Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
AN: I apologise for any Spelling or Grammar mistakes that I missed. I chose to merge chapters three and four so I could get the Daybreak Arc over with as soon as possible, so some chapters may be long but others may not. I don't know we'll see.
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Makarov sighed wearily in his office as he looked at the heap of paperwork the Magic Council had sent him. Most was for the damages his children had done to towns and the various places and things that they damaged or destroyed during their missions, with Natsu being the worst offender for property damage as usual.
"Well better get this over with now or Mira'll just nag me later"
So Makarov picked up a pen and pulled a form going on about Natsu's damage to Hargeon port and prepared to sigh it when he heard a splashing of water. He looked up and out of a watery tornado a mermaid woman formed, she appeared to be holding a Lacrima of some sort in her hands.
From Happy's description this was most likely the celestial spirit Aquarius the water bearer. But what could she want? Well there was only one way to find out.
"So what can I do for you, Aquarius is it?" Makarov asked silently thankful for a reason to not do his paperwork.
"You're shrewd for an old man but I suppose I should expect nothing less from the master of a guild that Leo chose to join" Aquarius chuckled
"I knew Loke wasn't human and this confirms it I suppose" Makarov sighed closing his eyes for a few seconds before opening one to look at Aquarius. "But I doubt you came here to talk about Loke, so what can I do you for?"
"Before that there's something you should know" Aquarius insisted "I've been able to use my key to cloud Lucy's senses so she can't detect Loke as a celestial spirit. If she were to find out she'd stop at nothing to acquire his key, and he's been banished from our world by the Spirit Kings order for breaking the law. If Lucy finds that out I have no doubt that she'd fight the Spirit King himself"
"Ah I see, you're afraid she might get herself killed" Makarov said
"Indeed but she might try to fight him anyway" Aquarius replied "You see Lucy is a girl who was born with frightening power. I imagine she might be able to fight the Spirit King but she would be defeated. You see her mother put a seal on Lucy's full power. Here this Lacrima recording will explain better than I can. Her mother entrusted it to me in case Lucy were to ever leave home."
Aquarius put the Lacrima on Makarov's desk and vanished back to the spirit world. The Lacrima shone and the image of a woman with soft brown eyes along with long blonde hair done in a bun along wearing a long pink gown appeared.
"Hello there, my name is Layla Heartfilia" the image introduced itself "I don't know who you are but if you are indeed watching this then Aquarius has given you Lacrima because Lucy has as I expected left home and joined a magic guild. I saw this coming but I wanted to tell you about my daughter. So you won't confuse her for some sort of monster. I assure you that she may not seem like it but she is kind and caring and has a really big heart. So I implore to listen to what I have to say before you judge her."
Makarov sat and set up a barrier at the door to prevent anyone eavesdropping before he continued listening to what Layla's recording was saying.
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After a while passed Makarov had left his office and sat down on the bar thinking about what he'd just heard. He saw that Levy and her friends were looking at the request board, looking for their next job.
"Oh, darn," said a young female wizard named Levi. "Did someone already take that book stealing gig?"
"Sorry, I guess Natsu and Lucy got to it first," Mirajane said.
"I really could have used that money," Levi sighed wearily
"Don't despair, it's probably for the best Levi," Makarov said. "Besides, it's changed."
"What do you mean?" Levi asked.
"I was just contacted by the client concerning that job," Makarov explained.
"Oh, did they cancel it," Mirajane asked.
"No," Makarov replied. "Quite the opposite. In fact, the reward has been increased. It's now 2,000,000 Jewels."
"2,000,000 Jewels?!" Levi said in shock
"They'd pay that much for some stupid book?" Droy asked
"That's almost like fighting monsters kind of pay" Jet said.
"Did they give any reason why?" Mirajane asked Makarov.
Hearing this, Gray grinned and said, "It sounds like this job just got interesting."
"Oh, Gray, nice skivvies," Mirajane told him.
Gray freaked out, once again, as he took his clothes off, stripping down to his boxers, as usual.
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Lucy had been convinced to take on this job by Natsu after appealing to her nature of not breaking promises which she took great pride in as a Celestial wizard. Of course she was less than pleased about this and swore revenge on the two later.
So after a quick stop at a restaurant for something to eat Natsu, Lucy and Happy sat on the couch in front of their client who was a relatively tall and aged man with peach skin, grey hair and a small yet distinctive moustache above his lip. His eyes were closed, and he was wearing a tattered green suit with a red tie.
"My names Kaby Melon." he introduced himself "Please to meet you"
"He said Melon!" Happy said as drool dripped from his mouth.
"Oh man you have a tasty name!" Natsu said drooling.
They both received a fist to head from Lucy who was still annoyed at the way the two had tricked her into taking this job with them earlier.
"Shut it you two idiots your embarrassing yourselves and more importantly me" Lucy berated the two with annoyance
"Don't worry I get that a lot" Kaby laughed.
'His name sounds familiar' Lucy thought 'But where have I heard it before?
"Well first things first, allow me to tell you about the job" Kaby said.
Lucy's eye's narrowed, while Natsu leaned forward slightly.
"Go on" Happy compelled him to continue
"It's pretty straightforward really; Duke Everlue has a book called 'Daybreak' in his possession." Kaby explained "I would like you to burn it for me"
Lucy looked at their client with surprise.
'200, 000 jewels... just to destroy a mere book?' Lucy pondered 'There's got be more to this than meets the eye'
"No prob, heh, I can burn the whole place down if you want" Natsu offered, lighting a small fire above one of his fingers while grinning like a lunatic.
"He likes fire!" Happy said.
"It sounds like a lot just for destroying a book" Lucy said mostly to herself. Out of the corner of her she saw Kaby flinch at what she said, but not enough for Natsu and Happy to notice.
