A/N: I do not own the cover image.

A Bizarre Turn

Lucy didn't understand what had happened that day. The blonde's day had started out like any other normal day. Normal for her being finding Natsu and Happy in her apartment eating her food when she woke up. She would yell at the intruding dual before resigning herself to joining them for breakfast like she always did. Then her pink-haired partner dragged her off to the guildhall to take a mission with the rest of their team. That was start of where her normal day would change into something inexplicable.

"So what mission should we take?" Lucy asked the others as she looked over the guildhall's request board.

"Something exciting!" Natsu exclaimed, his fist pounding into the palm of his hand. Happy mirroring the action while standing next to him.

"Something challenging." Erza stated, with her fist clenched in the air in front of her.

"Doesn't matter to me," Gray said offhandedly, "it's your turn to pick, Lucy."

No pressure. The brown-eyed woman thought with a mental sigh as she looked over the various request.

There were all kinds of missions to do. From the simple, like finding a lost cat. To the dangerous, locating a group of roaming bandits. The blonde didn't think searching for a lost cat would need five people to find and with such a low pay it wouldn't be enough to cover her rent. She wasn't really in the mood to go up against a group of bandits, even though she and her friends could easily take them. Her eyes finally landed on one particular request.

This one was directly from the Magic Council themselves offering one million jewels for finding a spell book that had been stolen from one of their archives. That sound simple enough for such a high pay to Lucy. Okay, maybe not so simple as the paper was warning that the book could be extremely dangerous. With the five of them however it shouldn't be that difficult.

"This one will do." Lucy stated as she pulled the request from the board. She past it along to the others to see what they thought.

"Interesting that the council would send a request out to our guild." Erza commented as she looked over the paper.

"For a million jewels, who cares." Gray stated with a smirk.

"Finding a book?" Natsu said, looking rather annoyed. "Where is the fun in that? Come on, Luce. Can't we take-"

"Quiet, Natsu!" Erza glared at the pink-haired man, causing him to quiver in fear. "It is Lucy's turn to pick the mission and we will do the one she chose. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." The dragon slayer said while trembling.

After that they gathered their supplies and made their way to the train station where they dragged the reluctant Natsu on board. Lucy looked at her partner in pity as the poor boy had his head laid on her lap. She never understood, apart from being in the air, what it was about being on moving objects that gave dragon slayers such terrible motion sickness. Regardless, Natsu would have to put up with it until they arrived at their destination. Upon arrival the group of mages made their way to the Council's archive so they could investigate the crime scene to find any leads.

"Are you the mages from Fairy Tail?" A man waiting for them just outside the building asked them, there was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Yes, we are." Lucy said taking the lead for the group as it was her mission. "I'm Lucy and these are my companions, Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray."

"Alright… um, follow me." The man started to walk inside be for his eyes looked over Lucy's friends. "Please don't break anything."

The blonde, for a second, wondered if she should be insulted that the guide didn't seem to include her in his plea. Then she remembered just how destructive her friends could be and took it as a sign that it might be a good thing she didn't have that kind of a reputation. The others let out huffs of annoyance at the comment.

Their guide walked the group of mages through the archive where there were shelfs upon shelfs of books. Lucy couldn't help but be fascinated by the number of tomes and had to resist the urge to grab one to read. If only Levy were here with them, Lucy had thought. The girl would have gone crazy. Eventually they made it to where there was a bunch of books scattered on the ground with another man standing over them.

"Hello," the man said, "you must be the mages sent from Fairy Tail. I'm the head archivist of this institute."

He gave a small nod to their guide who bowed before turning and walked away. Lucy quickly reintroduced her friends and herself before moving on to business.

"As you can tell the thief was not very subtle about which book he was looking for." The archivist stated, as he looked over the books that littered the floor.

"Were there any other areas that the thief looked through?" Lucy asked, remembering that none of the shelfs they had passed had been disturbed. The man shook his head in response. "Any idea which book they took?"

