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.

Seeking Sunrise

Chapter Three: Exploring Teamwork

"You want to do what? WHERE?" Mia stood her ground with her hands on her hips. "No, just…no."

"What's the big deal?" Thoma asked. "It's just the sewer."

"I think that's the big deal," Lucy put in. "I'm siding with Mia on this. That's the worst possible place to explore you could ever come up with. What could even possibly possess you to think that was a good idea?"

"Just hear me out," Thoma pleaded. "You two noticed the stonework, right?"

"No," both women said. "I was too busy trying not to pass out from the smell," Mia added.

"Women," Thoma rolled his eyes. "Okay, here's the thing… I think that this town was built over something big." The two gave him incredulous looks. "Don't look at me like that. Just listen: there are archways in the sewer. What kind of architect builds arches in a sewer?"

"One not concerned with cost over efficiency," Mia responded. "No one cares about arches in a sewer."

"That's my point exactly," Thoma reasoned. "What if that passage wasn't meant to be a sewer originally?"

"I'm listening," Mia moved her hands from her hips to cross her arms.

"It had better be good," Lucy and Plue mimicked the pose.

"The sewer goes even further, in a downwards slope after a certain point," Thoma explained. "I sent my wind down, waiting for the whiplash when it comes to a dead end."

"And?" Lucy asked.

"And nothing," Thoma shook his head. "There is no dead end, at least not before the wind dispersed. If it was just a narrow tunnel, with a small opening at the end, there would have still been some backlash for me to sense. There was just, nothing."

"What do you think you'll find?" Mia started calming down.

"At the very least, a large cavern. That's the only explanation for my wind to have dispersed like it did."

"What if you're wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Then we kill some time waiting for Doranbolt to get back." Thoma shrugged his shoulders, he really couldn't think of anything better to do.

"I better not get covered in whatever's down there," Lucy threatened.

"Ditto," Mia agreed. She pulled out a t-shirt and wrapped it around her nose and mouth.

"Do you happen to have another of those?" Lucy asked. She grinned and thanked Mia when one was produced for her. She did the same thing that Mia had. Thoma rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on it further.

"Are you two finally ready?" he asked. They both nodded slowly, not really wanting to go walking through the sewer. "Then let's go exploring." Thoma led the way into the sewer. Instead of going into the bunker he was fixing up he went past. Now he was going further into the sewer than he had ever been yet. After a few minutes he told his two companions that this is where the incline changed. Mia noticed that the holes for waste water to empty out had been getting less dense and the amount of sewer water they passed didn't seem as dense as well. Still didn't mean she was going to take the t-shirt off her face though.

After a few more minutes the runoff stopped completely. "The smell isn't so bad now," Thoma said. "You can take off the masks."

"I'll wait a little longer," Lucy declined. Mia only nodded her agreement.

The three continued to walk for an hour, using a lacrima light Mia had packed for guidance. Thoma, in the lead, stopped suddenly. The light ahead of him was doing something strange. He motioned for the girls to wait as he edged further ahead. "There's a cavern," he announced. "Just like I thought there would be."

Mia and Lucy moved closer towards him. They stood at the edge of the passage. The light bounced off of reflections here and there, but it didn't give any detail in which to decide if the cavern was empty or not. Thoma sent a gust of wind to see how it would act. "There's something in there," he announced finally.

"Like what?" Lucy whimpered.

"I have no idea," Thoma shook his head. "But, whatever it is, it's big."

Lucy squeezed Plue and looked down at him. "Maybe it would be a good idea for you to go home now," she said. Plue made a noise of agreement and disappeared in a sparkle of gold.

"What just happened?" Mia asked.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked in return.

"How did Plue just disappear like that?"

"You mean that you don't know?" Lucy looked at Mia in wonder. Mia was looking at her in astonished confusion. "Plue is a celestial spirit."

"A what now?"

"What do you know of Celestial Spirit Magic?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing," Mia admitted. "I'm barely getting a grasp of my own."

