When Natsu made it back to the command centre, the room was practically overflowing with both Fairy Tail mages and council troops. Sliding along the wall, Natsu made his way over to where he could see Gray standing.
"What's going on?" He asked as he took up a place next to the ice mage.
Gray had his arms crossed over his chest, his face a brooding frown. "We're heading out to the location we believe Dex Grainburg is hiding."
"All of us?" Natsu questioned, looking around the room. There was a lot of people here for an assault.
"No. Selection process is happening now." Gray eyed the room, "I suppose everyone here wants in on it, however."
Natsu clenched his fists. His heart had begun pounding at the thought of finally going after the man behind it all. There was no way he was not going. Even if for whatever reason he was not selected, he would go out to find Dex by himself. "Where's Erza?" He demanded, impatient to know who was being selected.
"Talking to Rai, I assume." Gray eyed Natsu out of the corner of his eye, "I wouldn't worry too much, no doubt you're top of the list."
"I better be." Natsu mumbled.
"Natsu! Gray!" Erza called out, drawing the men's attention to her. She was waving to them from where she was standing with Rai by the board that was covered in Dex's information. The two men walked over to join them catching the middle of the conversation she was having with the captain. "I don't think we will need more. My team is more than enough to complete this job."
"I understand your feelings," Rai looked at Gray and Natsu, his hard eyes lingering on Natsu for a moment longer, before returning his focus to Erza. "All of your feelings. But this is uncharted territory. We don't know if Dex is working alone or with someone. This is not about who is capable or not capable, it's about being prepared."
"We are more than prepared." Erza countered. Her temper was rising arguing with Rai, Natsu could tell by the way she gripped her sword, as if she was prepared to brandish it at any moment.
"What are you suggesting, Captain?" Gray interjected, trying to diffuse the situation.
Rai sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The council had been working from the Fairy Tail building for nearly two whole days, during which time Natsu had not seen the man take more than a half hour break. Rai's eyes were blood shot, and there were dark circles under them. "I want this to be a partnership." He shot a look at Erza, his tiredness allowing his agitation at the woman's refusal to work with him shine through. "For that to be the case, both Fairy Tail and council mages need to work together on this. That means a combining forces."
"That's not unreasonable. What's the problem Erza?" Gray questioned the redheaded woman.
Erza's grip on her sword tightened, causing her armor to creak at the pressure. "Dex attacked Magnolia, this is a personal issue."
"You wouldn't have gotten this far without the work of the council." Rai disputed.
"Why are we arguing about this?" Natsu yelled; those around them looked over in curiosity. His earlier anger rolling off him in waves at the pointless conversation. For all they knew, Dex had already fled Magnolia and was halfway out of Fiore. "We need to go. Now."
The group was silent for a moment. Erza had her eyes on the floor, her face red from embarrassment for arguing over such a pointless issue. Rai conceded first.
"I'm sending a council forces behind you. We will perform clean up. Fairy Tail can run point and inspect the facility." Rai offered, to which Erza nodded her acceptance. "Good. Gather your people, we need to brief them of the situation before we send you out."
According to city plans of the area Dex Grainburg was last spotted in, it had been built by a wealthy family who ran a textile company. They had built the multiple large, three story factories in an interlocking pattern that spanned a whole block. When family's business had gone under five years prior, all their property in Magnolia had been sold to be converted into residential buildings, at which point the factories had been divided into smaller live-in units. However, before the conversion could take place, the new owners had to seal off the basement of the buildings due to structural issues. They were supposed to have filled the entire space with concrete according to the issued order by the city of Magnolia. This was where the council speculated that Dex was making his hideout, having somehow found access to the supposedly sealed basement.
Natsu stood in the street where Lucy had her run into Dex, surrounded by other Fairy Tail mages. The weather was warmer than it had been in the past few days. The cloudless sky allowing the late evening sun to shine down on the large piles of snow that still remained from the blizzard, making the whole city glow.
"Spread out. We're looking for any type of entrance to the basement of these buildings along this block." Erza commanded, "Keep your communications lacrima on you and contact Warren if you discover the entrance or anything else."
The Fairy Tail mages dispersed to cover the area. Natsu walked off from everyone, wanting to search on his own. Taking a deep breath, Natsu took note of the various scents in the area. The overwhelming scent was that of refuse, explained by a nearby alley that was filled with loaded garbage bins. All human scent other than the mages of Fairy Tail had faded, indicating that the area had been void of humans for at least a day. Underlying all the more noticeable scents, Natsu detected stale air.
Following his nose, Natsu walked down the length of the building, moving further away from the rest of the search party. Rounding the corner, the scent of stale air began to become more prominent. Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, Natsu followed the scent to a hedge garden. The bushes were evergreen and well tended despite the surrounding area being run down. Being this close to them, the scent of the stale air Natsu had been following was overpowered.
Pushing back the foliage, Natsu spotted a manhole cover hidden amongst the roots of the bushes. From the smell of it, the stale air was coming from it.
"Bingo." Natsu murmured to himself. Pushing his way through the bushes, he heaved the manhole cover off and leaned it up against the wall of the building. Looking down, the hole offered no indication of what lay beyond as it was pitch black beyond the light that came through the opening.
