[ Daybreak Arc {2} ]
-L-H-
"Good afternoon, Fairytail mages. My name is Kaby Melon, and this is my wife, Helena." Their client greeted them without missing a beat. Lucy was glad to see that they weren't phased at all with Natsu's ridiculous appearance next to her. It seemed that he really had followed through with his plans of infiltrating as a maid, but Happy was able to escape his fate in the end. Natsu crossed his arms as he wore a hideous blonde wig, muscles flexing in the tight maid outfit as he nodded at Kaby Melon.
Lucy couldn't look at him in fear of being unprofessional with her laughter. She didn't want to mess up on her first mission after all. And besides, as she narrowed her eyes a bit at the sound of Mr. Melon's name, it sounded a bit familiar to her before.
"Melon…"
Rushii stayed silent. It's been a long time since she's remembered this mission, despite it being their first official team mission together. Speaking of time, how old is she these days? If she didn't know any better, she'd guess that she was on her way to pushing thirty.
Oh spirits, she groaned a bit internally.
"I'm assuming I'm doing this mission alone, Nee-san?"
"That should be the assumption moving forward, if we're being honest. I'm not here to entertain small side-quests in comparison to other things. Think of these as tests, if you will. Things will never be the same after the next couple of missions, if my memory serves correctly, " Rushii answered. Besides, she was still weak from Macao's mission. If she is to treat her takeovers as emergency situations only, then it's best to rest for now.
Because Phantom Lord is coming.
"Gajeel Redfox…" Rushii murmured without even realizing, piquing Lucy's interest.
"Gajeel? Who is that?"
Rushii let out a choked breath as she was punished by the Eclipse Gate for her brief mistake, mentioning the Iron Dragon Slayer's name far too soon in time. She winced as she coughed up a hint of blood, but made sure to muffle her pain as best as she could from Lucy.
"Don't…worry about that right now. You'd best head to Everlue's. "
Lucy didn't put up much of a fight this time around, refocusing on her attention with her present surroundings. Rushii told her to be on guard, and to activate her sensoring skills as she doesn't want to get jumped in a situation like this.
"I know we've practiced some scenarios in theory, but it should be a habit that you should develop quickly. It should become instinct that you deploy your magic sensoring, because a sneak attack can cost you your life if you aren't careful." Rushii warned. "To tell you the truth, you can't rely on my skills to back you up. I've come to realize that with each time I take over, I need time to recover from using so much energy."
That caught Lucy's attention again, but this time Rushii didn't give her time to ask any questions as she forced a barrier between the two of them. She's going to need to concentrate if she's going to be powerful enough to take care of business during the attack on Fairytail. Rushii has thought about going to her father earlier, but it might make things worse. She decided that it was best to just focus on following what has happened in order, at least leading up to those points in her life.
But she'll be damnedif Gajeel Redfox had his way with her again.
"Lucy." Rushii gently called out to her, before closing the barrier completely.
"Nee-san?" Lucy said a bit hesitantly. She could feel what Rushii was trying to do, and was a bit confused as to why she was suddenly acting like this. It was hard sometimes, not understanding what she could be going up against in the future and seeing Rushii begin preparations for something like this is making her a bit uneasy.
"Believe in Team Haluna. Believe in Natsu, Happy. Believe in Fairytail, but most importantly, believe in yourself. You are capable of accomplishing great things, even without my help. I'm going to be taking some time to gather energy for what's to come, just in case the worse happens, so I won't be available for a while."
Lucy faltered, and Rushii could feel a wave of panic over take the girl. It was understandable, Rushii has been a consistent presence in her life for over ten years now. She's never been gone for more than a few days, and even then she sends out a wave of reassurance every now and then to signal that she was still there. But this barrier…Lucy can't feel a thing.
She felt a little empty already, if she was being honest.
"None of that, Lucy, you're going to be just fine. When the time comes, I will return and I shall be by your side. Until then, enjoy life. Eat good food. Partake on some fun missions, hang out and make new friends."
Lucy knew what laid beyond those words though. If Rushii comes back, it means something big was about to happen, and she had to prepare for it. Rushii knew that Lucy was going to figure out what she was trying to say between the nice words, but there was truth to what she had said as well. She should enjoy her life and gain experience in all of the best ways.
Without her presence, Rushii thought with a small smile. She'll still be keeping an eye on her little sister of course, but most of her time is about to be dedicated to spirit energy meditations in the meantime.
"Good luck, Lucy."
" ...you too, Nee-san."
