The carriage ride to where the monsters had emerged from was five hours long, but after it ended, they had to transfer to horses because the earthquake that accompanied their arrival left a massive area impassable by any vehicle.
It was cold, and rocky, and the horses were stocky, somewhat slow but able to navigate the area.
No one went with them; they were just given a map and told 'good luck, don't die.'
There was a strange, seemingly unnaturally high plateau that was presumably a mountain that had lost it's top for some reason or another. Down the middle, it was split, creating a massive crevasse flanked on each side by rocky cliffs on each side. It went far below the surface, deep into the earth, causing a massive change in elevation between where they were and what appeared to be the bottom.
"So…are we thinking the earthquake was natural and the monsters were set free on accident, or the monsters became free and the earthquake was the accident?" Gildarts asked.
Laxus said, "This place isn't anywhere near a major fault line, and the damage is pretty localized. I would doubt this was any sort of natural earthquake."
"Okay, nerd." Gildarts answered.
"He is right," Lucy said.
"Sure, other nerd."
Natsu laughed quietly, and Happy laughed not-so-quietly, and Lucy said, "Would you stop laughing at that joke? It's not like it's news to you."
"But it's funny when Gildarts says it," her boyfriend argued.
"You can't just take his side when he's making fun of me. There are rules," she said.
Gildarts looked over at Happy as he sat with Natsu on one of the horses. "Does anyone else think it's weird watching a cat ride a horse?"
Happy asked, "Is it weirder than seventy-five percent of a human do it?"
"Real question: can you fly faster than Gildarts can blow stuff up?" Lucy asked.
Happy smiled. "I cannot. No one would hurt a cute widdle kitty."
A snake slithered across the ground in front of them, and the startled horses, bucked, throwing all the riders off except Lucy, who grabbed the reins of the other horses as they were startled and brought them back.
"You're not bad, Lucy. Did Daddy buy you a pony when you asked?" Gildarts said.
"He bought me five. One in every color and one with spots," she answered.
Laxus dusted himself off. "She's a dragonrider so the horse is probably a piece of cake."
"Dragonrider?" Natsu asked. "What dragon? Oh….Oh. I'm not…I'm not going to say anything."
Gildarts said, "Good choice, Natsu. I believe you are destined to be wise just like Laxus is to die alone."
Lucy answered, "If the horses were spooked by a snake, no way they're not going to be scared if they're by fighting. We should find a safe place, give them some water and food, and hike the rest of the way. They could break a leg on all these uneven rocks, and that's the same thing as a death sentence."
They agreed to this because they didn't want to be cruel and also because Lucy was actually a good leader. Her thought process was well-organized and made sense, and she was also the smartest one in their group. The main thing that derailed her train of thought was distraction, usually in the form of them antagonizing her.
They set up their camp in a sheltered area covered by trees a little way down from the summit near a stream, and left the horses there after a quick break.
When they headed back up, they made it to the cliff and looked down.
There was no sign of the monsters, but a weird scent hung in the air.
"It smells like death," Natsu said.
Gildarts nodded. "The monsters have supposedly been taking people from villages. Assuming they hunt in a group, we're going to want to concentrate our efforts on one at a time. There are five of these things, and taking one out is going to be a better strategy that whittling one-fifth of all of them away."
Lucy asked, "What do we do next?"
"We wait. We're not going to go down into that pit. Huge chance we'll cave it in on ourselves," Gildarts answered.
Natsu built a fire, and they sat around and waited until nightfall when a roar shook the area.
They were big, and navy blue, shiny and scaled, but not necessarily dragon-shaped. They looked more like giant flying lizard-bird-dogs than anything else.
"They look like the blood wyvern in Gramps' book," Laxus said.
"Mhmm…We need to kill these things before they breed. There probably aren't enough powerful wizards here to deal with them if they become a problem. Not sure how they end up sealed up in the earth to start with, but that's for later," Gildarts answered, "Watch your backs, and keep on my target. This will be a long fight, so pace yourself. If you blow all your magic at the start of the fight, we'll be screwed."
Laxus said, "Thanks, I needed instructions on how to wizard."
Lucy reached for her keys and moved into Sagittarius star dress as she summoned her faithful spirit to join her in firing arrows at the flying monsters.
