Hello my loves! Kytrin here with your Wednesday update! I know it's a tad late, honestly I've been off a day all week so I spent most of it thinking it was Tuesday lol. No beginning announcements, but I have a couple notes for the end. Enjoy the chapter!
CHAPTER 12
Booty
A treasure.
After Gray dropped assignments to everyone, Natsu and Juvia stole a moment to themselves. They sat by the beach, toes curled away from the water reaching out to them.
"So. Charybdis," Natsu spoke up, addressing the giant whirlpool sized elephant in the room. He glanced at the goddess.
"It comes from the deepest part of the abyss," Juvia acknowledged, "it should have never been so close to the surface. Normally it creates undersea currents and preys on larger sea serpents. Never people."
"Why was it so close to us?" Natsu asked, "and you were a bit slow on the draw with your magic, y'know?"
Somewhat distracted by his question, Juvia started, "My magic? Natsu I can't use my magic in this form. It's locked away until I go in the ocean—"
"Not your divinity Juvia," Natsu gave her a wry smile, "I meant your normal magic. Water magic. Did you forget?"
Juvia froze and turned slowly to stare at him, "My water magic..."
Remorse welled within her, and somehow the sight of Natsu sitting calmly next to her with his slightly teasing grin only made it worse, "I'm not used to it!" She wailed, "It's been so long since I've had to use it, for a moment I forgot myself when we were under attack, I didn't even think to use it get myself out of the ropes!"
"Aw c'mon, you did help once you were free!" Natsu replied, poking her a little to stop the waterworks and smiled at her, "It's not like you did it on purpose. You're just too used to going for your divine magic is all. You just gotta train until your water magic comes first again." He smirked, "I betcha Frostbite would be happy to help you with that."
Juvia blushed at the idea of training with Gray, but couldn't deny he would probably be able to help her a lot. He'd been a genius ice wizard in his first lifetime, and from what she'd seen so far nothing had changed in the second.
"I'll think about it." She replied, and shifted her focus back out towards the water, "You know I need to investigate what happened." She told him soberly, "If Charybdis is so close to the surface then something is happening in the abyss, and I can't let that pass."
Natsu sighed a little, "I figured you'd say that." He shook his head, "It can't be helped."
"How will we cover it?" Juvia asked him, "I can't reveal myself to the others. Not yet."
Natsu shrugged a little and glanced around, "I'll ask Lucy if I can spend a day or two swimming around the island after Sting gets back. Monsters aside, this is a nice island. It'd make a good place for a new nest."
"And don't worry about it Juvia, you'll get used to doing things the human way soon," Natsu set a hand on her shoulder, giving it a quick smack of encouragement.
"You've never been faced with your own limitations before. If anything think of it as a way to get better." Natsu stood up and stretched, "Leave the heavy lifting to me in the meantime. I've got your back."
Juvia gave him a small smile back as he looked out at the sea with a dopey smile on his face. It was in a moment like this where she remembered the reason why she saved him the way she had. Even if he didn't remember their past friendship, Natsu was still Natsu no matter what. His personality still shaped his actions.
And he would do what he said no matter the consequences to himself.
"I won't let you all down. Not again." She murmured quietly.
Natsu moved quickly back towards the ship, having caught what Juvia said but not commenting on it. A smile played over his face, having a feeling somewhere on his gut that he had a conversation like that with her before in the past.
He saw Lucy on the beach where they set up a supply tent. He smiled at her, observing her gold spun hair that could make any dragon jealous and the clever brown eyes that watched her crew with affectionate sweeps.
"Lucy! Err, I mean captain!" Natsu called out to her, making his way through the sand and enjoying the way it felt on his toes. His boots were tied together at the laces and hung around his shoulder as he walked.
It was amazing how much he must have taken for granted the feeling of being able to wiggle his toes. The warm, fine sand was pure white. Like sugar and it was soothing on his skin. If he could still transform into his dragon shape, Natsu was certain he would have loved to nestle in the sand and soak up the sun like his father often did.
But it wasn't any fun without company. And Lucy was the best there was.
Lucy looked up at him and for a moment he caught a glimpse of the worry and stress on her face before it was smoothed away in a genuine smile at the sight of him.
