A/N: Oh my gosh, I have comment ninjas! I dunno why but two people have been total ninjas when they review my story and it's awesome, I love looking in the comments and finding that people have reviewed my story and I didn't know XD
Enjoy the chapter and *ninja pose* nin, nin! :)
…
Natsu's POV:
…
The first thing that Natsu noticed about what he assumed was the Tartarous guild hall was that it stunk. The air was almost suffocating and the half-Fire Dragon felt sick just breathing it in and it wasn't helping him at all that his draconic blood was fading faster by the second. The usual warmth that curled through his body was quickly cooling, leaving him to feel cold the full force of the cold air that leaked through the lid. He decided that the next time Lucy complained about being cold, he wouldn't tease her about it.
The ever-so slight movement of the jar bobbing up and down halted and a muffled voice vibrated through the glass. Natsu cursed that he couldn't hear what was being said. His hearing must have gone as well, now he just had human hearing.
Suddenly the lid spun off and the whole jar was turned over and roughly shook, dislodging the half-Fire Dragon from the confines of the jar and dropping him feet first onto what looked like stone, but since Natsu was no longer at his usual strength and grace, he didn't stick the landing and ended up face-planting.
"Return him to normal size." an unknown voice ordered.
"With pleasure."
A harsh blow to the center of his back followed by a tingle of magic coursing through his body. Natsu tried to sit up but found that Anty was standing next to him, not only not looking like a giant, but with the butt end of her mallet buried in his back and an annoyingly satisfied grin on her face.
"'Bout time you made me big again!" Natsu shouted.
Anty raised an eyebrow at the half-dragon and lifted the end of her mallet out of his back, but reached down and pulled him up painfully by his hair.
"Huh? Why's your hair black?" she asked.
Natsu didn't answer, both out of stubbornness and the fact that his scalp was hurting from Anty pulling his hair. If he tried to speak, all that would come out is 'ow, ow, ow, ow'.
"Maybe it's an effect from the anti-Ethernano?" Dewi suggested.
The unknown voice hummed in agreement. "Maybe. Who knows how anti-Ethernano effects half breeds."
The half-Fire Dragon's blood ran cold with anger. Natsu tore Anty's hand from his now jet black hair, stood up and faced the unknown person with rage burning in his eyes.
The man before him was the strangest guy Natsu had ever seen and that was a lot from someone who under normal circumstances has sakura pink hair. He had hair that was longer than Gajeel's and dressed in an old-fashioned suit. However, in his hands was a red leather book with the letters E, N, and D, embroidered on the cover in a spidery font.
Natsu immediately didn't like that book. He wasn't as sensitive to energies since he was a human now, but even he could clearly feel that there was a powerful demon sealed in that book.
Strangely, there seemed to be something binding the demon within the pages, something that felt oddly familiar.
"Mard Geer sees you can feel it, son of Igneel." the weird man said, "The power of our Master E.N.D.."
Natsu's eyes narrowed. "What the heck do you want from me?"
"Mard Geer says it's simple." he said, a chilling smile cracking on his face, "Mard Geer wants your blood."
The half-Fire Dragon barely even had a second after that sentence was completed as a vine of sharp thorns tore up from the ground. Natsu managed to move a majority out of the way, or so he thought.
The thorns suddenly changed course and pierced him through his stomach. The fact that he was being stabbed by a vine of continuous spikes of pain was bad enough to force a pained wail from the half-Fire Dragon and no matter how much he pulled on the vine, he couldn't get it to budge and in the end it just made his hands bleed as much as the wound in his stomach was.
Droplets of crimson traveled down the line of thorns in thin streams, following the pull of gravity, right until the end where it dripped off the thorns and splashed onto the cover of the book Mard Geer was holding underneath. Mard Geer's face twisted into a wicked smile as sharp as the thorns he had summoned to spear Natsu through.
The half-Fire Dragon pulled on the thorn vine even more desperately. Natsu didn't know what was sealed in that book, but the seal on it must be powerful if Mard Geer needed half-dragon blood to undo it.
And right now, Natsu didn't have half-dragon blood. He only had human blood.
And Natsu knew that it wouldn't do squat against the seal.
