A.N.: So, I kept most of the story, but I hope that the way I rewrote it comes across better and makes more sense. I'm pushing the story further, bit by bit, and hope I'm not making you guys TOO mad. *nervous laugh* Anyways, enjoy!

A rush of hot breath blows against Lucy's sleeping face and she immediately sits up from where she'd been sleeping on the couch, crashing her forehead into someone's nose. "Agh! Wha 'e 'ell Luey!?" Natsu yelps in pain, sounding funny from holding his nose. Lucy gives a pathetic whimper of pain and rubs her forehead gingerly. "What are you talking about? I'm not the one who snuck into your house and woke you up by having hot breath blowing on you!" she retorts haughtily.

"Whatever." Natsu mumbles grumpily before sitting in an armchair across from the couch and rifling through a bag of chips. "We haff a fohbf." he talks around a mouthful of chips, grinning like an idiot. Lucy rolls her eyes. Happy glides in through the open window and sits beside Natsu and promptly begins to attack what's left of her angel food cake. Lucy sighs in defeat. "What is it?" she groans reluctantly.

"That's the spirit!" Natsu grins happily at Lucy with chips stuck in his teeth and Happy burps loudly. "Our next mission is to rid a mountain village of a witch who's been terrorizing the people and stealing the young women mages without guilds. We are to destroy the witch and return all the women to the village." Happy announces proudly as Natsu stuffs himself with another bag of chips.

"Princess, I believe you should help them." Lucy, Natsu, and Happy all jump, startled, and glare at the beautiful maid. "Uh, Virgo, when did you get here?" Lucy asks confusedly.

The pretty maid gives a bow. "You seemed in need of company, so I was going to come. That is, before your friends showed up." she answers nonchalantly. Lucy does a face-palm and Natsu and Happy return to eating. Lucy sighs. "Fine. I'll go." she whispers. But the moment she does, she feels a sense of dread and danger awaiting the quest. She shivers as the icy spiders of dark omens skitter along her spine. "Are you cold, Princess?" Virgo asks before immediately wrapping Lucy in a fleece blanket.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Happy asks, seeing Lucy's expression. She looks over at the transforming-powered cat. "Oh, I'm okay. I'm just tired." she gives a half-hearted smile. How could she tell them? "I'm gonna go get ready." she murmurs softly before standing and going into her room. She waves Virgo away as she starts to follow Lucy. "Keep an eye on them, please." she whispers to the creepily beautiful maid-dressed young woman in her living room before opening her room door.

As soon as she closes the door, she leans her back against it and slowly slides to the floor. She doesn't want to go. Yes, she wishes to save the women of the village, but she doesn't want to face the witch who's responsible for the kidnappings. Mom always warned her to stay away from witches because of who she is; because of her mother's lineage. The last lineage of the Celestial Maidens.

Lucy puts her face in one hand, her other hand holding the blanket around herself, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Slowly pulling her hand away from her face, Lucy centers herself and stands. Wordlessly, she showers quickly, changes into a black short tank top, with an even shorter aqua long-sleeve turtleneck, and black leather skinny jeans with polished black leather combat boots. Steel-toed. She packs for cold weather, considering it's snowing outside and where they're going gets snow year-round.

She finishes and returns to her living room about an hour and thirty minutes later, her face impassive.

Natsu looks over at her. "Ready?" he grins happily. Lucy forces a smile that seems to fool Natsu and Happy, but Virgo remains ominous and silent. "I shall take my leave, Princess." Virgo curtsies perfectly before disappearing with a single nod from Lucy. "Yeah, let's go." she mutters distantly. Natsu jumps up and takes off with so much enthusiasm that Lucy can practically see the cappuccino-induced jackrabbits zipping through his bloodstream. Lucy sighs and follows him with Happy walking beside her.

"There you guys are! I was wondering if Natsu was going to come back with you or come back with an axe stuck in the side of his head." Grey taunts Natsu, who immediately starts blowing up at Grey, leaving them as a large dust cloud of half-finished taunts, and furious growls with the occasional shout of pain. Lucy sighs and sits beside Erza, her warrior friend and the strongest female in the guild, who waits for the train that will take them to their job's destination.

"How have you been, Erza?" Lucy gives a small smile.

Erza looks over at Lucy. "You don't look too good, Lucy. Are you okay?" Obviously, Erza's fine. Lucy lets out a huff of breath. "Yeah, I'm fine." she mumbles before taking a swig from her adorable pink heart-shaped canteen before replacing it back in her carry-on messenger bag. Erza arches an eyebrow in surprise. "I never knew you drank, Lucy." she states in surprise. Natsu and Grey immediately stop mid-action and stare at Lucy and Erza. "Hey, Luce, why are you drinking scotch?" Natsu asks curiously. Lucy grimaces inwardly, leave it to Natsu to let the others know what exactly their nakama is drinking. Lucy sighs softly, because it may smell like scotch, but it's actually a potion her mother taught her to make that disguises her second Magic from any seeking eyes. She hadn't had time to drink her weekly dose that morning, the morning she usually has to herself, so here she is.

