Sorry it's been a while since I uploaded guys. I know, how irresponsible of me, right? Also, did you guys hear? FAIRY TAIL ANIME IS GOING TO BE RESTARTING! HURRAY! The air date hasn't been released yet, but it can't be long! EEP! I'm so excited. Anyway, you can all be happy to hear that chapter five is now typed up. See, I write my stories on paper before I type them up. That way, I can write them during boring classes at Tollbar (My school) ;)

Glass Hearts
Chapter 5: Dark Feathers

What you guys talking about?" A voice cheerfully asked as a pair of brown boots came into view of Gray's down casted gaze. Lifting his head up again quickly, he almost jumped out of his skin. "Ah! Lucy!" he gasped, falling backwards. Obviously enough, the ice mage ended up going for a swim. Lucy shielded her face from the splash of over flowing water with her arm, laughing in hysteria, along with everyone else. The celestial wizard felt a final sense of relief as she caught the glimmer of a grin on the dragon slayer's face. It'd been a while since she seen it, and she had missed it dearly. Although the smile seemed more to himself than Gray, she didn't mind. It was a smile, and she was taking it. Erza had a similar smile taunting on her lips through her small chuckles at the irritated and soaking Gray.

Happy circled around the Gray boy's head calling "Man overboard! Man overboard!" like a siren, in between his fits of laughter.

After calming down, Lucy, Wendy and the exceeds lead the drenched ice mage, dry dragon slayer and reequip wizard to a small inn.

Small seemed like the wrong choice of words. This small inn, as Lucy had described it, was actually five-stories high. Yellow bricks towered over them, sky scraping above all the other buildings in the city. All the dumbfounded wizards followed the leading mage's in through a pair of humongous, carved wooden doors. They were gobsmacked again. Expensive plush couches, royal pink walls, warm red floors and real varnished oak furniture of the best quality, suck-punched them in the gut with pride. Clusters of very rich and fancy-dressed people gather in the lobby as bell hops and maids scuttered through side doors and hurrying after luggage. Lucy smiled and waved at the man behind the counter. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans, thin shirt, loose tie and sneakers, he looked just as misplaced as the rest of them, surround by such extravagant things. Short spiky hair hung from his almost flawless tanned face, protruding his brilliantly crystal-blue eyes. "Miss Heartfilia, what a pleasant surprise." The man waved flashing a brilliant movie-star smile.

"Hello, ." the celestial mage greeted back cheerfully.

"Ah, these must be the rest of Fairy Tail's strongest team." The man beamed at each one individually. "Titania, as lovely as the rumors say. Wendy Marvell, the air dragon slayer, as adorable as I've heard, and her very intelligent companion." He sent a quick wink towards the two girls and both lit up with tiny blushes. "Gray Fullbuster, you'll have to give me an example of your famous Ice make magic sometime." Mr. Honda reached out with a hand, and Gray shook it pleasantly. Next, his eyes shifted onto the pink-haired boy, who replied with an anxious stare. "And last but not least, Natsu Dragneel, a.k.a, the salamander." There was an abrupt shift in atmosphere as the two locked a strong intense stare. Mr. Honda was the first to cut it off, moving over to the blue feline stood close. "And of course, Happy, the courageous blue feline companion." Happy's head must have doubled to have contained the amount of pride that sparkled in his big black eyes. "Then, there is little lady Lucy Heartfilia, the celestial wizard- Oh, but I see you are not quite that little anymore." Lucy gave a little innocent laugh, staring at the man with warm eyes.

"No, I'm all grown up now it seems." Lucy agreed playfully. "How's Lilianne?"

"All grown up too," A small tear pricked in his eye dramatically. "-travelling around Fiore with some friends. She said she was too old to stay with daddy anymore."

"Aha, you still haven't changed Mr. Honda." Lucy giggled at the man's overwhelming emotion and puppy dog eyes.

"Yet, you're all big!" The man gave a cheeky smile, moving up close to Lucy's ear. "So," he purred. "Which one of these is your boyfriend, then?"

"W- What?" Lucy exclaimed, her cheeks lighting up in a bright red for reasons that were unknown to her.

