Where am I? I thought as I woke up. I remembered that the day before, we saved Macao from Mt. Hakobe, but after that, I wasn't sure where I was or how I got there. I sat up.
I was in some kind of apartment. I cleaned the eye crust out of my eyes and yawned. I got up and saw that I was wearing a blue pair of shorts and a gray tank top. I heard talking coming from another room which sounded like Natsu and Happy. Suddenly, I heard screaming.
"My BEDROOM!" I heard Lucy scream. I rushed to see what was going on. So I was in Lucy's house. How? And why? I didn't remember. I ran into Lucy's bedroom to see Lucy kicking Natsu in the face, probably for breaking and entering. "Get the hell out of my house, you jerks!" she yelled furiously.
"Aw, come on! We were just checking out your new place."
"Aye."
"Oh yeah? Well, what you call 'checking out' I call barging in! And I'm sure what I would call barging in, the police would call breaking and entering!
"Called it." I didn't notice that I said it out loud.
Lucy turned around and faced me. "Oh. I forgot you were here. I don't blame you for not having a house yet, but these guys! Having been for so long, they must have a house of some kind!"
"Yeah, but your house is way cooler than ours!" said Natsu. He looked over at a desk and saw a stack of papers on it. "Hey, what the heck is this?"
Instantly, Lucy grabbed the papers from Natsu at lightning speed and kicked him in the face again. "It's nothing!"
"Ow, so you just kicked me over nothing?"
"Yeah, maybe I would!"
"Dude, it's her personal business. You shouldn't be snooping around here, let alone breaking and entering," I suggested.
"Yeah! Tell 'em, Vinny!" yelled Lucy excitedly.
"Nah, I like this place!" said Natsu.
"I hate boys!" cried Lucy.
xxxx
"Look guys, I just moved in and I'm not in the mood for guests," said Lucy irritably.
"Ahem-" I coughed which caused Lucy to look towards me. I pointed to myself.
"Your case is different. You were practically begging to stay a night anyway because you just came here too. Also, you owe me for letting you stay."
"What is this, Hotel de Lucy? Get a complimentary water bottle with the room! Your money back guaranteed!" I said in a silly advertisement voice. "Also, does it look like I have Jewel? I haven't even started jobs yet."
"I guess that's true, but these two shouldn't be here."
"How much would I owe you anyway?"
"70,000 Jewel."
"Holy shit! Why so much?"
"That's how much my rent costs."
"Don't you have money already?"
"Yeah, but I need money for rent as well."
"So what're you gonna do with the rest of your money?"
"Probably buy some magic stuff, like keys." Natsulooked up.
"That reminds me, Lucy. Can you show us all of your key guys you collected?" asked Natsu.
"They're not called 'key guys', idiot. They're Celestial Spirits," said Lucy.
"How many Celestial Spirits do you have a contract with, Lucy?" asked Happy.
She held up her keys. "Six units. Celestial Spirits are counted in units. I have three silver keys, and three gold keys. The silver ones are common and can be bought in magic stores. The ones I have are Horologium the Clock, Crux the Southern Cross, and Lyra the Harp. But the golden ones are super rare and there's only twelve of them. The ones I have are Taurus the Golden Bull, Aquarius the Water Bearer, and Cancer the Giant Crab."
"Wow! Giant crab!" drooled Natsu.
"Crab! Delicious!" added Happy.
"Ugh, is food the only thing you guys care about?" groaned Lucy. Then she had an 'oh, yeah!' expression. "Now that I remember, I still have to form a contract with the key I bought in HargeonTown. Conveniently, you guys are here. Perfect timing! I'll show you how a Celestial Wizard makes a contract with a Celestial Spirit."
"Are they going to do a blood seal?" whispered Happy very loudly.
"I don't know, but it seems like a pain in the ass!" answered Natsu.
"I can hear you guys!" said Lucy. She took a key and held it out. "Open, Gate of Canis Minor! Nikora!" Instantly, a glowing bubble started to form and a small, white figure with an orange nose dropped down, shaking uncontrollably. It looked extremely nervous. It looked less like a dog and more like a tiny snowman. (For those of you who don't know, Canis Minor is the Little Dog Constellation and Canis Major is the Big Dog Constellation.)
