"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, hopping through the window of her apartment, "We've gotta mission - let's go!"

Lucy was relaxing in a deep bubble bath, cucumbers on her eyes, "Seriously, Natsu...It can wait for 1/2 hour."

Unabashfully, the bathroom door flung open and the dragon slayer stomped in. Lucy screamed, sinking under the suds, cucumbers disappearing off her eyes and into the water with her body. He sat beside the tub and played absently with the bubbles, ignoring her blushing face as she sunk deeper to prevent him from seeing her naked.

"What's the mission?" she asked, realizing she was in no position to Lucy kick him, so the most effective way of getting him out of her sight was simply to acknowledge what he wanted, then tell him to leave.

"It's an artifact retrieval," he said, "Ice prick and Erza are coming, but Happy is going to stay with Carla. HUGE reward."

Her ears perked up, "As in how huge?"

He smiled at her knowingly, picking up bubbles with 2 fingers and plopping them on her nose, "As in you won't have to worry about rent money for 6 months!"

She grinned, forgetting to discipline him for crashing her bath, "I'm in! Now get out so I can get dressed and packed. When do we leave?"

"Now!" he called out, leaving the bathroom, "We're meeting at the train station in 30 minutes. I'm gonna be in the kitchen making sandwiches while I'm waiting for you."

"DON'T EAT ALL MY FOOD!" she yelled after him. She shook her head. She knew there was no point in telling him that. Of course, recently, Natsu and Happy had been dividing their reward money a little differently, allowing an amount to be set aside for Lucy to spend on groceries at her house. The amount was in fact large enough that Lucy did not have to worry about her grocery bill at all anymore. He essentially was paying for her groceries too.

She got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself, making her way to her bedroom to get dressed.

"Wuce! Wu wanna wandwich?" Natsu yelled, mouth obviously filled.

"Sure!" she yelled back, selecting clothes fit for a mission. She packed a small bag in case it ended up being an overnighter, secured her keys to her side, and pulled her long hair up into a braided ponytail that reached her waist. She rather liked her longer hair. More than that, she knew Natsu liked it. When he'd come back from training for the year, he'd spend hours laying on her lap, playing with her hair when they watched movies and what-not.

It had taken roughly 6 months to rebuild the guild hall. Natsu had come for her in Crocus, left the infamous calling card, and escorted her back to Magnolia to welcome the incoming guild members, ready to rebuild life at Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail was now as strong as ever, even with the minor changes to the members. Such as: Elfman and Evergreen married and had a little boy, Juvia and Gray were dating. Erza had only just returned to the guild after joining Crime Sorciere for a year. She and Jellal were official now. Natsu and Lucy had regained their closeness and some, but were still dancing around each other's true feelings.

He brought the sandwich to her,

"This is good," she praised, swallowing a bite, "So what's the hurry, anyway? Why do we have to leave now?"

"The job description said urgent. Specifically asked for a celestial mage and supporting team."

"What's the artifact?" Lucy asked, munching down the sandwich.

"Dunno," Natsu replied.

Of course not. Grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, she indicated she was ready to go. She looked at the apartment as she went to close the door, taking it all in. She loved her apartment. So many great memories there.

"You okay?" Natsu asked impatiently.

"Yeah," she breathed out, not sure where the nostalgia wave that hit her came from. She locked her apartment up and proceeded to the train station with her best friend.

"Did you pop your pills?" she asked Natsu.

"Ya," he said, "but I still want to use your lap. It always calms me."

She rolled her eyes. The pills essentially eliminated Natsu's motion sickness. Even she knew that the head on the lap wasn't actually necessary. But if she were honest with herself, the act calmed her too. She waved to Gray and Erza as they approached their gate to the train.

"Took you long enough, Flame Brain!" Gray chucked his bag at Natsu, hitting him in the gut.

"ICE BASTARD!"

Erza smacked Natsu upside the head, "Enough!"

Natsu rubbed his tender head, "Geez Erz...I didn't even have a chance to hit him."

They boarded the train and began the 8 hour trip to their job.

Stepping off the train in the city, Kahling, Natsu fell to the ground, kissing it. He had been fine while the effect of the pills he took lasted, however, inevitably they wore off and the last 4 hours of the trip were pure hell for him. Erza offered to take pity on him and knock him flat out, but instead, he stretched out on Lucy's lap and allowed her to pamper him.

"Okay...so where is this place?" Lucy asked Erza, glancing over the taller girl's shoulder as she examined the job advertisement at a picnic table.

"If I'm not mistaken," Erza said carefully, "It's a kilometre behind us."

"Well, let's go!" Gray said, "If we go see the client now, we can get a hotel and get started first thing in the morning."

They walked down the road to the address on the card and stood back as Erza knocked the gigantic knocker. It was an older style brick manor, rather large. Cob webs graced the windows.

"It's creepy," Lucy whispered to Natsu.

He smiled slightly, dropping an arm around her waist, "It's fine. We're not doing the mission here. Whatever artifact they have us grabbing, it will be in a much creepier place."

She playfully smacked his arm away just as the door opened. An old man dressed in a tuxedo answered. He didn't say anything, creeping out the small group a bit more.

"We're the Fairy Tail wizards that accepted the job you posted," Erza said, showing the job card.

"Come in," he said with a thick English accent, "Don't touch anything and follow me."

The four mages followed the still-nameless gentleman down a dark hall to a large room with a couch. The walls were library-like with tons of books. Lucy's eyes lit up at all the books, but obediently sat on the couch with her comrades.

"Duke Antoine will be here in a moment," the man said. Lucy wondered if he was the butler. He didn't take the time to give them a name.

The four sat on the couch silently as time ticked. Almost a half hour later, another elderly gentleman walked into the room, taking the chair opposite them. He didn't say anything for a moment as he looked over the wizards.

"And one of you is the celestial wizard?" he said by way of greeting.

"That would be me," Lucy said nervously, extending a hand in greeting, "I'm Lucy. These are my nakama: Natsu, Erza, and Gray."

The gentleman nodded, not introducing himself or taking her offered hand to shake as he continued, "The artifact is this."

Out of nowhere, a virtual picture of an egg-like item appeared in mid-air. It was golden in colour with some kind of metal outlining it.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

The man glared at him, "That's none of your business. You're hired to get it for me. You will find it 3 km up Sunspree Mountain in a cave. Get it for me, the jewel is yours."

"With all due respect," Erza interjected, "We need to ensure what we're doing is legal. What is the artifact?"

A shadow crossed over his face as he turned, nostrils flaring, "And I told you, it's none of your business. I assure you it's legal. But you must be warned, only a Celestial wizard can touch the artifact. And you must be careful! Wrap it in something so it won't break. And whatever you do, don't try to open it."

Gray's brows furrowed, "I don't like it," he stated, "You want us to waltz in and take something you obviously can't go get for yourself without any reasonable explanation as to what we're retrieving for you."

"You can take the job or leave it," the gentleman said, "But if you're going to leave it, I suggest getting out of town immediately."

The four looked at each other. This was beyond strange.

"Very good then. I suppose since none of you have left, you accept. You will stay at the Kahling Inn. Rooms have been booked for you. Make sure you leave at sunrise."

The man got up and left the room, leaving the four mages staring awkwardly at each other.

"I guess...we can go?" Lucy asked.

"Guess so," Gray said, stretching his arms out, "As quickly as possible please."