Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters
So I'm so glad that everyone liked my kind of rushed chapter. This one however will have a little more detail and possibly a hint as to what Lucy's secret is. I gave a big clue in the last chapter with the mysterious man in the lake so hope this one is good too.
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Lucy had a bad feeling. Correction, she always had a bad feeling. But right now her danger senses were on high alert. From her black market contact she had learned a lot about the different smuggling operations that were currently happening around Fiore and this one had all the makings of sex slavery. And in a huge port town like this, it was very likely that these guys had more than one ship to transport the women they abducted. But she'd made a promise to that man, whose name was actually Takahiro, that she'd do her best to return his cousin so she was trying to keep her pessimism to herself.
Glancing over, the blonde observed her partner for this job. The salmon haired teen had this carefree grin on his face that concerned her a little. Did he even understand the delicacy of this situation? Somehow she didn't think so. She still didn't understand what had made the pinkette decide to bring her along on this job when they hadn't exactly got off on the right foot. But she was glad to be on her first official job as a Fairy Tail mage. Lifting her right hand up, she stared at the pink guildmark on her hand. Somehow it reminded her of Freed, who also had his green guildmark on his hand, but she pushed those feelings aside. He'd messed up and until he apologized she wasn't going to think about him.
A shiver went down the blonde's spine, causing her to falter. A throbbing pain shot through her temples and she froze on the spot. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm her herself. Natsu stopped a few feet ahead of her and looked back with slight confusion. Lucy tried to give a reassuring smile but the pain was making it hard to breathe. But after a moment, it stopped.
'This is getting harder to ignore.' She thought, jogging to catch up to the dragon slayer. 'He's getting closer to me but why?'
Shaking off her thoughts, she gave Natsu a small smile. "Sorry I was a little dizzy for a moment."
"Are you okay, Lushi?" Happy asked, flying in front of her.
The blonde nodded and answered. "Yeah it happens all the time."
Thankfully, it seemed like both her partners dropped the subject without interrogating her. She pushed aside her anxiety for a minute and observed the ships around her. The one they were looking for was quite unique according to the note that Takahiro gave them. So, with that being said, it didn't take them long until they found it. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when they stopped in front of it because truthfully it was quite tacky.
The ship was huge, like she expected, but it had many decorations on it. Banners and flags that all said "Prominence" in flashy bubble letters. There were windows on all sides of the boat and The deck was covered with tables that had flower centerpieces. They must have had an obsession with that word because it was also carved into the side of the ship. The exterior seemed well managed, almost looked new, and she suspected that in one of those rooms was all the captured woman.
"What should we do now Lushi?" Happy asked, tilting his head to stare at the blonde.
Lucy contemplated the best course of action then replied. "There's no guarantee that this is the ship that the women are in currently. If it was then it would be heavily guarded but there isn't a soul in sight. It's good that we found it but the best thing to do now is take a look around town and try to spot anyone suspicious. Tonight, if we can, we'll come back here and observe the ship."
"I say we just bust down the doors and take them down!" Natsu exclaimed, slamming his now flaming fists together.
Raising her hand, Lucy smacked the pinkette on the back of the head. "Idiot! Did you not hear a word I just said?!"
"What was that for?" Natsu glared at her, rubbing the spot she smacked.
The blonde huffed with annoyance. "What do you think would happen if we just stomped right up on the boat?"
"We'd get to beat up some bad guys?" Natsu looked confused.
Lucy face palmed and inwardly cursed at how dense he was. "What if no one was there but someone saw us? What do you think would happen to the girls they have captive? They'd move them to another ship and disappear! It'd be practically impossible to find them then!"
"Okay, okay, I get it." The pinkette looked disappointed at the fact that he wasn't going to get to fight yet.
The two Fairy Tail mages quickly left the port before they could possibly be seen by their enemy. Lucy instructed Natsu to go search for his dragon but warned him that if he caused any commotion that she would make sure he paid for it. Nodding quickly, he ran off with Happy in tow. This left the blonde alone in the huge town. Sighing, she started her own search.