"Okay, so I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage," Lucy explained. She reached to her side and pulled out her key ring. "These are gate keys." Mia's eyes widened at what Lucy was showing her. "There are many different types," she explained. "The silver ones vary a great deal and are the most common. Plue belongs to the constellation of the Little Dog. I also have the Clock, Harp, Southern Cross and Compass gate keys. Each one specializes in something different."

"What about the golden ones?" Mia asked in wonder.

Lucy eyed her, but continued her explanation. "The golden ones represent the twelve zodiac constellations. There's only one key made for each constellation. I have the Giant Crab Cancer, Golden Bull Taurus and Water Bearer Aquarius. Why?"

"I found an intricate key while I was in Shirotsume," Mia admitted. "At first I thought it came from the mansion that was blown up either as a key to a door that was no longer useful or it was a collectable." Mia then pulled something out from her requip space. A gold key rested in the palm of her hand.

"VIRGO!?" Lucy shrieked as she looked at the key. "You have the key of the maiden!? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I didn't know what it was," Mia explained. "I'm still not familiar with all the different types of magic that's out there. I didn't know that there was a magic that literally used keys." She let Lucy take the key with a shaky hand.

"You should have felt the magic when you came in contact with it," Thoma pointed out.

"All I felt was my hand going to sleep with no reason at all," Mia said. Thoma just stared at her on the explanation. "That's what that was, magic?" Thoma nodded his head, still staring at her. "Okay, I have no experience with other magics. I've barely had my own magic a month."

This peaked Thoma's curiosity more than he would like to admit. He ignored Lucy in the background gushing over having a new friend to make a contract with. "How does that even happen?" he asked. "I've had my magic since I could walk. I'm pretty sure that Lucy is the same way."

"Well I'm not," Mia folded her arms. "It's not common, but it does happen from time to time where a latent magic ability awakens. The Council was more than helpful and informative when I needed it the most."

"Ignoring the fact that you trust a government body so readily," Thoma sighed. "I just don't understand how you go from not having magic to suddenly having magic."

"I come from a town that's only magic comes from the lacrima equipment needed to farm the surrounding landscape. No mages around at all, let alone a magic guild. Look, let's just say that it happened and I'm walkabout to gain new experiences and train my magic."

"Sounds like you have something to hide?"

"Don't you?"

"Fair point," Thoma turned his attention back to Lucy. "I'll tell you what, since you're so new to the whole thing I'll help you out. Train you in the things that I can. By the way, I've notice you use requip, is that your magic?"

"No," Mia admitted. "I was advised by a member of the council to learn requip since it would make traveling a lot easier. It also helps to keep thieves from pick pocketing anything valuable."

"Is that something everyone can learn?" Lucy rejoined the conversation.

"I don't see why they couldn't," Mia shrugged. "I don't have the book that I learned from, but I can try to teach you the basics if you like. Just the basics is enough to store simple things like clothes and some supplies. The larger your magic containers the more things you can store."

"I would really just like to store my keys," Lucy held up her key ring. "As a holder type mage, if someone were to take my keys from me I wouldn't be able to defend myself."

"Not a bad idea," Thoma agreed. "So, if not requip," his attention redirected to Mia, "what magic is it that you do use?"

"Barrier."

Both Lucy and Thoma blinked in surprise at that. "Like a shield?" Lucy asked.

"That's the impression that I get," Mia agreed. "I've been training as I travel and I've managed to form a barrier when I want to. All the books I have say pretty much the same thing in regards to it. The larger my magic containers the larger the barrier and longer time I can hold it out. There are also a few chapters on how to move the barrier or use it from a distance. But it all seems pretty dull to me."

"A barrier is awesome," Lucy argued. "You can directly protect the innocent or an injured team member with that type of magic."

"What else?" Mia countered.

"What do you mean?" Thoma was confused.

