Date: XX/XX/0791

Time: 1830 Approximately

Location: CLASSIFIED…Magic Council Headquarters

"Mmmmmm…" End hummed as another donut disappeared down his maw. Doran/Mest and Lahar had been kind enough to provide him with a light snack of an entire box of over two dozen donuts. It was obvious that they were buttering him up, trying to get into his good graces so that they could extract even more information out of him, but he didn't care. He loved donuts a lot, they were one of his favorite sugary treats, "Ah, donuts, donuts, donuts…such magnificent treats, such magnificent eats. Donuts, donuts, donuts…without them I'd surely go nuts!" End sang, a sour cackle breaking out at the end.

Mest and Lahar watched in fascination as End devoured another donut whole, seemingly without chewing, though it was hard to tell with how dark that side of the room was. Mest tapped his foot a little impatiently, End was wasting their time, he knew that was the case, he just didn't know why…

"I'm glad you enjoy them, I'm sure staying down here for as long as you have must've worked up an appetite!" Lahar smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes, "Now that you're all full, could you tell us a little bit more about what happened back then?"

End popped one last donut into his maw, throwing the now empty box behind his head haphazardly, "Sure, where do want me to start?" End scratched the side of his head as he recalled the memories, "Shortly after Lucy became an official Fairy Tail mage, I heard that another mage, Macao, hadn't returned from a Vulcan extermination mission." End shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing really happened, we saved Macao, beat the Vulcan, and returned back to the guild unharmed. No sudden demonification or life changing moments, just a nice little romp with the newest member of the guild!"

Mest hummed in thought at that, good…he wasn't wasting any more time, "Well then when was the next time something major happened?"

End clicked his tongue, "Lets see…there was that whole mansion thing with the book, Lucy got another Zodiac key. Then we reunited a man with his estranged magical author father, you know, the usual." Mest and Lahar patiently waited for End to get to the point, "Nothing really happened there other than that…I guess the next time anything major happened was when Erza returned to the guild after her S-class quest. That's when things really got crazy!" End laughed, his eyes burning brighter in mixed emotions.

Lahar flipped a page in his notebook before clicking his pen, "Well then, care to explain?"

End couldn't help but chuckle as the two Rune Knights once again leaned in to hear the tale.

"Can you believe it, Natsu! Most Celestial Spirit mages only get one or two of the twelve Zodiac keys in their lifetime, but I have four!" Lucy rubbed the newest golden key in her collection to her cheek as she giggled away like a schoolgirl.

"Huh? Oh, that's great Luce…" Natsu grunted as he rubbed the front of his forehead, his face frowning in discomfort over something.

Lucy immediately noticed this and grew a look of warning, "Is everything okay Natsu?"

The Dragon Slayer hummed in response, "Eh, it's nothing. Just a headache." Out of nowhere, a giant glass of ale was placed right beside the mage, causing him to grin in happiness, "Nothing a little ale can't fix!" With that, Natsu gulped down the entire glass in what seemed like a split second, before giving a sigh of relief as the effects of the alcohol took hold, "Ah, that's better…"

Mirajane smiled at Natsu's reaction, "Don't worry Natsu, I'm sure it'll pass! You just gotta learn how to take care of yourself more often. With all those dangerous missions you go on all the time, it's a miracle you haven't started falling apart at the seams!"

Natsu gave a gentle laugh in response, "Yeah…you're probably right Mira, you usually are." The two stared into each other's eyes for a second…before they broke eye contact and went back to whatever they were doing.

Lucy looked on as the two friends interacted in an almost flirtatious manner, not noticing that a man wearing a pair of glasses took a seat right next to her with a charming smile on his face, "So…" Lucy jumped slightly before swerving around to see the handsome playboy Loke staring straight into her eyes, "What's such a beautiful woman such as yourself doing in a place like this?"

Lucy looked a little confused by the question, "Uh…I'm a member of the guild?" Lucy said, not so sure how to take the question.

Loke just laughed at the response, "Wow, you're really funny, you know that?" Lucy felt a faint dust of red pepper her cheeks, "You know, we should really get to know each other sometime. Tell you what, when I'm in need of a partner for a mission, I'll come find you, kay?"

Lucy's red cheeks grew even darker, usually she was the one to instigate flirting with someone…usually for a discount at a store, but to have someone like Loke just waltz up out of nowhere and start putting the moves on here so expertly, she wasn't sure how to handle herself, "Oh, I don't know…maybe, if you really need me to tag along or something…"

Suddenly, Loke took notice of the golden key in Lucy's hand, and just like that, his charming visage faltered to that of fear, "W-wait, are you, a Celestial Spirit mage!?"

