The train hissed with steam as it pulled into Magnolia station, many people waiting quietly as all of Fairy Tail's mages began pouring out of the train. Most of them were chatting happily, glad that their combat with Primordial Fist had come to an end. However a select few had a more sedate expression. Katie especially whose eyes were cast over with shadow as she clutched at her coat, trying to deal with everything that had been revealed to her on the train ride home.
Erza and Lucy's attempts to comfort Katie had been ineffective to say the least. Despite their best efforts, Katie remained locked up in the train car for the entire trip home.
Katie glanced around the station and saw that Lewis and Jason were rapidly approaching.
"Katie, there you are!" Lewis called.
Taking in a shuddering breath, Katie began to push through the crowd as she ran back to her apartment in Fairy Hills.
"Hey, wait up!" Jason yelled after her as she kept running.
Lewis sighed and watched as she disappeared into the crowd and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "It's probably better if we leave her alone. This might be something she needs to sort out herself."
"Yeah, whatever." Jason shrugged.
As everyone began making their way back to the guild hall, Lewis marvelled at how quickly the builders had reconstructed the guild hall.
"Wow, we were only gone a day and it looks as good as new." Lewis whistled. "Builders here work fast."
"Hey, now that we're home let's celebrate!" Natsu shouted from the front of the crowd.
"Aye sir!" cheered Happy as the general sounds of agreement were heard throughout the crowd.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Katie had been sitting in her apartment for an hour now. The windows had been drawn, the door locked and while she'd stopped crying, she didn't feel any better.
"It's just too much…" she mumbled to herself, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I'm not even real…"
A soft knock at the door caused Katie to look up suddenly.
"Go away!" she shouted.
"Katie? It's Lucy." The voice behind the door said. "Erza's with me, we wanted to talk to you."
"Go away." Katie said, slumping to the side like a discarded marionette.
"Katie, everyone's celebrating our victory over Primordial Fist." Erza said. "You should come too. You're missing out."
"Why should I be celebrating when I'm not even real?" Katie asked, putting her hands to her face.
"You're real to us Katie." Lucy pleaded.
Katie gave a small confused noise and looked up from her hands slowly. Getting to her feet, she unlocked the door and opened it slightly.
"I… I'm real to you?" she asked.
"Of course you're real. If you weren't, then how would we be talking right now?" Lucy asked. "And besides, who cares if you don't belong to Mundus? You've got all of Fairy Tail as your family now."
Katie felt tears begin to well up again as she threw her arms around Lucy, sobbing into her shoulder.
"Hey, come on." Lucy laughed. "What are you still crying for?"
Erza gave a small chuckle as she put a hand on Katie's head. "Look at you, you're still a mess from the fight with Oryen. Come on, let's get you cleaned up before the celebration."
"Thank you. Thank you so much." Katie said quietly, her face still buried in Lucy's shoulder.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Fairy Tail's newly rebuilt guild hall was abuzz with activity. The drinks were flowing, food was in high demand, music filled every hall and stairway and dancing was all but required.
In all of it, Lewis and Jason sat. Lewis was busy taking in the atmosphere while Jason was eating easily twice his own body weight in cake.
"Mmm! Itsh sho ghud!" Jason said through a mouthful of cake.
"Sure is." Lewis sighed, taking a drink from a wooden flagon of ginger beer. "I never seriously thought I'd get involved in something like this in my life."
Jason gulped down the cake in his mouth before spearing another piece on his fork. "Yeah, neither did I. I'd imagined what it'd be like, but to live it out is pretty awesome."
"The ability to perform magic is pretty awesome as well." Lewis smiled, leafing through his tome. "Hang on, I've got another page!"
"Really? What is it?" Jason asked as he leaned over the table.
"It looks like Shadow Magic." Lewis said, reading over the page. "So I have a shadow spell now. That's quite interesting."
"So does that make you evil now?" Jason asked.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Lewis said, snapping the book shut.
"Darkness equals evil. You're a villain!" Jason accused.
"That's racist." Lewis chuckled. "But seriously, if I have a Shadow spell, then I could guess that the next spell I find is a Light spell."
