I do not own Fairy Tail. Okay, so this chapter is more of an outline chapter. It mostly just explains and sets up for the rest of the of the story. Enjoy!

A bright green glow surrounded him and the air left his throat involuntarily. His body felt like it was burning and thousands of needles were being plunged into his skin. A soft aquamarine light engulfed his form. His eyes widened at the light. His own magic was surrounding him, becoming visible in the green hue. Wild thoughts ran thru his mind, most of which involving if this would be his demise. He began to panic even worse now. He brought his hands together only to not have a single ice creation form. The idea of this light sucking away his magic occurred to him in horror. He swung his arms out, trying to grab hold of anything, only to discover there was nothing to grasp. The ground had disappeared from under him. His stomach did somersaults and it took everything he had just to keep his lunch down. Sharp pains shot through him and silent screams came from his mouth.

The next thing he knew he was falling in midair.

He plummeted towards the ground, his back facing downwards. All he saw was the brilliant blue sky stretching out for miles above him. The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud dotted the dazzling blue surrounding him. But it was cloudy a second ago, wasn't it? That thought was all he registered before his back hit something and he was laying on the ground completely stunned.

He let out a groan and sat up. He blinked, unbelieving what he saw. There had definitely been clouds in the sky a moment ago. A few creatures were flying scattered about the air, and they were definitely not birds. They were much scalier like a lizard but they had feathery wings and a beak. Even if his mind was playing tricks on him, he knew there had certainly been thick vegetation and a forest. Now he was in the middle of a wide dirt road and only a few trees were off to the side. He wasn't at the bottom of a hill anymore, he was on top. A few miles away at the bottom was a bustling city that beyond a doubt was not there before he fell into the green light.

"Excuse me sir, could you maybe…GET OFF OF ME!"

Gray blinked and glanced around, only to find no one was around him. Something shifted underneath him and he glanced down. A girl was face down on the ground. He wondered what she was doing there for a second before realizing he was on top of her.

A blush spread across his cheeks at the embarrassment, sitting atop strange girls wasn't necessarily a hobby of his. He quickly rolled off of her, muttering an incoherent "sorry." The girl pushed herself up into a sitting position and gave him a glare. She looked about his age. Dark brown hair fell down her back in waves and sparkling green eyes were narrowed at him. Her skin was maybe a shade or two darker than his. A dark blue, almost black pendant with a dragon carved in it hung round her neck. The only odd thing about her was a bright red S was painted on her right arm. Despite that, Gray couldn't help but realizing she was overall stunning.

"Do you always fall half naked on people you don't know?"

"I try not to." He grinned, before jumping up. He reached down and held his hand out as a peace offering to her. She took it and stood up next to him.

"Well, thanks for the experience. See ya."

"Hold on a second," Gray called after her, recovering from his initial shock. The girl glanced back over her shoulder. "Could you tell me where the hell I am?"

The other gave him a look like he just asked what gravity was. "Where do you think you are?"

Gray shrugged. "Five seconds ago I was in a forest a few hours away from Magnolia. Now I'm here, wherever 'here' is."

"Where the hell is Magnolia?"

"Huh?" Gray stared at the other. Magnolia wasn't the biggest city in Fiore, but it was still one that was almost as famous as the country itself. "It's in southern Fiore."

"Never hear of 'Fiore' of yours, but that town over there is the city of Magnus."

Gray furrowed his eyebrows. "Magnus? I've never even heard of it."

"Good for you, I'll be going now."

"Wait!" Gray clamped his hand down on her shoulder. "Are you just messing with me? You've never heard of Fiore! Where the hell are we in this world?"

The girl let out an irritated sigh. "Did you hit your head when you fell? Walk with me. I'll answer any questions of yours if it gets you to stop acting like a fool."

Gray shut his mouth and followed her down the dirt road towards the city.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"What was that beam of light early?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Where the hell are we?"

"Already told you."

Gray gritted his teeth. He wasn't getting anywhere with her. "Is there someone in that town more useful than you?"

"Hey, I'm not the idiot with no clue where he is here. You should be happy I didn't kick your ass from here into next week."

"Are you always this joyful?"

"Oh, how I appreciate your sarcasm. Now look here…what's your name kid?"

"It's Gray."

"Nice to meet ya, Gray. I'm Aino. Anyway, I'm sure you can find a map in town of this Fiore of yours, as for the beam of light, you're on your own."

Gray gave her a glare but didn't press the question. Maybe she was just uncultured or something. That was a possibility. How else could she have not heard of a freakin' country. A giant landmass isn't exactly imperceptible. They walked silently towards the city that was getting steadily closer. He had a silent hope that not everyone there was as clueless as this girl. She had seemed nice enough to begin with. Heck, if a half-naked guy fell on him he probably would have frozen them into a human ice cube. She just let it slide. But if this whole ignorant act was just an act he was going to be seriously pissed. He glanced over at Aino, only to find her staring right back at him. Or rather, his bare chest.
"What?" Oh, how the irritation was practically tangible in his voice.

