Day 52

Since she agreed to help me with jobs and giving
her the M12, I've been training Lelyanna in it.
She's doing pretty well, catching onto the basics
fairly quickly. There are a few things she needs
to work on, but polish can come later, I just need
her fit for combat, well, fit to defend herself in
dire situations. If things go well, she should never
see any true combat. I don't know if she'd be a good
replacement for Wendy, but I need a medic with me,
well, a healer…

Saiko called me the other day, she's the owner and
smith of a weapons store called Pierce the Veil.
Apparently, she's having some issues with the alloy
not properly bonding and wants me to take a look
at it. I'll do that later today.

Ceres popped into my mind last night, wanted to
tell me something about my world. She said that
a council of deities have decided to use my ruined
world as a testing ground to see what happens
to various monsters when subjected to intense
radiation. It's going to make things tough for me
if I need to return there to pick something up…

Lelyanna looks like she wants to talk to me, so
I'll wrap things up here. Until next time.

Natsu closed the book and looked up at the priestess while using Requip, sending the diary away. The were in the octagonal gazebo in his garden which had been turned into a makeshift shooting range. Rain was pounding down on the tiled roof and obscuring the steel targets but the sound was incredibly soothing, even if it reminded him of that night in Phanagoria where he had lost everything. "What's up?"

"I've run through the box of bullets." Lelyanna replied, pointing to the empty box sat atop the gazebo's table. She placed her pistol down and massaged her aching wrist, sore from repeated firing of the powerful handgun. "Could I have another?"

"Sure, but once you've filled the magazines, I want you to take a little break to let the aches die down." Natsu summoned a box containing fifty rounds of 10mm ammo and he placed it down next to the small stack of empty boxes. "Use the time to disassemble and clean the pistol. It wouldn't be needed this soon but I want you to get used to keeping any weapon I give you well-maintained. The last thing you want is a jam when in a life-or-death situation."

"It's hard to see the targets in this rain…" Lelyanna complained lightly as she took the magazine out from her pistol and sat down beside the man. While she loaded the magazines she glanced at the man then back at the targets through the thick curtain of rain. "Are you able to hit those?"

"In this weather? Easily." Natsu chuckled quietly as he drew his pistol and took aim one-handed without moving from the bench. But before he pulled the trigger, he smirked lightly at the woman. "Want to make a bet on whether I can hit it?"

"Says the man who seems so confident in himself that he isn't practicing what he's preaching to me." Lelyanna giggled softly. "Go on, just hit it."

"I'll do you one better." Natsu focused on the nearest target and aimed for the head of the silhouette. He pulled the trigger and was rewarded by a Tink as the bullet hit where he was aiming, but he wasn't done there and that one bullet was followed by fourteen more, expending the magazine plus the chambered round.

"Show off." The priestess smiled and shook her head, her bluish-silver hair waving around her head. "How are you doing that?"

"I mentioned when I met you that I was an enhanced soldier. By that I meant that I was chemically enhanced and the process forced my body to mutate. One of these enhancements had to do with my vision; which, aside from giving my eyes even more clarity than they had before with my other mutations, it also mutated them to see beyond the visible spectrum of light and into the near-infrared range. This allows me to see through things like this rain or in almost full darkness, or in full darkness if I had an infrared light source."

"What else did they do to you?" Lelyanna asked curiously. She placed her magazines down and turned to the man with large pale-turquoise eyes.

"High-density muscles, stronger ligaments and bones to support through stronger muscles at the cost of making me heavier, increased efficiency in my cardio-vascular system. I can heal faster and have a limited regeneration ability; I can't grow back limbs or fingers but it helps with internal injuries. It's supplemented by my demonic body."

"So, these are in addition to the more sensitive sight and hearing that you get from being a Dragon Slayer?" The priestess tilted her head slightly, her eyes on the man's sharp canines that looked more than capable of biting through skin like a vampire. Her curiosity got the better of her and she reached a hand out and gently prodded one of the fangs with her finger but the man quickly captured the digit between his fangs. "Hey!"

"Careful, I bite." Natsu laughed and he flashed the woman a quick grin after releasing her finger. "And you're correct. Sight, sound, hearing, taste, touch, even our general perception of our surroundings, are all augmented by the mutations caused by the Dragon Magic used to turn us into Dragon Slayers. On top of that, we're stronger, faster, and tougher than regular mages."

"Yes, I've seen Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers exhibit those traits." Lelyanna nodded quickly. "That means that Shock Troopers who were also Dragon Slayers were even stronger than normal Shock Troopers?"

"Yes, but there is a caveat to that; Natural Dragon Slayers, meaning those who received their powers directly from dragons like myself, are more mutated than those created by Lacrima infusion and therefore tend to have greater durability and senses than them. There was a case where a Lacrima variant used some kind of sound magic to amplify his hearing, putting him above the natural variant, but he was the only Lacrima variant to do that." Natsu dropped his empty magazine into his waiting hand and placed his pistol down. He began filling the mag back up by summoning bullet after bullet from his requip space. "So, with that in mind, those of us who had draconic magic already mutating us ended up becoming even stronger than the standard Shock Troopers. Though some Shock Troopers had further mutations occur, unplanned but no less beneficial. I fall into this category."

"What is it?" Lelyanna asked curiously as she watched Natsu slot the fifteenth round into the chamber of the pistol then let the slide forward and placed the magazine back into the weapon. "Could you show me it?"

"It's not something I can physically show you due to the nature of it. The mutation occurred in my brain and it provides a substantial boost to my reflexes when I'm actively using the mutation, we called it Reflex for that specific reason. Essentially, my brain is able to process information at a faster rate temporarily which slows down my perceived time, I'm able to adjust the strength of this at will but it can also be triggered by my instincts similar to the Fight or Flight response." Natsu turned the handgun's safety on and slipped it back into the holster. "When paired with my speed and strength, it allows me to dodge or intercept any attack that would normally be too fast for someone to avoid, even a regular Shock Trooper."

"Wouldn't that be incredibly taxing?"

"It is." Natsu nodded as he turned his attention back to the woman. He noticed goosebumps prickling her bare shoulders and that she was shaking slightly. Realising that she was cold, Natsu raised his body temperature to heat the air around him and help warm her back up. "The mental drain increases with the intensity of the effect and how long I use it for. So, I try to keep it to short bursts to keep my mind fresh."

"Is there any way I can experience what that looks like?" Lelyanna leaned closer to the pinkette, her eagerness to learn and experience new things lighting up her pale eyes.

"Well, we both know that Ceres has a way to project her consciousness into another person, but I don't know if that is an ability restricted to divinity. Maybe she'll give you the ability or pull your consciousness in with hers?"

"I'll ask her now." Lelyanna murmured, sitting back and bringing her hands together in prayer and bowing her head with closed eyes.

"Master." Henriette whispered, leaning down and tapping the man on the shoulder. "You have another call from Saiko. I told her you were currently busy doing some training in the garden and that you weren't close enough to a handset for me to transfer the call to you."

