A/N: Kill me. I have no excuses. Well, I was slacking off for some time... and I can only hope that you'll like this chapter. Thanks to my beta-readers, WhitishBlack and CalaveraCandiedSkull. And, special gratitude to everyone who had reviewed, favourited and followed - I've got over 20 reviews! Thank you all! Please continue supporting me!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Anne
"Come on, guys! It's already dark. We really should be going!"
"Uggggghhhh..."
"I... hate... trains..."
"My legs are all wobbly..."
xXx
Sheesh... I'm beat. Oh, how it'd feel great to fling myself onto a cosy bed... or maybe take a nice, long shower first. Or, even better - I could sleep while taking shower! Yeah, that'd be great.
A tired sigh escaped my lips before my eyes narrowed at the pink haired boy who I was currently dragging across the floor.
"C'mon Hiken! Get up already!" I gritted my teeth, slowly pulling the lump of a guy off the floor. He's... heavy! I pursed my lips wondering why I had to be the one to do this.
The Alyssum station was empty, except for us who had been stuck in this place since the train had arrived. The last thirty minutes on it wasn't easy. The spell that prevented the dragon slayers from getting sick, wore off before the train came to a stop. It wasn't pretty at all. Let's just say the cleaners would have to take some time to scrub our compartment's floor. Oh, and a word of warning... do NOT travel alone with dragon slayers, especially when there are three of them!
Unfortunately, it came to my responsibility to pull my travelling companions off the vehicle since they were too giddy to do anything by themselves. Fortunately, a train attendant ultimately pitied me and decided to lend a hand in carrying the three men. And thus was my great adventure.
"It's amazing... that Wendy's spell lasted the whole day," Night said weakly, still trying to stand up on his jelly-like legs. "She really is the best."
"Yeah... I don't even want to imagine a whole day on train... it is hell for us." Garry smiled palely, though he didn't look as bad as he was the first time we met. Both of them were recovering quickly; talking as if they normally would. Though, they didn't seem to be very concerned with Hiken who was still splattered on the floor, moaning loudly, looking very green.
"How come he's still like this when you two have already recovered?" I asked, now poking the pink-head, having given up on pulling him to his feet.
"Uggghhhh..."
"Well, you see, Hiken's level as a dragon slayer is higher than both Night and I," Garry gestured at himself and Night. "And the more advanced a dragon slayer is, the more he or she will suffer from motion sickness."
"I see," I sweat dropped. What screwed up logic!
"I'm alright..." the fire dragon slayer mumbled, trying to stand up. I couldn't help but feel bad for him, seeing someone so strong, from what I've heard, this vulnerable. "Let's go... I feel better now."
"You sure you can walk?" Garry asked.
"Yeah..." he replied, finally getting to his feet, though he still looked sick.
"Alright then," Night said, picking up his bag and giving a glance at us, "Let's go then. We better find a place to stay for the night."
Well, it was about time too. Looking forward to resting after a whole day of travelling, I gladly grabbed my bag and sprinted after Night and Garry, finally leaving the train station.
"Hey... guys! Wait for me! Slow down!"
xXx
"Amazing... the moon looks so beautiful..."
I turned and looked at Garry and saw the iron dragon slayer staring up at the sky in awe. Looking up also, I wasn't able to contain myself as I let a "wow" myself.
"Pretty, isn't it?" Garry smiled while I quietly nodded in agreement. The sky was crystal clear with no hint of cloud, billions of stars twinkling like fireflies, and the moon was full, shining its cool light upon the sleeping town; it was like a brilliant picture painted upon the black sky.
"It's spectacular..." I said.
Alyssum was a small yet beautiful town; unlike Magnolia, it looked a lot simpler. There were no noticeably big buildings but mostly decent two-story houses. However, the town was in total silence. There was no light except from the street lamps and the moon's beams. Then again, it was already pretty late; it was past nine after all. I suppose the four us might have been the only people travelling across the town at these late hours.
"You know, Anne," Garry started, "whenever I feel tired or exhausted, I always try to enjoy the beauty of the nature around me. It makes me feel refreshed, to appreciate the beauty around me."
