Dahlia Dreyar felt like she was drowning.

It was like she was under water and couldn't get to the surface. Like she couldn't breathe. She was tired. Tired of living for someone else. Tired of being a puppet. She had to get out. Wanted to be her own person and not someone she was not.

That was what made her decision to runaway. So without telling anyone she packed her bags and went to a place she knew that her past wouldn't follow her.

Magnolia.

Magnolia, Fiore was a place typically forbidden for the Raven Tail guild because of the guild that resided here. Dahlia knew this was the safest place for her to be, though she wouldn't put it past her father to send someone after her – or to at least send someone out to spy on her to know her where a bouts. She knew that Fairy Tail would unknowingly protect her, even though they had no idea what they were doing. Though knowing Fairy Tail they would probably jump at the chance of protecting her if they knew exactly who she was.

She had no intentions of actually doing that though.

"Arriving at Magnolia station." The announcement buzzed over the intercom, making Dahlia breathe in deeply. Her first step of finally becoming free. Reaching up to grab her duffel bag – she only had a few stuff that she owned – nodding towards the male that held open the door and stepping off the train. It felt too surreal to be in this town.

Thankfully she was prepared as she made her way down a street named Strawberry Street. She had done some apartment searching before arriving and had called the landlord by lacrima. She had her rent for the first month ready and the elderly lady seemed all to eager to accept her as a tenant. Probably just for the money, but this also gave Dahlia a place to live so it helped both parties. Besides, the apartment was reasonably priced – and the cheapest place she could find in Magnolia for 70,000 jewel. Easily affordable.

After getting settled in was the hard part though. Joining Fairy Tail.

Dahlia didn't know how that would go, but she would figure it out when it got there. Fingering her jewel pouch, she stood in front of her shiny new apartment. Well, new to her anyways. It was a cute looking place, and she sincerely hoped that her neighbors weren't too loud. Not that she would probably be there often anyway.

"Ah, are you Dahlia Davon?" Dahlia turned when she heard a new voice, spotting a short and plump elderly women standing before her.

Dahlia gave the women a grimacing smile. She was smart enough not to use her fathers last name. Heaven for-bid she be known as Dahlia Dreyar around here. Especially when her grandfather and half-brother were well-known wizards. As well as they probably live around here. No need to get herself into a pickle just yet. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide her identity for long, but she hoped it would be a while before they figured her out.

Not that they should. No, she has a completely different magic and is the only female Dreyar in the entire family.

"Yes, that is me. I take it you are looking for this?" Dahlia asked sweetly as she could while holding out the bag of jewel to the older women.

The other women's face glowed as she gingerly took the bag of jewel from her new tenant. She clicked the inside of her mouth obnoxiously, causing Dahlia to cringe. "Are you staying for long?" The women asked, pocketing the jewel.

"For at least a year," Dahlia replied smoothly with a nod of her head. Though she wasn't about to sign a contract, she would stick to paying month-to-month. It wasn't a guarantee that she would be staying here for that duration of time, so it was just safer that way.

Again the women clicked her tongue in response, nodding her head in confirmation. "I expect rent every first of the month. Full. I give you three days before it's late," digging through her pockets the women brought out a bronze key, handing it over to Dahlia who took it gingerly. "Welcome to Magnolia." And with that her new landlord promptly turned her heel and walked away, leaving the new owner of the apartment alone.

Dahlia watched as the older women walked away in stunned silence for a minute or so before shaking her head. No need to worry about the weird women. Tightening her grip on her duffel bag, she turned to look at the apartment. Her apartment. Just thinking that made her want to grin wide but she held it in, trudging into the building. Once she was in front of her door, she brought her key up and took a deep breath before opening the door to her new life.

AN: Heyo guys, welcome to this little project of mine! I hope you guys enjoy reading this, as this has been a long time coming. I have changed this plot-line so much, but I think I have it to where I want to write it. :)

While this is a fanfiction, I do plan on using the base plot for an original. The only reason why this is a fanfiction is because I didn't know what to replace the guilds with. With that being said though, I DO NOT own Fairy Tail. I only own this plot, Dahlia, and anything else that is not associated with the series.

P.S. I am also posting this on Wattpad under the username midnightlyra but I am not posting it anywhere else.

Fun fact, the landlady (if you guys guessed where she moved to) doesn't have a name. Hiro Mashima NEVER named her lmao. I looked it up to see if she had one, because I was going to have her introduce herself but no. She's just "The Landlady". Which is understandable, she only shows up a handful of times and makes Lucy's life miserable but still. I might give her a name but I doubt she'll become relevant.