Natsu and Happy stood there with their mouths wide open and just stared at Nikora, which made the little thing shake even more.
"Ahem. Ah, don't mind us," said Natsu, holding in his laughter.
"It wasn't a mistake!" protested Lucy. She picked up Nikora and embraced him. "Oh, you're so cute!" Natsu simply put on his "seriously?" face.
"See, it doesn't take much magic power to open Nikora's gate. So that's why he's popular to keep as a pet."
"Natsu, what we see here is human ego," whispered Happy not so quietly.
"Just as I thought, Loogie is pretty scary," "whispered" Natsu.
"It's Lucy, dipwad! And I can still hear you!" said Lucy. She let Nikora onto the floor and took out a notepad. She started asking Nikora what days he was free and what days he wasn't. Natsu and Happy sat, watching Lucy as she took care of business.
"What a simple process," muttered Natsu.
"Aye," added Happy.
After a few minutes of Lucy conversing with Nikoraand writing things down, she rose up and said, "Okay! The contract is complete!"
"That's a rather simple process, isn't it?" asked Happy.
"Right?" added Natsu. Lucy smiled.
"It may look simple, but it's actually very important. See, Celestial Wizards keep contracts, or promises. Therefore, the only thing in this world I can't break is a promise."
"What about expensive pottery?" I muttered, grinning. Lucy looked at me, annoyed.
"Oh, that's right! I need to name him!"
"Isn't his name Nikora?" questioned Happy.
"Yeah, but that's his common name," replied Lucy. "Oh, I've got it! Come here, Plue!"
"Blue? But he's white," I said.
"No, not Blue, Plue. With a 'P'," said Lucy.
"Plue?" said both Natsu and Happy.
"Yeah! Doesn't it sound adorable? Right Plue?" Pluemade a little sound that was supposedly agreement.
"Huh. He looks rather pressured and displeased," I said.
"No, he's not. Not at all," Lucy replied.
"Wait, Plue is a puppy, but he isn't barking. How weird," commented Happy.
"Yeah, but you're a cat! I haven't heard you 'meow' ever since we met!"
"Touchè..." muttered Happy.
Lucy let Plue go onto the floor, in which he started bouncing around excitedly. "Oh, I wonder what's wrong?" said Lucy. Plus bounced around Natsu and made some weird noises.
"Hey, you're right, Plue! You say great things!" exclaimed Natsu. Plue smiled big.
"What...! He can understand Plue!?" said Lucy.
"Well, when you think about it, he has an animal sidekick, so," I said.
"Yeah, but Happy can actually speak like a human!" Lucy pointed out.
"Touchè..." I muttered.
Suddenly, Natsu got up and creepily started at Lucy like he was inspecting her.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she said.
"Okay! I've decided! Let's make a team!" Natsuexclaimed.
"Aye! Sounds cool!" said Happy.
"Team?" questioned Lucy.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Happy. "So, everyone in Fairy Tail is friends with each other, but those who work well together gather and create teams. So, if a job request is too difficult, then having a team will make it easier!"
"Wow! I like that idea!" said Lucy. Lucy and Natsubumped fists and slapped hands together.
"Okay, Lucy! It's a deal!"
"Contract sealed!"
"Aye!"
"Alright! Let's go find a job immediately!" said Natsu. He took out a paper. "I've already got one lined up!"
"Jeez, you're so impatient! Here, let me have a look," said Lucy. Natsu grew a sinister grin that I was able to catch a glimpse of. "Okay, the town of Shirotsume... What?! You're kidding! They'll pay 200,000 Jewel just to steal a book from Duke Everlue's Mansion?"
"I know!" said Natsu. "It's almost too good to be true!"
"Oh, wait. Caution! He's a lecher and a pervert. Currently hiring blonde maids...!"
"Hm. We know a blonde girl, don't we, Happy?"
"Aye! Let's have her dress up and infiltrate the mansion!"
"Y-you guys! You both knew from the beginning!"
"Oh, so that's why they barged in. Good one, Natsu!" I laughed.
"Hey! Don't encourage him, Vinny!"
"I hear that Celestial Wizards never break a promise. Isn't that great?" Natsu said smugly.