Lucy blinked and found herself walking towards the mansion that housed Duke Everlue, with Natsu and Happy chattering by her side. She took note of the large space, suddenly remembering that Duke Everlue didn't have any children and briefly frowned. What's the point of having all of those rooms, if no one keeps them occupied?
There weren't many things worse than feeling isolated in your own home.
"Was your house as big as this, Luce?" Natsu asked curiously. Lucy gave a brief nod as she stared at the Everlue mansion. She had activated her magic sensing moments prior, immediately noticing two other signatures that were large in the manor. Large enough to know that these people had practice and used magic, it seemed.
They could be walking into an ambush.
"I sense two other magical signatures in the mansion, large enough to know that they are definitely mages." Lucy warned Natsu, who paused to look at her in small surprise. He tapped his nose,
"Yeah, I smell like a couple different scents from out here, but how did you know?"
"I can feel the ethernano essence inside of other people, and it comes in the form of unique signatures that have feelings attached to them if they are strong enough."
"Woah, Lushi~! Do we have a signature? What's mine?"
Lucy gave Happy a sheepish smile, "Sorry Happy, your magic reserves is too small for me to give out a distinctive feeling. Uhm, considering we're close to each other right now though, I'd say that you give me a…fuzzy feeling?"
"Cool!" Happy cheered, and Natsu's eyes widened as he snapped his big eyes towards Lucy, eager to know his own magical signature to her. "My turn! Whatcha feel from me?! Like a dragon, right?"
"Err, I don't know about dragon , but you…feel like a warm and comfortable campfire to me, Natsu. Like a blanket, not too hot but obviously not cold. Cozy, comforting. Safe."
"Safe?" Natsu breathed out and Lucy nodded, causing Natsu to do that fidgeting thing that Lucy has noticed he does when he doesn't know how to react or say to something unexpected to him. It doesn't bother Lucy though, considering she gets fluster from praise sometimes. She gets it.
"Safe." She confirmed and internally smiled when Natsu had a small, pleased expression on his face.
She didn't mentioned the vague feeling of antique and powerful magic that also radiate from him, albeit much much more diluted. Like as if it felt like this magic was hidden away. His Fire-Dragon Slayer magic was already extremely rare, but this felt a bit different…
"Well if you say so." Natsu huffed with a small tint of red on his cheeks before promptly ripping off the blond wig from his head. Lucy choked on a laugh as he let out a small sigh of relief, being free from the itchiness that was constantly bothering him ever since he put the wig on. He didn't mind the maid outfit though, his arms were free since he ripped off the sleeves the moment he got the outfit.
The quest said that Everlue was looking for a blond maid, but it looks like he was going to have to settle for pink instead.
Before long they found themselves standing in front of the manor's front door, unsure of how to proceed. Lucy looked at Natsu, silently wondering what the seasoned quest taker would do. Natsu and Happy just shrug in unison however, causing her to roll her eyes as she knocked on the front door.
Nothing happened for a moment.
Then suddenly, a massive shadow appeared above them, and the trio flinched backwards towards the door in surprise as a large woman jumped down from what seemed to be the top floor of the mansion, landing behind them. Natsu's jaw dropped at the sight of the other pink haired lady, who seemed to resemble more of a gorilla than a lady if someone were to ask him. She towered over the trio with massive muscles, a brutish face, and two pony tails at the top of her head.
Resilience and…pain? Pleasure? Lucy was already puzzled at the woman's magical signature, but was even more confused at the feeling it gave her. It was awfully familiar, as if she was feeling Cancer or Aquarius. The Zodiac Keys radiate an ancient magic that Lucy associates with the feelings of dreams and space, and yet the maid before her seemed to also radiate that.
Could she be a spirit, perhaps?
"What the hell am I looking at, Heartfilia?"
The trio jumped again at the sight of Aquarius, who was looking at the maid in front of her in a morbid sense of disgust and amusement. Lucy was surprised to see her in her human form, and the fact that she summoned herself. Normally she enjoyed her mermaid form. But wait, she didn't even think to summon anyone yet, so why did Aquarius come out?!
"Aquarius?!"
Aquarius merely raised an eyebrow at Lucy, "What?"
"What-What are you doing here?"
The maid, Natsu, and Happy flipped back and forth between the two, as if it was a sports match.
"I missed out on the fun last time, I won't let that cow and crab have their chance to shine again."
"But there's no water around here?"
"What the-" Aquarius looked at Lucy with an irritated expression, "Do you think I'm only used with water for fuck's sake? I can summon my own, if need be! I'm not completely helpless if there isn't a body of water around here."
