Our story begins in a small village known as Magnolia. It was a quaint, peaceful place surrounded by forest. Despite appearances, it served as the home to many people, including some powerful wizards.
The use of magic was actually quite common for the villagers. They would seek out the local mages for a spell to assist with daily living. Others would turn to wizards as a source of protection from invaders. Once in a blue moon, the mages would even receive requests from other towns and villages.
With the various requests and needs of the village, one mage was given the responsibility to oversee and organize the work of the locals: Makarov Dreyar. From a first glance, he appeared to be a simple old man, shrunken in size and not afraid of abundant alcohol consumption. Yet he was known to be one of the most powerful wizards in the region.
He set up a headquarters within the village: a little shop for selling potions and magical items. There, he worked daily with his young apprentice, Levy McGarden, a young woman with messy blue hair tied back with a headband and chocolate brown eyes. Wearing a simple white blouse, brown skirt and white apron, she scurried around the shop, organizing and assisting customers wherever needed. On certain days, she would receive a job from her master. One task in particular would serve to change her life forever.
"Levy! I have another job for you."
The apprentice hurried to her teacher's side. "What is it, Master?"
The short old man handed her a small paper. "Here's a list of the herbs I need for future projects. I trust you know where to find them."
"Absolutely, Master. I'll get these and be back in no time at all!"
Makarov couldn't resist smiling at his cute apprentice. She had always been excited to take on jobs that required her to leave the village. That girl spent most of her free time with her nose buried in a book, leaving the outside world to the imagination. It was good for her to get out once in a while, but he was rather protective of her as well.
Makarov turned to his grandson, Laxus, who was currently sitting leisurely in a chair along the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He would spend most of his time in the shop, but he rarely took a job unless he was thoroughly intrigued with the task or the reward.
"Laxus, why don't you get off that lazy bum and go with her?"
The large man with blonde hair and a lightning shaped scar on his face looked at the old man from his spot; the expression on his face revealed a great deal of displeasure.
"Are you kidding, Gramps? There's no way I'm going flower-picking with this brat!"
Levy was secretly on Laxus' side. The man's company wasn't exactly pleasant in her book. But Master Makarov would have none of that.
"LAXUS! YOU WILL ESCORT MISS MCGARDEN! AND THAT'S AN ORDER!"
Laxus rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to push his luck. Reluctantly, he rose from his chair and walked past Levy. The girl gave a quick bow to her master before following Laxus out the door.
The two walked through the streets in silence. Laxus kept looking straight ahead while Levy tailed after him. They had just about reached the outskirts of the village when Laxus stopped her. "Now, look, kid. I don't really care what that old man says; I don't have time to babysit you. You're on your own."
Levy raised an eyebrow. Obviously, his words were not matching his actions. "Strange. If you don't care what the master says, then why escort me this far? You could have refused back at the shop."
The man towered above her, trying to intimidate her so she'd back off. His efforts were in vain, seeing as the girl did not falter. Laxus had only managed to prove to Levy that she was right on the mark.
"Shut up, brat! Just get those damn herbs that Gramps ordered!"
Levy watched as Laxus stormed back to the village. She rolled her eyes. 'He's probably going to avoid the master and head to the tavern instead.'
Like Master Makarov, Laxus had a habit of drinking to pass the time. He was especially fond of the hostess at the village tavern, Mirajane Strauss. The jerk would flirt with her any chance he got, despite the numerous rejections she gave him. 'Poor Mira; her stalker is returning.'
Levy walked through the woods alone, humming to herself. She had always been fond of the forest; there just wasn't much time for her to explore anymore. As a child, she normally wandered off and enjoyed nature to the fullest. However, her parents were concerned about her safety as well as her future, so they insisted that she find a job. They set up an interview for the opportunity to be the head mage's apprentice. Master Makarov had quite the reputation, and though the village had many mages within it, no one had yet to overpower him. He had been searching for a wizard to serve as his apprentice, since his grandson had more interest in magic for combat than assisting the people. Many had tried to apply, but he had turned every one of them away.
By some miracle, he had accepted Levy.
Now that she was serving as an apprentice, she was often busy assisting the master or taking on the jobs he assigned her, like gathering herbs and ingredients, decoding ancient text, or researching a spell. Of course, she could still squeeze in enough time to crack open a good book or two.
Pulling out the list from her bag, Levy ran through the locations of each requested herb. She was familiar enough with the forest as well as herbalism books to know the general areas where each herb could be found. Most of them were fairly common and could be found in the wild grass. It took little to no time at all to track them down and place the amounts she needed in her bag.
'Let's see… next is…'
"Next" was a different story. Master wanted her to bring back a rare flower known for magical potency. A client was in need of a spell to cure an ill child, who was near death. The disease was unknown, and the doctors found the case incurable. The desperate parent decided to turn to magic.
Finding this flower would not be a meager task; Levy would have to travel further into the woods, territory that was rarely plodded. The other problem was this flower normally grew on higher ground along a bluff. With the girl's stature, high places weren't always…accessible to her.
After walking a ways, she finally spotted it: a lone shrub with the unique flower sticking out of it. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of a river; judging by the level and the roughness of the waves, wading or swimming would not be in her best interest.
'Okay, Levy, think! How can I reach that plant?'
She scanned the terrain with her eyes. There was a tree with a branch that went across the river. If luck was on her side, she could reach the plant from that branch. If not…
Levy didn't have time to think of the what-ifs. All that mattered was getting that flower.
With her mind made up, she adjusted her bag and began to climb the tree. Making it to the branch was no problem; neither was crawling along the branch. The problem was the branch itself; it wasn't close enough to the plant for her to reach it.
Levy once again found herself cursing her poor height. The flower she needed was in her sight, but it was too far away! She looked down at the rough waters below and gulped. Now was not the time to be a damsel! Master Makarov was counting on her! Levy's eyebrows furrowed as she stretched her body to its limit.
'Almost there. Come on…'
Suddenly there was a snapping sound, and before she knew it, she was falling! Levy screamed as she landed roughly on the slope of the bluff, tumbling her way down. She was unable to stop herself from rolling right into the river!
The wind was knocked out of her as she broke through the water. Levy tried to swim to the surface, but the strong current was making it difficult! She finally managed to break through, and she franticly looked around her for something to hold on to. There was nothing in her reach, and the current was sweeping her away! The little mage continued her battle with the rapids: a battle she was swiftly losing.
'Why did I ever think I could handle this myself?' she bitterly thought to herself.
Levy was exhausted, and her body was beginning to give out. Her vision blurred as she began to sink below the water.
'Is this it for me? Am I going to die?'
Just as she was about to lose hope, a large hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her arm. Levy's body was limp as it was lifted out of the water. The hand pulled until she was sprawled on the ground. Everything was still blurry in her vision as she panted for air. Before everything went black, she vaguely caught the silhouette of a large man with a thick mane of hair.