Author's Note: I do not own any of the books/anime/movies/you get the point here. Just wanted to try something out so don't kill me if it's bad.
Trapped in a Card
Chapter One: The Mysterious Mission
Written by: HinakoNamikaze99
World of Fiore (Fairy Tail Universe)- Year X784
"Hm..." young Lucy Heartfilia was busily checking the requests board, alongside Nab Lasaro, who never seemed to leave it.
There were many jobs going around lately, some a little more tougher than the others, and knowing that Lucy could never go on a dangerous one without Natsu, she tried to lay off the risk of getting herself stupidly killed. Meanwhile, Natsu Dragneel, along with his partner, Happy, were on a job for nearly a week, and Lucy was starting to get worried.
Gray and Erza had just returned from a duo mission and were now resting on the sofas that nobody dared to go near twenty feet of, looking as if they'd been through hell and would kill anyone who interrupted their sleep.
Her eyes lazily pawed the mission papers, tapping her foot impatiently and worriedly, mainly because all these jobs were absolutely dangerous with a high chance of dying.
There, she spotted a rather interesting request:
Special Request
The City of Nocturna will be holding a ritual on the 12th December
Must not be interrrupted.
Bodyguards needed.
Reward: 400,000J per bodyguard
"That request just came today," Mirajane informed, glancing over Lucy's shoulder in curiosity, shocking the wits out of the astonished blonde.
"MI-MIRAJANE! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!" Lucy yelled in frustration.
"Ah, gomen, Lucy," Mirajane apologized with a smile.
"By the way...they didn't imply how many bodyguards are needed," Lucy said, eyebrows fixed together in worry.
"This request has been spread worldwide, including worlds that aren't ours," Mirajane explained, noticing the widened eyes of Lucy, "Our world isn't the only world out there in the universe. There's including a world that hails from ninjas, another that hails from angels and demons, and I think one even hails from Chains. There are many other uncountable worlds other than ours."
"Wah, that's interesting," Lucy said in awe, instantly ready to grab the request off the board, now readily assured that there would obviously be more bodyguards in charge, not to mention a ridiculous amount of reward money per person. Even better! Natsu, Gray and Erza wouldn't bother to be there and destroy everything...
"Eh? 400,000J for just one bodyguard? I'm going," Gray Fullbuster said absently behind them, bringing chills up Lucy's spine.
"That's right, you shouldn't go alone on this mission, Lucy, it might get dangerous," Erza Scarlet said, concerned while eyeing the reward money with suspicion.
"WOH! 400,000J! Let's go!" Natsu exclaimed in excitement, who also popped up totally out of nowhere behind Lucy, now bringing more and more dread to the horrified blonde.
"WHAT THE...! HOW MUCH DID YOU GUYS LISTEN TO?" Lucy yelled, outraged.
"Everything."
Lucy facepalmed, now imagining absolutely nerve-shaking thoughts of Demon Erza, Berserk Natsu and Randomly-Stripping Gray destroying MILES and MILES of buildings by 'accident'...
"So I take all four of you are going?" Mirajane asked, smiling, totally not grasping the situation.
"Yes..." Lucy groaned. "WOO-HOO! COME ON HAPPY! IT'S TIME TO PACK!" Natsu yelled ectastically, spewing red-hot fire out of his mouth as he stampeded towards the doors, much to the the other Fairy Tail members' agony.
"But Natsu! I'm tired...!" groaned Happy, seeing no choice as he followed the energetic redhead back to their shabby house.
"I'll get a popsicle before we leave..." Gray said coolly before leaving the scene, followed by a skeptical Erza who wondered whether they sold any strawberry cakes at Nocturna. That left Lucy to rethink of the whole mission ahead of them.
Why is it so weird that the 12th of December is the day of the eclipse...Lucy thought, now hesitant about applying for the job. After that, she sighed and immediately went home to pack.
World of Ninjas (aka Narutoverse) - Pre-Shippuden
"Kakashi-sensei is late again!" Naruto yelled, stomping around the grassy field impatiently, not at all worried about the huge hole he was grinding with his feet.
"Urusai, Naruto! That's the two hundredth time you've said that!" Sakura scolded, already exhausted under the blinding heat, despite being heavily sheltered by the tree leaves.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was leaning against a tree trunk, silently screaming at the late jounin to hurry the hell up before he really became the hottest guy in Konoha. Literally speaking, of course.
