And another!

Last time: Jellal found out what Zen was up to.

Now: Mason makes his move

Chapter 7- Diversion

The next morning, Krysta woke up to the sun peaking through her bedroom curtains, blinding her. Squinting, she rolled over and opened her eyes. It was ten thirty according to her alarm clock. Shooting straight up in bed, she looked around to see that Lucy was already gone as the cot was empty and the blanket and pillow were neatly folded at one end of it. Throwing back the covers, Krysta hurried out into the living room to see the couch was also empty. The blankets on the couch were haphazardly tossed aside on it. But there was no sign of Natsu, Lucy or Happy. In fact, no one else was here.

After doing a quick scan of her apartment, she was starting to panic as there was no sign of her friends. Did the imposter, Mason, kidnap them in the night? How did she not hear or sense it? Did he use a drug on her? All of these questions flew through her head as she felt like a terrible host and friend. She then spotted a note written in very neat handwriting on the kitchen table from Lucy.

Krysta,

Sorry, we didn't wake you. We were grateful for you letting us stay here last night and for however many nights until this is settled. Anyway, we got up kind of early and decided to head to the guild. And after keeping you up late last night, we decided to let you sleep in. We'll see you at the guild later.

Lucy

P.s. Natsu and Happy had your eastern cuisine leftovers for breakfast. Sorry. Thought I should inform you now then later.

Krysta sighed in relief as she read the note, knowing they were okay. She was a little peeved that they didn't bother to wake her or for eating her leftovers, but at least they were kind enough to leave a note. And as she took another scan of her place, she noticed their bags were still there from spending the night.

With the panic subsiding, Krysta made herself a light breakfast before taking a shower and getting ready for the day. Once she was dressed, she grabbed her bag, locked up her place, and headed for the guild hall. After about fifteen minutes, she arrived to the find the guild hall bustling as always. She did a quick scan of the room to see no sign of Natsu or Lucy, but she did see Gray sitting at the bar top with Cana and Mira. Krysta walked over and flashed them a smile.

"Good morning," she greeted as she stopped at the stool beside Gray.

Gray, Cana and Mira looked over at her.

"Good morning, Krysta," Mira greeted with a grin.

"Hey," Cana said with a two finger salute before downing some of the booze in the mug she was holding.

"Hey Krysta, how did you sleep with the pyro and Lucy over?" Gray asked with a smirk.

"Surprisingly well. Maybe a little too well," Krysta groused. "They took off this morning and I didn't even hear them go. Gave me a heart attack. I thought they were taken in the night or something. Thankfully, Lucy left a note. Otherwise, I might have barged in here ready to start a man hunt looking for them." She said, slightly annoyed as she sat down next to Gray.

"Well it's a good thing Lucy left that note then," Gray said with a chuckle.

"Where are they anyway?" Krysta asked, looking to Mira then the rest of the guild.

"They left on a job first thing this morning," Mira informed her.

Krysta looked at Mira, incredulously. "Master is still letting them go on jobs?" She asked.

"Yeah," Mira nodded. "He told me about your guys meeting yesterday and said that they were still clear to go on jobs as long as I knew exactly where they were," she explained.

"Oh," Krysta said, relieved. "That's good. So what job did they take?"

"They are dealing with a large lizard creature in the north wood sea," Mira said as she cleaned a glass.

"Sounds like a fun job," Krysta said, smirking.

"Speaking of jobs, I was thinking of taking one today," Gray said, glancing at Krysta. "Do you wanna go with me?"

"Sure," Krysta said, smiling lightly.

"And I have just the job for us," Erza's voice suddenly butted in.

Gray groaned inwardly as he and Krysta turned to see the redhead approach with a job request at hand. "I was hoping to spend some time alone with you," he whispered in a grumbling tone to her. He then cleared his throat and spoke at a normal volume at Erza. "Hey, thanks for the offer, Erza, but Krysta and I were thinki-"

"You can take another job later," Erza interrupted. "This one is requesting both of our services." She said, holding up the job flier once she reached the bar.

