Chapter One
Chaerin sat up straight, pushing her self onto the edge of the sofa she sat on, listening sharply for the bang she heard, to sound again. There was no sound for a second then a loud crash echoed in the silence. Suddenly she felt a presence enter the fifty meter radius she could feel around her.
"Could you be any louder, Natsu?" asked a girl's voice. Chaerin glanced up towards her window and slowly walked towards the glass, peering out. A pink haired boy in a black vest-jacket stood on the cobblestone outside of her house, standing triumphantly next to a cavity in the ground. Just outside of her fifty meter range were a blonde girl, a red haired woman and a shirtless man, all rolling their eyes at the rosy haired boy.
"Aye~" Chaerin jumped as a blue blur passed her window, diving to the ground to hide. "Natsu's too loud!" She peeked back up to see a blue cat with pure white wings sprouted from its back, hovering next to the pink haired boy. The boy was now turned to face Chaerin, so she could see his face. He looked quite attractive, the broad grin lighting up his face. The blonde girl, followed by the others walked into the fifty meter range and made Chaerin shiver, watching them look around the town. They wandered around, looking through windows and knocking on doors.
"Where's this monster we're lookin' for?" asked the rosy boy, turning and looking directly at Chaerin. "Hey, you!" he cried, running at her and making her jump up. She ran fast towards the wooden stairs of her house, up into her bedroom and slamming the door hard, leaning back against it. She heard a loud banging on the door below her, shouting and pounding. Chaerin breathed out, sighing and turning around with closed eyes.
"Man, that was close." she breathed, opening her eyes.
"Aye~" the blue cat smiled, right in Chaerin's face. She cried out, scrambling up and heaving the door open, coming face to face with the shirtless guy.
"Ya~ What do you want?" Chaerin yelped, leaping back in surprise. The shirtless guy frowned and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, staring at his hand on the black cloth strap on her shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry, we're here to get rid of the monster for you." he smirked, cockily, "I'm Gray Fullbuster, what's your name?" Chaerin blinked up at him with blank eyes. A sick feeling stirred in her stomach, making her face pale and eyes go darker.
"What monster?" she whispered. Gray moved his hand, sensing something different in the little girl when the monster was mentioned. He looked down at her, noticing the blue-y gray of her eyes go near black. He frowned and stepped back slightly. "I said, what monster?" Gray frowned, feeling with his foot behind him, to make sure it was safe to step back. The girl followed after him, her hands balled tight into paper white fists.
"Ah~ Happy, let's get outta here!" he called to the blue cat still flying behind the girl's head. With that, he turned on his heel and raced down the stairs and out of the unhinged door that Natsu had ripped apart prior to his meeting with the girl. He wondered if convincing Natsu and Erza that he should talk to girl was a good idea or not. When he got outside, he saw Erza standing at the other end of the small, stone village. She was standing at the mouth of a forest, her red hair standing out against the various shades of green. She turned on her heel to look at him.
"Yes, Gray? Did the girl know anything?" Gray walked over, nearly running away from the house.
"I don't know. She was really scared, then she got really scary when I mentioned the monster." Erza frowned, glancing at the white stone house, the only one that seemed to be inhabited. Natsu and Lucy walked over too, standing next to Gray, in front of Erza.
"The only lead we seem to have is that girl. Let's go talk to her." Erza strode forward strongly, being followed by a worried Gray and the curious Natsu and Lucy.
Chaerin took in a deep breath, forcing herself to stop shaking as she stood at the stop of the stairs. She heard stomping clanks of metal armour bouncing off the walls of her house. She assumed it was the scarlet haired woman that was with Gray. Chaerin stepped back, chewing her pink lip, ripping a piece of chapped skin away and letting the metallic blood fill her mouth.
"Hello!" called the woman, her scarlet hair flicking out of her face and showing off her eyes. "You need to tell us what you know about the monster!" she cried out, stamping up the stairs in an angry manner. Chaerin's eyes widened and she flinched back from the redhead.
"Wait, Erza-" Before Gray could finish, the wood underneath the woman's feet melted, becoming hot molten slush beneath her. She began to fall, her feet burning from the intense heat that had melted the stairs. "Erza!" Gray cried, freezing the ground to stop her skin burning away when she hit it. The rosy haired boy looked up at Chaerin, seeing the red soles of her black shoes slowly going back to their original colour.
