The Nightmare Begins
The sun was beginning to go down as Wendy and Carla made their way back towards the Fairy Tail Guildhall. They had been on a job and were tired and ready for a night in their own beds! They did not often take on jobs on their own, but this one had been fairly simple and the money was good. Most of the others were all away on their own jobs, so Wendy had taken it, more for something to do than anything else. As they walked back, Wendy chatted away to Carla, just enjoying her company. Carla was spending more time recently in her human form, and to Wendy, it was like having a sister. The day was still warm, even though evening was approaching so they were not rushing, just taking their time and enjoying the last of the sun. Wendy was enjoying the feel of the evening sun of her shoulders, her hair blowing gently in the warm breeze. Caught up in their conversation, they did not notice the group ahead of them until they were almost upon them. A group of three men and one woman were standing looking at what appeared to be a broken-down wagon, two horses grazing on the grass in front of them but still hitched to the front of the wagon. As they approached, the woman smiled at them. She was a tall woman, with red hair and green eyes, she was leaning against the side of the wagon, looking relaxed and unthreatening. As Wendy and Carla came up alongside the wagon, she smiled at them.
"Hi, we seem to have a problem with our wagon, do you know where the nearest town is so we can get help?" she asked.
Wendy smiled back as she answered, "Magnolia is just over the next hill, it is where we are heading so I can get someone to come tow you there is you could like?"
The woman looked at Wendy's arm, "That would be very kind of you. My, is that a Guild mark? Are you a wizard? You are very young to be part of a Guild!"
"I'm a member of Fairy Tail," Wendy said, "that is where we are heading now, it is in Magnolia."
Carla was standing next to Wendy quietly; she had a feeling that something was off about the situation but she could not work out what it was. She shook her head and thought to herself, 'I am just tired, that's all'.
As Wendy and the woman were talking, the men in the group were lingering around the wagon, poking at the wheels and looking underneath it. But even though they seemed to be focused on the wagon, they were obviously listening to the conversation between their female companion and Wendy. Whilst Wendy was talking to the woman, Carla took the opportunity to look at the men. They were all large men, but Carla did not feel that they were threatening. But she could not shake the premonition that someone was wrong. One of the men, caught Carla's eye and smiled at her but Carla noticed that it was not a smile that reached his eyes and she shivered slightly. She turned her attention back to Wendy who was happily chatting to the red-haired woman.
The woman gave Wendy a final smile and Wendy and Carla began to carry on towards Magnolia. As they walked away, the woman glanced at one of her male colleagues and nodded. He walked out from behind the wagon and raised his hands towards the retreating backs of Wendy and Carla.
"Sealing magic, bind them," he said.
Wendy and Carla, had no idea what had just happened as their bodies became paralysed and they were unable to move or speak. They were, however, fully aware of their surroundings and were able to see the group from the wagon as they walked around in front of them. The woman reached out and gently caressed the side of Wendy's face.
"Well you are a pretty little one, aren't you? You are going to make me a lot of money," she said moving on to look at Carla, "You not so much but I am sure we will find a use for you."
The woman stood back and nodded at another of her team, "Jax, put the magic restriction collars on before the seals wear off and then let's get them back to the ship, before anyone misses them and comes looking,"
Wendy tried to make her body work so that she could use her magic, but she could not move. She watched in horror as one of the men put a metal collar around her neck, before moving on to do the same to Carla. Throughout it all, the woman stood watching. The smiling face she had worn when she had been pretending to ask for help was gone and in its place was a hard, emotionless face. Once the collars were in place, she nodded at two of the men who picked up Wendy and Carla and threw them into the back of the wagon. The wagon started to move off and Wendy realised, too late, had been a trap all along. She lay in the back of the wagon, looking over at Carla but unable to do anything but try and send reassurance through her eyes. Carla stared back at her, a mixture of anger and fear in her eyes. Wendy was scared but she was also reassured that Carla was with her. Her only hope now was that once their friends realised that they had not come back to the guild, they would realise something was wrong and come looking. However, how they would find them, Wendy had no idea.
Back at the Guild
Oblivious to what had happened to Wendy and Carla, the life of the guildhall was carrying on as normal. People were arriving back at the guild as they completed their current jobs and the guild was buzzing with conversation and activity. Erza was sat at a table with Lucy, watching Natsu and Gray argue about something ridiculous. They were like a couple of children, they really where. If they did not stop, she was going to have to bang their heads together. Lucy looked over at her,
"Hey Erza, do you know where Wendy and Carla went today? I thought they were just going on a quick job, I expected they would be back before me."
"They have probably just stopped off somewhere on the way back, it is a lovely day." Erza replied, still watching Gray and Natsu.
"Yeah, I guess," Lucy replied, thinking it was getting dark and she worried about the younger girl.
Gray and Natsu finally stopped yelling at each other and came and sat down with Erza and Lucy.
"You two need to behave yourselves, you are not children anymore," Erza said.
Gray snorted, "Yes mum"
Erza glared at him and he looked away.
Lucy watched them, still thinking about Wendy.
"Hey did Wendy tell you guys where she was going today? I am probably being stupid, but it is getting late and she is not back yet."
Natsu shrugged, "No idea, but she is with Carla, she will be fine."
