Down within the sewers, underneath Everlue's Mansion, Lucy is in the process of speed reading through the book. On her face, she wears her Gale-Force Reading Glasses, a useful item she was given by her master, to help increase the speed of reading to help give her time to figure out what was hidden within the book.
She smirked, seeing what Duke Everlue never knew was written inside of it.
'I knew it,' she thought. 'It held a very important secret... Something Kaby never knew that was intended for him to know about.'
She sensed the rumbling coming from the wall, which she immediately closed the book and forced herself to leap to the side, avoiding Everlue's grasp.
"Well, my dear, since you seem to be making a thorough search, it would be best to tell me!" He snickered, flashing that disgusting look that makes her want to puke out her stomach. "You should know, it isn't best to keep secrets, when it comes to making friends."
She clenched the book tightly in her left-hand, while pulling out her whip with the other.
"Never!" She yelled. "I'll never tell you what's within this book! You're an evil man, an enemy to literature!"
She sent the heart-shape cracker towards the male, only to hit the air when he dug into the ground.
"An enemy of literature, you say?! -His voice echoed all around her.- My massive collections on books and art, are the very definition of proof I'm a very important friend to culture!"
Hearing the rumbles coming from beneath her, Lucy performed a one-arm backflip, avoiding Everlue's grasp and, with the whip still in her hand, delivered a good slap to his right-cheek.
"And yet, your collection on maid and your Lookism to shun other females, proves you don't know squat on the definition of 'beauty'!" She pressed on, sending her whip back down to her wounded opponent.
But, again, jumping back down to the ground, she missed.
"How dare you mock them?! They are the very definition of beauty!"
He came bursting through the wall. This time, when she turned her body to slap him away, he grabbed for her right-arm, pushing her to the ground. Now, he hovered over her body, sneering at her.
Lucy glared at the small, fat-man above her, wincing when his grip on her arm started to seriously hurt her.
Seeing her in pain, the anger on his face shifted into a snickering smile, as his eyes stared down at the book she kept tightly to her chest.
"Tell me, you little mouse, what secret does the book hold?!" He demanded. "Tell me! It's a treasure map, isn't it?! He buried the secret to his wealth!"
She grunted when the hand on her arm tightened, forcing the burn on her wrist to pulse in pain.
...To a response, she lifted her head and smashed her forehead against him.
Duke Everlue didn't let go from the impact. In fact, as he quickly shook off the attack, his grip increased.
"You brat!" He yelled, forcing out a yell from the blonde. "Tell me, right now, or I'll snap your arm like a toothpick!"
Her chocolate-brown eyes held a burning anger.
"Never!" She yelled... And this time, she tried to knee him in the stomach.
Unfortunately, the big, golden button took most of the impact. Although, he did felt a bit winded.
...
...He used his other hand to grab at her throat, starting to choke her.
"Now's not the time to get sassy with me," he warned. "You should know, I, personally, commissioned this book's very existence. Meaning, that any secrets it contains, it rightfully belongs to me and is my property!"
"No! It doesn't!" She barked, before feeling the hand around her neck tightening.
Just as it seems like she was going to end up choking until she passes out... Lucy found herself freed from Everlue's grasp, as Happy, appearing out of nowhere, thrusted both of his feet into Everlue's left-cheek.
She rolled to her hands and knees, gasping for breath, as her grip on the book remained still and firm. Once the air is back into her body, she looked up to the blue-cat.
"Thanks for the save, Happy."
The cat snickering, with a big smile on his face, seeing he bested the fat-man that was hurting his friend... Only to then, when his wings vanished, fall into the brown-water.
Duke, in his shock, glared at the cat that seemed to be enjoying being in the water.
"What?! A flying cat?!" He gaped, though feel angry that a feline was able to hurt him.
"The name's 'Happy'." Happy replied, the lower-half of hsi face being bubbled by the water.
Lucy gave him a blank response.
"You better get out of there," she told the cat.
"But the water feels so warm!" Happy commented, allowing the water to start pulling him back.
...Lucy facepalmed herself with the hand that held the whip.
"...Happy... It's sewer-water." She sighed out, before using her whip to coil around the cat's body from underneath the water and pulling him out.
Once her friend is at her side, Lucy knew, right there and then, that she'll need some assistance on bringing Everlue down.
' Taurus will damage the area to the point on making the mansion above us collapse, and Mom... Yeah, I'm not going to summoner her, in sewer-water... Which means, my only option, is to bring Uncle.'
She pulled out her Zodiac Key, smirking at the small-man who was completely taken back to be seeing her pull out a Gate Key.
"I'll give you this one warning," she announced. "if you let me and my friends go, along with us taking this book with us, I'll let you off with a warning and make sure we never bother you, or inform people of your Lookism. If not... Well, then, you'll leave me with no choice, but to bring forth my uncle into battle."
Duke didn't show much of being threatened, as he eyed the key held in her hand.
"You're a Celestial Wizard, are you?" He replied. "A bit young, for somebody to be in the possession of a Zodiac Gate Key. Also, even if you were to summon it, neither your Spirit, that cat or even yourself will be able to take me down! Especially, when I use my Diver Magic!"
