Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail or Artemis Fowl

Warning: This story will contain character death, as well as spoilers for the Alvarez Empire arc of Fairy Tail.

After the whole fiasco in Crocus with the Eclipse Gate, Lucy was glad to be back home. Her old apartment was still ready, and a warm bath was just calling her name. Really, she was beginning to wonder how many more of these adventures she could take. She had literally just watched herself die, not to mention dealing with the whole confusing mess of realizing time travel was possible. Part of her still worried that they were destined for some dark future, but another side said not to dwell on it. After all, it was entirely possible that multiple timelines existed. If so, then the future probably wasn't that bleak. After all, with the gate gone, how else were dragons supposed to get to the present to destroy the future?

For now, Lucy figured she'd take some time off of jobs. Natsu and Happy could go together. Heck, they could even take Gray and the others along too. She just wanted a break from all of it first. Sinking into the water of her bath, Lucy let out a sigh. "Man…this really hits the spot. I've been missing my room for so long…" Maybe it would have been embarrassing to admit out loud in public, but here in the privacy of her home, it was fine. Other places really just weren't the same, if she was being honest. Showers in Crocus were either too hot or too cold. She couldn't get the temperature to adjust properly there. Not to mention the stores nearby hadn't carried her favorite brand of body wash. She had been forced to use some off-brand for three days after she ran out of the supply she had brought with her.

Once she was satisfied with her relaxation, Lucy got out and wrapped a towel around her body, walking towards her desk in the other room. Maybe she'd take this time off to actually get some work done on her novel. She had recently decided to change the entire direction of the story, realizing she had been writing some embarrassingly fluffy romance scenes that had nothing to do with the main plot. Instead, she was trying to make it more serious and less about drama. After all, her life was crazy enough as it was. Maybe she should write a story about that instead. Someone would want to read about the antics of Fairy Tail, and even more would be willing to believe such insane stories were actually works of fiction. The thought made her smile, picking up her pencil and pulling out some blank sheets of paper.

Just as she was about to get to work, Lucy's whole body jumped up at the sound of a voice. "Hey, Luce! Man, you took forever in there. What's with you and those long showers?" Her heart was pounding, wondering how anyone could have gotten in here. However, she should have known who it would be. Her eyes were already narrowing into a glare as she turned to see Natsu and his partner, Happy, already making themselves at home in her apartment. They were lounging on her bed as if they owned the place, and she felt like she was ready to explode at them.

"Aye! Plus, you didn't have anything good in your fridge this time." Happy grinned at her, flying towards her. "Did you happen to be hiding fish in there with you? I wouldn't blame you. I like to eat in the bath too sometimes."

"Get out of my room, you stupid cat!" With a punch, she sent Happy flying back into Natsu, startling both of them as the dragon slayer caught his friend and frowned at her in confusion.

"Geeze, what's with you?" Shaking his head, Natsu sighed. "You always make such a big deal over us stopping by to say hi. We just thought we'd tell you about what's been happening at the guild while you were away."

Taking a deep breath, Lucy sighed. Really, she did this whole thing every time they came. They never knocked, they stole her food, and they invaded her privacy like they didn't even know what it was. It was annoying, but she should have been used to it by now. At least this time it wasn't for some ridiculous reason like dragging her out of the room to watch some fight. The last time Natsu had dragged her to the guild to see Gray picking a fight with Cana, Lucy had flipped out on him and run directly back home. She hadn't returned to the guild hall for days after that, wanting to prove her point to him. Then, her rent bill came in and she realized she couldn't stop taking jobs forever if she wanted to stay in Magnolia.

Meeting his gaze, Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "Thanks, but you really didn't need to barge in here just to do that. At least try and use the front door if you want to stop by." The open window behind him told her that he hadn't even tried. Plus, she had locked her front door for the night already, so it was impossible for him to have broken inside.

Shrugging, Natsu leaned forward, crossing his legs as he sat on her bed. "Whatever. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." With a grin, he leaned forward. "Mavis is giving the entire guild a job to perform! Can you believe it? I bet it'll be so awesome, probably fighting some old monster that threatened the guild years ago. We could defeat Fairy Tail's greatest enemy!" Of course, he thought all jobs involved fighting in some form. Though, Lucy did have to admit, combat experience was becoming more necessary even on simpler jobs. The jobs like the acting group they had joined and serving came rarely, and more often, Lucy saw jobs for protecting cargo or hunting down bandits or monsters taking their place. However, something felt off about Mavis giving a job like that. While she didn't exactly know Mavis well, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would openly pursue a battle with someone.

"What makes you assume that? Maybe it's something completely unrelated to fighting. For all we know, Mavis just wants us to take her sightseeing. You know she gets lonely trying to do things like that by herself." It was somewhat sad, when she thought about it. Mavis could only be seen by guild members, so the girl couldn't exactly go out and make new friends all that easily.

"But why would she need the entire guild for that?" Happy sat on the ground between them, looking rather pleased with his assessment. "Seems pretty weird to me. Lifelong enemy of Fairy Tail makes a lot more sense."

"If it's our lifelong enemy, why have we never heard of him?" She couldn't believe their fantasies. Sometimes, she wondered if Happy and Natsu might make better stories than she did, but she dismissed it normally. Even if they were amusing, they were too insane to be believed, even as a fantasy novel.

Smirking, Natsu leaned forward and flashed his teeth in his grin. "Because! He must be a super-secret spy or ninja, unseen to all. Only Mavis knows of him…and he works in secret to sabotage our missions!"

Looking towards Natsu, Happy tilted his head. "Does that mean he causes your motion sickness?"