"But you tricked me! That's not fair!"
"But you made the promise! Let's practice. Try calling Happy, 'Master.'"
"No way! I would never call that stupid feline 'Master'!"
Later, we got in a cart to travel to Shirotsume Town and immediately, Natsu began turning green.
"So, how's the ride, 'Master'?" said Lucy smugly.
"I can see maids flying..." groaned Natsu before throwing up on the floor. I had to clean it up again.
"Hey, I'm supposed to play as 'Master'!" cried Happy.
"Shut up, you stupid cat!" Happy payed no attention and started furiously eating a fish. Stereotypical? Yeah, I'll say. "By the way Natsu, why did you decide to team up with me?"
"Because you're a good person, that's why." Lucy looked touched. "Although, you're kinda weird," said Natsu as he threw up again. I had to clean it up again. Lucy's expression rapidly changed from touched to annoyed.
"Well, this is still my first job, so I'll show you."
"What? I didn't think you liked our plan," said Happy with his mouth full of food.
"Our enemy is a perverted old man. I may look innocent, but I have full confidence in my sex appeal."
"I'm a cat, so I can't comment on that." Lucy put on her 'annoyed' face again.
"Hey Natsu, I have a question," I said.
"What is it? Make it quick because I don't think I can talk much. Oomph," Natsu said before barfing again. I prayed to God that when I Summoned, I wouldn't end up with my hands full of Natsu'svomit.
"I was thinking, the team that you made, do you think that I could be a part of the team? I mean, I know I'm pretty damn weak, but I could develop my powers over time."
"Oogh, y-yeah. I guess you should be a part of the team. I can't say that I've known you for long, nor can I say that to Lucy, but you both seem like nice people, even if you are a bit strange. Ugh…GLOOMP! *Thwapth*" groaned Natsu as he coughed up another pile of smelly barf. Oh jeez, the possibility of Summoning his barf could be greater than I thought. I would seriously lash out at him if that ever happened, even accidentally. I may have said that I had a clear picture in my mind of what was being Summoned, but nothing is perfect.
We arrived in Shirotsume Town and began walking down the streets. A lot of people looked at us funny as we walked by. Jeez, never seen guild wizards around these parts?
"Ugh, I'm never taking a cart ever again," said Natsu.
"Dude, you said that last time and I'm willing to bet that you're gonna say it again in the near future," I said.
"Sh-shut up. Don't make me throw up on you," he joked. (I hope.) "We need to eat. Well, speaking for myself, I need to eat. 'Cuz I don't know about you guys."
"You can speak for me too," I said.
"Hey Natsu, why don't you eat your own fire?" questioned Lucy.
"Oh sure. Why not just eat Taurus or Plue while you're at it?"
"It's not like I could anyway!"
"Same difference."
"Now that I think, I do remember Happy telling Vinny that you couldn't eat your own fire."
"He did? When was this?"
"When we were coming back from rescuing Macao on Mt. Hakobe. You were passed out and sick at the time. That's what you get from taking public transportation," I said.
"It's not my fault that I can't stand public transportation. That's just how I work," retorted Natsu. "Hey, let's eat there!" Natsu pointed to a restaurant nearby.
"Nah, you guys can eat by yourselves," said Lucy.
"What's her deal? It's more fun to eat together," muttered Natsu.
"Guess she doesn't want to eat. Well, her loss," I said.
After burning through 5 dishes in a row each, Natsu ordered more food and we ate like a pack of wolves.
"Mph, greasy, let's save some for Lucy," mumbled Natsu with a mouthful of food.
"Aye. She seems like the kind of person who would eat greasy things," added Happy with his mouth full too.
"What's that supposed to mean? Since when do I like greasy things?" said Lucy from behind me.
"Gah! You startled me-" I started to say but I was cut off when I saw what she was wearing.
"Aw, I know you guys think I look super cute! I know I look cute in anything," she said.
I basically got a comical nosebleed while Natsu and Happy just sat there with their mouths wide open, bits of chewed up food falling out of their mouths.
"Have you finished dining, Master?" she said jokingly.
"What do we do, Natsu? We told her to do it as a joke, but she took it seriously!" whispered Happy quite loudly.