"Besides," Aquarius turned to give a smug smirk at the maid in front of them, "I bet I'll use the 'ole masochist's tears over there anyways. Bet she'll get a kick out of that."
Lucy's jaw dropped for the second time as she looked back at the maid. "You know who that is?!"
"Duh. That's V-"
"That's my maid that you're referring too, and I suggest that you back off of my property before I call security right this instant!" A whiny man suddenly opened the front door, causing Lucy, Natsu, and Happy to take a step back as they were sandwiched between the man and his maid. He was a tiny thing, Natsu towering over his figure with his arms crossed as he took in the sight of the Duke.
Lucy let Aquarius continue to antagonize the maid, looking down towards Duke Everlue and his infuriated expression. She let out what she hoped was a gentle, kind smile as she stook her hand out in a polite greeting.
"Oh, you'll have to excuse us. My name is Lucy, and this is my friend Natsu with his flying cat, Happy!"
Duke Everlue looked down at her hand with disdain as Lucy kept a smile on her face. Eventually he shook her hand, but wiped it furiously on his slacks causing Natsu to stand up a little bit straighter and narrow his eyes a bit. Just as he was about to take a step forward at the Duke's rudeness, Lucy placed a calm hand up to stop him, turning back to Duke Everlue with continued politeness.
"I apologize if we caused any disturbance, but now that we have your attention, would you care for us to take a look at your library? We have a word to retrieve a book here, and it would be rude to just barge inside without even asking the owners."
Duke Everlue stroked his mustache, "Hmm, you are the first group to at least ask before trying to take something with stealth and force." His eyes narrowed at her hand however, and visibly frowned at the sight of a guild mark on it. His body swelled with anger as he suddenly pointed at Lucy, yelling out,
"Blasted ugly woman! You tried to trick me, thinking you were some tourists interested in my impressive mansion!"
"What?!"
"But you're nothing but annoying mages. Luckily for me, I've bought some guards to take care of pests like you all." Everlue spat before shutting the front door promptly, and Aquarius was quick to act as she summoned her urn, creating a wall of water to block the incoming attack from Everlue's gorilla maid. She turned towards Lucy,
"Quick, get inside brat. I'll take care of this, do whatever you have to do. And fucking summon me properly if you need help, okay? 'Cuz I swear to the Celestial King if I have to hear that smug crab talking about he got chosen again -"
"Okay, okay, I get it! I'll summon you next, Aquarius!" Lucy let out an exasperated sound at the childish manners of her spirits. Why were they bragging about being the spirit of choice for summoning? Was it that serious? Suddenly the thought of her three spirits sitting in a room (or Cancer's hair salon), gossiping and arguing over miscellaneous things seemed rather amusing the more she thought about it.
"What the fuck are you daydreaming for?! Get the fuck inside! Bust that shit open, dragon boy!"
Lucy snapped out of her daze with a small, embarrassed flush as Natsu grinned at his title given by Aquarius, immediately kicking the front door open. The force caused the door to fly from its hinges as they stormed Everlue's mansion with Aquarius fighting the maid outside. Once Team Haluna was out of Aquarius sight, she then turned towards her opponent and frowned at the sight of her.
"Virgo, who the hell made you look like this?"
Virgo remained silent as she stared at Aquarius, but the water-bearer knew that she had heard her from the way her eyes flashed in recognition. Aquarius just sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her old friend,
"Well I don't know your problem is but I should at least warn you that whoever your master is inside that building, they are about to get their asses kicked by mine." Aquarius stated matter-a-factly as she looked at her nails a bit boredly. She had to leave soon anyways, she didn't expect that when she'd pop up for a surprised visit, it would lead to her engaging a fight a little bit. "Lucy's strong. Try your best to get around the rules that your master's enforced on you, if you can. I'd hate to see one of us suffer from a piss poor celestial spirit mage again."
"...it's not like you to get worked up over a summoner like this." Virgo said in a gruff tone that matched her appearance. Aquarius did not hold back her second look of disgust, but refrained from commenting on that any further.
"The Heartfilia brat is different. Their whole bloodline is, actually, but this girl really is special."
Virgo hummed before slowly taking a seat on the steps of the front door, causing Aquarius to roll her eyes but took a seat next to her as well. The two spirits sat as they heard small crashes and cracks from inside of the house, but they simply minded their business.
"...I suppose I don't have to take action unless Duke Everlue himself is in physical danger, or he summons me forcefully."
