point? What could you possibly gain from that? The Dragon's Breath will kill everyone if it's allowed to hit Earthland. Are you just another bunch of doomsday chasers or what?"
Emilio chuckled and sat forward, "Well you're partially right."
"We are chasing the apocalypse, after all," one of the others added.
She scowled, "So you're suicidal?"
"On the contrary," the third man said simply. "My friends and I will not be destroyed by the Dragon's Breath."
"That's impossible. You're right under it. You'll be one of the first to go, along with the rest of us at the festival."
The three men laughed. Lucy's eye twitched as the condescending notes of their laughter struck her eardrums.
"Foolish child," Emilio shook his head. "Know you nothing?"
"You've got three seconds to explain before I start screaming at the top of my lungs."
"Go ahead, no one will hear you."
"You will."
She let that sentiment sink in for a moment.
Finally, Emilio said, "The reason our lives will be spared is because we have pledged our bodies and souls to our Lord Zeref. Everyone knows that if you swear yourself to the most powerful black mage in the world and then offer the world as evidence of your loyalty, you will be saved in the end. We shall cleanse this land and start anew with only the most devout Zeref followers."
Lucy listened patiently through his explanation but couldn't stop the laughter from bursting out of her mouth at the end of it.
Emilio and the others watched her in annoyance.
"Why are you laughing?"
She shook her head, "I just never realized such idiocy existed in this era."
Whoa, stop, the softer side of Lucy's mind said. Don't poke fun at the men that hold your life in their hands!
Shh, the louder side, which was still dominant, although less so, ordered. I'll handle this. I'll help us escape somehow and we can go find Levy and the others so the dragon slayers can focus on sending off that comet!
"You doubt Lord Zeref's power?" Emilio said through clenched teeth.
"I doubt he'd save morons like you," she scoffed.
"Hey Emilio," one of the other men said. "It would be a shame if Lord Zeref were to exclude us from salvation because we let this bitch badmouth him, wouldn't it?"
"It sure would," Emilio stood and all three men surrounded the Celestial Spirit mage. "Perhaps we should take it into our own hands to punish her appropriately?"
"I agree."
"Where the hell are those guys?" Natsu stood on the edge of the hill and stared down at the festival below. He glanced up at the sky and cursed, moving back to the center of the platform. The comet was now taking up the majority of the sky. Natsu could even make out the molten texture of the black rock behind the fiery wall that surrounded it due to the overwhelming speed it was traveling towards the ground.
There's no way, he thought in despair.
Easy as pie, the voice in the back of his head snorted. I can take that thing on with my hands tied behind my back.
Well if I could, I'd tag you in. Unfortunately, I don't have half the confidence as you do.
Natsu ran his fingers through his hair, staring intently into the sky. "Where the fuck did those guys go?" he whispered.
"Natsu!"
His breath hitched as he turned towards the call, "Are they back?"
Happy flew in his direction, waving his arms frantically.
Natsu let out a disappointed sigh.
"Natsu!"
"What is it, Happy? Do you know where the others are? This comet is going to be on us in like, two minutes!"
"They went looking for the others," he said, pausing in front of the fire dragon slayer. "Wendy, Levy, Yukino, Frosch, and Lector were all kidnapped!"
Natsu didn't speak for a moment. His body turned cold from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. His breathing turned ragged and his heart stood still.
"Lucy," he whispered. "Where's Lucy? Tell me she's safe."
Happy gulped, "N-Natsu…"
"TELL ME SHE'S SAFE!" he roared, clenching his hands into fists. "YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THAT LUCY IS ALRIGHT. PLEASE, HAPPY!"
Tears filled the cat's eyes, "I… I don't know. She's missing as well. I… I think she's also been taken…"
Something in Natsu's chest cracked. He clutched his head in his quivering hands as a broken groan slipped up from his throat.
"Erza and Gray went to help the others," Happy continued, but his voice was fading from Natsu's ears. "Natsu, what do we do? You always know what to…"
GO AFTER HER! the voice in Natsu's head bellowed.
I— I can't. I have to stay here and—
BASTARD! SAVE LUCY! YOU HAVE TO SAVE HER! SHE NEEDS YOU!
I know… but—
The desperate voice was inconsolable as it continued to scream in his mind.
SAVE HER. SAVE HER. SAVE HER. SAVE HER.
Natsu's vision went blurry, either from tears or the pain of the conflicting voices in his head.
"Stop," he whispered, doubling over. "Please stop. Stop. Stop. STOP."
"Natsu?" Happy flew closer to his friend. "Are you okay?"
"Get out of here, Happy," he choked out. "Get as far away from here as you can."
"Natsu—"
"GO!" he whirled towards the Exceed, vein in his forehead bulging, eyebrows pulled low over his burning eyes. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"
Happy didn't hesitate. He bolted through the air at max speed, leaving the dragon slayer panting and groaning in the center of the platform on top of the hill.
YOU HAVE TO SAVE HER! the voice continued to wail, sending daggers of pain down his spine.
"I can't," he whimpered, knees shaking. "Please stop. Please. I have to stay here… Please just stop."
BASTARD! GIVE ME MY BODY BACK! SHE NEEDS ME!
Natsu took in a shuddering breath and leaned his head back to stare at the flaming comet, which was right upon him now.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes, trailing down his temples to his hair.
"I'm sorry…"
Author's Note: AAAAAaaaaand it got all serious again. What the heck? I'm just so angsty I guess. Jeez.
So remember how the other day I said Austria was coming over? Well she did. And we got really drunk. Like seriously... I had probably... four too many shots of absinthe, and probably would've had the worst hangover of my life if me and Picole hadn't stayed up until 6 am drinking collectively 10 bottles of water between the two of us and watching One Piece AMV's. It was a fun night. We played Smash Bros and watched a youtube video of a guy dressed as Skeletor take a twerking class, which prompted all three of us to try twerking on the wall. It was a massive failure on all of our parts, especially Austria's. She ended up just kicking her feet against the wall repeatedly, waking up the MOTH on the other side. We also took turns rolling over each other on the grass outside and then sang to funky tunes that none of us knew the words too but rocked them anyway.
Oh and you know that game MASH? Where you find out your future? Yeah, we played that too. Austria is apparently going to marry my boobs. At that, Picole said, "Well, you will have very well rounded children!" to which Austria replied, "Yes! I mean, between my brains and Moo's boobs? Perfect."
I quite enjoyed my future. I'm going to marry Natsu and have eight kids (I aimed for 33 but luck wasn't on my side).
Okay, I have some song suggestions if y'all wanna check them out. ;)
"Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park
"Bow Down (to no man)" by Hogni
Alright, that's all for today! Thank you all for your support! It means so much! Oh, and for the people that have been asking about A Taste of Fire, it's on hiatus right now and will return when I figure out what I want to do next with it. I don't know when that will be. Please be patient with me. I won't leave you hanging forever. Promise.
I love you all! Thank you! I hope you enjoy the chapter. I won't make you wait too long for the next, since I left it on a total cliff hanger, am I right? ;) Until then. Much love.
Love-Moo