"Come on, you bastard." Natsu grumbled as he fiddled with the manor's Android Hub trying to navigate the complex analogue machine without damaging it. He grabbed tool after tool and snaked his arms up through the machine time after time before finally affixing a completely custom transceiver module made with parts from his world as well as upgrading the core systems to handle the complex AI that Henrietta was slated to receive.

"Are you having trouble, Master?"

"It's giving me a little bit of crap but I'm almost done." Natsu grunted as he glanced down along the floor to the clockwork automaton sitting on her knees beside his legs. "I just need to add in an interface so I can pull out a copy of your current mind to act as a seed for your new mind."

"Could I make a request regarding that? I would like the new mind to be uploaded to the Hub so all of my units can benefit from it even if they can't fully utilise it like my new unit can."

"Let me thing about the best way for me to do that…" Natsu replied as he grabbed the last module and installed it into the Hub. He took a drive from his pocket and plugged it into the interface and copied the rudimentary intelligence within. As the man slid out from the Hub, he turned his attention to his android maid and sat up in front of her. "Alright. I'm done here for now. Now to write up a new mind for you… I gave your request a little bit of thought; to do that properly, I'm going to have to partition the mind of these guards from the mind of the servants. This means that the guards will remain as they are but the maids will see a substantial upgrade."

"That is acceptable."

Natsu gave the nearby guard a nod and he left the room to the sound of the Hub returning to its protective casket. He headed down the basement hallway, passing an open door that had a few servants inside that were placing boxes of ammunition onto shelving. "Any objections about the body?"

"No objections. I did have an observation; the proportions aren't similar to these units."

"That can't be helped. Aside from prototypes, I could only find that one and it's the only one that I feel most comfortable to use since it had been cleared for production. The facility did have the capability to create more and it seemed to be just about to start full production I wanted to get this body first to see how you handle it and whether you'd want more or just that one once you're used to it." The man entered one of the basement rooms toward the end of the hall and sat down at a desk near the pod he had recovered nearly a week ago. He had begun the renovations on the manor and so far, he had completed the generator building nestled against the back of the manor – with the modified machines and a battery bank inside – and the wiring for the basement, though he had to use Macro to snake the new power cabling through the conduits and remove the previous extremely basic infrastructure. He had most of the servants currently tasked with replacing the lines around the exterior of the estate before he moved onto the ground floor of his manor.

"I do have to admit." Henrietta chirped softly as she circled around to the other side of the bed and leaned down over the human-looking android. "It does look completely human. This would allow me to blend in perfectly on errands outside the estate."

Natsu glanced at the bare body, quickly inspecting its vitals with his sight and hearing before checking for superficial damage. Thankfully, the only thing that was damaged was a couple strands of its long ashen-white hair that had come astray and had blown across the stomach of the android. "It is an infiltrator, after all. It'd be pretty bad marketing for the company if their android that was meant to slip in behind enemy lines was found out because it didn't seem like a normal human."

The mechanical android looked up from the pod and walked around it as the pinkette started up his terminal. "Would you like anything, Master?"

"Just a coffee will do, thanks. Make it a big one, I'm going to need it." Natsu glanced back as he placed the drive into a slot in the terminal. Henrietta bowed and left the room since this android unit was the only one who was free to serve him at the moment.

The man turned back to his holographic display and cracked his knuckles. He quickly brought up the scan he took and read through the details, using the crystal within him to decipher the data. When he had finally wrapped his head around it, a gentle chink of porcelain beside him announced the return of the servant as she placed his drink down. He murmured a quick thanks and took a sip of the dark, steaming liquid and letting out a gentle sigh before hardening his focus.

The incessant clicking around him slowed to an intermittent tick as he activated Reflex, utilising it in a way he had never even considered prior to coming to this world; he was using it to read line after line of code as his fingers flashed across the holographic keyboard. Programming a complex artificial intelligence was tougher than he expected, so he resorted to falling into a trance and letting himself run on autopilot while drawing the relevant information from the knowledge crystal within him.

Natsu continued to work tirelessly as the hands on the clock in his peripheral vision slowly moved around the dial. Once the last line had been written and the intelligence simulated, he let out a weary sigh and slumped back in his chair, his hands dangling by his side, it had taken all of his mental energy but thanks to having the scales completely upended in his favour, he had managed to crank out a fleshed out artificial intelligence that would be able to make full use of everything the android beside him had to offer and had checked over the complex code for any errors. "Fuck me… My head feels like it's about to split six ways."

"Master?"

"She's all set." Natsu spun on his chair and faced the android who had been patiently waiting behind him. "I did my best to make it as close as possible, but replicating your artificial intelligence was a challenge when considering I had to adapt it to work with a much more advanced level of technology. I took some liberties but I've also built in the capacity to learn and adapt just like a human would, while also making sure all the things we do automatically or learned to do growing up were already coded into your new mind, along with the basic functions just in case they weren't built into the hardware."

Henrietta glanced at the human-looking android then back to the worn-out man, her passive face slowly pulling back into a tiny smile. "I'm ready. I'd like for you to begin the upload, and modify my core."

Natsu groaned as he pushed himself up off the chair and grabbed a specialised drive and a jury-rigged terminal from the desk. "Let's sort out the core first, so there won't be any strange hiccups when that body connects to the network." He led the way back down the hallway, past the now fully sorted arsenal, and into the room containing the casket. "Open it up, got some more work to do."

The brass guard silently nodded its head and reached for the hidden lever, opening up the casket for maintenance which split the case down the centre after the lid was opened. Natsu placed his equipment down beside the exposed core and slid up underneath it. A tap on his terminal brought up its holographic display which he dragged up under the magical contraption then he linked the terminal with the core through the new transceiver he fitted to it. "I'm going to have to shut you all down completely, have everything take a seat on the ground. And I mean everything; maids and guards."

