Watch Dog
A Fairy Tail Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me.

P R O L O G U E

I'm gonna stay eighteen forever
So we can stay like this forever
And we'll never miss a party
Cause we keep them going constantly
~ Soco Amaretto Lime (Brand New)

The contract lay on the desk silently calling out to her. She gripped the ink pen tightly between her fingers to ward off any nervous shakes. All she had to do was lean forward a foot, sign her name on the bottom line, and she would have what she'd always wanted. As soon as next month she could be a published author. All she had to do was work up the nerve to sign the papers.

Why did she even feel so conflicted? This decision should've been an easy one.

And it was an easy one to one degree or another. Lucy knew what she wanted—what she had always wanted—without a shadow of a doubt. However, a little nagging voice in the back of her mind had decided that perhaps this wasn't the best decision. She'd named this little voice 'The Fairy Tail Cheer Squadron' because honestly the only thing that part of her psych had going for it was her love for her guild.

"Come on, girl. I don't have all day." Regina Minx, literary agent extraordinaire, drawled. Lucy looked up to meet the eyes of the middle aged, red headed woman who was sipping on a bright orange cocktail while tapping her red high-heel clad foot against the wooden floor impatiently.

"Sorry." The blond squeaked out. "This just isn't the easiest decision."

"If it was an easy decision it wouldn't be worth your time. However, it is the right decision. Every want-to-be who has ever put a pencil to paper would kill to be in your position."

Lucy nodded unable to find fault in the woman's argument. There was no denying that she was very lucky that Ms. Minx was even giving her the time of day, but that didn't really make her decision any easier although it did give her quite the ego boost.

To be an author or to be a mage. Two paths that were vastly different, but that she cherished equally. She loved being on a team, and going on missions with her nakama. She loved the familial atmosphere of her guild, and she loved the relationships that she had built with its members along the way. She loved magic, and she loved her spirits unconditionally...

But she was completely enamored with the idea of being an authoress. Writing had been her first passion, and still remained her favorite past time. She feared that if she didn't sign the contract then she would forever regret not doing it. After all this was what she had always wanted, right?

Of course it was. She hadn't spent two years composing an amazing novel just for kicks. All along she had been planning for this day. This was a dream come true. Doubt shouldn't be clouding her mind. This shouldn't even be something that she had to call into question. Her friends would want her to do this, to go for it.

Regina tapped the face of her wristwatch. "I have a meeting in thirty minutes with the agency executives. Either sign the paper or get out of my office."

The blond teen worried her bottom lip till it hurt as she carefully signed her full legal name onto the last signature blank of the contract. The ink instantly soaked into the white paper, and sealed her fate. The blond dropped the pen onto the older woman's desk as her stomach churned uncomfortably, but an undeniable feeling of accomplishment and pride swelled within her chest.

Before Lucy could change her mind—not that she was going to—Regina yanked the document out of her grasp. The middle aged woman skimmed through the pages of the contract, nodding to herself as she leafed through it.

Despite lingering suspicions that she might have done the wrong thing Lucy was slowly beginning to gain a more firm conviction that her decision had been the correct one. She'd worked hard for this; this was the career she'd dreamed about and wholly deserved.

Ms. Minx slipped the contract down into a manilla folder, and turned her gaze back onto Lucy. The blond subconsciously sat up a littler straighter. Something about Regina's limpid blue eyes made her feel uncomfortable like the older woman was literally looking right into her very mind. It was an invasive sensation, but it also made Lucy realize why everyone in the literary world spoke of Regina Minx in such reverential tones.

"Welcome on board, Lucy. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure representing you." Regina offered the teen a simpering smile. "Be in my office on Thursday so we can discuss how we'll proceed from here. Proceed in making the Crystal Siege trilogy a jewel consuming franchise like no other starting with turning Warrior Soul into a breakout hit."

Lucy eagerly nodded in agreement. A keen sense of anticipation filled her. What would it be like to finally rise from obscurity to become a leading face in the world of novelists? Finally she wasn't the reader, but she was the read.

"Sounds wonderful, Ms. Minx." Lucy gushed enthusiastically. Her earlier trepidation was forgotten as her excitement about 'Warrior Soul' grew. Her work was going to line bookstore shelves!

"Call me, Regina." The red head insisted with false warmth.

A perfect fingernail painted in golden flakes tapped down on a button on the left corner of her desk sending down a sprinkle of glitter. An image of Regina's secretary, Venus, appeared floating translucently in the air over the desk. The dark haired woman was chewing on a piece of gum like it might try to jump out of her mouth and escape while she lazily tilted back in her chair working on the daily crossword puzzle in the evening newspaper.

