Note- these are short chapters, but I will post several at a time! Also, this chapter is easier to read if you imagine it as manga (Sorry guys! Only this one-promise!)

Another Note- This is the backstory (of a sort) so that you kinda know what's been going on. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THIS PART THAT IS FINE! I totally understand :) Just read the very bottom.

The top of Mount Hakobe, X794

The snow fell lightly on the ground, covering the road and countryside in a blanket of white snow. It was a peaceful scene, and, Lucy thought, being unfairly destroyed.

"Oh come on!" Natsu yelled, dancing around. "This isn't anywhere near challenging at all! I say we go on an S-Class quest!"

"Aye!"

Lucy sighed and sat down on a nearby rock, tired from the long hike. Pulling her coat tighter around her, she said, "How is this not challenging? We just defeated 100 Vulcans! And none of the S-Class mages would take us anyway. You totally overdo everything!"

After a pause she added, "Hey, isn't this all because you want to get Master to nominate you for the S-Class exam?"

Natsu raced around, too busy pelting snowballs at Happy to answer. "On guard!" he yelled. Happy ducked behind a snowdrift and came up with some snowballs of his own.

"Aye sir!"

"You guys," Lucy grumbled as a snowball pelted her face and exploded. They loved snowball fights way too much. But she pulled out her keys anyway. Why not have a little fun? she thought. "Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"

Sagittarius appeared in a flash of light. Immediately, Lucy called out "Star Dress!" Natsu and Happy had paused to watch, each trying to secretly make more snowballs. Lucy grinned. Her aim was crazy good now!

"I can pelt you both!" she cheered. She scooped out a fort and crouched behind it, fashioning her own snowballs.

"I ain't losing to Lucy! I'm gonna win!" Natsu yelled.

"I am!" Happy yelled.

Soon the three were completely involved in a snowball fight to end all snowball fights.

Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"What job did Natsu go on now?" Gray roared, blasting through the door in only his underwear. Mirajane, who was cleaning some plates, smiled as he looked around frantically.

"Gray, your clothes?" Cana asked, smirking.

"AGH!" Gray roared, looking down at himself.

Chuckling softly, Mira put down the towel she had been using. "Natsu, Happy, and Lucy all went on a job to Mount Hakobe," she said thoughtfully. "I think it was something about Balkans."

Gray cursed. He raced to the board and grabbed the hardest request he could find off of it. "This one?" he asked, shoving it under Mirajane's nose. She nodded and Gray shot off through the guild hall's doors, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Wendy sat on one of the stools. "Why are they getting so worked up, Mira-san?" she asked. Mira smiled down at her.

"S-Class promotion exams are in a few weeks, and those two want to be S-Class so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if Master picked them as nominees again. Would you?"

Wendy shook her head, sending long blue hair flying. Just then, the guild doors blew open again, and Erza walked through.

"Where are Natsu and Lucy?" she demanded. "I must speak with them at once!"

Mirajane looked over, curious. "On a job at Mount Hakobe. Why? Did they get in trouble again?"

"No. I have a job that requires the whole team. Where is Gray?"

Mirajane just smiled again. "He just left to go on another job. He should be back soon. What job?"

Erza thought for a moment. "Defeating some bandits. Natsu and Lucy are at Hakobe? Wendy, come with me. We're fetching them back."

Wendy looked at Carla pleadingly, and Carla sighed. "Fine, I'll come. Maybe we should bring a bucket though?" she suggested, reminding them of Wendy's motion sickness.

"Let's go!" Erza cried, racing out of the guild holding Wendy's hand, who was holding Carla's hand, who had grabbed the bucket Mirajane had given her a few seconds before. Waving at them, Mira called out, "Have fun!"

Mount Hakobe

"M-m-maybe w-we should stop f-f-fighting," Lucy suggested, drawing her coat tightly around her. Happy and Natsu ignored her and kept throwing snowballs at each other.

"Open gate of the Clock Constellation! Horologium!" Lucy cried. Horologium let her inside, and she huddled there, trying to warm herself back up.

"You guys know Erza'll come to find us soon, right?" Lucy asked from inside Horologium. Happy and Natsu froze.

"Oh man, we got to get back!" Natsu yelped. He shuddered as he thought of Erza's face.

He took off running down the mountain, but froze when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere. Erza's hand was firmly clamped on his arm.

"What have you three been up to?" Erza demanded. A snowball Happy had been making was lying on the ground and caught her eye. Walking over to it but not letting go of Natsu, she picked it up and examined it.

