A/n: Don't be alarmed by the amount of chapters I'm putting out. My mind is just hazy, and I need something as of right now to distract me; Heart of Ice. It helps takes my mind off of things, and I genuinely love writing this story. Plus, I haven't been sleeping properly, so I'm usually up writing anyway.
Chapter Fourteen: Phantom Lord
Now that Noelle had been with Fairy Tail for a while, she found herself falling into a routine of waking up early, showering, dressing, and heading straight to the guild; today was no different. Today she had decided to wear the second outfit that Lucy had picked out for her during their shopping trip. She walked over to their mirror and adjusted her beret, so that it was tilted slightly, and had pulled her hair into a side braid. Noelle smiled at herself, thinking she looked pretty cute.
It didn't last long as her eyes were drawn to her neck. Noelle reached out, and traced a pattern on her neck. The shape of two swords, crossed over a setting sun. Noelle quickly pulled her hand back as her skin tingled, and memories of a time she would love nothing more than to forget clouded her mind. It was a part of her that she wanted to erase from her memory forever, but knew it wasn't possible. The past couldn't be changed, but Noelle didn't see her future as anything too bright, either.
Noelle pulled out the red scarf from her clothing and slipped it around her neck. She frowned, holding the scarf like a life line. She wondered...how long it would be before they found her. Noelle felt guilt pooling into her stomach. What if they came after Fairy Tail? Noelle would never forgive herself for putting her friends in danger. But, where else was there for her to go? She didn't want to hurt her friends, but she didn't want to leave, either. And there was no way she could just abandon Lucy either.
Not after she had saved her life.
Noelle sighed. "Stop. Stop thinking about it. Everything is going to be fine." Is what she told herself; she didn't believe it.
Not long after she arrived at the guild, Noelle was being pulled onto a job. The job wasn't too hard, and the reward wasn't the greatest; but compared to the other jobs, it went over pretty well. They were all talking with one another - minus Lucy who seemed to be upset, for one reason or another.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but," Lucy said, clearing her throat. She adjusted Plue in her arms and held up a brown piece of paper – the job request they had just finished. "When I took this job I was thinking it would be more of a solo mission – ya know? So, why'd you all have to come along?"
Natsu looked at Lucy as if she just asked the worlds dumbest question. "Aw come on, isn't it obvious?" Natsu asked.
"No. I don't think so." She said, shaking her head.
Noelle laughed and pulled Marlow closer to her. "Come on Lucy! You have to have figured it out by now." She said. Surely, she realized by now, right? Noelle thought it was kinda obvious at this point.
"I don't know. She's pretty slow already – and being blonde isn't helping her case much." Marlow snickered. Noelle rolled her eyes and covered his mouth with her hand, while trying to ignore his fangs digging into her skin.
Stupid cat.
"We're Fairy Tail's strongest team. So we gotta stick together!" Natsu grinned proudly with his thumb in the air.
"Are Sir!" Happy said, imitating Natsu.
"And don't you forget it." Gray added with his own smirk.
Erza agreed as Noelle walked over to Lucy and slung an arm around her waist. "Yeah Luce, you're part of the strongest team that Fairy Tail has. Aren't you proud of that?" Noelle chuckled and ruffled her hair, ignoring Lucy's whining and protests. "And besides - do you really think you'd have as much fun on a mission without us?" Noelle stuck her lip out and pretended to wupe a tear from her eye. "And I thought we we friends." Noelle sniffled.
Lucy stood there in shock for a moment before she hugged Plue close to herself and smiled. "Yeah we are!" she exclaimed, making Noelle laugh.
"No job is too tough! Not for me, Happy, Marlow, Erza, Frosty, and old droopy drawers here!"
"Don't call me that." Gray sighed. Noelle laughed and poked him. Gray flinched, still bandaged up from his fight on Galuna Island with Lyon - not that she cared. "What?" he grunted.
"Cheer the hell up," Noelle smirked. "No one likes a Debbie Downer."
I laughed and poked him in the sighed. He flinched, he was still bandaged up from his fight on Galuna Island with Lyon – not that I cared. "What?" he grunted.
"That so?" Gray smirked and cocked one of his eyebrows. "I'm surprised you're even talking to me. I thought you were mad at me. What happened?"
