Chapter Thirty Two
The sounds, colours, and sheer volume of people that occupied the sky train station were beyond anything Lucy had seen before. Even Crocus and the Rose Garden way station seemed empty compared to the bustling crowds scurrying to catch trains, change platforms, and exit the station; every person in a hurry to be at their next destination. Clusters of tourists were scattered around, stationary islands in the torrent of native Calypsans. The walls of the station were busy too, with colourful murals of the city's culture screaming for attention, and there a busy newsagents, and a bit further a customer service kiosk, and later another little window, and on it went until the wall met a corner at a walkway.
"This way," said Erdan, briskly, waving a hand at them to follow. Erdan always seemed to be leading them somewhere, whether it was to Fairy Nail or now his family inn. Lucy smiled at what he must think of them, this group of wizards from another continent who seemed perpetually lost.
Natsu and Gray slammed into each other as they hurried into an elevator, the two of them beginning to bicker. The elevator ascended smoothly, up, up, several storeys higher than the tallest buildings in Crocus. This was only the third elevator Lucy had ever been in. The ones in the Domus Flau seemed hopelessly outdated in comparison, with their lurching movements and a tendency to stop inches above the floor outside.
"Stop sticking to me, you Y-fronts Shogun."
"You're the one sticking to me, you Black and White Lord."
Good grief, would they ever come up with new insults? The noise and bustle and the crawling feeling of one too many people breathing her airspace were getting to her. It had been a long day and Lucy craved nothing more than a hot bath.
The argument continued to stab her sensitive ears as the elevator slid to a halt at their desired floor. Lucy walked forward on autopilot, towed along by the stream of commuters, when suddenly the squabbling stopped. She looked up, perturbed, and her breath caught.
Lake Calypso spread into the distance below them, crystal clear and achingly beautiful. Erdan ushered them gently forward to a viewing platform at the side of the tunnel, expectant and ready for this reaction. Lucy was dimly aware of the commuters around them shaking their heads and smiling as they walked on; not annoyed by the tourists suddenly blocking their way, but instead proud of the hallmark of their homeland that rendered strangers speechless on a daily basis.
When asked later, Lucy would be hard pressed to describe it. It was a lake. Full of water like any other lake. Shining that blue tinged metallic silver that most lakes did. But it was also different from any lake she had ever seen. It brought a stillness to her heart that was so rare and pure. She breathed deeply, the humid air cool as it filled her lungs, peace settling into every last inch of her body.
Suddenly she felt that even if her heart was broken in this city and Aquarius was lost to her forever, she would still be glad that she had come.
"Most people who come to Calypso never leave," Erdan murmured beside her. "Even those of us who are born here aren't inured to the power of the lake."
Lucy hummed in response, unwilling to move her tongue and disturb the tranquillity that had washed over her.
Erdan chuckled. "I think this is the quietest I've ever seen your group."
It was true. All her noisy comrades were standing with their noses pressed to the viewing glass, rendered speechless by that same power that had enspelled her. Even Happy had failed to muster a silly comment about the fish in the lake.
Erdan slid his glasses higher up his nose and cleared his throat. "There's still an hour or so until sundown, would you like to go on the special sightseeing train?"
Thirteen shining and limpid eyes turned on him in unison.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Then I was in, how you say, the kennel for the whole night."
Erdan's sister patted her husband on the arm. "Actually, he means the doghouse, and, actually, no you were not! I got over our argument pretty quickly."
Wendy smiled at the bickering couple and reached for another prawn fritter. Erdan had brought them back to his family's hotel in one of the more rundown districts of Calypso. It was a small hotel, boasting no more than ten rooms and the family lived on the topmost floor in a modest apartment suite with a separate external staircase leading up to its entrance.
Erdan's sister had fitted two small tables together to create a longer one in the open plan living-cum-dining area, and the seven Ishgarian wizards sat around it now, sharing a meal with Erdan; his brother, Tymon; his sister, Archesa; and her husband, Zardin, who was from the Southern Continent and, thus, forgot the occasional idiom in the common language spoken by the other continents.
"Thank you for letting us stay here," Lucy said to Archesa. "We didn't expect all the inns to be booked up!"
