Chapter 10

S-Class Partner

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, and my Ideas

..._-+-_...

Alumina smiled to herself as she walked toward the Guild the next morning, Loke's reaction last night had not been unexpected she supposed. He was shocked to the say the least, but she could tell he was happier knowing why Ursa was so mad. Alumina promised herself not to call either Loke or Ursa out for awhile so they would have time to work everything out in the Spirit World.

She was happy, hoping that Ursa and Loke would become friends again. That happiness was turning into energy, she wanted to take a job and get some of her energy out. She could take a job by herself, but what's the fun in that?

No, she would need to find someone else to join her for a job. It couldn't be Juvia or Gray, they had left to go on a week-long job yesterday. She smiled more at the thought, hoping the time the two would spend together would bring them closer.

But now she had to decide who to ask to join her, would anyone other than Gray or Juvia even agree to come on a job with her? Most of Fairy Tail were warming up to her with the exception of Natsu and maybe Gajeel, though she couldn't be sure about the Iron Dragon, he just seemed silent and moody all the time.

The Guild doors came into sight and she perked up, over the week and a half she had been part of the Guild she had noticed that more people were beginning to lighten and up and talk with each other more and more everyday. It put her mind at ease to see them starting to enjoy life a little more now, and more of them were going on jobs more often too.

She reached out to push the doors open as she got near, and the heavy wooden doors swung open slowly to reveal a packed guild with quietly conversing people sitting at tables and drinking. "Hey Guys!" She called out into the Guild, a few people looked her way and smiled, while a few others said 'hi' back. Alumina stepped inside, while everyone went back to their own conversations.

Her gaze swept over who was in the Hall, and she spotted Erza sitting at a table by herself as she munched on a piece of strawberry cake slowly. Alumina immediately made her way toward the red-head and sat down across from her, giving Erza a warm smile.

"Hey Erza, how have you been doing?" Alumina asked. Erza gave her a small smile as she paused in her eating and set her fork down.

"I've been alright, what about you?" Erza asked.

"I'm great!" Alumina answered cheerily.

"That's good to hear, are you planning on taking a job?" Erza asked and Alumina nodded.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Alumina replied and Erza blinked at her. "Would you like to come on a job with me Erza? You don't have to, but I always find jobs more fun when you have someone to come with you." Alumina told her.

Erza paused for a moment as she thought about her answer, the cake completely forgotten for the moment. Alumina sat silently, still smiling and patiently waiting for Erza's answer. At last Erza smiled a shrugged,

"Sure, what harm could it do?" She answered and Alumina smiled wider.

"Alright!" Alumina exclaimed. "Thank you for agreeing, I'm sure this will be fun!" She grinned at the red-head, who smiled a little more at her enthusiasm. Alumina leaned forward a little, "By the way, he's sort of been staring at you for while now." Alumina told her as she flicked her head toward a man with a mask and hat on, where you could see some of his hair was blue, leaning against a pillar on the second floor.

Erza cast a glance his way and sweatdropped, "I... didn't even notice..." The red-head mumbled as she let out a heavy sigh and Alumina tilted her head.

"Who is he?" She asked and Erza paused.

"Mystogan." She replied, and Alumina blinked when she didn't hear true honesty in the answer, but she decided not to press it.

"Hmm, anyway." Alumina dropped the subject and she didn't miss the silent sigh of relief that Erza let out. "How about I wait for you to finish that piece of cake then we can go pick out a job, sound good?"

Erza smiled and nodded, picking up her fork again.

"Sounds good."

Happy POV

Happy glanced Erza's way as he heard the red-head agree to go on a mission with Alumina. He had been listening in with Natsu who sat at the table, and now he was very aware of his partner seething with rage at the fact that Erza had even said yes. Happy himself didn't mind Alumina, in fact he though she was nice and a kind-hearted person.

Natsu's opinion was different.

He wasn't exactly sure why, but Natsu seemed to hate Alumina, but why should he? Alumina had never down anything to him, in fact she had tried to get along with him a few times, but Natsu just didn't seem interested in being nice to her.

