Chapter 2:

In which there is bad news.

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I found myself alone in an endless golden grassland, and out of nowhere, I can hear a familiar voice call out my name.

"Hey! Are you up yet, or what?" The loud voice and insistent pounding on the door of the dorm room was quite the rude awakening. I sighed, knowing exactly who it was, and I marched over to give him a stern telling-off about waking me up like that for the third time this week.

"Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you just to knock gently?" I opened the door, annoyed, and the sakura-haired boy standing outside looked at me with innocent hazel eyes and gave me the sweetest grin, If I wasn't so used to it I might have melted right there. I gave in and decided to spare him any more of my lecturing.

"C'mon Luce, we have to go to a meeting with Gramps, remember?" he said, leaning on the frame of the doorway.

"Oh, that's right," I recalled. "Does he have a job he wants us to do?" I asked, and gestured with my hand for him to step in.

"Don't know," he answered as he walked in, and I closed the door behind him. "But it sounded like it was important."

"Well you still need to- OW!" I exclaimed as I felt sharp claws climbing up my back. "Happy..!" I grumbled, The feline always seemed to enjoy annoying me. "I can't hold you if you don't let me see you first," I scolded the kitten as he perched himself on my shoulder. I scratched a spot behind his ear.

"Mrow!" Happy said emphatically, as if to say "I'm a cat; I'll do whatever I want, lady."

With Happy still on my shoulder, Natsu and I left the girls' dorm through the front double door entrance. We took the sidewalk for a few blocks. As we walked, Natsu often glanced at me with a worried frown. It startled me because he didn't have that expression often.

"Lucy," he said quietly, "I think I might know what this is all about." He almost seemed distraught and it worried me.

"What is it?" I asked. Natsu acted like this very rarely.

"Last week, when Lisanna left on her last job, she told me when she was supposed to come back… that was five days ago," he said, somberly.

"You mean… she might be missing?" I asked, feeling nervous and worried now. The thought that something bad could have happened to the sweet-natured animal lover was terrible.

"At first I thought maybe she just got held up," he said, "but after five days I feel like we should have heard from her if she planned to be back late." He stopped walking and turned to look at me. He was grimacing, a look I never liked to see on him. "I just hope she's alright," he said faintly.

I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "I'm worried about her too," I assured him. "If it turns out Master called us for another reason, we'll ask him if he knows anything about her. After all, she may have checked in with him first if she planned to be back later."

"Maybe," Natsu considered, perking up a bit. "But I'm just anticipating something bad—I don't know why, but I can just feel it."

"Honestly, I can feel it, too," I admitted. "I just hope that isn't what this is about."

Suddenly, Natsu took my hand and entwined it with his own. We didn't say anything else as we walked until we reached a secluded building that was down a path off the road. It has ordinary wooden siding, painted a rustic red that corresponded beautifully with the falling autumn leaves. Over the front door read the words in large curly letters "Fairy Academy Main Office."

We entered through the front door, and standing inside was a beautiful woman with white, opal-colored hair. She stood behind a large oak desk and was slightly taller than me, but her sapphire eyes still met mine.

"Hello Lucy, Natsu. You're here to see the master, right?" she asked as she shuffled some papers in front of her.

"Hey Mirajane," I said back and tossed her a smile. She seemed a little out of it today. "We have an appointment with him," I added as we approached her.

"Go right in, he's expecting you," she said blankly.

We went down a hallway and past a few doors and we entered the master's office upon finding it. He was sitting at his desk, waiting for us. To our surprise, he was looking very grim. My stomach sank. He was usually a cheerful, ridiculous man.

"Please sit down, you two," he said, almost commanding. we obeyed and sat in the two orange-colored chairs in front of his desk.

"What did you want to see us for?" I asked, although now I was almost sure Natsu was right.

"I'm afraid it isn't any trivial matter," he said, looking us right in the eyes. "You may have noticed by now, but Lisanna hasn't returned yet."

