Whew! This is a long chapter. 15 pages in Word and almost 5000 words.

I'm thinking of changing Myles's name to Sophie. Thoughts?

To any of you who are worrying that this will be one of those fics where Lucy and Myles will only serve as "damsels in distress", you can rest easy. I also dislike stories like that and I can promise you that this will not be one of them.

Please enjoy.

When it came down to it, Lucy and Myles didn't have the heart to throw their unconscious comrades out. Instead, they put them both on the floor in the living room with a couple of pillows and some blankets. Happy and Max were allowed to sleep on the couch under the condition that they not get cat-hair everywhere. Their generosity, however, backfired sometime in the night. When Lucy woke up in the morning, she let out an ear-drum-shattering scream when she opened her eyes only to see Natsu's pink hair right beside her in her twin-sized bed. Startled awake by Lucy's scream, Myles jumped out of bed and ultimately tripped over Drake, who was lying on the floor next to her bed. They officially learned their lesson then and promptly shoved them out the front door, even though they would all be leaving for their jobs soon.

"Ugh… Kill me… Please… just… end it now," Drake managed to get out between urges to puke.

"Who would have thought that he would have such severe motion sickness?" Myles inquired, sitting next to the very sick Drake on the train. He was currently leaned heavily on her left side, her being by the window, and she wished he wouldn't. Judging by his face, she was in the splatter zone and she was not looking forward to that.

"Yeah, he can't stand any kind of transportation," Max said, sitting in the bench across from the two. He watched as his companion slid onto the floor. "Natsu has that problem too," he added as an after-thought.

"Huh. You don't say," Myles said, intrigued.

Myles, Drake, and Max were on their way to Hargeon. There they would be searching for someone called Bora of Prominence. According to the job request, the client also had reliable information saying that Bora was working closely with someone from the underground to kidnap young women, ages 16 to 30. The job request happened to be from a local police officer. The request says that the police in Hargeon, a quaint port town, are not equipped to deal with mages above the novice level. The mages who accepted the job would have to find Bora, apprehend him and all his accomplices, and deliver them into police custody. Myles was mostly just stunned that Hargeon actually had a functioning police force.

Myles thought as she read over the job request. It didn't sound too hard and the reward wasn't anything to brag about, though she guessed that would be true for her first job as a Fairy Tail mage. The hardest part would be actually finding this Bora character. All they had was a scrape of cloth from an earlier capture-attempt by the police and some hand-drawn sketches, though it didn't seem like a reliable sketch. What is the cloth for? She wondered. Were we supposed to bring a dog or something?

Looking outside, Myles was once again reminded of the state of Fiore. Passing through a city on the way to Hargeon, she could see the city's disarray, even if it was just for a moment. She'd only been in Magnolia for a few days, but there was something about that city. She'd been traveling around Fiore for several years and she knew all too well the chaos the country descended into after the collapse of the government in X778. However, while in Magnolia, she managed to feel and act as if that world didn't exist, much like the villagers she observed when they first arrived. It felt like every city was a city like Magnolia: that it was the standard, not the exception.

"Alright! We're here!" Max shouted. He looked to congratulate his teammate on another hard-won victory over transportation, but found that he wasn't there. In fact, he wasn't even in the train car from what they could see.

"At last! Sweet, solid, un-moving ground!" they each heard in the distance.

Myles and Max looked out the window to see Drake kneeling over and worshiping the ground.

"How are we even supposed to find this guy?" Myles questioned her companions as they walked along the streets of Hargeon.

"Who cares about that right now? Let's get something to eat!" Drake said, clutching his rumbling stomach.

"Yeah, I want some fish!" Max shouted as the two raced off to the nearest restaurant.

Ugh. What am I going to do with those two? Myles thought sullenly as they left her in the dust.

"Kyaa! Salamander!" she heard some girl screech on the other side of the road.

"I love you, Salamander!"

"Not as much as I love you, Salamander!"

"Salamander!"

Myles was now standing in front of a large throng of women surrounding a single man. He was tall and slim, with average-looking hair. He wore nothing out of the ordinary, though she thought the cape was overdoing it a little.

"Ladies, ladies, please don't fight. There's plenty of me to go around," the one called Salamander said.

Such a smooth, deep voice, Myles thought. And he's really handsome now that I think about it…

She couldn't help but move closer to him. It was as if her body moved of its own will, not that she minded. Now that she was getting closer, she could feel her heart beating faster, like it was hammering in her chest. Her body started to heat up and she could practically see the blush staining her cheeks. Her skin felt all tingly. She was getting all flustered just by getting near this man.