"Yes, Master." The servant android replied as she took a seat on her knees at the man's feet, followed by the three hefty thuds of the guards taking a knee. "All units are in position and ready."

"Alright. Lights out." Natsu murmured as he began his work. He quickly identified what processers were for what android type and what controlled the house's features so he segregated them into three categories and build a barrier between them, ensuring that vital processers were duplicated and shared between the three groups and that communication was still viable. Now that the house's systems and the guards were functional, he brought them back online but kept the entity that he had listed as Henrietta – his servant androids – offline so he could make the required changes.

"Sir. You have guests. Identities: Natsumi Dragneel and Erza Scarlet."

"Natsumi has free reign as usual. Allow Erza entry into the premise but inform them I'm currently busy and cannot see to their arrival personally."

"Yes, Sir."

Natsu let a breath out through his nose, calming himself and refocusing on the task at hand. He overwrote the existing Henrietta profile with the one he had created. Progress was slow as he was being cautious. He wanted to be certain that everything would work flawlessly, that and going from one type of hardware to another completely different type was tough but he managed to build a system that he had attached to this terminal to allow for digital data to be migrated to this world's magical hardware and vice versa. Thankfully, it uploaded without a hitch and his holographic display was reading green across the board, so he brought his servants back online. "Henrietta, you there?"

"Yes, Master!" The android chirped happily as she shot to her feet. "Huh. This is strange."

The man glanced out from under the machine, he heard clockwork heart ticking quickly within the android while she rotated her hands in front of her and looked around. "I made some changes to how things work in here, but it should all be pretty simple."

"It is. It took me a second to adjust. But… I feel strange." Henrietta lowered herself onto her knees once more and looked under the core at the pinkette who was tapping at the holographic screen. She blinked softly and tapped the man's leg. "Master?"

"Hm?" Natsu glanced at the woman, noticing that she was watching him with very apparent curiosity on what used to be a fairly passive face. "Ah, you're probably noticing the differences in your mind. Just give me one second to finish up down here; now that I have you all online, I'm making sure you're all talking with each other normally."

"Is there anything I can get you, Master? Food, drink?" Henrietta asked earnestly, her doll-like face smiling brightly.

"Just something light will do, I don't want to be unable to eat dinner." After checking over the processers once more, Natsu gave a tired yet relieved smile and closed down the terminal. He slid out from under the core and collected up his equipment, giving the guard a nod as he left the room once more and headed back down the hall but this time with an android that was humming softly behind him. "Aside from strange, how do you feel?"

"The only way I can describe it is that I feel more alive now than I ever had. Even with Lady Ceres' tinkering."

"I completely rebuilt you from the bottom up. So yeah, you'll feel a greater depth to yourself than what a little tinkering to your original mind could allow."

"Master?" Henrietta glanced at the man as they entered his android lab and she made her way straight to the body on the pod's bed. "I'd like for this body to be your dedicated servant; she'll be far more capable than the originals. And even when the new ones arrive, if we go down that route, this one will remain with you as she is the first of her kind."

"Alright, that's fine with me." Natsu sat back down on his chair and scooted across to the pod with a holographic screen at his fingertips. He began uploading the AI into the biosynthetic android's brain and monitored the progress carefully as the mechanical android hovered over his shoulder. "Hm, seems to be settling in fine. It looks to be functioning correctly, let's see how it responds to manual stimulus." The pinkette moved the hologram aside and leaned in. He placed a hand on the android's shoulder and gave it a slight shake. "Henrietta, can you wake up? Open your eyes for me."

The ashen-haired android twitched slightly then slowly opened her silver-grey eyes, turning her head to look at the man beside her. "This body feels strange, but… I think I can get used to this." She said in a gentle melodic voice which made her head twitch when she heard herself differently than normal and she glanced down at her body. "I believe this may take some getting used to."

"I'll leave her with you." The mechanical android smiled at the biosynthetic body and left the room, drawing a glance from both Natsu and the other android.

"Are you connected to the network?" Natsu asked curiously while bringing the panel back in front of him. Through it, he could see Henrietta sit up slowly and swing her legs over the side of the bed so she could face him.

"Yes. I have a perfect connection to the Hub." The woman nodded lightly and she began to play with her soft fingers and poked her thighs. "The sense of touch on this body is strange."

"Try not to get too explorative with your new body right off the bat, it perfectly replicates a human while adding things normal humans don't have. Which means your erogenous zones are like that of a normal woman's." Natsu pushed the screen closer to the android and brought up the stimulus readout. He gently poked and prodded her body then shined a light into her eyes and tested her reactions by tapping her knees. Thankfully, her responses were all accurate to a human's, which gave credit to her original purpose. "Can you disconnect yourself from the network for a moment?"

"Alright." Henrietta gave the man a quick nod. "Done."

"You're capable of full independence?"

To display her answer, Henrietta slid onto her feet and walked around the room. "Yes. It seems that I can operate freely."

"Alright, connect back to the network." Natsu instructed as he kept his eyes on the display, and to his delight, there was an automatic data transfer that was sent to the core. She had automatically shared her experiences with the rest of the Henrietta network. "Perfect." He sat back and ran both of his hands through his hair while a grin slowly grew on his face. "How do you feel?"

"I feel a strangely tingly. Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, that's just a physical reaction to your emotions. It's nothing to worry about." The man chuckled softly and closed down the terminal. He got to his feet and turned to the woman. "Everything you need to know about that body is already programmed into you, so things should come naturally. Like how to maintain that body's energy levels and how to maintain and repair it. This pod is capable of repairing major damage but your body should naturally take care of general wear and tear." A flash of light grew from his hands and he placed a full outfit down onto the bed. "Here, put these on. I can't have you walking around naked while looking like that good. There are a few sets of these and about a week's worth of undergarments, all made by the same Arachne that made my own clothing. Those are on a shelf in my wardrobe, so put them wherever you like."

