Chapter II
Hello all! I am back with the second chapter of Embodiment of Flame: Reborn! I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter, at least a few of you did, which is always good. I hope you enjoy this one as well. That said, I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the series so far and into the future. Anyway, enough babbling, on to the reviewer responses!
trye: Well here's to hoping you enjoy this version just as much, if not more.
demonfox2140: She'll be a little bit of an asshole, the character of Gray demands it, but nowhere near the extent of the male variant. That's usually how it goes. Eventually, but not just yet. She is, in more ways than one. ;)
DragneelHarem: Nowhere, technically. Granel is the name Bakuto and I came up with for the genderswapped Gray that Mashima drew.
Skull Flame: Not immediately, but yes. Of course there are.
FanFictionHunter: Genderbent Gray, like I stated earlier.
I will bump it up once the lemons start cumming.
Jalis: There are so many different series and characters introduced so often that making a list of each new one each chapter would take up half my time, so I prefer that people just tell me which ones they don't recognize.
Wolf-Link00: Eventually.
Por que no los dos?
Phew! That does it for reviewer responses. So on to the main event now!
"So, what are you off to do?" Minerva asked Natsu curiously.
Natsu smirked and responded, "Me, Lucy, and Flare are gettin' ready to go on a job together."
"Aw…" she pouted.
Yukino blinked curiously. "Oh? What kind of job?"
Natsu just shrugged. "Dunno yet. We were just about to pick one after all."
Inside the guildhall, Natsu looked at the job request board and then grinned. "Good, it's still here." He then pulled it down and presented it to Lucy.
She looked at him, bewildered. "I thought you didn't know."
"Didn't know if it would still be here, and it was."
Lucy looked at the job request in thought, Yukino, Minerva, and Flare crowded around her to look at it as well. Lucy twitched an eyebrow before sighing and reading the request. "Hmm… wow. This person is offering two hundred thousand Jewel just to recover a lost book. That should be easy."
Natsu grinned victoriously. "Yep. Easy money for you, Lucy."
Yukino blinked and then pointed to a lower section of the job request. "Look at this."
Lucy twitched an eyebrow. "You've gotta be kidding… the person we're going to take this book from is… an old pervert looking to hire blonde maids… hey!" Lucy looked at Natsu annoyed. "You tricked me!"
Natsu snickered. "C'mon… you said you'd do it."
Leone heard the shouting and came over to investigate.
Lucy sighed in frustration. "Grr… fine."
"What's all the noise?" the blonde asked.
Natsu turned to her swiftly and answered, "N – Nothin'!"
"Okay…? What's this?" she asked as noticed the job in Lucy's hand and took it. Twitching an eyebrow, she looked at Natsu. "… Natsu!"
"Eep!"
"Why didn't you ask me!?"
Natsu merely floundered without an answer.
"Don't you know I look great in a maid outfit!?"
Natsu and Lucy both looked at her in disbelief.
"Well? Can I cum too?"
"I – I think we're okay…" Natsu argued weakly.
"Aw… but double the blonde, double the fun!"
Lucy turned to Natsu and argued, "Look, I'm not really thrilled to get into a maid costume for some old pervert, so why not let… um, who are you again?"
"It's Leone."
"Right. So why not let Leone do it?"
"So can I join you or not?"
Natsu finally sighed in defeat. "Okay, more the merrier. But Lucy gets the money."
Leone pouted in response. "Fine. Then you have to give me a drink."
The pink-haired teen nodded in response. "I'll be sure to buy you a large bottle of Moonlight and a gallon of milk."
The blonde grinned brightly before hugging him tightly into her cleavage. "You're such a good boy!"
The others in the room just glared at her, she just grinned.
Later, Natsu, Lucy, Leone, Flare, and Happy made their way towards the location of the quest-giver, Shirotsume Town.
As they were riding to the location via cart, Natsu avoided motion sickness as he slept, using Flare's lap as a pillow.
Leone pouted. "No fair Flare…"
The redhead just smirked.
Lucy twitched an eyebrow as she looked at the sleeping Natsu. "There's just something not right about this…"
"I know…" Leone commented, "he should be on my lap."
Lucy just stared at her incredulously.
"What? You want him on your lap?"
"No!"
Flare narrowed her eyes before a chunk of her hair wrapped around Lucy's mouth. "No shouting."
Lucy huffed with a muffled voice.
"You gonna be quiet?"
She nodded quietly.
Flare pulled the hair away and then pulled out a bottle from her cleavage and took a swig.
Lucy blinked in confusion. "You drink?"
"Nope."
"Then what's that?"
"Nothing you need to worry about."
"… Right…"
After a moment, Leone pulled Lucy to the side.
"H – Huh? What is it?" she asked in confusion.
"Try not to look at Natsu and Flare's little display too sideways, okay?"
"Huh?"
"That whole lying on her lap thing."
"Ah… Yeah, that's… pretty weird."
"It's something they've always done. Ever since they were little, Natsu and Flare have always been together. After Natsu's surrogate mother, Igneel, vanished, Natsu wandered on his own for a while before he met up with Flare. They wandered the country by themselves for a while before they found their way to Fairy Tail."
"Wow…"
"Yeah, kid's had a pretty interesting upbringing."
"Yeah." After a moment Lucy asked, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why'd you join Fairy Tail?"
Leone just shrugged with a smirk. "Simple. I thought it'd be more fun than the Guild I was in before."
"Ah. That is pretty simple…"
"Yep."
"We're here," Flare interjected as the cart they were in approached the town in question.
"Natsu, it's time to wake up," Flare said softly as she tapped his shoulder.
Natsu groaned before sitting up and stretching with a grin. "Man, I feel great!" His stomach then growled loudly. "Huh… well I say it's time to eat!"
As the group walked out of the carriage, Leone grabbed Lucy's arm. "Oy, you two have a good meal. Lugia and me have somethin' to do."
"That's not even close!" Lucy snapped.
"Sounds good!" Natsu said with a grin as he, Flare, and Happy made their way to a restaurant.
"Now let's go, Lasagna!"
"You're not even trying!"
