Chapter Four: Information
The sun shone brightly and nearly blinded me through my eyelids. I opened my eyes unwillingly and turned around, away from the window. Then I realised I was here on a mission and immediately got up. I closed the curtains and locked the door while I was getting dressed. I had enough problems with Natsu bursting in on me while I was in the bath at home so I was used to this routine.
After getting dressed, I got out a hair tie and tied up my hair in its usual ponytail. Then I pulled on my boots and grabbed my belt with my Celestial keys and whip on it. Luckily Aquarius didn't drop, even if it was a plush carpet, she would kill me.
I opened the door quietly, as not to disturb anyone still sleeping. I walked up to Erza's room who was probably already awake. I knocked and sure enough, the door opened and Erza looked at me, "Oh, good, you're up. We have to wake the others; it's about 8:30 so we have to get going."
"OK," I said, taking the nearest room. I opened the door which was unlocked and stepped inside. Gray or Natsu was sleeping completely under the covers, with a little bump indicating where they were.
"Oi, wake up," I said, tapping the bump, most probably their head.
The covers flew back and Gray yawned, sitting there, his hair all messed up.
He was also stark naked as I predicted.
The only problem was, I was in there.
"AHHH!" I screamed, the whole castle shaking.
"NANI?" shouted Natsu, bursting in, Happy right behind him and Erza behind him.
"Don't look, you're too young!" I shouted, covering up Gray from view.
"Well, I appreciate the thought but the fact is, I'm a guy too," said Natsu.
"Not you!" I said, "Happy! He's too innocent! And so was I before I looked at THAT!"
"PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!" yelled Erza, turning away, her face turning the same colour as her hair, "Geez! Who sleeps naked?"
"Don't blame me, just look at this weather!" said Gray, "It's hotter than yesterday!"
"Close the curtains for Christ sake!" shouted Erza, "Some innocent person could be looking through your window!"
"Well, it teaches him not to spy on people!" said Gray, pulling on his pants from the sound of it and smoothing his hair, "OK, I'm ready; I suppose I have to wear a shirt too."
"Preferably," said Erza, "I mean, what will the staff think? You have to admit, the staff were giving you weird looks when you strolled in last night shirtless."
Gray looked as if he was about to go nuts so I stepped in, "Erza, it's not that big a deal. We're doing this place a favour by saving their princess. One of the rescuers being shirtless shouldn't be so bad."
Erza considered this, "OK. But just because you said so, Lucy."
Thank you, mouthed Gray.
I smiled.
"Let's go!" shouted Natsu, already halfway down the hallway, "Come on, you guys! The King's outside!"
We walked out through the doors and saw the King waiting.
"Are you ready?" asked the King.
"Yep," said Natsu, "Let's go!"
"The pier is near here so we'll just walk," said the King.
"OK," Gray said.
As we were walking, we passed by a clothes shop and Erza stopped, "Wait."
"Come on, Erza, a clothes shop?" I cried.
"We have to cover up our Fairy Tail marks," said Erza, "You'd really think we're going to burst in there with our marks fully exposed? We'll work undercover."
"I see," said Happy.
"You can't fly," said Erza to Happy, "No wing exposure."
Happy seemed sad but recovered, "OK."
We walked in and looked around for something to cover up our marks. I grabbed a glove to cover up my mark. It was black and fingerless. I liked it, it went with my outfit and it was cheap which was an instant bonus.
"Hey, Erza, what do you think of this?" I asked, strolling into the dressing rooms where Erza was in a stall.
I saw a red sparkle and then Erza stepped out in black ankle boots, black stockings and a short, dark dress. Basically, a woman in black.
"Out of all of us, you probably have to disguise yourself the most," I said, "The 'Titania' Erza."
"And the 'Salamander', Natsu," said Erza, "Especially that scarf. But I don't have the heart to make him take it off, so we just have to chance it."
"Yeah," I said, pulling on my glove to test if it fit. It did. I figured my outfit was ordinary enough to not be suspicious, "What about Gray though?"
On cue, Gray called from out the ladies' change rooms, "Hey, you two in there! Can you tell me if this outfit's any good?"
We both went outside and saw Gray in a thin white T-shirt and black pants with little pockets, some having chains coming out and looping around back in. He actually looked pretty handsome…
What the hell am I thinking? I scolded myself; you can't think these things for Gray.
"I guess that's OK," said Erza, cocking her head and studying his outfit, "The shirt could be thicker but I guess as long as it doesn't stick to your chest and outline Fairy Tail's mark, it should be fine."
"Finally!" cried Gray, going back to the men's change rooms, "Geez, I'm sweating already."
Natsu jumped in at that second. Literally, he ran around the corner and jumped in front of us, "Hey, guys! What do you think of this outfit?"
Natsu was wearing white pants and a black jacket with orange dragons on it. He had his usual shoes on.
"Look!" said Natsu, pointing at one of the dragons, "It's just like Igneel!"
"Yeah, it looks good," said Erza, looking pointedly at the scarf still wrapped around his neck but shrugging and looking away. I was relieved she would let him keep on that scarf.
"OK," said Erza, "We're all set, let's go."
"Why are we all wearing something black?" I mused, when we walked outside.
"We all wear something black usually anyway," said Erza, "Sir, let's go."
"Yes," agreed the King, walking ahead and us following.
