Nothing. There was nothing there. The scream had sounded so close yet there was nothing around. After Natsu had stupidly jumped off the cliff and not resurfaced, Happy has soured down to find him when the fire dragon slayer had emerged with a grimace on his face. He's held his hand in the air to show a blue ribbon that he'd found that they all knew belonged to Lucy. Happy and Charle held their corresponding dragon slayers as they flew around the cliff, trying to find anything that could lead them to Lucy. They'd been searching for close to half an hour and there was nothing in the cliff face. No entrances and no hidden places that Lucy could be kept in. Natsu had checked, pulling and using his magic on areas of the cliff that looked like there could be something there and yet there was absolutely nothing. Neither of the dragon slayers were ready to give up looking for their friend and neither were the other two mages who continued to search the clearing for any clues. Just as everyone's resolves were weakening Wendy cried out and reached into a hole in the cliff. Everyone waited with baited breath and Happy floated closer to the two girls, allowing Natsu to question Wendy.
"What is it? Have you found somethin'? Wendy?" Natsu rambled. Wendy grunted and continued to move her hand around the hole.
"I found another area that looked weak so I pulled on the rock. It fell out and theres- theres something here." Wendy said before making a sound of satisfaction as her hand grasped the object she had seen. She pulled it out and nodded at Charle who lifted her back to clearing and then set her down next to Gray and Erza. Happy and Natsu soon followed. Wendy held the object out in front of her for all of the mages to gawk at. In the sky dragon slayers palm lay a communication lacrima. Natsu reached out and took the lacrima, turned it over in his hands for a moment before pulling his arm back, getting ready to throw the lacrima back over the cliff. Before he could Charle shot up of the ground and grabbed it, flying high enough that Natsu couldn't reach it.
"No! You insolent fool! This could lead us to Lucy" she yelled, glaring at Natsu. Erza offered her hand to Charle who passed the lacrima over to her reluctantly. After inspecting it for a moment, Erza attempted to activate it with no luck.
"It seems Medusas Wrath are only letting us see what they want us to see. We'll have to take this back to the Master. Perhaps he can contact someone to help track Lucy down" Erza said, holding back the fury that threatened to envelop her. She looked up at her friends to find Natsu and Gray glaring at her. She tilted her head at them, questioning why their anger was directed at her.
"No way in hell am I going back without Lucy!" Natsu yelled, crossing his arms.
"For once, I agree with Lavagirl here. By the time we get back to the guild and track her down it could be too late." Everyone flinched when Gray finished his sentence. They had tried not to think about why Lucy had been heard screaming but the reality of the situation had began to hit them. Lucy could be seriously hurt and be getting worse, there was no time to waste. Erza frowned, glancing at Wendy to see her opinion but the girl was just looking at the ground with a devastated expression. The requip mage was about to speak again when Charle spoke up.
"I say that we leave the boys here to search for Lucy whilst us girls return to the guild to seek the masters assistance." Charle declared. The group of mages nodded, agreeing with the decision. Without a word or even a wave, the girls disappeared into the forest. Natsu and Gray refused to look at each other and instead sat of the edge of the cliff, overlooking the water below them and the forest that stretched out into the horizon.
"Natsu" Happy muttered.
"Yeah bud." answered Natsu, rubbing Happy's head gently.
"I miss Lushee" the exceed wined. The group stayed silent, digesting the situation before Natsu was able to answer.
"Yeah, me too." he eventually responded. Gray's frown deepened and his eyes hardened. He groaned and forced himself to stand up, the others not even looking at him. In one swift move he took hold of the end of Natsu's vest and yanked the boy up. Natsu made a noise of protest before grabbing hold of Grays shirt, that had been unconsciously unbuttoned by the ice wizard, growling in his face.
"What the hell are ya doin' Ice Prick" Natsu spat, pushing Gray backwards a few steps and then adjusting his vest.
"Bringing you out of dreamland Fire Hazard. Sitting around thinking about Lucy isn't going to help us find her. We need to keep looking!" Gray all but screamed, stripping his shirt off completely. The fight that had began to flare up inside Natsu drained at the mention of the girl he had fallen for.
"You think I don't know that? It's my job to protect her and I… I failed. And now, now we have no idea how to get her back. Even my freaking nose is useless. Whadda we do Gray? Huh, whadda we do?!" The dragon slayer yelled, pulling at his hair. Happy sat by his feet, looking up at his best friend with worry swimming in his eyes. Natsu jerked away from his friends and faced the edge of the cliff again. Gray took hold of Natsu's shoulder, not putting any pressure on the gesture such as pulling or pushing him, just resting his hand there. He didn't say anything at first, just allowing his frenemy to calm himself down. Once Natsu had stop breathing so shakely and gritting his teeth to the point where they hurt, he turned towards Gray slightly and looked at him curiously before turning back to the edge of the cliff. With a sigh, Gray spoke again.
"We'll find her, and then we'll kick Medusas Wraths ass. They won't get away with this Pyro, we won't let them. Come one, we've got to find her. No more moping or I'll freeze you."
Natsu laughed half-heartedly and shrugged off Grays hand.
"Guess we gotta get movin'. Lucy's gunna kick our asses for takin' too long." With one last look over the cliff, the group of three headed back into the forest in search of their friend, mother-like figure and lover.
So this chapter isn't my best and I apologise for that. I wasn't 100% sure where I was going with this chapter so it's kind of a filler before we get back to whats happening to Lucy which will be the next chapter. Thanks for reading guys and I'll see you next time! Also thank you to Lord Jaric for noticing my mistake.