Hekate and I were perched at the top of a stone archway near some ancient ruins we had just finished exploring. We had found nothing after hours of careful examination, so we were on our way to Magnolia primarily to work on our mission and restock our inventory. Safira, who was playfully jumping through oak trees, wasted most of the food supply over the last day, caring little for how much effort I had made harvesting berries and gathering fish. Sometimes I wonder whether I should let the human starve or feed her toxic mushrooms, but at least her friendship makes things bearable. I followed Safira's movement as she amusingly chased a squirrel. That was the only reason we were still here.
"Hex!" Safira called out cheerfully. "I'm ready! Let's go!"
She rolled down into a patch of autumn leaves, making the usual crackling sound. In her hands, she nestled a squirrel, who struggled to escape her grasp.
"No squirrels," I shook my head, recounting the many times her irresponsibility has led to the death of her pets.
"Fine," she muttered frustratingly as she released the forest creature.
"Get rid of the bird," I pointed to a chirping noise that came from her sky blue hair.
"B-but the bird is my friend!" she sobbed, patting the bird on its small, white head.
"Off with its head!" Hekate chanted while running her long, black nails across the throat of her human-sized teddy bear, Stitches.
Safira gently grabbed the baby blue jay from her hair and encouraged it to fly free, away from her vice-like grip. She frowned and kicked the dirt until she noticed an earthworm wriggle its head above ground. She crouched down and poked the creature.
"Oh, hello Mr. Worm! How are you?"
She gazed at the misfortunate worm with her bright, brown eyes while mimicking its movement. How a crystal dragon would even consider teaching such a human their unique crystal dragon slayer magic is beyond my knowledge. As Safira continued to dirty her white shirt and blue shorts, Hekate and I dismounted off the archway, ready to continue on to Magnolia.
"Let's go!" Hekate called out, but Safira ignored her, preferring to continue her worm dance. Hekate grabbed Safira by her collar with her nails and dragged her to Magnolia. Once we were at Magnolia, we were shocked to see the city raised by stone structures, leaving a single passageway with arrows pointing north to the Fairy Tail guild.
"That's convenient… We know where to go…" I stopped to look around.
"Then we can begin the mission! I wonder why the town in like this," Safira began to tie her shoelaces, though she did so poorly.
"That old bloke! What was his name?" Hekate scratched her head. "Gildarts! Yes him! He is here!"
"Who's Gildarts?" Safira asked as she tripped from her untied shoes, falling head first into the pavement.
"He is said to be Fairy Tail's strongest mage," I explained, "They do this just so he won't wander and destroy the town. He shouldn't be too tough…"
"Maybe I'll send him into the Nightmare Realm!" Hekate laughed dementedly, "And feed him to Noxia!"
The Nightmare Realm is a dimension controlled by Hekate, where she keeps her demented abominations. It is a dark world where she tortures humans and uses their corpses to create horrible creatures. Noxia is a large corpse spider whose body is composed of human flesh. Hekate takes us to the Nightmare realm every other week, showing us new creations every time. I wish she would take us there more often though.
"The Nightmare Realm," I recalled the few times I was there, "Such a wonderful place…"
We continued walking; there was only one way to go anyway, what with some contraption elevating the town. The Fairy Tail building was close by, bearing its signature fairy-shaped insignia at the center, held up by two, ivy-covered stone beams.
"I hope the guild members are nice! I've heard so many things about Titania and the Salamander!" Safira sounded excited.
"We are here for the mission," I gritted my teeth as she mentioned the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel. I loathe that overrated bastard and wish to drag him down into the depths of Hekate's Nightmare Realm so that his light may be eclipsed by eternal misery.
"Doesn't mean we can't have fun!" Hekate added jokingly, "I'd sooner kill myself than pass off an opportunity to mess with these poor fools!"
"Lighten up Hex!" Safira patted my hair, sweeping the part that covers the right half of my face to the side.
"Don't do that," I brushed my hair back to its original position.
