For the record, I'm only going to post chapters when I have the next written out. (I.e., I posted this one because I finished chapter three.)

Also, in case you haven't noticed by now, Gajeel is my chew toy.

Chapter 2 - Irien

The sun had just set when Cobalt and Ervana closed up their shops. After offering apologies to the Fairy Tail crew, the group began down the road to the Isdona household. The couple did indeed live at the very edge of the city. Their residence was a fairy large home on a hill that overlooked a majority of Altivian.

While they made their way to their destination, Lucy began to realize what that guard had meant. Cobalt and Ervana were completely off the deep end when it came to business rivalry, but once they left the stores behind, they were calm, collected, and sane. It was such a huge difference, she thought they might've been switched with better behaved duplicates or something.

Both of the pair were in their forties, with Ervana surprisingly being the elder of the two by three years. Despite her white hair and gray eyes making her seem much older, her pale skin was nearly wrinkle-free and flawless, with only some cuts and bruises here and there. She explained that heaving box after box of novels, dictionaries, and the like, some black and blues were bound to happen. One particularly nasty one was on her forehead because a large nonfiction book had dropped on her when she was rearranging the shelves. Levy said she liked the way the woman's hair stood up without gel.

Cobalt, despite his cooled name, had slanted brown eyes and distinct red hair that reminded Lucy a lot of Erza. He was very tan and also had blemishes and burns covering him. They mostly accumulated around his hands and fingers, which were callused and rough. He said that that's the price he paid for being a chef.

Soon, the five found themselves standing in front of the target household.

"Well, here we are!" Cobalt exclaimed, unlocking their front door and stepping inside. "Home sweet home!"

Once everyone was inside and the lights were turned on, the inside appearance became visible. The foyer, from what Lucy could see, led to a dining room and a kitchen on the right, and to a living room on the left. It was quaint, not unlike the houses she'd seen in the books she's read.

"Everyone, you can head for the living room," Ervana said, heading off to the right. "I'm going to make us some tea."

"Oh, bring those biscuits you made too, honey!" Cobalt called. "I'm starving!" When he turned back to the Fairy Tail mages, they were all looking at him oddly. He cocked his head to one side. "What?"

"Before, when we met, you said that your wife's cooking was pretty bad…" Levy explained. Cobalt snorted.

"Oh, don't mind what we say to each other when we're in a heated moment like that. It's just banter, nothing else. Doesn't mean anything."

"You guys sure make an… interesting couple," Lucy commented.

"Why thank ya, dear!" Cobalt grinned. When they made it over to the center of the room, he motioned to one of the couches. "Sit your rears down, kids. There's a lot to discuss and I don't think you'll wanna stand for it." Lucy and Levy took him up on the offer. Gajeel stayed standing. Cobalt raised a brow at him.

"I'm fine the way I am," Gajeel grunted. "I'm not gonna get tired just from standing here."

"Whatever floats yer boat, Needles." Gajeel made a face at the nickname.

"Needles?"

"Ya got a lotta' piercings there, Needles," Cobalt observed bluntly. "You trying to dress up as a living pincushion?"

"Now listen here, old man-!"

"Gajeel, stop it!" Levy protested. "We didn't come all this way just so you could make our clients mad at us!"

"Your girlfriend's right, Needles. So back off." Levy blushed.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" she cried.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Gajeel snapped. Lucy rolled her brown eyes.

"Come on now," Ervana's voice came. The pale woman made her way into the living room, carrying a tray on each hand – One with cups on it, and the other with a plate of cookies. She placed them on the table in between them and sat down next to her husband. "Stop teasing the kids, dear. I'm sure they want to get to work."

"Alright…" Cobalt scratched his head. "I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you kids are all so young. Barely adults and already powerful mages?"

"We're almost adults, sir," Lucy said. "Levy-chan and I are turning eighteen soon."

"Speak for yourselves," Gajeel snorted. "I am an adult."

"Still… You guys are still very young," Cobalt continued. "You sure we can trust ya with this job?"

"With all due respect, sir," Lucy began. "Age is but a number. We're all experienced wizards and can handle ourselves quite well. Not to mention, Levy-chan and I are two of the smartest in our guild."

