I will never be bored to thank you all for reading and reviewing :)

It seems that I can update now, so here's chapter 7~

"Are you okay, Natsu ?"

"..."

"I'll take that as a no then."

We were in the train. Happy was sleeping on my lap while Natsu had been resting his head on my right shoulder since the train departed from Magnolia Station. His face was pale and he had been groaning for the last 15 minutes.

"Um, should we do something?" I asked Erza and Gray who were sitting in the opposite of me and Natsu, facing each other.

"It's no big deal, Lucy. That motion-sickness-freak will be as fresh as new once he get down from the train," Gray answered while trying to hide his smirk of satisfactions on seeing his rival's horrible state.

Natsu groaned.

"Can he survive until we get to Aria City?" I asked with worry. Aria City is where our client is located. It can be reached from Magnolia with a one and a half our trip by train. Natsu at first had been insisting to get there by feet, but of course was objected by Erza who doesn't want to keep our client waiting. So, we ended up taking the train, very much to Natsu's dismay.

Erza seemed to be thinking for a while, "Natsu! Come here, I'll help you!" Erza said, her tone seemed more demanding than offering.

Even in his state, Natsu still could think clear to obey Erza's command. He sat beside Erza, switching with Gray who then sat beside me.

Erza placed Natsu's head on her own lap and prepared her fist and punched Natsu on the stomach. Gray and I watched in horror as Natsu's groans stopped and he grew silent.

"That should do it," Erza finally said and smiled to us like nothing had happened, leaving us speechless on the efficient method of treatment, when suddenly Happy purred rather loudly.

"Your lap is very nice, Luuucy~"

"I have been newly born !" Natsu screamed and punched his fist up to the air. He, as you can guess, had recovered from his poorly state.

"Tch. So that's your first cry, little Natsu? What a cry baby...oh wait, you are a baby!" The half-naked Gray (whose shirt had gone missing like usual) sneered.

Natsu's ears perked up, "Did you say something, boxer boy?"

"It seems our newly born baby Natsu here is a bit deaf, huh? Poor Mommy," replied Gray with a fake-concerned face shaking his head.

"Aye, poor Mommy. She cried for days," Happy added, nodding his head.

"Wha-Happy! You are supposed to be on my side! Anyway, it's a lot better to be deaf than to be born having a stripping fetish!" Natsu pointed at Gray.

"At least stripping is better than being thick-headed."

"Who's thick-headed ? I bet you're born in boxers!"

They continued to argue when Happy and I watched in the sideline. Fire and ice, huh? No wonders they never get along.

"Can you two just stop fighting for a second?" I asked them.

"No way!" They yelled at me.

"Are you two fighting?" Erza's sharp voice popped in. Finally. She had just finished asking a random guy about our destination.

"N-nope Madam!" The boys said, hugging each other. I rolled my eyes, making them glared at me.

"Is the city far?" I asked Erza, ignoring the glares.

"30 minutes walking from the station to the west. It's quite close," she replied, "We better leave now before it gets too dark."

"Is this the city?"

The city was spacious and country-styled. Shades of greenery surrounded light-coloured buildings and houses. Some citizens just strolled around, some of them went into the shophouses or was bargaining with the stall keepers along the street. There're also many street musicians, some of them were playing cello, violin, and other instruments I had never seen. Each tone they played, creates a pleasant harmony, making the city lively but at the same time peaceful.

"This place is nice," Gray said while looking around.

"Look at those shops, Erza! Let's go shopping after the mission!" I suddenly felt hyped up. It's been a long time since I went shopping. Father, I mean- my ex-father never let me out of the mansion since Mom died and the orphanage never allowed us to travel this far.

I expected Erza to yell at me to concentrate on the mission, but instead she said, "Sure," and smiled knowingly at me.

"Yay!" I rushed to hug her, making her blush a little.

Gray muttered, "Girls," and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry, Gray. There'll be a lot of time to get you a pair of new boxers." I smiled innocently, even Erza smirked and Natsu who had been mumbling himself about how hungry he was, started to burst out laughing.

"W-who wants to shop for boxers?" Gray yelled. His cheeks were red.

"Pfft. I bet you'll get a pair with pink bunnies on it!" Natsu tried to stifle his laughter. Bunny? It reminded me of someone.

"Gray's a gayyy. Wait, it rhymes!," Happy said.

"Gwahaha. You're smart, Happy !"

Before Gray could even protest, Erza interrupted.

"We're here."

We were standing in front of a big mansion. It's a little smaller compared to where I used to live in. The mansion was broken-white with dark-red roof, and an ebony double door. Beautiful roses in various shades and colours surrounded the mansion. No gates were placed in front, so we just walked into the garden in awe.

As soon as we arrived at the door, Erza rang the bell. After the second ring, a tall man answered the door. He has black hair and black eyes. He was wearing a black tux.

"May I help you?" He asked politely, but his eyes examining us from head to toe.

"We are from Fairy Tail, the guild who received your request," Erza pulled out the mission paper from her pocket and showed it to him.

"Oh I see. I never expect it to be taken by such youngsters," his cold tone showed dislike.

"Well ! We're sorry if-umph!" Natsu's offended comment was interrupted by Gray who put his palm on Natsu's mouth. Thank God he did it.

"Excuse me, kind Sir. If I'm not mistaken there's not such requirements that us youngsters may not take it, am I wrong ?" I said calmly.

The man stared at me for a second, "You are correct, Miss," he replied, his cold expression fazed a bit, "Please do come in. I'll take you youngsters to My Lady," he added by emphasizing the word 'youngsters' making Natsu even more pissed, but was now strained by Erza.

