Ok, so maybe I'm mildly obsessed with making OC-Inserts. Maybe I have a problem. Maybe I've posted three new stories in the span of a little under three weeks. I don't know where I'm going with this.

Anyway, enjoy! I kind of meant to break this into two chapters but ended up cramming it all into one. I'm also not starting at the very beginning. Oh no, no, no, we're plunging right into the Phantom Lord arc. Because I like chaos.

Pretty please review! I have no beta or really anyone to edit my work so whether it's opinions or tips on my story or my characters or even just grammar/punctuation mistakes you saw, reviews makes me very happy!

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Something wasn't right here.

I frowned at the ravaged building before me before double-checking the map. And triple-checking.

I looked up at the mess then checked one last time.

"Maybe it's an old map...?" I wondered, searching the paper for a date or something.

X784. That was this year. Surely they couldn't have moved that quickly. Besides, Master would've known. She would never give me outdated information.

I grimaced.

Yeah, this wrecked hall had to be the Fairy Tail guild.

Giant metal poles had been shoved through the walls and roof, leaving the place pretty much falling apart both inside and out. It seemed I had pretty bad timing.

"What happened to our guild?!"

I jolted in surprise as a boy's voice pierced the quiet. Glancing over my shoulder, I located the source. A pink-haired boy grit his teeth, tearing up nearby.

My first mistake, we locked eyes and he glared. "Hey you! Are you the one who did this?!"

I blanched. "W-What?"

Too late, his fists burst into fucking flames and I backed off quickly.

Yep, very bad timing.

Thankfully, before he could lunge at me with literal flaming fists, the redhead beside him slammed a fist down on his head, her face grim. "We can't just jump to conclusions, Natsu."

Still, they and their two friends didn't look very happy. I hesitated, pooling together what little courage I had.

"A-Are you members of this guild?" I burst out, clutching the strap of my satchel in a death grip.

"Huh?" The pink-haired boy's flames died down. "Who's asking?"

I fidgeted nervously as I introduced myself. "My, uh, my name's Mirai. I came here to join the Fairy Tail guild."

I sent a confused look at the smashed guild hall. "I only just arrived to find it like this... I think I might've come at a bad time. Do you know what happened?"

I finished with a shy smile in their direction, hoping they didn't notice the nervous tremble in my hands and knees.

Ah, there were only four of them but I really hated attention. Even now, with such a small group, I avoided meeting their gaze.

"Phantom," a different voice answered me instead. I turned to find another girl approaching. She was pretty and somewhat familiar. I've seen her before somewhere...

Right, a magazine cover. She was a model on the cover of a magazine. I don't really read magazines.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail," the model asked me. I stiffened, my spine straightening as I nodded.

"Y-Yes ma'am," I exclaimed, leaning forward in excitement.

"Oh!" The model perked up, placing a hand on her cheek cheerily. "Then please, follow me! I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience."

"It's fine," I spoke slowly. "You guys seem like you have a lot on your plate right now."

Telling the others to follow her too, she led us past the wreckage and into the basement. I trailed more behind the group than with them as we entered. Luckily, they seemed more interested in finding out what had happened to their guild than in me.

The basement was still pretty much intact and very crowded. I felt myself pale a few shades when I saw how many people they'd crammed down here.

They all looked... oh, they all looked pretty angry. Or sad. Just generally upset. Consensually not-happy...? Not important.

"Yo!" A short old man in a weird hat (is he like the guild's jester...? Do guilds even have jesters?) greeted us. "Welcome home!"

I continued to observe as the group returned the greeting, Pink-Hair spouted something about him drinking at a time like this. My best guess was that this group was on a mission or something when their guild was wrecked and they'd only just returned. As for the other guild members, they may have been upset about their hall but, looking around now, they seemed rather close with each other. Strong bonds between fellow guildmates and all.

This would do for now, I guess.

"You people stole an S-Class quest and went off without permission!" My head snapped back to the old man at his words. They did what now?

"You will be punished! I will dole out your punishment!" The old man declared, raising a hand dramatically. "Prepare yourselves!"

