Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, check it out, Luce, this one looks nice, and it looks to be your size too.”

“Wait, really? Let me see.”

Natsumi stared blankly at the racks of clothes in front of her from the bench she was sitting on in pure boredom.

Her friends decided to go on a shopping trip in Era today at ‘Daisy’s Dress Shop,’ claimed by Lucy as ‘one of the most luxurious clothing stores in Fiore.’ Thanks to Grace working at the Magic Council as a secretary for whoever she works for there (Natsumi honestly forgot), they get a discount here.

For one thing, Natsumi hates shopping for clothes. It's just so boring.

Why do girls take forever to pick out their clothes? It's not that hard to just pick out the right size and be done. That's what she does when she goes shopping with Happy at their local thrift shop in Magnolia whenever her clothes get damaged during her missions. They don't have to take forever to just choose one shirt.

“Are you guys almost finished? It's getting pretty boring here." Natsumi said, taking a sip from her grape juice she purchased earlier, immediately spitting it out. Yuck! She doesn't even know why she got it; it tastes like medicine.

“We just got here two minutes ago!” Lucy shouted.

It felt like two hours for Natsumi.

Putting her hands on her hips, Grace scowls at her. “If you were just going to be here and complain, then why did you come with us in the first place?”

“Because I was bored. Gramps suspended me from taking any missions for two weeks, so I have nothing else to do.”

“Geez, and I wonder whose fault is that?” Grace replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Looking over the price tag of a nice shirt she wanted to try on, she quickly put it back upon finding out the price; that's almost the same as her monthly rent in Fairy Hills!

She's not sure her five percent discount would even work here…

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I mean. You destroyed a major port in Hungeon, and not only that but the clock tower for the second time last week. Do you know how many complaints we received from the citizens there? That clock tower has been there for centuries, since the town was first founded.” Grace sighs. “You almost gave the Master a heart attack. We can't leave you alone with Happy for one minute or else you both would cause chaos wherever you go.”

“It's not my fault that damn tower was so fragile! This bastard was claiming to be Igneel and was using our guild’s name to do his dirty work. What was I supposed to do?” Natsumi huffed.

“The clock tower wasn't even near the port. How is it physically possible you still managed to destroy it!?”

“I don't know.” Natsumi shrugged and glared at the raven-haired girl. “By the way, Grace, I'm still mad at you for tricking me into thinking Igneel showed up.”

“That wasn't my intention at all! Salamander is your nickname! So I thought I’d tell you that someone was stealing your identity. Besides, if an actual dragon showed up, wouldn't you think the media would have blown up if that was the case?”

“Whatever.” Natsumi pouted, sticking her nose up.

Grace rubbed the temple of her head, already feeling a headache coming. “I can't catch a break, can I? Hey, Lu-”

“Lucy?” Grace spoke, not noticing her new blond friend beside her. Turning her head to the other side of the room, she spotted Lucy getting out of the dressing room, staring in awe at the mirror at the beautiful red velvet gown she was wearing.

“It's beautiful.” Lucy murmured, almost drooling but quickly stopping herself. “How much?”

She cheerily asked the nearest employee, already pulling out her purse.

“800,000 jewels.”

“800,000 jewels! I could barely do 50,000 max but 800,000?” Lucy paled. “I may need to take a rain check on that.”

“Well, it isn't like it's anything that special. That dress looked very weird on you." Natsumi said, once Lucy was out of the changing room, hanging up the outfit back on the rack she found it in.

“Coming from the girl who wears worn out clothes all the time!” Lucy shouted furiously.

“Is it really that expensive?” Grace muttered, looking at the price tag. “Guess the price makes sense; the fabric doesn't seem like it was made by a cheap brand, and all the diamonds around it seem to be legit.”

“Excuse me, ladies, but could you move aside?” the store owner said. As two of her employees pushed the girls aside, wrapping up that dress and taking it to the front.

“W-What!? Someone is buying the dress? But I wanted it!” Lucy cried out.

“Don't worry, Luce, that dress was too small on you anyways. It barely fit you when you wore it.”

Lucy's right eye twitched, glaring daggers at Natsumi. “Are you trying to say I'm fat?”

“Well, if the shoe fits, or doesn't in your case!” Natsumi cheerfully said.

“Ow!”

The three decided to spy from behind the racket of clothes as they saw a male figure already paying for the dress.

“Wait, I recognize him. Isn't that Councilor Siegrain Fernandes?” Grace asked, noticing the familiar blue mop of hair that was facing them from behind.

“Searain what now? Who’s that?” Natsumi boringly asked, still rubbing her head from the kick she received from Lucy.

“She means Siegrain Fernandes, you idiot! Do you live under a rock!? I can't believe you’ve never heard of him before.” Lucy yelled out, than beginning to gush once seeing sight of him. “He is basically a celebrity across Fiore, with not only being a member of the Magic Council but also the youngest Wizard Saint, He even ranks at number 2 from ‘I’d Like to Be My Boyfriend’ magazine.”

“Ah.” Natsumi stared blankly up ahead as the blue-haired man smiled cheerfully at the cashier, thanking her once the dress was handed to him. “He doesn't look tough to be a Wizard Saint. I bet I could beat him with one punch with my eyes close, no sweat.”

“Are you crazy? That's literally a suicide mission right there!”

“Strange." Grace muttered. “I wonder what he's doing here? I know it isn't any of my business to wonder why, but he is very aloof most of the time, so this is pretty weird seeing him in this type of store.”

“Maybe he is buying that dress for a secret girlfriend he has. I mean, Sorcerer Weekly did classify him as single, but who knows? Maybe he is the type of guy that likes to keep his love life private. If that's the case, she is lucky! Not only does she get a beautiful gown but she has a good-looking boyfriend that's actually a gentleman too. Some girls just have all the luck.”

“Or he could be buying that dress for himself.” Natsumi muttered.

“Good evening, Councilor Fernandes. I Didn't know you liked shopping here.” Grace spoke as the trio approached him at the cash register.

Siegrain blushed in embarrassment, not speaking a word before storming out of the shop with the dress in a bolt.

The three stood there in shock.

“He took off!” Lucy shouted.

“That was just rude!” Natsumi huffed. “I knew Council Members were weirdos. He was probably too embarrassed about the fact he bought the dress for himself.”

The three ended up walking out of the clothing shop empty-handed once they realized everything was too expensive for them.

“This was boring. Why did we come here in the first place if you two were not going to pick anything? This was just a waste of time." Natsumi complained, taking a slow sip from her grape juice, still not liking the taste one bit as she immediately spit it out after.

“Well, we were not expecting everything to be above 100,000 jewels! Why did everything have to be so expensive? I wanted that dress!" Lucy whined.

Grace sighs. “We were shopping in Era after all. It was my fault assuming the prices here would be similar to Magnolia. Sorry, Luce.”

As they were heading to the train station to go back to Magnolia. Walking along the streets of Era, a door from the nearest café opened in front of them. Siegrain came out, not bothering to look at them as he started walking ahead.

“Hey, bastard! What’s the big idea?!” Natsumi shouted at him as he paused.

Turning to look at them, an annoyed look crossed his face. “May I help you?”

“You got a lot of nerve for what you did earlier, pal.”

Grace and Lucy immediately shrieked in full panic, quickly trying to shush down the fiery girl, but she wasn't budging and instead marched up to the wizard saint with a glare.“You should know when someone begins talking to you, you should reply back, not run away like a sissy.”

