"Pick whatever you want to eat, it's my treat like I said earlier!" Lucy declared happily as she looked over the menu of the restaurant they were dining in. Natsu gave her a bright smile and took a menu, opening it as Lucy took reign of the conversation. "What are you doing in Hargeon, by the way?"
Natsu broke out of his daze at drooling at all of the pictures of the food he was looking at, "Me and Happy are in town looking for Igneel."
"Happy?" Lucy tilted her head, and that's when the blue cat jumped on the table, the green sack on his back swishing as he declared, "Aye! That's me!"
He raised a small eyebrow at Lucy, "Who are you?!"
"Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy answered in small wonder, a part of her was fascinated at the sight of the flying cat. She could feel magic inside of him, but it was a bit odd. Was he some sort of spirit? "What exactly are you, Happy?"
Happy gwuaked in disdain and slapped a paw over his heart, "That's rude . You're not supposed to ask a cat what they are!"
"So you're just a talking cat, then?" Lucy asked dryly at the dramatics.
"Excuse you, Blondie, I am an Exceed ."
"Ah," Lucy said flatly, unamused at being called "blondie" by a talking cat. Happy went on to ramble about himself while Natsu and Lucy ordered drinks. Natsu looked at the menu again, this time squinting at some of the words as Lucy entertained Happy every now and then. Lucy took note of his slightly frustrated expression as he read the menu, but tucked it away in the back of her mind as the server came back with their drinks and asked for their order.
"U-Uh, I'd like this chicken…" Natsu trailed off as he looked down back at the menu, leaving Lucy to peek at what he was looking at before flipping her menu around, pointing at the picture of a noodle dish that had a chicken in it. "Chicken parmesan pasta? Is that what you want, Natsu?"
Natsu gave a grin, "Yeah!"
Lucy smiled back and turned back towards the server, "One chicken parmesan pasta and a crispy chicken, caesar salad with ranch dressing on the side, please! All on the same check."
The server nodded and walked away, leaving the trio. Happy turned towards Natsu and rolled his eyes, "Ask me for help, next time!"
Natsu just shrugged and rubbed Happy's head, moving him off of the table with a small cry of "Aye!". He took one of the garlic bread appetizers and shoved it in his mouth at he turned back towards Lucy, who looked at him with an intrigued expression but otherwise didn't say anything. There was a comfortable silence as Natsu ate, and Lucy used it to quickly check on Rushii.
"Rushii? Are you okay?"
Rushii didn't answer but a wave of anguish did hit Lucy as she sat in the booth, trying to mask her sister's pain with a sip of her water. Happy and Natsu didn't pay any mind though, and Lucy was quick to pick up conversation in an effort to distract herself.
"Earlier, you mentioned you were here to search for Igneel? Who is that?"
Natsu swallowed his food and let out a small sigh as he looked out the window. Lucy followed his gaze and watched the mysterious, suspicious man from earlier interacting with various women. She couldn't stop the small look of disgust that covered her face at the sight, but she quickly looked away once she caught the man staring intensely at her suddenly. How gross.
"That's the name of my dad."
Lucy immediately reached over and placed a hand over Natsu's, giving him a look of sympathy. It seems the search for his father has spanned almost a decade now, she realized. "Have you had any luck so far?"
"Eh, every once in a while, I get the bare minimum of a lead. You'd think that it'd be easy enough to find a dragon, right?" Natsu chuckled lightly.
Lucy choked on her spit as soon as she heard the word dragon, and was quick to take a long sip of water. What the hell? Natsu's dad was a dragon ?! Is this like, a prank? Her eyes move to Happy, who was a talking cat, and maybe there was some truth to Natsu's words.
"A dragon..?"
"Yep! A big red, fire breathing dragon with a bunch of scars on his face," Natsu said and held up his scarf that was looking a lot better than the last time Lucy had seen it, "My scarf was made from his scales, I think. It feels familiar."
"Wow…" Lucy was astonished.
"I haven't given up searching for him, but these days it just gives me a reason to get up and go exploring, you know?" And Lucy understood. They began to talk about various things once their food came, letting out small bouts of laughter that varied in loudness. Natsu's was booming, but Lucy's was quiet as she laugh, falling over to slap the table occasionally. Natsu told stories about his adventures as he grew up, while Lucy told her small tales of her experiences with her spirits. Like when Taurus had wanted her to try this new exercise that he invented, only for her to break her arm in the process, and Aquarius declared that she was going to make beef stew.
