Two chapters in 1!

7

Frosty Lightning is Fairy Tail

Packy sat at a lone table, closest to the corner of the room near the bar, book in hand. Mirajane— her not Satan— had stopped assaulting Packy, and apologised for her actions, claiming that she lost herself. Being the good hearted person he was, he forgave her, but when asking if she could remove the insignias on his face, she just tilted her head with that smile, and walked away, so now he was stuck like this until further notice. They still burned.

But that asides, Packy had joined a guild. Packy had joined Fairy Tail. He remembered his last guild, Yeti Gills. How long had it been since then? Around seven years he reckoned. Seven years since Mina sensei, Dandylion, Collins, Deraiya, Ricki...

Packy reread the the paragraph he was on since he forgot to pay attention. But now he was part of the strongest guild in Fiore. He had heard Fairy Tail in the air plenty of time, how they defeated two guilds of the Barran alliance, perfectly winning the Grand Magic Games, half its members, including the master, disappearing for seven years. And now he was part of that powerful name. And yet Packy didn't—

"Why are you sitting here alone," Packy heard Erza's voice demand from beside him. Packy looked up from his book to meet her eyes, but then turned away.

"I'm shy," he muttered.

She stared at him in perplexity, then nodded and sat beside him. She patted his back way more forcefully then it should normally be done, and Packy lurched forward.

"I never would've imagined you as the shy type," she chuckled. "The guildsmen are very kind and welcoming here. Newcomers fit in easily. You won't break the ice with them by sitting by yourself while reading a book. And the guildsmen are already intrigued by the magic you demonstrated today, so that would make a good topic to discuss about."

And without waiting, for Packy's response, Erza asked in a loud voice, "Packy, what would you care to explain the logic of your 'Frozen Lightning'?"

At this many of the guildsmen sprung up from their seats, and surrounded his table. Questions were thrown around, and Erza pounded her fist on the table to hush them down.

"Okay so let's start off with the biggest confusion," said Packy. "Frozen Lightning is not literally solid frozen lightning. I just say frozen because lightning is generally hot whereas mine is cold. Agree Elfman?"

He gave Packy thumbs up.

"This type of magic is known as Uni-Magic. Imagine—"

"Oh yeah," the short cyan bluenette girl with the orange dress from earlier, said placing her fist in her palm. "I remember reading about this magic one time. Imagine a unison raid made inside your body, and then released."

Packy opened his mouth to talk, but gave up quickly and let her continue ranting.

"Two magics are contained in his body: Ice and Lightning. They are then fused in a third magic container, and that's where the Frozen Lightning is stored. And another thing is that Uni-Magic can be used at different ratios. For example, he could choose to use a ratio where the Ice magic is dominant and the Lightning magic serves as back up, like the hammer you had made, yes?"

"Uh, yeah," replied Packy. "It had a ratio of 3:1. It was—"

"75% ice and 25% lightning. And an example of the the perfect ratio, fifty-fifty, would be the arrow you shot at Elfman. Sorry, I've been cutting you again and again," she held out her hand and smiled. "I'm Levy McGarden."

Packy wasn't happy she had stolen his important monologue, but he was a sucker for the word 'sorry'.

He shook her hand and shrugged. "It's fine."

"Wait!" Natsu said smacking a palm on the table. "You used Snow magic, too, in our fight. So you can use THREE magics?! We have to fight again!

Packy waved his hand in the air. "First, fighting is hard and long. Secondly, Snow is Ice, Ice is Snow. My old mentor would say that often. But then I said that ice was water, and I was punished. Saw them all as the same thing. I only use two. It's not specifically Ice-Make that I use, it's not Snow either. I just use Ice. So I'd have to agree with what he said, that old nutcase."

"Wow, your magic sounds awesome!" Natsu said. "I wanna learn it. Teach me how to master Uni-Magic!"

