Chapter 1: Beginnings
Can I ask you a question please
Promise you won't laugh at me
Honestly I'm standing here
Afraid I'll be betrayed.
As twisted as it seems, I only fear love when it's in my dreams
So let the morning light come in and let the darkness fade away
~Can You Turn My Black Roses Red by Alana Grace
I am telling you a true story. One that is meant to be told.
We all start from somewhere.
Some believe we came from the Earth or the Heavens. Others believe we came from nowhere. Many even believe that we originated from another planet. But I know the truth.
We know the truth.
It is true, we did come from the Earth. That is Gaea, our mother. From Gaea came Uranus. From them drew the Titans, seventeen in number; Cronus, Rhea, Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Mnemosyne, Themis, Iapetus, Coeus, Crius, Pheobe, Thea, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, Metis, and Dione. Cronus overthrew his father Uranus and became the leader of the Titans with Rhea as his wife. However, Gaea warned him that his son would overthrow him, and this caused him worry. A jealous mother indeed. Rhea bore him six children; Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus, the youngest. In fear of his mother's prophecy, he swallowed all of the children except Zeus, for Rhea had not desired for him to share the same fate. The story does continue on but this does not concern us. Our story begins with the Titans. Specifically our grandfather, Atlas.
He was the son of Iapetus and had fought in the war between the Titans and the so called 'Olympians'. Though most stories only tell accounts of his punishments, there is more to his life. He married Pleione, our mother. She bore him twelve, and of those twelve came what were known to be a mage. Their children lived amongst mortals and decided to settle down with some. Their children were known to wield formidable power- magic, and they were sought out by humans to protect them against evil.
We are the descendants of the Titans, our number seven.
Seven Stars. Seven Doves. Seven Sisters. Seven Daughters. Each bearing the powers of the Titans who controlled the elements. At this point if you do not believe me, do not continue. I will not waste my time telling the truth if you ridicule me. However, if you do not seek to harm us, proceed with caution. Knowledge is power, and with great power comes great responsibility.
I am the first. I am Maia, better known as Mirajane in the human world. The others are known as are Levy, Cana, Juvia, Lucy, Erza, and Lisanna. Each of us sisters carry a burden, a power- the key to the gates of the elements. This power is nestled deep inside of us, hidden in the depths of our souls. We hold a curse, trapped in a human's body until our purpose is fulfilled. But we can't keep running, fate can't hide us forever. Not from humans but from them. The sons of the Olympians.
May 11th, 787- Fiore
The sun's rays streamed through the blinds. The room was lit with the early sunlight that made the mahogany floors shine like new. Beside the bed was a young woman of about 19 years. She was hunched over the ground, scrubbing furiously with a light coloured towel. Annoyed, she quietly muttered to herself something along the lines of lazy girls not cleaning their rooms as she continued to clean. The once filthy room was now sparkling clean and smelt of lemons and roses, leaving a tired Mirajane close to passing out on the floor. Ungrateful brats. Now they probably expect me to cook for them too. At that moment, the smell of breakfast filled the room and oddly enough, she smiled. Quickly forgetting about her previous rage induced cleaning, she got up with a grunt and dropped the towel in a bucket.
"Mira-nee," Lisanna called from down the hallway, "Breakfast is ready!"
Mirajane was about to bound down the stairs like a little child, but then remembered the mess of detergent and dirty towels in the corner of the room. She quickly picked up her supplies and loaded them onto the cart while heading to the bathroom to clean her hands. She went down the endless stairs to the kitchen and stretched her arms. Entering the kitchen, Mirajane greeted her younger sister and took over in the kitchen.
"Lisanna, did you forget? The others are passing by today for breakfast so this isn't enough food. And you know Cana is a complete pig, this simply won't be enough for her." Mirajane said as she cracked a dozen eggs into a large bowl. Grabbing a large whisk, she began to beat the eggs, adding salt and a few other spices.
