Chapter 9

AN: So guess who's a major asshole? Me! Hehe…I shouldn't have promised a chapter like a week or two ago… :) For those who like pervy Natsu, he shall return cause it's really fun writing it. To those who don't like the OOCness: nyeh, live with it or I'll shock you with an electric eel. Also, prepare yourself for the surprise of the century. The sound effect "DUN DUN DUN" should be playing in your heads right about now. Oh and, this chapter will be shorter than the last one, unless I feel like I haven't included much of anything besides background descriptions. Anyways, enjoy! That is all.

Recap Natsu POV:

The "Reaper" jumped from tree top to tree top, in an attempt to get higher and eventually reach our part of the sky. Suddenly, a sword grazed the side of my leg. I looked over to Lucy. A sword was coming right toward her!

Natsu POV

Shit! If I don't do something quickly, she'll get hurt. Just remembering Mira's face when she warned me of the consequences that would take place if she got hurt gave me an adrenaline rush. "Loy! Fly towards Lucy quick!" I yelled.

"Aera: Hyper Speed!" shouted Loy, zipping me over to Luce just in the nick of time.

I got to Luce right before the sword would hit her and swatted it away with my arm, getting a medium sized gash running from my elbow to my wrist in the process. She didn't even know what was going on until I stumbled back a bit, bumping into her in the process.

"Natsu! Are you ok? What happened?" she exclaimed, looking worried.

"You should be more observant, Luce. A sword was coming right at you! I blocked it though, so everything's alright," I spoke, grinning. Luce started to blush. Why is she blushing? I usually save her. It's nothing special. Then she looked away. I'm confused now. Did I say something wrong? "What's wrong, Luce? Did I say something bad?" I asked.

"No, I did. I'm always getting saved by you, and this time you got hit by a sword when I should've. How can I be happy when I caused you pain?" she spoke sullenly.

I pulled her into an embrace. "Luce, never blame yourself. I save you because I love you, and never say that you should've been injured. I'd do anything for ya, Luce, even get a little hurt," I said, "How many times do you need to be told that?" I took off my scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "Here, this will remind you. You're mine and always will be and I'll protect you." I smiled cheekily and held her hand.

"Sorry to interrupt your lover's moment, but we have a battle to fight. STOP IGNORING ME!" screamed the Reaper. He was visibly irked and tapping his foot impatiently on a tree branch about fifteen feet below us.

"Let's finish this!" I shouted. Still holding hands, I whispered something into Luce's ear, "Let's try for a uni-whatever raid! That'll show him!"

"It's unison raid, not uni-whatever raid, but ok!" she giggled.

We got into a battle stance and held our hands up, palm to palm. "Magical Fusion: Unison Raid! Secret Attack: Celestial Flames!" we shouted. The attack flew at the guy and knocked him cold. Then we high-fived and flew down to tie the guy up. After the guy was tied up in magic absorbing ropes (provided by the magic council), he regained consciousness.

"I guess you two were strong enough to beat me. For that, you can ask me one question that I will answer truthfully," said Reaper.

"Natsu, you could use this as a chance to ask about Igneel!" said Lucy excitedly.

"You're right. That's a great idea, Luce!" I spun around and looked at Reaper, "Do you know anything about the whereabouts of the dragons who went missing on July seventh in the year x777?" I asked.

"I myself don't know anything, but I know a person who could tell you a thing or two about dragons. He goes by "Standor" and he owns a magic shop in Caelum. That's South of Fiore, and I think it's about two days away by boat in good weather. He al-"

"We'll be taking this one away now. Thanks for capturing him. As promised, here's your one million jewels," stated Lahar. As he left, he muttered, "I was scared shitless that that pyromaniac and the celestial one would destroy the entire forest."

From the distance, Reaper called out, "Just tell him that Foku sent you and he'll tell you anything you want him to!"

Caelum, eh? That shouldn't be that bad. Wait…BY BOAT? I'LL DIE! "Luce, can we just fly to that Caelum place? We have so much air power now! It'd be easier!"

"No! How could you think of making the children fly that far, carrying you as well? You're heavy! We're going by boat whether you like it or not. I'll even chain you to the mast if I have to," she said confidently. Lucy looked pretty irritated. I guess I shouldn't have made that comment.


Timeskip: Arrival in Caelum, Lucy POV

Wow! This place is huge! Now we just have to find that Standor guy, or whatever his name was. "Natsu, we should start looking for that Standor guy. Then we need to go back to the guild. I'm sure they're worrying about us, since we were supposed to be back yesterday. Erza will probably be irritated too, she wanted to talk to us after she got back from her mission," I said.

"Who cares about Erza? We're here to find the Standing Door? At the magic shop? Is it a magic item to tell me where Igneel is?" Natsu asked, with a toothy grin on his face.

I sighed, "Natsu, Standor is a person. Not a magic item. But, I do hope he'll tell you where Igneel is."

"Really? Lets go find him then; I'm all fired up!" shouted Natsu.

Natsu and I ran down the streets asking random people if they've heard of a man named Standor. So far everyone has given us a grim look and just walked away, ignoring us completely. That was when we bumped into a strange old man. He looks familiar. "Have you heard of a guy named Standor? We were told by some guy named Foku that he'd be willing to talk with us," I spoke.

The man grabbed my arm and dragged me into a nearby alley. Natsu, of course, had already latched himself onto me and was dragged as well. The man moved a dumpster aside and pushed a random brick of the alley wall. Suddenly, a portal appears. He jumps in and we follow him, although, the exceeds almost didn't make it. The portal led us to the basement of a house I presumed was his.

