Forest near Magnolia

Bright pink hair. That was the first thing that anyone would notice of the strange man who wore a black vest, opened down the middle to expose his chest and abs as the sides fell down to his thighs. Black three-quarter pants swayed loosely in the breeze, the nearly six-foot two inch boy, or man, if you looked at him right, had closed eyes as he walked through the forest. He was muscular, yet he had a lean body that would be the envy of any of the same gender. With each step he got closer to the hell that awaited him, something he swore he would never do unless the circumstances demanded otherwise.

A white scarf hung tightly around his neck, the spare length of the scarf blowing off to the side as he walked in a straight path, avoiding bushes, trees, and the occasional rock with his closed eyes. On his right shoulder a mark glinted in the sun, the dark red scythe mark shined on his shoulder. Sighing, the person seemed rather bored, remembering how he fell for such a stupid job.

"Natsu, get your ass to the Master's office! He's got a job for you!" The feminine voice rang out across the old worn down hall of their guild, 'Reaper's Scythe'. It was a name that echoed in the world of Dark Guilds and Legal Guilds alike, neither wishing to have anything to do with this band of mysterious mages. "Shut it Ray! I heard you the first three times!" Natsu roared back, an annoyed look present on his face.

The brightly pink-haired man now known as Natsu sighed a little bit when he heard no response, already on his way to the back of the old worn down fort to the office of the Master. Not even bothering to knock, Natsu kicked the door open as it nearly flung off its hinges at the force applied behind the kick. "Oi! What you want Lycas?!" The impatience in his voice could be heard by the old man sitting behind his desk, reading a scroll that seemed to take up the majority of his attention.

"Sit." That was all that was said as Natsu growled a bit, sitting down on the admittedly comfy chair. This was the way the next few minutes passed, the scroll still taking up Master Lycas's attention until it seemed he finished. Without so much as looking at the pink-haired mage, he started to speak. "Eisenwald has….requested our assistance. It seems they were able to get their hands on one of Zeref's demons, Lullaby." Natsu perked a brow at this information, it getting his attention faster than most because of the chance of a battle. "Hoh…they do now? What are they doing with it?" was the question that came from Natsu's mouth. "They're planning on killing all the Legal Guild masters at their annual meeting this year with the flute."

"….they do know that it won't be as simple as that, right? I bet a bunch of Guilds already know about that and are going to stop them." Master Lycas nodded as he finally looked to his most trusted member of his guild. "Yes, it won't go so smoothly. That is why they requested the 'Salamander' to be an escort for them." A feral grin found itself on the face of the pink haired man, flames appearing in his eyes as he chuckled. "Why me? Send Atlas to do it, he's strong enough." Lycas shook his head a bit, drawing a confused look from Natsu who was about to speak only to be cut off by a raised hand. Still confused, he decided not to speak and to allow the old man to. "Fairy Tail's Titania is moving to stop them."

That was as far as the old man could get in a complete sentence as the room suddenly turned to a blistering temperature. "The Titania huh….I hear she's terrifyingly strong. Alright, I'll go." Lycas sweat dropped a little, he agreed that fast just from hearing that the most feared female mage on the continent was going? Well, he couldn't blame the boy, anyone of his strength would be excited to find someone to fight that could possibly match the dangerous boy. "That was…..simple. They are meeting at a local train station that is connected to the one in Magnolia. You'll be taking one there into the train depot." Lycas covered his ears for what came next. "WHAT?! I REFUSE! I TAKE IT BACK! KEEP ME AWAY FROM THAT THING!" Natsu was yelling, eyes filled with terror at the thought of his only weakness being his main way of transportation. "You already agreed, so the deal is done. You leave in an hour so don't be lazy and get going before I send Shay after you." Natsu shuddered a bit, the blonde-headed stalker girl was too much for his liking, it was hard to creep him out but she did it with relative ease just by being near the boy.

"Fine! But if Eisenwald pisses me off they can forget my help!" Commented the towering figure of Natsu. "I wouldn't expect anything less, remember our code, 'Never-". "Never trust, never give, never love. Take everything for yourself, burn what remains." Natsu finished with a maniacal grin as he turned away, walking out of the office as the old man sighed. "May whatever god people believe in not get in his way….I don't need to deal with anymore grief in my old age."

So here he was, getting on the path to his doom, the train. It wasn't moving for the moment, something he prayed to his father to thank him for. Sitting down, he leaned his head against the back of a seat, closing his eyes until he heard the door open to his cabin.

Three hours ago, Magnolia

It was a regular day in Fairy Tail, chairs being thrown across the Guild, insults flying, tables being flipped, and knocked out members of the Guild lying around the room in various positions. The roars of laughter and shouting could be heard from outside the building that housed one of the most renowned guilds in the country of Fiore, further solidifying any idea that this guild was indeed quite the noisy bunch. However from down the street a figure could be seen walking towards the guild hall, something massive being carried over their shoulder with objects similar to glass shining in the sun from the reflection. As the figure approached the Guild Hall, a twitch of the eye was noticeable as the figure came closer, showing it to be a red-headed female mage in armor, the aura around her reminding others just how terrifying this person could be. This was Erza Scarlet, the Titania, and it seemed she needed to remind a few people of why she was so feared in this guild.

