The Heir Of The Exiled

by One Half

Same world, same guild. Only one difference - it was not Igneel who raised Natsu. What could have changed if another person raised him? May be nothing, may be everything. Let's find out, shall we? NatsuXErza at the foreground, Rated T to be safe.

3. Thirst For Annihilation

Okay people, here I am again =)

First – thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciating it.

Silent Reader 6100, Toaneo07 Ver2.0, kitnz, dzbegoun, kt, AceLogia, abhishekunnikm, TRAFALGARLAWSGURL22, Wrath Dragoneel and all Guests who had reviewed my work – many thanks people =)

To kt: "Natsu's beloved" who's that?" I actually think it's quite obvious since story have two declared characters =)

I hope to see some reviews about next chapters too.

Also I want to note that Manga is my primary source of canon material, not the anime.

Now, let's go for the chapter three.

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Chapter updated 19/11/2016

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Chapter III – Thirst For Annihilation

…

July 5th, Year X784, 8:35, Town of Magnolia.

Lucy stretched to wake herself up as the welcoming morning sun lit up her room. Summarizing the events of last three days – everything turned out just wonderfully. Lucy not only joined Fairy Tail and helped to bring one of its mages back home during her very first day, but she was also able to rent quite a nice house that only costs seventy thousand jewels per month – a very decent price, considering the building. Today promised to be a nice one, too. First, Lucy took a relaxing bath, then she decided to go to the kitchen and make a breakfast. However, as soon as she took the pan, someone knocked to her house's door.

'Who could it be this early in the morning?' The stellar spirits wizard thought as she came to the window. She leaned out from the second floor's window and looked down, only to see Natsu, Sin and Mirajane. "Hi guys! Just a minute and I'll let you in!" She shouted with a smile. Lucy figured that her friends most likely came to check out how she's settled.

"Don't bother, we'll meet you inside," Natsu replied as he waved his hand and used his telekinetic power to open the door's lock from the inside. The door opened and Lucy's guests came inside the house.

'Damn, I have to learn that trick eventually…' The stellar mage thought as she headed to the living room to meet her visitors.

"Morning, Lucy," Sin greeted her as Natsu approached the table and placed a bottle of red wine on it. A pricy one – that even Lucy could tell.

Blonde raised an eyebrow as she examined the bottle whilst Natsu started to look around, searching for some wineglasses. "Natsu, it's only nine in the morning. Don't you think it's too early for this, to say the least?" The stellar sorceress inquired.

"I told you that she won't approve this idea…" Mirajane noted to the god slayer.

"What's the matter?" Natsu asked calmly, as if it wasn't anything special. "Believe me – it is tasty at any time of day," God slayer added as if was quite obvious. He found the wineglasses and moved to the cupboard to take them, "It's not that cheap booze, which Cana drinks around the clock."

"Natsu is immune to alcohol intoxication but he likes the taste of good wine," Sin explained.

"But what about us?!" Lucy exclaimed. She has never heard of someone being immune to alcohol, "I'll become drunk!"

"Calm down, jo-chan, this is the lightest wine I have in my collection, and I'm not asking you to drink up an entire bottle alone," Natsu waved her off as he already filled up three wineglasses with the scarlet liquid, which almost shone in the rays of morning sun. "It is to celebrate your house warming and your accession to the guild," The god slayer said as he looked at Mirajane, seemingly requesting her support. Though Natsu brought the wine, he himself didn't seem too enthusiastic – visiting Lucy, apparently, was Mira's idea.

The platinum blonde rolled her eyes. "It's all right Lucy, I'll join the toast, too," She said reluctantly and grabbed a wineglass.

"Okay, but only this once, to celebrate my accession to the guild," Lucy said and also took a wineglass. She couldn't deny a favor to the one who invited her into the guild of her dreams.

"For the new life, filled with adventures!" Mirajane raised her glass and all three of them emptied their wineglasses. Sin did not drink anything due to an understandable reason…

Lucy had to admit, the taste was wonderful. "Wow, nice one, Natsu! Its taste is beautiful, just like its color," Blonde commented.

"Yeah, its color is exactly the same as color of his girlfriend's hair," Sin smirked. The next moment a bolt of crimson energy smashed the little boney creature into the wall.

"Sin, I warned you about that how many times?" The god slayer said with emotionless voice as Mira giggled in the background.

"Hey! Don't you dare use your magic inside of my house! I don't want it to be blasted to pieces… Oh…" Lucy trailed off as she felt the wine kicking in. 'Damn, it's only a half-past nine in the morning and I'm already drunk… Drinking wine even before taking breakfast – mother would not approve this…' Blonde thought. "Anyway, is there a reason you three came here, I mean, aside from making me drunk?" Lucy asked as she was beginning to feel dizzy.

"Oh, right," Natsu diverted his sight from emptied wineglass as he remembered an actual reason that brought him here. "I came here because, apparently, it's my duty, Sin came here because I came here and Jane came because it's her duty as well… and probably to make sure that I won't try to seduce you," He replied carelessly.

"WHAT?!" Both girls screamed simultaneously.

"I never said anything like that!" Mirajane exclaimed resentfully as Lucy was just struck speechless.

"Easy, easy my dear, what's with your sense of humor this morning?" Natsu wondered with his hands held up, as if showing his innocence, "Just a joke… Oh, and don't bother with it, you know as good as I am that these "dark glares" don't work on me," He added when he noticed Mira's narrowed eyes.

"I've already told you this many times, and I'll say it again – you're not as funny as you think!" Mirajane hissed acidly. "You know, Sin is right. This red-haired girlfriend of yours is the only suitable girl for you in the entire country. No one else might be able to tolerate your insolence…"

However, Natsu ignored her vitriolic remark as something else caught his attention. He was examining some handwritten notes that he found on Lucy's desk. "Hmm, what do we have here..." He murmured quietly.

This sight moved Lucy out of her shocked state. "Hey! Don't touch it!" Blonde shouted as she leaped toward Natsu and snatched the papers from his hands.

The god slayer wasn't taken by surprise, but seemingly those were papers with some sensitive info, so he let Lucy to take them. "As you wish," He said calmly.

"By the way Lucy, how many keys do you have contracts with?" Mirajane asked, distracting Lucy a bit.

"Six units. We count stellar spirits in units. These silver keys are the ones you can buy in store," Lucy placed the silver keys on the table. "The ones I have are Horologium the Clock, Crux the Southern Cross and Lyra the Lyre," Lucy explained. "And these golden keys are very rare ones that open the gates of the ecliptic zodiac," Lucy informed as she placed them on the table as well, "There's only twelve of them in the whole world!"

"I've got The Golden Bull, Taurosu; The Water Bearer, Akueriasu and the last one is The Giant Crab, Kyansā. By the way people, how would you like to see how a contract is made between a Seirei Madōshi [Stellar Spirit Mage] and a Seirei [Stellar Spirit]? Now that I remember, I haven't made a contract with The Canis Minor, Nicora, which I bought in Hargeon," Lucy suggested enthusiastically.

"Hmm? All right, that could be interesting," Sin replied, Mirajane seemed curious and Natsu didn't show any reaction.

"Perfect timing! I'll show you how a Seirei Madōshi and a Seirei make the contract!" Lucy announced enthusiastically as she rushed to grab her newest key.

"I wonder if she has to sign a blood pact…" Sin thought aloud.

"I don't think so…" Mira replied with a little smile.

"We don't need blood or anything like that, just watch, you three!" Lucy shushed at them.

Lucy started the summon. "I am the person who connects the road to the spirit world. Thou… shall respond to the calling and pass through the gate. Open a door to the Canis Minor, Nicora!" A magic seal appeared under Lucy and several bubbles floated out of the magical circle before assembling into a small white creature with a carrot-like nose.

"Wow, so cute!" Mirajane exclaimed as she got closer to Nikola.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Natsu asked, raising his eyebrow as he observed that little stellar spirit for a few seconds. "Judging by its actions, this… thing… isn't fully sentient. It is quite unlikely that this one has at least some combat capabilities," He concluded.

"You promised to stop calling my spirits 'things'!" Lucy growled. "And not everything in this world should have 'combat capabilities'. Gates of Canis Minor doesn't consume too much magic energy, so these little guys are popular for being cherished stellar spirits," Lucy explained as she grabbed a pencil and a small notebook. "Alright then, let's move on to the contract."

"Pupuuun," Nicola replied.

"Mondays?" Lucy asked.

"Puuuuun," Stellar spirit shook its head, probably meaning a 'no'. Lucy wrote it down in her notepad.

"Tuesdays?"

"Pun," This time she got a nod in response. While Lucy was doing this, Natsu and the others were looking at the process with mixed impressions.

"Wednesdays?"

"Pupuuun!"

"I can call you in Thursdays too?"

"To think it is that simple…" Mirajane commented.

"At least now we can be sure that her mismatching attribute isn't the only reason behind her poor performance as a wizard, despite her natural capabilities," Sin quietly said as he landed on Natsu's shoulder, and god slayer nodded in agreement.

"Okay! Contract made!" Lucy smiled and the white creature happily jumped into her arms.

"Well, that was a celestial waste of time…" Natsu commented. He was not impressed at all, however, the others ignored his remark.

"While it does look easy, it is really important," Lucy said. "Seirei Madōshi regards his contracts, meaning promises, with the utmost importance. That's why I make sure to never ever break any of my promises," Lucy stated proudly.

"Interesting moral code you have…" Natsu replied. "Then you should be very careful with the promises you make, shouldn't you?"

"Of course!" Lucy said confidently as she remembered something. "Oh yeah, I need to name my new spirit!"

"Isn't it Nicola?" Sin asked as he joined Mirajane, who continued to examine the Seirei.

"No, that is their generic name," Lucy replied and went quiet for a few moments before a name came to mind. "I got it! Come, Plue!" She called and Plue ran into Lucy's arms.

"Plue?" Little boney dragon questioned.

"Uh-huh, doesn't it sound cute?" Lucy smiled as she tenderly embraced this white... something.

"By the looks of it – only thing I can say for sure that it has nothing to do with dogs," Natsu noted as he again looked at Seirei.

Lucy thought about his words for a moment, but couldn't reply – Natsu's observation was hardly deniable… Suddenly, Plue escaped from Lucy's hold and began to dance. "Huh? Plue, what are you doing?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe he's trying to say something?" Mirajane speculated.

"No idea," Sin replied.

"This one is Seirei, if even Seirei Madōshi can't understand him, then how should we be able to?" Natsu obviously lost his interest in the subject completely.

