I continued to run through Everlue's mansion, my nose leading me towards Lucy. Lucy's scent descended into the sewers underneath the building. I saw Everlue clutching Lucy's arms, leaning over er and pulling them at an odd ankle. "Hands off her!" I roared, my pulling my fist back and socking Everlue across the cheek, knocking him away from Lucy. I landed in a crouch in front of her. Happy landed in between us.

"Yami!" Lucy gasped, slowly getting up.

"You alright Luce?" I asked, glaring at Everlue.

"Yeah, just a little sore." Lucy then pulled out a key, "Looks like the tables have turned, but if you let me keep the book I'll think about going easy on you. Although I'm tempted to give you a good smack."

"Oh...a Celestial Wizard." Everlue mused, "But for a reader, you seem to be a bit deficient in your terms of phrase. The tables have turned implies that the weaker party has rallied to claim victory. But there's no way you two girls and that cat could ever defeat me and my Diver Magic. Bo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo!" Everlue then disappeared into the ground.

"So he does that using Magic?" Happy wondered. "I had no idea Everlue was a Wizard too!" I heard a small noise next to us, so I grabbed Lucy and I dodged all of Everlue's attacks.

"Look, I know the whole story now." Lucy stated, holding the book high, "It's a horrible adventure novel about a trashy little character named Duke Everlue!"

"You serious?"

"I don't know that I'd call the protagonist trashy." Everlue said, disappearing into the ground. However, his voice echoed through the sewer. "But yes, the story itself is crap! And to think it was written by the great Kemu Zaleon!" Everlue burst out of the ground in front of Lucy and I. I jumped Lucy and I backwards. "Inexcusable!"

"I can't believe your arrogance." Lucy stated, "You forced him to write it!"

"Arrogant, moi? The word doesn't begin to apply!" I noticed all the holes situated around the room, and the small amount of debris falling from the ceiling. "To tell my story's an honour, no matter what the circumstances!"

"Then why'd you have to blackmail him into it?"

"He what?" I questioned.

"What's the big deal?" Everlue stated, popping up behind us and causing Lucy, Happy and I to turn. "He just needed some extra encouragement to take the job.

"Oh really." Lucy asked sarcastically.

"Any fool would have jumped at the chance to have me as their muse." Everlue started to swim through the concrete. "But he had the audacity to say no." Everlue's arm appeared behind us and we turned again. "So I gave him the added inspiration in the form of an ultimatum. Write the novel or his family would be stripped of their citizenship."

"You bastard." I growled, "That would have hindered their ability to work, their whole livelihoods would have have been uprooted!"

"So you really have the power to do that?" Happy asked.

"I have the power to do anything!" Everlue declared. I could feel the ground move, and I pulled Happy and Lucy back and out of the way. "I got him to write it, didn't I? But I didn't like his attitude, so I decided he'd do best writing from a prison cell. Bo-yo-yo! He went on and on about being a brilliant novelist who would never give in to threats, but in the end, I got what I wanted!" Everlue then started to bounce around the room, and the three of us barely managed to dodge him.

"I can't believe you'd go that far just to boost your own stupid ego." Lucy scolded. "He was in solitary confinement for three years! Don't you know how hard that must have been?"

"Three whole years?" Happy repeated. There was an explosion in front of us and we all jumped back.

"Perhaps it took that long to appreciate me. Bo-yo-yo-yo." Everlue mused.

"You're wrong." Lucy stated. "More like he couldn't bear to spread your lies! But he had to satisfy your vanity. He knew if he didn't write your character as a heroic champion of justice, then his family would suffer."

"Tell me. How exactly do you know all this?" Lucy stuck the book out to him.

"It's all right here, in black and white."

"What? I read that book from cover to cover, and Kemu Zaleon isn't in it."

"Well, yeah, if you read it normally, there's no mention of him. But I know something you don't know. Long before he was an author, he was a Wizard."

"You gotta be kidding me." I muttered.

"What did he do?" Everlue growled.

"After he finished the book, he gathered all his remaining strength and cast a spell on it." Lucy explained.

"Gah! What a dirty trick. He turned a book about a great man like me into a hatchet job? The nerve of that fool!"

"Oh, get over yourself!" Lucy shouted as we jumped to avoid Evrlue popping up again. "It's true that he wrote about all the pain and torture you put him through. But the chapters that focus on what you did to him are only a small part of the book. In fact, it's secret has nothing to do with you."

"What the devil do you mean?"

"I'm not gonna give this book back to you, Duke Everlue, cause it was never really yours to begin with." Lucy lifted a key. "Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" In a flash of light, a person appeared. He was tanned, wearing a blue striped shirt, dark trousers and white boots. He had a ring chain in his right pocket and a hairdresser tools' bag on the left. He also wore a golden necklace and held a pair of scissors. He also wore sunglasses with green lenses and had six crab legs protruding from his back.