"Nor did we." Tymon wheeled himself to the kitchen to fetch more wine. "They announced the exhibition only a month ago."
"Actually, the city officials traditionally start publicity and advertising for this kind of event half a year in advance," added Archesa.
"But it looks like it'll be a success even though they started late," said Erdan. "I came home to help Tymon and Zardin because there were simply too many bookings! But I guess the draw of the items on display is too great for people to resist."
A prickle of unease danced across Wendy's scalp. There was something odd about the speed with which the exhibition had been organised.
"How do you navigate the stairs outside, Tymon?" asked Erza abruptly, her voice cutting across the other conversations.
Tymon appeared unfazed by this sudden segue. He flipped a switch on his wheelchair and it levitated gently into the air. "There's a lacrima powering its movements."
Wendy watched Erza, seeing the calculations taking place under her unchanging exterior as she tried to figure out how best to procure one of these chairs and transport it to Ishgar for their Master. The Fairy Tail guild hall was several storeys high and Master had had to rely on Laxus and Elfman carrying him up the stairs ever since he had been injured in the war against Alvarez.
"You do not have these in Ishgar?" asked Zardin curiously.
"Our technology isn't as advanced," replied Charle, helping herself to some more tea.
Wendy murmured her agreement. The sky trains and elevators at the station had been equipped with sickness-cancelling lacrimae to keep passengers comfortable and free from minor communicable illnesses as they used the city's rapid transit system. The chuntering steam trains of Fiore were a world away.
"Actually, it is a natural consequence of our higher abundance of ethernano," said Archesa, who worked as an archaeologist at the city's university.
The conversation swept on to other topics, flowing as easily as the wine. After dinner, the tables were cleared away. Futons were laid out in the living room, packed so tightly that there was no gap between them. Erdan and his family had their own rooms, branching off a tiny corridor past the kitchen. Wendy wrapped an arm around Charle and snuggled into her pillow. She could see Lucy lying some distance away, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling as thoughts of the exhibition kept her awake.
The city lights had been too bright for Lucy to look for the tell-tale pattern of a new celestial key on the ground, but if things went to plan, then tomorrow she would see Aquarius again. They would find the exhibition hall, confirm the presence of the key, and, if it was still uncontracted, find a way for Lucy to obtain it.
The thought of Lucy reuniting with her old friend put a smile on Wendy's face and it stayed there as she drifted off to sleep.
Erdan's family woke at the crack of dawn. Mindful that their hosts were experiencing a busy period at work, the Fairy Tail wizards rose from their bed rolls reluctantly to start the day. They offered to help with the breakfast service, and although Natsu's skill with a frying pan was impressive, his tendency to bicker with Gray every five minutes was not. By the third smashed plate—timed coincidentally with the fourth guest Erza accidentally intimidated—the Fairy Tail wizards had been banished back to the family quarters upstairs. It was still too early for them to venture outside and obtain more information on the grand exhibition, so they decided to make contact with the guild instead. They took turns with the communications lacrima, preferring that to the chaos of trying to crowd into the viewing frame at the same time. Natsu had just finished saying goodbye to Asca-chan when the front door slammed open. A familiar braided-haired figure filled the doorway, with Zardin and Tymon lurking anxiously behind her.
"Zitel!" Lucy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Yeah, how did you find us?" Happy asked.
Erza patted him on the shoulder. "I sent a letter to Zitel's hotel after we found accommodation last night, to decline her kind offer of letting us stay with her."
Gray and Lucy exchanged a look of instant understanding and bowed their heads. "We are so sorry."
Zitel held up a sheet of paper covered in illegible black scrawl. "What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded, her voice a dangerous hiss.
"Look here we don't want any trouble," Zardin added.
"We have no interest at all in harbouring terrorists," said Tymon.
Lucy snatched the note from Zitel's hand. "Erza, you know you're not supposed to write letters!"
"But Gray did not have a problem with me penning a note to Florian when we left his shop yesterday."
The memory of the unholy scream they had heard sent a shiver down his spine. "I thought he'd be OK with it since he was so into you, but honestly, I'm not sure."
"I don't see what's wrong with it," Natsu said, slowly reading the letter over Lucy's shoulder.
