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kisstheskyx

Gothazon

Pari forever ft

I hope you all like the latest chapter. =)

*Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.*

CHAPTER 10 Duke Everlue's Mansion

Earthland~

Erza's eyes snapped open, and she turned to glare at the steward. "I'm . . . I'm s s sorry ma'am. Y. . y. . you asked me wake you when we arrived." He stammered out nervously. Erza softened her gaze and mumbled out her thanks, giving herself a small stretch to get the blood pumping in her tired muscles.

She turned and looked at her sleeping companions and frowned at Natsu. This was the first time I've ever seen him eager to get on a train. He barely seemed affected by the motion sickness until he fell asleep, and even that was minimal. She let out a sigh and stood up, walking over to shake Gray.

Gray sat up, bloodshot eyes met Erza's. "Already there? I feel like I just closed my eyes." Erza nodded slowly and turned to look over to Natsu; Gray followed her gaze. "Are you worried about him as well?"

"I've never seen him so. . ." She let out a long sigh and looked around, throwing her hands up. "On a train."

Gray nodded solemnly. "Yea, I know what you mean. I know we are all worried about Lucy, but I didn't think I'd ever see him so worried he would barely notice his motion sickness." Gray glanced over to Erza, "Do you want to wake him up or should I?"

She turned towards the doorway. "I need to get my luggage, I'll let you wake him up, and Gray. ." She turned her head , looking at him over her shoulder. "Try to be nice." Before Gray could retort, she swiftly left the train car.

Gray rubbed his dark hair, grumbling under his breath. "Great." He stepped over to Natsu and put his hands in his pockets. He gave a quick kick to the backpack Natsu had under his head, causing the dragon slayer to tumble out of his seat.

"What the hell?!" Angry, olive green eyes glared at Gray. "Why'd you do that ice cycle breath?"

Gray shrugged, looking away. "I figured you'd want to leave as soon as we arrived. Geez Natsu."

It took a few moments before realization came crashing back to Natsu; he grimly grabbed his bag and left, Happy trailing behind slowly.

Gray walked outside of the train to see Natsu staring at the sky, expression unreadable. "Gray, how long was that train ride again?"

Gray clenched his jaw and followed Natsu's line of sight; the sun was in the opposite side of the sky, showing signs of evening approaching. "Hey man, we knew it was going to be a 5 hour ride, we just didn't expect the train to break having another hour and a half delay." Gray watched Natsu clench his fist and give a slow nod. "It's still faster than walking."

Happy flew over and settled himself on the dragon slayer's shoulder. "Ya hungry Natsu?"

Natsu turned and gave a small smile to the blue Exceed. "I guess getting a quick bite before taking off wouldn't hurt."

Erza's voice gave all those present a small jump of surprise. "I think eating would be a grand idea, let's get something that we can eat on the road, which reminds me, Natsu, Happy, which way do we take?"

Happy pointed in a North Eastern direction. "That way, about a 2 hour walk."

Natsu glanced at Happy and smirked, " I think we can make it in 30 minutes if we really try!"

Happy jubilantly jumped in the air "AYE!"

"Hold it!" They duo turned to see Erza's glare. "I don't think it's wise to rush into the forest, we don't want to get lost. From what you've said, you've only visited a few times. This place isn't on a map so neither Gray nor myself and verify that we are heading in the right direction."

Happy frowned, "Don't you trust our judgment?"

Gray scoffed, "How many times have we let you both lead us and we ended up lost. I seriously don't know how Lucy puts up with you both so much."

Natsu opened his mouth to reply before shutting it and storming off. Happy glared at the ice mage, "Real nice Gray!"

Gray pulled his hand to his forehead, frustration illuminated from him. Erza placed her hand on his shoulder, "Let's hurry."

After picking up some dumplings, the small team headed to the forest. Happy scouted from the skies to ensure they were heading in the right direction. And hour into the journey, the small team finally arrived into a large clearing. Gray and Erza both felt their jaws drop.

