Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Hisui tossed in her bed for the tenth time as she's tried to sleep. The talk she just finished with Fiore proved to be too stimulating for her head. Now her head was a swinging pendulum. One side was wondering what Fiore was hiding from her. Her spirit was never the type to hide details from her, learning that there was something being tightly sealed just made it harder for Hisui to sleep. The other side was considering who to hire for an investigation. The letter gave too much of a lead that Hisui couldn't pass out on. Bouncing between both sides, Hisui turned on her bed again until finally, she decided who to hire. A grinning pink-head was the last thing swimming around Hisui's head before finally stopping at light moments, diminishing to stillness.

Hisui woke up at her usual time, just when a sliver of gold was peaking from a mountain out her window. Karie was the only one that should be up earlier than Hisui. Swinging out her bed and stretching, Hisui quickly finished her morning rituals and rushed down a flight of stairs—making sure to bring a potted plant with her. Freshly baked beard filled the dining room, masking the subtle hint of tea. Eggs crackled on a pan. A single light lacrima guided Hisui to a seat with her meal. Hisui placed the pot under light source, watching it twitch and sway.

"Sorry, I woke up ten minutes later, I'm wrapping up right now." Karie said.

"What happened?"

"Father was being embarrassing last night."

"You called him?"

"He did." Karie slid a plate of eggs and a small dish of salad to Hisui before sitting down herself with a meal in hand. "He was making sure if I was taking care of myself, he heard rumours of thugs being more active." Karie poured some water in the pot.

"I think they should be scared of you, not the other way around."

"He still thinks I'm not strong enough, despite not coming from a battle-oriented background. I wish he has more faith in the training mother gave me."

"You know that's not going to happen." Hisui teared a piece of bread and chewed it slowly.

"What about you? I know you read the letter, anything useful?" Hisui used the bread to buy her time.

"It got me a lead, I just need to send someone to follow that lead."

"Do you want me to go?"

"I'm helpless without you here."

"Why did you think I taught you those life skills? You can manage, albeit you'll be scraping by."

"I was thinking of who to hire last night, I need someone strong, can track a flower well and have experience in a forest."

"You're thinking of a Dragon-slayer?"

"What do you think of Erza's team?"

"They should be fine, I'm just worried that they aren't the most suited to sneak around and get information."

"Can you think of any team in Fairy Tail where being discreet and covert is their strong suit?"

"If you tell me to think of the opposite, the list won't end." Karie chuckled. "But no, I can't seem to recall anyone. Levy and Wendy might fit into that category."

"What happens if they get caught? I don't mean to mock their strength, but I'm worried whether they can defend themselves."

"We can't seem to get both sides…then let's ask Erza, no amount of information is worth potentially losing our friends."

"Perhaps they can use their explosiveness to their advantage. If they manage to find someone relevant, it'll be easier to get the information out of them."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go?"

"Of course I'm sure." Hisui took her last sip from her drink. Just then, taps came from the staircase and a yawning Erza wearing a white blouse joined the table. "You're up early, do you need to train?"

"Nothing that strenuous, I didn't sleep well last night."

"Are you fine?"

"It's nothing to worry about. Karie, I hate to bother you but, do you have anything to eat?"

"I'll cook something now, it won't take long." Karie clicked a stove on and got to work.

"Thanks."

"Erza?" Hisui started. "Is your team planning to go on a job?"

"We're planning to find one today, why?"

"I want to hire your team to do something for me."

"Do you want to wait until we get to the guild and then explain?"

"That's what I was intending."

"Are you sure they will be fine Hisui?" The potted plant asked in a sleepy voice. The healthy green stalk wiggled and shoved soil back and forth. The dance resulted in Fiore stepping out of the pot brimming with energy. Her snow-white dress was thicker than normal, reaching to her feet rather than ending at the knees. "Do they even know what the flower looks like? Since you're planning to bring that Dragon-slayer, does he know what it smells like?"

"And that's where you come in Fi, you can re-create it right?"