"It was just a simple, thank you letter. I have written many such letters to Kagura and she has always responded favourably."
Gray sweatdropped. "Actually, Mermaid Heel's guild master called our Master after you sent the first one and asked if we really wanted to break the inter-guild peace treaty."
"Um Gray-san, when did that happen?"
"Hmmph. More importantly, why didn't we know about it?"
"It was that time you went on a job with Erza to the Scheherazade theatre in Onibus. I had to ask Grandpa Crux to help me find the most heartfelt kanji when Master made me draft the apology."
"So that's why Gray was so prickly when we went on mission that day!"
"If I was prickly, it was because I had to go on a mission with you, ash hat."
"It's early but you want to go, droopy ice?"
"This is exactly how they ended up fighting for three days last time. Erza, stop them!"
"Are my letters really so bad? To think my dear little sister Kagura has been suffering at my hand."
"Erza-san, please get up."
Zardin and Tymon exchanged resigned looks. "They're always like this aren't they?"
"Yes," Zitel replied flatly, her insulted ego dimming into mild annoyance as it sank in that the Fairy Tail wizards had not actually besmirched her honour and threatened her entire bloodline. "They are… lively."
An abbreviated scuffle, a broken vase, and several profuse apologies later, the wizards were punted out of the house with strict instructions to not return until the afternoon check-in rush was over. There was enough work for the family to do without their unexpected guests getting in the way.
The group wandered the streets near the hotel. The grand exhibition was to open the day after, on the fifteenth of February, so there was not much for them to do until then. Zitel tagged along after announcing she had no plans until the evening, although she did make them stop at a jeweller's.
"That'll go perfectly with my dress for the ball," she said, pointing at a pendant in the window.
"Is that where you're going in the evening, Zitel-san?" enquired Wendy politely.
"Yes. The Jurener family is hosting an exclusive preview for tomorrow's exhibition," she replied, opening the shop's door. "I'll be a minute. Wait here."
"Something about her irks me," Lucy muttered under her breath, her eyes fixed on Zitel through the glass doorway.
Erza smiled softly. "It's not like you to take against someone."
"Hmm," was all Lucy said in response.
Charle folded her hands across her chest. "This preview sounds like an exclusive event."
"If all the guests are special invitees, then it is likely that security around the artefacts will be lax," added Gray.
"It's too bad we don't have an invite." Lucy placed her index finger on her lip as she thought. "It would be a good opportunity to do some recon before the exhibition opens. It sounds like it's going to be really crowded."
Natsu had been engaged in a side conversation with Happy, but his ears perked up at that. "Who says we need an invite?" he grinned. "We can just crash it!"
"We're supposed to be laying low, dumbass!"
"Boys!" Erza said sharply, arresting the scuffle before it could begin.
A bell tinkled as Zitel left the shop. Noting Lucy's continued frown, she smirked and leaned into Natsu, tapping the pendant on her collarbone. "What do you think? Isn't it cute?"
"Are you wearing something different?" replied Natsu, before getting distracted by something Happy said. The two of them turned to one another, resuming their conversation from earlier in hushed whispers.
Wendy distracted Zitel before she could notice Lucy sniggering in the background. "Zitel-san, how does one obtain an invitation to this preview ball?"
The wizards split into smaller groups as they walked, peering into various shop windows and indulging in their own light-hearted conversations. Gray stopped to pet a cat and was instantly mobbed by five others. The group continued on, oblivious to the flailing (and very naked) wizard slowly disappearing under a pile of tabbies.
"I got one because of my parents. I don't think you can get an invitation very easily. It's pretty exclusive."
"Oh," mumbled Wendy, looking over the gilt-edged card Zitel handed her.
Zitel cocked her head curiously. "Why? Do you want to go?"
"Oh no, no. I was just asking," Wendy stammered, flushing.
She shrugged. "That's too bad. I have a plus one I'm not using."
"Hold on a minute," Charle said, dropping her conversation with Erza and Lucy and scurrying to catch up. "Would you seriously take one of us with you?"
"Yeah, why not?"
A gaggle of schoolchildren walked past, shepherded by a flustered looking kindergarten teacher in an apron. The wizards paused to give them way, allowing a very bedraggled looking Gray to finally catch up to them.
