Walking Cliche

by SwiftDragonfly

The oldest cliché in Fanfiction history: A girl from the real world is transported to Earthland, home to Fairy Tail and other magical wonders. Confused, lost, and trying frantically to find a way home, an unlikely character takes an interest in her. Bickslowxoc, Bickslow x oc.

12. Chapter 12

Walking Cliché 12

Motherfucker

"Excuse me," A young boy spoke, tugging on a random woman's skirt and looking up at her with big brown eyes. They were in the middle of a crowded plaza, with lines of people walking passed them towards one of the many shops and restaurants, and the shopper had almost missed the tug on her skirt. "Can you tell me where Fairy Tail is?" He said with a pout, holding his free hand against his chest and gripping the pink fabric.

"It's clear across town. Where are your parents?" She asked, ignoring the annoyed groan from her boyfriend and crouching down to eye level with him.

"I-I'm trying to find my uncle. He's a Fairy Tail superhero."

1.

Claire sighed, briefly glaring at the stupid Guild Master across the shitty Guild Hall… again.

Everyone in the guild is training for the Grand Magic Games, even people that won't even be participating, except for me. I had to be one of the stupid people to 'hold down' the stupid 'fort' while they enjoy 3 free months at beach resorts, camping, training….

"Well I can't have all of my wizards training. Who will work and take care of the Guild Hall? From what Bacchus told me of your missions with him, your training with him was more valuable than any of the training the other wizards are doing."

Even Mirajane was gone to train with her siblings.

The only plus side was that the old man hinted at giving her an S-Ranked job to do on her own, and also hinted that he may make her one of the participants of the games. The first part she liked because it would be a big paycheck, but she also didn't want to do a job of that level on her own. She technically wasn't an S-Ranked wizard yet, despite her limited training and sheer amount of magic she possessed, and it worried her that her 'friends' would overestimate her abilities someday and get her killed.

Being in the Grand Magic Games was something she definitely didn't want. She remembered what happens when Lucy fights the crazy red head. How Wendy and Carla got their asses kicked right before the preliminaries. How Laxus gets ganged up on by an entire vengeful guild.

Ultimately she was just crabby because she wouldn't see her boyfriend for 3 months. It was only day 2 and she missed him terribly.

Time moved freakishly slow when there was nothing to do, and the Guild Hall was empty except for the two mages: Claire and Makarov. Makarov was busy doing paperwork while drinking. Claire was drinking and reading about seith magic.

As her bored gaze wandered around the empty Guild Hall, her thoughts returned to what would happen at the Grand Magic Games.

Then it occurred to her.

They don't have to happen.

After a moment of mental deliberation she looked over at the Guild Master again, noticing that his gaze had wandered to the window, likely bored of his endless paperwork.

"Hey Makarov, want to know what happens at the games?" She asked with a smirk, startling him out of his thoughts.

"How do you mean?" He asked curiously, likely hoping that her story would be a good distraction.

"I can see the future, and I know what happens at the Grand Magic Games. Do you want to know what happens, or wait and see it for yourself?"

One of his large eyebrows raised, eyeing the young girl for a moment before sporting a matching smirk. "You can see the future, huh?"

"Yeah. But I should warn you, if I told you what I've seen it would alter the future and I'd have no telling of how it would change. Once I've seen something I can't see the altered version until it actually happens."

"Assuming you don't tell me anything. Will we win the games?"

"Yes, but it'll be messy, and a lot of our friends will get hurt in the process. I could tell you how to avoid some of those… foot holes, but there's no telling if we'll still win."

"In other words, it's a gamble." He said, a mischievous glint in his eye that she was beginning to recognize. "It could also be interpreted as cheating."

Both wizards turned at the sound of the door opening, not expecting any guests or wizards at that hour. It was only 2 in the afternoon, but since everyone left to train (or the few volunteered to stay) or weren't expected to be back from a job so soon, both of them were surprised by the sound.

Claire blinked at the two guests, only recognizing the small brunette crying with his hands fidgeting in front of him. A woman she didn't know, looking to be in her mid thirties, looked between the two wizards awkwardly for a moment with her hand on the boy's shoulder. She was dressed in a simple white and blue skirt and top, with her light brown hair pulled loosely back in a braid.

"Can we help you?" Makarov asked her.

"Is this Fairy Tail?" She asked meekly.

"Yes. Are you here to request a job?"

"No, actually, I found this boy wandering downtown looking for his uncle. He says that he works here, and at first I accidentally took him to the old Fairy Tail headquarters…."

"Michael?" Claire asked, causing the boy to look up at her. He immediately ran from the woman's side towards the checker woman, jumping into her arms and being lifted to sit on her hip. "What were you doing in downtown by yourself? Where's your mom?" She asked, but he immediately dug his face in the nape of her neck, continuing to cry.

"I wanted to take him to the police so that they could locate his parents, but he almost bolted when I brought it up, so I didn't know what else to do."

"We'll take care of him, don't worry. I'm friends with his uncle." Claire spoke as she walked towards the white and blue woman. "Thank you for bringing him here, I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"I'm just glad he's in good hands. I need to get going, but you will take care of him, right?"

"Of course. Thank you again."

"Just make sure he doesn't wander off again." She said with a kind smile, and both Claire and Makarov waved her off.

"So that's Bickslow's nephew?" Makarov asked, and when Claire looked at him, saw that he was going into grandfather mode. He was getting the same look in his eye and tone in his voice that he used around Bisca and Alzack's daughter, Asuka.

"Yeah." She said, walking over to the old man's table. "Makarov, meet Michael. Michael, meet Makarov, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail."

"Did someone scare you, Michael?" Makarov asked softly.

Michael nodded in the girl's arms, but wouldn't look at him.

"Would a bowl of chocolate ice cream make you feel better?" He asked, and chuckled when the boy nodded. "I'll go get you some. Why don't you both sit down and get comfortable." He said with a wink, and jumped down from his seat to go into the kitchen.

Claire removed the boy from her arms slowly, setting him down on the vacant chair at the table and taking a seat next to him. "Where's your mom, Michael?"

He didn't say anything, simply staring down at his hands fidgeting in his lap.

"Makarov makes some of the best chocolate ice cream in the city. You're going to love it." She said with a smile, hoping to cheer him up before questioning him further. Makarov soon returned with a massive bowl of ice cream with a cherry on top, handing it to the young boy and chuckling again at his reaction.

"That's huge." He said, absolutely amazed.

"Dig in." Makarov told him, and the boy didn't need to be told twice, immediately grabbing the spoon and making the first indentation with the metal object. "If that's not enough, I've got an entire freezer dedicated to chocolate ice cream in the back."

Claire suddenly frowned, staring into empty space to the side of Michael, sensing a wandering soul near him. Upon noticing her suddenly glum reaction, Makarov looked in the direction she was staring, wondering what she was looking at.

Noticing that both of them were looking in the soul's direction, the boy's face lit up again. "You guys can see him too!?"

"… see who?" The Guild Master asked, confused.

"I can't see or hear him, but I can sense him. Is that soul the reason why you were scared?" The fire woman asked, looking back down at the hopeful boy. He nodded.

"Th-that's why I wanted t-to find uncle Bickslow!"

"What's going on?" The Guild Master asked, causing the woman's blue eyes to shift to him again.

"Bickslow can see dead people. It's a genetic thing, so his nephew can see it too. Since I'm around Bickslow so often I can sense souls in the immediate area, but I can't see or hear them unless they're in a vessel." She explained, and the old man nodded in understanding.

"Just being around Bickslow allows you to sense them? I don't think I've heard of that happening before."

"When his souls touch my skin I can feel a weird vibration, thing, and since they like to cuddle, I've gotten sensitive to it. Also my last mission involved poltergeists that clung to me like no tomorrow, making me further sensitive to wandering souls."

"Can you make him go away?" Michael asked, looking up at the fire woman with chocolate ice cream on the corners of his mouth.

"The soul?" She clarified, and he nodded. "My experience with wandering souls is pretty limited…"

"Can Uncle Bickslow make him go away?"

"Bickslow is training with his team for the next few months." She said, and watched the boy's big brown eyes start watering up again. "But I have been working with him a lot lately, and I was just doing research on his magic. Maybe I can find a solution to your little problem." She said with a wink, happy when his frown turned upside down.

"What do you plan to do?" Makarov asked curiously. "Messing with wandering souls can be very dangerous."

"What we do depends on what our wandering soul is like." She said with another wink in his direction. "Michael, why don't you tell us about him?"

"He's mean." He said, digging into the still large pile of chocolate ice cream. "He won't leave me alone."

"What's his name?"

"Sky."

