When Loke ran off, it was because Lucy had startled him with her celestial magic. Coming back, he panicked about the redhead herself. Lucy was confused by it at first, but she remembered her conversation with Gray and Natsu a day ago. She was the one besides Makarov that could put the guild in check. Lucy paled as she heard heavy footsteps towards the door. She saw a red headed women with a gigantic monster horn come through the guild doors. Lucy blinked blankly at the woman. She didn't seem all that bad.
"Where is the master?" She asked in a very direct tone. Lucy sighed and turned away, going back to the bar. She realized it was probably rude to just stare at the woman. But it was a weird, the redhead intrigued Lucy to death.
"In a meeting." Mira stated, wiping down a counter.
"Ah. I had something I needed to discuss with him, but it will have to wait I suppose. Anyways, where are Gray and Natsu? I need to speak to them about something highly important." That's when Erza turned to Kana. "How many times have I told you not to drink the whole guild's supply away, Kana? And Elfman, I heard you drove wild boars into an innocent village. This guild hall is disgusting, how many times have I told all of you not to brawl?!" She scolded, raising her voice at the guild. Lucy turned away with a laugh. Now she could see why they called her scary. The scarlet haired woman turned to both Gray and Natsu, her eyes softening just a tad.
"What's up, Erza?" They asked, sweating bullets. Before she stepped in, they were in the middle of a fight, which was why they had their arms wrapped around each other. But once Erza turned her attention to the both of them, they were able to make it seem like they were giving each other a friendly hug. But everyone could tell it was a bluff.
"I need you to accompany me on a job" She ordered, leaving no room for either to argue with her. That's when chatter began to fill the room. Mostly in surprise at how Erza could possibly need help on a job. That she was so strong she could kick down mountains. About how the job must be too much for even the great Titiania to handle. Erza didn't seem to care about their words, but it pissed Lucy off.
"So what if she needs help on a job, not everyone is invincible you know." Lucy mumbled in the general area, taking a sip of her beer. Though she wanted to scream it out to the whole guild, she didn't feel she had a say in really anything yet. She was still new. But, unknowingly to her, Erza had heard the whole thing and smiled. Walked up to the blonde, Erza held out her hand for them to shake.
"Indeed...who are you?" Erza asked. Lucy shook her hand and gave Erza a polite smile. She couldn't help but be a bit nervous around the redhead. Lucy turned her body fully to face the other mage, and she took another small sip of beer.
"Lucy, I'm new here, it's nice to meet you." She grabbed her hand firmly and shook it, never breaking eye contact with the powerful mage. Then Lucy leaned forward and smile softly. "Wow...Erza, did you know how pretty you are?" Lucy giggled. Erza let go of her hand quickly and looked towards her feet for a moment. Lucy concluded she must not get direct complements like that.
"T-Thank you. So, what kind of magic do you wield?" Erza pondered. Everyone piped down at the question, most were definitely curious about Lucy's magic. She had only told Natsu and Happy at this point. Turning to Marie with a smirk, she answered.
"I'm a celestial dragon slayer!" Lucy pumped my fist in the air, happy she could get the whole guild silent. Erza examined the celestial mage closely. A smile eventually gracing her lips, she placed a hand on her hips and gave Lucy a hardened stare.
"I would like you to accompany me as well." Lucy looked surprised for a moment, but nodded, sitting back down and gulping the rest of her drink down. Murmurs started up again so Lucy gave the guild a small glare out of annoyance. They were all starting to really get on her nerves. Erza shook her head. "We'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning. Don't be late!" And then she was gone. Wait, train station? Lucy paled and held a hand over her mouth.
"You alright Lucy?" Mira asked, a little concerned for the blonde, while she cleaned out one of her glasses. Lucy made a small noise, like a whine and turned to the barmaid.
"Y-yeah, I just hate trains is all..." Lucy sighed, slamming her head on the table.
"Oh my, do you have motion sickness like Natsu?" She tilted her head to the side to get a better look at Lucy. All Lucy could do was hum. But Mirajane understood exactly what that meant. She giggled and finished up her chores.