The whistling of the train saves Lucy from having to speak as everyone looks towards the giant black train pulling into the station. A big metallic shudder and the hissing of the engine are like the layer of noise covering all the people rushing out of and into the train. Silently, Lucy slips into the train and sits at a four-seat booth, of course. Her friends find her within several minutes and they sit there, preparing themselves for when Natsu starts to get sick.

After another fifteen minutes, the train pulls out and Natsu is immediately at the window, sticking his greenish colored head outside. Lucy, Gray, and Happy sigh with resignation and sit back, letting Erza put the poor Dragon Slayer out of his misery and let his head rest on her chain-mail clad thighs.

Happy looks up at Lucy. "So why were you drinking Lucy? I've never seen you drink alcohol before."

"It wasn't alcohol, Happy." Lucy replies absently, looking out the window. "And that's all I'm going to say on the matter."

None of her nakama, shocked silent by her lack of fire, say anything more on the subject.

*8*8*8*

"Natsu? You can wake up now. The train's stopped." Happy pokes the still out-cold Slayer who's drool drips off of the seat and pools in a steaming puddle on the floor of the train cart. Natsu mumbles something incoherently that apparently only Happy understands. "But Natsu, Lucy's gone off on her own again and I think that's her I see hanging off a cliff..." Happy gives a very convincing faux worried voice.

"LUCY!" Natsu roars and charges out of the cart in a blind rage, leaving all four friends with the comical sweat drop on their heads. "Who's going after him?" Gray asks in the middle of the awkward silence. "Aye! I'll get him!" Happy flies out of the window after his cheery volunteer. "I hope he knows what he's in for." Erza mutters and the other two nod quietly. With a sigh, Lucy stands and stretches, thankful for the entertainment that kept her friends occupied during the ride and hopefully made them forget about her whiskey. Oh course, she did love herself some double malt, which she truthfully hasn't touched since she turned fourteen. She reaches for her carry-on and joins her friends as they quickly exit the train. The station is milling with people, but no Natsu and Happy. "Maybe we should go find them before they find themselves in trouble." Lucy suggests quietly. Erza nods once. "Excellent thinking, Lucy. I'm sure Natsu will run into something bad if we don't find him soon." she leads the trio forward and away from the station. "So where do you think-?" Gray begins, but is cut off by a very loud, very obnoxious and familiar voice.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Lucy immediately turns to see a grinning Natsu with food on his face waving from a tavern. Lucy does a facepalm and she hears Gray follow suit not far behind her. Erza raises a brow and is the first to move towards the ravenous-looking young Dragon Slayer. "I thought you would have gone into a rage by now at Happy's trick, Natsu." she states in astonishment. Natsu shrugs, stuffing his face before explaining, "Happy apologized and offered to buy food." before eating again. Lucy feel something tug on her shirt and looks down to see Happy. "By the way, Lucy, can I have 1o,ooo jewels?" he whispers to her almost casually.

"WHAT?! If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't be here!" Lucy turns away and looks around the barren town. No children playing in the streets, no stalls or merchants' carts, no people walking around. Even the tavern is solemn save the bartender, a barmaid, and her group. She frowns. This must be a serious case if no one was around. Hell, it had to be that dangerous if Erza had asked them to come and help her.

A weight is felt on her head. "Lucy, why are you staring at the empty street?" Happy's high voice comes from her head. Lucy looks up at the young cat. "Isn't it weird? There's no one out and about. It's like a ghost town." she explains simply, her voice getting softer as her gaze returns to the deserted village. An eerie and dramatic wind blows, lifting everyone's hair slightly, and Natsu's head snaps up suddenly. "That smell." He stands suddenly, turning over his chair. "It smells of bad magic and evil." Natsu grabs Lucy's hand takes off, not bothering to explain. Happy is after him without missing a beat. Erza and Gray hurry after quickly after registering that their friend was taking off with another friend.

"Natsu! Ow! I can't keep up, dammit!" Lucy yells angrily. Natsu says nothing, merely throws her onto his back as easily as a child. He holds her by the backs on her knees and Lucy immediately wraps her arms around his neck. Lucy looks back to see Happy in close proximity to her and Natsu, with Erza and Gray trying to keep up. Lucy suddenly wishes that Juvia had not been sick and could have come with them, for she desperately wished Juvia was here to slow Natsu down. "Natsu, what's going on?" she demands angrily.

Lucy can clearly hear the deadly grin in his voice. "I smell the witch."