The next chapter is up! I hope you enjoy!
November 11, X790
Jason had arrived at the town of Woodlea and entered the local inn. As soon as he got in, he noticed that Kagura was waiting for him in the lobby.
"Ah, Jason, you've arrived." Kagura said. "My guild mate and I have already reserved a room for you. Please, follow me."
Jason followed Kagura to the second floor and entered one of the rooms, where Milliana was waiting.
"Wow, he's even cuter in person!" Milliana said, staring at Jason.
"Great, you're making fun of me just as soon as you see me." Jason muttered.
"Could you knock it off with that attitude of yours?" Kagura asked before returning her attention to her guild mates. "Anyway, were you successful in finding the mansion's blueprints?"
"Got 'em right here." Milliana replied, pulling out a paper with the layout of a mansion. "Here's the plan I've have come up with." Milliana pulled out a photo of a beautifully crafted ring. "The item that Baron Cyrille stole from the client is this ring. I will sneak in and search for the ring while you two sneak into the party without raising any suspicion."
"Wouldn't a party like this be invitation only?" Jason questioned. "Nobody's getting in without an invitation."
"Already taken of." Milliana said as she held up a letter. "I bagged this off the original guest a few days ago. It says you're allowed to bring one guest with you and you'll have to assume the identity of Svante Frans."
"Milliana, based on your feelings toward Jason, I would have thought you wanted to join him at the party." Kagura said.
"Aha, I did, but…" Milliana nervously chuckled.
(Milliana's Flashback)
Earlier, Milliana was alone in the room holding a coin in her hand.
"All right." She said. "Heads it's Kagura, Tails it's me!"
Milliana flipped the coin and watched it fall to the ground. Her face became sad once she saw that the coin landed on heads.
(End Flashback)
"This probably works out for the best anyway." Kagura said. "You're better suited for stealth than I am, Milliana."
"Anyway, you two are very likely going to have to dance at the party, so for the next few days you two will need to learn how to dance together." Milliana said before muttering to herself. "Lucky…"
"It's a good thing you planned to bring me here two days beforehand." Jason said. "I know a thing or two about formal dances. My parents forced me to learn them in case I was ever married to a noblewoman."
"Then I would be honored if you would teach me these dances." Kagura said, politely bowing to Jason.
In the room the Mermaid Heel wizards reserved for Jason next door, Jason was ready to start teaching Kagura how to dance which was made evident by him starting to play waltz music.
"First, know that ballroom dancing is always done in pairs." Jason said. "Second is posture; never slouch or lean toward your partner."
Both of them stood up straight.
"Good, next we must look over each other's right shoulder." Jason said as he took a small step to his left. "Next, I take your right hand with my left and I cup my right hand on your left shoulder blade. Also, your left hand should be on top of my right shoulder."
Jason was slightly taller than Kagura, so he lowered his arms so that his right hand was touching the back of her shoulder while his left hand held her right hand. She then placed her left hand on his shoulder.
"While we should be close together, we shouldn't be too close." Jason continued. "The distance we're at right now is perfect. We're both able to move our feet and our knees won't bump into each other. One important thing of note is that the man generally leads. Now let's start with the common waltz box step. Ready to follow my lead?"
Kagura nodded.
"Okay." Jason said before slowly moving. "1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3…"
"You're a lot lighter on your feet than I thought." Kagura said. "I'm glad I asked you to join us for this job."
"I'm nowhere near as good a dancer as Spiral though." Jason said. "Though that might have to do with the fact that he has a thing for music. I'm sure someday he'll be doing this very same dance with Hikari."
"Who?"
"This girl who he likes that likes him back, but he's not ready to admit that he likes her yet."
"By the way, did you bring a nice suit along?"
"When I heard about the job, I figured I might need it. Do you have a dress?"
"Indeed I do."
"Then I guess the only thing left to do is finish these dance lessons."
Later that night in Kagura and Milliana's room, Kagura had returned after taking a shower while Milliana was already sound asleep.
