Hello everyone! I'm new to the Fairy Tail fandom and I'm really happy to write a fanfiction for such a great fandom.

This is something I came up with when I thought that Lucy deserves way more coolness and credit than she gets in canon. And also, I'm a sucker for Yuri so... This fic will loosely follow canon but the events will be different and most from Lucy's perspective.

This may seem confusing at the beginning but I promise that everything will be explained all in due time.

WARNING: This is a Lucy x Erza fic so please back away if you're not interested.

"This is Earthland. It looks a lot like our last world doesn't it?" A blonde girl commented, her calculating brown eyes taking in her surroundings. She was rather young and looked to be around 17 years old. Her body was tall, lean and well-muscled- a result of years of training- and her skin was on the slightly pale side. She was wearing a pair of black combat trousers, a dark blue t shirt with 'Happiness!' written on it and a long sleeveless coat that was left unbuttoned. On her feet, she wore a pair of crimson converse and had a slim black headphone placed over her ears.

"Lucy, this doesn't look anything like our last world. Our last world was mostly dark and depressing, remember?" A silver haired girl who was roughly the size of a small hand replied. The girl was wearing the same clothes as Lucy except without the headphone and the coat. Of course, the clothes were tiny to suit her body size. The miniature girl then giggled, her hazel eyes twinkling with mirth as she flew over to directly hover in front of Lucy's face. "The old age must be getting to your memory, Lucy-obaasan."

Lucy plucked the girl out of the air by her collar and placed the girl gently on her shoulder.

"I'm only 17, Ria. And I didn't mind the dark. The sunlight irritates my eyes."

Ria pouted and folded her arms. "Mou, you're so boring to tease! You never react to my insults Lucy. What's the fun in that?" Lucy's quirked her lips into a small smile and remained silent. She was already used to her friend's special brand of 'fun' and was wise enough not to retort back. Besides, she was in a particularly good mood and she wanted to bask in the feeling for as long as possible without being distracted by a fight with Ria. Although their bickering was mostly harmless, it did have the tendency to escalate at an alarming rate if they didn't control themselves.

Lucy walked through the streets of Hargeon town, taking in the beautiful scenery and the hustle of merry people chatting. She felt a strong wave of nostalgia hitting her like a tidal wave and it took all her efforts to stop herself from doing something incredibly embarrassing and stupid in the middle of the streets. Besides the occasional shout from a passer-by, it was a peaceful atmosphere and that was something Lucy could definitely get used to. God knew she needed some peace in her life after what she'd been through. Ria had fallen asleep a few minutes ago so Lucy had tucked Ria into her breast pocket. Her friend had a tendency to sleep like a rock and Lucy was always amazed, if not slightly envious, that Ria seemed to be able to sleep even in the most chaotic environment. After a moment of debate, she decided to start heading towards the direction of the Hargeon station but before she could begin proceeding to her chosen destination, she heard two excited girls exclaiming that the famous wizard 'Mr Salamander' was in town. At first, she merely rolled her eyes, simply dismissing the conversation as crazy fan-girl speculation. However, as she spotted more people running in the same direction with the same look of excitement, her eyes widened slightly in recognition. Could it be…

She quickly chased after the girls; her mind and heart were racing at the prospect of meeting her friend once again despite the fact that the friend in question probably wouldn't have met her yet in this world. The girls Lucy was chasing led her to a large crowd that was gathered in front of a majestic building. She pushed through the crowd to see the figure standing in the middle only to find a strange blue haired man posing and basking in the fan-girls' screams. Lucy immediately noticed the rings on his finger and deduced that he was probably controlling the crowd with one of them. Mostly likely a charm spell. She inwardly scoffed at the man who was using her friend's alias and sighed when she felt disappointment washing over her- she had gotten her hopes up for nothing. I don't have time for this.

Just as she was about the leave, a pink haired boy pushed through the crowd, shouting the name 'Igneel'. Lucy froze in her tracks as a small grin took over her face. Natsu-san! And Happy-san as well. I missed them so much.

