If anyone is wondering why a chapter is missing let me tell you. I decided to separate one of my chapters into two of my other chapters to delete it. Sorry if I created any confusion. I really felt that it would flow better if I did it. No content has been changed, just the layout.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this story thus far. I hope to continue to have your support and love. Drop me a review to let me know how I'm doing.
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and all corresponding characters. I only own the extra characters and plot.
Laxus is walking through Magnolia on his way to pick up Lucy. After the long night and stressful morning he had, he needs the exercise to wake him up. He has cleaned his whole house up and is now fully prepared to bring the blonde bombshell over. Today might have been shitty in the beginning but it can only get better.
He is nearing her apartment when he hears voices resounding through the open window.
"No! I'm not denying anything! I am telling you the truth when I say that I did not seduce or hurt Laxus! We went on a job where we both got a little banged up. That's it!" Lucy yells.
The hell? Laxus wonders as he stops in front of the door to her apartment.
After a few minutes he hears Freed's cold voice, "Lucy, it is our opinion that you should stay away from Laxus."
Laxus' heart stops when he hears Freed's words. The shock is quickly replaced by anger and he grits his teeth. Oh hell no. I told them to stay the hell away! He rips the door open and stomps up the stairs.
The conversation continues and he grows angrier by the millisecond. By the time he is in front of Lucy's apartment he is fuming.
Then he hears Freed's voice and he stops cold, "It doesn't matter what you say, we will not allow you near Laxus any longer. If you try to defy us, we will be forced to punish you."
That is the last straw. If those three think that he will stand by while they threaten the woman that has been haunting his thoughts, they have another thing coming. Anger turns to rage.
A yellow magical aura surrounds Laxus as his emotions swell. The magic expands until lightning buzzes around his massive body. The smaller pieces of lightning combine together and form a massive lightning bolt. It hits the wall in front of him and shatters the wall along with the door to pieces.
Inside he sees the Thunder Legion standing over a tied up Lucy. And here he thought he couldn't get any more pissed.
He glares at his teammates who are frozen in fear. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THREE DOING?!" he demands in a roar.
"U-uh, um…" the three members stutter in fear.
Laxus marches inside of the room with heavy steps. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM LUCY!" He grabs the ropes that bind Lucy to the armchair and rips them off without hurting the blonde woman.
Freed reaches out to his leader. "Laxus, wait! We can ex-"
A stray lightning bolt zooms off of Laxus as he turns to glare furiously at his team and skims Freed's pristine green haired head. One of his antennae like hair is smoldered off as Freed is frozen in fear, dread, and shock. Laxus has only come close to attacking him once before and he never wanted to make him that angry again.
Realizing that his emotions are getting the best of him, wanting to help Lucy, and not wanting to see his teammates right now, Laxus takes matters into his own hands before he harms his teammates indefinitely. Because right now it is either he almost kills them and gives them lasting injuries or not at all.
Laxus yanks Lucy to her feet and into his arms. Within a split second he surrounds himself and Lucy with lightning and shoots off through the roof.
The Thunder Legion stares at the empty space where the two blondes were at a moment ago in disbelief. It is a few minutes before they break out of their stupor and start yelling about how they need to find Laxus and Lucy to explain what they were doing.
A bright light zooms through sky before slipping through a crack in the ceiling to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Laxus lands with Lucy in his arms in the center of the guild with a boom. Everyone stops what they are doing to look at the duo in surprise.
"Laxus! What is the meaning of this?!" Master Makarov demands loudly from his place on the bar.
Magical aura is still emitting from Laxus as he lets Lucy go. Laxus treads over to the request board and rips off the first piece of paper that he sees. "Ask the Thunder Legion," he remarks with a harsh, rough voice. He is so pissed right now that he feels like he will electrocute the first person who tries to calm him down. And he really doesn't want to do that. All he wants is to take Lucy and get the hell out of town before the Thunder Legion can bring any more harm to the poor girl despite him explicitly telling them to leave the matter alone.
He slams the job in front of Mira and silently commands her to approve it. She bears no resistance and signs the flier off with no hesitation.
Master and the rest of the guild grow confused at Laxus' answer and look to Lucy for some clarification. That is when they see her wincing in pain as she rubs the red marks that wrap around her body. It's obvious to everyone that Laxus is angry about whatever happened to Lucy. Something that has to do with Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen by the way Laxus spoke. Master is about to ask her what happened when Laxus grabs her again and shoots off without another word.
