Thank you for the reviews!
graystripemkc: I have already got used to you reviewing two minutes after an update, so I was almost shocked to see a guest reviewing first. But then I ended up laughing when I saw it was actually you. I hope you get your laptop and phone working soon, if you haven't already that is. (By the way, can't wait for the next chapter of When lightning and stars collide.) And don't worry, I'm not gonna mix anyone else (like Natsu or Erza) too deeply in the story.
I don't know why, but I enjoyed writing this chapter. And I hope you enjoy reading it!
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and I'm just playing with the characters.
Lucy stood in front of a pair of wooden doors, unstoppable smile stretching her lips apart. She had hard time believing that this was happening. She had dreamed of it so long, so hard. But now she was finally granted the opportunity to step inside the guild building of Fairy Tail. Sadly it was only going to be a fast visit, but a visit non the less.
Her eyes glowed with excitement as she tried to picture what it would be inside. Maybe if she got lucky, she would get a glimpse of one of the many people she admired. Like Mirajane. She absolutely loved the woman's pictures, they were always so beautiful. Or maybe she would see some other famous mages. Like Loke. He must be even more handsome in person. Meeting someone like Titania would be amazing too, she is said to be one of the strongest female wizards of the century after all.
"You coming?" Bickslow's voice stopped her daydreaming. He stood on the doorway, keeping one of the wooden doors open for her. Lucy nodded. Before she stepped inside, she took a long breath in and then let it out. Here goes nothing!
"Welcome to our guild!" Bickslow announced as Lucy stepped on his side. The girl, however, probably didn't even hear him over the ruckus, which was going on. One of the regular brawls Laxus oh-so-loved was on full swing. He himself found them actually pretty entertaining to watch. As things and people flied around. There went a chair. And there a mug. A mug again. A table. Another chair. Elfman. A mug. A chair- Chair!
Lucy watched eyes round at the fight happening in the middle of the big hall like space. Then suddenly she felt a hand land on her head, forcefully pushing her to the floor. She didn't even have time to think what happened, when a chair flied over her and Bickslow, smashing against the door behind them. Face turning pale, she turned to look at the chair. Or more like former chair. Cold sweat pushed out when she realized it could have been her head the chair smashed against. She snapped her eyes to Bickslow and gave him the most grateful expression she owned. They might have been a bit awkward still thanks to the morning, but on her behalf everything was now brushed under the carpet. The man was a hero!
Not seeing the girl's look, Bickslow stood up and let out a nervous laugh. "This ones a pretty intense." He was referring to the fight.
Evergreen, who had gracefully dodged the flying chair by jumping to the side, walked to her team mate. She snapped her fan open and hide her face behind it. "Doesn't these idiots have anything else to do?" She muttered openly annoyed. Non of the brawlers had even realized that the great Thunder God Tribe had arrived.
Freed, who had dodged to the other direction from Evergreen, shook his head, brows drawn together. "Seemingly not."
Lucy stared up at the three of them. Seeing their reactions, she assumed that the fight wasn't something surprising. Was it always like this? Now she understood why Laxus had made his team come with her - or at least she wanted to believe so, even though the correct reason was probably something else. If it wasn't for Bickslow, she would already be gravely injured. Lucy had to admit, this wasn't quite what she had been expecting, but... The corners of her lips turned upwards. It somehow made Fairy Tail even more interesting.
"Welcome back!" A woman's voice greeted the group, or more precisely the three members of Thunder God Tribe. Automatically Lucy turned her eyes to see who was talking and almost let out a scream when she saw the woman. Mirajane! Lucy covered her mouth with a hand, then jumped up. She brushed the worst of the dust off her skirt, before hurrying to the white haired beauty.
"This pleasure- I mean. It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm a big hand- Fan! I'm a big fan!" Lucy's cheeks heated up embarrassed at her shuttering. She had wanted to ask for a handshake, but now she was too ashamed to do so. Why couldn't she speak normally?
Mira gave her a bit surprised look first, but then melted into a smile. "It's my pleasure." She said gently giggling. She didn't recognize the blonde girl, but seeing that she had come with the Thunder God Tribe, she easily guessed who she was. She had to be the one who sent the letter for Laxus. Of course, there was the chance she was a recruit, but the chance was very, very slim with the Thunder God Tribe, who worked under Laxus.
Like hearing the woman's thoughts, Freed stepped closer. He first turned to Lucy and extended a hand toward Mira. "Miss Lucy, this here is Mirajane Strauss." He introduced, but Lucy, who already knew better than well who the woman was only squealed quietly 'I know!', eyes gleaming. Freed shook his head gently, then turned his attention to Mira. "And Miss Mira, this here is Lucy Heartfilia, Laxus's client. She has come to register the mission. So if you would, please point out where Master is at the moment."