"Obviously it's one of these two handsome lads, no?" Mr. Honda laughed, nudging Lucy gently in the ribs.

"No. It's not." Lucy quickly regained into what seemed like Mr. Honda's type of joke and tried to play along.

"Oh. It's the cat then?" He asked, pointing at Happy, passing the faces of the utterly dumbfound faces of the group, verging between laughter, shock and a tingle of curiosity. "I never knew you were that kind of girl." Mr. Honda pondered, stroking his chin.

"No!" Lucy snapped, which seemed to melt into a tired whimper. "You can stop now."

"Okay, okay." he groaned, waving a hand at her. "You have your eye on one of them though, surely."

"Mr. Honda." Lucy groaned, giving him a long stare.

"Fine." he groaned again, waving his open palms in defeat. Mr. Honda turned on his heels and walked off to the desk in a little bit of a sulk.

"You know a lot of us, Mr. Honda." Erza stated curiously. The group walked at her tail, following the casual man up to the big round desk in the center of the room, manned by at least ten other people.

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked. No one answered, seeming as thought it was rhetorical. "It's only expected for a business man to find out who I'm hiring." he laughed, perking up from the desk with a shiny gold key.

"That does seem like a normal presumption." Erza mumbled to herself, apparently satisfied.

"You guys will be my honorary guest tonight, therefore I will book your stay in the penthouse, free of charge. You can begin your work tomorrow." The man generously decided, placing the golden key in Lucy's hands. His own hands clasped around her's, wrapping it up in her hands. "Now, go get some good rest." A tall bell hob made his way over, directing the girls and Happy upstairs. Gray and Natsu on the other hand, had been stopped.

stood in front of them, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes tense and serious, staring tightly at the two. "I wouldn't like to see you both going after my little lady." He warned, the constant smile dropping from his face. Blue icy eyes were baring into their souls, making them shiver a little in fright. It felt almost as scary as Lucy and Erza's gaze. "You got that? No one touches my little Lucy." He growled, a murderous intent sparking from his aura as he slowly stepped out of their way. Gray and Natsu hesitantly began to shuffle past him, blue eyes not slipping from cautiously watching them. "I'll know if you do." Mr. Honda's voice purred behind them. Icy shivers skated up their spines, flinching every inch of their body. It didn't take two thoughts to send the boys flying up the stairs after the group. They felt that piercing glare bare into their backs, until they were out of sight.

Finally, after many, many stairs, they arrived. Two plain white double doors with sparkling silver locks stood boldly ahead of them. The lock opened with newly-made ease and the door swung open with silent smoothness.

Three lavish white couches closed around a dark glass oval table, sat on a cream, fake-fut rug. Warm cotton throws and matching cream pillows decorated the cushions. Five doors separated by a probably expensive painting and a thick strip of white wall, was to their left. Ahead of them, past the open end of the enclosed living-room chairs was a sliding glass door. It opened out onto a shining marble balcony with a glass railing, letting you see almost below you. "Five bedrooms with en suites, balcony, lounge, with a small library and study. All of it making up the penthouse." Lucy commentated, attempting to mimic the voice of a real-estate markets man. Natsu didn't seem very impressed with it all. Strangely, the two seemed oddly cautious as they stepped inside, eyes narrowing on everything. Oh well, Natsu and Happy weren't really ones for high-class design. She wasn't taken by it that much either; She'd seen a lot when she was younger, but Hiro had his style. A deep sigh sailed out of the celestial wizards mouth. "I think I'll just go to bed." the girl decided, walking past the pearl whiteness of pretty much everything. Lucy stopped outside the four doors and chose the one second from the left. She seemed more than happy to slip behind it's white shield. After having Natsu chasing her tail all day, a chunk of wood between them was more than enough relief for her.

Natsu dropped down onto the couch, propping his feet up on to the glass and putting his hands behind his head. Dark eyes retraced where she had laid her feet. She was definitely escaping from him. If he wasn't there, would she be out here laughing? That was because something was up, and she realized a while back, that he had noticed it too. She just didn't want to tell him. Was that all their trust was worth? Natsu didn't really like thinking deep, but sometimes, he just couldn't help it.

