A/N: A lot of info in this chapter! Hopefully it's getting more exciting, though.
Chapter Five – Divide and Conquer
Natsu
My stomach growled as we walked through the streets of the city. People milled around blissfully, unaware of our mission and the possible danger they were in. Acacia was a beautiful city, with lots of flowers and trees and nicely kept buildings. It was also full of enticing smells, I noted wistfully. The aromatic scents of fried fish, taiyaki, takoyaki and onigiri wafted past my sensitive nose, almost too much to bear. With a measure of annoyance, I saw that as long as I was with the group, I wouldn't be able to eat any. Maybe we could stop for lunch?
But wait…as long as I'm with the group… "As long as I'm with the group," I muttered to myself. We'd been wandering the city for the better part of an hour already, but nothing had happened so far. We hadn't seen any hint of nefarious schemes at work, and no one had raised the alert on my suspicious person radar. Not for the first time, I wondered what exactly we were supposed to be looking for. As far as I could tell, there was nothing out of the ordinary with this city at all. Are they sure this is the right city?
"Natsu? Are you okay?" I turned to look at the blonde mage walking beside me. Lucy was watching me with curiosity and concern, and I realized that I had spoken aloud to myself.
"Oh, don't worry!" I said brightly, laughing and rubbing the back of my head. "Everything's just fi—" Abruptly, I cut off as an idea struck me like a bolt of lightning. "Lucy!" I reached for her suddenly, and she gasped and tried to jump away.
"Natsu! What are you doing?!" She swatted at my hand, but I was faster and clamped my hand around her slender wrist. A strange sensation prickled against my skin where it came into contact with Lucy's, almost like I was being shocked with Laxus's lightning. Except not painful. Whatever it was, I filed it away for later investigation and focused on my brilliant new idea.
"Come on, Lucy!" I grinned at her, tugging her arm to get her to follow me as I headed down a side street lined with food vendors and jewelry boutiques. "We'll be more inconspicuous with just the two of us!"
"What about me?" Happy cried, sobbing as he flew after us. "Natsu, you're so mean!"
"I'm sorry! And Happy!" I added as an afterthought, smiling in apology at my blue Exceed. "We're basically the same person, so I just figured it would be unnecessary to explicitly include you."
He stuck his tongue out at me, clearly not buying my excuse.
"Natsu!" Gray called out behind us. "What are you doing?"
I turned to flash him a reassuring grin, taking great amusement in his irritated expression. "We'll meet up with you guys later! We want to do some investigating on our own for a little bit. You know, to cover more ground."
A few of the others in our group exchanged knowing glances, but the others looked unsure as to whether they should let us go or not. I took a moment to offer up a silent prayer of thanks that Erza wasn't in our group; there would've been no freedom under her demon eye.
As I led a still-protesting Lucy further into the side street, I heard a set of footsteps running behind us. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see an enraged Gray coming after us. Instead, I saw Yukino, her short white hair flopping against her head as she ran after us. A very flustered looking Hibiki took off after her, calling for her to wait up. I was so surprised that I came to a stop, and she caught up to us with Hibiki right behind her.
"Huh? What are you guys doing?" I looked over their shoulders to where the rest of the group stood in the mouth of the street, already recovering from their shock. Ultear had her arm held out to keep an indignant Gray from coming after us.
"I thought it would be better if you guys had someone else with you. Just in case something happens." Yukino suddenly looked down in embarrassment, twin roses blooming across her cheeks.
"And I couldn't let a beautiful woman go off on her own after you two," Hibiki added with an over-the-top bow for Yukino. The color in her cheeks deepened and she turned away to conceal her blush.
"Well, let's get going before the others come after us and we attract any more attention than we already have," Lucy said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. And yet, I noticed that she'd stopped trying to yank her arm out of my grasp. I grinned impishly and urged the others down the street. We proceeded with a much calmer atmosphere, and I felt the others relax as we moved further away from the rest of the group. Once we were far enough away, I could put my plan into action—after all, what could be more inconspicuous than buying street food?
Gray
I watched their retreating backs as they went off down the side street, happily chatting amongst themselves. A growl rose in my throat as I narrowed my eyes at the bloated pink head of the impulsive Dragonslayer. What did he think he was doing? Didn't he know how foolish it was to separate from the group? What if they ran into trouble and someone got injured? I had no doubt that Natsu would leap into a fight if he found one of these elusive enemies. And while I knew—perhaps better than anyone—how powerful Natsu was, I still found myself worried that this would be the one time he got himself into trouble he couldn't fight his way out of.