"Enjoying your leave sailor?" She grinned teasingly, and Natsu couldn't help grinning in response despite his concern about the worry he'd glimpsed. He knew it probably had to do with Cana and trying to find this Hoteye guy's treasure.
Well, the first he couldn't help with much. The last he'd heard Sting was still en-route with Wendy, she being too small still to fly the whole way herself, though he'd gotten quite an earful via lacrima from Igneel about it and his abrupt departure. Though the old dragon had settled down once he'd learned he'd found Lucy and was serving aboard the Fairy Tail, and had managed to come away with only a stern warning to keep an eye on Wendy and a demand they bring Lucy back to visit when they wanted a break from their adventures.
Truthfully, he was rather embarrassed over the fact he'd forgotten all about the lacrima his brother had given him for keeping in touch. He'd stashed it with the rest of his gear, but it hadn't been until he'd heard irate roaring from it that he'd remembered it even existed. He paused slightly and made a mental note to let Juvia borrow it too. If she could reach Zeref without having to go divine that might help this whatever it was that was going on with the abyssal creatures.
He tucked the thought back into the back of his mind and decided to focus more on what he could immediately deal with. Namely, helping Lucy find her treasure.
"I am." He grinned, trying not to purr at the attractive picture she presented in her captain uniform, "Though I actually have some news you'll like."
Lucy perked up at hearing that, and Natsu bit back a smirk at the way everyone around them was immediately listening in, "Oh?"
He nodded and coughed somewhat sheepishly, "I, ah, kinda forgot about this earlier, but Zeref gave me a lacrima to keep in touch with everyone. Igneel called it earlier and told me Sting's on his way back with Wendy." He grinned, "And she's allowed to stay as long as she wants as long as we keep an eye on her."
Relief crossed Lucy's face and she sagged noticeably in relief.
"Shouldn't be a problem, Romeo is around her age and he keeps himself busy as a cabin boy," Lucy gave him a grateful smile that had Natsu wanting to preen happily.
"Did your dad threaten to nail your tail to the floor?" She asked, remembering what Sting said.
Natsu gave her a sheepish grin, "Worse. He said he'd put a wig on me and nail me to the bow of your ship if I was so interested in sailing around with you."
"Oh, our very own lucky crest! How kind of him!" Lucy teased, quite amused by the idea of the merman being on the front of the ship. It was a popular style to have beautiful mermaids carved onto ships, but the image of a grumpy Natsu screaming away on the front of the ship was too funny to pass up.
"Hey!" Natsu gasped and clutched at his chest, "Traitor!"
She laughed at the way he bared his fangs at her and flicked him on the nose, "That puts my mind at ease regardless. Now we can look for Hoteye's treasure without worrying so much."
"Need some company princess?" He asked, his stance casual and head turning towards her.
"Princess?" She raised an eyebrow at Natsu, who started at the slip of his tongue. He blinked and scratched the back of his head.
"Uh, Sorry." He laughed loudly, brushing it off to hide his embarrassment over addressing his captain in a way that could seem offensive to her, "I don't know why I said that! Im sorry captain!"
Lucy's lips twitched in amusement at his scrambling. The slip of the tongue didn't really bother her oddly enough. As much as she detested titles other than captain, this one felt right somehow. Especially the way he'd said it. Like it was more an endearment than a formal title.
"It's fine." She waved him off with a grin, "I've been called much worse. And I could do with some company."
She tapped a neatly sketched image of the island, "Lisanna, Mira, and Rogue did an aerial survey of the island this morning. They're working on a new map of it with Levy, but this'll do to get us started." She gestured to a spot in purple, "We're here, and this was Hoteye's main base. We think he's got his treasure stashed somewhere close to it, but where exactly is another question."
"It doesn't help either that he was a fairly powerful wizard capable of manipulating earth." She frowned.
"So accessible could mean anything." Natsu hummed thoughtfully as he studied the map, a tickle starting up in the back of his head at the sight of it. It looked familiar somehow.
"You want to build your nest here?"
A movement beside them, proving Gray had come over to join them, jostled him out of the memory and it quickly faded. Leaving behind only the headache he felt whenever something was trying to push its way through.
He swallowed the urge to sigh in exasperation, it wasn't the snowman's fault his memory was flaky and gave him headaches, and re-focused on the map, "So I guess we wanna start with the base itself right?" He asked, "I mean, if there's going to be a clue about where the treasure is that would be the best place to find one right?"
