Lucy

Lucy had a soft spot for Fairy Tail, but her impression of the guild had been pieced together from various newspaper stories. It was nothing more than a beautiful fantasy the young girl had dreamed up on her own.

In fact, less than ten minutes after Mira invited her into the guild, the lofty image of Fairy Tail in her heart had been shattered to pieces.

A pervert who could strip in the blink of an eye.

A cat that could fly and talk.

A girl guzzling wine from a barrel half her height.

A handsome playboy with a woman in each arm.

A muscular man with spiky hair who kept shouting, "I'm a real man!"

A reckless, pink-haired creature with no sense of personal space, who came right up and asked if he was strong.

Lucy could accept all these oddities. It was a magic guild, after all; it was only natural to have a few weirdos around. Besides, everyone had been friendly to her.

But... why had they suddenly started fighting?!

A chair slammed into the wall and broke apart on impact. The force behind it was enough to make the blonde girl cowering beneath a table tremble with fear.

In just a few minutes, the guild hall had been left in complete shambles. Broken chairs and tables littered the floor, along with downed mages, as if a terrible storm had swept through.

But why had people started fighting over nothing more than "What're you looking at?" and "You, obviously"? And how had it spread through the entire guild hall in an instant?

Were you all born battle maniacs...?

The rosy filter through which Lucy had viewed the guild shattered, and her fantasy vanished.

The Fairy Tail she'd imagined was worlds apart from the real thing. It was like night and day.

Mira looked at the blonde girl huddled in the corner beneath the table and kindly reassured her, "Don't be scared, Lucy. They're always like this. It'll be over soon."

Lucy gave an awkward laugh, unsure what to say.

Only then did Lucy notice that the table above her was the only one in the entire guild hall still intact. Mira and the other two sitting around it were also among the few who hadn't joined the brawl.

After Mira promised her several times that everything would be fine, the blonde girl cautiously crawled out from under the table.

Sitting beside Mira, Lucy got a good look at the other two.

One was a spirited-looking girl with crimson hair and knight's armor. She seemed lost in thought and hadn't even noticed the chaos around her.

The other was a handsome, white-haired boy. He was sprawled across the table, yawning nonstop and paying no attention to his brawling companions.

"Reality doesn't match what you imagined, does it, Miss Lucy Heartfilia?"

Surprised that he knew her name, Lucy looked at the white-haired boy. Then, as if remembering something, she reached for the key pouch at her waist and asked excitedly, "Could you be Mr. Noah? My father told me to thank you again on his behalf."

"Just call me Noah."

Noah waved a hand and propped his cheek up. "There's no need to thank me. I only mentioned it in passing. What Mr. Jude chose to do was nothing to do with me."

Lucy was about to say something when a figure suddenly slammed down onto the table.

Though Elfman's punch had left stars dancing before Natsu's eyes, he was still full of energy. He even had the nerve to invite the blonde girl he'd just met. "Lucy, wanna join us? Fighting is a guild tradition!"

What kind of weird tradition was that?!

Lucy clearly wanted to refuse, but a sudden chill made her bite her tongue.

Feeling the aura shift around the red-haired girl, Noah and Mira both smiled, ready to enjoy the show.

Poor Natsu. You've awakened Titania!

Erza, who'd been lost in thought, finally came back to herself. Hearing the fighting around her, a trace of anger appeared on her face.

"You people... enough already!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but somehow everyone in the guild heard her. Every one of them wore the same look of terror.

To the guild's members, Erza's authority was every bit as imposing as that of their master, Makarov!

Natsu, who was closest to Erza, was already sweating with nerves. If his legs hadn't been shaking too badly to obey him, he might have dropped to his knees and slid across the floor.

"E-Erza, let me explain..."

"Explain what?!"

Erza furrowed her brow and surveyed the hall. No one dared meet her gaze. Her forceful nature was on full display.

When she noticed Lucy, Erza restrained herself from going on a rampage. Instead, she addressed everyone. "Thirty seconds. If the guild isn't back to normal by then... you'll end up just like Natsu!"

Natsu immediately knew he was in trouble, but it was already too late. Erza's sheathed sword came down on his head.

As Natsu slumped off the table like a puddle of mud, everyone in the hall sprang into action. They cleared away the debris, cleaned the floor, and hauled new tables and chairs out of the storeroom. One exhibitionist even bundled Natsu up with the trash and tossed him out...

The whole process was seamless and orderly, almost beautiful to watch. Efficiency was the name of the game.

Half a minute later, the entire first-floor guild hall looked as good as new. Lucy stared in disbelief. How many times had these people fought for them to get this good at cleaning up...?

Noah yawned again. "Lucy, do you still want to join our guild?"

After what she'd just been through, Noah figured the young lady wouldn't be interested anymore. Jude might not have treated her well in the past, but he'd still made sure she had everything she needed. She'd never experienced a violent scene like this before.

But Lucy answered without a moment's hesitation. "I've decided. I'm joining!"

Most people couldn't stomach a scene where everyone started fighting at the drop of a hat, but Lucy happened to be one of the few who could.

Her father had kept her cooped up at home ever since she was little. Lucy had always longed to see the world, but her relationship with her father had been so strained that she could only satisfy her curiosity about the outside world by reading the newspaper.

Gradually, a magic guild called Fairy Tail had caught Lucy's eye.

The newspaper articles about them always seemed to involve the word "destruction," but they never failed to praise the guild's strength and adventurous spirit.

Lucy longed to go on adventures like the members of Fairy Tail. She didn't want to be a canary in a cage. She wanted to fly free.

She'd even prepared to run away from home. She would go join Fairy Tail and begin an adventure of her own.

But who could have guessed that her money-minded father would suddenly become the man he'd been before her mother died? With Rena by his side, he apologized to Lucy for the way he'd treated her all these years.

In a single night, the rift between father and daughter began to heal.

Jude, who had once despised magic, not only stopped opposing Lucy's use of it, but even agreed with Rena when Lucy told them she wanted to join Fairy Tail.

Looking at the pink Fairy Mark on the back of her right hand, Lucy suddenly felt dazed. After everything that had happened lately, she couldn't tell whether she was dreaming.

If it was a dream, then she hoped it would go on forever.

For some reason, sleepiness washed over her. Lucy laid her head on the table and fell asleep.

Across the guild hall, everyone lay sprawled about. Even Erza and Mira had somehow fallen into a deep sleep.

Everyone except Noah.

That was some powerful sleep magic. Was it an enemy?

Watching the Mysterious Black-Robed Figure push open the guild doors, five wands slung over his back, Noah slowly rose to his feet and put on his Blast Gauntlets.