Mira's lips formed a pretty 'O', when she hear the girl's name. Heartfilia. Now the mystery of the reason why anyone would ever request Laxus only got deeper. There had to be a very specific reason, because the Heartfilia family definitely had enough money to hire ten wizards of Laxus' caliber - with better attitude - and it wouldn't even lighten their purse. Why Laxus had accepted the mission was an other mystery. Last time Mira checked the man wasn't that fond of upper class people. Maybe he had just been offered a big enough sum of money or maybe he got something else out of the job. But one thing was sure. Out of sincere heart he had not accepted it. Moving her puzzlement to the side for now, Mira turned toward the still going brawl and pointed toward it. Or more like behind it. "I think I saw Master-"
"Enough!" A loud, booming voice shouted, shaking the whole building. At the same time a hand rose behind the fight, its' size growing from normal to gigantic in a blink of an eye. Face twisted with horror, Lucy watched the enormous palm slam down on the brawl. Screams filled the air for a second, then followed a dead silence. Done with its' business the hand started to shrink, leaving behind a squashed group of people, everyone groaning in pain.
"Ah, yes! There he is." Mira beamed, finger toward the bar on the other side of the hall. It was also the exact same spot where the hand had appeared. Lucy swallowed. What kind of a monster was their master?! She glanced at Mira, then at Bicklsow, followed by Evergreen and lastly Freed. Non of them seemed to be faced by the incident. There wasn't any hint of fear in their eyes. If something, they looked pleased that the brawl had quiet down.
Freed nodded toward Mira, before heading toward the bar. Evergreen and Bickslow step behind him. Lucy hesitated for a second, but then run to catch the group. She made sure to stick close to Evergreen as they entered the "war zone" full of corpses. She had to keep her eyes glued to her feet to make sure she didn't step on anyone. But the second her gaze drifted to the side - her attention was caught by a very peculiar pink hair - she stepped on something.
Lucy blinked as, instead of the hard wood floor, she felt something softer under her shoe. Slowly she turned her eyes back to her feet. With a scream, she jumped away from it the second she realized what it was. Cheeks turning red, she covered her eyes with her hands. Between her fingers she peeked at the thing she had stepped on. It was a butt. A naked man's butt. ...It was actually pretty nice one, know that she took time to study it, not that she really had anything to compere with.
"Is something wrong?" Lucy heard Evergreen ask. The woman had stopped on the edge of the body zone with Bickslow, and they were both staring her questioning.
"Nothing!" She exclaimed. Giving one last glance toward the butt, she skipped and hopped her way to the two of them. Freed was already at the bar talking with some tiny elder sitting on the bar's counter. Her eyes widened when she recognized him as the same old man she met with Laxus. Slightly confused she walked closer.
"Miss Lucy here," Freed gave her a sideways glance. "came to register the mission Laxus has accepted. If you could give us the needed papers, we would like to get down to the business, Master."
Lucy's jaw literally went slack as she heard the title Freed used. This tiny elderly...was the master of Fairy Tail?! No wonder he wasn't intimidated by Laxus one bit earlier. Once again Lucy took a deep inhale, then exhaled gathering her courage. She took a step closer to the old man and extended a hand toward him. "I didn't have the chance to introduce myself earlier... I'm Lucy. It's nice to meat you." She knew it was rude to leave her surname off, but she really didn't like to go around announcing her family name. And right now there was too many ears to hear it.
Luckily the elder didn't seem to mind it and took her hand in his. "Yes. It's nice to meat you too." The shake he gave was strong yet warm. Never knowing her grandparents Lucy couldn't be sure, but she had the feeling that it was a hand shake a grandfather would have given. It made her feel a bit more safe. "I'm Makrov Dreyar, the 3rd Master of Fairy Tail. I'm sorry you had to witness that scene earlier. Laxus, that brat, his as stubborn as a mule." The old man huffed.
Lucy blinked her eyes. Dreyar? That's right! Her eyes flied open, when she remembered that tiny piece of information. Laxus was the grandchild of the current master of Fairy Tail! A red of embarrassment rose on her face. This was the second major fact about Laxus she had forgotten, and it was probably written in every magazine she read. More times than the nickname Thunder God at least. "No. I'm the one causing trouble to you..." She lowered her gaze awkwardly. She knew she had asked help from an amazing person, but she hadn't realized just how amazing. Laxus wasn't only a S-class mage - there was only handful or so in every guild - but also a close relative to Fairy Tail's master, who just happens to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
"You? Causing trouble? Nonsense. If something I'm impressed that you are able to handle that brat's attitude. I know very well how difficult he can be." Makarov let out a laugh. He stood up and jumped down the counter. "Okay. Let's go." He said walking toward the stairs near the bar.
