~*****~

My fingers throbbed violently as I pushed the needle and thread through my ruined jacket. I try to ignore the obnoxious chewing noises coming from the other side of the living room. "So you paid the full price in jewel for this place?" I hear Gray hum. I glance up and grimace. He's once again in my house, and naked. And eating my snacks I had set out for myself.

"Didn't I tell you not to strip at my place?" I ask irritably.

Gray yawns and stretches. "I was naked when I got here, there was no stripping involved."

"What are you doing here anyway?" I ask irritably.

"I'm surprised you forgot. Natsu and Erza are about to fight." Gray commented. "And you said you wanted a go, too. Are you chickening out?"

I narrow my eyes at him for a moment before huffing and set my jacket down. "For your information, I was trying to fix my damn jacket that Natsu ruined before I fought Erza. I feel weird not having this thing wrapped around my shoulders. It throws me off balance."

Gray just peers down at it before plucking it off the table and with a series of quick needle presses, my jacket looks brand new. "Here you go." Gray tosses it at me before yawning and striding towards the exit. "Now you got no issue fighting Erza."

"Okay, now you sew, what else is new..." I grumble irritably before following after him.

I trail off to the side as Gray joins the others. I perch on one of the barrels and watch closely. Erza starts off the match by requiping into an impressive set of armor. And from what it looks like, perfectly designed to fight against Natsu's fire magic.

Frost erupts from around me as Natsu's fire magic slams near us. Just as I expect them to collide in a powerful strike, someone smacks the gong. "This fight is over!" My head snaps toward the newcomer. It's a strange looking... person? She's dressed in official looking robes. "May I have your attention please? I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council!" I quickly slip off the barrel and raise my jacket up a little, covering the sides of my face as I slip around the other guild members. It's not like I had a warrant or anything, but they seriously did not like me. "As a result of the Eisenwald Incident, a member of your guild has been charged with eleven counts of criminal property damage. Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest!"

"Haah?" I shout aloud. "You're putting her under arrest?!"

~*****~

The guild is rightfully silent after they've taken Erza away. "This isn't fair, you guys! Let me out of here already!" I vaguely hear Natsu shout.

"Natsu, try to calm down." Mira scolds.

"Let me out! Pretty, pretty please?" Natsu shouts from the tiny glass we had to put him in.

"You'll go on a rampage." Mira snaps.

"I'll be good, I swear!" Natsu continues. "Now please just turn me back to the way I was before!"

Mira grunts and leans down to him. "The second we turn you back, you'll run out to save Erza."

"Gimme a break. I couldn't care less what happens to her!" Natsu shouts.

"Even if you wanted to help her, it's not like we can face off with the council." I sigh.

"But don't those jerks on the council realize that Erza did what she had to do to save the lives of the Guild Masters from those bad guys and their evil Death Flute?!" Natsu complained.

"If the Magic Council says you're guilty, then you're guilty. End of story." I mutter over the rim of my glass of ale. "They don't care what we have to say." I fight back the tears beginning to brim at my eyes. The council wasn't forgiving. And they put the blame on good people. People I loved. I heave out a soft sigh.

"I just don't get it. We've destroyed plenty stuff in the past and they never made a big deal out of it." Elfman comments.

"I know. It doesn't make any sense." Laki sighs.

"It's like there's some other reason for this." Lucy mutters.

I set my glass down with a thunk and stand up. "I'm going home." I say lightly.

I stop short as Makarov holds his staff out in front of me. "Making any detours?"

I glance down at him for a moment before shaking my head. "The council is all powerful. I'd be a fool to show my face to them. They hate everything to do with ex-mercenaries." I tilt his staff upwards. I shove the door open and heave out an irritated sigh. "I'm not stupid like that idiot... Whatever... He'll shout about what happened when he gets back."

~*****~

As fate would have it, Natsu did in face screech about what went down. "Who coulda thought fresh air woulda smelt so sweet! I'm gonna breathe it in all day! It's the sweet smell of freedom!" Natsu cheers as he runs around the guild halls.

"I can't believe that stupid arrest and trial were just for show." Lucy complained. "All that worrying for nothing."

"So she wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scape goat." Gray nods.

"People like me are sacrificial lambs, Gray." I say with a grin, my thumb jutting at my face. "Respected wizards, like Erza? They're the Scape Goats."

"You two must be incredible ice wizards, cause even your jokes leave me cold." Elfman comments. "Hey, Natsu! You gonna finish going man-to-man with Erza?!"

I sigh audibly. "Thanks for reminding him. I wanted a go." I mention irritably.

"I forgot about that! So, what do you say? Want to pick up where we left off?" Natsu asks excitedly.

"I'm not in the mood right now." Erza snaps.

Natsu charges anyway. "I'm not letting you off the hook that easy!"

Erza huffs something under her breath before slamming her fist into Natsu's gut. My brows raise. Was she just holding back the other day? "How's that? Are you satisfied?"

