4: Gae Bolg
Natsu sat back with a small satisfied look on his face, "So this is what it's like to ride in a carriage without the motion sickness," he said, smiling as he looked at the two Celestial Spirit wizards, "Thanks a lot, Naruto, that spell of yours is awesome!"
The blond sitting across from him smiled, "It's not even a form of Angle magic," he said, looking at his female partner, "Lucy could learn it in no time if she wanted to." To this, Lucy gave a happy little blush, "It's got other uses besides curing motion sickness, though. It can also nullify weak poisons."
Lucy nodded, looking down at the sword at his side, "Do you really think you'll need that?" She asked, blinking at the Holy Sword, "Now that I think about it, this is going to be a pretty easy job once we get passed Everlue's Spirit, won't it?"
Happy looked at her, "You seem pretty interested in the job now that you don't have to dress like a maid."
Lucy huffed, "Well, of course," she clenching her fist with a smile, "it's technically my first job since I just tagged along with you guys when we went after Macao, so I want to do my best on this job."
"All we have to do is sneak in and sneak back out as fast as we can without letting them know we were there," Naruto sighed, "Using any Celestial Spirits is a no go, because Everlue's will sense them right off the bat and probably raise the alarm. Then we wouldn't know what to expect." He said, clutching Caliburn's hilt. "I'd rather not have to hurt anyone one unless we have to."
Lucy nodded, "Me, too." She said, smirking at the pinkette across from them, "But, Knowing Natsu, he'll blow our cover right away!" She giggled as Natsu roared.
"Hey, I can be stealthy if I want!" Natsu shouted.
Naruto chuckled. They had been traveling for little under a week for this job, and Naruto found himself liking the boisterous Dragon Slayer more and more. The teen had a hair-trigger temper worse than Kurama had at times, but other than that, and his sometimes out of nowhere thinking, he was a good friend. Lucy was another matter altogether.
Like him, she was eager to prove her worth on a real job, and since he was one up on her, she declared that she wouldn't fall behind. Of course, being grilled about the incident in their shared apartment before leaving hadn't been an easy time of it, even though he swore up and down that he really hadn't seen anything...well, not much of anything.
"So, Naruto, I've been wondering," Natsu said, looking at the sword he held, "What does that sword actually do? I mean it doesn't look like anything special."
Lucy looked at him, "Are you kidding? The scabbard alone is a work of art," she said.
Naruto chuckled, raising the sword up for them to see, "As far as battle, it absorbs magic energy, and releases it in waves of Light," Naruto said, "but it's not as durable as I'd like. There've been tales of it being shattered, even though it's been reforged afterwords, no one could wield it without crossing that line. Also, when someone takes hold of the sword, they stop aging physically, so - "
"They what?!" Lucy frowned, looking at him with her cheeks puffed out in a cute pout, "Naruto, how old are you?"
Naruto felt a little uncomfortable when she got close to him with a slight glare, "Er...well, I'm nineteen, so..."
"Then you were already older than me?" She said, sighing in relief, "Thank goodness."
Natsu looked at her strangely, "Why's that such a good thing?" He asked, "So what if he's older than you. Big deal. You two look about the same age to me."
"Well, I'm two years younger than he is, so I've got a little time to catch up," Lucy pipped up, smiling.
Naruto looked at her in confusion, "Okay...why's that so important?"
Lucy blushed, "Oh...well, I just...oh, the carriage is stopping!" She said hurriedly looking out the window.
Naruto and Natsu looked at each other, "You know, I may be new to the mainland and all, but...girls are kind'a weird, aren't they?" Naruto said to the Dragon Slayer.
"With ya there, Naruto," Natsu said, nodding, "Just wait 'til you meet Erza, now she's weird, and scary."
=Shirotsume Town=
Naruto gave a whistle as they came up to a large mansion, "Whoa, and I thought the Guild hall was big," he said, frowning, "Man, suddenly my little cabin in the woods seems really small."
Lucy nodded, frowning, "It's a magnificent mansion, for sure," she said, thinking of one she had seen once before with a frown, and looked down at Happy, "Is the Duke Everlue's?"
The little cat shook his head, "No, this mansion belongs to the client."
"Right," she frowned, "Someone who's willing to pay two hundred thousand jewels for a book has to be rich." She said with Naruto nodding in understanding.
Natsu walked up to the door and knocked loudly. A timid voice came from the other side, "May I have your name, please?"
