Chapter 1: I Am A River
Magnolia was a town filled to the borders with energy and opportunity, every street was teeming with people and lined with specialty shops and restaurants. The bright colors and sweet smells were almost overwhelming, but Lir Elodea wasn't able to enjoy any of that on account of her severe motion sickness. She staggered off the train, stomach churning, and head spinning. It had only been a measly hour and a half trip, but she felt as though she had spent the last month riding a tilt-a-whirl.
"Never again…" She muttered to herself as she ambled towards a bench.
She fell on it with all the grace of a sack of rocks and, with shaking hands, pulled a map and a water bottle out of her backpack. After chugging half the water her head began to clear and the nausea faded away, and the map stopped looking like incoherent squiggles. She rubbed her eyes and scanned the city blocks for the tiny print name 'Black Agate,' a shop that specialized in charms and gem based magic. Much to her annoyance, it was halfway across the city; hopefully, the remaining nausea would wear off before she got there. After taking a deep, steadying breath she stood up and started off down the street.
It was always nice to be in towns with mage guilds because the denizens didn't give her strange stares since they were used to seeing mages on a regular basis. Those who didn't use magic typically had more neutral hair colors and less eccentric appearances in general, making her teal hair and blue tattoos stand out more.
She walked slowly, scanning each of the stores having no idea what Black Agate looked like. Vendors tried to sell her random trinkets, knick knacks and food and small children kept running right in front of her. She was not good at navigating crowds and repeatedly bumped into people; a downside of spending the last several months in the wilderness she supposed.
Even though her tracking skills were rendered useless on the town streets, she eventually found the store and slipped inside. The interior was made of sleek glass and stainless steel which served as a neutral backdrop to the rainbow of gems, crystals, and jewelry that seemed to make up the entire inventory. It only then occurred to her that she had no idea what she was looking for. She figured there would be a big sign that said 'charms for defense' and she would pick the least ostentatious one. Reality turned out to be far more overwhelming.
She wandered up the first aisle letting her eyes wander over the shelves, trying to make sense of the different shapes and colors. A stone comprised of varying shades of brown bands caught her eye; brown was a protective color… right? The 8000 jewel price tag made her grimace and put it back down. She couldn't afford to guess wrong so she walked to the front counter where a middle-aged woman with baby pink hair stood.
"Can I help you, miss?" The woman asked.
"Yes, I was wondering if you had any charms to boost defensive power."
"Of course. I assume you're a fighting mage?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And what type of magic do you use?"
"Water dragon slayer magic."
"Oh my, that's a lost magic, right?"
"Yes."
"Hold on just a moment." The woman said before disappearing into the back room.
Lir leaned against the counter and examined the small, trinket stones. An orange gem on the end of a thin chain caught her eye and she picked it up to hold it in the light. However, having no idea what it was and considering there was a 4000 jewel price tag hanging off of it, she put it back down. The defense charm was going to bleed her of all extra cash anyway.
Then, the woman returned and placed an opaque, green gem and a solid blue gem on the counter.
"I can have a defense boosting charm made from peridot and turquoise ready in about two days. It'll cost about 12000 jewel; 6000 now and 6000 when you pick up the finished product."
"Sounds good to me," Lir replied, and dug the money out of her bag.
She thanked the woman for her help and turned to leave the store.
"Oh by the way," The woman said, "You should check out Fairy Tail, they have a dragon slayer. They call him Salamander."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, he can cause quite the commotion, though."
"I'll have to check it out. Thank you." Lir said, stepping out the front door.
"Of course, have a nice day."
There was just enough money in her pouch for the finished charm and a cheap inn. Maybe checking out Fairy Tail would be a worthwhile venture; most guilds let independent mages take some of their jobs as long as they got a cut of the profit. Not to mention meeting that Salamander guy would be interesting.
She was pulled from her thoughts, "Someone stop that guy! He's a thief!"
Lir lifted her head in time to see a man in a mask sprint down the street, holding a small burlap bag.
What kind of moron robs a store in the middle of the day?
She took off at full tilt, rapidly gaining on him. It was tempting to level a water dragon's roar at him, but the street was still packed with people. The pedestrians jumped out of her way, either to clear a path or avoid getting mowed down.
The collar of his jacket was almost within her grasp, the fabric grazed her fingertips when something crashed into her back sending her flying right into the thief and through the wall of the nearest building. The impact left her dazed, her head was spinning and her vision was slowly clearing of black spots. Then she felt the thief start squirming and locked her arms around his head, although, neither of them was going anywhere since they were buried under a substantial layer of debris and two other people.
"Get offa me, Gray!" A boy shouted.
"I can't move, flame breath!" Another boy shot back.
"Natsu! Gray! What the hell is wrong with you!" A girls voice scolded.
Someone was pulling the rubble off of them, letting in sunlight and fresh air. The two boys got up and continued to bicker with each other until a girl with blonde hair kicked them both, sending them flying across the room.
"I'm so sorry about them." The blonde girl said, "They tend to go a little overboard."
"Ah, it's fine. And I caught the guy." She said, glancing at the man she still had in a headlock.
"Hey, we helped!" The pink haired boy cried indignantly.
"No, you didn't. You just put a hole in the wall. Again." A woman holding a huge barrel of liquor retorted.
"Let go of me!" The thief shouted, finally regaining full consciousness.
