Hey guys! Kytrin again! Not much to say in this A/N really. Mslead is firmly on her vacation and hopefully enjoying herself some. I also wanna say thanks to everyone who wished me well. I'm happy to report that I AM feeling better now. Not perfect, but hey, I'll take better over the miserable of the past week any day. That said... enjoy your chapter! :)

THIS FIC UPDATES ONCE EVERY THREE DAYS: Post, Break, Break, Post!


-ACT 2-

CHAPTER 19

Mermaid

Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.


Lucy breathed in relief as they emerged from the forest and into the area immediately around Harjeon. The days following their escape from that first village had been harrowing to say the least.

Not only did they have to deal with the usual monsters and problems with being on the road, but it seemed someone had reported them to the magic council because now they were having to dodge patrols looking for them. Because of that they'd stuck to camping since then, but now the end was in sight.

"You're looking awfully cheerful Lucy." Levy commented as Lucy enjoyed the sea breeze.

"Yeah." Lucy sighed dreamily, "It's nice to be out of those trees."

"That ain't gonna help us much." Gajeel grunted, "Harjeon's got Rune Knights stationed here too, an' a branch of the council."

He shot her a look, "They're gonna be lookin' for us you know."

Lucy sighed, "I know, but we don't have much of a choice do we? You said our destination is across the water right? This is the nearest port town we're likely to find."

Natsu, for his part, wasn't listening to their byplay as he barely managed to keep himself by Lucy's side. The sting of the salt air and the new sights and sounds filled his senses in a way nothing he'd encountered before had.

His eyes were wild with excitement and he made soft noises through his nose. Slow, his mouth dropped open and his eyes seemed to haze over.

"It's so nice," He said dreamily, taking a few daring steps towards the town.

Lucy belatedly realized he was so excited about the ocean. He had never seen it before and that seemed like it was the instigating force behind his sudden excitement.

"Hey relax," Lucy grinned at him, "We'll get to the ocean soon and you'll be able to do all the scuba diving you want."

"Really?" Natsu asked with a silly smile. He had no idea what scuba diving was, but this seemed like a fun thing to do.

Lucy grinned back at him, her earlier good mood returning with his smile, "Yeah." She replied, "I'll even show you how."

She glanced at Gajeel, "So how long of a trip are we looking at here?"

She doubted it would be a short boat ride given the nauseated look on the dragonslayer's face, but she wished he would stop being so close mouthed about the details. She got that the dragons were reclusive, and pissed off at most of humanity, but this was starting to border on the ridiculous in her mind.

If something happened to Gajeel they'd be in trouble.

"Too damn long." He grumbled only to yelp with pain when a block of iron dropped on his head, "What's the big idea shrimp?"

"You're being rude!" Levy scolded, "Lucy's question was reasonable, and all you're doing is growling at her!"

Lucy flashed Levy a smile, ignoring Natsu's cackling beside her, "Thanks Levy."

"Oh don't worry about him." Levy smiled back, "He just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today because he knows he has to deal with transportation. Now, let me apply that charm to Natsu's tattoos okay?"

Lucy's smile widened as Natsu happily trotted over to Levy. After some experimentation they'd discovered that Natsu's tattoos could be covered by the same magic that had hidden Levy's guild mark while she was undercover. It helped a lot in disguising him. As long as he covered his ears and avoided smiling with his teeth he passed easily for human.

Dragonslayers seemed to run into the same problem as demons did. As there were so few of them they were often confused for demons.

Still Natsu was all wide grins and excitement, so that didn't leave them in the best of shape, but at least it was better than nothing. They were able to venture into Hargeon virtually unmolested thanks to those charms and she couldn't help but smile as Natsu zipped around the stalls with an excitement that could only be described as childish.

When they got to the port, she was treated to the sight of him running up to the edge of a dock and dipping his fingers into the water. A look of complete bliss crossed his face as he sighed in joy, his eyes flashing up to Lucy. That bright smile was unstoppable and he grinned at Lucy in a way that almost made her breath catch.

There was something about the way his body was curved over itself, the bright sun pooling over his shoulders and arms. It glittered off his rosy hair, illuminating everything about him.

She wondered how a demon could be so bright.

It was beautiful to behold. As if Natsu was a little sun unto himself, or an ancient sun god. The thought had Lucy's cheeks heating up, but despite that she couldn't help smiling back at him. He was simply too happy for her to do anything else.

She wondered if he realized it.

Probably not. But that was alright. It was enough that he was and she got to share the moment with him.

"Lucy!" Levy called, waving her hand a little, "Natsu! We found the boat!"

Lucy looked up to where Levy was smiling and waving nearby, and waved back before trotting over to join them, "This is it huh?"

"Yep!" Levy replied proudly, and gestured to the smiling pair beside her, "This is Lyon and Chelia."

"A surprising pleasure Miss Heartfilia." Lyon replied with a slight bow and dropped a kiss on Lucy's hand, "Your reputation precedes you, and I never expected to meet you under such amenable circumstances."

Lucy blinked in confusion and looked at Levy questioningly.