"I guess you don't have to." Aquarius shrugged as she kept Virgo company. Normally she wouldn't do this type of thing, it wasn't her M.O. Perhaps that was why Virgo was a bit taken aback from her actions earlier, she was acting a little different than normal. Or at least, what she's done in the past.
Tsk, that damn brat. Trying to change her and shit. (Lucy didn't even have to try.)
They sat together until Virgo was forced to taken action when she felt the tell-tale sign of her summoner in danger, leaving Aquarius on the steps as she stormed her way inside. Before she left, however, Aquarius's eyes hardened as she gave out a warning,
"I won't hold back if Heartfilia summons me to protect her."
Virgo's eyes flashed with a sense of curiosity, amusement, and a dark excitement at the thought of fighting the other celestial spirit. They often don't get the chance to fight each other, so the thought was a little intriguing for Virgo.
"Then I'll see you on the battlefield if our paths cross." Virgo flatly replied as she suddenly jumped through the floor of the mansion, forcing her way towards her assigned target. She left Aquarius chuckling as she disappeared back into the spirit world, ready to gossip to Cancer about how she caught Virgo lacking in every way possible with some spirit wine in her hand.
-L-H-
The moment Natsu kicked down the door, Team Haluna was immediately assaulted with maids who claimed to have loved Duke Everlue, and that they would even put their lives on the line for him much to Lucy's confusion. They swarmed the team, causing Natsu to activate his quick thinking as he ordered Happy fly Lucy upstairs while he takes care of the maids down below.
Happy grabbed Lucy with an "Aye Sir!" as they dodged the grabbing hands of the maids, as Natsu uses his fire as a distract and a way to keep them all back. He ended up knocking them one by one as he dodged their attacks with ease, chopping the back of their necks with abrupt force as the last one finally went down.
He grinned at his accomplishment and immediately walked towards the spiral stairs, before launching himself up with his flames like a rocket. Natsu landed at the top floor, and entered the library only to see Lucy and Happy scouring the place already, peering into the books on the shelves.
"Why don't we just burn the whole place down?" Natsu asked nonchalantly while Lucy gasped in horror.
"No way!"
"But take a look around, Luce," Natsu whined, "There are too many books. I don't even remember the book's name that we were supposed to find, anyways. In fact, this whole thing was weird. He didn't even smell right."
Lucy paused at the end of Natsu's words, looking up from a book that she had peered through. She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, 'he didn't even smell right'?"
"That Melon guy and his wife, they didn't even smell like the house? If you've lived in a home for a while, you'd naturally obtain the scent of your surroundings, but they didn't smell like the home at all. So either they haven't lived there for long, or they didn't live there at all."
Lucy frowned as she remembered the etiquette from the Melon family. They were polite, but considering the fancier home that they claimed to live in, it wasn't the same aristocrat politeness that she was raised to know. Granted, there were people like Duke Everlue that obviously don't follow those same social rules, but if one couldn't see it in one fashion, the aristocrat training would show in other ways. She never got those vibes from them at all, and suddenly this was a bit weird.
"This is…" Lucy trailed off in thought before her eyes glanced towards a book title with the words "DAYBREAK" written on the spine of the novel. Something inside of her causes her to grab the book title in interest, only for her eyes to widen in excitement at the name of the author listed on the cover.
Kemu Zaelon! That was one of her favorites, growing up!
Natsu hopped over towards Lucy, taking note of her change in attitude. "Didya find it?"
"No-I found something better !" Lucy smiled as she held the book. Suddenly the book seemed to spazz with a magical signature that she had missed the first time, because of how small it was. She narrowed her eyes at the book, closing her eyes to focus on the signature.
She opened her eyes after a couple of seconds and looked onto Natsu.
"On second thought, this book seems to have magic casted onto it. Could you buy me some time? I just have a feeling that I should read this…"
Natsu nodded and called for Happy, turning to head towards the front of the library as he smashed his fists together. Fire sparked as he grinned in excitement at the thrill of a fight, getting ready to take care of anyone who tries to attack Lucy as she reads with her special glasses that he's seen her with before. "You got it, Luce!"
Lucy smiled her thanks as she sat down in the middle of the room, flipping through the pages of the book at a rapid pace thanks to the help of the Gale-Force Reading Glasses. Her face began to show a range of emotions as she read, Natsu watching her as he awaiting opponents to come and try to stop them. Suddenly the scent of foul cologne filled his nose as Natsu got up, cracking his knuckles as he awaited them to come.
"Happy?"
"Aye!"
"Protect Lucy, will ya? Just in case I gotta go. I smell two of 'em."