A dirty-yellow symbol appeared behind his back and then, like a jackhammer sinking into soft ground, he vanished into the earth, leaving a large-hole in his place.
Happy, after shaking off what remains of the sewer-water that clings to his fur, gasped.
"He does that, by using Magic?! That's crazy!" He yelled.
All around them, they can hear what best can be described as being an actual jackhammer, unable to tell where Everlue was at.
...However, feeling the vibration beneath her feet, Lucy, putting away her Gate Key, grabbed at the bag around Happy's neck.
"Look out!" She yelled, before forcing herself to slightly bend the top-half of herself to the right, when a hand shot straight out where part of her body was last standing over. Getting slapped by the heart-shaped cracker in the process.
The hand sank back down, as Lucy rolled her and Happy from the whole, letting go of the cat to get back to her feet... Before, once again, Everlue shot straight from the ground. This time, Lucy looped her whip around a pipe that was across from her and launched herself in the air, using the wall to help her out.
Missing his victim, Everlue shot straight into the wall, tunneling around to make a grab for the girl in the air... Only for her twist her body and getting slapped in the face by her whip, again, when it loosened its hold on one of the pipes.
He sank into the sewer-water, going into the earth at the bottom, and trying to make a third grab for the girl that barely landed. However, Lucy, landing near the ledge, forced herself to backflip back to the other-side of the sewer, landing a few feet from Happy.
She glared Everlue, who was fully out of the ground.
"I've read the whole story," she told him. "And it's a horrible adventure of a disgusting, trashy, lowlife character named 'Duke Everlue'!"
Happy, not knowing how she was able to read the whole book, was surprised to hear the name of the main character.
"Are you serious?" He replied, staring at Duke Everlue with a clear sign of disbelief and showing to not be very impressed.
Said man didn't seem to appreciate the seventeen year-old calling the character with degrading responses.
"I wouldn't call the protagonist as 'trashy'," he replied. "But, for the book, itself, you're spot on! -He sank into the ground, his voice echoing all around them.- The story, itself, is bullshit! And to think, it was written by the great Kemu Zaleon, himself!"
All around her surroundings, debris fell from the roof above her.
...Then, from behind her, Duke Everlue shot straight towards. His smile big and sinister.
"It's inexcusable!"
Lucy performed a half-backflip, to a cartwheel, and finishing with another backflip. Then, feeling the vibration, she shot straight up in the air, using her whip to coil around the pipe to pull her away from the many hole Duke made.
When he touched the roof, Everlue chuckled at her inability to hit him, drilling straight into the earth.
"You're a despicable, arrogant, tyrant!" She yelled. "You forced him to write it!"
"'Arrogant', you say?! That word doesn't even hold a candle to describing moi!" Everlue called out, small-chunks of brick and stone falling into the sewer-water. "It was a great honor, to tell my story! No matter the circumstance!"
Some of the debris headed for her and Happy, which she used her whip to swat away.
"If that's true, then why did you blackmail him to do it?!"
"'Backmail'?!" Happy exclaimed.
Popping out from the ground behind them, Everlue, with his head turned, smiled big.
"I wouldn't say I 'blackmailed' him to do it," he replied. "He just needed a bit of encouragement to do the job. It doesn't really matter if it's blackmailing or not, so long as he did it!"
Lucy sneered down at the fat-man, who happily dug through the ground, posing to swimming.
"Is that so?" She replied, putting away her whip.
"Any fool would've taken the offer to have me as their star character, without any hesitation, but that fool had the audacity to decline! -He sank into the ground, before a hand shot straight up, an index-finger waving from side-to-side.- So, I gave him an ultimatum, by giving him an inspiration to take the job: Write my novel, or his family would be stripped of their citizenship!"
Happy realized what that would've meant, if he had done so.
"But, if you'd done that, they wouldn't be able to be in a Guild and make a living!" He protested, hissing at the man. "How do you even have the power to do so?!"
The hand sunk to the ground, followed by a magnitude-like shaking to the ground they stood in. Immediately, Lucy ran from the spot, while Happy sprouted wings to get to the air.
"I HAVE THE POWER TO DO ANYTHING!" Duke declared, shooting from the ground. "I got him to right it, after all!"
Lucy glared at the fat-man that hovered in the air, clenching tightly to the book.
"However, that fool decided to show me the lack of respect he was supposed to give me. So, I decided he would do his work, in a cell! He kept going on and on, about being a brilliant writer and would never give in to threats! -He triggered his magic, rapidly spinning in ball.- But in the end, I got what I've wanted!"
Like a dodgeball, she bounced all over the wall and the water, bringing down debris in his attempt to lay a hit on the seventeen year-old and the blue-cat.
While running, Lucy looked over her shoulders.
"You're a cold-hearted, self-righteous bastard, who would go so far as to force somebody to help boost your own ego!" She argued. "You put him in solitary confinement for three years! Didn't you even know the damage you've caused him?!"
"What? Three whole years?!" Happy cried out, unable to imagine what it would be like to be in a dark, cold cell, for so long.
