My heart is kind of heavy from last chapter. Need a break from Mavis/Zeref storyline. Plus those last few chapters have just been HUGE! We are going to leave that alone right now. It might have seemed a bit rushed. Gomen! I just wanted to show a quick flash of Zervis that morphed into something a bit more detailed. The death scene was probably the saddest moment I have written.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! My family came down. Think one of them may have given me a cold. Been pretty secluded all week until they came and now I have a headache, sniffles, sneezing... so... yeah.

This chapter is kind of transitional as we get into a new plot twist (can't wait to write it). Hope you guys enjoy it. Will lighten the mood soon too like next chapter. I was inspired by that chapter Lucy Fire from the manga – a bit of comedy, a sweet Nalu moment, a cliffhanger ending… I liked this chapter. It gives some teases at some stuff to come. Any theories? Let me know.

Chapter Thirteen: Jude's Law

(Lucy's POV)

"Not going to haul your ass around the mountain. And I can't say here." Lucy stated to the again sleeping boy. Leaning over, she nudged him with her foot. He let out a huge snore.

Lucy was not ashamed to admit that she was petrified. Her nerves were shot and what little bit of logic she had left after Mavis had blocked that blinding light the dragon had threw at them.

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "What did I do to deserve this?!"

The temperature was noticeably dropping. Mavis was gone, and Natsu was still knocked out on the ground. Lucy had initially tried to wake him but with no luck. She eyed the entrance to the cabin. Snow was starting to fall again.

She was hungry and tired.

If she had fire to cook Natsu, she would probably do it...

Or Happy...

Lucy also had a strange feeling as if she missed something important.

She barely knew what happened after the light had engulfed the entire cabin. It seemed as if she had witnessed something when Mavis had touched her. The memory had vanished at the same time Mavis disappeared.

Lucy's head ached when she tried to think too much on Mavis.

"I need to get away." Lucy said to herself. Clearly, all the excitement and lack of sleep was making her half crazy. If Natsu was not going to get up, she would have to leave him. He was probably better suited to survive in the wilderness.

The weather would kill her so she decided to make a temporary jacket out of her blankets. Searching the house for something sharp, the only thing Lucy found was Natsu's claws, which she used to cut the fabric.

After tying the new layers around her, Lucy made her way outside. She shivered. It wasn't enough.

Staring at the sky, Lucy thought about how much energy she had used up. She had gotten some sleep so she felt better about using magic... at least small spells.

No stars shown during the day, but Lucy knew that they were still there. Lucy murmured "Pyxis domum reperio . Invoking the name of the constellation that was known for finding lost places.

A star appeared in the blue sky. Slowly, it fell toward her. Then little ball of light perched on her nose before flying into the forest.

"Hello Pyxis"

It was a spell her mother had taught her so she could always find her way home. All Lucy had to do was follow the constellation's fallen star.

"I can't make this journey with these rags on." Lucy declared to nobody in particular. She went back inside to stand over the only other source of clothes around – Natsu.

He didn't need them technically. He clearly could create outfits through his magic.

Plus he had shoes.

Of course they seemed to be sandlish, but anything would do at the point.

His robes would be perfect to cover the holes she made in the blankets to put her arms through. They also had buttons unlike the sheets which were tied around her. Moving around would be more secure wearing that.

Lucy fingered his scarf. Mavis said he needed it to protect him. Maybe it had been just for the spell but Lucy didn't have the heart to take it.

Reaching out she sat him up to maneuver his arms out of his robes. He rolled over pinning her underneath him.

She blushed furiously. "It's not what you think!"

Snore.

"I need this more than you! I'm trying to escape."

She could almost imagine Happy saying, "What kind of idiot tells their captor when they were escaping?" But the demon did not even flinch when she said it.

Checking his breathing, she unwound herself from him, gently laying him on his back.

So far so good. He had not wakened.

Next she took off his shoes.

They stunk!

"How can they stink so fast?" Lucy asked. He had not even been in the clothes for more than a few hours.

"Guess I will have to make do." She said as she tried them on. They were too big for her feet so she created some makeshift socks..

"Farewell m'Lord Dragon Demon," she murmured, covering herself with his clothes. "For I doubt we will see each other again."

It was almost sad to leave him like this.

A little impulsively she patted his forehead. Just because he still reminded her of a puppy, even though he was evil incarnated.

And Lucy left, knowing there was a high possibility of her freezing to death that night. Hopefully she could cover a lot of ground during the last few hours of the day.

(Gray's POV)

"She's still missing?!"

"We have searched the surrounding area. The demon is truly gone along with your daughter." Gray reported.

"Also, we can't track them because they left by air. We just know the general route they took from the tower watchers." Loke added.

Jude hit his fist against his desk, making Gray and Loke jump. "Unacceptable." The half of his head was bandaged.

