1st Fragment: Eternal Memories

~One fateful dawn in Fairy Tail's headquarters~

Mirajane sighed as she wiped the tables clean to start the day. The smell of cool, fresh air filled the room with a sense of composure. The birds were singing to welcome the dawn of a new day, and nothing seemed to be out of place, just the silence that lingered just before the arrival of the other occupants of the guild. It was peaceful and relaxing, there was absolutely no reason to feel disturbed. Yet somehow the young woman was restless.

Nothing's out of place, but I can't seem to shake off this uneasiness,she thought. A frown was evident on her delicate features. A nagging feeling bugged her, yet no matter how much she tried to brush it off, it simply wouldn't dislodge from her mind. It clung to her desperately like a parasite, and she wiped off the tiny beads of sweat forming on her temple. She could only hope that her edginess was for nothing, and that it was just a fleeting impulse.

Speaking of which... she let her thoughts wander to another subject as she resumed her chores. I wonder how those two are feeling. I'm pretty sure they haven't forgotten the significance of today, the date of her passing.

Who knew?

~Lucy's room, 06.00 AM~

"… Be quiet!"A tiny hiss.

"I am being quiet! Excuse me for not being able to fly like you can! Whatever, just shut up! She could wake at any moment! Now, on the count of three!"Another hissed back, a little louder than the former. Both of them froze at the stirring of the sheets, but their target still lay blissfully unaware. Both of them nodded at each other.

"One..."

"...Two..."

"...Three!"

"BOO!"

"Eek! What in the world-?" Sheets flew up, and a high-pitched shriek -plus a jumble of more incoherent outbursts all in one sentence- barely capable of rattling windows followed. "Oh my god! You know what? YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR DEATH WARRANTS, YOU LITTLE-!" A whip practically flew into her hands, ready to strike impending doom.

Chaos ensued.

~Twenty minutes later~

"Heh...I'm beat... Had a feeling this might...have happened.." But it wasn's supposed to be this bad!

"A-aye… Lucy was... so scary… I told you this was... a bad idea...!"

"What the-...last time I heard...you were...beggingme to...do it!"

Natsu Dragneel and Happy collapsed breathlessly on the carpet in her room, a countless bruises and welts well in sight after their ever so fluid efforts in hindering Lucy's dreaded personality from surfacing. They had never experienced this nervier, edgier Lucy. Just what had her so freaked out? It wasn't like they had never woken her up before. Well, waking her up would be a bit of an understatement, though. To be blunt, they had downright terrorized her.

No, actually, they were just trying to pull a little prank on her. But still, that was hardly a reason for the blonde to get so worked up against them.

"Don't you ever do that again." Lucy glared resentfully at the offending pair and placed her hands on her hips. It served them right. It wasn't her fault that they had to frighten her just when the dragon started charging for her with its jaws gaping wide open! She certainly wasn't going to stay still and become dead meat!

Ironically, it just had to be a dragon scaring her dead out of her wits in both reality and nightmare.

Yup, a dragonslayer. Creeping into her room, wearing hideously absurd and ridiculous dragon masks –with nostrils enlarged plus spouting flames— and affrighting her, resulting in her almost ricocheting off the bed.

She studied the worn-out instigators before her. Natsu looked particularly battered up, with half of his mask cracked and thrown to the other side of the room. Several parts of his body, especially his face, were decorated with red blemishes, doubtlessly her doing.

Happy wasn't faring any better, either. Although she hadn't managed to actually capture him, he did carry Natsu around the room in dizzying circles, and Lucy wasn't sure if he was thankful for that. No doubt the flying cat's head was spinning.

Lucy gazed around the room in anxiety, and sighed again. Great. Her previously spotless apartment was now trashed, again. She thought about making them do human labor but trashed the notion. As if they'd learn, doing labor must have been the same as doing their everyday chores!

"Okay, you'd better have a damn good reason for waking me up so pleasantly." She let her tone soften slightly, although it still had that sharp edge to it. Who wouldn't be pissed?

"Well, the bastard started this." Natsu replied, having recovered from the shock of being beat up by the least person he thought was able to, albeit in a slightly quavering tone.

"Bastard?" Who exactly could he be referring to... oh. "You mean Gray?" Best bud, worst nemesis. One way or another, both were always involved.

