Hello, Everybody!
We are back and before anything, I need to thank the people that reviewed and followed and favored this story! So, thank you so much: Alanna Darkfeather, AsDarknessSpreads, arairi, Rewinsan and sktrgrl13. I hope this chapter will also be of your liking.
Rereading the first chapter, I remembered something… Should I have put a Warning for violence, future sexual scenes, foul language, blood and dark sense of humor (no dark-humor though, just a twisted and morbid one)? Well… Heheh, my bad. Here it is then, but I'd consider it all kind of included in the M-rating…
Concerning this chapter, I think I have to make my opinion over another character clear: Lisanna. I have nothing against her, but I don't favor her either. She is one of those whatever-characters for me, because really, Natsu and Lucy kind of friendzone her every now and then, in the anime specially. I almost pity her… Almost. Besides, I don't see anything that special in her, not strength or character, so yeah, she's just there for me.
And lastly! This chapter's song can be heard here: www. youtube watch?v=PfOtieDrDkA
When I was looking for songs to put in this story and I listened to this one, I just though "It illustrates Fairy Tail perfectly!" And so I had to have it here. Hope you people like it too.
Now on with the story! Enjoy!
02 – Hurricane by B.A.P.
X782 – Magnolia, Fiore
Gray arrived at the guild and sighed in annoyance. The gloomy atmosphere that had settled over them two weeks ago was so out of place it irritated him beyond belief.
For once, the mages were quiet. Elfman and Mirajane were huddled together at a table with Erza and Kana, these two girls trying to get a reaction from the siblings other than them blaming themselves for what happened. Natsu was another zombie-like person in the hall. As much as Happy was affected, he still tried to spur the dragon slayer into doing anything other than mop in the guild. The rest of them weren't that much better. Some went for minor jobs, but always went and came quietly, fearful they would disrupt the delicate state the Strauss siblings were in. To one side, the ice mage found the Raijinshuu with frowns on their faces. A little away from them, he saw his best friend, for once without any of his usual groupies.
With a tickling on his eye, he couldn't hold himself any longer.
"Lisanna is dead" he stated and coldly watched how most of his guild mates flinched. Some, his best friends, looked curiously at him. "Flashing news for you guys, just because she is not with us anymore, doesn't mean the world isn't spinning anymore, or that time has stopped, or that life lost its meaning" more flinching. "Now do everybody a favor and cut this crap!"
"What the fuck, Gray!" Natsu finally broke free from his dead state and glared at the ice mage, fists ablaze.
"That's what I should be asking you! Somebody dies and suddenly you have nothing to live for anymore?!"
"'Somebody'? Do you consider Lisanna just 'somebody' in your life, you bastard?"
Gray's dark-blue eyes hardened before he calmly replied. "Lisanna was as dear a friend of mine as she was to you. The only reason I can walk as lightly as I am about her demise is because I understood what she would want us to do as opposed to you guys having your heads so down in this funk it makes you blind and deaf to realize you are doing the exact opposite of what she would want."
"Like you know anything!" Mirajane suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs, voice strained by her crying. The white-haired girl glared at him with teary eyes, but that had no effect on the boy.
"I do" he murmured too low for anyone to hear, looking away for a moment before locking gazes with her again. "Is that what you think? Then do me a little favor and answer this: were you in her position now, would you want your beloved ones to sulk and stop living because you are dead?" he saw the siblings flinch along with Natsu and many other mages. To the side, he got a glimpse of Erza, Kana and Loke's smile at him. "I know for one, that if I were to die and found out you guys decided to mop around like this because of me, I would come back and beat the crap out of you all out of frustration. If I died, I'd want my family to live for me, not forget to live. Are you guys that stupid? For hell's sake, we are Fairy Tail! Nothing stops us! If a nakama is gone, we live for them what they couldn't!"
Sniffs to end crying all over the hall was heard. Elfman finally looked up and Mira got a new shine in her eyes. But Gray's eyes were now locked on Natsu's face. The pink-haired boy had yet to move, but the surprised look in his eyes told him that he was processing what was said. Unfortunately it would take a little too long if not helped by an outer force, thought the ice mage.
"Hey, flame brain!" and that did the trick of getting a reaction from the fire mage. "I bet you can't accompany me" and Gray proceed to make an ice stage out of the whole hall.
"Like hell I can't, frost bite! Bring it on!"
Faces lit up to the change of mood. Some grins split faces and eyes shined. The air changed dramatically and everyone started to get up slowly, waiting expectantly for what their resident musical idol would present them this time.
Gray started his ice instruments and an upbeat melody boomed in the place. He calmly walked to Elfman and Mira and pulled them to the center of the hall, into the mess and started to sing. Dance was naturally invoked from within all of them and for once, no one minded Vista doing his weird dances.
