Lovesickness: A disease that may or may not be contagious and/or fatal.

Gray was having a perfectly good day until Natsu appeared out of nowhere and punched him in the face.

Hard.

"OWW!"

"Where's Lucy, you creep?!" Natsu screamed, looking seriously demented. Gray considered dialing 911, but then remembered how awful the island's reception could be. (It literally took five days for the police to show up one time, because the caller was cut off before she could inform them of her location. The results weren't pretty.) An unfortunate problem, Gray thought, because his rival looked like he was in serious need of a mental institution.

"Who the sugar is Lucy?" Gray asked blankly, because in all honesty, what else could he ask? (He really didn't want to get socked in the face again, it really freaking hurt the first time.)

"Don't act like you don't know!" Natsu yelled, flinging punches at him. And missing every single time because he was just that mad. "You kidnapped her, you jerk!"

"I kidnapped who?!"

"Natsu?!" Wendy came running out from wherever. "What're you doing here?"

Unfortunately, the arrival of Wendy just kind of made everything worse.

Natsu leveled a finger at his little sister. "First, you steal my sister, and now you kidnap Lucy?! What the heck is wrong with you, Gray?! You stupid, double-dealing pirate!"

Gray had had enough of this mess. "Your sister wanted to come here of her own free will, and I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't steal any Lucy! Who the heck is Lucy, anyway?!"

"Quit lying to me and cough it up! Where. Is. Lucy?!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT YOU DEMENTED IDIOT!"

"Of course you do!" Natsu flung a note into his face. "If you don't, then what the heck is this?!"

Gray snatched the note out of his hand and skimmed the contents.

He froze.

Reread the note.

Then groaned, facepalmed, and snapped, "Natsu, you idiot."

"I. AM. NOT. AN. IDIOT!"

"Of course you are!" Gray was disgusted. "I never wrote this note! You've seen my handwriting before! Does this freaking look anything like it to you?!"

"Of course it's yours! It says right there that it's from you!"

"I didn't write this! Someone else did, and signed my name – wait, when the heck did you learn how to read?!"

Natsu threw up his hands. "Of course I know how to read! And why would they sign your name?!"

"Because they kidnapped Lucy and didn't want you to know who did it, so they pinned it on me so you'd go after me and give them enough time to get away! Duh!"

"And how do I know it's not really from you?!"

"Because would I be dumb enough to inform you that I took whoever it is so you'd come flying onto my ship and punching me in the face? Think, Natsu!"

Natsu paused.

Blinked.

And said, sheepishly, "Oh."

Wendy frowned. "That's not like you, Natsu. I know people say you're dense, but you're usually smarter than this."

Natsu groaned, plopping down onto one of the barrels that lined the deck and running his hand through his hair. "I don't know what's wrong with me," he moaned. "It's like there's some kind of spell on me or something. When it comes to Lucy, I just… I can't think straight. It's freaking exasperating!"

He gave Wendy a stunned look. "Wait, is it a disease?! Is it contagious?! Am I going to die?!"

Wendy looked at Chelia for help, and she stepped in. "Yes, it could be called a disease; I don't know if it's contagious, but it might be since Gray has it too; and no, you're not going to die."

"So… I'm not going to die?" Natsu asked hopefully.

"Not from the disease, no."

"And you think Gray gave it to me?"

"Eh," Chelia shrugged. "Maybe."

Natsu glared at Gray. "You got me sick, pirate loser!"

"What?! I don't know what she's talking about! I'm not sick!"

"Yeah, you are! Chelia's a medic! She should know!"

"I'd know myself better than you, thank you very much! I'm not sick!"

"Of course you are!" Chelia smiled brightly. "You're lovesick!"

Gray and Natsu stopped their argument and just stared at her blankly.

"What?"

She sighed. "You're in love!"

"In love?!" Gray squeaked in disbelief, going pale, while Natsu cocked his head to the side and asked,

"In love? Like, Romeo and Juliet? No way! I don't wanna die!"

