Chapter o1
It's the same thing every night.
I fall asleep, thinking of something in particular - anything, really, but something specific - with the goal of having a dream about it. I've heard from a few different people that if you go to bed with something on your mind, you can dream about it. I've also heard that some people can control their dreams, which sounds amazing but I have to take things one step at a time. So for now, I try to stick with just the subject matter of my sleep.
Some nights it's a person, other nights it's an object, and then even on a few occasions I've tried just general memories - childhood moments that I hold near and dear to my heart. My idle, pre-sleep fantasies always stay true to the topic in mind and I begin to feel hopeful of positive outcomes. But, unfortunately, that has yet to actually be the case.
Instead, I find myself adrift in the same vast, lightless, cold place with nothing to hear but this constant background noise that reminds me of static on a television. I can't ever see myself if I try to look at my hands or my body, and the harder I concentrate the less aware in general I become of my own existence. I start to feel never ending and eternal, as if the secrets to immortality have suddenly revealed themselves to me. I feel whole, and all-knowing, and so very old. But most of all, I feel this haunting sense of loneliness that only grows heavier the longer I'm there - wherever there is.
And then I wake up. There's nothing else ever to them, and I always feel as though I've been in that place for eons. Sometimes they'll have felt so life-like that I have to ask someone what day it is just to make sure I haven't actually slipped into a coma while no one was paying attention. These dreams have been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember, though as a child they somehow seemed... lighter. Easier to carry inside my mind. Now it's all I can do just to lift my head from my pillow in the morning.
Today things are no different as I lay in bed with my thoughts in a haze so thick I can't even see through to the next word I want to think. And while on other days I may have had the time to toil away trying to regain myself, today I didn't have that luxury as I know somewhere in this fog that Gray, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy are waiting for me at the Guild Hall. I force myself out of bed, hair undoubtedly a mess and my eyes feeling stuck together from a solid nights rest. Shuffling across my bedroom floor I cross over to the conjoining bathroom where I flip on the light and am immediately greeted by the woman in the mirror.
She has midnight blue tresses with waves like you might find at sea during a particularly bad storm. Her skin is so pale it'd be a miracle if she didn't glow in the dark when the lights went out. Her eyebrows are thin, lips full and oddly bi-colored - a light pink for the top and nearly black for the bottom. But perhaps strangest of all these things are her eyes. Dark and shaded as though they were plainly onyx from a distance, but on closer inspection you find speckles of white lights, dotting all across her charcoal irises. These white dots seem to shine, and if you stare long enough you might even find one that will streak across the colored part of her eye from one corner to the next. This is why they call her the Starry Eyed Girl.
I look away from her, feeling suddenly flushed as though I'd been caught staring at a stranger. And for all that it was worth she might as well be - I knew myself just about as well as a fish knew how to climb a tree. I'd always felt as though there were a barrier inside of me, hiding things that were massive and important and possibly life changing, but no matter how hard I pressed against it and what ways I tried to sneak around it, it stood tall and whole and unwavering. I was locked out from myself.
Picking up the brush on the counter, I run it under some water before beginning to drag it through my thick locks, my face tightened as I tug and yank through the knots. My mother would kill me if she saw me doing this. When this is done I move on to rinsing my face and brushing my teeth, which I do as I pee because who really has the time to do them separately?
When I'm finished with these things I head back into my room and open the closet, staring at all the clothes that seem to be staring right back at me, just begging me to wear them. Anything at all other than the same outfit I end up choosing every day. My arm reaches out, fingers twitching as they move slowly towards a small black dress. It seems automatically ridiculous and impractical to me. How in the ever loving hell could I possibly dream of putting up a good fight when I'm worrying every two seconds that my undergarments are on display for the entire world to see?
I shake my head and move over to the next item. A yellow tank top that would most likely be paired with some kind of shorts. I hesitate, then my lips wrinkle and I move on. I mean really, what do I look like wearing a yellow tank top? A bottle of mustard? After this I seem to blow through the rest of my closet with the same look of distaste and disappointment on my face, it possibly even having grown stronger as I went along until there was nothing left but Old Faithful.