We opened the door to the guild, where all the guild members were engaged in some sort of argument. The Fairy Tail members threw bottles across the room while using tables that they flipped over as shields. Much to my chagrin, Natsu was thrown straight at me, causing me to fall and my scythe, Blood Hunt, to fly in the opposite direction. It lodged itself on the wall next to a woman with long red hair who wore iron armor—Fairy Tail's Titania. Though I was outraged, I reduced the level of ire with a couple of deep breaths. My white scarf tightened around my neck, desperately trying to reach Natsu so that it may strangle him, but I whispered to it that he is mine to end. Natsu stood up, brushed the dirt off of his white knee-length trousers and entered the fray, eager for retaliation. Safira noticed a blue cat with a white-tipped tail fly around the room.
"Can I keep him?!" She jumped. "He's sooooooo cute!"
"Cat will be dead within two hours!" Hekate giggled as she helped me up.
A blonde haired woman approached us, wearing black, high heel leather boots, a belt that keeps her blue skirt up and has various keys and a whip with a heart-shaped end, and a white, sleeveless blue-trimmed shirt. She bore a pink Fairy Tail mark on her right hand.
"I'm sorry about my friend!" she laughed shyly.
"Not sorry enough," I muttered under my breath.
"My name is Lucy! What are you three doing here?"
"We are here to take your souls!" Hekate smiled hauntingly as she used her Spatial Magic to retrieve my scythe. I draped the scythe over my shoulder.
"W-we are here to join Fairy Tail!" Safira quickly corrected, trying to shift attention from Hekate's response.
"Then you'll need to speak with our guild master, Master Makarov! He's… Somewhere…" Lucy looked around, trying to spot her guild master through piles of rubble and broken pieces of table.
"I'll ask my friend," she yelled, "NATSU!"
"On second thought, we'll find him ourselves." I didn't want to see Natsu. How does hair even get that spiky? Or pink for that matter… I then thought of how my hair was white and Safira's was sky blue.
Natsu flew once more, this time in Lucy's direction, his voice echoing the words Curse you, Gray!
"Get off, Natsu!" Lucy frantically tried to push Natsu off but he was pinned on top of her.
"Sorry!" He stood up, "What did you need me for?"
"Where is the guild master? These three want to join Fairy Tail," she explained.
Natsu stared at the three of us. He looked at Hekate's messy black hair, which reached down to her nose and covered both of her eyes, attempting to see her eyes. She keeps her hair that way because her eyes are gateways into the Nightmare Realm. If both gaze at the mortal realm then a portal that bridges this world and the Nightmare Realm spawns, unleashing her creations on the world. Hekate and I love the chaos but it puts a terrible amount of strain on her body, which is why she relies on her other senses. Natsu noticed Stitches, who was tied on Hekate's back.
"What's with the bear?" he asked.
"DON'T TOUCH MY BEAR!" Hekate clutched Stitches, who only had one black button for an eye.
"It's something special to her… Do not touch it." I glared at Natsu, who was somewhat frightened. No one can touch her stuffed bear. To think of the things that may happen if the bear is harmed would make one shudder. Natsu turned around to inspect Safira.
"Can I have that cat over there?" Safira pointed at the flying, blue cat.
"Errr… Happy isn't for sale," Natsu crossed his arms as Happy perched himself on top of his head.
"Aye!" Happy cheered. "Who are these three, Natsu?"
Before Natsu could say anything, Safira pushed him into the floor, stepped on his face, and captured the cat. I laughed a bit as she stood on top of Natsu, holding Happy.
"You're a cute kitty aren't you?" Safira rubbed her nose with Happy.
"Help me, Natsu!" Happy was scared. Luckily, Happy successfully escaped Safira after a few seconds of struggling.
"Okay… Well, these three don't look bad," Natsu said to Lucy.
"I know, but it's Makarov who recruits others!" Lucy shouted.
