Catastrophe
Chapter 1
"Here's your reward, ma'am," the man handed Lucy Heartfilia 20,000 Jewels and an ancient looking book.
She took her earnings with a smile. "Thank you very much, sir. Have a good day!" She cheerily shouted over her shoulder to the man as she walked out the door. She hastily made her way to the inn to retrieve her belongings.
Swiping her hand against Horologium's key informed her that she was, in fact, running late. She picked up her pace, praying she wouldn't miss the train that was due to leave in less than thirty minutes.
She finally arrived at the inn and rushed to gather her things. After another five minutes, she had everything and was once again rushing to get to the train station.
She could finally make out her destination, the train station. She could see that the train still hadn't left and slowed her sprint to a swift jog, assured that she would make it.
Just as she arrived there, the train whistles blew, announcing it's taking off. Immediately, the smile that had adorned her face fell and her chocolate eyes widened in shock.
"No! Wait, I'm here! Please don't leave," she shouted to the departing train.
I'm too late . . . Great. Looks like I'll have to catch the next one. That could take several hours.
She heavily sighed in defeat and slowly trudged her way over to the ticket booth. The lady at the counter held a look of pity on her face. Upon seeing this Lucy felt the need to redeem herself from before so she gave the lady a shining smile.
"Hello, ma'am, I was wondering when the next train to Magnolia will be departing," Lucy questioned. Only, the lady's look of pity seemed to increase.
"I'm sorry, dear," she paused sadly. "The next train to anywhere doesn't arrive for another month." Lucy's award-winning smile dropped her eyes once again, widening in shock. "We're a pretty small community out here and hardly anyone ever ventures out this way," her voice held a great amount of remorse at having to relay this to the young Mage.
"But I'm sure the inn would be more than happy to house you for a little bit longer," the lady kindly amended.
"That's alright," Lucy spoke sadly. "Can you point me in the direction of the next town and how far off it is?"
It was the lady's turn to look shocked.
"Are you sure? There isn't another town for quite awhile away. As I said, we don't get many visitors and it's because we're in the middle of nowhere," the lady sighed in defeat at the unwavering look of determination from the blonde.
"Okay, okay, child," she relented, bringing up her hands in defeat. "The next town is Southwest from here. I'm not sure how far it is, but I do know it will take you more than a couple days, a week at most, to get there and there's also a path that you can follow. You might want to at least stock up on food and such if you plan on walking there," she recommended to the Mage.
"Thank you," Lucy replied kindly before making her trek back into town to do as the lady said and buy some food for her journey.
After purchasing a descent amount of non-perishable food, she started off into the forest on the path the kind lady had pointed out earlier. She dreaded walking to the next town; however, waiting for a complete month to catch a train was worse, besides her rent was due in two and a half weeks. And most of all, she just wanted to return to Magnolia and be with her family again.
She couldn't wait to tell them how her solo mission went. She was very proud of herself. Everything had gone smoothly . . . Well, except catching the train, she thought sourly. After that thought she shook herself of her negativity and focused again on her family, the wonderful guild she had waiting for her.
She hoped they didn't get too worried about her absence; after all, she did assure Natsu that she would be home in a little over a week. She only barely got away with going on a mission by herself. Her team wanted to attend this mission with her, but she wasn't having any of it.
Besides, with Lisanna back, she wanted her team to really spend time with their old friend. They hardly have had chance since her return, despite how long she's been back, and felt bad for taking all of their attention from the younger Strauss sibling.
She knew Natsu needed spend time with her the most, after finding out about what happened to Lisanna and how Natsu took her death; she was surprised that he didn't spend more time with the Take-Over Mage. He hung out with her some times, but mostly stayed by Lucy's side.
Lucy, of course, felt guilty for this. She could see how much Lisanna liked Natsu, very dense Natsu. Yet, his focus and attention was always on his best friend. Well, his friend, eating, and fighting. Lots and lots of fighting.
