Welcome back, happy Saturday, all that jazz.

This chapter introduces the first major arc starting in Chapter 5, so here we go!

~Onward!

4

-The Trap-

The mission had been a simple one, no major surprises and, (much to Natsu's disappointment), no major fights. They'd made it into the town in the late afternoon and spoke to the mayor and a few local shop owners and farmers about the difficulties they'd been experiencing. Facing one of the hottest summers in years, it was near impossible to keep the fields watered and to make matters worse, the wells had run dry. According to the townspeople, that had never happened before. They'd been forced to rely on a merchant group from a neighbouring town for basic goods that their own fields would normally yield, and their prices were so inflated that the farmers couldn't break even.

Turned out, the drought itself was totally natural, the wells running dry on the other hand... well, it didn't take Lucy long to figure out all the ground water had seemingly dried up as well. She had summoned a spirt, Lucy had called her 'Virgo,' to drill into the ground and investigate what was going on. The maid spirit had returned seconds later to announce that the system was indeed dry, but she didn't believe it to be a result of the drought due to traces of residual magic. Armed with that information, the team decided to get an inn for the night and split up early the next morning to see what they could find on the outskirts of town.

. . .

Hours of searching had come up empty and Natsu had predictably gotten frustrated. With his already low patience, gone, he was just starting to consider less subtle tactics of investigation when Haru's voice echoed in his head. Using basic telepathy magic, Haru explained that his 'connection' to water, (Natsu rolled his eyes), had drawn him to a merchant group and another water mage currently in the middle of siphoning water. They discovered that the same merchants that were taking advantage of the townspeoples' hardship were also the ones causing it. They'd hired a couple water mages to draw the underground water away from the wells and irrigation systems, thus leaving them with no choice but to pay their outrageous prices.

Haru had told Natsu that he would wait for him and Lucy to arrive before making a move, planning to simply observe from a distance and ensure the merchants didn't leave. But by the time Natsu and Happy had reached him, the fire mage found himself shocked, albeit, totally amused, to discover his usually meticulously rational partner had gone rushing in.

Happy swooped down, depositing Natsu in time to see Haru inhale a blast of water magic before firing a breath attack back at the hired mage. Being able to manipulate water himself, the other water mage had tried to guide the magic's trajectory right back at Haru. He'd been successful, briefly, but Haru had easily dodged and the power of dragon-born water magic proved to be on an entirely different level than what the other could comfortably control. The surge of water ended up submerging and overwhelming Haru's opponent, who ended up flat on his back, choking up water.

Lucy had arrived shortly after, dragging a semi-conscious form behind her and came up to stand at Natsu's side, dropping her captive in the dirt. Natsu grinned when he saw the second water mage at her feet and gave the blonde a thumbs up. Lucy had raised a brow in silent question after watching their teammate for a moment, she'd never seen Haru wound up. Hell, Natsu could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen it over the past three years.

He shrugged a shoulder, watching as Haru marched up and ripped the hired mage off the ground, lecturing him about how 'water was life, a basic human right, and the embodiment of freedom! And how DARE this jackass call himself a water mage if he was going to use the beauty of water magic to hurt others.' Natsu and Lucy shared a laugh as they stayed in their place a short distance away.

After tying up the two water mages, the team split up again to round up the merchants that had fled upon Haru's ambush. Haru had apologized fiercely for letting his emotions get the better of him and thus, allowing the merchant group to escape. But Lucy didn't seem fazed by the small inconvenience and Natsu certainly didn't care one way or the other. After all, Haru was constantly cleaning up the messes that resulted from his own brash actions. Happy had grabbed hold of Haru and lifted him into the sky so that he could direct them to each of the fleeing merchants with his telepathy. It hadn't long at all before they'd had everyone in custody and found themselves back in the town.

With the merchants tracked down, and facing hefty fines for illegal use of magic, and coercion to force more money from the townspeoples' pockets, the only thing left to do was aid the town with their drought problem. Haru had drawn the water back into the town's water channels and showered the crop fields for good measure, chanting proudly about a 'noble use for water magic.' Clearly, he would remain irked by the idea of water mages harming people for some time.