"How did you do that, Lucy ?" Gray whispered beside me. Natsu, Erza, and Happy were walking in front of us.

"Do what ?" I asked, confused.

"That 'fancy' talking. 'Kind Sir ?'" He quoted with his fingers.

"Oh, that. I read about them." I lied. It was only natural for me who was raised in a mansion to act with a 'lady-like' manner and to speak like them. I don't completely dislike using them. They were quite useful, especially at time like this.

"Is there a problem ?" I asked him back, in truth nervously. Is he suspicious ? I never consider myself an expert at lying. But I don't want them to know my past, at least just yet.

"No. I'm just quite surprise that you could act like a lady," he smirked.

I nudged him playfully, "Are you complimenting or insulting me?"

"Both, practically," he grinned.

"Well thank you very much, kind Sir," I said sarcastically.

He chuckled, "You're very welcome, My Lady," he smiled, making my heart jumped a bit.

"Natsu, Erza! Alert! Lucy is flirting with Gray!" Happy suddenly whispered, but as usual loud enough for the subjects to hear.

"What's wrong, Happy? No girlfriend to flirt?" I said.

"Natsu! Lucy's being mean!" He sobbed when the others just laughed. Fake tears, I thought. What a dramatic cat.

After a few turns in the corridor, we went up through a big white and sparkly stairs and were standing in front of a big door. The man took a deep breath before he knocked the door.

"My Lady, the mages of Fairy Tail are here."

There was a silence before a smooth voice answered, "Send them in."

"Yes, My Lady," he opened the door, revealing a pale-skinned woman in her twenties. Her beautiful dark blue hair was tied in a bun, and its colour matched her simple yet charming gown which hugged her slender body.

"Thank you, Sebastian. You may retire, now," she said.

Sebastian bowed once and exited the room. For some reason, his gestures seemed nervous.

The room was elegant and its floor was covered with a maroon carpet with golden linings. There are red sofas and a glass coffee table. A large shelf of books and small sculpture is on one side of the wall. The other sides were a fire place and frames of photographs and paintings.

"Hello there. I supposed you're the Fairy Tail mages who took my request?"

Natsu, Gray, and Erza looked at me, expecting me to answer.

"Yes we are, Miss. I'm Lucy." I smiled and then glanced at them, urging them to introduce themselves too.

"My name's Gray."

"I'm Erza."

"I'm Natsu. And this is Happy !"

"Aye !"

The woman smiled, "You're surely a lively bunch. Just call me Sarah."

"So...Miss Sarah," I began, "your request here says that we must retrieve some kind of box."

She nodded, "Yes, it was my deceased mother's memoir," she smiled sadly. I flinched a bit at her smile. It looks fake yet real. Her expression showed sadness, but her tone was empty. Flat. No sadness was evident in it. In fact there's a bit hatred.

"Do you have any clue of where this box might be?" I asked, shrugging the thought.

"Well yes. She left a letter, but I can't figure what it means. It's like a riddle." She walked towards the shelf and pulled out a light-blue envelope, took out a folded paper with the same colour, then handed them over to me.

I opened the folded paper and started reading it :

Find a box that sings.

Buried in the City of Melody.

It will seek its chosen seeker

who can break its magic lock.

Located where the arrow points

and where they shine the brightest.

But be aware, as danger awaits.

Emily.

Uh huh. A riddle indeed. I guessed that Emily is Sarah's mother ?

"City of Melody is most likely to be Aria City. Because it is what our city is famous for. Music. Melody," Sarah said. That explains why we saw lots of street musicians.

"Is this the only clue?" Erza asked politely.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sarah replied, "I really hope you all can help me. I have been searching this box for months. But no one has ever found it."

"Don't worry, we'll do our best to find it! We'll never give up!" Natsu exclaimed cheerfully.

"Thank you, I'll be counting on you. Since this request may take few days or even weeks, you can stay here until you complete it."

"Wow. I mean is it really okay? We'll get paid lots and yet we got free place to stay. What if we can't find it? And don't get me wrong, we're truly grateful for it." Gray said as we all nodded in agreement on his statement.

"It's okay; it's quite rare for me to have such young and cute visitors. As you see, I live alone here. I'm always happy to have guests, especially the ones like you," I cringed as she smiled that creepy smile again. I noticed Erza's body tensed. Before we could even react, she called on Sebastian.

In a blink of an eye, Sebastian walked through the door.

"Yes, My Lady?"

"Can you send them to their rooms?

"Right away, My Lady," he glanced at us, silently telling us to follow.

Before we walked out of the room, I heard Sarah said to us, "Good luck on finding the box!"

"She's a little bit creepy."

We were on the street of Aria right after Sebastian showed us to our room, trying to solve the riddle Sarah has given to us. Erza and I got a room together, when Natsu, Gray, and Happy got the other one. The threesome beside me stopped walking when I spoke, not including Happy who sat on Natsu's shoulder.

"She does smelt weird," Natsu nodded, "But she's nice enough to let us sleep at her place. And maybe, she'll give us free meal too," he drooled, "I smelt roast beef from her kitchen!"

"Actually, I must agree with you, Lucy. There's just something about her," Gray agreed, ignoring Natsu.

I glanced at Erza who stayed silent. I got a feeling that she knew something.

Finally she said, "Just be aware, guys. Sometimes a person is not what he or she seemed to be. But we mustn't judge too soon either," she sighed and her tone seemed more serious, "For now, just complete this mission as soon as possible."

'So we can get outta here.' I added in my mind, but said nothing.

What have we got ourselves into?

Dooone :D I hope you like the mission. pleaaaase review and tell me what you think~

~snowdrop03