"Rest up, Milliana." Kagura said as she got dressed and lied down on her bed. "We've got a big day tomorrow."
Just as Kagura was about to fall asleep, Milliana spoke up.
"Kagura-chan… I think this dance might be good for you."
"Hm?"
Kagura then noticed that Milliana was talking in her sleep, so she went back to sleep. However, Milliana opened up one of her eyes before going back to sleep.
A few hours later in Jason's room, he was asleep having a surreal dream.
(Begin Dream)
Jason opened his eyes to find himself restrained to a cold, metal table. A silhouetted man approached him holding a lacrima as blue as the ocean and turned to Jason holding a scalpel. As Jason's eyes closed, all he could hear was the scream coming from his own mouth.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
(End Dream)
"AH!" Jason shot up awake, drenched in cold sweat and panting heavily. "What the hell was that?"
Jason then noticed then sunlight beaming through the blinds of the window, realizing it must be morning.
"Jason, are you all right?" Kagura's voice spoke from the other room. "We heard you screaming."
"I'm-I'm fine!" Jason called back.
November 12, X790
It was nightfall as the soiree at the mansion was ready to begin. In the middle of some bushes outside the gates where no one else was, Kagura, dressed in her formal attire (from the end of the Grand Magic Games), was speaking with Milliana.
"Once I've successfully found the ring, I'll meow to signal you guys." Milliana said before hiding in the bushes.
Kagura began to walk over toward the front of the gates.
"Jason should be over-" Kagura stopped talking as soon as she saw Jason.
Jason was wearing a lavish, grey tuxedo that left Kagura speechless and her heart beating faster.
"Hey, you ready?" Jason asked Kagura.
"Uh, oh, y-yes." Kagura replied. *What came over me just then?*
"If we want to make this look convincing, we should link arms." Jason said as he took Kagura's arm and wrapped it around his own.
This made Kagura feel even more uncomfortable to the point that she was almost blushing.
"Is something wrong?" Jason asked.
"No, I'm fine." Kagura answered as calmly as she could.
The two walked through the gate and to the front door where they were greeted by a man with a clipboard.
"Name, please?"
"Svante Frans, and one guest." Jason told him.
"Come on in." The man motioned them to proceed.
Jason and Kagura entered the mansion and came across a massive ballroom filled to the brim with fancy guests.
"Since we don't really know anybody here, I think it would be best to avoid talking with the other guests as much as possible." Jason whispered to her. "If they ask us something, we'll have to redirect the conversation toward them."
Kagura nodded.
Meanwhile, Milliana was sneaking through the dark hallways, avoiding any guards patrolling them.
*Almost there…* She thought as she quietly slipped past another guard.
After some time had passed, the dances were about to begin.
"That's our cue." Jason whispered to Kagura.
"Right." Kagura whispered back.
Jason and Kagura walked out to the dance floor and as Jason took Kagura's hand and placed his hand on her shoulder, she could feel her heart beat faster again.
*There's that sensation again.* She thought. *Am I coming down with something? No, I've only gotten this way around-*
As the two started to dance, she felt like she was suddenly on cloud nine and the rest of the world didn't seem to even cross her mind.
*What is this feeling?* She continued thinking to herself. *Have those dance lessons and my guild mates gotten to me? Am I really starting to think that-*
Jason twirled Kagura outward, still holding onto her hand and then twirled her back toward him.
*Now that I get a better look at him, he IS kind of handsome.* She thought. *No, no, I already know he likes someone else… someone else that might never come back, but still I shouldn't interfere with that.*
As the music closed, everyone else around them seemed to be clapping.
"Bravo!"
"Good show!"
"If only my wife looked like her."
Milliana had reached the room where the ring was being kept. The ring was on the other side of the room and several magic circles were lying between her and the ring.
*There are traps set up over the floor.* She thought.
She took out her cat paw whip, lashed it out, wrapped it around the ring and brought it back to her.
"Gotcha!" She exclaimed.
"Hey, I think I heard something." A voice from outside the room said.
"Eyah…" She uttered.
