A/N. This is my newest chapter piece, I had a variety of requests to see things via reviews while writing my last one (Lacrima Draconian) and you will see some of those requests happen in this piece. Only warning before you start reading. I write M rated content. There will be swearing, lemons, sexual references, violence, gore etc, it's how I write. I work in an AU version of the Fairy Tail universe created by Hiro Mashima and you may see characters OOC at times, and things will be different than canon here and there so don't expect this to mirror the manga or anime. There are OCs I have established and used in other pieces I've written that you will see in this most due to requests to see more of them. I read reviews, I answer some, I even deliver on some requests that come in reviews as the story progresses, so please, if you enjoy the story, let me hear from you. Reviews are the only way an author here knows if their story is being well received. That all said, I hope everyone enjoys this piece...DESNA
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"You can leave that alone." Erzas stern voice snapped and Lucy saw Natsu nearly yanked off his feet by the knight grabbing his scarf and hauling him away from the piece of excavation equipment he was smiling too much looking at.
They were north east of Onibus a little ways, answering the request of a noted Archeologist, Maxwell Grinoir, who had found a vault covered in an ancient tongue. The flier had been simple.
Reward, 450,000 J for the recovery of a gemstone keypiece. See Maxwell Grinoirs secretary in Onibus for details and to accept the offer. Mage healer in group strongly advised.
So, with Wendy in tow, team Natsu had snatched up the job much to the disgruntlement of Freed who had apparently been about to come get it from the board when Natsu had grabbed it.
"Natsu, I was just speaking to Mira about taking that job, myself and the Raijinshuu are far better suited to take it since I have read several of Doctor Grinoirs books and am familiar with the language and runes of his current project." Freed had frowned.
"Yeah? Well you should have taken the flyer down instead of chatting Mira up, Team Natsu is taking this, Wendy is already over at Lucys so we've got the healer it recommends already." Natsu quipped, walking past Freed and grinning at Mira, "We're taking this job Mira, leaving as soon as I get to Lucys, everyones waiting there for me."
"We have a healer too Natsu, Bickslows brother is in town and would be accompanying us, I really think you should let us take that job, there's another one not involving ancient runes and languages with the same reward amount if that's the issue." Freed said before Mira could answer.
"That's actually for Maxwell Grinoir too Freed, another keypiece recovery, you would just be checking in with one of his colleagues because of where the keypiece is believed to be but you would be turning the piece in to Doctor Grinoir near Onibus at the dig site still. I think it even asks for a healer too." Mira frowned trying to remember.
Freed snatched the flyer down, looking over it, "It does indeed suggest a healing mage be part of the party, allright then, the Raijinshuu will take this Mira, Natsu can keep the other." Freed said brightly.
"I was going to anyway." Natsu grumbled as Mira wrote down the teams in her log.
"All set, good luck to both of you and your teams!" She said brightly, Freed turned, not sparing Natsu a second glance, he'd long since learned not to bother with disagreeing with the Fire Slayer on most things but he'd been determined to get a job that would allow him to speak with Doctor Maxwell Grinoir.
Natsu snorted, casting a dark look Freeds way and heading toward the doors while Freed headed to the Raijinshuus table. His frown didn't last to the door, he had a good paying job for the team, Lucy was going to be thrilled, it even involved all sorts of Lucy interest type things he personally didn't care a bit about but he liked seeing his best friend, practically his sister, get happy about a job.
A simple recovery job too, they could handle it easily.
Natsu glared at Erza, adjusting his scarf so it rested right again. "I wasn't hurting it…and don't mess with my scarf Erza." He growled. She ignored him, following Lucy down the slope.
"Oooo, cold shoulder, she totally blew you off Natsu." Happy snickered, drifting along behind Erza.
Natsu rolled his eyes, he'd promised to be on his best behavior for Lucy, who was apparently meeting an idol of hers.
"He writes all sorts of books! Not just archeology stuff either, fiction, romance, you've read some of his work Erza! "Love Like Lyrics" was written by him!" Lucy had said excitedly on the train.
Erza had been impressed, she'd enjoyed that book, great love scenes.
"I shall have to pick up a copy of it in Onibus and get him to sign it." She had said and Lucys eyes had gone wide "Oh my God! That's a great idea! I can pick up a couple of his books in Onibus and get them signed!" After that Natsu was busy trying not to hurl, Lucy barely managing to not wriggle until he did, his head in her lap, hands in his hair. Wendy had gotten caught up in the chatter and soon only Gray and Natsu were silent. Natsu because he was sick, Gray because he wasn't interested.
Lucy had a couple of books in her hands and Erza had the romance novel in hers, Wendy had a copy of it too, apparently the young Slayer had been tapping into Erza, Levy and Lucys book collections for a while and developed a taste for romance novels.
"There he is!" Lucy beamed spotting the man himself. He was about 60, streaked silvery hair cut in a modest style and a moustache that was neatly trimmed and waxed, he had jovial light brown eyes and wore a white button down with the sleeves rolled up and khaki pants, he was currently going over some rubbings taken from the vault.
"Doctor Grinoir!" Lucy called, unable to contain her enthusiasm. She had every single one of this mans books, from the Archeology to the Romance and science fiction he had written. Natsu and Gray might not be impressed but at least Erza and Wendy understood her excitement.
He looked up and smiled, waving to them and dusted off his hands to shake each of theirs when they reached him.
"The team from Fairy Tail! I'm so glad you could make it out to the site, I can show you where the keypiece will be fitting so you can get an idea for the size of the gem you need to recover. Randal was supposed to give you a map with an approximate idea of where we believe it's hidden?" He looked and Erza smiled, holding up the map in question and Maxwell smiled.
"Good! come down here to the Vault door." He led them through the site, they had excavated a large area, the coliseum in Crocus would have fit into the rater they had made with room to spare.