Nodding eagerly, Natsu grinned at him. "Hell yes he does! Probably takes Gray's clothes too, and he pokes Erza to make her mad at us." Natsu shuddered at the thought, while Lucy was beginning to wonder why she bothered listening.

"Alright, I think I've heard enough. If you guys are done with your ridiculous story, I'm going to get some sleep." She stared at them when they didn't leave, narrowing her eyes. "That means you two need to get out."

"Aww, but Lucy! Mavis promised she'd do whatever we wanted as a reward to the team that finished her job…we'd be able to make any request of her at all…." A devious smile appeared on his face as he rubbed his hands together.

Smiling eagerly, Happy began to drool. "Aye…we're going to win and I'm going to have her catch me a lifetime supply of fish!"

"No way! I'm getting her to train me in that super-awesome secret magic Gramps uses. With the power of Fairy Tail's strongest spells, I'll be unstoppable!"

"And she didn't even hint at what kind of job it was?" The reward was intriguing, but Lucy really couldn't think of anything she'd want from Mavis. Really, she hadn't been in Fairy Tail long enough to hear much about their founder. Stories said she had been young when she made the guild, but most people didn't like talking about her more than that. Considering the age of her thought projection body, Lucy could easily imagine why. She looked like a child still, likely meaning some tragedy had happened to her at a young age.

Shrugging, Natsu leaned back. "Does that even matter? I'll just beat up whatever she needs stopped, and then that reward is ours."

"Aye! And if it isn't a fight, then Lucy'll be smart enough to deal with it."

They really were planning on using her for this. Why couldn't they just give her one week to relax? Even just one more day would have been nice. "I'm not just doing this job for you!" She complained, running a hand through her hair. "Look, you guys—"

"But we're a team, Lucy." Happy interrupted her, frowning slightly. "We've gone on jobs to help you get your rent money. Why not help us get more fish?" The cat actually had a valid point for once, making Lucy groan. She was tired and she just wanted to write for a moment then go to sleep.

Taking her moment of silence as acceptance, Natsu seemed to grow at least a little bit more serious, his smile lessening to some degree. "Alright, so here's the deal. Mavis was super-secretive about it today, but she says she's announcing the job tomorrow, to everyone at the guild hall. Gramps already knows about it, and he's already declared that it isn't going to be some easy and simply job. So, if we don't want to fall behind, we've gotta be at the guild hall tomorrow, early with everyone else."

That meant she would be getting even less sleep. "Alright, fine. I guess it can't be that bad. But…promise me that after this, you'll actually let me enjoy my time off."

Natsu grinned, holding out his hand. "It's a deal." He shook it, turning around towards the window with Happy jumping onto his shoulder. "I guess I'll see ya tomorrow, Luce!" She was about to complain and tell him to use the door like a normal person when he paused, perched on the window sill with a frown. He sniffed the air, lifting his gaze for a brief moment. "Wait…something smells—" His voice broke off, his hand lifting almost instantly towards his neck. There, Lucy could see some small object, imbedded into his skin. Flames seemed to begin to sprout around Natsu's hands, but they quickly sputtered out as he swayed on his feet. "I feel…tired. Lucy…I think I'm just gonna…" He fell backwards, landing on her bed in a slump. As he did so, Lucy managed to approach to see what had hit him. A small dart was sticking out of his skin, and his snores entered the room.

Shaking him gently, Happy stared at Natsu with wide eyes. "Natsu? Come on, wake up! This isn't like you…" He glanced towards Lucy, but this time, Lucy saw the dart come flying in. It hit Happy, having the same effect as before.

Reaching towards her hip, Lucy's first instinct was to summon one of her spirits for defense. Someone was attacking her apartment, taking each of them out one by one. However, that made her remember she was still in her bath towel. Her keys were back on her belt, lying on the bathroom floor. Moving quickly, she got out of the range of her window, ducking inside the bathroom to grasp at her keys. However, that was when she heard the jiggling of her door handle. Smiling to herself, she decided to just leave them be. She had upgraded her security system recently after getting a pretty hefty reward on her last job before the Grand Magic Games. No one was going to get past that.

Finding her keyring, Lucy debated which spirit to help her. If she knew her enemy, she'd be able to pick one so much faster, but right now, all she knew was that they were attacking with some kind of sleeping magic. Or that was what it looked like, at least. As she rose to her feet, deciding to stick with one of her stronger spirits, Lucy raised the key to summon Taurus. However, in doing so she turned around and froze. Standing at the door to her bathroom was a boy that couldn't be any older than Mavis looked. With raven black hair and startling blue eyes, Lucy's first thought was oddly about the wasted money on her security system. However, as a prick hit her shoulder, Lucy realized she had hesitated just a moment too long. The vampiric smile on the boy's face was the last thing she saw as he moved closer, leaning over her with a calculating look in his eyes.

Hello all! So...I've been obsessing over this project for almost every moment of my free time lately, thanks to a particular reader of mine that seems to love the idea of reading this (thank you CrimsonStarbird!) ;)

So, while I may have many projects in the works, this one is one of the few that I can guarantee has a planned ending. With that in mind, I will still be adding this to my poll on my profile (for those of you who have not read my other stories, this poll is to determine which story you'd prefer to have me focus on writing. I have a lot of in-progress stories at the moment, so without a lot of feedback and/or seeing votes in the poll, updates will likely come a bit slower).

With all of that in mind, I do hope you enjoy the story! Reviews are always welcome as I love hearing what my readers think, especially when my story is the first crossover in a particular fandom. Please tell me how you feel about the start of this story!