The scarlet-haired child strode through the open guild hall, reveling in the energy and excitement that was so common in the Fairy Tail guild. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, with a hint of cooked meat. She was far too young to be drinking such beverages, though she was curious at its ability to make the sternest man into a bumbling idiot in mere minutes. It was also much louder today than she was used to. Some of the other kids her age were gathered in a corner playing some kind of card game, though she had no interest in such trifles. Besides, she never learned how to play. They didn't have card games in the Tower of Heaven. All she could do was swing a sword. No, that's not all, she mused as she remembered what happened in the Tower, If that's all I could do, I wouldn't be here right now. They said I could use magic, Requip Magic, was it? I don't know much about it, but I do know I must use it to protect people, so others won't suffer the way I did. First she had to learn to control her ability, which would be difficult as she is the only mage in this guild with this particular kind of magic. Though, to be fair, there were many unique individuals in Fairy Tail. Suddenly a gust of wind hit her back as she heard the double doors to the guild hall fly open behind her, causing her to spin around as one of these unique individuals marched in with a snarl, blowing a lock of white hair away from her face. Erza let out a sigh when she saw who it was. Of all the kids around her age, this one seemed to want nothing more than to humiliate her at every opportunity, "Oh, hey Red, haven't seen ya in a while. You still wearing that heavy chest plate? Think it'll protect you when I ram you at full force?" her social graces were about as proper as that immodest two-piece outfit she wore.

"How many times am I going to say it? My name is Erza, not Red! Get it right or I'll personally introduce you to my blade," Erza grumbled as she patted the handle of the short rapier slung around her waist, "Also, have you no manners at all? Why do you feel the need to practically destroy the entrance whenever you enter the guild hall!?" Erza didn't normally lose her cool so easily, but her reminiscing on the Tower of Heaven brought up some sour emotions. She'd normally try to avoid conflict with that bully, Mirajane, but it had been a while since she'd brandished her skills against an opponent. Mirajane's smirk broke into a devilish grin as Erza took a fighting pose.

"Just don't expect to walk away from this one without a few new scars, Red!" as she finished her taunt, her right arm contorted into a blinding light as it transformed into a black serpent. She then leapt into the air, simultaneously sprouting a pair of horns and bat-like wings.

"W-what?" Erza exclaimed in shock. She realized too late that the little she-devil had been holding back during their previous scuffles.

With a cackle Mira launched herself toward Erza, her serpent arm bearing its teeth on a path straight to her neck. It took all of armored girl's reflexes to dodge out of her path as Mira's momentum sent her careening across the room right into the game the other kids were playing. Cards flew in every direction as the group of young mages scattered. An uneasy silence settled on the Fairy Tail guild for what seemed like hours, but in reality was just a few seconds, until an outraged cry broke it.

"Mira!" screamed one of the children, a small brunette who was fortunate enough to have avoided most of the attack, "That was my favorite deck! Do you know how hard it is to find tarot cards of this quality!? I spent weeks gathering this collection!" She seemed on the verge of tears. Erza remembered that this girl had a fascination with fortune telling, and seemed to always have her magical cards in front of her. Needless to say, Erza wasn't surprised at the poor girl's outburst.

"Eh, what's the big deal, Cana? It's just a bunch of paper, just go get some more," shrugged Mira nonchalantly. Had it been anyone else, Cana would have clocked her across the head for such an insensitive comment, but she valued her life more than her pride. As quickly as the fight had started, Mira lost interest in Erza and walked over to the bar to grab some juice. Erza's eyes followed the little witch until she was certain she wouldn't try any other surprises.

"Man, I was about to win too…" came a grumble to Erza's left. She turned to see the black haired ice mage that she had come to respect over the past few months, Gray Fullbuster. He seemed to be the only one her age who could keep a level head.

"Were you playing strip poker?" chided one of the older members of the guild as he took a drag from the pipe in his mouth, "'Cause it doesn't look like you were winning if that's the case."