Hours had passed since Lucy and Natsu had split up to look for more clues. The blonde had started off by talking with the other girls families about what had made them believe that their daughters/sisters/friends had been abducted. From what she gathered, the girls had all mysteriously gotten dressed up one night and left but never returned. The stories were too similar to be coincidences but there was nothing to base that conclusion on either. All in all, she got nothing. The blonde was about to give up her search when she heard a bunch of commotion nearby. Her interest captured, she ventured towards the noise. It was a crowd of woman surrounding a man and squealing.
"The great salamander has appeared!"
"I love you salamander-sama!"
Lucy blinked in confusion. 'Salamander? Didn't Natsu say something about a salamander before we started the job? But that guy is definitely human so is he a fake? Or am I missing something?'
Getting closer, the blonde observed the man. He was a fairly decent man with dark blue hair that was parted to one side. A tattoo rested above his right eyebrow. The clothes he wore were fairly flashy with the whole red pants and dark blue cloak thing he had going on. The women that were surrounding him were all gushing about how amazing he was and how much they wanted to attend one of his parties on his boat. That struck a chord with the blonde. Each girl's parents had told her that they had gotten dressed up one night and disappeared. It couldn't be a coincidence that this guy was inviting women out to parties on a boat. Narrowing her eyes, she happened to catch the movement one of one of his hands. He was wearing two rings and from the feeling she was getting she knew he was using a love charm on those girls.
'This is no doubt the guy we are looking for. If I can get an invite to his party then I can signal to Natsu when it's time for him to move in.' Lucy thought, biting her lip. 'But how do I approach him in a way that would get him to invite me to his party?'
Taking a cue from the girls around her, Lucy unbuttoned the top of her shirt to show more of her cleavage and sauntered up. She allowed a piece of her mind to take to the charm magic that was in the air around her and joined in with the crowd of entranced women. Hearts gathering in her eyes, Lucy started gushing about how handsome he was in person. The man seemed to turn his attention mostly on the busty blonde. His dark eyes took her in from top to bottom and stopped on her face.
"My what a cute girl you are!" He stated smoothly.
Lucy giggled in embarrassment. "Thank you~!"
"How about you attend the party on my yacht tonight?" He gave a swarmly smile, making the blonde's skin crawl.
She swooned and replied. "I'd love to Salamander-sama!"
The "salamander" handed her the info for where to meet and disappeared with one last wink in her direction. She swooned, making sure he was out of sight before moving to the side and taking off down the street. Now that she had her in she just needed Natsu's help with a plan. Lucy would beat her instructions into his head if he had to but first she needed to find him. That surprisingly didn't take too long. He'd been walking dejectedly in the alley that she'd ducked into.
"Natsu!" She hollered as she ran over. "What's wrong?"
The pinkette sighed. "The Salamander that I came to see was a fake. No Igneel is sight."
"That Salamander is also our trafficker." Lucy started, feeling a bit sympathetic towards the fire dragon slayer. "If we play our cards right then you can fight him tonight."
The pinkette's mood improved drastically from that sentence alone. "Yush! I'm all fired up!"
"Okay, so here is the plan…"
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A few hours later and Lucy had slipped on a blue strapless party dress that reached down to her ankles. But knowing she would be fighting later, she'd pulled on mid thigh length tights and a strapless black sports bra underneath the dress. A firework to signal Natsu with was hidden in the right boot she was wearing and her keys were strapped to her hip with a thin black strap. Breathing in, she stepped into the entrance of the port. It didn't take her long to find the ship again and this time it was bustling with people. Gritting her teeth, she started her walk up onto the deck.
The deck was pretty much like what Lucy expected. Tables covered with eccentric center pieces. All bearing the flags that said prominence. Lights were strung along the underside of the deck, illuminating the dancefloor. Huge men were standing at either ends of the deck, malicious grins hidden behind wine glasses. Lucy's eyes shot to the side where the fake salamander was making his rounds. When he noticed the blonde he winked and sauntered over.