The conversation went back to what they had been doing during the day and their plans for the upcoming weeks. More time passed and night had set in, when Erza suddenly said,
"Ok, now I am getting worried. Wendy should be back by now. It is not like her not to let the guild know if she is not coming back when she said she was."
Lucy agreed, "Someone must know where she was going and what the job was. Mirajane will know, she looks after the job board."
Erza looked around and waved at Mirajane, "Do you know where Wendy and Carla were going? They are not back and it's late."
Mirajane paused and thought, "They only went to the next village up and it was a simple job, I would have thought they should have been back hours ago. That is slightly concerning."
Natsu leant back in his chair, "Relax you guys, she is a dragon slayer. Wendy can look after herself."
Lucy scowled at him, "Wendy is not you Natsu. Just because you are reckless and will fight anything, does not mean that she will"
Erza finished her drink, "It's fine, I will head over to the next village and see if I can find her. She may just have decided to stay there over night."
Lucy went to stand up, "I'll come with you."
"Ok, thanks," Erza replied seeing that Natsu and Gray had no intention of coming.
Erza and Lucy headed out of the guildhall and in the direction of the next village, hoping that they would find Wendy and Carla in a local inn and that they were worrying for nothing.
Onboard the Slaver Ship
Wendy and Carla were sat side by side in a small cell, somewhere in the belly of the ship. The binding spell had worn off, and although they could now move, Wendy was unable to summon any magic and Carla was not able to change out of her human form. They sat next to each other, holding hands.
"Where are we, do you think?" Wendy asked Carla.
"I don't know but wherever we are it is not somewhere we want to be." Carla replied.
No one had spoken to them since they had been thrown into the cell earlier once their capturers had returned to their ship. Wendy was desperately thinking of ways they could get out of this situation but without her magic, she felt totally useless. They had tried to remove the collars but the magic was too strong and they could not get them to budge. All they could hope now was that their friends would realise something was wrong and come looking for them.
Just then, they heard footsteps walking towards them and the red haired woman appeared.
"So how are my guests?" she asked.
"Guests?" Carla spluttered, "We are hardly guests! You took us captives and locked us in a cell! We are prisoners not guests!"
"My, you are a feisty one aren't you?" the woman laughed, "My name is Marielle and you are right, you are my prisoners. For now anyway. Once the rest of my crew return from their hunt, we will be heading off and you two will make a large amount of money of the slave market. After that, what happens to you is none of my concern. Make yourselves comfortable and do not cause any trouble and things will not be too bad for you whilst you are here."
With that, Marielle walked away smiling to herself. These two would bring a good profit. Now if the second team could find someone else as profitable, this would be a good trip and they could take some time off from hunting people to sell.
Erza and Lucy
Erza and Lucy had managed to acquire a carriage to take over to the next village which meant that the journey would be a lot quicker. In a way, it was better that Natsu had not come has he would have insisted on walking to avoid his motion sickness and that would have more than doubled the journey time. It was dark and the last thing they wanted to be doing was walking for miles in darkness when they could have some comfort in a carriage. As they travelled, they both kept their eyes open, looking for any sign that an accident may have occurred. Before long, the lights of the village came into view and there had been no sign of Wendy or Carla. They entered the village and left the carriage outside the only inn, walking in to see if Wendy and Carla had decided to spend the night there. As they two women walked into the inn, they were engulfed in the noise of chatter and the smell of cooking and beer. Erza walked over to the bar.
"Hello, we are looking for our friends. They were here earlier in the day to carry out a job for the village. They are from Fairy Tail." Erza said.
The man behind the bar looked back at her, "Oh yes, the young wizard and her friend. They were here this morning but they left hours ago. Must have been late afternoon when they left."
Lucy looked at Erza, "If they left in the afternoon, they should have been back by now. Even walking, it would only have taken them 3 hours or so."
Erza nodded, looking concerned. There was no way that it would have taken them this long to walk back to the guild. Something must have happened on the way back and she was worried that they were lost out in the dark somewhere, hurt and alone. She leant her back against the bar, trying to decide what to do. It was pitch dark outside and the chances of them finding them in the dark was slim, they could be anywhere between the village and the guild. Lucy stood watching her think.
"I think one of us should go back to the guild, let the others know what has happened and then we can get more people out looking. We cannot cover enough ground, just the two of us." Erza said.
Lucy nodded, "You go, you are better with the horses than I am. I will wait here and have a look around, in case they are nearby."
Erza agreed, "Ok but be careful. Don't go wandering too far in the dark. I don't want to have to come rescue you as well if you fall and break a leg in the dark."
Lucy smiled, "I will be careful, don't worry."
Erza smiled back, "Right well, I will be back in a couple of hours with the others. Natsu will just have to man up and get in the carriage, his fire will be useful for seeing around us."
Lucy walked out to the carriage with Erza and stood watching as she rode out of the village, heading back to the guild. What neither of them saw, was the innkeeper standing in the doorway watching them or the boy he sent out into the night, to let the slave traders know that he had another person they might find interesting in his sights. He had heard Lucy say she was going to go and look around the area and so when her friend came back and she had disappeared, well it could hardly be pinned on the village. For years, they had made deals with the slave traders and many travelers had never made their destinations when they had passed through this village. It was good money and the villagers had no qualms about turning over strangers and it ensured that their own daughters were safe. Lucy walked towards the edge of the village, blissfully unaware that she was now being hunted.