Failte! This is my first time diving into the realm of fanfiction (in the writer's sense, at least) and I hope you will enjoy what you read. I am a big supporter of constructive criticism and free speech, so if you choose to review, know that you need not censor yourself in any way. I'm still looking for a beta, so I apologize if these first few chapters are a bit rough around the edges. Hopefully, once I find a beta, I'll be able to come in and edit them before the completed story is published. This is story is going to be more than a one shot, as I, personally, like to read fully developed plots and characters. All components of Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima and I am very grateful to him for creating such wonderful characters for us all to enjoy. This isn't intended to be a smut or to focus on romance, though there will be traditional pairings between the characters in the story. However, the base of the story is intended to focus upon the general senses of loyalty and friendship that stand out within this series. Once again, I hope you enjoy!
The first thing she felt was pain; the last thing she recalled was light. She could have sworn her eyes were open, but all she could see was darkness. "Hello?" she called, her voice seeming small even for her. "Natsu? Erza? Gray? Anyone?" but, no matter how much she called out, there was nothing. It wasn't the darkness that began to frighten her, but the sheer nothingness. 'This must be what it is to be trapped in limbo,' Lucy thought. Curling into a ball, she tried to find comfort within herself, but every glimpse of the warm emotion flit away as she reached for it. A choked sob was torn from her throat before the screams began, and the panic set in. She tried to run, to hide, to find something, but she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet, the wind upon her arms, the moisture in the air. Every sense seemed to have been completely shut off. Finally collapsing from her terror, Lucy Heartfilia huddled in upon herself once more, her eyes shut (for all she knew) to the outside world. She could feel the burning of tears in the corners of her eyes, but she could not feel the wetness upon her cheeks.
Just as she was about to let her fear devour her, she remembered that smile. The one that always gave her confidence, and always reminded her of why she fought. A wavering smile crept onto her face as even the faint memory caused a glimmer of warmth to roll through her. Natsu was her best friend, after all. He was the one who accepted her without question, who brought her this far, and who never doubted her. Her heart began to flutter in her chest and she felt the warmth from his memory rise to her cheeks. Shocked, as these were some of the first sensations she had felt this entire time, she quickly straightened from her position, and tried to look around, almost expecting to see Natsu and Happy come out of the darkness, their characteristic good cheer chasing the despair away; but there was nothing. Biting her lip, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, clutching to her memories as though they were lifelines.
With her faint smile growing stronger, she began to recall conversations, fights, scenes, memories upon memories began to pile in, one on top of the other. Gradually, Levy-chan began to appear in them, and then Erza, Gray, Mira, Juvia, Cana, and everyone else from the guild, and then she heard his voice, his voice just before they defeated Master Hades.
"I've got my friends beside me. And once you know your weakness, you can become stronger, as well as kinder". Natsu's voice echoed in her mind, calming her fear and giving her strength as he had done so many times before. Gritting her teeth, she straightened her posture and clenched her fists, despite not being able to tell up from down. Without a thought to where she was going, she began to move one foot in front of the other, knowing that she would never see her friends again, never be able to protect them again, if she didn't keep pressing forward. As though that were the revelation she needed, a sudden light encompassed her, causing her eyes to water and press her forearm over them. From far away, she heard familiar voices call for her. Clenching her jaw, Lucy picked up the pace and began to run, not allowing the growing pain in her muscles to slow her.
With a gasp, she blinked her eyes and looked at the blurred treetops above her, confusion entering her gaze. "Wha-what happened?" she murmured, before turning her head "Natsu?" she called out faintly, her vision slowly clearing of darkness. With a faint flush, she saw Jet instead, or, at least, someone who looked like Jet. With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position, her muscles screaming in protest at every movement. "Jet? Is that you? Why are you here? Where is everyone? What happened to you? What happened to us? What happened in general?!" Lucy, despite the little voice in her head telling her to calm down and let him answer the questions, couldn't seem to stop them from rolling over her tongue, one by one.
