Well i'm back with another one, I swear Fairy Tail can't keep me away! This one is definately panning out longer than Fire Burner was but will still be of the Mature variety. I just can't seem to stop writing Nalu smut. I got the idea for this story researching some myths of the constellations in the night sky so kudos to any of you who pick up on my references! Other than a disclaimer that I don't own Fairy Tail and a warning from me about swearing and smut in leter chapters, enjoy!

XxHRxX

Fairy Tail – The Stone of Omphalos – Chapter One

"Did you succeed, Canopus?"

"Yes, my Queen. My journey into the human realm was quite the enlightening experience, Earthland has changed much in two thousand years. Humanity is flourishing, mages are no longer persecuted and I discovered a most wonderful creation called 'Cheesecake'."

"The humans put cheese – in a cake?"

"Apparently so, I must admit humans have some rather strange habits."

"Indeed. So I am of the impression you have located the stone?"

"I located the stone in the Ruins of Vela, just south of 'Era' in a small cluster of mountains bordering the Graveyard Sea. From my research the true extent of the ruins have not been discovered and after journeying there I have found a doorway that can only be opened by a powerful burst of star magic."

"How fitting. Our dilemma is how do we get a celestial mage there to open the pathway?"

"During my tenure, I joined a guild of mages under a disguise for reconnaissance and research to find a celestial mage as you requested; to see if I could find one of the calibre we require. In my studies I have only located nine celestial mages in the entirety of Earthland, three of which are either retired or decease and one was only a child. She was by far the most powerful and, I believe, a prime candidate for transfusion. I waited for the girl to grow and she is now nineteen, in possession of ten of the Zodiac Keys and has almost mastered the 'Stardress' power."

"Most impressive."

"Her name is Lucy Heartfillia, daughter of Layla and descendant of Anna – the most powerful celestial Mage alive."

"Anna wasn't a candidate?"

"She retired her powers after teaching Lucy."

"Well done my brightest star. How do you suggest we get the girl to the ruins?"

"These guilds receive requests for help in exchange for money, such as destroying hoards of monsters, finding lost treasures and the like. If we were to send a request to this particular guild requesting the help of this celestial mage specifically, we should succeed."

"Very well, this Amulet contains the last fifteen percent of Eta's heavenly power, use it to travel back to the human world and send a request to this guild and help the girl find the ruins and the stone before Eta disappears and my power at Heavens Altar ends."

"What if the girl decides not to –"

"Then we must find another source of power."

"Very well, my queen."

"Gather my Eight Stars of Carinae – have them all prepared."

"Of course."

"Send Theta to me, her...acquaintance with a certain Zodiac will be of aid to us."

"Anything else, my Queen?"

"...Bring me some of this 'cheesecake', will you Cano?"

"Yes, Carina."

"'The Heavens tell a tale of old, in Vela the stone you seek, the power to regale the Gods, the chosen one they shall greet..'"

"The heck?"

"Look! It says they need a Celestial Mage...and the reward is two million jewel!" Lucy Heartfillia grinned and bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly, thrusting the mission leaflet under the nose of her disinterested looking best friend.

"Sounds...dramatic." Gray spoke.

"Sound like a load of hoo-hah, if you ask me."

"Now, Natsu...you chose the mission last time. It's Lucy's turn." Erza spoke sternly.

Natsu gave a dramatic sigh and folded his arms like a toddler.

"Yeah...and you still owe me a new outfit after you yet again burned my clothes off! That makes thirteen tops, twelve skirts, a new coat and three pairs of shoes you owe me, Flame Brain." Lucy huffed at the pinkette.

Team Natsu were currently sat around a long table in the guildhall, eating breakfast and perusing a small pile of mission slips for their next mission. This one in particular had caught Lucy's interest.

Find some ruins, open a door only accessible by a Celestial wizard and find a mystical stone.

Simple.

Apparently Natsu Dragneel didn't agree.

Yes, their previous mission had ended a little dramatically, but Natsu happened to enjoy making a grand and flaming entrance – It wasn't his fault Lucy had been standing nearby...nope not at all.

Really.

"I think Natsu is trying to say he likes seeing you naked, Lucy." Gray grinned across at the blond girl to gauge her reaction to his comment.

Sure enough Fairy Tails' resident Celestial Mage blushed beetroot red and leaned across to swipe at him.

"Quit it Gray!" she huffed.

"Hey, take it up with Natsu, I'm just saying." Gray lifted his hands up in mock surrender and smirked at the blushing pinkette.

