I finished the rewrites prior to beginning this chapter. There were a few mistakes where I accidentally doubled-up a line here and there which were brought to my attention by Ponch126 in a review, thank you that by the way. I had also some lines that were accidentally skipped over which I had to place back in, plus I fixed up a few other things I had noticed when combing through the chapters. There will be other mistakes that I've missed which would be something like 'We'll' instead of 'Well' where I've accidentally added the apostrophe or just straight up fat-fingered it without noticing. This is my next task; slowly read through the existing chapters and find what has slipped through the cracks and then fix those errors over time but I will be focusing on writing.

10th February – 8:20 AM

A gentle movement and the soft brush of something against his cheek drew Natsu out of his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and was met with a glowing smile and warm brown eyes.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Lucy whispered. She leaned down and gave the man a gentle kiss. "Good morning."

"It's not a bad way of waking up." Natsu chuckled softly. A scent caught his nose and he leaned in, sniffing the air. "You've been in the shower, how long have you been up?"

"Only about twenty minutes. Just long enough for a quiet shower." The blonde pushed the sheets aside and laid down against the man, soaking up his warmth. "Nat and Lelyanna are still asleep though, probably tired themselves out from playing in the pool last night."

"Well, sorry to take away your personal heater, but I think I'll go take a quick shower while they're still asleep." Natsu shifted to the side and then moved Lucy onto where he had been so she could enjoy the residual warmth. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I'll be waiting." Lucy kissed the man then pulled the sheets over her, smiling at his back as he passed through the doorway. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for the man to return. When a pair of warm lips suddenly pressed against her lips, she gasped and her eyes flew open to see the man grinning down at her. She pouted and whined softly, "Stop walking around like a ghost…"

"Heh, sorry. It's a heavily ingrained habit." Natsu sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through Lucy's long blonde hair. "Doesn't help that you were dozing off."

"The bed was really warm." Lucy slowly sat up and gave him another kiss before hopping off the bed and pulling him into their wardrobe. She bent down and rummaged through her clothes on one of the shelves, mumbling, "I wonder what I should wear…"

Natsu shamelessly stared at Lucy's arse for half a minute before finally tearing his eyes off her and grabbing his clothes. "If you keep sticking your arse out like that, you might end up with a surprise…"

"It certainly won't be an unwelcome one." Lucy sang softly, sparing the man a quick glance and shaking her hips playfully. "She was right; it only took one time for me to become addicted to you."

"It's mutual, Lucy. It was tough, going without you for those months." Natsu quietly admitted and he was quickly wrapped up in the naked blonde's arms with his head brought down to her breasts as she stroked a hand through his hair.

"I'm yours to have, Natsu. Whenever you want me, and every time you need me, I'll be more than happy to give you my time… and my body~."

"What have I done to you." Natsu grinned softly but he let himself be held by the beautiful woman and he breathed in her reassuring vanilla scent.

"You're a very bad influence, Natsu." Lucy purred playfully. She brought the man up for another kiss then stepped back with a warm smile. "Speak of, I do have a little gift for you. And don't give me a corny 'You're all that I'd ever want', Natsu."

Natsu's lips quickly split into a devilish grin but two small hands quickly covered his mouth and stopped him from saying anything.

"I said don't~." Lucy giggled; her eyes sparkling. "I know it was just about to come out."

"Fine, I won't say it." Natsu reached out and gently caressed Lucy's cheek. "Yet."

Lucy stepped away from the man and rested her hand over her chest, giving the man a warm smile before she turned and collected up a pair of red lace panties. Once she had put them on, she reached into one of the bags near her feet and took out a rectangular box that was just a little longer than her hand. "It took a little bit to get it set up because I had to get your magical signature from Henrietta and then go around and get contacts from the members of our guild… but here."

Natsu gently pulled at the ribbon, pulling the cute bow apart then opening the box. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked up at the woman with confusion. "A mobile phone? How…?"

"Kind of but not quite." Lucy giggled softly. "I can understand why you're confused; Lucy told me it might happen when I had asked her about it. It functions the same way minus the 'internet' but this is a Miniature Lacrima Communicator, to be exact. But really, it's just a mobile Lacrima telephone… so I guess it would be a mobile phone… Anyway. It can take photos and videos-" A blush began to darken the woman's cheeks. "-which are stored inside the gallery. Only open that around people like myself, Lelyanna, or Natsumi. You can probably guess why."

"Someone has been naughty." Natsu chuckled softly and the blonde's blush deepened but she still smiled brightly.

"Like your car, this is keyed to your magical signature and will unlock when you bring it up. I'm also keyed into it because I bought it and set it up for you… and did some other things, for you…"

"I think Henrietta mentioned Lacrima Communicators to me once before, but I didn't expect them to be like this." Natsu gave the woman a thankful smile and he quickly wrapped her up in a warm hug. "Thank you, Luce."

"They require magic to use, but these have an internal power cell so don't require a constant input. Most mages will have one, I say most because when I talked to Lelyanna about it, she had no idea these even existed and only knew of the 'crystal ball' ones. Regular people prefer to use landlines since there is one in almost every house and practically every corner has those red telephone boxes and they don't have to go to a mage and charge them like one of these Lacrima phones, just put in a little bit of pocket change and they can call whoever they want. Thanks to Warren's efforts, you'll be able to call anyone you have the contact for from anywhere in Fiore, but when you are outside of Fiore like right now, it'll only connect to a certain range and have diminishing quality the further away you are from whoever it is that you're calling."

"Lucy, have I told you that I love you?" Natsu grinned down at the beautiful blonde who's smile had become bashful.

"Yeah. And every time you do it, my heart races and I feel all warm and fuzzy." She admitted softly. "So, um, keep doing it."

"Nothing will make me stop saying it." Natsu replied gently and he brought his head down, capturing Lucy's lips and her soft moan in a slow but passionate kiss.

Lucy pushed up onto her toes and snaked her arms around the man's neck, pressing her body up against him and soaking in his warmth. She felt her mind start to go fuzzy but she only pulled back when her lungs began to burn. Gasping softly, she stared into the man's warm eyes and smiled. "So, anytime you're feeling down, no matter where you are or where I am, you can call me and I'll pick up, or send a message if I'm in the middle of something that needs my attention, like a fight, and I'll let you know that I'll be able to talk once it's over."

"And if it's when you're in a shower?"

"You'll be going straight to video-call." Lucy giggled playfully. She winked and added, "Oh, and look forward to getting 'Goodnight' messages from me~. At least when we're not sleeping together."

Natsu chuckled and used his Enhancement Curse to quickly reinforce the mobile as he placed it on the nearby shelf so he could get dressed. "We better go and wake up the other two or grab some breakfast for them."

"One second, I want to show you one more thing." Lucy leaned down and took her own mobile out from her bag then held it up with a prideful smile. In a flash of light, the mobile vanished and she was left empty handed. "Like you said, I was able to learn it pretty easily. But your little guide was a massive help."

