Fairy Tail.
"Happy, which one shall we choose?" Natsu sighed, looking towards the board. He had gone through all of the missions and none of them seemed quite satisfying. Good challenges for them paid low, while tasks that sounded boring gave a decent payment.
"Hmm…What about the one with the giant fish? It seems tasty." His friend's eyes glittered at the sight of the squared-looking fish on the picture. Natsu shook his head, looking as if he was deep in thought.
"That won't do. We need more money. What about this one?" He pointed towards a black paper with a neatly written title. The letters were hard to read, causing him to lean forward.
Bodyguard wanted to escort the daughter of Jude Heartphilia to her destination.
Prize: 400.000.000$
"That sounds okay." Happy shrugged, feeling grumpy that his suggestion had been turned down. The flame mage grabbed the paper, tearing it slightly and rushed to the counter of the guild.
"We are taking this one, Mira." He shouted, gesturing to his Exceed to follow him as he run towards the exit door. He stormed off the guild so fast that Mira couldn't inform him about that specific mission. She called his name, but he was already out of the guild's door to hear her.
"What's wrong Mira?" A blue haired magician approached the woman as soon as she noticed her distressed face. Mirajane was left staring at the door, frowning at her own inner thoughts.
"It's just that…master told me to remove this mission from the board because it was too dangerous for someone to take it. He seemed extremely concerned." She answered. Levy glanced at the mission board and then back at the demon mage.
"Which one did they take?" Levy questioned, starting to feel her stomach burn.
"The one with the Heartphilia family." Mirajane's voice shook before she recovered and put her infamous smile on. "But it's Natsu, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong with him." She reassured herself. However, Levy didn't seem convinced. The reference of that name sent goose dumps around her whole body.
"Heartphilia, huh…"
"Where is the mansion?" Happy observed his surroundings. The city was big and overcrowded with hundreds of people pacing back and forth the streets. He waited for his partner to respond and when no answer came back, he looked at him. Natsu was holding his mouth as sweat runned down his forehead.
"I am never..train..again." He muffled between coughs. He soon stopped, though, when something else captured his attention. "Happy…" He hissed, using an unusual, serious monotone voice.
His cat looked confused. "What is it?"
"Have we been here before?" Natsu questioned as he swept the saliva from the corner of his mouth. Happy shook his head. He had no memories of this place. "No, I don't think so." He assured his friend. However, the idea couldn't get out of Natsu's mind. This place was familiar.
"Are you Mister Natsu Dragneel?" A stout, tall man with long brown hair had approached the duo. Natsu turned around, towards the direction of the voice, taking in his appearance.
"Yes, who are you?" He questioned. The man smiled, confusing him further.
"Mister Jude Heartphilia sent me to escort you to the Heartphilia mansion." He explained as he started walking towards to the exit of the station. Natsu glanced at Happy who shrugged. They started following the man.
"So, what's the case?" Happy asked the man whose back was facing the as they were walking. He was pacing towards a white, luxurious carriage at the end of the road. Natsu was silent, having his hands behind his head, looking around the place.
"The mission paper was clear, wasn't it?" The man sassed. "Protect Jude's daughter, Lucy Hearphilia." Hearing the name of the daughter, Natsu gasped. The name lingered in his mind as well as a weird feeling of nostalgia. Lucy Heartphilia… Now he was sure there was something odd about this place.
"Lucy…" He whispered, but their browned haired company heard him.
"You know the princess?" He questioned the fire mage. Natsu noticed his glare and raised his arms in apathy. He didn't like that man.
"No." He replied sternly as they entered the carriage.
The ride was fortunately for Natsu, short, but the man kept praising and barging about his position in the military and the close connection of his and the Heartphilia's family. Happy struggled to keep his eyes open, as Natsu was too busy trying to keep his aching stomach in place.
Finally after an hour, the carriage stopped and they stepped off.
"There's nothing here." Happy sighed as he watched his friend drooling and complaining about his nausea. The other man whose name was still unknown to them laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"That's the entrance. The house is a mile away from here." He explained, making both Natsu and Happy gasped, looking at him as if he was a ghost.
"ONE MILE?!" They both screamed, not believing him. The man laughed again and continued on.
"By the way, I am Roy." He introduced himself as a sly smirk made its way to his face, a smirk that Natsu and Happy didn't see. "You are the famous Fire Dragon Slayer, huh?" He questioned rhetorically. His tone, voice, even manner of walking was dislikable to Natsu.
"You've heard of me?"
"Who hasn't?"
Their chattering continued for some time until they reached the huge mansion. From some meters away, Natsu noticed two figures waiting at the front door for their advent, though he couldn't see them clearly. As they approached them, he took in the appearance of both the figures. The one on the right side was a stout, blond man with his hands behind his back and next to him, a beautiful, young lady. Happy stared at her for a minute and then leaned over to his teammate's ear and whispered "She is really pretty", earning a nod as a reply.
Roy halted, surprising the duo for they were too busy observing the girl's beautiful features. The old man glanced at the girl and then glared at them. Some of their features, like their hair, were similar. They are probably related, both our heroes thought.
"You are Natsu, right?" The pretty lady finally spoke, sending a wave of chills down Natsu's spine. He opened his mouth to reply, but words didn't come. He didn't know what was happening to his body, either, but he was certain it was because of that girl.
"Yes and I am Happy!" His cat cheered, making the girl giggle. Her gaze fell back at Natsu, who was standing; dumbfounded, staring at her as if it was the only thing he could do at the moment. What was this? His senses were overwhelmed by her presence and so was his mind.
"Lucy?" He whispered. The said lady's eyebrows furrowed as her face frowned. Natsu couldn't see the small tears filling the corner of his eyes, but Lucy surely could.