"I'm not satisfied with that being my role," Mia shook her head. "I know I can do so much more than the books say I can. I just need to train and concentrate more." She then cleared her throat and looked pointedly to the dark expanse in front of them. "Going back to the topic at hand, are we going to explore that 'something big' of Thoma's or are we heading back up?"

Thoma walked back to the edge. "It's a sheer drop from here," he said. "I estimate, maybe fifty feet. The cavern itself could probably hold the entire town. The roof is more than a few stories high."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" Mia smirked.

"I can get myself down there no problem," Thoma explained. "But I've never actually tried to carry more than just myself with the wind. I could lose control and drop one or both of you."

"I'm alright with leaving this as a mystery," Mia started to head back.

"Hold on a second," Lucy stopped her. "We don't need to go down that way."

"What other way is there?" Thoma asked.

Lucy held up her new key. "The Zodiac's are famous for holding a variety of different types of magic. But that's really the only knowledge that's spread outside of those that have made contracts with them. I can make a contract with Virgo and find out if she has a way that could help us."

"Works for me," Mia shrugged. "It never hurts to at least ask, right?"

Lucy gestured for Mia and Thoma to stand back. Once they were a few feet away she turned her back to them and took a stance. "I call upon thee," she started chanting. "In the world of the celestial spirits." A golden magic circle lit up at Lucy's feet. "And now I beckon you to my side at once, pass through the gate!" The golden key in her hand started glowing. The key lifted from Lucy's hand and started spinning. Lucy caught it and made a slashing motion with it in her hand. "Open! Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" A door bell chimed out of nowhere and a blue magic circle appeared in front of Lucy. The ground in the center of the blue circle burst and a woman with pink hair wearing a maid outfit and chains attached to her wrists appeared with a bow.

"You summoned me Mistress," her sweet voice sounded.

Mia eyed the maid in front of Lucy, specifically the chains. She took another step back, Thoma following suit once he put the pieces together. "Hello Virgo," Lucy was saying as she held a small notebook. "I was wondering if you would like to make a contract with me?"

"It would be my pleasure," Virgo bowed deeper.

"That's great," Lucy let out a cheer. "First off, there's no need to bow to me. I'm not your mistress, I want to be your friend."

"If that's what you would like Mistress."

"No, no," Lucy shook her head. "Don't call me mistress, we're friends now. You can call me Lucy."

"I couldn't possibly," Virgo stood straight. She looked her new keyholder up and down. Her sight zeroed in on the whip at Lucy's belt. "Then shall I call you Queen instead?"

"No," Lucy stated flatly. Thoma let out a shudder while Mia stifled a giggle.

"Then how about princess?"

"Now I like that," Lucy had a grin on her face.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Thoma groaned.

"To each their own," Mia shrugged. "Just leave me out of it."

"What are you two talking about?" Lucy snapped.

"Nothing!" they both called.

Lucy eyed them skeptically as she turned back to Virgo. "When are you available?" she asked.

"Whenever you wish to summon me," Virgo answered. "I'm a very loyal spirit and will do all that my keyholder wishes of me, including changing my appearance."

"What other appearance?" Thoma was curious. Suddenly Virgo's height and width doubled and she looked rather masculine.

"Change back! Change back!" Mia cried.

"I like the other form better," Lucy agreed. Virgo was suddenly looking like she did when she first appeared. "Never do that again," Lucy clutched her chest. The sudden and drastic change in Virgo's appearance had nearly given her a heart attack.

"Will that be all you wish of me Princess?" Virgo asked.

"Not yet Virgo," Lucy straightened out. "I still need to ask you what type of magic that you use."

"I use digging magic," Virgo answered.

"Now that's convenient," Thoma crossed his arms.

"Are you servants of the Princess?" Virgo asked.

"No," Mia and Thoma deadpanned.

"Virgo," Lucy interrupted the train of conversation. "Do you think that, with your digging magic, you could find us way down to the bottom of the cavern over there?"

