"Lucy's still not awake?" Happy asked as Natsu entered the bar and restaurant where all the Fairy Tail members were eating and celebrating for the Team's achievements during Naval Battle and the tag battles.
After greeting Nashi and the dragons, much to their surprise because they had thought they would surely be scolded by the blonde empress, Lucy admitted to wanting rest as her finally body gave out and Natsu had to catch her before she fell over. Wendy, Grandeeney and Porlyusica immediately went to check on her and also confirmed that she simply needed to sleep off her fatigue. The sky dragon assuming that it was all because of the magic power she let out to use her Dragon Empress Secret Arts.
Natsu had decided to bring Lucy back to their lodge so she can rest in bed, saying that they'll all meet up for dinner later after she wakes up. Nashi agreed as Igneel reminded her what the price was for missing one whole day of training to watch the games was. Even though she was the one who suggested, the child couldn't help but pout as she had to stay in the Dragon Realm for another three months to make up for the time they lost coming to Earthland.
With that all settled, Nashi and the dragons all went back to the Dragon Realm while Natsu headed back to the lodge so Lucy could sleep in a proper bed. He, too, also took the opportunity to take a nap, Grandeeney and Wendy already healing all of his and the blonde's wounds and bruises. But when he woke up around two to three hours later, Lucy was still in a deep sleep. It was already becoming evening by that point, so he freshened up but even after that the blonde did not stir once.
Not wanting to risk waking her up, he had enough kicks and punches to the gut for the meanwhile, he left her a note and left the lodge. His growling stomach already beckoning him to meet everyone else for food. "Gheez, if I knew that using her Dragon Empress Secret Arts like that was gonna make her crazy tired, I would've told her to use a different attack."
"Huh? You and Lucy already had a plan before the tag battles, Natsu?" Wendy asked after the pink haired slayer sat next to Erza.
Natsu was already digging into his food by the time the bluenette asked her question, so leaned back into his seat and thought for a moment. "Not really... we just knew we had to study their movements and then show them up by using a really strong attack!"
The rest of the team just laughed at his simple explanation. Even though Lucy knew all of Sting and Rogue's attacks and spells as white and shadow dragon slayers, that didn't mean she knew their abilities to utilize said attacks and spells. They, along with the rest of the guild, really had to praise her for being able to handle their attacks head on without use of her her dragon slaying magic for such a long period of time. Hopefully, she didn't sleep for the remainder of the day.
Day four of the Grand Magic Games was definitely one that would be remembered as an eventful day full of surprises and legendary battles. The Fairy Tail members couldn't help but be euphoric at their progress. Many spectators and by passers now fully supported the guild's comeback and rooted for them to take home the trophy and prize money from the games. A few days ago, all the fairies received were doubtful and mocking (sometimes fear due to Lucy) looks, now it was the opposite.
As Natsu continued to eat, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. He had this aching feeling in the back of his mind and at the centre of his chest, like something was screaming within him to get up and do prevent whatever was about to happen. But the pink haired boy had no idea what he had to prevent and tried to distract himself by eating more (and perhaps pick a fight with Gray while he was at it). However, the fire dragon dragon slayer and ice mage's fight was disrupted by a bright light.
Everyone in the restaurant and bar covered their eyes, not wanting to be blind, and it was when the light died down that the fairies and the employees of the building saw Mirai, Arhad and Celeste standing in front of the bar in their human forms with anxious expressions (though Arhad's expression was more stern than anxious). Celeste took the form of a woman in her late 20's, her long straight platinum blonde hair seeming almost translucent and her eyes a deep violet.
Arhad took a form of a man in his early to mid 20's, surprising the mages as he decided to look younger than the spatial/celestial dragon queen. Contrary to his silver bladed scales, the blade dragon's hair was short and a neatly kept midnight colour with a purple undertone and his eyes a strong golden colour. Mirai remaining the same as Carla and Porlyusica saw her the first time. This was the second time the fairies saw their human forms and was about to greet them before being cut off by the oracle dragon.
