Hello, I bring the long-awaited chapter four. This chapter was done recently after a long break, it wasn't really a hiatus. This is a bit of a boring chapter, sorry.


Lucy woke up as the sun just peeked over the horizon. Back at home, she would always wake up early in order to watch the sunrise from her bedroom window. Old habits die hard she guessed. Today, however, there were trees blocking the fiery dawn and instead, dull white rays of light shone through the trees. They softly lit the small clearing. Lucy took in the fresh forest air. She'd never slept outside before. While there was no debate that her warm bed was far more comfortable, there was something about sleeping outside that appealed greatly to Lucy. The freshness of the air was unmatched and the natural warmth the fire created was far more comforting that the warmth of her comforter.

Lucy sat crossed legged on her mat, her hands shoved into her lap. She scooted closer to the embers of the fire to warm her some more. She looked around at her new friends tenderly. It was so different waking up in a new place with new people but it was really refreshing too. Lucy thought that maybe that sort of change was needed. Since her mom's death, she'd stayed in the house. While it was a large house, it began to feel really small. It seemed like she was trapped with all her memories and all her feelings. Like she was stuck in a heavy fog that her mother's death left behind and unable to get out.

Her eyes hopped to the guild members that lay in unique fashions around the camp, all fast asleep, and some snoring loudly or muttering soft mumblings. The corners of Lucy's mouth tugged upward without her meaning to. She stretched and stood up happily.

Immediately upon standing, she felt rather filthy. She always took bath in the evenings, but she hadn't had the chance to even find a stream with everything going on. She searched around the perimeter of the camp for any sign of a stream. She figured Fairy Tail would've chosen a location relatively near one. Though she yearned for a warm bath, she was willing to settle for skinny dipping in a stream. Lucy was careful not to stray too far from the camp in her search. With her luck, she'd get lost or kidnapped or something.

Lucy smiled gratefully as she found a creek. She admired the sparkling water for a moment before she peeled off her clothes. Timidly, she stuck her big toe into the clear water. The water was cold and it sent a tingle throughout her body. She sucked in a breath and plunged into the icy water. Shivers went through her. She clenched her teeth to keep from shivering. Goosebumps emerged from her porcelain skin beneath the water. Lucy brushed through her wet blond with her fingers and rubbed her arms in small circles with the water. Her toes messed with the smooth stones at the bottom of the creek.

Lucy got out of the creek not long after getting in, cold but feeling refreshed, like she was in a new skin. From now on she was Lucy of Fairy Tail. She wrapped herself in her cloak to dry and warm herself. The cloak smelt faintly of her old home since the new intense smell of fire masked the scent mostly. From the warm odor of fire and the familiar scent of home, melancholic memories of her mother came to her.


"Lu. You have to go to bed now, dear." Layla laughed softly, tucking the sheets tighter around her fidgeting daughter. Lucy frowned and shook her head. Her blond locks fell over her small face.

"I'm not tired, mommy," Lucy complained beneath her hair. Layla smiled and brushed the hair from Lucy's face.

"You're not tired? You've been yawning all day." Layla pointed out. Lucy's frowned.

"Well, I'm not anymore!" Layla giggled.

"What must I do to get you to sleep, Lu," Layla asked desperately.

"A story!" Lucy excitedly exclaimed. Layla rolled her eyes with a soft motherly frustration.

"Fine. A story it is then." Layla gave into her daughter. Lucy beamed at the sentence, but she knew it would turn out that way. Her mother always gave into her. "But you've got to try and sleep while I tell you it." Lucy nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, mommy," Lucy mumbled happily as she brought the covers up to her chin. Layla nodded knowingly.

"Once there was a big strong adventurer. This man was unlike any other. He was stronger, he was braver, he was more loyal than any other man in the world. He was known as the Fire Dragon." Layla spoke. Lucy smiled in excitement and was about to ask a question. Layla gave a stern look and Lucy dismissed her thought. "However, the man had many faults. The man was terribly independent. He was also dreadfully ignorant. He was quite full of himself as well. Not to mention overly enthusiastic and stubborn."

Layla listed and laughed sadly suddenly. She seemed to shake her head a bit flustered. "But, anyway," She stated quickly. "Tough the man was great, he couldn't be the best adventurer in Fiore all by himself. He needed a smart, sensible, and brave Key Keeper to help him…" Layla stopped as she noticed her daughter's eyes closed and her small breaths slow. Layla shook her head fondly and got up.

Lucy dreamt about the dragon man and his Key Keeper.


