An: Hey guys! I am finally back! So sorry for the long wait for this chapter. The week before I left for Disneyland I got really sick and was out of commission. I literally did not have any energy and stayed in bed for five days. By the time I got better I had to rush to pack, work and work on an application for school so I still had no time to write. After that I was on vacation, and let me tell you it was exhausting. Universal studios, Six Flags and Disneyland in one trip is really fun but extremely tiring, I wanted to chop my feet off after each day... actually I still do because they still hurt. But overall I am back, and will be getting back to me regular update schedule hopefully as long as I don't get sick again. (My job is still under quarantine so I'm still at risk, so cross your fingers!)
Thanks to everyone for their patience and continued support! I love you all.
Gray's POV
Satan's peak was definitely the right name for this level of hell we were wandering around in. More like being led to our deaths. I thought glaring at our guide's back. What was it that Lucy had said; that these spirits were dangerous and wouldn't come with us willingly, well Elle was not only with us by choice she was also helping us and something about this whole situation wasn't right. So why was it that I was the only one who was wary over this pint sized girl?
Scowling in frustration over my thoughts I furiously wiped my forehead, again, to free myself of all sweat that had accumulated. How the hell could Natsu stand it, let alone continue to wear all of his damn clothes?! Everyone else was sweating bullets even after removing their clothes. Laxus had discarded his coat and shirt somewhere towards the entrance of the volcano along with Cana's pants – because apparently she always had her bikini on under her regular clothes. Elle, like Natsu, was unfazed by the heat and was currently holding and fanning the overheated fur ball, Happy as she led us deeper down the path. As for me the moment the heat had hit, I looked down to find my clothes gone, luckily Juvia had, had the foresight to pack extra clothes for me and now I was walking around in my boxers.
Interrupting my pitiful attempt to create ice that could withstand this head Natsu and Laxus both stopped to sniff the air as Elle continued to walk a few feet ahead of us. When she finally stopped she turned to look at us with an apologetic look on her face and what looked like tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She whispered before she disappeared with Happy in her arms, and the path behind us was closed off by a massive boulder.
"Happy!" Natsu yelled, charging ahead only to be pulled back by Laxus. Just as Laxus got the struggling Natsu under control there was a loud grinding noise and then darkness encased us. Before either one of us could move we were falling as the ground was yanked out from under us and we began falling. Twisting so I could get a look at where we were falling I was glad Natsu had lit his fists on fire so we could see. Seeing the wooden spikes awaiting us I quickly made an ice web to catch us. One after another we fell onto it, and each other. Jumping down from the web, avoiding the spikes as we did so we looked around the pit and saw dried blood covering the spikes and ground.
"Do you believe me now?" I growled out at the three of them.
"Shut up Gray." Laxus snarled.
"Happy! Happy!" Natsu called looking around for a way to climb up. Scrambling up the smooth sides of the pit, Natsu continued to slide back down after making it up a few feet. After several more attempts he started punching the wall, trying to make an opening.
"Natsu that's not gonna work." Cana said, feeling around the wall.
"Gray get me back up there!" Natsu demanded. Nodding my head I got into position.
"Ice-make pillar!" I said, focusing on building a pillar tall enough. The pillar was tall enough but we hadn't accounted for the trap door that had closed sometime during our fall. As the pillar shot towards the closed trap door Natsu released a roar at it, but it didn't budge. Recalling my ice I brought Natsu back down to us.
"Again," He demanded.
"It's not gonna work, you didn't even dent the damn door."
"Again, Gray." Natsu said ignoring Laxus.
After three more failed attempts, I refused to do it anymore, and we tried to find another way of getting out. Each and every attempt we had at creating an opening in the wall failed and we became increasingly angry and confused; confused because there was blood but no bodies, so there had to be a way they got in and out of here to clean remove the bodies. After several hours had passed, we still hadn't made a dent in the wall or the door above.
Currently the four of us were resting and thinking of another way to go about making our escape as three portals appeared in the wall across from us. Without thought Natsu sprang towards one of the three portals.
Once again Laxus caught hold of Natsu before he could get too far. "Shit Natsu think – we don't know what's beyond those portals, we can't just charge in head first without a plan." Laxus tried to reason with him but to no avail. Using a different approach he tried again. "What if something happened to you, how would Lucy and Lisanna take that?" With those words Natsu stopped struggling and Laxus let him go.
"We'll find Happy we just have to figure out how to avoid whatever trap is on the other side." Cana said.
Seeing Natsu's head bob up and down Laxus turned towards us. "Now Cana can you-"
"Natsu don't!" Cana cried as Natsu ran around the spikes and to the portal on the left
"Happy's our baby, Lisanna would want me to go and Lucy would kill me if anything happened to Happy." The pinkette said stepping through his chosen portal.
