Sorry for my long disappearance, but school became a very big issue for m for a while. However, now that summer has arrived, I promise to update more often. All of my stories WILL be completed, so please do not worry about there not being a conclusive end.
Chapter 28 : Strength in Numbers
Finding the ruins to be overflowing with wildlife, Lucy couldn't help but find the place oddly beautiful. It was as if nature was taking back what was rightfully theirs. If there weren't monsters on the loose in the ruins, the blonde would have loved to sit down with a book in hand and read. Maybe she would have even worked on her own book, especially since this place had her creative juices flowing. She could just picture it now, the romantic scene in the middle of her story where Knight Ravine and Lady Evangeline would kiss. When she got home, Lucy would have to write it down before she went to sleep or else she would surely forget it.
"Alright then, it seems the only way we can go is right," Erza stated, leading the group in that direction. Her voice had snapped Lucy out of her daydreaming quite quickly, but the blonde didn't mind. She couldn't allow her mind to wander while there was a mission to complete. With a grin on his face, Natsu asked, "Just how many monsters do you think we'll get to defeat? Just the thought of it has me all fired up!"
"Cool it, flame brain. If you set the ruins on fire before we actually find a beast, we'll be all cooked for the damned things to eat," Gray snapped, looking around a bit as he unconsciously stripped off his shirt. The comment instantly got on Natsu's nerves, causing the dragon slayer to yell back, "If you keep stripping like you are, the beasts won't have to worry about your nasty clothing ruining their meal!"
Before the fighting could get any worse, Erza sent the two a harsh glare. With her voice laced with annoyance, she hissed out, "If you two keep yelling like buffoons, we will be unable to have the element of surprise. If you keep this up, I am going to gag you. Understood?"
The two boys nodded, instantly regretting the fact that they had gotten on Erza's bad side. With a sigh, Lucy couldn't believe that she had already gotten used to their behavior. As the blonde continued to walk, the woman paused before turning her head to the left. Glancing down a rather dark passageway, the woman whispered, "Natsu, do you hear that?"
"Yeah, it sounds like voices. There's some weird scent coming from that way too," Natsu mumbled, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. After a moment, he grumbled, "Man, what if someone beat us to the beast!? Guys, let's hurry before we lose the mission to someone else!"
Before anyone could stop him, Natsu was racing down the dark hall with Happy flying beside him. Muttering a curse, Erza followed after the dense dragon slayer. Gray and Lucy were close behind her, obviously worried about their teammate. Despite how Gray and Natsu acted towards each other, Lucy could tell that they cared for each other. It was like two brothers fighting over who ate the last cookie and the blonde couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. Raising an eyebrow, Gray glanced over at her and asked, "What are you giggling at?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just a little thing I find silly," the blonde replied, flashing him a smile soon after. Gray shrugged, deciding that the mind of a woman was much too complex for him to understand and he rather not dig into it. Before long, the three arrived at the end of the hallway. Before them was a large circular room with a dome ceiling, the walls were engraved with extravagant designs of gods and goddesses. The room must have been a place of worship for whatever old civilization once lived here. However, the thing that caught their attention the most was the large beast within the center of the room.
The beast stood at eight feet tall and was covered in scales. Beady red eyes stared back at them before it opened its mouth in a sinister grin. Sharp yellow teeth stuck out of its mouth in all directions. When the beast opened its mouth to let out a roar, it was easy to see that the creature had several rows of teeth similar to that of a shark. The creature seemed like an odd mix between a cat, lizard, and shark. It had the body of a cat, yet the scales of a lizard and the aspects of a shark. The creature was obviously blood thirsty and ready to chow down on the mages who had found him.
Just a little further ahead, Natsu and Happy seemed to be fighting with two other people who stood before him. These two people also seemed to have cats of their own, making the celestial spirit mage wonder if they were possibly like Happy. Although Lucy was unable to hear what was being said, it was obviously that the three were fighting. At least, Natsu and the blonde male were fighting while the raven-haired man watched in silence. While she had a moment, Lucy decided to take in how the two boys looked.
