Chapter 12
(Time skip the next morning)
Laxus was the first one to wake up the next morning after the boat ride. After getting dressed Laxus watched his team mates and Lucy sleep for a few minutes. Laxus realized that Lucy was still holding something in her tightly closed fist. Laxus left the hotel room to go get coffee and food for everyone. By the time Laxus came back Lucy was the only one awake, the Thunder God Tribe was still passed out cold. Laxus left the coffee next to their heads letting the smell wake them slowly. Lucy came over to sit with Laxus after she finished getting dressed, Laxus gave Lucy her portion of the food. It did not take long for the Thunder God Tribe to wake up with the smell of coffee and food spreading through the room.
Bickslow was the first to crawl out of the bed, he came over to the couch and sat down hard next to Lucy. Bickslow sat down so hard that Lucy bounced and ended up landing partly in Laxus' lap. Lucy blushed and apologized for landing in the dragon slayer's lap. Laxus just chuckled and casually put his arm around Lucy to keep her close to him. Lucy stuttered out, "What are you doing Laxus?" Laxus chuckled and said, "I am following my instincts, they are intent on keeping you close." Bickslow put his face between the two blondes and sing song, "Laxus and Lucy sitting on a couch, T. O. U. C. H. I. N. G." Laxus shoved Bickslow's face away from his and said, "Shut up stalker."
Bickslow walked away laughing with his tongue stuck out, singing, "You two are still touching!" Evergreen smacked Bickslow in the back of the head muttering, "Too damn happy." Evergreen chugged her coffee on the way to the shower, and Freed finished getting dressed behind the closed door to the bedroom. Everyone finished the last of their food together around the coffee table, Laxus never letting go of Lucy. When they were done, Freed asked, "When will you contract with your new spirit? May we see it." Lucy grinned and replied, "This key set is really draining. So, I need to make a contract when I will not be needing to use any magic for at least 12 hours or more. I would love to do it right now but we may be working today depending on what the King of this country says about our job.", after she told Freed that she opened her fist to show the group a key made out of aquamarine crystal.
Laxus spoke up, "You can contract with your new friend today. We do need to check in with the employer, but we still have to travel further north till we get to the location where we will be clearing out. We will meet with the King that hired us here and then travel to the location after. So, whenever you would like to meet your friend Lucy we can check out of the hotel and go." Lucy jumped up and said, "Let's go now! I'll need water to summon them so let's go back to the beach." The others in the group followed a bouncing Lucy back to the beach and silently enjoyed Lucy's enthusiasm.
When Lucy got to the beach she ran to the edge of the water and put the light blue key into the water. She began the chant, "I am linked to the path to the world of the celestial spirits, now oh spirit answer my call. Pass through the gate. Open gate of the water serpent, Hydra!" When Lucy was done chanting a massive wave came out of where Lucy placed the key, then it slowly tickled away leaving a massive snake lying in the water. Lucy started to feel the effects of the drain on her magic, and started to sway. Laxus stepped up next to Lucy and held her up before she fell down.
The snake bowed its head to be even with the smaller mages and said, "Master I am the water serpent Hydra, but you can call me Hydie." Lucy smiled at the spirit and said, "Hello, Hydie. Please do not call me Master. I prefer Lucy or Princess of you really insist on being formal." The snake spirit smiled and stated, "As you wish Princess. The rumors from other spirits are true; you are remarkably kind. I am free whenever you may need me Princess. I use water based magic, in this form, I can control anything that has the element of water inside it, as long as it is not living. In my more human form I can control the weather as it relates to water, like creating rain or snow storm. I do not need water to be summoned but am stronger when water is close by. I hope you call me soon Princess; I will be leaving to go back home if you have no further need for me."
After Lucy, had bid her newest friend farewell the group began to head to the Nation's King's castle. Everyone noticed that Lucy was particularly slow while walking even stumbling on occasion. Laxus was keeping close to Lucy grabbing her arm when he saw her about to fall. Laxus picked Lucy up after she almost fell for the fourth time. Lucy objected to being carried, but Laxus said, "No offense Blondie we will move faster when we are not waiting on you. I will put you down once we get there." Lucy sighed and said, "Our employer will never take us seriously if I showed up being carried unable to walk and you have a black eye." Laxus whispered, "Do not worry Small One I would never let you be perceived as weak."
Lucy smacked the dragon slayer lightly on the forehead, "I am not small you Giant." Laxus grinned, got close to Lucy's face and said, "Fee fi foe fum." Lucy giggled at the playful banter. The rest of the group had been paying attention to the two blondes ever since Laxus picked Lucy up. Evergreen was grinning behind her fan while plotting how to get Laxus and Lucy to date. Freed looked neutral to strangers but on the inside he was very ecstatic at this new development. Bickslow had his tongue stuck out and was humming the tune to 'kissing in a tree'.
As promised Laxus put Lucy back on her own two feet at the gate to the castle. The guards stopped the group of mages before they could enter. The lead guard barked out, "The king is not taking visitors today. The castle is closed for business. Even if you could go in your whip and sword would not be allowed.", talking to Lucy and Freed. Laxus stayed to the back of the group as Freed stepped forward and stated, "We are the mages from Fairy Tail. We were hired for a job. Our arrival is expected I am sure." The guard pulled out a sheet of paper and started to read down the list. After a moment, he stated, "You arrived early you were not expected till tomorrow. You will be escorted while in the castle at all times. Your previous mentioned weapons shall be confiscated and you shall be searched for more weapons upon entering the grounds. To start off everyone show your guild marks."
