Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

...

As the first rays of the morning sun crept in through the window, Lucy groggily opened her eyes holding her head as a slight groan escaped her lips. Sitting up, she pushed the blanket off of her body as she stretched her arms out wide. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she surveyed her new home. After having greeted the majority of the guild and had gotten to know them, if even only slightly, she had gone through town in search of a house to stay in. She had been contemplating one small house that looked almost picture perfect and the price was something could only have dreamed of, but it had been Erza who had talked her out of it.

Even though they had only met an hour earlier, the scarlet haired woman seemed to have taken a liking to the young celestial spirit. At first Lucy complained about why she shouldn't rent the house when Erza had explained that she could rent a room in Fairy Hall for only thirty thousand more Jewels a month. To Lucy, an extra thirty thousand jewels a month seemed like an awful amount considering she had only just become part of the guild and hadn't even taken up a single assignment yet but when Erza had explained some of the perks the answer was a simple one. In actuality, Lucy felt like the company of living under the same roof as a majority of the other female mages was a big bonus, one she would happily take up. She couldn't wait to get to know everybody that little bit better and learn from them.

Lisanna didn't live in the mage building but Lucy had to admit that the Take Over mage had little reason to. She had a brother in Elfman and a sister in Mirajane and she could tell by the way that Lisanna and Elfman had interacted the prior day that they were happy to be together as a family. "You're finally awake," said a calm voice nearby. Acting purely on instinct, Lucy picked up the nearest object and hurled it at the intruder, only for her to catch it in her gauntlet encased hand. "Is that any way for you to treat your roommate?"

"Then don't come into my room while I'm sleeping!" shouted Lucy in defence. Having been shocked suddenly into being fully awake, she noticed the different look about Erza. Instead of the barmaid outfit she had been wearing the prior day she was now donned in a suit of armour which gave her a much more offensive look. "Why are you wearing armour?" she asked.

"I feel more comfortable in it," explained Erza which only left Lucy to ponder how a suit of armour could be considered comfortable at all. "You could try it out if you wanted, I could teach you the basics of Requiping."

"Requiping?" asked Lucy having never heard the word before.

"You are aware of Lisanna's take over magic are you not?" asked Erza to which she received a nod of approval. "Requiping is similar in a sense but instead of changing the form of your actual body you change the form of your weapon and/or armour depending on the situation needed. Like Take Over magic, it has the same limitations in that I cannot simply change into any armour I imagine, but it has to be something that I own and have inserted into a personal dimension."

"That sounds complicated," said Lucy. "Could you show me an example?" Erza, happy to oblige allowed a golden glow to surround her as her armour changed into something else entirely, the scarlet haired woman back into her barmaid outfit. "That's amazing."

"I have outfits stored away for nearly every occasion, although there can be times when I may not have the right type of equipment, hence why I've been learning a secondary magic."

"Secondary magic!" exclaimed Lucy. "I thought a magician could only set himself down a certain magical path and only expand in the techniques and strengths that the path allowed."

"It's true, some of the strongest magicians are only known for their primary magic, but that does not mean that there aren't other types of magic that they can use. Rumour has it that Master is capable of using at least six different types of magic, potentially much more than that."

"Six types of magic," said Lucy in awe. "So what other magic are you learning at the moment?"

"Well like you said, I was able to progress so far down a certain pathway with my Requip magic but in learning a new type of magic I had to start at the beginning, research everything I needed to know in the guild library." Erza began to channel magic through her before thrusting her hand forward, only for an exact copy of her to appear.

"You made a clone!" said Lucy staring at the secondary Erza.

"Not quite," said Erza as she swung her hand through her secondary self, the image faltering slightly before vanishing into nothingness. "I'm working on the ability to create illusions, when I'm able to progress further I should be able to make the illusion move and even talk before I begin trying to give it physical form."

"Is there a reason you're learning this type of magic?" asked Lucy. "I can understand the reasoning for learning a secondary magic but how would this coincide with your Requip magic?"

"On more than one occasion I have faced an enemy who has been able to attack me from a range and in defeating them I have taken a great deal of damage. I hope by being able to create an illusion of myself I can draw their fire away from me in order to get closer and deal the finishing blow myself."

"So why would you suggest I learn Requip as a secondary magic?"

"Celestial mages require the spirit they have summoned to do the fighting for them, usually making the caster not worry about their own strength and thus they become physically weak," said Erza.

"That was a cheap blow," muttered Lucy to herself before she focused back on Erza. "Why do you continue to grow stronger if you're the barmaid at Fairy Tail?"

"I'm also an S class mage," said Erza which caused Lucy's eyes to go wide. "Mirajane and I do rotational swaps and during the time when I am not on missions I use it to increase my own strength."

Lucy merely nodded at Erza, unsure what to say after that statement and the two continued to look at one another briefly. "I'm going to go have a shower," said Lucy as she finally got out of bed, the fact that Erza was still sitting there in their room not concerning her anymore.

"Why not come to the group bathroom?" asked Erza as she got to her feet, making her way to the door.

"Maybe next time," said Lucy brushing it off, not sure if she'd be comfortable sharing a bath with the other female members of the guild yet.

"Okay then, I shall see you at the guild," said Erza as she left, allowing Lucy to take a sigh of relief.

Moving towards the bathroom, her eyes travelled briefly towards her keys and she quickly made a mental note to summon and make the contract with her latest celestial spirit when she got out of the shower. "Requip magic huh," she muttered as she closed the door behind her, unsure if any other unexpected guests would barge in.

...