"I knew you wouldn't have any issues with it, spatial magic is your family's forte. After all, the women of your family are practically royalty when it comes to celestial spirits and their realm." Natsu smiled and he gave her a congratulatory kiss, murmuring, "Good work."

"Hehe," Lucy giggled softly against the man's lips and deepened the kiss. "Do you like how I taste, Natsu? You always take every opportunity to kiss me."

"Your taste, the feel of your lips, the sound of your heart beginning to race every time we kiss, the giddiness that I feel from you…"

"You're just hopelessly in love with me." A bright smile lit up Lucy's face. She playfully pushed the man back and went back to getting dressed, stepping into a light brown plaid skirt and pulling on a maroon turtleneck sweater over her bare chest. On her way out of the wardrobe, she grabbed a pair of brown knee-high boots with some black stockings and looked back at the man. "Don't forget the phone, wouldn't want anyone else finding those photos of a certain someone."

Natsu chuckled and grabbed the Lacrima mobile on his way out of the wardrobe, slipping it into his waistcoat's inner pocket. His eyes immediately fell to the woman's rear end once again as she bent over to put her socks and boots on. When she started to tip and hop on one foot, he grabbed her hips and held her still.

"Thanks." Lucy pushed her hips back, resting against the man and quickly putting on her footwear. Since she was braced against the man, his hands started to wander up under her sweater. His coarse hands made her ticklish and she began to giggle and squirm but they stopped before they reached her breasts and she glanced up at him with a pleading look. "Don't you dare…"

"While I'd love to hear you giggle and beg me to stop tickling you," Natsu grinned menacingly but it fell into a loving smile. "I think I'll leave it for when we have a little more privacy and aren't going to wake up those two."

"Nat sleeps like a log, you could be making me scream my lungs out and she wouldn't wake up unless she sensed that I was in danger. Though, I guess Lelyanna is the main problem but she wouldn't interfere."

"You're not doing much to argue against it."

Lucy made sure that her stockings would stay up then laced up her boots. She turned to the man and grabbed his hands, taking them out from under her clothes and pulling him toward the door. "Let's go grab some breakfast before we get too distracted."

Natsu couldn't help but find himself captivated by the beautiful blonde's happy smile and allowed her to drag him out of their cabin and into the hall. His lips tugged back into a large, fanged grin as Lucy switched to holding his right hand in her left and pulled him down the hallway at a jog. He took two quick steps and scooped up Lucy in his arms. Holding her like a princess, he began to run while grinning like an idiot.

"Oh no~ I'm being kidnapped by a monster~." Lucy called out playfully. "He's so big and bad~," Giggling softly, she added quietly, "And hot."

"There's only one person who can defeat me." Natsu chuckled as he played along. "And she's currently at my mercy~."

They drew looks from both staff and passengers as they passed by. Some tried to lunge at the man while grinning and laughing at their antics, but the pinkette just deftly twirled around them or flipped right over their heads. Others just smiled and left the two Jaegers alone, not wanting to interrupt their fun.

Natsu slowed down as he entered the restaurant that he and Lucy had visited together for dinner early in their trip but he didn't put the woman on her feet, and Lucy didn't seem to have any desire to be set down either. They were approached by the Midian waitress with a thick accent who took their order to-go.

Lucy looked around the restaurant and she noticed Captain Barlow sat a nearby table with some of the bridge crew, talking among themselves as they had breakfast. With a gentle tap on the man's chin, she brought Natsu's attention to the captain and he carried her over to the table.

"Good morning, Captain." Natsu announced his presence as he stepped up to the gathered sailors.

Captain Barlow looked up at the man but his eyes stopped at Lucy who gave him a smiled and a wave from the man's arms. "Ah, good morning Báleygr, Lady Heartfilia. Grabbing something to eat?"

"Yes, we're heading back to the room with it though, since the other two are still asleep." Lucy replied. "I wanted to ask; do you know what time we we'll be docking?"

"Roughly three in the morning if we're on schedule, without factoring in the time zone. So, factoring in potential delays, expect somewhere between eleven and midnight local time. Passengers don't have to disembark until the day though."

"And what about these Leviathans?" Natsu asked quickly, his happy tone instantly shifting into a business-like tone but the warmth didn't fade from his eyes.

"We should be entering their migration path in a few hours. If you could be on the bridge by around midday, then that would be helpful."

"Can do." Natsu glanced over his shoulder as footsteps approached them. It was the waitress with their food. "We'll see you later, Captain."

"Aye. Enjoy your breakfast."

12:28 PM

Tension was high in the RMS Jade Queen's bridge. They had been steaming through hostile waters for close to forty minutes without any sign of trouble, it was unnerving.

"I might go and fly around out there, see if I can spot anything before the ship reaches it." Natsumi pushed off the edge of the navigation table and stretched her lithe body. She turned to Natsu and grinned wildly. "Wanna come fly with me?"

"Why not, beats sitting around and waiting." Natsu shrugged and he followed the dragon princess out of the bridge. Bursts of maroon and orange flames shot from their backs as they created their wings and took to the skies.

"Since Lucy finally gave you that phone, I'll get a three-way set up between you, me, and her." Natsumi reached into one of the pouches around her hips and pulled out her Lacrima phone. With a few presses, she called Lucy then added Natsu. "Can you both hear me?"

"Loud and clear." Natsu replied and he slipped the Lacrima into the breast pocket of his waistcoat.

"Same here. I've got it on loud so everyone else on the bridge can hear you both too." Lucy chimed in.

"Good. Natsu, lets split up." Natsumi placed her phone into her shirt, securing it between her left boob and her waistcoat-corset so it wouldn't fall out. "I'll take ten to twelve, you take twelve to two. How far out should we go?"

"I'm no expert, but I doubt that ship can stop overly quickly. I'd say that we have a minimum of three K's and go out to ten or so. It's a large area to cover but we can fly quickly and we should be able to pick up on things before they get to the ship if they're ahead of us. I don't think they'd bother us if they were passing behind the ship."

"They shouldn't, no. They'd only register it as a threat if the ship is coming toward them."

"There's one thing that you're forgetting, and I don't blame you for not knowing." Natsu started drifting away from the woman as they distanced themselves from the ocean liner. "The screws propelling that ship are fucking loud underwater and sound travels further and faster underwater compared to air. That alone would be enough to disturb them. I guess it depends on how aggressive they are, whether they'd attack the ship from behind."

"Then let's just hope they don't go for it." Natsumi replied.

"Hey Natsu, I was wondering; how far can you see into the water below you?" Lelyanna asked curiously.

"About as far as a normal person can. The blue-green part of the light spectrum penetrates the deepest, so what was done to my eyes has no benefit in this situation since that works beyond the red section of visible light."

"I guess we'll be running on instinct then."

After flying around for close to twenty minutes with nothing out of the ordinary, a large shadow raced under Natsu on a course for the ship. His eyes snapped down to it and he shot off after the creature. "You've got incoming, something big."

