Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Lucy were at the station waiting for Erza and Ryuga. Natsu and Gray were bickering as usual, and Lucy was trying to tune them out. Erza quickly appeared and bumped Gray's and Natsu's heads together, effectively ending their argument. She turned to Lucy, since she didn't know her.

Erza: "You're the new recruit right?"

Lucy: "Y-Yes ma'am."

Erza: "I heard you defeated a gorilla with your pinky finger. Glad to have someone like you on this mission."

Lucy: "R-Right."

Light footsteps and a yawn were heard, when the team looked over their shoulders to see Ryuga waving at him. He only carried a small bag over his back, likely filled with food. He walked up and greeted everyone, and stopped once he got to Lucy.

Ryuga: "You're coming too?"

Lucy: "That's right sir!"

Natsu: "Trust me, she's super strong."

Ryuga looked over at Erza, who just gave a shrug, so he also shrugged and sat down to wait. A few minutes went by, and Ryuga was almost falling asleep, since he barely got any sleep. Cana was up all night drinking and yelling with Makarov. The train sounded, and they all got on and found seats. Ryuga sat to the left of Erza and Gray, and Lucy sat across from them with Natsu.

As soon as the train started moving, Natsu became sick. Seeing this, Ryuga used a sleeping spell on Natsu, getting a thumbs up from Lucy, who had Natsu almost throw up on her. 

Gray: "So what exactly are we here for again?"

Erza: "The dark guild, Eisenwald, has a flute named Lullaby. The flute is actually a demon, and whoever hears it's sound, except the user, dies."

Lucy: "M-Maybe I should have stayed in Magnolia."

Gray: "Relax, we'll be fine. I think at least."

Erza: "Yes, we'll be fine. Right Ryuga?"

She looked to the left of her to seem him fast asleep, leaning on the window. She grabbed his head and, with a slight blush, placed it on her lap. 

Lucy: "So what type of magic can you do, Erza?"

Happy: "Her magic is really beautiful. It makes people really bloody."

Lucy: "S-Sounds pleasant."

Erza: "If we're being honest, I think Gray's magic is a lot more beautiful then mine."

Gray: "Oh this?"

He clasped his hands together, and when he let go, the Fairy Tail guild mark was ice, and floating around.

Lucy: "Cool! What kind of magic can Ryuga do?"

Erza and Gray looked at each other and laughed a little. Lucy looked confused, and Erza answered.

Erza: "We don't really know the full extent of his magic."

Lucy: "Really? So mysterious."

Gray: "Well I think we all thought Ryuga was mysterious when we first met him. I mean the guy's hundreds of years old, but he still looks the same as the first day I met him."

Lucy: "So he ages slower then us?"

Erza: "A lot slower." She then took on a sad look. "I once overheard him talking to Lisanna. He was telling her that it's really hard to be friends with people, since he knows he'll outlive them and eventually have to watch them die."

Lucy: "Yeah that's pretty depressing. Who's Lisanna?"

Ryuga woke up, upon hearing her name, and stared at Lucy.

Ryuga: "A member of Fairy Tail. That's all you need to know for now." 

Lucy: "Oh, o-okay."

The train stopped, and they got off. They were outside the train, looking around for directions to an inn, when Natsu yelled out as the train was pulling off again.

Erza: "Damnit! I forgot he was on there. Someone hit me!"

She looked at Lucy, who shook her head no; then she looked at Gray, who jumped back with both hands. Last, she looked at Ryuga, who had a smirk on his face.

Ryuga: "Let's save that for another time."

Realizing what he meant, she blushed and went off to find a magic mobile. When she found it, the others got on, and they started rushing towards the train. Not long after their chase, an explosion from the train was seen, and Natsu fell off it, bumping Gray in the head as he fell. 

He explained what happened on the train. Erza was pissed when he said the dude on the train had a weird looking flute, and she slapped him across the face.

Erza: "You fool! Didn't I tell you that we're trying to find that flute!?"

Natsu: "Eh? That's the first I heard of it."

Erza smacked him again, and Lucy and Gray looked at each other with a sigh. Ryuga was still in the car, and he tapped on the windows to let everyone know they should head off. When they got in, Happy was trying to remember something he had to tell Lucy, but he failed. 

They eventually got to the town over, and hopped off the car. They tried running up to the station, but it was stopped due to dark guild members raiding it. When Erza asked what was going on, a guard brushed her off, so she headbutted him. She kept doing this until she got the answer she wanted. Gray dragged Natsu inside the building, and they were soon surrounded by Eisenwald members. The man who looked to be the leader of the bunch, Erigor, was sitting on top of the train.

