The wizard trio were sitting in the back of a cramped horse-drawn carriage that was taking them to Shirotsume Town. Natsu was against the idea at first, but after learning it would take a week to get there by foot, he excepted his painful fate.
"You've gotta wear a maid uniform Lucy!" Natsu said.
"Why is that?" Lucy replied.
"Cause that way we can sneak in and grab the book while you got the perv distracted." Natsu explained between bouts of motion sickness.
Lucy sat there quietly for a few moments to think about Natsu's plan. Although she didn't like it, Lucy realized it was their best bet to get the job done.
"Okay. I'll do it." Natsu and Happy cheered that she was going along with their plans. "But as this is my first mission and all, I get to choose the next one." Lucy said.
"D-Deal." Natsu said, trying not to vomit.
After making it to the client's mansion and hearing about the specifics of their mission, Lucy could not help but be suspicious of their job.
"So, for two million jewel all we have to do is burn this 'Daybreak' book? There has to be more to it… perhaps the book is cursed." Lucy murmured to herself in thought as she walked through Shirostume Town with Natsu and Happy
Natsu, overhearing what Lucy said, sprout a flame from his index finger. "Who cares what the old man wants it for, we're gonna be rich! Let's just burn it!" Natsu cackled at his newfound money.
"Natsu, wait. I'll be right back!" Lucy yelled as she ran off into town.
Natsu and Happy were sitting on the ground throwing rocks along a dirt path in boredom.
"Lushee is taking forever!" Happy whined.
Natsu sighed. "I know little buddy."
Suddenly, as if she appeared at the call of her name, Lucy was standing in front of the two boys in her new maid uniform.
"Natsu, how do I look?" Lucy asked.
"Lucy! You… you look…" Natsu had trouble forming the words to express the strange feeling in his chest. A feeling that he had never felt before, not even when bathing with Erza. He quickly pushed the thought away after hearing Happy's snickers.
"Utterly Ridiculous!" Happy and Natsu shouted in unison. Laughing that their plan actually worked for once.
"B-but I thought you wanted me to… for the plan…" Lucy suddenly lost her confidence and looked as if she was on the verge of crying.
Both the boys panicked. "it's okay, it's okay Lucy. We're not laughing at you; it's just we didn't think you would go along with our plan. No one ever does, so it was a surprise!" Natsu quickly explained.
Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. "Really? You mean it?"
"Yep! Sure do, Luce!" Natsu said with a toothy grin.
Lucy cocked her head in confusion. "Luce? Who is this 'Luce' person?"
"It's your nickname!" Natsu explained.
"A nickname? But my name is not nick." Lucy said.
Natsu sighed in exhaustion. It was always a battle to figure out what Lucy did and didn't know. She somehow had knowledge on many varied topics but failed when it came to interacting with other people. It was like she was still a child inside.
"A nickname is for friends!" Happy said.
"Yeah! It's like a fun name." Natsu explained.
"Oh! I see. Thank you Natsu." Lucy said.
"Lushee, where is your cloak?" Happy asked.
"Yeah, and what happed to your arm? It's all normal now." Natsu said, pointing to the arm in question.
Lucy looked at her right arm, still seeing the scaled and clawed form beneath her magic. "My arm is still the same. It still has those marks- "
"You mean scales?" Natsu interrupted.
Lucy pushed her hand over Natsu's mouth to try to silence him. "Shh. I do not want anyone knowing."
Happy, now floating above their heads, dropped down onto Lucy's head making himself comfortable. "Lushee… are you a dra-"
Lucy did the same thing to the small blue cat as she did the dragon slayer. She pressed the palm of her hand against Happy's mouth to silence him, but to Lucy's surprise he licked her hand with his rough tongue and flew off.
"Happy!" Lucy yelled as she wiped her hand on her cloak.
"I'm not… I… Please Natsu, Happy. Do not tell a soul of my true appearance to anyone." Lucy said sternly.
"We won't. It's just between us three, right little buddy?" Natsu said.
"Aye!" Happy replied.
"Thank you both." Lucy quietly said.
Natsu stared at Lucy's right arm with interest. "But I still wanna know. Why do you look so…"
"Normal?" Lucy said.
"Uh, no. It's um…" Natsu struggled to find the right words.
Lucy giggled slightly. "it's okay Natsu.
"I am using illusion magic to hide my true self. I can only use it for a short time, since I'm not skilled in it. I learnt it from an old book. It should last enough for you and happy to sneak in while I'm talking to the duke." Lucy explained.