"Can I help you, Gina?" The woman asked in a clipped, unusual accent. Lucy stared wide-eyed at this new development. It was fascinating to think about what kind of advanced magic must have been behind the technology. It was nothing like the blond had ever seen before around Fairy Tail most likely because the guild couldn't afford it.

"Always, though you rarely do." Regina pointedly replied.

"I try... Usually."

"Just get in here, and escort our new client out. Give her an access pass too. It'll save us a hell of a lot of time later."

"I can do that." Venus bobbed her head. A single dark curl dropping up and down between her eyes like a spring much to Lucy's inner amusement.

"Just hurry, would you? I have a lot of very important things that I need to do." Regina pressed down on the button again, and as quickly as Venus had appeared, she disappeared.

Regina turned her attention back to Lucy, "Secretaries. What can you do?"

Lucy nodded empathically despite having utterly no actual experience with secretaries. It seemed better to just agree with Regina, and anyways, her mind was kind of distracted with other thoughts.

In fact, the blond was so caught up in her thoughts about all the new factors of becoming a somebody that she'd let her old concerns about having to leave her life as a mage slip away. Everything, in her mind, circled around tomorrow, around being published, and around becoming a rich, acclaimed novelist.

It would take a while for the excitement to wear off, but when it did, would she realize that she'd made a mistake? Perhaps by then it would already be too late either way.

Erza carefully observed Natsu from across the room. The armored lady was all to familiar with the pangs of betrayal. She, more than anyone, could relate to Natsu's current predicament. Which was why she was so concerned as she watched him drink himself silly.

Partying was a common commodity around Fairy Tail, but she could easily tell the difference between when her nakama were having a good time and when they were having a sucky one. Her heart went out to the pink haired boy, but she doubted that her sympathy would really do him much good at the moment.

It had been six months since Lucy had walked out of Fairy Tail for good, and Natsu had yet to recover. The titiana privately wondered if the boy was ever going to get better. She had tried to speak with him. Gray had tried to reason with him. Everyone from Mirajane and Elfman to Levi and Jet to Bisca and Cana had tried to talk to him. No one had managed even an inch of success.

"Natsu is really starting to piss me off." Gray exclaimed heatedly as he plopped down beside her at the bar. "He wasn't the only one who lost someone. I mean... damnit."

"He's hurting."

"So is everyone else!"

Erza gave the ice mage a level stare. The only person who even marginally shared Natsu's pain seemed to be Gray, and Erza had a funny feeling that the only reason Gray was holding up so well was because he was focusing on bullying the shit out of Natsu.

"I'm sorry for you too. I know you miss her, Gray. No doubts that you're in pain as well." Erza gave her teammate a gentle smile, and patted him lightly on the back. She felt rather awkward doing so, but Gray seemed to appreciate it, and that was all the encouragement she needed.

"No, be sorry for her not me. I still have my nakama." Gray sighed wistfully as he beckoned Mirajane over to pour him drink.

"Anyways, I'm sure we'll see her again. Surely she hasn't given up on her old guild entirely." Gray proffered a strained chuckle. He was obviously trying to lighten the atmosphere, and grateful for his attempt, she gave a good natured eye crease in return.

"Surely."

At the time the two mages didn't realize just how prophetic Gray's attempt at humor would turn out to be, but they would be finding out soon enough.

Author's Note: It isn't the best prologue ever written, but it does its job well enough. I never intended to have a prologue, but after writing the first chapter I realized that you guys might be grateful for this bit of background information. However, since this wasn't originally planned to be part of the story, it sucks. I've written it and rewritten it a dozen times, and I still almost trashed it, but at last, I just decided to post the agitating little thing.

By the way I'm not published, and that part in Regina's office is me just bullshiting. I thought it sounded legit enough, but if you're a part of the publishing world, you're probably laughing your ass off it me right now. -face palm- I honestly did try. This wasn't supposed to turn out to be such an epic fail. I hate prologues.

WARNING: RANT! Prologues get on my nerves to no end. They aren't really a part of the story, but somehow still manage to be pivotally important. Hell, they can be set in a time period not even close to the actual timeline of the story itself, and yet, still matter. Like the stupid one you read above. You need it to better understand the story, but... it made the authoress of this story want to commit suicide. Prologues just suck! I can't explain why, but they do. Or maybe I just suck at writing them. Either way something sucks, and I don't like it! . END OF RANT.

Yea, the real chapters are coming up next, and they're much better. Scrumdiddliumcious, in fact. They're much longer, more interesting, and five times as killer as this prologue. :D

Review for half a penny.

xx. Bon Vivant.