For a second everyone was silent before Laxus roared in anger and glared at me. "You knew he'd do this." Nodding, I didn't feel any remorse. Happy was my team mate and friend we needed to rescue him. "Don't you give a shit about his safety?"
"Natsu does his best work when he has someone he needs to protect. Happy is his best friend, there was no way in hell he'd wait here forever for us to come up with a plan. Plus he's right, Lisanna would be devastated if anything happened to Happy, and Lucy would most likely cry and then whip and kick the two of us for letting anything happen to the fur ball. You really don't want to meet scary Lucy." I said with a shudder and a shrug as he – they – continued to glare at me.
"Lucy's in a god-damned coma she won't be doing much of anything if we don't find that damn cure soon!? Laxus growled, pulling at his hair as he turned away from us to look at the portals.
"…Lucy's in a…"
"A fucking coma?" I finished Cana's stuttered gasp. "When the fuck were you going to tell us Laxus? How the hell did that happen, I thought she was alright as long as she quit using her magic!" When Laxus didn't turn around to tell us what the hell was happening back at the guild I grabbed his arm and forced him to look at me.
"We don't have time for hysteric! Did you not just hear me say we need to find the cure? After the hours we spent trapped here, she has gotten worse. Every minute we spend arguing is another minute we could have spent looking for the cure." Yanking his arm out of my hand, he ran his hand over his face with a frustrated sigh.
Cana, somehow knowing what Laxus had been about to ask her earlier took a shaky breath and dug out a stack of cards she rarely used. Finding the ones she wanted she threw the three cards at the portal, one of them landing in front of each portal. From each card a slim man covered head to toe with dirt and clothes that blended in with the rocky wall appeared, and then disappeared through the portals. Within seconds of them disappearing two of the cards burst into flames. Turning to her in question she quickly responded. "They're scouting cards. Each scout will communicate back to his card to let me know what he has found. Well they would have if the card hadn't been destroyed." She said picking up the remaining card that was luckily lying in front of the portal Natsu had gone through. "The other two were destroyed, probably from some kind of trap, or the portal took them somewhere they couldn't survive." Patiently leaning against the wall Cana stared down at the card waiting to hear back from the scout.
Nodding his head Laxus followed suite and leaned next to Cana. "Lucy got hurt saving Asuka. She was training Rea when Asuka wandered onto the field and into danger. Lucy was blown across the training yard and sustained a major injury to her back. She lost too much blood which caused her to lose consciousness, by the time Wendy got there it was too late to wake her up. Since then her organs have begun to fail, and Wendy and Chelia are constantly watching her so they can heal her but they can only keep that up for so long."
"How long ago was the accident?" I asked barely containing the pain and anger I felt at my sister being hurt and no one thinking I needed to know.
"Four weeks ago."
"Wh-how-why didn't anyone tell us?!" I yelled, getting into his face.
"Because they knew we would react like you are now and would want to go back to see her immediately. But they knew there was nothing we could do for her if we were there, all we can do for her is continue to look for the cure – it's her only hope of survival." Cana said quietly with tears running down her face. "Isn't that right Laxus? That's why you're here, to speed things along."
"Yeah it is. When we questioned her Elle said that the poison is made at this location…somewhere – and before you ask I know she's not lying about that and no I didn't know she'd kidnap Happy and desert us."
"I told you something was wrong with her helping us." I grumbled, getting myself under control and stepping away from Laxus. Great not only has Natsu run off to rescue Happy, Lucy is at the guild slowly dying and has been for several weeks. But I see where they are coming from and why they didn't tell us; Natsu, Cana and I for sure would have run home to see her as soon as we heard… but there was nothing we could do to help. "When we find Natsu we can't tell him…"
"That's what I thought."
*Ping ping* Cana's card rang. Moving closer to her I saw the scout's face appear on the card as he reported in, in a whisper. "The trap right outside the portal has been…destroyed, along with the nearby guards. I grabbed one of the discarded lacrima and have been monitoring the guards. Half of them are busy chasing Natsu around while the other half, have been directed to guard the east wing of the bottom floor."
"Good job we'll meet you in a few minutes." Cana said ending the call. "The bottom floor… that's probably where they are keeping the cure or something else that is pretty damn important."
"That's a given but someone needs to help Natsu and calm him down before he blows us all up." Looking at the two expectant faces I glared at them in annoyance, unhappy that they had chosen me to round up the flame-tard. Grumbling at having been given the short straw we passed through the portal and sighed in relief at the blast of cool air. Looking around I saw what used to be a decent looking room, but was now nothing but a charred mess. The only bit of color left in the room were the unconscious guards that were sprawled on out on the ground. Nudging one of them with my foot as we passed I found a working lacrima, so I could track both the guards and Natsu's movements. Following some unmarked path through the destroyed rooms we found Cana's scout rummaging through some files that had survived Natsu's flames.