"They're from the Lamia Scale guild." Levy explained, "Chelia is a air manipulator and has agreed to help ferry us across the water in one of their boats."

"But... how did you know?" Lucy asked in confusion, "We've been mostly in the wilderness."

"Erza spread the word throughout the guilds about your mission." Lyon explained, "She asked us to keep an eye out for your team and offer whatever assistance we could. We were alerted you'd crossed into Harjeon not long after you passed through the gates."

Natsu's eyes zeroed in on the motion of Lucy's hand in Lucy's and the way he had lifted it up to his lips. His head cocked at that, not having seen an action like that before.

He wasn't particularly interested in whatever they were saying, but his attention was rather captured by the action. Lucy hadn't protested it, and Natsu circled around them curiously.

"Uh, what is he doing?" Lyon asked after a long moment of awkwardly tolerating his fascinated pacing.

"He does that sometimes," Lucy said as way of explanation before calmly steering the conversation back on course.

"We'll gratefully accept any help you can offer us if you're willing," Lucy gave him a diplomatic smile. A new guild, one that was allies with Fairy Tail. Her old prejudice of guilds made it hard for her to automatically trust Lamia Scale, but it was significantly easier when they had Fairy Tail's backing.

Lucy was proud of the progress she had begun to make.

"So then lets get started! I wanna get on a boat!" Natsu said with an eagerness that almost made him float off the ground.

Lucy rolled her eyes and laughed, "Okay Natsu. We're almost done." She flashed Lyon another smile and climbed aboard with Levy, "Thanks..." She started when Natsu zoomed past Lyon to bounce onto the vessel, "Uhm, as I was saying, I really appreciate it..."

"This is so cool!" Natsu exclaimed, interrupting again, as he inspected every aspect of their new mode of transportation. At least until it rocked under his shifting weight.

At the first creak of motion Natsu froze, a look of confusion on his face, and abruptly sat down.

Lucy shrugged the odd motion off and finished thanking Lyon as Chelia and finally Gajeel joined them. Gajeel, in stark contrast to Natsu, did not run around or anything. Instead, he growled darkly and dropped sulkily down on one side and made himself comfortable.

Lucy hid a sympathetic wince at the look on his face. Clearly he was feeling the motion sickness already, and she felt kind of bad for him. She didn't have it, so she could only guess what it was like, but he looked miserable already.

"Better be worth it." He muttered crossly while she and Levy shared a look.

"Alright!" Chelia grinned, "I'm going to make this as smooth and fast as I can!"

Lucy blinked and barely had time to grab the side as a powerful gust launched them into motion.

The instant that windrift hit, all the color drained out of Natsu's face. He clapped his hands over his mouth, an expression of horrified confusion flashing over his face for the briefest of seconds before he launched himself for the side of the boat.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out, barely managing to avoid his sudden lunge. His body seemed to bunch up into a knot as his shoulders trembled. Violently he emptied to contents of his stomach, hacking and whimpering as he threw up for the very first time.

Somewhat alarmed, Lucy pressed her hand against the back of his suddenly sweaty neck, her fingers sliding under his bangs.

"Oh you're burning up!" Lucy gasped at the feverish and ill pallor he suddenly had, "How did you get sick so fast?"

"Looks like I'm not the only one who gets motion sick," Gajeel grumbled weakly, curling up on his side.

"Demons can get motion sick?" Levy asked in astonishment, and Lucy shrugged, "Apparently so."

She pulled her canteen from her pack and settled down next to where Natsu had draped himself over the edge in case he threw up again and started rubbing his back, "Here." She offered him the canteen, "Use this to rinse your mouth and drink what you can. It'll help a little."

She looked over at Levy, "We'll have to see if we can find some medicine for this once we get to our destination. It may help."

Levy nodded, and shifted over to where Gajeel was to offer him the same treatment. She was a little ashamed that it had never occurred to her to try and ease Gajeel's misery like Lucy had so easily. Sure, he might growl at her to go away, but she could offer.

"How d'you know it'll help?" Gajeel wheezed grumpily, and Lucy stared at him in confusion until he held up his own canteen.

"My mom sometimes got motion sickness when I was little." Lucy explained, "The medicine didn't work on her and she didn't take to windy mountain roads very well when they had to travel. So dad always made sure he had extra water for her to drink and rubbed her back when she was sick." She shrugged, "I just picked it up after a while."

Natsu burbled a noise that Lucy thought might be an incoherent "Thank you", and smiled as she continued her ministrations.

He managed to sag himself off the edge of the boat. It was still very cramped as the boat was little more than a dinghy barely large enough to house all of them.

So when Natsu sprawled out, Lucy was forced to shift in her seat to position his head on her lap. He breathed shallowly against her leg, but opened up his eyes enough to fixate on her.

"I hear you can make motion sickness better if you look at one spot. Like the horizon," Levy murmured to Gajeel.

It seemed Natsu was picking up on that, because even as he turned his head so his nose pressed against the inside of Lucy's thigh, his lidded gaze lifted to hers.

