Chapter 12: Grimoire Heart Goes Shopping
Two Days Ago…
It was a peaceful afternoon for the new Grimoire members. Sleeping on thin blankets and mats against the cold, hard dirty floor; their backs ached. They itched and smelled feeling desperate for a bath. They made a makeshift bonfire to cook breakfast from a can. With small gray circles under their eyes they were fortunate enough to have a shelter away from the cold of the night. Though, as much as they complain and groan, it was indeed a peaceful afternoon. Even more so for the new couple of Grimore Heart that laid half-naked under the covers of the bed locked in their own world in a tight embrace. It was fortunate for the two of them to finally have what they wanted after the long years of waiting and servitude, but unfortunate for the rest that had to hear it. Lucy gave out a long loud yawn.
"How much sleep did some of us manage to get?" she said between her yawns.
They said nothing only stared at her with the dark circle of their bloodshot eyes. Lucy mentally slapped herself for asking an obvious answer to a stupid question.
"Honestly…" Aquarius sighed, "I don't think those two idiots up there realize how bad metal walls insulate sound."
"I know those two have liked each other for a while…" Lucy said, "…but what happened was just so sudden."
"Having the warehouse empty only made it worse…" Taurus complained, "we're living in a makeshift amplifier"
"I wouldn't be surprised if that old bed broke" Pisces exclaimed.
"Is that a bad thing, mom?" her son said
"Hush son, you don't know what you're saying. Just cover your ears for the entire day!" She scolded.
"I was more worried how this place was already coming apart" Leo said, "I'm just glad the sound didn't make the roof collapse on us"
They laughed as they passed around the can sharing the food.
"I didn't think it was that bad but I'm still a little disturbed" Aries said.
Leo pets her hair, "That's because your hair is so thick and fluffy. They are like cute little earmuffs. I think there's enough room in the back for you to share to me next time they go at it!"
Aries blushed at his comment, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Tch" Aquarius huffed , "Get a room you two."
"Can't" Leo pointed up, "those two are still in there."
"Smart ass…and will someone wake those two up!"
They all looked towards Lucy. Her face became red, "Why me!?"
"Because you're the closest to those two…Go on. We'll stay here and plot our little revenge."
She didn't like where this was going.
Capricorn kissed Virgo's forehead as he held her wrapped around his arms as they woke up. He slowly sat up with her in his gray boxer briefs picking up his dirty clothes and putting them back on. He threw away his ruined tailcoat in a corner and buttoned his dirt stained white dress shirt. Virgo put on her black dress throwing the white apron along with the tailcoat. She pulled Capricorn back down to sit on the bed as he was buckling his dress pants and straddled his lap as they headed for a deep kiss.
"You're a mess." Virgo whispered, "I think we should shop for clothes today."
"Right." Straight and simple, he wasted no time in stealing another kiss from the pink haired maid. Then a couple of knocks came from the door and Capricorn threw her in the center of the bed and quickly opened the door slightly to peek in to see who it was. He saw Lucy with her cheeks flaming red with an awkward expression.
"Are you feeling well, Lucy?" he asked
"Yes, I'm fine uhhm… I just uh…You know…good afternoon! We made some lunch and saved some for you two so come downstairs before it gets cold!" she said awkwardly while quickly turning around going back downstairs. Capricorn stood there confused wondering why asking them to join the rest for lunch was awkward for her.
"What's wrong with Lucy?" Virgo asked.
"I don't know." He shrugged, "Let's go join them for lunch."
They walked down the stairs together to join the others sitting down by the bonfire. Virgo sat next to Lucy handing her the can of food and Capricorn stood tall looking at dark worn eyes of the other members in the group.
"Did the mattress not help?" He asked, "I will get better mattresses, perhaps today, so you can all sleep well tonight."
"The floor wasn't the problem, couldn't sleep because of the noise." Leo replied.
"Noise?" he gulped.
They suddenly took out scrap pieces of metal plates and banged their hands on it in a steady rhythm and occasionally sporadic ones. Capricorn was dumbfounded and stayed silent until Taurus called his name.
