Continuing with the story, here it is.
The sun was just rising over the horizon; the sky was clear and the birds were singing their morning songs. It was a beautiful beginning to start the day.
"Why is it so hot?" Lucy was sleeping peacefully in her bed; she was, until something had woken her up. She didn't want to open her eyes, last night was a rough night and she wanted to sleep in today. She, Natsu and Happy went on a mission to play as bait for a client that was looking for her cheating fiancé. Natsu would play as the woman's second lover and Lucy would be the bait to bring him in. Happy had to be the scout and find the guy first.
The whole ordeal was exhausting, and Lucy wanted a little R and R before she had to go for another job. She still needed 2000 jewel before the end of the week in three days, the last thing she needed was an unwelcomed awakening.
Her conscious coming to, she realized that someone had an arm wrapped around her waist holding her. Peering over her shoulder she saw a head resting against her neck with a familiar pink hair color. No wonder it was so hot, there was another source of body heat under her blankets.
"Not again." She said in a bit of a defeated tone. Natsu does this every morning, although she constantly told him not to, she was already getting used to the unwelcomed company. She was too tired to deal with this so early, she wanted to sleep but now she was wide awake with no hope of falling back into her serene slumber.
She didn't bother waking him up, she unwrapped his arm from her waist and slipped out of the covers. Had anyone been there, they would think she and Natsu were a thing. But no, she didn't see Natsu as anything more than a brother, and she would let him sleep as long as he wanted. Of course because of that, she couldn't wear her new black nightgown.
"Maybe I should start locking my window before I go to sleep." She said to herself as she made her way to her bathroom. Taking a quick shower, Lucy changed into a blue T with a small black bolero. She decided to wear black jogging shorts instead of her usual skirt, though not as revealing, it defined her assets significantly well.
Walking out, Natsu was still sound asleep, after deciding not to wake him and Happy, Lucy made her way to the hall.
Mira was at the bar like usual and Gajeel was sitting at the counter eating a pile of metal with a side plate of steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, grilled fish and honey smoked ham.
"Good morning Mira, hey Gajeel, hey Pantherlily." Lucy greeted in her cheerful tone. Being so early in the morning, there weren't many people there besides Makarov, Freed, Bickslow, Cana, and Laxus. "Hey Gajeel, do you know when Levy will be here?"
-hurk..- -cough- "How should I know? Not like I keep tabs on her or anything." The question caught him off guard and as a result, his food almost went down the wrong hole. He recovered quickly though before Pantherlily spoke, "She should be here in a good two hours or so, that's when I notice her arrival."
"Thank you Pantherlily." She gave her sweet smile before taking a seat next to the cat and dragon slayer.
"Is there something you need from her?" Mira asked curious.
"I wanted to ask for her help on a mission."
This caught their attention. "What's wrong with going with Natsu and Happy?" Mira asked, placing a mug under the counter.
"Yeah," agreed Gajeel "Salamander giving you a hard time or what?"
Knowing where this was going, "No, nothing like that. I wanted to bring her along more for company; there was something I wanted to speak with her about and I need to get the rest of my rent money before tomorrow. And the last thing I need is Natsu destroying everything, again."
"Oh." Mira went back to normal routine setting the dishes with her usual smile. Gajeel didn't ask anything further, it was Pantherlily that became more interested. "May I ask to tag along with you then?"
Catching both Gajeel and Lucy off, Lucy was hesitant with her answer. "Uh, sure. I don't really see why not."
"If you're going then I'll tag along too." Gajeel had finished his breakfast and had gotten up, walking out the front doors.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going to get my stuff ready for when we leave."
And like that Lucy was left at the bar with the small cat. Turning to him she asks, "Why do you want to come with me?"
"I'm curious to know what you and Levy will be talking about. If it's what I think it is I want to have my input."
"Wow that was rather blunt."
"Gajeel won't be interested in what you plan to do but he'll be more than happy to help you in the mission."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Giving her order to Mira Lucy was enjoying her strawberry milk shake that Mira gave to her on the house.
