A/N: Hello everyone! I hope that people start reading this fic because I'm slowly getting a good beginning plot. I'm not certain how much action this will have so it might take a few turns and be a mix of multiple things. Once again, as you all know, I do not own anything regarding Fairy Tail. All rights belong to Hiro Mashima. Rate and Review if you liked it. I'm going to start on the next chapter as soon as I can. Once again, I am new to this anime so if you see any mistakes, please correct me so it will not happen again. There are quite a few errors pertaining grammar and some frequent comma splices but I'm so busy with school and finals that I don't have time to sit down and properly edit so please overlook common grammar mistakes.
When they reached the market, they immediately started searching for Ceclya. Since Lochfair was rather large the group decided to split up. Happy and Lucy started checking stores while Natsu searched around the outskirts near the food vendors. Natsu caught her scent a few times but it vanished right when it hit his senses. After searching for decent amount of time he decided to find Lucy and Happy. Even in a crowd of thousands of people, Natsu would always be able to find her. It wasn't hard for Natsu to catch Lucy's scent, warm vanilla filled his senses and he immediately felt like he was back home but something about it seemed off kilter. After cutting through a few alleyways he found Lucy and Happy walking into an antique shop. Even when we are on a job, she still thinks about keys. Typical Lucy. Natsu chuckled at his thought and then entered the shop to find his partner
"Oi! Lucy, have you all had any luck yet?" He saw the blonde and walked up to her but he didn't get the welcomed reaction that he expected. Lucy turned her head around to look at him from across her shoulder; what should have been a cheerful expression was one of utter shock. He peered around where Lucy was standing to and saw Ceclya passed out on the floor with Happy hovering above her.
"It- it was all a game Natsu," Lucy stuttered to her partner "this whole mission was just her little game."
"What do you mean it was all just a game?" Natsu was having a hard time understanding what Lucy was saying. She looked faint and sweat clung to her forehead. Lucy winced before falling to her side; she would have hit the floor hard if not for Natsu's quick reflexes. When he caught her he felt something we run down his hand and forearm, Lucy had a massive laceration across her stomach and then another one down her leg. Panic and worry spread within Natsu and he felt his stomach turn to knots. "Luce, can you hear me, Lucy!" His panic was slowly turned into a seething rage that consumed him from the insides. He was determined to make someone pay for what they did to her. He could feel his body getting hotter and hotter, matching the fire he felt within. If he couldn't get his anger under control, he would engulf Lucy in flames. He felt more blood trickle down his arm and it shocked him out of his rage induced trance.
"Happy, grab the girl and let's go. Be quick," Natsu barked at Happy. His words came out harsher than he had intended. Natsu took off towards the Inn and Happy followed with Ceclya.
Once in Lucy's room at the inn Natsu started cleaning her wounds and bandaging them. He wished Wendy was there more than anything but he was determined to do the best he could. He kept pressing a cold, damp cloth to her forehead to wipe away her sweat. After an hour or so she started to toss and moan. When her cries of discomfort grew louder Virgo appeared from her gate.
"What happened to the Princess?" Virgo asked immediately started redressing Lucy's wounds.
"I don't know exactly. We were searching for Ceclya and I didn't have any luck so I went to find Lucy and Happy and then Lucy passed out from her injuries." Natsu's breath was shallow and each intake of air he took felt like hot coals were being shoveled down into his lungs. Normally anything on fire wouldn't hurt him but this felt like a different kind of burning, a burning that he had never experienced before.
"Princess will be fine but she needs lots of rest. I will come check on her in a few hours; she should sleep peacefully until then. I have taken the liberty of looking at the other girl; she has minor lacerations that seem to be from Princesses whip and a head injury but she should come to in an hour or so." After Virgo had said what she wanted she returned to her gate leaving a small cloud of smoke in her absence.
"Happy, you need to tell me everything that happened. Who did this to Lucy?" Just the thought of Lucy's pain made Natsu tense; he hated seeing his partner in such a vulnerable state.
Happy walked over and sat on ground in front of Natsu, "we hadn't found Ceclya yet so we decided to take a quick break. Lucy spotted an antique store and wanted to see if they had any keys; she spotted a display case in the back and when we walked towards it we spotted Ceclya looking at a glass vase." The blue cat was now pacing as he recalled the events. "Lucy confronted Ceclya and I expected that there would be a fight but it was the exact opposite. Ceclya greeted us kindly and then began telling us how she was glad we took her job request.."
"Wait a second," Natsu interrupted, "so Ceclya was the one who made the request to stop Crimson?"
"Aye, she told us how she wanted to join a guild but it would have to be the correct one. She explained that she had joined Crimson as a cover and whichever guild accepted and beat her would be the one she joined."
"She's crazy, only an insane person would do something like that." Natsu couldn't comprehend why she didn't just go and visit guilds to see which one she liked best.
Before Happy could reply a new voice entered the conversation, "my plan might have been a tad bit crazy but I assure you I am a perfectly sane individual. Happy, if you don't mind I'll take over from here."
Happy motioned for her to continue meanwhile anger painted its way onto Natsu's face. "I can see why you are angry, Salamander, but I assure you Lucy will be fine."
A calming sensation ran through him and his anger seemed to somewhat die down. "Fine but get on with the story because my patience is growing thin."
"Lucy confronted me and I assured her that I wanted no violence. I explained to her that I merely joined Crimson to find a guild that could live up to my expectations. I have been using my magic to conceal the guild making it harder to complete the mission. My initial goal was to separate myself from Crimson when I deemed you all worthy but since I made it too difficult to track their whereabouts, I decided to leave and watch you all from a distance. The only problem with leaving the guild was that they decided that I was too big of a threat to not have as an ally. When things got heated, I contained them in runes for a short time and made my escape," Ceclya took a short pause before she continued her lengthy explanation. "I am now using my magic to conceal my identity, only Lucy, Happy, and yourself can see who I really am. Lucy and I were talking and then Garren, the leader of Crimson, leaped forward as us with a knife in hand. Lucy grabbed her whip and jerked me out of the way but I collided with her; the force sent her spiraling towards him and ultimately claiming her as his victim. I feel to the ground and hit my head on the corner of the display case. The next thing I know I am waking up here and talking to you all. I don't know how he caught onto my disguise, to everyone else I look like a middle aged woman. "
"Happy, where were you when all this was going on?" Something wasn't adding up and Natsu wanted to know what it was.
"I was looking at fish figurines across the store. I'm sorry Natsu it happened so quickly that by the time I got over there Lucy was covered in blood and yelling at me to check on Ceclya," the Exceed held his head down with shame.
"Don't worry Happy it wasn't your fault," Natsu gave Happy a grin and Happy perked up.
"Aye! I'll try not to feel bad" He perked up once he realized that Natsu wasn't mad at him.
"Where is Crimson's location?" Natsu never planned out what he should do; he always charged head first into a fight and that was exactly what he planned to do with this guild.
"On the west side of town you will find a bridge that leads out to a large forest and about a mile after the bridge there will be a one person path on the right. Follow the path even though it looks like it won't lead anywhere but soon enough you will see a battered sign and then the guild. I will warn you now that they are stronger than meets the eye so beware."
"Happy, look after Lucy and keep an eye on Ceclya. Virgo should pop in soon and redress Lucy's wounds."
"Aye, sir."
"I'll be back later." A devilish grin crept to his face as he charged out the door. He was itching for a fight and he would have revenge for Lucy.