Ice Dragoness

by Bugg18

Rewrite of Icelynn Lace: Ice Fire Dragon Slayer. Icelynn is the heart sister of Lucy Heartfilia, and the two put life of high society behind them to join the coolest guild in Fiore: Fairy Tail. This is Icelynn's story as the Ice Dragon slayer of Fairy Tail. And why is it that she feels drawn to the Lightning Dragon Slayer who may know more about her past then the two may realize?

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Cursed Island Getaway

"Man, that was intense! I get why the other guild masters would be angry about us destroying the conference hall, but did they really have to chase us out into the desert like that?" Lucy huffed, as we shuffled ourselves into our apartment. "Well, at least we saved those people in that weird village that turned itself into a bunch of monsters, huh?" she said, as she sprawled herself out on her pink bed.

Following suit, I dropped my bag next to my own blue bed and dropped myself down to lay flat on my back. At my sister's statement, all I could do was hum in her direction. It's not that I was trying to ignore her, it's just that my mind was elsewhere.

The place Lucy spoke of was a village we had come across while she, Happy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Master Makarov and I were looking for a place we could cross the dessert like ravine that separates Clover from the rest of Fiore. We had gone a day without food, and we were all hungry, so when we finally came across a village, Natsu and Happy ran to try and find a place we could get some food and water.

However, when we got to the village itself, it was dead silent. No birds or crickets could be heard. Even the wind seemed to remain still, almost as if it didn't dare to blow through the streets of this place.

The most disturbing thing to me though, was the lack of scents that covered the place.

As a dragon slayer, whenever I go and visit a new village, I always get a little disoriented from all of the scents of the locals and visitors clustered together. It doesn't usually take me more than four, maybe five minutes to get used to the new scents trying to filter themselves in on my sensory map. However, in that village, my head remained clear and focused. Things only got more bizarre when Natsu did what he does best. Bust up into the first house he could get to in search of people who could feed him.

Instead of finding an angry owner, all Natsu and Happy found was an empty home with a freshly cooked meal on the table.

As hungry as all of us were, Master and Erza both advised against us eating the abandoned food. For one, it didn't belong to us in the first place; and two, we had no way of knowing whether or not this food was the reason why the people in this village were absent. With that in mind, Master Makarov had us all split up to look for clues as to how and why the people of this village went missing.

Gray went his own way, Happy went with Natsu, Lucy got paired off with Erza, and Master Makarov had me remain with him.

While Master and I looked through our portion of the town, he brought up the moment I froze when Lullaby began transforming into its true form. It caught me off guard at first, but he did say that we would discuss this later. This conversation was what was on my mind…

~X~

As I looked away from the small master of the guild I belonged to, I waited for his response to what I had revealed to him about myself. His expression was about as somber as I felt at the moment, and I didn't want to be looking at him when the pity entered his eyes. However, much like he did the day before, Master Makarov surprised me.

"I see." He said, his tone matching his expression, and it sounded like there was a hint of guilt mixed in. I'm not entirely sure. "That's quite a lot to go through."

"Yeah… I don't know who it was that pulled me out of that though. Couldn't see his face before I passed out." I said, as I turned to look back at master Makarov. "One of the reasons why I wanted to become a wizard was to try and find this guy one day. Thank him for saving me."

Sighing heavily, I walked up to the door of the next house we were to enter and sniffed at the door. When I didn't smell anybody home, I opened the door to go inside.

"Are you sure you didn't see this young man's face?" he asked me then, as we began glancing around the house for clues.

"I'm sure… What I could see of the guy was covered in blood. He had been through his own personal hell in that place, just like I had." I answered, as I finished searching my half of the room and turned to face Makarov once more. "I may not have been able to see his face, but I was able to catch his scent. Just before he reached where I was being held, I could smell something like a rainstorm…"

At this, Makarov turned to look at me with an unreadable expression. Seeing it, I felt a bit ridiculous.

"Ah… I know it sounds silly…" I said, as I turned to look towards the door, we had left open.

"Not at all…" Master Makarov said, causing me to whip my head back around to look at him in surprise. "Icelynn, my child, I think it's a noble goal indeed, one paying back another who had saved their life. Especially in an ordeal such as yours. It left you in a dark place, and I'm guessing Lucy played a key role in you finding your way back, am I right?" he asked me, as I nodded my head once to affirm his suspicion.

"Yeah, she was… It's why I claimed her as my sister." I told him, as Makarov nodded his head once, the sad smile remaining on his aged face.

"Let me guess, you not only want to thank this young man, but you want to make sure he's not stuck in the same dark place you were in. If he is, you want to do what you can to help him, correct?" he asked once more, as I sighed heavily once again.

I could only nod yes…

~X~

Master Makarov had hit it on the head with that one. He was right when he assumed that I not only wanted to thank this guy for saving me but, also help him like Lucy helped me. To pay her kindness forward and show my appreciation to one who made it possible for my sister to pull me the rest of the way out of the darkness.

"Hey, Ice… Ice…? Icelynn… Icelynn!" Lucy said, trying to get my attention; but I was so deep into my own mind that I could only tell that she was talking, not what she was saying.

Not until I found a pillow being introduced to my face.

"Ooof!" I exclaimed as it made contact for a moment before Lucy pulled it away.

"HA! Finally got your attention!" Lucy exclaimed with a triumphant smirk. Seeing the halfhearted look that I threw at her, her smirk faded almost as quickly as it appeared. "Icelynn, what's the matter?" she asked me then, as she sat on the edge of my bed.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought." I told her, as I turned to glance at her.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Lucy asked, as she began playing with the long black hair I'd let loose from my braid when we finally got back to Magnolia.

"It's nothing we haven't talked about before." I answered, as Lucy gave me an understanding look.

"Like what happened to you back before my father brought you to the Heartfilia Estate." She said, as I nodded my head once.

"Yeah… Lullaby reminded me of something from back then, and I froze up. Master Makarov noticed it, and when we split up to look through that village we helped, he asked me about it." I told her, as I sat up, and moved back against my pillows. The few strands of my hair Lucy had been holding fell back into place. "So, I told him…"

"Oh…" she hummed, as she turned to face the rest of the room. "What did the Master have to say about it?" she asked.

"He called it a noble goal…" I said, as I looked over at my sister. "I didn't even tell him what I had planned on doing once I had found the guy who saved me back then, he figured it out for himself…"

"I see…" Lucy responded, as she gave me a gentle smile. "He's right, ya know. Most people would just move on with their lives and not think twice about anyone else whose gone through the same kind of deal. You got through it and got stronger, and I think that its awesome that you want to help the guy who saved you. Should he still be struggling with it, anyway."

At her words, I couldn't help but return her smile.

"Well, that attitude is thanks to you." I told her, as Lucy gave me a wink.

"That's what we little sisters are for!" she said, as my smile widened.

Lucy and I sat in silence for a little bit after that, then the next thing I know, she's hopping off my bed and summoning Plue as soon as she was on her feet.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a bath. I need one after spending three full days walking endlessly." She told me, as she reached down to scoop up the little celestial spirit. "Need the bathroom before I go in?" she asked me, as I shook my head.

"Go ahead… I might just change clothes and go to bed. I'm really tired." I told her, as she nodded her head.

"Okay then… Goodnight… Ya know, in case you're out when I'm done." She said, as she moved the curtain separating our bathroom from the rest of our apartment aside and walked in. Two seconds later, she's poking her head back out. "Oh, and if you notice Natsu or Happy trying to break in, give them a good smack for me." She said, as I held a thumbs up in her direction.

With my promise to protect the vicinity she calls her bed; Lucy pops her head back into the bathroom. Not long after that, I could hear the water being turned on as she prepared her bath. Sighing heavily once more, I got up and went over to the shared writing desk. On one side, I could see a few of the latest pages of the novel Lucy's been working on for the last couple of years now. It's going to make a good book, although she doesn't know that I've read them.

Knowing she'd freak out if I disturbed them, I just grabbed a blank piece of paper and wrote a letter to Storm detailing the recent events I've played a part in. When it was finished, I sealed it up in an envelope and added it to the rest of the letters I kept stashed in a box beneath my bed. When that was done, I went to my dresser, and pulled out some comfortable clothes to sleep in. Once I was changed, I wasted no time in crawling into my sheets.

Soon as I was settled in, I fell asleep almost immediately.

~X~ Lucy ~X~

As I walked out from the bathroom after my nice hot bath, rubbing a towel through my hair, I paused when I noticed that Icelynn had indeed fallen asleep.

Looking over my sister's features, I felt yet another small smile cross my face as I noticed how soundly she was sleeping. It was good to see that she could get some rest that would be uninterrupted by her nightmares. Putting a finger to my lips, I motioned for Plue to remain quiet as I went over to the desk.

Picking up a blank piece of paper, and the quill I kept here for when either Icelynn or I wrote our letters, or I worked on my novel, and began writing to my mother.

Dear Mom in Heaven,

Things have once again taken a crazy turn at Fairy Tail. As always, I'll start from the beginning for you…

A few days ago, I met yet another member of the guild who was gone on a job when Icelynn and I first joined up with Fairy Tail. She's a beautiful wizard named Erza, and I have to say that she's pretty awesome. Her magic allows her to switch out her weapons and armor out of thin air! It's got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen aside from Icelynn's and Natsu's dragon slayer abilities. Upon her return to the guild, she asked for the help of Natsu, whom I've mentioned to you before; and Gray, an ice wizard who has a serious problem of unconsciously stripping. Don't worry though, he usually doesn't get past his underwear before someone mentions his clothes.

Anyway, on her way back from her previous job, Erza had heard a group of suspicious wizards mentioning something about a magical artifact they called Lullaby. Originally, she had wanted Natsu and Gray to go with her to further investigate the rumors, and to help her stop the wizards if they really had been up to no good. Mirajane asked me to tag along to help keep Natsu and Gray in line whenever Erza wasn't looking. And to help get me more experience as a working wizard.

As for the suspicious wizards, it turns out that they really weren't up to any good.

The Lullaby that Erza heard them mention, was actually a magical flute that utilized death magic. Zeref, the Black Wizard, was known to have tampered with it, turning it into one of his demons. The dark guild Eisenwald, had wanted to use this demon flute to take revenge on the guild masters of the league that they formerly belonged to. While we worked on trying to stop them, we picked up Icelynn out in Oshibana. She had been doing her own solo job out there and had just finished it when she noticed us.