Everyone stares dumbfounded at where Lucy and Laxus were previously. The guild doors suddenly slam open to reveal the frazzled and out of breath Thunder Legion.
"Has Laxus been here?!" they yell simultaneously. They have no time to lose. They must explain their actions immediately before things get out of hand.
No one moves an inch as they try to catch up with what just happened in the past two minutes. The first person to make sense of the situation, unfortunately for the Thunder Legion, is Erza.
Within a blink of an eye she changes into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and is pointing two dozen swords at her three guildmates. "What did you do to Lucy?! Tell me now!" she demands with a crazed look in her eyes. No one messes with her teammate under her watch!
Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow begin to sweat as they slowly start to back away from the crazed swordswoman. Just as they are about to make a break for it, the door slams behind them with the She-Devil holding the handles. A crowd of Lucy's closest friends crowd in on the group of three with murderous auras.
They start to nervously shake as their eyes shift between everybody. All at once, the crowd dog piles on top of the Thunder Legion and ties them up with thick cords of rope.
Erza and Mira do not drop their swords or transformation as the Master walks between them to stand in front of the trio. He asks what exactly they were doing and what it was that made Laxus so mad.
With exaggerated tears rolling down his cheeks, Freed breaks down and spills the whole story. Upon hearing the green haired man's idea Erza and Mira release their magic but remain quiet. Master heaves a heavy sigh as he orders Mira to tell Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow the story that Lucy told them earlier.
About an hour later, Laxus lands on the outskirt of a rather big town. As soon as Laxus releases her, Lucy kneels over and starts puking her guts up. Green bile burns the back of her throat as her stomach empties itself of its contents. Several rounds of vomit flow from her and she spits between each one as she tries to rid the taste in her mouth.
All of Laxus' anger dissipates the second he sees Lucy sick. He had completely forgotten that lightning teleporting makes Lucy motion sick in his rage induced retreat. Not really sure of how to properly handle a hurling woman, he patiently waits for her to stop. That's what she would do for him after all.
After Lucy is sure she is done vomiting, she takes deep breaths to soothe her stomach. "Wh-what happened?" she asks between breaths. Just a minute ago she was being interrogated by the Thunder Legion and now she is outside some town.
A small blush creeps up onto Laxus' cheeks and he looks pointedly away in an attempt to hide it from her. In truth, he doesn't know what came over him. One minute he was calm and relaxed on his way to Lucy's apartment the next he is steaming with fury and wanting to leave town. The only clear thought in his head was that Lucy was hurt and he had to help her. The rest was just motions. And just when I thought that my day was starting to look up…
"I picked up a job from the guild that will last for upwards of a week," he says with a frown.
Lucy tilted her head in confusion at the blonde male. "Why? I thought I was going to look at your collection today," Lucy says between breaths. Disappointment fills her up at the thought of missing her golden opportunity again.
"You needed to get out of town before the Thunder Legion ties you up again," he states after he clears his throat.
With a sigh, Lucy takes a final deep breath, "Thank you but you didn't have to do that."
"Well it's already done so there's no use talking about it," Laxus states to change the subject. He doesn't want to explain why he did what he did when he doesn't even know. "We need to go talk to our client."
Lucy gives him a frown before huffing. She looks around at her surroundings when she notices something missing. Both of her shoulders slump as she deadpans at fate's cruelty. "I don't have any of my stuff…" she mumbles at no one in particular. All of her belongings are still in her bag that is in her apartment. Why can she not keep her bag?! At least I got my keys…
Laxus' eyes slightly widen as he realizes that he ran off without grabbing his stuff either. But he has a feeling that him having his things is far less important than her having hers. Figuring that since he was the one to drag her out of her apartment, take her on a job, and make her sick without her permission, he should fix the problem. "I'll buy you whatever you need after we go meet with the client," he offers. Surely she won't need that much.
Lucy blinks up at Laxus while her mouth drops. She knows she didn't just hear that right. She knows that Laxus did not just offer to take her shopping. It's just impossible. "Huh?" she croaks out.
Laxus rolls his eyes and walks away from the wide eyed blonde. He doesn't look behind him as he makes his way into town. Might as well go talk to the client while she snaps out of her trance.
