Chapter Nine
Lucy woke refreshed despite the tears that kept her up a few hours longer than normal. She dressed simply in shorts and a tank top then pulled her hair in a braid down her back. Natsu and Happy were in the kitchen attempting to make breakfast before Lucy arrived and stopped the impending fire on the stove.
"Let's just head to the guild. We can help Wendy and Porlyusica," Lucy said between giggles.
Natsu gripped her hand on the way down the streets of Magnolia. Happy was flying above their heads, but landed on Natsu's shoulder as they were a few blocks from the guild.
"Is that Asuka?" He asked, looking ahead to the small black-haired girl with a cowboy hat on her head.
"It is," Lucy looked over at Natsu to find the same concern reflected in his eyes. "Where's Bisca and Alzack?"
"Let's find out," Natsu rushed ahead followed closely by Lucy. "Hey Asuka!"
The little girl turned upon hearing her name only for her teary eyes to light up at seeing someone she knew. She threw herself against Lucy's legs and sobbed. Lucy glanced over at Natsu as her worry grew.
"Hey sweetie," Lucy knelt to get on level with Asuka. "Where's your mom and dad? Why are you out here by yourself?"
"I don't know where mama and daddy are," She continued to cry in between words and tried to get as close to Lucy as she could. Lucy hugged her and rubbed her back. "I woke up and they were gone and our house was a mess."
"Don't worry we'll find them," Natsu rubbed her back.
"Let's get you to the guild," Lucy stood and took one of Asuka's hands while Natsu grabbed the other and they headed for the guild.
"Hey buddy," Natsu whispered discreetly to Happy. "Will you go check their house? Be careful."
"Aye sir!" Happy flew off in the direction of the Connell home.
Upon arrival at the guild, Natsu and Lucy were discouraged when Bisca and Alzack were not anywhere to be seen. Master Makarov noticed them first and, seeing the worry on their faces, rolled his wheelchair out to meet them in the middle of the guildhall.
"Hello my dear," He addressed little Asuka. "Why don't you go join Reedus over there."
Now that she was at the guild her tears had lessened some and she happily joined Reedus who held out his paint pallet for her to pick the next color for him to use. Makarov turned back to Natsu and Lucy in confusion as did Erza who'd joined their group.
"Where's her parents?" Makarov asked.
"No idea," Lucy worriedly replied. "We saw her wandering the streets on our way here. She said they weren't home when she woke up and their house was a mess."
"We sent Happy to check the house to be sure, but something seems off," Natsu said.
"They wouldn't intentionally leave her like that," Erza crossed her arms over her chest as she mulled over the situation.
The guild doors opened and Happy and Lisanna came in next. Happy was almost crying, causing Lucy and Natsu's faces to drop. That confirmed the little girl's story. Lisanna was looking around the guildhall and must not have seen what she thought she would and came rushing over to the group.
"Have you guys seen Mira and Laxus?" She asked. "I stayed at Fairy Hills last night with Laki because Laxus wanted some alone time with Mira to talk."
"About time he manned up," Cana smirked as she, Makao, and Wakaba joined the growing circle to find out what was going on.
"Well, when I came back this morning to change the house was a mess. Initially I just thought they'd been a bit, well, active last night," She blushed as she tried to imply that her sister had been having active sex the night before without actually saying it. "But I don't see either of them here. I'm hoping someone is going to tell me they're in the kitchen or infirmary or something."
"I haven't seen either of them," Erza said and looked to the others to confirm. She gestured for Fried and Bickslow to join them as well. "Have you seen Laxus?"
"No and now that you mention it, we haven't seen Ever either," Fried replied.
"Oh my god," Lucy whispered as she made a realization causing everyone to look at her.
"What's up Luce?" Natsu asked.
"It's all the couples," She looked over at him with fear in her eyes. "Bisca and Alzack, Elfman and Evergreen, Mira and Laxus."
The group surrounding them had grown so that almost the entire guild was hanging on her every word. Makarov's eyes had grown huge as he seemed to come to the same conclusion.
"Oh god," Lucy gripped Natsu's arm tightly as a horrible realization followed. "Where's Levy? Please not her with the baby."
"I'm right here Lu," A familiar voice called from the steps leading from the infirmary.
A confused Levy and Gajeel joined the group where Lucy promptly threw her arms around the script mage tightly. Levy gently patted her friend on the back and she glanced at Natsu over Lucy's shoulder.
"What's going on?" Gajeel asked.
"Did anything happen last night? Did anyone come to your house to hurt you or kidnap you?" Lucy asked Levy and Gajeel who both shook their heads.
