The fortune teller was a very mysterious individual. A young woman with tarot cards who just appeared in the city one day and set up shop in the market place, using her vast knowledge on magic and the supernatural to make a living. Many thought her to be just a charlatan but she was actually quite legitimate in her abilities. If only more people had faith in her power, then she'd be living much better.

Happy led Natsu to her tent and they found her sitting at a table, laying down tarot cards with great care while speaking in an ancient language that had been long forgotten. Her hair was tied and covered by a rag, and a veil hung over her face, the only feature of her you could see were her eyes. Eyes that were completely filled with mystery and the unknown.

"Ahh salaam and good morning to you stranger." She greeted Natsu. "Welcome to my tent of mystery, of enchantment, and the finest merchandise this side of the sand, on sale today!"

She snapped her fingers and like magic, the tarot cards were transformed into magical products.

"So what can I interest you in? Snake eyes, made from the eyes of the lucky viper? Fresh fruit from the tree of renewal? Oil of cherry blossoms from the Tiānkōng Empire? An enchanted cook pot that is always brimming with food?"

"No thanks I- Wait go back to the cook pot." Natsu said.

"Yes good sir, with this pot, you'll never go hungry again. Instant food will appear from within and it will never empty unless you request it. Observe!"

She presented the empty pot to Natsu and Happy, and right before their eyes, a small yet marvelous feast filled up inside. Natsu's mouth began to water and he started to reach for some food, only for the fortune teller to quickly pull it away from him.

"Yes! And this magnificent product can be yours all for the low price of ten silver pieces." She said.

"What?!" Natsu cried at the outrageous price. "In what world is that a low price?!"

"My world! And I don't negotiate with prices, so take it or leave it."

"I'll leave it, thank you very much. I didn't come to buy anything anyway. I came because I heard that you know about weird, paranormal stuff."

"It's a subject that I have majored in. Do you seek my knowledge?"

"Yeah. Tell me, can cats talk?"

She gave him a skeptic look.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Look I know it sounds nuts but my cat can talk. Show her Happy."

The fortune teller looked down at the blue feline who proceeded to do as human companion requested.

"Hi I'm Happy, nice to meet you."

"See?!" Natsu said.

However while Natsu heard Happy speaking as if he were a human being, all the fortune teller heard was,

"Meow. Meow. Meow."

She slowly looked back and Natsu, starting to step away from him real slow-like.

"Sir are you well? Are you suffering from heat exhaustion? If so I'll grant you some fresh drinking water from the oasis. Free of charge."

"Don't look at me like that! I am not crazy!" Natsu insisted.

"I never said you were sir, but the desert heat can play tricks on the weary traveler."

"Lady he's not crazy." Happy spoke again. "Impulsive, temperamental, and gluttonous. But not crazy."

"Exactly- Hey!" Natsu said.

"What? I said you weren't crazy."

"Okay maybe you have a point on the whole impulse and temper thing, but I am not a glutton."

"You once attempted to wrestle an elephant for a single peanut."

"That's not gluttony! That's doing whatever you can not to die of starvation!"

As the fortune teller watched the young man argue with his cat, she became more unnerved.

"Meow! Meow! Meow!"

"Now don't you start bringing up the mushroom incident! Yes I shouldn't have eaten rancid fungus but I was starving! Beggars can't afford to be choosers you know?"

"Oh God, and people think that I'm deranged." She muttered to herself.

"What's the matter with you? Can't you hear him?" Natsu asked her.

"The only thing I hear coming from his mouth are the sounds that should originate from a cat."

"You mean you don't hear him talking?"

"No."

"Oh no!" Natsu started to panic. "No! I can't be going insane! I just can't be! I'm too young to go insane! Lady you gotta help me here!"

Without thinking, he grabbed her arms to keep her from running away.

"Release me at once, fool!" She jerked his hands off her. "How dare you-"

But her anger was suddenly silence and transformed into wonder when she noticed the ring on Natsu's finger. She quickly grabbed hold of his hand and slowly examined the jewel he wore.

"Where did you get this?" She asked him.

"I got it from some old beggar woman. She said that I was the only person the ring would fit."

"Are you certain? She claimed that the ring would fit no other?"

"That's what she said."

Her gaze returned to the ring.

"It cannot be. Truly it cannot." She studied each detail of the ring carefully, comparing it to her perfect memory. It all matched up correctly. "But it is. You have the ring of Zeref."

"The ring of who?"

"Zeref. The greatest wizard whoever lived. Once an all powerful and immortal being of benevolence and wisdom, but after centuries of loneliness, he forsake both power and immortality for the love of a mortal woman. When he gave up his magic, he divided up into sacred objects that he bestowed to his chosen five. However in case, such power fell into the wrong hands, he cast a special seal in which the unworthy user would be in prisoned for all time unless Zeref himself or a descendant of Zeref, freed them."

"Interesting story. What does this have to do with the ring?"

"This ring is the only method of finding a descendant of Zeref. If the ring fits you then that means his blood flows through your veins and that also means that you are the only one, who can retrieve the lamp."

The fortune teller sat Natsu down at her table and snapped her fingers again, causing her products to revert into tarot cards. She flipped one over which bore the image of an old oil lamp.

"Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts." She explained, then flipped over another cared with the image of a dark cave. "It has spent centuries locked away in an ancient cave that opens every seventh day of every seventh month, on the night of a seventh full moon."

"Why so many seventh stuff?"

"I don't know. I don't make the rules, I just explain them. Anyway, such an opportunity will arrive within a short amount of time, you can enter without fear and retrieve the lamp which will give you-"

"Wait a minute! Time out! Does any of this explain why my cat talks?"

"Oh right...Well for starters your cat isn't really talking. You can just understand him. One of the abilities of the ring is that you can hear the voice of fauna perfectly."

"Really?" Natsu looked at the ring. "What else can this thing do?"

"Small things really. Understanding animals, making your body fire-proof, power over the flame, seeing in the dark."

"That's small stuff?"

"Compared to what lies within the lamp? Yes. You see the lamp is by far the greatest treasure in all of Lazan City, if you went into the cave, possessed it, and freed the-"

"Hold on, I'm not the sharpest sword in the royal weapons vault but from what I've learned from story tellers, aren't ancient caves that hold treasures usually guarded or booby trapped?"

"Booby trapped? No. But it may or may not be guarded by a dragon."

"And you think I should go down there? Down in the dragon guarded cave?"

"Well...Yes."

"Lady I wish to eat, not to be eaten."

"But you don't understand, this is the ultimate treasure! Compared to the lamp, a pharaoh's tomb is a pauper's grave. A sultan's fortune is nothing but lunch money!"

"I don't care. No treasure is worth dying over." Natsu said. "Thanks for telling me why I can hear my cat speak and assuring me that I'm still sane. That's all I wanted to know. See you around."

"Please! You have to-"

"Sorry lady, but a poor life is better than no life."

Natsu and Happy left the tent, the fortune teller followed after them and desperately tried to persuade the descendant of Zeref to change his mind.

"But it's not just about the treasure! The lamp contains-"

Unfortunately, she lost them both in the crowd of  shopping peasants. When she could no longer see either one or figure out where they could have gone, she became crestfallen.

"A prisoner." She sighed. "The lamp contains a prisoner and you're the only one who can help him."

...

The oasis was an area in the desert made fertile by a source of fresh water, used as natural springs and the city's water supply. Though the underground water source was used for the needs of all the people, the springs were reserved solely for the royal family. It was also the only place outside of the city that Lucy was permitted to visit. A camel brought her to the oasis and her hand maids hung up tarps to hide her body while the palace guards stood vigilantly outside the tarps, wisely keeping their eyes peeled for any danger instead of attempting to ogle the princess.

As Lucy settled into the cool springs, she could feel the years of tense frustration and restricted palace life wash away. As her hand maids shampooed her hair and scrubbed her body with fragrant oil, she forgot all her troubles. The scents and sensations were like Heaven. Wouldn't it be great if she could feel like this always?

"Feeling better princess?" Aries asked her as she rinsed Lucy's body.

"Much." Lucy sighed. "You're right, I did need this."

"Yes." Aquarius agreed. "Nothing like a soak in fresh water springs to make you feel like a new woman."

"Shall we return to the palace now?" Aries asked.

"No. Not yet. I wish to spend some quiet time alone. To lay out in the sun by the river."

"As you wish."

After her soak, the hand maidens dressed her in robes and let her to lie by the river. She first closed her eyes and peacefully soaked up the sun's warm rays, then when she felt herself becoming too hot, she approached the river and dipped her toes into the water to cool off.  She watched the carp, the trouts, the catfish, and the bullheads swim about and she saw the ducks floating on the water's surface and the frogs hopping from lily pad to lily pad. A very small frog slipped when he hopped and landed on her feet. But she did not scream as any other princess might have done. Instead, she laughed and smiled, taking the tiny, green, creature into her hands with great care.

"Hello little friend. Come to keep a lonely princess company?" She asked him. "Don't be afraid, I won't harm you or keep you as a pet. You belong here."

She placed her hand in the water, allowing the frog to swim away.

"What lucky a creature." She thought. "his life is so simple and short, yet he is free to live such a life however he wishes. I would gladly trade the rich and long life of a princess for a simple and short life as a wetland creature if it meant I would be free."

Suddenly she heard something rustling in the tall reeds of the river. Something with eyes that were observing her with the uttermost curiosity.

"Who's there?" Lucy asked, quickly pulling her feet from the river and pulling a chastity dagger from her robe belt. "I warn you, a man daring to spy on a princess as she bathes is punishable by death."

No answer came and the eyes quickly vanished from the grass. She heard water splashing, whatever was in the river was swimming away. But Lucy refused to let what she believed to be a pervert, escape unpunished.

"Oh no you don't! Take this you pervert!"

She grabbed a nearby stone and threw it at the large figure she spotted diving into the water.

"Ow!"

When she heard the feminine voice cry out, she realized that she had attacked a female. Perhaps a peasant girl bathing in the river?

"Oh my God! I am so sorry!" Lucy rushed over to the reeds.

She pushed back the reeds and found a blue-haired, fair-skinned, maiden shivering with fear and clutching something that was now bleeding. To Lucy's surprise, it was not feet that her stone had injured, it was fins.

Fins to the tail of a real, live, mermaid.