The first week came and went. It went too quickly.

Natsu had gone mad with worry. He had scoured half of Fiore non-stop. Nothing. Exhaustion, hunger, thirst, none of it hindered Natsu, he was too busy going mad with worry.

Acnologia had also gone mad with worry. He didn't know how Natsu was concealing himself, but the Dragon King had flown around the world many times and sensed nothing. Erik had found nothing. Even Serena had come up with nothing. Acnologia roared in anger as he soared above the world and decided to go around the continent again... he needed to find Natsu and Lucy... mostly, he needed to find Natsu.

Tyregenium cackled with his game. Lucy was hidden from Natsu's senses, and Natsu was hidden from the other's senses... all the handiwork of Tyregenium, naturally. He giggled to himself as he thought of the inevitable end to this sad, sad game.

At the end of the first week, Natsu considered heading back to Magnolia to receive his clue. He didn't have to. The clue appeared on his doorstep. He opened it to find a boat in a bottle on the floor in front of the abandoned building he had slept in.

The boat proved two things. The people behind this game were tracking him, and Natsu couldn't sense them. After that, every human around him became a suspect. 

He contemplated the boat for two days as he continued his search, and then concluded that it was trying to tell him that Lucy wasn't in Fiore. He would have to take a boat and scour the rest of the world.

'It isn't much,' he thought grimly, 'but it narrows it down by a country. I only have five days.. I have to keep going.'

"Dammit," Acnologia growled sending a table flying.

"You've got to calm down, this isn't helping anything!" Serena ordered standing up and attempting to end Acnologia's minor tantrum.

"You're absolutely right!" Acnologia growled pacing the guild, "Standing here in this guildhall is doing absolutely nothing!"

The remaining guild members, with the exception of Makarov, were cowering. Serena stood before the Dragon King unafraid.

"The whole guild is looking, all the guilds are looking," Serena reassured him.

"And why haven't they found him!" Acnologia hissed looking at the table that would soon be his next victim.

"I-I don't know," Serena sighed.

"I don't damn know why either!" Acnologia growled kicking the table away.

"Destroying house-hold items is NOT GOING TO HELP!" Serena cried.

"It makes me feel better!" Acnologia growled.

"Acnologia... you have to-"

"What about the council," Acnologia interrupted, "Can the council help?"

At this, Serena took a pained sigh, "That's something else I need to tell you."

"What!?"

Serena grimaced as he came clean, "The council is undergoing a change in power. The Wizard Saints are being pushed out and... they're going back to the old ways of the council."

"What," Acnologia growled.

"...It happens tomorrow, I know you guys have been stressing out about this whole missing persons business so I didn't tell you all."

"That... is pretty important Serena," Acnologia growled sitting down on a chair that he hadn't turned into splinters.

"I know... but now I can dedicate every moment to finding Natsu-san... We can find him... him and Lucy."

Acnologia ran a hand threw his hair and growled, "This is his doing again..."

"You think so?" Serena asked wearily knowing full well who Acnologia was speaking of, Acnologia hid nothing from his eldest... well, except his past life.

"I know so... I just wish I knew what he was after."

"Let's find Natsu first and then find out," Serena announced turning extravagantly to the door, "We shall find Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfillia, I swear it. On this vow, I place my name, my honor, and my sequins collection. Let us go dear Dragon King and locate our long lost comrades!" Serena yelled extravagantly sparkling.

"Mavis... Mavis help me!" Acnologia moaned,

"Tally forth!" Serena yelled running out of the guild.

"Please, please Mavis grant me patience," Acnologia prayed running after him, he was thankful, however, for Serena. Somehow the wizard saint knew how to lighten the mood and make a grim situation easier.

Natsu collapsed in some strange land miles from Fiore from exhaustion. Forty-eight hours on no sleep had its toll. He lay down beneath the stars fearing his dreams... he had reason to.

Everyday E.N.D taunted him with his failures, and today would be no different. But now, Natsu was angry, he was frustrated with himself and his helplessness... and that anger was reaching a boiling point. He had three days to find Lucy.

Natsu was back in that forsaken battlefield, in anger he took the nearest broken weapon and threw it across the blood-stained land trying to vent that frustration.

"Such anger," the voice laughed.

"Leave me alone," Natsu growled, despite his tone, Natsu still couldn't be brave enough to face him. Footsteps approached and two claws were placed on Natsu's shoulder.

"I can still find her," the voice offered.

"I don't want your help," Natsu gritted shrugging the claws off.

"You tried, no one can fault you for that," the voice whispered, "but the truth is, if you don't find her quickly you will destroy whatever hope you had of finding her."

