The Lost Brother {Nalu Fanfiction} - semi-hiatus

Chapter 10: The quest begins, nearly

Hey, friends~ 

My "mental health" isn't so good, and everything in my life is just so complicated and ugh... I just really hate the most things atm, and I'm so sorry that I'm ranting at you guys, but I'm just sad and you know... ugh. A lot of people probably have it worse, I just feel bad, sorry... Luckily, writing is my happy place! 

Depressing thoughts aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter, though it's a little... sloppy written... hehe~

Also, I accidently made this chapter long… like *cough* 3300 words *cough*… I swear, I try to shorten them, but I wrote this chapter on my tablet, without a word counter… heh. Oh well…

//тнeвιѕcυιтqυeen♥
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After Lucy had calmed down a bit, she had gone back to sleep. The crying had exhausted the blonde mage in her already weak state.

Wendy had countless times tried to rid Lucy of her fever, and it did seem go away, but it wasn't because of Wendy's magic. It was like the fever had some kind of expiry date on it - like it slowly ran out of energy.

The salmon haired Dragon Slayer had been in the infirmary since Rufus had showed them the memories. Gray could have sworn that he had spotted the dense Dragon Slayer under the same blankets as Lucy earlier, but as he looked back, he just sat on the chair besides her bed. 

Lucy, on the other hand, had been receiving memories all night. They were returning little after little, and every time she received a memory she flinched in slight pain, much to Natsu's concern. She described it like a little shock in her brain, but they all knew that she just tried not to burden them with the pain. 

The sun was now rising again, and the remaining guild members, who had stayed awake all night, were now standing around a table where Rufus was seated. Team Natsu, the exceeds, Wendy, Levy, Juvia, Gajeel and the Strauss siblings had all stayed awake, supporting Lucy as she received the slightly painful memories - painful both physically and mentally. She was still sleeping in the infirmary, though she insisted on helping.

Natsu, Erza and Gray had also explained what they had seen to both Master Makarov and the remaining members, who had listened in awe.

"So," Natsu started, crossing his arms as he leaned up against a pillar. "Where do we start?" 

Levy, being the well-prepared person she was, had already prepared a map for Rufus, which was placed in front of him. At the moment, he was examining it, concentrated in thought.

"I have," Rufus started, pausing as he skimmed the map again. "No idea."

"Nani?!" the group around the table exclaimed in unison, falling to the ground, twitching. 

"I came with the memories," he muttered, pouting. "You can't expect me to know where the other Heartfilia is!" 

"But, Rufus-san," Wendy murmured shyly. "Weren't you there when it happened?" 

Leaning back in his chair, Rufus took of off his hat, sighing. "Not the whole time," he started explaining. "I just saw a job request with my name on it, so I took it! End of story..." 

"So that means," Erza started. 

"We have no clue on where Luke is," Lisanna finished, clenching her fists like many other in the room.

"How terrible!" Mirajane commented, holding a hand in front of her mouth. "He must be so scared!"

Gray, who had already stripped down, shadowed his eyes with his hair. "Do we even know if he's still alive?"