Chapter 3 Meeting a New Friend The Strange Way

I'm so sorry it took quite a long time for me to add some new chapters for you guys! It's just that there's so many stuff to do at school and our exams came up so I had to study really hard. I had to spend less time on making my story and focus more on school. It's so stressful! But I'm back with more fresh ideas that you will surely love! I hope you guys could relate to me somehow and I also hope that you would understand. Peace Out!

-rock-glamour-animeroxx211

Akane was staring at the ruins of the ancient temple that the old lady was talking about. It was bigger and wider than what Akane expected it to be. Akane touched the walls of the ancient temple with both of her hands and tried to draw information from it. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

AKANE'S P.O.V.

The ancient temple was three stories high . . . and it's about 3,500 years old. It's not a surprise that it's really old 'cause of the vines that have grown all around the temple. Now, let's look at the temple's format . . . there's a watchtower at the right, a sacred pool at the back, and a meeting place at the third floor . . . that must be where the monster, Sanaki, and its apprentice must be hiding! The stairs to the third floor aren't destroyed yet . . . and the whole third floor is still stable. I could use that to go up there. Half of the second floor is already destroyed and the other half is very weak . . . I'll have to be very careful when I walk around there . . . It's really amazing how the whole third floor hasn't collapsed yet but there's a big possibility that it will due to my weight . . . CAREFUL . . . REMEMBER THAT WORD AKANE!

END OF P.O.V.

Akane took her hands off the walls. She got everything she needed. She was ready . . . and determined. She was ready to face any kind of danger that might befall her. She put on her fiercest face and ran inside the temple. By the minute she stepped inside the temple, she stopped running for fear that the whole structure would collapse. The first floor was really wide. It had some windows where the moonlight would seep through. The swaying trees would make some eerie shadows inside the temple and it made the silence creepier. Akane bent down and touched the ground. She tracked down the location of the stair that would lead her up to the second floor. "Got it."

Akane stood up and moved forward. She kept on moving forward until she reached a dead end.

"What the-? Why is it a dead end? I'm positive that the stair is here," Akane said. She bent down and tracked its location again. This time she was really sure that the stair was right in front of her. "It must be behind this wall."

Akane mustered up all her strength and pushed the wall hard. But instead of the wall to budge, Akane's hand went right through the wall. She fell and her head hit something hard. "Ow, that hurt!"

Akane rubbed her forehead. She looked at her hand and saw blood. "I'm bleeding!" she exclaimed. She calmed herself down. She put her other hand on her forehead then it glowed. Akane tried to heal her wound. She can't really just whisk it away though. She just momentarily closed up the wound so the pain and the bleeding would stop. She knew that the blood and pain would come back any minute and she can't heal herself twice so she hastened. Akane stood up and realized that it was all just an illusion. The wall wasn't really there at all. She approached it and put her hand on the wall then it went through. "Someone's making some illusions to make my journey around the ruins harder . . . better watch out."

Akane looked around but she can't see anything. It was pitch black. She put her hand up then it glowed with blue fire. She swayed it around then spotted the stairs right in front of her. She realized that the stairs were the ones that wounded her. Akane placed her hand on the railings and climbed up. When she was just about to take a step, she felt a sudden surge of pain. She almost fell off the stairs but she didn't because she got hold of the railings in time. Without wasting a minute, Akane pulled herself up and pulled her whole body up the stairs. The stairs creaked every time she would take a step. Akane was annoyed. She always hated creaking stuff. But she didn't let her emotions cloud her actions. She kept on climbing up the long and winding stair and finally arrived at the top.

Akane panted heavily. 'That was a really long stair," she said. She wiped some sweat off her forehead and touched the part where she had been wounded. There wasn't any sign of blood, yet. Akane was about to take a step when she remembered something about the second floor.

"This is the part where I most likely will fall," she said out loud. She put her blue fire a bit higher to see which half is destroyed and which is a bit weak. Her fire cast an eerie light then she saw that the part where she was going to take a step was the weak part while the next part is the half that is destroyed.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. She felt a bit relaxed but she knew that she has no reason to be. She's going to retrieve a jewel necklace but fight two very strong opponents before getting it, cross a very weak wooden floor and have a possibility of falling, and cross another wooden floor but this time, it's destroyed. Her whole body tensed. She felt fear. Her hard exterior of determination and courage was broken by fear and anxiety. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She thought about fairy Tail. She thought about what the guys would think when an S-class mage chickens out in doing an easy request. Her actions would lose Fairy Tail's strong fighting spirit and Fairy Tail will lose its honor. How humiliating! Akane whisked those negative feelings away and replaced them with positive feelings, the kind of feelings she had when she felt strong. As a result, Akane felt courageous again, without fear. She was ready to cross the floor without any doubt in her. She was ready. Akane gingerly took a step. She placed her weight on her right leg and was about to take another step when her right leg went right through the wooden floor. Her whole body began to follow until she fell right through it! Akane screamed. She shut her eyes and was getting ready for the impact. She silently waited for it to come but eventually, it didn't. Surprised that it did not come, she opened her right eye and then she opened her left. She realized that nothing had happened to her. She looked down and noticed that her feet weren't touching the ground. She wiggled her toes and knew that they were still there. It was then until then that she realized she was floating in mid-air. "Cool. But . . . how did I do that?"