"For 200,000 jewels, who the hell cares?" Natsu said back not wanting to back down.
"The reward has been raised to 2,000,000 jewels." Kaby cut in.
Lucy and Natsu froze and widened their eyes, albeit probably for different reasons.
"2,000,000!" Natsu and Happy yelled
"Oh, you came here unknowing?" Kaby asked
Natsu and Happy stared at the man with amazement.
"2,000,000 split three ways..." Natsu said, dazed. "Wow! I stink at math but that's a lot!"
"Wait I got it: I get 1,000,000, you get 1,000,000 and Lucy gets all the rest!" Happy said, swirls appearing in his eyes from the shock.
"That sounds fair to me!" Natsu said, giving the feline a thumbs up.
"Aye!"
"Learn some maths you two dolts, there would be none left for me" Lucy yelled smacking both of them on the head.
This was all it took for them to settle down as they remembered that they were in the presence of their client.
"Is there any particular reason that you ?' Lucy asked.
"Well because it means that much to me. That book must be destroyed no matter the cost" Kaby explained. After a small silence, Natsu's head lit on fire as an eager expression crossed his face.
"Ah yeah, I am fired up now!" Natsu said. "Let's do this Lucy!" Natsu grabbed Lucy by her hand and ran out of the mansion at full speed causing her mantle to blow open, Happy was following closely behind.
"Aye!"
'He can't forgive the books existence.' Lucy pondered ignoring natsu's audacity at laying a hand on her 'What did he mean by that?'
Back at the mansion, Kaby sighed to himself hopeful that maybe this time that awful book would be destroyed.
"Daybreak." Kaby sighed leaning on his hands "It must be burned; it cannot be allowed to exist any longer"
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When Lucy, Natsu and Happy finally arrived at Duke Everlue's mansion, they had stopped to discuss the situation in the bushes.
"Lucy why aren't you in costume?" Natsu asked "How are you supposed to sneak in without it?"
"Because I refuse to wear a maid outfit" Lucy snapped back "I will not debase myself by dressing up as a maid."
"You have pride" Happy asked
"Shut it you stupid cat or I'll turn you into a scarf" Lucy replied
"So how are we supposed to get the book then?" Natsu demanded with annoyance.
"Simple" Lucy said standing up form the bushes and storming right up to the gate "We go right in through the front door"
"But the gate's sealed shut" Happy pointed out
"Stand back and watch cat" Lucy said as she stopped before the gate "A mere gate can't stop me"
Beside Lucy appeared several weapons from the Gate of Babylon all pointed at the gate to the mansion. Natsu and Happy gaped in shock as the Gate crumpled before the onslaught of weapons and was completely destroyed.
Lucy nodded in satisfaction and marched straight up to the front doors, Natsu and Happy quickly ran to catch up with her. They only just managed to get to her side when she kicked the door open and marched in like she owned the place.
"Woah, I thought this was a stealth mission" Natsu said "We get in quickly, steal the book then get out."
"Shut up!" Lucy said promptly smacked Natsu upside the head "Let's just find this book"
Natsu stiffened as he realised that Lucy was still upset and still just as scary as Erza.
"So let's get a move on and search this place already" Lucy snapped with annoyance "I hate being tricked and your going to get it when we're done with mission Natsu. So you better pray nothing happens on this job or you two are in for it got it?! "
"Yes Ma'am" Natsu and Happy both said in unison
"Good now let's hurry this up" Lucy snapped
Suddenly a group of four small ugly maids appeared bursting out the ground along with a much larger one who was unarmed.
"Intruder alert Virgo!" they all yelled wielding metal poles.
"Let's crush them, girls!" the huge maid named Virgo ordered.
"Begone!" Lucy said sending them flying with a single swipe of one of her swords.
"Flying Virgo Attack!" The gorilla woman yelled as she jumped into the air and body slammed Natsu with her considerable girth.
"Natsu" Happy exclaimed worried about his friend.
Happy's worry was unfounded as the large gorilla woman was suddenly lifted from the ground. Natsu was having some trouble lifting her, but managed to throw her off himself and into the air. As she was coming back down, Natsu sent her flying with a kick sending her crashing to the ground.
"Well then" Lucy said "Now that's out of the way lets try looking in here"
Lucy pushed open a pair of doors leading to a gigantic library. All of its walls were segmented into bookshelves all packed full of books, some of which sported ladders to reach their upper shelves.
A large desk, semi-circular sofa which housed a round table sat in the centre of the room near the back and had two round lamps nearby.
"Man this place is full of books!" Natsu said in awe.
"Aye!" Happy added.
"It would seem that Everlue likes is a collector" She said. "Well then let's look for the book"
"Wait I thought you said we have to beat him up first?" he asked shouted.
"Of course we do" Lucy replied "But if we take the book in our hands he'll have no choice but to confront us in order to defend his property. Now then let's get searching"
"Aye sir" Happy said saluting
"How are we going to find one single book in this place huge place?" Lucy grumbled, as her hand passed over numerous books with different titles.
"Oh, this one has lots of pictures," Natsu said, looking through one of the books that he had found.
"Look there's a book on fish," Happy exclaimed.
"Look at this book," Natsu said, holding a golden coloured book. "It's sparkly."
"That's the book we've been searching for" Lucy shouted, reading the title on cover of the book.
She leapt down from the ladder and walked over to Natsu and Happy.
"We found it?" Happy said
"Seriously?!" Natsu exclaimed
"I expected it to be better hidden than this" Lucy mumbled "Something's off here"
"Lets' burn it!" Natsu said enthusiastically lighting his fist on fire.
"Pretty simple, wasn't it?" Happy said.
Lucy looked down at the book briefly, and caught the author's name of the book. She quickly grabbed the book from Natsu's hand forcefully, trying to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her.