"Where is her majesty!?" Mirai asked desperately, scanning the room. "Please tell us she is here with you!"
The mages all looked toward Natsu, the fire dragon slayer's bad feeling growing even worse. He scrunched his eyebrows in worry and gulped before replying. "She... she hasn't woken up yet so she's still sleeping at our lodge."
The three dragons looked troubled and Celeste immediately disappeared with Arhad using another portal, Mirai's body shaking as the fairies took in her terrified expression. None of the mages wanted to ask what was going on or why they seemed so desperate to know whether Lucy was with them or not. They knew Mirai as a kind dragon, but the way she looked made them fear she was a bomb waiting to explode depending on the outcome. What bothered Natsu, however, is why Celeste and Arhad were not back yet after seeing Lucy.
Soon enough, the spatial and blade dragon appeared through a portal again, their surrendered expressions confirming Mirai's worries as the oracle dragon fell down to her knees. "We were too late... they have taken her." Celeste stated, the fairies knowing whom she was obviously referring to. "We have traced her scent to the Mercurius castle."
Natsu's heart dropped instantly, letting go of his grip on Gray while he was at it. His dragon instincts began to cry out and he could feel his heart beat suddenly increase in speed. "Taken...? Took Luce...?"
"Taken her!? You mean Lucy!?" Gray exclaimed, finally breaking the dreadful silence as his anger began to rise. "Who would take her!? Why to the royal castle!? What the heck is going on here!?"
Celeste and Arhad looked at one another before hanging their heads low, not wanting to meet eye contact with any of the mages. "Mirai had a vision a few moments before we came here." The blade dragon began to explain. "Two regular royal soldiers under the supervision of a knight dressed in white had taken her majesty while she was asleep."
Carla immediately gasped at the mention of the white knight. The white exceed never had another precognition after the one she shared with Mirai, but what kind of business did the knight have with Lucy? In her vision, Carla remembered the knight to be standing in front of some large contraption. She had hoped that he was not connected to Lucy in anyway, but now it was clear to her. Lucy was most certainly connected to everything in her vision. It was only a matter of time now that Mercurius would fall.
Natsu's worry, on the other hand, soon became rage. First, those random goons tried to take Nashi, Wendy and Porlyusica and now these royal guards or whatever go and take Lucy while she's asleep! He would've run out of the restaurant and bar if it weren't for the fact that Erza was right next to him and running out of the room meant running into her. He was not about to deal with trying to get passed her and possibly being tied up as a result.
Mirai, slowly regaining her composure, scanned each of the guild members in Fairy Tail. She could see the distraught in each of their faces, the contents of the vision, and the fact that it had come true while they were celebrating their victory for the day's games, taking them all by surprise. But when the oracle dragon went to look at the fire dragon slayer, her eyes widened when she could sense his body being surrounded by his seething rage. She knew he wanted to do something.
"What are we doing here then?" Natsu finally spoke in a deep voice, his clenched fists shaking ever so slightly. "She was taken to the castle, right? Let's just go in and get her."
"We can't just recklessly storm the castle, Natsu." Erza said, as she narrowed her eyes. "Not only will it cause trouble for us since we don't have a proper plan, but it will definitely put Lucy in more danger."
Unable to refute her words, Natsu's anger subsided and he sat on the floor cross legged. Mavis, who had been sitting quietly on the bar counter, began to think. Like everyone else in the guild, she couldn't understand why royal guards would go so far as to kidnap Lucy. The blonde empress is known as a respected individual and if word got out that the royal army had taken her into custody for a ridiculous reason, surely they would get on the bad sides of all the light guilds in Fiore.
"Perhaps..." Mavis finally spoke. "Could it be that they know Lucy's true identity?"
The idea made the fairies look as though they just had an epiphany, the three dragons looking at them weirdly from the sudden mood shift since they couldn't see or hear the first guild master (though Mirai looked like she could). "Impossible!" Macao replied as the other non core members nodded their heads. "You're telling us that they learned of her identity by one battle as a dragon slayer?"
