A/N: Hey Guys! Insanelee here and I'm back with another chapter for the Dragon's Regret! I'm posting chapters rapidly because I haven't been updating in a while and I got some reviews that said that I should update soon. For being such faithful fans of my first work, I'm going to attempt to update as much as I can. School's gonna start for me pretty soon, so I better get started.
I have also created a twitter account. If you want to be kept up to date with my story and what not, follow me at InsaneleeFFnet. I'll be tweeting about when I'm going to update, what story I'm updating, when I'll post a new chapter, and hints about what the chapter will be about.
Without further ado, I gave you Chapter 6.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.
Text - General
Text – Spell Names
Text - Flashback and Narrator
'Text' – Thoughts
"Text" – Dialogue
July 3, X784, Era
Currently in Era, a meeting involving the Magic Council was underway. They are discussing the destructive tendencies of Fairy Tail, and Gray's recent activities in Hargeon. The nine members of the council gathered in their private meeting room, standing over a giant blue magic seal.
"Those idiots from Fairy Tail have done it again!" A council member angrily stated. "They destroyed half a port!"
"Honestly, now" Another member said. A blue haired member of the council chuckled at the situation.
"Hmph, I'm actually rather fond of those fools, to be quite honest." He commented. The council member next to him, a short old man, agreed with his opinion.
"Yes, while they may be rambunctious, they proved themselves to be a very capable lot." The old man voiced his opinion.
"They certainly are a handful" another member stated.
"Let them be" The blue haired man started, "The world would be a dull place without people like them."
"Here we are!" Gray announced, dropping his bags and spreading his arms wide. Lucy stared at the building in front of her in happiness and disbelief. She was here. She was actually here.
"Aye! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Happy announced, flying in front of the doors to the Guild. Lucy was filling up with excitement. She couldn't wait to go inside and meet everyone!
"Wow… It's even better than I thought…." Lucy trailed off, still not in belief that she was about to enter the Guild of her dreams! "It looks so much cooler in person…" Lucy said, admiring the building. The building where all of the mages who performed their crazy antics that were reported on Sorcerer Magazine gathered was right in front of her. She was tearing up when she realized her dream came true.
"Well then, let's go!" Gray said as he opened the door. Actually, the term "kicking the door open" is more appropriate. He kicked the door open, and announced his return.
Chapter 6: Introductions
break
"I'm back!" Gray shouted.
"We're back!" Happy shouted. As soon as the door was kicked open and the two announced their return, all eyes in the building were focused on them.
"Welcome back!"
"Hey!"
"Wow!" Lucy stepped inside and admired the mages that were present.
Everyone in the Guild greeted them. Lucy noticed that everyone looked happy that the two were back, and they looked even happier when they saw her. However, she also noticed that everyone looked… disappointed for some reason. Did they not like her? Did she not meet the standard of Fairy Tail? Was she going to be rejected? All of these thoughts ran through her mind, but before she could worry herself any further, Gray surprised her when he greeted one of his guildmates.
"You really went all out this time! I heard Hargeon was-"A bucktoothed member of Fairy Tail was talking to Gray about his misadventures in Hargeon when Gray suddenly kicked him in the face, making him crash into a table.
"You lying asshole!" Gray angrily shouted as Lucy looked on in shock and confusion. Gray had attacked a fellow guildmate. Weren't they supposed to be friends?
"Why…?!" Lucy shouted in confusion. Gray raised his fist in a threatening manner and shouted at his guildmate.
"Your info on the Salamander was wrong!" His guildmate got up from the rubble and angrily shouted at Gray.
"Don't blame me! I was just passing on a rumor I heard!" He countered.
"That was a rumor?!" Gray shouted in disbelief. Lucy only stood in disbelief. She didn't know how to make of the situation.
"You wanna fight?!" At this, Gray immediately punched his guildmate again, sending him crashing into other tables with other people, making them fly as well. Happy just stood on a table, unaffected by Gray's actions, and went to calm him down.
"Now now" Happy started, waving his paw up and down in the air, "Gray I think that's enough-" A flying body crashed into Happy and Happy flew off the table. Eventually, everyone in the Guild started fighting in each other. Instead of being worried for her safety, Lucy stood there, admiring the Guild's legendary rambunctiousness.
"Wow! I'm really here… in Fairy Tail!" While everyone was fighting, Lucy took the time to look around the building, and found some interesting members that weren't fighting.
