All Rights to Hiro Mashima
Hello my lovely precious cupcakes, Thank you for all the follows, it totally warms my poor poor heart in this cold weather. :3 Enjoy.
FIVE
"What the hell is this place?"
"Uhm…well, it's a…sorta…place…" Lucy sighed gustily as she eyed the three-story brownstone manor across the street. She could barely see through one of the windows from her vantage point, but it was enough to watch a young scantily clad woman wearing nothing but garters and a feather boa lead a completely bewitched middle-aged man around by the hand.
Lucy glanced down at the sign swinging in the soft breeze with a twisted expression, reading the name again to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
Nope. Still there.
Madame Cleo's House of Rapture.
"Well Natsu, it's a brothel."
Her best friend crinkled his nose – cutely, so damn cutely it should be illegal – and cocked his head to the side. This boy could slay her with his innocent gestures. "Brothel?"
"It's a place where people go and pay for…pleasures of the intimate kind."
"So…sex."
Lucy choked on a laugh. Trust he partner to never give up his bluntness. "Yes, Natsu. Sex."
They had tracked Bora through Hargeon. First to a bar on the west end of the town, then through a seedier part where they had stumbled through a gambling den accidentally, meeting a very large and annoyed gentleman who Bora had swindled out of thousands of jewels, who had pointed them in the right direction towards Madame Cleo's. The man – named Ryan – had offered them a cut of the stolen money if they could find Bora and his cash.
They had said yes…and Ryan had looked so overjoyed that he had stuffed them both full of a deliciously hot meal and gave explicit directions to the manor house they were currently camped across the street from.
Natsu shrugged and grimaced. "That does explain the nakedness."
"That it does." Lucy plopped down on the stone bench they were making use of, (having seen no other place but a quaint little park to plan near the manor and keep a subtle eye on it) and huffed slightly into her cold hands. Even though Magnolia was still warm this time of year, Hargeon was known for its strange cold snaps that came with the changing ocean currents. "We can assume from what Ryan told us, that Bora is in there," Lucy pointed across the street "and has been for about an hour."
"We should wait for him to come out."
Lucy was stunned for a moment, so used to a crazy leap-first-into-danger-yelling-fuck-it Natsu that a plan to patiently wait something out had her gaping like a smacked Wingfish. "Why wait?"
Natsu hummed and tapped the book on his lap. He had almost finished reading her fourth journal and it had sent him into a bit of a rage earlier when he had found out about what Gajeel and then Laxus had done to her and their family. But under all that bluster, he was the same Natsu, and no matter what happened to his memories and his magic, his heart was still in there, whole and intact. She had explained the two men's reasons for their attacks and Natsu had only huffed and rolled his eyes. "You wrote that he has fire magic, like me, sorta? I don't know. But I do know that I can't eat the fire he makes anymore, I can't control it. And there are other people around, innocent people."
Lucy smiled, impressed over what she heard from Natsu. His great big heart. She loved that about him, his big stupid Dragon heart. "We'll wait, okay?" She rubbed her hands together again to relieve the chill that she could feel right down to her bones.
Two large warm hands enveloped her own and sighed as she melted. "Cold, Luce?"
Her eyes fluttered up to meet his own smiling ones. "Yeah." Her voice was breathier than she wanted it to be.
He rubbed her hands between his own, eyes half-lidded. "Better?"
"Yeah." It was like she was stuck in a loop and her brain was only able to spit out the same word over and over again.
A loud bang and a shriek of "GET OUT YOU FUCKER!" broke them out of their little spell. She peered around the tree that slightly blocked her sight only to blanch and gawk.
They watched as a very stout, obviously incredibly strong woman – they would later learn that this was Madame Cleo in the flesh – as she bodily threw a man, oops there goes Bora, into the pond filled with Koi fish on the manor's front lawn.
Natsu cocked his head to the side again and narrowed his eyes at the spluttering man. "That's him, right?"
Lucy giggled into her hand. "You betcha."
"Well, that was easy."
-ooo-
"You look vaguely familiar…"
"And you're a fucking mess, Bora."
"Just a simple misunderstanding." Bora waved away the statement and squinted hard at Natsu's face, then at his scarf.
He tried to snap his fingers in triumph but just flopped uselessly to the side as he overbalanced. Lucy made a mental note to get that new riding crop Virgo had been going on about for the lovable but Masochistic spirit. She had been so helpful binding Bora with magic restraining cuffs after Natsu had used his still considerable strength – thank the Gods for all that solid muscle – to haul the sopping wet mage of the pond.
Bora had tried to put up a little bit of struggle but gave up when he realized that Natsu had him in a solid grip and Lucy was shooting a glare at him that had him trembling.