Siegrain blinked for a second, staring blankly at her before turning to walk away.

“Hey, where do you think you're going? Come back here!” Natsumi shouted as she followed him.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Dragneel, but I believe you must have me mistaken for someone else. Now if you'll excuse me, I should get going now.”

“You can't fool me. I know it was you! Even though you're wearing different clothes right now. You have the same scent as the bastard we saw earlier.” Natsumi growled. This bastard thinks they are stupid and believes he could easily fool them. Well, he is wrong about that. “Just because you're part of the council doesn't mean you should treat everybody else beneath you that you could easily ignore whenever you want. Now we want an apology or else!”

“Are you threatening me, Ms. Dragneel?” His voice grew dangerous. But Natsumi could care less; this jerk was rude to them earlier and now is being rude to them again. The nerve of this bastard.

“We are so sorry, Councilor Fernandes. Natsumi has been having a rough day, so her temper would get the best of her.” Grace spoke up nervously, covering Natsumi's mouth with her left hand, glaring at her to keep quiet. “Please excuse her rude behavior.”

“I’d suggest keeping her on a leash Ms. Fullbuster. Wouldn't want her unintentionally hurting someone along the way now, would we?” Siegrain smiled politely. “But then again, you both are members of a very barbaric guild, so there wouldn't be any surprise if that were to be the case.”

“What the fuck did you just say about our guild!” Natsumi yelled, managing to shove Grace’s hand aside.

“Well, it's obviously true, all the complaints I hear from the board members every day are only about your pathetic guild causing mayhem across Ishgar. I’m surprised there haven't been any reports of injured civilians. Considering you are all idiots who do nothing but destroy property.” Siegrain turned to look at her, seeing her fuming, still keeping that same friendly smile that Natsumi calls bullcrap from a mile away. “Did I offend you, Ms. Dragneel? Sorry, that wasn't my intention at all.”

“Shut up! I dare you to say that one more time to my face and see what happens! Fairy Tail may cause a ruckus, but we would never hurt people intentionally!”

He scoffed. “You just admitted your whole guild hurts innocent civilians unintentionally. I don't know whether admitting that to a board member of the Magic Council is very bold or very stupid of you."

“Fuck you!” She had enough of his babbling. She threw her half bottle of grape juice towards the jerk, hitting him square in the face, the cap of her drink coming off and the liquid exploded all over him.

Lucy and Grace screamed in horror.

"How dare you!” he growled, wiping the beverage out of his eyes. His white uniform was smudged in purple. If looks could kill, she would surely be dead by now. How dare this insolent woman pour her drink all over him!

“No! How dare you, bastard. You're lucky Grace works for the Magic Council, or else I would beat the crap out of you right this second for bad-mouthing my friends!”

“And you're that confident that she will not lose her job because of her guildmate spilling her drink all over me. Honestly, how foolish can you be? What you did was a direct violation of assault, you lunatic woman!”

“You want to talk about violation of assault? I’ll show you right now what that means! H-Hey, let go!” Natsumi struggled against her grip as Lucy and Grace were holding her back.

“Natsumi! Calm down!” Lucy yelled out.

“Nat! This is nothing to fight about. If you attack Councilor Fernandes, then I'm sure you will be locked up behind bars for attacking a board member of the Magic Council. Let's not make this situation worse than it already is. The luckiest we could get is paying for his dry cleaning!” The ice mage did her best to try to calm down her friend but instead ended up fueling her anger up by the last part she said.

“Like hell I will do that! Let go of me! This bastard deserves a good beating!” Lucy and Grace struggled to push Natsumi back as they were holding on to her tightly but were struggling horribly. It's hard to tame the pink-haired Dragon Slayer when she is mad.

Siegrain smirked, enjoying this. It's very amusing seeing the great Salamander all riled up. “I’d suggest you listen to your friend, Ms. Dragneel, considering she herself is a secretary to one of the council's board members. She has more knowledge about the law than you do.”

Oh, how much that arrogant smirk made her blood boil. How dare he make fun of them! She wanted to wipe it out from that bastard's face already. If only her friends weren’t holding her back! Then he wouldn't be laughing right now.

He frowned. “Now, I'm wondering how you expect to pay for this mess. This uniform wasn't exactly cheap, you know. And your little stunt has ruined it. I expect full compensation.”

“Fuck no-!” She felt her voice muffled as Lucy covered her mouth.

Grace laughed nervously. “What she meant was she is really sorry for pouring her drink all over you and will be more than happy to pay for your dry cleaning to make up for it. Just send the bill to Fairy Tail, where I’ll collect her payment and I'll hand over the money to you the next time I'm in Era.”

“Very well then." he spoke up, turning to look back at Natsumi. “Just to say, I'm not a very patient man, Ms Dragneel. I expect your payment by the end of the week, no less. I'll make sure to send the dry cleaning bill to your guild no later than tomorrow morning.”

He was about to leave but paused once realizing something and smiled coyly at them. “Oh, and tell Erza I send her my sincerest greetings.”

“Why the fuck didn't you two let me beat the crap out of him!?” Natsumi yelled furiously once Grace and Lucy finally let go of her after Siegrain left, immediately feeling a smack on the head.

“Ow! What the hell, Grace!?”

“First of all, language!” The ice mage scowled furiously at the pink-haired girl. "Secondly, what were you thinking? Why on Earthland did you think it would be a good idea to pick a fight with a member of the Magic Council? How many times do I have to repeat to you to think if your actions would have consequences? You could have easily ignored him from the beginning and you wouldn't be stuck in this mess! And now you want to attack him as if cursing and throwing your drink at him wasn't bad enough? Do you want to be locked up in a cell for the rest of your life!?”

Lucy stared up ahead already seeing Siegrain's figure disappear, and turned around to Natsumi and spoke up. “Grace does have a point, Natsu. You were lucky you were let off the hook with just paying for his dry cleaning.”

She growled, rubbing her head on the sore spot Grace hit her. “Well, too bad for him! I’m not paying for anything! He is the one who started bad-mouthing our guild like that! Why should I be the one owing him!?”

Grace rubbed the temple of her forehead, feeling the headache from earlier coming back. “Because if you don't, then he will have enough willpower to put you behind bars. Even without attacking him, he could use everything you have done in the past, including what you did today, to lock you up for good.”

“No way, he could actually do that?” Lucy asked.

Grace nodded.

“Easy for someone with his status. All he needs to do is file a complaint on Natsumi himself and look up all the complaints she has previously gotten, then get at least two other board members of the council to vouch for him on her arrest." Grace spoke, a frown crossing her face. “Many members of the Magic Council take advantage of this method when they want to ruin the life of the person that gets on their bad side, and I wouldn't count on Siegrain being an exception to this. From the time I was in the Council as Kazuki's secretary, he isn't exactly a person you could trust on.”

“That sounds awful!” the blonde exclaimed in shock before putting her hands on her hips, glaring at the pink-haired girl. ”Natsumi, you're definitely going to pay him back.”

“But I don't want to!”

“It isn't as if you have a choice either, Nat-”

“Well, I make my own choices, so there!” Natsumi smirked, thinking she finally won the argument.

“Didn't want to bring this up, but you leave me with no choice." Grace sighs before speaking. “If you don't pay up, then I’ll tell Erza about this incident.”