"You're back for two minutes and you're already starting a fight" Lucy saw a beautiful woman sitting in a bar stool with a glass of wine in her hands.
This woman is Cana Alberona – Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker
She had long flowing brown hair that almost reached her waist, wearing a light blue bikini top, brown pants that stopped at her calves, and high heeled sandals.
"This is why I can't stand the men here, they all have no class." She proceeded to pick up a barrel of sake and chug it, much to the surprise of Lucy. She wanted to say something, but the loud footsteps of an approaching figure stopped her. She turned around and she saw a very large, threatening looking man. He had spiky white hair, a scar over his right eye, wearing dark blue pants and a dark blue jacket, and geta sandals with explained the loud footsteps.
"It's only noon and you guys are already whining and crying? You guys aren't kids you know."
This man is Elfman Strauss, a musclebrain mage who solves every problem with his two fists.
"Real men talk with their fists!" Elfman announced as he raised his fist in the air. Lucy sighed in exasperation at Elfman's strange personality.
"He's encouraging them to fight…" Gray saw Elfman and smirked in excitement.
"Elfman, fight me!" Gray shouted to him. Elfman turned to him with an uninterested look in his eyes.
"Hmph. Real men fight with clothes on." Elfman said, annoying Gray. His eye twitched rapidly as he ran up to Elfman and delivered a solid punch to him, sending him flying, much to the surprise of Lucy once again.
"Mind your own business!" Gray shouted to Elfman as he punched him.
"He's knocked out just like that?!" Lucy shouted in shock. The big scary looking mage was defeated by Gray in one hit. Maybe he isn't that strong after all? As Lucy began to collect her thoughts, a voice from behind brought her out of her reprieve.
"Ugh, how noisy."
"Ne, Loke…"
Lucy turned around to find a man sitting at a table with a woman on both of his sides, his arms draping over their shoulders.
This man is Loke, one of the highest ranking mages on the "most desired bachelor mages" list.
He had a sparkly look to him, which both enticed and creeped Lucy. He had short, spiky orange hair, wore a green coat with fur on the collar, an orange shirt, black pants and white sneakers. He also had a pair of sunglasses on him. He gave a smile to Lucy, who blushed in return. Suddenly, a mug hit Loke in the head, making his head go back, leaving a mark on his forehead. He growled in annoyance before he got up calmly, as if nothing had happened. He stood up, which made the two girls stand as well. He gave them a charming smile and a thumbs up, and spoke in a reassuring tone.
"I'm gonna join the fight! For you girls!" He smiled at them, his teeth sparkling. The women swooned over him, completely charmed by his actions.
"Good luck, Loke!"
Lucy looked on with annoyance, as she reached for a magazine and turned the pages, looking for a specific section. She reached the "Most Desired Bachelor Mages" section and found Loke at Number 2. She got a red marker and wrote a giant X over his face.
"He's off my list for sure." She closed the magazine and made an exasperated expression. "What is wrong with this Guild? There isn't one normal person here." She examined the brawl that the Guild was participating which proved her point. Everyone was fighting! She couldn't find one person, besides Cana who was drinking, that wasn't fighting.
"Ara, are you new here?"
Lucy turned to the sight of the voice and her eyes widened and a blush formed on her cheecks.
"Mirajane! It's really you!"
This woman is Mirajane Strauss, a mage whose photo spreads are featured in Sorcerer Magazine.
The woman now identified as Mirajane gave a small smile at Lucy's reaction. The beauty of Mirajane was renowned, but seeing her up close was something else. She wore a long, sleeveless maroon dress and wore her long white hair in pony tail that was in the front. Lucy snapped out of her reverie at the sudden increase in noise of the Guild brawl. She turned to Mirajane and back at the brawl and had a worried look on her face. She turned back to Mirajane and pointed at the fight.
"Sh-Shouldn't we stop them?" Lucy asked, worried for her health and for Mirajane's, the only normal person she found in the Guild. Mirajane just smiled at her reaction, expecting as much, and faced the brawl.
"They're always like this. Just leave them be." Mirajane turned back to Lucy. "Besides-"Mirajane was suddenly interrupted by Elfman, who flew by and crashed into her, sending them both crashing into a table. Lucy yelped at what just happened and looked at Mira, scared for her health. However, to her shock, Mirajane kept her smile, despite a lump forming on her head. "It's fun this way, don't you think?" Mira finished as she fell unconscious. Her soul flew out of her mouth, scaring Lucy.
