Fairy tail III
Chapter 1 : the mechanic


The sound of a single pair of boots filled the wide and almost empty corridor. The familiar echoes of her own footsteps comforted the blue haired woman as she went deeper into the intricate maze that the inside of the ship was.

Though it was natural that to ensure that the stellar vessel would withstand even the fiercest attacks -be it from enemy ships or foreign beasts- a bit of practicality was sacrificed. But the little woman did not mind.

After all, this was far from being her first time in those corridors.

If someone had been there with her, they would be surprised by her more than unusual hair color. After all, only a few species presented such pigmentation. Though there was more to be puzzled by: Her eyes were of a gentle brown, the most common eye color among the races that existed, but not for the azure-haired ones.

Clearly that girl was strange, not normal, would conclude any observer. The little woman herself had established that in her mind. But in her mind, their were more important matters than her origins.

One could not guess it from a mere glance, but this frail and petite creature possessed an amazing intellect. This combination of weak body and strong mind was a curse and a blessing in her line of work.

What she did do for a living? Constructing and repairing the mighty mechanical suits of armor that all came to call: The Fairy Knights.

They were Magnolia's Sphere's best and most vital line of defense, with each armor having destructive power rivaling those of an entire fleet of Space pirate frigates.

And Levy McGarden was part of mechanics who built and fixed them.

Her area of expertise (though she excelled in most other intellectual domains) was the lecture of ancient and foreign scripts, allowing the diversification of the Fairy knights' systems. This taste for difficult lecture was the only memento the petite blunette had from her mother. It was also one of the reasons she took so such pride in doing her job.

Her love for texts also transpired in her daily life. Finding Levy without a ancient book and looking for clues of her past, new ways to improve the Sphere's lifestyle of even a plain old novel was a rare event.

And if Levy wasn't reading, it was surely because she was talking to her friend and coworker, Lucy Heartfillia, through the use of holo-phones. They were the usual way of communicating nowadays.

But right now the small woman was doing her usual round, checking on the ship's internal structure, making sure all the support beams were in a good condition and such. As a mechanic, this was also part of her job.

In fact, this was a very important aspect: This ship not only contained the main docking bay for the Fairy knights, but also supported the biggest sphere that composed the colony.

The colony was composed of Spheres, were masses of land were terraformed to make habitable environments for the different races and animals that lived on the ships. The biggest sphere held a twenty-first century style city, the Capital of the Magnolia Colony: Magnolia city.

Making sure its ship, the Magnolia Alpha worked in tip top condition was therefore an absolute priority.

Levy's round covered the external regions of the ship, where seldom ventured so far. The petite mechanic did not mind though. It meant she could read and work in peace.

As she absentmindedly walked through the corridors, her nose plunged into a romantic novel, the blunette realized she had already finished her round for today, and was headed for some random location.

"Ugh, I should really stop reading during my shift."She mumbled to herself. This wasn't the first time she did overtime because of an overly interesting plot.

She checked her holo-phone, just in case Lucy had tried to reach her. The telltale blue light the device emitted confirmed her fears. Levy sighed.

She was going to get scolded again...

"I really have to stop reading during work..." She mumbled again, like every time this situation occurred. She dialed her friend's number. The answer came quickly.

A hologram of a busty blonde came out of the device. Said blonde did not seem happy. "Levy-chan!" Growled Lucy, "you should pick up the communicator faster than that, otherwise I get worried you know!"

Levy, at first shocked by the hologram's boisterousness, recovered from the initial shock and gave a sheepish smile. "Erh... Sorry Lu-chan, But you know how I am when I'm with a good book." She said, her head down and he lips pouting, to make her excuse more acceptable.

The Hologram shook its head as it raised its hands in a sign of defeat. Lucy spoke again, but in a gentler tone. "I know that Levy, but it's not a reason to slack off, avoid reading if it's too much of a distraction."

the little mechanic nodded, a smile growing on her lips. "Uh huh, Lu-chan!" She replied.

Lucy giggled at her friend's childish expression. "It's funny how you can be amazing at researches and innovations but can be so distracted by even sappy novels." Said the blond-haired woman. She smirked. "Heck! If this keeps up, it'll be the only thing between you and a potential boyfriend!" She taunted.

Levy's cheeks took a rosy taint at the comment. "Lu-chan, you know I'm not interested in romantic relationships, except if it's to read about them. I don't see what's so great about boys that makes the others drool over them." She said, regaining her composure as she talked.

