Revolution
Chapter 3: Painful Recollections
"This is the first time I've heard of there being any witness to the attack, besides the converted ones." Lahar added spectutively, his eyes falling on top of the cat. "If you don't mind, could you tell me what actually happened?"
Happy nodded softly, taking a sip of the glass of water Lisanna offered. She sat comfortingly besides him, stroking his fur softly as he cleared his throat. "We were just supposed to be doing a check-up on a job for a favor for Mirajane..."
"Lucy!" Natsu grumbled grumpily.
"What is it now?" Lucy sighed, readjusting her bag on her shoulders. She wore a plain white tee and three-quarter length jeans around her hips as the summer heat warmed against her skin. Trees rustled in the warm evening breeze as the sun was slipping down towards the horizon with the faint humidity in the air that told them of the storm coming above them. They had been walking through the tree for a while, where a house stayed. Inside, they were supposed to be meeting the owner who had put up a job but missed out a few detailed bits of information, for example the jewels one had to pay.
"I'm bored." Natsu whined.
"Yeah, well I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you." The girl sarcastically replied. She couldn't blame Natsu for acting as he did. After all, she did drag him along with her after she heard stories about monsters and children going missing in the same woods they were walking through. But after two hours of getting to know the woods, it was kind of peaceful with beautifully tall oak trees.
"I'm Happy." Happy played a long, winding Natsu up playful. The dragon slayer just gave him a sharp scowl, and continued to pick up sticks and whip them against tree trunks until they shattered into several pieces.
"Where is this house?" Lucy exclaimed in frustration. She was getting tired and irritable and there was still not house to be found. "We should just head back and tell Mira to cancel the job application."
"That's mean Lucy." Happy scolded.
"Yeah, from the sounds of it, this person is having a hard time." Natsu added. "Being harassed by monsters and such can be hard for normal people."
"Now you're just sounding arrogant." Lucy bit back sourly.
"No I'm not." Natsu proclaimed. "I'm just super strong is all, and that person's probably just weak. But its okay, if it's just a few monsters, I'll beat them to a pulp."
"Natsu, you just contradicted yourself." Happy commented.
"Anyway," Lucy cut in. "We're not here to do the job. We're just supposed to be finding some extra information about it for someone else to do."
"Well while we're here, why not do the job?" Natsu shrugged. "I could do with a work out." The dragon slayer began stretching as he walked, doing lunges and such as if he was about to go swimming or something or other.
"Natsu." Lucy grumbled. Just as she did, she caught something in the corner of her eye. It was a small brown log cabin hidden by a dense cluster of trees. "There it is!" She squealed excitedly. Natsu perked up instantly, and followed Lucy as she sped up to reach the house.
Lucy cheerfully knocked against the wooden door and waited for it to open. But it never did. Lucy knocked and knocked again, growing more and more frustrated with every following silence.
"Maybe they're out." Happy suggested.
"They better not be!" Lucy hissed and continued to bang on the door. "I didn't walk through a forest for two hours for nothing."
"Um...Lucy." Natsu tried to cut in, but Lucy was already too mad.
"It's too dangerous to go near her now Natsu..." Happy spoke consolingly, resting a hand on his shoulder. Natsu nodded in agreement.
"Maybe if I just..." Lucy grinned, reaching for the door handle. Before her fingers could, the door creaked open. Natsu, Happy and Lucy all froze as they stared bewildered at the door.
"Lucy! Breaking in is a crime." Happy gasped dramatically.
"I didn't open it!" Lucy protested, turning around to scowl at the cat. As she did, the door creaked open further. Something glinted in the spilling sunlight in the dragon slayer's eyes as the door creaked open.
"Is someone the-" Lucy began to speak.
"LUCY DUCK!" Natsu snapped, diving forwards. The door swung open and Natsu tackled the girl to the ground. Arrows whistled passed their ears and brushed their skin as they crashed against the floor.
Natsu hissed sharply, quickly leaping up from the girl. Flames burst through around his hands like gloves of fire, dark eyes shooting around in awareness.
"Natsu! Lucy!" Happy cried, zooming quickly towards Lucy who was picking herself quickly up from the ground. She had her hand resting on her keys and whip at her sides.
"What the hell was that?" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes darting to the door. A mechanical weapon with empty arrow slots sat in the doorway. It was triggered as the door opened, but Lucy remembered she didn't open it. But then who-
The crash of a gunshot echoed in the woods as dirt tore up at the mage's feet. "A- A gun!" Lucy exclaimed. Bullets hammered into the ground inches from their feet. Natsu and Lucy scattered backwards away from the bullets and the cabin. By the time they were back to back with the trees, the cabin door swung open again.
People began to pour out of the doors, turning on the wizards. In their hands they held weapons, freshly sharpened and pointing at them; Crossbows, guns, throwing knives, swords, and daggers. "What's going on?" Lucy exclaimed, watching the weapons fearfully.
