Polaris – the North Star
I don't own Fairy Tail.
[Polaris.]
Stars had always fascinated Marley as a child, and they would probably always fascinate her. She figured it was no surprise; that the fascination was in her blood. Her father had always hoped she'd be interested in his Stone-Make Magic, but her mother's Astral Magic had drawn her in like a moth to a flame.
There was just something fascinating about the vastness of the sky to the small girl, and the idea of actually being able to conjure up stars… She was hooked on the very idea from the start.
But part of her felt that maybe, just maybe her father would still be here if she'd chosen to learn Stone-Make Magic. Maybe he wouldn't have gone on the mission, a mission he probably shouldn't have accepted because he'd retired a year prior. It was those thoughts that had upset her so much as a child that she'd spent many nights huddled in bed with her mother, on the side that once belonged to her father.
Her mother, Serina, had made some headway in convincing her mourning eight year old daughter, but it was a visit from his former Guild Master. An eccentric older woman who also seemed to blame herself for requesting her father to take that one last mission; Ooba Babasaama of Lamia Scale.
The old woman had furiously twirled her arms, fiercely apologizing with a tone saturated in sorrow and guilt. Being the over enthusiastic child that she was, Marley had screeched that it was her fault and Ooba Babasaama had reacted in turn.
As the two tired themselves out, Serina watched the two, laughing weakly at her daughter and the Guild Master. Eventually the eight year old flopped to the ground, exhausted, pouting, and feeling better than before. The Guild Master seemed less guilty and upset as well; their guilt fest seemed to have alleviated some of the guilt that each felt.
Ooba Babasaama twirled her finger at the child before she left, declaring that she'd make the child spin if she ever showed such unruly disrespect again. And with the Guild Master's departure things seemed to settle down back to a normal lifestyle, only Serina seemed to grow weaker as the years passed on.
Eventually Marley started her begging and pleading; wanting to learn the Astral Magic she'd always been so fond of. Wanting nothing more than to teach her child, Serina had to regretfully put it off as she fell ill and was bed ridden for half a year a year after the death of her husband.
Another half a year of recovery and regaining of strength and Serina was finally able to begin granting her child's wish.
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She felt dirty and grubby and… was that grass in her mouth? A spitting, sputtering sound filled the little hollow as eleven year old Marley attempted to rid her mouth of the bitter grass, her mother standing a few good feet away laughing.
"Perhaps try not to keep your mouth open when you hit the ground, dear." Serina Skyfall teased her daughter, earning a rather cute expression that formed as the young girl tried to simultaneously glare and pout.
"What kinda mom are you?" Marley shot up, a couple of twigs snapping and falling from her clothes, "Throwin' your kid in the dirt like that."
"How will you learn if you don't fall?" Serina stood firm, her skin pale but her eyes hard yet soft as she motioned her daughter forward again.
Again and again the small brunette was flung into the dirt, though as time went on it became less frequent. Marley had decided long ago to begrudgingly work through hand-to-hand combat practice, even if it was magic that she wanted to learn. She understood the need for an alternate form of protection; Marley just wanted to learn magic first. Was that really so wrong?
Duck, punch, dodge, kick.
For the first year she'd been forced to read books on magic and magic theory. It was killer and Marley never wanted to see the darned things again, though she wouldn't mind perusing through the Encyclopedia of Magic again just to learn a bit more about the different types of magic.
Jump, kick, roundhouse, duck –
"Ooof!" She should have moved left and jumped, she just knew it.
"You should have dodged to the left and jumped, dear." Marley scowled and her mother ruffled her hair, "Let's go back to the house. We're done for the day."
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Once again the small hollow just outside of the town of Verdant was filled with Marley's sputtering breaths, though this time it wasn't due to a mouthful of grass. Her body felt heavier than usual and her breathing was harsher than normal, as the small girl had used a good amount of her magic power up attempting to learn spells.
"You can do this dear, it's far simpler than you're making it," her mother smiled kindly down upon her, "Solar Flare is a simple spell, just focus your magic and think of sunlight."
Marley huffed and rubbed a hand over her eyes to clear her still somewhat spotty vision, "I got it, I got it."
As her breathing evened out Marley held her hands out and closed her eyes, pulling at the magic energy inside of herself. A nice, but strange warmth flooded her body and her magic fizzled and popped as she focused on the thought of sunlight, like her mother suggested.
Marley's cornflower blue eyes snapped open and the muscles in her arms tensed, "Solar Flare!"
Her magic rushed forth and a golden magic circle bloomed in front her hands, a bright, pale yellow light flashing forward from said circle. A yelp followed the flash and Marley tumbled back, her vision spotty and her skin pleasantly warm from the light she had produced.
A pretty, loud laugh echoed in the hollow, "Good job, dear. You just have to work on not blinding yourself now."
Marley made a sound of acknowledgement as she continued rubbing her eyes, her vision still spotty and slightly hazy. The slowly dying simmer of her magic told her today was not the day that was going to happen though; she'd exhausted her magic after trying the spell so many times. And the fact that she'd tried such a simple spell so many times that she'd exhausted herself put a damper on the fact she'd finally gotten the spell right.
As if sensing this, her mother waved her over and gave her a small pouch of Jewels, "Why don't you go to town for a while? Be sure to be back for dinner in an hour though."
A grin split the eleven year old's face as she beamed up at her mother, the bag of money clutched in her hands, "Thanks, mom! And will do!"
Serina watched as her daughter disappeared through the trees, only slouching back to rest against the oak behind her once Marley was out of sight. A shaky sigh escaped the woman as she pressed a hand to her face.
