Fairy Tail: Falling Towards the Chaos

Chapter 51

Lucy panted as Master punched the assassin out of the hall, damaging the south wall. Her Gemini Star Dress dissipated, fluttering away in gold particles.

"Lucy?" Wendy called out to the blonde, rushing towards her as Lucy fell back to the floor. The room felt like it was spinning, and her vision was blurred, all she saw was an array of colours as her head gravitated towards the floor.

"Miss Porlyusica, hurry! She's having a seizure!" Wendy shouted, Carla flying past her quickly, catching the blonde's head as her body started twitching violently.

"Wendy, what do we do?" Carla demanded to know, as people crowded around in concern, "everyone, move! Let Miss Porlyusica come through!"

The pink-haired healer dashed to assist Wendy, kneeling next to Lucy's body as her eyes rolled back into her head.

"We need to move her to the pharmacy, now! We have to let the seizure pass before we heal her, otherwise we risk tampering with her magic supply due to her medical history, quickly!" Porlyusica urged. Master enlarged his hand, scooping up Lucy gently.

"Oh, Natsu is going to be so pissed," Warren muttered under his breath, his finger massaging his temple as he ignited the connection.

-----

When Lucy came too, apparently a few days had passed.

"Lucy, you must make smarter choices," Porlyusica frowned, standing over her bed, "pace yourself. Rest while you can."

"I know," Lucy whined slightly, pulling the blankets over her head, "but I had to save everyone."

"I swear, you kids will be the death of me," Porlyusica grumbled under her breath, setting a cup of herb medicine on the side table to the left of Lucy's bed, "if you are not careful, your acute magic syndrome may relapse. Act accordingly." She threatened with a huff before spinning on her heel and stalking over to Bixslow to check on his right eye.

"I still haven't figured out why your magic isn't replenishing properly," the old healer muttered to herself.

"Lucy, you really should be careful," Evergreen advised her from across the room, the brunette had taken stacks of paper and got to work creating various origami structures on the windowsill behind her.

"I had to save you guys," Lucy repeated, "I would never forgive myself if I just ran away."

She stayed there for another week, strictly placed on bed rest by Porlyusica, who cursed her recklessness day in and day out. She changed bandages, brought meals, organized books on strategy for Mavis and Macao to browse. Warren often updated her on the status of the team stationed in the south, but only vaguely because the fighting continued.

It still raged on.

She even had the opportunity to speak with Natsu. Once. A week ago in the infirmary on Erza's portable lacrima.

"Are you alright?" Natsu asked, his voice raw and raspy as he spoke. Lucy sat up in her bed, lacrima pressed to her ear as she hummed in response. She twirled a piece of her blonde hair around her finger.

"Stay out of trouble, okay? The next time Warren links me and tells me you're hurt again, I'm coming to Magnolia and trust me, I won't be happy," Natsu warned her, voice menacingly low. Lucy bit her lip, squirming in her bed as she nodded to herself dumbly. He said a few more words that had her face flaming hot as she listened to him intently, nodding along dumbly with whatever he said.

He could've asked her to hang the moon for him, and she would've nodded in compliance.

"Do you understand?" Natsu asked with a warning tone.

"Yeah," Lucy said breathlessly, muttering a soft goodbye. That night, she went to bed feeling hot.

Things always changed quickly, though. It was subtle at first. A pint of beer spilled over, causing a group of men to groan.

"Look, Pin! Look what you did,"

"It's alright, boys, I got it," Lucy said with a giggle, walking over to the table, bending down to grab the wooden cup when she felt it.

Unsteadiness beneath her feet.

She didn't know what knocked her off her feet, the ground moving, or her frightened scream as she fell to her knees. She stayed low to the ground, the group of men in front of her reaching for her before fumbling themselves. It felt as though the ground was vibrating with life, an ominous red glow pouring in from below.

"Everyone, stay down!" Lucy yelled when she found the courage to speak, she watched as across the room, Porlyusica pushed down Wendy and Carla before running into the infirmary to check on the Thunder Legion. Macao and Wakaba along with Warren dove under the table, hoisting the map and books before Lucy suddenly found herself on the streets of Magnolia, knees scraping against the cobblestone.

She jumped up quickly, surveying her surroundings, fumbling with her keys. She still wasn't in a position to use magic, but she would die fighting.

She barely had a second to react before a tall woman with short blonde hair loomed over her, littered in cuts and bruises, with a maniacal grin on her face. Lucy couldn't even scream before she was hit over the head, face planting directly into the floor.

When she awoke, she was tied to a chair, stripped of her clothing, rope cutting into her bare skin harshly. She tugged at her restraints, but there was no use. She was stuck. Trapped.

A low chuckle made her jump and she fixed her stare on the same woman dressed in mangled armour. She had a high level of power from what Lucy could understand. This was not a foe she could easily defeat. Especially not in this state.

"Those wind brats may have bested me before, but now I have this dainty princess in my hands," she drawled, "Lucy Heartfilia, is it? Emperorer Spriggan has asked for you, but I think we should get to know each other better first."

"Now scream,"

-----

Natsu stood on the rocky, snow mountains a few miles away from Magnolia. The red light had transferred him there for some reason, and the telepathic link with Warren was unresponsive.

"What the fuck is going on?" Natsu asked himself helplessly as he looked out towards the burning city of what used to be Magnolia. Now, the land was flat, and instead, a pillar of mountains stacked on top of each other rested in the middle, the Fairy Tail guild hall on the highest peak.

He sighed. He was supposed to be in fucking Hargeon right now, and where was Happy?

Besides, where was Lucy? Was she safe? Is she alone?

He had so many damn questions, but no answers.

Only a powerful wizard could have the magic to change the landscape of a town—maybe even the country itself. His brother definitely had some powerful people on his side, that was for sure. It just made this war a whole lot harder.

He sniffed the air, but he didn't recognize any of the scents that reached his nose. He was alone. He could only pray that Lucy wasn't.

"H-hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?!"

"Warren?" Natsu answered the plea with a hint of disbelief.

"N-Natsu, is that you? Thank goodness! I couldn't reach anyone for hours,"

"Hours? What do you mean hours? That bright light came out of nowhere and changed the town, the whole area of Magnolia, it felt like just a few seconds," Natsu stated, looking out towards the towering guild hall.

"Natsu, it's been almost nine hours, we all got displaced from whatever spell was cast, I'm with Master and Mira somehow, but I haven't been able to reach anyone,"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying Master Mavis is gone a-and... and we don't know where Lucy is,"

Natsu growled lowly, feeling the vibration from his throat.

"That bastard,"

"What?"

"He took her,"

To be continued...