[Roads Untraveled]
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, however the OCs within this story are mine
Lucy took deep breaths to keep from having a total melt down. The city's spot on the map looked nothing like anything in Fiore. Was she possibly on the other side of the world? She quickly scratched that hypothesis out- if she was on the other side of her world she would still be able to feel magic in the air. In this world if felt like there was not any to begin with. The technology was also much more advanced than anything in her world.
"Chicago, Illinois…" She muttered, the words feeling strange on her tongue. Never had she heard such a weird name. On the back of the paper was a map of a larger area of land with a red mark dotting where the city stood. "The United States of America."
She quickly folded up the map and put it in the pocket of her skirt. She needed to find a way out of this foreign land. She walked out of the park (a sign near her called it Millennium Park) and began power walking down the sidewalk. The noises and crowed began to make her dizzy- her senses being overloaded.
"Lucy Heartfilia!"
Lucy paused at the sound of her name, whirling around to see who was shouting her name. Behind her stood a girl around her age, who held a grim expression. She was dressed in a simple pair of jean shorts, a gray and white stripped tank-top, and sneakers. The caramel skin toned girl suddenly grabbed Lucy's arm and began to drag her off the busy sidewalk.
"What are you doing?" Lucy shouted, trying to rip her arm away from the girl, but the grip on her arm only tightened. The girl was stronger than she looked. Lucy soon found herself in an apartment building not far from the park she had left only a few minutes ago. Lucy was finally able to break the girl's grip, before she was forced into an elevator. "Why should I follow you?"
The girl's green eyes flashed in annoyance. "Because if you don't you won't know why you're here." Lucy scowled, not wanting to trust the girl. The girl rolled her eyes at Lucy's expression. "Honestly, I don't care if you follow me or not. I'm just trying to help you out and you looked like you were going to pass out from emotional overload."
The girl stepped onto the elevator, staring at her as if she had two choices: leave and get lost in the city or come and get answers. Lucy decided that it would be best to follow the girl- not wanting to go back on those crowded streets again.
The elevator rode the two up to the tenth floor. The apartment was not anything fancy, but it was cozy. The teen led her to apartment number 1010- a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a beautiful view of a lake.
"This view is amazing," The blond said, admiring the shimmering lake. She was also surprised such a young girl could afford a place such as this. It had to be expensive. "Is this your apartment?"
"No, this is my brother's apartment. He's currently at work and won't be back for a while so this is the safest place to go to talk," taking a seat at the kitchen table that sat in front of the large window giving the view of the lake.
"By the way what's your name?" Lucy questioned, moving to sit across from the brown haired girl. "And how do you know me?"
"My name's Lynelle," She replied. She reached down into a black bag near her feet and placed a manila folder on the wooden table. "And I know you because you're part of my mission."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, her body going into fight or flight mode.
"Calm down, will you?" Lynelle sighed, opening the folder and taking a packet of paper out of it. "I don't mean that in a bad way." She placed three pieces of paper in front of Lucy. "Each of these documents is a piece of what describes our mission. This one is your profile: Lucy Heartfilia, giving your basic information such as: your age, date of birth, and your magic abilities." She pointed to the second document. "This is all my information, which I can promise is all true."
Lucy slid Lynelle's information closer to her- curious to know more about the girl that knew so much about her. According to the paper Lynelle's full name is Lynelle Katrina Hendrix and is nineteen years old. Her ethnic background is mixed with African-American and Caucasian. She is currently attending a school named Ohio State University pursing a degree in English with a minor in Communications. Her hometown is Battle Creek, Michigan though her current permanent address is in a town called Columbus within the state of Ohio.
"These places sound…interesting. And Ohio State University is a school?" Lucy questioned.
Lynelle nodded. "I was actually there before I had to rush over here to find you before something bad happened." Lynelle mouth tugged into a wry smile, "Because of you I had to skip an important exam. Thanks to you I might fail that class."
"It's not my fault!" Lucy huffed, glaring at Lynelle.
"Technically it is, but I guess I'll let it pass." She moved the third document closer to Lucy for the blond to read. "Now to explain why you're my mission." From the pocket of her jean shorts, Lynelle produced a key identical to Lucy's Gate Keeper key. "This key was passed down by my mother who received it from her mother. Our mission was to protect whoever had the key identical to ours. From what we gathered from the information the key gave us we knew it would be someone who had a special power, we just didn't really know the extent of it."
