Vanished

Chapter 15 – One More Night to Live

LOOK AT THIS. NOT A YEAR, NOT HALF A YEAR….NOT EVEN A MONTH LATER. 24 hours people. Talk about your small miracles here. While this will not be a regular occurrence this chapter pretty much wrote itself. I will be going back and fleshing out the very first chapter, I had meant to do it so long ago as what I posed was my pilot chapter…and because of delays I kept putting it off in favor of new content. You can probably expect Chapter 16 within two weeks, but before then you'll notice a bigger chapter one, possibly chapter 2. Fingers crossed this muse keeps at it, because I am enjoying being able to immerse myself back in this world of a story I've created. I will not keep you though, onward, unto chapter 15!

"What have you done…." Levy, hands clasped against her lips whispered in a silent horror. She hadn't seen the entirety of what had happened thanks to the arrival of Erza and Laxus, the prior needing some medical attention. Yet she'd heard Happy's hiss, something so very unlike the well…usually happy feline. It was then she'd heard Lucy's cry and her vessel had dropped to the ground lifelessly.

Just like that…she was gone.

Natsu's roar had gained everyone's attention, heads snapping to look at the solitary pink haired dragon slayer as his body trembled under the stress. It was hard for him to remain on his feet with how hard his head was spinning in thoughts; his heart pounding against his ribs with such vigor he was sure they could crack under the pressure.

He sucked in a deep breath trying to pick up any hint of her scent…even if he realized he wouldn't find one. His nose was extraordinary, but the wind had shifted to his dismay; heading past him where they had come from. Natsu was sure Lucy would head south, at least some distance as it had been where he'd been when she found him. Where some unknown fellow cursed people were gathered…waiting for her.

Turning his head back to glance at his friends who looked his way with a mixture of emotions on their faces, he was surprised to have Evergreen materialize in front of him from her prior place beside Laxus.

He didn't even see it coming as she wound back and slapped him as hard as she possibly could across the face; a horrible scowl spread across her face. Natsu barely caught himself from falling over from such a surprise, his hand immediately heading to gingerly touch against the throb of his reddened cheek.

"How could you!" Evergreen hissed, her eyes dangerous as it teetered with her thoughts of turning him to stone right then and there.

"What are you…" Natsu barely had time to speak before being cut off once again.

"Don't you speak!" Evergreen snapped once more, "Not till I am done."

Her palm throbbed from the impact against the younger man's strong jawline, but Evergreen didn't care. A self-proclaimed fairy queen in its glory she reveled in the fact she knew a fair bit about men in general, and the ideals of romance. While she may have not gotten completely serious with a certain manly man she knew that was no way to treat a woman…more so, one pregnant with his very own child.

"I don't know what your problem is, Natsu Dragneel; but I have never been so disgusted with someone in my life than I am with you right now. You're lucky Erza isn't awake or you'd be facing her worst armor imaginable and a long…painful death." She scolded, not missing a breath as she continued. "Of course she trusts you, she was crazy enough to have sex with you and have your child! On top of coming back here when she's been cursed to try and be with you…then what. You blow up in her face about shit that isn't even an issue!? Bixlow has that mark on his tongue for a reason the blabber mouth he is, he's always blabbing so you can always see his mark. So tell me. What have you done to give her reason to trust you. Give me one reason – and I'll take it back."

"Evergreen-san…"

Evergreen snapped around from the silent and reeling Natsu to the owner of the voice, none other than Juvia who had stepped from the group.

"I don't believe Natsu-san is at fault…entirely. Lucy is Juvia's love rival, I like to think I know her well enough. As much as it was probably hard for Lucy-san to tell such a thing to someone as important to her as Natsu-san is….I don't think she should have waited. Not that she knew this would happen…" Juvia sent a long look to Bixlow; who sheepishly rubbed his head.

"I thought that was what she was going to tell you. I mean, she's huge baby. It won't be long till that baby is here…" Bixlow lifted his arms out in front of him to emphasize the size of Lucy's belly…since he was the only one who had been able to see her.

Suddenly, all eyes were on him.

Including a pair of onyx eyes as wide as saucers, and as petrified as if he'd seen death before him.

Natsu had never stopped to even fathom to ask such vital questions.

How far along was she?

Was she alright?

Was the baby alright?