"And he's out!" Happy cheers.

Elfman and Gray begin to cackle loudly. I rub at my face as a drowsy feeling takes over. I grimace and lean against the wall as a mysterious shrouded figure ambles through the hall. I can barely hear through the sleepy daze the newcomer has me in, but the moment I meet his gaze, it's like my eyes decided that staying open was against the rules. I wince and sit up straight, my heart hammering in my chest as I stare at him through my hazy eyes.

Just as he leaves the room, my eyes regain their focus. "Oh, man..." I hear someone murmur. "Was Mystogan here?"

"Man, what a jerk..." Another grumbles.

"Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?" Levy complains.

"Who's this Mystogan guy?" Lucy asks.

"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard." Elfman comments.

"Really?" Lucy asks.

Gray groans. "Yeah. And for some reason, he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. So whenever he comes here to take a job, he casts a sleeping spell." Gray explains.

"Not like anyone would recognize him under all those damn cloaks." I comment dryly. I pick up my glass of ale again, vaguely aware of the stares I'm getting. "Listen, you've all been in the guild for a long time, but the wizards who operate soley for themselves gain enemies, so you need to have some ability to resist spells like that." I wave my hand. "Stop staring at me."

"Well, that would make you the second person to know what he looks like. Master Makarov is the only one who's gotten a good look at his face." Gray comments.

"That's not true. I've seen him before," A new voice echoes out. I glance upwards and my brows furrow. The newcomer is sitting on the upper level, peering down at all of us with a smirk on his face.

"Laxus!" Elfman chants.

"Talk about rare." Gray hums.

"You're never here." Another comments.

"And here's another contender," Gray sighs.

"Mystogan's just a little shy," Laxus comments. "You should all respect his privacy."

As if an alarm woke him up, Natsu's on his feet again. "All right, Laxus! You and me, right now!" Natsu challenges him.

"So Erza kicking your butt didn't quell the appetite for battle?" I ask irritably.

Laxus just snorts. "Yeah, pal. If you can't even win against the redhead, why bother with me?"

"What are you trying to say?" Erza snaps.

"No need to get all worked up, Erza." Gray says shakily.

"I'm saying that I'm the Guild's Strongest Wizard." Laxus claims.

"Then come down here and prove it." Natsu taunts.

"You come to me, little man." Laxus retorts.

"With pleasure!" Natsu shouts and immediately attempts to get to the stairs, only for Makarov to slam his fist against him, effectively stopping him.

"You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu." Makarov snapped. "At least, not yet."

"I think you made him grumpy." Laxus chuckles.

"Shut up!" Natus shouts.

I hum irritably. "Big man, saying big words up in his little castle." I comment dryly.

"Like you can hold a candle to me, newbie," Laxus snorts at me. "The most powerful one in the guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo. You wanna know what the strongest wizard looks like? You're looking right at him!"

I wave my hand at him. "Still sitting up there, not proving it." I comment and slug the rest of my ale.

~*****~

I hum lightly as I finally enter my house with a bag of groceries perched in my arms. Just as I set them on the counter, it's already being rifled through. I peer at Natsu already chewing on some of the apples I'd bought. "What the hell! C'mon, you can't just be in my house when I'm not here!"

Natsu tries saying something through the apple, but it gets lodged in his throat. "What he's trying to say is that we decided that we're ready for the big leagues!" Happy exclaims as he holds up the flyer he'd been holding.

I take it from him and tilt my head. "This is an S-Class job. How'd you get this?" I ask Happy.

"I went up the stairs." He says so innocently. I chuckle and rub his head affectionately.

"Never change, Happy." I giggle as I rub at his head.

Happy chirps in delight as he leans against my hand. Natsu recovers from choking and loops his arm around my shoulders. "Since it's our first S-Class Quest, we decided to go with the smallest reward we found on the board! But seven million is still a lot of jewel!"

"Maybe not to Aria," Happy hummed impishly.

I roll my eyes at him. "Let me guess-- did you pawn Lucy into it, too?" Natsu just beams. "Of course you did... Let me ask you something; did it occur to you just what Master Makarov would do if he knew we had this? He'd probably kill us."

"Probably," Natsu laughs. "But I think he'd be super proud of us if we actually pull it off!"

I sigh heavily and lean against my table, the upper half of my body resting against the cool wood. "This may be the dumbest thing you've done since I've met you. Tell me why I'm so interested in going now?"

"'Cause great minds think alike!" Natsu cheers as he plops onto the other side of the table, head propped up on his hands. "C'mon, it'll be no fun if you dont' go!"

I grimace and prop my head on my hands to mirror him. "And Lucy's getting her stuff together, isn't she?"

Natsu nods excitedly. "So, you in?!"

I heave out a loud sigh and take the request from Happy once more to look it over. "Tropical island... Cursed tropical island? Count me in!" I laugh as they begin to cheer. "But I'm only going for the warm sand!"

"I knew that'd interest you!" Natsu laughed.