"Wait a second this book was written by Kemu Zaleon?" she asked loudly
Natsu extinguished his flaming hand.
"Kemu?" Natsu asked, confused by the significance of the name.
"Zaleon was a great wizard, but also a novelist." Lucy explained "I thought I'd read every book he wrote, but could this be an unpublished work?"
"So are we gonna burn it or what?" Natsu asked light another flame.
"Fool five that to me" Lucy demanded snatching the book away from Natsu "I've read ever Kemu Zaleon book ever written but I never even knew this one existed"
"I see, I see…" a voice boomed from around them. Lucy stepped back as the ground cracked and a short, plump, ugly man with skinny arms and legs sporting a curled moustache which directly protruded from his nostrils and a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head jumped out of the ground. "So you intruders are after Daybreak, are you?"
He landed on the ground and laughed in a way that sounded like 'Boyoyoyoyo'
"Couldn't you have used the door?" Happy asked.
"I am Duke Everlue" Everlue chuckled introducing himself. "I knew all you lowlife wizard types were coming around here to take something of mine. I never would have guessed that it was that stupid book!"
"We'll if you don't want it then I'll gladly take it off your hands free of charge" Lucy said
"No!" Everlue shouted like a child throwing a tantrum. "What's mine is mine!"
"Stingy bastard." Lucy grumbled
"Shut up, Ugly."
"Ugly you wouldn't know beauty if it bit you in the behind fatass! " Lucy shouted back
"I've had enough! How dare you put your filthy hands on my possessions!" Everlue shouted, glaring at them all. He threw his arm into the air and did a dramatic pose. "Come forth Vanish Brothers!"
Two of the bookcases that they were looking in earlier suddenly opened up revealing it to be a secret passage with two people concealed within.
"You called upon us sir" One of the two figures said.
This ones head was mostly shaved, but with a noticeably long, dark hair colour being present only on the back of his head, where it was tied into a braid reaching down below the man's back, with a light ribbon circling the end. He had dark slanted eyes, sharp features, prominent cheekbones, a dark-coloured upper lip and four kanji tattoos on his face; his right cheek bared the character for 'Right', his left cheek for 'Left', the kanji for 'Up' was placed in the centre of his forehead, and the one for 'Down' on his chin, right below his lower lip. His clothing consisted of a light tunic with a high collar, dark stripes on the loose cuffs and flanking the fastener crossing the chest vertically, a pair of mildly loose dark pants, getting tighter in correspondence to his ankles, and traditional dark shoes paired with light socks. The man was also carried around an oversized frying pan as his weapon of choice; it possessed a noticeably long handle and was held on his back by a rope which passed over his right shoulder.
"Can you believe that these little punks are from the Fairy Tail Guild. Talk about a bunch of runts" The second one said.
The second one was taller than the one with the frying pan. He had long, dark and curly hair, which was arranged in a distinctive hairstyle, with four large, straight tufts jutting upwards on the top of his head, getting smaller near their outer edges. His face was squared, with a very prominent, mildly rounded and hooked nose, and his dark eyes were topped by a light bandana covered in spiralling dark motifs, obscuring his forehead and keeping his hair back. His outfit, unlike that of his companion, is a Western look, consisting of a dark sweatshirt, with slightly puffy sleeves reaching below his elbows, adorned by light, wavy markings on the shoulder and the sleeve areas and bearing three light, diagonal stripes on each side of his torso, simple light pants and light trainers.
"That sign means that they're from the southern wolves!" Happy said pointing at the marks that the two possessed "They're a mercenary guild"
"So, you hired these guys?" Natsu asked, punching his fist. Lucy seated form, getting ready to draw out her sword at any moment.
"Seriously this book is…" Lucy breathed out amazed at what the book which she had taken the opportunity to read contained.
"The Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh game" he said tauntingly, twirling his index finger and is thumb around his moustache. "Prepare yourselves."
"Natsu, keep them here" She said determinedly at she stood up " I think that this book contains secret of some kind, so I'm going to read it and find out what it is and I'd prefer not to be disturbed."
"Alright" Natsu nodded as she ran off through a door that was off to the side which closed behind her.
'A Secret?' Everlue thought in confusion 'It must have slipped by me somehow, could be a treasure map or something' the ground beneath him began to lower him underground. "I'm going after the girl! Make sure he doesn't leave here in one piece!"
"Yes, sir." They replied.
"Happy." Natsu said, turning to his feline friend. "Go on and take care of Lucy"
"Are you sure you don't need me here?" Happy asked determinedly, but simply Natsu shook his head at the blue cat.
"No," Natsu flexed and cracked knuckles. "I'll be fine on my own."
Happy flew off after Lucy casting one last smile at his friend before leaving.
"You sure talk big for a little guy!" the taller Vanish brother said angrily.
"Perhaps we should put him in his place" The shorter brother said calmly. "So you're a fire wizard."
"Yeah, But how did you know?" Natsu asked as he finished warming up to fight.
The shorter mage laughed. "We saw the fire around your legs when you were fighting Virgo, so it's obvious that you're an ability type, fire wizard"
"The blonde girl is a Holder-type. The blonde is a Requip wizard, isn't she? I've never seen Requip magic used like that before. The cat that flies is no doubt an Ability-type, Wings." The taller brother said.
"So I guess you know what happens when you play with fire" Natsu said stamping his foot to the ground and lighting his entire body on fire. Fire swirled into existence around his hands. "You get burned!"
Natsu ran towards the brother duo with a flaming punch only for the attack to be thwarted by the smaller brother. He had used the large frying pan on his back to block Natsu's attack defend them both.
"Sorry to break it to you kid, but fighting Fire wizards is something we do well" The smaller brother said as he used his pan to throw Natsu back with a clang from his frying pan. "Very well"
The taller brother jumped into the air and smashed his foot into the ground where Natsu had landed, but due to his quick reflexes, Natsu escaped from having his face crushed much like the ground where he had been lying seconds before.