"A Giant Crab!" Happy cheered, "Nothing say's 'I'm gonna kick your butt' like a Crab Man with razor claws and tough-guy sunglasses! Ha ha!" I stomped on Happy's tail, causing him to yowl in pain.

"Shut up." I hissed at him, "Let Lucy concentrate or I'll glue your lips shut."

"Hey Lucy." The man, Cancer, I'm assuming, said, in a very gravelly voice, " How would you like your hair done today, baby?"

"What!" Happy shouted.

"I don't need styling, I need your help." Lucy said, exasperated. "That's the guy, take care of baldy over there."

"Whatever you say, Baby."

"Ah, so he just makes the bad guys look cooler before they kill us, that's useful." Happy commented. "Yeah, you should send him back Lucy." Everlue then did something I wasn't expecting, he pulled a gold key out of his pocket.

"Open! Gate of the Maiden!" He chanted. "Virgo!" Suddenly, the large buff maid lady burst from the ground. Oh, I guess she was a spirit.

"Did I hear my Master summon me!" Virgo shouted.

"Virgo, fetch me that book!" Everlue ordered, pointing at Lucy and I.

"Hold up, she's a Celestial Spirit?!" Lucy exclaimed. My jaw then dropped at who was on Virgo. Natsu was sitting on Virgo's shoulder.

"Natsu!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah?" He confirmed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Everlue exclaimed.

"What are you doing up there?" Lucy asked.

"Well, I saw her getting up, so I jumped on her and then all of a sudden I ended up here!"

"So you grabbed a hold of her inside the house? But that means...you must have passed through the Spirit Gate with her!"

"I thought that was impossible!" I shouted. "That's against the Law!"

"Lucy! What the heck do I do now?" Natsu asked.

"Finish what you started!"

"Virgo! Clean up this rubbish!" Everlue ordered as Natsu lept off the pink-haired woman.

"As you wish Master." Virgo stated. Natsu jumped out of the way of a punch from Virgo.

"Now Natsu!" I called. "Black Dragon!"

"Fire Dragon!" Natsu continued,

"Roar!" A vortex of a combination of my black magic and Natsu's fire shot at Virgo, knocking her backwards. Lucy had already wrapped her whip around Everlue.

"You make me sick!" He was thrown across the room. Natsu and I hit the side of our fists together as Lucy and Cancer finished off Everlue.

"Does this look fabulous or what?" Cancer asked.

"Oh yeah, way to go Crab Man." Natsu complimented. The room started to rumble.

"We gotta get out of here before the whole place collapses on us." I stated. I picked Lucy up and held her in a bridal carry, taking her out of the sewer with Natsu and Happy behind us. We stood in front of Everlue's mansion as it slowly sunk into the ground. I watched in awe and horror. My first building destroyed on a Job...and Master is gonna kill me.

"I like your style!" Natsu said to Lucy, "Out with a bang! You are definitely gonna fit in at Fairy Tail."

"I'm dead." I stated, crossing my arms, "I'm blaming Natsu."

"But aren't we not supposed to destroy stuff?" Happy inquired.

"I hope I don't get blamed for this." Lucy whimpered.

TIMESKIP

We abandoned Everlue's estate quite quickly for a small group such as ourselves, and we returned to Kaby. Lucy offered Kaby the book. "But I requested this book be destroyed." Kaby reminded us, reluctantly taking the book back. "Why on earth are you handing it back to me completely unscathed?"

"If you wanna burn it, I'd rather you do it yourself." Lucy said.

"I most certainly will burn this trash. I never wanted to see it again."

"I completely understand why you feel the way you do about this book, Kaby. You wanna protect your fathers legacy, because you're actually Zaleon's son, aren't you?" There was a pause.

"Yes, that's true."

"Have you read it yourself?"

"No, I...could never bring myself to do it. My father told me it was garbage."

"You we're just gonna burn it?" Natsu questioned.

"I was." Natsu raced forward and grabbed Kaby by the collar,

"Without bothering to see what's inside!" I stepped forward, grabbing Natsu's ear, "It's the last book that your dad wrote, right! Some of us would kill for that kind of memory!" I pulled Natsu back from Kaby,

"Natsu." I hissed, "Lay off the guy. The relationship you had your father was completely different than he had with his, heck, my own father was worse. Just shut up and let the man explain."

"Please. That book caused my family great heartache and shame." Kaby explained. Kaby then went to tell the story about how Kemu returned home after three years and chopped off his hand with no explanation.

