Chapter 1: Magic? Well, When In Rome…
Author's Note Part 1: Alright, so I know that I haven't updated this story in I don't know how long, but I have good reasons...! Alright, not really. The only reasons that I have for not updating this is because of Writers Block, writing other stories, reading other fanfictions, school, a camping trip during summer, and then more school. Also, yes this is being Re-written. The reason being that after reading my first few chapters over, I realized that John was kind of already a Gary-Tsu. So I've gotten rid of his Dragon Slayer Magic, changed his magic a bit, and re-named him Jack. But, I might end up implementing the dragon slayer magic later on in the story. I don't really know. (Another thing that I've changed is his backstory. This time, it's pretty much the same as Jack's from my SWR story). Anyways, I'm sure you just want to get to reading the chapter after the months of long waiting for this. So here you go!
3rd Person POV
You ever have one of those days, where you wake up and you think that you know how it's gonna go, only to be thrown a curveball and have everything change for you in an instant?
A teenage male, approximately 17 years old, runs across the rooftops of city buildings, a backpack slung over his shoulder, and a can of blue spray paint clutched in his right hand.
Well, that's what's happened to me at the moment. See, my name's Jack.
The teenage boy jumps across the gap between buildings, and rolls to lessen the impact, before following the momentum and continuing to run. He can be seen wearing black combat boots that partially cover his blue jeans, and a black jacket that is placed over a white long sleeve T-shirt with three brown belts wrapped around each of his forearms, and black fingerless gloves cover his hands. His black hair looks like it was styled to be messy, and his cobalt eyes almost seem to shine with mischief. His skin is Caucasian and has a slight tan, and some splotches of dirt can be seen on his cheeks.
I'm just your run-of-the-mill street rat. Though, I do have my own secret that I try to keep anyone else from knowing. I usually spent my time screwing around town, using spray paint to create random drawings and the like since I have nothing better to do with my time, as well as having to steal food to survive. Believe me, not the best way to live, and I regret it each time I have to steal from someone who's selling the food to live their own lives. But, that's all about to change for me… Well, not right away, but you get what I mean.
The teenager leaps between another gap between buildings, and the view pans down as he runs across the screen to show the new building's name.
Inter-Dimension Traveling Incorporated (IDT-Inc.) Instead of looking for a brighter future, we're looking for a brighter present. (AN: Stupid slogan/name I know. But I couldn't think of anything else that would be better okay!)
As Jack continues to run, he looks over his shoulder once again with a smirk, and fails to notice that he's heading towards a skylight. He also fails to notice that there are multiple streams of lights coming from said skylight. When he turns back around, it's too late to stop himself, and he pushes down on the glass a little too hard. The sound of shattering glass echoes through the air as Jack falls, only having enough time to realize he's falling towards the floor of some kind of lab, before the equipment set up below explodes, and he blacks out.
Approximately 3 hour earlier:
A spray-painted hanger door can be seen shaking off dust as it begins to rise when a fingerless gloved hand pushes upwards on the bottom of it. After it rises a few feet, a shadowed figure can be seen slipping underneath, before pushing the hangar door back closed. As it walks through a dimly lit hallway, it reaches its right hand behind its back, and places it on the on something that's sticking out from between its back, and the backpack that it wears. As it lift it up, the object can be seen to be about five feet in length. From behind its back, the figure can be seen walking towards a light source, before walking through a doorframe and into said light.
When in the light, the figure can be seen to be Jack, and he's holding onto a plastic sword that seems familiar. Its main color scheme is black, with the occasional white line on its side. He continues walking, and the area around can be seen to be a run-down skate park. The ceiling has multiple holes scattered around, some of which contain greenery growing down towards the floor. Many of the ramps have scratches and holes on them, allowing many animals to seek refuge inside them. He makes his way over to the half-pipe in the far right corner, and climbs to the top via the ladder on the side. Then, he climbs onto the railing, and jumps over to a walkway that is part of the second floor.
As he finishes placing his new "sword" between his back and the backpack he's wearing, he arrives at a door and pushes it open. Inside, we see a small living area set up. It's a small room, and has a mattress in the far right corner, a small bedside table next to it, a couple chairs strewn about the room, a desk off to the left wall, and a window at the far back. There are also a few daggers impaled into the wall next to the mattress, on which hangs a regular jacket for the cold time of the year, and a winter hat. Jack walks over to the window, and slides the shades to the side slightly to look out at the city. He smiles faintly at the familiar sight of tall skyscrapers and smaller businesses, and then closes the shades again to walk over to the desk. Once there, he opens one of the drawers, and takes out a small picture. This picture has a younger Jack that appears to be about five years old, standing between two adults. One is a man that has black hair, and brown eyes. His right hand can be seen placed on the younger jack's shoulder, and he almost seems to have a dull outline of black surrounding him. To his right is a woman that has long, brown hair, and bright blue eyes with her left hand on Jack's other shoulder. She has a design on her right forearm, and Jack subconsciously looks at the bottom of his arm just above his wrist. Knowing about the "tattoo" that was present on his skin there. The three all have large smiles on their faces as they look at the camera, Jack's smile so large that it almost seems to fill his entire face as he tilts his head to the right and closes his eyes to make it seem larger.
