:~:

My hand just landed on the gun.

:~:

Chesterfield, England 1902

Shit.

The room still the same…. I believe. But there's obviously something different. Maybe it's the atmosphere or the intensity of Rafuno's stare at the door... I don't know. I feel my senses are weakening, the noises around me are starting to sound muffled, the movements of the people are starting to look slower.

Shit.

No one notices it, not the smirk on Rafuno's face, not the grim expression Raymond is making, or the lovely woman that was stepping out of the doorframe.

Women; I have many words that describe what I think of them. Lovely isn't one of them.

But lovely, I feel, can't even amount to describe how she appears.

Just catching sight of her, I feel weak in the knees; my insides are churning, my stomach turning warm as if I drank a bottle of whiskey.

She was intoxicatingly beautiful.

Her face was scrunched up in discomfort, her green eyes glared at him as her long brown curls that reached barely above her waist was caught in between his fingers. Twirling them with a devious smile.

"Now, now, Julia, I said to come out in your true form. Everyone can still see you."

Her true form? I wanted to move, or at least make it seem that I didn't know what they were saying, but my body felt frozen. Or to be more accurate it has slowed down, what usually would take a second to do now felt like it would take a few minutes. Just to bring a hand to scratch my head feels more forced and would take forever. My body is weighed down and everyone else seems to go on as if it was normal.

No one knows they were going in slow motion.

She gave him a forced smile, "I assure you sir, I wanted only for your eyes to be able to see my true appearance. It wouldn't be fair if everyone else got to see it."

He nodded understanding, "True. Only I'm allowed to see your real beauty Julia Mastrasens."

Her lips pouted in a cute way, "Please. Julia is fine, no need to bring in my surname."

He gave her a hearty laugh, "Ha! You always know how to bring a smile to my face my dear. I'm surprised no suitor has vouched for you."

She looked down, "I'm not suited to be a wife. You of all people should know that," her tone went bitter.

"Don't have your panties in a twist my dear," he said smug, "Maybe if you kept that temper of yours, men would might think of you as attractive!"

She looked at him darkly, and darling if looks could kill, Rafuno would be stone cold dead.

'At least she isn't easy,' I thought. But something is strange about her. I don't know what but it might be the exact reason why I can't reach for my glass of water.

'Get it together Natsu. Your body is in high defense mode. Remember Gildarts words. Notice your surroundings.'

So far the perimeter, though I swear I keep seeing every one going slow, is just the same. The drunks are going on with their buzzed talk, the businessmen seem to be going on with their arrangement, the annoying girls at the back are now laughing at some joke.

Normal?

'No,' my gaze landed on a couple of men across the room. Their movements were different from the others. They're more precise and forward, like they know their body isn't allowing them to go any faster.

'That's strange…' I thought. 'Why are they…?'

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine, some words were thrown here and there, and suddenly my fake burgundy eyes met soft brown ones.

:~:~:~:

'Shit,' I gritted my teeth in order to get rid of this annoyance. Loke didn't look any better with his pale and grim face.

"Lo—ke," I breathed out, "Wh—at is th—is?" I said barely able to mutter out while trying to remain calm and my exterior still in place. He was sweating bullets; his usual smirk was nowhere in sight. Especially hidden from his fake white beard.

"I—t's v-ve—il," he whispered.

'Shit,' I thought. 'Veil' is a special defense move. A thin layer of magic surfaces the entire area masking or blocking a person's view like a veil. It's a high level skill that's borderline S-Class.

Illusion.

.

.

Manipulation.

.

.

Magic.

.

.

And what move to demonstrate all three key aspects of our life other than 'Veil'? Once placed, it controls the environment that veil covers. It can make others see what the user wants them to see, but there's a defect in the move.

And luckily that defect works to our advantage.

If Veil is in use but for some reason a mage is caught in it, they're able to see what's going on. But once veil is set into motion they are unable to reverse the effects, for Veil slows down a mage's body and movements.

The good thing is the user is unaware if a mage is caught under the web of veil. So our covers and Natsu's won't be found out.

"Wh-ho d-do y-you t-think i-is d-doi—ng t-this?" my teeth were clattering. Get it together Gray!