"And what about Needles?"

"He's mostly here to entertain." Gajeel glared at Lucy hotly. Lucy ignored him. Cobalt laughed.

"Well, I can see you kids are alright. No need to worry about my teasing, I know looks can be deceiving."

"We were once mages too," Ervana clarified. "So we know how age doesn't reflect one's ability."

"You guys used magic at some point?" Levy's eyes widened.

"Yup." Cobalt pointed to himself. "I was pretty handy in the way of transformations. And my wife here," He then pointed to Ervana. "Was a decent Solid Script mage back in the days."

"No way!" Levy gasped. "You're a Solid Script mage too!? That's the magic I use!"

"Really!?" Ervana's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Oh, then you must be a bookworm as well!" She jabbed Cobalt in his side. "See? I told you she was an educated young lady!"

"Yeah, yeah, alright, dear. Ya got me." Ervana smiled at his defeat, and then turned back to Levy.

"Now you have to stop by my bookstore some time! I promise I'll give you a nice discount as a fellow Solid Script mage!" Levy was glowing at the opportunity.

"Are you serious!? Thank you, ma'am! We'll certainly stop by there!" Cobalt cleared his throat loudly. Levy laughed nervously. "O-Of course, we'll also get our meals at your place, Cobalt-san…" The man grinned at this. Lucy tapped her fingers on her knees.

"Umm… This is all fine and dandy… Buuuut… You know…"

"What Bunny Girl is trying to say is, we came here looking for a paying job," Gajeel snapped. "So quit the small talk and get on with it. Who's the person you want us to look for?" The couple lost their smiles almost immediately. Ervana gazed downwards, her albino bangs covering half of her face. Cobalt sighed.

"Our son," he said. "We want you to track down our son."

That caused Lucy and Levy's eyes to widen. Gajeel stayed stoic.

"Your… Your son?" Levy repeated.

"What happened to him?" Lucy inquired carefully. She knew it was going to be painful to hear their story, but they were on a job. It had to be done.

"A long time ago, when we were still young and lived in the city of Darnacor… We had a little boy," Ervana started. "His name was Irien. He was so bright, cheerful… There was hardly ever a frown on his face. He loved everything and everyone around him."

"Wait a minute… You said you lived in Darnacor?" Levy bit her lip nervously. "That Darnacor?"

"Levy-chan?" Lucy gazed at her friend worriedly. The bluenette's expression was troubling. "What's wrong?" Levy took in a breath.

"Darnacor was a trade center years back. It was a very prosperous area, and the businesses there flourished due to tourism and investments. But then a dark guild known as Discord Palette ravaged the place for all it was worth. They robbed buildings, destroyed half of the town, not to mention they killed many innocent people… A lot of the inhabitants were forced to flee their home and regroup elsewhere." Ervana nodded solemnly.

"That's exactly what happened," she all but whispered. "On that day, when Discord Palette attacked… That's when… That's when we…" Her chest heaved, making it obvious to the Fairy Tail group that she was trying very hard not to cry. Cobalt finished the sentence for her.

"That was the day we got separated from Irien." He narrowed his dark eyes. "When the evacuation occurred, we were shoved along in the crowd by the town's officers. It was either get out of there, or stay and die. Neither option was very appetizing, but we had no choice."

Lucy was already deeply troubled by the story. The way it was going, she didn't know if she wanted to hear the ending or not.

"As soon as we got on the train to leave, one of the members of Discord took Irien from us. They said something about a young wizard being ripe for the picking." Cobalt gripped his wife's hand in his own. "We were barely allowed to look back. We wanted to go back and rescue our son; but once we were on the train, we weren't allowed to get off. We had no way to defend ourselves against Discord, and the officers knew that. They said one more life wasn't going to make a difference in the overall death toll… That we should look after ourselves."

"Hold up," Gajeel interrupted rudely. "Excuse me for being skeptical, but what the hell do you mean by 'no way to defend yourselves'? You were mages, weren't you? Why wouldn't you use your magic to save your son and beat the crap out of that dark guild?"

