The kingdom of Fiore... A peaceful nation of 17, 000, 000, and a place filled with magic. However...
Submitted for your approval, a type of magic that is particularly eerie. A type of spell that may cause the minds of you, the viewers, to leave your bodies and be transported to that faraway magical realm.
Don't panic!
Third Person's P. O. V:
"Is Makarov-sama here?!" Erza demands as she throws open the doors to the Fairy Tail guild hall and she and the rest of her group stand in a line. Erza's arms are crossed over her armoured chest.
They'd stopped by their homes to change their clothes.
Reina has changed into a black cold shoulder top with green at the end of the sleeves and denim shorts.
Mira walks up to them, smiling as she says cheerfully, "You're finally back from your island getaway. So, how was it? Did you have fun?"
Erza responds as she stalks forwards a bit, hands on her hips and a glare on her face, "It was work, not a vacation!"
Leaning sideways to peer at the white haired beauty, Lucy says nervously as she waves her hands back and forth, a small sweat drop on her left cheek, "Uh, Mirajane? I wouldn't joke with her right now!"
Mira just keeps giving a closed eye smile.
Turning her head to Macao, Wakaba and Reedus, Erza repeats sternly, "Where is Master Makarov?"
The dark blue haired man responds, taking a step forwards, "He went out of town for a last minute council meeting, or something like that. He's been gone since yesterday."
Natsu, Happy, Gray and Lucy give huge sighs of relief at the prospect of not being punished today.
"Well, that was a close one!" Natsu says with a relieved grin, holding up a fist.
"Yes!! We won't have to deal with that till Gramps gets back," Gray adds, also clenching a fist.
With anime tears pouring down his face, Happy cries, waving his arms around, "Oh, thank goodness I wasn't ready to stare into the face of death! I've still got eight more lives!!"
Thumping her fists against either sides of her head, Lucy shouts frantically, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! YOU GUYS ARE REALLY FREAKING ME OUT!!! HOW'S HE GONNA PUNISH US?!?! I CAN'T DIE NOW!! I'M SO YOUNG, AND I'VE GOT SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO!!"
With her bangs shadowing her blue eyes, and a dark, deadly glare on her face, Reina growls out lowly, "All of you, shut up!!"
Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy cry out fearfully at the bluebette's sudden change in demeanour. Natsu and Gray cling to each other, while Lucy and Happy jump and quiver with fear, staring at Reina with wide eyes.
Erza and Reina turn to the equally stunned men and a surprised Mira and the redhead asks in a stern tone, "Do you know when the Master is planning to return?"
Mira answers, "No, but I would imagine he'd be coming back anytime now."
Whirling around to Natsu, Gray, Happy and Lucy, Erza crosses her arms below her chest and says sternly, "Now, listen up, you fools! You're not getting off the hook! You broke guild rules by taking on that S-class quest. Prepare to be punished!"
Natsu, Happy and Gray cry out as they cling to each other fearfully again, staring at Erza with wide eyes.
Lucy squeals frantically, clutching both sides of her head, her eyes wide, animated white ovals, "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PREPARE MYSELF IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?!?!"
Behind Erza, Wakaba says, "Well, it was nice knowing ya! Quite a shame! Those two boys is one thing... I can't believe that Lucy's getting punished, too." Holding his cigarette near his mouth, the orange haired man sighs, "Oh, you poor girl!"
Lucy stares at him with fear written all over her face. "'You poor girl...?'"
With anger on their faces, Natsu and Gray stalk up to Wakaba as the pinkette demands, holding up a fist, "What's the deal, man, how come you don't feel sorry for us, huh?!"
Gray demands just as angrily, "Why're you lugging me in with this loser?!"
Gray and Natsu then attack Wakaba, punching and kicking him out of anger.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?!" The pinkette demands of Gray.
"It means I don't even want to be in the same punishment as you!! Do I have to draw you a picture?!" Gray responds, flustered. Flames suddenly burst from Natsu's mouth and shoot in between Elfman and Lucy.
His arms crossed over his chest, Elfman sighs, "The big part about being a man is owning up to your own actions. You hear that, you two?! It's high time for you to man up!!"
Flying past Elfman and Lucy, Happy questions with anime tears pouring down his face, "It's not fair! I'm the cutest one here! How come nobody feels sorry for me?!"
Lucy cries nervously, fists cupping her cheeks, "COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO US?!?!"
❄️❄️❄️
"Man, that's one creepy looking job," Natsu notes as he stares at a particular job request on the board (pic above—->), Gray standing next to him.
"Yeah, it is," He agrees.
Walking up to them, Loke asks, hands in his pants pockets, "You guys are back! What's up?"
Natsu responds while keeping his gaze on the Request Board, "Not much, man. The heck...?! I can't even read it!"
"Read what?!" Lucy asks as she appears next to Loke, leaning sideways to peer at the board.
Loke jerks back, eyes widening at the sight of the celestial mage. He exclaims in shock, "Whoah!! You're back, too, Lucy?!"
"Geez! Real nice to see you, too," Lucy retorts as Erza approaches them. "What is your problem with me?!"
"I... Uh... Nothing...!!" Loke tries to run away, but he collided with Erza and lands on his back on the floor, spread-eagled.
Reina is sitting at the table not too far away from them, eating a hamburger and trying to block out the ruckus of the guild hall around her, a cup of soda on the table in front of her.