"Yeah, him. Anyway, it started out when I spotted this unusual request – I spotted it first – and decided to take it up. Then that, that…" Natsu felt around his head for another offensive remark to the ice exhibitionist. "That stripping asshole just had to pick a fight! Of course, I had to accept! Like hell if I'd let that idiot badger me for a whole month, I'd rather-"

"Would you just zip it and get to the point already?" Lucy muttered exasperatedly, her impatience slowly turning into anger. So this was just a matter of his pride on the line? She knew it was typical behavior; this was Natsu she was talking to, after all. What else was she to expect? But that still didn't stop her being pissed off. What did this have to do with her?

Just then Happy cut in. "They decided to bet on whoever brings you first to the headquarters wins! The winner gets to have 80% of the reward money!"

She silently fumed. Did they really have to place her in the middle of their stupid dare again? Just because she couldn't stay mad long didn't mean they could do whatever they pleased! However, the mention of money distracted her. "How much?"

"Approximately 1.000.000 jewels." Natsu prompted. "How's that, huh?"

Her brain seemingly shut down for a brief moment, unable to process the information. A million jewels. A millionjewels. That was impossible. No employer in their right mind would ever offer a reward of such... such Brobdingnagian value! "You're kidding... right?" Looking at their solemn expressions, she had a gut feeling that they were certainly not fooling around.

That's more than enough to pay the rent for 5 months! Her prior anger dissipated entirely, replaced by a new agitation. That much money is way better off used for the sake of my living than being used as a bet made by two blundering idiots!

She inhaled a deep breath. "Is that any reason to wake me up so… so unconventionally? For your information, I could have died of a heart attack!"

"It obviously wouldn't have turned out any fun if we woke you plain and simple, now would it?" Natsu stated jokingly, but abruptly revised his sentence at the death glare the celestial mage sent him. Only thinking about the consequences made shivers run up his spine. He would rather be crushed underneath Makarov's gigantic feet rather than having to endure that ordeal again.

"B-But then again, I-I guess I just wasn't thinking straight. So why don't we get going before he catches us? You need some money to pay your rent, right? You can have Happy's share!" Drowning out the cat's fervent protests, he began to head for the door and reach for the handle but paused when his hand collided into a frosty, glacial frozen ice block instead; the door visibly encased within. He ripped his hand back in reflex to the stinging surface. "… The hell?"

"Not over my dead body, midget."

A young man around his late teens leapt lazily through an open window and, very much resembling a white tiger on the prowl, alighted on the carpet without so much as a brush of a footstep.

The dark-haired ice mage, Lucy noted, was severely lacking clothes. Again.

"You wanna fight, dumbass?"

"Like I'll let you get away with my prize, dolt. Bring it on!"

Lucy, who had closed herself off of the conversation, sighed hopelessly yet again.

They said, what astrong person

But everyone overestimated you

~Fairy Tail Headquarters, 06.15 AM~

"Morning, Mirajane!"

Being the first to arrive, Levy McGarden cheerfully greeted Mirajane with a bonafide bound in her steps. The sky was bright, and the clean smell of the dawn's air was still present. The blue-haired girl entered cheerfully after taking a healthy walk in the lulling song of the sunrise. No reason for a bad mood.

Startled by the sudden crack of tense atmosphere, Mirajane started. "Oh... G-Good morning, Levy!"

Perky as she was, she didn't fail to notice the barkeeper's sudden change in attitude.

Raising a questioning brow, she promptly moved closer. "What's wrong? Are you sick?" Her hand hovered near Mirajane's face, but the woman shook her head against the friendly gesture.

"I'm fine, Levy." Again, her smile was strained. "I'm not sick at all."

Unfortunately, Levy was one of those people who tended to dig things straight to their core. "Okay... but something's wrong." She sat on a stool, her elbows planted on the table, both hands resting on her chin, legs swinging back and forth. Her eyes followed the silent but pacing Mirajane like a hawk.

The long haired woman sighed; clearly the bookworm wouldn't let go of the matter so easily. She knew how the young girl behaved; she'd be on Mirajane's case for weeks until she got what she wanted to know.

After heading further from the girl to wipe another table -for personal space-, she finally answered. "To tell you the truth, I'm not too sure myself."

She knew that didn't come out the way the girl wanted to hear. But how else was she supposed to phrase her sentence? That was exactly how she was feeling.