Drop after drop fell onto the cover of the book, but nothing happened. Mard Geer's smile faltered.
"Why is nothing happening? Did you pathetic humans capture the wrong half-dragon?"
Anty shock her head, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.
"No, sir. He was an exact match to your description."
"He was using Dragon Magic when we caught him. We swear!" Dewi exclaimed, sounding panicked.
"THEN WHY ISN'T HIS BLOOD UNSEALING MASTER E.N.D.?!" Mard Geer bellowed.
The strange man pulled the book from under the drip of Natsu's blood and held out his hand, letting a few of the crimson drops fall onto his hand, before he licked up the blood.
A few seconds passed and Mard Geer's Face contorted into rage. The ground rumbled and a tangle of thorny vines tore up from the ground and lashed themselves around Anty and Dewi, embedding their thorns into the dark mages' skin and drawing thin streams of sticky red blood.
The two dark mages cried out in pain and surprise as they were suspended in the air by the thorned vines.
"His blood is human." Mard Geer said, looking at the two Blood Eagle mages, a look in his eyes that could only be described as 'demonic', "You disappoint Mard Geer, human."
"W-We swear h-he was a half-dragon w-when we captured him!" Anty exclaimed, her voice trembling uncharacteristically.
"Then what happened?"
Mard Geer turned to Natsu, both of them locking into a harsh staring contest. Finally Mard Geer's expression crawled into an eerie smirk.
"Mard Geer sees now. Tonight is the beginning of your day of humanity."
"D-Day of humanity?" Dewi asked.
Mard Geer scowled and swung his arm. Piercing screams tore through the air behind Natsu. The half-dragon flinched out of reflex, hearing something warm and wet splatter against the ground behind him and finally two heavy thuds.
Then there was silence.
Natsu didn't even need to turn around to know what happened. Heavy footsteps echoed through the hall and came up behind him. As the footsteps halted directly behind him, the thorn vine retracted from his stomach. Natsu felt like he was going to keel over but a hard, clawed hand on his shoulder halted his descent.
"Kyoka." Mard Geer said, "Take our...guest...to the cells. Make sure when his power returns he can't use it."
"Yes, Mard Geer-sama."
Kyoka steered Natsu harshly towards a stairway leading down. Natsu wrenched around and threw a punch at Kyoka's face, but his fist was caught in a hard clawed hand and his whole arm was twisted painfully behind his back.
"Pathetic attempt." Kyoka muttered, clasping something cold and metallic on his wrist, "Are you really the son of the dragon that bested our master?"
Natsu gritted his teeth, trying to dig his heels into the ground to keep Kyoka from taking him down to what was most likely a dungeon.
"What the heck do you mean? You knew Igneel?"
"Only Master E.N.D. has encountered that dreadful lizard, and you can see how he ended up." Kyoka said, pushing the half-dragon down the stairs, her own strength easily overpowering Natsu's.
Natsu stumbled and caught himself. He hated being a human. Compared to his usual strength, he was so fragile and weak right now. The pinkette was already feeling weak, probably marginally from the blood-loss he suffered. If he wasn't a human right now, he could have shrugged this injury off no problem, but then this E.N.D guy would have been unsealed and Natsu had a feeling that the seal was on that book for a good reason.
"I'm sure he's bragged about it to you." Kyoka continued, pushing Natsu farther down the stairs, "About how he reduced Master's form to ash and bound his soul in that book with a powerful seal, too strong for anyone to break without a powerful anti-sealant."
"The old man never mentioned that even once." Natsu growled.
"Then he was a bigger fool than I thought."
With a final shove, Natsu tumbled backwards down the last few stairs and crashed into a rusty metal grate that shuttered against Natsu's head. The room became blurred as a dull throb pulsed through Natsu's skull. Natsu cursed to himself while screwing his eyes shut against the pain. Another set of heavy boots thudded against the ground accompanied by the slight clank of metal and a frigid wind.
"Is this him, Kyoka? The son of Igneel?" a male voice asked.
"Yes."
"Hm. I thought his hair would be more...pink."
A cold hand grabbed Natsu's scarf and gently tugged it free from his neck. Immediately, Natsu disregarded the pain that wrecked through his body, snapped his eyes open and grabbed onto the scaled fabric before it could be pulled away completely.