Duke sank into the ground and popped right out in front of them, which Lucy quickly backflipped to avoid being grabbed and/or hit by the stones and/or bricks that came down and in front of her.
Smoke and dust circled Everlue.
"Perhaps it took him that long to appreciate me," he boasted.
"You fool!" She yelled. "He couldn't stand to spread your lies! But he didn't have any other choice, except to satisfy your horrid vanity! -She got to her feet.- He knew that if he didn't write about your character of your heroic champion of justice, then his family would suffer!"
Her words, while very irritating, made Everlue very curious as to know how and/or why she knew what he did to the late Kemu Zaleon, when he had ready the book and found no trace of the man admitting to the abuse and mistreatment he suffered.
"Tell me something, girl. How exactly do you know all of this?"
Lucy held up the book.
"It's all written here, black and white, as clear as day."
Duke glared at the book.
"What?" He replied. "How is it that it's in there? I've read the book, from cover to cover. Kemu Zaleon isn't in it!"
"Naturally, if you read it by it's normal appearance, then yes, he isn't in it." The girl pointed out. "However, apparently, you never knew him like I did: Before he became an author, he was a wizard."
"'A wizard'?" Happy repeated.
Clearly, Everlue was completely stunned by the news... Then, his anger turned to the girl.
"...What did he do?!" He demanded.
...Lucy pulled the book to her chest.
"The moment he finished writing the story, he gathered whatever remaining strength he had left in him and casted a spell into this book."
Hearing the news of Kemu's trickery, Everlue's body trembled with interior rage.
"That sleazy fox," he grumbled. "He turned my character, into a hatchet fraud?! -He raised both fists in the air.- The nerve of that ungrateful slob!"
He sank into the ground and shot straight for Lucy, who launched herself in the air to dodge his attack.
"Get over it, you glorified bastard!" She yelled, landing before forcing herself to jump back when he made an attempt to grab for her leg when she landed. "It's true that he written on all the pain and suffering you put him through! -Again, Duke shot up from the ground, hoping to grab her from behind, but missed when shifted her body to have her feet planted to the wall and jump over him. Landing feet away from him.- But the chapters that focused on what you did to him, are only a small part in the book. In fact, the secrets in this book has nothing to do with you, at all!"
That caught Duke completely off guard, while Happy, thinking that the secret really was a form of treasure map, was drooling with anticipation.
"Tell us the secret, Lucy!" He cried.
"What exactly do you mean?" Everlue replied, a small part of him fearing that Kemu hid an important secret that would end up becoming his undoing, whether it really did have anything to do with him or not.
Ignoring both of their demands, Lucy pointed an accusing finger at the short, fat-man... Next to the pointing finger, she pulled out the one key she intended on using to join her in battle.
"I'm never going to give you back this book, Everlue. Because, this book, it was never really yours to begin with! -She raised the Gate Key in the air, before bringing it down.- Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"
A golden light shot from the summoning symbol, as a figure appeared in front of Lucy.
He dresses in a way reminiscent of a hairdresser, His hair is black and braided in red-cornrows that end in a shape that resembles crab's pincers. His lip are thick. He wears a blue striped shirt and dark trousers with two aquamarine stripes each side, also wearing boots in his feet. In his pants, there's a ring chain in the right pocket and a hairdresser tools' bag in the left side of his belt. He wears a golden necklace, sun-glasses with green-lens and holds two items in both of his hands: Scissors. He, also, has six crab legs that appear from his back.
This is the Giant Crab: Cancer.
...At the sight of his legs, Happy's stomach growled.
"A GIANT CRAB!" He cheered, waving his arms in the air. "Now, that's a good choice for a Celestial Spirit to kick a bad guy's butt! Bring out a crab-man with razor claws, and tough guy glasses! Because, after the fighting, he'll be tender enough to eat!"
...Lucy ignored Happy's remarks to her spirit, as she went and greeted Cancer.
"Hey, Uncle." She happily greeted. "Thanks for getting here!"
The crab-man, being referred to as her uncle, turned to face her.
"Hey there, Sweetheart. How about I give you a new hairstyle? Baby."
...Happy was blown away from what Cancer just called the blonde-teenager by.
"'Baby'?!"
Lucy let out a deep sigh.
"Sorry, Uncle, but not right now. -She pointed a finger to a slightly surprised Everlue.- I need you to help me take care of this creep!"
Turning to the task before him, Cancer faced his opponent, purposely snapping his scissors.
"Whatever you say. Baby." He replied.
...Happy was having second thoughts about the spirit she summoned, finding it very awkward that he kept calling her 'Baby'.
"On second thought, Lucy, you should probably send him back. We don't really need somebody to make the bad guys look cooler, before they finish us off."
She looked over to Happy... Then, she gave him a confident smirk.
"Cancer may not look as much, but he's strong." She assured him, as she pulls out her whip. "After all, he's the one to help teach me how to stay silent and vigilante... Like a ninja."
Hearing her say 'ninja', again, Happy's doubt was sapped away and, once again, started cheering for her and Cancer to shave the mustache off of Everlue's face.
Across from them, Lucy can see Duke sweating bullets from his face, his fists tremblings.
