Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and the companies involved in the manga and anime production that I am too lazy to Google. I own a pair of hand wraps. Want a sparring mate, anyone?
A/N: Yay! I kept my promise! I replied to all! Wait, no! I can't reply to the anon reviews! D: So here's the drill for anon reviewers, I will ask a question at the end of each chapter and your answer will be your penname for the chapter plus your favorite number. That way, it'll be easier (and more fun) for me to type out replies here in my updates! That way, I can reply to everyone! Yay!
So I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. Aaaand I have good news and bad news. Good news is pretty obvious from the chapter title. This chapter has two episodes! So yaaay! I read concerns in the reviews about how lengthy a story like this can be, and so never fear, dearies. I have it planned! :D Anyway, the bad news is, well, at the end. . Just read it after this.
…
CHAPTER THREE: EPISODE THREE AND FOUR, DAYBREAK ARC
At the Celestial Spirit mage's commands, the start of the next episode started.
"Man, I'm hungry," Natsu whined.
"You just ate five minutes ago, Natsu," Happy reminded.
"I'm still hungry."
The first scene was Lucy waking up in her room accompanied by her narration of Magnolia and her apartment.
Lucy: I'm a mage, Lucy. And this is Magnolia, a commercial city in which magic has flourished since the ancient era. If the Kardia Cathedral in the middle of the city, that is towering over the surroundings, was gone, you'd be able to see the only mage guild in this town, Fairy Tail. And that's the house I decided to live in.
"Again, this is like a documentary or something with Lucy as the narrator now. Hey, Lucy, are you sure you didn't make this and sent it to the guild?" Kana slurred.
Lucy puffed her cheeks. "I did not!"
Lucy: I found a nice place. For seventy thousand jewels, it's very spacious and has plenty of storage place.
Lucy, who had gasped at the scene of her in the bathtub, glared at the appreciative looks from some men from the guild. "Hey, guys! Have some respect, will you?"
Lucy's words fell on deaf ears. However, when the part where Natsu showed up, the guys started complaining.
"Natsu, you lucky bastard! You're saw Lucy-chan in a towel!"
"Yeah! Why are suddenly in there, after all?"
Lucy fumed at the comments, especially when Natsu just had a bored expression like the things on the lacrima happened on a daily basis. Which was, in fact, true, as the fire mage developed a habit of breaking in Lucy's apartment from time to time. She turned to Master to complain only to slap a hand to her forehead when she saw that the Master was part of the Appreciating Lucy's Beauty group.
Natsu and Happy admired Lucy's new house which only got in the blonde's nerves. She told Happy off for scratching his nails on her wall. And when Natsu picked up a wad of paper, she panicked and kicked him.
Natsu: Now you really got me curious. What's that?
Lucy: It doesn't concern you!
Wendy turned to Lucy. "What was that, Lucy-san?" she asked innocently.
"Um," Lucy hesitated but she figured they would found out sooner or later so she better tell. Plus, Levy had already seen her work so her phobia of letting people read her novels had somehow worn off. "It was a novel I was writing."
"Lu-chan is a great writer!" Levy inserted, grinning at her friend. Lucy appreciated her support.
"Wow, you're amazing, Lucy-san!"
Lucy gave Wendy a one-armed hug and smiled. "Thank you, Wendy!"
The title was Infiltrate! The Everlue Mansion!
Lucy's good mood vanished when she read the title and gave a shudder. "Ew, Everlue. I'll see that jerk again?"
Lucy: I just moved in. I have nothing to amuse you with so go home after drinking your tea, okay?
Natsu: What a cruel person.
Happy: Aye.
"You have no right to say that," Lucy muttered. Hearing what she said, Erza and Levy nodded. Lucy sweat-dropped, thinking that Erza had no right to agree with what she said, too. Yet she kept her mouth shut. She liked her head where it was, thank you.
Natsu: Show me all of those key guys that you have, Lucy.
Lucy: They aren't "key guys." They are Celestial Spirits.
"They're just the same, right, Happy?" Natsu asked.
"Aye, sir!"
Lucy spoke up in a too innocent voice, "If Plue hears you say that, he won't play with you anymore."
Happy went silent for a few seconds before saying, "It's not the same, Natsu," he said seriously.
"Oi, Happy! Don't fall for Lucy's tricks!"
Happy: How many Celestial spirits have you contracted, Lucy?
Lucy: Six units. Celestial spirits are counted in units. These silver keys are sold in stores. The Clock, Horologium. The Southern Cross, Crux. The Lyre, Lyra. These golden ones are extremely rare keys that open the Twelve Gates of the Zodiac. The Golden Bull, Taurus. The Water Bearer, Aquarius. The Giant Crab, Cancer.
Natsu had the same reaction as his self on the lacrima. "Crab! I wanna eat crabs! Oi, Lucy, can you summon that crab guy so I can eat him?"
