A golden magic circle suddenly appeared in the Fairy Tail guildhall, filling the entire place with dazzling golden light.
"Oh, are you back already?"
Makarov, who was putting up new S-Class Missions on the second floor, stopped what he was doing and walked over to the railing. Smiling, he looked down at the magic circle activating below.
"Everyone, we're back."
"Aye! Lucy, welcome to Fairy Tail!"
"Hey, everyone. Long time no see."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you."
Natsu spread his arms and flashed his trademark toothy grin, greeting the guild members first. Not to be outdone, Happy raised his right hand to show how happy he was too.
Zorn simply smiled and raised his right hand in greeting, though he felt a little anxious about returning home.
Lucy was somewhat flustered and surprised. After all, she had been at Hargeon Port just moments ago, and now she was already at the guild. Still, she had some of the manners of a rich young lady, so she promptly brought her hands together in front of her and bowed.
A row of crows flew past...
The guildhall was utterly silent. There wasn't a single voice welcoming them, and the group held their poses for several seconds...
"Ha ha... Looks like it's nighttime, and there aren't many people in the guild."
Zorn was the first to break the silence. He scratched his head, his tone a little awkward.
"Ahem, Zorn, did the mission go smoothly? Whoa!" Makarov covered his mouth and coughed twice, then put his hands behind his back and tried to hop down from the railing. Unexpectedly, his foot slipped, and he was about to fall to the floor.
Fortunately, Zorn quickly used magic to catch the master and lower him through the air, saving Makarov from making a fool of himself.
"Master, the mission went smoothly. Also, please be more careful. Honestly, you're not so young anymore." Zorn was at a loss with the master. He was so old, yet still acted like a child. Was this what they meant by an old man becoming a child again?
Bang!
A bump appeared on Zorn's head. He rubbed it and looked at the master with a somewhat aggrieved expression.
"Master?" Lucy stood to the side, still maintaining her ladylike demeanor as she looked at the two Wizard Saints before her. Though everything they did was a little strange, it was understandable. After all, they were both normal people.
But after a while, she had already begun complaining inwardly. A little Lucy paced frantically back and forth in her mind, and then an image of the lofty, exalted Wizard Saints shattered completely.
All right, she still couldn't understand why two dignified Wizard Saints had personalities like this. One looked like a little old man and acted somewhat like a child, while the other had been so muddleheaded late at night that he had teleported them straight to the guild.
Lucy suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right! My suitcase is still in storage at the port. How am I going to rest and wash up tonight?"
At that moment, the idealized image of the Wizard Saints in her head shattered completely.
"Um, I think my luggage is still at the port's storage facility."
Lucy raised her hand to draw attention to herself and emphasized her point.
Natsu, who had been rolling on the floor laughing at Zorn, froze and stopped rolling. He seemed to remember that his own luggage was still at the port too.
Zorn slapped his forehead. He realized he really was getting more and more absentminded. Was this what happened when the more nervous he felt, the more his mind went blank?
Fortunately, Zorn had Teleportation Magic. After Natsu and Lucy explained exactly where their luggage was, he successfully retrieved it a few minutes later.
After confirming that Lucy was a Celestial Spirit Mage, Makarov produced the Fairy Tail stamp from somewhere and adjusted it to the color she wanted.
Then he raised his hand and stamped the back of Lucy's right hand.
"All right, welcome to Fairy Tail!"
Lucy cast aside all her earlier complaints and gazed at the mark on her hand, her eyes filled with delight.
She even jumped up. "Yes! Natsu, look! I've joined Fairy Tail too!"
"Welcome, Lucy."
"Aye!"
"All right, welcome, Lucy. Next, we need to arrange a place for you to stay."
Zorn first took Lucy to the Girls' Dormitory and got her settled in. Seeing that, Natsu and Happy said goodbye and returned to their cabin on the Back Mountain.
Once everything was arranged, Zorn stretched as he walked to his front door.
Feeling a little apprehensive, he opened the door and stepped inside.
The scene Zorn had feared, with Cana angry at him, didn't happen. Instead, a warm body embraced his slightly chilled one.
In that instant, Zorn's heart grew calm. He returned the embrace, and all the weariness from being away vanished. "I'm back."
"Mmm, welcome home."
The night passed without a word, and it was nearly noon the next day.
"What kind of mission should I pick? I can't believe I really joined Fairy Tail. Hee-hee." Lucy strode toward the guild, brimming with anticipation.
As she approached the guild's front doors, she heard a commotion inside, with the occasional sound of things being smashed. Lucy hurried to the entrance and was stunned on the spot by the scene before her.
"You're making a racket in broad daylight. How old are you? If you're men, use your fists." Elfman slowly stepped forward with his arms crossed.
"Stay out of this!" Natsu and Gray, who had been beating each other up, turned around and punched Elfman flying straight into the wall.
"So it's just a fight. And he couldn't take a single blow after all." Lucy lowered her head and sighed.
Bang!
Loke had just been standing with two female companions and was about to join the fun when Elfman came flying over and crashed headfirst into him. Loke spun several times in the air before plunging headfirst into the floor.
His two companions ran over with worried looks. "Are you okay?"
Seeing this, Lucy hurriedly crossed out Loke's entry in a magazine's Male Wizard Ranking of the men most popular with girls.
"Is there really anyone normal here?"
"Oh my, you're new here, aren't you?" Lisanna walked over with a tray, set it down on a nearby table that was still intact, and smiled at Lucy.
Lisanna came from Another World and was somewhat reserved. But amid the guild's constantly noisy atmosphere and with everyone looking after her, she had slowly become more cheerful. When the two Lisannas stood together, they really were impossible to tell apart. Besides her regular training, she also worked as a waitress at the guild.
"Lisanna, one of the twins! Wow, it's really you!" Lucy's eyes lit up, and she looked delighted.
"Hello, I'm Lucy. But shouldn't we do something about them?" Lucy glanced at the people nearby, whose fighting was growing fiercer.
"Well, you'll get used to it. They really are lively to watch like this."
"But it looks like they've gone beyond lively now. They're about to use magic."
Lucy stared in dismay as the scene grew more and more outrageous.
Magic circles had already appeared in front of Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Loke, and the other guild members.
"Damn it, try this attack!"
"What a troublesome bunch."
"Let's see whose magic is stronger!"
Tap, tap, tap!
As the sound of footsteps approached, small golden magic circles suddenly appeared one after another in the air, and chains shot swiftly toward everyone.
Those who had just been about to unleash their magic, along with those still fighting, were now suspended in midair by Light Chains. Natsu and Gray had dodged a few of the chains, but they only ended up bound even tighter.
"Honestly, Master, aren't you going to do something about them?"
Zorn walked into the guild holding Cana's hand. Looking at the scene before him, he turned helplessly toward the master, who was sitting on the second-floor railing watching the show.
Seeing this, the master knew he couldn't avoid it. He jumped straight down from the second floor, taking care this time and landing perfectly.
"Well, you're here now, aren't you? Besides, I would have stepped in eventually." The master waved a hand helplessly and spoke indifferently.