There was a glorious little town built, little as in everything was miniaturized. They slowly followed Natsu and Happy as they wandered through the dirt streets, walking past the small houses. The Exceeds all chorused their friendly hellos as the team passed by. Happy stopped at a small house and enjoyed a brief chat with another blue cat wearing an apron before they continued on towards the small lake. Erza and Gray looked over the large lake where many of the Exceeds were fishing either on the small dock or on small boats littered across the water.

The Exceed with the repetitive punching arm soon approached the team, concern etched across his face. "Oh, so you have arrived." He looked away sadly, "I am sorry."

Erza exchanged a perplexed look with Gray before turning to Natsu; confusion and frustration radiated from the pink haired dragon slayer.

New World~

Natsu watched the pink haired maid leave before turning to Lucy. "Isn't she one of your celestial spirits?"

"What? No! I guess I never really told you about how I got most of my spirits. I actually received Virgo's key after our Daybreak job."

Natsu frowned, "So, what will happen then after we finish here?"

Lucy stared at him, her expression puzzled. "I'm honestly not sure."

He turned towards the doorway, a boyish grin painted across his face. "I guess we will just have to hurry up and find out then, won't we?"

"Yea." Lucy giggled at his eagerness.

They walked into the Duke's Parlor, waiting in line behind his other guests to say their introductions. Natsu and Lucy finally made their way to the front to see the Duke lounging in a luxurious chair, several beautiful young women surrounding him. Lucy held back her disgust at seeing him. Ugh! He looks exactly the same! Round, balding, weird mustache growing from his nose. At least his opinion of beauty is different. Maybe things are different here. Natsu bowing pulled her from her thoughts in time for her to hastily add a curtsy of her own. "Thank you for inviting us, your Grace."

The Duke looked disappointedly over to Natsu. "You're Igneel's son? Sorry for my disappointment, I assumed your father was attending."

Natsu smiled apologetically. "My apologies, your Grace, he was unable to tear himself away from work and sent me in his stead."

The Duke's eyes trailed over Lucy curiously, "And who may this be?"

Lucy curtsied again, looking down. "Lucy, your Grace. It is a pleasure to meet you."

She felt his gaze rake over her and she held back the shudder that her body protested to make. She lifted her head and smiled sweetly over to him. His scrutinizing gaze was interrupted by Natsu's abrupt comment, "Shall we leave you to your other guests?"

Duke Everlue looked quickly between the two before nodding. "I shall see you both at dinner." With that comment, Natsu and Lucy quickly left his presence and walked across the room.

Natsu leaned over to Lucy, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know." She breathed back.

"You said the Duke didn't like you in your world."

She stared at him uncertainly. "He didn't, I don't know why this was so fascinated with me." She turned towards the wall of books they were standing next to. "Let's start looking at these books and see if we can find it." She turned seriously to Natsu. "Discretely though."

He chuckled, "Yea, yea. Discrete." His eyes casually roamed the expanse of the wall. "So what happened next for you? He shifted his gaze so he could see her reactions in the corner of his eye.

"Well, we didn't come when there was a party, so I'm at a loss. You found the book, they attacked us, we got separated. We defeated them." She let her gaze roam casually over the room of people, stomach churning in disgust when spotting the Duke staring in her direction. She shifted uncomfortably, drawing Natsu's attention.

He smiled down to her, "Well, after this next 24 hours or so, we won't have to deal with him again."

She looked hopefully up into his olive green eyes. "You're right! We can do this!"

Soon they were ushered out of the parlor and into the large dining room. A butler escorted Lucy away from Natsu and pulled out a chair for her. As she slowly scooted into her chair, she was relieved to see Natsu sitting across from her. As the room filled, she realized that she wasn't going to be able to make even small talk with him, she turned to see her conversation options were. The girl on her left smiled sweetly at her and soon Lucy found that they had a lot in common. They both dove into a long conversation about books and favorite novelists.

