Lucy's POV
I watched from my favorite barstool as the guildhall erupted in another fight, of course Natsu and Gray instigating it as they screamed and yelled about Jellal and his band of merry men coming to join the guild after they had been pardoned from their past crimes. I just sipped my smoothie and watched in amusement along with Mira as Natsu got zapped from Laxus's lightning when he went toppling in to their table. Natsu howled in pain as he hopped comically from foot to foot holding his backside. Kinana sat beside me with a bar towel slung over her shoulder and watched as Racer and Midnight did their best to dodge flying objects, Sorano used Cobra as a human shield as he deflected a flying chair with a flick of his wrist.
"You would think that they would just leave them alone. They have been on our side for the last two years as Crime Sorciere." Kinana giggled as jellal was pulled in to a bond crushing hug by Ezra. I shook my head in disbelief, grinning from ear to ear as I stood from my seat.
"No one said we employed the brightest of bulbs here Kia." I tosses my head back and laughed as I nimbly made my way to the job request board. Ever since the battle with Tartaros, I have been taking more and more solo jobs. The pay was much better without the rest of my team literally blowing up the reward money, I snatched one up off the board, and made my way back to Mira who stamped it and sent the paperwork up to the Master's office. I saluted her with my index finger and middle finger with a grin as I snuck my way through the fray. Which would have had been an easy escape, had I not had to jump over a flying table and nearly smack in to Cobra as I summer saulted through the air and nearly landed wrong. I righted my landing and spun on the pad of my left foot, using my momentum to spin around him and made my way towards the door, flashing him one of my award winning smiled From Sorcerer Weekly. Cobra's lips quirked up in a small grin, barely even noticeable to anyone else, I laughed lightly as I walked out of the guild and made my way to my apartment.
I followed the canal towards my small apartment, it wasn't much but it was perfect for me. The living room was large enough to fit my team comfortably, the bathroom had a beautiful sunken bathtub with a shower nestled in the corner. Plenty of space for my books and my writing desk. The kitchen was an open concept kitchen with granite and marble counter tops, and a breakfast bar that separated the kitchen and dinning area. It was a long way from the Kozern, but it was all mine and I was proud at how far I had come since I began at fairy tail. My mind wandering as I jumped up on to the ledge of the canal, as I usually did. The gentlemen in the boat hollered at me to be careful and I just waved them off with a smile and a flick of my wrist.
My balance was never the best at first, too many scraps and soaked clothes. Yet, now I can twist and turn on the pads and balls of my feet with practiced ease. I smiled as I slipped along with canal happily as I made my way down strawberry street. The hairs on the back of my next began to tingle, standing on edge. Something or someone was following me. I ignored my body screaming at me, my nerves on high alert as I allowed my body to relax, taking in my surroundings without being to conspicuous to who ever was following me. My fingers twitched closer to my keys on my right hip, touching the handle to my whip on the left.
My team thought that I was just a weak princess to be protected, that I was unable to handle my own, but what they didn't know that I have successfully have been able to use all ten of my Star dresses now, and Capricorn has been training me for the last three months. I strained my ears to hear anything out of the ordinary as I picked up the pace slightly to get to my apartment building faster without making it look like I have been alerted to whoever was following me. As soon as I made it to the stoop in front of my building, the hairs on the back of my neck settled. Whoever was following me didn't want to chance being caught while so close to residents. I opened the main door to the complex after keying in my code, and shut the door quickly behind me firmly, and made my way up the three flights of stairs.
Once I made it to my door, I pulled my key out to unlock the front door, and opened it slowly. Glancing around to make sure nothing was out of place, I sighed in relief. Taking my shoes off, I shoved them in to the shoe caddy by the door and made my way to my kitchen, focusing squarely on making a snack and some tea before I sat down at my desk to start on my latest novel. I barely even finished making my food and tea before I felt a slight breeze and the familiar sound of wings fluttering and the muffled snickers of my teammates sneaking in to my apartment through the window.
"Natsu, Happy, how many times do I have to kick you out of my window until you learn to use the front door and knock like a regular person?" I glared at the dynamic duo over my shoulder as I sat at my breakfast bar with my plate and food.
"Ah, come on Luce. We were just comin' ta see ya since you didn't say anythin' to us at the guild." Natsu whined as he crawled off my window ledge and hopped in to my living room. Happy zoomed over to where I was sitting and sat on my counter top.
"Yea, you always say hi to us." Happy's ears lowered on to the top of his head sadly as his lower lip started to tremble. I heaved a sigh and got up to make them something to eat as well and make more tea.
"I had to come home to get ready to go on a mission, guys. I didn't have enough time to chat. I barely have enough time to eat and pack before I have to leave." I rubbed my temples with agitation.
'So much for a quick and quiet escape. I might as well send word to the person who posted the job I won't make it till tomorrow afternoon now.' I grumbled to myself as I placed their food and drinks on the table.
They dug in with gusto, barely even stopping to eat to take a breath as they ate. The nerve in my eye started to twitch, I just wanted one quiet afternoon before I left for a few days for my mission, but apparently that was just too much to ask.
"Hey Natsu?" I took a bite out of my sandwich as I waited on him to look at me.
"Ya Luce? What's up." He asked with a mouth full of food. I rolled my eyes at his lack of manners and I sat back in my seat as I sipped my tea.