Once they'd collected their reward and gotten the mission forms completed by their client, they had begun their short journey home. Natsu had grumbled all the way to the train station about how Haru and Lucy had kept the 'good fights' to themselves, though both of the hired water mages had been majorly outclassed anyway. The train ride home to Magnolia had been quiet. Haru's head lulled with the rocking of the train against the window and through his own nausea, Natsu had carelessly slumped into the water mage's side. Lucy and Happy had sat across from them, and the blonde had paid them no real attention. It had only been the second time Natsu had ever been on a train with Lucy, but the first time she'd tried to help him feel better. When both he and Haru had been a mess on the ride home, she hadn't really said two words on the matter. It wasn't like he thought she was being rude, he'd only felt concerned. She hadn't even retaliated against Happy's occasional annoying phrases. Lucy had seemed withdrawn, unfocused... But through his motion sickness, it was hard to tell for sure.

She had, after all, assured him she was fine.

Fairy Tail Guildhall

Lucy and the boys had been back in Magnolia for a few days now, and the fire mage was still a little on edge about the blonde's unexplained behaviour.

She just seemed, off,he thought. Lucy smelled like Lucy, sort of, but there was something else mingled with her scent that he couldn't quite place. She was still showing up at the guild hall and laughing with their guildmates, so she probably wasn't sick. She had also begun asking random teams to allow her to accompany them on their quests, claiming it was to get to know everyone better because she was still so new.

It seriously got under Natsu's skin. It wasn't like he had asked her to join their team officially, but her doing jobs without him, bothered him. He just couldn't put his finger on why. The cherry on top of the 'weird' that was Lucy- 'Correction: weirdER that was Lucy,' he thought, snickering, was that she had stopped Lucy-kicking him into the wall when he showed up at her place unannounced.

Questioning her about it after the second or third time it happened, her mouth had opened and closed a couple times as though searching for a viable answer. "What? I can't just be happy to have your company?" she'd asked.

"Not if it is uninvited company," he'd countered, emphasizing the key word, "your words, not mine."

The blonde had pursed her lips, "Well, maybe I just changed my mind," she'd said in a cheery voice, passing him a mug of tea as she set out some snacks and presented Happy with a fish. The fire mage and the blue cat had shared a skeptical glance, looking at the food as though it might be poisoned.

"Riiiight," Happy had drawn out, though he'd still taken a large bite out of his fish anyway.

Natsu stopped replaying the morning in his head. He sat slumped over a table with Happy to his left and Haru to his right chatting with Gray across from them. With his chin resting on the tabletop and his drink untouched, Natsu watched Lucy talk excitedly with Levy and the rest of team Shadow Gear across the hall. "Lucy doesn't seem like Lucy," he said again, he'd been saying it on repeat over the last few days. Haru sighed and turned his attention to their friend.

Gray rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say flame brain," he replied, turning to watch Lucy as well, "she seems just fine to me."

"They're discussing a mission they're going to take."

"Are you sure you aren't just jealous that she's going without you?"

"He loooooooves her!"

Natsu flashed an irritated look at Gray and ignored the annoying blue cat, "No! I'm telling you, something is wrong, she smells different."

"And now you just sound like a creepy stalker."

Gray received the same irritated look before Natsu turned to his fellow dragon slayer with a pleading look, "She does, you smell it too, don't you?"

Haru nodded slowly. "That could be from any number of things though, it doesn't necessarily mean anything." He put a hand on Natsu's shoulder, silently imploring him to give up on his Lucy-conspiracy theory.

"Maybe she was hit with curse magic or something when we were split up on that drought mission."

"What would be the point in that? That mission was as cut and dry as they come. And we never ran into any dark-mages, just some idiotic, misguided, sorry excuses for wat—"

"Well something's up!" Natsu shouted as he stood and slammed his palms into the table. He watched as looks ranging from disbelief, to pity, to skepticism pulled at his friends' expressions. "Whatever, I'm out of here," he growled, stomping out of the guild.

. . .

Natsu began tracking Lucy.

He had to figure out where she was going... he noticed after a week of observing her that she never stayed in the guild for more than a couple hours at a time anymore. Levy also mentioned in passing that Lucy had wandered off while they were on a mission a few times, and when he approached Gray, the ice mage confirmed that she had disappeared occasionally on their mission as well, annoying him to no end. But Gray still refused to believe that it was anything more than 'her being a space case,' or something to that effect. When Lucy departed the guild for the second time that day, after announcing that she was heading home for lunch and would be back later, Natsu trailed her.