"Not perfectly, just what it looks like. As for the smell…I…forgot." Fiore flailed her arms in defence from her master's scrutinising gaze. "I haven't seen one in so long! Can you blame me for forgetting?"

"Can you at least try to remember? This is crucial." Wandering around the room, Hisui grabbed a pot from a shelf and returned. "Will this help?" Hisui pulled a piece of candy.

"Maybe." Fiore threw the sweet in her mouth, swelling it up like a balloon. "Give me a minute." A plate of food slid under Erza and she started to eat while keeping an eye on the spirit after giving her thanks. Holding up her hand, Fiore casted a flowery scent that no one could recognise. "Is it this? No…this?" Another shift in aroma. The last one was the smell similar to bread. Currently, a combination of acid burn and fruits lingered. "Nope. How about…this?" The smell in the room kept changing at random, mainly exotic flowers dominated the room, though milder flowers peeked in to break the long train line of intense flavours. "This is it!" Fiore shouted, stopping at a sweet fruit smell that gave everyone a sour look. "I'm impressed with myself!" Twirling, Fiore jumped in the pot Hisui grabbed and picked out a few sweets before hopping back out, slowly savouring each candy. Cutlery clattered on an empty plate as Erza finished a glass of tea.

"Should we go now?" Hisui asked, taking the plates to a sink.

Erza drummed her fingers on the table. "It's still early, not many people arrived yet, Natsu and Gray is still sleeping, Lucy should have arrived. Your call."

"When does Natsu and Gray wake up then?"

Erza glanced up at a clock and replied. "In about two hours."

"They're not the early people are they?"

"Ever since we were young."

"I think we should set out now, I have something to ask of Master."

"What did Natsu do this time?"

"Nothing troubling, though, it does involve him."

"Then let's not keep him waiting." Hisui scooped her spirit up and placed Fiore in her hair.

"You two go on ahead," Karie said, "I'll cook breakfast for everyone first."

Turning up at the Fairy Tail building, Erza slammed open the door, frowning at a split bench surrounded by a group of people beating each other. She stepped on splinters as Erza summoned a glinting sword to her hand.

"How many times…do I have to tell you guys to stop fighting!" Erza roared, throwing her sword between two people, snipping a few strands of hair as it soared. "That's the eighth bench we have to replace this week! Who's the one that started this?" The red fury, picked a whimpering man by the collar, slamming a fist to him once he provided nothing but high-pitched stammers. "Answer me!" Two victims dropped to the ground.

"Mira, is the Master in his office?" Hisui asked a barmaid busy with two trays of drinks after helping a man up.

"Yes, he told me that he doesn't have too many things to do today."

"Thank you. Erza, I'll talk with Master first, don't be too harsh to them."

"If they learn their lesson." The woman grumbled.

Hisui knocked twice on a door with a worn brass knob and enter when she heard her signal. Makarov was sitting on his desk cradling his head with one hand and holding up a letter with another.

"Is that more property damage?" Hisui offered.

"Huh? Oh, it's Hisui. Have a seat. Unfortunately, yes, the brats have destroyed a wall in a nearby town."

"I received word that the construction company here is hiring more people, I have to replace ten walls ever since I came here."

"It's gotten better my dear, before it was double that number. But that's enough about my problems, what can I do for you?"

"I want to talk to you about Natsu."

"What did he do this time?" The old man placed his letter in pile and wrapped a elastic band around it. "It's a bit too early for drinking. I apologize nonetheless for what he has done."

"He's caused a lot of trouble for you, hasn't he?" Hisui smiled.

"It's not just him, Gajeel, Laxus, even Erza has a tendency to go overboard."

"This time, it isn't about how much money Natsu owes someone, I want to ask for a favour."

"What is it?"

"I want you to teach Natsu about politics when I'm not here."

"You what!?"

"I guess I should start from the beginning."

"Perhaps I need a drink after all…"

"After the Christmas celebration, Natsu confessed to me." A small smile started to form. "At first, I thought he was just joking, his eyes annihilated all my doubts, he's planning to be King."