"Hey Sky, why don't you take a seat?" Claire asked, pulling out a chair for him next to her and patting the wooden seat. She hoped that not only would it make the wandering soul more comfortable, but it would create some distance and make the boy more comfortable. "I can't see or hear you, so I hope you don't mind me asking Mike a few questions about you. Ideally I'd like to work out a situation where all of us are happy."

"He doesn't want to sit." Michael muttered.

"That's okay. If you change your mind later you're welcome to come sit by me." She told him, looking in his general direction. "How old is he?"

As she continued questioning Michael and the wandering soul, Sky, Makarov watched Claire carefully. The woman had always been a mystery since she joined Fairy Tail, and since her first day at the guild he's kept an eye on her because of her strange magic. He'd learned tidbits about her being from another world and having dragon magic, but overall, he felt like he knew little to nothing about her.

Unlike most of the other wizards at his guild she wasn't outspoken or forward with her hobbies and interests, and when she was at the Guild Hall she was usually reading and taking notes. She was a lot like Mystogan in a way, but slightly more open. Her socializing was pretty limited to the Thunder Legion, who although he was glad they were being more friendly to the other mages, he was still suspicious about the group ever since the 'Batttle of Fairy Tail'. Not only did he have his suspicions, but the fact that they recruited another mage that's so powerful worried him, and he couldn't help but be anxious about the prospect of his grandson trying to seize power at the expense of innocent lives… again.

Bacchus had told him that she killed 9 terrorists with her magic, and seemed to be holding something back when he spoke to him. The woman seemed much more together than he would have thought after the mission, and in all his years couldn't recall a time when a mage in his guild 'positively' handled the aftermath of killing someone, regardless of the circumstances. He originally guessed that she just wasn't dealing with it, but she appeared perfectly fine, and when he talked to Laxus he said she was fine. "Apparently her and Bickslow are doing this thing where they're brutally honest with each other, or something. If something is wrong she'll talk to him."

And then what Evergreen told him made him further worried. "A woman died in her arms, and she… she didn't even bat an eye. There was blood everywhere, and after she died, she got up like nothing had happened and started talking about the job again. I looked at her eyes and saw nothing."

But he realized all of that was second hand information and simple speculation. It had dark implications, but he tried to not let it cloud his judgment. In actuality Claire had been a hard worker, polite to the other guild members, and did her best to do everything by the books. Compared to the other mages she caused very little damage on her jobs, and as a result kept more of her rewards, along with fewer headaches for the Guild Master.

So even though she was new to the guild, he had made her one of the participants in the S-Class trials. The rumor of her fighting a dragon was the perfect excuse he needed to look closer at her abilities, and what better way to ascertain her true power and intentions than having her fight one of his S-Class mages? If people thought she fought a dragon, of course she'd be considered to be an S-Class mage. Granted the exams were interrupted, but he heard about her attempt to save her comrades and saw the resulting injuries himself. That was enough to give her the benefit of the doubt, and Guildarts had nothing bad to say about her, other than she was simply an inexperienced fighter with a lot of raw power.

And now, as he watched her talk to Bickslow's nephew, he couldn't help but wonder if she was simply used to being around death at this point. Maybe that would explain Evergreen's concern and Claire's indifference to killing people, or at least skill at hiding whatever she really felt on the issue. Recalling her previous jobs and affiliations, one of her first jobs with Bacchus involved burning zombies, which were basically animated corpses with no souls. Her last job with him involved killing 9 people. Her boyfriend had wandering (dead) souls who interacted with her so often that she actually gained a new 'sense', and Laxus had told him about Bickslow's screw up with the charms, which left her a poltergeist/wandering soul magnet through Death Forest. According to his grandson she was covered in bruises and scratches from head-to-toe as a result, and has yet to complain openly about it.

And then according to Evergreen, a woman died in her arms.

Most of what he knew about her was second-hand information, so he had cleverly devised this situation to get to know her better. Of course he had no idea Michael would show up, but he had figured that 3 months in a room with someone would lead to some one-on-one interaction.

"What about superheroes?" Makarov interrupted, causing the pair to look up at him.

"His favorite superhero can fly, just like his uncle." Claire explained. "I told him that wizards at Fairy Tail are like superheroes, and in Bickslow's case, his souls are like his side kicks."

Makarov laughed at the mental image that resulted, of Bickslow running around in tights and his little floating totems wearing small capes. Given that he had never seen the seith mage without his visor, the idea of him wearing a mask was oddly fitting.

"So what is Bickslow's superhero name?" He asked, looking between the smiling pair.

"Hmm… I don't know. What do you think, Michael? What would be a good superhero name for Bixy?"

"Umm… Awesome Man?" The boy suggested between bites of his disappearing ice cream. "Super Soul Man?"

"'Super Soul Man'?" Claire asked. "I like it. What do you think?" She asked, turning back to the Guild Master.

"I think 'Super Soul Man' is perfect. I also think his souls would look good with some capes."

"Sounds like it could be a fun activity." She commented, catching onto what he was suggesting.

"I have some fabric and sewing supplies in the back. Have you ever sewn before, Mike?"

"That's a girl thing." Michael said with a giggle.

"No, it's an important skill for any person to have, even strong men like us."

After a little more convincing on Makarov's part, he finally convinced the young man to go with him to the back room of the Guild Hall, where he kept supplies for child arts and crafts. While they did that, Claire brought her book over to their table, flipping through it for a solution to the 'Sky problem'.

As she returned to her seat, she was surprised to sense the soul sitting in the chair she had offered earlier.

"Warming up to me, huh?" She asked the empty space, and upon no response, she awkwardly went back to the text. She thought that she couldn't sense anything dark or 'evil' from the wandering soul, but she was hardly an expert. Sighing, she wished that her boyfriend was there, and winced as her chest randomly twitched in pain. Bruises and scratches still covered her body from her recent job with the man.

2.

After Makarov and Michael had finished making capes for Bickslow's souls, and even made the cutest card for him to go with it, Claire decided to give the boy one of Bickslow's many charms. The only other solutions she found in the text required spells and advanced seith magic, all of which ran the risk of turning this relatively harmless soul into a poltergeist if performed incorrectly.

The charm, which was the same as the one she possessed, would make Michael less of a 'magnet' for wandering souls. It wouldn't make them go away entirely, but they would be less frequent in their visits and less drawn to him.

Getting the charm to him required going to Bickslow's apartment, which she felt a little bad for taking Mike there without cleaning up or his uncle's permission, but hoped he wouldn't mind. It didn't seem like something he would get upset about, but she tried to limit their time there nonetheless.

Drop off the capes/card, grab the charm, and then walk to the police station.

Sky kept walking with them, but Michael seemed less bothered by it now. As they walked down the street hand in hand, the wandering soul floated behind them, simply observing the pair.

As they passed by an animal shelter, several dogs on the window sill started barking at them, making Michael jump and hide behind Claire.

"Sorry Mike, animals aren't a fan of me, for some reason. Ghosts they're fine with, but me they absolutely hate." She explained, recalling the several instances of walking down streets or doing jobs, and having various animals either attack or scream at her. On her planet they would do that around ghosts, but no- on this world they were perfectly fine with dead people.

"Wh-why?" The boy clinging to the hem of her shirt asked, peering behind them at the still barking dogs that jumped on the window and tried to escape to run them down. Claire couldn't help but chuckle at the confused employees inside, who tried to calm down the suddenly energetic animals.

"It's probably my magic. I used to have a parasite inside of me that altered my magic and body, which caused some permanent damage. Either that, or animals just don't like dragon magic." She said, honestly not sure which was the true cause, but easily believing either explanation.

"So you can't have any pets?"

"I never thought about it, but yeah. If I ever got one, it would try to kill me on a daily basis." She said, oddly amused by the idea of a small kitten trying to attack her every time she came home. A murderous turtle would be a pretty entertaining sight. "Do you have any pets?"

"I had a pet bunny once… but it died…"

"I'm sorry, that must have been hard for you to lose him." She said softly, and upon arriving at the police station, took a deep breath. Last time she was with the small boy and got the police involved, Bickslow was almost arrested for 'kidnapping', and she didn't have as many witnesses to back her up like last time.

Entering the small police station, she was surprised at how empty it was. In the first room of the station a woman was sitting behind a sheet of glass, looking bored as she did a crossword puzzle. Several empty chairs lined the wall, and upon their arrival the woman in uniform looked up at them, setting down her pen.

"Can I help you two?" She asked, and by the tone in her voice, Claire guessed that she'd already gotten on her bad side. Her Fairy Tail emblem was extremely visible on her shirt, and her guild didn't have the best reputation with authorities.

"This is my friend's nephew, Michael." Claire spoke, trying to put on her best smile as she moved Mike to stand in front of him, both of her hands on his shoulders. "Someone brought him to my guild today, saying that they found him wandering downtown on his own. I'd like to get him back to his mom, but I have no idea where she lives, and she and I aren't on the best of terms."

