Chapter XIX

A Dance in Crimson

Lucy picked this job thinking that it not only paid well, but that it wouldn't demand that much magic from Natsu. The job description brought back memories of her first real job as a wizard crossed with the Velveno case at Count Balsomico's estate: infiltrate a gala to steal one item and destroy another.

Lucy had fun preparing for this job. She got to go shopping the a dress and picked out a lovely red one and found a nice grey suit for Natsu with a tie that matched the red of her dress. She also helped him to refine his dancing before they left to meet their client. Even then, Lucy decided to rent a more elaborate coach to visit the client.

During the ride, Natsu looked at his scaly hand. It wasn't completely covered in scales, but they were noticeable. He was also wearing the bracelet with the motion sickness lacrima in it to keep from getting sick during the ride.

"Hey, Natsu, I also got you a pair of gloves. I don't think they're style, but I think that it would be wise to wear them when we meet the client and go to the gala," Lucy spoke, and she presented the gloves, they were just a simple white pair made with soft fabric.

"You're right, they're not my style at all."

"I know, but I'm worried that your scales might blow our cover. We must be stealthy like ninjas," Lucy told him.

"Aye, Sir!" Happy declared.

Natsu gave a smirk and accepted the gloves from her, but he didn't put them on until they actually arrived at the client's house.

Their client was an intellectual woman whom was both a wizard who worked to create inventions to develop new forms of holder-type magics and an accomplished writer. She and Lucy clicked instantly... Her name was Ophelia Warden.

"Thank you for accepting my job request, Ms. Heartfilia," she spoke while adjusting her cat-eye glasses. She also had turquoise hair and sharp orchid eyes.

"It's our pleasure, Ms. Warden. We're eager to get this job done for you," Lucy replied.

"So here are the details: The gala you'll be infiltrating is hosted by Lady Zedong, she and I were schoolmates and acquaintances. Unfortunately, I've heard word and was presented with evidence that she is now in association with dark wizards. Out of friendship, I'd given her a notebook of recent studies I've worked on. The information in that book - when applied under use of the right people - will provide great benefits to Fiore, but in the wrong hands it could prove to be disastrous to us. That's what I need you to retrieve for me. The notebook should be easily identified, it is hardbound with a plum-colored cover with a golden rose embossed on it."

"Plum-colored notebook with a gold rose, got it! As for the item that you need destroyed?" Lucy spoke.

"It will be her Astral Globe. It is a prototype she designed, with the type of magic she uses, she can use the globe to cast spells on anyone that could be anywhere in the world and she can also track anyone. Even if she's working with these dark wizards against her will, we can't let her keep that globe and have her use it under the orders of a dark wizard. Personally, I also believe that this Astral Globe shouldn't have existed in the first place. By the way, if you happen to find any blueprints of the Astral Globe, I'd like for you to destroy them as well."

"No need to worry, we wizards of Fairy Tail know how to destroy stuff," Natsu told Ophelia.

"I feel like that's something you shouldn't be bragging about, but if you do the job well, I'll boost your pay and perhaps we can share some stories together."

"Wow, you're awesome Ms. Warden!" Lucy declared.

"Aye, Sir!"

"Thank you... Now, I've managed to obtain a copy of Lady Zedong's gala invitation and constructed this false one for you, and since I've been to the estate before, I've drawn a layout of the house for you and marked out where you should be able to find those items."

Ω Ω Ω

Thanks to the invitation, Lucy, Happy, and Natsu got into the estate without a problem. The ballroom was beautiful, the music playing was lively, and the food was delicious.

"Natsu, Happy, I know this is a lot to ask of you, but I really need you to try and show some restraint around the buffet, please, and I promise to cook you guys a big meal when we're done," Lucy whispered to them.

"Aye, alright Lucy, but remember that you promised!" Happy replied.

"Great, now, perhaps you can try scouting the estate and see if there's any security around the rooms we need to sneak into. Meanwhile, Natsu, I think it would be best if we had a few dances together."

Natsu gave her a nod and they took each other's hands and danced. Lucy kept it simple for Natsu, but it proved to be enough of a charade to suggest that they were merely guests at the gala to have a great time.

"Natsu, let me know if anything sounds or smells off to you, and we can both keep our eyes peeled for anything that looks out of the ordinary."

"You're getting a little bossy on this job, you know that?"

"Shh! We're in stealth, remember? Will you please give me a few compliments so these people think that we're dating or something?" Lucy whispered. Natsu's face turned to puzzlement for a moment until he came up with: "The red dress looks nice on you, it makes for a nice break from all the blue you normally wear."

"Wow, I didn't think you'd do something like pay attention to what others wear."

"Yeah, normally my focus is on how much clothing people are wearing. Gray's streaking over the years really fine-tuned that... That dress also covers you more than what you usually wear," Natsu replied.

"No! Don't say something like that, people are going to notice us!" Lucy exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Hmm... I read your book. I may not read much, but I really liked it!"

Now that brought warmth to Lucy's heart. She never saw Natsu with her book... She hardly ever saw him with a novel at all. To hear that from him just felt amazing.