"The Captain doesn't sound like a guy who would trust his crew if he was so hungry for money," Natsu muttered, "He'd want to hide it in a place he knew his crew couldn't reach."
"So it would be some place only he could access with his magic more than likely." Gray filled in the blanks.
Lucy nodded and took a deep breath, "Ok we'll start there. Gray I'll need you to oversee any repairs to the ship and keep an eye out for Sting."
"Aye Captain. Don't forget to bring some flares with you though, don't want you off by yourself without a way to signal back to us," Gray gave Natsu a steady look.
There was no doubt Natsu had earned himself the respect of the crew by diving into the waters to save not only Cana but also the crew by attacking the monster trying to eat them. And Gray knew Natsu's motivations for Lucy probably better than he did.
His captain would be in good hands if she found herself in a spot that she needed back up her spirits couldn't give her.
"Yes Mother," Lucy tapped Grays chest and shook her head, "You know I don't like being landlocked for long. I'll be back out on the ship before something can happen."
"We've been outrunning our bad luck so far Captain, I'm sure we can take a rest," Gray reasoned and passed off a flare to Lucy. He passed over a satchel of supplies to Natsu, who slung it over his back without complaint. Just in case they were gone overnight they would be covered, although it was just a precaution.
"Stay safe," Gray nodded and took his leave to head back to the shore.
"He worries far too much sometimes." Lucy huffed once he was out of reach, and grinned at Natsu, "C'mon! Let's go exploring!"
Natsu grinned happily back at her, "Aye!"
They set off down the beach to the base, waving to other groups working on other projects as they did, and Natsu smiled at the relaxed atmosphere. Those not relaxing were happily surveying the place or harvesting fruit and other supplies from the ancient orchard they'd discovered. The crew had faith in their captain's ability to deliver on the promised treasure, and it showed.
It made something warm curl in his belly, like a half forgotten feeling that this was familiar. He chased after it for a moment, thinking perhaps there was another memory there, but nothing came out of it so he let it be.
"So how'd you find out about this place?" He asked curiously as they walked, "If you don't mind me asking?"
Lucy flashed him a smirk, "This place was kind of an open secret." She laughed, "Everyone knew about it, and how he was planning to build some kind of pirate empire here. I think he wanted to make it so everyone wanting to cross this area of water had to pay him a tithe or something. Ridiculous really. The city-states would never go for it, and the only way to counter their navies would be to have a bigger one than all of them combined."
"Maybe that's why he wanted so much money." Natsu grinned, "So he could have his fleet of ships."
Lucy snorted a little, "Then he should've been a better pirate." She replied, "If I wanted to I could unite and command all the pirates under one banner like that. There just hasn't been a need to."
Natsu cocked his head thoughtfully, "I wonder if that's why he tried going after your mother." He mused, "She was the queen before you right? Maybe he was trying to steal her crown."
Lucy hummed thoughtfully, "You may be right."
Actually, he may be very right. Ruling the pirates was never a stable prospect. There were always challengers at every captain's meeting, and she constantly had to re-affirm her rule. Though there was less of that now than there had been. Systematically wiping out the crews that wouldn't conform to her 'no hurting innocents' rule had sent several very powerful messages to a lot of people.
It was a rule she and her mother had shared. Possibly one that all of her ancestors with the title had. But there had been that interim time between her mother's death and her own ascension where things had reverted back to older and more brutal ways. Ways that Hoteye had certainly followed if the rumors about the man were to be believed.
"I hadn't thought about that." She admitted after a moment, "But that does make sense. If he really wanted to challenge mom, but couldn't beat her himself, then the next logical step would be to create a banner others would flock to."
She flashed him a smirk, "Not that it matters now."
"Guess not," Natsu shrugged as they stomped through brushes and pushed away branches. He lifted his nose and sniffed, scenting out the next paths for them to take.
The whole place smelled so achingly familiar the further they walked. Even the terrain, while wildly overgrown, seemed familiar. Like his body recognized following a path. When Lucy veered to the left, Natsu hesitated, body wanting to keep straight and then take a sharp right. He couldn't explain it, but pushed the feeling to the side and followed her instead.
