Wow. Chapter 7 and no reviews, not even bad ones. This must be some kind of record. Still, to the two people who have favourited my story, thank you so much, I love you :)
I'm ridiculously slow to update, but I'm enjoying writing as a break from the madness that is my life. I'm also messing around with an idea for a GaLe AU thing, since my little one shot keeps getting views
As ever, I own nothing. Enjoy!
Lumia arrived at the guild early with Erza. The red haired mage had took it upon herself to get the younger girl set up with a room and had spent the rest of the night taking care of her. This had ended up with all the other girls in the dorm getting involved; and stories had spread about how Kayla had so brazenly abandoned the young girl. She was a lot happier this morning having spent the night having an impromptu slumber party, but now that morning had arrived she was a little nervous about what it would bring
Marci, together with Lucy and Natsu, were the next to arrive. By this point Gray had somehow lost his pants. Natsu had decided that this was the sort of problem that could only be solved by punching the Ice wizard really hard in the face. The Glyph mage stupidly walked into the middle of it, but was able to narrowly avoid the flying icicles and fireballs, dancing and crying the whole way before diving into a booth beside her young friend and shivering about how the whole thing was "Scary!"
Kayla was late.
While Lucy pulled Erza off to one side to tell her about last night's attack Marci decided to see how the younger girl was settling in.
"I love it at Fairy Hills! Everyone is so friendly. Wendy is the nicest person ever, and Juvia is really sweet as long as she thinks you're not a Love Rival. After Happy came by with the food you made me he stayed over and we all chatted about people's crushes" Lumia was glowing, watching as Gray and Natsu managed to punch each other square in the face, earning a double K.O. before a full blown guild hall brawl broke out. Juvia was there in an instant, tending to her beloved's wounds and using a paper fan she had produced from a back pocket to fan cool air towards him. The fact that the fan had 'Gray-Sama Love Love' and little pink hearts with hand drawn Gray faces in the middle all over it was enough to shock the downed Ice Wizard back to his senses.
Lumia smiled, "I totally ship Gruvia".
"Sounds like you had fun" Marci smiled, deciding not to worry the girl with news about her fight, "Wait, Juvia doesn't think you're a potential rival?"
"Gray-Sama! Wait! Juvia still needs to check you for concussions!" They heard the love struck water mage call out, as a vaguely Gray-shaped dust cloud appeared where the man had previously been. "Gray-Sama! Come back!"
"No, Juvia says I'm too young to be a threat. That and I said that she and Gray were the most perfect couple ever, I wanted to be flower girl at their wedding and that I liked Natsu better anyways"
"Don't let the NaLu shippers hear you say that" They both laughed at that.
"There is one thing though… Carla… started acting weird around me" said Lumia
"Weird how?"
"I don't know. She went really still and started saying something like 'not real'. But then she just went quiet and wouldn't sit near me" The girl's face fell.
That was when the door burst open. Three figures rushed in, a blue haired girl in the lead followed by two young men. Between them they were carrying a fourth, another girl. She was unconscious.
"Help us, she's hurt bad!" Levy McGarden, leader of Team Shadowgear, called out to her guild.
Erza was busy inspecting the remains of the book that Lucy had given her. With the cover ripped off it seemed that the foul smell had finally worn off. The figures were more visible in the pages too. So far Lucy had managed to make out six separate individuals, but she was unable to tell who they were or how to free them.
"And your attacker. He left after he took the decoy?" Erza questioned.
"Yeah. He didn't take the time to make sure he had the real thing. Once he got the fake he took off. Even Natsu couldn't find any trace of him," Lucy explained.
"And you say he used Glyph magic?"
"He had the tattoos. And when Marci tricked him into changing spells his eyes changed colours, there's no doubt about it" Lucy was explaining.
That was when they heard Levy's shout.
"We were in Hargeon finishing up a job" Levy was explaining to her assembled guild mates. "Then the weather started getting really bad, like a storm was coming in, then all this lightning started falling from the sky"
The girl was currently settled in the guild infirmary with Wendy attempting to heal her, and Carla helping as much as she could. Mira had brought the others downstairs to give them some much-needed space.
"At first, we thought that Laxus was fighting someone nearby" Jet added, while Droy was comforting himself from the experience with a plate of chicken legs. "Uh huh", he said between mouthfuls "But Laxus has way more control than this. Whoever it was had no clue what they were doing"
"We went to find the source of it, to find out what was happening. That was when we found her. I never got her name but she was using lightning magic. Badly. She had no idea how to control it" Levy finished.
"What was she fighting?" Asked Erza
"That's just it, I couldn't tell. From a distance it looked like a swarm of some kind of insect. But why would you need lightning to scare off a few bugs?" pondered the Script Mage.