They danced for a few songs before Lucy allotted some time for them to eat.

While standing with a small plate in his hands, Natsu caught sight of a young man and girl together. The man was about Natsu's height with dark hair and eyes while wearing a dark suit, and the girl with him had long and very wavy blonde hair with innocent green eyes and was wearing a dress of pink and black and she was rather tiny.

The thing was that they were the spitting images of Zeref Dragneel and Mavis Vermillion!

"Lucy, look!" Natsu spoke in a hushed voice. Lucy turned and saw them, they did look happy together as they laughed and danced.

"I saw them at the party when my book was released," she replied.

Natsu pulled her and Happy close and whispered: "After we went to the Necropolis, Zyma said some stuff that said that Zeref and Mavis are still alive but they don't remember who they used to be. She also wanted me to tell her if I ever spotted people who looked like them."

"You don't have to tell her anything you don't want to, Natsu... Do you even want to have anything to do with them as they are?"

"They're the reason Fairy Tail exists. Maybe we should at least introduce ourselves," he told Lucy.

"We really should get on with the job," she replied.

Regardless, Natsu took her arm and walked up to them: "Hey, it's a great party isn't it?"

"Hello, do we know each other?" the one looking like Mavis asked.

Natsu gave them a strange look and Lucy replied: "Well, you may've heard of us... I'm Lucy Heartfilia and my friend is Natsu."

"Lucy Heartfilia? I've read your book and was inspired by it!" the one looking like Zeref replied.

"Alios, let's not get carried away now, I know how you are when it comes to books," the one looking like Mavis told him.

"Right, thank you, Mio... Well, those are our names. I'm an aspiring writer myself, Ms. Lucy, and I hope that I'll be able to read something new by you soon," Alios spoke.

"Well, I got a lot of my inspiration from my adventures in the Fairy Tail Guild."

"I've been reading about them in Sorcerer Weekly, it sounds like you guys know how to have fun and to cause trouble," Mio spoke.

"Maybe that's where I might've heard about you; your face seems familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place where I might've seen it before," Alios spoke.

Natsu shrugged: "Maybe."

Mio stepped forward: "Natsu, Lucy, would you care to sit with us for a while?"

Natsu and Lucy exchanged looks, and then Happy returned from scouting the party: "Lady Zedong should be coming out soon."

Mio looked at Happy with big goo-goo eyes: "Aww, look at that, Hun, isn't he the cutest little thing?"

HUN?! Natsu, Lucy, and Happy thought.

Alios let out a light chuckle: "He sure is."

However, it also clicked for Alios and Mio that Happy seemed familiar as well. As for Happy himself, well, those faces would be near-impossible for him to forget. He didn't say anything about them looking like Zeref and Mavis, but he did say: "So, you two are dating?"

"Engaged actually," Mio replied, casting a look to Alios, he smiled down at her.

"We met at Lucy's book party and hit it off so well that I forgot what I went there for in the first place," he spoke.

"Well, if you're ever in Magnolia, look for Fairy Tail and ask for us," Natsu told them.

"We'll think about it," Mio replied.

Lady Zedong had now entered the room and Natsu, Lucy, and Happy still had a job to do. While Lady Zedong was busy distracting the guests, and the other guests were busy distracting her, they were given the opportunity to slip away.

After discussing the layout of Lady Zedong's estate with Ophelia Warden, they had a pretty good sense of where they needed to go. So, it didn't take long for them to find the room with the Astral Globe in it... However...

"Whoa, that thing is huge!" Natsu exclaimed; and indeed it was. The globe practically took up the whole room... Though with all due respect, the room looked like it had been built specifically to house the Astral Globe. The center of the floor had a concave contour that swallowed about half of the globe, and then the floor leveled out about two-and-a-half meters from the walls, and rails encircled the globe. The globe hovered just a few feet off the floor, and along one spot against the rails was a desk with controllers for the globe. Along the walls there were cabinets and bookshelves holding what must be some interesting secrets.

"Alright you guys, we have to destroy that globe, but Ms. Warden asked us to find her any schematics for this thing. We should search here for those plans and maybe see if we can find anything to suggest which dark wizards Lady Zedong might be corresponding too," Lucy told them.

"Aye, sir! We'll get right to it!" Happy announced.

"Quiet, Happy, this is a job meant for a ninja mind you!" Lucy snapped in a hushed voice. She marched over to the desk and started rummaging, Happy looked through the wastebasket, and Natsu searched the shelves.

"Natsu, you may want to leaf through those books to make sure there's nothing tucked in them," Lucy told him.

"Why would anyone hide anything in a book?" he asked.

"Because people wouldn't take the time to search all of them. They're not an obvious hiding spot for a document."

So not only was Natsu checking titles, he flipped through them and spread them out looking for anything stuck in the pages. He was surprised to find a few books had a few loose leaves of notes tucked in them... all made from the same paper. He took a good look at them and wasn't quite sure what to make of everything, but it didn't look good. He decided to let Lucy take a look at them.