One was a slim, yet muscular, toned young man of average height with spiky blonde hair. His hair was kept in strands jutting outwards in every direction, and a smaller, frontal cowlick of hair partially hung over his forehead. He had slanted, dark blue eyes with a thin diagonal scar above right eye. The blonde's left ear was adorned with an earring which was attached to a prominent metal pendant that was crystalline in shape. A white Sabertooth mark was visible on his left shoulder, a mark Lucy only knew due to their infamy in Fiore of being a strong guild although they were rather harsh on their members. While the man seemed to be yelling at Natsu, Lucy was able to see that the man had distinctively sharp canine teeth. The blonde donned a blue vest with golden outer edges and inner edges covered by a prominent trimming of gray fur that appears similar to a feather boa. Under that was a short, cream top, leaving his muscular upper abdominals exposed. His arms were covered by dark blue gloves reaching up to his mid-bicep, with their upper edges being adorned by light gray bands hanging down several centimeters. He wore loose, cream-colored pants, similar to Natsu's, which were held up by suspenders. The suspenders were attached to the pants' loops by square-shaped rings that were gold. Over those, the male had distinctive dark blue galosh-esque footwear that reaches up to his thighs and attached to the upper edge of his pants. The prominent soles of the boots were distinctive in their own right. They had rectangular protrusions pointing upwards on their front portion, reminiscent of square fangs.
The other person a slim young man of average height with rather messy black hair, which almost reached down to his shoulders. Along with that, some strands pointed upwards on top of his head and a prominent tuft obscured most of his forehead. His hair was brushed to the right side of his face and covered up his right eye. He had red eyes with slit pupils similar to that of a snake's. The male had a thin scar across the bridge of his nose. The male wore a long, black cape reaching down to his feet. The cape had golden edges, a white collar circling his neck, and a prominent, white ribbon hanging down on his chest from the collar. The cape bore a white Sabertooth symbol on it, almost in correspondence to the blonde's left shoulder. Below it, the raven-haired man seemed to wear a plain gray shirt with prominent brown cuffs and what looked like a large metal band circling each of his biceps. A distinctive pale blue cloth waistguard was easy to spot, which consisted of four long pieces of cloth reaching down below his knees. Each of these pieces was adorned by a large, dark cross with fan-shaped arms. Below the waistguard, the male wore a pair of armored boots, which had the very same motif which appeared on the waistguard.
Lucy allowed her gaze to leave the two males, instead deciding to look at the cats by their sides. Both cats had an appearance of a small, mildly anthropomorphous cats standing on their rear legs, with their two front legs acting as hands of sort. The cat beside the blonde boy had fur which seemed to be dark brown in color with most of his body being red. His face, belly, paws and the end of his long tail were pink. He had large, pointed ears, and prominent tufts of dark fur jutting outwards in correspondence to his cheekbones, where his whiskers were. The cat didn't don a complete outfit. Instead, he sported a blue, sleeveless button-up vest which was left open and had three dark round buttons on its right side. The other cat seemed to be clinging onto the raven-haired boy's leg. This cat had large, round eyes, each complete with a pair of prominent eyelashes, and rosy cheeks. The entirety of cat's body, aside from its face, was covered by a pink frog-like suit. Most of the suit covered by black spots. The suit sported a plain belly, webbed hands, and a hood which formed the frog's head. The suit was completed with two beady eyes resting on the hood. Lucy couldn't help but mentally point out that if other cats were wearing clothing, that meant Happy had been flying around naked with nothing but a bag. Lovely.
"What the hell is going on here!?" Erza shouted. Before either of the unknown boys could answer, it seemed that the beast had had enough waiting. With a roar, the creature tried to slam its tail down on the boys. The boys quickly dodged, making sure to grab their cats in the process. Happy had barely reacted fast enough to fly Natsu out of the way. Snatching her celestial keys, Lucy shouted, "Maybe we can have some proper introductions after we deal with this beast!?"
"Finally, someone with a bit of sense," the raven-haired male scoffed, although Lucy wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear that or not.
