Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail or Sword Art Online

Within the Fairy Tail guild hall, things were just as chaotic as usual. Cana was drinking, surrounded by others and challenging them to join her. Laxus was upstairs with his team, avoiding the rest of the guild. Near another table, Natsu and Gray seemed to be preparing to fight yet again. However, just as things became close to a battle, Erza walked over and immediately put a stop to it. Watching it all from her seat by the bar was Lucy. A small smile was on her face as she gazed towards her friends, shaking her head at their usual insanity.

"No jobs today, Lucy?" Mira asked her as she began cleaning off one of the glasses.

Shaking her head, Lucy sighed and turned towards the white haired wizard. "Unfortunately, not really. Natsu just came back from a fishing trip with Happy, and Gray had been on a job with Juvia to try and get her to stop bothering him again." That water wizard really was persistent. Smiling at the thought, Lucy slowly shook her head. "I'd do one on my own…but it just doesn't feel the same without my team."

"Why not go with Erza? She was around the guild while Gray and Natsu were gone."

Mira's suggestion sent a shudder down Lucy's spine. Imagining an entire job with Erza alone…it was a terrifying thought. "Um…I don't think I'm ready for the kind of jobs Erza would pick out…" Lucy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. It was the best excuse she could give Mira, without admitting that she was just afraid of being alone with the requip wizard.

Walking over to them, Wendy smiled and nodded towards Lucy. "Hello, Wendy! I see you've gotten back from your visit with Sherria at Lamia Scale." Mira smiled pleasantly at Wendy who nodded eagerly and sat down.

"Mhmm! Everything was so fun over there. Sherria and I even went on a job together. It was great!" Wendy turned towards Lucy. "So, what has everyone else been up to while I was away?"

Groaning, Lucy leaned over the counter. "Losing my ability to pay my rent…everyone's been so busy that I haven't managed to earn enough jewel to pay for it…and it's due by the end of the week…" Imagining her landlady's expression was enough to make her grimace in distaste. She had asked for an extension before when she was low on funds, and that had not been a pleasant conversation. Lucy had learned quickly that her landlady was renting out the place for money, not to any helpless child on the streets. She had heard that if she was even a day late on her payment, she would be out on the streets in a heartbeat.

"Well, what about that new job that just came in?" Mira set the glass down behind the counter, leaning over the surface towards Lucy.

"New job? I didn't see anything other than the usual monster killing jobs on the request board…" Lucy trailed off, glancing towards the bulletin board to make sure she hadn't missed a new sheet of paper.

Smiling, Mira nodded. "That's because I haven't even put it up yet. Apparently, there's a very wealthy man looking for a lot of wizards to go investigate some strange building that just appeared near his home. Let's see here…" Mira turned around, rummaging through one of the shelves before pulling out a sheet of paper and holding it in front of her. "It was given by a man named Kayaba Akihiko…according to this, he's asking for the request to be allowed to be taken by multiple teams of wizards, which is strange for such a simple task. However, the reward is one hundred thousand jewel per person, so he must have a limit of some kind on how many wizards can come…" Her brows furrowed slightly as she scanned it further.

Sitting up straighter, Lucy's eyes went wide. "A hundred thousand? Per person?"

Nodding, Mira smiled and set the sheet down on the counter. "Yep, that's what it says! All you have to do is figure out who is responsible for the sudden appearance of this strange…floating castle. At least, that's what it calls the building in the flyer."

Leaning forward, Lucy frowned and stared at the counter. "That's…it just doesn't make sense. Why pay so much money for such a simple job? There's got to be something more to it." Reaching over, Lucy grabbed the request herself and began skimming it over. As she did so, Wendy moved closer to read it alongside her.

"Well…it doesn't really say much else about it." Wendy spoke up first, while Lucy re-read it to confirm that she hadn't missed anything. "Sure, it's a little ways away, but I'm certain we can handle a job like this. Plus, if anything does happen, we'll have a whole bunch of wizards around to help deal with it, right?"

Frowning, Lucy slowly began to nod. A smile began to form on her face slowly, and she turned towards Wendy. "Right. As strange as this job is…I think it just might do the trick. Thanks for the help, Mira!" Getting up, Lucy turned around to head over to Natsu and Gray. "With a reward like this, I'll have no problem paying my rent!"

