AN: Y'know this chapter felt a LOT shorter when I finished writing it. Anyways, remember the first 2 chapters? Yeah, we're about to revisit that next chapter.
A dull roar spread through the guild hall as the normal conversations ensued. "So," said a red-headed mage, laying her fork onto her now empty plate, "you invited your friends to come down the the guild?" Natsu nodded, excitement showing on his face. He was anticipating their arrival any moment, he couldn't wait to introduce Roxanne to his other friends. "That's nice of you. Are they mages?" She inquired once more. "Well, Roxanne is a dragon slayer, but I'm not sure about the friend she is bringing." Natsu replied, a large grin spread across his face. She nodded, leaning back into her chair. Not long after, the large wooden doors of the guild creaked open. Mostly everyone ignored it, others gave fleeting glances, as two strangers shuffled reluctantly inside.
Roxanne spotted Natsu, Lucy, and Happy sitting with a woman with bright scarlet hair. She grabbed Edwyn's arm and led him through the maze of tables and people. Eventually they made it there and sat down with the others. Natsu turned to Lucy with a small chuckle, "Her friend is that one weirdo that fell over in the diner!" Lucy gave him a quick jab with her elbow "Natsu that's rude!" The blonde mage turned to Edwyn, "I'm sorry about him, he tends to talk without thinking. Anyways, I'm Lucy!" She outstretched her hand to shake his. They shook hands then Natsu offered his hand, "I'm Natsu!" he said with a large, carefree, grin. Edwyn shook his hand also. "Don't forget about me!" Said the same blue cat he saw at the diner. "Oh, and this is my best friend Happy!" Natsu said. "Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed while jumping. Realizng he hadn't given his name, Edwyn introduced himself to the mages sitting around the table. Lastly, they came to the red-headed woman at the end of the table. The S-class mage introduced herself, "I'm Erza," she said with a small smile, "nice to meet you."
They spent a while talking, Edwyn enjoyed the friendly company. They discussed general things mostly, but got onto the subject of magic. They talked about what magic they used and other, less interesting things. It never really occurred to Edwyn, or even Roxanne, for that matter, that they were speaking to some of the most famous, powerful mages in Fiore. Not just speaking to them, but having a conversation as just continued talking, laughing, and having a good time. They went through quite a lot of things, from funny stories to magic. They eventually made it to guilds quite a while into the conversation. "So, are you guys a part of a guild?" Natsu asked. Both Edwyn and Roxanne shook their heads no. This caused the pink-haired dragon slayer to stop and think. All was quiet at the table for what was only a few seconds. Finally he spoke up, "You guys should join Fairy Tail!" Taken aback by his invitation Edwyn and Roxanne stayed silent. It made no sense, meeting these people by chance, then suddenly being told by a mage from Fiore's top guild that they should join.
Roxanne was the first to speak, "Are you sure?" she asked surprise obvious in her voice. Natsu nodded with pure certainty, Erza and Lucy voicing their agreement. "If you want to." said Lucy. Erza told Roxanne and Edwyn, "If you decide to join," she said, beginning to point to a short, old man on the bar, " go ask him, he is our Guild Master. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to allow you to join, but if he hesitates tell him that we suggested you join." The two mages nodded. Edwyn looked to Roxanne and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" She nodded and stood up, leading him to an area off to the side, out of hearing distance of a certain nosy dragon slayer. "Should we?" he asked bluntly. "I think we should, the people here are friendly and we BOTH need a place to stay. I know that whatever money you're running on will become scarce soon. We can do jobs here and make money to have actual homes. We'd be able to actually buy food and clothes. I know that affects me really, I never had anything after escaping the dark guild, but I don't wanna join without you."