“Choices are lame. Who needs choices anyway? Am I right? I'm definitely paying him back before the end of the week!” Natsumi cheered.

“Woah! That fast you changed your mind just with the mention of Erza!” Lucy screamed in shock.

“Figure’s that would work, aside from any transportation, she is Natsumi's only weakness after all." Grace muttered.

He was angry, no, furious in fact. How dare that insolent woman spill her drink all over him. Now, thanks to her, he was going to run late for the meeting the Chairman was holding with the other board members of the council about her guild’s recent destruction of the train station in Oshibana.

Picking up his lacrima comunication device, he immediately went to dial Ulrich number and inform him he was going to run late, but it was soon cut off from another number calling him.

“Hello, dear brother.”

Siegrain immediately scowled at the familiar sound of the voice coming from the other line. Of all the times he could call, he chose now. Just great.

“What is it? I told you not to call me around this time as I would be at a meeting!” Siegrain snapped back.

“My, you seem to be in a sour mood today.”

“Don't start with me, Sieg.” Siegrain bit back, calling his twin by his real name, scurrying through his wardrobe. “Just spit it out already on what you have to say, as you can see I'm in a rush to get to the council since some idiotic Fairy Tail mage decided to harass me today and spilled her drink all over my uniform.”

“But weren't you the one claiming that you found them entertaining? Jellal.”

He could hear the mocking from the other line. Siegrain scowled but didn't say anything as he began changing quickly. Knowing his brother for this short period of time, he always finds himself being belittled by him every chance he gets. He sometimes wonders why Ulrich lets him have free control instead of brainwashing him fully. He will never know.

“But back to the main point, I wanted to make sure everything is going according to plan.”

Siegrain felt his eye twitch the nerve of him calling just for a simple check up when he knew damn well he would be busy, if he wasnt being used as a distaction to keep the councils eyes away from grimoire hearts, than he wouldnt even put up with this fool's nonsense. 

He silently tried to control the anger that was erupting inside of him as he spoke calmly, once finishing changing into a new uniform.

“It's all going accordingly. Ulrich was able to manipulate an Ice Wizard by the name of Lyon Vastia to resurrect Deliora. If everything goes to plan, then we'll have full control of it in no time.” 

“I see. Then make sure nothing fails, understood? The last thing we want is for the council to suspect something and get involved.”

“Understood.”

Siegrain wanted to almost laugh at his twin brother's demand. The irony, honestly how foolish his brother is? He is acting like he is the one in charge of them, but in reality, it is Ulrich manipulating him to act this way. That poor fool is just another pawn in their game of chess.

Honestly, he can't wait until Jellal's plans on resurrecting Zeref fall apart. He can't wait to see that idiot's face once they ditch him and realize this is all a hoax to keep the council's eyes on him rather than Lord Hades.

He can't wait to see Jellal’s life crumble right before his eyes.

Chapter Text

Natsumi blinked, looking at the receipt Grace handed her as soon as she entered the guildhall in the morning. She squinted at the piece of paper, looking over the total amount below. "What the fuck is this?!"

"Language!" Grace yelled out, smacking her on the head. "This is the amount you owe Councilor Fernandes for ruining his uniform yesterday. You didn't forget, did you?"

"Of course I didn't forget! What I mean is this!" Natsumi, quickly forgetting the pain in her head from the smack she received from Grace, forcefully shoved the paper in the Ice Mage’s face, pointing at the bottom of the receipt. "This is 80,000 jewels, you hear me? No way I’m paying for this!"

Grace shoved the bill away from her face, looking at Natsumi with an exhausted look before speaking. "I know this is a lot, but Councilor Fernandes did say the stains were impossible to remove from his old uniform, so he's making do with purchasing a new one."

"How the hell does juice permanently stain a suit?!"

Grace lets out sigh looking at her friend as she is still glaring at her. “Look Nat, if you want to, you could borrow the money from the guild’s fund to pay for his uniform, and then you could take your time repaying the guild in small amounts if you have to later on."

"Like I'm giving him any money! The only thing that jerk deserves is a good punch in his face for badmouthing our guild like that."

Grace rubbed the temple on her forehead, she lost count already on how many headaches Natsumi has caused her, but she is sure it passed over four hundred already, deciding now would be best to cut the conversation, she spoke up

"I have a huge headache right now, and I really don't have time to deal with this. I have to fill out a pile of paperwork for the Master, then for Kazuki, and I promised the Father Brock from the church I'd watch the children this evening." Grace glared furiously at her "So you either get the money you owe Councilor Fernandes by borrowing from the guild’s funds or any other way that doesn't involve stealing… Please don't steal."

 "Just make sure to hand over the money to me at my dorm in Fairy Hills by the end of the week, in the morning, so I can take it to Era and deliver it to Councilor Fernandes. Don't forget."

Natsumi scowled, watching Grace walk towards the bar, already talking to Mira as she began to organize the paperwork she left stacked there.

She found herself pouting once seated on the bench on one of tables, glaring at the floor.

"Fish."

"Nah, no thanks, buddy. I’m good." Natsumi let out a small smile at the thought of her buddy trying to cheer her up, but it quickly disappeared once she remembered that bill. "Damn bastard, probably lying about the permanent stain on his uniform just to scam the guild. Stupid council people."

"Well, as a matter of fact, Natsumi, it was grape juice."

"W-What? Happy Are you taking his side now?!" Natsumi asked, offended that her best friend was siding with the jerk.

Happy quickly shook his head. "That's not what I meant at all. But, if you do know, grape juice does leave a permanent smudge on white clothing if not treated quickly. Even the most powerful cleaning magic has trouble removing it."

"How do you even know that type of thing? You don't even wear clothes." She huffed. "Anyway, he’s rich. He could pay for his own clothing."

"But you did ruin it, Natsumi."

She felt her eye twitch. First Grace, then Luce, and now Happy. Who’s next, Gramps? She growled. It's not fair at all, all she was trying to do was defend their guild, but they’re all treating her like she started this whole mess. That's it!

She stood up from her seat, banging the table with her fist, getting everybody in the room's attention.

"I don't care what anybody says! I’m not paying back that damn Councilor Seagain or whatever his name is for ruining his suit! You can't make me!" She shouted furiously. "And if you got a problem with that, then you can say it to my fist!"

The guildhall stayed quiet, the Master looking at her like he’d seen a ghost, before falling off his stool and fainted.

"What did you just say, Natsumi?" A stern voice spoke behind her, sending shivers through Natsumi and Happy.

She immediately shrieked upon seeing the familiar red-headed woman glaring down at her from the guild’s entrance. She wasn't expecting to die today!

Knock Knock

“Grace, open up, it's me!” Natsumi fist banged harder on the door, ignoring the thought that the other girls in the dormitory could be sleeping right now  “Grace! Hurry up, I don't have all day!”

Natsumi's annoyance immediately turned to shock once the raven-haired girl opened the door. “Whoa, you don't look good.”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious- a-a-achoo!” Grace's sarcasm turned into a sneeze as Natsumi ducked.

“You're sick?”

“Yeah, I woke up like this this morning.”

“How do you even have a cold? I thought Ice Wizards didn't get sick.”

“Just because I'm an Ice Wizard doesn't mean I'm immune to sickness. We're all human, we go- *cough* *cough*”

“Well, that's just dumb… Anyway, here you go.” She pulled out a bag of jewels from her pocket ready to hand iit over to Grace. “All 80,000 jewels, just like you said.”

