Welcome back to this wonderful story. I'm still dying over here in this heat... and it's not getting any better. Can't even sleep really because it's way too hot... But enough of my blabing about my problems. This guys, is the first long chapter of this story! Also you all will love this chapter I know you will! Why? Well... read on and you'll find out why!
Also I apologize in advance for any errors, grammar mistakes or stuff that just doesn't make any sense... my brain doesn't work that well in heat.
CrossFree: Glad to hear you enjoy the story! Hope you like this chapter as well!
Brainy girl: So many questions, well some of them will be answered in this chapter, or maybe not? Looks like you'll have to keep on reading ;)
Rez: That's a good question. Who is next on the list?
TomBoyOfDeath98: Yea it's freaking hot over here too... we hit 40 yesterday and it was not fun... but anyway, here's the next chapter so I hope you will enjoy it as well as you did the others!
Chaos: Oh yes it does. You have no idea how much I want to have snow at the moment... I need something to cool me off!
Marty: Well who is this mysterious woman? Maybe we'll find out in this chapter. But I know you're going to love this chapter. It's going to be fun!
"So what just happened?" Juvia asked glancing at the others. They all had no idea what just happened. Natsu glanced at the card he was holding in his hands. There were numbers written on there that he had no clue about.
Lucy walked over to him and grabbed the piece of paper. She looked at it and her eyes went wide. "These are coordinates! Gray wants us to go there!"
"And how do we know this is not some kind of trap?" Natsu asked raising an eyebrow.
"This is from Gray!" Lucy snapped at him. "Of course it's not a trap!"
Natsu shrugged. "If you say so… but that stripper is going to answer some questions the next time I see him." He clenched his fists while they also burst into flames.
"So how are we getting there?" Wendy asked.
Lucy looked around the place and saw a stand at the side. She noticed a map stand and quickly grabbed one. She opened it up and tried to see where the coordinates would lead them do. Looking between the map and the card she finally was able to pinpoint the area.
"I got it guys!" She shouted. The others surrounded themselves around Lucy so they could look at the map as well. Lucy pointed to an area that was covered with forest. "The coordinates Gray gave us will lead us there. But the problem is… well… there's nothing but a forest there."
Wendy blinked. "Maybe there's something in the forest that Gray wants to show us." She suggested and the others simply nodded. It was probably the only reason they could come up with.
"Well let's go!" Juvia shouted standing up. "We can't leave Gray waiting! We have to hurry and get there asap!"
Lucy sighed. "She's way too hyper to see him."
Natsu shrugged. "Hey, if I get to punch him then let's get going." He said sitting up. "And maybe he knows about where the others are."
"Let's hope." Lucy muttered slightly.
Gray walked into an abandoned building, his feet crunching as he stepped on some rubble. He looked around the place, noticing that there wasn't much to this place. It seemed to be ransacked but that's how this place was.
He started walking around the place, looking through papers and documents that were lying around. He looked through all of them but didn't find anything. He sighed. "Damn… nothing here either." This place belonged to the Dark Guild that has been threatening this town.
He threw the papers away and looked around the place. In the back his eyes landed on a secret door on the ground that was hidden in the back. He stood up and walked over to it. He pulled at the metal ring but it was locked. He furrowed his brow. "If it's locked you must be hiding something." An icicle grew in his hands and he smirked. "Let's take a look at what you're hiding."
He stabbed the icicle through the lock breaking it. With a good pull he opened the latch on the ground and quickly jumped down. The place was completely dark. He pulled a torch from the wall and a match from his pocket. He lit up the match so he could use the torch.
Now that he had some light he could start looking around. The place seemed to be an underground storage unit, but Gray knew there had to be a reason why they would lock it. They were hiding something. Why else would they lock it?
As he kept on walking around he noticed some strange stuff in the back. First there were chains and locks in the background with some skeletons lying about. He grimaced. It seems they had used this underground unit as a dungeon. He looked at the skeleton hoping that it was not what he thought it was, though looking at them he knew they had to be down here longer.
