It's been about a couple of hours since I've been welcomed into the guild. I've been sitting at one of the tables with Lucy trying to figure out where I was going to stay. Lucy pointed at one of the apartments on the application. "How about this one? It's 98 thousand jewel a month. That's not bad."
I looked at it and bit my lip. "I don't know... The managers kinda look like creeps... And it's too far out of town."
Lucy looked again. "I guess that's true..." She flipped the page. "Oh! How about this?" She pointed to a cute apartment building with a nice looking manager standing on the front steps. "It's just on the other side of town. 125 thousand a month..."
I smiled. "That sounds fair. And that comes with a free monthly cleaning."
Lucy handed me the application. "Is that the one?"
I grinned. "Oh, yeah! Definitely!"
She stood up. "Great. Then let's go!"
I stood up with her and she gave me a confused look. "Do you not wear shoes?"
"I do... I just don't like to wear them. I prefer going barefoot..." My right foot also happened to be where I have my new Fairy Tail emblem. It was the color of a sunset and I loved it because it looked awesome.
ooOoo
A while later, Lucy and I found the address of the apartment building, Gregory's Luxury Apartments, and knocked at the front door. A very frail looking man with very curly sky-blue hair and glasses opened the door. "Hello there... Are you the young lady looking to rent one of my lodgings?"
I waved. "That's me! I'm Nelly Zera." Gregory and I shook hands. He seemed to perk up a bit. "Welcome, welcome!"
He handed me a clipboard. "How long do you plan to stay with us, Miss Nelly Zera?"
"Uh... For now, forever I guess.." I sweat dropped. "I'm sorry... This is my first time doing something like this by myself.."
Gregory kept smiling. "That's quite alright. It's no big deal at all. Just sign here and here."
I did so and handed back the clipboard. Lucy stepped forward. "So... Where is her apartment going to be?"
Gregory laughed lightheartedly. "You'll get your room key when you give me your first payment. After that, rent is due on the last Friday of every month."
Lucy and I gawked. "I have to pay right now?!"
Gregory nodded. "Is there a problem?"
I rubbed the back of my head. "I don't have that much on me right now..."
"That's alright. But you're not getting the room key until you pay up."
I shivered. There was something suddenly sinister about Gregory and it creeped me the heck out. But he was still smiling! Lucy and I inched away. "Of course... R-Right away sir..."
Then we both took off. When we reached the guild, Lucy grabbed me by the shoulders. "You need to take a job from the request board!"
Merajane stepped forward. "That's a good idea. But you shouldn't go alone, Nelly. You said it yourself that you don't have complete control of your magic."
Lucy blinked. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you."
I looked at Lucy. "Yeah?"
"What kind of magic do you use?"
I gave a small blush. "It's nothing special..."
Lucy grinned. "You've got to show me a few spells while we're out on a job!"
I gave her a confused look. "We?"
"Yeah! I'm going to go with you since Merajane said you shouldn't go alone."
I smiled. "Okay. Sounds like fun!"
"We'll have to pick a job first!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Natsu and Happy popped up behind me. Lucy got a chip. "You two need to butt out!"
Natsu gave us both a confused look. "Why? Aren't we going on a job together?"
"No way! You two are bad news for Nelly! She needs to get enough money to rent out an apartment!"
Embarrassed, I rubbed the back of my head. "She's got a point... Splitting the money four ways won't pay my new rent... Sorry..."
Natsu was silent for a second, then he grinned. "Alright. But next time we're going with you! Kay?"
I giggled. "Sure thing!"
We all walked over to the job request board and looked at all of the jobs. I spotted one that caught my interest. I took it off the board and showed it to Lucy. "How about this one?"
Lucy took it and read it allowed. "Lost pet: 300 thousand jewel for anyone who can bring my Coki home." She handed it back. "That's a lot of jewel for just finding a pet. Good find!"
I smiled. "And I'm really good with animals! Let's do it!"
ooOoo
Natsu and Happy waved the girls goodbye as they were walking off towards the train station. And as soon as they were on board... "Hey Natsu. We're still going to follow them, right?"
Natsu laughed. "Of course! We can't let Lucy have ALL the fun!" And with one jump, Natsu landed on top of the moving train, Happy following with his Aera Magic. And Natsu was immediately feeling sick and flopped onto his stomach. "I think I'm gonna hurl..."
Happy sighed. "This is going to be a long ride..."
To Be Continued...
