Chapter 1: The Magnolia Forensics Team

It was one of those nights that you would call dark. Even if streetlights were scattered everywhere and the stars couldn't be seen due to the bright lights of the city, it was dark in another way.

On that night, a car drove slowly down the street, unbothered by traffic because it was already so late. Not stopping at all, the driver of the vehicle slid something big and long out of the window. It hit the pavement hard with a thud, but the driver didn't stop, didn't hesitate.

He just kept on driving.

That something was a body. A body that was long dead, its flesh marred with scars and dried blood. While it was hardly recognizable, there was one thing that stood out from all the bloody gore. It was a tattoo of two hammers that crossed over each other.

People who passed by the body surly saw it, but once they saw the symbol, they ran away as if hell itself was chasing them.

It was because that symbol was the symbol of Tartaros, and no one dared to mess with the dark scientists of Tartaros who experimented on random people they snagged off of the streets in the dead of night. That dead body was most likely one of their failed experiments and since it was no use to them, they simply dropped it off on the street exactly where they snagged them from.

She found herself walking into a large building that had the words, 'Magnolia Police' proudly displayed in big, bold letters. She ran her hand through her blond hair that was tied up as neatly as possible. Her shoes were insufferable and her skirt a little too tight.

But it was all about the first impressions; after all she was starting her new job today.

When the girl opened the door and walked in, you could hardly call her surprised. No, she was beyond surprised.

The first thing that greeted her was a bikini top wearing brunette, who was chugging down alcohol by the barrel.

The second thing that greeted her was a small blue haired girl, who was playing video games on her computer screen while simultaneously trying to finish a report.

The third thing that greeted her was a guy with unusual sakura colored hair. He was covered in ash and a white foaming substance that came out of a fire extinguisher.

And last but not least, she noticed a couple of police officers who were trying to calm everyone down. In the mist of them was a rather short man with white sideburns and a bald head.

He yelled the loudest.

"Quiet, ya brats! Don't do scaring off the newcomer!"

Everyone paused what they were doing and turned to stare at her. She felt her cheeks redden and the room suddenly got hotter than before. She hated being in the center of attention.

Somebody from the crowd yelled at her. "What's your name?"

"Lucy. I work in forensics." she mumbled.

The sakura haired boy pumped his fists into the air. "We got a new member!"

The girl who was playing video games stopped what she was going and rushed to meet her, extending her hand out in a greeting.

"My name's Levy McGarden! It's nice to know that we have a new member! Come on, I'll show you to our work place."

Levy led her through the group of people and stopped in front of glass sliding doors. Behind them were people hard at work, unlike the rest of the rowdy police force.

Levy smiled at her. "Lisanna Strauss is our Autopsy Technician. Our Forensic Pathologist quit after he saw a bloody murder scene and promptly emptied his stomach."

Lucy nodded, finally understanding why she was hired so quickly.

Autopsy Technicians worked as assistants for Forensic Pathologists. Lisanna would need someone else to help her with the autopsy.

Levy pointed out a woman that was applying chemicals to evidence. "That's Juvia Lockser. She's our Latent Print Examiner. Her job is to analyze fingerprints and compare them to a central database."

The next person was Mirajane Strauss, Lisanna's older sister.

Apparently, she was an Evidence Custodian. Her job was to present the evidence in court and oversee evidence held by anyone else. Levy said that while she was a nice co-worker to be around with, she was like a demon in the court.

After that was the Forensic Science Technicians, which was a group of three boys, one of them being the boy with sakura hair.

"That's Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Gajeel Redfox. They collect evidence at the crime scene, catalogue the evidence, and can attend autopsies, so if you see them watching over your shoulder, don't freak out."

The last person was Erza Scarlet, the supervisor of the whole team.

Levy explained to her that Natsu and Gray tended to fight and Erza was the only one who could pull them apart.

Levy smiled. "I'm the Forensic Accountant and I work in Computer Forensics."

Lucy was surprised. "Aren't they two different jobs?"

Levy beamed as she nodded. "I examine financial and business related issues, present the evidence in court, conduct examinations of digital evidence, conduct interviews and take statements in relation to computer evidence, and I make sure that digital evidence is reliable."

Lucy found herself mumbling, "Does that mean twice the pay-check?"

The computer whiz gave Lucy a questioning look. "Let me guess, money problems?"

Lucy found herself nodding with her shoulders sagging. "My rent's due tomorrow and I don't have enough cash."

Levy seemed to understand since she simply patted Lucy on the back.