Packy closed his eyes and raised a finger. "It's actually a very difficult magic to learn. And it's painful. It involves creating—"

"Well if Fire maniac's gonna learn Uni-Magic, I'd be falling behind if I weren't to learn it either," Gajeel said grinning.

They started fighting.

"We'll learn it too then!" Someone yelled, and people instantly swarmed around Packy. They introduced themselves, and he was showered with questions that he did his best to answer.

Packy turns to the fourth wall and puckers his lips.

"And later..."

"The best way for you to get into guild life," said Lisanna beside Packy, "is to take an official job request."

They stood in front of the request board, observing all the potential jobs that were offered. Lisanna stepped forward and ran her hand down the board, skimming through the jobs.

"There's one that requires us to guard a farm while the owner's gone. 35,000 Jewels. How about it?"

Packy nodded. "Yeah. It sounds like we don't have to do much work, so let's take it."

"That's not the right attitude for job taking. You can't go to work without wanting to work."

"It's not that I don't wanna with at all. I just wanna do the absolute least amount possible. Preferably lower than that though. Just one that doesn't involve too much movement. If that were the definition of work than I'd be down for that."

"Why did Erza sign me up for this," she muttered to herself. "Well anyways, now we've gotta assemble a team. The mages here go on missions in teams to facilitate the job. The reward then gets split up among the members. Most of the mages here have permanent teams. I, for one, usually go on missions with Elfnii-chan, and Miranee-san when she's available."

It took time for Packy to process what Lisanna had said, but once he did, he spit out imaginary water.

"That's your brother?! The man beast?!"

Lisanna frowned. "What's so surprising about it? Didn't you find that I resembled someone in the guild?"

"I sure did," a dreary voice said from behind them.

Lisanna and Packy shrieked in alarm, and turned to see a hunched figure with messy, shoulder lengthed, black hair that hid his left eye.

"Geez Trace," Lisanna exasperated with her hand in her chest. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"I think the real question is: Why haven't y'all gotten used to it?" He replied with a open-mouthed smile.

The man called Trace had a bag under his visible eye. He wore a brown T-shirt under his black cape, with dark grey open fingered gloves and ankle height sandals.

"But besides that," he continued, " I'll be a member of that team you were talking about. You guys forgot to bring me on that play request in Onibus town after all."

"We didn't forget," Lisanna said. "You were late."

"I told you guys I had things planned on the night before and that I may be a little late. I had asked you to wait an extra hour for me."

"Yeah. We did. We waited two as a matter of fact. You didn't show up."

Trace's eyes widened. " Two hours? What time were we meant to meet up again?"

"Nine A.M.?"

"Oh wow. Must've lost track of time. I stayed up that night and had to put extra dark curtains to stop light from getting in." He looked at Packy and started chuckling. "It's the scarabaeoida mating season. It was a wild night," he said raising his eyebrows.

"Dang," Packy said.

"I know right. Your the newbie, Packy, I is correct, no? I'm Trace Ferrtada, Fairy Tail's bug expert. I even use Bug Soul magic. Why don't you come over to my place sometime? A token of my acceptance of you to this guild. We could watch the fireflies go at it, eh? It's never let this cathedral down."

"This is making me uncomfortable."

Lisanna sighed heavily. "Trace your letting too much of yourself upon the new guy."

"What do you mean?" Trace said. "He's gotta know what he's dealing with here. If one were to restrict himself, it would be a sign that he's not close enough to the person. Packy here is like a brother to me. I feel as if we could get along very well if we got to know each other. I'm positive a long rainbow road of friendship, laughter, and good times awaits for us. We could definitely become gay for each other. As long as he likes bugs. You like bugs don'tcha, newbie?"

"Nah," replied Packy.

Trace lost his smile and stared at his feet.

Lisanna clasped her hands. "Well we've got Trace in our little team. Who else could we do with?"

Packy turned around and looked around the guild until he locked her eyes on the one. "Let's take Juvia with us. She's an interesting character. I'd like to help her accomplish her goal for love, too."