Natsu tilted his head with a frown as he looked at the blue haired guy. "Who the hell are you?" Lucy watched as a crowd of furious women proceeded to kick and trample over Natsu. This happened once again when he refused to accept the fake Salamander's signature. Lucy watched the scene with a small amount of pity. Once the crowd was gone, Lucy discreetly approached Natsu who sat dejectedly on the cold stone ground. She offered him a hand and smiled softly when he looked up.

"Hi. I'm Lucy," She offered. Natsu took her hand and pulled himself up, dusting off any visible dirt.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel. And this is my friend Happy," he said. Lucy smiled as Happy did a little twirl in the air, shouting something about fish. She was tempted to say 'I know' but refrained because that would just cause them to be suspicious of her. Before she could say anything though, a long growl interrupted their conversation. Natsu scratched his neck as he rubbed his stomach with a forlorn expression.

"…want to get some food? It'll be on me," Lucy said, sending Natsu an understand grin. Immediately, she was tackled by the dragon slayer and Happy who both had tears in their eyes.

"I'm so hungry, I could die!" Natsu exclaimed tearfully.

Happy nodded and chirped in, "Aye!"

000

"So, are you wizards?" Lucy asked, casually evading her head from the onslaught of bones and bits of food that were flying towards her face. Natsu was stuffing himself with at least six chicken legs at the same time while Happy was content with his plate of fish.

"Yeh, weer in a guild 'alled Faiweey Tail," Natsu slurred, his mouth still full of chicken meat. Happy added an enthusiastic 'Aye!' before turning his attention back to his fish. Lucy smiled to herself. These two never change. I'm so glad they're exactly the same in Earthland.

Lucy decided to play along, "Heh…you're in Fairy Tail? I hear that you guys always cause trouble in your missions."

Natsu scowled, "We always finish our jobs, even if it means destroying a house or two."

Lucy suppressed her grin, completely sympathising with the sentiment, and nodded. "Well said. But about Fairy Tail…you see, I'm a wizard too and I would like you to take me to your guild. Would that be okay?"

Natus paused before grinning widely. "Sure thing, since you were nice enough to buy us food. We were heading back to the guild anyway now that we know Salamander isn't Igneel."

"Right. Whilst you finish eating your food, I'll be waiting outside," Lucy said and placed some notes on the table before walking out of the restaurant. Once she was on the streets, she entered a nearby shop and bought a copy of Sorcerer Weekly. She settled on a bench and flipped the magazine open. Inside the magazine were gossips on certain guilds as well as interviews with some well-known guild masters. There was also an article about how a member of Fairy Tail had destroyed seven homes and had wiped out the Devon Bandit Clan. From reading the article, Lucy safely deduced that the member was none other than Natsu. Towards the back were full page pictures of Mirajane wearing skimpy swimsuits. Lucy was proud that she only drooled for five seconds before she moved on.

"Fairy Tail is the same as always. I'm glad…" Lucy muttered. She then sighed as she felt the presence of the man from before. Even without trying, she could clearly distinguish his presence from the other passer-byes'. "Come out," she said, without taking her eyes off from her magazine. The man came out from the bush he was hiding from.

"As I expected, you are a mage and quite a sharp one at that. I heard that you want to join Fairy Tail. I can recommend you to our master as long as you come with me to attend my party. How about it? It's a win-win situation," the creepy man offered with a gag-inducing smile. If Lucy wasn't so preoccupied with reading her magazine, she most likely would have done something to make sure he would never be able to smile again.

"No," Lucy said immediately, since she knew already that the guy was bluffing. The man narrowed his eyes menacingly, a gesture that did not escape the blonde mage. Before he could do anything, Lucy shot out of her seat, grabbed him by his neck and teleported him to the middle of the sea. She knew that he would be just fine and made sure that the impact would not kill him. Just then, Natsu and Happy exited from the restaurant with Natsu patting his belly in satisfaction.

"Ah, that definitely hit the spot. Thanks Lucy! Now that I've eaten, I'm all revved up," he said, igniting himself on fire. He turned to Lucy with a grin. "Let's go to Fairy Tail, Lucy, Happy!"

"Aye sir!"

"I won't let you!" shouted a familiar voice. All three mages turned, staring as the man from earlier stood in front of them, completely soaked to the bone. He was glaring intensely at the blonde mage and didn't seem to be too happy about his current state. Lucy sighed. What a persistent man. I think I'll let Natsu-san handle this one.