Lucy wiped a small tear from her eye. She hadn't thought about dragon-man, as she called him since her mother passed away. Her mother told her story after story about his adventures with the nameless Key Keeper. The stories were so real. Like they were memories, rather than made up bedtime stories. Now that Lucy thought about it, it very well could have been true stories from her mother's time as a Key Keeper. Maybe after all this time, she was telling Lucy all about her adventures. Lucy cycled through the many stories that she was told, feeling closer to her mother as she recalled each one.

Lucy got dressed and walked back to camp. She was happily surprised to see that Erza, Mira, and Levy were awake. They waved at Lucy happily.

"Lucy! Did you take a bath in the creek? It's freezing! You'll catch a cold." Mira said in a worried tone scooping up a blanket and bringing it to Lucy. Lucy took it at wrapped it around herself.

"Thank you, but it wasn't that bad." Lucy smiled sitting next to the three girls. Erza patted Lucy's back.

"You're tough! I like that." Erza smiled. Lucy gave a weak smiled.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm not the best at fighting."

"You're not the only one. I'm only here cause I'm smart and they need someone that's good at math to split up the loot." Levy frowned slightly.

"That's not true!" Erza and Mira insisted together. Levy rolled her eyes, not believing them. Lucy giggled a bit.

"I would love it if you could teach me about fighting. It might come it handy." Lucy suggested. Erza nodded happily.

"Mira and I can teach you anything you need to know. We'll get some muscle on your bones in no time." Erza said confidently. Lucy grinned before turning to the small blue haired girl.

"Would you like to join Levy?" Lucy asked hopefully. Levy's face scrunched together in dread.

"I don't know. Erza's pretty scaring when it comes to fighting and Mira's even worse. It may not look like it, but that woman is the devil." Levy grimaced. Mira laughed and patted Levy back.

"Don't be silly. Of course, Levy will join you. I'm sure everyone could use a bit of training before our first room. We'll wake everyone up right now!" Mira smiled. There was a fire in her eyes that was somewhat scary. Lucy was about to protest but Erza and Mira already shouting loudly for the guild to wake up.

"Come on ya bunch of lazy slackers up, up, up!" Erza shouted.

"Cana Alberona! Don't give me that look!" Mira called stomping over to the brunette and dragging her by the arm.

Laxus, Gray, Wendy, and Elfman sat in their sleeping bags yawning at rubbing their tired eyes. Natsu still was in a deep sleep. A drop of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Erza towered over him and kicked him in the side. Lucy winced.

"Get up, Flame brain!" Erza shouted. Natsu groaned and yawned.

"Oi, Erza. Five more minutes." Natsu murmured.

"Nuh, uh, Natsu." Erza shook her head. "You don't want to help train Lucy? The sooner she's trained the sooner we can actually go complete a room." Erza implied. Natsu smiled and forced open his eyes. He jumped up abruptly, a big smile on his face.

"I'm all fired up, now," Natsu called. The other guild members groaned and walk around sluggishly. Cana was still half asleep and draped on Mira, who shook her to wake her up.

The hour started slow, but it didn't take long for the others to get moving. The guild members were busy around the came getting dressed and cleaning up, never ceasing to keep up the conversation among them all. Lucy spoke with them like she'd known them her whole life, never shy to interject a thought and laugh at the nonsense things they said.

Lucy helped Mira hand out breakfast. Natsu cooked some type of meat on a stick with chunks of apple. He handed out the strange pieces of meat while Lucy and Mira gave everyone a chunk of bread and a cup of water. The guild sat in a large circle eating their food.

Lucy reluctantly took a bite of the chuck of tough meat. She chewed with her back teeth. It wasn't terrible, however, it was fairly burnt, but she liked the faint taste of apple.

"What kind of meat is this anyway Natsu?" Lucy asked still chewing the first chuck. Natsu laughed.

"Actually, it's the cave serpent ice princess and I saved you from the other day," Natsu informed her. "Pretty good, huh?" Natsu shoved a large bite of the meat into his mouth.

"You could say that." Lucy laughed not really knowing how she felt about that while finally giving up on chewing the meat and just deciding to swallow it whole. Natsu leaned over her plate with an eyebrow raised.

"You gonna eat that?" Natsu pointed at the remaining chunk of meat tentatively. Lucy shook her head with a strange smile and Natsu snatched it off her plate immediately before she could change her mind. The other guild members shook their heads.

"You're too nice to him Lucy." Erza chuckled.

"Yeah, you're encouraging his terrible eating habits," Gray informed. "Natsu's a pig." Lucy giggled.