"Hey Capricorn!" Taurus yelled as he banged his fist on the metal walls that echoed into the warehouse, "sound familiar to you?!"
Capricorn turned his back on them while mentally cursing himself that they all heard him rock the bed on the first day on the job of being the leader of Grimoire Heart. "I see." He said while trying to keep his cool.
They all looked at Virgo next who just sat there eating her food with a blank stare.
"You seem less… affected?" Aquarius said questionably.
"Yes, but why does he get all the credit" She said in a monotone voice, "Give me some credit too, at least. Most of that noise was my doing anyways."
Every member felt shocked at her response with their jaws gaping open. All except for Capricorn who still had his back turned smirking; trying to hide his informality while keeping true to his proper and formal personality.
"Perhaps we should be punished, don't you think so dear? Let's carry the bed downstairs so it doesn't hit the walls anymore?"
"No!" they yelled.
"All right, enough of this subject." Capricorn commanded, "Where are the Gemini brother and sister?"
"Those two are by the river bringing water back to us" Lucy said.
"Good" he grunted, "We'll wash up and shop for supplies."
"We don't have any money…"
"No. But Virgo and I however have money in the bank we've saved up for the past 27 years. It's enough to get us by and hopefully be able to receive jobs to make money of our own before it runs out."
They all smiled gratefully at the two of them and gave themselves a proper washing when the Gemini twins returned with the buckets of water. They headed out into the city and made their way to the bank. Only Capricorn and Virgo went inside the bank and the rest waited outside all spread out to avoid attention. Capricorn gave them specific instruction on how to meet, and the signals that told them what to do. The two came out with their pockets filled of fat rolls of cash that they split evenly into twelfths and a fat vanilla envelope for Capricorn to carefully invest in with the group. They agreed to split up into 4 groups and meet in the warehouse by late noon.
When late noon arrived, three of the four groups have returned back to the warehouse. They sat against the wall outside tired and worn out and have not bought a single item.
"Why is every shop trying to rip us off? Who pays 500 jewels for a shirt?!" Aquarius complained.
"Well, let's hope Lucy's group has found some luck on finding a decent shop." Capricorn stated, "I'm sorry everyone. I just didn't think the intensity of the inflation would be this extreme. At this rate all our money we saved up would be gone in less than a month."
Virgo leaned in to his shoulders, "It's not your fault, we all didn't know."
There was a distant voice down the road. They looked in that direction and saw Lucy waving her arms at them. They got up and head over to Lucy to greet her.
"Have you found anything?" Capricorn asked.
"Sorry no," she shook her head, "But I did find someone who can help us!" She pointed to the pink haired young man that stood in the back of her group wearing a white scarf, white cargo pants and a black vest.
"Hey guys! Nice to see you all again!" he grinned.
"Natsu Dragneel. Isn't this a surprise?" Capricorn smiled at him.
"Oh hey I remember you! You're that scary butler guy that followed Levy around!"
"I was." He said with cold dark voice.
Lucy interrupted them, "I told Natsu everything that happened and he said he is willing to help us."
"Yup!" Natsu grinned even wider, "You guys are pretty close to where I'm taking you all. See that building over there?"
They all looked at the broken sewer treatment building, "What of it?" Capricorn asked.
"Follow me I'll show you! Come on Luce!" he grabbed Lucy's arm and ran to the building with the rest of Grimoire Heart following behind. He knocked on the door and yelled out a name.
"Wakaba! Wakaba! Oi, open up!"
The door opened and came out a very angry old man smoking a pipe, "Natsu! Why is it so hard for you to do the knock and say the password?!" He looked up to the group. "Who are these guys?"
"These guys need help and I'm vouching for them!" he grinned.
"All right, but if they cause trouble, it's on your ass got it?" He opened the door wider and they went inside and down the sewers. Natsu led the way while he lit a flare to light up the dark tunnel until they stopped in front a rusted metal door.
