Fairy Tail: Morning…
Law arrived through the entrance of the guild with Cana, cracking his neck a bit. "I'm starting to think I may be taking a few too many requests if this morning's activities are any indication."
"What do you expect when the day you return from one S-class request, master sends you on another?" Cana spoke with no frustration or anger, more akin to it being matter of fact. "While a lazy morning or afternoon is fine normally, you are leaving for another request today."
Law could have told her, as well as he was certain she knew, it would just be a request from the regular board. Ultimately, there was no point arguing considering just what morning activity they'd gotten up to.
Law kissed her cheek. "I'll try to hurry back from this latest request."
Cana stopped Law from pulling away and brought him in for a kiss on the lips before walking away. "As usual, I'll go about taking my own job and meet you back here."
Law sighed contently before approaching the table where Erza, Natsu, and Happy were finishing breakfast. Naturally, the former two were eating a normal breakfast, just far larger in the Dragon Slayer's case, while the latter was eating a fish.
"Morning you three." Law greeted.
Happy and Natsu waved before getting back to finishing up their respective meals.
Erza finished her drink before smiling. "Good morning to you, brother."
"Have you seen Haruki or Lucy yet?" Law questioned.
"According to Mira, Haruki had been here earlier looking at the request board and found interest in a job Team Shadow Gear had their eye on." Erza explained. "They ended up heading off together, it would seem. As for Lucy, no one has seen her, so she's likely still at her apartment."
"Well, looks like we will just have to take Lucy on her first job." Law shrugged. "You three finish up while I see what's available." He started walking to the request board. "Then, we'll head out to her apartment."
Lucy's House: Later…
"My bedroom!" Lucy's voice rang out from within. "Get the heck out of here, you jerks!" Law sighed, knowing he could wager a good guess as to what happened, as he knocked on the door. "One minute!"
Lucy, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, opened the door.
"Not long after I took my eyes off my team, they ended up leaving without me." Law voiced. "Judging by your shouting, it stands to reason I was right in coming here to look for them."
"You might as well come in and have some tea." Lucy sighed. "Once you're done, you all got to go."
"Sure." Law voiced.
He entered before casting his gaze to the pair sitting at the table. At the very least, Erza had kept Natsu and Happy from making a mess, but that was a small consolation. He then gave his sister a look of utter disappointment, which already had her squirming slightly.
"Erza, we've talked about this." Law sighed and shook his head. "You can't enter homes, without permission, unless they are a criminal or help is needed. While I thought you'd learned, it looks like I need to put my foot down."
Those words devastated Erza while Natsu and Happy paled.
"N-No, I'm sorry!" Erza exclaimed.
"Yeah, it was my idea." Natsu voiced quickly.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
Lucy was just stunned given this was a side of their team she hadn't seen.
"We went well beyond these words being a warning years ago." Law took a seat at the table. "There will be no strawberry cake for a full month."
Lucy was rendered speechless, which only grew as Natsu and Happy shivered while Erza deflated. The red head's reaction was the most bizarre given how composed she was normally. Natsu and Happy's reactions were a close second since they weren't even being punished.
"Little does she know, Erza going without strawberry cake is their punishment." Law thought, noting the blond's reaction. "Despite Natsu being her boyfriend, that's a whole other story from being her brother in this situation. It's even worse when they live together.
A Little Later…
With everything as sorted as it would get, essentially the three who arrived before Law recovering, everyone was sitting at Lucy's table with a cup of tea before them.
"Look, I just moved in and am not ready for guests." Lucy voiced annoyed. "How about you guys just drink your tea, say thanks, and get out? You got that?"
"Talk about…" Natsu stopped, his eyes flickering slowly to his right and saw Erza shooting him a pleading death glare. "I mean, you totally have a point." Happy turned to look their way, only to pale once again. "We did arrive unannounced."
"Aye!" Happy agreed. "We shouldn't be imposing."
Law took a sip of his tea before deciding to try and salvage the situation. "Hey Lucy, mind showing us your Gate Keys?" Said blond looked his way. "Just how many Celestial Spirits are you contracted to?"
Lucy lifted her ring of keys, three of them were silver while the other three were gold. "Six so far. Not to brag or anything, but I even have a couple different types." She laid her keys on the table. "The Silver Keys are the ones you find in the Magic Shops.
I've got Horologium the Clock, Crux the Southern Cross, and Lyra the Harp. Though, the gold ones are super rare. There are twelve total, and they open the gates of the Zodiac. I got Taurus the Golden Bull, Aquarius the Water Bearer, and that last one is Cancer the Giant Crab."
