***I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. If I did, well... Let us commence!***
My flames... Once upon a time they had been used to light the way before me, a bright and vibrant light that made shadows dance and darkness shy away from me. Therefore it was a shock to the system when I became darkness for the first time. When I noticed that I, upon letting the warmth envelope my hand, made the surroundings darken around me.
That had been the first time I truly feared the dark.
She stared in disbelief, Mirajane, at my back where my name from a lifetime ago still stood etched into my pale flesh. Years, it had been, since those days when I trusted small boys to want nothing but good. Years it had been, since I walked the forests at night, looking for a body my mother in secrecy had burnt, a truth I did not get to know until later.
I felt vulnerable after having her undress me in the guild infirmary, vulnerable since she was one of the few to ever having seen it after I covered it... back then. After being rescued by Mama, rescued from that tower that was no more. I had covered it then, and had hoped never having to expose it like that ever again.
"Come on. You wanted to see if I was alright. I think a wolf got in a good scratch back there, but it'll heal eventually..." I muttered, feeling my face heat up. I sat on the bed, my hands busy covering my "assets" since they were out and all due to the discarded bandages that usually covered my upper upper body, as in above the belly button somewhere.
"A boy did this?" she asked, and I turned my head swiftly, my eyebrows scrunched as I studied the woman. How..?
"How did you know it was a..." I began, but then turned again, hiding my embarrassed face.
"So, what's the verdict? Do I need stitches, or will it be alright if I just cover it with bandages and let it heal?" I asked. I could almost hear her snap back into the now, and felt her hand softly move a hand over the damage done by the canine hunter earlier. Her touch made me cringe for a moment since I was not used to having anyone deal with that particular.. area.
"It needs a few stitches, but don't worry, I've done this plenty of times before." Mira said with a smile in her voice, and I sighed.
"I trust you." I replied silently, and felt the needle against my skin.
"What did you mean when you said that he didn't tell us who you are?" the barmaid asked conversely while moving about, stitching me up with practiced fingers. I felt her starting to make knots, more and more of them before finishing her job, securing the thread. Incidentally, I was so used to the pain there that the stitching up hardly stung at all.
"Do you know Jellal?" I turned when the words of the redhead left her mouth, eyed her protected form that walked towards me, her eyes seeming, hurt. Jellal, the being she was asking about, clearly was someone dear to her. At least was he someone she thought a lot about.
"So he did mention me, did he?" I replied with another question, making her stop in her track for a moment. In the meantime I grabbed hold of my usual bandages and wrapped them around my breasts and upper back, hiding away my shame once more. I felt so much less naked when its twisted letters disappeared under the layers of white fabric.
"Why do you want to know if I know Jellyfish?" I asked when she didn't say anything else.
"Ah. No. Jellal." Mirajane said, as if that was a correction.
"Yes. Jellyfish." I repeated.
"Jellal." Erza repeated.
"Lucy dear, I think you're talking about different things." Mirajane commented.
"Are we?" I asked, looked at the white haired girl that now bowed down in front of me.
"Mhm. Now let me see to that nasty bite on your leg." she said with a smile.
"Sure." I said.
"Can I come in now? Is she decent?" the voice of Uncle sounded from outside the infirmary.
"I'm fine, Uncle." I said, since he sounded slightly worried and since Uncle, like most family members, tended to become slightly unpredictable when their emotions got the better of them.
"A little while longer, Gildarts." Mirajane yelled.
"Oh. Okay..." I could hear him walking down the stairs again, and something randomly breaking in the process, followed by a very familiar "fight me". We all stared at the door for a moment, Erza, Mirajane and I.
"So how come your flames are white now?" Mirajane asked, pushing a sore spot and making blood ooze out, making me cringe and turn back to her. She was staring at a needle, contemplating whether a simple bandage would do the trick or if she needed to stitch me up again. While I secretly hoped for the former, she decided on the latter and brought the pointy thing down to start.
"Lucy..." I stiffened slightly when I recognised the voice of the one I had been waiting for for a while after seeing my keys in my immediate proximity. I knew that he could sense me even without my effort when his key was this close. Loke, the trickster. I remembered briefly when we last met, on that boat after I almost drowned nearby that wrecked tower, and got a bad feeling in my gut. He knew...
FLASHBACK
"Lucy." Loke said. I opened my eyes. How long had I..? The starlit sky marveled above me.
"Hm?" I grunted in my hoarse voice, hoarse because surging seawater wasn't all that good for my sore throat.
"Who is Hope?" he asked.
"A girl I killed" I stated in a dead voice.
FLASHBACK END
Then I had forced him to leave, and tossed my keys away. I stared at the Spirit that had once attempted to erase himself in order to atone for his so called crime, and saw that he had found another to ponder on. Black bags under his eyes told me of his sleepless nights, and the haunted eyes of some regrets that kept him occupied even in his waking hours. Even though he ought to have long since regained his strength after returning to his home world, he looked almost as bad as he was the day I came upon him by the grave of his former master.
I was glad that I still wore the shorts from earlier, though my skull-adorned t-shirt lay beside me on the bed. To be completely honest I thought Aquarius to be the first to appear, along with a tidal wave of fury due to my prolonged absence, not to speak of the fact that I deliberately dropped her keys.
