Heya guys!

In celebration of my goldfish's first eggs having hatched last night, I wanted to share the joy with a new chapter! I'm proud to say that I'm now the owner of cute, little goldfish fry!

Now, about the manga; is it true the second Fairy Tail movie is considered canon? Because if it is, I need to see it before reading Chapter 541!

To ElsniharElduran: Thanks for your review! Because you were my first reviewer, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to you! Also, "I have to say that..." That what? I need to know! Your review was cut off: "This message has been truncated due to length. To view in full, please visit site." I can't read your full review anywhere and it's killing me tbh!

To RandomChild, my second reviewer: Thanks for leaving a review! Reading it made me really, really happy!

To Grizzly98, narutoyaoifan, vG LOL I, booklover551, zooeyandvincy, KrispiKreme, arcadea333 and Delia365: I was glad to see your familiar names in the favs and alert list! It's heart-warming to know that you like my writing so much. You've been so supportive of my other stories and I just wanted to thank you guys for your constant, unrelenting support!

Overall, I'm happy with the popularity of this new story. I've had this story on my laptop for quite a while now, but didn't think it'd be this popular! Thanks a lot, guys!

So, on with the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and sadly never will...

SweetLoveAngel2

Fairy Witness - Chapter 02, A New Beginning

Dedicated to ElsniharElduran, this story's first reviewer!

The car pulled to a stop before a big, white building, making my hands sweaty and my heartbeat ring in my ears as nervousness took over. This was it. In a few moments, my life would begin anew and completely terrified. I felt my mouth go dry, the feeling as uncomfortable as the clamminess of my hands.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Aquarius said as she stepped out of the car. I watched her walk up the five steps towards a man in a black suit. They greeted each other with a big hug and talked a bit about something I couldn't make out from this distance. Aquarius then turned and waved at me to come over.

Al of a sudden, I felt cold. The utter helplessness gripped me for the second time that day and it made shivers run up and down my spine. The driver who had opened the door for me looked at me with sympathetic eyes when her gaze met mine. "It'll be alright now. They'll take care of you."

The words did nothing to me. "No, as long as he's still out there, it won't ever be alright." I saw the shock on her face before I turned away, forcing myself out the car and towards the big, white building in front of me.

I tentatively walked up the five steps, looking at the man that was eyeing me. His sunglasses made me feel uncomfortable, but he quickly caught on to it and took them off, offering me his right hand. I swallowed hard, staring down at his big hand, noticing the golden ring on his index finger.

"She doesn't like to touch men." Aquarius said before the situation got even more awkward when I didn't react to his greeting. I gave the man a weak smile, holding his gaze just long enough to be polite.

"My apologies, Miss, I haven't had the chance of reading your file yet." He pulled his hand back, smiling at me instead. He looked kind enough. They all did at first.

I glanced back at Aquarius, having seen the way she interacted with him before made me calm down a bit, but I had yet to find a reason to trust this man. Trust needed to be earned, after all.

"I know it's all short notice, but thank you for helping us." Aquarius said, following the man inside. I hesitated for a moment, the grey clouds overhead making me feel as if the building would swallow me whole.

"I already called one of my colleagues so that she at least has her Spriggan." He then looked at me, noticing I hadn't followed them in yet. "Miss? Is everything alright?"

I quickly ran after them, coming to a stop before the glass door in the hall. "What's a Spriggan?" I asked Aquarius as the man took out a strange key and put it in the lock.

"In old lore a Spriggan is a Fairy bodyguard, but here it's just a code name for someone that will help survivors like yourself deal with your problems." Aquarius explained to me as we walked through the now open glass door.

"A shrink then."

"Not exactly." The man spoke up. "A shrink is a mental health professional whereas Spriggans are just people that will listen to you and give you advice if you need any. They're employees of the Protection Program or children of these employees. We always try to assign you to a Spriggan of your own age, someone who you can relate to much easier. Of course, you can always come to us, but we strongly advise you to use your Spriggan."

