1 year later, x778
Marie and Lucy had been walking from village to village after Draco left. They realized just how hard it was to leave behind their home, but they knew they couldn't stay. Both Lucy and Marie agreed that they shouldn't hold a grudge against the dragon, but cherish the time they had with him. It had been exactly one year since he left, so they had a lot of time to talk things out and make a decision, and both agreed to try and join a guild. Not only because they really needed the money, but also because Marie thought it would be a good experience.
"So Lu, what guild do you think is the best choice for us?" The flying cat asked in a monotone voice. Lucy sighed. They bickered all the way to the village on where to go; Fairy Tail or Phantom Lord.
"I want us to join Fairy Tail, but you insist on Phantom Lord. So a decision can't be made yet." Lucy informed in the exact same tone.
"Okay! I have an idea!" Marie said suddenly, digging through my bag and pulling out a coin. Knowing exactly what was going on, Lucy grinned.
"I call tails!" The blonde yelled excitedly.
"Fine." Marie growled. It was pretty much known that tails was somehow always the victor. Marie reluctantly flipped the coin, cringing slightly when it hit the ground and spun around. Before landing on one side. Lucy bent down and picked it up, showing Marie proudly. Marie groaned and shook her head while Lucy cheered, pumping her fist happily.
"Yes! We get to go to Fairy Tail!" Lucy laughed happily.
"Fairy tail it is then" Marie said in disappointment. Lucy giggled at Marie's saddened mood and gave the cat a small scratch behind the ear. Which almost instantly cheered up the small feline. She leaned into the touch purred at the ministration. Lucy then looked up at the sky and blew a raspberry.
"I actually think we should wait a few years and train some more. Because I may have mastered some of the moves but the harder ones I need more practice on." Lucy mentioned in a thoughtful tone. Not only did she feel she wasn't all that ready, but she didn't have a lot of human interaction since she met Draco, so she wasn't entirely sure she would be welcomed warmly into a guild, but at least they know what guild they'll be joining.
"You, me against the world for a bit longer?" Marie asked with a smile. It was a cheesy line but it managed to make Lucy nod her head with a sincere smile.
"Yeah" Lucy said, her eyes becoming softer.
2 years later, x779
Lucy had gotten so much stronger since she met Draco. She learned spells that can rival the great Salamander she heard of at Fairy Tail. A year ago, both Lucy and Marie researched day and night on Fairy Tail. They figured that if they were going to join, then they should know a bit more about the guild. They heard some of the crazy things that went on daily at the guild. It was slightly scary but Lucy felt she would fit in pretty well. She could tend to be a bit reckless as well, but she didn't think it was that bad.
"Lucy! how many times have I told you not to destroy property while were on a job!?" Marie scolded again. Lucy crossed her arms and turned away from the flying animal. The blonde's bottom lip stuck out in a pout as they walked through the town.
"I dunno around a hundred or something" The celestial dragon slayer answer back while trudging to the hotel. They got out of the phase of sleeping in caves after Draco so they often stayed at hotels after a small job. Once, when they entered their first hotel a couple years ago, the workers had to usher Lucy into the bath house because she had forgotten to bathe. When she remember back on it, she laughs slightly but mostly coils from stupidly. She was much better about her hygiene. She knows Marie will never let her live it down though.
"You're a handful..." Marie sighed. Lucy stuck her tongue out at the cat. They made it back to the hotel and Lucy immediately goes to take a shower. The monster they had defeated coated her in its blood after she destroyed it. The stench was far too much for even her to bare.
"Damn it...the smell won't go away..." Lucy mumbled in frustration. The blood was so strong she felt as if she was going to pass out. She sighed in contempt as the warm water trickled down her body. She felt fully relaxed for once. She hummed happily as she stepped out, feeling a lot better after cleaning herself off. There was still a vague smell of blood but she was sure it would go away soon. She yawned and jumped into bed, wrapping herself in the blankets.
"Night Marie" she whispered softly
"Night Lu." Lucy heard before she entered into dreamless sleep.