The wyvern were about to leave the area when a massive ball of lightning erupted around them, followed by fire that gave Gildarts enough cover to leap through their magic and land on one of them.
Even though they were huge, and their claws were dripping with poison and wrapped in some sort of dark magic, they weren't anywhere on the level of a dragon…maybe not even a dragonslayer. For a nation that had banned magic and had no notable wizards, it surely must have seemed like the apocalypse, and it would have been problematic if they'd spread into other areas like this.
If they'd erupted from the ground in Fiore, it would have been a different story. Open and shut, with a little violence and 'that was just a typical Wednesday.'
Notable was the fact the villagers who first saw the blood wyvern all reported there were five, and there were only four involved in the battle. And they seemed extremely weak to Lucy's magic over anyone else's, giving her magic the ability to impact them as much as Laxus or even maybe Gildarts.
The first one went down when Lucy fired and arrow and missed, but Natsu managed to grab it out of the air and propel himself right at the monster's chest, ramming it through the wyvern's heart.
They moved on to the next, which proved considerably tougher, and then the third one after that.
By the time the third one was down, they were two hours in and tired.
Lucy had fired at least a hundred arrows, maybe more. It seemed like a working strategy, so she kept with it. Her firing arm was numb from exertion, and she noticed everyone was starting to move a little slower.
Gildarts lost his footing and fell from the fourth one, and got nicked by the creature's claws right at his elbow, causing his prosthetic arm to explode into pieces.
"Dammit!"
They made quick work of the fourth wyvern, and since they were all exhausted and out of magic, decided to retreat. There was still one out there somewhere, but there was no sign of it and it was probably better if they didn't find it for at least a few hours.
Lucy scrambled to help pick up the pieces of Gildarts arm and then they quickly left the scene of the battle.
Natsu understood the reason they were leaving but felt incredibly uneasy about it. They'd left their scents all over the place, so he assumed the fifth blood wyvern was going to show up and hunt for them.
And, it did.
They didn't even make it back to camp.
"What, did you oversleep or something? All your friends are gone already," Natsu asked as the last one suddenly descended from the sky, dropping a half-eaten cow as it roared at them.
And unlike dragons, these beasts were bulky, vicious, and dangerous, but not intelligent.
They were exhausted, and Gildarts was down an arm.
"Last fight, and I'm all fired up!"
Lucy assumed Scorpio star dress and summoned Loke and Taurus to fight with her. It used most of the magic power she had left, but they were at the end, and it was exhilarating to become completely magically exhausted.
Taurus came out of his gate, crossed his arms, and said, "Seeing you just puts me in a moooooood, Lucy!"
Loke answered, "My friend, it's only natural to feel a certain magnetic attraction to a beautiful woman like Lucy. My love for her is sincere."
Gildarts and Laxus seemed perplexed by this, and Laxus said, "Two braindead perverts have joined us. Now we'll win for sure."
Loke looked at their enemy and said, "Oh, monsters. Also, a blood wyvern. Been awhile since one of these was in this world."
"We're here to make sure they don't breed," Lucy said.
"Eh? These aren't creatures from earthland and they don't reproduce," Loke said.
Taurus nodded. "They're from the Outer Realm. Beyond the farthest moooooooon in the celestial realm."
Loke added, "And whoever summoned them here will probably just summon more. Killing them is as pointless as when one of us gets injured and sent back. You need to find the summoner."
Natsu said, "There was a human scent around here earlier…"
Gildarts nodded. "Natsu, Lucy. Go find the summoner. Laxus and I will take down this big guy."
They nodded and made a run for it, leaving her spirits to help fight the wyvern.
Scorpio star dress improved her agility significantly, and Natsu was naturally a spectacular athlete, so as they headed down a steep slope, through the little stream and then further down, they were able to navigate the rocks well.
When she did lose her footing, Happy caught her and brought her to a small but flat cliff where some brush was growing.
Natsu jumped and landed at her side, and walked toward the brush was, pushing it aside to reveal a kid.
He leaned down and said, "Hey. What's up?"
The kid didn't even move, keeping his head covered.
Lucy spoke to him in Aegian, and he managed to look up.
"I don't think this is really a villain of any kind," Lucy commented.
