Tales of the Fairies
Chapter Two – The Aera
"There's something else that didn't change about Natsu," Lucy mumbled as Natsu continued to hurl into a bucket.
"I guess he'll never get over his one weakness," Happy quipped as he zoomed around the train compartment. Gray was holding his nose disgustedly.
"It smells in here."
"Open!! Key to the Shield, Scutum!" Lucy said nasally, holding out one of her silver keys as she used her other hand to hold her nose. A thick, golden shield with spindly hands and wide eyes popped into existence, hovering in front of Lucy, Gray, and Happy to protect them from the smell of Natsu's bile.
"That's a new Stellar Spirit," Natsu managed to choke out, until he coughed up the remains of that morning's breakfast.
"Ugh, it smells horrendous in here!" said Scutum, the summoned shield.
"He's good at defending," Lucy told him, now able to breathe normally as the magic shield was erected. "…But he does tend to complain a lot."
"I can feel my wonderful golden paint peeling!"
"The smell's gone," Gray commented, "But now we have to deal with that voice."
A few hours later, the train rolled to a stop at the station they wanted and the four stumbled out and waited for Natsu's dizziness to expire.
"That passenger compartment is going to smell for weeks!" Happy pointed out, hovering above Natsu as he lay down on the ground. The cat mage adjusted his little black wizard hat.
"You've been flying around a lot more than I remember," said Natsu. "You can use your magic a lot more, can't you?"
"Yup! I can have my wings out all the time now!" he said cheerfully.
"He's been a great help in missions," Lucy cooed, cuddling the happy little cat. "He's saved Gray and I more than once."
"So… You two have been doing missions together while I've been gone?" Natsu asked, his voice unusually timid.
"Yes. We formed our own temporary team," Gray admitted.
"But it's been fun!" Lucy exclaimed. "We've become good friends."
"Or perhaps mooore," Happy teased.
"No way!" Gray and Lucy both said at once. Natsu laughed along with Happy.
"Sometimes Erza would come with us, too," said Happy. "But she's been very busy lately."
The group of four continued to walk along the worn, dirt trail, enjoying the peaceful quietness around them. They walked through flat, grassy plains, distant mountains framing the scene.
"Where are we meeting Charle again?" Natsu questioned Lucy.
"According to the request, it should be nearby. We should be coming to the edge of a forest soon," Lucy told him.
"I wonder why she wants to see me?" Happy wondered aloud. "I thought she didn't like me!"
"Maybe she does now!" Lucy teased him back.
"Just don't go at it like rabbits," Gray threw in. Lucy and Natsu laughed at Happy's horrified reaction.
Tall, ancient trees were the first indication that they were coming upon the meeting place, followed by a giant, worn statue inserted on the path, instantly drawing Team Natsu to it. At the base of the statue, a white cat stood next to her human companion, staring up at the grey stone figure.
The white cat heard them approach and turned to them. "Greetings," she said formally. "It is good to see you again."
Happy nervously approached his female comrade, handing her a fish as a gift. He smiled meekly, but she ignored it and spoke to him. "I suppose it's good to see you, too."
"Hello, Charle," Lucy greeted with a wave. She noticed the cat's human companion and called out her name. "Wendy!"
The young girl turned and waved to the Fairy Tail mages, offering them a bright smile. "Hello!"
"Good to see you again, Wendy," said Natsu, kneeling down to her height. "Whoa, you got bigger!"
"I guess so," she said, clasping her hands behind her back.
"How've you been?" he asked his fellow Dragon Slayer. "Working on your wind magic?"
Wendy tilted her head. "A little."
"Nonsense," Charle interrupted. "You have become a very powerful mage, Wendy. Let him know it!" The little girl nodded hurriedly.
Wendy was very helpful in their battles against the Oracion Seis in the past, offering defensive and healing support in most of their fights. Despite her attitude, she was a worthy delegate from the Cait Shelter guild.
"Why did you want to see Happy?" Gray questioned Charle. "I thought you didn't like him."
"I don't," Charle clarified, looking down her tiny cat nose at him. "But I thought I'd let him know what I've discovered."
"What is it?" Happy asked, not at all insulted.
"It began with this statue," she explained, gesturing to the statue behind her. "Take a good look at it." Lucy and the others examined it closely for the first time, and the Stellar Spirit Mage was the first one to gasp in surprise.