Morning
The blonde woke up to the soft snoring of her companion. She rubbed her tired eyes and shuffled out of bed. She tiredly put on simple pants and a T-shirt and wiggled into some boots. Grabbing a hair tie and putting up a side ponytail. Lucy stumbled over to Marie and shook the cat awake.
"Mmm, what?" Marie shook herself awake and sat up. She flapped her stiff wings and looked up at her friend. Lucy gave her a small smile and shrugged her bag over her shoulder.
"We should probably get going. There's one more town we need to stop at. I'm thinking we could pick up a small job there. We're running out of money." The blonde chuckled. Marie rubbed her stomach as it grumbled. The cat supposed Lucy was right.
"Yeah, good idea."
5 years later, x784
Marie and Lucy finally stopped in Hargeon. Before they decided to head there, they had to ride a train to get there. She had personally never ridden a train until that day, so she was definitely surprised at what she discovered. She had horrible motion sickness. Her stomach had twisted and turned and she felt so nauseous she couldn't tell what was up or down. Even as she was walking, she still felt as if she was on a boat.
She looked at Marie as they passed a magic shop and gave the cat a huge grin. "Marie! We need to stop in there! I want to see if they have any celestial keys."
"Mm, okay." Marie sighed. Lucy giggled and ran into the shop quicker than Marie could fly. She internally cheered as she looked around the shop. She may be a dragon slayer now but she can also use the keys as a secondary magic. Though they aren't as strong as they could be. She went up to the man and asked if he had any golden keys.
"No, I don't think I have anything like that but we do have this." He showed her a device that can change the color of clothes.
"Nah, I got it" Lucy said, not really interested. She looked around a little more and gasped when she saw it. The Canis Minor gate key. She smiled and grabbed the key, running back to old man on the counter.
"How bout' this one, sir?" Lucy asked. He told the blonde it wasn't very powerful but she had already knew that. She then asked how much it costed.
"20,000" he said. Her face became white while sweat ran down her face.
"How much was it?" She repeated. Thinking maybe she heard it wrong.
"20,000" he said once again with a devious smile. Lucy looked at Marie and winked at the cat. Lucy then climbed up on the counter and gave the man a suggestive smile. The old man looked up at the young teen with a blush on his face. And he smiled.
"So..." Lucy hummed. "How much was it again?"
...
"Only a thousand jewels off!? How could he!" Lucy hissed while kicking a nearby sign out of sight. Marie sighed as she watched the sign disappear over a hill.
"You should've known it wouldn't work on those kind of people. All they care about is money." Lucy glared at her, but was then kicked down by a couple girls running in the same direction.
"What's going on?" She asked one of them. One of the girls had hearts in her eyes saying that the famous Salamander was here. Lucy remained skeptical but followed the girl anyway. Marie had warned her to stay but it only fell onto dead ears. Lucy made it through the crowd of fan girls and looked at him. She made eye contact with the man called Salamander and felt her heart speed up.
'W-What is going on with my heart?' Lucy clenched her chest through her shirt and felt her eyesight growing hazy. All that surrounded her vision was that man. She squealed and put her hands to her cheek, completely ignoring the poor cat trying to get her attention behind her. Lucy couldn't believe she found her true love.
"Igneel!" A voice piped up. Lucy gasped as something inside her broke. She felt free as if she was under some type of spell. That's when she finally saw the charm rings on his fingers. She clenched her teeth in anger, but it disappeared once she saw who broke the charm. He had salmon hair with bright onyx eyes. He wore a jacket, covering a vest. She could see he wore white baggy pants and sandals while he laid on the ground. The younger man looked up at Salamander. "Who the hell are you?"
Lucy watched as the women gasped at the insensitivity and began to beat on the poor man. She was about to stop them when the Salamander told the women to back off and tried give the pink haired man an autograph. He declined it rather quickly, which had the Salamander awfully confused. "Then why are you here?" Salamander asked.
"I'm trying to find someone. But he's definitely not you." The women surrounding Salamander beat on the young man once again, propelling Lucy to push them away. She managed to get through the large crowd as they stalked back to the other man. He whisked away on what seemed to be fire and told every woman there about how he was having a party on his yacht. Lucy resisted the urge to roll her eyes and finally made eye contact with the pink haired man.