The smaller brother quickly stepped over to them and prepared to hit Natsu with his frying pan again. It hit him, sending him crashing through the double doors that led to the lobby, where he landed on the tongue of a large, golden version of Everlue with his tongue pointed out as if he was laughing.
When Natsu landed, he turned around to see the Vanish Brothers on the railing.
"Fairy Tail might be a big time guild and all but you pathetic wizards are no match for trained mercenaries like us" The Taller brother taunted
"If that's your best then you're dead wrong" Natsu scoffed.
"Whoa, this kid really thinks he can beat us?!" the younger, taller brother shouted enraged.
"Do you happen to know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" the smaller, older brother asked Natsu while leaned forward on the railing.
"You're talking about motion sickness!?" Natsu exclaimed
"I think that might be more of a personal problem …" the smaller brother said sweat dropping
"Is he making fun of us?!" the younger brother demanded angrily.
"Their weakness is their bodies!" the older brother said. He jumped off the railed and attacked Natsu with his frying pan again, only to miss as Natsu jumped away. Instead of Natsu, the older brother broke the tongue off Everlue's statue. "Since Wizards have to focus so intensely on honing their mental abilities…"
Just as Natsu hit the ground, the other brother charged at him and punched the ground where he would have been, if it wasn't for his own quick reflexes.
"They neglect to train their bodies which leaves them physically weak" The taller Vanish brother continued.
As he landed Natsu and the smaller Vanish brother faced were now face to face and stared each other down.
"On the other hand, we focus on our physical abilities …" the older vanish brother said.
His brother landed next to him. "So we have more power and speed." He said.
"Oh I am so scared!" Natsu said smirking tauntingly "Now stop your blabbing and let's dance"
"Hey bro combo attack?" the younger brother inquired to the other his older brother
"Sounds good!" he answered. He held out his frying pan in front of himself, and his brother who now stood on top of it with one hand. His younger brother held out his hands to his sides.
"Heaven and Earth Annihilation!" they shouted in unison.
"Bring it on !"
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Lucy sat down on a golden throne that she'd summoned in sewers reading Daybreak. She was wearing a pair magical reading glasses called Gale force reading glasses…or wind reading glasses. It was a magic item that allowed the user to read books or text extremely quickly. Lucy was flipping through the book at such a pace that she only stay on one page for a second. She'd picked it up a few months after she'd left home.
"I knew it" Lucy proclaimed out loud. "I knew that this that this book held a secret of some kind, but I never thought that it'd be such a thing"
Suddenly Duke Everlue burst out of the wall and tried to grab a hold of her arm in an attempt to restrain her. Emphasis on tried as he did not expect a throne to block his way and promptly smashed his head on it.
"Well then please share" Everlue demanded climbing over the throne to try and grab her only to be deflected by a warhammer from the Gate of Babylon "Secrets don't make friends you know"
"You are unworthy of the secret of this book" Lucy shouted at Everlue standing up and dismissing her throne. "So I will not allow a mongrel like you to know it"
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Meanwhile back in the lobby the brothers let out a battle cry. The older Vanish Brother threw his younger, taller brother into the air. Natsu, following the younger brother with his eyes and was distracted as the other brother came at him with his frying pan.
"Look toward heaven and…" he said. He hit Natsu with his frying pan, sending him across the room to the wall on the far end. "And strike from the Earth!"
Natsu, managed to stop himself before he hit the wall and faced the older brother again, forgetting about the other one was still.
"Look towards earth and…" the voice of the younger brother said, coming from right behind him. Before Natsu could turn around, the younger brother drove his foot into his back, sending him to his stomach. "We strike from Heaven!"
"You have witnessed the true power of the Vanish Brothers." The older brother said as looking on as the rubble from the ground flew into the air with his brother standing behind him. "The Heaven and Earth Annihilation technique"
"It's force that very few are able to survive-" the younger brother boasted, but gasped as the smoke and rubble cleared away.
"Guess I'm one of the few" he said as he stared at them intensely "Sorry guys"
"No way!" the brother's shouted.
"Now I'm gonna blow you away with this!" Natsu shouted as he got into a stance putting his hands in front of his mouth "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Here comes the fire magic!" the taller brother said, not afraid in the least.
"We've got him" his brother bragged. He pulled his frying pan in front of himself, and absorbed the fireball into it. "Flame Cooking!"
"You see my frying pan absorbs your and doubles their strength, right back at you!" he said.
The younger brother spun around so that the front of the pan faced Natsu, he then let out a battle cry with a crazed look on his face as he sent Natsu's own attack back at him.
Natsu himself looked on calmly, even as his own fire magic thrown back at him even if though it was twice as big now than it was before. The flames exploded around him, creating a large fireball similar to a bomb.
"Now he's a flame cooked Fairy!" the younger brother laughed.
"Goodbye kid" his brother bellowed confident in their victory.
Inside the flames, Natsu stood completely unaffected by the flames that tried in vain the burn his skin. He breathed in, consuming the fire in his mouth as he was drinking water. He puffed out his chest, pulling in more of the flames until they were all gone.
The vanish brothers, not expecting their opponent to eat the flames, held each other in fear. "OH NO!" they exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, now I've got some fire in my belly!" Natsu bellowed.
"Let me show you something" he jumped and leapt towards the brothers while producing a large stream of fire from both of his arms. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" he used his flaming arms as whips, slashing at his opponents.
Outside, the mansions windows and doors are blown open and shattered at the force of Natsu's attack. In town, everyone looked towards the Everlue mansion in confusion, shock and wonderment on what had happened.
"Uh oh, did I overdo it again" Natsu asked as he looked at the damage he had inflicted on the mansion and the Vanish brothers, who were on the floor twitching after being burnt to a crisp.