"It's a cat with wings!" she exclaimed.
"Yes," Charle clarified. "I discovered it recently and began to look into the matter. Happy, apparently there is a whole race of us out there. We are descended from ancient, winged cat beings that still live today in seclusion. We may have finally found our origin."
"Wow…" Happy gasped.
"Do you know where they are?" Natsu questioned her.
"I believe I have pinpointed their location," she said with a nod.
"Where are they?" Gray asked.
"In this very forest, hidden under many illusions and enchantments," she said. "Are you ready to find them?"
"Yes!" said Happy excitedly.
"Then let's go," said Charle, showing them the first hint of a smile. "But be warned – this is a very magical, ancient forest. I do not know what will await us inside." She drew a sword at her hip, surprising them all. And then the cats led the way inside. Shrugging to each other, the four humans followed after them.
There was no path to speak of, but every single one of the mages felt the magical residue left behind since the beginning of time. They remained respectfully silent, only speaking in whispers, sensing all kinds of beings watching over them as they passed through the sacred trees. They felt as if they were intruding on a holy land.
"This place gives me the creeps," Lucy whispered.
"I… Kind of like it," Wendy admitted. "Everything feels so… preserved."
"So you don't know where you came from either, Charle?" Natsu asked the cat mage.
"Ask Wendy. She was the one who found me," she answered.
Wendy spoke up. "I found her egg in a forest a lot like this one," she said. "It was a few years ago, when I was still a little kid."
"Come to think of it," said Natsu, screwing up his face in concentration, "I found Happy's egg in a place like this, too."
"And then your fire kept me warm so I could hatch!" Happy shouted loudly. Everyone shushed him immediately.
"We may finally find our true origins today," said Charle. "Do you sense anything, Happy?"
"Yes, now that you mention it," said the blue cat. "I feel like there's something calling me."
"I don't sense anything besides the forest," said Gray.
"Same here," Lucy contributed.
"We're close," Charle stated. "I sense an illusion magic at work here. Is anyone proficient at banishing them?"
"I can," said Lucy. Natsu stared at her, wide-eyed.
"You learned some magic besides Stellar Spirit stuff?" he asked, astounded.
"Well, yes, but I have a Stellar Spirit who can dispel illusions," she said. She clipped a silver key off of her necklace. "Open!! A door to the Swan, Cygnus!" she called. A graceful spirit appeared, taking the form of a pure white swan. "Cygnus, there's an illusion here. Can you get rid of it for us?"
"Why else would you have called me?" the swan muttered in a nasally male voice, so at odds with what Natsu was expecting that he even jumped back. With the disposition of one that was annoyed, the swan honked loudly and the forest around them warped, revealing a dark cave to the six mages. "Farewell, human." It closed its own gate and Lucy huffed at it.
"All my spirits are so ungrateful and stingy," she mumbled.
"What a creepy cave," Happy mused, hiding behind Gray's head.
"Natsu, lead the way with your fire magic," Charle commanded. He complied, lighting a fire in his palm as he was the first to walk into the darkness. The tunnel ran deep into the ground and everyone huddled around Natsu, the only light source.
"How long does this tunnel go on?" Gray asked nobody in particular.
"Nekousoku Tube!" someone shouted from the darkness, and Natsu suddenly found himself bound tightly in rope, causing his fire to go out. He tried lighting a fire to burn the rope away, but he found that he couldn't cast any magic!
"Who's there?" Lucy called. "Natsu, where are you?"
"Huh? Natsu?" asked an unfamiliar voice. "That fire mage, a friend of Erza?"
"Who are you?" Gray asked fiercely.
"Hm… That voice sounds familiar, too!" said the female voice. "Turn the lights back on!" A soft green light turned on, the source of which were magical plants lining the ceiling and walls of the cave. The plants were bulbous, and the light was being cast off of these bulbs.
Revealed to them was a person they didn't expect.
"Miriana! Is that you?" asked Lucy. Standing in front of them, her blonde hair slightly curled up in a bob cut and cat ears sticking out of her head, was indeed the cat-lover, one of Erza's old friends and Gérard's slave on the Tower of Paradise.
"Wow, it is you guys!" Miriana exclaimed.
"Wow… I didn't expect this," Gray said, scratching the back of his head.
