Episode 2: The Mayor's Aids
Soveria- a large town, both in population and actual size. Soveria is widely known for its vast accumulation of wizards. Since the towns founding hundreds of years ago, wizards far and wide have been strangely drawn to settle down in its midst. To this day, over sixty-percent of its citizens practice at least a basic form of magic.
When the sound of footsteps caused her eyes to reopen, Lucy shook herself awake and stood to her feet. The view outside had come to a stop, telling her the train had as well. As people exited all around her, she yawned loudly and shook her friends awake. "Wake up you two, we're here."
The two opened their eyes simultaneously. Happy seemed reluctant to stay awake, but he wasn't given much of a choice once Natsu noticed the train had stopped. Eager to be on his feet and moving, the man picked up Happy and all but darted out of the train, leaving Lucy to grab their belongings and follow best she could. She finally caught up just outside the stations exit, where her friends had stopped dead in their tracks.
Before she could question why they'd stopped, Lucy felt the air stolen from her lungs.
The entire town of Soveria was situated in the clearing below them, nothing more than a giant mass of light, shining defiantly in the night sky. An octagon shaped town, Soveria's tall picturesque buildings and wide set streets (designed so that several magic-mobiles could travel them at once) were the very definition of intimidating. So much so that, just for a second, Lucy's legs refused to move.
"Its definitely not Magnolia" she said, talking more to herself than either of her friends. "It'll be next to impossible to find out who ordered our job in a town this big."
"Then I guess we better get started." Looking back to her with a grin, Natsu waved for her to follow as he took off towards town. "Last one to touch the street has to tell Erza what we did!."
Needless to say, Lucy and Happy gave all they had on the run into town. However, given his slight advantage of wings, Happy easily beat the flightless teenage girl. Last to reach the towns outskirts, Lucy took a minute to catch her breath, already utilizing all her brain power into thinking up her explanation to Erza.
"Man, I'd hate to be you right now" Natsu said casually, crossing his arms behind his head. "So what now?. The job request didn't even have an address, should we just start asking around?."
While running a hand through her hair, Lucy looked at the street ahead. Completely empty. Even with the streetlights illuminating it, not a single person was visible along the stone walkway. "I don't think we'll have any luck this late at night, it'd probably be better to start searching tomorrow."
"I picked up a map back at the train station" Happy added, already pulling the folded up parchment from his knapsack. "There's a hotel just down the road, I'll fly ahead and get us a room."
As Happy took off, disappearing into the horizon, Lucy and Natsu followed at a leisurely pace. The wind had only gotten colder with time, causing Lucy to grasp at her own arms in a vain attempt to warm her body. Apparently seeing this, Natsu produced a small flame, holding it in the space between them as they continued down the street. They approached the hotels entrance a minute later.
Natsu's flame went out on their way through the door, just as Happy flew over from the front desk. The cat handed a single key to Lucy, "I hope we find this job soon, this room wiped out what little jewels we had left."
"We'll figure something out" Natsu said with a grin, leading the way towards an elevator across the room. "The request said it was an emergency, it shouldn't be that hard to find out who sent it."
All three stepped inside the elevator, wherein Happy pushed the button for the top floor. The second the doors closed in front of her, Lucy felt a cold shiver travel the length of her body. "You don't think this job will be too dangerous with just the three of us?."
Natsu didn't answer until the doors reopened (no doubt fighting back his motion sickness). "Are you kidding?. We're two of Fairy Tails strongest wizards, we'll handle this job no problem."
"Even when it's just us, I'm still not counted" Happy said gloomily, flying in a slouched over position down the hallway.
Laughing off the cats comment, Lucy stopped halfway down the hall and opened the door to their room. The room was larger than she'd expected. Two regular sized beds lined the back wall, while a sofa, small fridge, and the entrance to what she assumed was a bathroom took up the remaining space. On her way inside the room, she also noticed a sliding glass door along the left hand wall, which lead outside to a small verandah.
"No wonder this place ran us out of jewels" she said while running her fingers across the beds soft blanket. "At least we can get a good nights sleep."
Turning around to find Natsu and Happy already a snoring bump under their beds blanket, Lucy switched off the lights and prepared for bed herself. After a warm shower, she threw her clothes into a pile on the floor, climbing into bed with a long yawn.
Lucy awoke to a bright ray of sunlight hitting her face, already smiling as the warm sensation snaked its way through her body. She kicked the blanket to her feet and sat up on the bed, finding (as she knew she would), that Virgo had left a fresh pair of clothes by her bedside. Once fully dressed, she walked out onto the verandah. She'd gotten up fairly early, it wouldn't hurt to let Natsu and Happy sleep a little longer.
