Friend Or Foe : Book 1

一

No POV

Natsu walked down the streets of Magnolia with Happy, Wendy and Romeo when he decided to ignore the headache that suddenly blossomed behind his temples and the twisting of his stomach. Maybe it was the shitty weather. Maybe he was in a mood; it didn't matter. He trusted his instincts like no other and he couldn't say why he deemed these signs irrelevant.

"Haha! Remember when the ugly dude went flying across the room?" Natsu laughed heartily with his signature goofy grin.

"I'm glad Romeo had been in position to be able to finish him off! Nice work, Romeo!" Wendy smiled and turned to Romeo, not noticing the way his cheeks tinted a light pink and he smiled in return.

"Yeah thanks..." He muttered, not being able to catch his words.

"You loooove her..." Happy swooned, covering his mouth and rolling his eyes.

"Shut it, cat. What make you think that, anyways?" Romeo asked, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I never knew you had a soft spot for Wendy." Natsu said, side eyeing his younper brother and gently smiling. Wendy blushed and scratched the back of her neck, anxiety evident in her eyes. After many more tiring hours of walking, the four finally arrived at the guild tired and dirty.

"We're alive!!!." Happy exclaimed, excited to finally be able to return to the one he loved.

"Hey guys, we're back!" Romeo yelled. His confidence returning and bursting him into a flood of excitement.

"We're home." Wendy spoke quietly. Just as she finished her sentence, the familiar sight of icy shard flew in their direction without warning. Gray's magic enveloped their wrists and pinned all four of them down to the ground. Wendy, Romeo and Happy struggled in confusion. And not a single one of them seemed to notice the dark glint in Natsu's eye. The way he sat still and his body heat began warming the air around him.

"I don't know why but I kind of expected this..." He cursed under his breath, glaring fiercely at his frenemy and clenching his fangs together. He didn't know what was going to happen but he had been warned and he hadn't listened.

"Natsu doesn't feel like fighting and I don't want to carry him around right now so could you just let us go? I miss Charle and I want to see her now." Happy pouted. Though the playful shine in his eye dissipated as if it had never existed when he witnessed his comrades get into stance. Gray, Erza and Makarov all stood in front of the four on the ground, scowling at them with a look of disgust they never would have imagined would have been directed towards them. The rest of the guild members sat quietly at tables around the the hall, eyes avoiding their friends and head down with partial guilt— though most was anger. Light coughs and hushed comments floated in the tense air. As usual, Gray's fist landed against his palm and the light forming around Erza's figure transformed her outfit into her beautifully slick Japanese cloth.

"You disgust me..." Erza mumbled, eyebrows furrowed as she drew her sword back.

"If you're not being serious right now, it isn't funny." Romeo whispered in fear, eyes widening as his breath caught in his throat.

"Yea what's the problem!?" Agreed Happy, tail tucking between his legs and ears falling back, scared.

"You're the problem, fuckers." Gray insulted them with salty ice lacing his tone as his eyes narrowed.

"Can you fucking use your words for once and try to communicate with us to find out what the problem is?" Natsu hissed, pupils squeezing into a line and hair growing darker in color. Wendy nodded profusely in agreement. After a moment of careful consideration, Erza turned to Makorov and sighed, swiping a flier from Elfman's grip, who sat at a nearby table. She quickly handed it to Natsu after Gray slightly loosened his restraints against the four.