"I'm not sure what we're expecting to find," Lucy continued after a while of hiking in silence. They spoke together companionably on and off, but their attention was focused on their beautiful surroundings.
They stopped at what looked like a mermaid lagoon, Lucy peering at her map and breathing out the fresh air.
"Hoteye was said to have disappeared on this island, rumors were that he went mad after my mother defeated him," Lucy hummed, crouching down to slide down the slope towards the lagoon.
Natsu followed her, grinning a bit at the sight of all the tide pools and tilting his chin upwards when some stone fixtures came into place.
"Looks like we're about to get our answers," He laughed.
"You bet!" Lucy grinned, "Mira said she'd spotted structures during her flyover, but didn't stop to take a good look around. This must've been where they set up their primary base."
And it wasn't a horrible one either. The view above was absolutely breathtaking between the lush foliage, the natural rock formations, and the large waterfall cascading down into the clear lagoon. Whatever the place might've lacked in convenient mooring it more than made up for in atmosphere. And she could even see places where a nice dock could be built without ruining the atmosphere.
Unlike the buildings they were heading to.
She twisted her lips into a frown of distaste at the cobbled together appearance, "Ugh, you would think if they were building something here they would've done it better."
"Yeah." Natsu agreed, "Build into the cliffs a little instead and you could have a whole city that looked natural."
"Is that what dragons do?" Lucy asked as they continued their careful descent, "Make their lairs look natural?"
"More or less." Natsu shrugged, "Places like this have a lot of naturally occurring elements, and we feed on those. So we try not to disturb them as much as possible."
"Makes sense." Lucy agreed as they made it to the first of the structures, "Alright, I think we should start with the largest building first. That was probably Hoteye's. If that doesn't tell us anything we can work our way out."
Natsu inclined his head, though part of him was still inclined to march back up the cliff and take the other direction. The large stone cliff that made up one whole side of the lagoon kept attracting his attention, and he wanted to investigate it.
Maybe he could do it later, after they found the treasure.
"Am I boring you sailor?" Lucy asked, noticing his inattention. Natsu flashed a crooked smirk at her and shook his head.
"In your company? Never captain!" He sing songed, "I just saw something interesting back there."
"Well you've got something more interesting right here," Lucy smirked back at him, somewhat coyly. Natsu blinked at her saucy smile, until she pointed behind her at the buildings.
"Right, I knew that," Natsu muttered much to Lucy's delight, trying very hard not to blush. She laughed as they approached the biggest structure. Vines were crawling over the building, having been abandoned for close to twenty years it looked like it was in rougher shape.
They headed inside, Natsu pushing open massive doors for Lucy to squeeze through. Natsu followed after her, swinging the large door open the rest of the way.
He lifted his hand ahead of him, lighting a flame in his palm to cast a light around them.
It looked like they were in a massive study, with ornately carved woods and once plush cushions decorating a large chair. They looked moth eaten and a little ragged, but there was no denying the expense.
Behind the desk though there was a skeleton hunched over. Strands of curly hair clung barely to its skull, and many of its teeth were replaced with gold ones.
"That's a captains uniform, I think we found out what happened to our friend Hoteye," Lucy noted.
Natsu crossed the distance in two big strides, his hand grasping at the dead captains jaw.
"What are you doing?" She almost shrieked, unable to stop herself from reacting to the sight of him manhandling a skeleton like that.
"I saw somethin'." Natsu grunted, popping the mans mouth open where something golden glittered inside. It was wrapped with a thick parchment. Knowing no fear, Natsu dipped his fingers in the dead man's maw to grasp the items that were barely clinging to the back of its molars.
A golden key with a zodiac symbol inscribed in the hilt and a crumpled letter rested in Natsu's palm.
"Looks like mutiny," Natsu murmured.
"The crew must have mutinied after his defeat by my Mother. The only thing they won would have been my mom's key, and it wouldn't have done them any good," Lucy frowned as she thought about how violently the key had been stuffed down the captains throat.
Natsu passed it over to Lucy and she cradled it to her chest, "Thank goodness it's in one piece. I'm so sorry it took me so long to find you again Leo."
"The crew wouldn't have made it off the island without Hoteyes magic," Natsu said grimly, although he was happy to see Lucy reunited with her spirit, "They would have known they wouldn't have stood a chance sailing out of here without crashing into the rocks."