"Who is this?" Charle questioned them. Wendy giggled at the strange girl's fake cat ears.
"She's a cat-lover," Lucy explained to Charle simply. "An old friend of ours."
"Can you please untie me?" Natsu asked insistently.
"Oh… Heheh, sure!" Miriana said cheerfully, withdrawing her anti-magic rope. All around them, small blue and white heads started popping up from behind rocks, pointed ears instantly identifying them as not human. "Hi, Happy!"
"Whoa… Charle, do you see them?" the cat mage in question asked his female companion.
"I do," she answered in awe.
"Oh, yeah," said Miriana, scratching her head. "Welcome to the lost city of the Aera!" Cat eyes were wide and curious as they peered at the party.
"What's going on, Miri-chan?" a voice asked from further down the tunnel. A shirtless, cat-like man stepped into view, his baggy pants dragging along the floor.
"Toby?!" Gray yelled in astonishment.
"Whoa! Paralyzing Nails: Mega Jelly!" the cat-man identified as Toby yelled, claws extending from his fingers.
"Hey… You've got something on your face," Natsu pointed out to the mage.
"Huh?" Toby asked, touching his face with his claw. He instantly fell to the floor as the poison entered his body. "Uwah! I fell for it again!"
"Hey, don't trick my boyfriend!" Miriana yelled at Natsu as she rushed to Toby's side.
Natsu slumped forward in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me…"
"What're you doing with these guys, Miriana?" Toby asked her.
"They're friends of mine!"
The Aera all around them were speaking curiously to each other, wondering about these intruders as well as the two Aera they brought with them. As they stepped out from their hiding places, Natsu and the others were able to see some variety in them – some were blue, some were white, and some wore clothes, while others preferred to be like Happy.
Happy looked embarrassingly to his only articles of clothing, his black, pointed, wide-brimmed hat and his scarf. He was nervous as he looked at the rest of his people, stepping closer to Charle.
"Greetings," the female Cait Shelter member said to them all. "I am called Charle."
"I—I'm Happy!"
Wendy knelt down to their heights. "They're adorable!" she cooed.
"Aren't they?" Miriana said cheerfully, picking one up and squeezing the smiling cat.
"What are you doing here with all these cats?" Natsu asked the cat-lover.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "That was a stupid question."
"I found this civilization and came to live with them," she explained. "I met up with Toby not long before. He's a cat-lover, like me!"
"So girly," Gray taunted. Toby, still immobilized by his own magic, growled at the ice mage.
"But you haven't seen their town yet," Miriana said to them. "C'mon, follow me!"
With two insane cat-lovers in the lead, followed by at least twenty bipedal cat mages and a group of bewildered humans, Lucy had to honestly say that this was the strangest entourage she had ever seen.
"Hey! Where'd Happy go?" Natsu dove into the sea of cats, searching for his best friend with his usual amount of intensity. He grasped one cat with two hands, yelling at it. "You all look alike!"
The town of the Aera was located in a huge underground cavern, lit by the same bulbous plants from the tunnels. Their houses were numerous, small, and made of stone, providing adequate living conditions for an immense number of cats. Each one of the Aera had the ability to fly, and they were using it constantly.
In the center of everything, there was a vastly magical artifact. Each cat passed it during their daily lives of fun, stress-less living reduced to the simplest of forms. The magical artifact was a vibrantly green crystal exuding an aura of power and life, fueling the town and all of its resources. Lucy's own magical power felt incredibly small and insignificant as she stood next to the crystal.
Strangely, Lucy surmised that the crystal seemed to be an exact opposite of Aetherion. While Aetherion crystals had the power to absorb like a parasite, this crystal released and strengthened a constant, infinite amount of magical power. If anyone knew about this wonder, the Stellar Spirit Mage imagined that many hands would be after it in a heartbeat.
In her further explorations of the town, Lucy discovered an ancient tablet reciting an old Aera legend. It spoke of an Aera who would save the world and his people, born of dragon-fire and wielder of powerful magics. Could something like this exist? How deep and ancient was the Aerian lore? She felt magic even in the stone that made up this city.
It made her think about Happy. After learning of his true origins, would the Fairy Tail mage ever want to return, or was this his true home? Lucy even felt herself wishing to stay here longer. Now that they had found the Aera, their mission was complete. But the magic here made her feel so safe and secure. She wished to share it with more people, but she promised never to disrupt this sanctuary of cats. No one else could know of this place.