Lucy grew tired of his indifference, "Natsu, you mentioned that some kind of duty brought you here, haven't you?"

"Oh, right," Natsu replied as he recalled the reason for coming here in the first place. "Yesterday I talked to the master and he asked me to show you the basics about missions and wizard's job in general, and since I still need a bit of money to win our bet, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, so to say – I'm asking you to come along with me to my next mission. In other words, I'm inviting you to a temporary team."

"Team?" Lucy echoed.

"You see, all the members of Fairy Tail are nakama, but we make teams with whoever we get along with. If you are in a team, difficult requests will be easier," Mirajane explained.

"Team's size are unlimited, you just have to agree on reward splitting," Sin added.

"Wow, that sounds fun!" Lucy exclaimed. "But why have you agreed to babysit such a newbie as myself?"

"Well, it is true that I prefer to work with Sin only, to be honest, teamwork isn't my forte," Natsu shrugged. "On the other hand, I'm well aware of your magical skills and capabilities, so we should be able to handle almost anything just fine. In addition, this is sort of an unofficial rule of our guild that one of our guild's members, who is more experienced, forms a temporary team with newcomers and take them on mission so they can learn the advantages of teams. This experience should allow you to make an informed choice," Natsu concluded as Mirajane, for some reason, gave him a very warm smile.

"Natsu…" Mira tried to say something but the god slayer cut her off.

"Don't worry, cara mea, I won't touch her boobs, you know that I prefer yours above everyone else's," He replied somehow carelessly.

Mira rolled her eyes, 'I hope one day there will be the mission to deal with your insolence, I swear I'll take it!' She thought. Lucy, on her end, noticed that Natsu treats Mirajane… well, not like others, as if they're sharing some special bond.

"Remember Lucy, I can't order you to do it, I'm just asking you to join me," Natsu asked, looking at Lucy. "So, what do you say? Want to form a team?"

'Well… that sounds like a lot of fun,' Lucy thought as she stared at Natsu for a second before beaming with joy.

"Sure!" Lucy responded with a bright smile. "However, before we begin, can anyone enlighten me about this "bet" you people constantly mention?"

The god slayer nodded and Sin started to explain. "A while ago Natsu made a bet with another senior mage of our guild. Natsu insists that one can earn more money by completing simple missions with common reward rather than doing difficult missions with big reward. You see, difficult, or so-called S-rank missions, usually require lot of traveling and complex preparations. For example – the one that Natsu's rival took has estimated completion time about four weeks."

"Not to mention that such missions are extremely dangerous…" Mira added with sad voice. Natsu put a hand on her shoulder, probably to comfort her. Lucy was curious to know what is this all about and who is that "another senior mage," but she decided not to ask too many questions in one go.

"Anyway, despite I got only 400,000 jewels as a reward for my mission in Hargeon, I've already earned the exact same amount of money as she could earn for completing her mission if no collateral damage was done, which is very unlikely. However, to make sure I will win the bet, I have to earn just one more jewel, so I'm good with splitting the reward with you, Lucy. This is the mission I have chosen for us," Natsu informed as he handed over some scroll to the stellar mage. "It is nearby and we should be able to complete it today. Take a look. I've chosen a one-day mission because tomorrow is the last day, eligible for earning money for our bet, so I want to have it as a reserve in case this mission gets cancelled, etc…"

Lucy took the scroll but before unwrapping it she asked, "Natsu, why do you always say "our bet" instead of "my bet"? That opponent of yours... Is it someone you hold dear?" There were absolutely no jeers in Lucy's voice – it was a plain, honest question.

However, for some reason, Natsu took a step back, most likely instinctively, and his expression became a little worried, and that happened for the first time since Lucy met him, by the way. Sin and Mirajane immediately turned towards Natsu.

"Wow, quite the observational skills you have there," Mirajane praised Lucy, she herself never paid any significance about this peculiarity.

"Seems that even you can't have every minor thing under control around the clock, huh?" Sin asked with a very disgusting smirk.

"Is something wrong? Did I ask something inappropriate?" Lucy noticed the strange behavior of the people around her.

Natsu regained his wits pretty quickly though, "Sin, do me a favor and shut your mouth. Lucy, it's all right, there's nothing to worry about, don't allow their delusions get to you, it's their problem, neither yours nor mine. I just used the wrong wording…" Natsu assured her. However, he made a note to himself, 'This cute blonde is more insightful than she looks like.'

Lucy just nodded and unwrapped the request list. "Let's see, Shirotsume Town... about two hours in a carriage..." She looked closely at the mission details. "No way! Two hundred thousand jewels just for taking a single book from the mansion of that Duke of Everlue person?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yep, pretty easy money," Natsu confirmed.

Lucy's eyes widened as she read further. There was a notice sitting under a picture of a disgustingly chubby old man with an idiotic smile on his face. "The Duke of Everlue: this person is an extreme womanizer. He is now hiring blonde-haired maids… HRMMM?!"

Lucy looked back at Natsu, who stood calmly near the window.

"Natsu, what is this?!" She asked, pointing to the note.

"This is the reason why I have chosen this mission for us. I wanted to show you that you have to choose missions according to the specific benefits of your team members," Natsu explained. "This task should be a piece of cake for you."

"Well… yes… but… uhh..." Lucy stuttered in confusion.

"What's wrong Lucy? Do you have another moral code that deny you to use your appearance to resolve problems?" God slayer asked, still with the same indifferent voice.

"What?! Of course not! I can and I will! Just let me at this guy!" Lucy vowed.

"Now that's the Fairy Tail spirit!" Sin approved.

"Very well then, we'll met in 30 minutes at Magnolia marketplace. We'll ride a carriage from there so prepare yourself Lucy," Natsu said as he and other visitors moved to house's exit.

"I'll be there!" Lucy confirmed.

Outside of Lucy's house Mirajane waved to Natsu. "I'm heading back to the guild, Natsu, please be careful, watch over Lucy."

"Don't you worry Jane, this evening we'll be back with success and money so I could win ou… my bet," Natsu stuttered at that last word, making Mira to giggle a little.

---

July 5th, Year X784, 11:05, Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Hmm? The job at Everlue Mansion for 200 000 jewels… Has someone took it already?" Levy asked as she stood looking at the request board with Jet and Droy behind her.

"Yes, Natsu took that request earlier this morning. He chose it as a tutorial mission for Lucy and they left about an hour ago," Mirajane informed as she was gathering used plates from the tables, making Team Shadow Gear to sigh in disappointment.

"Aww, that's what I got for hesitating," Levy sighed, crossing her arms.

"It may be a good thing that you did not go, Levy," Makarov said from the counter with his usual cunning smirk. "The job… it did become a little troublesome… I just got a message from the client."

"Has it been cancelled?" Mira asked a bit worriedly. This would've been quite an unfortunate turn of events; Lucy was so enthusiastic when Natsu told her that he is going to show her how to handle team missions and for Natsu it would be a waste of quite a precious time…

"On the contrary, it seems the reward has been increased to two million jewels… or so I was told," Makarov replied with a knowing grin. Everyone's eyes widened as they heard the number.

"Ten times more?!" Levy asked in shock.

"Two million jewels for one book?!" Droy added.

"It's almost the same reward as for a subjugation mission!" Jet couldn't believe his ears, "A bit more and that would've become an S-rank mission!"

"Why was reward increased so suddenly?" Mirajane asked but Makarov only shook his head. "Natsu, please be careful, and take care of Lucy…" Snow-haired girl whispered to herself.

"Don't worry nee-san, everything will be okay! Natsu can handle even an S-rank mission alone…" Elfman assured her in attempt to calm down his sister.

"Yes… Unlike me…" Mira mumbled with voice full of sadness as she looked into the floor, making her brother to place his hands on her shoulders to comfort her.

"By the way, can anyone tell me where Gray is?" Makarov asked casually, distracting Mirajane from her doleful thoughts.

"Ah yes, I forgot! We received a message from him. It looks like he ran into something and had to postpone his return until after tomorrow," Mirajane reported.

"Looks like he found something… but life is more interesting this way," Makarov smirked.

---

Year X784, July 5th, 11:25, somewhere between Shirotsume and Magnolia (A/N: Shirotsume means "White Claw").

"Now that I think about it, this should be a pretty interesting job, shouldn't it?" Lucy asked as she looked at Natsu and Sin, who were sitting on the carriage seats across from her. The wagon should be arriving in Shirotsume town in a short while.

"We'll see," Natsu replied. "But I doubt that there are large number of missions where you could rely solely on your appearance to infiltrate someone's house."

"Of course, moreover, this is my first job!" Lucy agreed with smile full of enthusiasm, before adjusting her hair. "I'm sure everything will turn out well, after all, I have a great confidence in my sex appeal," Lucy stated as she imagined herself in different revealing outfits and seductive poses.

"Sorry, I cannot confirm it," The little boney dragon shrugged.

"Yes, your appearance fits the description, but remember to consider that it may not exactly be the case…" Natsu reminded.

"What do you mean? According to the request I just have to sneak into the mansion and get one book, right?" Lucy was confused a little but still pleased by Natsu's opinion about her looks.

"I mean that you, Lucy, should always keep one thing in mind – everything that was written in the request list was written from the client's point of view," God slayer explained. "That information about Everlue's… peculiarity – it very well may be rumors and/or speculations."

Actually, Lucy did not think about it and after she heard Natsu's words her smile waned a little.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to discourage you," Natsu added as he saw Lucy's reaction. "I just want to remind you that you always should have a secondary plan being prepared beforehand, in case your main was developed according to false or inaccurate data."

"Can I assume that you already have this 'Plan B' for our current mission?" Lucy asked with light smile.

"Of course, and in case if "Plan B" fails as well, I always have 'Plan C', or so-called 'Plan T.A.'," Natsu replied as if it was pretty obvious.

"T.A? What's that mean?" Lucy wondered.

"Total Annihilation," Sin explained.

"Okaaay…" Lucy muttered uncertainly. "Well, I understand what you are saying, but I am still hopeful that I will be able to acquire the book without noise and unnecessary violence," She said with confidence.

"We'll see soon enough, aren't we?" Natsu replied calmly.

---

July 5th, Year X784, 12:05, Shirotsume town.

"We've finally arrived!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully as she, Natsu and Sin hopped off the carriage and stretched a bit. "Well, that's quite a cute little town," Lucy noted as she looked around.

"Not really," Natsu replied. "Small towns like this one are still living by semi-feudal rules, so rich and influential individuals, like that Everlue, still have huge authority in such towns. I don't like people who uphold their authority via intrigues and machinations, not through the real power…" He admitted.

