In the afternoon when school was over, Nasha and Gregie met up to wait for Elkis to pick them up. The two of them sat on the edge of sidewalk, Nasha decided to kill time by doing her homework and she suggested that Gregie do the same but he was too invested in his story book.

"No offense to your interests Gregie but why are you always reading that book?" Nasha asked him. "You must have every one of those stories memorized by now so why keep reading it?"

"For your information I'm re-reading this book because I've noticed some details around here that are probably important."

"Such as?"

"Take a look at this."

He showed Nasha an illustration in the book that was of a young woman with red hair who was about to shoot an arrow from a bow.

"Her name is Erza." Greige explained. "She's from a magical land called Fiore and according to the events in this story she's living out in the forest alone."

"And?"

"Can you not see that she looks exactly like Elkis?"

"Why did you draw a make believe character in our foster mother's image?"

"I didn't draw this Nasha. This character has been in this book for as long as I can remember and every illustration of her that's in this book is always the same. She always looks like Elkis."

"That's a little weird."

"But it's not just her either. Ever since we've arrived here I've noticed that a lot of the people in this town look like the characters in my book. Here let me show you another one."

He flipped the pages and stopped on the one that showed the illustration of a blue haired maiden smelling roses.

"This character looks exactly like my teacher Miss Lockser and this one." He flipped some more pages and stopped on another one that showed an illustration of a salmon haired young man wearing armor and branding a sword. "Looks like that mechanic friend of Elkis's. What's his name again? Nakku?"

"Alright this is going from weird to creepy." Nasha said as she observed the picture of the character who was the spitting image of Nakku. "Where did you get this book?"

"My mother gave it to me. It was the only thing found with me apart from the blanket I was wrapped in."

"Any idea where she could have gotten this from?"

"No clue."

"Who wrote the book?" 

"Don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Isn't the author's name written in this thing?"

"No. There's no author name."

"What kind of book doesn't have the name of the author who wrote it?"

"This one does."

Nasha checked the front and back pages of the book but not a single one had any information about who wrote the book or where it came from.

"This is the weirdest book I've ever seen." Nasha said.

"Yeah but you should try reading it sometime. The stories are really cool."

"I'll pass. I think I know the stories of beautiful princesses with hair long enough to climb and little boys scaling giant beanstalks very well."

"Trust me these aren't like the stories you've heard."

"Is that right?"

"Uh-huh. These stories a way different than all the others."

"And pray tell how are they different?"

"Well for one thing all the characters have different names. For example in this book Little Red Riding Hood is called Wendy."

"Oh so she actually has a real name. I have to admit I like that. I never liked that they called her red. I mean seriously who has color word for a name?"

"Hey!"

"Whoops! Sorry! I meant a color word and clothing word."

"And this character Erza she's Robin Hood."

"Robin Hood? Isn't he a guy?"

"Not in this version but she's not just Robin Hood, she's also Sleeping Beauty."

"Okay I'm confused. Is she like half man half woman or something?"

"No. She's a woman but her story is a combination of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty and the mythical adventures of Robin Hood."

"I don't understand."

"A lot of the characters are like a composite of two famous characters from Fairy tales and myths."

"Well the author is taking a more original and interesting approach. I'll give him that."

Greige turned the page and on the next one Nasha saw an illustration of a blonde woman sitting on a throne, holding a scepter, and stroking a raven. Nasha couldn't help but notice that the character happened to look a lot like Mayor Heartfilia.

"Who's that?" Nasha asked.

"That's Lucy." Greige said. "The Princess of Darkness."

"Princess of Darkness? So she's like an evil princess?"

"Yep."

"There's no such thing as an evil princess in fairy tales."

"You would think so but nope. She's evil and she wants to destroy everyone's happiness."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I think I skipped the story about how she became like this. There are so many stories in this book that sometimes I'll accidentally skip a few while reading. But I do know that it has something to do with this guy."

He turned the page back to the one that had the picture of the character who looked like Nakku.

"His name is Natsu. He's a knight and a brave hero who defends everyone with honor and kindness, a being known to posses great light magic."

"So does that make him a wizard?"

"Not exactly. He has magic but he tries not to use it."

"Why?"

"Because he's afraid it will turn him dark. There are two kinds of magic in this world. Dark and light. Dark magic is associated with sorcerers, witches, beasts, and wraiths. Light magic is associated with wizards, fairies, giants, and dragons."

"Hold on are you saying that dragons are the good guys in this book of yours?"

