"N-No way!"

Lucy stared in crude disbelief at the great- no, amazing- no, spectacular- no, miraculous thing in her hands!

Perhaps that was a bit of an… understatement.

The heat in Magnolia that day was sweltering, but Lucy ignored it, bobbing up and down excitedly in her apartment desk. In her hands was the best thing that had ever happened in her entire life.

The special edition, one of only five copies in the world, of her dream book by Kemu Zaleon, or rather, Zekua Melon (Lucy flinched upon remembering the disastrous mission involving Virgo, the pay-less mission, and 'Daybreak').

"'Fairy Tales'," Lucy crooned, stroking the cover of the book. "Not very original, but still…" The name was reminiscent of her guild, Lucy thought fondly, as she traced the light tattoo on her hand while her eyes roamed the cover.

She hesitated before opening the book. The hype this book had received was twice the amount Daybreak had gotten, and what if it all turned out to be a complete and utter letdown?

"The book is undoubtedly the best out there, evolving classic, timeless tales into something hands-on and original. The experience will leave you breathless!" One critic had raved, (who was also known as one of the toughest-to-impress, most difficult and famed critics in Magnolia) and had gone on to say how hard it was to find, but utterly worth the effort, because the experience was like…

…like being in the book, Lucy remembered with a gulp. Her thumb neared the corner of the glossy cover, slowly inching to open it…

"LUCY!"

"N-Natsu!" Lucy whirled around in surprise, almost dropping the book. Recovering with a half-scowl, half-smile, she placed Fairy Tales onto her desk lovingly before turning to Natsu with her hands on her hips.

"Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you not to come into my apartment without permission? You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!"

"Naww," Natsu snorted derisively, turning to give Lucy a scorching hug. "Wassup?"

Despite herself, Lucy blushed very slightly before rolling her eyes and shoving the fire mage away.

"If you would excuse me, I have to get to what will be the single, most spectacular event in my life."

"Even better than camping with me and Happy?" Natsu asked, completely serious.. Lucy shuddered at that particular memory- the experience was an odd mix of graham crackers, lace panties, and vicious mutant bunnies. She didn't want to relive the experience.

Nevertheless, Lucy grinned.

"Much better," she sighed dreamily, holding up the book for Natsu to see. "I've dreamed of reading this book ever since it was proclaimed one of the rarest books in the world. Natsu, can you even imagine-?"

But Natsu had already turned away to ravage through her refrigerator.

It was funny, Lucy smiled faintly, how comfortable the dragonslayer always seemed with her. Then again, he always was with everyone. Still, the rate at which he visited her home made it feel like they were practically… living together.

Which they were not, Lucy mentally admonished herself, even if he slept in her bed more than occasionally.

With a fond smile (and a scoff- he just couldn't appreciate the finer things in life. The illiterate Neanderthal!), Lucy plopped down into her chair, made herself comfortable, and closed her eyes in anticipation.

Lifting the cover slowly, Lucy opened the book

When she ventured to peek, Lucy was utterly surprised to see that the first page was blank, save for small runes that covered the borders…

Oh, no.

Before Lucy could slam the book shut in recognition, the runes had already begun to glow bright neon hues. Unable to look away, she watched as the pages grew brighter, and the magic began to work its wonder.

Oh, figures that yet another book Zekua Melon would write would be a magical book! How, oh how had the critic neglected to mention this?

Lucy let out a shout of surprise when she felt herself being pulled towards the pages, as if her very essence was being sucked into the book.

She was being sucked into the book!

"N-Natsu!" The blonde screeched as the magic of the book became unbearable. Natsu poked his head around the corner in surprise, and his onyx eyes widened; in a split second, he saw and assessed.

The dragonslayer grabbed Lucy's outstretched hand, and with a loud pop!, the two mages were sucked into the book.

Fairy Tales closed with an ominous shut, shielding the glowing light from the room, and plopped to the floor.

A/N: Before you exit out of this without reviewing, please do it anyway. This is the first multi-chaptered Fairy Tail story I'll be attempting, so feedback is invaluable. Thanks!