6. Why She's Here

The Freelancers were looking between Rhode Island and Arizona, or Lucy as the former called her. While the majority of them were just confused; Carolina, CT, and South were shocked at this discovery. 'Someone knows about her past,' they all thought.

"It's Arizona now Levy, sorry, Rhode Island," Arizona replied in a bit of a harsh tone, giving a hard glare to her once best friend.

"You don't have to act like that. I never did anything to you like them," Rhode Island stated, putting a strand of hair back behind her ear.

Her last words caused Arizona to snap. She grabbed Rhode Island by the neck; this caused said agent's team to raise their weapons at Arizona and the Freelancers to raise their weapons at the ODSTs. Rhode Island didn't look surprised or in any discomfort.

"Don't, mention, those, assholes," Arizona stated. She then let go of her and stormed off into the ship. Rhode Island gave her team a look and they lowered their weapons. The Freelancers slowly followed at lowering theirs.

"Everything's fine, you're dismissed," she told them. The four then walked off. Rhode Island was about to walk in the direction Arizona went when she was stopped by a armored hand.

"What do you want with her?" CT asked; her brows narrowed.

"Answers, to the one question I've been looking for," she stated, shrugging the agent's hand off and walking off. "And I know all of you have your own questions you want answered."

CT looked back at Carolina and South and they silently agreed. They then followed the agent out of the hanger, leaving the other eight in there confused.

"Should we?" Wash started to ask.

"I think we should follow them, find out what's going on," North suggested to the others.

"Yes, you really want to follow behind the new lass closely now don't you?" Wyoming said with a smirk, starting to follow the girls.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," North replied as he tried to hide a very small blush that was forming as he walked after him.

"Dude, you have to be blind not to have noticed you checking her out when she first walked off the ship," Wash told him.

"Seriously," York said coming up behind him. "Oh, uh York, look I'm sorry," Wash tried to say. "Don't worry, just messing with you," he said smirking and messing up his hair as he walked past him, the rest following behind him.

'Like I could be mad at you?' he thought.

The agents caught up to each other and continued to walk down the ship's halls, looking for Arizona. They stayed in silence as they walked along.

"So, what happened to your eye?" North decided to ask, breaking the silence.

"Stabbed out, I had to make the implants myself," Rhode Island simply answered, not really wanting to go in depth.

They continued on until coming upon one of the windowed rooms (like in chapter 2) on the ship but the door to it was closed. Rhode Island tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Come out Arizona," Rhode Island said, knocking on the door.

"Go away," the faint voice of Arizona said through the door, trying to stay calm. Inside she was sitting on her knees, her eyes closed, trying to calm herself down.

"Let us in Arizona," Rhode Island said, getting annoyed.

"Go, away." Arizona started to become tense, a tear coming from each eye.

"Open up Lucy," Rhode Island said angrily.

"GO THE HELL AWAY!" Arizona yelled through the door, bringing her arms down and into the floor and tears starting to fall from her eyes. At the same time, orange and gold lightning erupting from her. The bolts flew around the room and covered the door.

The agents backed up from the door as this took place. Rhode Island tried to open the door but when she came upon the door's panel, a bolt shocked her hand, making her pull it back. A orange and gold figure then appeared in front of the agents, a unhappy look on his face.

"Levy, leave her alone," he told her.

"You know well that's not going to happen until I have my answers Loke so just let me in already," Rhode Island replied.

"She doesn't want to talk about happened, or them," Loke told her, his gaze grew more intense.

"You can't stop me from entering," Rhode Island said, taking out some tools and tried to open the door panel but was shocked again.

"That won't work; I'm the only one who can open the door. And she doesn't want to hear whatever you want to say." At those last words Loke turned around.

"Can we just talk to her?" a certain red head asked. The male agents were surprised at Carolina and more when CT and South came up behind her in agreement.

Loke turned to look at them and nodded, letting them get close to the door.

In the room Arizona was still on the floor, tears running down her face and a few dents in the floor. 'I'm not going to deal with the past; I had finally left it all behind but no, someone else had to have been brought in,' she thought, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"Arizona."

She stopped, looking up and turning towards the door at the sound of CT's voice.

"What?" she asked.

"We know you don't want to talk, but can you at least listen," South then said.

Arizona got up and leaned against the wall next to the door, keeping her head down.

"Go ahead."

"This sudden outburst of yours has us worried," CT told her, her head looking down.

"You can't lock yourself and your feelings away especially from us. We care about what happens to you," South then added.

"We can tell your past was bad, but you just need to remember we're here for you, no matter what," Carolina said.

"And we won't leave you, no matter what," CT finished.

Arizona's eyes grew wide at their words, more tears forming in her eyes.

(Cause we won't leave you no matter what.)