Shortly later, Lucy and Leone walked into a shop and looked at the various maid-like outfits available.
Lucy looked at one of the outfits in particular and gulped. "… These are some weird maid uniforms…"
"Ah, come on, they're awesome, Ludwig!"
Lucy sighed heavily before slumping her shoulders. "I give up…"
"Give what up, Lucy?"
She looked at her fellow blonde in annoyed surprise. "You can say it correctly!"
"Why the shout, Luffy?"
"Okay, now I can't tell if you're really this stupid or you're just screwing with me…"
Leone merely grinned, causing Lucy to sigh heavily.
As Natsu, Flare, and Happy ate their meal, they heard Leone call out to them.
The three turned and Natsu gaped when they saw both Lucy and Leone standing nearby, wearing black and white, frilled, French maid uniforms with black vests that cupped under their breasts, white, button-down blouses that hung tight around their chests with puffed, short sleeves with frilled cuffs, short black skirts, white, frilled aprons, thigh-high white socks, black, formal shoes, and white hairbands atop their heads.
Natsu stopped eating mid-bite and dropped his fork. "Wh – Whoa… Beautiful…"
Lucy's face turned bright, causing Leone to smirk and Flare to glare angrily.
Flare frowned deeply. 'Maybe I should get one…'
Seeing her expression, Happy could not help but snicker. "What'cha thinking?"
Flare responded by wordlessly slapping him with a length of hair.
"So, where to now?" Lucy asked.
Leone answered, "We need to go to the client's residence."
The others nodded.
"And where is that…?" Lucy questioned.
Eventually, Natsu and the others arrived at a modest cottage on the edge of the city.
"This is the place?" Happy asked curiously.
"Well… I think so," Natsu answered unsurely.
"Well, let's find out," Lucy added as she knocked on the door.
"U – Uh, one moment," a voice from within answered.
As the door opened, Natsu and the others saw a tall, aged man with short, unkempt grey hair, a noticeably small, dark grey mustache just under his nose, and squinted eyes wearing a tattered green suit with a white shirt and red tie. "Hello? Who are you?"
"We are the mages you hire," Lucy said happily.
"Oh thank goodness. My name is Kaby Melon," the man greeted. "Please, come inside."
Kaby and a woman with him with waist-length brown hair and squinted eyes wearing a tattered pink dress with vertical stripes and a green necklace led the group a rather roomy lounge with an L-shaped sofa in front of a coffee table that sat opposite a somewhat smaller sofa.
"So, where exactly is this book you want?" Lucy asked.
Kaby sighed heavily. "Well… it's currently in the hands of a man named Everlue."
"Who?" Leone wondered.
"So you just want us to get the book for you, right?" Natsu asked.
Kaby shook his head. "No, I want you to destroy it."
"Seriously?!" Lucy asked in surprise. "You're paying two hundred thousand Jewel for that?"
Kaby shook his head. "No, the reward has been increased to two million."
Lucy and the others gaped in shock.
"T – Two million!?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief.
Leone grabbed Natsu by the collar and shook him violently. "I'm getting a cut!" she shouted, the teen only mumbling incoherently.
Lucy tried to ignore the noise. "Y – You really want this book destroyed, huh…?"
Kaby nodded.
"Why do you want it destroyed so badly?"
Kaby clasped his hands together tensely. "I simply can't allow it to exist."
The others frowned in thought as they looked at each other.
"That doesn't explain anything…" Lucy complained.
Kaby bowed deeply. "Please… just destroy it."
"Right," Natsu answered with a smirk.
Later, Natsu, Lucy, Leone, Flare, and Happy stood several paces away from a large, elaborate mansion with a gate encompassing the border.
"Wow. I guess that's Everlue's mansion," Lucy noted as they looked over the large structure.
Happy nodded in equal surprise. "Yep."
"Most likely," Leone commented.
"So what now? We bust in there and burn up the book?" Natsu asked.
"No, you idiot!" chided Lucy.
Leone explained, "Lucy and I will go up there, try to apply for the job, and then look for that book."
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you're actually gonna go in there and work as this guy's maids?"
"Well, duh," Lucy answered bluntly. "That's what the job was about from the beginning, remember?"
"Just to get the book," Leone added.
Natsu turned back to the mansion and tightened a fist slightly.
Leone smacked him on the shoulder. "Oy, don't worry. We'll be fine. If need be, we'll just blow the place up."
"Wish we could just do that from the beginning."
Lucy sighed in frustration. "… Just let us do our part, okay?"
Natsu turned to her incredulously. "Alright, if you say so. But if I smell trouble I'm bustin' in there."
"You'll probably bust in no matter what," Lucy remarked snidely.
"Oh big time," Leone agreed as the two walked up to the mansion.
Shortly later, the two stood in front of a large metal gate attached to a tall brick wall that surrounded an extravagant mansion.
"Okay… so we just ring this I guess," Lucy posited as they stood in front of a knocker attached to a button.
"Yup," Leone noted as she rung it repeatedly.
However, moments after they did, the ground rumbled furiously.
"What the…?" Lucy muttered in bewilderment.
Suddenly, a large, grotesque woman with monstrous features and short pink burst up from the ground, startling them both. "You must be here because of my master's request for maids."
Leone gaped in disbelief as Lucy stammered, "Y – Y – Yes, we are…!"
"Oh master!" the beastly woman shouted.
At that moment a short, plump man with skinny arms and legs, sporting a curled mustache which directly protruded from his nostrils, as well as a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head, wearing a formal black suit, with his jacket fastened with a large gold button and adorned with a decorative red flower, beneath his jacket was a white collared shirt, a blue necktie and dark blue boots emerged from the ground as well.
"… Eh?" the two blondes muttered in matching disbelief.
"Oh-hoh! So you two are the new maid candidates, are you? I am Everlue, master of this mansion."
The two shivered in discontent as the man walked towards them.
"I – I see…" Lucy replied, trying to keep her composure.
Everlue walked towards them and puts his hands on their chins to examine their faces, noticing the temperature rise sharply, before stepping back and sneering. "Ugly."