Sensing our approach he closed the file and turned towards us. "Here you go." He said handing Cana the lacrima, file and each of us a piece of paper directing us to the map that was on the enemies' lacrimas before disappearing back into his card.
While Cana flipped through the file I played around with the lacrima and found the map that showed me where Natsu and the guards were. Once I had found the map I tried calling the guild to check in but there was no service, I couldn't even get through to Laxus' lacrima, but it did go through to the other lacrima we had taken. Lifting my head up I saw Cana hand the file to Laxus. "Looks like we were right, the cure is being made and held on the bottom floor, and by the looks of it there are at least fifty guards between us and the cure. On the way to the bottom floor we should go to their store room so we can get a vial of the poison for Wendy and Porlyscuia."
Tucking the file into his pack Laxus picked up another lacrima so we each had one. "Okay Gray you go find Natsu, but before you head to the bottom floor check out the prisons to see if there is anyone there. If there is send them out with Happy, and if you find Elle, DO NOT hurt her. Lucy needs her to fight Polaris." Reluctantly agreeing we split up.
As they walked away Laxus turned around at the last second and tossed something towards me. Glaring down at the key that I assumed belonged to the traitor, I put it around my neck and glanced down at the lacrima in my hands turning it on I listened to the guards constant ramblings for Natsu's location. Within minutes I discovered his general location and headed towards the nearest set of stairs.
Even though we had fallen several stories there was still at least ten more levels. Making my way over bodies and rubble I nodded my head in approval at all of the scorch marks that decorated the walls. These fuckers didn't deserve a single ounce of mercy, not after poisoning Lucy and kidnapping Happy. As I reached the entrance to the fifteenth floor I heard the distant sounds of fighting, reaching for the door handle I stumbled backwards when the door flew open and knocked my hand away. Seeing a streak of blue hurdling towards me I caught Happy with a oomph.
"Gray you're alive!"
"Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?" I asked. "How did you escape?"
"Natsu released us from the prison. They had a ton of people being held there, wearing some sort of bracelet that sucked away their magic."
"What do you mean had?"
"We released them! Elle and I are leading them to the exit now." He flew up into the air returning to the door he had just barged out of. "Elle, it's alright it's just Gray."
Looking through the door I glared as the green haired girl appeared from beneath a desk. "You -"
"Gray -"
"She catnapped you, and sent us tumbling down a pit filled with spikes! Why didn't Natsu restrain her?"
"He tried." Elle said stepping away from the desk and helping the others from their pathetic hiding spots. "I knew you would survive the fall, that's why I triggered it before they unleashed their other, more lethal trap. I had planned to release you guys but they suspected me from the moment I returned because they haven't heard from my ex-master. When I refused to hand over Happy that's when they put us in a cell to wait for my punishment.
"If I wanted either of you dead I could have easily done it in the cave when I was leading you through it, and I could have left Happy any time during our stint in prison. So instead of glaring at me and preventing us from leading these people to safety you should move aside and accept what I did... please." She said meekly, suddenly realizing she had been advancing on me as she spoke. Looking sick she took a step back away from me and broke eye contact to look at her feet.
I could feel my face soften as I looked behind her to the scared faces of the various men, women and children that stood in the room. "What about the bracelets?" I asked, concerned for one of the children that looked particularly pale.
"We can't get them off until we get back to the guild. I overheard Laxus talking to someone at your guild that they found a set of keys that can turn them off and release the locking mechanism."
Cursing at that I resigned myself to what I knew I had to do. "Happy go tell Natsu that he needs to get to the bottom floor and help Laxus and Cana find the poison and look for the cure. Here is a lacrima that has a map of the facility and will allow you to communicate within here."
"Aye Sir!" Happy said flying overhead towards the fighting.
"What are you doing?" Elle asked suspiciously.
"There is no way you can protect all of these people by yourself and navigate back to a guild you have never been too. We will head back to the nearest town where we will get a carriage and contact my guild. These people won't last long enough to get to the guild otherwise." Walking past her I scooped up the weakest looking child and motioned for Elle to lead the way.
An: Again sorry it took so long for me to post this and that it's shorter than the others.
Hoped you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought. Please and thank you!
Guest: Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm trying to steer away from the whole Lucy becomes a Dragon Slayer.
MissNerdGirl: Thanks for the suggestion!
artificialartofficial: Haha it's alright he rogue's pov will most likely be in the next chapter.
Disneyland was awesome and oh so tiring. So much walking and waiting but it was totally worth it!
Skyline179: No I don't plan on it.
NynaeveAl'Mera: Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for the suggestion I love it, and may wind up using it. :)
Guest: Thanks! I won't stop until I've finished it.
Guest (Adabs17): I will definitely continue... please don't hang yourself that would be terrible.