"What's her name?"

"Sh-Sharon Meyers…" Michael mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"Wait, your name is Michael Meyers?" Claire asked incredulously, looking down at the little brunette. He just nodded, keeping his eyes on his shoes as they shifted awkwardly.

"Ms. Meyers, living on 45 Lampkin Lane. I don't see any recent missing child reports on our database." The police woman informed her, and Claire looked up in surprise at the computer like screen floating in front of her. "It appears that there have been quite a few incidents of this happening, though. Would you like an officer to escort him to his home, or would you like to do it yourself?"

"… Both? Last time this happened his uncle was almost arrested for a false kidnapping claim, so I would like to stay with Mike, but having an officer with me would be appreciated." She spoke, already hating her decision. Not having the best history with law enforcement she knew the long walk to his home would be brutal.

Not to mention she was currently standing behind Michael freaking Meyers.

3.

Several hours later, she found herself back at the Guild Hall, exhausted and ready for a drink. Since Mira wasn't there she simply went behind the bar and grabbed a cold hard cider to drink, and then made her way back over to the Guild Master.

"Sorry for being gone so long. I didn't expect it to take up so much time." She apologized, noticing that the paperwork was absent from the table. In its place was glitter and fabric from their earlier arts and crafts, and a few new fabric dolls to the side.

"Is Michael home and safe?"

"Home, yes. Safe… I have no idea. We walked in on their mom shooting up something… crocodile, I think is what they called it? And after arresting her, had to deal with crying kids, and then it turned out that her sister was there, drunk, and started yelling and throwing things, so the police guy had to call for back up…."

"Sounds like quite the evening." Makarov commented.

"And now the kids are with their grandparents, who hate Mike because of his gift. Oh, and it turns out that Bixy's parents aren't dead, like his sisters had told him, so he's going to love that."

"Do you want to call Bickslow and let him know?" He asked, and Claire paused mid drink.

Gulping down the liquid, she leaned in slightly. "You guys have phones on this world?"

"I have a communication lacrima, and so does Laxus. It's in my office if you'd like to use it."

"Mind if I use it in an hour, after I've calmed down a little? My mind is still racing over everything that just happened."

"Sure." He replied, and took a sip of his beer, still eyeing her. "Did the charm help him?"

"Yeah." She said with a heavy sigh, and glanced back at the dolls to the side of the table. "What's with the dolls?"

"I made them for Asuka." He explained, and picked one of them up. Claire couldn't help but be impressed by his handiwork; it looked like a professional doll you could buy in a shop.

"They look really nice. How'd you learn to make them?"

"My son taught me. When he was a kid he loved sewing, and in order to make him feel less self-conscious about it, I learned it, too. I made tons of these for Laxus when he was the same age, but he liked playing with them more than making them."

"Laxus liked playing with dolls?" Claire asked, grinning as she reached over to pick up a small doll shaped like a frog.

"Don't tell him I said it, but yes."

"No promises." She replied, and noticed that the frog had something inside its mouth. Reaching inside, she found that there were several baby frogs inside of it. "Oh, now that is cute."

"Asuka loves frogs."

"She's going to love it." She said, and returned the small frogs to their original position, going back to her drink and admiring the other 5 dolls. "My sister had a similar hobby. She absolutely loved kids and making fabric dolls like this, and they weren't nearly as nice, but she made them anyway. She had an entire room in her house dedicated to stuffed animals and other random creations."

"You had a sister?"

"Two sisters, and three brothers. Kelsey was the epitome of 'girly girl', and was married before we left. She'd been trying to get pregnant for two years."

"Where is she now?"

"She appeared in this world 30 years before I did, and in that time turned into an assassin for dark guilds. Last time I saw her she was trying to kill me back on Tenrou Island." She explained, and as she talked, suspected that the Guild Master was purposely trying to get information on her. Having never seen him act so calm and well mannered, it actually weirded her out a little. "So what was the real reason you asked me to stay behind?"

The old man chuckled, setting down the doll in his hand. "I already told you. I needed a strong mage to hold down the fort."

"But why not ask Mira or Laxus? Or even Erza?"

"Because I haven't been hearing troubling rumors about them." He replied, and she nodded, sighing and taking another sip of the cool liquid. It calmed her nerves a little, but she was still frazzled from her encounter with Bickslow's family, and Makarov had a history of being sadistic with his guild members when he wanted to be. "I thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know a new member of Fairy Tail."

"Asking me out for coffee would have been easier." She commented.

"What's coffee?"

"It's a drink on my world. You guys are really missing out, because it's great."

There was an awkward silence, and Claire picked up one of the dolls again, admiring the patchwork on the little alien doll. "Interesting that you chose the alien doll to look at." Makarov said with a chuckle, and she glanced at him but didn't say anything. "That's the same look that Laxus gives me when I've said something to annoy him."

"Fried, Bickslow, and Ever think that Laxus and I have the same eyes. It's kind of weird."

"I was always told he and I had the same eyes, so I guess by proxy you and I have the same eyes?" He surmised.

"So what kind of rumors have you been hearing about me?" She asked, changing the topics but still looking at the little green alien. It had abnormally large black eyes with little white circles sewn in to make it look like they were reflecting light, and small twig like limbs.

"Mostly that you've had trouble getting along with the other mages. Evergreen also expressed some concern over your last job."

"She did? What'd she say?"

"That you were unusually calm when someone died in your arms."

She made a face, glancing up at him with that look he recognized all too well, and then going back to the little alien.

"You've been dealing with a lot of death lately, haven't you?"

"Dating a seith mage makes it unavoidable." She replied easily. "From what I understand, it's pretty common with S-Ranked jobs, too. Do you always give this talk to people that start S-Ranked missions?"

"Yes." He replied honestly. "I only let a very select few people in my guild do those jobs, so before I send them on more, want to make sure they can handle it. There's a reason that we have rigorous tests to become an S-Class mage." He informed her, and when he was done, she nodded, seeming to accept his answer.

Setting the doll to the side, she clasped her hands together in front of her, looking him in the eye. Trying to think of it more as a job interview, she straightened her posture and mentally readied herself for any question he threw her way. "What do you want to know?"

"You don't have to be so formal about it. Just be honest- how do you like S-Ranked missions?"

"I prefer them to the previous jobs I was doing. People dying doesn't bother me, and I'm getting used to dead people- both their souls without bodies, and bodies without souls. I enjoy the traveling aspect and the bigger paychecks."

He chuckled, having previously wondered if she would mention the money part.

"People, animals, other creatures- everyone dies at some point. My proximity to them when that happens genuinely doesn't bother me. Whether it's my upbringing or being stranded on an alien planet, or maybe both, or even my dragon magic maybe, people dying near me just… I don't know. It's part of life, so it doesn't get to me. At least for people I don't know very well."

"What did you do on your planet before you came here? Were you around death a lot?"

She scoffed. "Hell no. I had never even seen a dead body other than on TV or the internet. I worked as a barista in a coffee shop, which is basically someone that makes caffeinated beverages. Before that I had a variety of jobs in the food industry, and was going to school part time."

"Did you work with magic at those jobs?"

"Magic doesn't exist on my world. When I came to Fairy Tail I had no idea how to use it." She said with a smile, realizing that it felt like she'd been on this world for years.

"Wait, how long have you been using magic, then?"

"Uuuh, let's see… I've been in Fairy Tail for about 6 months, so… about 5 months, maybe?"

"And Bacchus took you on S-Ranked missions!?" He yelled, his face turning red. She simply laughed, not expecting such a strong response from him. Seeing him yelling was oddly more comforting than his calm demeanor before, since he spends 90% of his time yelling at Natsu's team when in public. "So you'd only been using magic for a couple of months when I had you take the S-Class exams!?"

"Two weeks, actually." She corrected. "I'd only been using magic for a couple of months when I did my first S-Ranked mission with Bacchus. According to him, I'm a fast learner."

"What the hell is wrong with that man!? You could have been killed!"

"That's what Bixy said." She chuckled, and took a sip of her drink as he continued ranting.

"You mean to tell me that your brother took you on potentially lethal jobs when you'd only had a few months of using magic?!"

"A few months of being on this planet, nonetheless."

"Why that little, irresponsible, no good-"

"You're the one that 'okay'ed the missions." She reminded him, watching his face go darker red.

"I thought you had been using magic for at least a few years, not a few months!" He yelled, standing up on his seat. "I expected more from a mage of his reputation!"

"Considering that I'm not dead, I'd say he did a good job."

"I don't even let experienced mages that have using magic for years do missions of that scale, nonetheless someone that's only been using it for a few months! You could have died! When I get my hands on that little brat I'm going to kill him!"