I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going, but suddenly we were standing in a large hallway, a door on either side of the staircase in front of me.

"This wing is where you'll be staying from here on out." I looked up at the door, noticing the zodiac sign of the Water Bearer next to the door where one would normally find the room number. "This is your dorm, which you'll share with Juvia Lockser. Here are your keys, don't lose them." The man held out a keychain with two strange looking keys hanging from it. One of which I had seen before, it being the one with which the man had opened the glass door earlier. The other one, also a gold one had the zodiac sign of the Water Bearer depicted on it.

As I studied the keys in my hands I noticed them to be rather odd compared to the keys I was used to. They were long, one completely gold, while the other one had a black snake spiralling around it from the spade-like tip all the way to the top. I did not recognize the sign on the key, however, but I made a mental note to look it up because it was vaguely familiar.

The man looked at his watch before he spoke again. "I think Juvia will explain the rest to you." He then looked at Aquarius, the two sharing a look before Aquarius turned to face me.

"If anything happens just call for me, you have my number. If you can't get a hold of me you can always go to Loke," She pointed at the man behind us. "he's in charge here this week." Aquarius opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but Loke interrupted her.

"Remember, only contact us in case of an emergency. If you have problems or just want to talk, call your Spriggan. You will shortly receive the contact, which reminds me," He pulled out a phone, handing it over to me. "Do you have a cell phone?" I shook my head. "Good, now you do. You can contact your Spriggan with that. Every student in Magnolia has exactly the same cell phone as you do, though not all of them are in the Witness Protection Program. It's a safety measure."

All this information was giving me a headache and I could barely remember what he had said first.

Aquarius gave me a sudden hug, but let go before I could hug her back. "Be safe, Lucy." She kissed my forehead and then turned around, following Loke to the elevator door. Aquarius stared straight ahead, not even a glance directed at me.

I suddenly had the urge to run after her, but as the elevator doors closed, the one on my left suddenly opened, revealing a blue-haired young woman.

"Hello," She greeted, but all I could do was stare at her, not able to form any words at all. She was wearing a dark blue blouse with a golden bow in the middle and golden frilly sleeves. She also wore a white skirt and dark blue knee-high socks without shoes, her hair wavy and wild as her piercing dark blue eyes stared at me. I greeted her with a nod and I was pulled inside not a second later.

"I'm Juvia Lockser, pleased to meet you!" She said cheerfully.

I paused for a moment. I wanted to slap myself for not thinking of this before. Was I even allowed to tell her my real name? "Elie," I introduced myself, knowing it was probably best to keep my identity hidden until I could ask Aquarius about this. If I wanted to be safe in this Program, I couldn't risk people knowing my real name.

"So, Elie," She walked past me to reach for the door to close it. "what would you like to do first? Have a tour around the house, have me answer all your questions, or do you wanna see Magnolia?"

"T-the house is okay." I answered as I didn't feel like going out quite yet.

"Alright!" She turned in a swift motion, her skirt dancing with the movements. "As you can see right in front of you we have the living room and the kitchen just around the corner on the left. On your right, if you follow the hallway, you'll find three doors. The one on the right is my room and the second one on the left will be yours. Your stuff has already been brought over. The first room on the left is a storage room where you can leave your shoes and your coat." She walked on further towards the door she just mentioned.

She held it open for me and let me enter. I sat down on the small crutch just to the left as I untied my boots. Juvia opened the closet in front of me and I placed my shoes on the empty spot before I stood up and pulled off my jacket. She then handed me a coat hanger on which I hung my jacket and as she closed the closet I noticed another door to my left.

"What's behind that door?" I asked.

"An extra bathroom so you don't need to go all the way to your own bedroom. It has a shower, a toilet and a sink."

My curiosity took over and I couldn't resist to take a look. As I opened the door the lemon-fresh smell hit my nose hard, the black sanitary contrasting perfectly against the white tiles.

