"1,000 Jewells?! Is that all my looks are worth?!"
"Do you really want me to answer that, Luce?" The blonde wheeled around, glaring daggers at her.
"I didn't see you helping any! We both know that you could have easily seduced that old man! You could have had him presenting everything he owned to you on a silver platter as dowry if you really wanted!"
"Now, now, Lucy Dear. I am an angel. Why would I ever want to do that?" They stared at each other for a moment.
"I don't know what's funnier. The angel thing or the fact that I watched you do exactly that when we caught the train here and that poor guy took the seat you wanted." They both burst out laughing.
"That's fair, I suppose. I think I still have a few of those chocolates somewhere. Anyway, where to next?" The redhead commented, looking around the port town they were in.
"I heard these girls talking about this 'Salamander' when we stopped to eat. I heard he's a really powerful wizard! Oh, please can we go see him? Please? Please? Please?!" With every 'please', the blonde drew closer and closer to her companion, until she was towering over her.
"Lucy! Calm down!" She chuckled. "Sure, we can go if you want. I mean, I'm not really all that bothered, but I'll tag along if you buy me food." The blonde tilted her head.
"You do realise that we pooled together our money to get by? And that we ate not even an hour ago?"
"Shut up and lead the way. I want crepes or cake when this is over. Ooh! Battenberg sounds lovely! No, macarons~!" Her eyes sparkled at the thought of the crispy delights.
Lucy rolled her eyes at the redhead's antics and lead the way to where there was a commotion in the middle of the street, some girls even charging past them to reach the crowd, squealing about the Salamander.
"Hm…He's really popular." Lucy began to edge forwards. "Maybe he's really good looking." She joined the crowd, peering through the throng of girls to stare at the wizard, Cecilia trailing behind her.
Lucy suddenly stopped barging through the crowd, her face flushed and expression odd. Noticing the change in her companion, Cecilia glanced up.
"Lucy? Lucy, are you okay? Did you eat something funny?" She was brutally ignored. The blonde simply continued to stare into the direction of the wizard, her face slowly becoming redder and redder. "Lucy? Lucy, come on!"
She eventually gave up and turned towards the wizard. As she locked eyes with the Salamander, she was startled to feel her magic stirring, expanding and contracting in an almost shivering motion. She gasped.
"Disgusting. What is he trying to do?" She muttered, glaring.
"Igneel!" She heard a commotion in the crowd. "Igneel!" She turned towards the other side of the crowd as a pink haired teen, presumably about the same age as Lucy, broke through the line of girls, falling to the floor. "Igneel!" He smiled up at the wizard before his face suddenly fell. He paused for a moment before asking "Who are you?!"
The Salamander was shocked. Cecilia had to restrain a giggle at his expression. She turned to see Lucy glaring at him as well.
"Awake now, are you?" She turned to the blonde, smirking.
"You weren't affected?"
"Of course not. That kind of magic rarely ever works on me, let alone cast by a pathetic mage like him." They shared a chuckle.
They turned back to the crowd surrounding the pink haired man as the Salamander offered him an autograph, which was promptly rejected. The fangirls descended on him once more, screaming out insults and singing Salamander's praise.
"Ladies, my appreciation for your enthusiasm knows no bounds. But I must see to business at the harbour." He summoned a stream of fire and flew up into the air. "There will be a party tonight on my yacht. Of course, you all must attend." He flew off to the cheers of the girls all confirming their attendance.
Cecilia looked over at the blonde questioningly as her hand was taken and she was lead over to where the pink haired teen and his cat sat on the ground, sulking.
"He really is a piece of work, huh?" They turned to face Lucy. "Thanks for all you did!"
"Fanks for da foo!" The pink haired teen choked out around his impressively full mouth.
"Yup. Yup." The cat agreed whilst inhaling a fish.
"Ah ha ha! So your names are Natsu and Happy?" Lucy asked. She inwardly cringed at the ridiculous amount of food the two were splatting everywhere. "Okay, okay! Just take it easy on the food, okay? You're getting it all over me. You're ruining an expensive makeover!" She sweat dropped. Cecilia smirked. "How are you completely clean?!"
"The wonders of my magic. I can simply use tiny solar winds to blast any food away. Of course, I'm getting kind of chilly." She shivered slightly and took her cup of tea in both hands, sighing in relief as the warmth began to spread. Lucy simply rolled her eyes affectionately before turning back to Natsu and Happy.
"That guy was using a type of magic called a 'charm'." She began to explain. This spell sways people's hearts in the magician's favour. They outlawed the sale of that kind of magic years ago. Anybody who'd use tricks like that to get girls can't be trusted. But when you came barging in you broke the charm on me." Cecilia giggled slightly under her breath.
