Eye of the Black Dragon

The Two New Keys

Lucy was still in a level of shock after seeing Erza and Gray trounce the bandits so easily. It made Lucy nervous. If those two were that strong, and they could never beat Natsu, then how strong was Natsu?

Deciding to put the thought out of her mind for the time being, she focused back on the mission. For the time, she was still carrying the jewel, and she looked at it carefully.

"Are either you the slightest bit curious about just what this gem might actually look like?" Lucy asked.

"Immensely," Gray said.

"But our client was very specific about not looking into it," Erza said firmly.

"Come on!" Lucy insisted," How will he know? I mean its not like it will actually get any form of wind wear."

"We gave our word to the archeologist," Erza said, before jumping onto a rock, and pointing her sword into the sky," And it is our solemn duty as mages to hold fast to that word!" A beam of sunlight seem to focus on her.

"Does that happen a lot?" Lucy asked Gray.

"Quite often actually," Gray answered.

After they got moving again, Gray pulled out the map.

"We should be getting close," he said," The city should just be over that hill." He pointed to a large hill that was in front of them.

"No point in stopping now," Erza said," We will spend the night in the city, and then head back in the morning. Pick up the pace!"

With that, the trio continued walking. Lucy kept her attention primarily on the jewel. She had been holding it for about an hour now, which normally meant it would have absorbed her body heat and felt warmer. However, instead, it was still cold, even through the wrapping paper that covered it. In fact, if Lucy had to choose something to compare it to, she would have to say it felt like she was holding an ice pack. It also gave off a feeling that reminded her of...

"Oi! Lucy!" Erza called, breaking the Heartfilia girl from her thoughts," Let's go!" It was then that Lucy noticed that during the time that she was thinking, she had fallen behind. She clutched the jewel close to her, and hurried after Erza and Gray.

Eventually, the three got to the top of the hill, which overlooked the city. It was that large, but it was still larger than Magnolia, and like said city, it was on the sea.

"It looks like a seaside place," Lucy noted.

"Well, no sense in just standing up here forever," Erza said," Let's get down there." She then apparently re-quipped her armor again, to a very lightweight looking form that looked like something one would see in a stealth force. She also had a shield that looked like a surfboard.

"Ice Make: Board!" Gray said as he waved his hands, and formed a large board out of ice. It didn't take long for Lucy to realize what the two had in mind, and before she could protest, the two had pushed off, and were already sliding down the mountain.

"Wait for me!" Lucy said as she ran down the hill after them.

Once they got into town, and Lucy had managed to catch up with Erza and Gray, they walked throughout the city.

"According to the map, the museum is on the other side of the town, by the waterfront," Gray said as he studied the map. Lucy sighed.

"Well, at least its not that big of a city," she said.

As they walked down the road, they overheard a conversation from the side of the road.

"Did you hear that the the sea monster sank another ship today?" one man asked.