Reina lifts her head slightly at a loud commotion coming from the Request Board, to see Natsu and Gray looking at a particularly creepy looking job.
"No way!" Erza commands as Natsu and Gray stand around each other to read the job request. "You will not be taking any requests!" Erza stands facing the boys with her hands on her hips.
Crouching beside Loke, Lucy murmurs, "Real smooth!"
Sitting at a table with a mug of alcohol in her hand, Cana grumbles in annoyance, frowning, "Do they have to be so noisy?" At the other end is Reedus, drawing something in his sketch pad.
Wide-eyed with excitement, Romeo Conbolt, sitting opposite the brunette, says questioningly, "Who cares?! They are like, the coolest!!"
"You're kidding me, right?" Cana questions, glancing at him.
Ignoring Erza, Natsu reads from the request, "'Decipher this text, and I'll see that you'll increase your wealth by 500, 000 Jewel.'" Natsu glances at Happy as he asks, "This one sounds like a winner to me! What do you think?"
"Sure does!" The blue cat agrees.
Gray murmurs, "So, it's a Translation Job...? That's a weird request for a guild."
Natsu puts the request on a table nearby and they all stand over it. Reina watches on from her table, perking up with curiosity. Erza stands at the opposite end of the table to their guild mates.
His arms crossed over his chest, Gray notes, "Wait! That's some crazy ancient stuff! No one's going to be able to read that!"
Happy says, pointing at the letters, "Hold on! It's written in modern letters, too!"
With a frown, Erza states, "I thought I told you no jobs!"
"Wonder what's going on with those guys," Reina murmurs.
Resting his hands on the tabletop, Natsu says excitedly, "Oh, yeah! I can totally read that! Let's see... Ugo deru rashuki kornia.... OH!! WHAT THE?! THAT'S CRAZY!!" He shouts, clapping his hands to both sides of his head.
Just then, everyone blinks their eyes and stare with wide eyes as the flier begins to glow a multicoloured light.
Reina's eyes widen and the blonde jerks her head up in surprise, setting her burger down. "What the—?!" She gasps.
"What's going on?" Macao asks as he and Wakaba walk towards them.
Wakaba murmurs, "That's just sad! Those kids are so sad of the Master's punishment that they're actually spitting rainbows!"
Leaning towards the orange haired man, Macao states firmly, hands in his coat pockets, "Now, that's enough booze for you."
When the light fades, Natsu and the others just stare dumbfounded at each other, their mouths a little agape in confusion.
"So cold!!" Gray suddenly exclaims as he clutches his arms and shivers violently.
"What?!" Elfman says as he takes a few steps forwards. "Ice wizards don't get cold, you big crybaby!"
"I'm s-serious you guys! Could someone turn up the heat in here b-before I f-freeze to death, p-pretty please?!" Gray exclaims as frost swirls around him.
Macao, Wakaba and Reedus stare with confused looks on their faces. Reina quirks an eyebrow.
"Wonder what's up with Gray-kun...?" The blue eyed girl thinks.
"Wh-What the?! What's going on?" Lucy demands, eyes wide. "My chest feels really weird all of a sudden, like it's heavy! My back's killing me!" She bends over as she rests her hand on her back.
Macao asks in concern, "Hey, are you alright, Lucy? Your voice seems awfully low."
Erza stands in silence as Gray replies, still shivering uncontrollably, "What are you talking about? I— WHAT THE?!" His eyes flare wide when he looks at 'Lucy.'
Erza stands with her bangs shadowing her eyes as Loke's eyes pop open. Natsu stands nearby with a dumbstruck look on his face. Loke stands up and and places a hand on his forehead as he utters in confusion, "That's weird! I don't remember lying on the floor like that..."
Making a gesture to push glasses up his nose, gold sparkles floating around his head, Natsu says, "Hold on. I thought I was the one lying on the floor." He then looks at Lucy and suddenly screams before running away.
Lucy yells angrily after Natsu, "What's your problem?! You can't face me, Dragon Breath?!" Her eyes then widen as she gasps. "Why do I sound like a girl?!"
Placing a hand to the back of his neck, Macao murmurs, "I'm no doctor, but it's probably because you are a girl."
"Why is everybody behaving so foolishly?!" Happy demands as he stalks forwards on the tabletop, paws on his hips as he frowns.
"Oh, wow, Natsu! Check it out!" Erza exclaims excitedly. "Where did he go?!"
With a tick mark of annoyance on his head, Loke says in response, "I'm standing right here!! Why is this place so dark?!"
Erza says thoughtfully, "Hey, guys, I could be wrong, but I don't remember having these!" She grips at her chest, showing it to the others. "Have I?! Have I?! Have I?!"
Elfman, Macao and Wakaba stare with blushing faces and wide eyes, while Reinal gives a wry expression at 'Erza.'
"Now, Erza is acting strangely!" Reina thinks in concern.
Happy glares at her and growls, flustered, "WHY YOU...!!" He lunges and aims a kick at Erza's chest, Macao, Elfman and Wakaba staring with wide awed eyes, but Happy's kick barely fazes the redhead, and he goes rigid against her.
"And I've got some cool armor, too!" 'Erza' says, grinning.
"I don't understand what's happened to me!" Happy says as he leans on his paws and knees, body quivering in fear., as the others gather around him. "I've never felt so tiny and weak before...! It's like I've requipped into... A cat...!"