Contrary to his reputation of being loud and brash, he was actually pretty talented in stealth... when he wanted to be. He kept his distance and relied on her scent to guide him.

She did go home, which surprised him a bit, he was sure she was sneaking off somewhere to do something 'not Lucy-like,' and he would confront her and finally get to the bottom or this. Standing outside her apartment now, he stared up at her bedroom window; she had drawn the curtains, which was unusual. 'Screw it,' Natsu thought and began climbing up to the window, but when he attempted to pull it open, he found it locked. 'What the hell?'

Even after they'd returned, and she'd been weirder than normal, he had still been able to sneak into her place through the unlocked window. He tapped on the glass and got no response. Jumping down and repeating the same action at her front door, he called, "Hey Luce, it's me, let me in." Nothing. Not even the expected, grouchy, 'give a girl some alone time will ya?'

His stubborn streak resolved him to sitting on her front step, watching the canal while he waited for her to return to the guild. He could still smell her inside and he tried not to be hurt that she flat-out ignored him, chalking it up as just another piece of the puzzle to solve. Had he pissed her off at some point? 'Nah, she'd just Lucy-kick me, and be done with it,' he decided, chuckling at all the memories of numerous kicks he'd received for one reason or another.

"Excuse me, you're in my way," a melodic voice addressed him. Looking up, he found a white-haired woman in front of him, looking rather irritated.

Natsu's eyebrows knitted together, "What do you want with Lucy?" he asked brusquely. It was probably unwarranted, but he wasn't in a trusting mood, especially with how weird his friend was acting, even if no one else saw it.

"That's not really any of your concern, is it?"

"What?" Natsu replied dangerously. He stood and took a step into her space to look down at her angrily, "Lucy will always be my concern."

"But my business with her, is none of yours. Now move aside."

Before he could retort, the window overlooking the street opened and Lucy leaned out. "Natsu! Geez, let her pass, would you? Do you think you're my personal guard or something?"

"Luce! I need to talk to you, just let me in, please!" he half begged.

"Not now Natsu, I will talk to you at the guild," she said, sliding her window closed again.

The fire mage stared at the now closed window, the curtains drawn again. The mystery woman cleared her throat, and smirked at him when he turned to her again with a glare. Moving out of her path reluctantly, he threatened, "I don't know what's happening, but I will find out and if you do anything to Lucy, I will barbecue you!" The woman had already stepped around him, undeterred by his threat and disappeared through the door.

"Who the hell is she?" Natsu wondered out loud, staring at the door for a minute before turning and begrudgingly heading back to the guild.

. . .

Natsu was on the blonde as soon as she walked in the door that evening. "Who was that woman?" he asked without sparing her a greeting, his irritation getting the best of him.

"So nice to see you too, Natsu," Lucy greeted sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "that was a friend of mine, she just happened to be in town and wanted to catch up." At his notably skeptical look, she raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest, "look, I am allowed to have friends outside the guild."

"What about everything else? Lucy, I'm just worried about you, you don't seem like yourself."

"I am fine Natsu, honestly. I appreciate your concern, but it just isn't necessary."

"You've been going on jobs with everyone else, you haven't kicked me in over a week, you keep disappearing randomly—" he began listing.

"Sounding boarder line stalkery Natsu," she joked with no malice.

"That's what I said," Gray put in, as he entered the guild where they still stood obstructing the entrance. They shifted out of the way as the ice mage eyed them curiously and continued into the hall.

The fire mage rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Why don't we go on a job Natsu? Happy and Haru too, it'll be fun," she suggested before he could put up more of a fuss.

Natsu remained entirely unconvinced, but this might be the perfect opportunity to dig into whatever was going on, so he nodded, trying to muster his usual enthusiasm. Lucy went to the board and after browsing the job requests, returned, presenting a simple escort job. They'd only be gone a couple days, and the reward, once split three ways, would cover her rent in full. He agreed, honestly, he couldn't care less what the job was, so long as he could get in some quality Lucy investigation time. Right now, that took precedence over the potential to throw some fire and fists around.