"But she'd only go on missions with Gray, which hasn't happened."

Packy turned to Lisanna, and gave a confident look. "I have methods with words."

He walked up to Juvia's table where she tried to get her hands on Gray.

"Juvia, I'm planning on going on a mission tomorrow and I could use some extra magic. Care to come?" And for the Secret Ultimate Jutsu: "We'll have food."

She stopped her games for a moment to address to Packy. "Juvia can't go on the mission with you otherwise she'd miss precious time with Gray-Sama."

"This time is not precious to me," an annoyed Gray said.

Packy nodded in an understanding way. "Gray would like to come with us?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm going on a mission with Erza tomorrow."

"And you didn't tell me," Juvia said in a hurt voice.

"Crap, it wasn't meant to spill out," Gray muttered.

"It's okay, I still love you," and Juvia returned to her attempts at hugging him.

Packy walked back to the request board.

"... crickets are quite loud though," Trace was saying when Packy got to them. "Oh how'd it go," he asked.

"She denied, but it's no big deal." Packy looked at Lisanna, "Do you know where she lives?"

"Yes."

"Okay. We'll kidnap her tomorrow."

"Ummm."

"?"

Lisanna shook her head. "Well, I guess four is enough. Let's meet up here at eleven, enough time for Juvia to shower and have breakfast. You've gotta be there, Trace."

He made an OK sign.

"Wait, wait," Packy said holding his hand up. "There's one more person."

And he happened to be walking by right in front of them.

"Natsu," Packy called.

Lisanna looked like she wanted to say something but held it in.

"What's up?" He said as Happy hovered above his shoulder.

"We're planning on going on a mission tomorrow, and we were looking for one more teammate. You in?"

Natsu grinned. "Definitely. I'd like to see more on how you do in action. What's the request?"

Packy pointed to the flyer on the board. "This one. We have to watch a farm while the owner's away."

"BORING!" Natsu yelled. He started looking around the request board. "We need something that packs a punch."

"But mine was simple," Packy whined. "I'll throw a tantrum. Don't test me. I will!"

"Ooh this one." Natsu ripped it off the board, and showed it to them. "A witch's curse has been placed upon a society, and they need help lifting the curse. 80,000 Jewel reward."

"Awwrrgh, that looks too physically demanding. But fine, I'll swallow it in."

"Great! Come on, Happy. Let's go get ready for tomorrow!"

"Aye, sir!" The cat cried, and flew off after Natsu.

"Eleven A.M!" Lisanna cried at him just as he was out of the doors.

"Thanks!" Natsu replied.

"I should've thrown that tantrum," Packy said once Natsu was gone.

Lisanna smiled. "I don't think that would've worked on Natsu, though. Once he chose that mission, there's no changing his mind. He's stubborn, but you can't get mad at him for it. That's why everyone loves him."

Packy tilted his head, and smiled at her with puckered lips. "Some more than other, hmm?"

She turned away from him, red blooming in her cheeks.

Trace stared at them. "Wait, what?

Trace eats a bug he's never seen before.

"Cool. New powers. And then..."

It was the evening now, and tables were emptier than they had been earlier, today. Packy had spent the day exploring the town with Erza, and she had left him halfway through so that he could do his own exploring. Now he was back at the guild and the question dawned on him as he walked over to his cart. Where would he be spending the night? He only had around 7000 Jewels left in savings, but he knew that wouldn't be even slightly enough to get a proper apartment. And Packy wouldn't do improper. He never needed much money when he wandered around. He'd just sleep in his tent under the stars. The money he earned from missions went to the essential things: books, milk, and cabbages.

