Lucy put a few numbers into her calculator, frowning. Her teachers seemed to have assigned her less homework than normal, to her relief, but it was still an unpleasant amount.

The dimming sunlight streaming in from the window illuminated her laptop, and Lucy glanced at it wistfully. She still had another page or two of math, and Ms. Law was expecting an essay tomorrow, which Lucy was only halfway through with.

It was getting darker outside, and Lucy reached to turn on the light. Her roommates, Juvia and Yukino, were at the library together in a study group, which Lucy had decided to stay back from to finish her essay. The two girls had tried to convince her to come, but it hadn't worked.

Again, her eyes were drawn to her laptop.

"No, Lucy." She reprimanded herself, laughing slightly because she sounded like Juvia. "This is due tomorrow."

She returned to the math, frowning slightly. She really didn't understand this concept at all, and it was taking her ages.

Surely a little break couldn't hurt.

Lucy opened her laptop, turning it on. She went to her emails and clicked on the most recent one.

You've been invited to join Kingdom of Fiore by LeotheLion! Kingdom of Fiore is a computer game set in the fictional country Fiore, where mages, merchants, treasure hunters, and so much more come together. Create an avatar and start your free trial today!

She selected the large red "Get Started" button, which opened up her web browser and took her to the site to download the game from. Just downloading it would cost her, and the website informed her a membership would have to be paid for monthly. She felt no guilt when she bought it, automatically sending the bill to one of her father's credit cards. Her material wants were always satisfied, so her father's accountants would think nothing of it.

Select your career! The screen flashed, suggesting a large number of careers. Treasure hunter, merchant, adventurer, soldier- Lucy stopped there, selecting "mage".

"Maybe if I'm a mage, I can magic all my problems away." She said to herself wryly, before turning around to check no one heard her. The room was still empty.

Select your magic type! It suggested now, coming up with a long list of magic. It was sorted by alphabetical order. Absorption, acid, air, archive... None of them particularly appealed to her. She continued to scroll down the list, stopping momentarily to consider card magic. In the end, she decided not. A large Randomize! button was near the top, and she clicked it out of curiosity.

Hair magic? She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what that was. Illusion magic? Sounded interesting, but not really her thing. Takeover sounded alright, but not really what she was looking for. She clicked the button one more time.

Celestial Spirit Magic. It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach, as memories, both good and bad, came flooding back. She gripped the edge of her shirt tightly, and could feel her nails through the expensive fabric. She took a deep breath, and raised one hand to put it back on the mouse. She selected it quickly, and tilted her head up towards the ceiling.

"That's what you'd choose, isn't it, Mama?" She said softly, quickly brushing off a single tear that had escaped and was dripping down her cheek. "I shouldn't cry."

The design of her avatar was next, moving her focus away from the painful memories. Lucy gave it her medium length blonde hair, brown eyes, and skin tone, though she made her eyes larger so they looked like they belonged to an anime character. Her clothing wasn't difficult to decide. All her life, she'd been forced into elaborate, but always modest, dresses. She'd always been warned the revealing clothing would make the media kick up a fuss and call it a scandal. Really, there was no pleasing them.

So she selected the shortest skirt she could find, and a top that exposed her navel. Her shoes were tall leather boots that reached her knees. Even if it was virtual, she felt like for the first time, she was rebelling. She was wearing the clothes that girls casually, the clothes she'd always been warned against.

Lucy clicked the "Done" button and the spinning wheel of death, or loading sign, popped up. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk she was sitting at, waiting for it. It finally finished, and a new notice replaced it on screen.

In order to become a fully fledged mage, you must join a guild! Remember, you must have the guild Master's permission to join. Join a guild or start a new one today!

Lucy clicked "Cancel", not sure of what else to do. She didn't know what guild would accept her, and doubted anyone would join if she started a new one. For now, she would just wait and see.

She wanted to explore this new world, but could hear soft laughter in the hallway. She went quiet and listened again. There was no doubt it was Yukino's gentle laughter. Lucy guiltily shut her laptop and returned to the math problems she had been working on, not wanting her roommates to see her procrastinating when she hadn't gone to study group.

She could try asking Loke about it when she saw him next.

Juvia and Yukino walked in, both dropping their book bags on a chair.

