The evening sun began to set, painting the river surface in shades of orange and purple.
"Little girl~ If you fall in the water, we won't save you..."
A group of fishermen on a boat laughed and teased the blonde girl walking along the canal.
Lucy ignored them, adjusting the heavy strap of her luggage on her shoulder. She walked with a light step, humming a soft tune to herself.
"Speaking of Phantom Lord," she murmured, looking at the ripples in the water, "I remember they are famously at odds with Fairy Tail."
Ahead of her, the small white dog, Plue, wobbled happily along the path.
His trembling body looked like a little snowman coming to life.
Lucy smiled at him, then gazed wistfully at the distant night sky where the first stars were appearing.
"I still remember when I first ran away from home," she whispered to the empty air. "I was hesitating so much. Should I join Fairy Tail? Or should I join Phantom Lord? They are both famous major guilds, after all."
Lucy took a deep breath of the cool evening air. The stress of the recent mission seemed to melt away.
"But now... I'm really glad I joined Fairy Tail."
She reached the front door of her apartment building.
She climbed the stairs and stood before her room, reaching for her doorknob with a blissful expression on her face.
She felt safe. She felt happy.
"Because I think Fairy Tail..."
She pushed the door open to her dark apartment, expecting silence.
"Yo!"
"Is the best!!!"
The room wasn't dark at all since the lights were blazing.
Sitting around her small wooden table were four people she knew very well—Ankh, Erza, Natsu, and Gray.
They looked completely at home, drinking tea and eating snacks.
"Gah!"
Lucy was so startled that she nearly bit her own tongue. Panic took over her body. Without thinking, she swung her heavy suitcase through the air in one swift motion.
Wham!
The suitcase flew across the room and smashed directly into Natsu's face, sending him tumbling backward off his chair.
"There are too many people!!" Lucy screamed, clutching her head. "Why are you all in my house?!"
Natsu, who was the one who had leaked Lucy's address to the others, rubbed his sore nose guiltily.
He pursed his lips and looked away, whistling as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
Erza sat calmly at the table, holding a delicate teacup.
She smiled slightly, looking like a graceful queen visiting a peasant's home.
"Didn't my brother explain it before?" Erza said soothingly. "He said that Phantom Lord has likely investigated our personal addresses. To be safe, we need to stay together in groups."
Lucy poked her fingers together, feeling awkward.
She looked around her tiny apartment. It was barely big enough for one person, let alone five people and two magical pets.
"But... logically speaking," Lucy stammered, "shouldn't we be staying at Ankh's place? He has the biggest home out of all of us."
Ankh was sitting on the floor, wrestling with Plue. He grabbed the cute little dog's cheeks and pinched them gently.
"Phantom Lord wouldn't dare come to my place," Ankh said with a relaxed grin. "They know better. But a weak little wizard like you, Lucy? You might be targeted by them first. So, it's better to be here to protect you."
"That makes sense," Lucy admitted, though she still felt crowded.
Erza added another reason, her face serious. "Besides, Brother is in the prime of his youth. I was worried he might do something... improper... if he was left alone. So, as his sister, I came along to supervise him."
Natsu, recovering from the suitcase attack, grumbled with bared teeth.
"I'm just here to relieve boredom! I want to fight!"
Gray, who was stripped down to his boxers as usual, leaned back in his chair.
"I don't care. I'm just following them."
While the humans were talking, the pets were causing chaos.
Plue had escaped Ankh's grasp and waddled over to the kitchen cabinet. He skillfully found a pink lollipop and happily stuffed it into his mouth.
Meanwhile, Happy was rummaging through a bamboo laundry basket in the corner.
"Natsu! Look!" Happy called out joyfully, holding up a piece of white cloth. "There is clean laundry here!"
Lucy's face turned bright red.
She rushed forward while waving her arms. "Stop that! You stupid cat! Get out of my laundry!"
Natsu didn't care about clothes.
He was staring at the snowman-dog. "Plue! What are you eating? It looks good! Share some with me!"
Seeing that Natsu wasn't interested, Happy turned to the next person. "Erza, look! I found some sexy underwear!"
Happy held up a pair of lace panties, waving them like a flag.
Erza's eyes widened.
Her cheeks flushed slightly pink. She looked at the underwear with an expression that said 'I've learned something new today.'
"So... bold!" Erza exclaimed in amazement. "Lucy, is this what you usually wear? I didn't know you had such mature taste."
"Give that back!" Lucy snatched her underwear from the cat, wishing the floor would swallow her whole.
While the chaos continued, Ankh decided he was done with the noise.
Acting as if he had lived here for years, he walked over to Lucy's single bed. He lay down, pulled the fluffy covers up to his chin, and sighed comfortably.
"I'm going to sleep for a while," Ankh announced. "Good night, everyone."
Gray, who was still injured from a previous fight, stumbled over to the bed.
His face was full of exhaustion. He crawled onto the mattress next to Ankh.
"Move over a bit, Ankh," Gray mumbled, his eyes closing. "I'm really tired too."
"Sure," Ankh said, shifting to the left. "No need to be polite. Just treat it like your own home."
Lucy facepalmed.
She looked at the two men sleeping in her bed with visible frustration.
"You guys... why do you enjoy yourselves so naturally when you're at someone else's house? That's my bed!"
Erza looked at the bed with a frown.
She seemed annoyed—not because they were rude, but because of who was in the bed.
