A/N Sorry it took so long! I've been kind of lazy, and I've been focusing on other projects. Here's the next chapter!
"We should go on a mission," Erza suggested.
"A mission?" Gray asked, "with him?"
Zeref knew that Gray was talking about him, but didn't care. Besides, Gray was right. Anything could go wrong, as long as he was around living beings. But, then again, Lucy would be there as well, so perhaps things would go well for once.
"You need to be careful of what you choose. I can loose control of my magic at anytime," Zeref advised.
"He's right," Natsu said. "Just him near there is dangerous."
"As long as I'm there, things should be fine," Lucy reminded, them.
"True," Gray muttered. "Fine. Just, not anything to challenging. I don't want anything to go wrong."
"I've been thinking and-"
"You've been thinking? I'm shook!"
Natsu and Gray bickered for a minute, before Erza clonked their heads in, shutting them up instantly.
"We should give Zeref a new name. Z sounds weird."
"Plus, it would make people suspicious," Erza added. "Any ideas?"
"Zack?" Lucy suggested.
"Zain?" Gray stated.
"Either one of those is fine," Zeref said.
"Zain it is, then."
"We'll tell everyone else later. For now, let's pick out a mission."
They ended up choosing one that would involve them investigating a murder, or more like making the culprit confess. Erza was more than perfect to bring along for that.
They all ended up in a building in the royal knights headquarters in Sunflower, a city that was far to the west of Fiore. It wasn't nearly as big as Crocus, so it wasn't spoken of as much, but it was still known to those in the area. They got a lot of money, because they were right on the border, so constant traders and merchants passed through all the time.
As soon as they arrived, Natsu and Happy stuffed their faces. Well, that was after Natsu recovered from motion sickness.
Zeref didn't do much. He was just glad that he was able to hang out with people without killing them. Just seeing their living faces was enough.
Eventually, they had to start the mission. They appeared at the royal knights headquarters, and spoke to the captain, who was an older man with grey hair that was in a suit of silver armor, that had a sunflower imprinted on it.
"We are wizards from Fairy Tail that have come to help you solve the murder of your son," Gray said. "Any suspects?"
"Yes, actually. I have them all on standby, because of what transpired."
"Is there anyone that hated him?" Lucy asked.
"No, my son was a hardworking man that inspired everyone to do their best, even me," he responded.
"Can you please show us the crime scene?" Zeref questioned.
"Sure, but if any of you don't like blood, turn back now," he warned.
No one did.
"Please, follow me."
The body of an armored man was laid out in the center, and there was a circle of blood surrounding him. Various stars were painted on the walls, and on one wall in particular, there was a message, written in the man's blood.
It read, 'All show bow to the trinity.'
"The trinity?" Lucy asked.
"They don't sound friendly," Natsu said.
"Aye!" Happy agreed, worried.
"I don't sense any magic in here. It was as if they used him as a sacrifice. You said there were suspects. Do any of them have magic, or do any of them have magic in their blood?" Zeref stated.
"Not that I am aware of. Sunflower doesn't have any wizards. It is one of the only normal human cities in Ishgar," he answered.
…
Lucy noticed the worrisome look on Zeref's face as he examined the message.
"Is something wrong?"
"I have a theory about what the Trinity is, but I need some more evidence. I read something about it in an ancient archive a long time ago, but to rediscover the information, we will have to go to Alkatasia."
"That country has been in chaos for many years. There is a strong military that has taken over its government. They particularly don't like those from Ishgar, because Ishgar has been their enemy for many years. If you go there, yo have to be careful," the man advised.
"I know, but I know those lands well, so we should be okay."
"Oh, we never got your name," Lucy reminded.
"I am Drake Francis, known by Sir Francis for those that serve under me, and when you get any information, please contact me as soon as possible."
...
They all shook hands. Zeref decided to start wearing gloves to make him feel more comfortable touching other humans.
Next, they all left the building.
"We need to go tell the master about this," Erza said.
"Agreed," Gray said.
"But, we'll be able to get this done faster if we go now," Natsu reminded. "Happy, wanna fly on over there?"
"Sorry, Natsu, but I'm more with them on this one. None of us have ever been there before! It could be scary!"
"What if the master says know?" Zeref asked. "Will we still go, or forfeit the mission?"
"Depends. What are your theories on the Trinity?" Lucy questioned.
There are three war gods that are known as the Trinity. They are neither friend nor foe to humankind. They only kill when they feel like it, which is most of the time," Zeref explained. "The thing is, that if they really are making sacrifices to them, they might appear, since they are attracted to violence. Are any of you truly capable of taking on a god?"
"Hell yeah! I'll beat those gods down!" Natsu exclaimed, to everyone's dismay.
"Not before me!" Gray retorted.
"Stop! This is serious! This might turn into a global scale war!" Lucy hollered.
They all shut up, surprised at her outburst.
"Thank you. Anyway, since it is possible that this is the case, we should go talk to the master, and see what he decides to do about this. This may turn into more than just a simple mission."
"Agreed. Let's go home," Erza said.
They all left, but little did they know that someone was watching from the shadows.
A/N Short chapter, I know, but this is going to turn into an arc. Just think of this as part 1. I think I'll call this arc Trinity or something like that. Let me know if you have any good names!
About the suspects, they felt as if they already had enough to go on, so that's why they weren't included.
See you next time!