A/N: Hi. Chapter 11 is here y'all! 11 favorites and 21 followers this time, and 2,000+ views! OMG THANK YOU X3! So, enough talk. Let's get on with it!

Chapter 11

Lucy's POV

The sea of fire to her seemed like the best choice. If they were to fight the phoenix themselves, Natsu would have a huge advantage for eating fire. Besides, how hard can it be?

"The sea of fire?" Kesshō frowned.

Lucy nodded. "Where is it at, anyway?"

"Um... In the ring of fire. You know, volcanoes?" Suzuki suggested.

Lucy nodded, slower this time. "Oh. And where is the phoenix supposedly located?"

"Mount Fuji." Kesshō broke in. "Here, in Japan."

Kesshō insisted that they should go today, and Lucy had no choice but to agree with her. They soon packed and were each carrying backpacks, loaded with food, money, and water for the journey.

"Mount Fuji, right?" Natsu asked. "Is it far from here?"

"No..." Kesshō said, narrowing her eyes. "It's 1,000 miles away. A kilometer, I think?"

Okay people, I'm not sure if a 1,000 miles equal 1 kilometer. Correct me if I'm wrong DX

"That's NEAR? Are you serious?!" Happy said, widening his eyes.

"Er... Whoops." Kesshō smiled nervously. "If I transformed, we'll get there faster."

"We could ride you right?" Suzuki asked.

"I prefer not," Kesshō grimaced. "Yeah, let's just walk."

"It's just a ride, though..." Natsu spoke up. "Can't you go through it?"

"No." Kesshō snapped at him, which ended the conversation.

Lucy sighed. If they bickered all the time like this, it was seriously going to give her a headache.

Lucy never knew walking like this would be such a challenge. Luckily it was cold and breezy, not super hot.

After it what seemed like hours, Kesshō said that they were much nearer now. "It's close," she told the Fairy Tail members. "I could hear it from here."

"Hearing volcanoes..." Natsu sighed. "Not sure if that's even possible."

"Just a few more miles to walk guys," Suzuki called from in front. "We can rest soon."

"A few miles?!" Happy sighed heavily. "I'm tired!" he complained.

"You're flying!" Lucy snapped at him, but he groaned.

"Yeah, but still..." Happy insisted, his tail drooping tiredly.

"We're tired too, Happy!" Natsu said. "We'll get there soon, don't worry."

"We'll get there in a century!" Happy said sarcastically. "100 years!"

"Oh, shut up!" Lucy grumbled. They were all now tired and hungry. Lucy was losing her patience as well.

Before she knew it, night had fallen. Lucy saw the stars and the moon in the dark sky. She wanted to stop and rest, but Kesshō said they could rest later.

"Can we stop now?" Lucy asked, for the 30th time. "I'm really hungry and sleepy. My legs feel like Jell-O!"

"Everyone's legs feel like Jell-O," Suzuki pointed out, agreeing.

In the dark sky, she saw Kesshō throw up her hands in frustration. "Fine! Eat! Sleep! It's going to hold us back longer though!"

Everyone collapsed to the ground, exhausted and in a lousy mood. They silently all grabbed food from their packs, and started to eat hungrily. Natsu even lit a fire for them to see better.

Happy fell asleep as soon as he finished his dinner: fish, as always. Lucy could hear him snoring near her right side.

"I'll sleep too," Suzuki said, pulling out a sleeping bag and crawling into it. Lucy thought that Suzuki wasn't sleeping, until she saw that she was breathing slowly.

Kesshō however poked the fire with a stick she found. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, even as a human.

Natsu was still eating happily. Lucy told him not to finish his food, but he had said that he brought large amounts every day.

Lucy personally liked the setting where they had stopped to camp. They were on a small, grassy hill, decorated with flower petals. Near them, a cherry blossom tree was planted and hung over the group. Lanterns were lighting up the place as well, and Lucy thought she had saw fireflies.

Lucy then turned her attention back on Kesshō. The black haired teen had turned around, facing the cherry blossom tree, away from Lucy, and was laying down, eyes fixed on the starry sky.

Lucy thought that Kesshō was cool. Even though her true form was a dragon, Lucy still admired Kesshō's stubborness and aggressiveness about things. Sure, Kesshō probably was in a sour and negative mood most of the time, but Lucy thought she was pretty as a human.