Then, Jack folds the picture, and places it in the right, front pocket of his jacket. Once he does this, he walks over to the mattress, places his backpack and new "sword" beside it, and lays down to rest. Two and a half hours of sleep later, and the jacket-clad teen can be seen getting out of his makeshift bed, and walking over towards the door with his backpack once again slung over his shoulder, and the plastic sword positioned between his backpack and his back. As he opens the door, he takes one last look back at his "home". Almost as if he feels that it's the last time that he's going to see it, taking notice to the fact that for the first time in a while, his daggers and clothes were also present in his backpack, before he closes the door behind him. Leaving the entire place shroud in darkness as he tries to think about what the nagging feeling in his chest is when he thinks about the fact that he was taking everything he had with him… Almost as if what was going to happen would cause more than just keeping him away from his "home".
Half an hour later, we can see Jack in exactly the same position as when we first saw him. He's running across buildings with a black spray paint can clutched in his right hand, and the plastic sword is still in its position between his back and the backpack. He gives a smirk as he looks over his shoulder, and this time we can see that he's being chased down by two cops. "You won't get away this time!" One of them exclaims, making Jack's smirk widen as he leaps over the gap between two buildings, rolling with the momentum, making sure to do so in a way that keeps his sword in place, and then continues to run away from the two men chasing him. He looks over his shoulder to see the cops had stopped running after him, and were instead looking with fear. "Hey kid! Stop!" One of them yells. Jack is confused by this, since they actually looked fearful for him, and weren't yelling at him in annoyance.
His confusion escalates at that notion, seeing as he hadn't really had anyone feel that way for him beside his parents, before he turns around just in time to see that he's running straight for a skylight on top of the building he was running across. He now understands just what it was the policemen were trying to warn him about, but it's too late. He continues running and presses down with his foot on the glass too hard, and causes it to shatter beneath him. As he falls downwards, he sees multiple pieces of machinery flashing and shaking beneath him, as if they were malfunctioning, before his world goes black as he blacks out.
Jack POV
I groan as I wake up with a stabbing pain in my left arm. I turn my head to look at it and find a large gash. I groan some more as I force myself up and into a sitting position. Hissing in pain when I try to use my left arm, only for it to wobble and almost crumple underneath me. When I'm finally able to see through the haze of the pain and grogginess I see that I'm in… A forest? And it's still daylight out. I take another look around to confirm my suspicions. Yup. I somehow got from some random science lab in the middle of the city, to a forest in the middle of who knows where. Fuckin' great. Luckily, it seems that my backpack and sword came with me through… Whatever the hell led me here.
I manage to get some vines and leaves from the trees surrounding me and make some makeshift wrappings to keep the blood from seeping out at a faster rate from the wound, as well as cut off the circulation to my arm via tying another vine around my just above the cut. That should buy me some more time until I'm able to find civilization and, hopefully, a hospital. I think as I pick up my backpack and plastic sword, which I notice is actually a bit heavier than before, and start by trying to see if I can find a path. I get lucky, and find one after about ten minutes of searching. After another five minutes of walking along the path, I hear an explosion come from my right. I glance over at it in surprise and slight fear. Keep walking and don't worry about it, or see what's going on and possibly find people to interact with…? I'll take door number 2. I think to myself as I run towards the source of the explosion, my wound momentarily forgotten. When I arrive at the sight of the explosion, I see a group of people surrounding what looks like… "A blue cat with a green knapsack?" I ask myself in confusion. Two people in the group look like twins, with matching orange hair, a tan shirt covered by a red trench coat, and blue jeans with a brown belt wrapped around it. There's also a guy with purple jeans and a purple shirt. He has smooth black hair and looks like he's holding a glowing purple ball in his right hand. No wait. It's floating above his right hand… Floating?!
"What the hell?" I ask myself with wide eyes. But then I notice the other two occupants of the group and my questions rise from a few to about a hundred. The smallest in the group is a guy who doesn't look any bigger than four feet tall. He's wearing a green sweatshirt, and what looks like a white towel over his brown pants. But the weirdest part is that he has grey skin, pointy elf-like ears, and a red bulls-eye tattooed onto the left side of his round, bald head. The largest in the group is a giant yellow chicken with a red Mohawk and red beard. He's also wearing blue overalls like a farmer would wear, and red sneakers with white outlines. For some reason he's holding onto a flaming wooden staff. "Alright John. There are two logical explanations for this… One, the blood loss was more than I thought and I'm hallucinating, or… Those devices that exploded send me to some alternate dimension." I swallow the lump that appears in my throat at the idea, before a voice cries out.
"Hey! Hold it right there!" I look in the direction it came from and I'm shocked to see three more people standing atop a hill. There are two guys and a girl. The girl is blond and has her hair tied with a red bow so that she has a ponytail off to her right. She's wearing a pink shirt, has a black skirt, and…
"Is that a whip?" I deadpan to myself when I notice the whip at her waist. Anyways, the guy to the right of her has black hair, and is wearing a white button up shirt, and black pants. The guy off to her left has pink, spikey hair, and a black jacket that has orange trims. He's also wearing a pink-ish colored scarf around his neck, and tan shorts.
"Happy!" The blond yells out.
Happy? Must be the name of that blue cat. I think to myself, before the pink haired guy starts to crack his knuckles and glares at the group surrounding the cat.
"That's our friend you're trying to roast buddy. Sorry, but you're gonna have to make other plans for dinner." He says. I blanch at what he said.
Dinner?! Those guys were planning on eating a cat?! I think to myself incredulously. Then, the black haired guy speaks up.
"You're all wizards aren't you? What guild are you with?" He asks. I go wide eyed at his announcement.
Wizards?! Well, it's official. I'm in an alternate dimension. I think to myself as I learn to just accept that fact. Since I'd been living on the streets for a good twelve years, I'd learned to just go with the flow of things that happen around me.
