Eleven Years Later . . . .
"Look Natsu, I got the Fairy Tail emblem on my hand!" Newcomer Lucy Heartfilia exclaimed to the pink haired dragon slayer, holding her hand out in front of her.
"Yeah that's great, Luigi." Natsu commented, not even turning around to look at the blonde girl.
"My name's Lucy!" She snapped.
"Yeah, yeah." Natsu sighed, not paying her any attention. He just stared blankly at the request board.
Lucy huffed and stomped over to the bar, sitting next to Gray.
"Ever since I got here I've been wanting to ask," She began, "what's that top floor used for?" She pointed to the second floor of the guild.
"Oh, that?" Mirajane (Mira for short) giggled. "That's strictly for S-Class wizards only."
"S-Class?"
"There are rankings within guilds." Gray explained. "There's the average members, like us, then there's the S-Class wizards, and above them are the SS-Class wizards."
"Woah!" Lucy stared at the shirtless male in amazement as if he were a S-Class or a SS-Class wizard. "Who are the S-Class and SS-Class wizards?"
"Well, we only have one SS-Class wizard." Mira said. "It's Gildarts Clive, our strongest wizard."
"Gildarts Clive." Lucy repeated. "I don't think I've heard of him."
"That's because he's literally never here." Mira smiled. "You see, SS-Class quests take an extremely long time. The one that Gildarts is on is a one hundred year quest."
"ONE HUNDRED YEAR QUEST!?!" Lucy's eyes practically popped out of her skull.
"Well of course, he could always finish early."
"I guess that's true . . ."
"As far as the S-Class wizards go . ." Gray said, staring at nothing in particular. "There's Erza, she's a monster; Laxus, the Master's grandson who's a total jerk; and then there's Jasmine."
"Jasmine?" Lucy cocked her head to the side and hummed to herself. "I think I've heard of her."
"You don't wanna hear about her." Gray replied quickly. "You don't wanna even know her. It's your safest bet of not getting on her bad side."
"Is she really that bad?" Lucy asked.
"Heck yeah!" Happy said with wide, paranoid eyes. "Just saying her name makes me want to crawl under a rock and hide forever."
"She's got no mercy." Natsu mumbled, sitting next to Lucy.
"Well, she wasn't always this way." Mira stated, her eyes filled with sadness.
Natsu, Gray, and Happy lowered their heads as they remembered the old Jasmine.
"Did something happen?" Lucy asked, looking at the four people around her.
"I don't think we should talk about it." Mira said softly.
Just then, the guild doors swung open. The murmurs that once filled the guild disappeared. Strolling in was Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe. The four of them didn't say a word as the walked up to the second floor.
"I thought-" Lucy's mouth was covered by Gray's hand who shook his head at her.
Jasmine was not the only one who had changed within the guild. Shortly after Erik left, Laxus's father Ivan was kicked out of Fairy Tail. That event changed Laxus into a man full of anger and resentment. But there was still one emotion he held on to.
Love.
"Who is that?" Lucy whispered.
"The blond one is Laxus and the other three are like his bodyguards. They're called the Thunder God Tribe." Mira explained, also whispering.
After a few more minutes, which felt like decades, everyone began talking amongst themselves again. The atmosphere lightening up a bit.
"Hey, Laxus!" Natsu shouted, getting off the bar stool. "Get down here and fight me!"
Lucy was the only one surprised by Natsu's outburst. "Isn't he an S-Class wizard?"
"Yeah." Natsu shrugged, grinning. "So what?"
"Can you really beat him?"
"God, Natsu, you're so loud." Laxus groaned, peering over the the railing and glaring down at the pink haired dragon slayer. "There's no way you can beat me so shut up already."
"We'll see about that!" Natsu exclaimed, his fist sparking flames.
Then a large bolt of yellow lightning came from the guild's ceiling, directly striking Natsu who yelped in pain.
Once the electrocution stopped, Natsu fell to the floor, completely fried.
Lucy ran over to him in concern for his life.
Laxus laughed quite loudly at Natsu's current state.
"How could you do this to him!" Lucy shouted. "Isn't he your guildmate?"
Laxus immediately stopped laughing and glared down at the newcomer. "Talkin' to me?"
"Obviously." Lucy sassed, narrowing her eyes at him. She was utterly afraid under the S-Class mage's cold glare, but she refused to back down.
The entire guild watched the scene with their mouths slightly opened. Most of them, even though they had all just met her, were mentally planning Lucy's funeral.
"And you are?" Laxus raised an eyebrow.
"Lucy."
"Incorrect." Laxus snapped. "You're weak; that's what you are. Can't believe we're letting people like you into Fairy Tail. Seriously, this place is a joke."
