A/N: Hey there, I don't know how to end filler chapters but I did my best. Thanks for reviewing! Much appreciate :3
"How'd you know where to find us?" Lucy said, hand absently running through Natsu's hair. He was incapacitated with his head on her lap, fighting nausea from being in a vehicle, but he was still conscious enough to hear the conversation going on around him.
"News of the Celestial Spirit goes around quick," Gray said. "We hurried back to the camp and you guys weren't there. There were just a bunch of palace guards that were all talking about how you'd been captured. From there, it wasn't hard to guess where you ended up."
"They had a mage among them," Lucy said. "They teleported so we didn't know they were coming until they were already there."
"Isn't magic illegal?" Wendy said.
"There are secret forces employed by the government," Lucy said. "Although I don't know why my father didn't catch Natsu and I when we escaped, if he had someone with such powerful teleportation magic at his disposal."
"I think I know who it was," Erza said from up front. "Remember that knight I met before we split up a few weeks ago?"
"That Doranbolt guy," Gray said.
"He works for the council as a regular knight, but I've heard rumors of him being on one of those secret forces Lucy mentioned."
"Damn," Gray said.
"Why aren't you on a special force, Erza?" Wendy asked.
"I'm from Fairy Tail. Even if they think I'm an ex-member, the fact that I was in it at all is enough to make them not trust me with such a high position."
"What guild was Doranbolt in?" Gray said. "I don't remember his name being associated with a guild."
"No idea," Erza said. "Even the fact that he's a mage is something I'm not supposed to know. I'm surprised they used him in such a public fashion; they must've been really desperate to catch you, Lucy. They really pulled out all the stops to make sure you were captured cleanly."
"Well, she's a princess and the Celestial Spirit," Gray said. "I'm not surprised."
"Where are the others?" Lucy asked.
"They went ahead," Wendy said. "We should catch up to them soon."
"That's if Erza's driving doesn't kill us first," Natsu grumbled, only to be thrown to the floor again when she made a particularly sharp turn. Probably in response to his very comment.
"Watch it," Erza called from the driver's seat. "There's more where that came from."
Natsu moaned in agony. "So cruel, so cruel," he muttered.
"Get up here, you idiot," Lucy said with a sigh, pulling him back up onto her lap. "You get even more unreasonable when you're motion sick."
"Not unreasonable," he slurred.
"Aggravating Erza is pretty unreasonable," Gray said.
"Not unreasonable," Natsu repeated. The soothing feel of Lucy's fingers massaging his head was quickly becoming almost hypnotizing, lulling him to sleep despite his stomach's protests.
He didn't wake up until the vehicle stopped. His body sensed the lack of motion and he instantly sprang up, eyes bursting wide open.
"We're done!" he said, leaping from the carriage.
"For now," Erza corrected.
He frowned. "What does that mean?"
"You're all safe!" Juvia cried, rushing to tackle Gray in a hug.
Gray patted her head. "Yeah, yeah. Say that to the bozo that got caught."
"Don't call Lucy a bozo," Natsu said.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Lucy."
"No offense taken," she said smoothly. "Shall we get going? We have some ground to cover."
"To Magnolia!" Natsu shouted, marching off down the road.
"Not so fast," Erza said, pulling him back. "Where do you think you're going?"
Natsu tilted his head. "Aren't we going back to Magnolia?"
Gajeel scoffed. "Not on foot, idiot," he said.
"Why would we walk there when we have a carriage?" Gray added.
Natsu paled.
"Come on, you wimp, get back in there," Erza said, tossing him in. He landed with a thud. "Be thankful. It's not me driving this time."
"At your service," Gray said, tipping an imaginary hat.
"Damn, that's even worse," Natsu muttered.
Lucy, who hadn't left her original seat, laughed and patted her lap. "It's going to be crowded with more people in here, but if you don't mind sitting on the floor, I'll let you nap on me again."
Not like he had much choice if he didn't want to vomit over everyone. "Don't mind if I do," he said, making himself comfortable. He could feel the queasiness already setting in before the damned thing even started moving.
In theory he understood that this was a good thing. When magic was banned, these magic-powered carriages became horse-powered instead, but most didn't bother dismantling the old magic converters. If they'd had to steal horses as well as the carriage itself…well, horses made for a much rougher ride than the smooth control of magic energy. But a vehicle was still a vehicle. And vehicles, no matter how smooth, made Natsu horribly sick.
A barrage of complaints about Gray's driving led to a fight during one of their short pit stops.
