Here's chapter two.

It's just starting to get interesting...

Chapter 2: The Beginning

Cobblestones.
Why am I surrounded by cobblestones?
I attempted to sit up. My head throbbed like the devil, and everything spun around me. I groaned, laying back down slowly. Maybe I'll just rest here for a bit…
Someone shook my shoulder, violently. Or not.
"Kari! KARI! WAKE. UP!" Dawn shook my shoulder again frantically. "KARI!"
I moaned. "My head…"
"I know, everyone has a headache. But, never mind that, look around! Where the hell are we?"
That got my attention. I sat up sharply. The wooziness had died down, but I still had a splitting headache. Plus, my whole body felt weird, like a distant tingling, or drunkenness, or something. It wasn't uncomfortable, just… different.
Then I looked up and realized just how different it was about to get.
Dawn was glancing around, wide-eyed. Dusk was holding his hands to his ears, like he was trying to block out some sound. Kaita was lying by some crates, out cold.
We were in an alley. Brick buildings in autumn shades were to our left and right. The sun shone bright above our heads, and we could hear the bustling sounds of a busy marketplace.
Colors shone through the opening at the end of the alley. I could smell food, like fresh bread and fruit of some sort. Carts and animal noises, people chattering and laughing and shouting. It took me a moment to realize that I couldn't hear the sounds of car engines.
Last thing I remember, we were being chased by angry dogs into a freezing lake in the middle of the night. Now, this.
What the hell?
I staggered over to Kaita, who was breathing softly. Her hair had come out of it's ponytail at some point, and spread out like a halo around her head.
I prodded her sharply with my finger. "Kaita, wake the hell up. You won't believe this."
She moaned. "Ouch… headache…"
So I guess we do all have headaches. "Dude, I'm not kidding. Get up, or I will judo toss you out into the street. Seriously. GET. UP." My voice sounded shaky.
Kaita sat up, blinking blearily. She surveyed our surroundings, confused. "What…?"
"I don't know. I don't even frigging know," I moaned, massaging my temple. Dammit, my head hurts like crap.
My stomach growled. And I'm starving. I gazed wistfully at the nearby street. I can smell the food from here…
"Ugh… Make it stop…"
Dusk sounded almost pitiful. "Dude, the headaches aren't that painful. Get a grip," I grumbled.
"No, it's not that… The noise, it's too loud… Too loud…" Dusk said softly.
Dawn's eyebrows furrowed. "It's not that bad…"
Dusk just curled into a ball, fists still clenched over his ears.
I realized my head had stopped spinning. I stood, using the building's wall for balance. When I felt better, I took a few steps.
Dawn frowned. "Where are you going?"
"Uh, to get some food? I'm starving, and I've got money in my pocket, from…" I didn't want to say from the festival, because I don't think anyone wanted to think about that right now. "… from earlier."
Dawn stood up. "We can't just let you go alone," she said nervously.
Kaita also stood. "I'll go with Kari, we'll bring back food, you stay here with your brother. How about that?"
Dawn considered, then nodded slowly.
I dusted off my skirt. I knew we looked like an odd pair, Kaita in a tank and camo and me with a short shirt and a shorter skirt, but oh well.
We slowly left the empty alley and stepped onto the busy street.
Surprisingly, our clothing attracted little attention. There were people there wearing stranger clothing than us. Even their hair was in different colors; Kaita's weird hair and eyes didn't stand out at all.
We wandered among the stands, admiring the assorted goodies for sale. I was surprised again to see that I didn't recognize any of the fruits or vegetables. I saw some animals, which I recognized, even though the coloring was off.
"What is with this place?" I murmured to Kaita. "It's just… so…"
"Strange?"
"Yeah."
Something shiny caught my eye, and I paused in dismay.
Kaita looked at me quizzically. "What is it?"
"That's definitely not a quarter."
I picked up the coin. It was small, golden colored, and had an insignia I didn't recognize on it.
Kaita grabbed it out of my hands, before I could get a closer look. "What is it? What does it say?" I asked.
"It says… F-I-O-R-E. Fiore." She looked up at me slowly. "Where is Fiore, exactly?"
"No. That can't be right. Let me see," I snatched it back.
F-I-O-R-E. Fiore.
Fiore?
"Well? Where is it? What's wrong?" Kaita tilted her head questioningly.
"There is no Fiore, Kaita. Fiore. Doesn't. Exist," I whispered.
Before she could say anything, I pulled her by her arm back to the alley.

"What's up? Did you bring us some food?" Dawn asked. "Why the grim faces?"
I dropped the coin in her hand.
She just stared at me, waiting for an explanation.
"Read it."
Dawn read it. Then read it again. "That's gotta be a fake coin or something. A toy."
I sighed in relief. A toy. That's it. "We'll be right back," I said quickly, racing off, Kaita at my heels.