"Did you get any work done, Lucy?" Yukino asked, sitting down on her bed and stretching.

Lucy looked down guiltily. "Not really. I started playing that Kingdom of Fiore game."

Both girls looked up in surprise.

"The one that Loke said you should join?" Yukino asked. Lucy nodded her confirmation.

"Well, Yukino and Juvia will play too!" Juvia announced, reaching into her bag and pulling out her laptop. Lucy had never quite gotten used to her roommate's habit of referring to herself in third person. She had always attributed it to a cultural thing, because Juvia had been born and grown up in another country, but now wondered if there was something more behind. Could Juvia have once been so lonely she had spoken to herself like this?

Yukino nodded. Lucy shrugged and pulled Juvia's laptop towards her.

"You just have to download this, and then pay, which you can use my credit card for, and then there! Now you just need to create an avatar." Lucy said, handing Juvia's laptop back to her and repeating the process with Yukino's.

Gildarts Clive hadn't been expecting much when he agreed to take up the position of wrestling team's coach at Magnolia High, but that was when Erza Scarlet joined.

He had seen some very able wrestlers. Laxus Dreyar, who had graduated the year before, had been extremely talented but had chose to pursue a career in electrical engineering. His antisocial tendencies had made him unpopular on the team. Elfman was in his final year, and despite his muscular physique, could never seem to focus long enough to come up with a strategy to defeat his opponent.

Erza was smart, strong, and dedicated. Even though she missed a few practices and meets due to her theatre guild duties, she surpassed almost all of them. So when Gildarts saw her walk on the mat, long scarlet hair tied in a ponytail and gym shorts displaying most of her thigh, he decided to give her a bit of challenge today.

A quick scan of the paper attached to his clipboard helped him decide exactly how. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and held it over the paper, poised to write.

"Scarlet!" He yelled, just as she began jogging to warm up. "Come over here!"

She turned around and started jogging towards him instead.

"Yes, Coach Clive?" Erza asked jokingly. He'd been a fatherly figure towards her ever since she was young, so the title was a bit of an inside joke between them.

"You're wrestling Macbeth today." He told her, pointing to an older boy with a dramatically made up face taking a drink from the water fountain. "As soon as he takes off the make up!"

Macbeth raised his head and scowled in annoyance. "I've told you before, it's Midnight! And why should I have to take it off?"

Gildarts clicked his pen in annoyance. "Because this is wrestling! Wear it as much as you want at school, but not for sports!"

Still scowling, Midnight washed off the make up and took his place on the mat used for practice matches, his usual bored look on his face.

"Ready to begin?" Erza asked, slightly unnerved by his lack of expression, but also grateful for it. She was the only female on Magnolia High's wrestling team and was used to most of the boys she wrestled being awkward or acting strange around her. Or downright perverted. So having someone not react to the fact she had boobs was a welcome change.

He nodded and got into position, with his arms out in front of him, ready to defend himself against her attack.

Erza lunged first like she always did, wrapping her arms around his knees and bringing him to the mat. Making the first move always gave her an advantage, because again, most guys were less willing to wrestle her. Before she could pin him, he had slipped out of her grasp and gotten back on his feet.

Gildarts nodded approvingly from where he stood. "Nice one, Macbeth."

"It's Midnight." He muttered irritably, getting back in his stance. This time, he lunged at Erza, but she was able to hold him off with one hand. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his legs, slamming him into the mat with her on top.

The mat smelled of sweat and dirty clothes, just like it always did. Despite the uncleanliness of the gym, Erza had felt at home from the moment she had walked in with her head held high, all the way back in middle school. This was her place to shine. Even the woody smell of a stage couldn't compare to this.

"You're not escaping this time." She muttered, slipping one hand under his head and keeping him pinned to the mat. Gildarts counted the seconds before nodding and blowing his whistle.

"Good job Macbeth, you've improved. Great job as always Erza, but you might want to work on keeping your opponent pinned to the mat, he almost escaped the second time as well."

Midnight nodded and turned away quickly, and Erza could have sworn she saw a tear form in his eye. Probably just her imagination.

"I will." She assured him, checking the time on her phone. "I have to leave early, we've got a performance tonight."

"I noticed." Gildarts said dryly, gesturing towards the large, flashy poster on the wall. "Wish the Fairy Tail Theatre Guild luck from me."