"Shut up, droopy eyes. At least I'm not a pervert." Natsu stated. Lucy gave Gray a disgusted look that was completely exaggerated, but Gray didn't pick up on her theatrics.

"I'm not a pervert!" Gray stated wildly like he was trying to convince Lucy of the fact.

"Then a stripper." Natsu corrected himself. Gray rolled his eyes.

"I can't control that,"

"Control what?" Lucy asked.

"Gray has a problem with keeping his clothes on when fighting," Levy interjected.

"Can we talk about something else now?" Gray grumbled. Wendy smiled a waved her hand in the air.

"Huh, Wendy?" Mira called on Wendy. Wendy gleamed, happy to get the chance to speak.

"What weapon are you gonna fight with Lu?"

"I'm not sure, actually. What do you all use?" Lucy asked. "I don't really know anything about fighting or weapons. I mean, I never really needed to know."

"Well I mostly just heal, but Natsu got me these cool needles injected with poison. When someone is pricked with them they'll die within seconds!" Wendy said enthusiastically.

"Sounds...dangerous." Lucy smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, I was slightly exaggerating," Wendy assured. She raised her finger up in the air and cocked her head a-matter-of-factly. "Plus, I created an antidote for it."

"I use my bare fists baby!" Gajeel exclaimed. Lucy's eyes widened in amusement. Wendy frowned disappointed that the conversation moved on so quickly.

"You're really that strong?"

"You want me to prove it?" Gajeel raised his muscular arm and flexed grinning wildly. Lucy shook her head quickly convinced enough that he was strong.

"I use my fists too," Elfman stated. "Like a real man." He and Gajeel exchanged a manly handshake. Unlike Gajeel, Lucy had no doubt he did. His muscles were huge and his whole body impressively toned.

"I'm not surprised." Elfman nodded quite proud of himself and made a show of flexing his own muscles as well. Laxus cleared his throat and spoke.

"I use a staff. I'm quite handy with it." Laxus stated. Lucy noticed he had a very cut and dry way of speaking, on that Lucy unintentionally mimicked we she spoke to him.

"Cool." Lucy smiled nervously. He nodded once and crossed his arms. Laxus scared her a little bit.

"I use a Gladius. It's basically a fat sword. It's fun to swing around." Cana laughed. Lucy grinned at her.

"Sounds delightful." Lucy giggled. The weapon seemed to fit her well. Lucy could easily imagine it in her mind. The brunette took a swig of what lucy guessed was alcohol.

"I use a Baselard. It's a skinnier, but longer dagger basically. I mostly just help with intellectual stuff rather than the fighting." Levy said. Lucy smiled. She felt she would be able to relate to Levy. Lucy didn't have much strength, but she was pretty smart for the most part.

"I use a Spatha. It's a straight, long, sword. It's my baby. I cost me a fortune." Mira smiled longingly. Lucy suspected if the sword was with her now, she would be stroking it devotedly.

"I can tell you both have a lovely relationship." Lucy laughed. Mira gave a stern look that made Lucy freeze.

"We do thank you." Mira smiled a bit and Lucy immediately eased.

"At the moment, ice princess and I are using cheap traditional swords," Natsu mumbled.

"Because squinty eyes decided to make a bet for our original swords that costs a damn ton,"

"Your fault," Natsu grumbled at Gray.

"I'm not the one that made the damn bet in the first place," Gray growled back. Erza clapped her hands together suddenly.

"That's enough you two," Erza demanded. She cleared her throat. "I use this custom silver and gold sword, called Titania and enough custom black silver and copper etched sword, called Knightwalker."

"You named them?" Lucy asked.

"Of course. The best weapons are always named." Erza stated appalled. The others nodded.

"Mine's Lisanna. After my sister." Mira smiled.

"That's so sweet." Lucy smiled warmly. Mira and Elfman nodded.

"Well, you have any idea of what you want to use?" Natsu interjected, probably getting memories of his own custom sword that he'd lost.

"I actually saw this whip in town that looked really fun to use," Lucy admitted. For some reason, she like the idea of having it as a weapon.

"A whip?" Gajeel laughed.

"Don't you think people will get the wrong idea?" Levy implied. Lucy nodded gravely.

"Yeah, that's why I didn't buy it. But it's unique and unexpected. Not to mention easy to use." Lucy said.

"I think it sounds awesome." Cana shrugged.

"Yes, why not. If anything it'll distract your opponents." Erza added. She smirked. "If you know what I mean." Lucy's face began to get warm.