The fake 'Salamander' growled at them with narrowed eyes; he was attempting to be threatening but with his hair matted to his face like wet seaweed, it had the opposite effect and made him look rather comical. He had a furious expression on his face. "How dare you, you wench! You're not getting out of this alive! Prominence whip!"

With a wave of his hands, dark pink tendrils of light shot out from a magic circle and headed towards Lucy. She dodged each one of them with ease and Natsu did the same. The light crashed into houses behind and set some on fire. Natsu scowled.

"I don't know what's going on but I won't just let you go after you tried to hurt my friends!" he said, and breathed in the fire from the houses. The fake Salamander paled at the display. "Fire Dragon roar!" A big wave of flame came out from his mouth and engulfed the fake Salamander completely. Unfortunately, in the process, a few more houses were set on fire and the residents inside all ran out whilst screaming hysterically. Lucy felt slightly bad for laughing at them but she couldn't help but be amused at the scene. Looking at the destruction he had caused once again, Natsu grabbed Lucy and sped away to the station. "Come on! We're going to Fairy Tail now!"

"By train?" Lucy asked with a small smirk, knowing that Natsu was weak with transportations. Just as she had expected, Natsu's pace faltered and he sheepishly scratched his cheek.

"Um…Happy, could you take us there?"

Happy looked appalled at the suggestion. "That's impossible, Natsu! I can only carry one of you and it too far away. We'll have to take the train back to Magnolia." At this, Natsu deflated. Lucy hid a smile.

"It's okay. I can teleport all of us there," Lucy spoke up, feeling a little sorry for Natsu.

Natsu and Happy looked at her in surprise. "You can do that?" the pink haired boy asked. Lucy nodded and grabbed them with each hand.

"Let's go!"

The world blurred for a second and when their visions settled once again, they were in the town of Magnolia, with Fairy Tail standing only a few hundred of meters away in the distance. Lucy took a moment to simply stare at the building and once again felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. Damn, even the building is exactly the same. Soon enough, Natsu snapped out of his stunned state, grabbed her arm and pulled her towards Fairy Tail's headquarters. When they arrived, the boy pushed open the doors with a loud, energetic greeting.

"I'm back!" he shouted. Lucy stood still as she watched everyone greet Natsu back with equal vigor.

"Who's that young lady you brought back?" a girl with white hair asked. She seemed to be the barmaid, from looking at how she was wiping a glass behind the counter. Lucy smiled widely as she took in the sight of the familiar face. She had greatly missed Mirajane.

"She asked me to take her here. I'm not really sure why though," Natsu replied.

"Oi, oi. What if she's a spy from a rival guild, you flame-brain!" shouted a dark haired boy. He only wore his underwear and was giving Natsu a glare. Natsu glared back, just as intense.

"You wanna have a go at me, you ice-breath? Bring it on!"

What next ensued could only be described as a messy tangle of limbs with fire and ice added into the mix. The spectators seemed unfazed by this occurrence and simply ignored the two while some cheered them on with a jolly laugh. Lucy inwardly rolled her eyes fondly. Looks like Natsu-san and Gray-san just never get along, no matter which world. She approached the white haired girl, Mirajane and stuck out her right hand.

"I would like to officially join this guild," Lucy said. Mirajane looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean 'officially'?" she then glanced at the back of Lucy's hand that was offered. Mirajane almost dropped the glass she was holding and stared at Lucy in shock. Etched onto the back of the blonde's hand was the Fairy Tail's mark in silver.

"You're…already in this guild? But I don't have any record of you joining. Who exactly are you?" Mirajane asked, her voiced raised slightly. This drew the attention of everyone in the guild. Even Natsu and Gray broke apart to stare at her with solemn expressions. Just then, Lucy's breast pocket rustled and Ria popped her head out with a sleepy expression.

"What's going on? Did you get into trouble again Lucy?" Ria mumbled. This was followed by a deafening silence. Then, chaos ensued.

"A tiny girl?!"

"What the hell is that? A doll?"

"Is that a human girl? How is this possible?"

