Good Intentions

Lucy and Erza

They spent the train ride in silence. Lucy waiting for any signal from Erza that it was okay to talk about what had happened. Instead, Erza looked as sick as Natsu ever did on transportation. Perhaps it was a way for her body to exact punishment on her for Natsu's sake. She tried to think of something she could say that would be helpful but came up empty. 'A great help I am', she muttered to herself.

Halfway through the ride Loke opened up his gate and looked down at his master.

"Loke, what are you doing here? I didn't call you.", Lucy asked surprisedly.

"I know, I sensed that something was troubling you and I thought you might be in danger. You aren't, are you?", Loke asked in a concerned voice.

"No, we are not. You can go back. Everything is fine.", Lucy said.

Loke looked over at Erza and looked at Lucy again. He sat down next to her instead.

"What's the matter with Erza and where are Gray and the hot head? Are you guys going on a mission?", Loke asked. It didn't take much to realize something was off.

Erza flinched at the mention of the boys names and managed to look even sicker. Loke was getting more concerned by the minute. He had meant to talk to Lucy about Gray but had forgotten.

"Is something wrong with Natsu and Gray? Did Gray's magic give out again?", Loke wanted answers.

"Actually, Natsu and Gray are just fine although I don't particularly want to think about where they might be at the moment.", Lucy laughed mirthlessly. Loke was even more confused than before.

Erza suddenly responded. "Loke, what do you mean did Gray's magic give out again? When did Gray's magic give out?"

Loke let out a curse. Of course, he thought to himself. Why would Gray tell them anything? He had obviously been trying to hide whatever was wrong with him.

"That mission with the bandits. Lucy summoned me and we were fighting some of the bandits with Natsu. When we were done we all headed over to help Erza. Natsu and I bumped into Gray.", Loke told the two mages, "The bandits had discharged their weapons at him but when he tried to mold a shield nothing happened so I tackled him to the ground to keep him from being hit. He somehow knew that Natsu was there and he yelled at him and Natsu apologized and ran off to you. I confronted him about it but he just thanked me and said he had just been too slow to react."

The girls slowly digested this. Lucy looked like there was something bothering her but he decided to continue with his story and ask questions later.

"I didn't believe him of course. It just didn't make sense. He kept insisting nothing was wrong and then he looked around for something and molded a hammer to show me nothing was wrong.", Loke continued, "Then we headed over to you and that's when I noticed Natsu look at Gray before he entered the cave. I meant to talk to you about it but I forgot."