Together, we managed to fight our way through Eisenwald's dark mages and get to Clover in time to stop them from using Lullaby. The demon flute itself was a completely different problem of its own though. When we stopped it from being played, it became furious and transformed into this huge, towering wooden monster. Oh, I wish you could have seen Natsu, and Erza, and Gray, and Icelynn go up against this thing.

Speaking of Icelynn, I think she's finally beginning to open up to others now. For a moment, when Lullaby transformed, she froze. I didn't see it, but our Master at Fairy Tail did. He asked her about it, and she opened up and decided to tell him. I have to say though, Master Makarov is pretty understanding and open minded for a guild master. I can see why everyone at Fairy Tail is so loyal towards him.

As for the boy who saved her from her terrible fate, Icelynn hasn't been able to find him yet. From what she's told me, she never heard the boy's name, and never got a good look at his face. The only thing she knows about him is this guy's scent thanks to her dragon slayer abilities. I don't know how it'll happen, but I have a feeling she'll figure out who he is or would happen to find him someday.

As for what ended up happening to Eisenwald, most of the guild was arrested back at Oshibana station. A few of them still managed to get away though. What worries me most about this is the fact that Erigor was one of the mages who escaped. I'm a little worried that he'll try and take some kind of revenge out on Fairy Tail. Even if he does though, there's no need to worry about me. I have my big sister with me, not to mention that I'm on the strongest team with Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza. So, I'm sure I'll be fine!

Well, I have to go now, Mama. It's been a long couple of days. I'll write to you again soon.

With love,

Lucy.

Done with writing the letter, I then sealed it, and got up to place it in the jewelry box with the others. As I moved across the room, a glint catches my eye. Looking over, I spotted the metal box that Icelynn keeps her letters to her dragon in, sticking half-way out from underneath her bed. Putting my mother's letter in my own box, I then tip toed over towards Icelynn, and used my foot to gently push her box back where it belonged.

I wonder if I'll ever get to meet Storm, or Igneel for that matter. I wondered, as I turned to go to my bed. I haven't asked Natsu what his dragon looks like, but I have asked Icelynn about hers.

According to Icelynn, Storm is mainly a white scaled dragon. His neck and belly, and the underside of his tail on the other hand, is a light ice blue. As were the spikes that run from his head down to the tip of his tail. The membrane of his wings were also this color, as were his eyes, although they were a few shades darker from the way my sister described him. However, the scales around his eyes were a much, much darker blue. Closer to Sapphire.

Overall, Storm sounds like a pretty cool dragon, but… I thought to myself, as I checked the window above my bed before I crawled beneath my own covers. Once I was settled, I turned worried eyes towards my sister. But how will finding Storm again affect Icelynn…?

As far as Icelynn's imprisonment goes, the only thing she will tell me other than how she escaped that life, is that she was magically experimented on for two years. A hell that began for her shortly after Storm left for whatever reason. I know that she'll be happy to see her dragon again, but I'm worried it will put her back in that state again.

When my father brought her home for the first time, she was practically lifeless. Icelynn wouldn't look at you, let alone say a single word to anyone; no matter what they said, or at what volume it was said in. I was also warned to not make any sudden movements around her. While this did frighten me a little, what terrified me the most was the look in her eyes.

They were so cold, and void of any sort of emotion save one. Pure, unrelenting determination.

For the first few months, she did her best to avoid everyone. When someone refused to leave her alone, she would growl at them like a cornered animal. However, no matter how loudly she growled, she never attacked. Once I saw this, I got the strong desire to help her however I could. After my mother passed away from her illness, my father had just begun turning into the man he is now, and he would lock himself up in his study most of the time, leaving me alone.

My pain and suffering was great, but it was nowhere near what Icelynn felt. Yet, we were both lonely. I knew for a fact that I couldn't stand to be lonely, so I reasoned that she didn't either. So, I began trying my best to get her to open up to me. After a while, I stopped caring if her response was going to be nice, or harsh, all I had wanted was to get her to speak to me.

Eventually, my persistence won out when she finally snapped at me, asking me why I just couldn't leave her alone. It wasn't long after that, that Icelynn declared me to be her little sister…

Giving Icelynn a small smile, I turned over to go to sleep.

I don't care whether or not Storm is a dragon… If he upsets my big sister, I'll find the biggest newspaper I can and smack him on the nose… I quietly giggled to myself, as I drifted off.

~X~ Icelynn ~X~

When I began to wake up, I could hear scratching. Opening my eyes, I blinked away the blurriness as I sat up halfway, I looked over towards the desk to find Lucy sitting at it scribbling away. From the familiar stack of papers sitting closer to her right than normal, I could tell that she was working on her novel again.

Sitting up the rest of the way caused my bed to creak, alerting Lucy that I was now awake. Turning around, Lucy gave me a bright smile.

"Oh, morning." She told me, as I flipped my covers off of me.

"Hey…" I responded, my voice thick from misuse, as I turned to put my feet on the floor. "What time is it?" I asked her then, as I stretched.

"Well, it's almost ten." She answered me, as I let out a low curse.

"Damn… What time did you get up?" I asked her, as I stood up from my bed, and went to get my usual change of clothes for the day.

"Closer to eight." She answered, as she turned back around to face her work. "You hungry? Or would you rather eat at the guild."

"Guild's fine…" I answered, as I turned to face the curtain that leads into the bathroom. "Do you need the bathroom? I need a shower." I asked Lucy who shook her head no.

"Nah, I'm good." She said, as she went back to writing.

Giving one more stretch, I entered the bathroom and got the shower going. About half an hour later I emerged wearing my fresh outfit and running my towel through my long black hair. Pausing by the clothes hamper by the bathroom door, I dropped my towel in once my hair was mostly dry and grabbed my hairbrush from the dresser, then went back to sit on my bed while I worked on the tangles.

As I did this, I caught a familiar scent coming from the chimney of all places. I went to stand to go over and see why it smelled like ice magic, but before I could so much as get my ass off my bed, Gray is pulling himself out through the unlit fireplace in just his boxers. All I could do was stare at him in shock as he stood to his feet. Without so much as a smudge of soot on him I might add.

Honestly, why can't he or Natsu seem to know how to use a fucking door? I wondered to myself in annoyance.

While I contemplated this, Gray finished straightening out his boxer shorts and turned to give me a wave in greeting as he sat in one of the chairs by the small table Lucy and I eat our meals. Giving him a nod in reply, I simply went back to brushing my hair like he hadn't just broken in, while he began checking my and Lucy's apartment out. Glancing over at Lucy, I could see that she was still writing away, clueless to our intruding friend.

In fact, she didn't even move for a good few minutes before she finally put her pen down to stretch out her arms and look out the window.

"It's such a nice day out…" she began, as she dropped her arms to the desk. "I think I might go do a little shopping later… You want to come with, Ice?" she asked me as I finished brushing out my hair.

"I don't know… Maybe…" I answered, as I began braiding my hair, feeling like keeping it out of my face for today.

"Are you kidding? For seventy thousand jewels a month for digs like these, I'd say go for it with the money you save." Gray put in his two jewels worth, as Lucy nodded in agreement with him.

"Precisely!" Lucy began as she turned to face me, only to freeze up as her eyes widened a bit. "Wait a minute…" she muttered as she turned to look at Gray.

I swear, she looked at him bug eyed for at least two minutes before she screamed INTRUDER ALERT and sprung from where she sat to kick Gray out of the dinning chair he occupied. While Gray lay sprawled out from the shock of what had just happened to him, Lucy was grilling him about not only breaking in, but stripping in our house. When Lucy said all that she thought was needed, she turned a pouting glare in my direction.

"Come on, Icelynn! I thought you were supposed to be on the lookout for creeps?" she whined at me, as I rose an eyebrow in her direction.

"You asked me to make sure Natsu and Happy didn't try to sneak in, you said nothing about Gray or the rest of Fairy Tail." I reminded her with a scoff as Lucy huffed at me.

"Hold on I can explain!" Gray shouted then, as he came out of his stupor, drawing my and Lucy's attention to him and away from each other. Seeing that he had it, Gray crossed his arms and turned to the side.

"I was naked when I got here." He said, explaining his lack of clothing save his underwear. Giving him a dry look, Lucy simply pointed towards the front door.

"Get out…" she ordered, only for Gray to ignore her.

"Geez… I see that you two forgot about today, huh?" he asked, as Lucy and I gave each other confused looks.

"What about today?" Lucy asked him, as I tried thinking back to any important dates Lucy and I were supposed to remember.

Birthday…? No, Mira would have made a mention of it… Guild anniversary…? Nah, Mira would have mentioned that too... Fight…? Wait… I thought, as I went back over the last few days.

"Lucy, didn't you tell me that Natsu had challenged Erza to a fight before you all left Magnolia Station?" I asked my sister then, as she got a look of recognition on her face that was quickly leaning towards panic.

"Oh no! You're right!" she exclaimed, worry etching into her face.

"Yeah… I figured that after everything that happened you wouldn't remember, so I came by to remind you two. They're going to fight their rematch at the guild in just a little bit." Gray said, confirming what we recalled.

"Gah! Oh, alright fine, just give me a minute to get changed…" Lucy said, as she darted over to her dresser to pull out a fresh set of her own usual clothes. "Icelynn, are you good to go?" she asked me then.

"Yeah, just need to get my boots on." I answered her, as I got up long enough to grab them from the foot of the bed.

Once Lucy fled to the bathroom and got changed, and we both had our own set of boots on, we followed Gray out of the front door. After I directed him away from the fireplace of course, and he grabbed his discarded clothes and put them back on. As we got within a block of the guild hall, we suddenly found ourselves having to navigate a rather good-sized crowd.

"Okay, I guess this rematch is a big deal, huh?" I asked Gray as we pushed our way through.

"Are you kidding me? Most of the people here just want to see Erza wipe the floor with that flame brain." Gray answered, as I gave him a knowing look.

"Let me guess, you're one of them?" Lucy asked him next, as Gray gave us a smirk.

"Damn straight!" He answered, then muttered under his breath. "Even though I want to be the one to do it."

Wow, even Luce saw that one a mile away. I thought in amusement as we finally managed to get towards the inner ring of the circle that surrounded both Erza and Natsu, who stood directly in the center facing each other. Off to the side of them, just in the edge of the crowd was Master Makarov. From the looks of things, they were waiting for him to signal the beginning of the fight.

Catching a whiff of another familiar scent, I turned just in time to see Mira waving at Lucy, Grey, and me. Seeing my gaze turn that way, Lucy looked over as well.