Levy was about to protest, thinking that Mirajane was still keeping things to herself, until she saw the genuinely lost expression on the ivory-haired woman. This only fueled her curiosity and confusion. The Mirajane she knew rarely showed any form of disorientation; the S-Class mage was always so certain of herself.

Something really serious must be going on, to make her this flustered. Levy thought to herself. I can't leave her alone like this though, after all she's done to help us...

The azure-haired woman watched helplessly as the older woman turned her back towards her and sat down on the bench, arranging napkins and other meal necessities on the long tables. Making up her mind, she hopped off the stool she occupied and trotted over to the meek woman, sitting herself down in front of her. She waited patiently until Mirajane paused to look up from her work.

"You know... you can always talk. I may not be your best friend or a genius problem-solver, but…. At least I can still listen." She reached towards the attentive woman's hand. "After all… I'm your nakama, right? It's the least I can do for you. C'mon, it's okay. You can tell me anything." She smiled, hoping it would help in her favor.

It wasn't that Mirajane distrusted Levy, that was entirely beside the point. This was a personal matter, and the older woman wasn't very eager to discuss it openly. But after listening to the girl's heartwarming assurance, she remembered that Fairy Tail was her only home; members there treated her like family, and Makarov treated her like his own daughter. Levy was undeniably part of it, not to mention the girl seemed very caring and perceptive. Surely it wouldn't hurt to tell her, would it?

Mirajane bit her lip. "You wouldn't happen to know what today means, right?"

A look of thoughtfulness crossed over her features, and Levy furrowed her eyebrows in quiet concentration. "I suppose not... I mean... I'm pretty sure this has something to do with what you're about to tell me... does it? Would you like to... continue?"

She took Mirajane's prolonged silence as an answer and laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "I'm sorry Mira-chan, I messed everything up, didn't I?"

"You're not the one to be blamed, Levy."

A figure suddenly appeared in the doorway, glancing at both Levy and Mirajane. Before either of the girls could utter a sound, the silhouette walked into the guild, followed by a series of clanking metal.

The armor covering her torso gleamed in the light, reflecting it to the windows above the entrance. Crimson hair cascaded down the woman's body, and earrings glistened. Her eyes, unfaltering and piercing, gazed down at the seated women. A bitter smile was plastered on her face.

Levy's breath hitched. Sorrow... Erza's face reflected that of grief, remembering a particular event in time where a tragedy must have occurred. The young woman was ashamed that she hadn't been there to witness it. Whatever it was, it certainly had a great impact on the guild to be able to bring such anguish to her. "Erza... I'm sorry, it was my fault that I poked into other people's businesses. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, Levy, you've done nothing wrong. Who Mirajane and Elfman lost that day, was a major loss for all of us, as well. Since you're part of us, you have every right to know."

Mirajane and Elfman lost someone? Come to think of it, I think they had another sibling...Levy clapped her hand to her mouth, her eyes shocked. "Oh god, today is the day your sister died, wasn't it? I'm sorry, I should have been more considerate!"

Mirajane's face stayed downcast, her hair blocking the view of her face. Levy felt so stupid that she wanted to spank herself. And she called herself an avid reader? She should have read enough to know what happened in the history of Fairy Tail! What had happened to the most beloved member of Fairy Tail, and who she heard was Natsu's closest friend at that time. She remembered running across her name in the members list when she stumbled upon the guild's vast library, but she was still too new at the time, still unable to memorize all the member's names and simply thought the girl was just one among many.

She didn't recognize the asterisk located at the top right corner of her name, and she failed to consider why her name was the only one with the mark, and why there were tear blots beside it. Now, this was the result of her ignorance. She had ultimately failed to contemplate Mirajane's situation, and only suceeded in bringing more pain. On the day of the tribulation, no less!

"But I have to say, something's off with you, Mirajane." Erza sliced into Levy's thoughts, and the girl watched as the fiery woman folded her hands on her chest and strode around the seated young woman, her eyes in deep contemplation and wonder. "You're usually not this depressed when each anniversary of her death came each year."

"...I have to go pay her a visit." Mirajane stood up suddenly, her face still downcast. She was about to reach for her coat before a hand gripped her wrist.

"Mira, please... you're in no mood to go right now. I still don't get why you're suddenly this melancholy, but it happened years ago. Isn't it time to...just..." Levy loosened her grip, racketing her brain for the right words. "... let go?"