Chelia rolled her eyes. "You two are such idiots. And totally whipped, besides."

"Am not!" Gray protested.

"Like whipped cream?" Natsu asked. "But I'm not all creamy and mushy…"

"Natsu, Natsu, Natsu…"

"C'mon, Gray!" Chelia put her hands on her hips. "Haven't you noticed how floaty you get around – "

"Changing the subject!" Gray said quickly. "Natsu, there's something you need to know. If I didn't steal Lucy, then who did?"

Natsu froze.

He looked so horrified, Gray almost felt bad for telling him.

Almost, but not quite. Hey, he had to know, right?

"Oh no," he breathed. "I… I have to find her. They… It's… But who? Who could have…"

The sentence cut off so abruptly, Gray was fairly positive his rival had stopped breathing right then and there.

Natsu's eyes were wide with terror.

"Yo, Natsu? Are you…" Gray began, but Natsu spoke before he could finish.

"The Villains," he choked out. "They have Lucy."

"What?" Gray wasn't sure if he'd heard right. "What… Why the heck would the Villains want Lucy?"

"She's Wendy." Natsu was gripping the rim of the barrel so hard, Gray was afraid he might break it. "Lucy's a Fairy Tail member, and she's Wendy."

He barely managed to choke out the next words. "She's got the Book."

Wendy looked confused. "Um, Natsu? She's not…"

But Gray knew what he meant.

He knew because he and Natsu had discovered it together.

The Book of Fairy Tails.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, no, no, no…

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Gray swallowed. "We need to go get her. Now."

Natsu didn't even register the we. "Right. We need to get Laxus."

"Erza, too."

"No. They know Erza. Thanks to Jellal."

"She… She found Jellal?"

"Yeah." Natsu's expression was grim. "They probably have her too."

"Not good. Really not good. Does Gajeel know?"

"No. I didn't tell him. Or Wendy," Natsu added with a glance at his little sister.

"Right. We need to grab Levy."

"Providing we can find her. I'm pretty sure she was with Lucy when the kidnapping happened. They take walks together."

Gray grabbed his head and groaned. "Is everyone we know out of the picture?"

"Sting and Rogue?"

"Maybe. We'd better hurry. Wendy, you're in charge until we get back. Keep an eye on Juvia, especially. And whatever you do, don't get caught by anyone. Understood?"

Wendy's eyes were wide. "What? I… I don't… What's going on?!"

Natsu ruffled his little sister's hair, forcing a smile so fake it wasn't even funny. "Gray and I need to check something out. We'll be back soon, okay?"

She shook her head. "What's this about a book? And Fairy Tails? Natsu, you never told me…"

"I didn't tell anyone," he said softly. "You'll be okay. If things get really bad, run to my place. The Lost Boys know you. They'll keep you safe."

"I don't need protecting!" Wendy insisted. "Natsu, please. What's going on?"

Natsu avoided the question. "I can't tell you that right now. But whatever you do, don't go with anyone. No matter how well you think you know them. Do you understand me, Wendy?"

Wendy bit her lip, but just nodded.

"Good. Gray, let's take off. If they find that Book…"

Gray knew what the end of that sentence was, and he knew why his rival let it hang. Everything they'd ever worked for would be destroyed. Everything.

He gave one sharp nod, and like a perfect machine, the two boys jumped off the ship at the exact same time.

xXx

Levy woke in a dark room.

A dark room that looked decidedly familiar.

"Wha…?" she murmured, sitting up. And was immediately slammed with a pounding headache so bad she grabbed her head and practically screamed. It gave her double-vision, it was that bad.

"Levy?" a voice croaked from the bed. "Is that you?"

Levy's head was swimming with pain, but she managed to somehow whimper, "Grandmother?"

"Are you all right?" Porlyusica's voice asked. "When they dragged you in here, I couldn't tell if you were dead or alive."

"My head hurts, but I think I'm…" The end of this sentence was cut off by a whimper.