Virgo looked over where Lucy indicated. "It would be my pleasure princess," Virgo disappeared in a hole directly under her feet. A few moments later she flew out of the hole with a bow. "I've finished making a way down princess. It should be easy enough for you to return once you're finished exploring."

"That's great Virgo," Lucy praised.

"It was my pleasure. Is it time for punishment?"

"Say what now?" Lucy blanked a moment.

"I knew it," Mia pointed at Lucy. "At first, I thought, maybe with the whip and all. Then again, you don't put off the air of someone like that. Then the first human-like spirit you summon is all in chains and dressed as a maid. Now she's asking for punishment. I knew you were a dom."

"I AM NOT!" Lucy shouted. "And Virgo, you can go home now."

"Of course, Princess," Virgo agreed readily. "Summon me when needed or for punishment."

"Just go home," Lucy whined. At Thoma's laughter she turned her anger on him. "This is not funny!"

"It's hilarious," Thoma disagreed.

"Let's just go," Lucy jumped into the hole.

Mia and Thoma stood there for a second. "How long do you think it will take until she finds out there's no light down there yet?" Mia asked.

A yelled 'I can't see' had the two of them grinning at each other. "Not long," Thoma smirked. He turned to Mia before jumping into the hole. "You do realize that she's not like that, right?"

Mia let loose a careless shrug. "I enjoy pushing people's buttons. Don't take that away from me." Thoma rolled his eyes and jumped down. Mia held the light lacrima to her chest as she jumped into the hole a few seconds later. Just as Virgo had said, the slope was steep enough to be able to slide down, but not so steep that they wouldn't be able to climb back up.

"It's about time," Lucy grumbled. "Who knows what's down here."

"Spiders," Thoma answered quickly.

"Let's just not," Mia interrupted him from further elaboration. "As long as I don't see them I'm perfectly fine completely ignoring their existence if they ignore mine."

"You guys need to see this," Lucy called out. She had taken a few steps away from the others towards the center of the cavern. Mia and Thoma followed after her to find a two-story building that seemed to have been cut from the center of the cavern. "It looks like the cavern was made and that building was cut out of the stone as they dug deeper down."

"That must have taken years," Thoma whistled.

"I suppose that all depends," Mia added. "If they had the right types of magic and tools, it still would have taken a long time, but probably not as long as you're imagining."

Lucy walked ahead of the two of them. There were carvings on the side of the entrance. Lucy took out her notebook and started making notes in the back. "It's an ancient language," Lucy thought out loud. "It doesn't seem native to Fiore though."

"How can you tell?" Mia asked.

"I'm familiar with most dead languages in Fiore," Lucy explained. "At least enough that I would be able to determine what region they're from. Given time I could eventually translate some of them. They all follow a similar pattern in their symbolism though. This one, there's a pattern, but it's not one that was used in Fiore."

"Think that you can place it?" Thoma asked.

Lucy stared at it as Mia brought the light closer to give a better view. "If I had to guess," Lucy mumbled. She pointed out a particular symbol. "This one closely resembles a symbol commonly seen in Stella. It can have a variety of meanings today. Anywhere from cluster, to dust or gathering."

"I'm not familiar with Stella," Thoma admitted.

"I learned a little in school," Mia said. She started to explain to Thoma as Lucy ignored them in favor of studying the writing. "They're a relatively peaceful country in the mountains."

"Isn't that harsh for farming?" Thoma was confused.

"It would be if that was their main resource," Mia agreed. "But Stella doesn't rely on farming. It does have a view plots of land where they grow food, but they do have a reason for being in the mountains. Stella's main trade export are light lacrimas, like this one. They can produce these faster than the other countries because the high altitudes allow the lacrimas to absorb not only more sunlight, but also being close enough to the stars to absorb their light as well. So, while it might take a month or two on average for a lacrima in any other country to absorb enough light to be useful, Stella's turn around for them is about a week."

"That's pretty handy," Thoma commented.