"Giant Crab!?" Natsu examined,
"Giant Crab legs!" Happy cheered.
"I've never met anyone as obsessed with food as these two." Lucy's gaze then fell on Erza, who shot her a look in return that said it would be unwise to speak what was on her mind. "At least, so long as it doesn't come to strawberry cake." She chuckled nervously. "Anyways…"
She quickly wanted to change the subject. "I'm reminded I need to make a contract with the key Haruki got me in Hargeon." She stood, "I don't suppose you guys would be interested in seeing how a Celestial Wizard makes a contract with a Celestial Spirit?"
"I'll admit, the thought has crossed my mind." Law voiced before taking another sip of his tea.
"Alright, pay attention." Everyone focused on Lucy. "I call upon thee in the world of the Celestial Spirits. I beckon you to my side at once, pass through the gate. Open, Gate of Canis Minor! Come, Nicola!"
A light formed into a small snowman, with a large orange nose and beady black eyes, which shook slightly as it stood. Natsu and Happy looked on incredulously while Erza and Law were at least interested, to an extent.
"Nice try." Happy stated.
"Shut up! I meant to do that!" Lucy lept at the small snowman, cuddling it to her cheek. "You are such a cutie patootie!" She then looked at them. "It doesn't take much magic power to get these little guys through the gate, so a lot of Wizards actually keep them as pets."
"Whatever works for her, but I don't think I could deal with these Celestial Spirits myself." Law thought. "Some of them do seem relatively powerful, but their personalities have been quite strange. Plus, I much prefer the look of my monsters to her spirits."
Lucy put the little Nicola down and stepped back before kneeling on her legs. "Well, let's start working on our contract." She pulled out a pen and paper. "Are you free Mondays?" Nicola shook its head, and she wrote down its answer. "Tuesdays?" Nicola nodded. "Wednesdays?"
"Strange, I figured making a contract would require more." Erza whispered, the others nodding in agreement.
"Great, that just about does it." Lucy declared, putting her pen and paper away.
"That was pretty easy." Happy commented.
"It may seem silly to you, but it's really important." Lucy replied. "You see, a Celestial Wizard's contract relies on the promise made between the Wizard and the Spirit, which is why I make it a point to always keep my promises. Got it?"
"Despite not feeling this magic is for me, it doesn't really matter in that regard, and this magic is a rare one when said Wizard has some Golden Gate Keys." Law recognized. "While Lucy does have her own eccentricities, that's no different from anyone else in Fairy Tail."
"Ok, now I just need to come up with a name." Lucy continued.
"Isn't it Nicola?" Erza asked.
"That's the species." Lucy replied, her gaze then turning back to the spirit. "Oh! I know!" She held out her arms. "Come here Plue!"
"Plue huh?" Happy questioned.
"I think it's like the cutest name ever!" Lucy declared, now holding the spirit.
"Are you sure he's cool with that?" Natsu asked.
"Why wouldn't he be?" Lucy replied.
"Well, with that settled, I do believe we should move onto the topic of your first request." Law stated, figuring things had chilled to the point he could bring it up. "It just so happens I have what sounds like a decent, job given what I've seen of your skills."
He pulled out the request, handing it to Lucy.
"Let's see here." She looked it over. "No way, the contact is Ancient Realms."
"The main producer of duel monster cards on Fiore, helmed by Sandra Woodrow." Law crossed his arms. "Back before we called ourselves Team Advent and even before Natsu joined Fairy Tail, not long after I became S-class, we happened to take a brief job from her."
"Well, no wonder she wants us to meet her in Aster." Lucy noted, knowing that's where Ancient Realms was based. "Says here we'll receive 300,000 jewels just for securing the ruins they found up their own mountain."
"Reportedly, any time they've gone up there, every person has felt eyes watching their every move; however, they've never seen anyone." Law informed. "I imagine our tasks will be to secure the area around the ruins and possibly extend it to a protection detail."
"This sounds good…" Lucy stopped as she looked up. "Wait a minute, are we all going on this request?"
"Haruki went to the guild early and ended up on a job with Team Shadow Gear." Law answered. "As such, you'll now have me in addition to those three. To compensate, I'll wave my share of this reward, so it's still only split two ways."
"Still unfair!" Happy declared.
"Happy, just take one of the request Mira gives you when we return solo." Law smiled as he stood. "We all take solo requests when we want our own jewels." He started walking to the door. "Anyways, I'll see you all at the train station."