"What the heck is that?"

Gray looked down, the only thing visible on his skin was his guild insignia and his sword pendant that hung down. He didn't think she meant the necklace. "My you mean my guild mark? Why? What's so weird about it?"

"Why do you have one?"

"Because I'm in a guild. Do you not know what that is either?"

"I know what a guild is, moron. I'm asking you why you have a guild stamp. There's no such thing as a guild that has emblems."

"What?" A bad feeling began forming in the pit of his stomach. As far as he knew every country in Earth Land ran wizard guilds that had their own insignia. Some guilds like Fairy Tail were recognizable just by the mark. "What do you mean you've never heard of a guild with a stamp?"

"Exactly that. This whole world operates on a single system for all guilds. A guild stamp like that doesn't exist."

"This whole world?" Gray's mind went blank. That sentence simply didn't register. How can the whole world operate on a single system if a few minutes ago he was in a single guild? He felt his heart drop in his stomach as a certain thought occurred to him. "Are we in…Earth Land?"

Aino gave him a look like he just grew a second head. "Earth Land?"

Heart stopping wasn't an accurate description. It was more like his heart stopped and then was cut into tiny pieces and finally thrown to a stray cat for an afternoon snack. If this wasn't Earth Land, and it couldn't be Edolas because she would have heard of Earth Land…where the hell was he?

"Hey, Gray…are you okay?"

"Huh?" He looked into Aino's eyes and saw worry in the bright green orbs. She wasn't being indifferent like he would have expected her to be. Maybe it was because he stopped breathing for a second and she didn't want to deal with a dead body, but at least she sounded concerned. "I'm fine, it's just…Are we in a different dimension?"

"If you're talking about your Earth Land, that's not here. So for me this isn't a different dimension, you're the stranger here." There's the uncaring attitude. "But this word is called Arian. If it's a different dimension you're looking for I know someone who may know a thing or two about it."

…

He felt like a kid in a candy store.

He got distracted by anything and everything. Sure, there were some things that were just like Magnolia. The buildings were generally the same and so were the cobblestone streets. All the people looked like people, no weird mutations or other oddities about them. At first glance it could easily pass for a town in Earth Land.

Minus, a few exceptions.

He had seen plenty of weird creatures in his life. Take Happy for instance. He's a flying talking blue cat. But the Exceeds were basically the only pet he'd seen people have that weren't "normal." But now there were more weird animals like Happy than he could describe. Cats were mixed with reptiles and reptiles with birds. It just didn't seem possible. Then there was the-

"Gray, if you don't stop lollygagging I swear I'm going to leave your ass in the middle of the street and you can find this guy on your own."

"Geez, I'm coming."

Aino was giving him a glare similar to what Erza would give someone when they threaten to eat her strawberry cake. Now he knew, don't keep her waiting. Aino moved swiftly down the busy streets with the ice mage close behind her. After walking for a few blocks she stopped in front of a tall grey stone tower with a simple wooden door as an entrance. She practically kicked the door in on its rusty hinges and it swung slowly open. Sunlight flooded the dark inside and she entered, gesturing for Gray to follow her. A spiral staircase led upwards with unnecessary twist and turns thrown in the structure for whatever reason he couldn't think of. He took one last deep breath before ascending the stairs.

A heavy door with elaborate metal work was at the top of the stairs. A hasty written 'do not disturb' sign was posted across the wood and even from outside he could hear the sounds of thuds and glass breaking from inside. Gray reached out and grasped the door handle and rusty came off in his palm. "Umm, excuse me," the ice mage opened the door hesitantly. Books were stacked in towers and some stacks leaned together and formed forts. Whoever lived here made Levy look like a light reader. Papers were scattered about and had the same messy handwriting as on the door scrawled upon them. "I was told you may be able to help me-"

His dark blue eyes widened as a glass vial came flying towards his face. Gray dodged to the side and the glass container flew past him and smashed into a thousand pieces against a nearby wall. A red liquid seeped out from the vial and spread across the wall it just collided with. Smoke rose up from the liquid and a hole started to burn through the stone. Geez, if that had hit him he would have half a face by now.

"WHAT?! What do you want?!"

An elderly man who must have been around Master Makarov's age came out from behind one of the stacks of books. Wispy dark grey hair covered his head and a hefty cloak weighted down his shoulders. Thick rim glasses covered his cloudy orbs and the eyes behind them sent Gray a displeased glare.

