Finished - Mar 30, 2021

Word Count - 1850 

Music -  Audiomachine - Secrets and Treasures

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Natsu was rudely awoken from his sleep by his lacrima, it was only 7:00am! He should definitely still be sleeping, why on earth was someone messaging him?

Lazily he swung himself out of his hammock bed and picked up the glowing, beeping lacrima. Upon his touch the crystal stopped its repetitive noise, a picture appearing on its reflective surface. He saw Mira's face show clearly in the orb. Her expression looked tense and dead serious. This caught Natsu off guard and he was suddenly not tired anymore.

"Report to the Guild Hall immediately, Masters orders." Mira's voice seemed shaky and nervous.

"Hear that Happy?" Natsu called to his furry companion, who was obviously still asleep on his perch.

"Happy..." Natsu tried again, but it didn't stir the snoring cat.

Sighing, Natsu dressed himself, scooped up Happy and made his way towards the Guild.

Once at the doors he saw Erza, he called to her and jogged towards her.

"Hey, do you know what is going on?" He asked.

Erza simply shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me."

Realizing they were both in the dark, they entered the guild together. Inside most of the Guild had already arrived and were patiently waiting for the Master to reveal the reason they were all called together so early in the morning.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Happy asked.

It was true, the room was unusually dull. This fact alone proved that something serious was happening, for Fairytail was never "patient". They never sat down at tables making small talk. But at this moment, they were. Everyone was too anxious to hear what was going on.

Natsu and Erza joined a table with Grey and Wendy. "Hey guys."

"Do you know why we were all called here?" Erza asked the group.

"I was here with Mira this morning, together we found a strange letter in the mail." Wendy explained.

"Strange how?" Happy asked from atop of Natsu's head.

"It didn't look like a mission quest, or even a help request. It didn't have any return address on it, no name of any kind."

"That is weird." Grey folded his arms across his chest.

"Have you guys seen Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her yet today." Charlie looked around the large room.

"She should have gotten the message Mira sent, it went to every Guild member." Grey addressed.

"Then why isn't she here yet?" Erza eyes also scanned the Hall.

"Maybe she slept through the notification. I'll go get her." Natsu stood from the table, ready to run to her apartment.

"Natsu, everyone else is her, the Master could tell us his news any minute." Happy reminded him.

"That's okay, you guys can fill me in later. I'll just check on her really quick." Natsu made his way towards the front doors when he heard his name called.

"Natsu Dragneel." The tone his name was called was deep and serious, therefore he quickly turned around to see who had called him. Standing on the second floor railing was the Master, his eyes staring soberly into Natsu. "Stay. You need to hear what I have to say."

The Master's words were directly aimed towards Natsu and this worried him. But then an even worse thought came into his mind.

"Master, where is Lucy?" Natsu asked him seriously.

"Stay Natsu, you of all people need to hear this." Master did not answer Natsu's question.

"Where is Lucy?!" This time Natsu was no longer calm and demanded an answer.

Once again, the Master ignored Natsu's question and he turned his attention to the entire Guild. "Thank you all for gathering here this morning. Fairytail has received a letter today, it speaks in riddles, but I believe it speaks of a hideous crime committed against our family."

The mood of the room completely changed from awkwardly quiet to angry and rambunctious. To calm the crown, the Master held both his hands up and spoke again.

"As some of you have already noticed, we are missing someone. It seems like someone has taken this person away from us and it is our job to get them back."

Natsu could already see what was happening, his body was boiling with rage.

"Lucy Heartilia was stolen last night." Master's voice changed from strong to hurt by just this one sentence. The room exploded with fury as people cried out in anger.

The words Natsu couldn't bear to hear floated into his ears. Lucy had been taken from him, just when he was finally ready to tell her how he felt. He had just seen her last night! How could something so drastic happen in such a short time?

"Therefore." The Master continued his speech. "I want everyone to be on the lookout for her, if anything seems out of the ordinary, report it to me immediately. I also recommend that you all stay sharp, someone has declared war on us, therefore we should all be careful. We never know if they might attack again."

"Darn right, they are asking for war." Grey grumbled angrily.

"Grey." Erza shushed him, but her eyes held the same hatred.

"I need Erza, Grey, Natsu and Wendy all in my office. It's time we get our family back." With these last words he jumped down from the railing and retreaded to his office.

"Come on, let's go." Charlie assured the rest of the group.