"You're going to have a heart attack if you keep yelling like that." She commented, her laughter quieting down to near silent chuckles. It felt a little nice having someone be so concerned for her safety, even if it was unnecessary, and she couldn't help but feel reminded of her parents. Given her reputation for playing with fire, she'd been on the receiving end of these talks for most of her childhood. "Playing with fire is dangerous, Claire. You could have died, Claire. Those burns are going leave scars, Claire. Blah, blah, blah…"

Upon remembering his health problems, the Guild Master grumbled and returned to his seat, trying to take a deep breath and calm down. Eyes closed, he tried to use the meditation techniques that Porlyusica had taught him.

"If it makes you feel better, I haven't been using magic for very long, but I've used fire my entire life. I'm also the human counter part to a dragon, so I have a shit ton of dangerous magic. Doing S-Ranked missions have helped me get better control over it."

He opened one of his eyes at her, trying to hold back his rage.

"I'm guessing that I just ruined any chance of doing another S-Ranked job in the future, huh?"

He just continued his breathing, jaw clenched and vein on his temple throbbing.

"I'm just, uh… going to go back to reading. Over there." She said awkwardly, and slowly got up, watching him carefully as his eye closed again.

After another half hour of occasionally glancing in the Guild Master's direction, waiting for him to calm down enough, she finally asked if his offer to let her use the communications lacrima was still valid. Unfortunately she had no idea how to use it, so she would need him to help her set it up.

He was mostly silent as he led her to his office, only speaking to tell her how to use the large orb. Once it was set up and he could see Bickslow on the 'screen, he left the room grumbling under his breath.

"Hey Checkers, what's up?" He asked, and his babies popped up around him, saying that they missed her.

"Well, I've got some bad news."

"Uh-oh. Should I sit down for this?"

"Probably."

"Bad news?" His babies echoed.

"Are you sitting down?" She asked, only able to see his upper body on the 'communication lacrima', which was basically a glorified crystal ball. After a moment of shifting around he finally settled, grinning at her.

"Yep, I'm all ears. Do you at least have some good news to counter some of the bad news?"

"Uuuh… sure. What do you want to hear first?"

"How about we start with non-news first. How are you? How has your day been?"

"I'm tired and I miss you." She said with a pout, and he pulled his visor and hood off to see her better.

"I miss you too, but it's only been two days."

"How have you been? How's the training going?"

"Brutal." He said, frowning and sticking his tongue out at someone she couldn't see. Quickly, as if he'd been caught, he pulled the slimy appendage back into his mouth. "I mean, just dandy."

"I saw that." A deep voice rumbled nearby.

"I didn't do nuthin'." Bickslow replied sheepishly, and barely dodged a pillow thrown at his head. "I'm trying to have a mature conversation with my girlfriend, and would appreciate you not throwing things at me."

"I'd appreciate you shut your face."

"Someone's grumpy." Claire teased, smiling. She wished that she was with them, instead of stuck at the Guild Hall with Makarov. On the communications lacrima the distinct face of Laxus appeared, glaring at her, and then disappearing out of her sight again. "So what kind of training have you guys been doing?"

"Oh, the usual. Breaking stuff, pining over Elfman," Bickslow spoke, and yelled in surprise as another pillow was launched at his face, this time hitting its mark. "Geez, no one can take a joke today. Anyway, tomorrow we're going to do my training exercises. Namely my favorite: hide and seek."

"Why is it your favorite?" She asked, leaning back in her seat and getting comfortable.

"Because I always win. Duh." He said with a roll of his eyes, and yet again, another pillow was launched at his face. This time he simply caught it and threw it back, causing a surprised scream to result. "Alright, now that we've got pleasantries out of the way, what is the news?"

She sighed. "Michael was found wandering around downtown, alone, looking for you."

His eyebrows knitted together, and his tattoo arms scrunched together cutely. "Why? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. One wandering soul in particular was giving him trouble, so he was hoping that you would take care of it."

"Is he there? Can I talk to him?"

"No, he's… not here anymore. I would have called sooner, but I didn't know communication lacrima existed on this world until Makarov mentioned it after I got back. I can't believe you people don't have cell phones here. You have hover boards but you don't have freaking cell phones. The games were so much fun, addicting as hell, I could call people on it when I wanted, I could text people when I didn't want to call people whenever I wanted…. Man I miss texting." She rambled, missing her Galaxy S5 android. She'd just got it before she was transported here, too.

"Was the soul violent? Is Mike okay?"

"Huh? Oh, he's fine, I gave him one of your charms; I hope you don't mind."

"Which one?"

"The same kind you gave me. There were a lot of them that looked different, so I found one that looked closest to mine. I did a little research on seith magic and it seemed like the safest way to deal with the situation. It wouldn't get rid of wandering souls, but it would at least give him some breathing room until you could help him. The soul bothering him isn't following him anymore, which is a plus."

"You know that those charms don't repel spirits, right? They just make people like us less attractive. Wait, how do you know that the soul isn't following him anymore? Did he tell you that?" He asked quickly, becoming more and more concerned. Since she hadn't even gotten to the bad part yet, she wondered how he was going to handle it.

"No, I know that because the soul is following me now. I'm guessing you can't see him through the lacrima, since he's standing pretty close behind me."

"Fuuuuuuck. Have you told him to leave you alone?"

"Honey, I haven't even gotten to the bad news yet. Should we go back to small talk so that you can calm down?"

"You have a dead stalker, and you have more bad news? I've only been gone for 2 days."

"Don't worry, I have some good news to sprinkle in." She said, tilting her head slightly and smiling. "Makarov and Michael made all of your souls little capes to wear, along with an adorable card that you're going to love."

"Capes? Like, superhero capes?"

"For us?" His babies asked, and she nodded. "We're superheroes?"

"Yep. They're all different colors, and your names are on them in glitter. I hope they fit, or they'll stay on when you fly, but if they don't we can modify them. They spent a lot of time getting them just right."

"Was it your idea to make them?" Bickslow asked, grinning and letting his tongue hang out. His babies bobbled around happily at the news.

"No, it was Makarov's actually. Apparently he's really good at sewing."

"Really? Makarov suggested it? I always got the impression that he hated my babies."

"I don't know how he feels about your babies, but he loves kids. He made some really nice dolls for Asuka when I was taking Mike home."

"Huh… he does refer to members of Fairy Tail as his 'children'…" He muttered, suddenly lost in thought. Snapping back to reality, he shook his head and made his souls quiet down before another pillow would take aim at his face. "Back to news. What else happened?"

"When I took Mike home, I asked a police dude to walk with us, and we walked in on your sisters shooting up crocodile. They resisted arrest, police dude called in reinforcements- big huge mess."

"Yikes. Where are the kids now?"

"So, that's where the really bad news comes into play. Or I guess good news, depending on how you look at it."

"Just tell me."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Stop stalling and just tell me, you're stressing me out."

"What's the news!?" His babies asked, getting too close to the lacrima and bumping into it. Annoyed, he pulled them back, having them sit on his shoulders, head, and knees.

"Your sister's kids are staying at your parents house."

"Why would they stay there? Who lives there now?"

"… your parents."

"But my sister said they were dead."

"She lied." Claire said, watching him stare blankly at her, not entirely understanding her yet. "I saw them with my own eyes. Your parents are alive, and your sisters only told you that so that you'd watch their kids."

"… who the hell does that!?"

"What happened?" Claire heard Evergreen asked in the background, likely alarmed by his suddenly rise in volume.

"My sisters lied about my parents being dead!"

In the background, Claire couldn't hear it very well, but she could make out the voices of his teammates echoing his surprise. Finding herself ignored for the moment she looked at her fingertips, picking at the slightly-too-long nails. While she waited for Bickslow to remember that she was still there, she pondered whether she should try out nail polish sometime, or if it would simply combust and melt when she used her fire magic.

Good thing I'm not girly, or else I would be pretty pissed at not being able to wear feminine things with my magic. Jewelry melts, fabric burns… hopefully giving Evergreen almost all of the 'gifts' from their last job would earn her some bonus points. Especially since she told Makarov she was concerned about me… She frowned, remembering that. What kind of 'best friend' would not only rat her out to their boss, but not even warn her about it afterwards?

"So, do you have any other news?" Bickslow asked, regaining her attention.

"Makarov is probably going to ban me from S-Ranked missions."

"Even missions with us?"

"I don't know. He asked me how long I've been using magic, and when I told him, he flipped and started yelling about how he'd kill Bacchus for taking me out on dangerous missions."

"And you thought I was overreacting." Bickslow said with a smirk, beginning to relax again on his cot. "So you hadn't told him until today?"

"He never asked until today. He almost had a heart attack when I told him, yelling and ranting about how I could have died, and he hasn't said anything to me since."

