Natsu stared at the ceiling of his hotel room. It had been a long night. With Erza not with them to chaperone, the two couples had split off for the night without much discussion. Gajeel and Levy were still unofficial, but Natsu was not about to be a third wheel and instead coughed up the jewels to spend the night alone in a room. He should've just found a park bench. It probably would have been more comfortable. The bed was as hard as a rock. Plus, he just happened to have the room next to Gray and Juvia's and knew for a fact that they hadn't slept much overnight either.
He thought about Lucy, not that that was unusual, but this time he actually thought about Lucy. Did she know he'd started looking for her? Was she going to make the sign obvious to him? Had she suffered without him as he did without her?
"I miss you," he said under his breath, "And I really wish you'd hurry up and give me that stupid sign. Or at least point me to what I'm looking for."
Accepting that sleep wasn't going to happen again for him, Natsu got up, showered quickly, and headed downstairs for the continental breakfast. He guessed that was one okay thing about rooming alone…the bathroom was all his.
Natsu loved continental breakfasts. He had his choice of pancakes, bacon, waffles, fruits, and yogurts – unlimited quantities. He loaded his plate up and sat at a corner table, then went back for his coffee.
Once seated, he took out his miniature map to choose the next destination. Obviously, Hargeon was a bomb, other than obtaining Pookey. There was no indication of anything worth noting at all. He realized he'd probably have to travel all of Fiore and he still might not get a sign from Lucy's key. He didn't know how to look for a Celestial key. With that thought in mind, he pulled out Lucy's Celestial magic book again, realizing he hadn't actually read past the first chapter. He flipped to the back of the book, looking up Celestial Keys in the glossary before turning to the page it indicated ¾ of the way into the book.
He scanned the page, looking for anything that might indicate how to search for a Celestial key.
Celestial Keys
Most Celestial keys can be bought in a magic shop in most towns. However, sometimes wizards receive them as compensation for a mission or inherit them from other Celestial wizards.
The paragraph went on about how to make a contract, etc., which he promised himself he'd read later, but he couldn't find any text anywhere about tracking Celestial keys.
"Luce," he whispered under his breath, knowing he'd been talking to her a lot lately, "I need some help. Please tell me how to find you."
He sighed, waiting. Flipping the pages of the book, he suddenly paused.
Celestial keys that are lost will often emit a heartbeat to Celestial mages that are listening for them. This is the key calling to the mage. The heartbeat cannot be heard until the mage is within range of the Celestial being.
He paused, remembering the heartbeat that Lucy was hearing from the egg. Atria was calling out for her.
"Are you calling for me, Lucy?" he whispered forlornly, "I don't know where to look for you."
By the time the two couples made it downstairs, Natsu was drinking his fourth cup of coffee, still pouring over the book.
"Find anything interesting in that book, Cowboy?" Levy asked, sitting beside him while Gajeel went to get some breakfast for her.
"I'm stumped," Natsu admitted, "I did read that a Celestial key will emit a heartbeat when a Celestial mage is close. Like what Lucy was hearing. But I don't hear anything, Levy."
She smiled gently, placing a hand over his, "Then she's not in Hargeon."
Gajeel growled lowly until Levy removed her hand.
He nodded, too disappointed to say anything.
"Oh c'mon Lava Head," Gray put his plate down on the table, "You didn't really think we'd find her on the first day, did you?"
Keeping his gaze downward, the other wizards already knew the answer to that question.
Gajeel and Juvia joined the table, sitting next to their partners.
"We should go to Crocus," Juvia suggested, "It's the capital. Tons of places to hide a key."
"Wouldn't it be more remote?" Gajeel asked.
"Possibly," Juvia admitted, "but wouldn't you think Lucy would want to be in a place where we have memories? She wants us to find her, so would she not have her key somewhere we'd think to look?"
"That's if she gets a say in where her key gets hidden at all, "Gray reminded.
