Chapter 26

December 8, X794; 8:00 PM; Honey Bone Inn; It has been hours since Lucy has been gone and Team Natsu has begun to worry that she may have been kidnapped by Sael and have her whole disappearing and amnesia act be repeated all over again. And they ain't ready for that kind of trauma again. Never again they would lose her.

"This is all your fault!" Natsu growled and pointed a finger towards the still silent Laxus. The pink-haired man knew of the exchange between this man and their team mate hours ago. He saw how this jerk made use of Chico Hammitt to make Lucy jealous.

"And how is it that Laxus-sama was at fault? If anything, it would have been your team mate's fault!" Freed and the other two Thunder God Tribe members stepped before the man, ready to defend their leader.

"And using Chico is the right thing to do?" Gray scoffed, walking beside Natsu.

"That Cosplayer Girl is over-reactive!" Bickslow spat back as his babies repeated his words.

"Enough, you two." Erza stepped forward with a serious expression. "We've all seen that Laxus can actually do." She put emphasis on the word 'do' as she glared daggers at the blond. "Considering what he did earlier, I think that's enough proof that Laxus is a womanizer, a bastard and Lucy's going to be miserable when she marries him." Titania smirked as she saw that Laxus flinched in hearing her words. She hit a nerve.

"Oh, yeah! Considering how she can stomach openly flirting with Gray and Natsu in front of the whole audience, I don't think she even has the right to be even spoken by Laxus! That whore!" Evergreen countered.

"You take that back, you bitch!" Erza took a menacingly step towards Evergreen. Everything this woman has said infuriated her! What a hypocrite! If Erza could know any better, this woman already allowed too many men to touch her oh-so-magnificent-fairyness and she even dared to question Lucy's chastity! Lucy, of all people! The one person who regarded marriage as a form of sanctity, the one person who held onto values!

"Stop it, Erza. We're wasting our time here." Gray gripped Erza's arms to stop her from making a pulp out of Evergreen. And he turned towards the blond and said. "I do sure hope, Laxus that you'll realize that Sael's still on the loose."

"Ha! I could say the same thing to you when you almost raped her!" Laxus snapped back into reality and spat back with the intention of blasting the raven-haired man's ego's to smithereens. Everyone present gasped at the sudden revelation and it made him grin in satisfaction but when he saw that man has a solemn look on the face, his triumph couldn't have felt more fruitless. A total insensitive jerk, that's what he was.

"Yeah, I regret being controlled by Sael. You, too, if you held on those negative thoughts, you might be the one ending up killing her." Gray turned back towards the exit.

"Come on, Natsu, Happy, we'll need your help finding her." Erza followed her team mate in the outside.

"I have hoped you're not one to hit below the belt." Natsu sighed, turning back as he joined the waiting and Happy in the door.

Laxus was left gaping like a fish. Everyone stood there in complete utter silence. It wasn't just the blond that was left with a shocked expression but rather the whole gathered crowd. Normally, The Natsu would be gung-ho in challenging and fighting him but the sudden change in Salamander's attitude had them all knocked down with a feather in disbelief.

"Damn it!" Laxus ran towards the exit, cursing everything under his breath. This was all Lucy's fault. If she hadn't reacted so much like a whiny girl, this wouldn't happen in the first place. That woman's a magnet for disaster. It was her fault that she was captured my Sael in the first place months ago! It was her fault that she had amnesia for almost a month! It was her fault that her friends tried to kill her. It was her fault that his world was all messed up!

'It was her fault that I'm feeling this way.' That sudden thought had him stopped from his tracks. He took in the surroundings. Darkness was only kept at bay by the light of the full moon. The soft illumination casted eerie shadow shapes upon the concrete road. It was cold; the breeze made his skin tingle and sudden drop in temperature turned his thoughts to the blonde. No, it's not Chico. It was Lucy.

'What if she's cold?' He worried as guilt stabbed at the corners of his heart. Team-Idiot-Natsu was right. No matter how much he tried to deny it, they were right. Sael was only beneath the shadows, waiting for the right time for Lucy to be left alone. And he, Laxus Dreyar just left Lucy to fend on her own.

Suddenly, the weight of his sin all came back in consecutive waves. How could he deny her the rest she needed when yesterday, she almost died. Died! That word again…that irritating, annoying…word always plunged him to the memory five months ago. How could he not protect her? How could he hold on to his own selfishness and self-importance when he promised her that he would protect her? What's even more stupid was how could he use Chico to make Lucy jealous and kiss her hand in front of everyone when he knew that Lucy's already pissed off at that girl?

He could still remember her face when he looked back towards her in their team's post. She was behind Natsu, that son of a bitch. Her eyes wide in surprise as tears threatened to fall, her body trembling in shock and lips pursed to stop the hiccups from escaping. Being a Dragon Slayer does have its disadvantages. Still resounding in his mind was how she uselessly attempted to stop the sobs from breaking out. And how he felt like he has tasted the tears themselves as his nose picked on its scent.

'Scent…nose…wait…That's it!' How could he be such an idiot? Of course, with his nose he could smell her even when she's out of this world. Well, scratch that. He. Do. Not. Want her out of this world. He raised his head and took on a whiff of her sweet strawberry and vanilla scent but no, he can't smell her.

No! No, no, no! Dread crept along his spine. What if Sael's got to her already? Didn't Natsu said that he can't smell her the whole time she was not in Fairy Tail…and even with the combined efforts of the Black Steel Gajeel and the Sky Sorceress Wendy, it didn't bore any fruit. What if…What if that happened now? No! He quickly activated His Lightning Body Spell, rocketed high into the dark sky and vowed to himself that even if he has to turn Crocus upside down, including that freaking Mercurius Castle or descend to all bloody Rings of Hell and knock on Satan's wooden doors, he will definitely find that Blondie. His Blondie.


A/N: Visit my deviantart account for my supposed-to-be surprise. Yay! I posted a new art! :D