Flares of passion

Natan didn’t get much sleep that night, so he arrived late to the coliseum just as Erza was fighting. Gray was the first who noticed him.

“Where were you? You almost missed Erza’s victory, flame head!”

Natan didn’t pay attention to Gray as his mind was still mulling last night events. Stealing a glance to Raven Tail’s podium Natan noticed Flare was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Flare?”

“Flare?” Lucy and Gray asked in confusion, Natan realized he must have voiced his question. Gray would have teased him about it, but since it involved someone from that guild he just grunted and returned to watching Erza’s match.

The celestial mage found weird that Natan would ask about Flare but answered anyway “I saw her leave just as you came. By the looks of it she was beaten again.”

That last part caught Natan’s attention “Beaten again? What do you mean Luce?”

Seeing his expression, Lucy elaborated: “The day after my match with her I saw her covered in bruises, since I barely even touched her during our fight it seems she got beaten by someone. Most likely her own team by how that armored guy grabbed her.”