The Art of Trouble

Chapter 7: The Plan

The three had already arrived to where Lameria had intended to. Judging from the sound of echoes every time they took a step, and how dim the surroundings are, along with the insufficiency of oxygen felt by a certain celestial mage, the place where they have been currently walking into was a huge cave.

"Uhh... Lameria, is there any place we can talk freely without being suffocated?"
Gray suddenly broke out, and with that, Lucy was glad that she wasn't alone with the feeling, and he just frankly told their companion about it.

"Oh, pardon me." Lameria had once again used her staff, raising it slightly above the ground and moving it in a round motion a couple of times, until another gush of wind was produced.
With the wind's accumulation, the cave had now been fully ventilated. Lucy was amazed by what Lameria could do. Meanwhile, Gray was now used to seeing Lameria performed her magical powers.

"That was actually intended for those who would come and attack this place anytime. I wasn't able to bring it back to it's usual pressure since, I'm already used to it." Lameria justified herself. She couldn't risk the thought of blowing up her cover, as well as Gray's.

After minutes of walking, Lameria ceased in doing so. After all, they had already reached the specific place where they should be able to converse properly. The area could be compared to a conference room, where there's a long table with chairs that are arranged in rows and are being set in front of each other.

"We're here. Just find yourselves a seat near mine." Lameria stated, while, she was on her way to her own.

"To begin with, what do you need to tell me?" The woman began to speak in a serious tone.

"Lameria, you see... Lu-"
"It was actually me who insisted Gray to join him in this mission, despite his strong protest about it... He even wanted me to go back to Fiore."

Gray started to say something, yet, Lucy interrupted him and continued to give Lameria an explanation.

"Yet, he let you stay. Is that right, Raven?"
Lameria queried. Hearing her words, it would have been easy to determine an exasperated tone but, her demeanor spoke differently. Her expression was a mixture of curiosity and awe. Then, she continued speaking.

"I never knew Raven had a woman back at his place."

"You clearly misunderstood our relationship." Gray responded in an instant. His face was already flushed, and although he had known his own body to be naturally cooler than his surroundings, he literally felt hot. And so was his companion, whose face was as red as his, or pink, but regardless, the color of their cheeks implied embarrassment. For them, they were actually being teased, however, having known Lameria, teasing isn't just part of who she is. Gray seemingly thought.

"If I may request, would you stop thinking such a thing?!"
Lucy was now annoyed, yet, she didn't want to be rude to Lameria. If it was Happy who would tease, she would definitely give him a punch, or one of her "Lucy kicks", so to speak.

"Oh, did I think the wrong way?"
Now, it was Lameria's forehead that was beaded with sweat. At the back of her mind, she was truly ignorant about things as such. She really did thought that Lucy was Gray's special someone. After all, back when they had training, there was one time that Gray mentioned of a certain girl at the guild, whom he was somehow being overprotective with. Although, he didn't specifically say who it was.

"Let's just put it this way, it's now too late for Lucy to return back to the guild. If she does, there's a bigger chance that someone will follow her, and thus, Fairy Tail will be recognized."

"So, being determined to stay, we decided to stick together, as-"

It was Gray who spoke once again, and Lucy, like she was used to being this way, had interjected him once more. With this, Lameria thought, Are they all like this in their guild, covering up each other in every circumstance? This made her realize something, and that's about friendship, although the word itself didn't really cross her mind.

"As husband and wife..." Lameria blurted it out all of a sudden.

"Wha-?!" Lucy and Gray yelled in unison. They weren't shocked of Lameria's response, but of the way she predicted what they were supposed to say. Lucy's mouth dropped open. A while ago, she was impressed of Lameria, however this time, she began to have high respect for the woman. Who really is this person? She silently asked herself, yet whatever her queries about Lameria, she would have to ask Gray when they were alone together.
Then, Lameria continued speaking. Both of her hands were being clutched together. From the way Lucy and Gray looked at her, it's as if they were now talking to their queen, and they were her subjects.

"You will act as betrothed to each other... For you to do that, you need to go through a ceremony. Arkimedea is very conservative, especially when it comes to marriage, so as Davos, ever since it became it's colony."

"Hmm... So, it isn't really part of Oak town." Lucy's hand held her chin, as she had confirmed that Davos is actually not part of the said place.

"Davos declared it's independence from Crocus just almost 2 years ago to be part of Arkimedea, thus, it's no longer owned by Oak town. I just hope it truly was for their own good." Lameria gave Lucy her a doubtful response.

"Anyway, could you tell us the thing we need to do? Lucy and I had planned something like this, all we lack is the ceremony that needs to be done." Gray changed the subject, getting impatient about their next move. If they should pursue the plan, then, the sooner the better. When push comes to shove, their enemies might be able to sense something already and would attack at the unexpected moment. It would be better if there's a diversion, to get themselves out from certain suspicions.

Lameria began to stand from his seat, and sashayed towards the room's area where there's a medium sized shelf. From there, she had pulled an old book. It's color is black, and from the front cover Lucy saw it's title, stating a different language, Kulturale d' Arkimedea. Being a bookworm herself, Lucy had somehow understand that it meant, "The Culture of Arkimedea".
Lameria had now placed the book on the long table where they currently had their conversation. The book wasn't really thick, and was about 15 inches long. When Lameria opened the first page, it revealed a map and Lucy was surprised when she saw that it was the same as the one she had. At that moment back at the hotel, she had thought that it was useless, so, she ignored that map and placed it back to her bag instead. She had only carried it along with the map of Fiore because Loke gave it to her. A month ago, before she left, she asked him to find a map that could lead her to her two friends. Few weeks after she gave him the order, Loke returned with two maps, even he, himself didn't know something about that map. He only told her to keep it, since it might be of help in the future. However, Loke promised to tell her the moment he discovered something about the map. And so, moving on, she only used the map of Fiore because it contained the location of Davos, the last place where the two mages had been spotted.
As of the moment, Lucy remained silent despite her thoughts, which are full of curiosity.

"So, this is Arkimedea..." Lameria began her story, while gently spreading her set of fingers on the map.