"Good evening my lady."
Lucy curtsied and smiled seductively. "Good evening Salamander-sama!"
"Why don't you look beautiful tonight!" He commented in his usual swarmy tone of voice.
The blonde giggled into her palm. "You flatter me!"
"Why don't we move inside for some refreshments?" He asked, twirling his ring around his finger.
Momentary panic settled in the blonde's stomach but she replied smoothly, "I'd rather stay out here. It's too beautiful of a night to be indoors, don't you agree Salamander-sama?"
"You're quite right milady!" He replied easily, his eyes darkening with what looked to annoyance. "But I have a special treat prepared indoors, just for you."
Lucy inwardly growled, knowing that if she kept refusing then he'd know something was up. "Well then let's move indoors."
Smugness flashed in the man's eyes as he turned and led the blonde towards one of the open doors. Of course, this made Lucy's original plan of the firework signal useless but she'd prepared for that as well. Her second plan, though, had to go on without a hitch. Breathing in, she relaxed and took the seat that the fake salamander gestured to. Glancing around, Lucy took in the room. It was rather large, wooden floors and blue walls. Though, she noticed, that one of the walls was a curtain that no doubt led to another large room. As they sat, he poured a glass and stood up.
"Enjoy this sparkling gem of a beverage!" He yelled enthusiastically, taking the glass and splashing the contents into the air.
Feeling the magic she used her hand to fling the enchanted drink away from her. "My my! Using sleep magic on a young lady is rude, ya know?"
"So you noticed, eh? You must be a mage then." He said, expression taking on a much more twisted look.
Lucy gave a light laugh in response. "Of course I am! My guild got a job request about some missing girls and you were the only suspicious individual in town so here I am!"
"Suspicious?" He asked, his face twisting in annoyance. "How am I suspicious?"
The blonde tilted her head to the side and gave him a smirk. "Several reasons actually. First, people only dress like you do if they want to draw attention to themselves. Second, you were using forbidden charm magic on those women in town earlier. Third, there was talk of a party on your yacht and every family with a missing daughter or sister said that they got dressed up for a party. Lastly, I know the real Salamander and you are not him."
"HahahaHAHAHA!" He laughed. "You got me, you got me! My name is Bora the prominence but even though you figured it all out milady you're not getting off this ship! We'll be arriving in Bosco in a few hours so why don't you take a nap already!"
The men from before started filing into the room, arms carrying the unconscious women from the party. The blonde smirked and reached up into the slip of her dress. Pulling out one of her keys she chanted, "Open gate of the golden bull! Taurus!" As she shouted, a cold magic circle opened and a large bull stood before the traffickers. In his hands was a large ax with the symbol for Taurus on it. The arrival of the spirit had put the men on edge, causing them to drop the no doubt drugged woman onto the floor.
"Moo! I'll protect your buxom body Lucy!" The bull shouted, smashing his ax into the side of the ship creating a large boom along with a gaping hole in the side of the ship.
Bora laughed, although it sounded a little more nervous. "You think that thing can fight all of us?"
"No, but I can." Lucy replied, getting into position. "Taurus, you know what to do!"
Swiftly removing her dress, the blonde dropped into a fighting stance. Taurus ran towards the group of guys and brought down his ax in front of them. The wind from the smash of the flat ax caused many of the men to be blown back. Lucy took that chance to kick them swifty in whatever area she could reach as she ran past. Lucy swiftly moved onto the deck and grabbed the nearest lantern. All the traffickers were distracted by the bull spirit which gave the blonde much needed time. Withdrawing the firework from her boot, she used to lantern and lit it. A green spark flew into the sky and exploded. As the sound from the explosion died down, a loud shout was heard.
"I'm all fired up!"
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Yeah this chapter wasn't the best but the next one will be the fight with Bora and the completion of the job.