Grace shook her head. “I can't take it today, Nat.”

“Then how the hell am I supposed to pay him back? Isn't today the due date for that bastard wanting the money?”

“About that *cough* *cough* I asked Councilor Fernandes if he could personally stop by Magnolia to receive the money. I figured since he was on a mission for the council around these parts, it would be best if he picked it up here, which he kindly accepted.”

“Yeah, so why can't you take it if that bastard stops by here?”

“As you can see, I am barely able to stand up at this point. Councilor Fernandes did say he would arrive in five minutes and would wait outside the train station for his payment. I would ask Erza to deliver the money, but for some reason, she is uneasy around him. So, the only option I have left is you.”

“What?!” Natsumi shrieked in anger. “Me?! Like hell I would do that! What makes you think I want to see that bastard's face after last time?! It's bad enough I'm being forced against my will to pay him for something he deserves! Now I have to see that stupid face of his? No way am I doing this.”

“Please, for your own sake, just do it, Nat.”

“Nope, not happening!”

“Erza will be informed of this.”

“Fine!” Natsumi yelled out, giving in at the mention of Erza, already running out of the girls' dormitory. “I'll do it, but if he ends up with a bruise on his face, it's not my fault!”

“...Why do I feel like I just made one of the biggest mistakes of my life by letting her go off to see him alone and unsupervised?” Grace muttered, closing the door to her dorm. *cough* *cough*

Grace decided not to think much about it as she walked to her bed. A good rest sounded nice to help fight off this cold. Laying down on the mattress and covering herself with a blanket, she decided to go back to sleep.

She was sure everything would be fine. All Natsumi had to do was hand over the money to Councilor Fernandes and be done with it. What could go wrong, right?

But this is Natsumi she was talking about.

“I just let her go see Councilor Fernandes unsupervised…” she repeated again, opening her eyes, processing her words carefully. She began panicking once she realized her mistake. “What have I done?!”

Siegrain was far from annoyed; he was angry. How dare some measly secretary demand he stop by this dump they called Magnolia, all because of a mere cold. If she wasn't working for one of the other board members, he wouldn't ever dare step foot in here and would forcefully demand that sick girl come all the way to Era with that cash like she originally said.

He scowled, looking at his watch. She was precisely twenty minutes late. Oh, the nerve of her for standing him up. He should get her fired from that position and shut down that pathetic guild, along with arresting Salamander for making him wait this long.

That's what he was going to do. He was done waiting for her. Once he got back to the council, he was going to immediately file a report on this. But before he could move, something heavy smashed into his face.

“Here's your money, bastard! Now get the fuck out of this town!”

He heard many gasps around him from the citizens of this town as he stood there in shock. He looked at the bag of jewels on the ground, then turned his head to face her directly.

Now he was furious. First of all, how dare Grace send this annoying woman. When he personally asked for Erza to be sent his way instead. Did that foolish girl really think he wanted to see the person responsible for all this?

“You know what you did was a direct violation of assault on a member of the Magic Council.” he spoke venomously as he glared furiously at the pink-haired girl who was glaring back.

“I don't care! You have the money; get the fuck out of this town, or else I'll make you!”

“The audacity you have to threaten someone with higher authority after physically assaulting him, how very stupid of you. As a gentleman, I was very kind to you the first time, making you pay for my uniform instead of simply locking you up. But now I have a good reason to lock you behind bars and along with your guild’s demise!”

“What did you say?!” she screamed furiously.

“You heard me. Because of your own foolish actions, now you and your whole guild are going to pay the price!”

“I'd like to see you try!” she yelled furiously, fire burning in her arms, already charging at him. “Fire Dragon—”

Siegrain didn't move an inch. Instinctively, he punched her in the stomach, knocking her out cold. She now layed on the floor twitching.

Many gasps around them escalated. Photos of the scene were taken. Many disapproving looks were shot at the member of the Magic Council.

“Shit.” He cursed once realizing there was a large crowd around them.

Siegrain growled furiously as he began to leave the council headquarters after finding out he had been suspended the next day. Apparently, news got out of him knocking out an ‘innocent woman,’ causing a whole ruckus in the media. The hate he was receiving was unjustified.

Why the hell was he the one suddenly taking the blame when, in reality, he was the victim? He acted in self-defense, but no, after he countered her attack with his own, that suddenly made him the guilty party. Honestly, how stupid people are. He couldn't wait for the day Master Hades decided to wipe out humanity completely.

He was going to make her pay, mark his words. He wouldn't let go of this incident. He was going to search for every single bit of dirt on her and get her locked up for life if he had to.

‘Count your days, Natsumi Dragneel.’

He heard chuckling behind him as he was about to make his exit out of the building after being asked to leave by the chairman himself.

Ulrich pounded his fist against the wall, bursting out in laughter while holding the newspaper.

“Are you done now?” Siegrain asked impatiently.

“S-S-Sorry, I-I—” Ulrich burst out in more laughter.

“If you're just going to laugh, I'll be taking my leave now.”

“S-Sorry, Master Siegrain, but it was just so funny.”

“There is nothing funny about this.” He growled.

“R-Right.” Ulrich spoke after calming down. “I originally came here to tell you that I'll be taking my leave to Galuna Island. You know, to help out that Ice Wizard my dear mother taught to revive Deliora. But since you are suspended for a month, you won't be at the council. I'm taking it you have your own lacrima to keep in touch.”

Siegrain nodded. “Yes, sadly.”

“Perfect, then don't miss me too much. I'll be back in no time.” Ulrich winked.

“Trust me, I won't.”

“What?! That’s just mean, Sieg!” Ulrich began to whine, clinging to Siegrain's arm. “Why are you always cold to your only best friend in the whole entire world?!”

“Let go of me, you imbecile!” Siegrain immediately shoved him away with a quick punch to the gut. Ulrich was now on the floor groaning.

“See, you didn't deny being best friends.” He chuckled weakly.

“Shut up!”

Of all things he had to put up with on a daily basis, it was dealing with this idiot. Honestly, since the day he was taken in by Hades, Ulrich had a weird obsession with them being ‘friends.’ It wasn't pleasant to deal with him at all, as he seemed to follow him wherever he went, no matter how many times he would lash out at him, he would always come back.

To make matters worst Master Hades decided to partner them up to infiltrate the council to buy Grimoire Heart some time to locate the keys they needed to unseal Zeref. 

Master Hades knew well that he could have done it alone, but he chose to send Ulrich with him instead.

Well, at least with Ulrich gone for a few days, he would finally have a break from him.

Once he was out of the building, he decided to head back to their shared apartment. But the second he stepped out of the Magic Council headquarters, he received a call from his lacrima. Annoyed, he answered it without thinking.

“Hey there, buddy, already miss you!”

Siegrain eye twitched before shouting ar the other line .“For god's sake, Ulrich, it hasn't even been a minute since we parted ways!”

He hung up and immediately blocked the number. If Ulrich had a serious matter to discuss, he should have Master Hades deliver the message to him. Siegrain wasn't going to deal with the idiot's nagging any longer.

“I don't even know what to say about this.” Lucy gaped at the cover of the daily newspaper she was holding, sitting at the bar in the guildhall. “But this is crazy. What exactly happened?”

“Easy, Natsumi was going to attack him but he ended up punching her, now the whole media is going crazy about the fact of a male member of the magic council, no less a wizard saint assaulted an ‘innocent woman’.” Happy chirped next to her, munching on his fish.

