Erza was thankful Gajeel had managed to procure a bow top wagon and three horses before they left. It was old, and it definitely wasn't discreet, but it was better than walking out in the open. At least the team would be able rest a little longer while taking turns driving. Gajeel had insisted on riding his own horse, flanking the left side of the wagon, while Lilly sat up front besides Erza as she directed the horses. Natsu chose to walk behind the wagon, promising he'd keep pace, while Lucy and the rest rode in the back.

The day had gone by smoothly, and much to Erza's relief, Lucy slept the entire way. No one spoke much, or even at all for that matter, with the same unsettling fear that they might take away whatever rest Lucy was finally getting. Grey sat nearby as a human ice cube when Wendy noted Lucy was overheating. Despite a few large bumps along the path and the noisy wheels racking across the ground, Lucy remained in her deep slumber, mumbling every now and then.

Night had finally crept in and any hints of light were quietly escaping across the horizon in purple hues.

"We'll stop here for the night." Erza commanded, quickly scanning her surroundings and glancing up towards the sky. "We'll pull off to that clearing over there and set up camp."

No one questioned her decision when they finally came to a stop and everyone knew what needed to be done. Gajeel and Lilly left to gather firewood. Gray rounded the horses and created an ice corral for them—complete with a water and food trough. Lisanna, Wendy, and Erza pulled together their supplies and started prepping for dinner. Charle helped the girls while Happy and Natsu patrolled the nearby area on foot. Lucy was left to sleep in the back of the wagon.

As the night went on, they ate, and talked in low whispers around the fire.

"What's our next move?" Gray asked, staring into the fire. The ominous crackling echoed into the night.

Erza sighed and wrapped her arms around her legs. "We follow the path on the map. We don't know what we're getting into coming this far out and we need to be sure we only take the easiest routes."

"We still have a week left before we reach Midi. Are there any towns located on the map?" Lisanna asked—her voice slightly dejected.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. The map seems a little worn and there were no indications of a town along the way. If we're lucky, the map the inn keeper provided us is outdated, and there's a town midway. But even that comes with dangers of its own. Should we run out of food, at least we how to forage but I'm confident that we've stocked up enough to get us there. We just have to hope that nothing happens along the way. We don't exactly know what's out here."

Erza let out a yawn as she continued. "Grey will drive tomorrow. Natsu, I'm sorry, but you need to ride inside the wagon this time. I want to raise the pace on the horses tomorrow and I can't have you falling behind or wasting energy. I didn't push them much today because I wasn't sure if they'd be able to handle pulling everything."

Natsu frowned but didn't say anything as Erza continued to relay orders.

"Night watch trades off every two hours. Gray will take first watch, then me, Lisanna, and lastly Natsu. Gajeel, Lilly, you need to rest. I need you both to ride ahead and scope out the path."

"Like hell I'm going ahead." Gajeel growled lowly.

Wendy shivered and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "Guys, please, not now." Charle held onto Wendy's leg to comfort her.

"Wendy's right. Lets just take a deep breath." Lisanna cooed.

Erza raised a brow and sat up straight. "And why not?" She asked accusingly.

"You said so yourself that we don't know what's out here. I'm not leaving when my presence matters most."

"Right now, your presence will jeopardize everything." Erza grunted as she clenched her teeth together. She wasn't about to shout and wake Lucy.

Gajeel stood, eyes glared, and was about to speak when Natsu stood and put a hand on his shoulder. Gajeel eyed him and barred his teeth, ready for a fight, but Nastu, maintained a serious expression and spoke just loud enough for the group to hear.

"I'll scout ahead. Gajeel needs to be by Lucy's side. He's the only one who can do that properly."

Gajeel's shoulders dropped slightly and retracted his teeth into a firm scowl.

Erza's eyes widened, and in shock forgot to lower her voice. "Natsu! What are you-!"

Gray quickly held a hand over her mouth as Natsu continued—his hand never leaving Gajeel's shoulder.

"Gajeel's been through enough as it is. We need to face the fact that Lucy might not... She's done well so far but… Midi might be her last stop."

Lisanna covered her mouth to muffle the cry that softly escaped her lips. She pulled a shaking Wendy into a hug who quietly cried into her chest. Charle buried her face into Wendy's leg and avoided looking to anyone.

"We need to prepare for the worst. Even if it means letting them stay close to one another. He deserves to be by her side."

Gray remained quiet, eyeing Natsu carefully. Something didn't feel right but he couldn't quite place it. Natsu wasn't normally one to talk about losing his nakama. He was always the one who pushed to save everyone, even if they seemed like they were passed the point of saving.

Was he tired of doing everything? Was it the stress of the trip? Was reality finally hitting Natsu?

"How can you say that? YOU of all people!" Erza's voice shook with anger. She stood and hurried over towards Natsu, slapping him hard across the cheek which sent him to the ground.

Gray grabbed Erza, stopping her from pouncing on Natsu and pulled her back to her spot.

Natsu simply rubbed his cheek and gave one last serious look to Gajeel. "I'm sorry Gajeel. I hope you can forgive me."

Gajeel raised a brow, unsure of what was happening when Natsu suddenly disappeared into a puff of smoke. There was nothing left of him, but rather, two small blue spirits bouncing with fear in their eyes.