Tears fell down her face, but a smile had formed on her lips.

'I really have been wrong haven't I.'

CT, South, and Carolina stayed in front of the door, growing a bit worried Arizona hasn't said anything for a minute. Rhode Island stood to the side of them as a smirk formed on her lips.

'These three are definitely what she needed,' she thought, a bit happy.

The bolts on the door and panel dispersed, causing Loke to turn back to the door, a small smile forming on his face. The door then opened and Arizona appeared; her eyes a bit red and some tears still on her armor.

"Thanks guys," she said, giving them a smile, which made the three really happy.

Arizona then turned towards Rhode Island, her face becoming serious. "I'm, willing to tell you all why I'm here, but it doesn't leave the room," she warned them, sending them a glare that made all the guys cower a bit, even Maine but not that much, as they all silently agreed to her terms. They all then walked into the room, Rhode Island being the last one.

'That glare would put Scarlet's to shame,' she thought.

The agents spread across the room; York and Wash on one couch, Florida, Utah, and Georgia on another, Wyoming and Florida in separate chairs, Maine against the wall near the door, Rhode Island against another with North not the far from her, and CT, South, and Carolina standing near Arizona. (Well, South still in the wheel chair but you know what I mean)

Arizona stood near the window, looking out into space. Loke soon appeared on her shoulder, looking over the agents. Arizona then turned around to face them.

"Okay then, it started on mine, and Rhode Island's home, a planet called Earth Land."

Earth Land is an entire planet filled with magic, just like you know from the stories you were told as kids, and is a part of everyday life. It powers our transportation, warms our homes, and can be bought and sold in stores. To some, it's a tool, but many go on to study and hone it's power.

These are wizards.

To keep them in check, we have the Magic Counsel, who regulates the laws and rules of magic. Wizards band together in groups called Guilds, and they take jobs to help people.

But one guild soared beyond the rest, that's been creating huge legends.

It's name, is Fairy Tail.

Before I joined the project I was Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial mage of Fairy Tail. I came from a wealthy family; it was okay for a while. But my mom died when I was young, and my father devoted his time to his work, completely ignoring me. So I ran away from home at the age of 16. A year later I was in the town of Hargeon I was found by Natsu Dragneel and his talking, flying blue cat Happy.

Natsu was a fire dragon slayer, trained by the fire dragon Igneel, making him really strong.

After he saved me from someone impersonating him, he took me to the Fairy Tail guild, where I made new friends and thought I found a place to call home. They stuck by me, even when my father sent a rival guild to attack and take me back home. We fought many enemies and grew together.

But then, a old member of the guild, long thought dead, named Lisanna, returned. We found her in a alternate world named Edolas, where magic wasn't as abundant and tried to steal it from Earth Land by turning them into magic storing crystals known as lacrimas. When all magic was expelled, she returned with us.

The guild was happy; a long thought dead family member came back to them. Everyone partied hard and long for a week. But after her return, members started to ignore me, pretending I didn't even exist. Only a few members remembered be and stayed by my side, both Levy here and Lisanna, but others would try to keep her from talking to me, trying to tell her I'm a bad influence. This went on for three months.

And then, it happened.

One year ago:

Flashback

Lucy's POV

Lucy woke up in her bed from the harsh rays of the sun peeking through her curtains. She got out of her pink bed, stripped out of her pajamas and entered her bathroom. She turned on the hot what and sat down in it to try and relax. Bur she just sat in there, her face blank in thought.

'It's been three months since Lisanna's return and I just feel, lonely. I mean I still have her, Levy, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Cana, Bisca, Alzack, Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, Romeo, Happy, Pantherlily, Carla, Kinana, and Gildharts when he's actually here, but it doesn't fell right. I don't really know what Elfman would do with him being on a yearlong mission for master, but with Mira not paying me any mind, it's hard to tell. Even master is ignoring me. I just don't know what to do,' she thought, bringing her legs up to her chest.

Once the water started to get cold she finally stepped out. She wrapped herself in a towel and walked out of the room. She looked at her closed window, felling sad as she remembered when a certain pink haired mage would bust into her apartment. She walked over to her closet and pulled out a white skirt, pale blue and white top, and her almost knee high boots. She then tied her hair into a side pony tail with a dark blue ribbon and put her belt with her whip and keys around her waist. She looked at her pink stamp on her right hand with a sigh.

'Is this really my family anymore?'

Lucy headed out of her apartment and started to walk next to the canal. 'I don't really feel like going to the guild today. Gray and Juvia are out on a date mission, also Alzack and Bisca, the Thunder God Legion is out seeing Laxus (he's still excommunicated), Wendy, Romeo, Kinana, and the exceeds decided to go camping for the week, Lisanna is out shopping in Crocus with Mira, and Cana and Levy are on separate missions, so no one there is really going to talk to me. It can't hurt to swing by, can it?' she thought.