"Oh, um, you're probably right." Henrietta glanced at the man a little bashfully and slowly separated each article of clothing. It was a maid outfit similar to the ones the mechanical androids wore except it was made from expensive Arachne silk and stood out like it was made for the head servant. She slipped on the garter belt and set of black lace underwear followed by black sheer stockings and a black Lolita-style dress which had a white strings and lace adornments. It came down to just a little above her knees and hugged her figure as if it was tailored for her. Once she was dressed and put the black boots on, she turned to the man and tilted her head. "Do I look acceptable?"

"Yes, you look like you fit the role of the servant who serves me directly opposed to a general servant."

The android smiled happily and bowed to the man. "Thank you, Master. Where will you take your food?"

"Bring it to my office." Natsu started to leave the lab but came to a stop by the door and looked back at the woman following an appropriate distance behind him. "Oh, and let Natsumi and Erza know where I'll be."

"Yes, Master."

The man yawned softly but he quickly stifled it behind his fist as he moved through the basement and ascended the staircases. The gentle beating and breathing coming from the biosynthetic android behind him was a little strange, especially after being exposed to her original clockwork mechanics for so long but it helped fill in the soundscape with something a little more human. He was greeted by a familiar ticking as he entered the office and was met by a servant placing his food down on the coffee table by the couches. He murmured a quick thanks to the unit as he passed by and sat on the couch. As he was eating, he glanced up at Henrietta's new body and pointed to the spot opposite him, silently asking her to take a seat. "I'll try and get a full allotment of new bodies for you ask quickly as I can. But I've got lots of things on my plate right now."

"It's fine, Master, I don't expect you to head back out so soon just to gather more biosynthetic androids. But please do see to it when you can as I'm quickly finding out how vastly superior this body is to my old ones, especially with my new mind." Henrietta looked around the room and then down to the suede leather couch she was sat on. She ran her fingers along the material and smiled with fascinated delight. "Is this how things feel to you?"

"Yeah. Though my hands are a fair bit rougher than yours due to all the callouses." Natsu raised his left hand to show her. He nodded to her body as she continued to gently stroke the various things around her, exploring the new way she perceived the world around her. "That's also why I made sure to get you the best clothing I can find. Your original bodies were clothed in rather coarse linen but these are made from high-quality silk. So those should be nice and soft to the touch."

"Thank you."

"Hey Natsu!" Natsumi called out as she barged into the office, grinning widely at the man before her eyes drifted across to the ashen-haired woman opposite him. "Is that? Oh, you manage to get her working?"

"Good afternoon, Natsumi." Henrietta rose from the couch and bowed to the salmon-haired woman. She placed a hand over her chest and smiled brightly at the woman. "Master hand-crafted a new mind for me and manage to get this body to network with the hub. All my bodies are running the same intelligence but this one is the only one currently capable of making full use of it." She looked across to the redhead who followed the dragon princess into the room and gave her a bow. "You must be Erza Scarlet. My apologies for not being able to greet at the door but I was receiving my upgrades and had to be powered down."

"You'll have to forgive my lack of enthusiasm, Erza." Natsu sighed as he felt his heartbeat speed up and he handed his empty dish to Henrietta. "Henrietta, please bring up a hot kettle and some tea and coffee."

"Yes, Master."

The man watched the android leave the room before returning his attention back to the redhead and waving his hand for her to sit on the couch opposite him. "As I was saying, I'm a bit burnt out right now as I spent all day upgrading the Hub and trying to get her new artificial intelligence and body working."

"It's fine, probably for the best since you seem more relaxed now than last time that we had crossed paths." Erza carefully regarded the man, her eyes roaming his tired but relaxed posture, skimming along his arms where his sleeves had been neatly folded up to the top of the elbows which revealed the same demonic markings that Natsumi kept hidden. And when he spoke, her eyes had flicked to the extremely sharp fangs within his mouth which looked like they could rip someone's throat out with ease. "Hm. Natsumi told me your story, and while I admit that I found it a bit fanciful in the beginning, my opinion was clearly in the wrong."

"I have no reason to lie to her. As for how I acted back when we first met, I had only just arrived in this world and was still adjusting, I still kind of am adjusting but I feel like I've settled in completely. We were strangers in your eyes, and as much as it pained me, I had to treat you as such. You didn't see what happened to me after we met… I was fairly angry with myself over what had happened to your counterpart."

"Yes, this was something Natsumi told me when she pulled me aside a few days ago. I came here under the pretence of helping her move her stuff to her new place."

"I've only told Erza so far." Natsumi quickly clarified as she took a seat next to the man. "Even though I trust all of them, she's the most mature out of us all and would be able to handle this the best."

"Ever the dependable older sister, aren't you." Natsu mumbled softly. He rubbed his tired eyes and glanced between the two women while forcing his body to relax. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"I do not wish to bring up memories of your past." Erza shook her head lightly and leaned in, placing her elbows on her knees. "I believe that you are who you say you are, everything I've seen here is evidence enough of that. That android who was in here with you is a perfect example of that; I've never seen one that looks completely human, in fact, I wouldn't have even realised she wasn't human if she hadn't greeted me the way she did."

"For her to seamlessly blend in with us is a testament to her capabilities as an android designed for infiltration." Speaking of Henrietta, she returned mere moments later with a silver tray containing a teapot in a cosy with boiling water inside, a few mugs, teabags, a jar of coffee and of sugar, a small jug of milk, and some silver spoons. Natsu noticed how careful the android was being with the hot pot as she made his coffee and he let out a gentle sigh. "Henrietta… Did you accidentally scald yourself?"

"Yes!" She let out a bubbly giggle as she gently nursed her right hand. "It's a little painful, but I'm already repairing it."

