I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. I don't own the Pradesh Family characters or the idea of Bosco or White Sea, those are Desna's brilliant brain children. I do, however, own Mia and Thoma.

For those with questions in regards to how some things are done, please read the AN at the bottom.

Seeking Sunrise

Chapter Two: Meeting

After leaving the Council Headquarters, Mia found herself in Shirotsume Town after spending two days train hopping. A large mansion on top of a hill overlooking the town could be seen from nearly every street. Mia entered a clothing store that looked like it had some decent clothing without breaking the bank. She sorted through the clothes on the rack. The work t-shirts that Nico had provided for her were sort of out dated in the modern towns and cities. They were fine for sleepwear, but going from day to day business left her a little embarrassed. People would look at her with strange looks, but kept their opinions to themselves.

Mia's face split into a grin when she saw a shirt that caught her eye. "That's one of our newer fashions." Looking to her left, Mia noticed a sales clerk there. "That particular style of shirt is known as a 'cold shoulder'." The sales clerk started sifting through the rack as well. She pulled out three others 'cold shoulder' shirts, each a different color. She glanced at Mia's complexion and replaced the yellow shirt. In its stead she pulled out a bluish green shirt. The four colors held between the two of them were lavender, in Mia's hands, while the clerk held a fuchsia, corn flower blue and green/blue shirt. "You can start to try these ones on while I look in the back to see if we have any other colors or patterns." She motioned Mia in the direction of the changing rooms and turned towards the back.

In the changing room, Mia put the lavender shirt on first after removing both her gloves and shirt. It looked really good on her. Loose enough to not hinder her movements while she trained, but just tight enough to emphasize her curves. She frowned at the sight of the scars once again. The white gloves wouldn't go well with the lavender shirt. She changed it out for the blue shirt and added the gloves. This set matched far better. Mia then blinked at the sleeve line. The bottom portion of the sleeve was long enough to just cover the scars that peeked out from the top of her gloves. Between the two of them, it hid everything from that accident. Mia was officially sold on this type of shirt. Now all she had to do was increase her collection of gloves. She put her t-shirt back on before leaving.

Stepping out of the fitting room the sales clerk was waiting from Mia. In her hands she held several other styles of 'cold shoulder' shirts. "If you'd like to try these on I can go find some pants and shorts that match their style." Mia nodded her head absently as she accepted the shirts. She stepped back into the fitting room. Other styles included one that had white, pink and dark brown arranged in a diamond patter with the brown forming a Celtic like design in the front. The bottom portion of the sleeves were open with a string that tied to hold them closed. Not ideal for hiding the upper most scars, but Mia still liked it. The second was a blue and brown splash motif shirt. The sleeves went past her elbows, but still charming. There was a long-sleeved burgundy one that Mia fell in love with even though it was still summer. There was one with pink flowers that was actually a halter top neckline with off the shoulder sleeves. Another one that Mia could see becoming a favorite. A dark blue, black and white floral, plum, and other solid colors that went in the 'yes' pile. The 'no' pile wasn't quite as large, but it did have a leopard print among its choices.

A knock on the fitting room door told Mia that the sales clerk had arrived with the new clothing items. "Have you chosen which shirts you like?" she asked. Mia nodded towards her 'yes' pile. "Then I'll take these ones back." The clerk left a pile of folded leggings on the bench and picked up the small 'no' pile.

"How do you know my size?" Mia asked.

"I've been in business for twenty-five years," the now revealed owner said. "I can tell your size by the way you walk and turn. It's a hobby of mine to help ladies find clothing that flatters them the most and you looked so lost when you first came in." Mia nodded in understanding and the owner left for her to try on the leggings. The leggings were just as diverse. Ranging from one solid color to floral print, tie-dye and zig zags. Mia chose enough leggings and shirts to last her for two weeks before needing to do the wash. The next thing that she would need would be a nice pair of boots that would basically go with everything, maybe two or three. She just didn't want boots for every outfit.

After changing back into her normal clothes, she picked the shirts and leggings that she was definitely going to purchase. She walked over to the shoe section with her arms laden with clothes. She silently wished she had something to help carry them all with. She placed the clothes down on a bench that was used to try on shoes. Mia then glanced at all the different styles that they had to chose from. She finally settled on a pair of ankle high sand colored boots with three buckles across the front. They were beyond comfortable. It was a little surprising to Mia since they were so nice looking. The store owner arrived at that point. "Did you find everything you were looking for?" she asked.