She continued to walk down the road and soon the towering building of the Fairy Tail guild hall came into view. Lucy came up to the closed door and sighed before pushing it open.

It was dark inside, which surprised the blonde mage. She walked into the center of the room, trying to see if anyone else was inside. The door suddenly closed and Lucy was left in complete darkness and couldn't see anything.

"Hello, anyone there?"

Suddenly a spotlight was turned on, focusing on her. Lucy tried to cover her eyes from being blinded by it. She started to hear movement so she looked around the room again. Suddenly more lights came on, showing the rest of the guild members around her, glares and/or evil smirks were on their faces.

"Um, what's going on," she said aloud starting to get scared.

Master Makarov then appeared on the railing for the second floor, sending a glare down to Lucy.

"Lucy Heartfilia," he yelled down. "You are a disgrace to our guild. You're weak and caused many problems for this guild."

"Not to mention a slut." "A whore." "And annoying." Random members yelled out at her. Each word would send a dagger deeper and deeper into her heart. She was distracted by their words that she didn't notice someone walk up behind her. That was until she was kicked to the ground. She got up and turned around, her heart completely breaking when she saw who did it.

"You were always a replacement, one I regret taking. I should have never saved you in Hargeon," came from her savor, Natsu.

"So from now on, you're no longer a member of Fairy Tail," Makarov announced. Lucy looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes. She didn't notice that Erza and Gajeel walked up next to Natsu.

"Take care of her."

Lucy then felt excruciating pain in her sides. She looked down to see a sword through her right side and a jagged steel blade through her left. They were then pulled out, letting blood spill from her sides. She brought her arms down to cover the wounds.

Lucy then tried to grab her keys but a blur went past and her keys were gone. She looked up to see Jet twirling her key ring on his finger. He then tossed them to Makarov and he put them in a rune bubble.

The guild then started to attack her, sending spells, weapons, and physical attacks. Her body became riddled with scars, burns, and other wounds.

"Why are you doing this?" Lucy asked, tears falling from her eyes. The attacks stopped. Natsu then walked up to her and pulled her head up by her hair.

"Didn't we already tell you why or are you also stupid," he told her.

"But you said we're family, that we'd always be there for each other?"

"You're just too naïve, thinking we'd really consider you family." He then grabbed her right hand, setting his hand on fire at the same time. Lucy screamed in pain as more tears fell.

"Still crying now aren't you? How about I help with that." Lucy looked up in fear as Erza came over with a jagged black and red blade. She brought it up to Lucy's right eye and started to carve scars around it, causing Lucy's scream to worsen.

"How humiliating is this, you can hardly take the pain," Natsu said snickering. "Ready master?"

Makarov then walked down to the first floor and up to Lucy. He brought his hand up as it became covered in white and black light.

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked, her eyes going wid.

"Oh, you'll see," Natsu whispered in her ear, still burning her hand.

Makarov pulled his hand back, causing a magic circle to appear on it. "Extract," he said before launching his hand into her chest. Bolts started to launch from her chest. She screamed so loud glasses at the bar started to break. He then pulled his hand out and in his palm was a golden and pink lacrima with a heart and star in the middle of it.

Lucy dropped her head down, seeing the small wound in her chest. She looked up and her eyes grew wide and more tears formed in her eyes.

"Is-is that."

"Yes, that's your magic," Makarov told her.

"You can no longer be a mage or even see your precious spirits again," Erza said with a smirk.

"No, no. NOOOOOOOOOO!" Lucy cried.

The guild just laughed at her pain.

"Now, remove her stamp Natsu," Makarov ordered him.

"Oh with pleasure," the dragon slayer answered. He brought his other hand up and fire started to raise from it and turn into a fiery red blade. He then brought it down and cut Lucy's arm off right above the elbow. Blood started to fall onto the ground. This time though, she didn't scream or cry, but her eyes became hard at them.

"How boring, she didn't even scream," Natsu said in a bored tone.

"Now get out and never return, or face the consequences," Makarov ordered her.

Lucy pulled herself up, holding where her arm once was, sending them all a glare before she limped out of the guild hall, her former friends laughing at her pain.

Lucy was soon in a nearby forest, kneeling on the ground. She was working on wrapping her wounds, especially on her chest and arm, using the left over tatters of her clothes as the bandages. This left her only in her underpants. She finished her wrappings and just stayed on the ground, even when it started to rain.

She just looked at the ground, shivering in the cold. A coat jacket was then put on her back, causing her stop and her eyes to grow wide. She turned around and met a pair of blue tint shades, making her smile a bit and a tear run down her cheek.