Wait... was this the Guild Master? I floundered in confusion as he hit everyone on the head (wait, did he just hit the blonde's butt?) and flinched as Armoured-Redhead and Pink-Hair (Natsu) exploded, yelling about their smashed guild. I edged back nervously.

"Oh, just pipe down," the old man grumbled, seeming more bored than bothered. "It's nothing to make a fuss over."

Wow. How chill.

I thought of my own Master and sighed. If only she was more like this... though his fashion choices were a little questionable...

The old man rambled about how attacking an empty guild was essentially pathetic and there was no point in getting upset over weaklings who didn't hurt anyone. Pink-Hair began arguing with him and I happened to lock eyes with the model from earlier.

Recognising my helpless look, she reached over and tapped the Master to get his attention. "Sorry for the intrusion, Master, but we have a potential new member for Fairy Tail.

The group blinked collectively and turned towards me, as though remembering I was there.

"Forgive my rudeness," Redhead gasped, bowing in apology. "I can't believe I forgot you were there."

"Don't worry about it," I laughed awkwardly and waved it off, "it happens all the time."

It wasn't their fault, really.

"So you want to join Fairy Tail?" The old man questioned, facing me seriously.

I nodded firmly. "I do."

"Why?"

I frowned. "In truth, it's because you were recommended by my Master. Here," I dug into my satchel and pulled out an envelope labelled 'Makarov', "I have a letter from her. She said you two were old friends...?"

I, as well as the group, watched curiously as he took the envelope and tore it open, skimming through the letter inside.

About two seconds in, he paled. About four seconds in, he started shivering. By the ten second mark, he was sweating and casting fearful looks at both me and the letter.

Slowly, the group's heads swivelled to look at me.

"Do you know what's in there?" The black-haired boy questioned, pointing at the paper.

I blanched. "God no! I wouldn't dare read it. She'd murder me if I read something she didn't want me to..."

They squinted at me, even more curious now but I avoided their gazes.

"Ahem!" The old man drew attention back to himself (thank god) as he stashed the letter away. "Well then, welcome to the guild, little one. I am Makarov, the Guild Master."

I quickly bowed in respect. "N-Nice to meet you! My name is Mirai Rukoe."

"Such a nice girl," he chortled. "Tell me, what kind of magic do you use, Mirai? It wasn't mentioned in the letter. Only that your magic was more or less uncommon and hard to find."

"Well, that's not wrong," I murmured. "I, uh, use Memory Vessel Magic."

His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I don't believe I've heard of that magic."

I shrugged. "Yeah, it's somewhat rare and fairly old."

"Like a Lost Magic?" Armoured-Redhead wondered.

"No!" I burst out, shaking my head. "God no, not that rare or old or powerful. Just, uh, not as common as most magic. It's a little complex and has some inconvenient backlashes is all."

"And your Master, uh, recommended you take the next S-Class exam here," the Master informed me. "It will likely be a little while before our next exam takes place. Are you ok with this?"

I nodded. "I can find some missions until then. Besides, that gives me time to prove myself to you. You probably don't want to recommend a mage to your S-Class exam without even having seen their strength."

"Very well," he hummed. "Then Mirajane can take care of your guild mark. I need to go to the toilet."

With that, he jumped to the floor and tottered off, handing me over to the pretty model.

Mirajane smiled as I turned to her. "Do you have a colour in mind?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I have such bad timing, it's not even funny.

An uncomfortable feeling pooled in my gut as I looked up at the three guild members, beaten, bruised and hung up like spectacles.

Levy. Jet. Droy. Those were the names I heard as the Fairy Tail members trembled at the sight, either in sadness or rage.

"This means war!" The Guild Master roared.

I glanced down at the new guild mark, painted in a pleasant sea-green shade over my left collarbone. It would be hidden beneath my hoodie if I hadn't unzipped it after feeling warm earlier.

I was a part of the guild now, I guess. I should probably help them avenge it or whatever, right?

Don't draw too much attention.

I hesitated.

Still, I found myself following at the back of the group as we marched to battle with Phantom Lord.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I gaped at the massive hole someone had just smashed in the wall of the Phantom Lord guild.