“I don't know why that matters! But it's awesome being a girl, now he owes me money!” Natsumi cheered while digging into her meal, Mira had prepared for her

Lucy stared at her in shock. “I don't think that's something to be proud of.”

“Sure it is, Lucy! You get hit by a guy and now you get free money!” Happy responded.

“Again! That is nothing to be proud of!” Lucy yelled out, finding herself pausing at the thought of something before turning back to Natsumi. “So you're really going through with pressing charges on him even after being the one who started the whole mess?”

“Hey, I didn't start anything. That bastard was threatening to shut down our guild. What was I supposed to do?”

“I don't know, be a rational person by handing over the money quietly and walk away instead of throwing it in his face.” Lucy replied dryly. “I'm surprised you're not mad that he knocked you out with one punch. Usually, you would be furious by now.”

“Well, at first I was really angry when I woke up, but then I got over it really fast when I remembered he was a Wizard Saint. But don't worry, one day, when I'm stronger than all the Wizard Saints combined, I'll punch him so hard that I'll end up making that bastard cry.”

Laughter boomed across the guildhall. Both girls and Happy turned to look at the source. Natsumi's goofy smile turned into a furious scowl as she glared up at the blond on the guild's balcony on the second floor.

“What's so funny!?”

Laxus paused his laughter, leaning his head on his arms on the balcony rail, giving an arrogant smirk that made the pink-haired girl’s blood boil. “Just the thought of you ever surpassing any Wizard Saint. Are you being serious right now? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.”

She bristled, her face turning as red as a tomato. “Come down here, you coward! I dare you to say that to my face! Let's see if you laugh after that!”

“I would, but it wouldn't be fair to knock out a delicate woman like yourself in just a second, now would it?”

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“You heard me. You were easily pummeled by a Wizard Saint in just a second. What makes you think you would even stand a chance against me, the best S-Class mage of this pathetic guild?” Laxus smirked. “You're all bark but no bite.”

“I'll show you bite!” Natsumi immediately got up, knocking her stool out of the way as she was about to run upstairs, but she ended up tripping over something.

“You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsumi!” Master Makarov's voice boomed over the guildhall as he lifted his cane.

“See? All bark but no bite. You were taken out by a stick. Talk about embarrassment.”

“Go fu—”

She was hit on the head by the cane this time.

“Language!” Master Makarov scowled at her before turning to look up at his grandson. “And that's enough from you, Laxus. You shouldn't meddle in things that don't involve you.”

“What? I'm only stating the truth, old man.” Laxus retorted. “It was all over the news this morning. Didn't you read the newspaper? It was the most hilarious thing I ever read. I, for one, feel sorry for that poor guy for even putting up with her to begin with.”

“Laxus!” Makarov yelled.

“You guys are all too soft if you can't handle the truth. Not surprising coming from a guild full of weaklings.”

Once Laxus left, Natsumi growled, still lying on the floor. Just he wait! She'd show that bastard and that fucking bastard from the council that she is not to be messed with! But that would have to wait until she got up. Who knew Master's cane had so much power? It felt like she had just been in a battle with Erza!

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful morning for Grace Fullbuster, the sun was shining through her window, the birds were chirping outside. It was a nice way to be greeted when she woke up after spending these last two days sick. As soon as she was out of bed, she got ready and headed towards the guild to finish the leftover paperwork she promised Kazuki.

Today would be a hectic day, catch up on Masters and the council paperwork she missed, watch the children at the church from 12 to 3 and head to Era for more paperwork… yep another busy day for her if things go according to plan she could head back to home by 10 and get a good night's sleep.

Well, that was what she was expecting to do today.

"What?!" She screamed, dropping the loads of paperwork she was holding, hours of organizing them by alphabetical order gone now. "What do you mean they took off with an S-Class mission?! Are you sure the quest wasn't just misplaced somewhere around here? They cannot be that stupid to take it like that… Wait, it's Natsumi and Happy of course they would do something like this!"

She was hyperventilating, this is beyond illegal, she knows better than to let those two unsupervised. How could she be so stupid to let them wander around freely for the past two days. What else has Natsumi done when she was out sick?!

Her eyes wandered towards a newspaper lying at the bar on the cover was a photo of Councillor Fernandes punching Natsumi through her stomach. 'Wizard Saint and member of magic Council Siegrain Fernandes suspended for attacking an innocent woman.'

She gaped at the newspaper for a good second… Okay, she rather not ask about that.

If word gets out to the public that lower rank mages took an S-Class mission that could lead to the master being arrested and the guild being shut down for not following the safety protocol.

Or they could die too…

“What are we going to do about this?! They could get themselves killed!”

Master Makarov nooded. “That's why I want you to go get them, Laxus refused and Erza still hasn't returned as of yet, You’re the only one right now that I could count on to bring those idiots back. I trust that you'll bring them back in one piece?”

"It was the mission to Galuna Island, right? I'll bring them back before noon." She scurried out of the guild.

If Erza were to ever get word of this about them stealing an S-class mission she would be angry, and an angry Erza is never a good sight to behold. It's downright scary. She better hurry, Erza did say she would call her later and would surely want to know if the guild's been behaving properly while she’s gone, of course, Grace couldn't downright lie to her either.

“Don't know why you want to go there, but no sailer would take you to Galuna, not even pirates are going near that place.”

"Are you serious?" Lucy asked in shock, they had been going around Hargeon all morning searching for someone who would be willing to take them to Galuna Island but everybody was too afraid to take them. After hearing from many sailors around this port about the Island, she was starting to get scared herself too.

"It Looks like we are going swimming after all." Natsumi casually said with a smile on her face, happy that she didn't have to take any form of transportation to Galuna Island.

“Sure does.” Happy replied from her shoulder.

“I wonder how long it will take to get there?”

“We are not swimming, Natsumi!” Lucy protested.

"Sure we are, now quick jump in the water before Grace or Erza finds us." Natsumi shivered at the thought of one of those two showing up and stopping them from their mission, Erza was already scary enough but Grace can be just as scarier when she is angry.

She started pushing Lucy towards the water, the blond started to protest.

“Natsumi! Let go! Don't you dare throw me in the water.” Lucy shrieked.

“It's too late for that!”

Both girls and Happy yelped in surprise, causing Natsumi to let go of Lucy, making the poor blond lose balance and crash her face on the concrete floor.

After running around in circles in Hargeon for an hour, Grace was already exhausted, her clothes were drenched in sweat and her hair was a mess. She has had enough, she gave the three of them the sharpest glare she could muster, placing her hands on her hips. "Do you have any idea what three are going to commit? this is beyond illegal, this is a suicide mission! How many times do I have to repeat to you Natsumi, to think about if your actions would have consequences, before proceeding to do something, now we're all going back to the guild and you're going to hand back that S-Class mission, apologize to Master about your actions and face whatever punishment he gives you for defying-."

“Yeah, yeah yeah, whatever Mom!” Natsumi cut her off, waving her off, ignoring her completely.

“Are you even listening to me right now?” Grace shouted. “Don't you dare proceed with this quest or else.”

Natsumi scoffed “Or else what? What are you going to do about it if we do? yell at me more.”

She scowled, pulling out her lacrima from her pocket. "I have Erza on speed dial, don't test me right now."

