I know, I know. This is way past overdue. I'm so sorry.

It was my homework, I swear, and the lousy Internet connection.

Or it could also be my lazy arse.

. . . Let's pretend it's the homework and Internet, shall we?

Chapter 2 was edited a bit; I squeezed in a teeny tiny fight scene for wingedmercury and I (tried) to clarify how future Lucy managed to get to present Lucy's time — and dx/dt, it wasn't a Vulcan mind-meld because I have no idea what it is. Teehee. Sorry.

Forbidden-Hanyou, I shall be waiting for your trailer. ;D

missmelon12 has also raised a good question — if there will be any pairings or not. Now, I was originally intending to make a pure friendship story. BUT. I will set up a poll soon, so if you want a pairing, vooooteee! :3

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed / put this story on alerts / favorites,you make me happy!

Chapter Three.

Lucy's mouth felt dry as she finished recounting the events that unfolded to the rest of the guild. Mages from Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale were there too, as Makarov had proposed a temporary alliance to fend off a common enemy, and as Makarov pointed out, the more mages the better to defend themselves. As Lucy finished, a hubbub rose as everyone demanded to know what in the world is going on.

"That's impossible! Five years from the future and back here —"

"The Staff is missing, Master, how can we find it?"

"What are we going to do?"

After several ineffectual attempts at quieting everyone down, Makarov literally swelled to fill up the entire guild and roared, "We are going to find this Staff before our enemies, and we will show them that our guilds are not to be underestimated! Now all you mages, QUIET DOWN."

Then he lifted his foot off a very flat-looking Natsu squished on the guild floor and promptly shrank back to proper size. "Now, Lucy," he continued as if nothing happened. "Choose a team to go with you and retrieve the Staff."

Lucy eyed them all nervously. "Team, Master? You mean, you're not coming?"

"With our doom coming three months away, Lucy, the rest of us will stay and do what we can to hold our enemies at bay. We'll need to rack up on our guild defenses."

Another outcry rose among the mages of Fairy Tail, with screams of "I wanna come along!" and was promptly quieted down by Makarov glowering at them.

Lucy blinked. "Oh. Right. Well . . ."

"Yes! I knew you'd pick me, Luce! We're a team after all, aren't we?" Natsu had somehow managed to peel himself off the floor and fist-pumped the air.

Lucy groaned. "I haven't even . . . Oh well. I suppose . . ."

Then he stopped fist-pumping and looked around. "And Happy too."

From behind Natsu, Mira clamped a hand over Happy's mouth and yanked his tail back, then hid Happy under an empty barrel, successfully stopping the blue cat from flying over to Natsu and volunteering for the quest. A muffled "Mira-chaaaaaaaaan!" was heard from inside the barrel.

Mira shook her head. "Master wants Happy to stay."

Natsu turned to Makarov and pleaded, "Old man, Happy's coming too, right?"

"No. Happy stays." Makarov growled.

"But . . ."

"No objections!"

"But — !"

"NO OBJECTIONS!"

Happy, who was apparently listening in to their conversation, appealed to Mira. "Mira-chan, why?"

"We'll need as many members as possible to help out with the guild defenses. Besides, you won't be able to help them much," Makarov grunted. "You stay."

A thump was heard from inside the barrel, followed by an agonized wail from the poor cat.

Gray studiously ignored the blue cat. "If the idiot's going, then I'm coming too. There's no way he can beat me," he volunteered.

"Yeah? Well I bet I can kill more monsters than you!" Natsu seemed to perk up after the challenge.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, hothead!"

"If these two are coming, someone ought to keep them in line." Erza brandished a sword and gave Gray and Natsu a pointed look while they melted.

Lucy smiled gratefully at her friends. "So that's four. Anyone else?"

Levy bounced from behind Wakaba and chirped, "I'm coming too, Lu-chan! I have the most knowledge about the Staff than anyone here!"

"Thanks, Levy-chan. We have a five-man team, so I suppose that's enough. When do we leave, Master?"

Makarov scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We can't afford to waste any time, so the five of you will be going tomorrow. That should be enough time to prepare."

Lucy wasn't sure she could fit her entire wardrobe in a suitcase for tomorrow, but the future of the world was at stake after all, so she nodded while Erza and Gray agreed as well. "Tomorrow it is."

"Oh yeah! Some action at last! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, Luce!" A stray flame singed Lucy's hair, and Natsu quickly apologized. "Oops. Sorry 'bout that."

"Sorry? Sorry?" Lucy spluttered incoherently for a while, then shut her mouth and a devious glint lit up her eyes. "You do know we're taking the train, Natsu?"

Beside her, Natsu died.

Tomorrow morning dawned bright and early, and if Lucy wasn't on a quest to save Fiore, she would have whined at the prospect of getting up at seven on a weekend. As it was a quest to save the world, she forced herself to get up and take a shower. She dragged her small bag of personal belongings — because Master had insisted that the team should travel light, they could buy whatever they wanted to on the way — to Fairy Tail.

Strolling into the guild, Lucy noticed the gloomy aura that most of the members radiated. Most were depressed because they didn't get to come along.

Lucy spotted Erza, Levy, and Gray sitting at the bar, chatting with Mira and Makarov. Natsu was nowhere to be seen — late as usual, Lucy supposed. That, or he chickened out at the prospect of riding a train. She joined them at the bar, murmured a "good morning" and quickly picked up on the conversation.

"Where do we start, Master?" Erza inquired.

Makarov tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "The Staff disappeared a few years ago for mysterious reasons. However, as Levy here seems to be the most knowledgeable . . . do you have an answer, Levy?"

Said blue-haired girl flipped through a notebook. "Well . . . last night I tried to find out as much as I could about the Staff. All the relevant information is compiled here —," Levy pointed to the notebook, filled with paragraphs and paragraphs of her handwriting, "and according to my research, the last person who tried to use the Staff was . . . Ryuu Uchida, in Hargeon Town."

"Well, we've got our first destination, at least. We'll get some pointers from the Uchida dude," Gray said.

"Levy. When you said he was the last person who tried to use the Staff . . . what did you mean?" Erza asked.

"Well . . ." Levy gulped nervously, "Ryuu didn't understand how to properly use the Staff. As a result . . . he went insane."

Cries of "What? Insane?" echoed through the bar.

"On second thought, maybe we shouldn't go to Hargeon. I mean, an old crazy man . . . we wouldn't want to disrupt his peace, would we?" Lucy laughed nervously.

"But Lu-chan, he's the only one we can go to! Who else knows where the Staff went besides the person who used it last?"

"He's crazy, you said so yourself, Levy-chan! How are we supposed to get information out of him?"

Erza stepped in before the argument could go on. "I agree with Levy. Uchida is our only starting point. We have no choice."

"Hargeon Town it is, then. Sorry, Lucy, but you're outvoted." Gray snickered.

Lucy moaned and cursed her luck.

At that moment, a blur of pink hair zoomed next to Lucy and plopped down on a spare chair.

"What did I miss?" An overly excited Natsu shouted.

Lucy figured she would make the most of the moment. "We're going to Hargeon Town, Natsu — so bring a puke bag along."

Natsu turned green.

"Maybe we should bring Wendy-chan along, Master, she'd be very helpful in dealing with Natsu's motion sickness," Levy quipped in while Gray laughed at his rival's misery.

Natsu brightened up considerably, and their five-man team expanded to six members.

I promise I'll put some action in the next chapter.

Asdfghjlk I can't seem to get motivated with this chapter. I'm sorry.

Review please!

-- TheAliensDidIt