As we walked down into the guild hall, I cautiously looked around, "Old man, how many people here know who I am?" As I've mentioned before, trusting others wasn't something that came with the territory, there was no way I could just walk down here with no idea of what was about to happen.

I growled slightly when the old man chuckled, "Don't worry, Miss Ember, your identity is going to be kept quiet; if we told everyone who you were, the magic council would find out that you were here in a heartbeat and we'd all be in trouble. The only people who will know anything will be Laxus and his team, Miana Harper, who oversees keeping this place together, and me."

Anxiety welled up in me, but I kept walking; it was apparent that I have very little choice in the matter now, but I didn't really expect anything different; I was still marveling at the fact that I wasn't going straight to the Magic Council for punishment, so anything was a plus compared to that.

When we reached the main landing, my eyes widened at the sight that greeted me; all around the hall, there were people, laughing, fighting, and drinking... I had never seen anything like it before, it was all so lighthearted.

The old man led me to a lady who looked at me kindly, "Hello dear," I almost cringed away from her at the sweetness in her voice, it was way too much... "Master Makarov told me that you're the new recruit, I hope we can grow to be good friends!"

I nodded, doing my best to keep a neutral face and not scrunch it up in irritation like I wanted to, "Maybe."

Miana shot an uncomfortable look at the old man, who simply shrugged and gestured, which prompted her to leave and come back a second later with a large rubber looking stamp. "This is our guild mark, where would you like it?" Perhaps it was bad of me, but I couldn't help but smirk slightly when her tone changed from sickly sweet to far more subdued... Thank God for that!

Without a word, I moved my hair aside and pointed to my upper neck, just below my chin; it was a place that I had yet to see someone have a mark on, which surprised me. People seemed to like putting their marks in visible or weird places, like the tongue tattoo the soul mage had; I saw no reason to be any different, plus, I always liked the idea of a neck tattoo.

The stamp was placed against my neck for a moment, and when it was pulled away, the soul mage approached me, "It matches your eyes, that looks pretty good, Ember!" He probably only approached me to break the ice, but I appreciated it, to some extent. It was weird enough to think that I was a part of a legal guild, and that's not even factoring in how I got here; I didn't want to add buddying up with the people I tried to kill to the mix.

I slowly became aware of a glare drilling into the back of my head, though it didn't take a genius to figure out who was the one glaring. The angry spark plug (I hope you all got that, it was fairly obvious...) pulled out a piece of paper and shoved it to the grass head, "We're going on a job tomorrow, let's meet in front of the guild at dawn." His voice was full of contempt, which was amplified by the nasty look he was shooting me the whole time. Without waiting for an answer, he spun around and stormed out of the guild, leaving behind several rather confused people in his wake.

The doors slammed shut behind him as I watched with one eyebrow raised, what a drama queen... A hand dropped on my shoulder, and I had to stop myself from lashing out on instinct, "It's okay, he'll get over it, don't take it to heart." The soul mage squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, he obviously thought I had been offended by the spark plugs actions.

Quickly I shrugged his hand off me and turned to him, "Please don't touch me; I don't really care if the spark plug hates me, because if I were in his position, I would probably do the same." My words caused him to take a step back in slight alarm; I looked from the soul mage to the other two in turn, "I'm here because the old man decided to try and reform me, which is a horrible idea. I'll help you as much as I'm able, but don't think for a second that I'm going to do an about face and become enthusiastic about this fucking lifestyle. I'll see you in front of the guild tomorrow." Hopefully that would get my point across; I turned away from the small group who were all staring at me with shock and walked to a booth in the corner, sitting down and lying my head back against the backboard.

The guild was a noisy bustle of life around me, and I watched the people carefully, cataloging whatever information I learned away for later use. I knew what the old man wanted, but I gave the spark plug three months before he couldn't deal with me anymore and he turned me in to the magic council; it just seemed to be his personality. Don't get me wrong, I was willing to try and make this work... This would be interesting.

As I sat there, I couldn't help but think about what I would need to do over the next little while now that I was a part of a legal guild; first item of business would be to get back to my house and either empty it out or bring stuff back with me. My current question was whether I should break contact with Gavin and some of my other underground contacts... they could come in handy, but for right now I could afford to let it sit.

***

The next morning came quickly for me, as all I had done for the rest of the day was sit there and watch the guild quietly from the sidelines. I had a lot to think about, and after sleeping in the guild the night before all I wanted was to run to my temporary home to take a shower; it was amazing how just a few days of being dirty made you feel like a stranger in your own skin.

I was sitting on the roof, watching as the city came to life, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen; rarely in my job did I ever get the chance to just sit and watch the sun rise. It wasn't long before the first member of the spark plug's team showed up, of course it was the grass head. Next came the soul mage and the fairy girl walking together, and of course, lastly was the spark plug, looking as ticked as ever.

I could barely hear them talking from my position above them, but I was able to get out the gist of their conversation as the spark plug approached, me.

"She's not here yet?" That must have been the fairy girl, unless of course the soul mage had been hit where it hurts and currently sounded soprano.

"No, I haven't seen her since last night," It was disappointing that I couldn't see their expressions, as they were standing below the ledge I was sitting near, but that didn't stop the wariness in the grass head's voice from making it to me loud and clear, "I imagine that she spent the night here, so I don't know where she'd go."

"Well, she obviously didn't go too far, or she'd be paralyzed right now. I'd say we give her another minute."

"Fine, we wait another minute, but that's all... If she's not here by then, we leave and let her get shocked."

A grin crossed my face as he said this, perhaps it was time for me to come off the roof; after all, he was waiting for me oh so graciously.