Others like Lisanna were marveling at the things they learned about Celestial Spirit. "So they're called units, huh?" Lisanna mused.
Lucy smiled at her. "Yes. That's what my mother told me." Then she threw Natsu an angry look. "You will not eat Cancer!"
Lucy: Come to think of it, I have yet to form a contract with the key I bought at Hargeon. Perfect timing. I'll show you how Celestial Spirits mages and Celestial Spirits form contracts.
Wendy couldn't keep her gasp of surprise and amazement. "Celestial Contracts? I've never seen someone, not even you, Lucy-san, do it. I'm so excited!"
Erza smiled. "The feeling is mutual, Wendy."
"Do you use runes? Oh, wait, nevermind!" Levy gushed.
Lucy couldn't bring herself to contradict whatever creative ideas had formed in her friends' minds. She glared at Happy, who was holding back laughter, from the corner of her eyes.
The three girls straightened in their seats when lacrima Lucy pulled out her key.
Lucy: I'm the one who connects the paths to the Celestial Spirit world. *closes eyes and places hand on her chest* Thou shalt answer my call and traverse the gate.
"Is this contract-making supposed to be this dramatic?" Carla said with a raised eyebrow. Lucy deadpanned.
Light came out from the floor as Lucy did her thing with her key again.
Lucy: Open! Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!
When the light evened out, a small, shaking, snowman-like creature appeared.
"Oh, isn't that your pet?" Macao asked behind a tankard. "What is it anyway?"
Lucy blinked. "Plue's a Canis Minor, so he's a dog."
"Heh, weird dog."
"Didn't I say so, Macao!"
"Shut up, Natsu, Happy!"
As Lucy explained to the two why Nikora was a popular Spirit pet, Natsu and Happy converged, once more hellbent on irritating Lucy with their whispers.
Lucy: Then let's move on to the contract.
Wendy, Erza, and Levy's smiles widened.
Lucy: How about Monday?
Plue shook his head. Lucy wrote down her notepad.
Lucy: Tuesday?
Plue nodded, and Lucy wrote it down once more.
The three girls turned to Lucy and merely said, "For real?" Well, in Wendy's case, it was "Is that it, Lucy-san?"
"Well, at least it's not a blood contract like some idiot suggested." Carla smirked as Happy wailed and buried his face in Natsu's chest.
Lucy: Celestial Spirit mages form contracts, which mean we value our promises. That's why I can never break a promise.
Almost everyone's eyes in the guild glinted mischievously at that statement.
Lucy gulped. "H-hey, you can't be serious!"
Lucy decided to name her Nikora Plue. And when Natsu began talking with Plue….
"They communicated!" Members of Fairy Tail who were present all shared the same look with lacrima Lucy. All except the young man in question who had his head thrown back in his chair, snoring.
"Wake up, you idiot!"
"Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Natsu: Okay, I've decided. Let's form a team!
"My, my," Mirajane started, getting the attention of the still shocked members from the Natsu-Plue-connection and getting their minds off the possibility that the fire boy was more animalistic than they thought. "Is this the birth of Team Natsu?"
"Team Natsu? Where did you come up with that name, Mira?" Lucy asked, aghast.
Natsu, who was snoring just a second ago, jumped up and exclaimed, "Ooh, Team Natsu sounds great!"
"I'm not taking part into something named after a moron," Gray said, and Gajeel laughed at that.
"Who said you're part of the group, huh, ice bastard?"
"Ice Make Lance!"
"Gray, stop using magic in the guild!" Alzack exclaimed as he had gotten Asuka out of the ice shards' way.
After Happy explained to a confused Lucy the mechanics of building teams, the blonde agreed happily, doing a weird handshake with the pink-haired boy.
Natsu: Let's go do a job! See, I've already picked one!
Lucy: You are such a hasty guy!
Unknown to Lucy, Natsu's eyes gleamed evilly.
"I should've known!" Lucy cried out. "I should've known from that moment the trouble he would get me in!"
"Hehe, but didn't you meet that maid Spirit from this mission?" Natsu grinned innocently.
"T-that's beside the point!"
"Oh, my! Is this a lover's quarrel?"
"Mira!"
Lucy read the poster and became horrified when she got to the blond maid hiring part.
Lucy: You planned this from the start! I've been duped!
"You poor thing," Erza remarked softly. "Let me hug you!"
"N-no, Erza, n—ow!"
"Still, that's dirty, Natsu," Lisanna chastised her childhood friend. "You can't do that to Lucy, or to anyone."
The fire mage grinned. "What? It ended well!"
When the scene changed back to the guild and, more specifically, to Levy, Gajeel straightened in his seat. Mira noted this with an evil eye glint of her own that could rival Natsu's.
