Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)

Chapter 9: Omega & Alpha, Part two

After leaving the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy walked down the dirt path that led into the town of Magnolia. She had gone back to her apartment to pack up her things since she wouldn't be living in this town anymore, and Lucy knew that she had to go to Castelia Town for a chance at visiting Sting on their day off. She had wanted to see him with a happy smile on her face, showing him that nothing bad could possibly happen on their day off, but Lucy would have to tell him about what happened earlier in her previous guild that was known as Fairy Tail.

Erza had suggested that Lucy leave the guild, as to not have anymore drama start between her and Natsu, and the scarlet-haired mage looked a bit regretful about losing one of her closest friends to another guild. Gray had also looked disappointed about the fact that Lucy had to leave, but he had also known that she would become stronger than Natsu. He had seen the power of her Fire Magic, seeing those flames burn hotter than Natsu's, and they had burned brightly with that desire to show the fire dragon slayer that Lucy was far from weak.

She had definitely shown that jerk she wasn't as inferior as he thought she was, and Lucy's red spell book pulsated faintly while she sat down at her desk to write a letter to her landlady. She was informing her that the rent of 70,000 jewels every month would no longer be paid, and she would have to find a new tenant. Lucy needed to start off her new life in a new place where she would be far from her past, not having to deal with its dark days of drama anymore.

The blonde mage also planned to go down to the harbor for another ride on the S.S. Aqua, even though it was only going across the sea to the port town of Castelia, and she would probably get to have a self-made tour of the town to know all of its streets, districts, and buildings. The fashion district of Castelia did have very nice clothes, and that would definitely appeal to Lucy. Would she also like the cafes, along with the nice plaza in the center of the town?

While she was also set on starting a new life, Lucy could not forget about informing her young friend Wendy of her departure. The two girls had been like sisters, ever since Wendy joined Fairy Tail, and parting ways like this would be kind of heartbreaking. The girls may not see each other until the Grand Magic Games or whenever a much less dramatic event comes around for the country of Fiore, but Lucy knew they would still be friends. She wrote a note to Wendy, but she kept it on her desk while having hopes that the young sky dragon slayer would find it.

Lucy had packed some casual clothes into a small pink suitcase that she had, and she also made sure to pack some bathroom supplies for when she needed to bathe or do her hair. The Sabertooth guild probably had all the soap and shampoo types that Lucy had ever dreamed of, but it might not have had all the furniture in her apartment. Despite that minor setback, knowing that Sting was the master of that guild, Lucy could tell that things would begin to get better for her. She did have her keys with her, too.

As she picked up the red spell book, grabbing her luggage and preparing to leave, a white card fell out of the book. This was another piece of info that the book wanted Lucy to know about, and the words were in the cherry red text of the book's third language. Lucy could understand it like she could with the other two, and she began to read the advice to herself.

"The spells in the third set are explosive, but also very fiery. Even the most unorthodox of spells can be used for a good strategy." Lucy read off the card while smiling a bit, before putting it in the left pocket of her black shorts.

Seeing that there was nothing left for her to do, the blonde mage slightly giggled while running out of the apartment with her spell book in her right hand while her left hand pulled the handle on her pink suitcase. She had managed to close the door behind her, though, making sure that no thieves would try to get in and be a bad surprise for the next tenant. As Lucy walked down towards Magnolia's harbor, a familiar blue cat flying through the air had caught sight of her.

Happy had been helping Lisanna on some jobs lately, and she had always been the one to feed him nowadays. Natsu hadn't brought him any fish, since he was too busy kissing the white-haired mage and buying her many gifts with his money, and Happy was one of the people who knew that Natsu was caught in a triangle between his love and his pride. In the end, what would he get more of when his actions were going to be the main judges of his fate? However, the blue Exceed did not have a clue about what Lucy was up to.

Happy had been smart enough to go out on jobs with Wendy as well, most likely in some attempts to be close to Carla, and he hadn't been around most of the drama that was being caused by his reckless friend. He had been wondering where Lucy had been, however, and Happy was concerned about her. Lisanna had told him about what Natsu had done, acting totally rude and obnoxious about wanting his supposedly strong team, and the blue Exceed knew that Lucy had to be feeling slightly depressed by that. He wanted to cheer her up, flying down to her, and Happy was wondering what would happen today.

"Hey, Lucy! Today is a beautiful day for us to spend some time together!" Happy told her in a cheerful manner, as he landed on her head.

As Happy softly made his descent on to her head before flying in front of her face, Lucy gave him a soft and sorry smile. She didn't plan on seeing the blue Exceed right now, and telling him the news would possibly be a bit difficult. Happy was a sweet cat who joked around sometimes, and Lucy knew that he was her friend. She really knew that she would have to tell him, anyway, since he was giving her a cheerful look that really couldn't be ignored by anyone.

