My hand dragged along the spines of the books. Humming I tried to decide on what to read. I could get manga, a novel, or maybe something totally new. Suddenly I noticed a book shoved into the end of a bookshelf. It had no barcode, suggesting it wasn't from the library. I moved it around in my hands looking at all sides of the brown leather cover. Blank.
My eyebrows knitted together and I tiled my head curious. I walked over to a chair nearby and sat down. As I held the book it seemed to be warm but that was impossible; books can't be warm. Blinking I opened the cover. On the first page was a small forewarning: In this story you and a friend will travel through a story. Be careful because all will seem real and you can be harmed. "Ah!" I exclaimed quietly. It must be a book where you decide what direction the story goes. I flipped the page…
Everything was dark until I opened my eyes. Sitting up I placed a hand on my head as the world spun. What happened? I looked around and didn't recognize where I was. I seemed to be in an alleyway though. Large brick walls towered over me. A soft moan grabbed my attention. My best friend Anna Updike was lying next to me; her long brown hair was splayed on the ground. She had on a blue tank top, black shorts, as well as black and blue running shoes. I glanced at myself and say I had on the same outfit even though I was sure neither of us had these outfits originally. I gently shook her trying to get her to wake. I didn't want to be alone any longer. "Five more minutes." She moaned out.
"Anna you need to get up. I don't know where we are." She opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.
"What?" She sat up and glanced around. "Why are we in an alleyway?"
"I don't know but I don't want to stay." I pulled her up and wearily looked around. I walked out of the alleyway as Anna followed me, her brown eyes looked around. Once out I narrowed my eyes at the glaring sun.
A man called out, "Be careful Lucy, don't fall in." I swiftly turned my head and saw a blonde woman waving towards a boat in a canal.
"I'm fine." She walked along the edge of the canal humming to herself as a small white snowman followed her. Her outfit consisted of a white no sleeve shirt that cut off bellow her bust which had blue heart on it. She had on as well a blue tank top vest and blue sleeves that were tied onto her upper arm; the shirt and sleeves had gold edges. She also wore a blue mini skirt and brown knee high boots; around her waist was a belt that held a whip and pouch.
I lightly punched Anna to get her attention. She groaned, "What?!" I pointed at the blonde.
"Is that…?" She gawked at her. "It couldn't be." She said. I started walking toward the blonde without thinking.
"Um, excuse me." The blonde turned towards me almost falling in the water. I grabbed her arm and helped her gain balance. "I'm sorry."
She smiled, "Its ok. What did you need?"
"Is this Magnolia?"
"Yes home of Fairy Tail the greatest guild ever. Are you both wizards looking for a guild to join? Fairy Tail would be glad to take you!" She beamed her brown eyes sparkling.
"We might join. I'll tell you if we do." Anna stood next to me open mouthed in shock.
"Alright. My name is Lucy." Lucy walked off most likely toward Fairy Tail.
Once she was out of earshot I blurted out, "We are in the manga Fairy Tail." I looked around and confirmed that we were in the city that I saw in books. "Wait. Are we wizards or not?"
A squeal reached my ears causing me to wince. "This is awesome! I wonder what powers we have." She then stopped and held out her hands and concentrated. The longer she stood there the more her eyebrows together in frustration.
"Um. Anna people are staring." She let out a breath and flushed at all of the pass biers watching. "Excuse us." I grabbed her hand and led her to Magnolia Park. "Why are we even here?" I paced nervously.
"I don't know I was home and," she held out her hands referring to where we were, "now I'm here."
"I was at the library." I thought back to see what might have caused this.
Anna continued talking not realizing that I wasn't listening. "It's cool but why are we here? Are we heroes or…"
Something was strange about the book I found. What was the warning again…? "Oh my god!" I remembered what it said causing myself to shout out.
"What?!"
"I picked up a book that had no cover and it said I would travel through a story with a friend. I thought it was just a joke but we are actually a part of a story" She punched my arm. "Ouch."
"That's for reading strange books." I shook my head as she got excited again. If we didn't have magic I feared that we wouldn't survive the story; the book did say we could be harmed. We could live but who knows what might happen.
"I know." A woman swung down from a nearby branch on the tree we were next to. She landed perfectly and leaned against the tree. Her bright red curly hair contrasted against her aqua colored irises. She smirked at our shocked faces. "I am your guide to this book." She bowed like an aristocrat. "Would you like to know your powers?"
I began to protest but Anna interrupted, "Yes, yes, yes!" She beamed her long hair settling after her excited bounces. "Would I have maker, slayer, or celestial magic?"