Wow, property destructive was a big thing among guilds, huh?

Pink-Hair (Natsu, use his name) charged ahead, wiping out about five guys with a sweep of fist and flame. I lagged behind hesitantly as everyone plunged right into combat. This sort of rowdy, all-out fighting wasn't really my thing.

"Fairy pests!" A man to my right bellowed, charging at me.

Right. Bad guy.

I quickly flipped my satchel open. With a flash of my eyes, a similar light shining from within my bag. The man made it about two metres away before his eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the floor.

Sighing, I closed my satchel again and drew my chokutō. I didn't like fighting but I should at least be armed when walking through the middle of a guild war.

How did my first day end up like this?

All this magic being thrown around was making me queasy.

Another opponent charged at me and I dealt with him quickly. A few slashes of my sword was more than enough.

"You're quite proficient with that sword." The Redhead from before stopped beside me, appraising my skills in action.

"I, uh, had a pretty good teacher," I told her, cutting down another enemy. She nodded. "I'm Erza. You're... sorry, what was your name again?"

"Mirai," I supplied readily.

"Right," she blinked. "That's odd, I'm usually quite good at remembering names."

"I just-" I slashed at another one "-have one of those faces. Don't worry about it."

It wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last. We were interrupted by a crash. I paused as Master Makarov fell through the rafters, landing with a harsh thud.

"M-Master...?!" Erza stammered, taken aback. I sheathed my sword as she called for a retreat.

"What?! Gajeel!" I jumped as nearby, Natsu turned and yelled at something. Was he alright...?

There was far too many things happening at once right now for my liking.

The two enemies in the rafters vanished with a burst of magic and Natsu muttered to himself, "They've captured Lucy?"

I blinked. As he charged off, yelling about how he was going to save her, I grit my teeth and slipped a hand into my satchel, withdrawing a cloudy white, crystal sphere. It subtly flickered once, twice and I focused in on the nearest mind of an enemy.

"Memory Vessel: Retrospection," I murmured. The orb flickered a few more times, vague shapes appearing and disappearing in the clouded white.

Satisfied, I turned away from where the other Fairy Tail members were heading and ran after Natsu.

They'd never notice my absence anyway.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Natsu, wait for me!" I puffed, sprinting to try and keep up with the fiery boy.

He whipped around in shock, his cat hovering nearby. "Huh?! Who're you?!"

I was just relieved he stopped. I took a moment to catch my breath before I prompted him. "Mirai. Joined your guild today. See?"

I tugged my hoodie aside to display my new guild mark.

"Oooh, right!" He grinned. "What're you doing here, Miriam?"

"Mirai," I corrected automatically. "I thought you might like some back-up. You know, to save Lucy from her dad or something."

I'd watched some of the memories in my orb along the way, trying to figure out where she was being held. To my surprise, Natsu was heading in the right direction anyway.

"Her dad?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I ju- actually, never mind. We can talk later," I decided. "Save Lucy first, yeah?"

He frowned, evidently feeling like he was missing something before shrugging with a grin. "Sure! Let's go!"

He raced off and I stared in disbelief as he left me behind once again.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Please stop running so much, my legs are gonna fall- oh my god, is she falling from the sky?!"

I panicked as Lucy came into view, about eight storeys up and falling fast.

"Catch her, catch her, catch her, catch her," I ranted as Natsu put on an extra burst of speed and lunged-

I sucked in a huge breath of relief as she landed in his arms and he rolled.

"It's raining Lucys!" His talking flying blue cat exclaimed. (Huh. Top ten statements I never thought I'd ever say.)

"Holy fudge, are you guys ok?" I called, hastily making my way over to them.

She was crying.

I stopped short as she started crying and they exchanged words.

But then a spike of angry magic came from the top floor where Lucy had just come from and I grit my teeth. "Ok, sorry to interrupt but time to go."

"Hmm?" Lucy sniffled and glanced tearily at me. "Who're you?"

I suppressed a frustrated groan.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

We slipped back into the guild easily enough and I found a nice little corner to get to work while everyone reassured Lucy that she could stay.

Placing my orb on the table before me, I brought the images in the clouded white to the surface and skimmed through them. The memories stored in my vessel.