"Yes," he nodded, "I looked through the records and found only one book from this section that would be of interest. However, we know nothing about it."

"You have no records on one of your own books?" Erza chimed in.

"Based on what we do have the book has no title and is magically sealed in a script we know nothing about." The archivist informed them.

"And yet, out of everything they could have taken the thief stole that book." Gray stated, seemingly perplexed by the case. "What's the value of it compared to the rest of these books?"

"We are unable to put a value on it due to knowing nothing about it." The man said. "Which is odd considering some of these other books would be priceless to the right buyer."

"So, they must know something about this book that you don't." Lucy said as she brought up her hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"Although that shouldn't be the case as we've had this book for a century it is the only explanation as to why they would take it." The archivist stated. "Which is why we took the precaution of labeling this request as dangerous."

"A wise choice." Erza said with a nod. "You need not worry though. You have the best team in Fairy Tail on the case."

"And I have the best nose among all dragon slayers." Natsu boasted with a big grin. Lucy could help but roll her eyes over his bragging but smiled none the less over his enthusiasm. "I should be able to follow the thief's scent."

"The theft happened two days ago." The man informed them. "How will you be able to do that?"

"It takes a lot longer than that for a scent to disappear." The dragon slayer said before he started to sniff some of the books. "I think I got it."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked, not wanting to ended up chasing the wrong person.

"The only other scent then the people here is the guide, so the remaining scent has to be the thief." Natsu said as he took in a couple more whiffs. "Yeah definitely got it!"

As the dragon slayer said that he pumped his fist. Not into the air but to his side. Causing his hand to strike the bookcase. What followed was a creaking sound.

Please no. Lucy pleaded but her prayers wet unanswered as the book case began to tipped over.

The sound of books falling on the ground on the other side could be heard. Then the bookcase hit another starting the processes over. And then that one hit anther bookcase. The processes continued as they could only helplessly watch the unfolding domino disaster.

"Time to go. Luce!" Natsu said as his warm hand grabbed her wrist and began to pull her along as he ran. Erza and Gray right behind them. "We got a thief to catch!"

"Hey, get back here!" The archivist yelled clearly quite angry over what had accrued. "Do you have any idea how long this is going to take to clean up?"

"Just take it off our pay!" Erza yelled back.

Well there goes months' worth of rent. Lucy mentally sighed in defeat.

"Nice going you fire brain idiot!" Gray berated the dragon slayer.

"You want to go, Ice Princess!" Natsu challenged as they continued to run.

"Can you guys please not fight, we got a job to do." The blonde begged her companions.

Alexander looked at the book that was in his hands as he laid against a tree in the woods. He was still confused on what had compelled him to take it. Sure, he was a master thief but we really only went after rare nonmagical objects that could be sold to collectors at high prices. Alexander never wanted to draw attention to himself, especially from the Magic Council but here he was.

The tome that now laid in his hand was green leather bound, with old pages laying within. Alex didn't no what compelled him to go after it or how he knew where it was. He just woke up one day and felt some kind of force push him to the archive. He used his magic to break in and sneak directly to a book case and with in moments of searching through books he found it. He tried to open it then but the book refused to budge.

"Patentibus" The word slipped from his lips before he even knew what he was saying. What was that the word?

Suddenly the book gave of a slight glow and he could feel the bindings on it loosen. Alex was quick to open it to find answers on what drew him to it. Within the pages of the book were words in a language he didn't know but for some reason he could understand. The book was filled with spells. Spells that he never heard of. There were illustrations on how to use some of them. However, some of the words on the pages had been worn away from age.

Why? Why would he take this? Alexander could not wrap his mind around it. The thief had no interest in expanding his magical abilities. What he had was enough for his line of work. The man was starting to feel frightened by what force drove him to steal this book.

The sound of distant voices broke him from his thoughts and they were growing closer. Alex could feel magical energy from the individuals. He tightened his grip on the book. The Magic Council had sent someone after him. The thief looked back at the book in his hands. He would be damned if he would allow himself to be caught. So, Alexander would do whatever it took to make sure of it.