"Did she leave a message?" Natsu turned his head to the android. He had noticed over the last few days that it has started to have more human-like mannerisms, referring to itself as a singular entity instead of a collective, no doubt Ceres had been sneaking in while he was asleep or out to fiddle with the behaviour routines for Henrietta's main hub. It was doing his head in because he had been catching himself thinking of the android as if it was a living person and going between it and her in his mind, granted it did seem to think for itself.

"She is currently on the line, Master." The android softly informed the pinkette in its fluttery voice. "She has an example made, just a standard dagger, but is disappointed with how it came out."

"Yeah, she said in her last call that she was having issues getting it to blend properly. Tell her I'll be around shortly."

"Yes, Master. I'll also prepare the motorcar so you can be out of the rain."

"Wait?" Natsu gaped as he rose from the bench and turned to face his servant, gazing into its blank eyes with shock. "Since when have I had a car?"

"Lady Ceres had it prepared for you prior to your arrival at the manor, Master. Though it arrived two days after you moved in. It is currently sitting in the garage." The black-haired android raised its right arm and pointed to the building sat in the front right corner of the estate. When he had explored the estate the day after he had arrived, the garage had been empty. "It's a Leopard SC made by the Leona Motor Company."

"Okay… I'll finish things here and go inspect her work." Natsu turned back to the priestess just as she parted her hands, revealing two ornately engraved golden rings. "Looks like Ceres got back to you?"

"She said she couldn't directly provide me the power to do it. Like you said, it's restricted to divinity. But… she did say she could bend that rule slightly by blessing a pair of rings to link both wearers consciousness. Make a Divine Treasure for it." Lelyanna raised her pale-turquoise eyes from the shiny rings and gazed at the man. They were just simple gold rings with no adornments, even the jewellery that she wore looked more intricate than them. "They look to be perfectly sized for both of us."

Natsu took the larger of the two rings and slid it onto his right ring-finger. He clicked his tongue as a thought popped into his mind. "I better make sure it isn't going to melt on me if I use my fire." The pinkette pushed a little demonic power into the jewellery and used Enhancement to boost its thermal resistance. "There, now it won't turn into a puddle if I need to ignite my fists."

"Lady Ceres said to push some magic into it while focusing on the other person and it'll pull your consciousness into their mind." Lelyanna closed her eyes and did as her goddess had instructed, her skin instantly becoming pink as she let out an embarrassed whimper while at the same time, Natsu felt a familiar sensation of another's spiritual body entering his own though this one felt softer and smaller than Ceres' powerful spirit. 'Why didn't she warn me that I'd feel your body as if it was my own? And why don't you feel embarrassed?!'

"This isn't the first time I've had a woman inside me." Natsu replied with a small, amused smile and looked the woman up and down. "Not getting any headaches or anything?"

'No. No headaches, and I don't feel nauseous. Though, it is odd seeing and hearing things through you. You make my vision seem very blurry by comparison, and the rain sounds more defined…'

"Focus on things further out. You should be able to notice the sound of ticking through the rain, the sound of all the clockwork mechanisms of this city, and Henrietta's bodies with their clockwork hearts."

'You can hear all this?! Wait, is that what I smell like to you?'

"Yes. It's normal for females to smell that way, it has to do with the various hormones and normally undetectable pheromones that the human body contains and emits. Consider yourself lucky, you have a pleasant flowery scent, it's quite nice. I've come across women who smell rancid and don't know it." Natsu turned his attention to the firing range and drew his pistol, lining it up with the distant target. "See what I mean? I can see them clearly, even in poor conditions like this."

'Can you show me that Reflex ability you were talking about?'

"Brace yourself, I don't know if a normal person will be able to handle seeing this without going through the enhancements." The former Shock Trooper warned the Priestess, giving her a short few moments before he focused and activated Reflex, slowing the raging storm around them to a gentle drizzle. A gasp echoed in his head as he lined his right eye up with the sights of his pistol and started to fire upon the target, pacing his shots normally.

'I… I can see the bullets flying through the air… see them cutting through the rain and smash against the target… this is insane! And you can fight like this? At high speeds?!'

"Yes. That's enough for now." Natsu replied as he deactivated Reflex. He sent the empty mag away using Requip and replaced it with a fresh mag. He had fired fourteen of the fifteen rounds which left him with one left in the chamber when he reloaded. He put the weapon into the holster behind his back and turned to look at the priestess beside him. "This will be useful for when I return to my world to gather supplies and equipment. Since I can't take you there due to everything being heavily irradiated, I could at least show you it through my eyes."

Lelyanna withdrew her spirit from the man and slowly opened her eyes, the pale-turquoise sparkling softly at the chance to witness something so alien to her, even if it would have to be through eyes that weren't her own. When she was about to agree, she noticed a glimmer of sadness flicker in Natsu's abyssal onyx eyes, so she quickly changed tact. "It would be an honour to see where you came from. I'll provide you with some flowers to give to your friends on my behalf."

"I'll see if Ceres would allow a trip to their graves; they're all the way up in Phanagoria, the Pergrande Kingdom's capital. I'm sure she would, but my main objective is to recover ammunition manufacturing equipment from a factory south of Malba." Natsu gave the woman a smile, thankful for the thought, and he grabbed his coat from the edge of the bench where it had sat alongside Lelyanna's hooded capelet, and quickly put it on. He placed a few more boxes of ammo down on the table to get the woman by for a little bit what he was out. "Continue with your training, once you're out of ammo you can head back inside and study those medical books. Henrietta, please stay with her and attend to her needs."

"Yes, Master. I have another message from just before Saiko hung up; just come through the door behind the counter and into the forge."

"Got it." Natsu stepped out into the rain and stuck to the brick path as he made his way to the detached garage. "Holy fucking shit, it's pissing down…" He muttered harshly, shooting a glare up at the black sky. The rain had almost instantly soaked through to his clothes, so he cranked up the heat once again to combat the water. He broke out into a jog and quickly crossed the manor grounds, ducking under the partly open garage door and coming face-to-face with an extremely old-fashioned car by his standards, in fact he had probably seen something like it in a museum one time.

The stately-looking car had long flowing lines, painted in a deep and dark shade of Prussian blue with black wheel arches. The sides of the engine bay were walled with glass that had very faint runic etching running along it, most likely to strengthen the material, and within the casing was a running brass and glass engine but it didn't seem to be a combustion engine that ran on fuel since he couldn't see or smell any combustion coming from the visibly spinning triple rotors. A faint high-frequency pulsing vibrated the air, disturbing the natural magic around him. The engine was another Lacrima powered device, it seemed, but this one was quite unusual… if he had to put a name to it, he'd have to call it a Rotary Magic Pulse Engine.

Natsu slowly walked down the left side of the car, running his fingers along the long front end as the thrum of engine tickled the hairs on the back of his neck. He saw a Henrietta unit standing by the right-hand door, dutifully waiting for her master to reach her. While he ran his hand up the A-Pillar and along the black leather retractable roof, he gazed inside the cabin, finding fairly familiar controls with ebony wood furnishings and a thick black leather bench seat. The rear end swept down with a nice and steady curve until it reached the base, overall, it was a beautiful car but he couldn't help but wonder if it suited the kind of person that he was supposed to be portraying himself as.