Krysta and Gray both silently read over the job request. It was, in fact, asking for Erza and Gray to come deal with a beast on Mount Hakubey that was causing avalanches to occur, trapping hikers and campers inside of the mountain's freezing caves. And the reward was 700,000 Jewel and the job was listed as S-Class.

"Why is an S-Class quest requesting me?" Gray asked, taken aback.

"They must have seen what you could do at the Grand Magic Games and thought your magic would be useful," Krysta guessed as she continued to look over the request. "I think you should go on this one." She said after a moment, looking at Gray.

Gray met her gaze with an almost disappointed look in his eye while his expression still read he was stunned by the job. She could tell by the look that he was hoping to do a job with her as it seems they haven't really been able to as of late. Aside from the marketplace job that is. That one at least allowed them to be alone for a couple of times while tracking down the bandits. This is where they both silently wished they told the guild about their relationship.

"Krysta, you are more than welcome to come with us," Erza added on as if reading their minds. "Having a little extra support for this job wouldn't be a bad thing."

Krysta looked up at Erza and nodded. "Sure, sounds like fun. I'll just need to run home and grab my winter gear then I can meet you guys at the train station."

"Works for me," Gray said as he reached over and finished his mug of coffee. Krysta could hear the slight hitch of relief in his tone as he said that. Admittedly, she was relieved too to go with him on this job as it was better than nothing.

"Same for me," Erza said with a nod. She then turned her attention to Mira. "We will be taking the ice beast job."

"I figured as much," Mira said with a subtle wink towards Krysta, as if she also had read their minds a moment ago. "I'll call ahead and let them know you are on your way."

"Thanks, Mira," Erza said, then looked at Gray and Krysta. "Meet at the train station in a half an hour." She ordered before heading out the guild doors.

"I guess I better go get my gear then," Krysta said as she and Gray watched Erza go.

Gray opened his mouth as if to say something then shook his head lightly. "Yeah, I'll see you at the train station."

Krysta looked at him and gave him a brief, reassuring glance before getting up and heading out of the guild.

Lugging the backpack onto her back, Krysta exited her apartment dressed in warmer layers with her winter coat stuffed into her backpack. It was approaching autumn in Magnolia, but it was still too warm out to wear clothes meant for playing in the snow. Krysta could already feel herself sweating in her current get up. But she knew that once she reached Mount Hakubey that these layers of warmth would be a God send as she hated being cold. Kind of ironic since she was secretly dating an Ice Wizard.

Her train of thought was cut off as she stepped out onto the street and sensed something unsettling coming from a few buildings down. Krysta looked off in the direction the troubling feeling was coming from to try and discern what the feeling was. It was coming from Lucy's apartment. Glancing at the time on her watch and then back down the road, Krysta hesitated for a moment on what to do. She didn't want to be late for her job with Gray and Erza. But if this feeling was the imposter at Lucy's right now then this might be their only opportunity to stop him.

Adjusting the strap, Krysta made her choice and started walking over to Lucy's apartment. When she got there, she headed inside and up to Lucy's place. The door was closed when she approached. She reached for the door handle to see if it was unlocked when suddenly a deep, scratchy voice spoke up behind her.

"Are you looking for Lucy or trouble?" The voice asked in a slightly threatening manner.

Krysta whirled around in a panic as she didn't expect someone to sneak up on her. It was Lucy's land lady based off the vague description Lucy had once given her. Strange that Krysta could sense the presence on the other side of the door, but this lady was like a ninja and just appeared out of nowhere.

"No, I'm looking for Lucy," Krysta said, relaxing slightly. "I'm one of her new guild mates. The name's Krysta. Nice to meet you." She said as she reached out to shake the Land Lady's hand.

She didn't return the gesture. "Ah I see," she said, simply. "Well, Lucy isn't home right now."

"Then who's in her apartment?" Krysta asked as she heard faint shuffling on the other side of the door.