"What? You're gonna get Fairy Law?! That's bullshit." Jason grumbled.
"I never said it'd be Fairy Law. There's more Light Magic than just Fairy Law, even if it is the most overpowered spell in existence." Lewis grumbled. "There's no way I'd be able to get my hands on anything that powerful. Besides, even if I did have access to it, I doubt I'd be able to trust myself with it. That thing is basically a one-man band of destructive power."
"Eh, I guess." Jason shrugged before taking another bite of cake.
Another cheer went up from the members of Fairy Tail as three more people entered the guild hall. Katie looked around in wonder at all the beautiful colours and lights that were around the place, everyone laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves. Then her eyes rested on Lewis and Jason who waved to her.
Katie made her way over to them and sat down. "Hi guys."
"Hey Katie, good to see you feeling better." Lewis smiled.
"Yeah." Jason nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, I just wanted to say sorry. I didn't think that I'd make you cry like that."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Katie reassured them. "It's not like it matters anyway. If I can't remember anything before I just appeared, then that means I get to make it up however I want."
"You're not a nihilist now are you?" Lewis joked.
"Hey, it's Erza and Lucy!" Natsu laughed as he, Happy and Gray walked over. "We were wondering where you guys were!"
"We were just helping Katie feel a little better." Lucy said, looking over to them.
"Well you seem to have done a good job of it." Gray observed.
Soon all conversation became lost in the celebrations that wore way on into the late hours of the night.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
A few days later, the dust had begun to settle around the guild hall. Soon it resumed to business as usual, with mages beginning to take out jobs and hang around the guild hall. The Offworlders were in the training area practicing with their various spells. Katie scribbled on her notepad and threw up another clay pigeon target as Lewis closed his gloved fist with a dark purple magic circle hovering in front of it.
"Knuckle Shadow!" Lewis shouted, sending a fist-shaped wave of darkness into the target, shattering it to pieces.
"Hey, it's better than it was last time." Katie said as she put the cap back on her pen.
"I think I'm getting the hang of it." Lewis said. "So, were you guys thinking of taking a job after this? I could use the spending money."
"There you go again about money." Jason snorted.
"Actually, I think I might try a job by myself for a change." Katie said. "I mean, going with you guys on quests is fun and all, but I want to test my skills by myself."
"What, you think you're too good for us or something?" Lewis joked.
"No, I was just wondering how well I'd do if I were to do a job by myself, you know?" Katie asked. "Don't tell me you guys haven't been thinking the same."
Lewis hummed in thought as he put a hand to his chin. "I never really thought about it to be honest, but it would be interesting to see what I was capable of by myself. I guess I've never really been that independent before."
"Hey, I should be fine." Jason shrugged.
"I know, we should make a bet!" Katie said, snapping her fingers as she got an idea.
"Huh?" Lewis blinked. "A bet?"
"Whoever can do the best paying job by themselves wins." Katie said. "But you're not allowed to know what the others' jobs are or the reward for completing them."
"Sounds fair. So what happens to the person who gets the lowest paying job?" Lewis asked.
"I've always got a bunch of pink potions." Jason shrugged.
"Nah, I think that's a little over done." Katie said. "I got it. Whoever loses has to challenge Natsu to a fistfight!"
"I'd rather losing a bet not involve receiving both third degree burns and broken bones." Lewis admitted.
"What are you four talking about?" asked Erza as she entered the room.
"Oh, we're just thinking up a penalty for a bet we made." Jason explained. "Whoever does the highest paying job by themselves wins. Lowest paying loses."
"A little competition is healthy for a team, but be careful not to put yourselves in too much danger." Erza said. "But I think I might have an idea for this penalty of yours."
"Okay, let's hear it." Lewis said.
"The baths in Fairy Hills are getting quite dirty, and they haven't been cleaned in a while." Erza explained.
"Fairy Hills? We're still not allowed in there." Lewis said. "Besides, I doubt any of the residents there would be too happy about seeing us again, other than Katie I mean."
"What happened there?" Katie asked. "Did you get caught peeping?"
