Welcome to my first fanfic! I present to a NaLu flavored suspense! I do have some experience in writing stories due to my friend, who is always requesting me to write a story for her (why she can't write it herself, I'll never know) so I'm pleased to say it won't be completely horrible.
Though I guess I should stop talking and let you see for yourself, ne?
Disclaimer: I don't not, nor will I ever, own this amazing series. All Mashima's work.
o0 Fragments 0o
o0 Chapter One: Appearance 0o
Written By: o0Virgo0o
Streets were slick with rain water, the light reflecting off the surface prettily.
Nobles wearing dresses and suits of many different kinds roamed the streets, laughing gaily at their partners or friends' comments. Peasants walked the sidewalks a bit more cautiously, for they weren't accepted. No one cared for them. When one died, murdered or by natural standards, no one would care. Their names wouldn't get printed in the newspaper, no one would hold a memorial, no one would place a bouquet on their graves. Hell, they didn't even get buried in the same graveyards as the nobles, simply because they were poor.
Then there were the commoners. Not a poor as a peasant and not as rich as noble. They had money, enough to pay for a decent house, but not a mansion. Nobles are born rich, peasants are born poor or gamble their money away, whereas commoners have relatives or friends in high places that loan them money. However one is never a commoner for long.
Thinking they do have as much money as a noble, a commoner often wastes it away, forgetting they are in debt to their families or friends, therefore digging themselves into further debt. Either the commoners quickly fall to peasantry or slavery, or the nobles hire someone to kill them. Either way, the commoners never last long.
Some however are smart enough to work off their debts as servants or something else, such as Mirajane Strauss.
The girl was the age of sixteen when she had left her noble household. It wasn't that she didn't like her way of living, quite the opposite in fact. She lived happily and healthily with her younger brother and sister. They had fine dresses, silk sheets, nice suits, straightened hair, full bellies, everything. Mirajane and her little sister, Lisanna, always looked perfect and beautiful, especially as the two started to grow older. Elfman was a bit on the muscular and darker side, but that didn't deter from his looks.
At age thirteen, he had wild, white hair that contrasted with his tanned skin. He had a long scar running diagonally from his right eye due to a training incident when he was ten, a strong jaw and a firm nose. Despite the scar, he was still a desirable man for noble girls in his age group.
Lisanna was small at nine years old, smaller than the average girl. Her white hair was cropped short and framed her face naturally. It matched perfectly with her pale skin and rosy cheeks. Her bright blue eyes flared with innocence and a smile was almost always on her face, even during the most troubled times.
Being the oldest at age fifteen, Mirajane was developing nicely. Her white hair was long, brushing over her backside when left down, her bangs falling over her icy blue eyes. A generous bosom pressed uncomfortably against the fine fabrics of her dress. For some odd reason, Mira would never receive a new closet of dresses as she grew older.
It was a peaceful time, living in that household. Her parents treated her well, and her siblings adored her.
One day, her father was struck with a mysterious illness, one that local doctors were unable to cure. The family had been devastated when they heard the news. For the next few months, they all sat by his bedside to keep him company until his time drew to an end. When it did, it shouldn't have surprised them as much as it did, and it shouldn't have hurt them as much either. But it did, and it racked their cores intensely. The tears didn't stop until a week after his death.
In order to get over her last love, Mira's mother had remarried a short six months after his death to a young noble named Jose. Everything seemed fine for the first month. Lisanna had taken a quick liking to him and often clung to his side. Elfman was a bit more tamed, but adored him just as much. Mira respected him and her mother was beginning to fall for him. Jose was a charming man, and swayed her easily. Soon, the mother allowed herself to move on from her old husband to love Jose. He was a nice man, and as long as he made her family happy, Mira was happy as well.
But first came the looks.
He would throw glances in her direction at first. Then they would turn into gazes, and then the long stares. Mira noticed when he thought she didn't. His eyes would rake her figure seductively, and Mira would always shower afterwards. His looks made her feel dirty, tainted.
Then came the comments.
He would often compliment her on her dress for the day, or the way her hair was done up. Being naturally polite, Mira would always thank him with a smile and think nothing of it, or at least try to.
And finally the touches.
He would play with her hair as she was reading. His fingers would skim her neck occasionally as he grazed the fabric of her dress. He would fiddle with the chain of her necklace. Allow his thumb to graze over her bottom lip. All the while with that look in his eyes. That leer.
After an aching four months of false smiles and subtle touches, Mira decided she had enough. Two months after her sixteenth birthday, she told her mother about Jose's advances, and her concern that he was going to do something more, or maybe go after Lisanna. Mira had firmly told her mother that it would be safer for her and her siblings to leave the household.
