Chapter 2-Arrival
"Man…" Zack thought, "Traveling is so difficult, it's been more than TWO WEEKS and I haven't seen a single town…Damn you Acnologia…I feel like you did this on purpose…Oh well, at least the terrain is level and the weather is nice."
Zack trudged through the field, ever alert for a stray gopher or a jackrabbit. His stomach growled at the thought of fresh meat, he hadn't eaten a single morsel of flesh since last week, when he ate the last of the Great Elk he caught for Acnologia. Lucky for him, the field held many sources for food such as berries and the occasional edible grass. Water wasn't a real problem because of the abundance of streams scattered around the vast field. Overall, the traveling wasn't that bad, but the lack of another being gave Zack a continuing sense of loneliness. The nights were especially bad; he was used to hearing Acnologia's breathing and in the field the only thing present was a continuing and omniscient silence. On the fifteenth night, he lied on the mat he brought along and thought to himself, "I better see a town tomorrow, or I think I'll go insane" and with that declaration, he fell asleep.
He awoke to the sound of a jackrabbit ruffling through his supplies of berries. His eyes shot open and he grabbed the rabbit by the neck, his swiftness attributed to countless duels with Acnologia. He twisted the rabbit's neck and blasted it with a little darkness to make sure it was dead. After his adrenaline rush, he nearly fell over crying, "MEAT! FINALLLLLYYYY! SWEET, SUCCULENT, SAVORY MEAAATTTTT!"
He hastily built a fire and began preparing the rabbit. He used his nails, nails harder than diamonds built to slash through Acnologias thick hide, to cut the rabbit open. He removed the guts of the rabbit out and buried it away from his camp. He cut the head off and used a stick he found nearby to cook the rabbit. After a tense and uncomfortable ten minutes, the rabbit was thoroughly charred and he wolfed it down. He washed the rabbit down with half the canteen of water he had on him. Satisfied with the flesh, he set out once again, his spirits high for finally finding a town and, to a lesser extent, people.
He walked through the field, finding a stream and refilling his canteen. He continued, but soon discovered that the skies above were getting darker and, of course, it started to rain. The rain at first didn't dampen his spirit, but the rain started to pour down. After several hours, he said to himself, "Oh….my…goodness…I…am…literally…gonna…pull…a…fit…if I don't find a town in the next FIVE MINUTES!"
Luck for Zack, he spotted a town in the distance and started to make a run for it. Mid-run, the rain let up and he thought to himself, "Yes, shelter, hot food, a shower, and best of all, A WARM BED all within a few minutes!"
He reached the border of the settlement and started looking for a place to stay for the quickly approaching night. He went to the local bed and breakfast and entered. No one was at the reception desk, but there was a bell with a card that stated "Ring for service". Unsure what to do, he rang the bell and within ten seconds, a clerk arrived. The clerk said, without looking, "Welcome to Plain Bed and Breakfast, how may I-" He was cut off when he saw Zack's midnight black hair and jet black eyes. "Y-you…Zeref? How? Ugh…GET OUT! GET OUT…NOW!" He chased Zack outside then promptly locked the door. Zack thought, "What the hell was THAT all about? Zeref? Who in the world is that? No matter, in a town this big, there HAS to be another place"
However, it was not to be. Every hotel, motel, and rental houses turned him away after just looking at him. After several hours of rejection, he gave up and was about to leave when someone stopped him. "Hey! Where are you going?" an unfamiliar voice asked. This voice was different, not cold or rejecting but warm and kind. He turned around and saw a girl, about the same age as him. She was 5 foot 8 inches and had sky blue eyes with hair white as snow that was kept at shoulder length. Her skin was as milky as his own. Zack was stunned, but managed to say, "Nowhere in particular, I was about to leave, those villagers are harsh…" She replied, "Yeah, I was following you around and saw all of the villagers rejecting you, all because of your eyes. Must be because of Zeref…" He looked back and said, "Well, I have to keep going, find some shelter for the night…unless...you have a better idea"
She stared into his black eyes and stated, "Well…you can come with me! We have room in our hotel and I'll make sure you are not turned away!" Zack just stared and said, "OK…as long as I'm not run out of town with pitchforks and torches" She laughed and exclaimed, "For sure! Oh yeah! I can't permit you to stay without some knowledge"
Zack looked at her and stated, "OK, why not?" She then asked, "First, what is your name? Second, do you know any magic? Third, if you do, what kind is it? And fourth, do you have any money?" Zack replied, "My name is Zack Aeterna. I do know magic, the kind is Dark Dragon Slaying. And no, I do not have any 'money' in fact, what is that?"