"We should all get some rest, it's been a long day and it's late." Erza spoke allowed, making Natsu jump out of his thoughts. The red-head followed the blonde's lead, slipping into the door next to hers, the furthest on the left. They were separated by a painting of a vase and flowers sticking out of them. Sunflowers? Carla and Wendy moved to go into the room second from the right, with a painting of a ocean on one side and a desert on the other. Gray, Natsu and Happy would be left with the room furthest to the right and the middle room, which was next to Lucy's. And so, only those three remained in the room.

"So, what are we going to do about Lucy?" Gray sighed, falling onto one of the plush couches across from Natsu.

"Shush! She might hear you!" Natsu hushed, irritably.

"Can you hear her?" Gray shot back, looking like a calm but defiant teenagers.

"No." Natsu sighed, sinking further back into his seat.

"Then she can't hear me." Gray added, crossing one leg over the other and stretching his arms over the back of the couch. The couch look small compare to his outspread arm span. A dark eyebrow raised at Natsu, followed by a nudge of his chin.

"I don't know. She still won't tell us." Natsu groaned, sitting forward. Nothing seemed comfortable anymore. Not even a couch stuffed with probably thousands and thousands of feathers. It seemed to mold around him as his weight fitted into it. Happy settled beside Natsu, strangely quiet.

"It's frustrating." Gray growled, glancing over to Lucy's door with a irritated but gentle scowl. Something felt a little mad at the way he looked at her door, but Natsu dismissed it.

"It'll be OK." He had to say in the end, letting out one of the many sighs still caged up inside of him. Everything was so tiring.

"Yeah," Gray grumbled bluntly, his gaze trailing back to the glass table. "you said that." He added, softly. Dark eyes gave one last look in the dragon slayer's way and then he rose. The ice mage's shoulders dropped low in exhaustion as he trudged through the door, furthest to the right. He hadn't even hesitated to go to the room next to Lucy. Natsu would have stopped him if he did. Maybe he knew that.

"We should go to bed too, Haps." Natsu groaned, picking up his heavy body from the chair.

"Aye..." Happy muttered, flying passed the dragon slayer into the room ahead of him. Happy was upset. But, that was only natural. They all were. If only she'd tell us... As Natsu reached to turn the handle into the room after Happy, his eyes stopped on Lucy's door. Even with his dragon slayer hearing, he couldn't hear passed the door. That silence, was uncomfortable. His eyes went to move back to the door but stopped. The golden framed photograph between them caught his eye. It was a painting of two birds. One was trapped in a small cage, with a darkness slowly creeping through the bars. A shadowed black hands was clutching the struggling, yellow birds. It's golden feathers slowly turning black. Another bird, a blue bird, was desperately fighting on the edge of the cage, trying to open it. But the lock, was on the other side. Only the golden bird could open it. Natsu felt sick at the sight of the image. It hit home far too hard, almost knocking the breath out of him. That, Natsu thought, was the only painting in the world, that could be fit between their doors. Fate was a harsh guy. Dark eyes squeezed shut as he turned the door handle, slipping into his room for the night.

The next morning, lead them deep into the forest. They walked along an old abandoned path with overgrowth creeping in. Lucy hovered at the back, admiring the amber, gold, and fading green leaves as sunshine peaked through the canopy. There was so much distance in her brown eyes that glittered a honey-gold in the sunlight. She seemed so far away. So far that eve Natsu thought he could never reach her. Natsu fell back through the group, followed by Happy as they slipped into the blonde's step. "Hey, Luce!" Natsu greeted with as much cheerfulness as he could. With all the uneasy feelings churning in his stomach, it was hard to force a smile. But he did anyway. He missed how easy it was to smile in the morning at the celestial mage. "Luce?" Natsu asked again, staring nervously at the vacant expression on her face.

"Lucy~" Happy joined in, waving his paw frantically in front of her face, trying to hide his concerned panic. "HEY LUCY!" He yelled.