I then followed Juvia back to the living room, noticing the many book cases and plants filling the place up. It gave the room an extra warm feeling. I eyed the small book case and crouched down, looking at the titles. A smile crept up my face as I noticed a lot of classics. "I'm glad you like them." Her voice startled me, making me lose my balance and fall over. "Want to see the rest?" She smiled, offering me her hand."

I smiled back at her, taking her hand as I let her pull me to my feet.

"I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's home." She smiled contently. "Want to see your room next?"

"Yes!" I suddenly felt excited, probably because Juvia's enthusiasm rubbed off on me.

I followed her to my room, it being the second door on the left and I opened it in anticipation, wondering excitedly what the room would look like where I was to stay for the remainder of my studies.

Juvia watched me with glee as I inspected the room and I flung myself on the double sized bed, rubbing my cheek against the soft blankets, sighing deeply. I saw a balcony door on the other side of the bed and when I looked to the right I saw a wardrobe, this one as long as the wall. Next to it was another door, a matte glass door that lead to the bathroom.

I turned over on my back, noticing the nicely decorated chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"Mavis hung it there, not liking the other lamp that was standard in the bedrooms." Juvia said, making me wonder who Mavis was. As if on cue, Juvia noticed my confusion and smiled before she started to explain. "You see, Mavis was my roommate, but after her boyfriend got the news that you were coming he asked Mav-"

She stopped talking when she saw my puzzled expression. She let out a small giggle before joining me on the bed. I sat upright and moved over so she could sit next to me.

"Alright. So Mavis was my roommate. Her boyfriend, Zeref, works for the Fairy Tail Witness Protection Program," I swallowed as she mentioned the program, fearing she might know about me. "Mavis used to be a Fairy too, you know, a survivor. We call them Fairies. She watched her best friend get killed…" Juvia's voice died off in her throat as the words left her lips, her eyes looking down to stare at her hands. "It's so sad. I just can't imagine how she must've felt.."

I felt the excitement I experienced before quickly dissipate as the subject of our conversation took a darker turn, remembering my own past.

"Sorry!" She suddenly said, a smile back on her face. "I didn't mean to talk about something that gloomy as our first conversation." I smiled back at her, telling her it was alright. "I know you're a Fairy too… I know I'm not supposed to know, but I accidentally heard Zeref talk about it over the phone.. I won't tell anybody, I promise!" She looked like she was about to cry. "So please, don't be mad."

"I'm not mad." She looked up at me, surprise and uncertainty in her eyes.

"Do you know what happened to me?" I asked.

"No! I swear I don't!" She grabbed my hands and I felt hers tremble slightly.

"Alright, then everything's fine." I smiled at her, genuinely feeling relieved.

I liked Juvia, I did, but I didn't think I was ready for her to know about that part of my life yet.

"Y-you sure?" She seemed uncertain, almost afraid that I was lying, but I reassured her with a nod of my head.

"Okay… If there's anything I shouldn't mention or if I say something that offends you, please tell me!"

"I don't like men." She looked at me a bit surprised as I voiced the words, but didn't say anything about it. If we hadn't been talking about the Program before, she could've misinterpreted what I'd said. She didn't, though and I was glad she didn't question me about it any further.

"So, where was I?" She placed her finger to her lip, tapping it as she furrowed her brows. The atmosphere instantly lit up again. "Ah, right. So Zeref got a call from Loke who told him that you were coming and that you needed a room asap. Mavis and Zeref were planning on moving in together after this year, but since you needed a room, the couple didn't mind speeding up their plans a bit." Juvia grinned.

I wanted to ask her more about this Mavis. The girl seemed like an interesting person, the fact that she was a Fairy as well also being quite interesting because I could possibly talk to her about some things. As I thought about it, I remembered Loke's words. I took out my phone and unlocked the screen. I went to my contacts, my Spriggan the only one in it. I opened it, looking for more information, but the number consisted out of only three numbers; 363.

Juvia noticed what I was doing and leaned forward, watching along with me at the lit-up screen. I looked up at her and she instantly backed away, holding her hands up in defence. "Sorry," She apologized. "I didn't mean to pry or anything."

