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The next morning, Lucy, Sting, and Rogue awoke with a crick in their necks and dark bags under their eyes. As soon as they would fall asleep, they would awaken to scuttling in the walls. A few times, they swear they heard the cockroaches right next to their ears. It was a truly terrible experience. Lector and Frosch slept soundly as they perched themselves on top of Lucy, avoiding the creaky springs of the dirty mattress.
"I hope the room was to your liking?" Kenji asked them as they got off the elevator.
Lucy forced a smile. "Of course!"
Sting and Rogue shuddered behind her, remembering all the suspicious sounds they heard thanks to their heightened senses.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"Besides that this place stinks?" Sting muttered unhappily.
Rogue elbowed and shushed him.
"No, I'm sorry," Lucy said apologetically. "But if we could look at the wires around here, we might be able to find something."
Kenji immediately lit up, "Of course! Right this way!"
He led them to the back of the lobby and unlocked the panel. Everyone did a double take. Almost all the wires had been chewed through and some were hanging dangerously loose.
"That explains the flickering lights the guests were complaining about." the brown haired man said scratching his head.
Lucy stared intently at the wires.
"Do you think that someone did this on purpose?" she asked.
"You mean sabotage?" Kenji asked.
Lucy nodded, "Do you know any mages who might be angry with you?"
"I could fill an entire town with all the mages I have fired and are bitter towards me." he deadpanned.
Lucy chose not to answer him and compared the damage to the furniture to the damage of the cables; it was nearly identical. She checked the carpet next and frowned. It didn't make sense; the furniture and cables were equally torn up, but the carpeting was just fine. Besides the little dirt specks, most likely dragged in when the cockroaches came in, the carpet was in tip top shape.
"A mage definitely did this." Lucy said frowning a bit. She didn't think that the first job she took would already involve fighting.
"How can you tell?" Sting asked slightly awed at her deduction skills.
Lucy explained what she had seen. Rogue looked like he was memorizing everything she did so he could do it like her on later jobs.
"We can stay up all night and wait for the mage to come." Rogue suggested after Lucy had finished explaining.
Sting cheered. He'd never had a sleepover before. Plus, he wouldn't have to go back to the stinky, gross mattress again.
"Do you have a place where we can see all the entrances?" Lucy asked, equally as excited as Sting. Like her new blond teammate, she had never had a sleepover either. Her father never allowed it and the children from the nearby town thought she was just another snobby rich kid.
"Over there, by the fish tank," Kenji pointed out. "You can hide behind the coral reefs and still find whoever is doing this to my business."
"Don't worry, Kenji-san," Lucy reassured. "We'll start tonight."
Later that night, Lucy, Sting, and Rogue crouched behind the reefs. Sting and Rogue had asked Lector and Frosch to watch from above to make sure the vents were covered. They waited for hours.
"I don't think they're coming." Sting yawned widely.
Rogue nodded. He was too tired to keep crouching and opted to sit instead. Lucy couldn't help but agree with Sting. Maybe there wasn't a mage, maybe she was reading into the clues too much. Besides, they were still tired from their lack of sleep the night before.
"Sting-kun!" Lector exclaimed quietly in the dark.
Everyone's eyes shot wide.
"There's something coming from the vents!" Lector pointed to the air duct above the door. Their eyes darted around in the dark, trying to adjust their eyes to the blackness.
They all fell silent listening to the faint sound of scuttling. Lucy doubted she was breathing. Lucy jumped when she saw cockroaches falling from the vent, one by one, building on top of each other until they reached the lock.
"F-Frosch doesn't like bugs." the costumed exceed stuttered.
Everyone held their breath waiting to see what happened next. The door being unlocked sounded like a gunshot. The door seemed to open in slow motion, and the mage stepped in. He was completely bald except for the two tuffs of dark brown hair that protruded from his head like antennae. His equally dark brown slanted eyes darted around the lobby almost in a jittery fashion. All in all, he resembled a cockroach.
"C'mon, what are we waiting for?!" Sting demanded. "Let's go!"
Without waiting for his teammates, the blond dragon slayer jumped out right into the path of the mage.