"We didn't really get much sleep last night. After the stress yesterday I was having some morning sickness and we were up most of the night. We stopped by to see Porlyusica early this morning just to check on the baby," Levy explained.
Relief filled Lucy's heart as she relaxed, releasing her death grip on her friend. Natsu gripped her shoulders and rubbed her arms comfortingly. Lucy pulled out two keys from her pouch, said the incantations and waited for Loke and Aries to arrive.
"How can we help Lucy?" Loke and Aries both looked tired, but ready to help however they could. After recovering fully Loke insisted on standing watch as long as the others would let him, but Taurus surprisingly had put his foot down and sent him back in the early morning hours for some rest.
"Will you guys go check Elfman and Evergreen's place? Then Gray and Juvia's too?" Lucy had realized she hadn't seen Gray either today so far. "Please be careful."
"Might as well add Fairy Hills to the list," Makao surprisingly spoke up. "I haven't seen Romeo yet today and I just assumed he'd come in late after taking Wendy home. I assumed I was letting him sleep in, but maybe he wasn't actually there."
"Surely she's upstairs with Porlyusica," Makarov suggested, only for Levy and Gajeel to shake their heads.
"We've been up there all morning and didn't see her," Levy replied.
"We'll check," Loke gripped Lucy's hands, nodded to Natsu and then he and Aries headed out.
"What the hell is going on?" Natsu growled. That must have been why he and Lucy had been attacked the day before, but it hadn't worked. They'd missed their car despite knowing which car they were in.
The group waited anxiously for Loke and Aries to return. Makao was getting more and more scared the longer Romeo didn't show up and Lisanna was crying into Laki's arms as she realized both of her siblings might be missing. A very long hour later Loke and Aries arrived back at the guild. They had grim expressions on their faces and all of their hearts dropped to their feet at the sight. Lucy and Natsu ran over followed closely by the rest of the guild.
"Sorry Lucy," Loke sighed. "Both Elfman and Evergreen and Gray and Juvia's places were trashed."
"What about Wendy's room at Fairy Hills?" Makao asked.
"It appeared normal, but the bed was also not slept in," Aries replied.
"Thanks guys. Why don't you guys head back for now," Lucy said.
"Sorry Luce," Loke looked devastated that he had to bring such news. Aries could sense his distress and grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "We'll be around if you need us."
The two spirits disappeared leaving silence in their wake. What could anyone possibly want with Fairy Tail couples? Lucy dropped into a chair as the realization that she'd been right rushed through her.
"They tried to take us yesterday, Natsu," Lucy whispered into the silence.
"I know," He whispered back. He sat next to her and placed his hand on her thigh as she sank against his shoulder.
"We'll protect you," Erza said. She glanced around the guild and shook her head. "You two and Gajeel and Levy are the only couples left. Considering nothing happened last night with them we can probably safely assume nothing will."
"Still I don't want to take any chances," Gajeel shook his head. He hadn't let Levy go more than a couple feet from his side since finding out what had happened. "We need to come up with somethin' for protection."
"Why don't the four of you stay here?" Makarov suggested. "Some beds in the infirmary should be open by tonight."
Gajeel and Natsu both agreed and nodded. It would be easier to keep their girls safe in the guild building versus homes in the woods. Happy landed on Natsu's shoulder as his eyes roved the room. After clearly not finding what he'd been looking for, he tugged on Natsu's scarf to get his attention.
"Hey Natsu," Happy looked upset. "Carla's not here either."
Natsu and Lucy shot up from their chairs and as Happy had said they did not see the white Exceed anywhere. Lucy called Aries back and the spirit arrived back looking like she'd done something wrong.
"I'm so sorry ma'am," She said.
"You didn't do anything wrong Aries," Lucy smiled at her to reassure her. "Was Carla there in Wendy's room when you checked it?"
"No ma'am. I checked all the rooms and closets. Neither she or Wendy were there," Aries was looking more and more worried.
"We need to go look for all of them," Lucy made to leave the guild as did Natsu, but both were stopped by Erza.
"We will, but you two along with Gajeel and Levy should stay here," She said. "We don't know what's happening other than couples are the targets so we don't want to let you out in the open."
"Erza," Natsu started to object, but was stopped with a normal glare from his teammate. He growled instead and headed further back into the guild.
"I'm coming too. They don't want me," Happy said and joined the growing group of wizards wanting to go out and look for their friends.
Erza split the group up into four different teams and they all set out to search for Carla along with the rest of their missing friends. Natsu and Lucy sat at the bar pouting as they watched the rest of their friends head out in their stead.