Please read the previous part, Irene Belserion: Queen of the Fairies beforehand!

Link: s/13674352/1/Irene-Belserion-Queen-of-the-Fairies


Lucy Heartfilia walked down the streets of Hargeon looking down at the silver key in her hand. She had mixed feelings currently about the object in her hand. On one hand she was thrilled to receive a new key. As a Celestial Spirit Mage, it was more than just a fancy trinket. It was a gate to meeting a new Celestial Spirit, a new friend. But on the other hand, it had cost way more than she had expected. She barely got a discount, even after using her sex appeal to her most. Is 1000 Jewels really all her looks were worth? She really needed to join a Magic Guild and make some money. Luckily, she wouldn't have to wait much longer. Her number one choice for employment was just a train ride away!

She just needed to make sure to not go broke before getting there. As much as she wished she didn't contribute to that silly stereotype of the ignorant rich girl, her old lifestyle didn't really help her learn any frugal spending techniques. As she walked along, she reached a plaza and looked up from her key in befuddlement at the sight in front of her. She could see women all around her crowding around something.

"Eeee!"

"It's really him!"

"Mr. Salamander!"

"Sign my face!"

What the hell? Lucy looked at the growing crowd of woman in confusion. She was pretty sure that Salamander was the name of one of the members of Fairy Tail. Could he really be here? This town was close to Magnolia. She began to make her way through the crowd to see if there was any truth to this claim. If so, this could be her one-way ticket to Fairy Tail's illustrious Guild Hall. She finally reached the front of the mob, pushing two other women to the side a bit forcefully, and got a look at the man that everyone was going wild over…

And she couldn't help but join them. "It's really him…" she said dreamily. His face was perfect, from his expertly cut purple hair, that great jawline, and eyes that looked straight into her heart. Lucy stared at the Salamander, in awe of the purple fire dancing around him, and overtaken by his cheer charisma. This had to be him, the Salamander of Fairy Tail! She began to reach out to the man, hoping to get his attention and-

*Bang*

Lucy and the other girls jumped back as something dropped out of the sky next to Salamander, kicking up a cloud of dust. As the dust settled, she could make out another man laying facedown in on the brick plaza. As he picked himself up, Lucy couldn't help but admire the man, her previous idol completely forgotten. His spiky hair was a beautiful color of pink, and the dopy look on his face as he looked around confused was kinda cute. As he got up, Lucy couldn't help but trace her eyes along the chiseled chest she could see through the open vest he was wearing. His arms were covered by a bulkier red coat, but she could guess they were just as impressive. To top it all off, he was wearing a distinctive white scarf around his neck.

Wait, why did that sound so familiar.

The pinkette finally turned to face the only other man around the baffled ring of fans. "Hey, I heard people saying something about the Salamander. Do you know if he's around here?" he asked seriously.

The purple haired man stood stunned for a moment before finally regaining his composure, putting on the same face as before. Lucy looked at the Salamander and didn't feel as swooned as she did before. Honestly, he seemed like a totally different person for some reason. "Ah, are you perhaps one of my male fans? I'm so glad to see your enthusiasm to meet me. Here, would you like an autograph?" He reached into his coat and pulled out a board out of seemingly nowhere, and with a twirl of his fingers, a magic pen appeared in the other. In a flurry of movements, he had written 'Salamander' in stylized lettering on the surface, before handing the board to the other man. "Well, it's been fun meeting you all, but I have to get back to port. Don't forget, I'm having a party on my boat now that lasts all night, and all you wonderful ladies are invited." He suddenly flew up on a snaking pillar of purple fire. "Sayonara for now!" he shouted dramatically, as he flew off to port.

The rest of the girls shrieked, and ran off toward the port, exclaiming how handsome the great Salamander was, or what to wear to the party, except for Lucy. She stood there; attention still stolen by the pink haired man who had just received the autograph. The man studied the board carefully, as if trying to discern some secret meaning from the writing on it, before finally speaking. "There's no way Igneel would be able to write this fancily. She was right, I should have known this would be a bust…" he muttered as his hands suddenly burst into flames, burning the autograph to ashes. Lucy's eyes finally widened in recognition. Pink hair, white scarf, Fire Magic, the perfect bod- no Lucy focus! The man standing in front of her was the real deal.