"Master, please hop inside." Henrietta bowed her head as she opened the driver's door. "Your profile has already been uploaded to the car's systems, so it'll automatically unlock and lock as you move within a metre of it." As Natsu slid into the seat, the android stepped around the door and crouched down to lean into the cabin. Yet again, it was exhibiting strange human-like mannerisms and movements that blurred the line between man and machine. "I'll assume you know how to drive a motorcar based on your history, so I'll just give you the quick rundown."

"Well, there are three pedals and a shifter by my left knee. So, I'm going to guess that this is a manual gearbox with the pedal on the left being the clutch?"

"Yes." The android nodded before pointing to a switch on the dash to the right of the steering column labelled Prime below a button labelled Start/Stop. "To start the car, you need to flick the prime switch up and wait a couple of seconds for that button above it to illuminate, then you can press that and it'll start up, and when it does, that switch will automatically come down. The turning indicators are the lever to the right of that, left and right for their respective direction, and the window wipers are the lever on the dash to left side of the column, up for on with three speed selections, down for off." Henrietta straightened up and stepped back, placing her hand on the door. "That should be all you need to know about this motorcar. Both this garage and the front gate should open for you automatically. Safe travels, Master."

"Thank you, Henrietta." Natsu replied with a smile. After the black-haired android closed the car door, she stepped back further and the garage raised open to allow him to drive out. It felt good to be behind the wheel again, but it was a vastly different feel to the vehicles he was used to. Even his own personal car had more room, the steering was much lighter, it drove smoother, plus it had an onboard AI that allowed it to pilot the car autonomously which Lucy had loved to take advantage of, that and the blacked-out privacy tint on the windows. But he wouldn't complain as the freedom to travel in his own personal vehicle again outweighed the negatives about the Leopard SC. Though, he did always find two wheels to be a more pleasurable experience.

While he vaguely remembered the way to the shop via the cathedral, he wanted to take a more direct route but since he had cut across the rooftops on the way back, he wasn't sure which way was the right way to go. Deciding to not worry about it, he just let the road take him until he found the right way. After a few turns and a few more, he eventually found the right road and he parked across the road from Saiko's shop Pierce the Veil. Dashing across the street, Natsu stopped at the front door and hit the buzzer. "Hey, Saiko. It's Báleygr."

"The door's unlocked, just jump the counter and come downstairs."

"Got it." Natsu opened the door and made his way across the store, heading through the door at the back. As he came down the stairs, following the scent of molten metal, he found Saiko staring at a vat of metal with her arms crossed. "How's it coming along?"

"I've made progress but I'm still running into issues fairly often." Saiko looked over at the man and pointed at the vat in front of her before pushing it into the smelter and closing up the blast doors. She cranked it up as high as it would go and grumbled as she headed for her workbench which had a dagger blank of her most recent test. "I just can't seem to get the ratios that you worked out to combine and it keeps giving me inconsistent products. See for yourself."

Natsu grabbed the blank and flipped it over his hands, his eyes roaming the surface. It had the same blackness that his KMXX had but something was definitely wrong it with. "You don't mind if I break it?"

"Go ahead, I've just been tossing them back into the vat anyway." Saiko replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She tied off her coveralls around her waist and adjusted her sooty grey tube top before crossing her arms underneath her bust. "Hopefully you can figure out what's going on."

The pinkette held the raw blade between his fingers and thumb, slowly putting more and more pressure on the weapon until it began to bend. He narrowed his eyes slightly at it and a flash of light illuminated his left thigh as he requiped his combat knife and drew it. With one single powerful stroke, he sliced through the blank and checked the metal inside the cut. "You've got flecks of power in this, looks like unmelted material. Have you been removing stuff while it was melting?"

"Just slag from the top… I see," Saiko unfolded her arms and placed her hands on her hips, cocking them as she gazed at the furnace. Her yellow eyes narrowed as she tilted her head slightly in realisation. "So, among the impurities was unmelted material. I did notice that when I ran the furnace at maximum that the ratios got better."

"You probably aren't getting it hot enough for this mixture to fully melt and combine into an alloy." Natsu nodded. He placed the knife back in the sheath on his thigh and collected up both halves of the blank. "You said it is at maximum? How does it work?"

"A series of emitter rings that sit at the base and come about two-thirds of a metre up the wall. The heat is generated thanks to a Lacrima containing fire magic in the housing next to it." The smith explained, watching as the man removed his coat and tossed it over some barrels before neatly folding his sleeves up to the elbow. He removed his rings and watch and placed them in his back pocket before walking over to the machine. "Wait, that's still running!"

"It's fine." Natsu waved away the woman's concerns with a chuckle as he stated, "I'm immune to fire." He grabbed the ceramic door – which was usually opened by winch – and wrenched it open, sticking his whole head into the furnace and inspecting the fiery jets shooting from the rings. "Yep, there's your problem." He called out, his voice muffled by the thick ceramic walls. He tilted the vat a little and peered inside, there were materials starting to collect at the top instead of liquifying and mixing together. Once he was satisfied with his findings, he tossed the dagger blank inside and pulled his head out of the furnace without even a single bead of sweat rolling down his face and closed it up, turning to look at the weaponsmith. "It's definitely not getting the heat it needs. How much hotter can this furnace withstand; I can work some magic and reinforce it if it is needed?"

"Umm, probably do that anyway. I don't want to burn down my livelihood because I needed more firepower for a new alloy." Saiko suggested. She sauntered over to the control panel and powered down her furnace. When she hit the eject cell button, the power unit's narrow door opened and a vertical tray emerge from within; carrying a metre-tall Lacrima disk. "That's the fuel source."

"I'll take a look at it in a sec." Natsu placed his hand on the furnace and pushed his demonic power into it before triggering his Enhancement curse and altering the ceramic walls to reflect as much thermal energy as possible instead of absorbing it slowly. While he was working, he looked over at the fuel disk and his brow furled. "What's the deal with the disks? Do you own them and pay for them to get charged, or are the rented and cycled through with new stock?"

"I own them and have them charged when I run down to the second last one; I have a dozen of them including this one. Why do you ask?"

"I suggest you find someone else to charge them. Whoever you're paying has poor quality fire magic and it's suboptimal for using it in a forge. A heater would be fine, but not something like this. Once I'm done altering the walls of this thing, I'll go through the entire stock and replace it with my own fire but in future, you should contact someone like Salamander to charge these. Maybe Titania can help with that."

"I might get a better deal if I go through Fairy Tail anyway, could probably pick up a few contracts too. I'll talk to Salamander next time she's in here with her falchions." Saiko nodded slowly, scratching her cheek in idle thought. She sat atop the control panel and watched the man work with her arms under her bust, causing the well-worn tube top to stretch a little more. "So, what's your story? You mentioned that something about a dead homeland when you were chatting to Titania but I'm not really after a personal history lesson, I'm more curious about you. You seem to know your way around fire magic and have an immunity to it, proof being that you stuck your head in the furnace while it was running full bore which is something I've only ever heard Salamander be capable of."

"She's stuck her head into a furnace before?" Natsu asked offhandedly as he finished up with the furnace and closed the doors. He quickly made his way over to the power cells and took a closer look at them, scowling softly.

"Not that I'm aware… I more meant the immunity to fire."