"Because Discord Palette stole their magic," Levy enlightened her fellow teammate. The dark expression on the bluenette's face was scaring Lucy slightly. "Their wizards dabbled in the area of dark magic, and their specialty included stealing the magic and abilities of others."

"Correct," Cobalt said through gritted teeth. "Those bastards drained us dry of all our magic. Ervana and I are two of the few wizards who made it out alive after being stripped like that."

"Our son… Irien, he was… He was only four!" Ervana whimpered weakly. "We could hear his cries as the Discord Palette wizard made off with him… I wanted to hug him and protect him, but I…" The white woman leaned on her husband's shoulder. "I just want to see Irien again…"

"To be perfectly honest with you guys… I have very little hope that Irien isn't dead." Cobalt sighed. "Discord Palette may have taken him because he was a blossoming wizard, but our son had very weak magical powers. For all we know, they could've killed him off as soon as we left because they thought he wasn't good enough."

"Stop saying that!" Ervana cried desperately. "I hate it when you say that!"

"Sorry, hun, but I need to be blunt here. These kids might not want the job if there's doubt that Irien is even alive, so warning them is the best-"

"We'll do it."

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Lucy in surprise. Her eyes were straight forward and fierce, her lips pressed tightly in determination. "Whatever it takes, we'll find your son. We'll find Irien and bring him back to you." Levy nodded along with her.

"It will be a challenge, of course…" she said. "But we'll find a way to bring your family back together." Ervana finally let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Good god, thank you!" she sobbed. "Thank you all so much!" Cobalt gave the trio a soft smile.

"If you Fairy Tail'ers can pull this off… We'll forever be in your debt."

"Yeah, yeah…" Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Enough with this mushy bonding crap. You got anything of the kid's that I can sniff?" Cobalt and Ervana stared at the iron-eater in surprise.

"You want to… sniff something of Irien's?" Ervana asked cautiously, not sure if she heard right. "Why on earth would you…?"

"I'm a Dragonslayer," Gajeel responded. "I have a keen nose. I'll make a good tracker. Of course, we'll need more than just his scent, and I'm sure that the kid probably smells a lot different now that he's an adult – If he's alive, that is – But it's a good start. People's scents usually don't change completely as they get older. Similarities will remain, and I'm good enough to pick up on those."

"You can trust Gajeel when he says that," Lucy added. "He's like our own personal doggy!"

"Watch it, Bunny…" the dragon snarled. Cobalt scratched his chin in thought.

"Anything of Irien's, huh… I know he had a blanket and some toys, not that I can recall exactly where those are… There's a bunch of boxes in the attic to look through, but that could take who knows how long."

"Hang on one moment," Ervana said, getting to her feet. "I think I might know of something." The pale woman exited the room hurriedly, nearly tripping over her long skirt in the process. Every pair of eyes followed her form.

"Where's she going?" Lucy asked.

"Beats me," Gajeel answered derisively.

Two minutes later, Ervana made her way back to the living room. In her hands, there was a stuffed cat with a checkerboard pattern and half of its tail missing. She eagerly handed it to Gajeel, who looked just as confused as his fellow guild members.

"That was Irien's favorite toy," Ervana explained, sitting next to her husband again. "He went just about everywhere with it."

"Oh yeah, I remember that thing…" Cobalt perked up. "I remember he cut off half of the poor cat's tail because he wanted to see what made it so big. All the stuffing came out of the tail that day. Irien was upset for days because he hurt his friend."

"What a deadly case of curiosity…" Lucy murmured. "Good thing it was just a stuffed toy." Levy grinned, despite the morbid statement. The Solid Script mage looked back to their clients.

"Is there any kind of information you can give us on Irien? Like photos, a birth certificate…"

"Why would we need his birth certificate?" Gajeel checked.

"Because then we can check to see if he's been employed anywhere," Lucy said. "It's a stretch, considering that tactic might not work if Irien doesn't have a normal job, but we can try. Plus, a birth certificate will have fingerprints. Those can be very useful." Cobalt and Ervana looked at each other.

"I don't know if we still have his birth certificate…" Ervana admitted. "But we certainly have photos. Shall I get them?"

"Duh," Gajeel muttered. "We need to at least know what this kid looked like back then, even if he was only four."