This made the Land Lady's eyebrows perk up in confusion. She walked over to the door and unlocked it with her master key. As she opened the door, Lucy suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lucy asked, exasperated.

"Lucy? You're home?" Krysta asked, stunned. "I thought you were on a job with Natsu?"

"Oh well, we finished early," Lucy said simply as she flashed them a smile.

"Well since she appears to be here and fine, I'll be going then," the Land Lady grumbled as she headed back down the stairs to her apartment.

Krysta watched the lady go before looking back at Lucy with a slightly uneasy gaze. "Well, can I come in? I wanted to ask you a question about Gray," she said, baiting the person before her.

She knew this wasn't Lucy, because based off the stories Krysta had heard of Lucy's land lady, the blonde would have been horrified to see her when she opened the door. This Lucy had no reaction at all to either of them being there. This had to be the imposter.

Lucy hesitated for a moment. "Oh sure," she said, nodding as she stepped aside and let her enter the apartment.

Krysta stepped inside as Lucy shut the door and noticed the place was turned upside down. What was this guy looking for? A clue to Natsu? Krysta looked back over to Lucy. "Doing some reorganizing?" She asked with fake bemusement.

"Uh, no," Lucy said, then paused as if to gather her thoughts. "Natsu actually came over and did this. I was just cleaning up."

"Ah, I see," Krysta nodded then with her Force Magic sent Lucy back into the wall, pinning her there. She set her backpack down as she turned to face the imposter.

"Hey what the hell?" Lucy gasped, surprised.

Krysta walked over and stood before her. "I know you are not Lucy Heartfilla. I know she's not here right now and is off on a job. And I know you did this… Mason," she said in a quiet, seething tone. "So drop the charade."

Lucy's stunned expression faded into a bemused smirk before all of her transformed into a guy. A tall, athletically built man with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and finely groomed facial hair smirked at her, dressed back in a t-shirt and jeans instead of Lucy's outfit he had been wearing. So this was Mason.

"I'm impressed you were able to figure out it was me," he said in a deeper voice than she was expecting. "Everyone else in your guild seemed to narrowly miss me each time. Even Gray Fullbuster was close to revealing me, but even he didn't take the chance like you are now."

"Well, your little game is over," Krysta said, sternly. "You're not getting your hands on Natsu for your father's experiments. So surrender yourself now before the authorities get here."

Mason snorted. "So you know about what my dad is up to, eh? Well, I was hoping we could just part ways in a more civil manner, but I guess not." He said then lashed out at Krysta with a kick to the gut.

Krysta grunted as the kick landed and she staggered back. "How…?" She tried to ask before coughing. "You shouldn't be able to move."

"I can nullify anything you throw at me," Mason said simply as he moved away from the wall. "Your magic is useless against me."

Krysta growled. "Oh yeah?" She then threw a punch at him, aiming for his jaw. But he expected it.

Grabbing her arm, he broke the elbow which caused her shoulder to wrench and then threw her over his shoulder and into the wall. Krysta gasped in pain as the bruise on her back from the Nightmare guild suddenly flared with white hot pain. She also winced at the throbbing ache coming from her pulled shoulder.

"You think you're the first person to try that?" Mason asked, very much amused by this. He laughed as he towered over her.

Krysta snarled and kicked out with her leg for the back of his heels. The kick impacted and he was knocked to the ground. Krysta scrambled on top of him and pinned his arms to the floor. Mason looked up at her, stunned at first then bemused once again. She tried to keep him in place, but that was proving more of a challenge than she thought it would. He was definitely a lot stronger, physically, than her as he managed to break free from her grip and flipped her over onto to her back. He then moved over and pinned her to the floor. She tried to escape, but he wasn't moving. He then wrapped his hand around her neck and tightened it, cutting off her airways. Krysta started to choke and tried desperately to get this man off of her. She slapped at his arms and face, trying to get him off. But Mason didn't budge.

"You're going to tell me where Natsu Dragneel is now," Mason demanded.