"We're from the Fairy Tail Gu - "
"SHH! Be quiet, please!" The voice hissed frantically. "Excuse me, but can you please enter from the back door?"
Naruto cocked his head and crossed his arms, "Well, that's a little weird." He said, following Natsu and Lucy around to the back while Happy flapped up to his shoulder.
They were greeted by a middle-aged man, and woman, and were lead into a sitting area, "I'm sorry about earlier," the man said as his wife served them tea, "But Duke Everlue has ears every where, and if he found out that it was me that sent out the job request, I'm afraid I wouldn't be around for long." He said, "My name is Kirby Melon, and this is my wife."
Natsu sat back with a large grin, "Your name sounds tasty."
"Melon!" Happy smiled from his spot on the back of the couch.
Naruto reached over and wrapped his arm around Natsu's neck, throttling him. "Natsu, be nice, he's a our client," the blond said while Lucy reprimanded Happy, and turned his attention to Kirby, "Sorry about that. My name's Naruto Uzumaki," he said, gesturing to Natsu, "This is Natsu, and the young lady is Lucy, and the little guy is Happy."
"Nice to meet you," Lucy said, smiling, thinking the man's name sounded vaguely familiar.
"Aye, Sir!"
Kirby laughed, "Don't worry about it, I actually hear that quite often."
Lucy frowned in thought as they spoke. 'Melon...this town's name, too...I've heard them somewhere...' she thought, looking from Kirby to his wife.
"I wouldn't have imagined that a wizard from the renowned Fairy Tail would accept this job." Kirby said, smiling, "Let alone three of you. I've heard tale of the famously destructive Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel." Natsu blushed bashfully before Kirby turned to the young blond man, "And I've heard tell of an amazing wizard that actually uses Healing magic. You saved an entire village from bandits that were poisoning, and starving out its people."
Naruto smiled, "It was nothing really."
"We were pretty surprised that no one took up such a good job," Natsu put in.
'Everyone else was being cautious because this job and the reward didn't match up.' Lucy thought, still frowning at how strange the job was beginning to sound.
"And you, young miss," Kirby said, looking to Lucy, and back to Naruto sitting beside her.
"I-I'm a wizard, too," she said, jumping at the attention.
"Are you this young man's girlfriend, by chance?" He asked, gesturing to Naruto, who blushed profusely.
"No we're not!" Naruto and Lucy said at the same time, causing Natsu and Happy to laugh while to the two of them looked at each other, feeling foolish.
Kirby chuckled, lacing his fingers together, "I'm sorry," he said, "Well, then, let's talk about work, shall we?"
"Alright," Natsu grinned.
"Aye," Happy said, while Naruto crossed his arms, his face becoming serious while Lucy straightened.
"There's only one thing that I'm asking you to do," he said, frowning down at his hands, "The one and only copy of a book called 'Day Break' is in the possession of Duke Everlue...I want you to incinerate it."
Naruto looked a little confused, "But I would've thought you'd want us to steal it for you?" He said, reaching down to clutch his sword, a nervous gesture that Lucy was beginning to notice.
Kirby smiled at the question, "I'm basically asking you to destroy someone's possession without their permission," he said, "So it's essentially the same thing as stealing from him."
"I'm surprised, too," Lucy said, frowning, "I thought that the book was stolen from you, and you wanted us to get it back for you?"
Before Kirby could answer, however, Natsu started braying with laughter, "Incinerate it, huh?" He laughed, "How 'bout I just burn down the whole mansion!?"
"That'll be easy," Happy said.
"No!" Lucy said at once, "We'd definitely go to jail for that!"
"Or have the Rune Knights on our tails for life," Naruto frowned at his friend, "come, Natsu, think about it!"
"You tryin' to pick a fight, blondie!?" Natsu snapped.
"Oh, don't start that again!" Lucy cried. "What is that book, anyway?"
"Who cares, we're getting two hundred thousand for this!?" Natsu laughed.
Kirby looked a little surprised, "No, I'll pay you two million," he said, shocking the three wizards, and cat, "The contingency fee is now two million jewels."
...
...
...Wait for it.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Natsu roared.
"You didn't know about the increase of the fee?" Kirby asked as he watched the pink-haired teen yell.
Natsu was freaking out, "How do we even divide that?!" He asked.
"Easy," Happy said, "You get one million and I get one million, and then Naruto and Lucy get the rest!"
"That's leaves us with nothing!" Lucy yelled.