"It should be pretty obvious after your little attempt earlier." Anna blushed remembered her earlier actions. "You are a celestial mage." Anna widened her eyes as he corners of her mouth rose into a broad smile. "I have three original keys for you." At this point I finally noticed her outfit. It was a navy blue tank top, black jean shorts, and navy blue knee high boots. She reached into her shorts and pulled out the keys.
She placed the first key in Anna's hand. It was platinum colored. The handle was a circle that had measuring scales etched into it. "This is the gate key to Themis; goddess of divine justice, order, and customs."
Anna held the key in her hand then shouted, "Open the gate of the justice goddess: Themis." A puff of smoke appeared revealing a woman in long blue Greek toga with the right leg exposed and bronze accents on the waist, holding scales and a long sword. Her hair was black with part of it braided down to her feet, the other part out down to her shoulders, and her eyes were covered with a blind fold. Anna shook with excitement. "What can she do?"
The redhead smiled, "she mainly keeps order but she also can control the gravity in a limited space." She smiled, "much like Libra but more." She placed the next key in Anna's hand as Themis returned to her world. This key was a bluish silver with a handle shaped like a water jug and wings etched into it. "Next is the gate to Tethys: goddess of all fresh water."
"So can she control water like Aquarius?" Anna clutched the key tightly in excitement.
"Yes, but only with fresh water and she can use the help of all creatures living in water." Said the red-haired woman. I could see my friend's excitement at the fact she now had two keys similar to her favorite zodiac keys. "Open gate of the fresh water goddess: Tethys." Once again a woman appeared after a puff of smoke. Her hair was bronze colored and wavy, her eyes the same color. Her outfit was a more traditional Greek toga and she had gold headdress and necklace.
The last key was given; Tethys smiled and waved as the gate closed. The key was silver and the handle was shaped like a shield with a running shoe etched into it. "This is the gate to Atlanta; goddess of adventure. She uses more magic so be careful."
"Open gate of the adventure goddess: Atalanta." This time a lion appeared instead of a woman. "Oh my gosh. That's a real lion not a woman!" She backed away nervously.
The redhead let the lion sniff her hand then she pet her fur. "Atlanta was changed into a lion by another goddess spirit, Aphrodite. It will take more magic for you to change her into a woman." The lion disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I watched idly on the side worried about my friend. Does she not fear the unknown or the guide? Said person stared right at me. I widened my eyes at the strange contact. She swiftly turned around and cut Anna's arm. I flung myself forward and stood between them. I shoved the woman back and looked at Anna's arm. The gash wasn't too deep but I didn't have wrap to bandage her wound and stop the bleeding. "You bitch! I thought you said you were our guide. Not our enemy."
"I am look." She pointed to the gash. Slowly the wound began to heal where I touched it. I looked at my hands then back at her arm; as soon as I touched the wound again it healed faster. Healing magic. I'm not offensive. I sighed in relief as my feet collapsed under me.
"By the way." The redhead spoke near my ear causing me to flinch. "My name isn't bitch, it is Krystle." She pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me. It had strange markings that looked like an alien language. "Use this if you need me. Just pull it out and ask for help." She then touched the paper and disappeared.
We sat in stunned silence until Anna lightly touched my arm. "Thank you for healing me." I nodded unable to speak. It was so strange. "Well I think we should go to Fairy Tail and find a mission." She stood up and held out a hand to me. I gulped and hoped we were doing the right thing as she helped me up. As we walked along the streets it was unusually silent between me and Anna. Normally we would chat but I was paying more attention to our surroundings. We passed by a clothing shop and I stopped. "What is it?" Anna asked at my abrupt halt.
"I was thinking of buying clothes since the one's we are wearing aren't that nice. But then I remembered we don't have jewels…" I trailed off. At that moment my pockets felt heavy. Don't tell me. I reached into my pockets as Anna eyed me curiously. I turned out my pockets and pulled out a stack of jewels. My mouth widened as I counted the money. There was about 200,000 jewels, about $2000. It must have been Krystle. "I think we can buy them now."
We entered the shop going separate ways. I grabbed a few clothes of racks and walked into the dressing room. I sighed feeling a little relived for normalcy. I put on the outfit and watched myself in the full-length mirror. I had on a tight, square cut, no sleeve red crop top with black heart kreuz design that showed my toned midsection. Paired with the top was high waist dark wash jean shorts and stylish black cross training shoes. I pulled up my hair into a pony tail and twisted it creating curls. Everything looked perfect probably because of anime logic. Even imperfections on my face that normally made me nervous were gone. I leaned in close to glance at my eyes. I couldn't see any dark circles or bright veins. The corners of my mouth twitched as I felt more at ease with the way I looked.