We nodded sadly. The bad feeling we had seemed to ring true.

"We sent Elfman to the job site to see if she was there, but unfortunately she was not," he said, shaking his head.

I noticed Natsu grab my hand again. "We talked to the townspeople, but they said they haven't seen her since two nights before she was to leave; a week ago now. She didn't say anything to them about leaving, and sadly that means we can only assume this may have involved a second person."

I realized we were all starting to tear up. "Like a kidnapping?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Perhaps…," Master said solemnly, "...or a murder." My breath hitched and I couldn't hold back the sob that jarred my body into Natsu's.

I felt Natsu's arm wrap around my shoulder, pulling me further into him. I turned my face into his chest, my tears soaking his scarf. Happy mewed and hopped down into my lap, looking up at me with his big brown eyes. It made me want to cry all the more.

I felt Natsu shake with anger. It made me angry, too. She can't… really be dead, right? Whoever did this would pay.

"No!" Natsu cried, the sound startling me. "If she's out there, we're gonna find her! And if some bastard dared lay a finger on her, they're gonna have hell to pay!" He slammed his fist on the desk, rattling the pencil holder on its surface.

"Natsu, I know what you're feeling, and this is hard for all of us—but we have to face the fact that she is most likely gone," Master sounded sorrowful.

Natsu got up and started toward the door without responding. I quickly said a tearful goodbye to Master and followed the pink-haired boy before he could run off, Happy having returned to my shoulder. I could see Mirajane trying to mask her sobs as we walked out—she was Lisanna's sister after all, this loss must be harder for her than anyone else. I thought of trying to comfort her, but I was in no state to do so at the moment.

As we walked silently back in the direction of the Fairy Hills girls' dorm, my tears having slowly dried, a thought crossed my mind.

"Natsu..." I began uncertainly, "you don't think he's hiding something, do you? Do you think this is like what happened with—with her?" I asked, trying my best not to bring up the painful memory.

"No," Natsu answered after a moment of silence. His tone would have surprised me if I weren't accustomed to his common mood swings. "I refuse to believe she's dead until I see proof for myself," he added stubbornly.

"Look, this is hard on everyone right now, but trying to deny the truth only makes it worse," I said sadly. Although I desperately wanted to believe she was alive, all of the signs seemed to point to her being truly gone.

"How do you know it's the truth?" he asked, and I was taken aback because the way he said it made it seem like he was upset with me. "He never said there was any clear evidence of a murder, but he was pretty quick to say she was dead," he pointed out.

I sighed. He was right—but then why would Master say that? I thought once again he must have been hiding something.

"That's true, Natsu," a voice called from behind us. I turned and realized Master had followed us. "I'm afraid you're right; I wasn't being entirely honest," he said. "I apologize, I should have told you right out."

"Then tell us the truth," Natsu demanded.

"You were right about there being no evidence," he stated flatly. "That's just it, there's no evidence of a murder or of a kidnapping. She's simply vanished into thin air." The omnicity of this statement sent shivers down my spine.

"What? How is that possible?" My mind was racing. I clutched Natsu's arm, feeling like I needed something to stable myself.

"We don't know," Master answered. I wanted to scream at the frustration those words brought, because, What kind of answer was that? She couldn't possibly have actually vanished into nothing. There must have been some other explanation—we just weren't looking hard enough—and it perplexed me that he seemed to be taking the easy way out.

"Well, we have to find out," Natsu was matter-of-fact. "Will you Let us investigate this?"

"I don't know about that," Master reluctantly answered. "With Juvia and Erza investigating that school, I need you here in case backup is required."

Natsu growled. He forcibly moved my hand and stomped over to Master. His seething anger was so evident that it almost scared me. "Let the school be damned—how could you possibly say that's more important than Lisanna!" Natsu started shaking, and I didn't know what to do. I hadn't seen him this worked up since… since the incident.