Throwing caution to the wind, I walked up to a random citizen of this weird place and asked politely, "Excuse me, sir?"
The man turned. "Yes? May I help you?"
I smiled. "Could you please tell us where we are?"
The man gave me an odd look. "Magnolia Town."
I coughed. "And, where is Magnolia Town, exactly…?"
He frowned. "Excuse me, ma'am, but are you sure you're okay? Magnolia Town is the only place around for many miles-"
"What country are we in?" I blurted, holding my breath.

"Continent? Nation? Land mass? Whatever it's called," I asked desperately. "Please?"
"My dear, you're in Fiore." He said nervously, then quickly scuttled off.
I felt defeated. "Let's find somewhere we can beg for food or something." I said halfheartedly.
"Kari?"
"Yeah?"
"Where the hell are we?"
I sighed. "Kaita, I have no friggin' clue."

We had found an outdoor restaurant with stools, where we sat for a bit, watching the clouds of people in weird clothing drift by.
Kaita groaned. "I feel weird. Plus, I've still got a headache."
"Weird how?"
"Kind of like my foots asleep, only super faint and all over my body."
"Huh. I have the same feeling, luckily the headache's gone." I fingered my short hair. "What are we gonna do? We have no idea where we are, we have no money, no food, no nothing." I let my head hit the counter. "Worst day ever."
Kaita giggled, poking my head. "Aw, come on. It can't be half as bad as what we left behind, you know?"
I paused. She was right, we didn't have much going for us back in the big city either.
"Besides, I always wanted to live in the country." She grinned.
I grinned back, lifting my head up. "You're right, it's nice out here." I gazed out at the endless forest past the outskirts of Magnolia Town. "The people look like they came out of a storybook. The buildings are beautiful. It's just so pretty and… perfect. Kind of like a…"
Kaita giggled. "A fairy tale?"
"Yeah. A fairy tale." I smiled a little.
"Were you two talking about Fairy Tail just now?"
I jumped. The bartender/waiter person had snuck up on us.
I blinked. "Uh…"
"It's really an amazing guild, even if they are a little destructive." He chortled. "I guess that's wizards for ya'."
Wizards…? Is this guy insane…? I decided to play along.
I smiled. "Yes, I've heard that they're the greatest guild in all of Fiore." I was really taking a risk here; I had no idea what I was talking about.
Kaita caught on quickly. "Have you heard about anything happening lately?" She asked innocently. She knew we needed information.
"Oh, they're always ready to do any and all kinds of jobs," he rattled on. "I hear there's this one team, they've got a Fire Dragon Slayer, they're doing lots of great stuff."
"Uh-huh," I said, only half listening. I had taken the liberty of relieving a berry salesman of some of his fruity bounty for free, unfortunately it turned out to be a very heavy food to carry around. They felt like a bag of ball bearings in my boot. Very uncomfortable.
"And then there's Erza Scarlet, she's something all right," he continued admiringly. "Can strike down an entire army with one blow, they say."
"She sounds like a very skilled fighter." Yep. He's insane. Completely off the deep end.
"Yes ma'am, and real easy on the eyes too." He grinned.
Kaita kicked me under the table. I glanced up at her. She was looking pointedly in the direction of the fruit stands.
The berry salesman was talking to a pink-haired weirdo and his buddies. There was a blonde chick, a guy with blue hair, and another woman wearing armor with a skirt. Odd combination...
Then I realized they were all dressed kind of funny. Then there was a floating blue thing with wings. A bird…?
The salesman pointed in our direction. At us, I realized. I felt the ball bearing berries in my shoe sink like a deadweight.
I was freaking out. I used sign language to say to Kaita, Let's stay here, maybe they won't see us.
She was about to reply, when the waiter smiled. "Oh, well would you look at that!" He said excitedly. "That's Erza Scarlet! The famous warrior wizard!"
The "warrior wizard" was looking straight at us, and she didn't look all that happy. Her little group started towards us. The berry salesman was glaring.
Well, that escalated quickly. I got up off the stool, keeping my eye on the approaching threat. "Excuse me sir, but we really must be going now. Bye!"
Glancing at Kaita, I signed quickly, RUN.