Porlyusica's response was sharp, commanding. "Come up here. I have medicine."

Levy's head was pounding so painfully, she obeyed immediately.

Upon closer inspection, though, something wasn't right.

"Grandmother?" she asked uncertainly. "I don't remember your nose being so big."

"The better to smell you with, my dear. And the herbs, too," came the joking reply.

Levy, even with her double-vision and her eyesight messed up because it was so dark, knew something was wrong. Mostly because 1) Porlyusica would never call her anything close to "my dear," and 2) Porlyusica never, ever joked around. Levy was still debating whether she even knew what a joke was.

"Um, Grandmother?" she asked, playing for time. "Also, I don't remember your ears being so big."

"The better to hear you with, my dear!"

Levy slowly moved closer to the lamp. "Your eyes, too!"

"The better to see you with, my dear!"

She was now close enough to the lamp to grab it at a moment's notice.

"Oh, and Grandmother?"

"Yes, dear?"

Levy knew the next words were a gamble, but she had to do it anyway. She had to get this thing under control and find out where her real grandmother was.

"What big teeth you have!"

The thing in the bed grinned widely, displaying every single one of its sharp, yellow teeth. "Oh… The better to eat you with, of course!"

And that's when a seven-foot wolf leaped out of the bed, teeth and claws aimed directly for Levy McGarden.

(Okay, so seven feet is kinda stretching it. It was only six feet and eleven inches, after all.)

At which point, it met a teensy, tiny glitch in its plans.

A glitch that happened to consist of Levy picking up the lamp and slamming it into the gigantic wolf's face with a huge CRASH of broken glass. (And a CRUNCH of broken wolf nose.)

It hurt.

A lot.

Seriously. The wolf had no idea such a tiny girl could hit that hard.

Which may or may not be the reason he passed out, the other reason possibly being the sudden arrival of Gajeel Redfox, who whammed it in the head with the flat of his axe.

Yep, that's right. Hit in the head again.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that usually seems to be pretty effective in knocking things out. Which was probably why the wolf crashed to the ground, unconscious, making one heck of a THUD as he did.

(This fight has lots of onomatopoeia, doesn't it.)

Gajeel and Levy just spent a few seconds staring at the gigantic wolf on the floor in front of them.

Then they looked at each other.

"Um," Levy said eloquently.

"Uh," was Gajeel's equally eloquent response.

"Why… Why would you…"

Gajeel stared at his feet. In an extremely soft voice, he replied, "I couldn't leave you here to die."

Levy couldn't believe any of this. "What? Why couldn't you?! You knocked me out with a tree branch! You kidnapped – wait."

Levy's eyes went wide. "Where's Lucy?! You didn't – You couldn't – Ow!"

She grabbed her head again, wincing. Gajeel took this opportunity to respond.

"I didn't wanna do it, shrimp. Which is why I'm doing my best to fix the problem."

"Oh, you didn't wanna do it now, huh? Then why'd you do it?" Levy shot back angrily. "And do not call me shrimp!"

"Because he had my cat!" Gajeel snapped back. "What was I supposed to do, let him die?! He's my only friend in the world!"

Silence. Again.

"He had your cat?" Levy repeated. "Who?"

Gajeel's gaze went back to his feet. "My dad. Jose. He made me do it."

Jose?

Wait. She knew that name.

Levy barely managed to squeak out the next words. "Your dad's… a Villain?!"

"My dad's a what?"

"A… A Villain." Levy's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh no. That's why. This… oh no."

She bit her lip hard, trying her best to ignore her headache. "I need to find Natsu. And Gray. And Laxus, and Erza. Sting and Rogue too. I need to…"

Gajeel's response surprised her. "Natsu? How do you know Natsu?"

"What?" Levy stared at him. "You know Natsu?"

"He's my cousin." Gajeel shrugged like it was nothing. "What's he got to do with any of this?'

"He's one of the Finders." Levy went back to her planning, giving no explanation for what a Finder was. But then she paused and looked back at him.

