Nobody was smiling. Not a single person wore even a hint of happiness on their faces as they hung back from the fried body in the middle of the nearly destroyed guildhall. Both desperate and hysterical sobs filled the air as Lisanna and Mirajane tried to come to terms with what had happened - something Lucy doubted would happen anytime soon.

The celestial mage herself was lightly grasping Natsu's arm, leaning just barely against him, her eyes downcast. He let her, actually leaning back into her as well, his eyes hard with rage and grief for the dead man. Happy had migrated over to join them as well and stood beside them with nervous eyes.

In under twenty four hours, three members of Fairy Tail were dead, two of which killed by the third. Elfman, who'd attacked Laxus with a vicious intent, had forced the S-Class mage's hand in killing him when he'd suddenly lunged for Mira, aiming to slaughter her where she stood. All it had taken was for Laxus to just barely brush his fingers against Elfman's arm, and the giant of a man had gone down in an instant, the highest voltage of electricity possible frying him from the inside out.

Laxus was brooding in a corner now, looking anything but happy about the matter. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone despite the intentions he'd once had concerning the guild and the way it was run. He hadn't wanted to kill Elfman.

Nobody was angry with him, of course. Not a single person disagreed with the fact that it had been a necessity. Elfman had been out of his mind with something they weren't too certain about and had obviously intended to kill them. But that didn't mean they had to like it.

Lucy's grip on Natsu's arm tightened. "Poor Levy," she breathed. She'd thought the other members of Team Shadowgear would have been fine on a job with him. And now...

Natsu gently shook her off, then slid an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against him just as he had the day before she'd been attacked. "We'll explain to her what happened," he muttered.

Lucy winced at the small twinge of pain that suddenly sparked on her shoulder. "Okay, but can you stop burning me? Some of us aren't immune to those flames of yours, Natsu." It vanished immediately, and a tight smile flickered across her face before disappearing almost instantly.

"Lucy?" She glanced down at Happy, who'd turned his attention on her. "Are you okay now?"

She pursed her lips unhappily, aware of the closely listening Dragon Slayer beside her. "Yes," she reassured, "I feel fine now."

The second Elfman had gone down, the same feeling from the day before had struck her, and Lucy had fought furiously to remain standing when she'd suddenly found herself unable to breathe with a slashing pain snapping through her. She'd been unable to hold back a small cry of pain, but the noise of the commotion involving Laxus and Elfman had managed to hide it from everyone but the sharp-eared Natsu and Happy, who'd been watching her with widened eyes.

Pain still lingered, rippling across her every now and then, tiring the already exhausted mage out even further, but not badly enough to knock her off her feet again.

"Alright, alright, listen here, you brats." Lucy focused on Makarov when he spoke, feeling Natsu tense beside her. Others' eyes shifted to him, a mixture of emotions filling those among the present guild members. Makarov gave it a moment before speaking quietly. "I've given it some thought. Elfman will need to be removed - I apologize, Lisanna, Mira," he added, this time gently to the two distressed sisters, "But it must be done. I don't believe we have seen the end of this matter, but there's nothing about this situation that seems familiar to me. I will look into it. I suggest you keep an eye out and alert those who aren't aware of what's happened. Don't touch him unless you already have." And, with that said, Makarov disappeared into his office, his eyes serious.

Natsu huffed, his eyes narrowed irritably. "That's it?" he demanded. "We're not going to even try to figure out what happened?"

"What point is there?" Lisanna murmured unhappily, wiping at her tears. "He's gone. It's not like it's going to matter."

"No, but still," Wendy said shakily, appearing beside Lucy. The blonde gently drew her closer, resting her arm along the sky dragon slayer's shoulders. "It would be good to know what happened so that we can keep it from occurring again..."

"That is true," Charle agreed. Her gaze was troubled, and Lucy had the sneaking suspicion that the Exceed had seen something she wasn't telling them about. Not that she could blame her. Charles's visions could be horrible.

Natsu grumbled unhappily, but remained surprisingly quiet when Laxus suddenly stood and made his way over to Lisanna, Mirajane, and their brother's body. He lightly took Mira's elbow, moving her to the side with care. "Come on, I'll help," he muttered gruffly, keeping his gaze emotionless, but Mira gave him a flicker of a grateful smile anyways.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Natsu suddenly tugged Lucy forward, and Lucy carefully brought Wendy along with her. Wendy eagerly stuck close, not eager to be left alone after what had just happened. "I can't stay here right now," he muttered, and Lucy clamped her opened mouth shut, no longer eager to ask why. She knew why. And she didn't want to be there when they moved the man that had lived as a friend and perished as an enemy.

