Chapter Twenty-One: Leaving

I rubbed my eyes as I woke up. I had barely gotten any sleep because I'd been worrying so much about what Juvia would think. And Gray! What was he going to think, when I just ditched him in the street like that? I shuddered at the thought if the two of them were both mad at me for upsetting them both. I wore a washed out denim miniskirt and a black, striped floaty top with a camisole underneath in case there were any perverts in town. I wore my usual boots and tied up my hair and wore my belt.

As soon as I left my apartment and walked to the guild, I thought up a million negative thoughts. Maybe I should take up meditating to clear my head…

I walked in and looked around for blue hair. I saw Juvia but Gray wasn't anywhere to be seen. When I saw Juvia though, she waved me over. I went over and she said something I could barely hear over the racket of the guild. Apparently, there was a drinking contest going on or something. Nearly the whole guild was present because there were no missions to be done. Except Gray. He must have been lucky enough to get a mission.

"What?" I said.

"Somewhere, talk," Juvia practically had to shout and I still couldn't hear everything. I understood though.

"OK!" I shouted back.

She led me away and, instead of going to the balcony we went up the steps to the second floor where it was quieter.

"This is the place where only S-Class missions are!" I hissed, "We're not allowed up here!"

"I got permission off the Master," said Juvia, not hesitating for a moment, "If we do anything bad, he'll just give a punishment."

I shuddered at the thought of last time when I got spanked even when the Master was lecturing Natsu, "OK." At least Laxus didn't hang around here anymore since he was booted out. That was one relief at least.

We sat down in a little dark corner.

"I wanted a private place," said Juvia, "There is only three S Class Mages. Mira doesn't fight anymore, I have no idea where Gildarts is and Erza would know better to not interrupt us."

"Yeah," I said, "So…?"

Juvia sighed which I panicked was a bad sign. Then she smiled, "I thought about it and…"

"Would you stop being so suspenseful?" I almost wailed, "This is almost unbearable for me!"

Juvia laughed which was a good sign, "I've decided that I shouldn't jump to immediate bad conclusions. You and Gray and Fairy Tail are great friends and I shouldn't compare you to my past, bad friends. If you say you won't leave then I trust you. And I am really sorry." She hugged me, "You and Gray should become a couple and I know you wouldn't forget about me."

"Really?" I said, smiling, "Thank you, Juvia! Of course I wouldn't forget you, ever! You're my friend!"

I could tell Juvia was grinning, "'the greatest happiness come from seeing others you love happy'"

"What?" I said.

"The phrase that helped me make my decision," said Juvia, "It dawned on me that as long as my friends were happy, I would be happy. And if they were sad, so would I. Then I realised I was the reason my friends were so sad, so I'm really sorry, Lucy."

"It's OK," I said, hugging her tightly, "As long as we're still friends."

"Definitely," said Juvia, letting me go, "Now, shouldn't you go and find Gray?"

"Yeah," I said, suddenly remembering Gray, "Thank you, Juvia!"

She smiled as I ran down the steps, nearly falling down in my happiness. Then I realised I had no idea where Gray was. I went towards the crowd where the drinking competition had finally finished. I walked up to Cana, "Cana, do you know where Gray is?"

"What's that, Harold?" said Cana drunkenly, putting her arm around me, missing and face-planting on the floor. She was delirious because of all that booze.

"OK, I don't think you'd be any help…" I said, walking away up to Makarov's office.

"Master?" I said, knocking on the door and stepping in. He was sitting down with his cup of something I couldn't see and facing the window. He turned around when I came in though, "Eh? Oh, Lucy. What can I do for you?"

"Has Gray taken a mission recently?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Of course though, I can't tell you about other people's mission though."

"Can you at least tell me how long his mission will last for?"

He thought and finally said, "Fine, but I will only tell you this, nothing else, understand?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

"OK, it'll take a couple of days for him to complete the mission," said the Master, turning back to the window, "That's all I am going to say. Go on, now, goodbye."

I went down, frustrated. Why did everyone always take missions when I had to talk to them? Instead I spent the rest of the day talking to the other guild members and checking the mission board every now and then. There were no new missions and I could see other members checking as well. They would probably grab the mission quicker than me so I gave up checking for a new mission. Instead I decided to go home and work on my book instead. There were no missions anyway; no one would notice me gone since they were watching the missions' board like hawks.

When I walked into my apartment, I saw a funny little note on my desk. I picked it up, thinking it was a note from Gray. I opened it and read the difficult, blocky letters. I soon realised that it wasn't from Gray at all. I dropped the note in shock, covering up my mouth and part of my nose with both hands, in that way when someone is really surprised. I picked up the note again once I'd gotten control over myself and read the blocky, thick letters.

Lucy Heartfilia.

We have your father and the other guild members of his guild. If you don't want any of them to die, come to the mountain base of Mount Crest by three days. Do not bring any of your guild members if you value your father's safety.

