"So, you have never been in a guild before?" Evergreen asked, shocked.

"No. I've just been on my own traveling." Ember answered shyly.

Ember sat at the bar in Fairy Tail's Guild Hall with Evergreen, Bickslow, and Cana. The presence of these wizards made her nervous, but their kindness towards her made her mind at ease in a way as well. The conflicting emotions she felt on such an eventful day did nothing but confuse her. Being so used to isolation and always being on the move, sitting in a building surrounded by potential friends and teammates was a totally new experience for her. But the shock she could see on their faces about how she had never been in a Guild before, well, that made her embarrassed. She was an adult after all, not a child, and she had been on her own for so long. She worried that her inexperience would prove to be a major weakness in such a powerful and well known Guild.

Evergreen ordered them a fresh round of drinks. Ember had lost count at this point of how many alcoholic beverages she had consumed. In fact, she was beginning to feel a little funny. Her limbs felt like limp noodles, and her mind felt fuzzy. Also, it felt very easy to smile. Cana had drank more than anyone, but she seemed completely composed. This was intimidating to Ember. Actually, all three of these wizards were intimidating to her. And these were the people being nice to her. Forget about the ones she could feel burning holes into her back with stares.

"Ok, so, we are going to have to explain a lot to you then." Cana sighed. "What a pain in the ass."

"Really Cana? Don't be so rude!" Evergreen sneered, and then giggled.

"Sorry Ember, I forget sometimes that new people may not take my attitude the right way." Cana smiled with a wink.

"It's okay. Really." Ember smiled back.

Bickslow guzzled down the rest of his drink and let out a long 'aaaahhhhh', with his tongue hanging out. His Fairy Tail Guild Mark was black on his tongue. Ember wondered if that felt weird at all when he had originally got it. When Makarov applied the Guild Mark to her chest right beneath her collarbone, she felt a slight tingling sensation. She could only imagine that sensation being stronger on a tongue. He slammed down his mug and turned to the three women that sat around him.

"Well ladies, I am off on a job. Take care of our little girl now will you?" Bickslow laughed, and then he quickly left.

"He's…..kind of creepy." Ember giggled.

"Hey now! He may be creepy, but our Bickslow is one strong wizard!" Evergreen interjected.

"What kind of magic does he use?"

"He can control souls. Human souls. Those little 'babies' that fly around and annoyingly repeat everything he says? Those are souls put into a vessel. If you ever see his eye begin to glow green, don't look at them. That's his power at work."

"Wow! That's pretty crazy! And scary. Now he's even creepier."

"Well, what do you expect? He is a member of the Thunder Legion!"

"Thunder Legion?"

Evergreen then went on to explain to Ember what the Thunder Legion was. The group consisted of herself, Bickslow, and another wizard named Freed. They were a strong force to be reckoned with and they were the personal body guards of the S-class wizard Laxus, who also happened to be a Thunder Dragon Slayer. This information caused Ember to perk up a bit. Another Dragon Slayer? She knew about the fire dragon Natsu Dragneel, the iron dragon Gajeel Redfox, and the sky dragon Wendy Marvel, but she knew nothing of a thunder dragon!

"A thunder dragon? Really?" Ember exclaimed.

"Well, he isn't a first generation. So he wasn't raised by a dragon!" Cana shouted. The alcohol was now definitely having an effect on her persona.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, first generation dragon slayers are raised and taught by an actual living dragon, or so they say. Laxus is a second generation dragon slayer, this means that he had a dragon slayer Lacryma planted inside his body to grant him these powers. This does not mean he isn't as strong, but there are differences. OH and theres a third generation now! Sting and Rogue of Sabertooth belong to this group. These are dragon slayers that were raised and taught by dragons AND have a lacryma implanted into them!"

"Oh...OH...wow. I only thought there was the first generation."

"So you believe in dragons?"

"Absolutely. Is that weird?"

Cana and Evergreen shook their heads, a dark and sad look taking over their faces. This confused Ember. Two seconds ago these women were strong presences that intimidated her, and now the looks on their faces actually made her feel sympathy towards them. And maybe even a slight feeling of pity. She finished her drink and set her mug down on the bar.

"We've seen one." Cana sighed.

"What?" Ember chirped excitedly. But the looks Evergreen and Cana gave her were anything but excited.

"Acnologia. On Tenrou Island. That's why we were missing for 7 years. Pretty much." Evergreen said, and then looked away.

"Acnologia? You saw Acnologia?" Ember jumped out of her chair.

Cana and Evergreen were taken back by Embers outburst, and their reaction made her check herself and sit back down. She cleared her throat and apologized.

"Sorry. I….I really like dragons." She said quietly.

"It's okay Ember. But this dragon wasn't the nice kind that raised Natsu and the others. This dragon was a killer." Cana sighed.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I know that."

After refraining from drinking for some time, Ember started to feel normal again. Well, somewhat normal. She was extremely lethargic, but she at least had a clear head. Cana seemed to bounce back pretty well, and was already drinking again. Evergreen was resting her head on the bar and making groaning noises.

Ember looked around the Guild Hall and took in what she saw. Two older men, one with a mustache and the other with a pipe in his mouth, sat at a table laughing and drinking together. Mira leaned over the bar talking to Erza, both of them with smiles on their faces. Three talking cats, a blue one and white one and black one with a scar over his eye, stood on top of a table surrounded by the people that didn't seem to like her being there. At that table the rose haired Natsu argued with the shirtless Gray, the blonde and buxom Lucy chatted with a sweet looking girl that had short hair the color of Mira's, the girl with hair blue like the ocean watched Gray with admiration, while another blue haired girl had her face buried in a book, the steely eyed Gajeel sitting close by with a less than happy look on his face. Ember knew these people were friends. And she wanted them to be her friends too. All of them. She was appreciative of Cana, Bickslow, and Evergreen. Their kindness had really made all the difference, as did Erza's on her arrival. But the desire to befriend the dragon slayers and their friends stirred in her gut. Their power, their drive, their aura. She wanted to be close to it. Dragon slayers had always intrigued her.

