Scrying with Blood

Blood Lost

Last Time:

Yes ..." A breathless blushing Jellal gasped. Almost in a trance he pulled Naruko gently into his lap. No one noticed, but as he ran his fingers through her hair proceeding a kiss the red tips in her hair flaked away ...

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Makarov nearly fell off the counter in shock when a group of people loudly skidded into the guild, "Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Juvia? I'm glad you guys got back. You managed to return a month before the Grand Magic Games-" Makarov sweat dropped when he saw a poor battered and bruised Loki being dragged by the ankle behind Lucy. The spirit was barely conscious and that may have only been because he was quite cold from the ice ring around his neck. "Ummm ... is he ok?"

Lucy sighed, "I checked. He's fine, but right now we need to get to Naruko. Where is she?"

The urgency in Lucy's tone made Makarov deeply concerned, "She, Lexus, Jellal, Gajeel and Elfman left a while ago-oh! You only have a month to train for the Grand Magic Games-"

"That's not important! Naruko is in danger because of her magic! She will die!" Lucy yelled. Everyone in the entire guild fell silent ...

Makarov nodded quickly, "I gave them a mission to the little music village just west of here-"

Juvia's eyes lit up, "I know what village you mean! It's right on the water downstream, but going on foot will take a few days."

"We don't have days." Lucy pondered. "Happy, take Natsu and go ahead as fast as you can. When you get there get Naruko away from anyone you don't like seeing near her."

"Right!" The blue flying cat grabbed Natsu by the collar as he raced outside and they flew off.

"Ok ... Juvia, if we used our chakra to stand on you can you take us there using the water?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I can try." Juvia said determination in her eyes.

"Alright! Gray, grab Loki! We're going!" Lucy exclaimed as she gave Makarov and the others there in the guild a silent nod promising to take care of Naruko before she, Grey and Juvia raced to the water.

"Why do we need him?" Gray asked wondering why Loki, who was draped over his shoulder, had to come too when it might be better for the spirit to rest back at the guild.

Lucy watched as Juvia melded with the water in the lake and tried standing on the ripples, "Ok! This'll work!" She said and dragged Grey onto Juvia's form. Once Juvia started moving at a very fast speed she bothered answering, "errr ... how to put this? You know how most mages are perfectly fine if they run out of magic?"

"Yeah, why?" Gray asked getting a sinking feeling.

A glazed look came to here eyes, "Well with Naruko it's different. Her magic is tied to her blood so if she runs out she's in danger, but that's not the problem-"

"How is that not the damn problem?!" Gray yelled, but was promptly sprayed in the face by the pissed off rain woman under his feet for yelling at Lucy.

Lucy smirked at her protective girlfriend's actions before turning serious, "Some people build their magic to the point where they level up or gain something and that's where the danger is for Naruko. Her magic will want to level up, but it will become unstable and she will die because of the tie to her blood. The only way to allow her body and magic to grow together is to make bonds with her, as the book put it, matches. The matches, which can vary in numbers, have magic that will act like puzzle pieces to help her magic stabilize when a bond is made.and you need all the matches for her to live."

Gray paled, "So how do we know who is a match or how many there are?"

"That's why I sent Natsu ahead. The only blood mages who ever survived had a dragon slayer as a match. Dragon slayers can tell when someone is their mate's match and considering how Natsu acted around you and Loki you may both be matches." Lucy explained.