"Give him a couple of days and he'll cool down." Laxus said in the background.

"Cool down enough to let me go on S-Ranked missions?" She asked hopefully.

"Probably not." He replied, and she chewed on her cheek, sliding down her chair slightly.

"So Michael really made little capes for my souls?" Bickslow asked, unintentionally riling up his babies again.

"Yeah, you're going to love them. Speaking of which…"

"More bad news?" He asked, shoulders falling.

"Well, kind of, maybe. It's not urgent, and it could be nothing, but it could be something. Maybe. Hopefully not. Really, really, really hope not."

"It stresses me out when you do that, just spit it out."

"So, remember Crystal Lake, how the infamous murderer from my world ended up being real in this world?"

"How can I not remember? You wouldn't shut up for days about how you were right." He said, and after a moment of her not saying anything, he groaned. "Don't tell me you found another murdering psycho creature at a kids camp?"

"Not at a kids camp, and I really hope it's just a crazy coincidence. Otherwise evil incarnate that likes murdering people is going to grow up, well, murdering people."

"What is she talking about?" Evergreen asked in the background.

"I'll explain it later." Bickslow told her, and sighed. "Have you told Makarov?"

"No, you should probably be the one to deal with it."

"… why?"

"Because your nephew's name is Michael Meyers, which happens to be the same name as the crazy murderer in 'Halloween', and he happens to live at the same address."

"Michael is the 'evil incarnate'?" He asked, blinking at her. "Oh, that's a completely different story. Sometimes people with our abilities are easy to be taken over by dark entities, kind of like the parasite that was in you actually, and can turn them into rampaging murderers. Assuming this is like the Jason thing, you may have prevented it from happening by giving him that charm."

"Sweet!" She cheered, glad that it worked out.

"Remind me to check up on him when I get back, though. It would suck if my nephew ended up being a psychotic murderer."

"I agree. So, back to our earlier topic of conversation, what do you want to me to do about Sky?"

"Who's Sky?"

"The ghost dude following me."

"Oh. Uh… is he bothering you?"

"Not really. I don't get the feeling that he's dangerous, just lonely."

"What do you know about him?"

"Is mommy going to be a seith mage, too?" Poppo asked.

"'Mommy'?" Fried asked nearby, and Bickslow glared at the mage.

Ignoring the comment, Claire started telling him what she knew. "Sky died in surgery, he was only 12 when it happened. From what Mike told me he has no family, and had been wandering around for a while before he found him."

"Do you know how long?"

"No idea."

"Can you sense how old he is?"

"… 12?"

"I mean, how long he's been dead. Sometimes if a soul has been detached for long enough, it can change their personality and make them violent. It can also make them more likely to snap, so even if he seems fine now, he could get mean later without warning."

"Mike said that he was mean to him, but when I asked him for specifics, it seemed more like he was annoyed at getting caught talking to him. I doubt his mom is the caring and understanding type with his gift."

"Can he move objects?"

"I don't think so." She replied, and he paused, looking at her while thinking. "Moving objects would mean that it's getting closer to being a poltergeist, right? The ones that got handsy in Death Forest?"

"Yeah… have you been researching wandering souls?"

"A little. Nothing better to do since Makarov has me sitting around all day. 'Holding down the fort'."

He smiled, letting his tongue hang out again. "You're actually getting into it, aren't you? Souls, that is."

"It is interesting." She admitted. "But I'm more interested in learning how to not be a scratch post on any future jobs in the Phoenix Mountains." For emphasis she held up her arm and pulled down her sleeve, showing off her multi-colored arm. The seith mage flinched at the sight of it, having already forgotten about that recent mishap.

"I'm sorry about that… again."

"So what should I do about Sky?" She asked again, letting her sleeve cover her arm as she clasped her hands in front of her. Feeling the cool vibrations of her new friend, she smiled at him, and then went back to looking at Bickslow.

"Well, to be honest, he sounds like he could be a good fit for my babies. If he wants to stay around, or come back when I return, I might take him in. Assuming he wants to, of course. I've been keeping an eye out for a 6th soul since Peppe moved on."

"So I should let him hang out?"

"If you're okay with it… yeah. If he bugs you or does something to annoy you, or make you uncomfortable, just tell him to leave and be stern about it. If that doesn't work I'll come back home and make him leave."

"You guys have been talking for an hour, wrap it up already." Laxus spoke in the background.

"But we miss Claire!" His babies spoke in unison.

"We're going to be back in Magnolia in a couple of weeks, until then it's not the end of the world."

"Couple of weeks?" Claire asked, and Bickslow turned back to her.

"We're moving to different locations for our training, and stopping by Magnolia for a day or two between trips." He said, and Claire's head turned at the sound of multiple voices in the other room, using her heightened hearing to try and hear what was happening.

"I've got to go, we've got some uninvited guests in the Guild Hall."

"Be safe, love you."

"Love you, too." She said with a smile, and tapped the side of the lacrima three times, just as Makarov had instructed her to turn it off. "Let's go see what's happening in the main room." Claire told the wandering soul, who was still touching her arm by her side. Standing up to leave, she sensed the soul follow her, and made her way to the main room.

At the entrance of the Guild Hall was a group of thugs, at least 10 in total. Most of them brandished weapons, and seemed to be having a staring competition at the old man standing just a few yards in front of them.

"Just an old man and a little girl guarding the Guild Hall?" The larger man in front stated, sneering at them.

"Is there a problem here?" Claire asked, quickly walking towards her Guild Master.

"We just wanted to repay you for the damage done to our Guild Hall."

"What damage?"

Makarov seemed to be trying to take the calming breaths like he had earlier, and remembering his health problems, tried to stand between him and the group. "They're from the guild that terrorized our Fairy Tail friends in our absence at Tenrou Island." He explained, and upon seeing one of the men take a step closer to a table to smash it, Claire set her upper body in flames, causing a spark of fear to appear in their eyes.

"I've been craving a good barbeque. How about you, Guild Master?" She asked, keeping her threatening stare on the leader of the group and increasing the temperature of her flames.

"It does sound tasty."

"The hell-?" One of the thugs asked.

"Is that the Salamander?!"

"No dude, it's the Phoenix!" Another one answered, and as they scrambled to escape the small Guild Hall, Claire laughed.

Extinguishing her flames, she turned back to the Guild Master, who was smirking at her.

"Nice job."

"Thanks. I really was looking forward to barbeque, though." She said with a pout, and started walking over to her seat from earlier on in the day, stopping by his table to pick up her book. "How long do you want me to stay here, by the way? When does the Guild Hall officially close?"

"Technically 1 AM, but considering the lack of activity, 11 sounds like a better time."

4.

Claire yawned as she entered her boyfriend's apartment, tiredly turning the light on for the living room. Since he would be out of town for so long, he said that she could stay there as much as she liked. She had wondered if they should talk about living together, but given their busy lives, hadn't really found the time for it.

"I'm not sure if you remember, but even though I can't hear or see you, I can sense your presence within a 5 foot radius. If you choose to stay here, Bickslow will be able to give you a vessel that you'll be able to communicate through." She explained, and yawned again before pulling her long-sleeve shirt off. Given her unfamiliarity with the soul she wasn't going to walk around naked, but she'd been around Bickslow's babies enough to not be too self-conscious around souls.

She didn't expect the cool vibrations on her skin again, and was about to tell him to not be handsy, but she realized that he was specifically touching her injuries. Remembering his earlier fascination with her arm, she let it slide. Since it wasn't an actual hand pressing her injury it didn't irritate the wound.

"Sorry if my wounds bother you. I'm a wizard, so I get injured pretty often. Well, more specifically I'm a clumsy wizard, which is why I get hurt a lot. I totally get why Bickslow wears all those guards." She rambled, beginning to feel awkward for talking into 'empty' space. Sky's hands continued touching her worst bruises, which were on her arms and back. "So uh, I think I'm going to get some sleep. You can stay the night, and I'm sorry I don't really have anything for you to do. Maybe I'll find some kind of ghost toy for you to play with tomorrow? I've been researching your kind the past couple days, so maybe I'll stumbled across something."

Yawning into her hand again, she walked over to the light switch and turned it off, afterwards making her way to the bedroom. Her feet stumbled awkwardly in the darkness, but when she made it to the bed, she happily jumped on it and lay down with her hands behind her head.

Sprawled out, she yawned tiredly again, still sensing the ghost by her side.

"Sorry I'm not very entertaining, but if you stay, Bickslow is a great seith mage. He'll take care of you and help you move on."

The soul lay down next to her, small finger tips continuing to trace the lines of bruises and scratch marks along her skin.

"Good night, Sky."

She whispered, and fell asleep.

5.

Sitting around the Guild Hall all day was beyond boring.

