3

Chapter 3 – First Mission and the Take-Over Siblings

"Quest, quest, quest, which one should I take?" Natsu mumbled to himself as he stood in front of the request board in the Guild Hall. It was Natsu's first official day as a Fairy Tail mage and the young Dragon Slayer wanted to complete his first quest. "Hmm, I bet I could complete this Monster Slaying quest. The reward is one hundred thousand jewels. That would definitely last a while, right?" With the request in hand Natsu approached the receptionist behind the bar, technically she was just the bar maid that was logging which members were taking which quests today.

"Hello, Natsu, what can I do for you?" She asked kindly as Natsu grinned back at her.

"I wanna take this quest!" Natsu replied as he placed the request on the bar top.

"I'm sorry Natsu, but you can't take this quest." The bar maid replied after looking it over.

"Huh? Why not? I can totally beat the monster they're describing in the request!" Natsu argued as he re-read the request again to make sure he'd understood what kind of monster needed to be slayed.

"I'm not saying you can't Natsu, but this is a C-Rank quest." She explained pointing at a large 'C' stamped onto the upper left of the request paper. "Right now you're brand new to being a mage and so you're E-Ranked. You can only take E-Rank quests unless Master Makarov directly selects you for a higher ranked quest."

"Oh, well that's stupid; I can totally destroy that monster." Natsu muttered as he placed his head against the bar top. The bar maid giggled at the pouting Dragon Slayer.

"How about I pick out a request for you, Natsu?" She asked kindly.

"Ok! Pick out a good one!" Natsu instantly went back to cheerful at the offer. The bar maid walked over to the request board and browsed it for a minute before picking a request off of it and returning to Natsu.

"How about this one, Natsu?" She smiled as she showed him the request.

"Let's see, farmer is moving onto a newly established farm on the outskirts of Magnolia. Needs a trench dug through a field and towards the river to provide water for livestock. They're specifically requesting an Earth Mage for the job. Reward is twenty five thousand jewels." Natsu read off the request.

"You can use Earth Magic, right Natsu?" The bar maid asked with a grin.

"Yep, my Earth Dragon Slayer Magic could get this done easy!" Natsu replied with a toothy smile.

"This is also an E-Rank quest so you're allowed to take it." She stated as she tapped the large 'E' stamped on the upper left corner.

"Alright! I wanna take this quest!" Natsu exclaimed as he bounced on the bar stool he was sitting on.

"Sure thing just let me put the in-progress stamp on it." The bar maid replied as she took out a stamp and stamped the request paper. The Fairy Tail Guild Symbol appeared on the request with the words 'In-Progress by Natsu Dragneel' under it.

"What's this about?" Natsu asked as he looked at the stamped request.

"That request is probably in a few other guilds close to Magnolia as well. When we stamp it with the in-progress stamp it shows that a mage of our guild is currently taking the request. The mark that is on your request is now on every copy of that request in every Guild within Fiore. This prevents multiple mages from different guilds from taking the same requests at the same time." She explained while Natsu's eyes widened at the magic involved with taking requests.

"That's cool! So I'm good to go now, right?" Natsu asked as he jumped down off the bar stool.

"Yes you are. Have a good day Natsu." The bar maid waved goodbye before going back to tending the bar. Natsu waved back before heading out of the Guild Hall. After reading the directions to the farm Natsu started walking down the main road of Magnolia to get to the outskirts where the farm should be. It only took about an hour of walking before Natsu arrived at the edges of the farm. After following the fence Natsu found the farmhouse and walked up to the front door. A few knocks and a muffled 'I'm coming.' from inside brought Natsu face to face with his client.

The farmer was of average height and wearing jeans with a light brown work shirt. Natsu quickly noticed the man was also using crutches and had his left leg in a cast. The farmer looked down at the ten year old boy at his front door before speaking.

"Can I help you, youngster?" he questioned.

"I'm Natsu from the Fairy Tail Guild. I'm here to complete this request." Natsu replied as he showed the request paper to the man. The farmer looked at it before smiling at the young man.

"So you're an Earth Mage then?" the farmer asked.

"Yep, I can move dirt and rock easy!" Natsu nodded with a grin.

"Well that's good. I was starting to think no one was going to take my request. I put it up almost two weeks ago and my livestock are being delivered two days from now. Glad to have you here, youngster. Follow me and I'll show you where to dig the trench." The farmer chuckled as he started making his way to the back of the house. Natsu followed along and once the two were behind the farm house saw two rows of stakes marking a long line through the field. "Just dig down a good meter or so between the stakes and stop. It doesn't need to be any deeper than that. Start at the area over by the hill there. Then make your way towards the river at the other end of the stakes." The man explained as he motioned towards an area that led towards a hill. Natsu noticed that the hill sloped downward from the farm and assumed that is where the water would drain from the trench.