"Don't you f***ing dare." he growled.
The man gripping the other end of Natsu's precious scarf simply chuckled as a cold stab of pain shot through Natus's body from the still open wound in his gut. Natsu shouted in pain and released his grip on the fabric, unwillingly letting it slip through his fingers.
"I'll be taking this to Mard Geer as a trophy. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
Kyoka simply nodded and moved to let the man pass. Natsu could only watch him go, trembling from cold and rage. Without his fire magic and scarf, he was even more exposed to the frosty climate of the Tartarous guild hall. The half-Fire Dragon looked down at his wound and found a small spike of a purple hued ice wedged in it.
When the man left, the frigid climate followed and the ice spike melted. The air was still cold, but it had lost its bite when the man left. Something bothered Natsu about him though. He looked familiar in a way that Natsu couldn't place.
Unfortunately, he didn't get the luxury of time to try and remember why that man who stole his scarf looked familiar. Kyoka grabbed him by the collar of his vest and effortlessly tossed him into an open cell and slammed the door shut.
"You are fortunate we still need you alive, half breed."
The odd woman left after uttering those words, leaving Natsu in a heavy silence completely alone with his thoughts. Natsu lashed out with a hard punch against the grate in front of him, but it did little more than rattle the bars and scrape up his knuckles.
Natsu growled in frustration and sat against the far wall, his black hair falling in his face since it now lost its miraculous ability to defy gravity. Yet another reminder that for the time being, he was nothing but an average human.
What a time for the Ember Moon to arrive. Natsu wasn't sure if it was a blessing in disguise or just a plain curse. Right now, he was leaning more towards curse.
Sure, E.N.D.'s revival had been stalled, but now Natsu was completely helpless against an enemy that knew more about him than he did about them. And when the Ember Moon was over and his half-dragon abilities returned, who knows what they'll do to him.
He looked down at the object Kyoka had clasped on his wrist when he attempted to punch her. It was a thick metal cuff that didn't appear to be made of average metals like iron or steel. It had an almost magical glow to it that made Natsu suspect that this was a magic sealing cuff.
Why they didn't chose to bind his hands when they easily could have was questionable at best. When the Ember Moon was over and Dewi's Magic Blocking had worn off, his magic would return to him as well as his supernatural strength. Either Tartarous had forgotten that half-dragons were insanely strong both magically and physically, or they were confident that they could overpower him.
As annoying as his situation was, there was something that bothered him even more. Lucy was still missing and he didn't know if she was okay or not and it was driving him mad. The Celestial Mage had pulled him from a potentially life threatening situation without a hint of hesitation almost as many times as he had for her and she didn't seem to care that he wasn't entirely human.
What would Lucy think, seeming him as a weak, helpless human rather than the strong half-dragon she was so used to seeing?
"Well, it's Lucy, so she probably would do somethin' weird and flip out for a bit." he chuckled to himself.
A small ping of happiness sparked inside his heart thinking about his friend. And something that he was sorely lacking at the moment.
Determination. (A/N: *Thinking about Lucy fills you with DETERMINATION* Sorry. I had to)
He couldn't give up just yet. Where-ever Lucy was at the moment, she was waiting for him and he shouldn't keep her hanging, he knew that getting out of this situation was going to take a careful plan and patience.
Both of which aren't his strongest characteristics, but they are his best chance of getting out of here without giving Tartarous what they want.
So for now, he'd have to lay and wait for the right moment.
…
Lucy's POV:
…
Lucy was getting really sick of waking up in pain. Her head was throbbing against her skull and her body felt like someone had taken a vacuum to her and sucked out all her energy. Nonetheless, the Celestial Mage opened her eyes. She expected the light of the sun to blind her, but the sun had actually set from what Lucy could see out of the corner of her eye. But Lucy wasn't the only one in the room.
Lucy turned her head to the side and was face-to-face with Yukino. A brief surge of panic filled the blonde. Yukino looked so similar to Angel, the Celestial Mage from the Oracion Seis that Lucy would have lost her life to if Fairy Tail and the Aligned Forces hadn't shown up when they did. Lucy was scared that Yukino would be similar to the dark Celestial Mage.