"You need to be a bit more careful with your new body." Natsu lightly grasped her wrist and turned her hand over. Thankfully, it was just a very minor red tint so she must have yanked her hand away the second she made contact with the water. He brought out some burn cream from his magical storage and carefully applied it to the android's skin. "That should soothe the injury while the body heals it."

"Thank you, Master." Henrietta gingerly flexed her hand but continued to nurse it as she made a coffee for Natsumi too since she found out she shared the preference with her master. "Miss Scarlet, would you like tea or coffee?"

"Tea please, milk with two sugars. And Erza is fine."

"I've offered to train him in using swords, using what you taught me." Natsumi informed her teammate as she glanced at the tired man. "We shouldn't take up much more of your time… You seem very tired."

"I'll be honest, my mind is only half here right now, which is probably why this meeting is going pretty smoothly. I don't even think this coffee will do much." Natsu murmured to the woman sat next to him and took a sip of his coffee. "I probably would've been a bit more shaken if I had my full faculties, even if I was expecting you this time around."

"I'm sure the team will understand if you choose to take some time off from us to help him." Erza smiled warmly at the slightly younger woman. She cradled her cup of tea between her hands and turned looked around the room. "I noticed that you seem to be having work done?"

"Not sure if Natsumi told you or how much she told you about it, but we recently ducked back over to my world to grab a few things. One of which being a bunch of materials to upgrade this place to be compatible with things from my world. I'm also working on some adaptors to allow appliances from this world to work on the new system."

"Oh! Now that I'm living here, if you need a hand with anything, just let me know." Natsumi gave the man a wide grin. "I'm just packing my clothes away in the wardrobe and sorting out the ensuite. The bed is so soft, I love it!"

"I think I'm going to have a lie down in my room." Natsu handed his coffee to Henrietta who curiously stared down at her own reflection in the drink. "Give it a shot. That body is capable of eating and drinking to create energy from the nutrients if you're not near somewhere that you can wirelessly recharge."

"O-okay." The android took a small curious sip and she let out a delighted hum. She quickly downed the drink and let out a small shuddering gasp as she felt the warm liquid descend down her body. "That may take some getting used to, but it tasted good. I'm going to have to try the other drinks we have."

"I'm sorry that I can't be much of a host right now." Natsu offered the redhead a quick apology as he made his way to the door. "Feel free to explore the estate, but please don't go down into the basement. I've got some pretty sensitive equipment down there. An ammunition store, for example."

"I'll keep to the ground floor and up then."

"Thanks. Feel free to visit Natsumi any time you want, same goes for the others too. I'm probably going to keep my distance for a bit until I'm mentally ready to face you all when I'm actually completely with it, instead of being asleep on my feet."

Natsumi watched the man leave then turned to her friend with a sad smile. "I said it on the way in, but I want to take my time with him. It doesn't take a mind reader to know he's been through a lot. Hell, I've personally seen what's left of his world… It's going to take time for him to heal, and I intend on helping him with it, even if he won't ever be the same as he was before. I don't know if I'd be able to handle what he's suffered through, losing all of you. I know I'm more emotional than he is and if he's like this…"

"Natsumi." Erza gently stopped the woman with a single smoothly spoken word. She leaned across the coffee table and placed a hand on the woman's knee. "I understand. Knowing who he really is has made things pretty clear. We'll need to work out what to tell the others, whether we're straight with them and tell them that he is you but from a different world, similar to how Edolas was, or we let it simmer for a bit."

"I want to tell them." Natsumi mumbled and brought her knees up under her chin, she glanced at the android beside her and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry about the boots on the couch."

"It's fine. I can have it cleaned once this room is empty."

"But yeah…" The pinkette turned her attention back to the knight. "I think we should at least tell Lucy and Wendy since you three existed over there. Grace doesn't matter as much since she was a guy named Gray. But maybe we should tell her too… I don't know. All I know for certain is that bringing Lucy into his life would be the best thing we can do for him. She'd have the biggest positive impact on him"

"Take the time to head out on a job with him. A little break from our team and his company might help you think about it. But if you want, I can tell them about him? You know they'd realise it's something serious if I talked about it."

"Just as long as you don't make him out to be a bad guy… He's like me, but freely uses his demonic abilities, so he could come across as the bad guy… I'll go see if I can borrow a group photo from one of his albums, maybe that'll help." Natsumi slowly rose from the couch and headed for the door. "You might be able to show it to them if they're confused… I'll try and get one with them in their armour, since it's very obvious that it's far beyond anything we have here. Far better than any armour you have."

"I'll take anything that'd help with his case." Erza gave the woman a small smile and followed her out of the room but before she cleared the doorway, she glanced back at the android. "Thanks for the tea, Henrietta."

"Hey Natsu. Did you want to do this investigation?" Lelyanna asked quietly as she glanced up at Natsu while pointing to a job contract on the bulletin board at Magnolia's Jaeger Association. "It doesn't really say what monster is there, but apparently Edelweiss, a large mining town in the mountains, is having trouble with people fainting while at work and it's not limited to the miners…"

"Is there anything you can do to help with that?"

"Yes, but that depends on how many there are and what exactly is affecting them. I don't want to burn myself out and be unable to heal you or Natsumi if either of you become injured." The woman spared a sidelong glance over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes under her veil at the dragon princess who was sat in a chair not far from them. "The best thing would be to find out what we would be dealing with and proceed from there."

"Alright. Let's head over and sort it out." Natsu headed over to the reception desk with Lelyanna hot on his heels. "Good morning, Isolde. I'd like to take that investigation in Edelweiss."

The orange-haired receptionist smiled at the duo and brought up the contracts list on the brass panel on her desk. "Good morning, Mr Báleygr, your Grace." Isolde scrolled down the magically projected list with her brass stylist until she found their requested contract. "Hm, it seems we've had a few people attempt this contract but have failed to turn anything up. They report that they're unable to find the cause with some claiming that those affected must be feigning their symptoms to get out of working…"

"Did anyone put in any kind of medical assessment in their report?" Natsu asked, his eyes narrowing as he leaned down on his elbows atop the desk. "It seems strange that they'd dismiss it if they did check with the local medical centres."