"I'm not tellin'." Says the grey skinned guy. "Get them!" He yells out to the others in the group. The rest of the group all jumps towards the trio at such speeds that rival my own on my occasional excursions around the city. Another thing that had come in handy for me was how I learned parkour and free running, as well as training myself to outrun and out-jump police and anyone else who tried to get me. Anywho, the two guys on the hill dodge the attacks easily, jumping to heights that are similar to my own. I notice a flash of light, and realize that the twins have pulled out Sais from underneath their jackets. And the giant yellow bird is still holding onto the flaming stick.
"What the hell?!" I yell out in shock. "Are they trying to kill those two?!" I shout at the group, but no one seems to hear me. Then, I'm surprised even more when the grey skinned guy slams his fist into the ground.
"Sandball! Go!" He yells out as a glowing, rotating, yellow circle appears underneath him. Suddenly, the pink haired guy who was jumping towards him ends up jumping into a giant sandball that is created from the dirt and sand that made up the ground. He gets stuck in the middle of it as it starts swirling around in circles, hovering a good fifteen feet in the air. My mouth drops open at the sight.
"That guy just… How the hell… Was it magic? So are these guys really wizards?" I ask myself incredulously. Granted, I had some things similar to what the guy was doing, and I guess that it could be called magic here.
"Natsu!" Yells out the blond girl. During the fight, she'd made her way down the hill and is now facing the hovering sandball in shock and fear.
"He's fine!" The black haired guy yells at her. "Go help Happy." He continues.
"Right!" Exclaims the blond girl. She runs over to the blue cat that's actually been tied above an unlit camping fire this entire time. As she starts to untie it. I notice the giant yellow chicken making its way over to her with the flaming stick. I look around and see that the two other guys are preoccupied with their own opponents at the moment. I look back over at the girl as she notices the chicken when it raises its flaming staff. "Ahhh! Please don't hurt me Mr. Chicken!" She yells out in fear. I make a split second decision, drop my backpack and sword, and run out from the tree I was hiding behind despite my injury. Just as it looks like the chickens about to swing and hit her with the staff, I run into its side with my un-wounded arm, and knock it away from the girl and to the ground. I look up to see the girl staring at me in shock.
"Well?! Go ahead! Run!" I yell at her with a slight glare to get my point across. She breaks out of her stupor, nods at me, and starts to run away with the cat right behind her. I take a glance at the chicken as it tries to get up, before I kick its stomach so that it continues lying on the ground. "I don't care if you are a giant chicken and I'm in an alternate universe, or if you're just some nerd dressed as a giant chicken and I'm still on my earth. Murder just isn't right." I say to it with a glare as I punch its face, effectively knocking it out. Then, I turn around quickly when I hear an explosion, and see that the sandball has exploded and the pink haired guy, I think his name is Natsu, is kneeling on the ground completely unscathed. The grey skinned guy is as surprised as I am at this sight.
"Jerk. Now I've got a mouthful of sand and it's all cuz of you." Natsu says in annoyance, before he spits some of the sand away, and then punches his two fists together as a glowing, rotating, orange circle appears in front of him. Almost exactly like the one that appeared beneath the grey skinned guy earlier. Suddenly, his right hand gets covered in fire, and he jumps into the air. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yells out as he comes crashing down to the ground, and an explosion rocks the immediate area. When the smoke clears, I see that the small group that was going to eat the cat is tied to a tree with the same rope they were gonna use on Happy.
"Don't you think you went a bit overboard Natsu?" Asks the black haired guy in mild annoyance.
"Meh, so what if I did? I got the job done didn't I?" Natsu retorts.
"Oh grow up already. You're an embarrassment to the guild." The black haired guy says as he turns to face Natsu.
"What?" Questions Natsu, before he then goes on to argue with the black haired guy. I shake my head in exasperation at the situation.
"They're like two three year olds arguing over a toy." I mumble to myself as I walk over to the blond who's currently kneeling by the grey skinned guy of the group that had attacked them.
"Lulla… By." I hear him mumble in pain from the injuries that had been inflicted upon him. I kneel down next to the blond haired girl to hear better.
"What was that you said? Lullaby?" I ask him. He nods in response, but before he can say anything else, a giant shadow comes flying across the ground and slams me, the girl, Natsu, the other guy, and the blue cat away. Then it forms itself into a fist beneath the small group tied to a tree. Suddenly, the portion of the tree the group was tied to gets pulled beneath the ground along with them, before the fist retracts itself, shooting back the way that it came. My eyes widen at the familiar use of shadows.
"What was that?" The blond haired girl asks.
"Who was that?" Natsu asks as well.
"Well, whoever it was is fast." Replies the black haired guy. "I can't even sense their presence anymore." He continues.
"What could this mean?" Natsu asks.
"Lullaby…" Mumbles the blond haired girl, then the group seems to remember that I was there and turns to face me. Suddenly, Natsu rushes forwards, grabs me by the cuff of my shirt in his left fist, lifts me above the ground, and lights his right fist on fire, ready to punch my lights out.
"Alright, who are you and what are you doing here?" He asks me with a slight glare. I just stare at his fist in shock. Guess the trip here really disoriented me, because I'd usually be able to counter this by now. Then I realize what he asked me and swallow the lump that appeared in my throat since I'm not exactly in the best position to defend myself, and this had gone the worse way when I was younger and wasn't able to do anything about it such as now. Especially with a wounded arm, and the scuffle that just happened not two minutes ago.