"That's simple. Salamander is part dragon due to her dragon slaying magic causing mutations to occur, giving her immunity to natural fire and resistance to magical fire. The same goes for me but for a different reason; I'm part fire demon." Natsu replied as he placed his hand on the Lacrima disk. His eyes and markings turned a demonic red and he spared a quick glance at the smith. "Don't get me wrong, we're both human but we're less human than you." Natsu's fingertips became coated in a maroon demonic fire and his hand clenched something ethereal. He pulled his hand away from the Lacrima and tore a murky orange power from the disk, holding it out for the woman to see. "See what I mean? It looks like fucking shit. This should be a vibrant orange or red-orange for high quality fire magic."

"Now that you mention it… yeah, it does look a little lacklustre."

Natsu burned away the magic and switched out his maroon flames for a rich red-orange flame that was so intense that the room's temperature skyrocketed.

"Holy crap that's a lotta heat!" Saiko quickly fanned herself as she broke out in sweat all over, her wide eyes on the roaring fire coating Natsu's hand. "Yeah, that fire was absolute shit compared to this!"

Natsu bared his inhuman fangs in a wide grin as he pushed his power into the now-clear Lacrima, filling the magic crystal only up to 98% capacity to prevent a criticality even that could incinerate the entire block, give or take a few dozen metres. "Make sure to zero that dial before you slot this back in, I'd rather not blow your furnace to kingdom-come."

"Right. Stand clear." Saiko turned her attention to the panel she was sat on and spread her legs, fiddling with a knob before jumping off and hitting the button to load the rich red-orange power cell. "Let's see how much power my baby can crank out now…" She fired up the machine and slowly turned the dial up while keeping her eyes on the temperature readout. "Hey, come here and set this to where it should be. I'm getting a much higher output than before, so we should be good for a proper go at it."

Natsu took position in front of the control panel and watched the temperature climb as he slowly dialled up the heat. When he hit the sweet spot for the alloy, he stopped which put the dial at just above half capacity and left plenty of room left to go higher. "There, that should be the right temperature for it all to melt and meld together. Once it's all mixed properly, you shouldn't have an issue turning it into stock then forging the weapons. I recommend doing some tests first then you can play with the mix to add a little spice of whatever you decide is needed for various orders."

"Now that you've worked your magic, I can work mine." Saiko grinned and hurried past the pinkette, quickly readjusting her hair bun and tying back the black strands that hand come loose. She grabbed a pair of goggles and snapped them over her eyes before flicking the tinted caps down and pulling the lever next to the furnace to open the door. "Lookin' good so far, might give it a stir. But damn is it hot in here, it's an intense heat too, much different than the other lot."

"My magic aside, I used a demonic curse on your furnace called Enhancement and redirected any heat getting absorbed by the walls to be reflected back inside, making it more efficient." Natsu informed the weaponsmith as he walked across the workshop and opened the power core storage box, ripping the fire magic from each disk and replacing it with his own far stronger magic. Once he had finished all eleven disks, he sat on a barrel by the workbench, next to his coat. "If you would like, I could put that same enhancement on your gear to reflect heat away from you, should help cut down on heat exhaustion from the higher temperatures caused by my flames."

"Nah, I love the heat. And anyway, I've spent my entire life up until now bathing in the heat of the forge, it'd be weird for it to go away so suddenly."

"Suit yourself." Natsu shrugged. He requiped the acoustic electric guitar that he had found while roaming his desolate world and began to gently pluck the nylon strings while adjusting the tuning pegs. Once satisfied, he began to play a gentle melody while the woman busied herself with her work.

"You know," Saiko called out as she looked over her shoulder at the pinkette while she got her continuous casting machine warmed up and ready to make ingots. "When you first walked into the store, I thought you were some kinda noble looking for a fancy blade to shove under the noses of the other nobles… Lookin' at you now, though…"

"What do you see?" Natsu's demonic red eyes raised from the guitar and met the yellow eyes of the smith.

"Sadness, though you try to hide it. I didn't notice it at first but your mask cracked when Titania walked in. I guess she reminds you of someone."

"This is getting into my history… but I guess I can tell you a little about it. Titania reminds me of a woman I knew, a friend of mine who had died a couple of months ago, along with a few other people I was close to." Natsu replied slowly without breaking the tune he was playing but he did lower his eyes to the ebony and ivory guitar. He let out a soft chuckle and his fingers sped up, playing something a little more energetic. "You know, I must either have shit or amazing luck with women, I keep finding ones who can see past the shell somehow. First Lelyanna, then Titania seemed to notice something was up, and now you too. Looking into my demonic eyes, seeing these 'evil' glowing markings, you'd think the fairer sex would be put on edge by a big bad demon like me, but you women just see right through it."

"Demon or not, you seemed decent enough." Saiko shrugged her shoulders and rested her back against the machine. "Plus, the Archbishop was helping you, so I figured you were on good terms with the Church. And you did provide me with the recipe for this alloy, and then helped me get it to work. So, I mean, you don't seem all bad, just don't go burning down the city on a whim." She finished with a playful chuckle, giving the man a grin and a wink.

"I bet you're wondering if I burst into flames the very second that I set foot into their cathedral?"

"Knowing some of what you can do now, I wouldn't be surprised if you did it as a joke."

"Heh, I may just do that next time." Natsu laughed heartily, grinning at the idea and filing it away for when he was feeling particularly mischievous. "I'll be honest, I debated on giving you that alloy on my way to the store with Lelyanna. I'm not a massive sword person on the account of them always failing me, unlike my guns. But I can't rely on those anymore since I don't have access to the special ammunition they take, they just aren't made here so I've got to conserve my ammo. I mentioned it to Lelyanna and she brought me to you, and I could see how passionate you are about your craft, so I took a chance on you. The fact both Titania and Salamander come here also helps to show that you're one of the best."

"Yeah, I can see why you'd be weary of swords. And with the monster population booming and that those bastards seem to be getting tougher, I can understand why you'd be getting concerned about running out of bullets. I'll tell you what, since you've helped me so much…" Saiko stepped away from her machine once it had been set up to create ingots when the metal was ready and she walked over to the man, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "I want you put a Maker's Mark for you alongside my own on the weapons created using your alloy. I'll make it its own special line of weapons. Got any ideas?"

Natsu opened his mouth to refuse the offer but a thought shot that down instantly; he could use this opportunity as a means to legitimately manufacture the munitions and supplies from his old world. "Yes, actually… Báleygr Arms. I've got the markings on my weapons." He drew the pistol from behind his back and held it out for the woman to look at its slide. He tapped his finger near the engraving of a flaming eye inside a diamond and the Báleygr Arms M12 10mm Super beside it. "I had done this to signify that the weapons are mine but it would work just as well for this. I'd be happy to have it placed next to your mark."

"Is this one of the weapons from where you're from? I guess I can see why you'd say it would be hard to find ammo for it." Saiko took in the weapon but ignored the overall uniqueness of it as she grabbed a pencil and paper and quickly drew the man's logo and name on a larger scale. "Alright, I'll get a die made up for it. Like I said, I'm going to mark the weapons that use your alloy since that recipe belongs to you. I'd register that name if I were you, even if you don't do anything with it. Saves someone pinching it on you."