Lucy was distracted from her musing by a fleeting shadow, a dark type of magic that she caught at the edge of her senses. It had horrible intentions in mind – that much she could tell. But the sense was so fleeting that she could barely register it. It made her even think that she imagined the whole thing. But the shadow seemed as if it knew it was discovered, exposed by the light of the crystal, banished to wherever it came from. Did it desire the crystal's power, or did the shadow fear it?
"You felt it, didn't you?" asked a voice from behind her. Startled slightly, Lucy regained her composure in time to answer.
"Yes," she said to Miriana. "You know what it is?"
"I have a few guesses," the cat-lover admitted with a shrug. "But be on your guard. It isn't entirely harmless. It was led here by the crystal's allure." To Lucy, Miriana seemed strangely composed and solemn. "Weird things have been happening to some of the Aera, and the crystal's power has been dimming. It used to be so much grander."
"Is it… a spirit?" Lucy asked tentatively. Erza's old friend was about to answer, but the sound of a thunderous explosion was let off. "What was that?!" Lucy shouted aloud, shielding herself instinctually from dust and debris as it rained down on her.
"Magic!" the girl answered, rushing to the source of the crystal. Ghostly images surrounded it, dark and somewhat transparent, feeding off of the crystal's power. From many feet away, Miriana thrust her hand forward. "Nekousoku Tube!" she called. The anti-magic tube went right through the specters and wrapped around the crystal, which Miriana's spell had no effect on. Instead, the crystal reacted defensively to the anti-magic attack, expelling a pulse of pure magic that blasted the cat girl off her feet, as well as banishing all of the specters.
"Miriana!" Lucy called. "Are you okay?" Slightly bruised and burnt, the girl was able to stand, wincing as she did so.
"Forget about me! More ghosts are coming!" And this time, they didn't all concentrate on the crystal. A platoon of spectral images rushed at the two girls, causing Miriana to hide behind Lucy since her magic didn't work against them.
"Barrier!" Lucy cried, holding her hands forward as the ghosts rammed into her magical wall, shielding the two from attack.
"Whoa! You know defensive magic?" asked the voice of Natsu, suddenly arriving and dispatching the ghosts in a flurry of flame.
"Of course!" Lucy replied quickly. "A Stellar Spirit Mage has to be able to protect herself, since most smart mages will target her instead of her summons. That's not all I can do!" And then Lucy vanished into midair.
"Whoa!" Natsu shouted, unable to hide his shock.
"Open!! Key to the Lion, Leo!" Lucy commanded, as Loki came to assist her. "Loki, only magical attacks work against these things! I need your help!"
"And I'm perfectly willing to offer it, my sweet," he replied charismatically, preparing his ring magic. "Though, there are quite a lot of enemies here."
"I'm right on that," Lucy affirmed with a nod, drawing a two-pronged golden key. "Open!! Key to the Twins, Gemini!" On her command, two Stellar Spirits appeared at once.
The first one, Gem, was the more eccentric of the two, which was the only way she could tell them apart. Gem wore a red, tight-fitting jumpsuit but excelled in magical attacks, something that she would need for this battle.
The other one, Iye, was much more serious and composed, and often was a source of intellectual conversation for Lucy. He was garbed in a blue jumpsuit. Though they were twins, they were as different as night and day. Since his expertise was in brute force, Iye would only be able to protect her from physical harm in this battle, or be ready to fight if more enemies showed up.
Though they were two separate entities, the twins operated as one single Zodiac Spirit.
Lucy's skill was so great now that she could summon two Zodiac Spirits without any extra drain on her magical energy. And since she was in such close proximity to the crystal, she felt that she could easily summon more than Loki and the Twins if the need arose…
Loki continued to blast the ghosts with rays from his numerous rings, all of which had a variety of effects. He primarily used his magical ones in this battle, which sent rays of pure energy at the ghosts, utterly obliterating them. Gem and Iye, on the other hand, were a very powerful team. Gem danced around the town and slung many magical explosions at the spectral images, cackling insanely all the while, as Iye used his above-average speed to protect the panicked Aera from indirect damage, such as Gem's explosions, executing his task in a cool and professional manner.
