Chapter Twelve
Natsu felt stiff all over as he slowly opened his eyes. As his eyes cleared and focused he found himself in a cell surrounded by the missing male guild members – Laxus, Elfman, Gray, Alzack and Romeo. Gray reached out and grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled him to his feet.
"You alright?" Gray asked with no insult added on like he normally would.
"Yea. Where's all the girls?" He should've known they'd get separated as soon as they arrived. Sticking his hand in his pocket, he found that Warren's lacrima device was still there which gave him some relief.
"We haven't seen them," Laxus replied.
"Don't worry you'll be reunited soon enough," A deep rumbling voice answered. A large man with black hair down his back, dark pants, white shirt and cape stood on the other side of the cell bars. He opened the cell and stood just inside with his arms crossed. "Ah Natsu. You've finally joined us. We can now get started."
"What the hell do you want man?" Natsu tried to light up his fists, but found that his magic wasn't working.
"Ah I see you've now noticed your lack of magic. We haven't taken it from you at least not yet. My name is Taro and my intentions are not of your concern," Their captor smirked at Natsu. "We'll be taking you each individually and I think we'll be starting with Ms. Lucy Heartfilia."
The anger that flowed through Natsu at hearing that was intense. "Like hell you will!"
"I will. She is a fascinating subject indeed," He smirked at the reaction he was getting from Natsu who was now being held back by Laxus and Gray. "Nine gold Zodiac keys is quite a feat, but to be able to summon the Spirit King himself is incredible. I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to examine and dissect a wizard of her stature."
He headed for the exit and turned at the last moment, "Oh and though your magic is being contained while here your Dragon Slayer senses should be just fine. In that case I'll make sure to make her scream as loudly as possible."
With that, he shut the cell just as Natsu escaped from Laxus and Gray's arms to slam against the bars. An inhuman roar escaped him as he struggled against the bars, unable to use his magic to escape. This was not how their plan was supposed to work. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he was going to stop this.
Natsu was pacing an hour later when the girls, Lucy excluded, were led to their cell by two guards, one with black hair and the other with blue. Their hands were bound by a glowing rope and they all looked pissed. They were led into the cell by the black-haired guard while the other stood at the door. Once their hands were un-bound, they shut the cell door and left. The girls each ran to their respective mate while Natsu continued to pace.
Mira was watching Natsu pace while letting Laxus's arms encircled around her calm her stress. They didn't know what was happening. The two guards had come and taken Lucy, kicking and screaming, and then brought them all here. Laxus pressed a kiss against her temple as he felt relief at having her back in his arms. She smiled and accepted the kiss he pressed to her lips.
"What's going on? It seems like you guys know more than we do," Mira said with a glance at the still pacing Natsu.
"Our kidnapper showed himself and taunted Natsu," Laxus replied as he also glanced at Natsu. None of them wanted to be in the position he found himself in.
Suddenly Natsu and Wendy stopped with looks of horror etched to their faces. Wendy pressed her hands to her ears and pressed her forehead to Romeo's chest. He looked up at the others with confusion and threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of her head to try and comfort her. Natsu meanwhile had tears pooling in his eyes as he stood frozen in the middle of the cell. He also brought his hands up to his ears to cover them and bent at the waist as if someone had gut punched him.
"Oh god," Gray seemed to come to a conclusion the others hadn't yet. He went and stood in front of Natsu and grabbed one of his shoulders in one hand while the other gripped his neck. "Just try and block it out Natsu. You know how strong she is. No one gives her enough credit for how strong she truly is."
"Oh my god. They can hear Lucy," Mira glanced up at Laxus with tears pouring down her cheeks. "Can you hear her too?"
"No, not like they can," He looked as upset and distressed as the rest upon seeing his fellow dragon slayers reactions. "Second generation dragon slayers like me don't have the super human senses."
"It's horrible," Wendy squeaked out. Romeo was doing his best to comfort her, but since none of the rest of them could hear what they did they were all at a loss for what to do.
"No!" Natsu shoved Gray away, but the ice wizard wasn't deterred. Juvia came over as well and gripped his other arm while Gray gripped his shoulder.
"Just listen to our voices Natsu," Juvia gripped his arm and tried to use a soothing tone.
"We're right here Natsu," Laxus joined in and gently patted him on the back.
Soon half of them were surrounding Natsu and talking at once to try and drown out whatever horrible sounds he was hearing coming from his girlfriend while the other half surrounded Wendy and Romeo. After what seemed like hours both Natsu and Wendy's shoulders finally relaxed. Wendy pushed away from Romeo's chest and glanced up at him as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I don't hear her anymore," She hoarsely whispered. Romeo wiped the tear away with his thumb and kissed her forehead comfortingly.