"A finely made snowball," she said. "Who's?"

Happy answered. "Nastu's."

"Oh come on! That was totally Lucy's!" Natsu yelled, trying to shake off Erza's hand.

Lucy glared at him from inside Horologium. "No!"

The three burst into an argument over who's snowball it had been. By this time, Erza had requipped into a new armor none of them had seen before. It was an icy colored thick knee-length dress, with high white boots and an almost see-through length of cloth tied around her waist. Her hair was pulled up into a crown. In her hand, she held a long staff of white wood, topped with a small blade.

When Natsu, Happy, and Lucy finally noticed it, they fell silent. Erza smiled.

"This is my Snow Empress armor. Do you like it?" she demanded.

"Yeah.. it's great.." Lucy whispered, scared.

Erza whipped her staff through the air, and a giant lump of snow fell onto Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. From inside, Lucy groaned, "I told you guys this was a bad idea."

Erza waited until they had dragged themselves out of the drift and then pulled them roughly down the mountain at incredible speed. She requipped into her normal armor and jumped forward, out into open air.

"Wendy's waiting. Hurry up!"

"But I can barely move," Lucy groaned, trying not to look at the ground, which was coming towards them rapidly. They landed with a thump, and were in front of Wendy, who smiled.

"Erza-san, are we going back to the guild now?" she asked.

Erza let go of Natsu and Lucy, who fell to the ground in a heap. "Yes. We're going to catch Gray as he comes back."

Wendy giggled as Natsu curled up on the rock and went to sleep. "We might have to wait a while."

"We don't have a while!" Erza yelled. "Let's go!"

Wendy supported Lucy and Happy carried Natsu to the train station.

Path To Bandit's Hideout

"I am never riding a stupid train again," Natsu groaned.

"Never," Wendy agreed. She raced towards a bush on the side of the path and stuck her head in it. Gray was laughing at them. Happy and Carla walked along a litttle ways behind. Erza and Lucy were in front, chatting.

"Where'd you get that armor?" Lucy asked.

"I had it made a long time ago," Erza answered, "But Natsu destroyed it."

"I think I remember that, now that you mention it," Lucy said.

Soon, they reached a fork in the road. One way was overgrown, dark, and had a sign reading Death this way by it, and the other was bright and cheery, full of sunshine. Wendy shuddered.

"Please say we're going the sunny way," she whimpered. Erza walked towards the overgrown way.

"If we went that way we'd die. A monster lives there that ensnares all victims with a sense of happiness and then eats them. This is the safe way."

"Oh."

Several minutes later, sounds of fighting were coming from the path they had taken, and they stumbled out.

"I…..thought you said that was the safe way." Lucy groaned.

Erza shrugged. "I got them mixed up. It that a problem?"

"No! Hey, where's Natsu?"

A spurt of fire coming from the path answered their questions. Natsu came running out, yelling "Man that was awesome! I totally kicked it's butt!"

"Let's just get to the hideout," Carla grumbled.

They started out on the overgrown path again.

Hideout, twenty minutes later.

"That was too easy! I thought they'd actually be a challenge!" Gray complained.

"Well, it'll count for S-Class," Wendy pointed out. "So it won't be a waste of time, I geuss..."

"I almost feel like things are being too easy," Lucy said.

Erza started walking around the old ruins, looking for any other enemies. She sighed. "Back to the guild hall!"

Guild Hall

The sun was setting when the team arrived back at the guild. Mirajane looked at them and cheerfully said, "Back so soon?"

"It was an easy job," Wendy groaned, and then gagged.

"What's wrong?" Mira asked.

"She hasn't gotten over the train yet," Carla explained.

"My favorite part was when I defeated that monster!" Natsu crowed.

"What monster?"

Natsu shrugged, looking bored. "Just some random monster we ran into."

"Aye!"

"Fight me Gray!" Natsu yelled.

Lucy sighed and turned to Mirajane. "I'll be going now before things get crazy."

Mirajane nodded. "Good idea."

As Lucy opened the doors to the guild hall, she saw something stumbling up the street towards the guild. It was dragging itself along, and as it came closer, Lucy saw it was a girl. Her eyes were almost completely shut, and she had many wounds on her, everywhere. The girl stumbled right in front of the door, and as Lucy raced forward to catch her, the girl whispered, "Frescer, I made it..." before collapsing. She was still breathing, but very faintly.

"Mira, help me! She's hurt bad!" Lucy yelled. Mirajane came over in a flash, along with Wendy. They all stared at the girl for a moment, and then snapped into action.