"Don't mind it, Natsu, no one forces you to live here," Sin tried to convince him. "Just let these people be, I think they have adapted themselves to such a lifestyle."

"Yeah, yeah…" Natsu agreed, he didn't seem to be really interested in this topic. "Anyway, let's get something for breakfast," Natsu suggested as he remembered that he was "forced" to watch the boring process of making a contract with a Seirei.

"Oh, by the way, Natsu, what are these red clouds that you eat?" Lucy asked the question that was irritating her since the battle in Hargeon. "Can you consume them from...anyone?" She added a bit cautiously.

Natsu looked at her with some pity, "Don't worry, jo-chan, I can't just drain energy from random people around me, you may relax. These "red clouds," as you called them, they are the essence of negative emotions – fear, anger, hate. In order to consume them I first must render my enemies to be unable to express these emotions through violence. In other words, I have to defeat them in battle. After a person becomes unable to do anything, I can drain unreleased aggression from him to consume it and replenish my powers."

"I see… It sounds so weird, but pretty cool at the same time," Lucy scratched her cheek. "And this crimson energy that you use in combat – it's the essence of aggression, right?"

"Of course not, Lucy, such a thing isn't possible in this world," Natsu replied, surprising her quite a lot. "Negative emotions actually just a carrier – I use their unreleased aggression, their negative emotions, to drain ethernano from my defeated enemies," Natsu explained.

"To cast a spell, you need ethernano," Sin explained. "Some schools of magic allow you to empower your spell using your own emotions, but by themselves, emotions of others are just plain useless for your own spellcasting."

"No matter what type of magic you're using – your spells always use one (or a combination) of ten elements of this world. Even so-called 'attributeless' spells use an element, they just don't care which one," God slayer informed.

Lucy was looking at Natsu and his familiar in complete confusion – obviously she didn't understand anything.

God slayer sighed, "Don't mind it for now, we'll talk about it later – you need to gain a lot more of experience as a wizard, before that topic will make any sense for you," He explained. "For now, let's just take a breakfast," He suggested as Natsu's attention became focused on a small restaurant, just a few meters in front of him. "That place suits us well enough, let's stop here to get a quick bite to eat before meeting the client."

"Please go ahead," Lucy smiled as she temporary forgot about those strange magic-related things that Natsu told her just now, "I don't have an appetite just yet."

"As you wish," Natsu shrugged. "But you know, jo-chan, you really should not underestimate the probability of random mishaps that can happen during mission," He added, guessing that Lucy hopes to complete the mission within quite a short time.

"I understand, but I'm really not hungry yet," Lucy shook her head. "Moreover, I have to do some preparations for the mission," Blonde added as she headed somewhere, with a bit of enigmatic smile on her face.

Sin scratched his boney skull, as he didn't understand Lucy's intentions, but said nothing and followed Natsu into the restaurant.

---

A little while later Natsu and Sin were sitting at one of the tables, outside the building, so Lucy might be able to easily notice them in case she'll come back and decide to join. Natsu was finishing his omelet with bacon while Sin was just sitting on table.

"You think she's may become an asset?" He asked, meaning Lucy. "She definitely has a talent for magic, but her personality is a big issue – she's definitely a big airhead," He clarified.

"Humans change," Natsu replied passionlessly. "As she's now – I'm definitely not going to bother – she reminds me of Lisanna… and that's not a compliment, as you know," He added, looking somewhere aside. "But if she'll change… I may change my mind, too," God slayer concluded.

"Somehow, she actually makes me remember about Gray – their characters are so different, yet both equally unreliable, in terms of investments, I mean," Sin thought aloud.

"What are you two talking about?" Lucy's voice called out from behind them.

"Oh, jo-chan, you decided to eat something, after all? Alright, we still have some time, sit down and order some food…" Natsu turned around and saw Lucy in a maid uniform.

"Lucy, have you already been enlisted to the staff?" Sin asked.

"Nope," Lucy answered with smile.

Natsu's looked at Lucy with strange face expression as little boney dragon realized that he is not going to say anything good. "Then where did you get this uniform, jo-chan? Or is this… just some kind of hobby of yours? Do you also have a nurse uniform or a schoolgirl uniform?" He wondered.

"It is not!" Lucy retorted furiously as she stomped her foot.

"You want to look like a professional?" Sin inquired.

"How exactly wearing a uniform outside of working place makes one look like a professional?" Natsu looked at his familiar.

"What a downer you are…" Familiar shook his boney skull. "As a familiar, I don't have a choice, but I can't understand what that girl found in you," He added.

"Sin, don't you think that this so-called joke is no longer funny?" Natsu inquired as his eyes flashed with crimson light.

"Enough, I have a headache from you two," Lucy sighed. "Come on, the client is waiting for us," She turned around and started to walk away.

"The client will have to wait until I'll be done with my breakfast," Natsu noted imperturbably as he ignored Lucy's "démarche".

---

July 5th, Year X784, 13:10, Shirotsume town.

"Yes, jo-chan, I admit – this uniform fits you just fine, but this is not the case right now. We didn't meet with the client yet, our mission hasn't been confirmed. This outfit of yours just going to cause a misunderstanding within the eyes of client and other people," Natsu explained his idea one more time, right now he was Lucy's 'mentor', so to say, so he had to be patient with the newbie…

Lucy was pleased by Natsu's opinion about her looks, but continued to stand her ground, "Just let me be, you'll see – I'm gonna make an impression!"

Lil bone dragon quietly flew near them with a claw pressed against his face in a permanent face-palm. Finally, they were standing in front of the client mansion's gate. Lucy stared up at it in amazement as they walked towards the front door. Natsu checked the address.

"Alright, it seems like this is the place," God slayer concluded as he examined the mansion.

Lucy looked at Natsu and asked, "So, this the client's home?" After receiving a nod from Natsu, Lucy thought to herself, 'It's magnificent, as expected from someone who would pay two hundred-thousand jewels for a book. He must be rich...'

Natsu got closer to the door, "Looks like two nobles can't resolve some conflict by words," He speculated as he noticed the doorbell and pushed it using his telekinetic power.

"May I have your name, please?" Someone behind the door asked Natsu, confusing Lucy a bit.

"We're here for your request, we're mages from the guild nam…" Natsu was interrupted by the voice from inside the house.

"Shh! Be quiet, please!" Mysterious voice requested, confusing Lucy and the others even more, "Excuse me, but can you enter from the back door?"

"Alright..." Natsu replied with narrowed eyes before walking around the house to the back door.

"And what is that supposed to mean" Sin looked at the door thoughtfully," This secrecy looks weird…"

As they reached the back door, some tall, grey-haired man in a dark-green suit let them in. "I'm terribly sorry about earlier," The man apologized. "I'm the client. My name is Kaby Melon and this is my wife," He motioned toward a woman standing behind him.

"Good morning Mr. Melon, my name is Natsu Bloodfallen," God slayer introduced himself, "This is my familiar, Sin," He pointed at the little glowing dragon as Melon gulped a bit, Sin was weird enough even without the name. Besides, Natsu's last name… "And young lady here is…" God slayer made a pause to let Lucy introduce herself.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia," Blonde introduced herself, sighing due to Natsu still being unable to remember her name. 'Melon… I'm sure I've heard that name before… and this town's name sounds familiar as well... but where could I...?' Lucy thought. She just couldn't place a finger on it.

"I wouldn't have imagined a mage from the renowned Fairy Tail would accept this job," Kaby admitted.

"Why not?" Sin asked, "Good money for a relatively simple job."

'Too good, the request and reward didn't really match,' Lucy thought.

"And you are young, too. You must be a famous mage," Melon suggested as he carefully tried to avoid looking at the boney creature.

"Natsu is also known as 'The Crimson Cardinal'," Sin commented.

"Really? Of course, I've heard about you!" Melon said joyfully. He seemed to have understood something. "It's quite understandable that so famous mage can afford such a pretty maidservant following him even on assignments. Of course, she can stay here while you will be on mission."

Sin fell on floor due to burst of laugher, Lucy froze in shock and Natsu looked at her with emotionless gaze. "Well, she's actually not my servant, she's a mage of our guild, too. She wants to use this outfit as a disguise. According to the information you provided in request message – blonde maids are wanted," Natsu explained. He didn't feel pity for the young girl, she got more than enough of warnings.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry for that remark about a maidservant," Kaby apologized.

"Don't you worry, no offense taken. I warned her that she should not wear the uniform until she is actually has been enlisted to the staff," Natsu commented, "Though… your misunderstanding probably means that her disguise is quite convincing…"

"I kinda wanna go home now…" Lucy whimpered with tears in her eyes.

"Okay then, let's talk about the work," Kaby cleared his throat and leaned forward a little.

"Of course," Natsu agreed.

"It's about time…" Sin murmured as he landed on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy didn't respond, however, she did become attentive, as she was about to hear of what she has to do on her first job as a mage of Fairy Tail.

"There's only one thing that I'm asking you to do. The one and only copy of book named Day Break that duke of Everlue owns… Please incinerate it!" He beseeched them.

"So… we don't have to steal it?" Lucy asked in slight confusion.

"I'm basically asking you to destroy someone's possession without permission, so it's almost the same as stealing…" Mr. Melon replied.

"That's surprising… I thought you were gonna ask us to retrieve the book that you need to complete your collection or something…" Lucy speculated.

"That's not of our business Lucy, the client's reasons are his own," Natsu noted. "However, Mr. Melon, I want to clarify some things about that 200 000 jewels reward."

"Well, actually I'll pay two million jewels… The contingency fee is two million," Melon said with a strange face expression.

"Two million?!" Lucy asked in shock as she stood up from the floor (she fell from sofa when heard the sum). "But that's an insane amount of money!"

"Oh my, it seems you weren't aware of the reward increase," Melon's wife said worriedly.

"Actually, this statement made things even more odd," Natsu noted, carefully looking at Mr. Melon.

"What do you mean?" Kaby inquired.

"I mean that I have reasons to doubt your solvency," Natsu explained politely.

"Why do you say such a thing?!" Kaby asked a bit nervously.

Lucy looked at Natsu as if he's gone insane, "What are you saying?! Surely the owner of a house like this one can afford two million!"

"Surely he can… too bad he is not you, Mr. Melon," Natsu noted, looking around the mansion.

"Wh-What? How?" Melon stuttered as Lucy looked at Natsu, quite lost as to what he was saying.