"I-I-I don't know exactly." I stutter out a reply to his question, which is pretty much the truth. It isn't every day that you suddenly find yourself waking up in a forest in an alternate dimension where magic exists. The black haired guy steps forwards and puts a hand on Natsu's shoulder.
"Put him down flame-brain. Can't you see he's telling the truth?" He asks Natsu. I nod my head vigorously in agreement with the black haired guy as he turns to face me. "Hey. My name's Gray. Sorry about flame-brain here." He tells me.
"Hey there. Uh, it's no problem…" I reply. I'm about to ask what's going on, and where I am exactly, but then I notice something about him. "Ummm… Where are your clothes?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He looks down at himself and notices that all he has on are his boxers.
"Crap not again!" He yells out in surprise and slight horror. He rushes to put his clothes, which were scattered around him, back on before he turns back to face us. As he does this, the only girl in the group steps towards Natsu.
"Come on Natsu. Give him a break, this guy saved my life." She says as she turns to face me with a smile. "My name's Lucy." She tells me. Once she told Natsu that I saved her, he immediately put me down.
"Oh. Okay. Thanks for that man." He says. I shrug the shoulder that isn't injured in response.
"No problem. I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing in my position." I tell them. Not mentioning the obvious people who wouldn't do that for someone else. Then, I sheepishly rub the back of my head and divert my gaze. This is gonna be the tricky part. I think to myself. "Uh, say, do you think you could tell me where I am?" I ask. The trio looks at me in confusion and surprise.
"What do you mean? You're in the country of Fiore. How could you not know this?" Lucy asks.
Yup. Definitely tricky. "Um… Well… It could have to do with the fact that I ~mumble~" The trio leans in towards me.
"What was that?" Gray asks. I let out a sigh.
"It's because I'm from an alternate dimension." I say, looking out of the corner of my eyes at the trio. Not surprisingly, Natsu and Gray look shocked. What does surprise me is that Lucy just stands there and nods her head with her hand on her chin.
"I can believe that. After all, my spirits come from a different dimension. So it's not that hard for me to believe that there are more than just ours and theirs. Although I wonder how it is that you got from yours to ours." She says. I look at her in confusion.
"Your spirits?" I ask, forgetting about her question about how I got here for the moment. She nods her head and holds up a key ring that was hanging on her skirt this entire time.
"Yeah. I'm a celestial mage. That means that I can summon spirits to help me out of trouble by using these gate keys." She says. I stare at them for a minute, before nodding my head.
"Alright… But then what are you?" I ask, pointing at Gray. By now, he's gotten over his shock of my dimension traveling. Although, I feel like it's still there, and that there will be questions later on. Especially since last I checked, I'm in a fucking alternate dimension with no way of getting home!... Not that it's necessarily a bad thing…
"I'm an Ice-Make mage." He replies. I nod my head, and assume that here it's similar to Cryokinises. Which would mean that Natsu is a pyrokinetic, the elf-guy from earlier is a Geokinetic, and the person that we weren't able to identify uses Umbrakinises. Like me… I think. Yes, let me explain. See, for some odd reason, I've been able to use Umbrakinises since I was young. Anyways, me and the trio, along with the cat that I learned could talk, talked for a while longer, before I gathered my stuff again, we set off for the nearest transportation. Now, if I had a clear image of where we were headed, and nothing crazy happened for a couple minutes, I would have been able to get us there quicker. I'll explain how at another time, but for now it's irrelevant since I can't perform it.
We manage to get to a train, and take it to a town called Magnolia, which is apparently where the group's "guild" was stationed. After a long chat where they explained what guilds were in this world, which was preceded by yet another stunned silence after they remembered I was from an alternate dimension, I understood the world slightly better. Then came the main question that I was slightly fearing, but knew that I would have to answer at some point. "But, wait… Don't you want to return to your dimension?" Lucy asks me as we exit the train. My facial expression darkens slightly, and I turn to look away from the group.
"No." Is my short reply. At this, the rest of the group turns to look at me in surprise.
"But…Why not?" Gray asks me. I just continue to look away before I turn to look at them with slightly dead eyes.
"Because there's no one there who cares about me anymore. After all, from the time I was five I was on my own… Living on the streets after my parents died… It's not something that I want to return to…" I trail off and leave the sentence hanging. Never-the-less, the rest of the small group seems to get what I'm implying. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn and see that it's Natsu. But what I notice the most… Is that he has the same look in his eyes that I have whenever I remember that I don't actually know my parents and I look in a reflective surface. I can tell that he either lost his own parents, or doesn't know them. He seems to be able to tell that I know this about him, because nods his head in understanding. As we continue to walk through the town, the rest of the group tells me about magic and a few different types that they've seen. A few minutes later, we're standing in front of the guild. It's a huge building that has "Fairy Tail" written in giant letters in front, and the same symbol that's on Lucy, Gray, and Natsu. The latter of which turns to look at me with a giant smile. "Well, since you aren't gonna be leaving and you have the ability to use magic… We can get you into the guild." He says with a smile not unlike the one that I would give when I was five. I smile at this since I'd told them about what I could do, and to say they were surprised would be an understatement.
"If it means I get to stick with you guys, I'm in." I reply with a smirk, which Natsu returns with a smile, and then turns around and Sparta kicks the door in. Which I've got to say now… I will be shamelessly doing whenever we need to storm in somewhere.
