Chapter Four:
Natsu woke to the bright sun and Lucy's arms clamped firmly around his waist. His arms were similarly tucked, one around her shoulders and the other rested lightly over her hips. Her skin was cool against his and it felt nice against his natural warm temperature. In an effort to get more comfortable, he noticed that she had slung her leg across his in her sleep. Uncertain as to how they ended up like this, Natsu could not help the quiet purring in his chest expressing the ease he felt.
He closed his eyes again, content to relax for a moment longer. After a few minutes, he could not shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He opened his eyes again and saw that Lucy had woken up too.
"Morning," he grinned.
"Good morning," she replied before yawning. "Have you been awake long?"
"Only a few minutes." Natsu lifted the arm on her waist as she began disentangling their limbs.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I guess I got a little cold in the night and latched on."
"You're a heat thief. We always knew that."
Lucy huffed and clambered over him to get out of the bed. She grabbed a smaller bag from her pack and ran out to the bathroom across the hall. She shut the door and slid down to the floor, cheeks as pink as Natsu's hair.
I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I actually let him in the bed willingly last night. What was I thinking?! Of course I can't control my instincts while I'm sleeping. He's just so warm! But waking up with his chest in my face and smelled UGH Lucy you can't think these things. You're just going to have to stop. You had a really good dream and woke up to a better view but we're on a mission. We can deal with these thoughts later. Okay? Okay.
Still unconvinced by her own determination, Lucy brushed her teeth, combed her hair into a single side ponytail, and brushed on a coat of lip gloss before heading back in to the room to dress. Natsu passed by her to use the restroom himself and she had another moment of privacy.
"Happy went down to see what's good to eat for breakfast around here," he mentioned as he walked by.
"Thanks."
Natsu shrugged and shut the bathroom door behind himself. He showered off quickly, hoping to start the day feeling fresh.
I never thought I'd like body contact that much. Usually I want to fight everyone when they get too close but this morning was nice. Probably shouldn't get used to it with Lucy though even if she is super clingy when she gets cold. I don't know why Gray always complained about Juvia wanting to be close to him all the time. Ice prick doesn't get it, I guess.
Natsu toweled off and pulled on his pants and vest. Either way, it was the best night's sleep I've had in a while.
Happy flew back up to the room as the pair got ready for their day with plenty of suggestions for their morning meal. As they headed down with their packs in tow, their hosts offered to let them keep their belongings in a closet downstairs and come back for them later. Grateful for the opportunity to move around with fewer restrictions, Natsu and Lucy locked away their things and headed out to the main square.
"Let's look around town," Lucy suggested and pointed to the vendors who were bringing out their goods to meet the morning rush.
"Food first. Then we can look." Natsu's stomach gave a loud growl in agreement.
"Aye, Lucy, we need to eat." Happy poked his belly with a playful frown.
Lucy puffed her cheeks in defiance but relented nonetheless. "You're right. I'm hungry too. It's just so pretty here."
She was right. The town had decorated the square with a multitude of flowers and ribbons to celebrate the summer festival. Glass bobbles were suspended from vines in various colors and, although they were extinguished during the day, strings of lacrima lights decorated posts and hung overhead.
"I think those bobbles and string lights would look amazing in Magnolia," Lucy marveled, pointing overhead. "Maybe we should get some for when we finish rebuilding the guild hall."
Natsu looped his arm around Lucy's outstretched one, guiding her towards a vendor selling steaming plates of breakfast foods. "That's a great idea. We can find a stall that sells them after we provide this one with our patronage."
They ate their food at a bench they found on the edge of the square. The morning was cool so Lucy sat close to Natsu to bask in the heat that ebbed naturally from his skin. Their food was gone in a flash, hunger finally catching up to them. Unsatisfied and ready for more, Natsu and Happy ran off to find another serving with Lucy trailing slowly behind them. Lucy felt a peace settle over her as she watched them flit from booth to booth to try the different free samples of food that each one offered. They were like children at an amusement park, buzzing with uncontainable delight.