"Not now, just a few more year," she pushed herself away from the tree to get home so she could make dinner and keep up normal airs, "Marley needs to be trained first. She needs to be strong."
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People laughed and called out greetings to the small brunette dashing through the crowds, as everyone was used to the bright and happy young Skyfall girl. She herself returned the greetings, calling out to her favorite townspeople with friendly nicknames before skidding to a halt in front of the bakery.
There was a cake in the window, it was a small thing – nothing like the big elegant ones around it – but Marley could tell that it was a chocolate truffle cake.
Her mother's favorite.
It was Marley's favorite, too.
The cake was too expensive for her though; worth more than the small amount of pocket change her mother had given her. It was with no small amount of reluctance that Marley turned away from the bakery to continue down the streets. Some minutes later a couple of town kids spotted her and ushered the bright-eyed Marley off to the backyard of one of their homes, away from the town streets.
"Marley, 'ave you learned any cool spells yet?" One boy asked, hands pressing down on another, very annoyed, boy's shoulders.
Marley's blue eyes moved to eye the five kids around her, still smiling, "I finally learned one today, it was pretty awesome."
One of the girls started tugging on the fraying sleeve of Marley's sweater, "Show us, will you? You and your mom are the only mages that live in Verdant!"
Part of the young girl was ready to burst forth and dazzle them with her new spell, but the rest of Marley's consciousness beat that thought back. Spells, she knew, weren't for entertainment. Not the ones she was being taught, anyways.
"I can't, the spells I learn aren't for fun," Marley frowned as her fellow children started to whine, "I'm learning them so I can be strong and protect people; not to show off."
"That's not fair!" A boy stomped his foot, "Why can't we learn?! Or see them?!"
The youngest one there, a girl of seven, cried out next, "Yeah! You're mum said she wouldn't teach no one else! It's not fair!"
"It's family magic," Marley defended, backing away from the other kids, hurt by their anger, "Mom's grandpa taught her and she's teachin' me."
This didn't seem to appease the other kids, and – knowing she wasn't really all that welcome anymore – Marley turned and left. Her heart ached at the anger and rejection; no matter what it seemed the other kids only wanted to see or hear about magic when she was around. At least, that group did. Marley twisted the drawstring of the money bag in her hands as she promised herself to try and talk to some of the other kids – hoping for better results.
"You look mighty upset there, Marls," Marley's head snapped up upon hearing the semi-gruff yet slightly feminine voice of Dan Holmes, the local baker, "What's got you so stuck in your head?"
"It's 'nuffin Dan," Marley smiled, not the megawatt one from before, but a smile all the same.
The broad-shouldered man hummed, clearly not believing her. Dan stared her down for a moment, but Marley's eyes stayed firm – though there was a small glimmer of childish amusement in them.
"Alright, if you say so kid. Say," his voice lightened and became happier, "wait here for a moment; I have something for you and Serina."
Dan stalked back into the bakery before she could respond, the soft ding of the bell following him. Marley blinked in confusion before turning to the window of the confectionary store and pouting at the now empty space where the chocolate truffle cake used to be.
The door dinged and Dan stepped back out, a cake box in his hand and a smirk on his face, "One chocolate truffle cake to go.
"Don't think I didn't see you eyeing it earlier." Dan chuckled as he cut her off before she could speak, "Besides, isn't your birthday in a week? Consider this my present to you."
And at that, the children were forgotten and Marley's megawatt smile returned.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" her words mushed together as she lunged forward to hug the man, "I'll never forget this Dan! You're the absolute best!"
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One Week Later
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Marley twirled around a tree and threw her arm out, her fingers folded into the shape of a gun, "Star Gatling Gun!"
Fizzle, pop!
A sour look quickly crossed the brunette's face before it fell into a pout as she stared down at her hand. The spell was supposed to allow her to shoot off small stars, but all she'd been getting was a small fizzling light. The popping was new though. Perhaps that meant she was getting closer to actually being able to use it.
Whimper, whimper.
Crack, rustle, whimper.
Marley's ears twitched at the odd sounds and the now twelve year old turned to look at a now rustling bush, her back now pressed to a tree. As the rustling increased, so did Marley's heartbeat, until, finally, a small purple creature tumbled through the leaves.
"Uwah," Marley inched forward, eyes wide as she observed the animal.
Its fur was a soft lavender with its paws and the tips of its ears and tail being a dark black, and there were some furrier spots on its tail as well as the top of its head, cheeks, and ears. Marley inched closer as the animal – a cat, she thought, the ears were certainly cat-like – stood with a scared whimper.
"Hey there," Marley smiled, her voice soft as wide, wine colored eyes stared up at her, "Are you lost? Do you –"
There was a distinctly cat-like cry and Marley staggered back to land on her butt, her hands cradling her face as the small cat shrunk back with tears in its eyes.
"Oh, man." Marley giggled and then laughed, pulling her hands back to reveal three angry red scratch marks across her face.
But not once, not once did her smile fade.
"Oh, man." Marley edged forward again, "You're really scared, huh? It's okay; I won't hurt you. In fact, I'll be your friend!"
All of a sudden there was a snotty, bawling fur ball in the brunette's arms, staining her blue shirt with salty tears. Marley hugged the little cat – she'd clearly been a cat once she'd gotten a good look at her – to her chest and staggered up before heading home.
"You don't need to cry anymore," Marley lightly squeezed the now calmer cat, "You're home now."
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A/N: So, Marley's magic is something that I created. It's called Astral Magic, and it's a branch of Celestial Body Magic. Stars and what not.
I won't linger in her tween years for long, if everything goes according to plan there should be a couple of years skipped next chapter; it's all training, so there isn't much point going through every year, I don't think.