Author's Note

Goodness, I'm stuck on all my stories. If you're reading this, I've somehow gotten past my writer's block XD. I've had SO much trouble figuring out what comes next, or rather how it's going to happen. Enjoy!

"She ended up putting him in the infirmary for weeks, but they made up in the end." And with that, Lisanna finished her very long story with a bite of her croissant, curiously blinking at Gray as she waited for a response.

He was disinterested through the whole thing, only half listening as he rested his chin on his palm and listened to her blabber about something that happened and Edolas between their version of Lucy and Natsu.

(The journey there had led to the revelation of multiple dimensions mirroring our own, and the Council had tasked the country's top scientists to research the possibility of communicating and transferring such dimensions with the technology available rather than relying on natural phenomena or the technology of those dimensions. Whether they made any progress, Gray was unsure.)

He had only paid attention when she started speaking faster and more animatedly, something that Lisanna did when she was nearing the end of a tale. Gray found that habit odd, but it proved useful.

"Sounds like our Natsu and Lucy." He muttered in response, letting his eyes glide back to the two. Natsu was trying to convince Lucy to give him her bacon as she was eating it, since Mira, Lisanna's sister and the substitute cook, refused to give him a second plateful. Lucy, of course, declined, growing more annoyed by the minute.

Having seen this too many times to hold interest in the impending disaster, Gray sighed, looking back to Lisanna.

"What do you think Levy's doing?" She asked, reaching onto Natsu's plate for his (surprisingly) untouched croissant.

She bit into it as Gray mulled over the question, but not for too long. It was nothing to dwell on. "Out with Gajeel? Or Freed?"

"Doing what?"

"How would I know?" Gray shrugged, before thinking about it some more. "Well, if she was doing something, it'd probably be with Freed. Her and Gajeel's interests don't align."

Lisanna put what was left of the croissant into her mouth.

"You ate that quickly." Gray commented, raising an eyebrow.

Lisanna let out a short laugh. "Almost like Natsu, huh? My eating schedule is whacked. Mira made her special recipe, whatever she calls it, for lunch yesterday and I ate so big of a serving that it lasted me until dinner, so I only had a milkshake last night. When I woke up I was starving."

"Can't believe I missed lunch the day Mira made her special recipe." Gray groaned, genuinely disappointment. Mira was a force to be reckoned with, especially inside the kitchen. Gray had only had her special recipe once before, and it was the best thing he'd ever eaten.

She had this way of incorporating a whole bunch of random ingredients, none of which are known, without any aspect being too overbearing or anything clashing. It tasted like everything, which was the only way to explain it. One minute you're eating some sort of fish and then the next bite it's completely different, all without the texture changing, opposed to the change doing so often. There was just enough of one portion in the special recipe, which hadn't been officially named, for you to be satisfied before you were hit with the flavor of something else.

"Magic," Mira had told Gray as she handed him a plate of it years back. The dish looked like a stuffed biscuit that would be served I some high-end restaurant. The flaky bread was golden brown, with some type of sauce drizzled onto the top. He had asked her what was in it- he didn't know what was so special about it. "Unicorn droppings, mostly. A little bit of finely chopped dragon scales, too."

And then she hurried him along.

Lucy had decided to join the conversation then, soundlessly surrendering her bacon to Natsu who let out a victorious "whoop" because of it.

"She made her special recipe?" Lucy asked, equally disappointed. "You could've gotten me, you know."

"Sorry." Lisanna apologized, giving her a small smile before turning back to Gray. "I saw you in line, though. You were way ahead of me, and by the time I had gotten my tray, you were gone."

Gray blinked back at her, confused, before letting out a roar of frustration. "That's right! It's that bastard's fault!"

Having a feeling that Gray was talking about him, Natsu looked up, innocently looking between his three lunchmates. "What?"

"If you didn't get that stupid stomachache, I wouldn't have had to skip lunch!"

At that, Natsu laughed. "You missed lunch? Poor Ice Freak."

Gray kicked his shin, making Natsu yelped.

"Absolutely not!" Lucy shouted, just as Natsu cocked back his arm. "No fighting!"

Natsu reluctantly put his arm down, throwing Lucy a look before returning to his meal.

"Geez, I was on the other side to the room and I could still hear your screaming."

Gray turned to his left, just now feeling the effect of sitting in the same position for so long. Gajeel sat down next to Lucy, nudging her with a frown to indicate that she was the one he was referring to. Levy sat down across from him, giggling to herself.

"Where have you been?" Lucy asked Levy, after shooting a half sincere scowl Gajeel's way. Gray leaned forward so he could see Gajeel, taking some sort of interest in the two's exchange. He found it odd how Lucy had became as close to Gajeel as she is, considering he tortured her for her lack of compliance when asked that she surrendered. Natsu was fuming when he saw Gajeel sitting in the guild hall and flanked Lucy's sides for weeks. Gray himself was wary of Gajeel, but he figured that Lucy was strong enough to deal with the aptly named "Iron Dragon". Gray decided long ago that Gajeel could be trusted, way before Natsu did. And Gajeel never made him regret that.

"The big goof woke up late." Levy explained. "By the time he was ready, Jet and Droy were up and kept roping me into doing stuff with them before I snuck off."