"A-Alright…" Once again, Ervana was up and out of the room. When she was out of sight, Gajeel lifted the stuffed cat to his nose and took a deep whiff. Levy and Lucy glanced at him oddly.

"And you're only doing that now because…?" Lucy raised her brows.

"That woman would probably think I was a freak if she actually saw me doing this," Gajeel replied. "I don't need or want to be branded as a weirdo."

"Too late for that, Needles," Cobalt commented off-handedly. Gajeel pointedly ignored the redhead, and went back to sniffing the cat toy. Lucy and Levy were still giving him funny looks.

"You need to get the scent that many times?" Levy inquired skeptically. Gajeel pulled away from the stuffed animal and glared at her.

"Hey, give me a break. This toy is decades old, right?"

"Well, yeah… The raid by Discord Palette happened fourteen years ago. The cat's probably a little older."

"Exactly. The kid's scent is barely there. The only reason I'm getting anything off of this thing is probably because he carried it around with him all the time. If you want me to be of any help, I need to get as much of it as I can so I can remember what his overall scent is." Gajeel eyed the cat with meditative crimson eyes. "Not only that… But to a point… this thing actually smells familiar." That caught and held everyone's attention quickly.

"Familiar?" Lucy repeated. "What do you mean by familiar?"

"The hell do you think I mean, Bunny Girl?" Gajeel snorted. "I mean, while the kid's scent is faint, there's some part of it that makes me think I already know it from somewhere."

"You've met Irien before?" Cobalt's eyes were wide with hope. "He's someone you know?"

"Calm down," Gajeel grunted. "I said it smells familiar. That's it. A lot of kids tend to smell the same to me – And this toy is over a decade old. Don't get excited over nothing." Cobalt's happiness visibly deflated. Levy frowned at her teammate.

"You could've been more delicate with your wording, Gajeel…"

"Yeah, I suppose I could've," the Dragonslayer mocked.

"So, if the incident with Discord Palette happened fourteen years ago, that means Irien would be eighteen, right?" Lucy questioned Cobalt, paying no heed to her bickering guild members. "Or at least close to that."

"Yup, sure seems like that," Cobalt answered with a nod. "He'd be around your age, if a little older." He heaved another sigh. "If he is alive, I'll have missed nearly his entire life… All those years of growing up… I never even got to see my boy become a man."

"You truly loved Irien, didn't you, sir?"

"'Course I did. What parent wouldn't love his own child?" Lucy averted his gaze, biting the inside of her lip. I can think of one… she noted frostily.

Well, maybe she wasn't being fair. Her father did seem to want to patch things up with her, the last time they met… But it was hard to forget all the years of isolation and verbal abuse she had put up with from that man.

"I have them!"

Ervana came running into the room with a large photo album in her arms. She nearly tripped again when she got to the couch, but was able to regain her balance quickly. She handed the album over to the Fairy Tail wizards eagerly. "Here you go. This album contains all the pictures we have of Irien. Feel free to skim through it."

The mages did just that. Lucy parted the album covers and opened up to a central page. Immediately, she and Levy began cooing over what they saw.

"Oh my God!" Levy squealed. "He's adorable!"

"Look at those little cheeks!" Lucy laughed. "They're so chubby and cute!"

"Aww, there he is with his kitty! How sweet!"

"And here is he sleeping! Awww!"

"Oh, brother…" Gajeel moaned. Trying to ignore any more fussing from the girls, the iron-eater let his gaze wander across the photos silently. He raised a brow. "Hey, don't you guys have any color photos of him? These are all black and white."

"Oh, right." Cobalt leaned over and began flipping the pages for them. "We didn't manage to get colored shots until later on. Those are mainly in the back of the album." He stopped turning once they were almost to the end. Lucy and Levy eyed the colored photos in surprise.

"Your son, he…"

"He has pink hair?"

"Hey, just like the idiot back home," Gajeel smirked. Ervana chuckled.

"Yes, he has pink hair. We know, it's not very manly… But we expected him to come out with a solid red or white, not a mix of our hair colors."

"Because red and white make pink, Gajeel," Lucy explained.

