Fairy Tail

Erza arrived back at the Guild within an hour of leaving Lucy as the village. When she walked in Natsu and Gray were still sitting where she had left them.

"You find her?" Natsu asked "Where is Lucy?"

"Lucy is still at the village, we did not find Wendy. The innkeeper told us that she and Carla left the village late afternoon so they should have been back here hours ago, at most it would take three hours to walk the distance. Something has happened so I need you two to come with me because we need to find them."

Gray looked concerned, "This is concerning, if it was Natsu I would just assume he had wandered off somewhere distracted but Wendy is not someone who would do that. She would know that we would worry if she did not come back."

"Exactly," Erza said, "Lucy is having a look around the village to see if she can get any clue as to what happened. I have a carriage outside, we can be there in less than an hour and start a proper search. My worry is they laying somewhere injured."

Natsu groaned, "A carriage? Can't we just walk?"

"No, we can't," Gray snapped, "Man up and get in the carriage, Wendy is depending on you."

Natsu stood up and headed towards the door, happy flying by his shoulder. "Fine, but if I puke, it is on your heads! Probably literally!" he chuckled.

Erza shook her head and led the way out to the carriage, Gray and Natsu climbing up next to her. With a flick of the reins, they started back towards the village.

Lucy

Lucy stood and watched as Erza drove away and then turned and looked around the village. It was an average size and seemed to be fairly affluent. The houses were all in good condition and the people she had seen inside the inn had been well dressed. She walked back inside the inn and spoke to the innkeeper.

"What was the job what Wendy was doing for you?" she asked.

"We were having some problems with a monster, eating the livestock so we needed someone to get rid of it for us. The lass came and sorted it for us in no time at all. She is a powerful little wizard, that one."

"She is a dragon slayer," Lucy said, not noticing the look that flickered across the innkeepers eyes when he realised just who he had sent to be sold. If he known she was a dragon slayer, he would have asked for more money! He knew that Fairy Tail had dragon slayers, so his only concern now was whether the others would work out what he had done and come looking.

Lucy thought about what to do whilst she waited for Erza, "I am going to take a walk around the outskirts of the village, will you let my friends know when they get back?" she asked the innkeeper.

"Of course, no problem," the innkeeper said

Lucy smiled and headed out into the night. She was not worried about being out on her own as she was planning on staying within sight of the village and the houses would provide her with enough light to have a look around. She would leave searching further afield until Erza returned, and she had her keys if she needed any backup. After leaving the inn, Lucy waited for her eyes to become more accustomed to the darkness and headed off towards the far end of the village. As she walked, she looked around her. The village was quiet, people must retire to bed early here she thought. There were very few people on the streets and the few that were about seemed to be focused on where they were going. Lucy reached the edge of the village and stood looking off into the darkness. She heard a rustle somewhere off to her left and turned to look. She could not see anything in the darkness, and was about to reach for her keys to see if one of her spirits could help with some more light, when all of a sudden, she realised she could no longer move. Her body had stopped responding and she could not do anything, although she could still see and hear everything around her. As she stood, helpless, two large men walked out of the darkness towards her with a metal collar in his hand.

"The boss is going to be very happy with you, my pretty," the larger of the two men smirked.

Lucy tried to move, to reach for her keys but her body was frozen. The man watched her, sensing the internal struggle going on within her.

"Don't fight it my pretty, it is a binding spell and once we get this collar on you, your magic will be useless. You are all ours now."

He walked forward fastening the mental magic inhibitor collar around her neck. Glancing across at the other man, he slung Lucy over his shoulder, not noticing that he had knocked her keys off her belt as he did so.

"Right, Belish, let's get out of here and get this one back to the ship."

"Right you are Huw," the other man replied and with that the two men turned and walked away into the night, a helpless Lucy realising exactly what had befallen Wendy and Carla.

One hour later

Erza, Natsu, Gray and Happy arrived in the village, a relieved Natsu jumping down off the carriage before it had stopped. They looked around, taking in the lights of the village around them. Erza led the way to the inn, looking around to see if she could see Lucy anywhere. As they walked into the inn, the innkeeper looked up and smiled.

"Ahh welcome back! Your friend went out to look around the village and she has not come back yet, she said to let you know when you got here. Can I get you something to drink before you go out?"

"No thank you," Erza said, "We will go and find our friend. Which way did she go?"

The innkeeper thought and said, "I didn't see which way she went once she left but the village is not very big, if you head to the outskirts and walk around, you should find her."