Oh, let's goooh~ Yeah!
Ready to fly, you and me, everyone up and down
Scream and go crazy, rollercoaster ride
Put your hands up, you know, how we go
We gotta break it down, break it down, feeling good tonight!
A dazzling and shining star
I want, baby, I want, baby
Boys who fly around the world, up in the sky
Shall we shake up the world, putting in the palms of our hands?
It was then, amidst the mess of moving bodies, the space was cleared, tables and benches and chairs were pushed to the walls and a dance floor created. Everyone, one by one or in pairs took the spotlight and had their ten seconds of glamour improvising. Whenever Gray was not too busy singing, he would engage in a battle with the others and push them, more and more to do better, put their souls into it and leave behind the grief.
We're hurricane! We're hurricane!
We're hurricane, hurricane
We're Fairy Tail!
Magazines, lacrima, news, wherever it is, everyone watches us
Spreading like a fatal virus
Fiore, Bosco, the west and east, from south to north
I hear the loud cheer in the night!
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
Magnolia, Hargeon and the Capital City
Crocus, Clover, the Council, I guess I got a feeling
The place that calls me a stage killer
But keeping my humble attitude, alright?
My growing spectrum, I say la lala lala lala
The path we're on right now is the new rhythm of magic
The real ones who know how to party
Big fish in a little pond,
riding the magical folk to fight and party
We can do it all, we are awake
Our growing spectrum, we say!
(Shall we shake up the world, putting it in the palms of our hands?)
We're hurricane! We're hurricane!
We're hurricane, hurricane
We're Fairy Tail!
The following day, things in Fairy Tail became livelier. Everyone was still adjusting themselves to Lisanna's absence, but things were way better than the day before, after Gray managed to plunk the three worst people out of their depression. It seemed that overnight, Mirajane and Elfman had a sudden change of heart and had their personalities reversed. When the girl showed up wearing a long dress and the guy had a wilder look everybody stared. Mira announced she was quitting being an active mage and would only work at the guild's bar and help everyone as much as she could. Elfman also surprised his fellow mages by inviting everyone into a brawl to show his manliness.
Sitting at a back table, Gray and Loke stared at them dumbfounded the whole time.
"Did you foresee that change?" the ginger-haired male asked his friend, who could only shake his head in denial, still unbelieving what his eyes showed him.
"I can only hope nothing else comes out of it. Anyways… Back to what we were discussing, are you up to it? I mean, that crew is crazy."
"And you would know about it, right?" Loke smirked and the younger male refrained from freezing the other's face right then and there.
"Master practically dragged me all the way to Valencia* to accept the request because it would profit the guild almost as much as a SS-class mission two years ago" the ice mage grunted and Loke patted him on the shoulder in condolences.
"Well, there you have the bad side of being that pretty. I bet in some years that won't happen anymore."
"I can only hope. Though sometimes it's funny to rub on Kana and Mira's faces I can beat them in modeling" they laughed.
The pair talked some more and finished the details of their next mission together, the arrangements for the day-long trip to the other city and schedules of works, so as what would be predictable of a normal day between those two friends, Loke turned his flirting mood on and Gray sweat dropped.
"No."
"Come on, Gray. It's been so long, you have even been singing your feelings since last year. Why not give us a chance?"
"We have cleared it already, Loke. No."
"Darn" Loke dropped his head in defeat only to poke it up hopefully, looking like a curious kitty, "Still best friends?"
Gray laughed and nodded. "Until death do us apart."
"Hey, Gray" the two friends turned to look at the new voice and eyed curiously a fidgeting Natsu standing right beside the ice mage. The dragon slayer looked tired, skin a little pale, dark rings under his eyes and lacking the usual energetic aura that always surrounded him. "Can we, um, talk?"
Both Gray and Loke raised a dubious eyebrow at the other's uncertainty. They looked at each other and after a second, the ginger-haired stood up and gave the dark-haired mage a small smile. "Have fun you two, just don't kill each other. I'll take a walk around town" he said, which Gray instantly interpreted as him going to meet some of his many lady-friends. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"See you then. And don't overdo yourself with your fangirls."
Fire and ice mage waited until the other was gone before facing each other. Gray motioned for the dragon slayer to take a seat beside him, but he shook his head. "I rather we talk somewhere more… private."
"O…kay."
The two young mages walked out of the guild in silence and started towards the riverside unconsciously. So used to go there together, it was almost like auto-pilot.
"So, you and Loke are going on a mission together tomorrow?" Natsu asked calmly from one step ahead.