She told him nicely, softly hugging him while having a bit of regret in her cocoa brown eyes, "Happy, I have to leave Magnolia. The drama with Natsu is just too much for me, and I don't want to deal with his idiocy anymore. Don't worry, though. You'll see me again one day."

Her departure came as a bit of a shock to the blue Exceed, but he shrugged it off when she had mentioned that Natsu was giving her a hard time. He had been acting quite arrogant and in love with Lisanna, caring only about her and his team's success, so Happy knew how Lucy was feeling bullied and neglected by him. He didn't want to see her go, but Happy shared Erza's opinion. This was for the well-being of a good friend, so it had to be done.

"I see. I'm going to miss you, Lucy. Fairy Tail will be different without you, but Natsu surely wouldn't realize that. He doesn't care about you or me anymore, and he just wants to have a great team that can help him out on missions. Make sure you send me a letter every once in a while, and attach a fish to it." Happy told her in a kind manner, before breaking the hug while smiling a bit at Lucy.

Not wanting her to miss the boat, Happy told Lucy that he would be all right. She told him that her destination would be Castelia Town, the town across the sea, and Lucy smiled a bit while hoping Happy wouldn't tell anyone. She shared one last hug with the blue Exceed, and Lucy waved goodbye while she ran towards the harbor to begin her new life. Unknown to each other, Lucy and Happy were actually holding back a few tears. This is where they had to part ways, but would fate ever let them meet again?

15 minutes later...

After she boarded the boat to Castelia Town, Lucy stayed in her room on the S.S. Aqua. She was eating a slice of cherry pie that was from the food cart, enjoying its delicious flavor, and the blonde mage knew that every passing minute would get her closer to seeing Sting again. He wouldn't be expecting her company, but she did want this to be a special suprise for the white dragon slayer.

Sting had also been the one to find the red words in the spell book, and Lucy would now be able to tell him that they were from Fire Magic. She would also be able to say that her spells nearly beat Natsu, a dragon slayer who could eat fire itself, and Sting would probably be proud of her for that. Lucy liked to hear him give her praise, and Sting was such a great guy.

She even wondered what types of sweets he liked, since she never ever took any treats from the food cart for him or herself, and Lucy felt like she should give something great to a nice guy like Sting. She loved being around him, enjoying his cool attitude, and Lucy smiled a bit while she sat on the bed and thought about joining the guild known as Sabertooth.

Lucy knew that no one like Minerva would be in that guild, and the blonde mage had never really wondered about what happened to that woman. She just hoped that her time in Sabertooth would be better than her time in Fairy Tail, since Sting was the master of that guild. He really was a powerful person, even when his skills weren't at full power, and Lucy loved how Sting wasn't so horrible like Natsu. He was calm and relaxed, just like his charming blue eyes.

As Lucy was eating a slice of cherry pie, she also wondered about the fourth spell in the red spell book. She hadn't gotten a chance to use it on Natsu because of Erza intervening to stop the fight, and the spell remained a mystery to her. Would it be powerful with a twist like the other three spells, or would this be some kind of a healing or enhancement spell? Every new skill was exciting to Lucy, and this book really had her intrigued. The three languages were old, probably too old for even Makarov to understand, and Lucy wondered where they originated from.

Suddenly, the captain had come on the intercom to let everyone know that the ship had docked in the town of Castelia. Lucy was happy to reach her destination, and she even took a tray of chocolate brownies from the food cart as a gift for Sting. She really had a warm love for him, nearly as hot as the brownies on the tray, and her burning desire to impress him had actually resonated with the red spell book. It began to pulsate once again, responding to the feelings in Lucy's heart, but she had once again missed that exciting sight.

The blonde mage exited the ship and stepped on to Prime Pier, looking at all the skyscrapers in front of her, and Lucy had to wonder where the Sabertooth guild was located. None of the businessmen passing by would say a word, and even the artists looked too busy to give her a moment of their time. Seeing no other option, Lucy simply walked up the pier to the Oceanfront Road.

She went down the far right street to see that this was the Fashion District, the street with all the fashion stores lined up on both sides, and Lucy liked seeing many cool clothes and fancy shoes in the windows of the shops. There were even stores that were selling beautiful dresses, miniskirts, jeans, and even bows for girls to have in their hair. All of the people looked pretty fashionable on this street, but fashion always did have quite a high price. Could Lucy even afford a pair of sunglasses, let alone a dress?

Lucy didn't know this, but all four streets of Castelia Town led right to the plaza. The Sabertooth guild was actually in the center of the plaza, quite fitting for a guild to be, and the blonde mage kept walking down Fashion Street to unknowingly reach the guild. Her new life would start soon, and Lucy liked how there was even a concession stand that sold cupcakes shaped like bows. The price for one was only 100 jewels, and Lucy bought one while leaving the money on the seat where the shopkeeper was supposed to be. It certainly wasn't good to leave a business unattended, you know.

