Chapter Seven: Into the Fog

Lucy was stunned when Makarov summoned her, Natsu, and Laxus in his office and then told them that they were going to form a team to subdue a dark guild called the Raven Tail. But when he revealed to them who its guild master was, she appeared to be the only one in the room who looked shocked and baffled about the news.

"He may be my son and a former Fairy Tail member," Makarov was saying, "but he needs to be stopped as soon as possible."

Hold on. He's talking about fighting Laxus' father for crying out loud, she thought, stealing a glance at the lightning mage, who looked unfazed. He was already in his regular clothes, and a black coat with fur-trimming hung from his shoulders. How is this okay with him?

Then, she shook her head. She shouldn't concern herself with Laxus' feelings. After all, he wanted her out of the guild, right? But then again, she couldn't help herself. She wouldn't be Lucy if she didn't care about her guildmates.

"I know Erza still hasn't returned from her mission, and I don't know where Gray is," the elderly mage went on, scratching his head. "But, unfortunately, this matter can't wait."

"Oh, Gray's probably somewhere in South Gate Park with Juvia," said Natsu thoughtfully, shrugging his shoulders. "They're supposed to have a rematch, remember?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "If I recall correctly, Natsu, you're supposed to be there, too. You asked Gajeel for a rematch yesterday, remember?"

The fire mage looked at her curiously. "Honto? I don't remember," he said. "Are you sure you're not making things up, Lucy?"

The celestial mage rolled her eyes.

"You always forget things, Natsu," sighed Happy.

Laxus was growing impatient, but he kept his cool. Of all people, he had to work with Natsu and Lucy to face his father. If only the Thunder Legion was here, he was sure that they would complete the job in no time. They were the perfect team.

According to his grandfather, Ivan and his guild were hiding in the woods West of Magnolia Town. Since his father was a master of illusion magic, a forest was the perfect place to cast an illusion spell to confuse anyone who would come after him. Even the most powerful of mages would probably meet their demise before they could reach Raven Tail's hideout.

"Ne, Laxus, I really wanna pound your dad for bein' a jerk to you, ya know," said Natsu earnestly, hitting the palm of his hand on his other fist. "No offense."

"None taken," replied Laxus, raising his eyebrows at him in surprise. He should be annoyed that the boy had eavesdropped on his conversation with Makarov back in the infirmary, but he wasn't.

On the contrary, he was moved by the fire mage's resolve to avenge him despite how he had treated his comrades and for using Fairy Law against them.

"You still owe me an explanation why you're a dragon slayer, too, though," said the pink-haired boy, pointing a finger at him.

He snorted. "Ah? I don't owe you anything, kid."

Lucy was now watching the two dragon slayers in confusion. Natsu and Laxus don't appear to be bothered by any of this at all, she thought. I guess I shouldn't be either.

She cleared her throat. "So, uh, should we go and get Gray?" she asked cautiously. "And maybe Gajeel and Juvia, too? I mean, we're talking about fighting an entire dark guild here."

"Yes, Lucy," said Makarov, nodding his head. "I trust that the six of you can handle them."

"Oh, yeah, I'm all fired up!" yelled Natsu, in which Happy chimed, "Aye, Sir!"


Gray and Juvia were battling each other underneath the large Sola Tree in the center of South Gate Park to test their strengths. Gajeel, on the other hand, was sitting on one of the branches and letting his legs dangle casually above them.

"Not bad, Juvia," remarked the ice mage, breathing heavily. "I'm almost at my limit, though."

Unlike in their previous fight, Juvia seemed to have become a lot stronger. She kind of looks hot, too, he thought. But I don't think she's my type.

"What—what does Gray-sama mean?" asked the water mage, who was just as out of breath as her opponent. Is Gray-sama finally at his limit in hiding his feelings for Juvia?!

Gajeel grunted, watching his comrades with disdain. "He means that his magic is almost drained," he told the blue-haired girl in a growl.

He could practically read her mind. Working together during their time with Phantom Lord had taught him that the water mage would easily fall for any pretty boy who would compliment her.

Right now, she's probably fantasizing about this ice idiot, hoping that he would return her feelings, he thought, feeling annoyed.

"Oh, is that so?" mumbled Juvia, looking disappointed. Why did Gajeel always have to interrupt whenever she and Gray talked? It was as if the iron mage was not happy about her finding her true love.

All of a sudden, the iron mage wrinkled his nose as if getting a whiff of a familiar scent. Then, he stared up ahead and saw three figures walking toward their direction.