"So the loser has to clean the Fairy Hills baths then huh?" Jason asked, quickly changing the subject.
"While wearing a cat costume." Erza added.
"Wha? Why?" Lewis asked.
"Well, it's supposed to be a punishment isn't it?" Erza asked.
"I guess." Lewis shrugged.
"No arguments here. I'm gonna win anyway." Jason smirked.
"Not if I can help it!" Katie grinned.
"Excellent, then it's been decided." Erza chuckled. 'And now I don't have to clean the baths this week! This will give me time to catch up on that book I've been meaning to read...'
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Jason, Lewis and Katie met at Magnolia's train station, each of them going to different areas for their quests. However they'd all agreed to say their goodbyes at the train station.
"Alright, this is it. Our first solo jobs." Katie said, dropping her suitcase before pointing at Lewis and Jason. "Remember what you're fighting for men!"
"The right to laugh at the loser in a cat costume!" Jason chuckled, his hand clutching the taut string of his duffel bag.
"Gotta say, I'm a little nervous about this but I think I'm ready." Lewis said, putting a hand on his satchel to stop it from shaking.
"What's the matter? You're not scared are you?" Jason taunted.
"Please, just who the hell do you think I am?" Lewis smirked as he steeled his jaw.
"Okay. Let's do this!" Katie shouted as she ran off to catch her train as Jason did the same while Lewis made his way back to the apartment to collect his bag.
Earlier in the day, each of them took turns taking a job from the request board. Katie's first pick was a crystal mining job in Pierta with an unusually high reward for it. Lewis was next and decided upon a quest hunting for treasure deep in a cave nestled in the forest near Pineta. Jason meanwhile had decided on an extremely well-paying job, which was a monster hunt down near a seaside resort.
Each of them felt a sense of excitement as they were faced with the daunting task of a solo quest.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
After Lewis had finished packing his light backpack with a few of the basics he'd needed, he set off for Pineta. Lewis could still remember the events that had occurred there vividly in his memory.
"First time getting captured. Not exactly a great experience. I sure hope it doesn't happen again." Lewis muttered to himself as he walked, boots tapping on the stone road to the isolated settlement of Pineta. "And there I go tempting fate again, that heartless bitch with a love of cruel irony."
The job he'd received was a treasure hunting job. Pineta needed to get back on its feet after it was taken over by both Oni Swords and Vile Masque, so people had begun to scout out rumours of a hidden treasure buried deep within a cave in the centre of the forest by a Dark Guild that had since faded from the world. With a promised reward of one hundred and ninety thousand Jewels, Lewis thought this was a perfect mission for him to win the bet. There was some danger to be sure, but it wasn't anything he was sure he couldn't handle. Not to mention the idea of treasure hunting filled his head with images of cool hats, jungle pyramids, devious traps, sliding block puzzles, or the countless hours he'd spent dungeon diving in Skyrim.
"Just hope I won't have to pick any locks." Lewis chuckled to himself as he kept walking.
As the day crawled on, Lewis was starting to think that he had made a mistake in walking all the way to Pineta. The sun was high in the sky and Lewis' legs were beginning to get sore. However he soldiered on without complaint. He was very good at not complaining, he thought to himself. Besides, the exercise would probably do him good. At least that's what he liked to think.
Eventually Lewis was getting sick of walking. He knew he was getting closer to Pineta, as the well-kept road beforehand had now turned into a dirt track that was now going steadily uphill and a sign he passed proclaimed that this was the correct way to Pineta.
"What I'd give for a decent thumpy stick right now." Lewis grumbled as he continued his uphill ascent, wiping some sweat off his forehead.
It was as the sun was starting to get low that Lewis spotted the high wall of Pineta peeking above the pine trees that surrounded the town.
"Alright, I finally made it." Lewis huffed as he approached the town. The high gate looked as imposing as it did when Lewis first saw it, but it was a relief to know that friendlier people waited inside. The insignias of the two dark guilds had also been scrubbed off the walls, leaving a large swath of stone that was much cleaner than the other large stone slabs.