Lucy hurried to swipe at her eyes when they teared up. The people that worked and lived around Fairy Tail's guildhall watched with wide curious and confused eyes. She knew they'd heard the serious fighting, and she knew they were just as worried and concerned as the actual guild. They may not have been mages or a member of Fairy Tail, but most of them appreciated the work the guild did for them.

It shocked her when one of them actually reached out to hesitantly grab Natsu's arm, her eyes concerned. "Um, Salamander?" Only Natsu would be recognized by another name outside of their family. His onyx eyes darted to her. "What happened? We heard so much..." She trailed off. "And some of the people have mentioned seeing that big one of yours walking around covered in blood."

"He's dead," Natsu said bluntly, "We don't know what happened."

Her eyes snapped wide and she gave a small gasp before murmuring, "I'm sorry. I hope...I hope everyone else is okay." She hurried away.

Usually Lucy would have scolded him for his rudeness towards the woman, but she couldn't bring herself to do it today.

Who could? Natsu was furious and upset that it had come down to being forced to kill their nakama, even if he himself hadn't had to do it. Her arm tightened around Wendy's shoulders, and the girl sniffled.

It had been a bad day.

XxXx

Evening found Lucy sitting criss-cross on her bed's comforter, glaring at the pillows. She didn't want to sleep. If she slept, she would have nightmares of what had happened. And she didn't want that at all. It was bad enough that she'd had to live it out once. She didn't want to see it happen repeatedly.

Elfman had been buried. While his grave didn't have a headstone just yet, Fairy Tail had given him a true Fairy Tail funeral, alongside an honorable one for Jet and Droy. There hadn't been any tears. Nobody had had it in them to cry for their lost nakama. As soon as it had ended, Lucy had gone home without a word to anyone, and she found herself expecting Natsu and Happy to show up at any time.

She wasn't disappointed.

Natsu, still clad in the dressier clothes he'd changed to, scrambled through the window, his scarf clutched tightly in one hand and something else held lightly in the other. Happy flew carefully in after him, landing easily upon the celestial mage's bed, and she turned to face them with a look of exasperation. "Is it so hard to come through the door?"

He gave a faint smile that didn't spread as far as it usually did, instead offering what he held to her. "Here."

She plucked it warily from his hands, startled to find that he had handed her a simple letter. She studied the writing on the front, labeling the envelope with both her first and last name, and found herself confused. This wasn't writing she recognized. "Where'd you get this?"

He shrugged. "Gramps said it arrived after...you know. He said to give it to you."

"What is it, Lucy?" Happy asked curiously, peering at it.

She gnawed thoughtfully at her lower lip as she carefully opened the envelope, pulling the paper inside out. She scanned through it quickly, her eyes widening, and then read through it a second time, this time more slowly and outloud to Natsu and Happy.

"Dear Miss Heartfilia

I have been made aware of the fact that you are a mage capable of controlling most of the Zodiac spirits, and have also learned that you possess ten out of twelve of them. I wish to congratulate you on such an accomplishment. I, personally, have not come into contact with someone who has had such luck before.

It is alongside such congratulations that I offer you this: an invitation to a party. I know perfectly well that when you joined the guild of Fairy Tail, you gave up such things. You are no longer interested in such high society activities. But I would hope you will accept such an invitation anyways. I suggest you bring a friend, perhaps two or three if you wish.

There will be rewards alongside this, of course. Raffles and whatnot will be held.

I hope you accept my invitation, as I'm sure your mother and father would have.

Sincerely,

Xavier Williams"

Another page fell into her lap as she read, and when she'd finished, Lucy scooped it up, studying it. It held multiple pieces of information, including the location of the party - a large building a good two days' train ride from Magnolia - and multiple invitations that had been clipped to it.

"A party?" Natsu looked incredulous. "Who would invite you to a party? You've been with Fairy Tail for years now. Almost ten, including the time we were on the island."