"Did you say bugs?" called a small voice. Wendy had come out of the infirmary; she was holding Carla in her arms and looked near tears.
"Wendy! What happened? Is the girl ok?" Levy asked
"I'm so sorry. I did everything I could, but she won't wake up." said Wendy in a small sad voice.
"Don't he disheartened, you did your best" said the small white Exceed in her arms. "There were several small wounds on the girls arms that looked like insect bites. It's possible that these creatures you saw were venomous, and Wendy can't drive the poison out without knowing what it is. We should fetch Porlyursuca" Carla's tone was commanding.
While the rest of the guild began to discuss the new developments Marci pulled Lumia to one side. Levy had mentioned that the poisoned girl hadn't been able to control her powers, and her own experience last night with how badly she had underestimated her own flash step ability had started the gears turning in her head.
"Hey Lumia," she spoke in a hushed tone "Have you tried using your magic yet?"
"Not yet, no. Why?"
"Something just occurred to me. We need to find Kayla"
That was when the door burst open for the second time this morning, and another familiar figure came in dragging another unwilling body. The Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox, and his exceed partner Pantherlily strolled into the hall, dragging a struggling figure. A young boy this time, dressed in blue jeans and a short black jacket. No shirt or shoes, with a spikey black and red Mohawk. He was struggling against Gajeel's grasp, and would have been yelling too had the Dragon Slayer clearly not gotten sick of the noise and put a restraint over the boy's mouth
"Huh? Gajeel? Who's this?" A confused Mira spoke for everyone.
"A damn pain in my ass, that's who. Stupid brat was tryin' ta wreck half the damn town over some stupid bugs" Gajeel growled.
Maddock was furious. That idiot Marcella had made a fool out of him. She'd used the worthless cover of the book stuffed with newspapers to trick him! Him! He was twice the mage that moron girl was and she'd managed to deceive him! She was going to pay dearly for this.
Brando sat cool and unreadable by a desk. Looking at the tattered remains of Bosh's book. Maddock hated that man, but right now he needed him and his so-called guild. This was not the time.
"This is… most unfortunate" Brando spoke at last, running a hand through his pretty long hair and pouting his girly lips. Maddock wanted nothing more than to take his fists to the pretty boy's perfect face and mess it up beyond repair. His face betrayed none of this.
"A miscalculation on my part. I know who has the rest, and it would be my pleasure to tear that person to pieces" all the best lies have a small grain of truth in them. The only person Maddock hated more than pretty boy Brando with his fear of dying was that accursed thief Marcella.
"There is another way you know" a girlish voice spoke up. That girl from the noble family, the one with the maid who looked disgusted with everything. She was sitting in a soft looking chair by the fireplace with her guard dog stood behind her shoulder. "Wyndham has been so busy. He's found more of those fake people with his insects. He's got three of them all tied up and sleeping downstairs right now," She continued
"Lady Eustace is correct. While this… person has been occupied, Wyndham has been most productive" the maid sneered. Maddock wanted to ruin her ugly horse face too.
"Tell me, my dear Lady Eustace, what is this other way of which you speak" Even the way Brando spoke was irritating. Maddock kept his face neutral.
"Well, we've got enough people to begin, and Mr. Stinky knows what to do. Why don't I just pull the spells straight out of his head? Wyndham found four of the fake people in one night, so if Bosh's biggest problem was that he couldn't find the right ones we're already doing better than he ever did" Eustace acted as though she were discussing her favorite cake, not hatching some bloodthirsty plan.
Brando smiled."My lady, you are a genius"
Kayla was still late.
Makarov and Erza had taken charge of Gajeel's stray, who had identified himself by the name Xavier Blood Moon, and claimed to have magic that turned anything he touched into a weapon. He didn't know much else about himself beside the ridiculous name, which sounded kind of familiar to Marci and Lumia. Makarov had taken the boy to his office to discuss things. He only looked about ten years old.
They were standing by the request board and discussing where to begin looking for the absent so-called Darkness mage, when she strode through the door as if nothing had happened.
"And what did you losers do? Sleep on the floor here?" She snarked, completely oblivious to the morning's events; and to the dirty looks that the entire female population of the guild was giving her.
"Why you" Lumia began but was sharply cut off by Marci's hand across her mouth
"We made do, ha-ha," She laughed with her free hand behind her head. Kayla gave them both a blank look. "Whatever. What jobs are you looking at?"
"We actually hadn't started. There's something important we need to talk about. Have you tried using your magic yet?"
"What's it to you?"
"Well, there's a girl in the infirmary who couldn't control her magic"
"And what's that got to do with me?" Kayla scowled
"I tried a spell last night and it didn't go according to plan. So I'm asking you, have you tried out your magic yet?"