An extremely short, elderly man flew into Lucy's arms. I wondered why everything in Fairy Tail flies when Lucy stated that the man she was carrying was the guild master, Makarov Dreyar. He looked at us with black eyes as he stroked his thick, white mustache. He was growing bald, with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. He wore a red vest with black pants and a high collared cape.
"Hello Lucy! Always nice to see you!" Makarov looked up at Lucy.
"Makarov, these three want to join Fairy Tail," Lucy pointed to us.
"Hmmmm…" The guild master inspected us, mimicking the way Natsu did a few seconds ago. Lucy carried him up to us, where he ran his fingers down the tip of Hekate's hat, which was like a witch's hat except the crown bends in various directions. My scarf attempted to wrap itself around Makarov when he touched it, but Makarov left in time. Hekate whispered to me that she'll take the guild master into her bag of souls. It looks like a regular, purple bag only it has a mouth and eyes and can suck the souls of those Hekate kills and trap them inside.
"Okay… Well, these three don't look bad," the guild master shrugged.
"That's what I said!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Please sir, we really want to join Fairy Tail! So, can we j-join Fairy Tail?" Safira begged, getting on her knees even though she still needed to look down on Makarov.
"Settle down," he laughed, "Of course you can join!"
I thought to myself how simple it was. I had previously created a plan that involved kidnapping one of the guild members, killing another guild member, blaming it on some fool, and then getting revenge on said fool.
"Wonderful!" Lucy laughed too.
"Nice to meet you three," Makarov saluted, "Let's go over to Mirajane, she is the head waitress! She will give you the Fairy Tail mark!"
Mirajane Strauss was a slim young woman of below average height with a voluptuous body and an ample chest. Her long hair was the same color as mine, getting slightly curly at the end. She had two bangs framing her face a long with a short, upward ponytail tied above her forehead. She wore a long, sleeveless maroon dress adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the neckline and circle around the waist. Mirajane also wore high-heeled shoes matching her dress, a small chain necklace with a blue oval gem, and a bracelet made of white flowers circling her wrists. She hid behind the counter to avoid shattered glass.
"Hello Makarov!" she smiled, "What can I do for you?"
"Hello, Mira-chan!" the guild master greeted. "These three want to join Fairy Tail! Would you mind getting the stamp?"
"Sure thing!" Mirajane took out a magic stamp tool, which looks like a normal stamp except it painlessly produced symbols on the body, and carefully dodged all projectiles.
"Put mines in the right cheek and hers in the left!" Hekate grabbed Safira as Mirajane stamped their Fairy Tail mark. Hekate's mark was a dark purple while Safira's mark was a light blue.
"Are you Mirajane Straws?" Safira was confused about her last name.
"It's Strauss," Mirajane laughed.
"Oh, Strauss…" The name was foreign to Safira, "Thank you Ms. Strauss!"
"And where do you want your mark?" Mirajane asked me where I wanted the mark.
"Do I really need one?"
Mirajane nodded.
"Ugh… Put it on my right palm I guess," I sighed as Mirajane placed the mark on my right palm. My mark was black.
"Congrats! You three are now part of Fairy Tail!" Makarov showed his approval with two thumbs up, "Hope you have fun!"
"Let's go introduce you guys!" Lucy marched forward as we followed her.
She showed us the one they call Gray Fullbuster, an ice-make mage who apparently dislikes wearing clothing. He has spiky black hair and dark blue eyes and wears black pants, a necklace resembling a sword with a stone in it, and a metal bracelet and similar chain attached to his pants. His Fairy Tail mark matches his eye color and is on his right pectoral. He has a cross-shaped scar on his lower abdomen for some reason. Next to Gray was Erza Scarlet, also known as Fairy Tail's Titania. As her last name implies, she is a young woman with long, scarlet hair and brown eyes. Like Mirajane, Erza has a slender figure and large breasts. She wore Heart Kreuz armor, a blue skirt, and black boots. I could barely make out her mark, which was sticking out of her armor on the middle of her upper left arm.
"Who'd you bring home this time, Lucy?" Gray joked.
