Halloween was right around the corner! Such a wonderful time of year! To watch parents and kids decorate their homes with skeletons, scary pumpkins and cute pumpkins. The thrill of drinking pumpkin juice and other odd drinks while one prepared their costume: most girls in cute outfits while the boys did their best to scare the majority of the girls as much as possible. It was a great time to bond and everyone have fun.
Well, not for everyone. Lucy knew all too well that people would take advantage of her fear of almost anything scary just to get a laugh out of it. Well, not anymore. For awhile she's prepared for this time of year. After Levy suggested that Lucy get over her fear by immersing herself in it, the blond mage decided to give it a try. For countless nights she watched horror movies. And on those countless nights, she cried and hid under her blanket. Every time an intensely scary scene came up, she closed her eyes and yelped in helpless horror. On these nights, she locked the doors and made sure that neither Natsu, Gray, Happy, nor Erza could sneak into her little abode and discover her intentions for putting herself through this constant torture. In no way did she want her friends to find out what she did to prepare for Halloween and make fun of her for it. Besides, there's no way that she could reveal to anyone that she's scared to sleep at night, her head filled with exaggerated scenarios in which she's stalked by a psycho killer with a large knife, or if one of her guild mates actually turns into a mass murderer!
The blond mage shook the thoughts away and tried to calm herself down. This was no time to panic. She's already panicked plenty of times. She doesn't need to have another heart attack, not when she's isn't watching one of those horrible movies.
But there's a reason that she's prepared for Halloween, aside from the fact that the day will come. The guild agreed as a whole that they would hold a Halloween party. The people of Magnolia were welcome, so the party was meant to be appropriate enough for kids. Which meant, sadly for Cana, that there would be a limited variety on alcohol. But everyone had to contribute to setting up the party and providing entertainment: games, music, a "scariest costume" and "funniest costume" contest, and other things which Lucy had not know about. She already asked some of her Celestial Spirits to help her at the event. Gemini and Loki were the most excited out the group, especially Loke. Lucy imagined that Loke wanted to try his best to impress her and make her fall in love with him. She sighed to herself. However, if she had a Celestial Spirit around, hopefully that would reduce the chances of any possible scares from the other Fairy guild members. Erza was stoic and usually would not bother or scare her, but she was sure that Gray and Natsu would band together, just for once, and scheme to target her.
Which led to her intensive, super scary training. But the only thing she learned from her super training was to restrain her shaking. No way in heck has she evolved into a calm warrior like Erza or a knowledgeable book worm like the dainty, blue-haired Levy. However, she would still do her best at the Halloween party today.
That morning, Lucy had hidden her witch costume in a plain box in the closet. It's not like she wanted her unwelcome guests (like Natsu or Gray) to stumble upon it! It would ruin the surprise. She did everything she thought was necessary to prepare for the party, including a bath and wearing magical makeup that would absorb sweat. The witch's dress was purple and black with blue polka dots on the hem. It ended mid-thigh and laced up the back. She tied on the orange bow around her waist and adorned her fair head with a matching hat. The costume came with small purple gloves. She didn't want to cover her Fairy Tail tattoo because she loved it to pieces, but when she put on the left glove, she loved the asymmetrical look along with a pair of boots and black-and-blue stripped thigh high leggings. She checked herself in the mirror and giggled at her success at a costume and ran to the guild after she grabbed her celestial keys.
Her greeting at the guild was Happy, the blue cat with pure white wings, flew in front of her and cried out, "Hiya!"
Lucy bit back a scream and stood rigid as Happy pulled himself away from her. She let out a sigh and felt herself relax as she looked at the happy little cat. She tilted her head in confusion. "Happy, what is that outfit?" He was dressed in a white and black suit with a black cape and mask. He also had a toy sword.
Happy furrowed his brow. "You can't tell, Lucy? I'm the headless horseman!"
She frowned. "Um, the headless horseman has either his actual head or a pumpkin with him. You don't have either of those, plus you also don't have a horse." He flapped his wings, frustrated.
"I'm the cooler, magical version! Besides, I look way cooler than you! Who the heck are you? A waitress?"
Her mouth dropped. "I'm a witch!" She did a twirl for him. "Can't you tell?"
Happy sighed and chuckled. "You don't have a broom, Lucy, so it wasn't obvious. And isn't that cliche since you're a wizard?"
"I know! I thought that this costume was cute! Sheesh!" She pouted and decided to look for someone who would understand, as well as Mira, who promised to lend her a broom. She brushed past Happy and caught sight of Levy and Wendy, the two dressed as a gypsy and a fairy. Lucy smiled at them once she got their attention and would had gone over to them had Natsu not stopped her.
"Yo, Lucy!"