"You accepted?"

"Not yet, I still have to sort out some of my feelings first, and even then, he hasn't gone through any training. I can't just give so much power to someone that doesn't know what to do with it." Makarov nodded. "I made preparations to give him to education that he needs, while I plan to teach him personally, I'm not always available."

"So you want me to teach him?"

"Precisely."

"Surely, there're better teachers than me out there?"

"I assure you, there is. It's just…Natsu doesn't listen to everyone. And besides Lucy, I don't know many people that has been taught politics. But Lucy hasn't practised it for a long time. That's why you're the perfect person to teach him, a Wizard Saint such as yourself has plenty of experience in this regard. You know how to teach Natsu without being a sleeping aid. I know it's a huge favour to ask when Natsu isn't suited for this field, and I don't plan for him to engage in those activities as often as I will, but he must be able to deal with different scenarios. Can you help me?"

"If that's what Natsu wants…I'll help him. It's a parent's job to support his children in any way he can."

"Thank you so much!"

"But how will we coordinate our teaching material?"

"You don't have to worry about that. It isn't efficient for the both of us to teach him the same subject. That's why I'll teach him the other sides of being a ruler."

"I find it hard to imagine Natsu wrapping his head around something so broad, he has enough trouble past five figure numbers."

"He'll have to learn it then. We don't have all the time in the world, father is healthy now but, I have to be prepared to take over him. Once I become Queen, I can avoid marriage for a few years."

"It's a tall task for him."

"I believe in him." Hisui looked squarely at Makarov. "He's overcome tough fights before, education is just a fight but with a different skin. If he's willing to keep his will, he can do it."

The two continued to share ideas and worries, going off-topic a few times. Once Hisui exited the office, she found the team she was planning on hiring gathered around a table with Natsu waving Hisui to come closer.

"Sorry, my talk with Master went longer than I thought it would."

"No problem," Erza replied, taking a bite of her a cake, "since we're all here, do you want to tell us what happened?"

"I have to start from the beginning then, if you have any questions when I'm telling you the story, please go ahead." Receiving nods, Hisui began to pour out her worries. "I'm sure you all know when I went away for the capital, I was attending a funeral. Father told me that the death wasn't natural but an assassination."

"Who died?" Natsu asked, drawing a sigh from Lucy.

"You don't pay attention to the news, do you?" Lucy asked.

"Why should I?"

"So I don't have to tell you want happened every time!" Another sigh. "Anyway, a Duke passed away not too long ago, Wilford Vernati, lord of the Vernati House." Seeing Natsu's vacant expression, Lucy continued. "Famous for their Take-over magic. Still nothing?"

"Knowing who His Grace was isn't important in my job for you," Hisui said, "he was poisoned with a plant called One's Mercy, according to Fi, there's only one place where you can find it. I received word that someone else investigated the source of the poison and they never came back. I want your team to go there and find any information that you can. You still might be able to find the supplier involved with the assassination.

"The person behind this, is most likely the same one that staged the attack on Magnolia. Fi said they'll continue to do damage if I don't catch them soon. That's why I want as much information as I can get, can you help me?"

"Who do you think we are?" Natsu said. "Anyone who picks a fight with Fairy Tail will have to deal with us! You bet we'll do it!"

"Where can we find this plant?" Gray asked.

"Fi can tell you that." Wiggling out of Hisui's hair, Fiore jumped on the table and twirled.

"Tada!"

"Please just get on with it."

"You're never fun to be around."

"Fi!"

"Fine, fine, it's not even that time of the month…anyway, you can find the stupid flower in Grasping Forest, any of you heard of the place? No? Well, it's a dangerous place because lots of weird and scary animals live there, thankfully for me, they don't have much herbivores. On the flip side, that means there's a higher chance of you guys ending up as lunch. Also, the place is pretty big, so don't get lost. I could tell you about all the fatal plants there too but, we'll be here all day. So I'll give you a rule of thumb instead! Just don't touch plants that you don't know and be on the lookout for moving vines and bright red petals.