"I'll find her," Natsu vowed, "I love her, so I'll find her."

It was silent at first, then there was another claw on his right shoulder, "It's a pity," the voice said teasingly, "we always seem to mess up that which we try to fix."

Natsu was silent.

"We destroy so much when we're trying to save. Think about it, how many times have Uncle, Erik, Laxus, Gajeel, even Sting, Rogue, and Wendy, how many times have they cleaned up our mess?"

"That's not true."

"We destroy everything we touch, we can't even find the love of our life," the demon cackled.

"Stop it," Natsu gritted.

"That's the real pity you know. Here you are concerned for her but won't do what is necessary to find her. You're going to destroy your love, your starlight, the only person who's ever truly listened."

"Stop," Natsu choked. Just like that the demon had destroyed his defenses, broken down his anger and was manipulating the helplessness beneath it.

"You will destroy her just like you've destroyed everything before her," the voice hissed cruelly.

"Please," Natsu choked once more, he was trying to stop himself from crying. He hated this being, he hated everything about him.

Slowly the claw on his shoulder move to his neck where it gripped around it, constricting him, "She would always listen when we had a problem, you know that" the voice said softly, "she wouldn't rebuke us, she'd give us the hope, and the advice we needed. She never wanted to get away from us, even when we snuck into her house. She cared for the wounds that we didn't want anyone else to see, if we were sick she was always the first one outside the family to care. She's the first real human that we have truly felt love for, and you can't save her."

Natsu began to breathe heavily, trying to disperse the horror and doubt that clouded his mind.

"She became our star, leading us in our darkest hours," the voice said fondly, "she contradicts the darkness in us nicely don't you think," a claw reached up and held Natsu's chest where his heart still beat.

"I can't let you," Natsu began.

"You, me? There is no you or me, there is us, and we have let our starlight, our Lucy, be taken," the voice whispered.

"I can't let... I can't," Natsu choked.

"Then you let Lucy, our Lucy, you let her leave us," the voice breathed releasing him, a clawed hand reached out and pointed to the crest of a hill where a blonde woman appeared, her back turned to the two of them.

"Lucy," Natsu cried with hope.

"You let her die," the voice said sadly.

"LUCY!" Natsu cried running up the hill towards the figure. She had begun to fade; Natsu ran faster slipping on the blood that covered the steep hill.

"You let her escape," the voice said again.

Natsu reached the top and went to hold her. She turned and gave a bright smile before turning to dust; Natsu grabbed a fist full of dust and looked in horror where Lucy had been. Natsu collapsed to his knees and held the dust close.

"Like sand between our fingers," the voice said a clawed hand reached down and held the hand that held the dust, he forced it open and the dust flew away on the wind. Natsu could only choke down his tears as it flew far beyond his reach.

Natsu woke up with a start. His head hurt, his heart hurt, and the panic set in again. The world was too big a place, and he was only one man... he cursed whoever was playing this game and prayed for Lucy's safety before getting to his feet and continuing his search. He had heard of a guild that specialized in kidnapping... he was going there next. 

"I'll find you, Lucy," Natsu vowed. "I'll find you without him."

"I'm going to find you Natsu you *input word*," Gajeel cursed as he slumped onto the nearest bed. "And then I'm gonna beat your ass."

"Cursing at him won't help, he can't even hear you," Pantherlily sighed as he curled up on a pillow.

"Besides... I'm more worried about Lu-Chan, who knows where she is," Levy murmured walking in and looking at the map they had set up on the hotel room wall. She took a red marker and crossed out another town. "I know that the others are searching Alvarez and the other countries... but something's telling me that Lucy is close..." Levy put her hand on the map, "Lu-chan... where are you?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Sting roared looking out over a mountain.

"Roaring at the sun won't solve your problems, and if the people who took Lucy are around, you just sent them running," Rogue growled walking up next to him.

"Maybe... but it makes me feel better," Sting growled.

"Sting-Kun, maybe you should talk to Erik about those anger lessons," Lector sighed.

"Easy there, little buddy, I'm not Natsu bad," Sting chuckled.

"Not yet anyway," Rogue muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Sting snapped, "I say we spread out cover this forest, and meet up on that mountain," Sting instructed all this as he gestured to the forest in front of him.

"The whole forest?" Rogue asked.

"Yep," Sting grinned.

"In the dark?" Rogue asked crossing his arms.

"Absolutely."

"And you chose an entire, ginormous mountain as our meeting place?" Rogue asked arching an eyebrow.

"Yes," Sting nodded.

Rogue sighed, "Alright, let's do this."

