How long has it been? The only answer I'm sure of is that it's been too long, and I apologize. Therefore, as my Christmas gift to those of you that celebrate it, I offer a short chapter to progress the story!
Without further ado, I'll get straight into chapter 11 of Fueling the Fire.
No one paid much attention to the water mage and youngest dragonslayer when they slipped back into the guild not ten minutes after leaving Gajeel's abode. With glances at each other, they nodded and parted, Juvia making a beeline for her beloved Gray, who sat with the redheaded Erza, and Wendy and Charle making their way quickly over to where Cana was doing a card reading. As soon as the two blue-haired mages made contact with their targets, they did just as Gajeel and Pantherlily and Mest had suggested.
In hushed tones, Juvia imparted the knowledge of Lucy's true plan to Gray and Erza. Erza's eyes narrowed and leaned closer to hear more of what the water mage was saying. Gray's eyes widened in surprise, and then he murmured something about not knowing Lucy had it in her, and then Juvia continued.
"Lucy was working with Gajeel, Lily, and Happy to plan this, and Gajeel tracked her to the Demon Card hideout," she explained as quickly as she could and in low tones. "We have an hour window. We need to be there to bust Lucy and Levy out, and from there we come back to gather all the information we have in order to get on the train to Era and be there in time for Natsu's trial."
"Why aren't we telling everyone this?" Erza demanded. "Doesn't the master need to know?"
"Lucy wanted it kept as secretive as possible, so that the entire guild didn't rush Demon Card again. She didn't want them to frame anyone else, and said that a small group would be the best way to avoid detection by the council…"
"What are we waiting for?" Gray asked, standing. "Let's get going. We're meeting Gajeel at the edge of town, right?"
As he stood, Cana and Wendy and Charle were already on their way to the door, slipping back outside as darkness began to fall. And although Erza was reluctant to join in on something not sanctioned by the master of the guild, she had to admit that a small group was the best bet. If they could avoid attracting the negative attention of the council, it would be better for Natsu's case, too. And aside from that, her home and family had been threatened. With these thoughts in mind, Erza stood, determination leaking from her very pores.
The six rendezvoused outside the doors and continued on toward the edge of town, where the three new additions to the conspiracy found the presence of Mest a complete surprise.
Lucy was dragged roughly along through so many twists and turns she wasn't sure if she'd be able to find her own way back to Levy if the situation were to demand it. They had gone up a few flights of stairs, though, so she knew the general direction she'd need to go. That still didn't mean she liked the rough treatment she was getting. She was sure her upper arm would be bruised from where the silent man was gripping it so tightly, due to the fact that she had almost lost all feeling in her fingers.
In the beginning, she had tried yanking her arm from his grasp. That hadn't turned out well, and she could still taste bitterness from the split in her lip. Her cheek smarted from the blow she'd taken, and she was forced to resort to small acts of rebellion to avoid the same reaction. As far as she was willing to go to help find out who framed Natsu, she didn't want to look like an absolute train wreck when she presented his defense at his council hearing…tomorrow.
Her heart leapt into her throat. Somehow, the gravity of that had only just reached her.
His trial was tomorrow.
To be fair, she had always known the date, and that she was doing everything to help him. It was just so much scarier now that it was only hours away. It was less than 12 hours away, and she had yet to see all the evidence that her nakama had gathered in her absence. She and Levy and most likely Fried, as the biggest brains in the guild, would have to scan through all of the information on a six hour train ride to Era, and organize it in the most convincing manner. On top of that, the blonde had to be sure that she got the evidence from here that she had been captured for—if it was still here in the first place!
But she had to be calm. Lucy tried to make sure her abject horror hadn't been revealed to the people manhandling her, because with the way she managed to compose herself as quickly as she had, there would definitely be questions.
She couldn't afford to let them ask questions at this stage of the game.
And so she tried struggling more, only to have her arm twisted roughly behind her.
"If you don't stop that, you won't even make it to the boss. You're the one who volunteered for this, you know," the smug, condescending tones he used were no better here, somewhere in the midst of their hideout, than they had been down in the cell that Lucy shared with Levy. She still wanted, very dearly, to smack that smirk off of his face. "You don't want any…accidents to happen to your little friend down there while you're talking to the boss, do you?"
And Lucy knew she couldn't retaliate to that—she wouldn't put it past them to follow up on any and every threat they spoke. So she resorted instead to giving him the nastiest glare she knew how. It wasn't hard; it was equal parts of haughtiness, rage, hatred, and a little bit of the desire to tear him limb-from-limb.
The look took him a little by surprise, and she decided that was as good as she could manage right now.
Her entourage stopped more quickly than she had anticipated, however, and she looked around herself to realize they'd come to a large oaken door at the end of a long corridor lined with windows on one side and doors on the other. The woman that referred to Lucy as doll constantly stepped forward and rapped sharply on the door four times.
"What is it?" a bored, clipped tone demanded.
"One of the fairies said she would talk, but only if she could talk to you. Alone. We've brought her with us, Boss, but we can take her back if you refuse."
The respectful tone was something Lucy never expected to hear this woman use. She was used to the sarcastic and mocking tone the woman used around the brutes, not respect. Not only was her tone respectful, but her posture, as well as that of the brutes around Lucy, was erect. None of them stood slouching or hunched over, but rather at attention, with straight backs and heads held high.
Her amusement—or amazement—didn't have much time to flourish, however, because the latch clicked and the door swung open. The man on the other side examined their group with a lazy, bored gaze that reminded Lucy of the smug bastard standing just to her left. The 'Boss' eyed her, snorted, and stood aside.