"Yeah. Clarice* is shooting for a few companies' new autumn and winter collections and she requested me again. This time to bring an interesting manly looking guy with me" Gray rolled his eyes at his photographer's antics, but shrugged. It was always like that and he should already be used to it. After all, as he told Loke before, it was not the first time he was asked to pose in female roles.
"Why not ask me, then? Don't I look interesting?"
"Pff! You know, the artistic staff would put you under some layers of make-up and a dress and make us pose as something like the Summer and Winter Sisters or some shit like that. No way I'd do that, thank you very much. You look much more like a girl than I do, not to mention the pink hair" he snickered and dodged a flying fist to his head.
They continued the light talk and friendly banter some more until they were at the drying riverside.
These nice talks these two had was one of the things most people, even among the guild, didn't know about Fairy Tail's Salamander and Ice Alchemist. They were pretty good friends despite the constant brawls wherever they were, whenever it happened, however it went. It was a historical fact, though, that they began this dynamic of theirs a few months after they met. Initially, Gray would provoke Natsu, and Natsu, being the short tempered boy he has always been, would rise to the provocation and fight back, literally, with his fists. Eventually, it became a double way provocation whenever they felt like it.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Gray asked finally when they were seated on the grass.
Natsu sighed and looked down at his restless hands. "Yesterday, when you cheered us up… I guess I have to thank you for that. You really inspired me."
The ice mage stared at his companion, wondering when Natsu hit his head strong enough to turn him into a nice honest person. "Are you sick, flame-head? If you continue talking like that, next thing you'll be declaring your undying love to me and ask me to be your boyfriend" he mocked and turned back to look at the horizon, a very subtle shadow of pain and longing in his eyes.
"I'm not sick, you stupid stripper! But… Would you?"
When Natsu asked that in a small almost timid voice, the dark-haired teen snapped his head back to look at his friend with eyes as wide as saucers. "The fuck?!"
"W-well, you heard me!" the pink-haired mage exclaimed, red covering his face and ears and eyes refusing to look up. "I… We have known each other for so long and I don't have the same chemistry we do with anyone else… I mean, we did promise to be mates when we were kids…"
"Yeah, we did…" Gray murmured and looked down as well. That was a dirty trick, to bring up that promise they made so long ago, when they were mere children and buried not long after it was made and had a silent agreement to never so much as brush on the subject again. He knew, Natsu knew and Natsu knew that he knew it was a fucking excuse and nothing else. Deep down, the ice mage knew he shouldn't continue harboring these feelings for the pink-head, that the guy was an air-head and would forever stay with Lisanna had she not suffered that incident on her last mission. Now with her gone, it was painfully obvious he was but a substitute for her. So, why? Why couldn't Gray let it just go and move on? Just what was wrong with him?
"Will you forget about me again when a cute and defenseless girl shows up at the guild?" he asked quietly. Later Natsu would mock him saying he sounded like a timid girl and he would tell him to fuck off and freeze his balls. But right now all Gray could think of was how stupid a person could be to give in to the person that forgot about you for four years so easily.
"Of course not! I promise, Gray, we are going to be together forever, okay?"
"I will rub it on your face if you don't keep that promise."
The rest of that day and night, Natsu decided he would make the ice mage his and his alone. He promised the other he would be with him whenever he needed and respect him as much as they could respect the other (which had a weird level of depth that absolutely did not apply to the basics levels of social respect). He promised they were going to be together forever and as soon as possible, under Master's permission, they would be official mates.
That night, feeling the dragon slayer's burning warmth, Gray chose to believe his promises, knowing that under some easily molded circumstances the other would forget half his words. He pushed the depressing fact that this relationship had no way to grow romantically away and decided to live a few moments of happiness with the mage he fell in love with in childish innocence and loneliness. He cursed Natsu for being such a convenient simple-minded bastard. He cursed himself for being so weak and stupid.
The next morning when Gray and Loke met at the station to depart for their first seasonal fashion mission together, the ginger-head had to stop and stare at his friend and not-so-secret crush. The boy had a different air about him. Almost like he was lighter and yet there was something tying him halfway underground. And the thing that kept his eyes glued to the dark-head that was on his bare neck under his jacket collar.
"Gray? Is that a hickey?" he asked pointing at the pale neck sporting a bright red spot just above his collarbone.
"I don't want to hear it" and Gray turned and both walked into the train.
Loke could only wonder if he was going to be able to survive long enough to help his best friend pick the inevitable pieces of his broken self when the time came.
xxXxXxXxXxXxx
Master Makarov decided to wait for a week in hopes of receiving any good news from the villagers in the Kotek Region* after listening to the whole tale of Natsu, Lucy and Happy. Unfortunately, they never did and the only thing they ever heard of the Northern Country was that they found nothing, no matter where and how long they searched. Word, then, spread quickly in the magic world that one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages was now passed.