Once they left for the mission, he internally vowed he wouldn't let her out of his sights for the following 48 hours.

"I will catch Haru up and see if he wants to join us, train station tomorrow morning?" he proposed.

"Sounds like a plan."

The Next Day

Natsu, Haru and Happy made their way to meet the blonde at the station, "Why are you dragging me along on this again?"

"We're a team, Haru, duh. Plus, I want you there when I prove that I was right about Lucy."

"This again man? Come on, stop torturing yourself."

"She's different, I'm telling you."

"Yeah, so I've heard, you've been a broken record for well over a week."

Natsu didn't bother responding, just gave his fellow slayer a somewhat saddened smile, and Haru had to admit he felt a little guilty for not supporting his partner. He seemed very, very certain, and Natsu did know Lucy better than anyone in the guild. "Okay, Natsu, I am willing to humor this theory of yours and I will do what I can to help, BUT," he paused, "I want you to be prepared that maybe she's just treating you differently because you aren't her only support system in Magnolia anymore. She's a fully capable Fairy Tail mage now."

"You make it sound like I want her to be weak, or dependent on me," Natsu scoffed.

"Weak, no, but I do think maybe it's been hard watching her bond with everyone else and drift away from you?" Haru phrased it as a question, not a factual statement and Natsu did appear to appreciate the insight. He stayed quiet, considering the sentiment as they continued onto the platform. They quickly spotted Lucy ahead of them and Happy jumped off Natsu's shoulder, flying ahead to collided with the blonde's chest. The cat gave her a muffled 'good morning' as she scratched his ear.

"Morning you two," Lucy said as he and Natsu caught up and Haru simply smiled, tipping his head in response.

"Alright! Gang's all here, let's get this party started!" Natsu yelled boisterously, in place of an actual greeting.

. . .

"See anything Haru?" Natsu's voice echoed in his head, Haru was currently hidden in the trees, following the trailer at a conservative distance. He would act as back up if anything went down, and though his telepathy wasn't strong enough to allow conversation between all parties involved, he could communicate with Natsu, Lucy and Happy individually, and relay relevant information between them when needed.

"All clear," he transmitted to his teammates. He glanced up, watching Happy glide through the air between the treetops, acting as their long-range look out. Lucy was perched on top of the carriage at the back, swinging her legs over its edge with a carefree energy. Finally, Natsu walked alongside the carriage, for obvious reasons, chatting with the merchant that had hired them as he guided the horses.

A treasure-hunter guild had recently set up in the area, and though it didn't prove to be a problem for most merchants using this trail, their client was moving some rare magical items and weapons to Crocus, through the mountain passes. He'd hired Fairy Tail to be on the safe side. Everything was going flawlessly when a blur sped passed them so quickly that none of the mages could process what had happened. The only reason they knew something had happened was the hefty gust of wind that had blown back against them when it shot by.

"What the hell was that?!" Natsu yelled, taking an offensive stance as he signalled the driver to stop the horses. Lucy had also shot up into a crouch, hand on her whip and eyes scanning the forest uncertainly.

"Happy and I didn't catch anything, be on your toes, could be nothing. Could be trouble."

"Natsu do you smell anything out of the ordinary?" Lucy asked.

Haru was already searching the air for unusual scents, his head swivelling back and forth. "I've got nothing," he heard Natsu say from below, putting words to his own thoughts. Haru clicked his tongue irritably, clearly, that hadn't been a natural wind, so it was odd neither his nor Natsu's enhanced senses caught anything. He returned his attention to Natsu and Lucy, watching them through the tree branches that partially obscurred his view.

"Okay," Lucy said kneeling down, as she continued to check their surroundings, "we should keep moving then, but be ready."

"What? We should stop here, less than 100 feet ahead, and we will have cliffs on either side. Too easy for an ambush. You and Happy should stay and guard our client and the carriage while me an' Haru can check out the passage," Natsu suggested. Haru was more than a little surprised to find Natsu throwing out the logical plan, and flat out stunned that Lucy was the one being reckless. He echoed his support for Natsu's plan telepathically.

"Come on guys, a little wind is going to scare us away?" Lucy countered, "we should keep the team together, at its strongest. Plus, time is money for merchants." Their client, still in his spot behind the reins sounded his support with Lucy and she smirked knowing she was winning the debate. "We can't just sit here considering what is likely nothing, you two are some of Fairy Tail's strongest right?"