She cartwheeled in mid-air and noticed something bright blue glowing beneath her. She looked down and found out that her blue flames were the ones that saved her. "I never knew I could fly using my blue flames." Amazed at her new discovery, she used her blue flames to float back to the top. She was almost back up when she suddenly lost her balance. She felt a hot surge of pain. Her flames went out and she was falling again. She tried to fire her flames again but it won't. She tried and tried and finally at the very last minute, it did. She tried to keep her balance while trying to face the unbearable pain. She placed her palm on her forehead then checked it out. She was relieved upon seeing that there were still no blood but the pain was still there. Akane tried to bear it and she forced herself to float back to the top again. This time she was successful. Akane decided not to land on the wooden floor because she might fall again. So, she kept on floating until she reached the stair leading to the third floor. Her blue flames went out then she landed herself on the first step. First, she made sure that it was safe. She bent down and touched the stair. Sensing that it was safe for her to keep on going, she climbed up the stair. Before setting foot on the third floor, she touched it. Her sensory powers had told her that there are two beings on the third floor. She was sure of it. She stealthily went around the third floor and looked for them. She tracked them down and found out that they were hiding in a secret room that could not be reached by her sensory magic. Still bearing the pain, she looked for them. She inspected every single room only to find that no one was there. She paused for a moment and thought. Were could they be hiding? There's nothing in here, but I'm sure I sensed something back there. Where are they?

Then, it hit her. Akane remembered what had happened to her when she was looking for the stair to the second floor. "When I was walking around a while ago, my hand went right through the wall, an illusion. Maybe what had happened a while ago, is the same to what's happening right now!" Akane exclaimed. When she did, her head hurt again. She felt that her wound was about to bleed. She hurried a bit more. She desperately searched for them in every room again. Then she sensed something. She sensed two beings move outside of the window. Without any hesitation, she walked towards it then jumped out of the window. But she did not fall. She simply landed on her feet, in another room. She looked around then heard clapping coming from behind her. She turned around and saw the most horrible and awful beast that she has ever seen in her entire life. It had a human head but with fangs, elf ears, a long flicking tongue, and a scaly body of a snake. Beside it was a young girl with long blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. Akane was about to scream because of fear but she did not because she remembered that Sanaki and its apprentice thrive on human fear. She struggled to remain strong and courageous despite the pain she was bearing and fear.

"Who-who are you?" Akane managed to say.

"I am Sanaki, the owner of this island and this is my apprentice, Hayashi Sora," the beast replied. Akane thought that that name sounded familiar.

"Wait, Hayashi Sora is the name of the old woman I asked some info from!" Akane exclaimed.

"Yes, and I am that woman," the girl with blonde hair said.

"You can't be! You don't look anything like her!" Akane said.

"I tricked you, get it?" asked the girl. Akane was about to answer when she felt the hot surge of pain again. She put her palm against her forehead and saw that her wound was bleeding again. "Why does it have to happen now?" The pain felt really unbearable. Seeing that Akane was down, Sanaki clicked her fingers then Sora waved her arms around Akane. Then, Akane fainted. Sora casted an illusion on her. But before she fainted, she still managed to fire a fireball at Sanaki. It affected her a bit but not that much. Before her eyelids closed, Akane caught a glimpse of the jewel necklace around Sanaki's neck. Darkness . . . was all Akane could see.

Akane moaned. Then, she woke up. She saw that Sanaki was lying dead on the ground while Sora was just knocked out. She shifted her gaze from her right to her left and saw Natsu sitting beside her.

"Natsu, you're here!" Akane exclaimed. She hugged him tightly.

"Yeah, I am," he replied.

"Why are you here? And why is Sanaki dead?" Akane asked.

"I killed her. And I'm here because I came for you. I sorta' felt that you were in danger so I came and rescued you," he said.

"Natsu, that's great! And did you just call Sanaki 'her'?

"Yeah, I found out that Sanaki's a girl. Anyways, here's your necklace," he said while waving the necklace right in front of her.

"Thank you, Natsu! And because you helped me in this mission, I shall give you the half of the reward."

Before Natsu could answer, they both heard a moan. Sora was waking up.

"Where am I? What's going on here?" she asked.

"You don't remember anything?" asked Akane.

"No, I don't. I don't even know why I'm here," she replied. Akane and Natsu both looked at each other.

"I think she's under Sanaki's power that's why she kept on following her orders," Natsu said.

"You're getting smarter these days," Akane praised. Natsu grinned at her.

Then Natsu had a great idea. He whispered it to Akane. Akane listened carefully and nodded.

"We think that you should come with us and be a part of our guild, Fairy Tail. What do you say?" Akane asked.

It took a while for Sora to answer but she accepted. So in a way, they found a new member.