Author's Note: Now I'm taking on three stories, and none of them are finished. At first I planned on doing this one after I finished one of the others, but I wanted to write it while it was still fresh in my head, so here it is.

Chapter 1:
What's Going On!

Lucy ran through the torrential rain, heart thumping in her chest. Her pursuers, two rough looking men with knives in their hands, screaming profanities at her. She had already taken out most of the gang that was chasing her, so her magic needed to rest, she couldn't summon anymore Celestial Spirits. Still, she was confused. These buildings were unfamiliar, totally different from the small stalls and houses in Magnolia. Some were tall and made of concrete and iron. The alleys were narrow, the entire place was shady, and not just because it was night. It wasn't all different, all of the routes were the same. Lucy ran hoping to find Fairy Tail, hopefully that hasn't changed, either.

She followed her usual route to getting to Fairy Tail, but instead of finding the guild, she ran into a dead end. A tall concrete wall, too flat for her climb, cut her pathway short and possibly her life. She was pressed against the wall as her pursuers drew closer, snickering wickedly.

"Eh, girl, if you just come with us, we won't have to hurt you." said the roughest looking of the two. He had a scar on his eye and his hair was spikey and black.

"Never! I'll never go with scum like you!" Lucy screamed, her arms in front of her face to defend herself.

The black haired man lifted his arm and held his knife to the sky. Lucy closed her eyes, as if it would alleviate the pain, but suddenly, the man froze and Lucy just heard a loud 'clank' sound, like metal clashing with metal. As Lucy peeked her eye open, the knife flew past her head, barely grazing her cheek and lodged itself into the wall behind her. The man shrieked in pain, holding the wrist that once held his knife. Blood was rolling down his arm, his partner had already been knocked out, blood draining from his head.

Lucy looked in utter shock at the men, and then up at the figure standing above them. The person held a long, thin, and glimmering sword with blood draining down its blade. The person seemed male, around the age of nineteen. He was in the dark, so it was hard to get a good look at his face. He wore a tall brown coat that reached down to his knees and a black shirt and pants. He sheathed his sword and approached Lucy, her heart racing from fear. Every molecule in her being was telling her to run, but she was too afraid to move.

To her surprise, the guy extended his hand out to Lucy and said, "We should probably go."

He held Lucy's hand and lifted her gently. His hand was cold and hard like armor, as if he were wearing a steel gauntlet. He placed his left hand on the wall and a magic circle appeared. He pressed the center of the circle. Suddenly, the concrete began to crumble revealing a large wooden door.

The swordsman pushed open the doors, revealing a staircase. Holding Lucy's hand, he led her down the dark staircase and the door creaked close behind them, leaving only a small crack of light to gleam in. Soon, even that small bit of light was gone as the concrete magically pulled itself back together, reforming a wall. Lucy clung tight to the young man's arm, biting her lower lip in fright.

As they went further down, there were flickering lamps hanging on the walls. Lucy glanced up at the swordsman just as the light illuminated his face for a quick second. However, Lucy was still able to get a quick glimpse of his face, though it wasn't enough to get his identity. He had brown eyes and light skin, but that's all Lucy was able to see.

The silence between the two was becoming awkward for Lucy, so she attempted conversation. "…Um… mi… might I ask…" She ultimately failed as he interrupted her.

"We're almost there. Until then, please don't speak."

Lucy nodded as they approached yet another freakishly large door. He pressed the doors forward and opened them, to reveal a lively bar room, no wait… this was the Fairy Tail bar room. Lucy looked around in disbelief, wondering when the guild moved, or rather, how the entire architecture of Magnolia changed. Still, at least the people in Fairy Tail hadn't changed a wink. She smiled to herself as she looked up at the man who saved her. He looked back at her and closed his eyes, a big grin on his face. Lucy paused for a moment, recognizing the scarlet haired swordsman before she finally snapped.

"ERZA! When… how… WHY!" She rubbed her head and let out an aggravated groan.

Suddenly, the grin on his face dropped as he grumbled, "Geez, I thought you'd be a bit more happy to see me."

Before Lucy could further question, someone announced from the crowd of drunken fairies, "Hey everyone! Titan's blade has returned."

"Titan's blade? Who's that?"

"I told you guys to stop calling me that already. I have a name you know." the swordsman said scratching the back of his head with an annoyed look on his face.

That's when Gray came walking out from amongst the crowd, clothes in hand, stripped down to his boxers. "We know already, Erza. Geez, we were just messin' with ya."

"Hmm, whatever. I just found Layla." He said, pointing to the confused Lucy. "It's a good thing too, some goons were bothering her again."

Suddenly, Lucy's face turned grim as she realized that they called her mother's name. Putting on a fake smile, she tugged on Erza's sleeve. "My name isn't Layla, it's Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. You should know that."

Gray and Erza glared at her for a moment, then at each other, and then suddenly erupt in a burst of laughter. This further added to Lucy's confusion. After they laughed for about a full three minutes, Lucy snapped, "What are you two laughing at. And, Erza, when since did you become a guy? 'Cuz that's definitely new to me."

Like someone plunged a knife in his heart, Erza grabbed his chest in agony and fell to his knee while Gray started laughing uncontrollably. "Right in the pride!" he snickered.