Loke took a moment; he was gripping the table, "P-possibly Natsu-san's target. But I'm not entirely sure…"

Hnnn Gybon's target? If he's capable of doing that then where is—

'And it seems that Natsu-san has noticed us…' I heard a voice inside my head. And it wasn't mine.

'Huh? Loke is that you?' my eyes widened as I thought this question loud in my mind.

'Yes. I'm using archive to communicate through thoughts. It's much easier this way,'

I mentally gave a sigh of relief, relaxing my stiff shoulders, 'Smart move. Do you think you can get a hold of him? If this keeps up his cover will be blown,'

I saw the look of fear wash up in Loke's hazel eyes, 'His cover? What do you mean GRAY?' his voice sounded demanding.

'Calm down. If I know the idiot, he won't blow it that easy. But if he's in such close contact with his target and 'Mask' suddenly wears off he will be executed immediately,'

Loke frowned, 'I'll try. Let's hope he has a good poker face,'

'Believe me, that stupid grin of his is his poker face.'

'Ehhhh,' he chuckled, 'You give him too much credit Gray.'

'He's a future partner of mine. I'm not giving him enough credit.'

Then it happened, I felt a sudden ripple in the air. I know I wasn't the only one feeling this since I saw the change in Loke's expression and Natsu's.

'What…is,' I heard Natsu's tone go low, so archive connected to him huh? His voice started echoing like a flabbergasted mongrel in my mind, the lapse of infatuation rising in his tone. He almost sounded shocked and disturbed, but also delighted?

'Who is she?' he thought. I swear this is the first time I ever heard Natsu sound like this.

'Natsu?' I called with the voice in my head, but it looked like he didn't' hear me. 'Natsu!' The fabric of the purple veil was tearing, it's turning visible and I can finally move.

"Someone ripped it," came in Loke's astonished voice.

My round black orbs made a quick glance at the bar. There's Natsu or should I say 'Paul' and he was sitting next to the suspecting target.

Julia, the woman who the target wanted, green eyes were illuminating shock and worry at the person who suddenly was now in front of her. The bartender Raymond stood stiff, his jaw clenched tight.

"Please," the soft voice erupted from the small intruder that was guarding Julia. "Don't touch her."

:~:~:~:

A minute ago.

"Aww don't be mad Julia," Rafuno grinned, "I only wanted to give you a night of fun."

"No Thank You Rafuno," she hissed, glaring daggers at him, "I won't."

'Well,' I thought 'That confirms he is my target.' I tried to look at the back of the bar without looking odd. 'My suspicions were correct to suspect that Gray and Loke were here. But where is—'

That's when my body started to vibrate from the thumping of my heart. There was a ripping sound heard, and my body was regaining its speed.

'What…is,' my throat was suddenly on fire, my words were broken. But I see it coming.

As I was looking back to see if Loke and Gray got my signal that I knew they were here, I saw something incredible. A girl, ordinary, with her mid length brown hair and brown eyes were now heading my way. Or to be more precise she was heading towards Julia.

In the midst of all these people, entrepreneurs, geezers, drunks, show girls, she was here the whole time. A bright girl with cute dimples and olive skin. She was enchanting.

'Beautiful…' the terrified look in her eyes made my heart drop. The air around her was ripping, as if we were under a synthetic veil. She was graceful with her steps. She was rushing with all her might; with the entire amount her body was capable of doing.

How can she do that? I wondered. I couldn't even do it in my current state. My body is being weighed down, but just looking at her, I felt the sudden urge of energy to be freed from this spell. 'Who is she?'

I heard someone calling my name, to my disappointment it wasn't the girl I laid my red eyes upon. It sounded broken but desperate. It sounded like Gray's.

"Someone ripped it." I heard Loke whisper.

This is no time to be a sitting duck. I need to focus.

But I'm worried that with my target on hand I may have to add two others to my list.

The girl ran and glared at Rafuno before taking a stance in front of Julia. She seemed tired but she held her ground. Julia gave her a worried glance before returning her gaze back at Rafuno.

I need to know more information.

"Please," the girl said barely audible, "Don't touch her."

I felt my eyes widen.