"Hey Lucy, Icelynn, Gray!" she called to us, as we three went over.

"Hey Mira!" Lucy called back, as I gave her a wave. Gray on the other hand just nodded his greeting. Once that was out of the way, Lucy turned her worried eyes back towards Natsu and Erza. "Wow, I can't believe that they are actually going through with this." She said, as Elfman, who stood behind Mira with Macao standing on his right, scoffed at Lucy's statement.

"Are you kidding! If those two value their manhood they'll go through with it." He said, as I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words.

"Um… Erza isn't a man." Mira corrected him, as Macao gave us a sly grin.

"Yeah, but you have to admit that Erza's manly…" He said, as I rolled my eyes.

Ignoring them, Lucy looked back at Gray and I.

"Aren't you guys worried that this will tear our strongest team apart?" Lucy asked, as Gray gave her a confused look.

"Our strongest team?" he repeated back to her.

"You, Natsu, Erza, and Icelynn you dummy." She told him, as I choked on air.

"Whoa, hold on, I am not a part of anybody's team. My joining was temporary. Besides, with how destructive we can be all together, I think it'll be best if my temporary status on this team stays that way. Especially if we want to be able to pay rent without getting behind." I corrected Lucy, who gave me a pout. Giving her a look that tells her I'm not budging, she huffed and let it go.

As for Gray on the other hand, he became a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah right… With or without Icelynn, the three of us being the strongest team - What idiot fed you that lie." He said with a chuckle, as I began to wonder that myself. It definitely wasn't Master Makarov; he wouldn't have formed such a team for fear of the damage it would cause. Our destroying the guild masters conference hall is proof enough of that.

At Gray's words though, Mira's bright and sunny happy face turned really dark and sad within seconds as she cried into her hands. Seeing it, Gray began to feel like a total ass as he tried his best to apologize and console her.

"Nice and smooth, Gray." Lucy told him sarcastically as Elfman gave us a serious look. To be honest, I'm surprised he didn't try to punch Gray. Then again, now that I think about it, Elfman didn't really stand against Gray or Natsu in that first guild brawl Lucy and I witnessed.

"Well, I will admit that both Natsu and Gray are pretty tough, but there are guys in the guild who are stronger than those two combined." He said, then his serious look turned into a grin as he pointed to himself. "Except maybe this guy!" he proclaimed, not willing to let his manly pride take a hit.

"But calling Erza the strongest woman is a safe bet." A new voice said, as Levy, Jet, and Droy joined our little group. "Although, that might change now that we have another dragon slayer in the guild, and a girl one at that." She added, as Lucy greeted her with a hug.

Hearing her, I couldn't help but gently scoff at that idea.

"While that's kind of you Levy, I highly doubt it." I told her as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, Levy might be right about that one Icelynn. You've done pretty well for yourself on the solo jobs you've been on. Not to mention that you're a lot less destructive on your own like Erza is." Mira agreed, giving me a small smile. "To be honest, I'm surprised that Natsu hasn't challenged you to a fight yet." She said then, as I teasingly put a finger to my lips in a shushing motion.

"Just don't give him any bright ideas." I told her with a smirk before I became serious. "Even if he does, we wouldn't be able to have a match out here in front of the guild hall." I said, as everyone in our little group turned confused looks my way.

"How come?" Levy asked me then.

"Well, by it's very nature, dragon slayer magic is really destructive." I answered her. "Not only would there be a shit ton of property damage, but I'm pretty sure some of the spectators would end up getting hurt from being caught up in the attacks."

"Wow… That makes sense." Levy agreed, as Jet spoke up next.

"Yeah, well while that takes care of the girls, it's a lot tougher for the guys." He said, as we all turned our attention to him. "For us, I'd have to put my money on Laxus or Mystogen."

"Aren't those two the other S-Class wizards in the guild?" I asked him, as he nodded his head once.

Once again, I have Lucy's ramblings about Sorcerer Weekly to thank for what I know about Fairy Tail. Of the three current major S-Class wizards present in the guild, I'm sure that Laxus Dryer, who must be related to Makarov somehow seeing as they have the same last name, won it first. Erza got it the following year, then Mystogen was the last major player of the guild to have achieved the ranking. Gildarts Clive is another long-standing S-Class wizard, but the last time Lucy brought that name up, rumor had it that he was going off on an exceedingly long and difficult job for the guild.

Just as I was being pulled out of my musings by Mira quietly wailing on how she thought how well Team Natsu would work together, I could have sworn I saw a flash of yellow and black pass by one of the windows on the second floor of the guild. Turning to look up at the window, I saw that no one was there. Yet, I began to get the unshakable feeling that we were being watched…

Keeping my eyes on that window for a few moments longer, I shook my head and looked away.

Come on, Icelynn… With all of this going on out here, who would want to wait around in the guild hall. It was probably just a curious little bird. I silently scolded myself, as I spotted a bit of blue flying over towards the entrance to the guild hall. Looking over, I saw Happy approaching Cana who sat cross legged by the front doors. On one side of her sat a betting poster, and on the other was the pot the money was going into.

With Happy being best friends with Natsu, I figured that's who he would bet on to win. Imagine not only my surprise, but also the watching Lucy's when he put his money on Erza in the first round.

"Is he really betting against his own best friend?" Lucy asked out loud, as I turned to look back at Natsu and Erza.

From the looks of it, Erza had re-quipped while I had been distracted. The armor she now wore had the warm colors you'd normally associate with flames.

"That's her Flame Empress Armor." Levy filled us in once she caught our intrigued looks. "So long as Erza wears that, Natsu's flames will only be half as effective." She told us while we watched as the two take on their own battle stances.

"Geez Erza, at least give the poor kid a fighting chance!" we hear the familiar voice of Wakaba call out as we waited.

Throwing her arms around and crushing me, Lucy gave a fake cry as she saw Cana put in a few more bets.

"Why is everyone picking sides!? I don't want either Natsu or Erza to lose!" She said, as Gray gave her a side long look.

"Then cheer for both of them." I said, as I then gave Lucy a dry look. "And Sis… Could you maybe get off of me?" I asked her, as Lucy squeaked and jumped back muttering a sorry as she went.

Now that I wasn't being crushed, Lucy and I looked back up in time to see Makarov raise his staff into the air. As he did, the crowd immediately went quiet in anticipation for the first round to start.

"Round One Start!" Master Makarov declared, as Natsu lunged at Erza, who in turn wasted no time in summoning a fire blade to fight against Natsu with.

Little did I know though, that as I was watching my two friends in their match, I really was being watched as well…

~X~ Guild Hall: Second Floor ~X~

Well isn't she a perceptive one… I thought to myself, as I leaned back against the outer wall next to the very same window that newbie thought she saw me in.

When I had heard that Gramps had allowed a couple more mages to join the guild, I figured that they would just be another couple of weaklings like all the rest. Part of the reason why I even bothered to stop by the guild today other than to pick up another job for me and my team, was to observe the two newcomers.

So far, the blonde one doesn't impress me much. Save that nice-looking rack she's got. However, I decide to leave it at that, seeing as she's a bit on the young side for me. I'd say that she's about four maybe five years younger than Bixlow. Knowing him, he'd definitely check her out further.

As for the dark haired one, she's not as busty as Blondie, but she's sure got a set of tits herself. Nice ass too from what I could see making my way here to the point of which she caught a glimpse of me anyway. She's also a bit older than the other one, so I feel less like a creep in checking her out. However, as for her worth to the guild, I'll just have to see when I put my plan to save this guild into action. If she ends up proving herself, I might just end up seducing her.

She's not as soft looking as the blonde, just a bit toned in the way women get when they take the time to train themselves. Not to mention the stamina that would bring with it. Hell, I could feel myself swell a bit at the thought of the night flying by with her in a bed. Not to mention that the old man would be retired by this time, and I wouldn't get an earful for having casual sex with another member.

While this and relationships were never forbidden to begin with, it was a point that the two involved would have to be extremely careful. Team dynamics and all of that fucking bullshit. As for the sleeping around, it would only be brought up to the master if problems arose. Relationships are a bit different. The two involved would have to let the master know when it starts and inform him when it falls through.

Yet another load of bullshit. Relationships involve emotions, and emotions do nothing but make you weaker, and unable to do what needs to be done most of the time. They save nothing, and just give people something to betray or disappoint you with.

As these thoughts went through my head, I felt a small electric charge beginning to dance around my fingertips. Raising my hand to observe it, I couldn't help but think about the many hours I had to spend training myself to be the strongest wizard this guild has. Everyone down there watching flame brain and Scarlet knows it, even if they don't really think it. Well, maybe not flame brain.

Natsu Dragneel is pretty powerful in his magic, but he's too untamed to be of any use. In the new Fairy Tail I'm going to create, if he impresses, I'll have to see about changing that. Right now, like Erza, I'd wipe the floor with him in seconds without having to use a single zap of my lightning against him.

Clenching my hand into a fist, I took a deep breath and let the charge still dancing around my fingers fizzle out. Once it was out, I caught a flash of green out of the corner of my eye approaching the mob outside. Looking back out the window from where I stood, I spotted one of those frog subordinates of the Magic Counsel approaching.

"Looks like the fights over with." I muttered to myself as I turned away from the window and went to my usual seat up here on the second floor. "How fucking boring…"

Kicking my chair back where I sat above the bar, I watched as everyone outside began filing in with depressed faces. Save Mirajane who was angrily scolding a flailing salamander she took to the bar. Putting it under a glass, she simply finished scolding what had to be Natsu, which I don't find surprising. From bits of conversations I could hear, sounds like that frog came here to arrest Scarlet for property damages she, flame brain, Fullbuster, and some chick named Icelynn caused. Has to be one of the two newbies.

Looking up as the two came through the door, I figured that the one named Icelynn has to be the black haired and blue-eyed chick. With ice blue eyes like hers, I can see how the name would fit, not that I give a flying fuck. As I watched the two, I saw as the black-haired girl only made it a few steps into the door before she pauses in her tracks. Blondie, who was talking nonstop about what had just happened, kept on walking without realizing that she was leaving her friend or whatever behind.

Watching as the black-haired chick's nose twitched as she began sniffing the air, I felt my head tilt to the side as I contemplate her. Could she be some kind of beast mage, or maybe a takeover mage like Mirajane?

Interesting… She's barely set foot inside the guild, and already she can tell that a scent she's never smelt before is here. I thought to myself as her face slowly turned upwards to look along the second floor. Could she be a? I wondered to myself as my gaze locked on to hers.