"Yeah, I'll do that as soon as I can." Once the woman had finished copying down the markings on his pistol, Natsu holstered it and requiped his guitar away. He hopped off the barrel and headed for the furnace to check the state of the metal within. As he dipped his hand into the molten metal and stirred it, he felt a wave of discomfort come from the woman behind him, causing him to chuckle softly. "Looks like it's all coming together properly. If you want to throw the slag and stuff you took out of it back into the vat then you can, it shouldn't affect it too much." Natsu took his arm out of the molten metal and held it out for the smith to check, showing her that he was completely uninjured. "Once those have melted into it, then you should be right to put it into the next machine."

"Nice!" Saiko cheered, grinning as she lightly punched the man's shoulder. "I'll get to work on some practice pieces and hopefully get started on your weapons in a few days. Sorry that it has taken so long."

"It's fine. Had I known your furnace couldn't reach the temperatures needed, I'd have done this sooner. But neither of us could have known until you started working on it." Natsu took his rings and watch from his back pocket and slipped them back into place before reducing his demonic presence, causing his eyes and markings to return to normal as he fixed his sleeves and refastened the gold cufflinks. "Take your time and get it correct. I want to see just how good you are."

"Heh. I'll make you swords perfect for both an art museum and the bloodiest of battlefield." Saiko grinned and flipped the tinted lenses down over her goggles. She grabbed a pair of thick gloves and moved the man aside so she can get at the furnace, cranking it open and attaching a pair of hooks to the vat inside. The black-haired woman winched the vat out and used the overhead crane to move it over to the next machine, pouring it down the large funnel of the continuous casting machine. "You're right to head out now, things should be all set here." She refilled the vat with ingots and powders, and chucked in some of the test daggers, then placed it back into the furnace to be melted down.

As Natsu threw his coat back on and made his way to the stairs, Saiko called out to him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh, before you do!" Saiko quickly spun around and smacked the lever, shutting the door while she flicked her tinted lenses up. "I want to give you a loaner sword, just to get you by so you can take jobs while you wait for your weapons to be done."

"Lead the way." Natsu replied and he stood aside to allow the sooty smith past. He followed the woman up the stairs and past the door to the shop floor, heading up to the second floor.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll get a sword out of storage." Saiko left the man at the top of the stairs and entered into a nearby room. She came out a few minutes later with a sheathed longsword attached to a backstrap holster. "It's a Grosses Messer, about a hundred-and-ten-centimetres, so similar to the one I'm going to be making for you. Figured it would do good for you to get used to what you'll be using."

Natsu took the offered sword and drew it from the scabbard; it was a silvery longsword that was mostly straight save for near the tip where it had a slight curve. "Thank you." He smiled at the weaponsmith and returned the blade to the scabbard before slipping his arms through the belts and adjusting the holster so it fits comfortably against his back with the blade cantered to the right, its single cutting edge facing up so the draw could smoothly transition into a slash.

"This is just a normal scabbard but the ones I'll be making for your two swords are called a clamshell scabbard; basically, when you draw the sword two-centimetres, those babies will open up about one-point-five centimetres along the cutting edge which allows for a quick draw. And to put it back, you just swing it back in place and move it past that two-centimetre section and the scabbard will snap shut again." Saiko explained, putting her fingers to her thumb like a clamshell and opening and closing it to illustrate her plan. "I don't have one here, so I can't show you. But trust me, it'll be handy especially for the Kriegs Messer. The twinned Messer will have standard scabbards since they're not long enough to warrant the clamshells."

"That's fine with me, I'll probably have those attached to a belt around my hips or waist under the coat, while the two longer swords will be put on my back in a parallel mount."

"Sounds good to me. I'll get it all set up for you as part of your order." Saiko grinned happily and gave the man a thumbs-up before leading the way back downstairs and into the shop. As they passed the counter, she turned to Natsu and gave the man a thumping pat on the back. "Thanks again for stopping by and helping me sort out the little gremlins. I'll call you again if I come across any more issues but it should be smooth sailing from here on out. Like I said, as a thanks for helping me with all this, I'll make your swords extra special."

"Good luck." Natsu gave the smith a farewell nod and headed for the door, opening it and letting a groan as the rain seemed to have gotten even heavier. "Fucking rain." He muttered and turned up the collar of his coat as he hurried to his car, quickly sending his loaned weapon away as he opened the door and slid into the driver's seat. The man let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, relaxing deeply into the comfortable leather seat. He pushed a little bit of magic into Ceres' ring and felt his consciousness leave his body. His mind felt weightless for a moment before it sank into a soft and supple body that was much smaller than his own. The black shroud covering his eyes lifted to reveal crème-coloured sheets on a large bed and a large book lying on top of them, it was one of his spare bedrooms. 'You feel cold.'

"That's the first thing you notice when you enter a woman's body? I even had a nice bath to warm back up." Lelyanna remarked, smiling softly down at the book in front of her. "How did things go with Saiko?"

'There was an issue at the first stage; her machine couldn't get hot enough so I had to fiddle with it. Now it should be all good, she just wants to do some practice pieces before she gets mine done. But she did give me Grosses Messer to use in the meantime until I receive my order. I just hope I don't break it…'

"Oh, good." Lelyanna flipped the velvet tassel bookmarker down between the pages and closed the book. She pushed herself up on the bed, sitting with her legs splayed out to her sides as she stretched out and groaned. "I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I finished off those boxes you left me, but I stopped when I had four full magazines left." She dropped her gaze to her chest where the pistol sat to the left and the magazines sat to the right of her breasts. "I think I've gotten to a point where it feels pretty natural to draw the pistol."

'Show me. Go to the mirror as natural as normal, like you're having a nice chat, then draw the pistol and bring it into a firing position.'

The priestess complied instantly; leaping from the bed dexterously and landing on her feet with a soft thud. She put on a gentle smile and brought her hands together just below her bust as she approached the mirror, her wavey silver hair brushing her bare shoulders while her fitted white dress rippled around her thighs. She was looking every bit the gentle priestess that everyone knew her to be.

'Draw.'

Lelyanna blinked but she quickly snapped her hand to the grip of the pistol, her thumb flicking up to push the hoop out of the way as she began to draw the weapon then dropping the thumb back down to flick the safety off as the muzzle flipped around to point in front of her. The smile dropped as her eyes narrowed with focus, gripping the suppressed pistol with both her hands but keeping her trigger finger parallel with the barrel.

'Adorable, but no less acceptable. I felt no hitches in your movement; it was nice and smooth. You've come a fair way in such a short time but keep up with your practice, you can still get faster and more fluid with your moments. I do have one question though; since you didn't pull the slide, I'm guessing you had a round already chambered?'

"Yes, I decided to copy you and have the gun ready at all times by keeping it loaded, cocked but on safe so all I need to do is flick the safety off and I'll be ready to shoot." Lelyanna relaxed, smiling at her reflection as she switched the safety on and holstered the pistol.

'I see. Just be careful then, I don't want you putting a hole in yourself.'

"I will be careful. Did Lady Ceres tell you where you can take jobs as an independent Jaeger?"