"Have you decided on a mission yet?" The cat asked as Lucy handed him one of three strawberries atop the shake.
"No, not yet." Eating one herself.
"Would you mind if I chose a mission?"
"Sure, but can I ask why?"
"I've had my eye on one for a while and I do believe that it will be an easy mission with the four of us." Mira had given Pantherlily a small glass of kiwi juice with a tiny blue umbrella, looking at him drink it would make any girl gush at how cute he was.
"How much does it pay?"
"20000."
"Great! With that I can pay off my rent and have a little over to buy a few groceries." Lucy beamed, finishing her shake just as her breakfast was placed in front of her. "Thank you Mira."
"Glad you agree; I'll go get the flyer then." With that, the black exceed flew off the mission board.
As Lucy enjoyed her meal the guild hall slowly started to fill. Pantherlily had Mira approve the flyer for their mission, now all that was left was to wait for Levy. Jet and Droy were here, and Gajeel had already returned with a bag ready to go.
"Where's Pantherlily?" Gajeel asked as he took the seat next to the Celestial Mage.
"I don't know, he was here a minute ago."
Just as both were scanning the room, the door opened and through it the petite Script Mage.
"Levy!" Lucy jumped from her seat and met Levy with a big embrace and a warm smile. "Hey Lu-chan." The two girls had a very warm aura about them, and it spread to everyone in the vicinity.
"Hey, Levy. Can I ask for your help?" Lucy asked with wide hopeful eyes.
"Of course! What do you need?" Levy had her usual warm smile, she was more than happy to help with anything her friend needed.
"I need you to come on a mission with me and I also wanted to talk about something with you." Though she was happy, Lucy couldn't help the hint of pink that graced her face. It didn't go unnoticed.
"Is it about a certain tall, muscular wizard here in the hall?" there was a mischievous glint in her eye as the pink turned crimson.
"SSHH! Don't speak so loud about that!" Lucy spoke in a rather loud whisper, trying to keep her friend quiet. "And yes it is about "that," I want to talk to you, away from all the distractions."
"No problem. Are you falling a little behind on your rent again?"
"I just need 2000 more jewels and I'll be good to go, but I need it by tomorrow."
Both girls made their way to the bar, taking seats next to the Metal Dragon Slayer.
"So what mission are we going on?" said slayer asked.
"Well, actually, Pantherlily picked the mission."
"Where the heck is that cat then?"
Just as all three were going to get up, "Here I am." The little black exceed landed right in front of them.
"There you are." Lucy said with a sigh. "Where did you disappear to?"
"I made a call to the train station; we should get going if we're to be back tomorrow."
"Alright then let's go."
The four Fairy Tail members left to Lucy's apartment first, Natsu was no longer sleeping in her bed so she was able to gather clothes in a pack and leave in less than 5 minutes. Next was Levy's place, she lived a little further from the guild hall but closer to the station; it didn't take her long to gather her items either before heading off.
"Hmm, I assumed we would kill more time before coming here." Pantherlily claimed as he walked beside his enormous partner. "I didn't expect you two to be so quick in gathering your items, no offense of course."
"Oh don't worry about it," Levy waved it off with a smile.
"Yeah, usually it would have taken longer, but we don't have any distractions this time." Agreed Lucy.
"That's good. At least we know we won't be late for the train." Gajeel said with a huff.
"Yes that is a good thing, but now we have to wait."
"Then let's get our tickets and wait on the train." As Lucy was about to walk from the group, she was interrupted.
"That won't be necessary Blondie."
All four looked to see the tall mage that had spoken, and only three of them were surprised to see who it was.
"L-Laxus?!" the young Celestial Mage couldn't help the tint that was creeping its way onto her face.
"I already got the tickets, so let's go."
The small group followed the Lighting Mage into their travel cart, Levy was trying to hold back her giggling, Gajeel was only wondering what she thought was so funny, and Lucy was keeping her head down trying to hide her burning red face.
Putting their bags up into the storage spaces above their seats, Gajeel helping both Lucy and Levy, everyone sat and waited for the train to start moving.