"Is everything alright, Gray?" Erza asked quietly.
"Cats," he said by way of explanation, gently probing one of the many scratches across his chest.
Erza hmmed. "Maybe we should train you to use requip magic."
"To protect against cats?"
She cast a speculative glance down his torso. "To protect against public indecency."
"Ack! My clothes!"
"-not taking Natsu!" Lucy's voice rang out as they stepped back into the circle of their comrades.
Zitel scratched the back of her head with feigned nonchalance. "I thought maybe I'd take you."
"M-me?" Lucy's voice faltered. "Why?"
"Seems like your kind of thing," she replied cryptically.
Erza patted Lucy's shoulder encouragingly. "It would be good for you to see things tonight to confirm if the rest of us need to visit tomorrow."
"Lucy can't go tonight. We have plans," Natsu interrupted.
The others turned to look at him in surprise. Was he not the one who had been enthusiastically suggesting gate crashing just a short while ago? Charle muttered, "He wasn't listening properly, was he?"
"Since when?" Lucy asked.
"It's Valentine's Day," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Va-Valentine's Day?" sputtered Erza.
"It doesn't feel like Valentine's Day is the kind of thing Natsu-san would care about," Wendy whispered.
"Gajeel taunted Natsu this morning about being more romantic than him," Happy explained in a low voice.
Gray sweatdropped. "That sounds more like it."
"Valentine's Day!" Erza repeated, a zealous gleam entering her eye. "Then we must do whatever is required to ensure your first Valentine's Day together is a success! Gray, fetch a pumpkin! Wendy and Charle, you are in charge of finding candy canes! Happy, we will personally organise the goldfish catching game for them!"
"Fish!" drooled Happy.
"Um, none of those things are related to Valentine's Day," Wendy ventured hesitantly.
"Don't bother." Gray drooped with resignation. "Once she has an idea in her head…"
Natsu scowled. "No way! I've already got everything planned out!" He turned to Lucy. "You have to be ready by 7:30."
"Oh." A light blush coloured her cheeks. "I'm not sure, Natsu. I think the exhibition should take precedence, don't you?"
"You can't go anyway," announced Happy, holding the invitation aloft. "The ball is being thrown by the Jurener family. Weren't you betrothed to the son once upon a time? They'll recognise you."
"Wait, how do you know that?"
"I read your diary, duh!"
"You what?!"
Zitel clicked her tongue in exasperation. "This is all well and good, but who's coming with me to the ball then? Wendy?"
"I was actually hoping to speak to my girlfriend on the communications lacrima tonight."
"Of course! It is your first Valentine's Day as well! Shall I fetch a pumpkin?"
"Any other takers for the plus one? The Jureners put on a good spread."
"Stuffy clothing? I'm out."
"Will they have fish?"
"I don't think I can show up with a cat as my date."
"What about a human girl with cat ears?"
Zitel looked a bit nonplussed. "I didn't realise you could transform."
Charle folded her arms across her chest. "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard too. I've got to pull my weight."
"Indeed," Zitel replied dubiously, casting a flicker of a glance at Happy. "Alright then, it's a date!"
"Are you sure, Charle?" Wendy asked quietly as the group moved on.
"It's only a recon mission. What could go wrong?"
As it happened, a more practical concern precluded Charle from attending the preview ball. "Actually, I'm sorry," said Archesa, shaking her head sadly as she rifled through her wardrobe. "But actually, I simply don't have anything that would fit you!" It had been an hour since Zitel had dropped off the wizards and given Charle strict instructions not to show her up with a poor choice of wardrobe. But nothing Charle owned was anywhere near fancy enough to attend a ball for the continent's elite. Nothing any of them owned was. Calypso was the richest city on the continent, the crème de la crème would be attending the preview ball draped in jewels and silks that even Hisui E. Fiore would be hard pressed to match.
"What do we do now?" murmured Lucy sadly.
"There is nothing for it. Erza will have to go," Charle sighed.
"Me?"
Charle gestured meaningfully at Archesa's well-endowed chest. "The clothes will definitely fit. But I think you should consider wearing your wig. If the event is being hosted by an Ishgarian family then it is likely there will be other Ishgarians there, and yours is a well-known face."
