Attack, Stop, Attack Again
Bickslow glanced over at the mage they had pretty much dragged out of the swamp just to get her back to Akane. Evergreen had hustled the both of them into her hotel room as soon as they'd gotten back. Odd for Ever to be acting so girl-friendly, but she had. After that, Bickslow had seen her dragging Adamine into the shops downstairs to shop for some clothes to replace the tattered ones.
Now, the dragon slayer was sporting a look obviously made by the fashion freak Evergreen herself. She sported a fifties pin up look. Her wavy brown hair was wrapped up into her camo bandana like a headband. Then Evergreen had somehow got the camo wearing slayer into a polka dotted dress that flowed around Adamine's taut legs. Ever even had a pair of strappy black heels to replace the Stoner's mud caked combat boots. All in all, the slayer was sexy in a vintage kind of way Bickslow never knew he had a thing for.
Yeah, travelling back to Magnolia with her in their company wasn't going to be a hardship.
Still, Adamine didn't look happy about the turn of events. She'd been adamant- ha- about not going with them. Had Freed not mentioned the library possibly having something to deal with Fiore's portals, she probably would have ditched them at the soonest opportunity.
For some reason, Bickslow couldn't keep himself from looking at her. It wasn't because he thought she was hot. Well, there was that, but it was that sense of familiarity about her. In the bog Bickslow had felt like he'd fought with her before. He felt like he knew the moves she used. The whole time she'd been fighting, he had been able to guess her attacks like he knew her as well as his poltergeists.
Weird.
Then, she had stood next to him in the train station. Her scent was evergreen woods, freshwater lakes, and familiar. Bickslow had never known his sense of smell was so developed. And, his totem, the first one he'd ever gotten, hadn't stopped hovering close to her as they'd waited for the train.
Adamine ruined Bickslow's speculation when she let out a pathetic moan. Her body lurched forward, and Bickslow arched a brow. She'd been completely fine just a second ago… Wait… Was she? Did she have motion sickness? Sure enough, Bickslow glanced out the window and snickered. Yup. The train was jetting forward to Magnolia.
"I'm gunna die," Adamine groaned. Her face had flushed green, and she gracelessly rested her head between her knees. The dress Evergreen had picked out for her hiked up high on her muscular thighs, and judging by the scarlet running across Freed's face, he was getting the panty shot of a lifetime.
Bickslow snickered, "Looking a little hot, Freed. Something catch your eye?" Underneath his visor, his dark blue brow rose. His dolls chimed, "Catch your eye?"
Flustered, Freed jerked his eyes towards Bickslow's hidden face. "I have no idea as to what you're talking about, Bickslow." He crossed his leg over another and tuned his head towards Laxus who wasn't faring much better than Adamine. At least, he was handling it better.
Laxus was leaned uncomfortably against the train. His head rested with his hands covering his face with a shadow. Had anyone looked at him, he would just look pissed off. To the Raijinshuu he looked extremely uncomfortable.
Typically, Laxus would travel on foot instead of even taking the train, but for some reason he wanted to get back to Magnolia quickly. He likely thought that the stoner was going to bolt. Still, Bickslow didn't get why Laxus wanted Adamine to join them so bad.
Yeah, she was strong. She was beautiful. Not in a drop dead gorgeous way like Mirajane, but in a more timeless way with a face and body that could match any time or style. Laxus had enough girls chasing him around to not be worried about the opposite sex, so it must have been the way she fought that caught his eye. That and she, other than Natsu, was a dragon slayer. She could be valuable to the guild. Especially when Laxus took over the position of master.
The only reason Bickslow had taken an interest in her was something altogether different. He knew this girl somehow. She was a foreigner from Lancet, like himself and Evergreen, and while neither one of them knew their last names, this girl did. Had she escaped like he and Evergreen had? The longer that Bickslow hung around her, the more the fog began to lift from his memories.
He could remember more faces, subtle conversations. He remembered playing with a shadowy person shorter than him. From the silhouette Bickslow could make out feminine curves and long, flowing hair. Her soul was a vibrant green that glistened whenever she laughed and burned when she was mad. The same as this girl's did…
"You keep staring at her like that, and you'll drill holes into the side of her head," Evergreen growled. She sounded jealous? Was it because she was no longer the only female the Raijinshuu and Laxus hung around?