"How big is big?" Natsumi called out. She turned hard and began to close the distance between herself and Natsu to get a better look at the sea monster.

"Ten or more metres long, could be larger since it's deep enough that I can't make out much beyond a long neck and four large fins. Two more just shot under me."

"Sounds like Baomola." Natsumi rolled over the top of the man and settled down on his left side as they flew over the shadows. "They have a water-jet 'breath' attack that can cut through steel but they have to surface to use it. That'll be our chance to do some damage."

"How quick is the charge-up?"

"How quick is yours?"

"Instant." Natsu glanced at the pinkette next to him. "Then we can't give it the chance to fire it off."

One after another, the monsters started to surface and their elongated heads broke the surface, continuing to rise as they lifted their long tree-trunk-like necks out of the water, aiming for the incoming vessel. But as the lead monster opened its maw to fire off the water-jet, a flaming arrow punched through its skull and a large sword forcefully closed the mouth.

Natsu dragged the blade out the side of the monster's mouth then twisted in mid-air, driving the Kriegs Messer through the thick neck and decapitating the beast. With a quick burst of power, he set the monster alight with Napalm and let it burn as it sunk into the water and out of the path of the ship. Two more arrows shot through the heads of the remaining monsters and Natsu swiftly decapitated them and burned the bodies to ensure they were dead.

"Shit." Natsumi cursed loudly and she appeared above her counterpart, a large war-bow made of fire held in her left hand. "Natsu, those were just adolescent Baomola, the others will be close by! We're in the middle of the fucking pack!"

On cue with the dragon princess' panicked shout, heads and necks started to sprout from the water ahead of the ship like a seaborne forest. Ten, twenty, forty, more and more appeared and seemed to be of various ages and sizes with some towering over others. Their long necks swayed side to side as the Baomola continued to close the distance with the metal beast that had killed one of their own.

Natsu slowly touched down on the bow of the ship and stared out at the forest of necks that continued to grow in number. He slotted his sword back into the scabbard on his back and put his hands on his hips as he stared out at the sea monsters. "Well… this looks like a little bit of a problem. I count about a hundred at a glance, and more are sprouting…"

"We've got maybe four or five kilometres between us and them, so we're out of range of their water jets." Natsumi landed beside the man. "It'll be too dangerous to fly around in that forest. Even if we dodge some jets and cause them to cut into each other, I won't be able to dodge everything."

"Yeah, even with Reflex, I might be in the same boat." Natsu admitted as he narrowed his eyes at the monsters. "I don't have the same manoeuvrability in air that I have on the ground, that has always been Wendy's territory. If I use my armour then I'd be confident enough to fight among that…"

"I can probably toast them all from here with a wide-angle roar but it has travel time and they'll dive to avoid it. I could use my dual mode, Lightning-Fire, but I risk the electricity arcing back to the ship along or through the seawater. Fire Dragon Queen mode will put out too much heat and will either damage the ship or cause problems with the superheated steam. It's too far for weapons created with my amalgamated god-slayer flames and those also have travel time… I don't suppose you have anything you could activate at range?"

"Yeah… One in particular comes to mind, it'll be really fucking big but I can trigger it over their heads in an instant and kill all of them. Unfortunately, it'll cause a tidal wave to surge out from the epicentre… Captain, order a full-stop. I'd rather not charge headlong into their attack range, or mine."

"Aye. You heard the man. Full Astern, bring her to Zero and then hold Standby until further orders."

The clanging of metal drew the attention of both pinkettes, making them turn toward the ship as Lucy rushed down a set of metal stairs and ran toward them.

"Don't worry about the water," Lucy huffed and puffed, looking between the two dragon slayers. "I'll use Aquarius' Star Dress to manipulate the water and protect the ship."

"Do it." Natsu nodded quickly.

Lucy placed her hands over her heart and closed her eyes, she became enveloped by golden light which faded to reveal her in the Star Dress. "Alright I'm ready. I'll create a water barrier once your attack lands, it'll divert the water around the ship."

"No point waiting around then." Natsu asked as he held his hand out toward the distant monsters, bracing his right arm with his left hand at the elbow. A small marble-size ball of fire appeared in front of the man's hand and Natsu started pouring both magic and curse power into it, causing the ball to go from orange to maroon then a rich amalgamation of colour. It began to spin, slowly at first but it quickly sped up and it grew brighter as it began to suck in the surrounding air.

"Is this even safe?" Lucy asked worriedly as she eyed the ball.

"At this distance? Probably not. I've called it down on my own head before but I was operating alone or far enough away from friendlies that it didn't matter…" Natsu admitted with a reluctant grin. "But we've got a ship full of people to protect so we don't really have any other option that I can see."

The ball shot to the size of a bowling ball before being compressed down to the size of a golf ball. Again, and again, and again, the man compressed the spell and each time he did, the ball grew hotter and it started to send off small flares that looped back into the ball.

His maroon wings lost their form and began to sputter before the flames completely died out and his aura broke free of its restraints, surging violently around the pinkette. It disturbed the water and sent it into a frothing frenzy as ripples radiated from the bow of the ship, the heat causing steam to rise from the surface and the metal around him to groan as it expanded.

Natsumi stepped in front of Lucy and enveloped the blonde in her own aura to shield her from the man's raw power and heat. "What the hell is that thing?"

"The reason I got called a walking weapon of mass destruction." Natsu replied. "It'll be ready soon, hopefully I haven't gone overboard."

"Ah crap." Natsumi murmured and she turned to the blonde behind her. "Get ready on that water and make sure there's a lot of it. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Throw open the gates of hell and unleash devastation upon this world, burn it all until naught but ash and echoes remain:" Natsu raised his arm a little so it was pointed above the still growing forest of long-necked monsters then his hand snapped shut, crushing the ball. "Demon Core."

Just as Lucy erected her water barrier, a dot appeared above the monsters and everything in front of the ship and outside the dome became obscured by a blinding light which was diffused to a bright glow by the water. A dull rumbling roar echoed throughout the dome of water as the blast wave passed over them, disturbing the water under the ocean liner and causing the ship to groan and shudder. Once the bright light had faded, Lucy lowered the barrier and quickly arrested the tidal wave surging out from the spell's epicentre.

Nothing remained of the monsters, not even a single chunk of flesh. And thanks to Lucy's intervention, the only evidence that something had happened was a rolling plume of superheated steam that was quickly forming into a vast billowing cloud that stretched out above their heads like a gigantic mushroom.

Natsu stared up at the cloud, it was a harsh reminder of the kind of weapons that robbed him of his previous life. He lowered his gaze to the water and smiled, thankful that Lucy had managed to contain the displaced water and prevent it from potentially causing collateral damage.

"Goddess have mercy on us all…"

Captain Barlow's awed words came through the phone in Natsu's pocket, drawing his attention down to it. "Captain, you should be clear to continue onward."

"Aye…"

"I'll close the call and bring the phone down." Lelyanna quickly informed the mages on the foredeck and a beep came from the call.

