Chapter Seventeen
Delirium
Gray checked to make sure the hallway was clear before tucking himself into the room labeled as belonging to 'Mrs. Heartfilia,' slowly pulling the door shut behind him so as not to make any noise. He slid Loke's glasses from his nose and tucked them safely into one of his front pockets as he turned to walk down the short hallway that led into the room, wanting to talk to Layla as Gray, not as the clumsy persona he'd taken upon himself while in Zentopia.
The blonde woman was laid on her side in her hospital bed, her eyes open, but blankly staring off at nothing.
He approached her warily, a tiny bit unsure of himself since he'd never met her before as he hesitantly called, "Mrs. Heartfilia?"
She didn't respond, only still numbly staring off into space as if she hadn't heard his words.
"You…you don't have to keep acting in front of me," he gave her a gentle grin, "I'm Lucy's friend."
"Her friend?" Layla's suddenly wide eyes snapped to him, the woman hurriedly pushing herself up as a flurry of questions tumbled from her lips, "Where is she? Why hasn't she come to see me? What are they doing to her?"
The raven haired boy crouched down in front of her, his hands floating through the air, not knowing how to calm the woman before him, "Lucy wanted me to tell you that you don't need to worry about her, and she needs you to hang in there just a little while longer."
"I need to see her," Layla made to shoot from the bed, her limbs exhaustedly fighting against the sheets she was entangled in, "I need to go and protect my baby!"
He set a heavy hand on one of her shoulders, gently and easily keeping her from standing, "I know it's hard, but you need to stay calm. You've just come back to your senses, and you can't do much to help her when you're like this. For now, it would be best if you kept acting until your body recovers. That's the only way we're gonna be able to deceive these people and get you and Lucy out safely."
The woman's eyes welled with tears as she stared at him in stillness for a moment, but she was quickly relaxing back into the bed, solemnly nodding her head, "I…I understand."
"Good," Gray nodded, "I should probably get going. I just wanted you to know you and Lucy aren't on your own in here, and that Lucy's staying strong."
"Wait…" Layla caught his wrist as he spun to leave, her fingers desperately and tightly curling around his arm as she pleaded, "When you see Lucy next, tell her that…that I'm sorry," her voice became choked as she held back a sob, "I'm so so so sorry, and that I love her."
Gray stared back at her numbly for a moment, his thoughts naturally turning to his own mother at Layla's request. It'd been years since she'd killed herself, and he'd lived more of his life without her than he had with. He barely remembered a thing about her, too, only knowing that once, she had been and now she wasn't. He'd never received an apology from her for leaving him behind with an abusive father, and he couldn't remember a time when she'd said she loved him, nor would he ever hear her say it. He wasn't going to waste time being jealous though, knowing that nothing would come of it. So instead, he chose to honor what Lucy and her mother had, resting his hand atop hers as he firmly avowed, "I will. And we'll get you both out of here soon. I promise."
Lucy bit her bottom lip as she followed Levy to the patch of clear land that had become her and Gray's regular meeting point, her fingers anxiously tangled in the fabric of her knee length skirt. Her clothes definitely weren't meant for hiking, but it wasn't like Zentopia provided her with any clothes other than modest skirts and blouses, Ultear in particular insisting that she always look her best in order to be an example for the members of Zentopia.
Knowing they didn't have much time, Gray didn't offer the pair of girls any greetings other than a quick, half-assed grin when they entered the patch of clear land, instead getting straight to the point.
"I found a file of medical records," he passed the blonde the manila folder he'd found, which was thick with a large stack of papers.
Lucy's brows furrowed as she flipped open the front flap and caught sight of the name at the top of the very first page.
Patient: Lucy Heartfilia
Suffering from depression and amnesia. Zolpidem prescribed.
"What?" she hissed under her breath, casting Gray a look of confusion.
He only nodded his head, his lips pressed into a grim line as he gestured for her to keep reading.
She flipped through the pages, her brows furrowing further, "All of the believers are listed as patients. Why?"
She passed the folder to Levy, the blue haired girl biting her bottom lip as she flipped through the stack of papers as well, "If they make it seem like they have more patients to fill prescriptions for, the more drugs they have access to. Increasing the number of patients makes them qualify for state subsidies, too." She let out a tiny gasp when she found something new, turning the folder in her hands and holding it out for the other two to see, "Look. Precht signed them all in the space for the sanatorium director's signature."
"You think this is enough for the police to finally investigate?" Gray asked hopefully. He was still fully willing to remain in Zentopia for as long as he needed to in order to get Lucy out, but the people and the vibe of the church were really starting to get on his nerves, and the sooner he could be free of it, the better.