"Almost," Mia admitted. She held out her arms to show the gloves. "I was wondering if you had a selection of summer gloves like these?"

"I'll admit, I don't really know." The store owner went silent as she thought. "Most of our gloves are geared for cold, but they're in storage right now. You could see if the tailor can make you some gloves while you're in town." She led Mia to the front where she could start ringing up the sale. The total came to four hundred jewel. Mia pulled out her purse from her requip space. "You're a mage," the owner was surprised.

"Yes," Mia said shyly. She started to worry she had done something wrong.

"Give me just a second." The owner started doing more calculations on her register. "This town has a good relationship with mages. I've hired a few in the past myself. They've always helped me. So I give some mages a discount when they buy from me. It's not a discount I advertise though, I'd go bankrupt in a month. Your new total is three hundred jewel." Mia blinked, but accepted the new price gratefully and handed the owner the correct amount of money. "I hope that you have a safe journey." Mia waved as she walked out the door.

As she was looking around for someplace to eat a loud explosion had her ducking and covering her ears. The ground shook and several people cried out in alarm. Mia glanced up and noticed that she couldn't see the mansion on the hill. There was nothing except billowing smoke. "That came from Everlue's mansion," she heard someone say. A crowd started to head in that direction. Out of curiosity, Mia followed. A boy with pink hair around Mia's age was laughing with a strange blue cat that walked on two legs. They were talking about how the mission was a success, knowing that a book was destroyed. They seemed to be bragging that they were the ones responsible for the destruction of the mansion.

Mia took a step back in fear. If these two decided to go after anyone there wasn't anything she could do about it. She was still a novice, just barely able to bring her magic out on purpose. As her foot came down it stepped on something strange. Mia looked down to see something shining in the grass. She picked it up, thinking it was too shiny for a rock. A golden key greeted her. She glanced back towards the mansion. She assumed that it must have come from there. A strange sensation was coming from the ring though. It felt warm and tingly like her arm had been asleep. Deciding that she needed to find a magic shop and ask them she put it into her requip and headed back to town. She was thankful the two didn't notice her.

Lucy looked around the town she and Plue found themselves in. The people were avoiding each other and the venders were looking angry. Whenever a man that looked drunk got too close to their stands they would rush to block them from getting too close. There were dirty children in ratty clothes poking their heads around building corners like they were waiting for something. Lucy could only take in everything in confusion. She wondered why everyone was acting so strange. She didn't have to wait too long to get her answer. A drunk man that the vendors hadn't noticed fell hard into the bread stand. The vendor let out a cry of dread just as the children rushed forward. The bread that fell on the ground was soon gone, carried off by the eager children.

Lucy glanced up to the roofs. She had felt someone use magic as soon as the drunk tripped. A man was on the roof, watching the kids make it to safety. He stiffened when he noticed that Lucy was staring at him. Lucy felt a rush of wind and he was gone. "A wind mage," she concluded. She glanced back to where the kids had been. "Were they homeless?" She couldn't fault the mage for helping the kids if that was the case. Now everyone was in an even worse mood. She started to head back out of town, it was giving her very bad vibes.

"Should we find a place to camp or continue on a little Plue?" Lucy asked.

Before Plue could answer another voice spoke up. "Why didn't you give me away?"

Lucy turned to see the man she had spotted on the roof. "Why would I do that?" she asked. "You were practicing your magic, accidently lost control and the man tripped. He was drunk so I doubt he felt anything. Some kids got a meal out of it. I didn't see the big deal."

The man gave a huge smile in response. He opened his mouth to talk when the sound of thunder in the distance could be heard. "That's not good," he groaned. "I don't recommend you get a room at the inn, it's not clean. I have a place that I've been fixing up." Lucy glared at him for the suggestion. He held his hands up in a peace gesture. "I promise that I'm not up to no good. My name is Thoma, by the way."

"I'm Lucy and this is Plue," she responded.

"It's nice to meet you," Thoma said. "Yes, my wind caused the man to trip. I've been doing it everyday that I've been here. Those kids need some help if they're going to survive on the streets. There's no orphanage in this town to take them in. They need the help and we need to take shelter." Thoma turned to walk away. He gestured over his shoulder for Lucy to follow.

