This is my very first fanfiction. Sorry if I overlooked some mistakes. I checked it twice, but my English just isn't that good yet. I will be posting every week (I hope). It can take longer than that, because I write the chapters in Dutch, and then translate them. That's also the reason I often repeat the same words too much. Sorry about that. I would love to get tips, because I really want to get better at writing. See ya! IamInk

I woke up on the street. No, I didn't go to a party last night and became drunk. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in my own bed. But this wasn't my bed. How the heck did I get here?

I was lying in a street. No, it was more like a small space between two houses. It smelled like urine and dead things. As if this was a slaughterhouse instead of just an alley. It led to a wide canal with many houses along it. Was this a city? It didn't look like Amsterdam, the city where I lived. This place remembered me of something, but I couldn't remember what is was. It was like someone stuffed the gap in my brain that was once my memory with cotton balls.

I started walking along the canal, but I stayed away from the edge. What if I couldn't swim? My footsteps were a little uneven too. It was really easy for me to fall in the water. While I wondered what I would do if I felt in the water, I noticed a little boat navigating through the canal. The men on board were shouting something to someone at the other side of the canal.

"Hey, watch out! Make sure you don't fall into the water!"

I looked across the canal. I could understand why they said it: a girl was walking dangerously close to the edge. She had blonde hair with two pigtails and she wore blue clothing. She had a pink tattoo on her hand, but I couldn't see what it was from this distance. Maybe a flag?

I walked on, wondering what I was going to do. I started getting scared. I didn't even know this town! And I didn't even know if I had ever been here before. But it didn't feel like I was reaching in the gap in my memory when I thought about this place. So I was pretty sure I had never been here before.

Alright Ilse, just keep it together. Slowly, my brain started working again. I decided that it was best if I went to the town hall. Maybe I could ask someone there what this place was. I discovered that the closed public building was the guild called Fairy Tail. What on earth was a guild? Whatever it was, I was sure that I could ask someone about this place. And ask where the nearest hospital was, because I was sure that there was something wrong with my brain. What if I had a concussion?

When I arrived at the building, second thoughts came up. From inside the building came a very loud noise. It sounded like someone was fighting. Now and then there were shouts like: "Natsu, give back my underwear!" and "When someone joins a fight, he is a man!"

A little anxious, I looked inside. It was a mess! Half of the people inside were drinking beer, laughing like maniacs and cheering for the other half that was fighting each other. I saw a woman who was drinking a whole beer barrel. And a boy without clothes, who was chasing another boy who was waving around someone's underwear. A little ashamed, I looked the other way. Okaaaay, let's not look that way anymore. There was also a young girl talking to a, a... cat. Of course. And they all had the same tattoo, but in different colours.

I had just decided that they were all nuts, when a voice behind me said: "Are you always spying on people?"

I turned around. The voice belonged to a small old man. And with small, I mean small like a child. But he was at least eighty years old, if not any older. He looked at me with a questioning gaze. Although he was small, I could feel that he was somehow really powerful.

"I, I, I am lost. A-and I thought that I could ask for help here. But I think I will look somewhere else and..." I muttered, while staring at my feet.

The old man started laughing. " Of course you can get help here." He led me inside the building. I didn't really want to go inside, but something told me that I could trust this man. So I decided to act on instinct and followed him.

Timidly, I walked through the crowd, but they didn't even notice me. They were too busy with their beer and fights. The old man walked to the back side of the building, where the pub was located. He seated himself on the desk, with his legs crossed and accepted a glass of beer from the girl behind the bar. He looked at me.

"Tell me, what's wrong?"

I still had the feeling that I could trust him, so I told him everything I knew since I had woken up. He listened carefully and nodded every once in a while.

About half an hour later, when I came back from the toilet, I saw the old man (he told me to call him master) talking to someone. It was the girl I had seen walking along the canal. She smiled at me kindly as I joined them, although I was a little shy.

The master laughed and said: "There you are, Ilse. This is Lucy." He pointed towards the girl. "She offered that you can stay with her until your memory is back. She was looking for a roommate anyway. She needs someone to share her rent with."

I looked at him. "But I don't even have a job! How am I supposed to help pay her rent?"

Lucy grinned. "Why not work here at Fairy Tail as a waitress? We are always short on them because they all leave. Most of the time because they think everyone is crazy."