"No, it's fine." I smiled, looking back at the phone in my hand.

"You can personalize it if you want. Everybody does it. Look!" She reached in her blouse and pulled out her phone, the exact same model as mine. "I always put my phone behind the underwire of my bra when I wear skirts." She explained before turning her phone over, showing the phone case. It depicted a Teru Teru Bozu, a ghost doll that is believed to stop the rain, on a blue background. I glanced up at her face, wondering if she might hate the rain for some reason.

"Do you mind?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"Not at all!" I gave her the phone and she shifted a bit so I could see what she was doing. She opened the options menu, telling me that it was best if I put a code on my phone, just in case. I nodded in agreement after which she handed me back my phone so I could type in my code. I didn't even have to think about it and entered the number; 2784. I saved the changes and then tapped Juvia on her shoulder, telling her to take the phone back.

She glanced back at me and accepted the phone I held out for her. She went to my contacts, showing me my Spriggan's detailed information again, which actually held nothing but those three numbers I already saw before.

"The number's 363 so the second number will be your shortcut key, which is 6. I don't really know why, but it's standard. If you need to do an emergency call to your Spriggan, you can just hold the six in the unlocking screen, without even having to unlock your phone. Uhm, what else?" She tapped her finger to her chin again as she racked her brain. "Oh! When you call this number, you'll automatically be connected with your Spriggan, though you do have to send him or her an invitation first." She explained, making me raise my brows.

"Invitation?" I inquired.

"Yeah, the Fairy needs to take the first step. Just send your Spriggan a text, doesn't really matter what it says I guess and then he or she will be connected to your phone. It doesn't work the other way around, not the first time, that is. But after you've established the connection, your Spriggan can always contact you and vice versa." She tapped the text message icon. "Just say 'Hey, I'm your Fairy.' or something and uh… introduce yourself?" She seemed uncertain. "Or maybe you shouldn't introduce yourself since the whole point is you guys not knowing each other.." Juvia rubbed her head, trying to think.

"Let's just forget about that for now." I said, pulling her out of her thoughts. To be honest, I didn't think I would be contacting my Spriggan anytime soon, so I guessed there wasn't much hurry in sending that invitation either.

"Okay.. I'll just ask Mavis later." She eyed me for a second before moving on. "Here, let me give you my nu-"

Juvia was suddenly interrupted by loud noises and crashes. She shot me a look of confusion before she rushed out my room. I quickly got to my feet as well following her to the front door.

"Rogue?" I heard her shout. "What are you doing?" I stuck my head out the door as well, seeing a young man on his knees as he seemed to be searching for something.

"Juvia! Come over here and help me! I lost Frosch!" He shouted back, panic clearly evident in his voice.

Juvia quickly ran out, her socks almost making her slip on the parquet.

"Frosch?" I questioned.

"Rogue's ca-" She started, but let out a scream as something pink flashed past her. "Elie! Catch it!"

I reacted too slow, not familiar with the new name I had given myself and it got past me going in the direction of the stairs on the opposite side of the elevator.

"No!" The boy yelled, trying to get to the cat, but Juvia jumped him from behind, putting her hands over his mouth.

"Shh. You'll scare it away." She spoke in a quiet voice, all our eyes now back on the pink cat as it sat on the third step of the stairs. "Elie," She hissed at me. "Try getting it to come to you."

I crouched down, holding out my hand as I tried to get closer. "Come here, little kitty. Come here." I spoke in a soft voice. I crawled closer and closer, now sitting on my knees, the cat almost in reach. Its green head cocked to the side, its ear turning as it heard something from behind.

"What are you guys doing?" Another voice spoke.

I froze and I heard Juvia and the boy take in a sharp breath, afraid the cat might flee again.

"Frosch, are you playing with Rogue again. Good kitty. You sure keep him busy." I saw a hand reach down and pick up the cat with ease, hearing Juvia and the boy release a sigh.

"Yukino, thanks." The boy came running, grabbing the cat from her hands.

"What happened to you? What did you do to Frosch? Why is she pink?" The girl questioned, her hands on her hips as she eyed the boy accusingly.