Cana questions, watching the scene unfold around her, "Why do they have to ruin my quality drinking time...?"
A wide-eyed Romeo gushes in awe, "They're so cool, they couldn't ruin anything!"
Closing her eyes as she smiles at Romeo, Cana replies, "Kind of iffy."
Gray says in a panicked voice as Wakaba, Elfman and Macao gape at him and Lucy, "Okay, I'm getting really freaked out! First I was totally freezing, and now there's some crazy lookalike of me?!"
"What are you talking about?!" Lucy demands.
"You're all such idiots!" Reina snaps as she stalks over to them. Loke, Gray, Lucy, Erza and Happy whirl to face her. "I can't believe none of you have realised it, yet! Don't you understand what's happened to you?" The Walker stands before them and crosses her arms. "You've all switched bodies."
"WHAT?!?!" Erza, Lucy, Gray and Loke exclaim in unison, shocked.
Getting in the young girl's face, 'Loke' yells at Reina, "Stop fooling around, Reina!!"
Giving the orange haired teen a serious expression, Reina responds, "I'm not. I'm being serious about this!"
Erza says, "Don't yell at Rei-chan, Loke!"
With a red tick mark on the back of his head, 'Happy' snaps harshly, glaring, "Silence!"
Peering back at Reina, 'Gray' asks, trailing off, "You mean...?!"
Nodding, the bluenette confirms, "That's correct. Natsu and Loke. Gray and Lucy, and Erza and Happy. You have all switched bodies."
Everyone lets out a shocked, "HUH?!?!"
"The ancient Unepela-ese Changeling spell has been cast. You kids aren't feeling like yourselves today. Huh," Makarov-sama says from the doorway into the guild hall.
"Master, you're back!" Erza, in Happy's body, exclaims as she approaches the old man.
Loke, Gray, Lucy and Erza join them.
"Gramps!!" Gasps Loke.
Makarov says, hands held behind his back, "I had noticed that request on the board by reading what was on that page aloud, you've cast a powerful spell of personality transference, and that spell is called The Changeling."
A frightened Gray breathes, eyes wide, as his hands cup his face, "That's really scary!!"
With her hand on Loke's shoulder, Lucy questions, "So, you're really Natsu, right?!"
"Yeah..." He replies uncertainly.
With a red tick mark on the left side of her head, Lucy jerks Natsu around and yells in his face, as she grips the front of his shirt, "YOU IDIOT!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?!?!"
"Me?!?! All I did was try to read the stupid job request!!" 'Loke' yells back with a small red tick mark on his own head. "Would someone please turn on the lights?! Come on!!"
"That's enough, Lucy... Uh, Gray," Makarov cuts in, scratching at his right cheek. "For wizards, this spell switches more than just your bodies. It switches magic as well."
"WHAT?!?!" Loke, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza exclaim in unison.
❄️❄️❄️
Elsewhere, with Natsu in Magnolia....
Walking down a street, in Natsu's body, Loke grumbles, "Aw, man! It feels like somebody just poured lava down my throat...!" Natsu looks up and grins when he spots two pretty girls, one with dark red hair and the other with black hair. Rubbing his hand against he back of his head, Natsu asks, "Hey! Is it hot out here, or is it just you?"
The girls scream in fright, clinging to each other, before they run away. Natsu blinks, before he sees fire is blasting from his mouth. "WHOOOAAA!! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!?!"
He looks up at the sky and the flames keep shooting upward.
❄️❄️❄️
Back at the Fairy Tail guild...
"There's one thing you should know," Makarov states seriously, causing the switches Fairy Tail wizards to gulp nervously. "... If the Changeling spell is not undone from the time when it was initially cast... You will never return to the way you were before! Or, so says the legend, at least."
"WHAAA...?!?!" They gasp, eyes wide.
Natsu, in Loke's body, rushes up to Mira and asks frantically, eyes wide, "Do you know how many minutes we've been stuck like this!!"
The white haired beauty replies, "Sixteen. You have fourteen left." Lucy's Celestial Spirit, Plu, appears beside Mira, holding up a counter with the number fourteen written on it in big red font.
The switches wizards whimper in fear and whirl around to Makarov.
Loke demands, "Gramps!! Isn't there a way to lift the spell and change us back?!"
"Hmmm," Makarov murmurs thoughtfully, scratching at his right cheek. "Since this is such an ancient magic, it would only stand to reason that I... Don't know."
"HUH?!?!" The switched wizards exclaim in shock, mouths gaping.
Happy flew into the air in exasperation.
Reina sighs in exasperation at Makarov's response, blowing at her bangs.
Makarov utters, "I must say I'm disappointed! I was so looking forward to punishing you! But, it looks like you've got your hands full, for now. Best of luck to you kids!" He turns and walks away.
Loke has collapsed on the floor, Happy had fallen on his face, Gray and Lucy are both on their hands and knees, and Erza is standing with a dumbstruck look on her face.
"THAT'S IT!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" Lucy screams as she clutches the hem of her blue short sleeved shirt, about to rip it off.
Gray bites at his fingernails fearfully as Elfman, Wakaba and Macao stare at Lucy with blushing faces and open mouths.
Erza says to the Arc of Reflection Magic user, "I'll bet it'll take Gray fourteen minutes to last without taking off his clothes in Lucy-chan's body!"