"Most of the good stuff is located under the city, It's a small area but I think you all should be able to manage finding everything you need here!" he smiled and opened the door that led to the underground society.
"Here's the plan." Capricorn commanded, "Gentlemen you are all going to be in my group, ladies you will all be in Virgo's group. We'll spend two hours here getting clothes and other essential. Save up what you can and meet here in this spot!"
"Hey," Natsu interrupted, "Can Lucy be in my group?"
Capricorn stared at him for a while before replying, "Only if you bring her back, and also thank you, Natsu, for helping us."
"No problem!" he grinned, "Come with me Luce!" He grabbed her arm and off they went into the small town underground. The two groups split up again and enjoyed their time where men can be amongst men and women can be amongst women.
The two hour marked passed and the gentlemen stood waiting for the ladies to come back. They took pride in their new change of clothing and felt relieved to get out of wearing servant's attire. Leo changed into wearing a plain orange shirt, with a green hooded white fur trimmed jacket, blue clear shades, white pants and brown plain shoes. Taurus wore a golden tank top with black arm bands that showed off his muscles, dark beige cargo shorts and black shoes. Cancer wore a light blue striped dress shirt with dark blue vest with blue jeans, green shades and black shoes. Sagittarius wore a properly tucked white dress shirt with a green vest wearing a red tie and red striped white shorts with shin high black buckled boot. The Gemini brother only wore black shorts and a blue shirt. Pisce's son wore blue jeans and a black tank top. Scorpio had a punk rocker outfit with a red coat. And lastly, Capricorn had decided not to change into a different suit ,even though he bought one. After his last battle encounter with the Ravens, he decided for a more tactical approach on his sense of fashion and also to avoid ruining more suits in battle. So he decided he needed something that's easy to replace but enough to make him look like the top dog. He wore a tight yellow shirt that defined his upper body strength with a green and white patterned bandanna wrapped around his neck coming to a V-point in the middle of his chest, a black leather jacket, black jeans, black boots, black finger-less leather gloves and black shades. It surprised many of the men in his group for him to wear something different, but he looked tough and intimidating.
Finally the women had appeared holding their shopping bags wearing their new outfit with the same pride. Pisces wore a blue tank top, blue heels, blue jeans and a light small beige leather jacket stopping above waist line. Aquarius also wore blue heels, with a dark blue bikini top covered by a shawl, a golden hair band and long ocean colored silk skirt with open slit on the right leg. Aries wore a white sleeveless mini dress with a white net sleeve and white heels. The Gemini sister wore a similar fashion as her twin brother but wore orange shorts instead. Libra wore a long green dress with a golden shawl and golden bracelets. And finally Virgo, who also had undergo a major change from dresses to something also more tactical. She came out from behind wearing black tight slacks, white dress shirt that she unbuttoned to make a V-neck with small pink braided stripes, black heels, a black leather jacket that stopped above her waist and a white beret.
Each member looked at each other and an agreeing nod from both side telling each other that they all looked their best. The attention was switched to Capricorn and Virgo who had the most change and praise with their style that was closely similar to each other but enough to define the masculinity and femininely features to separate the opposite sex.
And lastly Lucy came to greet them wearing a white tank top with blue designs, beige shorts, and casual white shoes with Natsu following behind.
"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed, "You men look tough! Girls you look gorgeous! Especially you two, Virgo and Capricorn, you guys match!"
"Thank you Lucy, and you look wonderful too." Capricorn complimented, "We are all here now, let's go home!"
They all walked back home but Lucy's arm was grabbed again by Natsu.
"Natsu?" she asked.
"Hey Luce, just think about what I said all right? It might help your group too if they cooperate with Fairy Tail. I'll talk to gramps about this later."
"Of course! Thank you so much again Natsu! I'll see you again sometime soon!"
They said their goodbyes and she left to catch up with the members of Grimoire Heart thinking about Natsu's offer. It was night time when they got home, they placed their bags in the middle pulling out blankets and new mattresses to sleep on and make it their own makeshift bed as well as other necessities to make it feel more like home.