"Wait a minute, you're the real Sal-Hmmph?!" Lucy suddenly found her mouth covered by a hand. She looked back in confusion and followed the slender arm back to a woman her age with short white hair. She put a figure to her lip, seeming to know the truth, but didn't want it to be said.

"Lisanna, what are you doing to that girl?" the man asked as he looked over to the two of them suspiciously.

"I was just inviting this lovely lady to lunch with us. You want to get lunch now, right Natsu?" Lisanna said in a voice that implied that yes was the only available answer.

Natsu looked suspiciously again at Lisanna, before his stomach growled loudly. He sighed in defeat before walking toward them. "Alright, but don't expect me to pay for everything again."

Another entity suddenly shot down from the sky, floating down in front of Natsu. "Natsu, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to drop you!"

"Don't worry about it Happy, it was my fault. I was the one who started flailing around when I heard people talking about the Salamander." he said to the flying blue cat in front of him.

"It was! You should give me an extra fish for making worrying so much." Happy pouted.

"You're starting to sound like Lisanna, it wasn't that bad." Natsu scoffed, before realizing he was standing in front of said woman, who had developed a rather scary grin.

"Hey Natsu, I think you should give Happy that extra serving…" Lisanna said a little too happily.

"…Okay." he said, complying immediately.

"Alright. Now that that's all settled, lets go." Lisanna said, wrapping an arm around Lucy's before dragging them off toward a nearby diner. Lucy just let herself be led off with a growing sense of dread.

What have I got myself into?


After perusing their options, the group found themselves inside a nearby diner, sitting at a table near the window. On one side sat Lisanna and Lucy, who were both eating their dishes with proper manners and etiquette. In contrast, Natsu and Happy sat on the other side, making quite the mess. Happy had gotten fish bones and juices everywhere, and Natsu had eaten his disappointment away with a pile of nearly a dozen different dishes, leaving plates and bowls stacked haphazardly near the edge of the table for their poor waiter. When everyone had finished eating, Lucy looked back up to Natsu before speaking. "You're Natsu from Fairy Tail. They call you the Salamander, right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I think the papers call me that sometimes." he said embarrassed, surprised by the recognition.

"I knew it!" she said loudly, before realizing she had drawn the attention of the other customers. She shrunk down before continuing to speak to Natsu. "So that guy was impersonating you! Is that why you came here?"

"Nah, I heard a rumour about a Salamander and thought it might be Igneel." he said dismissively. Lucy looked at him confused, so Happy tried to help her out.

"He's Natsu's dad!" Happy said.

"He's also a Dragon." Lisanna added, producing a shocked look from Lucy. "I told you he wouldn't be in the middle of a port town of all things."

"It was on the way back from our job, it wasn't that big a deal. Besides, I gotta search any rumour I get no matter how small it is, right Happy?" Natsu said.

"Aye!" the feline said, throwing a paw up in agreement. Lisanna just sighed before looking over at Lucy, who shot a pitying look back. She couldn't imagine dealing with these two all the time.

Lucy was still hung up on what Lisanna had said. "So, a dragon? You were raised… by a dragon?"

Natsu nodded proudly. "Yep taught me everything I know. He even helped me learn Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Why would a Dragon teach someone Dragon Slayer Magic?" Lucy asked even more confused.

Happy raised a paw and opened his mouth but froze before he could answer. He turned to Natsu for an answer, but he just shrugged. "I don't know, because it was cool, I guess?"

"…Well, it's a good thing we did come here, or else we might not have found that man." Lisanna said seriously, ignoring the awkwardly unanswered question to focus on more important information.

"What? He's just some two-bit performer, is it really that big a deal?" Natsu asked confused. Lisanna just dragged her hand along her face in exasperation.