His dark eyes watched her as he panted softly against her inner thigh. Lucy couldn't help but feel a somewhat electric charge breeze through her at the feel of his open mouth so close to such a sensitive area. Her heart picked up several beats as she tried to ignore it.

It wasn't like Natsu was trying to be seductive or anything. She doubted he even knew the meaning of the term. Unfortunately, that knowledge didn't stop it from affecting her, so she cast her mind around for something else for them to focus on.

"So what's this island like?" She asked curiously, "I've never heard of Tenrou Island before."

"Ain't on the map." Gajeel grunted painfully, his head also having wound up on Levy's lap, "Long time ago fairies settled there an' the magic keeps most folk from findin' it."

"There are actual fairies there?" Lucy asked in astonishment, "But I thought they were myth!"

Gajeel shrugged, "Dunno. Never saw one, but that don't mean anything. It's got powerful magic there though. That was one of the reason's my old man chose the place to nest." He smirked wanly, "Works out pretty good. Dragons protect the island an' nearby waters, island protects the dragons."

"That does sound like a good arrangement." Levy agreed, a distinct blush on her face as Gajeel settled closer, "How many dragons are in your nest Gajeel?"

Gajeel, however, didn't answer as a particularly violent swell had him leaning over the side of the boat again.

Chelia grunted the winds suddenly started spinning in a way that made the boat pitch terribly. Natsu squeaked and gripped Lucy's hips before he too hauled himself back to the side.

"I hate to break up this conversation! But the love you all have been sharing is about to be crashed!" Chelia's voice pitched a bit on the shrill side, "We've attracted some unwanted attention!"

"What?" Levy cried, leaning over the edge, which nearly caused Gajeel to tip entirely out of the boat, "From whom? The council has ships in Hargeon, but nothing large enough to cause swells like these!"

Chelia grunted as their boat nearily flipped, and slowly, a large cube-like shape emerged down from above the clouds.

"That's because it's not the council," Lucy breathed in horror, "It's Tartarus."

This time when they looked at one another in horror, it wasn't because of vomiting, but the very real threat that was descending down near them.

"I don't think we've been spotted yet!" Chelia struggled with her winds as the large ship continued to disrupt the air currents, "But we have to get out of their sight fast!"

"We're in a boat in the middle of the sea," Gajeel moaned, "I'm up for suggestions."

"It's getting dark so we'll be harder to see." Lucy replied, "Levy, do you think you can create some mist for us?"

Levy bit her lip, "I can, but not enough to keep us covered until we get to Tenrou. We'll need to find someplace closer to hide until they've left."

"Chelia, are there any islands closer to us?" Lucy asked worriedly even as she tried to mentally review her geography lessons.

"No..." Chelia started and then gasped, "No, wait, there is! The cursed island of Galuna. No one who has ever gone there has come back though."

"I think given the choice between a cursed island and Tartarus I'll take the island." Lucy replied grimly, "How far is it?"

"Not too far if I change course immediately, but we'll be cutting it close."

"Then let's hope that Levy's mist holds that long or Tartarus can't see in the dark."

Chelia nodded grimly and switched the wind direction to take them to their new destination. Lucy just hoped that whatever the curse was it really was something they could deal with better than Tartarus.

She hoped even more that Tartarus didn't find them in the process.

And for a while their plan seemed to work fine. Lucy's plan held as well as Levy's mist, but eventually, there was no accounting for Chelia's wind eventually blowing a little too hard in one direction.

It was just for a moment, but in such events a moment was all one typically needed.

But in the second Chelia's wind gusted by them, Levy's mist shifted away from the hull of their ship by a foot.

Lucy didn't even have the time to shout out a warning as what looked like a laser reigned death from above.

The beam of light slammed into the ocean, causing a massive tidal wave to rise around them in a wall over fifteen feet high.

The two men let out twin groans as they tried to hang onto the contents of their stomach, while the girls held onto whatever they could grab. The wave smashed into the boat, obliterating it and sending all of the mages under the water.


SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED SO FAR! I'm gonna forego the names again. Mostly because I'm still running slowly, and need to get ready for work. However, you guys are all loved very much for your encouraging words and thoughts. So thank you! You guys got more than enough reviews to equal a preview so enjoy your reward! :)


30 REVIEWS EQUALS A SNEAK PEEK!

Natsu grinned a little and started gently running his hands over her, no doubt searching for injuries as well as drying her off and dusting the sand away. She just wished he wasn't doing it so...sensually.

Seriously. It was probably one of the most intimate caresses she'd ever felt and romance had nothing to do with it!

And why was she noticing Natsu and his warm hands all of a sudden anyway?

Natsu's hands stilled when she sucked in a sharp breath when his fingertips probed a tender area on her side. There was a hooded sort of expression on his face when she looked up at him. It was one she couldn't explain.

"Uh, sorry," Natsu murmured, shifting his weight a bit. His brows furrowed, as if there was something bothering him, but he seemed to shrug it off.

Slowly he dragged his hands along her sides, this time intentionally moving so slowly so not to aggravate an injury.

"It's okay," Lucy managed to stutter out around a breath, a little confused over why she was acting the way she was.