Retribution

Chapter 1

"Alright, girls," Laxus sighed as he walked along, his youngest daughter's hand clasped tightly in his. She hardly went anywhere without holding hands with somebody. For her, he'd put up with it. "You each have your own jewels, don't you?"

"Yes," his youngest said, nodding her head. "Daddy."

"You didn't have to walk us," his other daughter complained as she walked along next to them, arms crossed over her chest in defiance. "Laxus."

"Yes, Haven, I did," he told her.

"And remember," she went on. "We made those jewels. So we get to spend them on anything we want."

"Except animals."

"You can't make rules like that."

"Yes, I can," he told her. "It's my house, brat."

"That's not fair!"

Marin, his other daughter, only glanced up at him. "But I can buy a toy, right?"

"Of course, baby." Looking down at her, he forced a smile. "If that's what you want. You earned the money, remember?"

Nodding, she squeezed his hand tighter. "Ice cream after?"

"If you still got jewels."

"Daddy."

"I'll buy you some ice cream," he sighed. "If you're good. That goes for you too, Haven. You've been a real brat this past week."

"You've been a real brat."

"You know, kid, you're close to getting a bolt of lightning' shot straight through you. Keep playing me."

"See? Bratty."

"Ha- Gotcha."

That made Haven glance back at her father, shocked to find him not only holding the hand of her younger sister, but rather also grasping the arm of some boy rather tightly. The boy was struggling, but she knew from experience, once the Thunder God had you, you weren't getting away.

"Let me go, you creep," the boy was growling, trying to fight Laxus off. The man only let go of his daughter, who was staring in shock, before glaring down at the boy.

"What now then? Huh?" Laxus tightened his grip until what the boy was clutching in his hand fell. Laxus' wallet. Haven should know; she'd gotten it for him for his birthday the previous year. "You a little pickpocket? Not smart, brat, stealin' from a guild master."

"I haven't done shit!" And just like that, a blue magic circle appeared around the boy's other hand before a short blade materialized. Then he was slicing around at Laxus.

"Now you've pissed me off," Laxus grumbled as he dropped the boy's arm. When he tried to run though, Laxus only reached around and grabbed the hood of his jacket instead with just as tight a grip. "I try and have a nice day with my girls and you ruined it. I was gonna let you off with a warnin', but now? Now I'm taking you down to the authorities to-"

"You sound so old," Haven complained as she rushed back over to them. Glaring at the boy, she balled up her fists. "You're a mage then? Fine! You tried to steal from my master and I'm not going to let you get away with it."

"Haven," Laxus warned, letting the boy go as he went to go grab her instead. "You don't-"

"Fine! You think I'm afraid of you?" A sword appeared in the boy's other hand as Marin only took to covering her eyes. It was the middle of the day and the street they were on was practically empty. "'cause I'm not!"

"You better be! You don't mess with Fairy Tail!" Haven held out a hand and shot a ball of lightning at the boy, who easily dodged it.

"Fairy Tail?" Suddenly, there was another boy, who apparently had been hiding in a nearby alley way, came running out. He appeared younger than the dark headed boy before them, but looked enough like the other boy that it was clear they were related. "Ravan, did you hear them? They're from Fairy Tail."

"Yeah," Laxus grumbled as he moved to shove Haven back. "And?"

"We're not helping you do nothin'," Haven yelled from behind her father. "You thieves! We don't help-"

"That's where Erza Scarlet is from." The older boy, who'd looked ready to charge at Haven with his weaponry, which Laxus was not letting happen, stood up straight once more. His face was dark as he glared up at the older man. "Do you know her?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Because," he said as the other boy came to take refuge behind him. "I'm going to kill her."

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Laxus laughed and, with a shake of his head, took to walking back over to the boy.

"You," he chuckled darkly. "You're gonna kill Erza? You're just…a kid."

