Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, I would update more often.

Author's Note: I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write this. I've just been writing pretty much anything other than this, because it wasn't really my idea, it was more SecretDime's, and so I stalled as soon as the moment was gone. Plus, I wanted to re-write the first chapter. If you haven't, go re-read the first chapter, because I have re-written it, and hopefully made it better.

The Princess and the Pea

"What happened to you two?" Mirajane asked, as Natsu and Gray limped into the guild.

"It's a long story," Gray muttered, standing upright only because Natsu was holding him up. The wounds on his face had been healed somehow by the combination of Natsu's tears and the creature's blood, but the rest of his wounds had to be treated like any other.

"Someone needs to look at his wounds," Natsu said, handing Gray off to Mira, following them to the infirmary. She lay him down on the bed, removing the bandages covering the ice mage's shoulder and stomach. "What happened?" Mira asked.

Natsu recounted the events that had led to Gray's mauling.

"So, what happened when you went to talk to this Magn, the village leader?"

"He didn't really talk to him," Gray muttered as the healing magic flowed around him. "It was more like he threatened the village leader until he told us everything."

"Well, what did he say?"

Natsu frowned. "He said that a girl named Rapunzel used to live in that tower, and that she was in love with a prince from a nearby kingdom or something, and then they both disappeared. According to Magn, the witch that the princess lived with cursed the prince, and he became the monster that attacked us."

"This isn't the first case of a prince and princess gone missing," a gravelly voice called.

"Master! What do you mean this isn't the first case like this?" Gray asked, twisting to look at the small, powerful guild leader.

"There have been numerous cases of princes and princesses disappearing and monsters appearing all over the place. I need you two to investigate them as soon as Gray is well enough to go."

"Why does it have to be them, Master?" Mirajane asked.

"I would have to explain the situation to anyone else, and I believe Natsu and Gray's unique abilities will prove useful in this situation." He looked at the two boys staring at him with almost identical expressions. "Pack your things so that you're ready to leave as soon as Gray is well enough to go. This is the information about the next case I want you to investigate." He handed Natsu a flyer and stared at him for a moment. "Oh and Natsu, cut that stupid thing off." He pointed at the still bloodstained braid and left.

The dragon slayer looked down at Gray, at the swirls of magic that surrounded him, repairing the damage the creature had done. "I'll pack for both of us. Get him well fast," he muttered to Mirajane, already planning to cut the hair off as soon as he found something sharp enough. Gray couldn't punish him if it was on Makarov's orders.

Gray lingered behind Natsu, moving slowly, still sore despite the full healing he had received before they left. They had agreed to take it easy on the way to the castle Makarov had sent them to, and Gray was fairly sure that Natsu was still in some kind of shock, because of how easy it had been to make him agree to taking it slow. He had to admit that he didn't really miss the long pink braid. Natsu looked more like himself with his usual spiky hair.

"Wow," Natsu breathed, staring up at the building in front of them. "Big."

"Understatement of the century," Gray agreed. He knocked on the door, favouring his injured arm.

"Identify yourselves," a loud voice echoed.

"We're from Fairy Tail," Natsu called, "we're here about the missing prince."

"Show me your marks." The voice yelled. Natsu turned to the side, showing the red mark on his bicep, and Gray lifted his shirt, displaying the blue Fairy Tail mark on his chest, and the slight pinkish discoloration of freshly healed skin. The doors of the great manor house opened softly, revealing a dark entrance hall, empty of all people. Natsu strode in like he belonged there, Gray following behind at a more discrete pace.

"Where is everyone?" Natsu asked, looking around the hallway.

"I don't know, why are you asking me?"

"This way please," a small voice said. They looked up to see a small wisp of energy floating in front of them. It lead them down the hallway to a small receiving room, where an elegant older woman and a white-haired man sat waiting for them.

"Thank you for coming," the man said.

"Please, take a seat," the woman said, gesturing to the two seats in front of them. Natsu and Gray sat in the offered seats, both of them perching on the edges of the delicate chairs. "This is a very delicate situation," the woman began, "and we need to make sure that you're the right people for the job."

"We were sent personally by our Master, ma'am," Gray said, voice soothing. Being reassuring wasn't his best gig, but he was better at it than Natsu. "If you would just explain the details of what happened."