"Of course that's not as important," Master said calmly, seemingly unperturbed by Natsu's behavior. "Obviously we're going to investigate the job site further, however if Juvia and Erza do happen to need backup you two along with Gray and Wendy are my best choices."

"Gramps please, I always told her I'd find her no matter what, and this is exactly when she needs it." Natsu was almost on the edge of tears again, and it broke me heart. I slowly approached him, placing my hand comfortingly on the small of his back. Happy jumped from my arm onto Natsu's shoulder, rubbing his face on Natsu's cheek.

"Alright, I'll allow you to investigate into the town she was in on one condition," master said, and I was relieved that he was willing to compromise. "If I tell you to come back in the middle of your investigation you will do so, no exceptions, unless of course you find out what happened to her."

"We will, I promise," Natsu agreed, visibly relaxing.

The master turned around in the direction of the office building and strolled back down the road. Natsu and I continued to the dorm room, and Happy jumped down from Natsu's shoulder and walked alongside us.

When we entered my room, Natsu sat on Juvia's bed and looked around the room, taking everything in even though he had seen it a million times. I understood that he was trying to distract himself.

Juvia and I had painted our room when we were younger, a task that had seemed so fun at the time. The two sides of the room colored completely different seemed a little ridiculous to us now, but it was sentimental in a way. My side was painted a midnight blue, similar in color to our friend Wendy's hair, and I had painted stars and the moon over it to create a clear night sky.

Juvia's side on the other hand was painted grey and blue with raindrops rolling down. However instead of it feeling gloomy, it was instead almost peaceful to look at. Our walls contrasted but we thought it was nostalgic, like we could go back to being kids again when we would play here for hours and pretend we were astronauts and scuba divers.

I realized Natsu was staring at me and I turned to him, eyebrows raised questioningly.

He caught on and spoke up. "Would you wanna come over to the guys' dorm tonight?" he asked. "We need to make a plan." He rolled onto his back, staring at star-painted ceiling, waiting for my answer.

"Sure," I agreed.

It might seem odd to some people for us to stay the night at each other's dorms, but to us it was something normal we had done since we were children. Back then and to this day all of us in the strange Fairy Academy have only ever had (and needed) each other. We were comfortable in the same way family would be. Things like sleepovers with the boys, holding each other, kisses on the forehead, even the lips (although that didn't happen as often), were not uncommon—or even felt romantically intimate to us. They were simply ways we showed affection and comforted each other at times.

While that may be weird to someone who wasn't one of us, it didn't matter. It was how we did things and as long as we were all comfortable with it, where was the problem?

Realizing I had spaced out for a moment there, I glanced back at Natsu sitting on Juvia's bed. Since I would be leaving for the night I decided I should write a note for Juvia, especially since I was worried about her having more nightmares. I grabbed a notepad off my desk and quickly jotted down my note.

Juvia, I'm going to be at Natsu's tonight. I hope you had a good day with your new job at the school. Also, be sure to call someone if you happen to have a nightmare again.

-Lucy

I left the note on her bed and gathered a few things in an overnight bag. A knock sounded on the door.

Natsu opened it, and a girl entered. She was less than a head shorter than me, and she wore a thigh-length white dress with a red ribbon tied around the waist and white knee socks. Her midnight blue hair was tied into long pigtails on either side of her head.

A pure white kitten poked it's head around the younger girl's leg, looking around the room almost cautiously.

The moment Happy spotted the cat he meowed loudly and didn't waste a second in running over to the other kitten. The cat—Carla, I remembered—hissed and tried to scratch Happy's face. This didn't deter Happy, however, and the oddly-colored blue cat still continued to try and play with her.

I turned my attention back to the girl. "Hello Wendy," I greeted her as I stuffed my pajamas into my backpack. "What brings you here?"

Wendy looked at me for a moment, considering, then her face fell a little.

"Actually, I'm looking for Erza," she explained. "When I woke up she was gone and no one has seen her all day."

