"speaking"

"thinking"

On with the story

The next day came as the girls were in a hotspring for a bath in the morning

"I can't believe that Éclair managed to sneak out of her room without anyone knowing" Ultear said as she was in the middle of rinsing her hair with water "how did she even sneak in?"

"who knows" Kagura said as she grabs a wooden bucket filled with cold water before splashing herself with it "all I know that she was sleeping with Natsu in his bed till morning"

"she's the strongest contender" Erza said while she scrubs her hair with some hair conditioner and then wash it away with a bucket of water "we cannot underestimate her"

The three then soon heads to the hotsprings where Lucy, Ikaruga, and Mira were at, relaxing in the warm hotspring already

Sinking in, the three sighs in satisfaction to the warm water

"but I must say that the hotspring here is by far more relaxing than the ones in the Corona Town" Kagura said as she splashes some water on her face and sighs again "the warmth is making my muscles soften and my soul peaceful"

"heard from Atlas-san that Natsu's dad made the hotspring himself" Lucy said as she stretched her arms up "he said that Igneel-san was a man who loves hotsprings so much that he made one himself"

"so he dug up his own, huh?" Ultear said while sinking a bit deeper in the warm water

"can't blame the guy" Mira said as she let out a long sigh "I want to stay here for more longer"

"stay in here for too long and you shall become mush, Mira-han" Ikaruga said as she drinks a cup while having a wooden bucket floating beside her

"Sake?" Lucy asked as Ikaruga replied by showing her that it was Sake which made her sweatdrop

"man! Old man Atlas's Sake is to die for!" Cana exclaimed while drinking some sake and burped

While the girls were taking a sink in the hotspring, Natsu was in the cabin with Éclair and Momon

Momon sat on the dining table as Éclair pets its head a few times while Natsu was reading a book and pets Happy's head

"sounds like Lucy and the others are enjoying the hotspring" Éclair said as she scratches Momon's under chin before the bird ruffles its feather a bit and then rested down

"yeah" Natsu said as he reads his book before closing it and then turns around "where's my Uncle? He was gone when we woke up"

"maybe he's going for a stroll?" Éclair asked as Natsu hummed and then shook his head

"if he was, he would've told us" Natsu said before he looks at the clock and it was 9 o'clock "something is out of place here"

Soon, they heard door knocks coming from the front door

"it must be him" Éclair said as Natsu went to answer

Opening the door, Natsu was met with two police officers

Éclair looks to the door as Natsu talks with the police officers who soon gave him a piece of paper

Natsu nodded as the police officers bowed to him before walking away and the door soon closed

Going back, Natsu sat down while looking at the piece of paper, the officers gave him

"what is it?" Éclair asked as Natsu showed her the paper and it was a Missing Paper of six people

"they told me that six Mountain Hikers disappeared in an expedition and never returned" Natsu said as he crossed his arms "they asked if they are here, and I said no."

"six mountain hikers disappeared? What could've happened?" Éclair asked

"there's a few assumptions" Natsu said while rubbing his chin a bit "they fell down into a hole, they got lost in the forest, or…"

"or?" Éclair said as Natsu had paused his sentence

"or…" Natsu said before he had a flashback of him, Atlas, and Igneel speaking against some shadows that had thousands of glowing red eyes "it couldn't be? Could it?"

Natsu soon stands up as he walks towards the living room

"Natsu?" Éclair called out to him as she followed him and sees him rummaging around the cupboard in the living room as he push somethings aside before taking out a small wooden box

Opening it, the content of the box had a whistle that looks to have been carved out of a bone

The whistle is placed upon a hole as another hole was empty as if there was something that is supposed to be there

"I knew it" Natsu said as he took the whistle out and pockets it before placing the box away

"what's wrong?" Éclair asked looking confused to him

"my Uncle might be in trouble" Natsu said as he grabs his jacket and puts them on "I'll be away for a while, tell that to the others and stay here"

Natsu soon heads out as Éclair looks at him leaving the area


a few hours later, Natsu was at the nearby mountain range of the forest

Natsu looks around as he sees nor hear anything other than the forest and the sound of the wind

Looking around further, Natsu touched the ground as he found a spider web thread

"don't tell me" Natsu muttered out before he jumps away as spider threads flied around and nearly caught him

Landing a few feet away, Natsu looks behind him and sees thousands of glowing red eyes staring at him

He heard lots and lots of rustling as Natsu eyed his surrounding and sees that there were more eyes looking at him

"they came out? Why?" Natsu reached into his pocket as he took out the whistle and blows on it hard, creating a high pitch whistle

As Natsu whistled, the eyes disappeared into the shadows

When the eyes disappeared, Natsu stop blowing the whistle

"why did they come out of hiding? Shouldn't the queen stop them?" Natsu said before he looks up to the mountain cliff near him and then jumped towards it

He then started climbing up the mountain hill by jumping while being followed by a shadowed figure with six glowing red eyes


Lucy and the others went back to the cabin as they had finished taking a bath in the hotspring

"where's Natsu?" Lucy asked as she and Mira went to the kitchen to grab some milk to drink

"he said something about Atlas-san being in trouble and went off" Éclair answered while carrying Momon in her arms

"trouble? What trouble?" Mira asked before their attention was grabbed when they heard heavy banging sound coming from above

"is someone above stairs?" Éclair asked as the sound keeps on banging

"no one, and those sound like footsteps that are way too heavy" Mira said as they watched the ceiling and the sound keeps on continuing

Erza and the others got into the kitchen as the sound was loud and coming from direction

"what is making that sound?" Lucy said while shaking a bit

Before long, the wall broke into pieces as Lucy and the others looks and sees that there were thousands of red eyes looking at them

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"


That's a wrap!

Bye bye