"You think losing to my mom was just the last straw then?" Lucy asked.
"Maybe," Natsu unfolded the letter in his hands.
"Captain's Log Entry 147, 5/27/5027 since Founding"
Natsu paused and looked up at Lucy, "Founding?" He asked, the word tickling on his tongue like a familiar taste.
"Since the time of Magnolia's founding." Lucy replied, "The early founders called the rainbow cherry trees that are the pride of the city Magnol. It means divine beauty. They're said to have been created by the Creator and planted to mark the location where gods and mortals may meet."
"Huh." Natsu murmured, feeling the signs of another headache threatening to bloom, and tried to shove it back as best he could. No doubt he'd once known that too.
"I was unable to defeat the witch queen. Her skill was greater than I'd imagined. At best, I was only able to steal one of her golden keys. I had hoped to command the spirit within, but it will not answer my summons no matter what I do! No matter. There will be time to deal with the spirit once I've found it."
"I wonder what 'it' is?" Lucy muttered.
"The crew have grown uneasy in the time since my defeat. They think I am unaware, but I see their guarded looks. They doubt me, and the new quest I've embarked on, but they will see. I will show them riches beyond their wildest dreams! And with them we will build an empire!"
"Riches?" Lucy asked with a raised brow, "Beyond what he'd already acquired?"
"Sounds like it." Natsu replied with a frown, feeling another tug on his memory.
"We shall start from the lagoon and work our way inwards once more. The crew are complaining of course, the worthless slackers that they are, but I'm convinced I've corrected the translations this time. We will find it! I'm certain of it this time! The Pirate King's treasure hoard! And then they will see! Everyone will see! I will rip Heartfilia's crown from her and rule the seas!"
"The what?!" Lucy yelped and quickly moved to read over Natsu's shoulder.
"Someone you know?" Natsu asked curiously as she all but snatched the page from his hand to read it for herself.
"The Pirate King is a legend!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes wide with awe, "He was the very first pirate, the one who began it all! I grew up on stories of him! I even found copies of his ship! The Fairy Tail is built and named based on those plans!"
"Uh, okay?" Natsu blinked, confused over the relevance. Maybe he was missing something, but he wasn't quite sure what it meant.
"So Captain Hoteye tracked the first Pirate King here to find his hidden treasure. Seems like a good place to to make it your stash if you're trying to stay out of the way and find a dead pirates treasure," Natsu admitted.
"It's hellish to sail in, that's for sure. Our port sustained a lot of damage coming in because of that monster throwing off our course," Lucy grumbled.
"Flying in is the safest way to get here, but humans certainly can't do it," Natsu shrugged, tapping his thumb under his chin.
Lucy sighed, a little put out by the lack of straight answers for their gold. She had been hoping for a direct path but she supposed that would take the fun out of looking herself.
There was also the possibility that this was the place of the Pirate Kings lost treasure. Although she didn't put much stock in that. It seemed like a fools errand and she suspected that was the contributory factor to his crews rebellion. The captain sounded a bit like a madman and she wasn't interested in walking down that same path. She had her mother's spirit back, and that was precisely what she had personally come for.
Now she was wanting to find her crew's payment.
She just hoped Hoteyes crew hadn't attempted to smuggle the gold off the island before they crashed into the rocks.
She shook her head a little, "Well, despite the fact I'm thrilled to have found Leo again, I admit I was hoping for a little bit of a hint to where his treasure was."
"I can help you out a little there princess."
Natsu and Lucy spun to find an stylishly dressed orange haired man with an equally orange set of cat ears grinning at them.
"Leo!" Lucy exclaimed in delight and rushed to give him a hug, "I'm so sorry it took so long to find you!"
"It's alright princess." Leo murmured with a smile, "I know you and Layla never stopped looking." He looked her up and down, "I see you grew up every bit as beautiful as your mother."
Lucy blushed a little and turned as she heard a sound behind her, "Oh, Natsu, let me introduce you... Natsu?"
The dragon was leaning against the desk, clutching his head in his hand.
"Natsu are you alright?" Lucy asked as she rushed to his side.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Natsu croaked, "My head just hurts."
In fact, it was the worst headache he'd gotten since he'd met Gajeel. He peered up at the slightly confused and vaguely concerned looking Leo, but despite the pounding in his head the memories would not come.
