Frost

7

The guild members of Crime Sorcière stayed at the guild hall that night. Natsu was free to go home by Erza, but instead of going home he made his way to Gray's apartment. Everything happening at the moment made no sense to him. Gray went missing, Lucy is now sick, and there is an invisible person that is supposedly watching him. Maybe this invisible person was trying to stop Natsu somehow? He didn't know, for all this was hurting his brain as he thought about it.

Natsu reached the apartment and unlocked it with Gray's keys. The dragon slayer walked in and immediately shut the door after him. If the invisible person was watching him, then they might be following him as well. Unless they heard Rogue and Natsu's conversation. They might be laying low at the guild hall.

Natsu made his way to the living area and relaxed on the couch. The apartment was dark and quiet. If he listened hard enough, then maybe he would be able to tell if the invisible person was around.

Natsu eventually fell asleep. He didn't know that Gray was standing in the corner. The ice mage was scared.

•••

"Any footsteps?" Meldy asked Eric. The two were sitting on the bench along with the rest of their guild mates. The only problem was that they were the only two awake, and Meldy was barely able to keep her eyes open. It was almost two, and Eric kept his ears open.

Even if he did fall asleep, he would be awoken quickly if he heard something. But the thing is, he hasn't heard a voice yet. If it was a person, they would probably try to speak if they were a spy. Eric pushed the thought aside and rested his head on his arm. He looked at Meldy, who looked so tired that even sleeping wouldn't make her energized.

"No, not yet," Eric said. Meldy closed her eyes, and soon soft snores began to escape from her.

•••

Natsu awoke at four in the morning. He was freezing, and the room was so cold that he could see frost grow along the bottom of the windows. It shocked him that the frost was coming from the inside. Natsu looked around the dark room. He felt confused. It was like he wasn't alone. The dragon slayer rubbed his head before making his way out of Gray's freezing apartment.

That was before he realized that his scarf was missing again. He grunted, for he was already standing outside. The door was locked, and he was ready to go. Natsu unlocked the door and ran across the room to grab his scarf that was laying on the floor. He looked around the room once more while tying the scarf around his neck. During that time, he noticed something on one of the windows that was barely visible. Written on the frost in the thinnest way possible was help, except the e wasn't completely full, and the p wasn't finished.

Gray was collapsed underneath the window, and he was worn out. It took a lot of energy to get Natsu's scarf off of him, make frost appear on the windows, and write not even an entire word on the window. But he would keep trying, and by the looks of it, Natsu's expression changed from shocked to concerned. The dragon slayer stared at the frost before sprinting around the apartment.

He needed a communication lacrima. He never brought the one Warren has given to him. After searching through drawers, clothes, and anything else you can put a small lacrima in or on, Natsu found Gray's communication lacrima in a small box. It buzzed to life when Natsu turned it on, and it made him drop it to the floor. He would never get used to that loud ringing noise.

Natsu remembered when Gray tried to show him how to use it. While the dragon slayer was contemplating on why he should get one, Gray showed him many different things he could use it for. Like talking to people while not face to face and carrying a large lacrima on him. It was portable, and you wouldn't look like a lunatic when he would use it. He could also take pictures of memorable things.

"It won't be as memorable when you take a picture," Natsu had agrued. Gray raised a finger. "But when you look at the picture, all of the memories you had of that day will come back. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Natsu swiped his finger across the lacrima screen and pressed a few buttons before going into Gray's contacts. He had to search through the list of names, which wasn't quite long. Gray's lacrima did not have Jellal's number, but it did have another number that could be needed. Natsu called Erza first.

" . . . Gr-"

"It's not Gray, it's Natsu. I know it's four, but I need you here right now," Natsu's voice was raspy, and to Erza it sounded like he was scared. She could hear Natsu pacing around, but she didn't know where he was.

"Where are you?" the woman asked. Natsu was in Gray's room with the door closed. He would peak out every now and then to see if there had been any types of movement.

"Gray's apartment. The door is unlocked, and I'm in his room," Natsu whispered. He didn't know why he was panicking, so he tried to take deep breaths. He heard Erza's tone change over the phone. The tiredness in her voice became full on worry. "Is it that serious?" Natsu replied with a hum to her question. "Okay, I'll bring Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorcière. Should I bring anyone else?" Natsu looked around Gray's room.

"No, I'm calling someone else." He hung up before Erza could say anything. Natsu ran a hand through his rosy colored hair as he searched for a contact. At the same time, he was listening for any type of movement that sounded abnormal in a quiet apartment. The room grew dark when Natsu pressed on the contact, and he brought the lacrima to his ear.

"Gray?" a quiet voice called from the other end of the lacrima.

"No, not Gray. It's Natsu. I need you to come to Gray's apartment."

It was silent before there was another reply. "Alright, I'm on my way."

"Lyon? Make sure you don't bring anyone from your guild." The man on the other end hummed before he hung up. On the other side of the door, the ice mage was smiling. Even though he was tired, he listened to the entire thing. Natsu was getting help. If they thought about the situation, he would get found out. He would become visible again.