With a sigh of defeat (and possible relief) I pull the red and black outfit out and eye it up and down, taking note of all the worn corners and its faded coloring. Turning on my heels I toss it onto the bed and begin to strip, shimmying out of the ill-fitting pajama pants and bleach stained t-shirt with ease before wiggling in to the more form-accenting outfit I'd chosen.
By this point my head is back in full commission, all the fog from my dream having been lifted with the morning's chores. Lacing up my ankle-high boots, I clip the maroon cape onto my shoulders and give myself an assessing stare in the full length mirror on the back of my door. I look normal, dressed down in the same garbs I put on every day. But I see nothing wrong with this and turn away, grabbing up the rucksack I'd packed the previous night before heading out the front door.
Halfway to the guild hall I feel my spirits rising, and any lingering weirdness from last night is completely evaporated into the bright morning sun. I can see the open doors, the outlined figures out a few indistinguishable bodies sitting at the tables inside. I pass the civilians in Magnolia with a little more haste, dishing out a crude apology when I come too close to bumping into someone - though I never actually do. My agility has always been something I've prided myself on.
Everyone seems as happy as I do, smiles adorning all the faces that come into view including the grouchy men who tend to be scowling. I start to wonder if they're going to see someone special like I am but then stop, because I'm not going to see someone special. I'm going to see everyone who is special. I'm certain that any person who has an ounce of specialness in them has found their way across all of Earthland to this exact location just to be a part of something comfortable and familiar.
The moment I pass the threshold of the guild I begin to hear familiar voices calling my name in greeting. My lips turn upward as I look at them each individually, waving and saying hello back, but I don't stop for them. I keep walking, slower now than I had been through the streets of town, until I feel something heavy drop down across my shoulders followed by a pleasant, "Yo!" in my ear. A full on grin splits into my cheeks as an excitement pulses into my veins.
"Yo yourself," I greet back with a slight laugh to the pink haired male who was leaning seemingly all of his weight onto me. One of my hands reach up and grip onto his wrist while the other moves to be slung over his own, much higher and broader shoulders.
"Hi June!" Happy chimes as he flies in front of our faces.
"Hey Happy!" I respond as his small blue paw juts into the air to give a tiny but no less adorable wave.
"Did'ya have that weird dream again last night?" Natsu asks as he turns his face towards me, but I brush his question off with the shake of my wrist. Ducking out from beneath his honestly heavy arm, I twist myself so that I could face him head on.
"Sort of, but y'know." I shrug my shoulders, a uncaring look to my face. "It's whatever." Natsu's fingers lace behind his head as his back straightens out and he now stands a decent seven or eight inches higher than myself. His eyes narrow suspiciously down at me, as if disbelieving of what I just said.
"You should probably see somebody about those things man," he says at last, as if he'd reached some kind of important conclusion. "Having the same freaky dream every night? That's gotta mean something." The edge of my lips quirk upward as I place a hand to my hip and lean to the side.
"And what would you know about that? You never remember your dreams!"
"But I bet if they did they'd be telling me some awesome stuff." His face suddenly lit up and his entire body language changed. His stare moved between Happy and I before settling on me and asking energetically, "Aw man do you think they'd tell me something about Igneel?!" My expression softened to something of simple awe and understanding. Looking away I shrug my shoulders, responding,
"I don't know, maybe you should look into-"
"Can you believe it Happy? The answer to where Igneel is has always been right in my own head! Hee hee this is so awesome!"
"Aye, sir!" My stare shifting quickly back on to the pinket I find him clasping his small flying feline's limbs in his eager hands, Happy looking just about as ecstatic as him. Leave it to Natsu to turn any subject into the pursuit of his father.