"Never," Krysta managed as she struggled to breathe.

"That wasn't a suggestion," Mason snarled as he reached into his pocket, while still choking her, and produced a spray of some kind. He sprayed it right in her face which made her grimace as the contents of the spray burned.

Krysta coughed and tried to wipe the spray residue off her face. "What… did… you… do?" She struggled to say.

"A truth spray," Mason said simply. "When used, the person has no choice but to speak the truth until it wears off in an hour. So I'll ask this again. Where is Natsu Dragneel?"

Krysta struggled as she felt the sudden urge to speak the truth, but also struggled to breathe. She coughed a couple more times as she felt her vision was becoming hazy as she was starting to lose consciousness.

"Don't pass out on me," Mason growled as he suddenly hauled her off the floor, which released his grip on her throat, and slammed her into the wall. She felt her head impact with the wall and started to see stars. But she was grateful for the brief relief for her throat as she managed to take a deep breath. "Now answer me."

Krysta looked up at him, her vision still blurry from the spray and nearly passing out. Her head, shoulders and back were aching as he kept her pinned to the wall as she tried to stay conscious. "N-n-n," she tried not to answer, but the urge was impossible to ignore. "North Wood Sea." She sputtered out after a moment of regaining enough of her senses to answer. She grimaced inwardly as she felt guilt overwhelm her as she betrayed her friends, but that damn spray made her answer as she tried to fight it.

Mason smiled at her. "Good girl. Now take a nice nap. I might come back for you later," he said leeringly as he caressed her cheek. Then he grabbed her by the front of her light jacket and threw her across the room into the book case.

The case shattered on impact as she hit it and Krysta fell to the floor with books cascading around her. The last thing she remembered was seeing Mason leave out of Lucy's window then she saw nothing at all as she slipped unconscious.

Gray paced nervously. Krysta was late and he could tell that Erza was getting upset by that. But it wasn't Erza's wrath that Gray was nervous of, even though he should be. It was the fact that he had this sinking suspicion that something happened to Krysta. He understood being five, maybe even ten minutes late if she got caught up on her way. But it was pushing nearly an hour since she was supposed to arrive and he was getting worried about her.

"She's still not here?" Erza asked as she came over to him. She had decided to go search the train station in case Krysta had boarded the train without them or something. The fact she came back alone and with a disappointed expression made his worrying worse.

"No, she's not," Gray said, worried. "I'm going to go look for her." Sorry Erza, but screw the mission, he thought, anxiously. His girlfriend, secret or not, was possibly in trouble and he could not stand around here anymore. He needed to find out even if it meant abandoning Erza on the job.

"I'm going with you," Erza said, equally as worried. That surprised Gray, he figured she was be furious at Krysta as she would be if it was anyone else. But he figured that she must have felt the same unease as he did towards her being tardy for their mission. However, he was not surprised that she wanted to go help go look for her as Krysta was apart of Fairy Tail like them and they always help their friends and guildmates.

"Let's check her place first," Gray said as he made his way out of the train station at a quickened pace.

"Right," Erza nodded, matching his gait.

They hurried through the streets of Magnolia, looking all around for Krysta in case they passed her on their way to her place. But there was no sign of her. As they reached her street, Gray felt his pace quicken to a jog as he headed for her place. Once there, he rushed inside, up the stairs and to her door. He then placed a firm knock upon It.

"Krysta?" Gray called out. There was no response. "Krysta, it's Gray and Erza. Are you still going on that job with us?" Again nothing.

Gray looked at Erza as she had stopped studiously behind him. They shared a worried expression. He then looked back at the door and tried the handle. It was locked. He ice made her key and unlocked the door, feeling bad once again for doing that, but time was of the essence right now. He poked his head inside and did a quick scan of the room before entering and searching the bedroom and bathroom. There was no sign of her. The whole place was empty. He then glanced at the bowl beside the door and saw her keys were gone. So she wasn't home. He closed the door and locked up before facing Erza, who had remained in the hall as he searched.