Surely there was something important or at least helpful in h-

Element Four?

I continued scanning through. There wasn't a lot on them considering I'd hastily focused over copying memories related to Lucy but there was a little. Something about a Jupi-

What was that?

I stiffened as I sensed a huge magical presence approaching. It felt... big and mechanical.

"D-Danger!" I yelped, catching the others' attention as I leapt up, barely remembering to grab my orb as I ran outside.

Yep, that's a building and it's walking towards us. And that's a lot of magical energy that it's condensing.

"This is bad!" Erza yelled. (was she wearing a towel? No, not important) "Everyone, get down!"

She launched forward, requiping on a huge armour. She seemed very strong, I thought as I unsheathed my sword and surveyed the magical power building.

Yeah, I'm sure I can help.

The cannon exploded, a beam of energy racing straight for us and Erza stayed steady, facing it head on.

I darted forward and raised my sword, bracing my hand against the flat of one side and letting the beam make contact with the other side.

"Mirai!" Erza roared and somewhere in the back of my head, I idly thought, 'huh, she remembered my name. She must've worked hard to do that, that's a nice thought.'

I grunted and dug my heels in against the pressure. The force of it threw my hood back and my long, turquoise hair flew out behind me but I paid it no mind.

Finally, my arms gave way and I jumped back, flipping clear over Erza's head and letting her take the brunt of the last of it. She threw her arms up and took it like a champ.

Parts of her armour began to crack and break away but by the time the light faded, she was still standing, albeit her armour was fairly wrecked.

I breathed out in relief, digging the tip of my sword into the ground to use it as a stand to lean on.

That was stressful.

Erza panted and fell to one knee. She still looked pretty beat.

"Erza! Hang in there," Natsu and that black-haired guy from earlier charged past me to check on her but she waved them off, facing me.

"Your sword..." she breathed. "It didn't even break."

I blinked and looked down at the blade. It was still as strong as ever, though the edge was a bit dulled. "Oh, yeah. Um, sorry. If I'd been a bit stronger, I might've been able to help more."

"Didn't you just join today?" She checked. "You've done plenty, thank you."

I smiled. "Well, I am aiming for the S-Class exams. This is the perfect opportunity to show my stuff."

"Makarov and Erza are out of action," a voice echoed from the giant cannon. "You have no final ace to play. I want Lucy Heartfilia handed over and I want her now!"

I glanced around as everyone immediately started protesting. It became evident they were not going to comply.

Lucy was crying again.

Eventually, the voice exploded. "If that's what you want, then you're going to get a heaping serve of Jupiter! I will allow you the fifteen minutes it takes to power up to wallow in your fear!"

Fifteen minutes, huh?

Then soldiers began streaming from the six-legged building and I frowned. They... weren't human. Constructed of magic, actually. I guess he didn't want to waste the lives of his own guild members.

Natsu immediately took off towards the cannon. Yeah, I think I was starting to figure out what kind of person and fighter he was.

Still, he seemed capable enough, I'll let him handle it. I sheathed my sword and dug out my orb once again. The rest of the guild members rushed around me, quickly forgetting I was there as I plopped down on the ground and ran through the memories one last time, this time focusing for anything about their weapons.

Ok, so if Jupiter fails and we don't hand over Lucy, there's something called a Super-Magic Giant: Phantom MKll. And that's run by the Phantom Lord Element Four. Ok. What's that?

I scanned for the Element 4. Oh, well it makes it easier that they were the ones who kidnapped Lucy, more information to go on. Four of their strongest mages... each specialising in a different element, name makes more sense now...

Well, the guy I pulled these memories from doesn't really know how the Phantom MKII works, just that it's powered by these four mages. Good enough. We just need to beat them then.

An explosion broke me out of my thoughts and I grinned. Natsu shattered the cannon. Great, now that that's out of the way.

I focused in on two figures breaking away from the crowd. It was a huge, buff guy and the black-haired guy from earlier. Geez, I really need to start learning names.

Casting another glance around the area, I stood and sprinted after them.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"This is bad, guys! The guild's turned into a giant and is casting some huge incantation!"