Lucy scanned it a third time, then gave a small smile. "It's not just an invitation to a party, Natsu. Someone specifically requested me for a job. With the way this is written, it's likely it was written under someone else's supervision. He's asking for help under the disguise of an invitation, something that I'm willing to bet was wanted by the person pressuring him." She brushed her fingers along the parchment. "I recognize this name...my father used to work alongside this man, long ago."

"Really?" Happy seemed interested, and Lucy offered the blue Exceed the letter as she unattached the invitations from the second paper, appreciating the distraction from the horror of the day.

"Yes. Natsu," she added, addressing the dragon slayer now with pleading eyes. "We have to take this. I know nobody wants to take jobs after what happened, but...he's not a bad man, the one seeking our help. And I doubt I'd be able to do this alone."

He gave her an astonished look. "You think you'd be even allowed to go on a job alone after what happened?"

Of course not. Not when Fairy Tail didn't know what was going on or how what had happened with Elfman had come to be. "You'll go then?"

He snorted. "You didn't need to ask, Luce. We'd be going on the job anyways."

Lucy's lips twitched into her first true smile of the day before disappearing as she became serious. "What about Gray? Erza? Should we wait for them?"

"We can use a communications lacrima crystal," Happy suggested from where he sat beside Lucy, glancing up when Natsu made himself comfortable in preparation for a long conversation.

"That would be a good idea," Lucy murmured, crossing her arms and watching as the fire mage finally wrapped his scarf around his neck again, looking much more at ease after doing so. "We'll call them on it before heading out then, maybe we could meet them halfway."

"We'll just start out in the morning," Natsu said with a large yawn escaping him. "Doubt Mira's gonna want to be bothered anytime soon."

"No," Lucy disagreed. "We have to tell someone. Happy," she said, turning pleading eyes on the Exceed. "Could you go tell Wendy and Charle where we're going tomorrow? I know you're tired, too, but it'd be faster that way, and I don't think either of them have a lacrima..."

"Aye!" Happy said, not looking bothered at all by her request. His wings appeared upon his back and he dove out of the window, making Lucy jump with the speed he did so.

"You," she said, next turning on the tired looking Natsu. "You'll need to run home and change out of those clothes, but make sure you pack those clothes, too, please. You'll need to look cleaned up while we're at that party...if it really is a party, it might be a trap, too..." She pressed her lips together into a hard line. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she didn't want him to leave. The prospect of being alone at the moment wasn't exactly exciting. Not after seeing the strange creature the day before in her family's old home.

Natsu, however, remained oblivious to that. Despite getting comfy on her bed not too long before, he sprang lightly onto his feet, a grin flashing across his face. "Sure thing, Luce. You got a fancy dress to wear?"

"Yes. Not that I've been able to use it. I thought I'd use it on dates and such, but no luck in that department," she said drily. "I'll use it on this job though, so it won't go to waste at least."

He paused, then shrugged. "Okay. I'll be back." He flashed her a special Natsu grin before ducking out of the window as Lucy rolled her eyes in exasperation, not even bothering to ask him to leave like any normal person would: through the front door.

Silently, Lucy returned to what she'd been doing before the duo had arrived, her eyes landing warily on her pillow. She didn't really have a choice but to sleep now...she'd need her rest for the next few days, though she supposed she could sleep on the train- no, she couldn't. Natsu would be sick. She wouldn't be able to get a moment's rest with him in the same area as her. Happy, too. The feline wouldn't leave her alone if he didn't have someone to occupy him.

So, with a large amount of reluctance, Lucy unhappily went to bed.

XxXx

Lucy wasn't entirely unhappy with the arrangement, but she wasn't exactly in the best of moods either. Her head ached furiously, she was tired, and the train was noisy enough to frustrate her. On the bright side, however, in her eyes, Natsu had provided a very nice distraction, using her lap as a pillow as he had the previous time they'd been on a train. Of course, the last time they'd traveled anywhere had ended badly for her, but it was nice to be on the move again. Gray and Erza would be meeting them in the town near their job's location to prepare for it, and the guild was aware of what they were doing.

Tenderly, Lucy moved some hair out of the dozing Natsu's face, scowling at Happy when he snickered. "One word," she threatened, holding up a fist in warning. "One word, cat, and I'll end your life here and now, got it?"

Happy blinked innocently at her, and Lucy rolled her eyes before muttering, "Damn cat."

