Nervously staring at the Fairy Tail guild, I gulped while tightening my hold around Carla for insurance; after hearing about 'him', I was having second thoughts. 'M-Maybe I should return at a different time? W-What if he's in there? Y-Yeah, I should return later.'
Having made up my mind, I nodded to myself and stepped back, intending to put as much distance between me and this terrifying death-trap; however, before I could, Natsu suddenly grabbed my hand. "What are you waiting for, Wendy, c'mon!" "N-Natsu!" Without any opportunity to react, Natsu dragged me along, forcing me to follow him as we caught up with Gray and Erza.
'Oh no! No, no, no, no! I-I don't want to die!' Natsu busted through the doors of the guild right after Gray and Erza had entered, prompting me to yank my hand free and quickly hide behind Erza.
"Haha, we're back!" Shouting with joy, Natsu released a firebreath while walking confidently into the guild. "Oh, look, whose back, Natsu and co." "Tch, dammit, Natsu's back? I was enjoying the peace." As I peeked from behind Erza's leg, I glanced at a pair of middle-aged men sitting at the bar, and the first ones to respond.
"Fufu, Fairy Tail isn't Fairy Tail when there is peace." "Haha, sis is right! Peace isn't manly! C'mon, who wants to spar?" Shifting my gaze to the gorgeous woman standing behind the bar and the large man off to the distance, I quickly got scared, thinking the man was him. However, I sighed in relief when the gorgeous woman suppressed him with a mere glare. "Haa, that's not him, thank goodness."
Placing a hand upon my rapidly beating heart, I continued to look around, observing the guild while searching for 'him'. "Hehe, Gray! Gray, you've returned! Come to me!" "J-Juvia, show some sense of decency, everyone will get the wrong idea!" "Hehe, let them get the wrong idea."
As Gray tried to push Juvia, who was latched onto him like a koala, off him, I tilted my head, confused by their relationship, before shaking my head. "Hehe, stop it, Alzack." "Stop what, Bisca?" Spotting a pair of flirting couples, I felt my cheeks burn up while heat flooded my body, prompting me to quickly avert my gaze from embarrassment. "T-To flirt so openly."
In the corner of the room, I saw a large man painting a beautiful brown-haired woman. "So, how's this? No, maybe this? How about this?" The woman, highly confident in her appearance, kept constantly changing poses; she also must've had little shame, given her outfit. 'I-I can see so much cleavage! W-Will I also look like that in a few years?'
My cheeks flushed once more as I stared at her cleavage, only for me to look down at my flat chest, sighing in defeat. "U-Um, any pose is good, Evergreen. You look beautiful in all of them." "Hmph, I-I know."
As Evergreen finally settled into a single pose, I looked at the quest board, where I saw a large, darker-skinned man standing, though he looked pretty harmless, so he couldn't be 'him'.
Looking at a nearby table, I spotted five people playing cards.
"Heh, two pair, good luck, Droy." Smirking, he threw down four cards. "Tch, son of a. Don't think I'm out, Jet!" Tossing two cards down, Droy scoffed at Jet before they looked to the next person. "Heh, a two pair ain't bad, but what about a three of a kind?" Grinning, the man with a bowl-cut tossed three cards down, causing Jet and Droy to click their tongues. "Tsk, Max, you sneaky–" "Alright, I'm next." Faintly smiling, the fourth man threw four cards down.
"Four of a kind?" "Dammit, Warren won." "My money!" Jet, Droy, and Max, upset at their assumed loss, didn't even realize when the last person put down five cards. "Straight Flush. My win you bastards." At his words, the three sulking men and Warren, who had thought he'd won, all froze and looked at the fifth man. "No way, you just had a Straight Flush, Vijeeter." "Heh, I got the last card I needed last round. Now, looks like I'm 20,000 jewels up."
'That looks fun. Wonder if I can play it.' While I found the game fun, I shook my head, remaining focused as I continued to search for 'him'. In another corner of the room, a man and woman were talking enthusiastically, but the topic left me confused.
"Eh, shouldn't you polarize this part, and reverse it for better flow, Fried?" "Yes, but if I do that, it'll make it too long to cast during a fight, so I skip it and instead magnatize it." "Oh, I see. That would be a better option." "Learning how to fight with these wouldn't be a bad thing, Levy." "Ha, nah, I'm good, just curious."
'A-Am I stupid?' Rubbing my head as I understood absolutely nothing, I gazed at the last group, which was a man with long dark hair and one with a knight-like mask covering half his face. Neither was speaking; they were just sitting quietly.