Erza smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "I do like dress-up disguises. This will be the perfect undercover mission."
Archesa pulled a black dress off a hanger and handed it to Erza. "Actually, if you're going in disguise, then may I remind you that we actually have one of Giltena's premiere actors under this roof?"
"Luckily, I brought all my stage makeup with me." Erdan rose from the corner where he had been watching the proceedings in silence. "This is going to be great!"
A pair of magnificent bosoms entered the room. Generous mounds of pearlescent flesh just barely leashed by a fabric bodice, swelling so full and round above the neckline, it was impossible to look away—the brain in a constant state of war as it tried to determine if the slightly darker colour it saw at the edge was merely a shadow or the hint of a dusky nipple.
The Fairy Tail wizards stared at the bounteous beauty in silence for several dazed seconds, before leaping into a flurry of activity.
"How is the skin glowing like that," wondered Lucy, peering closely.
"They're so jiggly," whispered Wendy, tapping the top of one breast experimentally.
"Whee! Look Charle, you can use them like a trampoline."
"Get a load of this, Gray. My whole finger disappeared!"
Gray poked the opposite breast, emulating Natsu, watching in awe as his finger dipped into the creamy softness up to his knuckle. "It's so soft on top, but," he groped the underside of the breast, finding the unyielding cup of a corset, "so hard underneath!"
"Whoa, you're totally right! Hard! Soft! Hard! Soft!"
"I told you no one would look at your face if you wore this," said Erdan quietly.
A red stressmark pulsed at Erza's brow as her comrades alternated between squeezing, poking, and bouncing her fulsome breasts. "It is not that I mind having them arrayed like this, but that does not mean you can feel me up!"
Biff! Plonk! Kapow! And the five mages were sent sprawling. "Good grief," said Charle smugly, having wisely avoided Erza and the dangerously gravitational pull of her cleavage. Mavis only knew where she would end up if she allowed herself to be drawn into their sweaty depths again. She was half convinced it was a portal to another world, or at least the pocket dimension Erza maintained. "Oh, you changed your hair colour!"
Erza touched a hand to the curly brown locks tumbling down her back. "Erdan was kind enough to lend me his expertise with hair and makeup." She shifted the heavy fringe falling over her left eye to reveal that he had shaded the skin there a few shades darker than usual. An eyepatch was too conspicuous an accessory for Erza to wear with her disguise and the makeup helped enhance the natural shadow created by her fringe.
"It's a brilliant disguise!" confirmed Lucy, giving Erdan a congratulatory pat on the back as she grabbed her towel and left the room. She had a date of her own to get ready for.
The rest of the group settled into various other activities. Gray read a book he had borrowed off Erza, the cover folded over so no one could read the title, 'The Erotic Exploits of Easy Edna;' Natsu and Happy napped; and Erza leaned against the wall, the corset around her body too tight for her to try sitting down.
Charle and Wendy sorted through the group's communications equipment. They had decided that Erza would wear one of the lacrima communications headsets she had purchased in Barya and Charle, Happy, and Gray would take turns monitoring the receiver lacrima in case she needed help. Wendy fitted a signal amplifier from their stash to her Rockophone as well. Her date with Cheria would not begin until a bit later due to the time difference between Calypso and Fiore, and she wanted to make sure the connection was strong.
The sound of the front door opening caught Charle's attention. "Erdan, time for your shift," Tymon called as he came in, holding the door open for the guest behind him. "Erza, your friend is here for you."
Three things happened simultaneously after that. A shriek emerged from the bathroom as Lucy found a spider. Wendy noticed a pimple on her cheek and burst into fretful tears. And someone fell in love.
Charle knew this third thing for certain because she had been watching Zitel's face as she had walked in and had seen the metaphysical arrow twang through her as she caught sight of the boy standing beside Erza. Zitel's cheeks flushed with such intense heat, the beads at the ends of her braids threatened to melt off. "HI," she fairly shouted.
Erdan pushed his glasses up his nose and looked back at her, his cheeks dusted pale pink. "Hello." He grabbed a puzzle book off the side table and headed for the door. "I hope you all have a pleasant evening."