"All we need is a skilled scryer and something of Lucy's to be able to find her. It might take a few days to get one here though. We have a large enough force to tear these mountains apart, searching for Lady Lucy. Even if we have to journey so far north that we come in contact with HIS castle." sneered Gray.

"HIS" referring to Zeref's castle.

One reason Gray had taken up with the Heartfilias was to hopefully come in contact with Zeref. The black wizard had taken something very important to Gray, and he hoped to get it back.

"I want every Demon hunter, Dragon slayer, mercenary within Ishgar to be hunting for this monster. I want his head! My daughter, I want her found now! Even if I have to destroy every mountain and tree in the north to do it. Dammit that girl has never been much use of anything, but now she goes and gets herself kidnapped. How will any man want her if she has been with a demon?"

Gray spaced out for a second, ignoring Jude's rant.

Sometimes Jude made him sick when he raged at Lucy. Lucy was probably the nicest girl he knew, besides maybe Juvia.

Instant guilt flooded him. Gray thought back to yelling at Juvia. He had wanted to apologize so he had tracked down Virgo to see where Juvia was cleaning to apologize.

He had been the one to find the poor girl's burnt body lying in a melted hallway.

Everyone had been woken from the sound of an explosion of the flame breath's roar, but Gray had been just a floor below it.

He had ran with brake neck speed to Lucy's room but the beast had already taken her. A flying furry creature had issued a threat before danced away when Gray had sent ice shards at its head.

Going back to Juvia, he had immediately carried her to the healers and stayed by her side until she partly woke to notice him. She had smiled a little pleased smile with tears running down her face.

Before falling back to sleep, she had whispered, "At least, you're worried about me."

And she had not awaken since.

Sure...

Juvia's infatuation with him was annoying as hell, but he didn't hate her.

Those words though kinda made him sad. Juvia had no family and while she got along with all the girls in the castle, she never really opened up to any of the guys besides him. She was a sweet girl who always looked out for him. He had actually been the one to bring her to the castle and got her a job. He had found her a couple of years before in a nearby village, a lost and alone girl. She had been orphaned and was trying to use her skills to help bandits steal merchandise from unsuspecting travelers. Jude had sent Gray along with a small force to dispatch them. Juvia was the only one to survive because Gray saw something in her that reminded him of himself.

After saving her, Juvia had proclaimed him her savior, and she tried to do everything for him.

But the fire demon had hurt her.

Plus the demon had kidnapped Lucy, one of his friends. Lucy's body was not strong against fire like Juvia's should have been. He didn't understand how the demon could have hurt her. Juvia was the rain woman made of water. Her power was special. Even if a demon tried to eat her magic, because she could transform into water, she could just reform herself inside the demon, killing it.

For him to have hurt her, he would have had to boiled her to the point her magic broke down.

Gray hated not being to kill the demon the first time they fought. His friends were being hurt. Normally he tried to keep his distance but from everyone but because of his childhood.

Gray zoned back into the conversation long enough to hear Jude say, "Make a law in the northern providence that whoever finds my daughter will be my heir. "

"Hey wait a second," Loke demanded.

"Yes?"

"What about Lucy? When you find her, you are just going to give away her birthright?"

"It had never been my intention to leave all this to her. I was hoping that she would fall in love with one of you. Now I think that it will take a strong warrior to rescue her. That type of man is the kind I want to leave what I have built to. "

"Doesn't she get a say in this? I mean she's your daughter."

"Remember your place, Loke. You can't possibly think she can run this estate and keep the men under control? Left to her, this region would have anarchy. I gave her a chance and she refused to pick a suitable arrangement. Now with the demon kidnapping her, who would take her?"

Gray decided not to speak up. He place a hand on Loke's shoulder. Loke turned red and barked, "What kind of men do you think will come? Ever scoundrel, criminal, mage, and tracker will come."

Jude smirked. "And it will make the perfect competition to see who will be on top."

When Loke opened his mouth still to speak again, Gray made his grip tighter sending Loke a warning to keep his mouth shut.

Gray stared at Jude straight in the eye with a hard look. "Is there anything else?"

"You may go. I am disappointed that this has happened. Hopefully you can redeem yourself and be rewarded.

Loke and Gray left the room, both seething in rage. They would find Lucy, before anyone else.

Gray swore he would take the demon down, even if he used THAT technique – the one his master taught him - the ultimate spell of an ice maker.

Even though Gray liked Lucy a lot, if it came down to it, Loke should be the one to marry her. Loke had been with Lucy since she was young and one of the reasons he became such a playboy was because Lucy thought of him like a brother.

Loke asked Gray, "You think your family will come?"

Gray winced at the thought of asking them for help.

"Yea"

Next chapter: Vulcan Meat