Seeing as how he has no intention of answering her, Lucy quickly rises to her feet and runs to catch up to her impromptu partner. She has to take two steps for every one of his but eventually reaches him before they step foot into town.
"You're serious? You're really going to take me shopping?" she asks with a bit of apprehension in her voice. She honestly thinks that she misheard him and she doesn't want to look like an idiot by asking the man the wrong question.
"You sound ungrateful," he replies without looking at his shocked companion. "We don't have to if you don-"
"No!" Lucy interjects hastily. Laxus finally stops his quick pace to frown at the woman. "I-I mean…" Lucy fidgets in her spot. "I didn't think you were serious. I would really appreciate it if I got some new clothes. Just enough for the trip though!" she adds hastily at the end. The last thing she needs right now is to come off sounding greedy.
"Fine by me," he answers indifferently as he starts walking away again.
Lucy takes that as the end of the discussion and smile spreads across her face at the gesture. A light blush follows as she walks beside the tall man and admires the sidewalk. Her plans for the day were to go look at Laxus' collection and cook him dinner but now she has been literally swept off her feet, taken on a mystery job, and is going to go clothes shopping by the one and only Laxus Dreyar. She would have never predicted how this day would turn out but it might not be so bad after all.
Speaking of mystery jobs…"So what is this job about?" Lucy asks Laxus with a smile.
"Something about a bank," he replies.
"So, in other words, you have no idea," Lucy says with a tilt of her head.
Laxus looks away in embarrassment and huffs, "We were in a hurry."
Lucy shakes her with a giggle and drops the subject. Their client will fill them in on the details. Besides, there are far more important matters to address. Like where she is going to go shopping. Lucy looks around at the variety of buildings and makes mental notes of where some boutiques are as her and Laxus walk through town.
The downtown area is far more industrious than the suburbans that line the outer ring. Tall compact buildings are littered around the center and gradually disperse into shorter buildings and homes with land in between them.
The two blondes walk for thirty minutes as they head toward the banking district of the city. A dozen buildings of all shapes and sizes compose the area and they have to pinpoint the right bank from the flier.
Eventually they reach a large white building. There is one floor, few windows, and what seems to be two different businesses with a door on the opposing sides of the building.
The two blondes walk into one side and see a layout of a bank. A waiting room composes most of the floor with a receptionist at the other end. They walk through the spotless room to the receptionist. Lucy tells her that they are mages and that they have come due to a job request. The receptionist nods her head before gesturing for them to follow her.
Lucy and Laxus are lead to the side and down a hallway to a waiting room. A long mahogany table sits in the middle with eight comfortable swiveling chairs situated around it. They take their seats on one side while the receptionist tells them that she will fetch the owner immediately.
Thirty minutes later, two men walk into the room. One is wearing a business suit, has black hair, and a lean build. The other is wearing a doctor's coat, has blue hair, and is slimmer. They take their seats across from the two blondes.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice," the man in the suit says happily. "My name is Richard Focker and this is my husband Dr. Gaylord Focker. You can call me Dick if you want."
A thick red blush crosses Lucy cheeks at the names. Laxus scowls and internally groans.
"The reason that we have called you here is an important one. The local religious groups have been protesting and vandalizing both of our businesses as of late. We want you to make sure that no more property damage occurs," Dr. Focker says.
How ironic that Fairy Tail gets called to stop property damage… "Why would they do such a thing?" Lucy asks.
"There is a law that is about to be passed. By the end of the week, specifically. What we do is not technically illegal but it is not legal either," Mr. Focker replies. "It will allow us to run our businesses freely without any persecution and under the protection of the law. The vandalism has only seemed to escalate the closer we get to the date of the ratification of the law. The religious affiliates believe our work to be 'unholy'."
"What exactly is it that you both do?" Lucy inquires. What could they possible do to be under such scrutiny?
Dr. Focker is the one to speak this time. "I specialize in the institution of reproductive medicine while my husband's business is the cryobank to collect specimens for artificial insemination.
Lucy's eyes blink heavily as the rest of her freezes in surprise. Her mouth opens to confirm what the two men are telling her. "This is a sperm bank and a fertilization clinic?" she asks with mild shock and disbelief.
"Yes ma'am," Mr. Focker says with a bright smile.