Train Station
Law was sitting on one of the benches when Lucy was, as he guessed, the first one to show up. "Hey there, hope I haven't kept you waiting."
"Nah, you arrived just before those other three." Law voiced, nodding behind her.
On queue, the other three members of Team Advent had arrived.
Lucy had turned and was stunned to see the large wooden cart containing many suitcases, which Happy rode atop. "All those belong to you two!?"
Happy lept off as people moved Erza's luggage aboard the train.
"Nah, these are all Erza's." Natsu replied nonchalantly.
"With all of us here and the train set to depart, let's not doddle." Law declared.
Train
Law took the seat next to Lucy, with Happy between them, while Natsu and Erza sat across from them.
"Just relax Natsu." Erza voiced soothingly.
"Aye…" Natsu voiced queasily.
Erza then applied a hit just strong enough to knock the Dragon Slayer out, his body falling into her lap to the shock of Lucy. The red head then ran her hand through his hair with a loving smile.
"Natsu tends to have terrible motion sickness, so he worked it out with Erza to knock him out at the start of practically any ride." Law remarked casually. "Though, that is waved if it is important he stay awake."
"It makes the trip easier on him." Erza added.
Not to mention it allowed her to run her hands through his hair, which was rather soft and a great way to pass the time in her opinion. As the train chugged along, the rest simply conversed about random topics that caught their interest.
Aster
The town at the base of a mountain, Aster. A town which lives in harmony with nature as well as home to Ancient Realms. Roughly ninety percent of all duel monster cards used on Fiore come from here. People were going about their day, happily conversing as the sun shined.
"Ugh, I hate taking the train." Natsu groaned.
"You say that every time." Happy noted.
"While I do not like to see you sick, we simply cannot go without transportation." Erza remarked.
"I'm also starving." Natsu voiced.
"That is something which can be fixed." Law stated, stopping and pointing to a nearby restaurant. "Anyone who wants to eat, head in there. I'll take whoever isn't hungry with me to meet with Sandra. We'll get the details and meet you back here."
Natsu smiled. "Don't need to tell me twice."
"Aye!" Happy agreed, riding atop Natsu's bag as he walked into the restaurant.
"I believe I shall join him." Erza stated, walking in herself.
"You're not hungry?" Law asked the blond that remained.
"Not really." Lucy responded. "Besides, I'd be more interested in seeing how a meeting with a contact happens."
"Alright, let's go." Law stated.
Ancient Realms
Despite being the biggest producer of duel monster cards, Ancient Realms fit with the aesthetic of Aster. From what Law had heard, that was due to the main operation having been built somewhat into the mountain. He'd assume that would be away from the discovered ruins.
If true, obviously any other would mean they'd have found their ruins prior. Regardless, the fact remained that Ancient Realms was made from wood and more natural looking stone than you'd likely expect. The lobby which Law and Lucy found themselves in was no different.
It was here where Sandra met them, giving the S-class a smile. "When I put the requests out among the guilds, I didn't expect you'd be the one to accept."
"Well, it did happen to be a fine mission for one of Fairy Tail's newest recruits." Law returned. "Rest assured, I'm not the only member of Team Advent here. Just the only one, of the two I have, who wasn't hungry. Anyways, got any specifics about the job not included in the request?"
"Nothing was excluded from the request." Sandra remarked. "Just as we discovered these ruins atop the mountain, my men felt eyes on them immediately. I could not risk putting them at risks, so I got them off the mountain before putting in the request."
"Given the size of your operation, there must have been a lot of people up there." Lucy remarked. "Not a one was able to see anyone or anything?"
"No, just the sense they were being watched." Sandra affirmed.
"Sounds like it could be a form of magic." Law remarked. "Could very well have been done for the purpose of having the ruins to themselves if I were to wager a reasoning."
"Well, you have my permission to enter the ruins if the sensation of being watched isn't immediate and nothing about the area seems amiss." Sandra voiced. "I would appreciate it if your team found any explanation and ensured safety for my people."
"Alright, we'll see what we can do." Law assured. "Come along Lucy."
Restaurant
Happy was scarfing down sushi, Natsu was chowing down on meat, and Erza was properly eating dumplings. As the door opened and a patron stepped out, a white cloaked figure walked by. The Dragon Slayer suddenly sat up and sniffed the air, something the other two took note of.
"What's wrong Natsu?" Happy asked.
Natsu suddenly got up and bolted for the exit.