"Uh-huh. They protect the humans from the creatures of dark magic unfortunately a lot of the humans don't seem to realize that. A king, a very bad king has led them to believe that the dragons are dangerous and want to harm them. And because of those lies Natsu made a terrible mistake."

"What mistake did he make?"

"Well he-"

But before he could answer question the Autumn wind started to pick up and it blew Nasha's worksheet right out of her hand. Nasha jumped up from the sidewalk and chased after the flying sheet of paper to catch it. Greige followed after her to help her. The chase led them to an alleyway where the paper landed on the ground.

Nasha bent down and quickly picked it up before the wind could take it away again. But before she and Gregie could go back to waiting for their guardian to bring them home they became distracted by a disturbing event that was taking place in that particular alley.

At that moment they were watching a dark haired man shove another man's head down into a barrel of water and hold him there for five minutes.

"Ready to talk now?" The dark haired man asked when he pulled the head of pitiful soul he was tormenting back up to breathe.

"You can't do this to me!" He coughed. "This is police brutality!"

"Wrong answer."

He shoved him back in and held him for another five minutes then pulled him back up.

"Feel like talking now?"

"You don't understand. I can't! If I talk I'm dead!"

"Fair enough."

He shoved him back under and repeated the same process.

"Let me remind you." He said when he pulled the guy back up. "That if you drown I can still make it look like you died of an overdose."

"Alright! Alright! They're in my van!"

He dropped the guy to the ground then handcuffed his hands behind his back. The man with dark hair grinned victoriously at getting a confession and turned to leave but stopped when he saw the two kids staring at him.

"You two lost?" He asked with that smug grin still on his face.

Nasha and Gregie didn't answer. They just stood there, unsure of how to react to what they had just seen. When the man moved to approach him they both stepped away in fear.

"Oh you don't have to be afraid of me. See?" He pulled out a badge from his jacket. "I work with the police. I'm not going to hurt you."

They looked over at the other guy who was dripping wet, hand cuffed, and shaking like a leaf.

"Oh him? I get it. I know what you're thinking. He's a drug dealer kids. He was going to smuggle some of his merchandise in candy packaging. Would have poisoned God knows how many people and he wouldn't talk so desperate times call for desperate measures as they say."

He didn't give off the vibe that he was lying but still they could sense that there was something unsettling about him. Nasha was about to say something but became a loss for words when she felt hand on her shoulder. To her relief the hand belonged to Elkis who had her other hand on Greige's shoulder.

"There you two are." She said. "Why weren't you at the school? You had me worried."

She then took notice of the man standing across from them and for the first time since Nasha had known her, Elkis actually looked afraid.

"Hello Miss Scarlet." The man greeted politely. "Still one of the prettiest women in town I see."

"Hello Detective Fullbuster." She replied nervously.

"These two belong to you?" He asked looking at the kids.

"Yes. They're the foster kids I'm looking after."

"Well they're certainly cute aren't they? They from around here?"

"No. They're from outside of Edolas."

"Really?" His grin grew and his eyes seem to spark with a certain mischief. "In that case having them here should make things very entertaining. Enjoy your stay kids and uh have a safe trip home Miss Scarlet."

"Thank you. I will."

She hurried the children back to her car. 

"Who was that?" Nasha asked.

"Gren. Gren Fullbuster." Elkis answered. "He owns this place."

"Owns what place?" Greige asked.

"The whole town."

"But I thought he was a detective." Nasha said.

"He is but he's a special kind. He knows everything about everyone in the town, all their deepest darkest secrets and he has connections everywhere. The last thing you wanna do is cross him."

"Are you okay?" Greige asked. "You look a little nervous."

"He makes me nervous. Kids a word of advice. While you're staying here steer clear of two people. Mayor Heartfilia and Detective Fullbuster."

They got in the car and Elkis's started to drive back to the house.

"I swear that guy was a ten on the creepy scale." Nasha said to Greige when they got back. "Did you see the way he stared at us? So weird. You think he might be a pedo?"

"No I didn't get that vibe from him." Greige said.

"Then he must be a sadist or something because that grin...Ugh! It was like he enjoyed tormenting that guy."

 "He's definitely creepy but I don't think he's sick."

"We just saw him almost drown a guy. How do you think he's not sick after seeing that?"

"Call it a gut feeling. What I noticed was how he looked at us when Elkis said we weren't from here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it might be my imagination but I think he might have been expecting us."

"Expecting us?"

"Uh-huh."

"That doesn't make any sense. We don't even know the guy."

"Hey I didn't say it made any sense that's just how it looked to me."

"Whatever. I just hope that guy stays away from me."