Sure, she liked reading, but not when she could be training with her boyfriend or lounging on the beach. Or even partying in the celestial world with Team Natsu.

It was only noon of day 3, and she was quietly contemplating the dignity of dying from boredom.

"Why are you making her stay here, old man?" Wakaba asked near the Guild Master, noticing her look up from her book at the window for the tenth time that hour. Her boredom hadn't gone unnoticed by the three old geezers, who had been enjoying a light drink together.

"Yeah, isn't it pretty harsh to make her stay here? I mean, it's a ghost town here and all her friends are training for the games." Macao added, recognizing her poorly concealed boredom. Having a 13 year old son, he saw that expression all too often.

"Mirajane requested time off to train with her family, so Claire seemed like the best choice to fill her shoes until she returned. We already had a bunch of hooligans try to destroy our Guild Hall last night, which she took care of very nicely."

"So you're keeping her here as a body guard of sorts? Man, you really are getting old." Wakaba told him, smirking at the angry glare he received.

After taking a lengthy drink of his beer, Macao set it back down on the table with a satisfied sigh. "I guess it makes sense to have a powerful youngster around in case something happens. In all seriousness you are getting on in years, so it's good to let the younger generation do the heavy lifting." The blue-haired mage told him.

"Wait, if she's replacing Mira, are you inferring that she's just as strong as her?" Wakaba suddenly asked, lowering his voice so that woman couldn't hear him.

"Potentially, yes." Makarov said, watching the woman in question smirk as her eyes went back to her open book. "She's successfully completed half a dozen S-Ranked missions."

"No kidding? She did those working with her brother at Quattro Cerberus, right?" Macao asked.

"Yes, and she recently did one with the Thunder Legion. I've been debating whether to let her do one on her own or not."

"Are you senile? Doing those missions with other powerful wizards is one thing, but she hasn't even passed the trials."

"Excuse me?" Someone asked, interrupting the conversation. Everyone in the room paused and looked up at the new presence, having been too absorbed in their discussion to hear him enter. "This is Fairy Tail, right?"

"Amir?" The Guild Master asked, looking up at the young man. He appeared to be in his early thirties, with combed back blonde hair and dark eyes. Most of his body was shrouded from view because of his black cloak, but judging by the decorative and ornate edges, it was obvious that he had considerable wealth.

"Hey, Makarov. How's it going?"

"Not too bad. Yourself?"

"Can't complain." He said with a shrug. "How's Laxus doing?"

"Oh, same old same old." Makarov said with a familiar grin, as if talking to an old friend. "Is there a reason that you're visiting, or are you just stopping by to say 'hi'?"

"Honestly, I was hoping to hire a bodyguard for my travels to Hargeon. My last one caught the flu, and since I was so close to Fairy Tail, wondered if Laxus would be free to come with me."

"Sorry to disappoint, but he's out of town and won't be back for a few months."

"I figured I couldn't be that lucky. Well, do you have any other wizards available for a last minute job? I don't expect to run into trouble, and I'm willing to pay extra for being so last minute." The stranger asked, and as Makarov leaned to the side to look behind him, saw that Claire had been eavesdropping. She was looking at him with a hopeful grin.

"As it so happens, we have a perfect wizard just itching for something to do." Macao said, nodding towards the fire mage. The blonde turned towards where he had indicated, intrigued by the odd looking mage. He hadn't noticed her when he entered, and considering her odd hairstyle coupled with her tribal looking outfit, was surprised he didn't see her earlier.

"I don't know, she's been looking pretty interested in that book. I'd hate to interrupt her." Makarov spoke with a mischievous grin.

"Yes, the history of Fiore Law is just titillating with exciting information." Claire said sarcastically, turning in her chair to face them better. "Did you know that it's technically illegal to spit on the sidewalk, and is punishable for up to 3 years in jail?"

"Seriously?" The blond stranger asked. "Any interest in teaching me more on a free ride to Hargeon?"

"I'd love to, assuming the Guild Master would be okay here on his own." She said, looking over at the man in question.

"Have fun." The Guild Master simply said, chuckling as she excitedly closed her book and shoved it back into her leather backpack.

6.

"So you're interested in Fiore Law, huh? Are you planning to join the police force?" Amir asked, making small talk. It would be a few hours until they reached their destination, the pair sitting across from each other in his decorative carriage. Upon entering the small space he had taken his cloak off, revealing an even more decorative and elaborate suit.

"No, I'm planning to stay with Fairy Tail for a while. My boyfriend's family has been dealing with law enforcement lately, so I've been researching for something to help their situation."

"You have a boyfriend, huh?" He asked with a smirk. Claire blushed slightly, a smile tugging at her lips. "Is he a mage at Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah. If you're friends with Laxus, you've probably met him."

"What's his name?"

"Bickslow." She said, not all that surprised by his confused expression. It was pretty typical when she told people about her partner in question.

"Not that creepy guy with the dolls?"

"The one and only."

"Surely you can do better than that guy. He's so… crude." He said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "And vulgar."

"He's a good guy when you get to know him." She said simply, strangely glad that Amir didn't bring up the 'but he plays with dead things' argument. It was getting tiring to have so many people disapprove of her relationship with the seith mage, but it was even more annoying to hear the same reasoning over and over again.

"Why do you like him?" He asked, still making a grossed out face.

"He's kind, sweet, loving, caring… no matter how upset I am, he can always make me laugh." She listed, smiling as she looked out the window again. Sighing, she shifting in her seat and faced the man again. "So what do you do for a living?"

"I work for my father's accounting firm. I come from one of the wealthiest families in the country."

"Really?"

Conversation went pretty much like that, just trying to pass the time. They didn't really have much in common, and ever since she mentioned dating Bickslow, she got the feeling that he thought less of her. His 'rich boy snotty attitude' multiplied tenfold, and she couldn't help but wonder how Laxus could be friends with someone like him. No doubt he thought the same about her.

He had a glass of whiskey on the journey, and although he offered some to her, she kindly refused. After seeing Bacchus get drugged twice now from accepting alcohol from strangers, she'd taken the habit of only drinking her own. Given how expensive and high quality it was she couldn't help but feel a little tempted to change her answer and drink it anyway, but instead tried to distract herself with thoughts of Bickslow and his team.

A group of kids had harassed them early on in their journey, so they closed the curtains. After some 4 hours of sitting in the small compartment, Amir looked down at his watch, grumbling under his breath.

"What the hell is taking so long?" He asked, and pulled the curtain to the side, peering out the window. "… where the hell are we?"

"Are we not where we're supposed to be?" She asked. Having never taken this journey by carriage, nor made many trips to this town specifically, she would have no idea if they were going the wrong way or not.

"We should have arrived by now, but we're in the middle of the woods. Our route shouldn't be taking us through here."

"I'll talk to the driver, maybe he got lost. Stay here." She told him, and after peering outside through the now open window, she opened the door and leaned out of the carriage with her hand securely on a handle inside. "Oi, dri-" Her sentence was cut off as a knife was thrown at her face, and she barely dodged it.

Not even seconds after, a body flew towards her from the trees. Shoving the door all the way open she kicked the stranger away, barely avoiding the blade in their hand. Hearing and feeling another body jump onto the other side of the carriage, she looked over to see another black and purple clad person. Ducking down as they opened the door on that side, she shot out a plume of fire, effectively knocking them out of the carriage that slowed to a stop.

The sound of the man's shrill scream made it difficult for her to hear what exactly was happening, but she wasted no time in grabbing his wrist and pulling him out. Simultaneously she sent a pillar of fire at the driver, and with the blonde in tow, started running.

"What's going on?!"

"I could ask you the same question!" She yelled back, and slowed down so that he could run in front of her. As the pursuing men and women got closer, she would send the occasional flames in their direction, either catching them on fire or at least distracting and slowing them down.

A spear was thrown at Amir, and she effectively knocked it out of the way before it could hit him.

She couldn't help feel a bit of pride about that.

I hit a spear mid- shit, pay attention! She thought, almost missing the arrow that nearly hit her client's head. Yanking his arm to the side, he barely avoided death.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a flash and smoke bomb, tossed it behind her, and heard the surprised cries of their pursuers. Luckily the running pair happened across a creek bed, and she quickly pulled them under a particularly shaded area under a tree. She tried to ignore the spiders and other critters they disturbed upon their arrival, along with the snake she felt slither under her leg.

"Sssh," Claire hushed, holding her finger to her lips. He nodded, eyes wide and visibly shaking.

Recalling her limited training at hiding her magic levels, she tried to do that now, hoping that she could mask it well enough to stay hidden. After a few minutes of loud pounding in their ears and trying to regulate their breathing, Claire could hear their pursuers running passed them and complaining about losing them.

