Chaos & Salamander

Chapter 78 - Contain

Lucy's POV

I need to think fast on how to capture Kaito but how do I do that? His speed had increased since going on this mating frenzy. He was faster than the three of us and just as hard to catch. "Mate. Mate. Mate" he repeated in a trance as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. If this is how bad an unmated Dragon Slayer is at the beginning of the season, then I don't want to see how he'll act near the end of the season. It's like his entire focus is on tracking down his mate.

I decided to slow him down by boxing him in with my walls of fire, blocking his path. As he was using his water magic to extinguish my flames, we quickly surrounded him. He didn't acknowledge any of us and tried to run past Sting. Rogue and I grabbed each of his arms, stopping him from running off any further. His demeanour changed now that he was trapped. He growled angrily as he started to fight against our grip, kicking and yelling. Sting punched Kaito's stomach knocking him out and I breathed a sigh of relief. For now he's under control but we'll need to contain him somehow.

We decided to take him back to the guild to see Gramps. Maybe he has an idea on how we can contain him. We can't keep knocking Kaito out every time he goes out of control. Other guild members looked at us strangely as we walked through the doors with an unconscious Kaito in our hands. "Gramps" I called out while walking to the bar where Gramps was sitting. "Come to my office" he said, acknowledging the situation, and we followed him to his office to keep our conversation private. "We need help. Kaito was the first to go out of control and we need to contain him somehow" I explained the situation.

He hummed in thought, "we could hold him in our underground prison in one of the cells" he suggested. My eyes widened, "we have an underground prison?" I questioned. I had no idea we had a prison underneath the guild. "Yes, every guild has one. You never know when we'll need to hold criminals until the Rune Knights arrive" he replied. 'Well that makes my job easier' I thought. "Lead the way Gramps" I said and he led us down to the underground prison.

When we walked into the first cell to the left, we gently laid Kaito against the back wall. "You might want to put these on him as well" Gramps said and we looked at him. In his hand, he held up a pair of Seal Stone cuffs. I took the cuffs from him and attached them to Kaito's wrists. I didn't believe the cuffs would completely contain the effects of mating season but at least his magic will be restrained.

"You're welcome to use the prison as you please for the duration of mating season" Gramps stated and then walked back to the main hall. "I'm guessing this will be where we end up if we go out of control" Sting commented as he looked around at the cells. "Yes, if I need to contain you" I replied. A mischievous smirk grew on his face. "So does that mean you're going to punish me if I misbehave?" he joked. "What are you talking about? Of course not!" I replied, confused on what he was talking about. I'll only use force if I need to, to stop him from going out of control. "Will you chain me up and whip me senseless mistress Lucy?" he joked in a masochistic begging tone of voice. A creepy shiver ran down my spine. "Cut it out!" I shouted, my face went red in embarrassment at his joke.

A threatening growl behind me cut through the conversation. Sting's face went pale and he quickly hid behind Rogue. I recognise that growl anywhere. "Natsu" I said and turned to said person behind me. He looked angry as he glared at Sting. "It's just a joke. Where's Gajeel?" I asked, hoping to steer Natsu's mind off of Sting. He looked behind him and groaned in annoyance. Without a word, he walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later dragging Gajeel into the room by the back of his collar. "Bookworm" Natsu said to me and I understood what he meant. Gajeel sneaked away to see Levy. I inwardly squealed at their obvious love for each other. As much as I want Gale to sail, I can't let Gajeel go out of control on Levy.

Natsu turned his head and saw Kaito in a cell. "What happened?" he asked. "Kaito went out of control, so we had to contain him somehow" I explained. "Did he touch you?" he asked with a bit of a growl while giving me the side-eye. He's probably asking that because Kaito clearly had a crush on me. "No, but he did try to flirt with me as usual. When I rejected him this time though he got this weird headache and fell to the floor. I went to help him but he looked at me with glowing blue eyes. I think it has something to do with him flirting with someone other than his mate during the season" I explained to him. He nodded in understanding and relaxed his shoulders.

Unconsciously, I let out a yawn. All that running around after Kaito really tired me out. Without a word, Natsu grasped my hand and started pulling me towards the exit. He paused for a minute and looked over my shoulder at the other Dragon Slayers. "Follow" he said and then continued dragging me. "Where are we going Natsu?" I asked and he replied "home."

When we arrived at his house, I almost didn't recognise it. We'd only been gone for a couple of hours and the place was now spotless. No dust or mess to be seen. "How?" I said in amazement as I looked around the house. Sting's jaw was dropped in shock while Rogue kept his face neutral. "He's been cleaning since you left" Gajeel said and earned a slap to the back of his head by Natsu. I smiled at Natsu, "I'm proud of you" I said and he blushed. Unfortunately I couldn't savour the sight since Natsu dragged me over to his hammock. He guided my body gently to lie inside the hammock and I didn't fight against him. "Sleep" he said sweetly with a soft voice as he pulled the blanket over me and stroked my hair. I felt the tiredness I've been ignoring wash over me and Natsu's gentle strokes drifted me off to sleep.