I stared at the black haired mage, a bit surprised to hear about natural beauty from an iron dragon slayer. I don't judge people by their appearance, but from I've heard, Garry's father, Gajeel, is one of the toughest and strongest mage and dragon slayers of Fairy Tail. It made me wonder how the son of the 'Black Steel' Gajeel was so artistic and unaggressive.
I smiled at him, "Well, for me, back when I was an independent mage, I'd lie down on the ground on a clear night and stare up at the stars till I fell asleep. It's pretty dreamy."
So, the two of us were certainly having a pretty good time - but it didn't last long when out of the blue, clouds suddenly filled the sky, covering the stars and moon, then came down a massive downpour of rain. Yeah... so much for the 'crystal clear' sky.
"Aww man... DAMN IT!"
Obviously, Hiken hated rain - not much of a surprise for a fire mage. He was pulling a sour face, looking pretty grumpy; the rain was pelting down at us and in just a few moments, we were all looking like drowned rats - in Hiken's case, a pink haired rat! I fingered my hair, a smirk pulling at my lips. Ha. I'm such a hypocrite though.
"Oh. It's raining," Night said and he seemed totally indifferent at being drenched with rain. He even stretched out a hand, watching the rain drops fall onto his palm. "I wished it had happened on the train though."
"NIGHT!" Hiken shouted, growling. "If you don't find us a place soon and get us out of the rain, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to Crocus, you hear me!?"
"I-I agree with h-him!" Well, I was a fire mage too, I hate getting wet. Plus, I was starting to feel chilly - my teeth were chattering!
"Me too!" Garry seconded us.
"Alright alright. Geez, no one appreciates walking in the rain anymore."
xXx
This has got to be the worst days of my life. Well, not really, I felt the most horrible on the day when my father passed away... but seriously!? I had to carry three sick dragon slayers off a train, got soaked in a cat and dog rain, and now...
"I have to share a room... with you guys!?" I cried unbelievably.
"Well, it seems like the only option left since this motel has no more room..." Night said, looking amused, trying hard not to laugh - oh how I'd have loved to punch that face. After desperately failing to find a place to stay for the night in three different motels, we finally arrived at this place, but unfortunately it only had one room left. Well, this does seem like a better option than staying in the rain and catching cold.
Sighing, I gave a look around our room - it was big enough, with a bathroom connected; there was a couch in the living room, a lacrima TV and DVD player, a table with a lamp on it, a bed, a refrigerator... wait...
"Please don't tell me that this is the only bed for this room," I groaned loudly, pointing at the bed.
"Hmm?" Night turned and glance at the bed. "Oh. Well, it is."
Okay. This is the worst day in my life. There is no way on Earth, or on Venus, that I'm sleeping together with three guys! Brrr! That sounds so... hentai!
However, Night finally must have felt pity for me after watching my face turned different shades of pink, red, purple and blue. Chuckling, he patted my head and smiled. "Relax. Trust me. I swear, no one will lay a finger on you. Besides, you'll be having the bed to yourself."
"Huh?" I was really relieved to hear that; at least I wouldn't be sleeping together with three men. "Then what about you guys?"
"I guess we'll choose between the couch and the floor."
xXx
It was past twelve o'clock at night. I was lying on the bed, letting my mind wander. The rain had stopped, and the sky was once again clear; I was busy gazing at the moon, its silver light entering through the window. The town was now covered in total silence...
"Zzzzz Zzzzz Zzzzz..."
Except the sound of Hiken snoring which was really getting on my nerves. Annoyed and unable to sleep, I sat up and glared at the pink-head who was sprawled on the couch, snoozing loudly. The three dragon slayers decided to settle who would get the couch with a game of 'Rock, Paper, Scissor', which Hiken ultimately won and claimed the couch. Nevertheless, all of them were sleeping soundly with Garry leaning against the couch, his arms folded, and Night was sleeping on the floor, using his bag as a pillow.
I didn't know why but it made me smile, seeing them being so peaceful and quiet -unlike the time while they were having motion sickness on the train. Sighing, I lied down on the bed again, and then closed my eyes while pulling the blanket over my face. It's really late... I should get some sleep. I still have to travel tomorrow.