Levy solemnly shook her head, "Given what happened to Lucy in the past, I don't think we can trust any form of the law enforcement in Magnolia." When she lifted her gaze, her features showed determination, her voice firm as she informed, "But I have a friend who works at a broadcasting station in Crocus. If we make this public knowledge, not just to the citizens of Magnolia, but to all of Fiore…no one will be able to ignore it. If it reaches that scale, the Magnolia police won't be able to just stand still any longer. If I want to catch the van back into the valley for the night, I'll have to leave right away." She gave them both a nod, the folder hugged safely to her chest as she turned and ran just like she'd said she would, not giving them a chance to say anything in response. They watched as her head of blue haired disappeared amongst the trees, her steps fading into the natural noises of the forest around them.
Lucy bit her bottom lip, an uneasily sense of anticipation creeping over her senses now that they were actually getting somewhere with their planning. She turned to the boy beside her, knowing that it was largely thanks to him, "Gray…Thank you."
He let out a heavy sigh, one corner of his lips quirking in a half-smile, "You really need to stop saying that, Lucy. Besides, this is all happening because of you. You didn't give up. You kept fighting against them."
The blonde curled into herself in response to his praise. She'd never considered herself particularly strong, and when she thought back on things, it was the moments of weakness, the moments when she'd failed, that stuck out the most. Sting's and Romeo's deaths, her near beating in the parking lot of the police station, bawling in Natsu's arms while Loke sped away from the Zentopia van they'd stolen her from, only to return to the church the very next day. Even now, she wasn't doing much to contribute to her own rescue. She was obediently doing everything Ultear and Precht wanted, bending to their every beck and call.
That wasn't strength. It was cowardice. People like Natsu and Gray were strong, but she wasn't. If she had strength, she wouldn't have been stuck in this church for three years, stupidly waiting for her father to come to his senses instead of forcing her parents to leave the moment she'd realized that something was horribly wrong with Zentopia. Her father was lost entirely now, and her mother was suffering, the last three years of her life lost to the haze of the drugs that'd been forced upon her.
As if he knew where her thoughts resided, Gray quietly informed her, "I…I talked with your mom earlier."
Her eyes went wide, her focus whipping back towards the raven haired boy, "You did?"
He hummed in affirmation and nodded his head, "She promised me that she'd do everything she could to get better so that you didn't have to worry, and she asked me to tell you that she loves you."
Lucy felt her eyes sting with tears, but she bit them back, blinking her eyes to get rid of the feeling. She'd waited three long years to hear those words from her mother's lips, and although they'd come to her by Gray's voice, she trusted the raven haired boy not to lie, which meant that Layla really had said them, and that was all the motivation to keep going that she needed.
The blonde didn't inherently possess the strength needed to accomplish her goals, but when she thought of her mother and Sting, when she thought of Natsu, of the promise she'd made to him and all that he and Gray, Loke, and Elfman had done for her, and when she thought of Levy, too, she felt like she could do anything, because family and friends was where her true strength resided.
"Sister McGarden, where do you keep going these days?"
Levy gave the sister who'd asked her the question a polite smile, pausing midway into the van that would take her back into the valley as she lied with ease, "My mom's ill. I'm the only person that can take care of her."
"Apostle Milkovich is looking all over for you," another sister joined the first, the two women staring at the girl with dead gazes. "You should see her before you go."
Levy froze for a moment, an internal battle taking place inside her head as she thought over what to do. She wanted to get to Crocus as soon as possible, but if she refused, in front of the two sisters and a van full of believers, suspicion would undoubtedly be raised, and extra attention wasn't what she needed, not when they were so close to finally accomplishing their goal of taking down Zentopia.
She pressed her lips into a thin line as she tossed her bag, with the file inside, onto her seat in the van, telling the driver to wait for her as she turned to give the two sisters a nod.
Levy's lips were still pressed into a grim line as she stepped into Zentopia's laundry room, the two sisters standing directly at her sides.
Ultear was standing before one of the open-top washing machines, and Levy's brows furrowed when she realized that there wasn't a single laundry basket in sight, which meant that there probably weren't any clothes in the machine, but still, it was turned to its roughest setting if the harsh sound of the churning water was anything to go by.
One of the women beside Levy informed the apostle, "We brought her."
Something felt off, but Levy decided that the best thing to do was to still play innocent, her voice light and full of confusion as she asked, "Why did you want to see me, Apostle Milkovich?"
Ultear still didn't turn from the washing machine, her voice barely audible over its hum as she pressed, "Where did you say you were going when you left two days ago?"
Levy adopted an anxious smile as she shifted on her feet, her nerves getting the best of her and slipping into her voice, no matter how much she fought against them, "I…I told you, I had to go visit my mom for her birthday."
The apostle was still for a few moments before she finally shoved herself away from the machine with a heavy intake of breath, still not looking at the blue haired girl as she began to pace, "I feel like there are so many devils in this place these days. I should've been more careful to not let them come here in the first place."