'No. Back in my world, we'd usually get job contracts sent to the guild. At least before the war broke out. So, jobs came to us. I don't know how it works here, is it different?'

"Kinda, yeah." Lelyanna nodded at her reflection before turning on the spot. She walked back to the bed and sat on the edge, looking down at her slender pale legs. "The various Guilds do get jobs sent to them, but Jaeger Contracts are distributed by the Jaeger Association of Fiore. So, people can band together and make a Jaeger Guild though they have to register it with the Association, or join an existing one, or they can work independently of a Guild and visit one of the Branch Offices to pick up jobs. The Association has a shared database using Archive magic, like how the Bank of Fiore does, so whenever a job is taken by someone in one city the entire system is automatically updated so there is no chance of two groups going on the same job and getting into a fight. You and I will have to visit an office and register as a team. And since I'm not a Jaeger, I'd either need to register as one or as a Supporter to one."

'I'll probably have to update my profile, or have one created if Ceres hasn't done that. But she told me that everything should already be in place before I came here.'

"In that case, you shouldn't have anything to worry about." The woman smiled to herself and started to idly play with her fingers. "But maybe we should go there and double check, just to be sure."

'I don't mean to push this onto you, but could you get in touch with Ceres and check with her while I head back home to pick you up?

"That's fine." Lelyanna nodded quickly. She glanced around, looking for her socks and finding them further up the bed, so she twisted around and reached out, groaning delicately as she stretched too far and fell face-first onto the sheets. "You didn't see that…"

'All I see are some sheets obstructing your vision.' Natsu chuckled softly within her mind. 'I'll be around soon.'

"Okay, I'll see you soon, Natsu." The silver-haired woman lifted her head from the sheets and smiled to herself as she crawled to the socks, spinning around once she grabbed them and sliding the first down her legs which were pointed to the ceiling.

Natsu pulled his consciousness back from the woman and opened his eyes. It was a strange feeling, being inside someone else's body as a spirit. He understood her embarrassment now that it was him putting his consciousness into her. He had felt everything about her and it highlighted the differences between them. She was much smaller, lighter. lither, and weaker, and that wasn't to mention the way her body felt as a whole. He understood what she meant by feeling her body as if it was his own, it was strange being inside a woman like that. Pushing the feeling from his mind, he flicked the prime switch and waited for the light to come on before hitting the start button and being greeted by a magic hum, again it was another strange feeling that he'll have to get used to. He flicked on the indicator and checked for cars before pulling out onto the road, circling back the way he came to reach his home.

The trip back to his house was much quicker than coming to the weaponsmith since he knew where to go now, and as he rolled up to the front of his manor grounds, he found Lelyanna and Henrietta waiting for him by the pedestrian entrance underneath a broad umbrella. The android must have been right on the range limits as she sheltered the priestess while opening the door for the argent-haired woman. Once the priestess was in the car, Henrietta bowed and returned to within the walls.

"I spoke with Ceres." Lelyanna said as she glanced down at the sheathed knife strapped to Natsu's thigh. She lowered her hood and got comfortable on the leather bench seat. "She said that she had your profile set up before you arrived and had it updated to contain new information a few days after you appeared in the cathedral. Said she did some 'divine trickery'…"

"That sounds like something she's say." Natsu sighed and shook his head as he pulled back out onto the street. "So, where is this Branch Office you were talking about?"

"In the centre of the city, near the city hall." The woman turned on the seat and rested her back against the door, folding her legs between them but keeping her feet off the leather seat. "Do you know the way?"

"Providing the city centre is in the same place as my world's, I should roughly know the way." Natsu looped around the block and began to head deeper into the town, towards the large lake. "I've already noticed that the roads have a slightly different layout but that could be because of the era difference."

"I'll find you a map of the city, I wouldn't want you to get lost out on your own." Lelyanna giggled softly. She unfastened her capelet and brought it to her lap as she began to fiddle with her hood, popping open some press studs and slipping the veil into the pocket behind them before sealing the delicate fabric away for safe keeping. "Do you plan on taking a job right away?"

"I want to at least take a look at the system, to see how it works, even if I just observe people."

"Well, you're in luck then. You won't look like a dodgy bugger spying on everyone since they have a café there as part of the establishment, we can have something to eat and some tea and coffee."

"Oi." Natsu grinned softly and gently smacked the woman's knee, earning a light-hearted giggle from Lelyanna as she refastened the capelet around her neck but left the hood down. "Well, with my hearing and eyesight it would be pretty easy to learn through observation. Plus, I've only had breakfast today, so food sounds like a good idea about now."

"That makes two of us, so once we formalise our team, we can sit down and have a late lunch." Lelyanna rested her hands on her lap and smiled softly at the man. She tilted her head curiously. "How do I look?"

Natsu glanced at the woman, she was still in her usual white and gold religious garb with nothing out of place with the exception of the hood being lowered which revealed her bluish-sliver wavy bob, pale-turquoise eyes, and cute face with no make-up. She looked normal, so he narrowed his eyes slightly and realised what she was really asking. "You look natural, nothing is out of place. People wouldn't even know that you have a handgun on you."

"Good." The archbishop giggled lightly as she raised her arms, raising off her to show the pistol and magazines tucked under her arms. "I might also have you teach me how to fight."

"I'd rather teach you how to kill and then teach you how not to kill, so you can properly defend yourself. A woman as small as you probably won't be able to do much against most aggressors." Natsu replied and he murmured softly in thought and glanced at the woman once again. He was searching for areas they could hide a combat knife on her body with her normal priestess outfit. "Hey, question…" He murmured softly. "Would it be unusual for people like you to carry a knife, like the one strapped to my thigh?"

Lelyanna leaned forward and reached for the man's thigh, lightly gripping the knife's grip but she was stopped by Natsu's large warm hand coming down and wrapping around her smaller hand. "May I?"

"Don't cut yourself." Natsu grunted softly, taking his hand off hers and placing it on the gear knob. "Actually, I'd prefer if you grabbed the whole thing instead of taking the knife out. For safety reasons since this isn't the smoothest ride or road."

"Alright." Lelyanna leaned forward and carefully fiddled with the straps around the man's thigh, trying not to nudge his crotch. Thankfully, he lifted his leg a little and it helped to remove the harness from his thigh. The priestess sat back and looked down at herself and murmured, "Now, where could I put this…? Why do you wear it on your left leg when you're right-handed?"

"It is so I can use the knife in my left hand and the pistol in my right."

"Oh, okay." Lelyanna glanced at her thighs, pursing her lips at how her dress was designed; it had a split running up the right side to just below her hip and it tapered to the left side, stopping below her knee. "I wanted to have it under my dress on my thighs, but I won't be able to grab it very easily on the left side."

"Don't put it on your left thigh. You aren't used to fighting ambidextrously so it would be in your best interest to keep everything accessible by your right hand." Natsu pulled over and turned to the woman. He took the sheathed knife from her and strapped it back onto his thigh, but he requiped a second one and lightly pat his thigh. "Put you leg up on mine."

Lelyanna hesitated for a brief moment but did as she was instructed; extending her right leg so it laid across his lap and allowed him to start strapping it to her thigh. She grabbed her dress and pushed it down between her thighs as Natsu's hands moved near the top of her right leg.