Lucy looked surprised for a second before looking down at her newest key, "Oh this? Yeah, I actually just got this key-"

Like a lightning bolt, Loke shot out of his seat before bowing profusely to Lucy, "I'm so sorry-It's not you its me-I just don't think we're compatible-I need some time apart-I think we need to see other people-Bye!" Faster than the eye could track, Loke was gone, racing out of the guild as fast as he could possibly go.

Lucy had to blink a couple times before her mind was able to catch up to what she had just witnessed, "What…just happened?"

"Don't take it personally, newbie." Instantly Lucy's attention snapped towards the lone figure of Gray smoking a cigarette at one of the many tables, "Loke just doesn't like Celestial Spirit mages, nobody knows why."

Elfman grunted as he looked over the many requests that filled the mission's board, "He must've had a bad break up with one in the past. That's the only reason a real man would ever cower away from a woman."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn't really matter either way, it's just how he's always been." The Dragon Slayer gave a stretch of his limbs before standing up, "Whelp, I'm bored. Hey Gray, you wanna fight?"

Gray took another drag of his cigarette, before snuffing it out against the table, "Eh sure, why not."

But just as the two rivals were about to throw hands, the guild doors swung open to a really out of breath Loke with the fear of the almighty written on his face, "Natsu…Gray…everyone…"

Cana took a swig from a glass, "Spit it out Loke! Geez, it's like listening to a hospital patient talk about the good ol' days…"

Loke took a second to finally catch his breath before yelling, "Erza's coming!"

Immediately the entire guild fell quiet, before Happy popped out of Natsu's scarf and yelled, "We're fucked!"

As if a flip was switched, the entire guild scrambled over themselves to start repairing, cleaning, and nitpicking every little thing in the guild until it was literally sparkling. People were screaming as if the end of the world was happening, sirens blared, and a small group of mages began praying in a circle to a higher power.

Lucy meanwhile, was really confused, "Why is everyone acting like this? Isn't Erza one of the guild's strongest mages?"

Mira, one of the only people who wasn't freaking out, leaned forward from behind the bar before giving a sigh, "Erza's a little…strict to say the least. She takes her role as one of Fairy Tail's strongest very seriously, and because of that she can be…well that's to say she's…"

Happy took a second from cramming all of his half eaten fish carcasses down a barrel to yell out, "She's insane! Even the slightest mistake and she goes absolutely ballistic! Her punishments are so severe too, like a few years ago, she said I couldn't have my favorite fish anymore after I accidentally ruined her strawberry cheesecake,,,and she enforced it for the rest of the month! So unless you want to get stuck repainting the entirety of the guildhall for the foreseeable future, shut up and grab a broom!"

Suddenly, a woman with light green hair, and a pristine stetson on her head grimaced before looking down from her telescope, "She's coming! Places everyone, places!"

Suddenly, everyone switched gears, instead gathering around the various tables and discussing absolute gobbledegook. Talking about guild requests that didn't exist, about fine dining and five star restaurants around Magnolia, the weather. It didn't matter, what did matter was that everybody looked sober, looked busy, and looked like a civilized guild…everything that Fairy Tail absolutely wasn't.

Then, a small dot appeared over the horizon. It was only a few minutes until that small dot grew into an armored woman carrying a decorated horn of monstrous proportions, her scarlet hair blowing in the wind. Erza entered the guild hall with a stoic expression on her face, then she let the horn she was carrying drop to the ground with a slam, "Hello Fairy Tail, I'm home."

Mira walked up to Erza with a smile on her face, "Welcome back Erza, it's nice to see you return from your quest unharmed."

Erza gave a curt nod of her head, "Thank you very much Mira, it's good to be back." Even though what she said was absolutely true, it was also very clear that something else was on her mind, "Tell me, where is the master right now? I have very urgent news I need to relay to him."

Mira's expression turned apologetic at the question, "Unfortunately, the master left for the annual Guild Master's Conference earlier this morning, but I can take a message for him if that's okay."

Erza let out a sigh, "No that's alright, I'll figure something out…"

"H-hey Erza." Elfman stuttered out, gaining the knight's attention towards himself, "Uhm, what's with the horn?"

Erza looked at the horn as if she had forgotten she had just set it down, "Oh this? It's from a monster I killed during my mission. The townsfolk were kind enough to decorate it for me as thanks. I decided I'd bring it as a souvenir."

Elfman gave a nervous smile and a thumbs up at the response, "That's super manly of you Erza! Make sure to keep up the good work!"