As Lucy entered the guild, once again she found herself confronted by a barrage of laughter and joy radiating from everyone as they talked to one another about nothing in particular, merely interacting for the sake of interacting. Over in the corner she was able to see that Wakaba and Macao were having an arm wrestling competition which was being bet on by a number of guild members, shouting out the name of who they were supporting. Over by the bar she recognised Cana drinking away, although at a much slower rate now that Erza was standing behind the bar watching her with hawk like vision. Her eyes then focused on Gray, the one person whom she hadn't truly made much contact with (and not solely for the purpose that he didn't seem to be wearing a shirt today). After having watched him toss a man across the guild, to Lucy it seemed that he was quite cold to anyone around him but she knew it was better to not make assumptions and accusations after only just getting to meet everyone.

"Hey Lucy," said Lisanna cheerfully as she greeted the blonde haired girl.

"Lisanna, how are you this morning?" responded Lucy.

"Pretty good and I managed to find you a job," said Lisanna smiling.

"Really?" exclaimed Lucy as she clapped her hands together.

"I pulled a few strings and made a few arrangements but you'll be going with team Shadow Gear to find and retrieve a book."

"Team Shadow Gear?" responded Lucy.

"Aye," said Happy as he floated nearby, hovering in the air despite not flapping his wings. "Some jobs are tougher than a single mage can handle, so they form teams in order to help each other accomplish the mission."

"I see," said Lucy.

"I thought it best if you go with a team on your first mission just to get the hang of how missions occur," explained Lisanna.

"Couldn't we have gone on a mission together?" asked Lucy.

"Maybe next time, but today there's something I have to do," said Lisanna, her smile dropping if ever so slightly. Knowing better than not to pry, Lucy left the topic as it was at the moment as Levy, Jet and Droy walked nearby.

"So you're going to be coming with us on this mission Lucy," said Jet.

"Yes, I hope I can help," said Lucy with a slight bow.

"Don't worry Lu-chan, team Shadow Gear will be here to help you as well," said Levy, winking as a smile graced her lips.

"Lu-chan?" repeated Lucy, having never been given any other sort of friendly name before. Somehow she knew that from that one moment a great friendship was going to be created.

"C'mon, we need to go hire a carriage to get us there," said Droy.

"I wish we could just run there," muttered Jet, knowing that his magic would easily be able to get him there faster than any carriage could.

"We're not all as fast as you Jet," sighed Levy. "C'mon Lu-chan, the mission awaits."

"Shouldn't I know what the mission specifics are?" asked Lucy.

"They're nothing you need to worry about," said Levy with a slight chuckle as an evil glint in both Jet and Droy's eyes appeared if only momentarily. Treating it like a trick of the light, Lucy shrugged and began to walk alongside Levy as she squealed in anticipation of her first mission.

"Lucy," said a voice from behind causing the blonde haired girl to turn around to see Erza standing there, a small rucksack in her hand. "Take this," she commanded, throwing the sack at Lucy who caught it in both hands.

"What's this?" she asked opening it up, finding a book entitled 'Basics of Requiping' and a small dagger encased in a leather sheath.

"Think of it as homework," smirked Erza before she turned around leaving the sack in Lucy's possession. With no real choice in the matter, she sighed and slung the sack over her shoulder as she ran to catch up with her current teammates. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lisanna and Happy make their way across the plaza towards the far side of town.

"Do you know what Lisanna and Happy are doing?" asked Lucy to Levy as she caught up.

"You know that Lisanna goes searching for somebody constantly right?" asked Levy. Having heard the basics, Lucy gave a nod of approval. "Once a month, she goes to clean up their house so that when they return it will be as clean as possible."

"How long has she been doing it?" asked Lucy.

"A little over a year and a half," said Jet. "If anything you can say that she's got a great deal of determination in what she does."

"Over a year and a half," repeated Lucy tossing one final look over her shoulder only to find that Lucy and Happy had vanished from sight. A sigh escaped Lucy's lips as she silently prayed that Lisanna one day found the person she was looking for.

Two hours had passed since Lucy had left Magnolia and only now did Lisanna step outside of the small cottage with Happy by her side, clicking the padlock into place to ensure that nobody broke in. As they made their way back towards the guild as the sun hung high in the sky, a question arose on Lisanna's lips. "Hey Happy, do you know when she's getting back?" she asked.

"Mirajane?" asked Happy to which he received a shake of the head. "Oh, you mean her! She's been gone for three weeks now so she should have gotten to Joya country and have finished the mission considering how far away it is. I reckon she may be back in a week or so."

"One week huh, one more week of grumpy Gray then," she sighed with a shrug of the shoulders. Meanwhile over in Joya country, despite it being situated right near the desert region the effects of the recent battle still remained as members of the Magic Council's army cleared the damage that had taken place. One thing they noticed however was that even though the fight had taken place three days earlier between a wildly renown criminal infamous for using Earth Magic and the S classed mage from Fairy Tail, the effects were still evident. None more so than the ice that refused to melt by natures effects alone.

...

Hope you enjoyed.

Foxy from Dattebayo Devon: Somehow I think Celestial Spirits can't be copied by Take Over mages due to the fact that they belong in a different dimension as opposed to Earth Land.

Jimbob86: Clutter the posts by all means, I have no problem with that.

Extremeryohei: The last thing I was going to do in this story was bash either of the characters. As for having them share a bath together...let me see what I can do.

G96 Saber: When will I have Natsu return...long ways from now, keep reading and he'll eventually appear.

Kaka: No yuri for you, at least not yet.

Goddessofnight08: A Chupacabra, really?

Sukazu's: I can tell you now, Lyon did not join Fairy Tail but did he join Lamia Scale...not telling.

Stay tuned for the next instalment soon. Peace out.