Lumina

After about 2 more days of walking through the forest, the Fairy Tail wizards finally found themselves in the city of Lumina. Each one stood in awe of what they saw as they entered the huge town. The town was at least twice the size of Magnolia, and that went for the population density as well. There were magic shops and restaurants as far as the eye could see. In the middle of town ran the sparkling Luminous River, which separated the northern and southern halves of the city. Just east of town square stood the famous Lumina Casino; where thousands of tourists would try their luck in the various games and watch shows. The streets were filled with people. Some were tourists, others were residents going on with their day to day operations, buying, selling, conversing…but something felt off.
Erza was the first to notice the disturbance. "Do you notice what is going on?" she asked the group.
Lucy looked around confused, "What do you mean Erza? I don't see anything."
"Yeah I feel it too." Gray said replying to Erza, completely ignoring Lucy's question. "This place looks way too relaxed for a town that's supposedly swarming with Dark wizards."
"What do you guys think is going on?" Levy asked looking at the others for some sort of definite answer.
Erza continued to gaze at the people in town, "I can't say for sure, but we should make our way to the Mayor's office to get a better grasp on the situation." She stood in front of the group and began breaking down the mission plan.
"Lucy, Levy, Wendy, Happy, & Gray," she pointed at the five she named out "You five will come with me, we're going to the mayor's office." She then turned her gaze to the others, "The rest of you find the Broken Sky inn, we will be staying there while we're in Lumina. There should be enough jewel in my bag to find rooms for all of us. We'll be back soon."
"Right." Natsu answered with a smile.
"Feh…fine." Gajeel replied slightly annoyed.
"O…ok." Juvia answered with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Why did she have to take Gray with her? It's not fair.
Erza's group began walking towards the bridge over the river, since the Mayor's office was located on the south side of Lumina. Her group was soon out of eyesight, getting lost in the shuffle of the crowd, leaving Natsu's group behind with all of the bags.
Natsu stretched and turned towards his group. He smiled wide, "Alright guys, let's get goin." He pulled Erza's luggage mountain while Gajeel grabbed his, Wendy, and Levy's bags, Carla walking next to them. Gajeel looked back at Juvia who still had a gloomy look on her face.
"Hey Juvia!" He yelled snapping her back to her senses. "Come on, we're going."
"Right, I'm sorry." She bent over to pick up Lucy's bag and froze when she went to pick the next bag…it was Gray's.
This is…this is Gray's bag. She sniffed the air above it. It smells like him. A loving look washed over her face. Oh my darling Gray, I feel like you are still with me now. She giggled to herself as she hugged the bag.
"Juvia!" Gajeel yelled as he, Natsu, and Carla began walking off. "Hurry up or we're gonna leave ya behind!"
Her face grew red from embarrassment, "Sorry. Coming!" She yelled back. She grabbed Gray's bag and ran towards her friends. She was closing in them until she bumped into a tall man walking in her path.
They both fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ow." Juvia groaned as she rubbed her aching head. Quickly noticing the man she ran into on the ground in front of her, she quickly rose from the ground and bowed apologetically.
"I'm so sorry sir please let me he…" she extended her hand but the man simply rose from the ground, dusted himself off, and walked past Juvia. She turned around confused as the man walked past, it was as if he didn't even notice her presence.
That was odd. She thought to herself as she stood there.
"Juvia!" Gajeel yelled irritated.
"Coming!" Juvia yelled back as she began running to her friends. I wonder what that was about.
She caught up to them and began walking next to Gajeel, with a peering look in her eye as she looked down at the ground.
"Somethin up?" Gajeel asked, noticing her look.
"Oh no, it's nothing." She said smiling at him, but soon went back to her quizzical look as they continued to walk.
…
Erza and her group had soon made it to the mayor's office on the northern side of town. Lucy, Levy, and Happy all looked up at the huge building in wonder. An old rustic clock hung at the top of the building, and a spire at the very top extending so far it looked as if it could touch the sun.
"Let's head inside, the sun will be setting soon." Erza declared, returning the three to reality. The six entered the large structure only to notice that there was only a single desk inside, sitting in front of a huge door.
They walked towards the desk and saw a brown haired woman sitting there. She sported black glasses and had a very well-endowed figure, which rivaled Mirajane's. She watched them as they approached and fixed her glasses before she began to speak.
"May I help you?"
"Yes." Erza replied, "We are wizards from the Fairy Tail guild, and we have come to see mayor Hereon. We are here about job the request that was sent about ridding the town of a dark guild."
The woman looked the group up and down as if she was analyzing them. She then stood up, grabbing a folder as she extended her arm to the right of the room. "The mayor is in a meeting right now, but if you would please take a seat over on that bench he will be with you shortly." She pointed to a medium sized bench with a red cushion on it.
Erza and the others sat on the bench, awaiting for their chance to speak to the mayor.