She was stunned. She wasn't shocked at the comment about money, but about his magic. A dark dragon slayer? Just like what happened in that dream, the one where…never mind, it has to be a coincidence… She refocused her thoughts on Zack. "Well, a dragon slayer, huh? I haven't seen that magic for over a year, when those mages from Fairy Tail came to help us with a bandit problem…but ended up destroying the town…but they took care of the bandits! Huh? What's wrong Zack?"
Zack was lost in his thoughts and completely zoned out. "Destroy a whole town? Only Acnologia could do that! Are these mages as strong as master? If so, then they are stronger than me! I must find them in order to better my skills!" He focused on the girl. "Well, they sound interesting. Can I meet them?"
She replied, "Well…they live about 5 miles to the west in a town called Magnolia…you can meet them tomorrow, but first! Stay the night here, ok?"
Zack shrugged, "Ok if you say so. Oh, I never caught your name, what is it?"
The girl replied, "It's Aileen. Aileen Tempus. But you can call me Ally." She regarded Zack's features, his spiky black hair and his sad looking black eyes.
Zack looked her over and said, "Ok Ally, two more question. Why are you helping me when all of the villagers turned me away? And who's this Zeref guy? Apparently, I remind the villagers of him."
Ally stayed silent for a moment. She then explained that a long time ago, Zeref had entered the village and slaughtered everyone in sight. When the mages of the town tried to stop him, he killed them all with the cruelest method, infecting them with darkness. The mages slowly died while going insane. "We…we had to kill all of the mages…one of them…my ancestor…my ancient grandmother…tried to fight Zeref with light magic…but was killed by a blast of darkness. After he had killed about 95% of the population, he left, swearing he would come back and finish the job. Ever since, the villagers have lived in mortal fear of all those with black hair and eyes. This is probably why they chased you out of all of their hotels."
Zack stood in silence. "Dark magic? I thought only Acnologia and I knew that magic. Does this mean that he had another apprentice before me?" He regarded Ally again. "Well…this is awkward…but I assure you, I'm not here to kill anybody, I just need a place to stay."
She hit Zack on the head. "Silly, I don't think you're a bad guy and I ALREADY told you where you can stay."
Zack just stared, stunned by how nice she was to him. Never before had anyone been so accepting of his presence… then again…he only saw a few hostile villagers. After a few moments of silence, Zack asked, "So why are you so nice to me when the entire village seems to hate me?"
Ally replied, "Like I said, you look like a nice guy and your magic is interesting. After all, I use magic as well I-."
Zack quickly replied, "You use magic? What kind? Who did you learn from? What element? Thank you, I have finally found someone else with magic…"
"Whoa whoa…slow down Zack. I know magic that bends light to my will. I can use the light to create illusions or create camouflage. I can shoot out light at well…light speed excuse the pun. Uhhhh…my grandmother taught me the magic. She learned from my ancient grandmother herself. The kind? I really don't know. It's not a dragon slaying kind; I guess it's just light magic."
Zack listened and absorbed the information. Light magic? The opposite of my dark magic? And she can shoot it out, similar to what I do… All of a sudden, a sharp pain rang out in his mind when he realized the element of the magic. He cringed but didn't show any pain on the outside, he had suffered worse under Acnologias training. The pain subsided eventually, but it took longer than he thought. It was then he looked around and saw the darkness of night.
Neither realized that the sun had gone down and it was around 7:00 pm. Zack realized first and asked, "Well…can we go? It's pretty dark." Ally looked around and replied, "Ok…hey Zack? What's wrong with your body?" Zack looked down and noticed the darkness clinging to him, a side effect of the dark essence he absorbed all those years ago. He lied, "It's an effect of my magic, ignore it" It seemed Ally accepted this explanation and they departed for Ally's place.