Her mother had declined.
Mira had endured another month of touches and comments thrown her way. She was a strong girl, and she knew it, and that gave her the strength to push through it. But when he had started with the glances in Lisanna's direction, Mira saw red.
She didn't remember the incident, only small fragments. She remembered seeing blood and a bruised face, but it was fuzzy in her mind. When she asked her brother about the incident, he had described her as a demon in disguise. A pretty face, but with a burning fire in her soul. Mira had been horrified by her actions and quickly gathered her and her siblings belongings. The only thought that had ran through her mind was getting out of that house before she lashed out again.
She, Elfman and Lisanna had fled the house immediately. Mira apologized profusely for her actions to her mother, who was distraught about the whole ordeal, and only asked for support in a new home. Being highly disappointed in her oldest, she easily granted the money and paid for a house. Just because she was upset with one of her daughters did not mean she needed to treated her other two children the same way. They had done nothing wrong, so she had treated them normally.
Nine years had passed and that left twenty-five year old Mira working in a guild as a bartender to pay off the debt to her mother. Lisanna was now eighteen years old, and Elfman was twenty-two. Even though the job wasn't much and she was the only one working, Mira enjoyed her job. At first she was a tad shy, especially with the strange catcalls, but none of the men went any further than hollers. For that, she was grateful. The guild was a lively one, parties everyday, animated chatter and random dancing. Mira even found herself sharing a laugh the man who ran the place, who had taken an instant liking to her and her siblings. He was like a parent figure to them, to everyone in the guild. Despite his perverted jabs, Mira loved him as much as her own father.
"Mira! Can I have a beer?!" one of the regulars shouted her way. The young barmaid smiled brightly and held up her finger, letting the customer know she needed one moment.
Musicians played loud tunes and screamed lyrics. Mira was sure the people outside could hear the chatter from beyond the doors. The thought caused the barmaid to giggle lightly as she poured the strong liquor into a small, clean glass and slid it down the table towards a blue-haired fellow, Macao.
She loved her job immensely. Everyone in the guild felt like another family to her when she had no one to depend on. The thought brought tears to the beauty's eyes and she swiped them away before someone could notice.
Setting out a tray, Mira filled four glasses with beer and started her way to the upper quarters. Around this time, four people would request beer and she would have to take it to them, for they thought they were 'better' than everyone else in the guild. They were rich, and apparently they didn't need to walk for their drinks.
As she approached the group of four, she set the tray on the table and handed them their drinks.
A beautiful woman with long brown hair and glasses glared in her direction. A man who wore a strange knights mask leered at her body. A man with long green hair nodded his thanks while taking his glass, and a bulky man with short, messy blonde hair and a scar looked at the distance indifferently.
"Thanks," the blonde muttered, grabbing his glass and downing it quickly. The masked man did the same, while the green-haired man and woman took small sips.
"You're very welcome Laxus," Mira responded politely. "You know, you could join everyone else down at the bar."
"And why would I do that?" He dragged his eyes over her form before rolling them and looking back at the wall. "There ain't much there."
Mira's grip on the metal tray tightened as she continued to smile sweetly. She knew he meant it as an insult, but she was long past getting hurt about it. He was like this with everyone except for his 'crew'. Or perhaps he was with them as well, she never knew for certain.
"Well there isn't much up here either," she replied, that smile still gracing her face. "Furniture wise, of course. At least down there, you can get more beer whenever you want instead of having to wait for me to come up here every three hours with a new glass."
"And at least we can enjoy the show as she serves it to us," the masked man said, his tongue flopping all over the place as he gazed at her longingly. Mira resisted the urge to slap him with the tray she was gripping.
"Bixlow!" the woman screeched. "Don't say stuff like that! She's hardly something to compliment."
"Oh Evergreen," Mira sighed. "Your words do not hurt me. Even though you are a very beautiful woman, you need a little... work on your attitude."
"What did you just say?!" Evergreen shouted, slamming her palms on the table, making the glasses jump. She snapped her head over to the green-haired man, who was trying to hold back a snicker. "Say something Freed!"
"It was a backhanded compliment Ever. Accept it with pride," Bixlow tossed in, howling with laughter afterwards. Evergreen scoffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the wall.
"I'm just saying that maybe you guys can join us on the floor sometime," Mira said, shrugging her delicate shoulders. "You are welcome any time. I'm sure we could all have fun."