Following behind Thoma reluctantly, Lucy held Plue tighter to her chest. She had to cover her nose as Thoma led her through the sewers. "You've been staying in here?" Lucy asked in astonishment.

"It gets better," Thoma said knowingly.

"How?"

Thoma remained silent as he kept going. It wasn't long before they came across a reinforced door. "I had to make some adjustments," he started explaining. He pulled a latch and the door swung open. He gestured Lucy inside before following himself. "Don't want it open too long, or the stink will start coming in here again."

When the door closed Lucy was able to breathe without the smell of waste violating her nose. "How were you able to keep the smell out?" Lucy asked.

"The ceiling is vented," Thoma explained. "I had to clear out the vents and it took a little time to get the air flow going again, but it works."

"So who built it?"

"Don't know," Thoma shrugged. "The best that I can figure is that it was initially designed as a bunker of some kind. What for and how long ago I have no idea. It might have even just been built for simple storage. But I like my bunker idea better, makes it sound cool." Lucy rolled her eyes at the obvious attitude a boy would have. "You had questions for me?"

Lucy stood straighter when the topic was brought back to their initial meeting. "You made that guy trip and fall into the stand on purpose," she stated. Thoma nodded his head in confirmation. "Why did you do that?"

"You must have seen those kids waiting around," Thoma watched Lucy nod. "I did it for them. I've been watching them as best I can since coming to this place. Little turkeys are good at hiding though. Anyway, I've noticed that they're basically homeless. To top it off, they're all either orphans or abandoned to fend for themselves."

"Why doesn't this town have an orphanage to care for them?"

"I'd use the term 'town' loosely here," Thoma sneered. "The adults, specifically the men, seem to be only one step away from being as depraved as Pergrande." Lucy sucked in a breath at the mention of the worst country she's ever heard of, in her opinion. "The women are treated horribly and the children are forced to fend for themselves. The older ones might be fine for now, but I worry what will happen to the younger ones when winter sets in."

"Can't you get the authorities involved?" Lucy asked.

Thoma shook his head at that. "Even if I trusted them," he started. "I had to leave my home town because a bunch of punks accused me of attacking them for no reason. Authorities took their side because I'm an orphan myself. There's no love lost between us. If you feel like they could help, then by all means."

Lucy let out a hesitant laugh. "Yeah, I'm not going to be able to call them either. I kind of ran away from home." Thoma stared at her for a minute. Lucy hoped that, since he was an orphan, he wouldn't accuse her of running from a home or family that loved her.

After a minute of silence Thoma shrugged his shoulders. "To each their own," he said. A smile then stretched across Thoma's face. "How about helping me out then?"

"Helping with what?" Thoma then explained to Lucy his plan to get the kids settled into the 'bunker' and set up for the winter.

Mia spent another two days in Shirotsume as she waited for the tailor to finish making the gloves that she needed to complete her outfits. There was gossip going around that there was a town north of them with a dark mage was harassing the citizens. Mia had been studying and practicing for her magic since she had nothing better to do while she waited for the tailor. She stopped to listen more closely when the gossips talked about the town's desperation. "I heard the mayor is looking for a mage that can help get rid of the problem," a woman whispered. "But he's having trouble finding someone. Hiring from a guild is too expensive for the town."

Mia paused in thought at that. Maybe she should stop by the town to see if it's something that she could help with. She needed the first-hand experience with her magic anyway. She decided that after she got her order from the tailor that she would head out. 'Unless it's the end of the day,' Mia thought. 'Then I'll head out first thing in the morning.'

The evening came and went with no word that her order was complete. The following morning, as Mia was walking towards the inn exit, the innkeeper called out to her. "The tailor stopped by last night," she said. "It was so late that I didn't want to bother you. Your order is finished and you can go pick it up when the shop opens."

"Thank you for letting me know," Mia smiled. "I really appreciate it."

"No trouble dear. Will you be staying again tonight?"

"I don't think so," Mia shook her head. "I've been waiting for that order before leaving. As soon as I get it I'll be heading out." With a final wave she stepped out of the inn. Mia grabbed a pastry from the nearby bakery for breakfast before heading to the tailor's shop. She got there just as the tailor was opening up for the day.

"Good morning," the tailor greeted. "I see that you got my message."

"Yes," Mia agreed. "Thank you for finding a way to let me know."

"I've enjoyed working on this project," the tailor smiled. "It's simple in concept and execution. But being able to make several different pairs and using different colors was what held my interest." The tailor looked at the gloves that were currently covering Mia's arms. "Is this something that you're going to be wearing all the time?"