"Do I normally bring home other people?" Lucy looked at Natsu.
"We have come from the realm of the dead! Prepare your souls for harvest!" Hekate giggled ominously.
"Nice people you brought home, Lucy," Erza genuinely remarked, noticing Hekate and Safira's guild mark. "New members?"
"Yeah, just thought I'd show them around!"
"Well, just follow the guild rules and we'll all have a good time," Erza smiled.
"Yeah! Erza will break your legs if you don't!" Natsu laughed annoyingly. I wanted to break off his legs.
"I am the one who breaks the legs!" Hekate argued. "You can break the arms!"
"Don't worry," Gray assured. "Erza's always like that. Hope you enjoy our guild!"
"Why don't you like shirts?" Safira tilted her head slightly to the right.
"Errr! It's not that!" he sounded embarrassed. "It has to do something that happened years ago."
As Safira stared at Gray, a tall, slim young woman came, drinking a barrel of alcohol along with a man who wore a dark, tattered cape. Lucy recognized them as Cana Alberona and Gildarts Clive, respectively. Cana had long, wavy, flowing brown hair, the same color as her eyes, almost reaching down to her waist, with two strands framing her face and reaching down below the shoulders, the left one starting from a prominent fringe. As with most Fairy Tail women, her body was voluptuous, her breasts large and her hips curvy. Her mark was on the lower left part of her abdomen. She donned a blue bikini top, black, calves-long pants held up by a tighter-fitting, pinkish purple belt adorned by red hearts, and short-heeled, dark sandals. She had three metal bracelets circling her left wrist, metal bracelets adorning her biceps, and a shoulder bag, with the plain brown strap passing over her left shoulder and diagonally crossing her chest, which is covered and completely obscured by a mass of very long and massive feathers, which are pinkish purple.
Gildarts was a tall and muscular man with shoulder-length reddish-orange hair, which is kept slicked back, and some stubble around his mouth and on his chin. His chest sports scars, two of which are stitched, and his black Fairy Tail stamp; the lower part of it is wrapped up in bandages, which also cross over his left shoulder, and his right forearm is bandaged too. Gildarts wore armored plates on the shoulders, held closed by a belt and usually covering his whole figure, and loose dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard with plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots.
"Who are these three Lucy?" Cana asked.
"Are they new members?" Gildarts stared at Hekate, who smiled ominously.
"Hex, Hekate, and Safira!" Lucy pointed to us, respectively.
"Nice to meet you guys!" Gildarts waved.
"This is Gildarts! He is the strongest in Fairy Tail!" Lucy boasted. "The whole city moves around so he won't destroy anything!"
"He won't destroy anything where he is going!" Hekate appeared behind an unsuspecting Gildarts.
"Heh," he laughed faintly. "So, Lucy, when are you going to take them on a mission?"
"You should go on one now! Show them how it's done!" Cana agreed. "It's a great start! Like how Natsu went on a mission with you when you first came."
"I was thinking of showing them to the guild first so—" Lucy was interrupted by Natsu.
"Not like the rest of the guild cares that we are here…" I added.
"Yeah, Lucy, that's boring! They'll meet them soon enough! I wanna see what they are capable of!"
"It's true, there are billions of people in Fairy Tail," Cana exaggerated.
"B-but a mission so soon?" Lucy expressed disapproval.
"It'll be fun! We can talk and learn more about ourselves!" Safira persuaded.
"Maybe that'll give me time to think of what to do on Gildarts," Hekate mumbled.
"Hell, why not? Let's just go on a mission," I agreed.
"See Lucy?! They are okay with it!" Natsu was eager to do a request.
"O-okay! Let's just go on a mission then," Lucy, pressured, was pushed by Natsu to the request board, which was beside the bar. She contemplated what mission to undertake, scanning for one that is simple and relatively safe. Lucy spotted a request that involved clearing a mine shaft of monsters that plagued it, so that the miners may return to work, but it was way up in Mt. Hakobe, a fact that Lucy did not like. Safira, Hekate and I felt disappointed and belittled.