"We're back!" He yells out enthusiastically. I see a lot of people turn around and wave, while others cheer out welcomes. Once the commotion has calmed down, our group makes its way over to a bar at the back of the room, where a fairly tall girl with long, silver hair, wearing a red dress is standing. "Hey Mirajane, is Gramps here?" Natsu asks her with a straight face.
"Yes Natsu, Master should be around here somewhere… Oh, here he is." She says, making the five, including Happy, turn around to find a man about three feet tall standing in front of us. He's wearing a white shirt underneath an orange jacket, and is wearing an orange and blue stripped hat that has two cones sticking out of the top that bend towards the ground about half of the way back.
"Hey Gramps!" Natsu exclaims with a smile. The man, "Gramps", nods in response, before turning slightly to face me.
"Hello Natsu, and just who might this be?" The man asks. I rub the back of my head sheepishly at the question.
"Uh, hi. My name's Jack. I was kinda wandering the forest when I ran into these guys here, and ended up helping them out with a fight that broke out when someone tried to roast and eat Happy." I tell him. He stares at me with a straight face for a few seconds, before breaking into a wide grin and holding out a hand.
"Well that's great! Welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild young man! I'm Master Makarov!" He exclaims. I reach out and shake his with my own, a smile on my face.
"Well it's great to be here sir." I tell him. Suddenly, I'm pulled backwards by Natsu.
"So Gramps, I was wondering if this guy here could join the guild." Natsu says with another smile. Makarov stares at him, and then turns to me.
"Would you mind showing me your magic John?" He asks me.
"Sure thing. Although, you might be surprised." I tell him as I step away from Natsu and smirk at the Master. I take a breath, before holding out my arm and holding it so that it points in the direction of a darkened corner of the room, though my hand is flat and the palm is facing the ground with all the fingers pointing so that it looks like I'm about to low-five someone. The noise in the guild quiets down, and everyone's staring at me as I hold my pose and stare at the darkness in concentration. Now, some of the people look back and forth, waiting to see what's gonna happen. Suddenly, a noise breaks through the silence.
~Caw!~
Everyone turns to look at the corner that I'm pointing at in surprise as a completely black colored raven comes flying out of it, circles the room, and then lands on my outstretched arm. I smile and pet its head. The guild stares in shock at the spectacle. "Did-did he just summon a raven from nowhere?" Someone asks. I smirk at the question.
"Nope." I reply, getting everyone's attention. "What actually happened is that I created it." I say, getting multiple jaw drops at the announcement.
"What the hell?!" Many of the members scream together in shock. I laugh slightly.
"Yeah. See, the thing is that I have Umbrakinises." I tell them, getting many cartoon question marks in response. I sigh at the sight. Alright, looks like anime logic is present in this dimension… But I'll worry about that later. In response to the confused looks, and anime logic induced question marks, I have the raven move so that it's standing on my hand, before morphing the shape. I hear multiple gasps of surprise as the blackness that is the raven starts to contort into all different kinds of shapes, almost like water when it's shaken within a closed container. Finally, it settles into the form of a dagger that I grip in my hand, before letting the shadows disperse. "So," I begin, making everyone turn their attention back to my face, and not the hand that had been holding onto the dagger. "Can I join?" I ask. They all stare at me for a little while longer, still in shock, before everyone erupts into a cheer. Makarov steps towards Mirajane.
"Mirajane, would you mind marking out newest member?" He asks the silver haired girl. She nods in response, before reaching under the bar to grab something. After a few seconds, she stands back up, holding onto something that looks like a stamp, and walks around to bar over to me.
"So where would you like it?" She asks. I think about it for a minute, before rolling back my sleeve and pointing just above my wrist on my right forearm. She nods, and then pushes the stamper against the spot that I pointed to, causing a slight tingling feeling. When she pulls it away, there's a completely black mark that is shaped like the symbol of the guild. But then something that surprises everyone that's standing around me occurs as a black mist appears around the mark. It slowly changes color until it's one that I can't even describe, but I'll try. It's like the shadows that appear during the night. You know, the kind that are completely black, and yet you're able to see into them during a night with a full moon, if only slightly. Almost like a mixture between a dark grey, and a light black. We all stare at the newly colored Fairy Tail symbol in shock.
"Well… That's never happened before." Mirajane comments in surprise. I smirk and look up at the group.
"I think that it looks cool." I remark, getting nods from all of them in agreement.
"And then the guys in black would show up." Natsu says evilly with one of his fingers lit on fire, as I shroud the immediate area in shadows. Our little stunt causes Lucy to get a terrified look on her face and let out a startled yelp. Natsu and I burst out laughing at the scene.
"Man Lucy. You sure do get scared easily." I say in between laughing fits. Mirajane was just explaining to me and Lucy the different levels of magic authority in Earthland after my wounded shoulder had been looked at and properly bandaged. I know right? They came up with "Earthland" instead of "Earth". I swear, it's gonna take me a while to get used to calling it that. Anyways, a few seconds into it, Natsu had whispered to me his plan, and I agreed immediately. Hey, I have to have some fun here. Right? But, back to the topic at hand. Mirajane then goes on to explain about the Dark Guilds, or the "men in black", not the alien hunter kind, and shortly after the explanation is over, Natsu tries to get Lucy to pick them a job because they're a team. She refuses because of something that apparently happened during their last job, when Gray decides to intervene in the conversation.
"Hey Lucy. I wouldn't stay with those losers if I were you. You'll get plenty of offers from other teams." He says. I just point at him after he finishes this.
"Um, Gray. Your clothes." I announce. He looks down and panics when he sees that he's only in his underwear… Again.