"She isn't here," he said, worriedly. "Even her keys are gone."

"Then maybe we passed her on the way back here," Erza said as comfortingly as she could. Again, he didn't expect that from her. She was known to be like a big sister to him at times, but never like this. Usually it was more forceful than comforting. "Let's head back to the train station and if she's not there, we will check the guild." She said as she headed for the stairs.

Gray nodded and followed her out of the apartment building. As they stepped out onto the street, Gray glanced over and noticed someone looking around in almost a frantic, if not, pissed off manner.

"Isn't that Lucy's land lady?" Gray questioned as he gestured over to her. It took him a second to recognize her, but it was hard not to recognize the creepy older woman.

Erza followed his gaze. "Yeah it is."

"It looks like something is wrong," Gray observed as he started walking towards Lucy's apartment. Erza followed after him.

The Land Lady noticed them approach and bound over to them. "Your friends of Lucy's right?" She asked them almost in an accusing tone.

"Uh, yeah?" Gray answered.

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked, immediately.

"Yeah something's wrong," the Land Lady groused. "I let one of your so called guild mates in to see Lucy. Then I hear the two of them fighting up stairs. And the next thing I know, Lucy is gone and that other girl is unconscious in her room. Trying to lie to me about being a member of the guild only to attack Lucy," she grumbled under her breath.

"Wait, what do you mean Lucy was home?" Erza asked, stunned. "She went off on a job with Natsu this morning and they aren't due back until this afternoon."

"Then why did I see Lucy just over an hour ago?" The Land Lady asked, confused.

"It's difficult to explain," Erza said, unsure on how much to reveal to the lady.

"Then you better start explaining," the lady demanded.

"The guild mate you let in, was she tall with brown hair?" Gray asked, quickly before Erza could respond.

"Yeah, that was her," the lady answered, annoyed.

"Krysta," Gray breathed out, worriedly as he rushed past the Land Lady and into the building.

"Hey!" The Land Lady barked after him, but he was already gone.

Gray ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to Lucy's apartment. He skidded to a stop as he saw the place in utter disarray. He then spotted Krysta lying underneath the remains of Lucy's book case, covered in wood splinters, planks, and books. Gray rushed to her side and quickly moved the debris off of her. Once she was clear of book case remains, he carefully gathered her into his arms and looked her over. She appeared to be okay aside from the streak of blood running down her face from her forehead. Gray gently shook her shoulders to try and wake her once he was sure she was alright.

"Krysta? Hey, it's me. Please wake up," he begged softly as he heard Erza's footsteps coming up the stairs. "Krysta?"

"Krysta?" She heard a worried voice say as she slowly came to. Her head pounded with an incredible headache and her throat felt tight as it hurt to even breathe. Her back and right shoulder also felt sore to move.

Coughing, Krysta winced before slowly opening her eyes. She blearily looked around at her surroundings as her vision slowly cleared. She then saw Gray's worried face above her as he held her in his arms.

"Gray?" Krysta croaked then coughed again.

"Yeah, I'm here," Gray said, reassuringly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Krysta tried to clear her throat, but winced at how sore and tight it was. "Mason," she managed to croak out.

"He did this to you?" Erza asked as she suddenly appeared behind Gray's shoulder.

Krysta nodded, grimacing at the headache. "He was… pretending to be… Lucy," she struggled to say. "He… knows where… Natsu is."

"What? How?" Gray asked, bewildered.

"Truth spray," Krysta answered, guilty. "I'm… sorry. I tried… not to… tell him. I… couldn't control… myself."

"It's alright," Gray assured her, softly. "You did what you could."

"This isn't good. We need to get Krysta to Wendy and we need to go after Natsu," Erza said in a stern tone.

"No… time," Krysta said as she tried to sit up. "Natsu… needs us now."

"But you're in no condition to fight right now," Gray said, worriedly as he helped her sit up.

"Gray, get her to the guild," Erza ordered. "And then meet me in the North Wood Sea with back up." She then headed for the stairs to leave.