Bickslow cast a wide grin, and his tongue lolled off the side of his face. "Is somebody jealous? Do you think she's pretty? Do you wish that Laxus had told you that you were strong?" Bickslow jested, riling her up easily.
A fan slapped him upside the head, and his marked tongue slithered back into his mouth at the strike. "Shut up! I am not jealous!" In a lower tone she stated, "I don't get why Laxus wants her to come with us. It doesn't make any sense." Ah. There was jealousy in her words. Bickslow knew it! Ha. Ha. Ten points to him.
Suddenly, Freed popped up. His green hair appeared from nowhere, and Evergreen jumped at the sudden intrusion on their whispered conversation. "I've been wondering the same thing," Freed explained of himself while looking over his shoulder at the two motion sick mages.
Bickslow's eyes followed. Had Laxus moved closer to the mage and was that his grey eyes scowling this way at the Raijinshuu?
Laxus snarled. Damn them. Damn them for sneaking off to go whispering while he couldn't do anything but try not to embarrass himself from his degrading motion sickness. He knew exactly what they were whispering about, but he couldn't do a single thing about it.
Instead, he focused his attention on his newest addition to Fairy Tail, or so he hoped. Adamine wasn't even trying to hide her motion sickness. She had stretched out on her back and held her mouth with one hand while gripping her stomach with another. A few people on the train were casting her concerned glances, but when anyone dared to approach her, Laxus gave them a sneer that had them backing up a few steps.
It wasn't like there was anything they could do to help her, but even if they could Laxus didn't want anyone messing with the mage. Despite her moaning about her eminent demise, she was eavesdropping on the Raijinshuu. Not only that, but the cunning female was eyeing her surroundings for potential enemies.
An immigrant wouldn't be so high strung about people trying to hunt her down. Laxus knew enough about the mage immigrants that were sent over the sea to know that the Lancet navy stopped trying to hunt them down once they passed through the border.
Makarov frequently helped the immigrant children find foster homes when they were smuggled past the border. It wasn't exactly legal in the Kingdom of Fiore to smuggle mages in, but there weren't many people hunting them down to send them back home. Lots of citizens fostered the children and took care of them until they were old enough to get jobs and live on their own as members of Fiore. It would take someone real important for Lancet to want an immigrant back.
So, who was she? What was her story? She could be anything from a nobleman's daughter to a princess of the kingdom. Mavis, he could only hope she wasn't a criminal. There were rumors of powerful mages who wreaked havoc on the kingdom and were sentenced to death when they were found. The bounties for such mages were so high even guilds, dark and not, from Fiore would be after them.
Adamine didn't look like a criminal, but a criminal of Lancet was likely a good person. Many mages rebelled against the magic-less monarchs that suppressed them. Perhaps, she was one of those mages. She was strong enough to be one.
Just then, something caught Laxus's eye, and her jerked his gaze up to a man that had slipped past his guard. He made a move to get up to intervene, but his accursed motion sickness had him falling right back down on his ass.
"Miss?" a gentlemanly voice spoke to Adamine. She cracked open one of her emerald eyes and tilted her head at the man. "H-hello, you looked to be in a lot of pain, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help?" The man cast an easy smile, but Adamine didn't look to be buying it for one second. Good girl.
Warily, she rose to press her back against the side of the train. "I-I'm fine," she grumbled out.
The man didn't seem impressed with her tough act. "May I sit with you then? I'm a mage. Perhaps, I specialize in healing magic. If you would like for me to, I can help you get over your motion sickness."
Adamine's lips pursed. She looked ready to turn the man down, but at the last second she moved her feet off the bench and nodded.
"Thank you," the stranger said to her.
Adamine just glanced away from him. "Think that you can- urp- fix… this?"
"Of course. Now, relax, and I'll handle everything. Okay?" Adamine nodded, and once she rested herself more comfortably in the chair, the mage began to weave spells in front of her.
The man apparently had caught the eye of Bickslow, and the Seith mage shifted in his seat. If anyone could find out that this man was up to no good, it was Bickslow. He could read a man's soul and be able to tell if the guy had good intentions or not. By the low whisper he was giving Freed, it was apparent this guy was up to something.
Immediately, Bickslow stood. He left his seat beside Evergreen and went back to his old place in front of Adamine. "What do you think you're doing?" Bickslow asked of the gentleman with the spiky blonde hair pulled into a pony tail.