Levy was frozen in place with wide eyes, a chilling cold spreading through her limbs and numbing them so that she almost didn't feel the two women at her sides take hold of her arms, their grips bruising.
Ultear finally whipped around to face the blue haired girl and close the distance between them, her painted red lips pulled back in a sneer as she snarled into her face, "What did I say happens to you when you lie before our Almighty? I looked into you. You weren't a student before you came here. You were a journalist at Magnolia Daily."
"Apostle Milkovich," Levy began to weakly struggle against the grasps of the two older women, trying to stay calm but panicking regardless of her attempts, "Please, let me explain-"
"You came here to approach Lucy, didn't you?" the apostle cut her off, her gaze cold and calculating.
"That's not it. I think there's been a misunderstanding."
Ultear's lips quirked at the corners in annoyance as she hissed, "You're a filthy, vile little creature, are you? I can hardly stand being in your presence." Her gaze snapped between the sisters restraining the girl, her voice cold as she commanded, "Put her inside."
As their grips on her arms tightened, Levy's panic reached new heights, her eyes wide as she realized they were dragging her towards the open-top washing machine. Her sneakers screeched against the floor in tandem with her shrieking, her feet skidding as she desperately begged, "Apostle Milkovich! Apostle Milkovich, wait!"
Her hands slammed against the front of the washer, panicked shrieks tearing from her throat as she fought against the women yanking her about. But they were stronger, one of the sisters fisting a hand in the hair at the base of her neck and shoving her forward.
"No! Sto-"
Her head plunged beneath the water, the machine still churning around her.
"Who else? What others devils like you are there trying to destroy Zentopia from the inside out?" Ultear hissed even though she knew that Levy couldn't hear her nor respond, the desperate kicking of the girl's legs against the floor and the futile flailing of her arms only further enraging the apostle, "Your friends…I will eradicate them all."
"Why isn't Loke here?"
"I don't know," Natsu let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair as he cast an exhausted look at Elfman. "He seemed kind of pissed off about something when I called him earlier, and he hasn't answered any of my calls since. Maybe we should just give him some time to cool down."
"He was the one that was all gung-ho about getting information though," Elfman muttered, his arms folded over his chest as he plopped himself down on the bed of Natsu's hotel room, feeling drowsy since it was nearly two in the morning. "You'd think he'd want to be here to hear about what you found in Hargeon."
Natsu was about to say that it was weird for their orange haired friend to be ignoring their calls in the first place, but before he could say another word, there was a knock at the door. He wondered who the hell would be here so late as he stood from where he'd been researching at his laptop, rubbing the urge to sleep out of his eyes as he trudged towards the door, his eyes widening at what he found on the other side, "…Juvia?"
The blue haired looked scared, terrified even, her hands clenched into quivering fists at her sides as she mumbled, "Loke…he's not going to church these days, is he?"
"What?" the salmon haired boy hissed, the mention of Loke and a church in the same sentence setting him on edge. Nothing in his life that revolved around religion had been positive as of late, and dread pooled in his stomach as his mind went wild over the implications of Juvia's words.
"I…I…" she stuttered, taking a deep breath and swallowing heavily to calm herself before she quietly continued, "About an hour and a half ago, I was on a delivery…I saw this white van pull out of an alley, and Loke…he was in the front seat. The van…it had the word 'Zentopia' on its side."
Natsu's eyes widened, his frame freezing completely still and his breath catching in his lungs. His chest suddenly constricted, and he swore his heart skipped a beat. The comforter of the bed rustled behind him as Elfman shot to his feet, the Strauss boy fully awake now and striding to the door in the matter of only a few seconds, his eyes wide.
"And then…and then I saw something shiny in the road, so I stopped, and…and…" She lifted a trembling fist from her side, painstakingly uncurling her fingers from around the broken pair of spectacles in her grasp as she shakily quivered out, "There…there was so much blood."
Gray had thought he would be going to bed feeling triumphant. Levy surely had to have arrived in Crocus by now if she'd been traveling since she'd left him and Lucy earlier, and with the file they'd found being released to the public, he was sure that tomorrow would be the day; that the police would arrive to lock Precht and his apostles away for good and finally set Lucy and her mother free.
But instead, this night was one of dread.
He'd gone to the bathroom right before going to bed to check the phone he'd stored in the vent just like he did every night, Natsu's rage and anxiety practically audible in the text he'd sent at just past two in the morning.
'They took Loke. He's gotta be there somewhere. You have to find him.'
Gray's eyes had gone wide in shock and despair, his stomach dropping and leaving a burning, hollow feeling in his gut. These people were murderers, and given that they knew who Loke was, or rather, they remembered him for taking Lucy away from them, they sure as hell weren't going to go easy on him.
