Chapter 8

Tristan dropped to the ground putting his hands on his legs. Exhausted, he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Holy crap, so this is what its like the mafia" he thought bewildered. "Tristan, you good?" Gray asked with light concern. "Oh.. I'm good" he answered panting. Gray went to walk over to help him up when he saw he didn't have too. Tristan slowly lifted his head up to see Natsu with a proud smile holding his hand out. "Nice work kid" he praised.

"Thanks" he said blushing some. "Heads up Tristan, your feelings are showing" teased Gray. Embarrassed, he turned away making them chuckle. "No worries" assured Natsu putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "You've earned my respect as well. It takes guts to do what you just did and are going to do. I couldn't be happier that Layla has you."

"Thank…thank you!" he exclaimed surprising Natsu hugging him. "Thank you sir for giving me this chance" he said as Natsu hugged him back. "Your welcome" he said patting his head. "How much time do we have left?" he asked urgently letting go. "We have three hours before" "Natsu!" They all turned to see Sting and Rogue running at them.

"Did you find anything?" Heavily, they shook their heads. "We tossed the whole freaking place. Couldn't find a damn thing" said Sting. "Natsu, what are we going to do?" Tristan asked scared. He stood there like a statue completely in shock. "Natsu!" "Natsu" "What are your orders?" The voices echoed through his head like winds passing through a cave.

Feeling his mind go dark, he welcomed it as two voices whispered through the darkness. "Natsu" "Daddy" "Guys, look!" "He's…crying" Their faces appeared to him. "Lucy, Layla" he whispered then with a gasp came out of it. He blinked his eyes to everyone who was still yelling. "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" he shouted getting their attention. "Let me think" he snapped silencing them. "Fuck…screaming at me isn't going to help anything".

They stood there anxiously awaiting his orders. "We've got three hours left. His house was a complete bust. There's still some options we can check out" "Natsu?, do we have time to check those places out though?" "Are you questioning me Sting?" "No sir" "Good, everyone out" "Wait Natsu, what about Lily?, she's here by herself"

"Crap" "I'll stay Natsu" "Are you sure Rogue?" "You need someone to look after her and there isn't time to find someone" "Thanks Rogue" he said as he started walking inside. "Wait Natsu, the house was a bust, what makes you think invading different places is going to be any better?" He smirked and turned his head "Because they are crucial parts to his mafia. Eventually he's going to go back to one of them" he announced confidently.

However, the others did not share his confidence. "This could get her killed" thought Tristan. "We've followed him to this point, this may not work but Natsu hasn't let us down yet" thought Gray and Jellal following him inside. "Hold up Natsu" said Jellal pulling Natsu back lightly on his shoulder.

"What is it?" "You alright?, back there, you were as still as a statue" "Yeah..I'm fine" he muttered tilting his head down. "You went somewhere didn't you? In your head. Don't even say you didn't because you were not here for a whole two minutes" he told him with concern. Lifting his head back up, with a straight face , Natsu said "yeah I did but Lucy and Layla brought me back. I appreciate the worry Jellal but I'm back now"

Lightly smacking his back, Jellal said "good, let's go" Natsu went to tell them to move out when he saw Tristan's face. "Hold up, all of you go take a thirty-minute nap" "Nat" "No, go now" he ordered. They all saw he wasn't changing his mind and went to find a place to sleep for thirty minutes. "Natsu, you should get some sleep too" "I'll be fine. Somebody has to be able to get all you lot up. Your wasting time go" he said flatly.

" mo.m..m" she said weakly. "Layla..I'm here baby" "Dda..dad..hhh..hes coming .rrright?" she said straining. "Yes Layla. He will be here soon. Just wait" she said optimistically hoping it would help her ffight. "Mmom..ddon't..mmake him gggive..up the mafia forfor..me" "Layla, we would do whatever we need to do. Both of us. Rest assured of that. Don't worry about that. You and the mafia are going to be safe" "I..believe you" she said as she let out a groan of pain.

"Layla!, what's wrong!" she asked alarmed. "I..I ddon't ffeel good" She sat up on her legs grabbing her stomach as she started throwing up. "Ahh.h. mm-o" she half called as it kept going. Lucy watched in horror knowing anything she wouldn't help. "M..om.." she coughed out turning her head to Lucy bringing her to tears.

"M..mmmy..bbbabyyy" Droplets of blood were splattered all over Layla's chin. Looking down, most of the puke was made of blood. "Mmmmom…I'm.I'm sccared" "Look at me baby look at me" she said sternly hoping some seriousness would break some of her fear. She started shaking profusely as her eyes darted around. "I ca...nttt..bbbreeathe.." "Layla! ,look at me!" she yelled desperately grabbing her attention. "It..hhhurrrtss mmmomm" she cried putting a hand over her heart.