"Hah?" Leone snapped, a vein popping in her forehead.
"Tch, off with you."
"H – Huh, why!?" Lucy argued in disbelief.
"I would never hire such hideous maids." The plump man was almost instantly surrounded by multiple maids of rather aberrant appearance. "I only hire the peak of perfection!"
"… I think I'm gonna hurl…" Happy groaned as he and Natsu watched.
Lucy and Leone gaped in disbelief.
Lucy clenched a fist with a tic mark and angry smile. "Why you little…"
Leone sighed and grabbed her fellow blonde by the shoulder and pulled her away.
Shortly later, Lucy and Leone joined back up with Natsu and Happy, Natsu feeling rather perturbed.
"Wow, he rejected you hard," Happy teased.
The two slumped their shoulders in dejection.
Natsu snarled and cracked his knuckles. "That midget's gonna get it. Calling you two ugly…"
Lucy looked at him in surprise as Leone pulled him into her cleavage with a grin. "C'mon, cool it. That little shit's standards are obviously upside down. So calm down in my bosom!"
Lucy sighed in frustration. "Well that plan was a total failure, so that really only leaves one option."
"We bring down the house!"
"No, you stupid cat!" Lucy rejected harshly. "We sneak in to get the book."
"I like Happy's idea more," Natsu added.
"Aww…" Happy pouted. "I want explosions…"
Natsu, a dark grin on his face, replied, "Oh you'll get 'em Happy."
"Oh great…" Lucy murmured. "He's lost control…"
"And it'll be a masterpiece of an explosion!"
Happy nodded fervently. "Yeah! Because art's an explosion!"
Lucy shouted, "Hey! It's too early in the story for that catchphrase!"
"Aw…"
Shortly later, the group snuck towards the side of mansion.
Flare hummed in thought as she looked around.
"So, what's the plan?" Lucy asked. Looking around, she then posited, "Will we –?"
Her suggestions were cut short as Natsu merely barreled into the mansion, his fists alight with flame as he blasted a hole in the wall. "Banzai!"
"HHUUHH!?"
Flare blinked in thought. "That took longer than I thought."
Leone nodded as she stuck out a hand. "Yup. Pay up."
"Tch… lucky guess," the redhead hissed as she dropped several coins in Leone's hand, who just grinned confidently.
Lucy gaped in disbelief. "You bet on that!?"
"We bet on everything. The latest bet is on how long until you're just like the rest of us."
Lucy inched away from her in trepidation. "Wh – What does… that mean?"
"You'll see when the bet's won."
"Right…"
Once inside, Lucy looked around the extravagant mansion with awe and annoyance simultaneously. "So gaudy." She then immediately noticed Leone, Flare, and Natsu looting whatever they could. "Oy!"
"Come on, let's find that –!" Natsu began but was interrupted by four of Everlue's maids who appeared around the group. He snarled at them. "Out of my way, ya ugly ogres!"
Natsu, glaring with annoyed anger, demanded, "I said move."
The maids paled and immediately began running away in fright.
"W – Wow…" Lucy muttered in shock.
"Natsu's really protective of those he cares about," Flare explained. "He can get pretty scary when he's mad."
"Aye! Like that time with that crazy plant and Erza!" Happy shouted.
"Crazy plant? Wait, the Erza?!" Lucy shouted in surprise.
"Yeah, heard of her?" Leone asked.
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, she sounds so cool! But, you know, I've never seen a picture of her. What's she like?"
Flare explained, "She's powerful. And a masochist."
"… Eh?"
Leone retorted, "She tends to like it when Natsu's forceful with her."
Lucy blinked several times before her face turned vibrantly red.
Grinning, Leone added, "Want him to be forceful with you?"
"Shut it!" Lucy shouted, her face increasingly red.
Leone just kept grinning as Flare lamented, "Great… another to compete with…"
"The hell does that mean?!" Lucy hollered before the gigantic maid burst up through the floor and landed on Natsu.
The girls gaped in shock before Natsu released a blast of flames and sent the maid slamming into the ceiling and then back onto the ground, unconscious. "Stupid ugly gorilla!"
Leone could no longer contain her amusement and belted out laughing.
"And she's lost it," Flare noted as Leone almost fell to the floor cackling.
Natsu stared at the guffawing blonde in confusion. "Oy, what's so funny?"
Trying to suppress her laughing, Leone responded between chuckles, "I… It… It's a… a long story…!"
Lucy sighed as Leone just kept howling. "… Let's just get going… Okay, now we need to find the library."
It did not take the group long to do so when they found a huge library filled with hundreds of books.
Lucy looked around in shock. "S – So many… how will we find one specific book in here…?"
"Why not just burn it all?" Natsu posited as Flare ignited her hair.
Lucy sighed and chided, "Because that'd be overkill."
"No, a Roar would be overkill," Flare argued.
"It'd also be fast," Natsu added.
"Let's try and find the book without destroying everything!" Lucy shouted.
Flare just shrugged. "Fine, we still need to loot everything anyway."
"Fine…" Natsu groaned as Lucy just stared in disbelief. After a short search Natsu saw a large book titled "Daybreak" lying on a pedestal. "Hey! I found it!" Natsu picked it up and prepared to burn it but was stopped by Lucy.
She widened her eyes and urged, "No, wait!"
"Huh? Why?"
"That book was written by the legendary Kemu Zaleon! I'm a huge fan of his books, I can't let the book be destroyed without reading it first!"
"… Why?"
Everlue suddenly burst up through a hole in the ground and shouted, "How dare you break into my house!"
Natsu turned to the man and grinned deviously.
Lucy merely ignored him and started reading the book.
Everlue gaped and then growled. "Wha…?! You little brat, how dare you ignore me! Vanish Brothers, get out here and do what I pay you for!"
"Vanish Brothers?" Natsu asked with confusion.
At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the room.
The first, smaller figure was a tall man with a mostly shaved head of black hair, in a queue style, slanted black eyes, and four red symbols tattooed on his face wearing a white tunic with a high collar, possessing dark stripes on the loose cuffs and flanking the fastener crossing the chest vertically, a pair of mildly loose dark green pants, getting tighter in correspondence to his ankles, and traditional, dark eastern-style shoes paired with light socks, holding a large frying pan. "I am the older brother."