"I got it! I'd recognize that pink hair anywhere!"
Natsu puffed his chest up a little with a hint of pride that he was recognizable even if he couldn't exactly remember why. He grinned sharply at Bora but decided not to respond to Bora and let Lucy take point. He had a feeling Lucy was the brains of this operation, and he didn't mind watching her go to work.
"The Salamander! In the flesh!" Bora's eyes flickered over to Lucy when she snapped her fingers in front of his nose in impatience.
His face shifted into something a little more heated and whole lot smarmier. "Hello beautiful, I don't think we've been introduced before. Names Bora the Prominence."
Lucy stared incredulously at the man before her who was kneeling on the ground who honestly looked like a drowned rat, cuffed and held down by her best friend. Was he flirting?
Her eyes flickered up to Natsu who had a dark scowl on his face.
Lucy's nose wrinkled in disdain. "Shut up Bora. I was kidnapped by you once and was there for your downfall." Lucy's eyes lit up with something fiery and she brandished a single golden key in front of his face. "I think you must remember Aquarius."
Bora's expression fell into a sneer. "You're the one that threw off my charms! No one had ever done that before." The second part was more to himself than anything, but Lucy shot a look up at her partner who only shrugged.
"Whatever. What do you two want now? I haven't sold a single person this time."
"You're a fugitive Bora! We're taking you back into custody and handing you off to the Rune Knights. Plus, you stole money from a man who asked us to get it back."
Bora whined then kicked his legs out and tried to barrel roll away from them, although he got stuck after a single rotation. "I don't want to go back! I hate being in solitary, I had no fans and there were absolutely no women there. Just those ridiculous frogs."
Natsu huffed and hauled Bora up by his soaking jacket so he was level with Lucy again while he searched his pockets. "We're taking you in Bora, but we want to ask about the break out beforehand." Natsu held up an almost full coin purse and jingled it.
Ah.
David's money. Looks like they would get that commission this time. And the whole amount too.
Bora shot them both a look then shrugged as much as the bindings and Natsu's grip would allow. "Nothing much to say. One minute I was in the yard doing my daily Pilates routine, don't laugh it's good for core strength, and the next there was a massive boom. After the smoke and debris cleared, there was a massive hole in the wall. What was I supposed to do? Not go through it? I'm not fucking stupid."
Lucy sighed and shook her head. "What about Ivan, can you tell me anything about him?"
Immediately Bora sobered and looked around warily. "No fucking way. He's a crazy bastard and fucking cruel. I thought Cobra was one of the worst but that guy…nope. I don't wanna get mixed up in that shit. Are you saying he's out too?"
Natsu grunted. "Yeah. Same breakout."
"Well shit. Fucking take me back to prison then! It's probably safer there."
Blonde hair whipped around as Lucy started to march out of Madame Cleo's front yard, Natsu with Bora slung over his shoulder followed behind her. "You're a damn coward Bora."
"At least I won't be a dead coward."
Lucy couldn't exactly fault his logic.
-ooo-
"So, what, we just follow you around all the time and wear these cloaks like a merry band of idiots?"
"Don't be such an asshat Cobra, we all lost to him, let's just get on with this, alright? Personally, I'm done with running, I just want to sleep peacefully."
Tan hands raked through maroon hair. "Fine, whatever, have it your way Midnight. And what the fuck is that noise! It's been beeping for the last five minutes and I know it's not any of us, so it must be you two fuck nuggets."
The woman with pink hair sighed. "Thanks for that Cobra." She turns to the man next to her. "Jellal, it's the calling card. You know they would only do this if there was an emergency."
"How far away from them are we?"
"Three days if we walk through the Worth Woodsea." His red tattoo flashed as he nodded.
One eye widened in shock as he heard a whisper of the man's soul. "Wait, you want us to go there? What makes you think they would even let us into that town, must less the guild hall?"
"Because you are a part of Crime Sorciere now, all of you. If you are with Jellal and me, then they know you can be trusted…to an extent. Please don't try to kill them all again, that would be pushing the envelope a bit."
"Relax Meredy, it's been like what, nineteen days without him trying to kill anyone. He's on a hot streak right now. Oh Yeah!" Snickers were heard throughout the group.
"That's enough Hoteye. Let's move out, there must be something big happening if they called us this way."
"Sure, or you just want to get Titania naked and sweaty. Don't try to deny it, I can hear it in the deepest parts of your soul. Although I didn't need to know that you love it when she spanks you." His grin turned feral, canines flashed in the dim light. "Well? Let's get a move on oh fearless leader. If we're going to Fairy Tail, we might as well get this shit over with sooner than later."
-ooo-
Levy looked through a curtain of green hair. "Freed, did you finish translating that part yet? I'm almost done with the second stanza in the incantation, which means that we almost have the completed spell."