"He's not your average conman, he's impersonating you. Not to mention he's using Charm Magic, which has been illegal to use for years." Lucy said. Natsu gave her a look that said he understood nothing she said. "Salamander is your nickname. He's pretending to be you to attract that crowd, then ensnaring them with his Charm Magic. People don't usually get that whipped up by a few street performances. I was caught up in it too until you dropped in and distracted me." More specifically distracted by his looks, but they didn't need to know that.

"She's right." Lisanna said nodding. "Even I thought he was the real thing for a moment, even though I knew you, Natsu. You're pretty perceptive, uh…" she suddenly stopped before turning to look at Lucy embarrassed. "I just realized, we kinda kidnapped you for lunch-"

"You kidnapped her." Natsu butt in.

"Whatever. And we didn't even get your name." she finished.

"It's Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia. I don't mind though, really." It was Lucy's turn to look embarrassed. "I was actually trying to join your guild. I thought that guy was a member of Fairy Tail and was about to ask him to help me get in. Pretty silly, huh?"

"It's pretty serious actually." Natsu said. "I don't care much about him impersonating me, but if it'll make the guild look bad then I say let's go teach this guy a lesson!" he said pounding a fist into his palm, grinning devilishly.

"Never mind the fact that he's probably using illegal magic to ferry away girls in the middle of the night. Is food and friends all you can think about?" Lisanna asked sarcastically.

"Why don't we just tell the guards?" Lucy said.

"That's a good idea, but he'll probably leave tonight. I doubt the authorities will just grab him because we said so." Lisanna said.

"But we have the real 'Salamander' right here. It shouldn't be that hard to explain, right?" Lucy insisted.

Lisanna looked deep in thought. "I suppose it's worth a shot."


After paying for their meals, the three Mages made a beeline toward the center of town after asking for directions to the guard's garrison. As they walked up to the office of the local authorities, Natsu sniffed at the air for the fifth time since they began their trek. "Uhh, what are you doing?" Lucy asked.

Natsu looked around for a moment, before speaking in a hushed voice. "We were being followed."

"Were?" Lisanna questioned.

"He followed us into the restaurant and left it when we did. He seems to have just left." Natsu said.

"Well nothing we can do about it now, lets just tell the authorities about the whole situation." Lisanna shrugged.

When they entered the building, they saw lightly armored guards sitting around either doing paperwork or just waiting for something to happen. They all turned to the group who entered, and one of them came up to the Mages. "Is there something we can help the three of you with?" he asked in a gruff voice.

Lisanna and Lucy explained the situation, not trusting Natsu to add all the necessary details, and the guards were surprisingly understanding. It turned out they had been weirded out by this mystery man as well, but not for the same reasons they suspected.

"He acted nothing like a member of Fairy Tail." one of the guards said. "Normally they pop into town, break a bunch of laws and property, cause a few thousand Jewels in property damage, and leave without saying a word."

Another one crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, my buddy from Magnolia told me all about it. But this guy stuck around and kept making a big show in the plaza. He hadn't done anything illegal though, so we just sent his description to the higher ups to see if anything came up."

The Captain of the bunch, as seen by the decorations on his shoulder pad, got up from his seat. "If your claim about him using Charm Magic is true, then we should be able to search his boat. Besides, someone impersonating a member of a Magic Guild is almost always up to no good anyway. All right team, lets get going."

After a few moments of gearing up, the Captain gathered his group of a dozen men and walked out of the station with the three Mages in tow ready to investigate the matter personally. As they began walking toward the port, they saw two fancily dressed women walking toward them in the opposite direction, clearly in a foul mood.

"I can't believe his boat left port already. So much for an all-night party…" one of them moaned.

"Yeah seriously, does he want us to swim there?" the other complained loudly.

Lisanna suddenly snapped her attention to the two women, running up to them. "Wait, the boat left already?!"