Natsu picked him up by the shirt and hauled him to his feet, and then stared curiously. He was a young teenager, thin, scrawny-looking, like if he blew hard enough the kid would fall over and break into a thousand pieces. He had fluffy red hair and tons of freckles, and the kind of complexion that hinted his greatest natural enemy was probably the sun.
Lucy started talking to him in Aegian and he squeaked. "I can speak Ishgari. You are great wizards from the world of magic?"
"We came from over there. Who are you?"
"Tottle."
Natsu waved. "Yo, I'm Natsu."
"Lucy. Did you…did you summon those things?" the blonde asked.
"It wasn't supposed to go like that. I read there are wizards who can summon powerful beings to fight at their sides. And I found this old book. I learned how to read Ishgari because I thought if I could read the book I could summon someone to help me," he explained.
Lucy asked, "What is it you need help with?"
"There's a really evil person in charge of this country. He is going to have a ceremony to induct my sister into his holy harem soon."
Natsu's brow raised. "Harem?"
"Is that not the right word?"
"It probably is," Lucy said before leaning over to whisper in Natsu's ear.
Natsu's expression changed considerably. "That's a load of crap! I'd be mad as hell if anyone I know was treated that way. Or even a stranger. I'm mad just hearing about it."
Tottle said, "I thought if the high priest died, maybe everything would go back to the way it was. Everyone was happy and we even if we were sinners, we laughed. I know what you're going to say. 'Violence isn't the answer.'"
Natsu answered, "Me? I'd never say that. People who do are usually just not good at violence."
Lucy said, "It is not always the answer."
"Whatever, Luigi."
Tottle looked away. "I've just never been good at anything. This was supposed to make me worth something, but when I opened the gate, those things came out and I couldn't control them. I'm sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Lucy said, "Those things ate people, right?"
"No, just cows. I think the government just told them they were eating people to scare everyone," the boy answered.
"It's not really that big of a deal," Natsu said, flashing a grin. "Nobody died, right?"
Tottle said, "I can't help my sister and I'll probably be burnt at the stake for practicing witchcraft."
Lucy felt a sinking feeling in her gut that there was suddenly a small chance that they'd go home penniless but with a strong sense of moral satisfaction, Daybreak-esque in nature. There was no chance they were just not going to help Tottle at this point, and if they assaulted the leader of Aegis, they definitely weren't going to get paid.
Natsu gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry. That's what friends are for."
"I'm a heretic, practicing witchery. I don't have friends. I don't even know what any of this is for. What good is magic if I can't protect my friends?"
"We're your friends, right, Lucy?" Natsu said.
"Right." Lucy nodded.
Tottle was confused. "What?"
"C'mon…head back to our camp with us. We'll figure out what to do. You can meet our teammates too."
Tottle nervously asked, "Any chance you guys have food?"
"Sure we do."
By the time they climbed up, the last wyvern had already been destroyed and Laxus and Gildarts were walking back to camp. Lucy sensed her spirits were gone, but that was to be expected; she'd overtaxed her powers a bit.
When they arrived at the camp, Laxus was sitting on the ground in front of Gildarts trying to reassemble his prosthetic arm.
Both of the older wizards looked over and Gildarts asked, "Don't tell me this is the summoner."
"S-Sorry. It was an accident. Sort of."
Introductions and explanations followed, along with a collective sense of moral outrage about young girls being forced into harems. The kid's rage was acceptable and sane, and magic was a fairly conventional tool for overcoming differences in power. What had gone wrong was that since magic was banned, the mainstream stuff wasn't available and all he had to work with was one book of forbidden magic.
Gildarts asked, "Do you have the book?"
Tottle reached into his backpack.
"We'll need to take it. It would be apocalyptic in the hands of the wrong person," he answered.
"I understand."
Lucy watched Laxus toil with the arm and said, "You should let me try. I'm good at stuff like that."
"Women don't have mechanical minds," he answered.
Tottle nervously said, "That's not really the way to treat a respectable lady, is it?"
"I wouldn't speak to a respectable lady like that," Laxus said.
Lucy asked, "Natsu, when are you going to stand up for me?"