She turned at the sound of his voice and was ready to greet her silly friend with a smile, but her mouth dropped as she laid eyes on Natsu and his costume. She swore her eyes bugged out when she saw him dressed in a black outfit with red accents, including red and orange fiery paper cut-outs that were attached to his knees, shoulders, and head. On his hip was (hopefully) a sword in a sheath. Lucy furrowed her brow in confusion. "Natsu, what are you supposed to be?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a fire demon who's actually an exorcist!"
The blond witch nervously chuckled. "Do you know how to use a sword? If you use your real fire while you hold that thing, the blade could melt." He waved away her worry and told her that it was a plastic sword. He had asked and begged Erza to lend him one of her swords since she has so many, but she had hit him on the head and bluntly told him that he wrecked anything that he touched. Lucy thought that that was the case and silently agreed with Erza while the fire dragon slayer pouted like a child.
She rubbed her head, tired of her stupidity, and headed to the bar, where Mirajane sat on a stool and talked to Elfman and a familiar red headed lady. Lucy waved and caught Mira's attention, who smiled and waved back as the only witch joined them. The beautiful S-Class mage wore a tattered black and white sleeveless dress that ended at her knees. To match the angel/devil theme, she wore black and white striped stockings and an angelic demonic wing. Elfman, clad in a wrestler's uniform, waved as well, and told Lucy that she looked manly as a witch. Lucy weakly laughed. Whereas Erza was in a tattered dress like Mira, but in light blues, greens, and purples, and a matching pair of wings with dark blue heels. Amazingly, she wore a flower crown as well. Erza would certainly outclass all of the other fairies.
"Lucy! I love your costume. Did you make that? Oh yeah, here's your broom." She reached behind the bar and handed Lucy her final accessory.
Lucy shook her head. "I got this for a discount. Isn't that great?" Mira giggled and nodded in agreement.
Erza smiled and looked at her fiercely. "Discounts are what brings together the money to create such a wonderful event. Needing supplies such as candy, decorations, food, fire-proof materials..." She continued on her list of things that were bought to make the Halloween party a success. She and Master Makarov organized the event, and for fun, made a few bets. The bet that she lost was to dress as a fairy and serve as a sort of mascot for Fairy Tail. However, she refused to wear the ridiculous costume that Makarov made in his spare time and put something together from her requipped clothes. She would have refused to do the dare had Makarov not threatened that he would try to convince Wendy to wear the costume that he put so much time and love in to. Erza, unbeknownst to everyone else, hit him and accepted to do the stupid dare.
Elfman couldn't contain his excitement. "Discounts are manly! Way to be a man, Lucy!"
She smiled, a little uncomfortable, when she heard Gray say hey to her. She turned and smiled, blind to what was to come. Instead of seeing Gray in a mummy or any costume, she came face to face with a frozen sculpture of a zombie that reached out to claim her. A spurt of flame exploded behind the ice zombie and looked rather demonic with its hideously smiling face.
Lucy screamed and fell back, tears forming at her eyes. The fire dissipated and the zombie sculpture exploded into chunks which then vanished. Gray, clad in a modern prince costume, clapped Natsu, probably the only time that they would be civil with each other.
"Yo, Natsu, that was easier than I thought. Did Levy say that she was training to make herself tougher?" The ice mage smirked and seemed really proud of himself.
Natsu cackled. "Yeah! Much easier! It's nice to have Lucy around for a laugh!"
Mira reprimanded them and patted Lucy's head. Elfman, on the other hand, told them that it was not manly to scare a girl. Erza left the reprimanding to Mira and turned to check on Lucy.
Well, she would have, had Lucy not disappeared.
Lucy appeared in front of the arrogant young men, her eyes gleaming a deathly white. Holding the broom over her head like a baseball bat, she called out "Lucy Witch Slap!" and whacked Natsu into the wall above the bar. Gray froze and looked at the pulverized Natsu, shocked and dreading what he would face. However, it was too late. The witch was in front of him and hit him upside the head with the broom and, in her same demonic voice, cried out "Lucy Kick!" and kicked him into the opposite wall.
The guild and townspeople were left speechless at the act. Lucy, who had landed into a kneeling position, stood slowly. Some of the other mages, who had maybe thought to scare Lucy to get a laugh as well, shook their shoes while she seemed just deathly calm. She tilted her head up, and with a bright smile, said, "Happy Halloween! Let's have a good time!" She held up her free hand in encouragement, while the broom in her right was slightly broken.
Erza smiled and lightly tapped her on the back, but that light tap pushed the poor girl forward a few feet. The fairy queen put her hands on her hips. "Lucy's right! Master Makarov made sure that everyone here would have a wonderful night full of happy memories. Let's make some tonight." She raised her hand and positioned her fingers in the signature style that Makarov had made popular. The other mages joined in and the people of Magnolia smiled, giggled, or clapped. While everyone visited or maintained their booths, and while Lucy helped the talent show with her Celestial Spirits, Natsu and Gray were left on their own to crawl out of the holes in the walls made from their own impacts and clean up their messes.