Using his torch he looked around more and that's when he saw some broken chains and burn marks. He narrowed his eyes as he saw this. This could mean several things. One, the members of the Dark Guild used fire to interrogate the prisoner. Two, there was a fight down here. Or three, he found what he was looking for. Or at least a trail.
"Finally some good news." He said getting up. "Time to get back. Shouldn't keep Natsu and the others waiting for too long…" With that he got up and left the abandoned hideout.
While walking down the road Gray closed his eyes. Hopefully this will bring us a step closer…
"Is this the place?" Natsu asked cocking his head to the side. They were in the middle of the forest and that was it. There was absolutely nothing around here.
Lucy sighed as she looked at the map again, turning it around, left and right… "It should be here. The coordinates lead us here." She told them.
Juvia grabbed the map from her. "Let me handle this. You probably don't even know how to read a map!"
"I do too!" Lucy shouted at her.
The two girls started bickering and Wendy glanced at Natsu. "So… you really think that this is the place?"
"Eh… who knows." Natsu shrugged. "For all I know Gray sent us on a wild goose chase…" He muttered slightly while kicking away a rock.
"Oh come on guys. You think I'd go that low?" A voice spoke from behind them. Lucy and Juvia stopped fighting turning around while Natsu and Wendy did the same. There stood yet again the black haired Ice Wizard.
Gray was leaning against a tree. "I know you have a lot of questions and they will be answered in time. But first." He suddenly snapped his fingers.
At first all four of them were utterly confused, yet out of nowhere the floor underneath them opened up. Lucy screamed as Juvia tried to cling at the floor, but suddenly slipped. Wendy hugged Natsu as they fell. All four wizards fell down the trap door.
Gray chuckled as he stood on top. "You guys are in for a surprise."
Lucy screamed as she fell down the trap door. How could Gray do this!? What the hell was he even thinking! She couldn't see anything so had no idea when she would hit the ground. She awaited the hard ground at any moment, but it never came. Instead she landed on something soft. Blinking she tried to look around but something else landed on her. "Gah… what the hell Gray!?" He shouted.
Lucy growled. "Natsu get off of me!" She shouted while trying to push him off of her. Natsu moved to the side only to bump into Juvia and Wendy. "What's going on?" the little girl asked.
Suddenly the place around them lit up causing all four to shield their eyes. When they were able to accustom to the light Lucy was the first to notice what they landed on. "Hey?" She wondered.
"Okay now I'm seriously confused." Natsu said getting up while helping Juvia get up as well, before moving to Lucy.
"Well I guess we should start explaining."
Natsu immediately turned around letting his grip on Lucy go causing the blonde to screech. Wendy and Juvia turned around as well shocked as they saw who it was.
"ERZA!?" They all shouted.
Indeed, in front of them stood the familiar red head they all knew and loved so well. She was also adoring a new set of armor. She was wearing a full set of armor, this time her legs were covered with armor as well, yet she was still wearing a skirt. Including all of that she was also wearing a cape behind her back. If Lucy had anything to say to this she looked like a captain or some high ranked person. "Erza?" Lucy asked again and the red head nodded.
Natsu quickly jumped up and got in front of her. "What the hell Erza? What kind of sick joke was that? Making us fall through some trap door!?"
"Actually that was my idea." Gray said coming from behind. Juvia immediately gained hearts in her eyes. She tried to hug him. "Gray! My beloved you're alright!"
Gray still looked uncomfortable as the blue haired girl hugged him and cradled him. The Ice Wizard sighed slightly. "Sorry Juvia… for leaving so suddenly."
"It's alright! I forgive you my beloved!" Juvia said still hugging him.
Wendy looked around the place. "What is this? Where are we?"
Erza sighed. She turned around and motioned them to follow her. "This… is our underground headquarters. We have been going out on missions from here. This is the only place we're safe."
"Safe? From what?" Wendy asked.
Lucy looked around the place as they walked through some halls. The place didn't hold much people. It almost seemed that only Gray and Erza were here. "Are you two the only ones here?"
"Mostly." Gray told him.
"There are some horses up front that we use but other than that we're the only ones here." Erza explained to the four.
"So you guys go on missions from here?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow. Both Gray and Erza nodded their heads. She was about to ask another question but Natsu was quicker than her.