Makarov informed Levy that it would be for her own good that she didn't take the job. When Mira asked if it was cancelled, he said no and, with suspicion and disbelief in his tone, continued that the reward was raised to two million jewels.
"Hm, I still wonder about the full details as to why the client did such a thing. You never explained it to me, Natsu, Lucy," Makarov reprimanded.
"Ah, well, this lacrima will soon—"
"When did I explain anything to you, Jii-chan?" Natsu asked, thoroughly confused.
That made Makarov think, and he sighed. "You're right, brat? When have you ever?"
The scene showed Natsu, Lucy, and Happy in another carriage pulled by a giant violet wild pig. Lucy was mocking Natsu as the latter suffered from motion sickness, and asked out of the blue why he picked her to join him.
Natsu: You're a good person.
This flattered Lucy.
Lucy heard a high-pitched giggle and turned slowly, dread overwhelming her, as she met the knowing look of Mirajane. "Don't assume, Mira!"
Lucy swore to do her best on her first job. When Happy asked about the sudden mood change, she answered that she only disliked the perverted old man but was quite confident in her sex appeal.
The screen showed Lucy in various apparel that suited her, making most men in the room drool and some women stare with jealousy.
"L-Lucy-chan, that two piece looks good on you!" Wakaba stuttered, his pipe emitting heart-shape smoke.
"Ne, Lucy, what should I do to get boobs as big as yours?" Laki pouted.
Wendy squeaked as she crossed her arms over her chest, staring down at her flat front. She wanted to ask that question too but felt shy.
"N-NO COMMENT!" Lucy said, blushing, yet felt angry at the same time. She swore that when she found out who made or sent the lacrima, he or she would die a painful death.
The trio soon arrived at Shirotsume town with Natsu complaining about transportation and his hungry stomach.
Lucy: Why don't you eat your own fire?
Natsu: What a cruel person?
"Am I?" Lucy muttered sarcastically. She saw Gajeel staring at her with disbelieving eyes and felt Wendy fidget beside her. "What?"
"You think I can eat my own iron? I don't believe I'm saying this but I agree with Salamder. You're cruel…." Gajeel trailed off.
"Um, Lucy-san, I don't think you're cruel but I can't eat my own air. Just so you know," Lucy said hesitantly.
"Why are you dragon slayers doing this to me?" Lucy felt cold. "And, Wendy, how do you even know if the air is yours or not?"
"Um…."
When Lucy reappeared, she was in a maid outfit.
"Stop being perverts, you guys!" Lucy screeched. "Don't encourage them, Master!"
They soon arrived at the client's house. The client was named Kaby Melon, making Happy and Natsu think about food. Kaby Melon informed them about the mission which was to tear up or burn the book called Daybreak owned by the Duke of Everlue.
Natsu suggested they burn down the whole mansion and Lucy discouraged the act of arson. When Lucy asked for the mission's reason, they found out that the reward had been raised to two million, making them sputter.
The guild merely laughed at Natsu and Happy's math and logic.
However after the overjoyed trio had rushed out of the mansion and the screen showed Kaby Melon ominously expressing his hate for the book, they felt like something was off.
Levy turned to give Lucy a worried glance only to find the blonde calmly watching the lacrima with a small smile, as if enjoying the trip presented to her and the guild down memory lane. "You're not worried, Lu-chan? I know you fought the duke and all but wasn't it a bad experience?"
Lucy beamed. "Nope! Not at all!" Reassured, Levy faced the lacrima once more.
Standing in front of the Everlue mansion with her maid outfit, Lucy shouted that she wanted to apply, thinking excitedly about the money that awaited her.
The ground behind her cracked and gave away. A huge figure appeared, soaring up in the air before landing with a loud thump.
"W-who is that?" Warren asked with an unreadable and slightly appalled face. "Don't tell me…."
"Virgo!" Lucy said happily, staring at the former look of her Spirit with amusement.
"You called, Princess?" the real Virgo appeared, slim and beautiful, making a striking contrast with the figure on the screen.
"EEEEHHHH?! THAT'S YOU?!" almost everyone exclaimed with the exception of Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza.
"Yes. Would you like me to transform?"
"N-NOOOO! PLEASE! Just stay that way!"
Everlue also appeared from the ground when Virgo called for him.
Everlue: Let's see.
Lucy: Nice to meet you! *talks in her mind* He's giving me goose bumps! I have to endure it!
Everlue: No, thank you. Go home, ugly.
There was a moment of silence before the guild was filled with complaints.
"Is he insane? How can he call Lucy ugly?"
"Lucy's such a cutie! How could you, mustache face!"
"This guy's sense of beauty is fu—oh well, nevermind. We all have different tastes."
"Lucy, my sweet princess Lucy, let me kiss you in the hope of erasing that vile man's words from your memory."
"Lucy-neesan! Pretty!" Asuka joined in, too.