"It must be a slayer thing." Lucy concluded, falling asleep at the bar. Hours later, Lucy woke up with only Mirajane and Elfman sticking around. They were siblings anyway. She waved goodbye to the both of them and trudged home. She assumed Marie went home with Happy and Natsu, so she didn't bother looking for the flying cat. Stepping inside the cottage, she kicked off her shoes.
Lucy noticed the way Natsu had fallen asleep on the couch, as if he was waiting for her to get home. Her eyes softened and she grabbed the boy by the bicep, hauling his arm over her neck. He was a lot heavier than he looked. Almost out of breath, she made it to his hammock and slammed him in. She took a breather, her hands in her knees.
Shaking her head, she threw a blanket over the mage and set Happy beside him. Yawning, Lucy made her way to the bathroom and slipped on shorts and a t-shirt. She came out and grabbed Marie, who was sleep on the couch where Happy was. Lucy slipped into her own bed and waited until she stopped swaying to position Marie on her.
...
Lucy woke up and looked around, still with Marie in her hands. She set her down gently on the hammock and gathered up clothes to take a shower and get dressed. Once she was finished, she made her way to the blue feline and his partner. "Get up, you know we can't be late to the job, Erza will be mad. " Natsu shot up and hurried to get dressed while Lucy laughed at him.
"What's so funny?" He scoffed, clearly not amused.
"You and Gray are wrapped around Erza's little finger." Lucy snickered. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She watched as Natsu gave her glare while he shrugged on his vest, going into another room to continute getting ready.
"At least I'm not a suck up to her!" He huffed from the other room. Lucy rolled her eyes while she made a quick breakfast for all of them. But she realized it probably wouldn't even matter, they wer just going to puke it out anyway.
"Hey! I was stating a fact I was not sucking up...and you two are the suck ups here!" Lucy laughed. Natsu made a slight noise of annoyance and stepped into where the stove was. She handed him a small plate of food.
"Whatever" He ended the small conversation there. Lucy silently sat next to him and began to eat her food, while Marie and Happy munched on a cooked fish. Lucy couldn't help but beam at the scene. It was a lot nicer to eat in company again.
...
When they finished eating, Natsu and the rest of their group ran out of their house quickly. At the speed they were going, they were probably going to be late. But luckily, Marie and Happy snatched both Natsu and Lucy up and flew down to the train station themselves. Natsu exhaled a large breath, they were the first ones there. Only a few minutes later, did Gray arrive, annoyed.
"Why did Erza chose you to go on the job with us, stripper!?" Natsu grunted, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Gray got into his face and gave him a frightening scowl.
"I was thinking the same thing, dragon breath!"
"Cut it out or I will tell Erza!" Natsu turned around, only to see Lucy's glare burning into his and Gray's eyes. Though Natsu will admit it was sorta scary, it wasn't Erza scary. But her words were definitely horrifying.
"S-Sorry!" Natsu and Gray let go of each other and back away. They would really rather not have Erza beat them to a pulp. Lucy shook her head with a small smile, turning back to the train station entrance, waiting for the scary mage. Natsu observed the way Lucy's foot tapped rapidly against the concrete. He could tell she was getting slightly annoyed. The way she puffed her cheeks out was a definite indication
"What's wrong with you, dragon boy?" Natsu heard Gray asked. The black haired man could see Natsu's intense stare at the back of Lucy's head and held in the urge to tease him about it. Natsu snapped out of his daze and glared daggers at the other man.
"Nothing, you stripper!" Natsu sputtered, choosing not to look at Gray. Natsu put a palm to his forehead in embarrassment, how stupid did he have to be to be caught staring. Once he saw Erza though, all trace of embarrassment left him, and filled with fear. He stiffened and decided to not even look at Gray, not wanting to risk fighting him.
"Have you waited long?" Erza asked. Lucy rubbed the back of her head and shook her head, indicating that they didn't have to wait very long. But Natsu could feel the slight irritation that radiated off Lucy. He took a step back, not wanting to anger the blonde. Natsu then grinned and jumped in front of Erza, an idea coming to mind.