"Jerk." Natsu comments. Gray stops his panicking and turns to glance at the pink haired teen. Suddenly, they're standing with their foreheads touching and glaring at one another. I blink at the sudden movement, but chalk it up as anime logic once again. I swear, I'm gonna have to get used to it cause I feel like it's going to happen a lot.
"Did you just call me a jerk, dragon-boy?" Gray asks coldly.
"And what if I did? What are you gonna do about it?" Natsu replies heatedly.
"You mouth breather!" Exclaims Gray.
"At least I'm not a cowered!" Natsu replies. I shrug and turn away.
"I'm not even gonna bother. Like I said, they're like three year olds arguing over some irrelevant toy." I say to myself with the shake of my head. Then I hear a yell.
"Gahhh! Precious fate why must you torment me so?! I'm sorry, but you and I can't be together my dear!" I turn around and smirk as I see Loki go running out of the guild hall. He was the lady killer of the guild. Dressed in a green jacket that covers his orange T-shirt, he also wears black jeans, brown shoes, and has spikey orange hair. He wears blue tinted glasses that cover his eyes all the time. I turn around to see what he was running from, and smirk when I see that it was none other than Lucy. Suddenly, Natsu comes flying out of left field and slams into Lucy after being hit by Gray. They go back to throwing insults at one another after Natsu gets back up. Meanwhile, Lucy just stares at them with hopelessness, while Cana downs an entire barrel of bear.
Cana's the drunkard of the entire guild. Her usual dress wear is a blue bra, and orange pants that reach down to just past her knees. On each of her wrists are three bracelets, all silver in color. Other than that, the rest of the guild, me included, just chuckle at the two of them... Until the door flies open that is. "I've got bad news!" Yells out Loki with a fearful expression plastered on his face. The entire guild quiets down and turns to look at him. "It's Erza. She's back." He says in a grave tone. Once he announces this, the entire guild besides me and Lucy starts to freak out. Even Natsu and Gray tense up at the mention of Erza's name.
"Wow. Just mention Erza and the whole place freaks out." Lucy comments in surprise, voicing my thoughts exactly.
"Well she is the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail." Replies Mirajane, and a few seconds after she says this, a shadow appears in the doorway to the guild, carrying what looks like either a giant horn, or a giant tooth, encrusted in jewels. The figure slams the horn/tooth onto the ground and turns to face everyone. When I get a good look at her, I still can't tell why everyone is so afraid of her. She has scarlet hair that trails down to the small of her back, and is wearing an armored chest piece with a golden cross over a red Fairy Tail logo. She has armor plating covering almost her entire arm's length, and is wearing a blue skirt that reaches down to just above her knees. She's also wearing armored boots. The entire guild just stares at her in fear. Then she speaks up.
"I have returned. Where is master Makarov?" She asks. I just continue to stare at her in slight surprise.
Why are all the girls in this dimension good looking?! I think to myself in surprise and shock. First Lucy, then Mirajane, then Cana, now Erza, and I'm sure there are hundreds more! I swear, this dimension has more than just anime logic, it's like it is an anime! I cry out in my mind. Now, in no way am I a pervert. But, I am a man. So therefore, you can't blame me for my view on the female populace in this dimension. Suddenly, I'm distracted from my inner thoughts when Mirajane speaks up from behind the bar to answer Erza's question.
"Welcome back Erza. The master's at a conference right now." She tells the scarlet haired girl.
"I see." replies Erza, just before someone in the crowd speaks up.
"So Erza… What's that giant thing you've got there?" they ask, and she turns to face them.
"It's the horn of a monster that I defeated. The locals were so thankful they decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Do you have a problem with it?" She asks the last part forcefully. A few people raise their hands in surrender at her question.
"No! Not at all!" They exclaim in fear. Then, Erza turns to face the rest of the guild members.
"Now listen up!" She exclaims, causing everyone to go stiff as a board. "While I was on the road I heard a few things. Word is Fairy Tail is causing nothing but trouble as of late. Master Makarov may not care, but I most certainly do." She then goes on to tear into practically everyone in the guild, before she turns around and faces me, Mirajane and Lucy. "Are Natsu and Gray here?" She asks. In response, I raise my hand and point over to where they're standing, and notice something surprising.
What the hell?! I think to myself in shock. Instead of butting heads like usual, the two of them are clasping each other's hands, and wrapping their arms around each other's necks as if they were best buds… They're also sweating bullets like there's no tomorrow.
"Oh, hey there Erza." Gray says. "We're just hanging out like good friends tend to do." He tells her in a shaky voice.
"Aye." Natsu inputs. I snigger a little at that.
Wow. She must be pretty scary if she's causing Natsu to talk like Happy and say one word. I think to myself with a small smirk.
"That's great. I'm so pleased to see the two of you getting along so well." Erza says before she smirks. "However, it's only natural for even the best of friends to lock horns every now and again." She tells them. My smirk changes into a smile at her words.
She knows. I think to myself while mentally chuckling.
"Well, I wouldn't say that we're the best of friends." Gray says uncertainly.
"Aye." Natsu continues, still in Happy mode.
"Natsu, Gray, I need you two to do me a favor." Erza says. The two in question stop clasping their hands and face Erza with semi-serious, semi-confused facial expressions. "While traveling, I heard something that has me worried. Normally I would consult the master before acting but he's not here and this is a matter of utmost urgency. The two of you are the strongest wizards here. I could really use your help." She tells them. They turn to look at one another while the rest of the guild murmurs amongst themselves. Shocked that Erza's asked for help from Natsu and Gray. "We'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning." She tells them.