"It's kind of why no one is competing against them for that market," Mia agreed. "But the main thing Stella is known for…. I already said they're close to the stars because they're in the mountains. That's what they're known for. The tourism to Stella for their fantastic views of the stars is unparalleled. It gets worst around the two solstices. It's almost like they're worshipping the stars."

"They are," Lucy chimed in. "Stella's entire government revolves around them. They take their horoscopes very seriously." She turned to face them. "On one hand, I would love to visit for a view of the stars. On the other, if they found out that I'm a celestial mage they would start worshipping my keys and give me no peace. I've heard of celestial mages that have lost keys because the people of Stella felt a constant need to touch and worship them. Whether they were stolen or if they had dropped from so many trying to worship the keys is unclear. But they weren't going to go back for a few keys when they could have lost more if they did."

"So not necessarily a bad country," Mia finished. "Just not really mentally stable."

"Same could be said of all countries," Thoma smirked. "I'm sure there are plenty of people that say Fiore is insane for allowing the Magic Council so much governmental power."

"Every country has it's vice," Mia shrugged. "Anyway, how's it going Lucy?"

Lucy slumped her shoulders as a sign of defeat. "I can't really tell anything," she sighed. "If it's truly from Stella, then it will take me a long while to figure it out. I'm sure the two of you don't want to be stuck here waiting for me to finish what could take weeks."

"I may not have anywhere to go," Mia started. "But I'd like to leave this town sooner rather than later."

"Seconded," Thoma agreed.

"So, here's what we'll do," Lucy declared. "Since it's becoming more certain this a Stella site…"

"In Fiore," Mia piped up. The others shot her a look. "I'm just saying there was either a lot of trespassing, collaboration or the country borders got moved around a lot."

"Stella isn't known for violence," Lucy continued. "In fact, their history is literally filled with peaceful approaches towards invaders."

"What happened with that?" Thoma asked.

"They lost a lot of land," Lucy admitted.

"Border changes," Mia nodded her head.

"Any way," Lucy continued. "They wouldn't have laid traps in any place they considered valuable. Since this place was obviously made with care, it was valuable to them."

"Are you saying….?"

"There's no traps," Lucy grinned. "We can go in and explore."

"Music to my ears," Thoma took the lacrima and charged inside.

"Get back here with my property," Mia snapped after him. Lucy followed behind quickly, not wanting to be left in the dark.

The rooms on the first floor were simple storage rooms. Tall, clay pots lined the walls. What ever had been inside was long gone, devoured by insects, rotted or evaporated over time. Going up to the second floor was a type of living area with several rooms that looked they had sleeping space for a multiple amount of people. In the corners were sconces for lit torches. "It could have been a pilgrimage sight," Lucy hypothesized.

"Pilgrimage to what?" Thoma asked.

"My guess," Mia gestured to the last room. "Whatever is in that room."

The three slowly crept inside, not knowing what to expect. There was a type of altar in the center. No sconces were set aside for torches to light the room. "How did the people see in this room?" Thoma asked.

"This is a Stella site," Lucy murmured. She glanced towards the roof. "Up there, there's a hole in the ceiling."

"Hole? This room has no ceiling at all. Why even need a ceiling to begin with?" Mia asked. "This thing is underground."

"I got a theory," Thoma grinned. The two women looked at him. "What if this building wasn't originally underground?"

"How do you explain the passageway?" Mia asked.

"A depression in the earth," Thoma replied. "The passageway could have been dug out to be able to reach the bottom of this basin. They worshipped starlight, so maybe they had this place built to worship something significant. They just deepened the basin by carving out this structure."

"That doesn't explain why it's covered now," Mia pointed out.

"Maybe, when they were chased off, they had an earth mage that made the basin look like a hill in order to protect the site? They probably thought they would come back," Thoma shrugged.

"Open gate of the Southern Cross! Crux!" Lucy summoned one of her spirits.

A living cross with a gray mustache appeared. "Miss Lucy, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Grandpa Crux," Lucy began. "Is there anything significant related to the stars in this region?"

