Twenty-Six - Natsu Dragneel
Natsu firmly believed that four o'clock in the morning should be made illegal. If the prospect of visiting Tenrou hadn't been so exciting, he may have never gotten out of bed in time. As it was, he was the last one downstairs and ready to go. Erza knocked him on the head for his tardiness, but he was just glad she seemed to be getting back to normal after the planetarium incident. He yawned deeply as Makarov explained the plan.
"Everyone will stay with a partner until everyone is on the plane," he said. "We don't need anyone getting lost. Any little ones need an older partner to make sure they don't get left behind."
Natsu ruffled Happy's hair. "Wanna be my partner, buddy?" he grinned.
"Of course!" Happy said. "Let's beat everyone else there!"
"It's not a race," Gray said, standing with Loke.
Natsu noticed Juvia looking at Loke with displeasure, but she had found a partner in Lisanna. Everyone had partnered up. Gajeel was with Levy and Erza was with Mira. Freed and Bixlow had still decided to go on the trip, despite Laxus' absence, and they had partnered up, while Evergreen was with Elfman. Lucy, meanwhile, had been paired with Cana, who wasn't actually drunk, for once.
That left Wendy with Makarov. Pantherlily and Carla showed up as well. Everyone had a partner and they were ready to go. Then Gildarts turned up at the last minute. Makarov grumbled something about Gildarts being the most likely to get lost without a partner, but they set off anyway.
-.-.-
The airport was hard to traverse with such a large group, even so early in the morning. They nearly missed their flight after they were stuck with a very thorough TSA officer. Natsu didn't pay much attention to the man until he heard him on the phone. He caught the name Lahar and recalled it being the name of the officer that arrested Myst. After that, Natsu decidedly did not trust TSA Officer Doranbolt.
Why was he making it take so long to get to their plane? Was Lahar telling him to to make their lives more difficult again? But they ended up on their flight just fine. Everyone was seated and Makarov went around to be sure everyone had made it. Everything seemed fine, until it became obvious that Gildarts had gone missing.
"That idiot," Makarov grumbled as the seatbelt lights came on. "I guess it's too late now."
-.-.-
It had reached the part of the journey that Natsu despised. He got terrible motion-sickness. He started feeling bad as soon as the plane started down the runway. Happy patted him on the back sympathetically. Once the seatbelt lights turned off, Natsu ran for the bathroom to be violently ill.
"Natsu?" a small voice asked, knocking on the door. "They said you get motion-sickness, but I think I can help." He opened the door to see Wendy holding up a couple of pills. "My parents were pharmacists," she said. "I get motion-sick too sometimes, but Troia helps."
He accepted the pills and quickly swallowed them. It was only a matter of minutes before he could feel the effects. Soon, he was back to his normal self, as if he were on solid ground. He was amazed at the results and was determined to remember those pills in the future. He smiled at Wendy.
"Thanks!" he said. "I feel one-hundred percent again!"
"Not for long," a voice said.
Natsu looked around to see a man with crazy, yellow hair coming through the curtain from first class. He was flicking a lighter open and closed.
"How did you get that on the plane?" Natsu asked. "Mine had to go in the luggage compartment."
"I'm not here to answer your questions," the man said. "I'm here to hijack this airplane!"
It took Natsu a moment to fully register what the man had said. "You what?" he asked. "Why?"
The man shrugged. "I have my reasons."
"Are you working with that officer?" Natsu asked suspiciously. "That's why it took so long!"
"Why the hell would terrorists work with a police officer?" the man cackled. "You're an idiot."
"T-terrorists?" Wendy repeated.
"That's what I said," the man sneered.
"Not- not just one?" she asked. "You used the plural..."
"Ahh, I should have been more careful," the man sighed. "Ah well. I'm sure the others have things under control by now."
"Others?" Natsu inquired. "What others?"
Just then, a voice came over the intercom. "Hello, this is your captain speaking," a cruel voice said, sounding nothing like how Natsu remembered the captain. "Your new captain, that is." There was a bit of laughter before the voice spoke again. "This aircraft is now under the control of the Grimoire Heart group and you'd all do well to sit tight and do as we say!"
"There's not as much of an outbreak as I was hoping for," the yellow-haired man grumbled. "This flight has a bunch of kids. Why aren't they terrified?"
"Most of this flight is Fairy Tail foster kids," Natsu said, glaring. "We've been through a lot already. Don't think we'll take this sitting down."
The man's eyes widened. "Are you planning to fight back?" he asked.
"Damn right!" came Gray's voice, followed by his fist.
The blond man flew backwards, through the first-class curtain. There was a scream back in coach and Wendy and the boys turned toward the sound.
"How dare you!" came the voice of the yellow-haired man as he tore at the curtain.
"I'll take care of him," Natsu told Gray. "Go help the others. Wendy, go find somewhere safe."
"Ah, but I want to help!" she said as Gray ran off.
"Then go find the Headmaster and ask him what we should do," he said. "But get away from here. This guy seems crazy." The man flipped the lighter open and it sparked to life. Natsu grinned. "But don't worry about me. Soon I'll have a new lighter."