"That was fun, but I am beat!" Aquarius said loudly, "Pisces it's your turn to make dinner for us."
"Sure." She smiled, "Son can you start the fire please?"
"Yes mom." He replied.
"Also" Aquarius smirked, "I got those two love birds a present" She pulled out a box of condoms.
"Condoms?" Lucy said.
"Yeah, safe sex is good sex right? Besides, if she had an unexpected pregnancy it's going to be tough raising a child out here especially how we are right now."
Lucy eyes were sad and took the box and put it back in the bag. "Aquarius, it was really thoughtful of you… but Virgo is barren."
Everyone became silent at the news. Aquarius held a hand in her mouth feeling bad and cursing herself when she thought she did a good thing.
"I'm glad you told me that before I put it in their room." She sighed.
"Don't be sad. I know you meant well! Besides other members here can use them so just hold on to them until we have a place to store our medical supplies" Lucy smiled, "Besides, Capricorn will love her just as much as a woman who can bear a child."
"By the way Lucy, how did Virgo became barren?" Leo asked
"Only Capricorn knows that, those two have known each other the longest."
"Speaking of those two," Aquarius interrupted, "did anyone see them come in?"
"They are making out outside" Taurus said.
"Well they will be out there for a while so that means we are starting dinner without them!"
It was a chilly night but not chilly enough for the two lovers who sat in the cemented ground by the walls locking lips together in a tight embrace. Capricorn sat cross-legged as Virgo sat on his lap caressing his cheeks as he kissed the back of her neck.
"I like this new look" he gasped between kisses, "suits you beautifully."
"Which do you prefer this or dresses?" she asked.
"This of course, that way I can enjoy the pleasure of taking them off you" he smirked behind her neck.
"You tease, that's how I feel about your suit. But you look younger with your new clothes."
"Good. I was going for that."
"I can always mend your old suit." she stated.
"And if I say no?" he dared.
"Then I guess I will have to punish you until you say 'yes'."
They laughed and hugged into the night. They stayed like this for a while just enjoying the warmth of each other and the cool air. It got colder and they stood up to go back inside. The other members were laying down on their mattress asleep or trying to sleep and they quietly made their way upstairs. They laid down under the covers of the bed and cuddled themselves to sleep. Capricorn woke up late in the afternoon again still recovering from the physical and mental exhaustion from the days before. He turned to see Virgo missing by his side. He quickly got up and went downstairs and saw her and Lucy and the rest of the members sitting on the mattress.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Capricorn!" Lucy said, "there's something I need to tell you."
Lucy gave her a long explained details about yesterday with Natsu. She explained how she told him everything they were going through and the offer that Natsu made to her.
"So…" Capricorn sighed, "If we ally with Fairy Tail, they will help us."
"Yes!" Lucy replied.
"We share a common enemy and it benefits us both so it is a mutual relationship. I am going to agree on this offer. Lucy, I will let you join Fairy Tail and you are always welcome here! If you need help, just ask us"
"Thank you Capricorn, I'll try to help both Grimoire Heart and Fairy Tail!"
"Lucy" he grabbed her shoulder, "look for Levy when you get into Fairy Tail, tell us where she is. She needs to know the truth. That mark on Natsu's arm is the same mark on Gajeel's she is bound to be there"
"Of course I-." She was interrupted by the sound of loud banging outside. They all stood up as the noise became louder and louder and then stopped after a few seconds later. Capricorn ran out the door followed by Lucy.
"What is going on out here?!" he yelled
"Who's making all this noise?!" she said after
They suddenly stopped as they saw the familiar locks of blue hair and Gajeel standing behind her.
"Capricorn? Lucy?" Levy said.
"Levy!" they both yelled.
Levy ran towards them and hugged them both with screams of joy as she said their names.
"Please" Capricorn said as he held her, "both of you, please come inside."
Gajeel smiled at the former butler, "Good to see ya again. This day just keeps getting more interesting."