"Erza, Natsu and Gray working together?" Asks Mirajane. "I never saw that one coming." She continues. "This could be the most powerful team Fairy Tail's ever seen." I turn to look at the three and let out a small sigh.
And the most powerful probably means the most destructive from what I've heard about Gray and Natsu. I think to myself while shaking my head.
"Gaaaahhh! This is the worst idea ever!" Exclaims Natsu.
"Yeah no kidding. Erza made a huge mistake asking you to come along." Gray retorts. Then the two of them go on to throw insults at one another. I just sigh and shake my head from my sitting place on the bench.
"Well those two ever stop fighting when Erza isn't around?" I ask out loud to no one in particular. But Lucy shakes her head in response.
"Probably not. Let's just sit here and act like we don't know them." She suggests, getting a nod of agreement from me.
"I second that notion." I mutter, making sure to avoid looking at the two arguing in the middle of the waiting platform for the trains.
"What made you guys want to come along with us?" Asks Happy while eating his fish.
"Mirajane asked me to come along to keep an eye on those two while Erza isn't around." Lucy says. I nod my head.
"Well you aren't doing a very good job." Retorts Happy.
"What can I say? They're hopeless." Lucy says in exasperation.
"I'm here because they're here. After all, you four are the only ones I really know in this dimension." I tell them. Lucy and Happy nod their heads in understanding, before we hear Erza's voice.
"Sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?" We turn to face her.
"No not really." Lucy says before me and her freeze in shock and surprise.
"What the hell?! All of that belongs to you?!" I exclaim. Erza has an entire carriage filled with her luggage. There's so much that I swear some of it won't even be necessary! Suddenly, Natsu and Gray pop up into the picture looking like best friends just like they did yesterday.
"It's time to go good buddy." Gray says cheerfully.
"Aye!" Natsu agrees, equally cheerful.
"Good. It's really nice to see the two of you getting along." Erza says with a slight smile.
"Oh come on." I mutter, but assume that she's just playing along with their little game. Then, she turns away from the two stooges and walks over to me and Lucy. Once she can't see them anymore, they start glaring at each other and butting heads again. Then, Erza starts to talk to Lucy. As they talk, I just watch Natsu and Gray and smirk. Every few seconds, Erza would turn around to glance at them, and they would go right back to "Buddy-Buddy mode". Then, after a few minutes of talking to Lucy, Erza turns to me.
"And who are you? I didn't quite catch your name." She asks. I smile slightly.
"My name's Jack." I tell her.
"Oh, you're the newest member aren't you? The one who can perform shadow magic" She says. I nod my head.
"Yeah. Although, it's Umbrakinises, but same thing I suppose." I say with a shrug. She nods her head.
"Well it will be great to have you on this trip." She says.
"Well I hope that I can be of some use. I'm not really familiar with how everything works here in Earthland, so it will take some getting used to." I tell her. She looks at me quizzically, but I hold up a hand to stop her from asking any questions. "Long story short, I'm from a different dimension where magic doesn't exist." I tell her. She nods her head.
"Well, it's not that hard to believe since there are the celestial spirits. They come from a different dimension to help the celestial mages here." She says. "But I do wonder, don't you wish to return to your home?" She asks in confusion. At this, Natsu and Gray actually stop their fighting and turn to look at me along with Lucy and Happy. I just turn away from them and face the train. My unkempt hair shadowing my eyes.
"…No." I respond. She looks at me in confusion and slight surprise, and looks like she's about to question why, but Natsu walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder with a surprisingly serious look on his face.
"Erza…" He trails off, before leading her away slightly. I just stand there facing the train, but I can see Erza glance at me out of the corner of her eyes as Natsu explains my situation, before she nods at the pink haired teen in understanding. When they finish, the duo walks back over to the rest of us.
"I apologize if I have brought back painful memories." She apologizes. I shake my head in response.
"It's alright. I just want to be able to forget about that place." I tell her. She nods her head in understanding. Then, Natsu does the most idiotic thing that he can at the moment. He says that the only way that he'll come along on the trip is if he can fight Erza when we get back to the guild. I can already tell that she's strong by the way that everyone fears her, so I can already tell that Natsu is gonna lose. Badly. Natsu you idiot. I think to myself in exasperation while shaking my head. Then, the whistle blows for everyone to get on, and we climb on the train.
"Erza's magic is pretty. She makes her enemies bleed. A lot." Happy says. I just stare at him with half lidded eyes.
"I wouldn't exactly call that pretty." I deadpan. Currently, our small group is riding in the train to our next destination. Erza had just finished explaining the significance of Eisenwald to us, and I was determined to stop whatever it is that they have planned. I turn my attention back to Erza and raise my eyebrow. "But exactly what kind of magic do you use?" I ask her in curiosity.
"I use Re-quip magic." She replies after taking another bite of her strawberry cake. I raise my eyebrow in confusion.
"Re-quip?" I ask her, getting a nod in response, before she goes on to explain what Re-quip magic is to me. I nod my head after her explanation, thinking about how useful that must be.
Man, I wish that I could use that. But I guess that Umbrakinises is good too. After all, being able to create most things out of the shadows themselves can come in handy at times. I think with a small smirk, before I frown slightly. Although… I can't help but shake this feeling that what she's talking about is familiar. I shake my head at the thought, and put it out of my head for now as the train continues on its set path. Finally, we arrive at Onibas station and start to walk away from the train. "You think the Eisenwald guys are still gonna be in this town?" Gray asks us. I shrug while Erza replies to his question.