She didn't feel like she was dressed well enough to be in the presence of this man. From the pile of clothes given to her and Lucy, she opted for a pair of khakis shorts, cut off at her mid-thigh, and a light purple blouse. While the shorts hugged her curvy hips nicely and the blouse did nothing to hide her breasts, she didn't feel like it was enough. She felt like she should be in some kind of evening gown with perfect hair and makeup.

What are these feelings? She thought. I've never believed in love at first sight, but could this be…?

"Hey Myles, come on. We got a table at the restaurant," Drake said as he approached her through the crowd of fangirls.

He put his hand on her shoulder, thinking she hadn't heard him, and the spell shattered. Her body returned to normal and she didn't feel like she was going to faint in his presence anymore. With the sudden disappearance of these feelings, it didn't take more than a few seconds for Myles to realize what was going on.

He must be using some kind of charm magic. The pervert. She thought.

"Myles, come on. Max is waiting for us," Drake said, nudging her slightly.

"Hang on a second. This guy's using magic to seduce women. Maybe he's in league with the guy we're after," Myles said, not taking her eyes off of this "Salamander" for a second.

"Alright. Let's beat him up and then we'll ask him," Drake said, starting to move through the crowd.

In hindsight, Drake probably should have said that a bit quieter. As soon as he finished his sentence, the brain-washed women were upon him like a pack of hungry wolves. They descended on him without mercy, hitting, pulling, and generally doing all they could to 'punish' him for his intentions. They were saying things like "don't even think about it" and "like hell we're gonna let you do something like that."

"Ladies, there's no need to fight," said Salamander as he helped Drake to his feet after being pummeled.

"Oh, Salamander. You're so kind."

"It's nothing really," he said. "Here. You can have this for your troubles," he said as he handed Drake a copy of his signature.

"Uh… No thanks."

"How dare you disrespect Salamander like that!" shouted the women in uproar.

"Ok! Ok! I'll take the stupid signature," Drake grumbled after the beating the fangirls gave him.

"Well, then. Since that matter has been resolved, I must take my leave. I'm having a party tonight on my boat and you're all invited!" Salamander announced. He snapped his fingers and flew off on a platform of purple fire.

"I can't believe that we let him get away. He was probably working with Bora," Myles moped as she nibbled on her food at the restaurant.

"Relax. We'll catch that guy later. Right now we eat!" Drake said as he devoured his food.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll definitely find this Bora guy," Max reassured.

"And how are we supposed to do that? We've let our only lead run away," Myles said, starting to get angry.

"We got that piece of cloth, right?" Drake asked, looking at Max.

"Yep," Max replied.

"How is that supposed to help us?" Myles asked incredulously.

"Drake has a really sharp nose," Max asserted, showing pride in his companion's abilities.

"It can't be that good can it?" Myles asked skeptically.

"Don't underestimate it," Max said like he knew something she didn't. She imagined that he knew several things about Drake that she didn't.

"Relax, Myles. We'll definitely complete this job," Drake reassured her with a big smile.

"Right," she said, admitting defeat. There was no fighting that confidence in his oddly-shaped, orange eyes, she knew at least that much about him.

"That pervert said he was having a party on a boat tonight. I guess we'll have to attend if we want to investigate him," Myles reasoned.

Drake immediately turned green and started acting like he was going to puke at the mention of the boat.

"Oh, come on! Just by mentioning it?"

Later, Myles and Max boarded the pervert's boat. They knew this was the one because there were so many brain-washed fangirls crowding the area. Myles managed to work out a deal with a local shop so she was outfitted in a lovely evening gown for the occasion.

It really was amazing, this town. Even though it went without the protection of a guild, it still managed to remain essentially uncorrupted. If she had to guess, she would say that the ports in Hargeon were an invaluable resource to the towns and cities surrounding it. Any potential aggressors wouldn't dare squander such a resource in a time like this.

Drake was hardly pleased about separating, even though she assured him that she was a mage and was quite capable of handling this herself. He grumbled something under his breath that Myles hadn't quite heard, but it mattered little. They walked around the city for the rest of the afternoon fruitlessly trying to pick up a scent using the cloth. The pervert throwing the party was still the only lead they had to this Bora guy. Since Drake would be less than useless on the boat, she had no choice but to go alone At the very least, Drake made her promise to take Max along, to which she agreed. He was floating along beside her while she mingled through the crowd. People gave them weird stares, but she didn't care. She found that she actually liked having him around; he was a lot of fun when he wasn't being obnoxious or while he was having one of those depression fits after someone criticized him.

