Time travel fic. By turns dark, silly, or steamy—essentially an excuse to write whatever I feel like at the time. Largely focuses on the relationship between Levy and Gajeel. M for many reasons.
The Expected and the Unexpected
(AN: Basically, I want an excuse to more leisurely write something fun without as much stress on the outcome. So, feel more than free to R&R of course, but also please keep in mind that I'm mostly just having fun here.)
Chapter 1
Master Makarov held both hands high in the air, one holding a beer, while the other pointed straight at the sky—the symbolic hand gesture of the guild. He was also slightly red-faced, and sloshed a generous portion of his drink on his head as he stood dramatically on the second-floor railing of the guild.
"MY CHILDREN."
Miraculously, the whole guild quieted to turn and listen to their master. Usually when he stood in this spot it meant that he had some sort of rousing speech planned.
The master held his serious look for a moment before a sweat drop fell down his head.
"I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU."
The already rapt attention of the guild intensified.
"…"
"BUT I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS."
Everyone simultaneously fell backwards against the ground with a thump.
"…BLAH BLAH—NAKAMA—BLAH BLAH—FAIRY TAIL—BLAH BLAH BLAH! FORGET IT, LET'S PARTY!"
Raucous cheers met this declaration, and the noise level quickly returned to deafening proportions. Several people also congregated just below the railing where the master gave his "speech" to catch him when he inevitable swayed and fell to the floor. Soon after the old master was crowd-surfing across the guild hall.
Fairy Tail of course was no stranger to wild parties—much less in need of any particular reason to throw them—but this particular bash was especially wild, because this one was in honor of all of the triumphs and trials at the Grand Magic Games—and not just for them. The Fairies had invited their friends from all of the other competing guilds (other than Raven Tail of course), as well as others that they just didn't often get to see. And the new, mansion-sized guild was practically packed to the rafters. Even Lucy and Yukino's spirits came to join the fun, handing out party favors from the spirit world and mingling with all the rest (the Spirit King sent them under his own power as a special favor to Lucy, and as a reward for the spirits themselves).
Most of Sabertooth showed up and were now enjoying themselves showing off their skills and personal pursuits in a more relaxed, friendly setting. Sting and Rogue happily joined the good-natured brawling of the Fairy Tail wizards, while others like Rufus, the memory-make wizard, show-cased more subtle demonstrations of skill.
"Behold! My memory lacrima!" Rufus held up two large stones high in the air—one black and one white—to a gasping crowd. "They're still in progress—" ("Highly dangerous and volatile," he conspiratorially stage-whispered to the crowd with a wink as they oohed and ahhed accordingly) "But ground-breaking, if I do say so myself, and I have almost no memory of failure," he continued with a flourish of his gaudy cape. When pressed for more information he would only smugly add that he had been altering one of the two with a second form of magic— mostly forgotten—an elderly wielder of which he had recently happened upon. Thereafter, he mysteriously held his silence at the bar while people happily plied him with endless cosmopolitans, trying to wheedle more information from him.
The party raged until almost dawn, when finally Erza declared that everyone should retire. She went mostly unnoticed until she punted a nearby Natsu through the ceiling and added that they all had two minutes to clear the premises. The hall was a ghost town well within that time frame—with the exception of Mira, Lucy, and Natsu, the latter two of whom were rapidly making for the exit as Lucy pulled Natsu's unconscious form behind her, terrifiedly bidding goodnight to the two other female mages as she went.
Of course, following all of the insanity of the previous night, almost no one showed up for opening time the next morning as Mira unlocked the doors. But Mira, anticipating nursing all of the hangovers, prepared an especially elaborate breakfast service, on the house.
The members of other guilds had not gone back home, nor would many of them soon. A week-long fest of debauchery had been planned to commemorate the occasion, and this was only the beginning of the second day. The travelers were set up in hotels and tents throughout Magnolia and the authorities and citizens had been informed (warned) of the craziness they should expect for the week to come. The many dead-eyed revelers wouldn't be in for a few hours still though, so the morning was quiet. Mira hummed happily as she checked on outrageously large pans of eggs, flipped bacon, and cleaned glasses.
Four hours later, at around ten a.m., the guild still wasn't in full swing, although almost half of Fairy Tail, and a few of their guests from other guilds had finally dragged themselves in.
At the counter, Mira frowned concernedly and turned to a nearby Rogue, who was eating breakfast stoically at the counter (while Sting drooled next to him, having fallen asleep soon after being dragged in).
"Rufus didn't go home to Sabertooth last night, did he?" she asked the dark-haired Dragonslayer.
"Not to my knowledge." He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh well, he left these on the bar last night." Mira lifted the black and white lacrima that Rufus had been showing off the night before. I didn't want to move them, but I couldn't just leave them on the bar. "I just wanted to make sure he would be coming back for them."