"YOU'RE WELCOME," said Zitel, oblivious to the bemused looks being exchanged by the Fairy Tail wizards, Erdan's two nosy siblings, and his equally nosy brother-in-law. Even Lucy had poked her head into the hall, spider momentarily forgotten.
"Please excuse my poor manners," coughed Erza. "Zitel, this is Erdan, our host and a splendid actor. Erdan, this is our acquaintance Zitel. We were in a pinch when we were in the north a few months ago and she came to our aid."
"Who are you?" scowled Zitel at the brown-haired stranger with the too-big bosoms who had interrupted her mooning.
"Hello," repeated Erdan shyly.
Annoyance forgotten, Zitel turned back to him and beamed. "HI."
"They're in llll-," Happy began, but Charle clamped a hand over his mouth before he could get any further.
A distant bell chimed and Erdan shuffled his feet. "Looks like someone is at the reception desk, I'd better be off."
"Yes, we should be leaving as well. Zitel, I will be accompanying you tonight instead of Cha-"
"YOU WANT GO BALL?" Zitel turned puce with mortification as Erdan winced at her volume. "I mean, would you like to go to a ball with me? I have an extra ticket," she amended hastily.
"Hey wait a minute, I thought you were taking one of us with you," Lucy said.
Zitel scratched the back of her neck and muttered, put out, "Ah yes, right. So I am."
"I have to work tonight anyway."
"WANT COMPANY?"
"What about the ball, Zitel-san?"
"TAKE THE NEW GIRL." With that, she tossed the invitation vaguely in the direction of Erza and sprinted down the stairs after Erdan.
Archesa burst out laughing. "Did you get all that on lacrima-cam, Tymon?" she asked her brother.
"He's never going to live this down," Tymon chuckled.
"I think it's cute!" protested Zardin, and the three of them moved away to the kitchen to rewatch the footage and prepare dinner.
Erza frowned. "To which new girl was she referring?"
"Looks like the disguise worked!" said Lucy happily, "She had no idea who you were."
"I don't think it's a good idea for Erza-san to attend the ball unaccompanied, maybe I can cancel my call with Cheria."
Charle sighed and picked up the fallen invitation. "There's no need, there's nothing for you to wear either. Besides, there's still one person left who can go with Erza. Provided he can keep his clothes on, of course."
The nearly naked wizard grumbled as the novel was plucked from his fingers and one of Zardin's stuffy tailcoats was shoved in his hands instead. It looked like Edna's exploits would have to wait.
Wendy clicked on the little eye icon on her Rockophone and set it on the stand Erdan had in his room. Thanks to Horologium-san, the unsightly pimple on her face had been taken care of, and Lucy had lent her a bit of hairstyling help as well before Natsu had dragged her off for their date. She, Happy, and Charle had spent a few hours with Erdan's family, spying on him and Zitel until Tymon had laughed too loudly and gotten them all caught. They had been exiled to the family flat after that and Erdan's muttered promises of sibling blackmail had kept them there. Some mentions of complaining to Erza had been bandied about as well, which had turned the Fairy Tail wizards pale with fright and sent them running after the others. Now, Wendy was setting up for her long-distance date and Charle and Happy were monitoring the lacrima receiver in the living room, keeping careful track of Gray and Erza's updates.
There was a buzz of static and Wendy overheard Erza's tinny voice saying the connectivity was poor because the ball was taking place on a cruise ship on the lake. It was just as well she and Natsu were not the ones on the recon mission, although the ship would probably have motion sickness cancellers like most of the vehicles found in the city. She shook her head and tried to think of other things before she started to feel sick.
"Seeing my girlfriend's cute face, that's love!"
"Cheria!" greeted Wendy, a smile taking over her face as she looked at Cheria on the tiny lacrima screen on her phone. Not being able to see Cheria in person whenever she wanted was tough, but she was learning a lot on the mission and she would not have given that up for anything. Afterall, her magic had been a gift, and there was no way she was going to waste it. Her heart warmed as her girlfriend chattered on. Yes, this was love, all right.
"It is a good thing neither Natsu nor Wendy chose to accompany us on this mission," remarked Erza as she and Gray flashed their invitation at the guard near the gangway and walked onto the cruise ship.