"Yes, but the reports say it's from fatigue and exhaustion. There are also cases of sleep deprivation with some quoting overworked labourers in their reports. It's hard to get a solid answer on what is happening over there, let alone identify whether it's a monster causing it, maliciously or not."

"Put us down for it, please." Lelyanna smiled gently. "We'll see if we can come up with results and deal with whatever's causing it. If it is the companies, then I'll put them on the right path."

"Alright." Isolde quickly assigned their group to the job and placed a sheet of paper on a brass plate off to the right of the desk which flashed brightly and the job notice was copied onto the paper. She handed it over to Natsu and smiled warmly. "Good luck!"

"Thank you." Natsu gave the receptionist a nod farewell and headed for the exit. In the corner of his eye, he could see Natsumi rise from her seat and walk over to them, so he held out the piece of paper before she could even ask for it. "What do you think about this?"

Natsumi skimmed down the job contract and replayed their conversation in her mind. "Hm, not enough evidence to give an informed guess. But fatigue and exhaustion can be linked to the lack of sleep, could be nightmares or insomnia. There are plenty of monsters that can affect sleep, so I can't really narrow it down without hitting the streets, well, I suppose in this case it would be hitting the sheets." She handed the paper back to Natsu and clasped her hands behind her head. "There's one issue we need to deal with first; reaching Edelweiss. Due to the height and dangers of those mountains, pretty much all transport is done with airships as the train tracks tend to keep getting damaged by both environmental factors and monsters."

"How long will it take to get there in one?"

"Overnight if I fly over to the airfield and grab three boarding passes and book a room on the next ship right now."

"They aren't direct flights?"

"No. They have stops along the way to drop off and pick up people. Like a train schedule but without the need for the tracks, which means it can travel to places the trains can't."

"Didn't you tell me they were expensive?" Natsu asked the tanned woman, his head tilting slightly as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I meant for most people. Being a Jaeger pays good, and the more dangerous a job is, the better it pays. Like, for example, let's say a Drake was causing havoc somewhere. As a Drake is a wingless dragon, it's very tough for normal people to handle, therefore they tend to pay extra for a specialist; Dragon Slayers."

"Wait, if you get paid pretty well, why were you renting some place? You probably could buy your own." Lelyanna cut in, gazing up at the taller woman with her eyes narrowed and head tilted curiously.

"Er…" Natsumi looked away and lightly scratched her cheek. "I have a tendency to be a bit destructive. I don't mean to, but my fire dragon magic is fairly powerful and causes collateral damage if I'm not careful, and when I'm in a fight with high stakes, I tend to throw caution away."

"Oh?" Lelyanna lifted her gaze to the man walking between them. "Why are you capable of precise control then?"

"Practice and having to use my fire under different conditions. You saw what my city was like. If I used my magic without maintaining the maximum level of control and precision that I'm capable of, then I could very well bring down one of those towers. And if one of those towers came down, multiple thousands could die in that tower alone, let alone where that tower would fall. That's another reason you don't see me using things like her roar. Another reason is it's like waving a massive fucking flag while shouting 'Here I am, come on and shoot me' and I would end up getting shot with anything from a rifle all the way up to a tank or artillery cannon or probably even a mass driver if I'm considered a large enough threat and there happens to be a massive fuck-off cannon around. And believe me, when given the order; I am that great of a threat." Natsu shook his head lightly but had a slight smile gracing his lips. He turned to the pinkette and jerked his head up. "Go and sort out the airship. We'll meet you back home and get our stuff packed up since the job is looking like it's going to take a few nights to complete. I'll pay you back for the fares."

"Alright." Natsumi's wings surged out of her back and she lifted up into the air, hovering with her hips in line with the man's eyes. "I should have enough on me right now for the trip over, so we'll settle it once I'm home."

Natsu watched the woman shoot up into the skies and disappear past the tall rooftops, and once she was gone, he turned his attention to the priestess beside him who's mood seemed to have lightened a little now it was just the two of them. "Do we need to make a stop by the Cathedral for you to get anything?"

"No, I've got a bunch of clothes still stored away, plus both of my weapons and plenty of unopened boxes of ammunition. I still also have the stuff from that grocery store we stopped by, so I don't need to grab toiletries for a long time."

"Alright, we'll head straight to my manor so Natsumi can pack a bag and we can leave for the ship right after." The man glanced at an incoming tram to check the destination and hurried to it with the hooded woman right behind him. He reached out his hand once he was onboard and helped her onto the moving vehicle. "I hope you've grabbed some warm clothes; it's starting to get colder here and those mountains would be getting frosty."

"Yeah, I've noticed the temperature dropping. But recently, I just stick closer to you when it's a little cold." Lelyanna took a seat on one of the trams' benches closest to the door and patted the thinly cushioned leather next to her. Once the man was sat beside her, she leaned against him to soak up his warmth as the gentle ambience of quiet conversations and the metal tram wheels clacking across the rail segments enveloped them. "Thankfully, there were warm clothes in that shopping centre we came across. And ones that I loved the look of too. I'll get changed at your home, I still haven't been able to switch out whole outfits for another in one go, so it's just easier for me to unpack that box piece by piece and get dressed normally."

"So, you've managed to put that box around you?" Natsu asked curiously as he glanced down at the veiled face looking up at him from his shoulder, noticing something unusual about the woman appearance.

"Yes!" Lelyanna replied with quiet excitement, a warm smile gracing her lightly painted lips. "While you were working on your home, I was doing some more practice with that magic. But like I said, I can't switch from one thing to another just yet. So, I wouldn't be able to switch this dress out for something like a shirt and skirt in an instant. But I can remove and add stuff onto my body as I please though as convenient as it is, I think I still prefer dressing manually."

