The Dragon's Mark

How Long Have I Been Gone?

"Now just a minute!" Levy spoke up, standing in front of her friend, facing Erza. "Lucy went with Natsu's agreement. You can't blame her for his choices!"

Grey grunted. "He's always been a hot head, but he got worse when Lucy left him!"

Lisanna stepped forward as Lucy opened her mouth to speak, not sure what she was going to say. "So what you're saying is that because we're not S-class wizards, we shouldn't want to better ourselves?"

"Lisanna, that's not what we're saying at all!" Mira responded angrily. "What we're saying is that Lucy should not have been so selfish as to leave Natsu at this delicate time of his life."

"Wait, this is because I left to train?" Lucy finally said, getting angry herself. "I'm tired of being the weak member on the team! I would thought you'd be happy that you wouldn't have to protect and defend poor little Lucy when things went wrong!" she finished sarcastically. "I mean, who needs a weak member on the team? Now that I'm back, I'm stronger than ever – you won't have to worry about me again!"

"That's not what we're saying," Erza began, but Levy interrupted her.

"So what you're saying is that those of us who are not as powerful as you three shouldn't think to try to train and make ourselves better!"

"Levy – " began Mira, but Lisanna interrupted her big sister.

"Levy's right. What's wrong with Lucy going to train? She went with Natsu's blessing! It wasn't her fault that he decided to go a little nuts! It's not her fault he did what he did!"

The whole guild had gone silent watching the heated exchange. Several of the mages had had moved closer to the group, seeming to take sides.

"It's like you don't want anyone to become as powerful as you," Lisanna stated with narrowed eyes at her sister.

"That's not it and you know it!" Mira answered hotly. "I can't believe you would think that!"

Lucy raised a hand to stop the arguments. "Wait! WHAT happened to Natsu?"

By now, the whole guild had gotten in on the discussion. The weaker mages siding with Levy and Lisanna, while the stronger ones simply listened. Gajeel had joined Levy – not saying

anything – but a hand on her shoulder in support – as she argued with Erza and Gray.

Lucy looked at Pluu who shivered and disappeared, not liking all the conflict. Lucy realized no one could hear her above all the ruckus, so she closed her eyes, drew in her power, and raised her arm. Sparks flew from her fingertips and a loud whistling sound was heard.

Everyone froze, stunned with the fireworks. "WHAT HAPPENED TO NATSU?" Lucy yelled.

A door opened on the upper level and Porlyusica's face appeared at the door. "Will you all QUIET DOWN? It's gotten so a body can't think in here, let alone heal!" she grumbled, slamming the door behind her as she went back in.

"What's she doing here?" asked Lucy, confused, to Lisanna, who had put her arm around Lucy in support. "Lisanna, where's Natsu?"

Lisanna bowed her head and sniffed, a tear appearing in her eye. "Lucy," she whispered. "He was okay at first - he really was." She looked up. "He was a little sad and you could tell he missed you, but he made the best of it."

Levy came over and placed her hand on Lucy's other shoulder. "The team did a great job distracting him, taking him out on jobs. Even Happy tried his best. However, the longer you were gone, well..." she rubbed the back of her neck, not sure what to say.

Lucy was getting scared. She looked to Erza for an answer.

"Lucy," she began. "He started getting more aggressive and taking risks he shouldn't have. It was like he couldn't control himself or his magic. It was on our last job that..." Erza looked away, trying to compose herself.

"What happened?" Lucy whispered, horrified. So many possibilities went through her mind. "How long HAVE I been gone?"