"I'm a complete what now?" another voice asked, sluggishly walking in. Cana rubbed her eyes tiredly, throwing an empty bottle of wine into the trash can. The shatter of thee glass made Lisanna wince, fearing her older sister's outburst.
Mirajane stopped beating the eggs for a moment, her shoulders tense. She breathed out loudly, clearly irritated. "Yes, Cana, you are a complete pig. It's been two days since you walked into our house drunk as a dog's ass and what do I find today? 27 bottles of wine- all empty! I didn't even know we had that many! And you take your sweet time in that bathroom, leaving me to clean that mess of a pigsty you call a room and do I get a thank you? Not even an apology! Sorry cuz, I didn't mean it- nope! Not at all. You would think you'd be ashamed of yourself by now. And where did you even get that bottle of-"
"Ah shut it, Mira. It's just some wine? I don't see why you're all whiny about it. I'm sorry okay?"
"Shut it? Why I outta-"
"Hey guys! How's it going?" a voice rang out. They all turned to see Lucy walk in, causing Lisanna to sigh in relief. If it wasn't for Lucy coming in, she knew that the situation would have escalated quickly and she really didn't feel like cleaning spilled beer and half cooked eggs on the ceiling. No, Lucy brought in a breath of fresh air with her sunny attitude. Her golden blonde hair was slightly curled and done in her usual style. She donned large brown tinted sunglasses with a yellow and blue striped shirt and white shorts along with her favourite flip flops. Though it was only the middle of spring, the blonde insisted on dressing for summer, claiming that the weather was bound to get hotter anyways.
"Nothing, it's just somebody needs to learn to appreciate hospitality when they're found drunk and passed out on the doorstep." Mirajane commented as she poured the egg mixture in the pan, stirring it with a fork. Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing very well that her cousin was the culprit.
"Cana I think that you should apologize to Mirajane and next time you should clean your room instead of leaving it for her to do. She likes feeing appreciated and when you act like that, well she gets a little upset." She explained. Cana rolled her eyes and muttered an apology under her breath as she got up to fill a glass with orange juice.
"I'm not a kid yanno? I can be responsible. It's just the past few days have been hard." Setting the glass on the table, she proceeded to chug the gallon of juice. Lisanna glanced nervously at her cousin's antics, but it was understandable. She acted like this every year as it got closer to the anniversary of her mother's death. And at that moment it seemed as if Mirajane had remembered the reason as well.
"Oh Cana," She said softly, "I completely forgot, no wonder you got so drunk." Mirajane's attitude completely shifted. It was a complete 180. The formerly angry mage was now sitting beside her cousin, forgetting the eggs on the flame. Lucy quickly took over, shaking her head at the other's forgetfulness.
"Tch, it's nothing. Stop acting all weird, she's been gone for ages okay. Now go and cook before the house gets full and you freak out again."
"Oh shit I forgot!" She said, panicking. She sighed in relief when she saw Lucy plating the eggs and grabbed another bowl form the cupboard and began a batter for pancakes.
Slowly, the others let themselves in and greeted one another happily. It had been a while since they had seen each other and all were eager to know what new things had been going on in the other's life. Levy and Lucy were talking about the newest novel published by one of their favourite authors as they were distributing food while Juvia and Lisanna talked about dealing with short hair and whatnot. Mirajane was of course, catering to the others in her motherly way while Erza was scolding Cana about her choice of clothing.
"It's not to offend you, I simply don't believe that it is proper for a woman to be so- so- so scantily clothed when she presents herself in front of men!" Erza stated, her face red with embarrassment.
"What's so bad about the way I dress?!" Cana shouted. The others turned to see what was going on but quickly returned to their own conversations.
Erza simply shook her head as she went to the fridge to grab her cake. Cana turned to Mirajane, "Is it really that bad?"
Her bright green sundress showed much of her cleavage; leaving little to the imagination. It was cut short and under it, one could see the jean shorts she had decided to wear with it. Mirajane frowned at this, "Cana, I mean it is revealing. Well, at least you won't go out like this!" Mirajane concluded cheerily as she sat down to eat her breakfast. Cana gaped at the other in disbelief. Lucy looked up from the stove where she was distributing the food to her sisters, "What do you mean, 'would she' go out like that? She does all the time!"
