AN: Once again I'm sorry for the late post. This past week was hella hectic and I barely had any time to write, and couldn't figure out how I wanted this chapter to go. Rest assured the next chapter will be on time or early, not late. Promise!
Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or favored my fic! It means a whole lot to me and it's what keeps me going! I love you all!
Rogue POV
Watching as an already injured and magically exhausted Lucy Struggled against Julien had my blood boiling. How dare he touch what was mine! I had this strong urge to go to her aid but Natsu and Sting had come running up to the infirmary with the enemy hot on their heels. Leaving the injured wasn't and option, I knew Lucy would think that too. Remembering that Lucy had handled herself once before, in similar conditions, made feel a little better about leaving her to fend for herself. Taking one last look at her I turned away from her and focused on the problem Natsu and Sting had brought to us.
Attack after attack I sent multiple dark mages flying, but for every mage I took out, three more seemed to appear in their place. How many are there? I thought as my bedridden guild mates began screaming behind me, distracting me for a second. A second was all the dark mages needed in order to land a couple of blows, knocking me backwards into one of the occupied cots and its occupant. Momentarily stunned from having the wind knocked out of me I laid there vulnerable to the advancing mages. Mentally bracing myself for the pain of the continued attacks I was surprised when they never came. Instead I felt the ground beneath me shake, and heard all of the fighting cease as everyone shifted their attention to staying upright on their feet. In the place of the fight I heard what was left of Sabertooth crumble into a giant heap on the ground, the injured scream out in pain as their beds tipped over and the dark mages yell to each to other to run away, and that 'he' was majorly pissed off. Confused at their yells I got my bearings and looked around for this man they were talking about.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"What's happening!?"
"Earthquake!"
"I don't remember an earthquake ever feel like this, Rogue. I also don't recall this area experience one in the past, at least not a notable one." Rufus said as he walked up behind me unsteadily. "And look around, none of the animals in the trees over there have moved. This is no natural quake." He muttered the last, pointing to the observing animals from the tree line behind Julien.
"No, it's not natural." Seeing Lucy wobble unsteadily from the shaking ground, but Julien remain stock still I knew that the quake had to be generating from him. A particularly strong tremor came and went in quick succession, as everyone lost their balance and landed on a heap on the floor.
"Oh my god, we're flying!"
Feeling my stomach heave, before that person had even finished yelling I scrambled to the edge of our now floating infirmary and was soon joined by none other than Sting and Natsu, who looked and sounded just as sick as I felt.
Watching as we rose higher and higher, I was glad to see that Lucy was safely on the ground, but growled as I watched her backing away from Julien. I followed every step she took with my eyes until I felt our ascent stop suddenly before we began plummeting back to Earthland. Rising off of the ground during our fall I was given a small reprieve from my gagging, which I was grateful for, but a second later I came crashing back down as our floating island stopped, only to start rising again.
"Natsu…Natsu…" I heard Happy say as he shook the disgruntled pinkette's shoulder.
"…'appy, 'et Wucy." Natsu slurred, trying to keep himself from throwing up.
"I think what Flame Brain is trying to say is, get Lucy." Laxus said from above us, looking out over the edge.
Seeing Happy realize that, that was indeed what Natsu had been trying to say Happy saluted Natsu, who was no longer paying attention to anything but the inside of his eyelids and took off saying "Aye sir!"
Still looking at Laxus in awe, "How…?" I started but couldn't finish.
"Tch as if I'd let something as stupid as motion sickness get to me. Do we really want to get Lucy up here only for it to crash land?
"Stay off the ground Happy and take them to Master!" I heard Lucy yell, catching a glint of gold and silver flying through the air to Happy. "Go!" Saluting her as she had done to Natsu he took off. As chunks of rock and dirt flew after the blue cat, whatever Julien had been doing to make us float stopped and we started falling at an alarming rate. Behind me my guild mates were screaming and crying as we fell to what was most likely our deaths.
Those who were able to abandoned ship, so to speak, flew and transported to safety. Wendy, unlike everyone else wanted to stay with her patients and screamed bloody murder when Carla took that choice away from her and picked her up to fly her a safe distance away, so the impact of us landing couldn't reach her. By the time Carla got back into the air to get someone else it was too late, there was no way she would have been able to make it back to us in time without getting hurt herself and she knew it, so she stayed with Wendy and kept her from running towards us.
When Laxus returned from transporting some of the injured to safety he grabbed the three of us and surrounded us in lightning to transport us out of there. It wasn't until his lightning disappeared and Lucy's scent assaulted my nose, that I realized we had landed already. There was no big quake, or loud crash, just the strangled screams of those who were left as they too realized we weren't in danger anymore.
Looking at Lucy through a familiar blue light I knew she had saved us by calling forth the shield just in time. My relief was short lived however when I saw her fall to her hands and knees panting, unable to defend herself as Julien approached with a dagger in hand. "Lucy get up!" I yelled banging on the shield. "Release the barrier!" When she did neither I watched helplessly as Julien reached her. Pressing my face and body against the barrier, as if I could force my way out, I watched as she fell face first onto the ground. As Julien's arm descended upon Lucy's back something attacked him, knocking him down and saving Lucy from being stabbed, the barrier vanished as Lucy fell into unconsciousness.
