Author's Note: Hey guys! Xae here, and um, well, here is Chapter One. Enjoy! (or not :P)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima owns it.

Chapter One: Earth Tremors

"Mirajane! More beer here, please!" Macao called out across the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.

"Okay, coming right up!" Mirajane called back cheerily over the chaotic noise in the guild. In fact, the guild was always in an uproar.

"What did you say, Ice Head?"

"You heard me, Flame Face!"

"Take it back! Gray!"

Natsu jumped atop one of the tables in the centre of the Guild Hall, causing it to slant to one side.

"Make me!" Gray sneered back, jumping on top of the other end of the rectangular table, rocking the table the other way.

"Well, well," Lucy sank back into her seat as her plate of spagetti slid this way and that across the table. "Let's not fight, okay? Gray, Natsu..."

"More beeeeer, Mirajane!" Came Cana's muffled voice from a corner of the room. She was chugging alcohol from a large barrel which she held with both hands. A few empty barrels lay on their sides around her. Mirajane looked up from her work, a sheepish expression on her face. "Cana, you have just drained the last of our alcohol supplies. We won't be having any until we restock at the end of this week..." Cana set down the barrel and hiccuped. "What? That won't do! I'm just getting started!" She yelled annoyedly.

"YOU'VE DONE IT NOW, SLANTY EYES!" Natsu roared. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Half the guild was scorched black. Mirajane poked her head out from behind the bar counter, holding two beer bottles, and heaved a sigh.

"Way to go, Natsu!" A blue cat hopped from one foot to the other on the table. "Some more!"

"Happy! You are supposed to be stopping them, not encouraging them!" Lucy groaned, exasperated at the cat beside her.

"Hmph! That was nothing! Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray formed a fist with his left hand and slammed it into the open palm of his right. The ice hammer smashed a nearby table and overturned two others.

"Oooohhh Gray-sama is always so cool!" Juvia gushed, peeking at Gray from behind a pillar. "Juvia loves Gray-sama!"

"Yeah, yeah, you've said that about a million times already." Gajeel grunted, stuffing his face with the cooking utensils from the back of the kitchen. Pantherlily nodded in agreement, folding his paws across his chest. "Gajeel! Stop eating all our pots and pans! At this rate, we'll go broke having to buy new equipment every other week!" Freed told him off from his seat at the bar counter. Gajeel muttered something but stopped chewing the silverware.

"Oi, Gray!" Elfman yelled at him. "If you and Natsu want to fight, be a man and do it outside the guild!" Lisanna glanced anxiously at the table she and Elfman had just been sitting at moments before. It was in splinters. "Shut up! This is between me and Natsu! The bastard stole my pants!" Gray snarled. "The hell if I want your pants, Ice Block! Like you'll even wear them anyway! You called me a thieving rat! I'll have your neck for this! Fire Dragon's- "

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" A sudden menacing aura was felt in the Guild Hall and a long, dark shadow was cast against the wall. "E-erza!" Natsu and Gray squeaked at the same time. The fiery-haired female mage stood towering over the duo. "Well?"

"G-gomenasai, Erza-san! We won't fight again!"

"Y-yeah! See? We are the best of pals!"

Natsu and Gray had their arms around each others necks and were bouncing up and down like a syncronised cheerleading squad.

CLANG! CLANG! Erza pulled their heads close to her and banged them affectionately against her breastplate armor. "Good!" She let go of them and they sunk to the ground, unconscious. Lucy forced a weak smile. "Well, I guess that was for the best..."

"Aye! That's Erza for you!" Happy exclaimed. "But, NATSUUUU!" Happy flew straight into Natsu and landed on his head. "Natsu, are you okay?" Natsu responded with an unintelligible groan. "Aye! Natsu is fine!" Happy exclaimed again.

Lucy sighed and reached out to retrieve her plate of spagetti from the opposite end of the table. She was just about to shovel a forkful into her mouth when the table suddenly sprouted the hilt of a sword. Lucy paused and looked up. She wasn't very surprised. This sort of things always happened in the guild. Fairy Tail was always wrecking one thing or another. Erza was standing beside her, her sword buried up to its hilt in the wooden table.

"Minna-san! I have something to announce!" Chattering ceased at once. Erza cleared her throat and her tone changed. "This is rather serious. I wonder if anyone has seen Master around?" She glanced at Mirajane who was behind the bar counter. Mirajane replied, "Master is out at a meeting with the other Guild Masters. He should be back in about three days' time."

Erza cursed under her breath. She turned back to face the rest of the guild. "I repeat, this is a serious matter." There was some murmuring in the room. What could possibly have happened? Lucy looked anxiously at Happy who shook his head back at her. By this time, Natsu and Gray were coming back to their senses and sitting up, staying as far away from each other as possible. All eyes were on Erza. "There are some earth tremors occuring in Oak Town, a distance away from Magnolia. I heard about them on my way back from a job. They are quite bad; labour in the fields had to be put to a stop, as it was potentially dangerous to work in such conditions, with small fissures appearing in unpredictable places. This phenomenon is definitely not natural. It must be some form of magic. It might be dangerous to go alone, so I wanted to return to let you all know where I will be heading. I want Natsu and Gray to follow me. Lucy, you too." Erza added.

"M-me?" Lucy yelped. "Of course." Erza replied. "We're a team."

"WITH THIS GUY?" Natsu and Gray shouted at the same time. Before they could say another word, Erza glared at them and they were immediately reduced to whimpering puppies. "Any objections?" Erza asked pointedly.

"N-none," Natsu and Gray answered meekly. Lucy shook her head.

Natsu sat up straight, thought for a moment then said in a serious tone, "Oak Town... Wasn't it that place that Phantom Lord was at?" Erza nodded gravely. "That's why I am worried." She glanced at Juvia and Gajeel. They seemed not to have realised that trouble was brewing at the site of their former guild. "I didn't want to upset Juvia and Gajeel. I'll let them come in only if things get out of hand. I don't want to bring back painful memories..." For once, both Natsu and Gray agreed. They nodded solemnly.

Easing the tension, Happy cried, "Aye sir! Can Charla come along too? And Wendy?" Lucy brightened. "Yes, can we invite them to come along? The more the merrier!" Erza considered this. "It will be quite dangerous... But I suppose having more people wouldn't hurt. Wendy could help too." Happy flew around in circles. "Yay! Charla is coming with us!"

Just then, Wendy and Charla walked into the guild. "Charla~" Happy cried, "We are going on an assignment together!" Charla grumbled, "What nonsense are you spouting, cat?" Erza quickly explained the details to Wendy and Charla and they nodded, agreeing to come along.

Lucy turned to look up at Erza. "So, when do we leave?" She caught sight of Natsu and Gray glaring murderously at each other behind Erza's back.

"We leave. NOW." Erza announced proudly, pulling out a humongous packed suitcase out of nowhere. It was a good five times taller than her and four times as wide, and it was stuffed with things. It looked ike it would burst at any second. "Let's go!"

"EHHH?"

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review for me, I would greatly appreciate it :D