"Give me a moment," Crux said. He then appeared to be sleeping.

"Is it nap time?" Thoma asked.

"No," Lucy disagreed. "This is what he does when he's researching the celestial archives. If there's anything related to the stars, he'll find it."

"How long do we have to wait?" Mia asked.

Crux woke with a shout, startling both Mia and Thoma. "Not long," Lucy smiled.

"This is the location of one of the five points," Crux explained.

"Five points of what?" Thoma got his bearings back.

"It's a site that must be activated in order to learn a forgotten celestial spell. Once all five sites have been activated the spell will reveal itself to the person whose presence is most susceptible to star magic."

"That would be you," Mia looked at Lucy. "So, how do we activate the altar?"

"The one with Celestial Magic must pour a little magic into the altar by the light of the stars." Once Crux finished his body slumped forward.

"More research?" Mia asked Lucy.

"No, this time he's actually asleep. "How do we get starlight down here?"

"That one's easy," Thoma smirked. He sent a powerful blast of compressed air to the cavern roof.

"You idiot!" Mia shouted above Lucy's panicked screaming. As the rubble of the ceiling started falling on them Mia lifted her right hand. A silvery glow shown in her palm. At the same time a silvery dome covered the room that they were in. The rubble hit the dome and slid off to rest either on the portion of the building with a roof or onto the cavern floor.

"Wow," Thoma stated in awe. "I didn't actually think that it would work."

"LUCY KICK!" Thoma went flying up and over the wall. He would have hit the interior of Mia's barrier if she didn't release it. "NEXT TIME THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

As Lucy continued to yell at Thoma, Mia's attention was drawn to the sounds of people shouting from the now opened ceiling. Several heads popped over the edge to look down. "Sorry about the commotion," she called out. "My friend is a real air head. I hope that nobody was hurt?"

"It's an empty field," a male voice called back.

Mia blinked at the male voice. "Doranbolt? Is that you?"

"It's me," Doranbolt answered. "I just got back with an attachement of Rune Knights. The knights are arresting the mayor and rounding up anyone of questionable nature. I was looking for you all over the place."

"Sorry about that," Mia called sheepishly. "We got a little carried away in a little expedition."

"What exactly is that place?"

"It looks like a type of ancient ruin from Stella."

"Stella? But we're no where near the border," another voice said.

"Who was that?" Mia asked.

"This is Captain Lahar," Doranbolt answered. "He's in charge of the unit that came to clean up this town."

"Nice to meet you," Mia called. "Although, I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Indeed," Lahar's voice sounded a bit condescending. "I trust that you won't make a habit of blowing up any more innocent hills?"

"No promises," Thoma called. "Ow!"

Lucy trudged her way back to Mia's side. She looked up to the sky. It was night, but the full moon shed plenty of light into the room. "It's a clear enough night," she said. "How long have we been down here?"

"Long enough to miss meeting the knights," Mia answered. Lucy ignored the comment and approached the altar. As she was pouring magic into it, Mia looked back up to the two. "You wouldn't happen to have some large pieces of paper and maybe charcoal, or something to use for a sketching?"

"Why do you need some?" Doranbolt asked.

"There's some writing down here that we can't translate immediately. If we took a sketch of it we might be able to find someone that can help."

One of the heads disappeared for a minute. It came back and a sack dropped down. Mia stepped out of the way, not trusting herself to catch it without hitting her face in the process. "There should be everything you need in there." Mia took the items she needed and headed back towards the entrance of the building. Lucy would be fine with the moon shining down into the room.

Once she was finished with the tracing, Mia returned to find a glowing set of words hovering above the altar. Lucy was busy copying them into her notebook. Thoma stumbled in right behind them. "Dang Lucy," he muttered. "Where did you learn to kick like that?" A low growl was his only answer.

"I think she's still mad at you," Mia smirked. "Maybe next time, warn us before you blow out the ceiling above us?"

