With Natsu's Team
Natsu's tiny figure was coated in sweat, sitting in the bright sun for so long without any shade was awfully exhausting. Especially feeling like wanting to puke every second. Lucy luckily had her fan and was fanning everyone around her, even in her intense sickness. You would of thought that with Michelle's whole body practically covered, she would be the hottest out of all of them. She simply shrugged it off, looking perfectly fine with the heat.
They had been sailing for around a couple hours now and it seemed they were getting nowhere. Romeo and Happy already looked like they were going to give up but kept quiet most of the time. Occasionally, Lucy would squeak out a moan of pain while Michelle tried soothing her. Natsu on the other hand, was drowning in sickness sweat, his body not being able to take the heat. He smiled when Lucy's fan came his way.
"Mavis are we there yet?" Romeo groaned. He had taken off and shirt, scarf, and his pants. Only sporting boxers and sandals. Michelle looked off to the sea and tried scouring for land of any kind. She shook her head meekly.
"I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can see for some miles." Romeo sighed and nodded. That's when both Natsu and Lucy heard footsteps coming closer. The blonde managed to look to her left and see four men coming towards them. Raising an eyebrow, she heard the tallest man start to speak. She frowned at the three other then men that seemed to not be able to stop shaking.
"Might you all actually be members of Fairy Tail?" Romeo blinked up towards the man and started to put his clothes back on.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Michelle asked.
"Because we heard you wizards were looking for the missing pieces of the infinity clock. Is this true?" The second tallest explained. Michelle stepped forward and clasped her hands together in front of her body. This innocence tactic did not go unnoticed by Lucy.
"May I ask where you heard this?"
"Now now sweety. I don't think that's really all that important."
Happy shook his head and sighed. "Leave it to the rumor mill to spread like a wild fire. Lucy gagged when her mind trailed back to an actual mill. How it spun just looked like a torture device. She barely kept in her lunch. This news seemed to have gotten to Michelle much more than the others.
"Oh no! There must be a traitor in Fairy Tail spreading this information!"
"How do you figure?" Happy turned to her and asked. Michelle placed her hands on her cheeks and sported a worried expression. One that Romeo rolled his eyes at.
"The Legion Platoon is a special secret group, they would have no good reason to spread this kind if information! If this is the case, someone inside the guild must of leaked it." Lucy sat up, puking in her mouth before speaking up.
"No...way that happened..." Michelle leaned Lucy back into her chair in worry.
"I haven't gotten to know many people in the guild so I don't know what to think, sorry!" Natsu looked up at Lucy from his resting place on the table and groaned. He lifted his hand up to her and whined obnoxiously.
"I'm so sick..." He gurgled. Happy scoffed.
"You're sick all the time, this is not the time to keep whining about it. We have more important things to do." He scolded. Lucy held her stomach and attempted to keep in her bile, but it seemed her body had another plan. She ran over to the edge of the boat and emptied her stomach over the side. She lifted her head, tears in her eyes, and smiled back at everyone who stared.
"I feel so much better...but now I'm starving." Romeo sweat dropped and turned back to the four men who approached them.
"Anyway, you were saying?"
"We would actually appreciate it if you would stop this hunt." The tallest asked politely. Lucy, feeling a bit better, stuck out her hip and placed her hand on it. She glared at the man who spoke and pursed her lips.
"And why should we do that?" She gestured almost aggressively with her other hand. He seemed unfazed and turned to their entire group.
"Well you see, the clock pieces you are trying to recover are in ancient ruins, underground, and many other unstable digging sites." A shorter man said. He used his telescope to focus just on Lucy as he shook. Lucy raised a brow.
"How could you possibly know that?" She asked the larger one.
"We you see, we've came to the conclusion only recently that the places the little girl goes in the book are actually important archeological sites that can't be destroyed. And if I heard right, your guild is actually very destructive." Starting to feel hazy again, Lucy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She could see their point of view from their title as archeologists.
"Really? I figured that out as a little girl. It wasn't that hard to discover." She cocked her head slightly as they stared at her in shock.
"Wow, you're smarter than you look Lucy." Happy stated bluntly.
Lucy snarled. "I would shut up if I were you." That's when the tallest's eyes widened. He stepped forward to get a closer look at the pale and almost sickly blonde. She had sat down once more and leaned back to try and take her mind off of her stomach. Natsu only groaned beside her. She patted his head softly.