Lucy's heart melted at her guildmates' support, even though some of them were inappropriate. Thank you, everyone! she thought happily.
Lucy cried and Natsu and Happy said she was pretty useless.
Natsu: Since it came down to this, we'll use Plan T.
Lucy: I'll never forgive that old fart! But what is Plan T?
Happy: It stands for "Take them head on."
Lucy: What part of it is a plan?
Not far from them, hanging near a tree branch was a crystal ball with a wolf lying on top of it. It was a surveillance camera, and Everlue, along with two unknown figures, noted how it was Fairy Tail that arrived this time.
Natsu's head shot up from his sleeping position, and it was obvious how he wasn't really sleeping and just listening. "Oh, so that's how the bastards watched us."
"How did you know?" Lucy asked.
"Those two were bragging when I fought them. They're weaklings, though!"
The trio got into the mansion through the attic after Natsu made a hole in the glass window. Natsu complained about their sneaking in plan and Lucy explained how irrational it would be.
"Thank goodness someone's using their brains. Again, I am glad you teamed up with Natsu, Lucy," Master remarked.
They searched room after room with Natsu still whining about sneaking in. Lucy bribed him with the idea of moving like a ninja, though. Soon, the maids of Everlue appeared from the ground.
Happy scared them with the skull mask he had on and Natsu kicked their asses. Virgo sent Natsu flat on the ground with her Flying Virgo Attack.
"I kinda miss that look of yours, Virgo," Leo said unconsciously.
"Me too, nii-san," Virgo replied in the same bored tone.
"Are you two serious?" Lucy exclaimed in shock. "And why are you still here, Virgo?! Go back!"
"Yes, Princess. I will go back once your husband is done fighting me." Virgo smiled innocently, reminding Lucy of how she had teased her during the fight with the dragons.
Like a boiling kettle, Lucy's face turned a shade of red and one could almost see steam coming off her ears. "GO BACK NOW, VIRGO!"
"As you wish, Princess." Virgo bowed with one of her shackled hands placed on her chest in a polite manner. Still, Lucy could see her looking smug.
"Heh, what's with the stupid ninja impersonation, Natsu?" Leo snorted, ignoring Lucy and Virgo's conversation.
"What? It's so cool!"
Lucy and Natsu opened the door and found the library. They began searching for Daybreak, and the fire mage found it accidentally while fooling around. When he was about to burn it, Lucy stopped him when she recognized it was a book she hadn't read from an author she admired. This made her want to protect the book.
Cana hiccupped. "Oi, Lucy, you're abandoning your job."
"I did abandon it, but with a reason!" she said proudly. Once her guildmates heard the whole story they'd understand.
"Yeah, but you still—hiccup—abandoned it."
"Cana, stop drinking already!"
Everlue appeared once again from the ground, making Happy question the kind of floors in the mansion.
Everlue: I was wondering what these mages were looking for. So it was that worthless book.
Natsu: Worthless?
Lucy: *talks in her mind* The client will pay us two million to destroy this book and yet the owner, Everlue, calls it worthless….
The Celestial Spirit mage happily asked if she could have it, and Everlue vehemently refused with an insult. Natsu demanded they burn it then, but Lucy still refused. She finally acquiesced but only after she was finished reading it, plopping down on the floor.
"Wow, all that trouble for one book?" Gajeel asked.
"Books are very useful and powerful! They hold so much information waiting to be read and can also be your best friend!" Levy defended with a smile.
The iron dragon slayer merely grunted.
The duke called out the Vanish Brothers and two figures emerged from the moving bookcases.
Happy: That crest. They are from a mercenary guild, the Southern Wolves!
"Mercenary guild?" Gray snorted. "You'd better not got your ass kicked by these losers, shitty flame."
Natsu scoffed as he focused more on the lacrima, interested in the action because, hell, he forgot almost everything about this. "Sure I did!"
Lucy: Natsu, buy me some time. I think there's some secret to this book.
Everlue: *talks in his mind* Secret? I never knew that when I read it! Maybe there's some hidden treasure map? *talks to the Southern Wolves* I'll go after the girl. Eliminate the brat.
Natsu instructed Happy to assist Lucy, but the winged cat insisted on staying with him. The fire dragon slayer said with confidence that he could take care of the two enemies on his own.
"That's so cool, Natsu-nii!" Romeo yelled excitedly.
"Tch, I'd be embarrassed if he couldn't handle ten more of those." Gajeel snorted.
"Whatcha saying, you crappy singer?"
"C-crappy singer?! For your information, I have a perfect pitch! Right, shrimp?"
"Eh? Why me?"
The Southern Wolves explained that they saw from their surveillance that Natsu was a fire mage, a Caster Type. The narrator explained the two types of magic. Caster Type, which was someone like Natsu, and Holder Type was someone like Lucy.