The raven haired boy's breath was strained even further when he remembered that Kain's hand had been coated with blood when he'd seen him last, and without even tucking the phone back into its safe place in the vent, Gray shot out of the bathroom and took off running, his feet carrying in the direction he'd seen Zancrow and Kain disappear to a few hours past.
Gray's lungs burned as he heaved down gulp after gulp of the frigid night air on his mad dash up the forest path, his anxiety and panic overshadowing his athleticism and making him feel like running up that hill had been like running a marathon.
He nearly slammed himself into a tree when he dove off of the path as he caught sight of someone coming down it, just barely managing to settle amongst the bushes as Kain came close enough to be within hearing range.
The raven haired boy's eyes widened as he saw the petite, limp body slung over the hulking man's shoulder, the forest too dark for him to make out any more details other than the feminine build of the body.
As cruel as it might have been, wondering whether or not the girl was dead was quickly overtaken by Gray's concern for Loke, and his focus was quickly whipping up towards the top of the path, to where Kain had come from. He crouched as he hiked up the mountain a bit more, his eyes widening at the structure that peeked through the trees. The large, metal door looked like the entrance to a bunker, its hinges and front rusted beyond belief.
That was where Loke was. It had to be.
Natsu tapped his foot on the gas of Juvia's car, having retrieved the vehicle from where it'd been stored in the Strauss' shop. He clenched his hands around the steering wheel, "You ready?"
Elfman gave him a nod, shifting in the passenger seat as if in preparation.
They weren't going to bother wasting their time with trying to be sneaky and covert. Zentopia had taken and hurt one of their best friends, so they were fucking busting through the front gate, ready to wreak havoc and bring chaos to the 'paradise' in the mountains.
Lucy wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when her father had come to inform her that Precht wished to meet with her so late at night, but as she entered the chapel with Jude in tow, her eyes were widening at what greeted her gaze. Preacht and his apostles were near the steps to the stand, a petite blue haired girl, her hair mussed and far more wild than usual, exhaustedly swaying on her feet in front of the group of four.
Levy hadn't made it to Crocus…she hadn't even made it out of Zentopia.
The blonde fought with all of her might to keep her despair, worry, and surprise from showing on her expression. Levy looked like she'd seen hell in the mere hour they'd been apart, her skin pale and far more blue and green than a healthy red, fleshy tone, her eyes lidded and fluttering in the dim light of the chapel. Lucy's stomach dropped when she realized that the blue haired girl looked a lot like Layla had while she'd been forcefully given those psychotropic drugs.
Precht stepped forward, immune to Levy's flinch as he rested his hands heavily on her shoulders and peered over her head at Lucy to purr, "Do you know who this girl is?"
The blonde managed to keep her voice even, though she was sure some of her concern was blatantly visible on her features as she answered, "Yes. She's my aide, Sister McGarden."
"You're wrong," the preacher spat cruelly, his fingers wrapping tightly around the petite girl's shoulders, "She's not who you thought she was. She's a devil who was sent to torment and taint your soul. Did she blind you?"
"No," Lucy firmly responded immediately, her instincts taking over as she did everything she could to save her friend. If there was any way she could prevent or decrease the severity of what was awaiting Levy at the hands of Zentopia, then she would find it, no matter what it meant sacrificing.
"What did she say to you while she was alone with you?" Precht inquired, one of his hands straying from her shoulders and fisting in her blue hair instead, Levy wincing as he tugged at her strands.
"She didn't say anything out of the ordinary. She only delivered Apostle Milkovich's messages."
"Did you know that she was a journalist?"
"No."
Precht stared at the blonde in silence for a moment as if in consideration, his lips quirking the slightest fraction at the edges as he began to guide the shivering blue haired girl in his grasp forward, placing her just before the blonde, "If you really didn't get blinded by her…you should carry out a fire prayer to cleanse her."
Lucy's eyes burned with tears as she stared down at her friend, her hands beginning to tremble at what had been asked of her.
A fire prayer. That was what her father had been trying to carry out in the police station's parking lot, and what Precht and his apostles had done to her upon her return to Zentopia. It meant that she was going to have to beat her friend until there were bruises, until she passed out from the pain.
This was a test. She'd realized long ago that Precht already knew she wasn't following through with her training because she genuinely wanted to, and he was cruelly using Levy as a means of making her prove her forced devotion to his plan.
Refusing to perform the fire prayer meant earning the preacher's wrath, and who knew what would become of the both of them then. Levy might be outright killed, and Lucy feared that he wouldn't hold himself back from taking advantage of her any longer, and then all of their hard work would be for naught. But giving in and commencing with the prayer meant wounding one of the few friends she had. Their progress thus far would hold, but at Levy's expense, and did Lucy really have the right to decide whether or not the blue haired girl was going to make such a sacrifice?