She narrowed her eyes at his nervous and anxious reaction, as she fought to not force a smirk to appear.
'I bet I know why he's getting antsy. And, if my guess is correct, then he should be very afraid to what I found within Kemu's book.'
...Though, she was completely taken back when Everlue brought forth a golden key from his pocket... It was a Gate Key...
...
...
...A Zodiac Key.
"Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
A dark-violet color insignia appeared, as a dark-violet aura gathered from where he thrusted his key to the ground.
The Seventeen year-old couldn't believe her eyes.
"He's a Celestial Mage, too?!" She cried out.
"He has a Zodiac Key like you, Lucy!" Happy pointed out.
...Then, popping right out from the ground, the large-maid with pink-hair came to Everlue's side.
"You have summoned me, Master?!" The woman yelled, glaring down at her master's opponent... Though, within her eyes, she winced when she saw Cancer.
With a large smirk on his face, Everlue pointed a finger to the girl, her Celestial Spirit and the blue-feline.
"Virgo, get me that book!" He ordered.
Lucy couldn't believe that she didn't realize it sooner; after all, 'Virgo' was a Constellation Name and a member of the Zodiac... That, and she now figured out why she told her that she knew what she was.
"What a second?! You're the Virgo?!" The blonde exclaimed, wide-eyed stunned of the large maid, before turning to Cancer, a pout spread on her face. "Uncle, you guys never told me Virgo was a big, strong woman! Why didn't you guys tell me what she looked like, let alone the other Zodiacs' appearances?! It would've saved us the trouble on how to avoid picking a fight with her!"
To that, Cancer simply lowered his head a bit.
"Sorry, Sweetie. But your mother insisted to let you first witness the others' appearances, should you ever come across them. Baby. -Then, when he looked back up to his companion, beneath his shades, Cancer couldn't believe what he and, apparently, Virgo, didn't noticed.- ...Uh, Sweetie? Is that the pink-haired dragon boy Aquarius and Taurus told me about? Baby."
To his words and when he pointed one of his scissors to what was above the Maiden Zodiac Spirit, Lucy, Happy and even Everlue couldn't believe their eyes.
...
...
...
...It was Natsu, who, apparently, was confused to where he was. In his right-hand, he grabbed a fist full of Virgo's white-shirt.
"Natsu?!" Happy and Lucy called out, as the Dragon Slayer landed on her back.
Looking over the just as confused and stunned Virgo, Natsu flashed them his signature smile.
"Hey, Luce, Happy! I found you!" He called out, saluting to them.
Everlue, forgetting about the book, was no more interested on figuring out how the eighteen year-old just appeared alongside his Celestial Spirit.
"What is the meaning of this?!" He yelled, hoping that somebody would give him the answer.
Lucy, just as puzzled, glared up at the older-teen.
"What are you doing up there?!" She demanded, knowing that she didn't see him make an entrance, let alone be able to pop up on Virgo, without her noticing.
Natsu shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I saw her getting back up, so I decided to get up on her. And then, all of a sudden, I ended up here!"
...
...
...
...
...Lucy couldn't believe what he just told her.
"You just grabbed her, while you two were still inside of Everlue's Mansion?!" She exclaimed, still at a loss on what she and the others just witnessed and heard. "...But... Natsu... That shouldn't be possible! You're telling us that you, a human, passed through the Spirit Gate with her! It's never been heard, let alone done, at all!"
Finally getting over her shock and confusion, Virgo tried to make a grab for Natsu. However, because of her massive body and buffed arms, she couldn't reach him.
The pink-haired Dragon Slayer turned to the blonde.
"So, what do you think I should do now?! Huh?!" He called out.
Lucy groaned at his inability to think ahead and attack, when he had the chance to do so when they were all gaping at him.
"Finish your fight!" She yelled, snapping her whip in the air to get Everlue's attention. "Everlue's mine!"
Snapping back to reality, Everlue refocused to the fight.
"Virgo, take care of that heap of trash, and then get me that book!" He ordered, as he tunneled into the ground.
Lucy smirked at the fat-man's plan, as she turned to Cancer.
"You ready, Uncle?" She replied, coating her whip with her Celestial Magic.
"Ready whenever you are. Baby." The crab-man replied, waiting beside her to feel and hear out the vibration around them.
Because he's basically a crab, the cornrows within his hairs are, also, a part of himself. Becoming his version of antennas, using them to sense his surroundings. And, like an actual crab, his sense of smell is, also, useful to figure out if Everlue was going to make his appearance or not.
From across them, Virgo went to deliver a punch to the Dragon Slayer, who finally launched himself off of her... Only for Natsu, triggering his magic, to build up heat from his stomach to his mouth, and releasing a massive blast of fire.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
At the same time he released his attack, Everlue leap out from behind Virgo, readying to curl himself into a ball and to bounce around the cave... However, after Cancer's aid to inform her that he was coming out, Lucy thrusted her whip out and coiled it from his face to his chest, imprisoning his arms to his chest.
And, because she coated her whip with her magic and cut him off from using his attack, she cancelled out his Diver Magic.