"I doubt he'd be able to take his clothes off while in Lucy's body, because she'd try to stop him, but you never know with Gray," Reina explains, smirking.
"Get a hold of yourself!!" Gray screams, appearing behind Lucy and attempts to keep her shirt on by holding down her arms.
"LET GO!!"
"So, even though Gray's in Lucy's body, he still likes to take off his clothes," Erza murmurs as Lucy continues to struggle against Gray's grip to remove her clothes. Then, her eyes gain big gold sparkles as she gasps. "Then, that means...!"
"That means what?!" Happy demands, jerking 'his' head to the redhead. He gasps in realisation. "No, Happy!!"
"This'll be so awesome!!! Okay, here I gooo!!" Erza squeals excitedly just as her body begins to glow gold with magic power.
"Happy, stop this at once!!" Happy, or rather, Erza, attempts to stop the blue cat, but to no avail.
'Requip!' Erza chants in her head and pictures the armor she wants to change into. "Check me out, you guys!!"
When the light fades, Erza is revealed to be wearing a one piece dark blue swimsuit while holding a fishing rod in one hand and a little pink handbag into the other. Her scarlet coloured hair is put into two ponytails.
Striking a pose with her right leg kicked up backwards, Erza says, grinning, "Ta, da!!"
Elfman, Macao and Wakaba say in unison with blushing expressions on their faces, "Wow!!" Erza looks so smoking hot!!"
Happy lunges at Erza as 'he' cries, flustered, "HOW DARE YOU...?!" His fist slams into Erza's back back it didn't faze her. Happy's body went rigid and he collapsed on the floor. On his knees with tears in his eyes, Happy mumbles, "No! I'm an S-class wizard, and now I'm so weak!"
Erza pouts as she mumbles, "Awe, man! I was trying to change into one of those cool suits of armors she has!"
"I see!" Loke gasps in realisation. "We switched our magic with each other, but everyone totally stinks at it!"
"Hey, Loke! Or... Whoever's inside of him," Wakaba addresses.
"Geez! It's me, Natsu, okay?!" Loke snaps, flustered.
Wakaba questions thoughtfully, "Have you figured out what magic he uses?"
Elfman adds, "Yeah, come on! Be a man, kid! Show us!"
"I don't know! I don't feel anything happening, magic wise," Loke thinks strangely to himself. "Everything just kind of seems fuzzy..."
Loke abruptly yells as he clutches at his head, "I DON'T THINK I CAN TAKE THIS PRESSURE ANYMORE!!"
"HEY, GUYS!! YOU'VE GOTTA HELP ME!!" Natsu yells as he comes running into the guild hall, flames still spewing from his mouth. He stops in front of Loke, Elfman, Wakaba and Macao.
"What's with that fire?" The dark blue haired man asks.
Elfman inputs, "It's like he's drooling."
"Well, that's certainly not threatening!" Mira murmurs with a closed eye smile.
"Ah, I must admit, flying is way more fun than I'd thought it'd be!" Happy utters as he floats down near Gray, who's looking back at him. He starts suddenly, eyes widening as he clenches his teeth, and flails his arms around. "I shouldn't be wasting my precious time like this!! I need to be changed back at once!" He then flies off.
"What are we going to do...?!" Gray wonders aloud before small ice cubs pour out of his mouth when he deadpans.
"Hey, Gray, or uh, Lucy?" Mira says, pointing to the brunette. "You're drooling ice!"
'Gray's' eyes jerk wide and he whines, as he cries anime tears, "I hate this! Why me?!"
"No need to worry, Lucy!" Says a female voice. Everyone looks up to see three figures standing in the doorway to the guild hall. The middle one is Levy, with her arms crossed below her chest and a reassuring smile on her face. Standing on her right is Droy, with Jet on her left.
"Levy!! It's you!" 'Gray' squeals in relief.
The blue haired girl sends a wink in Gray's direction.
❄️❄️❄️
"L-Levy?!" Loke says in surprise.
Droy, Levy and Jet stand in the doorway of the guild hall, while the switched wizards stand gathered before them.
Droy says, "Team Shadow Gear is here to save the day! You guys will be back to normal in no time!"
"Oh, yeah! We've got this, no sweat!" Jet adds, pinching the rim of his hat as he smirks.
"Now," They say in unison, throwing an arm out each. "Do your thing, Levy!"
Mira questions, "When you boys say 'we,' you really mean 'her,' right?"
Jet and Droy chuckle sheepishly.
'Gray' says to Levy in a tone of appreciation, smiling, "You're so sweet to help us."
"Anything for my girl!" Levy answers as she approaches Gray, Erza standing beside him, back in her normal armour. She cups her right hand to the side of her mouth as she lowers her voice a bit. "Besides, I wanna read your novel! It'd be kinda weird talking about it with Gray."
Gray smiles in relief.
"What're you gonna do?!" Loke asks as he appears beside them.
"Well, I do know a thing or two about ancient texts," The blue haired mage says, sitting at a table as she reads through the job request, Gray, Loke, Erza, Lucy, and Natsu gathered behind her. "I'll start by taking a look at what was written on the flyer itself."
Lucy urges the blue haired girl, "Sounds good! But do it quick!"
Everyone looks up as Happy lands on the table and says in a stern voice, a mackerel fish in his mouth, paws on his hips, "Listen up, everyone! We need to let Levy work in peace!"