"Who exactly are you?" Yukino asked.
Lucy blinked, her fear of the white haired mage forgotten for the moment.
"Why is everyone asking me that question lately?"
"You are very strange, Lucy-sama. You're powers are immeasurable and you have been in contact with people who walk the line between humanity and the supernatural." she said, "Why would we not ask who you are?"
Lucy sat up, quickly checking to see if her keys were still there or not, and thankfully finding them. It seems that Sabertooth don't feel the need to confiscate her keys. Lucy felt better knowing that she would have the support of her spirits if she needed it.
"I already told everyone." she said, "I'm Lucy."
"But Lucy what?" she insisted, "You are very reluctant to reveal your last name."
Lucy scowled. "If I told you what my last name is, you would think differently of me."
Yukino smiled softly, almost sympathetically at the blonde mage.
"A name doesn't define you anymore than mine does."
With an argument like that, Lucy actually felt compelled to tell the Celestial Mage her secret, but at the same time, she hesitated. Fortunately, she didn't have to make a decision that moment when the door opened.
"Yukino, is the girl up yet?" a smooth, yet edgy voice asked.
"Yes, Rufus-sama." Yukino nodded.
"Good. Because there's someone demanding to see her."
Lucy blinked in surprise. Was it Natsu? The prospect that it could be her half-dragon friend immediately got her swinging her legs over the side of the bed and pushing past the man in the doorway. Her ankle still hurt, but the pain had largely subsided since a few days ago to nothing more than a dull twinge of pain every other step.
The Celestial Mage found her way to the main entrance. However, her hopes of seeing her friend were immediately dashed when she laid eyes on a familiar fuchsia eyed dark mage.
Lucy gasped. "Jasper!?"
"Hello again, Heartfillia." the dark mage smirked.
Jasper had actually looked much the same as she had when Lucy last saw her, which was actually not that long ago. But the dark mage now bore bandages over her left eye and a new, angry looking scar ran across her face.
"So, you are the elusive Lucy Heartfillia." inquired the man next to Jasper, "You've been a large thorn in our side, getting two of my best arrested and stealing the vision from my daughter's left eye."
Lucy's jaw almost hit the floor. "'D-Daughter'!"
The man standing with Jasper did resemble her with his sharp fuchsia eyes and psychotic looking smile, but he had a leaner figure and his brown hair was veined with white and stuck straight up like it had been electrocuted.
As if to prove Lucy's suspicions, lightning began to crackle around the man. But it wasn't just lightning that clinging to him. Dark clouds were forming and droplets of water hung suspended in the air. This man was like a walking storm system.
"I am Jupus Thuning, the master of the Blood Eagle guild. You have caused my proud guild shame, and I will erase it." he said, his tone darkening.
Jupus lifted a hand towards Lucy, but the Celestial Mage was one step ahead.
"Open! Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio!"
In a flash the scorpion spirit was there, a wild grin on his face.
"Thunder Flash!" Jupus chanted.
"Sand Blaster!"
Scorpio countered with a heavy blast of sand. Lucy shuddered internally, remembering when that powerful blast was aimed at her. The lighting clashed with the sand, swirling violently around each other in a deadly dance before both dissipated.
"Whew!" Scorpio exclaimed, "Straight into the fire, huh Miss Lucy?"
"Sorry it was such short notice Scorpio."
"Quite alright. Nothin' more than a wake up call."
The whole Sabertooth guild tensed, finally realizing that they had willingly let two powerful dark mages into their guild hall. The magical pressure was almost suffocating.
"Hey! What's goin' on down here?" a familiar voice demanded, "Is that blonde chick fightin' again?"
"Sting, where are you going?"
The crowd parted and out came Sting and Rogue, both looking a little annoyed, though both probably for different reasons. The two half-dragon's attention however immediately zeroed in on Jasper.
"It's you again." Sting muttered, "Didn't we take you to jail?"
"Huh? Who the hell are you two?" Jasper asked, clearly annoyed.
"We are the Twin Dragons and if you are wise, you would leave our guild." Rogue scowled.
