Sorry for the wait on this. It was kinda hard to find the best way to fit all of the info in this chapter but if there is any confusion or if you have a question about it, you can private message me and I will try to help you get it ;). Here is chapter 4…

Natsu rested his head down on the bar counter. His mind was spinning with thoughts. It had been three months since Lucy had left the guild (remember that time goes faster in the spirit world.)

Everything had gone downhill. The guild Sabertooth began to take over the people of Magnolia. When Lucy left, the rent on her place was sent to the guild. For some reason she hadn't returned there since the day she was relived from the guild. No one knew where she was. Rarely did Fairy tail get important job requests, and if they did, it would be something that any normal person could do.

"Natsu are you ok?" Mirajane asked while wiping down a beer mug.

"No. I miss Lucy"

"Well, I wish we knew where she went to, and if she's safe."

"I should have gone with her." He pounded the table with frustration, trying to release the guilt and anger he had. Natsu believed that the reason everything was falling apart was because of the disappearance of Lucy. He was sure everyone else felt the same way.

Sabertooth wasn't much of a problem before. They would leave Fairy Tail alone unless it was at the Magic Games. Then they suddenly started getting on Fairy Tails nerves for some reason.

Suddenly, the door to the guild hall slammed open.

Everyone who was in the guild turned towards the figure that stood there. A young boy, about the same age a Romeo, with scrappy clothes and sloppy hair was panting for breath. He had scrapes all over his arms, legs, and face.

"W-where is-"the words muttered out of his lungs as he fell to the ground.

Natsu, Grey, and Erza ran to aid him. "What's wrong are you alright?"

"I need-"he was so exhausted, they could barely tell what he was saying. They could tell that he was struggling to keep his consciousness.

"Gramps, we need help."

The small master came into view. He struggled to see through all the guild members that had gathered to see the boy.

"Out of the way." He froze when he came to see the boy. "Eli!" Makarov fell to his knees next to the boy.

"Master, who is this boy?" Erza joined him on the ground.

"Eli Pardee, he is the forest mage of time." Master started to check his wounds.

"What!" Natsu was startled. I thought they had all died, what does this mean then. Did Lucy not tell us in order to protect them?

"I-I need to…" and that was it. His consciousness parted with him as he went into a dark slumber.

"Get him to the infirmary!"

(*~*~*~*~*)

Natsu stared into the closed eyes of Eli as he slept in the bed. The large crowd from before had died down but their confusion and questions made things uneasy.

Cana turned to the master, he was sitting as close to Eli as he could, "Master, didn't all of the Forest Mages die."

"Yes, but something is going on that I don't understand. When this boy wakes I will be the one to ask all the questions."

"What about Lucy?" Grey was next to Natsu, just as curious.

Makarov's face saddened, "Maybe we were wrong."

"Mnnhm," Eli shifted in his sleep, finally his eyes opened.

"Eli!" master tried not to shout but failed. "What happened?"

Eli slowly sat up in the bed. His eyes wandered from one mage to the next. "Where is Lucy?"

The room went silent; Natsu almost glanced around to see if his friend was somehow with him.

His voice grew louder, "I need Lucy Heartfelia, where is she?"

"I'm afraid she's not with us anymore," master replied.

"Then I need to find her," Eli pushed himself up but slowly fell back down as his head started to spin.

"I need to ask you something."

Eli relaxed once more, "please hurry I'm running out of time." The last word he said froze him in deep thought.

"What happened to you?"

"I tried to find this guild so I could see if Lucy was here. A group of Sabertooth mages attacked me to stop me from coming. I barely escaped with my magic, but I think they know I'm here."

"Where is the rest of your family?"

"We were safely settled into the next town,"

"Then why were you said to be killed?"

"Well, there are two reasons for that." Eli looked down at his hands in guilt. "Sabertooth organized it all. At first, they told us how valuable we were and that transporting was very dangerous for us. They said that if we posed to be dead than our family would be safe."

Natsu focused more into the boy, "Sabertooth, why were they involved in this."

"They said we needed an escort but they refused to give it themselves. They told us the best person for the job would be Lucy. She was strong and could handle it alone, making our escort less noticeable, we trusted them so we posted a job request for her."

The pieces of the puzzle kept coming together in Natsu's head, Lucy.

"Everything was fine until Sabertooth attacked Lucy. It was unfair to have two dragon slayers against her." There was a lot of concern in Eli's voice.

"Those bastards." Grey said aloud. Natsu knew he was talking about Sting and Rouge.

"They said that attacking her was part of the plan and for us not to interfere. They beat Lucy and we went on as supposedly dead from then on."

"But why Lucy?"

"My sister later told me that our escort had nothing to do with us at all. They knew of the punishment you would give her if she had failed. All they wanted was to get Lucy out of the picture."

Master's face looked so guilty, "Lucy." Tears started rolling down his face.

"Do you think Sabertooth took her?" Erza spoke out.

"I'm not sure; I wanted to come here first. I have to look for her where ever she may be." He stood up from the bed with confidence. "I advise that every one in this guild evacuate and leave Magnolia at once."

"Why would we leave, that's not manly?" Elfman exclaimed.

"I sense something coming that could destroy us all." (dun dun duuuun )

A loud piercing screech sounded from outside. Natsu dashed out of the guild hall into the open streets. Behind him, the rest of the guild followed along with Eli.

SKRREEEEAAAAAACHH- it was closer this time. Eli joined Natsu's side.

"I need Lucy Heartfelia; she is the only one who can stop this."

What could be coming there way? Will Lucy leave the comfort of the spirit world to help her old friends? Find out in the next chapter…