"All I'm saying is, if I were a wizard I'd want to have super cool powers! Like, I could have elemental magic, or even telepathy!" Rhythm laughed, the others joining in.
The Celestial Mage was trimming with the production crew. This has been her position for the last four weeks. Being here has helped her learn a lot of valuable information. However, all the gossip was circumstantial. Remi needed some hard evidence.
While she's been working with the production crew, the young mage has been learning all kinds of new things about this 'miracle plant' as the workers call it. Although she's never used it, she's been hearing some amazing stories.
Rhythm, Melody's boyfriend, talks about the miracles he sees it perform on her. Before she was introduced to it, the young woman could barely stand. She was bound to a wheelchair because of the pain it caused her to stand. Now, she was able to stand for a few hours at a time. Melody will work with a chair near her, in case she needs to sit. However, her pain is mostly managed by the plant, along with her other medications.
Being in the 'front' of the facility, the young woman was able to talk to the managers, as well as the production people. She had a great time with the people in the front of the house. Each of them was very meticulous and detail oriented. They had a top-notch crew working for them!
However, after reading the files she was given, Remi wasn't sure if she needed to worry about any of the production people.
"There's not a lot of files here.." Leo noticed as he opened the box that Lucy was given. "How many people work at this place?"
"From the sound of it, just a few." The Celestial Mage took a seat at the desk, filling out her paperwork. "When I did my walkthrough earlier, I only met seven people. From the sounds of it, there's a few more that missed work today.
"Do you think they're people of interest?"
"I'm not sure yet." Lucy shrugged. "Jestine mentioned one of them was going to a doctor. From the sounds of it, she's pretty sick. I think her name was Melody."
Rifling through the files, Loki managed to find the young woman's papers. "Hmm… It says here, she has a very rare disease. She's been to medical specialists, doctors to specialize in magical cures, the list goes on."
"Does it say whether she receives products from Royal Tree Distributors?"
The Celestial Spirit continued to search. "Yes. It seems that she was part of the reason that Royal Tree began experimenting with their expensive new treatments. They wanted to help her since she'd been a part of their team for so long."
"Hmmm…" Lucy scratched her head. While it didn't look good for the young woman, there wasn't any proof that she had taken the equipment. "Was she tagged as a person of interest?"
"Not according to the file." Leo mentioned as he looked up from the stacks of papers. "However, it does look like her boyfriend is under their watch."
"Why?" Lucy questions as she finishes her paperwork. She got up from the desk and grabbed a stack of files from the bed where her friend was seated. The Celestial mage took a seat on the bed.
"It says here that he does both duties of Production and Processing. The guy was caught in the storage closet on a couple of occasions. However, it seemed he could justify every time he needed to be in the room. So, it wasn't looked into." Leo continues to look at the files. "This Jestine really did a good job with these. Even color coded each one by importance. I placed the red ones over there for you." The Lion pointed at the edge of the bed.
"Thanks!" The young mage smiled before she picked up the two files. Lucy began to look through them, the room filling with silence as they each did some digging.
"So… Are we going to talk about what happened with Natsu?" Leo asked curiously. "I mean, it had to really be bad if you decided to leave on a mission that could take months."
The Celestial Mage rolled her eyes, taking the file folder and smacking her friend with it. "We're not here to think about Fairy Tail, or Natsu. I'm here to do a mission, Loki. If you can't help me, then I'll find a spirit that will. I'm sure Virgo would love to help me out."
"Lucy…"
The young woman sighed. Laying down horizontally on the bed, she placed the files next to her. "Thinking about my family back home just hurts too much…" Lucy sighs. "I wish more than anything I could take back how I left. Leaving a note for him to find probably wasn't the best idea."
"You're right about that." Loki chuckled. "Look, I'm sorry I brought it up. I just know it isn't healthy to run away from your problems."
"I don't see it that way." Lucy smiled, looking at her friend. "I'm running towards a door, leading me to a brighter future. I need to have faith in the relationships that I've built. I know they're going to stand the test of time. After this mission's over, I'm going to let Natsu know I want to be more than friends."
"Really?" Leo's eyes widened. "You've been talking about this for so long. I can't believe you're actually going to do it."
A bright blush covered Lucy's cheeks. "After our night together, and that connection we shared, I don't want to let it slip away."
"But… Who knows how long you'll be gone…" Leo mentioned almost sadly.
"I know I'm going to be gone. However, I've heard separation makes the heart grow fonder."
The golden haired spirit chuckled as he nodded. "I guess you're right. Every time I'm away from you, all I'm doing is thinking about when we can see each other again." The Lion gave her a toothy grin and a wink.