The night hadn't been a good one. Nightmares had come and gone until nearly dawn, when, to her half-awakened surprise, Natsu slid back through the window, silently sliding onto the bed beside her, muttering to himself about something she hadn't payed any attention to. She'd merely waited until he'd flopped down, then curled up against him, one hand holding his scarf lightly, the other curled up beneath her head.

She'd slept dreamlessly until Natsu had quietly woken her to pack and get ready to leave so that they were able to keep the train they'd be riding on.

The dragon slayer gave an unhappy groan, and Lucy smirked just lightly before returning to wallowing in her thoughts, which drifted back to the previous day's horrors and her nightmares. The nightmares had been confusing, more so than ever before. One moment she'd be staggering along a twisting and unending road, blood dripping from wounds she couldn't remember receiving, and the next she'd be in a sea of black, voices whispering and shouting and screaming-

She shuddered, cutting her thoughts off there. No need to remember every little detail.

The celestial mage rested her head tiredly against the window, still stroking Natsu's pink hair, the motion soothing. At least she could help someone, even if it wasn't herself. Happy muttered something about Lucy liking Natsu, but she pretended that she hadn't heard it. She really didn't feel like dealing with him at the moment.

And then, suddenly, Natsu's eyes snapped open, any ill look disappearing just a moment before her spine snapped straight, a violent lash of pain racing through her. She muffled the sound, biting her tongue as hard as she could without biting it off, turning her small cry into a simple grunt of pain that she choked on when blood filled her mouth, created by the wound she'd made. The fire mage gave a yelp when the hand that had been affectionately running through his hair seconds before clenched into a fist, accidentally ripping out a few hairs as he sat up quickly. "Lucy?!"

She couldn't respond without screaming, so she simply clenched her teeth, pressing back as hard as she could against the seat to try and see if pressure would help rid her of the pain, but it only made it worse and she quickly leaned forward, giving a hoarse sob. Happy scampered over from his seat, standing in front of her with a fearful look when he realized she wasn't breathing.

Natsu's sharp hearing picked up the lack of a heart beat in an instant, and his already panicked eyes grew wide with terror. "Lucy?!"

And then, a few moments later, she gave a gasp, gulping air down desperately. People in nearby booths had risen to their feet, eyes concerned, but returned to their seats when they realized Lucy was okay and that the dragon slayer accompanying her wasn't exactly eager to let them near her. "I'm okay," she wheezed desperately, spitting blood with a grimace. "I'm okay."

Natsu scowled, looking more than just a little unconvinced. "The hell was that?! Your heart stopped and you're saying you're okay?!"

"Sh!" she demanded, trying to shush him, but failing miserably when an aftershock rippled down her spine, making her cringe again and fight back a sound of pain. His eyes darkened furiously, and she hurried to slam a hand over his mouth before he could start shouting. Furious, his hands started flickering with flames, smoke rising into the air, and Lucy hurried to smack at them with her free hand, trying to keep them from lighting the train on fire. Happy was smart enough to keep his own mouth shut and instead said softly, "You don't look okay, Lucy..."

"I'll be fine," she retorted shortly. "It goes away after a while, I promise."

Natsu glared at her, smacking her hand away from his mouth with a murderous look in his eyes. A look she'd only seen him get when fighting people that had dared to harm his nakama more than normal, the look he'd worn when fighting Phantom Lord or Hades. "How many times has it happened?"

"A few," she admitted faintly. "Less than five though. Please," she suddenly begged, grabbing his arm desperately and giving him an apologetic look when she accidentally spat blood on him. "Don't tell anyone! I don't want people panicking over it! I can handle it."

"You're spitting blood," he snapped, quieter this time, and Lucy gave a small sigh of relief. He was calming down, no longer ready to burn the train and all of the people in it to the ground, but he wasn't happy. "You call that handling it?"

"I have been," she muttered in response, scooping Happy up off the floor to hug him reassuringly, any irritation with him replaced by a nervous fear. "Please, Natsu. Please don't tell Erza or Gray. I'll let you know if it happens again if you do. Please."

"...fine," he finally agreed, scowling as he did so. Lucy gave him a grateful look, and he crossed his arms, glaring again. Lucy, realizing she wasn't entirely forgiven, ruffled the strange blue fur on top of Happy's head before setting him beside her. "When did it start happening?"

