The Love of Dragons- Nalu

Chapter Twenty - The Three

POV: Grey

            "Let's go." I said as I tore my eyes from the vanishing red mass in the distance. The other three continued to stare as the sunlight began to fight to light the sky. Lucy was the second to break free,

            "So that was Igneel..." briefly her eyes sobered as the magic dispersed from the plant life around us but quickly her lips cracked and spread to reveal a magnificent smile. "No wonder Natsu spent so long looking for him."

            "Awe-inspiring, isn't he?" Erza joined us next with a slow, measured blink. She tossed her long scarlet hair behind her ears and gripped her sword hilt at its home in her belt. The three of us all turned to look to Gajeel, his rough black hair tangled down his back and the dying sunlight glared off of the metal adorning his wrists and boots.

            "Gehehe."

Lucy and I exchanged glances; the iron dragon slayer had lost his adoptive parent, Metalicana, at the same time as Igneel disappeared from Natsu. Gajeel's reaction would be anyone's guess.

            "So we've got a dragon to find." He turned towards us with a sharp-toothed smirk and crossed his burly arms, "Good thing that I'm a dragon slayer, right?" We all heard the invisible, unspoken words, 'maybe we'll find Metalicana next'.

            "We'll need every ounce of your skill as it is." Erza confessed, despite her immense power, it was not designed to fend off the massive kingly beasts like Gajeel and Achnologia. "We need to tell Levy and the others that we are leaving for a search." Without a moment's hesitation the Titania was off and running, I followed suit within seconds and immediately Lucy was at my side.

            "Are you worried?" I asked her, wondering if I should comfort her, insist that we could find Natsu before it was too late.

            "Not at all." She was looking straight ahead at Erza and Gajeel who were sharing a quiet conversation. By now Erza seemed completely free of her hangover.

            "Really?" Even I had my doubts as to whether or not we could save him.

            "Yeah. What would I have to worry about with such good friends helping me search? Not to mention that Natsu is really strong, he'll give us as much time as possible before he lets Acnologia take him over." She met my eyes and grinned, it was true, the flame-brained idiot never knew when to give in.

            "You're right." I patted her shoulder and continued running, none of us were tired, we were still reliving the moments that we spent witnessing the immeasurable power of a dragon.

            The four of us returned to the guild in high spirits, Levy immediately rushed to Gajeel's side and threw herself around his arm,

            "What happened? Good news?" Several of the other guild members were waiting at the tables, including Romeo and Wendy and Warren. Jet and Droy sat sulking, feeling excluded with Levy spending so much time with Gajeel. The petite blue haired girl begged for Gajeel to tell her every last word that left Igneel's mouth until we all sat down to recount exactly what happened.

            "You four... Saw Igneel..." she smiled sadly, "Poor Natsu." After a long moment of silence I realized that Natsu's goal since joining Fairy Tail had been to see and reconcile with his father and now when the opportunity arose he was gone.

            "Don't worry, we'll find him and then he can see his dad too!" Lucy grinned ear to ear,

"How long do you think we have before Acnologia controls him?" Erza asked bluntly.