Jupus didn't even face the two half-dragons. He looked slightly unimpressed by the pair and simply flicked his hand in their direction. A barrage of rain drops hit Sting and Rogue, but they looked unfazed by the attack.
"What the heck was that?" Sting asked, shaking water off himself like a dog.
Rogue, who was also soaking wet, looked as unimpressed as Jupus did. Well, it was actually kind of hard to tell since his inky black hair was plastered over his eyes. The dark mage in question looked slightly surprised, but nonetheless swung his arm down.
"Lighting Strike!"
The lightning struck the spot where Sting and Rogue were standing, blinding everyone in the guild. When the light faded, the two half-dragons were gone. A choir of shocked gasps rose from the members of Sabertooth.
"It seems they were all bark and no bite." Jupus said, swinging his arm towards Lucy.
In a quick flash, Lucy had her whip out and got Jupus tangled in it.
"What?"
"White Dragon's…"
"Shadow Dragon's…"
"ROAR!"
Two funnels of light and darkness came from opposite ends of the ceiling and met as they struck Jupus. The dark guild master shouted in surprise and Jasper seemed enraged.
"You! You're supposed to be dead! No one has survived father's lightning attack while soaking wet before!" she shouted, "Water conducts electricity to its maximum! You two should be a pair of extra crispy half breeds!"
The two half-dragons landed with a heavy thud on the ground in front of Lucy. Both were throwing of a hefty amount of magic power that made the hairs on Lucy's arms stand on end. Jupus looked like he was going to have a heart attack and attempted to swing his arm again, forgetting that Lucy's whip was still restraining him.
"What's the matter old man?" Sting teased, ignoring Jasper, "Can't attack?"
"Weak scum like you shouldn't lead a guild." Rogue said.
Jupus grunted. "Jasper, take them out."
The fuchsia eyed woman grinned wickedly and cracked her knuckles. "With pleasure."
Sting scuffed. "What're y'ah gonna do? Throw more water on us?"
Jasper cackled, a dark pink aura whipping violently around her. "No. I'm going to rip you to shreds."
Before either of the three mages were able to ask what exactly she meant, Jasper started to change. Her body grew large and scaley, her fingers longer and sharper. She kept growing and changing until she had become a massive dragon.
"W-What kind of magic is that?" Lucy asked, her voice trembling.
Jupus chuckled. "My daughter is the pride of Blood Eagle. A master of Transformation magic. There isn't anything or anyone she can't turn into."
The Jasper Dragon roared, making the whole guild tremble. Lucy shrank away, gripping hard on her whip, but she felt her connection to Scorpio snap like a too-taut string. Scorpio had returned to the Celestial Spirit World.
Sting and Rogue, however, looked completely unfazed by Jasper's new form.
"That was a foolish choice." Rogue said, "Turning into a dragon before two half-dragons."
Sting laughed lightly. "What do y'ah say Rogue? Like old times?"
A phantom of a smirk flashed on the black haired half-dragon's face. "Like old times."
A sudden surge of magic almost knocked Lucy off her feet as a pair of polar opposite auras surrounded the two half-dragons in front of her.
"White Drive."
"Shadow Drive."
Jasper roared. "You think you can defeat a dragon!"
"We know we can. We've done it before." Rogue scowled.
"Besides. You aren't a real dragon, you're just a cheap imitation." Sting said.
The half-White dragon looked over his shoulder at Lucy. "Think you can handle the old man?"
Lucy looked at him in surprise for a moment before nodding hesitantly.
"What are you talking about Sting?" the half-Shadow Dragon asked, "She took out Minerva, of course she can handle it."
Well these two certainly have a lot of faith in me. Lucy beamed mentally.
Sting shrugged. "Yeah, but y'ah never know. She's still a weak human after all."
Or not.
"Are you going to fight the dragon or are you going to make fun of me?" Lucy asked, curling her fingers around her keys.
"Eh, guess you're right." Sting shrugged, "Let's go Rogue!"
The Twin Dragons leapt into action and at the same time Lucy summoned another spirit.
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"
The cow spirit appeared and this time didn't spend any time oogleing over Lucy's body and set straight to work.
"What do you need smashed Moooooiss Lucy?" he asked.
Lucy pointed to Jupus, who was still trying to escape Lucy's whip with little success.