In the corner of her eye she noticed a man in face paint standing in front of a board with a bunch of flyers tacked to it. She squinted and tried reading them, but they were too far away for her to make anything of them. She turned in her seat back to Cana and Evergreen.

"Hey, what is that board over there?" She asked.

"OH! How could we forget!" Cana exclaimed and shoved Evergreens shoulder. Evergreen just let out a groan.

"That's the job board!" Cana smiled.

"What?" Ember asked. A job board?

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"So Lucy, how are your spirits doing?" Lisanna asked with a smile from ear to ear.

"They are doing great!" Lucy smiled back.

Lisanna was Mira and Elfman's little sister. Thought to be dead years ago she arrived back to Earthland with the rest of the wizards from Edolas. Lisanna knew everyone loved her and welcomed her back, but sometimes she felt that they hadn't fully comprehended that she was back. So she was always trying to conversate and bond with her guild mates. The thing that bothered her the most though was that Natsu didn't seem to want to be as close to her as they had been before she disappeared. Before he thought she was dead. Lisanna thought they had something special, but now she was beginning to think she had been wrong. She couldn't help but feel like Lucy replaced her in a way, but this didn't cause he to be rude to Lucy. She liked Lucy.

Lucy smiled across the table at Natsu and Gray. They were still bickering as usual. Juvia not even caring about the annoyance of it. She obviously just liked when Gray's shirt came off, inwardly hoping his pants came next. Lucy laughed and turned to Levy. Levy was probably Lucy's best friend in the guild. They had become quick friends when she first arrived, bonding over the fact that Levi loved reading, and Lucy loved writing.

"Levy! Join in the conversation!" Lucy laughed.

"I'm sorry Lucy. This book is just really interesting." Levy said, sounding distant because she was still reading.

"What is that book anyways?" Gajeel huffed.

"It's a book on the significance of scent."

Everyone at the table looked at her. Levy, feeling everyones eyes on her, looked up from her book. Even the exceeds, Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily, were paying attention to her. She smirked, knowing that they had realized the significance of her reading this book.

"Scent? Why are you reading that?" Lucy asked.

"Well, Gajeel and Natsu claimed to not like that Ember girls scent. We don't notice it because our noses are not as strong as theirs is. So I wanted to get some insight myself. Maybe figure out why they are acting the way they are about her."

"They have books that explain that stuff?" Natsu's eyes widened.

"They have books for everything, silly Natsu" Happy chirped.

"So, did you find anything?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm well, not really. Scent affects individuals differently. Where one person may feel uncomfortable by someones scent, another person may feel safe because of it. There seems to be no significance based on what she supposedly smells like either. The guys say she smells like a forest, more or less. There's no negative connotations of such a scent. No hidden meaning of it."

"Bullshit." Gajeel sneered.

"It's not bullshit! Stop being a jerk Gajeel." Levy laughed.

"There is something wrong with that scent. I know it! I'm telling you." Natsu huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No there isn't, not in the way you believe. Maybe her scent reminds you guys of something that brings on negative feelings. Something in the back of your head. Or maybe it's new to you, and it makes you uncomfortable because it's so unfamiliar." Levy said. Everyone seemed to ponder this thought.

"That makes sense. I think you guys are over reacting." Gray nodded.

"You wanna fight Gray? I will grill you like a fresh caught fish!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye!" obviously Happy.

"Listen here hothead, get off my ass before I freeze yours!"

The girls laughed. Just another day in Fairy Tail.

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"Ok so, these are jobs. The flyer explains what the client wants, and this is the amount of pay you will receive for completing it. For example, this one is for 10,000 jewel." Cana pointed at a flyer on the board.

"So this is how I make money while in the guild?" Ember asked.

"How did you make money before?"

"Odd jobs for people here and there on my travels. Enough for food and maybe lodging once in awhile. Or for new clothes to replace old ones."

"Jeez woman. You're going to feel rich soon enough. Anyways, S-class missions are reserved for S-class wizards, like Erza and Laxus. And my dad. You can only go on one with Makarovs approval, and you need an S-class wizard to go with you. These are the really complicated missions."

"Ok, so I shouldn't take any of those I presume."

"No, unless you have Erza or someone with you."

"Got it."

"So, you want to take a job?" a deep voice said coming from behind them.

Ember turned around and saw a tall blonde man with a lightning shaped scar over his eye. She touched her own scar, because his was so similar. She wondered how he got it. Over his ears were clunky metal headphones, and he wore a fur lined coat over his shoulders without his arms in the sleeves. In fact, he was dressed in rather nice clothing to begin with.

"I'm Laxus. I am sure you have heard of me." He smiled.

"Yes." Ember smiled back.

"So, you want to take a job?" He asked again.

"Actually, yeah, I would like to. But I don't know if it's a good idea for me to go on my own."

"You won't. Tomorrow morning meet me and Evergreen at the train station, you will come with us."

Laxus walked away. Ember watched after him, basking in the energy of his magic and smiling from his kindness. She couldn't believe someone of such a high rank in Fairy Tail had invited her out on a job. She was starting to feel like maybe everything would turn out okay after all. She looked over at Cana with a smile. She just shrugged, and then walked away as well.