Chapter 1: Invasion

Lucy woke up on the ground of the forest of Tenrou Island. Her back ached from the roughness of the forest floor that was decorated with the occasional leaves and twigs. Her clothes were also a bit stained by light smudges of dirt here and there.

She sat up, and rubbed both her back and head a little and got off the harsh ground. She stumbled a little, and held onto the trunk of a nearby tree for support. She felt a bit dizzy if she were honest, and she felt like she had been sleeping for ages.

The blonde looked around, expecting her alcoholic friend, Cana Alberona, to be there with her. But she wasn't. Now that she looked at her surroundings, the alcoholic mage wasn't anywhere near her. She couldn't see her, hear her, or even smell her. Cana's alcohol tended to leave quite a strong smell on her, and it was strange not to smell it lingering in the air. There was no sign that she was even there at all.

"Cana?" asked the blonde mage as she continued to scan around. "Cana, where are you?" she yelled to the depths of the forest. There was no response, which she somewhat expected.

'Did she leave me to go get some more alcohol refills from Mira again?' She considerably thought.

She agreed with the thought, so she sat back down and proceeded to wait for her return.

She wasted her time fiddling with pieces of grass or recalling the last issue she read of Sorceress Weekly. She remembered that she modeled two full sized pages for them, one in casual clothing and the other in a blue bikini with a blue transparent fabric wrapped around her waist, and other accessories. She also recalled being ranked third on the 'Hottest Mages I Wish Were My Girlfriend' list. Jenny Realight had beaten her to first, and Mirajane to second. But she didn't mind. She was also ranked first in the 'Mages That Are Quickly Developing' list. It was true, she has learned and improved much over the past few months. She was an overall A Class mage, a rank lower than S Class. She was eviler on ranked an D Class Celestial mage, which was considered average. She was glad that she improved, and that it was recognized. She didn't like the thought of being lost in a sea of utter averageness despite all her efforts. She was always working to improve her skills; usually she would go to the forest twice every week. She still wasn't strong be S Class, but Cana was nice enough to choose the celestial blonde as her partner for the trial, which brought her to her current situation.

The Celestial Wizard realized that the brunette card mage wasn't back yet. "It usually doesn't take this long. I should find her, or anyone else in that matter." Lucy said to herself in a confused manner, and walked through the thick woods of the island.

She was confused because she knew how long it took for Cana to go get alcohol and back because she had ditched the blonde three times before now. Sigh.

She looked around for anything that could point to any of her guild mates, and kept her guard up. She didn't want any opposite teams ambushing her while she was trying to look for Cana; through it would lead her to them, but she didn't want them to meet that way.

As she continued to walk she got worried, as she heard nothing from the forest other than the chirp of the birds, the whistle of the wind, or the sound the ocean nearby. She would occasionally hear the snap of a twig, the rustle of a bush, and sometimes even low voices. She passed it on as an animal or her imagination, through, but she know that she was only saying that for her own reassurance.

"Am I really that lost?" she asked herself in worry. She wouldn't expect to be that lost considering that her friends would be nearby, and she clearly remembered stumbling paths once or twice. But the size of the island and the competition was also something to consider.

She tried to ignore it, but as she continued to walk around she felt the presence of someone else; perhaps watching her helplessly look for her friends and the brunette alcoholic mage.

The feeling became stronger as time passed, and she felt scared, intimidated by what she could not both understand or know. Maybe she was being stalked. Her paranoia agreed completely, no doubt at all with the increasing thought. She dismissed the idea by shaking her head a bit. She can't go insane this quick! She must stop this.

'Someone can't be watching me. How would someone in the guild do that? For hints, or the location of Mavis' grave maybe...but no! No one in the guild is that much of cheaters! Wait...no one in the guild?' She thought to herself.

(A/N: Let's just pretend that Loke and Gray weren't stalking Cana and Lucy like creeps, okay?)

Then, she heard a sound behind her, interrupting her train of thoughts.

She would have passed it on as a squirrel stepping on a twig, but she heard a much louder snap of a twig; one much louder than the others before. She wondered if her paranoia was right - someone was watching her. It was as if this snap was intended to be louder than the others so it could get her attention.

She turned around hesitantly, only to meet two figures. A young female girl and a young woman. The girl seemed to be no more than fourteen years of age, while the woman looked like she was in her mid-twenties; but that was probably due to her lipstick and menacing glare.

The girl had short pink hair and wore a blood red cloak with battle garments. She had these small, golden wing-like things sprouting from the sides of her hair. The woman wore battle armour and had long, black hair. She had the brightest, richest shade of red lipstick covering her lips that gave her an older look as stated before.

The two looked like wizards, but not from Fairytail. This was obvious to Lucy. She knew everyone who came to the island, and those not chosen would not come to interrupt the trials. This clearly marked them as intruders and as a possible threat. Lucy didn't know of anyone who would come to Tenrou. She doubted that the were passing by for a chat.

The two both looked at her, and put terror into the blonde's eyes as they smirked menacingly. So these were the people following her. They didn't look that friendly.

"A Fairy? What a surprise, correct Meredy?" said the woman sarcastically, gesturing lowly to the youngest, which Lucy implied as Meredy.

"This place is swarming with them, Ultear. But, at least we get some fun while we are on this pathetic island." the girl named Merely said quite cruelly, implying the woman's name to be Ultear.

"Meredy, I'm on a important mission. You can take this Fairy can't you?" Ultear asked, through she knew her answer.

"Of course. Leave me with her, and she'll be begging on her knees soon enough!" Meredy cunningly responded as she prepared a spell.

"Have fun." Ultear said before slowly disappearing from sight as she walked into the deep forest, leaving the two girls to themselves.

"Now, shall we get started?" Meredy asked, smirking evilly, her spell prepared.

Lucy looked at her. It became so hard to think, and soon enough, she only had one thought crossing her mind. She had to win. She had no idea who these people were, but she intended to find out. All she knew was that they invaded the island during S-Class trials, and that they are hostile.

'They could have done something to Cana! That's why she must have not been near me when I woke up! Why was I even fricken asleep?!' She thought, frustrated.

She pushed her thoughts aside, and prepared to fight against the pink haired wizard before her.