Ten minutes later
The duo arrived at the lodgings. It was then Zack realized something and asked, "What about your parents? I don't want to cause any more trouble. Won't they chase me away when they see my looks or heaven forbid, my magic?"
Ally just looked at him with sad eyes and stated, "My parents are dead, they left for a job and never came back…Ever since, I've lived by myself taking odd jobs but I've never left the village. However, I've always wanted to join a guild for mages. Maybe there, I could find some sort of family…"
He realized how similar they were to each other, both parent dead and all alone in a world unfamiliar to the both of them. After a few moments, Ally opened the door and they entered. The place was small, with just one bedroom and bathroom. The living and dining rooms were lightly decorated and Zack found it comfortable, it for some reason reminded him of his old home, back at his village. His nostalgia was cut short when Ally called out from the kitchen, "Sorry, I don't have much food so I can't offer dinner. We'll have to go to sleep right away. You can sleep in the living room, you have a mat right?"
He replied, "I do. I'll just sleep on the floor then. Besides, I'm used to it, so I'll be comfortable." Though…sleeping with another human would be nice… he thought to himself.
"Ok then, goodnight Zack!" Ally went into her own room. "Yeah…goodnight Ally…" Zack lied down for the night and immediately drifted to sleep.
The next morning around 5:00 in the morning
He awoke at his usual time and noticed something strange. "My mat…why is it so soft? Wait…this doesn't feel like the living room…a pillow? I don't remember that…WHERE AM I?!" He opened his eyes and immediately saw Ally's sleeping face. He blushed and as quietly as he could, got off of her bed and went into the living room. "What? Why did I do that? Did I want human contact THAT BADLY!?... And that moment when I woke up…my face was hot…what was that? I don't have a fever or an illness. Weird…" He quickly dismissed the sensation and packed his things. He was about to leave, but realizing Ally's kindness, he waited for Ally to wake up so he could properly thank her.
Two hours later
She finally woke up and went into the bathroom to get ready. Zack said, "Hurry up, I have a proposition for you!" She complied out of curiosity and got ready in ten minutes. Ally went to Zack and asked, "Ok, what is it?" Zack replied, "Ok then, you're lonely right?" She nodded. "And you want to join a guild right?" She nodded again. "Well then, how about you come with me to Fairy Tail? I can meet those guys and you can apply for the guild, sound good?"
She smiled and stated, "Yeah sounds good! But…I don't know anything about the outside world…" He replied, "Don't worry I'll protect you against anything out there. I got this; you'll be safe under me." She looked into his eyes and smiled once again. "Yeah…thank you Zack!" She hugged him and went to pack her stuff.
Zack was left in the room by himself. He thought to himself, "That's…the first time anyone's ever hugged me. Heh…it feels nice…wait, what? What's this…feeling?...Huh…must be nothing."
He stood in silence for fifteen more minutes before Ally reemerged. She had on a traveler's shirt, jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a simple cap. As for luggage, she carried just one messenger bag. "Ok then! I'm ready to go! I left the note for the landlord and my final month's rent. Funny, it was the last of all of my money." And with that thought, they left for the 5 mile trek to Magnolia, Zack leading the way and Ally trailing behind.
After about twenty minutes of silence, Zack decided to ask a question. "How did your grandmother train you in using light magic?"
She answered, "Well…first I had to learn about the light all around me, from the sun, lamps, or even from living organisms. Yes, believe it or not, all living things emit some light even if it is small. Grandmother called this the light in all hearts, a light that will never die out no matter how close the darkness gets. It took me a while, but I eventually was able to sense light from all things. After that, all of the training came easily. I just had to learn how to bend the light I sensed to my own will. Now I can form swords, spears, shields, and a healing light."
Zack let the entire information sink in and eventually asked, "A little light…in everyone's hearts? Can…can you sense mine?"