"Take him out Taurus."
Taurus charged, swinging his axe at Jupus. "Right away Moooooiss Lucy."
However, as soon as the cow spirit got close to Jupus, he was struck by lightning.
"Taurus!" Lucy cried out.
"Sorry Mooooiss Lucy."
With that, Taurus disappeared back into the Celestial Spirit World, leaving behind a shocked Lucy. Jupus started laughing.
"Foolish girl. You think your spirits stand a chance against me?" he cackled, "I am the Master of Blood Eagle! You cannot possibly hope to defeat me!"
The wind began to pick up at an alarming rate around the building until it started to pick up wizards and throw them around. Lucy didn't even need to look to know that Sting and Rogue were having a tough time keeping their footing as they fought Jasper. The only thing keeping Lucy from also being tossed around by the winds with the members of Sabertooth was her whip, which still coiled around Jupus like a deadly snake refusing to release its prey.
"I am the God of Storms! You can't possibly hope to defeat a god!"
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and dug her feet into the carpet against the wind as rain started to hammer her in heavy sheets and slowly began to pool at her feet as it began to soak into her socks.
Water.
Lucy's eyes snapped back open.
"Oh, I'm really going to regret this." she muttered, grabbing for a gold key.
The Celestial Mage ducked down and thrusted the glittering key into the puddle.
"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"
The puddle before Lucy exploded upwards and rained down even more water upon the blonde's head as the mermaid spirit appeared. And she looked rather cross.
"A puddle. I can take a river but a freaking puddle!? ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME MAD, BRAT!?" the hot-headed water spirit demanded, "THAT'S IT! I'M WASHING YOU ALL AWAY!"
Aquarius lifted her urn high over her head, a vortex of water began swirling in the mouth until she swung it down and a surge of water rushed out and into the guild, quickly flooding the whole place. Mages screamed in surprise as they were snatched from the air and caught up in the rushing current of water.
If this wasn't the first time Aquarius had swept her away, Lucy would be surprised too as the water swirled her around the guild hall until it finally flushed out.
When the water was finally all gone, Jasper had turned back into a human and was rendered unconscious as well as Jupus and the mages of Sabertooth were scattered out around the guild in soaking wet messes.
Lucy dragged herself up into a sitting position from her new spot by the far wall as Aquarius floated down in front of her.
"If you summon me from a toilet next, you're dead."
Lucy paled. "S-So sorry!"
Aquarius "hmph"ed and disappeared. Lucy let out a sigh of relief and melted against the wall, her fatigue finally catching up with her. The Sabertooth guild hall was eerily silent until a booming voice roared.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!"
Immediately every member of Sabertooth was up and standing, lined up like toy soldiers as Jiemma stood in the doorway. Immediately everyone pointed at Lucy, who was the only one not standing up.
The Sabertooth guild master looked like he was going to explode from rage.
"First you defeat my daughter, next you blow a hole in my guild's wall, and now you flood the place." he growled, "Why are you so irresponsible with that power of your's?"
Lucy didn't understand where Jiemma was getting at, but the rest of the guild did.
"M-Master!? You aren't seriously considering…"
"Making that girl a member!?"
"SILENCE!" Jiemma roared, "She is a strong mage. Even stronger than my own pathetic daughter. Why would I not want her in the guild?"
Lucy blinked in surprise and got to her feet.
"Listen, I appreciate the offer. I really do. But I've got plans of my own and none of them involve joining a guild right now."
Another choir of shocked gasps followed by whispers.
"She declined a direct offer to join Sabertooth?"
"Is this girl for real?"
Jiemma looked like he was going to explode again. "What exactly are these 'plans'?"
"That is none of your concern." Lucy scowled.
The Celestial mage stared off with Jiemma for a moment before the Sabertooth master finally broke off and left without another word. Once again, her own boldness surprised her. Natsu really was rubbing off on her.
A small smile tugged at her face thinking about the hot-headed half-dragon, but quickly disappeared. He wasn't here right now. She knew that he was probably looking for her and she should start looking for him and let him know she's okay.
A heavy arm being slung over her shoulders broke Lucy from her thoughts.
"That was a pretty impressive show." Sting remarked casually, "Didn't think you had it in y'ah."