"Stow it, Wakaba! What would give you that idea, anyway?" retorted the ice mage. The older man playfully shrugged as Gray realized he was in his underwear. "When did I-!? Guh! Sorry… Erza," he stammered as he ran toward his discarded clothes across the room, trying to hide a blush. Well, most of the time he's pretty level-headed, Erza thought to herself. This whole incident had reminded her that if she was serious about staying in this guild, she had to try to make friends. It was unavoidable. She also remembered that she had to start making money fairly soon. It had been nearly six months since she officially joined and she hadn't been on a job yet. Makarov was generous, but he was no charity. If she wanted to make a living, she would have to eventually take a request off the board. Grabbing a small cookie from a plate that was left on one of the tables, the eleven-year-old strut casually over to the request board to see if there were any jobs she felt she could take.

Escaped Convict! On the run for three months, extremely dangerous, approach with caution! Reward: 100,000 Jewel.

"I should probably start with something a bit tamer. I've never been on one of these jobs before, so I should ease my way in…" she muttered to herself, running a hand through her crimson locks.

"See anything you like?" she was caught off guard by the voice of the small, silver-haired girl suddenly at her side. Erza remembered her as the younger sister of that lunatic Mirajane, Lisanna Strauss. She was decent enough, especially when compared to her sadistic sister. She was shy but also very kindhearted; she'd come to Erza's rescue on more than one occasion whenever Mira's blood thirst got the better of her.

"I'm just looking for a job that matches my skill set," replied the redhead nonchalantly.

Lisanna quirked a lopsided grin, "Well, you certainly have a unique set of skills. I'm actually kinda jealous of you."

"What? Why?" asked Erza, turning her head from the board to the girl once again.

"Nobody in this guild can use your style of magic. In fact Requip users are so rare that there some people believe it's some form of Lost Magic," Erza could tell the small girl idolized her. Why exactly she didn't know. She didn't really know how to react. Pride wasn't an emotion she experienced very often.

"I'm usually overlooked because I use the same kind of magic as my brother and sister, and they are much better at it than I am," continued Lisanna, looking down. Erza wondered where she was going with this conversation. "Maybe if I become stronger, people will begin noticing me, you know?"

"What exactly are you trying to say, Lisanna?" asked Erza, who had forgotten about the request board.

"I guess… what I'm trying to say is… would you… would you like to team up with me for a mission?"

This had Erza taken aback for a moment. Nobody in this guild ever really talked to her, let alone requested to partner with her. She wasn't sure how to respond. Yes, she had been with Fairy Tail for a good number of months already, but she didn't join with the intention of making friends. The last time she had friends, the last time she trusted someone…

"Why me?"

"Well, I just… I just think you're cool. You're never scared of my sister, and you always act so tough, even though you're only a couple years older than I am," The small girl was practically gushing at this point.

"Did you have a certain task in mind to complete?" inquired Erza after taking a moment to collect herself. Lisanna's lit up even more as she held up a yellowed piece of paper.

"I have the perfect job for us!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the instructions.

"What made you think I would be good for this job?" This question had been in Erza's head for the past six hours. Lisanna described the job as a relatively harmless search and rescue, but now Erza found herself staring into the mouth of an active volcano in the middle of one of Fiore's largest mountain ranges. A carriage had carried them from Magnolia to the foot of Mt. Hakobe, where they then traversed a sketchy, six kilometer path through the mountains until arriving at the destination specified on the job description. Mt. Refuge, an ironic name considering this was supposed to be a rescue mission. The hike itself was hardly a chore for Erza, who had grown accustomed to much harsher conditions while in the Tower of Heaven. Lisanna, however, seemed to have run out of breath after the first thirty minutes of the walk. Erza had offered to take her handbag to lighten her load, but she insisted that she was "just peachy," no doubt trying to look strong in front of her new friend. Even though her stubbornness delayed their journey by at least an hour from all the stops they had to take, Erza couldn't help but take some pride in Lisanna's admiration of her. Not since Jellal had Erza had a friend who accepted her like this.