"Who are you?" Natsu growled, his flames bursting a little brighter.
"We're here to save you!" One of them cried with a happy cheer.
"See!" Another one exclaimed, their finger pointing towards Natsu. "You're already beginning to be purged."
"What do you-" Natsu began, but then his eyes fell onto his flames. "What the-" The roared flames on his hands began to flicker and sway, their lit growing dimmer and dimmer until it was almost completely gone.
"Natsu, your flames!" Lucy shouted in surprise, staring at his bare hands. The dragon slayer tried and tried again to summon his magic, but he couldn't. "What did you do to him?" Lucy screamed, her hand moving to swipe a key from her belt.
A sharp whistle whizzed past her as the arrow skimmed her waist. It crashed into her keys and they flew off. Her keys were gone. Before she could reach to retrieve them, one of the people had already swiped the arrow and keys from where the arrow had landed. Lucy looked up and saw the empty bow in the hands of a man perched in the tree. He gave her a soft grin of satisfaction. There wasn't just the one of him, there were many of them crouched in the trees, stalking them from above.
"W- W- What's going on?" Lucy whimpered, feeling a sick sensation of fear boiling up in her throat.
"I don't know..." Natsu uttered, his face beginning to turn pale. Lucy only just noticed the hand pressed against his arm. Red liquid seeped through his fingers as his body swayed from side to side. He must have been cut when he was protecting her from the arrows. They needed to get away or else it was going to take a turn for a worse. With no magic, it would be impossible to fight all those guys at once. They needed to retreat.
Lucy thought of a quick diversion, and casted her whip against the ground. The leather cut across the top of the soil, sending it scattering into the air. Dirt rose up like a smoke bomb, breaking the line of sight for even the ones in the trees.
"Quick Natsu." Lucy called, catching the slayer by the arm and darting out through the trees.
Rain began to splash through the canopy as a shower rapidly poured from the sky. Black clouds clotted over the summer blue skies and the crash of thunder echoed with the howl of the hunters. Their prey scattered through the dense, inhabited trees, desperately looking for a way to escape.
"What can we do Lucy?" Happy cried. "It took us two hours to get here, there's no way we can make a quick escape!" The cat shouted in panic.
"I know, I know." Lucy whined, dragging the wet hair from out of her face. Natsu tried his best to run besides them but was significantly slowing down compared to his usual standard. He was still fast, but Lucy was already worrying about the rate of his body. Was it his magic that was affecting him or was it something else.
"They went this way!" A voice called out in the distant with a rallied cheer behind him. Trees rustled in the wind ominously as the sounds of high branches snapping echoed around them. Lucy was struggling to define which humans were or which the storm was.
"There a clearing!" Lucy shouted, seeing a break in the woods. They turned and headed straight for it. Lucy broke out first, feeling haven away from the tree tops that came to an almost instant stop. "Stop!" Lucy squealed, as Natsu almost flew straight off the cliff edge. Happy caught him and dragged him back before he was able to fall.
"Dammit, we're stuck!" Lucy snapped.
"Can't we just go back?" Happy suggested.
"No, look." Natsu growled. Dark figures were already lining up in the distance with a line that they wouldn't be able to break through while they were carrying long ranged weapons. Natsu staggered forwards, almost dropping over.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted in shock. Natsu regained himself and stood forwards looking on. "Natsu, what do we do?"
Happy fell silent, and looked at the guild members who silently listened. "And you know the rest." He added quietly, taking a final drink from his glass. Lisanna relieved him of it and set it on the bedside table.
"I see." Lahar spoke hesitantly.
"Thank you for telling us, Happy." Dranbolt smiled thankfully, but his face fell quickly after.
"They were ambushed...So there really are people targeting wizards." Gray commented. "I mean, I knew there were people who didn't like magic, but...it's still hard to take in."
"It's scary to think how they've already managed to find ways to stop our magic." Lisanna added.
Just as Erza was about to speak, a harsh set of coughs broke her speech. The dragon slayer coughed violently, as his body threw himself onto his side. "Natsu!" Erza exclaimed.
Lisanna and Gray were the first to his side. Lisanna pulled up Natsu's head and Gray managed to sit him up. Blood splattered from his mouth into a bowl Erza provided.
Makarov managed to slip him a glass of water which he chugged down as quickly as he could. When he started to choke on his drink, Erza snatched it back out of his hand. A minute or so later, the dragon slayer managed to settle, and Gray let him slip back down onto the bed.
"What happened?" The dragon slayer croaked. "I hurt everywhere."
Gray hesitated, unsure what to say. Erza took the weight off his shoulders, and spoke for him. "You were attacked and got a cut from a poison arrow. Wendy had to use her air magic to separate the poison from your blood and pull it out. You've been asleep for the last seven hours."