"Were we beaten by a fire wizard?" the older Vanish Brother asked groaning in pain, while lying on top of his younger sibling on the floor of lobby, the brother's mouths were both wide open and had smoke coming out of them.
"Hey bro tell me when the room stops spinning" his younger brother groaned.
"Ok"
"That'll teach ya" Natsu said turning around to leave "Guess I'd better go find Lucy. These Merchant Fairies are toast."
Natsu began to walk away from the defeated Vanish Brothers and Virgo.
"We're mercenaries…" the Vanish Brothers groaned in unison
As Natsu started walking away Virgo's eyes flashed.
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"Mongrel?" Everlue growled lunging at Lucy again only for her to dodge "How dare you I'm a great man who happens to be culture's greatest friend. My massive collection of books and art are proof of that."
"That collection of ugly maids of yours seems to prove otherwise" Lucy fired back.
"How dare you, they are the very definition of beauty" Everlue growled "Now tell me what secrets does this book hold? Let me guess he buried his fortune and there's a treasure map hidden inside. Tell me or else."
"Screw you fat ass" Lucy snarled at the corrupt Duke.
"Now is not the time to get sassy" Duke Everlue snapped "Listen, I myself commissioned this books very creation. Therefore any secret's it holds are rightfully my property."
Finally sick of the Duke she grabbed the warhammer from out of the gate and batted him away with it as he leapt at her again.
However this caused Happy who was flying at him to miss and crash into the wall where his target had been moments before, he bounced off of the wall and hovered above the sewer water for a few seconds before his wings vanished and he fell in.
"What's this?" Everlue growled. "A flying cat?"
"The names Happy." Happy gurgled as he resurfaced making bubbles in the sewage water.
"You really shouldn't stay in there Happy" Lucy sighed at the ridiculousness of the cat.
"But the water feels so good" Happy said sighing in contentment causing Lucy to face palm.
"I know the whole story now!" Lucy said at Everlue with an angry tone "It's a horrible adventure novel about a trashy little character named Duke Everlue!"
"Are you serious?" Happy asked climbing out of the sewer water
"I don't know that I'd call the protagonist trashy" Everlue snarled "But yes, the story itself is crap and to think it was written by the great Kemu Zaleon, inexcusable!"
"You're an arrogant bastard who forced him to write it for you" Lucy shouted at Everlue as he continued to try and attack her using Diver Magic. However she repelled him using her Warhammer to bat him away every time he came close. However he dove back into the ground or the walls and tried again, each time with the same result.
"Arrogant? Moi?" Everlue's voice questioned. "The word doesn't begin to apply; to tell my story is an honour no matter what the circumstances!"
"Then why did you have to blackmail him into writing it for you?" Lucy asked.
"Blackmail?" Happy said.
"What's the big deal?" Everlue grinned as he pinched his moustache. "He just needed some extra encouragement to take the job."
"Oh really?" Lucy asked with disbelief
"Any fool would have jumped at the chance to have me as their muse," Everlue ranted as he swam through the ground like it was water before diving under again "But he had the audacity to say no. So I gave him the added inspiration in the form of an ultimatum: write the novel or his family will be stripped of their citizenship."
"But then none of them would be able to join any of the guilds and make a living. Do you really have the power to do that?" Happy asked with shock.
"I have the power to do anything," Everlue replied appeared from beneath them causing Lucy to dodge to the side. "I got him to write it didn't I? But I didn't like his attitude. So I decided he'd do best by writing from a prison cell. He went on and on about being a brilliant novelist who would never give into threats. But in the end I got what I wanted."
"You kept him in solitary confinement for three years simply to satisfy your meagre vanity. Don't you know how hard that must have been for him to be away from his family for that long?" Lucy asked angrily as Everlue attacked again only for Lucy to smash him into the wall with her hammer again.
"Three whole years?!" Happy said, shocked.
"Perhaps it took him that long to appreciate me?" Everlue gloated still smug somehow even after being punched into a wall, it seemed that even as he pulled himself out of the wall his arrogance remained intact. He was nothing if not persistent.
"Wrong, the reality is that he saw you for who you and what you are and couldn't bear to spread such lies" Lucy shot back. "But he knew that he to satisfy your vanity. He knew that if he didn't write your character as a heroic champion of justice then his family would suffer."
"Tell me, how exactly do you know this?" Everlue demanded
Lucy held Daybreak in front of her. "It's all written here in black and white!"
"What? I've read that book from cover to cover and Kemu Zaleon isn't it." Everlue stated.
"Well if you read it normally there's no mention of him" Lucy said. "But I happen to know something that you don't know, long before he was an author he was a wizard!"
"What did he do" Everlue demanded
"After he finished the book he gathered all of his remaining strength and cast a spell on it" Lucy explained still glaring at the duke.
"What a dirty trick, He turned a book about a great man like me into a hatchet job?" Everlue's shoulders shook with rage "The nerve of that fool!"
"You're the real fool here aren't you?!" Lucy smirked "It's true that he wrote about the pain and torture you that you put him through, but the chapters talk about what you did to him are only a small part of the book. In fact its secret has nothing to do with you"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Everlue demanded
"Tell us Lucy" Happy said eagerly
"I'm not returning this book Everlue!" Lucy said "And I can't really destroy it either, not until the person it's really written for has seen it"
"What the hell does that mean?" Everlue demanded "And why were you talking about all of this anyway? Why waste time blabbing about what I did to that idiot Zaleon? What purpose does it serve?"
"Simple" Lucy produced a small crystal ball from out of her pocket that flashed red softly "This is a recording Lacrima that I've had on me. I always keep a few on me So after I read the book I turned one on when you burst in earlier I set it to record, and it's been doing just that this whole time. In other words you've just confessed to your crimes, I can't help but wonder what the Magic Council will think when they hear this?"