Noelle scowled and turned her back to him. "I haven't forgotten about that, asshole. I'm still hurt by it - make no mistake," She glared at him. "But if we're going to be a team, then we're going to have to get along; which means I have no choice but to forgive your dumb ass."
Gray didn't know if she was trying to apologize to him, or throw as many insults at him as she could. Either way, he was happy she was talking to him again – even if he really didn't understand it himself.
"We are quite a capable bunch." Erza laughed.
"True dat!"
Noelle sweatdropped. "Happy, please, never say that again."
"You forgot about me!"
Natsu laughed at Lucy as they walked. "Ah lighten up! I'm just messin' with ya Luppy." Noelle giggled at Natsu's mispronunciation of Lucy's name
"Well I don't appreciate it, and that's not my name." It had only been a couple of minutes and Lucy was already sick of them all.
Suddenly Erza stopped and clutched her fists. "Please forgive me. I truly didn't mean to upset you. I let myself get carried away, it will not happen again. If you would like, you may strike me now."
Marlow's ears perked up and his eyes seemed to shine. "Alright ladies, line up! I want a good and dirty fight – let's make it a blood bath! I got one million jewel on Erza turning the blonde haired bimbo into a blood pancake!"
Noelle sighed. "You were normal once."
Something seemed to be off when they finally returned to Magnolia. They couldn't turn around a corner without someone staring at them and whispering. One woman even had the nerve to shake her head at Noelle and whisper something she couldn't hear. Noelle threw a glare her way.
"Why the hell are they all staring at us?" Noelle frowned. She never liked being the center of attention.
"It's not the good kind of staring either." Happy said.
Erza was also confused by all of it. "It feels...like pity." she said, and Noelle nodded in agreement.
Noelle suddenly stopped as she caught a scent of something in the air. "That smells like...iron?" Noelle's blue eyes looked up and widened in horror at what she saw. It was the Fairy Tail guild - well, what used to be the Fairy Tail guild - only now, it was full of iron beams.
"What happened to the guild?!" Noelle gasped.
"It looks so bizarre." Erza said.
"No way..." Gray whispered.
"I don't understand!" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
Noelle looked to her right and noticed that Natsu was shaking uncontrollably with rage. "Our guild...someone did this to our guild!"
"But who would do such a thing?" Erza questioned. Noelle could hear the anger quivering within her voice.
Noelle was angry too. She had grown quite fond of Fairy Tail, and seeing it in such a state, pissed her off.
Whoever did this was going to pay.
"It was Phantom..." came a shaky voice that belonged to Mirajane. She was crying and had the saddest expression on her face. Noelle didn't like it one bit. Mirajane especially had been very kind to her since she joined. She acted a lot like an older sister to her, which Noelle didn't mind. Mirajane had once said she reminded her of someone. It felt wrong to see the normally bubbly girl so upset and distraught.
"There was nothing we could do." she whispered. "They got us good."
Mirajane guided them down to the basement level of Fairy Tail. She had spent so much time upstairs, that she didn't even know they had a basement. It seemed like she would be spending a lot of time in it, since the upstairs was in shambles. Noelle didn't like this. Everyone was so down and out. This wasn't the rowdy guild that she had come to know. To not see anyone partying, fighting, or hear music playing, while people dance, and sang, and to not hear anyone laughing - it was depressing.
This wasn't Fairy Tail.
"Yo! Wassup kids!"
Noelle frowned at Master Makarov. "Old man, you're drunk off your ass."
"I'm sorry we weren't here sooner." Erza bowed apologetically.
Natsu stepped forward with his fist raised in anger and raging fire burning behind his eyes. "What the hell are you all doing just sitting around here?!"
"How'd it go Lucy? You finish the job like a good girl?" Master Makarov slurred. Noelle had to take a step away from him – the smell of alcohol was too much for her nose.
"Yeah...I guess so."
"Master," Erza said. "Do you understand the gravity of this situation?" The redhead was beginning to lose patience.
"The guildhall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu yelled.
The Master took another drink of his beer and sighed. "There's no reason to get so upset. It's not the end of the world or anything."
Noelle glared at the drunk little man. "How can you even say that? Have you looked around you?!"
The Master looked at Noelle with one eye open and one eye closed. "It just goes to show you how cowardly the wizards in the other guild are. They struck when no one was here. Is that anything worth bragging about?"
"Nobody was here?" Erza questioned.
