Hey guys! Pika's back with a new story! I knew I promised a return earlier, but my other story wasn't getting enough attention so I kinda dropped it. *shrugs* Oh well! Anyways, for my FAIRY TAIL FANFIC RETURN OF MEGA AWESOMENESS, Here's a BRAND-NEW STORY for ya'll! The story was influenced by two other anime series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Selector Infected WIXOSS, and The Hunger Games novel trilogy. :) Not too much of a fan of the last one, but I started forming the idea after watching Mockingjay so XP The series will start out light-hearted, but I PROMISE this isn't going to be sunshine and daisies on a perfect spring day, alright? :D Enjoy!
Anyways, onto the story! *dramatic hand sweep*
Little known fact: the world record for breath holding is exactly 22 minutes.
Lucy was pondering this as she doodled absentmindedly in her notebook, eyes trailing the childlike scribbles vaguely depicting a scaly monster with wings and teeth and a scribble of 'fire' coming from its mouth. The sketch wasn't her highest interest though as she wondered; how in heaven's name could someone hold their breath for 22 minutes?
Lucy Heartfilia was in her own little world, slouching in her too-small desk and ignoring the long drone of her teacher's voice in the background. It was exactly 9:05 in the morning, the first five minutes into class and she was already distracted. She tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear, chocolate eyes scanning the page absentmindedly for free space to doodle, her large bust pushed up against the desk, which for her was slightly uncomfortable.
The room was painted a dull shade of blue and the sun had come up on the opposite side of the school, leaving the place dark. Four rows of five desks lined their way neatly to the teacher's writing table and chalkboard, where she was currently teaching about some war nobody really cared about, but since this woman was particularly strict and creative with her punishments, there was some effort to at least appear interested from the students.
Obviously, this memo did not reach Lucy's brain.
The blonde's brows creased as she tried beating the record for herself, (who knows, maybe she could be good at something,) taking in a gulp of air, puffing out her cheeks and closing her eyes. For the first minute, she was fine, a few more ticks from the clock and her face started growing brighter and brighter as her brain started screaming for air.
Her teacher looked back at her class and saw the distracted girl, taking a moment to ask herself what in the world was Heartfilia doing this time, and using the next to openly glare. The students followed her gaze and saw the class's half-wit blonde, snickering to themselves, knowing what was going to happen in the near future.
The girl finally had enough and released, taking in shallow, hurried gulps of air, nearly collapsing on her desk in a puddle. How did he do it? She'd estimated since she'd started a minute past, maybe an extra half if she was lucky...
Uh-oh.
The blonde-haired, chocolate eyed beauty finally noticed that a good percent of her class was staring at her, not daring to laugh in case their teacher sent them out. The only one not mocking her with their eyes was her best and only friend, a blue-haired girl named Levy, sitting one row in front of her and to the right, wearing a little pout and wide, concerned amber eyes. On the other hand, Lucy's sensei was staring the sheepish blonde with a gaze that could ignite fires.
"HEARTFILIA! Might I ask what in God's name are you doing?" The dark-haired teacher demanded, arms crossed against her chest.
The blonde paled, realizing she slipped up again. Her caretaker was not going to be pleased if they found out... "I-I-I-I-I..." She could only stammer. What was the point in lying? "Was holding my breath, m'mam." She tried to recollect the things scattered on her desk, only succeeding in knocking her books over the side, creating a mess of papers on the floor. Lucy flushed as the kids surrounding her started to laugh, bending down to pick the clutter up clumsily. Levy frowned, looking around the kids as if asking why they could laugh at her best friend's expense.
The show didn't seem to please the teacher, tapping her foot on the ground irritably. "Heartfilia, it's five minutes in and you're already distracting the other students here, pick up your things and get out of my class. You're no use to us if you only succeed to sidetrack our lesson here."
Lucy bit her lip, keeping her gaze to the ground, ashamed. Yet again her own stupidity got her sent out. She tipped the messy stack of papers, notebooks, and lonesome textbook into her bag, trudging outside before the teacher slammed the door shut behind her, causing her to jump as she heard her sensei shouting at the kids to calm down again.
It was always like this, the blonde thought as she walked to the principal's office yet again, feet dragging because quite honestly, she wasn't looking forwards to visiting him again. I've always been a failure. Her head hung.
Lucy was clumsy and absentminded, always drifting off in class; her grades were just passing, even with all the extra late-night studying she did. The blonde dragged bad luck and chaos wherever she went, so she wasn't wanted by any of the clubs in the school. She had no particular talent, unless you included dropping and tripping over things, which wasn't exactly an Olympic sport.
And don't even mention cooking.
Lucy was an orphan. Her parents had died when Lucy was young, so she barely remembered them. Maybe a flashback of an eye here, someone's lip there, but it could have been wishful thinking. She wondered if one of her parents were as clumsy as she was. Or maybe they were both airheads and had genetically passed down Airhead-itis disease to her, with her luck.
Her caretakers, who had taken care of her since her parents died, were a bit fed up with the seemingly careless blonde. Lucy Heartfilia wanted to be successful, WANTED to pay attention, but nothing ever worked for her. She couldn't even tell them that sometimes, she cried herself to sleep some nights, wishing she had the courage to tell them...