"Now for what you're looking for," Fiore turned her hand into a six-petalled white flower with sky-blue rims, "this is it! And for the Dragon-slayer…here you go!" Shaking the flower, Fiore casted it's smell all over the room. "Personally, I think you should take the girl as well, having another Dragon-slayer will help a lot."

Clearing her throat, Hisui gave her final thoughts. "I wish I could give you more information, especially when you're going to such a dangerous place. I do have once last I want to stress before I leave to prepare. No matter what, please promise me that you won't do anything that would cost your lives. I rather have my friends back than information. And Natsu, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure. You guys tell Wendy what we're doing." When it was just Hisui and Natsu, Hisui sent Fiore away. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry, I was planning to start your lessons soon and I just sent you away on job like that."

"That's what you're worried about?"

"I'm scared of losing anyone in this job as well."

"You don't trust us?"

"That's not the point, I—"

"I'll just take your lessons after I come back, it's as simple as that." Natsu grinned. "You really are weird sometimes."

"You just don't understand me that well then." A smile crept up on Hisui's lips. "I'll prepare for your lessons for when you come back, don't go running away from them when you come back."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Thanks for reading! Thanks for the suggest to have Makarov teach Natsu by the way.

I ramble quite a bit on this one, sorry.

I'm pretty sure that some if not a lot of people realise that most of my scenes and chapters feel really uninspired. That's because it really is, I'm losing interest in this story and for the last few weeks now, I wanted to wrap this story up quickly and take like a few weeks off before I start writing again. Unfortunately, this is the end result. I mean, just look at my chapter titles and you'll see that no effort was put into them.

I understand if you don't want to read this story any further, I feel like for seven or so—maybe even more—chapters, the quality of this story is going to shit. If you compare to my previous story, you can(at least I can) feel the heart I put into that story, and I just can't feel the same with this one.

If you read closely, you'll realise that most of the dialogue are spoken by the same person, with the exception of Fiore and Natsu I guess. Every conversation I write has no defining characteristics, Hisui doesn't feel like this well-educated Princess aside from the fact that I've never or rarely written to have her stutter when talking, everyone else doesn't have personality, they feel dead, or at the very least, they're all the same people but with different skins.

It's not just the dialogue either, you'll find that most of my descriptions are cookie cutter, not unique at all, I use the same patterns over and over again. I read that someone said that my story feels samey and repetitive, aside from the fact that this story is slower than tar on a cold, winter day, I think that samey feeling also stems from my descriptions.

I think my best chapter I posted since my decline in quality is the Christmas one, I was proud with what I've written, and I'm sure you can see with my previous paragraphs, I don't feel the same with the other ones.

Since I've already come out with what I feel about this story in clearer detail, I might as well come clean with the other issue I have with this story; my uploading schedule.

Looking back, I was using my school as an excuse to not write, I didn't want to write. But at the same time, I have to write, I know some people enjoy what I've been putting out, so for those people, I powered on and hoped that things will get better. But as stated before, the writing quality has gone so bad that I don't think that anyone will enjoy this anymore. I'm becoming what I don't like in this website—at least the anime/manga section of it anyway, I can't say the same about the other ones since I don't go there much—churning out low-quality work.

I can go on about why this story isn't worth your time, but I'll stop. I know I said that I'm planning to finish this story, I honestly don't know if I can and I'm sorry for going back on my word. I'll take a break for a week or two before I start writing again. I don't think I'll continue this story after my break, I'll most likely start a new one. Hopefully, this story won't be dead forever, maybe I'll get the inspiration I need to re-write this story, continuing this mess will drive me insane.

Thanks for reading this message, sorry again for messing up such a cool idea. If you still want to see more of my work, you can throw me some ideas on what to write, can be a pairing you want to see, is doesn't have to be Fairy Tail, it could be any anime you like. Maybe I'll start writing Third Time A Charm but from Natsu's point of view if I don't get any suggestions.

Hopefully I'll see you again.

At the very least, I hope you have a nice day!