"How did I know? It was not that hard to notice," Natsu shrugged. "I could even ignore your strange request about the back door – there were other facts. First, you wear a pricey and relatively fresh suit, but its fashion is outdated. That means that it is not new, you just wear it on rare occasions. No noble man would allow that, world of nobles is harsh – they're bound to follow fashion trends. Second, I saw the inside of your palms – the skin is coarse but has no cuts, which means you are not a handicraftsman, but you carry some heavy stuff quite often, probably crates. My guess? You own a small shop in this town. In addition, your wife's face is weatherworn, meaning she is often outdoors, I can guess that she's probably responsible for delivering the merchandise. Third, you can't even settle down on this sofa, so obviously, it's not yours." Natsu's eyes blinked, seemingly he was pleased with the effect that his words caused. "Oh yes, and your wife wear silver earrings – that's not too noble," He added.

Melons and Lucy looked at him with saucer-wide eyes. Sin showed no reaction; in the end he knew Natsu for several years.

"Unbelievable…" Kaby whispered. He was shocked at the young man's incredible observation skills and logic – despite the bit about the sofa sounded strange. "Okay, I'm sorry about the deception, but I assure you young people, I have the money that I promised as the reward," Melon stated confidently. "It's my life's savings, if you want, I can show you the money right now."

"No need," Natsu replied. "Now I believe you, and don't worry, I have no intentions to ask why you want to get rid of this book so desperately. I'll just do my job," Natsu reached out for a handshake.

Melon accepted Natsu's hand and shook it. "I can't forgive that book's existence, it must be wiped from this world."

"You got yourself a deal, Mr. Melon. We will be back with success before nightfall. You have my word," Natsu assured him before addressing Lucy and Sin. "Very well, we should be going then. Sin, jo-chan, come on. Don't worry Mr. Melon – wiping things out is my specialty," Natsu added as he marched towards the door.

'He can't forgive the existence of the book…' Lucy thought as she turned back towards the mansion. 'Why he's willing to hand over his life savings for its destruction?'

"Darling, are you sure you can entrust the job to kids like them?" Mrs. Melon asked as she and her husband watched the wizards leave. "The other guild failed the same mission last week and from the Duke of Everlue's standing point it was nothing but a failed robbery. There is no doubt that the security has been tightened – getting into the mansion will be even more difficult."

"I know… I know that… But I have to remove that book from this world," Kaby replied as he buried his face in his hands.

---

July 5th, Year X784, 14:05, Shirotsume town, at the gates of Duke of Everlue mansion.

"Excuse me? I came to apply for the blonde-haired maid position! Is anybody there?" Lucy shouted toward the mansion, standing outside the gates. She chuckled a little as she thought of her plan. 'It's all too easy… I just have to get this job, then I'll find the book, burn it, and my mission will be completed. How should I spend my reward, I wonder…?'

About fifty meters away Natsu and Sin were sitting on a large stone. They were on standby to interfere if anything would've gone wrong, also Natsu was observing Lucy's actions.

"Good luck Lucy, do your best," Sin whispered as he watched.

"Just do what you have to, we're on stand-by," Natsu said to her.

Lucy didn't have to wait long as a gorilla maid bursted out of the ground and landed right in front of her, rendering Lucy speechless. The blonde jerked back as the gorilla maid asked, "Maid applicant?"

"Y...yes…" Lucy replied uncertainly.

"There is a girl who came for the maid position, Goshujin-sama! [Master]" The gorilla maid yelled and not long after another figure appeared. This time a short, plump, ugly man, with a moustache coming out of his nostrils, did appear; this was the Duke of Everlue himself.

"Let me see," He said and started to examine Lucy. She kept a stiff upper lip as that pathetic man stared at her, examining her straight legs, large breasts, cute face and sincere smile.

"Rejected! Go home, ugly!" He decided at last.

Lucy's face instantly became red from shock and unmasked resent. She tried to say something but the big maid lifted her in the air and said, "That's it, time to go home, ugly!"

"For someone as great as I am… Only beautiful girls would suit me, boyoyo!" Everlue said as four more maids appeared, each one uglier than the other.

"What are these… things?" Natsu was very hard to surprise person, but this time he actually seemed surprised, "Those are just an insult to all maidservants in this world…" For some reason, he seemed very displeased.

After the lesser maids made comments on Lucy's 'inferior looks', the big one tossed the poor blonde to the bushes. Natsu dashed in that direction and managed to intercept the girl before she could fall on the ground. The duke and his "maids" returned to the mansion.

---

"See, this is what I was telling you about. The client could not know that Everlue's sense of beauty was even uglier than his so-called maids. This is why you always should have a "Plan B" on standby," Natsu explained to Lucy, who was silently crying.

"How the hell could anyone call those… things beautiful!?" Lucy asked through tears. After such an offence Lucy got rid of her maid uniform at the first possible opportunity.

"Yeah, they were creepy even from my point of view…" Sin admitted.

"Anyway, jo-chan, crying after being offended is not the way of Fairy Tail, get up," Natsu ordered as he grabbed her by the collar and made her stay on feet. "You have to avenge your honor, and there's still mission to complete."

"Yes! That foolish, fat, perverted bastard is going to pay for what he has done to me!" Lucy shouted angrily as she stood beside Natsu. "So, what's the plan then?"

"Sin, go ahead and take a look at this mansion from above. Find a good infiltration point for us," Natsu commanded and the little bone dragon soared into the air. "First we have to find the book. We'll decide what to do next according to the situation," The god slayer said as he was constantly looking around.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"I have a strange feeling that we're being watched… But I can't see anyone…" He replied.

---

The Duke of Everlue was sitting in a large chair, smoking a cigar, as three figures stood around him, hidden in shadows. He watched the Fairy Tail mages through surveillance lacrima; he had the camera to zoom in on Lucy's right palm and noticed her Fairy Tail insignia.

"Mages came again in spite of the previous failures? And that mark, is it Fairy Tail this time? She was dumb enough to not hide it, but I wish they'd send me someone more beautiful at least... Now, how should I kill the mages this time? Boyoyoyo!" Everlue thought aloud. Natsu's senses did not fail him after all; they were being watched…

---

"Are you sure we can sneak in from the roof?" Lucy asked as Sin lifted her onto the roof of the mansion. Natsu was already there, looking around.

"Look by yourself," Sin replied as he pointed at Natsu who stood near an opened window. He used his telekinetic powers to open the lock from outside.

"Follow me, you two, we're entering from here. Upper floors are usually less secure than lower ones," Natsu noted as he helped Lucy to get over windowsill.

"Thanks," She said with the smile before looking around.

"Looks like it's some sort of a storage room," Sin stated as he examined several skulls that were displayed on a shelf.

"Looking for spare parts?" Natsu teased the skeletal dragon who paid too much attention to the skulls. It was quite rare occasion for him to show any emotion, so seemingly he and Sin really were good friends. "It seems there is nothing useful here, let's move out, people."

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked.

"Well, despite that Everlue person being a complete idiot, I still think we should start to look for the book in the library," Natsu suggested as he opened the storage room's door slightly. "Now, I want you to keep an eye out for anything suspicious – there may be hidden surveillance lacrimas or even traps. Be extremely cautious," Natsu gave Lucy some advices. Despite Natsu wasn't too enthusiastic about being Lucy's 'mentor', he also wasn't slacking on that part.

"Okay. I still think there is a chance to finish this mission without violence," Lucy noted.

"We'll see soon enough," Natsu shrugged, "By the way, aren't you the one who said that he's going to pay for what he said to you?

"Of course he will! In addition to burning the book I'll also hide his shoes and stuff!" Lucy exclaimed with an evil smile.

"That's… very pitiful," Sin commented as Natsu just shook his head slightly.

"We'll just complete the mission without getting noticed. Doesn't it sound cool? Just like a ninja," Lucy said as she leaned against the wall and slowly moved across it.

"Ninja? Sorry Lucy but I forgot my Sharingan at home…" Natsu replied with little enthusiasm.

They stopped at each door to take a quick peek inside to see if there are any bookshelves. In one of the rooms Natsu noticed a nice little golden mirror, decorated with diamonds. Unlike most of Everlue's stuff, this one was graceful. Natsu made sure Lucy did not look in his direction, took the mirror and hid it in his coat's internal pocket.

---

"It's taking too much time…" Natsu looked around. "And time is a luxury I don't have. C'mon Sin, let's find someone and beat the information out of him," Crimson energy shrouded Natsu's palms.

"Nah… Torturing people is boring," Sin waved Natsu off. "Just blow up some walls so we could stop checking each door." He leaned to Natsu's ear and whispered, "Just wipe out witnesses' memory afterwards."

"I'd prefer to not use that technique carelessly… But with current circumstances… Alright," Natsu agreed and took a deep breath, preparing to use his magic, "Senjin no Do…"

"NO!" Lucy dashed in front of Natsu, who managed to cancel his spell at the last moment.

"Are you insane?" Natsu wondered, looking at Lucy as if she's an idiot, "You want to take a direct hit from my spell?"

"No! I want you to be quiet!" She shouted back.

"We're running out of time Lucy, I want to complete mission and get my reward today," Natsu said and Lucy shivered a little. No, his eyes didn't flash and he didn't raise his voice, that was just that 'intent' mixed into his words… Lucy instinctively made a step back, but suddenly she felt the ground shaking a little, before all five ugly maids from before bursted out of the floor.

"Intruders detected!" The four smaller maids shouted, each holding house cleaning stuff as weapons while the largest one was bare-handed.

"Eliminate the targets!" The large maid told the others as they charged at Fairy Tail mages.

"Looks like the ball's in our court, after all," Natsu's eyes blazed with red light "Senjin no Dogō!" [War God's Howl]

A flow of crimson energy produced a large explosion, sending the lesser maids crashing to the floor. "Senjin no Saiken!" [War God's Crashing Fist] Natsu slammed his fist into the gorilla-maid's abdomen, smashing her into the wall at the opposite side of the room. She made a breach in the wall with her body as she was knocked out, revealing a room with some long bookcases in it; they have found the library.

"Oh, I guess we're in luck," Natsu pointed at the hole in the wall. "Follow me people, let's go find that book," Natsu walked through the hole and moved to the library, stepping on the unconscious gorilla-maid.

Sin followed right behind him while Lucy stood there and just stared at the god slayer with wide eyes. "Are you just going to stand there?" Lil dragon asked.

Lucy snapped out of her shock as she heard Sin's words and ran after them. "Hey, wait for me!" She followed them into the room that indeed seemed to be a library. "Did you know that library was here or…"

"Nope, I just relied on fate – it's one of my mother's domains after all. I sent this maid flying in a random direction and got lucky," Natsu replied as if it was just like it should be as he walked over to one side of the room and started looking through the books. "Luck is also a part of one's strength, always remember that. Now, Sin, jo-chan, start looking for the book."