I looked over at the Crime Sorcière woman who had her arm stretched out in front of me, preventing me from following after them. What did she think she was doing? It was bad enough that they were going off with just the four of them, not to mention that Hibiki was no good in a fight and the celestial spirit mages would be useless should they be separated from their keys. They needed another person who could play the voice of reason and prove invaluable in a fight, should it come down to it.
A huff of irritation escaped me, though I tried to hide it and remain calm. "Let me go after them," I insisted, stepping forward with my fist raised in conviction.
Ultear shot me a narrowed look and smacked her arm back against my chest. "You will stay with us," she declared imperiously.
"But—"
"You don't need to worry about them. This might actually be for the best. After all, now they just look like two innocent couples out for a stroll through the market."
I jerked back in surprise and returned my gaze to the four mages walking away from us. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw Natsu take Lucy's hand in his own and guide them towards one of the takoyaki stalls. Hibiki, of course, immediately put his hand on the small of Yukino's back to direct her after them, acting every part the gentleman.
"That is also…love." I looked over to see Sherry clasping her hands to her chest and staring wistfully after them, delicate splashes of pink coloring her cheeks.
"You are seriously just too cute," Ren murmured in her ear, coming up beside her to put his arm around her waist.
I backed up a few steps and Ultear put her arm down, apparently satisfied that I wouldn't go storming after Natsu and the others. Glancing to my right, I saw Sting sling his arm around Kagura's shoulders with a devil-may-care smile. "How about we go off on our own?"
Kagura turned her head away with a look of annoyance, her long black hair swishing between them like a curtain. "Hmph." And yet she made no move to shrug his arm off her shoulder. The blond Dragonslayer exchanged a knowing look with his Exceed, Lecter. Apparently he had realized this, as well, and interpreted it as a sign of interest.
"You guys are all crazy," I grumbled to myself, turning away from all the displays of affection.
"Let's keep moving," Ultear said, moving past me as she continued down the street we were on. "We still have our mission to focus on. If you want to make advances, do it on your own time."
"Fro thinks so, too." The green Exceed smiled complacently, turning to follow after the Shadow Dragonslayer as we all made our way down the street and moved further away from Natsu and the others.
Lyon
"Can we take a break for lunch?" Chelia asked, addressing no one in particular. We'd been walking around the south side of the city for over an hour, sending smaller, covert groups into bars and newspaper booths to see if they could overhear anything as the rest of us lingered outside. Just a few minutes ago we'd sent Cana and Rufus into a bar, and were currently pretending to look around in a bookstore across the street.
I looked around at everyone's expectant faces, trying to decide if we should take a short break. "I don't see a problem with that, once Cana and Rufus return." Just to show respect for seniority, I glanced over at Gildarts to see if he had any objection. As he was too busy sweet-talking the store assistant, I assumed that he had none. Honestly, considering his age and reputation as one of the most powerful mages in Fiore, I was surprised at how lax he could be on the job. However, I was okay with taking charge in our group.
Not too long after that, the two mages we'd sent into the bar returned. Judging from the rosy glow in Cana's cheeks, she had taken her job at blending in a little too seriously. Oh well, I told myself. We knew that this would happen when we sent her in. At least she did a good job of blending in.
"Did you hear anything?" I asked them when they came close enough that I could talk without being overheard by outsiders. With some amusement, I noticed how quickly Gildarts had turned away from the curvaceous sales woman when Cana had approached. The poor woman was now regarding him in confusion, until she saw his gaze on the other woman. Misinterpreting his attentions, she gave him a disgusted look and sauntered off.
Rufus tipped his hat a little lower. "We overheard a conversation between two older men about some mysterious behavior from citizens on the west side of town. Apparently, they've been disappearing into the woods during the night and then returning in the morning, just as mysteriously as they'd gone. Anyone who tries to follow them becomes lost and ends up back where he started. That is all."
Chelia and Wendy gasped and reached for each other in fear. My brow drew together in a frown. "That is concerning. I don't know if it has anything to do with our mission, but we should warn the third group about it nonetheless, since it's been happening in their area. Maybe they'll find something. Cana?"
"Understood." She pulled out one of her communication cards and connected to the third group. After she finished explaining, we agreed to find some food.
