Ch 3: Those Left Behind
It had been a few hours after the trains from Magnolia had left when Gray came walking slowly in to the guild hall. Everyone was quiet, same as when Erza had gotten arrested. Nobody looked at anyone, and Gray's eyes looked to his best friend's spot, just to see it empty.
Coming over to the bar, Gray asked Mira, "Hey Mira, where is Cana, It's not like her to forget us going to a training practice" he said resting his arms on the bar table.
"Oh, sorry Gray. But Cana took a job last night. She, Lucy, Erza and Lisanna are doing an all-female team request. Might be the strongest female powerhouses to date" Mira said a bit happily.
"Wait, Cana took a job?" he couldn't grasp until he processed the second half. "And Lisanna and Lucy teamed up?"
"Yep" they should be back in two weeks or so. "Their first official S-Class job" she sounded a bit excitedly.
"Why didn't they want to ta—"
"Jenna" the silver haired woman said quietly.
Gray's body froze as he heard that name.
"Is she alright?" he asked a bit worriedly.
The guild halls could hear lots of commotion happening upstairs in one of the rooms. Tables and lamps smashed from different locations within the room, yelling and curses from the Lightning man erupted. Mira spoke softly, "There's a reason Cana is going. He's too emotional to do anything that won't cause her harm. And you know as well as I do that if Laxus goes after them, our members might be in his path"
"Got it. So why an all-female team?" he asked trying to get a clue to where they might be.
"Not sure. Master hand-picked them. My guess is that they're going to do erotic stuff like stripping or maybe worse. But you know our girls can handle themselves" she said a bit worriedly. "Lisanna is with them, so I hope it doesn't come to that"
Within seconds Freed came out of the room with a bruised look on his face.
"Oh my goodness, are you alright Freed?" Mira asked as she grabbed a cold compress from the kitchen.
"I'm fine" the jade-haired man said wincing in pain. "He's threatening to leave the guild if he can't go after her" Freed said with a determined look, clutching his cheek.
As Mira returned and handed him the pack, she started sobbing lightly. "Poor Jenna"
Free placed his hand on her shoulder, embracing her and placing the compress to his face. "There's no need to work yourself up Mirajane. Laxus knows he can't break my rune barrier without hurting himself. He will pass out before rushing into anything too crass."
"Your right" she smiled up to him. Looking back to Gray, she sniffled a bit. "Please trust them Gray. They are the best for a reason" Mirajane said happily.
Crocus:
"So what lead do you have Cana?" Erza asked her comrade as they walked throughout the city streets.
"A big one" she smiled before pulling in to a hotel a few block away from the station. Getting her card key, she opened up to a small condo-like hotel room with two rooms. It was a breathtaking view from both rooms as they opened up a beautifully scenic view of the mountains. Cana motioned them to their dormitories. Erza and Cana were in one room with two twin beds and Lisanna and Lucy would share the other.
This did not sit well with either of the girls.
Neither Lucy nor Lisanna acknowledged each other since the train and this was not the mission they were going to start with.
Cana sat herself on the kitchen dinette chair waiting for the rest of the team.
Lucy came in after placing her bag on the bed, then Erza from the other side, and lastly Lisanna. They all sat around Cana in chairs waiting to hear what the fortune tellers cards were going to say.
"So what is it?" Lisanna asked as she sat down.
"I found a big clue a few hours ago while I was waiting for you guys. Apparently Jenna had a habit of doing things on the 'adult' side of her life" Cana said with a smirk.
Erza looked confused. "What do you mean 'adult'?"
"Exactly what I said. Laxus may not know this, but Jenna leads a very exciting double life" she said as she pulled a plain white sheet of paper from her bag.
Lucy looked at the sheet and read a bit. "A flyer?"
Lisanna pointed to the bottom corner. There stood a beautiful tan skinned girl with greyish-purple eyes and a wonderful smile. She had straight flowing dark hair and pink lipstick. Not much could be seen except her face, but Lucy had imagined this girl to be beautifully curved as well.
"Is that Jenna?" Lucy asked with a bit of awe.
"Yes, or as they call her Genesis. Apparently there is a new strip club opening on the other side of Anion, it's about a day's time walking from here. I figure that we can get a move on immediately in the morning so we can start. It's already past four here so I doubt we'll get anyone to hitch us a ride this late. We can go looking for more clues about this club if we investigate within the city walls" Cana said determined.
"What if we bump into anyone in Sabertooth? I mean, we are in their territory" Lucy said thinking of the consequences.
"If that should happen, here" Erza pulled three across from her side pocket and laid them onto the table. "These are sanctioned forms. We have permission to conduct our mission without the need of a territorial skirmish. These papers are a form of peace treaty. They are also upheld by the Magic Council so we shouldn't run into much trouble"
"So my best suggestion is that we start tonight" Lisanna uttered to the group. "The more clues we can gather in the sleazy parts of town, the better"
Cana smiled. "Agreed. What better way to find sleaze than to search for it 'unintentionally'" she winked.
Erza closed her eyes and crossed her arms a bit, thinking over the situation. After a minute or so, she sounded. "Fine. But no one is to be left alone. We will go in groups of two. Cana and I will search the worst part of the city, the lower part of Crocus, while Lisanna and Lucy will search the uptown areas. We don't use magic unless absolutely necessary. Got it?" she asked opening her eyes wide at the younger females.
"Got it" the younger girls answered.
"Good, then I suggest we get a bit of rest before heading out. We need to look presentable for this mission. We will take a short nap then head out tonight to look for more clues."
At Natsu and Happy's Place
It was nearly sundown when Happy and Natsu were surprised with a knock on the door.
"A visitor?" Natsu asked. "Do you think it's Lucy?" he asked with a bit of a smile.
Opening the door, he was greeted with a "No"
Gray had stood at the doorway, crossing his arms with a stern look on his face.
"Gray. What the heck you doing here man?" Natsu asked a bit shocked.
Gray came into the house, picked up Natsu's traveling bag and threw it towards the Dragon Slayer.
"Get ready. Lucy and Lisanna are on a mission. And they're gonna need our help" he told the pair.
"What?" he asked.
Gray looked back at his friends, "I fear that they need all the help they can get. I think they took a job in Anion"
Outside the Hotel Room
The two figures looked up at the hotel where the females were staying, their senses attuned to the sounds coming out of the slightly cracked window.
The taller one backed against the wall to be able to hear everything. The other figure, walked beside him, black meeting yellow.
"See, told ya I knew where to find them" the yellow haired man smiled, pointing up.
The onxy haired man looked up at the window, trying to listen in. "It seems they plan on going to Anion soon. They may not be safe, even with the great Titania at their disposal. What do you suggest Sting?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"Simple. We'll escort them. No one knows this place better than we do" the blonde answered. "So lighten up Rogue."
Rogue looked over at his partner, "So should we head to the guild or will you do what I think you'll be doing?" he asked with a blank look on his face.
Sting smiled as he walked in to the hotel, "Two bedrooms please. And could you make it on the top floor?" he smiled his perfect teeth.
Author's Note: Chapter 3
Yay! This it's a first for me, but I really wanted to do this. Hopefully the introduction of Rogue and Sting weren't too early, but they're locals so it would only make sense. Hopefully Gray and Natsu get there before things get out of hand.
On another note, Birthday Girl will be updated sometime in the next 2 days so watch out for that.
Thanks for Reading….Up Next: Chapter 4…..Nice Bumping into You