Chapter 1: Fairy Tail Law Firm
Levy'd like to say that she had a pretty good life. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't hit the occasional bump in the road. And after college, she had assumed that life would just be smooth sailing.
She was wrong.
Dead wrong.
She had been hired for her dream job. She had tried to study too many languages to count. But in the end, she had only been able to become fluent in six. She had to say, being able to speak English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Latin, and Greek gave her a pretty good start. And she supposed her undying love for learning had been a big part of getting hired at Fairy Tail Law Firm. Sure, working at a law firm wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but it was a start. Hopefully one day she could move onto translating books and score a job at some big- shot publishing company.
The morning of her first day at work, Levy shot out of bed faster than anyone in the history of ever. She had taken a shower the night before, but still not feeling clean enough, she jumped into the shower once again to get ready for her fresh start. She quickly- yet carefully- brushed her short blue hair and put on her brand- new suit- a professional navy blue pencil skirt and blazer with a creme blouse. Cursing her short height, she put on a pair of black heels and struggled to walk out of her bedroom door. She threw on her signature headband and a couple of bracelets before heading out of her apartment. She was too nervous for breakfast, no matter how bad she knew skipping it was.
She started her white electric car and, once again cursing her short height, struggled to adjust her seat so she could reach the pedals. Her brother had borrowed it the day before to go out with some friends, and unlike her, was not the staggeringly small five feet. Levy loved her family to death, but she hated how she was the only one who couldn't reach the top cabinet in the kitchen without climbing onto the counter. She was a grown woman stuck in a twelve- year old's body. Oh, how she hated recessive genes.
She turned on the radio and raised the volume on her favorite station. She was not about to start her first day in a foul mood. As she drove to work, she hummed along to the music and daydreamed about the people she would meet, the friends she would make, and the promotions she might gain. Not that she could go any higher than the head translator, but it pleasant daydream all the same.
None of her daydreams were anything like what she was about to face when she opened those glass doors.
Levy had become even cheerier when she had seen "Fairy Tail" in big red letters at the top of the tall building, not letting the fact that it made her feel even shorter get to her. Next to the letters was a symbol, still red, of what she assumed to be a leaping fairy with a tail. It was very abstract, but she gave the designer credit for creativity. It was a lovely symbol, and it gave her some sense of pride in her new workplace. Levy didn' t know why a fairy with a tail would symbolize a law firm seeking justice, and she figured she would never know. She just simply shrugged and pushed open the doors to her future.
And man, what a crazy future that turned out to be.
She smiled when she saw the friendly purple- haired receptionist, Kinana. She had been so helpful to her when she had come in for her job interview, and she hoped that they would become good friends. She looked a bit tired this particular morning, so she made sure to address her with an extra touch of politeness.
"Good morning, Kinana." Levy said, widening her grin.
"Good morning, Ms. McGarden." The young woman said brightly. "It appears you have been hired."
"You bet! I'm pumped!" Levy said, even brighter, making her way to the elevator, and showing a thumbs up. Pushing the button for the seventh floor, she said, "You'd better get more sleep, or I'm gonna be spending all my money on buying your coffee."
Levy had just enough time to see Kinana's look of surprise before the doors closed.
Yep. It was going to be a good day.
Or… so she thought.
She hadn't expected the whole law firm to come to her office just to say hello, but it was a little disappointing just seeing one person waiting by her desk. She seemed to be her age, and wore a beige sweater and a white skirt. She had a single yellow clip in her short white hair that matched her unnecessarily tall heels. Levy pouted her bottom lip slightly when she saw her beautifully long legs. The woman noticed her at the door, and gave her a smile.
"Hi! I heard you'd be coming today." She said in a sweet voice. "Welcome to the Fairy Tail Law Firm. I'm sure you'll have fun working here. My name's Lisanna Strauss, I'm the librarian here. If you need any information about a case, you come to me, 'kay?"
Levy nodded once and held her hand out. "I'm Levy McGarden. Nice to meet you."
Lisanna took her hand and shook it gently. "We don't get a lot of translators here, so you're gonna be extra busy." She quickly glanced down at her watch and frowned. "Oh man, I gotta go. Good luck!" She fast walked out of the door, waving as she left.
Levy sighed, placing her purse on the desk and sitting down. "Busy, huh?" She slowly began to unpack her purse, putting her favorite pen in the cup with the others, placing a notebook into one of the drawers, and setting a picture frame next to her computer. It was of her family, taken just a couple months ago before her sister moved out. She was in the middle, wearing her favorite orange dress. She was the oldest, but towering to her left stood her sister, who was twenty- one, wearing her long hair in a braid and showing off her curves in a pair of jeans and a tight- fitting shirt, and to her right stood her brother, age eighteen, wearing a leather jacket and a pair of beaten- up pants with his hair slicked back. Behind them stood their parents, a young couple who had just recently started showing their wrinkles, who looked ready to go to a dinner party. She laughed when she remembered her dog, Mari, had refused to sit still for the picture and ended up swung over her father's shoulders, looking rather bored. Levy was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed the bickering that was going on down the hall. She was about to get up and check it out when a woman with red hair stepped into her office.
"Shut up and hurry up!" She called down the hall. The bickering stopped and the footsteps became quicker. Soon, five people were standing in front of her desk: the angry- looking redhead, a blonde who seemed rather annoyed, two young men who Levy believed to be quite scared of the redhead, one whom was wearing nothing but a pair of black pants, and the other with spiky pink hair. There was a blue haired woman behind them, who seemed quite interested in the man without a shirt.