"You know what? I think it'd suit her," Laxus stated. Lucy's blush deepened with embarrassment and anger.

"What's that supposed to mean!" Lucy shouted at him defensively.

"It means you look like the kind of girl that would be into that sort of thing," Laxus explained. Lucy clenched her fists.

"She does not." Natsu scoffed suddenly. Lucy looked at him flushed several shades darker than his hair. She wished desperately that he hadn't joined in with the conversation. In fact, she just wanted in to end.

"Yeah, no," Gray stated. Both of their cheeks were tinted red at the topic. Lucy's face only got warmer. Wendy sat petrified.

"Can we drop this, guys?" Wendy said quietly. Lucy wanted to squeeze her saving grace but didn't, as the conversation only continued.

"I agree with pink and ice princess. She looks more like the kind to dress up." Elfman stated. Lucy figured she couldn't get any more embarrassed and not was just angry.

"Maybe like a cat or a dog…"Gajeel said. "No, I've got it! A bunny!"

"Gajeel, don't you think you've tortured her enough?" Levy stated trying to help her out.

Laxus merely ignored the statement. "I can see that. A bunny with a whip." He seemed to ponder about this which made Lucy shift in her seat.

"Cute and fluffy at first but not afraid to whip you into shape if you misbehave. " Cana smirked and gave Lucy a sideways glance.

"Would everyone shut up!" Lucy screamed her face flaming red.

"We'll just train her with fist fighting for today." Mira laughed awkwardly.

"Good idea..." Natsu scratched his head uncomfortably.


Gajeel and Elfman shouted orders to Lucy. Erza held up a thick cushion with a target painted on it. Natsu watched closely and waited to shout words of encouragement. He had wanted to train her, but Gajeel and Elfman, and he was assigned cheerleader along with the others.

"No, bunny girl. Your foot position is all wrong." Gajeel shouted. Lucy quickly adjusted her feet.

"Is your thumb tucked into your hand!" Elfman yelled in disgust. Lucy untucked her thumb. "Straighten your wrist!" Lucy did.

"Bend your arm!" Gajeel shouted. "Keep your front foot straight!"

"Chin down, head up!" Elfman demanded. Lucy did all four quickly.

"Natsu! Try and push her over. Shove her lightly." Gajeel instructed. Natsu did and Lucy stumbled over.

"Ugh! Come on, blondie! Tense you adnominal and keep your legs sturdy." Elfman ordered. Lucy groaned and did what she was told.

The day went on like this while Natsu and the rest of the guild members encouraging her and giving additional advice. Lucy continued to punch the cushion until her knuckles bled and her arm was about to fall off. Finally, she punched the cushion in a way that Elfman and Gajeel deemed successful.

"Alright now your left hand," Elfman exclaimed.

"Left?" Lucy groaned. "Why?"

"What if you lost your right hand! You need you know how to fight with both." Lucy moaned.

At the end of the day, Lucy passed out from exhaustion. Wendy wrapped her hands in cloth while she slept.

"She did pretty well, huh?" Natsu said handing Wendy a strip of wet cloth. Wendy nodded.

"She did much better than Levy and I. We passed out halfway through." Wendy laughed. She finished tying the cloth around Lucy's hand and stood up. "I'm going to held Mira with dinner."

"Where'd Gray and Cana go by the way?" Natsu called.

"Oh, Mira told them to go get that whip for Lucy as a present. Tomorrow we give her our guild mark." Wendy said. Natsu smiled.

"I can't wait!" Natsu exclaimed gleaming. "We'll officially have a Key Keeper."

"A pretty nice one too," Wendy added and went off to find Mira.

Natsu got up a bit after Wendy left. He was about to leave Lucy be when something caught his eye. The pouch that Lucy kept her keys in was practically open. Natsu could see something gold sticking out. He squatted down and peeked inside the pouch. His curiosity getting the best of him. Inside he saw several gold keys and five silver ones.

"Gold keys? And so many?" Natsu said to himself. "But why'd she lie about the keys she had?" Natsu questioned. He set the pouch back down and walked away. He kept what he saw to himself. He figured that she kept how many keys she had a secret for a reason. Natsu would respect that.

But didn't she trust them? She hadn't even given them the last name. Natsu couldn't help but be curious as to why she was being so secretive.

"What are you hiding, Luce," Natsu said to himself.


Leave a review if you wanna.

Arrivederci, everyone.

(It's 2:17 am, so I should go to bed. I probably won't though.)

Edited and Refined: 01-30-18