Natsu cast his flames around his fists and threw the first punch. However, it had no effect as his fire appeared to be sucked into a giant pan.
Vanish Brother 1: Sorry to say this, but we are especially skilled against fire wizards.
"What did he do?" Max asked, shocked.
"Eh, I don't remember," Natsu said in a bored tone. "Why don't you just watch and see?"
"Gee, thanks."
Avoiding the other brother's attack sent Natsu flying out of the library and onto the Everlue's giant statue.
Vanish Brother 2: You might be from Fairy Tail, but you're still a mage. You're no match for professional fighters like us mercenaries.
"Jerks," Elfman muttered.
Natsu: Is that all you got?
The brothers got ticked off at his remark and asked him if he asked what a mage's weakness was.
"What weakness?" Wendy asked with wide eyes.
Lucy, Levy, and Erza shrugged, also totally clueless.
Natsu: You mean transportation?
Everyone snorted.
"What? He was asking about weakness!"
Vanish Brother 1: Their weakness is their bodies. To train oneself in magic takes discipline and mental focus! And as a result you end up lacking the training of your body. In other words, against people like us who train our bodies daily, you can't match up in power and speed.
There was silence again before laughter burst out in the hall, shaking the building to its very core.
"A-are they serious?!" Warren gasped out.
"They're mental!" Max snickered.
"I get that some of us lack body training. I mean, look at Droy!"
"That's not funny, Jet!"
Master laughed loudly. "Such fools! Oh, what is with this world?"
Natsu was not fazed and mocked his opponents even more. The brothers did a combination attack. But before they could perform it, the scene shifted to Lucy who was reading in the sewers with wind-reader glasses.
"Hey, what the hell? I wanna see the fight!" Natsu demanded.
"Well, we're not exactly in control of this lacrima, and you're the last person to say that since it was your fight, Natsu," Erza stated calmly.
Lucy: I can't believe this book contains such a secret.
Suddenly, the metal walls broke and hands reached out to restrain Lucy.
Everlue: What did you find? Tell me the secret of my book.
Lucy: You're the lowest of the low. You're an enemy of literature!
The scene shifted back to Natsu's fight. The first brother jumped off the second brother's pan. The one on the ground hit Natsu with the pan when the mage was distracted. And after the young boy's attention was diverted once more, the brother who flew off and kicked him to the ground. It was their Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack, which no one had survived from before. Until Natsu, that is.
Vanish Brothers: No way!
Natsu snorted. "No wonder I don't remember this. They're lame."
Natsu: I will blow you away with this. Fire Dragon's Roar!
The Vanish brother with the pan held out his instrument and the flame was once more sucked into it. Then he threw the flame back to Natsu.
Vanish Brother 2: It's a Fairy barbecue.
Everyone in the guild was grinning. And just like the norm, Natsu ate the flames which terrified the two enemies and made Fairy Tail erupt into laughter again.
Natsu prepare for his last move and true enough, his enemies were down for the count with a simple Fire Dragon's Wing Attack and overdoing it in the process.
"Ack! I just witnessed you demolished a private property, Natsu!" Master screeched, pulling at his hair.
Natsu barked out a laugh. "It's all in the past now, Jii-chan. Mwahahaha!"
The ending music started and Lucy called out "next" at once yet awkwardly. She still hadn't gotten over the lacrima's voice command.
The usual introduction repeated and everybody asked Lucy to skip it again. It resumed playing to the part where they had ended.
Vanish Brother 2: What kind of wizard is he?
Natsu: Guess I should go find Lucy. Who're these guys anyways? *walks away*
Vanish Brothers: We're mercenaries.
"No wonder I didn't remember them," Natsu said unconsciously, scratching his head.
"Hey, is it just me or Virgo-san's eyes just gleamed?" Juvia said quietly.
"It did gleam. I think," came the bored voice of Virgo beside her. When Juvia's eyes widened, she put a finger over her own mouth with a smile. "The Princess's magic power is great enough for her to not notice me staying here. I want to watch."
Juvia smiled. "Sure!" she whispered back.
"Oh, Aquarius says hi. Let's be friends, too. I ship Princess with Natsu-san, so rest assured." They both giggled.
Lucy was still restrained by the hands and stubbornly not giving up at all. She fell to her knees as the hold on her arms tightened and Everlue continued to press her for answers.
Luckily, Happy arrived and kicked Everlue in the side of his face.
"Thanks for kicking that mustache face for us, Happy! I was getting pissed at him." Max grinned.
"Hehe, no problem! I look cool, didn't I, Charle?" Happy asked the white Exceed shyly.
"Hm! Falling in the sewage counts as cool in your book?"
"Waah! I got rejected again! Wah!"
The episode's title was Dear Kaby.
Once freed, Lucy pulled out a golden key confidently. Everlue remained smug as he lectured Lucy about improper use of language and commented how her magic was no match to his Diver magic.
