Cursed By Magic

34| A dark guild

"What are you doing, Natzu?" Happy questioned as he met Natsu out of the small porch attached to their Inn room. 

Lucy and Lyon sat inside on one of the beds chatting about who knows what really. Natsu figured sitting outside was the best idea for him.

Being around Lucy just made him feel too strange and he wanted to keep that feeling to a minimum. 

"Nothing really, the air is nice." He replied, leaning over the railing and gazing up at the golden palace.

Happy fluttered up and landed on the railing next to Natsu.

A cool breeze pushed around chunks of Natsu's rose colored hair that was always a mess.  A slightly sad look had taken over his features and the moons glow illuminated his skin.

"Lucy says that the ruins are only about a two day walk from Crocus." Happy continued on with a conversation. 

 Natsu nodded in approval. "It's about time. I feel like we've been walking for a month."

"I know! I haven't had a fish in like three days!" Happy complained, his mouth watering at the thought of fish.

"I wish Lisanna would have come along. Maybe then I'd have someone to talk to." He replied in an annoyed tone. 

"Natzu?" Happy questioned, wanting to get something off his mind that had been there for a while. 

"Yeah?" Natsu gazed over to his tiny friend. 

"Do you ever think there is something about Lucy we don't know?" Happy finished.

"What do you mean? You think everyone is hiding something from us? They are our friends, Happy. They wouldn't do that." Natsu answered with his eyebrows raised in disappointment.

But the truth is, they were. Natsu and Happy didn't know about Lucy's past even though everyone else did. They were the only two kept in the shadows and maybe that was a good thing. 

Natsu looked away again. "You know, I came out here to get away from Lucy. I'd rather not talk about her." 

Happy put his paw up to his mouth. "You llllike her."

Natsu shot up straight and gave a very panicked and defensive look. "I do not! Where in the hell did you get that sort of idea!"

The small cat looked away, but only with his eyes. "That's what Lisanna says."

"Well, Lisanna doesn't know anything!" He shouted again, turning from his little blue friend and crossing his arms. 

 "AHHHHHH!" A high pitched scream was heard through the thick glass door. 

"LUCY!" Natsu shouted, jumping from his position against the railing. Unknowingly he had almost just proved what Happy had accused him of only moments before.

Natsu busted through the door and into the room. Around him, the room lay in shambles. As if someone had been struggling to get away from something.

Lamps and the viewing lacrima had been knocks off the tables and were now shattered on the ground.

The rooms door was shut and still locked as if no one had come in. Natsu rushed around looking for anyone.

Lucy wasn't anywhere to be seen and Lyon was laying unconscious on the ground in the middle of the two beds. 

"Lyon!" Natsu knelt down by him and picked up his head in his arms. 

"Lyon!" He shouted again hoping to wake him up, before giving him a little shake.

Lyon's eyes squinted hard even though they were already closed. He let out a pain filled groan as he grabbed his ribs. His eyes opened quickly, panic in his actions.

"Lucy!" Was the first thing out of his lips. 

"What happened?" Natsu questioned hastily.

Lyon pushed himself up off the ground. "Four guys just appeared in the room. One already had their hands around her! When I tried to attack, one of them hit me over the head his what looked like a metal pipe. I saw them vanish before I hit the ground!" 

Suddenly the door to the room was smashed in and none other than Erza stood on the other side. "What was that scream?"

She stepped in and her jaw dropped as her eyes scanned over the mess. "Oh no." But then her eyes fixed themselves on Natsu.

"What happened here?" Erza's voice was filled with anger. 

"Some men appeared in here, took out Lyon, and kidnapped Lucy!" Natsu scrambled for his words hopping that the blame wouldn't be placed on him. 

He knew that because he had something against her, he would be made a suspect. Erza stared at him for a few moments before she nodded and turned her gaze to Lyon.

"What did they look like?" She questioned with haste.

"I don't know, there were four of them but they hid behind white masks with disturbing faces painted on them." Lyon explained what he remembered.

"Nightmare Element. They are a dark guild that only had four members and they hide behind masks." Levy spoke as she entered the room, followed by Gray and Eva. 

Her knowledge on such things came from Fairy Tail's archives. Most people didn't look into dark guilds no ones ever heard of.

"A dark guild took Lucy?" Natsu growled, his fire burning slightly inside him.

"What would a dark guild want with Lucy?" Lyon questioned.

"They must have been hired by someone. That means someone knows Lucy's secret." Erza pointed out the almost obvious.

"We need to find her now!" Eva began to tear up at the news of her niece being kidnapped.

Gray stood in the back, not a muscle moving in his body. He felt beyond furious. He wanted to protect Lucy. If he had been in this room instead of Natsu and Lyon than she wouldn't be gone. 

Now she's in danger, grave danger and its all because he wasn't there. He clenched his fists tightly as he stared at the ground. Everyone around him felt foolish. They had let their guard down in the middle of the capital city. 

Gray's eyes widened, his thoughts had been racing for several  moments now. But one small detail stuck out to him like a sore thumb. He listen to Lucy's story, he knew what small error they made that killed them. 

"Lucy doesn't have her keys."