Lucy walked up to the front gate of Everlue's mansion and called out, trying to grab his attention.
"Excuse me! Is anyone there? I saw the ad in the newspaper that said you were looking for a new, blonde maid!" Lucy yelled.
Lucy waited a minute or two before the ground shifted beside her and a giant maid with pink hair jumped out from the ground.
"So, you want to be a maid?" The bulky woman said.
Once again, the ground shifted and out popped a short and fat old man.
"Bo yo yo yo yoooo! Let me see the beauty before me today!" He spoke.
Lucy stood and endured as the creepy old man began to inspect her. Lucy could feel his eyes glancing here and there, from her breasts to her thighs. She was disgusted, but knew it was necessary for her mission.
It was nothing compared to what she had to endure at the hands of her father.
"Don't want you! Go home ugly! For a very, very, very very, very important man like me only the most beautiful young ladies will do! Bo yo yo yo yo!" Everlue said.
What Lucy could only describe as four hideous women jumped out of holes in the ground and started to flex their 'beauty'. One had a football shaped oval head, another had an extremely long face like a horse, one woman looked like she had no eyes at all, and another looked like a pig.
Lucy took a step back in shock at the sheer absurdity of it all and slipped back into the nearby bushes and trees where Natsu and Happy were hiding and watching.
"Looks like plan A: Get Lucy to distract the duke while we sneak in has failed." Natsu said.
"Looks like a change of plans is needed." Happy said.
"Wait a second guys." Lucy said.
Lucy dropped the illusion magic and her body returned to its normal state. Natsu noticed that in addition to the scales on her right arm, the short skirt and top of the maid uniform revealed diamond like scales on her upper right thigh and breast. He said nothing as Lucy wrapped her black cloak around her body, still wearing the maid uniform underneath.
"I'm ready." Lucy said.
"Alright! Time for plan C: Charge!" Natsu yelled.
Natsu found himself pressing his face against a glass window, staring inside the mansion as Lucy was being flown to the balcony by Happy.
"I don't get why we have to sneak in like this. Plan 'C' was supposed to be for Charge, as in charge right through the front of the place." Natsu said.
"We cannot do it that way Natsu! It may be a guild mission but we're basically thieves." Lucy said.
"Yeah, Yeah Whatever." Natsu whined.
Natsu pressed his hand up against the glass and the heat from his body was enough to melt a hole so that he could unlock the glass windows and sneak in.
They found themselves in some kind of storage room filled with all kinds of trinkets. From lacrima to flour, it had a little of everything.
Happy found a small skull and put it on his head, wearing it like some kind of twisted mask.
"Happy! Take that thing off." Lucy said as she lifted it off Happy's head.
"Aww. Lushee's mean!" Happy whined.
Natsu simply laughed at his furry friend.
The trio proceeded to make their way out of the storage room and Natsu and Happy followed Lucy's lead as she carefully snuck around each and every corner without making a single sound.
"What are we doing this for? Let's just grab someone, beat em up and tell us where the book is." Natsu whined.
"No. We must be quiet. Like Ninjas." Lucy replied quietly.
A sparkle appeared in Natsu and Happy's eyes as they happily embraced becoming ninjas, Natsu creating a makeshift ninja mask with his scarf.
Their quiet ninja reflexes were all for nothing, however, as all five of Everlue's hideous maids jumped out from the floor ready to kill.
"Eliminate them!" The giant pink haired one commanded.
"Ninja flaming kick!" Natsu yelled.
In a matter of seconds, the maid attack force was wiped out by a single kick from Natsu.
Lucy gave Natsu a thumbs up. " Nin nin! Good work! Nin nin!"
"Nin nin! We made quick work for we are ninja! Nin nin!" Happy and Natsu said in unison.
Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and ran. "Come on we have to hide or they will send stronger fighters."
"Let em come. I'll just roast em!" Natsu replied.
Lucy found the nearest door and slammed it shut, pushing a heavy recliner chair in front to block anyone from entering the room.
When Lucy turned to look around the room, she realized they were locked in the duke's personal study, although it looked more like a small library.
"Wow! This place sure has a lot of books!" Natsu said. Amazed at the many books lining the walls.
"Aye! Ninja master!" Happy said.
Lucy was scanning the spines of each book as she looked for daybreak, while Natsu and Happy were freaking out that books indeed had words within them.
"The duke may be a creep but this is quite the library." Lucy told herself.
"Ohh! I found a golden book!" Natsu yelled.
"Shiny!" Happy replied.