"Dr. Grinoir, we're very pleased to be working with you, I've read all of your books." Lucy gushed, unable to contain herself. The man smiled at her again "Really? Well, I'm glad, I hope you enjoyed some of them!" He waved aside some guards as they came to an area that was covered by a large tent and held the flap aside so they could all enter.
It was quiet, clearly a magical containment spell in effect and by the absolute silence, cooler still air and heavy magical energy, it was a powerful one.
"I always put heavy containment magic around the center of a dig, we haven't opened the vault yet but not all of the runes and text have been translated, as usual there are a lot of warnings and threats but we find that at every dig, nobody buries things and wants people to disturb what they buried." He chuckled lightly.
Natsu had spotted a table covered with pieces of rock that had inscriptions on them and found the glittering gold imbedded in the inscriptions fascinating, the dragon in him was just naturally drawn to glittery shiny things. Erza, fortunately, had an eye for keeping Natsu under watch and slapped his hand down before he could touch one of the slabs of rock, he frowned then ducked his head and looked sheepish under Erzas dark glare.
Lucy and Gray were both closely inspecting the point at the center of the vault door where the keypiece would go.
"It looks like there are 12 of them." Gray observed "If those lines inside the slot indicate where each piece goes."
The Doctor grinned "Indeed, I have requests out to Fairy Tail and Sabertooth in Fiore to recover the three we're sure are in this kingdom. A request in to White Sea in Bosco for the one we believe is there and we're currently working out the locations of the others." He waved toward the table covered in slabs of rock Natsu had been staring at.
After a little more discussion, a description of what the keypiece should look like beyond just the general shape and size, the Doctor signed their books smiling and they left the dig site. Erza and Lucy both anxious to get Natsu away from the expensive equipment and fragile artifacts that were far to sparkly and shiny for him to ignore.
They returned to Onibus and debated whether or not, since it was past noon and they had a decent trek to the area where the caves were said to be they would need to search, they wanted to start right away or in the morning.
"You know, day or night it's going to be dark in the caves, so why not start now and get going, the guy in the book store said there were dozens of caves out there, it could take us a while to find the right one." Gray said.
"I agree, we can rent an SE car to get out there as quickly as possible, that would save us a few hours of walking." Erza said.
"I prefer walking." Natsu said, not pleased at all with the idea of an SE car.
"Have Happy fly you Natsu, he can get you pretty far before you'd have to come to the car, we can waste time just because you're a pussy and get motion sick." Gray growled and Natsu glared at him.
"Yeah? Maybe I'll just be sure to puke on you then snowflake." He snapped, Erza smacked both of them leaving them rubbing their heads and walked past them toward the SE car rental lot that wasn't far from the train station.
They left a short time later, Happy flying above with Natsu, Lucy in the cab of the little pick up truck, Gray lounging comfortably in the back with Wendy. Erza's cart for her luggage had been changed out for a trailer the truck could pull and they made good time on the clear roads, reaching the hills where the caves were in less than two hours.
Pulling the truck around through the hills to a spot where it would be safe and locking it up, they headed toward the first cave they spotted, nobody really paying much mind to the still semi-green Dragon Slayer who had been forced to come down to the truck after about an hour of flight, Happy getting too tired carrying him to keep doing so and though he begged, Carla refused to take over for Happy and fly the slayer the rest of the way so he didn't have to ride in the truck.
It was a mild day in late March and Lucy was smiling as they walked across the wild grass to the first cave. She was pretty pumped about getting those books signed. Levy was off on a job with her team so hadn't seen those jobs come in or she would have been all over them, she loved Dr. Grinoir as much as Lucy did and one of the books Lucy had gotten signed was going to be a perfect birthday present for her close friend. The other would take an honored place on Lucys bookshelf at home.
The cave at its mouth was large enough they could have driven the SE vehicle into it and after almost an hour of walking, Lucy was starting to wish they had. The cavern passage did start to get more narrow and Natsu suddenly stopped, Gray walking right into him "Shit! The fuck you stop for firefly?" and the pair snarled at each other until Erza grabbed both men by their respective collars and yanked them apart.
"I stopped because it fucking forks snowballs." Natsu hissed at Gray.
"We shall split up, Natsu and Happy with me will take the left, Gray, Lucy, Wendy and Carla take the right." She snapped. Grumbling both men shrugged off her hold on their collars and Gray flipped on a lacrima flashlight and led the way to the right while Natsu led the way to the left.
Both ways dead ended with nothing and they met up at the fork another hour later. By the time they reached the mouth of the cave the sun was getting low in the sky. Erza marked the mouth of the cave, her sword sparking on rock "So we remember we've searched this one." She said and they headed to the next.
When they emerged from it, tummies were growling and clouds had started gathering in the sky so Erza made the decision they should camp inside the shelter of the somewhat shallow cave they had just searched, sending Natsu and Happy for firewood while Lucy worked on dinner and Erza and Gray got their supplies out to set out bedrolls.
The next two days were much the same as the first expect rain had started falling the first night and hadn't let up so they were starting to encounter water in some of the caves as they searched.
Sitting poking at the fire at the end of the third day Natsu groaned "How many caves do we have left to search?" He asked.
Gray rolled his eyes "You've asked that about ten times today Natsu, there are 27 caves, you know how many we've searched already, figure it the fuck out on your own."
Natsu glared at Gray then glared out the mouth of the cave they were camping in at the dark sky pouring rain down outside.
"I'm going to bed." He grumbled, heading over and flopping down on his bedroll.
Lucy sighed, clutching the blanket around her she'd pulled from her pack. Natsu and Gray were never bothered by the cold for obvious reasons, and Wendy was already asleep curled up in her sleeping bag. Erza had switched from her usual blue skirt to soft black pants and boots, a black longsleeved shirt under her armor breastplate, she seemed comfortable but Lucy was struggling to stay warm.
The caves were dank, wet and cold and then when they came out the outside was wet, windy and cold, she hadn't had dry feet in days because they kept encountering frigid water in the caves and searching the things had turned out to be a lot less exciting than she'd hoped.