"I won't let you get anywhere near her," Haven said. "None of us will. You-"

"No, Have," Laxus sighed as he went once more to take Marin's hand. "This isn't our battle. It's Erza's, yeah? So tell me, kid, how are you going to do it? Huh? With your little, itty-bitty swords right there?"

"I could kill you right now if I wanted," he said. "But I ain't a murderer."

"You couldn't do nothing to Laxus!" Haven was getting ready to forgo the magic and just beat some sense into that boy with her fists. "Even if he is an old man, he's still super strong!"

"Thanks. I think," her father said before shaking his head at the boy. "You wanna kill Titania? Huh? Then come on. I'll take you straight to her and you two can settle your little beef."

"Laxus," Haven complained as Marin rushed to grab his hand, not wanting to get left behind. "What are you doing?"

"I ain't Erza's damn bodyguard," he grumbled. "Clearly she's done something to piss these brats off. Right?"

"Right," the younger one said which got him a look from the other. "I mean…no?"

The older child just glared at Laxus. "I didn't need your permission to kill her anyhow. She'll pay for what she did."

Marin glanced back at them then, looking from the bigger boy to the smaller one. They were rather fearsome.

"Daddy," she whispered. "Are you really gonna let them hurt Erza?"

"Of course not," he told her softly. "But it's better to bring them to her front on then let them sneak up on her somewhere. She might think they're a real threat and hurt them."

"I'm gonna hurt them," Haven grumbled. "Try and take my dad's money. Those-"

"Aw, Haven," Laxus said dryly. "I'm touched."

"Don't be," she said. "I'm only thinking about myself. I get all your jewels when you die, don't I?"

With that in mind, the man took to sighing, but still kept up his pace, pulling Marin along with him as Haven trudged along. The boys seemed to be speaking softly to one another, the older hissing harshly at the other. Still though, they followed along as well. They were on a mission, after all.

"Wow," the younger one said rather audibly when they approached the grounds. To Haven and Marin, it was just the same old Fairy Tail. To him though, it was clearly an impressive structure.

"Ready to kill someone, kid? Huh?" Laxus was still rather amused with the whole thing, it seemed. The second they were inside the gate, Haven took off running for the guildhall, calling out for Erza. The older boy chased after her, his swords having dissipated, clearly not wishing to be left behind.

"Come on then," Laxus said, glancing back at the younger boy, who seemed slightly fearful. "I ain't too happy with you either, you little brat. Stealing ain't ever okay. You hear me?"

"Daddy," Marin complained, looking back at the boy too. He was just standing there, hardly through the gate, just staring at them with wide eyes. "Don't be mean."

"Mean? How am I being mean? The kids stole from me!" Growling then, he drug her along once more. Didn't matter. He wanted to be around to see that kid get his ass handed to him. If he had done it, it would have been bullying. Erza though? Defending herself? Perfect punishment.

Damn pickpockets.

Inside, Haven and the boy were already attracting attention. Laxus placed his wife easily, who was away from the bar and standing in front of the two kids, listening as the boy raved about being taken to Erza immediately, struggling to be heard over Haven bragging loudly to the other kids in the hall, Locke and Navi, about how much of a coward her father was and how she had been forced to defend his honor.

"Hardly, brat," Laxus said as he came over to them as well, letting go of Marin's hand finally. She rushed to her mother's side, hiding in the woman's dress.

"Well," Mirajane was telling the boy as she moved to run a hand down the back of her youngest daughter's head. "Erza isn't here right now. I'm sorry. She went out on a job."

"A job?" The boy was glaring heavily at Mirajane as his younger companion came to stand by him. "Well, when's she gonna get back?"

"Maybe today," Mirajane said before smiling. "You know, I'm sure whatever it is that Erza's done-"

"I'm not going to talk about it to you," he hissed making Laxus frown. He almost went to smack the kid in the back of the head for disrespecting his demon, but just as quickly, Mira was nodding.