The second, large figure, was an extremely tall man with long, dark blue, curly hair, which was arranged in a distinctive hairstyle, with four large, straight tufts jutting upwards on top of his head, getting smaller near their outer edges, with narrow black eyes wearing a red bandana with black markings on it, his outfit, unlike that of his brother, was western in look, consisting of a blue sweatshirt, with slightly puffy sleeves reaching below his elbows, adorned by wavy yellow markings on the shoulder and the sleeve areas, and bearing three light, diagonal stripes on each side of the torso, simple light blue pants and grey trainers. "And I am the younger brother."
"… They look weird," Flare noted, hiding behind Natsu.
"They look dumb," Natsu remarked flippantly.
Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. "This book… Natsu! Keep those guys busy while I try to discover this book's secret!"
"Alright!"
'Did she forget I was here…?' Flare lamented.
Everlue snarled in annoyance. "You annoying bint! I won't let you!" He then chased after the blonde, whom immediately began to outrun him.
Natsu growled at the short man before the Younger Brother whacked him from behind. "Don't ignore us!"
"Hey!" he snarled back.
"Tch, give up now, wizard. You're helpless against us," the Older Brother taunted.
"… Are you two just complete morons?"
"So we developed techniques to nullify your magic!"
Natsu blinked in confusion and then began laughing loudly. "You're a really big idiot!"
The older brother vanished with his frying pan instantly.
"Let's see how much you laugh against our Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack!" the younger brother shouted proudly.
Natsu looked around for the older brother. "The he –?"
However the younger brother surged forth, taking advantage of Natsu's distractedness, and kicked him hard. "If you look at the heavens, the earth will knock you down!"
Natsu hissed in irritation. "Tch, lucky shot!" He then began to attack the younger brother but the older brother appeared behind him and hit him with the frying pan.
"And if you try to stay on earth, the heavens will take you out!" the older brother chanted.
Natsu grunted in annoyance. "Fine, then I'll just even the odds!"
"Hah! And how do you plan on doing that!?"
Natsu then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.
"Like I'll let you do that!" the older brother remarked as he appeared behind Natsu, only for the pinkette to kick his foot back, nailing the older brother between the legs and knocking him down.
"Brother!" the younger brother shouted before charging at Natsu when he was suddenly ensnared by a whip of red hair.
"Begone, gnat," she cursed before lighting him on fire and slamming him through a wall.
Natsu hissed in irritation. "Tch, I didn't even get to summon Ophi. You guys suck, you know that!"
The younger brother merely coughed out a puff of smoke.
Natsu glanced to the side and saw that the monstrous maid was starting to glow and shimmer. "Oh no ya don't ya pink gorilla!" he shouted before jumping up and landing on her back as she vanished, Leone laughing madly.
When he reopened his eyes, he looked around and realized he was in a new location, one with an endless night sky filled with stars. "Wait… where am I now…?"
The monstrous maid growled before grabbing him off her back. "Get off!" she shouted before throwing him down.
Natsu screamed as he fell before landing on the ground below.
He groaned in pain before sitting up and looking around. He realized he was sitting on a white brick pathway bordered by tall white pillars leading out to a large gazebo on one end and a large throne on the other.
"Oh? A visitor? How unusual," a female voice remarked.
Natsu turned and saw a young woman with long, wavy, flowing blonde hair that reached her knees, with multiple light blonde accents a long section of hair sticking out to one side with a blue-green tip and red eyes wearing a white tube top that exposed very little of her moderate bust, a short white skirt with multicolored accents that tied over her left hip, knee-high white, pink, and brown boots with red bows, shoulder-length brown and pink gloves with matching red ties, white wrist guards, a brown choker with a green jewel on the front, and a series of black straps over her shoulders and midsection walking towards him. "… Hot…"
The woman tilted her head in confusion. "No, I'm fine."
He blinked in thought and asked, "Who the hell are you?"
The woman chuckled in amusement and answered, "I am Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits."
"… Never heard of ya."
"… E – Eh?" Maxwell folded her arms in thought and then explained, "I am the one who rules over all of the Celestial Spirits. Their queen, I suppose you could say."
"It's not Ophi?"
"Ophi? Ah, you must mean Ophiuchus."
"Too long a name to remember. So… where are we?"
"The Spirit Realm."
"Right…"
"This one seems rather dim," a new, playful voice remarked as a tall, slender woman with fair skin, long, wavy blue-green hair that parted at her forehead and draped down slightly past her chin on the front and seemed longer than her legs, pointed ears with blue tips, green-yellow eyes, and slightly above average-sized breasts wearing an extravagant outfit that consisted of a central, sleeveless blouse with a blue collar that had extensions going down to her feet, along with a cape that reached to her feet, blue and green, shin-high high-heeled boots that were attached to a small piece of white clothing covering her shapely bottom and front, and shoulder-length gloves with blue, green, and red rings on them floated down to the area with large, silver-blue, butterfly-like wings.
Maxwell nodded in agreement.
"A bit like you at times."
Maxwell looked at her, annoyed. "That was uncalled for, Muzet. You don't have to put it so bluntly."
"And yet it's true."
"Huh? Who are you?" Natsu asked.
With a smile, the winged woman answered, "I'm Milla's older sister, Muzet." Muzet turned to Maxwell and asked, "So, how did this one get here?"
"I'm not entirely certain. It's possible he happened to arrive here on Virgo's back," Maxwell explained.
Frowning somewhat, Muzet asked, "Is she still stuck in that hideous form?"
Maxwell sighed deeply. "Sadly, yes… Her current Master must hate her, to force her to be something she's not."
Natsu tilted his head curiously. "What are you talking about?"
"I assume you met that overly large maid?"
"You mean that gorilla?"
"She's not a gorilla."
"Then why's she so huge?"
"That woman is Virgo, one of the Celestial Zodiac Spirits. Her appearance changes to fit her Master, meaning her current Master is forcing her into that hideous form."