"Mind explaining what the hell that was?" Natsumi half-shouted as she took her phone out from under her shirt and hung up. "Demon Core?"

"It…" Natsu sighed softly and turned to the two – soon three – women standing nearby. "It's a spell that uses my fire magic and curses to create an incredibly condensed ball of fire that when detonated will expand rapidly and vaporise anything within a given range and the blast wave will damage stuff beyond that…"

"Vaporise anything…" Lelyanna murmured as a look of grim realisation grew on her face. The words reminded her of what the man had told her, about how his world ended. "Don't tell me… that was a nuke?"

"Not quite. It replicates the raw destructive power of a nuclear bomb but it's not powered by a nuclear reaction, neither fissile or fusion. The results are the same, minus the radiation and fallout." Natsu sighed and glanced up at the mushroom cloud. "It takes a lot of power to use though. I'm almost spent, which is surprising since I've been fine all the other times that I've used that during the war. But I guess that'll be because I had a massive boost from my anger as well as the abundant negative emotions fuelling my cursed power."

"Well, let's hope that it scared off any other Leviathan-class monsters swimming around here." Natsumi threw up her hands in disbelief. "Because only Lucy and I would be able to deal with them."

"Oh, I've still got enough to fight, just not enough for anything flashy."

"'Flashy' huh, I thought you said you couldn't use 'flashy' spells in your damn world?" The dragon princess whisper shouted. "And you pull out that goddamn thing?"

"It depended on the circumstances. Usually I couldn't, but if I got the order to eliminate a strategic target like levelling a military installation then I'd use that. It still puts a massive target on me because it's not an instant-cast spell, it has to be charged up and aimed which means I could get shot at and would need to cancel the cast. And believe me, after the first few times I did it, whenever they detected it, I immediately became priority one and everything tried to kill me."

Natsumi growled and pulled at her hair before letting out a defeated sigh and turning to Lucy. "Could you take him back to the suite. Even if he says that he's got enough in the tank to fight, I'd rather not have to keep an eye on him just in case he exhausts himself and falls into the water. It could mean that the ship takes damage and I don't want to run the risk of people getting hurt because of it." After giving the blonde the order, she turned back to her counterpart. "Putting the frustration aside, thanks for clearing out the Baomola. I'm pretty sure it would have definitely scared off anything else that could've been a threat to us, but next time could you please come up with something else or just ask to borrow some of my power to offset the cost. I would've been more that willing to provide half of the required power had you asked me."

"I'll keep that in mind. I just didn't think of it because I never had access to someone like you." Natsu gave the woman a quick apologetic grin. "If I need to use it again and you're with me, then I'll ask to borrow some."

"Good, that's all I ask."

"Alright, let's go." Lucy released her Star Dress and tugged on the man's arm, pulling him back toward the stairway she had ran down earlier.

Near Frederica – 11:52 PM Local Time

Natsu stood out on the private promenade, watching the distant coast grow closer with a bottle of Cognac in his hand. Instead of his usual button-up and waistcoat, he wore a simple maroon fitted T-shirt which hugged his muscular frame and left his tattoo-like ember markings uncovered. The sliver of moon shined down on the gently undulating water and illuminated the land beyond.

"Enjoying the peace and quiet?"

Natsu glanced over his shoulder as Natsumi stepped through the open door. She was wearing a pair of small white shorts and a black and orange sleeveless top that wrapped around her chest and left a lot of midriff exposed. It was the first time he had seen her in something like it and it somewhat reminded him of the clothes he wore as a teenager. He held out the bottle of alcohol to the woman and replied, "Eh, more like reminiscing a little. You look good in that."

"Thanks." Natsumi took a quick swig from the bottle and handed it back before pushing herself up onto the railing and sitting facing outward, her legs dangling over the edge of the ship. "It's a little tighter around the chest than I remember but my tits have grown since I last wore it."

"I reckon it suits you better than what you usually wear, though I do miss the skirt a little." Natsu chuckled quietly.

"Eh, it's not all bad." Natsumi leaned over and grinned playfully at the man. "At least I can wear this without panties and get away with it." As if to prove her words, the woman pushed the front of her shorts down and revealed bare skin all the way down her crotch.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Natsu smirked at the woman and he gave her shoulder a gentle shove to push her back upright. He moved away from the railing and laid down on one of the deckchairs, placing the bottle down beside it. "What's the plan for when we dock?"

Natsumi let out a delicate groan as she stretched. She quickly swung her legs back around and walked over to the man. She took another drink as she sat down and straddled his lap. "I'll call my sister once we set foot in Frederica using one of the payphones. Chances are that she's probably still awake right now, eagerly awaiting our arrival, so I could probably call her the moment we dock."

"I wonder what she looks like." Natsu remarked offhandedly as he put his arms behind his head and ran his eyes up and down the dragon princess' incredibly athletic body.

"Hm," Natsumi looked down at her own body and gave her hips a little playful wiggle while she thought about it. "Zeref has black hair, darker eyes, smaller tits, lighter skin, and she's not as visibly fit as I am due to being a little softer but she's still strong and just as slim."

"You're still soft to the touch, Natsumi." Natsu placed his hands on the pinkette's abs and slowly stroked her midriff before moving his hands to her waist and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Your skin feels fantastic too."

"Natsu, if you keep feeling me up like that, I will stick you inside me." Natsumi cautioned the man with a sensual purr. She leaned over the man and braces herself with her hands above his head, a moan slipping from her lips thanks to the scratchiness of the man's calloused hands. "You have Lucy to thank for me looking after myself properly, like I've said with my hair."

"There's also one more thing that she wouldn't have, your warmth." Natsu took a swig of Cognac but didn't swallow it, instead he flipped their positions and kissed the seductive dragon slayer, letting the alcohol slide down his tongue and into her mouth.

Natsumi swallowed the drink and a delighted shiver raced through her body. She wrapped her arms and legs around the man and ground her hips against him, moaning softly into the deep kiss. "Mm, you're a bit frisky tonight."

"Doesn't hurt that I'm over halfway through a bottle of Cognac and you're smelling really good right now."

The dragon princess took one of Natsu's hands and slowly guided it down her body until it slipped down into her shorts and curled between her thighs. "Do me a favour, will you, and get me off for once instead of edging and teasing me. You don't have to fuck me, but at least give me an orgasm by your hand instead of me having to imagine it's you. Preferably before I get cockblocked again..."

"I suppose I could be a little generous." Natsu murmured against the woman's lips and he curled his middle and ring finger, pushing them between her lower lips. He captured the woman's moans in his mouth and slowly poked and prodded as he stroked her insides, searching for her weak spots.

Natsumi moaned and squirmed slightly. She wanted to fight him but she let herself be at the man's mercy just so she could finally be brought to climax by him. His fingers felt so hot inside of her and it made her body tingle and her sensitivity skyrocketed.