"I was told you may know something about differ-"

"No, now go away."

"I didn't even ask my question." Gray mumbled.

The old man spun around and walked away from him. "Sorry about that. He's a little senile." Aino came up behind him, giving him an apologetic smile. "Hey old man!" The elderly adult spared the two of them another glance. "Can you give us a minute? It's for a good cause. You'll find this interesting."

"What is it Aino, and why did you bring a spy here?"

"He's not a spy. Herman, this is Gray."

"Hmm," Herman approached the ice mage and gave him a quick glance over. "Interesting specimen, is he for experimentation?"

"No!" Gray answered before anyone else could. "Look, I was told you may know something about different dimensions. I really need to get back to one."

"Back to?" Herman blinked his cloudy eyes. "Tell me, fine creature, where do you hail from?"

Gray took a step back from the old man who was way too close to his personal space. "Earth Land, now if you can help me get ba-"

"Can't do it."

"What?"

Herman walked away from him and opened up a dusty tome that was sitting atop one stack of novels. "Holes in the dimensions have been closed off. There is no going back."

With that the elderly man began reading and disregarded both of the company in the room. He acted casually like he just spoke about the weather. Not about a serious problem. Gray kept silent as the man ignored him. Can't get back. That can't be true. Fairy Tail wasn't here, so he wasn't supposed to be here. "Umm," Gray tried getting the matured man's attention. "There must be a mistake. I'm sure there must be some way to-"

"Nope." The senile old man picked up the book he was reading and sent it flying towards Gray's head. "The world of Arian started adventuring into other worlds a few decades ago. After to many failures and fatalities in other lands they stopped exploration. They closed up any portals between worlds a long time ago. I think another world tried something similar, anima or some sort of magic like it. Speaking of which, anima only worked because it was being sent to a parallel universe. Dimensions are different. There's no one who's an opposite of you in a dimension like in a parallel universe. "

The old man continued his babbling, spilling out all his knowledge on the subject like he never lost interest. "But that can't be right. I just came thru one. A portal that is."

"A few were left open years ago. They close on their own. Used one time and that's it."

"Can't we just open up another por-"

"Poppycock!" Herman bent down and grabbed a book from the bottom of the stack, causing all the ones on top to fall down. "Trying to form a portal would take almost every wizard on the continent, and you can't just stumble onto one as you did earlier. The portals were left open in other dimensions, not this one. You got a one-way ticket."

Gray's breath caught in his throat. Was this some sort of sick joke? No opposites either, which meant no Fairy Tail or anyone similar to his friends. "You don't understand. I have to get back home."

"YOUNG MAN!" Gray flinched as the old man approached him. Herman walked up to him slowly and had a lethal look in his eye. The senior walked up to him only to move past him and pick up the book he had thrown earlier. "Did you throw this book here? Guest should respect my property more. Or help me make a functional toxin. If you do anything else do one of those two."

"Time to go," Aino placed her hand on the raven's shoulder. "When he starts speaking of poison that usually means he begins setting fire to miscellaneous objects next. You don't want to stick around to find what he does after that."

She gave him a small tug and the two of them began heading towards the door. "He's kidding…right? I can't actually be stuck here."

Aino was silent as she led him down the spiraling staircase. "He's not babbling on about nothing," she began slowly. "Believe it or not, that man used to be one of the Great Three. That is, the three most powerful wizards in Arian. He had his moments but when he talks about any serious topic involving magic his mind becomes clear. So everything he just said…"

"Is absolutely true." Gray finished for her. "So I'm forever stuck in this world and will never return back home."

"Welcome to town."

…

"Who's the poor slob?"

"Hmm," Aino glanced over to where one of the old barmaids motioned to. Gray was slumped over at the bar, his head held in his arms and a large mug of beer next to him. After they left old Herman's place she had brought him to the local guild to rest his spirits. She had offered to pay for a drink for him and it didn't take much for the ice mage to let her, and the guy was going to indulge. He must have gone through three glasses of ale already and wasn't slowing. Not like she could blame him. The poor guy just had his whole life flip upside down. Alcohol must be a pretty tempting offer right now. "He goes by Gray. He seems well enough. Just had a hard day is all."

"Why don't you go cheer him up?"

"I'm not exactly the cheeriest person alive." The barmaid gave her a stern look that said 'no arguing' and 'do it or else,' which, believe it or not, was a very real threat coming from the elderly barmaid at the guild. Aino gritted her teeth in frustration. "Fine." She hopped up from her chair and made her way to the bummed out raven.

Gray had his head down, contemplating everything he had every done in his life to deserve this. It hadn't even been a full day and he was already tremendously homesick. He missed Lucy's joviality, he missed bickering with Natsu, he missed Erza's punishment, heck he even missed all the perverted old men back at the guild building.