Gray watched her go then looked back at Krysta. They were alone at the moment for the first time in a few days. Which meant no one was around to comment or tease him if he showed worry and affection for his girlfriend. Gray wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Gray?" Krysta asked, taken aback by the hug.

"I was so worried about you," Gray said softly as he buried his face in her hair. "I thought the worst had happened. I'm glad you're okay."

Krysta frowned and hugged him back, relaxing in his embrace. "I'm fine," she whispered, which felt better on her throat.

Gray pulled away slightly and looked at her. He gently brushed back a stray hair behind her ear before leaning in and giving her a loving kiss. Krysta returned the kiss for as long as she could before she needed to take a breath. Her throat burning as she pulled away and coughed.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I think that bastard crushed my windpipe."

"Then let's get you back to Wendy," Gray said as he stood and helped her to her feet.

Krysta's head spun as she stood, probably from the head concussion she most likely had. It made her vision blur as she felt herself starting to fall. Gray held her steady as she faltered.

"Thanks," she said as she held her head, trying to calm her headache.

"Don't worry, I've got you," Gray said, then swept her off of her feet and carried her in his arms.

Krysta turned crimson at that as she looked up at him. "I can walk," she tried to say as he started walking out of Lucy's apartment.

"I know you probably can right now, but we need to hurry if we are to help Natsu and get you help," Gray said as he made his way down the stairs. "And with your current condition, I thought this would be faster. Sorry."

Krysta blinked at him, flattered by the gesture. She then realized how fatigued she felt as he carried her away from Lucy's. She nodded, grimaced, and then rested her head against his shoulder. "Don't… apologize. Thank you," she whispered as she tried to stay awake, all of her energy she thought she had suddenly disappearing.

"Stay with me, Krysta," Gray said, worriedly as he quickened his pace. "We will be at the guild soon."

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled as he leapt down from the trees onto the beast.

The giant lizard beast was a slippery one at that. They had arrived to kick its butt, but ended up chasing it around for a bit before finally cornering at the base of the cliff in the North Wood Sea. Lucy had summoned Virgo to dig a few pit falls to hopefully secure the beast. Oddly enough, the dumb lizard fell for them and got trapped. But because it was so big, only its legs were caught… in two separate pit falls. The job request had failed to mention this beast was the size of a small building. But that didn't matter now. Now their objective was to beat it and make sure they get paid.

Natsu's flaming fist impacted with the beast's head causing it to let out an ear piercing screech as he landed on a small cliff ledge behind it. Natsu, Happy and Lucy groaned at the sound as they put their hands to their ears.

"That is rather unpleasant," Virgo observed dryly from beside Lucy. They were standing on the ground near the creature's legs, ready to put up a fight. And her hands were not at her ears. "I think I'll take my leave then, princess." Then in a shimer Virgo was gone.

"Thanks for your help!" Lucy barked in sarcastic annoyance as her spirit left them alone. She then groaned again as the screeching got louder.

"It's so loud!" Natsu and Happy groaned with annoyed expressions.

"We need to get it to shut up before our ears bleed!" Lucy proposed as she grimaced at the sound.

"Aye!" Happy agreed from where he hovered above the creature after dropping Natsu. He was able to hear Lucy, slightly, through the screeching.

Natsu looked around frantically to try and find anything that might silence the beast. But from where he was standing, there was nothing but the cliff face and the back of the lizard. Then a light lacrama turned on in his head. "I've got an idea!" He yelled over the noise as he turned to face the cliff.

"Natsu, what are you thi-" Lucy started to ask when she suddenly noticed the beast was climbing out of the pit falls. "Whatever it is, hurry!"

Moving his hands from his ears and wincing at the screeching that hadn't stopped, Natsu ignited his right fist and punched into the cliff face at what appeared to be its weak point. Suddenly, a large crack formed in the cliff and snaked all the way up to the top of the cliff. Once it reached the top, a huge chunk of the cliff broke away and started to fall towards the beast and Natsu.