"What the hell?!" Gajeel shouted.

"Gemini?!" Wendy gasped. Just as she called them, they disappeared into another puff of smoke.

This was it. That was that weird feeling Gray had. He immediately ran towards the wagon and swiftly jumped inside, lifting the blanket from Lucy, only to find a dummy with a blond wig wearing her clothes.

Lucy and Natsu were gone.

"Natsu. What have you done?" Gray gasped.

"What's going on?!" Erza shouted.

"They're gone!" Gray announced.

In that instant everything had gone silent, except for the deafening ringing that split Gajeel's ears apart. What did Gray mean, they were gone? Lucy was asleep in the wagon. He could smell her. Her scent was still at the camp site. He saw her get in when they left the last town and she never got out because she was sleeping. No… that wasn't right.

He could smell her scent. But he couldn't smell her. How couldn't he have noticed?!

Gajeel roared fiercely into the night sky—the trees shaking from the vibration. His eyes widened. His breathing grew rapid. And Gajeel crouched low, ready to sprint and hunt down his prey known as Natsu.

It took everything Gray and Erza had to hold Gajeel back. Wendy had cast several spells to calm him down. Lisanna had to use her take over magic and pin his legs. It wasn't enough. Gajeel bad been overcome with rage over the disappearance of his mate.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" he roared.

"Gajeel, calm down! We need to think this through!" Grey shouted.

"We don't know the situation and rushing off to find them might make things worse!" Erza rationalized.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" Gajeel demanded.

He managed to kick Lisanna away, and shove Gray back, but Erza kept her hold and shouted back into his face.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for this!"

"LIKE HELL THERE IS! I'LL KILL HIM! I SWEAR ON MY LIFE I'LL KILL HIM!"

Gajeel shoved Erza away but she quickly rose and tackled him just as he began to run. "GET OFF ME!"

"Lilly! Where's Lilly?!" Charle shouted. "And Happy?!"

Gray stood and quickly looked around. Where was Lilly? And Happy? Why hadn't he or anybody else noticed that both exceeds were missing? There was no way Natsu could have left with Lucy and not had been seen. And there was no reason for Lilly to help Natsu deviate from the plan Master had set for them.

"Lilly must be following after them!" Grey insisted, hoping it was the right guess. "Why else wouldn't he be here?"

Gajeel stopped trying to fight Erza off and calmed a little—his sporadic, wild like breathing slowing to a few deep breaths.

He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed Lilly's absence. He should have known if he was in the vicinity at all. He must have been too engrossed with the thought of Lucy's mission he ignored everything else. He put too much trust in his team to pick up the slack that he absent minded stopped thinking like a fighter. He had gone soft. And now Lucy was missing.

A nagging questioned formed in the back of Gajeel's mind. If Lilly was following Natsu, why didn't he come back and immediately report it? Sound an alarm even? He was his best friend, right? There was no way he'd willingly go along with Natsu, let alone allow Natsu to take Lucy away.

Rage was slowly building in the pit of his stomach again.

Regardless of what was going on, Gajeel knew he needed to move. Taking in a whiff of his surroundings all he could tell was that Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Lilly were still here. Their scent was practically in the wagon, on their supplies, and on everyone here. But he could also tell—upon a second whiff—that their scent was slowly growing further and further away in the west most direction. At least they were following the direction the path led.

"That bastard…" Gajeel grunted, and gently pushed Erza away. He walked towards the wagon, grabbing his belongings from inside and began loading up. He was ready to head out on foot.

"Dammit…" Grey bit his lip.

"You don't think Lucy planned this?" Lisanna speculated.

"How could she? She's been asleep this entire time, heaven forbid she even understands what we're doing." Erza corrected. "And, no offense Lisanna, but Natsu isn't exactly bright enough to plan something as elaborate as this."

Wendy stood and cleared her throat. "I'll go check on the horses."

"I'll go with Wendy." Charle insisted.

"Hang on. Erza, what did you just say?" Gray asked, feeling an epiphany about to be born.

"That it couldn't have been Lucy." She stated flatly.

"No, about Natsu. Why couldn't Natsu have come up with this plan?"

Erza, with a confused look, answered back. "Because he's not that bright."

"Exactly." Grey said with a smirk. "I know someone who is."

Meanwhile…

Natsu whipped the horse's reins as hard as he could, urging it to run faster. He needed to get Lucy to Midi as soon as possible. If it wasn't for Loki devising this brilliant plan, he might have never been able to get Lucy away from the wagon. He held back the urge to throw up, and whipped the reins again.

"Just hang on a little longer Luce…"

Happy flew above, keeping pace and looking back every so often to make sure they weren't being followed. They managed to get a two-hour head-start but they needed to make the most of it.

Lucy groaned from her spot behind him and Natsu quickly patted the knot on the cloth that bound Lucy to his body.

"Still secure." Natsu thought to himself. He silently thanked Loki but worried about their journey to Midi. Would they make it in time? Would Gajeel and the rest catch up to them too soon? Natsu wasn't sure but he whipped the reins harder and rode on.

Author's Note:
Hey guys, don't you just love a cliff hanger? lol I'm sooo excited for how this story is unfolding. I hope you guys like his newest chapter. Let me know your thoughts and theories XD
-Rusala