Mirajane shook her head. "It was after everyone had already left for the night." her voice was so small, and so sad.
"I supposed we can be thankful for that. At least nobody from our guild was hurt from the attack." the redhead sighed. Noelle agreed with her. She was angry, but thankful that everyone was safe, and that only their pride was wounded.
"We shouldn't worry ourselves about people who don't even have the guts to face us head on!"
Noelle had just about had it with the Master's drunken bullshit. "Listen here-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Natsu had slammed his fists into one of the support beams of the basement and stared the Master down.
"Ain't gonna happen Gramps! We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"
"I'm not talking about this any longer. We'll handle the job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired."
"We shouldn't be worry about jo-"
"NATSU THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!"
The Master's yelling had made Noelle jump. She had almost forgot how terrifying he could be when he wanted to. Noelle was sure he was going to smack Natsu silly; imagine her surprise when instead, she felt a sharp sting on her ass, that was followed up by a rough squeeze, and a pinch. Noelle squeaked and jumped backwards, hiding herself behind Gray. She glared daggers at the Master from over his shoulder.
"What the hell was that for, you old pervert?!" Noelle screamed with red cheeks(literally) and tears in her eyes. Did he have to be so damn rough!?
"And you spanked us, because?" Lucy sweatdropped. She have been a victim of the spanking as well.
Mirajane puffed out her cheeks and scolded the Master. "Hands off, Master."
The Master suddenly jumped from the box he was sitting on and took off running – slurring on about how he had to take a leak. Once Noelle knew he was gone, she slid out from behind Gray with her arms crossed behind her back in case of a surprise attack.
"I don't understand why he's being like this." Natsu frowned.
"Listen, this is just as hard on him as it is on you," Mirajnae said to him. "He's mad, but conflict between the guilds is strictly forbidden."
"It's not fair! Those Phantom freak started this!"
Mirajane sighed. "I know, but that doesn't matter."
Natsu's frustration were starting to wear on Noelle. Sighing, she walked away from them and to a table near the back to give herself some room to breathe, and thing. She didn't understand - why would Phantom suddenly decide to attack them? She had heard rumors that Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had some kind of feud, but to just attack out of nowhere? It didn't make any sense.
"I must say that you look much more beautiful when you're smiling, Ladyship."
Noelle's eye widened as she seen Barnet looking down at her with a kind smile on his face. "Barnet! What are you doing here?"
"When I was back on Galuna Island I did some thinking," Barnet said, taking a seat across from her. "And I had decided that I wanted to be a part of your guild – one as loving and compassionate as you all seemed to be."
Noelle laughed. "You picked a really shitty time to show up."
Barnet frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm in the process of moving, so I was not able to be here when the guild needed me. A knight's duty is to protect his comrades, and I was not able to do that."
"What are you talking about?" She frowned. "There was nothing you could do, and nobody was hurt, so don't be so hard on yourself."
Barnet didn't seem to be convinced, but he let the subject go. Now was not the time to be fighting. "My apologies, Ladyship."
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that? My name is Noelle." She said with a smirk on my face. "So, what do you you think of Fairy Tail? Y'know, before the attack?"
"Oh, it's, um." Barnet's cheeks turned pink and Noelle could have sworn she seen hearts in his eyes. "There are so many beautiful woman – so many curves, and so little clothing!" Barnet held a fist to his chest and sighed. "If only I had know of such a wonderful place sooner!"
Noelle sweat-dropped. 'Great. Another pervert.'
Hours passed before Noelle and Lucy decided to call it a night and head home. They couldn't stand to be at the guild any longer. It was all too depressing for them. She had to say goodbye to Barnet, who was fawning over all the woman in the guild. Noelle still couldn't believe all that had happened today, and the fact they weren't do anything - it bugged the hell out of her. They were basically telling Phantom Lord that it was okay to walk all over them. Noelle knew all about guild wars, and that in the end, only one would come out on top. It all came down to who was willing to get their hands dirty.
"Well this is a pretty big mess we're in, isn't it?" Lucy sighed, ignoring the men who called for them to watch their step. "I had no idea that the Phantom Lord guild and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them. Honestly, I thought about joining them before I met up with you and Natsu. They've got a reputation of being almost as crazy as Fairy Tail."