"A flying cat and now a human girl who's smaller than my hand. I need more alcohol."

Lucy sighed. She had predicted this would happen but she still dreaded having to explain why she already had the guild's mark. Not to mention that judging from everyone's reactions, Earthland didn't have any Elflings.

"Quiet!" Lucy turned to see where the shout had come from. Everyone froze and turned their heads to the counter where a small old man stood, holding a long stick. He levelled a stern gaze at Lucy. "You will explain everything. Until I have confirmed that you are not here to bring harm to my children, I will not allow you to leave."

Lucy nodded. She looked down at Ria who now seemed to be wide awake and alert. Good, I need Ria to help me explain. Otherwise they might take me for a nutjob.

"I'll explain why I have the guild mark already but I'm not going to include all the details. There are some things I'd rather not talk about ."

Master Makarov nodded. He seemed to understand Lucy's reason. She took a deep breath.

"It's your choice to believe me or not but what I'm about to tell you is the truth. The reason I have the guild mark already is because I joined the Fairy Tail in another world." Lucy let this information sink in. Surprisingly, no one made any sound of protest and the Master simply nodded for her to continue her story. Lucy closed her eyes as she remembered the day her life had taken a drastic change.

000

I was five years old when my mother died of a weak body. My young self was thrown into despair and grief and everything in the world seemed so sad. My father grew distant and buried himself with work each day and he hardly ever came out of his study. I grew a fondness for books because I was able to pretend that I was in another world where I was the princess who got to live happily ever after with her prince. One day, I ventured into the forbidden part of my father's library because I had ran out of books to read. I searched the shelves for an interesting book but found that all the books were too hard for me to understand. I was about to leave when the book at the very end of the shelf started glowing faintly.

I heard a soft whisper in my head. It said to me, "Come, young child of Heartfilia. You are the chosen one. You will open this book that your ancestors were not worthy of opening. Hurry, I have waited centuries to fulfil the promise I have made to Kein Heartfilia. I recognise your power and I deem you worthy to fuse with me. Together, we will be the most powerful force in the world!"

My body seemed to move on its own. I cried inside my head. I was scared; I was terrified of this female voice whispering to me. My hand raised and took the book off the shelf. I saw myself opening up the book and then I only remember bright, silver light and excruciating pain. I felt my body going through every possible temperature. One moment, I was writhing with the searing hotness and the next I was almost paralyzed with chill. I felt as if pins were prickling all over my body and spots danced in front of my eyes until finally, pure silver washed over my vision and everything came to a stop. I lay there panting and shaking and all the while, the voice continued its whisper.

When the shaking stopped, I felt an indescribable power running through my blood. My body practically hummed with energy and I noticed that I was emitting a silver glow. I wanted to shout for my daddy, for anyone but the voice whispered to me again. "Shhh… No need to be afraid, young child. You will learn to control your powers all in due time. For now, rest."

As soon as the voice stopped talking, my vision turned black and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, I found myself in my bedroom, tucked into my bed. Sitting next to the bed was one of the house maids, Lizzy. She was like an older sister to me and always went out of her way to take care of me. She told me that she had found me unconscious in the forbidden library with sweat running down my face. I looked at my hands and realized that the silver glow was gone and I remember thinking, maybe it was a dream.

But it wasn't a dream. As soon as Lizzy left, I started glowing again. This time however, I didn't feel any fear. It was as if a wave of calmness had washed over me completely.

I won't go into too much detail from this point on but the important fact is that I learned to use the power to my advantage. I was able to somewhat tap into the seemingly endless power residing inside and I no longer feared the voice. In fact, I warmed up to the voice inside my head because she was warm and nice to me and I considered her to be my only friend in the huge mansion.

My life continued as before except now I wasn't as lonely as I was before. I still loved my father and tried to get him to notice me. One day, I made a simple lunch for him and entered his study. I expected to see him working behind his desk but instead, I saw shards of glass scattered around my father's desk and my father slumped on it lifelessly. I saw blood trickling from his mouth and I saw a bulky man pulling his sword out of my father's dead body. I dropped the tray of food I was holding, drawing the attention of the man.