"So who is your favorite author?"

Without thinking, Lucy blurted out, "Kemu Zaleon!"

The girl blinked back in surprise and Lucy felt panicked until the girl beamed back. "He's my favorite author as well!"

Lucy felt relief wash over her as she continued, "I've read every book."

The girl raised her eyebrow, a smirk played across her lips. "Well I can guarantee you that you haven't." This piqued Lucy's interest.

"How are you so sure?"

The girl looked down the table to where the Duke was sitting before turning back to Lucy and beaming. "My family knows the Duke very well, so I've been coming here since I was little. The Duke has a book written from Kemu Zaleon based on himself."

Lucy leaned forward, showing excitement. "Have you read it?"

The girl frowned slightly, and gave the blonde an apologetic smile. "Yea, it really isn't that good though."

Lucy licked her lips with anticipation, "Where is the book? I'm dying to read it."

"In the library of course." Lucy nodded thoughtfully. Figures, same place as last time, now I just need an excuse to go in there.

Across the table, Natsu wasn't having as much luck as Lucy for talking companions. The man next to him prattled on about his archeological finds. Natsu internally groaned and fought the temptation to slam his head against the table. Looking over to Lucy, he was happy that at least she was having fun. Natsu's eyes trailed along the table, taking in the other guests. The host sat proudly at the head of the table; Natsu was concerned at how often his beady little eyes landed on Lucy.

He took a deep breath and turned to the gentleman next to him, finally deciding to participate in conversation. "So. . Er. . Sean Cook."

"Jean Luc!"

"Jean Luc, sorry. Right, so Jean Luc, how are you acquainted with the Duke?"

"Well actually, we met through a mutual friend you could say." Natsu nodded, waiting for him to continue. "He said he would actually help fund the Archaeological Society that I was telling you about if we could help him find a few things."

Natsu nodded absently. Jean Luc glanced across the table. "So, Natsu was it? Actually, I was wondering if you know the young blonde sitting across from us?"

Natsu stared curiously at the man. "Perhaps."

Jean Luc noted his reply and continued to watch the conversation across the table. "Would you know her name?"

"Yeah." He replied slowly, a frown forming.

Jean Luc seemed to wave off his thoughts. "Sorry, she actually looks like someone I know." The archaeologist laughed.

Natsu picked at his dinner, wishing more that he declined his grandfathers request. When he said I would sneak in under cover and look for valuable information and Bora and the Duke, I was expecting it to be more like those spy movies. Or hey, even a ninja movie. Not some fancy party with boring conversations. Natsu realized Jean Luc had asked him a question and was waiting for a response. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

Jean Luc smiled, leaning closer. "I asked you if you plan on going on the hunt tomorrow?"

Natsu stared at the man. "Hunt?"

Jean Luc nodded. "Actually, most of the men will be accompanying the Duke, he wanted to throw a traditional party. ." Natsu let the man prattle on as he thought about searching the house, deciding he's need an excuse to leave the hunt early or somehow avoid it altogether.

When dinner was finally over, the crowd went back into the parlor and it was several hours later before the duo could finally slip away and head back to their designated rooms. Walking into Natsu's room, Lucy threw herself on his bed. "Ugh. I think I'm done with this party, this mansion, these people. There are only a few I can actually bear."

Natsu plopped himself next to her, letting out a groan of his own. "Don't say actually, please."

Lucy gave Natsu a perplexed look before giggling. "Oh, right! You were sitting next to Jean Luc!"

Natsu turned and faced her. "You know him?"

A loud, close noise interrupted both of their thoughts. Lucy sat up nervously, "What's that?"

Natsu stared at his bag. "I think I hear it coming from there."

The two stood over the bag for several minutes before Lucy finally nudged Natsu. "Open it, it's your bag!"