"Sure! I'd like to see how your heart looks like! I bet it'll look just like your master. After all, most hearts take the form of the person the owner has the most connections to." She said and started to concentrate. When she did, she saw only darkness in Zack's heart. She saw only pure, raw darkness that was starting to take form, a form bigger than Zack's. She realized that the light in her own heart was starting a reaction in his, the form was starting to twist and reform itself, into the thing she feared most, the thing she saw in her dream two weeks ago. And then Zack shook her out of her trance, a sincerely worried look plastered on his face.
Zack was worried about Ally, after looking into his heart; she slipped into unconsciousness only mumbling a few words. The words were in a jumble, she muttered them all at once, and he swore he could hear his name in the mess. When he asked what happened, Ally looked confused and only told him that she couldn't remember.
"But…" She started, "There was something, something in your heart, and I don't remember seeing ANY light. How strange, I usually see light in even the cruelest of people, but yours is completely devoid of brightness." Zack only stared. He thought to himself, "It must be an effect of the essence, getting rid of the light in my heart? How strange…no worries, the darkness will never overtake me, my heart's too strong." He regarded Ally once again, "Heh, don't worry about it, master taught me a lot about dealing with the darkness in my heart, it won't take control of me. I promise you."
She regarded his declaration with some distrust. The thing she saw was a monster, a being someone event trained in the darkness couldn't completely control. However, she just smiled and thought that Zack could handle it, and if he couldn't, then her light could. Grandmother did say Ally's light was the strongest in the land after all. They continued their trek without another word. Zack was busy trying to understand what Ally might have seen and Ally trying to remember what she saw in the first place. After three miles, they realized their hunger with each of their stomachs growling at the same time. Zack looked down embarrassed and then looked back at Ally. "I'll catch something, wait here." Ally looked at him, "NO! I want to go with you, ok? I want to see you hunt!" Zack looked in shock, "Ummm…ok then…just stay safe, alright?" She smiled and agreed.
They left into the forest and started looking for fresh meat. After about twenty minutes of searching, they chanced upon a great elk deer. "Damn it…I can't bring that thing down on my own…oh well, I'll have to look for something else." Then he saw Ally dash at the deer and conjured a light so bright, that everything was just a flash for a few seconds. When he regained his vision, he saw Ally cutting the deer with multiple swords and spears all made up of light. She looked back at Zack and called, "I COULD USE SOME HELP OVER HERE!"
Zack smiled and summoned darkness into his hand. "DARK DRAGON'S LEECH BARRAGE!" Several dark spheres shot out of his hands and crashed into the deer, sapping out all of its energy and stopping its heart. The deer fell with a heavy thud. The duo smiled at each other and started the cooking process on the deer. After two hours, the deer was ready and thirty minutes later, it was all done. Satisfied, the duo casually chatted about their pasts and their lives before they met the day before. Ally sounded pretty normal, she grew up in the village all her life and after her parents died, she's been living on her own. When he told her his story, well, let's just say the scene wasn't that pretty. She almost cried because of his sad past, however, he comforted her and they talked casually after that. An hour later, they saw Magnolia in the distance.
"ALRIGHT! FINALLY! WE'RE HERE! WOOOOOO!" Zack shouted to no one in particular. Ally couldn't help but smile at his reaction. "Ha, he reminds me so much of…wait…who? I…don't have a brother, right?..." She remained lost in thought until Zack shouted, "LET'S GO! I WANNA MEET THE STRONG MAGES!" He raced into town with Ally right at his heels. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea where the guild was, so they decided to ask the locals. Lucky for the duo, none of the residents of Magnolia seemed to recognize Zack and his resemblance to Zeref. They were able to quickly track down the guild and arrived at the front doors.
"Wow…they're pretty loud. Are they…fighting?" Zack asked as he listened in on the guild. Ally laughed. "No silly. They just get into fights all the time. The reasons are far and wide; sometimes they fight just to blow off some steam. Oh yeah! By the way, whatever you do, don't pick a fight with this guy with pink hair and fire powers; I heard he's really powerful."
Zack just smiled. "Alrighty then, you're the expert on this guild. Ready to go in and meet them?" Ally smiled back and said, "Yup! Let's go!" With their minds made up, they opened the doors and entered Fairy Tail.