Gajeel grunted in response, chucking some metal scraps in his mouth. An interesting side effect of the EAs. Some people had such a big tolerance for Ethernanos that it affected their way of life- essentially changing, or evolving, the weilder.

People such as those are littered among the War Guilds with a few in independent organizations or terrorist groups. Fairy Tail had a whopping number of four people that fit into that category, labeled Dragon Slayers- comparing their strength, appearance, and their behavior to the mystical beings that roamed Earthland eons ago.

Gajeel gulped down the metal, before turning his burning gaze to Levy. "Laxus accidentally fucked up the electricity again- not my fault."

"Again?" Gray questioned. He had never heard of such an occurrence. It looked like Lisanna hadn't either, because she looked just as confused as Gray felt. Because Laxus doesn't accidentally do anything.

"Yeah." Gajeel nodded, shrugging af it weren't big a deal. "This is maybe like, what? The fourth or fifth time, maybe. It's annoying- it fries my alarm."

"Laxus losing control over lightning?" Gray said, shocked at the thought. "What's he doing sparking up the room, anyway?"

"Dunno. Maybe nightmares?" Gajeel answered, throwing a bolt into his mouth.

"So he's doing it unconsciously." Lisanna commented, nodding to herself.

"Yeah, I'm saving his ego by not telling him about it." Gajeel said, smirking. "I usually wake up when it happens and have everything fixed in an hour or so. I didn't notice last night."

"All this in a few weeks?" Lucy asked, appalled. "That's really weird."

"Yup- I could use it against him later." Natsu suddenly chimed in, licking syrup off his fingers.

Lisanna swatted his arm, and Gray hummed with thought.

"When exactly did Laxus start frying up the room's electricity?" Gray asked, and everyone, save for Gajeel, collectively groaned.

"Here comes Detective Sherlock." Lucy muttered, rolling her eyes. Gray ignored her.

"Right after the extraction."

"Odd." Gray commented, mind running miles per minute. Shrugging, he poked at his untouched plate with a fork. He had no intention to eat now, his food had gone cold. He pushed the plate to Natsu, who accepted with a happy grin.

"Nothing?" Lisanna asked Gray. "Nothing else to say?"

Gray lazily smirked, shrugging again. "I mean, if you want me to…"

"Please don't." Levy sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, the recruits were nice. I don't see what's wrong with them."

"I think Gray's the only one who doesn't like them." Gajeel gruffly said. "They're rowdy, sure, but obedient."

"You make them sound like dogs."

"They practically are." Gajeel said. "Always kissing up and tailing someone like needy puppies."

"And that's what's annoying!" Gray said. "They don't act on their own! I have to instruct them every twenty seconds. Where's their common sense?!"

"Cut them some slack." Natsu said, already having finished Gray's plate of food. "They're no more stupid than you."

"Natsu!" Lisanna hissed. "Be nice."

Lucy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Goodness, Gray, they're kids. Teach them what they need to know, and they'll become more independent."

She turned to Levy, leaving Gray no room for response. "What did you do in there anyway?"

"Politics." Levy replied. "Only small stuff on world peace and how to be a diplomat. They were all engaged- it was kind of fun." She cocked her head to the side, looking at Gray. "In fact, I might ask Erza to take your shift."

"Please do. Gray muttered.

An ear shattering bell rang, drowning out whatever Lisanna hoped to contribute towards the conversation. It certainly got everyone's attention. Even if you couldn't hear anything above the bell, it was easy to see that everyone was alert, and silent.

The bell stopped, and a voice boomed from the speakers in the ceilings.

"Hey, brats! I need Division A in the Announcement Hall. Mass meeting in 10 minutes- don't be late."

The cut off noise sounded and excited chatter arose. Those who were called got up from their seats, most too wary to complain about their breakfast being interrupted. The last time Makarov called for a mass meeting- although everyone was called for that time- it was to announce that Fairy Tail would be disbanding.

Very few people stood up, though. Division A was the smallest division, consisting of around 20 people that Makarov trusts the most. Advisors, basically, although four people out of Division A are generally his go-to's. What could be so important that Makarov wanted the rest of them, Gray didn't know.

Gray, along with the rest of his friends stood. Across the room, Cana and Mirajane stood and everybody's eyes followed them as they walked out the door.

"I wonder what he called all of us for." Lucy wondered aloud, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Progress report, maybe?"

"Maybe." Levy said, putting her half full plate on the trash conveyor with a frown. "I only just got here."

"Maybe Gramps is just announcing that I'm his next personal advisor!" Natsu exclaimed as they walked out of the cafeteria doors. Everyone rolled their eyes.

The Announcement Hall was in the Northern Wing and took up half of the first floor so that it could fit all soldiers and other personnel if called for.

They were in the North Eastern Wing, so there was no need to walk through the courtyard to save time. They entered the InterHall, a wide hallway that connected each wing, and headed for the Northern Wing.

"Whatever it is," Gajeel mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets," It better be short. I have stuff to do."

"If he called us for something, it must be important." Lisanna told him, and Gray nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but what?"

Author's Note

I did it! I actually wrote a chapter! Applaud meeeee! Don't count on another chapter soon, though. I'll probably disappear for weeks again XD. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!