Lucy and the others followed Natsu as he followed the scent of the thief. They tracked down the thief's location to the woods outside the town. The dragon slayer had stated that they must have been getting close because the scent was getting stronger. The blonde couldn't help but wonder why the thief would stay so near by for so long. Why hadn't they gotten as far away as fast as possible? Eventually the group came to a stop in a clearing.

"They're here." Natsu announced.

"Alright," Erza whispered, "let's split up and surround-"

"Hey!" Natsu yelled. "Come out and fight me!"

"And there goes our stealth." Lucy let out a deadpanned sigh. Really, she wasn't surprised. Sneaking around wasn't really in her partner's nature.

Before anyone could reprimand the dragon slayer a tree came crashing down on them cause the group to disperse to avoid being hit. At first Lucy thought that the thief had cause it but to the celestial mage's surprise the tree stood back up. Now that the brown-eyed woman took a good look at it she saw that it had a pair off arms and legs. It even seemed to have holes that looked like eyes and a mouth. The thing let out a roar before it took a swing at them.

Erza reacted first, summoning her sword at and taking a swing which cut the tree's arm off rather easily. Gray froze its legs to the ground. Natsu finished it off by slamming into it with a fiery fist causing it to explode in splinters.

Then Lucy heard something behind her. She turned only to see another living tree stomping towards them. The celestial mage reacted quickly dawning her Taurus Star Dress and jumped towards it with her leg out stretched. Her enhanced strength allowed her kick to split the tree in half. She turned to see another one heading for Erza's side.

"Erza, duck!" Lucy yelled as she grabbed her whip and swung it at the tree. The red head quickly dropped to the ground before the blonde's attack passed over her and struck the tree causing it to fly back and slamming into a regular tree making both break apart. Then a black-haired man jumped out from behind them, tumbling across the ground, trying to avoid being hit by debris. There was a green book in his hands.

"Finally, decided to come out of hiding." Natsu had a smile on his face. Lucy could tell he was getting excited for a fight.

"Hand over the book and surrender." Erza demanded firmly. "You will not be harmed if you comply."

"No way in hell am I going to prison." The man stated as his hands clutched onto the book.

"Sorry to tell you this man but we're from Fairy Tail." Gray said with a bit of a smirk. "The best guild in Fiore and we are the best team."

"I'm not surrendering!" The man yelled. Lucy could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Unfortunate." Erza said with a sigh. The red head then charged forward readying her attack.

"Radix Carcerem!" The black-haired man slammed his hand into the ground.

At first Lucy was confused by the words he had said. They were like nothing she had heard before. Then her confusion turned to concern when roots erupted from the ground surrounding Erza.

"What?" The warrior mage said in surprise. Before she could do anything else more roots rose from the ground within her prison and wrapped around her. Suddenly Erza started to glow and she let out a scream.

"Erza!" Gray charged forward, his hands moving together. "Ice Make-"

"Venit Funem!" The thief yelled.

Vines raced out of the woods and grabbed hold of the ice mage and pulled him back. Gray was slammed into a tree and held there. He yelled in pain and Lucy could see the vines continue to tighten around him.

"You bastard!" Natsu yelled with anger in his voice. This time the thief couldn't react fast enough to cast a spell. He stumbled to get out of the dragon slayer's way, tripping over his own feet causing him to drop the book which opened upon hitting the ground. Lucy could only watch as her pink-haired companion flew past the man and crashed into the woods.

The blonde clenched her fist and glared at the thief. He was hurting her friends and it was making her furious. The black-haired man was still of balanced and she was going to take advantage of that. She changed from her Taurus Star Dress to her Leo form the blonde charged forward before launching into the air.

"Regulus," Lucy yelled as she pulled her fist back.

The man looked at her in fear. He then turned to the book for a second before returning his attention to her. The thief then thrusted his palm out at her.