Natsu took another drink from his bottle of Cognac then took a second mouthful which he gave to Natsumi with another kiss. Once she had swallowed it, he pressed down on her clitoris and g-spot at the same time, capturing the sharp gasp in the kiss. As he attacked the two weak spots, he pulled up her top and squeezed one tit with his free hand while biting the other's nipple.

"Oh Fuck~!" Natsumi cried out, arching up against the man as she spasmed uncontrollably. "Fuck I pity Lucy, and envy her. If you could make me climax this easily, you must really rock her world."

"I'm pretty sure the edging and teasing helped." Natsu chuckled quietly. He pulled his hand out of the woman's shorts and slowly licked his fingers clean while keeping his eyes locked on hers. "Mm, tasty. Be careful, Natsumi, I may just get the urge to devour you."

"God that's hot~." The dragon princess purred huskily. "I'm ready anytime, Natsu. Hell, bonus points if you wake me up with that hot tongue, or even that monster straining against your pants."

"Don't tempt me, you may find yourself waking up with the urge to scream my name like a bitch in heat."

"Heh." Natsumi grinned wildly and she pushed Natsu off her and onto the deck but she came tumbling down on top of him, hovering over the man on her hands and knees. Giggling drunkenly from both the lust and alcohol, she purred, "Maybe I should return the favour."

"Is this where you make due on that threat of tying me up?" Natsu smirked and he playfully put his wrists together. "I did promise that I wouldn't resist."

"I'm very tempted, we even have the perfect restraint too." Natsumi admitted as she tugged on the man's belt. "But~ I think I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine; blue-ball you for always leaving me wet and wanting."

"I guess that's fair." Natsu laughed light-heartedly and he slowly sat up, letting the woman sit on his lap as he went to take a swig from his alcohol but was only met with a few drops of amber liquid. "Ah shit, we're out of booze."

"Probably for the best. If we kept drinking then we'd probably wake up naked out here with semen flowing from my pussy like a waterfall." Natsumi purred playfully and she shivered in delight at the idea. "You know, on second thought that doesn't sound so bad."

"What happened to wanting to blue-ball me?"

"Well, I also want to be railed by you until I can't think or walk straight, if at all, and leak semen for hours. So~…"

"If you're going to blue-ball me, could you not make it worse by putting ideas like that in my head. If you're not careful, I may rip those clothes to shreds and make you submit."

"Don't threaten me with a good time." Natsumi purred and she kissed the man hungrily before rising to her feet and sashaying over to the railing. "I can sense a boat coming over, probably the harbour pilot coming over to bring the ship into the port and to the designated dock."

Natsu joined the woman by the edge of the ship and looked out across the dimly light harbour, quickly spotting the boat she was talking about. "Yeah, looks to be marked with 'Harbour Pilot', so you're right."

A quiet alarm rang from one of the bedrooms behind them and a sleepy blonde emerged, wearing only a white shirt that was too large for her. She rubbed her eyes and staggered up to the two pinkettes, hugging one of them but she noticed that the body was soft and squishy, and it had squishy breasts too. "Ah, sorry Nat."

"Hehe, it's alright." Natsumi purred smoothly and she quickly pulled her top back down over her breasts, sparing a quick glance at the man beside her and giving him a playful wink. "It's only fair since I'm usually the one fondling your tits."

"Did I miss the docking?" Lucy mumbled as she switched to the other pinkette and she wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face in the square of his back.

"Nope, the harbour just sent out a pilot to bring the ship in." Natsu gently pulled the sleepy beauty around him and lifted her up, sitting her on the railing with her legs at his sides. "You better hold onto me; I'd prefer not having an impromptu wet t-shirt contest because you decided to take an accidental dip in the water."

"Maybe we could go skinny-dipping instead?" Natsumi chimed in with a playful grin. "I didn't realise you had set an alarm."

"Yeah. Lelyanna is on her way too, she just needed to pee." Lucy murmured and she wrapped her arms and legs around Natsu. She spotted the empty bottle of Cognac sitting on the deck by the chairs and she looked up at the man. "Were you two sharing a drink out here?"

"Yeah. Figured I'd let you sleep while I wait for us to get closer to Frederica."

"Are we there yet?" Lelyanna yawned as she stepped out of the suite in her silver negligée and joined them at the railing.

"Almost."

"Once we dock, I'm going to head out and find a payphone." Natsumi informed the two half-asleep women. "I'll call my sister and see what she wants to do."

"How are you going to pay for it?" Lucy asked as she turned her head to look at her best friend.

"I'm not, Natsu showed me a trick." Natsumi chuckled quietly and she flashed the blonde a carefree grin.

Lucy slowly turned around on the railing and dangled her legs over the edge so she can watch the ship enter the port. She smiled softly when Natsu's arms tightened a little to make sure she didn't fall and she looked up at him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

The ship started to move again and the port slowly drew closer and closer. A pair of tugboats pulled out from a nearby boat slip and approached the ocean liner. They began to muscle the large ship through the port and into the correct bay where the crew dropped anchor and moored. The dock workers pushed ramps into position and started opening the loading doors.

A gentle knock came from the door behind them, drawing Natsu and Natsumi's attention but the man just looked to the dragon princess and offered her a quick smile. "I'll go get that. You go call your sister."

"Alright." Natsumi summoned her wings and shot from their private promenade and disappeared into the night.

"You two should probably get to packing and leave out an outfit to get changed into." Natsu advised to two women as he stepped back and headed for the door. He found an elven woman waiting on the other side who looked relieved to see that he was dressed properly. "Yes?"

"The captain has asked me to inform your group that we have docked and you're free to disembark now if you wish to do so."

"Yeah, one of our members has headed out to call her sister and I've already suggested that the other two get ready to leave if her sister is happy to pick us up right now."

"Very well. One more thing," The green-haired elf bowed deeply but gracefully as she clasped her hands in front of her hips. "I'd like to personally offer you my thanks as well as my apologies for my treatment of you earlier in the trip. I hope you return safely and offer us your protection for the return trip."

"Well, we are contracted to do that anyway…" Natsu sighed and he reached out, but instead of touching the elf's skin he placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her upright. "But your words are very much welcome. We'll be back before the ship departs but in the event that we don't make it in time then we'll fly out to the ship and catch up as quickly as possible."

"Should we reserve this suite for your group?" The elf asked softly, gesturing to the room behind the man with a wave of her hand.

"Yes. If you could organise that for us then we'd be grateful."

"Enjoy your short vacation." The woman bowed her head and stepped back with a professional but gentle smile.

Natsu gave the elf a small smile and closed the door. He stuck his head into Lelyanna's room and caught her in the middle of changing. "Apparently, we're good to leave whenever and this suite will be saved for us for the trip back."

Lelyanna stepped out of her lace panties and turned to the man with a happy smile. "That's good to hear. Once I'm dressed, I'll pack up Natsumi's stuff too." As the man pulled back from the doorway, she quickly called out, "Oh, before you go, do you think I should wear something casual or my priestess clothes?"

"Go with something casual, you'll fit in with the rest of us."