Just as she was about to let out a sigh of relief, the loud grumbling sound of Amir's stomach met her ears, sending adrenaline pumping through her veins again.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"Shut up." She whispered back, straining her ears for their attackers. After a moment of listening, she surmised that she hadn't heard the sound.

"I feel sick."

"Well be sick later." She countered, glaring at him through the darkness. Sniffing the air, she realized that his breath smelled slightly different. Given her lack of progress with her heightened sense of smell, which was more annoying than helpful, she hoped that it was just her imagination or normal body function.

But then he threw up on her, face and all, and she closed her eyes and mouth as the warm liquid washed over her.

Do not kill him.

Do not kill him.

Do not throw up.

Do not kill him and then throw up. Do not do either of these things.

She repeated in her head, gritting her teeth and not breathing or moving for a moment.

But then she heard his body fall backwards, and opened her eyes to see that he had passed out. Trying to wipe the liquid from her eyes and mouth with her sleeve, and trying not to dwell on it, she leaned forward and looked at him. His eyes were wide, and there was blood dripping from his mouth.

She reached forward and pressed two of her fingers against his neck, checking for a pulse.

Instead, she felt the all too familiar feel of his soul moving beneath her hand, further indicating his death. Mentally cursing, she crawled to his side and started doing chest compressions, singing the stupid song in her head to keep time.

30 chest compressions, 2 breaths. 30 chest compressions, 2 breaths. 30 chest compressions, 2 breaths.

A twig snapped nearby, and she reluctantly stopped her attempts to revive him. In her haste to give him CPR, she'd forgotten to keep her magic masked, and realized all too abruptly that the assassins had surrounded them.

Putting her backpack on the ground, she sprung into action, turning into her fire form.

7.

It took her forever to make her way back to the Guild Hall, and it was well past nightfall when she approached the clearing just outside of it. Given that she looked like Carrie on prom night she planned to shower at the Guild Hall before heading back to Bickslow's apartment, since she doubted he would appreciate his neighbors seeing her covered in blood. Her route to the Guild Hall had taken considerably longer than usual, since she had to take back roads to avoid being seen.

Since Makarov had been closing the Guild Hall early the past couple of nights, she figured no one would be there when she arrived.

She was sorely mistaken.

Tired and not thinking to check for anyone in the old building before entering, she walked in the back door, silently glad that she'd asked Sky to stay behind while she worked.

"Why is that lady covered in red?" A small voice asked across the room, and the blood soaked woman jumped at the unexpected sound. Asuka's parents quickly covered her eyes, and Claire realized that there was a small group of wizards there. Asuka, her parents, Romeo, Macao, Wakama, and Makarov had all been sitting at a table across the room when she'd unintentionally interrupted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would be here. I was going to use the shower to avoid being seen." Claire said awkwardly, pointing to the direction of the guild shower.

"What the hell happened? I thought it was a simple bodyguard mission?" Wakaba asked.

"Are you injured? What happened? Is Amir okay?"

"Whoa, is that blood?" Romeo asked with a grin.

"Romeo, take Asuka and go play in my office." Makarov instructed, using his commanding and authoritive voice. The boy pouted, shoulders slumping at the prospect of missing out on hearing some juicy details, but nonetheless obeyed his Guild Master. Glancing back at Claire again, who awkwardly stood with her backpack hanging loosely from her right shoulder, he went over to grab Asuka's hand. Once they had disappeared behind the office door, everyone's eyes turned back to hers.

"I'm not hurt, this isn't my blood. Amir was poisoned and attacked by 10 assassins." She explained. "They were magic users, which made it a pain in the ass to take them out."

"Geez," Wakaba and Macoa muttered, staring in shock at the amount of blood on her. It covered not only her face, but most of her shirt and stained the white smiley faces on her hair red.

"Do you know why they were after him?" Makarov asked.

"Something about owing a debt. I tried to question the attackers, but they weren't very talkative." She explained, shifting her weight awkwardly. "Can I go shower to get all this blood off?"

Makarov nodded curtly, and with that, she disappeared down the hallway leading to the shower room. Once she was alone in the small room, which consisted of a mirror and one shower, she let out a sigh.

"Sorry you had to see me like this. I swear this doesn't happen that often." She whispered to the ghost behind her, which was now hugging her. Exhausted from her 5+ mile hike and fight, not to mention the still sore wounds from her trip to Death Forest, she pulled her clothes off and hopped in the shower, bringing her clothes into the shower as well to rinse some of the blood off.

When she exited the shower room, using her fire magic to dry off, she was surprised that Alzack and Biska were still there. In fact everyone had stayed, minus the kids, whom she could hear playing Yatzee in Makarov's office.

"I'm sorry Asuka and Romeo saw me like that. I honestly thought no one would be here, and didn't think to check." She said before taking a seat on one of the vacant chairs, tossing her bag to the side in the process.

"Don't worry about it, Claire. Asuka thinks it was just paint." Biska told her. "How are you feeling? Do you want some tea? I'll go make you some tea." She stated, standing up and hurriedly walking to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for letting you go on that mission. If I had known-" Makarov spoke, but Claire shook her head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. It was probably lucky that I went instead of someone else, or else they probably would have been killed. They knew what they were doing." She told him, recalling the event. "The driver led us into an ambush. I think Amir realized we were going the wrong direction before we reached the actual ambush point, which is why we were able to escape the initial attack without injury. We managed to get away, but then when we were hiding, he puked up blood and dropped dead, giving away our position."

"How'd you get away?" Wakaba asked.

"I had to fight my way out. I can turn my body to fire, basically making me invulnerable to attack. Unfortunately they wouldn't let me just walk out alive, and simply injuring them didn't work. I tried to damage their legs and knock them out, but they simply popped a pill and got back up again like it was nothing."

The men grimaced, knowing what she was talking about. "They probably took Nightsand. It's a drug that temporarily makes you unable to feel pain, and they're commonly used in Dark Guilds." Macao explained.

"Gross." She said simply, and smiled up to Biska when she returned with a mug of hot tea. "Thanks, Biska."

"Your welcome. What happened to your arm?" She asked, taking a seat next to her and reaching out to gingerly hold her arm. Claire realized that she was totally going into 'mom mode'.

"It got torn in the fight. The bruises are from a previous job." The checker woman explained, using her free hand to bring the warm mug to her lips.

"Do you have family to stay with tonight?" She asked, looking up from the arm that she was still holding. There were several tears in her clothing, much to Claire's dislike, and some of the holes were big enough to show off her scratches and bruises.

"No, I'm staying at Bickslow's apartment for the time being."

"Where's your family?" The green-haired mage insisted.

"Parents died a while ago, and my brother Bacchus lives in the next town over. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"You should stay with us for the night." She offered, and behind her her husband nodded.

"Thanks, but I'm fine, really. I'm stronger than I look." Claire told her, feeling oddly reminiscent of her childhood again. "If anything I'm just annoyed that I failed the job. I'm pretty sure that Amir died from his whiskey being spiked. Which, if that didn't happen, I probably could have protected him from the attackers."

"He did like his booze…" Makarov commented, ironically taking a sip of his beer directly afterwards.

"Glad I didn't take the job." Macao muttered, and was about to take a drink when he paused. "But I'm really glad that you're safe." He added quickly.

A soft knocking sound met their ears, and they looked at the door again, seeing yet another unexpected guest. There seemed to be a lot of those lately, and Claire realized that she should really stop being surprised at the suddenly appearances of random people. As she shifted in her seat to look between Macao and Wakaba at the door, her heart sunk at the familiar faces.

"What now…" She muttered under her breath. "Hello Mrs. Yoshino. Michael." Claire said politely, moving to stand and walk over to them with her hands in her pockets. She didn't miss the tight-lipped and judgmental look from the older blue-haired woman, and how her gaze immediately went to blood stains on her shirt. "I just got back from a job that didn't go too well, sorry I don't look that great." As Claire apologized, she realized that she'd been doing that a lot the past two days.

"Michael insisted that he come see you." The woman stated simply, looking rather rigid as she held the boy's hand. The boy in question ran forward and closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her. Claire couldn't help but feel odd at the sensation of having both a dead and alive kids hugging her like that. "He keeps going on about dead people in our house. It's utterly preposterous and unseemly."

Recalling the scars on Bickslow's back, the checker woman tried to bite her tongue. "Kids can be that way."

"I honestly don't know what to do with him. He takes after my son, and you know how he turned out. The ungrateful little…." She trailed off, and shifted to recompose herself, tucking a stray hair that had fell on her face back behind her ear.

"Michael can stay with me for a while. I'm sure you've got your hands full with Nathan." Hopefully he 'accidentally' burns your house down. Claire thought darkly, recalling their shared pyromania.