From this point, I don't remember much. All I remember is me screaming and silver taking over my vision. I felt something cracking and I soon fell unconscious. When I came to, I was once again lying in my bedroom but this time, both my mother and father were standing next to the bed. When I sat up, they hugged me and cried tears of joy, saying that they had thought I was dead. I didn't know what was happening but I knew for sure that it wasn't a dream or a hallucination. It felt too real for that.

I asked the voice in my head that I named Shari. Shari remained silent before chuckling and she told me that she had never expected this to happen. She told me that I was in a different world.

Once again, I'm going to leave out the details and just say that: yes, I was in a different world. The world was eerily similar to this world almost to the point of being a carbon copy but it had subtle differences. For example, my mother was completely healthy and we were poor. After a year of living with my parents, I couldn't stand the guilt and told them the truth. They surprisingly didn't deny it or call me crazy. They said that they knew I wasn't their real child but wanted to pretend. I bid them goodbye and travelled around until I came across a rumour of Fairy Tail and how it was the strongest guild in Fiore. I then joined your guild…

000

"…and that's the reason why I already have the guild mark," Lucy finished. She waited for them the call her crazy and insane but everyone remained silent. Most people would laugh at her story and never think twice about it. After all, humans were not very accepting of things that haven't been proven or things that they haven't seen for themselves. However, Fairy Tail was different. Nobody made a hasty judgement and the atmosphere was surprisingly serious for a guild that was well known for their wild parties and rule-breaking tendencies. Lucy felt as if everyone was waiting for the Makarov to make the judgement. The old man in question was currently looking into her eyes to see if she was telling the truth and to see if she would crack under pressure. Lucy steeled her gaze and look back with equal intensity and as much sincerity as she could muster. She had no reason to hide since she was only the truth.

Then, without a warning, Makarov straightened and announced, "I believe you." Immediately, the tense atmosphere seemed to dissipate and everyone visibly relaxed in their positions. Lucy's eyes widened but she soon settled into a small smile.

"I should have known better than to assume the worst, Makarov-san. You always were a good judge of character," Lucy said. Ria flew out of Lucy's pocket to cheer. Makarov squinted at the miniature girl.

"I do have some questions though. First, how did you get back to Earthland and who is that girl? I've never seen anything like her before," said the Master. The rest of Fairy Tail murmured in mutual confusion.

"It took me many tries but eventually, I was able to control when and which world I go to. After what happened to Fairy Tail back in the other world, I decided to come back to my original world to see everyone again. That alone took me four years and here I am now. As for this girl, she's called Ria and she's part of a species in the other world called Elflings. I saved her on a mission and we became close friends ever since."

Makarov took another moment to study Lucy. "I see." He then turned to the rest of the guild and shouted, "Everyone! Lucy and Ria are now officially part of this guild and therefore part of our family. Let's throw a welcome party for them!"

There was a loud shout of agreement and soon the guild was full of life once more. A few guild members approached Lucy to ask more questions and she did her best to answer them. She got Mirajane to stamp a new guild mark on her right hand after erasing the old one as a sign of a fresh start. Ria also erased her old guild mark from her left cheek and got a new one in silver. The mark was smaller to fit Ria's size. Lucy smiled as she took a sip of her beverage. For the first time in ages, Lucy felt at home. This is where I belong.

Lucy surveyed the area and frowned when she couldn't see the person she was looking for. She turned to Mirajane. "Mirajane-san."

Mirajane gave Lucy a radiant smile. "Yes? What is it, Lucy?"

Lucy fidgeted slightly under her gaze. "Um…would you know where Erza-san is?" she hoped that she didn't sound like some stalker. Ria giggled from her place and Lucy levelled her with a small glare.

"I believe she's on a mission in another town. Do you need anything from her?" Mirajane asked.

Lucy blushed. "Ah, no. I was just wondering where she was."

Mirajane smiled with a hint of mischief. "Why? Were you close with Erza in the other world?" This question caught Lucy off guard and only made her blush worse.

"Not only were they close, Lucy has a huge cru-Mpfff," Ria started but her voice got muffled when Lucy grabbed her stuffed her into her pocket.