"So you're a celestial spirit mage?!" Natsu said, fascinated. Lucy let out a small blush of embarrassment at the blunt curiosity and nodded. She brought out her keys and showed them to him, leaving Natsu to count how many there were.
"Three yellows and four greys?"
"That's right, although their colors are mostly referred to as golden and silver."
"That's pretty cool," Natsu said while Happy took hold of the keys, jiggling them as he played with them. Lucy just looked at him fondly before asking Natsu what his magic was. He was likely a fire variant, considering his magical signature that she's always felt.
"Fire Dragon Slayer Magic."
Lucy's jaw dropped because that sounded so freaking cool, what the hell?! "T-That sounds amazing! "
Natsu just shrugged, stuffing noodles in his mouth. He was used to being surrounded by unique magic, Fairytail was full of mages like him that had niche stuff going for them. He figured that this was the first time that she's been out in a while though, as she explained earlier that she finally decided to leave her home to go off on her own.
"It's cool, yeah, but there's tons of other cool people back at Fairytail, you know? Actually you probably don't know, so hurry up and let's eat so that we can go to Fairytail!"
"Fairytail, huh? Well let's se-"
"You wanted to know more about Fairytail, is that right Miss?" A third voice interjected into their conversation, and both Lucy and Natsu snapped their mouths shut as they turned to look at the newcomer. It was the same man as before, but Lucy can actually see what he looked like now that his fans weren't crowding him.
She had to give him credit, he wasn't the ugliest man around here. With his blue hair and a mark on top of his eye, he was even dressed relatively well. It was the look his eye and his magical signature that made Lucy frown. It felt tainted .
"...that's correct. My friend was just about to tell me about it, actually." She looked over towards Natsu, who was silent but stared impassively at the man. Happy was just minding his business, chewing on the fish that Lucy had ordered later on.
"You don't have to worry about your friend for I am apart of Fairytail, you see? My name is Bora," Bora bowed dramatically and tried to take Lucy's hand in order to kiss it, but she just gave a strained smile and quickly slipped her hand back without hesitation. Bora flushed with slight embarrassment and well-contained rage, before clearing his throat.
"I know, perhaps we need a more secluded area to get to know each other, right? I invite you to my private yacht then, fair maiden. Come and I shall tell you more about Fairytail, and anything… else you might ask for."
Bora blew a kiss at Lucy, who scowled in disgust that persisted even when Bora walked away back towards his crowd, and let out a scoff. "What a gross man."
"Do you want me to beat him up?" Natsu spoke up, setting his fist ablaze as his eyes never left Bora, even when he stepped outside. His jaw was clenched a bit, eyes narrowed as if he was ready to launch himself at any given moment. Lucy was oddly touched that he would do something like that for her, despite them only meeting twice so far.
It was a feeling that quickly dispersed once Natsu's flame accidentally caught the table cloth on fire, causing everyone to scream and panic as they tried to put out the flame. It ended even worsely when they got kicked out of the restaurant, and Lucy was charged extra from the damages.
She fell to her knees and cried out, holding her wallet in the air. "Oh spirits, my wallet !"
"Sorry, Luce! I'll pay you back, I promise!" Natsu said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he laughed cautiously. Lucy wiped a stray tear and sighed as she got back up and shrugged, "It's whatever, it isn't the end of the world."
Lucy suddenly pursed her lips as she looks towards the water, noting that the yacht was going to be taking off soon. She didn't like the feeling that Bora gave her, not one bit. Earlier, even Rushii said that she was defending her from his magic, which made her even more suspicious. What type of magic did this guy have? She felt the energy from the crowd, and they all seemed to radiate the same energy as his magical signature. Was he infected them with something?
She bit her nail, she had to investigate for her conscious's sake.
"Hey Natsu?"
"Lucy, " Natsu nodded.
"That Bora man, he's not from Fairytail, is he?"
Natsu's features set into a serious expression, "Nope. I don't recognize him at all."
Well that settled it then. She was going to go on the yacht and figure out what the hell was going on. "Happy, keys."
"Aye Sir!" Happy tossed Lucy her keys and she was quick to bring out Cancer's, summoning him immediately. Cancer stepped out of his gate and looked around in small surprise, before setting his sight onto his summoner.
"Lucy," Cancer greeted and Lucy smiled, fist bumping him. She quickly pointed over towards the yacht by the large dock on the Hargeon port and filled him in with her observations and what she had planned to do. Natsu was left staring at her in surprise and shock at her plan of action, watching as she talked to the spirit she had summoned with a plan of attack. But why didn't she tell him her plan? Weren't they friends now?