"Remember that Vulcan from a long time ago, Lucy?" Natsu reminded Lucy, who shuddered. Vulcans are large, anthropomorphic monsters that have a distinctive facial appearance with large eyes, large arms and a muscular torso. They have pointed heads, massive chins, and point ears. The ones on the mountains have white fur with a hole-like pattern on their arms. They also have big, long tails and are sometimes seen smiling.
"Please don't." she seemed repulsed. "Let's set out."
Happy reluctantly went with us, Lucy explaining to us that Natsu knew Happy since he was born, keeping watch of Safira as we made it to a mountainous area with a characteristic alpine climate. It snowed perpetually, a blizzard winding across the area, so Lucy used Celestial Spirit Magic to summon Horologium. Horologium was a tall brown grandfather clock with long, black arms, a glass case, a Roman-numeral clock at the center and a small face at the top with slit eyes and a thin, swirly, mustache-like mouth. Lucy hid inside Horologium's glass case, preferring not to endure the cold. I was annoyed by the way Horologium repeats what Lucy says.
"This is just like the first time we came here, only it was with you and the Vulcan!" Happy teased Lucy.
"Don't remind me!" Lucy shivered.
Halfway to our destination Lucy decided to break the ice and have a short conversation with us. She walked slowly as she asked us about our origins, where we were from and what brought us here.
"So, where you guys from?" Lucy asked. "Sorry, this guild is kinda crazy. We didn't get much time to introduce ourselves."
"I come from a cave!" Safira declared proudly.
"A cave?!" Natsu yelled in disbelief. "How could you live in a cave?"
"I lived with Esmeralda! She's a crystal dragon!" Safira explained.
"You're a Dragon Slayer too?!" Natsu jumped. "That would make seven Dragon Slayers in Fairy Tail!"
"Yeah!" Safira smiled. "Esmeralda took me in and taught me about crystals and stuff!"
"Igneel took me in," Natsu he pumped his fist in the air. "He was like a father to me."
"Too bad Esmeralda left," Safira lamented.
"Our dragons left too! Metalicana, Grandeeney, and Igneel are all gone. Skiadrum and Weisslogia were killed by their children," he uttered the last sentence angrily.
Safira gasped. "That's terrible! Why would they kill them? Dragons are really nice."
"I hope you get to see Igneel again," Safira patted Natsu on the back.
"Yeah! I hope you get to see Esmeralda again!"
"I come from a place where happy things happen!" Hekate referred to the Nightmare Realm. "I'll take you all there one day and we'll have a great time!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Lucy shuddered. "Where do you come from Hex?"
"It doesn't matter anymore… Those memories have been buried…" Just as I have been, I thought.
"Okay… And why did you guys want to join Fairy Tail?" Lucy continued.
"We love Fairy Tail and have heard so much about it!" Safira smiled. She whispered into Lucy's ears, hinting at Natsu, "And between you and me, I think some of the guild members are kinda cute!"
We continued through the mountains until we reached an abandoned mine shaft, located halfway around the mountain, whose wooden beams were at the point of breaking. We stared into the darkness of the mine, Lucy having second thoughts about entering.
"You guy's ready?" Natsu led, ready for whatever came at him. Horologium reached his limit and returned to the spirit world.
"I hope there are some human bodies!" Hekate wanted to add more creations to her realm.
"Let's just get this over with," I grabbed my scythe.
The mine was dark on the inside, and damp, with minerals and ice and stone lining the walls of the cavern. There were a few light bulbs, some of them broken, at the roof of the cave that lit a pathway straight into the center of the mountain, where most of the activity took place. There were also wooden rails and abandoned carts full of ores. One of them was empty, with enough space for Lucy and Safira to ride in.
"Aren't you cold, Safira?" Lucy looked at Safira's lack of coverage. Safira merely wore a plain, white, dirt-stained shirt and light blue shorts, exposing most of her body.