Natsu was finished eating. He seemed to be studying the stars too, with his dark eyes of his. Lucy smiled. He always seemed to be curious all the time.

"I see it." Kesshō spoke up quietly. "The constellation of Draco. The dragon." She pointed to the outline of stars that formed the starry object.

Lucy imagined a dragon stomping through the skies, roaring and declaring he was the mightiest. It fit the constellation well.

"Was he a dragon in real life?" Lucy asked.

Kesshō nodded. "Yes, he was." Was it just Lucy's imagination, or was Kesshō blushing?

"Come one, Kesshō," Lucy snickered. "You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike him, don't you?" She said, rolling her tongue.

"Shut up," Kesshō grumbled. "So what if I do?"

Lucy exchanged a glance with Natsu. She saw him grinning mischeviously.

"Oh..." Kesshō said, clearly noticing this. Her tone became teasing. "What's going on between you two, huh?"

"Nothing's going on!" Lucy and Natsu said, denying it.

Kesshō rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you two are that dense. And I'm a dragon, for goodness sake! So what's with you two?"

"Nothing!" Natsu and Lucy both yelled in unison. Lucy felt heat rushing up to her face. "We're just friends!"

"Friends, huh?" Kesshō snorted. "I don't believe any word you two are saying!"

Lucy stayed quiet. Natsu was important to her, but not in that way! They were nakama. Right? Lucy bonked herself on the head. Why was she doubting it?! This always happened every damn time!

"I'll... Go to sleep," Lucy said nervously, tucking herself in her sleeping bag. She knew that Kesshō and Natsu were still watching her. Lucy then heard quiet voices, and before she knew it, she closed her eyes.

"Morning!" A cheerful voice said, waking Lucy up from her sleep. Slowly, she got up, and rubbing her eyes, saw Suzuki packing her sleeping bag up.

"Hi, good morning to you all too!" Lucy said, taking out her brush and brushing her hair hastily.

"Let's get going! I'm FIRED UP!" Natsu roared, flames shooting out of his mouth.

"Just don't burn anything," Lucy heard Kesshō mutter. "To the sea of fire! Mount Fuji is waiting for us!"

And thus, Lucy, Kesshō, Suzuki, Natsu, and Happy took off towards Mount Fuji. Along the way they haven't encountered monsters or beasts in the wild, which was a good thing.

Lucy glanced at her left arm, which was still in a sling. Would she make it in fighting with her right hand only? Sure, she can, but Lucy worried she might get a spell wrong...

What she was mainly worrying about was what Kesshō and Natsu were discussing last night. It probably was about their "relationship" as Kesshō accused.

Kesshō was a tough girl, Lucy knew that. However, if Kesshō spread the news about Lucy and Natsu... Ugh, Lucy didn't even want to think about it.

On the bright side, Kesshō wasn't close to anyone in Fairy Tail. She is a dragon. And dragons just can't go marching in guilds and shouting false accusations, can they?

Suddenly, Lucy looked up to see a column of steam flowing out of a snowy... Mountain? Lucy couldn't think of the correct word. It certainly did not look like a volcano.

Well yes, the mountain was beautiful; it was capped with snow and ice and looked the color blue from a far distance. Lucy, though, had a strong suspicion the volcano was most likely to erupt. That was the bad news.

"This is Mount Fuji." Kesshō declared. "Fuji is an active volcano. More the while why the phoenix would hide here anyway. Let's go, guys. We need to get the sacred feather now."

Lucy shivered. She didn't like the way Kesshō said now. She shook off the feeling.

"Sure, why not? Where's the entrance?" Natsu said, eagerly spinning around.

"We have to get closer," Lucy persisted. "We'll have to..." Lucy didn't want to say it at all.

"...Jump into the volcano itself, right?" Happy finished. "For me, I'll just have to fly, so..."

"Ugh, I hate falling into fiery lava pits," Lucy grumbled. "Especially with a broken arm."

Even Kesshō looked uncomfortable. "That is the only entrance. We'll have to brave doing it."

They trudged towards the volcano cautiously, and when the five of them got there, Lucy had an idea.

"Instead of dropping ourselves in, why don't we have Happy carry us in?" Lucy said. "We probably might not be injured ourselves."

"That's a good idea," Suzuki agreed.

"Sure, we can do it," Kesshō nodded.