"Since you're here though," she said, looking the child over. "You might as well wait. I have some soup that I was just going to throw out. A bad batch. Maybe you and your friend-"

"You'll feed us?" The younger boy's face lit up for the first time. The older one reached over to slug him in the arm. "I mean… We don't want your food!"

"We don't take handouts," the other agreed though, no doubt due to all the scents of the different meats and such in the air as well as Mirajane's mention of the food, his stomach growled slightly. "We're only here to get Erza Scarlet. Nothing else."

"Well, it'll be a shame," Mira sighed, turning to walk off. "For it to all go to waste. You're still welcome to wait though."

"What?" Haven stalked after her mother. "You can't just let him sit in here and try and-"

"Wow, Haven," Locke remarked as the ten year old came walking over, hands behind his head. "You can't even handle these two? Why am I not shocked?"

"You shut up," she growled, turning right back on him. "Like you could have done any better."

"Uh, yeah, I could, so-"

"Where is Erza then?" Laxus, a little annoyed that he'd gone through all of that for nothing, took off after his wife. "Mirajane-"

"I don't know, Laxus. She went on a job. Why is that so shocking? You know, not everyone inherits a guildhall."

"Ha ha."

The kids though were left to themselves then, Haven and Locke taking to quarreling as Navi, their other usual playmate, rushed over to watch. Marin however only stared at the other boys.

"You don't have to stay icky," she said after a moment of just staring at them. "You're not members, but I bet that no one would care if you took a bath. We gotta bathhouse."

She was flinching too, after she spoke, expecting the boy to snap at her like he had the others. But the older boy was already heading off, after Mirajane, yelling something about Erza.

That left Marin and the other boy.

"You gotta bathhouse?" he asked then, slowly, just staring at her. Marin wasn't well versed in the world outside of her hometown, as she rarely left it, but it was obvious to her that both boys weren't very well dressed. Their shirts were in rags and they looked rather dirty. She kinda felt…bad.

"Mmmhmm. And we gotta pool."

"Wow."

Encouraged now, she threw in, "And we have a pool table!"

That one didn't get a response, really, other than him frowning at her.

"What's that?"

"Well…I dunno, but it's downstairs and the big guys like it."

"Can I see it?"

Marin glanced around, but her sister was by that point, chasing after the older boy once more and her parents weren't oblivious to her.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Long as you don't steal from me."

"We don't steal," he told her simply as he came closer. "We just get enough to buy food. That's all."

"Well, you were stealin' from my daddy," she told him before heading off, for the downstairs. The boy was quick to follow, not only wanting to see this magical pool table, but also wanting to explain himself.

"Na-ah. Your dad has all sorts of stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"He's got nice clothes and he was talkin' about going to buy stuff. He didn't need it. He-"

"He did need it. Because it's his. And he earned it." She wasn't backing down on that point. "You're bad. That's bad. Takin' somethin' that's not yours. Even if you need it."

"No." He was just as righteous. "What else are we supposed to do? Starve?"

"How come your mommy and daddy don't feed you?"

"Because they're dead. And they're not coming back. And we have to go ave…ave…average them."

"Average them?"

"That's what Ravan says."

"Who's Ravan?"

"He's my bubba." They were headed down the stairs then, the boy keeping close to her as if he were afraid of getting lost or something. There were a lot of big guys around, after all.

"The mean one?"

"He's not mean. He's just…"

"He seems mean. Like Haven."

"Who's Haven?"

"My sister. The one that was yellin' and stuff."

"Oh, yeah, she is mean."

"Mmmhmm."

Downstairs, they found that not a lot of people were around. One person in particular took Marin's interest.

"Hi, Elf," she greeted as she came over to him, the little boy following along.

"Well, hi, Marin." He was busy practicing shooting darts, but did stop to look down at her. "Who's your friend?"

"Um…Ravan's brother."

"Well-"

"You're really good at darts, Uncle Elf," she complimented, grinning up at him. That distracted the man as he took to nodding his head.

"Well," he told her. "I am a real man, after all. And real men know how to play darts!"