The two looked over at the interruption in surprise before continuing. "Yeah. Some pudgy guy ran onto the boat, and suddenly the boat steamed off. Looks like none of us are getting a face to face with the Salamander, huh."

"Dammit!" Lisanna exclaimed, producing gasps from the two ladies she was speaking to. She turned back to the group alarmed. "Natsu, the guy following us! They know we're coming!"

"I knew it! Happy, give me a lift." Natsu said, pointing to his back.

"Aye Sir!" Happy said, and a set of wings sprouted from of his back next to his green guild mark. He grabbed the back of Natsu's jacket, and the two began to fly up.

Natsu turned to look back at the two girls. "Lisanna, just wait right here. I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid." He said before shooting of toward the port.

The Captain raised his spear. "Looks like we got a job to do, double time it people." His squad let out a roar, before they began to sprint off in the same direction, leaving Lisanna and Lucy alone.

Lisanna just stood there looking down at the road, balling her fists. "Just wait here? What am I, a porcelain doll?"

"Lisanna?" Lucy asked concerned. The girl in question looked up over to her with a rebellious look in her eyes.

"Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go do something stupid." she said angrily, finally running off with the rest of them. Lucy just followed after her hoping that neither of the Fairy Tail Mages did anything too stupid.


On the deck of the 'Salamanders' ship, a crew member with a telescope shouted to the rest of the crew in surprise. "There's someone flying right at us!"

"What?" the 'Salamander' said, grabbing the device and looking back in the direction of the port. Sure enough, there was a pink haired man heading toward them, courtesy of a blue cat with wings on his back. "Shit, it's the guy from before. I knew he was investigating us." he looked down to the port, seeing the guards trying to get their sea boat ready for interception. It would be no use though, as the first thing he did upon leaving his performance earlier was have one of his men sabotage it. A pillar of smoke shot up from the boat as the guards all began to panic, just as planned.

"What should we do sir?" one of his crew asked.

"Shoot at him you idiots. First Mate, is the 'cargo' secure?" he asked as his gang moved to the stern to attack the oncoming Mage.

"Yes sir!" the pudgy man next to him said.

"Good. Helmsman, full speed out of here! I'll go deal with that man myself." he said, before walking to join the rest of his crew in firing at the flying Mage.

Happy dived and weaved through the air, almost having reached the boat. "Happy, I'm gonna hit it, so hold on!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye Sir!" Happy said, as he watched Natsu put his hands around his mouth, and he felt a wave of heat as a stream of fire shot out of Natsu's mouth at the men shooting various magical attacks at them. They scattered as the back of the boat exploded into pieces of burnt planks, allowing Happy to make an uncontested push to finally catch up to the boat. It had slowed considerably now, as the crew made sure nothing important was hit.

"All right now drop me! Time to teach these guys what they get for messing with Fairy Tail!" Natsu yelled. Happy swung and launched Natsu toward the crew, both realizing a major flaw in their plan just a moment to late. Natsu landed on the deck, and immediately keeled over sick to his stomach. The crew didn't waste any time, immediately pouncing upon the compromised Dragon Slayer, who was kneeling, stuck between fighting the crew and his stomach. Happy tried to pick Natsu up off the ship, but a trail of purple flames wrapped around Happy and slammed him into the boats deck.

"I don't think so!" the 'Salamander' said. "I don't know how you two found out about me, but you've seriously underestimated me, Bora the Prominence!" He then whipped the blue cat from his fiery grip up into his hand, examining him. "You're not our usual kind of product, but I'm sure someone would be willing to buy something as unique as you. What are you anyway?"

"He's my friend, you bastard! Lay another hand on him and I'll - guh!" Natsu grunted as one of the crew members kicked him onto his side, silencing him as he tried to not throw up the twelve-course meal he recently had.