On his weak face, he seemed to slightly understand what she was saying, but the effects of Wendy's magic seemed to make him groggy and his mind seemed preoccupied with something else. His pale black eyes looked up and around at the people hovering over him. But instantly, he knew one was missing. "Where's Lucy?" Natsu grumbled.
No one spoke, and awareness instantly came back into his face. "Where's Lucy?" He asked again. "Where is she?" Still, no one spoke. Everyone painfully watched in silence as the memories flooded back into his mind and everything dawned on him. Although he passed out before Lucy left, he wasn't stupid enough to miss what everyone's face was saying.
Natsu gathered what little strength he had and pushed his body up. A firm hand set sharply down on his shoulder, stopping him midway. "And where the hell do you think you're going?" Gray growled.
"I'm going to find her!" Natsu whispered as loud as he could. After all the tortured screaming, he seemed barely able to raise his voice past a quiet grumble.
"No you won't." Gray snapped back. "You can barely get yourself out of bed, never mind going out to find her. You're magic isn't back yet."
Flames leapt up around the dragon slayer's hand, burning Gray's shirt to a crisp where he held it. The flames flickered and were easily swayed but they didn't disappear. It would have been believable if it wasn't for his face. Sweat dripped down from his forehead where his eye brows furrowed in concentration, just trying to keep the flame still.
"You'll stay where you are, Natsu." Makarov growled. "Leave it to us to find Lucy."
"But she could be hurt." Natsu snapped back, his flames diminishing. "I've got to find her."
A hesitation passed over the man's old face as he thought back to Happy's recollection of the gun fire after Natsu had fallen unconscious. "You're useless to her in this state. You got out that door and you'll collapse again. Then what good will you are doing to her?"
"I don't care!" The dragon slayer barked. "I've got to go find her. She's waiting for me!"
"Don't get arrogant!" Makarov snapped, his hand catching the back of the dragon slayer's head viciously.
"Whoa, Gramps." Gray exclaimed, as Natsu almost keeled over.
"You stupid little brat!" Makarov continued to rant. "Get over yourself! Do you think you're alone? Do you think we're sat around here doing nothing? Do you think we're leaving Lucy out there?"
Natsu turned back silently, staring at the man in shock.
"We care about Lucy too. We're trying our best to find her. If you go out there now you'll just be a hindrance and making it harder to find her. You'll do your best sat here in this bed until you gather the strength and the brains to find her!" Makarov shouted. The little old man heaved a deep sigh, turned and marched straight to the guild door.
"Sorry." Natsu's voice caught his ear. The dragon slayer looked down at the white sheets. His hands twisted the fabric into his fists and his head hung from his shoulders. "I'm sorry." he repeated, dropping his head into his hands.
"As long as you understand." Makarov replied, before continuing out of the door. "Dranbolt, Lahar come with me!" He called back. The two jumped up and quickly left after the man, with Lisanna following wordlessly behind.
Makarov appeared a moment later, shooing Wendy and Carla into the infirmary. He stood at the door and watched as Wendy and Carla looked relieved to see the dragon slayer awake.
"Natsu, do you feel alright?" Wendy asked cautiously. The dragon slayer nodded slowly.
"My body hurts everywhere but I'm fine." Natsu grumbled, as he propped himself up with a pillow against the back of the bed. Happy managed to move onto the dragon slayer's bed, staying a safe distance at the other end.
"That's good." Wendy sighed.
"Thanks, Wendy." Natsu appreciated.
"It's okay." The girl smiled soflty, sitting into a spare chair that Lisanna left behind. Erza and Gray sat on the vacant bed closest and Carla sat with Wendy.
"Good. Now you've all gathered here, you can get some rest." Makarov commanded with his still irritated and grumpy tone. "You all look terrible." The door shut behind them, leaving the group staring at the closed door.
"You all do look terrible." Gray commented bitterly.
"You look worse." Natsu grumbled back. Gray went to retort, but Natsu had already fallen back into slumber. He must have been exhausted. Although he was unconscious for most of Wendy's treatment, he had only been asleep for the past two hours.
"I think we better take the Master's advice." Gray suggested, rolling back onto the bed, with his arms tucked behind his head.
"Gray-" Erza turned, but before she said anything else, he too was already completely out. Erza sighed and pulled the blanket over him, and settled the dragon slayer back down flat again before finding her own bed to lie on. Wendy offered to Happy if he wanted to sleep with her, but he insisted on staying with the dragon slayer. And so, Wendy went and slept with Carla in another bed, and Happy eventually drifted off on the end of the dragon slayer's bed.
"Gray!" Cana called, with the thunder of her feet up the stairs. The ice mage jolted awake with the sound of the door bursting open. He leapt up from the bed, brushing back his tangle of hair to find his out of focus black eyes. Her long brown hair swept around the doorway as she rasped for breath. "They've found Lucy!"
Next Sunday; Collapse
When Natsu and the guild finally find Lucy, is it what they expected? Or have they been lead into a trap?
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-A-ccentric