"Loke," she whispered pulling the jacket closer to her body.

"There was no way I was going to leave you, you know," he told her, kneeling down to hug her.

Lucy used the sleeve to wipe her face off and looked up at the stormy sky.

"This is the end of me being a mage I guess," she told him.

"Don't worry, we'll figure out something."

Lucy shook her head. "No, I just really want to leave this all behind. No more magic, no more guilds, no more Fairy Tail."

Loke looked shocked at her words, not knowing what to say.

"I'll get strong without magic and nothing like this will happen again," she said, her eyes becoming hard and sharp. "I won't need anyone."

Loke looked at her with concern but smiled at her. "We should get you to a hospital first."

She looked at him and tried to stand up but fell back down. "Damn it," she cursed.

"Don't worry, I'll get you there," Loke said, scooping her up in his arms and starting to walk out of the forest. "But please remember, even though we're no longer contracted to you, we're still here for you."

"Cause we won't leave you no matter what."

Lucy sat in a hospital bed; her wounds cleaned up and bandaged up. Loke was in a chair next to her, still worried about her.

In the hallway, two men in grey and black uniforms were walking down the hall way, one with a pair of glasses over his eyes and the other holding a weird pad in his hands. The men stopped one of the doctors in the hallways. "Excuse me, could you tell us where one Lucy Heartfilia is?" the man with glasses said, a obvious accent in his voice. "Um, room 5-B. And who might you be?" "We're just here to talk to her," he told the doctor, walking past him.

Back in the room, Lucy had her eyes closed, thinking about what she could do and where she can go. She may have been deep in thought but she could still hear the footsteps of two people walking up to the room. She opened her eyes just as the two men walked in.

"Hello there Miss Heartfilia," the man with the pad said to her.

"Hello, may I help you?" she asked them, her eyebrow raised.

"In a way," the man with the glasses told her, adjusting them on his face. "I'm Director Church of Project Freelancer, a military project for the UNSC."

Lucy looked at the man questionably. "I've never heard of this 'UNSC' you speak of."

"And most people here never will. You see, we don't come from Earth Land, but another planet millions of miles away called Earth," the Director explained to her.

"Really," Lucy said, a bit skeptical but also intrigued.

"We came here to look for new soldiers for our project to help us in our war against the Covenant and the Insurrection. People here are very special in a very unique way, and we want to use that against our enemies," the man with the pad told her while typing on his pad. A file on her then appeared on it.

"We've been keeping tabs on you for the last couple weeks, and I believe you'll make a great soldier in our project," the Director said. "You'll be shipped off his planet and trained to be a Freelancer agent. We'll make you strong and give you what you need to achieve it, including a new arm."

Lucy looked down, thinking about this offer. The room stayed silent until she looked up at the two of them.

"First I want to set some ground rules. One, no one else that is or was a part of Fairy Tail can be requited. Two, I work alone on any mission you send me on. And three, my past gets completely erased."

The Director smirked at this. "Fair enough, I agree to these terms, now just choose your codename." He then pulled out his own pad and handed it to her. On it was a list of fifty names, around a dozen or so were already chosen. She looked it over and chose one near the top.

"Okay then, welcome to Project Freelancer agent Arizona."

Flashback end

"And so the Director had me shipped off to a military base to train. There I made my robotic arm and was able to make Loke into a AI for me to use. After being there for a month I proved myself capable enough and I started to take small solo missions for the project, mostly assassinations. After doing that for a few months, he then had me come here," Arizona finished explaining to them.

The Freelancers held shocked reactions at what they were just told. Carolina, CT, and South looked like they were going to cry, and kill someone, Georgia and Utah were actually in tears, Wash and Florida looked ready to punch someone, Wyoming was just too shocked he was speakless, North, York, and Maine looked like they were going to murder someone, and Rhode Island was just quiet and looked away.

"So, that's why you don't trust anyone, and would rather be alone," CT finally spoke up.

Arizona just nodded and looked out at the stars, letting just one more tear fall. She was then surprised by three pair of arms hugging her. She smiled as she looked at Carolina, CT, and South.

"Just don't worry about it anymore. You're nothing like what they said," South told her.

"You're strong, going through all that and surviving, it's impressive," Carolina added.

"We just want you to be yourself, and everything will be fine," CT said.

Arizona's smile grew, knowing they mean everything they said. The other Freelancers, though surprised about all this, knew to give them privacy so they left the room quietly. The four stayed in their embrace, a few silent tears falling.

"Thanks, for everything."

Now you know why Lucy's here, but why is Levy here is now the question

So yeah, my plans are York x Wash and North x Levy(Rhode Island)

Either the next chapter or the one after that we go on their mission, along with the answer to what I brought up last chapter