"Get ready for a much needed shave, Humpty Dumpty, because you're gonna shine within the spotlight!" She yelled, pulling back with all her might and vaulting him in the air. "Uncle, give him his much needed haircut!"
To her words, Cancer launched himself in the air and, when her whip released Everlue from its grasp and with lightning fast snippets of his scissors, the crab-man gave him a haircut so swift, that the hair of Duke's head and nose were incinerated into dust.
Both Lucy and Cancer both stood on both side of the now unconscious Everlue... Who, surprisingly, still had that gross, disturbing grin on his face.
She glared at the fat-man behind her.
"You may have one of the greatest collections in the world, and that, alone, won't even be able to conceal the true hideous feature that tainted your true colors." She told the fat-man.
Cancer came to her side, glaring down at their defeated opponent.
"What do you think about this? A lot better? Baby." He said, snapping his scissors together in both hands.
From across from them, on top of an unconscious Virgo, Natsu looked over his shoulders, smirking with a clear sign of approval at the man that dare to call his mate 'ugly' and lay his filthy hands on her.
"Oh yeah, that's a much better look for him. Way to go, Baby- Uh, I mean, Crab-man!" He commented, a little bit awkward to had copied the crab-man's words. He looked over to Lucy. "Hey, Luce, why does he keep calling you 'Baby' at the end of his sentences?"
Lucy let out a sigh as she stood up to her feet, shrugging her shoulders, as she put away her whip.
"He's been calling me that since I first gained his Gate Key," she answered. "Also, to the fact he's not only my uncle..."
As if to demonstrate his full bond with the girl, Cancer wrapped her into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head.
Natsu and Happy were taken back, as the blonde returned the hug.
"He's also my Godfather, since I've been born under the Zodiac Sign of Cancer."
"That's right. And no matter how old you get, Sweetie, you're always going to be a baby in our eyes. Baby."
She blushed in embarrassment to his words, grabbing his key.
"Thanks, Uncle. I'll summon you, again, should I need you, again. And I promise to let you do a new hairstyle for me, when I call you." She told the crab-man, before he vanished in a poof of smoke.
It was in that moment, that all around them, the ground and the ceiling began to shake.
Lucy gasped, looking up at the ceiling, seeing multiple cracks building and debris falling.
'The mansion! It's sinking!' -Pulling out her whip and coating it in her Magic, she coiled it around Everlue, as she ran and ushered Happy to latch on to her shoulder, before turning to a confused Natsu.- "Natsu, we need to leave! Now!"
Luckily, because they were in Everlue's private sewer, it didn't take long for them to find a set of staircase to get them out of the sewers, which lead them to find themselves in his private garden.
...
...
...However, even though it was a lovely sight to see all of his properties being taken away from him, as his mansion crumbled and sink into the ground... It still didn't settle well for Lucy to see the damages she, Natsu, Everlue and Virgo caused.
...Natsu, on the other hand, simply smirked proudly at the sight, before turning to Lucy... He laid his right-arm over her shoulders, purposely kicking the unconscious Everlue off to the side and out of her whip's clutches.
"I like your style, Luce!" He commented, laying his head on top of hers. "Going off with a bang! You're definitely going to fit in at Fairy tail!"
Happy, who was on her left-shoulder, now sat on Natsu's right-arm, also gaping in shock at the damages they've caused.
"Yeah, but aren't we not supposed to damage his house?" The cat replied, quivering from the thought on having to pay for the damages with the Jewels they'll be earning from their mission.
Lucy, while unable to believe the damages they've caused... In the back of her mind, she knew of a way to avoid them being punished.
'It's a good thing that the Magic Council will be more than willing to have a criminal to take the place of a Guild's mistake.' She thought, looking over at Duke Everlue. 'And, since we'll be taking this book to it's rightful owner, I believe Kaby will be more than happy to help assist us with such a task.'
"When I read the book, 'Daybreak', I couldn't believe that Kemu Zaleon would write such a terrible story like that." Lucy told Kaby, handing him the golden-book. "Which is how and why, I knew that there was a spell in it."
Kaby could only stare down at the book she handed over to him.
He looked at her, confused and taken back.
"But, I requested for the book to be destroyed," he reminded. "Why on earth would you give hand it to me, completely unscathed?"
...Lucy gave him a calm, but sad frown.
"Because, if you really want to burn it, I'd rather if you do it, yourself." She answered, having no regrets at all on having to hand the book to him.
Kaby glared down at the book. His hands, slightly trembling.
"I most certainly will burn it," he confirmed. "I don't ever want to see this trash, ever again."
The seventeen year-old, also, glared down at the cover. The feeling being mutual, when she read the story.
"I'm completely in agreement with you," she said. "And I completely understand for your reason to wanting this book to be destroy... It's because you wanted to protect your father's legacy. You're Zaleon's Son, am I right?"
Natsu and Happy were completely off guard to Lucy's claim, as Kaby slowly nodded his head.
"You are right, young lady. I am Kemu Zaleon's son." He confirmed.
"...Tell me. Have you read the book, yourself?" She asked.
Kaby shook his head.
"...I could never bring myself to do so," he said. "My father told me it was garbage."