"Hi," she let down her hand, asking him to take it. He looked at it for a minute before grabbing it. She hauled him up on his feet. "I just want to thank you for back there. Can I treat you to lunch?" He nodded swiftly with a smile, and at this point she saw a small blue animal walking on the ground. It was another cat. She wondered if he was the same as Marie
They stopped into a small restaurant and they ordered food. She let him go first, and unfortunately for her, he managed to clean out her wallet. Looks like her and Marie will have to go on more jobs. Noticing that the blue cat indeed did have wings, she assumed he must of been a dragon slayer too. She didn't know why she came to that conclusion but it was plausible. She told them a little about herself and asked them for both of their names, Happy and Natsu. She then told them their names.
"So you're looking for someone?" She asked as she put a palm to her cheek and placed her elbow on the table. Food was flying everywhere, even her face. She wiped the chicks on food off her face and waited for him to swallow before answering
"Yeah, he's my dad and a dragon named Igneel." She nodded, that explained it. Patting Marie's head, she was going to ask how he disappeared before a thought popped up. What the hell compelled him to think a dragon was here!
"Why would you think a dragon would be in the middle of town!" Natsu looked dumbfounded while Lucy sighed.
"Uhh..." Lucy couldn't help but laugh slightly at his and his cat's expression. Did they actually think there would be a dragon in that small crowd of people. Dragons would twice the size of a large building.
"So...you're a dragon slayer?" Lucy asked as she tilted her head to the side. He stopped his eating and looked at her with wide eyes. She could also tell his shoulders were tense the moment she asked about his magic. She didn't mean to make him go on his guard with her. Now he's suspicious of her.
"How'd you know?" Natsu narrowed his eyes and looked straight into hers. She could feel her face heat up slightly. She had never talked to the opposite sex her age before so it was only natural she would be a bit nervous. He didn't seem to notice her inner turmoil though. Which she was slightly grateful for. Lucy coughed and looked away from the pink haired man.
"Because...I'm a celestial dragon slayer myself." She pointed to her chest with a large smile. The boy's eyes widened and he slammed his hands on the counter. Which startled the poor celestial dragon slayer. She squeaked and leaned back as he got into her face.
"What?! Do you know where Igneel might be?! And did you have a dragon that disappeared too!?" He screeched as he leaned even further into her face. She tried going back but found her back had hit the seat behind her. She felt her ears go red as she pushed his face away.
"You're too close! One, I don't have any idea where your dragon is. Two, my father didn't up and walk away, he was originally a constellation. Then the day he disappeared, he became stars in the sky again." She watched as he sad back down and looked at his own blue cat.
"Wait so he's just stars now?" He asked slowly. Lucy swirled a lock of hair around her finger nervously, giving him an answer. "When?" He questioned. She blinked and looked up at the ceiling. When did he disappear? It had been so long she could barely remember. She and Marie weren't so big on time back then, they could hardly remember what day it was now.
"I think it was July 7th, x777? Maybe?" She shrugged.
"Yeah, that was the same year for me. That's weird." The man crossed his arms and gave the blue cat a worried gaze. The cat returned it. Lucy wondered if either Marie or Happy noticed each other yet. She looked up at a clock and noticed the time. It was getting kinda late and she and Marie had to get going. Now that they were broke, they needed to find a job.
"Well this has been nice but I got to go, see ya around." Lucy stood up, putting money on the table and was about to leave when she heard a loud noise behind her. Turning around, she saw both the man and cat bow down to her. Their heads pointed to the ground.
"Thank you so much!" Lucy blushed of embarrassment at their actions and looked around as others watched her. Some with annoyed expressions, and others with bright smiles.
"Stop it! you're embarrassing me!" The blonde yelled. They both walked out and chuckled. Marie putting a hand to her lips, trying to hold back a smile.
"They were...ummm...different" Marie stated. Lucy nodded. They sat down on a bench and began to look through Sorcerer Weekly, when Lucy got to the center fold, she saw Mirajane from Fairy Tail and smiled. The white haired model was so pretty. That's when both of them heard a noise come from a bush. Lucy jumped up into a fighting stance, ready for anything. That's when Lucy noticed it was that Salamander man from before. Marie gave Lucy a sideways glance, noticing just how angry the blonde really was.