"It's too late to tell her," Whispered Natsu equally as loud. "Let's just go along with it."
"I can still hear you guys!" said Lucy.
We walked to a large mansion that I thought at first was Everlue's mansion, but then I realized as we walked in that it was our job employer's house.
"Hello. I'm your employer, Kaby Melon," said the employer.
"Wow! Melon!" exclaimed Happy.
"Such a delicious name you have, sir!" added Natsu.
"Hey, that's rude, you guys!" said Lucy.
"Hahaha, don't worry. I get that a lot," he chortled. "But let's get to the point and talk about the job now. My request regards the book 'Daybreak' which Duke Everlue has at the moment. I want you to destroy the book."
"Sure! We'll burn the whole place down if you want!" said Natsu.
"Aye!" added Happy.
"That's a bit excessive, dude," I commented.
"If you guys do that, then you'll be thrown in jail. Besides, I wanna know why he wants the book to be destroyed," said Lucy.
"Who cares? We're talkin' 200,000 Jewel here!" said Natsu.
"Oh, you haven't heard? The reward has been pushed to 2,000,000 Jewel," said Melon.
"2,000,000?!" we all exclaimed.
"Oh my god! 2,000,000 divided by 4... wait, what is 2,000,000 Jewel divided by 4?" said Natsu.
"Um... 50,000 Jewel," I said, Destroying my calculator. "But why, may I ask, why did you raise the reward?"
"Because the book must be destroyed at all costs. I cannot let it exist."
We sat in silence for a second, then suddenly...
"Aw, hell yeah! I'm all fired up!" yelled Natsu as he darted out of the house.
"Wait! Natsu!" Lucy called after Natsu and chased after him. I couldn't run as fast as him, so I called out Fearow to help.
"Fearow! Fly up to Natsu!" Fearow cocked his head as if to say, "Who?" "The pink haired guy!" He nodded and took flight.
Once we got to Everlue's Mansion, Natsu, Happy and I hid behind some bushes while we let Lucy do the talking.
"Hello? Is anyone home? I'm here to apply for the maid position!"
"Make sure you do it right!" whisper-yelled Natsu.
"Good luck!" Happy added.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. The brick road behind Lucy rose up a bit and then a large figure jumped out of it. I looked up in the air, and holy shit. It was a maid, but holy fuck, was she fat as all hell.
"Maid position? Master, it seems she's here for the new maid position," said the maid.
"BOYOYO! Did I hear my name being called?" said another figure who came out of the ground. I assumed he was Duke Everlue, but oh my god. He was as fat and ugly as the maid. What the hell did he live on? Twinkies and Hot Pockets?
"Let's have a look, then," said Everlue.
"I look forward to working with you!" said Lucy.
Everlue looked Lucy up and down carefully.
"Nah. I have no use for you. Go away, ugly."
Lucy looked absolutely shocked. I was confused. Why would he call such a fine looking girl 'ugly'? That was just rude. She looked pretty to me.
"Yeah. Go away, ugly," added the maid.
"Listen. For someone as distinguished as I..." More extremely ugly maids popped up behind Everlue, "Beautiful girls are the only thing I want!" The super ugly maids cuddled up to Everlue and they walked away with him into the mansion. Lucy returned to us, depressed.
"You're hopeless," scoffed Natsu. Lucy sobbed uncontrollably.
"No I'm not! That Everlue idiot has a weird taste in women!"
"Excuses..." muttered Happy.
"He called me ugly, too..." cried Lucy.
"Hey, don't take what that ugly piece of shit said so seriously, Lucy!" I said. "So he doesn't like beautiful girls. He called you ugly? Let it be! He obviously has no idea what he's talking about."
"Y-you think I'm beautiful?" said Lucy. "Th-Thanks."
"Er, well, yeah, I guess," I said, avoiding eye contact. "Uh, Natsu, you think Lucy is pretty, don't you?"
"Yeah, sure. She was definitely a lot better looking than those ugly maids," he noted. "But! When it comes down to this, it's time to change to plan T!"
"T? What's that stand for? Termination?" I asked. "Or does it stand for Turtle?"
"No, the first one was closer. T stands for Trashing!" said Natsu.
"Hah! Good one, Natsu."