"He's just mad you ruined his book. I'm not going to get involved in nerd wars. They don't concern me," Natsu said. "I think you're a really respectable lady and that's all that matters, right?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Tried and failed. I'm not falling for that. You're cute, but you're not that cute."
When Laxus turned to find another screw among the parts, Tottle held out a nearly complete arm that he'd reassembled almost completely in the time it took everyone to have an argument.
Clearly defeated, Laxus stood aside and let him finish screwing it back in place.
Gildarts said, "Thanks, Kid. Now what are we going to do? Going to assume just going home doesn't sit right with anybody. I think we were warned not to make trouble here, and even sent with a babysitter to make sure there were no diplomatic slip ups. Obviously assaulting the leader of the country is going to make some waves."
"Are we talking about killing this guy? I don't care. But half of our team is in the rainbow sunshine club," Laxus answered.
"What is that?" Lucy asked.
Laxus said, "It's what the people in the guild who don't mind spilling blood call you and your group."
Tottle answered, "They're going to want the book back."
"Did you…steal this book from the government?"
"Yes. I stole it from the sorcerer. Back when the church took over, they said they would exorcise demons that were terrorizing everyone, but I think the sorcerer just summoned them to trick everyone," Tottle said, "Then once they had control, the monsters went away. He can't summon without the book."
Gildarts held out the magic book. "This book is the reason this country changed?"
Suddenly, it made sense that they were being paid an incredible fortune to kill the monsters; doing so would inevitably mean finding the summoner and the book. The book was what was with forty million jewel, not protecting the people. It was the means by which they'd gained control, and presumably how they'd maintain it if needed.
Lucy thought about it for a while and an idea hit her. "Don't worry. I know what to do. This country is built on secrets and fear. These people that go to church every day probably don't know the high priest is a disgusting pervert who keeps a harem. They probably also think the church saved them from monsters. There's nothing more powerful than angry citizens. All we have to do is tell them the truth."
She flexed her muscles. "Let's make some propaganda! We can get paid, not cause a war with Fiore, and still light the powder keg."
"Huh?"
Lucy looked over to Natsu. "We'll make flyers and write about the truth of this country and put them all over the capital. Once people learn what things are really like, they'll realize they can rise up and the monsters won't come back."
Gildarts said, "Are we starting a revolution? That seems like a lot of work."
She nodded and added, "First, we'll collect our money, and say the summoner was burned up in the fight. We'll say there was a book that burned with him. It's believable. We seek passage to leave, get on the boat, then sneak off and head back into the city."
Natsu said, "I'm not saying it's not a good idea, or that we shouldn't do it. I just thought I heard somebody say one war was enough."
Laxus actually, "Weren't you sent to keep us out of trouble? And now you're the one sitting over there saying we should purposefully start a civil war?"
"Do you think we should just go home?" Lucy asked.
"Hell no," Natsu answered, "The government is using magic to hurt and control the citizens, but not allowing them to use it to defend themselves. And doing a bunch of disgusting stuff on top of that."
Gildarts asked, "Tottle, do they know that the person who stole the book was you?"
"Yes."
"Let's be careful then. One misstep and we'll have no choice than to make a big mess," he said.
They cooked dinner and helped Tottle set up his little shelter after they'd eaten and separated into groups to bathe.
Tottle said, "I'm our culture, kids born with red hair like me are sort of considered a bad omen."
Gildarts answered, "I used to look a lot like you when I was young. People poked fun of me, called me a soulless ginger. Nobody really does that anymore. Except Shock Tart here, but no one in the world cares about his opinion."
"But that magic!" Tottle said, glancing starry-eyed at Laxus, "Are you the son of Odin, god of thunder?"
Laxus said, "I'm the son of Ivan, god of shitbags."
"I uhhh..is this a sensitive subject for you?"
"YES," Lucy and Gildarts answered in unison.
By all means, they'd completed the job they were sent to do, but no one was willing to just walk away from everything else. They sat around the fire and made careful plans, and the thirteen-year-old was helplessly enamored with the other wizards and the strange land they came from.
When it was time to settle in for bed, Gildarts pulled her aside and gave her the book, which he'd had a chance to flip through.
"You should have this."
"What is it?"