"Wait, could it be…" Lucy said as she rushed over to the two boys and examined the book.
"I found it first try, Luce." Natsu proudly declared.
"We found it! Daybreak!" The trio yelled in unison.
Natsu lit his hand on fire ready to burn the book. "Now for the burning!"
"This is so easy." Happy said.
"No, don't! That author is Kemu Zaleon! I've read all his books, so this must be unpublished." Lucy said with a sparkle in her eyes, ripping the book from Natsu's grip.
"Who cares! Let's just burn it and get our cash." Natsu said.
"No, we cannot! Let's just say we burnt it and keep it." Lucy said in a panic.
Suddenly, the ground around them started to rumble and break apart as Duke Everlue popped out of the ground.
"I see. So, it was Daybreak you were after! Bo yo yo yo yo!" The duke laughed.
Natsu started to get annoyed because this was supposed to be a quick job.
"Lucy! Give me the book! Let me burn it." Natsu said with a scowl.
"Then let me read it first!" Lucy said as she fell to her knees and started reading.
"Get your filthy hands of my book! It may be worthless, but it's still mine. Come forth Vanish Brothers!" The duke screamed.
"Why would he want the book if it's worthless? Wait… If it's worthless then why is the client willing to pay so much for it?" Lucy thought to herself.
There was a sound of a creak, and a hidden door made of bookshelves opened and two men walked out into the library.
"That mark! That's the symbol for the southern wolf bodyguard guild!" happy said, pointing to the men.
"Vanish brothers! Kill them and get that book back!" The duke yelled his command.
"So, these are fairy tail wizards?" The man with a bandana said.
"Pathetic." Said the man with a giant frying pan.
As Lucy sat on the floor reading Daybreak, she suddenly jumped up and started running. "Natsu! This book holds a secret. Buy me some time."
"Where are you going?" Natsu asked.
"A quiet place to read!" Lucy yelled as she slammed the door to the room shut.
"A secret! He could have hidden a treasure map in there." Everlue thought to himself.
"Change of plans! I'll go after the girl while you kill the boy!" Everlue said as he jumped into the floor.
Natsu was stretching the muscles in his arms, preparing to fight. "Happy! Go after Lucy. I can handle them alone!"
"Aye sir!" Happy said as he flew off.
Lucy was sitting against the wall in the sewer system under the mansion reading Daybreak. As she read, she heard the occasional battle cry and the smell of fire, which, Lucy thought, would be Natsu's battle against the bodyguards upstairs.
Taking off her Gale force reading glasses that let her read the book tree times as fast as normal, she placed them back in her cloak.
"I-I cannot believe such a secret would be in this book. We can't burn it. Kaby needs to see it." Lucy said with a sigh.
As Lucy stood up and was about to walk away, two hands came out of the wall behind her and grabbed hold of her arms forcing her back.
"What's inside that book?" Everlue asked.
Lucy sneered at the man. "I'll tell you nothing! You're an enemy of literature!"
"Tsk. Enemy of Literature? No, I am the protector of literature." Everlue said.
"Talk. Where is the treasure hidden?" the duke said.
"What treasure?" Lucy asked.
"That's why the book is so important. He hid his fortune in there didn't he?" Everlue said.
"…" Lucy refused to talk.
"If you don't talk then I'll just break all the bones in your arms." Everlue cackled.
"Really?... Then how about I break yours instead?" lucy said.
Lucy let her diamond like scales crawl up her left arm until it covered her entire arm. She quicky turned around, breaking the duke's grip on her and grabbed his arm instead. Lucy wore a smirk as she crushed Everlue's arm with a vice like grip, enjoying the sound of his bones cracking.
To add insult to injury, Happy came flying right to Everlue and kicked him in the face, breaking his nose before falling into sewerage water.
Lucy gave Happy a thumbs up. "Good work Happy, now get out of that water."
Everlue held his broken right arm with his left. Sneering at Lucy with disgust.
"How dare you touch me! Do you know who I am?" Everlue shouted.
"Yeah, someone stupid." Lucy said.
Everlue glared at lucy. "How dare you. That book was written for me! An adventure story starring myself. It was supposed to be amazing, but that stupid man wrote it terribly on purpose!" Everlue said as he dived in and out of the sewers trying to land a hit on Lucy with his unbroken arm.
"You forced him to write it! Where do you get the idea that you can act all high and mighty!" Lucy yelled.
"I am high and mighty! It is an honor to be allowed to write a book for me!" Everlue said.