The pinkette's eyes darted around the tram cabin to check the people around them before turning his attention back to Lelyanna and bringing his left hand up. He gently ran his thumb across her lips and made a small surprised murmured. "You don't normally wear make-up."

"I found a beauty store which had a lot of nice things." The priestess gently lifted her veil a little so the man could see under it. "I've only got the lipstick on, and it's only a few shades different than my natural colour. I want Natsumi to show me what to do with the rest of the stuff I found there."

"If you're happy to wait a little until we meet her, I suggest speaking with Lucy instead of Natsumi." Natsu quietly suggested before offering her a compliment, "It looks good on you. It's subtle but it works well who you are."

"Thank you." Lelyanna smiled softly as a gentle blush graced her cheeks and she let out a pleasantly melodic giggle. "But you should probably stop fingering my lips before you get in trouble. We're in public and I'm in my archbishop garb after all."

Natsu slipped his hand into his pocket and rested the back of his head against the window of the tram. "Hopefully this airship isn't going to give me a headache…"

"Hm? Why might it?"

"Well, I haven't seen them up close, but I can hear them and sense them when they go overhead."

"It'll probably be ok, you're pretty adaptable, after all."

"We'll see. But since it's an overnight route, I can just sleep through it, hopefully." Once they were close to his manor, Natsu helped Lelyanna from the tram and walked up the sidewalk. The priestess walked gracefully beside him while humming a gentle tune and as the neared the manor, she pulled down her hood and shook her hair lightly to let it sit naturally.

"I think the temperature has dropped further…" Lelyanna shivered lightly and hugged her arms. She glanced up at the man and lightly pressed herself up against the left side of his back to leach some of his warmth. When they reached the manor, she led the way up to the third floor and ducked into her room. She glanced back at the open door and waved the man in as she sat down on the end of her bed. "I know I've got a duty to the Cathedral, but since you don't live that far away from it, do you mind if I just live here permanently?"

"I'm surprised you hadn't asked already." Natsu chuckled softly and sat down next to her. "Considering you would be able to freely access my library whenever you wanted to."

"And somewhere I can train with these weapons you've given me, and someone who can train me." The woman smiled lightly and looked away with a small blush. "And of course, sharing compassionate warmth with each other on rough nights…"

"You've been having bad dreams."

"Yeah." Lelyanna murmured softly. "Sometimes I dream about killing that man, other times being one of their victims, or being a victim of those orcs and goblins…"

"Mm. That was a pretty fucked up thing to witness, especially by someone as innocent as you are." Natsu slid an arm across her shoulder and brought her into a comforting embrace. "I can't really say anything that could comfort you with something like that, but I've seen what you can do when you're backed into a corner, you're very strong."

"Only because you've helped me become like this, you taught me how to be strong."

"No, I didn't teach you how to act like you did in that hellhole, that was purely you." He placed his hand against the woman's cheek and lightly turned her head so he was looking into her mystical eyes. "Lelyanna, you are strong, alright? Yes, I did teach you how to do stuff, but you yourself are strong."

Lelyanna opened and closed her mouth a few times before giving him a gentle smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." With a soft sigh, she leaned down and began to take her boots off. "I think I will stay here, especially if you keep that up. There aren't many people outside of my sisterhood that I feel completely comfortable around, but I'm happy that you're become one of them. Even though you do give me butterflies sometimes."

Once she had her boots off, she stood up and started laying out her outfit onto the bed next to the man. She had stuck with her usual white aesthetic or close enough to it with a pair of long white socks that would reach almost to the tops of her thighs, a white and black plaid pleated skirt that ended three-quarters down the thigh, and a tight-knit and form-fitting woollen turtle neck sweater that she planned on wearing over only her bra. She held up a white peacoat and looked between it, her outfit, and the man. "Should I bother hiding the gun, it's not like anyone would be able to pick out who I am when I'm not wearing my usual garb."

"I'd say hold onto it, just in case you need the extra layer."

"You make a good point." The woman put the garment aside then slid her socks off, followed by her capelet. She put them aside for now and slipped off her shoulder harness then put her foot up on the edge of the bed and began unfastening the knife from her thigh.

"Do you want me to leave while you get changed?"

"I don't mind you seeing me naked, Natsu. I mean, you practically have already with those eyes of yours, and not to mention catching me in the shower."

"I didn't see anything on that last one, though." Natsu reminded the woman before a small smirk tugged at his lips. "Disappointingly."

"Hm? Well, maybe I'll let you see more than just the showerhead next time it happens." Lelyanna gave the man a playful smile. She placed her weapons down on the bed and reached behind her back to unzip her dress which quickly pooled around her feet and left her in just a pair of snow-white lace lingerie cladding her hips. She was almost on full display to the man and it caused her pale skin to be tinted with a gentle pink hue. "Ok, maybe this is a little more embarrassing and exciting than I expected…" She made no effort to turn away from the man or cover up her exposed breasts as she took the matching snow-white garter belt from the bed and fastened it around her waist followed by a cute lace bra to keep her breasts in check. She slid the long socks onto her legs then clipped the belt's clasps onto the hem to keep the socks from sliding down her slender legs.

"Hey Lelyanna. I don't know how often you hear this, but you are a very beautiful and sexy woman."

"You say when I'm half naked." The woman giggled lightly and placed her hands on her hips with a small teasing smile. "But thank you for the complement, I don't actually get called either all that often outside of lecherous grubby men. I could probably count the times on a hand." Lelyanna sighed softly and stepped into the skirt and brought it up to her waist where she zipped it up at the right side. "It's usually 'Oh, you're so cute, your Grace' or 'You look adorable today, Archbishop'… So, thanks for calling me sexy. At least someone sees me as a woman."

"I mean, it's not that hard when you're half naked in front of me, as you said. Or when you're in sleepwear in the same bed as me." Natsu laughed lightly and gave her a warm smile, which was slowly returned in kind.