So far, the most exciting things they had encountered were some abandoned gear from some group that had used a cave as shelter a long time ago, some super creepy little white spiders that had freaked Lucy right the fuck out and sent her swiftly out of the cave to let the others finish searching it. Bring on Vulcans, Wyverns, even demons but no way in hell was she fighting little white spiders that could get under her clothes or…she shuddered…in her hair.
She thought about going and curling up beside Natsu, they had done that plenty of times over the years, he was always so nice and toasty warm and didn't even complain when she would put her frozen feet on his legs to warm up.
Ultimately though she decided against it, instead sliding into her sleeping bag and inching closer to the fire, still shivering intermittently though when sleep finally took her.
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Day four dawned like those before it, wet, dark and rainy as the group ate hot oatmeal then gathered up their supplies, doused the fire and headed to the next cave.
It looked like so many before it Lucy barely looked up as they walked into it, trudging along trying not to yawn, she hadn't slept well, too cold and damp to get comfortable.
Wendy frowned a couple of times "It smells different in here." She said and Natsu glanced back "Yeah you're right, like something I smelled before but I'm not sure what it was…" He agreed.
They walked about 20 minutes before Natsu abruptly stopped, Gray barely managing not to run into him but this time not saying anything because it was obvious why the Fire Slayer had stopped in his tracks.
"Holy shit…" Gray breathed.
"You know, you and Natsu have dreadful language while you work." Carla observed.
Before them a huge orb hung in the air, suspended on what looked to be silvery ropes.
"Why would somebody leave something like this out where anyone could find it?" Natsu asked incredulously, narrowing his dark eyes on the shimmering orb of what looked like water but sure didn't smell like it. Suspended inside the orb was the tiny purple gem they were supposed to recover for their client.
"Don't touch it…I have a feeling it's not as simple as just finding it, look there." Gray pointed and near the wall of the cave was a skeletal hand, Natsus eyes dilated "Cool…" he breathed moving to the hand and dropping to a knee to inspect it, the bone was weird, melted and spongy and the hand was stretched, like it had been reaching for something…or away from something in desperation.
"Why would you say a skeleton hand is cool Natsu…that things creepy!" Lucy frowned, a shiver running through her.
"I agree with Gray, we should be very cautious, I am uncomfortable with how smooth the rock is…and these odd little holes…like swiss cheese…" Erza was saying, prodding at a hole with the toe of her boot, she was right, the rock of the cave was worn smooth on the ground and about 3 feet up the sides of the walls of the cave, but there were little holes of varying size in the rock, most just an inch of so deep but some deeper, almost like weak points of the rock had worn away or somehow been consumed by something.
"Yeah…granite shouldn't look like this…" Lucy agreed
"Well we can't stand here all day looking at it, the guy said this might be the key to opening that vault…" Natsu said, rising and turning back toward the shimmering orb that was large enough three of them could have fit inside of it.
His hand lit with fire, he could smell the stuff wasn't water.
Wendy was poking a hole, sniffing, she knew the scent she just couldn't place it…it was like she'd smelled it somewhere a long time ago and…her eyes widened "Natsu no!" Wendy screamed, too late, as Natsu hit the surface of the orb. He was just testing it, just seeing how hard or soft it was, fist covered in fire to protect him from whatever might be in it.
Wendy yanked Lucy back and Erza jumped too just as the orb released a torrent of nasty smelling stuff that had the consistency of hair gel, Gray was fast, threw up an ice wall to contain it but it started hissing and bubbling, obviously it wouldn't hold the stuff back for long but it really wasn't the big problem.
The big problem, as in bigger than a fucking horse, was the white spider that dropped down from the ceiling.
Lucy screeched, wrenched her whip free and closing her hand on Lokes key and calling him.
"How may…holy shit!" Loke started to greet her but his eyes flew wide when he saw the hideous creature lunging at Natsu, hissing like something from a nightmare when Natsu blasted fire in it's ….face? Lucys skin was crawling, if she was afraid of any damn thing it was fucking spiders.
"KILL IT!" She screeched at Loke who was already building magic in his hands.
"That's what I smelled….Spider venom! Like the little ones in the other cave…" Wendy was saying, back up Grays ice with blasts of wind to push the goo back.
Lucy grit her teeth, mentally crossed her fingers and sent her whip out, it crackled with blue and orange magic, snaked out and seized the gem. Ripping it free from the silver ropes that they now knew were web. "Don't touch it until we can get the venom off!" Wendy shouted as Erza shot past her in her heavens wheel armor.
"Shit, knowing what's been playing with it I don't want to touch the damn thing at all!" Lucy grumbled, touching Virgos key, the maid appeared beside her, ducking as venom was spat in their direction right out of the damn things enormous fangs.
It was trying to get after Lucy, who had the gem still wrapped in her whip. "Virgo can you…?" Lucy started to ask and the maid held up rubber gloved hands, pulling the gem from the whip.
"Take it to the spirit realm Virgo! It will confuse this thing!" Loke cried and Virgo nodded, vanishing for a few moments before re-appearing.
"Virgo! I need you to dig a hole that will eat up that venom so it stops coming at us!" Lucy called and Virgo smiled "Yes Princess."
While Virgo did that Wendy screamed, suddenly lunging toward Lucy, from the holes in the rock little white spiders were starting to emerge.
"Oh hell no!" Lucy screamed.
"I got it…I'll block em…watch your step!" Gray called. A moment later ice sheeted all over the cave, blanketing the smooth hole filled rock, catching most of the little spiders that had emerged and preventing more from coming out while Lucy and Wendy were trying to remain on their feet and stomp on what they could.
"Natsuuu!" Lucy screamed and Natsu smirked, backing up, blowing a wall of fire in front of the spider that made it recoil enough he could get a deep chest full of flames built, Gray and Erza blanched "Natsuu…that will ricochet!...Erza started to say but not before he'd called his roar and it was churning at the huge spider.