"I-It looks like 'he' isn't here." Seeing how 'he' wasn't present, I sighed in relief. "Who is this pretty little lady, Erza?" "EEEK!" Hearing a voice directly behind me, I jumped in fear, and stood in front of Erza, staring at the person who had sneaked behind me, only to see an old man, who I was actually taller than.
"Master, why did you scare her?" "Haha, I didn't mean to. Anyway, who is she?" Hearing Erza call him master, I hesitantly peeked from behind Erza and looked. "A-Are you t-the Guild M-Master?" "Heh, yep, the one and only! Guild Master Makarov." I don't know what is about him, but his large, confident grin was very comforting. "She's a new member, Gramps!"
At Natsu's words, Makarov raised an eyebrow and smirked before suddenly growing before my very eyes until his head nearly hit the ceiling. "Listen up, everyone!" He didn't shout, but his voice was thunderous; though, having successfully gathered everyone's attention, Makarov shrank back to normal size while landing on the bar.
"We have a new member, let her introduce herself." Makarov pointed at me, instantly making me the center of attention as I felt numerous pairs of eyes on me. "Heh, she's pretty." "Yeah, she'll definitely grow into a beauty in a few years." "Fufu, yes, she will, and if I find out you two old men are flirting with her, then I'll cripple you." "H-Haha, j-just making an observation, Mira. You know I've got only you in my eyes." "Y-Yeah." "Fufu."
With everyone focusing on me, Erza stepped aside, leaving me as the center of attention with nowhere to hide. 'C'mon, Wendy, y-you've made it this far, it's just introducing yourself, you can do it.' "U-Um, I'm Wendy Marvell, i-it's a pleasure to meet you all, a-and I'd like to join Fairy Tail!"
There was a brief bout of silence before it quickly erupted. "Haha, she wants to join Fairy Tail? Which brat scammed her?" "Oh, she's going to be in for a rough time." "Either way, I'm all for it; we need more women." "Heh, the more the merrier." "But is she strong? We don't want her injured on the job." "She survived being with Team Natsu; she's definitely strong." "True."
Everyone seemed rather optimistic, which made me sigh with relief, since my worries about being unable to join the guild and about not liking me were baseless. Though out of nowhere, I was suddenly lifted into the air by the back of my collar. "Huh, why does this little pipsqueak smell like flame-head?" Looking behind me, it was the man with long, black hair holding me up, and I do admit, he looked much scarier up close.
'W-Wait, is he actually him!?' As he leaned in closer, I clenched my eyes shut, scared of whatever he was about to do, though thankfully, nothing came. "That's not very nice, Gajeel, you're scaring her." Landing on the ground, I opened my eyes, glancing at Gajeel, who was slammed into the ground by Mirajane, whose entire arm had transformed into a monster.
"I-I didn't mean it!" Releasing Gajeel, Mirajane's arm returned to normal as she gently rubbed my head. "I'm deeply sorry, Wendy." "U-Um, it's fine, Gajeel, he didn't mean any harm." "Oh, I wasn't speaking about Gajeel, I was apologizing on the guild's behalf; you had to spend days with that waste of woman, Erza. I genuinely pity you, but I'm also amazed at your strength. I would've long-since taken my own life."
As Mirajane rubbed my head, I tilted my head in pure confusion, though that confusion quickly turned into fear. "What did you just say, Mirajane?" With her hand on her hilt, Erza stepped forward, her eyes dangerously narrowing. "I said I'd kill myself if I had to spend days of my precious life with you." Mirajane didn't back down and instead stepped forward.
"Eh, G-Gray, s-shouldn't you stop, Mirajane?" Although Mirajane seemed strong, Erza was a monster; I was worried she'd get hurt, but Gray, who was still dealing with a clingy Juvia, just shook his head. "Huh, you trying to get me killed, Wendy? Stop Erza and Mira? Hell no." When Gray finished shaking his head, Erza and Mirajane unleashed an overwhelming amount of magic power as they clashed.
"Then let me do it for you, dumbass!" "As if! You couldn't kill me in your dreams, red-bitch!" "Fucking slut!" "Whore!" "Bitch!" Violently and aggressively, the two clashed, forcing me to lower myself to the ground, latching onto the ground lest I be flung away.
"A-Are they always like this!?" "Y-Yeah. When they're like this, only four people can stop them. Three of them aren't here, and Master seems to be enjoying the show." Looking at Makarov, I saw him staring at Erza and Mirajan with a perverted expression, which made any hope I had vanish.
"C-Carla." "Yes, Wendy." "I-I think we made a m-mistake!" "I-I do too!"