Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
Chapter 9
"Welcome." A group of voices answered back as the wide doors opened and flew open. They oozed of sickeningly sweet tones. It caused the four and the flying cat to shudder in half surprise half unexpected fear. There seemed to be a single light shining in on a corner of the ornately decorated building. Three figures that varied in height stood with faces duck to their chins possibly to add to the inconsequential mystery that they were attempting to supply. A chill ran up Lucy's spine. She turned her head to find her comrade's faces all sporting the same dumbfounded expressions.
Moments of silence passed between the opposite groups. Instead of an air of mystique and unknown it became drenched with awkward feelings and bad decisions. After observing them for a considerable amount of time for a meeting that should've been quick and painless, Lucy had noticed that it was in fact a group of three males and they were all frozen in similar poses; outstretched arm and head down. Was something supposed to happen?
"Psst," One of the supposed Blue Pegasus members asked. Lucy was beginning to question the legitimacy of the entire ordeal. "What's wrong with the cannon?"
"Cannon?" Gray mutter slightly taken aback. Why would they need a cannon exactly?
"Hold on. I'm fixing it." One of the figures had been replaced with a significantly shorter figure. There were still three people up there but one of them obviously hadn't been there before… was this their idea of a joke? It wasn't the slightest bit funny. No, it was weird and Lucy had half a mind of running back to the carriage and hiding until it was all over.
"I got it." A voice whispered from offstage. A few exchanged glances later, the four decided to remain where they were standing. And cue the confetti cannon. The boom pierced Lucy's ears. She clapped her hands over her ears as the colorful pieces of paper rained down upon them. Erza eyed it carefully, analyzing the strange predicament. Gray cocked an eyebrow. Natsu spun around a few times, smiling giddily. Happy shook his head in disapproval. The lights fully snapped on with a click.
This time there were an equal four mages to match Lucy's group, excluding the blue cat. Starting left to right, there was an energetic looking blonde who looked at least 15, someone with brilliant brown eyes and hair a few shades lighter, and a taller one who looked like he had finally perfected the recipe for the perfect tan. Then there was another one in a class all of his own—short and disproportionate with vivid orange hair and black irises. He stood in front of the other boys balancing on one foot, grinning.
"Welcome, Fairy Tail! We're glad to make your acquaintances." The short man hopped over to where Lucy and Erza were standing. Erza's nose twitched in aggravation as she "politely" shook his hand. Lucy, being used to having to shake hands all the time, had no problem with this even if he was not what was a bit er, unorthodox.
"It's nice to meet you." She smiled and curtseyed slightly. All of them exchanged warm words and salutations except Gray and Natsu who were a bit peeved that they were ignored completely. Lucy was shocked to find that they had remained remotely civil in the first place so huffing every so often was completely tolerable.
"So do you have any idea how you're going to 'break in' exactly?" The man who called himself Hibiki asked.
"We were hoping to sneak in somehow." Erza replied in return.
"Hey, Lucy, can you hear anything?" Gray asked as he slid his ear over the surface of the wall trying to listen in.
"I can if you'd stop talking for a second." Lucy hissed. In fear that they would ruin the newly formed alliance, Erza had banned Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy from entering the much talked about meeting to plan their trip to the floating prison. While she agreed with the red head's plan to not allow Gray and Natsu in, she was a bit disappointed to find that she and Happy were also not allowed to come in. She was the princess… or at least she used to be. Lucy figured that she could be of some usefulness but apparently not.
Natsu stood up and stretched his arms. He had been napping for the majority of the time. "Stop worrying. Ezra'll tell us when she wants to." And with another yawn, he fell back asleep.
"I wish I could be that relaxed about everything." Lucy sighed. She chewed at the ends of her blonde hair thoughtfully.
"It would be nice." Happy nodded in agreement.
"Well I can't hear anything." Gray threw his hands up in defeat. Another side of Gray that she hadn't seen before was his angsty side. It was weird and kind of annoying how whiny he was being. She added it to the list of pros and cons of getting to know the real side of her former servants, or in this case military leader.
The large door that Lucy and Gray had just moved away from opened abruptly with a loud bang. Lucy was thankful she had moved in time. Talk about being flattened…
"So, what's the plan?" Lucy squeaked. Behind Erza, Lucy could see the other members nodding their heads in agreement at something.
"They've agreed to help us!"Erza smiled. She couldn't help but to think what she would've been like had they said no. A vision of a giant Erza and a burning village popped up and she pushed it away as soon as it had formed. Not a good mix.
"How are they going to help us exactly? It's not like we heard everything you just said." Gray said.
"Leave that to us." Hibiki answered. Erza moved so the remaining people left in the room could exit. The surge of adventure pulsed through Lucy's veins. With all her distrust and misfortune in the past few days, she was glad to be surrounded by a group of kind people. The Blue Pegasus gang hadn't failed to meet her expectations. They were outwardly and inwardly attractive, just a bit weird. She appreciated every bit of it.
Author's Note: Oh my goodness. I haven't updated this in forever. Short chapter, but I really felt inclined to do this. I will be writing a bunch more of this over the summer, so I shouldn't be disappearing anytime soon. I'll let you know ahead of time next time. Heh heh.
Have a lovely day!
