Skylar admired her emblem as best as she could, tilting her head to get a better look of her shoulder.

"I have to go talk to the Master, Laxus," Lucy said. "How about you go and meet new people? I'll come back and check on you. Okay, Skylar?"

Skylar nodded. "Okay, Lucy."

When Lucy walked away, Skylar looked around, wondering who to talk to. But she's way too shy to just go up to someone she doesn't even know.

Before Skylar could decide anything, a chair came flying toward her, knocking Skylar to the ground.

Skylar quickly sat up, her head throbbing. No one seemed to have noticed, as if this was a normal thing to happen. Who threw that chair?

"This is why you don't fight!" the redheaded boy exclaimed, dragging the mini gray and female Natsu by the ears, over to where Skylar was sitting. Skylar quickly sat up, and met the redhead's intense stare.

"Sorry." The pink haired girl chuckled awkwardly. "The Stripper threw it at me, but it kinda hit you..."

"Don't call me that, Flamebrain!" Stripper -- whatever his real name is -- growled.

"Ugh, you two are giving me a headache," the redhead groaned. Then, he focused his attention on Skylar. "Are you new or something? You're what, five? Shouldn't you be holding your mommy's hand? Honestly, it's kind of dangerous, as you've witness first hand. Chairs are always hitting innocent bystanders, and you're so short--"

Skylar's nostrils flared. "Shouldn't you learn some manners?" Skylar shot back. "I'm ten, not five, Strawberry! And I'm of perfectly average height!" Woah, where did she get the courage to say that?

"Well, I'm almost twelve so you should be more respectful to people older than you!" the redhead said, glaring at Skylar.

"Um, Nashi and I are older than you..." the mini Gray said, and then gulped when the redhead trained his glare on him.

"You should be more nice," Skylar pouted, ignoring the way that Nashi was shaking her head, as if warning Skylar to shut up.

"I am nice!" the redhead protested.

"No, you're not!" Skylar said, sticking her tongue out at him. "I don't even know any of your names. Talk about rude, Strawberry."

"Stop calling me strawberry," the redhead said furiously. "And I don't know your name either, um, Blackberry!"

"How creative." Skylar scoffed, seriously having no idea where this confidence came from. What happened to the meek and shy Skylar? But this boy was ticking her off, so maybe that's why. "My name is Skylar. And you guys?"

"Nashi." The pinkette grinned.

"Storm," the raven haired boy said.

The redhead scoffed, but nevertheless, he said, "Reiki."

Skylar smiled. "I still prefer Strawberry," she said, her sudden confidence only wavering slightly when Reiki glared at her.

Storm and Nashi snickered, but quickly started looking around, when Reiki looked at them with a venomous glare, to rival the one he directed at Skylar.

"Don't you know how to do anything other than glaring?" Skylar asked, crossing her arms and giving Reiki a pointed look.

Reiki stared at Skylar. Skylar stared at Reiki. Storm and Nashi stared at the sight in confusion. "Why aren't you afraid of me like anyone else, Blackberry?" Reiki questioned, with annoyance lacing his voice.

"You didn't do anything worth being scared over," Skylar answered, a small grin gracing her face.

She doesn't know what is happening, but she loves this Skylar a lot more than the easily terrified one that cries way too easily. Maybe all her fear is for her mother, leaving Skylar to speak her mind. It doesn't make any sense, but that's what Skylar is going with for now.

Reiki rolled his eyes, but a smile was tugging at his lips, even though he never smiles, literally ever.

"Oh, I see you've met my son," Erza said, coming over.

Skylar stared at Storm. "He looks nothing like you," she said. "Is he adopted? Or takes after his dad?"

"I'm her son, Blackberry!" Reiki scowled. Skylar formed an o with her mouth. But she's a lot nicer than you are, Skylar thought.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Blackberry?" she questioned, as Nashi and Storm slowly backed away from the older redhead. "That's not very nice, Reiki."

Skylar stuck her tongue out at Reiki again, which went unnoticed by his mother, but not by Reiki, of course.

"O-Oh." Reiki chuckled awkwardly. "It's just a game we created... just five seconds ago... since we're friends now. She calls me Strawberry. Right, Skylar?"

Skylar rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, I guess," she said. Friends? Really, Reiki?

"Oh, how wonderful!" Erza said. "Reiki, go play with the others. I need to talk to Skylar real quick."

"Whatever." Reiki sighed, walking away.

"What is it?" asked Skylar.

"First off, we will be looking for your mom and what happened to her," Erza said. "In the mean time, you need a place to stay."

Skylar lowered her head. She really is a terrible daughter. How could she have stopped thinking about her missing, possibly dead, mother for even a second?

"Where?" Skylar questioned. "Or do you not know yet?"

"Lucy just had a talk with the master," Erza said, disregarding Skylar's question, "and told him about you. Apparently, for your safety, your mother and your surname must remain secret. I believe he knows something that we do not, but don't worry, Skylar. Everything will be all right, promise. Only Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Mira, Laxus -- the master, and I know, and we should keep it like that for now. Understand?"

Skylar slowly nodded, not fully comprehending -- why is her last name and who her mother is such a big deal?

"Lucy also told me something else," Erza said. "Our friend, Levy, agreed to take you in, as a favor to Lucy. She has a child, who's sixteen. His name is Gale. Her husband is named Gajeel. He may look scary, but he's completely harmless. Will this be okay?"

"Um, yeah, I suppose," Skylar said. "Where is this Levy?"

"She went home to clean up her house," Erza said. "Lucy is suppose to take you there in a few hours. Will you be all right?"

"I will."