"Ahhhh! Mirajane-san!" Lucy was flailing her arms frantically, not knowing what to do with the Guild's rambunctious behavior, and Mirajane's injury. Before she could worry any more, Gray crashed into her. Loke stood in front of the two triumphantly, twirling Gray's boxers with his finger. Gray looked at what Loke had and got pissed.
"Ah! My boxers!" Gray shouted while Lucy screamed and covered her eyes. Just a moment ago, Gray was fully clothed. How was it that he managed to lose all of his clothes in the blink of an eye?! She covered her eyes, not wanting to see Gray's family jewels, a heavy blush adorning her cheeks. Gray however, was unaware of how uncomfortable his state of dress was making her feel, so he casually walked up to her and sticked his hand out in front of her.
"Excuse me Lucy, can I borrow some of your underwear?" He asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Lucy reacted by grabbing an object and whacked Gray with it, sending him flying.
"As if!" She yelled as Gray and his jewels were far away from her. Just as quickly as she hit him, Loke suddenly swooped her and carried her bridal style.
"I simply can't stand how these insensitive fools act around ladies." He said as he gave her another one of his smiles. However, Elfman, who seemed to have miraculously recovered from whatever it was that hit him, suddenly punched Loke and sent him flying.
"Real men speak with their fists!" Elfman repeated as Loke screamed while flying. Gray suddenly got his boxers back on and kicked Elfman away, telling him to butt out, as Happy "Aye!"d. Over at the counter, Cana huffed in annoyance, a tick mark forming on her forehead.
"How annoying! So much for having a drink in peace." Cana then pulled out a card and a magic seal formed in front of her and the card. "You guys better knock it off!" Her preparation to use magic caused some of the other members to prepare their magic to retaliate.
"Now I'm mad!" Gray said as he positioned his hands in his trademark pose, and an icy blue magic seal formed in front of him. Elfman formed a purple magic seal in his hand and raised his arm in the air. The magic seal grew in diameter and descended down Elfman's right arm, turning it into stone. Elfman gave out a battle cry, ready to fight and prove his manliness. Loke simply grasped the ring on one of his fingers and it emitted a bright green light. A green magic seal formed in front of him.
"You guys are such a nuisance." He stated. Lucy suddenly became scared for her life, more so than what happened at Hargeon. She grabbed Happy and put him in front of her, intending to use him as a shield.
"They're gonna fight with magic?!" Lucy yelled. Happy, who had a talisman around his neck that said "Shield", looked unfazed at the escalading situation around them. He only gave his typical "Aye!" response, which did not help calm Lucy's feelings. "Don't 'Aye!' me!" she said in despair. As everyone was about to move, Lucy heard a voice that gave off a commanding and scary aura.
"What do you people think you're doing?!" She heard the voice yell in anger. Everyone suddenly tensed and got a fearful look in their eyes, which amazed Lucy that one person could stop an entire fight. Everyone looked up to the second story and found a beautiful, but angry, scarlet haired, armor wearing woman.
This woman is Erza Scarlet; her legendary strength granted her the title of 'Titania' and is one of Fairy Tail's strongest members.
"I thought I told you guys not to fight!" She yelled at them, making everyone flinch, including Lucy who was scared at how commanding she could be. "You guys are all a part of the same Guild. You guys are Nakama. You guys are like family to each other. You guys shouldn't be fighting! Families aren't supposed to fight, and yet here you are, having the audacity to use magic against each other?!" Erza reprimanded them harshly, making them feel guilty about themselves, even Lucy who hasn't done anything. Erza sighed and spoke again, "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. The Master may not care about your behavior but I do! No more fighting!" The tone in her voice left no room for arguments. Everyone immediately put their hands down, their magic seals dissipating as they did. Erza gave a gentle, genuine smile as everyone calmed down.
'She must be the Guild Master if she made everyone calm down like that!' Lucy thought frantically. She tone of voice and how she carried herself, it made sense that she would be the Guild Master. Before she could ponder further, she suddenly heard a voice, and who it came from shocked Lucy.