"I was making the frosting for the cake I baked. I swear I only turned my back on her for like five seconds!" The boy tried hard to get the cat to stop struggling in his arms. "Then, when I turned around she had already dipped her face in the green frosting, her entire face already covered by the gel dye."

"Let me guess, you yelled at her and she got spooked." The girl shook her head, her short silver hair swaying with her movement.

"She jumped right in the bowl with red gel dye! It wasn't particularly my fault…" He pouted, making me laugh at the situation, everybody suddenly turning to look at me.

"Guys, this is Elie! My new roommate!" Juvia said as she flung her arm around my neck.

"Hello, I'm Yukino Agria and that idiot is Rogue Cheney." The silver-haired girl said. "I live one floor higher, number three, Libra."

I looked at her, not fully understanding what she was saying.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you." Juvia chirped in. "You see, every dorm here has a number, ours being twelve. The numbers don't correspond to the rooms systematically, though, they're random, but nobody really knows why. Libra is the name of her room, ours being Aquarius." She pointed at the open door on the other side of the hallway. "Rogue's is Gemini and he lives here on our floor."

"Down in the lobby," The boy, Rogue, began. "if people want to visit you, they first have to dial the number and then a selection menu will pop up with room names. It's a safety measure so strangers don't know who lives here. My number is two." He smiled, the cat in his arms making pink paw prints on his white shirt, making me giggle.

"Ah crap," He said, looking down at his clothes. "Sting's gonna kill me when he sees this! I better go change. Yukino, give me your clothes so I can wash them."

"Idiot, I'm not going to strip in the hallway!" She raised her voice slightly, her cheeks turning pink. "Besides, it's just a few stains, nobody'll notice." She stepped down the last few steps. "I'll see you after class!" She waved. "I'm already late for my Physics practical!" The boy wanted to react, but before Rogue could say anything she had already left.

"If you girls want," He then turned to face us, the cat wreaking havoc in his arms. "I have some cake ready. Though, I have to make new frosting for it. Feel free to come and have some later." He said before he shut his dorm room behind him, leaving me and Juvia in the now empty hallway.

"We don't have to if you don't want.. I understand if you don't like being near him."

I thought it over in my head, contemplating if I was comfortable with being in a guy's dorm, even though Juvia knew him. I looked at her, wondering if she was the kind of girl that would betray my trust and dump me with the guy. She smiled at me, however, pulling me from my thoughts.

"You know what, let's get back inside and then you can think about it." She grabbed my hand and I followed her back inside.

"Hey, Yukino, wait up!"

I heard the voice call out, instantly knowing who it belonged to. I nudged Gray with my elbow, catching his attention. "This is gonna be fun to watch." I said, Gray snickering beside me as we watched Sting run after the first-year.

"Go away." The girl said annoyed. I grabbed my beer from the table and downed the last bit as my eyes followed the small silver-haired girl speeding over the square.

"Please, just wait up." He caught up to her, reaching out to grab her arm, but she pulled away before he could, almost as if she knew he would try to touch her.

She stopped in her tracks, looking impatiently up at him. "I'm already late for my class. Talk fast or leave."

Gray couldn't hold in his laughter anymore, the girl's hostility was like music to our ears. We rarely had the chance of seeing Sting's pick-up lines failing to this extent so this was quite an amusing sight to behold.

"What happened to your shirt? Did you spill some food?"

Now I couldn't hold it in anymore. I clutched my stomach as I heard him say it, knowing all too well that the girl would be offended. I handled enough women myself to know that saying something about their outfit – that could in any way come out as negative – was like suicide.

"Three," Gray started the countdown.

The girl was silent, her fists clenched. "Two,"

I watched as her face turned redder by the moment.

"Aaaand-"

"Leave me the fuck alone!" She yelled, hitting him with her bag. People on the terrace of the café all turned to look at the commotion. Sting stumbled back a bit, Yukino's assault never faltering, and tripped over his own feet as he fell to the ground.

