Chapter 45

Days prior in Draconia, Natsu is absolutely miserable without Lucy around. He is practically bored out of his mind as he mopes around with daily life. The Babysitter Brigade has noticed the change in his behavior and none of them are able to snap him back to normal.

Currently, the four are in lounging room, just being lazy since they are taking a break. No one is saying a word at all so the room feels eerily silent. If Lucy happened to be here, things would be very different.

Without warning, a guard bursts into the room. "Prince Natsu!"

"Whoa, calm down," he says, sitting up in his seat a little. "What's going on?"

"A bandit stepped forward to reveal information in exchange for–" the guard begins.

Natsu is already racing out of the room with the Babysitter Brigade right behind him. The information is better late than never. If he can learn who hired the bandits, he will be sure to inform Lucy as soon as possible. She will need to know in order to remain safe and not worry about another attack on her life.

"Do you think the bandit will spill everything?" Gajeel asks.

"We can only hope for Lucy's sake," Loke replies.

The four make it to the bandit's holding cell to find Igneel and Zeref are there as well.

"And now that we're all here"-Igneel turns to face the bandit-"talk."

He swallows hard, gripping onto the bars of his cell. "Our boss met up with the client, but I watched the whole thing in case the guy tried anything funny–"

"Who?" Natsu interrupts. "I want a name."

"He never said his name, but I know what he looks like. I can describe him!"

Eyes turn to fall on Gray.

"I'll get some paper and a pencil," he says, and hurries away to fetch what he needs.

"There is some already here," Zeref says, holding out the two items for him.

Quick to backtrack, Gray walks up to Zeref to get what he needs so he can get to work.

"We needed it earlier for written documentation for what's to happen to the bandit," Igneel explains.

Gray sits down next to the cell so the bandit can check his progress to make sure it is somewhat accurate. "Describe."

As the bandit talks, Gray sketches out what he is hearing. The others merely watch his work as anticipation grows. It does not take long for a familiar face to appear.

"That's Precht Gaebolg," Igneel gasps.

The bandit stops speaking, and Gray quits sketching.

"Who's that?" Natsu asks.

"The royal adviser to King Jude," Zeref replies.

x-X-x

Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Loke, and Erza waste no time in making preparations to ride out to Crocus. Lucy and company have a head start, but the small group hopes they will not be too late. They need to reach the capital of Fiore as soon as possible. They need to warn Lucy of the danger she does not know she is still in.

During the course of the traveling, they operate on little sleep as they average around four hours just to rest up before continuing. They watch how they push the horses and make sure they receive breaks for their hard work. Their biggest concern is reaching Lucy in time.

Finally, when Crocus is coming into view, night has fallen.

"Nearly there!" Gray says to boast their moral.

Natsu is growing more and more anxious. He can only hope that Lucy is inside the castle. Maybe she is even sleeping and is totally unaware of what is to happen.

The group of five guides their horses into the city, watching out for the people who are still awake. As they get closer to the castle, two guards are visible outside of the main doors.

"I'm here to speak with Princess Lucy and King Jude!" Natsu announces, quickly dismounting from Ember. The others join him on the ground.

"Now is not the time–" one of the guards begins.

"Second Prince Natsu Dragneel of Draconia wishes to have an audience with the Heartfilia royal family," Erza says firmly.

The two guards stiffen and glance at each other. "You tell him!" they say in unison.

"Oi, what's going on?" Gajeel growls.

The two guards look at the group. "The princess…" the one with dark skin begins. "She's gone…"

Natsu's heart drops. "What?" he whispers.

The older guard looks at the other. "Take them inside. Have two guards come out and take care of their horses."

He salutes. "Yes, sir!" Then he looks at the five. "Come with me!" Then he takes off at a jogging pace.

The others move forward while Natsu remains rooted in place. Lucy gone? How can she be gone? Did they not make it in time? Will he ever see her again–

Gajeel turns around and picks Natsu up, throwing him over his shoulder to carry him. "C'mon!"