"Alright, thank you."

"Personally, I think you look great in what you're wearing right now." Natsu grinned playfully.

"But Natsu…" Lelyanna gave the man a look of innocent confusion but the corners of her lips were curled up in a slight, playful smile. "I'm not wearing anything right now…"

"Exactly." Natsu laughed and he let the woman dress in peace. He walked into the room next door and found Lucy sitting on the edge of the bed with a warm smile, still in his shirt. "We're free to leave whenever, they're saving the room for us."

"Okay." Lucy slowly got to her feet and wrapped her arms around the man's neck once he came close enough, pulling him into her soft embrace. "I guess we should pack then, but let me recharge quickly."

"Well, as much as I love seeing you wearing nothing but one of my shirts, you should really get dressed." Natsu chuckled quietly but he returned the woman's hug, pulling her flush with his body. "But… let's give it a minute or two."

Lucy leaned back, pulling the man with her as she fell back onto the bed. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around Natsu's waist with a playful smile. "Come and cuddle, I already miss your warmth."

"Alright, but I'm not going to take my clothes off." Natsu smiled warmly as he carefully moved them to the middle of the bed. He unhooked Lucy's legs from around his waist and laid on his side, letting the blonde beauty snuggle up to him.

"That's fine, we'd probably get carried away if you did." Natsu kept an eye on his watch and his senses trained on the outside of the ship, waiting for Natsumi's return. After almost half an hour, he picked up on Natsumi flying toward the ship so he gently patted Lucy's hip, lightly startling her. "Sorry, I just picked up on Natsumi. We should make a start on packing."

"Mm, alright." Lucy murmured softly through a yawn. She slowly sat up and started to pull off the shirt as she sluggishly wandered into the wardrobe. "You're too comfortable, I think I was about to fall asleep."

"Zeref will probably be bringing a car to pick us up, so you can sleep in it if you like." Natsu followed the woman and kissed her cheek as he passed by.

"I can't be bothered getting properly dressed… especially since I'm just going to take them off in around an hour." Lucy let Natsu's shirt fall back down over her body and she quickly stepped into a brown skirt and grabbed some sandals. "Could you make sure no one gets a peek while we're flying?"

"I'll try but you'll have you bunch up your skirt at the front to keep it from dangling and showing off the goods." Natsu reached over as Lucy bent down to put on her sandals and he lightly spanked her arse, earning a gasp and a playful giggle as the blonde swatted his hand away.

"I'll keep that in mind." Lucy smiled softly over her shoulder at the man's antics. She lightly stomped her feet and tightened the shoe straps then started putting her clothes in her bags.

"Hey, she's on her way." Natsumi cut in as she stuck her head into the wardrobe. "Sorry I took so long; we ended up chatting until Mavis told Zeref to just pick us up and chat in the car or when they get back to the place they're staying at."

"I know we touched on it back at the guild but I didn't want to prod too much there, but isn't Mavis an odd name for a guy?" Natsu asked curiously as he looked at both the women. "Or is it just me?"

"It could be the era you came from; the naming convention could've died out. Like I said before, it certainly isn't commonly a guy's name but there have been and currently are notable people around the world who are called Mavis and are male, and I'm sure some of those were inspired by my brother-in-law." Natsumi replied with an understanding smile. "It's the same with Zeref with females, though that one is even less common thanks to my sister."

"I see. Do you know how long it will take for her to get here?"

"Maybe about half an hour, so don't rush."

"Alright. Lelyanna has probably packed your stuff by now."

"Yeah, I'll go and grab it now and wait in the sitting room." Natsumi gave Lucy and Natsu a quick wave and left them to pack in peace.

Natsu sent his back away with Requip and leaned against the wall, watching Lucy pack while she hummed a quiet tune. When she had bent down to grab something off the floor, he stepped forward and placed a hand on her arse and leaned down to whisper into her ear, "I know you said you don't feel like dressing properly, but you look amazing… babe~."

Lucy straightened up in shock as she turned to the man, her face aflame and her heart racing. Faced with the man's amused, devilish grin, she stepped closer and brought her lips to his ear. "Um… could you say that again?"

"Babe~." Natsu whispered again into the blushing woman's ear and he could feel a surge of shy happiness emanate from her. "Oh, do you like being called that, honey~?"

Lucy's chocolate brown eyes melted with adoration as she gripped the man's shirt and pulled him into a gentle, loving kiss. She moaned softly then murmured against his lips, "Maybe I do."

Natsu chuckled quietly and he turned with Lucy, pressing her back to the wall and pinning her between it and his body. "I'll call you that here and there while we're alone or with those two if it's alright with you."

"I don't mind… Just… don't go shouting it across the guild hall." Lucy shyly requested as she looked up at the man with a blush dusting her cheeks. "You, umm, you have to keep that 'cold-hearted' bad boy image after all, right?"

"You're so cute, babe~." Natsu whispered into Lucy's ear, earning a light slap to his chest as she turned her head away, her blush darkening to the point that the tips of her ears had become red. "I can hear your heart thundering inside your chest."

"You're worse than Nat…" The blushing blonde muttered under her breath but she flashed him a small, side-on smile. "In a good way, though."

"Can you two stop being lovey-dovey and hurry up." Natsumi called out from the sitting room, snapping their attention to the doorway of the wardrobe.

Lucy put both her hands on Natsu's chest and gave him a light push. Even with his unnaturally heavy body towering over her, it took no force at all to move him back. She gave the man an affectionate smile and blew him a kiss before busying herself with her luggage again. Once everything was in order, she placed her Lacrima mobile into a pouch on her belt then used Requip on her bags. The flash of light brought a happy smile to her face and she took Natsu's hand, pulling him out into the sitting room. "Sorry for the wait."

"It's fine." Natsumi waved away her friend's apology before pointing to the deck door with her thumb. "Should we head out now?"

"Yeah. If we touch down just outside the ship and walk the rest of the way then we shouldn't be waiting long for your sister." Natsu nodded and he collected Lucy up in his arms and, as she asked, he made sure her skirt wouldn't flap around and flash the bare skin beneath.

"Right, let's get a move on then." Natsumi scooped Lelyanna up off the couch and led the way to the promenade before jumping over the railing. She summoned her wings mid-descent and touched down gently with Natsu easing down beside her. Once both women were on their feet, Natsumi put her arms behind her head and walked along the dock and through the port, eyeing the workers as she passed by and occasionally wolf-whistling them.

A few minutes after they had reached the entrance to the port, a sedan cruised down the road and stopped in front of them. A black-haired woman in a short black dress stepped out of the driver's side and approached the group with a warm smile, immediately throwing her arms around Natsumi when she reached her. "It's good to see you again, Natsumi."

Natsumi hugged the woman tightly, grinning happily as she turned her head to the nearby pinkette. "Natsu, this is my older sister, Zeref. Zeref, that's Natsu, the man I was talking to you about."

