9. Escape

As they walked down a long hall, Lucy was aware that Happy was blabbing on about something, but it seemed both Natsu and Lucy weren't listening.

She couldn't stop thinking about when they were in that room. Clearly, that was a misunderstanding. They were both sad and were simply trying to comfort each other. It wasn't like it meant anything more… right?

Natsu was suddenly more aware of Lucy. He noticed the slight blush still on her rosy cheeks. He could tell the way she fiddled with her hair when she was nervous or uncomfortable. And he noticed how pretty she looked when she was bashful.

Wait. What the hell was he thinking? He sighed and continued to walk forward. They were friends. Nothing more than friends.

"Guys! Were you even listening to a word I just said?" Happy complained.

Lucy automatically snapped back to reality. "Oh. Um, sorry." She said in barely a whisper.

Happy studied their faces. "You guys have been acting really weird. What's going on?"

Natsu faked a grin. "What are you talking about? We're fine. I'm a little hungry, though." As if on cue, his stomach growled.

Happy laughed. "Oh, Natsu…"

Lucy sighed in relief. That was a close one. When Happy looked away, Natsu gave Lucy a little wink. Her heart stopped. A wink? What was that supposed to mean?

"Um, so, what's our plan?" Lucy asked. Happy turned toward them again.

"I found a place we can escape. It's… well, I'll show you where it is." He answered.

Lucy looked confused. "How will escaping help anything? We have to stop them. Or our guild could be next…" she cringed at the thought.

Happy simply kept flying. "I know that. But we really can't do much. You saw what happened with 'Phantom Lord'. Fights between guilds are forbidden. So what they're doing is also a crime. Right now, all we can do is get the council to disband them or arrest the Master."

Lucy was in shock. "Um… Happy, did you just say something smart? That didn't involve fish?"

Happy looked offended. "Are you saying I'm not smart?"

Suddenly, the building started shaking. "W-what's going on?" Lucy asked, covering her hands. They weren't planning on blowing them up, were they? "Oh my god…" she whispered.

"You're plan is not going to work." A girl's voice whispered.

A deep chuckle was heard from the other side of the room.

All of a sudden, the whole room was filled with people. Was this the entire guild? Why were they suddenly showing up now?

"Because you're going to die." All the people said in unison.

a.a.a.

Erza and Gray stepped through the guild doors. "We're back."

Master Makarov looked distressed. Erza walked over to him. "Is something wrong?"

He heaved out a sigh. "I sent Natsu, Lucy, and Happy on a quest to see if they could find a dark guild called 'Azerath'. I still haven't heard from them, and… well, this happened today."

With shaky hands, he handed Erza the newspaper. On the front page was a headline that read, "Bombing coming from underground: Witnesses think it could be Azerath.

Erza's eyes widened. "So you mean… you think they were…?" she trailed off, still in shock.

He shook his head. "I don't know. But I have an idea for a way we can find out."

a.a.a.

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

"We are the guild 'Azerath'. And you're going to die." A voice explained. Then there was a sigh. "Honestly… how many times do we have to explain it before you idiots get it?"

Natsu put an arm around Lucy's shoulders protectively. "You stay away from us." He growled.

"And why would we do that?" a man stepped forward. "We won't let you damned Fairy Tail wizards disband our guild. Got it?"

Lucy looked right at them. "But... what you're doing is illegal. You will get arrested anyway if they find out."

"But they won't. We'll kill you and then you can't tell all your little guild friends where we are." The man said.

Lucy shivered. His face was close to theirs and his voice was one that seemed to say. "Don't mess with me." His eyes made him look like he was out for blood.

And he probably was.

She looked over at Happy desperately. She wished he would have told them where the exit was. They needed to get out of there. Now.

"Stop it this instant." A voice said. Everyone turned around to see dust floating around. Lucy knew there was a person, but she couldn't properly see their face.

When the dust disappeared, Lucy's shocked expression morphed into one of hope.

Before them stood a familiar figure. Lucy smiled wide. "Erza!"