"Zzzzz Zzzzz Zzzzz..."
Grrr...! How the hell am I suppose to sleep with that bastard's chainsaw-like snoring!? Or maybe it was more like a pig. I rolled over, stuffing my ear with the pillow. This should stop the sound... right?
"Zzzzz Zzzzz Zzzzz..."
Sighing exasperatedly, I twisted and turned on the bed... somehow, the snores filtering from Hiken and the quiet, melodic breathing of the others around me slowly morphed into muffled, white noise.
Time drifted so slowly... seconds turned into minutes... minutes turned into hours. Memories flashed back slowly before my eyes as I stared at the ceiling... my eyelids became heavier... and finally slipped into a steady slumber. Memories turned into dreams.
"Dad...! No... please! Don't die!"
"T-Thanks for saving me..."
"I'm an independent mage! I can take care of myself!"
"Join a guild... huh? That doesn't sound bad."
"Hey... isn't that Garry Redfox? Maybe I should follow him!"
"Hi! My name's Anne Valentine!"
The next morning...
"Waah!" Hiken jumped back, staring at me, "Anne, you look horrible! Didn't you get any sleep last night?"
I didn't even need to check in a mirror to know what my face looked like. Half-opened eyes with shadows underneath, hair messed up while drooling slightly and feeling sluggish... anyone would be looking like a zombie when they only had three hours of sleep. I finally fell asleep at around three o'clock... but Night just had to wake us up at six o'clock. I didn't want to get up, but he gently threatened to shock me with lightning, so I had no choice but to drag myself out of the bed.
At the moment, I was trying my best to glare daggers at Hiken with my droopy eyes, at the same time considering the best way of revenge for the bastard. Or, maybe it'd be best if I just stapled his lips together...
"Uh... why are you looking at me like that?" He sounded more alarmed; maybe I was grinning too evilly. Perhaps I'll forgive him this time.
Anyway, rubbing my eyes, I turned away from the bewildered dragon slayer - I had more important matters to take care of than having revenge, like washing my face, brushing teeth and stuff. Picking up my toothbrush and towel, I strutted towards the bathroom and pushed it opened.
"Hey, wait! Don't go~" Hiken's warning reached my senses only too late. I had already stepped into the bathroom.
"Huh?"
I wasn't expecting to come face to face with Garry who was having a shower... naked. He was applying shampoo to his hair, with a toothbrush stuffed inside his mouth. He turned at me and I looked at him at the same time - we stared at each other for several moments before our eyes widened up in shock.
Both of us screamed simultaneously.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAHH!"
My things slipped out of my hands. Garry spat out his toothbrush. My hands went to cover my eyes. Garry grabbed for the nearest towel.
"Anne! Why are you - don't come in! I DON'T HAVE ANY CLOTHES ON!"
"I'm so so SORRY! Please don't mind me!"
I absolutely had no idea how I got out of the bathroom. My heart was racing like a train engine and my face and neck were burning! I had just seen a naked man, the image still glued to my brain - I no longer felt drowsy, my eyes were fully opened and my brain was completely fresh. Wow... nice abs... W-wait! No! Bad Anne! I slapped myself in my mind.
A howling laughter snapped me out of my trance - Hiken was rolling on the floor, thumping it furiously with his fists, tears leaking out of his eyes. "AHAHA! Help me! HAHA! I'm choking! HAHAHAHA!"
I felt my eyebrow twitched dangerously with vein popping up from my forehead. Eyes flashing, I stomped over to the pink-head, cracked my knuckles while an ominous shadow covered my forehead. "Hiken..." I hissed.
"Ah - sorry! Haha... I tried to tell you but," he broke out laughing again. "HAHAHA! It was just so hilarious!"
I'll show you hilarious... Growling, I grabbed him from his front collar and lifted him up, about to beat the guy into a pulp.
"Umm... Anne? You left these behind."
Garry was out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and was carrying my toothbrush and towel in his hands - I immediately blushed, my grip on Hiken loose, and the dragon slayer fell to the floor with a thud. "Ouch..!"