The two girls had already discussed over this several times over, but the conclusion was always the same: There really had been no boy who had managed to strike Levy's fancy.

That girl was hard to please!

But on the last discussions, Levy had picked up Lucy had developed a crush on someone.

This was the perfect opportunity to confirm her doubts. The blunette grinned evilly. "And you, Lu-chan, why are you drooling over a boy?"

the hologram almost choked. "W-wha-what do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Shouted Lucy's projection, clearly in denial.

Levy knew when not to push the blonde girl past her limit, and right now she was really about to explode. "Oh well, I'll just continue this later on." thought the petite mechanic.

"Oh, never mind, never mind." She waved away, pretending that she had never implied anything. She also quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, is there anything new? Otherwise I'll directly go back to my quarters."

"...Oh right!" Answered the blonde, thankful that the subject had steered away from her love life. "I need you to go to the docking bay on the fourth deck, Erza reported a malfuction to her Knightwalker's left arm-probably a jam in the cable structure- and needs to be fixed before tomorrow."

"But Knightwalker has been offline for two days! How come she only reports now?" Asked the blunette.

"Jellal-san forced her to, she did not consider it important enough to bother the Technicians' departement."

Levy sighed, sometimes, Erza's politeness was so great that it became a default. Now she had to fix a type II malfunction in less than 12 hours!

"I'm on it, Lucy..." She said with a small voice. All this stress did not cope well with her fragile body. She could already feel a headache swelling up.

"Levy, Are you alright?" Asked the hologram, noticing her friend grabbing her head as she leaned on a side of the wall.

"Yeah I'm fine, I think I read too much, that's all." Lied the petite woman to her friend. "I'll just go to my room drop this book off before, if you don't mind." She said, gesturing to the novel that laid on the floor.

...When did it drop off her hands anyway? No matter, this could wait.

"Fair enough, but don't spread yourself thin okay? It's not the first time that you would ruin you health at work." Said Lucy, her eyes full of worry. She was always a bit protective over her petite friend.

"Don't worry Lu-chan, I'll be careful, I promise." replied the Blunette.

Lucy didn't buy it.

Realizing She was being stared intently at, the small mechanic decided to just go, before Lucy started to interrogate her further.
"Well, look at the time! I have to go if I want to finish things quickly and get to the interesting stuff!" Reminded the small mechanic.

The blonde woman frowned for a minute, then her face lit up as she remembered what her friend was referring to. "Right, the new model! Alright, Hurry then, I'll meet you at the testing room later, but promise to rest after we're done, okay?"

"I promise, I promise!" Shouted the petite woman, even though she knew Lucy was right, she did not like being treated like a baby.

"Ok, well then see you later Levy!" Concluded the hologram as it waved good bye. Levy replied with a tired smile and turned off the holo-phone.

She checked the time: Indeed she was late!

She started to run through the corridors, each of a particular tone of by the time she had reached the door to her quarters, Her head was fuzzy and her vision blurry.

"Good thing I don't wear makeup, otherwise I would have looked like a mess!" thought the blunette as she felt sweat drops run down her face. She stayed pressed on her door until she recovered a normal breathing rate then entered her place.

She quietly closed the door, making to make as little noise as possible. Her neighbor, the supposedly charming Evergreen had made it CLEAR that she did not tolerate any form of ruckus. Levy was not a coward, but she preferred to avoid conflicts at all cost.

In a blink of an eye, She was changed and ready to head out. She was wearing the usual mechanic's uniform: perfect to withstand stains that would ruin any other kind of clothing, and her tool box.

She gave a quick look around the apartment, checking one last time that she had not forgotten anything. Once satisfied, she (quietly) left and headed for the fourth deck.

She ran again, straight towards an unpleasant encounter...


AoiAi-Neko: I really want to thank everyone who follows this story, I personally want to thank my new partner for this story *bows*. Skafe-san helped me rewrite this chapter, and he's really helpful when it comes to ideas for this story. His stories is awesome as well, so go follow him!

Skafe: Hello! I'm mistress AoiAi's little helper in this epic story! This girl has got some wicked ideas! (and I got a few tricks up my sleeves too!) I guaranty you a good time reading this tale! After all, what better place for a GaLe fic than a world full of metallic mechas?! XD

AoiAi-Neko: ...