"How can you say that, Vinny?!" said Lucy. "You were the one who said, 'That's a bit excessive'!"
"Eh, whatever. Now seeing how ugly that geezer was, I wanna smash his face in! Also he's a total dick, but whatever."
We walked up to the mansion and we climbed up to one of the windows. Fearow flew me up to where Natsu was, and Happy flew Lucy up to the roof after Natsu.
"Thanks, Happy!" said Lucy.
"Aye!"
"Why the hell are we sneaking around? We're supposed to be trashing this place! Why don't we just burst in through the front door? That would be a lot more fun!" complained Natsu.
"Nah, I think we'd get caught by Everlue. Then he'd probably call the military and then we'd be thrown in jail, and our guild would be history," I mentioned.
"Whatever. I still like my idea better."
Natsu melted the glass and opened the window from the inside. We climbed inside what seemed a storage room. Then we split up and looked for the book.
"Hey, Lucy? What's the name of the book again?" I asked once we all reunited.
"I think it was called Day-something... oh yeah! Daybreak!" She said.
"Why do we have to search all the rooms? Why not ask someone where the book is?" complained Natsu.
"That'll defeat the purpose, dude," I noted. "Why do you think we snuck in? This is a reconnaissance mission. Think of us like being ninjas."
"N-ninjas, you say?" said Natsu.
"Aye! Ninjas!" added Happy.
"Ugh, again, you guys are focusing on the specific details," sighed Lucy.
"Yeah! Ninjas! We'll be ninjas!" yelled Natsu.
"Ninja!" added Happy.
"You guys are being too loud! Someone will hear us!" whispered Lucy.
She was right, in fact, because at that moment, the five ugly maids popped up out of the ground behind me.
"Intruders detected!" they yelled.
"Get em'!" yelled the fat one.
"See?! You guys were being too loud! They found us!" said Lucy.
"RAAHHH!" Happy put on a skull mask that he found and yelled at the maids.
"Oh no! A ghost!" they cried.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Natsu yelled, punching the maids into oblivion.
"Natsu! Look out!" I yelled. The fat maid jumped into the air in attempts to squash Natsu.
"Flying Bourgeois Dog!" bellowed the maid as she fell to the ground. I pushed Natsu out of the way just in time and skillfully rolled to dodge the maid. I Summoned Tyranitar's ball and sent him out.
"Tyranitar! Stone Edge!" I commanded. Tyranitarnodded, and then created many large, sharp stones and flung them at the maid. She became badly scratched and battered by the stones. I ran up to her and finished her off with Flame Kick.
"Awesome! Return, Tyranitar," I returned Tyranitarto his ball.
"We can't afford to be spotted, nin-nin!" said Natsu, who had wrapped his scarf around his face.
"Nin-nin!"
"You guys basically defeated the purpose of being ninjas," I said. "You guys were supposed to be quiet!"
"Hey, you were just as loud!" said Lucy.
"Oh yeah..." I muttered. "Hey, I have an idea. This Everlue dick is super rich, right? Then don't you think he has a library? Wouldn't it make sense if the book was being kept in there?"
"Huh, I guess that makes sense," said Lucy.
We walked around, looking into more rooms until we came to a large pair of doors which when we opened them, to our surprise, was a humongous library that was so tall, we would have to stack ourselves five times or even more to get to the ceiling.
"It's a mountain of books-de gozaru!" said Natsustill acting like a ninja. I guess he took it too literally.
"Aye-de gozaru!" added Happy.
"The old geezer's quite the reader, eh?" I said. "Guess there's more to some people than meets the eye."
"Yes indeed! Nin-nin!" said Natsu.
"Aye! Nin-nin!" added Happy.
"Seriously, Natsu? I was kidding about the ninja thing. You can take the scarf off," I said.
"Man, I was just joking," he said.
"Aye," added Happy again.
"This is a job. We can't be kidding around."
"Well then, let's start searching!" Natsu yelled, excitedly.
"Aye sir!" yelled Happy.
"I didn't mean yell..." I said.
We all split up and looked for the book. But holy shit, it seemed like it was gonna take forever. I searched on the bottom like Natsu and Happy but on the other side. Lucy searched up above using a ladder.