The moment her eyes clashed with mine, I watched as they turned a lighter shade of blue, and the pupil became more like that of a reptile or a cat's.

Or a dragon slayer's… I thought as I held her gaze.

As I did though, I couldn't help but feel a sense of recognition in seeing her eyes do this. I knew for a damn fact that I'd never seen her around here before, so why would I think this?

Could she have been a past client of the guild? I wondered to myself as I didn't back down from her gaze. No, she couldn't be. I'd have remembered a woman looking like that… Unless its from further back… I wondered, as I remembered what happened to me as a kid.

At my thoughts going back to that place, I felt myself becoming pissed.

Come on, Laxus get a grip. I scolded myself as I scoffed at the newbie. I'm a hell of a lot stronger than to let that kind of fucking bullshit bother me anymore. I got stronger like my dad wanted, even if the way he went about it was fucked up. I thought as I looked away from the girl downstairs as my thoughts darkened. And besides, with how Gramps never spoke about that girl again, I'm sure that she's dead…

Cutting that thought and the fucking emotions right there, I went back to just observing and listening to the guild…

~X~ Icelynn ~X~

Watching as Erza was slapped into magic canceling handcuffs, I found myself unconsciously rubbing the skin of my wrists. I understand that this is just procedure for them, but that won't change the experience being in a set of them for a couple of years gave me. Forcing myself to stop, I watched along with the rest of the guild as Erza was loaded into the back of a prisoner's carriage the magic counsel had sent to pick her up.

Thinking back to how her fight with Natsu ended, I couldn't help but be confused.

On our way back to Magnolia after dealing with Eisenwald in Clover, we all figured that the magic counsel would send a mountain of complaints and a huge repair bill to Fairy Tail; but I never would have imagined that they would come all the way out here from Era to arrest one of us. Not only that, but it's also the fact that they arrested Erza, and Erza alone for those eleven counts of property damage.

This just doesn't add up. If they were going to press charges, then they would have arrested me, Natsu, and Gray too. I thought as the carriage slowly began to pull away. Lucy and Happy would have just been escorted back to Magnolia along with Makarov by the Rune Knights until a trial could be set up at Era, and then would have been called in for questioning. Unless… I thought to myself, as Lucy and I followed our fellow, albeit disappointed guild mates into the guild hall. Could this just be a formality? I wondered, as Lucy let out a long, depressed sigh that had me coming back to reality.

"I can't believe this!" Lucy said, as we waited to get inside. "Why would they just come and take Erza away like that!? We stopped Lullaby for them, didn't we? Geez, just how ungrateful could they be!?" she complained, as we inched our way closer to the door.

"I don't think that has anything to do with it, Luce." I replied. "To be honest, if it was about property damage, then they would have made three more arrests in addition to Erza." I told her, as she gave me a worried look.

"Wait, do you mean that they are planning to pin everything on her?" Lucy asked me then as I shrugged at her.

"I don't know." I told her as we kept walking. "We'll just have to wait and see what Master Makarov has to say about this. Although, I do have a feeling that charging off to save Erza might make things more complicated."

Lucy went to fuss some more but held up when Romeo popped up from the bushes holding a little, pink salamander wearing a familiar black and orange striped vest.

"Hey! Look everyone! My daddy caught Natsu trying to sneak away!" he called out to us as Mira wove her way through the crowd to get to the kid.

"HEY, LET ME GO YOU JERKS! WE HAVE TO GET ERZA BACK! WHAT ABOUT MY REMATCH!" the little thing fussed.

Is it just me, or does Natsu not smell right? I thought. I brushed it off as it probably being the spell keeping him in that form though. Sometimes magic does alter someone's sent for a while. Then again, why didn't Macao bring him out instead of Romeo.

With this thought, I began to have a bad feeling. The only way to prove whether or not this was really Natsu would be to undo the spell. However, if we do that and it is Natsu, then it would become a shit show to try and keep him from actually chasing off after Erza.

With me being the only other dragon slayer present, I'll probably have to be the one to at least slow him down until Makarov can get out here to subdue him… I thought bitterly.

"Natsu! There's nothing you can do!" Mira scolded the little salamander as Romeo handed it to her by the tail.

Holding it gently as she could without it escaping, she headed back into the guild hall. Lucy and I let her pass us by before we entered so she could go and contain Natsu somewhere. As we finally got over the threshold, Lucy was still talking about how unfair the magic counsel was when I caught a scent that I did not previously detect in the guild.

The scent of rain and thunder…

Lucy didn't notice as I stopped dead in my tracks as I suddenly found myself back in that cell, the lightning shaking the very foundation of the hellish place that cell was located, and that boy whose face I didn't see. Whose name I did not catch.

The one person I would only ever be able to identify by his scent alone.

As I scanned the crowd of guild mates around me, I could feel my eyes sharpen a bit, telling me that they changed. I kept taking in the scents of the room, trying to pinpoint where the thunderstorm scent was coming from. Then, almost as if I were in a trance, I found myself looking up towards the second floor as I remember that I thought I saw someone up there while I was outside.

Sure enough, I found my gaze locking with a stormy set of blue green eyes. The guy that these eyes were attached to was leaning back in a chair, watching me. He had to have been watching me since before Erza was carted off, I did feel that someone was. So much for it just being a yellow bird…

He had spiky blonde hair, and a lightning bolt shaped scar going down the right side of his face. Starting up in his right eyebrow and going down past his eye and down his cheek. He wore a, in my opinion, not so flattering mustard yellow leopard print shirt. Over his shoulders sat a black coat with a fur trim. Over his ears, he wore sound pods that had spikes on each earpiece. Thanks to my dragon slayer hearing, I could tell that he was listening to some kind of rock music. Not sure what exactly with how far away he is, and how low he has the volume.

He's definitely who I saw pass by that window, but is he the same guy from that night? I couldn't help but wonder as this stranger's gaze, which has been locked on to mine for quite a few moments now, hardened and he scoffed at me before turning to look in another direction.

The moment he looked away, it felt like some kind of spell had been broken, and I felt a faint blush trying to rise to my cheeks. Honestly, I couldn't believe myself. Why would I let a look like that bother me so much? It's not like I was the one caught staring, hell no, he was the one who was caught!

No, I'm embarrassed because he saw my eyes change color with my emotions like some ninny… Besides, just what the hell is his problem? Does he get off on staring at people then dismissing them? I wondered, as Lucy turned to look at me, only to find that I had been left behind.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to calm myself down. When I opened them again, my sight was no longer sharper than a human's. Shaking my head at Lucy's concerned look to tell her I was fine, I followed her to an empty table. Sitting on the opposite side of Lucy, I watched as she fell into silence and put her head down on the table's surface. Taking in the saddened face she had, I looked at all of my other guild mates to see similar expressions.

Looking back towards the bar where Makarov had taken his usual seat on the bar top, I saw Mira standing in her usual place by the stairs, and on the other end underneath an upside-down glass was Natsu in salamander form. From the sounds of it, he had yet to cease begging Mira and Makarov to let him out.

"PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE LET ME OUT! I'LL BE GOOD YOU GUYS, I SWEAR!" he declared, as Mira's stern look from before returned to her face as she moved to be eye level with the little critter.

"Natsu, you should just calm down." Mira told him, sounding annoyed that she had to go over this again with him. "If we turn you back, you'll just go on a rampage so you can take off after Erza."

"GIVE ME A BREAK! I COULDN'T CARE LESS WHAT HAPPENS TO HER, I JUST WANT TO FINISH MY REMATCH!" Natsu fussed once more.

"Even if we all wanted to help her, there's no way that we can take on the magic counsel. We'd just end up being arrested along with her at that rate." Gray said, as the little salamander turned to look at him.

"BUT DON'T THOSE OLD GUYS KNOW THAT ERZA ONLY DID WHAT SHE HAD TO IN ORDER TO SAVE THE GUILD MASTERS FROM THOSE DARK MAGES AND THEIR EVIL DEATH FLUTE!" the little salamander said then, as I tilted my head to the side. I expected Natsu to pick a fight, not try to reason with Gray of all people…

Okay, it's settled, that is not Natsu. I thought tiredly as Gray just continued on like nothing was up.

"Don't you get it? If the magic counsel says that you're guilty, you're guilty regardless of what you say or do." He said, as the salamander backed down.

In seeing this, and with me still being in a bit of a mood from before, I got up from where I sat. Ignoring Lucy's curious look, I went up to the bar.

"I don't get it. We've destroyed tons of things in the past, yet they've never done this before." Elfman said, as a round of agreements went around. Ignoring them as well, I grabbed one of the stools and pulled it over enough that I could sit in front of the glass. Once I had it in place, I sat down and folded my arms on the bar top, followed by my chin as I stared directly into the little salamander's eyes.

Seeing my intense gaze, it began to get nervous. Sure, I could say something and end this farce, but its already too late to stop Natsu from going after Erza and fucking up her trial.

From the way things played out, I'm betting that this is Macao. He did owe Natsu a favor after all. I thought, as Macao began to look everywhere except at me.

"This isn't right! We should be there to testify!" Lucy said then, as she stood up from where she sat.

"We aren't going to court." Makarov said, as Lucy moved towards the bar where he sat to protest.

"Why not, Master?" Lucy asked him. "We can't just sit here and let them charge her for something she's innocent in."

"He's right, Lucy." I said then, as everyone turned their attention towards me. Looking from Macao to my sister. "Even if we were to leave right now, the trial, if you could call it that, would already be over."

"What do you mean, Icelynn?" Mira asked me then, as I turned to look at her.

"Well, for starters, Erza wasn't the only one who destroyed the conference hall, and parts of Oshibana station. Gray, Natsu, and I would have been arrested too had this been the case." I said, as I turned to face Macao again. Placing my hand over the bottom, I began slowly making the air inside of it cold. "With the fact that we weren't arrested in mind, and that a demon from the book of Zeref was involved; even though it was a weaker version of the others mind you, only one thing makes sense." I said, as I made the glass a tiny bit colder. Inside, Macao was beginning to shiver. Serves him right for not picking a better time to pay back that favor for Natsu.

"They're planning on making Erza a scapegoat to keep the peace so to speak." I finished, as I lowered my face to look closer at Macao. "Right? Salamander?" I asked him mockingly.

"COME ON ICELYNN! CUT THAT OUT, I'M BEGINNING TO FREEZE IN HERE!" Macao begged me, still trying to hang on to his guise as Natsu.