The three froze in fear, Happy began to immediately cry to Grace.

“Waah!” Happy wailed flying up to her. “Grace, you got to save me. I knew this was a bad idea but they forced me to tag along.”

“You are such a liar!” Lucy angrily shouted at Happy, for throwing her under the bus once she got up. Still clenching her nose from the pain from that fall just now.

“I got to prove my power to the bastards that made fun of me. Like it or not I'm doing this.“ Natsumi exclaimed with total determination, fire appearing though her hand now. “Oh yeah! I’m all fired up just thinking about it, they will soon be the ones standing beneath me, I could just taste it!”

She laughed evilly imagining the thought of both Laxus and That bastard from the council, both lying in a pile together, standing on top of their unconscious forms.

“Excuse me but are you wizards?” The guy from the boat suddenly stood up.

“Have you come to lift the curse on the island?”

"Yeah!" Natsumi yelled out enthusiastically

"Maybe." Lucy timidly answered.

"Not 'Yeah' or 'Maybe' didn't I tell you three that this S-class mission is prohibited for lower-class mages like yourselves!" Grace shouted before calming herself down and turning to give the man an apologetic look."We are sorry sir but we are going to have to decline. They are not suitable for this type of quest as of yet."

"Come on Grace, why are you always such a buzzkill!?" Natsumi shouted in protest. "Of course we are suitable, more than everybody in the guild combined, maybe even the whole earthland."

“Okay, that's overstepping it a tad bit too much.“ Lucy sweatdropped.

“Get in.” The man said.

“What?” Natsumi asked in disbelief.

"Seriously!" Lucy shouted in shock, not believing for almost a second that they finally found someone who could take them to Galuna island.

Natsumi cheered, walking towards the boat to get in. "Yes! Alright time for my First S-Class mission, can't wait to see everybody's face once we get back to the guild after completing this quest!"

“Take one step in there and I’ll call Erza, Nat, just one press of a button and this phone will start ringing.”

“Go ahead I dare you, I'm not scared of her.” Natsumi challenged back.

Happy and Lucy quickly started to panic.

“Okay I will-

Smack

As she was about to dial she suddenly felt something hit her in the head, dropping her communication device before losing consciousness.

“You knocked her out!” Lucy shouted in horror.

“Awesome work buddy you saved us!”

"Aye, sir!" Happy saluted, throwing away the piece of wood he randomly found on the ground.

Natsumi wasted no time and went to pick up the unconscious Ice mage and stuffed her lacrima in her pocket.

"Are you sure we should bring her with us?" Lucy worriedly asks Natsumi. Once the pink-haired girl placed the ravenette on the boat.

Natsumi looked at Lucy like she had grown a second head. "Are you crazy?! We can't leave her alone, she could go back to the guild and call Erza."

The three shuddered in horror.

‘Erza.’

A dart flew through the photo, landing directly on the head of the redheaded woman.

In truth, Siegrain was rather curious about her ever since Jellal decided to bring up her name back when they were discussing their plans on activating the R-system when the tower of heaven was complete.

In order for the resurrection of 'Zeref' to be completed. Jellal needed to sacrifice someone he deeply cared about and that being said that sacrifice being Erza. Herself. Not like he cared either way.

Erza only caught his eye because Jellal seemed to be overly fixated on everything she does, to the point where he became obsessed with her, making him keep tabs on her every movement every day.

His interest in her increased further when she mistook him for his twin and almost attacked him when she and Makarov came to the council to submit an apology letter for their guild's recent destruction a few years ago. The look on her face when they first met was priceless, she may look like she wanted to kill him but he knew full well there was fear behind her eyes. So he decided from that day he wanted to break her even further.

He wanted to see her squirm under his gaze.

His first few attempts were 'coincidentally' bumping into her a few times around Fiore when she's on a mission on her own. From asking her to take a stroll around town with him or have lunch. But she always seemed to be hostile, never letting her guard down even when he was putting on the friendly guy facade Ulrich usually does.

It got annoying really quick.

On the bright side, just his looks alone are enough to make her go tense since he easily reminded her of his brother, but that wasn't enough for him.

He was originally going to convince the other members of the council for her to face the punishment of the recent destruction with the whole Lullaby situation for more fun, but that Barbarian had to ruin everything by making him late to the meeting, by the time he got their the board members all agreed to send their guild a huge fine.

He was angry for the rest of the day.

When Jellal found out about their meetings, thanks to Ulrich blabaring his mouth to him, he was extremely angry to the point where he threatened to kill him claiming that meeting up with Erza a lot can lead to suspicion from her and potentially ruin the whole operation of resurrecting 'Zeref'.

The irony, if they were both planning on murdering each other it would be him killing Jellal, not the other way around of course he wouldn't just openly admit that to his twin’s face now would he?

He knew Jellal was jealous with just the mention of him secretly meeting up with his sacrificial lamb, he can't blame him, He would be angry too if he found out Jellal was hanging out with his favorite toy, not like he has one all the woman in this world are just to boring to really entertain him, but Erza gained enough of his attention to be an exception to that.

Plus seeing Jellal angry the first time was hilarious, he remembered trying to fight off the smirk that was threatening to cross his face when Jellal was threatening to end his life. But it seemed Jellal had caught it Because now whenever Jellal feels like it, he forces him to switch places for about a month.

Siegrain didn't like that one bit, he didn't want to manage a meaningless tower that has no use whatsoever. The only purpose that damn tower has is being threatening for the council's eyes to be on it and killing Jellal.

He cannot even protest too or Jellal could find out easily the whole revival of Zeref was just a hoax, it's already bad enough he is starting to suspect him of something. When they swapped back he noticed some stuff from his bedroom and his office at the council were moved. Jellal didn't have any need for those items as he left the supplies he needed in a separate cabinet he instructed.

Luckily for him. Ulrich had all the info they needed from grimoire hearts locked up in the most random place in their shared apartment, stuffed inside Mr Teddy, Ulrich's favorite teddy bear. That stuffed bear was originally going to be given to Meredy as a birthday present but Ullrich got too attached to it to the point where he didn't even want to let it go. If it wasn't for him suggesting Ulrich to buy another one then Meredy would have been left presentless. Which would have made Ulrich look bad since he is the one who randomly decided to adopt her.

As much as Ulrich is childish, he does prove to be useful at times though.

He looked at the stacked paperwork Ulrich had dropped off when he came back before leaving Galuna island, since that idiot somehow managed to convince the council that he wasn't entirely to blame for the incident a few days ago and only acted in self-defense. He was still suspended from setting foot in HQ, but now he gets to work from home until the suspension is lifted, which he didn't complain about since he is still going to get paid by the hour.

He sighs once sitting down in his armchair, preparing for a long night of paperwork.

"P-Please s-someone kill me, I-I can't take this much suffering anymore," Natsumi muttered lying at the edge of the boat, her motion sickness getting the best of her.

"Now I'm starting to get scared. " Lucy shivered, It was dark already. They were already in the middle of the ocean all alone going to a curse island, of course, this would be creepy.

"You three should be ashamed of yourselves! Do you have any idea how many rules you broken in one day?! First, you stole a high-ranking quest that you were not allowed to take, then failed to obey Master commands, and then knocked out one of your guild mates with who knows what and to add icing on top you guys decided to kidnap her against her own will, even tying her up too!"

