Chapter 5: The resort
I don't immediately start running. There are, after all, four members of Fairy Tail in that resort. There's a good chance they are the source of the explosion.
After the first shock, the kids I recognized from the train have moved behind a table that's been knocked over on its side, the top shielding them from the crowd. For now, but they will get trampled soon if they don't move.
I decide that whatever's happening at the resort, the Fairy Tail mages will probably be just fine without me. So I run over to the kids.
'Hey there,' I say calmly. The girl looks at me with big eyes. The crowd of panicked people runs around us like a river streaming around a rock, but not for long. I'm not the greatest with kids, but I've been a scared kid for most of my life, so I have some idea of what she needs to hear.
'I can't find my dad!' the girl says.
'I know, I'll help you,' I say, 'what's your name? I'm Rain.'
'Lana,' she says with a trembling voice, 'and this is Georgy.'
'Cool,' I say. Some idiot from the crowd bumps into the table and I nearly fall over. We really have to move now. 'Lana, can you help me get Georgy to that shop over there?'
I point at the gift shop I just came from. The stand with the bracelets has been knocked over.
Lana looks at her brother, who is crying even louder, as if the panic around him has amplified his sorrow over the scratch on his knee. Realizing she needs to be strong for someone else, the girl nods.
'Let's go, Georgy.' She grabs his arm and pulls him onto his feet. I grab the table and use it as a shield from the crowd. We head for the shop.
While Lana is tending to her brother, which she does amazingly considering how scared she is herself, I try to take a whiff of them as unweird as possible. Since they're so small, I expect Lana and Georgy to carry some of their parents' scent with them, which would help me locate them.
It's not easy with all the panic going around, but luckily I don't have to rely on odor. Lana's dad is just one street away, yelling at the top of his lungs. I recognize his voice from his annoyed yelling at the kids earlier, for shooting water spells. Only now he's panicked.
The kids can't hear him because they don't have weird cursed ears like me, but I know which way they should go.
'Hey, Lana,' I say to the girl, 'I need you to trust me, alright?'
I speak to her very directorily and wait for confirmation. There's courage in her eyes, she nods.
'Good. I need you to take your brother down this road. I just used a spell and saw your dad looking for you over there.'
'What about you?' Lana asks then.
Yeah, what about me. If I have to explain the whole story to her we'll be here till winter, so I say: 'I have to find my friends.'
She seems to understand. She takes Georgy's hand, gives me one final nod and runs.
I can't believe I actually said that. Friends. Half of them probably don't know my name.
'Details, details,' I mumble to myself. I watch Lana and Georgy disappear around the corner, and then turn the opposite direction. Most of the crowd has passed, there's only small groups of people left now.
As I get closer to the epicenter of the chaos, another two explosions go off, leaving my ears ringing. Once the smoke clears, I see the damage. The resort, pink on the outside, has a huge hole in the wall, rubble lies everywhere. I take out the paper with the address to check.
Yep. This is the one.
I climb over a few pieces of stone and head inside.
It's deserted and strangely quiet. The lights are still on, I hear the clear sound of an indoor water fountain, but I only smell the faint residues of people, as if everyone just left. There are too many, it's impossible to determine if there's anyone I know among them. I'll just have to search the old way.
I go up to the first floor. The ruckus from outside has faded to a low murmuring, while it is still strangely quiet inside. I smell a lot of people in this area, but I can't see them. I get a feeling what's happened here wasn't just some brawl.
I continue on into what seems like a casino. I faintly hear voices, and someone squirming as if they're in pain.
Then there's one very penetrating smell: cheap strawberry perfume. It burns my nostrils almost. The smell of evil.
I take Grandpa's spellbook out of my bag, as if gearing up for battle, and keep walking. The squirming gets louder, until I see who's making the sound, and who smells so awful. It's the newest addition to the Fairy Tail guild: Lucy, the Celestial mage.
She's tied up, in front of what seems like a card game counter. Speaking of cards: there are a bunch scattered all around the floor, in the exact place I hear the faint voices coming from. There are people trapped inside the cards with magic. I've never seen anything like it.
'Hey you!' Lucy says then. Her feet and hands are tied behind her back, making her arch her body forward in a very uncomfortable looking pose. 'Can you help me...please?'
I put the spellbook away and run over to her, careful to not step on any of the cards. 'Yes, of course…sorry.'
I kneel down next to her. From the front pocket of my bag, I take a knife, but Lucy says: 'No, it's some sort of magic rope. You have to untie me, it can't be cut.'
'Really?' I say, but still put away the knife. She moves around a lot, making it kind of hard to help her untie, but I don't bother telling her that.
'Who did this to you?' I ask.
'I don't know, bad people. They took my friend too.'
My hands stop moving, but she's nearly loose and manages the last part herself. 'Who did they take?'
My voice is just a whisper, Lucy can't hear me. When she's freed from the rope she immediately stands up. 'Thanks, but I have to run.' Then she frowns. 'Wait, don't I know you from somewhere?'
I stand up too and offer her my hand. 'Sorry, I'm Rain. I'll go with you.'
When taking my hand she notices the guildmark on my wrist. 'Oh, I guess we haven't met yet. I'm Lucy.'
'I know, sorry.'
She frowns at me, seemingly forgetting the situation we're in. 'We've just met a minute ago and you've already apologized to me three times. You must be the most apologetic member of Fairy Tail.'
I feel myself cringing at her friendly tone. She already has that 'everyone in the guild is my family' manner down. 'Yeah, that's why they always send me to the mayors of destroyed towns after people like you have been there.'
She laughs a bit uncertainly about that and I feel bad. It's not like she did anything wrong. So I say: 'Sorry. I'm not always this cranky. Well, actually I am.' This doesn't make it better at all. 'Anyway: where are the others? Mirajane said there were four of you here.'
'Hey!' a tiny voice suddenly yells. Lucy and I both look down, to the cards on the floor. A man is waving at us from his entrapment. 'What about us?'
Before Lucy can say anything, I blurt out: 'We'll come back for you later, sorry!'
And then I start running. If Gray's been taken, we have to move fast. Lucy comes after me and says: 'Man, I feel bad for them…'
I refrain from rolling my eyes. She doesn't even know those people.
Then I think of Lana and Georgy.
I sigh. It's not like I knew them either. Maybe I've picked up more Fairy Tail-like traits than I thought.
If only Misty was here to see this.
'The army's probably on their way over,' I assure Lucy, 'they'll be fine.'
'Right,' Lucy says, 'in that case: we should check downstairs.'
'I was just there, I didn't see anyone.' I slow down my pace a bit and breathe in deeply, sniffing, searching for that pine tree smell. There's still too many different perfumes and stenches, and standing so close to Lucy doesn't help either. 'Useless.'
Lucy frowns at me. 'Are you…?'
'No,' I say before she can ask if I'm a dragon slayer, 'I just have a very good nose. You said someone was taken.'
Lucy's expression changes. 'They took Happy and Erza. Last I saw Natsu, he was going gambling-'
I can't help myself and ask: 'What about Gray? Is he OK?'
'I…I think so,' she stutters.
That tells me nothing. I fasten my pace.