"Lost magic, very old. Possibly the precursor to celestial spirit summoning. Lots of details about opening portals in 'other realms.' Going to recommend you burn it after you're done studying it. I have no problem with you gaining access to that knowledge, but it probably shouldn't fall into anyone else's hands. It might be difficult to burn, but I've heard you know an expert."
Lucy took it and flipped it open, only to find the first pages were filled with magic arrays and runes. "I'll be careful."
She took it to the tent she and Natsu were sharing by themselves and sat on her sleeping bag while she tried to study even the first pages by lantern light.
Natsu laid on top of his sleeping bag watching her, asking occasional questions that she absently answered.
"Hey Luigi."
"Hmm?" she asked.
"You're all the way over there and I don't like it."
Lucy sarcastically answered. "We're less than a foot apart, Natsu. What do you want me to do, sit on you?"
Natsu flashed her a big grin and took the book from her. "Now that you mention it, that is a good idea."
She blushed. "Natsu!"
"Come sit on my lap already then. Luuuuuucy…"
Lucy was starting to feel the night chill sinking in. "I am kind of cold."
"Remember that time you took all your clothes off and laid down with me to keep me warm? I could return the favor," he teased.
It was cheesy, but it was also cute.
Lucy began stripping down and watched his intense, focused attention on every move she made. Every move of her body as she wiggled, unbuttoned, and unzipped was mesmerizing to him.
He threw his own clothes off when she climbed into his sleeping bag with him and laid on top of his warm body. A heated hand moved to the arm that was sore from firing arrows for such a long time, and he rubbed and massaged it, letting the heat do its magic.
"Mmmm…you always know what I need."
"I noticed it seemed sore."
"Just some overexertion."
Lucy rested her forehead against his. "You're awfully sweet on me."
"I kind of like you, you know."
"I kind of like you too."
At first, being with him felt so new and thrilling, but the feeling of his hands on her body was becoming a normal, healthy part of her reality. Being totally bare and intimate with Natsu was wonderful. He was warm, and kind, and she knew there wasn't anything in the world he wouldn't do for her, and nothing she wouldn't do for him.
Natsu was a good boyfriend. He always listened, even though he didn't retain everything. Even then, he didn't usually need words to know what was going on with her.
She found loving him was the easiest thing in the world. Then again, he'd always been an adorable guy. She couldn't imagine how different her life would be without him.
Natsu brushed her hair behind her ear. "You look like you're thinking hard about something."
"Just you. I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't met you that day in Hargeon. Probably not as exciting."
"You wanted to join Fairy Tail, and you always work to achieve your goals. So one day, you would have come through those doors, right? It would be just the same. You would have looked at all our guild's rowdy weirdos and decided you were home. I would have thought you were cute and interesting and found a dumb reason to go on a job with you."
"You think so?"
Natsu said, "Didn't you just know somehow that you belonged at Fairy Tail all along? Isn't that why you wanted to join?"
"I guess that's right. I felt like my life as a wizard would be really exciting and great if I joined Fairy Tail. It's been more than I ever hoped for. More excitement…maybe too much sometimes. So many friends. And just one Natsu."
She rubbed her nose against his and he squeezed her a little more tightly.
Lucy rested her head on him and quickly fell asleep, tired from a busy day.
When they awoke the next morning, it was to the smell of coffee, and of Gildarts cooking.
"You always get up early?" Lucy asked as she emerged from the tent, dressed.
Laxus was sitting next to the fire with a grumpy expression. "Have you never known an old person before? The older a person is, the earlier in the morning they wake up. The miserable ones wake other people up too."
"I accidentally stepped on him getting out of the tent this morning. He's butthurt," Gildarts explained.
"I am belly hurt because an elephant stepped on insides. Why are you so fucking fat?"
"I'm not fat, I'm big boned! Besides, you're not a lightweight either. Your metabolism seems to have caught up with you, Thunder Thighs," Gildarts answered.
"Big boned? That's something your mother had to tell her fat ginger butterball so he'd feel better."
Lucy asked, "Are you two really having an argument about which one of you is fat like a couple of little mean girls?"
"Not sure you want to draw your sword in this battle with that ass," Laxus said.
Natsu said, "Don't insult my girl. Enough already. You're starting to piss me off. If you want, we could just fight."
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Are you pretending to be offended because you want to fight?"