We arrived in the alley gasping for air. I think we lost them...
Dawn looked up exasperatedly. "What took you so long? Something's wrong with Dusk." Dusk still had his hands over his ears.
Kaita sat in front of him. "What's wrong? Do your ears hurt?"
He didn't answer. He looked like he was in pain.
Dawn frowned. "Let's leave him alone. Do you have anything to eat?"
I dropped the bag of berries at her feet.
"Cool." Dawn held a round, green berry in the palm of her hand.
She popped it in her mouth. "They taste strange."
"Not surprised," I replied. I ate a few. "Kinda dry."
Kaita grabbed a handful. "Spicy!"
Dawn ate another. "They are not. They're sweet."
"They taste like air to me," I muttered. I ate a few more.
Suddenly, I saw a flash of color. Bright blue. I peered behind a crate.
There was a little Siamese cat peering out from behind the box.
On it's hind feet. Smirking. At us.
I choked on a berry or two. Kaita glanced over worriedly. "What's wrong…?" Then she noticed the cat.
She was about to say something, when the cat said, "I wouldn't eat any more of those if I were you."
We all just stared for a second, when Dawn sputtered, "It talked. The cat just talked. Did anyone else hear that, or am I going insane?"
The cat laughed. "Well, you're not from around here, obviously."
Kaita grinned. "No shit, Sherlock. Who are you, anyway?"
It snorted. "Certainly not Sherlock, whoever that is."
I smiled. "Excuse me, Kaita, correct me if I'm mistaken, but you're talking to A CAT. A FRIGGIN' TALKING CAT. WHAT-"
"Dude, take a chill pill. It's not like she's going to eat us." Kaita glanced at the cat. "You are a she, right?"
"Yup."
This is a dream. A really, really weird dream.
Dawn held up her hand. "Yeah, guys? This is a little much for me at the moment. I'm going to bed now." With that, she turned around, lay down, and didn't move.
Kaita, on the other hand, was fascinated. "Do you have a name?"
The cat look a little sad. "No…"
"Okay then, you're Llana." Kaita scooped up the cat, hugging it to her. "Aw, look at you, you're just so cute!"
The cat tried to look dignified at first, but eventually gave up. Hard to look dignified when you're a kitten being hugged to death by a teenage girl, I guess.
I prodded the bag of berries with my foot. "So, Llana, why shouldn't we eat the berries?"
She glanced over at me like I was an single-cell organism or something. "They're poisonous, for one thing."
Kaita panicked, hugging Llana tighter. "No! But, what if they make us sick? What if…? NO! I'm too young to die!"
I almost choked again. "Why would they be selling poisonous berries in a marketplace?!"
Llana was gasping for breath. "Because… they're not poisonous… to everyone."
Kaita relaxed. "So, we might be okay?"
Llana shrugged, catching her breath. "They're only not poisonous to wizards, so probably not. Wizards like to use them because it increases their magic power."
I moaned. "So we just poisoned ourselves?"
"Yep."
"Lovely. Well, if all goes well, this is just a dream, and I'll wake up soon." It was getting dark, and increasingly harder to see. "I mean, come on. We're in a town that doesn't exist, talking to animals, running from 'wizards'-"
Llana frowned. "Hey! Wizards are real. You're in Fiore, which is also very real, and there is no reason why animals can't talk." She narrowed her eyes. "If you're not from Fiore, then where are you from?"
"Washington."
She blinked.
"State of?"
Still no reply.
I sighed loudly. "North America? The United States?"
"Under Canada, above South America," Kaita added.
"Never heard of the place." Llana put her hands (paws?) on her hips. "Are you sure you're not confused?"
I was getting tired of hearing that question, and I just broke down. "No, I'm not! I'm Kari Sora from the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State, in the U.S. I'm a 17 year old homeless orphaned wild child, living with Kaita Umi, a 16 year old runaway, and Dawn and Dusk Gosuto, 14 year old twins. We're just a bunch of kids with no home and no life!" I snarled.
"So just shut up, you stupid cat! I don't want to talk to anyone, I just want to wake up and go back, okay? Leave me alone!"
After my outburst, I took Dawn's lead and lay down on the cobblestones, turning towards the wall, fuming.
Llana was silent for a second, then she shrugged. "I have nothing to do, so I'm just gonna stick with you guys."
"Sure, go ahead," Kaita said softly.

"Kari?"
I opened my eyes. It was still dark.
Flipping over, I replied, "Yes?"
Kaita had Llana cradled in her arms. The cat appeared to be asleep. "I don't think this is a dream. Because, if it was, then I would be dreaming too. Or maybe I'm in your dream? And then there's the twins-"
"Kaita? Less thinking, more sleeping, 'kay?"
"'Kay."
I flipped back over to face the wall. A few seconds later, Kaita asked again, "Kari?"
"Yeesss?"
"Why do you want to go back?"
I didn't have a response to that.

I couldn't help it, I needed to introduce another Exceed. It had to be done. x3

Anyway, what will happen to the little group now? What are the aftereffects of the poison? What about the wizards?

REVIEW, NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON! :D

Kari-chan, out!