It was just like any other day in the guild of Fairy Tail. Lucy had just come back from another quest with Natsu and Happy. Almost immediately, Natsu escaped from Lucy's lecture for destroying half the town by taunting Gray into another fight. Lucy sighed as she stood in the front door, watching as tables and people flew left and right. Barely dodging a blast of fire, she gave an acknowledging smile at the familiar scene and decided to head home for a nice relaxing shower.
Just as she was about to leave, someone came up from behind and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss! Is this the Fairy Tail guild?" the stranger asked in a low but boyish voice. He wore a dark, ragged cloak that revealed his two bandaged feet. His hood completely hid his eyes from view, but his face was deathly pale. He was slightly shorter than Lucy.
Lucy gave a start, wondering what the boy wanted. She stammered, "Uh, yeah. Do you need something?"
"Is Erza in the guild right now?"
"Eh?" Lucy thought for a second before replying, "She went on a quest a few days ago. She might be coming back soon."
"Then what about Master?" the boy quickly continued.
"Hmm… I think he was called to the Magic Council again. Do you need to see them?"
A grin suddenly appeared on the boy's face. He replied, "Nope! Thanks so much, miss!"
From inside the guild, Natsu froze, about to deliver a punch in Gray's face. He sniffed the air with a suspicious face and snapped his head towards the front door where Lucy was talking with a cloaked stranger. He suddenly paled and raced in their direction, shouting, "Lucy, look out!"
A loud bang filled the air as wind sent Lucy crashing into the walls. The stranger ran straight at Natsu, his hood falling off his head to reveal a girl with shoulder length black hair. She leapt into the air with a wild and crazed look on her face, her right eye glinting with delight and madness, an eye patch covering her left as she shouted, "I found you, Natsu Dragoneel!"
Levy ran over to Lucy to help her up on her feet. Around them, Lucy saw the familiar scene once more. Furniture was flying in the air as magic flew astray. Only this time, even Gray was shying away from the battle with a slightly scared look on his face as fire battled wind.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Erza shouted from the front door, her hands on her hips. She'd just come back from a tiring quest and would've loved nothing more than some peace and quiet.
The two of them froze in their fight, looking over at Erza as both of their faces paled. Natsu put on a weak smile and pointed at the stranger, mumbling, "It's Layna's fault."
Erza's eyes narrowed with fury when they fell on the girl. She snarled, "You!"
The girl put on a forced smile and muttered, "Oh… crap."
She suddenly started to race out of the guild at lightning speed, but was still easily caught by Erza, who immediately punched her on the head. The girl sunk onto the floor, clutching her head in pain.
Glaring down at her, Erza demanded, "Layna Nightmare! What do you have to say for yourself?"
Lucy edged over to Levy and whispered, "Who is she? An enemy?"
Levy just shook her head, and whispered back, "Don't worry, Lu-chan. It'll turn out fine."
She was staring at the two of them as was the rest of the guild. Finally, after a long silence, Layna sheepishly grinned and started to scratch her head. She glanced to her right before looking up at Erza. She replied, "Uh… I'm home, Erza-chan?"
Erza frowned and took in a deep breath. Eventually, she helped Layna up to her feet and smiled. "Welcome home, you idiot."
Lucy watched in amazement as the two girls wandered over to a table like old friends. The whole guild seemed to let out a long sigh of relief and quickly started to continue about on their own business.
Levy nudged Lucy and grinned. "See, didn't I tell you?"
"Who is this Layna person?" Lucy asked.
Levy started to drag her over to where Erza sat with Layna. She explained, "Layna's a member of Fairy Tail too. She left on a mission two years ago so that's probably why you've never seen her before."
"She went on a mission two years ago?" Lucy exclaimed. "Just what kind of mission did she take?"
Levy stopped for a second and whispered, "Don't talk about it in front of Erza. Layna went against Master's orders and decided to do a 10-year mission on her own."
"WHAT?" Lucy shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the guild. She gave a dry laugh to get everyone to continue what they were doing before she whispered into Levy's ear, "She's a S-class mage?"
Levy shook her head and replied, "She's never passed the test before, though Erza says it's because Layna purposely fails."
Lucy couldn't help wondering just who this insanely strong person might be. Levy walked over to their table and asked Erza, "Mind if we join you?"
They slid into the seats next to them, Lucy by Erza and Levy by Layna. Layna glanced over at Lucy and grinned. She said, "Thanks and sorry about before."
"No problem," Lucy replied. "My name's Lucy. It's nice to meet you."
"I see," Layna said, nodding her head. She suddenly looked around and remarked, "When did the guild get so big? It took me ten minutes to find this building. And there's so many new people too!"
"Well, a lot has happened since you left, Layna," Mirajane said, handing her a drink. "You'll be surprised by everything that's changed."
"Eh?" Layna sighed, sipping her cup of water. She stared at Natsu who was being chided by Lisanna. She kept staring before she started blinking rapidly. It wasn't long before she choked on a mouthful of water.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Erza asked, looking at her concernedly.
"I... I think I saw Lisanna's ghost..." Layna muttered, still staring at Lisanna.
"What did I say? Lots of surprises, right?" Mirajane said, smiling.
Layna looked from Mirajane to Lisanna, spluttering, "Y-you mean... L-Lisanna, she..."
When Mirajane gave an encouraging nod, Layna flew from her seat, squeezing a surprised Lisanna into a tight hug as she cried, "Lisanna! I missed you so much!"
Lucy watched as Layna started bawling her head off as Lisanna comforted her with a kind smile. She turned to ask Erza, "How old is Layna?"
"Hmm? I think she should around sixteen," Erza replied, smiling acknowledging at the scene like it was an everyday sight.
Lucy gave a dry laugh as Layna's tears disappear into sniffles while she petted Happy's head. Lisanna was telling her the story about Edolas, and even Natsu was listening, though with a bored look on his face.
"Looks like Fairy Tail just got even more interesting," Lucy thought to herself with a smile. She was looking forward to getting to know this Layna Nightmare.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I promised a friend to write this, and so I did.
This is my first fanfic so feel free to tell me what you think.
Second chapter might take a while, but I'll write it as long as the world doesn't end today.
All that said, thanks again and cheers for Fairy Tail!