Lucy, Wendy and Erza were running for all they were worth toward the mouth of the cave, Gray close behind them snarling out curses about poorly planned attacks as the Fire Dragons roar crushed the spider against the back wall of the cave in churning fire, vaporizing the venom, burned the ice and the smaller spiders to ash but also exploded back in a backdraft up the cave that Natsu was almost riding screaming like a madman.
Unable to quite outrun it, Lucy, Wendy, Gray and Erza were blasted out of the cave to land heavily in the mud outside, Natsu emerging a few seconds later, clothes singed, laughing until he saw his friends all in the mud, Lucy and Wendy both pretty burned, Lucy, as usual, not in armor or as resilient as a Dragon Slayer or able to endure fire like an Ice Make wizard, had the back of her clothes burned just about off, her skin already blistering with burns, hair scorched, but all actual flames had been doused by the mud and driving rain she'd been thrown into.
"Oww…" Wendy whined a moment then looked around, Carla was picking herself up out of the mud with Happy doing the same not far away, Erza was already standing again, Grey was pushed up to his knees, but Lucy was still laying unmoving and Wendys eyes flew wide, scrambling to her swiftly.
"Lucy!" She cried as she fought through the mud. Virgo appeared, helping the girl get Lucy positioned and rip away the scorched clothing that was in the way of starting to heal her.
Erza rushed over and Gray came, throwing up a curved wall of ice to stop the rain at least from falling on Lucys unmoving form.
"Damn it Natsu! Look what you did to Lucy!" Gray snarled as soon as he'd done what he could. Natsu blanched, smug smile instantly gone, he'd killed the spider, all the spiders, dealt with the venom, he'd known that attack would do that, but he hadn't thought about the back draft or his friends being in the way of it.
"I…shit…Luce…" He hurried over but had to stay back as Wendy worked in the mud, the rain drenching all of them but nobody cared, focused on the little Dragon Slayer whose blue hair was plastered to her head.
"I got it under control but there was something in the burns…I can still smell that spider venom, I don't know how to work out venom like that, I've only worked with snake venoms…we need to get her someplace warm and dry…" Wendy panted, she'd brought the burns down to the level of a sunburn and closed to two spots where blisters had already burst, restored the skin burned away, but Lucy was shivering now even though she was unconscious and the icy rain and cold mud wasn't helping her.
"Wrap her in a sleeping bag, lets get to the SE vehicle and hurry back to town, the heater in the SE trucks cab should help…" Erza said and Virgo assisted them, staying out under her own power to make sure Lucy was wrapped well in a dry sleeping bag when they finally reached the vehicle.
Erza had been moving it along with them as they had progressed through the caves so her bags stayed close by and had the forethought to park it on some higher ground but Gray and Natsu still had to get out and push in several places, Gray grumbling a good bit about Erzas luggage trailer before they reached the road.
Lucy was cocooned in the sleeping bag, vents blowing dry heat from the vents over her though and had stopped shaking by the time they were under way.
The truck had a cover for its bed that Gray and Natsu managed to unroll and secure and Natsu was able to just hang his head out the back, green within moments of the truck lurching into motion.
The two hour drive back to Onibus turned into four because of the rain and muddy road but Wendy squeezed through the back window of the truck into the cab and was watching over Lucy. She couldn't do a lot more than she already had, her magic was low what with the fight against the spiders and the huge amount of healing Lucy had needed to get her stable.
Wendy herself had burns on her, so did Erza, but they could wait.
Onibus had only a clinic, but the doctor there was able to get Lucy cleaned up, applied a bunch of a foul smelling salve to her burns, wrapped her up and then did the same to Wendy and Erza before the battered group left and went to the inn where they had rooms waiting thanks to Gray who had thought to go get them while Lucy and the others were getting looked after.
"The fuck did you guys piss off?" A surprised voice called as they crossed the Tavern on the first floor of the Inn heading for the stairs, Natsu carrying a still unconscious Lucy.
They all looked and were met by the familiar visored and purple plumed Seith mage staring through his visor at the singed group and the almost mummified Lucy in Natsus arms.
"We had trouble with some Spiders and Natsus solution for them…" Erza sighed. Bickslow put down the tankard he was holding, frowning "Well shit…Cosplayer looks like she was hit by a damn train and Wendy looks ready to drop…" He said, turning he waved a hand "Shit Natsu….you did this? Maybe my brother can help out huh? Since Wendys so spent."
Natsu frowned "What can your brother do Bickslow? Dance better than you or something? Can't help Luce, she needs a warm bed and rest."
"I'm a healer, so I can probably get her out of those bandages and comfortable, as for the other? Not sure I can dance better, Bix got all those lessons, I took piano and guitar." A deep amused voice said and Erza looked up, she'd met Bickslows brother before, he came to visit now and then, though he usually didn't come to the guild. She knew master Makarov had invited him for an extended stay, she'd been informed before he had arrived a day before they had left on this mission.
"You're a…" Wendy was wide eyed looking up at the tall dark haired man "Healer, like you…Wendy right? I'm actually here for a while because of you, lets get Lucy upstairs huh?" He smiled and Natsus frown was gone replaced by a hopeful look.
"You think you can get her better? Wendy said there might be some venom from the spiders involved…" Natsu was saying, carrying Lucy up the stairs.
"I've handled a lot of venoms and toxins before, probably can work it out, if not we have Cobra with us and I'm pretty sure he could handle it." The man replied.
Natsu glanced back right before they passed the threshold where he couldn't see downstairs anymore, Laxus and all of the Raijinshuu, including their newest member Cobra were seated in the Tavern.
Natsu carried Lucy into one of the rooms and laid her down on a bed, the taller mage moving past him "I'm Cristoff, by the way, Wendy, you couldn't alter your purifying to handle the venom?" He asked, leaning over Lucy, a hand sliding over her clammy forehead. She was paler than usual and breathing shallow.
"I…I don't know how to do that…" Wendy admitted, blushing.
Cristoff grunted, frowning slightly. "Yeah?...how young were you when your dragon left?" He asked, hands lighting up with a soft silvery white glow.