Going over to Happy, Reina says pointedly, gesturing at him, "Uh, Hap—I mean, Erza..."
The blue cat glances at her questioningly before he looks down to where she's pointing. His eyes jerk wide with disbelief and he immediately spits the fish out of his mouth. "Why did I have a fish in my mouth?!" Happy exclaims sorrowfully as he collapses on his knees.
"'Cause they're yummy!!" Erza says, holding her right arm up as she points her finger upward, a fish in her mouth, and grinning.
"... Okay... Ugo, Deru..." Levy murmurs as she uses her Wind Reading glasses to help decipher the spell.
Loke says desperately as Plu holds up another counter with the number ten written on it, "Hurry! There's only ten minutes left!"
Her arms crossed over her chest, Lucy asks warily, "Hey, are you sure it's okay to read the words out loud like that?"
"Don't worry! It's totally safe as long as we don't read everything in the correct order," Levy replies as she looks at a piece of paper in her right hand, a book of ancient texts in her left. "Now..."
"There's not much time!!" Loke screams frantically, hands clutching at his head. "Urgh!! I can't take it! I feel so weird! Just change me back!!"
"Awe, I don't think it's all that bad!" Erza smirks excitedly as Loke peers down at her. She clenches a fist eagerly as she grins. "One more time!!"
"I swear, you'll lose a life, cat!!" Happy screams, his eyes angry white triangles, causing the redhead to widen her eyes briefly in fright.
Levy closes the book and Gray and Loke appear next to her. She closes her eyes briefly as Gray asks, "So, how's it going, Levy?!"
Loke demands, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, "Have you figured it out?!"
A moment of silence passes between the three. Then the Script Magic user replies...
"No, I'm stumped!"
"AAAAHHHH!!!" Gray and Loke yell in frustration.
Happy says in disappointment as he floats past, "Oh, no! I never thought my fate would be to live out my days as some strange flying cat!"
Erza, with a fish in her mouth, demands, "What's so terrible about that, huh?!"
Lucy, with her eyes shadowed by her bangs, screams in frustration as she begins to pull her shirt off. Elfman, Macao and Wakaba stare with wide eyes and blushing faces.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!!" Gray exclaims, biting his fingernails as tears prick the corners of his wide eyes.
Loke complains, "I feel so funky!!"
Natsu, flames pouring out of his mouth, mumbles sadly, "The girls are never going to talk to me now!"
"I wanna switch with someone!" Romeo says.
"Not with me, kiddo! I'd die if I was underage," Cana responds as she gulps down big mouthfuls of alcohol from a huge barrel.
"Look! I know you guys are freaking out, but I'm still working on it, okay?" Levy says as she looks at the switches wizards.
Lucy is still trying to strip, but Gray is holding her down, Loke is freaking out, Natsu is drooling fire, Erza has a fish in her mouth, and Happy is hovering upside down in the air.
Reina sighs from nearby, but gazes at her guild mates with a sympathetic expression. She was still mad at them for breaking guild rules, but that didn't mean she wants them to remain suffering like this for the rest of their lives.
"How much time do we have?!" Loke demands with a little sweat drop.
"About eight minutes," Reina replies, as Plu holds up a counter. "I hate to say it, but I think you might start preparing for the worst."
They all stare at her with fearful expressions.
"Oh, nooo...!" Gray cries, clutching at his head.
Droy begins banging a baton against a drum strapped across his chest, with the words 'Levy Love' written on it in blue font, while Jet waves a yellow fan with a red symbol on it. They begin chanting in unison, "Go, go, Levy!!"
With a sweat drop on the back of his head, Wakaba utters in shock, "Those two guys are just her personal cheerleaders?!"
Levy murmurs thoughtfully to herself as she continues to read the book, "So, deru is... Oh, I see! So, that must mean...."
❄️❄️❄️
"So what happens if we end up getting stuck like this?" Lucy questions as she sits on a bench at a table, opposite to Erza, her elbows resting on the tabletop while her chin rests in her palms.
Standing next to her, Loke asks in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean by that...?"
"Are we just going to try to adjust to our new bodies and go back to work?"
"Well, yeah. I guess we'd have to. It's not like we have a whole lot of options."
Erza giggles, "Whatever happens is totally fine with me!!" Happy glances to her with a frown. "If I say 'quiet' everyone will be nice to me, 'cause I'm scary now!"
Happy snaps, "What?!"
Gray jumps to his feet and Natsu looks at the redhead as Gray cries anime tears, "Well, no one asked for your opinion, did they, stupid cat!! I just wanna be a cute girl again!!"
Both Gray and Natsu slump their bodies and small ice cubes and flames pour out of their mouths.
Loke asks, surprised, "Are those frozen chunks of drool?! That is so gross, man!"
"I'm not a man!! And I know it's gross!! You think I'm doing this on purpose?!" Gray suddenly stops short, his eyes widening in realisation.
Happy asks, "What is it, Gray—er, I mean, Lucy?"
"I just realised something!" The brunette says as he places both hands on the tabletop. "If we get stuck like this forever, none of us have a clue how to use our magic anymore, if we did take a job, we'd never be able to finish it!"
"Awe, geez! You're right!" Loke gasps in understanding.
"We'd stink!" Lucy inputs.
Happy concludes, "And that means..."
