Chaos & Salamander

Chapter 68 - Strange Behaviour

Lucy's POV

Natsu is acting strange. It's been a few weeks since the job against the tough obsidian monster and he has been disappearing on jobs a few days at a time. I miss him when he's not around. He's not the only one acting strange either. I feel like Gramps, Erza, Gray, Levy, Gajeel, Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, Carla, Wendy and Happy have been acting weird too. Happy has been accompanying Natsu. Gramps has banned me from taking jobs outside the city of Magnolia on the excuse of how injured I got. I'm fully healed now but he still won't let me go on any major jobs.

Erza and Gray have been disappearing almost as much as Natsu and Happy. Levy and Gajeel have been spending an unusual amount of time in the library. Mira and Lisanna have been keeping me company while I've been hanging out at the guild. The most suspicious is Wendy, she has been having trouble keeping eye contact with me and sometimes stutters like she's hiding something.

I was sitting at the bar, sipping my strawberry milkshake while eyeing the suspicious people. From my deduction, no one else in the guild other than that group knows anything about whatever was going on. Natsu and Happy still haven't gotten back yet. Erza, Gray, Levy, Gajeel, Elfman, Lisanna Wendy and Carla were huddled at a table on the other side of the guild hall. Out of range from my enhanced hearing which I'm pretty sure it was thanks to Gajeel. I've tried catching their conversations before but as soon as I reach hearing distance, they immediately talk about something else like about a recent job they took or a hobby.

My brain was racing with brainstorming ideas on how to find out the big secret while I watched them secretly converse. As I was taking a sip of my milkshake, Mira placed a chicken sandwich in front of me. "I thought you might be hungry" she said and I turned in my seat to face her. "Thanks Mira" I replied and took a bite of my sandwich.

"What's bothering you?" she asked. I refused to tell her the truth since I know she's hiding something with them. "Just a bit bored from sitting around the guild hall every day. When will Gramps let me take a job again" I complained. "I'm sure it won't be long" she replied as she cleaned a glass with a falsely sweet smile. It was clear she was lying but I pretended to believe her. "I hope so" I said before taking another bite of my sandwich.

Suddenly, the guild doors slammed open and standing in the middle of it all were Natsu and Happy. Noticing Natsu's mood, he seemed angry. He scanned the room until his eyes landed on me. What happened on that job that made him so angry? I could tell from the look in his eyes that I was not the centre of his anger. He stomped up to me and grabbed me by the wrist before dragging me up to the second floor. Once we reached our usual table, Natsu sat down and pulled me into his lap. He rested his head on my shoulder and tightly wrapped his arms around my waist.

I felt his breath tickle my neck as he buried his head into the crook of my neck and kissed it. "I missed you" he whispered and I became angry. How could he say he missed me when he's the one going off on jobs alone. I lightly pushed him back and turned my back to him with my arms crossed. I would get off his lap too but I knew he was too strong for me to break free.

"What's wrong?" he asked while tightening his arms around my waist. I gave him a sigh and then turned to look at him. "You keep going on jobs without me. Do you not like going on jobs with me anymore?" I asked. I doubt that was the reason, but I wanted to rule that thought out. "No" he immediately said with certainty. He took a moment to think and then sighed. With his strength, he turned me around in his lap so I was facing him. I'm hoping he's going to explain to me what's going on.

"It happened after you fell unconscious" he started and continued to tell me about the surprise appearance of Zard, Kumi, Nightmare and a mystery person. I didn't expect Zard, Kumi and Nightmare to team up. "To protect you, I let a group of guild members including the old man help me keep you at the guild for protection while we tried to find them" he finished his explanation. That explains everyone's strange behaviour. "Wait, did you say you LET some of our friends help you?" I asked to confirm what I just heard. He nodded and I felt proud.

"Ok, you're forgiven and I'm proud of you for letting the others help" I said and gave him a kiss as a reward. A blush immediately appeared on his face. I'm happy to hear he accepted the others' help all by himself. Compared to when I first arrived, he would never accept anyone's help. "What did you find?" I asked. "Not much, only that the monster we fought was created using Monster magic which we believe is the mystery person's magic" he explained. "So those other monsters Gramps mentioned were made by him. I feel like I've read a little about Monster magic somewhere before" I said in thought.

"How about we take a job together?" Natsu asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Really?!" I asked in excitement. He nodded and I jumped out of his lap. "Let's choose one right now" I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs towards the job request board. Maybe this job could give Natsu a break from searching for Zard, Kumi, Nightmare and the mystery man.