"Hmph. 'You guys should be ashamed of yourselves' she says. 'You shouldn't be fighting' she says. Stop talking like you're everyone's senpai!" Mira taunted. Everyone suddenly lost all the color on their faces, while Lucy looked baffled at Mira's change in demeanor. When she had entered the Guild, Mira was the one of the nicest people she had met, and that was only for a couple of minutes! Now here she was, taunting Erza with an evil smirk on her face. It scared Lucy how that gentle, serene smile of Mira's could turn into an evil and menacing smirk. She slowly backed away from whatever could happen between Erza and Mira. Speaking of Erza, a tick mark formed on her forehead and her eye twitched violently.
"Come to think of it, I've been meaning to talk to you, Mirajane." Erza said coldly, as everyone looked scared for whatever would happen. "The cheesecake that I've been saving for myself is missing from the fridge. You wouldn't happen to know where it is, do you Mirajane?" Everyone gulped and started sweating bullets at what Erza said. While normally Erza was the scariest thing that walked the earth, whenever someone messed with her cheesecake, Erza became an unspeakable horror.
"Why are you asking me?" Mira asked with a smirk. "I wouldn't eat the garbage you call food in the first place. It's too sweet, and it'll make you fat if you eat too much of it. You should know about that, right Erza? I mean I have noticed-"Mira couldn't finish her sentence as a sword flew passed her head and was stuck in the wall. Mira, instead of being scared, only smirked wider at Erza's reaction. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it. Everyone stood there, not wanting to incur the wrath of either woman. So people we're so focused that they forgot to breathe. Erza stood at the second floor, her body shaking with rage at Mira.
"That's it Mira! Fight me now!" Erza openly challenged Mira, which resulted in the unanimous reaction that went like this.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"
Everyone in the Guild was baffled at the exchange between the two women. Erza had just preached to them not to fight with each other. She made them feel like crap that they would use magic against one another and yet here she was challenging Mira to a fight.
"That's more like it! We still haven't settled our score from yesterday!" Mira said as she charged at Erza, who charged at her back. Mira kicked at Erza who responded with her own kick. The two legs met each other and the force behind the two attacks created a small shockwave that left everyone in shock. The power behind the two attacks was baffling. Lucy looked on in fear and amazement. She was scared what damage these two women could inflict on the Guild. Mirajane who was known as the 'Demon' and Erza Scarlet the 'Titania' who managed to silence the Guild singlehandedly, were duking it out in the Guild. On the other hand, she admired the strength of the model Mirajane and Erza who wasn't the Guild Master, but had the heart of one. Mira kicked Erza, which sent her flying into Gray who crashed into Elfman. Needless to say, the brawl had restarted, and Erza ignored it just to settle a personal score with Mira. Lucy, haven gotten used to the Guild's love of fighting, laughed at the situation while still mildly fearing for her safety. She decided to hide behind a counter but not before a voice called out to her.
"Are you new here?" The voice asked, making Lucy jump in fright. She searched for the source of the voice and found a short old man sitting cross legged on the counter, casually sitting his mug of beer. He also seemed unusually calm about the ongoing violence which interested Lucy. He turned to her and gave her an expectant glare, waiting to hear Lucy's answer. She realized why he was looking at her like that and blushed in embarrassment.
"Uh, y-yes I am." She replied nervously. The glare he was giving her gave off an aura of experience and unyielding strength. He laughed at her nervousness, which only made Lucy more nervous.
"Don't be so nervous, I'm not going to hurt you" He replied which helped calm down Lucy. However, he suddenly gave her a lecherous smile, which made her nervousness return tenfold. "I'm always accepting new members, and you would be a wonderful addition to the Guild." He said with a blush and a giggle. Lucy was so freaked out by his behavior that she smacked him the way she did with Loke. The old man fell off the counter, but quickly climbed back up. "A feisty one, I'm really starting to like you" he said with a perverted grin. Lucy was about to hit him again when she heard the Guild doors open. She noticed that no one else had heard the doors open and turned to face the person at the door. He had long, spiky, rosy hair that reached his shoulders, with bangs in the front of his face. He wore a black trench coat with a white shirt and a red v-neck collar, green pants, brown boots*, a scarf around his neck, and a travel pack over his shoulder. The most shocking feature of this man to Lucy was the scar over his right eye and a ring on his right finger. He let out a tired sigh as he evaded flying bodies and made his way toward the counter where Lucy and the old man were.
"Yo Natsu, welcome back" The old man announced as he took a sip of his beer. Lucy looked at the newcomer with wide eyes. This was the man that Gray was looking for in Hargeon?