"Seems to fit with that little goblin's preferences."
Maxwell frowned deeply. "She's contracted to a Goblin?"
"A short little asshole who called Lucy and Leone ugly."
"… Kill him."
"It's against the rules of magic guilds to kill. Or something like that."
Maxwell frowned somewhat. "Mavis has gone soft."
"Who?"
"A mage I knew long ago. I guess she mustn't be around much anymore. Well, that said, I suppose I'll give you a small reward for surviving this long in the Spirit Realm, and a way to deal with that pest."
"Huh?" Natsu asked curiously.
"Hold out your hand."
Natsu nodded and extended his hand, into which Maxwell placed a golden key with a red mark near the base and a shape that resembled a lion's head. "What's this?"
"This is the key to summon Leo, the Golden Lion. She currently has no Master, so I'll give her to you as a reward. Take care of her. Now, Muzet, send our little friend back to his home."
"Understood," Muzet answered as a sphere of energy appeared around Natsu and vanished, taking him with it.
Natsu found himself in a sewer tunnel full of holes and saw the monstrous maid standing nearby, and then turned and saw Lucy, pinned to the ground with Everlue holding her arms.
"Alright you little brat! Tell me what the secret of Daybreak is or I'll break your arms!" Everlue threatened.
"Like I'll tell you!" Lucy retorted.
"Get off her!" Natsu shouted as he punched Everlue away from Lucy with a flaming fist. "You damn midget!"
"How dare you hit me!" Everlue growled.
"I'll hit a monster like you any time I want!"
"Virgo, crush this fool!"
"Yes, Master," the monstrous maid, Virgo, responded.
"I still can't believe that thing's a Celestial Spirit!" Lucy shouted as Virgo swung at Natsu.
Natsu ducked under the attack before upper cutting Virgo with a flaming fist and then rearing his fist back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He sent a punch at the monstrous Spirit that exploded on impact and caused Virgo to dispel. Natsu sighed in relief and then turned to Everlue. "Good, now to pummel the midget."
Everlue paled in fear. "W – w – wait!"
"I don't like waiting," Natsu said with a cruel grin as he cracked his knuckles.
"P – Please, wait just a moment!"
"Okay," Natsu answered plainly.
"Oh go –" Everlue began with a sigh before Natsu socked him in the face.
"Moment's up!"
Lucy gaped as Natsu began beating Everlue brutally.
"So… what'd I miss?" Leone questioned as she walked up to the scene.
Natsu sighed in relief as he finished beating Everlue. "There, all done."
"Guess I missed a lot," she commented before taking a swig from a bottle of liquor she obviously stole.
With a grin, he lit his hands with fire and looked at Daybreak. "Now… let's burn it."
However, the mansion began rumbling violently.
"What now…?" Lucy asked in worry.
"… What was that?" Flare questioned, looking at Leone.
"The bombs," she answered.
"Oh. That was a delayed detonation."
"Yep. Had to make sure none of the booze was wasted and we had time to get out."
"Are none of you worried about this!?" Lucy hollered.
"Why should we be?" all three asked.
"Right, let's get going," Natsu remarked before grabbing all three girls and leaping out through one of the holes in the ground.
"Wait for me!" Happy pleaded frantically as he followed the group.
Natsu jumped out of the hole with the girls right as the mansion collapsed, narrowly avoiding getting crushed.
"Too close…" Lucy moaned.
"Really?" Flare retorted.
Natsu grinned. "You should be proud, Lucy."
"Why…?"
"You're keeping up the Fairy Tail tradition of causing mayhem!"
Lucy sighed and urged, "Let's just get this book back to Kaby."
"Eh? Why?"
"He needs to see this."
"We did it!" Natsu cheered as he and the others walked into Kaby's home.
"Y – You did?!" Kaby asked in surprise. However, his face turned sour when he noticed Lucy holding the book. "Wh – What?! I told you to destroy it, not bring it back!"
"Loomy said you need to see it," Leone commented, eliciting a silent glare from Lucy.
Lucy frowned slightly. "You should see this first. I know now why you wanted us to destroy it."
Kaby stiffened as she continued.
"To protect your father's legacy."
Kaby tensed and then sighed heavily. "Yes… Kemu Zaleon, or rather, Zekua Melon, was my father."
Leone frowned slightly. 'Explains how he could afford two mill for a job…'
"But why? Why would you want to destroy your father's last work?"
"Because…" Kaby tightened his fists before sighing and explaining, "I harbored great resentment to my father, he left our family for over three years without any contact. Then, when he returned, he swore to never write again and amputated his writing hand. He died shortly thereafter, and my rage turned to remorse. So I wanted to destroy that book to save my father's honor as a great writer. Not have his last work be some aggrandizing nonsense he was forced to write by a self-obsessed maniac."
"But it's not…" Lucy sighed as Kaby lit a match to burn the book.
"At least, with this, I can –" however, before he could burn the book, wind in the room suddenly blew through, putting out the match before the book opened on its own and the words in the book burst forth, rearranging themselves, the title also changing from "Daybreak" to "Dear Kaby". "Wh – What…?"
"Told you. I actually read the book before we brought it back," Lucy explained. "Your father, Zekua, was actually a mage, and he used Writing Magic to encode a message in the pages of that book. Even while Everlue had him slaving away at it, all he did was write that book especially for you, Kaby."
Kaby started reading the new contents of the book as his eyes widened and began to fill with tears.
Leone noticed Natsu's expression and frowned. 'Oh we are so not getting paid…'
After a moment, Natsu sighed and remarked, "Hey, Kaby, don't worry about that reward."
'Ah hell…'
"WHAT!?" Lucy exclaimed.
"Natsu!" Flare shouted.
"The mission was to destroy the book, and we failed," Natsu explained. "It wouldn't be right to take the money for a failed job, it'd ruin Fairy Tail's name. Besides, he doesn't have enough money anyway."
Leone's eyebrow twitched furiously. 'Don't strangle Natsu… don't strangle Natsu…'
Kaby stiffened and paled.
