~❀.~❀.~
Team Natsu was on their way to the Royal Palace for a job the King of Fiore had for them. But on their way there, one of the wheels on their wagon broke so they stopped to fix it. Asami and Erza stayed behind with Gray while Natsu, Happy, and Lucy had wandered off. Wendy, Carla, and Haru offered to go after them since Gray was almost done fixing the wheel.
"Ice Make:" The ice mage's hands formed their stance as they glowed. "Wagon Wheel." He said, a layer of ice covered the wooden wheel. "It should hold up to the royal capital."
"That will be enough." Erza said, her arms crossed over her armored chest as she smiled at her friend.
Asami nodded in agreement. "It looks great, Gray." She praised her husband as he stood up a faint blush on his cheeks from the praise.
"It's nothing." He said, scratching the back of his neck. He glanced out to where he could see the capital in the distance. "You know, we haven't been in the capital in a long time."
A reminder of the last time they were here were for the Grand Magic Games over a year ago. "Yeah..." She murmured softly. It seemed so long ago now when things seemed more simpler. But, they still had the lingering worry of Zeref and Acnologia being out there.
"Asami!" Haru flew out of the trees with a flash of amusement on his face as he flew over her head. "Guess what Lucy and Natsu were doing?!"
"Oi!" Lucy jumped out, giving him a look of annoyance. "Don't make it sound dirty!"
"You were the one in Natsu's face!" He retorted, dodging her swiping hands. "I mean, look at poor Wendy."
They looked over to see Wendy coming out with a red face and looked like steam was coming out of her ears as her imagination began to run wild.
"My poor sister!" Asami cried out, grabbing her sister and began murmuring comforting words. "What did you see? You know what just block it out of your mind!"
"We weren't doing anything!" Lucy insisted, her cheeks red as she felt flustered by everyone's gazes on her while Natsu looked confused by all the commotion. "This is all your fault!" She snapped at him.
He just stared at her with a confused look and the rest sweat dropped while Asami fussed over her sister's innocent mind.
~❀.~❀.~
"The grave of dragon's. I believe that some have seen it already at the Grand Magic Games, but below the arena is a place where ancient dragon bones are resting." The King of Fiore said to the group as they all sat around a table. "It is the last resting place the dragon's, which once stood against the black dragon Acnologia, fought and defeated it. My ancestors have examined the retirement several times. In the end, they built the arena to commemorate the dragon's. About 100 years ago, a staff was found in the tomb of the dragon's."
"A staff?" Natsu asked, crossing arms over his chest with a furrowed brow.
Happy raised a paw. "Was it the walking stick of a dragon?"
"No, it is a subject of men." The King had his hands clasped together. "This staff absorbed the anger and grief of the dragons. And by the accumulated power deformed the original shape. The name of this staff is Dragon Cry." He informed them with a grave tone. "This staff has the power to obliterate an entire empire. A few days ago, this staff was replaced by Fiore's former Foreign Minister. Zash Cain, a follower of black magic. In secret he planned to overthrow the royal family but failed. Before the military could arrest him, he fled abroad with the help of his comrades."
Princess Hisui continued for her father. "But when the exile in the kingdom of Stella was preserved, he died. All of his subordinates, as gift for the Kingdom of Stella."
"He killed his comrades?" Natsu repeated in shock.
He gave a grave nod. "After his emigration, he climbed up to Stella's state minister with his spying ability and brutal ways." The King said.
"A terrible man." Carla commented.
He nodded once more. "This dangerous man takes possession of a dangerous object. Please get the staff back before something bad could be done with it."
"Definitely." Erza agreed, with the rest nodding.
Happy looked over at Natsu. "Where is the Kingdom Stella?"
Lucy answered his question. "It's located in the southeast Ishgar, surrounded by a steep cliff wall."
"It's an island isolated by the foreign countries completely." Asami quickly added, leaning against her husband's shoulder, taking notice of the fire dragon slayers paling expression.
"An island?" Natsu stiffened. "Does that mean we're going by boat?"