She was distracted after a while when a light reflecting off a nearby jewelry stand caught her eye and she wandered over to see what the local artisan market had on display. A set of rose quartz gems peaked her interest and she asked to take a closer look. As the vendor held out the dainty necklace, she saw that the pink stones were encased in a wire of silver banding shaped to look like a vine of leaves and stem.
"It's beautiful," she breathed. "The craftsmanship is so delicate."
"Thank you miss," the gentleman at the booth smiled. He shifted the metals and stoned to show the flexibility of each link. "It's one of my experimental pieces, I'll admit. The stones aren't worth much but I was hoping to make them look alive."
"You succeeded. This is marvelous." Lucy eyed the piece longingly but felt the mental strings draw taunt on her purse. "I hope it finds a great home."
Understanding passed across the man's face and he started to put the necklace away. "You're the first person to give it a look, miss. Hopefully your admiration will bring me luck!"
A small pang clenched at Lucy's heart as she was reminded briefly of her parents and their love. Lucky Lucy Heartfilia.
"Lucy!" Natsu called, running over. "We should head back to Cana's and see if any of the other guild members have passed through recently!"
Lucy took one last look at the piece and sighed. Maybe I can come back for it or another like it.
"Thank you for your time, sir!" she waved and followed Natsu and Happy away towards Cana's bar.
As they approached the Broken Window, Natsu stopped and grinned. "Hey Lucy, I think I saw a food cart I haven't tried yet. You and Happy head inside. I'll be right back."
"O-oh, okay."
"Bring me back a fish!" Happy called as Natsu ran back the way they had come. "They better have fish or he should have just left it alone."
"You guys only think about food," Lucy grumbled. She did not appreciate being dragged away from pretty things only to be ditched.
She pushed on the bar's front door and was pleased to find it unlocked. The smell of freshly baked bread greeted them as they walked in.
"Cana?" Happy called out. He flew towards a side chamber that Lucy had not noticed the night before. She followed when she heard him gasp. "Who turned Cana into a lady?"
"Happy, don't be rude," Lucy chided. "Cana has always been a -."
The sight before her stopped Lucy in her tracks, words drying up in her mouth. The side chamber was a kitchen stocked with a stove and two giant ovens. Cana was dressed in a blue bikini top and brown shorts which were both covered by a long white apron. Her hair was pulled away from her face and flour dusted her nose and brow. She held a large tray and hoisted a large fresh loaf of bread across the room to an adjoining counter top.
"Cana that smells heavenly!" Lucy admired the loaf, suddenly feeling hungry again.
"Oh hey Lucy. I'll be out in a minute. I'm getting ready for the lunch crowd. Go help yourself to a drink and I'll join you in a minute."
Lucy took a glass from the bar and poured herself some water. Happy nosed around trying to snoop for anything he could find.
A few quiet minutes went by, the silence only broken by Cana's intermittent curses and scraping sounds coming from the kitchen. A cool draft blew in from the front as the door opened to reveal Natsu, smiling like he had won a grand prize.
"Where have you been?" Lucy questioned, arching her eyebrow.
"I got a job for the afternoon while I was out," he gave her a smirk. "I felt the need to do something productive and the guy offered so I said yes."
"Oh! That's great Natsu! What's the job?" Lucy was pleasantly surprised by Natsu's initiative to keep their funds refreshed.
"A miner in the square said his tunnels have been infested with beasts. It's a small job but his magical gear isn't built for defending against monsters. The pay isn't much but he said we're welcome to what he can spare."
"Okay! When do we leave?"
"I figured after our stop here. We can discuss more game plans on the way. It's really close by apparently."
"Are you guys talking about the old Silver Stone mine?" Cana came in with a platter of fresh sliced bread and soft cheese. A small bowl of freshly cut fruit balanced in the crook of her arm. "That place has been a nightmare for this town lately."