Lucy's lips form an "O" in understanding before settling into a half smile. She has to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. Well, this is unexpected…
On the outside Laxus looks completely stoic and indifferent. On the inside… he is vehemently cursing anything and everything. Why does this fucking shit always happen to me? Fuck my life. Fuck this job. All I want to fucking do is show my goddamn collection to Lucy and have a fucking dinner. Now I have to deal with these fucking people who deal with men's fucking cocks all day long with Lucy. Fuck me. Fuck my teammates; this is all their fault. If they would have left it the fuck alone, I wouldn't be in this fucking situation. They'll be lucky if I don't fry their asses when I get back.
"That's very interesting," Lucy says as she tries to stay composed.
"All we ask is that you watch for any unruly behavior until the law is passed. The damages that we have had to endure have already begun to hurt our businesses. Will you help us?" Mr. Focker asks with pleading eyes.
Lucy gives the two men a big smile and a nod to match. "Of course we will. You don't have to worry about a thing," she declares adamantly.
"Thank you so much!" Dr. Focker says with a sigh in relief.
"We will get started right away," Lucy says as she stands up.
"Oh, um," Mr. Focker stops the blonde woman as he rises from his chair. "Please wait until tomorrow. We must inform the all of our staff that you have arrived; otherwise your investigation will be greatly hindered by our security," he replies with a small smile.
"Yes sir. We will get started first thing tomorrow then," Lucy replies with a bright smile. We need to go shopping and find a hotel anyway. Oh! And I have to make my new contracts! Can't forget that! Lucy plans out in her head
The Fockers escort the two blondes to the door and with a reassuring goodbye, Lucy and Laxus leave the bank.
Outside of the bank Lucy turns to Laxus with a big smile. "So what do you want to do first? You wanna go shopping, get something to eat, or find a hotel? I want to make contracts with my new keys too."
Laxus rolls his eyes up in thought. "Let's go get the shopping done and eat before finding the hotel. Can you do the contracts in the room?" he asks.
Lucy gives him an unsure look. "Yeah but one of them is a dragon. I don't know if he'll fit."
Laxus cringes at the thought of releasing a dragon inside of a hotel room. The bill for damages would be incredible. "Then we make sure to find a hotel with enough room outside for you to do the contracts. How about that?"
Lucy bounces up and down and grabs Laxus' wrist. "Sounds great. Let's go shopping!" she exclaims as she pulls him toward some of the stores she saw earlier.
Back in Magnolia at the Fairy Tail guild hall, a sobbing Freed sits beside a howling Bickslow and a smirking Evergreen. Mira has just finished telling them about what happened to Laxus and Lucy on their trip as well as Laxus inviting Lucy to his house to look at his music collection. Needless to say, Bickslow found the whole thing hilarious, Evergreen is laughing but not near as much as the seith mage, and Freed is distraught. Although he can't decide if he is more distraught over what happened to Laxus during the job, how him and the rest of the Thunder Legion acted toward Lucy, or the fact that he disobeyed Laxus. A dark cloud falls over Freed as he mumbles his apologies to the rest of the guild.
Freed attempts to explain why they acted the way they did. Everyone understands where Freed was coming from so everyone forgives the trio. The Thunder Legion asks Master if they can go find Laxus and Lucy to apologize but he forbids them. The Master says that Laxus will need some time to cool off so they might as well just wait for him and Lucy to return. They drop their heads in dejection as the mope over to their table. Mira tries to reassure them that they will only have to wait a week. The news only darkens the clouds over their heads and Mira has to console a weeping Freed for the rest of the day.
The sun circles in the sky as Lucy drags Laxus from shop to shop picking out different clothes and items. Laxus selects one or two things that he knows he will need but everything else is left up to Lucy. Some of the necessities include toiletries, a pair of sleeping clothes, and two different outfits for her to wear for working. While not very much, it still takes time.
Most of the shops are specialty shops so Lucy cannot buy all of things from one store. That's why they have to go to multiple stores and shop around. The most important thing though is the magic shop where Lucy buys herself a new belt for her keys. It is brown like her old one but sturdier. She attaches her keys to her belt and walks out with a huge smile.
It is late afternoon by the time they have finished their shopping and went to an early dinner.