"Hey Erza! Fight me!" He shouted with a cackle. Erza turned to Natsu and gave him a condescending smile.
"Are you sure? You lost the last couple of times." Natsu growled at the memories and pushed them away. He wouldn't allow her to get in his head.
"That was then, this is now! I'm stonger!" She shook her head with a soft smile.
"Alright, it you insist. Gray, Lucy, would you want to try and battle me as well?" Gray chuckled nervously and declined rather quickly. Lucy contemplated it for a moment, but noticing Gray's shaking head, silently telling her to decline the offer too. Lucy took his advice and told the redhead that she would rather not fight a friend. Erza nodded, pulling her cart filled with items in the train. Lucy and Natsu looked to each other when Gray stepped in.
He looked back at them oddly. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Erza's gonna kill you guys if you don't come." Natsu and Lucy whined and slowly made their way onto the train. Lucy stepping inside first, immediately fell to the floor. Natsu right behind her. They clutched their stomachs while Gray rolled his eyes. "Pull yourselves together, its pathetic!" Natsu heard Gray yell faintly. He managed to help Lucy stand and moved to the seat across from Erza and Gray.
"Odd, I thought only natsu got motion sickness?" Lucy moaned but didn't say anything. Erza gave the girl a sympathetic expression.
"So Erza, what's this trip all about?" Gray questioned. Erza's expressioned turned dark while she crossed her armored arms, looking out the window.
"While I was at a pub, having finished my last mission, I overheard a couple of men talk about a dark guild, Eisenwald. They explained that a man, Erigor was running the guild and planning to do something despicable at Onibus station. We are heading there now so that we can check it out and put a stop to it. I also heard one of them say something about Lullaby. Some kind of flute magic, but I'm not sure how it ties into all of this." Erza slammed her hand onto her knee, clenching her teeth. "Dammit, it makes no sense!"
"I-I think I know what Lullaby is," Lucy groaned out. All eyes turned to her while she began to explain. "I heard that group of bandits we fought mention. I remember reading about it when I was younger, it's a type of death magic, when you play the flute, anything in the general vicinity dies. Though i'm not sure what this Erigor guy will do with it." Lucy mumbled, dozing off. She leaned her head against Natsu's upper arm while he laid back on the seat, holding his stomach.
Natsu then felt the train stop, but he couldn't bring himself to get up. He couldn't say a word as Erza, Gray, Happy, and Marie left the train. Leaving him and Lucy there on their own. The train began to move again, and Natsu gasped, almost losing his breakfast. Just then, a man with spiky hair tied in a tight ponytail walked over to them, looking at the two pale teens. He held in a chuckle while he sat across from the two.
"Can I sit here? Thanks" He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked back and forth between Lucy and Natsu. "So you and your friend are from Faiiry Tail eh? All you legal guilds have really cute women there" He eyed Lucy sleeping, though Natsu growled weakly in protest. "I'm just warning you all to stay back, because no matter what you do, Eisenwald will always remain the victor." The man cackled menacingly and threw a kick to Natsu's face. But before it could reach the poor boy's nose, Lucy managed to push his leg away.
"I promise you that Fairy Tail will win. Don't underestimate us!" Lucy stood up and held up her fist, sweat making a trail down the side of her face. Natsu did what he could to stand and leaned on Lucy's form for a second, the train was still moving. In the distance, Natsu could hear the magic mobile that Erza was driving. It was getting closer and closer by the second. Then, the train stopped, forcing all three mages to fall over. Lullaby just happened to fall out of the dark mage's jacket and slide right in front of Lucy.
"You weren't suppose to see that!" He yelled, using everything he had to grab at the flute before Lucy could get to it. Natsu realized that Erza was definitely close enough so Natsu grabbed Lucy by the wrist and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed as he jumped out the window. He laughed, not noticing Gray right in his face as he flew backwards. Slamming right onto the ice mage's forehead, Natsu shouted out in pain, along with Gray. Tumbling to the ground, Natsu wrapped his arms around the blonde so she wouldn't get scratched up.