Happy quickly swooped in and grabbed Natsu by the collar before the boulders and rubble could reach the Fire Dragon Slayer then flew safely away. The screeching immediately ceased as the boulders landed on its back and head. It turned and attempted to swat at Natsu and Happy as it took one step out of the right pit fall. It missed and tried again as it stepped out with its other foot. Happy, thankfully, managed to lift Natsu and himself just a bit higher to get out of the creature's reach.

As the beast did that, Lucy had become distracted by watching her friends get away that she hadn't noticed the long tail of the lizard monster whip around. The tail side swiped her and sent her into the nearest sets of trees with quite a bit of force that she released a loud yelp initially. The trees managed to catch her fall, but broke slightly upon impact from the beast and then the trees were completely wiped away by the tail entirely, leaving Lucy in a pile of tree rubble.

"LUCY!" Natsu and Happy cried out as they witnessed what happened.

Natsu growled at the beast. "FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!" He bellowed in an angered manner as he launched a very large fireball at the beast for harming his friend.

The beast screeched again, but this time turned and started to run away as the fireball actually harmed it. Happy immediately flew down with Natsu to make sure Lucy was okay. Once they were close to the ground, Natsu managed to wiggle out of Happy's grasp and ran towards the tree wreckage.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out, worriedly.

Quickly, he started throwing rubble aside, trying to find his best friend as his heart thudded painfully in his chest. A very scary image passed through his mind as envisioned what horrible, mangled state she might be in. He hoped she was still alive. The tail's swing was so fast and so strong that if it had been a non-wizard, it might have actually killed them on impact. But Lucy was a wizard, so she had to be okay. Right?

As he finished sifting through, Lucy's blonde hair was soon revealed followed by the rest of her. She appeared to be not as badly injured as he had imagined. But she was unconscious with a laceration on her cheek and several decently sized splinters of wood protruding from arms, legs, and torso. None of them looked lethal in any manner, but she was fairly injured. She probably even had a few broken ribs on top of all of that.

Natsu carefully knelt down next to her and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "Lucy? It's me. It's Natsu. Please wake up," he begged gently, hoping that she would respond.

And she did. Lucy stirred slightly at the sound of his voice, but her face contorted in pain from her injuries. So she was okay for the moment. Natsu looked at Happy who was standing beside him, looking down at Lucy worriedly.

"Stay with her," Natsu ordered firmly as he stood. "I'm going to finish that monster. Just holler if anything happens, but don't leave her side."

"Aye," Happy said, nodding. He moved over and sat by Lucy's side. "Be careful, Natsu."

"I will," Natsu said over his shoulder as he took off in a sprint, chasing down the lizard.

Happy sat quietly and worriedly beside Lucy as he petted her hair hoping it would sooth her a bit. He kept his wits about him as he kept a watchful eye out for any possible danger. Strangely enough, the forest sounded peaceful and quiet around them now with only a faint sound of fighting off in the distance. He wished he had a flare or something to signal the guild that they needed help. That Lucy needed help. But mainly, he hoped Natsu would get back in time so they could get Lucy to Wendy as soon as possible.

As he sat there waiting, a rustling was heard nearby. Happy instinctively grabbed one of the broken tree branches and prepared to defend his injured best friend. A robed figure appeared and slowly approached the exceed.

"Back away!" Happy demanded. "Don't make me use this!" He waved the stick around as if to intimidate the figure.

The figure didn't say anything. Instead, it shot a blast of magic energy at Happy and before the little exceed could react, he was thrown aside. Happy collided with a nearby tree and then the forest floor in a daze. The figure approached Lucy's unconscious form and carefully lifted her into it's arms.

"Let her go…" Happy ordered, blearily. "Natsu… will stop you."

The figure ignored the little blue cat as it started to carry Lucy's form away.

"Lucy… Natsu…" Happy called weakly then blacked out.

OH NO! LUCY! KRYSTA! HAPPY! REVIEW!