"Hah," scoffed Gray. "Can you imagine Natsu in a tux? It would be like putting clothes on a packhorse."
"Look down."
"My pants- eh? But I'm still wearing them."
"Indeed. It was merely a reminder that you periodically make sure you are," replied Erza, surveying Gray's get up, which included Zardin's best (and only) dress coat, a form-fitting waistcoat in ivory white, and a matching bow-tie. A starched shirt chafed at his neck and his black shoes had been polished to mirror-shine. He would have looked suave and rather dashing if not for the mud-brown wig on his head that was sticking up at odd angles in an alarmingly accurate imitation of a bird's nest. Happy had even done something clever with Erdan's makeup set to make Gray's nose sharper and his eyes bigger, and a liberal smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks completed the disguise. He looked like someone out of a josei manga. He was completely unrecognisable as Gray and would remain so as long as he could keep his clothes (and hair) on.
They split up soon after they entered the boat, each taking one half of the enormous ballroom on the middle deck and making note of various exits. Not that those would be of much help once was the boat was on the water. The ship was scheduled to take six hours to cover a small circle of the lake at the centre of Calypso, before bringing the guests back to shore. Gray noted a single entry point to the exhibition rooms, something Erza confirmed moments later over their lacrima communications. There was a ribbon barrier placed across the archway. It would not be open to access until the guest of honour—the Calypsan head of state—delivered the inaugural address at midnight.
Gray lifted a glass of champagne off a passing tray and settled in to wait. Leaning against the wall beside an extravagant potted fern, he cast an eye across the room to his comrade. As expected, Erza was drawing an enormous amount of attention, although very little of it was directed towards her face. He stifled a laugh at her perturbed expression and pulled out his wallet, flicking through the various cards and notes to pull out the photograph he had stolen from the Fiorephile at the flower shop the day before. It had been taken at the opening of a star mango shop in Hargeon, and Erza had been settled in front of the confection with excitement shimmering in her eyes. He looked up to see her face transformed by the very same enthusiasm as she took in the dessert table. No, wait, it was not the dessert table she was looking at. Rather, this random orange-haired guy standing in front of it who was holding out a plate of cake.
"Your name is Ichigo?" Erza exclaimed. "Like 'strawberry?'"
"I'm a strawberry farmer," the man replied blandly.
Erza's eye widened as visions of strawberry cakes danced across her brain. "I have a great love of strawberry chee-"
"Cheetah print. Strawberry cheetah print," Gray cut in firmly, having nearly sprinted across the room. "We're undercover remember? Erza is the one who likes cheesecake," he whispered in her ear.
"Indeed," Erza replied, turning her starry-eyed gaze away from the random stranger, much to Gray's relief. "The combination of pink and black dots is exquisite. Please excuse us." She manoeuvred her way past a couple of slack-jawed oglers to the open bar beyond. "Would it not be advisable for us to station ourselves in different areas of the ballroom?" she asked Gray quietly as he drew up beside her.
Before he could reply, a smarmy man in an olive-green tuxedo sidled up to Erza. "It doesn't do for such a beautiful woman to be drinking alone." Gray looked at his hands, wondering if he had somehow turned invisible.
Erza raised her drink towards the man and replied in a low voice, "Ah, but I am not alone. I have your beautiful parfum enveloping me."
Gray faceplanted on the bar. What the heck was that?
The olive-green tuxedo sidled even closer. "Oh, is that so?"
Erza turned to Gray, her brows drawn together in confusion. "I do not understand. Whenever Ichiya uses that line, people flee instantly. But this man is still here."
Gray sweatdropped. "I'd say there are more than a few differences between you and Ichiya."
"So, pretty lady, how about a dance?"
An urge to tell the man to turn his unwanted attentions elsewhere grabbed Gray for a brief moment before he remembered that they were on a covert mission. Anyway, dancing with Erza would probably cure the man of his creepiness. Heck, it might even set him on a future path towards asceticism.