Instead, he'd been so upset that he'd heard from Bixlow's slip up in telling their friends…upset that he didn't see or know of her condition till it was pointed out. True, it didn't hurt any less that she didn't tell them during their privacy before…but now he was faced with a far more painful dawning; he'd just chased away the woman who held both his heart and his child; after looking for her for so, so long. Who knew when she would have this baby; and what if he wasn't there for the birth?

What if he couldn't even see his own child?

"Do you even want this child, Natsu?" Grey was the first to speak up, who'd taken place beside Juvia with his hands in his pockets. His words were cold like his breath, steeled eyes staring straight into Natsu.

"Grey!" Levy urged out, looking at him with a heated stare. What was going on with everyone, she felt as if the seams were bursting from the tension between them; tempers were beginning to flare. "That's an awful thing to say!" She shot back, before her eyes fell on Natsu who looked like he was about to snap.

"Grey…" Natsu growled in a feral type manner, the rumble in his tone dripping with venom that usually only surfaced during times of battle; when lives became on the line. "Of course I do. That's MY child and I love Lucy…" He spat, shoulders trembling under the strain of his anger…barely able to hold himself back from launching himself and beating the living shit out of the ice mage before him.

"What was that again, Natsu…?" Grey leaned forward, putting a hand to his ear in a mocking fashion to flame for brains.

"You heard me! I love her, end of story!"

"Then what is the problem!" Grey snapped back, getting the dragon slayer exactly where he wanted him. "If you want to be a part of it, then just do it. Since when have you ever needed some kind of validation or permission to go do what you know is the right thing? You told me before you fucked up, that you had an image in your head about how this was supposed to be like." He of course referred back to their little talk in the hallway, now known as being the day of the conception of the child Lucy was carrying. "You're not going to get that, Natsu; so be an asshole like you always are and work with what you have; no one is going to stand in your way but you – flamebrain."

There was a heated moment of silence between them, looking like at any moment there was going to be a serious brawl on their hands. Yet, thankfully the tension between them dissipated as Natsu let out the breath he'd been holding.

"What if I'm too late…?" Natsu muttered under his breath, earning a loud and boisterous laugh from none other than Gajeel.

"You Moron…she's been waiting longer than this for you to just look at her the way you do now. I'm surprised you have gotten this far without fucking it up." He sneered, despite the fact he was chuckling in his Gihehehe type fashion. "If your missions are anything like your life, I'd say you're on time for destroying shit."

"Like you're one to talk…." Levy gave the iron dragon a stare, knowing full well from history that dragon slayers were quite prone to destruction on such a large scale. Aside from Wendy, but whenever she teamed up with Team Natsu things seemed to end up that way.

…or really when anyone teamed up with Team Natsu.

"Gajeel is right, Natsu. Lucy probably couldn't handle the stress, it's not good for a baby to be under such pressure from the mother's emotions. Although her feelings are probably hurt…she probably ran away to save complicating her pregnancy more." Levy added, wrapping her arms around her torso. Everyone around shared knowing looks with one another so it was an ideal opportunity for Gajeel to drape his arm over the little bookworm's shoulder.

The script mage felt her cheeks heat up once more, gently leaning into his comforting presence.

Placing his hand on his head Natsu rubbed the impending headache bound to happen, things had been screwed up to the point it hurt to think of how to even start to fix it. The dragon slayer wished he'd never seen that job offer, never dragged his friends along with him….however so much had happened thanks to that day.

It was a balance…with the bad, came the good.

Neither would have happened during this time if the other hadn't existed.

"Now that we have all said our piece, I think it's time we drop this matter and move onto more pressing priorities. There is little we can do now at this hour." True, Bixlow could have gone and searched for her; but they would be offering nothing constructive when Lucy needed to calm down; Natsu needing to collect his thoughts and baring's about the entire situation. There was really no easy way to take the news one was expecting a child let alone having no time to prepare for such a reality.

The reality was, in the morning would be the final attempt to reach Blanc before the border. If Erza was near, than so was Blanc.

Natsu hung his head in a silent thanks, removing himself from the immediate group as they began to converse to sit down against the stump of a fallen tree; only looking up when Happy quietly approached.

"Natsu…I'm sorry…" Happy whispered out, his small paws clasped together against his tummy.

"Don't be Happy…thanks for trying to talk some sense into me buddy…" He held out his arms and offered a small smile, hugging Happy close when the exceed launched himself into his arms.