"I saw you earlier and had to ask you personally if you wanted to come to my party on my yacht." Lucy scoffed and turned away. Like she would ever go with him after what he did to those women and herself. She was still mad at herself for going under such a weak spell in the first place.
"Thanks, but no thanks, creep" She spat. Marie nodded with a smirk.
"Creep" he repeated with a sweet drop.
"Well I heard you and your cat wanted to join Fairy Tail, am I right?" Lucy nodded hesitantly.
"Have you heard of the famous salamander of Fairy Tail?" He asked the teen. Lucy looked dumbfounded. How did the man know she wanted to go to Fairy Tail. He must of overheard somehow.
"Y-you mean you're the famous salamander?" Lucy asked, definitely skeptical. He gave her a suspicious smirk.
"If you come to my party I might put in a good word for you..." He trailed off.
"Sure!" Lucy screamed in excitement. Marie gawked at her friend. That was awfully quick of the blonde mage to just agree. Lucy giggled in anticipation, all she had to do was be nice to the creepy Salamander for one party. He smiled and walked away and then she realized. It was a yacht. A boat. She was definitely not going to have fun
time skip, the party
She gagged violently when the boat rocked. Lucy was sweating so much her mouth was getting dry and she was starting to get dizzy. She wouldn't be surprised if she was dehydrated. Salamander spoke to her, trying to make conversation but she could hardly hear him from her position. That's when droplets of a drink floated towards her, trying to get into her mouth. That's when she smelled it, some sort of sleep potion.
"Why are you trying put me to sleep!?" She huffed and stood, while he smirked. She hated people like him. Lucy looked behind her and saw a bunch of his minions holding the other girls. They spoke to Salamander, calling him Bora. Lucy growled as her stomach churned painfully, how dare he deceive her twice. Tears gathered in her eyes as she put the pieces together, he wanted to sell all these women.
"Marie! Now!" She yelled as Marie picked her up. They shot through the roof and just when they thought they were safe, the pink haired guy from before, Natsu, decided to drop down on both her and Marie.
"What the hell man..." Lucy gurgled and dropped to her knees. Realizing she was on a boat again. She noticed that he dropped on her so suddenly. He must of heard Bora was impersonating the real Salamander of Fairy Tail and had gotten suspicious. Hopefully the man will become more useful after they get off the boat.
"Sorry" He mumbled, looking as pale as Lucy was.
"Idiot..." she sighed. She had gotten, and looked straight at Bora and his crew with the scariest look on her face she had ever made. They flinched and took a step back. Lucy realized this was her one chance to attack while they were distracted.
"Celestial dragon roar!" She shouted, shooting a roar of gold and a tint of silver out of her mouth, and at them. Natsu caught on to what Lucy was doing and followed after her. She jumped out of The boat and opened Aquarius's gate. She looked mad like all the other times she called her but she stopped caring a long time ago.
"Take the boat to the dock, Aquarius."
"Tch" is all the mermaid said, but she did as she was told and washed the boat up to shore along with Lucy.
"Don't call me back for awhile, I'm going out with my boyfriend, yeah boyfriend." She smirked as Lucy exploded.
"You don't have to rub it in my face!" Lucy whined as the spirit disappeared. Lucy looked up to see Natsu fighting Bora. The blonde watched, feeling a bit drained. She later learned in the fight that he was fire dragon slayer. After he fought the purple flame mage, he destroyed the whole half of the town. Lucy was certainly surprised but he did live up to his name. After all, he was the real Salamander. That's when Lucy noticed the authorities in the distance, running at high speed towards them.
"Shit!" was all Lucy heard before she was grabbed by the hand and dragged out of the area. She gasped and looked at the fire dragon slayer that clasped his hand around hers. She could feel herself smile a bit
"What are you doing?" She questioned.
"You said you and that cat wanted to join Fairy Tail right? Then let's go!" He smiled brightly, turning to her while he kept running. Lucy's eyes brightened up and she let go of his hand, running right beside him.
"Yeah!"