Jumping down, Natsu landed with a splash in a puddle. He could hear water dripping down into the tunnel, creating pools on the floor. A breeze gusted towards him from further down the tunnel that led under the building, the source of why the stale air had made it to the outside. Bringing a flame to his palm, Natsu looked behind him to see a rough opening leading into what looked and smelled like the sewers.
Another access? He thought to himself, quickly sticking his head in to inspect the space before turning back around and moving further down the tunnel, further into the building's basement. While the air was still stale, Natsu could detect the scents of multiple people, clearly indicating to him that the basement was where Dex had decided to make his hideout.
As he made his way down the tunnel the dripping steadily stopped until he entered a stretch that was completely dry, the floor became smooth, no longer being pocked by water. The tunnel was confusing as there were walls erected randomly creating a maze that made Natsu wind back and forth on his way to the centre. Some of the walls had crumbled, though it was unclear if it was natural decay or intentional damage of someone who wanted to make the space more easily traversed. Natsu continued moving further towards the centre of the building where he assumed he would find Dex, pausing at corners and intersections to peak around before exposing his flame and potentially himself.
The echoing sound of a stone skipping across the floor caused Natsu to freeze. He immediately doused his flame and flattened himself against the wall, trusting his other senses to alert him if the danger was approaching or receding.
Light footsteps came from the direction that Natsu had come from. His heartbeat accelerated as they rounded the last corner he had taken, coming closer. The individual was using a small light source that floated in front of them, illuminating the ground. The small source was enough to block Natsu's view of who was approaching. Just as he was tensing his body to go on the offensive, the scent of the individual hit his nose.
Relighting his flame in one hand, Natsu reached out and grabbed Lucy from behind just as she walked past him, covering her mouth so she didn't scream at his sudden contact. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He growled in her ear. He was absolutely furious that she had followed him, the anger that had been plaguing him for what felt like months making his grip on her a little tighter than necessary.
Lucy struggled against the hand that covered her mouth. The sudden brightness of Natsu's flames caused her eyes to burn, making her blink. Even though she knew it was Natsu, her body reacted negatively to being grabbed and having her air source partially blocked. After a moment, Natsu's grip loosened, allowing Lucy to catch her breath. He shifted his hold from her mouth to her waist, keeping her body flush against his.
"I have every right to be here." She whispered furiously, wiggling in an attempt to get out of Natsu's hold. He released her suddenly, causing her to take a few stumbling steps forward before catching her balance. She turned around to glare at him, but instead flinched at the furious look on his face, one she was not used to seeing Natsu wear.
"Why can't you let the rest of us deal with this?" Natsu demanded. While his voice was just as quiet as hers, it felt like he was yelling at her.
"What 'rest of us'?" Lucy shot back, "You're down here by yourself. If I didn't follow you, you'd have no back up. You didn't even bring Happy!"
"This is too dangerous for Happy. And besides, its personal."
"Personal? Really." Lucy scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "And what about me?"
"What about you?" Natsu clenched and unclenched the fist that was not holding the flame.
"It's not personal for me? This whole business started with me! D-" Lucy's voice cut off, she found herself choking on the name of the man who had made her life misery. "He took my magic away! I can't just sit back and let others fight my fight."
Natsu took a step closer to her, the look in his eyes murderous causing Lucy to back up against the wall. "You are in no condition to fight. Go back." He spoke through clenched teeth. Lucy could see his jaw twitch at the pressure of his teeth grinding against each other.
"No." Lucy said firmly, raising her chin in defiance. She had a sliver of her magic back, and while it was no where close to the level she was used to having, it was enough for her to fight with.
"No?" Natsu took another step closer. His body was now close enough that Lucy could feel the usual heat that radiated off of him. Her mouth began to water, making her distracted as she thought about how warm he was. The thought of that heat against her skin causing a spike of pleasure to shoot through her centre. "How exactly are you going to fight?"
Lucy swallowed hard, trying to refocus her thoughts. "I have my magic." She choked out.
Natsu stared down at her, his nostrils flaring. Just as he was about to reply, his head snapped away as the sound of footsteps echoed down the tunnel, this time coming from the centre of the building. He took a step back to the centre of the tunnel, pushing Lucy behind him as he settled into a fighting stance, bringing flames to both fists he held out in front of him. Lucy followed his lead, taking out Taurus' key in preparation of a fight.
"Oh?" The voice sent a chill down Lucy's spine. She now found herself regretting following Natsu down the tunnel as her heart rate sped up at the sight of Dex Grainburg walking towards them into the light, his eyes flashing silver in Natsu's flames. In his hands he held a lacrima that had swirls of dark blue mixed with grey dancing over the surface. It looked active in comparison to the one Gray had brought to the command centre, the only other significant different being its compact shape. As Dex walked closer to them, frost spread out around his feet, blanketing the tunnel in a layer that continued to grow thicker as Dex stood inspecting them. The frost only stopped its advance towards them when it came in contact with the heat produced from Natsu's flames. Lucy felt heat rise from Natsu as he counteracted the chill in the air that accompanied the tall man staring them down. "What do we have here?" Dex cooed.
Without warning, Lucy felt an invisible force reach out to her. She felt the impact as her knees hit the cold stone, her vision fading around the edges as she watched Natsu crumple in front of her. His warmth disappeared before the world went black, bringing frozen nightmares.