Lucy released a small giggle thinking of how much her best friend loved to fight. A small smile lifted the corners of her lips.
All her friends, well more so, her family, all seemed to love fighting, with a few exceptions. They were a rowdy bunch alright, but she loved them all dearly. She felt a bout of homesickness wash over her.
She couldn't wait to get home.
Lucy had been walking for three days and could just feel that she was close. She just had that gut-feeling. Even though she was excited and just wanted to take off in a sprint, she decided against it.
Instead, she decided to take a lunch break, after all, she had been walking since very early morning and it was late afternoon.
She found a comfortable fallen log with a large boulder nearby.
Perfect!
She set her bag on the boulder and sat down on the log. First, she pulled out her water bottle and took a long gulp of the refreshing liquid. After, she set it off to the side to retrieve one of the few granola bars left from her purchase a few day prior.
That's when it caught her attention, the book she was rewarded with for completing the mission. Originally, it wasn't part of the reward, but after the man who hired her found out her love for books, he gave her the tome, hoping she would enjoy it more than he did.
She pulled out the heavy book, trying to avoid hurting the ancient binding, which seemed ready to fall apart at any moment. Placing it on her lap, she quickly snatched up the granola bar and began nibbling it while opening the cover of the book.
A bright light seemed to explode from the book, completely consuming Lucy in its blinding light. After it died down, the book completely disintegrated and turned to dust carried away by the wind.
However, this was hardly noticed by Lucy, as she was busy falling face first on the moss-covered ground in front of the log that she previously sat on.
"Ouch," she muttered rubbing her face standing up, not realizing anything was wrong.
As she pulled her hand away and looked around, she noticed everything seemed off, the world seemed larger, taller. That's when she noticed the hand she had just pulled away from her face mere moments ago, it wasn't a hand at all, but a paw, a bright, yellow paw that matched the color of her hair.
She screamed, but it came out more like a cat's yowl. Both her paws flew to cover her mouth, stopping the sound. Her heart was racing so fast.
"What just happen," she said aloud, her voice slightly different than before.
Wait, I can still speak! But what the hell just happened?
Looking down at her body, she yowled once more. Her body was tiny, yellow like her paws, and definitely furry.
Am I-Am I a cat?
A bright, golden light shined off to her right. It cleared to reveal Loke, her trusty spirit.
"Princess," he spoke calmly down to her tiny form. "We felt the shift and knew something was wrong. So I opened my gate, what happened?"
"I-I don't know, I was sitting down to eat and I open-," her eyes widened. "The book! I opened the book I got from my mission and then a white light surrounded me, the next thing I know, I'm a cat!"
"Where is the book, Princess?" Loke worriedly asked.
"It's over there," Lucy began pointing, but realized the book wasn't there. She began looking around the fallen log frantically. "It was right in my lap; I don't know what happened to it! What if I can't turn back," she fretted, tears starting to form in her eye before she all out started sobbing.
"Shhhh, it's alright, Princess," he reassured to Lucy, picking her up and hugging her to his chest. "Look on the bright side, I don't think you're any old cat, no, I think you're an Exceed. I bet if you tried, you could even use Aera Magic and get yourself a pair of wings," he said excitedly. This only made Lucy groan in annoyance.
"Here, there seems to be a town not too far away. I'll keep my gate open and accompany you until we get back to Magnolia and the guild. I'm sure they'll know what to do, and if they don't, they'll find out how to help you," he said softly.
With one hand, he quickly gathered Lucy's stuff into the bag and swung it over his shoulder, while his left hand still firmly cradled his little, furry master to his chest.
They started off together to get to the town. Shortly after, a mere ten minutes, they arrived at the edge of the town.
Loke asked a passing couple where the train station was located in the town, they pointed him in the direction and he was off once again. He found it quickly and went straight for the ticket booth.