"Ah, so you made it," said a voice she recognized all too well.

Myles turned around and, sure enough, there was Salamander. He seemed to be staring at her breasts. She wasn't very surprised; after all, her bust looked amazing in her dress. Besides, any man that used magic just to attract the attention of women was bound to be a pervert.

"Like you even recognize me. We only saw each other for two minutes," Myles said plainly, not fooled by his charade.

"You're the one that was with the blonde fellow, yes? He refused to accept my signature?"

"Fine, you know who I am. Your charm spell still won't work on me. That magic's weakness is awareness," she said stubbornly.

"I had a feeling you were a mage," Salamander said smoothly, giving her a smile.

"Psh, as if. You're just saying that so you don't look like a complete idiot and a pervert, which you do."

This time, Salamander showed a hint of anger, but only for just a second. It left as quickly as it arrived, buried under the creepy façade once more. He was definitely hiding something, Myles deduced.

"Pervert? How cruel," he said. "Are you referring to this?" he asked as he held up his hand, displaying the ring holding the charm spell. "I just want to be popular at my party. Is that so bad?"

It's still wrong to manipulate innocent civilians like that, she thought, but refrained from saying anything.

"Here, why don't I poor you a glass of champagne and sit with you for a while? Maybe then you'll see that I'm not such a bad guy," Salamander said.

"Like I would drink anything that comes from you. Who knows what could be in it," Myles said in defiance.

This time that look of aggravation lingered for just a second longer. She was getting to him. Soon, she'd have him eating out of the palm of her hand, giving her answers without even realizing it.

"I hope you don't mind if I help myself then? I'm quite thirsty," Salamander said as he moved to poor himself some champagne.

"Myles, I've got a bad feeling about this guy. I think we should get off the boat," Max whispered into her ear.

"I know what you mean. Let me ask him a couple questions and then we'll leave," Myles whispered back.

"Salamander, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind," Myles said, gaining his attention once more.

"Anything, my dear," he said, giving her a heated look.

While he might of thought it was "sexy" or "erotic", it came off as creepy and weird and Myles shuddered a bit.

"Do you know anything about a man named Bora?"

Salamander immediately stood up and looked genuinely shocked. Then his faced returned back to "normal" with a smirk. "I didn't think anyone would find me so quickly. You must be guild mages looking to apprehend me" he said darkly.

Myles jumped up and readied herself in a battle stance. "I had suspected you were connected to him, but I never thought that an idiot like you would actually be a renowned criminal," Myles insulted.

This time the anger did not fade. "Such a bad girl. I guess since you know my real name, I have no choice but to act now." He snapped his fingers and two large, burly men scrambled into the room. They restrained her and Max with ease since they were in a small room. She could hear trouble through the wall as the other guests on the boat were similarly restrained.

"I am Bora of Providence and welcome aboard my slave ship!" He said in a malicious tone. "It's such a shame really. I was willing to treat all of you as my esteemed guests until it was time to sell you, but I guess my kindness was misplaced."

Myles chose that moment to strike. Using her magic, she momentarily altered her heels so that they were made of iron. She slammed her iron heels into one of the henchmen's foot, probably breaking it. She used his confusion to break free and deliver a swift, hard kick to the other henchman's face, effectively knocking him unconscious. She similarly dispatched the first henchman.

"My, my. That's some unusual magic you have there. I'm not sure that I've ever faced someone that uses Alteration Magic," Bora said calmly.

"You have a keen eye," Myles said as she took a battle stance once more, ready for Bora to make his move.

"Unfortunately for you, I already know that magic's weakness," Bora said as he raised his hand. "Though you can manipulate your surroundings, you can't alter your opponent's magic," he said with a grin, sure in his victory. A jet of purple fire magic shot from his hand, racing toward Myles from across the small room. She only had a second to act.

Instinct took over and she dodged. With a destructive-type fire magic like that, it wouldn't turn out well for her if she continued her fight in the tiny room. She bolted for the door and ran for the deck. [Please don't quit reading because you think Myles is weak. I promise that's not the case.]

"Running away, are we? How shameful," Bora said as he followed.