"I'm finally back, Jiji (old man)!" Natsu said as he sat down and sprawled all over the counter. The master laughed at Natsu's expense and got a mug and filled it with beer and gave it to Natsu, much to his delight. The two drank in comfortable silence, while Lucy felt awkward that she didn't know who these two really were. "It was horrible Jiji, I had to take so many trains a freaking boat to get back!"Natsu told the old man what he had to go through to return to the Guild. Suddenly, Natsu's stomach growled. He blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head.
"Do you have any food on you Jiji?" Natsu asked, to which the old man shook his head no. Natsu sighed as he returned to his drink. As he was about to drink it, a body flew towards Natsu and crashed into him, sending both of them crashing through the counter. The flying person immediately got up and returned to the fight while Natsu was still on the ground. After a while, Natsu got up with an angry look in his eyes. The fact that he had to take so many modes of transportation made Natsu incredibly irritable. He got up from the rubble and fist was engulfed in flames, shocking Lucy.
"You guys…" Natsu muttered as he slowly walked forward. His presence still went unnoticed by the Guild. The old man grabbed Lucy by the wrist and took her somewhere, knowing what Natsu was about to do. "Cut that shit out, you dumbasses!" He screamed as he smashed his fist into the ground. The fire from his fist traveled to the ground and spread through the several cracks in the floor. The power from the fire resulted in a giant explosion that stopped the fight, while at the same time, destroying and burning everything inside the Guild. Lucy returned from the basement, the safe place where the old man took her and inspected the damage in awe. Everyone that was fighting looked dazed and finally noticed that Natsu came back. They were about to give him belated greetings but were stopped by an irate Natsu.
"What the hell is the matter with you guys?! I came back after a year of training and none of you say 'Hello' or 'Welcome back'?! And why do you guys keep fighting all the time? I can't even have a drink in peace! Look at all the damage you guys caused!" Natsu angrily yelled, which scared most of the Guild members.
"But Natsu, you-"Someone frightfully started; trying to point out that Natsu had caused the damage and not them.
"Don't talk back!" Natsu yelled at the guy. Lucy yelled in fright at Natsu's tone, which got his attention.
"Huh? You got something to say?!" Natsu asked with a comically angry look on his face. Lucy yelped and said a quick "No" when Natsu noticed that she was unfamiliar to him. He calmed down considerably and walked to the girl.
"I've never seen you around here before. Are you new here?" He asked. Lucy, noticing that Natsu wasn't angry, tried to answer his question.
"Y-yes I am" Lucy stuttered, scared of what Natsu. He inspected her, his eyes travelling up and down her figure. She quickly covered herself, feeling self-conscious about her figure before Natsu did something that shocked her. He leaned forward… and smelled her. Lucy's face turned many shades of red. He took many sniffs of her scent before Lucy realized what he was doing and smack him away, like she did many times before today. Natsu crashed into a charred wall, while Lucy angrily shouted at him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing you pervert?!" She asked indignantly. Natsu got up from the rubble and gave her an unreadable expression. Lucy's anger turned into fright, suddenly remembering Natsu's feat of strength from before. She quickly starting sending apologies to him before Natsu laughed. He laughed. Very loudly. His laugh made Lucy stop apologizing and look at him in surprise.
"You'd make a fine addition to the Guild" Natsu said as he stopped laughing. Lucy blushed at what he said. While what he said brought a smile to his face, Lucy was still angry at what Natsu did. As Natsu picked up from the rubble, a new voice was heard from the Guild doors.
"Oh my, what happened in here?" Everyone turned to the doors and found a wild haired bluenette girl, around 17 years old, staring wide eyed at the damage caused by Natsu. She inspected the charred interior of the Guild before her eyes laid on Natsu. She had a big grin on her face before she ran up and hugged Natsu as tightly as she could.
"Natsu! You're back!" The girl said as she hugged Natsu. Natsu laughed and returned the hug, spinning her in the process. The girl had her own fit of laughter while she was spinning. Eventually, Natsu stopped spinning and the two released each other from the hug.
"It's good to be back, Levy" Natsu said to the girl now identified as Levy. He turned to the rest of the Guild with a condescending look on his face. "You see guys? This is how you greet someone!" He yelled to the group, who only mumbled in response. He turned to face Levy again, before he remembered something. "Oh that's right! I got you something!" He opened his travel pack and pulled out a rather large book and gave it to Levy, much to her delight. She squealed in delight and hugged Natsu, continuously thanking him.
