The latest episode though...
I promise that in this chapter, Gray will be fine
ish
"Elfman's gone!" Lissana shouted. "Did he wake up? Did someone take him?" She and Mirajane started towards the bar, the rest following them a second later. It was like finding Makarov - everyone crowded around the evidence, coming closer, wanting a better look.
"Stop!" Erza thundered. "This can be evidence! We need to back away from it - look at these marks from the water. It looks like he was dragged away."
Sure enough, the water seemed to be smeared away from the bar for a couple of feet before disappearing.
"He didn't wake up - and if he did, he didn't move. Someone must have pulled him somewhere," Laxus said. "'Cause these marks aren't exactly signs of someone getting to their feet and walking away. It's a good thing Lissana splashed water on him earlier."
"I-I did it to make him wake up," Lissana said.
"But he didn't, because he was drunk... dead drunk," Gajeel growled, Pantherlily resting on his shoulders. A horrified look appeared on Mirajane's face at the word "dead".
"He's gone. Someone took him. Why don't we search for him?" Lucy asked.
Erza nodded. "Good idea. We'll need five groups to look upstairs, each wing, outside, and the basement."
"Actually, the basement is currently closed and blocked by my runes," Freed said. "After Natsu and Gray destroyed all of the furniture and cracked several supporting pillars two days ago, Master Makarov asked me to make sure no one else could go down there until everything is repaired." At this, Natsu and Gray each supported a guilty look on their faces, shuddering when Erza glared at them.
"Very well. Four groups, then. I'll take my usual team," Erza said. "Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, and Carla."
"But what if you're working together as murderers?" Levy pointed out. "I'll take Wendy and Carla with my team, including Jet and Droy."
"That won't be happening, either," Erza said. "If Team Shadowgear is working together, you may corner and overpower Wendy and Carla. Add someone else to your group."
Levy looked like she was about to snap at Erza - a definite death sentence for the Solid Script Mage considering Erza's strength - but Laxus interrupted as he pushed himself in front of the two girls. "Jet and Droy can go with me and my team."
Levy frowned. "...Fine. Then I want Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, and Pantherlily with me."
"Lissana needs to stay with me," Mirajane said. "I... I don't want to lose another sibling!"
There was more arguing to this and to other groups until everyone finally split into four groups. Levy received the team she wanted with Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, and Pantherlily joining the Solid-Script mage. Erza, Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Juvia decided to go together, and the Laxus' Thunder God Tribe was labeled a group with the addition of Jet and Droy. Finally, Mirajane, Lissana, Cana, Happy - the blue cat had been forced to join them despite his protests of wanting to stay with Natsu - and Max made up the last team.
"The Thunder God Tribe - plus Jet and Droy - will search outside around the guildhall," Laxus said after everyone had divided into their respective groups. "Freed can put up runes to make sure no one can leave or enter, and Jet's magic will be useful for looking in such a large space."
"Don't go off of the property, Laxus," Mirajane warned.
"How about our group look upstairs for Elfman?" Lissana suggested. "We can have a second look at Makarov, too, and see if there are any more clues to who could have killed him."
Her team all gave her their agreement, Cana burping. After that, Levy's team chose to look at the kitchen and surrounding areas of the right wing of the guild hall.
"That just leaves us with...the left wing of the first floor," Lucy said.
"The showers, the library, the waiting room, and the downstairs storages are in that area," Erza noted as she looked to the hallway with the four rooms. "I'm guessing that whoever kidnapped Elfman would have taken him outside, but any of those rooms are a possibility as well."
"So Laxus and his group are looking outside," Levy said as she scribbled the information down on a small notepad she'd found on the counter - one Mirajane used to take orders for customers. "Erza's is looking on the left wing, my group will be in the right wing, and Mirajane's group is upstairs. Is all of that correct?"
"Yes," Freed confirmed. "Now, let's search for Elfman and any intruders that might have taken him..."
His team went to their destination first, Jet running and the rest walking. As soon as the guild doors closed, Mirajane's group started up the steps again. "How could anyone drag Elfman up the stairs...?" Max wondered. "He's so heavy."
Then Levy's team walked behind the bar and into the kitchen, Carla and Pantherlily the last two enter. Erza turned to her group. Natsu and Gray were sitting down at a table while Juvia stared at Gray and Lucy stood next to the Rain Woman.
"Alright. Let's look in the storage room first. Stick together, you hear? Out of everyone else in the guildhall, I trust you four the most," Erza said.
"And Wendy, Carla, and Happy," Natsu said. "Wendy's too young to be a murderer."
"Wendy, Carla, and Happy as well," Erza corrected herself, sighing. "But I find it hard to believe that any of you would have killed Master Makarov - Natsu and Gray because they've been in the guild for so long and to them, Fairy Tail is family. Lucy's a part of our team, too, and Juvia..."
"Juvia is Juvia," Juvia piped up, still staring at Gray. Erza frowned.
"Let's just head to the storage room..." Lucy said.
Erza's theory had been that the storage room held the most hiding spots to put Elfman, so there was a good chance he was there. However, the storage room was a bit dusty but held no sign nor hair of Elfman. Next was the shower room - the large, open space was quick and easy to search, so it only took a few minutes to conclude that Elfman was not there. Then they went down to the waiting room - after making sure not a single book on the one bookcase was actually a lever to a secret room and that the rug didn't hide a trapdoor, the team of five gave up.
As he took off his shirt, Gray said, "That just leaves the library."
"Put your clothes back on," Erza snapped. "But yes, only the library is left, and we still haven't found Elfman. I hope the other teams are having better luck, but I haven't heard any shouting or commotion outside."