Lucy had a smug expression on her face as she tossed the Lacrima up and down in her hand a few times before turning it off.
'Crap she's been recording me this whole time and that book, hack must have written an exposé about all of my illegal business deals. I can't have that. If the magic council somehow finds out how I actually made my fortune, my goose will be cooked even with just the Lacrima recording."
"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Everlue shouted pulling out a Celestial Gate Key and shouted,
"So that maid was really was a celestial spirit?" Lucy mumbled with a grin and glint in her eyes.
"He's using your trick, Lucy," Happy said.
Emerging from the ground was the Celestial Spirit, Virgo. To the duo's surprise, it was that same big fat pink-haired maiden that Natsu defeated earlier.
"Did I hear my master summon me!" Virgo shouted.
"Virgo, fetch me that book and that recording Lacrima!" Everlue ordered.
"Hold on, she's a Celestial Spirit?" Lucy said, shocked.
If that wasn't surprising enough, they were even shocked of who appeared with Virgo. Standing on top of Virgo was Natsu
"Natsu!" Lucy and Happy shouted.
"Yeah," Natsu replied.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Everlue asked with shock
"What are you doing up there?" Lucy asked him.
"Well we saw her getting up so I sort of jumped on her," Natsu explained "And all of a sudden I ended up here"
"So you two grabbed a hold of her inside the house?" Lucy asked, surprised. "That means that you passed through the spirit gate with her. But that's impossible such a trip would kill a human"
"Lucy so the hell do I do now?" Natsu asked
"Just sit back and watch fool" Lucy replied
"Virgo, clean up this rubbish!" Everlue ordered.
"As you wish, Master," Virgo replied.
Virgo was ready to strike Natsu but Lucy was quicker.
"Natsu stab her with this" Lucy said throwing a lightning bolt shaped dagger at him
"What's this thing?" Natsu asked grabbing the dagger "It's shiny"
"That's called Rule Breaker you idiot" Lucy replied "Now stab Virgo with it and I'll consider forgiving you for deceiving me earlier"
"Ok" Natsu nodded and plunged the dagger into Virgo who promptly vanished.
"What the…where she go?" Everlue demanded "What have you done-"
Everlue was cut off as a chain wrapped around his hand and snatched the Virgo's key out of his hand and brought it to Lucy, who took it.
"That dagger is called Rule Breaker and it has the ability to nullify spells and magic of all sorts and even break contracts like the one between a human and Celestial Spirit" Lucy explained dismissing the Chains and Rule Breaker.
"What?!" Everlue was now shaking with rage.
"I think the Magic Council should hear this confession don't you Everlue?" Lucy grinned knowing that would push his buttons.
"NOOO DON'T YOU DARE!" Everlue shouted leaping at Lucy.
"Not so fast you bastard" Natsu said intercepting him and smashed the Duke into the ground.
Everlue skidding face first along the ground before being stopped by Lucy's boot impacting into his head.
"Happy hold this and don't drop it" Lucy commanded handing the recording Lacrima off to Happy. "Oh and fill Natsu in on what the Duke's done to the author, I don't feel like repeating myself"
"Aye sir" Happy saluted holding the Lacrima tight and flying off to Natsu to explain to him.
"I think it's time for some payback Everlue" Lucy said as the chains appeared from above and wrapped around him and manoeuvred him so that he was horizontal and facing Natsu who had an outraged look on his face after Happy had finished explaining the Duke's crimes to him.
"What are you doing release me!" Everlue demanded struggling in vain against the chains.
"As you wish" Lucy grinned releasing the Duke smashed her warhammer against the Duke's behind as she dismissed the chains, this sent him flying in Natsu's direction "Alright Natsu, I think its time to give this mongrel exactly what he has coming to him. Don't you?"
"Oh yeah, alright Duke 'whatever your name is' time to pay for what you did….." Natsu said angrily as he pounded his fists together and got into a stance "FIRE DRAGONS IRON FIST"
Natsu promptly gave the duke a powerful punch in the form of an uppercut which sent him flying through the ceiling and back into the upper levels of his own mansion, crashing through the numerous floors and ceilings that were in his path. Unfortunately for him the force of Natsu's punch was such, that he kept going until he exited through the roof and then crashed back through it until he landed in a crater in the lobby.
"Alright then" Lucy said dusting off her hands "Time to get going Natsu"
So the two wizards and cat ran out of the sewers and made their way up to the outside of the mansion. As they reached the wrecked Lucy paused and turned to look at the mansion which was rapidly crumbling
"I like your style," Natsu told the girls. "Out with a bang, you're definitely going to fit into Fairy Tail."
"But aren't we supposed to not destroy stuff?" Happy asked.
"Let's just go" Lucy said ignoring the collapsing mansion and putting Virgo's key away in the Gate of Babylon.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
Lucy finally caught up just as Natsu and Happy reached Kaby Melon's house Lucy decided to fill Natsu in about the book.
"When I read Daybreak it was hard to believe that it was written by someone like Kemu Zaleon," Lucy said. "There's no way he would have done something that bad."
"Yeah, so," Natsu said.
"So that's how I knew there must be a spell on it you idiot" Lucy said.
The gang finally returned to Kaby Melon's mansion and Lucy handed the Daybreak book back to him. Kaby was a bit puzzled on why they were giving the book when he preferred it destroyed.
"But I requested this book be destroyed," Kaby told the gang. "Why on earth are you handing it back to me completely unscathed?"
"If you really want to burn it then do it yourself," Lucy told Kaby.
"I will most certainly burn this trash," Kaby said, getting a matchstick to burn it. "I never wanted to see it again."
"But before you do that, you are Kemu Zaleon's son aren't you aren't Kaby?" Lucy said. "You wish to destroy the book to preserve his legacy don't you?"