Natsu rushed forward, fists flaming. He leapt over Gray's head, landing right where Gray had been only moments before. He quickly turned to dodge a spear of ice that flew from behind him. He growled.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" he shouted, breathing a wall of flames from his mouth. It met with Gray's ice and dispersed, the two magics canceling each other out. But Natsu didn't let up, rushing forward in the wake of his fire to send a punch to Gray's jaw. Gray retaliated with an icy fist in Natsu's gut.
From here, Natsu could easily roast Gray like a potato, and that punch to Natsu's stomach could've easily been a spike of ice impaling him. It was a shame they weren't actually enemies. Sparring matches like this were so boring compared to the real thing.
Well, Natsu had to do what he could to spice things up a bit. Grinning, he grabbed a fistful of Gray's hair and let his body heat singe the tips.
"Hey! What the hell!" Gray knocked Natsu's arm aside and kneed him in the stomach.
Natsu coughed at the impact, but it was definitely worth it to see smoke rising from Gray's head. "What? You were gonna get a haircut when we got to Magnolia anyway."
"Yeah, but I still have to walk into the guild like this!"
"Oops?"
Gray glowered at Natsu as he pounded a fist to his hand, activating ice magic. "I'll chop your balls off."
"I'd like to see you try," Natsu taunted.
"I hope you're ready to start your life as a eunuch."
"Only if you let me make you bald."
"In your dreams, asshole."
"Bring it on, Snowflake."
"That old nickname again? You really got to get more creative."
"Says the guy who alternates between Hothead and Chili Paste."
"I have others: Flamebrain, Mouth Breather, Charcoal, Hot Sauce…"
"Stripper. Popsicle."
"You overuse those, too."
"Fuck you."
"Cut it out!" Erza bellowed, bringing the argument to a sudden halt. "Back in the carriage, you two. I'm driving."
"Are you sure, Erza?" Wendy said, tugging at her sleeve. "You were driving pretty fast leaving Crocus, so your magic might still be—"
"If I feel my magic getting low, I'll switch with someone," Erza reassured her.
"We can get the exceeds to pull, like horses," Gajeel said.
"I wouldn't mind that," Happy said.
Charle opened one eye to glare at him from Wendy's arms. "Not on your life," she snapped.
Happy pouted and curled himself around Natsu's shoulders. "Try not to barf on me, okay?" he said.
"Then don't sit there."
"But it's comfortable."
Natsu climbed back into the carriage and collapsed onto Lucy's lap again for the duration of the ride to Magnolia. When they got there, Gray left them to get his haircut done before entering the guild, Juvia accompanying him. And it turned out to be a good thing when comparing notes with Makarov brought up a rather sensitive topic.
"What do you mean, Gray's father is in Seven?" Erza said, slamming her hand palm-down onto the table. Natsu didn't see her make this kind of aggressive pose often with Makarov, so she must really be worked up by this news.
"I thought Gray's old man was dead," Gajeel said. "Wasn't his family from Fiore anyway?"
"It may be an imposter, of course. But while you were away, I received news of a Silver Fullbuster living as a business tycoon in Seven," Makarov said. "If we compare this with the Silver we know to be a member of Tartarus, I believe something fishy is indeed going on here."
"Fishy?" Happy said, perking up.
"Not that kind of fish," Natsu said, quieting his friend.
"I want some of you to go with Gray to investigate," Makarov continued. "Since you're going up against a potential Tartarus member, I'll be sending a few of you. Lucy, Natsu, Juvia, and Gajeel, you all accompany Gray. Take good care of him if something comes up. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't like it, and I don't think he will either."
"Juvia will break the news," Juvia said.
Makarov nodded. "Good. You can make plans for when to leave once Gray is informed. I'll be counting on you for that, Juvia. Levy, I need you to stay here at Fairy Tail. I have some materials I need you to look over."
"Understood."
"Erza, between stealing that carriage and being seen hanging around this bunch, I imagine you'll be in hot water with your superiors."
"I will almost certainly lose my knighthood," Erza said. "Doranbolt won't keep quiet after what happened in Crocus."
Makarov grimaced at the knight's name and sighed. "They'll come here looking for you eventually, so I'm going to send you on a special mission with Wendy. Is that all right?"
"That sounds great," Erza said.
"I agree," Wendy said, eyes sparkling at the prospect of going on a mission with Erza.
"What about the Princess and Dowager Queen of Bosco? Between their names and their ties to Mard, they're definitely Tartarus," Lucy said.
"We'll leave them be for now," Makarov said. "We wouldn't want to provoke them and cause an international incident. Let's focus on the other members of Tartarus for now."
