Chapter 12: Roar
" Flame thrower!"
" Iceberg!"
" Ash Hole!"
" Popsicle!"
" Crazy Flame Spewer!"
" Ice minty fresh! "
Mira smiled as she put down a slice of strawberry cake in front of Erza, who had a huge tick mark on her head and her hands were gripping the table so hard it cracked as she tried to control her urge to beat the crap outta Natsu and Gray.
" Happy, get back here with my manuscript you baka neko!" Lucy screeched, chasing after Happy, who was flying around the guild hall with a stack of papers in paw, with Lucy chasing after him, vaulting over tables and guild members like a crazed athlete.
" Waaa! Lushee's being mean!" Happy flew away from Lucy screaming, Lucy's face turned red, and she screamed,
" Mean?! You're the one flying away with my manuscript!"
Jumping over another table, along with a gaping Elfman and Lisanna, she continued chasing after Happy,
"Running is for MEN!" Elfman shouted, pumping his fist to the air.
" I didn't know Lucy-chan could do that..." Lisanna gaped openly as Lucy leaped over yet another table.
" I'm a WOMAN for Mavis's sakes!" Lucy screamed at Elfman, sliding under a table and grabbing Happy by his tail.
" Gotcha!" Lucy emitted a black aura, her hair was floated and her eyes glowed red,snatching back her manuscript, she intoned,
" Happy..."
A chill went down Happy's spine, making his blue fur stand on end as he cowered under Lucy's deathglare,
" What should i make out of you...?" She said, running her finger through Happy's fur, " A scarf? Gloves? Oh, i know! A sweater!" She grinned evilly, then she grabbed him by his cheeks, pulled hard and said,
" Who put you up to this?"
" N-N-Nob-body L-Lushee! " Happy stammered out his squished cheeks.
" W.H.O. WHO?" Lucy growled out, pulling his cheeks,"And for the millionth time, its LUCY not LUSHEE, you baka ne-"
As if by some sort of instinct, she tilted her head to the side slightly just as a bar stool flew past her from behind, then her head returned back to its normal position and she continued interrogating the poor exceed.
Lisanna's jaw dropped even further,and she tilted her head to look at her sister,
" How long has Lucy-chan been in Fairy Tail,Mira-nee?"
Mira tapped her chin in thought, then she said,
" Hmm, excluding the 7 years we were on Tenrou, she's only been here for more than a year i think?"
" Only more than a year and she has already learnt the legendary Fairy Tail skill?! The 'dodging-flying-objects-without-even-thinking-about-it'?! " Lisanna pouted and folded her arms, "That's unfair! It took me two and a half to learn it!"
" Hmm, considering the fact that she together in a team with Natsu, Gray AND Erza, its no wonder that she learnt it so fast." A glass bottle few and it broke when it came in contact with Mirajane's forehead, still smiling even though a trail of blood was flowing down from the wound.
" Ha ha..hahaha..." Lisanna laughed, looking at the blood on her sister's forehead warily, "It must've been hard on her, going on dangerous missions with equally as dangerous team mates."
" Hai hai, but it is because of them,she is who she is today, i'm sure you've heard of most of their adventures right?"
Lisanna nodded and said almost wistfully,
" I'd be lying to say i'm not the slightest bit jealous of their relationship, but it was because of the many things they've been through that make Lucy...well...Lucy!" Lisanna smiled, then suddenly, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, and her smile turned into a grin, " BUT it is BECAUSE of they're so close to each other, that we're going to have so much fun aren't we,Mira-nee?"
" You've been planning something with Tenebre-san haven't you,Mira-nee?"
Mira grinned sheepishly at Lisanna,
" I've been caught red handed!" She raised her hands in mock defeat,then she put a finger to her lips, "Keep this a secret from the other girls first,would cha? Cause this time, this time I SWEAR, it will work!"
" Hai hai,Mira-nee, but on one condition," Lissana put out one finger,and said, "You HAVE to somehow, one way of another, include me in your plans."