Lucy watched after him a bit lost. Did he want her to follow? She glanced toward the trio standing on her other side. Bickslow and Evergreen both motioned her to follow the old man. Nodding slowly, Lucy turned to do so. They climbed the stairs to the second floor, where Makarov led her to a room, which Lucy assumed to be his office.
"Sit down." Makarov guided her, gesturing toward a chair in front of a huge desk drowning under a pile after pile of papers. While Lucy sat down, the old man disappeared on the other side of the desk. She tried to peek over the paper mountain to see him, but ended up getting startled when Makarov suddenly jumped on the desk. "Now where did I see it..." The man mumbled to himself as he started to toss the papers on the desk around. The sight made Lucy grimace slightly. Maybe it was the perfectly molded heiress inside her, but how the elder was handling all those official documents simply hurt her.
"A-ha!" Makarov whooped and pulled a single paper out of one of the piles twice his height. Her grimace growing, Lucy watched the whole pile falling over, some of the papers landing on the desk, but most on the floor. Not even batting his eyes at this, Makarov used his foot to sweep some loose papers off the desk in front of her. Then he lowered the document on the clear spot and handed an ink and a quill to her.
With careful hands, Lucy lifted the paper for closer inspection. She ran her eyes over it and then placed it back down. She took the quill, dipped it into the ink and with graceful curves of her hand she started to fill the document. It was a rather easy job as it didn't require anything too complex. Her name, raw description of the mission, approximately the time it would take, the sum of the payment... Things like that. She also had to fill in the name of the mage doing the mission as he had been asked especially to do it. Mostly Lucy didn't have any trouble, but the payment was something she couldn't write down as no sum was still determined. She lifted her gaze from the paper. "If I'm not sure how much I'm going to pay for the job yet, what should I write here?"
Makarov gave her a dismissive shook of a hand. "Just leave it clear. Or write something like 'payment according to performance'. It's not so accurate."
Lucy stared the easy-going old man a bit taken back. "But isn't this a legal document..." She whispered a bit desperate. Doing that if something felt wrong. She would practically be lying.
"Meh." The older scoffed and picked his ear with a pinkie indifferent. "I'm already have swords crossed with the Magic Council. One document here or there won't do a thing. If something it will only lighten up my day to cause trouble to those blood suckers." Makarov blowed gently on the tip of his pinkie. Feeling troubled Lucy nodded her head slowly. Brows nearly knit together, she wrote the old man's later suggestion. It didn't feel good, but at least better than leaving the spot completely empty.
When she was ready, Lucy handed the paper to Makarov. The elder scrolled his eyes through it lazily. With the pace he used, he definitely didn't read even half of the things she had written there. Still, he seemed to be satisfied. He took the quill and put his signature next to Lucy's. Then took out a big stamp and pressed it on the lower corner of the paper. When he lifted it a beautiful mark of Fairy Tail had appeared. "And it's done!" He exclaimed. "You're welcome to stay at the guild as long as you want. Ladies of your class are always welcome!" Makrov let out a chuckle.
Giving a nervous laugh of her own, Lucy stood up. "Thank you for the offer, but I think I must head back now." Of course she would have wanted to stay, but she already knew how Laxus would react to that. She had no idea why the man seemed to hate his grandfather and the guild so much, but it was better not to try her luck by staying too long. Plus she didn't want to trouble the Thunder God Tribe more than this. They after all had used their own free time to come with her.
Makarov shrugged with a smile. He jumped down from the desk and walked to the door. Like a real gentleman he opened it for Lucy, who with a bow of her head walked out of the room. But the second both of her legs were over the threshold, she felt a slap on her butt. With a shriek she jumped forward and slammed both hands to cover her behind. Eyes wide with shock she spun around, but the master of Fairy Tail still stood inside the room hand holding the door open. He hadn't moved an inch, but the overly pleased smile on his lips was saying that he did it. How on Earth had that tiny man reached to slap her butt from such distance?!
Keeping her eyes on the elder, Lucy backed toward the stairs, hands still trying to hide her full behind. When she reached the chairs, she turned around in a flash and sped down the stairs. On the corner of her eye, she saw Makarov waving his hand at her. When she reached the first floor, Lucy hurriedly returned to the bar and to the Thunder God Tribe or who was left of it. Freed and Evergreen had vanished somewhere and Bickslow sat alone on one of the bar stools. When he saw her frustrated state, the man tilted his head a bit. "What happened?"
Brows knit together, Lucy walked to his side. "I think Master Makarov...slapped my butt." She said a bit confused.
Bickslow blinked, then broke into a laugh. "That's Master for you!" He cackled, tongue hanging free. "Free tip. Better keep your distance from anyone over twenty, if you don't want to get your ass smacked again."
Lucy gave a horrified look, but then her eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't that include you too then?"