"Um…you could say that," Lucy said but paused. She then decided that she might as well tell the truth. "Actually, I kind of have a sort of crush on Erza-san but please don't tell her. I'll tell everyone myself."

At this, the white haired girl seemed a bit surprised, as if she wasn't expecting Lucy to say what she did. Lucy quickly followed this with, "I hope this doesn't bother you, Mirajane-san."

Mirajane shook her head and smiled at Lucy kindly. "No it doesn't. I was just a bit caught off guard. And I'm pretty sure everyone else in the guild wouldn't mind. If the Fairy Tail in the other world is anything like the one in this world, you'll know that everyone is very kind and understanding. You're now part of our family so please don't hesitate to tell us anything."

Lucy smiled in gratification. "Thank you. I will tell Erza-san soon enough." Ria popped out from her pocket with a huff.

"That's wasn't very nice of you, Lucy. I almost choked back there," Ria said with her arms crossed.

"That's what you get for almost revealing a very confidential piece of information which I trusted you with," Lucy replied. Ria rolled her eyes.

"It's hardly confidential, Lucy. A blind goat can see your super crush on Erza from a mile away."

"It's not that obvious," Lucy muttered.

"Which is why everyone in the guild back in the other world realized straight away without you telling them?" Ria questioned sceptically. Before Lucy could say anything back, Mirajane interrupted them with a giggle.

"You two argue like a married couple," Mirajane commented. Lucy almost spat out her drink as she stared at the white haired girl incredulously. Just then, Natsu came along with Happy and plopped onto the seat next to hers.

"Man, Lucy. That was one hell of a story there. Almost makes my Dragon Slayer heritage seem normal," Natsu said. Lucy sent him a wry grin.

"That's hardly a good thing, Natsu-san."

Natsu shrugged, and ordered five plates of food. Lucy watched as he scoffed them down in record time and stood up, looking satisfied. He gave Lucy a smile and offered his hand.

"Let's go on a mission together, Lucy!" Lucy thought about the offer for a moment. Deciding that she might as well, she shrugged and took the offered hand and followed him to the request board. There were many different requests, ranging from finding a lost cat to catching a band of thieves. One of them caught her eyes in particular. It was a strange request to take away an old jar from the client's house and destroy it. The weird thing was that they requested only teenagers around the age of eighteen and the reward was a whopping 1,000,000 jewels for something so simple. Lucy snatched the sheet off the request board and went to Mirajane who noted it down. Natsu and Happy followed, reading the request Lucy had picked.

"Why did you choose this one Lucy?" Ria asked.

"What does it matter? It's an easy job with a large reward. Although I wish it involves beating someone up but oh well," Natsu remarked. Happy nodded.

"Aye! Our food expenses are running out."

Lucy ignored the two of them who were in their own world, dreaming about food and in Happy's case, fish. She took one final glance at the request paper.

"Something about this request just bugs me. I have a feeling that this isn't such a simple mission and that there's something bigger behind it. I smell evil but I hope I'm just being paranoid," Lucy said. Ria looked concerned, knowing that Lucy was right about things like this most of the time. They soon arrived at their destination. The client's house was shabby and small, not something that indicated that the owner could afford to pay 1,000,000 jewels for a simple take-away-and-destroy job. This is just getting more suspicious.

They knocked on the door and were greeted by a boy around their age. He wore decent clothing and seemed relieved when he saw their guild marks. Too relieved, Lucy thought to herself.

"Hi, come in. You must be here to do the job I requested." The boy led them to the living room where there was a small table and two old looking chairs and a bookshelf. "Please take a seat while I get the jar. By the way, my name's Greg."

Natsu took a seat and leaned his head on his hand, looking incredibly bored. Lucy didn't sit down but explored the living room to see if there was anything out of place. She soon stumbled upon a dusty picture of a smiling family standing in front of a lovely mansion. There was a middle aged couple standing behind two identical looking young boys and both of them strongly resembled their client Greg. Lucy beckoned Natsu over.

"Natsu-san, take a look at this. Isn't this suspicious?" Lucy asked. Natsu stared at the picture intensely.

"I don't get it," he said. Lucy sighed.