"Hold down there!" Called a voice from atop the wall, which was an impressive feat considering its height. "State your business in Pineta!"
"I'm with Fairy Tail!" Lewis shouted up. "I'm here about the treasure hunting job that was posted!"
There was a brief moment of silence before the guard called down again. "Sorry, could you speak up?"
"I said- oh you know what, screw it." Lewis said, getting his tome out and flipping over to the Aera spell. As the wings formed on his back Lewis leapt off the ground and flew up to the top of the wall until he was at the same height as the guard that shouted to him. In actuality there were two guards dressed in fairly basic looking leather armour and armed with long spears.
"H-hey!" The other guard exclaimed.
"I'm a Wizard and I'm here on business." Lewis explained. "Specifically I'm here about the treasure hunting job."
"Oh." The first guard said. "Well in that case you can come right in."
"Thanks." Lewis nodded as he floated down to the ground and waited for the gate to open before walking through.
Meanwhile back on the wall, the two guards were having a discussion.
"Why did you open the gate for him?" asked one.
"What are you talking about? He's allowed to come in." the one that opened the gate said.
"Okay, let me rephrase that. Why didn't he just fly over when you said he could come in? I mean, he's able to fly right?" the first one asked.
The second guard hummed in thought before shrugging. "I guess t'was just a display of principle y'know. It'd be awful rude for a feller t' just fly over someone's wall like that when they'd spent several years building it."
"I suppose, but why did we build this wall so high anyway? I get vertigo just going down the stairs every night!" the first guard complained.
"Look, it's not in yer job description to debate the hows and the whys, it's to guard the good people of Pineta from the giant man-eatin' birds that live in the upper branches of the forest around us." The second one said. "Huh. Come to think of it, that might actually be why the walls so high."
Meanwhile, Lewis dug his gloved hand into his satchel and pulled out a copy of the quest poster, telling him to report to the keep. Unfortunately, Lewis had very little idea of where the keep actually was.
"Guess I'll have to ask around." He muttered to himself.
Looking around, Lewis began to wander around the town looking at the city. A few of the buildings that had been severely damaged in the fight between Fairy Tail and the two dark guilds with construction workers hauling away ruined stones before replacing them with new materials. A few foremen with blueprints of the buildings oversaw the construction.
'I bet they'll know where the keep is.' Lewis thought as he approached. "Uh, excuse me."
"Hmm?" One of the foremen asked as he turned around, his brown moustache looking suspiciously like the end of an oddly well-kept broom. "Oh, you must be a wizard. Are you here about the treasure hunting job?"
"Indeed I am. But I'm a little lost. You wouldn't happen to know where the keep is, would you?" Lewis asked.
"I can help you out with that." Said a voice from behind him. Turning around, Lewis saw that it was a woman with black hair that went down to about the middle of her neck, a maroon coat and white pants with a pair of black heeled boots. "I'm the secretary of the Mayor of Pineta. You may call me Veronica."
"Alright, progress is being made." Lewis nodded. "Lead the way."
"Gladly." She said with a thin smile.
Not long after, Lewis had arrived at the keep. However as they reached the mayor's office, Veronica turned around in front of the door.
"I would like to ask you to wait out here. Mayor Eliza will be just a minute." She said before quickly sliding through the door and locking it behind her.
Lewis was a little confused as to what was with all the secrecy and put an ear to the door, but he wasn't able to hear much. A few minutes when he heard footsteps approaching again, he pulled his head away from the door just before Veronica opened the door.
"Mayor Eliza will see you now." She said, holding the door open for Lewis.
The Mayor's office was quite decorative, as Lewis expected one to be. The polished pine flooring was adorned with a large red carpet on which Mayor Eliza's desk was situated on. Speaking of the Mayor, she was a woman of around twenty or so, although her white hair might throw some people off.
"So you must be the mage who took the job. You seem a little bit younger than most mages." She observed.
"I'm young, but I can get the job done just as good as anyone else." Lewis nodded.