The day of the funeral was as bad as the day half of Team Natsu returned to Magnolia. The sky was clear, the sun shining bright, a nice breeze was blowing, the birds were chirping, it was all wrong compared to the mood the gathered mages at Magnolia's graveyard. Every mage of Fairy Tail made it to attend the ceremony. At the forefront, no one dared to fight for the place with Kana, Erza, Laxus, Lyon or Loke, all five of them silently crying and barely holding themselves up. No one asked and few knew, but the air around them just gave it away.
Those people were the closest Gray had to a real family. Lyon was a known fact that he had trained under the same master as Gray and so they had a long history of brotherhood. Most of Fairy Tail knew him, Kana and Erza had the closest relationship of complicity in a sibling way from all groups of the guild, what with them being the youngest mage of it for some years, it was only natural they'd stick with one another. Laxus was an unusual case of being the older brother figure for those three, pulling the role of bad example and grumpy half-responsible brother perfectly, after all, where do you think Gray picked his bad habit of smoking? Loke, though, was an exception for the group. He was the only one not considered a sibling among them. He was the one to occupy the place of best friend and partner forever, not taken when Natsu and Gray started dating, not taken when he became Lucy's Spirit, not taken after the seven-year time of disappearance from Fairy Tail's core members.
Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen stood behind Laxus, all three of them keeping their heads down and eyes closed in sadness and respect. Much like the thunder dragon slayer, they saw the ice mage as a little brother, one that could be really annoying at times, but was always reliable and a great person, especially when he proved himself not afraid of facing a mini-scarlet monster to open up to everybody else.
Right behind Kana, Wendy with Charlie and Happy hug one another, trying to be strong, but too grief stricken to be able to. The young girl had the dark-haired mage as a brother, one of the many she got with joining the guild. But he was special. He and Erza would often take requests with her and help her whenever she asked and even if she didn't, they offered it with a warm smile that let her know they trusted her and didn't think she was weak, but they cared. Not to mention, from time to time when she got sad, the ice mage would cheer her up by singing or teaching her how to sing or dance, or both the same time.
To one side, near the lion spirit, Juvia and Gajeel stood stoically with thin tears coming out there eyes, which was quite a curious sight, everyone thought the rain woman would be flooding the town and creating a (not so) natural catastrophe; she didn't. After the Grand Magic Games, she and Gray had come clean for once and for all. Juvia loved him, Gray didn't return the feeling, but liked her much like he liked Kana and she accepted. Though the rain woman would slip into fangirl-mode now and then, they set into a comfortable partnering and friendly relationship. On the other hand Gajeel and the ice mage struck a friendly musical rivalry relationship after his first (hated) performance in Fairy Tail. They had respect for each other magic and musical wise, and that was enough for the oldest dragon slayer.
A step behind the frontline, Natsu glared at the tombstone with thick tears running down his face, in his arms he held a crying Lucy.
The blonde still couldn't believe. This was not the first time she was faced with death. Years before, her mother died and left her practically alone at home with only the celestial spirits and staffs to make her company. Then, when they came back from the incident with Tenrou Island, she found out her father had just died. She was but a child when she lost her mother and it was bad enough, then having matured and kept a distant relationship with the father, besides her friends' help, Natsu's specially, it hadn't been that difficult to overcome the sadness. But those were caused by illness! It is harder to fight some fatal illness than for a Fairy Tail mage to die, no matter what they'd be facing. Gray's death wasn't supposed to happen anytime soon, or ever! Why was her life so cruel?
Meanwhile, the dragon slayer could only think of how strange this situation felt to him.
He was numb, like a part of himself was missing, without him even knowing. He reasoned it must be the loss of a nakama. When the same happened to Lisanna, he felt something similar to this. But in a way, it still felt different. Was it because differently of the animal take-over mage Gray was someone he had a deeper connection with? It made sense to him. The two could fight in perfect harmony together with so much as exchanging a look. He hardly could do that with anyone else. Then maybe it could be because he was there the time the ice mage was hit and he felt like he should have done more. For fuck's sake he was there! It was his obligation as friend and nakama to keep his friends safe. Gray was one of the strongest people he knew, not that he'd admit so to him, and he had survived Deliora's attack when a kid, a war with two big dark guilds, Acnologia's attack and then a whole out war against seven dragons and its offspring. How could he just die like that for a minor ice demon?
The other fairies were sobbing and hugging each other for comfort. They may complain time and time again that the ice mage together with the fire dragon slayer made the most destructive team the guild had ever seen, only worsened when Erza was put in the middle. But a nakama was nakama and Gray would always be their beloved and talented stripper, and no one else could claim that!