Erza nodded and walked towards the door, the others following behind her. Once they got outside, they headed off in the same direction that Lucy had gone, keeping an eye out as they went. As they reached the outskirts, there was still no sign of her. Natsu looked around,

"Is it just me, or is it really quiet here? I mean I know it is night but it is not that late!" he said.

"It is a village you idiot, not Magnolia. They are quieter." Gray said, "Where the hell has Lucy got to?"

Erza shook her head, "No idea, I wonder if she found something and went to look into it."

Happy was wandering around, kicking at stones when he kicked something heavier and yelped.

"Owww!" He looked down and his eyes went wide.

"Natsu, I have found something!" He bent over and stood up, Lucy's keys in his paw.

Erza reached out and grabbed them from Happy. She looked at Natsu and Gray.

"What is happening here? Lucy would not have left her keys. Something is going on and I think wherever Wendy and Carla have disappeared to, we will find Lucy as well. We need to go back and talk to the innkeeper; something smells funny about all this."

With one last look around them, the group headed back to the inn to try and work out what exactly they were dealing with.

Slaver Ship

Wendy and Carla were sitting, their heads resting together, sleeping fitfully when they heard a commotion going on. They woke up and sat close together, not sure what was happening. As they listened, the door at the end of the corridor open and heavy steps walked towards them. The door to the cell next to them opened and there was a thud as something was thrown inside. The cell door was slammed shut and the red-haired woman looked over at Wendy and Carla,

"We brought you some company. Think you might know them," she said with a laugh. "Make yourselves comfortable, we are setting sail and you need to be fresh for the market."

With that she laughed and walked back down the corridor, followed by the man who had thrown the bundle into the next cell. Wendy looked over at the next cell with a sense of dread, seeing the mass of blonde hair on the floor. She crawled over to the bars between the two cells.

"Lucy? Wendy, it is Lucy! What is happening? Lucy can you hear me?"

There was no response from the next cell and Wendy was getting more and more upset. Carla moved over next to her.

"It will be the binding spell, Wendy. She can't move or talk to us until it wears off. Remember how we were. But she will be able to hear you, she knows we are here."

Wendy reached her hand through the bars, she could just about reach Lucy's hand and she sat holding her hand, waiting for the spell to wear off. Lucy laid on the floor of the cell, listening to Wendy and Carla's voices. She was relieved that she was not here on her own but she was upset and worried for them. She had heard the woman say something about a market and she had a horrible feeling that they were the things that were about to go up for sale. All she could hope was that Erza would get back to the village and realise something had happened to her. She had to put her faith in her friends. She knew that they would not stop until they had found her and she needed to be strong and hold on until they came for her, Wendy and Carla. There was no doubt in Lucy's mind that her friends would come, she just hoped they got here before they reached whatever market they were heading to.

Back in the Village

Erza led the way back to the inn, she was deep in thought and something was bothering her but she could not work out exactly what it was. She could feel the anger and worry resonating from Natsu and Gray. She held Lucy's keys in her hand. Wherever she was, Lucy did not even have her keys and so she would have to rely on her wits as she would not be able to summon her spirits to help her. Erza hoped that Lucy, Wendy and Carla were at least together somewhere. What worried her the most, was that whoever had taken them, must had been extremely powerful as they had taken down a dragon slayer and a powerful celestial wizard without anyone noticing and without leaving evidence of a fight. It was all very strange, and a little too convenient for Erza's liking. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the street, causing Natsu to walk into the back of her.

"They know," she said.

"Who know? What the hell you talking about?" Natsu said, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit against her armour.

"The innkeeper … the villagers, they are all in on this. That is why there is no one about. They knew something was happening and they are staying out of the way. The innkeeper, knows what is going on, I am sure of it." Erza said. "I felt something off about him from the beginning."

Natsu growled from behind her, "Well let's go make him tell us what the hell is going on then."

Natsu stormed back towards the inn, Gray, Erza and Happy close behind. As Natsu burst into the door, every eye in the building turned towards him. He stood framed in the doorway, flames burning up both his arms and magic power pulsing from him.

"You have one chance to tell me where Lucy and Wendy are, before I start destroying things and I will start with you," he yelled pointing at the innkeeper.

The innkeeper backed up against the wall, he had never felt power like this and as much as the slavers worried him, this worried him more. He looked behind Natsu and saw Gray and Erza, anger evident on their faces and he realised this was not a battle he could win. He sank down against the wall,

"Ok, ok, I will tell you what I know, just don't hurt me. They made us do it, I swear!" he cried, tears running down his face.

Erza walked past Natsu and crouched down in front of the innkeeper, "Talk now and I might not let him near you, lie to me and you are all his!"

The innkeeper nodded and started to talk