"That's not necessary boys," Lucy replied as she was reading, taking a moment to grab a familiar key that was calling out to her as she read. She mindlessly said the chant of the celestial spirit summoning ritual, and Aquarius appeared once more with a pleased look on her face. She looked down at the mage,
"Finally, you decided to have some sense."
Lucy rolled her eyes but flashed the spirit a small, amused smile before looking back at the book. Commotion startles her for a moment as she looks up again, but Aquarius is just floating around as she scratched her stomach. She was watching Natsu fight these two men that suddenly appeared, and Lucy went back to reading in the middle of the room.
Meanwhile Natsu was cackling as he fought the Vanish Brothers (as they called themselves), dodging their attacks with relative ease as they spouted nonsense about him being weak due to the fact that he seemingly only trains his magic, not his body. Natsu thinks that maybe they were blind, considering the impressive muscle that Natsu had built on his body even being seen in the maid outfit he was wearing.
The brief thought costs him as Natsu is kicked into the room next door, crashing through the wall with a small "oof". It didn't hurt much, but it was a bit surprising that they managed to land a lucky hit onto him.
The Vanish Brothers gleamed in glory, as they thought that Natsu was going to be a relatively easy opponent. They had seen through the Surveillance Lacrima that Duke Everlue had installed that he was a Fire Mage, and that was one of their specialties to fight against.
The taller one cracked his knuckles as he stepped into the room, thinking that the fight was almost over.
In the midst of the dust and dry wall, Natsu's teeth gleamed as he stood up in the debris.
The sooner they were out of the way, the sooner he could see Lucy again.
With that in mind, it didn't take long for him to get serious as he powered up to beat the Vanish Brothers.
-L-H-
Natsu blinked in small surprise at the ease that it took to defeat the brothers. For people who talked up their abilities, it only took two of his own in order to beat them. Either they were over-confident in their abilities, or they underestimated Natsu. Regardless it had costed them, and now they were slumped in the middle of the room with several degree burns from their fight. Natsu just let out a small, bored sigh,
"C'mon Happy, let's g-"
Natsu let out a choked breath as he was suddenly slammed into the ground, hit with a strength that he didn't see coming as he broke through the floors. His back spasmed as he coughed out, feeling the wind knocked out of him as a large, familiar shadow jumped through the hole that she had created using Natsu's body.
Natsu's eyes narrowed as he scrambled to get up, positioning himself against the head maid of the Everlue mansion. She looked formidably in front of him, almost twice his size. With one hit from her fists, Natsu was already aware that she was on a different caliber than the Vanish Brothers. He forced himself to move when chains suddenly came out of nowhere, aimed to restrict his body.
Natsu rolled and let out a Fire Dragon's Roar as he spun, causing the maid to protect herself by covering her face with her forearms. She stampeded forwards and jumped up, pushing through the flames as Natsu lit his fists on fire to meet her head on. He grinned with sharpness as they were dead even in terms of strength, reaching a quick stalemate as they pounded each other.
A quick right hook at Natsu's face was rewarded with a sharp kick to the maid as they exchanged blows, before the maid summoned a shackle that grabbed Natsu unexpectedly. He flinched as the chains forced his arm backwards, and the maid grabbed his maid outfit with a sharp twist as she lifted an arm up to pound into his face.
With quick thinking, Natsu let out another, smaller Fire Dragon's Roar directly in the maid's face to her surprise, as she thought that he could only do it with his hands. She let out a gruff squeak as Natsu gained the upper hand, breaking his arm free from the chains as it was his turn to pound into her.
A gold light distracted him instead as he paused for a moment, watching as the maid began to disappear. The maid looked down in surprise, before silently acknowledging her fate as she simply stared at Natsu, who spontaneously decided to grab onto Virgo in the middle of her summoning.
Virgo's eyes widened, "Let go -"
But Natsu's snarl silenced her as they disappeared together.
-L-H-
Lucy was approaching the end of the DAYBREAK book calmly as Aquarius played with her latest prey that walked into the library. Duke Everlue had entered after he ordered the Vanish Brothers to kill Natsu, expecting just the girl to be there. What he hadn't expect was for her to be a rather adept celestial spirit mage just like himself, with a Zodiac spirit already awaited for an opponent. He felt a shiver come over him the moment Aquarius locked eyes with him, immediately summoning water from her urn to drag his helpless body towards her.
She held him up by the collar of his ugly suit jacket and tsked, "Pathetic."