"What's wrong Natsu? I thought it took extremely cold temperatures for fire dragon slayers to so much as get a tiny chill." I responded then, as everyone in the guild hall turned their attention to the little guy. "If you're cold, just heat yourself up." I told him.

Hearing a chuckle coming from Master Makarov, I glance over in time to see the knowing look in his eyes. Looks like he's known for a while that Natsu wasn't here. I guess he chose not to say anything for the same reason I did, that Natsu had probably left about the same time Erza did, so it was too late to do anything.

Now that I think about it, Happy's been gone this whole time too.

The only response I got to my challenge was a burning glare from Macao. He may be a fire mage in his own right, but if he were to use his magic now, his transformation would break, and his façade would swiftly come to an end. Not that it will go on for much longer if Makarov's expression is anything to go by.

Moving my hand, I got up from my stool as Macao's attention was then taken up by the guild master.

"What's the matter Natsu? Has the fire gone out in your belly?" Makarov asked him then as Macao scratched his chin. When he didn't say anything more. Makarov held out his hand and sent a tiny blast of his magical energy at the glass Macao was trapped under.

Letting out a little shriek as the glass was sent flying, the blast was enough to startle Macao and cause him to turn back into his original form. Seeing this, everyone who had been paying close attention went bug eyed from the shock of it turning out to be Macao instead of Natsu.

"THAT WAS YOU!?" Laki, Lucy, and Elfman exclaimed as Gray turned his shocked eyes towards me.

"Hold on, how did you know it wasn't Natsu, Icelynn?" he asked me, as I gave him a droll stare.

"Well. firstly, Romeo said that his dad had turned Natsu into a salamander to keep him from getting away. If that was the case, then Macao would have had Natsu instead. Secondly, since when has Natsu ever reasoned with you instead of picking a fight?" I asked him then, as he blushed in embarrassment.

"Well, you got me there…" He muttered, as we all then turned to look at the sheepish face Macao was giving us.

"Sorry you guys, I owed Natsu a favor for helping me out of that mess on Mount Hakobe." He told us, as he then fessed up to turning himself into a salamander with the sole purpose of letting Natsu slip away to go get Erza.

"You've got to be kidding me! That dumbass will try to fight the whole counsel!" Elfman shouted, as he clenched his fists. If I didn't know any better, then I'd say he was a bit sad that he would be missing out on the fun Natsu would have.

"Would everyone just calm down." Makarov said then, as we all went silent. "We have no choice but to wait and see what happens." He said, as I shrugged my shoulders.

Besides, I'm sure that the most that'll happen to both Erza and Natsu is that they'd have to spend a night in a cell…

With that in mind, Lucy and I went back to our table to discuss what to do with the rest of our day. As I sat down, I couldn't help but look back up to the second floor again to see if that guy from before was still there. Only to find that the seat he once filled was now bare.

In the end, I decide to let it go for now. If that guy is a member of this guild, then I'll get other chances to figure out if he was the one who saved me that day, or just some random jackass…

~X~ The Next Day ~X~

The following day, Lucy and I decided to get up on the early side to head to the guild and see if Erza and Natsu had been released yet. Poor Lucy was so tired from spending the previous night worrying over our two friends, that she decided to forgo walking along the canal like usual.

"I hope they weren't charged with anything…" I heard Lucy mutter as she held Plue close to her chest for comfort.

"I'm sure everything worked out fine, Luce." I told her for what had to be the hundredth time. "If Natsu and Erza have already been released, I'm sure we'll find Natsu running around the guild hall snorting fire." I told her, which made her giggle a bit at the imagery.

"Yeah, I can totally see that…" she agreed, as she snuggled Plue a bit. "Let's not forget about Erza enjoying some strawberry cake. That girl sure loves it."

"Well, she'll definitely need it if they put her and Natsu in the same cell for the night." I said, as the two guys in the boat we always pass by floated down the canal.

"Hey Lucy! Icelynn!" They called out to us as Lucy and I waved back at them.

"How did they know our names?" Lucy asked me once they had more distance between us.

"Hell, if I know." I replied, as I shrugged my shoulders. "They probably heard our guild mates call out to us. That or they heard through some sort of Fairy Tail fan club grapevine."

Huddling down like she was being stalked or something, Lucy glanced around us.

"You know, you're probably right…" she said, as she held Plue a bit tighter. "With us being members for a little while now, I completely forgot how popular Fairy Tail is."

"Oh, that's rich coming from a girl who has every issue of Sorcerer Weekly that contains so much as a whisper of Fairy Tail hidden beneath her bed." I said, gently elbowing her in the side to make Lucy stand up straight.

Letting out a fake gasp of hurt, Lucy proceeded to stick her tongue out at me in response.

"Might I remind you, my dearest big sister, that you would also hang on to each and every word I'd gush about Fairy Tail every time I bought an issue." She shot back.

Letting out an amused sigh, I relented in my teasing.

"Alright, touché." I said, readjusting my bag that I've brought with me.

Instead of wearing my usual outfit of a black tank top, dark jeans, and my brown knee-high boots, I'm wearing the clothes I do when I plan on taking a job from the guild. My bag of course, filled with jewels and supplies needed for light travel, and my dragon slayer books. My black sleeveless shirt with light blue accents, black pants and boots, and leather bracers mirroring the color scheme of my shirt. Not to mention my belt, which holds a regular hunting knife I picked up a few weeks after we fled the Heartfilia Estate.

When I was getting ready, I was in the hopes that Lucy would want to go out on a job with me, seeing as we'll need to start saving up money for more groceries and rent very soon. Not that we would need the money right away, mind you. However, she declined due to how tired she's feeling. She did pretty much worry the whole night away about Erza and Natsu. Happy as well to some extent.

And like I told her yesterday, I'll team up with the others once in a while, but I'm not going to be a permanent member. Not with how much destruction we all cause. I thought to myself as Lucy and I finally began nearing the guild hall.

As we got near the door, I began to catch a couple of familiar scents. I opened my mouth to tell Lucy, only to pause when we heard Natsu screaming at the top of his lungs from inside about freedom and fresh air. Turning to look at my sister, I had to bite my lip at the flabbergasted look on her face. Ignoring me, Lucy marched right up to the doors and pushed them open to look inside.

Sure enough, just as I described on the way over here, we see Natsu running around spurting a mini fire ball into the air with his mouth. Off to the side, we see Erza sitting by herself with a plate in front of her. A plate that had a piece of strawberry cake slowly being devoured with a stern expression.

"Geez, why do you big sisters always have to be right?" Lucy asked me then, her puppy dog eyes coming out.

Rolling my eyes at her drama, I simply moved passed her to get properly inside the building.

"How the hell should I know?" I ask her in return. "That's about as bad as if I had asked why you little sister's have to be so damn annoying." I told her as Lucy pouted but followed me none the less.

We went over to where Erza sat by herself, and Lucy all but jumped on the poor red headed wizard with her questions about what happened. Not wanting to be caught in that crossfire, I simply went over to the request board to look over the jobs as Erza gave Lucy a look that would shut her up long enough for her to answer my sister.

As I made it about halfway to the board, I pause as that scent from yesterday invaded my senses. Taking a calming breath so I wouldn't flip out like I did yesterday, I continued on my way towards the request board. Once I was there, I turned my body in such a way, and tilted my head like I was considering one of the jobs so I could discreetly look up at the second floor from the corner of my eye. I was relieved to find nobody there, but I could feel just a hint of disappointment mixed in with it.

I didn't really let myself think it yesterday, but that guy wasn't so bad to look at. He may have looked like a total asshole, but he wouldn't go down easily in a fight with an aura like that. He may have been sitting down, but I could tell that he was at least six feet tall, and well built.

Still, I could have done without that odd look he had regarding me. Like he was sizing me up or something. At this thought, I felt a low growl of annoyance rising in my throat.

If I could, I'd go up there myself to see if that guy from yesterday was really up there or not. Maybe ask him why he was staring at me like he was. However, with the only set of stairs leading up there being behind the bar, I don't think base members are allowed up there. Not unless Master Makarov calls us to his office anyway.

Shaking my head at the absurd thoughts going through my mind, I turned to actually look through the jobs on the board as I tuned in my hearing to Erza's answers to Lucy's questions. From the sounds of it, Erza's trial played out like I had thought it would. She was to be found guilty and sent home with a slap on the wrist, at least until Natsu came barging in and destroying things in the court room. After that, they were forced to spend the night in a jail cell.

Once Erza had answered her, Lucy told her that she was happy that she and Natsu had come back safe and sound, then went to spot she could sulk about the lost hours of sleep she needlessly wasted in her worry.

Leaving my sister to her moping, I reached up and pulled one of the job requests down that had looked interesting.

Okay… Slay our Vulcan… Worth one hundred and sixty thousand jewels out towards Shirostume… Well, this would certainly get us the amount needed for rent, plus ninety thousand jewels left over. That would easily take care of the groceries, and any extra money Lucy might need to add to any kind of debt she and Team Natsu would rack up. I thought to myself, as I decided to take it.

It's been a while since I got to fight something, so I think this one will fit me just fine. I may be more relaxed than Natsu, but I'm still a dragon slayer at heart. Going over to the bar, I got Mira to stamp it for me before I rejoined Lucy at the table she had sat at with Gray, Happy, and Elfman.

"I see you found a job." Lucy said, as I sat down.

"Yeah… Slaying a vulcan." I said, as I passed her the flyer.

At hearing the word vulcan, Lucy shuddered at the memory of that time she went with Natsu up to Mount Hakobe to help him rescue Macao for Romeo.

"Wow, okay, please just be careful." She told me, passing the flyer back towards me.

"Oh, don't worry. Any of those animals think that they can try and kidnap me, I'll just turn their hides into rugs for the guild." I joked, as I gave her a wink.

Alright, I'll admit it, that was a bit out there… I thought to myself as Lucy gave me a horrified look.

"Okay, that would just be plain creepy as hell!" Lucy protested, as she put her head down on the table's surface. "Geez, I thought I ran out of the ability to worry after all I did last night." She said, as Gray got a look of realization on his face.

"Wait, so Erza wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scapegoat." He said, as I raised an eyebrow at him.

Okay, and I thought I made creepy jokes… I thought as I stared at him.

"You must be one hell of an ice wizard, cause even your jokes leave me cold." Elfman muttered, a dreadful look on his face. At hearing this, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Turning away from the two crazy guys, Lucy gave me a curious look.

"Anyway, what time are you thinking about leaving?" she asked me, as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll probably head out in a bit. Maybe stopover in Kunugi or something to sleep and head out for Shirotsume in the morning." I answered her. "From there, it just depends on how long it takes me to track that vulcan down."