Some mages from Lamia Scale, Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus also were present, having known the ice mage for a while or any other kind of interaction with him or to support a friend. The old masters from the guilds stood aside, silently looking over their children with weighted hearts, Makarov, particularly. The short man couldn't believe that little brat of eight years that walked into his guild so many years ago looking for powerful mages was gone.
In front of the assembled group, was Gray's tombstone. It was a marvelous piece, made in dark stone with a snowflake sculpture atop it. At the base, a simple script could be read.
Gray Fullbuster
X766 – X791
Beloved friend and brother
May the song of the ice ring forever
Timid and child-like whines sounded from the entrance and the mages turned to see a group of children and teens with some civilian adults, young and aged. Kana, Erza, Wendy and Loke recognized them right away and motioned them to come closer. The young ones ran to the girls' side and hugged them, creating a fake attempt of a dog pile. The adults walked quietly and exchanged sad looks with the three present grown-ups that helped the House the most before addressing the children.
"Now come, let's pay our respect for Gray-niisan, so he'll know we all still love him" one of the middle-aged women said to the young ones and slowly, one by one, they placed a small flower at the base of the stone and murmured some words barely understandable between hiccups and sobs. When all kids and adults were done, the eldest woman – a strict looking lady – turned to Erza and Kana.
"The House will still stand?" she asked quietly, knowing it wasn't the right place to talk business, but she couldn't help. Her worry for the orphanage was too great to live another minute in doubt.
It was Erza who answered. "Of course. Kana and I will continue to care for it for as long as possible. And I assure it will be for a long time."
The old lady nodded smiling in appreciation and turned to guide her group out of that death place. The children shouldn't stay another moment around there.
"I guess it's time we go too" Laxus said suddenly. "We still have some things to take care of."
The other four beside him nodded and along with Wendy, his three team members, Juvia and Gajeel, they turned to leave the site. Surprised by their attitude, Lucy looked up and stared at them. They hadn't been there for an hour and they were already leaving?
"Wait!" she called and the group looked at her, all of them already with faces clear of any tears. "You are just going to continue working right after we lost…" she couldn't continue. It was one thing to understand the fact, but to actually say it aloud would set it in stone and the reality of things would change.
"Gray is dead, Lucy" Erza stated firmly, receiving gasps from many mages, most of them from other guilds and the ones from Fairy Tail she noted joined after Lisanna's supposed death. "And it isn't because of it that the world is going to stop spinning or time stop to flow. If you don't want to forget about him, then live for him" the scarlet haired young woman turned and continued to walk away with the others headed to Fairy Fields, the male dorms of the guild.
Slowly, the other mages too started to leave, saying a last pray to the deceased mage and walking away quietly until only Lucy and Natsu were left, staying long after the last person was parted with a worried glance at the couple. The dragon slayer stood on his place, unmoving, fists still tightly closed and eyes still locked on the gravestone.
"Natsu" she called but there was no response from the fire mage. "Natsu, it's getting late. Let's go back to the guild at least."
Natsu stared at the grave some more seconds before turning and offering the girl a hand. Silently she took it and the pair went back to the guild.
The following weeks, Fairy Tail slowly got back on track of being the ever roistering guild it was known for. Everybody went back to their usual weird self, partying for the most random reasons, going on missions frantically with the approaching end of year and (confirmed by Master Makarov) S-class Promotion Exam and living the fullest. It was almost like they haven't just lost one of theirs.
One day, Lucy had just returned from another series of missions with Natsu and Happy and was enjoying a little rest on the guild bar. Surprisingly to her, the damage caused by them was minimal and most of the reward went to them, which, of course, made her very happy. Spinning on her booth with drink in hand, her brown eyes surveyed the hall and she wondered how some things had changed for the past three weeks since the funeral.
At one table, Levy was reading a book a little too focused, ignoring Jet and Droy besides her talking to Mark. She giggled at that, moving her gaze to the pair near the Request Board discussing what mission to take next. Juvia and Gajeel could be seen spending a lot of time together, usually going on missions. The blonde guessed their relationship when they were still with Phantom Lord was quite close and only now, with Juvia's main distraction not around, it was showing.
At another side, Erza, Kana, Wendy and Charlie were also talking about missions, but theirs had already been decided on an S-class one and the white cat was lecturing the three girls about being careful. Lucy had earlier asked the scarlet woman in curiosity about her sudden partnering with the other two and she simply said she and Kana had always gone to missions together when they were younger and she saw Wendy as a little sister, so it was only natural.
Some other random mages were around, drinking and talking and mostly doing nothing interesting, so she turned back to the bar and her writing. Unfortunately, she'd been stuck in a writer's block recently and couldn't seem to get out of it no matter what she did.
So focused on her thoughts, the girl didn't notice Natsu come from behind her sporting a serious expression on his face, nor his sudden grin and imminent attack.