"WE'RE THE WEAKEST TEAM IN FAIRY TAIL, NOW!!" They all exclaim in unison, eyes wide, as shocking realisation dawns on them.
"Let's do this, Happy!" Loke says.
Erza appears beside him in a ready stance. "Aye!!"
"Ice Make... Something or other!" Gray chants, holding his hands out in the wrong stance, frozen drool dripping from his mouth.
"Uh, hold on! Stupid keys!!" Lucy hisses in frustration.
"Oh, wow!! Who knew flying would've been so fun!"
Everyone pouts in misery at the thought.
Loke screams, "NOOO!! WHAT'S THE POINT OF LIVING IF I CAN'T EVEN BURN STUFF ANYMORE?!?!"
Reina murmurs sympathetically, "I feel really bad for you guys."
Happy screams, eyes angry white triangles, "I AM AN S-CLASS WIZARD, AND I REFUSE TO BE A PART OF THE WEAKEST TEAM IN THE ENTIRE GUILD!!!"
On his paws and knees, Happy whines, his dark eyes wide, "If only I wasn't trapped in this form!!"
"You're mean!!" Erza yells angrily, appearing behind Happy. "I don't understand why you're complaining about it so much! I like being a cat!!"
The redhead then bends her knees and leaps into the air with a cat's meow. Her shadow falls over Happy, causing him to look up with a gasp. Before he could so much as make a move to dodge, Erza lands right on top of him, sprawled on the floor and crushing Happy beneath her. One of Erza's arms and legs twitch from the abrupt impact as she lays there, stunned, for a moment.
"What're you trying to do there, Erza... Er, uh, I mean, Happy?" Reina asks, coming over.
"Ever since we switched, she's been saying mean stuff!" The requip mage responds as Happy struggles to crawl out from underneath her. "So, I got sad and tried to fly away, but I couldn't fly away... 'Cause I don't have my wings anymore!!"
"I-I'm sorry I was mean! I promise I'll be—ugh...!" Happy says, trailing off as his spirit floats out of him, and he slumps on the floor.
"Yes, that's it!!" Levy exclaims in triumph as she jumps to her feet. Erza, Loke, Lucy, Gray and Natsu instantly appear before the blue haired mage, happy and relieved expressions on their faces.
"Really?! So, you can lift the spell?!" Loke gasps.
Clenching a fist eagerly, Lucy adds, "Come on! Do it!!"
"This is what it says: 'May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness.' Kind of cute, isn't it?" Levy days as she waves an index finger about.
Gray claps his hands together and says in an awed voice, "Awe! Yeah, it is!"
Propping his left elbow against the back of his right hand to rest his chin on the back of his left hand, Natsu murmurs, "'May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness...' Huh..." A red anime question mark pops out from his head.
Loke demands impatiently, "Yeah, and...?!"
Throwing out a finger, Levy clarifies, "In other words, everybody who's been switched by this spell will live happily ever after!! You're so lucky!" The script mage sighs in relief. "I'm so glad I figured it out!"
A giant metal sign that reads 'Forever' drops down on top of the switches Fairy Tail wizards, crushing them out of depression.
Getting right in Levy's face, a red tick mark on his right cheek, Loke yells, flustered, "OH, NO WAY!! ARE YOU TELLING ME WE'RE STUCK LIKE THIS FOREVER?!?!"
The blue haired girl sweat drops.
Lucy says with a deadpan look while, "We wanted you to lift the spell, not read it, remember?!"
Levy gasps in realisation, eyes widening briefly. "Oh, that's right! Sorry!"
Gray came over and places his hand on her shoulder. He tells Levy assuringly, "You've got this! I have faith that you can do it, but you've gotta work a little faster, 'kay? Maybe there's a code, or some kind of hidden message in the words? You know, something like that."
"Yeah, good idea!" She says in a more determined tone.
When Levy resumes deciphering the spell, Jet and Droy cheer for her again like before. "Go, go, go Levy!!" The men chant at the same time.
Sweat dropping, Wakaba questions, "Isn't all that racket gonna distract her...?"
Elfman responds in his gruff voice, grinning eagerly, "Nah!! They're just getting her pumped up, and they're gonna need all the help they can get!"
"Eh...?" The orange haired man utters as he glances at the Take Over mage.
"Go, go, go Levy!" Jet and Droy chant again.
"Urgh!! I'm still not seeing some kind of a pattern, here," The blue haired mage says in frustration. "It doesn't seem to make any sense! Uuurrgghh!!" She drops her head in her hands.
"Three minutes left!" Macao tells the switched wizards, holding up a purple counter with the gold number on it, Plu sitting atop it.
"Three minutes?!?!" Gray anime cries, frozen drool leaking out of his mouth.
"Well, this is it!" Happy says, a bit melodramatically. "Fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I've... worked so hard!!" Happy sees an image of Natsu and Erza standing behind him in his mind. "Now I'll be chasing mice and pieces of string!!"
"No, wait! Come back here, Happy—I mean, Erza...!" Natsu calls out to the blue cat in his mind.
Reina says, smirking, her hands on her hips, "Looks like I'm gonna be the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail after all, huh, Erza?!" She starts laughing evilly.
"No!! There's no way I'm gonna lose to Reina like this!! This is so pathetic!!" Happy screams helplessly.
Happy flies into a corner of the guild hall, a gloomy aura swirling around him as he cries in misery.