With renewed confidence, Lucy strode through the guild hall. Wendy followed behind her, staying close to Lucy's side. "Hey, Lucy! You wanna join us over here? I bet you could show these guys how to hold down some liquor!" Cana shouted out from her seat on the table, holding a mug out towards Lucy in the air. Ignoring her comment, the celestial wizard just sighed and shook her head.

Natsu and Gray had taken a seat at a table near the back corner of the guild. By them, Erza stood with her arms crossed over her chest. "Hello, Lucy. It is good to see you. I was just telling Natsu and Gray that we should be taking another job together. After all, it has been quite some time since we've ventured out as a team." Erza smiled over at Lucy, who nodded in agreement.

Behind her, Natsu grinned and nodded. "Yeah, and I saw a good one to take on the request board. There's this job that wants us to go out and hunt down a—"

"Hold on a second, I told you that job was insane. No one wants to go out in the desert to hunt down some monster." Gray glared over at Natsu, who scowled in response.

"Oh yeah? Do you have a better idea, ice princess?"

"Yeah, how about that job up there asking us to protect some merchant traveling to Crocus? Considering we're bringing Wendy along, we shouldn't be going on some reckless job like that." Gray crossed his arms over his chest and stood up, staring down Natsu.

Rising to his feet, Natsu seemed to move to return Gray's glare. "Well, I say she's plenty strong to deal with it. Plus, we'll be around to help out. So, I say we're taking the monster hunting job."

Clearing her throat, Erza turned towards the two boys that were getting a little too close to a brawl in the guild. Seeing her look, both of them shuddered slightly, backing down in an instant and giving Erza a cheerful smile. "You know what…I just realized, we haven't let Lucy pick a job in a while." Gray said it nervously, rubbing the back of his head and glancing towards Natsu.

Smiling, Natsu nodded and gave out a slightly nervous laugh. "Yeah…so, Luce, what job do you want to take?"

Smiling proudly, Lucy placed her hands on her hips. "Actually, that was what I came over here to talk to you about. Mira told me about this new job request we just got, and it sounds pretty interesting to me."

By her side, Wendy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, and it won't be nearly as dangerous as the missions you like, Natsu. No offense…but I think Gray's right. I'm not ready for jobs like that…at least, not yet."

Stepping closer to Lucy, Erza let her arms drop to her sides as she tilted her head slightly. "Really? What kind of a job is it? Were we requested for another acting job? My talents in the theater are becoming widely known…so of course, they wish for us to return." Remembering that job made Lucy cringe, grimacing as she shook her head.

"No…nothing like that." Lucy rubbed her arm slightly, watching as Erza's excitement seemed to drop at her comment. "But the pay is amazing. Some guy is offering a hundred thousand jewel per wizard to have some castle by his house investigated."

"That's odd. Most jobs pay a set amount, regardless of how many wizards that take it. Are you sure it pays per wizard?" Erza crossed her arms back over her chest, studying Lucy closely.

Nodding, Lucy glanced over towards the others. "I questioned it too, but that's what the request says. Plus, this Kayaba guy must be loaded…apparently, he wants as many wizards as possible to come out and investigate. Likely, that means we'll be working with other teams when we get there…but, it'll still be a lot of pay, for a simple job."

Grinning, Gray nodded. "Sounds good to me. It might be a bit boring, just investigating some dusty old castle, but for that kind of pay, we'll be just fine."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Natsu nodded in agreement. "Plus, if they're looking for that many wizards, there's gotta be something dangerous around for me to fight. I'll beat up anything that tries to get in our way."

Turning around, Lucy nodded and began moving towards the exit. "Looks like we've got it all figured out then. Come on, let's get going. I've gotta make sure we finish this job soon, before my rent's due." With that, she began picking up her pace. Her team followed behind her, moving into the streets of Magnolia and towards the train station. It wouldn't be long before they left for the town of Leron, where the rumored castle existed along with the home of the wealthy man who had offered up the job to wizards all across Fiore.

I really loved this idea when I started it...but I believe work interfered and I lost track of where I was going. So, any help with this one? Credit will be given if your idea inspires me. I also have a poll up to find out which story I should be focusing on for writing. Essentially, I planned on merging the worlds of SAO and Fairy Tail for this one...though I lost track after only a few chapters. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!