For Lucy, the first day of school had always been something that she particularly enjoyed. It reminded her of buying a new notebook. The joy of removing the plastic wrap around it, opening it to its first new page, the sheet waiting for her strokes to fill it brought her happiness like no other.
Similarly, starting a new school year had the same effect for her.
A blank page, a new chapter, empty, void, ready for her to set the tip of her pen upon it and fill it with scribbles, letters, words, sentences, a story. She looked at the grand cursive letters covering the side of the academy, and her heart swelled with pride, her body with ecstasy.
Mavis' Academy of the Arts.
The name brought shivers down her spine and the grip she had on her duffel bag only tightened. A student (one with long white hair and a dazzling smile) handed her a piece of paper exclaiming that information for the orientation would be found on it. The orientation assembly (its assistance was required by all, no matter their grade) would take place in an hour and a half at the auditorium. Following the signs held by other students (but mostly she followed the crowd), Lucy made her way to the assembly hall, grand in its height, held up by white marble pillars, cherubs decorating the four corners of the building. In awe, she walked inside, careful as to not crash into other awestruck first years, and found herself being led to the second row of seats.
As she saw the great spotlights hanging by the great thick steel ropes she could only find herself capable of muttering, "Wow."
"Wow's right!" another girl in front of her answered turning back. She had blue shoulder-length hair, her bangs held back by an orange band with a little white lily.
"Name's Levy; I'm a sophomore," she shifted slightly in her seat so she could see Lucy better, "You must be new here considering the great awe you show for our humble little auditorium."
"I'm Lucy and a freshman. As for the auditorium, little? No way can I call it little! It's so… beautiful!"
"We're glad you think so!" Levy gave a wink and signaled to the rest of the students sitting in the first row, "I'm part of the… student government, I guess you could call it, that's what all the students call us. We don't like it or use it too much; we prefer council. After all, we're just a group of fellow classmates that make decisions that can make or break your year."
Lucy laughed when Levy stuck out her tongue at her. "What are you studying here at the academy, anyways? I'm studying screenwriting."
"Dance!" Lucy gushed.
Levy had opened her mouth, ready to say something in return but turned away from Lucy when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Gajeel!" she saluted the owner of the hand, "I saved you a spot here on my right."
"Thanks, but Gramps is making me work up above again. I ain't gonna be down here for any of the assembly- 'Ey, Shrimp, who's the bunny girl over there? She's giving me a weird look."
The sudden appearance of the guy with long hair, eerily black, a strange tattoo on his left arm and piercings covering a great portion of his face scared Lucy. The look (which Gajeel had interpreted as weird) was in fact one of fear. But before she could say anything, the lights of the auditorium dimmed slowly. Gajeel let a smooth line of cusses escape his mouth before bending down to peck Levy and run off to where ever it was he was needed.
Levy turned back to smile at Lucy as she climbed over her chair and sat in an empty one beside the blonde.
"Boyfriend," she whispered playfully before she turned to the front, her eyes glued to the empty stage.
"D-did you just climb over the c-chair?"
"The council won't mind if I don't sit with them," she shrugged and pressed her index finger to her lip, a light 'sh' leaving her lips.
The heavy sound of a spotlight being turned on took Lucy's attention away the attention that Lucy had been giving to Levy. Small particles of little fuzz or dust could be seen in the light and Lucy could only think to compare them as invisible little petals when they surrounded the tall, redheaded woman who stepped into the light.
Those present in the auditorium fell into a quiet hush and the girl spoke. "My name is Erza Scarlet," she said with authority, "I am the head of what you would typically call the 'student government'. As the holder of this position, I welcome you all to Mavis' Academy of the Arts!"
Her welcome was filled with grandeur and her elevated arms added all the more flair to it. The auditorium was filled with applause and a number of ecstatic yells, and Lucy found herself joining everyone else. "If you are an upperclassman, we welcome you back! If this your first year, then we bid you enjoy your next four years at the academy, learning the arts of choir, theatre, lighting, effects and the numerous other things supported by the arts. For those of you here for our prestigious dance program we know you will enjoy it!"
More applause followed and so did a number of hoot and whistle.
Erza laughed gaily before yelling angrily when the noise didn't subside. "Quiet!" the crowd shushed and she continued happily, "Classes start in two hours, so we hope that you all enjoy the following performances of our top students from each branch of our school! Up first, we have the drama program, so put your hands together for them!"
Lucy, though very much enthralled by the performances given by the drama and choir programs (and not to mention catwalk by the fashion students) found an exhilaration like no other coursing through her veins when the dance program was announced.
Suddenly, the lights of the auditorium were turned off. Music began to play.
Light, playful, innocent.
Lucy found her fingers playing along with the familiar song: Moonlight Sonata.