"Hiya, Lucy!" he yelled and hugged her middle, scaring the hell out of her.
After she calmed down and punched him on the head, both were peacefully sitting side by side eating lunch. The celestial spirit mage had put her work aside and was fully enjoying one of Mirajane's famous dishes.
"Hey, Lucy" the young man called munching on a piece of meat and she responded with a simple 'Hm?' "You wanna be my girlfriend?"
As one of Mira's perfectly timed 'wrong place at the wrong time' situations, she happened to walk by when Lucy spit all contents in her mouth directly at her face level.
"I'm sorry, Mira-san!" the blonde said to the white-haired woman, who just brushed the incident off, and snapped back her attention to the dragon slayer. "What do you mean, Natsu?!"
"Well" he drank from his cup and swallowed down before looking right into her face, "I am asking if you want to have an official romantic relationship with me. What, have you turned stupid?"
"I understood the meaning of the question!" she fumed and drew her eyebrows in confusion and crossed her arms. "What I meant to ask is why are you asking that now? I remember you saying, when we started to fool around after the Grand Magic Games, that you didn't feel it would be right, even if you liked me and all. What changed?"
"I don't know. I just feel like it is right now. Don't you want to?" Natsu asked seriously, looking intently at her.
She looked at him seriously. It was something that could only be described as one of her many dreams come true. Ever since she met him at Hargeon Port, there was a crescent feeling in her that drew her closer to him each day they spent together. Of course, many times his childish and brute antics pissed the hell out of her, but it was the same childish and brute Natsu that saved her too many times to count and had her falling deep in love with him.
So Lucy did the only thing she could think of. She beamed at him, opening the brightest smile she had since coming back from Tenrou Island. "Yes!"
xxXxXxXxXxXxx
Somewhere around the northeastern endless plains of snow, a group of rough looking men was traveling towards Pergrande Kingdom. They hoped to reach the next village before nightfall or the next blizzard, fortunately, the weird sudden weather changes stopped a month prior. Rumor had it some mages from Fiore took care of the case, whatever it was that had been causing the trouble. That didn't mean, though, they were safe out in the snow, after all it wasn't unheard of sudden storms around this area of Iceberg at the end of the day from late September on.
From time to time, a couple from the ten men would walk ahead for a while and come back to join the main group with reports on the surroundings. At one of these scouting of no new development, the pair sent signaled a finding. Quickly the others went towards them and their leader approached the duo crouching on the snow.
"What you found?" he asked in a surprisingly smooth and deep voice.
"You'll like it, boss. 'Tis a fair maiden" one of the scouts said grinning and both showed their finding.
It was a young woman with pale skin and raven short messy hair, completely bare of any clothing. She was by no means a small person. She had narrow shoulders and a thin figure, but her legs were long just like her arms, in perfect proportion with the torso. From neck to toes, muscles were apparent, not overly developed, just right to indicate that body was strong and still maintaining her femininity, yet easily confusable as male with the right clothing. There was no overly round butt or thighs, nor overgrown breasts. And her face albeit delicate, could easily pass as a pretty guy. Some features that made the men annoyed, though, were the small scar atop her left eyebrow and the cross shaped one at her lower right abdomen besides the deep blue bird-like tattoo on her right breast.
"Is she even alive?" the boss asked, eyes still roaming the naked body.
"Heh" the other scout answered. "She's cold as ice, but still alive with a subtle but present pulse. And what's better, she's untouched."
Large smirks grew on everyone's faces. "Then get to work! Put the bitch with the others and don't forget to scan her!" the leader ordered and soon other two men brought the woman to one of their two carriages.
Opening the only door to the back of one carriage, they tossed the unconscious body inside and went in afterwards, locking it after them. Inside, there was a single lamp to illuminate the space. Cramped there, were four young ladies, all huddled together with fearful expressions etched on their faces at the men's entrance. They didn't give them any importance at the time and proceed with their orders. One of the men took a thick blanket out of the many bags pilled on a corner and brought over while the other took a rod-like device and started to hover it over the woman. Immediately, the jewel at the tip of the rod gave a bright glow and the instrument was put away. The men looked at each other and nodded. One of them got out and left his partner to proceed.
He walked to the boss, group already on the move again.
"Report" the leader demanded when his man come to him.
"The chick is a mage and a hell of a powerful one too. Me and Dra were almost blinded by it. Dra is putting the shackles with the runes on her right now, so it shouldn't be a problem, but better note it on the record."
The boss nodded and dismissed his subject to join his co-worker. He thought about what has just been said. They had found a young woman, with a wonderful and pure body and she was a powerful mage to top it. He grinned. Things couldn't be better.