The Celestial Mage sighed and rolled her eyes, looking back at the bright red folder. "We should get back to work.."
"What about you, Remi?" May questioned, pulling the young woman out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Sorry." The Celestial Mage asked her to repeat the question.
"What powers would you have as a wizard?"
Remi put on a thinking face. "I'm not sure…" A small smile crossed her features, thinking of her friends' different powers. "I'd probably have to say being able to conjure weapons. I could fight my way out of any situation if I could pull a sword out of thin air!"
"Ooooh! Like that one girl… Erza! I've seen pictures of her in Sorcerer Weekly!"
"Remi!" Jestine's voice came from around the corner. The Celestial Mage quickly turned around to see the red head. "Could you come with me for a second? I want to talk to you about your schedule next week!"
"Uh, sure!" The young woman set her scissors down and got up from the table. Remi noticed the mood shift in the room. Suddenly it became very tense. She followed Jestine into the front where her office was. Remi could feel all eyes on her as she walked with her manager.
The redhead took a seat at her desk, while motioning for the Celestial mage to also sit. Jestine smiled brightly at Remi, getting a notebook out along with a pen. "So, I just wanted to see how things were going. Are you enjoying your time here?"
Remi nodded. "I've enjoyed learning about the products you're working with here. The production crew is very efficient." Smiling, The young woman leaned back. "Each one of them makes it a point to pay attention to each detail. They all follow procedures and make conversation amongst each other."
"You're pleased with the front end?" Jestine smiled, seeming relieved. "Have you been hearing anything from the crew? I knew they liked to gossip."
"There's been some rumors about Dico." Remi mentioned. "However, a lot of it had to do with his life outside of work. I wouldn't say it's pertinent to the case."
"You have a great crew there. I love working with them. However, if I'm actually here to find the people who took your things, I'm gonna need to move around the facility."
The redhead nodded. "That's why I brought you in here. I wanted to see how you were doing, and if you heard anything. Next week, I want you to work with Melody."
"Actually… I think its a better idea if I work in the flower room with Dico and the other two." Remi looked at her, the young woman's features were serious. "I think I could get to the root of the problem quickly."
Jestine sighed, twiddling her thumbs slowly as she thought about Remi's proposal. She continued to look down at her hands as she spoke. "I understand you want to spearhead this problem. However, I know Dico. We've known each other for a long time, and not from the best setting."
"Then why was he hired?" Remi raised a brow, confused. "If you knew he runs with the wrong crowd, you could've nipped this in the bud a long time ago."
"The owner also knows him." Jestine rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, they know each other in a professional manner. He's watched Dico gain results, and quickly in everything he does. So, he wanted that as a part of his team. I advised Jay, the owner, against it. He dismissed my claims and hired him anyway."
"Hmmm…" The Celestial Mage contemplated this new information. "Where is the owner? I've been here for four weeks and I've never seen him."
The redhead took a deep breath. "He lives a couple of towns away. Jay doesn't make it here often. He's got several different investments that he's taking care of. That's why he's trusted me to run the place."
"Okay.." While she wasn't happy with the answer, she would accept it for now.
"I think you'll get what you need by working with Melody." Jestine mentioned with a reassuring smile. "She works relatively closely with the flower crew. Mainly because she's taking fresh products and pressing them for her goodies."
"You said she makes different products with the pressed stuff?"
Nodding, the manager smiled happily. "The product can be made into several different things. It all depends on the demands of the patients. You'll get to see her magic at hand when you work with her. I know a lot about the ins and outs of this business. However, that girl sure knows the plant inside and out."
"Well, then I can't wait to work with her." Remi gave a bright grin.
"Perfect!" Jestine clapped her hands. "That's all I wanted to discuss with you. When you come in on Monday, please head straight back towards her area."
"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" The manager continued, standing from her chair.
"Relaxing in the hotel." The Celestial Mage chuckled, getting up from her seat. "I'm going to take the two days and make them all about me!"
"Well good." the redhead smiled, opening her office door for the young woman. "I hope you get some nice R&R!"
On Remi's way back, she could feel all eyes on her as she got ready to trim once again. Looking up at the others, she was shocked to see them all staring. "What?"
"What happened in there?" Rhythm grilled.
The Celestial mage smiled at them, trying to ease their worries. "Nothing, we just talked about how I was liking the job, and then told me I was going to be working with Melody next week."
Rhythm smiled. "Oh! You're going to love it!"
"Why were you guys so worried?" Remi questioned.
"Usually when people get pulled in to talk about their schedule, they don't come back." May mentioned quietly.