Chapter Two: Defending Honor
The first few months in the new guild were mostly quiet (about as quiet as Fairy Tail ever gets.) The trio took some jobs together here and there and when they weren't working they found other things to keep themselves busy.
Lydia had become especially popular with the men of the guild due to a particular talent of hers; exotic dancing. Every weekend she was drawing in a bigger crowd to the bar down the street; affectionately nicknamed Hell's Palace due to all the dancers there being called demons as stage names. On stage, Lydia took on the persona of Lilith; the alluring woman who quickly became the bar's main attraction.
Morganna, on the other hand, was much less sociable with her guild mates, though she'd never been much for conversation anyway. In the times spent not taking jobs with her friends, Mor was usually out doing independent mage's work. She never told either of them about the jobs she took and both seemed to know it was better not to ask.
Ocean took to the new environment almost instantly. The caring and family centered nature of Fairy Tail gave her the feeling that she finally had a real home. She never turned down the opportunity for a brawl and found herself putting Natsu and Gray, especially, in their places nearly as much as Erza herself. The Sea Dragon Slayer and the Requip mage became fast friends, bonding over similar childhood traumas. She got along quite well with Cana; the guild's resident alcoholic, and Mirajane; the sweet and soft-spoken barmaid too. For Ocean, Fairy Tail was a dream come true. It wouldn't be until another few weeks later when she'd find out not everyone in the guild shared the same opinion.
Immediately noticing the approach of four unfamiliar scents, Ocean stared at the hall's front door; threat assessment, as she called it. The door swung open and the first of the group entered. She was a brunette woman with small rectangular glassed perched on the bridge of her nose. She stood just a few inches taller than Ocean's 5'3 self and wore a short, skin-tight, green dress that barely covered her assets. One of the first things she noticed about this woman was that despite wearing the guild's emblem, the other members made a point to look away from her, avoiding eye contact at all cost. The second was a taller man. A helmet covered most of his face, only exposing his wide grin, and a quartet of wooden dolls followed. Ocean found this man curious, but made note of the apparent discomfort of her guildmates. Thirdly, was a man with long green hair falling down the length of his back. He walked with a certain grace in his step and his hand fixated to the hilt of the sword on his hip. Though he appeared to be the least threatening of the group, the magic energy radiating off of him told Ocean otherwise. The three of them stood close to the door, waiting for the final member of their team to enter.
Ocean noticed the hairs on her arms stand up as the air was filled with static electricity. A lightning mage, she determined. The man was tall, at least a foot taller than her, and his blonde hair was spiked up as if he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. Probably the most noticeable of his features though, was the lightning bolt scar going through his right eye. Ocean recognized this man as Laxus, the grandson of Master Makarov and the apparent heir of Fairy Tail.
He looked over, his eyes landing on her, and she quickly looked away in hopes he hadn't seen her staring. Heavy footsteps drawing closer, unfortunately, showed this to be wrong. A pair of hands found the table across from her.
"Where have I seen you before?" He asked. She looked up and shrugged in response. "Ah, that's right. You're the one Phantom kicked after Cana kicked your ass. Pretty pathetic for a Dragon slayer to lose to a holder mage."
Ocean's face was calm, but the grip on the mug in hand told another story. "Yeah, well you cant win every brawl. You'll never improve if you don't fail every once in awhile."
"Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. Enjoy your time here while you can. When I take this place over, you and your friends will be the first to go." The mug shattered to pieces, cutting Ocean's hand. Laxus smirked, having achieved the desired reaction.
It took less than a minute for Ocean's fist to meet Laxus's face with, surprisingly to him, enough force to knock him on his ass. Her blood boiled. No way would she let this pompous jerk threaten to take away this place that had so quickly become home to her. The cuts on her hand dripped, but she didn't seem to notice much.
The green haired man stepped forward and moved to draw his sword, but Laxus raised a hand, signalling his team to stand back and let him handle this. He stood and dusted himself off. "Dumb move." he responded, throwing a retaliatory punch only for her to catch it.
She shoved him back. The two took turns throwing, dodging and taking punches, neither gaining much ground on the other. In their usual fashion, the guild gathered around the brawl; most members impressed that the new girl could keep up with Laxus.
They continued on until both were nearly breathless. Ocean threw one final punch, connecting it to Laxus's jaw. He fell back and stayed on the ground this time, panting.
"Make an excuse for that." Ocean breathed before walking away. She returned to her seat and ordered another drink from Mira.