After a short walk to the pier, we saw the wooden bridge across the water and boxes and crates were scattered around.
"Hide," ordered Erza, nodding at a set of crates and boxes.
"Demo, Erza!" whined Natsu, now carrying Happy, because he couldn't fly, "I thought we were going to kick that guy's ass!"
"See, this is what we're worried about," I said to Natsu, ducking behind the crates, "You want to beat up everyone so badly, you don't even know what's at stake here."
Natsu pouted but said no more. We were able to watch the King through a crack in the boxes in case something went wrong. Sure enough, a shady guy walked up and said some stuff to the King which we couldn't hear for we were out of earshot. The King looked angry though.
"Maybe he's taunting him or something," said Natsu, "Come on, let's beat him up!"
"Shut up," hissed Gray.
Finally, the King handed over the briefcase. The shady guy reached into his pocket, looking around for anyone witnessing, luckily not noticing us. I saw a glint and widened my eyes.
"Gray!" yelled Erza.
"Ice Make Shield!" said Gray, making a shield in front of the King just as we heard a gunshot.
"Go, go, go!" shouted Erza, jumping straight over the crates and charging towards the guy, using Requip magic on the way. I ran out and grabbed a key, not bothering to see who it was. I trusted that any of my spirits could take care of the job. I glanced at the key, "Gate of the Ram, I open thee! Aries!"
She came out, shy as always, "A-Ano… I will try my best…"
"Aries, we have to get that shady guy!" I said, pointing at him.
"H-Hai!" said Aries, "Wool Bomb!"
The shady guy was running away now, knowing he was busted. Erza was thrusting her swords at him and Natsu was running after him, screaming like crazy, like Gray except Gray had a bazooka.
Once the wool hit them all, everyone was instantly mellow and happy.
"Ah… so comfy," sighed Natsu, drooling a bit as he nearly fell asleep.
"Get up," said Erza commandingly but she, herself was nearly asleep as well.
"Good job," I murmured to Aries.
"A-Arigato Gozaimasu!" said Aries.
"You don't have to be so nervous," I said, "We're friends, remember?"
"Hai!" said Aries, fading away.
I walked up to the shady guy, whose hood had fallen back, revealing his face. I looked at him. He was fairly young in his mid-twenties at least. He had short, curly chestnut brown hair and a little bit of a beard. I felt a stab of recognition. I had seen this man somewhere before. Where was it…?
"OK, spit it out," Gray said to the guy if he was listening, walking up, "Where the princess is, your base and who you work for."
Gray tugged on the guy, until he was out of the cloud. He put him on the ground and aimed his bazooka gun at him.
The shady guy was immediately alert once he was out of the wool, "What the hell are you guys doing? Are you allied with the King?"
"Yes, we are!" shouted Natsu, running up.
"Don't knock him out!" shouted Erza, grabbing Natsu by the collar of his jacket, "We need answers."
The King walked up then and demanded of the man, "Tell me where my daughter is!"
"Like Hell!" yelled back the guy, "We're never giving you back your daughter until you hand over the kingdom!"
"The—" Erza said, turning on the King, "What? You never told us that was what you had to pay!"
"I said I couldn't afford the pay," the King said, glaring daggers at the man, "As long as my daughter comes back safe and unhurt, it will be fine. That's why I asked for your services."
"So now you pay people to do your dirty work!" shouted the man.
The King looked as if he had exploded from the inside. He marched forward, his fist raised.
"How is saving the princess 'dirty work'?" I asked.
He turned to look at me properly, "You… Lucy—"
That was as much he had out of him before the King punched him out. I was still racking my brain for where I had seen this guy before. And he knew me as well since he knew my name.
"Wow, good punch," said Natsu, whistling.
"Sir!" cried Gray, "We needed answers from him!"
"I'm sorry," said the King, half grumbling, "He was just making me angry."
"Hey, welcome to my world!" said Natsu.
"Shut up," said Erza.
"OK," I said, searching through my keys for the one I was looking for, "Gate of the Twins, I open thee! Gemini!"
The two twins popped out and started playing around with each other.
"OK, Gemi and Mini," I said, "I need you two to do something for me. Copy this guy, OK?" I pointed to the unconscious guy.
"OK," they both said simultaneously. In a second, they had transformed and started delivering facts, "His name is Ladin and he works for the group who kidnapped the princess, Fallen Dark."
"Nice name," muttered Natsu.
"Where's the base?" I asked, ignoring Natsu's comment.
"The base is on the north-west coast and it is a big building surrounded by a huge set of rocks to hide it from the public. Fallen Dark only has a few members. The leader, Nero and the other member, a fire mage, Infra."
"Great, that's good information!" praised Erza, "Thank you, Gemini!"
"It's," said Gemi, transforming back.
"OK," finished Mini before they both disappeared.
"I'm going!" said the King, marching ahead.
"No, no, sir!" shouted Erza, pulling him back, "It's better if you retreat to somewhere safe. We can't be worrying about you if we're fighting two possible mages."
The King said reluctantly, "All right. I'll leave the rest to you, then." He walked away, back in the direction of town.
"All right, let's go," said Natsu running off, "North west, right?"
"Natsu, wait!" I yelled, running after him.
"Both of you!" yelled Erza, running, "Come on, Gray!"
Gray ran after us, yelling at Natsu.
"WAIT, NATSU!" all three of us yelled.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed Natsu and Happy.