Chapter 10: Prologue to Evil

"And so, with the help of the employees in the store, she proposed. Isn't the ring gorgeous, Erza?" Mira said as she displayed her hand. Erza admired it with cooing noises, as she touched the hand ever so gently. "It truly is, Mirajane. Do you both know when the wedding is?"Kinana interjected, resting her head on her hands. "We believe it's going to be-"

A phone ding cut her off. Erza held out her hand, and checked the notification, realizing it was from Lucy herself. "Hold on girls, I gotta go." Erza excused herself. "You're leaving because of a text? What, did something happen to Jellal, is he in the hospital again?" Kagura questioned. Erza waved her off. "No, it's just something very important." The redhead inconspicuously walked off and hid in an alleyway. There, she called Lucy.

"Hi, Lucy-Kun, what's up?" Erza greeted. There was a breath of silence before the blonde spoke again. "I have- uh- your next task. It's something very, very important." She said. Erza nodded silently. "Ah ok, where is it?" She asked. The sharp sound of rustling paper came strong on the other end, something Erza wasn't pleased to hear.

"So Mystery Boy put for his is that you have a crazy scavenger hunt in the middle of the wood. Can you do that?" Lucy explained. Erza was silent. She had heard from a multitude of friends how dangerous and frightening scavenger hunts could become, and in which she envisioned the dangerous situation Kagura was put in when she explained. Now she was truly questioning whether or not if the Mystery Boy was a murderer of some sort.

"I- Ok, um, this isn't going to send me to a suspicious place, correct?" Erza tried to say, her voice breaking in fright. Lucy knitted her eyebrows together in concern. "No, I promise. It'll be under surveillance at all times so if something happens, I'll call the police. And besides, Mystery Boy and I have real swords we received from a cosplay by his cousin, Gajeel. It's also right by a road so if abut gets goes wrong, we can also call the neighbors because we know them. Alright?" Lucy reassured in her kindest voice. Erza breathed -albeit, shakily- and hung up.

She returned to the group in good shape, but her face was as pale as snow, and her lips as red as blood. All three girls looked at her in concern as she fished for her credit card, slapped it on the table, and set off to the bathroom. Kagura was the only one to come after her, as the rest of the girls were frightened by Erza's many mood swings.

The purple-haired woman slipped into the bathroom like a snake and slithered to the stall as sly as a fox. Quietly, as to not scare her, she knocked on the door. "Hey, Erza, what happened?" She looked to the icky bathroom stall wall, where the voice was coming from. Due to its commanding nature, Erza deduced it was Kagura. "Was it... about Jellal?" She asked quietly. Erza responded with no.

The brunette rapped her fingers on the stall and proceeded to open the door. Erza flew her hands to the locks, which immediately stopped the woman from coming in. "Kagura, what are you doing?" Erza peeked over. There, a brown-haired woman had her hands curled up against her collarbone. "I wasn't sure if you were coming out, I wanted to make sure you were fine and wasn't having a panic attack," Kagura admitted. Erza's steely glare melted into liquid metal as she watched Kagura fiddle. "Ah ok, well, I'm fine. But please, I must go," Erza said, stepping out of the stall.

She waved away the woman's concern, checking where her purse was. "But judging from your reaction to that call, you seemed upset and definitely... un-ok," Kagura explained, her eyebrows creasing in concern. "Hey, Kagura, can you please get my purse?" Erza asked. The woman was still suspicious of Erza but complied and left.

The red-haired woman turned to meet the confused and concerned stares. "Miss, I think you need to wash your hands," a woman said, pointing to her hands. Erza looked at them, then back at the woman -who was still disgusted- and went to the sink and washed them. She shook off the water and left.

Kagura was waiting there with her little purse, handing it to Erza before waving a little goodbye and left. "Bye!" Erza waved. Then, she left.


Natsu lingered his finger over his guitar string, apprehension filling his eyes. It has been a while since he sent out his request to Lucy, who had been concerned for the safety of Mystery Girl.

Happy rubbed against his leg, much to Natsu's delight. He fished his hand to meet the soft, fluffy, blue fur that always seemed to be the comforting thing. Happy turned his cute face to Natsu, who immediately understood, and headed to the kitchen to get his food. Happy trotted along by his feet, keeping Natsu's fast pace miraculously well. He then spilled out the food into his already food bowl, and Natsu went to feed himself by eating some Cheezits.

Before he knew it, he finished the full box and only left a few broken crackers at the bottom. He threw it in the trash and walked over to Happy to make sure he finished his food, and once he was satisfied, called him over to the living room.

The TV came to life as he pressed the power button, blasting immediate sound. Natsu and Happy both tried to cover their ears but ultimately failed, as neither couldn't bring their hands up to the ears. "Sorry, Happy, hope you're ok." Natsu petted the blue fur soothingly. Natsu felt vibrations against his hand and smiled in immeasurable happiness. Finally, he turned the volume down and flipped to his VCR, finding his ghost show he missed last night and filled the room with ominous music.

Happy looked to Natsu and swore he smiled. 'Glad he's happy.' Natsu thought, as he watched the ghost team explain why, what, who, where, and how for a long time for an exhausting amount of time. Then, he felt his phone play a small rendition of Snow Fairy and wasn't surprised to see Lucy's face identifying the contact.

Me (10:45 pm): What's up?

Lucy (10:46 pm): You can't do the scavenger hunt, it's frightening her.

Natsu raised his eyebrows. Mystery girl seemed like a headstrong woman, wasn't that her aura?

Lucy (10:47pm): Natsu, this is serious. Get off your stupid show, that no one should ever watch because of how the grown men act like babies and listen!

Natsu bit his lip in fear; it wasn't often you pissed off Lucy, but when you did, she's as scary as a bull. As a matter of keeping the peace, he shut off his "fake" show and relinquished himself.

Me (10:50 pm): ...Fine, what's the matter?

Lucy (10:52 pm): Didn't I already tell you? The mystery girl is scared of going on the haunted scavenger hunt. When I called her to confirm the plans, she was scared and frightened! Pick a different plan!

Me (10:54 pm): But Gray and I already planted the notes...

Lucy (10:56 pm): Ok and?!

Natsu sighed to himself, feeling the heavyweight of guiltpile up in his lungs. He almost put her life in danger because of Natsu, yet, he was saddened to find the haunted scavenger hunt idea to be scrapped. Then, he came up with an idea.

Me (11:03 pm): Ok, Luce, here me out.

Lucy (11:05 pm): Sure

Me (11:09 pm): What if you went with her? I want her to be safe and secure, and you're the most trusting and caring person I know, so I think you should go with her. I can trust you to be her safe, right?

Lucy (11:11 pm): I- Thank you, I'll keep her safe. Thank you for putting her safety first, Natsu.

The pinkette smiled with warmth. He typed back his message immediately, feeling a good vibe.

Me (11:11 pm): No, thank you, Luce. I wish you could keep her safe.

Lucy (11:12 pm): Don't worry, I will. Love you!

Me (11:13 pm): Love you and be safe!

After he hit the send button, he turned on the tv. Cuddled in his blankets, he watchedthe paranormal.

And, it's done! Man, am I glad to be done with this chapter! Anyway, some exciting hints! Jellal's been mentioned a couple of times, I wonder what that means... Hmh? Lucy and Natsu had a tiny fight but it's all good.

Stay positive, stay healthy, stay safe, and have a good day/night! I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye~!