Lucy couldn't understand how it is possible for one man to switch between cold logic and relying upon fate so fast. However, she knew that Natsu was right about one thing – the sooner they'll find the book, the sooner they'll be able to get out of here. She went to the opposite side of the room and started to sort through books while Sin was looking on the higher shelves.

"That Duke of Everlue looks stupid, but he has a good collection of books," Lucy commented as she examined one book. "If he reads all of these, I'll respect him a little bit…"

Natsu, however, had an opposite opinion. "Sin, just look at all that – all these books suck… Snotty novels, boring adventures, to think someone would fill the entire library with such stuff…" God slayer said with disappointment.

"What genres do you prefer?" Lucy asked with a steady voice, despite Natsu just now insulted her favorite genres: romantic and adventure novels.

"History and magical science of course," Natsu shrugged as if it should have been quite obvious, "Knowledge is power, so of course I'm interested in secrets of gods, monster and mythical warriors from time immemorial." Lucy giggled at his answer – it seems that, despite his all his power and IQ, deep inside his soul this guy was still a kid. Though, she probably just misunderstood him…

"Well, this explains a lot," Natsu said as he looked at the huge section of hentai books. "However, maybe heroines in there have everything to do with his 'maids'..." He looked somewhere aside.

"Hey Natsu, take a look at this," Sin said as he flew to the god slayer and dropped a book with a golden cover into his arms.

"What do we have here?" Natsu asked as he started to examine the book. "Oh, that's it, well done, Sin." He flipped through several pages before calling for the stellar mage, "Jo-chan, get over here, we found it."

"Huh?" Lucy turned to Natsu and saw the book in his hand. "Daybreak!" She exclaimed joyfully. "Nice job guys!" She moved toward Natsu to take a closer look at the book. "Why were we allowed to find it so easily?"

"I can't understand…" Natsu said quietly, as he continued flipping through the pages, "This book is a complete mess. Even if we took its genre out of consideration, it is still awful. Why would anyone want to get rid of it? Here, take a look at this," Natsu held the book out to Lucy.

"HUH? Natsu, look!" Lucy cried out as she quickly grabbed the book from Natsu's hands. "Its… its author… is Kemu Zaleon!"

"Never heard of him," Natsu said indifferently.

"He was a mage as well as a writer!" Lucy explained; her face became filled with rapture and stars shined around her as she raised the book into the air. "I'm a big fan of his! I thought I've read all of Kemu Zaleon's titles! Does that mean this one is unpublished? Amazing!"

"Well, it's good that this one was never published – it's completely pathetic, as if it was written by a schoolboy," Natsu commented as Lucy started to flip through pages.

"Yeah… You're right… but… it's so weird… This can't be Kemu…" Lucy was quite baffled.

"Whatever Lucy, probably it's just a fake. Let's save the honor of this Kemu of yours. Give me the book and I'll blast it," Natsu reached out his gloved left hand.

"Wait, Natsu, we can't! Something's wrong with this book, we can't just blow it up!" Lucy retorted, taking a few steps back.

"Who cares, Lucy? We came here not for an investigation, give it to me," Natsu took a few steps toward her.

"But I can't leave it like this!" Lucy refused.

"Lucy, my honor as a mage is at stake here, as well as my money, which I need to win our… my bet. I gave my word that today this book will cease to exist, and it will, along with you, if needed," Nats's declared… though, that was a joke… probably. He was about to use his telekinetic power to tear the book from Lucy's hands when he felt someone approaching.

"I see, I see… Boyoyoyoyoyo!" A voice called out as a figure came bursting out of the floor. "So that's what you guys were after!" The Duke of Everlue appeared with that idiotic smile on his face. "I was wondering what the mages were looking for so frantically," He said as he landed on the floor and smirked at the three mages. "I'm glad to allow you guys to do whatever, I'm a genius boyoyo…" His introduction was abruptly interrupted by Natsu's spell.

"Senjin no Dogō!" A crimson whirlwind came crashing down right on the spot where Everlue was a moment ago, producing a powerful explosion and creating a huge hole in the floor. Natsu obviously had no intentions of hearing that old fool any further.

"You could at least hear me out to the end!" Everlue yelled indignantly. A few moments later he appeared high in the wall near the ceiling.

"Senjin no Bakusō!" [War God's Explosive Spear] The god slayer hurled a massive magic spear composed of crimson energy into Everlue. Another blast shook the entire mansion, creating a huge hole in the ceiling.

"It's useless, Everlue," Sin commented "He thinks of you as of a worm and the heir of Morrigan-sama will not speak to worms."

'Sorry Natsu, but I can't leave it like this. I have to solve this mystery,' Lucy thought to herself as she sat down on the floor and started to read the book.

"Resistance is useless," Sin warned Everlue, "Just run away while you still can."

"Bullshit! I won't tolerate this! How dare you to attack me inside my own house! Come forth, Vanish Brothers!" Everlue commanded with a snap of his fingers. Natsu turned his head to see two book shelves began to move as a secret entrance opened and two figures appeared from behind it.

"It's finally time for business," The lesser figure said.

"If we get paid without doing actual work mama will get mad at us," The taller one added.

They stepped out of the shadows. "Good afternoon," The lesser guy said. He wore a long ponytail and was dressed in a white shirt with dark pants.

"These brats are the mages of Fairy Tail? Mama would be surprised, too," The tall guy added. He had a stupid haircut and wore a blue high collar shirt and light grey trousers.

"The Southern Wolves are always hungry for their next game. Prepare to die, thieves, boyoyoyoyo," Everlue laughed aloud.

"Well, it is the first time in my life that someone has sent clowns to amuse me during a fight," Natsu commented on the Vanish Brothers' appearance.

"What did you call us?! I'm gonna tell mama!" The taller brother yelled.

"Calm down, you gotta cool down!" The brother in the white shirt appeased.

"This is… Can it be…" Lucy whispered to herself, shivering a little. "Natsu, buy me some time, okay? I have to dig to the middle of it," Lucy asked as she stood up. "This book seems to hold some kind of a secret – I have to find it!"

"Secret?" Natsu asked. "Alright Lucy, it seems that this house needs a cleanup anyway, so until I'll be done with them you can do whatever. And find another place to read, it's gonna be too hot in here soon…" Natsu looked at his opponents with emotionless eyes. Everlue was still hiding inside the walls.

'S-secret? I didn't notice when I read it. Might it be a treasure map or something?! I've gotta act quickly!' Everlue thought before he rushed to find Lucy. "Change of plan! Vanish brothers, obliterate the brat! I'll get her myself!" He commanded as his voice faded away.

"Sin, go after Lucy, help her if needed and keep an eye on that book. I'll deal with these insects," Natsu ordered.

"Yes sir!" Sin saluted and rushed after Lucy.

"Now, what I was doing?" Natsu asked himself. "Ah, yes, I was about to squash two bugs. You two made quite an appearance, but now you should disappear."

"He's totally making fun of us!" The taller one exclaimed, he was getting even angrier.

"Shall we put him in his place then?" The shorter one asked. "Do you know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" He addressed Natsu.

"Can't find a suitable girlfriend? That's an exaggeration, besides, it's no longer an issue for me," Natsu replied with still the same emotionless voice.

"I… I don't really understand you… Is that something personal?" The shorter one asked.

"He's totally talking trash to us!" The taller one yelled.

"Their weakness is their bodies!" The brother in the white shirt shouted as he charged towards Natsu with the large frying pan but Natsu easily dodged with a simple step aside. The second brother jumped into the air and tried to grab Natsu by his coat, but failed as Natsu made another step aside.

Natsu's katana shone beautifully in his left hand.

"This brat really thinks he can beat us?!" The taller one said angrily.

"To train oneself in magic takes discipline of mental focus!" The shorter one started.

"And as a result, you end up lacking the training of your body!" The taller one finished.

"Stop wasting my time, just come at me and meet your faith," Natsu said as he pointed Gladius Terminus toward them.

"Brother, let's do the combination attack!" The taller one called out.

"Okay!" the shorter one replied. He moved the frying pan out in front of him and the taller one jumped on it and prepared to attack.

"Saigo no Idō: Tenchi Shōmetsu Satsubou!" The Vanish Brothers called out. "No one has ever experienced this attack and survived."

"Words, words…" Natsu said indifferently. He watched as the shorter brother sent the taller one into the air with an upward swing.

"Face toward heaven and... earth is where we will be!" The shorter one shouted as he tried to slam his pan against Natsu. The frying pan clashed with Gladius Terminus and was shattered to pieces. Natsu winded the brother in white shirt with full force, smashing him into the opposite wall.

"Face the earth and… heaven is where we will be!" The taller one yelled as he dived at Natsu from above with his fists in front of him. Natsu sliced the air with Gladius Terminus, creating a high-pressure front. The brother in blue clashed with it and lost all of his speed, falling to the floor only to meet with Natsu's boot with his face. Natsu's blow sent him crashing into his brother.

"Impossible! What a mage you are!?" The shorter brother yelled past his brother, who was nursing a broken nose.

"Let me give you an advice, for the next lives," Natsu pronounced emotionlessly, "If you look dangerous, then you should be dangerous." He raised his sword, Gladius Terminus, and swung it, sending shockwave at brothers, landing a direct hit and destroying some part of the wall. The mercenaries were knocked unconscious and buried under wall's remains. Natsu took a deep breath and consumed their unreleased aggression.

"Raito Bīmu!" [Light Beam] A beam of light magic suddenly landed a direct hit on Natsu, almost catching him off-guard. He sliced the beam with his sword, but force of inertia pushed him back. He landed on feet, but the room seemingly took too much damage, it began to crumble, as wall between library and lobby collapsed completely. Natsu was forced to jump down, on lobby's floor.

Whoever attacked him was skillful to some extent – she managed to hide her presence until she decided to attack (spellcaster's voice belonged to young woman). "Delays, always delays… why you people have no respect to others' urgent affairs?" He inquired, his voice was still emotionless but his eyes were glowing with crimson light.

"Arrogant as ever," Same young woman's voice said. A few moments later voice's owner appeared on the second floor's balcony. It appeared to be a girl (about two years older than Natsu) with a slender body, large breasts and cute face. She had long, raven-black hair and large green eyes. She was dressed in a dark blue t-shirt, short black skirt and beige sandals on her feet.