"If you two get into it on foreign soil, I'll settle it myself," Gildarts said.
Tottle seemed confused and bewildered by the orchestra of insults that composed the morning conversation and ate his breakfast in confused awe. Just a day before, he was in the most desperate place of his life, unable to get rid of the monsters he'd accidentally summoned or help his sister. Now, he'd made friends, and they had promised to do even more to help.
They were an interesting group, to be sure. Highly animated, argumentative, but clearly closely bonded together, they approached overturning the government of his country like normal people approached doing housework. After he learned their guild was responsible for the 'regime change' in Alvarez, it was easy to see why.
Once they tired of insults and food had been eaten, Lucy asked, "What do you know about this sorcerer?"
"It's a guy. He's really huge. He doesn't look human. Very pale. The high priest pays him by surrounding him in beautiful women. When I was working in the tower, I heard the high priest call him 'Kain.' I've seen him use these dolls to play with the girls. He plucks their hair out and sticks it in the doll, and then he can control them."
Lucy said, "That sounds a lot like…"
"Yeah," Natsu answered. "That jerk we met on Tenrou Island."
"A former member of Grimoire Heart?" Gildarts asked.
Lucy nodded. "He was a pervert then too."
Tottle said, "He has a secret weapon. I was snooping around once, and I opened this door. He had a mermaid, chained in this big tank. The mermaid is the one who told me where the book was, and that I should take it far away and make sure it didn't fall into his hands again."
"…a mermaid?" Lucy mumbled, "A mermaid?! What did she look like?"
"She had blue hair, blue eyes, a blue tail, a blue top. A tattoo kind of like this," he said, tracing a line across his collarbone.
Tottle added, "The sorcerer caught me talking to her and said she was disobedient, and she couldn't go home until she promised to serve him."
Natsu said, "That sounds like her."
"Aquarius! It is her! He must have found the key…and then, when he summoned her the first time, I bet she's been refused to agree to terms for a contract, so she can't go home. A spirit who can't go home will die! We have to do something. Every minute she spends here is going to be pure torture for her!"
Lucy grappled for her keys and summoned Loke. "Loke, is that true? Is Aquarius being held here in the human world against her will?"
Loke said, "Aquarius is not your spirit, so I cannot give you information about her current whereabouts or state."
"That's a bunch of crap, Loke!"
"Even so, I can't tell you."
"Is she in danger?"
Loke said, "I will say this, and I can't say anything else. I haven't seen Aquarius in the celestial spirit realm in a very long time."
All the Fairy Tail members knew about Aquarius, because finding her had been Lucy's main priority. Everyone in the guild knew she was looking for a gold key because she told everyone to be on the lookout for one. Even for rumors of a gold key or a blue mermaid.
Lucy was frantic and incredibly upset when Loke indirectly confirmed that Aquarius was being held in the human world without relief by a person who was a villain and an enemy.
Gildarts said, "I'm going to guess we'll find out this high priest is another associate of the sorcerer. This country might be under the control of dark wizards who were pushed out of Ishgar when the Balam Alliance collapsed, so telling the citizens the truth and inspiring them to revolt would probably just lead to a bloodbath. I like the direct approach anyway, but that means no reward."
Lucy exclaimed, "I don't care about the money, I just want to save Aquarius before it's too late!"
"I think we should hurry. I don't like the idea our enemies moved to other places because they knew they couldn't do anything with us around anymore. It actually really pisses me off," Natsu said, in a surprisingly calm tone, which meant his rage was less emotion and more logic—a sign he was genuinely enraged and was going to stay that way until he addressed the issue.
Lucy couldn't have been in a bigger hurry to pack up camp and head down the mountain.
If she'd had a plan before, it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that her faithful spirit was in trouble and if they didn't hurry, they wouldn't be able to save her. Seeing Aquarius again was one of the most important things to her, and she didn't care about the consequences of getting her back. She'd fight a war for Aquarius or do whatever else was required.
The others didn't argue with the new plan, which was apparently to run in and just wreck everything. And if that was going to be the plan, there was possibly no better team for it than the present company. Lucy also suspected they probably all preferred the new plan anyway as subtlety was not something ever associated with Natsu, Laxus, or Gildarts. They were the kings of overdoing it, and she was grateful for them.
Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, even after the carriage they hired took them to the next town with a train station.
Natsu walked alongside her and wrapped an arm around her. "Don't worry. We'll save her. She'll be trying to drown you in the ocean again in no time."
"Thanks," she said. "I just…"
"You don't have to say anything. Aquarius is one of us, right? She belongs with you and not with some scumbag. We don't leave our own behind," he answered.
Lucy said, "It's my fault she's had to suffer. Because I chose to let her go, she's been put in the worst position a celestial spirit can be in. She could die, Natsu."
"She won't. We'll save her, and we'll go home, and maybe, we can build her a little fountain or something at home so you can summon her and she won't yell at you. We'll make sure she's okay," he answered.
She turned to her other teammates and tearfully said, "I know you guys are going to lose out. I'll pay you back until I've paid you all the reward money."
Gildarts smiled. "Who cares about that? You don't have to pay us back. Your spirit fought alongside Fairy Tail. We'd be some other guild if we cared more about money than standing up for our own ally."
"I am not sentimental. I just like violence more than money," Laxus said.
Lucy wiped a tear from her eye. "Yeah right. You're really a good guy! I'm just really happy to have amazing friends."
And then, she started crying. Sobbing, right in the middle of the sidewalk.
Natsu gave her a piggyback ride the rest of the way, and she rested her chin on his shoulder.
"It'll be all right. I'm sure she'll be so happy to see you she won't even try to hurt you!" Natsu exclaimed.
Lucy sighed and kissed his cheek.
Tottle followed along, certain something was going to change, but unsure of how any of it was going to turn out. From the start, he'd only wanted to help his sister, but he'd ignited a fire in the most reasonable of the Ishgari wizards. Lucy now wanted to burn the entire place to the ground in search of the mermaid, and considering her partner, that seemed like a likely outcome.
Natsu rested his head on Lucy's lap on the train, and she spent most of that time running her fingers through his hair. The feeling of her nails on his scalp seemed to help him relax a little bit even with his nausea.
"I'm concerned this battle is going to be underwhelming, considering that this clown didn't just kill the blood wyvern on his own," Laxus complained at one stop.
Lucy said, "The good news is the capital should have lots of churches for you to blow up."
Tottle nervously asked, "Is it too late to ask you not do too much damage?"
"These guys don't really take special requests, if you know what I mean," Lucy nervously answered.
Natsu smiled happily. "We put our all into everything! It's usually too much but we can't do it any other way! People yell at us a lot about it, actually."
Happy said, "How is your fishy fishy spirit going to make fun of you now that you have a boyfriend?"
Lucy had almost forgotten Aquarius' near-constant taunts about her lack of a boyfriend and felt even more energized. "That's right. The next time she wants to rub it in my face, I can tell her I've got a man and he's great!"
At that, Natsu very nearly threw up in her lap.
"…so great," she added, sounding a little more subdued.
Gildarts smiled at her. "It makes me happy to see how well you two take care of each other. Natsu is a lucky guy to have a girl like you. Smart, brave, loving…a real catch."
"Th-Thanks. I was really worried about this job, but it's actually turning out to be so important. For me and Natsu and for other people too."
"You know who it's really good for?"
Gildarts pointed to Laxus, who was unconscious on the bench next to him. "For him to see people happy together is important for him. He watches you two closely. Sees how great you have it together. Hoping he can figure out he can have that too if he really wants it. I'm concerned for him, you know. I want him to be happy and well."
Lucy asked, "Is he unconscious because you punched him in the brain?"
"Yes."
"I don't understand your sense of concern. Please don't ever be concerned for me, I think I might die."
He answered, "These guys need tough love…it's the most important thing I can offer them. Without it, they'll never understand themselves. When a young man gains a massive amount of power before he finishes growing up, it's hard to understand a lot of things that come naturally to others. Natsu has done well, but I think a lot of that has to do with you, right? You kept him in touch with his feelings and on a right path. You've been better for him than you know."
-Reviews Welcome!—
Just wanted to give a shout out to valerioux, fireyfox04, orange keys 25, bugseey, min-chan17, jazminee18, ember reverie, and supersaiyajin4vegeta for taking time to review my fic. I'm so glad others are enjoying it.