"Gray," Erza scolded. "You haven't taken a bath yet! You'll make the room dirty! Get up!"
Actually, Erza didn't care about the dirt.
She just wanted to get Gray off the bed. If Ankh and Gray were sleeping together, where would she sleep? That spot next to Ankh used to be her place.
Gray narrowed his eyes, barely awake. "I don't want to... It's too much trouble..."
Natsu chimed in from the floor, eating a snack. "I don't want to bathe either!"
Ankh lazily shook his head against the pillow. "Let's talk about it tomorrow... sleep is more important."
Erza sighed.
Then, a mischievous idea crossed her mind as she smiled sweetly at Ankh.
"In that case," she said softly, "how about I take a bath with you, Brother?"
Ankh's body went rigid.
His eyes snapped open.
He immediately sat up, threw off the covers, and grabbed Gray by the arm.
"No need!" Ankh declared righteously, dragging the confused Gray toward the bathroom.
"Cleanliness is indeed important! We should wash up right now!"
God knows what would happen if he bathed with Erza now.
Lucy watched them disappear into the bathroom, shaking her head.
"You guys really get along well..." she said, surprised by their family dynamic.
Then, her worry returned. "But... is living together like this really going to work? We have Erza and Ankh here, so we are safe. But other teams have weak members. What if they run into strong enemies?"
From inside the bathroom, Ankh's voice called out confidently.
"Don't worry, Lucy! I have other arrangements in place. Everyone is being watched over."
...
While the strongest team was having a lively party at Lucy's house, a very different scene was unfolding on the quiet night roads of Magnolia.
Levy McGarden was walking home with her team, Shadow Gear.
She wasn't too afraid.
She stretched her small arms and hummed a cheerful song as she walked under the streetlights.
Her two teammates, Jet and Droy, walked on either side of her like bodyguards. Jet looked around nervously at the dark shadows.
"Levy," Jet asked timidly, "is this really okay... walking with just the few of us?"
Levy waved her hand dismissively. "We're a well-coordinated team! We have done so many missions together. No need to be afraid!"
The two boys—who were obviously hopelessly in love with her—immediately perked up. Pink bubbles seemed to float above their heads.
"Levy's right!" Droy declared. "Only when the three of us are together do we feel secure!"
"That's right!" Jet shouted. "I'll protect Levy!"
"No, I will!" Droy argued.
Their arguing voices echoed through the empty streets.
High above them, under the cold white glow of the full moon, a man dressed entirely in black stood on a rooftop.
He watched Levy and her friends with cold, dead eyes.
"Damn fairies..."
Gajeel Redfox spat the words through his steel teeth. He looked like a predator watching helpless sheep.
However, what Gajeel didn't notice was that on an even higher rooftop behind him, a mysterious shadow flickered in and out of view, watching him.
Gajeel heard the happy laughter from the Shadow Gear team below.
A cruel smile spread across his face.
"Time to work," he whispered.
His dark figure leaped from the roof. He moved like a hunting leopard, charging toward Levy's team with thunderous momentum!
"Watch out!"
The three wizards turned around, sensing something wrong. But all they saw was an overwhelming terror and killing intent crashing down on them.
"Iron Dragon's Club!"
Jet and Droy didn't even have time to fight back.
Gajeel moved too fast.
With two swift punches, he sent both men flying into the brick walls. They groaned and slid to the ground, unconscious.
"Jet! Droy!" Levy screamed.
She looked up in panic. Gajeel was already in front of her. His massive iron fist was raised, ready to crush her.
"Die, fairy," Gajeel growled.
WHOOSH!
Just as the fist was about to hit Levy's face, a sudden surge of freezing cold air rushed forward.
Countless sharp icy spikes erupted from the ground between Levy and Gajeel. The ice grew rapidly, creating a frozen garden of spikes that forced Gajeel to stop.
"Tch!"
Gajeel hardened his arms to steel to block the sharp ice. He jumped back, creating distance.
He narrowed his eyes, looking for the person who had interrupted him.
Standing on a lamppost was a figure wearing a heavy black robe.
The hood was pulled down low, completely hiding the person's face and body shape.
"Ice magic?" Gajeel muttered. "And why are you hiding your face?"
He assumed a fighting stance with excitement flashing in his eyes.
"I heard Fairy Tail's S-Class mage, Mystogan, is always wearing a mask. That must be you," Gajeel declared loudly.
Behind the wall of ice, Levy caught her breath, her heart pounding.
She looked ather mysterious savior and felt puzzled.
'Ice Make Magic?' she thought.
'Is that Gray? But when did his Magic Power become so strong? This ice feels... colder. Scarier.'
Facing the two of them, the person under the black robe was inwardly fuming.
It was Ultear Milkovich in disguise.
She had taken on her master Ankh's task to secretly protect Levy's teams.
She had been watching from the shadows the whole time.
Her intervention had been perfect—the moment Gajeel moved, she jumped in to save them.
'But seriously?'Ultear thought angrily.
'Who would have thought those two men would be so useless! They were taken down by Gajeel in one second! How am I supposed to protect people who can't even last one hit?!'
Ultear glared from under her hood at Gajeel, and then at the unconscious Jet and Droy.
'Well,' she decided, clenching her fist.
'Since Master Ankh might scold me for letting them get hurt, I might as well take my frustration out on this iron-eating idiot!'