"Wait. You and Natsu are cousins?"

"Well. Yeah."

Levy's mouth hung open. "Impossible."

Gajeel shrugged. "Not really. Our dads were brothers. Well, my real dad, actually. Jose adopted me."

"You were adopted by a Villain?"

"Yeah, but then I got sick of his whining and struck out on my own. So?"

Levy shook her head. "Unbelievable. Do you have any idea where Natsu is?"

"No, I – "

"Natsu's right here," said Natsu's voice from right behind them.

Levy would've shrieked, only her head hurt too much. "Natsu?! Gray?!"

"Levy, we've got a situation. And it's not good."

"Lucy, right?" she asked.

Both boys just nodded. They were used to her genius tendencies by now.

"Yo, Natsu," Gajeel interrupted, making him jump. "What's this about Villains?"

Natsu stared at his cousin. "Gajeel. Long time no see."

"You too. What's going on?"

Natsu glanced at Levy, who nodded. "We need him. If we're going to do this, we need as many people as possible."

Natsu hesitated, then sighed. "I'll explain on the way. Let's move!"

The four left the room.

Hey, so plot development time!

I know I said last time that I probably wasn't going to put the original fairy tales into the story, but then I realized I mentioned Peter Pan in Chapter One. So now the plot's going to get interesting!

Now for the review replies:

AriRedfox: Thanks! And you gave me a nickname! Gasp!

13: Here's the next chapter!

PhantomPierce-Okamoto: So true.

That is my excuse for everything too. High-five!

camacazi1: Well, he kinda didn't but

DEATH TO GRAY IF HE DID!

Lizzie2145: Gasp, thanks! Which other story, though? Ah, screw it, I'll work on all of them!

ForeverDreamer12: Gray is now deemed officially not a jerk anymore!

I love poking fun at Gaston. Can you tell?

Erza shall do it soon, don't worry…

And hyperness is good! Hyperness is fun! YAY FOR BEING HYPER!

I'm kinda hyper too, can you tell?

thefourteenthdarkone: Meredy is a fun character, yes.

The island is a great not-so-evil mastermind.

More about the Villains shall be revealed soon!

FanGirlofDeath: Ah, it's okay. As long as some people are glad it's back!

Oh, I did?! AGH I'M SO SORRY BUT I'M TOO LAZY TO FIX IT NOW (ahahah…)

Louise24Zoldyk: Oh, of course he is.

But you can totally tell Rogue ships it so hard.

Oh um… Not much of a battle… (blushes) Sorry…

Digi-fanCatt: I know what you mean, I don't even know how many versions of Cinderella I've seen or heard about.

Um… Don't really know what you mean with the hive mind… Is it a Higher Institute for Villainous Education reference? BECAUSE SERIOUSLY THAT SERIES IS AWSOME.

XxanimegrimreapergirlxX: OMIGOSH THAT'S PERFECT They're gonna marry each other anyway!

LyonXMeredy? I guess, yeah, if I can fit it in.

RogueXKagura? Sure, that too.

Hmm, you are coughing a lot. Need a cough drop? (lol)

Canadian Aspiring Author: Thank you, for reading this thingy and actually liking it somehow despite all the times I somehow screwed up! And yes, it'll be a little more serious from now on – BUT THERE WILL STILL BE JOKES DON'T WORRY.

crystalgolem248: coughcoughislandmaybecough. And Gajeel sucks at socializing.

SashaMonroe: Thanks!

Guest: I shall do that!

NutsieDreamer: Yeah, trusting Natsu and Gray is maybe not a good idea…

Yup, evil Jellal. And stuff.

You were right!

And I adore Gaston's stupidity, it's so much fun to write.

Anon: Oh, yeah.

Well, kinda.

Oh, don't worry, she will… (cackles evilly)

meow goes a cat: Such a sneaky island.

Nah, it's just an island. A magical island. A magical sneaky island.

Well, there was a prison with bars so.

ANYWAY

That's all, folks!

Water, out