Did-Did she not trust Natsu?
Natsu faltered at the thought, feeling a growing pang of sadness grow inside of him as Lucy sent Cancer off, dashing at a fast speed towards the boat. She turned to follow Cancer shortly, but Natsu grasped her arm, stopping her from moving. Natsu looked down at his actions with a small look of surprise as Lucy blinked and looked back at him.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked innocently. Natsu felt his body raced with complex emotions as he stared at her back, like he did in the past all those years ago. What makes Lucy Heartfilia so special? Why did he hate seeing her back in front of him? Why didn't he want her to leave again?
They've only met twice , but Natsu feels so-
His face must have mirrored his emotions, before Lucy softened and walked over to give him a pat on the cheek before she gave him a massive hug. She smiled into his shoulder as she felt him hug her back without a moment of hesitation, feeling strong arms squeeze her gently. They released and Lucy took a step back, feeling that she understood Natsu's feelings.
"Don't worry, this isn't like last time. I'm going to come back, Natsu," She smiled warmly before pursing her lips and looking back at the yacht. Her eyes widened a bit when she realized that it was in the process of boarding the last of their members. "We'll go to Fairytail together, I promise . But first I need to take care of that Bora bastard."
She took off without a second thought, reaching for the whip equipped to her belt as she ran.
Natsu was frozen, watching her get further way.
"Natsu, come on! She's going to fight, right? Then we got to help her!" Happy exclaimed as he hopped onto Natsu's back. Natsu didn't move as he stood in shock, feeling his heart race with unease as he watched Lucy go into danger. She was strong, he could feel it, but why did he-
Natsu slapped his hands on his face, leaving a red imprint on his cheeks and letting out a small roar, leaving Happy incredibly startled. No, he won't let those pointless thoughts overtake him. He has always trusted in his friends, and he's confident that Lucy will be successful.
Especially when he's going after her as her backup.
"C'mon Happy!" Natsu let out a charged battle cry, "We're going after Lucy, to kick that Fairytail wannabe's butt!"
"Aye Sir!"
Happy's wings activated due to his Aera magic as Natsu ran towards the dock, picking up speed before he launched himself and Happy into the air, jumping up with a quick propel using his fire magic briefly on his feet.
-L-H-
She had almost missed the yacht completely but Cancer's hand was outstretched at the last minute, and she was able to jump from the edge of the dock, casting her whip for Cancer's hand to wrap around and swing her onto the deck. Lucy was airborne for a moment, but ended up rolling at the last minute onto the deck, getting up with ease next to Cancer who was crouched.
The spirit looked down at her and nodded slightly in approval, "Your training in balance as improved greatly, even I was a bit concerned as you fell from that height. I was ready to catch you if need be- ebi ."
Lucy just grinned, "Thanks! Now let's find this Bora guy, and figure out what's really going on."
Cancer nodded and disappeared as he ran all over the deck, searching for Bora based off of the description that Lucy had gave him. His real mission was to pick the locks if he needed too, running all over the yacht and dismantling any bodyguards he runs into, freeing Lucy access as she used her magical sensoring to hunt down Bora's signature. She might be able to handle herself in 1v1 situations, but even she wasn't invincible if she were to be jumped.
Lucy ran through the deck and used her whip to scale the side of the wall in order to avoid the stairs, a technique that was taught by Cancer. She was surprised that the crab was like, a stealth expert when he really applies himself. Like an assassin, in her novels.
A magical signature that felt really close by her and felt extra unnerving alerted her that Bora was above the deck. She used that knowledge to hop over to the fourth floor of the yacht and landed safely, locking eyes with Bora who was foaming at the mouth in pure anger, as he pointed at her, shouting.
Lucy's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her, with girls surrounding Bora with weird brandings on their body, looking like they were unconscious at his feet. She swelled with rage at Bora, as his two henchmens charged after her, taking big steps.
"Cancer!"
Cancer swooped in and handled the one with blades, parring him with ease as it left Lucy with the brawler type, ducking when was in range for a good right hook. She heard the wind slap against her ear at the strength of her opponent and was quick to get ready to counter-attack with an intricate attack pattern that she develop with Rushii's help,
When all of a sudden a loud "Boom!" was heard before the yacht almost tipped over completely at the force of something impacting it. Lucy's eyes widened as everyone on the boat screamed, including her, as the yacht tilted dangerously on it's side. It tossed many people into the air, the others holding onto the railings for dear life as a booming, familiar voice laughed and yelled,
"I'm here, Lucy!"