"I know that. Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

"Let my lack of a proper response answer that." Gajeel seethed quietly at the blonde's indignation. Lucy just smiled at him. Levy was busy still looking at the pictures.

"Mmm… … …" she hummed. She brought her gaze to their clients. "Do you think we could take a few of these color photos with us back to the guild? We'll give them back, I promise."

"Uhh… sure," Cobalt replied hesitantly, glancing over at his wife for affirmation. Ervana nodded.

"Just don't take too many, please," she requested. "And try not to damage them. Those are very sentimental to us, and we want to keep them in perfect condition for as long as we can." Levy smiled.

"Of course, ma'am." Lucy blinked.

"You have an idea, Levy-chan?" Levy nodded.

"It's true that we know what Irien looked like when he was four…" she began. "But like Cobalt-san said, he'd be around our age now if he were still alive. We don't know what his physical appearance would be like."

"What's your point?" Gajeel asked.

"My point is, we can ask Reedus to make a guess." Levy looked back down at the pictures in the album. "Reedus is one of the best artists I know of, and his imagination is vast. I bet if we gave him some of these pictures, he could draw up a best estimate of what Irien would look like today!"

"That… That just might work," Lucy breathed. A wide grin spread across her face, matching Levy's nearly perfectly. "You're brilliant, Levy-chan!"

"I know, Lu-chan. Thanks!"

"In that case, can we get going now?" Gajeel huffed. "We should get this over with as soon as possible."

"You're planning on heading back to your guild now?" Cobalt asked, surprised at the dragon's words. "How do you expect to do that? The trains don't run at night, here."

"… What?"

"It's true," Ervana continued. "They shut them down after sunset every night so they can work on repairs. That's how the system works in Altivian. It's what keeps our railroads in top condition."

"Uhh…" Lucy's smile faded. "Did you guys bring enough money for a hotel? 'Cause I sure didn't. I don't even have that much to spare to begin with."

"Err…" Levy sweated. "I'm not sure…"

"You can all stay here, if you'd like," Ervana offered with a wink. "We have two spare rooms that aren't being used for anything."

"Are you serious?" Lucy gasped. The woman nodded.

"Lucy-san, you and Levy-san can sleep together in one room. Gajeel-san can use the other." Levy dipped her head in gratitude.

"Thank you very much, ma'am!" she cried. "I hope we won't be imposing on you!"

"Nonsense!" Cobalt chortled. "As long as we approve of 'em, guests are always welcome here! Now…" He rubbed his calloused hands together eagerly. "Anyone up for dinner? I could go for somethin' right now."

"How about I make us one of your recipes, dear?" Ervana suggested. "You can give them a tour of the house in the meantime."

"Sounds good to me, hun!"

"I thought Cobalt-san was the chef between you two, though…" Lucy wondered outside her head. Cobalt's brows furrowed in shock.

"You think I wanna come home and cook after I've been doin' it all day? You're crazy!"

"Right, of course. What was I thinking? Now, about payment…" Lucy bit her lip. "Cobalt-san, is there any way I can have my share of the Jewels in advance?"

"Huh? Why would you want that?"

"Well… You see…"

"Her rent's due soon and her usual teammates are idiots," Levy put it bluntly. Lucy sweated.

"M-More or less…" Cobalt scratched his chin.

"Hnn… That's quite the request…" The redhead snapped his fingers. "How 'bout this? I'll rescind the reward I wrote in the job description and pay ya guys by the day. Sound good?"

"How much per day?"

"Ten thousand Jewels."

"Hnn…" Lucy folded her arms. "I'll be cutting it close, but… I think that can work. Thank you, Cobalt-san!"

"Not a problem. Now, how 'bout that tour Ervana promised ya?"

Why is it that I always read Cobalt's dialogue in some sort of Southern hick accent? That's not supposed to be...

Soooo due to brainstorming last night, this is going to have more romance in it than I originally thought... It's still not much, but yeah. I'll try to cater to you guys. If you want more action, romance, comedy, less dialogue, more description, etc., let me know.

Debating whether or not I'm going to draw Cobalt, Ervana, and their son. I'll let ya guys know if I do.