"Mind telling me what you're doing here?" Gajeel asked, sitting across from Laxus with his arms crossed.
"What do you mean? Your cat asked for me to tag along, said you were short a person for your mission." Laxus answered in an irritated and confused tone.
"Short? I thought we were fine." Lucy stated as everyone looked to said cat sitting on the little pull-out table by the window.
"Sorry, allow me to explain," he said clearing his voice.
"And while you're at it, explain what this mission is that you assigned us on." Gajeel said in the same irritated tone as Laxus.
"Yes, well let me get to that."
He waited for both men to calm down; the girls were sitting quietly as they waited for Pantherlily to clarify.
"The mission is a request from a young lord in Oshibana. He asked for two young beautiful wizards to pose as duchesses; that's where you two girls come in." He said looking at both Lucy and Levy. "Both of you can play the role with ease. He states that there have been several attacks as he is nearing his ceremony to choose a wife. You will be there to guard him during the ordeal as you blend in with the titles that will be arriving."
"That's all well and good but what do we have to do with this?" questioned Laxus, Gajeel was thinking the same thing in fact.
"You two are going to be the girls' escorts. Having two royal women show up without body guards is unheard of and will draw suspicion. This will give the young lord double the protection, but you must remember that you need to keep a low profile. Do not draw any unwanted attention to yourselves." He warned in a remarkably serious voice that rivaled Makarov. "The ceremony will take place tonight and guests won't start arriving until then. This gives us plenty of time to prep and go over the details with him when we get there."
"Alright, makes sense." Lucy was a little uncomfortable with the idea of going back into the role she was brought up to play. That was what she had been taught growing up, though she could understand why she would be a good candidate, she was reluctant to go back to that life style.
"Good thing it's just for one night." Levy smiled at Lucy, she saw the distraught in her friend's eyes and wanted to cheer her up.
"Yeah." Lucy said with the same good cheer as the bluenette, 'That's right, just one night. What could be so wrong with that?'
Her mood wasn't just seen by Levy, however. Both men noticed the blondes mood shift, though one was more curious than the other.
-grumble-
"…" The attention shifted from Lucy to Levy as her face grew red from her stomach calling for her to eat.
"In the heat of the moment, I must have forgotten to eat breakfast." She said scratching the back of her head embarrassed. "Come on Gajeel. Come with me to the food cart." Not giving the raven head time to object, she grabbed his arm and led him out of their cabin with Pantherlily following close behind.
This left the two blonde mages alone.
Being afraid she would embarrass herself with small talk, Lucy sat quietly with her hands on her lap and her face looking down and away from the man across from her.
"Mind telling me what's up?"
The sudden sound made the girl jump, forgetting her embarrassment; she looked at Laxus with a mildly confused expression. "Huh?"
"Don't think I didn't notice the shift, what's your deal with me going on this mission?" There wasn't any beating around the bush, his question was direct and he wanted an answer. The only problem was that she didn't have a problem with him being there.
'Did he just say he saw me get nervous when I saw him? No, I'm sure he did but let's see if I can avoid this topic.' "I think you're confused," she said skeptical, "I don't have a problem with you being here, it's the mission itself that I'm reluctant about." She said looking away.
'Nice going Laxus, could you sound less conceded?' "Then you can explain." He regained his composure after he mentally kicked himself. "Why don't you like this mission, not only that, why did you agree to it?"
"Honestly I didn't know what the mission was, Pantherlily picked it after he asked if he could come with me and Levy, and naturally Gajeel came because of him. I assumed that it would be just them and myself, I didn't know that you were coming along, you were a surprise." Trying as she could, she didn't fully stop the tint that came across her cheeks.
"So originally it was just going to be you and the other girl?"
"Yup, I was just going to pick a simple mission. I invited Levy for company."
"What's wrong with going with Natsu?"
"Considering that every mission he goes on, something ends up being destroyed, yeah no thank you."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
The air between them was quiet and it was growing awkward by the second.