"What? With me being a human and all?"
Sting just chuckled.
"Hey, where's Minerva? I haven't seen her since the fight. Is she okay?"
The blonde half-dragon looked at Lucy like she had just grew a second head.
"Didn't you hear? Because she lost against you, Minerva was kicked out of Sabertooth."
...
Levy's POV:
...
The first road block the rescue team faced in their journey to save their friends, was that they had no idea where they were. The group was starting with saving Natsu, since he was probably in the most danger at the moment. But to Levy, it was meant as a way to protect her dear friend, Lucy. Levy knew the Celestial Mage well enough to know that she would be very upset if she found out that Natsu was in danger.
But that still didn't give them any hints to where the half-Fire Dragon was taken to.
Night had long since fallen and the moon hung overhead, tonight however it was a strange flame color. The rescue team had set up camp next to a road behind a hill and was trying to figure out who may have ordered Natsu's kidnapping
"Geez. Why the heck did flame brain get himself captured?" Gray complained.
The blue haired mage, Juvia huffed and nodded her head in agreement.
"If Gray-sama is mad at this 'flame brain' then Juvia will be too."
A swift, yet hard blow to the head, courtesy of a certain Titania quieted the two immediately.
"We need to focus on finding leads. As far as we know, Natsu could not have a lot of time and we have no idea where to look."
Levy sighed and started to think. She didn't know a lot about Natsu's past before he met Lucy. Really, she only knew as much as the Celestial Mage who introduced her to him. As far as she knew, there wasn't anyone who would want something from Natsu. However, Gajeel brought up the point of Natsu's half-dragon blood. What could someone want with that? And if they wanted half-dragon blood, why didn't Dewi and Anty take Gajeel when he was rendered to a small size? It wasn't making any sense. What was so unique about Natsu that made his blood different from Gajeel's?
Suddenly, a body tumbled onto the road from the hill above and into the road in front of them. Erza was first to approach the body. Levy would have gone too, but Gajeel stopped her, moving his arm protectively in front of her.
"Gajeel..? What is it?"
The half-Iron Dragon's red eyes narrowed at the person. "It's her."
"'Her'?" Juvia echoed.
"Her who?" Gray asked.
Erza rolled the girl onto her back to check her over for injuries. And found plenty.
"She needs medical attention right away!" the Requip mage ordered.
"That girl's the one who shrunk me and kidnapped Natsu." Gajeel finally stated.
Levy looked closer at the girl's face and Gajeel was right. She was the same girl that had attacked the train yesterday. The one that had the giant mallet and the short temper. But her mallet was gone now.
She looked like she had been dragged through Hell and back. Her face was deathly pale, her hair a tangled mess and her clothes torn and crusted with dried blood from still open wounds around her body. And one of her legs was twisted at a painfully odd angle. She looked almost dead, how she was alive was a mystery.
"How did she get here like that?" Levy whispered.
Gajeel's nose twitched and a throaty growl vibrated in his throat.
"Erza, get away from her." he warned.
The redheaded mage looked up at him. "Why?"
"There's somethin' weird about her smell. Just bein' near it's makin' me sick."
Juvia nodded hesitantly. "Juvia is feeling ill as well. It's like Juvia's magic is being drained just being near her."
"What the heck is wrong with her?" Gray asked, his shirt now missing.
The girl's eyes snapped open and she gasped, sitting up. Quickly she cried out in pain and fell back down onto her back, breathing heavily as if she was desperate for air.
"Oh my gods. Oh my gods…" she whispered, tears dripping from the corners of her eyes, "He killed her…that demon...he killed Dewi..."
Gajeel stormed over to the girl and picked her up easily to his eye level by the front of her ripped shirt.
"Where the heck did you take the pink-haired idiot, Anty?" he demanded.
Unfortunately, Anty didn't appear to be listening and kept muttering to herself.
"She's traumatized." Levy murmured.
A sob tore from Anty's mouth. "Dam that Mard Geer. Dam Tartarous to Hell!"
Cold rippled through Levy's body. "T-Tartarous!? One of the three cornerstones of the Balam Alliance!?"
