"Is everyone ready to go?" Erza called.
"I think so. Gray, Lucy? Are you two ready?" Gildarts asked.
"Yep!"
"I guess."
"Let's go!" Erza took the reigns of the wagon.
Erza, Gray, and Lucy were going on a vacation to a mansion in a forest pretty far from Magnolia. It had been empty for years, and Erza had asked the owner if they could rent it for a while. The owner had happily agreed. Gildarts wanted to keep an eye on things, considering Gray was the only boy and there were two girls. The four were going by wagon since the mansion was far away. Erza was so excited to go that they had left the day after she rented it.
"About how long does it take to get there?" Gray asked.
"About two hours," Erza replied. Gray groaned.
"I'll be an old man by the time we get there!" he complained. "And Gildarts will probably die of old age!"
"Hey! I'm not that old!" Gildarts protested. Lucy giggled.
"How about... we play a game while we go there?" she suggested. Gray and Gildarts nodded.
"Anything to keep me alive," Gray agreed.
"Okay, Gray, truth or dare?" Lucy questioned. Gray jumped.
"Uh... dare?"
"I dare you to... call me sensei for the rest of the game!" Lucy demanded.
"What? Why?"
"Because I told you to!"
"Fine. Gildarts, truth or dare?" Gray looked at Gildarts.
"Truth!"
Later...
"Is it true that you and Cana are really related?"
"Yes, she's my little baby girl," Gildarts cooed, getting a lovey-dovey look on his face.
"Okay... pick someone already..." Lucy grumbled. Gildarts blinked.
"Ah... right. Lucy, truth or dare?"
"Dare!"
"Then I dare you... to stick your head outside the wagon for a whole minute!" Gildarts ordered. Lucy's eyes widened.
"But that will make my hair all messy!" she whined.
"Do it! It's a dare!" Gildarts gave her a little push.
"Okay, one second." Lucy grabbed the ponytail holder she always kept on her wrist. She tied her hair up in a quick bun, then stuck her head out the back of the wagon. The wind blew in her face, threatening to blow out her brains. She looked ahead and saw a shadow looming ahead.
"Erza? Are we there?" Lucy called up.
"Yes. In fact, We're stopping right here," Erza said back, pulling on the reigns to stop the brown horses pulling the wagon. Lucy pulled her head back inside.
"We're here, guys." She stood up slowly, her muscles sore from sitting for so long. She stretched quickly, then grabbed her bag.
"Aww! That was fun!" Gray whined.
"Come on, Gray," Lucy commanded, hopping out of the wagon. She looked up at the giant figure before her. "That is one big mansion," She whispered into the wind.
"Okay, let's get inside! It's going to start raining soon!" Gildarts ran ahead of her, pulling Gray along with him. As if his words had summoned it, the first drops hit Lucy's face. Erza hurried the wagon into the garage, and got the horses into the stable faster than anyone else Lucy had seen. The two girls dashed inside before the rain could really start.
"Whoah! This place is gigantic! And dark!" Gray commented loudly, his voice echoing in the dark house. "And really dusty." As if to make a point, he ran his hand over the coffee table, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Erza reached over and flipped on the lights. The house burst into light.
"Oh..." Lucy breathed. The chandelier was beautiful, made of a million tiny crystals, and strung together with what seemed like gold. The room itself was pretty, too. The couches were a deep shade of red, seemingly velvet, but clouded with dust. The top of the coffee table was carved in a pattern, swirling browns mixed with some white. The walls were a pale cream color, and the carpet was the same color as the couches. Lucy slipped off her shoes and stepped forward. Her bare feet sank into the plush carpet.
"Gray, why is your shirt on the chandelier?" Erza asked.
"Aw, man! Not again!" Gray growled, going to retrieve his shirt.
"If only it wasn't so dusty..." Erza mused. She pulled in her huge amount of suitcases and bags. "Luckily I brought along some cleaning gear!" She opened a seemingly random suitcase and pulled out a small vacuum. "Lucy, you start vacuuming. Gray, you're dusting. And Gildarts, you get to help me with the other rooms." She handed the vacuum to Lucy and gave Gray a feathery yellow duster.
"Um, shouldn't Lucy be dusting and I should vacuum?" Gray asked.
"No. Get to work." Erza grabbed another vacuum and an orange duster and pulled Gildarts into the hallways. Gray sighed and started cleaning. Lucy looked for an outlet she could plug the vacuum into.
"Aha!" She found one behind one of the couches. She stuck the plugin inside the outlet and switched on the vacuum. The loud hum sliced the almost-silent air. The only noise besides it was Gray's quiet complaints.
"Finally done!" Lucy straightened up from her bent-over position. She looked around the room, satisfied by the results. The carpet was now cleaned, and the couches shone. Gray had done his job well, too; the coffee table was shiny and the fireplace was clean. Even the little endtable in the corner had gotten the treatment.
"We're all done in your room, Lucy!" Gildarts called from the hallway.
"Okay, coming!" Lucy unplugged the vacuum and wrapped the cord around it. She walked into the hallway and stepped into the room closest to the living room. Her room. She looked around the seemingly expensive room. The bed was king-sized, with a pale pink comforter and white pillows. The walls were white, and the carpet was the same pale pink as the bed. There was a small table beside the bed, and a large, white dresser sat in the corner of the room. A chest was at the foot of the bed. A door beside the dresser was what she assumed was the door to her bathroom.
"Hmm, seems a bit... off." She gazed around a moment more before it came to her. "Oh, yeah!" She reached into her overnight bag and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a small picture frame.
"Sorry, Mom! I was a bit occupied with cleaning!" Lucy apologized, setting the picture of her mother on the bed table. The picture smiled back.
Lucy yanked out some clothes from her bag and entered the bathroom. There was a marble counter with a sink, a plain, plastic hamper, a large tub, and a plain, white toilet. Lucy set the pajamas she had on the counter, then started the water in the tub.