-Erza pov-
It took us hours on the train plus a long hike to get to the little village. When we finally got there the sun was almost gone and the dim light barely lit the path. The town was abandoned. No one was in sight.

"Where did all the people go?" Lucy asked as we walked down the empty streets.

"If we're lucky they ran away and weren't found by what ever did this." I said.

"How do we find out if it was Natsu here if no one can tell us." Gray said. Juvia nodded.

There was a long silence. I heard the crunch of the dead leaves being crushed under my feet. This place made me feel incredibly sad. For all the people this was their home that was taken by a monster.

I turned around and saw Wendy. She was standing still. Her eyes closed.

"Wendy what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Are you all right Wendy." Carla said pulling on Wendy's skirt.

"I smell something." Wendy said. She closed her eyes and scrunched her nose.

"What? Like a person?" Juvia asked. Wendy nodded. She suddenly opened her eyes.

"Follow me." She said. She dashed to the left. We all looked at each other and followed her.

"Wendy where are you going?" Lucy called after her. Wendy said nothing but kept running.

Wendy made a sharp turn and stopped in front of a collapsed building. It looked run down but was in better shape then the other buildings. It was also abnormally large for the little town. There was a giant hole in the front that made it look like someone broke through.

Happy and Lucy quickly ran over to the hole. They started creeping through.

"Wait. We don't know what's in there." I whisper shouted. Lucy and Happy looked scared and they quietly crept out.

"How are we gonna know who it is?" Happy said.

"I'm going to go in." I said.

"Erza no. You're not taking all the fun. I'm going." Gray said grinning. Juvia grabbed his arm and squeezed it.

"Gray no. I'm just going to go in then come out quickly. We're not even sure if there is someone here. I'll yell if I need help." I said reassuring everyone. The reluctantly nodded.

"Be careful Erza." Lucy said. I nodded and crept through the hole. It was just big enough for me to fit through with my armor. The shop was pitch black. I couldn't see anything. I blindly walked through doors and down hallways. I can definitely say that I got lost.

After 5 minutes of blindly walking I stopped and tried to think. What should I do. I haven't felt and movement since I got here. If someone is here they are skilled at sneaking around and being quiet.

I couldn't stop thinking about Natsu. He was like my brother. I wonder where he is now. Or if he did this to these poor people. Just thinking of him doing these things sent shivers down my spine.

Out of nowhere I heard someone whisper from behind me. "Erza?"

I let out a short but very loud scream. I don't usually scream but with everything that I was thinking about it just caught me off guard.

"Who are you?" I said. The person did something and suddenly the room was lit with a dim light. A lantern.

My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw a man standing I front of me. I squinted and saw that Jellal stood there holding a lantern staring at me. He was alone.

"Jellal?!" I said in shock. He nodded.

"Hello Erza."

The conversation was cut short when Gray seemed to fall down the stairs into the room followed by Juvia then Lucy. Wendy ran down quickly followed by the exceeds.

"Erza are you ok?" Gray said. He didn't seem to be able to see because Juvia had fallen and was draped over the front part of his body. Lucy was on top of her.

"Jellal?" Wendy said in shock. Gray pushed both girls off of him and jumped up.

"Why are you here?" He asked eying Jellal with an uncertain expression. He was acting like Natsu.

"I'm here for the same reason you are. To find out who did this." Jellal said calmly. Instead of looking at Gray he was staring at me. I shifted uncomfortably. "I've been looking all day and I found this place. It seemed like the safest place to sleep."

"We'll have you found out anything?" Lucy said eagerly. Jellal shook his head.

"All I know is that whatever was here had some incredible destructive power." He said. The others sighed.

"Well as long as we're here we should rest right? I mean, tomorrow will probably be a big day." Juvia said.

"I agree with Juvia. Tomorrow should be a big day." Wendy said.

"Alright then. I'm going to explore this place and see if there's any information that could be useful." Jellal said. He gave the lantern to Gray and pulled a glass ball out of his cloak. It immediately lit up.

"Wait I'll go with you." I blurted out. He looked at me and smiled. "I'll be right back." I told the others then followed him up the stairs.

There was a long silence as we crept through the halls of the building. It seemed to go on forever. Suddenly Jellal stopped walking.

"What is it?" I asked. There was a silence. Suddenly Jellal whirled around and wrapped me in his arms. I just stood there. At that moment I felt so weak and tired. Jellal stood there holding me giving me strength.

He let go and looked down at me.

"What was that for?" I asked softly. It was dead quiet.

"I missed you Erza." He said. His voice was deep and strong.

"I missed you too." I said softly. The magic ball the Jellal held gave off a slight glow. It barely lit up the room. I looked into his eyes. They were so full of emotion. At that moment I broke. Tears started running down my face. I grabbed Jellal tightly and his my face in his shoulder. I felt so stupid crying in front of him but I couldn't make it stop.

He sat down with me in his arms.

"Erza what's wrong?" Jellal said in a concerned voice. Still balling my eyes out, I told him about everything. About Natsu and how we were trying to find him. Jellal sat quietly through the whole thing. After a minute he said.

"Erza, have you cried yet?" He said in a serious voice. Now that I think about it. I hadn't. I spent most of my time at the guild hall trying to find cures and reasons why this was happening. I told myself not to cry and to be the strong one. Lucy always seemed to be silently crying in the corner and I saw Gray doing it too. I was the only one who hadn't.

I just sat there, the tears streaming down my face. After a few more minutes I looked up. Jellal was smiling kindly down on me.

"Can I be so selfish to ask you for help?" I said wiping the tears off my face. I knew Jellal had many things to do. I just felt like I needed him.

"Of course."

We stared into each other's eyes. His face started moving closer and closer to mine. I watched as his lips came closer and closer to mine. There was thumping in my heart. I closed my eyes and waited. But nothing came. I opened them and saw Jellal had backed away.

He coughed nervously. "Umm we should probably head back. The others are probably wondering where we are." He said looking away from my eyes. I silently nodded and stood up. We headed back silently.