"H-Hey!" he shouts, snapping back to reality. "Put me down, Lug Nuts!"

"He will if he knows you can keep up!" Gray says.

"I can!" Natsu says as he scrambles away from Gajeel. He keeps up with the others. In fact he speeds up, which forces the guard to speed up so he can be in the lead.

They make their way through the castle before coming up on a room. "King Jude's study is just up ahead!" the guard says.

Knowing the double doors will lead inside, Natsu sprints faster to reach them first. He makes an entrance by throwing open the doors and looking around, having false hope of seeing Lucy.

Everyone inside turns to see the source of the commotion, different levels of shock coming across faces.

"Prince Natsu?" Jude says, as he rises from his chair behind his desk.

"Luce," he pants, wishing his voice did not crack the way he just did.

"She's missing," Laxus says, getting right to the point. "So is Precht–"

The others make it inside the study and stand behind Natsu right as he shouts, "He's the one who probably kidnapped her!"

Everyone looks alarmed. "What?" Jude asks with disbelief.

"He was the one who hired bandits to kill her," Erza says. "We had a bandit confess the matter and confirm it was Precht."

"Precht…" Jude breathes, eyes growing wide. "He is the one who kidnapped my daughter?!"

"And before that he hired the bandits to kill her," Loke reminds him, just adding more fuel to the fire.

"I want that traitor found now!" Jude roars, slamming a first onto the table.

Natsu notices familiar golden blonde hair tied up and resting on the table. He takes a single step forward, but he cannot make himself to get any closer to it.

"That was left behind," Bickslow says, noticing where he is looking. "To show that they have Lucy."

"Well, that apparently Precht has Lucy," Freed corrects.

"How do you know it's him?" Evergreen asks.

"A bandit told us that Precht met with his boss," Gray begins. "He didn't have a name, but he described him to me so I could sketch him out." He is quick to take out the paper and unfolds it for people to see. "I didn't finish it before Natsu's dad and brother recognized him."

Jude gets a better handle on his anger and resists knocking off the books from his desk. "I want my daughter back!"

"We'll get her back," Laxus says. "We'll get her back safe and sound."

Natsu finally notices that Dan is inside the room. "What the heck are you doing here?!" he growls.

"I'm here to win the lovely Lu Lu over and take her hand in marriage," he replies.

Gray and Loke are quick to restrain Natsu before he can cause harm to the duke. He desperately tries his best to break free from his guards. "No!" he shouts. "She ain't Lu Lu! She's Luce! And she's my Luce!"

Dan opens his mouth to retort.

"I love her and I won't letcha take her from me!" Natsu continues, still thrashing around to escape. "I won't let anybody take her away from me once I get her back from that damned Precht!"

"Calm down, Natsu," Erza says in a soothing voice.

He has a moment of weakness, slightly breaking down. Unguarded tears slip past him, and he cannot wipe them away because Gray and Loke are still holding onto his arms. "L-Luce…" he whimpers. Natsu finally grows limp, and Gray is the only one who does not let go. Rather, he remains there for support.

"We have the upper hand," Laxus begins. "Precht doesn't know that we know about him. He may have had made it seem like he and the princess are both missing, but we know better. Should he show his face soon, we can ambush him then."

"What preparations shall be made until that time?" Jude asks.

"It'll mostly be waiting for him to rear his ugly head," Bickslow replies with a huff. "Then we'll corner him."

"My comrades and I would like to offer our help," Erza voices, taking a step forward. "We all want Lucy back as quickly as possible."

"And we'll take the bastard down while we're at it," Natsu says, getting his spark back.

Jude looks at the Thunder Legion. "Do you mind taking them to a room? They might need some rest after traveling all the way from Draconia."

"We don't mind," Gajeel says. "We won't rest until she's found."

"In the meantime," Erza begins, wanting them not to seem cold to Jude's offer, "we would appreciate that."

Jude merely nods at Laxus. "Do let me know if anything comes up."

"Of course, Your Highness," he says, and faces the group from Draconia.

The Thunder Legion makes the first move to leave the room. The others follow after them.