After that, Lucy and I lapsed into silence. However, it didn't last seeing as the next time Natsu ran past where we sat, Elfman called out to him.

"Hey Natsu! Aren't you going to finish going man to man with Erza?" he asked him, as I shrank a bit in my seat. Not even trying to hide the growl in my voice, I gave Elfman a quick kick to the shin for his part to play in the death of the peace we were all currently enjoying. While Elfman dealt with his bruised leg, Natsu stopped his screaming about freedom and turned to look at where Erza had just finished her cake.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" he said, as he then turned to address her. "What do you say Erza, do you want to pick up where we left off?" Natsu asked her, as Erza took a sip of the tea she had as well.

"I'm not in the mood right now, Natsu." She told him, that stern look from before still on her face. It was clear that she'd rather be left alone right now. Unfortunately, it's Natsu we're dealing with here.

"I ain't letting you off that easily!" Natsu shouted as he lit one of his fists on fire and charged at Erza.

Muttering under her breath, Erza simply stood up from where she sat, and waited for Natsu to reach her. Then, without using a single bit of magic, Erza jabbed her fist into an open spot on Natsu's side. Making the fire breather keel over on the spot. When he fell over and whimpered his defeat, Lucy, Gray, and Elfman all looked on in shock. Scoffing at it myself, I simply turned to face forward again.

"Oh please, you could see that coming a mile away." I told them as the three of them began to calm down.

"How's that? You satisfied now?" Erza asked him, as Happy hovered over his best friend.

"And Natsu's out!" Happy declared as Gray and Elfman fell into fits of laughter.

Simply choosing to ignore the lot of them, I went to speak to Lucy again, only to pause as I hear Mira over at the bar ask Makarov if he was alright.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just… Sleepy…" He answered her as he turned his old gaze to the front doors of the guild hall. "He's coming…" he said, as Mira passed out behind the bar. I had half a mind to head over to see if she was alright but rethought that as I began to feel rather sleepy myself.

Looking around me, I could see that Elfman, Lucy and Gray all looked like they were about ready to drop. Hell, even Erza wasn't spared from the effects of what was happening. Realizing this, I felt panic trying to take ahold of my mind as my gaze sharpened again.

"Not again…" I heard Gray say, as I focused on my breathing, trying my best to fight what has to be a sleeping spell. If that's the case, then Gray saying that means that this isn't an enemy trying to overtake us, but a normal occurrence as a result of a spell cast by an ally.

Hearing a thud right in front of me, I looked up to see that Lucy had fallen asleep under the spell. Seeing my little sister knocked out forced a growl to rise in my throat. If this really is an ally, then why is he making himself seem like an enemy to my instincts? While I wondered about this, I heard several more thuds coming from behind me, indicating that the rest of my guild mates were falling under as well.

Looking back towards Master Makarov, I saw the look he was trying to convey to me. Telling me silently to not fight against the spell, to trust in the member of Fairy Tail doing this.

To trust someone that I don't know… Not an easy task… Not after what happened with that bastard…

However, I know that I can trust Makarov as the master of the guild I belong to. Knowing this, I put my head down on the table, and let the spell overtake me as well…

I don't know how much time passed while we were out, but before long I could hear someone counting.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

As the last number was counted out, I felt all traces of being asleep vanish into thin air. Sitting up a little too quickly, I put a hand to my head to will away the rest of the grogginess I could feel.

"Geez, was Mystogen here again?" I heard Jet ask everyone from where he sat with Droy and Levy.

"He's such a jerk!" Droy exclaimed, as Lucy sat up with a confused look on her face.

"Who is this Mystogen they're talking about?" she asked Gray and Elfman.

"Mystogen?" Elfman clarified, as a drop of sweat began to form on his temple. "He's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard." He answered, as Gray nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, and for some odd reason, he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. So, he puts everyone to sleep when he stops by the guild to pick up a job and do… Whatever it is that he does." Gray explained, as he turned to look at where Makarov still sat looking a little sleepy. "Master Makarov over there is the only one to have seen Mystogen's face."

As he said this, we all turned to look at our master as well. However, it would seem someone felt like Gray's statement couldn't go unchallenged. And did I mention that this time, it's not Natsu speaking against him.

"That's not true, I've seen him before." We heard a voice say from above us, as a shiver went down my spine as the stormy scent from yesterday became stronger. This time, I wasn't alone as I looked up towards the second floor.

The same guy from yesterday was back, only this time he was leaning against the railing up there. Seeing that he had everyone's attention, the guy let out a chuckle.

"Laxus?" Elfman said in confusion, as I felt my eyes widen a bit at what Elfman had called that guy.

"Wow, you're almost never here." I heard Wakaba say off to the side, despite not taking my eyes from the second floor.

So, he's Laxus Dryer, the other S-Class wizard that was mentioned yesterday. I thought in surprise.

"And here's yet another contender." Gray muttered, as he too looked up stairs.

"Mystogen's just a little shy…" Laxus said, as he gave everyone a mocking grin. "You all should just respect his privacy." He scolded us. At these words, I felt yet another growl forming in my throat as I got the urge to bare my fangs at this bastard.

Says the guy who reportedly said that he's seen Mystogen's face before. I thought in annoyance.

Before anyone could make an argument, Natsu hops up from where he had been lying unconscious from Erza's blow and holds up a fist in Laxus' direction. If I didn't know any better, then I'd say that hearing Laxus' voice was what made him come to. Another chance to have a rematch or something.

"Alright Laxus! Let's go! Right now!" Natsu challenged, as Gray gave Natsu a wary look.

"And getting your ass kicked once today isn't enough?" he asked him, as Laxus scoffed at Natsu.

"Listen pal, if you can't win against Scarlet, don't even bother trying me." Laxus told him, as Erza marched up to stand front and center, a look of anger on her face making quite a few people a little scared.

"Just what are you trying to say?" Erza demanded, clenching her fists, ready for a fight as Gray tries to calm her down.

"I'm saying that I'm this guild's strongest wizard." Laxus answered, as Natsu hopped up on one of the tables.

"Oh yeah, why don't you come down here and prove it?" Natsu challenged once again, as Laxus looked down his nose at him.

"You come to me you little punk." Laxus goaded him, as Natsu bared his fangs and jumped down from the table to follow through.

Unfortunately for Natsu, he wasn't able to make it past the bar before Makarov enlarged one of his fists and brought it down on Natsu's back to stop him from reaching the stairs leading up to where Laxus was, making us all gape in shock.

"Natsu, you aren't allowed on the second floor!" Makarov scolded him, only for his voice to become gentler towards the end. "At least… Not yet…"

Chuckling at Makarov's treatment of Natsu, Laxus took one look at Natsu's angry face before he opened his mouth once more. "Looks like you made the kid grumpy, Gramps." He said, as Natsu began to struggle beneath Makarov's hand holding him in place.

"That's enough out of you Laxus!" Makarov scolded him then, as Laxus rolled his eyes at Makarov's tone.

"Oh, please… The strongest in this guild isn't some chick or a hooded freak. You want to know what the strongest member of Fairy Tail looks like?" Laxus asked us, and he pointed at himself. "You're looking right at him."

At hearing this, I couldn't stop the sarcasm from leaving my mouth.

"Yeah, more like a jackass who thinks he's on top of the world." I said, as the guild became deathly silent.

All around, I watched as the few guild mates who stood around me slowly began to back away from where I was, like lightning was about to strike me dead from the heavens or something. Gray and Elfman even took the time to grab Lucy by her arms and gently lead my sister a small distance from where I still sat.

"What was that sweetheart? Got something you want to come up here and say to my face?" he asked me then, as I could feel an electrical charge begin to tickle the air in the guild hall.

So, he's a lightning mage… I observed.

Scoffing at him like he did towards me yesterday, I looked away before answering him.

"Sorry, but I think I'll pass. I'm sure that an S-Class wizard like yourself can stroke that over inflated ego all on your own." I retorted, as everyone around me gasped in shock.

As for Laxus, he looked like he could just rip me apart should he get his hands on me. Feeling the heated glare on my back, I slowly turned to take a good look at the raging eyes staring back at me.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, the atmosphere in the guild hall was so thick you could cut it with a knife. My blizzard blue eyes against his stormy blue-green ones, neither of us willing to back down. Don't get me wrong, I still stand by my earlier thoughts on this guy, so I'm not picking a fight with him like Natsu. No, I was putting the point that I will not be intimidated or threatened across to Laxus.

I didn't give a shit if he was an S-Class wizard, or truly related to Master Makarov somehow…

Still, there was this impressed gleam in his eyes, just beneath the surface of the anger, and a hint of a shadow that looks eerily similar to one I have in my own eyes. Either way, it must be strange for Laxus, having me stand up to him and not deflate before him.

~X~ Makarov ~X~

As the words Icelynn spoke to my grandson rang out across the guild hall, I couldn't help but be just as shocked as the rest of my children. Even when Laxus challenged her to try and pull the same stunt as Natsu, that girl still stood up to him without a trace of fear. Not only that, but she's fighting him using his own weapon against him.

Laxus' way with the words that he uses to stir things up here in the guild.

To be honest, I really shouldn't be surprised at this.

From what Icelynn revealed to me about her past, I am certain that she is that girl that Laxus tried to save. After the ordeal they went through was over with, and Laxus was safe, I had gone back to try and see about taking on Icelynn as a ward of Fairy Tail, only to be told that she had died of her injuries.

It was my hope that, seeing as she and Laxus survived that hell together, then maybe they could help each other recover. In being told that she was gone, I tried my best to keep up with the guild and raise my grandson to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, Laxus turned out this way regardless of what I tried to do.

However, seeing that Icelynn is obviously alive and well, that hope I had long ago is now being rekindled. Seeing her stand up to Laxus like she is, gives me hope that maybe she can help save my grandson from the darkness I can sense in him. Like she said she had wanted to do back in that village.

Still, it's about time to calm things down in here.

"Enough!" I called out loud enough for everyone to hear, and for Laxus and Icelynn to break the battle of wills they were waging with their eyes. "I don't want to hear another peep about this for the rest of today. Got that, you brats?" I asked them. Looking at me with a slightly apologetic look, Icelynn nodded her head to show her compliance.

As for Laxus, I didn't even bother looking up towards him. I know that the look he's currently giving me isn't a friendly one.

"Laxus, we will speak of this later young man." I said in a low voice, one I knew he would hear me in.