Titania Erza was correct. The team consisted of Mirajane, Lissana, Cana, Max, and Happy had looked in the attic, Makarov's office, around the S-Class board, the bathroom, and were now looking in the upstairs infirmary, but no one could find Mirajane and Lissana's brother. The Thunder God Tribe plus Jet and Droy couldn't find him either as Jet looked in every nook and cranny and Freed created the runes.
Levy's team had spent most of their time in the kitchen but soon moved on. While in the kitchen, Gajeel dropped a sack of flour on the ground, making flour poof everywhere and get stuck in everyone's noses - temporarily ruining Wendy, Gajeel, and the cats' sense of smell.
As Lucy walked into the library, flicking the lacrima lights on, Gray and Juvia started for the back of the library. Erza headed to some boxes full of books and started to dig around. Meanwhile, Natsu walked over to the nearest bookshelf and pulled out a book, glancing at the back of the book.
"'When Rose meets Jack on the cruise, thoughts of anything else but love as well as the boat quickly sink..."
"Natsu, put the book down," Lucy ordered tiredly. "You wouldn't be interested in that genre. Plus, we're supposed to be looking for Elfman."
The Fire Dragonslayer had begun the first chapter with a frown, but did as Lucy said to and threw it onto a table lazily. "Are we going to have to pull out every book to see if it leads to a hidden room again? 'Cause that's boring and'll take forever in this room."
"There will be no need to," Erza said, voice rebounding a corner of the library.
"And why not?" Natsu asked.
"Because I have found him."
Gray, Juvia, Lucy, and Natsu rushed over to Erza to see that, hidden behind several large boxes that had several books in them was a flash of white hair. Erza lifted up one box to reveal the rest of Elfman's face.
"Elfman!" everyone exclaimed.
"Is he alive?" Juvia questioned.
"I don't know," Erza replied. "Let me see." She felt for a pulse on the manly wizard's neck, nodding to Elfman's status. "He's alive and a bit wet, but unconscious."
"Who put him there?" Lucy wondered out loud. "Who would want to move him so we'd be scared, but not kill him? I would say the murderer of Master, but... this doesn't add up."
"Someone who has an agenda against the Master, but... a friend of Elfman?" Erza said as she ran through the different people that could have done both. "But you're right about it not adding up."
"Juvia has a suggestion. What if there are two different guild members with two different goals? One to kill Master Makarov, and one to terrorize the rest of us?" Juvia said.
"Or one person who wanted to kill the old man, and someone else who wanted to keep Elfman out of danger," Gray said. "So they'd take Elfman and somehow move him from the guildhall to the library."
"But that means they would have had to sneak away when we found Gramp's body," Natsu pointed out. "Wouldn't have they needed to know Gramps was goin' to die?"
Erza, meanwhile, pulled Elfman's body out from the boxes and into the open. "If I were to wager a guess," Erza said, "I would say that the same person who killed Master also moved Elfman but didn't have the heart to kill him - or, as Juvia said, rather strike fear into our hearts. Looking through the list of people that seemed to be missing when we found Master, but subtracting those who would have no way of carrying Elfman while taking into account those who have the magic capable of doing so, I would say the only ones left would be... Gajeel, Droy, and Max."
"Max? Carrying Elfman? Pssh, not possible," Natsu replied, waving his hand. "Plus, I saw Max and Gajeel...I think."
"But wasn't Mira also missing?" Gray asked.
"She was right next to Master's body the entire time," Lucy reminded him. "Mirajane is the one person who couldn't have moved Elfman."
"You sure Mira didn't move Elfman? I think it's her."
"I, for one, would think that Lissana would want Elfman out of harm's way..."
"So would Evergreen! Aren't they a thing now?"
"Yes! One less love rival for Juvia's Gray-sama."
Erza glared at them. "Your debating will get us nowhere," she said. "We will only point out what we think we saw - maybe Pantherlily was behind Levy for a second, so you didn't see him? What if you only recall not seeing Bickslow because he was standing right behind you, or not finding Lissana because you weren't paying attention? And Lucy, Juvia, Evergreen and Elfman are not going to happen."
Juvia deflated. Lucy blinked. "But... aren't they a couple?"
"Why don't we move Elfman to the center of the guildhall, and call of the search?" Erza continued. "We have found Elfman, and I am positive that Natsu, Gajeel, or Wendy would have sniffed out any intruders by now."
"Not a thing," Natsu agreed. "No strange smells here."
"Why couldn't you have sniffed Elfman out earlier...?"
Natsu thought about the question for a moment before realization dawned on him that he could have found Elfman within minutes if he'd used his nose. Lucy and Gray face palmed while Erza seethed.
A few minutes later, the team of now six walked back down the hallway to the main hall. The lacrima lights seemed to be broken, making the hall pitch black. Juvia led in the front, Erza and Lucy a bit behind her. Natsu and Gray brought up the rear as they supported Elfman. They would jump constantly every time a floorboard would creak underneath someone's foot, heads whipping from side to side, making the trip a lot longer than the minute it should have been.
"Juvia thinks," the Rain Woman said suddenly from her place in the front of the group, "That Juvia knows who the murderer is."
Everyone present spun around to look at her. "Who? Who is it?" Erza demanded.
Juvia blinked a few times, opening her mouth to speak. However, the name she was going to say was lost forever as there was a shink. Juvia looked down in shock as a sword stuck out from her stomach before the eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed. There was a gasp as the attacker, hidden in shadows, quickly ran away with heavy footsteps before anyone could react.