"Well, that's morbid." I muttered.

"Not long after that, my father passed away. However, the anger and betrayal I felt towards him lived on. But as the years passed by me, that anger slowly turned into remorse. And now...it's too late for me to ask for his forgiveness. So I decided to make amends by destroying the final work that caused him so much unhappiness. This is the only way...the only way to preserve his legacy." Kaby lit a match, "I'm sure this is what he'd want."

"No, you're wrong." Lucy argued. The match then went out and the book in Kaby's hands started to shine. "Kaby, look! A spell has been cast on this book. It's the work of Kemu Zaleon, or should I say, Zekua Melon."

"A spell? Dear Kaby…"

"That's right. This book is his letter to you, disguised by a spell that rearranged all of the letters of the words so no one else could read it." The book then suddenly opened, letters swirling around the room in a beautiful swirl. "He didn't stop writing because he was ashamed, he'd stop because he had finished his masterpiece! A novel containing everything he wanted to say to his beloved son. And when you read it the way he intended it, it's easily his best work ever." The letters returned to the book and it closed, resting back in Kaby's hands. "And now that the spell's been broken, you can read it for yourself."

"Thank you Father." Kaby muttered, holding the book to his chest as he knelt on the floor. "I swear that I will never let any harm come to this book."

"It was an honour to see you be united with your book, Mr Melon." I said, stepping forward and bowing, "And I apologise, but we are unable to accept the reward you had so generously offered to us when this job started."

"Huh!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We were supposed to destroy it." Natsu started to explain, "We didn't finish the job."

"Even so, let me do something." Kaby insisted.

"Yeah, it's not our fault he decided not to burn the book after we got it back for him." Lucy said.

"Lucy, don't be so greedy!" Happy said, "You're totally ruining what was was a touching moment!" Natsu started to walk away.

"I need the cash!" I straightened looking Kaby straight in the eyes.

"Again, thank you for the offer, but we don't wish to take the money." I said to him. I then turned, folding my hands and letting them rest on the skirts of my dress as I followed Natsu.

"Uh, yes we do want the money!" Lucy exclaimed, darting towards me, "I need to pay rent!"

"I think it's time we all go home." Natsu suggested. "That means you too Mister Melon, go back home." I stopped in my tracks, lifting my nose to the air and taking a sniff. I hummed before following Natsu out the door.

TIMESKIP

Lucy trailed behind the group as we made our way back to Magnolia. After riding a carriage towards Shirotsume, and then another one to Everlue's mansion and back, Natsu was over the whole 'let's get motion sick to get places quicker' so we decided to walk, not that I'm complaining, I'd rather walk then puke my guts out. "Who in their right minds would turn down two-million jewel!" Lucy complained.

"If we had taken the money it wouldn't have looked good." Natsu explained. "You gotta think about Fairy Tail's reputation."

"Aye." Happy agreed.

"But we made him happy, right?" Lucy argued. "We got the job done and now we're walking home? And then to find out they're not even wealthy? They were just renting that house so everyone would think they were rich. It's not like it matters, we would have taken the job either way."

"I don't know about you…"

"Of course I would have!"

"Sure greedy." The four of us soon set up camp. Natsu had made the flame and was cooking the food we had managed to grab. I pulled out a book from my bag and opened it, picking up where I left off and reading via the firelight.

"By the way, the house, how did you know it wasn't really theirs?" Lucy asked.

"I didn't realise until Natsu pointed it out, but it just smelt like it wasn't theirs." I explained, turning a page. I then tapped my nose, "The nose, nose."

"I couldn't tell that, my nose isn't as good as yours. But, I was still lost in the clouds from reading that book."

"I've got you figured out." Natsu stated. "All those papers I found on the desk at your place, you're writing a novel, are you?"

"Oh, so that's why she's such a bookworm!" Happy realised.

"Promise you won't tell anyone about that, ok?" Lucy pleaded.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a horrible writer and if anyone read my stuff I'll die of embarrassment!"

"Don't worry, no one's gonna read it." Natsu said.

"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better."

"When the book is finished, it'll be a bestseller, I can tell." I told her, giving Lucy a small smile as I glanced up from my book. Lucy saw the smile and her cheeks flushed.

TIMESKIP

The next morning, we were all trudging through the forest to return to Magnolia. We were walking through a swamp by the looks of it. Natsu and I were wading through the water, Happy on Natsu's head. Lucy, however, was being charted around inside her clock, Horologium. "'I don't know about this guys, are you sure we're going the right way?' She asks." Horologium repeated.

"Happy say's this is the way home so this is the way we're going, is what I answer." Natsu stated.