Shortly afterwards, the Guild cheered loudly for Natsu's return, and they all rushed towards him, giving him belated greetings. The entire Guild was celebrating the return of Natsu while Lucy stood awkwardly at the side, unsure of what to do. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a giant figure suddenly come out of nowhere and towered over the crowd of people surrounding Natsu.
"Will you guys knock it off?!" The figure bellowed.
"He's huge!" Lucy shouted, her eyes bulging out of their sockets at the sheer size of the person. Most of the Guild stopped what they were doing, but otherwise looked unfazed at the appearance of the Giant. Mira just smiled at him.
"Oh Master, you were still here?" She asked casually.
"Yeah" the giant Master replied. Lucy was shocked for the nth time today.
"Master?!" She questioned in shock. Natsu laughed at the situation, while everyone was getting away from Natsu, noticing that the Giant was raising his foot, which Natsu failed to notice.
"Hahahaha, come on Jiji I just came back, no need to get so –"Natsu couldn't finish as the Giant stepped on Natsu, making him stop talking. Lucy made a sound in fright. The giant faced Lucy, making her feel more scared than ever.
"What's your name?" The giant asked. Lucy made another sound in fright, before she answered.
"M-my name is L-Lucy Heartfilia" She replied nervously. The giant nodded before he gave a cry and began shrinking in size. Lucy had a dumbstruck look on her face, staring the shrinking giant before it turned into one of disbelief. The giant was actually the short old man from the counter!
"Nice to meet you Lucy!" The short old man politely greeted to her, raising a hand in the air.
"How small! So wait, this guy is your master?" Lucy asked. Mirajane laughed at her reaction before she answered her.
"Yep! This is Makarov-san, The current Master of Fairy Tail!" Mira formally introduced Lucy to the short old man named Makarov. Makarov turned around and performed an impressive series of aerial flips, before crashing into a banister, making his acrobatics seem less impressive than he intended. He quickly composed himself and stood on top of the charred banister that looked like it would break at any minute. He cleared his throat and looked at the Guild members with an angry and annoyed look on his face. The guild members patiently waited for what their Master had to say.
"You guys have gone and done it again!" He announced at the Guild before presenting a stack of papers to them. "Just look at how much paperwork the council has sent me this time! And it's all complaints!" Lucy looked at the stack of papers in shock. While she had known that Fairy Tail was notorious for its destructive tendencies, she never knew how badly the council reacted to it. The stack of paper in the Master's hands looked small; she had a feeling that there was more somewhere, especially because the Master had said 'this time.' The rest of the guild however, looked unfazed at the papers in the Master's hands, apparently used to the complaints sent by the council.
"All you guys ever do is get the council mad at me!" The master while shaking in what apparently was rage. The Guild members had a downcast look on their face, suddenly feel ashamed of themselves. While the complaints from the council were nothing new to them, getting the master in trouble was not their intention. Lucy looked worriedly at the Master, unsure of what he was going to do next. The Master let out a sigh before he continued.
"However…" He said as the lit the stack of papers in his hand with Fire Magic. "To hell with the council!" He shouted as he threw the burning pile at Natsu, who promptly ate it with glee. Lucy didn't notice Natsu eating fire as she was transfixed on the Master and why exactly he would go against a powerful organization like the magic council.
"Listen up! Power that surpasses reason is still born from reason. Magic is not a miraculous power. It is only realized when the flow of energy inside us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect sync! Magic comes from mental strength and focus- no, it comes from your entire soul! Worry about the eyes watching from high above and you will make no progress in the ways of magic! Don't let the fools on the council scare you! Follow the path you believe you! That's what Fairy Tail mages do!" The Master raised a finger in the air, which made everyone cheer and made them do the same thing. Lucy was amazed at the Master's words. They motivated her to do whatever she thought was right and never waver from her path, no matter anyone said to her. After everyone was done cheering, Natsu made everyone rebuild the Guild since, in his logic, they destroyed it. In the meantime, Mira had stamped a pink Fairy Tail emblem on her hand, officially making her a member of Fairy Tail! Lucy was overcome with emotion now that her dream has finally come true.
"Gray look! I got the Fairy Tail mark!"She showed her emblem to Gray. Gray smiled in response.