He gave Lucy a childlike pout and she playfully stuck out her tongue. Natsu knelt down and slowly zipped open the black bag. A blue ball of fluff rocketed out of the bag and launched itself on the bed. Natsu and Lucy stood, mouths agape, staring at the bed in surprise. "HAPPY?"

Lucy walked over and sat gingerly next to the cat. "What are you doing here Happy?"

Natsu watched her with amusement before turning his attention to the cat that was wrapping himself around her arm, purring. "Happy didn't want to be left out. I think it's your fault."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "My fault?! How could this possibly be my fault?"

Natsu sat on the other side of the blue cat and scooped him up. "You tell him all of the stories of flying cats and fighting monsters, now he wants to be part of the action." Holding Happy up in front of Lucy, Natsu continued, "Look at this innocent face, and your trying to force your crazy adventures on him."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. "Well fine! I won't tell you any more stories then!"

Natsu pouted, "Oh c'mon Lucy! I was just kidding." He watched her stand up and walk across the room to her door.

"I think we need to get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Natsu threw himself back on the bed, letting go of Happy so he could roam the room again. "We don't even have an idea of where to look for the book."

"Not true." Natsu curiously met Lucy's triumphant brown eyes. She held up her finger in the air, informing Natsu happily, "I actually had a nice conversation at dinner with someone who has seen that book. She told me it's in the library."

Natsu beamed, "Great! It'll be a cinch! How big can a library be?"

Lucy frowned and let out a small sigh. "If I remember correctly, it is quite a large library."

Natsu let a groan escape and he rolled over on his stomach. "Great."

Lucy stretched and released a long yawn. "I think I'm tired." She made her way towards the adjoining door, "Goodnight Natsu."

Lucy slowly closed the door and leaned against it, slowly letting her eyes run roam cautiously over her room.It feels wrong being in this house, especially alone. I know Natsu is in the next room over, but still. Letting out a deep breath, she finally detached herself from the door and slowly stepped out of her shoes. I need to calm down, it's just one or two nights, I think I can handle this. Hanging the dress, she stepped into a soft pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top. She took another deep breath before shutting off the lights and sliding under the sheets.

Lucy laid under the sheets for what felt like hours, every small sound making her jump; the wind whipped itself ferociously against the window causing her nerves to break. I don't feel safe here, I need to leave. . . Now.

She finally stepped out of the sheets, jumping as the wind started to noisily harass the window again.

Natsu sighed once Lucy left the room; he got off the bed and quickly changed into comfortable sleeping attire. Happy sat at the adjoining door to Lucy's room, staring at it as if it would burn a hole. "Happy, you're not going in there tonight. You should have gone with her when she left the room." The cat made no notion that he heard the boy, his stare continued to assault the door.

Natsu frowned at the cat, calling him a traitor under his breathe, before flipping the light switch and climbing onto the large bed and sprawled out in the middle. Natsu smirked to himself, pleased that he could take up most of the bed like this, laying on it any other way would have made him feel small, childlike, and that would have put him on edge at the Duke's. He closed his eyes and listened; the wind whipping itself at the windows, the natural creaking sound that large houses make, Happy's collar jingling lightly, his door creaking open. HIS DOOR CREAKING OPEN?

Natsu's eyes shot open and went to the main door. Still closed. He shifted his gaze to the adjoining door and almost forgot to breath. His blonde friend picked up Happy and stuck him in front of her face, whispering words of affection, before carefully placing him back on the ground. She slowly made her way to his bed, her shorts and tank top leaving much of her light, creamy skin to stand out in the moonlight. She leaned over the bed, checking to see if he was awake. He closed his eyes, leaving them just open enough to peek through his lashes.

"Natsu. ." Her light whisper barely heard with his heart hammering in his ears. "Are you awake?" He made no move, focusing on keeping his breathing even. "I'm sorry to bother you. . I. ." she leaned forward on the bed, her hands pressed into the bed, a nervous expression painted across her face. "I. . I was wondering if I could. ."