"That doesn't really explain how you know me," Lucy said.
"I'm getting to that, be patient!" Lynelle scowled. "You know, you're kind of a pain."
"Hey, that's rude! Who's says that to somebody they just met?"
"I do," Lynelle replied. "But to get back on track. I know you because my key tells me who possesses its twin." She motioned Lucy to put her Gate Keeper key on the table next to hers. The two keys glowed a light purple color as the rested beside each other. "For about ten years the twin of my key was left unattended. When you bought your key, my key began glowing and sent me your information."
"How did it do that?"
"It kind of projected it from here," Lynelle replied, pointing to the top of the key. "I made a document of it so I wouldn't lose it."
"Interesting."
"Any back to the mission-"
"Wait, I have a quick question: why did the key lay unused for ten years?"
Lynelle looked conflicted for a moment, unsure whether she should tell Lucy the key's past. "It's a story for another time."
"Why?" Lucy pushed, wanting to know the story behind the key she now possessed.
"Look, right now is not the time," Lynelle snapped, making Lucy's eyes widen from her sharp tone. "Right now we're on borrowed time, because when you first use the key you can't be over here for very long. The more you use the key to get over here the longer you'll be able to stay until soon there won't be a time restraint. Don't ask me why, because that's just how it is." She began to retie her wavy shoulder length a hair in a bun as she took a deep breath to calm herself, a habit she had acquired over the years. "As I was saying; the mission-"
However, Lynelle was unable to tell Lucy why she was needed- what the mission was. The large iron gate appeared behind Lucy, the doors flying open from an unknown force. A black hand appeared behind Lucy and grabbed her by the forearm- pulling her out of her chair and towards the gate.
"Hey, let go!" Lucy shouted, trying to fight against the vice grip of the shadow. "Lynelle!"
"You'll be able to come back in about three days," Lynelle said, trying to relay the important information as quickly as possible. "To open the gate to meet up with me you must summon it by saying: Open: Gate Keeper Lynelle. Got it?"
"What's the mission?" Lucy questioned, steadily being dragged closer to the gate- her heals almost over its border.
"I promise to tell you when you get back," Lynelle replied. "Just make sure you're back in three days."
Lucy nodded, before being forced into the gate- the doors slamming shut and the gate disappearing completely. Lynelle started at where it stood for a moment before standing up with a sigh. She wished she would have been able to explain the mission to Lucy in one sitting; however luck wasn't on her side. She began to pack her things up to head back school via her gate- it was the quickest way to get back to Ohio.
"I wonder if I'm even cut out for this job," Lynelle muttered, picking up her key from the table. It had been passed down to her from her mother after the accident. The accident that had took her mother's life and caused the twin to her key to be lost until now. "I don't have a choice though. If I don't do this mission, thousands of people will die and I'll be an outcast to my people." She clutched the key tightly, her mother's kind face appearing in her mind's eye. "And I'll be failing mom." She quickly repressed her emotions and shoved memories of her mother to the back of her mind. She held her key out in front of her, chanting: "I, Lynelle Katrina Hendrix order you to send me home. Open: Gate Keeper!"
An identical gate that had vanished minutes ago appeared before her. She stepped through the portal and soon arrived in her apartment on Ohio State University's campus. For a short time she could continue being a normal college student.
Lucy stumbled through the door way of the gate, disoriented and confused. What was the mission? But, above all: what the heck just happened?
"Lucy!"
Lucy jumped when she heard her name and felt someone grab her by her shoulders- turning her around. To her surprise she came face-to-face with Gray. "Gray? What are you doing in my apartment?"
Gray looked down at his friend with a mixture of concern and irritation in his dark eyes. "You've been gone for almost a week and you have the nerve to ask me why I'm at your apartment? You suddenly disappeared and we've been rotating shifts of who would stay here to wait for you and who would go out and search for you!"
Lucy's jaw dropped in shock. "I've been gone for almost a week!?"
Lucy's mind raced as her brown eyes locked with dark blue ones in utter panic. How the heck was she going to explain that she was in a different world?
Author's Corner:
Thank you to those who favorite/followed this story. It meant a lot to see that people enjoyed reading this! If you have any comments/questions/concerns just leave it in a review or PM me. Also, criticism is always appreciated.