On the outskirts of town, they find a medium sized inn to stay the night. There is a large grassy park behind it with benches, flowers, trees, and flowery shrubs so Lucy should have enough room to make her contracts. The inn itself is very plain with the lobby on the first floor and three stories of room above it. Lucy and Laxus get a room on the top floor with two beds along the wall, a table, two chairs, a lacrima screen and a lacrima movie player on top of a dresser, and an attached bathroom. It's small but it'll do.
Lucy puts her things away in the dresser and bathroom. After Laxus puts his things away she bounces up to him to ask him the question that has been burning her tongue all day. "Do you want to come watch me make the contracts?" she asks eagerly.
"Sure, let's go," he says with neutrality. Outwardly he seems indifferent but deep down he is curious to see her three new spirits.
They walk outside to the middle of the park just off the park's walkway and benches. "Which one do you think I should call first?" Lucy asks her partner.
"How about the dragon?" Laxus suggests. What else would he pick?
"Alright," Lucy chirps as she turns away from the lightning dragon slayer. She pulls out Draco's key from her belt and holds it at arm's length. "I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits. I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the gate. Open gate of the Dragon, Draco!"
A bright light spreads outwards from the end of the key before collapsing. The key then begins to turn to smoke starting from the end and quickly moving toward the tip. Lucy drops the key in surprise and takes a step back as her and Laxus watch the key in amazement. The small patch of smoke rolls over the ground as the key disintegrates.
The cloud has a small red light emit from the middle of it and a small voice is heard. "I live!" a small red dragon yells as he rises with his back straight and arms extended out in front of him. His eyes dart around as he takes in his surroundings. "So tell me what mortal needs my protection oh Master! You just say the word and I'm there!"
Laxus and Lucy's eyes go comically wide as they stare down at the little red dragon. They turn to look at each other in shock before turning back to the spirit dumbfounded. This…isn't a dragon. Or at least not one they are used to.
Draco is a small dragon, no bigger than a cat, and greatly resembles a snake. He has a long red, scaly body that has a darker red line of scaly spikes along his spine and tail, little blue horns on his head, long and thin ears that rise and fall with the dragon's emotions, clawed feet and hands that are not imposing at all, two yellow catfish-like whiskers, and dull yellow collared scales on his underbelly. Two large eyes sit behind his snout that has a large nose, wide mouth, and small sharp teeth inside. In other words, he does not look or seem like any of the dragons that both Lucy and Laxus have borne witness to.
"Draco?" Lucy asks bewildered.
"Yeah, let me say somethin'," Draco starts by waving the celestial mage off. "Anybody who's foolish enough to threaten my master, vengeance will be mine!" he exclaims dramatically while acting out with exaggerated gestures. Draco growls and hisses in a sadly portrayed threating position as he limps away from the celestial spirit mage.
Lucy deadpans at the spirit. "Draco!" she says sternly.
Draco winces at the harder tone and turns to look up at Lucy with big eyes.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," Lucy says gently as she kneels on the ground in front of the dragon.
"What? I ain't scared!" Draco denies as he bristles.
Lucy holds up her hands defensively. "Sorry. My name is Lucy. I want to make a contract with you."
Draco's eyebrows rise as he watches the celestial spirit mage. A lightbulb pops in over his head and a wide grin spreads across his muzzle. "As in Lucy Heartfilia?" he asks.
Lucy smiles down at her spirit with her typical 100-Watt smile. "The one and only," she says proudly.
"I was hoping that I would end up with you. You should hear the gossip up there. Girl, you wouldn't believe what the gold keys say 'bout you," Draco replies.
"I can only imagine…" a shiver runs down her spine at being the subject of her spirit's gossip. "Anyway, where is your key? It kinda disintegrated."
"I am my key," Draco replies as he stands tall and proud. "The material of my key becomes ingrained into my body once I'm summoned. Since I am my own key, I become a physical part of this world so I can stay as long as I please without getting tired. I am one of the few who can do it. And I consume very little magical energy so I am a quite the deal," he finishes as he blows on his nails and rubs them on his chest.
Lucy's eyebrows rise into her hairline. She has never heard of a celestial spirit that can do that. It must be the same thing that allowed Capricorn to stay in Earthland for ten years. Except without an evil guy possessing his body and doing horrible things. "I see. That's amazing," Lucy praises the dragon.
"Well I don't mean to brag…" Draco chuckles while looking pleased with himself.
