Special thanks to everyone following and those who have left reviews - I am truly humbled! I'm going to be a little late with my updates (I'm overseas and started writing this instead of packing my suitcase, and now the flights been delayed by a whole day so I'm finishing it)...
.:*Insert usual disclaimer here*:.
Chapter One. Shatter.
It wasn't a particularly long trip to Bosco - only a couple of days by airship from Hargeon to Palerno - but Fairy Tail's Celestial mage fully intended to take advantage of the open bar. And the peace and quiet. She rarely got a chance to enjoy such indulgences.
She glanced over to where her companion lay, a vibrant blue bikini covering her battle honed and scarred body, on the sun lounge beside her and smiled. Lucy had recognised her the second she'd stepped through the doors at the guild thanks to her upbringing in high society. Her father had made sure she was obnoxiously up to date with the who's who of Earthland royalty should one of them ever attend a function she was at. Amalie had been second in line to the throne of the Kingdom that skirted the opposite side of Pergrande, before she'd abdicated with her mother's blessing. She'd told the blonde she hated the protocol and expectations, and would have made a shit queen. She still took jobs for her mother, though, and could be gone for weeks at a time, usually with the Raijinshuu in tow.
"Why aren't you doing this job with Laxus?" Lucy wondered out loud.
Amalie lifted her sunglasses up and regarded the blonde for a long moment before replying, "Because he's like a bull in a china shop. And he pissed me off."
Lucy laughed at that. The big blonde slayer and the pinkette argued nearly as much as Natsu and Gray, although not as violently... Most of the time. She was almost certain they'd slept together but didn't want to pry.
"And since you murdered those helpless flowers and the dress I liked, I figured you could use a break," the pinkette added with a sly grin.
The blonde glared at her, almost feeling guilty that she'd burned the dress Amalie had tried to save - along with the rest of his clothes. Really, she should have known what was about to happen after those roses arrived - they were the colour of friendship, after all - and for failing to realise that, Lucy was more furious with herself than anyone else. At the time, she'd thought they'd been a sweet gesture to illustrate his affection for her. Fortunately, Virgo had opened her own gate to clean up the evidence of the flower murder and replace the mirror while Lucy was busy 'packing her shit' (as Amalie had so charmingly put it) and, after she'd finished, the blonde had had a good cry and resolved to move forward.
"So what is this job, exactly?" the Celestial mage demanded. She'd been told nothing - the two women had sat in coffee deprived silence during the early morning train ride to Hargeon, and it was only once they'd boarded the airship and laid out like lizards soaking up the sun that any words had been spoken. In truth, Lucy had only been on a handful of jobs with the Change mage since she'd joined the guild 6 months prior, but had learned a lot. The pinkette generally left her to her own devices, only intervening if the situation had the potential to get lethal. "Where are we staying? How long are we going to be gone?"
"You've been requested to do some work for the Boscan ambassador, and I'm doing... Other things," Amalie replied in a bored tone, rolling over onto her stomach and reaching for one of the fresh cocktails that had appeared, unbidden, on the table between them. She saw the look of horror cross over Lucy's face and rolled her eyes. The former princess may have spent her whole life training to be an assassin, but she only took jobs that her mother assigned or where she was able to research the hell out of someone first to warrant the action. She had a particular distaste for rapist and slavers, and she certainly wasn't nasty enough to take the sensitive blonde on a job where she'd have to bear witness to a hit. "Not that sort of thing. At least, I don't think so. Mother kept it cryptic."
"Fair enough," Lucy replied. She hadn't particularly wanted to know the details, and an indirect no from the pinkette was better than a definite yes. She took a long sip of her drink and lay back on her lounge, watching the clouds move above them. "You didn't answer my other questions..."
"You worry too much, Star!" Amalie groaned, and her nose twitched as she picked up a familiar scent. While her senses weren't as good as the Slayers, they were sharper than a normal persons thanks to the Hunter magic that ran in her family's bloodline. "Bickslow talked his dad into letting us stay at his place and it should only be for a couple of weeks. Did you know our little Seith mage has super hot brothers?"
"I ain't little, princess!" the aforementioned man complained, the close proximity of his voice making the blonde start as his shadow loomed over the women.
"Bickslow?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion, glancing between the Seith and the princess as the tall man moved her legs over she he could sit on the lounge by the blonde's knees. He was helmet-less, something that Lucy had only ever seen on a few occassions, and wore an unbuttoned white shirt over a pair of board shorts. She couldn't help but notice that the man was definitely fit underneath all the usual garb that he wore. "What are you doing here?"
"He wanted to come with us," the pinkette told her with a shrug. She eyed the blonde as she continued to stare at Bickslow and smirked. "Lu, you've got a little drool there..."
Her gibe had the desired effect as the blonde turned a brilliant shade of red and squawked, "I do not!"
Amalie burst out laughing, nearly rolling off her lounge as she attempted to keep her drink from spilling.