"I have no idea." She tells him. "That's what we're here to find out." She explains to us.
"I'm still thinking that maybe I should have gone home." Lucy says. I'm about to reply, and get her to stop talking so lowly about herself, but Happy intervenes before I have a chance to do so.
"Hold on. Where's Natsu?" he asks. We all stop walking, and then turn around when we see the train leaving.
"Aw Shit! Natsu's stuck on the train!" I yell out. Lucy and Gray just stand there in shock, while Happy waves goodbye with a blank smile on his face.
"I was so busy talking that I forgot about him! I am such a fool, Natsu hates all forms of transportation. This is all my fault, I need one of you to hit me for my pennants." Erza says. I hold up my hands.
"Uh, I think we're all good. Everyone makes mistakes every once and a while. Let's just go see if we can't get someone to stop the train." I suggest, the others nodding in agreement. Not wanting to know what would happen if we actually did hit her.
*Soon…*
"I didn't mean to just walk up to the emergency break and pull it!" I exclaim once Erza's pulled on the emergency lever that stops the train. Then I sigh and walk over next to Lucy. "I'm not the only one thinking that everyone in Fairy Tail is at least a little crazy, am I?" I ask her. She shakes her head in response.
"Not all of us." I turn around to find that Gray has stripped down to his boxers again.
"Oh yeah?! Then where are your clothes?!" Lucy exclaims. He looks down, and then panics and gets dressed quickly, myself and Lucy sighing at his reaction.
*Later…*
After getting yelled at by the station workers, we're now driving in a magic mobile next to the train trying to find the passenger car that Natsu's in. It turns out they have cars here just like on earth. The only difference is that instead of running on gas, they run on the driver's magic energy. "Natsu!" Yells out Lucy, trying to find the pink haired Pyrokinetic. As she yells this, Natsu comes flying out of one of the windows and knocks into Gray. Who decided that it would be a good idea to hold onto the top of the roof instead of getting in and sitting down in an actual seat inside the car. They both go flying, and land on the ground as Erza drifts the car to stop it.
"Natsu, are you alright?!" She exclaims. I turn around to see both Natsu and Gray lying on the ground.
"Aye." I hear Natsu weakly reply. A few minutes later, we're all standing around in a circle.
"That hurt you idiot!" Exclaims Gray.
"Shut up you icy freak! And how come you guys left me on the train?!" Natsu yells.
"I'm just thankful that you're alright." Erza replies. Then slams his head into her chest piece. "I apologize Natsu." She tells him.
"It's alright…" Replies a dazed Natsu. Then pushes away and faces the rest of us. "Well I'm shaken up pretty bad. I got attacked by a weirdo on the train. I think it was the dude who dragged away the guys who were gonna eat Happy. He said he was with Eisenwald." He tells us. Suddenly, he's smacked by Erza.
"You idiot! That's exactly who we're chasing after! How could you let him get away?!" She yells at him. Me, Lucy and Gray all stare at her in disbelief.
"What? But this is the first time that I've heard about it." He says.
"I explained everything on the train. You should listen when people are talking to you!" She exclaims while a tick mark appears on her head. I turn to the others as she berates Natsu.
"She's already forgotten that she knocked him out hasn't she? Erza's unbelievable." I say while shaking my head.
"Yup." Gray replies.
"That's Erza for you." Happy says. I walk over to the magic mobile and hook myself up. Then I back up to the rest of the group. They walk over and look at me in confusion.
"What? I've driven a car plenty when I was in my world. The only difference is the fuel source." I explain to them. They look between each other, and then nod their heads in agreement. Erza gets in and holds onto my chair so that she can guide me, while Lucy, Happy, and Natsu get into the seating area. Gray decides to hold onto the top again, no idea why since the first time ended so badly. I start driving, happy to see that my Umbrakineses is apparently close enough to the magic in this world to work, while Lucy explains to us what Lullaby is. Soon after she finishes explaining the situation to us, I'm going even faster than before. Worried about what the dark guild will use the flute for.
"What is it that they hope to accomplish? This is madness." Erza asks. I turn around to look over my shoulder with a smirk.
"Madness? Heh. This…Is…Sparta!" I exclaim. She looks at me with confusion, and I wave it off. "Sorry. Reference to my world. Trying to lighten the mood and get rid of any tension anyone may be feeling. Ignore me for now." I say and turn back to the road. But Erza's right. What do they hope to accomplish with Lullaby? I ask myself in confusion and slight fear for what their plans are. Then I continue to drive in the direction that Erza points out.
Author's Note Part 2: Alright, well, that's the first chapter re-written. Know that this story will most likely be one of the ones I pay less attention to, since I'm trying to focus on my other stories such as my HTTYD, SWR, HOTD, and other series. So, even though this may be re-posted now. It's likely that I already finished this a few weeks ago, but didn't post it because otherwise I'd lose focus on that series of stories.
One other thing. I know that in the last version, I paired John with Erza. But now, I after reading a few other stories, I want your guys opinions. Since in most of the other stories an OC is paired with either Erza or Mirajane, I want to know who I should pair Jack with. Should it be Erza like last time? Should I pair John with Lucy? Or maybe Cana? Just something for you guys to think about. Although, because it's not really common, I'm leaning towards pairing him with either Lucy or Cana so that mine will be one of the few OC x Lucy, or OC x Cana stories out there. Anyways, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next time!
(Note: Poll now up for who Jack should be with on my profile.)