"What are your abilities?" Lucy asks as she pulls out a small notebook. She writes down all of her spirit's names, abilities, and available times in the notebook when she makes new contracts.
"I'm more of a lover than a fighter," Draco says smoothly. "I'm a guiding spirit. I give advice on anything my Master needs help with. I also have a particularly keen eye when it comes to fashion," Draco mysteriously pulls out a piece of fabric from thin air, "literature," he pulls out a book the same way, "and relationships," a big pink heart is yanked from behind his back. "That being said, I am available anytime you need me. Do not hesitate to call the reliable and wise Draco."
"Well isn't that just fucking great," Laxus drawls out. Of course he spent all of that money to wind up with a nonfighting spirit that loves to talk about girl stuff. As if there is anything else this little snake could do in his spare time. At least he's always free.
"You got a problem?" Draco asks as he throws his items away and puts his hands on his would be hips.
"No, I'm just saying that you're a runt," Laxus says nonchalantly.
"I bet you can't say that again you limp noodle!" Draco demands as he waves his tiny fist in the air.
Laxus scoffs at the puny dragon. "Runt," he smirks.
Draco tries to march over to Laxus and rolls up his nonexistent sleeves.
Lucy giggles at the two's interaction. "I would be carefully there Draco. Laxus is a lightning dragon slayer. Who knows what he might do to you," Lucy teases her new spirit.
Draco quirks an eyebrow as he turns to look at Laxus. As fast and quietly as a mouse, Draco scurries over to Laxus and climbs up the mountain of the man. Draco wraps his tail around the base of Laxus' neck to keep himself hoisted up to stand on Laxus' chest. Taking on a greatly exaggerated thinking pose, Draco carefully examines Laxus' face.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Laxus asks with a scowl.
After a moment of further examining Draco turns his head to face Lucy. "Are you sure that lightning boy here is a dragon slayer?" Draco asks Lucy, his voice dripping with skepticism.
A vein pops in Laxus forehead. He grabs the red menace by his midsection and tosses him to the ground. Draco skids across the ground until he runs front first into Lucy's leg. He falls backwards onto the grass like a cartoon that just got smacked in the face.
Lucy gently picks the small dragon up and cradles him in her arms. She scowls at Laxus and his rude behavior. "Leave my spirit alone. He didn't mean anything," Lucy defends him.
Laxus 'tsks' at Lucy.
Draco uncurls himself and looks between Lucy and Laxus. "Okay, okay, I get it. You won't hear nothin' from me no more," Draco reassures the two blondes. "I'm gonna hang out and see the other two. I want to see their faces when they figure out that we are out of that glass case," Draco says as he smiles up at Lucy.
Lucy returns his smile with one of her brightest. "Of course," she nods.
Without another word Draco slithers out of Lucy's arms and climbs up onto Laxus to lie across his shoulders. He stretches before putting his red head into his palm as he watches his master with a grin. Laxus looks at the small dragon with exaggeration out of the corner of his eye. Lucy finds the two comical and giggles.
She turns away from her new spirit and the dragon slayer to call out another spirit. She picks out Dorado from her key ring and chants the same verse as before but calls out the Swordfish instead.
A bright yellow glow shines from the end of the key. As the light fades, a man is standing with a hand on a sword strapped to his side, back straight, and head held high. He looks calm, composed, and high-classed…if it weren't for one little thing…
"A fish suit?!" Lucy shrieks as her eyes go wide. Laxus scrunches his eyebrows in confusion while Draco snickers beside him. How exactly is this guy a swordfish? Laxus wonders.
"You rang my lady?" the man in the fish suit announces.
Dorado is a thin man in giant tuna suit. The suit is positioned so that the front of the man is sticking out of the bottom of the fish while his back has the top part of the fish surrounding it. The base of the fish suit extends past his groin and ends in a tip with a tail between the man's legs. Holes have been cut into the fish to allow for the man's face and limbs to extend through. The man's legs and arms are covered in tight black tights and he wears a black belt around the fish suit at what Lucy presumes to be his waist to hold his sword. His sword is no regular sword. Instead it is a fish spine with the ribs that has been sharpened into a sword.