The wind whistled through the window panes, pushing a branch against the glass with startling scratching noise. Lucy jumped onto the bed in alarm and turned to face the sounds. Laughing at herself she turned back to Natsu, catching his surprised eyes staring back at her. Lucy put on an awkward smile. "I'm sorry for bothering you. . I just. ."

Natsu half sat up, putting his weight on his elbows. "You don't feel comfortable being back in this house?" Lucy looked away, shaking her head in embarrassment; Natsu smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, I understand. You don't want to let your guard down, especially with what happened in your world when you came here."

Lucy stared at Natsu with uncertainty. "Would it be weird. . if I stayed in here with you?"

Natsu felt his heart practically jump out of his chest, he stared at the blonde beauty in front of him, sitting on his bed, biting her bottom lip nervously, asking HIM if she could stay with him tonight. "Yea, that's fine." He scooted over. "The bed's plenty big."

Lucy smiled thankfully back to him before scooting to the top and sliding under the sheets. "Thanks Natsu!"

He stretched back across his half of the bed with a euphoric smile. "No problem."

Natsu could tell the room was starting to brighten without opening his eyes. He started to roll onto his stomach when his arm instinctively wrapped around the person snuggled next to him. His eyes jolted open; he took in his surroundings, letting déjà vu sink in. Lucy was tucked in under his chin, her head resting on his left arm. Her body was curled up next to him, facing the other direction.

Natsu carefully lifted his arms and cautiously rolled away from the sleeping blonde. Laying on his back, he stared at her head and frowned. How do I get my arm out from under her? He tried to wiggle his fingers, slightly concerned at the lack of feeling he had in them. She let out a soft murmur and rolled over, resting her head cozily into his shoulder, her delicate arm draped over his chest. He inhaled sharply, panicking at the thought of her waking up. He watched her sleep and he felt himself calming, her beautiful face set in a content picture melted his heart.

Natsu's eyes caught something blue in the corner of his eye; he shifted his gaze and felt dread wash over him. Happy was stalking towards them. Natsu wiggled his foot with hopes the cat would get distracted, but Happy didn't even notice. He crouched low in his pouncing position and Natsu looked back to unaware blonde, contently still deep in slumber. As Happy launched himself at the two, Natsu raised his arm, blocking the cat. The sudden jolt of his motion snapped Lucy from her sleep and she sat up startled. Natsu sat up with her, his green eyes filled with a worried apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

Lucy stared at him; he could practically see the wheels turning in her tired eyes. 1: They are sleeping in the same bed. 2: Under the same sheets. 3: Proximity. Her eyes grew wide and a blush appeared on her cheeks as she scooted away, looking at the sheets in embarrassment. "It's fine. Sorry." She slipped out of bed and gave herself a stretch, giving Natsu too good of a view. He hurriedly looked away and frowned when spotting the blue cat perched near the edge of the bed. Natsu shot Lucy a quick glance to confirm she wasn't looking before shifting his leg, knocking Happy to the floor. The cat let out a disgruntled yowl, causing Lucy to look over curiously. Natsu gave her an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders.

Lucy felt her heart pounding in her chest staring at the pink haired guy lounging in bed smiling at her. After being awoken in his arms, seeing him in this morning light, his bright smile. . . She wasn't sure how much more her heart could take. She gave him a sheepish smile, resisting the impending blush from surfacing with all of her will power. "I'll. . Uh. . go get changed I suppose." Natsu nodded and flopped back on the bed, eyes still watching her. As Lucy started to walk towards her door, she watched Happy rush from behind the bed to catch up with her. He stopped briefly to give Natsu an annoyed glare before continuing to hurry into her room. She shook her head and wondered if she even wanted to know what that was about.

Later that afternoon, Natsu was pleased to see that he was able to leave the hunt early. He had to ask 2 different maids where the library was after getting lost in the maze of a mansion. When he finally slipped into the large room, he instantly spotted Lucy on the second level of the library balancing on a ladder reading through the hundreds of titles. "Hey Luce!"