"5, I didn't get much time with her…" Wendy said sadly.
"Yeah, that's not a lot of time. What was her name?" He asked.
Erza sat back, watching the older healer work, he was precise, skilled, hands moving carefully and she could feel huge amounts of magic in him, unlike Wendy, he wasn't straining at all as he worked, able to keep talking to Wendy as he did what he needed to.
Ok, the bandages can come off, the burns are completely gone, and I cleansed out the venom, she'll be fine…." He was telling Wendy and the others what they needed to do to help their team mate.
Lucy was emerging from a nightmarish haze, the burning pain ebbed and vanished, the heavy, sick feeling was gone, the smell of a breeze at night was occasionally making it through another sort of pungent smell, she still felt…gooey?
Opening her eyes she blinked a few times, she was laying in a bed, it was warm…and holy mother of Gods there was one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen in her life sitting next to her, heavy black hair hung to his shoulders, a snug dark blue long sleeve stretched over a well muscled arm that was close to her, his hand resting on the bed next to her shoulder, a leg pulled up alongside her, she could feel his thigh against her hip and if she moved her finger she could brush it against the denim of the jeans he was wearing.
Soft looking lips were moving as he talked and his eyes, dear Gods his eyes, long lashes framed them, and he broke off what he was saying to smile at her.
Blue, deepest dark blue, his eyes were the color of the sky at midnight, complete with tiny flecks of silver like stars making them the most beautiful Lucy had ever seen…she had to be dead…this was Heaven… the Gods had given her a sexy angel because she'd been a good girl…
"Ok, awake….good…how do you feel?" He asked. Oh even a sexy deep voice with some lilting accent…good job Gods, I knew it would be worth it not to go with Cana on those manhunting missions of hers!
"Lucy! Even your color is better…I have to learn how to do that…" Wendy suddenly appeared at her angels shoulder and Lucy frowned, now how was she supposed to enjoy this gift with Wendy right there? Bad form Gods, put an angel in my bed but cockblock…seriously?
"I…I'm all…gooey…" she managed, voice coming out a little croaky and she almost winced at it.
"Yeah the town doctor covered you with that stuff to help the burns you still had, I couldn't heal them all the way…you were pretty bad…Erza and I have it on us too." Wendy said.
"Yeah, let me get you two squared away, there's a hotbath downstairs, the three of you should go down and clean up after this, you look like you had mud baths…" The dark haired man was chuckling, standing and Lucy wanted to protest him leaving her, who the hell was he? If not a God gifted angel he was fucking close to a God-like something, at least in her book…Holy hell, when he stood she got a flawless view of his back…his ass…legs…oh thank the Gods for tight fitting jeans.
Wait…as he was pushing Wendys hair aside she saw all the filth in it and reached up to her own, grimacing…remembering suddenly running like a maniac from the cave, getting lifted up by scorching hellish fire…
She was probably hideous, no wonder he looked so amused she didn't even want to imagine how bad she looked. She had just be bemoaning the non-existent state of her love life to Levy and Cana a few days before this mission had happened.
"What about the bookstore guy?" Cane asked, smirking "He's pretty hot in a nerdy way, I thought you were tapping that?"
Lucy had rolled her eyes and Levy had given the card mage a frown. "Lucy barely met that guy, what a month or so ago?" Levy was shaking her head but Lucy just sighed "Yeah, tapped, he's ok, sweet guy really…just…doesn't do anything for me…no fireworks…no…um…yeah, he tries but yeah…"
Levy gaped at her while Canas look changed from gloating to thoughtful. "Maybe try adding some toys or something? Seriously Lu, the guy you dated before this one didn't get you any happy endings either and that's just about cause for drastic measures."
Lucy had frowned, she really was starting to think there was something wrong with her. "I don't know…I'm starting to think I'm defective, I mean…Mike is only the third guy I've ever dated and slept with but…truth is? I've never gotten a happy ending during…you know."
Levys mouth was still hanging open, eyes wide and Cana just looked appalled. "Holy shit Lu I didn't know it was that bad….damn, I'd tell you to give Baccus a try next time he comes through but…well…" She smirked, she'd been semi dating the Palm mage for two months now and had gotten a little possessive.
"Now he, he knows how to get a woman there. Maybe that's the issue, you've been dating too many inexperienced guys?" Cana warmed to that idea, Lucy had been dragging out these sort of bookish men, the first boyfriend hadn't been, not even close, Hibiki Lattes was far from inexperienced but he was Lucys first so maybe that was it?
The thought that Hibiki hadn't been able to ring Lucys bells though did surprise her, she'd ridden that pony herself, the man wasn't a slouch in the bedroom.
"Did you ever tell Hibiki he wasn't getting the job done?" She asked bluntly.
Lucy shook her head "No way, I tried once but he almost laughed at me, told me I was inexperienced was all, I'd enjoy it more as we went, and sometimes it was good, I mean it was always pleasant but…yeah..no."
Levy was shaking her head coming out of her daze "Lu…I thought you were still waiting…how did you sneak this past Natsus nose?" She asked.
"I didn't, he knew, we had some pretty uncomfortable talks, but Natsu's known about all three guys I've dated." Lucy replied. That was always fun too, dealing with Natsu while she was dating, his habits of breaking into her apartment and crawling into her bed hadn't gone over well, and Lucy had finally had Levy run some enchantments that kept Natsu from invading without permission.
"Maybe you need a mage, someone stronger, up the testosterone." Cana had smiled "Laxus, he's a little abrasive but I understand he rocks worlds in the sack."
Lucy and Levy had both frowned "I really don't think he likes me, and I'm not really looking for casual sex anyway, Laxus doesn't date, like Bickslow, and I kind of like being at least exclusive ya know?" Lucy had said.
Cana rolled her eyes "Oh sure eliminate two of the best fucks in the guild, geeze Lu. Way to cripple my game!"
