Vivian's P. O. V:
I sit at the driver's seat of the magic mobile, my hands clutching the gear stick, as I steer us towards Gardenia Town as fast as I can, my light chestnut brown hair flying out behind me, an SE plug strapped to my right wrist.
An SE plug allows you to channel your magic power into this magic mobile to drive it.
As we go flying over a bump, Gray yells from the roof while everyone else is piled in the vehicle, "Slow down, Viv! You're going way too fast!"
"I can't slow down!" I reply. "We have to get to Gardenia Town as fast as we can. I know this lava monster Gramps spoke of. If it is who I think it is, we need to hurry."
"It would be a lot better if you'd told us who this guy is," Says Gray, teeth gritted.
"You'll find out when we get there," I tell him.
"Natsu! Don't do that! You'll fall out of the magic mobile!" Lucy exclaims, frantically trying to prevent the Fire Dragon Slayer from falling out the window. Sting and Rogue just lie slumped inside while being comforted by their Exceeds.
They've offered to lend us a hand after learning Gardenia Town is my hometown. Or, rather, Rogue did and forced Sting to come along. Sting had put Yukino in charge of Sabertooth.
"That's the whole idea," Natsu wheezes.
I ignore him as I continue for my hometown, silently praying I'm not too late.
🗡🗡🗡
We stop for camp that night in the woods and Natsu makes a small fire while Erza cooks the meal.
"Man, does it feel good to be out of that death trap!" Natsu sighs happily.
"You can say that again," Groans Sting. He lifts his head to where I'm sitting by a tree, my arm resting on my bent knee with a distant expression on my face. "I wonder what's her problem? She's been weird since we left."
"I dunno, but I think it has something to do with the so called monster attacking her hometown," Gray guesses, in his black boxers as usual.
"Can you blame her?" Asks Charlele. "This is Vivian's hometown we're talking about." She takes another glance at the ice wizard and starts at the sight of him being naked. "Your clothes, Gray!"
Gray jumps and flails about for his clothes.
Rogue takes up two fish in a stick and comes over to me.
"Here," He says, holding one out t me. I accept it with a thank you and blow on it as Rogue sits down beside me. He blows on his fish as I take a bite of mine. I feel Rogue gazing at me as I eat. "Gray says you know this lava monster. Do you want to talk about it?"
I finish swallowing but fall silent for a moment. I say quietly, "I'm not ready to talk about it yet. Just know that what Gray told you is true. I have a bit of a history with this mage." I meet Rogue's eyes. I quickly add, "But it's nothing like that. We were just friends." Rogue seems to relax at that. "At least, I thought we were until he changed..."
I trail off and fall silent again as I return to eating my fish. Rogue seems to get the hint and doesn't press for anymore answers, but he remains sitting beside me as we eat our dinner.
I was grateful for his presence. It was comforting.
"How much further till we get to Gardenia Town?" Rogue questions after awhile.
"Just two more days of travelling by magic mobile," I answer. "It was the quickest way to get there, which is why I took the mobile."
"Now I see."
I finish my fish as Frosch comes over. He rests his paws on my knee as he asks, "Are you okay, Viv-chan? You look sad. Frosch doesn't like it when you're sad."
I give him a small smile as I stroke Frosch's head and say, "I'll be fine, Frosch. Really."
I blink my eyes a few times as the little Exceed curls up in my lap. I feel Rogue smiling at me as I continue to stroke Frosch.
🗡🗡🗡
It was morning by the time my friends and I reach Gardenia Town, with me at the wheel of the magic mobile again. Now that we've rescued my hometown, I slow down just enough as I drive us to the mayor's manor.
I gaze around the buildings that look like they were hit with lava attacks. There were few people out in the street. My teammates also peer out the windows, except for the Dragon Slayers.
"What happened here?" Breathes Erza.
"This must've been that lava monster that Master mentioned," Lucy guesses.
"How horrible," Says Wendy.
I remain silent as I head straight for the mayor's manor. When we reach it, I park the magic mobile and we spill out of it.
"Uuurrghh, finally," Groans Sting, clutching his stomach.
"I thought I was gonna die," Moans Natsu.
As the male Dragon Slayers overcome their motion sickness, I lead my teammates inside to the mayor's office.
I pause and knock on the door.
"Enter." We step inside a spacious room that has a couple of floor to ceiling bookshelves and a large desk in the center. On the desk is a stack of papers, a couple of books and pens. Sitting at the desk is a young man with spiky white hair and very bright blue eyes. Alastair Crowley smiles the second his eyes land on me. "Vivian! Welcome back."
"It's good to be back, Mayor Alastair," I reply, stopping before his desk and returning his smile with my own. I gesture to my teammates. "These are my friends: Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel, Wendy Marvell, Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, and their Exceeds, Frosch, Lector, Happy and Charlele."
"It's a pleasure," Alastair says.
"Likewise, Sir," Says Erza, inclining her head. "Do you mind telling us about the attacks on your hometown?"
"Of course not," Alastair says as he turns to the large bay window, hands clasped behind his back. "For the past week, a wizard who uses Takeover Magic has been attacking our city in the form of a lava monster. Many of us have been severely injured and we've lost a few lives."
"Did you say Takeover Magic?" Erza asks.
"Yes," Says Alastair as he half turns to us. "And, from what I can tell, they also use Fire Magic."
"Really?!" Natsu chimes, peeking up at that. He punches his palm, grinning eagerly. "Then we've got this job in the bag!"
"So they take on the form of a lava monster?" Sting inquires. "What exactly is that?"
"You'll know it when you see it. It's a bit hard to describe with words," Says Alastair. "I do hope you'll be able to put a stop to it, before it causes anymore damage."
"You can count on us, Sir!" Lucy says determinedly.
"I sure hope so," Says Alastair with a smile.
We exit the office and head to a hotel. Erza books our rooms and I end up in a room with Rogue. Lucy, Erza and Wendy have a room while Natsu m, Gray and Sting have their room.
I let out a sigh as I sit on the edge of my bed, Rogue setting down his bag. He glances to me as he asks, "Are you okay? You've been quiet since you got that job request from Makarov-sama."
"Sorry. I've just been thinking about the person behind these attacks," I reply in a quiet tone. Rogue sits next to me as Frosch goes up beside me.
Rogue takes my hand in a gentle squeeze, making me look at him. "Whatever is on your mind, Viv-chan, you know you can always tell me. I can feel your distress about this mission through our bond, remember?"
"Right," I mutter. "I'll tell you when I'm ready, okay? I just want to deal with this mission."
"Okay," Rogue murmurs, caressing my cheek. I lean into his touch with my eyes half closed.
Rogue is about to lean in to kiss me, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Oh...! S-Sorry!" Rogue and I jerk our heads around to see Wendy, blushing.
"What is it, Wendy?" I ask as Rogue pulls back.
"Um, Erza wanted me to come get you two to discuss the mission. We're supposed to gather in our room," She informs us.
I nod as I say, "Okay. We'll be right there." Wendy nods and heads back to her shared room. I let out another sigh and hug Frosch to my chest as I stand up. Rogue stands up also and we head to Erza's, Lucy's and Wendy's room to discuss the mission.