"Sure thing mister, what about when I get to the river?" Natsu asked.

"Just make sure you're out of the trench and then breach the riverbank a bit. That will get a good amount of water flowing through the trench. That should be all the water I'll need for my livestock when they get here in two days." The farmer replied as he nodded to the young mage. "I'll leave you to it, youngster."

"I'll be done before you know it!" Natsu proclaimed with a grin as he ran over towards the hill. Looking down the hill Natsu noticed another river at the bottom. "Is that the same river?" he wondered before looking around the fenced in field and noticing the layout of the farm for the first time. The river flowed near the edge of the farm and went around the fenced in fields. It then flowed down the hill and towards the huge lake that the town of Magnolia was built next to.

"Huh, that farmer guy really planned this out. He gets a small stream to water his livestock and the excess water just flows right back into the river it came from. That's smart!" Natsu nodded before he focused his magic towards his hands. "Earth Dragon's Burrowing Talons!" Rock began to form on Natsu's hands before taking on the shape of dragon claw-like gauntlets. "Let's get started!"

With enthusiasm Natsu began to dig into the ground with speed and ease. It only took about thirty seconds before he was at the proper depth for the trench. With equal ease Natsu began to widen the hole until it fit between the two stake markers. Now with the appropriate depth and width achieved Natsu easily started lengthening the trench. Popping his head up over the edge from time to time just to make sure he was staying in between the markers the farmer had set up. Almost an hour later Natsu had reached the river bank and climbed out of the trench.

"Ok, now I just have to make a hole in the bank so that water starts flowing through the trench. Seems easy enough." Natsu nodded as he channeled his magic into another spell. The stone dragon claw gauntlets cracked into hunks of rock that floated above Natsu's hands before he launched his spell. "Earth Dragon's Wing Beat!" With a wave of his arms the rocks shot towards the riverbank at high speed and slammed into the wall of wet dirt. Natsu waited for a second to see if he'd have to hit the wall again. Within a few moments that question was answered as the wet wall of dirt gave way and water flooded into the trench.

"Awesome!" Natsu cheered as he started running alongside the trench trying to keep up with the flowing water. Running the length of the field following the water as it progressed through the trench Natsu soon came to the hill. Watching the water flow down the hill and rejoin the river again made Natsu fist pump at his success. Looking back at the trench and seeing all the dirt piles next to it gave Natsu and idea. Within a matter of minutes Natsu had spread the loose dirt all over the field. The size of the field kept the dirt from being noticeable as it was spread so thin that it sank below the grass. Natsu had also snacked on a bit of the dirt to recharge the magic he'd expended from using his spells. With his job done Natsu walked up to the back of the farmhouse and knocked again. The injured farmer came out on his crutches, upon seeing his completed trench with water flowing through it; he smiled down at the young mage.

"Well now, that's some good work youngster! Didn't even take you three hours, I knew hiring a mage was the right decision." The farmer laughed as he took out the request paper from his pocket and signed it. Natsu took the paper from the man and noticed the stamp the bar maid had put on it earlier was faintly glowing. The words below the Guild Symbol changed from 'In-Progress by Natsu Dragneel' to 'Completed by Natsu Dragneel'. "Now when my farm hands get here with the livestock we won't have to worry about how to water them." The man smiled before offering Natsu to have lunch with him and his wife. After a nice lunch with the couple and receiving his payment Natsu made the hour long walk back to Fairy Tail.

"I'm back!" Natsu announced as he shoved the guild doors open and waved the completed request around in the air. "I finished my first quest!"

"Congratulations Natsu, I thought that quest would be right for you." The bar maid smiled as she took the guild's ten percent cut of the quest reward. That had taken some time for Cana to explain the day before to the Dragon Slayer. But after she told him it was to pay the waitresses and for repair costs he'd understood. Especially after a yell from Makarov about somebody breaking a chair just a few seconds after Cana finished her explanation.

After pocketing his cash Natsu looked around the guild hall for something to do. Not seeing Cana or Gray Natsu's eyes landed on Erza sitting at a table off to the side of the guild.

"Maybe she'll have that fight with me now!" Natsu hoped as he rushed over to Erza. Hearing footsteps behind her Erza turned to look at who had approached her. "Hey Erza! You wanna have that spar now?" he asked with a beaming smile and his fists already up.

"You're completely filthy!" Erza exclaimed at seeing Natsu covered head to toe in dirt.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I just finished my first quest! I got a little dirty while I was digging." Natsu explained as he looked down at his dirt covered clothes.