Falling forward, I barely registered Natsu's blazing form run to the struggling Julien and what turned out to be the wolf I had spoken to earlier. I was about to tell Natsu that the wolf was on our side, but I saw that my warning wasn't needed as Natsu tackled the rising Julien, setting him on fire and beating him into the ground. With each fiery fist Natsu spoke. "How. Dare. You. Hurt. Lucy!" Knowing that, that was being handled I raced Wendy to Lucy's prone figure, sliding on my knees when I had got close enough. Ignoring the scent of my blood from all of the gravel that was imbedded in my skin I lifted Lucy's head onto my lap, turning it so she would be able to breathe without taking in dirt and rocks.
"Wendy is she going to be alright?"
"I don't know, I can't check her while you are touching her, Rogue." She said, prying my arms from around her and gently positioning Lucy face up on the ground. Jerking off my cape I bunched it together and placed it under her head before bringing my hands to myself so Wendy could work.
"Sorry…So how is she?"
"Lucy-nee is dangerously low on magic, and… no never mind. As long as she rests, I expect her to make a full recovery."
"No, what was that pause? Is there something wrong with her?"
"Tell him. He'll hear about it sooner or later." Laxus interceded when Wendy looked like she was going to ignore my question.
"But Master said…"
"Don't worry kid; we couldn't keep it a secret for much longer anyways."
Looking up to Laxus, Wendy nodded her head and looked down at Lucy's sleeping form. "We aren't sure… Porlyusica is checking a sample of Lucy's blood because I couldn't tell what it was when I was healing her; whatever it is, it appeared after that man attacked and cut her throat in Magnolia. I've, no we've, been keeping a close eye on her and haven't seen anything off, so it may be nothing." Wendy finished with a hopeful smile, but I could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced.
"What do you mean? What do you think is wrong with Lucy?" Natsu yelled, dropping a barely coherent Julien on the ground before making his way to Lucy's side to peer down at her. Sniffing at her, Natsu tried to see if he could find sense something off.
With a smack to the back of his head Laxus growled. "Don't you think we've tried that before? Whatever is in her system in odorless..."
"We just have to wait to see what Porlyusica finds, Natsu." Wendy said putting a restraining hand on Laxus' arm to prevent him from smacking Natsu again in annoyance.
"Why didn't she tell us before?" Natsu asked, staring at the blonde mage in concern.
"Uhh… she doesn't know… Laxus caught me taking a sample of her blood as I healed her, and followed me when I went to find Porlyusica. I didn't want to worry her." She muttered under her breath. "Not after she had just been attacked and had just gotten back home."
"About time." Laxus said as he turned towards the main road to see a cloud of dust heading straight at us. One by one five Magical Vehicles of various sizes skidded to a stop about ten feet from us, and mages from Fairy Tail poured out. Spreading out in some sort of unknown order they made quick work of securing the area and began transferring the injured into the two large vehicles. Once I had seen to Lucy's transfer I realized that I hadn't seen Lector or Frosch during the entire battle and became concerned that something had happened to them.
"Hey Sting, have you seen Frosch and Lector recently?"
"Nah, I was just about to ask you 'bout that." Sting said looking everywhere. "Frosch! Lector! Where are you?" He yelled cupping his hands around his mouth to project it further.
"Frosch! Lector!" I yelled going the opposite direction of Sting so we could cover more area.
Turning my head towards the wreckage of our once proud guild I saw a flash of pink beneath some of the rocks and rushed towards it. Kneeling down in front of what used to be the entrance of the guild I threw away the rocks that were crushing piece of pink fabric and gingerly picked it up. Feeling my hand encounter something wet I transferred the fabric to my left hand. Looking down at my right hand I saw that it was smeared with blood that carried a mixture of Frosch's and Lector's scent. Because of the all-consuming fires and the smoke they created I knew I wouldn't be able to track either one of them down, the air was riddled with even more smoke than before and when you added in all of the dust from our landing, it made singling out a specific scent impossible.
I don't know how long I knelt there staring at the tattered remains of Frosch's frog costume that was clenched in my hands; the outfit was shredded, from top to bottom, unrecognizable if you didn't know what it was supposed to be, but there was a piece of it missing; the head.
"Did you find them-? That's not Frosch's..." Sting stopped when he say my head jerk once in affirmation. Dropping to his knees beside me he began clawing through the mound of rocks in front of us. When he had reached the bottom of the pile of rocks he slammed both of his fists into the ground, yelling in denial. We remained there in silence, ignoring the hustle and bustle of everyone around us, wallowing in our failure and grief.
Noticing that the dark mages were regrouping and preparing to advance on us Erza and Gray dragged the two of us away from the scattered mound of rocks we had dug through to look for any other sign of our exceeds and threw us into the back of the last vehicle when we showed no signs of getting into it ourselves. For once I was completely numb to the movement of the vehicle as it sped down the road. Sting on the other hand was too consumed by shock and his grief to even care about what was happening around him, he hadn't even gotten off of the floor, where he had landed when we were tossed in. He just laid there with tear streaming down his face, as he stared blindly at the ceiling.
