I have been having so much trouble with Mandarin Oranges lately. I'll peel one, split it in half, eat one half, and poof! The other half will be gone. Just like that. I feel like I'm going to be attacked by a swarm of rogue Mandarin halves sometime.
Phoenix, more you shall have! Natsu may or may not be in trouble. Maybe. Maaaybe. I'm dying to write the Phantom Lord arc, honestly. This God Serena guy interests me more and more at every turn. Ooh, a different twist with Zeref? I never even thought of that. Hmm… Now how could I go about that… I guess you'll have to wait and see!
It was in the middle of a guild-wide brawl that the frog messenger arrived. He pushed the door open with one webbed hand, opened his mouth, prepared to deliver the message he had been assigned, and he was promptly bowled over by Elfman.
The big, burly man rubbed the back of his head, and helped the frog to his feet, and then launched himself back into the guild with a cry of "COME AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!"
This did confuse the frog somewhat, but confusion mattered little in the grand scheme of things, or rather, in the grand scheme of the magic counsel.
Trying again, he managed to get a couple words out this time. "I have an important message from the ma-"
But as he was speaking a barrel of ale was chucked through the doors, and it rolled madly away, caring little for the frog it had flattened.
Now quite beat up looking, he pried the doors open one last time, for they had swung shut, and as he began to deliver his message for the third time, a hand grasped the back of his robes and lifted him into the air.
"Hey, who's frog is this?" Lucy turned to see Gray, who had a humanoid frog lifted into the air by the back of its robes.
She was vaguely aware of Natsu on her other side, the two were sitting at the one table that had managed to remain in place, which was probably largely in part to the slice of strawberry cake that promised death by Erza if it was touched.
"Gray, isn't that a messenger?" Gray looked at the little frog in his grasp, and gave it a brief shake, much to its protest.
"Well, who's it a messenger from?" Lucy suppressed a groan. "Maybe if you asked it?"
Gray looked somewhat shocked. "You mean this thing can talk?"
"How rude! I'm not a 'thing', I'm a messenger from the magic council!"
It was almost as if a switch had been flipped.
One moment Fairy Tail was in all of its rowdy glory, and the next people were sitting civilly at tables, chatting over foaming mugs of beer and taking jobs. It was impressive.
Even if half of them were sitting on either air or a pile of splinters because their seats had been smashed.
"Er… My message goes to Ashley, Lucy, Dragneel, Natsu, Fullbuster, Gray, and Scarlet, Erza. If these members could please step forward?" There was a gentle murmur, and a rustle of clothing, and then two people stepped forward, and a slice on cake was gently placed.
Lucy shifted, uncomfortable with the scrutiny the amphibian was providing her with. Gray simply pulled his shirt off, blinked, and then pulled it back on.
The cake sat pristine.
Or, at least it did for a second before Erza made her way to the front of the crowd from her meeting with the Master.
Lucy turned, as the frogs attention had been redirected to the red headed warrior, and scanned the crowd for Natsu, as he had been right by her shoulder.
No sign of pink in the crowd- except for Mira's dress… And the hair-clip she had attached to Elfman's wild hair.
It was butterfly shaped.
And sparkly.
"Ahem. Would Dragneel, Natsu please come forward?" The little frog scratched the back of his head, the best he could with his frog hands. "I… Suppose the three of you will have to do."
Erza placed the now pristine plate on a nearby table, and laid her cleaned fork on top of it. "What does the magic council need us for?"
The frog harrumphed. "I don't see why you need to know. Follow me, please."
"Hold up, hold up, we're the ones going, I think it's pretty obvious why we need to know!" Gray then looked down and pulled his pants back on.
The frog gave a frustrated growl which was more ribbit that anything, and whirled back on them. "Alright, fine! You're all under arrest! Now come along!"
Ultimately, they decided complying with the possibly insane frog was the best idea.
When they stepped into the magic councils judgement room, it really sunk in. They were under arrest, or at least, if they didn't testify properly, they would be.
Unknown to them, a man with slicked back blonde hair snarled and stomped out a side door.