" Ara ara,looks like this has awakened the inner demon in you eh? Hai hai,i will." Mira said,taking out her handkerchief to wipe off the blood on her head.
" Say, talking about Tenebre, where is she?" Lisanna asked, looking around, "She was here with some black haired hottie just now..."
"Oh Tenebre! I totally forgot! " Mira exclaimed, " Lucy! Come here for a sec, and stop bullying the poor thing already, i'm sure he had a good reason for borrowing your manuscript."
"Hmph! Good reason to annoy me perhaps?"
Lucy let go of Happy's collar, and he zipped into Mira's arms, crying,
" Waahhh! Lushee's mean!"
" WHO YOU CALLIN-"
"Ara ara,Lucy calm down,you get wrinkles if you scowl so much."
Lucy immediately calmed down, taking a few deep breaths, she sighed,
" So,what is it that you wanted to talk about Mira-san?"
" Ah! Its about Tenebre, she left without you, saying she had things to settle and that she'll meet you back at your apartment by tonight."
" Things to settle? She didn't say anything about it...And who was that guy together with her?" Lucy asked,
" Oh Dante-san! Quite a looker isn't he? And he's a demon, like a real living breathing demon! " Mira said excitedly, " I can't wait for our match!"
" Match?" Lucy and Lisanna echoed quizzically,
" Yep,match! I wanted to see if my Takeover is on par with a real demon!" Mira chirped happily,
Lucy and Lisanna shivered when they thought about the match, Mira the demon versus Dante the real demon, just thinking about it would render anyone sleepless of at least 3 nights.
" Hmm, but how did Tenebre get a demon as a familiar? And come to think about, we don't really know much about her and her magic, do you know anything Lucy?" Mira asked, Lucy opened her mouth to reply,but was interrupted by a loud crash and a horrified gasp,
"MY...CAKE!"
The guild was deadly silent as they looked at the poor idiot who toppled over Erza's table along with her half eaten cake, the poor idiot that happened to be Gray Fullbuster.
" Grrrrrraaaaay...!" Erza growled, lifting him by his collar,
"E-E-Erza! I-It's not m-m-my fault," Gray stammered," O-Oi Flame Brain! Why did you...Natsu?"
Everone looked at Natsu at Gray's confused look and voice as Natsu looked intently at the guild's entrance,
" Oi Metal Head, Wendy, did you hear that?"
The both of them nodded and walked towards him,
" Was that what i think it is?" Wendy asked,
" What is what you think it is?" Charla looked at Wendy quizzically,
" That sound we heard just now, do you really think it is them?" Wendy looked at her two 'older brothers',
Gajeel chomped off the last of his metal meal, "It's been 14 damn years since they've went POOF, don't you think its weird that we suddenly hear it, i think its just a fluke that we heard the same thing."
Then all three of their ears twitched,
" Or maybe not, that is definitely a roar." Gajeel said.
" Roar?" the entire guild echoed,
" Let's go check it out!" Natsu charged out the guild doors, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake,
"Ah! Natsu-san! Wait for me!" Wendy small feet pattered on the dirt ground, trying to catch up to Natsu and she tripped on a pebble she didn't see,
"Eep!"
She felt a firm grip on her collar and Gajeel pulled her up, plopping her onto his back,
"Hold on tight." He simply mumbled and ran after Natsu.
Left behind in their dust, was a silent and confused guild,
" What was that about?" Lucy said, a perplexed look on her face.
Using their acute sense of smell and hearing, they followed the scent and smell of the thing that might lead them to their long lost parents, and soon enough, they found themselves outside the borders of Magnolia, looking at the dense forest in front of them.
" Yep,this is definitely the smell of a dragon." Gajeel said,putting a frazzled looking Wendy down from his back,
ROOOOAAAARRRR!
" That sounded close, come on, let's go!" Natsu ran into the forest, excitement on his face,
"Wait." Gajeel yanked at his scarf, "I smell blood."