Doing my best to move without sound, I stood and backed up a couple of steps before launching myself forward. As soon as my feet left the roof, I used well practiced abilities to twist in the air into the position I needed to be in, so I could land without shattering my legs.

A couple of shocked screams from inside the guild caught the attention of the spark plug and his team, who turned around just in time to see me hit the ground at a ridiculously fast speed. I kicked off the ground and rolled a couple times before springing back to my feet in front of the spark plug gang, "Hey, can we stop by my house before we head out? I need to grab some things."

I swear, at that moment, my composure nearly broke; the looks on their faces was just priceless, the fairy girl and soul mage both looked like they were about to pass out from shock, while the other two were looking at me like I was a ghost who had just popped up out of the ground.

"What?" I was working hard to keep my voice sounding as innocent as possible, "You said you were going to leave without me, so I took the quickest way down... Can we stop at my place before we get to the mission?"

The spark plug was the first one to respond, shaking himself out of his shock, "What the hell were you thinking coming down like that?! Do you want to scare people to death?"

Panic filled his voice, but I simply shrugged and started walking away, "I'm going to take that as a yes, my home is in Balsam Village, which in on our way. Let's go, from what I know, the train'll be leaving in fifteen minutes."

I couldn't see it, but I knew that the rest of my team was exchanging looks as they hesitantly followed me down the street. The smile I had been wearing faded as I delved back into my own thoughts; I needed to stop at Gavin's shop along the way somewhere. It had been a while since I had my magic draining solution and I knew I would need more here soon; I could already feel my magical energy building up in my chest.

Of course, this presented a completely new dilemma which I contemplated as we boarded the train. Did I really want this team I was assigned to, to meet my contact? Honestly, there was nothing that could go right about that scenario... Gavin's normal clients were shady at best, and the spark plug and his team were about as opposite as you could get from that.

If anything, meeting Gavin would just give the spark plug more of a reason to not trust me... Not that I thought he should in the first place, but Fairy Tail was all that was standing between me and the magic council. Obviously, I appreciated this far more than I would incarceration, but there were a few things that probably needed to be kept away from Fairy Tail's knowledge for now.

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned to the soul mage, who seemed to be the only one comfortable with touching me thus far. "We're about to Balsam Village, where exactly is your home?"

I smiled slightly at the question, this was one thing I couldn't help but be a bit excited for, "It's not far from the train station, you'll see." No way was I giving away the surprise yet.

The train ground to a halt and I let the way of the train with the 'Thunder God tribe' in tow... Well, most of them, the spark plug was still sitting in his chair, grimacing as though someone had just punched him in the gut.

"Oi," I called over my shoulder, "If you don't move now, you'll be trapped on the train till the next stop." The spark plug growled at me which did nothing but make me grin slightly. I really should have left it there, but I couldn't help but push just a bit more. "Seriously, I expected more from one of the only dragon slayers around... To think I had high hopes for you."

Despite not turning around to see how my words affected him, I could tell that he tried to lunge for me, but collapsed to his knees with the groan; the rumors about Dragon Slayers having motion sickness must be true. How interesting.

The other stayed behind to help the spark plug get back on his feet, but I kept going; they would catch up eventually, so there is no point in waiting for them like a good little dog. I got off the train and walked to the wall of the train station, looking for the most inconspicuous trigger I owned.

The people I had inherited the house from where obsessed with security, which made sense when you realize that they taught me everything I knew about my trade. When they first showed me the entryway for my home, I was beyond irritated, but as the years went by I grew to appreciate that and safety of my teachers paranoia.

"What the hell are you doing." The spark plug had finally made it off the train, now it was time for the real show to begin. "Have you forgotten that we came here for you,so hurry up and get your shi-"

I cut him off by reaching up and pressing three rocks on the wall at the same time, causing a click to come from a pillar behind me. A smile lit up my face as I turned back to the spark plug and his group, who were looking at a nearby pillar in awe. Perhaps this was a bit showy, but my teachers were careful in teaching me how to avoid attention when opening the door.

Without another word, I walked over to the pillar that had a panel open, revealing a spiral staircase and climbed in. It was well cleaned and made so that someone like me would have no issue getting down quickly. I was about to leave sight of the station when the spark plug and his gang finally unfroze.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going!"

"This is incredible, there must be a lacrima connected to the two points as well as a strong enchantment to keep people from find-"

"Oh, shut up Freed, now is so not the time to go on one of your nerd rants!"

In that moment, I was almost glad that I was stuck with this group; I was genuinely chuckling, which is something that hadn't happened in many years.

Sticking my head back slightly, I made eye contact with the group and waved, "If you're coming, you need to get in now, the door won't stay open forever."

The grass head stepped forward first, with a look of unbridled excitement on his face,"May I ask where this leads?" He asked, looking like a green puppy.

"I told you guys I had to go to my home, didn't I?" my voice was light, amusement shining through as I gestured to them again, "Now if you're coming, hurry up... Otherwise, I'll see you in 10 minutes with my stuff."
There wasn't time to wait, so I continue down the staircase for another twenty or so feet. The other climbed in behind me reluctantly (except of course for the grass head, who probably would have gone in head first if the soul mage hadn't stopped him), which made me smile even more, especially when the fairy girl squealed at the entry panel closed.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a light lacrima, lighting it up and passing it back to her, "Take this, it'd be better if you didn't use your magic in here."

A three foot tall tunnel waited for us at the end of the staircase, which I climbed into without hesitation. No longer waiting to see what the others reactions were, I walked forward for a while until we reached a thick wooden door.

Finally, it has been a rollercoaster, but I was back at the place I called home.