"It's the only factor that I can think of." She replied, serious considering the idea. "Regardless if this is an order by the King or an act of the royal army themselves, if it was ever revealed that Lucy is the Dragon Empress without context, they may think that she would likely lead an attack using the dragons one day."
Makarov couldn't help but agree with his superior's logic. "If that truly is the case, and somehow her identity has been exposed... there is no doubt that wherever she is now is being heavily guarded. We must be cautious."
Happy then turned to the three dragons, who seemed pretty lost at the moment though Mirai reassured the other two she would explain elsewhere, and met their eyes. "Does Nashi know anything about this?"
The guild members immediately grew even more worried at the mention of Lucy's daughter. If Nashi were to find out that Lucy was taken for whatever reason, there was no telling what that child would do. They can definitely stop Natsu from doing anything rash, but Nashi is capable enough to sneak away and would surely try to find Lucy on her own accord. Luckily, her being in the Dragon Realm couldn't have been any more perfectly timed and that was when the mages realized just how coincidental the situation was.
Realizing that the fairies caught on to Lucy's plan, Celeste shook her head in response to Happy's question. "Lucy had a feeling something would happen on the fourth or the last day of the games. So, as I can assume you've connected the pieces, she brought Nashi back to our realm for protection - under the guise of further training with Igneel."
"She knew this was going to happen!? Why didn't she tell us!?" Cana asked, not liking where the conversation was going.
"Her majesty didn't know she would be kidnapped, but instead thought that something would happen to her daughter." Arhad replied, crossing his arms. "As you know, whenever training with Nashi, her majesty must be present to use her barrier. The true purpose for that is because the child is actually being hunted down."
"Hunted!?" The mages cried.
"Arhad!" Celeste and Mirai shouted in a scolding tone, earning a passive shrug from the Blade Dragon King.
"Why were we never told of this!?" Wakaba demanded.
The three dragons knew they were explaining more to them about Nashi's predicament, but they decided that it was about time the fairies knew the basic gist of why all this was happening. They would reveal everything just before the bit about Nashi coming from the future. They knew they were going against Lucy's wishes but they also knew Lucy would ultimately forgive them in the end. Because that was how understanding and kind hearted their empress was.
"We had advised her not to." Mirai admitted in a shameful tone. "We had no solid leads or proof to the idea and her majesty did not want to worry her nakama."
"It was assumed that Nashi was being hunted because she is a child of great magical potential, all of us on the council sensed more magic in her than what was shown on the surface." Celeste continued to explain. "However, it was soon found out upon closer observation that she was being targeted by a specific person or group."
"But who would want to take Nashi!?" Levy asked.
"Her majesty informed us that you've met the pursuer before, not too long ago." Arhad said, causing the mages to remember a certain masked woman. "Vetani was the reason why her majesty found Nashi passed out in the first place. She is working for someone or some people to capture her and only her."
"So you're saying that Lucy only sent Nashi back to your realm is because she thought the child would be in danger rather than herself?" Carla asked, earning a nod from the dragons.
"As of right now, only us three know of this development." Mirai stated. "Now that we have confirmed the details, we plan to tell the others without Nashi's knowledge. Her majesty has made it clear that under no circumstances is Nashi allowed to leave our realm until all this is solved."
"So what do we do now?" Gray asked, taking a seat on a free chair. "We have the day off tomorrow then the sixth day of the Grand Magic Games and for sure they're going to double up security tomorrow if they're holding Lucy remotely anywhere near the castle."
The mages and the dragons knew Gray held a valid point. As Makarov and Mavis said, there could be a chance that Lucy's identity was leaked which would be the reason for her arrest. If they just barged the royal castle demanding an explanation, it would most definitely cause unnecessary riot and complications on both sides. They couldn't risk further putting Lucy in danger even though they knew she could take of herself pretty well. They needed to plan carefully.
"Is what all I heard the truth?"