"Yeah! I'm first!" Natsu declared.

"Wait... Five people?" Happy asked, surprised.

After a moment's convincing Happy for him to do it, he finally agreed for the reward being fish. Happy then picked up Natsu first, then Lucy, then Suzuki, and Kesshō.

"You people are heavy," Happy complained. "But can I have some fish now?"

Once Lucy got in, she was already sweating. It was literally 100 degrees Fahrenheit or whatever in the volcano. It was so hot, Lucy thought it was hotter than the afternoon sun!

"I shouldn't have wore long sleeves," Kesshō grumbled. "It's freaking hot."

Natsu seemed to be the only one fine with this sudden change of temperature. Being a fire dragon slayer, and such, but Lucy could see he was still sweating a little bit.

"Let's get this over with," Happy moaned. "I'm melting over here..."

"Where's the phoenix?" Suzuki asked, confused.

"Don't know, but we need to find him soon," Kesshō said, worried. She pointed to the lava bubbling below them. "I don't know about you, but I am not going to die here."

Lucy had to agree with Kesshō. "Is there a type of spell in calling the phoenix out?" She turned around, facing the other four, who appeared terrified. Lucy swore she heard wings beating.

"Um... Maybe not," Happy said, his voice high-pitched.

"Lucy... It's right behind you." Natsu gasped, pointing past Lucy.

Oh shit. Lucy turned around, nervously and she SCREAMED.

"HIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!" The phoenix hissed (lol) at Lucy.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Lucy screamed, running towards Natsu, who was nearest, and held on to his arm.

Kesshō and Suzuki looked equally terrified, and Happy looked like he was going to cry.

The phoenix was truly terrifying, of course. Flames were decorated on its head like it just took a flame bath. His eyes were bloodred and narrowed into slits. His beak was golden, and his fur was gold colored. The phoenix's wings were outlined with sizzling hot flames and Lucy saw the phoenix was extremely huge. Its tail was a streak of red, yellow, amd orange. Not good.

"Oh gosh..." Lucy whimpered. "We're dead."

"Um... Nice phoenix. Please don't kill us." Kesshō said, holding her hands up in surrender.

"How are we supposed to get a feather from that?! It looks like we're going to get killed!" Natsu said.

"We might," Happy added, and everyone shouted, "NOT NECCASARY!"

Lucy was beyond terrified. She was extremely scared. She gripped Natsu's arm tighter, and he said, "We might fight, so don't kill my arm, okay?"

The phoenix beat his wings once more. Then, he spoke.

"WHO DARES... TO COME HERE?" The phoenix snarled.

"We do," Kesshō said bravelly. "We ask for your feather of fire."

The phoenix made weird scratching noises, and Lucy then realized that it was laughing.

"WHY ASK FOR THE FEATHER, HUMANS?" The phoenix roared.

"I'm a dragon!" Kesshō said pointedly. "This is my human form!"

"Does that matter at this moment? We're about to be human sized chickens!" Lucy said exasperatedly.

"HUMAN SIZED CHICKENS... I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT COOKING YOU." The phoenix gestured to bones, which disturbingly looked like human bones, seeing a skull and all. "WHAT MATTERS IS HOW I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NOW."

"We only want to save the world from destruction!" Happy said nervously. "Want a fish?"

"SAVING THE WORLD?" The phoenix grumbled. "ACHNOLOGIA HAS DOOMED US ALL, CAT. AND NO, FISH IS BAD FOR MY HEALTH."

"It's a wonderful source of protein!" Happy argued, but the phoenix ignored him.

"We just want one feather!" Suzuki protested.

"BUT GETTING THE FEATHER COMES WITH A VALUABLE PRICE," the phoenix hissed. Then, his flaming red eyes were fixed on Lucy. "A SACRIFICE."

"NO!" Natsu yelled. The phoenix then grabbed Lucy out from the ground and he was laughing again.

"SAY GOODBYE, FOOLS." The phoenix said evily. He then held Lucy 30 ft above the burning lava below.

Lucy did the only thing she could only do, despite this situation. She was upset she couldn't reach her keys, so she did that.

She cried and screamed for help.

A/N: So they arrive at the phoenix's lair! And sadly the phoenix is a meanie :(

Thank you for reading my story guys! So here are the new favs and follows:

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Wait for chapter 12 (This far already? Whoa!)