Levy's eyes flooded with tears, her form still shivering as she choked out in a hoarse voice, "Please…save me. I don't know anything!"
"We mustn't be deceived by the devil," Precht purred into the blue haired girl's ear, though his voice was more than loud enough for Lucy to hear, "Even if he approaches us behind a kind, pretty face."
The blonde's stomach churned as the preacher ran the knuckles of his fingers down Levy's cheek as if in admiration.
"Hurry, Lucy! Rid her of the demon possessing her!" Jude pressed, watching his daughter from his place beside Ultear and the other two apostles.
The blue haired girl blindly reached forward towards the other girl, her voice filled with tears and desperation, "Lucy…you need to run...your mom also wants-"
Her words cut off in a shriek as Lucy's hand shot forward to the top of her head, the blonde shoving the girl to the floor as she shrieked, "Leave, you filth!"
Lucy fell to her knees beside Levy's crumbled, moaning form.
"I'm not a devil! I'm not! Please! I'm not!"
"With the Almighty's burning flame," the blonde was trembling as she sharply brought her hand down on Levy's back for the first time, tears streaming down her face as she cried, "I command you, devil," she brought her hand down once more, her tears pattering from her chin to the marble floor and her throat burning with her final shriek, "to leave!"
The doors of the chapel creaked as they were pushed open, though Lucy didn't turn from her fallen friend to see who had entered.
She was disgusted with herself.
"Who told you you could enter here?" Ultear stepped towards the door, her sharp voice aimed at the person who had interrupted them.
"I…I'm sorry."
Lucy's eyes widened as she recognized Gray's voice, but still, she didn't turn, one of her hands now gently swiping back the hair from Levy's sweat-soaked face. She'd already cost one of her friends their safety, and she wasn't going to risk revealing Gray's identity by reacting to his presence in any way.
"It's just," the raven haired boy continued hesitantly, his hands respectfully clasped in front of himself, "I saw a couple of weird guys come in through the front gate."
"Who are you talking about?" Precht stepped forward to, his features beginning to spark with fury.
Gray bit his bottom as he thought over his answer, "They looked to be around my age. One of them had pink hair, and the other had white hair and was really tall. They were heading into the woods."
Ultear sharply inhaled, her feet already carrying her towards the chapel doors, "It's them. The boys who took Lucy!"
"They came for the boy," Zancrow hissed, his hands clenching into fists.
The three apostles and Jude brushed past Gray and out of the chapel, fury and rage lining their features.
Lucy stayed kneeling on the floor beside her blue haired friend, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she gently rested a hand atop the flesh she'd just abused, her heart aching and crying out in her chest.
"The fuck is this place?" Natsu ground out, directing his flashlight across the steel walls of the bunker-like structure Gray had directed them to over the phone. The salmon haired boy wasn't sure why his rival hadn't come with them, but he didn't waste time pondering or complaining about it, his best friend's instructions to grab Loke and get the fuck out of there ringing clear in his mind. Gray had a plan, that much was obvious, and Natsu trusted him well enough by now not to get in the way and fuck it up.
He was grateful that, unlike him, Elfman had been thinking somewhat clearly in their hurried dash to Zentopia, the tools that the boy had snatched from his family's mechanic shop before they'd left proving essential in their rescue operation. The large, metal door to the steep staircase that had led them down to the hallway they were in now had been locked with a sturdy chain, but the links had clunked to the ground with one snip of Elfman's bolt cutter.
Natsu's breathes were escaping him in heavy puffs as he shown his flashlight through the small metal grate that served as a window at the top of each door that lined the musty hallway, his heartbeat speeding up with each empty room.
He mentally prayed to whatever God was really up there, not Zentopia's Almighty, as he peered through the very last door in the hallway before the walls gave way to rows of lockers, his heart rate spiking as his flashlight shown upon a lump rather than a spotless steel floor. His eyes found a pair of bound hands, then traveled up the fabric of the back of a green sweatshirt that was colored brown in random splotches, and finally settled on a wild mop of orange hair that was matted with dirt and blood.
"Loke!"
The orange haired boy didn't stir at his cry.
"Move!" Elfman was quickly grabbing onto his salmon haired friend's shoulder and not-so-gently shoving him out of the way, a grunt slipping through his lips as he rammed his shoulder against the metal door, knowing that with the way it was locked, his bolt cutters wouldn't suffice.
The rusted metal of the lock gave out after only six shoves, the door slamming against the wall of the cell as Elfman charged into the room following his last shove.
Natsu bolted in right after him, his flashlight clattering to the floor as he dropped to his knees at Loke's front, his hands immediately going for the gag blocking Loke's mouth while Elfman worked at the bindings around the boy's wrists.
"Loke!" the salmon haired boy placed his hands on his friend's cheeks, panic consuming him as his fingers quickly smeared with blood, "Wake up!"