"Huh?" Lucy asked.
"I know what rich people smell like," Natsu explained. "They smell different than most people. He's not rich."
Kaby sighed heavily. "… Yes, you're right. I only rented this house so you people would believe I was wealthy and would help me with this task."
Leone stared in disbelief.
"You mean…?" Lucy trailed off, dismayed.
"Yes… I wouldn't have been able to pay you even if you destroyed the book."
Leone's frown deepened. '… Bullshit… If that was true he'd never get away with posting the job in the first place…'
Natsu patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it!"
The girls slumped their shoulders in disappointment.
"Okay guys, let's go home!"
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
"… Aye…" the girls muttered in quiet despair.
As they walked out of the house, Lucy groaned in defeat. "Aw man… how am I gonna pay rent…?"
Leone hummed, as if in thought.
"Something on your mind?" Natsu asked, falling into the trap.
"Just wondering how they managed to get the job past the Guild Association if they didn't have the money to pay the reward."
Flare explained, "The Guild offers payment plans in case the client can't pay everything up front."
Leone then noticed Lucy staring with a dead-eyed disbelief. "What's up, Lobby?"
In shock, the blonde mumbled, "You mean… we could… have gotten paid…?"
"Eventually," Flare answered.
"You lost me rent and food money!" Lucy shouted as she strangled Natsu, getting only grunts out of him.
Leone just snickered before Lucy dropped Natsu and pouted. "Hey, I don't wanna hear it. I don't know if I'll be able to pay for my dorm."
"There are dorms?!"
"Yeah. The rent is a hundred thousand Jewel a month."
Lucy stiffened in shock. "W – Wow… I can barely afford my seventy thousand Jewel a month rent…"
Flare blinked curiously, noticing Natsu frowning in thought. "Natsu…?"
Natsu offered, "You could stay at Flare and my place."
Lucy looked at him in shock. "S – Seriously?"
"Yep!"
Her excitement became suspicion for a moment. "… It's not some kind of hovel, is it?"
Without a moment's pause, Flare responded, "Yes. It's disgusting. You would never want to live there."
"Huh? But it's n –" he began to argue, Flare stopping him.
Lucy frowned suspiciously before Leone explained, "It's actually a nice little place out in the forest. Don't believe Flare, she cares about Natsu too much to let him live in filth."
"Ah…" she muttered, listening.
"So I wouldn't think it be bad if you don't want to pay your rent for that apartment."
Natsu stopped and turned to the side. "Hey, this way's a shortcut."
"Oh real –?" Lucy began but stopped when she saw that Natsu's supposed shortcut was a swamp, causing her to kick him. "You idiot! I'm not walking through that!"
Natsu outstretched his hands, causing black flames to emerge from his palms and form discs that floated above the ground. "Come on, hop on."
"Hhuuhh!? Are you crazy?! I'll get burned!"
Flare immediately stepped up on one of the discs and sat down.
"Dibs on his back!" Leone cheered before latching onto him from behind.
"What?!"
"Natsu has full control of these flames," Flare explained. "They won't burn you."
Lucy gulped and then placed her hand on the disc of flames, widening her eyes. "Huh? It's not even hot." She then proceeded to sit on the disc in surprise. "Wow…"
"Told you," Flare taunted, just eliciting a glare from the blonde.
Natsu then started walking through the swamp, his flames carrying the two girls as Happy floated behind him.
As he walked, he twitched an eyebrow, trying to ignore Leone rubbing her bosom against his head.
Leone pouted in disappointment, causing Flare to smirk. Smirking confidently, Leone leaned up slightly, her cleavage almost burying the teen's head, only for her to get smacked down by a hair whip from Flare. "Hey!"
"No cheating," Flare chided.
"You shoulda called the back first, then!"
Lucy just sighed as she watched the two, before Happy teased, "You liiiiiiiike him, Lucy."
"Shut it, you stupid cat!" she shot back, Natsu just continuing to walk.
As Natsu walked out of the swamp, his flames still carrying the girls, he said, "Alright, we're through the swamp."
Lucy, whom had fallen asleep on the disc she was floating on, groaned as she woke up. "H – Huh? Oh, sorry, I fell asleep."
"Dreamin' of Natsu?" Happy teased.
"No!"
Flare sighed as she stepped off the disc when Natsu dispelled them, causing Lucy to hit the ground.
"Ready to go?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah…" Lucy remarked as she rubbed her bum before standing up.
"Well that was embarrassing," Flare taunted with a smirk.
Lucy just frowned, then Leone, still riding on Natsu's back, questioned, "What's wrong, Lana?"
"Forget it," she groaned.
"Don't let Flare bother you Lulu. She doesn't take well to new girls in the harem."
"I'm not a part of this!" she instantly shot back.
"You will be," Leone and Flare both replied in unison.
"There's even bets on when," Leone noted.
Lucy just gaped before Flare turned to Leone, annoyed. "Get off him," she demanded, only for Leone to stick her tongue out childishly, prompting Flare to wrap her in a hair tendril and toss her off of Natsu and into a bush, where a new voice shouted in surprise.
"Hey! Get off!" Granel shouted as Leone landed on top of her.
"What are you doing in there?" Natsu asked with confusion.
"I'll answer when fatass gets off me," Granel snarled, resulting in Leone whacking her, hard. "Gah! Not my boobs ya crazy woman!"
Lucy and Natsu just watched in silence.
"Get… off!" Granel demanded.
"Then apologize first, ice cream tits!"
Happy suddenly cheered, "Catfight!"
"You're the only damn cat!" Lucy snarled before Natsu suddenly stepped in and pushed the two apart.
"Enough!" he shouted, before blinking when he noticed their surprised expressions and looked down to see his hands on both of their chests. Almost on instinct he gave each of their bosoms a squeeze.
Lucy gaped in disbelief.
"Somethin' wrong?" Happy questioned.
Lucy just sighed.
"So why're you here?" Natsu questioned Granel.
"A bunch of stupid Dark Mages."
"Oh…?" Natsu asked with annoyed interest.