Lucy's jaw dropped at his harsh tone and words. "H-How da-" Once again, Lucy's mouth was covered but this time it was done by Natsu.
"Just ignore him." He said, standing to his feet.
"A-Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah," He smiled at her, "I'm fine!"
"Appears I was wrong, Laxus." Bickslow said lowly so only Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe could hear. "Sorry, my babies made a mistake. She isn't coming back today."
Laxus looked over his shoulder and glared at Bickslow momentarily. "Then let's get out of here. I don't want to be in this dump anymore than I have to." He growled.
He and his bodyguards walked down the stairs and exited the guild, again without saying a word.
Slowly over the next few weeks, Lucy was adjusting to life in Fairy Tail. She had been on a few jobs with Natsu and Happy, met Erza for the first time, and went on an important mission with the redhead as well as Natsu, Gray, and the cat.
Lucy was at the bar sitting with her new team, chatting with Mirajane, when the guild doors swung open.
Laxus walked in by himself and sat at a round table which was . . . . unusual for The Great Laxus Dreyar.
"Him again?" Lucy grumbled.
"So you've met Laxus?" Erza inquired.
"Yeah and he's horrible."
Erza chuckles at Lucy's comment. "Well, he is rude but even he wasn't always like this." Erza glanced at Laxus briefly before turning back to Lucy. "And it's odd for Laxus to be sitting there."
"Huh?"
"When Laxus comes to the guild, which is rare anyways, he always goes to the second floor so he doesn't have to interact with any members."
"So why is he sitting down here?"
"That's what I'd like to know."
The guild doors swung open again and conversations across the guild began to quickly die down.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, looking around until her eyes landed on the doorway.
Standing in the doorway was a person who was wearing a black cloak that covered the person's entire body. Not even their face could be seen underneath the hood of the cloak. The person gave off a dark and ominous aura that anyone could feel.
"W-Who the heck is that?" Lucy whispered, pointing her shaking finger at the person.
"What do you think you're doing!" Gray snapped, also whispering. He smacked the girl's hand which caused her to lower her finger. "Don't point."
"But who-"
The person walked into the guild slowly, making the tension in the air rise. No one noticed the small smile on Laxus's face as the person walked past the table he was sitting at.
And the person was walking . . . towards the bar?
Natsu, Gray, and Happy visibly stiffened and they all looked ready to pee their pants. Erza and Mira looked a little nervous, but neither one tried to show it.
Lucy didn't know what to do and she was beginning to get scared.
Who is this person?
The person stopped directly in front of Lucy who gulped and stiffened as well.
This person has such an intimidating presence!
Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but the person spoke first.
"Why did you point at me?" The person snarled in disgust.
Wait . . . that voice! A woman?
"I'll ask you once again." The woman hissed, grabbing Lucy forcefully by her shirt and pulling her closer. Lucy gasped and her body began to shake. "Why were you pointing at me just now?" The woman's voice and words were like knives piercing into your body.
"U-Uh . . I-I'm s-sorry . . . I d-didn't m-mean to!" Lucy stuttered.
"Get lost." The woman spat. She tightened her grip on Lucy's shirt before punching the blonde's chest, sparks on lightning transferring from the woman's body to Lucy's.
Lucy literally got the air knocked out of her and electricity stunned her body. Her body flew back towards the bar due to the impact of the single punch, knocking over the bar stools. The bar occupants stumbled backwards in order to not get hit by a flying Lucy.
Then a small, green flying cat with a red sash on his back, which contained a sword, flew over to the woman. "I found another quest." He said. The woman nodded and the two exited the guild.
Everyone let out sighs of relief once the woman had left.
Except for Laxus.
He let out a loud roar of a laugh, clutching his stomach in the process.
Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza surrounded Lucy. "Lucy, are you okay?" They all asked at the same time.
"I'm . . . . . . fine . . ." Lucy said, her voice horse.
"Hahahahahahaha!" Laxus laughed, "That was amazing!"
"Laxus!" Mira shouted, "That's enough!"
"Heh, whatever." Laxus shrugged, standing to his feet. "That was all I wanted to see." He said before he left the guild.
The guild members stared over at Lucy, wondering if she was still alive.
"We should take her to the infirmary." Mira suggested, looking over Lucy's current state.
"Who . . ." Lucy began speaking. ". . . was . . that?"
Everyone around her showed sadness in their eyes all of a sudden.
"That was . . ." Erza spoke up, staring at the wooden floors. "That was Jasmine, the strongest female wizard of this guild."
Erza paused before continuing, "She's also known as the Lightning Empress."