The whole room was filled with cheers and Levy cheered the loudest. Ballerinas dressed in white puffy tutus, white slippers and white-feathered headbands sprang from the wings. They tiptoed beside one another, upstage, downstage, upstage and downstage. They pirouetted, chasséd and relevéd, always less than a millimeter away from each other, but never touching a single hair. The girls were angels, beautiful, vain, confident, innocent, spending their days frolicking in wonder and unity.
But the music turned dark, haunting, forbidding.
From the wing space fell a man dressed in black, his cape covering the lower part of his face, his top hot covering the upper part, his black hair draped his neck. He swooped in, temps liéd and kicked his way through the stage. Each girl he encountered he played with and twirled around before throwing her spinning body to the side. He did this a number of times before finally reaching the last girl. She was dressed in the same fashion as the rest of the girls, white tutu, slippers and feathered headband but her white short hair made her all the more stunning.
He made a move to toss her aside like he had all the other girls, but he stopped at the last moment. The music ceased to be so haunting. It became soft, calming, romantic. Both the man and the girl were still; he held her in his arms, close to his chest, his arms holding hers in preparation to release her, but he couldn't.
They were both still for a moment and the music stopped. Lucy held her breath and she turned to look at Levy briefly. She was bewildered when she saw the bluenette smiling like nothing. How she wasn't taken aback was beyond Lucy's understanding. Such a beautiful ballet was being danced out in front of her and there she sat smiling and-
Her train of thought was interrupted when the music began again. It became brooding and dark as it had been previously and more dark clothed figures dropped in from the fly space separating the man and his fair-haired angel. The other angels jumped in from the right and left wings and held back their fellow friend. The angel and the dark man tried to grand jeté to each other, but their companions forbade them from doing so. But as the music changed one more time to a mellower and forgiving tone, their friends let them go. They both leaped to each other and met in the middle. The man picked the girl up and spun her above his head, her legs separated into a perfect split. He set her down, pressed her to his chest, planted a kiss on her mouth and spun around, brought her to his chest once more and released her to the other angels, letting her go, a pained expression on his face.
En pointe, the angels left, the white-haired angel being the last to exit. With one turn of her head, she looked back at her beloved devil and turned forward once more, tiptoeing to the left wing. The devils left, but the black-haired man stayed behind in the center of the stage. The music stopped, the man looked out at the audience and simply walked off stage into the right wing.
Immediately, the audience burst out into a round of applause. Lucy stood up from her seat much like everyone else present. The dancers stepped out to take their bows and yells demanding an encore were heard.
Erza Scarlet stepped onto the stage and her presence immediately silenced everybody. "That was our dance program!" she smiled and another round of applause ensued, "An hour is left before classes begin, so we encourage all our freshman to look around, become familiar with the school, perhaps make some friends with the upperclassmen. After all, the academy will become like a second home to all of you…"
All the lights were turned off before they were turned on, all at once. Lucy looked to the stage, it was now dark and there was no one on it. She put her right hand to her eyes and tried to shield them from the large amounts of light bulbs shining down on them.
Levy grabbed her hand, and Lucy squinted. The bluenette took no notice at the blonde's obvious pain and said, "Join me this next hour?" She smiled and assured her new friend, "Don't worry, you'll make it to class on time. I just want you to meet some of the people from the advanced dance class."
"W-wait, you mean the ones who preformed the ballet?"
"The very people," Levy grabbed her hand and dragged through the crowd, "They're my friends!"
Before Lucy could react, Levy made her way backstage, ignoring signs that warned against trespassers and threatened suspension. However, the security guards they passed only smiled at the girls (mostly at Levy). One of them, a man with orange hair, grabbed Levy's shoulder, laughing.
"Don't you think your grip on that poor girl's hand is a little too much, Levy?"
Indeed it had been, but Lucy had taken no notice.
"That girl packs a punch, blondie."
"Oh, quiet, Gildarts!" Levy laughed and let go of Lucy, "I'm tryna go see the others. This, by the way, is Lucy, she's a freshman here."
"Nice to meet you," Lucy smiled twiddling her fingers out of nervousness. This man- Gildarts- was tall (he looked to be about 6'5) and he was buff. He laughed, but there seemed to be an aura around him that told anyone not to mess with him.
"Gildarts," he introduced himself to Lucy before turning again to Levy, "Those idiots are up on the roof." He signaled up towards a spiral staircase in the corner of the backstage. Levy immediately grabbed Lucy's hand once more and pulled her with her.
"Thanks a lot! I'll see you later!"
"Of course, but what program does this girl belong to?" he called to them.
"The dance program, of course! Why else am I taking her to meet the rest of the gang?" Lucy was surprised to see Levy have another fit of laughter and continue climbing the stairs without sounding tired. Lucy herself was already panting at the rate they were running up.
"Then that means Aquarius is her teacher!" Gildarts called somewhat worriedly, "I hope to God you get her to class on time, especially with that rowdy bunch or Aquarius is going to-"
His voice had grown very faint and whatever he was about to finish saying was lost to Lucy's ears when Levy yelled back, "I got it, I got it!"