Being the author that she is, it doesn't take her long to figure out how all of this makes sense. She slumps her shoulders and looks at the spirit in exasperation. "I get it…You're a fish with a sword. A sword fish…" She didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't this…
Laxus, with his great hearing, deadpans at Lucy's words. He spent five million jewel to be insulted by a puny dragon and then have word play shoved at him?
"Yes, you are not wrong. May I be forward and ask if you are the esteemed Lucy Heartfilia?" Dorado asks as he remains perfectly still and composed.
"Yep, that's me. It's nice to meet you," Lucy says with a smile.
"I hold no higher honor than making the acquaintance of the Princess of the Stars," Dorado says as she slides a foot back and dramatically bows. "What may I do for the humble princess?"
"Can you tell me about yourself? I would also like to make a contract with you if that's alright," Lucy says with a nod.
"Your wish is my command. I am a keen swordsman," he claims as he unsheathes his fish bone sword. He swings it around his body and does a quick spin before dramatically posing, "with the agility of a cat!"
Draco leans closer to Laxus to whisper in his ear, "It's ironic that he mentions a cat when he's supposed to be a fish." Laxus scoffs at Draco's joke.
"It is my deepest desire to accompany you on your journeys and protect your honor against the villains in this world!" he exclaims proudly with his head held high.
"Great. When are you free?" Lucy asks as she gets ready to write.
"I am available anytime except Saturdays. Will that be acceptable to you my princess?" Dorado asks as he stands straight again.
"Um, you can call me Lucy. You don't have to call me princess," Lucy says while sweatdropping.
"Nonsense. I will not degrade you by referring to you by anything less than your stature," Dorado says with determination.
"Okay…Anyway, the contract is fine with me. Is there anything else that I need to know?" Lucy says as she gives her new spirit a bright smile.
"No ma'am. Anything short of the truth would sully your name and shall never pass my lips," Dorado exclaims.
Lucy gives the spirit a big smile and bids him farewell. Dorado fades into a bright light and disappears into the spirit world. Lucy has a feeling that she has gained a very attached new friend.
"Is it just me or does he seem a lot like Freed?" Lucy jokes as she glances back at Laxus. Laxus rolls his eyes up in thought before cringing at the similarities. Even the compliments are the same. He's not sure if he should feel happy or bad for the girl.
"Alright, last one!" Lucy cheers as she pulls out Hercules. Just like the other two she chants the correct verse and holds the key at arm's length. A similar bright light as Dorado appears in front of the two blondes before fading to reveal another man. And just like Dorado, neither Laxus nor Lucy could have guessed that this is in fact Hercules. Both of their jaws drop from bafflement and shock as they stare at the figure in front of them.
In front of them is a man of average height. All that he is wearing is a dark red Ancient Roman skirt, gold handcuffs, and tan gladiator shoes. The part that has them stumped though is his age. The spirit looks a hundred years older than the Master of Fairy Tail! His arms and legs are thin, his hair is gray and limp, he has squinty eyes, a walking cane, and a horn that he holds up to his ear so he can hear.
"What? What's going on?" he asks dramatically as he squints at his surroundings.
"U-um…" Lucy mumbles out. She is so shocked that words escape her. When she thinks of Hercules, she imagines a handsome seven foot tall man with bulging muscles that stands tall and proud. He has super strength and can endure any trial that the gods send at him. Not a feeble old man for crying out loud!
Hercules sees two blurry figures and narrows his eyes to try to figure out who the people are. "Who are you?" he asks as he squints at Lucy.
Lucy is jolted out her stupor when the spirit addresses her. "Oh! Um, my name is Lucy."
"What did you say dear?" Hercules says as he holds up his hearing horn up to his ear.
"I said that my name is Lucy! It's nice to meet you!" she yells loudly as she leans toward the horn.
Hercules nods his head smiles at the blurry figure that he has deduced is a female, "Yes, it is a nice day!"
Lucy shakes her head and yells out at him again, "No! I said that it's nice to meet you! I want to make a contract with you!"
Hercules eyes go wide as he hoists his cane up like a sword. "The enemy has made contact! Where are those damn lions?! AH HA!" he yells as he looks at a bench. Somewhere in his muddled mind Hercules confuses a harmless wooden bench with a man eating lion. He dramatically creeps over to the bench with his cane in the air over his head as if he trying to sneak up on a sleeping lion. His bones and joints creak and crack and point in the odd directions as he slinks around the bench.