"I'm helping this young lady get over her motion sickness. Why do you ask?" The man arched a blonde brow without looking away from Adamine. His hand moved, and Adamine's eyes suddenly flashed wide.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She tried to jump up and away, but her body was immobile.
Bickslow zeroed in on her reaction and quickly leaped from his seat. His fist was heading straight for the mage's grinning face until it hit nothing but leather. The seat buffered Bickslow fist, but the mage had tossed Adamine into his arms.
"Sorry, fella, but this is my stop," blondie informed. He was about to leap through a window until his face smacked headlong into one of Freed's runes. "The hell?"
"Looks like you aren't going anywhere, punk. Now, put the girl down, and we might let you get out without a few broken bones," Bickslow threatened. He took a step closer.
Thank the Raijinshuu for being here because Laxus would have been thoroughly screwed if it would have been just him. This stupid motion sickness made him as pathetic as flame brain.
"Ha. I don't think so. Do you even know who this girl is? If you did, you'd be handing her over to me with a bow on her head. Now, you let me take this girl back where she belongs, and I'll leave you without a few broken bones?" The man backed up a step, but when Freed stood beside Bickslow, he cursed. "Don't say I didn't warn ya. Wind Magic: Boreas!"
A wall of wind shot up in front of the mage, and it thrust forward to smash Freed and Bickslow against the wall. The powerful blast pinned them to the spot, and just when the man thought he was going to be in the sliding path, Evergreen snapped, "Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"
Particles of glowing light surrounded the mage before exploding all around him. Adamine's body was caught up in the blast, and Laxus growled, "You couldn't have missed her?" His reply was a wicked grin.
Laxus's body pressed up against the side of the seat, but he was thrown back when breaks were slammed down on the train. Everyone was sent flying backwards, and Laxus nearly threw up then and there until he was crushed against Freed and Bickslow. "Who the hell throws the breaks on right- Ugh!" Laxus clamped his hand down on his lurching mouth.
The blonde mage holding a damaged Adamine in his arms just sneered. On one knee he commanded, "Wind Magic: Spiral Thrust!" The man opened his eyes up, ready to launch the attack at Evergreen, but her fairy dust had filled his vision. Blindly, the man released the spell to slam it against waiting Laxus. Quickly, he ducked out of the way with the males of the Raijinshuu right behind him.
"Go, my babies!" Bickslow announced. His babies went into their customary formation to launch a shot out. It smashed a faded against a blast of wind.
The man looked pleased with himself as he rose from the floor, but Evergreen came up behind him. Her leg roundhouse kicked him to the other side of the train where passengers scattered. "Damn it, Fairy Tail!" some of them cursed to no avail.
Still, the man didn't seem ready to give up, and Adamine was still somehow paralyzed even though the train had stopped. Had he done that to her?
Evergreen didn't have time to worry about it. She had to get the damsel in distress away from the blonde mage. Deciding to miss Adamine this time, Evergreen stated, "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Her waves of fairy magic slammed into the mysterious mage, and Adamine's body rolled uselessly to the ground. Once the man's grip on her was released, Adamine rose to slam her knee into the mage.
"Get bent, Lancet scum!" Adamine roared when the man was shot upwards from her blow. His body crashed through the top of the train and with a finishing blow Adamine cried, "Roar of the Adamantine Dragon!" A blast of wind and tiny diamonds projected from her roaring lips to blast the man so high into the sky that he sparkled before he faded out of sight.
Her chest heaved from exertion, but it didn't last long. Even though Evergreen was shooting daggers at her for having stolen her thunder, Adamine turned on her heel to Laxus, Freed, and Bickslow who had taken the brunt of the attack.
She looked ready to bolt. Her eyes were haunted as if from some kind of past memory, and just when she sputtered, "I-I-I've got to g-get out of here" Evergreen snatched her by her defined bicep to smash her against the side of the train.
"No, way, dragon breath! You're going to sit down, shut up, and tell me just why in the matter of five hours you've been attacked by something again!" Evergreen's voice brokered no argument, and Adamine's mouth parted to snarl. A kind of fiery aura seemed to seethe between the two women and when Freed tried to step in, both of them snapped, "You stay out this!"
Ah, I love how Adamine and Evergreen hate each other. It's kind of cute. Well, to me it is. I like it. What about you?
Tell me what you think in a review. I would love to hear from you. Also, if you want to read some more about Adamine, check out my story Tablet and A Tome. Also, Magical Massacre is my last Adamine story. I hope you enjoy. :)