By now, Gray was slamming his fist on the table, his other hand holding onto his stomach as he laughed loudly.

"I've told you before! Don't pay so much attention to appearances!" She hovered over him, shaking her finger as she lectured him.

And just like that she walked past him and left.

"Are you idiots done?" Sting asked as he walked over to where we sat.

"N-not yet!" I wiped a tear away. "You can't seem to catch a break, can you?"

"How long has it been since your last hit?" Gray asked.

"Does it matter?" He was irritated now.

"Nah, doesn't really bother us if you get laid or not." I said.

"We're too busy getting laid ourselves to worry 'bout you." Gray added, bumping my fist as I held mine up.

"Whatever. I'll get her one way or another, just watch." He turned to leave.

"Rape is a crime, you know that!" I yelled, reminding him.

He turned around, face red as people started to look at him after my statement. "I know that!" Then he just stormed off somewhere, me and Gray both snickering at his reaction.

"Man!" Gray was still panting, his lungs out of air from all the laughing. "How long has he been after that one? He still hasn't made any progress at all."

"Seems like it." I flashed Gray a grin. "Did you try and hit that already?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Nah," He answered nonchalantly, waving at the waiter to bring the check. "She's too feisty."

I laughed at that. Feisty, huh? Well, I guess that was true, but it could be interesting. It would be a change from all the girls flinging themselves at us.

"You?" He asked as he paid for the two beers.

"Not yet." I stood up, manoeuvring my way through the tables and chairs and made my way towards our dorm, waiting for Gray to catch up. "Though, I do like it more when they're just easy. It's a lot less troublesome."

"I totally agree with you. Girls that keep whining about how I didn't call them or why we never speak in public.. Man, they really annoy me." He put his hand in his pocket, pulling out the snake key and was ready to open up the door when I stopped him.

He looked at me with a confused look before I went over to the phone plate on the left and dialled the number 13 and waited for the extra menu to pop up. When it finally did, I selected the sign of Ophiuchus and soon after, the beeping sound started.

We waited for a few seconds until a feminine voice answered the call. "Natsu, really? Why'd you even call? Are you being lazy again?"

"Just open the damn door!" I yelled, hearing her sigh before the door gave a loud buzz and unlocked. "What?" I turned to Gray, who looked at me with pain in his eyes. "I'm curious to what their new dorm looks like!" I grinned, excitement evident in my smile.

Gray opened his mouth, but closed it as I gave him a glare, daring him to speak. I know I could've just used the key, he didn't have to remind me. He followed me towards the elevator, feeling too tired to take the stairs all the way to the fifth floor.

When we got to the top floor and the elevator doors opened, Zeref was already waiting for us, arms crossed over his chest and an irritated look on his face.

I walked past him through his open door, ignoring him when he wanted to scold me. He then turned to Gray who immediately put his hands up in defence, saying "Don't look at me! I wanted to use the key!" before also walking past him and after me into the dorm.

"Natsu Dragneel!" I froze, the high-pitched voice making me stop in an instant as a shiver ran over my spine. "Don't you dare enter with those dirty shoes!"

I turned to look at the small girl, her hands busy trying not to drop a heavy box. I sighed, bending down to unlace my shoes when Zeref came in, closing the door behind us.

"Fullbuster, don't you-" Mavis started, but stopped speaking when Gray pulled the not so heavy box from her hands. "Wow, you're fast." She smiled, looking at Gray's feet, glad to see his black socks. "Thanks." She said as Gray bent down, giving Mavis a kiss on her cheek before asking where to put the box.

Mavis glanced past him in my direction, a content smile on her face. "See, why can't you be more like Gray?"

Irritation hit me hard when Gray grinned proudly at me, making me want to punch that smug smile off his ugly face.

"You can just put it on the kitchen table. Be careful, though! Don't break the plates and cups!" Mavis warned as she ran up to me, kissing my cheek in a cheerful greeting before she flung her hands around my neck and hugged me tightly.