"Lucy Ashley, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet. You are under arrest for aiding in the destruction of a town, and for hiding a… Where is Natsu Dragneel?" The wizened old man in the middle, on the highest podium, let his eyes rove over them once more, and then turned to the frog that had led them there.
"Why is Natsu Dragneel not among these young wizards?" The frog bowed deeply, only just restraining from going fully prostate on the floor.
"I am sorry, my lord, but Natsu Dragneel was not at the guild."
"Sir, if I may?" Erza stepped forward, voice firm and gaze steady. "Why was Natsu not accused of the destruction of the town as well?"
The elderly wizard slammed his gavel on the wooden surface of his podium, and harrumphed. "Natsu Dragneel has been called to court for evading authorities, joining a guild without his guardians consent, leaving his guardian, evading arrest, and causing several destroyed towns and murdered families."
The cell was cold, and damp. Lucy was huddled in a corner, her knees tucked to her chin and her hands clasped across her shins.
Erza stood by the cell door, tall and proud and watching for any activity.
Gray was clenching his fist, and then unclenching it, and frost was slowly creeping away from him across the rough ground. "I can't believe him. He comes into our guild and uses us as a shield to hide from the fact that he killed people. Families."
Lucy curled up tighter. Erzas shoulders stiffened. "We should not assume he killed them. The councilman did say he was the cause of the killings, but not that he was the one to do the deed."
"Yea, well, it still sounds pretty horrid to me." Erza didn't have a response to that.
"Hey. Guys." Collectively, they started, and Erza cursed herself for letting her guard down. "I need you to listen. They're planning on leaving you in here for far longer than they said they would."
There was a rough intake of breath, and then Gray snapped. "Natsu? What do you want? Why are you here?"
"Keep it down! I'm trying to help." Lucy raised her head and scanned the cage for where his voice could be coming from, but there was no sign of any outside disturbance, and nothing but the continual dripping of water from inside.
"Oh yeah? Trying to help, eh? Like you helped those families?" Gray had venom in his voice as he bit out the last part.
"I…" The voice went quiet for a moment. "I didn't kill anyone."
And then there was a tugging sensation, and the feeling of having something slip through your body, like you were a puddle of water and someone kicked a pebble in, and then they were outside.
"Sorry, I had to turn your bodies into water for a second to pull you out. I even managed to take your clothes… Just give me a moment and then I can get water clones of you in there. You'll have to lie low for a month or two through." Natsu was to the left of them, crouched low with his hands braced on his knees.
Before Gray could snap at him again, or Erza could reprimand him for pulling them out, he squeezed his eyes shut and the ground beneath them shifted, growing dryer as water pooled around their feet. Then, it surged away and began to take form, ending with translucent versions of them, completely identical down to the last detail.
Then Natsu requipped a handful of paints, and started dabbing them on, letting the water soak up the colour and spread it where it needed to be spread. Then, the watery replicas sank into the earth.
And Gray grabbed Natsu by the collar. "What the hell, man! You killed families! When were you planning on telling us this, or where we just next on you list? If so, you gotta be outta your damn mind."
"Gray. That's enough. If Natsu truly wanted to kill us, he has had plenty of opportunities, such as with Lullaby and just now, when we were in prison." Then, Erza turned to Natsu, who had been let down by Gray- just in time to catch him as he collapsed.
Extra
"Sorry, I had to turn your bodies into water for a second to pull you out. I even managed to take your clothes… Just give me a moment and then I can get water clones of you in there. You'll have to lie low for a month or two through." Natsu was to the left of them, crouched low with his hands braced on his knees.
"Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but... why do I have two left hands?" Gray held up aforementioned hands, and surely enough both of them were left.
"I think that a the least of your problems..." Lucy's head on Erza's body stated, noting Gray had a fist sticking out of his forehead. It was almost more concerning that no one knew who's fist it was.
Erza's-head-on-Lucy's-body shifted, making sure to hold her arm straight. "I think I have a pretty big problem too... maybe more than one."
Because, on the end of that arm was Erza's head, a leg was sticking out of where the head would normally, one of Grans hands was taking the place of the other arm, and the legs were swapped.
Natsu took a long hard look at them, and then burst out laughing. "Oops."
Ibuprofen smells weird. ~ShadeShadow