Noelle snorted. "I can't see you ever being a part of any guild that isn't Fairy Tail. You belong here." Noelle smiled and stroked Plue's head. Marlow had gone off somewhere with Natsu and Happy - not that she minded. Plue was nicer, and cuter. Of course she didn't mean that - well, she did - about the nicer part.
"You're right. I love our guild, and I don't regret my decision at all."
"I guess I feel the same way," Noelle sighed. "Fairy Tail is probably the best - second - best thing to ever happen to me." Noelle's smile fell a bit, but she quickly covered it up.
The girls reached their apartment and opened the door ready for sleep. They had only taken a step and turned on the lights before chaos broke loose.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR HOUSE?!"
Noelle peaked over Lucy's shoulder and sighed, seeing that Natsu, Erza, Happy, Marlow, and Gray, had all made themselves comfortable in their home.
"Why am I not surprised?" Noelle groaned and slipped past Lucy. She joined Erza and Gray at the table, and helped herself to a cup of tea.
"Since the guild has been attacked we can assume there are Phantom Lord members in town." Erza said, sipping her tea.
"I have a feeling they aren't yet finished with us." Noelle said.
"They've probably found out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Gray said, freaking Lucy out. "Mira said it would be safer it we hold up together. You know, strength in numbers."
"I guess she's right." Lucy sighed. She still didn't seem happy about having a bunch of people in their house.
"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight!" Happy cheered.
Erza smirked. "You are two attractive teenager girls, after all. I wasn't too entirely comfortable with you being alone here with just Natsu and Gray. I felt I could only relax if I stayed here as well."
"It's not fair! We don't have time to relax."
"Natsu, give it a rest, will ya? There's nothing we can do," Noelle said, leaning back in her chair and poking him in his head. "Fighting isn't going to do anything but make the situation worse – charcoal breath," She squeaked as he snapped his teeth at her finger. "Idiot!" Noelle yelled, checking to make sure she still had her finger.
Natsu chuckled at her reaction.
"So it was already decided that these two would stay with us? Why'd you all have to come to our place?!"
"Whoa! Look at all these dirty clothes!~"
"Why buy skimpy underwear if you have no one to get undressed for? Not that anyone would want to see you naked – not if they value their eyesight, that is."
"What are you doing?! Get out my stuff!" Lucy yelled when she seen Happy and Marlow digging through her underwear drawer. "You better stop that right now! That goes for you too Plue! Don't think I don't see you over there!"
"Hey Plue! Did you find something to eat? Don't go hoggin' it all!"
Natsu was quick to join Plue in raiding Lucy's candy stash. By the time Natsu was done stuffing his face, he looked like an overstuffed chipmunk.
"Look Erza~ I found some frilly panties you might like~"
Noelle glanced over at Happy who handed Erza a pair of frilly pink panties. "Does Erza have a panty fetish or something?.." Noelle asked. The redhead seemed to enthralled by Lucy's underwear.
"Hey Noelle! Do these look familiar?"
Everyone gasped when they seen Marlow holding up a pair of purple thong underwear with frilly black lace. Noelle's face was burning hot as her friends stared at her in shock.
"S-Stop looking at me like that! He's a dirty liar!" Noelle yelled and snatched the panties from him and put them back in Lucy's drawer. "Stop snooping through people's underwear – you little creep!"
Marlow giggled and flew behind her. 'Oh look!~" he sang, lifting the back of her skirt up and taking hold of a black sting sticking out of her skirt, and violently snapping it against her. "I thought you said I was a dirty liar?" He giggled, flying away from Noelle as she tried to snap his little neck.
"I'll kill you!"
This was not going to be a fun night.
Time had passed and everyone had seemed to calm down. It was starting to get late, and everyone was beginning to decide where they were going to sleep. Lucy had made it clear that her bed was off limits. They didn't have much room in their apartment, but Noelle felt better with her friends their.
"It's time to lay down some ground rules," Noelle said. "If you break it, you replace it. If you eat it, you replace it, Natsu," Noelle said, glaring at the Dragon Slayer. "And no stripping, Gray!" She glared at Gray who was already shedding his clothes.
Noelle sighed as their friends rummaged around their house and went through their belongings. They were driving her absolutely insane, and they hadn't even been there that long. Noelle decided to make some hot chocolate and find something for Natsu to eat - it was only a matter of time before he started screaming he was hungry.