"Natsu, tell Gray he's delusional."

"Well – heh – its not as though its a bad view Luce, lets be honest..." Natsu grinned bashfully. "OW!"

"PERVERT!"

"They liiiiiikkkkkeeee each other!" Happy shouted gleefully as Natsu dodged another Lucy punch, his face still red.

Erza sighed and briefly placed a hand to her forehead out of frustration.

"Can we focus? All in favour of taking this mission say 'Aye'."

"AYE!" four collective shouts of aye rang out around the table. Natsu was still sulking in the corner.

"You still whining, Fire Breath?"

"I just don't see what's fun about hunting down some magical rock."

The table descended into terror as Erza Scarlet glared at the sulking Dragon Slayer. He took one look at the Requip Mage's face and gulped, shrinking into his seat.

"You will come and support your team without complaint, do you hear me, Natsu?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Natsu squeaked.

Lucy stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a towel and feeling refreshed from her morning bath. Her routine had gone smoothly and now she just needed to get dressed.

She still had a relatively long amount of time before the team were due to meet at the guildhall for breakfast, so she dressed slowly and grabbed her brush to run through her long strands of golden hair; grabbing a hair bobble to tie it into a side braid.

"You got any chilli sauce, Luce?"

Lucy shrieked in surprise and dropped her brush, turning round to find Natsu sitting at the kitchen table, eating toast. Happy was also sat at the table, to her horror; wearing one of her bra's on his head.

"This hat fits my ears great Lushi!"

"What have I told you about sneaking – you know what, never mind. You two practically live here anyways. It's in the cupboard above the fridge." Lucy started to scold them, but she found the situation rather amusing; so she let them off. " And just put that back where you found it you stupid cat!"

"Wow Lucy isn't cranky this morning! Maybe she won't tell me off for the pictures I sent 'Sorcerers Weekly' of her snoring her head off last week." Happy tried to whisper to a grinning Natsu.

"WHAT?!"

"Oops!" Happy grew his wings and flied around a very angry Lucy's head several times before he shot out the window; Lucy's bra still on his head.

"See you at the guild buddy!" Natsu waved at him.

"I SWEAR WHEN I GET HOLD OF THAT CAT I WILL TURN HIM INTO A –"

"Come on Luce, you know Happy was just teasing ya." Natsu got to his feet and walked towards his angry best friend.

Lucy sighed and smiled.

"I know."

"Right, so get that frown off your face and gimme a Lucy grin instead." Natsu learned in and poked her lightly on the nose.

"So what happened to meeting at the guild...not that I'm shocked you're here but –"

"I wanted to talk to you before we left...just us." Natsu dropped the smile and his demeanour suddenly turned serious.

Lucy tried not to gasp when her best friend stepped closer to her and lifted a hand to tilt her chin up to look at him.

'Has he always been this tall?' Lucy felt a blush dust her cheeks and her heart was pounding in her chest. 'Why was he so close?'

"I want ya to keep your guard up on this mission...something doesn't feel quite right about it." He whispered down at her, his gaze dancing between both her eyes.

"I-Is that all?" She swallowed and started to pull away, slight disappointment coursing through her body at his words. "This isn't my first mission, Natsu. I can take care of myself."

She gasped again as Natsu prevented her from moving too far by securing a warm and solid arm around her back to pull her to him.

"I know you can, Luce. Never said you couldn't, but I got something important I gotta talk to you about when we get back."

Natsu was gazing at her with such an intensity, she blinked at him and tilted her head in confusion.

"You aren't going away again, are you?" she asked quietly, one of her hands rising on his muscled chest to rest against his heart. It was beating just as fast as her own.

'Is he as nervous as I am?'

"I'm never leaving you again, Luce."

Lucy felt her breath hitch and felt herself being pulled into his strong arms. It was rare for the Dragon Slayer to instigate their hugs but the way he was holding her now made her feel warm and secure. It felt almost as though he was promising her something. Something big. His eyes softened and he nuzzled against her briefly.

"Why does it have to wait till we get back?" she asked, slightly muffled by her face pressed against his chest.

"Don't want any...distractions...from the others."

"Not even Happy?"

"Especially not Happy."

Lucy willed her heart to stop pounding so hard and she raised her head to gaze up at him with a small smile.

"Okay...I'll be extra careful, I'm not sure what to make of 'serious Natsu'."

Natsu slowly smiled at her and lowered his head to press against her forehead, closing his eyes and causing her breath to shudder.

