Lucy had had a really frightening dream. It was all just a haze in her mind. Something about a blue-haired boy and a pink cat. Or maybe it was the other way around. It had been a crazy dream... or so she thought.
When she opened her eyes, she was looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. When she felt around, she was on an unfamiliar bed. And when she looked to the side, she was met with a very unfamiliar face. A severed looking woman with shocking pink hair was glaring down at her. She was on the older side and had an aura that told Lucy that she was being frowned upon.
"The girl's awake," the woman said sharply, voice carrying over Lucy, directed at someone else. The woman was pushed out of Lucy's view almost immediately and replaced with one bright, smiling face. Well, two if you counted the cat.
"LUCYYY!"
The blonde sat up immediately, forehead accidentally colliding with the pinkette's.
"Ouch!"
Rubbing her injured forehead, Lucy glared at the boy as he sat cross-legged on the bed. "Y-you! You kidnapped me!" she snarled accusingly.
"Awwww, Luce! Why do you have to be so violent?" Natsu complained, still nursing his bruised injury.
"My name is LUCY! And who are you calling violent?!"
"Well, as I'm sure you can see, the girl is fine," interrupted the pink haired woman. "I'll be going then. Don't contact me again. I hate people."
"Thanks Porlyusica!" Natsu waved, but the woman was already gone, slamming the door shut behind her. "It's a good thing you're alright, Luce! Erza would've killed me if she had found out that you fainted!"
"Erza?" Lucy had heard the name multiple times last night.
Natsu shuddered. "The demon woman! Don't mess with her!" he warned.
"...I see..." Lucy took the time to observe her surroundings. She was in a twin-sized bed. There was another in the small room. It was a small, cozy room. The walls were painted a comforting sky blue and the ceiling was decorated with painted clouds. An entire portion of the wall was covered by a large bookcase. The only door was the one Porlyusica had just slammed shut. "Where am I?"
"This is Levy's room. She had a spare bed, so she offered it up for you to rest for the night." As Natsu explained, Lucy observed him as well. He was tan, obviously well built, though she did remember him being a little on the short side last. His eyes were oddly slanted, though not unattractive. They were an odd color too. Dark green, almost black. His hair was a bright salmon pink and stood up in weird directions. He looked lay-back in a red hoodie and loose grey sweatpants. He was barefoot and wore an oddly scaly looking scarf. Undeniably cute and undeniably odd. The scarf, of course.
"So who's Levy?"
"Did someone say my name?" The door cracked open and a small girl peeked in. She was almost ridiculously short and wore an orange bow in her blue hair. What was it with the weird hair colors here?
"This is Levy!" Natsu filled in helpfully.
"Ah!" Levy perked up. "You're awake!" The girl scurried into the room and held out her hand. "I'm Levy McGarden. Nice to meet you."
Lucy took her hand and shook it. "I'm Lucy. Um, thank you! For letting me use your room, that it."
"It's no problem! I haven't had a roommate in years!" There was a hint of expectancy in her voice. "Anyways, if you're up for it, why don't you come have breakfast with us in the common room! You can meet the rest of the guild!"
"Well, actually, I have to-"
"YEAH! C'MON LUCE LET'S GO!"
And so, Lucy found herself being dragged between two oddballs to a meet-and-greet with psychopaths.
"Heyyy! Who's the new girl? She's cute~~" Lucy inched away from the older man with slicked-back dark hair.
"She's way out of your league Macao!" laughed another man with a pompadour hairstyle. As he was talking, Mirajane snatched away the cigarette he was smoking and put it out.
"Wakaba, how many times do I have to tell you not to smoke in the guild!"
"S'rry Mira."
"And to answer your question, Macao, this is Lucy. She's only staying with us for the day though..."
"Eeehhh?" Levy cried. "Seriously, Lucy? Dang it! I was hoping we could be roommates!"
"Aahh! I'm sorry!" And she really was. Levy seemed nice and, based on her book collection, they probably would have gotten along really well. But she couldn't stay here. Staying put meant increasing her chances of being found by her father. "This is a bit of an awkward question, but where am I exactly?"
"You're at the Fairy Tail guild!" Natsu said gleefully.
"That's the unofficial name for this place," Levy explained. "Right now, you're in the Vermillion Institute for Mentally Deranged Teens, but we don't like to use that name."
"So it is a mental hospital."
"Care center," Levy corrected.
"For teenagers?" Lucy cast a glance to Macao and Wakaba. Those two were definitely not teenagers. Both men were at least in their thirties or forties.
"Haha, well the name is a really more of a guideline... Macao and Wakaba have been here longer than most, you see."
"I don't think that's a good thing..."
"Well, they aren't 'official' patients, so to speak. They've both been released from care, but they visit so often and for so long, they might as well still be patients... honestly, Macao never really gave up drinking and Wakaba is a failure at quitting smoking."
"Oh. If you don't mind me asking... why are you here?" Lucy asked cautiously. "I mean, you seem really normal..."
"Well, thank you!" Levy's face fell a little. "I have post traumatic stress disorder."
"Oh... wh- never mind." Lucy stopped herself from asking.