"I'm in hurry, so I'm giving you ten seconds to ease your soul before I reduce you to pulp. Tell me who are you and what are you doing here?" Natsu demanded as he examined the girl, Everlue's employees were ugly and foolish, just like duke himself. This girl definitely seems different…

"He just hired me as a bodyguard. It's just a job. He's disgusting and calls me ugly, but the payment is good and I'm still in need of money... thanks to you, Natsu Bloodfallen," Raven-haired girl explained.

Natsu didn't get her last phrase, "Thanks to me? Have I ever seen you before?"

"As expected of you, Bloodfallen, you don't even remember? Year 781, March 28. You ambushed me, we had a fight and I lost. And you took all of my money as a 'punishment' for my 'weakness'. Back then my father was seriously ill, so to continue to pay for his treatment I had no choice but to take a loan and I'm still paying off my debt. You can't imagine how much anger I felt each time I saw your name or face in the magazines… And you can't imagine the joy I felt when I saw you through surveillance lacryma. I had no doubts that those two idiots were no match for you. And now, at last, I got my chance for vengeance!"

Natsu listened to her speech silently. Year 781, March 28 – about two months before Natsu joined Fairy Tail. It was not the first time when shadows of shameful deeds of his past caught up with him, but each time it was equally unpleasant. "I have nothing to say to you…" The god slayer pronounced as he looked at her. "If we have a rematch, will it make you feel better? If so, I'm at your service, but despite our reasons to fight have changed, the outcome will not."

"We'll see about that! Time to die, dirty robber! Raito Sufia!" [Light Sphere] She cast a spell as she jumped from the balcony. A large and extremely bright sphere of pure light flew toward Natsu.

"Let battle rejoice! Senjin no Bakusō!" Natsu hurled his crimson spear to counter the girl's magic. Their spells clashed, producing a bright flash and a powerful shockwave that literally split the lobby in two halves. "So, it's okay for you to break your employer's house?" Natsu asked, examining the damage done.

"I don't care – he's even more disgusting than you! Iryūjon Raito! [Illusive Light]" Dozens of tentacles composed of light appeared from girl's magic seal and attempted to attack Natsu. "Senjin no Dogō!" Natsu's breath clashed with the girl's magic and destroyed all of the tentacles, producing a powerful blast and eliciting a dense cloud of dust. Using his ability to sense human souls, Natsu found the girl through the dust and dashed to her location. "Senjin no Saiken!" Natsu dealt a crushing blow right into the girl's chest and smashed her into the floor.

However, she was not finished yet, "Fainaru Supāku!" [Final Spark]

Natsu did not expect her to recover so fast after his blow and got a direct hit from her broad, laser-like beam of light. He was thrown back, across the whole room. The girl stood up and sent another spell at Natsu. "Reinbō Sutoraiku!" [Rainbow Strike] This time Natsu was prepared. "Senjin no Sōken!" [War God's Twin Blades] Natsu's long twin blades clashed with a ray of rainbow light and another shockwave shook the mansion, knocking the girl down.

"Not bad," Natsu admitted. He could say that this girl is stronger than that criminal he defeated a few days ago, in Hargeon, whose name he already forgot. "But I didn't joke when I said that I'm running out of time… I have neither need nor desire to hurt you anymore, so make yourself a favor and give up."

"Never!" She yelled. She took a lot of damage and was breathing heavily, but still got back on her feet. "Let's finish this!" She prepared to cast another spell.

Natsu sighed, "I have nothing against you… But if it has to end this way – so be it…" He raised his arms to the skies…

"Fainaru Supāku!"

"Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!" [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath]

---

*A few minutes earlier*

Lucy was sitting on a path in the sewers, using her Kazeyomi no Megane [Wind-force Reading Glasses] to read the book. Her whole body was shivering due to things she just learned. At last, she finished and closed the book, removing her glasses. "Fuuuh…" She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"I… I wouldn't have imagined that it had… such a secret… I can't let this book be destroyed… I have to deliver it to Kaby-san…" Lucy murmured to herself as she stood up.

"Boyoyoyo… Carrying around the wind reading glasses… You really are a great reader, aren't you?" Everlue shouted as his arms came out from the wall. Before Lucy could react, he grabbed her wrists tightly. Lucy's keys fell from her belt as Everlue's face popped out of the wall.

"Ouch!" Lucy screamed.

"Now, do tell. What did you find? What is the secret of the book?" Everlue asked with insolent and very stupid grin.

"Y-you are pathetic! You are the enemy of literature!" Lucy shouted, trying to ignore the pain in her wrists.

"An enemy of literature?! And you're saying that to me, a great and highly educated man?" Everlue screamed angrily as he tightened his grip on Lucy's wrist, trying to force her to let go of the book.

"How can a guy who has a bunch of weird maids be highly educated?!" Lucy exclaimed as she continued her unsuccessful attempts to break away from Everlue's grip. "Ouch!"

"Don't insult my beautiful blond maids!" Everlue bellowed as his grip got even tighter. "What secret does the book have? Is it a treasure map? A hidden fortune?! Say it! If you don't say it, I'll break your arms!" Everlue threatened.

Lucy desperately looked at her keys, only to see that she can't reach them. Powerless, Lucy stuck out her tongue at duke and elicited a childish "Bweeee" sound.

This gesture pissed Everlue off. "Behave yourself, brat! That is my book!" He yelled. "I made Kemu Zaleon write it! So, the secret of the book is mine, too!" Everlue stated in frustration.

Lucy gritted her teeth in pain as Everlue's grip got even more tight, but then she suddenly felt a wave of cold air and out the corner of her eye she noticed a bolt of dark blue magic that hit Everlue's face.

"What the!…" Everlue yelled as he grabbed his own face, releasing Lucy's wrists.

Lucy jumped away from the wall and turned around, she noticed the little boney dragon-like creature several meters away from herself. "Sin!" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed her keys from the floor.

Sin waved to her with his little boney claw and commented, "Don't think of me as of a flying puppy, I know some magical tricks too."

"Nice, you are so cool!" Lucy exclaimed with a smile as Sin landed on water's surface, creating a little round ice floe beneath himself. Lucy remembered he had done the same after carrying her off Bora's ship.

"What the heck is this creature?" Everlue questioned as he stared at Sin.

"My name is Sin," Lil dragon answered. "And I'm here to help Lucy whilst Natsu obliterates your servants one-by-one, along with your mansion."

"Looks like the tables have turned, huh? If you give me this book, I may forgive you, though I want to hit you at least once," Lucy said with a bold smile as she pointed one of her gold keys toward Everlue.

"Ah ha! You are Seirei Madōshi, huh? Boyoyoyo!" Everlue said as an evil grin came to his face. "You're a fun of literature, yet you're using that phrase incorrectly. You should say 'The tables have turned' only when your position has turned from a disadvantage to an advantage. Anyhow, you won't be able to surpass my Tsuchi Mahō: Daibā just because you have some weird creature on your side, boyoyoyoyo!" A magic seal appeared on Everlue's back and he sank into the ground.

"So, it was magic… It is true then, Everlue is a mage, too!" Lucy exclaimed as she watched the old pervert dive into the floor.

"What was true?" Sin asked.

"It was written in this book!" Lucy started to explain, dodging Everlue's attacks as he was bursting out from the ground at random points. She flipped and jumped as he tried to strike her down. "This is an awful adventure novel with Duke of Everlue as a main character," Lucy exclaimed angrily.

"Really? What fool would want to write a novel about such an idiot?" Sin wondered.

"Exactly! This is why I got suspicious about this book in the first place!" Lucy agreed.

"It's wonderful that I'm the main character, but its contents are crap!" Everlue shouted as he continued his attempts to catch Lucy. "He is Kemu Zaleon and yet he wrote such a piece of crap! Outrageous!"

"You forced him to write it! How can you act so high and mighty?!" Lucy retorted as she avoided another one of Everlue's attacks.

"I am high and mighty! It should've been an honor for him to write a book about me!" Everlue stated as he appeared from the ceiling.

"You threatened him to write it!" Lucy growled angrily.

"Threatened? How?" Sin wondered.

"So what?" Everlue asked as he popped out of the wall next to Lucy, curling his moustache. "It's his own fault for refusing me in the first place!" The old pervert replied.

"Aha…" Lucy yawned, her whole appearance was expressing contempt towards that foolish man.

"I allowed him to write a book with my high and mighty self as the main character, but that idiot dared to reject the offer!" Everlue explained, as he seemed to swim across the floor and walls. "That's why I told him that if he won't write it, I'll withdraw the citizenship of all of his relatives!" Everlue boasted.

"Withdraw their citizenship? If that happens you can't join merchant or workmen guild," Sin explained. "This is what Natsu told you about – in towns like this one, even such worms like this one can have almost an absolute authority."

"I know, and now I'm about to agree with him. I knew that some parts of the land still ran under feudalism, but I couldn't imagine that everything was so bad," Lucy said.

"In the end he gave in and wrote it!" Everlue shouted victoriously as he popped out right beneath Lucy and caught her leg. "But the fact that he rejected me once got me angry, so I made him write it in the solitary cell! Boyoyoyoyo! I crushed his pride as a distinguished writer!" Everlue joyfully remembered this moment.

"How could you go that far just to get what you want? Could you imagine how he felt, being in that solitary cell for three years?!" Lucy asked angrily as she managed to release her leg from Duke's grip

"Three years?" Sin asked, "He spent three years for one book? He worked quite responsibly…"

"He realized my greatness!" Everlue let out a creepy laugh as he swam along the floor on his back.

"Not a chance!" Lucy exclaimed. "It was a fight with his own pride! If he hadn't written it, his family would've been in danger! But writing a book about a big idiot like you… A writer's pride wouldn't allow such a thing to happen!" Lucy yelled at Everlue.

"You… How do you know so many details?" Everlue inquired.

"It's all written in this book!" Lucy said, holding the book up in front of her.

"Huh? I've read that book, but Kemu Zaleon never appeared in there!" The Duke was quite surprised.

"Of course, it's just an awfully disappointing story for the fans if you read this in a normal way. But you should know about it, right? Kemu Zaleon started off as a mage," Lucy explained.

"What?... No way!" Everlue exclaimed angrily. He realized everything now.

"He used his last power to cast magic onto this book!" Lucy declared.

"Did he make it so that sentences of his grudge would show up after releasing the magic? Unforgivable!" The duke yelled as he angrily stared at the book in Lucy's hands.

"Your mind is so shallow… True, it does have the process of completing the book written in it. But that is not what Kemu Zaleon wanted to leave behind in this book. The real truth is something else!" Lucy said as she avoided another bunch of Everlue's attacks.

"You love to speak in riddles, don't you?" Sin commented on Lucy's reply.