Meanwhile, Lucy clung to the waist of Lisanna for dear life as she was sped along the oceans surface by the woman's fins below her waist. When Lisanna had suggested that they go help Natsu themselves she thought they would take a boat. But when the guards own boat began to sputter dead before even leaving port, Lisanna just hopped of the dock, and in a flash of light transformed her bottom half into that of a mermaids, before dragging Lucy into the water and launching toward the boat. So, there she was clinging to Lisanna's midriff like her life depended on it. Luckily Natsu bombastic approach had masked the two women's seaside advance. "Really Natsu? He really doesn't think these things through." Lisanna suddenly grumbled.

"What did he do?" Lucy asked, too blinded by the saltwater splashing into her face to see well.

"He jumped onto the boat." Lisanna answered flatly.

"So?"

"He gets motion sickness."

"…Oh." Lucy shouldn't have been so surprised. Despite the little time she had known Natsu, this seemed entirely in-character for him. Maybe Lisanna wasn't kidding about him only thinking about friends and food.

"We need to get this boat back to shore! If I go help Natsu do you think you can turn this thing around?" Lisanna began, trying to formulate a plan.

"Actually, I might have a way to get it back to shore from here. Just get us to the front of the boat." Lucy said, reaching to her belt for the keys that luckily hadn't removed themselves in the chaos. Lisanna looked back at Lucy, clearly still worried about Natsu. "Trust me, we'll have them back to shore in a moment."

"…Okay." Lisanna said, before moving to near the bow of the boat. "So, what's the plan?"

"The plan is to ask for a little help." Lucy said, holding up an intricately designed golden key, before dipping it into the water. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!" There was a large surge of magic from beneath the waves, and suddenly an actual mermaid splashed out of the waters. This woman was all blue, from the scales and fins below her waist, her long flowing hair, or the mad eyes that stared at the one who summoned her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You do know I have a date with my boyfriend later tonight. This better be important." Aquarius said, glaring down at the one who was stupid enough to summon her.

"Aquarius, get this this boat back on the shore, quick!" Lucy ordered.

"Are you trying to tell me what to do?" Aquarius asked scarily, looking down at her summoner.

"…Please?" Lucy added, suddenly feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"My friends in trouble! Please, we need your help!" Lisanna pleaded.

Aquarius looked over at the woman Lucy was clinging to and noticed similar scales and fins below her waist, and suddenly got a disgusted look on her face. "So, you've decided to replace me, huh? Am I not young enough for you, is that it?" she yelled, raising the urn in her hands dangerously.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?!" Lisanna yelled.

"I should have known that something like this would happen…" Lucy sighed as water shot out of the urn in the spirits hands, and the oceans waves began to shake violently around them.

On the boat, Bora's crew tried to remain standing as the boat swayed violently back and forth. "Where the yell did this storm come from?!" Bora yelled. "You! Did you do this?!" he shouted at Natsu, who was to busy dealing with his own struggles to hear the accusation. Suddenly the boat lurched, and everyone fell back as the vessel began speeding back the way it came toward port. The force of the giant wave pulling them launched the boat through the planks of the port and into the town itself, along with half the others moored there. It was a mess, but the slavers were very securely landlocked.

Lisanna and Lucy had washed up as well and were now sitting on the stone street trying to regain their bearings. Lisanna was laying on her stomach, flailing her mermaid half fruitlessly trying to get up. "My legs, I can't feel them!"

"Lisanna, you're still transformed." Lucy reminded the girl.

"Oh, right." In a flash of light, her fishy appendages had transformed into proper human legs. Now that Lucy got a good look at them, they looked good, with water droplets glistening off her skin- no Lucy focus!

"What just happened?" Lisanna asked unaware of her friend's gaze.

"I was trying to aim for you two. Not my fault the boat got in the way." Aquarius said all huffy but giving her summoner a knowing look. "Don't summon me for at least a week, I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend, got it?" she demanded before disappearing in a flash of golden light. Both girls looked at where the Celestial Spirit had been, before turning to each other.

"See, I told you it would be faster." Lucy said proudly.