Natsu and Happy were caught by surprise by the news. They never would have expected that. However, they were confused on why Kaby would want to burn his father's own book.
"Yes, that's true," Kaby admitted.
"Have you read it yourself?" Lucy asked Kaby.
"No," Kaby replied. "I could never really bring myself to do it. My father told me it was garbage."
"So you were just going to burn it?" Natsu asked, shocked and wondered why Kaby would want to destroy something that was the only reminder of his father.
"I was," Kaby said.
"Without even bothering to see what's inside!" Natsu shouted, outraged. "It's the last book that your dad wrote, right! Some of us would kill for that kind of memory!"
"Natsu that's enough!" Lucy said wrenching Natsu off of Kaby "Let Kaby explain himself!"
"Please, that book caused my family great heartache and shame," Kaby told the three. "It happened about thirty-one years ago."
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
After three years Kemu Zaleon finally arrived back home and Kaby was shocked that his father actually came back.
"Father?" Kaby said, surprised.
"Forgive me, son." Kemu said seeing how upset his son was
"We haven't heard anything from you in three years," Kaby told his father. "Where have you been all this time?"
"Somewhere where I'll not return," Kemu said, binding his right arm very tightly with rope. "It's all over now."
"No, father!" Kaby yelled watching his father grab an axe with his left hand.
"I'll never write again!" Kemu shouted to himself. He raised his left arm and severed his own right arm.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
The Natsu and Happy freaked out and were shocked that Kemu Zaleon actually cut off his right arm. Lucy wasn't fazed and instead continued listening but raised her eyebrow at Zaleon doing something like that.
"Whoa!" Happy exclaimed.
Kaby continued with his story
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
Kemu was taken to the hospital to be treated and Kaby stood by his side.
"You should have listened to me," Kaby told his father. "I told you you'd regret working for that horrible Duke Everlue. But you went ahead and did it anyway. Why?"
"Because it was good money," Kemu replied.
"Who cares!" Kaby said. "Look where it got you!"
Kemu just smiled and said, "I'm so glad I finished that rubbish."
"What the heck are you smiling about?" Kaby asked. "Do you think its funny leaving your family behind for three years to write a novel you're not even proud of?"
"Son," Kemu spoke. "I thought about you the entire time when I was gone."
"Then you should have just written something for him quickly and come back to us!" Kaby told his father. "Instead you abandoned your pride and your family right along with it. You're a sad excuse for a writer by selling yourself out to the highest bidder. You're not much of a father either."
Kemu just smiled on even as his son left the room in anger.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
"Not long after that, my father passed away," Kaby told the gang. "However, the anger and betrayal I felt towards him lived on. But as the years passed by me that only slowly turned to remorse. And now… it's too late for me now to ask for his forgiveness. So I decided to make amends by destroying the final work that had caused him so much unhappiness. This is the only way. The only way to preserve his legacy. I'm sure that this is what he'd want."
"That's where you're wrong," Lucy said to Kaby before he was able to burn the book.
"What's happening?" Kaby asked in surprise as the book shined brightly
"A spell has been cast on this book," Lucy explained "It's the work of the wizard, Kemu Zaleon. Or should I say Zekua Melon."
"A spell?" Kaby said, shocked by this revelation.
The words: DAYBREAK, rearranged the letters in it and the book spelled: DEAR KABY.
"This book is his letter to you," Lucy said to Kaby. "It was disguised behind a spell that rearranged all of the words, so no one else could read it."
The book glowed and suddenly all of the letters streamed out of the book and began moving in different directions as they rearranged themselves and Kaby could make out what the words were written and what they said, much to his shock.
"Dear Kaby" Kaby read the title in shock.
"Wow," Natsu said, astonished.
"Pretty," Happy said.
"He didn't stop writing because he was ashamed," Lucy corrected Kaby. "He stopped because he had finished his masterpiece. A novel containing everything he ever wanted to say to his beloved son. And when you read it the way he intended it's easily his best work ever."
Tears of happiness came out of Kaby's eyes and realized his father truly did care for him. In his heart, he wished he could take back the last words he said to his father before he died.
"And now that the spell has been broken you can read it for yourself," Lucy said.
"Thank you, father. I swear I will never let any harm come to this book." Kaby vowed hugging the book to himself tightly.
"Well I guess we won't be collecting that reward," Natsu said causing Lucy's eye to twitch.
"Aye," Happy agreed.
"What but-"
"The whole point of the job was to destroy the book," Natsu said cutting Kaby off. "We didn't finish the job."
"Even so let me do something," Kaby insisted.
"Nah its fine you have that book from your dad and EEverlue's beaten." Natsu grinned "So all's well that end we_"
"Natsu!" Lucy growled causing him to seize up at the aura that was emanating from her "You tricked me into going with you on this stupid job, and I forgave you for that. However I never said I would forgive you for skimping out on the reward"
Letting out a angry roar Lucy opened the Gate fo Babylon and aimed its content at Natsu who began running.
"Oh crap she's pissed, run for it Happy" Natsu said as they ran out of the mansion, a hail of weapons from the Gate landing very close to them and exploding on impact with the ground.
"Aye sir!"
"NATSU YOU HAD BETTER HOPE THAT NONE OF THESE HITS YOU! Lucy yelled despite the fact that she could easily hit Natsu if she truly wanted.
"YOU SAID THAT YOU'D FORGIVE ME" Natsu yelled dodging the weapons by mere inches.
"I SAID I'D CONSIDER AND I CHOOSE NOT TOO!" Lucy roared giving chase.