"What? True secret?!" Everlue questioned in confusion.

"That's why I won't give this book to you! You don't have a right to possess it! Open, Gate of the Giant Crab - Kyansā!" Lucy waved a hand with a golden key in it, drawing a magic seal. A few moments later a magic seal elicited a large smoke cloud, with the figure of a man, shrouded in it.

"And after that they call me weird?" Sin commented as the cloud dissolved, revealing the summoned stellar spirit. He looked like a man who was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and black leather pants with a chain on his right leg. There were six red crab legs extending from his back, and two antennas on his head above his red cornrows. He had two large pairs of scissors rested with handles that resembled claws in each hand.

Suddenly, the entire mansion (including sewers) shook violently due to a powerful explosion that happened upstairs.

"What the hell?!" Everlue yelled, "That damn ugly girl should protect my house, rather than helping in its destruction!"

"Lucy… what kind of hairstyle would you like today-ebi?" Cancer asked, preparing a razor.

"Can't you see what's going on right now!?" Lucy was freaked out by the spirit's question. "It's a battle! Finish that moustache guy off!"

"Okay-ebi!" Cancer replied as he got into a battle stance.

'Another secret? There's still something else? Could he have written about the illegal nature of my business? Crap! If the book is passed onto a mage inspector from the council… I'M DOOMED!' the duke thought in panic, "NUOOOH!" Everlue quickly reached into his jacket and pulled out a gold key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden – Barugo!"

"Eh?" Lucy gulped in surprise as she saw magic similar to her own being used.

The same gorilla-maid that Natsu had knocked out earlier bursted out of the magical seal on the ground. "How may I help you, Goshujin-sama!?" She asked with a voice that sounded like it came from deep within her chest.

"Virgo, retrieve that book at once!" Everlue commanded.

"She's… She is a Celestial Spirit!?" Lucy blurted out.

"Ebi," Cancer nodded.

"Everlue, you still did not understand that resistance is useless?" Sin asked as another blast shook the entire building.

"What the hell is going on up there?!" Everlue asked angrily.

Suddenly, Sin soared in the air and dashed to Lucy. "Lucy! Jump into the water! Now!"

"What?! This is sewer's water! No way I'm going there!" Lucy protested.

"Shut up and jump!" Sin shouted as he pushed the blonde into the water and followed her. Copying the actions of his mistress, Cancer jumped into the water as well.

"What the hell!" Lucy screamed but Sin grabbed her and forced her to get underwater.

"Get down blonde!" Lil dragon shouted as he felt Natsu's magic even from sewers and realized that he is going to unleash the God Slayer's Secret Art.

---

"Fainaru Supāku!"

"Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"

Natsu created a huge missile composed of twisting crimson energy, and hurled it towards his opponent. The missile clashed with girl's laser-like beam and easily overpowered it. Within a fraction of a second it landed a direct hit. An immensely powerful explosion obliterated the entire mansion, replacing it with a large crater and a huge mushroom cloud.

"I warned you…" Natsu said quietly as he came closer to the girl's body. She was lying there, utterly defeated and barely alive. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. There were no signs that a mansion has ever stood there, only the lower part of the basement and sewers remained. "But that should take care of everything…"

---

July 5th, Year X784, 16:45, Shirotsume town's outskirts.

Lucy emerged from the water and immediately fell into a deep shock. Just a few moments ago she was in an underground sewer, but now she was outdoors. "What happened?" Blonde asked as she stared at the blue skies, she was in some sort of a trance. Lucy slowly climbed out of the water and looked around. The sewer's ceiling was no more – the remaining walls were about one meter in height.

"Natsu happened," Sin replied simply as he emerged from the water. Everlue's body was lying nearby, it looked like he was caught in the explosion and was knocked out completely, as well as Virgo. "Lucy, are you alright?" Boney dragon asked as the stellar mage senselessly stared into space. She was filled with strange feeling after what had just happened.

"Jo-chan, time is up. Any success with the book?" Natsu's called out for her.

Lucy snapped out of her trance-like condition as she heard his voice and turned to face him, still pressing the book to her chest. "Natsu? Have you destroyed the mansion?" Lucy asked with widened eyes.

"Yeah, it seemed like the best way to clean up here," Natsu replied.

"See you-ebi," Cancer said as he disappeared with the flash of blue light.

"Natsu, who is this?" Sin asked, pointing at the girl over the god slayer's shoulder.

"One of my old acquaintances," Natsu answered calmly. "She was one of Everlue's bodyguards. We can talk about it later, c'mon you two, let's get out of here before the military shows up."

---

July 5th, Year X784, 17:10, Shirotsume town.

"I have to admit, you've done an extravagant job, jo-chan. I did not notice that book was enchanted," Natsu praised Lucy after she and Sin told him about Kemu. He still carried defeated girl on his shoulder.

"I didn't feel any magic in it, either, however, it has terrible grammar and development, so there's no way I'd believe that Kemu Zaleon wrote this!" Lucy explained her reasons. "That's why I thought that there was a secret, in this book!"

"Looks like that guy was a good writer. I still think that turning from mage into writer is a waste of talent though – it is much better to do things rather than write about them," He added. Lucy gave a small sigh.

They walked along the river towards the mansion that the Melons have borrowed. Natsu felt the girl on his shoulder moved a little. It seemed that she's about to regain consciousness. "Now, guys, I want to speak with her a little, and I suggest you two to go swim in the river a bit, this smell is just awful," Natsu pointed towards the river.

"Oh!" Lucy yelped as her cheeks blushed slightly. She was still in slight shock, also it seemed that she had grown accustomed to the smell, so she forgot that they had a 'swimming lesson' in sewer water. "Among other things, we ended up in the sewers thanks to your thirst for annihilation!" The stellar mage stated angrily as magical bone dragon lifted her in the air and carried her towards the river.

Natsu put the girl under a large tree, leaning her back against the trunk. About one minute later she opened her eyes. She slowly looked around, trying to understand where she is.

"Does that hurt much?" Natsu addressed her, looking somewhere aside.

"What do you think?" She replied, her voice was still too weak to give out much emotion.

"I don't know, but I hope that hurts like hell, otherwise it all will be for nothing," Natsu said calmly.

The girl chuckled and her face distorted in pain. "Ouch… It DOES hurt like hell…" She moved her leg a bit. "Why didn't you finish me off? Obviously, I'm no match for you, not even close."

"Oh, c'mon, you are not that stupid as to ask such questions. What's the benefit in killing young, cute girls? I'm aware of that you aren't bad person," Natsu looked into her eyes, "What's your name?"

The girl hesitated for a few seconds but decided that there is nothing wrong in telling him, "Celia."

"Celia… Your name is cute, too. Somehow it makes me think about the sea…" Natsu said with strange face expression. Was it a smile? "You know, some people have extremely keen hearing or sense of smell… Well, I don't have any of it. Instead, my heavenly eyes possess the ability to distinguish humans' souls, to see their true nature. This is why I was so surprised to see you among Everlue's lackeys."

"Three days ago, I heard about him in the local tavern, someone said that the Duke of Everlue decided to tighten security. So I came to him, looking for a job. He said I'm ugly and those two idiots were constantly insulting me, yet I got the job and payment was good," Celia explained.

"Three days ago…" Natsu pronounced, "Then you probably didn't do anything that could stain your reputation due to your work for that old imbecile… Well, you shouldn't worry, no one will find you here, and Everlue's words will be meaningless. Listen, …jo-chan (he already forgot her name), probably I'm the last person in Fiore with whom you would like to talk about that, but, your father, has he got better?" Natsu inquired.

"Yes, though he is still recovering, thus he is still unable to work himself… Why am I even telling you all of this?" She asked, probably herself.

"Maybe because I'm the only one who's willing to listen?" Natsu asked with some irony mixed into his emotionless words as he took the checkbook and golden pen from his internal pocked.

"I don't need your pity!" Celia said when she realized his intentions.

"Pity? I have no such word in my vocabulary," Natsu replied, signing a check. "But I'm always paying off my debts. Three years ago, I took 220,000 jewels from you and now I'm paying you back, with some additional interest," Natsu explained. He signed a check for 350 000. Celia was still unable to move her arms so Natsu put the check in her skirt's pocket. "The decision about what to do with it is up to you. I can see that you are still very angry at me, but you don't hate me, so I think you will make the right choice."

Celia did not reply, she just thought about his actions before asking, "You think I'm cute?"

Natsu had no liking in stating obvious things, yet he replied, "Yes, it's quite obvious. Why did you ask?"

"Because three years ago you insulted my looks many times," She replied with narrowed eyes.

"Oh… yeah, I guess for that I also should apologize to you…" Natsu said quietly. "Not that insulting you were my real intentions, I tried to enrage you so you could provide some better challenge…" God slayer turned towards the river. "I have to go, my friends are waiting. One more thing, jo-chan, find yourself a guild. I agree, position of a freelancer mage gives some advantages, but… it's not worth it, trust me… You can improve your magic faster in the atmosphere of friendly rivalry and you always can find someone who will listen to your story. We all have some stories, aren't we?" Natsu said. "And get stronger. Justice, righteousness, judgment – all that is for the strong only," He added as he waved his goodbye. The god slayer couldn't see it, but she smiled a little…

---

July 5th, Year X784, 17:35, Shirotsume town.

"But how about your word? You promised to destroy the book," Lucy asked as they approached the mansion where Kaby and his wife were waiting for them.

"My word will be fine. If you're right, my promise will be fulfilled, because the book "Daybreak" will cease to exist. If not – you will cease to exist instead," Natsu shrugged. Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Natsu, how many times I have to tell you that death threats are unsuitable for jokes?" Sin scolded him. The magical, small boney creature was riding on Lucy's shoulder.

A few minutes later, the three were inside the mansion.

"You're back? Already?" Kaby asked hopefully, "Your mission was successful?"

"It was the only possible outcome," Natsu replied. "It turned out even better that I expected, jo-chan, go ahead, it's your success."

Lucy made a step forward and handed the book to Mr. Melon.

"Wh-what are you doing? If I remember correctly, I asked you to destroy it," Kaby said as he stared at the book.

"It's not that hard to destroy it. You can do it yourself, Kaby-san," Lucy noted.

"Then I'll incinerate it!" Mr. Melon roughly snatched the book from Lucy's hands "I don't even… want to look at it!"

"I understand why you cannot tolerate the existence of this book. It's to protect your father's pride, you are the son of Kemu Zaleon, aren't you?" Lucy asked, shocking Kaby and his wife.

"I told you, she too can put two and two together. Never underestimate blondes…" Natsu whispered to Sin.