The first thing Noelle decided to do was prepare the meal. She decided on ramen; quick and easy, and who doesn't like ramen? She searches the cupboards for the pans that she would need, and then heads over to pantry where she grabs her spices and oils, and lastly the fridge for the veggies and some kkind of meat - Natsu would complain if there wasn't any in it.
The noise she was making must have peaked everyone's curiosity. Gray had wondered into the kitchen and was hovering over her shoulder, watching her every move.
"What are you doing?" Gray asked.
"Making all of you dinner - aren't I kind? Want to give me a hand?" Noelle asked turning just in time to see his lips curl into a smile.
"What?"
"You can cook?"
Noelle scowled at him. "Of course I can cook!" She puffed her cheeks out. "I learned to cook by watching my mother. She was an amazing cook, and an ever better baker! Her food was the best thing in the world."
Noelle smiled remembering all the times she had helped her mother in the kitchen. She used to always get covered in flour, and make a mess; her mom would laugh at her, and encourage her that she'd get better with practice.
"Your mom?" Gray asked in surprise. It was rare that Noelle talked about her birth mother. He had heard plenty about Isoldeth, and Nicholai, but it was rare that she spoke of her parents.
"Uh-huh. She tried teaching Nicholai how to cook to, but he always burned the food, and almost burned the house down one - twice," Noelle laughed. "Noelle said that he got it from our dad, since he couldn't cook either. I did pick up some things from Ur as well. She was pretty good at cooking too."
Gray was amused watching Noelle scatter around the kitchen collecting things and get everything prepared. It wasn't long before she had the soup made and on the stove to cook.
Noelle turned to Gray and clapped her hands with a smile on her face. "Cooking is something I've grown fond of doing over the years."
"How come you never cooked for us?" Gray asked leaning against the counter with a pout.
"Like I said - Ur was a pretty good cook. And you and Lyon didn't deserve my cooking!" Noelle grinned. "Maybe if you have nicer I would have considered it."
Gray frowned thinking about his next question. He didn't know how she'd react, but he was curious.
"Tell me more about your parents. You didn't talk about them much."
Gray had expected her to get angry but was surprised when she instead smiled at him. "Well, my mom was named Winnona Yuletide, and my dad was Alexander Ashbell; two polar opposites. Back in the day, they used to be pretty well-known wizards, and had a pretty big rivalry. My mom was an ice mage, and my dad was fire - they acted a lot like you and Gray," she chuckled. "Anyway, my mom was a part of Mermaid Heel, and dad was from Lamia Scale, and they ended up taking on the same mission one day. They had known each other before that, but they had never gone on on a job together."
Noelle went over and checked on the ramen before she continued her story.
"Anyway - they had taken on the same job. The job involved them destroying a dark guild that had been causing all kinds of trouble. Long story short, they were able to defeat them, but my dad had gotten injured pretty badly. My mom stood by his side and nursed him back to health. He had to spent a lot of time in the infirmary for therapy and such, so my mom would visit him pretty often. Before either of them knew it; they fell in love."
Noelle smiled thinking about how in love her parents were with one another. She had always dreamed of having a relationship like theirs one day.
"Mom ended up leaving Mermaid Heel to be with my dad, and joined Lamia Scale. A few years later they had my brother, and retired from being wizards. And then I came along. My parents never did get married, though my dad proposed to my mom hundreds of times," Noelle chuckled. "She would always say 'Alexander, I don't need a ring to know I love you'. But my dad never did stop proposing."
Gray smiled listening to her talk. He wondered if she knew how her eye lit up when she spoke of her family, or noticed that she hadn't stopped smiling since she began her story.
"My parents are two of my biggest inspirations in life. I want to be the kind of wizard that would make them proud, but," The light tin her eyes faded, and her smile turned into a frown. "With everything I've done...I don't think they would even be able to look at me the same way."
Gray's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Noelle gasped and covered her mouth. "N-Nothing! It's nothing, okay? Just, forget I said anything," Noelle frowned. "I think we wasted enough time. Want to help me make the hot chocolate?"
Gray decided to drop the subject for now, but he would get answers later.
"Sure. What do I have to do?" He asks, and it seems he's genuinely interested.