He proceeded then, of course, to begin playing once more, as to show off for his niece. But it was in vain, as Marin and the boy had already set off again.

"Wow," he said. "You gots lots of cool games here."

"Mmmhmm. We've gots the best guildhall ever. It's my daddy's. And before that, it was Gramps'." Glancing at the other child, she asked, "What's your guild?"

"I don't gotta guild," he told her with a giggle. "I have a village, but…"

"But what?"

He didn't wanna answer her anymore though. And Marin, to make him feel better, went over to the unused billiards table and, reaching blindly up as it was taller than her, felt around until she found a ball.

"Here you go," she said, presenting it to him. "You can have this."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

It was a blue one and rather shiny. Shaking his head, he went to set it back up on the table.

"If we take it, then nobody can play, right?"

Marin hadn't thought about that. "They got lots of balls up there though."

"But isn't it just like with your daddy's money? You said that it didn't matter that he had a bunch. I couldn't just take some."

His perception skills were far beyond hers. With a shrug, Marin turned to head back to the stairs.

"This is the game room," she told him. "Come on. Now I'll show you the pool."

But as they bounded back up the stairs, the very evident sound of the boy's stomach growling could be heard.

"You're hungry?" Marin smiled at him. "My mommy will make us sandwiches."

"No," he said, though he still followed the girl. "Ravan said-"

"Ravan said that you couldn't eat it 'cause you didn't take ham outs. So we'll eat turkey sandwiches."

"Handouts," he corrected. "And that's not-"

"Come on." She stopped at the top of the stairs before reaching back to take his hand and drag him along, like her father had before. As it was turning out, the boy wasn't scary at all. His brother though… "It'll be like when I go play at Locke's house and eat lunch. It's not 'cause I don't got jewels. It's 'cause we're friends."

Haven and Locke's fight had dissolved by that point, each kid licking their wounds over by their parents. Locke's mother, Levy, wasn't around, but Gajeel was, and he was taking much enjoyment out of ribbing the boy over the bruises he was then sporting.

"Daddy." Marin had no problem with rushing right over to the man, who had taken a seat at the bar. "Ravan's brother wants a sandwich."

"Huh?" He frowned down at her before glancing at the boy, who was standing there as well. His brother, Ravan, was quick to come over, glaring at his younger sibling.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at him.

"I'm not getting a handout," he defended. "She's gonna give it to me because we're friends. That's okay, isn't it?"

"No," he said harshly.

"Well," Mirajane spoke up from where she was behind the bar. "I'm going to go set two bowls of soup over there and some sandwiches and if anyone wants some, they're more than welcome to them."

"Demon," Laxus warned as Navi, who was still standing around, was quick to perk right back up.

"We can have soup?" she asked.

"It's not for you," Locke called from his table close by, where his father was still laughing at him.

"But she said-"

"It's for them," Haven accused, pointing at the two boys. Her little sister took to frowning.

"If you were hungry and were in a guild you didn't know, you'd wanna be fed," the youngest Dreyar argued.

Still, Laxus shook his head as Mirajane went off to get those bowls. "This ain't an orphanage, woman. This is a business. One that we happen to be running."

"Take it out of my pay."

"Demon-"

"Laxus, I'm not going to let them just stand around, starving-"

"They tried to rob me!"

"They're hungry. And all alone. You don't know what that's like."

"Oh, bull, Mira. Just because I-"

"They're eating." And that time, her tone was absolute. Laxus moved on to focusing on his beer. Happy, Marin took the boy's hand once more before leading him off to an empty table. Ravan, seeing this, narrowed his eyes before following. And there was no way that Haven was letting her little sister sit with those two thieves. No way. Navi came with her.

"My mommy makes good soup," Marin was saying as she and the youngest boy sat on one side of the table together. The older boy just stood there, glaring off.

"You can eat," he told his brother. "But only because you haven't in awhile."

