Chapter Two: The Big Slip

"One of the first things I must ask you..." Lucy said, pausing to make sure that Grey wasn't trying to take his clothes back off. "Why are we having to talk about the future of the team? Is something wrong?" Lucy continued. Natsu and Grey glanced at each other before Natsu nodded at Gray.

"Yeah, something is wrong. Erza is missing." Gray said. Lucy's mouth dropped, Erza, the fierce warrior, had went missing, even though Lucy had only seen her at least two days ago. "She was last seen by the water channel." Gray continued. "We can only presume that it was a kidnaping." Gray finished.

"There is no way that Erza would be easy to take, maybe she fell into the water and was rescued by some people passing by, and is healing in one of the villages outside of town! I bet she is on her way back right now!" Lucy exclaimed. Gray shook his head.

"We've already checked the entire area, we've sent word to other guilds to keep their eyes out for her, so far, there hasn't been not even a single sighting, or even evidence that Erza has been traveling anywhere." Gray confirmed. Lucy's hopes were dropping, he hands dropped to her sides, and she looked down at her own feet.

"We've got to find her." Natsu spoke up, after a few moments of silence. Lucy's head shot back up, there was a sparkle in Natsu's right eye, it wasn't a tear, it was just a sign of hope. Lucy nodded and then suddenly found herself in Natsu's arms, in a very caring embrace. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu, and found herself enjoying the moment.

"We'll start the search in the morning." Gray said after the two were pulled apart by him. Gray raised his eyebrow at Lucy, who had turned a deep shade of red after the long and warming hug she had just shared with Natsu. "Is something going on between you two that I need to know about?" Gray asked, only half joking.

"No." Natsu said, with a very straight face. "I would never date Lucy, she's part of the team, nothing more, nothing less." Natsu continued. Lucy's emotions were flipped over, anger was rising inside of her. Gray noticed as Lucy pulled at the keys that were hanging down from her waist.

"Lucy!" Gray yelled and grabbed her hand, he was now the one turning a dark shade of red. Lucy pulled her hand away and quickly smacked Gray to the side. Gray rubbed his cheek as the color of his face returned to its normal color.

"I'm nothing more then part of the team, huh?" Lucy screamed as she got closer and closer to Natsu's face. Natsu took a few steps back, but Lucy wasn't going to back down. "Nothing more, Nothing less, huh? Answer me!" Lucy yelled, she had backed Natsu into a corner. Natsu gently pushed her out of the way.

"Natsu! You little..." Lucy started, but Mirajane had appeared behind her and covered her mouth. Lucy just relaxed for a minute, her emotions kept changing, for some reason, she felt just as safe in Mirajane's arms as she was in Natsu's. Ew, no, I don't go that way... Lucy told herself before pulling away from Mirajane.

"You should just go back home now, Lucy." Mirajane said in her normal and soft voice. "Sorry about the lie by the way, Natsu and Gray just wanted to make sure they would have your attention, I told them it wouldn't work, but they wanted me to try anyway, so I did. Don't take it personally." Mirajane continued. Lucy turned towards the door.

"Don't worry, Mirajane, I'm not mad at you. Tell Natsu I said he can go ahead and leave the team already." Lucy said and pushed the door open and left the building before Mirajane could even get a chance to think about responding.

Tears were running down Lucy's face as she walked down the street, she glanced over at the rail that she usually stands on walking home. Lucy jumped onto the rail and walked on it like normal. There were a few boats in the water like always, people were always in the water channel, no matter what time of day or year.

Am I really falling for that loser? Ugh, I can't believe what I was thinking, and then Gray's hand felt so warm and caring...Mirajane on the other hand, she felt the most safe with, it could be like a motherly instinct though. I don't think I want to find out, I refuse to go out with ANYONE in that guild, especially a girl or Natsu! Lucy told herself while walking along.

"Be careful Missy! Haha!" an old man called out. Lucy was startled, she was in such deep thought that she forgot she was walking on the railing. Lucy's feet slipped and she felt her weight shift to the right, the water was below her. Lucy slipped off the railing suddenly, the old man's boat was out of sight now, he wouldn't be able to see she was going to fall into the incredibly deep water channel.

Lucy's hands weren't going to be able to hold on the slippery rocks for much longer. Lucy closed her eyes and just let go. She felt the cold water engulf her as she landed in the water. She would just have to swim to the pier about one mile down the channel. Lucy tried to swim to the surface, but it seemed she was going down furthur.

Wait a second! Whats going on? Help, someone, Help me! Lucy tried to cry out, but she couldn't open her mouth, she was caught in a downwards current, she was going to be drug down to the bottom, she would drown, and would die. Nobody would come for me anyway, I guess its just nice that I get to die without Natsu going nuts over me. Lucy told herself and just closed her eyes.

With Erza

The water was starting to come through the damp ceiling. Erza was chained up to the wall of the prison cell, there was no way for her to move to a more dry part of the cell. The water started to drip onto her nose before there was a sudden rush of water above her. There was a thump on the roof, and then another large flow of water.

"Looks like I won't be alone for long." Erza told herself, knowing that there wasn't anyone alive in this part of the prison. "I just hope it isn't someone else from the guild...especially Natsu." Erza muttered as a guard passed by.

A few hours later...

Lucy opened her eyes, there were large buildings all over the place. All the surrounding area was dark, but the lights from the buildings were nice and bright. Lucy was standing up right, her mouth wide open, she was able to breath easily, she must be dead. Lucy walked towards the building, and then lost her balance for a moment.

Lucy's foot had been caught in a little sand-pit.

"Wait a second...I'm underwater?!" Lucy exclaimed, she blinked and then there were about twenty men around her, all with tridents pointing towards her chest. Lucy took a few steps back, and her back gently poked into some other tridents. Lucy reached for her keys, they weren't there.

"Intruder from above confirmed! Taking her into custody!" one of the men said into a radio. Lucy's eyes grew wide as the men enclosed their circle around her.

To Be Continued