"Dat maigs zense." Natsu agreed whilst chomping down on an animal leg of some sort.
"I know I look like just a girl, but I'm more or less a wizard myself."
"Rweawy?" Natsu asked, not even looking up from his food.
"Yup! Cecilia too! She's way more experienced than me though."
"You still need to join a guild if you really want the experience of being a working wizard." The redhead pointed out, smirking.
"Haha, just because you were in that super important guild doesn't mean you have to brag about it." Lucy sulked. Cecilia simply laughed it off.
Lucy suddenly turned back to Natsu and Happy. "Oh! A guild is a building where wizards gather and confer. The guild acts as a mediator when it comes to wizards' jobs and information. They say that any wizard who isn't in a guild isn't a real wizard."
"Which is ridiculous," Cecilia interjected. "As if your association to a guild affects your progress as a wizard. You don't need to take jobs to slay monsters when you can tip up in a town, beat up a few monsters or bad guys and walk away with a paycheck, deemed a travelling hero." She smirked.
"I know it isn't illegal, but that's not exactly the best way to go about it…" Lucy sweatdropped.
"Well, it's how we paid for this meal. Want me to stop?"
"Okay, at least feed us until we join a guild."
"We?"
"Of course! I wouldn't ever leave you behind!" Lucy beamed at her.
"Lucy… Stop being so sweet. It's bad enough that these macarons are probably giving me cavities anyway." She reached over to mess up the blonde's hair, which was deflected with a slap to the hand and an indignant screech. Cecilia let out a light laugh.
"Mmfgl." Natsu commented.
"Listen! Listen!" Lucy suddenly began waving her hands erratically, beaming. "There are guilds all over the world! But the most popular guilds are the hardest to get into" She nodded to herself, crossing her arms. "There's one that I want to get into! It's a place where really incredible wizards gather! Oh, what'll I do? I want to get in, but I'm sure they'll be so strict."
"Why don't we just go there and ask?" Cecilia sipped her tea. "Why would they be picky? They're popular for a reason, I'm sure they'll be nice. And if they aren't, why would you want to be there in the first place?"
"I can't just ask! You might fly through them, but I wouldn't pass any tests they give me." She sulked. She then noticed that Natsu was giving them an odd look. "Ah! Sorry! You don't know anything about the world of wizardry, do you?" She finally calmed down, leaning her head on her laced fingers. "But I'll get into that guild, no matter what! There are lots of big paying jobs you can get there!"
"Y-you fink tho?"
"She talks a lot." Happy sweatdropped, making Cecilia laugh.
"I like the cat, can we get one?"
"Where are we going to find another talking cat?!" Lucy cried out, making Cecilia rub her ear.
"Just an idea, Lucy Dear." She smiled mischievously. "Besides, I think I have finally mastered that copying magic! Might take a few tries, but I'm sure I can get most of him!" Happy shuddered.
"No way." Cecilia sulked.
"Natsuuuu! Tell your partner to let me clone him!" Natsu just ignored her as Lucy spoke up again, clipping her own companion around the head.
"By the way, you seemed to be looking for someone."
"Aye, Igneel."
"We heard that there was a Salamander in this town, so we came, but it turned out to be somebody else."
"We could see he wasn't a real Salamander just by looking."
"I was sure it would be Igneel." Natsu whined and Cecilia gasped.
"You're…" She whispered. Natsu looked at her confused, but she simply continued to stare at him, an almost dazed expression on her face.
"See he isn't a real Salamander just by looking? What do you mean? He was just a man…" Lucy sweatdropped, dragging Natsu's attention back to her.
"Hm? We're not looking for a man. Igneel is a real dragon."
Lucy's reaction was, in Cecilia's opinion, spectacularly hilarious. She giggled madly, struggling to sit straight as she took in her friend's appearance. Her eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates, her jaw had dropped and her legs had lifted as she retracted herself into the chair, holding her close to her right shoulder in an attempt to recoil in every way possible. Cecilia finally managed to compose herself and sighed as Lucy recovered and yelled at them that it would be improbable to find a dragon in a human town.
'It's been over 400 years already?' Her expression soured. 'I'm actually going to have to get involved with this age, aren't I?' She glanced at Lucy-who was standing to leave-and took her cue to stand as well. 'At least it won't be boring.' Lucy's second ridiculous reaction (as a result of Natsu and Happy grovelling in the middle of the restaurant in thanks) brought a smile to her face. It would most certainly be entertaining.