When everyone turned to the restaurant's entrance, Jellal stood at the door with his hood up. Meredy and Ultear were not with him and it looked like he came to the building in a rush. After closing the door behind him, he bowed his head to Makarov and the dragons before looking towards the rest of Team Natsu. If what he heard was the truth (he was listening from an open window outside, everything from Makarov speculating Lucy's identity being exposed to everything after), then the situation was more grave than he thought.
"Jellal!" Erza said as she turned to face him in slight surprise. "What are you doing here!?"
The heavenly body mage had a perplexed expression on his face and didn't reply to the scarlet haired woman right away. He was still troubled by what he had learned right after dusk and with the things he just heard, it meant that everything he was told was going to happen. He looked around, confirming that Lucy was not among the fairies and scratched his head while sighing. He could feel the stress getting to him, but he couldn't just procrastinate when had information about the situation at hand.
"There's someone I want you all to meet here at noon tomorrow." He simply stated, causing the mages to raise their eyebrows. "They were the one who had told me about the current situation and I came here to confirm what they had told me."
"The current situation?" Natsu asked.
Jellal nodded and looked to the three dragons. "They told me... that Lucy had been taken without your knowledge - that the events that are suddenly taking place now were never written within the threads of time."
Mirai, Celeste and Arhad's eyes widened at his words. Whoever Jellal wanted the fairies to meet, they knew there was something wrong with time. If anything, they also knew of the time anomalies that existed in the current time period. If they were lucky, they would be one of the unidentified time anomalies. Mirai finally stood up, causing the mages to look at her as she nodded toward Celeste and Arhad, the spatial/celestial dragon nodding as she opened a portal to the Dragon Realm.
"You must meet with this person." The oracle dragon stated. "Whoever they are, I sense that they will be an essential ally to our problem. You must see who they are while the others and I continue to find the most logical reasons for her majesty's capture."
The mages all nodded and the three dragons disappeared through the portal. They turned to Jellal, who held the worried expression on his face. There was definitely something more he had to say. The fairies could hear the soft breeze blow from outside and looked to one another in uncertainty, wondering when the blue haired man would speak. Just as they were about to say something, they noticed Jellal clasp his hands together tightly, his body shaking for just a second.
"There's two more things you must know about this person." He said in serious manner. "First... they claim to know the reason for Lucy's kidnapping and already hatched a plan with their partner about how to get Lucy out."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Laxus asked to which Jellal nodded. "But how do they know exactly?"
"It would be better to ask questions when Ultear, Meredy and I bring them here." He replied before staring at each Fairy Tail member in the eye. "The second thing you must keep in mind when you meet them is... don't jump to conclusions when you see their face."
"Are you absolutely certain about all this?" Ultear asked as she, Meredy and a cloaked person stood at the outskirts of Crocus. "To be honest, I can't say I'm convinced even with you here."
The group of three were waiting for Jellal to come back from visiting Fairy Tail at the restaurant and bar that they eat in for dinner to confirm what the cloaked person had said. Crime Sorcière had been following their aura and eventually confronted them to know why they were wandering about the city streets and avoiding crowded places. They were shocked at first when the person showed their face, but after confirming who they were, the trio became skeptical about the situation.
The cloaked figure forced out an empty chuckle as they stared at both the Domus Flau coliseum and the Mercurius castle. "I honestly don't blame you for being suspicious... but what I tell you is the truth and it will only be a matter of time before Jellal repeats what I've told you."
"But why Lucy?" Meredy asked. "Who on Earthland could find out about her identity?"
The cloaked person just hung their head low, not bothering to answer that question until they meet with Fairy Tail. They made a deal with Jellal before he left; if they were right about Lucy being kidnapped because someone may have found out about her identity, Jellal would take them to Fairy Tail to fully explain everything - including the plan they had created with their partner. Ultear and Meredy still couldn't fathom what would drive someone to take Lucy. With her reputation as the Athena, it was practically impossible to take her.
"Even if you haven't confronted me, I would have still gone to Fairy Tail tomorrow anyway." They said. "My partner is already on his way to complete one part of the plan, so I must do what I can to finish the second part."