His only answer was a groan, which was enough for him for the moment. It meant that Loke was alive, and knowing what kind of people the members of Zentopia were, that was more than he could have ever asked for.
"We need to get out of here. Now," Natsu hissed, helping Elfman maneuver the limp, unconscious form of their orange haired friend onto his back. His arms hung limply over the Strauss boy's shoulders, his head lulling and smearing the back of Elfman's shirt with blood.
Natsu snatched his flashlight from the floor once Loke was somewhat safely placed, leading the charge back out of the bunker with an extra anxious tick in his step. They'd found Loke, but leaving Zentopia probably wasn't going to be as easy as charging in had been.
There were already voices charging up the dirt path towards them, so they had no choice but to cut through the forest, the pair trying to be as careful as they could for Loke's sake.
Gray's eyes momentarily widened as he caught sight of his three best friends making their way across the very bottom of the path that led up to the church, Lucy and Precht following him down the steps of the front of the white building. But he was quickly forcing his surprised expression to morph into one of anger, his fists clenching at his sides.
It was time to carry out the rest of his plan.
He let out his best impression of one of Natsu's growls before bolting down the path with a furious cry of, "That's them!"
He could practically feel Lucy's wide eyes boring into his back as he charged, but he was glad she didn't follow, and neither did Precht. If they had, he didn't know what he would've done.
He reached the bottom of the path and rounded the corner just as Natsu and Elfman carefully tucked Loke into the back seat of the car they'd driven before the Strauss boy tumbled in after him, and hell, did the orange haired boy look like shit. He hadn't been able to see any details in the one quick glimpse he'd been given, but he had seen the blood, and there was a lot of it.
But he forced his concern aside, trusting in Natsu and Elfman to take care of Loke and kicking up dirt as he lunged towards the salmon haired boy who was hurriedly yanking open the driver's side door.
He clung onto Natsu's free arm, the salmon haired boy whipping around to face him, his intention of attacking and the anger on his features fading into something akin to shock when he saw who it was that was tugging him away from the door of the car.
Gray didn't drop his act for a second, desperately shouting outwards to the voices he could hear approaching their location, "They're over here!"
Natsu yanked his wrist free, his eyes wide as he hissed, "What the fuck are you doing, ice prick?!"
"Just hurry up and punch me, you moron!" Gray ground out under his breath, ceasing his rival's wrist once more and shouting over his shoulder, "Over here! I caught them!"
The raven haired boy didn't know what Natsu was waiting for. The salmon haired boy had certainly never had any problem with punching him before, and it was obvious that he enjoyed brawling, especially when it was against Gray. But now, his rival was just staring back at him with wide eyes, his body tense and reluctant to move.
Finally, Natsu's features shifted, an enraged type of pain appearing on his features as he yanked his wrist free again and pulled his arm back, his voice heavy as he stammered a quick, "I'm sorry."
Natsu's fist landed in the same spot that Jellal's had only hours before, the already abused flesh of his jaw screaming with the force of the impact. Gray let himself stumble backwards after receiving the blow, the palms of his hands stinging with new scratches as he only barely managed to catch himself.
When he recovered enough to lift his head, he saw that his rival still hadn't moved, and that was when he realized that Natsu didn't want to leave him behind. What had happened to Loke must've terrified the shit out of him, just like it had all of them, and in the mere hours that the orange haired boy had been held captive by Zentopia, it'd seemed like he'd been torn to shreds.
It was obvious to Gray now that Natsu wasn't eager to leave without him, but the raven haired boy refused to let his rival's emotions get the better of him. He'd pledged himself to Lucy's rescue, and he wasn't going to leave until her and her mother were out of this god-forsaken church.
Gray anxiously shook his head, pleading through eyes, begging his best friend to just go and get Loke some help. The voices approaching were growing louder, and the group of believers was visible now too, Zancrow and Jude at the head of the charge towards the parked car.
Natsu anxiously looked between them and his rival, who was still collapsed on the ground, his lips curling back in a displeased snarl and a curse slipping through his lips as he turned on his heel, throwing himself into the driver's seat of Juvia's car and sending dirt into Gray's face as he sped down the mountain path, the taillights fading into the darkness of night.
"Thank you," Gray gave Jude a little, grateful nod of his head as he placed a cup of tea on the coffee table before him, withholding a curse as his jaw ached with the movement of muttering the simple phrase. He'd been punched full force three times in nearly the same exact spot, and he was sure that in a few hours, the flesh there would be painted with a horrid bruise.
But the pain was of little concern to him at the moment, his present situation much more demanding of his attention.
He was in Precht's office, seated on a couch directly across from Lucy, who sat by her father on the other side of the coffee table. The preacher sat in an arm chair that was perpendicular to the two couches, his eyes carefully following the raven haired boy's every move as he took a small sip of his tea.