Noelle smiled and tapped her chin as she thought about everything they needed. First, they would need a sauce pan. Where had they put those? Noelle searched around for a minute and finally spotted them...on the very top of the cupboard. Marlow. That little jerk knows they can't reach up there! Noelle frowned adn tried her best to reach the pan, and nearly fell and knocked everything down. Gray was quick and caught her before she could make a fool of herself.
"Man, you're a klutz, ya know that?"
"Shut up!" Noelle pouts and pushes away from him. "Marlow purposely put the stupid pan up high so we wouldn't be able to reach it!" She angrily stomped her foot and crossed her arms.
Gray glances up at the pan and smirks. "Up you go then."
"Wait wha – GRAY!" Noelle squeak as he grabs her by the waist and hoisted her up. "What the hell you jerk?!"
"J-Just grab it, please?" His face was very red. Noelle blushed realizing that she was very a skirt, and underwear that left little to the imagination - and her butt was pretty much in his face. She blushed and grabbed the pan as Gray gentle set her down.
"Thanks," Noelle mumbled and walked to the stove. "Okay! Getting back on track. Can you hand me the milk? The whole and evaporated, please." Noelle smiled.
Gray hands Noelle the items and she pours in three cups of the whole mile, and one cup of the evaporated. Noelle moved away from the stove and grabbed another bowl, tossing in coco powder, sugar, cornstarch, and some cinnamon. She then took it over to the stove, and added it with the milk, beginning to slowly whisk it. When everything began to come to a boil, she removed it from the heat and asked Gray to grab glasses for everyone; she then poured the thick liquid into them, and topped it with some whipped cream, and shaved chocolate. She ever added a little strawberry to Erza's mug.
With the hot chocolate done she walked over to the stove and checked on the ramen. With the ramen done, she began to prepare everyone a bowl, and with Gray's help she took them out to serve to everyone.
"You all better be hungry." Noelle grinned serving everybody a bowl of ramen and glass of hot chocolate.
"Oh wow! This looks so good!" Natsu says with drool dribbling from his mouth,
"Aye!" Happy agrees.
"Better hope you don't get food poisoned." Marlow says, sitting beside Happy.
Noelle frowned. "Would it kill you to be nice?"
"Yes."
Lucy laughs and pulls Noelle down beside her. "You didn't have to do all of this."
Noelle laughed and waved her off. "It's fine. I like cooking, a lot, actually." She smiled and sipped her hot chocolate, sighing as the warmth filled her stomach.
"OH MAN! THIS IS AMAZING!"
Noelle looked over at Natsu and noticed that he was already finished. She sweatdropped. "There's...more in the kitchen."
Natsu and Happy were rushing off to the kitchen before any of them could blink.
"So, you can cook?" Erza asks, sipping her ramen. "Tell me, can you make strawberry cake?!" Her eyes sparkle at the thought of her favorite treat. Noelle laughed and nodded her head as Erza looks like she's going to have a meltdown.
"Is it...good?" She asked after a moment.
"Yeah!" Lucy smiles. "You're a good cook Noelle!"
"I quite agree." Erza smiled.
"It's okay..." Marlow grumbled.
Gray was the last to answer as he drank his hot chocolate. "Yeah, it's great. It taste like what Ur used to make."
Noelle felt her heart pounding against her chest. "R-Really?" Not many knew it, but Ur was an amazing cook – and her hot chocolate was the best – it's where she learned to make it. "That makes me happy to hear." She smiled shyly and sipped her drink. "Thank you."
"No problem." He smiles warmly.
Luyc and Erza share a look and giggle to themselves. What are they laughing about? She wanted to ask, but Natsu suddenly waddled into the room with a fat stomach and content look on his face.
"I'm so full." He gurgles and falls onto the floor.
"Aye..." Happy agrees.
"You ate all of it?!" Gray yelled. "What if the rest of us wanted more?!"
"Too late." Natsu belched. "Man, that was good. You should come cook for Happy and I!"
"She's not your personal chef, Natsu." Lucy rolled her eyes.
Noelle laughed and said it was fine. She then decided to ask Erza a question that's been on her mind since she left the guild.
"Erza," Noelle said. "Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us so suddenly like that?"
"I'm afraid not. We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never anything of this sort of magnitude before."
"If Gramps wasn't so scared of them we could wipe out those punks once and for all." Natsu grumbled.
"Come on, you know Master isn't afraid of them, Natsu," Gray said. "You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"So what's with these Ten Wizard Saints anyway?" Lucy asked.