"You're a big, fat liar!"

"Who'd lie about that?!"

I groaned as I hoisted myself into the cannon room. "No, he's right."

Holy fudge, this thing is huge. Man, I really need to start training up my stamina again.

"Who're you?!" Natsu yelled, pointing (rather rudely, if I might add) at me.

"Mirai," I reminded, brushing the dust and dirt off. "Joined the guild today. Really regretting it. But I did."

Natsu blinked. "Oh, right."

"What're you doing here?" The black-haired boy exclaimed.

"I'm helping," I announced. "I know how to stop this thing."

"How manly!" The buff guy exclaimed. I sent him an odd look. "But it's far too dangerous."

I scowled. "This sword isn't for show and you literally just saw me help block that giant cannon blast. I can handle it."

He blinked and I knew he'd forgotten. My shoulders drooped. This was really annoying.

"We're wasting time," the black-haired guy interrupted. "Just tell us how to beat it."

"Just defeat the Element Four," I explained. "This machines powered by them. They should each specialise in a certain elemental magic, like earth, air, fire or water."

"Oh, I beat a fire-dude just before," Natsu crowed, pointing at the... giant hole in the wall? Did they throw him out...?

"Great. So earth, air and water should be left," I concluded, moving on from the many questions I kept thinking of.

"We'll split up then," the black-haired guy decided. "If you find one, beat 'em."

I blinked. "Wait, you don't want to make a plan or any- yeah, they're gone."

I slumped. These Fairy Tail mages... I swear...

Well, buff guy seemed strong and Natsu took out that cannon so he's pretty capable... I shrugged and headed after the black-haired guy. Maybe I'd finally learn his name after this.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"So, why're you following me again?" He asked as I strolled alongside him. Well, he was running and I was keeping pace, so quickly strolled.

"Natsu seems capable and the buff guy-"

"Elfman," he corrected.

"-seemed weird so process of elimination really," I murmured. "What's your name anyway?"

He looked at me for a moment. "Gray. You're Mirai, right?"

I faltered for a second. "Huh. You remembered. I'm impressed."

"Do people usually forget?" He questioned.

"Yeah, it's an unfortunate drawback of my magic," I said.

"What does your magic do? Actually, how did you know how to beat this thing before?" Gray inquired with a curious frown.

I paused, trying to think of how to best explain it. "My, uh, my magic allows me to... extract? Yeah, extract memories from other people and view them through my vessel. I took the liberty of taking a bunch of memories from one of the Phantom Lord members during that fight before."

"Huh, cool," he huffed. Then he stopped and looked ahead. "Dead end."

I frowned. "Yeah. Should we head back, find another path?"

He looked up. "I'm gonna climb up there."

I stared at him. Then at the hole in the roof dripping water through (was it raining?) and back at him.

"Great. Sure. Ok," I nodded. "Go ahead. I'll catch up, I guess."

I really didn't want to climb up there.

He went ahead and scaled up the wall like a goddamn monkey and I scowled. Why was I joining Fairy Tail again? Right, yeah, Master recommended it. Really, that should've been the first sign.

I chastised myself for getting into this mess as I climbed the wall after him, reaching the hole and wincing as cold droplets of water spattered against my face. Yep, it was raining. Even better.

"I see. Very well. I accept defeat," a soft, feminine voice reached my ears as I pulled myself through and just barely stopped myself from automatically flopping on the soaked ground.

"Did you do it?" I grinned. "Did we win? Can we go back inside now?"

"Wait a minute!" Gray yelled, leaping after the girl with the umbrella. "I have to stop the giant!"

Damn. We didn't win yet.

The woman whipped around, throwing a hand out. "Water Lock!"

I gaped as Gray was swept into a large bubble of water and the girl proceeded to... panic? What?

The water froze solid and he shattered it with a yell. I yelped and dodged the ice pieces that went flying. He's bleeding though... and stripping. Ok then. I placed a hand on my sword.

"Ice Make Lance," he shouted. The girl didn't even dodge as spears of ice went straight through her. I tensed.

"Juvia's body is made of water," the girl stated. "Steady and gentle..."