Lucy snapped back to reality sharply. Brown eyes darted towards them, scanning their faces. Once again, concern filled both of their eyes. "Where'd you go?" Happy asked, bounding through the air around them, suppressing his concerned expression. The blue feline must have picked it up from Natsu. They were one alike anyway. Now, she was worrying another person.

Lucy sent a quizzical look in the cat's direction, as if she was puzzled by the question. Unconsciously, Natsu reached his hand towards her. She flinched. Shocked, Natsu jerked back his hand, his eyes filled with hurt. A stomach knotting pain twisted inside his stomach like live iron, burning heavily against his gut. But what was hurting most of all, was his heart. It ached and struggled just to beat on. She'd flinched. Worry racketed through his body, bouncing off every wall on his skin. Something was wrong. So very, very wrong. That wasn't the first time she'd rejected his touch, in fact, she had done it so many times Natsu had lost count. It was on a regular basis. This time, it was different. He could see the goosebumps on her skin, her hair stand on end. Eyes full of fear. Just being stood next to her made him shiver. She was so cold, and he was only next to her. Yes, a few inches away, but the cold he felt made even his skin prickle. 'Ice cold' Was what he thought. Even without touching her, he knew that she wasn't just cold, but 'ice cold'.

"You three! Get down!" Erza hissed. Brown eyes were frozen on Natsu. Dark eyes were locked on Lucy's. Both just staring at each other with pure shock and utter dismay. Lucy never wanted to hurt Natsu. But, she had flinched. With that reflex, he had jerked his hand away, taking her heart along with it. It was true, it felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest. Her stomach was hurdling downwards. Her eyes wanted to crawl back away from the light. Her skin was biting at her now. Yes, she was cold before, but now, ice was skating up her spine.

"LUCY! NATSU!" A voice snapped. Both pairs of eyes jumped forwards where the rest of her team crouched low behind a small collection of shrubs.

Natsu moved a slow and cautious as he could, as he crouched down low near them. Lucy sank down beside Wendy.. They decided they would wait for the culprits to show their faces before they ambushed them. would stay behind the bushes until it was safe. Of course, Natsu would have tried to keep Lucy along side with the man so she was safe. The dragon slayer didn't doubt she was strong, not in the slightest. However, right now something was wrong with Lucy, and he wished her to be safe. One other thing the celestial wizard was, was brave and abnormally stubborn. There was no challenging it, she was coming with them.

Rustling vibrated through the air on the other side of the forest, dragging the fire mage away from his thoughts. it was his super human hearing that gave them the advantage. A creak of a door on the rusted hinges let him locate their hide-out. A hand waved wildly at Erza until she caught his signal. She glanced at the group and back at Natsu as she crept up beside him.

"Did you hear something?" She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Everyone's attention switched onto the pair muttering inaudibly beside each other.

"Up north, I heard a door." Natsu reported.

"Good, let's go!" Erza gave a small smile at the pink-haired boy, looking slightly proud. Normally, he would dart off without notifying anyone, straight the action. This time, there was a reason he was being responsible for once. Lucy. The reequip mage would have been stupid to miss his reluctance to leave the stellar mage's side.

Erza darted ahead, breaking everyone else into a sprint. They drove towards the sound, jumping and dodging over a cluttered forest floor. Natsu spear-headed the group, following his extraordinary hearing.

They weren't far away, so it didn't take long until they broke out into a clearing. A medium sized metal shed with no windows, a flat crimped roof and a single rusted door, was practically screaming obvious at them.

Several men who were gathered around the cabin, glared in surprise at the mage's bursting out of the forest. One man yelled in anger and drove forwards, dragging his team mates along with him. They gathered in groups on the assault of the mage's.

During the battle, several more men arrived as back up. Frustration that had been horded inside the dragon slayer began to funnel into the fight. To be honest, he was being a little more rough than necessary. They found themselves pretty unfortunate to pick a fight with a dragon slayer whose in a bad mood.

Erza didn't mind. Actually, she was relieved. It was better to have him a tad rough now rather than snapping or breaking down late. Gray and the rest of them were playing the same game but not in such an obvious or intense way as the dragon slayer. all of them became engrossed in the fight, punching their stresses away.