"Juvia-chan? What would you like to eat?" I smiled winningly at the blue-haired woman walking alongside me.
"Juvia-chan would like—hey, stop calling Juvia with a '-chan'!" She scowled at me. Chelia came up on my other side, then, pouting.
"Lyon-sama, why don't you ask me what I want to eat?" she asked, aiming a glare at Juvia. The other mage returned her glare, and I rushed to mediate the conversation.
"Why don't you both tell me what you would like to eat? I'm sure we can find a place around here that serves both." Chelia regarded me with annoyance while Juvia turned away in a huff. I resisted the urge to sigh, wondering what it would take for her to look at me the way she looked at Gray.
"A flower, for the pretty ladies?" A debonair young man in a neatly pressed suit approached us from one of the floral stands lining the street, two blooming roses extended in his bejeweled hand. Chelia fluttered and preened as she accepted the rose, and Juvia blushed modestly as she brought the flower to her nose. Twirling away dramatically, the man produced another rose from the sleeve of his suit jacket and offered it to Cana. "For you, my lady."
Something about the roses bothered me, and I assumed it was just the fact that another man was giving my Juvia a flower. I narrowed my eyes as I watched the florist recede back to his stall, a bright smile on his face. Just before he disappeared. My eyes widened, and I glanced back to the girls who had received the flowers. The others had continued walking while I'd stopped to stare at the man in the suit, and were already several stands ahead of me.
On a frantic urge, I sprinted after them. "Juvia! Wait! Drop that ro—"
She turned to look at me just as the flower in her hands exploded, sending her flying backwards. Cana and Chelia screamed as they were thrown backwards, too, their own roses exploding. The other members of our group looked around frantically, trying to pinpoint the source of the explosion. Rufus looked back towards the flower stall, connecting the dots.
I raced forward, barely managing to throw my body beneath Juvia's before she hit the ground. Lying there with Juvia cradled in my arms, I took a moment to assess the damage. Her clothes were torn and charred, and she was unconscious with several rivulets of blood trickling down her face. Fury seized me as I looked up. Eve was holding Chelia and Gildarts was carrying Cana in his arms, a look of pure rage on his face. His aura of power was surging up, a new wind stirring the coverings of the stalls nearby.
"Lyon!" Wendy was standing by Chelia, but she wasn't looking at the injured Godslayer. Her gaze was trained on the citizens around us, fear coloring her voice. I focused my gaze on past her then, and my blood ran cold.
The citizens were surrounding us, their eyes empty white orbs as they closed in around us. "Death Strike will come for you. And you will all be dead by the time the clock strikes midnight."
Erza
After walking for an hour, we still hadn't found much conclusive evidence for the reported presence of this mysterious enemy. Everyone seemed happy and normal, perhaps just a little too normal. The only interesting thing to happen was when, relatively early on, I'd had to stop to lay down a few rules with everyone, for my own mental sanity. The foremost among them had been that no one—*cough cough Ichiya*—was allowed to utter the word 'parfum' within ten meters of me or disrupt the investigation with their incessant sniffing and posing. Thankfully, Ichiya had gone off to sulk at the front of our group, where he could bother those with longer fuses like Jura.
Sighing to myself, I refocused my efforts on trying to detect anything off about the people around me. For the fifth time in as many minutes, someone nodded and smiled at me, thanking me for visiting Acacia. These people are giving me the creeps. No one is this friendly in the city, not to mention that they shouldn't know everyone well enough to know who's a visitor and who isn't.
"Thank you for visiting our beautiful city of Acacia." The man nodded at me and smiled, but it seemed like his eyes weren't really seeing me. Anxiety gnawed at my insides, and I looked around to see if any of the others were noticing this strange behavior.
Jellal, who had been walking a few steps ahead of me, fell back to keep pace at my side. "This isn't normal behavior," he murmured, keeping his gaze trained on the passing civilians. I glanced at him, uncomfortably aware of his proximity, and the way his hand accidentally brushed mine as we walked. His brow was furrowed as he tried to fit an explanation to the strange behavior, and I had the strangest desire to run my hands through his soft blue hair.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed," I replied, keeping my voice low. "Do you think this has anything to do with the strange behavior Group Two reported hearing about?"
Jellal glanced over at me, his expression thoughtful. "It's possible. I have no idea what this behavior might mean. Maybe we should wait until tonight to try to follow some of them when they leave the city."