As it had the night before, Soveria's landscape stole the air from her lungs.
However, seeing it during a lively time of day, it was an entirely different experience. A number of magical vehicles navigated the city streets, confining the on foot populace to the cement paved sidewalks. Even from her elevated viewpoint, she could also sense an overwhelming amount of magical energy. It wasn't really surprising, especially given Soveria's reputation, but still took some getting used to.
When a loud moan caught her attention, she headed back inside the hotel room. Natsu, in nothing save a pair of boxers and his scarf, sat up and rubbed at his eyes, unknowingly knocking Happy to the floor. An embarrassed blush on her face, Lucy averted her gaze from the shirtless man. "This is early for you" she said during a walk across the room, "hurry up and get dressed, I was thinking if we...huh?."
Instantly awake at the last of the girls comment, Natsu stood to his feet. "What is it?."
Bending down by the door, Lucy picked up a small piece of parchment off the floor. "It looks like a letter, someone must of slipped it under the door while we were sleeping." Without looking at what it said, she couldn't help but grin. "So cute, some guy probably saw me in the lobby and was too shy to say hello. Rendered speechless by my beauty no doubt."
"What's it like in your imagination Lucy?" Happy asked sarcastically, flying over to look at the note himself, "it sounds like a fun place."
As Lucy turned to yell her reply, Natsu walked forward and yanked the letter from her hands, ripping it open in the process. "Fairy Tail wizards" he read aloud, capturing both his friends attention. "Thank you for accepting my request. A magic-mobile will be waiting outside, I look forward to your co...coop...".
"Cooperation" Happy finished for him.
"I know what it says!."
Now leaning her head over Natsu's shoulder, Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Well, that makes things a lot easier. I guess someone must of seen us get off the train."
"There really is someone waiting out front!" Happy yelled, having flown outside the verandah to look down at the hotels entrance.
Walking back to his bed, Natsu quickly got dressed as Lucy strapped her whip to her waist. Once they were both ready, Lucy led the way out of the room and into the elevator. The lobby was far more crowded than it'd been the night before, several groups of people were either standing around or headed towards the exit themselves. It was one of the latter that the three wizards followed outside, stepping slowly into the sunlight so that their eyes could adjust.
Like the note and Happy suggested, a pitch black magic-mobile was sitting idle along the sidewalks edge. A single man sat at the drivers seat, whistling to himself as he stared blindly into the sky.
"Excuse me" Lucy said as she approached the vehicle, "are you the one who slipped the note under our door?."
The man, rather young looking in age, glanced in her direction before answering. "That depends ma'am, you two the Fairy Tail wizards staying here?."
In response, Lucy held up her hand, while Natsu simply turned to the side. The young driver nodded and promptly hopped off his seat, opening the door into the vehicles passenger seats. "Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable."
Sharing a confused look, the three wizards climbed into the vehicle one at a time. A few seconds after all three were settled, the driver retook his seat. The vehicle started down the road at a steady pace, joining the flow of traffic as Lucy pulled the job request from Happy's knapsack. "Sir" she said while leaning forward in her seat, "were you the one who sent out this request?."
Able to hear thanks to the lowered window between them, the driver shook his head in reply. "No ma'am, I'm just a driver. One who was specifically told not to...uh, ma'am...I think somethings wrong with your friend."
This time it was Lucy's turn not to look, she knew full well Natsu's was purple-faced beside her. "He gets motion sickness" she explained calmly, "can you at least tell us where we're going?."
"That I can ma'am, you're on your way to meet the Mayor of Soveria himself."
"The Mayor?" Natsu asked while gagging, "wonder if he's...ugh...the one who sent the request?."
The driver remained silent, busy navigating their vehicle in and out of traffic. But the second he'd said it, Lucy knew Natsu was on to something. If the Mayor, or someone close to him, was the one who'd sent out the request to Fairy Tail, it would certainly explain all the secrecy. Even so, it was clear the driver wasn't going to talk, she'd just have to be patient.
Her gaze switched out the side window, Lucy tried to get a layout of the town in her mind. It wasn't hard, given that they crossed easily half of it on route to their destination. During the trip, she made knot of several churches, a large market district, and even larger park in the towns center, complete with a circular pond of sparkling blue water.
Along with all that, dozens of magic shops were also scattered throughout town. The more she looked at it, Soveria seemed to be the perfect place for a wizard to call home.
A sudden lurch forward brought her thoughts to a stop, along with the vehicle. The driver then opened the door to her right, helping her in the step down as Natsu slowly forced himself to follow.