"You greedy flea-bag!" Naruto reached over and yanked his whiskers. "You and Natsu get one million, and the other million goes to me and Lucy, ya yapping fur ball!"
Kirby began to sweat in nervousness, "Now, now, please calm down," he said.
"But why increase the fee so much?" Lucy asked, looking worried.
Kirby looked down at his feet, "That book really needs to be destroyed," he said, growling back in his throat, "It's a blight on my house, and I cannot forgive its existence." Lucy was surprised as the man's face darkened at the mention of the book they were to destroy.
She would have voiced her opinion, but she was grabbed by Natsu and dragged out of the room before she could. "H-Hey!?"
"Oh, yeah, let's go, guys, I got a burnin' passion now!" Natso yelled as he dragged the girl behind him. Naruto was right behind them, yelling angrily while Happy brought up the rear.
"Dammit, Natsu, let go of Lucy before you yank her arm off!" Naruto roared.
"He loves her~!" Happy chirped.
"Shut it, ya fuzzy football!"
As the four wizards left, Kirby sighed as his wife came up to him, "Darling...are you sure you can entrust the job to children like them?" She asked, looking down at her husband and seeing the tired tired look on his face, "The other Guild failed the same mission last week," she pointed out with a slight frown, "And from Duke Everlue's point of view, it was nothing more than a failed robbery." She sighed, looking toward the window and seeing the four travelers running out, "There's no doubt that the security's been increased, so getting into the mansion will be almost impossible."
Kirby sighed, palming his face, "I know... I know that I'm asking for a great deal from those kids...but...I just...need to remove that book from this world!"
=And Then=
"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Lucy asked.
"Well, it is the easiest way to gauge his character," Naruto sighed grudgingly, although he hated what was going on, "Just be sure not to let him do anything weird to you, alright?"
Lucy groaned. "This isn't gonna work..."
"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and get up there!" Natsu hissed from the bushes.
Lucy glared at him, but sighed, 'Oh, well, at least I got to see Naruto blushing over how I'm dressed,' she thought, blushing a bit herself. In the end, they had decided to go along with the duke's need for a blonde maid. And truth be told, Naruto was not sorry.
'Why did she have to pick out such a short skirt?' Naruto wondered, unable to take his eyes off of her as she advanced toward the mansion. 'I guess this is what I get for living on an island all my life.'
Lucy went up to the gate and pressed the buzzer, "Excuse me," she said sweetly, "I've come to apply for the blonde-haired maid position!" She waited patiently, but received no answer, "Excuse meee~! Is there anyone home?!" She called out, beginning to get nervous, 'Just stay calm. All I have to do is get in, get the book, and look for Naruto's sword, then get the hell outta this place.'
She looked back at the treeline where Naruto and Natsu were hiding. Both of them flashed her the thumbs-up sign, mouthing 'Good luck!' to her.
Lucy was about to call out again, but then the ground at her feet suddenly erupted as a giant humanoid figure lept out. "Hieek!" Lucy nearly screeched in fright as a giant of a woman landed.
The woman was at least ten feet tall, and almost as wide, dressed in a maid outfit, and had pink-scraggly hair, "You're a maid applicant?"
'H-huge!' Naruto and Natsu gawked at the woman.
The monster-maid looked back down into the hole she had made, "There's a girl here to apply for the maid position, Master," she called down.
Not a moment later, a man bounced right out, and Lucy nearly made a break for right there and then from the look on his face, "Boyoyoyooon! You called?!"
'Somebody help me...!' Lucy wailed internally. 'I knew this was a bad idea!' She shivered as Everlue began leering at her, bust first, going down to her hips and legs, 'Oh my god!'
"Rejected," he said, waving her off, "Go home, Ugly."
"Ug...ugly..." she teared up immediately, freezing in place as the large maid picked her up.
"That's it," she said, "Time to go home, Ugly."
"...ugly..."
~FWING~
Lucy was crying into her knees as she sat with her back against a tree, "He...he called me ugly...and when there was the huge gorilla right there!" She whined forlornly as Naruto tried to comfort her.
"Aw, come on!" The blond said cheerfully, "That guy wouldn't know a pretty girl if she came up an kicked him!" He said, gesturing wildly, not knowing how to deal with a crying girl, "I-I-I mean did you see those maids he had with him!? I may not believe there's such a thing as a truly ugly person on the outside, but those bitches were ugly on the inside, big time!"