"You blackmailed him into writing it!" Lucy yelled.
"So, what if I did? I'm sure everyone would agree it's his fault in the first place for refusing!" The duke said as he twirled his moustache.
Lucy said nothing as she watched the creepy man speak.
"When I ordered him to write it, he refused, so I told him he can write it or be stripped of his citizenship!"
"But if you did that then he couldn't join any guilds or make a living!" Happy said, flying around trying to avoid the duke's diver magic.
"But of course, in the end he did write it. But I made him write it from my personal dungeon in solitary confinement for three years! I needed to break his sprit for thinking he could turn down the opportunity to write about me! The amazing Duke Everlue! Bo yo yo yo yo yo!" He ranted.
Lucy gritted her teeth. "Solitary confinement? Do you have any idea what that does to a person?! Spending five years in darkness! Fearing that you'll never see the light of day again!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Lushee…" Happy murmured.
"And how the hell did you find out about that?!" Everlue yelled.
"It's all written here in this book!" Lucy said.
"Huh? I read that book. Kemu Zaleon isn't even in it.
"Of course, you wouldn't understand. Kemu zaleon was a wizard and used the last of his magic to put a spell on this book! Lucy said as she held out the book for Everlue to see.
"I should have known." He grumbled.
"The words on the paper aren't just that. The real secret is something entirely different!" Lucy said.
"I can't believe it. He must have written all about my illegal deals." The duke thought.
The duke was about to dive back into the ground, but something caught his eye. He continued to stare at Lucy for a few moments.
Lucy grimaced at the man staring at her like a trophy.
"Now that I get a better look at you, you seem to have a striking resemblance to the Heartfilia daughter who died seven years ago. No. You couldn't be…" Everlue said.
Duke Everlue was in shock. Never would he have thought to see her again.
He smirked, knowing that he now held the upper hand.
"It seems that we both have things we don't want getting out. I with my book and you with your little secret." Everlue said.
"What does he mean Lushee?" Happy said, concerned for his new friend.
"I'm sure we can come to an understanding. If you leave with my book the world will know your secret, but if you give me back Daybreak, I won't tell a soul of my discovery here. So, do we have a deal?" Everlue said.
Lucy thought over his deal for a moment. "I can't let 'that thing' get out, but… No! I can't fail my first mission! What would the guild think? What would Natsu think?"
She took a deep breath and decided on what she was going to do.
"You have no intention of keeping your word! I know people like you and the first thing you will do after I give the book back will be to tell everyone!" Lucy said.
"Tsk. Stupid girl." Everlue mumbled.
"Open! Gate of the giant crab: Cancer!" Lucy chanted as she slashed the key in the air.
In a puff of smoke, a crab-man who looked more human than crab appeared. The only defining crab-like features where his six crab legs protruding from his back.
"It's a crab!" Happy shouted with stars in his eyes.
"What do you want me to do, Ebi?" Cancer said.
Lucy pointed to Duke Everlue. "This is a battle! Defeat him!"
"Okay-Ebi." Was all Cancer said.
"Alright then, if you won't except my deal, I'll just have to fight you. Open! Gate of the Virgin: Virgo!" Everlue chanted, pointing his key in the air.
In another puff of smoke, the same giant pink haired maid from earlier appeared in front of Lucy and Cancer. However, what they saw shocked them all.
Natsu was somehow holding onto Virgo's shirt.
"Natsu? How did you?!" Lucy yelled in shock.
"How else? She started moving so I decided that I wouldn't let her go without me…" Natsu said.
"But it doesn't make any sense. If you held onto her when she appeared here then that means… you passed through the spirit world?! That's impossible! Only other spirit creatures like spirits or demons could pass through." Lucy yelled, holding her head in disbelief.
Natsu, still holding onto Virgo was utterly confused. "Lucy, what do I do here?"
"Just take her down, Natsu!" Lucy said.
Natsu shook his head in agreement and repeatedly punched Virgo with his iron fists until she passed out.
Duke Everlue readied himself to dive underground again, but was caught by Lucy's diamond coated hands. Lucy proceeded to throw Everlue into the air, and as she did, cancer cut the few strands of hair off his head and when he hit the ground, he fell unconscious.
The scales covering Lucy's left arm disappeared and her arm was now back to normal.
The mansion started to crumble and fall apart. Bricks and dirt were falling into the sewer.
"Come on. We have to get out of here!" Lucy said.
"Let's go!" Natsu shouted.
"Aye sir!" Happy said.