"Lucy!" called Happy's recognizable voice. "What's going on?" Somehow, during the fight and being preoccupied with instructing her Stellar Spirits, Lucy had lost Natsu, though Miriana was glued to her side. She was petrified with fear.
"I don't know! This evil magic started attacking us out of nowhere!" Lucy answered. She spotted Charle nearby, her wings fully extended as she flipped through the forces of darkness, swinging her sword with a cold brutality which did nothing to pierce the ghosts' ethereal bodies.
"Nothing is working!" Charle growled frustratingly. Lucy wished that the cat fighter could help more – she would be able to wreak utter devastation with her sword skills if she were fighting more solid enemies.
Lucy, with her Stellar Spirits, managed to wipe out a sizeable number of the specters which released horrible wails as they dissipated into the air. They seemed to be unable to do much more than converge on a target and suck their magical power dry, though Lucy didn't let that happen to anyone around her.
"They're going after the crystal again!" Miriana managed to cry, unable to do much else. Lucy couldn't help but wonder what was with her – she wasn't the only helpless one here. Why was she so scared?
Lucy, Miriana, Happy, and Charle raced towards the crystal again, followed by Lucy's Stellar Spirits. Most of the dark ghosts were converged on the crystal, trying to harness the magical power for themselves. Where did all of them come from? Were they being controlled by a more powerful mage, hidden somewhere else?
Before she even needed to attack them, Gray was already there unloading a barrage of ice upon the ghosts, which seemed to be surprisingly effective. He froze the ground beneath his feet and was given instant mobility, able to slide all around the battlefield with complete ease. Wendy was not far behind him, bending the air to her will, manipulating it just so that she could get from one place to another without any interference, almost floating in midair. Wendy's powers had made the young girl extraordinarily graceful as she moved.
"Wendy!" Charle called with relief.
"Charle!" Wendy cried. "I'm so glad you're okay! Gray has been protecting me." The ice mage smirked upon hearing this, shouting one of his Ice Make incantations as he surfed on the slippery ground.
"Ice Make: Dragon!" Gray roared, showing off his newly learned Dynamic Ice Makes. Lucy shook her head in exasperation as Natsu heard and was suddenly there again, glaring at his rival. Having spent so much time with him in the past two years, Lucy knew that Gray picked up his Dynamic Makes from training with Leon.
Not about to be outdone, Natsu howled, "Fire Dragon Flame Rush!" As the icy dragon materialized and breathed frozen air on its opponents, Natsu's fire streamed from his fists in impossibly fast bursts, obliterating many of the ghosts on contact. The crystal was no doubt adding to their magical mayhem.
"Wind Barrier!" Wendy suddenly cried, causing the air around Lucy to spin. The rotating wind threw off one of the ghost's attacks, and Wendy's quick protective spell got to Lucy just in time. Smiling sheepishly in thanks, Lucy reprimanded her moment of carelessness and distraction. "Be more careful!" the small girl advised her.
"Got it!" Lucy said back to her. The moment she turned back to the battle, her Stellar Spirits, mixed with the havoc inflicted by Natsu and Gray, had thoroughly defeated all of the ghosts. The battlefield was suddenly quiet, filled with dust and dirt kicked up from the attacks. "Wasn't that a bit overkill?" Lucy asked the two mages, dismissing her Stellar Spirits with quick goodbyes and thanks.
"But that's what they do, Lucy!" Happy said to her cheerfully. Many unharmed Aera heads popped up to look at the mages in curiosity and joy upon being saved. The magic crystal continued to pulsate with power.
"Good work," Charle commented briefly. "But where did those spirits come from? And what did they want?"
"They wanted the crystal's power," said Toby, dragging his feet over to them as he rubbed his head with de-clawed hands. "They were all over that thing."
"That magic was evil," said Gray. Suddenly, Miriana called all attention to herself, still quivering with fear. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide.
"D-don't you guys recognize the magic? You all f-fought it before!"
"What do you mean?" Natsu questioned her. Nobody else spoke as she let out her next words.
"That was Gérard's magic!"
Author's Notes: Heh, that's a cruel note to leave this on, isn't it? I'm trying to keep the manga's latest developments in mind, and changing the story as I see fit. I want to stay as accurate as possible, so some new things from the manga may be added in over time.
Hope everyone enjoys the story so far. Please review!