"Why, what happened?" Lucy took a slice of the offered bread when Cana set it down.
"This place used to prosper from the silver ore they mined in the higher tunnels and the gemstones they collected from the deeper caverns. Some sort of creature moved in a few months ago and its spawn has been making the mines impregnable. The miners can't get the good materials so trade has been down. They started hosting these festivals as a way to keep tourism up but without the mines, the town is dying and they couldn't offer enough to tempt any local mages to go down there."
"That's terrible!" Lucy thought back to the merchant she had met earlier and wondered if he too was suffering from this plight.
"I've tried to help on my own," Cana continued. "My magic is not like my dad's. My cards are not good in solo combat like you and Natsu."
"We'd be happy to help, right Lucy?" Natsu jumped up in excitement.
"Absolutely."
"Awesome! I'm getting fired up! Let's go kick some monsters out of a cave! Come on Happy!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy perched on Natsu's shoulder with equal determination shining in his eyes.
"We should get going then." Lucy stood and returned her used glass to the sink behind the bar. "We'll check in with you when we get back, okay Cana?"
"Have fun storming the mines. Don't bring the mountain down on top of us Natsu or I'll kill you." Cana gave them a piercing glare reminiscent of Erza's formidable frown.
"Aye, sir!" all three replied in unison.
The walk to the mining caves was short. In less than an hour, they stood at the entrance where a gravity and lacrima powered mine cart waited on the tracks.
"I don't wanna." Natsu was sitting in the dirt, his arms crossed, refusing to get into the cart.
"Me either but I also don't want to walk when we can get there just fine in a fraction of the time using this." Lucy tugged at Natsu's vest with little success.
Frustrated, Lucy threw up her hands and got into the cart by herself. Reaching out for the lever that would release the breaks, she barked, "Happy! Either get Natsu into the cart or fly down after it."
Natsu glared as the Exceed grabbed his shirt and chucked him into the mine cart. Happy's maneuverability while carrying a larger load had increased significantly in the last year. Still, the Exceed landed beside Natsu and slumped into a corner, exhausted. Before the dragon slayer could react, Lucy pulled the lever that launched them into sudden darkness.
Lucy's screams drove a nail into Natsu's nausea. He did not even have the energy to feel resentful towards his blue friend for his betrayal. Liquid fire oozed from Natsu's mouth as it hung over the edge of their falling death trap. He watched passively as the fire left a glowing trail up the path they were descending.
This is the worst day ever. Today is the day I die.
Lucy's screaming came to a stop but the mine cart kept going. Her knuckles whitened as she held on for dear life. Over twists and turns, the cart went, jostling its passengers about with no remorse.
I'm sorry, Natsu, she thought, unable to scream again. We should have walked. We're going to die. This is awful. I don't want to go out like this!
Finally, the cart slowed to a crawl and a loud clank echoed as they were locked into place. No one moved.
"Is is over?" Happy whispered from his corner.
"I think so." Lucy looked around but saw only darkness. Her voice was hoarse from the screaming. "Natsu? You still there?"
Natsu replied with a groan. It would take him a while to recover this time. Lucy rose to her feet unsteadily, still gripping the edges of the cart as though it would start again at any moment. She groped around blindly in the darkness, seeking a source of light they could use.
Fiery ooze dribbled from Natsu's mouth again, illuminating the surrounding area for a brief moment. It was enough for Lucy to find what she had been looking for; a stack of prepped torches sitting in a small wooden box. She grabbed one and held it under Natsu until it caught on the fire he was subconsciously releasing. The torch flared to life with a crackle. Lucy looked around to gather her bearings.
"Wow."
They were in a massive underground cavern that spread out in all directions. Various offshoots of tunnels had been carved into the walls, heading deeper into the mountain. Lucy stepped forward carefully and moved towards the closest tunnel on the left. She had seen a reflection from her torch light and wanted to inspect the source.
