Firefall || Fairy Tail

67: g r a y ' s . p l a n

Natsu, Lucy, and Happy watched as Brandish walked away, carrying a tiny Dimaria in her grip. The blonde gave her a soft smile even though the other couldn't see it, "Maybe we can meet again."

The Nation Destroyer paused, looking over her shoulder with a sigh, "Sounds like a pain."

A quiet fell over the street for a moment as things settled, but was soon broken by the trio that were coming up behind them.

"Hey!" Evergreen called out as she carried a still-unconscious Juvia on her back, "Guys!"

"Uh!" Natsu turned to find who had called out, his expression lightening, "Whoa, it's you!"

Lucy smiled, "We were worried."

"Carla!"

The white Exceed didn't respond to the other calling her name as she glided closer with worry across her face. "We looked everywhere, but Gray's nowhere to be found! It's like he just vanished."

"Honestly," the old healer wasn't pleased by the development at all, "he shouldn't even be moving around in his condition--it's suicidal."

Evergreen filled in another detail, "He woke up right before we saw that weird light."

"Seriously."

Natsu was about to respond himself, but stopped when a large source of magic power caught his attention. His eyes narrowed as he turned his full attention to the large building that stood at the center of Magnolia. "Somebody's on the cathedral."

The others all turned to look at what he could be talking about as a voice rang out over the city, "Hear me, children of Alvarez, proud members of the 13, the time has come to offer unto His Majesty your spirits, your flesh!"

The air pressure around them began to change as August released more of his power.

"I'm a child of His Majesty. And thus, I shall cleanse the enemy with your very souls."

Natsu remained at the ready, but didn't act as something fell from the sky directly onto the talking Spriggan. Even at this distance, the Fire Dragon Slayer could just make out the familiar scent of the Crash wizard before he overdid it and wrecked the entire church.

Satisfied with the situation, he turned, "Let's go. We gotta get to Zeref."

"Aye!" Happy jumped up into the air, reinvigorated.

But Lucy wasn't quite sure, "Shouldn't we help them look for Gray?"

"Nah." Natsu didn't move as he kept his eyes trained in the direction of the guild hall. His icy friend wasn't the only person he was worried about, but he was the only one he mentioned. "Pretty sure I know where he is."

||~x~||

Zeref sat on the top of one of the tables closest to the guild hall's still-open doors as he watched the person slowly grow closer and closer. His previous company had been quiet for some time and things weren't entirely going how he had thought they would. He was intrigued as we waited for him to step in and lean against the wall by the entryway.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think you of all people would be the next one here. I'd half expected it to be Jellal, or perhaps that swaggering lightning wizard, Laxus. To be perfectly honest, this is quite a shame."

Gray looked up as he gauged whether he had it in him to walk further into the room, holding his bandaged abdomen. Deciding that he couldn't, he settled for giving a challenging smirk to the Black Wizard, "I think it's way past time for you to leave. Plus, I hate it when someone sits in my spot."