"We're back!" Levy shouted with a grin as she and Gajeel came in with three trays, each full; two full of snacks and drinks, and the other with Levy's breakfast.
"I thought it would be rude to eat in front of you guys so I decided on getting a few snacks for our trip." The girl beamed with pure joy as she sat next to Lucy, handing her a strawberry and banana smoothie.
"Thanks Levy!"
Both girls began chatting back and forth about what was going on in each-others' individual groups. The guys were silently sitting beside one another, both with their arms crossed across their chest, and looking at the pile of sweets in front of them.
'Could she have brought anything with less sugar?' Gajeel thought to himself.
'Sheesh, just looking at them gives me a tooth ache.' Laxus couldn't help the slightly horrified look in his eyes.
There were cakes, pastries, brownies, Jell-O, yogurts and a pile of different cookies. All of which ranged from vanilla to chocolate, to strawberry and kiwi, and whatever other sweet taste a person could think of.
"Do you guys want to try some?"
Both men were pulled out of their thought and looked at the girls across from them. The girls were each holding out a dessert to the guys with a wide smile spread across their faces; Levy holding out chocolate fudge melt down with vanilla ice cream to Gajeel, and Lucy holding out a strawberry cheese cake with glazed slices of kiwi, strawberry, and black berries on top.
"Uhh…" both were unsure what to do, the items looked beyond packed with sugar for human consumption, but they didn't want to hurt the girls' feelings either.
Taking a quick glance at one another, both took the plates that were offered to them. Taking a spoon and fork full, rich fruity and chocolate flavors filled the men's mouths, the desserts sat in their mouths for a while before they forced it down their throats.
"T-that was really sweet…" Laxus said handing the plate back to Lucy.
"I think I'll stick with my metal diet…" Gajeel stated, handing the plate back to Levy.
"You didn't like it?" Levy was trying to stop the disappointed look spreading on her face but to no avail. She stared at the Dragon Slayer with big round puppy dog eyes and a small pout. That face would have made any man melt at her feet, but Gajeel wouldn't be so easy.
"That stuff is just too rich for my taste, less sugar and I'll be good."
"Oh…" the answer didn't make her sad, she knew that people have different flavors they like, and Gajeel was no different. "Ok then."
The rest of the train ride was a peaceful one. Levy and Lucy talked most of the trip, but it wasn't anything to be annoyed with. Talking mostly about Lucy's book, Levy would try sneaking in a few topics about Lucy's interests. Not going unnoticed, but not questioning it, the guys stayed quiet most of the trip. Somehow through the trip, though, Levy ended up beside Gajeel and Lucy beside Laxus. All the talking must have worn them out because both girls had passed out against their polar opposites.
"At least it's quiet." Gajeel stated with a sigh.
"Yeah, but what are we going to do about them?" Laxus asked pointing to the girls.
"Let 'em sleep. We still have half an hour before we reach our stop."
"Yeah, ok."
There was nothing for the two to talk about, nothing that interested them at least. But during a turn, both girls slipped, falling in the laps of the men much to their surprise. Afraid of the girls waking up and yelling at them for their position, the two held their breath and waited.
Levy shifted, using Gajeel's lap as a pillow, she pulled herself closer and wrapped her arms around him as if he were a giant teddy bear.
Lucy made herself more comfortable as well. Tucking herself in between Laxus's legs, this making the mage shift himself so not to wake her, she used his lap as a pillow and draped an arm around his waist.
The men couldn't keep the intense blush to spread across their face, and both were trying desperately to control themselves.
When the girls shifted, they were unintentionally rubbing against their regions. Making this more difficult; Gajeel could feel Levy's hot breath on his pants, and Laxus was trying to ignore the fact that Lucy was rubbing her chest against him every time she breathed and the train rocked.
"Attention passengers, next stop is Oshibana. Please gather your items and hope you have a nice day."
'Thank you Mavis.' Laxus thought, still trying to calm down.
"Finally!" Gajeel said in a quiet whisper, not looking to wake the girls up like this.