To tell them what?
She wanted to get good grades? She wanted to have more friends? She wanted to be accepted?
At this rate, Lucy had never craved be adopted into a family like the other children, she just wanted someone there for her, to understand her a little better than the others could. Sure, there was Levy, the rising star of the school, ace of learning and books, who could read a 500-page book in a mere few hours and could answer any trivia question known to mankind, but with only the bookworm's support Lucy could only crumble.
The blonde wondered if there was somewhere out there where being misunderstood was such a common thing that everyone understood each other... if that made any sense. The girl shook her head, saddened. Of course it didn't. She rarely ever did, and when she thought she made sense, she just confused others.
Lucy was jolted out of her mental debating when her hand landed on cool metal; she looked up to realize her feet had taken her to the principal's door without even realizing it. She was so used to the route she didn't even need to pay attention to where she was going to get there. The blonde bit her lip, a churning feeling setting up in her stomach.
She didn't want to go in there. She wondered if she could walk away, pretend like it ever happened, but she knew that the toll to pay later could get her suspended, with her already being close to The Line, that dreaded line where even the smallest mishap could cause a student to get kicked out, which her caretakers would not appreciate. Hand shaking slightly, she opened the door.
"So you got two weeks detention and after-school cleaning after today?"
Lucy nodded miserably, turning the page of a book she wasn't even reading. Levy, the short bookworm sitting on a comfy green beanbag across from her, frowned for a quick moment before covering it up with a half-smile, trying to reassure her best friend. "Lu-chan, that doesn't seem so bad! I mean, think about it, there are loads worse ways to be punished."
The two were sitting together in the quiet, nearly empty school library, where everyone was too busy outside with their friends to be inside. Both liked it here, there were plenty good fictional novels to read, and the beanbag chairs set up in small reading areas were comfy to relax and chat on, as long as you were quiet. Especially since Levy was practically the librarian's best friend, the lady would often excuse her best friend's bursts of clumsiness that often accompanied loud crashes of noise, which Lucy appreciated.
The blonde sniffed. Levy was her buddy since... gosh, as far back as she could remember, but even her words weren't comforting her. "But what about my caretakers? They're getting too fed-up with me, and now I'll be returning home late..."
Levy shut her book, mentally stashing the page number for later. "It doesn't matter, Lu-chan, everything will be just fine!" She smiled, dainty, almost fairy-like hands reaching out to clasp Lucy's in her own. "Trust in me Lu-chan." The blonde stared at the library's carpet for a moment or two. It was checkerboard.
"Y-Yeah..." Levy knew that the other student wasn't completely on board but stood up determinedly.
"You wanna know what, I'm gonna help you clean up after school today and then we're going to get ice cream. On me." Lucy looked up and smiled, if only slightly, but Levy beamed back, happy to see it.
Lucy crashed onto her bed, wet-eyed. Her caretakers had gotten the call, and yet again, Lucy had been yelled at. Flashes of speech ran through her brain, marathoning through nonstop like lap-runners.
"Lucy, your grades are failing." "You can talk to us if something's wrong, you know that?" "Why can't you just listen, young lady?"
Lucy wiped her eyes with her forearm, before any tears fell. Her room was pink-walled, with little furniture; just a smallish bed with mismatched comforters and pillows, a night table, a desk, and a small closet with a minimal storage system for clothes. Her second-floor window was left open, but dark blinds covered the free space so the girl wouldn't have any peepers. Just in case.
By the time Levy and Lucy had walked back to Fairy Hills, where the blonde had lived for some twelve or so years, the sun's final rays were disappearing over the horizon, meaning it was dark out now. Lucy hadn't bothered turning on the light, just stripping herself of her school uniform before collapsing on her bed, clutching onto the blankets like they were lifelines. She thought of Levy, who's house was a few down from hers, preparing herself for her bedtime, since the bookworm insisted on getting a full eight-hour sleep every night, and it was late already.
But Lucy wouldn't cry. She wouldn't dare, because she knew if she shed a single tear to soak up on the soft padded material underneath her, she wouldn't be able to stop. She'd cry herself to sleep, and that, in her opinion, was worse than anything. It was like a flag of surrender, signalling to life that she gave in, and Lucy couldn't afford to do that.
She sighed. It wasn't like she had anything to hold up to, anyway, her last name was from a family long-gone. There weren't any parents to cheer her on from the sidelines. Hell, her expectations of her from others were minimal, anyone who had ever counted on her had learned the hard way it was a bad idea, so no one really did anymore. Lucy's own expectations of herself were so low she hardly knew what to do.
She just wished there was someone who understood her...
The 17-year old dug her head into a pillow, hugging it tight like a lifeline, and that's when she heard something odd. She paused, lifting her head from the pillow, only slightly, eyebrows pressed together as her ears strained to hear.
Sniff... sniff sniff sniff...
Lucy barely had enough time to cover her body with the blankets as someone big, and male, fell through her window, yelping a little as the corner of her desk jabbed into his side and he crashed onto the ground. She screamed.