"He killed Dewi...and we did our job! We swear he was a half-dragon when we caught him!" Anty muttered.
Her voice was pleading and completely emotionally wrecked. It was hard for Levy to believe that this babbling mess of a girl was from one of the most feared dark guilds in the country.
"Gajeel. Put her down." Erza said blankly.
The half-Iron Dragon continued to suspend the girl in the air as she sobbed and babbled incoherently. Levy watched his expression. Gajeel's facial expression showed nothing, but his eyes…
There was shock and pity shining clearly in them. Maybe even sympathy.
Levy stood up and carefully walked to her boyfriend's side, gently gripping his hand.
"Gajeel…put her down. Please."
Reluctantly, Gajeel obeyed and set Anty down. The dark mage's actions didn't change and she continued bawling senselessly.
"This chick's from a dark guild?" Gray finally said.
"Juvia believes this girl just lost a close friend." the blue haired water mage said gently.
Gray watched Anty with a puzzled expression. "I didn't think they cared for their own."
"Tartarous…" Gajeel mumbled, "Freakin' Salamander got himself in deep."
Levy sighed and looked up at the moon. "What does Tartarous want with Natsu?"
"I dunno…" the half-Iron Dragon said, "But whatever it is, it can't be good."
"How are we even going to find their guild?" Gray asked, "Not even the Magic Council knows where it is."
"No." Erza agreed, "But she does."
All eyes turned to the sobbing dark mage.
"E-Erza. Juvis doesn't think we're going to get answers from her right now." the water mage sweat-dropped.
"No, but maybe when she calms down?" Levy suggested.
"Let's hope that's soon." Gajeel said, "Whatever Tartarous wants Natsu for, it's got somethin' to do with his old man."
Levy raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What does this have to do with his dragon parent?"
"Think about it Shrimp." he said, "The sobfest shrunk me when we last fought. If they were just lookin' for a half-dragon, they would have just taken me."
Gray snickered. "You got beat by her? Nice one bolts-for-brains."
Levy shot a glare at the ice mage. "Gray. Not the time."
The Solid Script mage looked back up to Gajeel. "I think you're right. I was thinking the same thing earlier. But what's so special about Natsu's father that sets him apart from you?"
The half-Iron Dragon shrugged. "Hell if I know. But whatever it is, we're going to find out one way or another."
"Is there any good news in this?" Gray moaned.
"Yeah, there actually is snow pansy." Gajeel grunted, "Natsu must have begun his day of humanity."
"'Day of humanity'?" Juvia echoed.
The half-Iron Dragon nodded. "Half-dragons have a day of the year where they loose their supernatural abilities and become completely human. Apparently, Natsu's must have begun tonight. Ain't that lucky?"
"That it is." Erza noted, "If Tartarous needs Natsu because of his dragon blood, then eliminating it for a day will buy us time to find him."
Levy nodded. "Still, we shouldn't waste time. We only have one day before his powers return and I have a feeling that Tartarous will be ready to deal with any outbursts he has when they do."
"Shrimp's right." Gajeel grunted, "And the first step to savin' Natsu is findin' Tartarous's guild hall."
"Anty's got to know." Levy muttered, "But she's emotionally wrecked right now."
"Well, we're just gonna have ta calm 'er down enough ta get what we need."
Erza clapped her hands. "Alright, that will be our task for tonight. No one sleeps until we get the location of Tartarous's guild hall!"
Everyone groaned. It was going to be a long night.
...
A/N: Was this chapter worth the wait? Sorry I took so long. I was on break last week, but I got busy with a bunch of other stuff so I couldn't work on the story very much and then I got writer's block with this and started working on my OC story instead and it just got messy.
Unfortunately, I've got Finals coming up in school and I'll have less time to write because I'll be (trying to do) studying, doing Review packets, and preparing for speeches and seminars *sobs* and then when Winter Break finally comes around I won't be able to post very many chapters because I'll be spending time with family.
Sorry if I leave you all off on a cliffhanger later next month because I have no idea how I'll leave the story off when my life gets insane. My goal is to wrap up the Tartarous/Blood Eagle Arc, but I'm not sure that'll happen.
Good luck to anyone else suffering through Finals Prep and see y'ah all next chapter :)