"They're going to get Erza patched up and then let us know about what they found out. Something about books checked out by Blanc…" Happy informed, looking up to see a most concerning solemn look on the otherwise cheery face of Natsu. The words of his friends weighed hard on him, Happy could tell without a doubt in his mind. It probably didn't help that he was so unsure about all of this to boot.

"Hey…Natsu." He smiled cheekily, placing his paw on Natsu's leg. "Can we name the baby Happy too? I don't mind!"

Natsu couldn't help the snort which came out from his curt laugh, grinning as he leaned his head against the stump while looking up to the sky. "You know Lucy would never allow that, as good of a name as it is."

"As weird as it sounds…I'm kind of excited. I know you'll make a good dad, Natsu." Happy sat down on Natsu's leg, his tail swaying back and forth behind him. Of course he would, not only for his own experience growing up under Natsu's care but he'd seen the many ways Natsu had acted around Romeo and other small kids.

Happy smiled a little more widely when Natsu's hand dropped on his head and ruffled his fur between his ears.

"I am too, Happy." Natsu sighed, in a momentary second of peace. "I can't wait."

Debris was everywhere as the wind was picking up the dust, bodies scattered lifelessly around as the white exceed pushed herself weakly up from her own laying position on the ground. Blood dripped from her lips as she quickly wiped the warm and sticky substance from her mouth.

"Wendy!" She called out immediately, hearing little but the buzzing in her ears and the crashing of waves on rocks.

Wait…waves?

Looking to her right she could see the ocean, rocky sea sprayed stone all around her creating hazardous sharp points and deadly falls into holes from the swelling sea.

Suddenly a monstrous roar could be heard, sounding much like the roar of a hurricane.

Her eyes widened in horror, seeing the water rise into the air around a blinding white figure crackling with what looked like white electricity; swirling and crashing against him to make the form of a water dragon.

"WENDY! HAPPY! ANYONE!" The trembling exceed cried out, the water dragon unleashing an attack nearby which sent rocky debris cascading down on the bodies. Charle ducked her head down as the backlash from the attack tore past her in a gust. She could see now some of the bodies were members of the guild, familiar faces which tore at her heart – they couldn't be dead…they couldn't be.

"I've done it – the one magic! It's mine! I'm unstoppable!" Blanc's manic laugh echoed out slightly distorted by the water form he'd taken on. "The power…incredible!"

Ba-dum

Charle's heart gave a sinking pound as the ground shook, the tension and gravity in the air doubling at the rising build-up of energy. Looking over to her left she could see a swirl of black energy overtake the air as the shaking turned into a trembling; as if the very ground beneath her rumbled and quivered in fear.

A scream bellowed out, that of a woman…soon drowned out by the roar of another dragon; sounding even worse than the one emitted prior by Blanc.

The water dragon seemed to shrink back, watery eyes wide as the head of a massive black dragon broke through the energy; long teeth exposed in a snarl as another deafening bellow arose from its cavernous mouth. The energy bending to the will of the dragon as the mist like form began to crackle and carve into the ground sending unconscious members of the guild flying into the arms of others; unable to make out at the distance who was still standing amidst the chaos.

The two mighty dragons lunged at one another with intention for destruction, cries of titanic proportions echoed the air as their magic's collided; sending a backlash so strong it tore at the ground, giving away from under her before she was pulled from her subconscious.

"NO!" Charle woke with a start, her breathing labored and erratic; a trembling paw raised to clutch the fur on her chest above her pounding heart. Her ears were erect and swiveling to take in her surroundings as quickly as possible.

The woods.

It was night.

Wendy woke with a startle moments later and glanced worriedly at her most trusted companion.

"Charle what's the matter..?" She asked, crawling out of of her sleeping back beside the dying fire beside them; all that was left was the gentle but warm glow of the embers. Her brows furrowed at the look on the ivory exceed's face; she'd seen such a look before.

"Premonition?"

"Wendy…we have to go." Charle stood up, her knees weak from such a vivid and disturbing image; the urgency in her eyes enough to tell Wendy she didn't want to know what she'd seen. "We have to find Natsu and the others. He's not crossing where we think he is. Blanc is going to use the sea cliff passage into Bosco…we're going to miss him completely if we don't reach them in time!"

Gasping, Wendy quickly rolled up her sleeping back along with Charle's wasting no time to secure them to her backpack. The stars were slowly fading from the night sky, still early morning; but it would only be two hours till the sun would begin to rise.