Happy pretended not to have heard the argument Natsu had, had with Gray just after the Ice Mage accepted to go on a mission with Alumina. Whenever he tried to get an answer out of Natsu on the reason for his dislike of Alumina, Natsu always looked at him as if he was dense, and just got madder.

Eventually he had given up asking Natsu, but that didn't stop him from wondering.

Why?

Happy was snapped from his thoughts as Natsu suddenly got up, knocking his chair over in the process and bumping the table, causing it to move a little. Looking up he saw that Natsu's face was dark as his bangs shadowed his eyes, and he quickly walked out of the Guild without a word. Happy got to his feet and walked to the edge of the table, eyes wide in surprise.

A few people had glanced over when they heard Natsu's chair fall, and a few frowned sadly when he left. Happy quickly sprouted wings as he took off after his partner.

Natsu...

..._-+-_...

Alumina POV

"So much stuff..." Alumina murmured as she stared wide-eyed at the excessive amount of things Erza was bringing with her for their mission. It towered over her as it sat atop a cart which she noticed Erza pulled along with no trouble despite it probably weighing a ton.

How the hell does she expect to get that on the train?!

"You think you packed enough, Erza?" Alumina asked as the red-head came to halt in front of her. Many people in the station were looking Erza's way as if she was crazy, and Alumina didn't blame them for feeling that way.

"I believe so." Erza replied with a straight face, "Are you ready?" She asked and Alumina nodded.

"Yep, I'm really looking forward to this, and thanks again for agreeing to come with me!" Alumina smiled warmly at Erza, who smiled back.

"Its my pleasure." Erza replied.

"Erza! Alumina!" They both glanced over to see Happy flying toward them, and Alumina blinked in surprise at his sudden appearance. Happy came to a halt before them and took a minute to catch his breath.

"Something wrong, Happy?" Erza asked.

Happy shook his head at her, "Um, no..." He trailed off and Alumina tilted her head slightly at the flustered look on his face. "But... uh- Natsu said he would be gone for a few days... and I'm all by myself now..." Happy mumbled as he looked at the ground. "W-Would it be ok... if I joined you g-guys..?" He stammered out in a nervous voice and Alumina smiled a little sadly at him.

Without warning she leaned forward and snatched Happy out of the air to give him a small squeeze, "Of course!" She smiled at him. "You don't mind, do you Erza?" Alumina asked and Erza shook her head, though Alumina could tell her mind was on something else.

"It's alright with me." Erza told her. Happy smiled a little as he was put at ease by their answers and Alumina rubbed her chin on the top of his head, still grinning.

She was curious as to why Natsu would have left Happy all by himself, but he did seem a little... uh.. agitated, when he stalked out of the Guild Hall earlier that day. She was a little worried of what Natsu might do when he found out Happy went on the mission with her and Erza. Natsu wasn't a fan of Alumina, that was for sure, but she was a little annoyed at him for even considering leaving Happy all by himself for a few days.

She also didn't like the fact that Happy seemed so nervous about even asking to join, she would much rather he feel relaxed around her.

She pushed it all to the back of her mind as she followed Erza on the train with Happy still in her arms, after watching Erza somehow find room for all of her stuff on the train. Erza sat across from her as they started up friendly conversation, Alumina feeling excitement rise up inside of her for the coming mission.

..._-+-_...

"Lets head out this way and stick close to each other, they might try to ambush us on the way." Erza said in a calm and commanding voice.

"You think they know we're coming?" Alumina asked as she stayed at Erza's shoulder, Happy riding on her shoulders with his paws resting on her head.

"I don't know, but its best to be careful." Erza replied, and they fell into silence, alert for anyone or anything as they traveled through the thick undergrowth and trees.

They had chosen a job sent out by the Magic Council to detain and capture a small group of Dark Wizards out this way, with the only information being provided, that they had a base somewhere deep inside this old and dark forest.

Erza didn't seem especially worried that it would be a hard job, and Alumina herself wasn't worried either. She could handle herself pretty well, and Erza was an S-Class, she could probably have finished this job without Alumina's help.