Mounted into the cavern wall was a lacrima about the size of Lucy's hand. She activated the dormant power in the lacrima with her own magic and light flooded the cave, rendering the torch unnecessary. Activating this single lacrima seemed to have triggered all the others to light up as well as lights flickered to life around the cavern.
The cave was enormous. The ceiling rose up one hundred feet or more and the entire area expanded over fifty meters. The natural formations of rock made the cavern look ominous. Roughly crafted mining gear had been left in a variety of piles next to crates full of ore and debris.
"It would have taken us all day to get down here if we'd walked," Natsu mused, looking around from his place in the cart. With Happy helping to keep him stable, Natsu made his way out of the cart. He was unsteady on his feet but quickly regained his composure. He gave Lucy a weak but reassuring smile.
"We should get moving." She did not like being out in the open with so many access points for creatures to emerge. "Did our employer say anything else about where these creatures are?"
Natsu nodded and pointed to a tunnel across the room on the right side. "He said his tunnels were linked on that side and the monster had nested in another natural pocket. They are expanding out into the other tunnels, but if we get them out now it should not be too hard."
"That makes sense." Lucy checked that her belt was secured to her waist and started to walk forward. "Let's go."
The tunnels were finely crafted. There were wooden supports and lacrima every few yards to prevent cave-ins and encouraged safety. As they walked they came across smaller hollowed out tunnels that would dead end at various depths. Lucy assumed that these were mined out veins of ore that the miners had finished excavating. She breathed a sigh of relief as they passed each one without incident.
After another half an hour or so, Natsu stopped. Not expecting the sudden change, Lucy walked into his back with a soft thud.
"What's going on?" she asked quietly.
"I smell something," Natsu replied, sniffing the air. "It smells like... hurry, something's moving up ahead."
Lucy put one hand on her keys and the other on her whip. She was itching to use her improved magical abilities in a fight. She felt more confident going into this encounter than she ever had before. "I'm ready."
Natsu noticed the eager smile that decorated Lucy's face and returned it in full. They began to move forward until Natsu signaled for another stop. Lucy could hear snuffling coming from in front of them. Holding his finger to his lips, Natsu grinned and set his hand aflame. He crouched down and started to hurry forward with Happy hanging on to his back. Lucy grabbed a key and dislodged her whip from her belt and followed close behind.
They rounded the final corner and came out into another open cave. The ceiling was much lower here than in the first area but it was still wide. The lacrima lights were sparse in this cavern and Lucy assumed they had either been broken or not installed yet. The lack of light cast long shadows across the open area.
Lucy saw a large shadow start to move on the far side of the cavern. Glowing eyes found them immediately as they entered the room, reflecting the minimal light that existed. Lucy saw long pointed teeth as long as her forearm jutting from the open mouth emerging from the shadows.
She was struck with fear and adrenaline started pumping through her body. "What is that thing?"
"Who cares?" Natsu laughed with eagerness. "I'll take it. You focus on keeping the swarm off of me, okay?"
"Swarm?" Lucy turned and saw that the floor was flooded with smaller shifting shadows. "Got it."
Natsu nodded and leapt into action. He shot across the room, bathing himself in fire, and charged at the giant beast with a roar.
Lucy focused on her targets. "OPEN! GATE OF THE GOLDEN BULL! TAURUS!"
She raised her golden key with a flourish and opened the celestial gate to summon her spiritual companion. Her bovine friend came forth with a loud "Moo!"
"Taurus," she cried. "Help me beat off the little ones and lend me your strength!"
"Anything for youuuu, miss Luuuucy," Taurus raised his axe. He eyed Lucy's figure with unabashed delight. "And youuu loooook beauuuuutiful with that hot body today!"
Rolling her eyes, Lucy pressed his key to her chest and cried, "STAR DRESS: TAURUS FORM!"