"You need a bath immediately!" Erza ordered as she stood up from her table and grabbed Natsu's wrist.

"What? Can't we fight first?" Natsu asked as Erza started dragging him towards the Guild Hall's showers.

"I'm not going to fight you when you're covered head to toe in dirt, Natsu." Erza replied as she kept dragging him. "Now get in the showers." She commanded as they stood in front of the door labelled 'Guild Showers'.

"Alright already, geez, a little dirt and she gets all weird." Natsu muttered as he walked into the shower area and started getting his dirty clothes off. The guild had robes for the members that may have to make use of the communal showers while they waited for their clothes to be cleaned. Upon noticing a sound behind him Natsu turned to see Erza stripping her clothes off too. "Uh, Erza, what are you doing?" he asked his red haired guild mate a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to shower too and make sure you get clean." Erza replied as she strode over to one of the shower stalls and started the water.

"Why? I know how to bathe myself. Plus Anna said that boys and girls bathed separately." Natsu said confused at his friend's actions.

"There's nothing wrong with a little skinship between comrades, Natsu. Now get in the stall and let's get you clean." Erza stated with finality.

"I'm not sure; this is different than what Anna taught me." Natsu replied nervously his faint blush getting a bit darker. Erza's hand grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the stall was Natsu's first time learning that when Erza said you were going to bathe, you bathed! He wasn't sure whether he should be concerned or just accept Erza's insistence on helping him. By the end of the shower he settled on being weirded out.

-Two Months Later-

In the two months that Natsu had been a Fairy Tail mage he'd completed twenty E-Rank quests and been promoted by Makarov to D-Rank. With more quests available to him Natsu had jumped into work and completed eleven D-Rank quests since his promotion. He'd even helped Cana with one of her Divination quests by retrieving the item she'd been asked to find. The brunette had happily given a portion of the reward to her pink haired friend. When asked why he was working so much Natsu had replied that he wanted to buy a plot of land in the forest outside of Magnolia and build himself a home. The adults of the guild had been surprised, but supportive, of Natsu's desire and had even looked into some real estate for the young mage.

Erza had beaten him in their first fight and Natsu was eager to have a rematch. Sadly Erza worked a lot as well and the time to fight hadn't presented itself again. Gray was around more and the two had brawled on multiple occasions when Erza wasn't around. Natsu was currently in the lead on their fights, according to him since Gray disagreed, but he'd fight with the Ice Pervert whenever they met up.

Today however, Makarov had brought in three new children to the guild. The three were siblings and looked as if they'd had a rough time before being found by Makarov. The oldest sibling was a girl called Mirajane, she was about Erza's age and Natsu could practically smell the magic power coming off the girl. Especially the arm that she kept hidden, even though the limb smelled different than the rest of her. The brother of the trio was called Elfman, he was fairly reserved and calm almost seeming shy with the way he interacted with others. The youngest sibling was a girl called Lisanna. She was sweet and kind and Natsu couldn't help but smile back at the girl when they'd caught each other's eyes as Makarov led the siblings through the door earlier.

"Alright you brats, listen up! We've got three new members joining the Guild today! Make sure you treat them well now that they're a part of our family!" Makarov announced gesturing to the three siblings. The cheers and welcomes rang out from the various guild members as they used the excuse of new members to start partying. The three siblings went to an unoccupied table and sat down together. Natsu, being curious about his new guild mates, quickly wandered over to meet the siblings.

"Hi I'm Natsu Dragneel! What kind of magic do you guys use?" Natsu questioned as he looked between the three siblings excitedly. Mira wrapped her ragged cloak tighter around her hidden arm and didn't say anything.

"We don't use magic yet." Elfman responded quietly a bit taken aback by Natsu's loud greeting.

"But we definitely want to learn!" Lisanna piped up a smile on her face.

"Neat! But what about you Mirajane? I can tell you can use magic! You're pretty strong too! You wanna fight?" Natsu asked with a big smile.

"No." Mira replied in a morose tone.

"What? Why not? A good fight always cheers me up!" Natsu replied almost bouncing in his seat.

"Believe it or not, Natsu, most people don't consider a fight a good time." Cana spoke up as she sat next to him and handed out the drinks she'd procured for the siblings. Elfman and Lisanna gave thanks as they took sips from the cups but Mira didn't move to touch her drink.

"Really? I love 'em!" Natsu replied getting an amused sigh out of his brunette friend.

"So, now that you three are here what are you going to do?" Cana asked as she took a drink from her own cup.

"Hmm, that depends on Mira, she's still not sure if she's going to stay." Lisanna replied as she looked at her sister with worry.