"I believe it's an honor bestowed up them by the Magic Council. It's an extreme title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent." Noelle said in thought.
"Really?!" Lucy gasped.
"Phantom Lord's Master, Jose, is one of them too."
Natsu suddenly slammed his hand on the table with enough force to break it, and glared at the group. "He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"
"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" Noelle snapped at Natsu. "Don't go breaking our things!"
"That is not true and you know it," Gray glared at him. "It's just like Master and Mira said before; the consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here."
"I don't understand why," Lucy wondered. "Are they that strong?"
"They ain't got nothing on us," Natsu smirked at her. "We could take those clowns."
"No," Erza shook her head. "If we were to engage them in battle, neither of our guilds would survive. Their strength equals ours. Phantom's Master Jose, is also one of the Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class known as the Element Four. However, their biggest threats might be Black Steel Gajeel and The Lightning Devil. Though, I believe that Gajeel is the one most likely behind the guilds destruction. He is known as the Iron Dragon Slayer."
"You're joking!" Noelle's mouth dropped.
There was another Dragon Slayer?
"He's a Dragon Slayer too?! I thought Natsu and Noelle were the only ones!" Lucy yelled. "So, if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats iron?"
Noelle frowned lost in thought. 'Ice, Fire, Iron...Sky. How many more are out there?"
Noelle glanced at the clock and noticed that it gotten pretty late. "It's late. We should all probably get some sleep. You can make yourselves comfortable wherever.
Noelle began to collect everyone's dishes and take them into the kitchen. 'Gajeel. If he really is a Dragon Slayer, then he's no doubt going to be strong.' Noelle frowned putting the dishes in the sink. She began to clean up and think about all the information that was dumped on them.
'Erza said something about a Lightning Devil too. I wonder if that could be...no, I'm over thinking. But how strong are they really?'
Noelle had lost track of time cleaning. She had finished when everyone was fast asleep. Lucy was knocked out in her bed with Plue, while Natsu was passed out on the floor with Happy and Marlow. Erza had taken residence on the couch. Noelle smiled and was ready to head to bed when something struck her. Where the hell was Gray? As she walked to her bed she was given her answer. Laying in her bed in nothing but his boxers was Gray.
Noelle's eye twitched. She wanted to scream at him, but didn't want to wake the others up.
"Gray!" Noelle hissed jamming her finger against his skull. "What the hell are you doing?! Get out of my bed!" She yelled in a whisper.
Gray cracks an eye open and glares at her. "You told us to make ourselves comfortable wherever."
"And in your head that meant my bed?!"
"Yeah."
He says it as if it's obvious and Noelle could feel her blood boil.
"Get out!"
"No way! I'm comfortable." He protests as Noelle tries to drag his ass out of her bed. "You can try all you want, but I'm not leaving."
"Where the hell am I supposed to sleep?!" She hissed with my hands on her hips. She was ready to freeze his ass!
"On that side?" he points to the other side of the bed.
Noelle's face flushed at the thought of it. "I'm not sleeping with you, pervert!"
"We used to sleep together all the time as kids." Gray rolled his eyes.
"T-That was different!"
Gray rolls his eyes and covers his face with a pillow.
"Can't hear you. I'm sleeping."
Noelle stood there glaring at him, and it wasn't too long after that she heard him snoring. "Are. You. Fucking. Serious." She glared at him again.
Sighing, Noelle glared at him once more, and slowly lay down. She made sure there was a good distance between them, and wrapped her arms around herself.
The jerk even took the blankets.
"I hate you Gray Fullbuster." Noelle scowled as she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
On the other side Gray was smirking. The Ice Slayer was pretty cute when she got like this. He waited until he heard her soft snores and gentle breathing before rolling over and facing her back. Gray frowned seeing her holding her arms around herself. If she wanted some blanket, why didn't she just ask?
"Weirdo." He mumbled and wrapped himself around her, with the blanket covering the two.
It wasn't weird, right? They were just sleeping after all. Nothing more. That's what Gray told himself as he drifted off to sleep with Noelle wrapped in his arms.
Lucy and Erza hadn't quite fallen asleep yet, and shared a look as they both caught the two ice mages wrapped together. They shared a giggle as they let themselves drift off to sleep.
End Note: Hey! We found out a little about Noelle's parents in this chapter! :D