They couldn't afford to be late.

Grabbing onto Wendy, Charle's wings spread wide as they shot into the air in the direction of the original ambush point. They would have to hope once they were close enough Wendy would be able to pick up the scents of their friends.

Charle couldn't allow that future to unfold.

"Curses…" Blanc hissed, rubbing his shoulders as he slowly sat up from the small rocky output he'd made his resting spot for the night. Running a dirty and calloused hand through his white hair he felt his teeth grit.

The sun was just barely touching the skies, turning black to navy as far off the rising had begun. He'd meant to leave a few hours ago, but being chased mercilessly by that damned requip mage had taken its toll. Their last tousle had been a doozy, enough so that he was forced to rest for a while after making a narrow escape.

He'd been so close.

So close to obtaining the one magic he could have tasted it back in Magnolia.

Yet he didn't see the one person he'd been hunting down, even though it seemed the majority of the guild had been present when he had been brought into town by those fools in Chaos Syndicate. Punching the ground with a growl he shook his head, now was not the time to lose his cool…there was opportunity in the future.

The information and dark guilds in Bosco were endless, a country filled with the darkest of hearts; he'd easily be able to find out anything he wanted there. Hell, he'd be able to send mercenary wizards to bring his prey to his feet. Blanc just had to get there first.

While he'd been aiming to hit the woodland pass where the border of Fiore and Bosco met, the easiest place to cross aside from the road which took one into the country…he knew Erza would lead the others to where she assumed he would head. However he also imagined they would try and ambush there, so having a final stand with Erza he could then divert his course. He'd take the sea pass, one least commonly used thanks to its treacherous terrain. One could fly into Bosco sure, but there were many security lacrima set up by various seedy organizations in the airspace of the border, information was often worth its weight in gold in such a country. Since he needed to lay low, he knew the pass was his best bet; too dangerous to be considered a legitimate way into Bosco.

"They will not…have the best of me." Blanc seethed, pulling himself up to his feet.

The manic look in his eyes accentuated his deranged laugh all the more as the ghostly white wizard made his slow and steady trail south. He knew the pass was not a long journey, and within a few short hours he'd be trekking across the border into freedom.

"I am too close to fail…" No, he would not allow Hades to reach the one true magic before him.

It was still dark in the cave as Lucy was suddenly awoken from her broken and partial slumber to a sharp pain in her abdomen; her hand moving down to gently press above her hip bone. Twisting her face into a grimace she kept herself silent, least she wake the sleeping dragon she currently nestled against.

"What is wrong…?" A soft voice spoke up, causing the celestial mage to turn sharply to see the wise eyes of Grandine staring straight at her.

"It's nothing…just a little uncomfortable." Lucy admitted, knowing such a thing wasn't too far from the truth. She refused to leave anything to chance when it came to Blanc today, not wanting to be forced to stay behind due to anything pregnancy related. One more day, little one. Please…just one more.

"Are you sure? The way you got up so quickly does not add up to just being uncomfortable, your body is trying to tell you something." Slowly she stood amongst her fellow dragons, leaning her head down to more closely examine her.

"W-w-wait now…I promise I am okay!" Lucy waved her arms out in front of her to try and ward off the dragoness' approach.

Frowning like a concerned mother, Grandine closed her eyes with a sigh and leaned back onto her haunches. Slowly she reached a claw out and pressed it against Lucy's hip with the utmost of care; a gentle glow emanating from it.
"This is…" Lucy spoke quietly in awe, instantly recognizing the healing powers as the ones Wendy had…and it felt just like she was back in the guild surrounded by the warm comfort of her friends. Or now that she thought about it vice versa since Grandine passed on the powers to Wendy…needless to say it felt nice and reminded her of her sweet young friend.

"You should feel better temporarily…just be careful Lucy. These things don't wait for anything or anyone..." Grandine advised, feeling for the small human even though she had been trying to deceive her; Lucy had her reasons for needing to go.

"I will Grandine, thank you…" She smiled, twisting her waist a little to test it out and indeed felt none of the prior discomfort; even if it was just a Band-Aid type fix for now. Looking out of the cave she felt her mood sour for a moment, seeing the gentle changing of the skies into the morning dawn. Truthfully, Lucy felt awful about the night prior…she shouldn't have gotten as upset as she did.

