What's the big deal? He just got kicked from the second floor to the first. He'll live.
Sure enough, Natsu came bounding back up moments later, full of fire and fury, ready to pick a fight with Rhodes.
But Erza held him back with one hand. "Look for clues first. I don't believe Lucy would leave without saying anything."
She didn't have to say more. Happy was already rifling through drawers and cabinets.
He wouldn't dare touch anything that belonged to Mira, but Lucy's stuff? Totally fair game. To him, it wasn't invading privacy. It was an adventure.
Still, Rhodes frowned at the chaos. "Hey Natsu, can't you just sniff out Lucy's scent and track her down?"
Natsu gave him a deadpan look. "Are you stupid? The whole place smells like Lucy."
Rhodes clenched his fists. He was just called an idiot by an idiot. "I meant outside. Lucy's not hiding inside her own house."
Natsu and Happy blinked, looked at each other, and slapped their palms together. "Right! She wouldn't hide here!"
Unbelievable, Rhodes thought. They really are idiots.
He sighed. "Then what exactly were you two doing rummaging around all this time?"
Natsu lifted Lucy's blanket and peeked under the bed. "I thought she might be hiding under the covers or something. You know, waiting to pop out and scare us."
"You think she's that bored?"
"You don't get it, Rhodes," Happy said, now hovering near the trash bin. "Sometimes Lucy likes to play little tricks like that."
He checked inside the bin, then zipped upward to open an overhead cabinet. "Or maybe she's hiding in here…"
Rhodes let out another long sigh. "Even if she was hiding, who hides in such obvious places?"
Natsu grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "That sounds just like something Lucy would say!"
Just then, Happy yelped and tumbled to the ground, buried under a sudden avalanche of envelopes.
He'd opened a cabinet, and dozens of letters spilled out.
"Huh? Letters?" Gray knelt down and picked one up. "'To Mom'... 'To Mom'… Looks like they're all addressed to her mother. Why didn't she send them?"
"How could she?" Rhodes said, examining one of the envelopes. "They're just addressed 'To Mom.' No name, no location. I don't think she ever intended to send them at all."
It was only a guess, but deep down, Rhodes feared Lucy's mother might be...
Before he could finish the thought, Natsu had already opened a letter and started reading aloud.
"'Mom, I finally joined Fairy Tail, the guild I've always dreamed of. The people and the things here are totally chaotic, but it's amazing. Haha, that probably sounds contradictory, but I really love it here…'"
Gray winced. "Hey, don't read other people's letters. That's private."
But Natsu ignored him completely and moved on to the next one.
This is why I kicked him out the window earlier, Rhodes thought. He never listens.
"'Mom, today I met Miss Erza. She's really cool and beautiful…'"
Erza blushed slightly, caught off guard by the unexpected compliment.
"Alright, that's enough. Lucy's here." Rhodes raised a small piece of paper he'd just found on the desk. "You all searched high and low and didn't even bother to read the note in plain sight."
Lucy must have known someone would barge in eventually, so she figured it was fine to just leave a note.
Thinking about that… felt a little sad.
"Home?!" everyone echoed in shock. "She really went back? Is she still blaming herself?"
"Not necessarily," Rhodes said after a moment of thought. "I remember her mentioning something before... that she wanted to speak with her father and settle things once and for all."
"You mean the same father who tried to drag her home?" Erza asked. "Could it be dangerous?"
"Hard to say," Rhodes admitted. "If her father's the controlling type, there's a chance she'll run into trouble. Should we go check on her?"
Natsu, Happy, and Gray all answered at once, "Of course!"
…
The location of the Heartfilia estate was well known. That wasn't the problem.
Normally, they would take the train. But Natsu pointed out that waiting for the next departure would take too long. Lucy might already be in trouble by then.
And so, he insisted, it would be faster to ride a crab straight there.
Rhodes had a sneaking suspicion Natsu's real reason was avoiding the train altogether, but… he couldn't argue with the logic. Lucy had already been on the road for a while. The sooner they caught up, the better.
Erza and Gray rode one crab. Rhodes, Natsu, and Happy took the other.
As the crabs scuttled quickly out of the city, Rhodes pulled out his notebook and scribbled a short message explaining their departure. He handed it to a raptor and sent it flying back toward the guild.
Not long after, the raptor returned with a reply.
Rhodes grinned after reading it, jotted down another note, and sent it back.
The two raptors passed messages back and forth mid-journey like kids exchanging notes in class. They kept going until the distance grew too wide and the response time too slow.
Gray finally asked, "Alright, what exactly have you two been doing since we left Magnolia?"
"I've just been updating Mira about our location," Rhodes said casually. "Otherwise, Lucy disappears, then we disappear, and everyone back at the guild would go crazy with worry."
"Oh…" Erza lowered her head slightly. "I didn't think of that…"
She always reflected sincerely when she missed something important.
"I was so focused on chasing after Lucy, I forgot something so basic. The Master even asked me to help take care of the guild. I'm so unqualified."
Gray frowned slightly. "Did you really need to send that many messages?"
Happy raised a paw. "Aye, and he was smiling the whole time like a creep."
Rhodes grabbed Happy midair and gave his squishy cat face a gentle tug. "By the way, we were discussing project assignments. Got any complaints? If so, I can have you carry cement when we get back."
Happy immediately panicked. "I'm sorry!"
Once Rhodes let him go, Happy zipped over to the other crab and hid behind Gray.
"Abuse of power," he grumbled. "Petty revenge. Classic retaliation."
"Oh, don't worry," Rhodes said with a grin. "I'll show you how petty I can be when we get there."
"We're gonna report you to Mira!"
"She'll help me punish you."
"Gray, protect me!"
"You caused the mess. Clean it up yourself."
"Natsu!"
"…,"
Natsu went completely silent, deep in thought. He appeared to be weighing something very serious.
Who was more important? Happy… or the crab they were riding?
Erza reached over and gently patted Happy on the head. "Don't worry, Happy."
"Erza…" Happy's eyes sparkled with gratitude. Erza really was the most dependable.
Then Erza said calmly, "We'll settle this the way we always do in Fairy Tail. You and Rhodes should have a fair duel."
"Give me back my hope!" Happy wailed as tears streamed down his face.
Everyone burst into laughter.
…
At that moment, outside Magnolia, Juvia had already lost track of where the others went. She wandered the outskirts for a while but couldn't catch their trail. Disappointed, she eventually turned back.
At first, her interest in Gray had drawn her here. But during those days at the Council's detainment camp, something else had started to take root.
She found herself intrigued by the guild itself.
For the past two days, a bold idea had been stirring in her heart—What if I joined Fairy Tail?
But reality pulled her back.
She had been a member of Phantom Lord, a direct enemy of Fairy Tail. She had even attacked Lucy with her own hands.
Even though she had lost that fight, and even though she heard Master Makarov's words of forgiveness, Juvia still didn't have the courage to ask.