"I don't have fun," Laxus replied, holding out his empty glass. "At least not the type of fun you're implying." His frown slid into a seductive grin. "The fun I'm thinking of involves a bed and a woman. I have a lot of that 'fun'."
"I'll just get you another beer." Despite being used to his dirty comments, Mira still found herself lightly flustered at the insinuation. She gathered the two empty glasses and started her way down the stairs.
Glancing at the bar table, she was surprised to see and unfamiliar figure sitting on a bar stool at the corner. The figure adorned a black cloak with the hood up. Mira couldn't see if it was a male or female. It was strange though, and a tad sketchy.
Mira took slow steps down the stairs, trying to gather as much information about the mystery person - which wasn't much. So far all she could catch was that the person was trembling. Mira was hesitant to approach them.
At last she made her way around the table and stood in front of the cloaked figure. She leaned her elbows on the wood quietly, reaching out a hand and tapping the stranger on the shoulder lightly.
A small gasp escaped plump lips and Mira knew it was a woman. It made the barmaid relax a little. The cloaked figure looked up and Mira smiled as she saw big brown eyes and long blonde hair. The girl was adorable! "Hello there. Is there something you need?"
Tears filled the girls eyes and Mira frowned. Did she say something wrong? Did she offend her? "I'm sorry? Did I-"
"Please," the girl whimpered, tears coursing down her pale cheeks.
"P-Please...? Please what?"
"I..." The girl looked around, before reaching a shaky hand out and resting it on Mira's own relaxed one. "I-I need help."
"Help? With what?"
"Y-You're a guild right? If I hire you, can you protect me? I-I didn't make this request beforehand because I didn't think I would ever need it but-" The girl stopped and took a deep shaky breath, looking around the guild once more. The action had Mira worried and gripping the trembling hand on hers.
"It's okay, Miss. Don't worry about not requesting on time. Just tell me, what do you need protecting from?" she asked gently, not trying to hurt or scare the girl more than she already was.
The stranger took a deep breath. "I-I'm going to be killed."
Lucy Heartfilia took quick steps towards the place she so desperately needed to get to. It was her only chance at being protected officially - at least to her.
Loki was more than reliable when it came to fighting and guarding. He was as fierce and loyal as a lion when it came to that area. But it was a situation like this where just having Loki, Virgo, Aries, all her servants at her side just wasn't enough. She needed official protection, and she was not going to put her friends and her families servants in danger for her safety.
She needed hired help.
It wasn't easy getting money secretly from her father. He kept the vault shut and locked tightly. But with one seductive look and a bit of arm crossing, she had Taurus throwing open the door quickly. When he asked what she was going to do with the money, a little cheek caressing had him forgetting the question.
She knew her father took inventory of the money every week and counted how much they spent. He liked math and he was amazingly good at it when it involved money. It wouldn't be easy coming up with an excuse if - or rather when - he asked her about it. She'd come up with that later when she was shaking less.
Loki however, was persistent in getting the answer from her. He wanted to know why she was going out so late and wanted to escort her, spewing nonsense on how she was a beautiful woman and how they shouldn't be out late at night. It took her a while to convince him that two people would attract more attention than one. By that time, she was already two hours late and praying the place wasn't closed.
Now she paced the streets, her cloak fluttering in the light wind. Lucy sniffled as she thought of the reason why she was heading that way.
An incident had her thinking that she needed professional help. She needed a guild. The closest one that she could think of was Fairy Tail - odd name - but she was sure there were others nearby. Love and Lucky had all but disappeared long ago, much to her parents dismay, and that was the only one she knew personally. Love and Lucky was like her second home. The people were nice and the food was exquisite. It was more of a nobles bar in fact.
Fairy Tail... She believed it was more of a commoners guild. Not exactly low class, but not high class either. Her father would be ashamed if he found out she went to commoners guild. He would scold her how it wasn't good for their image, their name. Luckily her mother would be there to stop him. Her touch always calming the burning fire in that man's eyes. Lucy smiled fondly as she pictured the scene.
Her mother was an angel indeed. A few years back, the woman had been struck with a terrible illness many others had contracted. The woman was bedridden and on the brink of death for months. Both Lucy and her father, Jude, had stayed by her side, rarely leaving even for emergencies. To them, her sickness was the biggest emergency.
When it seemed like Layla would stop breathing for good, Virgo had burst into the room with a strange smelling soup of some sort, demanding Lady Layla to drink it immediately. Jude almost struck the maid for her rudeness, but Layla had calmed him with a smile and took the soup. Her face cringed at the taste before her brown eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the bed. Immediately, Jude started screaming at Virgo as Lucy shook her mother's shoulders. The woman refused to wake and Lucy had collapsed in sobs.