Gray really wanted to go to bed, and Lucy did, too, he could tell. It was nearing three in the morning, and with the day that he'd had, he was about ready to pass out. He was a bit concerned that his exhaustion would hinder his ability to maintain his character, but with all that had just happened, both with Jellal and with his friends, he hoped he'd done enough to prove he was worthy of their trust.
Jude gently cleared his throat, taking the initiative of starting the conversation, "How'd you say you caught sight of those boys again?"
The raven haired boy lifted his focus from his tea, his gaze finding Jude before it briefly shifted to Lucy, the blonde giving him a look that said 'you better not screw this up.'
"I was on my way to the prayer rooms in the woods," Gray answered earnestly, pushing Loke's glasses further up on his nose as he sniffled. "I just thought they looked strange, so I came and found you."
"You did a the right thing," Jude praised, letting out a heavy sigh as if he couldn't believe that such a thing had even happened in the first place.
"Moments like these are why we have to pray and worship every day," Precht suddenly stated, his focus briefly shifting to Lucy before snapping back to Gray as he hummed, "It seems that the Almighty has sent us a very special soul."
Gray feigned humility and self-consciousness, adopting a clumsy grin and dropping his gaze to the floor as if in uncertainty as he curled into himself.
"You are…" Precht surmised, his voice strangely sincere as he entitled the raven haired boy, "The Gatekeeper of Zentopia."
"…Really?" Gray breathed out, his surprise not entirely faked.
"Congratulations," Jude began, a warm smile on his face, "You've been given a very sacred calling. Fulfill it with faith."
Gray clasped his hands quietly in front of himself as he followed Lucy and her father from Precht's office, his exhausted mind still reeling with what had happened only a short few moments ago. Receiving a 'calling from the Almighty' was something he'd never expected to happen when he'd first snuck into the cult, but he figured that his plans must be working better than he'd originally thought, especially with how important Precht and Jude had made his new duty out to be.
"You can return to your room for the night, Gray," Jude gave the boy a gentle grin as he turned to face him and bid him farewell, "You did much good today, so rest well."
The raven haired boy nodded his head once, adopting his own forced half-grin before turning to head on his way, "Thanks. Good night."
"Wait."
He was stopping again before he'd taken more than three steps, Lucy's voice causing him to spin back around in order to face her and her father.
The blonde had a soft grin on her features, her voice overly bright but somehow still gentle as she hummed, "I've just received revelation from the Almighty. He doesn't want us to just send away the one who valiantly fought against the demons that threatened us. I should give him my blessing as a reward."
Gray quirked a brow in confusion, but he quickly figured that she was up to something. She fit her role of Spiritual Mother perfectly now though as she stood before her father, so well that Gray was almost believed she really was just going to give him a blessing and send him on his way. She definitely had a way with words, and for people who thrived by deceiving others, the apostles of Zentopia were surprisingly susceptible to deceit themselves.
"Dad, could you give me your vial of Living Water?"
"Of course, dear."
Lucy gave her father a grateful grin before turning to Gray and coming to stand right before him, sprinkling a few drops of the supposed holy liquid on his head, reaching up to gently set her hand atop his raven strands.
He ducked his head to make it easier on her, waiting patiently to see what she was going to do with his hands still clasped respectively before him.
The blonde dropped her pleasant, reverent front all at once, her features shifting and her expression conveying urgency and desperation as she mouthed, 'Levy…please.'
Gray swallowed heavily, dropping his gaze to the floor as he subtly nodded his head once. In all of the chaos with his friends, he'd nearly forgotten about the sight he'd witnessed upon entering the chapel earlier, but now, the image of Lucy kneeling by the shivering, moaning blue haired girl's side burned its way to the surface of his mind, Levy's state in that moment letting him know that something had gone horribly wrong.
He was exhausted, but another rescue mission was about to be under way, and he was the only one who could do it. So it seemed like he wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight, but if it was for his comrades, then he would do it, no matter what it cost him.
"They abducted him and beat him up," Natsu ground out, his eyes zeroed in on the detective that had met them on the shore in their usual spot at Magnolia's lake. "Now, is that enough for you stupid superior to allow an investigation?"
Mest shifted on his feet, "Are you sure about that?"
"Are you fucking blind?" the salmon haired boy hissed, his arm flying backwards to gesture to the pizza delivery car that was parked behind him. From where they'd propped him up against the seat and Elfman, Loke's bloodied and bruised face was visible through the windshield, his hair matted to his skin with sweat, blood, and mud.
The detective decided to lash back with own heated question, "Why the hell did you bring him to me instead of taking him to the hospital?"
"Because I believe every word Lucy's ever said to me, and she told me that that fucking cult has ties with the hospital in town," Natsu growled. "We're gonna take him out of town, but I needed to ask you for a favor first."