That was when the glass door opened, revealing a blonde haired man. "You guys got another case."

Those words got everybody's attention immediately. Gray crossed his arms. "What is it this time?"

"A dead body was found in a dumpster behind the back of a school. I have a feeling that it's the work of Eisenwald."

Erza nodded. "Alright, Natsu, Juvia, and- Lucy, right?"

She nodded.

"I want Natsu, Juvia, and Lucy to head to the crime scene. Find evidence, bag to body and return here to investigate further."

Juvia began packing up her kit and Lucy found Lisanna next to her, handing her a bag and wishing her good luck. Natsu grabbed his supplies and grinned wildly.

They hopped into his car, which was filled with the putrid stench of smoke.

Lucy glanced at him. "Do you smoke?"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. "No way! I'm a forensics investigator. I've seen too many deaths that involved smoking."

"Then why does it reek of smoke in here?"

It was Juvia who answered that question. "Natsu works with chemicals. He uses them to recover scratched out or purposely hidden evidence. He works too much with them and normally causes a fire on accident about three times a day."

Lucy laughed. "Really? I didn't think that was possible! Is that why you were covered in ash when I first walked it?"

Natsu scowled. "It's not my fault that my scarf always catches on fire."

It was Lucy's first time noticing that he wore a scaly looking scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Why don't you just take it off?"

"My dad gave this to me! I ain't taking it off."

Juvia nodded. "Juvia believes that if it is something precious, it should not be let out of one's sight- just like Gray-sama!"

What started out as a normal conversation ended in a rather weird one because she just found out that Juvia had a stalker-ish crush on Gray.

Well this was turning into a strange day.

And it only got stranger when they arrived at the crime scene.

Natsu parked his car on the grassy field and Lucy was sure that it was illegal, but Juvia didn't seem too worried about it.

He turned around to face them and grinned. "Alright Luigi, since you're new I bet that you need a run down on our little tradition."

Lucy gave him an annoyed look. "My name's Lucy!"

"Alright Luce."

"It's Lucy!"

"Juvia thinks that Lucy should not worry about what Natsu calls her since he is always like this." pointed out the Latent Print Examiner.

As Lucy sighed, Natsu continued talking. "Anyway, our tradition is that when we enter a crime scene, we have to look like we own the place. It gives us a cool reputation as Fiore's best forensics team."

Lucy raised an eyebrow towards them while Juvia nodded her head, eventually leading towards Lucy approving of this "tradition".

The group simultaneously got out of Natsu's car and walked towards the growing crowd of students who were trying to catch a glimpse of a real life, dead human body.

Plus there would be the occasional delinquent who thought that anything barricaded by the police was worth a good peek and perhaps, given the opportunity, they might have the chance of messing with the evidence.

At that moment, the crowd respectfully parted away and stared in awe at the professionals walking towards the crime scene. They lifted up the yellow crime scene tape and began their investigation. Lucy couldn't help but feel a little pride in herself because let's face it, everyone had at least once wanted to lift the crime scene tape and walk past it.

Natsu began digging through the trash for the chance of a discarded weapon or a vital piece of evidence. After a while, he tossed a wallet over his shoulder towards Juvia.

Juvia began examining the wallet that Natsu handed to her. She started to dust pigment over it, waiting to see if the killer had been stupid enough to leave their fingerprints on it.

Lucy crouched over the skeleton, picking up the decaying skull carefully in her hands. She traced the noticeable lines in the skull and examined the teeth.

The Forensic Pathologist noticed that pieces of flesh seemed to have been ripped off the body and judging by the teeth marks all over it, Lucy could only come to the conclusion that a wild animal had eaten most of the dead body.

Quickly jotting down the information, she felt a tap on her shoulder from a police officer.

"So what did you get so far?"

She pointed to the teeth marks on the femur bone. "The victim was probably killed recently, most likely a couple days ago. Maybe even a week. The flesh must have been eaten by some wild animals.

"Judging by the skull and teeth, I would say that this is a Caucasian male in his late 40's. He most likely was killed a month ago due to the state of the decaying flesh."

Juvia handed Lucy the wallet. "Juvia found no fingerprints on this, but there is still money inside so we can scratch off the motive of money and robbery. Juvia also found an ID for a man named Everlue Day."

Natsu perked up. "I've heard of him. He's all over the newspapers."

"Shirotsume's infamous business tycoon." noted Lucy. "He's a huge jerk when it comes to money. Rumor has it that after he swindled the famous author, Zekua Melon, out of all of his money. He forced him to write a book about how wonderful he was in order to pay off the debt."