The Forest surrounding them was dark, old, and musty smelling with hardly any animals skittering around in the undergrowth. The large dark colored trees cast deep shadows over the ground, their thick branches letting in no sunlight, the wind not even existent around here. Alumina fidgeted a little as the path grew narrow and Erza switched over to her left in an attempt to not run into anything that had suddenly sprouted in her way.

She fidgeted until the path widened out again, and quickly switched sides with Erza so she was on the red-head's left again. Erza quirked an eyebrow at her and exchanged a glance with Happy.

"Why do you do that?" Erza asked her and Alumina glanced her way.

"Do what?" She asked, though she already knew.

"I noticed around the Guild, whenever someone comes up to stand on your left you always switch sides to make sure they're on your right." Erza told her, gesturing an armored hand toward her. "You just did it again."

"I noticed it too." Happy put in and Alumina sighed.

"It sort of... it just doesn't feel right if someone's on my left." Alumina answered with a small shrug. "Its sort of a quirk, that I have."

"Hmm..." Erza murmured, the red-head had a feeling Alumina wasn't telling her the full story, but she decided to drop the subject and Alumina let out a silent sigh. "How are you liking the Guild so far?" Erza asked as she changed the subject.

"Its great!" Alumina told her brightly. "Everyone's really nice, and I think a lot of them are starting to warm up to me." She replied. "Plus, I'm just really happy that Loke could be back with Fairy Tail again, I can tell he missed all of you guys." She added and Erza nodded.

"It was great seeing him back after so long." Erza told her. "Its not Fairy Tail without all its members..." Erza trailed off and Alumina could feel the red-heads mood deflate, and could guess that Erza was thinking about a certain blonde mage.

"Hey Alumina," Happy asked and Alumina took her attention off of Erza.

"Hmm?"

"How did you know Natsu was a Dragon Slayer when you came to the Guild for the first time?" Happy asked and Alumina blinked.

"That's right, you seemed to know he was a Dragon Slayer when you suggested he might have caught your scent, had you been around Lucy when she died." Erza put in, wearing a neutral expression though she could see the pain and grief light up in her eyes at the thought.

Alumina looked away as she let her mind wander off to that day, had she really said something like that..?

"You would have what? Seen me? Scented me? Followed my scent because your first thought would have been, that I was Lucy's killer?"

Huh... that's right, I did say that, didn't I?

She honestly had no idea how she had known that, she was fairly sure she hadn't ever met Natsu before that, so how on earth..?

"I don't actually know," Alumina replied. "I must have just remembered it from seeing the Grand Magic Games awhile back," She shrugged, but it did bother her a little. She was fairly certain that wasn't how she had known about it, but she couldn't figure out how she could have known information like that.

"Makes sense." Happy said and Erza nodded a little, though Alumina had the feeling Erza didn't quite believe what Alumina had said.

Alumina came to a dead stop as she tilted her head to the left a little, eyes narrowing at the ground in front of her, and alert. Erza stopped soon after, eyeing her curiously.

"Something wrong?" Erza and Happy asked.

Alumina tensed as she heard the faint sound of a twig snapping, and something brushing up against dried bracken fronds, causing them to rustle and crack. The even fainter sound of feet hitting the ground came not long after.

"Someone is coming." Alumina replied. Happy ears perked up as he glanced in the direction Alumina had her head tilted, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You're right." He murmured. "How did you hear that so fast?" Happy asked her.

Alumina shrugged, "I have some pretty good hearing, besides, they're not that far away anyway." Alumina replied. The sound of metal sliding out of a sheath caused both Alumina and Happy to glance Erza's way, the red-head had requiped a sword into her hand, standing at defense.

"Looks like they saved us the trouble of looking for them." Erza smiled. "Get ready you two."

Happy jumped off her shoulders and sprouted wings as Alumina grabbed her staff out of her Magic Storage and grabbed a key from her belt.

"Ready."

..._-+-_...

Looooong chapter. And this is only #10. I finished this story a week ago and it ended at 40 chapters... 30 more to go! -_-'

Not looking forward to posting all those chapters, not gonna lie.

Either way, please vote and please comment! I love feedback and it's kind of depressing I haven't gotten any!

~ until next time