"Atria didn't mean to separate us forever," Natsu said blankly, "She only meant to keep Lucy as long as it took for her body to heal from the explosion the magic she borrowed caused inside her body. She wants to make sure we get to be together."
"So where do you think we should look next?" Levy asked gently.
Natsu paused, taking a deep breath. He took out his map of Fiore, spreading it across the table, surveying it carefully.
"I think by process of elimination, Juvia's right. We need to go to Crocus," Natsu agreed, "Plus, the princess is a Celestial mage too. Maybe she can help us."
Gajeel nodded, "Crocus it is then."
"You know," Levy said, looking from Gajeel to Natsu, "We'd get there a lot faster if we took a train."
"NO!" they shouted together.
Juvia shrugged her shoulders at her friend, "I'm willing. Gray?"
"Me too!" Gray agreed, "Oh hey wait…have the invincible dragon slayers been outvoted?"
"This is my mission and I say we're not going by train!" Natsu harrumphed, making the girls giggle.
Juvia, Levy and Gray stood up.
"Then we'll see you there!" Gray grinned, beginning to walk away.
"Stupid Ice Bastard," Gajeel muttered under his breath.
"Evil Ice-Dick," Natsu agreed.
They stood there with the arms crossed for a minute, fist-bumped at each other's insults, then ran to catch up with the others.
Several hours later, Natsu exited the train, falling to his knees to kiss the ground. Gajeel followed suit. The three other mages stood by awkwardly, waiting for them to finish their post-train ritual.
"When they're bending over like that," Gray said, watching the other two get up from their kneeling position, "It's so hard not to go over them and kick them in the ass."
Juvia snickered, imagining the two dragon slayers on their faces. That would spark a fight for sure. It was actually a miracle the three of them weren't in each other's faces already. Or at least Gray and Gajeel. Although Natsu had bowed out of the daily brawls at Fairy Tail over the past 2 years, Gray and Gajeel had been regular participants.
"So Hisui first?" Natsu asked, having regained his composure.
"Yeah," Gajeel said half-heartedly, looking around the area nervously.
"What's wrong?" Levy whispered to him.
"We're being watched," he whispered back, "Stay close, okay?"
She nodded. After all these years, she had learned to trust her socially-awkward dragon slayer.
They walked to the castle, which took seemingly hours.
"So what…are we going to just walk up and bang on the door?" Gray asked.
"Pretty much," Natsu said, walking up to the gate.
"YO! GUARD DUDES!"
"The castle is closed to outsiders!" the guard at the gate called out.
"We're friends of the Princess," Natsu called out, "We need to talk to her. Tell her Natsu from Fairy Tail is here."
Gajeel was still sniffing around, furrowing his brow at the odd smell, which seemed familiar to him, yet not. Gray was noticing his uneasiness. With a tic of his head, Gajeel pointed backwards to the shadows of the alley behind them. Gray nodded, then looked back to Natsu. He'd noticed something off too.
"Natsu, take Levy and Juvia with you," Gray suggested, "Five is a lot to take in to the Princess."
"Sounds good," Natsu agreed, "We'll see you in a few minutes."
"You're cleared to come in," the guard announced, opening the gate for Natsu, Juvia and Levy. The three of them started stepping through, Natsu pausing to cast a backward glance at Gray and Gajeel.
"You got this?" He asked.
The boys nodded. With that, Natsu followed the girls inside the gate without hesitation.
Gray and Gajeel didn't hesitate either. Nodding to one another, they separated, surrounding the building behind them from two separate sides to trap whoever was in the alley between them.
"IRON DRAGON IRON FIST!" Gajeel yelled, striking the figure first.
"ICE MAKE: CAGE!" Gray slammed his fist, instantly caging their stalker.
"Who the hell are you and why are you following us?" Gajeel demanded, getting his first look at the stalker.
Gray peered into the cage, chuckling as he released the cage, "Well, I'll be damned."
"No wonder you smelled so familiar. You smell like Erza," Gajeel smacked the man on the back, "It's been awhile. Good to see you, Jellal."