Walking over, Jet grinned and helped her to her feet, steadying her when she began to waver. "Don't worry about talking right now" he said, "We're all gathering just a bit over here, and then we'll figure things out from there." With that, he led her into the forest about 300 meters until they came upon a small clearing where several of them were already waiting, included the one she was secretly searching for the most.
"Natsu! Erza!" she called out, staggering forward. With a swivel of their heads, they turned towards her voice so fast that she was surprised they didn't give themselves whiplash, grins breaking out over their faces.
"Lucy!" tears streaming from her face, she made it over to them, not noticing as Jet ran back into the forest to continue his search for more people. Several arms reached out and pulled her into a hug, none of them seeming to care about the wounds that crisscrossed over their skins.
"Thank you" she heard a voice whisper in her ear. Turning, she looked in surprise at Natsu, her heart rate increasing marginally.
"What for?" she asked back.
"I never got a chance to thank you for what you did back on that ship. You woke me up from Hades, you're the reason we won." Blushing, she shook her head and looked away.
"You would have figured it out without me" With a shrug he grinned and looked away from her. With a small smile, she shook her head again, feeling better already. She had seen that look before, after all. It was his I-know-I'm-right-and-I've-already-said-what-I-need-to expression, and she knew, just by seeing it, that she wasn't going to win this battle with him. Closing her eyes, she leaned against his shoulder, allowing his warmth to help relax away some of the pain in her body. There were some pros to having a flamebrain as a partner, after all.
After enough time had passed, they were relieved to see that it appeared everyone had survived the blast from Acnologia, and there was celebration all around, but it was cut short as, one by one, they noticed a strange girl looking down on them from the boulder pile above. Instantly, they all went on guard, anxious with the consideration of their current fighting condition, or lack thereof. That is, until, Natsu let loose a grin and began to wave eagerly.
"Mavis!" he called out, causing all the newly awakened persons to react with expressions ranging from shock to disbelief.
"Mavis?!" Erza repeated, seemingly incapable of believing it. With a sigh of resignation, Lucy just closed her eyes and laid down on the ground behind Natsu, seemingly no longer capable of exerting any more emotion. The last battle with Acnologia only seemed as though it were a few hours before, at most, after all. She was, in short, exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and sleep. At this point, she doubted that she wouldn't even be able to get mad at Natsu and Happy for breaking into her home again. However, that notwithstanding, she couldn't suppress the grain of curiosity that took root within her mind. Cracking her eyes open once more, she gazed up at Mavis and was happy to discover that she didn't have to wait long for an explanation.
"Back then, I took the strength of everyone's bonds and faith and converted all of it into magical power. All of your thoughts allowed one of the three great Fairy Magics, Fairy Sphere, to be activated. It's a magic that will protect the guild from any evil; an absolute defensive magic. However, everyone was sealed in a frozen state" she added, a sad look flashing through her eyes, "and though it has been released, a span of seven years has passed."
The clearing was silent, shock managing to diffuse through even Lucy's numbed emotional state. 'Seven...years?' Lucy thought, her eyes growing wider at the thought. 'It can't be true, can it? We were just facing Master Hades and Acnologia, how can seven years have passed?' Casting small glances to either side, it seemed as though everyone else was sharing her thoughts.
The silence was broken by the Master's voice, who seemed to be taking the situation surprisingly well. "What now? So the First protected us, eh?" he remarked, more than asked, a large grin on his face. As though it were the key to a door, everyone sighed as a sense of resignation and acceptance raced throughout their group.
"No, I'm just an ethereal body," Mavis responded, "but unwavering faith and resilient bonds will bring even miracles to your side. It's become a wonderful guild, Third," she said, as she faded with a smile on her face. It wasn't until she had disappeared that they realized that had been her farewell. Licking suddenly dry lips, Lucy and the rest turned their heads towards Makarov, looking for his guidance as to what they should do now.
With a sigh, and a small smile, he nodded his head and spoke "Well, I suppose we've been gone long enough. Let's head home."