"B-but I didn't even get a chance to get in!" Lucy wailed, "This was supposed to be an easy job!"
Natsu sighed, "Yeah, you were pretty useless."
"NATSU!" Naruto roared.
"WAAAH!" Lucy cried streams of tears from her eyes.
"Oh, great, now look what you've done!" Naruto growled, taking Natsu by the shoulder, "That was too far, now go and apologize!"
Natsu frowned, "I'm not talking about acting like a maid," he said, pointing at Lucy's right hand, "Lucy didn't cover up her Guild mark. Everlue must have seen that and figured out she was from a Guild," he pointed out, making the blondes flinch. "Now he knows that we're trying to get into the mansion, and we'll have to find a different way in."
Lucy paled, "Oh, my gosh, I can't believe I forgot to cover this!" She said, looking at the boys, "I'm so sorry, I should've known better!"
"No worries," Naruto grinned, cracking his knuckles, "Besides, that guy just screams 'Kick my ass'. And boy do I ever want to do that right now!"
Happy came flying in to their hiding spot, and perched on Naruto's head, "I did just like you said, Naruto," Happy said, "I checked all of the windows, and I found the library, but I didn't see anything like a sword, or any sort of weapon."
Naruto frowned, crossing his arms, "Well, at least we know where to start looking for the book," he said, "That's out top priority right there, but if that sword is here, then there's no way I'm leaving it with that fat duke. It's dangerous."
"It's a sword," Natsu said, "Of course it's dangerous."
Naruto shook his head, "You don't get it. Holy Swords are incredibly rare, and powerful artifacts from before the time of Zeref, and there was even one rumored to be created by him, but this one was one of the first. It can cut through anything the wielder wishes using their magical energy, and even when they run out, the sword itself is still lethal because the blade is sharp enough to cut through dragon scales. It can also transform into a spear, giving it a greater range. Plus it's said that whoever wields the blade has the power to make miracles happen."
Lucy was a little shocked, "How is something like that not in possession of the Magic Council?" She asked, "If it's so dangerous, then why hasn't it been found?"
Naruto shrugged, "I haven't got a clue, but I need to find it if this guy's as rotten as he feels," he said, and plucked Happy off of his head, "Okay, Happy, let's get up to the library, and get that book."
"Aye, Sir."
A few minutes later found the wizards plus cat landing on the balcony of the mansion. Natsu melted a hole through the glass door, and opened it up, "Why do we have to sneak in?"
"Because causing any sort of noise would make this job a lot harder," Naruto said as he landed next to Lucy, "Think about it, we get in, get out, and we get our money, simple. Besides, there's no telling if we'll run into trouble."
"I could use some trouble right about now," Natsu grumbled as they crept into the mansion, "Man, what's with all this junk?"
Lucy came through the window after him, "It must be a storage room of some kind," she said, looking back at Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, you think that sword would be in here?"
Naruto shook his head as he reached down and clutched at Caliburn, "No, it's not here. Holy Swords tend to call out to each other when they're near each other. Sort of like a territorial thing. They'll want to fight." He said, having a thought, and unsheathed the blade, "Why didn't I think of that before?"
"What?" Lucy and Natsu asked.
Naruto grinned, "I can use Caliburn as a dousing rod," he said, smiling widely, "Holy Swords do call to each other! It'll be like a couple of magnets if I do it like this!"
Lucy smiled at him, "Hey, that's a great idea...but won't we have to split up?" She said, frowning, "Are you sure you wanna do that?"
Naruto gave her a warm smile, and patted her on the head, an action that made her blush, "Hey, no need to worry, Lucy," he said, "You'll have Natsu and Happy around to keep you safe, and besides, I still have Caliburn and my Gate Keys if things go South."
"Just promise you'll be careful, okay?" Lucy pouted.
"Always," the blond said, gesturing toward the door, "Now, get going, Caliburn feels like it's drawing me down, which means I need to head lower, and the library is on this level."
The two wizards nodded and snuck into the hall ways. Naruto waited a few minutes before heading out himself, and heading down stairs. Following Caliburn's pull led him unerringly toward the lower reaches of the mansion. He kept hearing explosions up above and grinned, "Sounds like Natsu's having fun." He chuckled.
The hall way he was in was dusty and deserted, but the sword drew him deeper still to a door at the end of the hall, "Where are you taking me?" He wondered, and pushed the door open.
Meanwhile...
