Lucy sat at a table at the guild staring into her cup of coffee. It was the day after Gajeel had been killed and word had gotten to most of the FairyTail members bringing them out of hiding and back to to guild hall. Nobody spoke, nobody even tried to breathe as the weight of what had happened the day before stood on their shoulders like a fat monkey. Everyone except Levy and Jet, who hadn't been told yet as to what had happened, was there. After hours of silence Lucy finally stood and looked over to where Makarov sat silently on the bar.

"Somebody needs to go tell Levy and Jet, it might as well be me." The master nodded his agreement and watched tearfully as the beautiful blonde walked out of the guild. He heard a soft growl beside him and turned to see Natsu staring after her.

"Don't worry boy, I wasn't ogling."

"I don't care. Something isn't adding up. I feel like we forgot something that we shouldn't have." Gray looked up from his drink to where Natsu sat at the bar.

"What do you mean? Iron was all used to murder them and Gajeel obviously smelled like the culprit to you guys and who other than you guys and Erza could take on Mira like that? I mean maybe Gildarts but he isn't even here! Plus he even said it himself, the spike was the purest form of iron. Nobody else could have found or done any of that except for him!" Nobody wanted this case to be closed faster than he did. Juvia had spent the whole night sobbing into his chest for the first friend she had ever had.

"I know that I just. Gah never mind. Wendy, how are you feeling?" The little Slayer looked up from her orange juice. Elfman sat beside her protectively with his own drink and glared at Natsu.

"I'm fine, thank you Natsu. I know what I did was bad but somebody like that needed to be stopped." Natsu nodded knowingly. Wendy looked back down at her drink. She hated lying to Natsu but she didn't want to worry him. In truth she had cried in her room all night, curled up in a ball and wishing that Carla could get back sooner from the Exceed camp she was visiting. Right after the death of Gajeel, Warren had sent a telepathic message to the three telling them that they could head home but even with their ability to fly it would take at least another day or two before they arrived. Last night had probably been the worst night of her life, alone with her thoughts and the knowledge that she had used her magic to end the life of another.

"Lisanna? Can you possibly make me some grub?" The white haired mage looked over from the end of the bar at her old crush and smiled.

Lucy walked up the path to FairyHills hugging herself tightly in the cold wind.

"Sure Natsu, comin right up." Ever since Mira's death her younger sister had come to the rescue as the new bartender and happy face of the guild. Nobody wanted to tell her that she could never be the perfect replacement, but they all gave her the credit for at least trying.

"Thanks." Natsu gave a small growl. "I can't figure it out. I'm probably just going crazy." Lisanna came back with a metal place filled with charcoal that was burning a soft red.

"Here Natsu, your favourite."

"Oh man, thanks Lisanna!" Natsu greedily dove into the flames and ate them as if they were a massive plate of spaghetti.

"Hey flame brain could you eat more quietly! Some of us are grieving!" A minute after Gray threw out the challenge the metal plate made a clanging sound as it hit him square in the forehead. Toppling to the ground Gray was up and half naked in record time. "What the hell was that for you molten idiot!"

"I ran out of fire!" Came the smug reply.

"Then why didn't you just start it and eat some more! The coals are still hot!"

Going up the stairs Lucy found Levy's room and knocked quietly.

"Your ice finally freeze your head? You know I can't eat my...own..." Natsu's face went paler than Gray's body normally was. Turning to Makarov Natsu quickly started putting the puzzle in his brain together.

"Gramps, do we have the books that Gajeel brought in?"

"Of course. They're sitting over there." Makarov pointed to the bottom of the stairs that led to the second floor balcony where a stack of 10 thick books sat. Dashing over to them Natsu didn't notice the queer looks that he got from the rest of the guild as he started to inspect the books carefully. Laxus and Wendy came over and kneeled beside a franticly sniffing Natsu.

"Natsu what the hell are you doing?" Laxus's irritated voice wasn't loud enough for the rest of the guild to hear as he questioned the young Slayer.

"Gajeel smelled exactly like the hair that we found Freed's house right?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"But the whole day we were with him he didn't smell like that until he came in carrying these books!"

"But Natsu that's cause he got the books from..." Both Laxus and Wendy paled as they realized what Natsu was talking about.

"Levy?" There was no answer so Lucy opened the door and walked in. The room was dark, the shades drawn and not a single light on.

"Guys. Dragon Slayers can't eat their element. Gajeel went and sliced a piece off of that iron spike himself and ate it." The rest of the guild was starting to worry about what was going on as the three whispered among themselves in the corner.

"Will you three stop whispering and tell us what the hell is going on!" An annoyed and fairly drunk Cana called from her table. After a couple more seconds of whispering Laxus stood quietly and stood to face the guild. Wendy for her part had yet again fainted but for a different reason this time.

"We made a mistake. Gajeel didn't kill our friends." The guild went from quiet to dead-of-night silent in an instant.

Walking to her room Lucy found her friend, but not the way she'd wanted too.

"Levy did."

Standing over the bloody body of Jet was a smiling blue haired mage. Her eyes were wide as the toothy grin on her face, the knife she was holding still dripping from her victims blood. Looking up from Jet she stared Lucy straight in the eyes and the already insane grin grew even larger.

"Oh Lu-chan! So glad you could visit."