Everyone showed their marks to the guard and submitted to the weapon search one at a time. During Lucy weapon search the guard purposely took longer than necessary, this was getting under Laxus' skin very quickly. When the guard was about to get to Lucy's chest Laxus whispered to Freed, "Hurry this up and get that idiot's hands off her or we will be in prison not on a job." Freed stepped forward and stated, "We have waited long enough. Keep us waiting for another minute and I will let it be known to your employer about your poor performance." The guard quickly finished Lucy search without infuriating the dragon slayer further.
The group was escorted by a new guard to see the king. When the group met the king in a small study, everyone was very shocked to see that he was quite elderly. The king spoke slowly to the group of mages, "It is nice of you to come so quickly. My name is Ando. I assume you would like the details of your job, but would you would like to discuss this over tea?" Freed once again stepped forward, to Lucy's surprise, and stated, "The offer is greatly appreciated sir but we are eager to begin our work."
The king nodded and stated, "Very well then. As you already know we wish for you to clear out a new town settlement of wild beasts. Normally I would just send in hunters, but when I did this only a few returned from the area. They all refuse to go back, claiming giant creatures attacked them. This country has very few magic users, so I decided to hire outside help." Freed spoke up asking, "Did anyone say the name of these creatures or at least what they looked like? Is the approximate number of these creatures known? Is there a map of the area by any chance that we may use?"
The king motioned to a folder on his desk stating, "In there will be a map, though it is unfinished, and a rough sketch of the creature created by a hunter that made it back. Along with these wild creatures there will also be other dangers. There is no easy way in or out if you were to need help. There are of course snakes, bears and wild boar to contend with on top of your main goal. Your supplies you may need is ready for you at the main gate. The hunters only said that there were many creature, no exact number. Please tell me have you seen a creature like the one in the sketch? Please tell me what you know of them?" Freed nodded at the King's question, "We have seen these before, they are called Vulcans. They are extremely powerful and territorial, but not considered to be very bright creatures. They use Take Over magic to take human bodies and make themselves stronger. They usually stick to themselves though, praying on those who wander into their territory. I am sure we can do this job for you sir."
The king smiled at the good news, "One of my guards has been assigned to lead you into the new town. The area we would like cleared of dangerous creatures is marked by paint on the trees. Once you have cleared the area it should be easier to keep the area clear in the future." Lucy stepped cleared her throat, "Sir if I may ask a question, what kind of terrain will be in the area?" The king never looked away from Freed as responded, "The area is mostly mountainous forest. Is there anything else you need to know young man?"
Freed replied, "We just need our weapons your guards confiscated, then we can be on our way." The king motioned for the guard in the room to give the group back their weapons and said, "Good luck to you and your team. May I ask one question though about you team?" Freed nodded and the king asked, "Why did you bring the females, young man? What use can they be other than company? This area is no place to bring a date to." Lucy and Evergreen were both outraged at the old kings outdated ideas.
Freed responded politely, "Lucy and Evergreen are both capable mages sir. They are a great help and can take care of themselves if they get in trouble. I assure you they are just as much a part of this team as any of the rest of us." King Ando pondered this for a minute, "I have never seen a female mage. Strange, but if you are sure they can handle themselves I will not object to them going. The guard behind you shall escort you to your destination." With that last sentence, the group knew they had been dismissed.
The guard showed the mages to the main gate where they received all their weapons and supplies. Everyone remained dead silent the whole 4 hour hike up the mountain to the encampment because of the guard. Once they had reached the place where they would camp the guard finally spoke, "This is the safe zone as far as we can tell. Follow the trail on that map to the future town when you wish to begin. I will not be staying with you so good luck." After the guard, has disappeared from sight Laxus finally spoke, "Let's set camp up and get some food ready we will talk strategy while we eat."
Everyone had set camp up quickly and the food was cooking when Lucy spoke for the first time, "Freed why was the king so rude about the presence of females?" Freed shook his head sadly, "I have a feeling that in this country women are still considered to be lacking when compared to men. It happens with other cultures often unfortunately. Seeing as he is a king and our employer it is best to not correct his behavior unless necessary, as much as I know we all want too." Laxus decided to change the subject, "Let me see the map Freed, we need to see how incomplete this thing is. It may be useless to us if it is too bad."
Freed handed over the folder with all the info the group had been given, the whole group lapsing into silence again as they waited for Laxus to judge the map. Laxus finally spoke, after flipping through all the pages in the folder and laying the map out for all to see, "It will be somewhat useful. It shows the camp and trail to the town site. I think the red circle is probably where the hunters were attacked at. I think it is best if we stay together on this one. We will not really know anything about the situation till we get in there. Let's just eat and get some sleep. We should head out at daybreak and let the first day be information gathering. After we know more we can make an attack plan."
The other four mages agreed to what Laxus said and Evergreen began handing out bowls of food. Half way through the meal Lucy asked Laxus, "Why did you let Freed handle the meet and greet with the king?" Laxus sighed, "I am not very diplomatic and I tend to intimidate people easily. We have found that Freed's polite manner calms clients and gets business done faster than me losing my temper at them." Lucy laughed silently at the picture Laxus had created in her head.
After everyone had eaten Laxus volunteered to do first watch of the night. Lucy and Bickslow volunteered to do the early morning watch together, leaving Freed and Evergreen to complete the middle shift together. Laxus settled near the fire as everyone settled into the tents. Laxus kept his nose trained on the tents and used the rest of his senses on alert for danger. He grinned when Lucy began to snore quietly, but his shift was calm.