That group was one of the many slave trafficker groups that travelled around the northern area of Seven, Iceberg and Pergrande Kingdom, and right now they were headed to said Kingdom for the annual Human Auction of the black market there, and this last finding was sure to grant them a lot of money.
x- Hours earlier -x
In a swirl of snowflakes, a figure was materialized, a figure of long limbs, strong muscles, pale skin, jet black hair and dark blue eyes. Those dark blue eyes with long and straight eyelashes and droopy lids eyed the endless field of white around, small dots of white still dancing around it.
Nothing?
The figure asked itself mentally and tried to take a step forward only to fall flat on the snow, the magical atmosphere broken.
No energy… The figure noticed trying to move any limb again and not succeeding. Knowing that the cold would never hurt, it closed the dark eyes and shut down into a deep slumber, deciding to rest and recover some energy before attempting anything to understand what was happening and what its identity was.
In that slumber, no scene, but feelings and a name came forth.
It began with immense happiness, the kind to warm the whole world and everybody with it in the most comfortable way. Then there was a sudden blow of pain of rejection followed by frustration, the type that installed itself into somebody's core and turned and grew until it became anger and lashed out, but all the while the pain was still present, hiding behind the anger and rooting itself deeper and deeper.
The anger slowly dimmed, never leaving, but became smaller and gave space to something else grow: a content notion of friendship. That lasted a while and then that happiness from the beginning came back, but now it was bittersweet, so much there were moments a need of some sort of release became so much things got fuzzy and spiraled into circles after circles of melodies.
Then things felt like a rollercoaster ride. One moment there was joy, another there was anger and then fear. After there was confusion and anger mixed with happiness to turn into almost blind rage in many levels and confusion again and hope, only to finish with the bloom of the one feel that followed in the shadows all the way: betrayal.
This emotional circuit was carried by and began with one name: Natsu.
When deep blue eyes opened, their owner was assaulted by a lot of information.
The young woman was seated on a very comfortable armchair though her position was anything but. Around her neck, wrists and ankles were shackles attached to the armchair. On their outer face of the metal pieces, she saw the glowing runes and sighed at their meaning.
No using magic then, until they are off.
Aside from the metal pieces, she was bare to the world if not for a simple sash going over her right shoulder down to pool on her right hip and fall aside. Her arms were tied to the armrests and ankles to the furniture's bottom, keeping her in place.
She was placed on a room filled with many people, half of them being young and pretty ladies with very different features but in the same nude state as her, though they were merely shackled to one another or poles, all looking terrified and disheartened; the other half consisted of strong looking men, heavily clothed and armed with whips and spears, some even carried some daggers. These men moved around hastily, dragging or pushing some of the women around or simply stood watching over them with hungry looks in their eyes, guards.
What caught her attention, though, was the whispered talk among the females.
"That one is the big prize of the year."
"I heard she is a mage. Do you think she is strong?"
"That is unlikely. If she was, she wouldn't be here."
"Makes sense. But how to explain her lack of marks? I mean, we came in the same load and our traffickers gave her one hell of torture, but she always healed instantly, like her body turned into snow and then flesh again."
"Not to mention never once did she wake up for the five days we travelled after she was found.
"Maybe that's her only magic? She could be a healer or something and have no offensive power."
"Well, that is possible."
"For how much do you think she'll be bought?"
"They say she's a mage and virgin, right? Plus with her looks, I'd bet they'll start with 1.000 gold pieces."
"That much, huh…"
The rest of the talk became unimportant and the dark-haired woman turned back to her musings.
If only the runes tying her didn't block her magic or at least physical strength, she could easily burst out and not be subjugated like this. She had no idea who she was or what she did before gaining conscience in the snow plains, but this situation was humiliating.
So without anything to do, she waited. For long hours, more and more girls were dragged out of the cold room and sold at high costs to sadists and perverted people. Finally when no one else was left but her, five men came to her and threw a blanked over her and carried the armchair somewhere. The young woman didn't feel anything, not a hitch of breath, no acceleration of heartbeat, no nervous perspiration, there was only blank boredom to be read on her figure.
She was eventually put down and someone, an energetic man, started to speak.
"Now we come to our last and most valuable piece of the night!" as on cue, the blanket was pulled off and she stared right into a huge audience sitting on comfortable chairs for meters on end. "This is Snow White! As you all can see, ladies and gentlemen, this young lady is of excellent quality. Perfectly sculptured body, her strong form promises countless services for the most select tastes and varied imagination! And the qualities don't stop there! This beauty is magical! Literally! She specializes in ice magic and the best part is that her body, whenever hurt, reconfigures itself immediately and leaves her bare of any marks!" murmurs of disbelief erupted from the audience and the announcer smirked.