She walked all the way to the plaza, but the Sabertooth guild wasn't the first thing that was noticed by Lucy. She looked over at the fountain in front of the guild, seeing the beautifully flowing fountain of water make the Sabertooth symbol at random instances, and the blonde girl noticed that Rogue Cheney sat on a park bench with his green Exceed named Frosch. They seemed to be smiling happily, enjoying the peace and quiet, and Lucy wondered if they had sensed her presence.

Turning her brown eyes away from them, Lucy gasped in shock from noticing the Sabertooth guild situated behind the fountain. The building was identified by a large red banner, covered in lines and sporting light edges, which bears the guild's symbol, held up by an horizontal staff secured via a chain to a metal ring, adorned by fang-like protrusions, which topped the high pole sustaining the emblem.

Sabertooth's headquarters itself appeared to be a very large saffron-colored complex consisting of several structures joined together. Some of them were even sitting on top of the others, generating an imposing, elongated structure vaguely reminiscent of an odd pyramid adorned by a multitude of facades, windows and pillars, as well as by some pointed towers protruding upwards from its upper part. Topping the whole structure was a massive gold statue portraying the animal which is the guild's namesake, a saber-toothed cat with its jaws open.

The Sabertooth guild looked so prestigious to Lucy on the outside, and she could only mouth the words of someone who looked greatly impressed by an amazing sight like this. She took a few steps back to really look at the whole guild, and she unknowingly walked backwards into a certain dragon slayer who moved through the shadows to properly greet her after him and Frosch had just seen her in this town.

"Greetings, Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail. Sting has told me a lot about you. My name is Rogue Cheney, the user of Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic in Sabertooth, and my Exceed's name is Frosch." The black-haired man said in a calm tone, as Lucy turned around to face him and the Exceed that smiled in a carefree manner while standing on his left shoulder.

Lucy replied nicely while introducing herself, having a kind smile on her face, "It's nice to meet you, Rogue. I'm actually here because I want to join Sabertooth, but I must first get my Fairy Tail guild mark removed."

She was looking down at the back of her right hand to show the pink insignia of Fairy Tail to Rogue, only to see him calmly blink his red eyes for a moment like he was seeing nothing. Lucy wondered what was wrong, but then she held the back of her right hand to see that not a single trace of her Fairy Tail guild mark existed. She hadn't washed it off or rubbed it off, so what happened? Lucy looked a bit puzzled by this, but then she saw the bright side of it. Now she could get a new guild mark in Sabertooth.

As Rogue and Lucy walked towards the guild's entrance doors, neither one of them had noticed that Lucy's red book had a red aura faintly surrounding it. This red aura had been warming up like Lucy's determination to become stronger, and the heat from the book had traveled to Lucy's right hand to make a safe red flame appear on the back of her right hand to burn away her pink guild mark of Fairy Tail. This was a really interesting book with many strange powers, right?

When the shadow dragon slayer opened the doors for his blonde companion, Lucy gasped in awe at the inside of the Sabertooth guild looking like a hotel lobby with its fancy chairs, golden walls, and red carpeting. They had a brown bar like the one at Fairy Tail, but it was a self-serving bar with its machines for drinks, candy, and chips. There was even a waffle machine that dispensed waffles, and the ice cream machine stayed pretty cold with the help of Rufus having Gray's Ice-Make Magic in his memory.

Lucy had more happiness in her cocoa brown eyes when she saw a machine dispensing the finest desserts that anyone could ask for, and the paintings on the walls were portraying Sting doing many poses with his red Exceed named Lector. The gold reception desk at the back of the room with two golden elevators next to it appeared to be where a Mage could join the guild. Classical music being played by a violin could be heard through a speaker somewhere in the gold ceiling, and Rogue noticed his companion's smile.

Two porcelain gold statues of saber-toothed cats were on each side of Sabertooth's entrance doors, and Lucy took in the elegance of it all. While she was busy admiring the lobby of the guild, she didn't notice Sting, Orga, Rufus, and Yukino walking towards her and Rogue. The Celestial Spirit mage wondered what someone like Lucy Heartfilia could want from the guild of Sabertooth, and Yukino quickly leaped to the side when Sting ran past her.

The white dragon slayer gave Lucy a comforting hug, happy to see her visiting him, and he really hadn't expected her to show up to his guild for once. Sting also took notice of the red book that Lucy had, wondering if she figured out those new spells that had been gained in the town of Cinnabar, and he could only continue to give her a bear hug that made her shriek a bit from how tight he was making it.