"This is gonna be fun!" Lector cried.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch cheered.

"We'll find em'" Sting grinned looking out over the forest "both of em'."

"We are going to find both of them, or I'm gonna go blow up a mountain," Laxus ranted pacing around the campfire he had burning.

"Quiet, Freed's trying to sleep," Erik ordered softly tending to the fire and gesturing with his head to the tents where the thunder legion slept.

"Have you heard anything?" Laxus asked quieter.

"Oh yeah, I heard Natsu a few minutes ago," Erik nodded.

"WHAT!" Laxus yelled.

"You ever heard of sarcasm?" Erik growled.

"Laxus! Keep quiet, some of us are trying to get some rest!" Evergreen yelled.

"Trust me, when I hear something, I'll tell ya," Erik sighed settling. Laxus continued to pace.

"I can't sleep... not when things are like this... I'm gonna go scout the area or something," Laxus growled beginning to walk away.

"Tomorrow, when we head into the town, I'd like to go off on my own for a bit, I'll hear things a bit better without your four quarreling in my ear," Erik growled.

"Do whatever you want... just... Just find something," Laxus growled.

"I'm trying," Erik said forcefully, "but it's hard to differentiate important voices from minor ones."

Laxus sighed and walked away, he stopped at the tree line and looked back to Erik, "Where'd Wendy go?"

"She and Charle went back to the town, Wendy said that she thought she may have smelled something, I think she's just trying to keep our hopes up."

"Well, when she comes back, put her to bed, it's past her bedtime," Laxus sighed.

"She is sixteen, must I remind what stupid things we did at that age... I think she's earned the right to stay up a little past eleven."

"Maybe later, when we're not in a family crisis," Laxus sighed.

"Alright, I'm sure Charle will take my side anyway," Erik sighed as Laxus walked away.

"Come on Natsu," Erik heard Laxus pray, "Be safe."

'I admire you Laxus' Erik thought with a smile, 'You're love for our siblings is much stronger then most take it for. Woe to whoever hurt Natsu, if he is in trouble... they won't know what hit them.'

"Onii-chan," Wendy called running up.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Erik asked.

"It was nothing... as usual," Wendy sighed.

"Aw, that's okay, sit down and rest, wait for your furball to catch up," Erik laughed looking back to where Charle was. The humanoid cat was walking towards them in a sophisticated manner.

"So where's Laxus-nii-chan going?" Wendy asked.

"Patrol," Erik sighed.

"Ah," Wendy nodded.

"Wendy child," Charle instructed walking up, "You know it's past your bedtime."

"Aww come on Charle, five more minutes?" Wendy pleaded.

"Erik, you know it's past her bedtime," Charle said looking to Erik and putting her hands on her hips.

Erik smiled and began to drink some coffee, "All I know, is that you're a woman with cat ears, and my little sis is a dragon slayer who can do whatever she wants."

"Thank you Onii-chan," Wendy grinned nudging Erik.

"No problem," Erik grinned, he leaned into Wendy's ear and hissed, "Just make sure you're in bed before Laxus returns, I'm technically not supposed to be this nice."

"No, you are not," Charle sighed.

"Aw, give it a rest furball, she's sixteen, she can stay up past eleven!" Erik laughed as Charle walked away.

Wendy leaned on his shoulder and sighed, "Do you think Natsu-san is alright?"

"That hot head, hell yeah, he's probably wrecking some guildhall somewhere blowing fire out of his mouth and yelling 'where's Lucy', oh yeah, he's fine," Erik laughed drinking more coffee... Acnologia had rubbed off on him and his taste in drinks.

Wendy giggled, "You're probably right... but still... I'm worried about him and Lucy."

Erik put a hand on her head, "I'm worried about them too... but they're both strong in their ways and I know that they can take what the world throws at them... in all honesty, it's the world I worry about."

Wendy giggled again, "You always look on the bright side."

"I never thought I'd hear someone say that about me."

"Well, I said it," Wendy stated rather matter-of-factly. She relaxed and the two sat in silence for a moment... then Erik realized Wendy had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled and took another sip.

Natsu going missing was one thing... Natsu could handle himself and the dragon slayers knew that... it's not that they didn't worry, they were just confident in his abilities. But he knew that if anything happened to Wendy... the world would cease to exist. It wasn't that Wendy was weaker then Natsu... far from it, but every dragon slayer would go on a rampage. She was the baby of the family, and Erik be damned if anything happened to her... her and Natsu for that matter.

"Softy," Charle teased walking past him looking at Wendy who slept soundly on his shoulder.

"Furball," Erik muttered.