Grace was livid; she has never been this angry before, not since that time Erza managed to destroy a local diner in Magnolia. It was just supposed to be a normal lunch between the two of them. But someone accidentally knocked over Erza's strawberry cake on the floor, which she didn't take to lightly not even a simple apology worked. She ended up sending that poor guy to the hospital and in the process destroying the diner as well. Grace had never been so embarrassed in her life since that day.

…That was all about two weeks ago and that poor man is still in the hospital.

"We're really sorry Grace. " Lucy apologized shamefully, in all truth, she felt bad for the ravenette, she was only doing what seemed necessary and she had been nothing but kind to her since she first arrived in the guild.

Grace just glared at her. “Just because Natsumi and Happy probably dragged you into this, doesn't make you any less guilty, you are all equally in trouble, I expected better from you Lucy, I'm so disappointed in you right now.”

“I’m sorry!” Lucy cried out. Beginning to untie Grace once the guilt fully consumed her.

“Yeah Lucy, we expected better from you.” Happy looked at her with a mock disapproving look.

"Like you're one to talk! you two basically bribed me with purposely leaving the quest in my room to tag along with you guys!"

Grace ignored the bickering that just erupted between the two and looked up at the person who was stirring the boat.

"Excuse me, sir, if you'd be so kind as to direct the boat back to the Hargeon it would greatly be appreciated."

“Can't we’re already too far out in the ocean.”

“B-But can't you see none of us are capable of taking this mission?!”

“I know…But let me explain.” He spoke. “My name is Bobo, I used to be a citizen on Galuna island, but I had to flee. I just couldn't take it anymore.”

"As you heard many of the citizens of this island were hit with this vile curse that turned us into hideous monsters." He lifted his cape revealing his inhuman-like arm, which caused gasps from the girls. "For a while now we have been trying to reach out to many guilds for help to lift off this curse, but no one wanted to accept this request since they are too afraid of what the curse would do to them once they step foot on the island."

“Have you tried reaching out to the council about this?” Grace asked. “I’m sure they would be able to come up with a solution for you and your people if you did.”

"They were no help at all. As soon as we sent a request we were easily ignored, it has been a month since we asked them for help and we haven't heard a reply since. " He spoke up, a grim expression came across his face. "The higher-ups couldn't care less about a small village on an island like ours, that's why when I found out the three of you were wizards, I knew I couldn't pass on the opportunity."

"I should warn you that tragedy befalls on anyone who ever dares set foot on the island… that is unless you're able to lift the curse." Bobo stared at the island up ahead

"We're almost on Galuna Island."

"That's weird, why is the mountaintop glowing like that?" Lucy squeaked out pointing at the top of the island that was emulating a huge light.

Grace looked up and shuddered at the sight of it.

“W-What the, Where did he go?!” Lucy yelled out, noticing Bobo wasn't there anymore and the paddle abandoned.

"That's strange he couldn't possibly have jumped out of the boat or we would have heard a splashing sound by now," Grace muttered looking around.

“He disappeared in thin air.” Happy commented.

Grace shivered “You don't think, he could have been a- “

"Ghost!" Lucy and Grace cried out, hugging each other in fear, of the thought of them talking to a ghost this whole time.

“Boo!”

“Ah!” The girls shrieked.

Happy bursted out laughing from behind them. "The look on both of your faces was just priceless."

Both girls turned around and immediately glared at him.

Grace wasted no time and smacked him in the back of his head, knocking him down to the floor.

"You stupid cat! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lucy yelled out but then paused. She blinked hearing a loud tiddle noise behind them. "H-Hey what is that noise?"

"Uh Lucy," Grace spoke up nervously. "Look!"

Lucy turned around and screamed in horror once seeing a huge tidal wave coming their way.

“Ah! Tsunami!”

“Don't panic! Nobody panic!” Grace panicked.

"You're the biggest hypocrite I've ever known, Grace!" Happy cried out. "From the way you're saying it makes me panic even more since you're panicking too!"

“Happy, can't you grab on the boat and fly us out of here!” Lucy shouted.

“I’m not strong enough!”

The three shrieked as the tidal wave engulfed them. The four were sucked into the ocean, with everything going blank from there.

“We finally made it to Ganula Island!” Natsumi cheered after waking up in dry land.

"We are lucky that wave washed us to shour," Lucy commented.

"I don't know if being washed up on a cursed island would be considered lucky," Grace spoke up behind them, dusting off the sand off her skirt. "But we're lucky to be alive though."

“Hey, has anyone seen Happy?” Lucy asked, beginning to look around, not seeing the blue feline when she woke up.

“Someone help me!” Happy cries for help were muffled, with his head being buried underneath the sand struggling to get out.

“I got ya buddy.” Natsumi grabbed both of his feet, managing to pull him out without a sweat. “Now let's go exploring!”

“Aye!”

Lucy sweatdropped. “We've been here for about 30 seconds and you guys already forgot about the mission.”

"Let's see." She pulled out the quest from her back pocket that luckily didn't fall off when the tidal wave engulfed them. "Apparently there's only one village on this whole entire island, the Village chief is the one who originally put in the request, so I guess we need to find him."

"Hold up a second!" Grace shouted, running up to them snatching the quest off Lucy's hands. "We still haven't finished our talk from earlier, neither one of us are qualified to take up this job! We just had an almost-death experience too and still want to proceed with this! Nope! Not under my watch you won't!"

"B-But we're already here on the island, You heard what Bobo said, no one else doesn't want to take up the job since they are all too afraid of this curse, we are the only ones brave enough to do it," Lucy spoke up trying to reason with Grace. "Besides if he really was a ghost don't you think it would be best if we complete his last final request with lifting off the curse."

Grace sighs. "I know It may sound cruel to just leave Bobo's request unanswered, but I promise once we head back, I'll head straight to Council and file a report with Kazuki on this, he is one of the board members and a wizard saint after all, so I'm sure the other board members will listen to him and they'll find a way to help out the villagers of this island."

“But we're right here!” Natsumi cried out pointing to the sign that reads ‘Welcome To Galuna Island’

“The answer is still no! And I don't care if we have to build a raft, we're all going home and that's final!”

"Aw!' Natsumi and Happy whined.

“No whining!” Grace shouted.

"Now since the boat was probably washed off elsewhere. We're going to make a raft, it could take a little while to build one, which means we're probably going to be stuck here for a day or two, but if we act fast then the earliest we could go is by tomorrow evening." Grace muttered, looking around before glaring at three. "Natsumi you're in charge of gathering logs around here, also search for some wood that we could carve out to make a paddle we're going to need it. Happy go see if you can find vines, we're going need them to tie up the logs together and Lucy you're in charge of the food, find any fruit that would be safe to eat while I'll be here setting up camp."

“Aye sir!”

Lucy was exhausted, she's been searching for what felt like hours and not one piece of fruit in sight. How hard is it to find a coconut?!

Lumping herself on a nearby rock she sighs with relief finally getting to sit down and have a break.

"Hey, Luce!"

Lucy let out a shriek in surprise, falling off the rock she was sitting on to the hard ground.

“Wow Lucy, While we are doing all the hard work, you are here slacking off as usual.”

“Yeah Lucy, stop being lazy!”

Lucy felt her eye twitch immediately getting up to glare at the duo. "For your information, I was taking a break since finding food here is impossible, I have been searching for hours and nothing."

“Excuses.” Happy spoke, waving her off with his paw.