"Did you do this?" he yelled, setting fire to his fists as he balled them up, ready to jump up and hit Chaerin. "I don't care who you are, don't start a fight with Fairy Tail!" Chaerin stared at the boy, realising that his face looked somewhat familiar, and she tried to place his face to memory.
"No, Natsu, leave her. We need her for the monster hunt." 'Erza' spoke out clearly, shoving her arm out in front of 'Natsu' while the blonde girl hugged him from behind, forcing him to stay put. Gray glanced back up at Chaerin, catching her gray eyes in his blue ones.
"It isn't a monster hunt." The group all looked up at Chaerin, surprised by her sudden voice. It was deep and smooth, a voice that anyone would love to hear read them bedtime stories and sing lullabies. Much more mature than the girl that stood before them looked. "Because I'm the monster. . ." Natsu let out a loud laugh, a wide grin forming on his face along with a look of determination. He punched his fist into his palm, staring directly into Chaerin's cold eyes.
"Great, that means two birds with one stone, right?" Natsu flamed up, bending his knees and readying to leap at Chaerin. "Now I'm all fired up!"
"Wait, Nats-" the blonde girl cried, reaching up to grab him but missed and her fingers skimmed the trimmings of his vest. Natsu raised his fist as he got closer to Chaerin, crying out and readying to hit her. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, dispersing; so he flew through the spot she once stood in, and reformed beside the same space. Natsu yelled and threw himself back at her, attempting to hit her again, but she dodged and he fell from second floor to the first from the gap where the stairs had once been. The blue cat dived forward, soaring to catch Natsu before he hit the ground and lifted him back to face Chaerin.
"Natsu! Stop!" yelled Erza, standing back from the iced ground to be next to the blonde. Natsu turned to look over his shoulder at Erza, sending her a determined smile.
"Why should I? Our job is to kill the monster and if she's the monster, then let's do it!" he smirked, not noticing Chaerin walking up behind him. He realised too late, because by the time he noticed, her pale hand was wrapped tightly around his forearm. "Huh?" His gaze traveled down her arm and latched onto his own which was becoming black, the dark skin spreading from where she was clutching it. He twitched as he felt a burning sensation under his skin, but it also felt ice cold at the same time. "Gah, that's hurts!" he cried, forcing his other hand to move though it also hurt, trying to pry her thin fingers from their deadlock.
"Natsu!" the blonde girl yelled, she dug through her pocket and called out: " Open the Gate to the Lion, Leo!" while flashing a golden key in front of her. After a flash of bright light that lasted only a second, a man with a mane of golden hair and a suit appeared.
Natsu was still trying to force the girl away from him, digging his fingers into the skin of her arm in an attempt to shake her loose. He couldn't shake the feeling he knew the girl, and it made it difficult to fight her. He glanced back to see Loke running towards him, when suddenly the stairs reappeared, trapping Loke inside. Loke beat his fists against the wood, calling out. Natsu slowly turned to face the girl. She was a bit smaller than he was, her white hand outstretched towards the stairs. She dropped her arm and locked eyes with Natsu. He felt something sharp dig at his heart under her glare but only stared back. The burning in his arm was beginning to subside, when he looked, the blackness was disappearing, leaving hot patches of blotchy red skin in its place. Under his skin, he could feel the blood running through his veins, making him itchy, but when he scratched he felt the burn again.
"What. . . What did you do?" he whispered, his head felt fuzzy and his arm, weak and heavy. The girl smiled for the first time, making her eyes go wide and blank which unnerved Natsu.
"I froze the blood in your veins, if I held you any longer, you would have died, so be thankful." The unnatural smile slipped from her lips for a second, being replaced by a sweet, genuine smile which tingled Natsu's heart a little. But it disappeared as fast as it had appeared and the blank face from before made her look like a statue.
"Who. . . ?" Natsu couldn't keep his eyes open, the blood stopping had affected his brain and he could barely think straight. He tried to look at the girl but it took all his effort not to fall backwards, down the stairs.
"Me? I'm Chaerin Park, nice to meet you." With that, Natsu fell back onto the stairs and tumbled down, unconscious.