The pink haired Dragon Slayer took a step forward clenching his fists. "Alright you two, Gray told us that you'd answer some questions. Now one, where the hell have you two been? Two, why did Gray leave Juvia? Three, where the hell is Kera? And four, what's up with all of this!?"
Erza didn't say anything and Gray gave her a skeptical look. "Should I or…"
She took a deep breath but shook her head. "No… I'll tell them." She looked up at them, a stone hard determined look on her face. "This has been all my idea. I started this shortly after I left, I pulled Gray into this because I needed his help and he was the only one I knew where he was. I'm sorry Juvia that I pulled him from you." He said hanging her head.
Juvia quickly shook her head. "No it's alright. At least I'm with him again!" She said before hugging Gray again.
"So what did you need help with?" Wendy asked looking up at the red head. Erza looked down at her and smiled. "You haven't changed at all Wendy." The little girl blushed slightly. "Well I changed a little bit."
Erza chuckled but then quickly got back on topic. "I needed help with my mission."
"And what is the mission? And where is Kera?" Natsu asked with a frown. He looked around but couldn't see the brunette anywhere.
The red head hung her head as she spoke her next words. For a year she's been on this mission and still she couldn't succeed. Now her friends were back together and they wanted answers, so…
"The mission is Kera."
In a different town the day before, night settled pulling the town and its people into a quiet sleep. No one was awake other than the people that enjoyed partying. In the tavern of the town the men were shouting and screaming, partying as they drank their hearts out. Nothing would sour their mood.
A figure in a cloak wearing a hood entered the building ignoring the looks the other men were giving them. The figure walked through the crowd before settling at the bar, sitting on a stool. Holding up a finger the figure showed the bartender that they wanted a shot. The man simply nodded before grabbing a bottle, pouring the alcohol in the glass and setting it in front of the cloaked figure.
The figure grabbed the glass and drank it down in one go. Slamming it onto the table the bartender quickly refilled the glass.
Three men walked up to the figure all bearing a smirk on their faces. "Well, well, well, we have a new guy in here." One of the men said while chuckling. "Come on bud, tell us your name."
"Up yours…"
Their eyes went wide as they heard that voice. The second man laughed. "Well looky here boys! We have a girl in our midst! What is a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He asked leaning against the bar giving the girl in front of him a smirk.
It seemed the girl ignored him as she drank down another shot of alcohol. The man frowned as he glared at her. "Hey! You listening?"
The girl scoffed. "Of course I am. It's hard to ignore that annoying voice of yours." She told him watching the bartender pour her another shot.
The man smirked. "Well how about we have some fun eh? Three strong and handsome men with a beautiful girl like you. So what do you say darling?"
Out of nowhere he received a punch to the face sending him to the ground. The girl turned around and quickly kicked his other two friends to the ground without any mercy. They didn't even see it coming. The man that has been speaking to her tried to get up but a boot hit his back. He felt his arm being pulled back.
The man screamed out in pain. He looked up at his attacker and saw the girl standing above him. Her hood was down and he could see long brown hair falling down her back, though that wasn't what freaked him out. No it was her eyes. Her eyes flashed a golden color as she glared at him.
The brunette sneered at him. "Do not call me darling." With a quick twist she snapped the man's arm in two. He screamed out, before the pain was too much for him making him black out. His arm hit the ground with a thud.
Turning around she noticed that the entire tavern was deadly silent. No one uttered a word, there were just shocked and terrified stares directed towards the girl.
She snorted while standing up straight. The other men backed away from her all slightly scared of her. Her eyes narrowed down as she looked through the crowd. She looked at every man in the tavern before finally turning around heading for the door.
The bartender glanced at the glasses. "Hey! You still need to pay."
She stopped right in front of the door. She started digging something out of her pocket before throwing it towards the bartender. "That should cover the damage." She told him simply.
The man looked in the envelope that she had thrown him and his eyes went wide. In the envelope was some money in it but also the flag of a guild that he noticed belonged to the one Dark Guild that has been threatening the town. "W-Wait!" He shouted but the person was already gone.