Everlue was popping up everywhere with his magic but Lucy was quick on her feet and evaded every attack.
"That was amazing, Lucy," Erza commented.
"Thanks!"
Lucy: It was written in this book. A horrible adventure story with you as the main character, Everlue!
Everlue: It's wonderful that I'm the main character. But the story is crap! For Kemu Zaleon, of all people, to write such rubbish! It's a disgrace!
Lucy: You forced him to write it. How conceited can you get?
Levy gasped. "I knew it! What an evil man! It's a writer's worst nightmare; being forced to write against his will. Writing is the only freedom every writer has and for that freedom to be taken from him?" Her hands turned to fists as she glared at the smug duke on the lacrima. "I'll never forgive Everlue!"
"It's okay, Levy. I feel the same way. But he's in prison now, so you don't have to worry about him." Lucy wrapped an arm around her friend's small shoulders.
Everlue thought that it should be an honor for Kemu Zaleon to write about him and shrugged off the fact that he blackmailed the writer into his selfish whims.
Erza's eyes darkened when she learned that the writer had been imprisoned for three years as he wrote for the duke. She knew from first-hand experience what a terrible experience being in prison could be. "I've decided," she started coldly. "I'll hunt this man down and make him suffer for all the pain this Zaleon person has experienced."
"What? No, Erza!" Lucy exclaimed. "Didn't you hear what I said? He's in prison already for all the bad things he did. There's no reason for you hunting him down."
"Well, one punch would make me feel better. Hmm, anyone wants to fight?"
"N-no, thank you!" Almost everyone backed off at the murderous aura surrounding the red-haired swordswoman.
Everlue demanded how Lucy knew the things she revealed. She held up Daybreak.
Lucy: It's all written in this book!
Everlue: Huh? I've read that book too. Kemu Zaleon never appeared in it.
Lucy: It's true that if you read it normally, it'd make any fan cry. But you should know that Kemu Zaleon was originally a mage.
Everlue: Don't tell me….
Lucy: He used up all his remaining strength and cast a spell on this book.
Master closed his eyes. "What a remarkable man. To use magic as his last resolve." He shook his head.
The duke got angry at the thought that the book was about defaming him, but Lucy said he was wrong. The true secret was more than trash like that.
Lucy: That's why I'm never going to let you have this book. You don't even have a right to it in the first place! Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!
Cancer's flashy entrance started with his scissors. Happy danced around excitedly and asked that Cancer end his sentences with kani (crab).
Cancer: Lucy, how would you like your hair done today… ebi (shrimp).
Happy: Ebi?!
"Really, a crab hairdresser? That isn't manly!" Elfman said.
"Ne, I want crabs. Can you call out Cancer, Lucy?" Happy whined.
"I told you! YOU WILL NOT BE EATING CANCER!"
Everlue panicked that the book might have information about his illegal dealings and pulled out a familiar key.
Everlue: Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!
"VIRGO?! He's a Celestial Spirit mage, too?" some members exclaimed.
"Yes?" Virgo asked politely from her spot next to Juvia.
"Wha-why are you—okay, nevermind." Lucy shook her head. "And didn't you realize that after Virgo appeared earlier?"
Virgo appeared and was ordered to get the book. Lucy was shocked that the large maid was a Spirit and then she noticed that someone was clinging to Virgo.
Lucy and Happy: Natsu?!
Everlue: Why is he with Virgo?
Lucy: How'd you—
Natsu: When she started moving, I grabbed onto her and I don't have a clue!
Lucy: What? He couldn't have come through the Spirit world with her, right? That's unbelievable!
"Why, Lucy-san? We managed just fine before," Wendy asked.
"Yeah, I know. It's supposed to be really impossible for a human to get into the Spirit world. Our case was special since Mustache wanted to party," Lucy mused.
"Princess, it's rude to call the Celestial Spirit King as Mustache."
"What are you talking about? Have you been into the Spirit world?" Master asked in wonder.
"Yes, Master. Lucy's friends invited us for a party when we were training for the Grand Magic Games." Erza smiled.
"Cool!"
"Amazing!"
"Wish I could've joined you!"
Natsu took care of Virgo while Lucy used her whip to capture Everlue and stop him from digging and disappearing. She threw him in the air and Cancer gave Everlue a haircut.
"That was nice!" Natsu said. "But I still can't over the ebi! It should be kani!
"Right? Right?" Happy urged.
"Oh, shut up, you two," Lucy deadpanned.
Everlue's mansion collapsed, leaving Lucy horrified and Natsu satisfied.
Natsu: Nice and flashy, Lucy! You made us Fairy Tail wizards proud!
Happy: Aye! But we ended up destroying again!
Lucy: Is this my fault?