"I'll only talk to you here," the man said grumpily.

"Why? Are you Standor?" Natsu asked, with a quizzical expression.

"Yes. So, your girlfriend said Foku sent you, right? If so, ask away," mumbled Standor. I blushed slightly when Standor said that. Natsu just smirked.

"Old man! Where is Igneel?" Natsu demanded.

Standor ignored him and turned to me, "I hate how young people always act so rude to their elders. Are you any better, or do I just have to ignore both of you?"

"Hey, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" I inquired, "And I do have manners, unlike my friend here." Standor smiled and took out a packet of seeds. He handed them to me, while I gave him a confused look. I examined the pack of seeds, and it felt oddly like déja vu. When has this happened before? Oh! He's that creepy seed seller guy from the market! "You're that-"

He cut me off mid speech saying, "Yes, you finally realized. I'm the one who gave you the seeds. You see, I somehow needed you to have them in order for my plan to work."

"What plan! Don't you dare hurt my Luce!" roared Natsu.

"Shut up, boy! Young lady, kindly escort your boyfriend into the next room, along with the exceeds. I get the feeling that you're the only one intelligent enough to talk to," muttered Standor.

I did as he said, but I kept Toni for company. I didn't really want to be completely alone with a strange old man who says he has a "plan" for me. Natsu began banging on the walls.

"Alright, back to business. I have a mission for you. To do it, you require all fifty exceeds for aerial and support power. It's dangerous, but I will pay highly. After that is completed, we will discuss my plan. Oh, and to answer your rude boy toy's question earlier about the fire dragon, I do know where he is. It will all come together when the plan is completed. Here is your mission paper and a bag. Inside the bag, you'll find items to help you complete the mission. Now, get out of my house before I throw you out. Your toy is making too much racket!" spoke Standor.

I quickly let Natsu and the exceeds out of the room and we exited through a newly constructed portal that Standor made. When we stepped out of the portal, we were in the middle of a cave. I took this as an opportunity to sit down and read the mission paper.

Brats, I need you to fight off mutant phoenixes in the city of Edaroya. It's somewhere near Crocus, perhaps. Bring some others along, like that sword wielder or the frozen stripper. This will test to see if you're fit for the plan. If not, I'll just get some others from the Pegasus Guild or something like that. This needs to be completed within two weeks. You can collect your reward (10 million jewels) in this cave. I'll be waiting for you.

-Standor

I opened the bag and found two lacrimas infused with unknown magic, poison, ten thousand jewels to cover transportation money, and an instruction sheet. "Celestial girl, the lacrimas are for you. I don't mean you're weak or bullshit like that. You're not. I just think you should have them. Put them in your body, I don't care how, but do it. It will give you a boost for your celestial magic and also will let you use a magic I pioneered: Blood maker magic. It's like Ice maker magic, but with blood, and etc. Use your powers wisely. Use the poison to finish off the phoenixes. It's the only thing that will permanently kill them."

After I read the note, I shoved it into my pocket, and our entourage left the cave.


Timeskip: in Magnolia, Normal POV:

The mages and their exceeds had just gotten off the train and were walking through the streets of Magnolia. Lucy suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach. She had inserted the lacrimas into the left side of her stomach, leaving her with a small scar.

"Luce! Are you ok? How did you get that scar?" Natsu panicked, worried about his lover.

"I'm fine, Natsu. On the train, I put two lacrima into the side of my stomach. They were from Standor, and were necessary to complete our next mission. I guess I'm just feeling the side effects of the new magic I received," the celestial mage spoke wearily.

Our favorite pyromaniac picked her up bridal style and carried her to the guild. He kicked open the doors and shouted, "We're back! And I didn't even destroy any villages this time!"

All eyes were on the couple and their exceeds as Natsu and Lucy realized how compromising their position looked to the rest of the Guild. The Guild already knew about their relationship, but the couple did not want to suffer through endless teasing as a result of it. Erza strode up to the pair, "Where have you been? I told you there was something urgent to are those all exceeds?" She ended her yelling in an abrupt hush tone. She walked past the dumbfounded couple and began fawning over the exceeds, showing off her rarely seen motherly instincts. She became quite attached to Soy and Lincoln. Lincoln had a top hat and a fake beard. He was a quiet exceed, quite the opposite of Soy. Soy was quite boisterous. He had a dagger strapped to his tail and was always willing to use it.

"So, Erza," Lucy spoke, "Could you come on a mission with us? It's a special mission given to us by the man who allowed me to have all the exceeds. He actually requested that you come with us, along with Gray. If you're interested, we're meeting here at eleven thirty tomorrow morning and leaving at noon."

The bubbly celestial mage then walked over to Gray, who was mid-stripping his pants and yelled, "Gray! No stripping around the exceeds! I already told you this! Anyways, you're going to go on a mission with Erza, Natsu, and I, got it? If you even think of backing out, I'll make sure that Flight and Loy pester you nonstop." She began to walk away and called out, "Ask Erza for the details! I'm going home now!" She grabbed Natsu by the arm and walked out of the Guild, with the exceeds following them. It would certainly be an interesting day ahead of them.

Brief AN: Like the guy's name? Foku? Yeah. I was bored. Sorry again for those who hate OOCness, but it's required if you want Nalu and the exceeds in the story. Hope you enjoyed!