Cana rolled her eyes at this. "Hey, I'm not sleeping around so stop chiding me. You're not my mother. And what's so different from this and what Lucy's wearing?"
Juvia stopped her conversation and turned to her cousin, "Well, because she's Lucy. Anyways Cana, Mira is right- you do look like a ...You know…" The blue haired woman's cheeks flushed at this, unable to speak the word, "that kind of person sometimes. It would be better if you wore clothes that cover you breasts more often. I mean, we don't need any people falling in love with us. We're not mere mortals."
Lucy pulled up a chair, sitting next to Lisanna who clearly was tired of all the arguments she had heard this morning alone. "Hey, what does that mean 'because she's Lucy?' And what about mortals?"
"Oh it's just that Cana can't comprehend the fact that she dresses like a hooker!" Levy said.
" Oh what did you say?!" Cana yelled getting up, ready to throw her new keg of beer at her cousin-now-turned-enemy.
At that moment Erza walked in, seeing the presence chaos and stepped right out.
After their argument, Cana changed into something more presentable at Mirajane's request and they were sitting down in the living room. The house was quiet except for the low voices of the girls.
"So, did you guys find out the identity of the seven?" Lucy inquired.
Erza nodded taking out some files. "Most of them anyways. There are two left. From what we know, their names are Natsu Dragneel, age 16; Gray Fullbuster, age 17; Gajeel Redfox, age 17; Jellal Fernandes, age 18; and Macao Conbolt ; age 25." She glanced at the others uncomfortably, knowing how hard it was for them to hear those names. "The last one is older though, so we might not have that much trouble-"
"But once an Olympian spawn, always a source of trouble. That's why it's necessary for us to find them all. We can't lose anything more. We can't. We didn't sacrifice everything just to die at the hands of some fools who pledged to the wrong side. "Mirajane argued. This was always a sensitive topic for her and she didn't take matters lightly. "It's our duty to find the other two. And that means that we're close to ending this. Close to finishing off what our parents couldn't. WE need revenge."
Levy, who was oddly quiet, took in all the information. She felt it was wrong to hunt people down, yet it was so right in a situation like theirs. She had been a small child when they had been orphaned, but she could still remember.
Flashback
It was early winter and Levy and her mother sat in the living room rocking chair. They had just finished reading their latest book and little Levy was eager to start a new one.
"Ama, can we read this one pleaseeee?" she begged. Her wild blueberry curls shook as she jumped up and down, trying hard to convince her mother.
"Now Levy, it's time for your nap. You've been up all dayme imaro. You need to rest." The older woman stood up, brushing her skirt free of any wrinkles as she began to fold the blanket they had used to keep themselves warm. She sighed as she looked down at her young daughter. She chuckled to herself as she grabbed Levy and placed her on her lap once more. "You are no doubt your father's child. Okay last one, but after this, you take a nap, deal?" Levy nodded and passed the book to her mother who could only roll her eyes at the choice of book her daughter chose.Le kreatizone di torra-The Creation of the Earth. She was sure she had told Levy that story a million times, for it was a treasured tale of her tribe. She was proud to tell her daughter the history of her people; to continue the story by passing it on from generation to generation as her father did for her and her grandmother to him.
Levy's mother, Danae was a beautiful woman, short and tan with bright green eyes and dark thick curls. Gypsies, the townspeople called them, those like her mother - Magic users that hailed from the continents of the east. From a young age, Danae always told her that she was special, a descendant of Titans. Her own great-grandfather was one of the greatest Titans- Atlas, or Lohuoma'ter as they called him.