"Congratulations, Lucy."He congratulated her on becoming a member. L Natsu offered his congratulations too, but after only hearing her name once, he couldn't remember it, so he called her Luigi, which made her angry. Gray and Natsu were standing in front of a request board while Lucy sat on a bar stool. A request board is a bulletin board filled with jobs that people had made for mages to complete in order to get money.
"Pick one that's worth a lot of money, okay?" Happy asked the two, who nodded in response. Natsu saw a job this piqued his interest and picked it up, mostly due to the money he would get for completing it.
"Oh! 160,000 Jewels just to defeat some bandits? I'm in!" Natsu exclaimed, with Happy and Gray supporting his decision. They were about to go when they overhead a conversation between the Master and a little boy.
"Is my dad not back yet?" the little boy asked the master, who was drinking his beer. The master looked at the boy in annoyance.
"You're annoying, Romeo. You're the son of a mage, have faith in him and wait patiently at home!" The master told him, hoping to get him to quiet down.
"But he said he'd be back in three days, but it's been a week now!" The boy now identified as Romeo told the master, not able to wait any longer for his dad.
"If I remember correctly, he went on a job in Mt. Hakobe…." The master recalled, trailing off.
"That isn't that far from here! Go look for him!" Romeo yelled at the Master. Romeo had a lot of guts to yell at the Master and to tell him what to do.
"You're dad is a mage! There's no mage in this Guild that can't take care of himself! Go home and have some milk or something!" The Master yelled at the little boy, wanting him to quiet down about his dad.
"Stupidhead!" Romeo actually punched the Master in the face, before running out of the Guild in tears. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Mira were listening in to their conversation, and each one of them felt differently about what they had heard. Lucy and Mira were both worried about Romeo and his dad, while Gray and Natsu stared impassively during the entire exchange. Natsu and Gray looked at each other, understanding in their eyes, and left the Guild. Lucy looked at the two, worry laced in her eyes. She knew that they were going to try to find Romeo's dad, and she wanted to help. However, Natsu told her to stay and try to get acquainted with the Guild. Gray backed him up by saying that they wouldn't take long, and the two left the Guild. Lucy, with nothing to do, decided to follow Natsu's advice and talked to some people, hoping to get acquainted with them. She started by talking to the person near her, Mirajane.
"Ne, Mira-san, what's up with Natsu? Why is he acting like that?" She asked Mira. Mira wiped some mugs behind the counter with a sad smile before answering.
"Natsu's in the same boat as Romeo-kun" She started, making Lucy curious as to why Natsu and Romeo are similar. "You see, Natsu was abandoned by his father when he was little. He wasn't his real father, only his foster father. And a dragon at that." Mira said casually.
"Wha? A dragon? Natsu was raised by a dragon?!" Lucy exclaimed, not believing her ears. Lucy couldn't believe that Natsu was raised by a dragon. While she was about to question Mira about the existence of dragon's she vaguely remembered that when she first met Gray, he was looking for Natsu, the son of a dragon. However, she dismissed it as crazy talk because she wanted to clear her head from the
Bora incident.
"When he was little, Igneel the dragon found Natsu in a forest. He took him in and taught him all about magic, culture, and language. But, one day, Igneel suddenly disappeared. Natsu looks forward to the day that he can see Igneel again" Mira told her. Lucy could now see how Romeo and Natsu were in the same boat. Natsu was abandoned by his dad and he wasn't going to let Romeo's dad was missing. He was not going to let Romeo experience what he had. Lucy was lost in her thoughts when the empty seat next to her was taken by the blue haired girl from before.
"Hey there! Are you new?" The blue haired girl, Levy cheerful greeted Lucy. Lucy turned to the girl and greeting her with a smile.
"Yeah, my name is Lucy! Pleased to meet you!" She said offering her a hand. Levy introduced herself and shook Lucy's hand. Shortly afterwards, she turned her gaze to the book Natsu gave her. Lucy looked at the book with interest.
"What's that book you're reading?" Lucy asked curiously.
"It's an adventure book written by the great Kemu Zaleon" Levy replied, saying the author's name in reverence. Lucy's eyes widened when she had heard the author's name.