A Dark Guild.

I had no idea who had written this message. But that mountain… I had heard it somewhere before. I went to my little bookshelf and took down a thick book on the environment which was there when I first rented this room. I coughed as the dust fell, since I never read it before. I flicked to the index at the back and scanned through the names. Finally, there it was, Mount Crest. I went to the page and quickly read through the short paragraphs. Mount Crest was a dormant volcanic mountain. Why they would set up a hideout in such a dangerous place, I'll never know but it was located in Estonia, a good three day trip away from Magnolia. I'd have to leave immediately.

I placed the book back on the shelf and considered. If I left suddenly, that would certainly attract attention from the guild. They would want to follow me; especially my team and they could, even if I didn't leave any evidence of where I was going, because of Natsu's sense of smell. He could pick up anything in my rented place and track me down. Instead I packed a bag of necessary clothes, some food and water, a couple of blankets and walked out and went straight to the perfume store. It wasn't exactly a store; it was a little sort of a little wooden hut sort of thing near the outskirts of town. I walked up to the old woman behind the counter, "I want the most strong and overpowering scent you have."

The old woman looked startled but of course, she had to do what the customer asked, "Of course, dear, but it won't be cheap."

I got out all the remaining money from Chantelle's reward and put it on the counter, "There."

The old woman counted the money and smiled, "Very good, dear." She went to one of the shelves behind the counter and got out a small, thin pink bottle. It was nearly full with red liquid and had a little glass top decorated with a small rose. It seemed very little for something so expensive but I didn't care. The only point was to cover me up with something very strong and pungent so Natsu will be put off my trail. They know I don't like overpowering scents like this so they'll assume it's not me. I unscrewed the top and took a quick whiff. I nearly gagged at the stench. It was very overpowering. I felt sorry for Natsu when he smelt this with his enhanced sense of smell.

Not breathing, I quickly sprayed a quick bit of perfume on me. Then I thanked the lady in a strangled voice and quickly went out. I could tell I was bothering the town's people and they kept a wide space around me. I hardly paid any attention to them. I was thinking about my Dad and the random attack. They knew he was my father and that I was in a guild. They even knew where I lived. The attack must have been planned and researched to know all this information. I thought of Dad and his 'errand' in town for his guild. Was it possible that his guild knew of the Dark Guild's attack and wanted help for it, maybe from another guild? I knew Dad's guild weren't particularly strong fighters so it was a possibility. Or was I thinking too much about the situation?

Finally, I reached where I was heading: the station. I knew the general direction of Estonia was north-west. I would change about two trains, and then it was a one day's walk to the town. I would surely be able to spot the mountain from there. As my train came to a stop and passengers began to get off or board, I followed the crowd and sat down by myself. I put my elbow on the window and put my fist over my mouth, thinking. If I was taking on a Dark Guild solo, I would probably be doomed unless they were seriously weak. I couldn't chance that though so I asked the stewardess who came by, "Hey, do you have a phone or something I could use?"

"Yes, sure," said the woman, showing me down the aisle to two phone places with a little booth for privacy. There was no one seated there, the nearest person was four rows in front of it. I thanked the stewardess and went inside the little booth, trying to remember the number.

Flashback~

"But we'll always be in touch, right?" I said as the others began walking away.

"Sure," smiled the red-haired mage before me, "Like I can leave my little sis all alone in the world. Here's our number if you need to call us…"

End Flashback~

"There," I said, as I pressed the number in. It rang for a few seconds and then someone picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey, Infra, it's Lucy," I said.

"LUCY!" yelled Infra happily, "ABOUT TIME! I thought you completely forgot about us!"

"Oh? Is that Lucy?" cried someone in the background, probably Ladin from the sound of it.

"Lucy!" yelled Nero.

"So, how ya been?" shouted Infra.

"No need to shout," I said, laughing slightly, "But I'm not so well. My father is held hostage by a Dark Guild."

Dead silence, followed by Infra, "What?"

"He's held hostage," I said, tears falling from my eyes, "Infra, he's going to die if I don't get over there!"

"Well, at least hang on for us to get over there," said Infra. I heard a muffled yell that sounded like, "GET THE BOAT READY!"

"That's actually what I'm calling about," I said, "I can't bring along any of my guild members so I was wondering if you guys could maybe help me?"

"Of course we are!" shouted Infra, "Why would you wonder if we would?"

"I don't know," I said, "But I have to be there within three days. I don't think you can row over here and get to a town called Estonia on time. Here's what I want you to do…"

I explained my plan and Infra agreed whole-heartedly. I discussed what I thought would happen and what they were to do if that were the case.

After I said goodbye, I sat down in the chair and looked out the window as the last of Magnolia disappeared.

Goodbye, Magnolia, I smiled, I'll be home soon.

The End

So…. A suspenseful end! XD

I have most of the sequel planned out and will probably write that after a short break to rethink and adjust my ideas. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story and please review! :D