Lucy did find the schematics to the Astral Globe, and after digging in the trash, Happy found a few letters from a wizard named Serenade.

"Wait, wasn't that the name of that chick that we met with not far away from the Magic Library?" Natsu asked.

"I think so... Happy, I can take that letter from you, and I've found the plans to the Astral Globe. Now, it's time to destroy that globe!"

Natsu clapped a fist into his hand: "I'm all fired up now!"

"Wait, Natsu, I think that Taurus can handle this part of the job for us," Lucy told him.

"Well, what am I here for then?"

"Natsu, ask yourself this: is destroying the globe worth the risk of turning into a dragon right now? If it is, then knock yourself out, but if you want to stay human a bit longer, then let's leave this to Taurus."

Natsu pouted but saw her point. Lucy summoned Taurus and he made quick work of the globe. With two swings of his axe, the thing was reduced to a few shards and dust!

"Okay, now to steal Ms. Warden's notebook!" Lucy announced.

This was where the plan fell apart... Sure, destroying the Astral Globe was easy enough, there weren't any guards, but as they reached Lady Zedong's workshop, they found that to be heavily guarded. There were wizards from the Black Phoenix guild.

The plum notebook wasn't hard to find, but Natsu had to fight Black Phoenix to clear the way for Lucy and Happy to grab it! Unfortunately, the wizards Natsu was facing weren't just some lackeys, these guys were actually competent!

While Lucy and Happy had their backs turned, they found and collected the notebook, but they heard Natsu shouting and then screaming. A flash of fire and some strange crashing noises later, and then Lucy and Happy quickly found themselves crashing their way out of the cellars and found themselves being carried off into the night skies! This was all too sudden and too much for Lucy, she let out a scream and then passed out!

A good chunk of Lady Zedong's estate was obliterated that night. At least none of her guests were hurt that night. As a matter of fact, all they felt was a questionable shaking of the room and heard something that sounded a little like an explosion. Well, the ballroom was still in one piece, so they tried not to worry about it.

Ω Ω Ω

At the trilling of birdsong and the glow of the rising dawn, Lucy's eyes fluttered open. She found Happy and Plue shaking her awake while she was laying near a river.

"Where are we?" Lucy asked.

"Ask Natsu," Happy replied, he pointed to a red dragon with black lines that looked like lightning that were bordered on one side with gold. He was staring into the water with a pout on his face.

"NATSU!?" Lucy exclaimed.

Natsu Dragon looked very much like Igneel, save for the lightning marks. He turned his head to Lucy, his face was nowhere near the blank and savage expression of Acnologia.

Pushing away her shock, Lucy spoke: "Ah, good morning, Natsu."

"Yeah, mornin'," he replied, his voice was distorted with a dragon's rumble but it was clear that it was Natsu's voice

"Well, we finished the job. We should get back to Ms. Warden's place so we can get paid."

"Her house is just east of here," Natsu told her and he pointed the way for her. Lucy had a feeling that he wouldn't some with her to the town, and perhaps that was for the best. Not everyone would maintain composure at the sight of a fire dragon. So, Lucy put a hand against his arm and told him: "Okay, Happy and I are going to see the client. Once we've finished business, we'll come back to you and fly home. Remember, you'll get your human face back eventually."

Natsu's face lightened a bit from his pout.

"Also," Lucy added: "If Ms. Warden asks why you're not with me, I'm just going to tell her the truth."

Natsu didn't answer while Happy flew Lucy back to Ms. Warden's house.

Ω Ω Ω

"Good morning, Ms. Warden! We've finished the job for you!" Lucy announced, and she presented the notebook and papers to her, she also passed over a .

"Splendid! Come in, I'll get your money and you can tell me all about it! Where's your colleague?"

Lucy sat down and once Ms. Warden came back with the check, she explained what happened: how they did the job, that they found proof of correspondence between Lady Zedong and dark wizards, having to fight some to get the notebook, and then Natsu's transformation while explaining how Dragon-Slayer magic works.

"Fascinating, may I see Natsu?"

"I suppose it would be alright, but he might be an intimidating sight. Dragons are pretty big and Natsu isn't too happy about his situation."

Well, Ms. Warden was curious, and they had to get back to Natsu anyway, so she just followed them.

At least Natsu hadn't moved far from his position earlier. On the riverbank there were a few fish he'd managed to catch, some real whoppers too!

"FISHIES!" Happy cheered. Natsu actually managed a smile, even with the face of a dragon he managed the same impish charm as his human smile. He then looked down at Ms. Warden.

"She wanted to see you," Lucy explained."

"I must say, Natsu, you are quite the inspiring sight!" Ms. Warden told him.

"Inspiring, huh?" Natsu rumbled.

"Yes, can you tell me how your magic works? I'm wondering if I can convert something like it into holder-type tools."

Natsu gave it to her plain and simple while Lucy climbed onto his back. Once he was done talking, he spread his wings and took flight back to Magnolia.

Ω Ω Ω

Well this was fun to write! Please review! I'd love to hear some feedback.