Lucy covers her mouth with her hand to keep from bursting out laughing. The whole display is hysterical. She should stop him before he hurts himself but a part of her wants to see the old man banging against the wood yelling for the lion to die. Behind her, Laxus is shaking his head with a frown.
"Take this you feline!" Hercules yells as he swings his cane down to hit the bench in the front. The front of the bench dents in from the sudden impact. The bench is lifted from the ground and is thrown through the air from the excessive force. Lucy and Laxus' inn is in the direct path and the bench hits the wall to the lobby. The bench bursts through the wooden barrier and splinters into debris as it knocks over the chairs that sit in the first floor of the inn. The manager of the inn and two customers lean over to look through the hole wide eyed.
Lucy's mood goes from happy and laughing to flustered and panicked when she sees the bench go through the wall. She waves her arms in the air as she reprimands the spirit for crashing a wall to splinters. Hercules, while not hearing Lucy at all, is holding his cane above his head and cheering that he has conquered the beast. Seeing that she is not getting anywhere with the spirit she calls out to the manager that she'll pay for the damage and asks if everyone is all right. Laxus and Draco are cringing behind the yelling blonde at the mess.
After Lucy and Hercules calm down and the manager has ordered some employees to start cleaning up the debris, she tries one more time to get the spirit to make a contract with her. Instead of yelling from a distance Lucy walks up next to the hearing horn.
"My name is Lucy Heartfilia and I'm a celestial wizard! I want to make a contract with you! When are you free?!" she yells directly into the funnel.
"There's no need to yell I can hear you just fine," Hercules huffs. Lucy puffs out her cheeks in annoyance but doesn't correct the old spirit. "Alright. I'll make a contract with ya. I can come visit any day of the week except Tuesdays and Fridays. Those are when my programs are on," Hercules nods.
"Thank you. I'll be in touch," Lucy yells without trying to sound hasty and rude. The longer this guy is here the more of a chance that he has of destroying more stuff. Sorta like Natsu.
The spirit hooks his hearing horn onto his skirt before fading away into small bubbles. Lucy's head rolls back in exhaustion and relief. Writing the last bit of information in her notebook, she stows it away in her new belt.
She hears snickering behind her and turns to see Draco with a clawed hand hooked around his mouth. Lucy shoots him a glare before marching over to Laxus and plucking the little dragon from his shoulder.
"Don't you think it's about time for you to go home?" Lucy half-growls as she narrows her eyes at her new spirit.
"Alright, alright, I get you," Draco says as he bats his hands. "Let me know if you need me again," he says before turning into smoke. The smoke morphs into the familiar key and lies in the palm of Lucy's hand.
Heaving a thick sigh, Lucy attaches Draco's key to her belt. "Well that was exciting," she says to no one in particular.
"Is that it?" Laxus questions.
"Yep, that's it. What do you want to do now?" she asks.
"I need to get some sleep. Didn't get a lot last night."
"Alright, sounds good."
Lucy and Laxus walk back up to their hotel room. Lucy makes a stop along the way to apologize to the manager and reassure him that the building will be paid for. As grateful as he is for the blonde woman's words, he would much rather have an intact wall.
When they reach their room, Lucy immediately gathers her clothes from the dresser. She tells Laxus that she is going to take a nice long bath and quickly walks into the bathroom without any arguments.
Laxus shakes his head as he hears the door click shut. Stripping out of his shirt, pants, socks, and boots, he throws the covers of his bed back. The hotel bed is firmer than his but not overly so. The lack of sleep Laxus got from previous night, the sudden departure from Magnolia, the embarrassing situation that he unknowingly got himself into, shopping all day, and arguing with a runt of a dragon has left him exhausted. A tinge of Lucy's scent lingers in the air and relaxes Laxus' muscles and soul. Sleep does not take long to find him and he drifts off.
An hour later, Lucy emerges from her nice, long, warm bath to find a sleeping Laxus. A soft smile spreads across her face at how peaceful he looks. It is quickly replaced by a yawn which reminds her of how tired she is. She follows Laxus' lead and pulls back her own covers and slips into bed.
Just a quick note. If you haven't figured it out already, Draco is Mushu from Mulan. I thought he would be the perfect atypical dragon so I couldn't resist myself. Thanks so much for reading and I hope that you have a great day!