Zeref pulled away from her sister and approached the man, looking up at him with a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. She reached out a hand but stopped before her fingers touched his sternum. "May I? I just want to check something."

"Go ahead." Natsu replied. When the woman placed her fingers on his chest, he felt a small pulse of magic flow throughout his body like a sonar's ping.

"Hm, curious. I was concerned about complications… but it seems there won't be any issues."

"Why does it sound like you want him to impregnate me?" Natsumi asked with an eyebrow raised. "By 'complications' I assume you mean birth defects…"

"Yes, that's what I meant." Zeref nodded with a playful smile. "Oh, and he also seems to be incredibly fertile too, so be careful when you have sex with him. Don't miss out on using contraceptives, either a rubber or the spell."

"I haven't even gotten to fuck him yet." Natsumi complained, folding her arms under her bust. "And here you are talking about him knocking me up."

"I mean, you had the chance while we were parked outside the port but you decided to blue-ball me."

"That's your own fault for always riling me up and never finishing me off, at least until today."

"Anyway, we should head back to where Mavis and I are staying in Frederica. We can head back to Vistarion in the morning." Zeref stepped away from the man and looked at the sedan then back to Natsu and Lucy. "I can only comfortably seat four so someone is going on a lap."

"That's fine." Lucy giggled softly. "It's my second favourite seat."

"And your first?" Zeref asked with a knowing smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you could guess."

"It involves something big, hard, and hot." Natsumi added with a cackle as she took the front passenger seat. Lelyanna slid onto the back left as Natsu entered from the other side and Lucy sat on his lap. Once Zeref was in and started driving, Natsumi turned and hung over the back of the front bench seat. "So, aside from catching up with my sister and brother-in-law, what should we do for these two weeks?"

"I want to say hi to Brandish while I'm here." Lucy replied. She turned to face the window and curled up on Natsu's lap, watching the moon-lit port city pass by. "Is she in the country or out travelling?"

"She's currently in Vistarion, so I can probably organize for her to swing by our estate after we get there tomorrow. Hopefully Dimaria has gotten over her fear of my sister and can come too, maybe if I say that there's a hot guy that I want her to meet then she might come along."

"That's if she doesn't get even more scared of me than Natsumi." Natsu remarked with a soft chuckle. He softly stroked Lucy's thighs as he thought about the woman's question. "As for myself, I guess I wouldn't mind doing some sightseeing to check out the similarities and differences."

"I don't know what I'd like to do… this is the first time I've been so far from home, and been on another continent, let alone another country…" Lelyanna murmured tiredly. She shifted in the seat and rested her cheek against Natsu's arm as she closed her eyes. "I wouldn't mind doing a little bit of sightseeing too."

"Well, you four can sleep on it and use the trip to Vistarion to give it more thought." Zeref glanced over her shoulder and gave her sister's friends a warm smile. The half-hour trip continued in a sleepy silence punctuated by the gentle breathing of Lucy and Lelyanna who had fallen asleep against the warm humanoid pillow that they were cuddled up to. She came to a stop at a small villa just a little bit outside of Frederica with a long driveway and at the end of it was a light shining above the front door and illuminating the gravel driveway outside of the home. "Would you like me to get your door, Natsu?"

"Please." Natsu murmured as he carefully turned Lucy on his lap then collected her up in one arm while gathering up the sleeping priestess in his other. Once the black-haired woman had opened the door, he carefully slid out of the car with both women sleeping against him.

"They don't seem to be giving you too much trouble." Zeref giggled softly at the man's plight and she closed the door as carefully as she could so she didn't wake the two women.

"Forty and fifty kilos might as well be nothing…" Natsu replied. He followed the two other Dragneels to the front door. It swung open just as they reached it and they were greeted by a man who was just shorter than Lucy. He had pale blonde hair and green eyes, a gentle, androgynous face and a slender build that looked like he had struggled to grow out of his youth. The magic he could feel emanating from this man left no doubt in his mind to who this was. "Mavis."

"Ah, so you're the man that Natsumi and Zeref were talking about. You're not exactly how I expected you to look but I guess it fits who Natsumi would be as a guy." Mavis ran his bright eyes across the pinkette, his naturally soft voice just a little above a whisper as he noticed the two women sleeping in his arms. "Come inside, we'll find a place for them."

Zeref placed her hand on the man's back and guided him forward and into the house. She found it curious that even with two women in his arms, his footsteps made no sound but knowing a little bit about his background from her phone calls with her younger sister, she wasn't overly surprised. Once they were all inside, she led the way to a guest bedroom and waved her hand toward the queen bed within. "You can place them down in here."

"Nat, give me a hand." Natsu murmured as he stopped beside the bed and nodded to Lelyanna on his left arm. Once the pinkette had relieved him of the priestess, Natsu moved to the other side and carefully laid down Lucy so he didn't disturb her clothing and he carefully removed both of their footwear before slowly bringing the sheets over the two women. They retreated back to the living room and sat down on a pair of drab-green cotton couches.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Mavis asked the two pinkettes who were sat together on a couch. It allowed him to compare the two at a glance. His sister-in-law had noticeable muscles and was incredibly fit but she had nothing on the man beside her, who's body had clearly been honed by years upon years of fierce combat.

"Since I'll probably be going to bed soon, just a tea, please. My taste is similar to Natsumi's but I prefer a little bit less sugar."

"I'll have one too, and you already know how I like it." Natsumi giggled quietly as she quickly answered after the man. "So, is it question time?"

"Who should go first?" Natsu remarked.

"I guess I'll get the most obvious one out of the way." Zeref leaned in, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders to hang in front of her. "When I checked your body to see if you were who you said you were – and you are, I found a magic signature very similar to my own inside you which showed that you were an Etherious created by Zeref Dragneel, specifically yours – I noticed something peculiar…"

"The mutations that aren't found in Natsumi's body, I'm guessing."

"Yes." Zeref nodded slowly; her dark eyes glued to the man's torso. "Your cardiovascular system, central nervous system, musculoskeletal system, sensory organs, the brain itself… All heavily mutated by some sort of process. Hell, you even have a mutated healing system that chucks out more white blood cells and stem cells, yeah it might not replace limbs but your recovery speed must be off the chart!"

"Critical wounds and injuries to core organs take priority but yes, I heal and recover quickly. There have been cases where I've had to shut the wound myself so I could keep fighting while my body does it's thing or until I could get medical attention, say I took a bullet through the chest and it punched through my lung. I'd have to seal it up so I could breathe properly, well, both the lung and the wound canal too so I wouldn't get blood inside my chest cavity."

"His arms are one thing, but you should see the rest of his body." Natsumi prodded Natsu's chest with her thumb while grinning at her sister. "Absolutely littered with scars."

"I will say, it does make operations a pain in the arse. We needed specialised doctors who could slow our bodies healing ability enough so they could do the operation without repeatedly hacking into us. Thankfully, anything that could cause me an issue has already been removed – the appendix, for example."