"I'm almost finished, Ms. Levy. I must say that it is moving much faster with the help of Crux. We must formally thank him at the next available time."
"I agree."
They worked in silence for a while longer.
Freed concentrated on a couple of trickier runes. "You know, we can't do anything regardless of what we figure out now. No matter what we need that lacrima at least within fifty meters of Natsu to complete the spell correctly."
Levy sighed heavily and let the dusty book in her hands slump down onto the overrun table. "I know Freed. It's just…we must get this done just in case the lacrima suddenly shows up. I owe it to both Lulu and Natsu to do my best, she's my best friend and I grew up with him here." Levy dropped her voice. "They are so important to so many people here. I never noticed how quiet this place it without Natsu's rambunctious pranks and brawling, it's like all the energy was sucked out. And Lucy doesn't smile as wide now, you can tell she's worried more than she's letting on."
Freed glanced over at her, setting the quill he was using down carefully. "You are quite observant Ms. Levy." His uncovered eye observed their subdued guild. "We all owe a lot to those two. I know Laxus is putting in an unprecedented amount of effort because he can tell that Ms. Lucy is distressed."
"Those two are awfully close, aren't they?"
Freed gave Levy a small smile. "I believe Laxus once referred to their bond as kin or something of the sort. I haven't had time to research it to the full extent yet." He turned back to the task at hand while Levy did the same.
"We'll figure this out, Ms. Levy. After all, we are the brightest minds here at Fairy Tail."
Levy let out a peal of surprised laughter. "You bet your ass we are the brightest minds Freed."
If she looked closer, she could just see the hint of a smirk cross his lips before she was engrossed once again in complicated translations.
-ooo-
"This is mind-numbing work Boss. We aren't going to find anything and you know it. Your Pops was always good at disappearing and the only one that could find him at any point in time was Gajeel."
"Yah I know Bix, let's just do one more town and then find a bar somewhere. I need a drink, or five."
Evergreens fanned snapped out as she fanned herself haughtily. "Men, I don't know why I put up with your half of the species at all. The testosterone displays are enough to drive any woman to lesbianism, or celibacy. And just listening to you Neanderthals is seriously having me close to throwing in the proverbial towel when it comes to your gender. Tch, useless, all of you."
"Ugh, Ever, give it a rest. You know you love men. You have the manliest man there ever was wrapped around your little finger. I bet he calls everyone a 'real man' just to get you to hit him with your fan, probably turns him on. Such a masochist."
"Shut up Laxus, you're no better pining over Freed. What, did you think we wouldn't notice the long glances and 'accidental touches' you two have shared over the past few month, hmm?"
Laxus scowled at the dirt and pouted. "Shut up."
"That didn't sound like a denial Boss."
"Hurry the fuck up! I want to black out tonight and forget this idiotic conversation." Sometimes Laxus really hated his team.
-ooo-
"I can't believe that idiot got it so ass-backward! He actually stole the wrong magic? Gods, no wonder the Master was raging like a bull in a china shop this morning."
"Dammit, can't you fucking keep your trap shut, or at least talk a little quieter? Gods, you're no better than him and he has a fucking sword sticking out of his chest. He would probably be better company right now; your voice is grating on my nerves."
Gajeel grunted from his quiet corner in the sixth tavern he had visited. Just his luck, those dark guild lackeys were always so chatty after a good ale or two. He poked Lily in the stomach, who woke up from his doze with a snort and a grumble.
"Come on Lily. It's finally gettin' good." And it was, amazingly so.
Gajeel flicked his eyes to where the two men were sitting and heard every word of their "private" conversation perfectly even without the use of his exceptional hearing.
"What does Master need with such ancient magic anyways? I know there aren't many celestial wizards left in the world, but why that particular magic?"
"Dunno, something to do with time, or time travel, or something like that. I didn't really care either way."
Lily sucked in a breath as Gajeel growled. "Did you hear that? It seems like Lucy is in trouble yet again."
"Yah I heard, let's wait it out and kick their scrawny asses outside later just to make sure that all the information we heard was true." Gajeel downed the last of his bourbon and slammed the glass down on the wooden table.
Why the hell was it always Bunny girl?
Gajeel felt a fierce loyalty to that blonde headed little spitfire who had stood her ground and spat in his face, who had taken his beatings and gotten up again, had enough magic energy to summon a golden key and find a way to get a power up the Salamander in time.
And the fact that she was his Shrimp's best friend? No brainer. She was kin faster than you could say shoobedoba.
Lily gave him a skeptical look. "You know they have no reason to lie to each other. You just want to punch something don't you?"
"Gihi, you got me all figured out, don't cha?"