The toxic pit in her stomach had not stopped twisting and turning all evening, but luckily the bad dreams she'd expected to have never came. Perhaps though it was due to the warm temperature Igneel had kept himself all night in order to keep her cozy; It had reminded her of waking up to one of the many times Natsu had snuck into her apartment back in Magnolia and under her comforter for the night.

She wondered momentarily how he was doing after she'd left in such a hurry, an emotional and hormonal mess.

Was it really so hard to have told him yes, she trusted him with her very life – and that she didn't want to tell him of their child was to help keep him safe? So that he could face off against Blanc without anything weighing on his mind?

Of course it was…Lucy had been such a coward. Given noble intentions, she hadn't considered Natsu's feelings in the process before reaching her decision about the matter.

She'd expected him to be shocked, to faint, to panic or cower away like she was Erza on a rampage….but she'd never expected to see the hurt in his eyes. Not like that….

It was something she never hoped to see plastered across his strong face again.

Grandine turned her head to the side rather quickly, looking out beyond the cave entrance as the great dragoness closed her eyes. She seemed to focus rather intently, breathing in deeply as if in a trance. However moments later she turned without notice, staring down at Igneel and Metalicana. "Wake up, there is movement."

The winds had begun to change as she could sense an ocean storm approaching, picking up scarce scents of activity from none other than Blanc. It was hard to pick out with so many scents carried on her winds, but she had detected it; and it seemed to be farther away than before.

"What is it Grandine?" Igneel roused from his slumbering state, careful to move while minding his cargo on his neck; allowing Lucy to slide off and stand before he rose to his feet.

"Five more minutes…" Metalicana groaned in a teasing manner, pretending to roll over and try and go back to sleep…even if the dragons and Lucy alike knew his was full of it.

"It's very faint…but it seems Blanc is not headed to the original border crossing…"

"What! But everyone is heading there…" Lucy realized, looking between the titans.

"Like I said, its faint, but my winds rarely give such incorrect information. I drew in air from the all directions; and this one is heading south…not just east like before." Grandine leaned down and picked Lucy up without hesitation; setting her on her back once more. "Once we get out there I can track better, let's move."

"The brats will have to figure it out on their own, they got some decent noses." Metalicana chortled in a laugh, rising up swiftly as he was suddenly rearing to go all over again – itching to fight much like his son.

As the dragons moved from the confines of the cave, each stretched their wings and took to the skies; the trees bending from the force of the wind from their wings. Igneel took a moment to look back to the woods again, truly hoping they would figure it out on their own; he'd been awake while Lucy and Grandine had been talking. While his body was in slumber his mind registered the change in Lucy's scent, her body adjusting and preparing to have the baby.

Time had begun to tick, and no one was sure when that timer would be up.

"Natsu…" He spoke softly, before taking off like his fellow dragons into the skies, heading south into the dawning morning sky.

Jostling from his sleep, Natsu looked around quickly to see the fellow forms of his comrades having one by one slipped into fleeting sleep like he had. Rubbing his eyes he slowly sat up but was quick to turn as he felt the presence of someone else awake.

"He's moving…" Erza said solemnly, her back facing Natsu and the others as the wind swept her hair to the side. Arms strongly crossed over her chest, glaring eyes set off into the distance she could see through the trees.

"Blanc!?" Natsu shouted, effectively waking up the rest of their team as they all started to become conscious again – despite the grogginess of lack of sleep.

"Where is he?" Natsu marched ahead, standing beside Erza; giving her a quick scan for injuries but luckily she seemed to be okay aside from the minor scrape and bruises.
"If I knew do you think I would be standing here?" Erza retorted sharply, turning back to the group. "We need to move out immediately, we are too close to the border and need to make up for lost time. I hope we are not too late, and he didn't get too much of a head start. Natsu, Gajeel….we are counting on your noses at this point."

Gajeel was the first to take a deep breath, before quickly rubbing his nose. "I can sure smell a storm approaching fast…if we don't find that asshole before it rains we're sunk…"

"We're not going to let that happen." Natsu hissed dangerously, grabbing the miraculously still sleeping Happy in his arm before storming off.

There was no other option for today to play out.

Blanc had to die today.

He'd make sure of it.

Everyone's on the move! (I keep forgetting to add Blanc's portions, but who cares about him right? :P!) Check back later for updates to chapter one and as always – Please read and review! 3