She let out a yelp of surprise and grasped the handles in an attempt to balance herself; the blonde shot him a frustrated glare. "What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"

He let out a chuckle and continued to stare, keeping his eyes focused on her face. "Why are you checking way up there? Have you already checked all of the ones down here?"

Lucy frowned. "Well I started to, but he insisted that he wanted to look through those."

Natsu felt his smile slip as he cautiously asked, "He? Who's he?"

"How could you forget?" Her playful smile and bright eyes confused Natsu even more until finally a rush of blue bounced from a nearby chair and small claws caught his shirt.

Natsu jumped in surprise, before turning back to Lucy. "He as in Happy?" He drawled out as the cat climbed onto his shoulder and perched comfortably there.

Lucy nodded, amusement filled her expression. "Duh! Who else?"

Natsu cocked his head to it's side, hilarity weaved into his grin. "You know he's just a cat, right?"

Said blue cat swatted his ear in response, causing Lucy to erupt in a fit of laughter. "Yea, well. . Old habits die hard as they always say." She turned and sat on the ladder step, resting her elbow on her knee, head in hand, watching them. "So how was the hunt? How'd you get out of it?"

Natsu stretched his arms behind his head and gave Lucy a smug smile. "I told them my dad needed to talk to me about work, they didn't even question it."

Lucy nodded thoughtfully, giving a soft hum in response. Natsu turned and started to casually look through the books. "Oh look at this!" He pulled a book out and showed it to Happy. "This book is about fish." He started to thumb through the book as Happy crawled down his arm to get a better look. "There are lots of pictures!" Lucy giggled as Happy pawed the page in excitement. Natsu casually tossed the book to a nearby chair, resulting in Happy leaping off of his arm and bounced his way over to the 'fish book'. Natsu gave Lucy a triumphant smile before turning back to the case. Lucy felt like she was reliving a distant memory and watched Natsu with nostalgia. He thumbed through several more books before jubilantly yanking a gold one off the shelf and facing Lucy with a childish smile. "This one's sparkly!"

Lucy giggled and started down the ladder. "Natsu, you found it."

He gave the book a perplexed look before grinning proudly to Lucy. "Hey what do you know? This is it. See Lucy! You didn't have to climb all the way up there to look for it."

She grabbed the book, giving him a failed attempt at a pointed look before opening and scanning the pages. It's not quite the same story, looks like the plot is similar though.

Natsu scooped up Happy and placed the 'fish book' back before turning to his blonde companion. "So now what?"

Lucy frowned. "I guess we can go, but it might look suspicious."

"I guess we can stay for the party tonight and leave first thing in the morning." Natsu replied slowly.

Lucy stared at the book in her hands. "Should we take this back to our room now or should we just come back for it?"

Natsu watched her worried expression and sighed, taking the book. "I guess we know where it's at, so we can just grab it first thing tomorrow or tonight before we go to bed, that way it's less likely to know it's missing until we are already gone." He slid the book back onto the shelf and gave it a solemn look before turning back to her with a reassuring grin plastered across his face. She couldn't resist returning his smile, despite the bad feeling she felt twisting in her gut.

I originally planned on finishing the Duke confrontation this chapter but I realized it would probably take another week to bust through it all, and I think I like what I have planned better now anyways. This chapter is still the normal length. I hope you enjoy it, I look forward to writing the next chapter, I've had the ideas buzzing through my head for about a month now and it's so exciting to actually type it out. I'm actually stuck on how to proceed after the Duke part, I think I know what I want to do, but we shall see.

Thank you all for your support, I can't believe it's already 10 chapters! For those of you following both of my stories, I posted another chapter to Dragon Demolishers not too long ago. I actually have 2 other stories I have started to write, nowhere near post ready. When this one gets farther along or my other story gets finished I might start to post another story, we shall see.