"White Dragon Slayer's Roar!"
A beam of white light shot towards the mage, and he quickly dodged it. Lucy gaped at the destruction from Sting's attack. She knew dragon slayers were tough and extremely powerful, but she had never witnessed the sheer power first hand.
"Stop, stop!" the mage cried out. "You're not allowed to be here! Go away you stupid children! You're killing my beloveds!"
"We can't do that, stopping you is our job." Lucy said grimly. "Open, Gate of the Bull, Taurus!"
Lucy felt the drain immediately. "Go, Taurus!"
"Anything for you-uuuu, Miss. Lucy!" the bull exclaimed, heartily jumping into battle.
Not wanting to just stand around and wait for everyone else to finish the fight, Lucy charged into the cockroaches trying not to think of how many showers she would have to take after this.
"Why are you doing this?" she shouted over the destruction her teammates were causing.
"He fired me! ME!" the mage exclaimed angrily, trying to drown the blonde girl with more cockroaches. "I just wanted to make the hotel better, but nooooo 'Kenji-sama' wanted the aquarium instead of the may maze I spent weeks building! He fired me after I disagreed with his 'precious' aquarium! He ruined my life, so I'll ruin him! He deserves all of this and more!"
His voice got more hysterical as he spoke each word.
"If you stop now, we can help you." Lucy said slowly, trying not to anger him further. She just needed to distract him long enough to think of something to do.
She let out a surprised noise when a blast of cockroaches hit her. The girl landed in a heap, more surprised than hurt. Lector dove to lift Lucy up into the air before the bug like mage buried her until his cockroaches.
"Thanks Lector." Lucy sighed in relief.
"Thank me by being lighter." the red exceed replied snobbishly.
Lucy pouted. She wasn't that heavy. The celestial mage looked around quickly and spotted the aquarium.
"Drop me off my the fish tank," Lucy said. "I can get rid of all the bugs at once, but once you drop one in, tell everyone to grab onto something."
Lector didn't question her strange request. He dropped the blonde girl my the fish tank and flew off to tell Sting and the others to hold onto something.
"What for?" Rogue asked.
Lector shrugged, and Rogue did as he was told.
"Taurus, that's enough!" Lucy called out.
The speedo wearing bull went back to the spirit world, and Lucy pulled out another key.
"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"
Lucy held on tightly to the carpet fingers barely clutching onto it. Summoning two celestial spirits might not have been such a good idea. Nevertheless, Aquarius did her job nearly washing away Lucy's teammates in the process.
"Never call me out this late again." Aquarius growled menacingly.
"Yes!" Lucy answered shrilly saluting the blue mermaid.
Aquarius "hmphed" and disappeared back into the spirit world like Taurus.
Somewhere along the way, the insect mage had also been washed away with his bugs. Lucy found him a few blocks away. It appeared as though he had hit his head on the base of a lamp post and passed out.
"Good job, Lucy!" Sting exclaimed wide eyed.
Rogue nodded enthusiastically with his partner. The power the bull she had summoned was amazing, and the sheer force the mermaid had displayed was incredible.
Lucy felt her heart warm considerably. She had actually been useful to her team. She had done something useful! She completed her first job! Suddenly, as if the energy had been sucked right out of her, Lucy collapsed onto her bottom. Sting and Rogue rushed over worriedly.
"I'm fine, I just don't have any magic left," she reassured them. "You guys should go dry off."
Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch sat with her anyways, despite their soaked clothes. Despite how uncomfortable her outfit had gotten, how dirty she felt, and how terrible she smelt, Lucy could be happier.
Authors Notes: Hey, guys! Thank you so much for reading this chapter!
I'm sorry if this chapter didn't have an awesome fight scene like you may had wanted, but I tried (I'M SORRY I CAN'T WRITE FIGHTING SCENES IT WAS SO MUCH COOLER IN MY HEAD), and I guess it's the effort that counts (?).
The reason Lucy feels drained after summoning just Taurus is because she's still a child, and her magic isn't at it's full potential yet, so just bear that in mind in future scenes.
I do not have a beta-reader, so all mistakes are mine.
Constructive criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated!
Thanks again for reading!