Even Levy had laughed a little at that. But it was true, Lucy had become, without meaning to, frustrated in the whole love life thing, and had been idly peering around the guild at what Fairy Tail had to offer but was coming up empty. She just thought of them as family, wacked out, crazed, obnoxious but lovable Nakama.
Maybe she was too picky? It was something she'd planned to give more thought to when she got home from the mission.
However, there was a good six foot two or three inches of really well built masculine eye candy, talking lightly with Wendy, now healing the burns on Erzas back.
"You're really going to work with me? Teach me healing spells?" Wendy was asking him and he smiled at her, Lucy almost groaned, sinful, that was what this man was, sinful, as in she would love to commit all manner of sins with him, starting with kissing that amazing looking mouth.
"That's what the magic council sent me here to do. They want to help improve the healing education of the very few healers in Fiore, there are exactly two of you, you, and a girl in Lamia Scale it seems. Since I'm a Dragon Slayer, I was selected to work with you, the request was sent to my Guild master, who is also Bickslow and Is older brother, and I was on an airship bound for Fiore the next day." He replied.
"You're all set Erza, I still say hot baths then bed. We were told Doctor Grinoir wont be available until 11am tomorrow anyway." He was saying.
Erza nodded, putting her shirt back in place. "We shall do just that then, Thank you Cristoff. Wendy and I will look after Lucy from here."
Cristoff, now she knew his name and that he was Bickslows brother, which would explain the exotic edge to his good looks, that was one of the things Bickslow had in spades, those exotic good looks.
Cristoff though, a little heavier muscled than his brother, not quite Laxus, but on par with the Lightning and Iron Dragon Slayers as far as how yummy that tall body was. Probably about the same height or close to Bickslow too, she'd know better when she could stand near him and do better than just ogle him from a prone position on a bed.
"Allright, good night then. Wendy, we'll have to talk about getting started some time soon ok?" He then gave Lucy a friendly smile but said nothing, just turning and leaving. Natsu and Gray watched him go, Natsu thanking him for his help, still looking a little sheepish and rightfully so.
"Ok, You boys go do whatever you want, Lucy, Wendy and I will be visiting the Inns hotspring bath then turning in." Erza said firmly. Natsu looked past her, Wendy helping Lucy to sit up from the bed.
"You feel better Luce?" He called and Lucy managed a grin and a thumbs up for him "Much better, go get something to eat Natsu." She replied and the Fire Slayer smiled, satisfied, he turned to follow Gray while Erza went and gathered the provided bath robes for them and help Lucy from the room, downstairs to where the baths were.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Lucy was feeling better than she had even before they left for the mission when she got up. Erza informed her and Wendy that the Dr. Noir had been delayed in what he was working on and had asked to have them all come to a home he was apparently renting in Onibus for dinner that night so they were free for the day and for the first time in days the sun was out and it wasn't cold, in fact, it felt amazingly good outside and the sliding windows for the little balony were wide open, she saw Wendy out on it.
Cancer was just finishing up repairing her burned hair. She'd been sadly right about her appearance the night before. Just her luck Bickslows hot as fuck brother would get to meet her for the first time with half her hair burned, the rest plastered with mud and her all wrapped up in smelly goo and bandages.
Cancer was able to fix it all though and she was back to long healthy golden tresses falling down below her shoulder blades. After thanking him, Erza sat, she loved having Lucys spirit do her hair and Cancer though the red haired knight was fun with all her brusque speech but very girlie ideas.
Leaving them to what they were doing she turned to join Wendy out on the balcony.
Wendy was looking down at the pool area below them, which was surprisingly busy considering it was still early, off to the left of that though movement caught her eye and she tugged Lucys arm pointing. "There's Bickslow and Cristoff."
Sure enough the brothers were jogging up to the gate that opened to a well landscaped courtyard beside the pool area. Both men in track pants, trainers and deliciously tight compression shirts.
Lucy smiled, yep, Bickslow and his brother were about the same height. Both men were pretty decent eye candy too though Laxus stretched out on a lounge by the pool in swim trunks was showing off more skin and therefore had them beat.
"Yo boss! Thought you were going swimming!? You do know that involves getting into the water right?" Bickslow called, Laxus didn't open his eyes, raising a hand and flipping Bickslow off.
"I really want to go swimming but I didn't pack a suit." Wendy sighed. Lucy grinned, glancing back into the room at Erza "Well there's a womens clothing store just down the block, we could go pick one up for you and me both because I like the idea too!" Lucy said brightly and Wendy beamed at her.
"They have a table service by the pool, I saw Laxus get his breakfast down there, I will get us a table while you two go get bathing suits." Erza offered. Lucy grinned, brushing down the flowy fabric of her red sundress and grabbing her bag before she and Wendy hurried to go get swimsuits.
The store had a limited selection, but Lucy was less interested in that than in getting back out into the beautiful weather. It was always fun being off somewhere when it was nice outside, the prospect of a day by the Inns beautiful pool was also really appealing after the freezing winter they had just been through.
When she and Wendy returned, swimsuits on under their dresses it was good Erza had gone to save them a spot by the pool because it was busy. "There's a dance competition in town, lots of the competitors are staying at this inn." Erza said when Lucy commented on all the abnormally beautiful women and healthy, fit looking men.
"Ahh, well, lets get breakfast ordered I'm starving!" Lucy said enthusiastically waving to a waitress that was bringing around drink and food orders.
"I'm going to swim a little! I see Natsu and Bickslow already in the pool! Order me some pancakes!" Wendy called, wriggling out of her dress. "You should apply sunscreen child." Carla started to chide but Wendy tossed her dress at her chair and actually buried the disgruntled exceed in it.
Lucy managed not to laugh as the little white cat yanked herself free, her fur all static ridden and sticking up in weird directions.
She and Erza placed their orders, including Wendys, and Lucy peeled off her red sundress, smiling when Erza held up a bottle of sunscreen, offering to help her with it.