"I didn't expect you to come here on our day off from training, you know. Well, I guess I can welcome you to the Sabertooth guild. It's only lost a few people since Fairy Tail won the last Grand Magic Games, but we're still pretty popular." Sting explained calmly while he still grinned at Lucy, who gently rested her head on his chest after he put her down on the ground.

Lucy replied nicely, happy that Sting gave her a warm welcome into his guild, "Thank you so much, Sting. You're really a great guy, and I like being around you. I also came here because I had to leave the Fairy Tail guild after dealing with Natsu's drama yet again."

Everyone looked a bit shocked at Lucy telling them that Natsu's drama forced her to leave the Fairy Tail guild, and she began to explain everything. She told them how Natsu kicked her off of the team like she was a piece of worthless garbage to him, and how he had spent so much more time caring for Lisanna because she was his girlfriend. She had wanted to make up with Lucy, but Natsu had a problem with that.

Sting's blue eyes widened a bit when Lucy told him that she found out that the third set of spells were used for Fire Magic, and she had used them against a fire dragon slayer like Natsu. That obviously made Sting wonder what kind of spells were being used by Lucy, since they didn't seem to be from a dragon or a god, and he wondered how strong they could be at full power without anyone getting in the way.

He could see a bit of bitterness in Lucy's eyes, possibly upset that she had to deal with drama from the guy that she used to like, and Sting had to find some way to cheer her up. She wasn't his girlfriend yet, but the white dragon slayer's idea was interesting enough to get the attention of everyone around him and Lucy. What in the world could he be thinking?

To make Lucy feel more optimistic and see the bright side of this, Sting suggested that the whole group go to the amusement park in Nimbasa Town for a day of fun. After all, how else would the master of a guild celebrate the fact that a girl who kissed him wanted to join Sabertooth? He was pretty happy about to have her in his guild, and Sting would make sure that this day was the best day that Lucy ever had.

The white dragon slayer went out the door while holding Lucy's left hand in his right hand, taking her to the northern route that led to the town of leisure, and everyone else followed Sting while smiling at the sight of him looking happy for once today. Rogue had finally figured out that Sting had been going on jobs alone to Magnolia to help Lucy become stronger, and she had been making him look a lot happier these days.

While the Sabertooth mages were headed to Nimbasa Town, Karen had appeared from the shadow of a bench. She had been impressed by Lucy now knowing Fire Magic, but the seal for Wind Magic had been broken. Two seals had been unlocked now, and Karen's master was now a little more alive in spirit. The silvery blue-haired woman smirked slightly, knowing that her plan was working, and she knew that Lucy was on the right path.

"The young blonde maiden has unlocked two seals now, which is good. My master's power is still not at its full level, but her powers shall become restored in time. She will be proud to see someone with such prowess using her book, and then it will begin." Karen thought to herself while just having the plan of waiting, before going into the shadows to observe Lucy a bit more.

In Nimbasa Town…

Lucy's cocoa brown eyes twinkled with delight when she saw that a large part of the city was an entire amusement park with its high-speed roller coaster, Ferris wheel, casinos, prize booths, photo booth, restaurants, cannons, and other attractions. This town was pretty lively, since the concession stands were also having people lining up to play games and win prizes.

Sting wanted some time alone with Lucy, and he thought that it would be a good idea for everyone to split up for a while and enjoy themselves. Rogue went to get cotton candy with Frosch and Yukino, leaving Rufus and Orga to try out the dishes at a seafood restaurant that had recently opened up. Lucy and Sting were now alone, and the blonde girl blushed a bit from thinking about going into the photo booth for her first kiss with Sting.

As the two blondes decided to just look around and start with anything for some amusement, a sudden explosion from the area where the cannons were located got their attention. Everyone gasped in shock at the smoke rising into the sky, and Lucy was even more surprised to find out that she could inhale the explosion's flames from a distance. What was going on?

Sting looked around for any signs of a person using magic to cause a dangerous prank like that, but he was even more stunned to see eight beams of lightning emerge from the location of the explosion. The yellow beams of lightning struck eight innocent people, including a little girl, and they all became constricted by the electricity when the captor lifted their lightning beams into the sky.

"What the heck is going on?" Sting asked aloud, looking shocked at the lightning seeming to be amplified with power.

A female voice exclaimed evilly in a sultry way, "All right, people. Let's really have some fun, and let the pain of my training... start!"

How was the 9th chapter? Did you like it? Lucy has officially left Magnolia, and now she's in Castelia with Sting. The StiCy will really be in the final part of this transition arc, and I split it into three parts to not really rush things. Who is attacking the innocent people? Will Lucy have to get fierce and fiery, in order to have some fun? How will Sting react to one of her new moves? Standby for the update!