Lucy then proceeded to sweatdrop at the sadistic laugh that came from Aquarius as she toyed with Duke Everlue, while protecting Lucy at the same time. By then she's already read enough of the story and closed it, grabbing the attention of Aquarius and Duke Everlue as he suddenly seemed eager to know what she had read. He doesn't know the true contents of this book then, Lucy realized as her eyes narrowed at the sorry excuse of a man.
"You're a real piece of work, Everlue."
"What did you read, girl?" Everlue gargled instead as he was trapped in mini-whirpool bubble that Aquariys made for her amusement. A quick look from Lucy has the spirit rolling her eyes as she stopped the whirlpool, causing the bubble prison to still as Lucy captured Everlue's attention again.
"Enough to know that you're a sorry piece of shit, chaining Kemu Zaelon aka Zekua Melon in a prison cell in order to finish writing a selfish piece of writing that only pertained to you . You crushed that man's dreams , you rotten man."
"So that's what was in the book.."
"It was a memoir to someone else, you don't have permission to own this book anymore."
"And on what grounds, girl? This is my mansion, everything in here is mine ."
Lucy pursed her lips at the possessiveness of the Duke, causing Aquarius to step up as she began to drown the Duke. Lucy faltered at the sight as Aquarius locked eyes with Lucy, raising an eyebrow at the sight of her confused, worried expression. There was no universe where Duke Everlue was a good man. He was rather a poison to the Shinotsume Town, based off of spirit's own assumptions. It's best to get rid of said poison before it spreads.
"Aquarius, what are you…"
Aquarius gave Lucy a blank look for a moment, before releasing the Duke from the water cell she had him in. Drenched to his core, Everlue began to spit up water as he coughed violently, as Aquarius crossed her arms as she stared at Lucy. The coldness in her eyes had surprised Lucy, and she briefly wondered if she really was going to follow through with her attempt to kill Duke Everlue.
"Hmm, I guess the vermin gets to live another day." She grumbled. She didn't like the way Lucy looked at her when she saw Aquarius's original intentions. That blasted summoner, making her soft. Suddenly, Aquarius remembers the hardened eyes of Rushii, who's she's met a couple of times over the years. Would Rushii have killed Duke Everlue? That woman was a bit interesting to say the least.
"Open the Gate of the Maiden, Virgo ."
Lucy's eyes widened in shock as Aquarius rolled her eyes at the revelation, feeling sorry for Virgo being contracted to such a nasty man. She sighed as she waited for Virgo to be summoned, when all of a sudden, she violently shuddered when she felt a powerful demonic energy in the room. Her eyes widened in slight fear as she looked at the form of Virgo and the dragon boy that seemed to have summoned with her.
But how ?
No human could enter the Celestial Spirit World, for there was no air and their bodies would disintegrate almost immediately. Aquarius watched as Virgo faltered at the sight of an alive, breathing Natsu Dragneel who seemed to be in a daze from being summoned.
Both spirits watched as dark marks flashed onto Natsu's skin, faster than the human eye could see, and felt a massive sense of confusion, fear, and interest in the boy. What the hell was he?
Aquarius watched as Lucy didn't suspect a thing, or perhaps she was already aware of this…interesting side of him due to her abilities of magical sensing. She did her own as she stared hard at the boy, taking a note of his spirit.
She swallowed a bit as she felt something sealed off inside of him, and briefly wondered if he was a threat.
"What are you waiting for, woman?! Attack!" Everlue spat out angrily as he ordered Virgo to attack Lucy and Natsu, causing her to snap out of her own look of alarm at the dragon slayer as she was forced to comply to his request. Natsu was a little dizzy from the journey as he stumbled in the library, but with a joint effort from him and a small assist from a slightly distracted Aquarius, he was able to defeat the half-hearted Virgo with one punch.
Natsu frowned a bit at the ease of the final fight, noting how he struggled a little bit during the one on one situation but didn't think much of it after a moment. A win was a win, and now they were finally able to finally complete the mission thanks to Virgo being put down. He ignored the odd stare that Lucy's spirit gave him as he walked over towards his best friend, and picked her up to spin her around.
"Woohoo! Team Haluna's first mission, completed!"
Lucy laughed in Natsu's arms, "Don't be a dunce, Natsu. We complete the mission once we return this book to Mr. Melon."
"Yeah yeah, that's the easy part. What do we do about Duke Everlue, though?"
The poor man was cowered in a corner as Aquarius trapped him in a water cage, without drowning him this time around. Lucy took a look at the pathetic man, then at the Zodiac spirit that he had in his possession (who was knocked out thanks to Aquarius and Natsu's efforts). She pursed her lips as she thought about what to do. Duke Everlue wasn't a good person, but she didn't want him dead.