When he arrived on the deck, he found that his henchmen were all defeated, and the gray cat was leading them below deck and out of harm's way. He turned his head to the right and saw Myles standing at the edge of the deck, her arms held up and a magic circle in front of her hands. She seemed to be concentrating and she was sweating and shaking slightly. Bora's eyes widened in fear when he saw what she was doing.

There was a huge wave rising not far from the boat.

We're not that far from shore. This will take almost all of my magic power, but a wave this big should push us back to shore. If we fought while on the boat, those civilians would be in danger; getting them to safety is more important than that idiot. I'll just have to trust Drake to take care of him.

"What are you doing, you idiot girl? You'll kill us all!" Bora shouted as he sent a blast of purple fire racing toward her.

He was too late, though. Myles released her magic and the wave crashed into the boat. Myles managed to grab onto something before she was thrown overboard. Thankfully, enough of the boat was sticking out of the water that most of the wave crashed into the side, not on the deck. There was a hard jerk as the wave impacted. Just as she planned, the boat was pushed along the water by the force of the wave for a minute or two until it hit the sand and halted. Hopefully, no one was hurt below deck. She stood up on shaky legs and looked around. The ship didn't look too damaged, which was a good sign. She didn't see Bora; maybe he was thrown overboard. She went below deck and began to help the party guests.

When she arrived at the shore, Drake and Max were waiting. Apparently, Max flew off the ship before the wave crashed and went to find Drake.

"Pretty smart thinking there, Myles. I think you'll fit in just fine at Fairy Tail," he said with a grin. "Too bad I had to hear about your magic from Max instead of seeing it for myself."

"I don't know about that," Myles said, breathing heavily. Crashing that wave left her with almost no magic power and she was feeling its effects. "Bora might still be around. I didn't see him after the boat settled on the shore."

Drake sniffed the air for a few seconds. "I can smell him, so he's not too far off. You look like you're done for today, so I'll take care of it. Max can stay with you," he said as he walked off.

Not long after Drake left, she saw two figures emerge from some of the debris from the ship.

"That's her, sir. That's the bitch that did this to your boat," she heard Bora say.

"Oh really? You let a mere child get the better of you, Bora? How disgraceful," said the second man.

"Don't worry, Mr. Tucker. I'm going to finish her off right now."

She waited for Bora to approach. She doubted that she would be able to run for very long in her condition. Besides, it was her mission to capture this man. How would it look if she ran away now?

"I have to admit, you got me with that wave. I wasn't expecting anything like that. But no matter. You're going to die here and there's nothing you can do to stop me in your condition!" Bora said with malice in his voice. He had a view bruises, but looked generally unscathed.

"Just try it! I've got more than enough magic to kick your ass all over Hargeon!" Myles shouted defiantly.

Enraged, he outstretched his arms and shouted, "Prominence Whip!" Several beams of fire shot out of his magic circle and raced towards Myles.

I've only got enough magic for one more alteration. If I attack from long range it will give him too much time to dodge. In that case… Myles didn't make any effort to dodge. When the jets of purple fire neared her, she used her magic to gather his fire around her fist, making sure to alter it enough so that it wouldn't hurt her. She raced toward Bora, intent on finishing their duel in one blow.

"Impossible! You can't manipulate my fire with your magic!" Bora shouted. He knew that she shouldn't be able to affect his magic with her Alteration. He was shocked and frozen in his place for a second, unable to accept her falsehood. He figured it must be some kind of trick.

In his hesitation, he allowed her to get within striking range. He tried to avoid it, knowing that blocking would be useless with the amount of magic around her fist, but it was too late. Her fist found its mark. His own magic exploded in his face, knocking him back through the hull of the boat and effectively keeping him down for the count.

"You shouldn't make assumptions about another person's magic."

Good. I managed to defeat him with the rest of my magic. The only problem is… she thought as she turned to face his accomplice, who watched their battle from the sidelines, thankfully. I can't believe that I forgot. The job request said that Bora was probably working with an accomplice. Hopefully, Drake heard us and is heading over here. If not, I'll have to send Max to go find him. I hope I can last that long against an opponent I know nothing about without any magic.

"I can see why Bora lost," said the man, Mr. Tucker according to Bora, as he approached. "He was out of his league."

"Thanks, I guess," Myles said, off-put by his strange compliment.