"T-thank you..." My face was going red again; I shakily took back my things from the iron dragon slayer, not looking at his face. We stood there awkwardly without saying anything for like five seconds.
"You know..." Garry started, grinning and rubbing his head nervously. "You can use the bathroom now if you want."
"Oh," I felt the heat rising up my neck again. "Yeah. That's r-right." I walked past him like a robot, went inside the bathroom, and then tried to close the door, only to find out that the lock was broken.
Stupid lock... I thought as a smile crept up to my face. You're an idiot, Anne.
xXx
"You know, you guys are acting weird... did something happened while I was gone?" Night narrowed his eyes, staring suspiciously at the rest of us.
Hiken, Garry and I glanced at each other, then immediately turned away - Hiken was stifling up his chortles, Garry was scratching his head, I was blushing again.
"Nah, nothing happened," all three of us chorused simultaneously - Night didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the issue further.
We had already left the motel to continue on to Crocus, and were currently having breakfast at an outdoor café near the gates of Alyssum - the city was as quiet and beautiful as it was at night time, though there were people going on the streets.
Anyway, Night already had finished his fried rice and eggs, Garry also had finished his pasta and Hiken was still considering whether he should order another plate of spicy fried chicken, while I was sipping on my last cup of coffee.
"You know you'll be peeing a lot if you drink too much coffee," Night said.
"Shut up. I need my caffeine." I finished the coffee in one short gulp and placed the empty mug on the table. "Well, let's go then! We have no time to waste," I shouted, grabbed my bag and stood up.
Night smiled lightly, while Hiken pouted; missing his chance on another serving of chicken. Garry walked up beside me, we smiled at each other - both of us had come to a mutual agreement to never mention the incident again, while I threatened Hiken that I'd rip out his tongue if he ever got the idea to spill the beans.
Everyone was settled into a comfortable silence as we continued on our journey to the capital of Fiore - we decided to walk all the way over to Crocus, since the dragon slayers were not keen on hiring a carriage, and I certainly didn't want to nurse them all the way to Crocus. It was just a ten miles hike, which was pretty much a piece of cake for me - I'd covered longer distances back when I was an independent mage.
It had been over twenty minutes since we had passed the flower fields outside of Alyssum, and now we were entering into the woods - the sound of footsteps pitter-pattering across the ground was almost lulling me into a sleep. It wasn't much of a surprise - even though I drank like four cups of coffee, I did only have three hours of sleep. A weary sigh escaped me; I decided to break the silence.
"So..." I looked at Hiken who was nearer to me - Night and Garry were walking ahead of us, "do you guys travel together like this often?"
"Hmm..." he knitted his brows and thought for a moment. "We used to hang out a lot when we were younger, but later we did more solo missions and this is the first time in months Night called for the three of us."
"But you guys are a team, right?" I said, "Team Dragon Brothers... that was the name, wasn't it?"
A grin cracked on the pink-head's face. Smiling, he threw his hands behind his head, "Yeah, that's our team's name. You do know a lot about us, huh?"
"Well, you guys are the favourite article subjects of the Sorcerer Magazine - the whole guild, I mean. They would always put a special article or two in every issue." Something came into my mind at that moment, "Hey, I heard that you have a sister. Is it true?"
Hiken looked mildly amazed, "Yeah, I do have a sister. And let me guess - you found that out in the magazine also?"
However, he looked surprised again when I shook my head. "No, I saw her in the guild's photo album - I was going through them while Sarah was filling the papers. I saw a photo of you standing beside your mother, and she was carrying a little girl, and Sarah told me that she was your sister."
"I see. Yup, that's Ellie. She's only six years old, and she usually stays home with Mom - if Mom went on missions or is busy writing books, I have to babysit her, or send her to Wendy's house so that she can play together with Charlotte..."
Our conversation came to a stop when I bumped into Garry's back while Hiken crashed into Night's, both of them had just come to a sudden halt. "Oomf! Hey, why'd you stop walking-"
Hiken's question was no longer necessary as both of us immediately noticed the reason that caused the two men to stop on their tracks - two people were standing in our path, blocking the way. One was a man wearing a white mask and a black cloak with a hood over his head, and another was a young woman with white hair, who was also wearing a similar black cloak, though she had no mask on - her beautiful face was stoic, and her sharp eyes were as cold as ice.