"I wonder if he's in my book."

"What?"

"I mean I wonder if there's a character in my book who looks like him."

"If there is he must be a gremlin or something." Nasha said going into the bathroom. "Come on we better wash up for dinner. You know how Elkis is about hygiene."

"Okay."

...

Ever since that meeting in the forest Erza and Princess Lucy had become fast friends. Not only did Lucy give Erza something to eat and warm clothes but she also helped her get a job in the castle. She worked as one of her ladies in-waiting and she ended up being Lucy's favorite lady in-waiting. When they were together they were always laughing and talking, like two school girls who had been friends forever.

Erza lived quite well in the castle and she enjoyed not only being Lucy's lady in-waiting but being her friend. In fact Lucy was the first friend Erza ever made and she was really grateful for her friendship.  However as Erza got to know Lucy more she realized that Lucy seemed to be holding a certain sadness inside of her. Like there was something in her life that was making her miserable. Wanting to make her feel better, Erza decided to ask her about it one day.

"How are you feeling today your highness?" Erza asked pouring her a cup of tea.

"Erza we've been through this. Call me Lucy." The blonde giggled. "And I am feeling very well thank you." 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. What would make you think otherwise?"

"If you'll forgive me for saying Lucy, for the past few months I've known you I've noticed that something seems to be disturbing you. Would you mind telling me if something is?"

Lucy looked away from her, appearing to feel shame.

"I...I don't want to burden you with my problems." She said.

"I'm your friend. If you can't tell me what's bothering you then who can you tell?"

Lucy took a breath and looked back at her.

"Very well." She said. "What's troubling me is that my kingdom is facing deranged mad man who's been using magic to kill my subjects."

"Really? I haven't heard anything like that happening."

"I've done everything I can to keep my people from finding out because I don't want them to panic. He only kills one person at a time and I've done all I can to stop him but he's just too smart and too powerful. He only cease this mad murder spree if I give into his demands."

"What is it that he demands of you?"

"My hand in marriage. He wishes to usurp my father's place as king through me and he knows how deeply I care for my people which is why when he refused he chose to target them instead of me. Their blood is on my hands and I'm not sure if I can live with that any longer."

"What are you saying my lady?"

"For the good of my people I fear that I must wed him."

"Lucy you can't possibly marry a man like that."

"I have no choice. I just can't allow him to keep threatening my subjects."

"There must be someway to stop him."

"There is." She walked over to a drawer and pulled something from inside of it. It was a small bottle that contained a black liquid. "This potion will remove any magic or power from a person's body. If he were to drink this he would be completely powerless and my men would be able to capture him."

"So why not trick him into drinking it?"

"He knows better than to trust me and he's seen everyone who works in my castle. If I were to send a servant or guard in disguise to give it to him he'd recognize them from a mile away. So my plan is hopeless."

"Maybe not." Erza said. "He's never seen me has he?"

"No. He has not."

"Maybe I could give it to him?"

"Oh no it's much too risky. If he were to find out who you were he'd kill you in a heart beat."

"I'm a lot tougher than I look Lucy and he couldn't possibly suspect me of working with you. He's never seen me."

"I'm not really sure."

"Lucy you've been nothing but kind to me these past few months. You've given me food, a home, work, and your friendship. During all that time I've been asking myself what I could possibly do to repay you for all that and it looks like the opportunity for it has finally arrived."

"You would take such a huge risk just for me?"

"Of course. I would do anything to help you. Your best friend...My only friend."

For a moment Lucy seemed to be genuinely touched by Erza's words and she even looked a little guilty about something. But then she quickly shook those emotions away and composed herself. 

"Alright if you want to help me I won't stop you." She handed Erza the bottle and a map that she had tucked away in that same drawer. "This map should take you to the pub where he typically drinks. Pass yourself off as a serving wench and slip the potion into his beer. Make sure that he drinks it."

"Okay but how will you know that he'll be there?"

"Believe me I know. He'll be there today at sun down."

"Will he try to harm me?"

"No. He never instigates any fights when he's going to put alcohol in his system. He's afraid it'll throw him off and make him sloppy."

"Anything else I should know?"

"He's terribly skilled and very manipulative. When you meet him he'll come off as unintelligent and harmless but it's all an act I assure you. He's much more sinister then he let's on."

"You know him quite well."

"How could I not? He's terrorized my people."

"Right."

"Tomorrow morning I'll have a horse ready for you. Please be careful and try not to do anything that will give you away."

"I won't fail you. But one more thing."

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Natsu. His name is Natsu."