"You aren't going to eat?" The younger boy frowned. "Ravan-"

"I'm going to kill Erza. And then I'll buy us a big feast with the jewels she has on her."

"You're not doing anything," Haven said as Locke, done moping, came back over as well to stand around with them. "I won't let you."

"Try and stop me," he retorted with a glare. "I slice right through you."

"Bring it."

"Haven," Locke sighed, folding his hands behind his head with a frown. "You're being rude."

"They're trying to hurt Erza."

"No, they're not," he said. "There's no way that they ever could. They're just stupid little boys. Just like you're a stupid little girl. So stop fighting with people all the- Hey!"

And, after she hit him once more in the arm, they began to quarrel again. Navi, not interested in seeing that, just kept her attention on their guests.

"My daddy and mommy are out with Erza," she told him. "They're a team. Them and Gray. And Happy! And sometimes Wendy, but-"

"Like I care," Ravan retorted, bucking up. He was about the same height as Navi though, making it mostly a waste. "They're as useless to this world as she is. All guilds members are. You're nothing, but-"

"Okay," they heard then, making all of the children glance up. It was Mirajane, of course, coming over with two bowls of soup balanced on a tray, as well as two cups of juice and a plate of sandwiches. "Here you boys go. Just tell me if you need something else, okay?"

The second she placed the soup and silverware down in front of the youngest boy, he dug right in. Marin sat next to him, head rested on the table, watching him eat with interest.

"You're kinda like Navi's daddy," she told him. "You eat fast."

The other bowl Mira placed on the other side of the table, but Ravan was still being rather prideful and kept his head turned to it. His stomach hadn't caught the message, however, and grumbled rather loudly.

Haven and Locke were finished then with their brawl, leaving her to notice the other boy's adherence to her mother's cooking.

"That's rude," she told him with a frown. "When someone gives you something like that, you just don't ignore it. She didn't have to be nice to you. You're nothing, but a thief. You're lucky that we don't kick you out of here!"

The boy glared for a moment before, once more, giving her his back. Over his shoulder, he said, "You better stop bothering me, girl, before I beat you up. And believe me, I hit a lot harder than your stupid boyfriend."

That was enough to get her. Growling, she moved to strike him finally, which of course got her back into a fight once more. There was no magic involved, however, but rather just a pure fistfight. Locke, glad for once not to have to deal with her, went to take a seat at the table, though he kept glancing back there, knowing that if she were truly in any trouble, he'd have to jump in and save her. As much as he hated her at times, she was still his best friend.

"You like it?" Marin asked, giggling slightly as she watched her new friend chow down. He came up for no air, but did nod his head slightly. "Good. Mommy makes good food. Even Daddy thinks so and he doesn't much like anything."

Swallowing what was in his mouth, he didn't lift his head, but did tilt it over at her to say, "Your daddy don't seem too nice."

"He is to me," she was quick to say. "And Mommy. And…and… Sometimes Haven. And Aunt Lissy. Sometimes Aunt Ever too. And he's letting you eat. That's nice."

"You really like him, huh?"

"Of course. He's Daddy."

The boy nodded. "I liked my papa too."

"I love him."

"Me too."

He went back to eating about then while Marin just watched him some more.

Locke was tired of watching Haven and that boy scrap by that time and jumped up to either break them up or join in. It wouldn't take a lot to sway his opinion either way.

"So how come you wanna hurt Erza?" Marin was asking the boy then as he finished his bowl of soup in record time and had started on the sandwich. "I like her. She's one of Mommy's friends."

After inhaling half of the sandwich, the boy said, "Ravan said that she killed our entire village."

That took Marin back. With a frown, she said, "Na-ah. Erza's a good guy."