"Oh, don't get me started with that little brat. But at least he has some promise." She said pointedly, and Claire felt Michael's grip tighten on her, burying his face in her stomach. The woman's dark green eyes moved around the room, looking for someone. "Where is my son?"

"He's gone training for the Grand Magic Games. He won't be back for a few weeks, but he'll be mostly gone for the next three months."

"Are you good with kids?" She asked, raising one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows at her.

"I grew up with three brothers and two sisters, and babysat a lot over the years. So yes."

"Do you do drugs?"

"No, ma'am."

"Smoke?"

"Nope."

"Drink?"

"Socially." Claire answered, feeling a little relieved by all of the questions. She didn't like the woman, but at least she wasn't as bad as her daughters, who shoved their children at whoever would take them.

"And you're fine with watching… him, for a few days?" The way she said 'him' further irked the fire woman, but she tried to keep a clear head.

"I can do better and watch him for a full week. After that he's welcome to visit the Guild Hall anytime, and even though I'm not always here, there are other kids that sometimes hang out here as well." Claire explained, watching the older woman pull out a small piece of paper from her pocket and hand it too her. Taking the card from her, she realized that it was the woman's business card.

"My address and way to contact me is on the back, if there's any trouble or you need to give him back, for whatever reason. Here's some money to help with food and whatever else he needs." Mrs. Yoshino said as she handed her a wad of cash, which Claire accepted and put it in her pocket with the business card.

"Is there anything else I need to know? Food allergies?"

"To my knowledge he's not allergic to anything. Good night." The older woman said curtly, and with a nod, left the building.

Looking down at the boy in her arms, she noticed that he was wearing a backpack.

"Who was that?" Biska asked curiously, standing up and walking over to her.

"Bickslow's mom. This is her grandson, Michael. Michael, this is Biska." Claire introduced, trying to turn him so that he could see her, but he wouldn't budge.

"It's nice to meet you, Michael." Biska said nonetheless, and then looked up at the woman, hearing her sigh deeply and close her eyes for a moment. "You okay, Claire?"

"Just tired." She replied, and shook her head, trying to wake up. Her limbs ached from the fighting and walking, and she didn't realize she was swaying until she grabbed Michael's shoulder to keep herself steady.

"Why don't you play with the other kids, Mike? There's two other kids close to your age in the other room." Biska offered, but the boy simply shook his head and kept it buried in Claire's orange and red shirt.

"Alright, but let's at least go sit down. Maybe if you ask nicely, Makarov can get you another bowl of ice cream." Claire suggested, looking down to see that she'd piqued his interest. "Come on." She encouraged, moving him along. As he removed his arms, walking with her back to the table of adults, his eyes locked with Sky.

"What's he doing here?"

"I'm watching him until Bickslow gets back from training. When I told him about the soul, he said that he'd be a perfect match for his babies." Claire explained, and plumped back down in her seat after pulling up another chair for him. As she briefly closed her eyes again, the adults focused their attention on the shy little brunette.

8.

Bickslow made a face as she told him the events of the previous day.

"Should I come home?" He asked, and she shrugged tiredly.

"If you want. Makarov is helping me watch Michael, and they seem to be having a good time together. Since I'm otherwise hanging out to guard the Guild Hall, per say, it shouldn't be too eventful until you return."

"Remember that Sky is probably draining your magic, too, so try not to overdo it." He reminded her, and she grunted, having forgotten that wandering souls did that. The only reason his babies didn't steal her magic when they 'cuddled' was because they were too busy stealing Bickslow's. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"It's not your fault."

"Oh, shit. We forgot to do your belated birthday date." He said with a frown, slouching. "I promise, next we see each other, we'll do it and it's going to be awesome."

"Don't worry about it, honey."

"Nope. Next time we see each other, we're doing it, and it's going to be amazing. I'm going to get you the most amazing gift ever."

"When you visit between training you're going to be tired. Should we plan to do that after the Grand Magic Games?"

"You really want to wait that long?"

"It's going to be super special awesome!" One of his babies cheered, followed by the excited cheers of his fellow souls as they bounced and twirled around him.

"Are 'mommy and daddy' going on a date?" Evergreen teased nearby. Bickslow stuck his tongue out at her.

"Could I talk to Michael for a minute?" The blue-haired man asked, turning back to Claire.

"Sure, I'll go get him." She said, standing up and going to the other room. As she walked away she could hear the bickering of the Thunder Legion, and chuckled, wishing once again that she was with him. "Yo, Mike. Bickslow wants to talk to you." She announced, reentering the main room. Michael looked up from the cape he had been making, beaming at her, and then hopped off his chair and ran passed her into the room. Guessing he wanted a moment alone with the boy, she walked over to chat with Makarov until they were done.

Michael sat down on the still warm seat, smiling at his uncle on the lacrima. "Hey uncle!"

"Hey Mike, how's it going?"

"Good. I made capes for your sidekicks."

"Woohoo!" His babies cheered happily.

"That's awesome, buddy. They can't wait to try them on." Bickslow told him, smiling back at the still beaming kid. "How do you like Sky?"

"Eh, he's a'right." He said with an exaggerated shrug. His legs started swinging back and forth energetically, since the chair was too big for him. "He really likes Claire. He hugs her a lot."

"Claire said you thought he was mean a couple days ago. What changed?"

"I dunno. He's less mean now."

"How has Claire been?"

"She looks sad a lot."

"She's just tired, don't worry." Bickslow told him, noticing the boy sadden a little when he mentioned her. "She's had a rough couple of weeks, and it has nothing to do with you." He assured him, and watched the boy suddenly look towards the door, the sound of people yelling drifting into the room. "What's going on?"

"Someone's yelling." Michael said softly, looking at the door.

Back in the main room, Claire sighed tiredly and rested the back of her head against the railing. The back of her chair was against the wall and her feet were propped up on a chair in front of her, crossed at the ankles. "And I thought I would get bored…" She muttered, partly to herself and partially to the soul at her side. Standing on the table near her was Makarov, who was having a yelling competition with her brother, Bacchus.

"You took your sister on S-Ranked missions when she'd only been using magic for a few months!? You put one of my children in danger you blubbering idiot!" Makarov yelled.

"She's my sister! It's not like she was in any real danger." Bacchus scoffed, crossing his arms.

"There's a reason that we only let S-Ranked wizards do those jobs!" Makarov yelled back, and their argument continued like that for a while. Neither of them were known to back down from a fight, and Claire could have stepped in… but she was also mildly curious about who would win in a fight.

It surprised her that Bacchus tried to defuse the argument before it led to violence. "Look, my Guild Master didn't want to ask her either, but I don't really have another choice. Do you at least have another wizard I could borrow? The pay is good, and a lot of lives are at risk if I can't get someone to do this job with me. Laxus, or even Natsu's team would be a good fit. Lots of destruction."

"My mages are all training for the games." Makarov stated, crossing his arms. The martial artist shifted, looking over at his sister, who was sitting there with her eyes closed and appearing to be asleep.

"Do you have a say in this, sis?"

"I have to babysit, dude. Sorry." She said, and just as she said that, saw in the corner of her eye Michael leave the Guild Master's office. His eyes were watery and he was looking down at his feet, shuffling slowly over to the fire mage.

"It would just be for two days. A day and a half if we're fast. Can't you get someone else to watch him?"

"She's not going." Makarov told him, narrowing his eyes at the young man.

"Look, it's barely considered S-Ranked, and they're looking for more brute force than tactical expertise, which is what I'm good at. She can go into her fire form when we get there, which makes her invulnerable to pretty much any attack, beat people up and then come straight back."

"Nope."

"Where is it?" Claire asked, pulling the teary eyed boy over to her and letting him sit on her lap.

"I can't tell you exactly unless you accept, but it's a 2 hour train ride and 3 mile hike. A dark guild is planning a massive attack on some key cities, so the Magic Council is asking for powerful mages to help take them down before they do any real damage."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Makarov asked him, unmoving and still glaring at the man.

"Probably because your guild has lost its status over the years. They're also trying to keep it low key so that we don't tip them off. The attack is tonight, and Goldmine got permission for me to ask you…. This would also be a good way to get back on the Magic Council's good graces." He added the last part, watching the old man's hardened expression change slightly.

9.

"I can't believe you talked Makarov into letting me come along." She chuckled, taking a seat in the small compartment. He walked in after her, sliding the door closed and sitting across from her.

"I'm surprised you told him about how long you've been using magic. That was stupid of you."

She shrugged, shifting so that her back was against the wall and her feet were on the seat, legs stretching out. Wincing at the movement, another sigh left her lips. "While everyone else in my guild is gone training for the Grand Magic Games, he made me stay behind so he could interrogate me."

"It was still stupid of you."

"Whatever, twerp."

"Dork."

"Nerd."

"Hot head."

"Drunk." She countered with a smirk.