"This is where we part ways" the driver said once all three wizards stepped onto the sidewalk, "I was told that guild mark of yours will get you passed the front gate. Best of luck to ya." With that, the driver hopped back onto his vehicle, a single wave goodbye as he once again mixed into the flow of traffic.
Turning away from the road, the three wizards were met with a towering metal gate. Like the driver had said, a flash of their guild marks easily convinced the guards to let them by. On the gates other side, a short paved walkway led to what resembled a castle more than someones home. With shining white walls, twin spires sprouting from the roof, and a front door that made the gate look like a mouse-hole, the building practically screamed elegance.
"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed, "this place sorta reminds me of home."
Now a step away from the door, Natsu crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well I don't like it" he said in a grouchy tone, "something about this place doesn't smell right."
"Oh, quit being a downer" Lucy shot back while lightly tapping on the door. A few seconds of silence followed before one side of the large doors swung open. The older man who greeted them, obviously a butler, was dressed in a clean pressed suit and tie. Offering a short bow, the butler turned on his heel and gestured for them to follow.
Inside, the butler silently led the way through a variable maze of marble floored hallways and staircases. It wasn't until reaching an otherwise inconspicuous door, that the butler stooped, announcing his departure with yet another bow.
Once the man was no longer within earshot, Happy cast a suspicious glance at the door. "I guess this is the Mayors office, are we just supposed to walk in?."
Rather than answer, Lucy took it upon herself to knock on the door.
"Come in" a muffled voice answered from the other side.
The room they entered was pretty much what Lucy imagined a Mayors office would look like. An entire wall of books along the back wall, a large rectangular desk in the rooms middle, and two seats opposite that Natsu and herself filled, before looking to the man behind the desk. He, at least, was nothing like she'd imagined.
Clearly no older than forty, the mans distinguished facial features and slightly muscular frame looked right at home in his dark gray suit, which perfectly matched the shoulder-length hair falling from his head.
A shiny golden cane in hand, the Mayor stood to his feet as they entered. "Ah, Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel" he said in a voice overflowing with political suave, "so it was you two who answered my request...interesting"."
"Hey!, I'm here too ya know!" Happy scolded loudly, landing on the corner of the Mayor's desk.
With a hearty laugh, the Mayor playfully patted Happy's head. "Ha. Yes of course Happy, I'd never forget Fairy Tails little mascot." Using his cane to stand, the flashily-dressed man wore a wide smile during his walk across the room. Lucy tried to ignore the noticeable limp with which the man walked, even giving Natsu a swift kick when started to stare.
The Mayor (unflinching at Natsu's cry of pain) smiled to his reflection once he reached the window. "It does my heart good to see that it was you lot who answered my request."
No longer able to hold her tongue, Lucy asked the obvious. "You know who we are?."
Turning back to face them, the Mayor answered with a firm nod. "Very much so. I know you haven't been in Soveria long, you have yet to see just how big the Fairy Tail guild is in this town."
"This is a town of wizards right?" Natsu said while rubbing at his leg, "seems weird they'd idolize an outside guild. It can't make the local guilds feel very important."
Before the Mayor could open his mouth to reply, Lucy did so for her. "Actually Natsu, Soveria doesn't have any local guilds. Most of the wizards here only know basic forms of magic, they wouldn't be strong enough to function in a proper guild."
"Really, that's interesting." From his expression, it was clear Natsu had tuned out a great deal of the explanation, but another kick swept the look or boredom off his face.
"I feel we've gotten off track" the Mayor said, now sitting back down at his desk. "Forgive me, I was so star struck I forgot to properly introduce myself. My name is Francis Gurian, the Mayor of Soveria, and it was my request that you accepted."
Lucy held her breath for a few seconds, certain either of her friends were going to laugh at the mans name. However, while Happy simply looked on in silence, Natsu smashed his fists together with a wide grin. "Finally!. Tell me there's some big monster you need taken care of!."
Another almost childish laugh, and Gurian waved away Natsu's comment. "Oh no, nothing like that...at least I hope not. But it is a very important job, one that may very well affect the life of every wizard in Soveria."
Although he was overcome with depression at first, Natsu quickly pulled himself back together and leaned forward in his chair, an act that was in perfect unison with Lucy.
"You two...er, three..." Gurian said with another pat on Happy's head, oddly comforting the cat into a sound silence. "May very well end up saving this town."
Both on the very edge of their seats, Lucy and Natsu waited anxiously for the man to continue. Gurian suddenly stopped petting Happy, gaining the undivided attention of all three wizards as he interlocked his fingers in front of him. "Something in Soveria is stealing my citizens magical power. I need you three to figure out what's causing this, and put a stop to it."
