Chapter 19: Rescue Party

Beth slammed into the doors and ran into the guild. She stopped at the edge of the silent crowd gathered around Makarov. "What's going on?"

Everyone who wasn't already looking at her turned, and parted so that she could get to the front, knowing that it was her that basically brought Siprix to the guild. Beth walked up to the front and looked at her guild master.

"You may want to read this," he said worriedly. He handed Beth a slip of paper.

Dear Fairy Tail:

One of your own has taken our 'job'. I am sorry to admit this but it was not what its seemed. While I admit they put up a decent fight, they did eventually fall. By the time you are reading this your friend will be in great peril and will receive no assistance from us. We are located in Magnolia as a hint. I recommend that you come with great speed to their aid.

-V̸̜͔͚̟͊̾̎̉̃͘̚ͅi̵̢̛̮͎̝̫͍̫̳̣̘̬̰͆̂̈̌̀̓̃͊̐̿̄̉̒̚̕͝͝ń̶̟͉̞͍͉̗͖͓̖͚͚̮̓̇̌e̴̹̪͈̫͖̤͙̙̗̥̦̙̺͕̟̙͓͈̓g̷̨̨̡̗̣̙͍͙̩̜̟̳͙͇̓̈́̍̐̇̓̑̊͐́͆̿̇͗͆̕͘͠ȟ̸̨̡̻̼̪̥̪̳̭̟̻͔͚̰̄͗͜o̴̭̖͖͓̻̼͆̾̑̿̿̽ͅu̷͙̣̯̳̮͓̭͎̲̐̆̑̈̎̓͆̑̀̈̾̐̒͊͝l̶̳̙̮̅̃̽͊͂̍̓̎̑̊͆̀̓͌̓̊́̕̚͠

"This is crazy," Beth said. "Siprix isn't a necessarily a joke. I know that much about him."

"He didn't fight a lot in the ocean," Happy said.

"True. But he did keep a spell on all of us for hours. That counts for something." Beth turned back to Makarov. "Wherever they are in this town, I will find them and bring Siprix back."

Makarov nodded. "Bring someone with you."

"I can help," Bisca said, stepping forward.

"I'll go with you," Laki said.

"I mean, we've teamed up before, we can do another round," Natsu suggested, to which the team nodded.

"Well, what magic do you two have?" Beth asked, pointing to Bisca and Laki.

"Requip: The Gunslinger."

"Wood-Make."

Beth's eyes lingered on Laki a moment longer than Bisca. That could make for some decent combos. Of course we would have to watch out for fire magic then, but I have some spells that could deflect that.

"Fire Dragon Slayer." Everyone looked at Natsu. "Just as a reminder."

"How could I forget." Beth turned back to Laki. "You want to go with me?"

"I said that."

Beth turned back to Makarov. "Master, it'll be Laki and me. We'll leave now."

Makarov nodded. "Good luck you two."

Beth and Laki ran out if the guild and into the streets.

"Any ideas of where they could be?" Beth asked.

"None."

"Then let's look everywhere."

"Are you crazy?"

"No. We have to start somewhere."

"They wouldn't want people to know where they are. Let's check the abandoned buildings first."

"Okay." The girls changed direction to head to the buildings Laki referenced.

As they neared the buildings, they slowed down to catch their breath.

"Didn't know I could run that far."

"Me neither."

They crept up on the first building, and Beth put her ear to the wall to listen. Hearing nothing, she silently opened the door and looked around. It was empty, save a few spiders and cobwebs. She signaled Laki to check the next one. Beth walked inside. She looked at the walls closer, and saw a dent. Walking a little further along, her foot went splash. Water lapped over her sandal. Beth glanced over the floor, and noticed it was all wet with only a few puddles.

"Beth." The Dragon Slayer whirled around and get into a ready stance. She relaxed when she saw it was only Laki. "You should see this." Laki led Beth into the second building. There were multiple scorch marks on the wall, along with puddles of water. What caught Beth's attention was the damaged sleeping bag and lantern thrown into a heap in the corner.

"Someone's been living here," Laki said.

"Or making base."

"Who are you?" The girls turned around and saw a boy standing behind them, trying to look brave. His hands were trembling as he clenched them. Beth couldn't make out his features well because of all the dirt on him, but she could clearly make out sky blue eyes, a lean frame, and pulled back shoulder length hair. "Are you with those other people?"

"I'm Beth, and this is Laki. We're just looking for a friend. What 'other people'?"

"There were these people here earlier fighting. One was using water magic, the others were using magic I didn't recognize. They came here while I was practicing my magic. The water guy tried to protect me and got me out of the building. I hid, and an hour later they came out with the boy unconscious. I didn't know what to do so I stayed hidden. But I did follow them in case I could repay him. I just got back."

"You don't believe him, do you?" Laki whispered to Beth.

"I do actually. He's all dirty, and if you look at his clothes they're damp."

Laki rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Beth turned back to the boy. "Can you take us to where they went please? Our friend is the one who they took."

"Of course."

"By the way, what's your name?" Laki asked.

"Aaron." Aaron started walking away and the girls followed.

—

"This is it," Aaron whispered, crouching down as he the building.

"We started on the complete opposite side of town," Beth commented. The building they were in front of was about the size of the guild, but made of dark brick. It was windowless and the door looked solid. It was located on the outskirts of town where there was few people.

"How do we get in?" Laki asked.

"There has to be a way other than the door. I'm not liking the idea of going in the front," Beth said.

"I can check the roof," Aaron suggested.

Before anyone could object, he snuck to the wall and vanished. Beth spotted him on the roof. He waved them over. The girls ran over and Beth pulled them up using her Forest Vine Constrictors.

"I found a vent. Maybe we could squeeze through."

"Okay, first off, how did you get up here? You vanished and reappears up here." Laki said.

"Oh, I use Wind and Teleportation magic. I used the latter." He looked down sheepishly. "The vent's over here."

The trio kneeled by the grate as Beth used her plants to undo the screws. Once it was off, the trio silently slipped into the vent.

Well what do you guys think? This chapter okay? I have no idea what to put into this AN other than have a great weekend. Go get 'em tigers!

-ThinMintE