"What does? Talk to me baby!" "Mmmmy..innsides…ffeel like they.. " She stuttered painfully as she started throwing up again. "Blood, her insides..OH NO!" she thought to herself realizing what all of it meant. "She's running out of time!" "NATSUUUUU, AHHHHHHH" she screamed desperately rattling her chains. Layla fell to her side with her mouth dripping out blood. "Layla!, Layla!" she yelled. "NO , STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she suddenly shrieked. Lucy looked around then back at her. "Layla, there's no one here" "NO, she's here!" "Who" "Evelyn!" Her eyes widened in complete fear as she scrambled against the wall.

"Baby , she's dead. There is no one here" "NO!" Lucy squinted her eyes looking closer at Layla. "Layla, look at me" she said wary. "I.. 't ssee you..MOM!" She gasped in shock. "She's blind" "Layla, I didn't go anywhere, I promise, I'm still here.

" MOM, AHHHH" her scream full of pain and absolute terror. "BABY, I PROMISE YOU, I'M RIGHT HERE!" Despite her fear clawing at her, she cleared her throat and softly said "Layla..ll..listen to my voice." Slowly Layla reacted. "Mmom..your still here" she said thankful. Shaking her head, she said " I'm right here. Are you still seeing Evelyn?" "She's staring at me! Say's she will be back for me." "It's not real baby."

"AHHH, DDAAAD!" "WHAT?" yelled Lucy alarmed. "He's..he's ssscccaryy" "Layla. You know he would never hurt you. Eitherious or not. You are our baby. Fight through this Layla. You are stronger then this poison. Those are both illusions. You know Evelyn is gone and he would never hurt you" "I.I ..know" she said slowly gaining some courage. Breathing heavily, she wiped the sweat off her head and laid back down. "I..I wwo..wwont let it bbeat me" she told herself.

"Alright!, everyone up" Natsu yelled through the house. Within seconds, everyone was up. "You all ready?" They all nodded. "Let's move out" he commanded as they all headed out the doors. "Thanks again Rogue" "No problem, go get your family back" With a nod, he ran out the door. "Sting follow behind us" "You got it" They all piled into the car and took off.

"Natsu, where are we headed for first?" "There's an outpost outside of Magnolia that we can look at" he explained. "Natsu..are we going to have enough time?" Gray asked grimly. Gripping the wheel tightly Natsu was completely silent keeping his focus on the road. "Hear you loud and clear. Your terrified" thought Gray.

Jellal gave Gray a knowing look for he thought along the same thing. "Hey Gray?" Tristan asked lightly. "Hey, what's up?" he said nicely. "Sting?..is that the uncle that Layla mentioned at the party. " ,hoo" laughed Gray. "Yeah, that's him. In different circumstances, he's a great guy and a fun uncle for Layla. After this, I'm sure she will make sure you two get a proper meeting" he looked to see Tristan had a depressing look on his face.

Patting his back, he said "hey don't worry, we are going to save her. Natsu isn't going to stop until we do" "Yeah..but we have only a little time left" "Clearly you haven't seen Natsu's other side pissed off. When he comes out, don't worry, Layla is as good as saved. Just a warning though, when he comes out….steer clear of him" his voice dropping to a low tone. "Why?" "Because once Eitherious comes out, not a man on earth can stop him" "Got it" Tristan answered quickly. "We're here, everyone out!" Natsu yelled slamming the brakes and racing out of the car.

Running to the door, he threw it open and they spread out looking everywhere. "Toss it" Natsu ordered looking through papers he saw on a desk. "Damn it!" he yelled after a couple minutes of nobody saying anything when his phone rang.

Answering it immediately, his eyes raged seeing Lucy and Layla who was barely moving. "Have you made a decision yet?..your daughter isn't looking good" James said confident. He saw the blood and hives all of her and how sickly she looked. "NAAATSUUUUUU" he heard Lucy scream. "I'M COMING LUCY!" he shouted. "Layla..baby..I swear I'm coming okay, j..jjust hang on" his voice tender. She nodded barely able to lift her head as she weakly spoke barely above a whisper "don't..gggive… mafia." Her head fell back down as she finished.

"LAYLA!" he shouted into the phone. "Time is ticking away . You have one hour left before she's gone" he said cold "YOU FUCKER, I WILL FIND YOU AND RIP YOU APART!" he shouted as James hung up. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" his voice thundering. "LET'S GO!, THERE'S NOTHING FUCKING HERE!" They all ran behind him terrified of what would happen if this next place led to nothing.

I know this was a bit of a dark chapter, sorry if it freaked some people out.