Chapter-14

The Water Mage and The Iron Dragon Slayer

Two weeks passed. Lucy spent most of that time training herself to adapt to her magic, as well as reading several books on Caster Magic and reading up on soul mates and jotting down notes on all the pictures that appeared in the book every day.

"There was a picture of a bunch of cats in my book today," Lucy informed Mira at the bar wryly one day. "Any clue as to what that means?"

Mira giggled. "It usually means that he's extremely fond of cats, or has one," She informed the younger girl. "The signs can be pretty vague, you know. A similar picture appeared in Levy's book once."

"I see," Lucy muttered thoughtfully, before she pulled out her 'Clues to find my Soul Mate' notebook and scribbled down a few notes. "I'll keep that in mind. Say, Mira?"

"Yes?"

Lucy chewed on her bottom lip before answering. "I've been wondering… why do magical books malfunction? I mean, it's not exactly normal, is it? And they can malfunction to such extents that people could actually die from going on those jobs-" Lucy gasped in horror when she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry!"

"I-It's alright." Mira managed, with a rather tight smile. "Well-over a few centuries ago or so, these malfunctions were rare-and even when they did happen, they were small and easy enough to take care of. However, a, dark magic from a Black Wizard named Zeref infected all sorts of magic items and even possessed people around the continent-"

Lucy frowned. "Black Wizard?"

Mira smacked her forehead. "Sorry, Lucy," she said sheepishly. "I keep forgetting that you're new to magic. I should ask Levy to find some books on dark magic for you so that you'll know enough to protect yourself in case you ever encounter a dark mage. Anyway- Zeref was an extremely powerful wizard, probably the strongest in the world. He created all sorts of demons that have killed many wizards and non-wizards over the years. Most of them are sealed away in books, but quite a few have escaped. Well, no one is really sure how it happened, but Zeref's magic was released, tainting anything that was good and pure. The Magic Council-that is, the jurisdiction of the wizard population in Fiore, enlisted the help of many powerful wizards to help keep Zeref's magic at bay. It was better after that, but the wizarding folk and magical books are most susceptible to his power. That is why wizards like us, who work in libraries like Fairy Tail, are quite important to the safety of Fiore. If the books weren't taken care of, nobody knows what might happen to the kingdom."

Lucy shivered slightly. "That sounds scary," she muttered.

Mirajane smiled sympathetically. "It does, doesn't it?" She waved a hand at the request board. "Many of the jobs come requesting books within our own library to be fixed, but some of them come from outside as well."

Lucy nodded. "I see."

Just then, a portal opened up in the middle of the hall. Lucy turned to see who it was. Suddenly, all movement in froze (including Natsu and Gray, who had been at each other's throats again) as a person stepped out.

It was a young woman, with long, scarlet hair and stern brown eyes, wearing armor. Lucy stared at her in admiration while Mirajane smiled and waved.

"Welcome back, Erza!"

The woman, Erza, nodded to Mirajane. "Good morning, Mirajane. I trust you have been well?"

Mira nodded. "Yup! Come meet our newest member!"

But Erza wasn't listening anymore. She glanced at Natsu and Gray and narrowed her eyes.

"Natsu, Gray. You haven't been fighting, have you?"

"N-no!" Gray stammered. "We're the best of friends, right Natsu?"

"A-aye!"

Lucy blinked. "Wow. This person has just achieved a miracle by getting Natsu and Gray to agree with each other."

Mira laughed. "Oh, no, this is quite normal. Erza's the strongest woman in the guild, it's no wonder she's able to scare Natsu and Gray to that extent."

"Seriously?"

"That's right. I wonder what she'll think of you."

Lucy privately wondered the same thing as well. Somehow, she felt that if Erza didn't approve of her, it wouldn't matter if everyone else did.

Erza approached the bar and sat down beside Lucy. "A slice of strawberry cake, please, Mira." She ordered.

"Coming right up!" Mira chirped and swept into the kitchen.

Erza turned her gaze on to Lucy, who waited in nervous anticipation. "I take it that you are the newest member everyone's been talking about?"

Lucy nodded. "Um, yes. I'm Lucy, it's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.

Erza took it. "Erza Scarlet, S-class mage of Fairy Tail," she introduced herself. "It is an honor to meet you, Lucy."

Before Lucy could say anything else, Natsu interrupted by walking up and swinging his arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Yo, Luce! Let's go on a job!"

Lucy flushed slightly before pushing him away. "Stop draping yourself over me like that. And I need to get more training in before I can go on a job that pays decently."

Natsu pouted. "But Luuuuuuce!" He whined. "You did great on our first job together!"

Erza, who had been observing the exchange with no little surprise, felt her eyebrows disappear into her hairline when she heard that Natsu had taken a job with someone other than Happy.

Mira came out of the kitchen, holding the promised strawberry cake and giggled at Erza's expression. As she set down the cake, she murmured in Erza's ear, "You can join in on the bet if you like."

Erza gave her a rare smile.

"Perhaps I will."

"It was a stroke of luck that I summoned my strongest spirit," Lucy retorted. "And today isn't a good time for summoning Aquarius, anyway. She'd probably drown me or something."

"The fish-lady is pretty mean," Happy agreed from Natsu's shoulder. "But not as mean as you, Lucy."

"Why you-"

"Lucy," A new voice interrupted and Gray sat down on the other side of the blonde. "Ignore these childish morons," he smirked, disregarding their protests. "You can go on a job with me instead."

"I don't want to go on a job at all," Lucy snapped. "Now leave me alone, I'm trying to talk to Erza over here!"

Gray and Natsu immediately gave Erza somewhat wary looks and Lucy smiled smugly before turning to face the redhead again.

"Sorry about that. Natsu's a bit clingy sometimes."

"Oi!"

"It's alright," Erza reassured her."What magic do you use, Lucy?"

"Celestial Spirit Magic," Lucy answered. If Erza was surprised, she didn't show it. "What about you?"

"Requip Magic," Erza replied. She was about elaborate, when Master showed up.

"Hello, Erza. How did your mission go?"

"I completed it successfully, Master," Erza replied. "Is there a problem? You look somewhat worried."

Master Makarov grimaced. "Well-we have a problem."

"What is it?" Natsu asked. "Do we need to beat up somebody?"

Everyone rolled their eyes and Lucy bopped Natsu on the head. "Listen," she advised him.

Master cleared his throat. "Two potential wizards who were supposed to be at the exam that Lucy took," he nodded in the Celestial Wizard's general direction. "Didn't come. I looked into it, and I found that their names are Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox, born with Water and Iron Dragon Slayer Magic respectively."

Natsu looked startled at mention of another Dragon Slayer. Gray looked confused.

"So what's the big deal? Just find out where they live, grab 'em, and have a re-test."

Master sighed. "It isn't as simple as that, Gray." He looked them all in the eye.

"Thirteen years ago, Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox, both orphans, were kidnapped. And I'm afraid it was the work of a dark wizard."

(A/N): I'm so sorry about the late chapter! I had tests, and my browser isn't working, so I had to upload the chapter onto a pen drive and post it on my father's computer instead.

So, Juvia, Gajeel and Erza enter the fray! I'm so happy, all of them are favorites of mine and this arc is going to be fun to write. Most of the credits go to SunflowerChrysalis, though~ I'm just her humble scribe~

Thanks for reading and putting up with the wait, everyone! Please review!