"No." He even shook his head before diving in for the other half the sandwich. Once that was down, he added, "All guilds are bad. They're evil. They take money from little towns and villages and then don't do nothin' for them. They're cheats and snakes and-"

"No!" Marin's head shot up then. "That's not true. Least not about Fairy Tail. Especially Erza. She helps everybody. She-"

"Maybe," he said then, slowly, as he reached out to pick up Ravan's sandwich as well. If he wasn't going to eat it anyhow, why let it just go to waste? "Maybe we don't know the same Erza. Maybe there's two."

To the six year old, that sounded extremely logical.

"Maybe," she agreed.

"But how will we know?" he asked. "If she's not here?"

"Well, do you know what she looks like?"

"Sorta," he said. "I don't remember her well, but I'm sure I would if I saw her."

"I know." Marin jumped up then before grinning at him. "We'll go talk to Max."

"Max?" He took the sandwich with him as he stood. "Who's Max?"

"He runs the shop."

"Shop? You gotta shop?"

"Uh-huh. Outside. C'mon."

She was heading off then and, with one sparing glance at his older brother, the boy took off after her, munching on the rest of his sandwich the entire way.

"What sorta things do you sell then?" he asked. "In the shop?"

"Suv…suv… Just stuff."

"Oh."

"But one of the big things," she said as they headed along, "are the toys."

"Toys? You got toys here?"

"Well, kinda. They're action figures," she said.

"Of who?"

"Of people like my daddy or Navi's. Erza has one too! And when you see it, you'll know that she's not the Erza that you're looking for, right?"

"Oh." He grinned then. "You're real smart. What's your name?"

"Marin," she said. Then, because Laxus always said it with pride, she added, "Dreyar."

"That's a nice name," the other child said. "And you're a mage too?"

"Well…" She paused for a moment before saying, "I'mma be a Dragon Slayer. If I take the lacrima from my daddy."

"A lacrima?"

"Uh-huh."

"And it'll make you a dragon?"

"Dragon Slayer," she said. "That's what he is. His name is the Thunder God."

"Really?"

Nodding, she said, "And then Navi's daddy, he's one too. He's real great. His name's Natsu, but everyone calls him the Salamander."

"Wow."

"Uh-huh. And Locke? My sissy's best friend? His daddy's one too. He's Black Steel Gajeel! He's real mean, but sometimes, he'll help me, Navi, Locke, and Haven bake cookies. When we all sleep over at his house."

"You sure gotta lotta slayers."

"Mmmhmm. And then there's Wendy. She's the Maiden of the Sky."

"You guys all got cool names?"

"Mmmm… Erza is the Queen of the Fairies. Titania."

"'cause your name's Fairy Tail?"

Marin blinked. "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

It was the boy's turn to giggle, but she only smiled.

"Then my mommy is the she-devil," she added. "But she's super scary when she becomes it."

"That's a lotta names."

"Mmmm…I guess so."

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You said that you're a slayer too. So what's your name?"

"They're not all slayers," she said. "They just got names 'cause they're super powerful."

"So you don't gotta name?"

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head as they walked out of the guildhall. "I don't know any magic yet."

"Yet," he repeated. "Why yet?"

"I dunno," she said. "My daddy got me a dragon lacrima. But…I don't know if I wanna be a mage."

"How come?"

"Well…I dunno what I would be," she admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"All the other slayers, they gots elements. But I don't really like any of their elements."

"Marin," he said. "Marin. Mmmm… You should be a water dragon!"

"What?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "Your name is Marin. Like marine. That'd be cool, huh?"

"I guess so," she agreed slowly. "I just… I dunno."

"Well, I think you should become a mage," he told her. "A water dragon. The Serpent of the Sea."

Giggling, she said, "Maybe."

They were there then, at Max's little shop. When he saw Marin, the man grinned.

"Hi there," he greeted to which the little girl only smiled. "What can I do you for? Does your dad need something?"

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head. "My friend wants to see one of Erza's action figures."

"Now that," he said, turning to grab one off the shelf, "is something that I can do for you."

"Wow," both kids said as he sat the little figurine on the counter of the reequip mage.

"Can we hold it?" Marin asked.

"Sure."