Suddenly the curtain was pulled open making me flinch in response. Anna stood where the curtain was and asked me, "What do you think?" She had on a similar outfit ironically. A white no sleeve crop top, denim high waist shorts, and a long sleeve sweater cardigan with gray, brown, and cream stripes that had integrate designs. She also had on brown tights, black lace up boots, and a brown pouch for her new keys.
"I think our tastes are getting more similar." I laughed. Anna looked at me quizzically until she realized what I was wearing at burst out laughing as well. "We should pay and go to the guild." We paid a nice old woman who gave us a discount but we still ended up using most of the jewels. We waved to the woman and left wearing our new outfits.
As we walked the rest of the way to the guild we were laughing and remising old chapters of Fairy Tail. "Based off of Lucy's outfit. We are in the story after the Tenrou Arc." Anna suggested.
I nodded as we reached the large guild. "I just hope we aren't in the Tartarus Arc." My face fell grim as I thought of that arc. A hand was placed on my shoulder. Anna looked at me reassuringly. We pushed opened the door and saw the guild surprisingly calm. Lucy was at the bar drinking a shake. We walked over to her. "Excuse me, Lucy?" Mira's blue eyes looked up from the glass she was cleaning. Her white hair was down except her bangs and she was wearing her usual black and white barista dress.
Lucy turned around at looked at us. "Oh it's you two! Are you joining?" She smiled at us with lots of hope.
"We are. I am Anna, and this is Kathryn." Anna said pointing to herself then me. "Can we join?"
Mira pulled out the stamp for the mark and said, "Master isn't here but I can't see him saying no. Just tell me where you want the mark."
Anna took off her boot and sock from her right foot and pulled up her footless tights. "I want mine in aqua on my side ankle." The stamp lowered down on her ankle and pressed down. When it lifted up an aqua Fairy Tail mark was on her skin.
Mira turned to me. "I want mine…" I realized I was wearing high waist shorts and it covered my lower back, where I wanted the mark. "I want mine on my lower back in red but I have to change in order to get it."
Mira smiled like she did always. "I'll just go to the restroom with you." She led me to the room and I let the shorts down enough for the mark. I felt a slight tingle then she said, "Done."
"Thanks." We walked out and Anna was talking to Lucy.
"So is it tiring opening the gates of multiple spirits at the same time?" Anna questioned.
"Yes, I feel more exhausted than usual but it has gotten better since the games." My eyes widened. Shit, shit, shit! Please say you haven't gone to see the wizard saint. "Then again it has only been two days since then." I sighed silently. They haven't yet. Then again maybe we are in an alternate time.
I cleared my throat to get the two's attention. "Thank you so much for allowing us to join. Can we see your mission board?" A crash was heard as the large door was flung open.
"Lucy! Let's go on a mission!" Natsu came barging in and ran towards the bar. His pink tresses were messy as usual and his gunmetal grey eyes held a look of excitement. He had on his muffler, black vest showing off his abs, and white pants. I had a hard time looking away. "Who are these two Luigi?"
I snapped out of my daze as Lucy yelled at Natsu. "It's Lucy! These are our newest members." I smiled at my one true pairing for this series.
Happy flew over and held out a paper. "We should take this job." He placed his brown bag on the counter and pulled out a fish. "We could buy more fish with the reward."
"Happy!" I squealed and pet his blue fur. He was soft and I couldn't stop petting him.
Anna quickly stated, "We read Sorcerers Weekly a lot and Kathryn really loves cats, including Happy," due to the strange looks I got.
Lucy stared at the mission and looked back at us. "I had a great idea. The best way to start as a mage in a guild is to join a team for a few missions. Join us!"
I immediately stopped petting Happy. "That would be wonderful!" My best friend said the words I was thinking. I smiled at our connection.
Natsu leaned forward towards me. I blushed at the close proximity. He is very attractive why wouldn't I blush? "You should fight me first." He backed off and lit his hands on fire. "I'm fired up."
"I…I couldn't." I stuttered. Natsu didn't listen as a flaming fist flew towards me. "Wait!" I swiftly lifted my arms to block him. I closed my eyes at the impact. I felt a slight sizzle and opened my eyes. I blocked Natsu's attack and was healing from his flames. "Heh, you're kind of strong." I blushed again. "Alright I accept."
Happy chuckled to himself and whispered, "You liiiiike him." I looked at him and put a finger on my lips telling him to hush. I did like Natsu but not quite in the way Happy implied. I don't think he would ever like me anyway. Plus he belongs with Lucy not me.