"There has always been a serious Natsu...lets just say he decided it was time to stop acting so much like a kid and think about his future for a change." He chuckled, his eyes opening to gaze down at her with flushed cheeks; his fingers dancing at the hem of her top.

"But kid Natsu makes me laugh, don't tell him I said that though. He can be an egotistical jerk when his head gets inflated." Lucy whispered.

"Nah he doesn't need his head inflating again...that shit was cool for five seconds before it got too heavy."

"Giant Happy was fun though."

"He enjoyed the power trip. If I remember right I enjoyed something else getting much bigger too."

Lucy gasped as his eyes dropped obviously to her chest, before flicking back up to her gaze.

"Pervert." She hissed.

Natsu grinned heatedly at her.

There was no mistaking it this time – Natsu was actually flirting with her.

Finally...

"We are not lost!"

"Sure we are, that squirrel has had to look at your ugly ass three times in the last half an hour."

"Leave my ass outta this, Popsicle!"

"Wanna go Hot Shot?"

"Oh its on Frost Face!"

"QUIET!" Erza yelled into the forest.

Natsu and Gray jumped apart and Lucy giggled into her hand. The team had been walking for what felt like hours, long into the afternoon and soon evening; following the trail south of Era.

They happened upon a mountain village.

It was a small and quaint place, hidden between two high valleys that sheltered it from high winds, monsters and the like. A collection of small rickety wood built houses sat around a larger stone built building, which seemed to be the village meeting place.

Team Natsu may never have found it had it not been for the Fire Breather complaining he was hungry. His sensitive nose had picked up on the smell of cooking, and, he had grinned and set off into the early evening; leaving his team and Happy to run behind after him.

Thus they found this little place in the middle of nowhere, they quickly learned the village had virtually no visitors and thus there were no taverns or hotels to stay the night.

After stopping a ravenous Natsu from stealing a sumptuous looking blackberry pie from the window of a nearby house, that was the source of his keen sense of smell; the friends had gone to find someone in charge. The village elder had pointed them in the direction of a local sanctuary, a ruin of sorts nestled within some woodlands, protected from monsters by magical barrier stones that would make a suitable campsite. He had also informed them when they had presented the mission leaflet for him to look at that he had never heard of the Ruins of Vela but they were welcome to search the mountains and keep anything they found.

"This magical stone is starting to sound like old rubble to me." Natsu folded his arms suspiciously.

"Indeed, to think an elderly man who has lived around here his whole life has never heard of this place is a little hard to believe." Erza agreed, leaning to one side with her hand on hip.

"Well we won't find anything in the dark, and I don't fancy running into the local wildlife. I say we find this sanctuary and get some sleep, we can continue our search in the morning." Gray was leaning back against a nearby tree, already down to his underpants.

"Clothes, Gray." Lucy sighed, too used to the sight of her team mate half naked to care.

"What?!"

"Think there's anything round here to eat?" Natsu looked over at Lucy and grinned.

"Look...I respect that you have a big appetite Natsu, but you aren't the only one that's hungry –" Lucy sighed before her pink haired partner went rigid next to her, holding a hand out to quiet her.

His eyes focused on something she couldn't see in the darkness and he sniffed quietly.

"What is it, a monster?!" Lucy hissed quietly.

Natsu grinned and opened his mouth to breathe a thin ribbon of flames from his mouth, into the space between a couple of nearby trees to a point almost two hundred meters away.

They heard nothing but the whoosh of his flame and the low squeak in the distance of what sounded like an animal meeting its untimely end.

Natsu turned to his gawking team mates and grinned, running off into the night and motioning for them to follow him.

"I found dinner!" He yelled behind him.

By some sheer miracle, not only had Natsu found dinner; but their campsite for the evening.

The small deer that had met its unfortunate end was lying not ten meters from a softly glowing blue stone with ancient runes carved into its surface, leading to an open clearing surrounded by overgrown grass, broken stones and what sounded like a slow flowing river nearby.

"This must be the place." Erza smiled, turning to the others. "Natsu and Lucy, can you find us some firewood? Grey and I shall set the camp up and prepare dinner."

"What about me?" Happy asked excitedly.

Erza had a vague feeling that Natsu wanted to be alone with the Celestial Mage judging from the pointed look he was giving her from behind Lucy and she smiled secretively.

"Happy why don't you go and catch us some fish from the stream?"

