15 | Take. It. Back

Lucy

I follow Erza, Natsu, and Gray closely as we try and sneak up on Raven Tail and Phantom Lord. To be honest, I wasn't that bothered by their being there. It more or less just gave me a boost of confidence, because in both situations we were outnumbered completely but still managed to beat them to a pulp. I don't how the other's feel about it though, but I think Juvia's alright at least; Gajeel hasn't shown any emotion to it whatsoever, though, neither has Laxus. I don't think even Mira and Levi know what they're thinking.

I shake my head trying to focus, what we're doing right now is serious, and we can't be caught. Sneaking in to another team's quarters, unless invited, could be considered cheating.

I just wish Natsu would understand the seriousness of this instead of acting like a ninja and making as much noise as freaking possible!

"Could you at least try and be quiet?" I whisper harshly Natsu, who's supposedly 'sneaking quietly like a ninja' next to me.

"Ah Luce," Natsu whines, not bothering to lower his voice at all, "But how else am I going to make this boring mission fun?" He says, looking at me as if he expected something else other than the sharp retort I was about to deliver before Erza interrupted.

"Lucy's right Natsu," Erza says, smacking the back of Natsu's head, "You need to focus, we could get disqualified from the games if we're not careful."

"Like they're gonna disqualify the best guild here," Natsu grumbles under his breath, but chooses to live instead of saying this aloud to Erza.

Good choice Natsu, for once.

The longer we walk down the corridor of the arena to the Shadowalkers, the more nervous I get about this whole situation.

What would Phantom Lord and Raven Tail even gain from joining the Grand Magic Games? What makes them think they can even beat us? They must have new members. How strong are they?

I look at Natsu, Gray, and Erza and gulp inwardly.

Stronger than them?...Stronger than Natsu?

I shake my head once again.

Stop thinking like that Lucy! You have to think positively!

But how can I when I get this feeling that this is only the beginning of our problems?

Gray

Once Erza had gotten Natsu to stop acting like the friggin pyro he is, we continued to move forward towards the 'Shadowalkers' as that is what they're calling themselves now.

As we were walking, though, I couldn't help but notice how on edge Lucy was. Every couple minutes she would shake her head or she would have this look on her face.

Just how much is Phantom Lord and Raven Tail being here affecting her?

I don't know why Raven Tail would affect her, but Phantom Lord, I would imagine, would affect her a lot considering she was held hostage.

But she isn't scared of Gajeel or some of the other members of the old members of Phantom Lord who visit us once in awhile, she doesn't mind being around Juvia at all either so...what's wrong?

My question would have to wait because not much later and we were at Shadowalker's quarters. In my opinion, it was kind of a waste of money to build each team a quarters but then again. If I said that out loud, everyone would call me a hypocrite considering I'm the one who's there the longest. To be honest, though, I wasn't expecting the old king and Queen Hisui to go this grand when re-building the arena.

They really went all out. They even have a friggin buffet hiding somewhere in this massive place!

As we near their quarters I can already hear voices coming from inside.

We look like a group of stupid reporters trying to get the next big scoop. This is ridiculous!

I can't hear them very well, but from the look on Natsu's face he can, and from the fact that his normally happy look is turning in to that of pure rage...something tells me it isn't good.

Natsu

I hear every word those cowards are saying, and I. can't. stand. It.

They're too coward to say it in front of our faces, instead they have to hide behind closed doors.

Bad decision.

Lucy

It all happened so fast.

I look at Gray who's looking at Natsu with a look of panic on his face, but before I figure out why Gray looks worried. Natsu shoves his way to the front of our little group bunched up close to the door.

"Natsu!" Erza whispers harshly, trying to pull him back before doing something he would regret.

Something tells me that by the end of this, the only ones who will be regretting anything are the people inside this room.

Natsu's face is pure rage.

What could they have said to anger him so much?

As if Natsu hadn't heard Erza at all, he breaks down the door. His hand gleaming with fire.

"Take. It back." Natsu all but spits out at the ten people gathered around a table.

I hear a loud laugh burst from one of the figures, who I quickly recognize as Jose, the old leader of Phantom Lord.

When did he get so confident as to laugh in the face of Natsu?

"I guess the boy did hear us," Ivan, Laxus' father says, a look of amusement on his face as well as the other eight people surrounding him.

To say the least Natsu didn't like that.

"I said," Natsu says viciously, "Take it back,"

"I have no intention of taking back what I said boy," Jose says, somehow still finding this situation amusing.

"Fine, if that's what you want then," Natsu says, then lunges for Jose say but not before somehow someone gets in front of him and blocks his attack.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Comes the smooth voice of a woman with dark, black, silky hair trailing down her back, "You weren't going to attack my master were you?" She says, feigning innocence, "Oh dear, I was hoping we could go be friends," She says shaking her head, then looks up at Natsu and smirks, "But I don't think I can let you do that," She says, then as if lightning had flashed she shoves Natsu back, grabs a bucket of water and pours it on him.