Lir tightened her grip around his head, "It's probably in your best interests to shut the hell up."
Thankfully, he did, and remained silent until the rune knights showed up to haul him to jail.
Lir stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes, "Well, that was exciting."
"I'm so sorry again for Natsu and Gray. They can be idiots sometimes."
"It's no big deal, I'm just glad I could help. I'm sorry that I put a hole in your building… uh…"
"Oh, I'm Lucy." The girl said.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lir." She replied, shaking her hand.
"That was crazy! You almost caught that guy!" a short girl with blue hair exclaimed.
"She would have if Natsu and Gray hadn't gotten in the way." The woman with the giant barrel retorted.
"The rune knights got him in the end, so that's all that matters." Lir waved them off.
"I'm Levy McGarden." The blue haired girl said, extending her hand.
Lir met her small hand with a firm shake.
"I'm Cana." The other woman said before taking a huge swig of her drink.
"Nice to meet you. So I guess this means I crashed into Fairy Tail, right?"
"You got it!" Lucy said, giving her a thumbs up and showing off her pink guild mark on the back of her hand.
"So, are you a mage?" Levy asked.
"Yeah, I'm independent, though. I'm not in a guild." She replied.
"That must be exciting, what's it like?"
"It's nice, it lets me travel as much as I want."
"What kind of magic do you use?" Cana asked.
"I'm a Water Dragon Slayer."
"What?! Did you just say dragon slayer?" Natsu demanded, appearing out of nowhere and grabbing her shirt collar.
"Yeah, jeez, what's the big deal?" She tried pushing him away.
"I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer! We should fight!"
"So you must be Salamander." She said, ignoring his challenge.
"You bet!"
She had to ask him if he had a dragon, no matter how nervous the potential answer made her. It would drive her mad if she left Magnolia forever unsure if Natsu had the same upbringing she did.
"How did you learn your magic? Did… Did a dragon teach it to you?"
"Yeah! Igneel taught me. What about you?"
"I learned from Oceanus." She felt a pang of grief in her stomach when she said his name aloud.
"Is he still around? When was the last time you saw him?"
"Seven years ago on July seventh. He just… vanished. Never said a damn word to me."
"For real? That's when Igneel left too!"
Lir furrowed her eyebrows, "That's bizarre."
Her stomach sunk in disappointment, if Natsu had known anything it would have been the first lead she'd got since Oceanus left. Based on the crestfallen look on his face, he was thinking the same thing.
"So, Lir, have you been on any big jobs lately?" Levy asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I just recovered that Sapphire Staff thing for the mayor of Oak Town."
"Wait, so that means you're the Leviathan?" Cana exclaimed.
"The one and only," Lir replied, giving a curt bow.
"How are you still and independent mage? I thought a big guild would've snapped you up by now." Cana said
"Oh, believe me, they've tried."
"You should join Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed. "Then we could fight all the time!"
Lir hummed, trying to dodge the suggestion.
"You should really think about it," Lucy said. "I've only been here for a month and it's been amazing."
Lir was silent for a moment, "I don't know. I have an 'incurable fear of being tied town.'" She said, putting air quotes around her words.
Cana scoffed, "Joining a guild isn't getting 'tied down.' Hell, we've got our fair share of vagabonds that are almost never here."
Lir nodded but still didn't give an answer.
"Well, are you going to be here for a while? Maybe we can change your mind." Lucy said.
"You can try. I will be here for a few days, though."
"Hey, maybe if you're not busy you could help me and my team out with a job." Levy said. "Some monster has been lighting fires by the farms on the edge of town and we're going to hunt it down."
"Sure. I mean, if you guild master doesn't have a problem with it."
"Makarov won't mind."
"Then I'd love to."
"Great! we're meeting here at eight tomorrow morning and heading straight to the farms." Levy said.
"Sounds good to me," Lir replied.
The guild hall started to empty as the sun went down. Mirajane was cleaning up the remaining mess from the brawls, along with the help of her giant brother, Elfman. A bunch of the girls left at the same time; apparently, they all lived in the same apartment building that was owned by the guild. Lucy said there was a decent hotel near her house and offered to show Lir the way.
"I know it's only been a day, but do you think you are going to join?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know yet. It's been a long time since I even considered joining a guild." She replied.
"You really should, I don't think you'd feel tied down at all."
"Ah, old habits die hard, I guess."
She turned back to face the guild, the massive building looked imposing with the sun setting behind it. She had committed to being a solo mage several years ago and swore she would never join a guild, but Fairy Tail seemed different. The members were relaxed and appeared to be friends with each other, not just business associates. Still, the notion of committing to getting the guild mark made her feel uneasy. She shook her head, she hadn't devoted herself to anything yet. For all she knew, Fairy Tail could be just a blip on the radar of her life's journey.
AN: So apparently I like to torment myself since I am going to try and write a well-rounded dragon slayer OC. I have developed a bit of a soft spot for Lir and I think she deserves a shot at having her story told.
I'm going to use songs for the titles of each chapter; this one is I Am A River by Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl said "This song is mostly about that, this river that runs underground through the city... I thought it was a beautiful idea that there's something natural and prehistoric that runs underneath something as monolithic and futuristic as NYC. And maybe we're all connected by something like that." It made me think of One Magic and how even though the mages have such different magic styles, they are all united by it.
Thank you to those who took the time to read my piece, feedback is greatly appreciated.