The Gate of E.N.D.

Chapter 23: Zeref's Plan

Gray never jumped out of bed so fast. "What?! No I don't!"

She smugly crossed her arms. "Did you think I was Juvia?"

"Look, I just miss her, okay?" He said gruffly. "You better not tell anyone or I'll freeze your mouth shut permanently."

She rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I'm not. Everyone already knows, by the way. You're playing hard-to-get." His eyes widened. "Anyways, I have news, so get ready and meet us in the living room." 

She left the room. Wendy and Happy were already awake and sitting on the couch. They had set out coffee and muffins. "Ooh, thanks Wendy. You're so helpful."

"Hey, I helped!" Happy exclaimed.

"Thanks, Happy."

"Where's Gray?" Erza demanded as she joined them.

"I'm coming!" He shouted as he stumbled into the room, trying to pull his shirt over his head.

Lucy sighed. "Why are you so weird?" She faced the group. "Good news, or bad news first?"

"Good." They responded.

"Good news, Natsu told me why he was so upset. Bad news, you're not gonna like it." 

"We never like the news you tell us." Happy chirped.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Happy. So basically, Zeref found out we escaped from prison, but he doesn't know where we're hiding, so that's good. And if he finds us, he's gonna kill us. So there you go." She plopped on the couch next to Gray.

"Great." He said dryly.

"Why do people always want to kill us?" Happy pouted.

"We're Fairy Tail." Wendy shrugged.

"Great reason, Wendy." Erza sighed. "I guess we have got talk to Natsu again."

"We should lie low for a couple of days." Lucy thought aloud. "Maybe delay our meeting with Jellal, too."

"I think that would be best." Erza replied.

"Who's gonna tell him?" Gray asked.

"I can." Happy volunteered. "When it's night, though."

"Ok, so that problem's solved." Erza said. "Now we still have to plan how we're going to defeat Zeref, stop the invasion, not get recaptured, etc."

Lucy groaned loudly. "That's impossible! We don't have enough time!"

"We'll figure something out." Gray said.

"This situation keeps taking a turn for the worse." Wendy mumbled.

Erza clapped her hands. "Guys, it's nothing we haven't done before." The others exchanged dubious glances. "Well, we haven't really done it before, but we always manage to pull it off, so don't lose hope."

"What about Carla's premonition?" Wendy asked.

"We have to try our hardest to prevent it." Erza frowned. 

"I'm not letting our guild die." Gray balled his fists.

"Or Natsu." Lucy added.

"Zeref, however, must die." Erza added.

"If Zeref dies, Natsu does too." Happy said shakily.

"Damn it, I forgot about that!" Erza exclaimed angrily.

"So we physically can't kill Zeref without killing Natsu." Gray slumped in his chair. "That sucks."

"If we can make him human first, he won't die, will he?" Wendy asked. The rest of them shrugged.