"It's not!" Lucy cried out, already all-too-familiar with her teammate's destructive power.
Master sighed as he drank more alcohol. "So at the beginning, even with Lucy, Natsu is still a troublesome hurricane, eh?"
Mira giggled. "It's Natsu and Lucy's hurricane of love."
"What?! Mira! And it's not yet finished. Look!"
Back to their client's house, Lucy was explaining about the book to Kaby Melon. Lucy handed Kaby Melon the book and said he could burn it if he wanted. Kaby's hands were shaking in silent anger.
Lucy: I know why you don't want this book to exist in this world. It's to protect your father's honor. You're a son of Kemu Zaleon, aren't you?
"What?" Levy gasped. The knowing blonde merely smiled.
When Lucy asked if he had read it, he said no, having been unable to bring himself to read the trash, as his father had called it. Natsu became angry when Kaby said that the mere reason he wanted the book destroyed was because it was bad.
Natsu: Your dad wrote that book!
Natsu looked away as he saw his lacrima self get riled up.
Kaby admitted that he was ashamed of Daybreak. A flashback from thirty one years ago was shown where Kemu arrived back home to his family and proceeded to cut his arm.
"Ouch!" Levy winced. "That ought to hurt."
"Indeed," Erza agreed and remembered the time where she had contemplated cutting her own. Were they going to see that, too?
On the hospital bed, Kaby scolded his father for taking Everlue's job and Kemu lied about the reason he accepted. Kemu was calm, smiling even, as he told his son how he was always thinking of him. The son was still infuriated with his father and said some painful words. Kemu only smiled.
Lucy didn't realize she was in Erza and Levy's arms. She was surprised but thanked her friends for understanding. After all, her father's death was still a difficult topic for her.
Kaby told them how his father died, how he had hated him ever since, and how the hate turned into regret. He wanted to destroy Daybreak, Kemu's most hated book, for his father's sake.
Natsu, along with Gajeel and Wendy, all looked down at their hands in silence as thoughts of their missing parents filled their minds.
Lucy stopped Kaby from burning Daybreak and suddenly, the book shimmered. The Celestial Spirit mage was quick to explain.
Lucy: Kamu Zaleon. His real name was Zekua Melon! He cast a spell on this book.
The letters of the title, Daybreak, rearranged by magic and became Dear Kaby.
Kaby: Dear Kaby?
Lucy: That's right. It's written to his beloved son, Kaby. He cast a spell that rearranged the letters on the entire thing!
Levy's eyes widened and watered as the magic unfurled before her. "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!"
Macao and Wakaba smiled, and the former ruffled Romeo's hair affectionately. Romeo grinned at him.
Lucy: The reason he quit being a writer is probably not because he wrote the most terrible book ever, but because he wrote the most incredible one! This incredible book is a letter to you, Kaby-san! That's the true book that Kemu Zaleon left to you!
Kaby: Thank you, father.
"That was so inspiring, Lucy-san." Wendy smiled.
Natsu: Guess we don't need that reward then!
He explained that they didn't do the mission at all so a payment was unnecessary. Lucy didn't want to let the money go since Kaby was insisting on paying them, making Happy call her greedy.
"What happened to your speech, Lucy?" Max smirked.
"Sh-shut up! I'm broke you know!"
"You're always broke."
"S-so?"
Natsu: Let's go home! You, too, Melon. Go back to your real home!
"How did Natsu—" Levy started.
"His nose! He said they smelled different," Lucy muttered, remembering him say that.
"Oh," Erza said, "so his instincts got the best of him, huh?"
While walking home, Natsu reasoned with Lucy how accepting the money would taint the guild's name. She dejectedly accepted, noting how the couple was actually poor in the first place.
Lucy asked over their dinner of roasted fish how Natsu was able to tell that they did not live in the house, and the fire mage responded that they smelled different.
"See?" Lucy smiled.
"You're really like a dog, Salamander." Gajeel snickered.
"Shut up!"
Natsu called up Lucy's writing then, making her embarrassed. In the morning, they were walking in the forest, slightly lost, and Lucy was inside Horologium again.
When something glinted in the bushes, Natsu jumped into the bushes, and Lucy was left horrified.
Natsu emerged, glaring at.…
"Gray?!"
"Huh?" the man in questioned scratched his head. "Did I really follow you on that mission?"
"I don't remember much, but I think you didn't," Lucy mused.
She yelped when Juvia appeared behind her with wide, hateful eyes. "What did you ask about Gray-sama's underwear, love rival?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? I am not your love rival! And didn't I say I don't remember this happening?!"
"Hoh, you two are fighting, hm." Erza cracked her knuckles.
"There goes the murderous aura again." Lucy sighed.
The group rested on a ravine with Happy fishing.
Natsu: Go back on your own already.
Gray: Of course. It'll be trouble if I don't get back soon.