"I'm sorry I got you upset! I know this is hard for both of us," Erza tells Happy, holding out a hand. Happy peers at her over a shoulder.
"Really...? You do...?" He steps over to Erza, who is smiling gently as she continues to hold out her hand.
"Now's not the time for us to be arguing like this! Will you please forgive me?" Erza pleads.
"Yes, of course! I hope you'll forgive me, too!" Happy answers with shining eyes.
"Aye!! Here's a little something to make you feel better!" The requip mage holds out a fish for Happy.
"A fish, I—DON'T WANT IT!!" Happy begins to say, but stops himself.
Gray snaps at Erza, flustered, "Could you be anymore clueless?!?!"
Loke demands of Levy, "Have you figured it out, yet?!"
Macao appears in front of him, holding a counter with Plu perched atop it, and says, "The situation is dire! With just one minute to go!"
With red tick marks on his face, Loke yells at him, "I DON'T RECALL ASKING YOU FOR THE TIME, SO SHUT YOUR TRAP, 'KAY?!?!"
"Geez! I was just trying to help," The dark blue haired man mutters, sweat dropping.
"Okay... I think I've almost got this last part of it worked out," Levy murmurs.
"Work it, Levy!! YEAH!! You're on fire!!" Elfman cheers, a blush on his cheeks, waving a fan while wearing a headband with the Fairy Tail guild's symbol on it. At some point, he'd joined in with Jet and Droy on their cheering.
Wakaba mutters in a deadpan tone, "He's no good at that."
"Still trying to break the spell, are you?" Makarov questions with his arms crossed from behind Lucy and Loke.
"Look! If you're trying to teach us a lesson here, we've learned it already, okay?!" Says Lucy in a flustered tone.
The Master's eyes suddenly pop open in realisation as he lets out an, "Ooh!"
Happy says hopefully as he runs up to Makarov, "Yes, Master?!"
"Nope, never mind, kids! I'm drawing a blank!"
Lucy, Loke and Happy anime fall while Reina face palms at Makarov.
The Walker's eyes jerk wide when Lucy jumps to her feet and screams, gripping the hem of her blue shirt, "GRRRR!! WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!!!"
'Gray' latches his arms around 'Lucy' to prevent her from stripping, and growls in annoyance, "Taking my shirt off isn't going to change anything, Gray!!"
"GRRR, LET GO OF ME!!!"
Reina says as she points to the counter Plu is holding, "You guys have about forty seconds left! More or less... Starting now!"
Loke demands frantically, "WHADDYA MEAN, 'MORE OR LESS?!?!"
"I just remembered something about the spell!" Makarov says, holding up a finger pointedly.
"What is it?!" Happy demands as the other switched wizards gather behind him.
Half turning away from them, Makarov grips his hands behind his back as he closes his eyes and says, "While it can be lifted, I'm afraid that it has to be done one pair at a time." He looks back at them as he adds, "Meaning, it's impossible to change all of you back at once."
"WHAT?!" Loke yells.
His left eye twitches violently when Reina announces, "Thirty seconds... ish...!"
Lucy asks, "Which pair's going first?!"
"It should be me and other me, don't ya think?!" Loke says.
"Sounds good!" Natsu agrees as he makes a notion of pushing glasses up his nose, gold sparkles floating around him.
"That is so not fair! I think it should be me and Gray!" 'Gray' inputs, frowning.
"Now, hold on! As Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard, I should go first! It's for the good of the guild," Happy declares, his arms crossed.
Her arms crossed below her chest, Erza adds, "Well, I don't care either way!"
Everyone began arguing about who should be switched back first.
Wakaba, watching nearby with Mira beside him, murmurs uneasily, "Well, this is getting ugly..."
"At least they can't use magic against each other," Mira inputs.
Her hands on her hips as she stands next to Plu who is holding up the counter, Reina states, "Just fifteen seconds left!"
Levy jumps to her feet as she exclaims, "Hold on, I got it!"
"And... twelve! Eleven!" Macao states as he holds up a purple sign, and Plu holds up a white sign.
"Seriously?!" Gasps Gray as they gather round the table Levy is at.
"Alright! I'll try to explain this to you really quick," Levy says as she puts the job request on the table.
"And nine! And eight...!" Macao continues. He holds up the sign with the number nine, while Plu holds up the sign with the number eight.
THUNK!!
Macao trails off when Loke punches him and sends him crashing into the bench behind him.
Loke yells urgently to the scripture mage, "No time!! Just change us back. Hurry!!"
"Yeah, right! 'Kay, here goes!" Levy gasps, closing her eyes and readying her magic energy. "Inack ora vititsar uru ogu... Inack ora vititsar uru ogu... Inack ora vititsar uru ogu... Inack ora vititsar uru ogu...!!"
Words in an ancient language swirl in an upwards spiral from the job request, glowing a bright, iridescent colour, the beam of light shooting up through the roof of the guild hall, creating a breeze that ruffles the wizards' hair and clothes.
When the light fades, Lucy blinks her chocolatey brown eyes and gasps. "Hey! I'm back to normal, guys!!"
"Me, too!" Gray breathes. As he does, frozen drool leaks from his mouth. "Man, that was close!" He gasps in surprise.
Walking over to Gray, Reina asks him, "So, now you're drooling ice cubes on purpose?"
The ravenette gasps in shock, eyes jerking wide.