"This place is huge." Happy said as he sat in Lucy's lap, looking up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, but what's up with the one door and desk?" Lucy asked aloud.
"Maybe it's some kind of weird decoration thing." Levy answered smiling.
As the three continued talking Wendy couldn't help but notice the stone looks on Erza and Gray's faces.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked the two.
"I don't know." Gray began to answer, "Something about this town seems off. Everyone seems so calm, but at the same time nervous."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't explain it for sure, but we'll see what happens when we talk to the mayor."
Erza sat silent as she continued to think about the town. Where were all the wizards? Why was everyone so calm? These questions continued to race through her mind, perplexing her.
Eventually the huge doors behind the desk opened and 3 men walked out of the mayor's office.
Two of them wore formal suits, and shades. Both of them had oddly green colored hair, it was possible they were twins; but that wasn't the weird site. In front of them was a man, with a distinctive scar above his right eye, his hair was a brilliant shade of gray, almost silver as it glistened in the light. He wore a pair of dark blue pants, with 3 holes in the left leg and 2 holes on the right leg, he had to be at least 6' 6" with a black jacket draping over his muscular frame, and he wasn't wearing a shirt under said jacket. He walked past the Fairy Tail wizards, he and Erza trading glances as he walked by.
There was something about him…he didn't seem too threatening but Erza could tell he that he possessed immense magical power. What could someone like that want with the mayor? Were they another group of wizards there for the same purpose? More questions she couldn't answer.
After the threesome had exited the building, the secretary stood in front of the open door and extended her right arm. "The mayor will see you now." she said with a small bow.
The 6 rose from the bench and walked inside the huge office, the door slowly closing behind them. They looked around as they stood in the office, taking in all of the sights. There were paintings, all of excellent quality, placed about the walls; some of them were high end art, while others were paintings of Lumina. After looking around for a few more seconds they all looked straight ahead.
A bald man in a deep purple suit, hands clasped behind his back stood in front of a very large window overlooking the northern end of the city. The sun had already set and the town had begun lighting up with bright lights.
"Do you know why they call this town Lumina?" he asked them rhetorically. "It is because of the bright lights that illuminate the city at night. The brightest and most beautiful lights in all of Fiore, even more beautiful than those in the capital. They glow from the north end shopping district, to the casino, to the southern marketplace, and even all the way to the ends of the river." He sounded as if he had a hint of sadness in his voice as he turned around to face Erza's group.
"Now what can I do for you today?"
Erza stepped forward and bowed, everyone else following her example. "Mayor Hereon, I am Erza Scarlet and these are my companions…" She then pointed towards her friends as she named them off, "Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Levy McGarden, and Happy. We are wizards from the Fairy Tail guild. We have come in response to the request of eliminating a dark guild from this city."
Mayor Hereon sat at his desk and placed his head on his hands. He looked at the group with a note of sorrow as he spoke to them. "I see so you are the ones who answered the job request…" He paused and smiled, although it looked a bit off "I'm sorry all of you came such a long way, especially you Titania; but we no longer require your services."
Everyone's faces gave way to shock, except for Erza whose eyes were still focused on the mayor.
He began writing on a piece of paper on his desk. "If you like I would be happy to pay for your trip home." He finished writing and reached out his hand, the piece of paper inside. Erza walked forward and grabbed it, walking back to her friends with her face still calm.
Gray on the other hand was not so easily dismayed. "What do you mean you don't need us? Do you how much time we…" he stopped when Erza placed her hand on his shoulder. He calmed down and stepped back as Erza turned towards the mayor.
"I see. We are sorry we bothered you sir." They once again bowed before they exiting the office. The mayor politely waved to them as the door closed behind them. Once they made it outside, Gray began to question Erza as she looked at the paper in her hand.
"What was that Erza? It's obvious he was lying. What if he was part of that guild?"
"I know he was lying Gray." She answered sternly.
"Then why did we leave?"
She held up the piece of paper the mayor had given her, written on it were the numbers 958236.
"We left because he gave you a check?" Gray asked irritated.
"Levy." Erza called out as the girl stepped forward
"Yes?"
"Can you use one of your magical tools to look at this?"
"Huh? Well…yea I can do that."
Levy reached into the bag she brought with her and pulled out a pair of white glasses. She put them on and took the piece of paper from Erza and took a look at the numbers, suddenly the numbers began glowing and changing into letters.
"I get it, it was a code." Lucy said she as she watched in amazement.
The paper stopped glowing and the group looked at the new message: "Meet at the Glowing Spider bar at 11 pm." Happy read aloud. He looked at everyone else confused.
"What does it mean?" Wendy asked.
"It could be the mayor trying to send us some kind of message at this bar." Erza guessed.
"Or it could be a trap." Gray added.
"Regardless of what it is, we should rendezvous with Natsu and the others before deciding what to do next. Let's head back to the inn." Erza's group began to walk to the inn to regroup, but little did they know a shadowy figure was following them.