This only encouraged Natsu to run faster and Happy to fly faster in order to escape from Lucy's impending wrath as she followed them.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
The next day, the gang then continued on walking towards the road to Magnolia. Natsu, Happy were walking through the swamp. Lucy however chose to ride above them on her Vimana
"Are you mongrels certain you know the right way back?" Lucy demanded with annoyance
"Happy says this is the way home so this is the way we're going," Natsu replied being careful with his tone as Lucy had not fully forgiven him yet.
"Have some faith," Happy said. "I'm a cat. I have a great sense of smell. My nose will lead us home."
"It's dogs that have great noses you foolish cat" Lucy snapped "And you are about as far from a dog as you can get."
Suddenly, Natsu heard something going on in the bushes.
"Who's there?" Natsu demanded, as he jumped into the bushes to attack the mysterious person hiding.
Lucy scoffed as he jumped headfirst to attack.
"You can take him, Natsu!" Happy cheered him on.
Jumping out of the bushed was Natsu along with the person who was fighting him. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Gray Fullbuster.
"It's Gray," Happy said.
"Why are you in your underwear again Gray?" Lucy asked
"Trying to find a bathroom," Gray replied.
"Why would you strip down before you found one?" Natsu asked.
Natsu and Gray began their argument once again as everyone watched on.
"Pair of morons" Lucy grumbled
Once everything had calmed down, Gray had explained himself that he too was on his way back from a job he just finished.
"So you're on your way back from a job?" Lucy asked Gray.
"Yeah," Gray replied. "There's a shortcut through these woods that will get you back to town in no time."
"See, I told you so," Happy said, but quickly stopped being smug when Lucy shot him an unpleasant look.
"Yeah, well if your nose is so great then how come you didn't know Gray was right in front of us?" Lucy asked Happy. "Smart alec"
"There's some thing's you don't want to smell," Happy replied.
"What'd you say" Gray demanded
"I agree" Natsu said "so gone home and we'll smell you later"
"Fine I will and unless you want trouble you will too" Gray said standing up
"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked Gray.
"Because Erza's due back anytime now," Gray warned them.
Natsu felt a chill go up his spine as soon as her name was mentioned.
"As in Erza Scarlet?" Lucy asked having heard of her strength through the magazines she'd read.
"Erza is the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail," Happy said.
"Sound's interesting I almost can't wait to meet her," Lucy said "So what's she like?"
"Scary," they all replied.
"A wild animal" Gray said
"More like vile beast," Natsu stated
"More like a giant monster," Happy chimed in
Lucy began picturing it in her head and began picturing her as a monster who could destroy an entire town and chuckled at the image.
"She's not that big you guys" Happy interjected
"We'll she's big enough for me" Natsu said
"Well one thing we can all agree on she's defiantly that scary" Gray said "well maybe a little scarier"
"I mean she can crush an entire mountain," Natsu said.
"What?" Gray interjected "I can guarantee that Erza can take down at least three mountains with a single kick"
"No need to exaggerate like that Gray it's more like two" Happy chimed in again
"The way you guys describe makes it sound like she's not human," Lucy said
"Like I said, we should get back," Gray suggested.
"Crap, let's get moving," Natsu said, panicking.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted around the gang. They had just been ambushed by a group of criminal wizard's. The two wizards crawled their way out of the sand that they had been stuck in while Lucy simply looked down on them from her Vimana unaffected with an amused grin on her face.
"What now?" Gray wondered.
"Happy, where are you?" Natsu shouted realising that his friend hand vanished.
"He's over there" Lucy said with boredom pointing in a direction from her vantage point above them on her Vimana.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
"Help me," Happy begged hoping one of his friends would hear him and come to save him.
The talking cat found himself tied up to a stick over woods and stone with a bunch of dark wizard's that ambushed Natsu and Gray earlier gathered around him. They had kidnapped Happy, apparently with the intention of cooking him for dinner.
"We're finally going to get some real protein."
"No berries for us tonight."
"Finally meat."
"Our future holds a feast."
"Wow, look at him shaking."
"Hey, cat, relax. You're going to be in our bellies soon enough so there's no need to be scared."
"Actually I'm not shaking like this because I'm scared," Happy said to the ambushers. "I got to use the bathroom really bad. I can't hold it much longer and I bet you it's going to make me taste weird."
"Who cares? All right, boys, let's get ready to cook him."
"Hey, I'm serious," Happy panicked "It's going to make me taste funny. I just know it will."
"Hold it right there!" Natsu shouted from on a cliff overlooking the clearing that the gang and Happy were in.
"Thank goodness," Happy said, relieved. "Now I'm not going to taste weird."
"Pipe down," one of the goons told Happy.
"That's our friend you're trying to roast, buddy," Natsu said, tightening his fist. "Sorry but you're going to have to make other plans for dinner."
"You're all wizard's aren't you," Gray figured. "What guild are you with?"
"I'm not telling," one of the goons grinned. "Get them, boys!"
However before they could get into action they were hit a rain of weapons which exploded upon impact covering them all with smoke. When it cleared they were all seriously injured and completely unconscious. None of the wounds were immediately fatal but they would need medical attention.
"Thanks for saving me Lucy" Happy called
"Oh would you look at that I hit all those wizards" Lucy sighed with boredom "That'll teach them to stand in the way I suppose"
"Wait you were aiming for me?!" Happy yelled indignantly "Don't tell me you're still mad?"
"What do you think?" Lucy asked rhetorically sending him a glare as Natsu untied him.
"Hey where did all those weapons come from?" Gray asked pointing at the weapons which were rapidly dissolving into golden dust. "How'd you do it Lucy?"
"None of your business" Lucy snapped angrily sending him a glare that indicated the conversation was over.
"Well whatever let's just get back home before Erza beats us there" Natsu insisted.
"Aye" Happy said
With that small escapade over with the four continued on the way back to Magnolia, unaware that a certain scarlet haired swordswoman was already walking through the town carrying large decorated horn through the streets.