Before Mirajane could clearly think of a proper reply, something in her burst its way through like an arrow, and she pulled her hand away. "She's my sister, Levy! I can't just let go, as you have so easily implied! Please think about what you're about to say before you actually do!" She gasped suddenly at her outburst and her hands flew up to her mouth. "Forgive me, Levy-chan! I didn't mean to... I shouldn't have..."

Seeing the positively petrified look on her face, Mirajane's eyes watered, and losing whatever control she had of herself, slumped back down on the table, her head lying in her hands. "You were right, Levy, I'm so sorry. I don't know what got over me, I can't think clearly! It's already been two years... it wouldn't be right for me to stay in the past like this...she wouldn't want this!" She silently wept. "But I don't understand why I'm acting like this! Why am I losing self-control? Please..."

Her sobs became louder, and her two companions sat by her side, consoling her with silent pats and strokes. The guild's tranquility faded as more and more people entered, expecting to start their daily activities as usual, had they not heard the diminutive sobs of Mirajane growing slightly louder by seconds. They didn't know what was wrong, but with slight nods from the two people by her side, they knew better than to trifle.

And suddenly the sobs smothered.

Levy and Erza looked at each other before muttering, "Mirajane?"

She wanted to scream. She wanted to break free. Break free from the binds that chained her to the past, the chains that altered her very being. Her heart ached, as somethingcalled out to her. She blindly reached out, her hands curling over nothingness. She tried again, several times, but to no avail. Desperation consumed her, and she panicked.

She pulled harder. And harder. Finally, the chain broke. For a moment, she expected to be free.

But suddenly another wave of emotion flooded her. This time it was misery. It captured her, devoured her to the point where she could feel nothing else, devoid of all she ever felt. It felt even worse than being chained. She could still struggle and rebel against the binds, but this... she didn't have the strength to even budge. It turned her over, dominating her, paralyzed her, and closed off any other portals to liberty.

Pain.

Despair.

It was all that she could feel, and only feel. She was alone, the burden was entirely hers to shoulder. Isolation. Secluded. Was this her punishment?

Let go, a voice in her mind chided. Let yourself flow with the current. There's nothing more you can do.

Just as she was about to heed the advice, another torrent engulfed her, although this time, they were images. Glimpses of things she couldn't keep her eyes focused on for long, before it was replaced by others.

Among them though, were images she was all to familiar with, and a sudden pang of guilt deluged her. It was random, but with the unbearable attachment she had to those events, she could piece them all together easily.

The grave. The rain. The crowd in black huddled over a tombstone. Umbrellas.

That smiling face just as she withdrew from the safe haven of Mirajane's arms.

The hand as it fell limply to her side.

Those last words.

"Promise me that you'll survive... sister-

"Mirajane!"

It was the numerous voices of reality that jerked her back to the present.

The blanket of darkness lifted, and the heavy silence shattered.

Levy certainly didn't know what to make of this sudden change of attitude. As if it wasn't already weird enough, Mirajane suddenly became strangely mute.

Erza quickly caught on. "Mirajane? Are you okay?" She nudged the woman.

As in response, Mirajane lifted her head. Levy was about to cry in relief before she saw her eyes, those usually bright, warm eyes.

They were empty.

"Levy. Take a deep breath. Panicking would only make things worse." Erza warned her. Levy heeded her words and took an exceptionally large breath to ease herself. "Apparently she's in some kind of trance. I've dealt with these kinds of things before, but to think Mirajane would be so vulnerable to it..." Erza frowned. "This is a serious problem."

The iron clad woman shook her shoulders gently but firmly, before increasing the force when she recieved no reaction. "Mirajane? Wake up. Come back to us, we're here with you. You're not alone. Mirajane?"

Levy continued to watch as Erza repeated the procedure to no avail. "I think we should call out to her together. Maybe she'd snap out of it that way?"

Erza considered the thought for a moment before she nodded. "It won't hurt to try."

Both of them gulped in huge breaths before they released it in the form of a name. "Mirajane!"

Suddenly the woman jerked, and startled hands steadied her. To their relief, the light returned to Mirajane's eyes, and she blinked vehemently. "Erza? Levy? What happened?"

