Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)

Author's Note: I want to apologize for this taking so long. Life got in the way and I've been periodically working on a part for this chapter specifically because it kind of explores more of a plot than I had originally intended for this. So... I apologize again. And we probably won't see Lucy for quite some time as I need to develop a few things with the group first, not to mention plan what will be happening with her.

Chapter 7: A Minstrel's Tale

"We will be docking in Minstrel in five minutes. We would like to thank you for choosing..." The feminine voice blasted through the speakers. Natsu rolled over onto his right side, still clutching his stomach. He blocked out the sound of the speaker and attempted to sleep slightly longer.

A few minutes later, a door slammed open and shut quickly. "Natsu!" a voice called.

"Nnnnnnn," Natsu groaned.

"Natsu!" The voice practically screamed in his ear.

"Just throw him out the window," another voice said.

"We shouldn't do that," said a third.

"It's the only way to actually get him to move. Troia wore off on the first day. He's had a week's worth of sickness since we've been on this boat," the second voice said.

"Well… If that will work…"

Natsu felt himself being lifted off the seat by someone, Gray by the smell of it. Happy had to be to the right of Gray, which left the third smell as Lisanna. "Don't lift me up… I'm gonna be sick…." Natsu opened his eyes to him flying out the window, landing on a dock face first. "...a bloody nose now…."

He sat up and rubbed his nose. No bloody nose, he thought, but I know who's going to have one shortly.

A market was lined up along the streets around the harbour. Natsu's nose picked out the scent of fish while his ears were directed back towards the boat, listening to his teammates as they clambered of the recently docked boat.

"You're almost as bad as Natsu! I can't carry you off the ship!"

"Squirt…"

"I shall carry him off the ship. Just let me transform." Poof! "I forgot how heavy metal can be."

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey, Erza!"

"You weren't supposed to throw Natsu out the window!"

"Erza, you might want to go easy on him."

"I agree with Charle-lu!"

"Shush Happy. Shouldn't you go find Natsu?"

"Natsu!"

Natsu looked towards the ramp from the boat, getting a face full of a flying blue furball. "Happy! Where's our stuff?"

"Lisanna was carrying it."

"Well then, you wanna go get some fish?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew off towards the fish stand while Natsu followed quickly behind.

"How much for the fish, mister?" Natsu asked the merchant.

"That'll be about..."

"Too much money to spend. We're on a limited budget you know." Levy popped up beside them. "Besides, Gray is Erza's first casualty. You don't need to be her second."

"Serves him right, and we'll take four."

Natsu and Happy happily munched on fish while the group headed towards the lodge they were staying at. Gray, Erza, Lisanna, Wendy, Charle, Levy, Gajeel, and Pantherlily walked ahead of them. They all discussed what they wanted to do while they waited for their informant to show up.

Before they had left Magnolia, Loke had informed them that he had a found a few informants in Minstrel who could tell them what Vesper had been up to while he was there. Loke had not had time to talk to them all as he had only a few short hours to set everything up. He told them he would pop in periodically when he found another informant, especially if the information they were told would turn up dry.

Natsu's ears perked up as they passed a singer a block away from the lodge. The melancholic lute fluttered along the breeze, yet the lyrics drew him in the most.

"Beyond the veil lay dreams torn apart
by war and hatred. He had no heart
to call his own. Stealing other loves,
he hid their souls from the Gods above."

Natsu stopped in front of the musician. A small group had formed around the singer, listening to his song, dropping a few coins into his hat. Something's strange, Natsu thought, but what is it?

"Doesn't he look like he's paying close attention to you?" a voice whispered in his ear.

Natsu turned towards Gajeel. "You noticed it too, eh?"

Gajeel nodded, keeping his gaze on the singer. "I have a feeling this won't be the only time we'll see him."

Natsu shrugged. He listened to the singer for a minute more, then continued along the road to the inn.

Once everyone had settled into their rooms, they met back up in the lobby to discuss times. The first informant, Erza mentioned, would meet with the group in the garden next to their lodge around 8pm. They had approzimately six hours to become familiar with their new surroundings, as they would be staying about a week. (Luckily, the lodging was fairly inexpensive, especially with Loke pulling strings. He had charmed the woman running the business, with plenty of flattery. "What a womanizer," the girls had responded when they heard that.) Natsu and Happy wandered off fairly quickly after that.

"Natsu!" A voice called out. "Where is that blasted dragon slayer?" she muttered after a period of silence.

"The one you are looking for is sleeping," a voice called out from the tree up ahead.

Lisanna looked up at the tree. "You're the bard we passed earlier, are you not?"

The man nodded in response. He jumped, or floated (as Lisanna would describe her encounter later), to the ground. He stood roughly to her shoulder. He had a white, scraggly beard and wore peasant clothes and a royal blue velvet vest.

"Are y' just going to stare at me or do ye want answers, girl?"

Slightly taken aback, Lisanna replied, "How do you know I have questions?"

"E'eryone has questions."

"Oh... Well, you think you could answer mine?"

He looked around him slightly. "I can give y'a touch ol' tune on my harp here but songs ain't what yer lookin' for not is't?"

Lisanna nodded her head.

"Yer Lion who set you up with people knew some pretty good folks, but they might not be tellin' the 'ole truth. Ye must be careful with who ye trust."

She nodded her head slowly. "We know."

"No, ye don't know. Tha' man yer dealin' with, he caused trouble 'ere too. Us bards chased 'im off."

Lisanna looked at him slightly. "How do you know what we're supposed to be doing?"

The man laughed. "Yer friend talks in 'is sleep." He grinned. "Ye best be careful now."

In the blink of an eye, the man vanished. Lisanna looked towards the meadow past the tree where she saw another one with Natsu laying on his back and Happy leaning against the tree. She walked towards them for a minute, then decided to let them rest a bit longer before she woke them. She leaned up against the tree where the man had been and closed her eyes herself. A breeze ruffled her hair as she felt the spots of sunlight soak into her skin. A soft tune on the the breeze wafted into her thoughts, filling her with excitement and dread. The sound was faint but she knew who sung the tune.

Natsu heard the tune also as he lay in the shade of a sycamore tree. It carried a soft melacholic tune as he opened he eyes slightly, a frown appeared on his face.

"Follow the river up to the meadow where a maiden fair waits.
A fellow in blue smiles to you hiding behind the gates.
A war will be waged, a country torn apart, yet that has alre'y begun.
The country in need will turn towards the stars, looking only for one."