A mischievous smile spread on the man's lips. "Anyone." He mouthed the word slowly. Not knowing was he serious or just playing around, Lucy decided to play it safe and took a long sliding step away from him, who in turn started to cackle again. Fortunately the creepy laugh came to a fast end, when a fan collided with the man's head, making it jerk forward. "Ouch! What the hell Ever?" He snapped his head around and gave the brunette a glare. The little totems repeating after him 'the hell, the hell'.
"My bad. I though you wanted to get smacked." She said coolly, giving the man a disgusted glare. She had stepped to the bathroom for a second and Bickslow was immediately causing trouble. Sighing, Evergreen shook her head. "We should get going, if you're done." She turned her attention to Lucy. The girl nodded and rushed to her side, speeding past Bickslow. Letting out a pleased huff, she turned around and started to head toward the front doors, Lucy right on her heels. Grumbling about people without sense of humor, Bickslow followed them too. Evergreen rolled her eyes, but then glanced at the girl walking next to her. "Unfortunately," She started and Lucy turned her attention right away to her. "there is some truth in Bickslow's words. So, if any man tries to approach you, feel free to slap them."
Lucy halted for a second, then hurried back to Evergreen's side, a bit closer than she had been. "...okay..." She swallowed nervously as the entered the body zone, where the people had started to regain their consciousness. Eyes darting from side to side, she tried to make sure no one of the men was able to get close to her without her noticing. But doing so in middle of tens of men, was harder than expected.
"Excuse me, lady," A man's voice talked right behind her and at the same time she felt a hand land on her shoulder. "Could I borrow your underw-"
"Lucy Kick!" With a scream, Lucy spun around and landed a perfect roundhouse kick on the man's guts.
"Guh!" The man with raven hair groaned and doubled over in pain. "W-why?" He wheezed out before flopping down to the floor, again passing away.
"Oh god!" Lucy slammed a hand over her mouth, utterly shocked by what she had done. "I'm so sorry." She whispered to the man, genuinely feeling bad for the kick. Spooked by Evergreen's words she had overreacted, when she felt him touching her. The guy had just wanted to ask something... What was it? Something about under. Under what? Under-
Lucy froze. She stared down at the man, her face slowly growing red. She was once again staring at the same naked butt from before. Why?! She wanted to scream out. Why was there a naked man in front of her?
"Hah! Serves you right, Gray!" An other male voice shouted, startling Lucy. She spun around toward the voice, ready to defend herself, but luckily this specimen had been clever enough to keep his distance. And he had at least some decency. Even though his chest was nearly bare - hide partly by a vest and a scarf - he had pants on. The guy mocked the roundhouse kick victim for a short moment, calling him with names like 'loser' and 'icicle', before locking his eyes on Lucy.
Before she had anytime to react, the pink haired guy already stood right in front of her. She flinched when he started to pat her shoulder aggressively. "Nice!" He grinned and gave her a thumps up. Lucy didn't know what to think, her head drawing blank. "Never seen you around before. You new?" He suddenly stopped the patting, but left his hand on her shoulder. Not giving her any time even think about an answer, the guy leaned closer and started to sniff her. "You smell unfamiliar." He said and sniffed even closer. "But somehow-"
Without a prior warning a wooden totem came in flying, smashing its' little body against the guy's pink head. The force of the impact mad the guy fly few feats, before landing on the ground and there rolling another few more. In a mild sate of shock, Lucy blinked her eyes not understanding what was going on. First her personal space had been infringed, then she was sniffed - SNIFFED?! - and then the harasser had been send flying. She felt like a hurricane had swept over her.
"Buzz off, Natsu." Bickslow swung his arm around Lucy's shoulders. 'Buzz off, buzz off' his totems repeated after him. "She's our, well, Laxu's client. So... Shoo! Shoo!" He waved his hand motioning the guy to back away. Natsu, however, had an amazing filter in his ears and apparently all he had hear this time was 'Laxus'.
As if nothing had happened, Natsu bounced up. "Is Laxus back?! Where is he?!" He started to frantically look around him and even jumped on a nearby table for better view of their surrounding. He pointed his chin toward the ceiling and shouted. "Let me fight you!" The shout was spiced up by a massive flame he breath out at the same. "I'm fired up! Come on, Laxus!"
Lucy watched eyes wide with pure shock, cold sweat running down her forehead as she watched the flames the guy literally shot out of his mouth licking the roof of the massive building. This guy was nuts! There was no other explanation for his behavior. He wanted to fight Laxus? He definitely had to have more than one screw loose. Lucy glance at Bickslow and pointed at the raging pink head. "Is he...?"
"Completely." Bickslow laughed and spun his finger around his temple couple of times. Lucy let out a nervous laugh of her own. Well, at least everything she has read and heard about Fairy Tail being unique was true. There was powerhouses, celebrities, perverts, nudists, complete nutcases... All sort of people. And she loved it! Lucy wasn't sure why, but now she knew better than ever. She belonged here.