"Aye Sir!" One mention of that word and the blue Exceed pulled a tiny fishing rod from Natsu's pack and flew off excitedly towards the river. With that taken care of, Natsu grinned at the redhead with a flush to his cheeks and Lucy and himself walked off into the woods.

It seemed things were finally moving forward between two certain partners.

'About damn time...' Erza spoke internally.

" – Natsu! Where are we going?" Lucy couldn't fight the blush dusting her cheeks as she stumbled forwards as best she could with an excited Dragon Slayer behind her with his hand over her eyes.

"Keep those eyes closed Luce, it's a surprise." Natsu's warm breath on the back of her neck caused a shiver to travel down her spine and her insides to loop happily.

"Not like I could see anything if I did." She grumbled half heartedly.

"Okay almost there, you need to do a step up...now."

Lucy lifted her foot and stumbled for a second before her foot found purchase on the ledge. She frowned as Natsu told her to sit down and she was startled when she was pulled back against his warm and solid chest.

"Okay, head back against my shoulder." He whispered against her ear.

"If you wanted to cuddle –"

Natsu removed his hands and she opened her eyes, adjusting to the darkness momentarily before she gasped up at the night sky.

Bright stars of every colour littered the cloudless sky and Lucy couldn't help the tears that sprung up as the first constellation she spotted was that of a certain grumpy Zodiac spirit, who's stars seemed to shine the brightest; as though she was comforting Lucy.

A pair of warm arms snaked their way around her waist and she sighed happily.

"Figured you would like the view." Natsu whispered huskily, letting his chin rest on her shoulder. "And yes, I did want to cuddle."

Lucy smiled and turned her awed gaze from the stars and, with a nervous bout of courage; leaned across to press her lips against his cheek, lingering there for a moment to gauge his reaction. His eyes widened slightly before a blush dusted his cheeks and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

"Its perfect, thank you." She whispered back.

Natsu pulled back from her slightly, as though contemplating something.

His eyes drifted downward to her lips, before he flicked them back to her hooded gaze, asking permission to move further.

With a hazy nod, she heard him groan and he leaned forwards to press his lips gently against hers.

Waves of liquid heat poured into her body from her lips and a delicious shudder ran down her body, his lips pressed more urgently and a small moan left her throat.

Lucy felt him moving back and in a bid to keep the kiss from ending so quickly, her left hand shot out to sift through his hair. This time it was Natsu who groaned low in his throat and he deepened their kiss by sliding his tongue across the seam of her lips, asking silently for entrance. Lucy whimpered in delight as she opened her mouth and their tongues rubbed against one another for the first time. It was then that Lucy was turned urgently in his arms and she pushed Natsu back to rest against the ground, following him.

Lucy reluctantly pulled back from his lips, panting heavily with red cheeks and was satisfied to see her best friend was also equally affected; gazing up at her with an adorable blush and wide eyes.

"- D-Do you want to stop?" Natsu pushed himself up onto his elbows to bring himself closer to her face, gazing up at her reverently.

Lucy paused for a moment before shaking her head and throwing her arms round his shoulders to kiss him again. The Dragon Slayer looked surprised before he too wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with ardour.

"What is taking Fire Brain and Lucy so long to get fire wood?"

Gray had just finished preparing the meat for cooking and disposed of the carcass, while Erza was finishing chopping mushrooms and dill she had foraged from the surrounding woodland. Happy had returned after ten minutes with his scarf pull of tiny fish, one of which he was munching on gleefully.

"They have only been gone twenty minutes, lets give them a few mor-" Erza started.

"No need, we're back." The familiar voice of Natsu drifted in to camp, the Slayer with arms full of wood, followed by a blushing Lucy.

"Get lost on the way back?" Gray teased suggestively, causing Lucy to blush harder.

"Something like that." Natsu grinned over at his best friend as they joined the others to start building their camp fire.

"What? Gray teased. "Couldn't get it up?"

Lucy squawked in embarrassment and her jaw dropped open while Natsu saw red and leaped over to punch his friend in the face.

Dinner was long forgotten...

"The Eight Stars are prepared, My Queen." Spoke Canopus.

"Good, how go our preparations on Earthland?" asked Carina.

"Lucy Heartfillia and a group of friends seem to have stumbled upon the ruins quite by accident. Shall we proceed immediately?"

Carina looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Let the Mages rest for tonight, the girl is no use to us unless she is fully rested."

"Yes my Queen."

That's the first chapter out of the way, next will be up next week, or sooner time allowing.

Please leave a review/fave if you enjoy it so far!