“Oh yeah! If you both think you did a better job than me, then where are the supplies Grace left you in charge with?“

“We burned it!” Natsumi casually said.

“Aye!"

“Y-You what?”

"Didn't you hear us the first time, I said we burned it," Natsumi repeated.

Happy shook his head. “Geeze Lucy it looks like you're going to start needing hearing aids if you’re going to ask us to repeat the most simplest of things.”

“I heard you the first time you idiots!” Lucy shouted at them. “What I meant is what do you mean you burned off the wood?! We needed it to build a raft to get home!”

Natsumi huffed. ”And here you are calling us idiots when you couldn't figure it out, man Luce you're such a hypocrite.”

“A huge one in fact.”

“Shut up! And explain! Before I decide to kick you both to the other side of the island!”

"Fine." Natsumi rolled her eyes dramatically."We burned off all the logs and vines so we wouldn't have a way to get back home, we came to do our S-Class mission, and no way we're going to let Grace ruin all our fun when we just got here."

“Wait, you guys seriously want to do the S-class quest after everything that happened?”

“Not want to, but going too and you're coming with us!”

“Aye!”

“H-Hold on a second what about Grace? Didn't she say we were not allowed to take this job?”

“But Grace isn't here now is she?” Natsumi smiled innocently. “I’m sure if we do the mission fast she won't even notice we were gone by the time we get back to camp.”

“I don't know about that.” Lucy sweatdropped.

“Come on, let's go!”

Lucy yelped, feeling her arm snatched by Natsumi, as the trio took off.

“Wait, do we even know where the village is?!”

"Tell me something, how long do you think it will take us to become stronger than Ur?" A silver-haired little boy asked the girl beside him, both looking around the same age.

"Well, I'm not sure." She replied honestly. "Ur is really strong so it might take quite a while for any one of us to surpass her."

"True." He nodded a smile then crossed his face. “She's the best wizard around. My dream is to be better than she is.”

The smile quickly faded away once he heard soft giggling beside him.

“What's so funny?” He asked offendedly.

"S-Sorry." she giggled, calming herself down. "I didn't mean to make fun of you in any way, it's just you seem really eager about surpassing Ur and I can't help but admire that about you." She paused, smiling softly at the sky. "It must be nice having a dream, that way you already have a goal set for the rest of your life, I'm sure with enough determination you'll surpass Ur one day."

“Y-You really mean it?” He asked, a blush spreading across his face, shyly looking away.

She hummed in reply. “My mother always told me If you set your mind to it then anything can be possible.” She looked over at him this time sticking out her pinky. “Promise me this, by the time we are older, let's both have already completed our dreams together.”

"Yeah!" He shouted enthusiastically, connecting his pinky to hers, but paused at the thought of something. "But hold on second, you never told me if you had a dream, do you even have one? how are we going to complete them together if you don't?"

She looked like was going to say something but paused once thinking about it for a minute, before changing her mind.

“You're right!” She let out a smile “I guess I'm going to have to make one then.”

“Lyon! Grace! Time to go!”

“It looks like Ur’s finally done grocery shopping. “ Grace spoke up, standing up. “Come on, we don't want to keep her waiting.”

She gently took his hand once he stood up and both started to walk towards their teacher.

“She's not there.”

“Huh?” She looked at him more confusingly than looking back to see Ur waving at them. “What do you mean? Lyon She's standing right there waving at us.”

She winced suddenly feeling his hand gripping tighter to her. "L-Lyon could you let go of my hand, please? You're pressing on it too tight, it's starting to hurt."

Instead, she yelped when she was forcefully pinned to the ground by him.

"You idiot! How will I surpass her now?! She's dead and so is my dream because of you!" He screamed out.

“L-Lyon, what are you talking about? Ur isn't dead, let go. I'm begging you, it hurts!” Feeling his grip tightened on her shoulders now.

“See for yourself.”

She looked at what he pointed to once he let her loose, when she looked around the town where they were at was now destroyed and right in the center where Ur was standing was now replaced by a giant Ice Shell.

“If you hadn't challenged Deliora this wouldn't have happened.”

“No.” She whispered in horror. “This can't be true.”

“Ur!” She shouted running up to the ice shell. “Please this can't be real, none of this is real!”

“It's your fault she's dead. Grace.” He spoke behind her, his voice was now deeper.

She turned around to look at him, he was now older, towering over her, looking down at her with the most spiteful glare.

“You’re the one who killed Master Ur.”

Grace's eyes shot open, breathing rapidly feeling the anxiety start to take over her body.

“Had that dream again...”

Grace mumbled to herself, staring at the sky, the sun was setting down, realizing she must have fallen asleep after setting up camp, finding herself lying on the sand when she woke up.

“I wonder if you're doing alright… Lyon, I hope you are.”

"I'm sorry," she whispered to herself.

This has been her 9th time this month she had this nightmare, it all started the same with an old memory from when she was one of Ur's pupils along with Lyon, both of them made promises to each other that they would complete their goals together when they were older, but it quickly takes a darker turn when she is reminded that she murdered Ur.

Everything about that dream was true. She lost her best friend and was responsible for her teacher's death, all because she so selfishly wanted to avenge her parents with all the hate she had for Deliora bottled inside her for murdering them. She may have not shown that side to anyone but she was bitter when she was younger.

But why are these nightmares happening again? They stopped appearing a year after she joined the guild, but a month ago they started reappearing more frequently now.

“What time is it?”

In instinct, she reached out inside her pocket for her lacrima to check the time, but paused once realizing something.

“Wait! I could have contacted the guild and asked the Master to send someone to come and save us. Why didn't I think of this earlier?”

She felt herself panicking feeling nothing in either of her pockets, Why was her lacrima not there? She could have sworn she put it in there earlier, Where could it have gone?

She groaned remembering Happy knocking her unconscious yesterday in Hargeon, she must have dropped it when they kidnapped her.That was her work phone too!

She took deep breaths trying to calm down, she is sure everything would be fine if they stick to their original plan with building a raft, besides Master must have noticed she hasn't come back with them yet, so she was sure he will end up sending Erza to rescue them once she returns. After all, Erza did tell her two days ago she would be back in three days and tomorrow marks the third.

But wait this is bad news, if Erza comes to their rescue she is surely going to have their heads off for disobeying Master’s orders and probably her head off too for failing on bringing them back to the guild…

They needed to build the raft fast or else they would all be dead meat!

She scurried frantically on her feet to see if any of them returned with the supplies, but there was nothing, not even traces of their footsteps in the sand to verify if they even set foot here.

What could be taking them so long? She could have sworn it could have taken an hour or two to gather the supplies, she even saw some logs next to a few berry bushes by the entrance to the island forest earlier.

If assuming they got here in the morning then it would have been 9 or 10, and now that the sun was setting down it could be around 6 or 7 pm, which meant they had been gone for about 9 hours by now.

Where are they? They couldn't have gotten lost, she is sure Natsumi would be able to track her down easily in just a second if that were the case.

Did something happen to them? Or-

"They wouldn't," Grace  muttered in utter horror.

But they would.

“Natsumi! Happy!”

She took off sprinting to search for them.

“So she came here too, huh.” A voice muttered to himself not too far away from her. Standing in the highest branch on top of a tree, leaning against it. Looking down watching her run frantically trying to find her comrades. “Should I tell him?”

“Nah.” Ulrich's innocent smile turned into a predatory grin. “This should be fun.”