"Kaaaaaguraaaa-chaaaaaaan!"
Back in the ballroom, Jason and Kagura looked toward where they heard the shouting and saw Milliana running toward them frantically being chased by several dozen guards.
"I got the ring, let's go!" Milliana shouted.
Baron Cyrille came out of the crowd of people.
"Guards, stop them!" The Baron ordered.
Kagura and Jason started to run away with Milliana.
"If only I had my sword on hand, I could defeat them with ease!" Kagura said.
"Then I guess I'll have to slow them down." Jason said as he created a gust of wind around his right arm and pointed it toward the guards chasing him. "Zephyr Railgun!"
Jason fired the gust of wind at the guards and the Baron and the attack sent them flying in the other direction.
*He's gotten really strong over the last four months.* Kagura thought.
As they continued to run away, all Kagura did was smile lightly.
Meanwhile in a distant town, two young women entered a tavern and sat down at the bar. One had short blonde hair, slightly tanned skin and wore a light blue tube top that exposed her midriff and large cleavage, a small dark blue jacket over it and white pants. The other had medium length, brilliant rose ('brilliant rose' is a real color; look it up) hair, a chest almost as large as her partner's and wore a white shirt under a fuchsia jacket and black pants. All the men in the bar seemed to be checking them out.
"Give me your biggest bowl of ice cream." The blonde requested from the bartender.
"I'll just have a beer." The other girl ordered.
The bartender brought them their orders and the blonde started to pig out with the ice cream while the other girl just drank her beer. As they were minding their own business, a man approached the women.
"Hey, you two are a couple of fine looking ladies." The man said.
The blonde stopped eating her ice cream upon hearing the man's voice.
"If this bar is a meat market, then you must be the prime rib." The man said, trying to get a good look at the blonde's chest.
Suddenly, the blonde grabbed his crotch and her hand started to become as cold as ice.
"Let's get something straight." The blonde said with a terrifying look on her face. "NOBODY talks to me while I'm eating. Interrupt me again and I'll freeze your nuts off, got it?"
"This music…" The other woman spoke up as she was paying attention to the music that was playing on a record player. "There's no rhythm to it. It's too… classical for my taste."
The rose-haired woman walked up to the record player and smashed it to pieces.
"Hey, you better pay for that!" The bartender shouted.
"Why should I pay for your bad taste in music?" She asked. "Let me show you what real music is."
She took in a deep breath and she started singing, though it sounded a lot more like screaming.
"Agh! My ears!" One of the other men in the bar shouted and covered his ears.
The blonde then came in and beat up every other person in the bar until only the bartender was left. The rosette stopped singing/screaming, picked up someone's water from a nearby table and drank some of it.
"Damn, my throat always feels so sore after doing that." The rosette said.
The blonde had finished her ice cream. "By the way, did we forget someone?"
"Frost, Melody, how could you just leave me behind like that?!" A voice came from outside the tavern. A gold colored Exceed came flying in and flew up to the blonde.
*Those names…* The bartender thought to himself. *They must be that mercenary duo, Frost Sokolov (Age 21) and Melody Quinn (Age 21)! I got to get out of here!*
Before the bartender could run away, the blonde named Frost grabbed his face and froze him in ice on the spot.
"You're so awesome, Frost!" The Exceed shouted as he flew into Frost's bosom. "Let me reward you with a little fondling."
"You're such a pervert, Cole." The rosette named Melody said to the Exceed.
"You two certainly live up to your reputations." Another voice said as the speaker approached the bar.
The three looked over to see a woman wearing a dark blue cloak with the hood up.
"And who might you be?" Melody asked.
"I'm your new employer." The cloaked person said as they removed their hood, revealing to be a woman with wild brown hair and sharp beast like teeth. "My name is Luna Ulric (Age 24)."
A/N: Finally managed to progress in the relationship between Jason and Kagura! I hope I portrayed her properly in this as she's a tough character to write for compared to the other Fairy Tail girls. I also figured I'd introduce a couple of new characters as well. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for next time!