Natsu, in his irritation, finally spoke up.
"You've never read it, and you were just going to burn it?! Just like that?!" He yelled.
"...I was."
...
...In his anger, Natsu appeared before Kaby, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. His eyes flashed a Ruby-red color, startling the older-man.
He doesn't bother to hide the anger and hatred he had towards the older-man, for showing such disrespect towards his father.
"Without even bothering to look what was inside of it?! It's the last book your dad ever wrote! Right?!" He scolded. "Some of us kill for that kind of memory!"
Before it would end up possibly escalating, Lucy came up and pulled Natsu away from Kaby... She wrapped an arm around the front of his neck.
His eyes widened from the feeling of her pressing up against his chest. Her arm slightly trembled, as she kept him still and firm within her somewhat strong grip.
"...You have every right to be angry with him, Natsu." She whispered, glaring at the wall behind the couch. "However, he's still our client. And, as such, we must hear Kaby out to his reason for wanting to destroy the book... Even if it'll make no difference to view it as a grave mistake."
...Her strawberry/vanilla scent entered his sense of smell... It helped him calm his rage, regaining his senses to back down.
His eyes returned back to its Onyx-black color.
He nodded his head to her, before turning to the older-man.
"...You need to understand," he told them. "That book cause nothing but great heartache and shame to my family. -He opened his eyes, staring down at his feet... Great sorrow can be seen in his eyes.- ...It was thirty-one years ago..."
And there, he told the two teenagers and blue-cat on how his father came home one day, after being gone for three whole years. Without any road or letter to inform them that he was okay. How his father went to the chest and tied a cord around his right-arm...
...
...
...
...How he swore that he'll never write, again... Before he chopped off his own arm with a butcher knife.
Natsu and Happy were mortified, hysterical when they heard that Kemu Zaleon would go as far as to cut off his own arm... Lucy, while, also, disturbed by the news, felt mournful for the late-writer.
Kaby then told them on how he had a massive argument with his father, while he laid in a hospital bed. How he berated him for working for Duke Everlue in the first place, than choosing his family over money... And the entire time, his father would smile and tell him on how glad he was happy to had finish that terrible book he written and how he thought about his son and their family, during their three years separation...
...And not long after their argument and Kaby walked away from him, calling him a fool, even renouncing him as his father... Kemu passed away... Even at his gravesite, Kaby still harbored anger and betrayal towards his father.
"...But as the years passed by, that anger slowly began to turn into remorse. -His wife, during his tale, eventually came to his side, silently offering him her comfort... He stared down at the book in his hand.- ...And now... It's too late to ask for his forgiveness."
Natsu, unable to look at Kaby, turned his back, folding his arms over his chest. Even though that he believe Kaby is making a terrible decision to destroying the book, without even bother on reading it... He, couldn't hold the old-man against his choice on destroying the book.
"So, I've decided to make amends, by destroying the final work that brought him so much unhappiness... It was the only way, the only way, I can preserve his legacy. -He pulled out a box of matches from his pocket. He pulled a match out, lighting it.- I'm certain, without a doubt, this is what he would've wanted."
...
...
...
...
"You're wrong, Kaby!"
Lucy's words, so strong and firm, made everyone within the room turn to her.
...
...
...She walked up to the old man and, to his surprise, she blew out the fire from the match.
Kaby was taken back by her interference... Though, nothing could surprise him, when she pulled the book out, grabbing both of his hands to hold the golden-book out in front of him.
"Look, Kaby!"
As if responding to her words, a purple-Amethyst insignia popped out in front of the old-man and the seventeen year-old... The book, that was once golden, glowed a light-purple color. It now hovered in front of him and Lucy.
...The title of the book, itself, suddenly hovered off of the cover. Flashing in a Aquamarine-green/black-mixture color.
"A spell had been cast in this book," she told Kaby. "It's the work from the wizard, Kemu Zaleon... Or, should I say, Zekua Melon."
"'A spell'?!" Kaby replied, as he and everybody watches the letters of 'Daybreak' rearranging itself on the front of the book's cover.
...Now, instead of 'Daybreak'... It now said... 'Dear Kaby'.
His wife gaped in awe, as Kaby reread the title.
"'Dear Kaby'."
Lucy nodded her head, slowly backing away from the book. A sincere smile appeared on her face, as she stared up at the book.
"That's right," she replied. "This book... It's his letter to you, disguised by a magic spell that rearranges all of the words... So nobody else could read it."
The book opened itself up and, in a flash of colorful lights, many streams of words came out.
Natsu and Happy were very much taken back by the sight in front of them.
"Whoa..." Natsu gasped, almost reaching out to touch one of the streams that was nearby him.
"Pretty!" Happy commented, jumping onto Lucy's left-shoulder.
Lucy smiled up at the words, finally free from their imprisonment.
"He didn't stop writing, because he was ashamed, Kaby." She told him, smiling at the two couple. "He stopped, because he's finally finished his masterpiece...! A novel, containing everything he ever wanted to say to his beloved son! And if you read it in the way he intended, it's easily his best work ever!"