"Let me, I need to check you two over anyway, unless Wendy already has." A deep voice made both women look up and Lucys being stuttered. Cristoff stood there, looking fresh from the pool, black hair hanging a little tousled and wet over his shoulders, in nothing but a fitted set of swim shorts that came down to his upper thigh.
All Lucy had seen indicated by the clothes she'd seen him in was laid bare, including eye catching tattoos that stretched from his shoulder to just above his knee on his right, others, including his guild symbol, a circle with a churning white sea beneath a blue sky and yellow and orange sun on his left shoulder.
Tan skin over chiseled muscle and the ever present faint smile, midnight blue eyes were on her and then Erza.
"Wendy has been preoccupied, anxious to go swimming, we've had a very cold winter this year." Erza said.
"I figured, she tackled Natsu and if out there damn near drowning my brother, so I decided I'd make sure I got everything last night, especially you Lucy, you were covered in bandages and mud last night, made checking you over a little hard." Cristoff said, Lucy blushed "Yeah, Natsus roar did a number on me…" She tried to sound light about it.
Cristoff was turning her around and sitting her on one of the lounge chairs though, taking the sunscreen from Erza who was giving Lucy a wry way too knowing grin.
"So lets make sure I got it all last night, can't have such nice skin getting crisped a second time." He was saying but Lucy wasn't even hearing him hardly, firm hands were rubbing over her skin, spreading silky coconut scented lotion on her and it felt incredible. She sincerely hoped the sunscreens scent would hide just how much having a good looking Dragon Slayer running his hands all over her bare skin was turning her on.
He really did, to her disappointment, focus on her backside where she had been burned though, stopping once he'd gotten it all. "Looks good, you should be fine out here…I'd be happy to get the rest of you done…" He had dipped his head down, his mouth by her ear and she almost shivered from his proximity.
"I can handle that, you can check my back…" Erza intervened and Lucy wasn't sure whether she felt grateful, because her swim suit bottom was pretty damp now and she hadn't even gone near the pool yet, or angry because holy hell would she have enjoyed the attention.
Frowning slightly at Erzas rough and excessively immodest handling, watching Cristoff smile knowingly and move to get Erzas back while the Knight slathered sunscreen on the Blondes chest around her red bikini.
However, Lucy saw Erzas eyes flutter closed a few times as the Dragon Slayer rubbed over her back and when the re-quip mage opened her eyes slowly the third time she cleared her throat upon meeting Lucys knowing smirk.
"Looks fine, also looks like your breakfast is here, I'm going to go lay out a bit. Glad you're both feeling better." Cristoff said then and both women watched him walk back over to where Laxus and Evergreen were stretched out on lounges soaking up the sun.
He had a wolf tattoo on the back of his right shoulder, it was howling at a moon, and just every inch of him looked incredible. "Damn…" Lucy breathed, she was willing to bet Cana would rank that ass in her top five and his dark blue shorts clung damply to him too. Not that there wasn't plenty of eye candy all around the pool, there really was, Bickslow was getting plenty of attention, had three women playing with him in the pool they were plenty handsy with the grinning Seith mage whose visor had been replaced by some bladed black sunglasses held firmly in place by a band around his head.
Even Natsu had a cute little brunette talking to him and Gray was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Wendy emerged, dripping and happy to eat her pancakes while Carla groused at her and applied sunscreen to her.
Lucy finished her own breakfast, a tasty omelet with a bowl of strawberries on the side and had settled in a lounge to soak up some sun to read while sipping on some fresh orange juice. There was a nice breeze, it wasn't too hot or cold, just a perfect day.
She couldn't help stealing glances toward where the Raijinshuu were gathered, like Team Natsu they had finished rounding up the keypiece they had gone after and were waiting to turn it over and collect their reward tonight at dinner.
The combination of Cristoff and Laxus had a distinct impact on the female population around the pool, and, Lucy noted, sitting out on balconies in the inn.
Women were decidedly making a point of walking past the two, hovering nearby, casting many long looks their way. The lounges not already claimed by the Rainjinshuus towels were all occupied by women and she saw Evergreen shoo away more than a few that wanted to sit at the umbrella shaded table Evergreen was sitting at reading, since Cristoff was stretched out on the lounge closest to it.
Freed was sitting at the table too, though in swim trunks like the others he chose to stay in the shade of the dark orange umbrella like the one that shaded the table Erza had commandeered.
Both Dragon Slayers seemed oblivious to it, though she saw Cristoffs lips lift into a smirk a few times and figured he was, being a Dragon Slayer, catching some things being said by the women surrounding them.
When he finally sat up and Freed tossed him a bottle of sunscreen a couple hours later two women almost killed each other hurrying to offer to help him put it on. Laxus got the same reaction a few minutes later.
The two slayers were, the biggest men at the pool Lucy realized, it was a dance competition being held in town, the men she saw, while healthy and fit, were all lean and pretty slender, so Bickslow stood out, all tan and better muscled than most of the men there, and Laxus and Cristoff really stood out, even more built in the muscle department than Bickslow. She watched then as Cristoff stood, the two women hanging on him, but he didn't walk to the pool, the two women, clearly dancers judging by their slender toned bodies, led him out of the pool area, disappearing into the inn.
He'd left his towel and other things, and, frowning, she noticed Laxus leaving the same way, escorted by a woman on each arm into the inn.
Shaking her head, Lucy returned her attention to her book. She had moved under the umbrella and she, Erza, Wendy and Natsu were about to order some lunch when Laxus returned, no women with him, the Lightning slayer dove right into the pool and wasn't without a woman nearby for long though.
"Mind if I join you? The women clamoring for information about my team mates are annoying me." Evergreen appeared just as the waiter was asking for their orders.
"Of course!" Erza smiled and Evergreen sat gratefully next the redhead and ordered her own lunch along with them.
"I noticed women starting to accumulate by your team." Erza said smiling.
Evergreen groaned "Well, Laxus usually gets fangirls almost everywhere we go as it is, add in Bickslow, who is a party on legs and then his brother and I'm a lone flower in a sea of testosterone and the women circle like sharks!"