~❀.~❀.~
The team had infiltrated the bar Altair in order to get the key while Wendy and Natsu were waiting for their turn. They had made it to Stella which was no easy task especially with Natsu hating the motion sickness he got in turn.
Lucy danced on the stage in hopes of getting their targets attention. Asami smiled politely as she placed drinks on tables as she was relieved that Lucy had gotten the short straw. She wasn't sure if she would be too comfortable dancing up there for all the men here and she felt a bit bad for the blonde girl but at least she wasn't up there.
Her eyes flickered to the man named Zash who entered the bar just like their intel told them he would. Erza told Lucy to begin distracting the man so Asami could get the key.
Asami noticed that the target was distracted by Gemini who was transformed into the blonde while dancing flirtatiously in front of him. The water mage used her water magic to take the ring off his finger before sending a nod to Erza and made her way to the backroom where her husband was waiting.
"Here, you can make the copy now." The ravenette told him as she handed it over to him.
Gray nodded. "It should only take a second." Using both hands, opening his palm to reveal the copy made of ice.
"I'll be taking this back now." She told him, holding the original before her eyes flickered to the three exceed hiding in the shadows. "Be careful you three." She then left, standing back in the crowd as her eyes fell on Zash and quickly managed to slip the ring back on his finger.
~❀.~❀.~
Gray smirked as he froze Zash, trying to ignore his own annoyance towards Natsu for getting too early in the plan. "Smoking is prohibited inside the bar." He said cooly.
Lucy glanced over to the two guards who were suddenly knocked unconscious and smiled widely when she saw the two behind them. "Erza! Asami!" She said in relief.
"This way. We're leaving." Erza told them, leading them out of the bar. Her brown eyes quickly fell on the water dragon slayer. "Do you know where they are now?"
Asami took a moment to smell the air as she focused on Wendy and Natsu's scent. Once she got a lock on their scents, she nodded. "This way." She pointed.
They ran in that direction and saw multiple soldiers who were shooting. Erza went ahead, getting the staff from Wendy before taking out a few soldiers and tossing to Gray.
"Sorry guys." He grinned, flipping back as he froze the roof causing the multiple soldiers to fall. His eyes widened when he was mid air and saw other soldiers firing arrows at him. He slipped off his shirt, the arrows hitting the clothing item. He dodged every other arrow, knocking out some before his eyes landed on his wife who was on the opposite building and tossed the staff in her direction. "Asami!"
"I got it!" She caught it, running away from the soldiers behind her. She stood her ground, facing the multiple soldiers who were preparing to fire their guns at her. She smirked, holding the staff up in the air before tossing it. "Lucy catch!"
"Got it!" The blonde yelled as she ran off.
"Sorry, but I can't let you guys go after her." She said, keeping her hand raised as water from the fountain nearby gathered above her. "Sky Water Dragon: Drillhead!" She aimed it at them, attacking them and wiping them all out.
"Nice." Gray praised her, jumping over to where she was.
"Asami! Gray!" Haru yelled, flying towards them as he floated over them.
Asami grinned at the two, before she finally took notice of her husbands lack of attire. "Gray, where did you throw your clothes?" She asked.
He blinked, looking down and flushed. "Oh! I didn't notice."
"Of course you didn't." Haru muttered under his breath. He looked over at the clothes on the other building that were scattered. "I'll grab them." He flew over.
Gray rubbed his neck sheepishly when he took notice of his wife's exasperated expression. "I don't mind your stripping problem but you should at least keep your boxers on." She chided, glancing away from him as she made a water barrier to cover his lower half in order to prevent anyone from seeing him.
He yelped, immediately covering himself and was thankful to her for building a small water barrier. "I'll try." He muttered, his cheeks reddened from embarrassment.
Just as Haru arrived back with his clothes, the three heard yelling and looked up to see Natsu with Lucy flying over their heads. "Come on guys!" He called out, still using his fire to fly over them.
"EEP!" Lucy screeched, holding the staff tightly as she cried out in fear of falling as she held on tighter to the dragon slayer.
Gray slipped on his pants before sharing a nod with his wife and Haru. The three immediately rushed after the pair.