"It also nearly took us out with them. Is she normally like that?" Lisanna complained. Lucy looked deep in thought, sitting there in silence thinking for far longer than Lisanna thought she should. "Let just go find Natsu…"


Said Dragon Slayer was currently pulling himself out of the beached boat, eventually reaching the front of the bow. The boat was currently wedged up at an angle, having ridden up the side of a single-story building near the center of town. Natsu breathed deeply, staring back down at the rest of the boat, trying to figure out what happened. He looked around to see a crowd gathering below and people watching from the windows around him, the townsfolk all trying to discern the cause of the freak storm that seemed to have swept by. Suddenly a string of flames burst out from underneath the planks of the deck and wrapped itself around him. Still reeling from the high-speed return to shore, he only felt himself growing dizzier as the blazing appendage threw him around and into the buildings surrounding the boat.

The wielder of the attack eventually climbed out of the interior of the yacht, revealing the purple hair of one very angry Bora. "Damn you! My boat, my crew, my business, you've ruined all of it!" he began to rant, continuing to swing Natsu around like a toddler with a new toy. Eventually he slowed his barrage, stopping to hold the cause of his rage close so they were now face to face. "But if I'm going down, I'm taking you and your two friends with me! What do you have to say to that?"

Natsu sat still for a moment, before lifting his head to rebuke him.

"I…I won't let y-BLAAARGH!"

The torment from before had finally pushed Natsu past his limits, and a dozen courses of street side dining spewed out from Natsu's mouth onto the man in front of him. There were many gasps of horror and disgust from the crowd, and Bora himself dropped Natsu in shock off the side of the boat onto the road a story down. "Damnit, I've had it with you humiliating me! DIE!" he brought both hands up, gathering a giant ball of purple flames into them. The crowd began to scream and scatter, finally realizing the dangers of standing around while two Mage's threw fire at each other.

Lucy and Lisanna on the other hand, began running in the opposite direct of the fleeing population. "Natsu's got to be this way." Lisanna said.

"What gave it away, the running crowds?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

"I was gonna say all the fire, but yeah, that to!" Lisanna laughed.

"You're awfully calm about this…" Lucy said, disbelief at her new friends' joyous attitude.

"Oh please, this is nothing. Natsu will probably have this handled by the time we get there." she said dismissively.

They entered the town square just in time to see a giant fireball fly down from the slanted ship toward Natsu. The Dragon Slayer just held a hand to his head like he was dealing with a terrible headache, paying no heed to the oncoming projectile. The orb of destruction engulfed him, and Lucy was blinded by a great light as the flames exploded out, burning shrubbery and breaking windows with its force. "Natsu!" she yelled out in distress.

"Whelp looks like it's over now." Happy said floating out from an alley behind the girls, not in the least bit distraught by the seemingly violent end his friend had just met.

Lucy turned to look at the approaching cat. "How are you so calm!? Natsu is in the center of an inferno!"

Happy just nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly. This guy basically just defeated himself."

Lucy looked back to the spreading blaze in concern, only to notice the flames appeared to be moving backwards. She tried to look through the smoke and could see the fire converging around a silhouette standing within. As the fire was collected even more, Lucy could see that the fire wasn't just being gathered by the figure but being eaten by them. After a few moments all that remained of the fire was but a few embers and standing there was Natsu completely unharmed. All his clothes also remained sans his outer coat, which clung to him as nothing more than a few burnt scraps.

"How?! At that temperature your skin should have melted off your bones!" Bora yelled in disbelief.

"If it's any consolation, you ruined my only coat. I just bought the thing, asshole." Natsu said annoyed, grabbing it's tattered remains and throwing it off him. Without the blackened article of clothing, a red mark could easily seen below his right shoulder, one that looked like a fairy.

Bora recoiled in shock. "T-That mark! You're a member of Fairy Tail. You're the real Salamander!"