She forced herself to divert her thoughts elsewhere. Bringing up such memories now, so soon after her escape from the Tower, would only cause tears to break out of her eyes. She didn't want Lisanna to see her like that. Instead, she directed her thoughts back at the task at hand.

"So, this man we're rescuing, did the paper describe where he was trapped?" Erza asked, covering her nose to block out the burning smell of sulfur. Lisanna simply shook her head once.

"The man isn't trapped in the volcano, per se, more like he's imprisoned," she replied, also covering her nose.

Erza's brows shot up, "Imprisoned!? So we're rescuing a criminal!?" she silently scolded herself for not asking Lisanna for more details earlier. Where did she even get this job request? She didn't see her take it off the board. Was this job even legal? A flood of questions engulfed the befuddled child's head, to the extent that she didn't even hear the heavy footsteps behind her and the fleeting squeal from her companion before everything suddenly went dark.

Erza slowly opened her eyes as she was roused by the rancid smell of ash and sweat. The small form of Lisanna lay across from her. She then noticed that their feet had been chained to the wall, and they were in a cell. Through the bars Erza could make out the wide chasm that was the volcano's mouth, extending deep into the earth. The rhythmic clanging of pickaxes could be faintly heard and large men could be seen wandering the perimeter of the chasm. They were armed with magic weapons, like they were guarding something. The volcano's mouth was much wider than any Erza had ever seen in the picture books back at the guild, and the protruding pathways that extended into the volcano's heart were definitely not natural. It then dawned on her that this must be a lacrima mine. There were only two ways to obtain lacrima on Earthland: It must either be synthesized from already-existing samples, or it must be mined from natural deposits. Since the Magic Council controls the legal distribution of lacrima in Fiore, the only reason someone would go to the dangerous lengths of mining it would be if he didn't want the Magic Council to know, and that could only spell trouble. Why had she agreed to accompany Lisanna on this job? Why hadn't she taken more caution? The small, silver-haired girl began stirring in her sleep until her eyes slid open as well.

Lisanna's body shot up into an awkward sitting position, "E-Erza? Where are we?" her voice was barely a whisper, "What happened?"

Erza tried to keep a brave face, but her current situation of being chained in a cage was bringing up some painful memories. It was taking all of her willpower to keep herself from shaking with fear. Instead she settled for a forced, lopsided grin, "Don't worry, we're inside now aren't we? Now all we have to do is rescue the man in the job request."

That didn't seem to raise Lisanna's spirits. In fact her face became even more downtrodden than it already was.

"It's all my fault," she whimpered, "I thought if I completed a difficult quest, everyone in the guild will finally recognize me as my own individual, not just 'The She-Devil's kid sister.' Now we're trapped in here. We might even die in here…"

Erza honestly didn't know what to say. Their predicament was familiar to her, so she couldn't imagine the kinds of trauma poor Lisanna must be feeling right now. The only thing she could do was not give in to despair. She learned that a long time ago.

"Hey, it's okay. I don't blame you, Lisanna," she put her rough palm on her soft forearm, "I know this must seem scary to you, but I have been in much worse situations before. I learned how to survive."

"Y-you've been in a place like this before?" replied Lisanna, wiping a stray tear from her face.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story," was Erza's reluctant response. Did she really want to retell her past to this girl she knew nothing about? No. Her past was her business, and anybody else who followed her on this path would be put in grave danger. She cannot afford to live with anymore regrets.

Lisanna seemed to pick up on this, because she only nodded knowingly, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. It's not my business who you were before coming to Fairy Tail. That's the great thing about our guild, it's a place for new beginnings, a blank slate for anyone of any background."

Her comment had Erza momentarily taken aback. This girl had read her expressions flawlessly, and knew exactly how to respond. Erza knew that whatever potential everyone thinks she possesses, it is definitely not in social graces. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching their cell. They heard two voices coming towards them, one male, one female. They could only make out faint pieces of their hushed conversation.

"I'm telling you…..never been more powerful….perfect time to attack…..almost ready…"

"We're taking a big risk here….no way the Balam Alliance would forgive…on our own…."