"No, I haven't, but I don't need to because I'm not stupid like you. I know that my magic will work perfectly. And I don't care about some no-hope moron in the infirmary. Now hurry up and pick a job"
Lumia was looking furious while Marci scanned the board. They needed something easy, since both Lumia and Kayla hadn't tested their powers yet. As she read the request Kayla was watching the guild. Her eyes went to the table where Levy had joined Gajeel and Lily, comparing notes about the bugs they both saw that morning, and a smile touched her lips.
"Ok, how about this one?" Marci picked up a flier. She snatched the paper from Marci's hand. It was a request for a simple mission guarding a delivery the next town over. The reward was low but the job wasn't expected to last longer than a day. Kayla's response to this was her trademark look of disgust.
"If we do things your way we'll never get anything done" Kayla condescended as she scanned the board for something more in keeping with her image. "I've been thinking, everything we've written so far has come true, right"
"Yeah, I guess"
"Ok, so if we play our stories out to the end that should do it. After all, once we run out of story there's nothing left to keep us here, now is there?"
Marci didn't answer. Lumia looked at her feet, worried about something. Kayla didn't notice, her attention was back on the Iron Dragon Slayer
"Now, since Mary-Sue there clearly didn't write anything beyond how 'amazing' she is and you've clearly written yourself into a no-hope background character role we'll just have to go with mine. I'm an S-Class wizard. I'd never be caught dead on the type of missions you two are looking at" With that she plucked a request from near the top of the board. Marci read it warily. It a request to drive a dark guild out of a small village in the mountains. "Now that that's all taken care of, there's something I need to do" She swept away.
"Ohhh, I hate her so much! Always talking down her nose and treating me like I'm not even here" Lumia fumed. Marci's attention was on the job flyer. While it wasn't the most difficult mission there was the three of them had never worked together before. Lumia hadn't even tried used her magic yet.
"Marci, can I ask you something?" Lumia said in a small voice, making the older girl snap out of her musings. "Is Kayla right? About playing out our stories?"
"I don't think so, there's too much weirdness going on. What's got you worried?"
"I.. I didn't… write much…" She started hesitantly. However, that was the moment that Kayla chose to lay across the table where Gajeel and Levy had been talking. "I'll be right back," Marci muttered, giving Lumia the paper and grabbing the first thing that she passed.
"My my! Aren't you handsome? I've been looking for someone like you," The dark haired girl was purring seductively. The Iron Dragon Slayer looked confused. Who was this weirdo? Levy and Lily had shocked looks on their faces at the brazen intruder. Marci ran up, hiding something behind her back. "The hell's goin' on?" Gajeel muttered
"KAYLA! I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING!"
"Huh. What is it you moron! Can't you see I'm busy!" Kayla fumed, sitting up to face the nuisance
"Here, hold this" The blond dropped the watermelon she'd grabbed into Kayla's arms.
"And what do you expect me to do with…" an evil glint was in the Glyph Mage's eye "ORA!" and platinum colored stars were dancing around Kayla's head.
"Hah! Look at that, it worked" Marci gave a pleased look to her punching hand, before collecting the watermelon and grabbing her unwilling teammate by the back of her collar. The three sat at the table had no clue what they were watching as the spiky headed girl bowed in apology.
"I am so sorry for my friend, she clearly didn't know what she was doing and I am so sorry that she bothered you. Err… I better go put this back, fruit like this makes for a great distraction but isn't just lying around for no good reason" She babbled, backing away from the Dragon Slayer and dragging the unconscious grouch with her
"Tch, Whatever Spiky Head. Just keep that friend of yours outta my way"
"You punched Kayla! And you got a nickname from Gajeel!" Lumia looked awed
"Err…yeah… We better move fast before she wakes up. Where was the job she wanted? Maybe that'll cheer her up"
"It's a mountain village called Havill. If we get the train we can be there by noon!" Lumia was bouncing with either excitement or nervous energy. Marci couldn't tell.
"MIRA! We're taking a job!" the two of them called over to the barmaid. Lumia ran up with the paper while Marci carried Kayla.
"Wait, do you have a team name yet?" Mira asked
"Oh! I know! Night and Day! Since Kayla's magic is darkness and mine is light!" Lumia smiled.
"Ok, Team Night and Day. Have fun on your mission" Mira smiled at them as they ran for the train station, hoping to reach it before Kayla woke up.
A.N - Massive massive thanks and all my love to Ginger The Espeon. Not only for my first review but for bringing to my attention that I'd made a few mistakes in my editing. Turns out I'd fallen foul of that annoying thing where my document got filled with code and in my haste to edit it out before publishing I missed a few bits. Thank you Ginger, I may never have noticed if it weren't for you :)