Natsu stops to look back at Jude. "We'll get her back," he says firmly. "You can count on that."


A/N Part 1: I made it to Chapter 45 WOOOOOOOO :D This fic ain't done yet so I'm going to pass RPRT in chapters, making this fic my longest one yet! I'm not sure what number I'll end on, but I know MTAP easily has a few more! I guess we'll see if I keep stretching this fic or finally end it XD

A/N Part 2: Not related to this fic, but wishyouweremedontya from FFnet made me a cover for RPRT and I LOVE IT SO MUCH :D I've already changed the cover on my FFnet account! So I'm on a happy high from that :D THANK YOU AGAIN!

A/N Part 3: I want to take the time to freak out! This fic is in 5 Communities! There are 960 Followers! Less than 740 Favorites! And less than 1,740 Reviews! GAH. THANK YOU ALL. SO VERY MUCH. THAT'S ALL AWESOME FOR ME :D


Guest: (Chapter 43) Dan doesn't stand a chance at all!

Guest: *confetti* tadahhh

Guest: Yay, I'm glad you love it :D

craycraynalufan: Hey, you're cool. Hopefully life is a little busy for you now! I guess he could have cut less, but he was being excessive *shrugs* And because I wanted Lucy to have shorter hair like she did at the start of FT! I have no clue about Mavis tbh. I doubt it…

LPS DONUT: FINALLY GOT AROUND TO THAT UPDATE!

Mia Anime: Yay, I'm glad you liked it! And more to come for sure :D And I'm still debating how Lucy will get outta this mess. I think I have an idea… hehe

Nekokittygirl: Dan is in the anime. He appears in a couple of arcs. Michelle is also in the anime. That might explain a few things!

Guest: OMG. SLEEP FIRST FOR WORK, THEN READ! Although, I'm not one to talk… whoops!

Guest: Yay, I'm happy you liked the last couple updates! I wanted a solo bad guy that I could use for the role of the person who hired the bandits to kill Lucy. Precht came to mind, even though he was more of a bad guy for FT rather than FT0… I don't plan on bringing in Mavis so I didn't even think of that role for him.

Guest: Omg YES! But I finally got around to that update :P

animelover21: Aye, sir! Precht totally was. But now you gotta wait and see how things unfold!

Quinn: Gah, thank you so much! That means a lot to hear from a reader of mind :D Thank you again!

Destructive_diva: Hehe, a lot of people want Natsu to come to the rescue it seems!

Guest: I'm not sure if we have the same person mind… ?

HiILikeCookies: Gah, I suck at coming up with questions D: Ayyy, but good job!

McFlyandTwinkies: Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it :D Thanks for reading!

Nalufan656: Isn't "kill" a little strong… ?

Alea: I kinda wished I did, too, but I didn't feel like writing how that scene :P Another time for sure! And surprise, I wanted to make this chapter special so it is from Natsu's POV! :D Woo~ And I originally planned on this fic having magic! Then I realized things would be easier. Like Lucy getting a hold of Jude to say where she was. Maybe her teleporting back to Fiore. Or having less time in Draconia. Then I decided against it entirely. Which is odd for me since I totally LOVE fantasy works! Ugh, I'm killing myself with these slow updates - Life is kicking my butt and keeping me from writing…

B.G.: I'm still figuring that out myself tbh XD I'm sure something will come to mind!

sassy kitty: (Chapter 42) Aww, thank you! Some people seem to like me, but I'm not sure why XD If you're ever at Ohayocon or Matsuricon, I'll be there!

izziebizziebuzz: Pffffffft, no NaLu reunion for now! But I'm happy you liked the last chapter :D

Fairy Tail Lover: OMG, THAT'S GREAT TO HEAR! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Lucy: Gah, that's awesome! And wow, that was a lot of time reading XD Thank you :D And thank you for reading!

Anonymous 3: (Chap 40) Haha, suspense is goooood! (Chap 41) I'm happy I got my stories back :D (Chap 42) I loved that line, too! One of my faves!