"Noted."

"That's it," Lucy snapped her notebook closed. As she stepped back the words faded from view.

"I didn't do it this time," Thoma snapped to attention.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy looked at him in confusion. She looked to Mia for answers only to find her holding her belly as she shook with laughter. "I'm finished with copying the text from the altar. All we need to do now is translate it."

Thoma sagged in relief and Mia quieted her laughter. "I take it we can start heading back?" Mia asked.

"We're all set," Lucy nodded. The three started heading back the way they had come.

When the sewer smell started to become prominent again the ladies replaced the t-shirts over their faces. Thoma could only roll his eyes at them, again. At the bunker, Lucy and Thoma stayed behind while Mia went off to talk to Doranbolt and Lahar.

The two of them were waiting for her at the edge of town. "I thought that you were traveling alone," Doranbolt commented upon seeing her.

"I was," Mia agreed. "I met those two after meeting with you. They had noticed the same thing in town as I did, but had no idea how to handle it. They saw me talking to you from a distance and wanted to talk to me. Then the male of the two wanted to do some exploring of a strange area he found. That's when we sort of stumbled onto those ruins."

"What are those ruins?" Lahar asked.

"We didn't know," Mia shrugged. "The best we can figure out is that it had something to do with ancient Stella." Mia silently hoped they didn't notice Lucy putting magic into the altar.

"Once we finish cleaning up the town we can send an investigation team down there," Doranbolt stated. He could tell that Lahar was about to interrogate Mia about the place. "For now, we'll just concentrate on the town."

"Where did your friends go?" Lahar asked.

"We passed through their camp and they decided to stay behind since I was the one that reported the town and needed to talk to you, not them." Lahar's forehead wrinkled in distrust, but he dropped it with the look that Doranbolt sent him.

"Will you stay at the hotel?" Doranbolt asked Mia.

"No," Mia shook her head. "And you shouldn't either." She handed Doranbolt the sack that he had dropped down to her earlier.

"I was just checking," Doranbolt smirked. "I already know what it looks like. So where will you stay?"

"The two offered to let me stay in their camp for tonight," Mia said. "I'll take them up on that offer, since they've got it pretty well established already. If you don't need me then I'll be heading over there for the night."

"Have a good night then."

"Will you need me in the morning?"

"No," Doranbolt shook his head. "We'll take care of everything from here."

"Then I guess I'll see you around." Mia waved as she walked back the way she came.

When Mia returned to the bunker she found Lucy holding her head in her hands and groaning. Thoma was in the corner, trying to hold in laughter. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't get it," Lucy cried. "I've spent so much time in my studies going over ancient languages and none of them are helping me here."

"You did say that this looks like a Stellan language," Thoma soothed. "Perhaps we should look into getting you some help in the translation."

"We?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Well yeah," Thoma looked confused. "Isn't that what this is? I at least thought that we made a good team."

"We really did," Lucy smiled.

"So, team?"

"Yeah, team." Thoma walked up to Lucy and held his fist out. Lucy mimicked the action, their fists connecting and stayed there. The two looked expectantly at Mia.

"What?"

"You're a part of this now too," Thoma explained. "Get over here. Unless you don't want to team up with us?"

The smile that stretched across Mia's face matched Lucy's. "Alright then," she went up to them. "I'll team up with you guys. Better to travel with someone than without." She joined her fist with theirs, making their team official.

"First order of business," Thoma put his hand down. "Find a translator to help Lucy."

"I have an idea where to look," Lucy beamed.

It took a little longer to get this chapter out then I would have liked. I had so much going on these past few weeks. Had to study for a test in my statistic class, working 12 hour days, going to a wedding several hours away from home, then studying for my historical cultures test coming up right after. Time that I did have to myself was spent just resting the brain. The imaginative juices weren't flowing. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I'll begin work on the next, but I can't promise a fast upload time unless work, school and family stop being so demanding of my attention.