So much so that they wasn't there to catch the gun being aimed at Lucy's head.

Lucy had chased the leader deep into the woods from the direction that they came. Lucy needed to stop him before he managed to go to . Hopefully, he had the brains which would tell him to go home. Lucy's whip just dodged his bearded, wrinkled face. The stellar mage couldn't help but respect how fit and strong he was, especially at the age he was. The solemn glow on his face bore the many years he had witnessed as a leader among the kidnappers.

Unfortunately, the missed offense opened an opportunity for the dark-brown haired man. As her whip recoiled through the air, she was open and vulnerable. So, he took his chance. Reaching her before the leather rope could, he pulled a small hand pistol from his boot and lifted it to her head. Lucy dropped the whip in surprise at the slow, terrifying click of the gun's happen being drawn back. Crisp leaves crumbled as the leather crumpled against the floor. Big brown eyes widened in shock as her mouth broke open in fear.

"Issac would love to see you, Lucy Heartfilia." His thin lips curled as his deep voice rumbled her name. Lucy felt her chest still. Breaths felt distant, stuck behind the lump smothering her throat.

"H- How do you-" she croaked.

"Put down your gun, you fiend." A familiar, deep voice growl with a cold threatening tone. Brown irises flickered to the left. In a disdained suit, dark hair array, eyes burning in fury, was . Firm, calm hands raised a night-black revolver to the man's temple. In response, the greying man crooked a smile on his bearded face.

"It's very good to hear your voice." He smirked, eyes coldly gazing at the frightened Lucy.

"Mr. Honda, don't shoot him." The stellar mage pleaded. Her voice sound small and scared. A small chuckle and a weak smile pulled the suited-man's lips.

"You're too kind Lucy. But I can't agree." announced softly, his eyes not moving from the back of the leader's head, covered in short grey hair and specs of brown.

"Lilianne wouldn't want you to do this." Lucy tried again, her eyes flicking between the guns. One at her head, on at the leaders. She didn't want to, but she wondered what would happen anyway. Whose gun would go off first? If shot, would she die to? Was she going to die?

"I'm doing this for her." 's voice softened.

"What?" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes fully on the suited man now.

"Lilianne died! She died at that place!" Hiro barked, tears welling in his eyes.

"That place?" Lucy questioned. Something felt misplaced, like somehow, he expected her too know. Too know too well.

"You are innocent, my little Lucy." Hiro sighed softly, with a voice of requiem.

"Your friend died at my hands, yet you still protect my life. I'm truly flat-" The old, dark haired man tried to interrupt, with a cocky tone.

"No. You shouldn't be. To kill you would be too easy. It only hurts those around you. You deserve a life of long punishment." Lucy snarled. He was the man responsible for Lilianne's death. Sweat, strong Lilianne. She remembered when she told Lucy how she wanted to become a doctor and save people. She wouldn't get that chance now. And that was this man's fault. Hiro had lied to her. Lilianne had died, not gone travelling around the world. She had died. And Lucy hadn't known.

"And so he shall." Hiro's voice stiffened, boiling with burning rage. "IN HELL!" he shouted drawing back the hammer with a clink.

Natsu knocked back his final opponent, sighing in exasperation. "That's the last of them." Erza appeared beside him, equipping back into her normal steel armor. Gray, Happy, Wendy and Carla joined up with them. They stood beside the mass pile of the defeat enemies. "We're all here, let's head back to now."

"No." The dragon slayer's voice interrupted, high with panic. Natsu's body spun around, eyes whirling in every direction. "Lucy's not here."

"What?" Gray exclaimed.

"She was here a second ago!" Erza's eyes jumped around.

"Where could she-" Wendy began, before she was abruptly cut off by a horrifying sound.

BANG!

A gun had gone off? Did Hiro finally pull the trigger? or did the kidnapper leader jump to the gun first? Find out in the next chapter.

Also if you want to find out why the man knows Lucy's name, look out for 'Shadows' coming soon. If you want to read more about it visit my profile. ;)

If you liked Glass Hearts try checking out some of my other stories.

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-A-ccentric