"Stop squirming." Natsu murmured, ignoring how her smooth and soft pale skin felt against his fingers. "You're making it harder than it needs to be."

"I'm sorry, it just tickles, especially on the inside of the thigh, and that high up…" Lelyanna blushed and she pushed the hem her dress down further between her thighs, trying to hide the other side-effect of her predicament.

"Bear with it, I'm almost done." He tightened the straps just enough so it wouldn't budge from where it was but wouldn't also cut off the circulation in her leg. It created a slight bulge above and below the straps which he made sure wasn't too restrictive by slipping a finger between the straps and her thigh then also giving the sheath a little tug. "The blade is indexed forward, so when you go to draw it, you'll want to grab it with the point facing the bottom of your fist and give it a short tug up to overcome the friction point which holds the knife in there. You can also grab it with the back of your hand to your thigh but that's a little more awkward." He sat back and looked at the slightly bashful and blushing woman. "I'll teach you how to use it tonight or tomorrow, even if I need to make some practice knives out of wood. Maybe I'll try and find the training ones we had in my world. They're weighted correctly but you can't cut anything with them."

"Your hands are so rough and warm…" Lelyanna murmured as she brought her leg back and curled back up but she squeezed her thighs together tightly and smoothed her dress quickly to hide what the man's touch had done to her. She cleared her throat and composed herself, ignoring the lingering warmth as she levelled her eyes on the man. "There will be a multistorey car park near the administrative buildings, it's about a ten-minute walk from the Jaeger Associations' building, probably a little longer in this rain. Most buildings in this area have awnings so we won't have to worry too much about the rain once we're on foot."

"I'll keep an eye out." Natsu pulled out onto the road once more and continued on to the city centre. After a few minutes, the faint rustling of fabric and the sound of two patches of soft, smooth skin began to tickle his ears, causing him to turn his head to the woman. "Are you ok, I didn't make you uncomfortable?"

"I'm not uncomfortable, no." Lelyanna smiled meekly and stopped her fidgeting, quickly adjusting her legs. "Just trying to deal with the residual sensation of having your hands and body heat that far up the insides of my legs."

"You'll calm down soon enough, especially once we get out of the car and into the cold sodden weather. If you get this excited just from me strapping something to your leg, I can't imagine how you'll fair when I train you in hand-to-hand combat…"

"W-why?"

"Because while I'll be careful not to hurt you too much, I'll be taking advantage of my greater height, weight, and strength and using them against you. You'll be put in disadvantageous and compromising positions and I'll probably be a little forceful, which can be a turn-on for some women." Natsu flatly replied, sparing her a quick glance and noticing the darkening blush colouring her cheeks before turning his attention back to the road. He spotted a sign telling him where to go to reach the Jaeger Association's Magnolia Branch and followed it around the next corner. "More often than not when they get pinned to something, it causes their mind to wander to something unrelated to training. By the way, I don't want to ruin your dress so you should find a pair of shorts or pants to wear, and either a shirt or singlet, something form-fitting so it doesn't get in your way while training. If you're having trouble, I'm sure Ceres can get you something good."

"Y-yes, of course!" Her voice peaked sharply as she stared at the man with wide eyes. She quickly made a mental note to get the clothes he mentioned and to also keep her mind on the training when the time came, but she was a grown woman and her body would respond like it had a mind of its own sometimes, but such is life. "Please be gentle…"

"Sounds like you're going to be one of the girls who enjoy it a little too much." Natsu chuckled and he flashed the woman a teasing grin. "I'll be sure to limit it to bruises and stuff that'll be easy for you to heal, so no broken bones or dislocated joints."

"Oh, shush you…" Lelyanna murmured as she fanned herself. She forced the lewd thoughts from her mind and refocused on their current situation. She glanced around the road as they came to a stop at an intersection. She shot across the car's cabin, placing a hand down between Natsu's thighs as she leaned across him and pointed to a barely visible building down the right street. "Head that way, the parking lot should be to the left."

"Yeah, yeah. I can see it." Natsu replied. Since Lelyanna was blocking his view, he gently pushed the woman down and out of the way and took off from the intersection. He ignored the gently, shocked gasp from the woman and drove over to the parking structure. He turned into the multistorey carpark and drove through it. While it wasn't packed with cars, it was clear that they were slowly catching on. Moving past the cheaper-looking cars, he parked in a spot surrounded by empty bays. All these cars still looked like museum pieces in his eyes, even if the engine they used was a surprising twist.

Lelyanna carefully slipped out from underneath his arms and sat up. She smoothed out her dress and raised her hood. As she looked over herself, she grimaced slightly at the obvious knife and looked at Natsu. Once they were out of the car and she had walked halfway across the parking lot, she spoke up, "Natsu, I need your opinion on something."

"Yes?" Natsu turned to the priestess, meeting her uncovered eyes.

"Should I move the knife to the inside of my thigh or keep it where it is?" Lelyanna asked softly.

"No, I think it's fine where it is." Natsu knelt down beside the woman and ran his fingers down the slit, checking cut of the fabric. "Your dress has an overlap here, probably only about a centimetre or two but it'll be enough to cover the knife most of the time."

"But I can feel it trying to peek out from that side as I walk."

"If you're overly concerned about it, put one or two press studs into the slit to hold it closed over that portion of your thigh."

Lelyanna lowered her gaze to her leg, watching it ripple as she ran her fingers back and forth along the slit. After a few moments, she looked back up at the man who had risen to his feet and was watching her with his hands in his pants pockets. "I probably just have to get used to it. Just like the other thing." She brushed her hand across the side of her thigh once more, feeling how easy it was to access the combat knife, and then slipped her hand between the slit to grab the handle of the knife. "No, it's fine where it is, I think."

Natsu nodded lightly, giving the woman a gentle smile as he turned and exited the parking structure. "Like I said, I'll teach you how to effectively wield the knife later, even if I have to get Ceres to nab some weighted rubber training knives for me. At least then I can show you what to do without the risk of accidentally harming you with a wooden toy."

"You could hurt someone with a wooden knife?"

"Lelyanna… I could easily kill someone with a stick from a tree, let alone a wooden knife. Hell, find me a small pebble and I'll be able to put a hole right through someone's skull…" Natsu murmured quietly as they neared a rough-looking crowd coming their way. He stepped in front of the woman to make room and shield her from opportunists, keeping an eye on the pedestrians as they passed by.

"I wonder if you could do that to a rock golem though." Lelyanna mused playfully\ as she stepped back out and came up beside him. "They'd probably just bounce off."

"Depends on how hard I throw it, I guess. Also, how strong the pebble is, it could just shatter on impact."

The priestess glanced up at the man and gave him a small, kind smile before focusing on leading him to the office. After a few more minutes of walking, they were out the front of the Jaeger Association and Lelyanna grasped Natsu's arm, stopping him before they entered. "I know I've already mentioned this but I'll need to make a profile with them for us to team up, I've never done this before so it may take a little time but they'll make me a Supporter."

"That's fine, I don't exactly know what I'm doing either, remember?" Natsu replied quietly, chuckling at the priestess who pulled on her hood, hiding her embarrassment behind it. "Let's go in."