Instead, she decided that he'll have to deal with the law for his other crimes.
She calmly walked over to Duke Everlue and squatted before the cage. He looked up at the blonde teenager, and almost let out a small pathetic whimper as he stared at the sight behind her. The mermaid mad woman was glaring down at him, as if he was just a bug that needed to be stepped on immediately. Meanwhile the pink-haired fire boy with the torn maid outfit, looked at him with sharp eyes as if he was ready to pounce without a second thought. If Duke Everlue had any sneaky plan, the two knights being the blonde princess wouldn't hesitate to take him out.
That was what he knew , as he stared into their hardened eyes.
"Duke Everlue."
Everlue stayed silent as the blonde captured his attention. She merely hand out a hand, and Everlue gave her a suspicious, questioning gaze. "The key. Give it to me."
"What-?!" Everlue shot up in alarm, but Lucy raised a calm hand to silence him as the people behind her took a menacing step forward. Lucy didn't notice, but Duke Everlue sure did as he shut right back up and cowered once more. Lucy kept her hand held out and stated rather coldly, "Quite frankly, Duke Everlue, there is no way you are escaping this unscathed. While it is true that our original mission here was to simply retrieve a book for our client, there were other alarming things that I noticed during my time here that leads me to believe that you are in fact a corrupt politician. You are going to jail , Duke Everlue. I'm personally going to make sure of it."
Some of the books that she has scoured in order to find the client's book has revealed some astonishing statistics that left Lucy with a terrible taste in her mouth. This town was rotting with Duke Everlue, and he's the core to it all. There was no way Lucy was going to leave this place without at least taking some of the trash out, now that she's seen a glimpse of the truth.
"The least you can do is hand over the Maiden key, as I did save your life after all." Lucy spoke up, and Aquarius looked down at her in surprise. Originally, she thought Lucy had been soft when she had stopped Aquarius from committing the murder of Duke Everlue, but perhaps she was looking for a more creative way to get justice all along. Aquarius gave a small smirk at the adaptability of her summoner, as she returned to making Duke Everlue's skin crawl with her dark stare.
" Well?"
They ended up leaving the mansion with Duke Everlue in handcuffs, a book underneath Lucy's arm, an extra celestial spirit key, and some resolve as they made their way back to Kaby Melon and his wife. Presenting to him with the book of his father, and watching how the memories of him flashed before Kaby Melon as he tearfully thanked them for retrieving the book, left Team Haluna feeling a sense of contentment and a bit of melancholy as they parted ways with him.
On there way back towards the train ride in the evening, Lucy fingered the latest celestial spirit key in her possession as they walked in relative silence. Happy was resting on top of Natsu's head as they walked shoulder to shoulder, taking their time as Lucy suspects Natsu was stalling for as long as possible from getting back onto the train.
It didn't matter to her, she knew that she'd just be consoling and carding her hands through his pink hair as he rested his head on her lap anyways. It seemed to help him a little bit, as his tensed body relaxed the moment she did it the first time.
"I'm glad everything turned out alright for him," Natsu said first as they walked. Lucy hummed out in agreement, taking note of the clouds in the sky. She thought about the fact that Duke Everlue had stolen a man's passion for life, and the consequences of his actions.
He was the catalyst for the man's suicide, it seemed.
It left her feeling rather sour.
"He wrote DAYBREAK as a way to cope from the disgusting conditions that Duke Everlue enforced onto him out of greed. Three years, he wasted away in that cell. It was a diary that reflected a lot about his life, and his regrets especially. And so he wrote it all to his son, who probably thought had abandoned him."
"Wow." Natsu murmured at Lucy's words. It made him feel a bit strange, considering Kaby and Natsu had some similarities. Both were seemingly abandoned by their fathers, and while Kaby now at least has a bit of closure, Natsu didn't. A piece of Natsu was relived that he didn't, because if he were to have received a sign that meant the fall of Igneel, it would've shattered him.
And yet, a piece of Natsu was jealous at the fact that Kaby received something meaningful at all despite years after Zekua's death.
"Confliction."
Natsu looked at Lucy as she began to explain the word to him, as it had popped up in one of Natsu's daily readings.
"Confliction is to be at a state of disagreement over two or more sides. Yet sometimes, it's used as a term to describe a mental struggle, a battle between two opposing emotions or decisions that are ahead of you."