"Juvia has also heard of the story. Zekua Melon apparently died after he completed the book due to old age."

The police man tried to suck in all of the information. "Does that mean that the killer could have been an admirer of Zekua Melon's books?"

Lucy shook her head as she ran her hand gently down the broken ribcage of the deceased tycoon.

"Whoever did this was a hired professional assassin. It might be the Grim Reaper, who is known for using a scythe to kill his targets. The weapon definitely was a curved bladed weapon such as a cutlass… or perhaps a scythe."

Natsu crossed his arms. "Laxus did say that it might be the work of Eisenwald, the gang that specializes in hired assassinations. The Grim Reaper is known for using a scythe. It has to be him."

Lucy pulled off her gloves as she stood up. "Now the only thing left is finding out who hired them."

Kaby Melon sat uncomfortably in front of a police officer who introduced herself as Laki Olietta. Her partner was Reedus Jonah, a skinny French man.

Officer Laki leaned over the table towards Kaby. "Did you know that Everlue Day's body was found in a trash bin of a local school?"

His eyes widened. "No. How…?"

Reedus presented some pictures of the evidence and the crime scene, though the dead body made Kaby Melon's skin turn just a shade lighter.

"I-I may harbor some hate towards the man, but I wouldn't want him killed. I only want him in jail for threatening my father."

Laki leaned towards him. "All it would take was one short phone call. The killer was obviously a professional. We only want to know who hired the killer."

Mr. Kaby shook his head hurriedly. "Doesn't it take a lot of money to hire a professional? I declared bankruptcy a year ago. I wouldn't even have enough money to have him kill a common animal."

"You said 'him'. We didn't tell you the professional's gender."

"I only assumed that it was a male. Honestly."

Laki stood up straight. "If you won't tell us, we can always resort to using… a few different methods."

Reedus sighed at his partner's ideas. "Mademoiselle, the Chief specifically told us not to resort to your various ways of torture. It is unethical."

"Sorry, but he isn't the person who hired the Grim Reaper. It was a group known as the Oracion Seis." announced Kinana, an office worker who just entered the interrogation room.

Laki turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

"They announced it themselves. Sent a letter to HQ along with one of Evelue's fingers. It matches the DNA. Apparently, Eisenwald works under them. Sort of like their subordinates. In the letter, it says that they will strike next, in the town of pressed flowers."

Laki grimaced. "It's like they're toying with us."

Lucy banged her head against her wooden desk. "What does the 'town of pressed flowers' mean? I've tried every fact that I know about it and nothing matches up!"

Lisanna laughed. "It isn't your job to know that. All we do is examine dead bodies."

"Lisanna's right. Just relax and let the Crime Scene Investigators handle it." chimed in Mirajane, who liked to be called Mira.

Lucy glanced at Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, who were having a full blown fist fight. Erza was in a meeting and wasn't there to stop them. "You sure about that?"

Mira smiled a bright smile. "Nope."

Lucy sighed, defeated. "So blunt."

"Well on the bright side, Levy's doing everything that she can to search up any leads. She'll find something eventually."

"I hope so." Lucy checked her watch. "Oh, I should be going home."

"I'll go with you, Lu-chan." said Levy, as she swung her purse over her shoulder.

As they walked down the street, being that neither of them owned a car, they started up a conversation.

"I found this lovely craft store. They had framed flowers and it was so pretty." pointed out Lucy, as they passed quaint shops.

Levy grinned. "I know, right? I came across this Japanese flower craft method where you press dried flowers to preserve them. It's called Oshibana. I was hoping of trying it when I get home. I mean, all you have to do is press the flower down and-"

"Wait." interrupted Lucy, as she suddenly stopped walking. "The town of pressed flowers. Do they mean… Oshibana?"

Levy paused, pondering it for a bit. "You mean that town nearby Clover and Magnolia? I heard that they have this famous train station specifically named after the town. It's known to be the most used station in all of Fiore."

Lucy nodded. "I think I know where Eisenwald is going to target next."

So this is a story about crime scene investigating, sort of like NCIS. Correct me if I'm wrong about some of this stuff because I'm no forensic investigator. I honestly had to search up everything online...

Anyways, hope you enjoy this story! I just decided to post some chapters of this story that I wrote ages ago on my computer since I've been having writers block on my other stories.

While the first few chapters will be somewhat similar to the actual plotline of Fairy Tail, I plan on changing up some things later on. It will mostly involve Tartaros and other dark guilds.