The trio quickly ran back in the mansion and escaped through a giant hole in the wall that Natsu made with his fight with the southern wolf bodyguard guild members.
Just as they made it outside, they watched as the mansion crumbled into nothing but rubble.
"Wow! Wonder what caused that?" Natsu asked.
"It was probably caused by Everlue and his maids tunneling everywhere, causing the land underneath the mansion to become unstable. So, when we fought them all, we caused it's collapse." Lucy explained.
"I get it!" Happy said.
Natsu burst out in laughter. "It's perfect! Your first job and your already destroying things! Great job, Luce!" Natsu said as he patted Lucy on the back.
"Thanks.' Lucy said.
Just as Natsu and Happy started to walk off, Lucy headed towards the rubble, intending to find Everlue.
Natsu noticed Lucy wasn't walking with him and turned around. "Whatcha doing, Luce?"
Lucy remained silent as she threw pieces of rubble out of her way until she found the duke.
Lucy grabbed Everlue by the lapels and shook him awake. "If you ever speak of this, I will have your head. Is that clear?!"
Everlue quickly shook his head in agreement and Lucy dropped the small man back onto the ground.
"Wow! Lushee can be scary!" Happy said, now floating above her.
Lucy was embarrassed. "Do you think it worked? It was from a book I read."
Natsu gave her a toothy smile. "Sure thing! Worked like a charm."
The trio of mages had returned to Kaby's mansion where they intended to finish their job and collect their money.
Lucy handed daybreak back to Kaby Melon, much to his shock.
"W-what is the meaning of this? I wanted it destroyed. That was the mission!" Kaby said.
"You can do it yourself, Mr Kaby." Lucy said.
Kaby snatched the book from Lucy's hands. "Fine! I'll go ahead and burn it! I don't want to even look at this book."
"I know why you hate this book. You're trying to protect your father's memory. Are you not the son of Kemu Zaleon?" Lucy said.
"How did you know that?" Kaby asked.
"Just a hunch." Lucy said.
Kaby looked down at the book, brushing his fingers over the embossed title.
"Have you ever read it?" Lucy asked.
"No. But I don't need to. Even father told me it was garbage." Kaby said.
"that's why you want to burn it? Even if it's garbage it's still your father's work!" Natsu angrily yelled.
Lucy was surprised by Natsu's anger at such a trivial matter. She had to hold him back so he wouldn't punch the man.
Kaby sighed deeply. "Yes. The fact that my dear father wrote Daybreak brought shame upon his name. Thirty-one years ago…"
The trio of mages heard from Kaby that his father came home after three years of solitary confinement and cut his own arm off so he could never write again, and that he shortly killed himself afterwards. And that he feels for guilty for yelling at his father and maybe pushing him over the edge to suicide.
He grabbed a match and was about to burn it until it started glowing.
"What's going on?" Kaby said.
"Your father, Zekua Melon, cast a spell on this book. A spell that allowed the letters to re-from themselves. All of them." Lucy explained.
Everyone was filled with shock and awe as the letters sprang forth from the book and bounced around the room before re forming back into the book.
"The reason he gave up writing… might not be because he had written an awful book… it could have been because he had written his best book." Lucy said.
"That's amazing!" Natsu said as he poked a letter.
"The letters are all dancing around!" Happy said.
"… The letter he wrote to you, Mr Kaby, was the best book of his life. This is the book he really left behind." Lucy said with a smile.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I never even understood my own father. Thank you, I won't burn the book." Kaby said. Crying.
Natsu turned to Happy and put his arms behind his head as he started to walk off. "Then I guess we can't except payment, huh?"
"Nope" Happy said.
"Your right Natsu. Our mission was to destroy the book and we failed to do exactly that." Lucy said.
"Well, time to go home! And the melon family should go home too… to your own house." Natsu said surprising them all.
As they were walking back home to Magnolia, a question popped up in Lucy's head.
"So, Natsu. How did you know it wasn't their house?"
"That's easy. The smell of them and the smell of their house were completely different. Anyone would notice." Natsu said.
"Ahh, I see." Lucy said.
"I can't wait to get back to the guild and eat fish!" Happy exclaimed as he flew ahead.
Natsu laughed. "Me too happy!"
Author's Note: Hey guys! How have you all been? Anyway, i just wanted to ask, since this is my biggest chapter yet at 4,349 words, do you want me to keep making long chapters like this? or would you prefer shorter chapters around 1500-2000 words in length? I can get the shorter chapters out in three to five days, but longer chapters like this one would take between one to two weeks.