Lucy squeaked in pain as Everlue's grip tightened on her wrists. "I'm warning you, girl, tell me the secret of that book, or I'll break both of your arms one at a time!"
Lucy looked behind her, and stuck her tongue out at him, "You don't deserve to know it!"
"RAGH!" He roared, and pulled back on her arms, making her scream in pain, "I told you to to tell me, you little brat," Everlue roared angrily, "That book belongs to me, and therefore I have every right to know what secrets it holds! I'm the one that made Zaleon write it! GYAH!"
Lucy yelped as her arms were released and saw Happy giving the duke a flying drop kick to the head. She stumbled against the walls, her shoulder slamming into it. And the wall moved...
"What the -?!" Lucy, book still in hand, fell to the floor as the wall turned, revealing a revolving door.
"Lucy!" Happy yelled, flying after her.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The duke roared. "Get out of that room immediately!"
Lucy looked up, and found herself staring at...a spear...a dark, dust-covered spear. "Th-that's got to be Durandal!"
She scrambled to her feet and lunged for it.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Everlue lunged under the ground, trying to cut her off, but the girl was already reaching out to grasp the blade. Her hands closed around it, and a smile came to her face.
"I got it!" Lucy crowed, hefting the spear as Everlue came up, "Now you're in for it! This happens to be a Holy weapon called Durandal!"
Everlue looked as frightened as he did shocked, "Y-you think that's a Holy Sword?! You idiot!" The man yelled, pointing at the blade as the dust began to lift from it, "That's no Holy Sword, that's the curse spear, Gae Bolg!"
"Huh?" The girl looked at the spear as a eerie red glow shone from the shaft, "Wha-what's going on...I feel...cold..." Lucy trembled as her eyes began to dull, and she dropped the book. The spear shone brighter as a golden armor started to form around Lucy's body. "Heh...hehe..." Happy shivered as Lucy began to laugh, and a manic smile appeared on her face as she straightened. "You..." she pointed the tip of the crimson spear at the duke, "I'll have your heart!"
Everlue shrieked and fled from the room. Happy watched as Lucy rushed the wall, and slammed into it with tremendous strength, shattering the stone. Everlue dove under ground to escape her.
"There's no where to run," Lucy's eyes glowed as red as blood, "There's no where to hide." She thrust the spear point into the ground, shattering the walkway beneath her, and causing Everlue to come out of hiding.
"Open, Gate of the Maiden!" Everlue yelled out. "Virgo!"
The ground tore open as the large pink-haired maid from before appeared. "You summoned me, Master?" She said, unknowingly bringing a passenger with her.
"Natsu!" Happy cried happily(No pun intended).
Natsu looked around in confusion, "What the -?! How the hell did I get here!?"
"Never mind that!" Happy yelled, flying up next to him, and pointed with his paws, "Ya gotta stop Lucy!"
The pink-haired Dragon Slayer jumped down from Virgo's back to stand in front of the girl, "What the heck's up with that outfit, Lucy?" He asked, not seeing the danger, "And where the hell did you get that spear?"
Lucy's smile grew, "A Dragon Slayer," she smiled, her eyes narrowing, "Perfect...it's been such a long time since I've been able to fight someone worthy."
"What are you -WHOA!" Natsu yelped as she lunged at him with the spear, "What the hell're you doin'!?"
Happy zoomed in and smacked the surprised girl in the face with his tail, "Natsu, she's possessed! That spear's the one doing it!"
Everlue shot the cat a look, "Your pet's right, Salamander!" The duke said, "As long as that spear's in her hands, she'll attack and kill anyone in her path!"
Lucy twirled the spear in her hands, "Not true...I'll keep some of you alive just to see you suffer," she giggled, aiming her spear at the two men, "Now then, which one of you wants to die first?"
=x=
Naruto pushed against a section of the wall, giving it a good, hard shove, opening up another door. Caliburn's pull was at its strongest now, and he had no doubt what was behind the door. As he entered the room, a smile came to his face as he replaced Caliburn in its sheath and he saw the sword sitting in a pedestal. The dust and cob webs barely hid the blackened hue of the deadly blade as he advanced.
"Finally," he said as his hand closed around the hilt, "You're mine!"
Cliff hanger alert! Lucy's accidentally grabbed a cursed weapon, and is on the war path, while Naruto has taken hold of his prize!
It's Gungir Vs. Durandal in the next chapter!
Please review!