"I see. What is your name?" Eliza asked, taking a pen from the desk and opening a book on the table. Lewis couldn't help but notice a red mark encircling her wrists as she prepared to write. "It's just something to record our transaction. A receipt if you will."
"Alright." Lewis said. "My name is Lewis, and I'm a mage of Fairy Tail."
Eliza's pen slipped a little bit as she looked at Lewis. "F-Fairy Tail?"
"That's right." Lewis nodded.
"That guild has an awful habit of causing more damage than good." Veronica whispered. "I'd suggest waiting for a more… discrete guild to apply for the job."
Suddenly faced with the prospect of being forced to clean a bath in cat ears, Lewis attempted to dissuade her from terminating the contract. "I assure you Mayor Eliza, it's only a few of our members that cause catastrophic damage to public property." Lewis said. "I can promise you that your town will remain untouched. And besides, if you want something done properly, Fairy Tail is one of your best options."
Eliza looked to Veronica who looked just as apprehensive about the whole situation.
"Well, we are a fairly isolated town, so it's not as if a lot of guilds will be paying attention." Eliza thought aloud. "And we can't stretch the reward any more than we already have."
"Mayor Eliza, this decision rests on your shoulders." Veronica said.
Eliza thought for a minute before nodding. "Very well, you've got the job."
Lewis gave a grateful smile and nodded. "Thank you very much."
"However." Eliza said, her expression now a serious frown. "Any damage caused will be coming directly out of your reward money. Do you understand?"
"Uh… yes." Lewis said, a little put off by the tonal shift. "But seeing as it's getting late and I walked all the way here from Magnolia, I'm going to need a place to stay. Is there anywhere nearby I might be able to stay the night?"
"A motel is open again after some mild repairs that should be to your liking." Eliza offered. "We'll discuss the details of the job tomorrow when you're rested."
"Thank you very much." Lewis nodded before leaving the room, a smile on his face. He wasn't going to have to play kitty-pool-boy any time soon.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Katie hummed to herself as she watched snow fall from outside the train window. The job she'd taken was helping a group of miners dig for lacrima crystals in a town called Pierta as well as helping in the effort to expand the mine. The reward was triple the reward of an average crystal mining job, at a neat one hundred and twenty thousand Jewels. She figured that it was best to start small in her solo career, and who cared if she lost the bet? She'd only have to clean the baths in Fairy Hills if she lost.
'Plus, I bet I'd look cute in the cat costume.' She thought to herself as the train pulled into a station. Picking up her suitcase, she made her way onto the station. "Okay, so I've got about two days to do this before the train leaves again. Should be enough time."
Katie pulled her coat around her tighter as she shivered from the cold.
"Jiminy Christmas, it's freezing out here!" she said to herself as her teeth chattered uncontrollably. Looking around, she spotted a few buildings on the horizon, half buried in the snow. "That must be where the miners are."
Katie began trudging through the deep snow with her suitcase in hand. Eventually she arrived in the small settlement, knocking on one of the doors. Answering the door was a burly man in a grey turtleneck jumper and a matching beanie as well as a rough black beard.
"Are you the mining group?" Katie asked.
"Yes, that's us." The gruff man said. "Come on inside, you look chilled to the bone."
Katie hurried inside and immediately gravitated towards the roaring fire at the centre of the long wooden hut. A few of the miners mumbled amongst themselves as the man who opened the door approached Katie.
"Erm, who might you be little miss?" he asked.
"Oh, my name's Katie. I'm here about the job." She said as she warmed her hands by the fire.
Many of the miners gave confused grunts while a few of them chuckled slightly.
"Ah, I think you might be a tad young for that Little Katie." The miner said.
"Hmph. I'm only fourteen, but I'm a fully-fledged member of Fairy Tail, see?" she said, showing off her guild mark. A few of the miners leaned in close to get a better look and the first miner nodded.
"That looks genuine. Terribly sorry Little Katie, I didn't believe you at first glance. My name is Boris, I'm responsible for this mining group." He said. "So you'll be helping expand the mine?"
"Uh huh, and I'll even help mine up some crystals if it's in the job description." She nodded.