"Sasuke-kun...don't you think it's a bit odd?" Sakura asked, blushing at the same time.
"Hn?" he asked, not really caring.
"Kakashi-sensei said that we were going to do something 'special' today, isn't that supposed to be worrying?" Sakura, who truthfully, didn't care what was the 'special' thing Kakashi mentioned and just wanted to strike a conversation with Sasuke, asked. Sasuke stayed calm, but in his head, he was practically dying to find out the 'special' thing Kakashi was going to shove at them today.
"Morning! Sorry...I got lost on the road of life..." Kakashi greeted cheerfuly, popping up in front of the three exhausted genin.
"LIAR!"
"It's been SIX HOURS...I swear that's a record..." Sakura seethed.
"Got it! Got it! Calm down. We're having a special mission today," Kakashi said lackadaisically, grinning his eerily creepy mask-smile. The three silenced, turning nervous after exactly fifteen seconds of grasshopper-whistling.
"...We'll be having a B-rank mission today."
The jounin tilted his head slightly to gouge his students reactions. At this point, it looked like both Naruto and Sakura had epically exploded. Naruto looked like he was on sugar high and was practically screaming his ass off. No surprise. Sakura had that look like she just found out Sasuke was gay. Also no surprise. Unusually, his cold-hearted student actually seemed interested at what he was saying and had immediately left his comfortable shade with a curious smirk on his face.
"Spill it, what is it?"
Kakashi held up a piece of parchment written in difficult Japanese kanji. Naruto squinted, unsure of the complicated words until Sakura fluently translated it for him. Ungratefully, of course.
"Baka, Naruto! Can't you even understand simple kanji? It says that this city of 'Nocturna' is holding a ritual on the 12th of December. They need bodyguards to secure that no intruders interrupt it," Sakura explained, smirking in satisfaction.
"Sakura is correct. Now, what do you know about the worlds in our universe?" Kakashi questioned. Sakura, surprised at the question, shook her head, "what are you talking about, Kakashi-sensei? Isn't this the only world?"
Kakashi chuckled at her naivety but switched off, turning serious that even Sasuke paid rapt attention to him. "Wrong. If there are Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Suna and Kiri to make up the Five Great Shinobi Countries, isn't it possible that there are multiple worlds to make up a universe?"
The three were speechless. Sensing that he would not be contradicted again, he continued, "Nocturna is a completely separate world from ours. Technically, it is a village in a country in a world. This mission request here," Kakashi put up the parchment for them to see, "what do you think is wrong with this request?"
"There is no limit to the number of bodyguards," Sasuke responded easily. Kakashi snapped his fingers, "Correct. There is no limit. This request has been sent to the multiple worlds, that is why it is a B-ranked, not a C-ranked or D-ranked mission. They need more help than they can get, and they need it badly to the point they will pay a leg and an arm for it. That is why your brilliant sensei here specifically asked for this job. Think of it as a privilege."
"But we're just genin! Isn't it a bit too risky to put us in a position where the death penalty is high?" Sakura asked, losing her patience. Kakashi facepalmed. For the top genin in her year, she sure wasn't smart.
"Kakashi-sensei means that since there are more people across the world with this mission, we have more help, more protection, and a big-ass reward," Naruto said, smiling in triumph.
Sasuke and Kakashi stared at him as if he just took a Sasuke pill and suddenly spurted maturity. "Naruto is right, surprisingly," Kakashi said slowly, albeit amazed.
"THAT'S RIGHT! DON'T MESS WITH KONOHA'S NEXT HO - "
"Say 'Hokage/dattebayo' again and I will cut you with this kunai," Sasuke threatened, raising a kunai and his eye twitching with irritation at the blonde's trademark chant. It was a rather bad time to annoy Sasuke today due to his lack of sleep from staying awake all the way from four to ten. Yeah, nice one, Naruto.
"OH MY GOD! SASUKE DID YOU JUST SAY 'DATTEBAYO'?" Naruto yelled, horrified.
Sasuke promptly knocked out the blonde with an irritated punch.
Ah, same old same old, I'm glad my students never change, Kakashi thought happily, cheerfully walking away to his house, leaving poor Sakura dealing with another Sasuke-Naruto bitch-fight.