They don't look like good people... My eyes narrowed, watching them intently, raising my guard if anything should happen.
"Ah, we've been expecting you," the masked man spoke up, raising his hand. He turned at Night and greeted, "Well, hello, Night-kun. Isn't it nice for us to meet again?"
I was surprised that the creepy guy was speaking like he knew Night... but the lightning dragon slayer replied coldly, "I wouldn't be actually saying nice though. You can't exactly be a friend after you tried to ambush me - and I guess when it failed, you decided to show up again but with help this time."
Ambush? Night? What's he talking about? I looked at Hiken and both of us were having the same 'What-Is-Happening-Here' look. However, the masked man chuckled out loud, "Oh no, Night-kun. Actually, my business with you had been done already since our last meeting." I saw Night's eyebrows raised slightly.
"What do you mean?" Garry asked, frowning. The masked man turned at Garry... but at that moment, the white-haired woman let out an audible sigh while her eyes rolled.
"Enough, Felix. You're too talkative," she said, suddenly stepping up while placing her left fingers on her right palm. "Let's just get this over with... Lightning-Make: Falcon!"
My eyes widened - she was using Molding Magic, and within my knowledge, Lightning Make was a rather rare type. There was a flash of white light, and four large birds made out of electricity appeared and dashed at us - I immediately clapped my hands to counter the bird that was coming my way with a spell... but the birds suddenly changed their directions and hit Garry instead, the lightning explosion throwing him into a tree.
"Garry!" I let out a scream and rushed over at him - my eyes widened at the sight of his hand, which had turned into a shiny, black metal club. Is this iron dragon slayer magic?
"I'm fine," he said, standing up. "Don't touch me now; I'd just directed away the lightning away at myself." I opened my mouth furiously to scold him that it was very dangerous to do something like that, but both of us were distracted by Hiken, who had let out a roar of anger.
"So, you want to pick a fight, huh!?" His body suddenly erupted into flames - he clenched his fists and charged at the woman. "Come on! I don't know who you are, but I'll burn you into a crisp!"
"Hiken! No!" Night called out, about to pull the fire dragon slayer back, but the man called Felix blocked his path, black smog coming out of his body. "Now now... let them play, will you? Your opponent is me." A stream of black smog suddenly shot out, which Night narrowly avoided, but got kicked in his jaw while he was distracted.
"Argh!" The blond mage flinched - he immediately regained his posture, and struck down Felix with a large bolt of lightning from his hand - but the masked man had disappeared with a cloud of black smog, the lightning hit and shattered the ground instead.
At that moment, I saw Hiken blocked a spell from the white-haired woman with his flames; scoffing, she taunted him, "This is the best you can do? And you call yourself a dragon slayer? What a joke."
Hiken gritted his teeth, glaring at the Lightning Make mage. "Shut up! You don't know what I got!"
"She's provoking Hiken into attacking her... we have to stop him!" Garry said urgently, rushing at Hiken - I was really confused, I didn't understand why Hiken shouldn't attack the enemy; the white-haired woman smirked while raising a hand as a gesture of challenge, "Then hit me with your best shot! Show me your power, son of Salamander!"
Pissed off, Hiken growled while preparing to attack - he ignited his fists, and clapped them as he chanted, "Some flames on the left hand... some flames on the right hand... together they create..." An enormous ball of fire emerged, immediately heating up the area - he cried out, hurling the fire spell.
"FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!"
I had to cover myself with my arm - the massive ball of fire exploded with a sheer force coming out from the impact, the ground shook violently. Trees nearby were burnt to crisps and a loud rumble sounded as clouds of dust and rubble of earth soared from the area. A-Amazing! Such power!
Smoke began to settle down... I believed that the girl had been turned into ashes with this kind of impact - we were thunderstruck, our jaws opened with shock when she appeared out of the cloud of dust, her face indifferent, barely a scratch on her body. Impossible!
She chuckled loudly, seeing that Hiken was paralyzed, staring at her with disbelief. "That didn't even break sweat - you really are pathetic."