"Eh," Sting suddenly came back to some semblance of life beside Rogue. "S'all bullshit anyways. Noways it's gonna work." He slurred slightly.
Mira quirked her head at the now-once-again snoring Sabertooth guildmaster, as Rogue smiled at her apologetically.
"Rufus has long been working on those lacrima, but he seems very confident after the adjustments he recently made to them. I'm sure he'll be in soon, especially once he notices that he left them behind."
Mira smiled back at him, then set down the lacrima hastily as someone called for some orange juice further along the bar.
Not long after, voices were heard arguing loudly outside the large front doors, getting louder until the doors burst open the reveal Natsu and Gajeel, foreheads together as they yelled at each other.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME, FLAMEBRAIN?"
"ANY DAY OF THE WEEK YOU BUCKET OF BOLTS…ESPECIALLY THIS DAY OF THE WEEK."
No one paid any particular attention to this display, other than Gray, who quickly bounded over to insert himself into the conflict, and Happy, who excitedly flew around in circles above and antagonized everyone.
Shortly after, the dragonslayers were followed into the guild by Lucy, Levy, and Pantherlily (the latter of whom sat perched comfortably on Levy's shoulder). The three were in deep conversation about some novel series and barely spared any attention to the escalating scene in front of them. (Pantherlily had suggested a book club to the two girls a few months prior, and the girls had both enthusiastically agreed.)
The battle between Gray, Gajeel, and Natsu predictably escalated until half the guild was involved. And due to the distraction, and the fact that everyone was fully expecting characters they weren't that familiar with coming into the guild that day, no one questioned it as a cloaked figure entered the guild.
SEVERAL YEARS PRIOR
Levy smiled as her friend Lucy told her about the novel she was writing. Initially the girl had been blushing and reluctant to tell her anything on the subject, but after some prodding and encouragement from the bluenette, she began opening up more about her project, and soon her embarrassment had seemed to disappear entirely. Levy smiled with genuine joy. She loved her friend, and she loved books, but she really loved seeing her friend so excited about something, especially now. Levy's ribs still hurt a little, and her nakama clearly still bore some weight in their souls, but in true Fairy Tail fashion, they carried on even stronger and more enthusiastic than before. She was full of joy at the prospects of what they could expect now that they were truly healing from their most recent trials.
But as this thought crossed her mind, Levy began to feel odd. She felt tingly, then a little disconnected from herself. She shook her head, and then looked up at her friend, fully intending to focus back in on her friend's conversation. Then she saw the look on Lucy's face. "Lu….?"
Levy opened her eyes slowly. Her back was painfully stiff. She was confused to find that she recognized that she was in the Fairy Tail guild hall, based on the feel and the décor, but it was dark, and the layout of the building was far different than how she remembered it. She immediately assumed it was a dream—it was common in dreams to somehow recognize something when it didn't really resemble it in reality. But then she remembered that her back hurt, and she reached out a hand and found something warm. She opened her eyes and found her small hand touching Lucy's. Lucy was sprawled next to her, and the debris of a ruined bar was in the background. Levy's heart raced for a moment, until she noticed Lucy's chest rising and falling.
Levy was now sure that she was awake, but still incredibly confused and disoriented. She slowly raised her body and looked around. She got a quick look at more of her surroundings before her eyes fell on a group of her other guildmates, including her master, who gave her a kind, reassuring look that put her at some ease. However, the master then held a finger to his lips and tossed her two black robes. Levy, still dazed, just stared down at the heavy fabric in her arms, not understanding, but when she finally looked back up at the master in confusion, he simply silently gestured toward her and then Lucy. It was only then that Levy noticed a mage standing behind the master, and beyond them, a domed field of magic that they were clearly weaving.
"Levy!" she heard two excited whispers
"Jet, Droy!" Levy let out a strained breath as she responded as two cloaked figures approached her. "…What's going on?"
The two shrouded faces turned to each other, and then back to her.
"No one's sure yet," came Jet's voice from one cloak.
"Master says to be patient until he knows more," said Droy's from the other.
Before more could be discussed, the master's voice rang out. Silencing all conversations and drawing all eyes onto himself.
"My children," he began, "I am sure that you are wondering what is going on. And to be honest, we're still not certain. I would wait until we are more confident in our answers, but we may not have that time. The only things that we are sure of at this time are that we are in Fairy Tail, and that we have fallen prey to some form of time magic." The silence thickened at this revelation.
"However, although we are fairly certain that it is the future we find ourselves in, we are unsure when and under what circumstances. But we do think it is best, as in any magic dabbling in time travel, that we do not interfere with time, except in the most dire of circumstances…and perhaps even then."