World of Chains (aka Pandora Hearts Universe) - Post Tragedy of Sablier
"Oz-kun, Alice-kun, Gilbert-kun~ I have a job for you ~."
"Hm?" Oz turned to a smiley-faced Xerxes Break, who - of course - looked as shit-creepy as ever. Oz Vessalius had just been enjoying a lovely morning of coffee and a copy of Pandora's daily newspaper, with his lovely companions Alice - eating steak for breakfast/directly opposite him - and Gilbert Nightray, who was now on the floor with his feet up in the air when Break mysteriously appeared behind his chair.
"CLOWN!" hissed Alice, diving behind Oz, growling and clawing in the air, flinching whenever Break came near her.
"What do you want, Break?" Oz asked casually, not at all surprised at the white-haired man's out-of-the-blue entrance. "Hohoho~! Oz is curious!" piped up Emily, who still made Oz ponder whether Break was voicing out his own private thoughts out of Emily's mouth or was it something from the Abyss gone terribly, awkwardly wrong.
"Is it about my memories?" Alice asked, her tone softening at the thought of being able to retrieve another part of her past.
"No, it's a little bit different, but you'll be a part of it," Break nodded towards the door, and the trio turned to the Lady of the Rainsworth Family, Sharon Rainsworth. As usual, her charm immediately attracted the shota-obsessive Oz's eye.
"Good morning, Sharon-chan!" he cheered up instantly, as Gilbert immediately straightened up at the sight of the duchess and greeted her with a brief "good morning". Meanwhile, Alice managed to get pulled out of her hiding place when Sharon's killer intent spiked and Alice immediately muttered, "Good Morning, Onee-sama." Sharon smiled to each and every single person in turn.
"What do you know about the worlds in our universe?" she asked, not to anyone in particular.
"There are many worlds to make up a universe?" Gilbert answered, confused whether Sharon was asking a rhetorical question.
"In different worlds they have different aspects and lifestyles?" Oz answered more intelligently.
"You're both correct," Break acknowledged.
"Indeed. As what Break said, you shall be undergoing an undercover mission as bodyguards. Pandora wants you to investigate the events in this city called Nocturna," Sharon held up a flyer, it was the flyer similar to the one World of Ninjas's and the one in World of Fiore, "this city has always been keeping close to themselves, and Pandora suspects that they are forcing human beings to undergo being illegal Contractors..."
"Wait, I thought Nocturna was a separate world from ours - " Oz started off.
"Our world and the world this city lives in are very closely linked, the Abyss also exists in that world - "
"But how could you so easily deduce that they are forcing people to undergo being Illegal Contractors - ?" Gilbert protested.
"Nocturna is a haven, a paradise, at first sight," Sharon explained, her anger rising at the increasing amount of interruptions, though still forcibly smiling all the way, "As what its name means, 'Nocturna' means 'Night' in Ancient Greek. That is because everything changes when day turns to night. We used to have Pandora agents who have been living there for a few weeks, but the reports stopped on the twelfth of December. That is also the day of the eclipse, where the moon temporarily blocks the sun."
"Causing eternal darkness," Gilbert whispered harshly.
"Correct. That is why Pandora has picked its best men on this mission. Oz-sama, Gilbert-san, Alice-san, Break, Elliot-sama and our volunteer Leo-san as our intel manager."
Oz and Gilbert immediately deadpanned, "Elliot?"
"I would like to come as well, but I have other things to take care of," Sharon continued sweetly, ignoring the two men who were now completely stiff and pale at the thought that they would be spending time with Elliot Nightray. Though the bonds between the Vessalius family and the Nightray family were less tense than before, it seemed awkward to be working with Elliot after a few weeks of silence.
"Please take warning, there is a possibility that other citizens from other worlds will be there, so you must be careful that your covers will not be blown. If anyone associated with Nocturna is to hear of your mission, there would be a war between our world and theirs. Nocturna is very influential in their world and have strong pulls with the various worlds in our universe."
The three nodded. Alice on the other hand, seemed disappointed but excited at the fact that she might be able to kick some ass. Typical Alice.
"I'm in ~" Oz said cheerfully.
"Same," Gilbert agreed. If Oz is going, I'm going. Gilbert immediately blushed at the thought and slowly turned away to avoid anyone looking at him.
"Oi, Seaweed Head! Why are you blushing!" Alice demanded, stomping on him with her feet, scowling at his angry screams while Break, Sharon and Oz approved behind them.