Suddenly Erza's expression turned sour, "Speaking of good work…" Erza turned with a scowl on her face. Immediately, everyone felt the cold shiver of fear run up their spines, "I don't have the time to get in it with all of you, but I've heard some…less than flattering rumors floating around about your recent behavior." Sweat began pouring down the faces of every member of the guild, "The master might be willing to put up with your bad behavior, but I will not! When I get back, we'll have a very personal conversation about it, understood!"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone replied at once.

Erza gave a satisfied huff, "Natsu! Gray!"

As soon as she called for them, they appeared. However, instead of having their hands wrapped around each other's throats, they instead had their arms slung over the others shoulder as if they were old buddies. Natsu gave a strained smile before speaking, "Oh hey Erza! Didn't notice you were there, I've just been hanging out with my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Gray!"

Gray's smile looked exactly the same as Natsu's, except for the fact that his mouth couldn't stretch nearly as far, "Yep! Nothing but a couple pals being friends!"

Lucy blinked at the site before her, now true, she hadn't been at the guild for very long, but she felt deep down in her bones that Natsu and Gray acting all buddy-buddy with one another was inherently wrong. It was as if her entire being couldn't fathom the idea that those two, who just minutes ago were willing to strangle each other, were now trying to be friendly with one another. Though, if their strained expressions were anything to go by, they felt just as uneasy about their current position just as much as she did.

Erza smiled at the obvious display of fake friendship in front of her, apparently not aware that they were merely putting on a front to avoid her wrath, "It's so good to see you two get along. It seems like just a few years ago I had you re-pave the entire block's roads to help build camaraderie between you. I'm glad that my lesson stuck."

Gray and Natsu's smiles grew even more strained as painful memories resurfaced. Lucy couldn't help the sweatdrop at that, as Natsu gave a big thumbs up and said, "Yep! That lesson taught us a lot about working together!"

Gray laughed a forced laugh, "You can say that again Natsu! Sometimes, we just have to put our differences aside so that we can avoid…difficult challenges!"

Erza's smile grew, "Good, then you two will have no problem going on an unofficial mission with me, won't you?"

It was pretty obvious that she wasn't asking, "Of course!" Gray chimed.

"Absolutely, I'll just need a little bit to prepare!" Natsu added.

Erza turned before walking out of the guild, leaving the giant horn she carried in behind, "Meet me at the train station in an hour. We leave at once." As soon as the big wooden doors closed behind her, the entire guild gave a sigh of relief.

Gray immediately threw Natsu off of him with a look of utter disgust on his face, "Get away from me, you overheated moron!"

Meanwhile Natsu started bawling with Happy into Mirajane's dress, "Mira! Erza almost caught us! I was so scared!"

Happy followed up with tears of his own, "Aye sir! Erza's super scary!"

Lucy couldn't help but sigh at their reactions, though a small inkling of fear made its way into her mind. If someone like Natsu was terrified of Erza, how scary would she be when she got pissed?

"Wait!" Natsu yelled out, pulling his face from Mira's dress in fear, "I'm going on a mission with Erza in an hour! I need to get ready!" Natsu gave Mira a quick hug before bolting out of the guild, Happy followed close behind.

Gray gave a stretch…as he somehow took off his shirt, before heading out of the guild as well, "Yeah I might as well get packed too…" Before also leaving.

Nobody really had any time to think before Mirajane gave a gasp as if she just realized something important, "Wait…Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Happy just teamed up…that has to be Fairy Tail's strongest team ever!" Lucy watched on in surprise, but the more she thought about it, the more it started to make sense.

Natsu rubbed his forehead again with a weird look on his face, the headache had come back shortly after he lost his buzz. It wasn't as if it was unbearable or anything like that, it was actually pretty weak all things considered. The issue was its persistence, it had started shortly after he and Lucy had saved Macao from the vulcan in the mountains, and ever since it started, it hasn't let up. He wasn't too worried about it, he probably just had to drink a little more water like Mira kept telling him to do. Yeah, that was probably it.

"Are you sure I should tag along? You're all such heavy hitters while I'm…not…" Lucy asked, clearly nervous going on this urgent mission with them.

Natsu gave a big toothy grin as a response, "Of course Luce, you're never gonna learn how to handle tough missions if you never experience them first. Think of this as a trial by fire situation." Lucy seemed a little more sure of herself from his reassurance, "Besides, if anything happens, I'll be right there to pull you out of trouble as soon as I can."

"Aye sir!" Happy flew in, a small fish tail hanging from his mouth, "I'm pretty good at getting people out of trouble when I need to!"

Lucy smiled softly from the words, which in turn made Natsu very happy as well. Natsu understood the moment he had asked Lucy to join the guild that she was his responsibility. It was a sad but true fact of the mage's guild business that most rookies don't make it a year, or even a few months, before they either quit…or worse. He had seen it a dozen times before, a bunch of overconfident newbies accepted into a guild ready to make fame and fortune off of a guild hall and its dangerous missions…only to return a few days later with a resignation letter in hand.