A light tap on his shoulder snapped him out of his wallowing in self-pity. He lazily glanced up and saw Aino looking at him with concern. "Ya know, if you sit like that you're going to get a bad back."

"I think that's the least of my worries." The ice mage picked up his mug and took a long sip of beer, savoring the bitter taste.

"I hate to bother you while you're in misery, but apparently I'm on the welcoming committee. So tell me," Aino pulled up a barstool and plopped down next to him. "What are your plans now?"

Gray blinked at her. "Plans?"

"Are you going to ignore the part about getting home being impossible, or are you staying?"

"Plans…" Gray set his mug down and rubbed his temple wearily. "Earlier the insane guy said it would take every wizard on the continent to form a portal…is that to unrealistic?"

"Maybe just a bit."

Gray let out a groan and dropped his head on the counter with a 'thud.' There goes Plan A. "I guess I have no choice then…"

Aino rubbed his back soothingly, she didn't seem like it, but she had her soft side. "Perk up buttercup. Things may seem as bleak as your name but it'll get better."

"Did you just insult me in a joyful manner?"

"Yes, but I did it with good intentions."

"You're impossible."

"I try to be." Aino watched the ice mage in silence for a moment. Gray mumbled something under his breath that she just couldn't catch. "What was that?"

"What's on your arm?" He pointed to the bright red s on her upper right arm. "You asked me what my guild stamp was. Now I'm asking you, and why does everyone else have one if it's not a guild stamp?"

"It's a wizard emblem. Slightly different from your guild emblem."

"How so?"

"Well, you remember when I said this world operates on a single system." A nod. "Basically it means a wizard can walk into any guild building to get a job, that way they don't have to travel all the way back home if they want to go on another job, they can just go. Which actually makes a lot of sense considering a lot of young wizards tend to be nomadic. The emblem looks the same everywhere to prove they're a wizard. The only thing different is color, that shows what rank you are."

"Rank?"

"Did your guild use something called S-Class?"

"We did, my friend was S-Class."

"Well if the emblem is red like mine that means they're S-Class. From lowest to highest it's yellow, blue, green, and then red. After that a wizard gets a second S and that one marks what rank they are between S-Class and SS-Class. The highest rank would be two red S's."

"Hmm," Gray took another sip of his ale. He hated to admit it, but the magic system here made a lot more sense. The only problem was… "So if a lot of wizards are nomadic, I guess guild members aren't exactly family."

"Probably not as many as there are from where you're from. But some wizards tend to live in a single town and do their work based off of missions from there. I myself do that along with a few others here. It's more like a small family surrounded by people who come and go. On the bright side, we never have to worry about wars between guilds."

"Well, you got me there." Gray took a moment to reminisce about the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord that happened a while back. In retrospect, two powerful guilds fighting wasn't the best idea. "Rank…that sounds like a challenge."

Aino gave the other a charming smile. "I know that face you just got. That's the face of a wizard with a goal."

"Well I do plan on getting back home, but that's going to take a while…maybe a long while. Might as well have something to do while I'm at it."

"Alright, we'll have you initiated into the system tomorrow. What magic do you use anyway?"

"Ice make."

"Hmm, I believe I need to challenge you to a duel."

"Me against an S-Class wizard. Somehow that doesn't seem like a good idea, maybe tomorrow, when I'm not so full of booze. Now tell me," Gray looked her in her emerald green eyes. "What magic do you use?"

"Energy magic. I know it sounds pretty lame, but it's a lot better than it sounds."

"How does it work?"

"Basically there's energy floating around in every little thing, from a shadow to a lit candle. I can collect that and use it in my favor."

"Collect? So it's not there anymore."

"Correct, watch," Gray watched as Aino moved his hand over him then over the shadow he was casting. The shadow lifted up and swirled around into an orb, before finally settling atop her hand. "Tada."

"I don't have a shadow anymore…"

"Ah, you will eventually."

"Should that even be possible?"

Aino shrugged. "It's magic, anything's possible with a little effort."

"True." Gray gave her a warm smile, his first since he first landed in this crazy world wide nut house. It was nice to have at least someone to talk to. Aino returned the smile, a real genuine smile. It was almost allur-

"Would you two just kiss already?!"

Both mages bolted up at the comment. One of the barmaids was giving them an impatient look that read 'I swear, I work here all day and nothing exciting happens, fix that.' It was almost the same look Mira sometimes gave people when she was in her mischievous mood.

Both Aino and Gray backed up from each other and averted their gazes. Though if they hadn't, maybe they would have noticed the soft pink blush coating both of their faces.

Okay, that's it for now. If you have any questions because that may have been confusing just let me know. Thanks for reading!