Mest quirked a brow, but he didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"They abduct, confine, and beat people to death," Natsu fumed, his body tensed with anxiety and constantly shifting as if he couldn't stand staying still for even a moment. "That means that I need to get my friends out of there now, which means I need you and your police buddies to get your heads out of your asses and get involved."
The detective let out a heavy sigh, "Look, I told you earlier-"
"Stop blaming the lack of evidence, the hierarchy, and the fact that Zentopia's a religious organization! You guys found a corpse not even a mile away from them!"
"Listen, kid," Mest ground out, finally deciding to just release the information he'd withheld for the sake of saving Natsu from its heavy weight, "my superiors aren't the only ones pulling the strings here." He paused, stealing himself for the inevitably violent reaction he was about to pay witness to, "No one in Magnolia can act without your brother's permission. The Governor was the one that wrote off the Mine's girl death as an accident, and he's stopping anyone from doing anything involved with Zentopia. Like it or not, your big bro's involved with Zentopia, and if you want to take them down, you're gonna have to drag him down, too."
Natsu was frozen solid for a moment before he whipped his focus away from the detective in frustration, pacing around the brush below him with hands clenched into fists. He'd known about Zeref and Zentopia since he'd walked into Wendy's hospital room to find his brother conversing with Precht, the two exchanging words like they were old friends. But to hear it confirmed by someone on the other side, someone that was almost directly under his brother's power, was like the final knife in the chest, the final nail in the coffin.
He resolved to deal with it later, shoving his anger aside for the sake of his friend. He spun back around to face Mest, his tone leaving no room for argument as he ground out, "I'm taking Loke to the hospital to get an official medical report. They've committed assault, abduction, coercion, and confinement. We're gonna press charges against them for everything they've done, and once word spread beyond Magnolia, my brother won't be able to do a thing to stop us. I will make sure that that happens. I'm not giving up on Lucy just because it means betraying my brother." He let out a weighty sigh as he dropped his gaze to the ground, a threat in his voice as he hissed, "This is gonna be big, and once everything about that cult and Zeref comes to light, all of Magnolia's gonna erupt into chaos. If you wanna just stand there and do nothing, then fine, but know that the blame will be on you, and I ain't gonna testify to save your ass once outsiders step in to absolve all of the corruption in this town."
With those words lingering in his wake, and he spun on his heel and trudged through the brush back towards Juvia's car, not leaving any air for the detective to speak.
"What did he say?" Elfman eagerly inquired after Natsu had slammed the door behind him, the salmon haired boy angrily plopping himself into the driver's seat.
"Elfman…" Natsu's eyes follow Mest as the detective went back to his own car, his voice low as he instructed, "I want you to take Loke out of town for a bit, and get him to a hospital."
"Then…what about you? What're you gonna do?"
The salmon haired boy bit his bottom lip, strengthening his resolve for a moment before he determinedly ground out, "I'm gonna go see Zeref."
"What?!"
"If I can't get him to give in and let the investigation proceed, then I'm finally gonna use everything I have against him. The governor's little brother pressing charges against him is sure to gain some headway in the media, even outside of Magnolia."
Elfman held for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly nodded his head, "Fine. But you better be careful."
"I will be," Natsu promised as he shoved the driver's side door open once more, "I didn't come this far just to let my brother get the better of me."
He left the door open for Elfman as the Strauss boy gently left Loke's side and circled around the car, giving Natsu a firm pat on the shoulder for farewell, willing him the strength to stand tall and endure.
The salmon haired boy watched his two friends drive away until the taillights of their car faded into black, not having moved an inch since Elfman's hand had left his shoulder.
The last time he'd stood in this spot, all three of his friends had stood beside him, the blonde they'd just recused endlessly showering them with her thanks. But now, Loke was bloodied and beaten, and Gray and Lucy were trapped inside that fucking cult, enduring God knows what. Both of them could be killed and he would never know unless he went there himself, which would likely be impossible now that they'd broken in so easily once. Security was surely going to be raised following their intrusion, and now they'd royally screwed themselves over, likely heightening the chances of failure for their escape plan once things went down.
But that wouldn't stop. He'd once been the type of person that would cower under the threat of his brother's power, but he wasn't that person anymore. He'd accomplish his goals no matter what it took, and he'd keep his promises this time, his voice filled with determination and strength as he avowed to himself, "We're almost there, Lucy. I'm gonna save you, I swear."
AN
Next chapter will pick up where this one left off, with Gray going to save Levy :)
We're almost there, you guys...I swear. I actually think we might have only three chapters left cause I want to make the last one longer than usual, and since I'm completely done with finals and school for the next little bit, I should be able to get the last chapters written out and let you know for sure how much longer we'll be going for!
We've also got quite a few exciting things happening next chapter, so I'm excited for you to read it!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next Friday!