"I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing," Elfman replied. Evergreen elbowed him, but it was too late.
"No, she's alive. I'd be able to feel it if she wasn't," Natsu shakily said. He gripped Gray's shoulder as he slumped against his friend for support. "Thanks Gray."
Gray nodded. Natsu straightened to his full height and reached for Wendy. He pulled her into a tight hug. She stood straight as a board in surprise before wrapping her arms around him tightly as well.
"I'm sorry you had to hear all that too Wendy," He gave her back a pat and released her with a small smile.
"It's ok," She returned the smile with a shrug. "All part of being what we are right?"
Natsu was about to reply, but suddenly whipped his head in the direction of the cell door. Confused at first, they all understood when footsteps began growing louder and louder as they came closer to the cell. Natsu got as close to the entrance of the cell as he could and growled in anger when two guards, these two with red and blond hair instead, came around the corner. One had Lucy thrown over his shoulder and she wasn't moving.
"Back-up," The red-headed guard who was not holding Lucy slammed a large club against the bars.
Natsu did so, but only enough so they could open the gate and dump Lucy into his waiting arms. He didn't care nor hear when they closed the gate and made their way back down the hall. He picked Lucy up gently in his arms and headed to one of the cots at the back of the cell. As gently as he could, he sat on the cot with his back to the wall and her body laid across his lap. Her head was nestled against his shoulder and bicep. All the others gathered around in eager anticipation and concern. Wendy looked particularly upset that she couldn't do anything to help her friend which Romeo sensed immediately. He grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze which pulled a small smile from her lips.
"Luce wake up," Natsu rubbed his thumb across her cheek. Until he heard her voice his heartbeat wouldn't return to normal.
"I am awake Natsu," Lucy spoke with her eyes still closed and a whisper on her lips. "Are the guards gone?"
Natsu snorted out a sudden laugh. "Yea. Are you ok?"
Beautiful brown eyes opened up to look at him and she smiled. "I've felt better, but yea I'm fine."
"What happened Lucy?" Bisca asked.
"They drained my magic," She rested her head against Natsu's bicep. "They thought I'd passed out, but I stayed awake to try and see anything that might be helpful. I did manage to figure out that it's only in these cells that our magic is suppressed. And with those ropes they keep tying us up with."
"How do you know?" Elfman asked.
"Well, they clearly don't understand how my magic works," She glanced up at Natsu who smirked.
"You saw one of your spirits," He said as she returned the same smirk.
"I saw two of my spirits," She smiled at the shocked looks on the faces of her friends. "That guard threw me over his shoulder thinking I was out cold so he didn't tie me up with that magic suppressing rope. As they were bringing me back, I saw Loke and Virgo poking their heads around the corner of one of the hallways."
"Oh my god that's amazing," Mira jumped a bit in excitement.
"We couldn't speak obviously, but I know my spirits and I know they'll do everything they can to help us," Lucy closed her eyes as the adrenaline was finally wearing off. The others seemed to notice and stepped away to give the two some privacy.
Natsu leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers and rubbed his hand across her side. Her stamina was beginning to fade now that she wasn't being tortured, but she didn't want to let go of this moment. She placed her hand against his still bare chest and felt his heartbeat steady against her palm.
"Sorry you didn't get to grab a shirt before they took us," She whispered.
"It's ok. It's not like I wear that much anyway," He chuckled quietly. He brought his hand from where it was rubbing her side and pushed her hair back behind her ear. "I still have the lacrima in my pocket, but I'm assuming it won't work now."
"They must've found mine because it's gone," Lucy replied. She held out her hand to him. "Give yours to me just in case they take you next."
He placed it in her hand where she held it gently in her lap as the exhaustion she felt was beginning to take over. Natsu rubbed his hand against her side as his heartbeat was finally returning to some semblance of normalcy now that she was here with him again. Despite her demeanor with the others a tear began to trail down her cheek. He wiped it away and tenderly cupped her jaw.
"Now that it's just you and me, how are you really doing?" He whispered.
Any bravado that Lucy had left faded and she leaned her cheek heavily into his hand. "I'm ok really. I'm really sore and just feel like crap, but I promise I'm fine."
Natsu narrowed his eyes trying to determine if she was being truthful or not. He nodded and leaned to kiss her lips gently. "Just sleep now. I've got you babe."
"I know you do," She smiled up at him as her eyes dropped closed. "Love you."
"I love you too," He smiled down at her. Now that she was safe, albeit magically and physically drained, he felt like he could relax a bit. They were all still stuck in here and these guys were likely to come for someone else to drain. Just a few minutes later Lucy's chest was falling up and down in even breaths as she slept peacefully against him.