Hearing his answering grunt of annoyance, I sighed wearily as he moved to sit further back on the second floor, out of everyone's sight.

I'm getting too old for this… I thought sadly, as I turned to ask Mira for another beer. For the lecture I'm going to be giving later on, I'm going to need it…

~X~ Icelynn ~X~

Feeling like I need a drink of the strong variety, I went over to the bar to order something. Lucy, wanting to check up on me, followed me over. As we went, I could catch different bits of the other's conversations despite my trying not to.

Did you hear what Icelynn said to him?

Yeah, she's definitely got some nerve.

I thought for sure that he was going to electrocute her!

At least the Thunder Legion isn't here, Icelynn would have had her hands full if they had been.

You have to admit though, it's about time someone gave him a taste of his own medicine.

"Ice, are you okay?" Lucy asked me, as we took a seat in front of Mira.

"Yeah, I'm good… That guy just pissed me off is all." I answered her, as Mira placed a hand on my shoulder.

"What you did was pretty brave Icelynn. Not many here would dare to stand up to Laxus like that." She said, as her expression turned into that of worry. "Still, just be careful, okay. Laxus is pretty powerful in his own right even if he is a jerk." She warned me, as I sighed heavily.

"I'll try to keep that in mind." I replied, as Mira gave me a shot of the booze she keeps hidden from Cana's alcoholic, grabby little fingers. Thanking her, I tossed it back and relished the burn as it slid down my throat while it lasted. With my body's temperature being lower than most, the sensation didn't last long.

Mira tried to offer me another when Lucy ordered a strawberry smoothie, but I turned it down.

"Thanks Mira, but I shouldn't have any more than that if I want to get going before the night's over with." I said, as she nodded in understanding.

A few moments later, Mira returned with Lucy's smoothie. Once she sat it down, Lucy gave her a thoughtful look as she glanced towards the staircase.

"Hey Mira." Lucy called to keep her from moving too far away before she could speak what's on her mind. "I was wondering, why can't regular members go up on the second floor?" she asked, as I sat up a little straighter.

"Okay, I have to admit that I've been wondering that myself." I stated, as I placed my elbow on the top of the bar, followed by my cheek in my hand. "Based on what Master Makarov told Natsu when he stopped him from going up there, I'm guessing it has to deal with the guild's ranking system." I said, as Mira gave me a smile.

"Well, you're not wrong." She answered, as she looked upwards for a moment herself. "The second floor is reserved for the advanced members of the guild. The job requests posted up there make the ones down here look like child's play. These quests, like the wizards who take them on, are called S-Class quests. These jobs are so dangerous, that one wrong move could prove to be fatal. At the same time though, the higher risks come with a greater reward." She explained.

"If I remember the dynamics of the guild leagues correctly, then the master of each guild hand picks which wizards achieves this S-Class ranking." I said, as Mira nodded in my direction.

"Goodness, you sure did your homework before joining up, didn't you?" Mira asked me then, as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I wanted to learn all I could before we picked a guild to join up with, so I researched what I could, when I could." I answered, as I nodded my head towards Lucy. "While I did that, Lucy kept her ear to the ground about what sorts of guilds were around, and which ones seemed like decent options for us."

"Well, I'm glad you two picked Fairy Tail…" Mira said then, giving us both a bright smile. "Anyway, right now, there are only four people who are considered S-Class mages." She said, as I paused.

"Don't you mean five?" I asked her then, as a sad look overcame her eyes. Seeing the familiar haunted look that came with loss, I muttered a never mind and shut my mouth much to Lucy's confusion. I have a lot of my own wounds to worry about without prodding at other peoples.

"Well, there used to be, but not anymore…" Mira said, as she turned to begin cleaning some of the glasses that had already been used earlier today. "Still, I personally don't think you'll need to worry about it. There's not an amount of money that's worth dying over."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Lucy said, as she sipped on her smoothie.

With her question answered, I glanced over at the lacrima clock that sits behind the bar. Seeing that I would have about thirty minutes to get to the train station before the next train is due to depart, I put some jewels down for the drink I had and stood up.

"Alright, I guess I'd better take off." I said, as Lucy turned to look over at me.

"Oh, alright then. I'll see you in a couple of days?" Lucy asked, as she stood up long enough to give me a hug. Returning it, I nodded my head as she stood back.

"Yeah… If I'm any longer, I'll send word." I told her, as she hummed in acknowledgement.

"Okay… See you later, Icelynn." Lucy called out to me as I began making my way towards the guild doors.

Waving back at my sister, I turned to head towards the train station. Taking a deep breath as I walked, I tried my best to not think about the way Laxus looked and spoke to me. Besides, I've got a job to do. While these regular jobs aren't as dangerous as an S-Class job, one wrong move could cost me a quite a bit. Even if a vulcan doesn't run away with me, I could still get hurt by its huge size.

By the time I make it to the train station and bought the ticket to board the next train to Kunugi, I had about ten minutes to spare in finding a comfortable place to sit. Finding a good spot, I waited until the trail pulled out to watch as the scenery passed by.

~X~ The Next Day ~X~

Like I had thought, I had to spend the night at a hotel in Kunugi before I could hire a carriage to bring me out here to Shirotsume. When I finally arrived at the mayor's house, it had just hit seven in the morning. The earliest time the job request recommended for the mage who accepted it to go and see him.

The moment the mayor saw me standing at his door, he became rather relieved that a mage from the guild who brought down that wretched Everlue would be taking care of yet another pest problem for his town. With that being said, I got right down to business. According to the mayor, the vulcan showed up about a week ago, and has been damaging crops, and chasing down any young woman foolish enough to walk near the forest sitting to the South-West of town.

Luckily, none of these girls have been taken by it yet. All of them were thankfully able to make it back to town where a strength in numbers kept the vulcan from trying to come into town. It's the mayor's biggest hope that I can put down this vulcan before it does manage to kidnap anybody.

Giving the mayor my word that I would take care of it, I set out to look in the woods for it. So, here I am, half a day later following it.

Opening my senses, I made sure to keep the sounds of the forest at the forefront of my mind as I followed the tracks and scent trail the vulcan left behind. They may be big creatures, but even they can move silently when they want to. To be honest with you, I'm surprised that this overgrown ape hasn't tried to come take a swipe at me yet, with me being female and all.

This one must be smart, goes for females who appear weak. I mused, as I kept going forward until the tracks suddenly stopped. Letting out a low curse, I thought about seeing if there were any clues as to which direction the vulcan went in the trees, but I stopped myself when I felt a set of eyes on me.

Or it just changes tactics… I thought, as I acted none the wiser about the damn monkey watching me from the tree above where I currently stood. Making a show of sighing heavily like I was giving up, I turned and began heading in the direction town is in, ready and waiting for it to make it's move. Sure enough, the moment my back was turned, it lunged at me from the tree it had been in, making the poor thing wave back and forth from the force.

Unfortunately for its grand scheme, I was able to dodge the massive hand it was trying to grab me with. Using the vulcan's surprise at missing me to my advantage, I used its hand to launch myself up towards its face.

"ICE DRAGON TALON!" I shouted, as I unleashed my dragon slaying magic on it. Flipping away as it slapped at it's face to get rid of the cold burning sensation, I landed on my feet in the same spot as before. Only difference is that the vulcan won't be attacking me from behind this time.

"You know, I was beginning to wonder when you'd show your fugly mug." I told it, as the vulcan gave me an angry cry.

"WOMAN, WOMAN, WOMAN! KEEP WOMAN!" It chanted, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Geez, it's always the same thing with you vulcans. Doesn't matter if you're up in the mountains or here in the forest, all you want are women and guys to take over to grow stronger." I muttered more to myself than anything else.

Charging at me once more, the vulcan threw another punch to try and subdue me. Seeing it, I simply dodged out of its way again, punching the stupid vulcan in its face to make it stagger back. Landing in a crouch, I watched as it shook its head, blood pouring out of its nose as it growled in pain. Standing, I got ready for it to make another move.

Wiping at its face with its massive hand, the vulcan gave me a creepy, smug look that had shivers of revulsion going down my spine.

"WOMAN STRONG! KEEP WOMAN! MARRY WOMAN!" It said, as I growled right back at it, causing the vulcan to pause as a look of slight unease and confusion overcame it.

It had just made its fatal mistake when it mentioned marrying me!

"Hate to burst your bubble, you overgrown monkey." I said, baring my fangs menacingly at it. "But the only thing I'm going to be doing with you is mount your head on a wall in that town you've been terrorizing." I snarled, charging at the vulcan this time, summoning my claws to my hands.

"ICE DRAGON – WING ATTACK!" I said, throwing punch after punch at its greenish brown body. I kept going as it kept being pushed back until finally, it tripped over its own huge feet. Not letting the opportunity to hit it while it can't dodge, I took a deep breath.

"ICE DRAGON ROAR!" I shouted, releasing my breath attack at it. A monkey like scream was all I could hear as my roar left my lungs. When the last of my breath was free from my body, and the mist from it dissipated, I stood before the living ice statue of the vulcan.

Walking up to the statue, I gave it one last snarl as I jumped up high enough to bring my ice claws down on its neck, severing its head. My job was to slay this it after all.

As the stench of its blood invaded my nose, I had to clench my jaw as I began to get dizzy from the sudden invasion of many other bloody scenes I've unfortunately been witness to.

Come on Ice, you knew that there would be some blood involved. Killing it is what the job asked for! I scolded myself, as I took deep breaths.

"You're not there anymore Icelynn. I'm not there anymore…" I whispered to myself, as I felt the dizzy spell beginning to pass.

"Okay, you can do this…" I told myself, as I stood back on my feet. Locking down my emotions, I looked back at the headless corpse of the vulcan. Not feeling dizzy as I had before, I walked up to the still spurting corpse and cast a freezing mist over it. Once the blood and everything that had just been exposed was frozen solid, I took a couple of steps back as I raised my hand at the giant block of ice.

"ICE DRAGON SPEAR!" I called, as I shot what was essentially a huge icicle at it, causing it to shatter into millions of pieces that evaporated before they could even touch the ground. When its body was destroyed, I turned to the head of the beast.

Using the foot of my boot, I rolled it over until the still bleeding underside was exposed. Holding my hand over it, I froze it solid as well. Once that was done, I took a deep breath, feeling a bit disappointed in myself.

Walking over, I picked up the frozen head by the horn on what used to be the vulcan's head and slung it over my shoulder before heading back towards Shirotsume. As I walked, I found myself deep with in my thoughts.