"I've often wondered how you handled being the only woman in the Raijinshuu." Erza commented.
"Patience! Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, they're like brothers, real sweethearts except when Bickslow is compelling me to turn him to stone. But Laxus and Bickslow are a little bad about ending up in random womens rooms and now that Cristoff has been coming with us, well, he's just as bad, worse sometimes, that accent and the fact he's more people friendly than Laxus usually means he tumbles into more beds than any of them, or gets pulled off to them like earlier, Gods those two that lured him off…." Evergreen rolled her eyes.
"Pretty bad?" Lucy asked, not sure if she really wanted to know all of this but call it morbid curiosity, she had been watching the women hovering around the Dragon Slayers for hours.
"They were dreadful, Cristoff is good looking, Im not dead, even I've noticed my team mates are handsome and I think everyone in the Rainjinsuu has had a crush on Laxus at one point or another, Cristoff is easier to like though, he's like a calmer version of Bickslow, same sense of humor, just more…peaceful…I don't know, I've been around him a lot lately, that's just his aura, soothing, peaceful, probably because he's a healer." Evergreen waved her fan.
Their food came and shortly after the waiter left Lucy saw Cristoff return to the pool, like Laxus, without the women he'd left with earlier, and he dove into the pool too. Emerging on the opposite end by where the Rainjinshuu still had their things. She noted Bickslow was missing, and so were the three women he'd been playing in the pool with and refrained from rolling her eyes.
The Thunder God Tribe really were something. Normally Lucy would have been a little repelled by that, but when Cristoff emerged from the water, pushing his black hair back, muscle flexing and bunching under smooth tan skin and intricate tattoos, her mouth went dry and she hastily turned her attention to her iced tea.
She didn't want to date anyone in the guild, she understood why Cana avoided it, it was just, some of the sexiest men she knew were in Fairy Tail, and now Bickslows brother, now on a one year visa so he could train with Wendy and work in Fiore was there and he was sexy, had a body that made her mouth go dry and seemed pretty damn likable and easy to talk with, he'd also been flirty with her, but then Evergreen said he was like that, just like Bickslow.
So she wasn't sure how to think now, stick with her policy of not getting interested in anyone in the guild…or, in light of her failures trying to find a decent boyfriend away from the guild, toss that idea and just go for who she could see herself liking and hell…fucking.
Watching Cristoff stretch out his tall body before he took a seat by Freed and the two men summoned a waiter, she could very easily envision herself wrapped around the raven haired Boscan.
o-oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Dr. Noirs rented house was pretty impressive. Team Natsu joined the Rainjinshuu walking over and Lucy was laughing at Bickslows antics, and the way he tended to bicker good naturedly with Evergreen, Laxus, Cristoff…everyone really. Cobra had joined them, Evergreen had told them earlier he wasn't into the whole sunbathing thing, she'd never even seen him without a shirt on, in fact, rarely without more than one shirt and his signature long white coat.
The Poison slayer handled Bickslow well, the two seemed to be pretty good friends, something that surprised Lucy a little, Bickslow seemed too over the top for the moody grouchy Poison slayer, yet Cobra tolerated him better than Natsu or Gray, or her for that matter.
Dr. Grinoir greeted them all enthusiastically and dinner was delicious, Freed, Lucy and Erza fangirling (Freeds reaction was definitely fangirlish to the famous author) the conversation hovered around his books, and his current project with the "Vault of twelve keys" as the Doctor had named it.
"Asmarlin culture has been dead and gone for thousands of years, so it's an important discovery." The Doctor was telling them.
He waved to a servant who brought out the two keypieces their teams had recovered, he had already paid them for them when they had first arrived and Lucy had gotten the keypiece from Virgo as soon as she was dressed and ready to go, the Maid had cleaned away all of the spider venom from it.
"I need now 10, soon to be 9 since Master Sting from Sabertooth just notified me a couple hours ago the team that went after the last of the three pieces in Fiore has recovered it and is on their way here." He said smiling, looking over the assembled wizards thoughtfully.
"I would like to hire you, both teams, to seek out the remaining nine keypieces. I will cover your travel expenses, assist with travel visas, and pay you 800,000 jewel per piece recovered and once all are recovered, I will double the total amount as a completion bonus to you if you will accept. My aid, Renauld, is in charge of the research group working on the keypieces, and we have leads on two more in Minstrel, one in Ca-Elum. I would prefer two teams because you may need to split up to find the pieces and I have noted both teams combined have all of the talents magically I believe will ultimately be needed to recover all of the pieces." He looked at them all expectantly then.
Erza eyed Laxus, and the two seemed to contemplate things for a bit before Laxus nodded and Erza smiled "Team Natsu accepts." Erza said.
"The Raijinshuu do as well." Laxus added and Dr. Grinoir grinned "Excellent! I'll give you all time to return to Magnolia and prepare. In two weeks I'll have passage booked for your teams on a Boscan Airship that docks at the new Skyport in Crocus and you can fly to Ca-Elum for the piece there and onward. Wherever possible Renauld will try to arrange air travel for you since it is so much faster than ground."
They left a couple of hours later after going over the details and a couple of Dr. Grinoirs assistants got information from each of them so they could start preparing travel visas.
Lucy was almost walking on air with excitement, she had never been out of Fiore and this was an incredible opportunity. According to the Doctor they would likely visit several countries in their search for the remaining keypieces and they were being very handsomely paid considering the Doctor was covering their expenses so none of that would be coming out of their pockets.
She needed to go through all of her clothes, maybe she'd just pack everything…Virgo would gladly store her bags and it was always best to be prepared. She would have to discuss it with Erza, though it was dangerous going over that sort of thing with the Re-quip mage, who tended to pack far too heavily….maybe she'd talk to Evergreen, she knew the Raijinshu took jobs out of Fiore sometimes.
Barely able to settle enough to sleep that night all Lucy kept thinking was this would be the adventure of a lifetime.