"Have some faith, I'm a cat I have a great sense of smell." Happy declared, "My nose will lead us home."

"'It's dogs that have great noses. And what does smell have to do with direction?' She asks quite haughtily." Horologium said.

"Why don't you do your own walking for a while." Natsu suggested as we left the swamp.

"'Because I'm tired' She groanes exhaustedly."

"Oh, brother." Suddenly, the bushes rustled and Natsu threw his pack off, leaping at the green. "Who's there!"

"'Do you always have to fight?' She inquires woridly." Natsu and whoever was behind the bush continued to fight until they jumped up, revealing Gray in his boxers. "'What is he doing in his underwear?' The Lady questions."

"Trying to find a bathroom." Gray stated.

"Why would you strip down before you found one?" Natsu asked, "And who the heck ever heard of a bathroom in the middle of the forest?"

"I wanted some privacy, I didn't expect an idiot to barge in."

"They're so childish!" Lucy complained. I guess Horologium left. "So you two are on your way back from a job?" Lucy asked Gray. As Happy tried to fish, the humans sat in a circle, talking.

"Yeah, there's a shortcut through these woods that'll get you back to town in no time." Gray explained.

"See, I told you so." Happy gloated.

"Yeah, well if your nose is so great then how come you didn't know Gray was right in front of us, smart guy?" Lucy questioned.

"There's some things you don't wanna smell."

"What'd you say?" Gray asked.

"Surprisingly, I can agree with the Cat on something." I commented, "Whenever my Father went to the bathroom, I made him promise to fly somewhere else to relive himself."

"I agree with Happy." Natsu stated, "So go on home and we'll smell you later." Gray stood.

"Fine, I will." He said, "And unless you want trouble you should too."

"Why do you say that?" Lucy questioned.

"'Cause Erza's due back any time now.".

"The Erza? Woah."

"Yeah, she's the second most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail." Happy said through a mouthful of fish.

"I can't wait to meet her! But you know I've never seen a picture of her in Sorcerer Weekly or anything, what's she like?"

"Scary." Everyone except I chorused.

"Wild animal." Gray suggested,

"A vile beast." Natsu added.

"More like a full-on monster!" Happy corrected.

"She's like the size of a house." Gray said.

"She's not that big, you guys."

"She's big enough for me." Natsu stated.

"One thing we can all agree on is she is definitely that scary." Gray said, "Well, maybe a little scarier."

"She's so scary and huge she can take out a mountain with a single kick." Natsu revealed.

"What? I guarantee you Erza could take down at least three mountains with a single kick."

"You don't need to exaggerate like that Gray it's more like two." Happy interrupted.

"You know guys, even if she is able to kick down a single mountain, it's still scary." Lucy admitted.

"I honestly have no clue what your talking about." I sighed, standing alongside Gray, "She's not scary."

"Like I said, we should get back." Gray stated.

"Crap, let's get movin'!" Natsu exclaimed. Suddenly, there was an explosion of rocks and Natsu, Gray, Lucy and I sunk into the earth.

"What now?" Gray groaned.

"Happy!" Natsy shouted with a face full of dirt.

"Help...me…" Happy groaned from a little bit away. The four of us managed to climb out of the sand we were trapped in. We looked down the hill we were and saw Happy tied to a spit-roast with a group of mages...and what appeared to be a large chicken, surrounding them. I snarled, my eyes narrowing at what I saw. Happy was family, and no one hurts Family.

"That's our friend you're tryna roast buddy." Natsu stated. "Sorry, but you guys are gonna have to make other plans for dinner."

"You're all Wizards, aren't you?" Gray questioned, "What guild are you with?"

"I'm not telling." The goblin-like person said. "Get 'em!"

"Let's go!" I ordered, jumping down from my spot. I dodged the other Mages, next to the large chicken. "Stay away from him!" I roared, punching him across the field and away from Lucy and Happy. I dodged out of the way as Gray flew past, his clothes falling off. Pretty soon, the entire group was taken out and tied to a tree.

"Don't you think you might have gone overboard Natsu?" Gray questioned, only in his boxers.

"So what if I did?" Natsu questioned, "I got the job done right?"

"Grow up already, you're an embarrassment to the guild!"

"What! Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"L-Lullaby." The goblin-like mage grunted. "Is…" Suddenly, something knocked us off our feet. What seemed like a hand made out of shadows grabbed the tree we had tied the mages to and pulled it into the ground.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"Who was that?" Natsu added.

"Whoever it could have been they were lightning fast." I stated. I sniffed the air, "And, they're gone. Their scent is still in the air, lingering, but as if they're long gone."

"But...what could this mean?" Natsu wondered.

"Lullaby…" Lucy muttered.