Tears sat in Kaby's eyes, as the streams of words danced in the air. His wife, with a happy smile on her face, with tears of her own, held on to his hand in both of her smaller-hands.
The light died away, the book stopped glowing, and gently floated back into his hands
"And now that the spell has been broken, you can read it all to yourself." Lucy happily informed, satisfied that she was able to, in some way, help the late Zekua Melon get his last book to his son.
Kaby fell to his knees, hugging the book to his chest. His wife kneeling at his side, sobbing happily for obtaining a gift that will help him heal the pain Duke Everlue inflicted into his family, after thirty-one years.
"...Father... Thank you," he gently weeped. "I promise you, that I'll never let any harm come to this book."
...In his own satisfaction that Kaby will keep a last gift from his late-father, Natsu let out a deep sigh, with a slight disappointing, but true happy smile on his face.
"Now that it's over, I guess we won't be collecting that reward." He sighed out.
"Aye!" Happy replied, raising a paw in the air, while remaining on Lucy's shoulder.
Kaby and his wife stared up at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, stunned by his words.
He flashed them a calm smile.
"Our job was to destroy the book," he reminded. "We didn't finish the job. That means, we don't get paid."
Kaby, feel as if he cheated them, begged to give them something.
"But, even so, let me do something to show you three my gratitude! Please!"
Casually, Natsu folded both arms behind his head, starting to make his way for the door.
"Nope, we're good!" He replied. "We don't need the rewar-"
"Actually, I have something that should satisfy us all." Lucy cut in, smirking down at Kaby.
She went over, kneeling in front of him and his wife.
"While I was going through the book, I found something very interesting in the back. -Gently, she took the book from his hands and turned it over.- See these small symbols?"
Natsu, who stopped to her voice, came over to look down at the back of the book with everybody else... There, where she pointed out, there are symbols and shapes that nobody seemed to notice.
Lucy smiled at the markings.
"While your father was writing his story and was casting the spell, during his time in solitary confinement, there was certain times and moments, that he did some research and overheard from those maids of Everlue's, that he caught wind on some very important information that the Magic Council would very much like to hear. And, with some help from his Letter Magic, he was able to record every word and information that he knew would ruin that sleazy dirtbag."
The markings all glowed, as many words shot up in the air... This time, instead of circling around them, they each held out titles and chapters to what they contained.
Nobody didn't know what to say.
"I was able to read some of these information, before Everlue founded me and tried to take the book away, but, from what I was able to find out, these are information and top secret data that all reveals to all of Everlue's illegal schemes on how he got rich and made his fortune... And, no doubt, that would, also, include finding ways to blackmail others to work for him, in exchange to take away their citizenships... Like he threatened your father with."
Natsu cocked his head to the side.
"That's great and all, but how does this help all of us with a way to make us all happy, Lucy?" He asked, unable to see the big picture.
Luckily, Happy was able to figure out what she's implying.
"I see!" He cried. "What you're saying, Lucy, is by giving this whole information to the Magic Council, not only will this end up ruining that mustached freak-...!"
"It, also, means, all his money will pay for the damages that went on in his own mansion, since he, his maids and the Vanish Brothers from the Southern Wolves were the true source to his own home sinking and being destroyed... And, for giving information that they never knew was going on underneath their noses and victimizing the true people who are the reason to his wealth, those people will, also, Kaby and his family, including other families involved with Duke Everlue, will inherit his fortune and no longer have to live in poverty or in endangerment of losing their citizenships!"
...
...
...
...
...To her words, it was all it took, before Kaby and his wife both cried with tears of joy, bowing to the seventeen year-old and her two teammates.
"...Thank you...!" He sobbed, smiling big at her. "...We will forever be indebted to you three!"
His wife nodded her head, wiping away her tears.
"...What is your name, Sweetie?"
...To her question, Lucy smiled softly at the two.
"...Lucy... Lucy of Fairy Tail."
Hours Later, at Night; in the Forest...
"I can't believe we've, not only kicked some serious ass, but we were able to avoid getting in trouble with the Magic Council! And, to top it all that, despite not completing the original job, we've still made two million Jewels!" Natsu happily cheered, unable to contained his excitement on getting one million Jewels by the time they return to the Guild and can properly boast to everyone of their accomplishment.
Happy, sitting on the left-side of his sleeping bag, joined in with his joy.
"Aye!" He agreed, raising a paw in the air.
From behind them, Lucy let out a satisfying sigh of relief. Both of her hands clasped behind her back.
'We probably would've gotten more, if we'd allowed Kaby to give us more that he was willing to offer to us, after learning how much he and his family will be earning.' She thought, looking up at the sky, staring at the stars. 'Even if he were to try and give us more, I'm very much pleased that we were able to help return the last gift his father made to him.'
"Yo, Luce!" Natsu called out, pulling her thoughts away from her mind. "There's a river nearby. We're gonna go make camp, there."
Normally, most girl who aren't much for the wilderness would complain about having to sleep outside in the forest... But, because she had been surviving on her own before joining Fairy Tail, even to go as far as to sleep on the cold, hard ground, Lucy didn't see any reason to refuse.