Then Lucy turned to Gray and growled "And you, put on some freakin' clothes and stop stripping. That's not new, but it still pisses me off."

Suddenly, the entire guild was silent. Even Gray stopped laughing and Erza rose to his feet. They all stared up at the staircase on the opposite end of the room, behind the bar table. Lucy looked on with a puzzled expression as the atmosphere suddenly turned tense. Slowly, a man wearing a black suit and dark tinted shades emerged, a small blue cat resting on his shoulder. Lucy's eyes widened, this was just too much shock for one day.

Just loud enough to echo to the back of the room she asked, "Natsu,… is that you?"

The whole guild glared back at her and Erza put his hand on her shoulder. "Layla, when did you start addressing Master Dragoneel by his first name?"

Lucy yelled, " I told you my name is LUCY!" Suddenly she blinked, "Wait, Master? What are you talking about?" Lucy thought to herself, There's no way I'm mistaken. He may have gotten a lot taller, and that scar across his nose is new, and he seems a bit more serious and scary, but he still seems the same to me. Plus, his pink hair hasn't changed, it just got a bit longer. It was like, an older more serious version of Natsu. When since did Natsu become master?

He walked through the crowd all the way to the back, where Erza, Gray, and Lucy were standing. He stopped in front of Erza, the two of them staring each other down like wolves. Natsu fixed his shades and said coldly, "Where have you been?"

"That's none of your damn business. You should just be happy I found Layla just in time to save her."

"You idiot, she even told you her name isn't Layla. She made it clear that her name is Lucy. Besides that, Fullbuster siblings, you've been summoned and I've been sent to get you. You too,… Lucy."

Lucy blinked, "Fullbuster siblings,… as in Erza and Gray are brothers."

Natsu turned away and said, "Let's go."

He led them through the crowd. Lucy looked at all of their faces. This definitely wasn't the Fairy Tail she knew. Most of the faces were people she didn't know, and a few of them looked similar to her nakama, but it definitely wasn't them.

They walked up the staircase, Gray and Erza constantly looking back at Lucy making her feel uncomfortable. Finally, when they reached the top of the staircase, the first thing Lucy noticed was the Fairy Tail banner hung proudly over the bar table. The people there were definitely her nakama, except, they all looked older and there was far less of them than usual.

"This is rare, how often do we get called up here?" Erza snickered.

"What are you talking about, we get called up here every other day." Gray grumbled.

"Yea, but this time, we're probably not getting in trouble. I don't think we did anything wrong."

Natsu interrupted, "Actually, we know you snuck up here last night while everyone was gone. You idiot's left your scent over everything, including Mirajane's locker. The place practically reeks of ya. Even though I'm in charge of you guys, I know from experience your mom could dish out better punishment.", ending with a slight snicker that sent chills down the boys' spines.

Lucy gulped as she imagined who their mother could be. These guys, scared of their own mom… just what kind of monster is this person?

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind them, causing the boys to jump. "Sorry Natsu, I hope it wasn't too much of a bother."

They all turned around to see the armored Titania standing behind them along with a certain topless ice mage. Lucy said under her breath, "What the hell is going on, two Grays? And two Erzas too, except one's a boy and one's a woman." Natsu looked at her and smiled as if he heard what she was saying, but what else is there to expect from a dragon slayer, his hearing was matched only by those of other dragon slayers.

Erza looked practically the same except her face was a bit more refined. Gray was just a bit taller than he used to be, his eyes were colder, and he looked a whole lot stronger. Then again, so did everyone.

Erza went up to Lucy and put her hand on Lucy's face. "Wow. You look a whole lot younger than I remember, what kind of magic is it? As a matter of fact, you look like how you looked when you were Layla's age. You better be careful, they might think Natsu's a cradle-robber." Lucy blinked in confusion.

Gray grunted as he was holding down the boys, whom were attempting to run, even though he wasn't breaking a sweat. "Hey Erza, did you forget about these guys?"

Natsu chuckled and said, "What's wrong, Gray? Can't take care of your own kids, that you have to call on the wife. That's pathetic."

Gray let go of the boys, but Erza caught them before they had time to escape. He pointed his finger in Natsu's face and froze his shades. As Natsu's shades shattered, Gray grumbled "You pickin' a fight with me, huh. You still got a long's way to go, Dragon breath."

Natsu sneered, "You still got about a thousand lifetimes to go before you're allowed the mistake of under-estimating me, ice cubes."

A sudden burst of hostility grew between the two and, although it was pretty normal for something like this to happen between the two, considering the circumstances, now wasn't the time for that.

Lucy interrupted innocently, "Um, does anyone care to explain what's going on here?"

Natsu stepped forward with an arrogant smirk on his face and said, "Of course I'm the only one here who can explain. I'm the one that brought you here, twenty years away from the time you are accustomed to."

Lucy smiled for a moment and blinked. Suddenly she had an outburst that shook both the upstairs and downstairs Fairy Tail. "EH! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN TWENTY YEARS!"

Author's Note: Magnolia underwent some serious changes during those twenty years. Now it looks like the kind of city you see in movies about the mafia. Not just Magnolia though, Fairy Tail went through some serious changes as well. How's Lucy going to make it in this new environment, you'll have to wait to find out!