"Hello, I was wondering if you could tell me when your next train departs to Magnolia," he asked the young man behind the counter.
He smiled cheerily at Loke and Lucy before replying. "You have an adorable Exceed there, sir," he complemented, making Lucy blush Oh and the next train leaves in five minutes, would you like to buy a ticket?" He kindly asked.
"Yes, please," Loke replied simply.
They made the exchange and they finally were able to board the train.
Luckily, they found the train to be pretty empty. They ended up getting a compartment all to themselves. Loke didn't bother storing Lucy's small backpack and just placed it on the seat beside him and just held Lucy on his lap.
"So, how are you handling this?"
"It's starting to set in, but it all feels so surreal, like this is just one strange dream," she softly whispered up to him.
"The train is now departing, we'll be arriving in Magnolia in two hours," the overhead speakers announced before the train started moving.
"It'll be okay, Princess, I'm sure it will all work out," he spoke with confidence. Lucy couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was so worried about earlier, thanks, Loke," she replied sincerely.
Loke started stroking her back and she found she enjoyed it. Soon she felt herself drift off into a much-needed sleep.
"We've arrived in Magnolia. Thank you for riding with us," the overhead speakers announced.
Loke stood up with the still-sleeping Lucy and he slung her bag over his shoulder. He swiftly exited the train and made his way to their home.
Before he knew it, the Fairy Tail guild sign could be seen and picked up his pace.
Since his hands were full with Lucy and holding her bag strap to his shoulder, he roughly kicked open the guild doors, making a very loud entrance to the equally loud group of Mages.
All eyes turned to the lion spirit, some filled with relief, others with fear.
"Loke!" Natsu shouted. He hastily ran up to said man, not noticing the small, yellow bundle in his arms. "Where's Luce, she said she was going to be home days ago. Come on, man," he spoke excitedly at the prospect of seeing his best friend again. "Where is she, I've been patiently waiting for her!" Several people could be seen rolling their eyes at this statement, clearly proving what he said to be untrue.
Finally, Gray and Erza came up to him as well. The rest of the guild settling for watching and waiting to hear what happened to their beloved Celestial Spirit Mage. They all had missed her dearly and had started to worry, even some of the members that would least likely notice her absence.
However, it seemed that Natsu's loud voice roused Lucy. She groggily lifted her head from the warm body she was clutched to. Her deep chocolate eyes making contact with the onyx eyes of her best friend.
"Whoa! You got an Exceed too, Loke! No way, you got one even before Laxus did," he shouted joyously. Laxus glared down at the Fire Dragon Slayer, who took no notice of the death glare aimed his way.
No one but his team knew how much Laxus desired to have an Exceed. Normally, he wouldn't care what other people thought, but it seemed everyone thought it was strange he had yet to get an Exceed. At first, it didn't bother him, but the more he thought about, the more he wanted one.
Before Loke could inform everyone of Lucy's predicament, a blast of fire shot thought Loke's chest, barely missing Lucy. Loke faded back into the Spirit World with a last remorseful look aimed at his master and the pained words, "I'm sorry." He completely disappeared.
All of a sudden, Mages began flooding into the guild, attacking anyone and everything in sight; including a yellow exceed that just fell from her spirit's grasp. This was a dark guild pissed off at Fairy Tail and they were going to make them suffer.
The Fire Mage built up a large ball of dark fire before aiming it right at Lucy and releasing it, sending it flying towards her tiny body. Her eyes widened in fear, her breath hitched, and her muscles tensed to prepare for the incoming pain she was sure she would be feeling.
Well, there you have it. Chapter one of the story I'm writing on the side of Lucy the Dragon Slayer, or whatever I called the other one, even though I've written quite a bit to this story more than the other one. x) I actually have chapter two of both of my Fairy tail stories started...and I was supposed to be finishing my stupid online class for the half a credit I'm lacking that's needed for me to graduate, instead I've spent several hours writing this. Ha! xD