"Get her in here and then get out," he said shortly, turning and walking back to his desk. Lucy was pulled over the threshold into the room roughly and shoved into the single chair in front of the desk before her escorts made their respectful escapes.
She didn't miss their haste in exiting.
Natsu couldn't sleep. Countless seconds ticked by, minutes passed unaccounted for, and hours drifted away while he stared at the ceiling. He wondered if Mest had made it to the guild yet, and if he'd been accepted by everyone despite the situation. They must have suspected him of something, though, since he was a council member interacting with a guild that the council had a longstanding problem with.
He'd been brought food for supper, but he had only picked at it. The guards didn't ask too many questions this time, most likely because of what was happening tomorrow. His trial was looming nearer and nearer, and while he had complete and utter faith in Lucy's promise to defend him, he still wondered if she'd been able to find enough before she was captured. He also had faith in the rest of his family, if it came to that, but he didn't know what they could do. Lucy was the one who had promised to get him out. Lucy was the one who had struggled the most to free him when the Rune Knights had arrested him.
Lucy was the one who had kissed him—the one he had kissed back—as they were pulling him away.
Lucy.
He trusted everyone, but he didn't think they knew as much about him as Lucy did.
So he fervently hoped that Mest was able to help them while he was there, and that they found Lucy and Levy and rescued them as quickly as possible. Natsu didn't even care if Lucy wasn't able to make a case for him at the hearing tomorrow, just as long as he knew she was safe.
Hell, the dragonslayer didn't even care if he was sentenced to death tomorrow, just as long as he could hear she was alive and okay before the actual execution.
Natsu rolled over to try staring at the wall for a while and wondered when he'd become like this. He was being sappy and sentimental and really gooey, and he didn't know what to think about it. The only thing he could really think about was his favorite pair of chocolate eyes and a blonde side ponytail that he had always wanted to yank on, just for fun. He missed getting an earful from her when she was scolding him for scorching her best skirt, or reading her manuscripts before Levy got a chance to. He missed finishing a job and getting the full reward, just to see the smile on her face when she realized she'd finally have the money to pay her rent.
"Find her," he murmured to the wall, closing his eyes and picturing her smiling face. And then he pictured her crying face, her shocked look, her expression of pure boredom, and the specific facial arrangement that just screamed Natsu I am SO going to kill you. "Dammit, Mest, you better help them find her, or I'll haunt you forever."
Not that the council member could hear his threat…but it felt good to say it.
Gajeel looked at his selected group and spoke in his low rumble, "This is the entrance. There's a long path, and it leads us straight into the dungeon. These bastards had Bookworm and Bunny Girl in the same cell when I came by to check on them earlier in the day."
He slipped around the forest camouflage and seemed to disappear, but knowing where to look helped the others slip into the tunnel with remarkable ease. The last one in was Juvia, who had taken care to cover their tracks on the way. Once the entire party was in the tunnels, the big dragonslayer started leading the way. He gave a few warnings for intruding tree roots and even the occasional spider web, but kept his voice as low as possible even when he did so.
After a few minutes, he warned them to tread more lightly, and the passage slowly leveled out and began to resemble a corridor.
"Mest," he growled, "there are extra people at their cell, and Bunny Girl is missing. We're gonna need your memory mumbo jumbo to confuse them…or at least make them think we belong here. Can you do that?"
"It's short notice," the councilman said lowly. "It usually takes a lot of time and research on the people I want to fool…but I'll do my best."
"Juvia believes you can do it," the blue-haired water mage encouraged before the redheaded mage spoke up.
"You said Lucy wasn't there," Erza hissed. "What do you mean, she's not there?"
"Just what I said," he responded, glancing down the corridor and pointedly sniffing the air. "I don't got her scent as strongly. She's still in the building, but I can't tell where from here."
"How are we supposed to—"
"We'll get her, Erza," Gray cut her off as they heard a voice echoing. "Let's just let Mest do his thing and we can get Levy out first, okay?"
Wendy had stayed silent and watched the exchange with wide eyes. She chose to remain silent after the fact as well, listening for any sounds that would give away any unwanted guests.
During all of this, Mest had fallen silent as well. His eyes were closed, and suddenly he opened them again and said quickly, before Wendy could speak up, "Don't worry about this one. I've got him," as a man rounded a nearby corner, paused dazedly for a moment when he saw them, and then grinned and waved. He was tall, with blonde hair and a slim physique.
"Hey, man! I ain't seen ya 'round here in too long!"
Mest smiled in a friendly way right back at him. "It's been too long! I heard we've got some new plans brewing since I've been away. Mind if we see these Fairy Tail mages our guys have picked up here and there over the last few weeks?"
The sleazy man snorted, "No problem. One of 'em is with the boss righ' now, givin' him the info he wanted, but t'other one is still down here. Righ' this way."
The council member let out a soft sigh of relief as the oblivious man led the way past the hall he'd come out of and deeper into the twining dungeon. The group of rescuers shared a quick glance before following after the other man as he started chattering away to Mest about some of the memories that had been planted in his head. Wendy watched all of this with respect, despite the fact that she had been on the receiving end of this trickery before.
This might work, she thought to herself, truly believing in their success for the first time.
And once more, I apologize for the SIX MONTHS AND ONE DAY you've had to wait. I got busy with school and work, and I sincerely apologize. There are no excuses, and I can't possibly apologize enough. I also can't guarantee that I will be able to update quickly in the future for the same reasons.