"Where… where did she go?" He wondered. He didn't even hear the door open up. It's like she vanished.
But one thing was sure.
She had dealt with the Dark Guild near the town, making it more peaceful here. But still… who was that woman?
Outside the brunette pulled her hood back over her head, so people wouldn't notice her. She walked past people her hands inside of her pocket. A little girl bumped into her causing her to stumble. Immediately the girl started apologizing but then hid behind her.
Her eyes went back up and she saw a couple of men standing in front of her. There were three men, tall build, menacing looking and one of them held a sword in his hands. Her gaze wandered over to one of their shoulders and saw a black raven on them. Her eyes narrowed.
"Give us the girl." The man at the front told her, he was also the one holding the sword in his hands.
The girl whimpered as she hid behind the woman again. "Please help… they… they want to take me away… they want to hurt me. Please don't hand me over."
The woman snorted. "You disgust me."
"What!?" The man on the left said. He was the one with the bare shoulder, showing of his insignia.
She took a step forward, raising her head and glared at the men in front of her. They flinched back when they saw her golden eyes. "Trying to take a little girl away from her family… you're despicable."
The man with the sword growled. "Oh yea? We'll see about that!" he charged forward, his sword rising into the air. He slashed down, wanting to cut the woman in front of him in half. A flash appeared and suddenly he was standing behind her, his sword back down. For the first few seconds no one moved.
Then they heard a crack.
The man's eyes went wide when he saw the blade of his sword crack and fall apart. "N-No w-way!"
The others were shocked as well, seeing that there was no scratch on the woman.
He suddenly felt a presence behind him, making him shiver. A hand was placed on his shoulder and before he knew it he was thrown back towards the other two men. They all crashed to the ground on top of each other.
The woman stood over them, her cloak blowing in the wind. "Leave this town before I get carried away."
At first they didn't believe her, but when they saw her hands burst into flames they started scrambling away. They pushed each other, all of them trying to get away.
When they were gone the woman turned around and knelt down towards the girl. "Are you okay?"
She nodded while wiping a few tears away. "Thank you… for helping me."
"What's your name?" The woman asked while picking her up into her arms. The girl sniffed slightly. "M-My names Katy."
"Well Katy." The woman said before removing her hood. Her brown hair fell down her back and a warm smile was plastered on her face. "My name is Kera."
The little girl looked at her and noticed her golden eyes. "You have pretty eyes."
"Thanks, now where is your mother?" She asked. The little girl pointed some place east. "We… we were back there… b-but t-those men ambushed us." She started sniffing again and was about to cry again.
Kera moved her up and down. "Hey, calm down, everything is going to be alright. We'll find her." The brunette held the little girl close comforting her, but also getting her scent. Closing her eyes she could sense a familiar scent to this little girl's in the east.
A few minutes later the girl saw her mother running around with a frantic face. Kera let her go and the little girl ran over to her. "Mommy! Mommy!"
The woman turned around and smiled. "Katy! Oh my god! You're alright!" She picked her little girl up and hugged her. "You're safe. Thank god. What happened?"
The little girl smiled. "This woman found me and saved me! She beat up those mean men and brought me here!"
"Really?" The mother said.
"Yes! She's right there…" She stopped when she turned around. The place where Kera had been was now completely empty. The brunette was gone and there was no sign of her anywhere.
"Are you sure sweetie? There's no one there." Her mother told her.
The little girl turned back to her mother. "But she was there! She had these pretty golden eyes and long brown hair! One of the men had a sword and she destroyed it without touching it!"
The mother started chuckling as she heard her daughter. "Katy, that's impossible. People don't have golden eyes or can do something like that."
"But she did! She did, she did!" The little girl kept on telling her mother but she wasn't believing anything. The mother walked back to their house holding her little girl. Whatever happened she was grateful for it. She got her daughter back.
And Kera's back! As well as Erza! A lot happened here and the guys got some answers. Erza and Gray have been working together and Kera seems to be on her own doing... who knows what! Also a shoutout to ian who helped fill some holes of our little brunette. You'll all understand what will happen in the next few chapters! It's going to be good! Don't forget to let me know what you all think!
Until next time!