A man with orange hair suddenly burst from the bushes and grabbed Happy.
"Huh?!" Natsu growled.
"So they're back!" Granel shouted, readying her magic.
A second orange-haired man looked at Happy hungrily. "Aw man, I haven't eaten in days, let's hurry and fry him up!"
Natsu paled in horror. "Gah! If they do Lisanna will kill me!"
"That's your problem!" Lucy shouted.
"HELP!" Happy shrieked.
"Let him go you creeps!" Natsu howled as he charged at them with flaming fists.
"Hu –?" the first mage grunted before getting sent flying by Natsu.
"If you're hungry, I got a couple sandwiches for ya!"
"Huh? Reall – ?" the second mage asked before getting punched in the mouth. "Oh… knuckle sandwiches…"
The two orange-haired mages stood weakly and sent out bolts of lightning, which Natsu easily dodged, and spin-kicked, taking out the two mages.
Granel formed her right hand into a fist and slammed it against her open left palm, the air around her hands freezing before she thrust her hands forward and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" causing a magic circle to appear in front of her, sending out multiple arrows of ice that knocked out the remaining mages.
Natsu and Granel lined them up against a nearby tree and Granel froze them all against the tree.
"Okay, start talking, or else," Granel warned as Natsu lit up his hands with fire and a sadistic grin.
"Alright, alright, what do you want to know?!" the first orange-haired mage shouted fearfully.
"Who are you guys, and why were you digging up that old temple?"
"W – We… can't say…" the second orange-haired mage muttered timidly.
"Oh?" Natsu questioned as he cracked his knuckles. "How 'bout if I smash something important?"
Another of the mages, a short goblin, shouted frightfully, "Eisenwald! We're with Eisenwald!"
"Dammit…" the first orange-haired mage lamented, "and we were so close to Lull –"
However, before he could finish his sentence, a giant hand made of shadow appeared from the distance, grabbed the tree, and pulled it and the mages, underground, crushing them.
"What the hell!?" Natsu exclaimed. "… Well that happened."
"Great…" Granel groaned, "come on, let's head back."
"Why?"
"Erza's on her way back, and I wouldn't want to be the one who arrives late."
Natsu frowned in confusion. "… Why?"
Granel twitched an eyebrow before sighing. "Right… I forgot she actually likes you."
"And Mira!" Happy chimed in.
Sometime later, the group made their way back to the guild.
After looking around, Granel sighed in relief. "Good, we made it back before Erza."
"Is she really that scary?" Lucy asked.
Natsu shrugged. "Not really. She can be pretty strict though."
Leone added, "I'm S-Class, but even I'm scared of her."
Lucy blinked in confusion. "S-Class?"
Flare nodded in response. "Oh, right. You don't know. Fairy Tail mages exist in two tiers. Standard mages, like you, Natsu, and virtually everyone in the guild. Then there's the S-Class mages. They are the mages who have taken a rigorous test and proven themselves worthy to take on missions that are too dangerous or risky for the average mage. Currently, Fairy Tail only has six S-Class mages. Erza and Mira are among them."
"Oy, so am I," Leone snapped.
"I consider your membership a fluke."
Leone twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "Wanna test that, spitfire?"
"Ah, you're back," Mirajane said happily as the group walked towards the bar. "How'd the job go?"
Lucy slumped shoulders and groaned in frustration.
"That bad, huh? I'm guessing Natsu refused the payment again?"
The blonde cried waterfall tears. "It was two million he refused!"
Mirajane laughed lightly. "Thought so. His heart's in the right place. He thinks that if the job isn't completed exactly as requested then it's failed. It's just one of the many things Erza pounded into his skull."
"But…" Lucy argued weakly.
"Yeah, I know," a new voice added.
Lucy turned and saw a young, petite woman with long, elbow-length white hair that curled at the ends and bright blue eyes wearing a low-cut, light blue dress with white shoulder straps, a long, mid-calf-length white skirt with a long slit up the left side, up to her hips, a pink sash around her waist, elbow-length gloves, and blue sandals standing nearby, cleaning the bar with a rag.
"He really does mean well though."
Lucy hung her head in defeat. "Right… uh, who are you again?" Lucy asked.
The white-haired woman smiled and answered, "I'm Mira's little sister Lisanna. And that big guy over there is Elfman, the middle sibling."
"Ah…" Lucy gaped in surprise as she looked at the large, boisterous man in the room before raising an eyebrow and turning to Mirajane. "Wait, you said Erza hammered that stuff into his head?"
Mirajane nodded. "Yes. When Natsu first arrived here, he was pretty skilled at fighting and a few basic skills, but he lacked certain qualities as a result of being raised by a dragon and a goddess."
"Eh…?"
Mirajane immediately covered her mouth in shock. "Oh no! Forget I said that, pretty please?"
"Why?"
"Natsu wants that to be a secret. Though he's never really said why," Lisanna explained.
"I see…"
Mirajane added, "And then Natsu found Erza."
"Ah… wait, found her?"
"Yep."
"… How…?"
"Caught her on a fishing rod."
"Hah!?"
"What?"
"He caught her!?"
Mirajane nodded. "Yes. He was fishing near the ocean and snagged her on a hook."
Lucy gaped in disbelief. "… That's almost too crazy to believe."
Lisanna nodded with a sigh. "It is true. And lead to the first nickname Big Sis called her…"
"… Do I even want to know…?"
"Red Herring," Mira answered with amusement.
Lucy just stared in silence.
"Whaaat?" Mirajane asked with a smile.
"… Nothing…"
Lisanna slumped her shoulders in defeat. "I know… You should try dealing with her and Brother twenty-four seven…"
Mirajane continued her story, "Anyway, after he brought her here, Erza took it upon herself to teach those things to Natsu. He wasn't exactly… receptive… at first. But after a while he started to actually enjoy his time with Erza. Her training in some of the basics of civil life escalated to her actually training him how to use a sword."
"Eh?" Lucy mumbled in disbelief.
Yukino nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You wouldn't think it by looking at him, but he's pretty skilled with it. Nowhere near as good as Erza but better than the average swordsman."