Tears brimmed in Levy's eyes as she shot straight to Mirajane, hands encircling her neck in a tight hug. "Oh Mirajane! I thought you were a goner there! Please don't do that again, we're all so worried!"

A blank look passed over her before her eyes widened slowly. "You guys... were worried about me?" She slowly took Levy's arms around her off and blinked to her surroundings. Somehow, most of the guild members had clumped around the trio without them noticing. But instead of freaking out, they were regarding her with concerned eyes, and Mirajane found herself captivated by each one of them. "Thank you... all of you."

As the crowd dissipated, Erza immediately turned to Mirajane. "That was no ordinary trance you were in earlier. Would you like to explain what happened?"

Having recently regained her calm and composure, Mirajane replied, "I saw something. I'm not sure what it was, but it was as if it were calling out to me."

"Maybe you weren't in a trance, after all." Levy remarked as she stroked her chin. "You said recently before you blacked out that you didn't have control over yourself, right? And somehow you got transferred into a hypnotic state... there's a good possibility that you were under a spell!"

"A spell? Why would anyone...?" Erza broke off as another thought came to her. "Do you think it had something to do with her?"

"I can't say I'm positive," Levy whipped out her handy skimming glasses and a book -god knows how many she kept in that bag of hers-, before she started flipping over the pages. "But if anything, it's not normal for a spell to suddenly surface, without a single sign of its caster. Another possibility I can draw out is that this occurence was just a side effect to the actual magic which, at the maximum duration it can hold out, was casted approximately five days before today. But again, I don't think Mira actually went out during the time, so the culprit must have been using some kind of trinket magic to make it reach Mirajane somehow... not to mention it's really difficult, and the caster has to have at least impressive moderation on his or her part, but it is possible... if the culprit diduse trinket magic, then deciphering it would be even more intricate, but it usually involves the name of the target. Hmm... maybe if I convert the consonants in Mira's name M, R, J, Ninto the ancient Rommparle language on this page then maybe I'd get some kind of clue... wait, this letter-"

"Do what you have to do, just tell me the results later." Erza intervened. Seriously, this girl...

"No kidding! It says here that the caster has a high chance of being a close relative of the victim, otherwise the spell wouldn't have such a strong hold on her!" Levy exclaimed disbelievingly. She took off her glasses. "No way... Elfman?"

Suddenly the door threw open with an monstrous crash, which effectively silenced the chatter inside the guild. Elfman stood, his face flush and his breath coming in wheezing gasps, as if he had run a marathon. His eyes were wide, almost unseeing, as he stumbled in awkwardly and headed straight towards the stunned Mirajane, ignoring everything else and grabbed her shoulder.

"Sis... you won't...believe this! Just then... I saw... I saw..." He broke off mid-sentence and pointed a trembling finger to the door, where another figure had appeared, hands clutching the door handle for support.

All eyes previously centered on Elfman followed his finger, and an even more electrifying silence reigned. Stifled gasps could be heard, but other than that, the others were rendered speechless.

Mirajane's eyes plastered itselves to the door and stood up carefully, Elfman's hands sliding off in response. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the figure standing in the door, her hand once more covered her mouth, accompanied with a growing tremble. "No...you can't be. This is just an illusion!"

The figure wavered, legs almost buckling underneath her as she struggled to keep herself upright. Slowly, but painfully, the figure dragged herself inside, before she couldn't hold out any longer.

She would have connected to the floor if it weren't for Erza's quick reflexes, who in prior to her collapse, had rushed to her aid.

Brushing aside the bangs on the mysterious girl's face, the crimson warrior was grim. There was no mistaking the undoubtly real sensation of holding a human being in her arms. And that scent, too. It was the exact same scent she had always remembered it.

"This is Lisanna."

…And if dreams were wings, you know, I would have flown to you

To be where you are…

Phew... the first chapter. Lisanna appeared mysteriously at the front gates of Fairy Tail, and if you're curious about what, how, and why is she still alive -and obviously in a different reason from the original story- please be patient, it will all be revealed in time, so be patient and keep reading!

By the way, sorry for those who have read them while this is yet to be formatted (and given any author's notes). I know, it's really messy, but I have fixed it and I think this is satisfactory.

Special thanks goes to my beta reader Hihazuki! And oh, and if you want to give credits for the vocabulary, give it to her :)

Please RnR!

~Hoshi*