"Oi, it's Salamander," he said, jumping off the branch and landing on the ground. "I thought he chickened out."

"Ne, how are you guys doing?" Lucy called out, waving a hand at them.

Gray, Juvia, and Gajeel were about to greet her back when they saw Laxus approaching. They immediately switched into a defensive stance as if he was going to attack them anytime.

"Yo," said Natsu cheerfully. "We got a job to do today. We're gonna look for Raven Tail."

Gajeel and Juvia exchanged glances, looking surprised.

"How did you know about Raven Tail, Natsu-san?" asked the water mage suspiciously.

The fire mage then pressed a thumb on his chest. "Gramps told us about them and made us come here to fetch you guys," he replied.

The iron mage grinned widely, baring his fangs. "About time he asks us to subdue those criminals." Then, he glared at Laxus. "You're coming, too, I see."

The lightning mage glared back at him. "Just be sure to not get in my way," he growled.

"Oh, no. This isn't going to be good," commented Happy, worriedly looking from Laxus to Gajeel.

"Wait, can someone please tell me who or what Raven Tail is?" said Gray, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's a dark guild, Gray," told the blue feline in a serious tone. "And you won't believe this, but their guild master is Ivan Dreyar."

"Wait, what?" uttered the ice mage, and his expression darkened.

"We'll tell you all about it on the way," said Lucy hastily. "We have to move. In the mean time—ugh, would you please put some clothes on?!"


"Huh. It's weird," said Gajeel, sniffing the air. "It's like their scent is everywhere, but I can't point out exactly where they're hiding this time."

"I can sense strange magic in here, though," muttered Natsu, falling into step beside the iron mage with Happy.

Laxus frowned. Apparently, even their dragon slayer senses were useless in this situation. They had been walking in the woods for a few hours, and they still couldn't figure out where Raven Tail was hiding.

"There seems to be a fog in here," remarked Happy.

"Yeah," said Gajeel. "And it's getting thicker by the second." He found Juvia's hand and then tugged her close to him. "Stay close, Juvia. Better watch your step, too, you hear?"

"Yes, Gajeel-san," said Juvia, glancing up at him. I wish Gray-sama was holding my hand instead of Gajeel-san, she thought gloomily.

"Ne, Juvia. Can't you do something about this fog? Aren't they made up of water or something?" asked Gray.

"I'm sorry, Gray-sama," replied the water mage, shaking her head. "But I don't think this fog is normal at all."

As if on cue, all the trees in the woods quickly disappeared. Even the ground was no longer visible. The white fog appeared to have almost swallowed everything.

"Okay, there's just too much fog here, you guys," said Lucy, narrowing her eyes. "Ugh, I can't see anything—ouch—sorry Gray." She had bumped into someone's back and almost reeled backwards because of the hardness of it.

"Nah-uh, that wasn't me, Lucy," told Gray, looking around. "Ne, where are you guys?"

Lucy suddenly felt a large hand grabbed hers, and she found herself being pulled toward someone's side. Then, she heard Laxus' voice. "Stay close and don't fall behind," he said firmly.

"Y-yeah, okay," she stammered, sensing a familiar tingle in her body. It was the lightning mage whom she had bumped into, she realized.

"This is just an illusion spell," he muttered in clenched teeth. "This means that he's close."

"I-I suppose," she said agreeably.

Lucy swallowed hard, consciously aware of his hand still holding hers as they continued to walk in spite of the fog. His hold was wonderfully warm, just like when he had grabbed her hand in the infirmary last night…

Spirits, why am I even remembering that right now? This is stupid.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Listen up, guys. We're obviously trapped in Ivan's illusion spell. Like Juvia said earlier, this fog isn't natural. It probably doesn't exist at all. But we have to think of something that can break us all out from this illusion."

"Should I try and burn down the forest?" suggested Natsu. "I'd gladly do that, ya know."

"No, flame-brain," groaned Gray. "You might end up turning us all into ashes."

"J-Juvia won't let that happen to you, Gray-sama," said Juvia shyly. "J-Juvia can put out the fire with water."

The fire mage let out a huff. "Oh, well. I guess we're just gonna have to keep on wanderin' around."

"Gray is right, Natsu," she replied, sighing. "Let's just… try and think of something else."

Lucy tried to think hard, but somehow, Laxus' warm hand on hers kept on distracting her. She wondered if she should just yank her hand away from his.

She knew she would be safer hanging on to someone in this crazy situation—but, still, it felt awkward. Furthermore, she didn't want herself latched on to Laxus, a man who would willingly trade her for money, she thought bitterly.

