(EDITING) Lucy-The Celestial Queen

Chapter Three

Erza and Gray were exhausted. They were fighting bandits and then Natsu and Lucy had suddenly disappeared, leaving the two of them to fight off the rest. Happy was there, yes, but he couldn't fight. Erza and Gray leaned on each other as they walked through the overgrown forest, occassionally tripping over roots and mushrooms.

Erza was tired, which surprised her. They were a couple of bandits, nothing more. No, she thought, it's because it's the early morning. Gray, was both tired and irritated. Natsu had just left in the middle of the battle, leaving the two of them to take care of everything.

Gray was ready to pound him in the ground with his fists. Erza and Gray broke through the tree line and looked around the smoking village. The fire that had been caused by the bomb still hadn't been put out. Gray looked around and let go of Erza and started to walk in a random direction.

He saw Martha pace outside of a quaint house with a handkerchief clenched in her shaking fist. "Martha! Hey, have you seen Natsu? Ah, are you alright?" Martha's face was beyond pale. "G-Gray! Where have you been? Are you alright? Have you heard the news?"

Gray shot her a confused look and gripped her shaking hands in an effort to comfort her. "What news? Martha, what are you talking about?" Martha's eyes met his and she whispered, "About Lucy."

Gray's eyes widened and his blood froze. He gripped Martha's shoulders and squeezed. "What about Lucy? Is she alright?" Martha shook her head, "I don't know...the doctor took her in and she's only allowed one visitor and Natsu is in there and she looked bad, Gray, she was bleeding and Natsu was holding her! She couldn't even stand on her own!"

Gray looked behind Martha and at the door that apparently led to both Natsu and Lucy. "Martha, you stay here. I'm going in." Martha nodded her head and moved out of the ice mage's way.

Gray opened the door and looked into a spacious living room. No one was in there but on the floor, a trail of blood led down a hallway. Gray cautiously followed the red path and when it went under a door, Gray stood in front of it and opened it.

In the room, a female had her head bent down, almost in prayer, with her hands clasped in front of her. A figure was on the bed with a sheet over the whole thing so Gray couldn't tell what it was, or who it was, but he had a guess. Next to the bed, a pink haired male was on his knees with one of his hands clasping another hand that was poking out from the white sheet. His body was racked with sobs but he was completely silent.

Gray tore his eyes from the scene because he didn't want to look at it. He looked to his left where he saw Natsu's scarf covered in blood. Lucy's blood, Gray realized. He walked towards the bed and gently lifted the sheet off of Lucy's face.

Her face held a look of peace and softness and Gray too fell onto his knees next to Natsu. "Natsu. Lucy...She's de- Don't say that!" Gray's rationalizing words were interrupted by Natsu's stinging ones. "Don't say that," he said again, this time quieter.

Gray stood and walked out of the room and then out of the house. He walked to their hotel room, where he was sure Erza was. He walked in sluggishly and sat on the edge of the nearest bed with his head in his hands.

A clean Erza walked out of the bathroom with a towel being pressed to her face. She dried her face fully and looked up at Gray. "Oh, Gray. I didn't know you were in here. Would you like to freshen up? I just did." Gray stayed silent and didn't look up from the floor. Erza put the towel around her neck, where the ends rested on either shoulder.

"Did you find Natsu? And Lucy?" At the sound of Lucy's name, Gray froze up. (No pun intended). He looked up at Erza with red eyes and tears running down his cheeks. He looked bad, for sure, but not as bad as Natsu, who still sat in the doctor's house next to Lucy. Erza threw the towels off of her shoulder and onto the nearest bed and crouched in front of Gray.

"Gray. What is it? Is it Lucy and Natsu?" Gray wiped the tears off of his face and looked away. "She's gone. And we didn't even notice." Erza shook her head and reached for the towel. She grabbed it and offered it to Gray, who wiped his tears completely off, and buried his face in the towel.

Again, she asked, "What do you mean? She's gone? Who's gone?" Gray lowered the towel and stood up. "Don't you get it, Erza!? Lucy! That's who I'm talking about! She's dead and we didn't even know it!" Erza froze as Gray stormed out of their room. Gray walked to the mayor's house.

He knocked on the door violently and stalked past Martha when she opened the door. Jerry sat in the same room with a cup of what looked like tea and cookies on a plate in front of him. "Ah, Gray! I trust the bandits are taken care of and everyone is alright?"

Gray looked at Martha, who had been there when Lucy had died. "You didn't tell him?" Martha closed in on herself and offered, "I was about to..." Gray faced Jerry again and snarled, "Yes, the bandits have been taken care of! No, everyone isn't alright! Lucy, the blonde in our group, is dead! She died saving this village! We'll be leaving tomorrow...Can I please have our reward?"

Jerry had stopped drinking his tea and looked up at the broken boy. "Yes, of course. I-I'm so sorry for your loss." Gray nodded his thanks and took the money from the man. "Thank you."