"Natsu!" Erza exclaimed.
Happy immediately flew after him while Erza was quick to throw down a good number of jewels, more than enough to pay for the food, before rushing after them herself.
Aster
Erza and Happy found the Dragon Slayer looking left and right. Before either could speak, Law and Lucy joined them.
"What's up with Natsu?" Lucy questioned.
"I smelt something." Natsu stated.
"What is it that you smelt?" Erza asked.
"Faux dragon, like Law's Red-Eyes except far more potent to the point I almost mistook it for the genuine article." Natsu replied. "Also, the slight smell of Law."
"Me?" Law questioned.
"Maybe it was just him." Happy voiced.
"I'd have smelt him with Lucy, not this faux dragon." Natsu turned in the direction of the mountain. "Whoever or whatever this is, the smell is heading up the mountain."
"Faux dragon is usually associated with the summon of a dragon duel monster." Erza noted. "To have smelt it, we'd likely have seen it."
"Unless the person is so linked to their dragon…No, I need to stop this line of thinking" Law shook his head. "Regardless of what or who this is, the fact remains the smell is traversing up the very mountain Sandra wants us to secure. Natsu, guide us to that smell."
"Right!" Natsu declared, moving quickly and prompting the rest to follow.
Aster Mountain: Evening…
Aster Mountain, while you can get to the peak easily, it made up for its lack of height with sheer beauty. Grassy landscapes and trees which blew in the wind. The sounds of nature all around you. One could see it as serene, without the problems recently associated with it.
"Ugh, we've been walking up this mountain for hours…" Lucy groaned, her legs hurting.
"Sounds like someone needs to work on training their body." Law voiced, as they continued to follow the Dragon Slayer.
"Indeed." Erza agreed. "Besides, there are far worse mountains in the world to climb."
"Hey, about that smell." Natsu called back. "It's entered something that smells overwhelmingly old to the point I can't pick it up beyond that."
Law and Erza walked until they stood with Natsu while Lucy hung back. Eventually, the group crested to the peak, which was a plateau that could essentially function as an outstanding micro forest. It was dotted with so many trees where someone could watch you without being found.
In the dead center of the plateau, where no trees covered, there was an unveiled, ancient staircase leading into the mountain. Despite the fact no one should have entered the ruins, there was visible torch light within.
"Whoever or whatever we're after went down there." Natsu informed, pointing to the stairs before sniffing the air. "I'm also now smelling a bunch of different reptiles that are burning…It comes from ahead before joining up with the faux dragon and heading down the stairs."
"Our goal is to secure the plateau." Law declared. "In line with that, Natsu will head clockwise while I head counter clockwise, and we'll meet at a point before seeing what can be done from there."
"Sounds good to me." Natsu agreed.
"Erza, stay here with Lucy and Happy to guard this entrance until we return." Law voiced.
Erza nodded. "Understood."
Law and Natsu took off in their respective directions, leaving the other three.
Lucy looked around. "You know, I don't feel any eyes on me."
"I concur." Erza nodded. "Given by what you and brother heard from Sandra, we'd most certainly have felt eyes on us the second we reached here. It is likely whoever was behind that has entered the ruin. Something I'm certain Law figured out already."
"Then, shouldn't we have entered?" Lucy asked.
"It's usually best to be sure." Happy retorted.
With Law & Natsu
The pair traversed along their set paths, Law keeping a sharp eye out while Natsu sniffed the air as he went. Ultimately, neither found a thing before they met at a cliff which led to the ground below. Given it was rocky face on this side, someone or thing would have to climb up it.
Law crouched down to survey it. "Whatever came from this direction would have had to do some rock climbing to get up here." He looked at the dragon slayer. "What does your nose tell you Natsu?"
"It tells me that whatever is behind this burning reptile smell, far as it'll go, made a straight line to reach this rockface." Natsu informed. "Their smell continues up it before then, as I said back at that ruin entrance, joining up with the faux dragon smell to enter it."
"From there, the place smells so old to the point you can't discern either of their smells." Law noted. "Did you find anything on your way here?"
"Maybe some signs of people having been off in the brush, but if that is the case, there's no lingering smell." Natsu stated.
"Minus the smell factor you got, I noticed much the same." Law stood. "At this point, we either attempt to track that burning reptile smell back to its source, through the forest down there, or enter into the ruins after the two smells." Given the parameters of the request, one option was superior to the other. "Let's regroup with the others and get into the ruins."
"Right." Natsu agreed.
Alright, first new chapter for this story.