"Look at the house in the background. And look at the clothes they're wearing. No matter how you look at it, our client is from a rich family. So why is he living in a shabby place like this all on his own despite being still young?"

Natsu scratched his head. "Now that you mention it, it does seem suspicious. And I've smelt something weird ever since I came in. But it's kind of mixed with Greg's scent so I'm not sure what it is."

Just then, sounds of footstep came from outside the door. Lucy and Natsu quickly moved away from the picture and sat down on the chairs. Soon Greg walked in holding an old looking jar that seemed to be tightly sealed. He handed it over to Natsu who peered at it curiously.

"This is the jar. I would like you to take it and destroy it somewhere far away. I think there's a curse attached to that jar so I'd rather you don't leave any trace of it. Here are your 1,000,000 jewels," Greg said, handing over a sack filled with jewels.

"Is that really all you want us to do?" Lucy asked, watching Greg's body language carefully. The guy seemed anxious, judging from the way he was constantly tapping his feet. Greg nodded resolutely. Lucy shrugged, "Okay."

They left Greg's house with the jar and travelled to a secluded area in the town quite a distance away.

"Alright, let's break this thing!" Natsu said, igniting his fit with fire. Lucy held out her hand and snatched the jar away from the boy.

"Don't break it Natsu-san. This jar is very important evidence," Lucy said but then corrected herself, "Or rather, what's inside the jar is."

"Did you figure everything out, Lucy?" Ria asked excitedly. The girl really loved solving puzzles and unveiling secrets.

"What's going on?" Happy asked. Natsu looked unusually serious as he paid full attention to Lucy.

Lucy opened the lid of the jar and showed the contents of the jar. Inside was a pile of ashy powder. Natsu took a sniff of the powder and seemed to think for a while before his eyes widened with realization. Lucy nodded grimly.

"Natsu-san, what you're thinking is exactly the truth. This powder isn't just any powder. This is the remains of a human body when incinerated. Most likely, Greg killed his older brother, burnt him to a pile of ash and gathered the remained into this jar."

Happy looked stricken and looked at the jar with a horrified face. "Is it true, Natsu?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. The weird thing I smelt when I entered the house is probably this. It smells similar to Greg's scent so that's why I couldn't identify what it was. But why would Greg kill his brother?"

"Probably because of inheritance problems. Judging from the picture, Greg is from a rich family and most likely got kicked out due to some reason or other. I'm guessing that his parents have recently died and he killed his older brother to receive the inheritance as the only remaining son. The reason he wanted teenagers around his age is so that he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention from his neighbours by having a middle aged person coming around to his house."

"Looks like you've found out what you shouldn't have," a voice suddenly interrupted. They turned to find Greg standing behind them, holding a long metal pole with a crazy look on his face. "Heh, heh. Now that you know, I can't let you live."

Greg lunged forward with a wild swing of his metal pole. Lucy jumped to avoid the blow and delivered a swift kick to Greg's face before landing, sending him stumbling back. Natsu took this time to light his fist on fire and immediately punched Greg's gut, causing him to fly black and fall unconscious.

"That was too easy," Natsu muttered disappointedly. Lucy agreed but only on the inside.

"In any case, we should take this guy to the council and leave the rest to them," Lucy suggested. Natsu hauled Greg over his shoulder and Happy carried the jar.

Ria perched on Lucy's shoulder and gave a thumbs-up. "I think this is a job well done."

Lucy gave the girl a soft smile. "I couldn't have said it any better."

000

Dear mother and father in heaven,

I am doing well. As I have mentioned in my previous letter, I am finally back in Earthland. I have just visited your graves. I hope that the flowers are to your liking. However, on a different note, I have joined the Earthland's Fairy Tail and I was pleasantly surprised to find that everyone is as warm and kind as they were in the other world. Natsu-san is just as reckless and hot-blooded as ever, Gray-san still strips randomly and Mirajane-san is really understanding. Not to mention that Master Makarov is still short and has next to no hair. I hope that I will meet the Earthland's Erza-san soon and I really hope that she is also the same kind beautiful person I just know she is. I have rented a room in Fairy Hills and I've heard that Erza-san and many of my other female guild mates live there as well. I'm afraid this is it for now. Please take care.

With love, Lucy.