For hours that felt like an eternity, Layla remained unconscious. Lucy's tears had long since dried as she stared blankly at the wall on the floor next to her mother's bed. Her father had had his head in his hands as he sat in a chair. No words were spoken between the two at all. The silence was heavy and thick and tense. It was suffocating.
Finally, Layla had blearily opened her eyes, mumbling something about weird soups. Jude and Lucy practically flew into the ceiling with how high and fast they sprung from their spots. Layla had smiled her beautiful, bright smile and assured them that she was feeling better already.
The next couple of months went by fast as Layla Heartfilia recovered from her illness. When she asked Virgo what that soup was, the masochistic maid had told her that it was an old recipe her 'father' had taught her. Virgo mentioned that as a child, she, too, had the same illness Layla had acquired. Her 'father', who they often called 'Celestial King' due to his vast knowledge of the stars, had learned that recipe from his ancestors and taught it to his children, who now faithfully served the Heartfilias as their servants.
Lucy and Jude were immensely grateful to Virgo for curing their mother/wife, and were highly confused when she asked for punishment.
Currently, the blonde sped-walked her way to Fairy Tail, keeping a wary eye on the people roaming at night. Alas, she could the roaring laughter and the jovial music of the guild from a block away. Eager to finally get off of the streets, Lucy hurried her pace, her skirts swaying with her rushed steps.
This was it. She stood tall in front the bustling building with nervous eyes and an accelerated heart rate. Would anyone recognize her? She did carry a high status over her head. Everyone knew of Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, the miracle baby that made the Heartfilia Kozern's profit skyrocket in a few short weeks. Did the commoner folk know what she looked like? Would she tarnish the image her parents worked so hard to build? Would she destroy it easily with just one step?
Lucy took a step back from the building before steeling her nerves and pushing the door open. No. Her safety was far more important than an image. Pictures could be painted, they could be destroyed, and they could be repainted even better or even worse. A life could only be lived one time, she'd be damned if she was going to be killed for an image that wasn't her priority. It sounded rude and selfish, she was aware, but was it wrong to be selfish for her life?
Weaving through the people of the guild, Lucy crinkled her nose at the smell of beer and cheap perfume. Did all commoners guilds smell this way? Love and Lucky smelled nice and fresh, like a nobles guild should. Lucy shook her head and hesitantly sat down on the corner bar stool, pulling her hood closer to her head to hide her blonde hair. She didn't come all this way just to be found out and glared at because of her status.
She sat there, alone in the dark corner for some time, idly wondering where the bartender was. Did this guild do things differently from Love and Lucky? Lucy frowned, briefly noticing that she sounded like an inexperienced child with all of these questions.
A soft tap on her shoulder had her gasping in surprise. Her brown eyes dragged up from the wooden table to the beautiful face of the barmaid. "Hello there. Is there something you need?" she asked.
Tears filled Lucy's eyes as the situation finally sunk in. As the reason finally registered in her mind. They overflowed and coursed down her pale, flushed cheeks.
"I'm sorry? Did I-"
"Please," she whimpered, wisps of hair escaping her bun and framing her face.
"P-Please...? Please what?"
"I..." Lucy looked around, before reaching a shaky hand out and resting it on the barmaid's own relaxed one. "I-I need help."
"Help? With what?"
"Y-You're a guild right? If I hire you, can you protect me? I-I didn't make this request beforehand because I didn't think I would ever need it but-" She stopped and took a deep shaky breath, looking around the guild once more. Lucy felt the hand holding hers tighten its grip, and she felt a surge of encouragement through that action.
"It's okay, Miss. Don't worry about not requesting on time. Just tell me, what do you need protecting from?" she asked gently, and Lucy felt her heart swell at the barmaid's caring attitude.
Taking another deep, shaky breath, she said, "I-I'm going to be killed."
To be continued...
Well I'm pleased to say that was chapter was a success. Right off the bat, you know Mira's past (which will be relevant later) and a bit of Lucy's past. But there will be more involving her, involving everyone. I already have this story planned out and every main character in Fairy Tail has a background. I'm also pleased to tell you that I already have the first five chapters typed and ready to post whenever you all are ready.
I apologize if the characters seem a little OOC. Bear with it for a few more chapters, and they will shape back into their original personalities. And though there will be NaLu, it will take some time to get to that point, so please be patient. I'm going to try and make this story slow, but evenly paced as well.
I want to thank you all for reading the first chapter of Fragments. Please leave a review, it would mean the world to mean and possibly a faster update.