Danae lived in that village for most of her life until she turned 17. She had escaped from an arranged marriage to the one who would betray her whole tribe and wipe them out. It was in the outskirts of Fiore where she met Levy's father: Eoin. He took her in and took care of her when the soldiers of her tribe were sent out to find her. She was a very valuable mage with power that they had not seen in centuries- a power that was passed on through the generations. For all she knew, the man could have been paid handsomely to return her to her captors. Though she was wary of the stranger at first, she gradually fell in love with him as time went on. And the one thing she loved about him the most was his bright blue hair, because it was so unusual. And as she looked down at her daughter who inherited the same oddly coloured hair and light brown eyes, she felt true joy.
Turning to the first page of the book, she began retelling the story to her daughter. "Now long, long ago, before the continents had rose from the depths of the sea as one-"
Danae was suddenly interrupted by a flash of light that appeared in the room, blinding the both of them. As the light faded, a male figure appeared, standing tall with red hair that was pulled back. He shone brightly as a holy being would and held a glowing spear that was almost 6 feet long. Levy looked up in awe but Pleione trembled in fear. "No, you won't take me away, you can't!'" Quickly pushing Levy aside, she stood up fiercely, preparing for an attack.
The taller man growled, "Danae, you have been playing around long enough. Now it is time to pay for your crimes, you filthy excuse of a mage." His hand shone like the sun as he swiftly drew an elaborate rune. Her body began to convulse as a gold ribbon escaped from her body, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Her body glowed brightly and fell down to the ground limp and lifeless.
"Danae! No!" A voice called out. Levy turned from the corner she had crawled into- Her dad!
"You monster, what crime did she commit? Because she left her tribe? Because she saw through your evil ways? You sicken me." A ball of light gathered into his hands, large winds picking up around him- magic. "Explosion-Despierta!" The large mass immediately flew at the man who at first was shocked, but his mouth turned into a smirk. "Pathetic. And I thought that you were stronger than that."
The mass grew larger as it approached him but he seemed almost fearless. "Reflexion" The blue light turned into a black spear and shot itself into Eoin. All the colour was lost from his face as he clutched the wound tightly. Almost immediately as he came, he left, leaving a lifeless corpse of the once mother and a wounded father.
"Ama? Ama?! Ama, wake up! Wake up, please!" Levy cried out, shaking the corpse of her mother. Hearing his daughter's cries, he struggled to crawl to her. His eyes searched for his daughter frantically as he pulled himself towards his wife.
"Levy," he gasped, "Levy- where are you?"
"Baba! It's Ama, she's cold and she won't wake up! What do I do?!"
"Listen bluebell, Ama- she's somewhere else now. That over there is not Ama."
"But-"
"LISTEN!" he spoke harshly, shocking his daughter, "They will find out that you are still alive and they left you behind. They will be back for you and I don't think I'll be able to protect you." Tears filled her eyes as she began to protest but her father shook his head, his breath getting sharper as his organs began to fail. "I know it hurts but you need to run. Leave us here okay. I need you to go to Magnolia, go to Fairy Tail. Makarov will protect you and train you. Make us proud, you hear me? Grow into a beautiful strong woman that Ama would be proud to call me imaro. Take the pack that's in the cupboard, there should be enough clothing, food, water, and money for a month. Now go, now!"
Her frequents pleas and cries that escaped from her lips filled the house with sadness and grief as she wiped her tears and ran to the kitchen and grabbed the pack in the cupboard. She ran out the door and through the forest that separated the town with the inner continent. She was on her own.
"I miss you Ama," Levy whispered to herself as the others discussed the issue, a tear escaping her eyes, "I miss you so much…" Lucy, who heard this, wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her back as silent sobs racked her small frame. "I know, I miss them too."
AN:And there we have it- the rewritten first chapter of Seven. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I will try to update either once a month or once every two weeks, but no promises because the semester is almost ending and that means midterms : (
Translations
*The language that Danae was using was one that I had created while writing a fanfic for DBZ (not yet published) called Veralean. It's based on many different languages, too many to remember. Warning for future made up languages: They are made up so if any of the words mean something offensive in a different language, I apologize!
Me Imaro:my love
Explosión-Despierta: An explosion directed towards an opponent