A/N: I decided to put the prologue and Chapter one together and run it through Grammarly, so here ya go! I also made some minor edits. Remember, it's still my first Fanfiction, so be gentle :)

Betaread by Ikrani as of 2-26-19 (official announcement comes on chapter 9)

I found a new map of Fiore, and it shows that Hargeon is in the Southeast. Whaddaya know.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Fairy Tail, that right belongs to Hiro Mashima, the lucky bastard. I don't make any sort of money off this, and only own what/who I come up with.

"This is talking,"

This is thinking, and special circumstances

Italics*Italics=normal

This is when shit's goin' down

Prologue

X740, Unknown Location

Heavy pants. Boots meeting stone. Rain upon ramparts. A man in black and purple robes with a stylized "Z" pattern ran down the corridor, three more at his back. The second man carried a book, the reverence with which he did so at odds with the malevolence that seemed to emanate from it.

They all knew their mission: retrieve the book at all costs. They only had a short time before those... things woke up, which would spell disaster for them, and their mission. They shot past three more corridors and banked right to enter the castle's foyer.

Then they heard it: an unearthly howl of indignant anger, followed by a demonic roar.

The fourth man was paralyzed with fear, while it lent those in front of him greater speed. A dark shape with pointed ears appeared in the shadows behind him, and he exploded into a bloodless mess.

The other three managed to run even faster as the shadowed being gave chase through the pitch-black night.

With a bellow of rage, thorns wrapped around the first man.

The second tripped over them as lightning flashed, and the book left his grasp. A stray beam of moonlight parted the clouds and momentarily illuminated the title.

'E.N.D.'

The third man caught it and activated his magic, shooting off over the hills.

"Speedy bastard, I'll ge-"

"No. Let him go, Jackal," said the one responsible for the thorns. "It seems they share our goal for the master."

"Yes, Mard Geer," the pointy-eared Jackal complied.

"This may even assist my own plan," Mard Geer mused as the duo turned back towards the castle.

A Misadventure's Beginning

X784, Fairy Tail Guildhall

It was a normal day in the Fairy Tail guild. The members were drinking and carrying on, but it was too early for any fight to have broken out yet. The guild's newest member, Lucy, stood before the request board to find a job.

"Let's see here… finding a lost cat, breaking a curse, building a granary, even fighting a volcano demon. I had no idea wizard jobs were so varied," Lucy mused.

"Did you say 'fighting a Volcano Demon'?" asked Natsu, excitedly looking for the flier on the board.

"Oh no, don't you go getting any ideas, mister!" yelled Lucy, activating her scary-mode. "You picked the last job, it's my turn now!"

"Pssh, don't be silly, Luna, Happy picked the last job. It's my turn now, and I say we fight that volcano demon, whatever that is. Besides, you could use the experience," Natsu stated, brushing her off and grabbing the flyer.

"Hey, Mira, I found a cool job!" he called, catching the barmaid's attention.

"I knew you'd find that request sooner or later, Natsu. I already had you down for taking it!" Mira smiled, before bursting into a fit of giggles as a thoroughly vexed Lucy marched over.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Natsu, MY NAME IS LUCY!" she raged. "I absolutely REFUSE to be dragged around by some reckless idiot who doesn't even know my name!"

Alas, Natsu did not hear, as he'd already marched off to pick a fight with a quarter of the guild members present. Currently, he had a black-haired ice wizard, Gray, clinched in a side headlock.

Mirajane stopped her fellow Fairy from giving chase into the bedlam. "Lucy, calm down. The reward will cover your rent for four months, and Natsu's right: you need some fighting experience. There's no one better to get it alongside than Natsu, except maybe Erza-"

"ERZA?!" the guild chorused and, like a switch had been flipped, quickly repaired all the damage they had inflicted to the furniture. Natsu and Gray did their best Happy impressions. Lucy could only stare at them, confusion written across her face, while Mirajane acted like it was perfectly normal.

"What's with them?" Lucy asked, before remembering where she knew that name from. "Wait, do you mean Erza Scarlet, the Queen of the Fairies?"

The fangirl jitters she got looked contagious. "I've read about her in Sorcerer Weekly, and I can't wait to meet her! They say she's Fairy Tail's strongest female mage!" she squealed.

"I wouldn't go that far, but she's pretty strong," Mira stated convincingly. "Anyway, you should go on that quest with Natsu; it'll be good for you. Every good mage is a competent fighter, and experience is the best way to learn."

"Wait, how would you know? You're a barmaid," Lucy skeptically replied, to which Mira suddenly burst into tears.

"You made Mira cry!" Natsu exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger Lucy's way.

"That is so unmanly," Elfman grunted, disgusted at the dismissal of his sister's ability while getting nods of agreement from several other members.

Lucy began to panic under everyone's glares. "No, Mira, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it! You're the best barkeeper ever! You're also a great secretary and model! I'm sure you know lots of things about magic! You give great advice! I promise to go with Natsu on the quest! Please, just stop crying!"

Mirajane's tears dried up in a flash as she smiled a most evil and devilish smile. Lucy then realized what she promised, and slammed her head into the bar.

"I hate myself," Lucy groaned as Natsu seized her arm and ran out of the guild.

"Volcano thing, here I come!" exclaimed the fiery wizard, sprinting towards Lucy's apartment before releasing her and running off to his own home. Left at home, Lucy quickly started packing her suitcase: there was no telling how soon Natsu would return to drag her off to some demon's lair.

Lucy only had time to pack before Natsu came in through her window, pack on and his red jacket with white trim and markings on the sleeves donned. "Ya ready to go, Lucy?" he inquired.