"I won't step out for the day without them," Mia grinned. She didn't explain anything further than that. The tailor didn't need to hear her sob story and she really didn't want to have anyone know how horrible her arms looked.

The tailor let it go and pulled Mia's order out from behind the counter. Mia sifted through the different pairs of gloves. The colors, length and style all matched what she wanted. "I'll go try a pair on," Mia stated. She disappeared around the corner towards the fitting room with the blue pair before the tailor could protest. Although it did leave him wondering why she didn't just switch the pair out there. It wasn't like she would be exposing anything scandalous.

Mia came back a minute later, white gloves back in place. "They fit perfectly," she beamed. She set the jewel that she and the tailor had agreed upon originally when she requested the job. "I'll be sure to tell anyone that asks about them where they can have them made." Mia took the box and was out the door. The tailor rubbed his chin in thought, thinking that having them as an option for already on display clothing would be a good idea.

Mia stopped long enough to sort the gloves in order before placing them in her requip space. She disposed of the box properly before starting towards the town in the north. If the rumors were true she might get some first-hand experience as a mage. If they weren't, then she would just get some traveling done and see new sights. It wasn't like she had anywhere she had to be after all.

It was early afternoon by the time Mia made it to the town. She blinked at the sight, it was a far cry from Shirotsume Town. The streets were filthy, she could smell the garbage from the alleys. The women shied away from her when she tried to ask for directions to the mayor's house. Going to one of the vendors she asked them as she bought some fruit for her lunch. "What, you have any need to see someone so important?" the vendor sneered.

Mia leveled her own glare on him, not blinking. Her steady glare unnerved him and he looked away first. Mia smirked to herself as she thought getting into blinking contests with her younger siblings had payed off. "I'm a freelance mage," she explained. "I heard a rumor that you needed help. If I'm mistaken then I'll just be on my way."

"W-Wait," the vendor called as Mia started walking away. He finally gave Mia the directions that she was looking for.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Mia walked away from the vendor with a condescending look. She couldn't stand men with a 'holier than thou' attitude. She didn't have far to reach the mayor's home. It was by far the best looking building in town. Mia glanced between it and the other buildings in the area. There was definitely something suspicious about this whole set up. After telling the timid maid who she was and why she was there she was escorted to the office.

The mayor was more than just heavy set. Mia had to wonder how he became mayor at all when it seemed he was more concerned with his lunch. That's exactly the scene that she came into. The man's desk was free and clear of paperwork, but covered in heavy set foods that were clearly not designed to maintain a healthy diet. The man was doing a rather fine job of putting the food away. "Excuse me sir," the maid spoke quietly. "This mage heard a rumor about our problem in the market."

The mayor finally looked up from his plate. He looked Mia up and down like one would appraise a steer or horse. Mia would know, she's done it a few times. Her eyes narrowed as the man licked his lips. "I don't need a girl to solve the problem," his greasy voice announced. "Only men can be trusted with this job. But I wouldn't mind if you wanted to work for me elsewhere."

"And we're done," Mia turned on the ball of her foot. She walked out the door with her shoulders back and her head high. She blatantly ignored the grease ball calling her attention back to him. She sneered when she heard him trying to buy her 'work'. "I should just crush this building," she muttered. She paused as the thought took hold. "Nope, bad idea." She shook the thought out, as tempting as it might be. She did want to work more on a barrier that shrinks it's size, but not if it would make her pay for property damages.

Mia was just coming back into the market when it happened, a drunk pushed into a stall. Mia felt the gush of wind on her face, wind that hadn't been there all day. Children rushed out to grab up the spilled goods, hoarding their precious treasure as they ran from the panicking vendors. A small child caught her attention because it appeared pale, and naked. Looking closely, Mia realized that it wasn't a child. She just couldn't tell what it actually was. It stopped next to a small girl that hadn't managed to get food because a vendor managed to toss her away. The small creature patted her knee gently to get the girl's attention. Once it was clear she was watching the creature held out one of the loafs of bread it was carrying. The girl slowly reached out for the food, almost like she was sure that it was playing a trick on her. Once the food was in the girl's grasp she grinned, pat the creature on the head, then ran off to eat.