Edwyn thought this over, he wasn't sure still, but Roxanne wouldn't join without him. Who was he to deny her happiness and friends. Not caring what the future might yeild due to his choice, he nodded. "Alright then, let's do it" he said smiling. They walked back towards the table, but did not sit down. They walked past the table and towards the bar. Taking a deep breath before speaking, Roxanne opened her mouth to ask, when Edwyn did instead. He noticed her nervousness and decided to ask in her place. "Excuse me," Edwyn said getting the master's attention, "my friend and I would like to join your guild." The man thought for a second and smiled, replying simply, "Ok." "It's that easy?" Edwyn said, quite surprised. "It's only fair that I give you a chance," he replied, "besides I saw you talking with the others at that table. I'm Makarov, no need to introduce yourselves, I'm sure I'll come to know you two in due time." He then turned, "Mirajane," he called, "we have new members. Give them their marks." The beautiful white-haired mage nodded, and pulled out the stamp and asked Edwyn first, "Where do you want your mark?" He thought for a second and pointed to his neck, slightly above where the shoulder meets the neck, saying, "Right here." She quickly gave him a mark and turned to Roxanne saying cheerily, "Your turn." She thought for a second and rolled the sleeves of her jacket up a bit and pointed just below her wrist on her forearm. Mirajane quickly marked her too. "Welcome to the guild!" Mirajane exclaimed cheerily, " If you need help or advice ask anyone around here. I'm sure theyed gladly help."
Roxanne and Edwyn talked for a minute or two with Mirajane, before returning to the table with Lucy, Natsu, and Erza. They showed their marks proudly to the mages at the table before them. They congratulated the two and quickly got back to talking. Erza spent a bit telling them about jobs, how to choose them, and also S-Class missions. Soon after quite a few of the guild members came up to introduce themselves to the new mages. Once the people stopped coming by so often, Edwyn stood up about to take his leave. He exchanged goodbyes with everyone, but was stopped by Roxanne. "Meet me in the park later." she said quickly before he left.
Edwyn left the guild and began making his way through the streets towards the inn. He noticed people stopping every now and then and looking at the mark on his neck. Whispers passed between people discussing the new Fairy Tail mage. Every now and then he caught what they were saying, most were speculating about his strength and what magic he used. He found his way to the inn and upon entering, heard the woman behind the main desk say, "So, you said you weren't in town to try and join Fairy Tail, yet here you are, bearing their mark on your neck." "I didn't come here to join," he explained, somewhat of a harsh tone crept into his voice, "I don't know how I ended up joining anyways. It was pretty sudden." The harshness in his voice didn't bother her at all, "Fate has a strange way of making things happen." she commented, not entirely directed towards Edwyn. He nodded silently in agreement. He slipped into his room and laid down for a quick nap.
Edwyn woke up, the moon was just coming up. He stood up and got ready, then left the inn. He began walking towards the park, still noticing people milling about busily on the streets as if it were broad daylight. He got there and spotted Roxanne sitting in the same bench he waited for her in the same morning. "Hey." he said as he sat next to her. "So," he said noticing the new clothes she was wearing, "where'd you get those?" "Lucy, Levy and I went shopping." she explained, looking down at what she was wearing. It was a black and blue tanktop, new navy blue jeans, and around her waste she had tied her jean-jacket. "Who's Levy?" Edwyn asked. Roxanne, simply stated, "I'll introduce you two tomorrow. Anyways, I was going to ask if you'd be willing to help me on a job tomorrow, we'll split the money. I was needing the money so I could get an apartment of my own. Lucy said she'd let me stay until I had the money to pay rent for an apartment." Edwyn smiled, "Sure, sounds like fun." They talked a bit longer, before each agreed it was getting late. Edwyn stood up to go and before she left Roxanne gave him a quick hug before running off. Raising an eyebrow he turned to walk back to the inn when everything went black.
It had been two hours since the time Roxanne said she'd be at Lucy's apartment. She was a bit worried, but decided to wait a little longer. She sat on the couch hoping that any time there'd be a knock on the door. It was pretty silent until she heard a sliding and a muffled thump. She looked into her room, only to see Natsu standing up after jumping in through the open window. Natsu, quick to see the worry on her face, asked before she could say anything, "What's wrong Luce?" She was a bit surprised that he knew something was wrong, and told him, "Roxanne is almost three hours late. I dont know why I'm so worried, but something doesn't feel right." The dragon slayer thought for a moment, the gears in his head working, and suggested "Well, I know her scent well enough I think. I can help you look." Lucy nodded, "Okay, meet me outside, I'll be out in a second." She quickly got ready and met Natsu outside. Without a word, Natsu began walking on some invisble trail, eventually he made his way to the park. He stopped walking and turned to Lucy, "Her scent stops here." he said, somewhat confused. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Mhmm, I also smell Edwyn somewhere around here, but his scent suddenly vanishes too. It's late, we can begin a bigger search tomorrow with the rest of the guild." he said, a bit of worry in his voice. Lucy nodded and headed back to her apartment.