I opened my mouth to respond when a soft sound from behind an empty food cart made me pause. Looking over, I saw an elderly woman, peering cautiously out from behind the cart. After looking both ways to make sure no one else had noticed her, she beckoned us towards her. She had an urgent look on her face, and for some reason, her actions struck me as strange in comparison to the usual behavior exhibited by the citizens of Acacia.
Glancing over at Jellal, I saw that he was looking at me warily, a question in his eyes. I nodded, and looked past him at the rest of the group, unaware of our situation. Mirajane turned then and saw us, a questioning look on her face. I froze for a moment, certain the others would notice. Or more specifically, Ichiya. Making my decision, I waved her on, a silent message to carry on without us. We would catch up with them later, I decided. But for some reason, I just felt that we needed to speak with this woman.
We approached her cautiously, and she beckoned us forward with greater urgency. Then she turned and slipped into the narrow mouth of an alley partially concealed behind the abandoned food cart. We followed after her and saw her turn to look at us before disappearing through a door in the wall. I exchanged a glance with Jellal, and this time he nodded with resolve. When we stepped through the doorway, I saw that we'd entered a small home. It was poorly cared for, with dust covering what few pieces of broken furniture there were, and the threadbare rugs on the floor were worn through with holes. My gaze sought out the old lady who had led us in here, and found her hunched by the one window, peering out to make sure we hadn't been followed. Once she was satisfied, she closed the door behind us and motioned us further into the room.
"What is it?" I asked, determination settling over me.
She turned her face to us and I saw that tears were sliding down her weathered cheeks. "You must help us. I'm sorry to have to ask this of you, but we have no other choice."
"What's wrong?" Jellal asked, his voice surprisingly gentle despite the gravity of his tone.
"It all began about a week ago," she began, her thin voice wavering. "Some strange people showed up in Acacia, demanding that we give them five mages to be used as some sort of sacrifice. Of course we refused. But then, that night, five young mages went missing. We were out searching for them until dawn. However, all of a sudden, as soon as the sun rose over the horizon, they all emerged from the forest. They were unharmed, except for a single mark on their foreheads. The mark of a rose, weeping blood."
I shuddered, phantom screams echoing in my mind. "Did they say anything about where they'd gone?"
"No. That was where things got even stranger." She paused, sighing heavily. "All the victims had no recollection of anything that had happened to them that night. They all emerged from different parts of the forest, and aside from the strange mark, the only similarity they all shared was that…they had been drained of magic. Permanently."
A chill went up my spine and I looked at Jellal in alarm. This was the enemy we had to face? I'd never heard of a magic that could permanently drain a person's magic. To mages, their magic was all but their very life force. My resolve strengthened when I thought of all my friends who were counting on me, and I knew that for their sake—and for the sake of the entire world—I would not fail in this mission. No matter how much it frightened me.
"Permanently?" Jellal asked, taking a step closer to the old woman. "That should be impossible." A hint of underlying uncertainty edged his calm voice, and I felt another tendril of fear wrap itself around my heart. Jellal has never shown fear, not once in all the years I've known him. Concern and a sense of danger, but never fear.
"I don't know how they did it." A terrible, dead look suddenly passed over her face. "But they got my granddaughter. She hasn't been the same since. It's like she's a completely different person. She can't remember anything about ever having had magic at all.
"But worse than that—along with every other person living in this city, my granddaughter has become dead to the world, a clone. Sure, they go about their regular routines, but that's all it is, like clockwork. What few visitors there still are in Acacia have started to notice the strange behavior. They will shortly be…eliminated." Her demeanor suddenly changed, from defeated and weary to tense and frightened. "You have to leave, now! They will find you, they will kill you! No, worse. You must escape!" She lunged frantically toward me, her eyes wide with terror. Jellal immediately stepped in front of me, blocking the old woman's advances. She gripped his shirt desperately, begging us with her eyes. "Save her…save my Lydia…."
Just as suddenly as her frenzy had begun, it ceased. She collapsed to her knees, a withered old woman breathing heavily. And then she went still. A terrible stillness, like all hope—all life—had completely deserted her. She raised her head slowly, and I saw that her eyes were rolled back in her skull, only the whites showing as they glowed eerily in the light filtering through the single window.
"It is too late," she said in a low monotone. "They come."
A/N: Wow, things sure are heating up. Let me know in a review what you think will happen to our favorite bunch of mages, and if you think the enemy this time might be too much for even the alliance. ;)