"I know him," Max said grimly. "He's Oliver Tucker of the Single Strike. He's a local gang leader involved in drugs and human trafficking. He uses a crude magic that focuses all of his energy into one blast."

"It seems that my reputation precedes me, though I'm not sure how I should take it from a talking cat," Oliver said smugly. "Sorry, but I don't really have time to sit around and chat. After all the damage you've caused, I'm going to have a lot of work to do." He raised his hand and directed it at Myles and Max. "Single Strike: Bolt." A huge blast of lightning erupted from his palm.

If only she had some magic; it would be child's play to alter a spell like this. There was no way they could avoid a blast like that, the explosion would be too wide.

Made it just in time, Drake thought as he shoved Myles and Max out of the beam's way, putting himself directly in the line of fire.

"Drake, wait!" Myles shouted, but she was too late. Drake was caught in the beam. His body would surely be incinerated by the dense magic energy in that blast. She turned her face and closed her eyes, feeling despair seize her heart. How was she going to tell the other members of Fairy Tail this? How would she even be able to face them?

"Oh, Yuck!"

Her head snapped forward and her eyes shot open. Drake stood there, exactly as he was, completely un-incinerated by the blast.

But… How? Myles thought incredulously. Then she looked closer and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Drake was… eating the lightning?

Yes, she was sure that was what she was seeing. He was slurping up the last bits of lightning like noodles, after physically grabbing the lightning and taking bites out of it, like it was cotton candy or something.

"Lightning magic won't work on Drake," Max said in an eerie tone.

"It wasn't very tasty, but thanks anyway," Drake said after he finished his 'meal.'

"Ah, I see. So that's who I'm fighting," Oliver said, recognizing Drake's orange guild insignia on the inside of his right forearm. "A member of Fairy Tail's Triple Dragons, a team made up entirely of Dragon Slayers."

"I wouldn't really call this a fight," Drake said with a victorious, fanged grin. "Max said that you use all your magic in one attack, so you're done for," he said as he cracked his knuckles. Small flashes of lightning darted around his body.

Oliver let out a maniacal laugh. "You think I would waste all of my magic on brats like you?" He settled down after a few seconds. "Still… Maybe I should take this seriously. You don't look like the type of opponent I can beat with only one chance. After all, I'm up against someone that can kill dragons," he said as he pulled a gun from his robe. "I'm sure you realize that this is no ordinary gun. I can use this magic gun to space out my magic energy, allowing me to fire multiple blasts," he boasted.

"Bring it on," Drake said as he charged.

"Wow," Myles said as she watched Drake fight. "How does it work?"

Max watched his companion with more than a little pride. "He uses dragon lungs to breathe the lightning, dragon scales to dispel the lightning, and dragon claws to control the lightning. Dragon Slayer Magic is an ancient magic that allows the user to take on all the qualities of a dragon."

"Wow," she repeated in awe. "Did he really learn it from an actual dragon?"

"He learned from his foster-father Stormania, the Lightning Dragon."

"H-His father?" Myles asked, stunned by the revelation. Sure, she'd heard the rumors that they learned from dragons, but to find out that they were raised by them?

"Yep. Stormania found Drake when he was a kid and raised him, but one day he vanished, leaving Drake all alone. The same thing happened to Natsu's dad: Igneel the Fire Dragon."

So Fairy Tail has two Dragon Slayers: Drake, the Lightning Dragon Slayer, and Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer, who were both raised and taught by dragons. Kind of a big standard to live up to, Myles thought. According to that girl from school, there used to be another, but he left for some reason. I wonder why that is…

"Man, that guy was weak," Drake said dejectedly as he returned victorious from his fight. "I didn't even break a sweat. And he got my hopes up after he said he could still fight," he pouted.

"Those guys look tough, Drake," Max said pointing to the henchmen that gathered to watch the fight. "I'm sure one of them would be willing to fight you."

"H-He beat Mr. Tucker like it was nothing…" stammered one of the henchmen.

"He's a monster that can eat magic."

"Run! He's coming this way!" warned another as he took off. The rest of the henchmen followed his example and began to run away.

"Aw come on, guys! I just want to beat the crap out of ya'!" Drake called out as he chased after them, desperate for more violence.

Myles looked at the unconscious Bora and Mr. Tucker. She was still on the ground from when Drake shoved her aside. "Well, I guess that completes our job. All we have to do now is turn them into the police."

"Aye!" Max said, mimicking his friend.

Thanks for reading. Please review.