Natsu walked away and went to grab his stuff for the trip. I turned towards Anna and smiled. This was awesome. Lucy excused herself saying she needed to pack too. Anna and I clasped hands and I jumped up and down fangirling. She sighed then joined me. We got weird looks but I didn't care. Once we stopped, going to the train station was our next action. "I want to fight Natsu. How did you block his attack?" I was questioned as we waited for Natsu and Lucy.
"I think we were given some strength as well as magic by Krystle. Any ways I doubt he was really trying." I rocked back and forth on my heels nervously.
"Still, it was pretty cool." She smiled at me making me feel better. Lucy came running up with heavy bags. She apologized for taking so long. I grabbed a bag and told her it was no problem.
"You don't have to take my bag." Lucy said reaching towards it.
"I want to help you though. We don't have much stuff so I can carry something." I smiled reassuring our new *nakama.
Natsu came right after and scowled at the train. "Why can't we walk?" He whined.
As we entered the train I wondered if I could use a spell to prevent his motion sickness. As we all sat down I turned towards Natsu. "Hold still." I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt a tug at my stomach as my power was being used. When I opened my eyes the train lurched forward. Natsu looked scared then slowly smiled as he did feel nauseous.
"I'm not feeling sick. Thanks!" He shot me a broad toothy smile. I opened my mouth unable to speak due to his attractiveness. "Are you a healing mage then?"
"Um yes. So I won't be much help."
"Sure you won't." Anna scoffed. "Oh come on you can help us if we get injured."
"You just helped me." Natsu said.
"Yea, and I'm sure if I can help you can too." Lucy said. I wanted to tell her that she was so much stronger than she thinks but an announcement from the conductor prevented me. The rest of the ride went smoothly as Lucy told us about her missions with Natsu. She had no idea Anna and I already knew them plus more.
The train stopped as we reached the town. "This is it. Off to catch a villain." Lucy smiled creepily. Oh there comes the rent monster. "Rent money here I come!" Anna and I laughed at her cute obsession over rent money.
"Lucy is a rent monster." Happy chuckled out. Lucy yelled at him. I glanced over at Natsu and he had a faint smile as he watched Lucy that went away quickly as we entered the town. He doesn't even know he loves her.
We met the mayor of the town who wanted us to catch a villain who was stealing money from shops. A loud explosion resounded and next thing Happy is carrying Natsu out a window. I looked out the window and noticed a small sun cover. In an urge not to lose Natsu I jumped down landing on the cover and bouncing off landing on my feet. I laughed out loud. It was such a rush. I looked up and saw Happy flying and I ran off in their direction. My feet felt lighter than normal and I felt faster. Thanks Krystle!
In the distance I could hear Lucy complaining how reckless Natsu and I were. I stopped when Natsu touched the ground. We were in front of a burning building. He sniffed the air. "There are people in there." He was about to climb in when the others caught up.
"Wait Natsu!" Lucy was helped down from Capricorn. Anna was being carried but by Leo. My best friend had the happiest look on her face for meeting Leo, he helped her down and commented on how beautiful she was. "Capricorn and Leo close." The spirits disappeared. "I just need water and I can use Aquarius."
Anna then pulled out her own key and shouted, "Open gate of the fresh water goddess: Tethys." A puff of smoke reveled the goddess spirit. Tethys closed her golden eyes and raised her hands. Streams of water flew from nearby lakes and towards the house. "Use her water and we can quickly douse the shop."
Lucy nodded and stuck her key in the water, "Open the gate to the water barer: Aquarius." Aquarius scowled then saw the other spirit. She then abruptly used her water basin to douse even more water on the house; most likely she didn't want to be out shinned. Once the fire was out Aquarius closed her own gate saying she had a date.
Natsu ran in bringing out a person. He set the man on the ground. He had brown shaggy hair that was wet from the water. Natsu checked his pulse and could barely feel it. He then moved his arms and we noticed a large burn. Anna shook me and gave me a look that said I should save him. I kneeled down next to the man and closed my eyes using my magic. I heard him cough up water and breathe in deeply. Opening my eyes the man was sitting up with his burn healed.
"Thank you all for saving me." His blue eyes stared into mine. I looked away, nervous for his direct eye contact, saying it was no problem. I then noticed a sooty footprint. Lucy noticed as well and we started to follow it. As we moved on Natsu lit his hands on fire and rushed off.
"*Matte Natsu!" Happy yelled out.