"He actually has a sword?!"
"Yes," Mira answered with a nod. "Besides the one between his legs."
"… Is every woman here a pervert…?"
"Are you?" Mira questioned.
"No!" Lucy shot back with embarrassment.
"Then no. For now."
Lisanna added, "Weird thing about one of his swords, a really big one an old man gave him a while ago too, Natsu's the only one who can lift it. Even Master can't. Someone like Elf can, but just barely. And Natsu lifts it with one hand."
"Huh?!"
"Yeah, even Erza tried and she couldn't get it to budge."
"… One of…?" Lucy asked in worry.
"Yes, he has several," Mira added.
Lucy gulped before turning to see Natsu lighting something on fire, tossing it in the air, and then eating the flaming object. "… I don't know if I trust him with even one sword…"
"You should ask him to show you his swords."
Lucy just stared silently at her with suspicion.
"What?"
"I'm not sure how to take that…"
"Okay…?"
"Oh, hey Mira, can I ask you about something?"
"I'm an E-Cup. Or was it F?"
"Not that!"
"Oh. Then what?"
"We ran into some loonies who said they were from something called Eisenwald. What is that exactly?"
"Trash, or more specifically, a Dark Guild."
"Dark Guild?"
Mirajane nodded. "Yes, I'll explain. As you probably know, there are Mage Guilds all over Fiore. They are each run by guildmasters. These guildmasters answer to the Magic Council. The Council decrees and enforces all of the laws governing magical guilds. It's a guildmaster's job to see to it that his or her guild follows and obeys the laws of the Council. However, there are some guilds that violate or simply refuse to obey the Council's laws. These guilds are called Dark Guilds, and their members Dark Mages. Eisenwald is one such guild."
"I see…"
Natsu and Granel stood, growling at each other.
"Great, they're at it again," Cana groaned before sighing in annoyance. "Oh get a room and fuck already!"
Lucy frowned in thought. "What are they fighting over…?"
Leone went around the group collecting money for bets. "Dunno yet."
Lucy just frowned in bewilderment.
"Wanna take a bet on what it is or who ends up on top?"
"No," Lucy remarked bluntly.
"Suit yourself."
Suddenly, the door burst open violently.
"What the…?!" Lucy shouted in shock.
"Bad news!" shouted a man running into the door.
"We're out of alcohol?" Leone and Cana asked in worry.
"No! Erza's back!"
However, a calm, authoritative voice behind him, suddenly chided, "And why, pray tell, is that bad?"
"Eek!" the man shouted as he jumped up in surprise.
Behind him was a beautiful young woman with long, scarlet red hair that reached her waist and brown eyes who was wearing simple armor with a breastplate composed of a single piece of metal that did little to disguise the generous bosom underneath, decorated with curved lines and a deformed, yellow, cross, large and detailed shoulder guards, a waist guard composed simply of two elaborate plates hanging from a simple belt over a thinner pair of plates circling her waist, plated gauntlets that extended up to her elbows, covered by elbow guards adorned by protruding metal ornaments reminiscent of feathers, a prominent, armored collared circling her neck and leaving the front side open, a short blue skirt, and long, knee-high, black, leather boots, carrying a massive horn on her back.
"Erza!" Natsu shouted excitedly as he dove at her.
The redhead, Erza, slammed the horn down with a loud crunch. Looking down, she saw Natsu under the horn. "Hm? Natsu, what are you doing down there?"
"Wanted… to… hug…"
"Wh – Whoa… the whole atmosphere's changed…" Lucy remarked before looking at Erza in thought. 'S – So pretty…!'
Natsu suddenly shoved the massive horn to the side, off of him. "That thing's heavy! Why'd you drop it on me?"
Erza looked at him somewhat puzzled. "I did not."
"Then why was it on me?!"
"You happened to be where I placed it."
Natsu twitched an eyebrow. "No bed for a week."
Erza's eyes went wide in shock. "Th – That is too far!"
"Then don't set a horn on me when I try to hug you!"
Erza twitched an eyebrow before turning to Mira, trying to redirect matters. "Is the Master here?"
Nodding, the white-haired woman answered, "The master's at a conference, he left this morning."
"What is that humongous thing, Erza?" Macao asked.
"The horn of a monster I subdued," Erza explained. "The locals decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Is it a problem?"
"No, not in the least!"
Wakaba then muttered, "I bet she's heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe."
"O – Oh crap… I'm a goner," Macao mumbled in fear.
Erza sighed before noticing Lucy next to Flare and Yukino. "Hm? Who is the new member?"
"L – Lucy," the blonde answered timidly.
Looking her over, Erza nodded. "I see. Welcome to the harem."
Lucy twitched an eyebrow before Flare corrected, "She's not in it yet. Bets are still going as well."
"I understand. Fifty thousand Jewel on two and a half weeks."
Leone nodded as she scribbled on a pad. "Noted."
Lucy sighed in irritation. "Is everyone here a pervert!?"
"Are you?" Erza questioned, to which Lucy shouted a no. "Then no."
Lucy just stared at her in disbelief.
Erza thought for a moment before nodding to herself. 'That might work. … And get me bed rights back!' "Natsu," she called out suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"I need your aid with a problem."
"Oh?"
"I heard about something bad on my last job. Normally I would consult Master Makarov about something like this first, but I believe this is a matter of utmost urgency."
"I'm in!"
Lucy stared at him incredulously. "… You didn't even ask what it is."
Natsu just ignored her as Erza continued, "I am going to need more for this mission, however. Minerva, Granel, Yukino, I am going to need each of your abilities."
And there you have it! The second chapter finished. Hopefully the wait was not too excruciating for you all. If you enjoyed it, do be sure to leave a review letting me know. If you were confused, unsure, or just have questions about anything, let me know with a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns; though be aware if it is spoiler related I likely cannot answer it in a reviewer response since not everyone will want things spoiled, so a PM might be best for that kind of thing. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, but having a proper grasp of English and a point would be appreciated. Or just do something else you actually enjoy instead. Anyway, enough rambling out of me, until next time, bye-bye!