Responsibility, some people can do it and some people just can't. If you have a short attention, watching an inanimate object in nigh impossible. This particular responsibility was simply to guard a very old book which was placed in a glass case with a very complicated steel locking mechanism. All you had to do was stay in the room and not fall asleep. Now, if it was that simple and everything went according to plan then I wouldn't be telling you the story, would I? So please pay attention as I explain how something simple becomes complicated and the consequence that follows.
It all began one day at the Fairy Tail Guild in Fiore. Erza Scarlet had recently come back from a very long mission of destroying some evil thing. As a reward for her work Erza received a very old book. (Please take note that all very old books in Fiore are always magical, thus very dangerous.) Realizing the danger that comes with such an old book, Erza requested of the Master t for a guard be posted around the book while she went to secure the proper items needed to contain the threatening tome. The Master agreed wholeheartedly and chose some of the guild's strongest wizards to guard the manuscript. Yours truly was included. All went very well until it was Natsu's turn to stand guard. Don't get me wrong, Natsu is a very loyal friend, but has about the attention span of a gold fish. So, on the day which Erza was scheduled to return, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, the whole guild shook with a loud bang and followed by an undignified shriek. We who were assigned to the guard duty all ran to the library to see what could have happened. A sort of haze was in the room, but that was it. Nothing harmed, nothing broken, no one there, and not even Natsu. We each in turn freaked respectively.
"What the heck happened?!"
"How should I know?!"
"Well at least nothing is broken"
"Were is Natsu?" Unlike some, I had my priorities straight.
"I'm going to kill him if he left his post"
"If Erza gets back before we solve this, we ALL will be dead."
"HAS ANYONE SEEN NATSU?!" I really didn't want to yell at this point, but I figured they'd thank me later.
"Calm down Lucy, I'm right here." We all looked around, but saw nothing.
"I'm down here guys"
True enough, there in a pile of his clothes was a four year old Natsu. I was so going to kill him.
"What in the name of sanity happened?!" Natsu rubbed his nose and took a deep breath.
"I was really bored so I tried to find a book like Levy suggested but then I started climbing the shelves and then Happy flew in and we played around on the top of the shelves and I dropped a book on the case so we went to check if it was alight there was only a tiny crack on the top so I tapped the glass and I think the book was sleeping and it got angry because I woke it up so there was all this smoke coming from the pages and Happy went to get Mirajane then the crack vanished and the bang happened and I got turned little." Natsu took another deep breath as if to continue but Mirajane arrived and quickly shoved some food into Natsu's mouth so he was momentarily distracted. Grey rubbed his eyes as he left the room, Levy checked on the book, Gedjeel glared daggers at Natsu before he also walked away, Happy floated ashamed in the corner with Carla talking strongly to him, Wendy sighed a deep sigh for all of us and sat down next to Natsu, and I just face palmed. This couldn't get any worse, but it did.
"What happened here?" We all jumped like freighted rabbits. Erza was back and she did not look pleased.
"Erza! You're back!" Was Mirajane ever sweet response.
"Well... um… Natsu… You know … the book… and well…" Was everyone else response. For being amazingly talented wizards, we were really lacking in the talking-to-angry-Erza department. Erza Held up her hand to silence us. She sighed as she looked about the room. I swear that her stony face shifted for a moment when she caught sight of Natsu. Erza pinched the bridge of her nose and announced her verdict.
"Natsu is to remain in this state until I or the Master says otherwise." An undignified shriek once again echoed from the pipsqueak on the floor. Someone giggled.
"The rest of you are responsible for taking care of Natsu while he is like this." Groaning was heard all around, but was quickly silenced by a sharp look from Erza.
"Hopefully you will take this responsibility more seriously" Erza said almost threateningly. She turned briskly on her heel and left the library, taking the troublesome book with her. This left the rest of us to out what to do with pre-school pyro. We did a pretty good job surprisingly. Repeatedly we emphasized the importance of responsibility whenever we had the opportunity. Admittedly we did take a few adorable pictures; of course it was expressed by a certain pink haired boy that they were never to see the light of day. The entire guild ended up having a good laugh at Natsu's expense. However, by the time the third week was coming on, we were on our knees in front of the Master and Erza requesting, no pleading, for our own sake and the guild's sanity that Natsu be returned to his normal self. Thankfully the Master consented and Natsu was once again among our ranks before the week was out.