"As a matter of fact, I am," she declared, before getting dragged outside by the zealous fire mage, her suitcase in tow. The duo soon arrived at the train station

"Where are we going, Lucy?" Happy meowed.

"Yeah, where is this thing we're gonna fight?" Natsu asked.

"You mean to tell me that you took a job without reading it!?" Lucy asked incredulously, only to be answered be a sheepish grin. Sighing, she read it to them, "It says, 'A vile creature has taken up residence in the volcano near Aspen Town and is wreaking havoc on our livelihoods. Please expel it from the premises. Request submitted to Lamia Scale, Fairy Tail, and the Southern Fiore Diocese. Submitter: Tim Carmen, Aspen Town Mayor. Reward: 600,000 jewel!" Lucy read, cheering the last part.

"Southern Fiore Diocese. Huh," Natsu mused, "Never heard of that guild."

"That's because it's not a guild. It's the administrative unit of the Zentopian Church that Aspen Town falls under," Lucy elaborated.

"The Adminis-what? Zentopia? What are those?"

"Think of it like the government, except it's the people from the Kardia Cathedral," she simplified.

"Oh, I get it," said Happy. "I always wondered why they didn't keep fish in that big pool in the church."

Deciding to ignore the flying cat's fish obsession, Lucy quickly acquired train tickets to Hargeon and then had to physically drag Natsu onboard before it left.

Half an hour of green-faced suffering later, Lucy found herself dragging Natsu off the train and towards the port that had been rebuilt surprisingly quickly, considering it had been utterly destroyed just days ago. It would seem that the people of Fiore had mastered rebuilding. "Luucyyy, ugh… please staahp…" Natsu groaned out, as the dragging wasn't helping his motion sickness. Lucy, however, grinned sadistically and just kept walking towards the pier.

Stopping at the first stand she saw, Lucy unceremoniously let go of Natsu, who released a relieved groan and lay on the ground while she talked to the keepsake dealer. He was a tall man with light brown hair, a smooth face, and smile lines that didn't reach his green eyes. He wore an odd and equally hideous combination of floral shirt, overalls, and a tie.

"Do you know where I can get tickets to Aspen Town?" Lucy inquired. "My friend and I have business there."

"Aspen Town, eh? I 'eard that the island's volcano became active again, I did. Nobody's 'eaded there anymore for romantic getaways, so what business could you two 'ave on the island, eh?" the tourist tricker asked suspiciously.

"We're from Fairy Tail!" Happy piped up helpfully.

The tradesman turned up his critical glare at the two. "If you're a mage, what's with your friend?"

"The train gave him motion sickness, and Lucy's dragging didn't help," Happy explained while Natsu groaned again.

The man's eyes narrowed before widening in realization. "Talking cat… motion sickness… Your friend there… wouldn't 'appen to be the Salamander, would 'e?" he asked, somewhere between hope and suspicion. Natsu groaned affirmatively and Happy activated his aera magic, as if to say 'Hey, I can fly, too, you know!' followed by Lucy biting her lip and nodding, unsure whether that would be good or bad.

The keepsake dealer changed personality instantly, breaking out into his best tourist-grabbing grin. "Why didn't ya lead with that, eh?" he asked before turning towards a stack of boxes and yelling, "Klaus! Get out 'ere! We got passengers!"

He turned back to them as a well-muscled man no older than 30, with sunbaked features, dark brown hair and irises the color of the haddock he brandished emerged from behind a stack of boxes. Scars crisscrossed his arms and disappeared up the sleeves of his green t-shirt, which hung free around his cargo shorts and the filet knife sheathed on his belt.

"This is Klaus, my… associate. 'E mans the ship and has a side business as a fisherman. Standard fare to Aspen's port is 2,500 jewel," the salesman stated, while Happy saw stars when he heard the word "fisherman".

"We'll take two tickets and… how much for Happy?" Natsu said, suddenly up again, before realizing what he'd just ordered tickets for. He turned green before the salesman could answer his question.

"Pets ride free. Oh yeh, where're m' manners? I forgot to introduce m'self! The name's Ian Williams, soory aboot that. 'Ere's my business card!" the stand owner said, handing Lucy a snazzy rectangle of cardstock.

One exchange of money later, Lucy stood in a fishing boat- the S.S. Mary Sue - with Happy on her shoulder while Natsu tried to stall on the dock, Ian next to him. "Lucy, please don't make me get in the boat," the pinkette pleaded for the fifth time.

Lucy sighed, exasperated. "Natsu, we already paid for the tickets, and there's no other way to get to the island."

"But I can swim!" Natsu fervently rebutted.

Ian had grown tired of their bickering. "Don't worry eh, Klaus'll take good care a' ya. Ain't that right?" he asked, pushing the dragonslayer into the Mary Sue. He immediately turned green and managed to say something about boats, torture, and 'worse than, bleargh, trains…' before the big man appeared, delivered a neck-pinch with his meaty hands, and tossed the limp dragon slayer onto his ship's deck. Lucy gasped- she hadn't seen anyone handle Natsu the way Klaus just did and was a little unnerved by it. Then again, they were on a boat, so that might not be anything to worry about.

"Das ist besser," Klaus stated, walking towards the wheelhouse.

"Ooh yes, little fairies. You will make a wonderful sacrifice," the gaudily-dressed man said, chuckling darkly. "A perfect duo for our plans."

As he walked away, the curtain covering a wall in his stand swayed, briefly revealing a map of pictures and red twine, a sinister light cast upon it. In that brief instant, one could see one picture tied to all the rest.

A picture of a worn, leather-bound book, simply titled E.N.D.

A/N: So, what'd you think? Love it? Loathe it? Leave a review and tell me! Please! Flames will be used for s'mores and/or redirected to Ikrani.

But seriously, go thank him. He made this much better.