We all followed as we ran into another man. This guy looked shady and made me feel uneasy. He had dark hair in a buzz cut and had many scars covering his body. I think he is the one we are supposed to catch. Natsu then used his dragon's iron fist on him. I stood by hoping not to get in the way. The man happened to dodge the punch and attempted to flee but Themis was already summoned. She used the scales to increase the gravity on the man. He stopped moving allowing an opening for Natsu and a summoned Taurus to knock the guy away.
The three kept fighting against the man and I sat down feeling useless. Toying with my shoe laces I looked down. I don't need to be here. I felt the air in my lungs whoosh out as a knee rammed into me. I looked up through tears struggling to breathe and saw the man smirk. Taurus was on Natsu, Lucy and Anna were breathing hard as their magic dwindled. I coughed out, "What do you want." He grabbed my hair and lifted me up. I struggled as my skull hurt from being held by my hair.
He leaned close and said with nasty breath, "I want everything." He punched my face and dropped me down. Suddenly a heavy atmosphere filled the area as Natsu and Anna looked over. I spit up blood as my face slowly healed. The two of them then snapped. Natsu burst forward from underneath Taurus and Lucy summoned Atlanta in her human form. Atlanta had her long silver hair up with blue flowers and she had on a Greek toga. Her dark eyes focused as she pulled out a bow and arrow. Both the goddess spirit and dragon slayer then beat up the man to a pulp.
Lucy helped me up and watched as Anna and Natsu dragged the villain to the mayor. "Are you ok?" I nodded unable to speak or else tears would fall. "It's ok if you didn't fight. You have defensive magic." I nodded again and started to heal her. She sighed as the cuts on her sealed. She hugged me and rubbed my back. "Thank you." I bit my lip and gripped the back her vest trying not to cry.
I pulled away and noticed the man that we saved earlier watching. He slowly came by and stood near us. I noticed he was about 4 inches taller than me and was around our age. He was somewhat attractive and smelled nice. But then again that doesn't mean anything. "Thanks again for saving me."
"It wasn't just me. We all helped." I sadly smiled at him unable to feel accomplished. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
"I know." He walked away and I watched in confusion. What just happened? Lucy burst out laughing at my face until the rest of the gang returned.
We walked back to the train station laughing and commenting on the mission's success. "Yo." A man's voice said behind us. We all turned around and saw Grey. He had on a dark pants and a white button up shirt.
"Hi Gray. Finish a job?" Lucy said to him.
"Yep, did Natsu mess up yours?"
"*Gray-teme, fight me." Natsu retorted.
"Why should I flame-brain?" Gray baited back.
"Boys stop it." Anna said.
Gray backed down to look at her and then at me. "Who are you?"
"We are new members. I'm Kathryn." I held out a hand. He roughly shook it with cold hands.
"And I'm Anna." He nodded at her and looked at her even more. His eyes traveled up then down. I narrowed my eyes at his perving gaze. I slapped him up the head.
"Just because she is beautiful doesn't mean you ogle her!" I growled.
He held out his hands in defense. "Sorry I couldn't help it." Anna blushed realizing he was looking at her. She thinks he is very attractive like how I think about Natsu.
"Ice-breath, don't haggle our new nakama." Natsu sneered.
"You are just mad she blushed at me." Gray smiled smugly. Ugh. I am kind of glad they are fighting over Anna though. She is gorgeous.
Natsu sneered placing his forehead on Gray's as a dark aura surrounded them, "No I'm not."
"You are, the prettiest new girl likes me and it makes you envious." Anna started to shake in anger.
"Ha, now you're wrong twice. Kathryn is the prettiest." I widened my eyes unable to believe what just happened. The two kept bickering and I took the chance to slip away. He couldn't have meant it. Tears flowed down my face. Shit. I curled up into a ball and sobbed. Why does it hurt so much? A soft hand touched my back. I looked up and saw Lucy.
"I'm sorry. I know you like him. I wasn't trying to take him away." I sobbed out.
Lucy looked shocked at my statement. "I…I don't like Natsu. Anyway why are you crying?"
I sniffed as snot filled my nose. "I've never been called pretty by someone who isn't a pretentious jerk before and it kind of hurts."
Lucy sat next to me. "I know what you mean. I've never actually had a good date and feel enough lucky to be in a relationship." I wiped my tears away. "Let's go back to the guild." I nodded. She helped be up and we walked silently to the train.
Anna and the boys were already on the train. As we sat down we passed by the boys seats and they both had large lumps on their heads. Anna sat next to me and told me how she hit them for their actions. I laughed and imagined it. This day has been so weird. I looked out the window as setting changed due to movement of the train. The dark sky stayed constant lulling me to sleep. What would life be like if we stayed?
*nakama – friend, comrade, colleague, compatriot
*matte – wait
*teme – bastard