"Alterum Orbem Terrarum!" A ball of light suddenly sped out from his palm towards Lucy.

The attack moved so fast the blonde didn't even have time to let out a gasp before it hit her. The brown-eyed woman's slight went completely white. Lucy found it odd that she didn't feel any pain. And for a second she didn't feel anything at all. The blonde heard Natsu cry out to her but his voice faded away. Finally, she could feel again. Lucy could tell that she was still moving through the air. For some reason her arm that she had been readying her attack with felt incredibly warm. When her vision returned she found herself flying towards a large Forest Vulcan.

"Fist!" The word tumbled out of her mouth before she even knew what was going on. Wait, what?

Her confusion over what was going on was enough for the Vulcan. The creature backhanded her once she was close enough. Lucy was sent flying back and felt her back slam through a tree before she hit the ground and slid across it. Lucy let out a grown once she finally stopped.

"Lucy!" She heard Natsu call out to her. Then the blonde heard the sound of fighting.

"What's going on?" Lucy said to herself. Weren't they fighting a thief? Where did the Vulcan come from? Did that man summon it while she couldn't see? And what is with all the smells, she couldn't help but take notice.

She picked up herself off the ground but winced from the pain that came from her abdomen. Guess that was to be expected after the hit she took. The blonde walked back to the clearing to see the Vulcan lying on the ground. The others standing over it.

"Lucy!" Erza was the first to notice her and began to run towards the blonde quickly followed by the others.

The celestial mage was glad to see that her friends were doing alright. But then she noticed something odd. First the thief was no where in sight. Second was what her friends were wearing. Gray was who had been wearing something different was now sporting a white no sleeve zipped up jacket. Erza was still in her armor but had a rather large pink artificial flower hairclip pulling the right side of her red locks back. Happy had a pair of glasses over his eyes.

Then there was Natsu. Instead of his usual vest and baggy pants the pink-haired man was wearing a casual white t-shirt and blue jeans with a very familiar looking pouch attached to his leg. Strangest of all was the fencing sword he had at his side.

"Oh god, Lucy!" Erza concerned gasp pulled the blonde from her confused thoughts. The red-head's hands were raised up to her mouth as she was looking at Lucy's stomach. "You're injured."

The brown-eyed woman looked down to inspect herself. Maybe it was the shock that kept her from taking note of the more serious matter but the first thing she notice was what she was wearing. She was no longer wearing her Leo Star Dress or any of her Star Dresses for that matter. Nor was she wearing her regular clothes.

Instead she was wearing what was very similar to Natsu's vest but instead it was so long it nearly toughed the ground. She also was wearing a white skirt and a golden slash warped around her waist. There were black leather boots on her feet. Finally, what was really the issue caught up with her.

A rather large piece of bark sticking through her side. There was quite a bit of blood already covering her side and down her leg. It was getting to be too much for Lucy. The sudden change in the fight. The changes in her friends' appearances as well as her own. Even her sense of smell was getting to her. And with the injury and loss of blood the blonde's head was starting to spin. As Lucy started to fall forward Natsu quickly caught her. He quickly but gently brought her down to the ground, which she was grateful for as it caused her less pain.

"Luce," his voice was filled with concern. "Come on stay with me."

She couldn't comply with his request as her vision started to darken. The last thing Lucy saw was the hint of tears from at the edge of his dark eyes.

He was sitting at his desk going over various forms of paper work. His position putting a lot responsibility on his shoulders. He stopped everything when he felt the pulse of magic flow through his office. His head snapped towards the source. He got up from his desk and quickly walked over to a locked cabinet. Using his key, he opened it and pulled out a green leather book. He said a single word and the book opened on its own and flipped through several pages before coming to a stop.

"So," he said to himself, "it worked. Time for the experiment to begin."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I used Google translator to get Latin words so they might not be to actuate. Any ways I hope you look forward to more because Lucy is in for one hell of an adventure. Feedback is appreciated.