Chapter 10 Unwelcome guest

*Fairy Tail*

After seeing that Lucy was on a wanted poster, and having a bounty of over a million no less, the entire guild hall was filled with the panicking chatter of all of the guild members. It was similar to the moment from a month ago when Lucy first left, but they were now even more freaked out due to worry.

"What the hell!? Why is Lucy on a wanted poster!?" Natsu shouts as he throws the newly crumpled paper down.

"More importantly, why is her bounty so high!?" Gray said.

"That must be why she didn't come back! Those evil pirates forced her to join them!" Wendy cried as she tightly held her hands together.

"Then that tears it! Way to get back or not, we have to get Lucy out of there now!" Erza said, slamming her fist down on a table, breaking it in the process.

"No way! That would be way to dangerous!" Levy exclaimed.

All of the guild members, either siding with Natsu or Levy, started a mass debate about if they should go or not. Not too long after the guild wide conversation started, the guild doors swung wide open, revealing Elfman, Gajeel, and Juvia, all looking very pleased about something.

"Looks like we got all of your attention. Good, because we got something to say." said Gajeel as he waltzed in with the others.

"And what exactly is it that you have?" asked Makarov as he came down the stairs due to all the noise.

"We...we found a dimensional key on our last mission." answered Juvia, holding out the key bashfully. Moments of shocked silence was soon broken as the entire guild crowded around them almost instantly. Through all the excited chatter, Levy came up to personally look closely over at the key

"She's right! It's the real deal!" Levy exclaimed.

"Of course! A real man wouldn't lie about something like that!" Elfman boasted.

"Perfect! Now we can go rescue Lucy." Natsu said. The entire guild cheered in agreement.

"Alright. Knowing everyone's anticipation, I suggest we all help prepare Team Natsu for travel. They will probably be going very soon." Makarov called out.

No one had a problem with that, so everyone helped get Team Natsu; Natsu, Erza, Gray, Happy, Wendy, and Charla, ready for travel to the Grand Line and got them ready just in case they had to fight the Strawhat pirates.

"Ok, I read more about the key and it can sense how many people the wielder will want to go through. So, just give me a sec." Levy said. She grabbed the first key they were able to find and made the people inside the guild move away in order make a space for her to open a proper portal.

"TRANSPORT KEY: STRAW HAT LUFFY'S SHIP!" Levy chanted.

In a matter of seconds, a perfect blue line slowly stretched vertically in mid-air before spreading open to cause a massive blue portal to appear just in front of where Levy was holding the key. She tossed the used key aside now that it couldn't be used again.

"Ok, the portal will close once all of you go in and make sure it's all of you guys at once." Levy reminding them. They all nodded their heads and got ready to go in.

"I hope Lucy's ok over there." said Wendy.

"If she's not, then there'll be blood on our hands." said Erza seriously.

"Alright. Let's go!" shouted Natsu, taking the lead of his group.

They all followed him into the portal that closed behind them as soon as they were all through. In a matter of seconds, the small Fairy Tail group found themselves on the deck of their predetermined pirate ship. Taking moments to look over the deck, there was miraculously no one around.

"So, Lucy's supposed to be here?" Gray mumbled, taking several steps across the deck to reach the mast.

"That's what Levy had told us. But, of course, we should make sure this is the crew and ship we're after." Erza said, placing herself at the bottom of a small staircase that seems to lead to the front deck.

"Well, the giant skull and crossbones with a straw hat on them is a pretty good sign." Charla pointed out even as she was being held by Wendy.

"Then she must be here!" Happy exclaimed, flying around Natsu's head. The fire dragonslayer scanned the visible parts of the ship from his position before taking in a deep breath.

"LUCY! ARE YOU THERE!?" Natsu shouted, surely loud enough for anyone to hear on the ship.

*With Lucy*

Before the Fairy Tail Members arrived, Lucy and the other members of the crew went inside to the kitchen and dining area on the ship,everyone eating the food Sanji had for them. As Lucy ate with her friends, she had began telling them about her most memorable tales from her time in Fairy Tail.

"And after that, Wendy and Charla joined our guild and we then had three dragonslayers, four if you count Laxus." Lucy said, popping roasted piece of chicken into her mouth.

"Wow! It sounds like you've been on all sorts of journeys!" Usopp said, sitting directly across from her.

"You sound so cool!" Chopper said, easily able to hop onto the table beside her. Lucy just scratched the back of her head bashfully.