"Ouch..." Natsu mumbled as he touched his sore forehead.
"Are you two alright!" He heard Erza yell but he was too focused on Lucy whose face was planted face first in his chest. She lifted her head and glared dangerously at Natsu. He could hear her heart rate speeding up. She slapped his chest hard and stood up.
"You scared the shit out of me!" She pointed to his body as he stood up and wiped the dust from his outfit. He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned down at Lucy sheepishly.
"Sorry 'bout that, Luce. But we had to go." She sighed and stood next to him, leaning him over so she could help him walk. They stepped into the magic mobile while Erza drove at crazy high speeds to catch up with Eisenwald. Once they all made it there, they ran into the station, Lucy carrying Natsu on her back while they ran. Seeing Erigor flying in place, Erza stopped.
"So it seems you found us." He said darkly.
"What do you plan to do with the Lullaby flute!" Erza asked, getting right down to business. Erigor laughed.
"What is the one thing that all train stations have?" He asked suddenly. Lucy looked around the station she was in. She couldn't tell what he was trying to get at. What did he mean by it? Erza seemed to have figured it out, she turned to the rest of her team with panic.
"He plans to blast the flute magic on the intercom!" Erigor laughed maniacally and disappeared, leaving his minions to team Natsu. Erza ordered both Natsu and Gray to run off and find him while Lucy and herself would deal with the rest of the dark guild. Marie and Happy stepped back, not wanting to get caught up in the fight. Natsu hopped off Lucy and ran down a path along with Gray.
Natsu hoped the best for Lucy.
...
When Lucy watched Natsu leave safely with Gray, she let magic swirl around her hand, punching one of the dark guild members in the face with her celestial dragon iron fist. Erza had transformed into her heavens wheel and began to attack others with her sword. Erza turned to the blonde. "Where are you living, Lucy?" Lucy sweat dropped at the question. Erza must not really see them as a threat if she can have such a casual conversation with her while they fought.
"Marie and I live in Natsu's and Happy's home now! He offered after Me and Marie had no where else to stay." Lucy announced, forcing her way through a crowd of men, using her roar to knock them over.
"You could always stay at Fairy Hills with all of us. Only women are allowed to live there." Erza offered. The idea really didn't sound half bad to her, but she kind of liked the cozy house in the middle of the woods. And, she was a lot more comfortable with Natsu than anyone else in the guild at the moment.
"It's okay! Natsu isn't a bad roommate." Lucy giggled. Once every man was down on the ground, Erza coughed and dropped to her knees. Lucy squeaked and ran over to the redhead. "You okay Erza?" She placed a hand in the woman's shoulder for support.
"Yeah, I think the magic mobile had done me in. Hey, can you do me a favor?" Lucy nodded, waiting for Erza to continue. "I want you to find one of the Eisenwald members... I saw him run off somewhere...okay?" Lucy gave her a smile of determination and ran off with Marie and Happy trailing behind. Lucy tried to sniff out the last member, but she couldn't seem to find him. His scent was either everywhere or nowhere. She did get a whiff of Natsu and Gray's scent though, she smiled. They were close.
"Let's go back to Erza." Lucy sighed, crossing her arms. She couldn't find the guy and she was starting to get tired. Marie nodded while Happy protested.
"You must be really brave, Lucy, trying to disobey Erza!" He shivered, probably thinking of the scary requip mage.
"Fine whatever, but I did sniff out Natsu, maybe he knows where the dude we want is!" She really had no idea if Natsu knew where the man was, but it was the best lead she had. Running to his scent, she found him in the process of pulling out the man she was looking for from the wall and throwing him down to the ground. Lucy smelled blood and looked to the man from the train, kageyama. Lucy realized the man had stabbed his own guild mate. But why?
"He was your friend! You're teammate! How could you just stab him like that!" Natsu screamed, beating into the rounder man. Lucy held her arm with her other hand and glared down at the bigger man. Happy and Marie perched on her shoulders while she turned to Kageyama in sympathy.
She couldn't imagine what that kind of betrayal must feel like.