Walking through the guild doors without a word, the brawling had been renewed to a new level with the sudden entrance of a large muscular figure shouting about men and fighting. A terribly sweet smile formed on her face as no one had taken notice of her yet, a fact that would change very shortly in the coming seconds. Dropping the massive object that she was carrying on her shoulder, it caused the entire guild to shake as people thought an earthquake was occurring, close but not quite.

"What do we have here?" The almost silent question could easily be heard by everyone in the guild, even the Barmaid who was in the back room getting more alcohol for the resident drunk, Cana. Everyone slowly turned to look to the entrance of the guild, horrified expressions on all of their faces as they looked at the one person who wasn't suppose to be back for another two days. The first to recover was a black haired man, who wore close to no clothing besides his boxers. He gave a nervous smile as he raised his hands in surrender.

"H-hey E-e-erza! You're b-back ear-early!" He started laughing softly, trying to diffuse the situation that had begun when an argument between Macao and Warren of all people turned a little too violent for anyone else not to get involved in with high spirits. "I would smash all of you into the floor for this disturbance, but I came here because I need to speak to the Master." She looked around, the red-headed mage raising a brow when the small man was nowhere to be found. "He's at the annual Guild Master meeting." This was the response given by the white-haired Barmaid, a mocking smile on her face as she looked at Erza. This woman was Marijane Strauss, the only one in the guild who would openly challenge the 'Re-quip' mage. "I see….Gray, meet me at the train station in three hours, at noon. I heard some rather disturbing news recently and I need your help with it." Everyone in the guild looked on in shock. THE Titania was asking for help? The world was ending!

"O-okay!" Was the only response from Gray, not wishing to suffer at the hands of the scary woman in front of him. A blonde haired mage sitting at the bar looked confused at the interaction, turning to face Mira with a questioning gaze. Catching the look, Mira smiled warmly to the new addition. "Ah…Lucy, you are wondering about them, huh?" Lucy nodded. Mira then went on to explain how Erza kept the guild in line when Master was away, she found it as her duty to keep the peace. "Oh! I know!" Mira suddenly spoke up, excitement clear on her face where not minutes before it held a mocking smirk. "Go with them and help! It'll be great!" Lucy gulped a bit at the offer.

At the train station three hours later, Gray was looking at Lucy for a few moments in silence. "Why are you here again?" The blonde sighed a bit, "Mirajane said it'd be good if I came along….to help to know you guys better and to get some experience with a mission." Gray nodded a bit, knowing just how much Mira liked to mess with people by sending additions. A large shadow towered over them from behind, making both jump in shock at the scene of dozens of suitcases being placed onto a single cart, stacked high into the sky. "Good, you're here. Hmm?" Erza looked to Lucy. "Ah….a new face. Welcome to Fairy Tail, I am Erza Scarlet." The red-haired woman bowed a bit in greeting before continuing to the train. "Come, we must get going. The train leaves in a few minutes." Both of them were still staring in shock at the luggage before a yell promising pain snapped them out of their stupor, making both of them instantly follow the woman.

Now on the train, the three were currently searching for an empty cabin, to no avail. This was a very crowded train, all the cabins were full. The only one they hadn't checked yet was the one at the end. As Lucy opened the door, she grinned when she found three spare seats. "Guys! I found some!" Footsteps followed moments later as the other two of the group looked into the cabin. However as soon as they did, their gaze fell on the pink-haired man currently staring at them with a bored expression.

Natsu P.O.V

Once the door opened I looked at who came in, perking a brow at the three who seemed to be eyeing the seats in my cabin like they were made of gold. "Can I help you three?"

The one with red-hair looked at me and as our eyes connected I felt a tingle down the back of my spine. Bowing her head, I raised a brow as she started to speak. "Yes, we were wondering if we could trouble you by sitting here with you." He waved them in as he suddenly felt the train start to move, his face turning green as he groaned, leaning back against the window. The red-haired woman looked on in concern, sitting next to him as the other two took the seats across from them. "Um….are you okay?" Turning my head I looked at the black-haired man currently taking off his pants. "B-been better….s-stripper."

They all seemed confused at what he said until they all looked at the weird man, the blonde instantly yelping and hitting the man who tried desperately to put his pants back on. Shaking his head as he tried to avoid throwing up all over the cabin, Natsu closed his eyes and groaned. "Motion s-sickness…." Natsu said simply. The red-haired woman frowned a bit. "I'm sorry to hear that Mr…..?".

"Natsu." She nodded at his name. "I am Erza Scarlet. The blonde hitting the man across from us is Lucy and the man with the stripping habit is Gray. What brings you to suffer on this train?" Biting his lip, Natsu resisted the urge to speak like a loudmouth, something he was known for in his guild at times and spoke in a rather plain tone, well as plain as you can get when you are currently seeing four of each person dancing in the room. "A-a j-jo-job. Gotta get to…..next town." She nodded at him. "I wish you luck with your job, Mr. Natsu."

The conversation ended rather awkwardly like that until the next stop where the three stood, the red-head bowing her head at him. "This is our stop, have a good day." He nodded a bit as he caught a glance at the Emblem on her arm. His eyes widened slightly as he felt a cold drop of sweat roll down his neck as she left. That was the Titania. Grinning through his green face, he remembered he was to meet her on this task, she looked strong when they were speaking earlier. He was going to enjoy this if they came in contact.

The train started moving again as Natsu groaned, the door opening once more to reveal a black-haired man carrying a small, yet long box in his hands. Sniffing the air, the fire mage growled as he smelled demonic magic. "E-eisenwald mage."