I let my hand drop from my sword hilt. Ok, a sword won't work then. Instead, I pulled my orb from my bag. Her mind seemed to be in some sort of turmoil but she hadn't noticed me yet, the perks of being able to go unnoticed and forgotten. I just needed good timing.

"Farewell tiny flower bud of love," she cried. "Water Slicer!"

Wait, what did she just say...?

I glanced between her and Gray and understanding dawned. Oh, well, ok then. Gray still seemed oblivious and just super confused.

Yeah, I should have just gone with Elfman.

Oh, I missed something. Juvia was crying and now she's literally boiling. Even the rain turned hot and I scrambled for her forgotten umbrella behind her.

Shit, ow, shit.

Luckily, the steam coming off her provided a great cover for me to sneak her umbrella away.

I followed her form as she raced around, crashing into Gray and through the ground. Her mind was still turbulent with all the anger but it was more focused now, less conflicted so I could probably make it work. Well, now or never.

"Memory Vessel: Oblivion," I called, focusing in on her as she charged once more at Gray. My orb flickered.

Quickly enough, her body cooled and returned to normal as her eyes rolled upwards and she collapsed on Gray's legs, back to her physical form. Even the rain started to clear up.

"What the hell?" He grunted, rolling her off of him as I edged over.

"Sorry, I had to wait for her mind to clear up a bit," I said, helping him up. "I just temporarily sent her mind into shock but instantaneously removing all of her memories. I've already put them back so she won't stay down forever but it'll be long enough."

"Right," Gray eyed me oddly but accepted it.

"Gray!" I jumped in surprise as Elfman and Mirajane appeared, rushing towards us. "Mirai!"

Yeah, I was definitely an afterthought there.

"Was she the third member of the Element Four?" Elfman asked, looking down at Juvia's unconscious form.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Judging the state of you two, I'm guessing there's only one left."

I let my senses spread out and narrowed in on the three clusters of magic below us, deeper into the giant.

"Don't worry," I said. "Erza's on her way."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Attention everyone from Fairy Tail. We have captured Lucy."

We stopped dead in our tracks. I grit my teeth as the poor girl's cry echoed through the speakers. Mirajane squeezed her eyes shut.

"Did you hear that? That means we have only one goal left. The goal of killing you, all you upstart brats!"

The speaker cut and I looked around at the others.

"Come on," I muttered. "Let's keep going."

We found Erza soon enough, taking a moment to rest in the next room.

I lagged behind as the others rushed to her. She wasn't too wounded but she did defeat the fourth Element Four member.

I gasped at the sudden surge of dark magic approaching and shifted between my new fellow guild members and the threat. Even they felt chills as it entered the room.

"Ah yes, well done, my lovelies!" The sound of slow clapping filled the room and I drew my sword as the Phantom Lord Master held out his arms. "Honestly, I never thought you would give me this much fun! Now I must do something to thank you for the enjoyment you've given me."

Magic swirled around his hands.

"Dodge it!" Erza screamed.

Not in time, Gray and Elfman let out pained shouts as they were struck. I barely managed to block the magic thrown my way with a solid slash of my sword. I was knocked back a bit by the following swipe as he shattered the very floor and sent the boys flying.

Recovering quickly, I leapt forward at the same time as Erza. We both swung our swords at him from either side and he dodged, grabbing Erza's leg and throwing her into me.

I cried out in surprise as we both hit the floor hard, her armour digging uncomfortably into my ribs and rock breaking against my back as we crashed through a wall.

I twisted and landed on my feet. Ow.

"Weren't you two the ones who blocked Jupiter?" Jose grinned. "I'm impressed you're both still capable of fighting. So strong, courageous and beautiful. Such a shame I'm going to kill you."

Creep. An explosion boomed nearby and I recognised Natsu's unique fire magic.

I tuned out Jose's words as I felt for the others' magic. Natsu must've found Lucy or run into an opponent. There was another magical signature with him, different to his but still a bit similar in a way.

I probably shouldn't have gotten distracted.

Jose sent another strike of magic at us and I took the hit, throwing my sword out in front of Erza to block most of what was directed her way.