"Juvia doesn't think we can avoid making an international incident," Juvia said. "If they are already in Seven and Bosco, they could be in other countries as well."
"Seven and Bosco both have borders with Fiore, but Caelum and Minstrel are not far by ship," Erza said. "It's not unlikely."
"Do you think they've spread beyond Ishgar?" Wendy said. "They could be all the way on the mainland, or even on Alakitasia continent—"
"There are only so many main members of Tartarus," Gajeel said. "If their leader is in Crocus, they can't be too far from Fiore."
"Gajeel's right," Makarov said. "Let's not worry about the hypotheticals for now and just do our best with the information we have. We need to stop these demon attacks and stop Tartarus from reviving Zeref, or whatever it is they're trying to do."
There was a knock on Makarov's office door, and they all paused to look.
"Come in," Makarov said.
The door opened and Gray stepped in, closing it behind him. He paused, looking around at all their staring faces with bewilderment. "What is it? What'd I miss?"
Everyone turned to look at Juvia. She flushed slightly and hurried to her feet. "Juvia will take care of this," she said. "Gray Dearest, please come with Juvia."
Gray let himself be dragged away, confused. "What's with the 'dearest?'" he grumbled as they disappeared from the room.
"Godspeed, Juvia," Lucy said quietly.
Natsu snickered. "Did you see his haircut?"
"Yeah, it looked good," Lucy said, giving Natsu a stern look.
It was a shorter haircut than Gray's usual, which gave Natsu a strong sense of pride. He'd had won that round, that's for sure. He was sure to pay for it in a later fight, but he'd enjoy the feeling of victory while he still could.
A small paw nudged his arm. "Natsu, let's go home," Happy said quietly.
Natsu looked down and smiled. He petted Happy's head affectionately. "You tired, little guy?"
"You should go home and get some rest," Makarov said. "You've all had an eventful day, and it's already well past sundown."
"That it is," Erza observed with mild surprise, looking to the darkened window of Makarov's office.
"Prepare to stay in town tomorrow making preparations," Makarov said. "We'll want to give Gray some time to process things and make sure he's okay before heading out. Erza and Wendy, we'll discuss your mission tomorrow as well. Time is of the essence to keep Erza safe, but I'll let Wendy get some sleep."
"I wouldn't allow anything less," Charle said.
Wendy nodded her thanks.
"All right," Makarov said, pressing his hands together. "That ends tonight's debriefing. Get some rest, all of you. Good work."
"Of course!" Natsu said. "We're Fairy Tail! If there's one thing we know how to do, it's relax!"
Lucy scoffed. "Is that something to brag about?"
"It is for Natsu," Levy said.
"Fair enough. Natsu, I'm crashing at your place again." She wasn't asking.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Take me with you," Happy said. "I'm tired."
"Is Natsu not going home?" Lucy said, turning to him.
"Nah, I'm gonna hang out for a bit. You guys go on ahead." It had been a long day for sure, but he was gone for ages before he brought Lucy here, and he hadn't stuck around long before their job took them away. This time, too, he probably wouldn't be here long. As much as he'd feared coming back in many ways, he missed this place. He missed Fairy Tail. It was his home even more than that cabin in many ways, so even if it was only for a little bit, he wanted to linger in this rickety old building for a while longer until the sensation of home returned.
Besides, he had some thinking to do after seeing Lucy taken from him a second time, and there was no better place for that than the bar at Fairy Tail Tavern.
A/N: I decided I'm gonna stop complaining about each chapter in the footnotes, so I'll just put this instead: [insert self-depreciating whining here]
Mental health is still pretty awful but I got snowed in this weekend and my professor (same professor for all classes weirdly enough) decided not to give us homework for the class that got canceled, sooooo I got SO BORED that I finally got around to finishing this chapter haha. I also drew a thing! My fandom tumblr is fistfulofdragons and it's in there somewhere if you look in my "my arts" tag. It's loosely related to this story, but it's not a direct illustration, so nothing to get too excited about haha. But it's my first complete artwork done entirely with my tablet (even though I've had this thing for like two years now) so I'm actually kinda proud of it. Still getting the hang of digital art, but not a bad start. If only I could get myself to practice more haha
Come to think of it, I doodled a small illustration for TCS a while back, but I actually took it out of my art tag recently because it was pretty horrible and I didn't want to look at it anymore haha. It was bad. Real bad. A bad photo too, like the quality was awful.
Aaaaaanyway it's like 3am so I'm tired and rambley. Thanks for reading!