"Wait a moment...Lucy?" The man shook his head to snap out of his daze. He stocked up to the celestial mage and got in her face. "Please! It's imperative that you forget about that clock." Lucy opened her eyes and glared at the man, temporarily forgetting about her sickness. She stood up and growled at him.
"I can't just do that! It was my father's dying wish! I can't abandon the quest he gave to me and specifically me, I feel like that would dishonor everything he died for! I get that as archeologists it's important to you that we don't destroy the ruin sites. But this is more important than some old buildings! Please!" With tears in her eyes, she glared at the men who stood before her. They gave her a shocked, but guilty expression. They went silent.
"Lucy is so brave." Michelle cried.
"Actually, you see," The brown haired man started. "That was the most moving speech I've heard in my life." He and his other man around them cried and gave Lucy the most sincere look she had ever seen. She wanted to laugh, even with the tears in her eyes. Suddenly, the wind picked up and Natsu was whisked away and off the boat into the water.
"Oh no Natsu! He's going to drown!" Happy called out in worry. Lucy, despite her aching head and stomach, ran to the side of the boat and looked over to see Natsu. She said his head pop out from the water and she pointed to him.
"He's right there! Happy get him!" Just as Happy was going to dive in and save Natsu, all four of the men jumped in and grabbed Natsu. Lucy gasped and watched as they threw him back up on the boat, his body to normal size again. Natsu stood with a cackle.
"I'm back to nor- oh no!" He interrupted himself with a groan. He fell to the ground while his green face returned.
"Any friend of Lucy Heartfilia is actually a friend of ours you see. And we will always help a friend out." The man said happily. Lucy felt herself smile at the men who smiled back up at her. She then called out to them.
"Did you help Natsu become normal too?"
"Ah yes, we actually know a bit of magic ourselves. Lucy, your story really touched our hearts so please, stop at nothing to get what you wish and stay safe! I wish you good luck on your journey!" He waved to her. Lucy grinned and laughed, waving goodbye.
"You bet I will!" She yelled as the ship started to sail away.
"She does have the Heartfilia stubbornness, I will say that." One of the archeologists said
"That she does." Another answered.
"Do you think it was wise to let them go, John?" The man with the mustache and beard looked back at the ship that got farther and farther away from them. He gave it a hard look and spoke up.
"I think Lucy will find what she is looking for with the same determination of her father. I believe wholeheartedly in her quest."
They stood up on a large sandy mountain, tired and beaten. They all looked around at the vast land of desert and had their mouths wide open. "Do you guys really think this we're in the right place...I mean look, nothing is here!" Natsu whined.
...
Gray sighed and looked at his happy team partner. Of all people Erza could of teamed him up with, it had to be Juvia. He honestly would of rather been partners with Erza herself. He shook his head when Juvia giggled and looked at him.
"Oh wow, I was teamed up with my Gray-sama! And were alone!" She was being a little creepier than normal, to which Gray stepped away from. Juvia didn't seem to notice this, and if she did, she hadn't said anything about it.
"Of all people! Erza I will get you back for this!" He yelled out to no one. That's when they heard a noise come from a nearby bush. Gray had his magic ready and looked out for any sudden movement. That's when the person he least wanted to see right now popped out. He let his hand drop and he glared at the man standing before him. "What the hell are you doing here, Lyon."
The light haired man smiled humbly at Juvia and turned to Gray with a scowl. "If you must know, word has gone around each guild thay Fairy Tail is searching for a clock piece. I was just going to ask to accompany you on this trip." Gray pushed Lyon back, he was so close to using his magic on the man's face.
"We don't need you here. We can take care of this alone." Juvia squealed from behind him. He then realized how suggestive his sentence sounded and mentally slapped himself. Juvia could find the weird in any sentence.
"Alone..." Juvia swooned. Lyon, on the other hand, looked disgusted.
"How dare you try to get alone time with sweet juvie! I won't allow you to take her away so you can assault her with your pervy stripping." Gray growled at Lyon and narrowed his eyes. He just had to be in this situation. To be completely honest with himself, he should of just asked Erza to go alone. He could of gotten the piece and been done already. Rolling his eyes, he finally dropped his glare and turned around.
"Whatever. Just don't get in our way." Lyon grinned and began to flirt with Juvia behind Gray. Gray suddenly felt like either crying or punching the other ice mage in the face. He ran a hand down his face. He just had to get the clock piece and get back to the rest of Fairy Tail quickly. That's when they all came up to a wall. Juvia came up next to gray and looked up and the wall.
"Is this where we have to be Gray darling?" Gray nodded and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Should be, but the only question is now...how do we get in?"