"We have to find one single book in all of this? This is gonna take forever!" said Lucy.
"Tell me about it," I added.
"Haha! I found the perv's porn stash!" laughed Natsu.
"I found an encyclopedia on fish! Yummy..." said Happy.
"Get serious, you guys!" called Lucy.
After a few seconds though, "Hey! I found a golden book!"
"I told you guys to stop goofing around!" said Lucy. "Wait... 'Daybreak'?!"
"WOAH! You found it, Natsu!" I yelled.
"Wow! An easy 2,000,000 Jewel!" said Lucy.
"Let's destroy it right now! Vinny, would you like to do the honors?" offered Natsu.
"Gladly."
"Wait! This book was written by Kemu Zaleon!" said Lucy, snatching the book from my hands.
"Zaleon?" questioned Natsu.
"Hey, I was gonna destroy that," I said.
"No way! This book was written by Kemu Zaleon, who was a wizard, but also a famous novelist! I'm a huge fan of his works! I thought I read all of the books he wrote, but perhaps this is one of his unpublished works?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Gimme the book so that I can destroy it," I said.
"What?! No! This is an important cultural heritage! No way are we burning it!"
"But you're abandoning the mission," said Happy.
"So what! I said I'm a huge fan!"
"Well think about it! If it was never published, then maybe it sucks! So give it here!" I said.
"How about we say that we burned it and then I'll keep it? Vinny, why don't you be a pal and 'Store' the book or whatever it was called..."
"First of all, you were the one who said that the only thing you can't break is a promise, so you'd be lying to Melon's face, two, it's called 'Destroying', stupid, and third, I'm not gonna let you use me as storage!"
"Yeah, you'd just end up actually destroying it, anyway."
"Just give me the book!" I yelled.
"Aha! I see!" said a voice. Suddenly, Everluepopped out of the ground from behind me. "So it was the book 'Daybreak' you intruders were after! Boyoyoyo!"
"See, Lucy? This is what you get for hesitating!" I said.
"I'm sorry!" she apologized.
"Hah! I knew you wizards were searching for something, but I never knew that it would be that stupid book!"
"Stupid? Why do you think it's stupid?" I asked.
"So wait, if you think it's so stupid, then can I have it?" asked Lucy politely.
"No! What's mine is mine!" yelled Everlue.
"Miser," muttered Lucy.
"Shut up, ugly," retorted Everlue. Lucy dropped her head.
"Why don't we just burn the book?" said Natsu.
"No way! I won't let you!" cried Lucy.
"LUCY! This is our job!" I yelled.
"Well, at least let me read it."
"Right now?!" yelled the rest of us.
"Enough! Do you even know who I am?! Get your filthy hands off my book this instant!" yelled Everlue. "Vanish Brothers!"
Two of the shelves opened up and two very tall wizards were on the other end.
"Good afternoon!" said the one on the right with tattoos on his face.
"Even Mother would be surprised to see that these three brats are Fairy Tail wizards!" said the taller one on the left. He was wearing some kind of band with an emblem on it.
"That mark! Those guys are from the South Wolves mercenary guild!" said Happy.
"So Everlue hired these idiots?" said Natsu.
"You'd think that they had better things to do other than be this fat ass's bodyguards," I added.
"Boyoyoyoyo! Wolves are always hungry, correct? Prepare yourselves!" said Everlue.
"Natsu! Vinny! Buy me some time. I think there's some kind of secret to this book," said Lucy as she ran out the door.
"Secret? What secret?" questioned Everlue.
"You're asking the wrong guys, fatty," I muttered.
"Whatever. I'm going after the girl! Get them!" Everlue commanded the brothers as he dug into the ground.
"I'm going after Lucy!" I said to Natsu.
"Happy! Go with Vinny!" said Natsu.
"I'll stay here to back you up!" said Happy.
"No. I can take care of these assholes on my own. Go with Vinny!"
"Happy! Fly me down this hole!" I said to Happy, pointing to the hole Everlue had made. I ran up to the tattooed guy who was holding a large frying pan-type weapon and Destroyed it, leaving him with nothing. He tried to grab it back, but Happy grabbed onto me and pulled me back.
With one last look at Natsu, Happy dived down into the hole with me in his arms.