Natsu was almost one of them, he was too proud of his abilities when he was a child. He was a Dragon Slayer after all, he yielded the power to kill even the mightiest of creatures, boy did he get humbled quick! Natsu looked back at those memories before giving a nostalgic smile. Lucy was tough, he knew she was, but she was also very new to this life. It was obvious that she enjoyed being a part of the guild, but he also knew that unless he was there for her on the first legs of her journey, something bad could happen to her. Just like something bad happened to Lisanna…

"So…you and Mira seem to get along pretty well. Are you two in a relationship or something?" Lucy asked, trying to stir up a conversation as the trio waited for Gray and Erza to show.

Natsu looked at her with a confused glance, "What gave you that idea?"

Lucy shrugged her shoulders, "I mean, every time we go to the guild you usually talk to her first thing when we arrive."

Natsu pursed his lips at that, "The guild has a bar, Mira's a barmaid, I like to have a drink after a successful mission."

Lucy looked over with a sly glance, "Okay, but you and her seem to have a very close bond."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders at that, "I get along with pretty much everyone at the guild, and I try to form strong bonds with all of Fairy Tail."

Lucy pointed an accusing finger at the fire mage, "I've seen the two of you interact with one another, the way you comfort each other, the way you talk to each other, you can't say that there's nothing there!"

Natsu's gaze grew very serious at that, "I interact with her in a loving way because she is a good person who deserves love. I comfort her, and she comforts me because we both lost something in the past, and we use each other to help deal with the grief. I am the way I am around her because she's been broken before…I'm just doing my best to make sure she doesn't break again."

Lucy looked at the Dragon Slayer incredulously, "Seriously!? Surely something has to be there!?"

Natsu looked down in thought for a moment. Of course something was there, ever since…Lisanna, Mira was always there to fill the void that she left behind. The years they spent comforting each other, caring for each other, using each other…Mira was Lisanna's replacement in Natsu's eyes, and Natsu was Lisanna's replacement in Mira's eyes. He knew it wasn't healthy to have that kind of relationship with her, the same relationship he had with her sister, and she knew that as well. It was just…it was just easier than the alternative

Natsu steeled his eyes in resolve. He would never take it further than that, however. He knew the very moment they took what they had past what they had established, that it would be impossible to turn back. Besides…he didn't want to betray Lisanna like that, he couldn't betray her like that, and Mira knew, and she agreed. So they stayed friends, good friends, friends that relied on each other to stay afloat, but nothing more than that.

Natsu gave his signature grin at Lucy, "Nope! You need to stop trying to ship people in the guild together you know. Mira doesn't like people tromping on her territory when it comes to setting people up!"

Happy threw a paw up in agreement, "Aye sir! Mira is the only one who's allowed to play matchmaker!"

"Mira's the only what now?" Gray asked, revealing himself from around a corner, a white jacket on his shoulders and a bored look on his face.

Natsu's smile turned wicked as the voice of his rival spoke up, "Gray…I hope you don't mind standing for the train ride, because after I'm done with you, you're gonna-!"

"He's gonna what?" Erza's voice interrupted Natsu's, Gray giving a signal for Natsu to shut up as Erza's intimidating presence was made apparent.

"I-uh-well I was just…uhm…" Natsu literally lacked the words to explain himself as his brain started to shut down from fear.

Luckily, Lucy was there to bail him out with her reaction to the mountain of luggage Erza carried behind, "Holy cow! That's a lot of stuff!"

Erza looked over at the Celestial Spirit mage, before a confused look spread across her face, "And…you are?"

Happy popped up from his hiding spot within Natsu's scarf to explain, "That's Lucy, she's new to the guild! Natsu wanted to bring her along for some experience on high level jobs!"

Erza nodded her head in understanding before holding out a gauntlet for Lucy to shake, "Oh? Well then it's nice to meet you Lucy, I look forward to working alongside you."

Lucy took the hand hesitantly, a nervous smile on her face, "Uh, yeah! Me too!"

Gray looked at the train with a bored gaze before he stepped onto it, "Well…we should probably get on before this thing leaves without us."

Erza gave a curt nod of her head, "Right, I'll pack my luggage away, just give me a few minutes."

With that statement, everyone made their way onto the train, the locomotive lurching forward as it began heading to its destination. Natsu's stomach immediately heaved the moment it started, much to the hilarity of Gray, "God…damn…trains…" Natsu's motion sickness doing wonders to the dull headache he'd had all week..