"Aw, cosplayer, don't be shy," the Seith mage crooned, pulling his shirt off completely and tossing it at blonde. He'd peeked at both of the womens' souls before joining them; the pinkette's was more of a brighter green when she was around the blonde, the usual grey and black that intertwined it duller than usual. Lucy's soul, however, was more muted than the last time he'd seen it several months ago, the edges of it dulled and splintered like it had been shattered. He had an idea of what had happened, of why the Change mage had stormed into his house the previous night demanded she be included on the trip, but he hadn't realised how badly it had impacted on her usually blinding soul. Determined to help her, and tease her as much as possible without hurting the poor girl more, Bickslow caught her much smaller hand in his and pressed it to his chest. "You can look, and touch, all you want..."
Lucy just gaped at him as he met her wide eyed gaze, unable to form words. She'd had a crush on Bickslow ever since she'd first seen him without his helmet. His wild hair and devil-may-care attitude just dragged her in, and now she was touching him. Mavis, she could die a happy woman now she'd felt his skin under her fingertips.
"I think you broke her," the pinkette giggled, offering the Seith the slice of pineapple that had been decorating her glass.
Bickslow looked away from Lucy and the spell was broken. He still held her hand pressed against him, over his heart, and she felt herself turn even more red but couldn't find it in herself to pull away.
.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.
The remainder of the trip was relatively uneventful. When the sun finally set that first night, the trio made their way back below deck to the cabins to freshen up for dinner. Bickslow had spent the whole afternoon with the two women, and the trio had all turned down multiple offers of pleasure. Lucy, however, seemed to garner the most attention with her golden hair. The first time it had happened, the blonde had still been within the Seith mage's grasp and had turned an impressive shade of red, while both her guild mates had audibly growled at the perpetrator.
The poor blonde was caught even more offside when it was revealed Bickslow would be sharing their room on the airship. She waited until he had been in the shower for a while to ask Amalie about getting another bed for the room.
"Chill. We'll share my bed," the Change mage soothed. Sharing a bed with him wasn't an issue - they'd done it on plenty of occasions when accommodation was tight. Laxus liked to pick up women so usually got his own room, or shared with Freed, and Evergreen was adamant about having her own space. The Fairy mage also snored like a freight train, and had a nasty habit of smacking her team with her damned fan whenever they teased her about it. A smile curved the pinkette's lips when she heard the shower shut off and she winked at the blonde. "Although, you're totally missing out - Bix is a complete snugglebug."
"I am not!" he protested, slamming the bathroom open and exiting with just a towel slung around his slender hips. "Mavis, Am, way to emasculate a dude."
The blonde had just stared at the Seith mage as rivulets of water ran down his mostly bare body, and her face had stayed an almost permanent shade of red thanks to Bicklsow's continued lack of modesty, that she suspected was deliberately exacerbated by his and Amalie's entertainment over her extreme embarrassment. Sure, she had a nudist on her team in the form of Gray, and she was familiar with the male anatomy thanks to him and the few men she'd been with, but Bickslow was different. There had also been multiple men, and the occasional woman, that had propositioned her throughout the journey. She was almost glad when they finally reached the Palerno sky port.
A handsome older man with dark hair and pale jade eyes, that Lucy immediately recognised as the Arman Pradesh, was waiting for them. Beside him stood a tall blonde with baby blue eyes who was also dressed in embassy robes.
Amalie practically leapt from the ship as soon as they got close to the port and threw herself into the elder Pradesh's arms. Her own father had died when she was ten, and she'd spent a lot of time in Bosco on political envoys with her mother. Arman had always acknowledged her, and made time to teach her tricks to reign in and control her magic. It was how she'd met Bickslow in the first place, which had then influenced her decision to join Fairy Tail.
Arman chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the young woman. "It's good to see you too, little Firebird."
"What happened to the red hair, princess?" Farron asked, pulling on her pale pink braid. She released his father and wrapped her arms around the younger ambassador's waist.
"Don't you like it?" Amalie asked, pulling back from his hug and looking up at him with a pout. She'd always liked the eldest Pradesh sibling; he was a keen swordsman and an intelligent fighter, so sparing with him was always interesting. His opinion on the hair colour she'd adopted after she'd abdicated almost mattered. "I think it suits me."
"Because you want to be cotton candy when you grow up?" Farron teased.
Bicklsow and Lucy joined them before Amalie could come up with a retort, with the Seith mage introducing the blonde first to his father and then his older brother. Predictably, the Celestial mage had been in awe of Arman. She'd read all about the peace work he'd initiated and knew he was multilingual as well as a talented mage.
The blonde had turned an impressive shade of red when Farron grasped her hand and kissed the corner of her mouth. He was even more handsome close up.
"Lovely to meet you, Lucy," he greeted her, still leaning close enough to her that his lips brushed her skin as her spoke. The Celestial mage gulped, trying to form words to reply.
"Nah, uh. Hands off, Farron," Bickslow interrupted, snatching Lucy's hand from his older brother. He'd enjoyed the small blonde's company during the trip and wasn't about to lose her to his older brothers charms. He didn't miss the Ambassador's knowing look, or his father's scarily Mira-like expression, but they were both problems to be addressed later. "Let's get going already! I can smell Mr Elan's lemon cookies from here."