"Did you notice any weird scents around my apartment before you broke in?" I questioned him.
"Not that I noticed. But I wasn't exactly payin' much attention." Natsu grinned as he munched away at his food. Happy sat quietly at the counter, dancing as he chowed on his own food.
"If I asked you guys to check on my apartment while I was gone, can I count on you not to eat me out of house and home or destroy anything?" I chewed on my bottom lip worriedly, finishing the last of my sandwich before I took my plate to the sink to wash later.
"I can't promise the food part, but Happy and I will make sure nothin' gets destroyed." Natsu gave me a thumbs up and his signature grin. I smiled slightly and nodded. That was the best I was going to get out of them, and that was all I could really ask for. I would just have to lock up anything important or have Virgo store it in the Spirit world while I'm gone. Maybe I should have asked one of them to watch my apartment instead of these two. I shrugged my shoulders and just let it go.
"Okay you two, I have things to do before I leave, so make like a tree and leave." I pointed my thumb towards the window as I headed towards my bathroom.
"But we just got here Luce!" Natsu frowned at me. I looked over my shoulder and glared, a silent warning to them.
"Okay, okay we are going. Let's go back to the guild Happy." Natsu stood from his seat and made his way towards the window with happy in tow as they hopped threw my open window. I sighed and walked over to the window myself, staring out as I watched their retreating forms in the sky. My eyes searched the ground below, catching a glimpse of white and maroon as it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
I shrugged it off and made my way to my bedroom, ignoring the nagging feeling in my soul. Almost as if something was tugging on it, pulling me towards something. I packed my suitcase and pulled my lacrima phone out, dialing the number left for the mayor who posted the flyer, I informed him that I would be there mid-morning and than we will discuss the job then. He thanked me and hung up. I still had time left before I had to get some sleep, so I figured doing some light shopping would help. I plucked my key ring up off my desk, closed and locked my windows, and made sure to lock my door behind me. As I made my way to the street, I pulled my jacket closer to me against the chill of the upcoming winter. I took a deep breath in, enjoying the crisp taste of the air in my lungs and made my way to the town square.
The walk to the square gave me ample time to think about everything that had transpired in the last couple of months, how much the dynamics of my team had changed since Lisanna had started joining us on missions. Not that I minded really, it actually kept the destruction to a minimum since no one wanted to anger the she-demon or her brother. That also meant that I would no longer be with Team Natsu and would be considered useless and unwanted my presence would be. I feared solitude, hated it ever since I was a child that was forced to be neither seen nor heard from her only living parent since I was four. My fingers curled in to fists, nails digging in to my palms as I tried to ground myself back to reality.
My lack of attention had my barreling in to someone's chest, knocking me back a few steps and holding my head in pain.
"Watch where you are going Tink." A familiar voice rumbled at me as I rubbed my forehead with my finger tips, not realizing my nails had dug hard enough to leave red angry prints in my palm.
"Sorry." I muttered as I took a few steps to walk around Cobra to continue on with my day. He just lifted his head in acknowledgment and shoved his hands in his pants pocket.
"I will let Kinana know you breezes through, I am sure that the Sorciere keeps you too busy to say hi." I laughed at his eye widen slightly in surprise at my words. No one but myself and his group knew the connection between him and our new bar helper, but that was only because Kinana had accidentally transformed in to the large snake that had once tried to poison and constrict me to death.
"Thanks." He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, as I waved at him while I walked away from him towards the shoppes at the other side of the road. Not paying attention to the shadowy figure that snuck through the crowds. I hummed a tune as I when from stall to stall, stopping through to the magic stores to see if they have any keys in stock. Luck had been in my favor as I walked out with two silver keys clutched to my chest. I couldn't be happier to keep growing my Celestial family, an fb these two keys were just two more to welcome.
I nearly screamed as a hand descended on my shoulder and yanked me back in to an alley way, a hand clasped over my mouth to keep me from making any noise. I was about to ram my elbow in to the person who grabbed me, but a calming scent wafted up to my nose.
"Shut it Tink, you are being followed." Cobra hissed in to my ear. His amethyst eye darting around the area, probably not wanting to use his sound magic with the amount of people rumbling around the town square. I stopped squirming around and stilled, I strained my eyes to catch anything that stood out to me. It was barely visible, but something darted up towards the rooftops.
"Cobra," I dipped my voice an octave lower, whispering lowly as to not be over heard. He dipped his head lower, his cheek brushing against my neck. He grunted, letting me know he had my full attention.
"Rooftop across from us, by the chimney stack. On the left side." I murmured. His eye flicked upward, narrowing as he caught the shadow that didn't belong.
"Tsk," Cobra scuffed as the figure stood as still as a statue. I nodged him with my elbow, asking the silent question 'what now'.
"Gonna have to have someone escort you from now on whenever you leave your guild. Especially when you are out by yourself." Cobra squinted in agitation. I sighed heavily and my shoulders sagged, just when I thought I had gotten over the whole damsel in distress thing.
"Let's go Tink, I don't think he will make a move while I'm around you. If he does, he would be pretty stupid to." Cobra wrapped his hand around my elbow and lead me out of the alleyway, and we made our way back to Fairy Tail to inform the others and Master Markarov someone was following me.