"Why wouldn't she want to stay? Fairy Tail is awesome!" Natsu questioned his head tilting to the left slightly.

"I'm possessed, ok?!" Mira hissed out holding onto her right arm with her left. "I don't belong around regular people, I could hurt them." The sadness in that statement made both Natsu and Cana want to reassure the girl that she could stay.

"How do you know you're possessed?" Natsu questioned only having the knowledge of the term but never having seen anything like it.

"Because of my arm." Mira replied sadly.

"Are you sure it's possessed? Maybe it's magic?" Cana proposed as she felt bad for the other girl who'd obviously had a very hard time before coming to Fairy Tail.

"What else could this be?" Mira sniffled as she exposed her right arm revealing a black demonic arm that faded back to human skin at the shoulder. "It happened after a demon came to the village we were living in. The villagers all called me possessed and cursed. We had to run away from there because of me."

"Hmm, this arm smells different than the rest of you, but the magic is the same. I think that means it's still your arm. You know, just different." Natsu stated while practically laying across the table and sniffing near Mira's arm.

"Are you sniffing me?" Mira questioned confused. "Why aren't you scared?"

"You'll have to forgive Natsu, he was raised by a dragon, and human customs are only partially understood apparently." Cana apologized as she dragged Natsu back into his seat and swatted him on the head lightly. "Also, I'm not sure he understands fear very well, he's a bit weird like that."

"Hey I'm not weird!" Natsu argued with a pout getting a deadpan look from Cana. Two giggles could be heard from the other side of the table, one bright and full of joy while the other was quieter but still cute. Cana and Natsu looked back and noticed that both of the Strauss sisters were giggling at Natsu's pouting face.

"I bet Master Makarov could tell us for sure whether it's magic or possession. You should ask him, Mira." Cana suggested with a smile as she pointed to the small old man sitting on top of the bar drinking a mug of beer.

"Yeah, gramps knows tons about magic! He'll know what to do!" Natsu encouraged Mira with a bright grin. Mira, seeing two people that didn't run in terror from the sight of her arm, could only nod slightly in acceptance as she stood up and made her way over to Makarov. She was instantly followed by her siblings as well as Natsu and Cana.

"Master Makarov?" Mira questioned as she stood before the old man.

"Hmm? What can I do for you Mirajane?" Makarov asked as he looked at the five children in front of him.

"Could you…could you tell me if I'm possessed?" Mira mumbled out quietly as she showed him her demonic arm. Makarov looked the limb over and without moving from his spot gave his answer.

"That's Take-Over Magic, not possession in the slightest. You have the Magic that allows you to take on the attributes of demons that are defeated either by you or near you. It's called Take-Over: Satan Soul." Makarov informed the group of children.

"So it really is magic?" Mira questioned in shock.

"Yes, a little training with your magic should help you undo the transformation on your arm so that it goes back to normal. I'll help you with it if you'd like." Makarov offered with a smile getting a small smile from Mira and a nod.

"See isn't that great Mira? I told you gramps would know!" Natsu laughed as he gave the white haired girl a one arm hug.

"Natsu! I still have the demon arm!" Mira exclaimed startled that anyone would want to be so close to her with her arm the way it was.

"So? I think your magic is pretty cool!" Natsu replied with a grin as he pulled her in closer and even accepted a hug from Lisanna with his other arm.

'Cool? He thinks this magic is cool?' Mirajane thought to herself in shock as a blush spread across her face. 'Why do I feel warm right now?'

"So, would you two like to join your sister for magic lessons? If your sister has an in-born talent for Take-Over Magic you both might as well. It never hurts to try." Makarov grinned getting smiles and nods from Elfman and Lisanna.

"I wanna try! I wanna have the same magic as Mira!" Lisanna giggled as she held onto Natsu.

"I'd like to try too. It would be nice to have the same type of magic as my sisters." Elfman grinned shyly while bowing slightly.

"Alright, we'll start tomorrow morning. I'm sure you'll get the hang of magic pretty quick." Makarov encouraged the siblings before taking another drink from his mug.

"That's great!" Natsu exclaimed as he pulled Mira and Lisanna close again. Mira's face went red while Lisanna giggled and squeezed Natsu tight. The quintet of children went back to their previous table to continue getting to know one another while Makarov looked on proudly at his brats. Even when they caused trouble he still couldn't help but be proud of them. A crash from the other side of the Guild Hall had a vein appear on Makarov's forehead as he turned and yelled at a group of brawling mages.

"You brats! Stop breaking the furniture! Macao, Wakaba you two are fixing the damage to the floor!" Makarov yelled while extending his arm and slamming his fist on top of Macao's head