With a drawn out sigh, Haru jumped down from the trees and joined them. There was no point staying hidden anymore, not with Lucy and Natsu forgoing their telepathy in favour of a rather loud argument. "Fine," he conceded, "But Natsu and I should still enter first. Lucy, can you summon Taurus to bring up the rear? Happy, you stay in the air, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious."

"Yeah! Go team!" Lucy shouted triumphantly, thrusting Taurus' key forward, "Open, gate of the bull: Taurus!"

. . .

Everyone took their assigned places, and they began making their way toward the narrow mountain passage, keeping every sense on high alert. The guys split their focus, each to one side of the cliff face rising high above them now. The further they travelled, the more light the cliffs stole until eventually their surroundings darkened enough to force Natsu to ignite his hand. Embers flickered off an outstretched palm, casting the shadowy crevasse in a dull glow as the navigated the rocky pass.

Ten minutes in and the group's tensions were starting to ease a bit. Neither dragon slayer had caught any unusual smells, and Happy hadn't reported any unusual activity. Lucy's voice sang out in Haru's head, "Told you so..." Haru chose not to relay her gloating to Natsu but sent a pointed look back to the smug blonde over his shoulder. The Fairy Tail mages continued to be mindful, but gradually began to let their guards drop a bit. Natsu's hands found the back of his head, linking his fingers in his usual relaxed posture as they began to fall into quiet conversation.

"How's it going Happy?" Haru checked in. He hadn't heard any updates from him in over half an hour and it seemed unlikely the cat wouldn't at least be whining about lunch by this point. Haru didn't get any response, "Happy?" he repeated.

Nothing. Haru cast a subtle look at the fire mage walking next to him. Not wanting to alarm him yet, the water mage began to sniff the air subtly, searching for Happy's scent. Still nothing. 'Shit,' he cursed internally. "Happy, are you there? I SWEAR if you are playing a joke, I will withhold your fish for a month!" he mentally yelled into his link with the cat. Still no response. Happy was still in range of Haru's telepathy... which meant he couldn't be that far, so what could possibly be preventing the connection?

Natsu turned to him with a raised brow making Haru aware he had his fists clenched at his sides. Leave it to Natsu to pick up on his subtlest unease, Haru relaxed his hands and sighed in defeat as his partner asked, "Haru, what is it?"

Knowing he couldn't deflect the question, Haru lamented, "I'm not getting any response from Happy." Natsu's eyes widened and his head immediately tipped back, sniffing intently at the air. Haru's hand clamped over his mouth as soon as the fire mage opened it, stifling a shout for their little blue partner. "Don't, my telepathic link hasn't been broken, Happy's near and if something has happened, then who ever got to him is near as well."

When he felt Natsu's reluctant nod to remain silent, he removed his hand. But before they could make any new decisions, they found themselves facing another problem when the ground abruptly softened into a quicksand pit beneath them. At the same time a large slab of rock erupted from the ground between them and the carriage, cutting them off in a well sprung trap. They sunk into the ground until it reached just above their knees and then the ground solidified again.

They were trapped, and Natsu's fury was instantly palpable.

"Come out and face us, cowards! You have no idea who you are messing with! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HAPPY?!" Natsu screamed out in succession, each menacing statement getting progressively louder. The boys' attentions were drawn upward as a large man with a boxy frame and long rust-coloured hair appeared on the cliff edge overlooking them.

"Let Happy go now!" both dragon slayers yelled, each fighting against the ground immobilizing them. Natsu continued to scream profanities until his words died in his mouth, prompting Haru to follow Natsu's gaze to find the trigger. His mouth dropped open, "No way," he breathed.

On the edge, stepping forward to join the bulky man, Lucy appeared. She held a net to her side, with the blue cat tangled and bawling inside.

"Natshuuu! A horse-man shot me out of the sky!" he cried out.

A/N: If for any reason I mention something without elaborating (like Haru's telepathy, or references in upcoming chapters), assume that it will be expanded upon through flashbacks, thoughts or conversation in subsequent chapters.

Any guesses about what happened to Lucy?

'Till Wednesday.

R&R.

xx. Loka Muse