Just as the two placed a hand to remove the females from their "areas,"
-click- -click-
"Huh?" both guys looked up to see Pantherlily holding a camera, sporting an annoyingly mischievous smile.
And all at once, before anyone could think anything through logically; the trained roughly slowed, Laxus and Gajeel abruptly stood up, and the girls were thrown on the floor. Panic clear in their eyes, thinking quickly, both grabbed the bags and bolted before Levy and Lucy could wake up.
"Ugh…ow…"
"My…head…"
Getting up from the floor, the girls looked at each other confused and disoriented.
"Did we stop?" Lucy asked, rubbing the now bump on her head.
"I guess so," Levy looked around as her vision was coming clear, "looks like the guys already took our stuff. We should go meet up with them before we're stuck here."
"Good idea."
Stepping off the train, the girls were confused to what they were seeing.
"Get back here you stupid cat!"
"What the hell, Pantherlily?!"
Gajeel and Laxus were running around, jumping, trying to catch the black exceed.
"Uh, what are you guys doing?"
Coming to a sudden stop, all three looked at the girls. Laxus and Gajeel couldn't stop the deep blush from their cheeks.
"If you guys are done fooling around, can we get going?" Lucy asked as she and Levy started laughing at them.
The town was very busy; people were running every which way, bumping into each other, and still laughing. No one was getting upset in the least.
"Do you think is because of the Lord's ceremony?" Asked Levy, looking around at all the disorder with the others.
"Could be. In which case we should get going."
The household was like any other rich person's home; a mansion. Walking to the gate, people were running in and out, each wearing uniforms. The guards looked really big and strong, wearing magical armor themselves; the top is a one piece that covered down to the waist, the chest and shoulder guards had an engraved symbol that shined from the magic, onyx in color, the fabric under was a dark blue with a faded light blue outline. They didn't wear armored leggings, just a pair of baggy pants similar to Bickslow's, and a bevor which only covered the mouth, chin and neck, leaving the top half of their face revealed. Looking closer, everyone that was going in and out had a magic seal that allowed them to enter the gates. The armor that the guards wore created a barrier around the mansion.
"Guess they weren't joking about the attacks, huh." Laxus said, looking around and catching the eye of one of the guards.
"You, there! State your business or leave the premises at once!"
"Take it easy, we're here to speak with your lord."
"What?!" Not liking Laxus's tone, this made the guard rather upset.
Knowing full well where this will lead, Lucy stepped in.
"Enough!" Her tone was steady and strong, similar to that of a commanding officer or a royal. This caught the guard by surprise. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, this is my party. We are here on behalf of your lord, answering his request for tonight's event."
The guard wasn't the only one shocked; Laxus, Levy, and Gajeel were sporting a dumbfounded look of their own.
"Our Lord sent a request to only one guild," the guard stated with question, "tell me, to which are you from?"
"Fairy Tail!" All five boomed with pride as they spoke the name of their home, Lucy raising her hand to show her mark.
Still a bit skeptic, the guard called over a young male with dark forest green hair. They spoke for a bit, glancing at the group, before he ran inside. Not a moment later, a tall slender man wearing a black tuxedo walked to the gate, waving the wizards over.
As they walked forward, the two guards were taller than they originally appeared, towering over Lucy and Levy with ease. Gajeel and Laxus barely coming up to their eyes, minus their hair, they stayed in a brief glare off with the men.
"My apologies, we assumed that you would not appear until tonight." The tall man claimed. "I am Frederick, the head butler of the vicinity. Please follow me inside."
Before they could take a step, the guards drew their swords, sending Laxus and Gajeel in a fighting stance. Before Levy and Lucy could react as fast, the swords taped each in the middle of their chest, temporarily making them glow before the light faded.
"What the hell did you do?!" Gajeel roared, both coming to the side of the girls.
"Do not fear. It is merely a key spell. It allows you to enter and exit the main gates without harming your person."
This didn't keep their anger back, but they let the same to happen to them before proceeding inside.
And that is where I leave off for now, so let me know what you think. R&R