A/N: OH MAH GOD! It's been... THREE MONTHS! Gosh! Shoot me now... I'm sorry peeps, but I've been tangled up with work, enrollment, orientations and it's been sucking up time... a lot of time and inspiration. So I pretty much met all author's worst enemy; Writter's Block. But now that my schedule is more... cleared up, I hope I can get my gears working again! XD well, I wouldn't be surprised if most of you have already forgot about this story, but if you're still reading this, I hope you enjoy it ^^ ENJOY!

"No we should not." Gray shot down Natsu's suggestion, causing him to growl.

"WHAT?! And why not?!" Natsu immediately turned to him, voice filled with irrational anger.

Subtly glad that the boy had finally shown more life, Gray proceeded with his explanation.

"Because from what I gathered, Joel Regnal is a slippery bastard."

"So?! I'll burn him before he can even slip away!" Natsu countered not-so-smartly.

"Don't worry, he'll have his turn. But for now, I think it'd be the wisest to hunt down Vanessa Burma first."

"Explain." Erza cut in.

Gray took out a piece of paper from his pocket to reveal a map with the town 'Xoia' marked in red.

Meanwhile, in Xoia…

Lucy's mouth was left agape as she stared at the gate of a mansion in-front of her.

"Joel?" Lucy piped up. "Why are we here?"

"Because there's someone I'd like you to meet." He answered vaguely, moving forward to push the gate open when Lucy stopped him.

"No. Why are we here?"

Joel paused for a moment, realising her hidden meaning.

"You'll know soon enough."

With that, he rapped on the gates and a flash of light greeted their eyes before the gates creaked open, splitting the word 'Burma' that had been engraved on it in two.

Upon stepping into the garden, Joel began to slow his pace, analysing the area with cautions eyes. After advancing a few feet, his head perked up as an arrow flew to his head.

"Watch-!"

Swiftly, Joel shifted his head to the side, allowing the head of the arrow to barely graze his cheek bone.

"Out…" Lucy's voice died down as the arrow lodged itself to the ground beside her foot, face paling as she registered what happened.

"Cain… can you not tease me everytime I come here?" Joel questioned in a jovial tone.

Lucy slowly lifted her gaze from the arrow to the archer; the man was dressed in full black armour traced with a silver accent. The dents and scratches on his armour had proved it's age but the way it shined showed that it was well maintained. She continued to pan her view to his face only to find the upper half concealed by his matching helm, the revealed lower end of his short hair had told her that he was a brunet and the way his lips had formed a tight line told her that he was not happy.

"I wasn't joking." The man, Cain, replied, tone hard.

Joel proceed up the porch, to where Cain stood, tone unchanging. "I'm just staying till morning."

"Get out now." Came Cain's immediate reply.

Lucy was confused, she didn't know whether to peg them as "get-along-well" or "just-tolerating-each-other". When Joel finally landed on the top of the porch, Cain bared his teeth and grabbed his collar but just as Cain was about to shove Joel out of the mansion, a voice stopped him.

"Joel? Is that you?"

Joel's gaze traveled up, up to the balcony above them where a small tea party was held. His gaze iced ever so slightly before regaining its warmth.

"Vanessa." He address, a small smile gracing his features.

"I'm sorry for the impudence." Cain apologised, mostly -actually completely- directing it towards Lucy as he escorted the duet to the tea party. "Had I known you were Milady's guest..."

"I-It's okay." Lucy reassured. She couldn't blame him, after all, she was just as clueless as he was.

Despite Cain's obvious distaste for Joel's presence -for God know's what reason- , he was pleasant enough towards Lucy to convince her that he wasn't as bad as she first pictured him, and with all of Joel's teasing and Cain's ignoring, Lucy had finally pegged them as "get-along-well".

"So, Cain, when do you plan to get married?" Joel dropped the bomb out of nowhere and Lucy nearly fell flat on her face.

Although Cain had kept pace and his face unchanging, Lucy could tell that he dreaded to answer that ridiculous question. So, he remained silent.

"C'mon, you had better start planning or you'd remain a virgin forever y'know?"

Lucy face-palmed. Did he have to be so rude? So impertinent? She had expected Cain to remain silent but instead, he questioned back in exhaustion, "Why can't you let me live without this depression?"

"Of being single?"

"Of your existence." He corrected coolly and Lucy stifled a laugh.

When they finally reached the room dividing the party and the corridor, all playfulness from Joel's face faded as he straightened himself. Cain just stood beside the door, hand on the handle as he waited for him to ready himself.

Odd... Lucy thought.

Finally, Joel squared his shoulders and signaled Cain that he was ready. With a grunt, he pushed the door open, revealing the much out-of-place afternoon tea.

"Joel!" A rather round middle aged man approached them, a cupcake in hand. "So good of you to join us. We don't see you anymore."

Although Joel bowed and and smiled at the man, the iciness in his eyes told Lucy that he didn't like the man. However, the man continued unsuspectingly.

"And who might this be?" He gestured towards Lucy, tone suggestive.

Before Lucy could show her outright disdain for the man, Joel step between them, shielding Lucy from him.

"I'm afraid she's taken, Sir, by Milady herself."

The man immediately bowed, letting them through, though not before they caught the way his expression fell to shock. Lucy had to take a considerable effort in order to conceal her amusement as she followed after Joel, leaving the grumbling pervert behind.

When they finally reached the innermost court, they found Vanessa Burma seated under an umbrella, sheltering her from the currently non-existent sun. Lucy couldn't help but awe at her sight. She was beautiful. Not the kind of beauty you'd peg with her or Erza or most of the girls in Fairy Tail, no, she gave off an ethereal beauty, the kind that made her heart wrench.

"Isn't it a little to cold for a tea party?" Joel asked, smile never leaving his face, however, -Lucy noticed- the iciness had dissipated from his eyes and warmth had returned to it.

Vanessa Burma returned the smile, replacing her teacup on it's coaster before setting it down on the table beside her.

"Well, I needed a reason to see you..." She said, before turning her attention to Lucy, "...and more importantly, you."

Lucy baffled, "M-Me?"

Her smile broadened, warming Lucy despite how it was freezing cold with the winter air around them. Lucy felt her cheek blush and Joel noticed it.

"Wow," He began. "I never knew you swung that way."

"NO I DON'T!" Lucy retaliated instantaneously.

Immediately, she felt eyes on her and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Lift your head." Vanessa spoke, taking a final sip of her tea before getting up. "Lowering one's head is a sign of inferiority, and you, someone of noble blood, definitely do not need to lower your head."

"N-Noble blood?" Lucy couldn't understand her words. Then, she recalled about her father and began shaking her head. "Lady Burma-"

"Call me Vanessa."

"...Vanessa, my father may have once been considered a noble but he was stripped of his title the moment he lost his entire estate." The memories still stung her eyes but she blinked it away.

Vanessa's smile faltered, replaced by sadness as she gestured towards the room.

"We should discuss this inside."

And they did. As they stepped into the room, Cain greeted them with one hand on the hilt of his sword and as soon as they had settled down, he stepped out towards the balcony, making sure that none of the guest were to overhear their conversation, be it unintentional or intentionally.

"Lucy," Vanessa began, her expression shifting from kind and warm to determined and serious. "What I am about to discuss with you today will probably impact you a lot."

She paused, observing Lucy's features as she let the words sink in.

"But I want you to promise me that you will remain calm and listen till the end."

A/N: Finally! Revelations will be held next chapter! Pray I can get it up soon. Till next time!