Mia had to wonder at the sight. The children were dirty and they seemed malnourished, but they had energy. It was like they were starting to bounce back from not having regular meals. The creature continued it's way out of town. Following at a distance, Mia was beginning to come to her own conclusion about the 'dark mage' of the town. Mia scrunched her nose when the creature walked into the sewer opening just outside of town. Still, if she wanted answers she had to follow it. With a shudder, Mia walked into the sewer. She came to a door, guessing that's where the creature went. She put an ear to it to listen, fighting her gag reflex at the smell.

"Good job Plue," she heard a female voice. "Thoma said that you gave food to one of the kids that wasn't able to get any. I'm so proud of you." She heard a high pitched sound, assuming that it was the creature that this woman called Plue.

"He's shorter than all the other kids so the vendors didn't notice him taking the bread right off the stall and not from the ground," a male laughed. "That spirit of yours is a little trickster. He might have a future in pick-pocketing."

"Absolutely not," the female argued. "While taking food to help those poor children is one thing, blatantly stealing from people is another. I won't ask any of my spirits to do something like that."

Mia opened the door as quietly as she could to face whatever was in the room. She saw one man and one woman along with the small creature. The creature was being smooshed into the woman's substantial chest. "I think the mayor would deserve it." She shut the door behind her as the group snapped to attention and faced her. "He seems like he could spare a few thousand jewel."

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"Sorry for barging in," Mia held up her hands. "I was in the next town over when a rumor reached me about a dark mage terrorizing this town."

The male started laughing, loudly. "It's not funny Thoma," the woman argued. "This could be bad for our reputation."

"You worry too much Lucy," Thoma still laughed.

"Okay," Mia interrupted them. "I think, since I know both of your names, I should tell you mine." The two looked at her in confusion. "If you wanted to keep your names secret you shouldn't have called them out." Lucy at least had the decency to blush in embarrassment. "So, my name is Mia and I came here to help get rid of a 'dark mage'."

"And what do you think of said 'dark mage'?" Thoma asked.

"I haven't seen one yet," Mia shook her head. "Anyway, I had a meeting with the mayor to talk about the possible job. It didn't go very well."

"How so?" Lucy was curious.

"Let's just say that I hate dealing with chauvinistic pigs. Not only was this one some of the worst, but he's obviously taxing the people to death. His is the only building not in disrepair and he's very well fed while everyone else is either getting just enough or not enough."

"Must be pretty bad," Thoma started talking. "I first walked into this town a week and a half ago. Right away I could tell it was in bad shape. I wanted to help the kids. They have no one to take care of them and make sure they're fed. Not to mention no decent place to sleep at night. That's when I started tripping a drunk every day. The debauchery of this town is at least good enough for me to count on one drunk to get food to the kids."

"I came about two days ago," Lucy continued. "I haven't walked through the town any, but it didn't look good from what little I saw of it. I was just entering when Thoma did the tripping act. I could feel the magic he used and knew it wasn't something natural going on. The two of us met up and agreed that we would both help the kids."

"Why don't you call the authorities?" Mia asked.

"Why does everyone ask that?" Thoma rolled his eyes.

"If either of us was in a position to do that we would," Lucy explained.

Mia eyeballed the both of them. "Fugitives?" she asked.

"What? NO!" Lucy denied. She then looked at Thoma. "Well, not me at least."

Thoma let out a snort. "Protect orphans from spoiled, snot nosed brats and you get labeled as a fugitive."

"So why can't you call?" Mia asked Lucy.

"I kind of ran away from home," Lucy toed the floor in front of her.

"That means you're worried that if you called they would drag you back to your parents," Mia put the pieces together.

"My father, but yes, that's exactly what would happen." A dark look passed over Lucy's features. "I won't go back to somewhere I'm not wanted."

Mia let the subject drop at that. "I'll call them," she offered.

"Come again?" Thoma asked.

"I have a good standing with the magic council," Mia explained. "With everything that I've seen, I won't need to mention either of you to get them to come out and do an investigation." Mia pulled her com lacrima out of her requip space. "It might take them a day or two to get out here."

"You're calling the magic council?" Lucy asked in shock.

"Why not? The sleazy mayor propositioned a mage and offered to pay for 'services rendered'. Calls for action from them in my book." Mia poured a little magic into the lacrima as Lucy and Thoma ducked out of view.

A face came onto the screen. "Mia, I didn't expect to hear back from you so soon."

"Councilman Belno," Mia greeted. "I wish I could say this is a social call."