World of Angels and Demons (Alternate Earth 1.2)
Jace Lightwood/Wayland/Morgenstern/Herondale was in a particularly exhausted mood that day. Firstly, he had managed to kill three annoying little demons in the subway to ward off his lust for blood and had managed to wrestle down three Shadowhunters in one go during practice (Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood and Clary Fray/Fairchild/Morgenstern). At this point, even with his killer stamina, he felt like he could use a good snooze. He folded his arms across his chest and fixed himself comfortably on the couch.
"Get your feet off the table, Jace," his adopted mother, Maryse Lightwood sighed, deftly knocking his muddied boots off the breakfast table, "you're a mess. I wonder why Clary doesn't punish you for acting like a typical teenager with odor issues."
"For one thing, my room is perfectly clean, doesn't mean I have to be, and if Clary does punish me, I'll probably enjoy it," Jace smirked. Tilting his golden head slightly, his blonde eyebrow delicately arched at the sight of Maryse's clothes. "Another Clave meeting?" he asked innocently. Maryse's cheeks flamed a bright crimson red and scolded, "Really, Jace! You can't dodge Clave meetings forever!"
The beautiful blonde boy shrugged, "Why go when there's barely any demon activity? Valentine's gone, Lilith's sealed and dear Sebastian is well off in Hell."
"Now there is," Maryse slammed down a report in front of him. Slightly startled by Maryse's surprising reaction, he picked up the report, his eyes scanning it with speed that would put a trained bookworm to shame. "'Nocturna'? Sounds familiar," he drawled. "It's particularly famous for being heavenly and any place you would like to go to relax," Maryse explained.
"So you want me to go there and investigate?" Jace asked.
"You're not the only one," Maryse said, and one cue, two tall Downworlders and Jace's adopted brother entered the room. One was the warlock Magnus Bane, wearing paint-splattered skinny clothes with his catlike Asian features looking a bit darker than before. Next to him was an anxious, pale Simon Lewis, dark, brown eyes filled with worry. Blue-eyed Alec Lightwood looked annoyed while leaning casually against Magnus, head resting on his shoulder, which made a pretty cute scene in Magnus's head. The three looked - of course - as sexy as hell. Though no one could ever compare with Jace, of course.
"Two Shadowhunters and two Downworlders. That was the deal. And unfortunately, they decided on the four of you."
Magnus glanced at Jace and said flatly, "Hi, partner."
"How's Clary doing?" Simon asked, eyeing the blonde boy with suspicion.
"Clary is having a wonderful time with me, and you're hair looks like a porcupine is sitting on it." Simon scoffed but patted down his hair just in case.
"Since you and Alec are already parabatai, it seemed wise to put you two together if it ever came down to an attack. Simon is quite strong for his age and has the Mark of Cain, so he'll be quite an asset. I doubt the citizens of Nocturna would mind killing some of their wild beats for them. And Magnus is able to set up barriers and some useful charms and healing spells," Maryse explained to the four gloomy boys.
"For a start, why don't you tell us what's going on, Maryse?" Magnus asked irritably.
"Fine," Maryse shot Magnus a look, "There has been some strange activities going on at Nocturna. There has been rumors of them trying to revive some of the worst demons ever lived and unleashing horror on the worlds. Of course, that is a rumor, but from a very reliable source. How much do you know about the world that hails from Chains and Contractors?"
"Do I have a say in this? What the heck is the world of Chains anyway?" Simon demanded.
"A world that is separated, like Hell and Heaven. Chains are beasts, monsters that devour human life, and Contractors are the ones that put them on a leash. The Abyss is the birthplace of all Chains," Jace explained airily.
"Jace is - of course - correct. You'll be packing for one month before 12th December. Stay low, don't let anyone find you out your true identities, Magnus and Simon will be no problem, but since you and Alec are part of the Clave, they might take some measures to make sure they don't get caught by us. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," the four men sighed.
Author's Note:
I deeply apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes. This story is something I have to try out before I go mad.
Also, Nocturna is completely fictional. Meaning: completely made up. Don't steal my idea though.
'12th December' are just random numbers. THEY HAVE NO PARTICULAR MEANING WHATSOEVER. And I apologize again if I keep repeating the request over and over again.
Many apologies if any of the characters are a little OOC.
Toodles!
HinakoNamikaze99