I stared at her. Working as a waitress? Here? "Actually, I think that too. No offense of course. But everyone is fighting the whole time." I wanted to say that I really thought that all those people were a hazard to society, but it was too mean to say that. But she grinned. It was clear that she was holding back her laughter.

"Wait and see when Erza comes back from her job. You'll see how easy it is to get them quiet." She said while taking my hand. "Come on! I'll show you our apartment!" Wait, had I said that I wanted to move in with her? Oh well. We started moving through the fighting mob. Miraculously, Lucy didn't get hit by any of the thrown tables and beer mugs. "They'll watch out where they aim." she said. "You don't want Erza to be mad at you, but lately they are scared of me too." But it didn't work for me. By the time we were outside, I had beer in my hair and a nasty bruise from a bad aimed chair on my back.

On the way to Lucy's apartment she told me all kinds of stories about the guild. Such as who were all the members and what kind of weird habits they had. The woman who was emptying the beer barrel on her own was Cana Alberona. And the man who was constantly shouting that you should be a MAN was apparently called Elfman (a very fitting name). The guy without underwear was Gray Fullbuster and the one he was chasing was Natsu Dragneel. Was I wrong, or was Lucy blushing when she talked about him? She was walking really close to the edge of the canal. Maybe that was her weird habit.

Then, she turned around and looked at me. "What kind of magic do you use?" she asked.

I stared at her. Magic? The kind you read about in fairytales? That didn't exist right? "What do you mean?" She was talking nonsense. What was this place?

"Well, I am a Celestial wizard, Natsu is a dragon slayer and Gray uses Ice magic. Master said that you had some kind of magic too, but what is it?" Lucy had a questioning look on her face. Was this a joke? It had to be.

"Listen, magic doesn't exist. Are you sure you are alright?" I leaned against the wall of a house. Magic didn't exist. It couldn't. Was I hallucinating?

Lucy looked worried: "Of course magic does exist. And I feel fine. I should be asking you that question, you look really pale." Suddenly her eyes widened. "Ilse, magic has always existed. Around the entire world. If you don't know anything about it, you must be from somewhere else. Are you from Edolas?"

"Edolas? What is Edolas?" I felt really sick right now.

Lucy jumped forward and caught me. I didn't even realize I was collapsing. "Don't move," she said "I'll go get the master." And she ran away, her pigtails dancing around her head. I watched her go as she sprinted back to the guild. And then everything went black.

Black and white. Suddenly, everything was black and white. It was like all the colour of the world was sucked away. I watched as all kinds of events played before my eyes on hyperspeed. It was like watching a movie on fast forward. But I didn't realize anything of it. Everything happened and I could only watch. I wasn't even able to think.

Then, the movie played on normal speed, and I was able to think again. It was now as if I was in a manga. Manga? That word sounded familiar. There was that annoying feeling again. Like my memory was tied up and trying to break free. I could see Lucy, talking to the boy she had called Natsu. They were about 15 meters away from me, but I could still hear every word they said. Then I realized that I wasn't listening... I was reading! The words Lucy spoke were floating next to her. Then the picture stood still, and started zooming out. Lucy and Natsu became smaller and smaller, and in the end my whole dream changed.

For some time everything was blurred. When I could see again, I was sitting in a chair. I looked around, and noticed that I finally could move freely. I was in a room that was really familiar to me. There was a bed, a desk and a closet in the room. Through the window I could see that it was already dark outside. And... I was holding something. It was a book. No, more like a little comic book. Manga? I started looking it through. It was about Lucy? I glanced at the cover: Fairy Tail. The name of the guild? With a pounding heart I searched through the book, and found what I was looking for: the conversation between Lucy and Natsu. What did this mean?

"Ilse? Master, she needs help!" I could hear a voice from a distance. Was it Lucy?

"We'll take her to the infirmary." Someone was lifting me. I felt my body going numb.

"No... No, I need to see what is going to happen..." my voice didn't work. I had to know. Because when I was lifted, I had dropped the book. And it fell open on a page, where you could see someone dying... But I couldn't see who it was.

"Go away! She needs to rest! You can come back later."

"But Grandine..."

"Don't call me that! It's Poluchka! Now leave!"

Voices drifted through my sleep. I groaned. Their voices bounced around in my head, like someone was hitting me with a rubber hammer. If they had to wake me up, couldn't they just do it peacefully? This was not the way I liked to be woken. I tried to open my eyes, but the lights were too bright. So I decided to slumber away again.

Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep forever, and I woke up again, I was looking at the face of a really severe woman.

"Finally, it was like I wasn't going to wake up at all. Do you always sleep in?" She gave me a glass of water. "It's important that you keep hydrated. Otherwise it will affect your health. And you could also use some sunlight."

Dizzily, I sat up straight and looked around. I was in a big room with a lot of hospital beds in a row. Mine was next to the window. The woman walked to the door that gave access to the hallway.

"They are waiting to visit you all day long. They don't even know how much rest the average patient needs." She opened the door. Lucy and the young, blue haired girl came in.

Lucy smiled: "How are you? I was really worried, you were looking so pale!" She pointed at the blue haired girl. "This is Wendy. She can help you regain your memory." Wendy smiled, although she looked a little shy. She wasn't older then twelve, could she really help me?

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ilse." I shook her hand. Her hair was long and dark blue. I was really fascinated by it. Was this her natural hair colour? I noticed that, she too, had the weird tattoo Just like Lucy. But instead of on her hand, hers was on her arm.

Lucy studied my face. "Ooh, you're wondering about the tattoo? That's our guild mark. Everyone who is a member of the guild has one."

It looked like an arrow with a flame on the end. But it also looked like a fairy, trying to make a huge jump. Fairy Tail?

Wendy sat down on my bed. "Master Makarov said that you can't remember anything from before you woke up here in the city." I nodded. "Maybe I can cure you with my sky magic." Wendy said. "It's possible that your memory is blocked by some sort of curse or something."

There it was again. Magic... "Lucy said something about magic too. Does it stand for something else?"

Wendy looked puzzled. "Of course it doesn't stand for something. Magic is magic." She put her hands on my forehead and started to mumble. I had the urge to lean back. But if Lucy believed that this could really help me, I had to trust her. Suddenly, Wendy's hands started to glow. Light-blue light shone through the room. First, nothing happened. But then my head started to clear up. The heavy feeling was going away, and left me with a peaceful mind. Was this Wendy's doing? Was this really... magic? Wendy withdrew her hands. She looked at me hopefully.

"And?" Lucy asked. "Did it work?"Did this mean that Wendy was already done?

"Errr.." I tried to remember where I came from, but I couldn't find anything. The only thing that had changed, was that my head didn't feel so heavy anymore. "No, I still can't remember anything from before the moment I woke up in that stinking alley."

Wendy looked puzzled. "I actually didn't expect it to work. If it had worked, I would know." She addressed to Lucy. "But it's weird. It didn't feel like her memory was blocked at all. It just wasn't there. It's not something I can cure with my magic. Her memory just isn't present, like it was stolen or something. Maybe that... What's wrong Ilse? You look so scared."

Was I? I didn't even notice. But I needed to ask: "What is it that you guys keep talking about magic? Magic this, magic that. It just doesn't exist! It only exists in fairytales! Is this some sort of bad joke?" I started feeling uneasy. No, I was already uneasy. Now I was really scared. "I mean, I'm not crazy, right?" My eyes were shooting back and forth between the two of them.

Lucy swallowed nervously. "Err, Wendy? Can you get the master for us? I think he and Ilse need to talk."

Master Makarov was a really nice person. Patiently, he kept telling me that magic did exist, and that it was a part of everyday life. He told me everything about guilds and the magic council. And how wizards in guilds earned their money by going on jobs. In the beginning, I refused to believe him. But everything he told me did fit in the picture. And after showing me real magic by ordering me to go on a job with Lucy and Natsu, I had to believe him. There was only one thing I didn't believe. He kept saying that I had magic in me too. He had said that, if I wanted to, could learn a form of magic too. That part was just too stupid to believe. Me and magic? No!

After Poluchka, the woman who had treated me, had said that I was healthy again, I moved in with Lucy. She was really kind. I slept on the couch for now, but that didn't matter. She had always time to listen to my doubts and always supported me. To help pay her rent, I worked as a waitress in Fairy Tail and at night in a restaurant close by. It wasn't much, but I was happy. I had a place I could call home. Even in this world, where I was sure I didn't belong. But even when I felt safe and happy, while I served beer to all the crazy wizards in Fairy Tail. I still thought about the book I had seen in my dream. Something was about to happen.

Sorry about the cheesy ending, but I couldn't think of anything else. How is it so far? Thanks for reading!