Packy approached the table in which Erza and Wendy and the white cat sat, Erza and Wendy eating what was left of their sweets, Charla drinking a cup of whatever. The magic cart had kept them fresh even after three days of travel. They really were lucky he had left some of the food for them, but obviously they showed no signs of appreciation. Well, he'd been forced to go the run, and leave them behind. They looked up at Packy has he got closer. Packy felt uneasy around Wendy. He hoped that she still wasn't mad at him. Erza had told him that Wendy didn't normally act that way. So with that little girl chasing him around town with a killer intent must've meant she was undeniably pissed off.

"Erza," said Packy, "where will I be spending the night?"

She held up her finger while she finished what she had in her mouth, and kidnapped a cupcake from the cart. "That is something even I hadn't thought of," Erza said regrettably. Her eyes widened up, "You could stay at Lucy's house. But, no, I cannot dump you onto her like that. Well, it seems like you'll have to stay at my apartment in Fairy Hills."

Packy shrugged. "Okay."

"Hold on a second Erza-san," Charla said. "Are you sure you want to sleep under the same roof with a man you still don't know much about?"

"Charla that's not a nice thing to say," Wendy said embarrassedly. "Please excuse her, Packy-san."

Yes! She gave Packy an honourific! She wasn't mad at him!

"I'm just being cautious," said Charla. "We don't know what he could try at night."

Packy gave Wendy a mischievous grin to prove Charla's point.

"But besides that Erza-san," said Wendy, " maybe he could stay with me. Boys are forbidden from staying at Fairy Hills, and as head girl, it would set a bad example to the girls. So maybe he should stay at my apartment. I don't get much visitors, and I'd be least suspectable to have a boy sleep with me."

"Bdum-tss," said Packy.

"You do have a point there Wendy, but it'll be fine. Well just sneak him in," Erza said. "As for what you had said Charla, as a member of Fairy Tail, I can expect Packy to act respectfully to his fellow guildmates in their sleep," she gave him a look that froze his heart, "right, Packy?"

Packy teeth started clattering, and his bones started wobbling. "Yes, Erza-senpai. I-I wasn't even planning on pulling something off anyways."

Erza nodded. "Good."

Packy turns to the fourth wall as he walks to Fairy Hills alone.

"And then..."

Strangely enough, that night Erza and Wendy had talked it over, and decided that Packy would stay over at Wendy's. Erza had brought with her Packy's cart into her enormous room, claiming that there wouldn't be enough space for it in her room. He sat on the carpeted floor outside of her apartment while she cleaned up inside. It didn't even take a minute for her to finish, and she let him into the apartment.

"So what you see here is my home," Wendy said. "Please make yourself comfortable."

While Packy looked around, Wendy went off to her room with Charla. On the left side of the room stood a two person couch and a recliner in front of a fire place, and a coffee table in the square. To the right of the room, the floor was elevated by a step, and a circular dining table for three. The wall in front of Packy presented two passageways; the first, where Wendy had gone, strictly opposite to the front doorway he stood in, leading towards the bedroom and bathroom, and the second near the dining room, leading towards the kitchen.

Packy walked to the bedroom Wendy had gone into.

"So where will I be sleeping?" Packy asked her.

Wendy cheeks flushed. "There's... only one bedroom in this apartment... so you'll have to... sleep with me on this bed." She pointed to the double bed.

Charla looked like she wanted to explode with arguments, but she held it in, eyeing Packy and waiting for him to make a move first.

Packy shrugged and walked towards the bed. "I really don't care honestly. If it's the only option, then I guess I— LIKE HELL I WOULD!

"As if I'd sleep in this bed right now, only to wake up with something soft in my hand, and then I'd squish, and be like 'What is this soft thing?' And then you'd wake up, and stare at me in embarrassment, and go 'EEEEEEK! CAT MOLESTER!', and I'd be like 'What?', and I'd find Charla's body between my hand! So even if you do mind I'll just sleep on the uncomfortable living room sofas, thank you." And with that Packy stormed out the room, and hopped on to the far too small sofa, kimono still on.

"Goodnight," he called out gently.