Lucy: What kind of trouble?
Gray: Erza'll be back shortly.
Gray, who had been drinking water, spit out what was in his mouth as he watched the lacrima in horror. They never showed Erza their real reactions. Well, until this moment.
Natsu froze with a weird face and Lucy started at the familiar name. Happy explained that Erza was known as the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail.
"What? Wait till Gildarts hears about that." Nab chuckled and the laughter died in his throat when he met Erza's deadly stare.
Lucy: Awesome! I wanna meet her! I've never seen her in a magazine. What's she like?
Erza was touched at Lucy's reaction before they even met and hugged the blonde again.
"Erza! Ow!"
Natsu and Gray: Scary
Gray: Wild animal.
Natsu: Beast.
Happy: More like an evil demon!
Erza, whose eyes darkened as she heard the insults, pulled away from the embrace when she saw the image Lucy had in mind from those descriptions. "Gray, Natsu, Happy."
The three who were trying their best to leave their seats discreetly squeaked out, "Aye?"
"I want a word," she said deeply, menacingly, and she had dragged all three out of the building, cries and protests ringing out as the door shut. Everyone gulped.
"That's Erza for you." Master chuckled.
As the three were preparing to go home, someone casted a spell and made the ravine explode.
"What happened?" Lisanna asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Lucy answered truthfully.
Lucy, Natsu, and Gray were all right, but Happy was captured by mages and tied to a stick to be roasted.
"It's a good thing Happy isn't here. He might not like the idea of being someone else's food," Lily said slowly.
"And what's with his deal about tasting weird if he didn't pee? Goodness!" Charle shook her head.
The trio arrived just in time before Happy was barbequed. Natsu and Gray easily dodged and attacked. One of the enemies used sand magic.
"Hey, we have the same magic! I wonder who that guy is," Max wondered out loud.
Gray took down the large chicken enemy as Lucy and Happy escaped. His next opponent was a fortune teller who warned him about an unexpected visitor, and water and women.
As expected, Juvia's eyes sparkled. "Is that me? Does this mean Gray-sama and I are destined to be together? Kya~"
Lucy: He's not even using magic? Amazing. Ugh, Gray, your clothes.
"Loooove riiivaaalll~ Whaaat are yooouu dooiing too Graaaay-saaamaa~"
"You're starting to scare me, Juvia."
Natsu escaped from the wall of sand and used Fire Dragon's Iron Fist successfully. The enemies were soon tied to a tree, and the fire and ice mages started to bicker.
Master sighed. "We are going to hear about them go at it on this lacrima, too? What a pain!"
When Lucy was hearing the sand mage stutter lullaby, a shadowed hand appeared and buried the mages tied to the tree to the ground.
The shadow or whatever it was outran Natsu and Gray yet Lucy, who was informed of the lullaby, repeated it to herself worriedly.
Lucy gasped. "Don't tell me! It's that lullaby again?!"
"What lullaby?" Wendy asked, confused.
However, they were distracted by the scene on the lacrima.
Back to Magnolia, a shadow was illuminated, far different from before, and made its way across town. The people stared with their mouths hanging open at the woman carrying a large horn on one hand.
It was Erza.
Lucy, along with several others, shrieked when the guild doors burst opened and, like the lacrima was playing a trick on them, Erza walked in with a satisfied smile and dusted her hands.
"What did I miss?" Erza asked softly as she stared up at the screen and froze at the sight of her face. "I missed my…." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm going to punish them again for this! I missed my entrance!" She strolled out before anyone could say anything.
Not that they could. She was Erza.
A/N: She is Erza. *wears badass shades* Oh, and I can't help mentioning Aquarius! Her sacrifice is so ugh! I just love her to death! I'm also sorry for the tons of NaLu hints. I kinda ship them too but this fic has no pairing so rest assured if you're uncomfortable about it.
Sooo bad news. I don't think I can update this month. I'm currently stuck in the One Piece fandom and just participated in the OP Big Bang. Plus, I have real life to deal with. It pains me that I can't update a story that interests so many people. But I'd rather not force myself to write. Who will want to read something like: "Yeah" "That sucks!" "You did that?! No way!"?It's boring, right? XD I don't know how long the next ones are gonna be written.
My only consolation for you—because I love you guys for your massive support (without which I will probably stop writing after the prologue)—is that I WILL UPDATE ON CHRISTMAS! It's my gift for you guys, I promise! Now, if you read my first AN above, one chapter now is equal to one arc (unless it's too long), and the Lullaby Arc (which is 6 episodes) is definitely not long! Hype up, guys!
It's my birthday tomorrow (woot woot! Food!) *stares at clock and gets mini heart attack* or now, so I'd love it if you don't send me hate reviews. T.T
Question for anons! Favorite ice cream flavor? (ugh, I'm craving for simple vanilla right now)