Still gripping Frosch's frog costume in my hands I felt my eyes sting, my own tear welling up, ready to spill over as Sting's had. "Frosch... Lector... We failed you." I whispered imagining how scared they must have been. "I'm sorry."
Normal POV
The day after the fight news of Sabertooth's defeat had spread throughout Fiore. How could the country's number one guild be defeated? And who did they turn to in their time of need, Fiore's weakest guild. No one understood how the two guilds were linked and how Fairy Tail suddenly was able to pay off all of their debts and get their glittering mammoth of a guild back, but they didn't really care as long as their requests were getting done. Because of all of the news the request board was full once again, so full in fact that another one had to be added to post all of them at once. Bisca and Alzack took advantage of the overflow of jobs, and left on a job as soon as they could find a sitter for their daughter. Team shadow gear wound up agreeing to watch Asuka since Levy refused to leave the guild until Lucy had recovered completely.
While everyone was recovering as expected Lucy was steadily getting worse. She had been fine, well as fine as she could be with her magic so low, two days after her return, but when she tried to call out Plue one day she hadn't been able to and had nearly passed out. Considering Plue was the easiest spirit to summon we refused to allow her to try calling out any of her other ones for fear of her passing out, or worse.
Everyone could tell that something was wrong with Lucy and our worries were only increased when Master told us Porlyusica had been trying to discover what it was for the past week and a half but hadn't been able to find anything of use.
So while some of us went out on jobs, most of us stayed in the guild helping the Sabertooth mages adjust and waiting around as the heart of Fairy Tail was bed ridden.
Happy, and Carla tried to stay as quiet and invisible as they could while they were at the guild, trying not to draw the attention of Rogue and Sting. We still were able to find any trace of their two companions, and neither had any of the other guilds. The good thing was that no one found their bodies, so there was still a chance of them being alive, but it was that uncertainty that ate the two slayers alive and caused them to ignore everyone for nearly two weeks.
"Gihi. No one thought to tell me we had gotten our guild back?" Gajeel said as he kicked open the door with a loud bang. Sensing the mood of the entire guild Gajeel looked around and noticed all of the new faces, and the one that was missing. "Where's Bunny Girl? And who the hell are all of these people?"
"Lu-chan is upstairs... Haven't you heard? Sabertooth has temporarily taken up shop at Fairy Hills."
"Sabertooth?" Lily asked stepping out from behind Gajeel, drawing Sting and Rogue's attention from up on the balcony.
"Fiore's number one guild. They were also the ones who found and took care of Lu-chan when she disappeared. They...their guild was destroyed by the a group of mages that sent someone here to attack Lu-chan. How could you not have heard about any of this? Have you two been living in a cave for the past two weeks?"
"Tch. Basically." Gajeel grunted making his way to the stairs that were now blocked by Rogue, who was standing at the top.
"No one is allowed up here besides Team Natsu, Makarov, Mira, Laxus and his team, and Levy."
"Like hell. Move aside and I promise not to hurt you...much. Gihi." When he tried to advanced Gajeel ran into a rune wall Freed had put up to keep everyone from bothering Lucy as she rested. "What gives?" He asked looking to Master.
Sighing master hopped off of the bar and told Gajeel to follow him with his finger. Once they were in the storage room Master stood on one of the boxes and glanced at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Something is wrong with Lucy. We think she has been poisoned by the same group of mages that destroyed Sabertooth. They are going after all Celestial Mages and their keys, killing and destroying each one. Their ultimate goal is to acquire the jeweled keys and release their Goddess and destroy both Earthland and the Spirit World."
"Why doesn't the kid just heal her if she's poisoned?"
"It's not that simple. Whatever kind of poison it is Wendy can't cure it or identify it."
"Then what the hell are we gonna do 'bout Lucy?"
"Right now we're trying to make her as comfortable and calm as possible. We also have Lamia Scales' healer coming any day. To see if she is able to heal what Wendy could not, or if they could do it together. Until she gets here there isn't much else we can do."
"Tch. She'll get through this she's a tough one. You mentioned Jeweled keys, is this one of them?" He said digging in his pocket and pulling out something in his clenched fist. Opening his fist he revealed a worn looking key that had dried dirt crusted all over it.
"Why is it so dirty?" Master asked picking up the key and unsuccessfully trying to chip away the dirt. Giving up on trying to clean it Master inspected it as best he could through the dirt. "It may be one but I can't tell. We'll have to have Lucy take a look when she feels up to it. Where did you find it?"
AN: hey guys sorry to leave it like this but the next chapter is/will have a flashback explaining where Gajeel has been, and how he came by the key.
Let me know what you thought. Please and thank you.
Moonlight Starlove: =]
BronzeDove: Rogue was definitely not amused, but he was too busy to inform Julien of that fact. lol
artificialartofficial: Yay, i'm glad. Haha i'm kind of a night owl so don't be surprised if I post chapters during the wee hours of the morning. ;)
Eclipse1: Yup, and so it begins. =] sorry for the late update!