" Natsu?! " Lucy screeched, and Natsu quickly turned around to squint at her falling figure in the air, eyes widening as he yelled at Happy to catch Lucy. Natsu turned back around to look around for that Bora guy that Lucy had mentioned earlier, taking a step forward. He quickly stumbled and fell to his knees with a small curse as he let out a queasy groan, the boat rocking back to its natural buoyant state, giving Natsu his motion sickness curse.
"O-Oh crap." Natsu gagged.
Meanwhile Happy had successfully caught Lucy, but she had bigger problems to solve as the unexpected impact had left her weaponless. Her keys and whip fell off while she was falling, and while her whip didn't have any magical energy, her keys did , and she quickly focused on locating their familiar energy.
She closed her eyes and desperately searched the ocean for her keys, as Happy panted and huffed as he tried to withstand Lucy's weight and air resistance. He didn't have much energy left after carrying Natsu all the way to the yacht, after all.
"H-Hey Blondie, you're getting pretty heavy." Happy huffed but Lucy ignored him as she let out an excited gasp of delight and she pointed towards the west for a bit. "Drop me over there!"
"What?! Are you crazy- ? LUCY!" Happy gaped in shock as Lucy wiggled her way out of his small paws, free falling once more. Lucy couldn't manage to keep her smile off her face as she dived towards her keys, reaching for them underwater. Adventures, Rushii had said. Yeah, it was really scary at first, especially when she saw the state of the girls that were by Bora's feet.
They looked like they were in the middle of being branded for slavery .
But it was even scarier to think of what would've happened to those girls had Lucy not trusted her gut and investigated the yacht and Bora. That's the thought that gives Lucy strength to grasp her keys and she garbled underwater her next spirit.
The next thing that Happy saw was a golden light shining from underneath the ocean, and a giant wave that pushed the yacht back onto shore, with Lucy riding it with a blue mermaid.
"I should kill you, Heartfilia."
"What did I do?!"
"You're fighting on a boat, in the middle of the fucking ocean , and your first instinct is to call the damn crab?! What am I, canned salmon?"
"Okay, so maybe I didn't think that through, but Aquarius- ack! " Lucy sputtered out saltwater as Aquarius disappeared back into the Spirit World with a huff after Lucy had arrived on shore. Lucy let out a sigh as she walked onto shore, wringing her shirt of water as she took in the sight that was before her. She equipped the keys back onto her belt, and began to look around for a weapon, before looking up and squinting to see Happy floating unevenly.
"Happy!" Lucy shouted as she waved to get his attention, and Happy look down to see Lucy and let out a relief sigh as he gently glided down to her. Lucy ended up catching a tired Happy from the air, and she looked down at the cat in mild concern. "Happy?"
"A-Aye," Happy huffed tiredly, giving a thumbs up and a smile back. Lucy let out a bright smile and held the Exceed towards her chest, the latter letting out a small comfortable sigh at the feeling of softness surrounding him, closing his eyes. He had used a lot of magic after all.
"Glad to see you're okay," She whispered to a passed out Happy, before snapping her head at the feeling of a growing fire, she had forgotten that she hadn't turned off her magical sensing. She quickly cradled Happy as she ran towards the otherside of the yacht, only to see Bora and Natsu having a stand-off.
Natsu glowered at Bora, fists ignited as his scarf blew in the wind threateningly.
"You're not apart of Fairytail."
Bora scoffed but it looked pathetic as his legs shook from Natsu's intimidation. He lit his hand on fire with a measly flame that looked like a matchstick compared to Natsu's, fell into a stiff fighting stance.
"You don't know shit! I am Salamander, the fire mage from Fairytail."
Natsu let out a small chuckle and quickly sucked in a large amount of air at an inhumane speed, before unleashing it all at once like a massive, flamethrower. It shot forwards with blitz momentum, the fire piercing towards Bora who let out a massive scream at the sight of Natsu's pure power.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu shouted as he quickly spun around and lit his feet aflame, slicing through his own Fire Dragon's Roar as he harshly kicked Bora in the face. Lucy watched as Natsu sucked in and ate Bora's flames when he tried to counter-attack after getting back up, using Bora's flames to charge his own Fire Dragon's Iron Fist as stood before Bora's trembling body.
"No, I am Salamander ," Natsu whispered as he launched his flaming fist at Bora's face.
[ Macao's Arc: (1) ]