Another man came onto stage holding a broad short sword and positioned it on her lower left abdomen. Their eyes locked and he grinned. Gasps echoed among the buyers when he impaled the blade on her body and yanked it out enlarging the cut. She grimaced and bit down on her lip to hold any sound of pain from coming out. Warm blood oozed down the open cut down the hip and thigh onto the chair. The announcer then came and cleaned the injury, showing off the icy surface left that was quickly turning into flesh again. Amused applauses erupted from the spectators and the cheerful mood was back.
"Now, my dearest ladies and gentlemen, I have proven my words, let us finish the list of wonderful qualities of dear Snow White! The one, most of us would only dream of finding in a beauty of this age, this one feature that pushes people to their limits and beyond! My lovely guests, Snow White is as pure as her name! Here in front of you, is an immaculate young lady!"
From that point on the woman blocked the voices out as they started to shout prices over prices. Her dark eyes trailed to the side of the stage, where the man that stabbed her was standing, still holding the bloody blade. He felt her gaze and smirked. Mocking her, he brought the weapon to his lips and liked the blood with an annoying expression of satisfaction. Her eyes narrowed and she silently promised him pain, and a lot of it. Looking away from him, she directed her gaze towards the open sky overhead.
The stars were twinkling beautifully. She recognized many constellations among the shining dots. The Leo circuit was the one that had her attention the most. It was strange, something in it gave her a sense of familiarity. And for one second, she closed her eyes and allowed a small smile to be drawn on her thin lips, thinking it would be nice to be among the stars.
Then the stars crashed on earth. Literally.
N/A time!
Haha! I have always wanted to do a cliffhanger! I don't know why, but it is just so dramatic! Sorry, guys, but I need to do it xD
Anyway, did anyone feel like Natsu's relationships started forcefully? I can't get it off my mind, but I'm not changing it either xP I mean, it kind of fits his careless personality… and what I want from him in this story.
The song this time [Hurricane, sang by the Korean boy-band B.A.P.] for the chapter has been modified, obviously. I tried to adapt it better for the Fairy Tail world and though they were minimal, I hope the changes fit. And for those who know the song or got curious and went for it, you can see I cut it short about its middle, but I wasn't going to repeat the whole choruses again when it didn't have anything significant to say, come on! Other lazy songfic writers might understand that frustration of mine xP
*Valencia – anyone recognized the name? Yes, it is (according to google) the Spanish Capital of fashion. So basically, I will base the names of and places of Fiore on Europe, Portugal and Spain in particular, because looking at Fairy Tail's world map, it does resemble Europe to me.
Before anyone comment, I feel there is something about Loke in the flashback I should explain. He does like Gray, a lot! The reasons will come in another flashback some chapters later. But he still is a playboy not to cover his want to be with him (well, that too), but to occupy him not to think about Karen Lilica. IF Gray had accepted his feelings and they were together, I would make it that those two were very faithful and I wouldn't take away Loke's flirty nature, it'd come around to annoy the hell out of girls and amuse Gray… And I do intend to do that some time still.
*Clarice is a minor OC of mine. Don't give her much importance, but she will make an appearance later on. I just have yet to plan how it'll be, but she might wipe the floor with Lucy's pride… Muahahahah!
I don't know what you guys think, but I particularly see Gray with a leaner body before the Grand Magic Games, when his shoulders widened a lot in a real short time (O.o), but specially when he was younger, and puberty and hormones hadn't hit full force to start the physical changes, I like to think of him as having a more androgynous figure… A least when he had clothes on.
*Kotek Region, for those who did not recognize, is the area Cygnus Hyoga, from Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac) received his training to became a warrior in Siberia, at the northeast of Russia. I have no idea if it actually exists or was Kurumada's invention, and I was too lazy to look into it (though I should have). If anyone knows about it, I'd like to know too, but that isn't really all that important, but knowledge is always nice.
Locations of Earthland were taken from here: fairytail. / wiki/ Special:Maps/5952
I have to say, it surprised me to know Fiore is such a small country when you think about it. It might be because I am Brazilian and am used to have a huge national territory and even enormous states, but still… I always pictured Fiore a little bigger xD
By the way, people, just for the record, I do NOT support human trafficking or slavery. It just popped up in my mind and it kind of fit well with the story. I needed to carry dear 'Sown White' away from Fiore some more before doing anything else with her, so this situation just went good.
Now, I'll stop babbling and let you continue with your pretty (social?) lives! Also, don't forget to review, because comments are always nice, flames will be given to Natsu and if anyone has any suggestion of songs that you think would fit the story or that you'd like to see here, leave on the comments and I'll see if I can do anything with it. Furthermore, all comments are appreciated.
~Atsuko Uehara, 30/November/2014.
