The City of Magnolia, still brimming with excitement after Fairy Tail's victory in the Grand Magic Games, though not everyone is in such high spirits. A lone silhouette clings to the shadows of Kardia Cathedral, silently observing the passersby.

"C'mon Lucy! If you don't hurry all of the good jobs will be gone!" The cloaked individual looks up to see a young man with vibrant pink hair running through the town square, a girl and a blue cat in tow. "Natsu, we just got back from a big job all the way in Onibus, and you want to just take off for another one?!" The girl cried, looking exhausted as she shuffled after him. "Get the lead out Blondie," the boy yelled, grinning from ear to ear, "Besides, didn't you say you were hurtin' for rent money? We can rest after this job, right Happy?" To the man's surprise, the little blue cat responded, uttering a hearty "AYE SIR!" He watched as the three youths made their way to the large building in the rear-center of town, the words FAIRY TAIL standing out even amongst the other building. "A Guild Hall," the man thought to himself, making note of its position. "Perhaps Magnolia isn't so defenseless as it was four years ago… No matter, with what's coming, such a fragile obelisk of wood and stone shall be reduced to rubble. Be wary Fairy Tail… The world you know has reached its end, and I shall emerge as its conqueror…" With a flick of a wrist, the man was gone, though a sense of unease was left in his place.

Natsu burst through the Guild's doors, nearly running into a mountain of a man with hair as white as snow. "Outta the way Elfman!" the boy yelled as he barreled past several other wizards, "I got a job to take!" Elfman grunted, looking annoyed. "A real man would say excuse me ya idiot," he shouted, "And don't forget to stop by the bar so Mira can authorize the request. We don't need you burning down a city over a prank." "You're telling me." came a voice from the door, Lucy having finally made it to the guild, though bent over and nearly out of breath. "Besides, huff huff, if the master thought our missions weren't being properly recorded, he'd make us clean the entire guild with nothing but our own toothbrushes." Lucy muttered grimly. Elfman shrugged, clearly agreeing with their possible punishment, then lumbered over to a table to talk to Lisanna, his youngest sister. Lucy sighed, still thinking about their last mission, and how close they had come to not destroying the whole town. "If that stupid pyro hadn't tried to take out all of those bandits in one shot, we would've made almost 50,000 jewel. Instead we lost 80% of our pay, AND got stuck rebuilding all of Cedar's docks." She felt a nudge on her leg and looked down to see Happy standing next to her, smiling like he always did. "Ya, but you know Natsu, he doesn't waste time when there's work to be done." Lucy let out soft "Aye…"

As if on cue, Natsu ran past the duo, holding a piece of paper that was undoubtedly their next mission. "Wonder which one he picked this time." Lucy moaned, making her way to the bar with happy a step behind. "Knowing him, we're probably on our way to fight off a monster, or take down a nation, or maybe even dethrone a God. As far as he's concerned, their all entirely possible." She slouched down on a stool in front of the bar, laying her head down on the cool wood. She felt a hand on the back of her head, and heard soft voice ask, "So how did it go?" She looked up to see Mira standing behind the counter wearing a flawless smile. All she could due was bleakly say, "We shouldn't take any jobs in Cedar for a while." Mira nodded understandingly, and without breaking her smile went on to serve other patrons of the bar.

Lucy simply laid her head back down, feeling incredibly weary from her travels.

She heard the stool next to her screech as it was pulled out, and glanced up to see a two bright eyes gleaming from behind a pair of red glasses not four inches from her own. "Hey Lulu!" said Levy in an excited tone, clearly having just arrived at the guild. She still had tufts of hair sticking out, most likely because she had just woken up, fairly normal for Levy as she spends most of her nights reading until sunrise. She had her latest book tucked under her arm, obviously not willing to set it down until she had finished the entire thing. "So how did the mission go?" she inquired cheerily. Lucy sullenly looked up at her, and without a word conveyed all of her exhaustion in her glance. "Wow, that bad?" Levy asked, giving Lucy a look of pity. "Well maybe it's about time you went on a mission without Natsu. I'm sure he wouldn't mind and you could probably use a break from being the sane one of the group." Lucy considered her proposal, only to imagine Gajeel not only destroying a town, but also beating up Jet and Droy the whole time. "Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my own monster for now." Levy just giggled, obviously understanding what Lucy was getting at. "Besides," she followed, "aren't you accompanying the Master to a meeting in Oshibana Town? He couldn't need more than four wizards for such a short trip." Levy nodded, but looked disappointed. "That true, but it would be nice to have a break from working with guys all the time. Plus I could tell you about the new book I've been reading." Lucy knew that book meant "twenty books" and that she didn't have the patience to be lectured on the "Origin of the Magic Mobile" or "1,001 remedies for Spell-related Illnesses," even from someone as fun as Levy. "Maybe next time," Lucy slipped in to avoid hurting her feelings. It obviously worked because before she knew it, Levy's eyes were gleaming again, and a smile made its way across her face. "I'll hold you to it," she said, before noticing Cana across the hall. "I'll see you later Lulu, I've got to tell Cana about a new tarot method I found in "Advanced Readings of the Third Eye." Before Lucy could respond, Levy had cleared the hall's length, nearly crashing right into Cana, who was already fairly tipsy.

Lucy sat alone at the bar, thinking back to when she first step foot into Fairy Tail. "I can hardly believe how long it's been since I first arrived at the guild. I've come so far since then, and so much has changed." She glanced up, thinking about her life before Fairy Tail. "I almost can't remember a time when I wasn't a member. This is my home, these are my friends… my family. There's nowhere else I'd rather be." As if sensing her good mood, Natsu came sailing right into her, sending them both into the wall. "Hit me again and I'll melt you into a puddle you frosty bastard!" Natsu yelled, jumping to his feet, his fists blazing. "Maybe if you'd watch where you were going I wouldn't have to knock you down a peg, ya pyro!" Yelled a half naked wizard from across the room. "Gray," Cana hollered, a smirk on her face, "your clothes." While Gray turned red and tried to cover himself, Natsu swung at him, accidently hitting Elfman by mistake, who threw a chair at Wakaba, who kicked Macao, who threw his mug at Vajeeter, who spun into Lucy, who had just managed to stand up only to be sent flying once again. Thus began one of Fairy Tail's famous bar brawls. As usual, it came to an end when someone accidentally hit Erza, which due to the severity of her response is considered a sin in itself. After ten seconds of utter silence, and a short but brutal beating, everyone was smiling and drinking again, all except for poor Reedus, whom Erza had decided was the culprit and punished accordingly, tied up in corner with a lump the size of an Exceed egg on his head.

"I need a home away from home," Lucy thought glumly as she rose to her feet once again. She was about to let Natsu have it when she noticed the job request he had snagged. She couldn't help but notice its header. Please Help! Dark Guild Attack! She looked further down to the reward. Her jaw dropped. "Five million jewel! Just to deal with a couple troublemakers? You've got to be kidding!" Her eyes slipped down further to the request's location. "Hmm? That's strange, I've never heard of Fukushu Island…"