Please don't kill me.

Chapter Three

"Fried!" Loke sags against Fairy Tail's guild hall's entryway.

Fried's eyes widen at the sight, a sweating Loke who looks like he's waist deep in pain and sinking deeper by the second. "Loke? What happened?" If possible, his eyes widen further. "Lucy?" The name is breathed out, the look of realization on his face startling, and he doesn't wait for Loke to respond- not that he can- before asking, "Where?"

"The... medicine..." is all Loke manages to get out before fading back into the spirit realm.

Cursing inwardly, Fried rushes out the door, heading in the general direction of the train station. A small, very small, part of his brain realizes how out of character he is acting, but the rest of him knows that the circumstances are unusual as well.

Schizophrenia isn't common- very rare, in fact- among mages solely because of the concentration needed to master magic. Schizophrenia distracts one's mind, therefore making the practice of magic dangerous lest one loses control over it. It is also why Loke had looked so ragged; he can open his own gate, but he still needs Lucy's mind. If Lucy has an attack, he would be hard pushed to open it on his own.

Speaking of back there, Team Natsu was still out, right? Were they on a mission? No, Lucy said something about Juvia and Lyon. It's unlikely for those two and Lisanna to all be on one mission.

A moment later, he skids to a stop at the station, where a train is preparing to depart. Leaving a few Jewels on the counter, he jumps on, through the closing door, and sits back in a seat. The tension doesn't leave, but he can't do anything else at this point. He sits quietly through the ride, waiting in aggravation for the train to stop. Lucy just had to go without him, or any other person. She had to not tell her team, much less the rest of Fairy Tail. It's a good thing the Heartfilia Konzern isn't too long of a train ride from Fairy Tail.

"Finally, back!" Natsu raises his arms in celebration, strolling into Fairy Tail with a huge grin. "That was fun! But it took too long."

Lisanna giggles from her spot a little ways behind him. "It was only a few days, and I'm sure Lucy enjoyed the rest."

"Welcome back, Natsu, Lisanna," Erza says, sitting at a table eating her cake. "I just got back as well. And I'm sure GRAY will be here soon."

"That's right," Natsu snickers, "Juvia dragged him on a date."

"Lyon tagged along, too, but they should've been back already," Mira offers with a smile. "They left yesterday."

Immediately, Erza goes a deep red. "Y-you mean they s-slept the night?"

"Saa, I'm sure they didn't do anything bad," Mira's perpetual smile stays, even as she's scolded lightly by her younger sister.

"Gray-sama!" The familiar voice reaches Natsu's sensitive ears and he grins again.

"Gray and Juvia are back," he announces. And sure enough, Juvia enters with hearts in her eyes, following her precious "Gray-sama". Upon seeing the rest of his team, minus Lucy and Happy, he hurries over.

"I thought I was going to kill myself," he sighs in relief. "Lyon wouldn't stop flirting with Juvia- if you can even call it that- so she wouldn't stop clinging to me, and we had to stay overnight because we missed the last train back. Can we please go on a mission soon? Just Team Natsu?" He looks imploringly at Erza, his eyes doing the begging he wouldn't be reduced to physically.

"Sorry, Gray," she says, amusement ringing her tone at his dropped face, "Natsu, Lisanna, and I just got back from a job, and Lucy... wait, where is Lucy? She stayed here."

"Lucy was just here this morning, I think she went home because she was tired," Mira says.

"Oh, can go visit her, then come on." Erza gets up having finished her cake, and leads the way to Lucy's apartment.

"Yo, Luce, we're back!" Natsu hollers into an empty apartment.

Erza frowns at the lack of response. Normally, Lucy would be kicking them out, or groaning resignedily at their intrusion. "Maybe she's asleep," Erza deduced. Gray pokes his head out of Lucy's bedroom a moment later, a negative report in the shake of his head.

"That's... odd..." Erza frowns again. "What do you think we should do, Gray?"

"Well," he says, "we could stay and wait for her to come back, or we can go back to the guild and ask around."

Erza nods, "Okay. Natsu, Lisanna, go back to the guild to look for Lucy. Gray and I will stay here in case she comes back."

"Don' wanna," Natsu manages out around the food stuffed in his mouth, "I'm eatin'."

Erza sighs, deciding to humor him. "Fine. Gray, will you go with Lisanna?"

"Sure," he replies easily, and they leave. Erza smiles in satisfaction and sinks into one of the couches to wait.

Fried hurries onto the Heartfelt estate, cursing its size. What if Lucy is injured and unable to call for help? It could take too long to find her. Damn. If only... speak of the devil.

"Excuse me," he calls out to the lone person who appears to be tending the garden.

"My, my, now what do we have here?" The elderly old lady rises, smiling kindly with closed eyes.

"Did Lucy Heartfilia pass by here a while ago?" Fried asks, skipping the usual formalities.

"Lucy-san?" The gardener puts a hand to her cheek, looking worried. "No. Should she be here?"

"Yes, ma'am. She's getting her schizophrenia medicine," he explains.

"Oh dear, I haven't seen her. In fact, I'm the one in possession of her medicine," the lady worries, "Well, I can take you to the room where she should be, if you would like."

Relief floods Fried, and he nods. "That would be wonderful..."

"You can just call me Nana," Nana smiles, motioning for Fried to follow as she leads the way into the deserted mansion.

"Thank you, Nana-san."

She simply smiles, or rather, the smile doesn't leave her wrinkled cheerful face. "My pleasure. It's not everyday a young man is so polite. Much less a handsome one looking for our dear Lucy. I remember, back in the day, when everyone was respectful and we didn't fear crime, because it didn't exist. Those were the good days. And even when my..."

"Erza!" Gray bursts into Lucy's apartment. Through the doors, for once. "Master said that Lucy left the guild!"

Nana and Fried stop, shock temporarily paralyzing them. The scene before them makes Nana tremble. It's the strangled noise coming from her throat that moves him.

"Hurry, get some medical supplies," he orders, kneeling by the unconscious and bleeding Lucy. The rustle of clothing behind him tells him that Nana obeys.

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've barely had the chance to use the computer (my brother hogs it. Seriously, he's on it for half the day and he needs glasses now.) so I decided to post this and try to kick him off more often. I'm sorry! Oh, and I don't own Fairy Tail.

Is anyone else in shock about what happened in the latest chapter? I am so done with you, Hiro Mashima.

Amulet Skyla: yeah, don't worry. Lucy just said she left Fairy Tail as a dud to hide why she really left. I thought I should've said she went on a job or something, but this works better for what I have in mind. Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

One more thing, how many people would read a fic I have in mind if it's going to be a mystery/thriller and kill off a couple of characters?