"Eh?" Rafuno looked bored, "Oh it's just you. What do ya want?" he growled.

"Please," her brown eyes looked glossy, "Please don't take her away, she's all I have."

"Hnnn," he rolled his eyes, "Worried the same fate will happen to your friend, with what happened with the rest of your family," he said intrigued. " Don't worry sugar," he winked, "I'm not that evil."

She went still. The boy in me knew clearly that she couldn't stand a chance against this guy. But the assassin in me knew better.

She was a strange one; she was plain and her face can easily be forgotten. So why was I was so mesmerized by her?

Magic.

It's Her magic. She has it. She knows my world. But why do I find that hard to believe? Is it because of her innocence?

Unfortunately I picked a bad time to be out of it, and my training didn't kick in. Rafuno glanced at me cautiously before glaring back at the younger girl.

Did he notice?

"Make yourself useful instead." He growled, impatient. He jerked a thumb towards me in which in a reflexive action; I flinched, "And cater to this guy."

She looked at me hesitantly, cautious. Though I would never expect such events, I didn't mind them either.

Julia looked at her reassuringly, "Salina. It's okay."

Her name was Salina.

Pretty. I thought. But… it seemed too easy, I mean finding out her name, it didn't feel right at all.

"Okay." She mumbled. She smiled at me; I felt something jab at my heart as I was on cloud nine. "Sir would you like another glass of water?" Baffled at how she can easily change the topic, as if I wasn't there to witness the conversation she had with the person next to me, I could only nod politely at her.

My muscles relaxed as she left to get my water, and now, I just barely noticed, the room was back to normal and everyone was going back to their usual pace.

The mission is getting more complicated.

NO shit LOKE. I said sarcastically in my mind. Luckily he managed to keep archive in check. I'm surprised Gray wasn't screaming at me for spacing out a bit.

You're good for now Gybon. His voice sounded sincere. For a moment, But I have a bad foreboding about this.

My fingers traced the wood top surface of the counter; I could feel the subject's eyes burning holes at the back of my neck. I moved to another table so I wouldn't look too suspicious. If I don't get out now my cover will be blown. Miraculously Julia hinted at the subject to take leave, and said, "Let's do our business in a more private area." She insisted.

"Fine." He got up.

You're lucky I heard Gray's voice say reassuringly, The reason why they're not weary of you is because they thought you were under veil's control.

Veil huh? So that's what it's called. No wonder they deemed it normal that I could hear their conversation. They didn't think I was listening at all.

Don't push your luck Gybon.

Yeah Yeah. I motioned as I waited for "Salina" to bring me back a cup of water.

I sighed as I tapped the table top. I started to feel uneasy, especially with James stating that he had a bad feeling about this.

'I hope you're wrong about this' I thought to myself, and I knew deep in my heart he was hoping he was wrong too.

"I haven't seen you around," I snapped out of my reverie to be greeted with her lovely hazel eyes. I flinched at the proximity of how close our bodies were.

Shit shit shit shit. "Well, being a weary traveler I usually don't stay in one place," I smirked looking at her. She laughed, "Ah so you travel, for someone young as you? Shouldn't you get a job? Help your mother and support your family."

Not being used to being chided by someone, no less a female, I took a sip of the water before replying, "Ah~"

"Salina," Raymond warned, "I've told you not to speak so casually with the customers," he frowned, he gave me an apologetic look, "Sorry kid. She's still new to this. I'll give you a dish on the house."

"Ah there's no need," I reassured with my hands up, I looked at her and smiled after seeing her sheepish face, "And I don't mind answering them."

"It's no problem," he answered, "And it's no trouble, I'll whip you up something real quick."

"Thank you."

It was quiet for a while after Raymond left, I knew she was embarrassed, "Don't worry about it. He probably was just thinking of me when he said that, it's not necessarily your fault."

Looking at me skeptical, I answered, "I have no parents. So I guess that's why he got so defensive." A white lie. But it wouldn't hurt anyone.

She looked at me apologetically, "Ah I'm sorry!" she cried, she bit her lip, "Now I see why he tells me to stop asking personal questions. I might bring up something too touchy for the customer to answer."

"I'm sure you're doing fine."