"…..worry too much…..new recruits every day…"

They stopped their conversation when they arrived at the girls' cell. The man wore a sleeveless bearskin coat that was open down the middle to reveal an extremely well-toned torso. He was twice to size of an average man and stood at least seven feet tall. His head was completely shaved save for a gray, unkempt beard that stopped at his neck. His left shoulder bore a tattoo of a half cross flanked on both sides by circular orb-like shapes. No doubt this was a guild mark, though neither Erza nor Lisanna recognized it.

The woman wore a tight, sparkling gown that hugged every corner of her body. It seemed out of place in this gritty environment, but she didn't seem to care. Her dark brown hair was held behind her head in a bun by two razor sharp pins, forming a perfectly symmetrical 'x.' She was certainly easier on the eyes than the old bear man, but her cold, piercing eyes seemed to burrow into your skull if you stared at them long enough. Her guild mark was located on the left side of her neck, and was noticeably different than the man's. Her mark was a sky blue skull that had been circumscribed in a perfect hollow circle. Simple, yet disturbing.

"I see you got our invitation," said the woman as she stared down Erza and Lisanna with a coy grin, "Don't you think you two are a bit young to be responding to missions like this?"

That's right, Erza just remembered that Master Makarov had instigated the rule that members under the age of fifteen needed to clear their missions with him before going on them, or be accompanied by a mage that is over fifteen. Had Lisanna taken this mission without his consent? If so, there would no doubt be major repercussions when they returned the Fairy Tail. If they returned, that is.

"You two should consider yourselves lucky," boomed the large man, "If we had any reason to believe you to be spies for either the Council or Balam Alliance, we would have had you executed the moment we spotted you climbing this volcano." There was no venom in his voice. Despite his size and attire, he actually spoke with an air of dignity. It was clear he had seen many years' worth of battle.

"Since you came so willingly," the dark-haired woman continued, "We are willing to extend our upmost hospitality," the off-putting grin on her face betrayed her seemingly kind words.

"So you're putting us to work?" asked Erza dryly.

The lady's grin widened. Before continuing she grabbed a small cigarette from a concealed pocket in her gown and lit it with a spark by snapping her fingers, "In a sense, but there will be a twist."

She took a drag from the cigarette and blew a purplish ring away from the girls' faces, "We are the Ghoul-Reaper Coalition," she said, gesturing around her, "Nobody knows of this alliance except for the people in this volcano. The world continues to turn without knowing of its coming apocalypse, and when we reveal ourselves, it will have arrived."

Erza looked down to conceal the fear in her eyes at a realization, "So… you're telling us this… because you don't plan on letting us go."

"Don't get hasty," the large man replied, "We said no such thing. In fact, we'd be more than willing to let you go."

"At a price," the slender woman finished. Lisanna still hadn't said a word… or given any indication she was even listening. The only thing on her face was shock and guilt. Erza needed to get them out of here. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the poor girl.

"What price?" asked Erza, maintaining her composed voice but with eyes still glued to the floor.

"This is a lacrima mine, one of the largest natural deposits in Fiore," continued the woman without missing a beat, "You two are going to be working with the others to suck this volcano dry of all its minerals. Now, I'm sure that sounds like a lot of work, and it certainly is. That is why I've devised a… game of sorts,"

Erza did not like where this was going. The man next to her maintained his stone-faced expression, but she sensed it shift ever so slightly into a sorrowful look. What was the woman planning?

"Here at the Ghoul-Reaper Coalition, we encourage competition between our workers, so…" she clapped her palms together, "You two will be competing to find the most ore by the end of the month, which is about a week and a half," Erza could tell she was getting some sort of sick pleasure from setting this up, "The one who brings me more lacrima, or the one who survives, will be set free to live out what little time there is left in this free world."

Erza couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could anybody conceive such an evil plan?

"Well, children, I hope you are well rested, because we begin right now!" The woman's tone was disgustingly cheerful.