When she picked it up, she immediately held it out to the other boy who only nodded his head.

"That's her," he said. When he saw Marin frown though, he was quick to say, "I think. Maybe we should show it to my brother. He'd know."

Looking up at Max, Marin asked, "How much is it?"

He was still grinning as he told her and, though Marin knew her numbers very well, she couldn't count out jewels. That sorta stuff went over her head. But Laxus had given her some for her and Haven helping him take care of some yard work. They were gonna go to the toy store, but…

Well, having an Erza toy wouldn't be so bad.

She handed all her money over to Max, who was kind enough to count it out for her. Then her and the little boy had their very own Erza action figure!

It was pretty cool.

"This place is big," he told her as they started back for the guildhall. "Are all guilds like this?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "But I know that we're the best guild ever."

"Oh."

Nodding, she added, "My daddy says so."

It was then though, as they were passing the front gate, that they saw them. It was Team Natsu, Gray walking in front of all the others, actually in his clothes for once, though that would probably only last long enough for him to get into the hall while Natsu and Lucy were behind him, arguing over something with Happy riding on his buddy's head, no doubt tired after the mission. And bringing up the rear was Erza, with her usual amount of regality, the standard armor she wore shining the sun.

If only she'd know what she was walking into, she could have forgone the guild that day and found a better place to spend her time.

If only.

"-yell at me for complaining, Natsu, when you know that I'm not just whining," Lucy was saying as they passed. "Navi had a cold last week and now she's given it to me."

"I'm not yelling at you," he said simply. "Happy's yelling at you."

"Yeah," the cat agreed. "Whiner. Lucy's a whiner!"

"Look, you stupid cat-"

"We all know that they're just messing with you. The second you guys get home, they're gonna nurse you back to health," Gray grumbled. "And now that we've had to hear this argument all the way here, could you guys knock it off?"

"Hey!" Natsu held up a fist. "You're lucky that I wanna get in there and see Navi or else I'd kick your ass right now for butting in."

"Bring it, burnt breath."

"We got this whole way with out you acting like children," Erza told them simply. "We will all go in here, share a drink, and then be able to go our separate ways for the rest of the day. Why ruin what little time we have left?"

Happy snickered. "You make it sound like some of us are dying or something."

Or something.

It was when they were about to the door that they saw Marin and the little boy rush pass them, the latter screaming out the name of his brother at the top of his lungs. Inside, he found his brother doing the same, but to a lesser extent.

"I didn't do nothin' to your little brother," Haven was complaining as Ravan searched for him. "You're the one that did something to my sister! Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, but-"

"Ravan!" The little boy headed over to him, Marin not far behind. By that point, Laxus had turned in his stool to glance back at them, clearly having overheard Haven mention Marin being missing. When he saw her just standing there though, he frowned. Then he glanced over at the guildhall doors.

"Erza," he called out as she and her teammates entered. "Brought you a little visitor."

Her head turned almost immediately to glance over at him. "Who?"

"That's her, huh?" the younger boy was asking his brother about the same time. Ravan kept his chin down as he glared at the woman from across the room. She was approaching then, as her master had called out to her, but stopped in her tracks when the boy came to stand in her path.

"I'm Ravan, from the village of Shadebay," he said as he held one of his arms out, a magic circle appearing briefly, followed quickly by a sword, which he gripped tightly. "And I sentence you to death."

This will probably end up being another ten chapter story, but as always five if I can and fifteen if need be. Now that the first chapter's out of the way, it'll focus less on Laxus and Mirajane, who are usually the main ones in this series, and more on Erza and Jellal. They'll still be around though, of course, and obviously all the other usual pairings are involved. I'll probably have to finally get around to naming Bickslow and Lisanna's baby too (bleh), but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I didn't get as much writing done as I would have liked while I was out of town, but the last chapter of Last Month should be posted sometime today as well as, maybe, the first one of a five chapter story I've been working on tomorrow. Or something like that.