Eventually, a few minutes later, they found themselves at the lake. And, with Lucy lighting the fire, while Natsu helped Happy on finding some food for them to eat, they all sat before a campfire. Their meals, containing mostly fish and some lizards Natsu found in the trees, being cooked beside the fire.
Happy, not really much for eating cooked fish, was already helping himself to some other fishes he caught and that aren't being roasted near the fire. While Natsu, using his own fire to thoroughly heat up his meal instantly, joined his feline friend in already chowing down.
Leaving Lucy to wait for her meal to finish heating up... Though, she doesn't seem to mind at all.
...Yet, her stomach would have to disagree, as it grumbled for food, despite the fact that she'll end up sick if the meat isn't fully cooked.
Hearing her stomach, Natsu turned to her. Her gave her a worried look.
"You know, I can help quicken the heating of the meat, so you don't have to wait any longer." He offered, raising a hand to bring forth fire into his palm.
With a smile, Lucy shook her head.
"Thanks, but I'm positive that you'll end up charring the meat, in the process on trying to cook it as fast as you can." She replied, as she turned her fish over to have the other-side evenly cooked. "Besides, I'm used to this and, as I'd been taught, patience is a virtue."
...Again, her stomach growled, demanding food.
Happy lifted his eyebrow, as he stared at her growling stomach... Which, in the process, seeing the clear sign of her ribs being seen through her pink-spaghetti strapped shirt.
He, too, didn't like to witness the seventeen year-old forcing herself to wait until her meal was done at a much slower paste.
"I don't think your tummy agrees to your logic, Lushi." He pointed out.
Lucy rolled her eyes at him, purposely, mispronouncing her name, but didn't say anything to correct him or scold him.
She then looked up at Natsu, who was busy scarfing down his kill.
"...You knew they didn't own that house. Didn't you?" She said, folding her arms over her chest, smirking at Natsu's surprised look.
"...Yeah, I did." He said, wiping away the drool that hung over his lips. "They smell like they're from another house, so I knew that they didn't really live there... How did you know they didn't live in that house, Luce?"
She lightly giggled at his stunned reaction to her claim.
"I read about Shirotsume Town, a while back ago, and saw a few pictures of that mansion they were renting, with the actual owner standing in front of it. Plus, after reading the book and finding information that Zekua Melon wanted to give to his son to help bring wealth back into their family, it more proved of their now former financial status... Although, honestly, even then, I still can't get over the magnificent tale and the movement to his words through his emotions on what he wanted to tell his son."
...
...
...Natsu and Happy could only stare at her, each holding their meals to their faces... Then, the pink-haired teen smirked at her.
"...You knew the moment you touched the book, didn't you?"
His question, definitely, took her by surprise, when a nervous expression and blush appeared on her face.
'What? How did he-?'
"Those notes I found in your apartment... You're writing a novel, yourself? Am I right?"
"Really?!" Happy responded, smiling at the now embarrassed blonde. "So, that's why she's such a bookworm!"
...
...
...Lucy immediately was flustered.
"Please don't tell anybody about it?!" She begged, hiding her face in her hands.
Natsu and Happy were puzzled and confused by her request.
"How come?" Happy asked.
"Because I'm not that great of a writer and I never showed anybody what I've written!" She replied, panicking from the thought of other people reading what she's written. "If they'd read it, they'll think it's nothing but crap and I'll never hear the end of it!"
...
...While he doesn't think it was worth all the worrying, seeing how his mate was getting worked up about it, Natsu decided to give in to her request.
"We won't tell anybody," he assured her. "...Though, I doubt that somebody, as smart and observant as you, would make something that people would think is crap."
She did calm down to his promise, though she feels too stressed to even eat her meal. However, knowing that she has to get some food in her belly and seeing that her fish is finally finished, she forced herself to eat.
From across her, as he, too, continued to chow down, his eyes remained locked on to the seventeen year-old... Behind his scarf, a soft smile appeared on his face.
'It isn't much, but at least we're finally eating, together.' He thought, as his heart started to beat a bit fast against his chest. 'And today turned out to be a great way to start our first mission, together, as a team... This definitely has got to be one of the best birthdays, I ever had to experience... More so than most of them, for being the first to celebrate it, with my mate.'
TBC
If you guys hadn't noticed, I changed Natsu's age from nineteen to eighteen in my first three chapters... It's because, after trying to look up his actual birthday, with most people and rumors (stating that Hiro Mashima, himself, had hinted/confirmed. Though, can't find that article and/or conversation.), pointing to the possibility of it being related to the number 7 (No doubt, sharing the number like the time when the dragons vanished) and being in the Summer (...More or less, to the meaning of his name: Summer.), there's a chance that it could be July 7th, a few days after Lucy's. And, because I want him to become twenty at a later time in the story, I had to change his age.
...You would think, since she discovered Zekua's spell and, her time spending time with Levy and learning a thing or two about it... Lucy would, somewhat, be able to do Letter Magic. Or, at least, have the ability to counter and/or cancel out Letter Magic. Also, that Letter Magic is either Caster and/or Holder Magic, and Lucy is a Holder Magic User.
R&R