"Hmm…I'm conflicted over choosing what to eat!" Natsu said as Lucy chuckled, rolling her eyes at the sound of Natsu's grumbling. Natsu grinned but when he asked what was something Lucy was conflicted of, he saw as her eyes grew a little distant as she answered,
"My father."
Natsu was a bit conflicted in himself, it seemed.
He let out a small, loaded breath as he looked down at Lucy who seemed to be in a small world of her own as she walked next to him. It made him want to hold her hand, to touch her just to bring her back to the real world. Natsu found that he never had to purposely raise his voice often, or yell whenever he wanted to show something to Lucy. To show that he cared, at least.
A small touch was enough to convey that, for her.
The moment Natsu's hand enclasped with Lucy's, she blinked and suddenly was back to reality as they walked through Shinotsume Town, heading towards the dirt path that lead to the train station. She saw how Natsu gave her a small intrigued look as they held hands, and she placed her head on his shoulder as they walked.
Warmth, Lucy noted as she felt the aura of Natsu, being so close to him.
Cozy.
Comforting.
Safe .
"I didn't think this mission would lead me to thinking about my own father," Lucy sighed as she thought about the cold tycoon businessman. Natsu let out a wordlessly sound of agreement as he nodded. He felt the same way. "Is it too late to make amends?" She said that last part rhetorically, softly as she wondered out loud.
"Amends for what?" Natsu asked her and that was enough to make Lucy silent for a moment as she realized that she had nothing to be sorry for. It just felt like it, that's all. Natsu saw a glimpse of her thought process since they've talked about her relationship with her dad. He firmly believed that she had no reason to make the first move, if it were to happen.
"Don't give in, Luce."
Lucy hummed. "And you don't give up, Natsu. I'm sure Zekua's message to Kaby even after his death, hit a little harder for you, right?"
As always, she could read Natsu like a book. Natsu didn't say anything to that, but he didn't need to. Lucy already knew. She always knew, somehow.
"Igneel's out there, Natsu. You'll get your closure one day."
They left that topic alone after that, Natsu turning the conversation into something lighter as he inquired about the latest key that Lucy had. She didn't know much but was excited to meet her, deciding that she was going to summon her tomorrow after spending the rest of the evening back at the guild. There were lots of people she's yet to meet, so she was excited to make new friends!
There was much to life, Lucy realized as she read DAYBREAK. Perhaps she should keep a record of all of her experiences, too.
"Do you think writing a diary would be fun?" Lucy pondered and Natsu shrugged slightly, not wanting to jostle Lucy's head. He shifted Happy's sleeping form from on top of his head a bit, before answering her,
"Dunno, I'm not much of a writer. What would you write about?"
"Maybe our future adventures or small thoughts that I have every now and then. It's the small moments that tend to be the favorites, after all." Lucy mused. She felt Natsu's callus rub against her own, softer palm as he squeezed her hand without realizing. Small moments like these, Lucy smiled as she squeezed back.
"Sounds fine to me, can I read it too?!"
"Nope!" Lucy popped the 'p' and Natsu frowned playfully at the denial.
"Why not?!"
"It's rude to peek into a girl's diary, Natsu. Everyone knows that!"
"That's stupid."
" You're stupid." Lucy childishly answered as Natsu paused, before her eyes widened and she immediately took off running without a second thought. Natsu laughed as she sensed his intentions as he took off running after her, as she yelled at Natsu to stop with giggles in her voice. They ran all the way to the station, with Lucy's sigh as she took Natsu's hand once more as she dragged him onto the seat.
Natsu found himself blinking dazedly as Lucy stroked his head with Happy snuggled onto her other arm, laying on her lap as he focused on her soothing touch to fight the urge to vomit. Lucy did her actions absentmindedly as she reflected a little bit of her actions today, as the landscape passed by like a blur.
Aquarius was prepared to take out Duke Everlue without hesitation, but was Lucy ready to commit an act such as that?
She recalled feeling a coldness wash over her as she basically threatened the Duke into giving her Virgo's key, isolating her emotions in order to do what she thought was right. Perhaps she learned that from Rushii, who was quite skilled in compartmentalizing for the most part.
It was a bit disappointing to not receive two millions jewels, but as she rides back to Magnolia with Team Haluna, she thinks that the good that they were able to do could cancel out the large sum of money. Maybe the people of Shinotsume Town would get the two million back in reparations for their suffering, who knows.
With that thought, Lucy closed her eyes as Team Haluna fell into a gentle sleep, piled together on the train back to Fairytail.
Back to home.