"H-how… did you know…?" Kaby stuttered

"Have you ever read this book?" Lucy asked.

"No… I've heard of it from my father, but never read it…" Kaby admitted. "But it'd be a waste of time to read it. My father told me that… This book is a piece of trash…"

"Didn't you ever want to know why he thought so?" Natsu asked. He always thought that life without some healthy curiosity is a bleak one.

"Your father has not explained anything, did he?" Lucy asked.

"Yes… My father was greatly ashamed to have written Daybreak," Kaby started his tale. "Thirty-one years ago, my father came home after being gone for three years. Without even saying "hello" or explaining anything to me, he took a meat axe and cut off his right arm." Lucy gulped as Kaby continued, "After that I went to visit him in the hospital. I yelled at him, spat many insults about his pride and capability of being a father. I was extremely angry with him. Soon after my visit father committed suicide." Natsu noticed tears in Lucy's eyes as she listened to the story. "I hated him even after he passed away. I hated him also for the fact that he was too weak to stand up for himself. But as time passed by, I came to regret the words I had spoken that day… Maybe if I hadn't said such terrible things, he wouldn't have committed suicide," Kaby concluded.

"Now that story was a waste of time…" Sin whispered to Natsu and God slayer nodded.

"That's why I wanted to eliminate this piece of trash from the world… Only with this atonement he can regain his pride as a writer. Now, my father's will…" Mr. Melon said as he lit a match and moved it closer to the book.

"You're wrong," Lucy said simply as the book suddenly began to glow.

"What is this?!" Kaby gasped. He released the book as letters started to spring up from the pages.

"Zukea Melon, under the alias of Kemu Zaleon, cast a spell on this book," Lucy explained.

"Spell?" Kaby wondered as Natsu and Sin silently watched the light show. The title on the cover of the book began to rearrange itself and soon revealed itself as '"Dear Kaby" by Zukea Melon'.

"Dear Kaby?" Kaby read aloud as the letters settled.

"Yes, he cast a spell that shuffled the characters in the book, including the contents and everything else." As Lucy explained, all the letters in the book shot out and started to rearrange themselves, circling and filling the room with light.

"The reason he quit being a writer… was not only because he wrote the worst book in existence, but probably because he also wrote the best book in existence. The best book, which contains letter to you, Kaby-san," Lucy said as letters continued to dance across the room.

As the book's glow faded, it fell into Kaby's hands. He remembered the last thing his father said: 'You. You were always on my mind.'

"That is what Kemu Zaleon truly wanted to leave behind," Lucy smiled as Natsu clapped her shoulder in approval.

"Dad… I never… really… understood him…" Kaby cried as he looked through the pages.

"Of course! If you understand how a writer's mind works, you'll lose all the pleasure in reading a book!" Lucy stated with a satisfied smile.

"Thank you… I can't burn this book…" Kaby said as he hugged the book closer to his chest.

"Mr. Melon," Natsu asked for attention, "Two more things before we talk about the reward. First, I have something for you, too. Maybe my gift is much more down-to-earth, but still…" Natsu said as he handed some paper to the Mr. Melon. "The fee for your father's work. 1 300 000 Jewels for writing the book Daybreak… oh, right…" Natsu pointed his finger at the paper and word Daybreak transformed itself into Dear Kaby. "That's better. Despite you're giving your life savings to us as a rewaqrd, you still will be able expand your business using this money."

"Where did you get it?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"We've searched through almost the entire mansion," Natsu replied, pointing at obvious, "And I have very good eyes."

"I… I do not know what to say… I… how may I thank you for it?" Kaby stuttered.

"Easily. Tomorrow ERA's inspector will show up, let him take a look at this book. As well as the letter it also contains the proofs about Everlue's criminal activity via abuse of magic. It will be enough to put him in a cell for a long time and no one will ask our guild for compensation for the destroyed mansion. The law does not protect criminals."

"Ok… Okay, gladly," Kaby agreed, he didn't feel any sympathy towards duke.

"Very well then, now about our reward…" Natsu went down to business.

---

July 5th, Year X784, 19:45, on the road to Magnolia.

Lucy, Natsu and Sin were on their way back to Magnolia in an open carriage.

"Alright, I know it's none of my business, but I want to remind you that one million jewels are much but not too much, try to not spend all of the money in one go," Natsu suggested as he observed Lucy's daydreaming.

"What?! Of course I won't!" Lucy exclaimed indignantly, despite the fact that mentally she was wandering across all of the Magnolia's shops just now. "You think I don't know the value of money?"

"Oh, I'm sure you do. Despite the fact that you grew up in a very rich family, I assume that you were not spoiled with money," Natsu replied.

Lucy gulped at his statement. "Wh… Why do you think I've grown up in a very rich family?" She asked nervously.

"I don't think, I know that you did grow up in a rich family," Natsu replied. "You see, people usually disclose themselves with insignificant things. You do not attach any importance to this, but your speech, your gestures, your gait, even your smile – all of that almost screaming that you were surrounded by a large number of teachers and trainers, which were hired to make you a suitable member of high society, not a mage," Natsu explained. "You're trying to act like a commoner, but for me it's pretty obvious that you are a genuine Ojō-sama. Haven't you noticed by yourself? When you're excited, you're starting to call yourself 'watakushi' instead of your normal 'atashi'."

Lucy released a deep sigh. "Natsu, may I ask you not to discuss it with anyone else? I doubt there are many people who're able to notice all of it like you did, and I do not want to discuss my past with just everyone... and please, don't call me Ojō-sama, it's really embarrassing…"

Natsu nodded, "Of course, your reasons are your own. As I said – I have the ability to distinguish souls. I can see that you are a kind and honest person and that's more than enough for me."

"However, do not hesitate if you need some help or advice…" Sin landed on Lucy's shoulder, "Ironically, according to my observations, Fairy Tail's strongest mages are orphans, one way or another."

"Thanks, Sin," Lucy nodded. "Still, Natsu, your observation skills are incredible…"

"When I told you that I have special eyes I wasn't exaggerating," Natsu replied.

"By the way, it seems like you really are a big fan of that Kemu Zaleon," Sin noted.

"Yeah, it seems like he was in a mage guild when he was young. He wrote stories about the adventures he experienced back then. I yearn for them…" Lucy smiled to herself.

"Just as you thought," Sin nodded to his boss.

"Hmm?" Lucy looked at Natsu in confusion.

"Those handwritten notes that you tried to hide from me… It's the story you've wrote. I've noticed the familiar manner of wrapping up words," Natsu explained.

"No wonder you are so familiar with books," Sin added as Lucy's face stared to turn red.

"Can you… Can you guys hold this information to yourselves as well?!" Lucy screamed as she covered her face with her hands.

"Why? Why would you want us to hide this as well?" Natsu asked, honestly her irrationality started to become annoying.

"I'm… I'm not good at it yet! It's embarrassing if someone reads it!" She whined.

"As you say…" Natsu agreed, not that he actually was intending to discuss Lucy's hobby with somebody, anyway. "By the way, I hope writing will remain only a hobby for you, Lucy. As I told you earlier, writing about adventures instead of participating in it, it's a waste of talent for a mage."

"Ah?!" Lucy yelped. "Did you just call me by my name!?"

"I did, really?" Natsu wondered.

"Impressive," Sin noted. "We met three days ago and he already remembered your name. In our guild, there are few girls, which joined several months ago, but they're still 'jo-chan'… And since he finally memorized your name – he won't forget it again…"

---

July 5th, Year X784, 21:40, Magnolia, Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Okay, see you tomorrow Lucy, good night," Natsu nodded to her as she headed towards her house. Natsu and Sin went to the guildhall to report their mission.

"Jane! We're back!" Natsu called out as he entered the guildhall.

"Natsu!" A blue-eyed girl smiled at him and let out a sigh of relief. "Is everyone okay? How was the mission?"

"Complete success. Good guys are happy, bad guys were punished and I earned one million jewels, that means I won a bet," Natsu reported as he showed the request list with the client's signature.

"Congratulations, Natsu!" Mirajane said as she opened the mission log and made a record. "How's Lucy?"

"She did better than I expected," Natsu admitted, "She won't be at a loss."

"Looks like you were impressed," Mira teased with a smile.

"Not really, it's just a plain fact," Nastu shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay, I should get going, see you tomorrow."

"Until then!" Mira waved her goodbye.

---

July 6th, Year X784, 10:45, Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Good morning guys!" Lucy waved at Natsu and Sin, who were hanging around, just outside the guildhall's entrance.

"Hi Lucy," Sin replied as Natsu nodded to the blonde. "I thought you were about to do some shopping."

"I am, just wanted to say "hello" to the guild. Going for another mission, you two?" Lucy inquired.

"Not a chance! He won his bet, so today will be a day off," Sin stated as something caught his attention. "Or not..."

All three of them heard some strange sound, like heavy footsteps approaching. Natsu listened to the sound for a second before turning toward its source. "She's just in time... let's celebrate my victory…" His eyes flashed with a crimson light.

"Eh? Who are you talking about? What's making that sound?" Lucy asked as she turned toward the footsteps, trying to distinguish what or who was causing them.

"Lucy, you are about to meet the Fairy Tail's biggest pain in the ass, prepare yourself," Sin announced.

"C'mon, let's go inside the hall, no point in staying here," God slayer headed toward the guildhall's door.

Lucy followed him, but before she entered the building, she noticed a female figure who appeared to be carrying something huge by one hand above her head. The woman still was too far to distinguish the details, but she definitely had a slender figure and lush breasts. But the most noticeable detail about this girl was her long, luxury scarlet hair.

---

Spell List:

Gladius Terminus – Sword of the End

Seirei Madōshi – Stellar spirit mage

Saigo no Idō: Tenchi Shōmetsu Satsubou – Last move: Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack

Raito Bīmu – Light Beam

Raito Sufia – Light Sphere

Iryūjon Raito – Illusion Light

Fainaru Supāku – Final Spark

Reinbō Sutoraiku – Rainbow Strike

Tsuchi Mahō: Daibā – Earth magic: Diver

Kazeyomi no Megane – Gale-Force Reading Glasses (Gale means "wind")

Senjin no Dogō – War God's Howl

Senjin no Saiken – War God's Crushing Fist

Senjin no Bakusō –War God's Explosive Spear

Senjin no Sōken –War God's Twin Blades

Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath

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And it's done! Oh, man – almost 17000 words… Longest chapter I had ever written, but I really wanted to move to the Lullaby (Eisenwald) arc ASAP.

Read and please REVIEW people, see you in the next chapter – The Bet, Illusions and Train.