"Lucy? Lucy Heartfilia?" Macao asked and I flinched. I didn't think he was going to recognize me.

"Yes?" I said.

"I thought I recognized you!" He laughed, and I could tell that he was enjoying seeing a friendly face. I couldn't say I felt the same right now. "You're in my third period English class." 

"Uh yeah." I confirmed. 

"Well even though it's been some time, your eye looks much better." He said and handed me some of the reward money. "Or when you logged in did it not come through on your avatar?"

"Umm, thank you." I said, grabbing the bag of money and left before he could ask me anything else. I left the cave and quickly walked down the mountain path by myself. I wasn't sure what to do. Do I just leave now? Or do I stick around and possibly join a Guild that I've wanted join since day one? A Guild that wasn't made for me.

I could only hope that for the time being that Macao wouldn't say anything else to Natsu. Not that Macao would have the whole story anyway. Only me and her know the real reason it all started. Not even her little friends know why she started ripping on me, they enjoyed having a new little plaything. Almost no one knows that it's Lisana that did that to me, those who did were either in on it or blackmailed to keep quiet.

"Hey there Miss!" I heard and looked up to see the driver of the carriage. "Glad to see you made it back alright. Where's your friend and the talking cat? Are they alright?"

"Yes they're fine." I told him. "They'll be coming down in a bit, we found a friend who got lost and they're helping him down the mountain."

"Oh well, that's good you found your friend." He told me and he looked relieved. 

I gave him a fake smile and started walking past the cart, I knew the driver couldn't see me from where he was seated because he said nothing as I started just walking away. I needed to find a new place to stay, there was just too many risks that came with staying here in Magnolia. 

"I can't imagine what would have happened if he had gotten lost up there for too long." He suddenly piped up, and I could feel myself slowing. As if something within me wanted to hear what he had to say for some reason. "You've got to keep your friends close now a days. Never know when something bad will happen and you need help. It's nice you kids have friends you can rely on to pull each other out of trouble." I suddenly stopped completely; he was right. I came out here for no reason really. I tagged along with a guy, I just met, to help out a guy who used to be my teacher before he got stuck inside a very dangerous game. A game, where any other player could be the reason of your death. A place, where sending someone to a game over screen isn't as serious in the real world.

All because . . . . what?

"Yeah." I agreed with the driver and turned to look at him, but he was facing forward up the mountain where just up the path we could see Natsu helping Macao down the mountain. 

"We've got to stick together out here, don't we?" I asked and started walking back past the carriage and up the path.

"Hey where did you go?" Natsu called out. He had Macao's arm over his shoulders, and was taking on a lot of Macao's wight to get him down the mountain.

"I just wanted to make sure the path would be clear enough for you guys." I lied. "The storm was pretty bad earlier. I'm just glad it stopped not long after we got here." I grabbed Macso's other arm and took some of his weight onto me. "I was just on my way back up there to help. Since we've got to stick together."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, thank you!" Natsu yelled as he threw himself out of the carriage as soon as it stopped. I stepped out of the carriage and helped Macao down, where Natsu then took his arm around his neck and helped him walk. 

Macao got to rest on the journey back to town and was already feeling good enough to walk almost completely by himself. So, I stayed a few feet behind them as we walked, I didn't want to get into another conversation about one of my past injuries. Thankfully both of the boys were practically passed out on the way back here, so there wasn't much conversation.

"Hey Romeo!" Natsu called out. I looked up to see Romeo sitting on the steps of his house, crying. "Look who we found!" But Romeo had already tackled Macao to the ground in the biggest hug I've ever seen. I smiled and me and Natsu kept walking in the direction of the Guild. 

"Hey Natsu! Thank you!" Romeo called after us. "Thank you too Lucy!" I then stopped and turned around. And I saw Romeo waving while he was still crying, but he was so happy. I smiled and waved back before continuing to follow Natsu. We walked all the way back to Fairy Tail, where we split. I walked over to the bar and sat down, while Natsu went to go tell the story about how he beat the crap out of a Vulcan.

"Hey Mira." I said and Mira turned to me before smiling. 

"Hey Lucy." She said. "What can I get you?" I slapped my right hand down on the bar. 

"One Guild Mark please." I said. "Pink." And I had never been so confident about something my whole life. She smiled at me before grabbing the stamp and placing my Guild mark on my hand.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail my dear." Master Makorov said as he sat down beside me. 

"Thank you Master." I said, as I smiled. 

But I lost that smile, the second I felt my hood get tugged. I went reaching for it, but it was too late. It was down and around my shoulders already. I quickly turned around in my seat to see Macao was the one that pulled it.

"Thought so." He said and became terrified.

"Macao!" I yelled, I looked past him and everyone was already staring at us. I tried to hide my ears, but it was too late. Everyone had seen. And everyone was talking.

"I'm sorry Lucy." Macao told me. "But now that you're a member, you can't hide something like this. I know you're just trying to be safe and look out for yourself, but you don't have to be alone in doing that anymore." I looked at him and he was smiling. His voice sounded as if he was talking to Romeo, it was really comforting.

"I knew something smelled off." Natsu said, a little excited from being right, as he walked up to us.

"How'd you know?" I asked without looking at anyone.

"When I was taken over by the Vulcan, it could sense you. All AI's are going to know the basic information about everyone." Macao said, and I jumped when he said it. I then looked at Master who was still sitting in the seat next to me and Happy was sitting on the bar next to him.

"You two knew?" I asked.

"Of course we did." Happy said.

"Why did you lie about being a human?" Natsu asked me, stepping forward and passed Macao.

"Because I didn't know what you guys would do if you knew I was an Elf." I said and I lowered my head. "My species are extremely rare and powerful. My kind can be hunted for our magic power. Though the game is still new, I have no doubt in my mind that I will be hunted later. It's why I didn't want to join the Guild right away, because I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what any of you would do."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gray asked, walking up to get more into the conversation. 

"It's nothing personal." I told them. "It's just, I don't know any of you. And since I joined the game, I've been told to find an Elven Guild, and to watch my back."

"Well, you don't have to watch it alone." Master said as he placed his hand under my chin, I was trying not to cry. He lifted me head up. "And don't lower your head for anyone, anymore." He told me. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All Guild Masters are AI's. And their attitude and behavior is set by the attitude and behavior of the Guild members."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah Lucy! You're a member of Fairy Tail now." Natsu said. "And if you are hunted. They'll have to go through hell to get to you." Macao placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me, and so was everyone else. I couldn't help but cry a little. 

"Thank you, guys." I said. Natsu lowered his head and his shoulders sank a little, almost like he was sad. "Natsu?" I asked and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey!" Natsu suddenly got excited and lifted his head, making me jump out of my own skin for a second. "You want to be teammates?" He asked me, as he opened his menu.

"Really?" I asked, but I already had the friend request along with a team request. I opened my menu and went to my inbox. "So that's why you're called Salamander." I laughed as I saw his gamertag for the first time. He had named himself after his Dad's nickname. And without even thinking I pressed 'accept'. And then friend requests started rolling in like crazy, from everyone in the guild.

"Lucy." Master said, pulling my attention from my inbox. "I want you to know that if you don't want to stay here anymore, whether it be someone tries to take advantage of your magical abilities, or you eventually find an Elven Guild. You are free to leave the Guild at anytime." He told me and I looked out at all of my new members. 

"Thank you Master." I said. "But I don't think that will be necessary." And with that I hit accept all.