"You should probably explain that to Lelyanna just in case you need her to do anything in the future." Natsumi advised quickly as Mavis placed their drinks down on the coffee table and sat next to his wife with two more drinks. "Thanks."

"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been in our world, Natsu?" Mavis asked softly, his eyes scanning across the man before settling on the top of his right arm where he could sense the man's guild mark. "You're a part of Fairy Tail?"

"Yes. Lucy prompted me to join after she and I met and she started to help me, I would've probably waited longer if she hadn't. As for how long I've been in the world… I've honestly stopped counting. This is my life now, and I don't think I should be tracking how many days or months it has been since I lost everything, not after I was given this chance to rekindle those relationships with similar or the same people from this world. It's a little tough, especially since some of them had been dead for many years but I'm slowly getting there."

"He's been building a name for himself, focusing more on the demon side of us since I lean more toward the dragon side. Plus, he's got two business going; one as an arms designer and manufacturer and the other is this relaxation house ran by succubus we rehomed after being contracted to deal with them."

"These little projects help keep my mind busy so I don't dwell on my past. The latest one is working on some prototype weapons for the Queen." Natsu looked at his tea then took a few sips. "I probably shouldn't have said that…"

"I'm no longer the Empress." Zeref chuckled quietly. "I'm just an advisor now. But we're allied with Fiore anyway, so don't worry too much about it."

"Wanna buy some guns?" Natsumi grinned wildly at her sister. "Natsu's business makes some pretty neat ones too. Lucy has some with her, I guess they're in her Requip dimension right now."

"They would be." Natsu nodded. "Anyway. I going to sort out an industrial complex and ramp up production anyway, even if Hisui's military don't go with my guns. To start with, I'll need to build a metalworks to provide the various alloys and metals used in those weapons, then I can focus on building the actual arms factory. It's all going to take some time though, hopefully I get the contract from the Crown as that'll help speed the land acquisition process along."

"Do you have the money to do that?" Mavis asked curiously.

"I still have access to my old world and all within it. So I'm working on bringing some gold bars over and getting them re-serialised to fund stuff here, and also pay off some personal debts to Lelyanna and her church, even if she is reluctant to accept it. I've already done this with materials and machinery to make my home more comfortable for me, creature comforts and whatnot as well as the means to manufacture ammunition for the weapons I have brought with me."

"As for his guns," Zeref turned her attention to her sister with a gentle smile. "I'd rather let that happen organically. As I mentioned, Fiore is an allied nation so if they arm themselves with these new weapons then we'd likely seek out a trial for ourselves or send over some people to check them out."

"Then I should probably give you a means to reach me." Natsu quickly wrote down his phone number and postal address and handed it over to the black-haired woman. "You'll likely have Henrietta answer the phone, and just say you'd like to speak with me. If I'm busy, she'll take a message to give me when I'm free. I'm sure you could also ask someone from your embassy in Fiore to get in contact with me too."

"It'll likely happen through official channels; bureaucracy loves its due process." Zeref let out a soft giggle and she glanced between the two pinkettes. "I think we'll save any further questions for the trip to Vistarion. It'll give us something to do on the drive back."

"Alright, well, what better time to go to bed." Natsu downed the last of his tea and quietly thanked Mavis once again before heading to the spare bedroom, followed by Natsumi, Mavis, and Zeref. He pulled off his maroon t-shirt, earning a gasp and murmur from Zeref and Mavis respectively as they stared at his scarred, muscular back. Ignoring the two former immortals, Natsu pulled off his shoes and socks and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Lucy and he gently combed his fingers through her hair.

"I know I said no more questions but I've got one more, though it's more of a statement than anything else: You two were married, I can see it in how you look at her, how you touch her." Zeref said quietly.

"Without her, I might as well be a monster like the ones we're supposed to hunt. In fact, when I lost her, I did become one. But because this beautiful beacon of love and warmth, I've started to feel like my old self, slowly but surely. I can't thank her enough for what she does for me, all I can do is love and cherish her even more than I loved the Lucy I had lost."

"After seeing what you did to those Baomola, I think we'd need an army of Jaegers to put you down – or one Lucy." Natsumi chuckled quietly as she ditched her sandals and wormed her way under the sheets between the two women.

"It's not like I'd drop that one carelessly. I only did it because we were out in the open ocean with no one but the ship's crew and passengers to witness the spell." Natsu flashed the woman a small grin before turning to their hosts. "We'll see you two in the morning, have a good night."

"I'd say sweet dreams but it looks like you're about to sleep among three beautiful women, so I guess they'd be more sensual than sweet." Zeref giggled softly and she closed the door behind her and Mavis as they began to make their way to their room.

"Must run in the family." Natsu remarked offhandedly, earning a quiet cackle from Natsumi. He carefully laid down beside Lucy and then moved her on top of him as he shifted to where she had laid. The woman murmured softly but she turned onto her stomach and quickly settled down. "We better get to sleep too. We're probably going to have to wake up early to leave so every hour counts."

"Yeah, yeah." Natsumi murmured as she unzipped her top to allow her breasts to breathe and she cuddled up to the man's side, using his shoulder as a pillow. "You need to let me sleep with you more often."

"I don't have any objections, you know. And it's not liked I'd shove you out of it if I woke up with you snuggled up to my side like this."

"I know… maybe I'm just a little envious of Lelyanna and Lucy, though more so of Lucy currently since she spent the entire trip hogging you."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, then you can hog me on the trip back." Natsu looked down at the woman then slowly slid his hand down her body until it rested on her hip. "I'm sure Lucy wouldn't mind if you bring it up with her, and tell her your feelings on the matter too. You know what she's like, she'll understand."

"I'll pull her aside once we're at my sister's place in Vistarion and have settled in."

"Alright. Now, we really need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, yeah."

That's this chapter finished. I hope you enjoyed it.

My thoughts behind a few things:

The Miniature Lacrima Communicator not coming in sooner was mainly Lelyanna's inexperience, and Natsumi's assumption that he already knew of them when she saw the phone he used back in Malba. Lucy noticed he never used one so she had spoken to Lelyanna, Natsumi, then Lucy's ghost prior to her crossing over, and she decided to get one for him as a gift.

Demon Core… While the name took me a few tries to get right, I had the chant stuck in my head for the two months that I was doing the rewrites for this story along with it basically being some form of supercriticality event created through highly compressed magic, a non-nuclear nuke. When it first came to mind, it was to be deployed from the bridge itself but as the story unfolded, it shifted to the ship's bow. I will not lie, this was heavily inspired by Megumin and her chuuni-ness from KonoSuba, and I was incredibly tempted to have Natsu shout EXPLOSION! when he cast the spell. The inspiration for the name was from the Demon Core incidents.

One last thing before I wrap this up, after doing these rewrites, I've reconsidered rewriting Continued Life of a Dragon Slayer and giving it a fair shot instead of giving up because I despise how bad that story is. I'll probably go back over chapters 1 and 2 even though they were technically already rewritten and I'll see what I come up with.

That's all, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you in the next one.