Natsu looked up at the imposter in irritation. "That's right, and impersonating a member is a mark against our pride. Prepare yourself, faker! Fire Dragon's Claw!" Fire began to shoot out of his feet, and he leaned back. As he flipped backwards the two streams of fire arced from his soles across the sky and through the boat in front of him. Bora leapt to the side as the deck he was standing upon was cleaved in half. The bottom half of the vessel fell from the building and tipped over, dispensing Bora and his crew across the plaza. Natsu then lit his balled hands on fire and began running towards them. "Fire Dragon's Fist!"

The two girls and cat stood back watching Natsu throw himself at the enemy like a flaming wrecking ball, knocking them into the buildings surrounding them with each swing. "Told you he could handle it." Lisanna said, staring at her fellow guildmate's brawl with a grin.

"But…how?" Lucy asked, watching as he grabbed one of Bora's fiery streams and threw the man into one of his own crewmates.

"He's a Dragon Slayer! A Fire Dragon Slayer!" Happy said in between his bouts of cheering. "Breathing flames, fireproof scales, and blazing limbs. His entire body becomes just like a Dragon. Just like his father Igneel."

The remaining crew now stood together in a hunched-up state, hoping that their numbers could protect them from the monster currently approaching them. "Now pay attention, this is what it means to be a member of Fairy Tail!" Both of his arms were swathed in flames and he spread them out before swinging them forward. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

The two scorching wings swung together into the crew, throwing them up in the air in a spiral of flames, launching embers across the town square. When it was done, all the potential slavers lay defeated across the city. Natsu looked around and saw his friends watching him and began to walk over to them. Lucy couldn't help but stare in awe at Natsu's display of power. She knew that the Mages of Fairy Tail were the best, but this…

"You're gonna catch flies like that." Lisanna elbowed Lucy out of her stupor, who quickly began to blush.

"What? No, I was just admiring his, uhhh, fighting technique! Yeah, that." Lucy stammered.

"Hey guys! I'm guessing you two were the ones who got the boat to shore?" Natsu asked as he reached them, not noticing Lucy's obvious embarrassment.

"Nope, that was all Lucy. She was really impressive." Lisanna praised. Lucy felt it was rather undeserved, considering Aquarius was the one who did most of the heavy lifting with the boat.

"Really? Thanks a lot, you really saved me there." Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head.

Lisanna put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, she did! But she probably wouldn't have had to if you didn't rush off on your own. Weren't you the one who said not to do anything stupid?" She started complaining.

Natsu looked shocked at his friend's sudden rant, but before he could talk back the sound of rustling armour could be heard coming down the road. The four of them all turned to see the guard captain and his squad, along with the rest of the guards in the city by the looks of it. They were all marching forward at a quick pace, and the captain had an annoyed look on his face. Natsu just waved at the man with a stupid grin on his face. "Oh, hey guys! We got the imposters for you."

The captain pointed his spear forward at the Mages. "Those are the ones that destroyed the town, arrest them!"

"Eh?" Natsu waving hand froze at the accusation.

"We didn't destroy the town!" Lucy yelled.

*SLAM*

Everyone jumped, and the three Mages turned to see the front half of the ship had fallen from the roof it was originally beached on, and down on top of the other half. The fire from Natsu's fight quickly began to spread up it, producing a glorious bonfire. "Well, at least with everything soaking wet the fire won't spread?" Lucy said meekly. She didn't need to turn back around to know that her suggestion meant little to the captain. She just stared at the growing flames, wishing that she could have at least joined Fairy Tail before being dragged back to her father in chains. At least she got to hang out with some of their members.

"Hey Lucy, I think it's time we teach you the most important lesson about doing a job while in Fairy Tail…" Lisanna said.

"What would that be?" Lucy asked, still staring at the pyre.

"How to run like hell!" Natsu said.

They both grabbed one of Lucy's hands and began run away from the armed men behind them. Lucy was snapped out of her pity party, barely keeping herself standing from the sudden speed. She looked between the two, and saw they were both grinning at her. "You did say you wanted to join, didn't you?" Happy said as he flew besides them all.

Lucy just grinned back at all of them and ran with her new friends towards the freedom she had been searching for.

Next Chapter: Welcome to Fairy Tail