"Urgh," I stumbled back, slamming into the wall behind me and shaking my head at the pain. I hadn't taken much damage as opposed to Erza, it was probably better I take that blow instead.

"Have you figured out why I left Makarov alive?" Jose chuckled.

"Yeah, to cause him pain," I shrugged, climbing to my feet. I grimaced a bit at the ache but I couldn't take the S-Class exam if this was all I could manage.

Jose paused in surprise at my answer.

"I mean, it's a pretty cliche villain motive for leaving anyone alive," I grouched, readying my sword.

He kept speaking as Erza and I rushed him, slashing over and over with our swords. His words were petty and insignificant.

Finally, he raised his hand and wrapped his foul magic around us, pinning my arms to my torso. I felt my fingers spasm at the sudden pressure and just barely managed to hold onto my sword.

Rule four of Master's training; never drop your weapon unless it's on purpose.

Erza and I locked gazes for a second and I nodded.

"Your obsession with who is superior and inferior is pitiful in itself. But there are no words to describe... your failure of intelligence gathering," Erza remarked.

I slowly fixed my grip on my sword and observed the magic holding me as she talked. It would be difficult to manoeuvre...

"You've never seen Lucy's tears! You know nothing of her!" Erza howled. As Jose revealed his plans to bleed the Heartfilia empire dry, I readied myself. Finally, Erza distracted him entirely.

"You dirty- aaahhh!" He struck her with magic and I felt the hold on me loosen. Swinging my sword upwards, I sliced right through the bindings, leaving a deep cut on my shoulder but effectively freeing me. Immediately, I dashed behind him as he realised I'd broken out and brought my chokutō down across his back.

"Arggh!" He yelled, throwing a blast of magic behind him. I sucked in a breath and tensed as it struck me, knocking me back into another wall.

I groaned.

Damn it, what was with him and knocking us into walls.

Erza dropped to the ground as Jose's magic cancelled. I pushed myself upright and flopped a bit. Oh, I don't think that arm is broken but it sure feels like it.

Still, I grinned at the familiar voice and relaxed when Master Makarov emerged from the rubble and faced Jose.

Even Gray and Elfman were waking up. Thank fuck.

"Everyone, clear this entire area!" Makarov commanded, looking pretty lethal for an old man. Don't have to ask me twice...

Using the wall to prop myself up, I slowly got to my feet. Everything ached after that little ordeal.

"Master...?!"

"How'd you get here?!"

"Do as you're told!" Eek. Scary. I'd probably just be in his way anyway so I sheathed my sword and sprinted off with the others, doing my best to ignore the crashes behind us.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

So apparently the old man had some sort of great, legendary magic under his belt. The fighting was over quickly enough after that.

But the guild hall was completely destroyed.

I kind of expected Lucy's crying by now. I was surprised though, when the Master burst into tears too.

Of course, I quickly found out why when the Rune Knights showed and questioned everyone.

"I've already been questioned," I wailed, being dragged away for the third time in an hour.

"It's true," Makarov intervened, looking fairly amused.

The Rune Knight stopped and checked the list in his hands. "Oh, you have been ticked off... my apologies, miss, I don't know how I forgot."

"Don't worry about it," I sighed, weeping internally.

My new Guild Master stopped by me. "That really is an interesting side effect of your magic."

"Inconvenient is what it is," I sighed.

"Well, it seems that some of the guild members are starting to remember you," he mused. "Erza spoke very highly of your help against Phantom Lord. I must thank you for fighting with my children even though you'd only just met them."

I glanced down at him blankly. "It was certainly an interesting first day but they seem like good people."

"They are," Makarov agreed. "So are you going to stick after the S-Class exam?"

I hesitated. "I like it here."

He looked at me, almost knowingly, but said nothing about how I'd basically dodged the question. I felt like I owed him more.

"We'll see," I offered because there was a significantly better chance now than there had been before and left it at that.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

And boom, my third story in under three weeks. (My writing is so dodgy but there's only so many times you can edit before it starts getting repetitive). Anyway, again, pretty please review! Tell me what you think! I need feedback...

Until next time,

- Dragon