"Do I know you or somethin'?" He groaned, "Lookin' at you is makin' my head hurt."
Leo glanced at Lucy and she sighed, "Natsu's over four hundred years old." She explained, "It's kind of a complicated story, and I don't know all of it, but apparently the Tempest saved his life back then and turned him into a merman. But when she did it she gave him amnesia."
"'Natsu' hm?" Leo's expression cleared and he regarded Natsu thoughtfully with an expression that bordered on sadness, "I see. That does explain a few things." He smiled, "I will say then that we do know each other. My very first contract holder was a dear friend of yours, and we've fought together in the past."
"Yeah?" Natsu asked, his headache subsiding with the information, "Who was it?"
Leo flashed him a feline grin, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. Celestial privacy laws you understand. Although it is nice to see you again."
No, he really didn't understand, but if this was anything like Gajeel and Levy there probably wouldn't be any budging the cat. It rankled Natsu a bit that anyone who knew him didn't seem to be interested in giving him any information though.
Leo turned his attention back to Lucy and smiled, "Getting back to why I came to visit... Hoteye was a master of manipulating earth. He buried his treasure underneath his own feet so he was the only one who could easily get to it." He tapped his foot, "I hope you have pickaxes on your ship!"
Lucy's expression lit up, "You know we do! Thank you Leo! That's a huge help!"
Leo bowed slightly, "Call me officially once everything is cleared up." He told her, "I look forward to making a proper contract with you."
"Of course Leo," Lucy regarded him with a warm smile that left Natsu watching with some amusement. It was no mystery to him that Leo seemed very much like a trickster.
At least now that they had a course in mind, they had a goal to set out for. And Natsu knew by the expression on Lucy's face that there would be no stopping her now.
He snorted on a laugh, his headache still throbbing at his temples but no longer the pounding that left him clutching at Hoteye's desk. He was frustrated no memories came, but it still felt like there was something building. Like it was on the verge of breaking free but it was being blocked by something.
He said nothing though, not wanting to dampen Lucy's spirits as she added Leo's key to her ring with her other spirits and rushed off a few steps ahead of Natsu to gather her nearby crew to dig out the treasure.
They passed the fork in the road from before, hesitating once more as he fought the desire to climb up and investigate the cliff face.
However at Lucy's encouraging shouts for him to hurry up, Natsu turned away from it to follow after. He ignored the painful way his head throbbed when he ignored it.
And that's the chapter my loves! Real quick, we've gotten some confusion about how Natsu's talisman and how it works in relation to Juvia, so I'll try to clarify. Juvia turned his scarf into a talisman that would allow him to have legs AS LONG AS he was out of the water, wearing it, and she was not in her divine form. Meaning she is in her human form and on land. If he takes the scarf off for any reason he automatically gets a tail. If he jumps into salt water he gets a tail. And if Juvia returns to the sea, or otherwise enters the realm of the gods, no matter where he is... tail. I hope that helps clear things up some! :)
Also, I want to give a shout out to our reviewers. You guys were amazing with your reviews, even you cranky guest reviewer, and we thank you for them. You all managed to squeak out the 30 needed for a preview, so do enjoy that and we'll see you Sunday!
"Wendy!" He laughed, giving his little sister a tight hug. She let out a squeal of surprise as Natsu hoisted her over one shoulder, her eyes bugging out.
"Natsu, your tail! You have legs!" She gasped, "It's true!"
Her eyes turned glassy with tears as Natsu set her down, his expression turning into one of concern.
"Hey Wendy, what's the matter? I'm okay it didn't hurt or nothin'!" Natsu looked at his sisters trembling bottom lip.
"I-is it really true you sold your soul to a mean old sea witch to get legs? And you only have three months to get a kiss from your true love or you'll turn into sea foam?!" Wendy whimpered.
"What." Juvia deadpanned.
Natsu turned and looked over his shoulder at her, "Er, did I?"
"No you didn't!" Juvia growled and stamped her foot in a bit of irritation, "Someone has been telling old sea shanties to your little sister and scaring her silly!"
Her eyes flashed to Sting, who was whistling in a false image of innocence.
Natsu followed her gaze to Sting, whose expression transformed into someone whose hand got caught in a jar. Natsu's eyes narrowed and he tackled his brother.