The couple shared a glance, seeming to agree to talk to them. "It is rather a long story," the man began, "but I shall tell you the short version. We have a son, who is about to reach marrying age, but we could not find a woman of suitable pedigree."

Gray could almost feel Natsu roll his eyes.

"We had worried that we would not find a suitable candidate," the woman took over, "and then a beautiful young woman appeared at the door, claiming to be a travelling princess who needed a place to stay the night. She seemed perfect, but we had to be certain, so we decided to test her. We placed a pea on the bedstead, and then piled it high with mattresses. If she had a good night's sleep, then it would be clear that she wasn't a real princess."

"So what happened after that?" Natsu asked, starting to get impatient.

"That morning, both our son and the princess disappeared. And a….creature has appeared."

"A creature?" Gray asked, a slight shiver running down his spine. After all, he hadn't done too well out of their run in with the last creature. "What kind of creature?"

"A strange one," the woman muttered. "It would be best if you observed the rest of the details yourself. The wisp will show you to the necessary locations," she gestured to the bright, floating creature.

Natsu and Gray got to their feet, and followed the creature out of the delicate room, back into the empty hallway. They exchanged a look, but stayed silent until the wisp paused in front of a doorway.

"This is it," the wisp whispered in its soft, musical voice. "This is the room that the princess stayed in. It is the masters' wish that you examine this room first."

"This is officially the weirdest place I've ever smelled," Natsu muttered. "Everything smells the same, even the people. They smell like mould."

"Let's just try and avoid this monster, I've had enough of those for the moment." He entered the room, and stared up at the mattresses piled up to almost the ceiling. "Go for your life," Gray said, stepping to one side.

Natsu leapt up, landing lightly on the top of the mattresses. "No wonder the princess couldn't sleep," Natsu called down from his perch atop the mattresses. "These are really uncomfortable. And I can sleep anywhere."

"Can you feel the pea?" Gray asked, curious for some reason.

"Which one? It feels like there are hundreds of peas under these mattresses." Natsu rolled around the beddings, wrinkling his nose.

"Find anything interesting?" Gray yelled up.

"It smells like mould here too. And something else," Natsu took a few deep breaths. "I don't know what it is, but I think I smelled it in the tower." He froze, head tilted.

Gray looked around the room, looking for anything that might provide an answer as to what was going on. There didn't seem to be anything in the room apart from the bed with its ridiculous number of mattresses.

"Gray…"

"What is it?" Gray froze, turning to face Natsu on his pedestal of mattresses. As soon as he stopped moving, he could feel the vibrations as something came towards the room they were examining.

Natsu clambered to the edge of the bed and stared down at the doorway as a pea green, misshapen figure shambled into the room. It was about the size of Elfman, with elongated limbs and ragged talons. It grinned, revealing pointed yellow teeth.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Natsu grinned. The creature looked up at him, and suddenly the mattresses all collapsed around him, sending him into the middle of them. They closed around him, and he found himself gasping for breath, unable to move at all.

Gray stared as the creature sent Natsu into the bed and ambled threateningly towards him. "Why the hell are they focusing on me?" Gray wondered aloud. It did seem like the last two monsters they had encountered had focused on him. He could see smoke beginning to wind out from the mattresses as Natsu tried to burn his way out. The question was would he get out in time?

The creature took a swing at Gray, and he leapt backwards. "Right." He had had enough of monsters trying to rip him open.

"Ice Make: Lance!" He yelled, knife-sharp blades of ice forming and flying into the green creature. It jerked with the force of the needle-like ice tearing into it, but kept moving forward regardless. "Ice Make: Saucer!"

The ice magic ripped into the creature, destroying it completely. Gray grinned happily, his pent-up aggression happily released.

The mattresses burned up suddenly, revealing a raging Natsu. "You're going down!" He yelled, leaping to the ground. He turned to attack the creature and froze. "You got it." He said, turning to face Gray.

"Yup," Gray said, smiling happily. The two of them stared at each other for the moment. "What the hell is going on?" They asked simultaneously.

Author's Note: As soon as I had this finished, I posted it. Thus, there may be mistakes I haven't spotted. If you find them, please point them out to me. I know it has been a long time, but I hope you haven't forgotten me.