"What is it?"

"We've got a situation in the town north of Shirotsume. It's a bad situation councilman. I had heard that a 'dark mage' was terrorizing the people. When I came to investigate I found that the town is in a sad state and the people even more so. When I went to talk to the mayor about the rumor he offered to pay me, not for the job in regards to a dark mage, but for something of a more personal nature." Lucy and Thoma could hear the person on the other line suck in a breath. "He refused to offer me the chance to help in regards to the rumor based solely on the fact I'm a woman and he believes they're apparently only good for one thing."

Mia could see that Belno was looking off to the side. "You said north of Shirotsume." Mia nodded, though she knew it wasn't a question. "That's Thistle Town," Belno announced. "It's always been a bit of a black spot in Fiore history. The position of mayor is handed down rather than elected. I'll have someone sent out immediately. Will you be out there to meet him?"

"Of course," Mia readily agreed. "How soon can I expect him here?"

"As soon as he's ready."

"But that's…"

"He has teleportation magic. He'll be there quickly and begin his own investigation. The sooner it happens the less time the mayor has to prepare and hide the situation from us."

"I understand," Mia nodded.

"You did a good thing calling me Mia," Belno patronized. "The people need to be looked after." The two said their farewells and signed off.

"I have to head out," Mia put away the lacrima. "You two can wait here if you're more comfortable that way."

"We should help," Lucy said. "Our story will help shed some light on the situation for the investigator. If I beg nicely, he might not tell my dad where I am."

"I have no beef with the magic council or rune knights," Thoma shrugged. "Might as well give every effort to help the kids." The three made their way out of the sewer. Both Mia and Lucy took gasping breaths of fresh air. They had held their breath so they wouldn't have to breathe in the stink. Thoma rolled his eyes at their exaggeration.

The three walked towards the town entrance. A man stood there with his back turned to them as he stared into town. The only thing noticeable on him was he had a white cape. "Excuse me," Mia called out. The man turned to look at them. He was fairly tall and he kept his hair cut extremely short. "Were you sent by Councilman Belno?"

"I was," the man smiled at them. "My name is Doranbolt, and I'm here to investigate the state of the town." He glowed a bit and was suddenly in regular clothes. "You must be Mia Barden." He looked to the two behind her. "And who are your friends?"

"This is Lucy and Thoma," Mia introduced. "I just met them today."

Doranbolt nodded absently and started into town. "You can all wait here. I want to investigate this place on my own." He left the group to wonder on what he would find.

Two hours later, Doranbolt was heading back out of town. He stopped by the three waiting mages. "I've seen some shady things as an investigator," he started. "But the state this town is in…" He shook his head to rid himself of the images. "The smells permeating the air is enough to justify forcing the mayor out of office. Each town is given a fund for town upkeep. It's obvious that the mayor isn't using it as intended. That alone is a crime against the government."

"Fraud," Lucy spoke up. "It doesn't surprise me. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you find several cases of fraud against the mayor."

"Correct," Doranbolt agreed. "We'll have a full-fledged team come in and sweep the town clean of it's bad history."

"What about the orphans?" Thoma asked. "Are you going to do anything about them?"

"There's no record of the town having orphans," Doranbolt said. He held up his hand for silence when Thoma went to argue. "It's not that I didn't see them. The mayor never reported the fact that there a great deal of homeless in this town along with the children. Steps will be taken to build proper shelters for all of them.

"I need to go make my report," Doranbolt explained. "As soon as I finished I'll come back with a team and we'll be getting started. It might take a few hours. If the three of you will stay long enough for me to get back I'm sure I can have a reward for you for discovering how bad the town is." Doranbolt left without another word.

"What do we do while we wait?" Lucy asked.

A grin spread across Thoma's features. "We explore!" The two women looked at him in question. They waited for him to explain, but he started heading back towards the sewer. "Come on," he called out to them. Both Mia and Lucy shared a look and a sigh. The two followed, grudgingly, back to the sewer and back to trying to fight the awful smell.

AN: I had Mia find Virgo's key instead of Virgo giving it to Happy. In the series Virgo gives it to Happy specifically to give to Lucy. If Lucy isn't with Natsu and Happy then Virgo has no reason to trust them with her key. That's why I had Mia find, so it will eventually find it's way into Lucy's care. We all know it was going to happen so that's not a spoiler. It's the 'how' I'll keep to myself.