After I've spent all of this time coming back to myself, it seems that I still can't escape those horrific images and memories. Being a dragon slayer, its in my nature to be able to slay something as simple as a vulcan or any other threat including dragons. Yet, the human side of me is still haunted by all that happened with that bastard.

Yes, he used me for his experiments, but that's not the only thing that happened. Just before these experiments began, my captor wanted to see just what the abilities of a dragon slayer were. Once he took me, I had been refusing to cooperate, so he found a way to force me to.

He would invite all kinds of scum to his laboratory, but the ones I dealt with were either the people under his employ that he wanted to get rid of, or some kind of sick psycho from the street. He would lock them with me into this mini arena he had, all under the guise of a deal he would make with them. Which was that if they could beat me in a fight, then these guys both mages and non-mages alike, could do whatever the hell they wanted with me.

Whether it be to leave with no strings attached, or simply kill me, or to do any number of unspeakable things, it was always up to the one who would fight me.

Every single time I found myself in that room, I would fight and kill to preserve myself as best I could. I had a few close calls in some of these fights, but I always found a way to beat my opponent. Strangulation, beheading, ripping out throats, breaking necks… All were things I did to these people to end their lives to save myself.

By the time I was pulled out, I was ready to give up. Yeah, if that guy who saved me had indeed been that bastard about to take me away, then I would have fought him, but I knew for a fact that I wouldn't make it back to that arena or laboratory. I would have killed myself before he could so much as cross the threshold of the cell I was in, and subject me to more torture or blood on my hands.

I had become so frightened of myself at the end of it all, which is why I tried to keep everyone at arms-length. For the first few weeks after I was free, I couldn't look at a person without knowing exactly how I would kill them to protect myself should they try to hurt me.

Lucy for instance… I can't tell you how many times I thought how fragile her neck looked. I wouldn't even have to break her neck to kill her. No, all I would have had to do is sink my fangs into her soft, pale flesh and rip it from her as if it were nothing but tissue paper.

At least, until that first day that Lucy tried to run away…

I was just starting to warm up to her when I heard her leave her room at the estate that night. Knowing that things would become chaotic around the estate should she be discovered missing, and the fact that I would be Jude's number one suspect, I got up from my bed and followed her out. Lucy, with me shadowing her, made it about half-way down the road to the train station when this bandit or whatever recognized her. He tried to take her hostage in order to get the great Heartfilia family to give him ransom.

The creep didn't even get to lay a finger on her before I had him in the dirt, beating him to a bloody pulp. Just as I was about to let go and kill the bastard, I heard Lucy screaming and crying for her big sister to stop. That she'd miss me terribly if I were to be taken away because of what I was about to do.

Hearing her calling me that is what gave me pause and saved that idiots life.

Jude, having heard the bandit's screams of pain under my fists had the servants summon the rune knights. They showed up, took the guy away from the Estate on a stretcher, and took Lucy and I back to an angry Jude. He gave us the fifth degree and sent us to our rooms. Which we were not to leave for the next week.

As we made our way to our rooms to serve our punishment, I asked Lucy if she really did consider me to be her big sister. When she told me that she really did mean it, I officially claimed her as my little sister, my kin. After that, Lucy helped me to reconnect with my humanity.

Without Lucy, I'd still be an animal; and without the boy who saved me from that hell, I'd have never met her.

Speaking of that guy, I still can't help but wonder why Laxus' scent is the same as his. Could they have been related somehow? With his attitude, is it even possible that Laxus was even the one who saved me? I wondered, as I found myself breaking through the tree line on the South-West side of Shirotsume.

"Alright, time to complete the job." I muttered to myself, as I pushed all of those thoughts and memories to the back of my mind. It still bothered me of course, but I've spent years moping about it, and I've spent enough time today doing just that.

As I made my way to the mayor's house, I got quite a few looks. Once I showed the mayor the head, he abruptly gave me the reward and begged me to just get rid of the frightening thing. Blasting it to bits like I did the rest of its body, I took my reward and made my way to the other side of town to catch the next carriage out towards the railroad that would take me back to Magnolia.

A while later, I was on the train about to depart from Oshibana Station. As I waited for the train to pull out, I looked out of the window at the few repairs that are still being made. The rest of the damage we caused has been fixed at least.

While I was gazing out of the window, my eyes soon fell on a unique trio of two guys and one girl. What caught my attention the most about them was the green guild mark on the right side of the girl's chest.

They were Fairy Tail mages.

Realizing this, I figured that they must be members I hadn't met yet as I took a better stock of them.

The girl wore a strapless green dress and gloves, wore glasses, had long brown hair that she had up in a side ponytail. Kind of like Lucy's, but with all of her hair up instead of just a small bunch of it. In one hand, she carried a red fan. She was also standing on one side of the group with a haughty, proper air to her.

On the opposite was a guy dressed like a knight, although with the way he was smirking, he had to be of the peculiar sort. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you. I couldn't see his face for the hood and visor he wore. All around him floated these wooden dolls that had been taken apart from a totem pole.

Between these two stood a guy in a long red dress coat, he had long green hair, and carried what looked like a fencing sword on his left hip. On the back of his right hand was a similar green Fairy Tail mark like the girls.

From the looks of it, he was discussing something with the other two. As the knight looking guy spoke, I caught a flash of a black guild emblem on his tongue of all places.

As they disappeared from my sight, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of job they must be coming back from. Not that it was any of my business anyway. Although, seeing as they decided to take the booth across the aisle from me, it looks like my curiosity just might be abated.

"So Freed, where are we going to next? Did our fearless leader happen to say when you spoke to him last night?" the girl asked the green haired guy who sat next to the knight across from her, giving his face a name.

"He wanted us to meet him outside the guild hall. Apparently, he picked up a new job while he was at the guild." This Freed answered her, as the knight turned to look at him.

"Didn't he say something about seeing what these two newbies that joined up were like? That Icelynn chick and Lucy girl?" he asked, as I perked up a bit at this turn of conversation.

Wait, so their teammate showed up at the guild hall to see about me and Lucy joining up with the guild? Just who are they talking about? I wondered to myself, as I kept discretely, very impolitely, eavesdropping.

"Oh, don't you listen to anything Bixlow? Laxus told us that when he left town a few days ago." The girl snapped, painting the knights name, and nearly making me jump out of my skin at the name that the girl just mentioned. I manage to keep my composure.

So, looks like Laxus isn't as much of a loner as I perceived him to be. Who would have thought he could turn off the jerk long enough to have a team? I thought to myself, feeling a bit impressed after the spectacle he created at the guild the other day. All sarcasm aside, they sound pretty loyal to him. Almost like… Lucy and I… If he can form those kinds of bonds, then maybe Laxus is just rough around the edges due to some things that are completely none of my business… I'll just have to keep an open mind considering him, I guess. With all of us being in the same guild and him being an S-Class wizard… I thought to myself as the girl spoke again.

"Anyway, I've heard some odd rumor's lately back from home." The girl continued, as she opened her fan and began fanning herself.

"What sort of rumor's Evergreen." Freed said, finally naming the girl.

"Well, apparently one of them talked back to Laxus. Icelynn, I believe it was." She said, a look of annoyance on her face. "Who does she think she is, thinking she can speak to him like that?" she huffed, as Freed nodded his head once.

"Agreed." He said, as he turned to look out the window. "Although, this is the least of the guild's problems right now." Freed said, as both Evergreen and Bixlow gave him curious looks.

"What sort of problems are we talking about here?" Bixlow asked, as Freed turned to look back at his team.

"Apparently, a couple of guild members thought it would be a good idea to steal an S-Class quest from the second floor." He answered, as Bixlow and Evergreen both wore matching looks of shock.

I too, felt my face morph into shock, but I made sure to keep looking out of the window. After what Mirajane told Lucy and I the other day, regular members could get into a lot of trouble from going up to the second floor without being invited. For one to take an S-Class job like that, that could be grounds for anything from being suspended from taking jobs to being expelled from the guild. I just don't understand who would be stupid enough to steal a job of that caliber.

Well, Gramps did tell Natsu that he wasn't allowed on the second floor yet, maybe he took that as a challenge? Still, even if it really was Natsu who stole it, I highly doubt he would have been able to convince Lucy to go with him. She heard what Mira said about the danger involved. I thought to myself, and yet, I find that I have a bad feeling. Like I did that night Lucy snuck out to that party in Hargeon.

Usually Master and Mira prefer it if we check into the guild first when we come back from a job, but this time, I think I'd better go home first and see if Lucy's travel case is there. If it is, then I'm worried for nothing.

If it isn't, I'll have to go to the guild as fast as I can to see if anyone knows where she went.

Pulling myself from my thoughts as the train announced its departure, I tuned in my ear to my unknowing guildmates to find that they've lapsed into silence. Letting out a heavy sigh, I reached into my bag to pull out my book on dragon slayers and cracked it open. After about an hour of trying to read and being unable to concentrate, I put the book away and did my best to meditate instead of worry.

Before I know it, they announce our arrival to Magnolia. I barely gave the train time to stop before I grab my bag and rush outside. I heard Laxus' team inquire amongst themselves as to why I was in such a rush, but I ignored them. When the apartment Lucy and I shared came into view, I hurried inside and barely managed to remember to use my key instead of kicking the door down in my haste.

Once I got it open, I dropped my bag by the door and flipped on the light. I then went to head over to the closet Lucy, and I share to check for her suitcase, however, I soon found that I wouldn't have to go that far.

Not when the stolen S-Class quest is laying innocently on the floor in the middle of the room.

"For fucks sake, Lucy…" I growled to myself, going over and picking it up. I take one good look at it to see where they went.

"Looks like my sister and a soon to be dead salamander have gone on a cursed island get away to Galuna Island. Damn it, sis…" I cursed, letting out a heavy sigh.

After a few moments, I fold the job request up and put it into my pocket. Grabbing my still packed bag from the floor, I cut the lights and locked the apartment back up. Once that was done, I headed for the guild.

I'm not a snitch by any means, but there's no way in hell I'm letting my ass get into the same trouble she's in. Plus, with this being an S-Class job she's on, a potentially dangerous job, I'm not going after her without back up.

I just hope I don't make Makarov's anger worse by demanding to go with whomever he sends after them. If its not already been decided and done anyway.

Lucy Ashley Heartfilia, you had better keep your ass alive until I get there. I thought to myself as I began running towards the guild hall as fast as I could.

~X~

Next Chapter: Chapter 8 – Emperors and Demons