"I… don't mean to ruin your mood." Lelyanna murmured softly while putting on the turtleneck. She sat on the edge of the bed beside the man and looked into his eyes, happy to see that they seemed a little livelier than she's used to seeing from them. "I think seeing and talking to Lucy's ghost in that graveyard was good for you. You seem more at peace with yourself now than when I first met you."

"Yeah." Natsu looked down at his hands and brought them together between his knees. "I needed to talk to her again. It felt like I gained back a little of what I lost. She's given me the push I needed to move on, I think. She told me I should show you and Natsumi the me that she fell in love with, instead of wallowing away in pity and anger like I have been. So, I've been trying to be more like that, more jokey, flirty, to truly speak my mind like I used to, regardless of the consequences. Like calling you beautiful and sexy because that's how I saw you. And same with your lipstick, I likely wouldn't have brought it up even though you used to not wear any form of make-up."

"I don't know about Natsumi, but since she's very forward about those kinds of things, I think we'll both appreciate you complimenting us, and noticing things on our bodies." Lelyanna gently took Natsu's right hand in both of her own smaller hands and gently brought it up to her face, holding his palm lightly against her cheek and smiling softly. "Touch us lightly, those small gentle touches like you did on the tram, like how you run your coarse hand through our hair or across our cheeks. It feels really good, and I know it makes my heart race when you do it. I like this side of you, Natsu, and I'd love to see it more often."

"I mean, I'd be happy if you touched me in more places than just the head or cheek. And I definitely love it rough." Natsumi playfully butted into the conversation from the doorway. She burst out laughing when Lelyanna's head snapped to her with her pale-turquoise eyes as wide as dinnerplates. "But she's right, Natsu. Complement us, caress us, embrace us. I'm sure the more you do it, the better you'll start to feel. It's definitely better than distancing yourself and wallowing, as you put it. Let us help you heal, and yes, I know I technically just met you, but you already feel extremely familiar to me. And I guess that'd be due to being my counterpart. I'm literally taking to myself but it's an incredibly hot guy who needs a little love to bring him back from the abyss. And I'm itching to give you some loving, if you know what I mean."

"How long have you been here?" Lelyanna quickly asked with a timid edge to her voice as she released Natsu's hand but as it fell away from her cheek, his fingers traced the line of her jaw and followed her throat down her neck, causing her to shiver lightly at the touch of his rough fingertips.

"Well, while I didn't see it, I know you got changed in front of him." Natsumi grinned and sauntered over to the priestess with a travel bag slung over her shoulder, but the grin faltered slightly and her voice took on a slightly more caring tone. "And I heard the entire conversation from the point when you were talking about having nightmares. If you need someone to talk to about it, from a female perspective, then I'm here for you."

"Thank you." Lelyanna blushed softly and turned her head towards Natsu slightly. "I usually choose to share a bed with Natsu at that point. It's nothing sexual! But I just find that having him hold me tends to let me relax so I sleep better and have pleasant dreams."

"Wet dreams too, I bet." Natsumi's playful tone instantly came back at the mention of sleeping with her counterpart. "But I get it, Natsu's big and strong so he would definitely be a safe space. Anyway, that's enough teasing, at least for now. I've booked the flight, and I'm already packed and ready to head over to the airship docks right now."

"Alright, might as well finish up here." Natsu gentle patted the priestess' thigh and rose to his feet. He glanced at the bluish-silver-haired woman then turned to the pinkette. "What do you think about her clothes?"

"Hm." Natsumi watched the woman fasten her knife to her right thigh underneath her skirt the put on her knee-high white boots again. "Unless you knew her, you wouldn't realise she's the archbishop. Which is good, but she also looks really pretty. Oh, and Lelyanna, unless you plan on making a slit in that skirt, having the knife there probably isn't great if you're after quick access."

"But I don't really have anywhere else I can put it…" Lelyanna stood up next to the man and brushed her skirt down. She glanced down at her right thigh then up to the former soldier, giving him a small pleading look.

"Bring out that belt you usually have resting at the top of your hips and turn away from me." When she showed him her back, Natsu slipped his hand up her right legs and grabbed the knife, quickly drawing it out from under the garment while a second sheath appeared in his left hand. "You can Requip that one on your thigh. I'll mount this one to the back of your belt."

Natsumi watched the woman carefully as Natsu was working on her, but she noticed that even when his hand was up under her skirt, there was no discomfort to be seen nor sensed from the woman. "You trust him a lot, don't you?"

"Of course, I do." The priestess replied simply, sparing the woman a quick glance while she was grabbing her shoulder harness off the bed and slipping her arms through the loops. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Some men would jump at the chance to do more than just, well, that in situations like this…"

"Did you expect him to finger me?" Lelyanna asked with small frown. "Natsu isn't like that, he wouldn't do that unless I asked him to. You should know that since I'm willing to bet that he has similar values to you. Would you shove your hands down a man's pants and grab his penis just because you could?" The woman's frown deepened as she narrowed her eyes at the dragon princess. But after a few seconds, she shook her head and began adjusting her harness to suit the thicker material. "If he was, I wouldn't be as comfortable with him as I am, and I wouldn't have let him hold me while I'm at my most venerable, or get changed with him nearby. In fact, I know there would be cases where I want him to stay in the same room as me while I get changed, so this helped me gauge how comfortable I am with it." Lelyanna glanced behind her at the man's hands as he fastened the sheath horizontally on the belt and once it was in place, she put her peacoat on and reached under it for the knife. "Could you tilt it down a little? I don't like how my arm is bent so much."