"Excuse us," the blonde said quickly.
Levy raised an eyebrow at the odd group.
The redhead cleared her throat. "My name is Erza Scarlett. These are my friends, Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Juvia Lockser."
Lucy, the blonde, said, "Nice to meet you. You must be the new head translator, right? I apologize for our unprofessional antics."
Levy shook her hand in front of her face. "No, not at all. Nice to meet you all. I'm Levy McGarden."
Erza nodded, her arms crossed. "I hope you enjoy working here. You may find your co-workers, a little…"
"Crazy." Lucy finished. "Especially those two…" She let out a fake cough, "men."
The pink- haired one, Natsu, raised his fist. "Hey, who are you calling crazy, Luce? At least I'm not a perverted stripper!"
Gray, the "stripper", Levy guessed, slammed his forehead into Natsu's and yelled, "Oh yeah, well at least I'm not a pyro who wears the same scarf every friggin' day!"
"At least I wear something everyday!"
Juvia seemed to be enjoying the view.
"You wanna go, Salamander?"
"Anywhere, anytime."
Erza had had enough of it. She grabbed each by their hair and pulled them apart before slamming them back together, causing them to fall to the ground. "Be respectful. We are welcoming a new friend."
"Aye, sir!" They said simultaneously, saluting.
"A f-friend?" Levy stammered.
Lucy and Erza nodded.
"Of course." Lucy said, as if it was as plain as night and day. "Unlike anywhere else you may have worked, here at Fairy Tail, you're not just our co- worker, you're our friend."
"See," Gray pitched in, standing up. "Us, we're like family. We may bicker and argue, but we care about each other all the same."
Juvia stepped forward. "Juvia does not wish to work anywhere else. Fairy Tail is like Juvia's home."
Natsu raised his fist and proclaimed, "Yeah, and we'll crush anyone who dares to harm a member of Fairy Tail!"
Member.
Levy wasn't some newbie fresh out of college. She wasn't some nobody who dared to enter the tight bonds held by the people at Fairy Tail Law Firm. She was a member. A member of their family.
Levy smiled. Yeah, they were crazy. But she liked them. She laughed, feeling a large weight lifting from her. This was her first big job, and just by walking in the building, she was considered a friend. Just from walking into her office, she knew.
She loved Fairy Tail.
Levy was busy clicking away at her computer- making sure she knew where to find all her files, how to organize them, and how to program it so it would let her write in different languages- when she heard them.
Two voices, both male, making their way to her office, calling her name.
"Leeevy!"
"Leeevy!"
She looked up from her computer. She knew those voices.
"Leeevy!"
"We miiissed you!"
She didn't have anytime to think before she was attacked by two tall men in suits.
"I… can't… breathe…" She gasped.
The two hopped off of her. "We're sorry, Levy."
Levy smiled. She had known Jet and Droy since they were little kids, and they had never once changed. They were always so protective of her.
"Leeevy, why didn't you call us?" Droy whined. "We had no idea you got the job."
The petite young woman shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you."
"But you didn't talk to us for a week." Jet whined. "We were worried."
Levy laughed. The two men tried their best to look angry, but she knew they weren't. She remembered in middle school when she went to a girl's sleepover rather than hanging out with them, and when they tried to ignore her for a whole day, they gave in by lunchtime.
"I'm glad you recommended me to this place. I'm going to have a lot of fun."
"And," Droy added, "You get to see us everyday!"
She giggled. "That's true. Let's just hope I have a lot of problems with my computer. That way I can spend a ton of time with you guys!"
The two threw themselves onto her once again. "Oh, Leeevy!" They cried.
Jet and Droy worked in the I.T. department of the law firm, being very good at handling computers, and not so much people. It was funny, Levy thought, how none of them had hoped on working at a law firm, especially a very large one, but they all ended up here. Jet and Droy, as expected, had wanted to follow her around, but neither of them had remembered the slightest bit of Spanish from their classes, so going into translating would definitely not end with success. She remembered the day she went off to college, and the two stood on her lawn, crying harder than her whole family combined.
She was so glad she was friends with them.
Jet and Droy were about to go into their usual routine of talking about two different things at once when there was a knock on the side of the open door. Standing in the doorway was a familiar head of white hair.
"Hey Lisanna!" The three said simultaneously.
"Hey guys! May I borrow Levy for a sec.?"
Jet and Droy reluctantly nodded, and Levy followed Lisanna out of the door.
"What's up?" She asked the librarian.
"Well, I figured you might be pretty bored doing nothing in your office, so I've got your first project for you. You're going to translate some emails for our Intercompany Relations Director."
"Oh." She said simply.
They turned the corner to the relations offices, where two people were working diligently. Lisanna pointed to a large empty office. "That's his office. He should be back soon."
Levy nodded and entered the office. She was a bit nervous about working with someone else for her first project, but she figured she would just try her best and nothing would go wrong. That was how it worked, right?
Wrong.
Wrong because standing in the doorway was a man with no social skills, no people skills. She was surprised he had any skills at all.
Wrong because standing in the doorway was the reason for her just barely getting into the college of her dreams. He was the reason she hated high school.
Wrong because standing in the doorway was a man with large muscles, long black hair, and the worst looking face in human history.
Wrong because standing in the doorway was the only person Levy McGarden ever hated.
Gajeel Redfox.