"Natsu, you lazy idiot!" I grunted at her words, feeling as if her words and actions were rather contradictive. "I've missed you!" She pulled back, cupping my cheeks as she smiled at me.

"What're you talking about?" I scratched the back of my head, my cheeks slightly pink from her affection. "I saw you this morning."

"Hey, you've already got a Dragneel, leave the other one for me." Gray suddenly said, leaning his arm on top of her head.

"You're making it sound wrong…" Both me and Zeref said in unison, making Mavis giggle.

I quickly stepped away from my brother, not liking the look Mavis and Gray were giving us.

I didn't hate my brother, but I didn't feel like he understood me at all. For some reason, I always got the feeling that he was against everything I did. He didn't trust me and thought I was irresponsible because I've slept with so many girls. He thought I was immature and not able to take care of myself, let alone someone else. [SK1] I gritted my teeth as I thought about it. Why the hell did he want me to become a Spriggan anyway?

"What do you think of our new dorm?" Mavis pulled me away from my thoughts, standing beside me with Gray and Zeref on her other side.

I looked up, my eyes widening as I noticed the magnificent panoramic view. The dorm looked exactly the same as ours – like all the other dorms for that matter because they're standard – but this suite had full-length windows instead of walls surrounding the kitchen and the living room with an attached balcony covering the entire length of the room.

"It's nice." I said, ruffling Mavis' hair. "Good job, you finally found yourself a good, new home." I grinned, her small face lighting up immediately as she returned the smile.

"Well, 'new home'… it's temporarily. Just until I graduate. After that we'll just have to see what our next adventure will be." She glanced back at Zeref, a smile on his face as well.

I saw Gray motioning at me, asking me how long we were going to stay here for. He tapped his hand on his stomach, telling me he was probably hungry as hell. I told him to wait a little longer and then motioned my head at Mavis.

"Hey, Mavis," I began, leaning my arm on her head. "You still haven't unpacked all of your boxes yet, have you?" I didn't even give her the chance to answer before I spoke again. "You see, me and Gray were thinking about celebrating your new home by going out for dinner. How's that sound?"

"Are you two offering to buy us dinner?" Zeref looked at me, knowing eyes staring me down.

"What?" I feigned innocence. "Of course I'd like to buy you guys dinner," I continued, my hands dramatically on my chest. "but you see, I'm just a poor student and I-"

"Don't have enough money." Zeref finished for me, looking at me with a frown on his face.

I wanted to react, but Mavis' laughter cut right through our conversation.

"You two really are related!" She giggled, making both me and Zeref want to protest because we were nothing alike. "Alright!" She pumped her fist in the air, excitement suddenly taking a hold of her. She turned on her heels, dashed to their storage room, and began rummaging through what sounded like a ton of boxes.

Zeref let out a sigh and then strode after her, asking what she was looking for.

"Dude," Gray came up to me. "I've got a date tonight."

"Dear Gray," I threw my arm around his shoulder. "What's more enjoyable? Getting laid or having dinner with your family?" I asked.

He looked at me, giving me a puzzled look and making me think about my own question.

"Getting laid." We both concluded. "But! For tonight you could make an exception, right?" I grinned at him. "Bros before hoes, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." He grinned back, bumping his fist against my arm. "Bros before hoes."

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!

Any constructive criticism and thoughts are welcome!

A few questions:

- Length: What did you guys think about the length? I had some dificulties with this because I didn't really know where to cut it off.

- Titles: Those who read my other stories know that I tend to give hints about the chapter with its chapter titles, but this time, I honestly didn't know what title to use... Any suggestions? I don't like leaving it like this.

- Content: Was the part about the Spriggan contact clear? There'll be a lot more info about the Protection Program in future chapters, but I need to know if it's clear for now, otherwise it'll only get more and more confusing. Was it okay or do I need to rewrite that part?

- Sneak peek: A friend of mine pointed out that the spoiler could ruin the surprise for some readers. Is this true? Because of this I was worried about next chapter's sneak peek and decided to leave it out.

Thanks again! Lots of love,

~Angel