"Look at you, asking intelligent questions for once," Lucy grumbled under her breath. The blonde rested her head back against her seat, thinking. "Not too long after we got back and after Porlyusica gave me those herbs to help with the healing process." Her eyes narrowed. "Although...when it happened the day before yesterday, when I was going through the Heartfilia estate - don't you start, there's a reason I wanted to go alone. When I was inside, going to grab some things, I saw something. It...it looked like that thing that..." She shook her head, her hands trembling as she clenched them into tight fists in her lap. "It looked a lot like that thing that attacked me."

Natsu's eyes became furious slits, and he gritted his teeth in his anger. "You shouldn't have gone alone, Luce."

She waved his words off. "I'm aware of that now. It didn't seem like a big deal when I left. Lisanna promised to keep you busy, so I thought I'd be in and out of there pretty fast. I had one of the moments when I saw it. Another the next day, and then today." She bit her lip. They were slowly getting worse, but she wasn't going to tell the already aggravated fire mage that. Then he would really set their train aflame.

Tired of all of the questions, Lucy felt only a slight stab of guilt when she played a card she'd learned from Erza. "Oh, look," she said with false cheerfulness, grimacing at the suspicious look that appeared instantly on his face. Happy, catching on, returned to his own seat. "The trees over there are going by fast, aren't they?"

It worked immediately. The dragon slayer groaned, looking sick, and Lucy sighed in relief when he slumped backwards to try and pretend he couldn't feel the train lurching around.

"That's cheating," Happy accused, though he didn't look particularly bothered by it.

"I know," Lucy answered. It wasn't as if Natsu would be paying any attention to them now. He'd be focused on trying to not get sicker than he already was. "But it worked."

"Aye," the Exceed agreed with a small sigh.

XxXx

Lucy took a deep breath to steady herself. A lot of things were happening in a surprisingly short amount of time, and it was nerve racking. And not just for her, she was certain. She hadn't been blind to the unusual tenseness that had made a permanent residence on her partner. He'd been stressed out by everything as well. Who hadn't?

"Um, Lucy?" Happy's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and Lucy frowned, turning her attention on him. He indicated towards Natsu, and Lucy squeaked, dragging him over to the window.

"IDIOT!" she cried. "If you're going to be sick, do it over here!"

"Thank you, ma'am!" Lucy called, waving gratefully to the helpful woman who'd given them directions to the inn they'd agreed to meet with Gray and Erza at. The woman merely chuckled and waved back, eyes gleaming with unhidden amusement. "Come on, Natsu," she added to the slowly but surely recovering mage. "Let's go. I bet Erza and Gray have already beaten us in getting here."

He grumbled at the thought. "That ice-bastard? Not possible."

"Erza's with him though," Happy reminded as he floated along beside him. "And Erza can move fast."

"They were further from here then we were though," Lucy mused to both of them, shouldering the bag she'd brought. "They shouldn't be here until tomorrow at the latest, and the party will be tomorrow evening...you should be okay by then, right?"

"Dunno," was Natsu's only response, making Lucy smile faintly before returning her attention back on the plan...or lack of, actually. There was no way of coming up with a plan. None of them had a single clue as to what awaited them in the party they'd be attending.

She certainly hoped there was something wrong, and not because it meant they'd earn some money for completing a job, but because she didn't want to deal with Natsu's and Happy's endless teasing for the next month if she'd read into the letter's words too much. For all they knew, it could have been a simple invitation, which, with her background, wasn't too far of a stretch.

"Come on," she said firmly, reaching out to tug lightly on Natsu's arm. He pouted, not looking entirely eager to move at the moment. Not that she could blame him for that, he still looked fairly sick. She hoped that the two days' worth of traveling wouldn't have too many side effects on the poor guy. "I'm sure there's something for you to eat there. I'll go buy some matches for you, too, if you want."

She owed him after the near heart attack she'd given him not too long ago. Why not try to make it up for him before Happy seemed to realize it? Speaking of the Exceed...he was giving her pleading eyes, and she sighed. "Fine," she muttered. "I'll buy you a fish, you damn cat."

"Thank you, Lucy!" Happy said happily, looking eager to get moving now that he'd been promised food as well.

Natsu, as expected, perked up at the thought of food and was back to his normal self within moments, beaming at her. "What are we hanging around here for, then? Let's go!"

The trio set off in the direction the sly looking woman had sent them in.