"Kemu Zaleon?! I love that guy! I read all of his books!" Lucy said excitedly which made Levy excitedly. Soon they started a conversation about books, what genres they liked, their favorite authors, etc. Lucy eventually told Levy that she wanted to write a novel which greatly excited Levy. She begged Lucy to let her be the first one to read it when she published it, to which she accepted. A great friendship between the two had begun and it was because of the book Natsu gave her. Speaking of which…
"You and Natsu must be really close for him to give you that book" Lucy offhandedly said. Levy raised an eyebrow on Lucy before she had a small blush on her face and a small smile.
"Well, he's kind of like my big brother" She said which surprised Lucy. "When we were younger, Natsu was a bit of a loner. I was a quiet, weak little girl back then. My teammates, Jet and Droy made fun of me when they were younger and Natsu beat them up for me. He said that he would defend me and everyone from Fairy Tail from anything, no matter what. Natsu and I got close after that, and I see him as the brother I never had. Natsu's a really nice guy, you'll see." Levy explained which amazed Natsu. From what she had heard, Natsu was extremely devoted to Fairy Tail. He would protect it from any harm, maybe even at the cost of his own life. She was amazed at the level of dedication Natsu had to his friends.
"Pfft. Nice guy? More like an obnoxious ass" Lucy turned to her side and saw the same alcohol drinking brunette from before. "The name's Cana, nice to meet you" She greeted to which Lucy greeted back. She was chugging a large barrel of alcohol before nesting it in between her legs. She swiped her lips with her hands before she continued. "Natsu always used to pick fights with people all the time. He always breaks things, which means we have to pay for the damages which means I don't get as many drinks as I usually get! And he always talking about being strong to protect the people that he loves, well let me tell you something, he-"
"Cana that's enough!" Lucy looked behind her and saw Erza with a stern look on her face. Her look gave off a threatening aura, but Cana looked unfazed. Cana "Tch"'d before she went back to her barrel.
"Let me just say this Lucy, never introduce anyone to him. He'll just take them away from you…" With that, Cana's drinking efforts had doubled. Lucy was confused at Cana's words while Erza and Levy shook their heads, while Mira had a depressed look on her face.
Erza calmed down and faced Lucy with a smile. "You'll have to excuse Cana. Ever since they were little, she and Natsu never got along, though I don't know why." She explained before extending her hand to Lucy. "My name is Erza, welcome to Fairy Tail" she greeted with a smile. Lucy shakily extended her hand, nervous about Erza's commanding nature and the fact that she's the famous Titania!
"I-It's a p-pleasure to m-meet you, E-Erza-san" Lucy stuttered, clearly scared about making a good impression to Erza. Erza chuckled at Lucy's nervous behavior.
"Please, just call me Erza. I've heard a lot about you" Erza said which made Lucy even more nervous. What if what she had heard were bad things? Erza would never ever trust her and she would hate her! These thoughts ran wildly in Lucy's head before Erza spoke. "I heard that you were the one that flipped the cruise ship and defeated Bora and his men, all with one finger! I must say, I'm impressed" Erza said with a smile. Lucy just gaped at Erza like a fish. Where did she hear this crazy story?
"W-well that's not exactly how it went…" She tried to explain herself but Erza didn't hear her. As the day went on, Lucy managed to befriend the four girls she had met. They had conversations that lasted for hours. Eventually, Natsu and Gray came back with Macao and returned him to his son. They shared a happy embrace and went home together for the first time in a week. It was around eleven o'clock and everyone was returning to their homes when Lucy realized that she didn't have a place to go to!
"I really need to find an apartment tomorrow" Lucy said in despair. For now, she didn't have a place to sleep in.
"Lu-chan, why don't you stay at my place while you try to find an apartment?" Levy kindly offered. Lucy and Levy had quickly become best friends to the point where they called each other with the –chan suffix. Lucy gave a kind smile and thanked Levy for her hospitality.
Natsu lay on the bed in the apartment he had rented two years ago. He rented it for a special occasion, but after what happened back then, the apartment was just a painful memento. He looked at the ring on his right finger before he pulled out a necklace with a similar ring on it. He examined the two rings, memories rushing through his head.
"I gotta get rid of this place." He let out a heavy sigh and draped an arm over his eyes. That day was coming soon. He would have to make preparations.
A/N: There's Chapter 6 for ya! It's a really long chapter, mostly filled with IMHO, unimportant crap. As always, please leave a review. Any review, whether it is positive or constructive criticisms, is greatly appreciated. They always make me update faster.