No matter how hard she tried to understand his reasons for wanting to exchange her for something that would help the Fairy Tail guild, she still couldn't help but feel betrayed by it.

Thank the spirits that the thick fog did a marvelous job in hiding their clasped hands. She definitely didn't want her friends to see it.

Lucy tried to pretend that she was clutching someone else's hand—but it didn't help. The one that was holding on to hers right now was ridiculously large, powerful, and warm.

Yeah, this was Laxus' hand, alright.


Laxus debated with himself whether or not he should let go of Lucy's hand. In truth, he would feel much better if she would let him continue to hold on to her hand like this. That way, he could easily protect her in case something would happen.

Gajeel was obviously looking after the water mage, he thought, and he could sense Natsu and Gray walking together in front of them and leading the way.

So, this left him to look after her.

Seriously, this blonde chick's hand felt so soft and delicate as if he could crush it effortlessly if he chose to do so. But of course, he wouldn't do that. He couldn't. In fact, he wanted to keep it safe. He wanted to keep her safe—just like when he had held her last night when she was having a nightmare.

He didn't know why, but he still couldn't tell her that his deal with her father was already out of the picture and that he was sorry that he ever made an alliance with that business tycoon. What a fool he had been.

On top of that, he also couldn't tell her about his growing feelings for her…

Laxus frowned at himself. Growing feelings? Of course, he didn't have any growing feelings for Lucy Heartfilia. He just probably felt guilty because of how he and her father had treated her.

He shook his head hard. No, he merely wanted to make sure that nothing terrible would happen to her. He would protect her as his way of atoning for the pain he had caused her. That was all.

Sighing, he unconsciously dropped Lucy's hand and then draped an arm protectively around her shoulders, pulling her even closer to him. He felt her stiffen, and that was when he realized what he had done. Kuso, he mentally cursed.

Meanwhile, Lucy thought she would go insane. The other side of her body was now practically glued to Laxus as they continued to walk. It made her stomach flutter, and she could feel the heat rising to her face.

She wasn't used to being this close to a man before. And this wasn't just any other man—this was Laxus, a comrade whom she shared a hate bond with or something of that sort.

She should do something.

"N-Natsu!" she managed to squeak without thinking. She couldn't see her nakama, but she was sure he was nearby. Immediately, she felt Laxus' arm remove itself from her shoulders. For some weird reason, she felt disappointed.

"Yeah? What is it, Luce? Is everythin' okay?" came Natsu's voice from up ahead.

She was about to speak when she felt Laxus drag her forward. Then, she felt herself being thrown into her nakama's arms. Yeah, even though she couldn't see him, she recognized Natsu by his usual musky scent mixed with burnt wood.

"Yaro!" he snarled. "Don't just throw Lucy around like that."

"She's your problem now," said Laxus coldly.

"What's gotten into you? You wanna fight?" growled the fire mage.

"Did someone say fight?" said Gajeel.

"Look," said Lucy imploringly, hoping to diffuse the situation. "We're all tired from walking for hours. Why don't we start making a camp and rest for a while?"

"Aye! I think that's a great idea," said Happy.


"What do you think, Master? Should we strike them now that they're tired and huddled together?"

Ivan grinned at Flare, who had spoken so sweetly to him. "Yes, my dear," he told her, cupping her chin with his fingers. "I think I'm done toying with them. Let's now send them off to their graves."

The redhead beamed. Then, she gazed at her master with a concerned expression. "But what about your son?" she asked.

In a flash, the guild master's rugged face hardened, and he slapped the young girl across the face. "He is no son of mine," he snarled.

Flare fell to the ground, breathing hard. "Gomen ne, Master," she whimpered, tears streaming down her face.

"Just say the word, Master, and we'll crush these Fairy Tail insects to bits," said Nullpudding, rubbing his purple hands together and grinning broadly.

"Yes, Nullpudding," said Ivan, smoothing his black beard with his fingers. "Feel free to start with Laxus since he has something that I want."

It had been years since he had seen the boy whose looks didn't resemble him but his late wife. Yes, he still blamed the blond pest for the death of his beloved. It was only appropriate that he would die today as he shouldn't have been born in the first place.

He had heard whispers that the boy had grown remarkably powerful and become one of Fairy Tail's strongest.

That could only mean one thing: the dragon lacrima that he had implanted inside Laxus' body years ago presumably contained so much power now because of the boy's magic. It would probably earn him hundreds of millions of jewels if he sold it off to some rich fool.

Yes, Laxus would definitely make him rich.