She felt a magical rush of energy as her clothes transformed and her muscles grew taunt with magically enhanced strength. She held her whip, now white with a heart shaped tip, out in front of her and lashed out at the approaching shadowy forms. Her lashes struck their marks and the creatures who were hit let out a shrill screech that pieced Lucy's ears painfully. Taurus struck out at them with blow after blow, scattering their numbers.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Natsu crushed his fists into the beast's giant head, flames flowing out and across the creature's body. The monster roared with fury and tried to throw the dragon slayer off of its body. Natsu jumped to avoid being dislodged, flipped over in midair and brought his foot down with a wild attack. "FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW!"
The beast collapsed as its skull caved inwards. Grimacing, Natsu jumped to the ground and looked over to check on Lucy's progress.
There were more of the smaller beasts than Natsu had anticipated. They were scuttling out of tunnels to join the attack on the intruders but he noted that Lucy was holding her own quite spectacularly. Her hair was done up in two buns and her attire had changed to a cow-print bikini top and brown pants with one leg shortened up her thigh. He noticed that her belt held the celestial sign for Taurus and realized that she was using a new kind of magic.
I'll have to ask her to tell me about it later. It looks really cool, he thought, impressed by his teammate's magical prowess. A growl echoed behind him and he turned to beat his target into its final submission.
With the parent monster down, the smaller beasts seemed to enter a frenzy. Lucy attacked with as much strength as she had and borrowed what she lacked from her celestial partner. Her whip lashed out but there was a beast that moved faster than her equipment and launched itself at her face.
She saw now that it was a small creature covered in black scales. It had a round lumpy body with no visible eyes, unlike the parent. Its mouth opened to show glistening white teeth and Lucy was sure that it could sever her limbs if one was allowed to take a bite.
"Lucy Punch!" she cried and her fist connected with the beast. It howled and dropped off to lay with its other fallen brethren. Feeling frustrated with the onslaught of the swarm, she pulled out another key and called forth Sagittarius. "Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
Taurus continued to fight as a whinny rang out and his celestial brethren joined their battle. Lucy pressed Sagittarius' key to her chest. "Lend me your skill, Sagittarius. Star Dress! Sagittarius Form!"
Within seconds she was reequipped in a startling twin tail coat and sleeves while holding an ornate bow and arrow. "Sagittarius, there are too many of them. Help me take out as many as you can!"
"I will do my best, moshi moshi." Sagittarius and Lucy drew their bows in unison and fired at the swarm. Sagittarius released volley after volley of arrows as Taurus continued to protect Lucy from closer ranged attacks. In minutes they had defeated the oncoming hoard and there was silence in the cavern.
Sweat dripped from Lucy's skin as she took in their surroundings. Natsu was staring at her with a strange look on his face and her spirits stood stoically beside her. She was proud of her warriors and grateful she had been able to fight at their side.
"Thank you, my friends. You can return now." She held their keys to close their gates to the celestial realm.
"Goodbye, Lucy. It has been a pleasure, moshi moshi." Sagittarius bowed to her, the horse head on his outfit staring wide eyed until he disappeared through his gate. Taurus gave her a wink and left through his own.
Lucy knelt on the ground, chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. She released her Star Dress form and felt the drain her use of magical energy had cost her. She smiled over towards Natsu and gave him a thumbs up.
"We did it!" she cried happily.
Natsu laughed wholeheartedly and proceeded to burn up the carcasses around them. It would be a much more unpleasant job to leave for the miners. One of the giant monster's teeth would not burn so he pocketed the memento, intent on adding it to his collection back home in Magnolia.
"Let's head back and collect our reward," he said when he was done. He offered Lucy his hand and helped her to her feet.
"Back to the mine cart," she agreed. Natsu's smile disappeared immediately and he responded with another lamented groan.
A/N: I can't believe the responses that I am getting for this story already. Over 30 followers and 16 favorites by Chapter 3 and we're just getting started! Thank you for sticking with me, loves.
03/2017 - A/N: Updated for atrocious spelling errors. I couldn't leave it alone. Next chapter coming momentarily.
06/2017 - A/N: I have updated grammar and small details. -xoxo