The insult broke Hiken out of his trance, "Why you..." His eyes flashed dangerously, his body was covered with fire and was about to attack again when Garry grabbed his arm, "Stop it, Hiken. It's a trap."
"Huh?" The pink-head stared at his friend confusedly, but the moment they were distracted, she moved in a flash, "Lightning-Make: White Tiger!" A large lightning tiger appeared roaring, and leapt at the two dragon slayer. Without wasting a second, I sprinted in between them, pushing them aside - they were surprised by my sudden appearance. "Anne! What are you-" I ignored their exclamations, setting my eyes only on the incoming lightning tiger; I pressed my palms together and cried...
"Fire-Make: Sun Phoenix!"
Both of the dragon slayers were taken aback when a majestic flaming bird emerged with a shower of fire, dashing at the lightning tiger, the two spells clashed and dissolved into a small explosion of magic. Smirking, I gave a look at the woman to see that her eyebrows were raised high, not hiding her surprise and frustration. I smiled triumphantly, preparing for a counter attack... "Fire-"
"That's enough, Anne," Night quickly grabbed my shoulder, which startled and halted me from conjuring a spell. At that moment, the black smog emerged out in the air and materialized into Felix, who was clapping his hands slowly. "Spectacular... truly amazing... I have never seen such powers before." I noticed a mocking tone as well as a note of amusement in his voice.
Night released my shoulder and stepped up, his face expressionless; a shudder ran down my spine as I felt a great pressure suddenly exploded from the blond mage. The air started to vibrate around him, as if he was creating ripples across the atmosphere - the enemies were also stunned, feeling the enormous amount of power radiating from Night. Such magical power... it's overwhelming!
"Who are you people?" Night asked calmly but firmly, his eyes narrowed and focused. "What is your purpose in attacking us?"
A moment of silence passed, the two sides staring at each other - "Ahahaha..." Chuckling out loud, the masked man started surrounding himself with the black smog again. Is he planning to attack? I glanced at Night but he was not moving. "You are an incredible mage, Night-kun, to possess this much power at a young age. Though unfortunately, we can't answer your questions."
He reached out and grabbed his partner's arm; I just noticed that she was staring at me. It was pretty creepy... then she suddenly asked, "My name is Rosalyn. Can you tell me your name, Fire Maker?"
I blinked a few times and checked at others whether they were going to answer... "Umm... It's Anne Valentine."
Rosalyn smiled, which was way creepier than her staring..."Train hard, or I'll kill you when we meet again."
She's crazy...! We thought, sweat dropping. The black smog was also covering her - she looked at her partner, "Don't you have something to say to Night-san, Felix?"
"Hmm... ah, I almost forgot..." He turned at Night, "I didn't get the chance to deliver this during our previous encounter... I have a message for your father from our Master..." All of us waited for him to speak up; the black smog had completely covered both of them and started vanishing into the thin air, but his voice was clear...
"Hide the greatest treasure of Fairy Tail... I'm coming for it."
Moments passed as the wind gently passed through us as we stood, all of us lost in our own thoughts... though I was sure one question was running through our brains...
"What the hell was that all about?"
A/N: Please tell me your opinions, whether it was okay, great, or sucked. By the way, the FT storyline is coming to its end (I think)... and I just hope that I'll be able to blend in this story with the canon plot. Also, I hope Ultear comes back; I got some pretty big position for her... it's sad. Ah, almost forgot... special cookies for The Liker and fairyofthelake for guessing the answers correctly! And next time somebody answer something right, they can make a particular request! So, anything you'd like me to consider?
Lucy: She's NOT dead... Makarov is though. Did my writing give the impression that Lucy's dead? Well, she's a popular writer and a good mother and just semi-retired.
Garry and Anne: I'm not sure whether they'll become couples, but the two of definitely can have a relationship. Actually, this pairing is a present for a dear friend of mine. I could officially make the two of them together if the readers would like me to.
Felix: The masked man's name is revealed! I disliked calling him that... the 'smog guy'. He and Rosalyn will appear again... you wanna keep your eyes on them, really.