"You're awesome, Levy!!" Lucy squeals happily as she hugs the blue haired girl.
"That's right!" She throws up a triumph fist as Lucy squeezes her other hand, grinning.
"Oh, yeah!" Droy says.
"Our cheering worked, huh?" Says Jet proudly.
Lucy says, "You've gotta tell us! How'd you do it?"
"When I realised the words themselves had no meaning," Levy answers as she turns to the paper, "I decided to read them backwards."
"Huh?"
"It's actually an old trick. Ancient languages like this usually didn't have that many letters, so sometimes they had to be a little bit more creative with how they used their words!" Levy turns back to the celestial mage. "That's why, when I reversed the words, it reversed the spell, too."
"How cool! I never would have thought of that," Lucy says.
Gray tells the scripture mage, "We owe you big time, Levy!"
"Don't worry about it!" She laughs in relief as she and Lucy clasp each other's hands.
Natsu and Loke breathe mushroom shaped sighs of relief. They exclaim abruptly, eyes wide with disbelief, "I'M STILL IN THE WRONG BODY!!"
"WHAT?!" Lucy and Levy exclaim in unison, their eyes also wide in disbelief.
"But, how?!" Reina exclaims with widened eyes.
"Did Levy read the spell right?!" Gray gasps.
Happy quivers in shock on his paws and knees as he says, "Me, too! I'm still a stupid cat!!"
"Wow! You mean I get to stay like this?!" Erza exclaims with a grin.
Lucy, Levy and Reina scream in shock, their eyes wide.
Macao says as he holds up a counter with a zero on it, and Plu holds up one with two x's on it, "Well, that does it for time! You did get one pair switched back, so I guess that's something to be proud of."
"No, this can't be happening!! There must've been some kind of mix-up! Please Levy! There's gotta be something else you can try!!" Loke exclaims frantically as Happy continues to quiver on the floor.
"Sorry! Maybe I didn't pronounce it right..." Levy says as she picks up the job request and read through the spell again. Her eyes became shadowed with shame.
"WHAT?!?!" The wizards still switched yell in unison.
"So, that's it?! We're stuck like this forever?!?!" Loke screams.
"I can't spend the rest of my life as some pink haired, fire-drooling freak of nature!!" Natsu exclaims in exasperation.
"Wake up, Erza!! This is all some horrible nightmare, and you need to wake up...!!" Happy urges himself.
"Awe, come on, relax! It's not all that bad!" Erza tells him.
Anime tears pour down the blue cat's face.
"Now, now, don't lose heart! There's gotta be another way." Everyone looks up to find that Mira, sitting cross legged on the counter, holding Makarov's staff, is speaking in the Master's deep, slightly gravelly voice. "Huh...?"
"Something's not right!" 'Makarov' states. "Hey, guys. Did I get shorter?!" He asks as he cups his face and jerks his head from side to side.
Lucy exclaims, eyes white animated ovals, "Oh, no!! Mirajane?!?!"
"Don't tell me Mira switched bodies with Gramps?!" Gray gasps in disbelief, eyes dilated.
"That's actually really freaky!" Reina exclaims in surprise.
"Hoo, boy!! You won't hear me complaining about this!" Mira exclaims, her free hand placed against the back of her head in a pose.
Makarov screams in shock, waving his arms around frantically, eyes dilated. "Nooo, this can't be happening!!"
With a dark purple gloomy aura swirling around him, Happy turns his head, eyes wide, and asks in a creepy tone, "Who else...?"
'Cana' states in a deep voice that sounds an awful lot like Elfman, "All of you just need to man up and get over it, okay?!" She looks down at herself. "What's the deal? Why do I smell like a booze barrel all of a sudden?" She looks over at Elfman who is sitting on top of a table nearby, drinking from a barrel of alcohol.
The white haired man suddenly looks up and gasps, jerking his head around, "What...?! Hey...! How did...?! Oh, man! I think I really might need to take a bit of a nap, right now..." Elfman lies down on the table, only to fall off and land on the floor, blacking out instantly.
"Hey, Droy," Droy says as he looks at Jet. He gasps.
"Yeah, Jet...?" When the orange haired man looks at his friend, he lets out a gasp of his own.
"Hey, man!! Stop looking like me!!" The two men shout at the same time, waving their fingers at each other.
Mira grumbles, cheek in her palm, "I don't think anybody's gonna be able to tell the difference with you two! But, in my case... having a body like this, is a dream come true!!" Mira lies on her stomach on the bar countertop, striking another pose as she winks.
"He's freaking me out, Levy!! Please help me!!" 'Makarov pleads, waving his arms frantically.
Reina, Lucy and Gray gape at everyone, watching the scene of chaos unfold around them as Levy mumbles apologetically, "Sorry, but I think I'm in way over my head!"
"This is awesome! Now everyone is someone else, now!" Erza exclaims, grinning with her eyes closed.
Loke yells, flustered, "Have you gone completely nuts?! This is horrible!"
Magic is not a toy.
In the blink of an eye, it can turn your world on its head. The very fabric of your being could be pulled from you in an instant. So, don't take it lightly!
Until next time...
Bashing their heads together, Loke and Natsu yell in unison, "Please turn us back!!"
Lucy gasps in disbelief, "You're seriously just gonna end it?!"
Erza, holding a sign with the kanji 'The End' written on it in pink font and a fish in her mouth, chimes in agreement, "Aye!!"