[ One Year Ago, Year 791 X ]
"Are you kidding me Gramps?! There's no way I'm going on a quest with that stupid ash for brains again!" Gray exclaimed as he looked at the white-haired guildmaster in a mixture of shock and anger.
"Don't worry Gray, you are not going to be alone with him. The client asked for all five of you." Master Makarov said, eyes still glued on the flier that had been given to them an hour ago.
"All five of us?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean Erza, Lucy and Wendy too?"
"Yes, exactly, and of course the exceeds." Makarov said, finally looking up and meeting his eyes. He gave the ice wizard a smile, wrinkles apearing on his forehead and on the corner of his eyes.
Gray sighed and stood up from the chair near the bar, waving his hand as he walked away.
"...Well then, if there's four of them, the client's not gonna need me around. I told you right when we came back from the Sun Village. I am not going with him."
Makarov suddenly slammed his fist on the counter, making Gray stop dead in his tracks and his back to stiffen. He turned around, only to see the old master gritting his teeth.
"That was an order, Gray, not something for you to choose." He said, making him groan at the thought of another job with the fire dragon slayer.
He continued. "...You have to go, because it's yet again from the wizard saint who needed help from your team for the village of the sun."
Gray's eye twitched when he heard that, memories of the fourth wizard saint in Fiore coming back to his mind.
He had terrible taste of humor. Gray thought as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You mean that weird Warrod guy who had plants growing on his head instead of hair?" He asked, wearing a bored expression.
Makarov sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, sighing. "What am I going to with all of you..." he mumbled and then looked up.
"That's him, and it's also exactly why I need you to behave while you and Natsu are at his presence." He said, and took in a breath.
"...Although with Erza there, I doubt you two would like to fight and bicker with eachother like cats and dogs..." Master Makarov said slyly, his smile turning into a smirk when Gray shuddered in terror at the thought of Erza.
He continued. "However, you are at some times, more mature than Natsu is. Which is why I asked you to watch your actions while you are there."
Gray sighed, shoulders dropping. "Fine, whatever you say Gramps."
Just when he was about to walk away, Makarov's voice made him stop. "I have already informed Erza about this mission, but not Natsu and Lucy. If it's no problem for you, please tell them to get ready for the dawn since that's the time you're leaving." He said and handed him the flier.
He just nodded and headed for the front doors, internally screaming in frustration at the thought of the dragon slayer.
"Oh, and put some clothes on before you go outside."
"Crap! When did that happen?!"
"I guess I'll head for Lucy's first, knowing how flame brain is always there." Gray mumbled. The best place to find Natsu is always Lucy's house anyway.
He tucked the flier into his pocket, not bothering to read the text on it. He looked around as he put his hands behind his head before heading in the direction of Lucy's house.
I wonder how long this quest is going to take. I just hope whatever it is, it's an easy thing to do which doesn't get us in any trouble. He thought and sighed. Even if there's no trouble, Natsu will probably cause some anyway.
After a few minutes of walking, he found himself infront of her house. He frowned at the thought of going through the door and then climbing up the stairs, so he simply jumped up and put his hands on her window pane, looking inside. Just as I expected.
As usual, Natsu and Happy were both sitting on the floor, munching on some of Lucy's junk food, and behind the desk was Lucy, who was desparetly trying to concentrate despite the sound of their eating as she wrote her novel.
"Will you two please keep it down? I'm trying to focus!" She said, but the two kept eating, not even bothering to look at her. She sighed. I sometimes wonder if they have anything to eat at home.
Gray pushed the window open, making Natsu and Happy stop eating and Lucy to look up from the papers, all with a questioning look on their faces.
Lucy frowned, but shook it off quickly. Usually it was Natsu who came to her house, specialy through the window. Seeing Gray landing on her bed as he pushed a hand in his pocket was a bit odd.
Natsu growled at the sight of the black haired boy, who surprisingly had his clothes on and Happy just shrugged, going back to the food.
"What do you want popsicle?" He spat, making Gray look at him for a mere second before returning his gaze to Lucy, who tried to be more polite.
"Hi Gray. Do you need anything?" She asked, putting her pencil down as she turned her chair slightly in order to face him.
"Don't ignore me you ice freak!" Natsu exclaimed and Gray sighed. How does Gramps expect me to 'behave' while I'm with him?
Gray huffed. "Shut up pyro." He muttered before looking at Lucy. "I just came here to let you know of this." He said and pulled out the flier.
"...Master told me to tell you that we've been asked to do a job again. All five of us- the team we had when we went to the sun village- including me, Erza, you, Wendy and Natsu, and the exceeds." He said as Lucy grabbed the flier from his hand.
He crossed his arms over his chest and continued. "Master told me that it is again by Warrod Sequen. The same wizard saint who-"
"You mean the old man that used plant magic?" Lucy asked, looking up from the paper.
"Yeah that's him." Gray said and Lucy frowned, eyes glued to the flier once again.
"But didn't you look at this? There's nothing written here about what exactly is our mission!" Lucy said, pointing at the almost blank paper.
"...It only says that it wants the same five members of Fairy Tail who helped him in the previous job, and it also says that it's from Warrod. What kind of a job is that?" Lucy questioned, making Gray frown as he studied the flier for the first time.
"What if it's a prank or somethin'? Y'know these kind of things sometimes happen." Natsu finally spoke up, making Lucy hum as she went deep in thought.
"Aye! Maybe they're just trying to pick on us by sending us a fake job request!" Happy said.
"Who cares, we will just go to his house again and see if he really needed our help or not." Gray said, shrugging.
However, he narrowed his eyes at Natsu who was still sitting on the floor with Happy and spoke up.
"Oh, and Master also told me to tell you that we have to behave, understand? And since you're the one who's always starting the fight, I'm asking you to just leave me alone when we're on that quest." He said, then went to the window, making Natsu growl.
Just before he jumped down, he turned back. "Oh, and by the way, we're getting on the train at the dawn since it's going to be a long way there, so get your stuff packed."
Natsu's face turned green at the thought of the vehicle. "A-A few hours?! On a train? This is going to be a nightmare." He said, pouting as Lucy giggled softly.
"Then I guess this is goodbye for now." Gray said and jumped down the window, landing with a soft thump.
"There's a thing you can go through called the door you know?!" Lucy exclaimed, but didn't get a reply.
"Well then Lucy, I guess we're going to have to take our leave now too. Y'know, for packing our stuff and these things?" He said, flashing a warm toothy smile at her as he stood up. Lucy smiled back, feeling her cheeks warm up just a bit.
"Okay. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She said as she waved at the blue exceed. However, her smile didn't last for long when her eyes met the mess they had made with all the food they had eaten.
Just as she turned back to scold them for messing everything up again, she saw him jump down the already open window, and then heard footsteps as he walked away.
"What did I just say about the door?! Ugh!"
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for checking this story out! So, what do you think of it so far?
This is my first Fairy Tail fanfiction, so it might be a little bad. Forgive me for any mistakes! (There will probably be slow updates. Sorry.)