Everyone took off quickly to the Master's office to collect the rest of the information concerning Lucy's disappearance. However, Natsu was frozen in place. His mind was crumbling and full of nothing but anger. Slowly he followed the rest of the team, his body temperature so hot, he left burning scorch mark footprints. This did not go unnoticed by his fellow Guild mates, but they knew not to anger him further when things concerned Lucy.

Leaving a trail of burnt footsteps behind him, he was the last person to reach the master's office. Inside everyone was waiting for him and stared at him with pity and worry. As much as he did not like their concerned looks, he was in no mood to tell them off, because he knew they were just as furious as he was.

"Thank you all for coming. I'm sure we can all agree that we need to bring Lucy home as soon and as safely as possible." Master addressed them calmly, as if they weren't talking about a kidnapping. "As I said before, we received a letter in the mail this morning. I think you all should read it."

The Master pulled an open envelope out of his desk drawer and handed it to Erza. Inside held one white sheet of paper. The contents of the letter was one page of finley written words, similar to the word Fairytail on its front, the letter seemed to be written by magic.

Erza cleared her throat and started to read it outloud for the rest of the room to hear.

Fairytail 

I found a star, a beautiful star, big and bright. This star is lost and can be found. To find this celestial star, one must take a Peak at the larger picture. For the longer you wait, the darker the star will become. One can not simply Chill on the beach and hope for answers. To take your first step one must Leaf their comfort zone and leap. I hope to see you soon.

Cloven Shade

Just the wording made Natsu even angrier! Whoever wrote this wretched letter took Lucy away from her home, away from her friends and away from him. She belongs in Fairytail, not in someone else's clutches.

"Why would someone take Lucy?" Happy sniffed, trying desperately to hold back his tears, but not succeeding.

"That is what we need to find out." The Master rested his elbows on the desk.

"Why do they refer to Lucy as a 'star'?" Grey took the letter from Erza and glanced over it again.

"Maybe because she is a Celestial mage?" Wendy added.

"Possibly..." Erza crossed her arms in thought.

"It doesn't matter what they call her!" Natsu could no longer stay silent. "We need to go find her!"

"Settle down Natsu, we do not have a clue where she could be." Makarov stated sharply.

"Actually..." Grey caught their attention, his nose still in the letter. "I think the letter is a clue."

"What are you talking about?" Charlie remarked.

"Look here." Grey set the letter on the desk and pointed to a certain sentence. "It says 'To find this celestial star, one must take a Peak at the larger picture.' Ths means we should find the answer here."

"Yeah, look at the word 'peak', it is capitalized and spelt wrong." Wendy chimed in.

"It is not spelt wrong, it is a different word. They are talking about a literal peak, like a hill or a cliff?" Erza realized.

"So Lucy is on a cliff?" Natsu seemed confused by this new information.

"Not exactly, are there any more capitalized words like that?"

A moment later they found two more words that stuck out to them. Leaf, Peak and Chill. The only three capitalized words that usually would not be capitalized, when in the middle of a sentence.

"Is there some cold, high place with leaf's?" Wendy asked, stumped by this riddle.

Everyone thought for a moment, trying to think of such a place. But suddenly Natsu understood exactly where Lucy was!

"I got it!" Natsu chimed happily. "It is Mount Hakobe! A chilly, high place."

"Yeah, but that does not explain the leaf part." Grey retorted.

"The magical herb we gathered there for the Sakura festival! Magic leaf's." Natsu said with pride.

"Oh yeah! Lucy hated it there because it was so cold!" Happy joined.

"Cold...she must be freezing, we have to get there now!" Natsu insisted urgently.

"If this is the correct place, then we have more to worry about than Lucy's safety." The Master contemplated this new situation.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked.

"It means these people knew that specifically you found magical herbs for the Sakura festival and specifically you six would be the ones to read the letter. They have personal information about Fairytail and its members' actions."

This was a whole new level of creepy and everyone in the room was silent. This put an entirely new twist on their situation. They now had to be extremely careful of who they put their trust in and make sure they were not followed.

"I recommend you all leave for Mount Hakobe immediately, word travels fast and you all need to be quicker than gossip. From this moment on, you do not talk to anyone outside the guild about this situation. Everything about this mission is strictly Fairytail's private business. Am I clear?"

"Aye Sir." They all agreed in unison.

"Good. Now go get our Lucy back." Master gave them the order to leave and they all readied themselves for immediate departure.