"Hehe. Coming from you, it sounds like you actually have some skills." said Zorro. Lucy recognized how Zorro at least attempted to work in some sort of a compliment, so she flashed him a small smirk in return.

"Awesome! That all sounds so cool! Maybe we could've been a team if we were all there." Luffy said excitedly, having chosen to sit right beside Lucy. As innocent as the thought clearly was, Lucy couldn't help but bashfully fidget and laugh before taking a big drink of the cool smoothie Sanji made for her and the girls only.

"Indeed. It all seems very fascinating to experience, especially so young." said Brook, sitting at one of the far ends of the table. Lucy's attention on Brook now, she goes back to a thought of how every time they ate together, she would always be curious how Brook could even eat anything.

"All of these types of magic sounds interesting. I never knew stuff like that existed." said Robin, being on Lucy's other free side.

"Well, that's what I thought about devil fruit powers." laughed Lucy. They all continued to talk like this until they all heard something outside on deck.

"LUCY! ARE YOU THERE!?" a voice shouted. When Lucy heard that, her eyes snapped wide open and she spit out the drink she just put into her mouth. The rest of the crew were curious about her reaction to the voice they heard, but they stayed focused on her since she was having a small coughing fit.

"Lucy, are you ok?" asked Nami, moving beside Robin to get closer to Lucy.

"Y-yeah. I...I'll be fine." Lucy muttered as Nami and Robin helped her stand right.

"Ya' know that voice we just heard?" Franky asked. Sanji stepped out of the kitchen, lighting yet another cigarette of his, before looking out the window that was on the door.

"There are a group of people on deck. One in armor, a kid, a guy with pink, a guy only in his pants, and two cats." Sanji said.

"Those...those are my guild mates...my former teammates..." Lucy said, her legs shaking like a leaf while she wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

"You mean those guys who hurt you?!" Nami exclaimed. Lucy could only nod her head as she was stuck taking deep quick breaths.

"They're...they're probably here to take me back..." Lucy said, actually showing a look of pure worry, even some hints of her being scared.

To Lucy, her worry wasn't from the idea of going back to Magnolia or going back to guild, it was simply the idea of leaving her friends, but deeper in her mind, she can feel something else. The rest of the crew didn't have to say a word before Luffy took initiative, placing his precious straw hat on Lucy's head as he walked past her from behind.

"...Luffy?" Lucy said, unconsciously placing a hand on the hat he just gave her. Even she knew how precious it was to him.

"Stay in here, and hold onto it for me. Everyone, follow me." Luffy said.

No one even ha to argue with him since they all felt the same way, leading them to know exactly what to do. Lucy, their friend, was scared. They wouldn't let that stand, especially when the people scaring her already hurt her. They all left the room and went out to the deck, finally meeting Team Natsu face to face. Anyone there could feel the tension in the air. Standing by Luffy's words, Lucy stayed hidden as she took to watching them through the small window.

"Hey, who are you guys, and why are you on my ship?" Luffy asked, sounding more serious than ever.

"We're members of the Fairy Tail guild and we are here because we believe you have a member of our guild on board." Erza answered.

"Fairy Tail? Doesn't ring a bell." Zorro nonchalantly said.

"Liar! We know she came after your Captain's head!" Natsu shouted, Erza eventually pulling on his shoulder to keep him in place.

"Tch. Who would be dumb enough to come after Luffy all alone?" Sanji said, emphasizing his statement and attitude by blowing out any smoke he inhaled from his cigarette.

"Besides, if they did come after our Captain, they'd probably be at the bottom of the sea by now." Nami said. The group of mages were now getting annoyed and angered from the Strawhats' replies.

"Her name is Lucy. She's blonde and we even saw that she had a bounty on her head." Gray said.

"Sorry, but a blonde haired wannabe pirate doesn't ring a bell either." said Usopp.

"Alright, I'm getting sick of hearing this. If they won't talk, let's just force them to!" growled Natsu, engulfing his fists in flames.

"He's right. We're getting nowhere with this." said Erza, requipping two swords into her hands. Gray and Wendy quickly joined their friends as they prepared for an imminent battle.

As Team Natsu prepared for a fight, so did the Strawhats. Nami took out her clima-tact, Usopp got his Kabuto slingshot, Zorro and Brook unsheathed their swords, and Chopper even bit down on a rumble ball. With Luffy standing up front to be the frontrunner for this fight on behalf of his crew, Lucy unfortunately didn't want to disobey Luffy, so she was left with no choice but to watch.

"No, no, I don't want anyone to get hurt. Please, don't fight!" Lucy mentally shouted.