Forever Mine || NALU

10. "unwillingly"

The three Dragon Slayers, with their nose perked up, sniffing the air that suddenly claimed they could smell a certain missing pink haired salamander nearby. Their eyes roamed the room, and as if in sync, it lead to a certain window that was opened slightly with the fresh breeze of the evening wind coming through. 

"THERE!" Gajeel yelled, pointing at the window, and as if a bolt of lightning sparked on our feet, we all sprinted. Some ran towards the window Gajeel had singled out, and some ran to the door, in attempt to look outside. 

I ran outside, dashing to chase whatever the hell was on the other side of that glass pane. 

"NATSU!" I screamed, making a sharp turn at the corner of the guild trying to catch even a glimpse of him, in hope that he was there. 

But yet...

"Shit," I cursed.

"Fuck, what the fuck." Gray gritted his teeth, running his hair in frustration.

At the other side of the window, the very window that caught the attention of not only one Godly nose of a dragon slayer, but three, was... 

absolutely nothing.

Nothing but a few heads of the other guild members who ran to the window sticking their heads out also looking for Natsu. "Lucy..." Wendy bit her pink lips in pity and Gajeel cursed. 

"Fuck Bunny Girl, I-I'm sorry-- I swear I smelt him--" Gajeel stammered, as if he was embarrassed that he was wrong.

"We all did. Nobody but Natsu smells of charcoal and burnt meat." Laxus, who stood at the window with his arms crossed in front go him replied with an assertive tone. 

"M-maybe he ran..." Wendy chirped quietly, holding onto my arm and rubbing it as an attempt to comfort me.

"That doesn't make sense, why would Natsu run, were his family--" 

"Probably the same reason he ran when we were at Heartfilia forest."

I clenched my fists, shutting my eyes and feeling my throat tighten. None of this makes sense. "I-I dont understand-- did he follow us?"

A little part of me had hoped that he did. That he seen us and followed us, that he's just lost and confused. A little part of me wants to believe that he just wants to come home and be with his family. 

But I had to be realistic here. 

The fist I had in my hand soon unraveled, leaving crescent marks of my finger nails onto my palm and sighed. "The Heartfilia Forest is a hundred miles away from here, the only way to get from there to here is the train."

There was a silence coming from the guild as they took my words into consideration. If there's one thing we all know about Natsu, it was that... "He doesn't do trains."

~

"That was quite the close one." a deep voice called out to me as I could feel my entire body shift from the window sill of Lucy's guild to the feet of a familiar throne that I had seen a few days ago.

"Zeref, you bast--" before I could even finish my sentence, I could hear the nauseating rumble of my stomach going crazy, as if my organs were all in a crazy shift. 

The Dark Wizard smiled a satisfying smirk as he watched me gag for my life. "Teleportation magic, effective yet leaves a nasty feeling in the bellies of Dragon Slayers." he explained my sudden nausea.

"W-why the hell.. did you bring me... here?" I huffed frantically, glaring at him. 

Zeref rolled his eyes and stood from the throne, taking small steps towards me with a dead look on his face. "Your mission is to retrieve the Fairy Heart, not have a family reunion." he narrowed his  eyes. "Who knows what kind of distractions you would have, had they found you." he mumbled.

"Who the hell said I was getting the heart in the first place."

He smirked. "Dear brother... I don't think you have a choice." he crossed his arms. "Or was my threat on that young blonde's life insufficient?"

I gritted my teeth, "don't you dare--"

"How about we make a deal!" Zeref smirked deviously. He crouched down to the floor to reach my eye level, grabbed a fist full of my hair to turn my head to meet his gaze. "If I bring your beloved Lucy, along with her child onto my palace, where you can protect her at all times, you will get my heart."

My eyes widened at his proposal.

"But that means if you have not retrieved the heart while she is here... well, I think even you can understand the consequences.."

I glared at him, truly disgusted by his plans. "Well either way, you'll get it willingly... or unwillingly." he smiled. "you have five more days to go over your options."

~

The guild and I had once again gathered on the largest table, with two maps of Magnolia and the Heartfilia Forest. "There could still be a chance that this was all a crazy coincidence and Natsu is still at Heartfilia Forest hiding in some sort of cave somewhere." Erza said, leading the meeting. "I'll lead whoever wants to join my search at Heartfilia Forest.

 A few murmurs went around the guild, leading it to be a group of Erza, Jellal, Wendy, Gray, Juvia, Cana, and a few other members.

"I'll stay near the guild, so I can keep watch of this place and help Levy and Mirajane take care of the kids." Another few members of the guild agreed with me; Lisanna, Gajeel, Laxus, Thunder Legion, and a handful of others. 

I turn to Erza's group, "I'll let James and Michelle know you'll be staying at their place for a week. If there's nothing there, come back and we'll reevaluate." They nodded. 

"Alright guys, good luck."