" And a familiar scent." Wendy thought, trying to figure out where she smelled it before.
" Let's just go and see!" Natsu yelled,and pulled Wendy and Gajeel together with him as he jumped through the a bush.
" The smell's getting stronger..." Wendy murmured.
When they popped out of the bushes, they stood there stunned at what was before them.
" Tenebre-san?" Wendy said,surprised,
"DRAGON?!" Natsu and Gajeel shouted, gaping like idiots,
Tenebre's eyes widened in surprise, Natsu sniffed the air, he smelled Tenebre's scent, laced with surprise and...guilt? Why guilt? He thought. She did nothing to feel guilty.
"Oi Weird Eyes ! Why are you with a dragon?!" Gajeel growled,
" Two dragons!" Natsu added, pointing at Anguis, smelling the scent of a dragon on him, though it smelled weird and vaguely like one of Lucy's celestial spirits, it was definitely the scent of one.
" Do you know where Igneel/Metalicana/Grandine is?!" All three of them shouted.
"I'm...I...I can't tell you! N-Not yet!" Tenebre stammered, the scent of guilt rolling off her in waves,
" WHY?!" Gajeel shouted, his arm turning into a metal pole,
" What have you done to Igneel?!" Natsu felt his body burst into flames.
" Do you know where Grandine is, Dragon-san?" Wendy looked at crystal-scaled dragon and asked, desperation in her eyes and her voice,
The dragon looked at Tenebre then back at them,
" I'm afraid i cannot answer your plea,Child of Grandine,only the Gatekeeper can."
"Tenebre-san,please!" Wendy looked at Tenebre desperately,making Tenebre clench her fist tighter,the scent of blood becoming stronger,
"TELL ME TENEBRE! WHERE IS IGNEEL/METALICANA?!" Both Natsu and Gajeel shouted,
A bright light flashed from behind the dragon,and a gate appeared.
The scent of the dragons hit them hard,and not just any dragon's scent,their parent's scent,they looked around frantically,and saw that it came from the gate that appeared behind the dragon.
Tenebre and Anguis was instantly beside the gate,Anguis crossed over first,then the dragon,and before Tenebre crossed,she looked back at the three of them,and said,
" I'm so so sorry, i'll explain everything when i return, help me tell Lucy that i won't be back for a few days. And Natsu, please keep Lucy in your sight all times, i can't say much, but she's in danger. And one more thing, please try to remember what all three of your parents taught you, especially the part about your mates."
Tenebre then disappeared along with the gate, leaving the dragonslayers standing there, unable to process the turmoil of emotions swirling in their chests.
" Lucy's in danger?" Natsu whispered,his knuckles turning white,"Mate?"
" What about it?" Gajeel smashed his fist against a tree, " The word 'mate' tells us NOTHING about where they are! And what's with that gate thingy? I'm sure the both of you smelled it too."
"Grandine..." Wendy sobbed, tears falling down her cheeks.
Natsu was barely listening to them,the two words 'Lucy' and 'danger' were still swirling around his head, he had a weird feeling in his stomach and his chest, it was as if someone was turning his stomach inside out, twisting his guts into knots and squeezing his heart into smithereens.
" Lucy...Danger..." He murmured to himself,
" Oi Salamander! You listening? " Gajeel shouted, "What did she mean by bunny-girl being in danger?"
" I don't know." He growled,"But the moment Tenebre comes back from wherever she is, i'm beating the crap outta her till she tells me exactly what's going on."
And with that, he ran out of the forest, back into Magnolia, running straight to where Lucy is.
AN: Just a small heads up, since school's starting in like 3 days or so ( SIGH ), i might not be able to update so often, but no worries,i'm not abandoning this story, i just might not be able to update often with major exams coming up,cutting down of my computer time and possible confiscation of my phone ( NOOOO! ), but i'll try my best!
Thank you all for supporting this story,and i hope that all of you continue to do so!
But seriously, does anyone even read these notes?
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~