They reached the top of the stairs and Levy turned back to look at Lucy (who was panting hard and struggling to breathe). "Oh, you'll get used to the climb if you decide to stick with us. I mean, I sure did," she turned back to wall they had reached and grabbed a door knob. She made a move to turn it but stopped and said, "By the way, don't tell anyone about this place. It's forbidden to students."
"B-but, the man… H-he-"
"Oh, Gildarts? He's head of security, and my friends happen to know him since they were kids. If you're gonna do some illegal stuff or whatever on school grounds, he's is the one you want to get caught by, or the one you want helping you: whatever floats your boat! Now," Levy turned the knob and opened the door, "here's the advanced class."
Light shone outside on the roof and Lucy found herself drawn in by the large amount of laughter she heard.
"Oh, but you're kidding!"
"Nah, I'm not."
"Did you hear-"
"-credible, I never thought-"
Lucy followed the sounds of the voices she was hearing. She tried to stop herself, but she felt she couldn't. Levy was still behind her struggling to use a small block of wood as a doorstop. She tried to tell herself that she needed to wait for Levy, that it would be weird for her, a stranger, to appear before these people without a proper introduction, but she just couldn't stop.
Their laughter was so inviting.
So warm.
So homely.
And the ballet! Oh the ballet! It had been so pretty, so wondrous, so elegant and she wanted to, no, needed to meet those who preformed in it (especially the two leads).
The sounds stopped and Lucy stopped walking. She saw a group of people sitting on the floor before her. She noticed the red-head from the assembly (Erza Scarlet if she remembered correctly), Levy's boyfriend, a brunette whose lips were stuck to a bottle of whiskey and the beautiful white-haired girl who played the lead angel in the ballet. They looked at her bewildered and Lucy gulped, embarrassed.
"I-I," she scanned the group, trying to figure out what to say, but then it happened. Her eyes landed on his black eyes.
Onyx to be more exact she noted to herself.
He stared back at her as well and there they both stayed. No one and nothing interrupted them. Perhaps they would've been there for minutes, maybe hours, but Levy's sudden appearance stopped that from happening.
"Oops!" she smiled at Lucy, putting a hand to her shoulder, "Seems like I took too long and you found them yourself. Everybody, this is Lucy, she's a freshman. Lucy, these are my friends. Two of them here are part of the advanced class."
The group in front of her broke out into smiles and Lucy found herself doing the same.
The boy with the onyx eyes ran his finger through his hair and chuckled, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy Ashley."
Maybe it was the fact that this guy was insanely handsome, or that his hair was pink (seriously, pink?), or the fact that he knew her last name when she hadn't even told Levy, but she had a strong feeling that her life was about to change.
Hello, my loves! Literally three months and one day ago I told you all I would update the story in a matter of a few days or a week, and I would've (I mean I had literally half the chapter written out), but stuff happened (don't ask me what happened I don't remember) and I never got to it until posting it today.
Here are some ballet or stage terms used that you might not have understood:
Wings: Okay, so to go on a stage you come in from the left or right. Those spaces on the left or right of the stage are called wings. Also, when I use the term right wing, think your right, same with the left.
Upstage/downstage: There was a time (I believe Shakespearean times) when stages were made in a slope. So the back of the stage was higher than the front of the stage (kind of like a mountain) and this allowed for all people to see the stage. Eventually, they stopped doing this with the stage and did this with the seats (which is why the aisles of theatres/ auditoriums are slanted). However, the terminology stuck. So whenever I use upstage, I men that they're moving to the back of the stage. When I use downstage, they're moving to the front of the stage.
Pirouette: This is the really pretty twirl or spin done in ballet where they have their arms in a circle in front of them and one of their legs are placed on top of the knee of the leg they're spinning on.
Chasse: (pronounced sha-say) It literally means "to chase" in French. I don't know how to explain it, but its pretty much you moving to the side (you can do it in other directions, I believe) with one leg and your other leg kind of drags on the floor chasing your leg (hence the name).
Releve: (pronounced re-le-vay) It means "to rise" in French. As the name implies, its you rising on your toes.
Temps lie: (pronounced ton-lee-ay) I don't know how to explain this. But it's technically you being in some bent position with your knees and you keep shifting the weight from one leg to another. (You should probably look for a video of this if you don't understand me and are curious enough to know what it is).
En pointe: (pronounced on-point) It's literally being on the very tip of your toes. It's a common technique in ballet most everybody knows.
I feel like this chapter was particularly bad, and I'm not happy with it but I do want to get it up as soon as possible. Regardless of this and many errors that I made, I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and, like always, if you have some kind of critique or advice you'd like me to read then I'm all for it! PM me or drop it down in the review box below!
Until next time my saints,
Vana