The dance floor cleared within minutes, the other guests rushing away from the man who was being energetically twirled about the room. The spectators divided themselves into three groups—those who were curious about this modish new dancing style and were trying to emulate it, those who were lining up to partner the brown-haired dance demon, and those hoping for her to have a wardrobe malfunction. The third group was by far the largest, and even Gray had to admit to being somewhat hypnotised by the gravity-defying bulk of Erza's tightly-corseted breasts. They seemed to jiggle and sway with her every movement, yet did not budge even a millimetre away from the moulded bodice of her dress.
A crackle over the lacrima communicator shook Gray from the trance he found himself in. "How's it going, you two?" came Charle's sharp voice across the in-ear speaker. "Have you managed to locate Aquarius' key yet?"
Gray cast a glance around the room, noting that all eyes seemed to be on Erza. "Erza, you keep dancing. I'll use the distraction to slip into the next room and check out the exhibition." She looked across the ballroom and met his gaze, nodding once before turning back to her partner.
The next room contained only a handful of display cases that housed some of the larger items in the exhibition, including a rare fossil of a woolly Hodras. Gray skimmed over them and moved on towards the staircase at the back of the room. It looked like the rest of the exhibition was on the upper decks of the cruise ship. The next floor revealed a maze of rooms containing exhibits of varying sizes. "There's a lot of stuff to see here, this is going to take a while," he muttered to his comrades across the lacrima communicator. Fortunately, the exhibition was organised by theme and he was able to clear the rooms containing historical artefacts and costumes quickly.
He was halfway through the third room when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Gray turned just in time to catch the edge of someone's cloak as they ran into the room to his right. "There's someone else here," he said, but the static coming through his earpiece did not give him much hope that anyone had heard his communique. He had a split second to decide between following the person and returning to the ballroom. Reconvening with Erza was probably the safer choice, but then he caught sight of the person again as they ran through the corridor in front of him. A thread of magical energy hummed around him and the back of his neck prickled in recognition. Whoever this was, this was someone he had encountered before.
It was not a Guardian. The magical energy was not strong enough to belong to one, but it was still many magnitudes higher than the average wizard's. Curiosity overcame his reservations and he took off after the person, stripping off his bowtie as he began to run.
An hour later, Erza found the abandoned bowtie on the floor, its pristine white stained dirty by an ugly shoeprint. She requipped into her more comfortable skirt and Heart Kreuz armour as she moved quickly through the empty rooms of the exhibition, catching sight of a glove here and waistcoat there, all the way to the staircase that led to the topmost deck. As she emerged from the stairwell she could see a figure floating face down in the swimming pool. With a gasp, she leapt into the water, her strong arms grasping the man under his shoulders and pulling him onto the dry wooden deck. His wig had come loose and his makeup was bleeding off his face, but there was no mistaking him.
"Don't listen to her," Gray wheezed, coughing water from his lungs.
"To whom?"
"To me," came a voice from across the deck.
And Ezra's blood ran cold.
A/N: Sorry this is late! I think I need to switch my update day to Sunday. Friday is just too tight, what with work during the week. But even so, it's Tuesday now. I've had an interesting two weeks. I finally got prescribed medication for my chronic pain (yay drugs!) and it had a transformative effect on my life. Suddenly I found I wasn't having to measure out my energy every day, like a nervous high school student during their first chem lab. It was- and is, AMAZING. But of course, crests and troughs still exist, and I found myself learning that this weekend. It's nothing to worry about though. My stamina has just become very poor from years of not doing much due to pain and fatigue, so I need to slowly build it back up!
But I will try not to let the next update on March 2nd be late!
A/N 2: I don't know if the archaeologists from the Key of the Starry Sky arc say 'actually' so often in the English dub, but I thought it would be a fun marker to show Archesa is also from the Archaeologists Guild.
The shenanigans of our Team sometimes makes it hard to write. No matter what I do, they seem to devolve into nonsense, and I have to crack the whip like Erza and remind them there's a plot we have to progress hahaha. Oh well. They certainly are a lively bunch!
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter :). I sometimes think CrimsonStarbird and I are the only humans left on this site. I did get lots of inbox messages from scammers though - which was initially a touch depressing since making that kind of fandom connection where someone wants to draw art of your fic is the stuff of my girlhood dreams - but now it's just kind of funny hahaha. Away with your ChatGPTed scam script. In my day, scammers used to take the time to write their own messages!
See you next time!