"Not really," Safira replied bluntly. "I only wear this one outfit. I'm used to it."
"That's all you have?! We need to get you some clothes!" Lucy was shocked.
"That's not really necessary," Safira shook her head. "But thank you!"
"Hex…" Natsu murmured. "Isn't that like a spell or something?"
"Or a curse…" I corrected.
"Where did you get those scars on your face?" He noticed the scars on both sides of my cheeks—a Glasgow grin. I stared at him, hoping that my gaze might somehow cause him to die.
"I'd rather not talk about it," I touched the area of my scar. At least those guys are dead, I remembered those painted faces.
Progressing into the center of the mines, we notice a sleeping wyvern. A giant, scaly creature, the wyvern had dragon-like features with large wings attached to their arms, a scaly torso and tail. They have sharp teeth, claws and feet as well as spikes on the top of their heads that trail down to their backs. Lucy took out her keys, though she was rather frightened, and Natsu ready to do his Fire Dragon Roar.
Before they were able to do anything, I slashed one of its wings with my scythe and gathered some of its blood. The wyvern woke up, but it was too late, for Safira had used her Crystal Dragon Slayer magic to encase most of the wyvern's body in crystals. The wyvern roared, breaking free from its casing. Hekate joined the fray and used her Spatial Magic to create portals that blasted one of the wyvern's arms into another dimension. I cast a spell on the wyvern that poisoned its blood. The wyvern lifted one of its claws, slashing at Safira. Safira, however, used her Scales of the Crystal Dragon ability to deflect most of the attack, barely damaging herself. The wyvern aimed its attack next at Hekate, which was a mistake, Hekate managing to blow off its other arm. Unable to use its claw, the wyvern tried to bite us, to no avail. We watched the wyvern's movement slow as it slowly died from my Blood Magic spell. Its movement slowed and I was able to finish it off by decapitating it.
"That's it?" I frowned, obviously disappointed at the task's simplicity. "Now what?"
"Pick me, pick me!" Hekate raised her hand frantically. "Now we do the same thing to! Ummm… What was his name again?"
"You guys handled that real fast," Lucy was dumbfounded.
"Gildarts! Yes! Him!" Hekate blurted.
"We had lives before Fairy Tail…. Terrible lives…" I remembered the time when I was buried alive, years ago.
"Don't be fooled," Safira warned. "We are strong. Even stronger than you think."
"We should fight one day!" Natsu was excited. I drew my scythe but Hekate insisted I didn't do anything yet.
"Maybe later," Lucy insisted. "Let's get back to the guild."
We returned an hour later to the guild, the guild master surprised at how quickly we completed our task of clearing the wyvern. We rested near the bar area. We were rewarded with 50,000 Jewel, but I decided that Lucy and Natsu should keep it, for we had no need for it.
"You sure you don't want the money?" Lucy felt bad. "You guys did all the work."
"Keep it," I shook my head. "We don't need it"
"No Hex, wait!" Safira suggested. "Can I rent Happy for a few days?"
"We should get you an Exceed," Natsu explained that an Exceed was a creature, like Happy, that looked like a cat and could sprout wings. There are four other Exceeds in the guild: Carla, Pantherlily, Frosch, and Lector, which belong to Wendy Marvell, Gajeel Redfox, Rogue Cheney, and Sting Eucliffe, respectively. Apparently, it's a Dragon Slayer tradition, even though Laxus Dreyar doesn't have an Exceed. Laxus, I thought, is that a type of diarrhea medicine?
"Where do I find one?" Safira longed to have a cat-like Happy.
"It'll come to you, one day!" Natsu said, followed by Happy yelling out, Aye!
"Oh, just keep the money then…" Safira frowned.
"It's okay! At least today wasn't too bad of a day!" Lucy smiled. "At least, for your first day of Fairy Tail, it wasn't!"
"Yeah, thank you Lucy! We enjoyed our first day!" Safira grinned.
"Well, welcome to Fairy Tail then!" Lucy exchanged a high-five with Safira.