"Alright." Boris nodded. "I suppose you'll be wondering why the reward's a little higher than the usual pay rate, am I right?"
"I did wonder about that." Katie admitted.
"Well the fellas and I were digging a new shaft as usual, but we began hearing some frankly disconcerting grinding and stomping noises. We figured it was just some geological activity. Rocks below the earth do move sometimes. But the next time we went down there, the noises were still there." Boris explained. "It may be nothing, but it'd put our minds at ease to know that if it does turn out to be something down there it won't be the end of us."
"Hold on Boss, did she say she was from Fairy Tail?" another miner asked.
"What is it Ivan?" Boris asked.
"Well I heard that a bunch of Fairy Tail mages were responsible for accidentally collapsing the mine after they drove out a Dark Guild from it." Ivan said.
"Is that true?" Boris asked Katie.
"It sure sounds like something either Erza, Natsu or Gray would do. Or Lewis and Jason." She snorted.
The miners looked at Katie warily before Boris began laughing heartily.
"Hey now, as long as you don't cause the mine to come crashing down I think we'll all be fine!" he laughed.
Some of the miners began to look a little more at ease, although a few were still visibly worried. And truth be told, so was Katie.
'Dark Guild? Did they leave something behind? I'd better remember to make a Molten Pickaxe.' She thought.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Jason was enjoying his time on the beach. After arriving at the seaside town of Akane Resort, he figured that it would be a good idea to relax a little on the beach before taking his job. Besides, this particular stretch of beach just happened to be the site where he'd be fighting today's monster.
Thanks to a Speed Potion, Jason had been able to sprint his way to Akane in only a few minutes following the train tracks. Feeling quite tired by the time he'd arrived, he decided it was best to check in with the person who put in the request, that being the owner of the Five-Star hotel situated in the town.
In an office with a huge glass window overlooking the entire beach, Jason talked business with a jolly fat man in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals.
"So, man, Jason, can I call you Jase? Anyway, you're here about that sea monster dude, right?" he asked, feet raised up on his desk.
"I sure am." Jason nodded.
"Radical! Your timing is amazing dude, I just had my secretary put in the request not even a few hours ago." He said. "I should really give her a raise someday… You saw my secretary as you came in right? She's pretty cute huh?"
"So yeah, about that sea monster?" Jason asked, trying to get back on track.
"Huh? Oh yeah, that! That big fish has been scaring away a few dudes chilling on the north end of the beach. I had to close the entire wing off!" he said. "It's causing major crowding down the south end and it's putting a huge bummer on my profits. People just see the crowded beach and just decide it isn't a good day for a dip. I mean who can blame 'em? Nothing worse than a crowded beach, am I right Jase?"
"Yeah, so I just get rid of the sea monster." Jason nodded. "Anything I need to know about it?"
"Oh yeah, it's this big octopus looking thing with these wicked orange and white stripes." The owner explained. "It looks like it'd be some totally tasty calamari. Hey, feel free to bring it back after you fish that bad boy up, right Jase? I'd gladly pay extra for all that seafood. Oh yeah, speaking of pay, getting rid of the octopus should get you about two hundred thousand Jewels. Of course, I'll give you an extra fifty thou if you bring me back some of that octopus meat."
"Sounds like a plan." Jason nodded. "So how do I lure it out?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, the thing is, it only comes out when there's someone on the beach." He said. "Just chill for a while until it turns up. And good luck Jase."
And chill he did. Jason had even taken the liberty of borrowing a folding chair, a beach umbrella and an esky from the resort to keep his potions cool. He was currently taking a few sips from a bottle of cola when he spotted some water beginning to swell. Sitting up and peering into the distance, a giant orange and white striped tentacle whipped dangerously close to his head, smacking the umbrella out of the sand and tumbling away. Jason sighed and stood up as the rest of the octopus began to rise from the water, the rest of its seven tentacles waving intimidatingly. Jason pulled a chilled Strength Potion from the esky and pulled the cork out with his teeth before draining it in a few gulps.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Jason pointed challengingly at the giant aquatic beast before him. "Alright octopussy, let's rumble!"