She gave out a frustrated sigh, "But I'm so useless. I can't even serve correctly and I need this job."

I felt my brow quirk up, "Supporting your family?"

She looked up, I noted the hesitation in her eyes before she answered, "Not family." She corrected, "I only live with one person so I wish I can take the burden off them."

She looked down, "I know they're trying their best to make ends meet but I want to help! Even with the lack experience that I have I wish I can do something."

I couldn't help but frown, "It seems you have it rough."

"Well I don't think of it like that," she said suddenly, "Instead of dwelling on my problems I choose to live past them-ah it seems your food is ready. I'll come back with it." She hurriedly ran past a few customers to the counter waiting on Raymond.

'For someone who has had a hard life she sure is optimistic,' I smiled as I watched her, 'I guess that's what I like about her'

Like

'No No Natsu,' I shook my head, 'You're on a mission, you can't be thinking about these kinds of things.'

I waited for my food to arrive, we chatted some more and I couldn't help but wish that I had a simple life instead. She left after Raymond called her to assist another customer.

Gray and Loke seemed to have left the scene, Good- I thought. It'd be better if they were situated somewhere else if worse comes to shove. I waited a while until I noticed someone new enter the pub and headed straight towards the loo. I smirked.

It looks like the Hit man Prince has finally arrived.

:~:~:~:

"Suspect confirmed?"

"Yes sir."

"How many bystanders did you talk to today?"

"Excluding Gray and Loke. Seven."

"Mask uses?"

"Twice."

"Hnnn." Jellel smirked, the tattoo on his face seemed to look more blood red than usual, "This was a simple track and hit mission. It wasn't supposed to be so complicated."

I nodded, "Well there's…more variables added to the problem that we didn't foresee."

His brow rose to his hairline as I said this, "Meaning?"

I bit my lip; if anything I didn't want to let him know what I knew, I was afraid he would decide to add more people on his list tonight.

And I for sure, at least for some odd reason, did not want a certain person on that list.

But there was no use lying to Jellel. He could easily read you and spot a lie a mile away. And his tactics to get the truth out of you are lethal and inhumane.

I sighed with regret, "Two enchantresses."

"Interesting." Was all that he said. I held my breath. I guess I looked uncomfortable so he asked me nicely, "Should I be worried about them?"

"No," I shook my head, "From what I gathered I think they're against him but can't afford to fight. It seems they lost some people for doing so," I tried to stretch the truth a little. I wasn't entirely sure and I knew Jellel would chastise me for believing in what I think is right, because in most cases, it doesn't turn out like that.

"Well I noticed the barmaid was pleading for an extension for their payment." Jellel said with a shrug, "So I'm assuming he has different tunnels for how he received his income. Taking girls is probably something he did on his downtime." He said dully.

"A Hobby." I confirmed disgusted.

"Yeah That's it." Jellel smirked. "Well it would make sense why he hasn't done anything to the barmaid though. She seems capable of taking care of herself."

I nodded. "Is the subject still in the premises?"

"Yeah, but you might need to do more work."

I looked at him incredulously, "Hey my mission is done. I left you a trail leading you straight to the culprit, the plan stated that after that I would go and leave execution to you."

Jellel raised a questioning glance; "I thought you'd be happy with the circumstances since you were angry that your mission was just to track."

I looked away, "Well I've changed since five hours ago. I didn't think people would get involved."

Jellel frowned, "Don't tell me you honey—"

"No!" I interrupted, embarrassed. "I just want you to take out this creep fast. My connection with Gray was brief but even he stated something bad was going to happen if we don't react quickly."

"Well if the Ice Prince says so," Jellel clicked his tongue, it always amazes me how he could make fun of Gray even when he wasn't around. "I guess I have no choice but to trust your instinct. Let's get moving—"

CRASH!

THUD

"YOU BITCH!"

"Before we're too late." He finished.

Hey I'm not dead. But sadly this was a draft that I forgot to publish a year ago. oops. But now I'm actually more interested in finising this story.

Please support my other stories such as It's Complicated, Fluffed Up Memories, Nine Years Later, and Love and Lost. Thanks for the love and support!

x Pika-chan