Sensing her despair at having asked, Levy smiled brightly. "It's fine, really! I'm dealing with it all very well. Joining Fairy Tail has been fantastic help!"
"Fairy Tail?"
"That's what we call ourselves. The founder of the institute thought that addressing ourselves as a 'guild' would create a sense of family and make us all happier! I daresay she was right!"
"That's really sweet," Lucy said softly.
"YEAH! FAIRY TAIL'S THE BEST!" Natsu jumped in.
"Hey Flame Brain, do you mind? Some of us are trying to concentrate here!" the boy from before, Gray, was glaring at the pinkette from a beanbag. He was shirtless, and curled up with a sketchbook in hand.
"FIGHT ME GRAY!"
"No way. You aren't getting a rise out of me today. Erza's coming back, remember doofus?"
"I'LL FIGHT HER TOO!"
"Keep me out of your death wish."
"Natsu, please calm down! We've just set the room back from how it was last night," Mirajane said, still smiling.
The room, in fact, was very different from how Lucy had seen it the day before. It was a fair size with about a little more than ten people there. Lucy could have sworn that there had been at least a dozen more from what she had seen of the battleground last night. They really were an eccentric looking group of people. The walls were painted a warm shade of chocolate and the carpet was a fuzzy matching color. There was a wide and colorful assortment of seats, from stools to beanbags to full-length sofas to rocking chairs.
Natsu slumped onto a bright red sofa, dejectedly. Happy, appearing out of nowhere, curled up next to him. "Gray started it," he muttered, burying his face in his scarf.
Lucy had to stop herself from laughing. It was just so funny, seeing a near-eighteen-year-old teen acting like such a child.
"So," Gray said casually. "How'd you end up stuck with the doofus?"
"You mean Natsu?"
("Hey!")
"Yeah."
"Well," Lucy started. She paused to settle herself, cross-legged, on one of the chairs between Natsu and Gray. "I was at Hargeon Park when some creep started hitting on me. He obviously didn't know how to take a hint and wasn't backing off. Natsu kind of just swooped in out of nowhere and punched the guy. Everything after that was kind of a blur. There was a lot of running and suddenly I ended up here."
"That's Natsu for ya," said Gray. "Idiot gets rid of the creep just to become the creep." Natsu began to protest, but Gray ignored him. "Where're you from, anyway?"
Lucy took a sudden interest in her hands, twiddling her thumbs in her lap. "I... well... u-uh-um... out of town," she finished lamely.
"Runaway?" Gray asked intuitively. Lucy nodded her head very slightly. "Don't worry," he assured her. "We've all been there."
"You won't call the police?"
"Huh, why wo-"
"NO WAY LUCE!" Natsu, interrupted, having recovered from his childish pout. "WON'T TELL A SOUL! ORPHAN'S HONOR CODE!"
"IgetitIgetit!" Lucy said quickly, waving him down. "Just sit back down!"
"Yeah, shut up," Gray snarled. "You're making my ears bleed with your stupid voice."
"SHUT UP ICE PRINCESS!"
"I DARE YOU TO CALL ME THAT AGAIN."
"ICE. PRINCESS."
"THAT'S IT-"
"Boys."
Like magic, Natsu and Gray threw their arms around each other in a hug. Yelling joyous things like "HEY BESTIE!" "I LOVE YOU GRAY!" "I LOVE YOU TWO!"
Thoroughly confused, Lucy followed the boys' terrified glance to the door. Casting a powerful figure at the doorway stood an extremely beautiful young woman. Her hair billowed behind her in a crimson stream.
"OH HEY ERZA!" Gray said enthusiastically. "I didn't see you there! Too busy hanging with my best friend, ehh, Natsu?"
"Y-YEAH! BESTIES!"
("Don't say 'besties'! What are you, a five year old girl?")
("SHUT UP GRAY!")
"Natsu."
"A-AYE ERZA!"
"A little bird told me that you brought a stranger to the guild."
("Tweet, tweet," giggled Mirajane.)
Erza's brown-eyed glare found Lucy, who jumped slightly. "You."
Lucy had never felt more scared in her life. Maybe it was Natsu and Gray cowering. Maybe it was the apprehensive looks from the other guild members. Something about this woman terrified her.
"Please." The woman put a hand on the back of Natsu's head, forcing him into a bow with her. "I apologize for this idiot and all the trouble he has caused you! I will do anything to make it up to you. You may punish me."
"I-it's not that big of a deal! Really!" Lucy said shaking her head, waving her hands wildly. "Please don't bow..."
"What can I do to make it up to you? I'll escort you home myself!" Erza offered.
"There's no need for that!"
"I insist!" Erza insisted.
"I said it's okay!"
"Are. You. Sure?"
"Yes, yes! Definitely."
"Yeah, Erza!" Natsu butted in. "Leave Luce alone! 'Sides, she's staying with us forever!"
"Yeah!" Lucy agreed. "Wait what?"
A/N: This chapter was pretty filler-y. I need to establish everything before the story can kick into gear. I'm gonna try to update weekly, but school is gonna start soon, so I may be a bit slow... Again, if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in a review!