Natsu looks up at her dryly, "You know my magic may be fire but that isn't exactly my weakness," He says bitterly.

"Oh, it's not?" The woman says, "Well gosh darnit, I thought I really had you there," She says, making her, I guess, guildmates snicker, "I didn't dump the water on you because I thought it was your weakness, sweetheart," She says, looking at Natsu, "I did it so I could do this," She says, then lifts up her hand.

For a second nothing happens, and I let out a breath of relief.

Thank goodness, she was just bluffing.

That wasn't the case though.

I look at Natsu just to make sure he's ok, but his face started turning pale. Almost immediately, I was filled with worry.

"Natsu?!" I ask, kneeling by his side, "Natsu are you ok?!"

He just shakes his head.

Then the worst thing I've ever seen starts to happen.

Natsu opens his mouth trying to talk, but he just starts coughing.

He started coughing out water.

He looked at me, and I could see it.

His eyes were filled with pain.

I finally understood what was happening to Natsu.

He was drowning.

On land, with no water to be seen.

I can't handle this any longer.

Gray

"Stop it!" Lucy screams, tears running down her face.

I don't even think she notices.

I looked at Erza waiting for her to do something, but she just stood there in shock. I can't say that I was any better.

"You have to stop!" Lucy continues to scream, "You'll kill him!"

"That is the idea," A skinny man with short, dirty blonde hair says, smirking.

Lucy is now full on crying.

All I do is stand there in shock.

Why can't I move?!

However, minutes later I realize that it's not my shock that's making me stand still. It's the fact that both mine and Erza's chained to the floor.

How did that happen?!

I look back up to see a man with almost white, blonde hair salute me with a cunning smile.

I suddenly realize that there's no worse feeling than having to watch your best friend drowning right in front of you, and there's nothing you can friggin do except watch!

Gosh dangit! I gotta friggin move!

It felt like hours had passed before our guildmates showed up.

"Ivan!" Makarov shouted from the now burnt down door of the quarters, "Stop this nonsense right now! What good would it do to kill him now?!"

Ivan looks at his father darkly, a smile on his face, "Oh it would do a lot of good old man, but you're right in a way. It wouldn't be much good till kill him now. It would be a lot more fun to kill him in a crowd full of people," He says.

Jose looks at Ivan, "He's right, let him breathe Ameonna," Jose says to the woman, who's looking down at Natsu, a triumphant smile on her face.

Natsu coughs harshly, finally being released from her death trap, taking in deep breaths. Lucy immediately pulls him into a bone crushing hug, to which Natsu just returns, a small smile on his face.

"We'll finish this later sweetheart," The woman, Ameonna, says darkly bending down to Natsu's level, "And next time, I'll finish it,"

"The chains?" Laxus says, coming in to sight next to Makarov.

"Son," Ivan says, nodding towards Laxus.

"The chains," Laxus repeats, completely ignoring his father.

"Very well," Ivan says, "Rakurai," Ivan says, gesturing to the short blonde, man who saluted me earlier.

Barely within a second, I look down and the chains are gone.

What kind of magic does he have?

"We'll be leaving now," Makarov says, then looks at Erza as if he were warning her to say in her place.

It was then that I noticed she was shaking with rage.

It was then that the shock started to wear off on me and was immediately replaced with an uncontainable rage.

"Ah, but aren't you going to wait for a proper introduction?" Jose asks, a charming smile on his face, if you could even call it that.

"I think we'll be fine for now," Makarov says, then without another word, he walks out the door, Laxus following behind him.

Much to my surprise, once they walk out, Gajeel walks in. Gajeel gives Jose a look that could only be describe as death.

"C'mon Salamander," Gajeel says, helping Natsu up, supporting him with his shoulder, then they make their way towards the door.

"Still don't regret leaving Phantom Lord, Gajeel?" Jose asks.

"Not more than I regret joining it," Gajeel replies, coldly, then disappears out of sight. Erza, Lucy, and I following close behind.

Once we're back in our quarters, we quickly patch up Natsu as best as we can before the games begin, which is in less than ten minutes as I was informed by Laxus. Luckily, the time to start was pushed back a little bit, considering that some of the teams were still showing up and people were still being seated.

For the majority of those minutes, we just sit in silence until Lucy says what everyone's thinking, "What are we going to do?" She asks her voice coming out in a whisper.

I just look at her sorrowfully, not fully over what I just witnessed.

I wish I knew Lucy...

A:N

BOOOOM!

STUFF JUST WENT DOWN!

Hey My Lil Donuts!

So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Sorry for being gone so long!

I was kind of writer's blocked for a litte bit, but then I started writing and this is what came of it!

Was I the only who felt like crying when Natsu was "drowning"? I felt like a mosnter writing that scene but it had to be done.

What do y'all think of my new OC's? (Ameonna and Rakurai)

What do you think of their names?

What do you think about the chapter as a whole?

Comment down below what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Rissa