Lelyanna nodded quickly and pushed her way through the door. The feeling of the man's warmth right behind gave her some comfort in the alien situation as she timidly crossed the room, her eyes darting about as she began wishing that she had left her veil down. She approached the receptionist and put on a small smile. "Hello."

"Good afternoon." The woman glanced up from the thick book she was skimming through, her light orange bangs flicking forward. She was well dressed, with a white dress shirt and black waistcoat which had the Jaeger Association's crest pinned to her lapel, she also had a long black pencil skirt, and a two leather belts sitting at her hips and waist and forming a cross in front of her. She did a double-take as a flicker of shock passed across her face before a kind smile replaced it. "Oh, hello there, Your Grace. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to register as a Supporter. I plan on following a Jaeger into the field so I can tend to the wounded we come across."

"Well, I'll be happy to help you with the process. Please call me Isolde." The receptionist bowed her head and reached under desk. She glanced over the archbishop's shoulder at the man behind her. "Is this the Jaeger you are travelling with?"

"Yes, Isolde." Lelyanna turned and waved the pinkette forward, smiling as he came up beside her. "This is Báleygr, he has helped me previously and offered to take me out into the field to help those in need of medical attention."

"A pleasure." Natsu bowed his head politely to the receptionist.

"The pleasure is mine." Isolde replied as she took out a small brass panel and placed it onto the desk. "Please put your hand here, Archbishop, and I'll get started on your profile."

"Okay." She hesitatingly placed her hand down on the panel and jumped lightly as a small shock ran up her arm, a second brass panel that was set into the desk flickered to life with a magical display.

"You can take your hand off it now." The receptionist directed while holding out a brass stylist which had a sky-blue crystal set into the tip, allowing it to interact with the magical displays. The panel in front of Lelyanna switched to a form. "Please fill in the full name, address, next-of-kin, etcetera. Once you're done, just sign the bottom."

While Lelyanna filled out the form, Natsu looked around at the building. On the right-side wall was a large brass panel which held blue holograms that looked to be projected job contracts. He had thought they'd be papers pinned to a corkboard but apparently not. He watched as a party of four dwarves stroked their beards before selecting a job by tapping on the projection and filling out a newly projected magical hologram with their team information.

"Mr Báleygr, could you please put your hand on the panel so I can group you two together?"

"Alright." Natsu turned and placed his hand down on the now blank panel. "Could you please bring up my profile? I recently had a change in address which I told the association about, I just want to make sure it had been reflected in the profile."

Lelyanna handed him the stylist and he ran his eyes down the list of information. There were a few things he decided to change, sometimes giving more information and other times taking some away. Thankfully, his professional name was set higher than his actual name, giving it precedence, which was enforced by a tick-box saying that they'd prefer to be referred to by the professional name only. It should prevent any unneeded questions about why his name was so similar to his counterpart in this world. "Thank you. I've made updates to the information, it's all current now."

"Do either of you have a name in mind for your group? It's not necessary but a lot of groups like to call themselves Team this or Squad that."

"Hellhound." Natsu replied reflexively but instantly shook his head and turned to the priestess. "Sorry, that was a suggestion not a reply. It's what my old group was called. Only thing that comes to my mind is that or Helldiver."

Lelyanna hid a small giggle behind her right hand and smiled cheekily. "The first one is fine, and you'd probably automatically respond with that anyway from what I just saw." The cheekiness quickly faded, replaced with sympathy as the woman nodded slowly. "I'm fine with calling us Hellhound. As discussed, I'll be your medic and help those in need of medical attention."

"Hellhound it is then." Natsu softly murmured as he turned to the receptionist and nodded, giving her the go-ahead to put that down as their group name.

"Alright." Isolde quickly wrote it down on her display then looked up with a bright smile. "Welcome aboard, Hellhound." She rose from her chair and lightly shook their hands before pointing to the large brass fixture to her left. "You'll find jobs on the bulletin board over there; they'll appear as they come in and disappear upon a team or solo Jaeger taking it on. Everything that you see up there is current and you can take one by either interacting with the hologram or by talking to Siala who is the cat-woman sat by the board. It might not be my place to say, but I suggest something light to start out with, for Her Grace's sake. Once the job is completed, please stop by to fill out a report within a few days, or you could mail your report into us."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Isolde smiled and turned to point at a set of doors further down the wall behind her. "If you are would like something to eat or drink, or would just like a nice place to relax then you can go through that door and into the Branch's Café." She placed her left hand on the desk as she leaned in, holding her right hand by her mouth like she was about to share a juicy secret. "I recommend today's special; it's a delicious quiche. The smell has had me drooling all day."

"That sounds great!" Lelyanna chirped brightly, clasping her hands eagerly in front of her chest. "I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning, so let's go and fill our stomachs before we decide on taking a job now or waiting for your replacement weapons." She turned to Natsu with a bright smile and grabbed him by the arm, enthusiastically dragging the larger, much heavier man along behind her to the café. "Thanks for the help, Isolde!"

This chapter's rewrite came out to a whopping 200 words more than the original! Wow! Honestly, it felt like I was cutting more out than adding stuff in. I had wanted to add something involving a passing interaction with Lucy and actually had it partially written out but I wasn't liking it, it wasn't fitting which makes sense since she isn't meant to show up until later where she starts having a greater positive effect on Natsu than Lelyanna and later a certain fiery woman can. I'll put what his guitar is here since I'm removing the note in the following chapter. Natsu's guitar is heavily based on the Ibanez TOD10N. It's an acoustic electric guitar with a side sound port and an electric internal pickup along with a preamp and tuner combo and a 6.35mm (1/4-in) audio jack in the side so you can plug it into an amp or just play straight acoustic with the full sound of a standard acoustic guitar with nylon strings.

A little bit of information on cars:

While not fully prevalent just yet, cars are present in the world with the majority of them being low budget vehicles for moving cargo or people resembling an early Ford Model T, an American Underslung, and a Mitsubishi Model A. Coming in an open-air full-cab or single-cab-with-flatbed variants.

Moving to the more middle ground range, you'll find closed-air cabin vehicles that are similar to the Ford Model A, the Austin Seven, and the Lancia Lambda. Coming in a heavier duty truck variant, or a fully enclosed sedan, or even a convertible. These are seen more in the hands of business owners who are using it for goods transport, or as a Taxi cab for inner-city transit. These are Early Vintage Era cars

For those with more disposable income, there are higher-end cars (moving away from my Ford example now) which are based on the Early Classical Era cars and represent the peak of the motorcar industry; for those who can afford what lies at the top. The cars here are like the Mercedes-Benz 380, the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A, the Alvis Speed 20, and the MG T series to name a few. This is where you'd find Natsu's LMC Leopard SC, sourced by Ceres and her divine meddling, which is based on the Bugatti Type 57 Gangloff Drop Head Coupé, with some design changes such as the glass engine bay which showed the Rotary Magic Pulse Engine.

These cars have a standardised layout as per regulations set by the kingdom. They are all right-hand drive with cars driving on the left side of the road. This is just because it is what I'm used to, being Australian, and it just allows me to get my mind around things.

I hope you have enjoyed the updated chapter. I'll hopefully see you in the following chapters.