"Natsumi, I know a bunch of the guys in your guild are pervs, especially the older ones. Which probably doesn't sit well with you young women. But Lelyanna is right, I may be a man, and while I do have a considerably strong sex drive due to my dragon instincts that I haven't been acting on since my world ended, it doesn't mean I'm about to pounce on either of you and forcefully have my way with you." Natsu let out a weary sigh and took a knee behind the priestess, lifting the back of her coat so he can get at the knife. "Yes, I think both of you are attractive. Yes, I do have lustful thoughts about Lelyanna and recently some for you. But at least understand that I'm an adult, I know how to control myself. I'm not about to pounce on the nearest half naked woman to me and ravage her like a beast."

"Anyway. You're one to talk, Natsumi." Lelyanna gave the woman a narrowed glance and sighed while reaching behind her back to check the position of the knife. "That's better, thank you." She turned with a swish of her coat and smiled down at the man before rounding on the woman once more. "All you seem to do is cling to Natsu every chance you get. I understand feeling the need to comfort him, but I don't think it's necessary that you bury his arm between those sacks of fat you call boobs all the time or climb all over him like some kind of horny monkey when you've barely had enough time to get to know him. I think it shows that you have a severe lack of restraint and just want to force him to accept your advances."

"What?" Natsumi growled softly as she dropped her bag on the floor and stalked forward. "Wanna fucking repeat that?"

"Which part? The sacks of fat or the lack of restraint or was it the horny monkey part?" The priestess shot back as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Am I wrong?" She stood her ground defiantly as the slightly older woman's arms flashed forward to grab her but they both suddenly lost all power in their bodies and fell to the ground to the sound of a menacingly deep growl and a frightening aura washed over them.

"Sit down and shut up, both of you." Natsu towered over the two women who stared up at him in shock for different reasons. Lelyanna knew he hated using the curse in this way and dropped her eyes to the floor in shame. While Natsumi just stared up at the man with wide eyes, startled by the cold menace in his eyes and shivering uncontrollably from his powerful presence. The man crouched down in front of the pinkette and looked her dead in the eyes. "I don't give a single shit if it's a verbal spat, you can rip into each other as much as you want, but if you're about to lay hands on someone magnitudes weaker than you over some petty bullshit like this, then I will step in." He slowly shifted his gaze to the downcast priestess who was refusing to look up from the ground, so he reached out and placed his curled forefinger under her chin, gently lifting her gaze to meet his own which she reluctantly allowed and he softened his voice a little. "And you, please don't escalate this shit unnecessarily. While I do agree with you in that she could do with a little more restraint, I have already brought it up with her. Like me, she's a very physical person with an incredible sex drive and she's got the same instincts as I do. I don't blame her for crawling all over me because I honestly kinda want to do it to her too, and you. She's admitted to feeling comfortable and familiar with me, which could be down to being my counterpart in this world and basically knowing how both of us tick deep down. So, knowing this, I decided to overlook this nature of hers. It's like the conversation we had about our magic; I have better control over my lust because the situation I was in demanded it." Natsu sighed softly and looked between the two women. "I understand that you two have clashing personalities; a gentle and wholesome priestess and a fiery and sultry dragon princess. But just keep your fights to verbal spats and try and put the shit behind both of you after you've calmed down."

Lelyanna leaned forward and buried her face in the man's chest, to hide both her blush and shame. When her voice came back to her, she began to stumble over her words. "I-I'm sorry Natsu. I know you hate using that and you told me you wouldn't use it on me unless you absolutely had to…"

"Enough. I don't want to hear any more on the matter from either of you. Sort it out between the two of you and come find me down by the front door." Natsu gently pushed the woman off his chest and stood up, looking down at her troubled face before turning his gaze to the pinkette who was holding her arms and looking away, seemingly disgusted with herself. He turned and left the room quickly, leaping down off the landing and to the ground floor where he was met with a curious android. "We'll be heading out soon, Henrietta. It might be a few days before we return again."

"I'll keep the manor running smoothly while you're away, Master." Henrietta looked up at the floor he had leapt from with a confused expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Just a pair of girls getting into a catfight. Ceres warned me this might happen…" Natsu sighed and ran his hands through his long spiky hair to brush it back out of his eyes while looking into the android's silver-grey eyes and letting out a huff. "Hopefully this doesn't become a common occurrence, especially since both might end up living under the same roof very soon."

"Well, thankfully they've chosen bedrooms that aren't near each other. Lelyanna likes to stay in the one beside yours and Natsumi chose the furthest one away from yours. I'm sure it was because you both have exceptionally sharp hearing, so it would give you both a bit more privacy."

"How are you handling your new body?" Natsu redirected their conversation as he wanted to distance himself from the argument as quickly as possible. "Have you kept using the dock?"

"I did for the first two nights. But I've since been experimenting with sleeping, as well as consuming food and liquids for energy. It's a little more time consuming, operating like a human would. But it's offering me a valuable insight into how you all function and it should allow me to take better care of you all outside of the standard programming I had."

"Well, when I get back from this job, I'll teach you some of the recipes I know and have you try them for yourself so you know what they should taste like."

"Really, Master?!" Henrietta leaned in excitedly and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, her hands clasped in front of her chest. "I can't wait. Please come back quickly." The sound of footsteps hurrying down the stairs drew their attention to the pair of women rushing to reach the man. "Good luck, Master. Please return safely."

And another one is done and dusted. Not much needed changing in this one. I expanded it a little and fixed up wording and a few minor errors that I picked up along the way. The changes came to an increase of about 600 words.

This chapter delves a little deeper into Natsumi and Lelyanna's conflicting personalities and their personal grievances with each other. While they do get along well enough, it's not buddy-buddy. They both do stuff that rubs the other the wrong way but they also look after each other.

Time for another job, this one will take place in Edelweiss, a small snowy city up in the mountains that grew from a mining town. I had a few ideas on what the monster would be. I know someone probably thinks that it will be a Yeti but no, unfortunately it is not a Yeti. Maybe in the future though.

I hope you have enjoyed this rewritten chapter. I'll see you all in the next one.