Hey guys, Jay here.

Sorry about this chapter taking so long to complete I was suffering from terrible writers block and heavy procrastination.

Anyhow hope you enjoy this latest chapter of Perceous's story and as always..., have nice day.

Chapter 2:

The City of the Downtrodden, Part 1

It was two days since Perceous joined Fairy Tail and he had already made a huge impact on the guild. He once helped Mirajane with the serving of drinks and assisted Team Natsu in a few small missions, one of which entailed them taking a cart of supplies to a newly deployed Fiore Army outpost in the Mt. Hakobe mountain range and for obvious reasons, Perceous had to hide his identity from the guards as at this current time he was still on Fiore's most wanted list.

He even began to prepare and cook very nutritious meals for anyone who wanted one, and as soon as a single little morsel touched a single taste bud of a guild member's tongue they would simply melt on how good his cooking was and how moreish and flavoursome his food seemed. The only few that were yet to try some of this cuisine fit for the gods was Lucy, Happy and Natsu.

It was daytime and Lucy was walking through Magnolia Town, making her way towards the guild hall. As she was walking however, among the many thoughts that lingered in her mind one seemed to creep up out of the blue. She then though to herself "Perceous has been a big help to us, despite him being a wanted criminal. I will admit he does seem to know how to take care of himself, yet however...I just don't know whether or not to trust him yet because he is a thief and he even acts almost like an assassin...I really don't know..."

She debated this in her mind until she got to the guild hall. She was surprised however that she found on a lone table a note with Lucy's name written in very decorative, elegant handwriting and what seemed to be a plate full with breakfast treats and delights that were just mouth-watering to look at "It's a wonder Erza hasn't got to this yet" thought Lucy.

She picked up and opened the note to reveal a message written in the same handwriting. The message read:

"Dear,
My good friend, Lucy

I have taken the liberty of my hours to prepare you some little early morning delights for your breakfast.
They are all handmade by myself and I do hope you enjoy them.
This is only a short note as I have already left to prepare for an operation I am carrying out in Magnolia later this evening.
Anyhow, I fully hope you enjoy these treats and I shall see you another time.

From
Perceous"

"F-For...me?" Lucy said stunned. No one had really had done this for her before. She looked around before attempting to take a seat.

Just as she was about to sit down to enjoy the breakfast Perceous cooked for her, Happy came over and distracted her for a minute. Then, unbeknownst to Lucy, a masculine hand slid from under the table out of the shadows and managed to grab every single item of food there was to offer. Then the hand slid back under the table and then Natsu burst up from underneath the table with a few of the treats in his mouth and a few in his hands shouting to Happy muffled "I got them Happy!" and the twosome ran off away from Lucy who chased after them shouting
"NATSU! HAPPY! GET BACK HERE WITH MY BREAKFAST!"

Lucy continued to chase the duo until they arrived at Natsu and Happy's house and shut the door on her. This made her slam her whole body and face into the door as it was shut just as Happy and Natsu made it inside with Lucy almost doing the same.

After giving up on chasing the two she made her way back to the guild hall, stomach growling like a wild tiger. "Why does Natsu always have to steal my food?" Lucy groaned as she gripped her stomach in pain as it gurgled "What am I going to eat now and what am I going to tell Perceous if he asks?" she added in pain.

As soon as she got back to the guild hall she was greeted by Erza who was sat at a table eating a light snack for her own breakfast. Despite the fact it was a light snack there was enough for two people. Lucy went over to her "Hey Erza" Erza looked up at Lucy
"Oh, hello Lucy" Erza then noticed Lucy was in pain and clutching her stomach "What seems to be the matter?" she asked
"Natsu stole the breakfast Perceous made me" she groaned and complained.

Erza went into a brief thought and then asked "Would you like some of mine? There's enough for two" Lucy then thanked her and took the item of food out of Erza's hand when she passed it to her and sat down opposite Erza.

The two then discussed about Perceous "So, Lucy, what do you think to Perceous then? I remember during our mission he couldn't take his eyes off you until I attacked him" Lucy went into a little thought for a brief moment before saying
"If I'll be honest, I don't know whether or not to trust him yet..., I mean, him making me a breakfast for no reason...it just feels, odd for me..."
"Maybe he likes you Lucy" teasingly chuckled Erza
"That's defiantly not the case! Sure he's nice and we're friends but it's defiantly not like that!" replied Lucy in an outburst of annoyance
"Oh! I seemed to of struck a nerve..., maybe you like him Lucy" teased Erza.

Lucy couldn't help but blush and shake her head violently in refusal, causing Erza to chuckle more. The two then went on eating and chatting until they had finished their breakfasts and then went to see what to do today.

The clock had just struck 11:00pm and Lucy was making her way home after eventually finding Natsu and Happy and giving them a scolding for stealing her breakfast. She was just on the street that was next to the little green area with the lone tree when she looked up and saw someone jump onto a rooftop, holding what seemed to be an old leather bag, carrying about 400 Jewel and a few vegetables.

"Hu, looks like he doesn't want to stop this act anytime soon" thought Lucy. The figure then seemed to look down on Lucy and then jumped down nearly directly in front of her. It was Perceous, he took off his mask, looked at Lucy and then apologised to her by saying
"I am very truly sorry Lucy, but I cannot cease my acts of theft, not until I win the never-ending war of my people and the enslavers" this stumped Lucy
"Never-ending war? The enslavers? Are you making this up Perceous? What's the real reason? If you have a home and everything, why do you keep stealing?"

Perceous then closed his eyes and looked down to his feet. He then opened his eyes again and looked back at Lucy and said "I imagined you and the others would of been mistrustful of me Lucy, a common thief who so happens to suddenly be a member of Fairy Tail, a very harmful image to the guild you could agree. But my thefts must continue in order for my people to live on. If you still do not have trust in what I am saying then come with me, I shall show you my true motives"

Lucy stood stop still for a brief moment, thinking whether or not to go with him as Perceous held out his hand. She then decided to grab his hand. Perceous nodded to ask her if she was ready, to which she nodded back. Perceous then held his free hand up to the sky, flat and closed his eyes. He instructed Lucy to do the same. As soon as she did a bolt of blue coloured and black outlined lightning came down from the heavens and hit the two and then absorbed them both as it went back into the sky.

About one mile away from Magnolia in the green fields, the same bolt of lightning that appeared in Magnolia struck down next to what seemed to be a manhole cover. When the bolt of lightning cleared it revealed Perceous and Lucy in the same positions they were in when the lightning bolt struck them in Magnolia. The two then attained their normal postures and Perceous said to Lucy "Welcome to my reasoning for stealing" Lucy thought
"Where in Earthland are we?"

He lifted the manhole cover up and placed it to one side to reveal a dark hole with a ladder inside.