"It's alright, Erza went with Juvia on her job, but apparently she didn't tell anybody," I reassured her.

I figured that the news about Lisanna's mysterious disappearance was spreading, and I could understand why Wendy was panicked to have woken up with her roommate gone as well.

Wendy looked relieved, and then confused. "Why wouldn't she tell anyone?" she asked, puzzled.

"Maybe it was last-minute," I guessed. "From what Juvia told me, I don't think she knew either."

"Well she could have at least left a note or something," Wendy said, sighing.

I thought that as long as Wendy was here, she could help us decide how to go about investigating Lisanna's job site—she was a member of our team after all—we could use her help.

"Why don't you come with us to Natsu's room for a little while?" I invited. "We're supposed to be making a plan to try and investigate the town Lisanna was in and hopefully find out what happened to her."

"Yes, I heard," she said sadly, "I hope she's alright—it would be terrible if anything happened to her..." She shook her head as if to rid of whatever she was thinking. "I'll do my best to help," she promised.

The boys' dorm room was a five-story building identical in design to Fairy Hills. The girls had made up a name for our dorm when we were children, and it stuck for whatever reason, but the boys' building never really had a name.

Natsu's room was on the first floor, the second room in the hall just behind the kitchen. When he opened the door, an object flew toward his face; Natsu wasn't quick enough to dodge, and so the football smacked him directly on his forehead. He stumbled back in surprise, bumping into me. I nearly fell over but I managed to stay balanced, however Happy was not amused and he meowed loudly, jumping from my arms and trotting over to Natsu's mess of a bed.

"What's the big idea, jerk?!" Natsu addressed a raven-haired boy who was sitting on the second bed on the far side of the room, opposite from Natsu's.

I rolled my eyes. Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster were natural rivals; as different as fire and ice, yet somehow they ended up being roommates all these years. Then again, I knew they considered each other friends, and would even admit it despite their rivalry. That's just how us Fairies did things.

"The big idea," Gray said cooly, "is that you need to clean up some of your crap for once—no one can even walk on your side of the room."

It was true. Natsu's side looked like a natural disaster had hit it. Clothes, books, and random trinkets covered the floor, and the covers were hanging almost all the way off his bed. Gray's side was not entirely clean either, but it looked spotless in comparison.

I noticed the lump of clay on his desk that was formed into a half-finished tiger, along with various other clay sculptures sitting on a shelf above. Gray's real talent however, was his ice sculptures. There were several framed pictures on the wall of some of his best works; I thought It was a shame the sculptures couldn't be preserved.

He seemed to notice Wendy and I for the first time.

"Lucy, Wendy, please tell this idiot he needs to deal with this disaster."

"He does," I agreed, "but we have more important things to worry about right now."

Gray let out a breath and nodded somberly. To me, it felt like we had been calmer about the situation than we should have been. I realized we were subconsciously trying to distract ourselves, not wanting to think of the prospect that our friend was gone.

Natsu closed the door behind us when Wendy and I entered the room, Carla following behind. She went to Gray's side of the room, as far away as she could from Happy.

The three of us sat on Natsu's bed and started discussing what our plan would be.

"We should question all the townspeople, and look at all possible security footage where she was at," Natsu suggested at once.

"Slow down," I warned. "The first thing we need to do is go to the job site and look for any potential clues or evidence; signs of a struggle, fingerprints, anything like that."

"Yes," Gray agreed. "If we can find some solid evidence, we could get the police working with us," he added.

"I'm not sure we want that," I said, unsure. "That could cause some problems for us, and We can't afford to use anymore favors right now."

"I guess that's true, but shouldn't we at least file a missing person's report?" he asked.

"I think Master already did," Wendy put in.

Our conversation was cut short when we heard a knock on the door.

I don't know why, but when I heard that knock, my stomach sank. I had a feeling this day was only going to get worse.

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