Erza: "You're the reaper aren't you, Erigor?"

Erigor: "Haha that's right!"

He quickly widened his eyes when he saw the person standing behind Erza, Ryuga. Erigor quickly pulled out the flute, and with shaking hands, put it near his lips.

Erigor: "I was going to use it on the guild masters, but I guess you wouldn't let me do that, huh? Violet Demon?"

Ryuga: "Well, you're not wrong."

Erigor: "In that case!" He put the flute to his lips.

Ryuga: "Wai!-"

He was cut off by the piercing sound of the flute, and everyone in the building dropped dead. Erigor, however, looked like he had seen a ghost, or demon. In front of him was Ryuga with four purple-black horns and two pairs of black wings behind him.

Erigor: "H-How are you not dead!?"

Ryuga: "That's.. a secret. But YOU won't live long enough to hear of it." His violet eyes started glowing eerily. 

Erigor: "N-No wait p-please I didn't mean it!"

Ryuga: "Too late. You have angered a god."

A swoosh was the only sound in the building, followed by a thud. At Ryuga's feet, was the head of Erigor, and on the wall, was the rest of his body. Ryuga saw Lullaby laying on the ground, and he walked up and crushed it under his foot. He then looked around at all the dead bodies.

Ryuga: "Tch, just my luck." He sighed then started a magic circle.

Erza woke up to the sound of chirping birds. She looked up to see the sky and bright sun. She squinted and looked to her right. To her right was the sleeping bodies of Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy. She then looked to her left, to find Ryuga staring at her. She almost jumped out of her skin, but then calmed down.

Ryuga: "So you're the first to wake?"

Erza: "Where are we?"

Ryuga: "A roof."

Erza: "What happened? All I remember is Erigor playing the-" She widened her eyes, and tears started to grow in them.

Ryuga, however, just shook his head and gave a thumbs up, signaling everything went fine.

Erza: "H-How'd we live?"

Ryuga: "Who knows? Maybe the flute was so old it couldn't work as well as it used to." Erza smiled.

Erza: "Yeah, maybe."

The rest woke up, and started looking around confused. Erza told them what happened, according to what Ryuga said, and they all laughed it off. They then got on a train headed for Magnolia.

When they got to the guild hall, Ryuga walked up to Mirajane. He asked her about apartments, and she told him of this place that was currently rising in popularity. Assuming he had enough currency, he left and went to find it.

It was about dusk when he arrived, and he was greeted by a large woman with a greedy smile on her face. He thought he had been here before, but shrugged it off.

Landlady: "What can I do for you handsome?"

Ryuga: "I'd like to rent one of your nicer apartments."

Landlady: "I see. How much is your budget?"

Ryuga: "More than you know, just show me the most expensive one bedroom apartment."

She rubbed her hands together and giggled greedily, then lead him to a hallway and opened a door to a large apartment. The floor was tatami, which Ryuga loved, and it came with a fully operational kitchen and bathroom. It was fully stocked with furniture, and it even had a fireplace, which would prove useless, but it still looked good.

Ryuga: "Very nice. How much?"

Landlady: "300,000 J"

Ryuga: "No problem."

He handed her a sack, which had enough pay for six months. She quickly accepted, and walked away to spend her riches. Ryuga was about to walk inside before he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

Lucy: "Ryuga?"

Ryuga turned around and saw Lucy holding a room key in her hand.

Ryuga: "Oh? That's right! You live here too."

Lucy: "Yeah, looks like we live right across from each other."

Ryuga: "Looks like. The landlady is kind."

Lucy: "That's what you'd call her?"

Ryuga: "Well, when you flash a bunch of money in someone's face, they tend to become kind."

Lucy: "I guess you're right. Did you buy an expensive apartment?"

Ryuga: "Not too bad, one room, fireplace, kitchen, bathroom, and stocked with furniture. About all I need. I already paid her for six months."

Lucy: "Six months!?" Her jaw dropped. "I can hardly pay my 70,000 J a month! S-Class really helps I guess."

Ryuga: "It's pretty nice, yeah. How about I take you for an S-Class quest someday?"

Lucy: "No Way! I'm not near ready for something that hard."

Ryuga: "Don't mind, I'll protect you."

She blushed a little, then nodded. After that, she quickly went inside her room after saying goodbye. Ryuga chuckled a little, then closed his door also. He turned around, and much to his surprise, saw Elfman and Mirajane checking the place out.

Elfman: "Fireplace? Very manly!"

Mirajane: "Nice floors you got here."

Ryuga: "H-How did you get here?" He swore he heard the same thing shouted from Lucy's room.