That thought left me with a tinge of pain in my chest, always realizing the sadness that was entailed by the fact that this boy had been searching for his father since he was hardly four feet tall. I had to try and push that out of my mind. The last thing Natsu ever wanted from me or anyone else was their sympathy.
"So, you ready for this job?" Looking to my left, I see Gray standing with his toned and bare arms folded over his just as toned-and-bare chest. A slight smile replaces the previous hard line on my lips as I reply,
"Hell yeah, I could hardly sleep last night I was so stoked. I haven't gone on a job with you guys in forever." Which was true, and while I may have never verbally voiced this and neither did anyone else, we knew it was mostly due to Lucy's introduction to Fairy Tail. She was new and team-less, and Natsu having been the bright minded one to drag her here in the first place was also the one to volunteer himself as her partner. Some things led to another and suddenly Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza had formed arguably the strongest team in the guild and somewhere along I'd been shuffled out to the sidelines. Most of the requests I took on now were by myself, and if not then I'd lucked out and found someone who was partner-less for the evening. Though more often than not that wasn't the case and I was made to ride solo.
But today was a welcomed change as Erza was out an exclusively S-Ranked mission and couldn't join the rest of her team on the request they picked out. Realizing that they now had a missing player, I immediately took it upon myself to nominate my presence on their mission. And, having received nothing in return but warm yeahs and alrights, I was added to the squad.
"Yeah, you've been taking a lot of solo jobs lately. But at least then you don't have to split the reward with anyone," Gray says in regards to my absence in their team. In my mind I'm thinking that that hardly outweighs the company of my close friends, and I'm nearly ready to open my mouth an flat out say it, but before I get the chance a certain Celestial Wizard appears in the doorway of the guild, smiling pleasantly at us as she makes her way closer. I close my mouth and smile too, giving her a slight wave.
"Can never argue against a few extra Jewels," I sigh to the ice-make wizard just as Lucy reaches us.
"Hey guys!" she greets warmly, coming to a stop beside Natsu and facing Gray and I.
"Hey Lucy, what took you so long?" the Dragon Slayer questions as his eyes briefly dart over her frame, as if he'd be able to physically see the reason for the wait. A twitch starts up in the blonde's eyebrow as she slams a hand into his face, shoving him away.
"I had to do some last minute packing okay?" This is the first time I notice the large suitcase being tightly gripped in her right hand. The thing looks like it damn near is going to rip her arm off. "We're gonna be gone for so long I figured I should bring a few extra things, just in case."
"In case what?" Natsu murmurs against her palm which is still fully smothering his features. She pulls her hand away and shakes her wrist, as if suddenly disgusted by the thought of his mouth being so close to her.
"In case of oh, I don't know, mayhem and destruction?" I shrug my shoulders and nod my head, not being able to argue against that. Packing a couple additional outfits was also smart when traveling with this group. Heaven only knows the sorts of things you would end up finding yourself in.
"Whatever, all I need is the clothes on my back and these two fists and I'll be ready for whatever comes, right Happy?!" Natsu crowed with one of his hands on his bicep as he flexed for added affect.
"Ayy!" Happy growled, doing his best to sound as tough as any flying house cat could do. A smile struggles to my lips despite the way I roll my eyes.
"So are we ready to head out then?" Gray speaks up, his stare moving across all of us. I look between Lucy and Natsu now, seeing what they might say before responding,
"I think so, yeah."
"TO DEAD MAN ISLAND!" Natsu declares with an excited fist to the air, and his infectious smile immediately spreads to the rest of us.
Hey guys! So I hope you liked the first chapter. I just wanted to put these links here so they'd be easy for you to find, but I have pictures of what June looks like, a close-up of her eyes, and her outfit!
June's appearance: art/Juniper-446261867?ga_submit_new=10%253A1397001963
Close-up of June's eyes: art/June-s-Eyes-446262980?ga_submit_new=10%253A1397002191
June's outfit: art/June-s-Outfit-446263393?ga_submit_new=10%253A1397002310