"She wasn't your friend." Loke said, his voice grave and his eyes serious. I stared at him, contemplating what on earth he was talking about, when it dawned... the last conversation we had. Hope. I would have thought that anger against the deed done would have been what made his figure so sleep-deprived looking, but at the moment he was insinuating that she, not I, was to be blamed for that happening so many years ago. Fool. Idiot.
"She was." I simply replied, got up on my feet since Mirajane was done stitching and patching me up. I grabbed hold of my shirt, or my brothers shirt, put it on before looking at the Zodiac Spirit.
"You blamed yourself without even being there, yet you plead for my innocence. Many would call that being a hypocrite." I said, studying his facial expression. He really was a mess.
"What are you two talking about?" Erza asked, stopping the beginning of a reply to my accusation. At least his mouth was open, though no sound escaped. Murder. We were discussing the act of murder.
"If you two are talking about that crazy wench named Hope, I hold with the kitten." another voice commented dryly, and I turned swiftly, only to see that brother of mine enter through the window. This was.. how did he..? There were several meters down to the ground outside.
"You didn't even know Hope!" I said in slight outrage.
"It's strange how you get to know the strangest things with a little persuasion. But if you're back on that track, sis, you saw the Jellyfish again." he continued, jumped down from the window sill, landed softly on the ground.
"What is the thing about the Jellyfish?" Mirajane asked, not at all questioning the entrance of the stranger, though I noticed that Erza unconsciously got a better grip on her sword.
"You were the first one to bring up the subject." I muttered to the armoured girl, and saw another flash of almost annoyance slash anger.
"I said Jellal." she said, and I saw another look of hurt. Both my brother and I turned to her, the silence settling for a moment.
"Isn't that the same?" Sting commented, sounding a bit confused.
"I thought so too..." I agreed.
"Jellal is not a jellyfish. At least.. I don't think so..." I could sense slight doubt in the voice of the silver haired barmaid.
"Ah, so that's what this is about. Not that I care all that much about this little misunderstanding. Where's that little prick?" and I turned to look at my fellow blonde, for a moment imagining what the others would be seeing. A shirtless boy wearing loose trousers, with short blonde hair and a dark look that suggested punishment for his next victim.
"LUCY!" and the next I knew I was tackled to the ground by that very shirtless boy, right before the door to the infirmary flew across the room, crashed through the window and continued on.
"Uncle! You're not very good at containing your strength, as per usual..." Sting said, his breath hot against my forehead since he out of instinct had jumped me when he sensed the potential danger.
"Long time no see, kid." came the reply, and Sting sat up to wave at the redheaded male, not moving off of me since Sting had a really strange fixation that made him not trust many people. So now he sat straddling me, a sleep deprived spirit, a depressed knight, a possibly psychotic barmaid and an insanely strong mage in the room with us. I saw Sting send me a quick glance before his eyes roamed over his possible opponents again. Both of us knew that if he chose this battle, it would not be his victory.
"Who are you?" Erza asked, and he looked her over. Even if Sting was crazy strong in his own way, I assessed that even HE might lose against her.
"Ah, I suppose this need some explaining. This is Sting. He's Lucys brother." Gildarts explained before Sting managed to come up with any decent self introduction.
"You have a brother?" Mirajane asked, seeming surprised.
"Several, actually." Sting said, and I sighed.
"Well, I had several. Bull and Faith are dead, you know." I replied dryly.
"Last time I checked Faith was your sister, and yes, I'm aware that Bull is dead. Jellyfish, however, is not. And the moment I find that lying, son of a whore..." he paused for a slight second, and I used the moment to interfere.
"His Mama is NOT a whore!" I yelled in outrage. The language of the guy...
"...I am going to make him cry, and I won't stop there..." he continued regardless.
"Yes you will." I countered, my eyes narrowing, though my position took all the sting out of my statement.
"Nope. He deserves a good beating after the mess he's gotten himself into..." Sting said.
"Excuse me.." Erza said, and though my gut told me it was a bad idea, she was ignored.
"Technically he was under the influence. Must've been under the influence for years. He didn't even recognise me." I argued with my brother.
"I'm going to beat the influence out of him, and then continue beating it until it cries." Sting said.
"Oi." Erza tried again.
"You do nothing but beating things up these days. Mama always says the violence isn't the answer." I said.
"It has worked for me so far, and someone has to do it. Do you know what the guys with the sledgehammers said? You hardly attacked them. At ALL!" he yelled back.
"I would've killed them if I did!" now I was yelling too.
"OI!" and the third one to rise her voice, Erza Scarlet.
"WHAT!?" Sting and I yelled in unison, finally heeding her calls for attention.
"What are you on about?" Erza asked. Her sword was still half raised, though she clearly had no idea whether or not she would need to use it. The lack of response had made her consider using violence regardless of its need.
"So it is true..." Loke muttered, and I tried sitting up, without much luck, while turning my head to look at him.
"What is?" I asked.
"He's your brother." Loke replied. Well. Well done stating the obvious.
"Of course he is, Uncle already said that." I replied, referring to the guy that still straddled me, and that by the looks of it didn't mind. At all.
"No, not Sting. Jellal." Loke specified. Oh. That.
"Well... yes. What about it?" I asked.
"Jellal is your brother?!" Erza yelled in disbelief.
"He is." I confirmed.
"He's my nephew?!" Gildarts yelled, equally flabbergasted. I thought he would've known that, but the lack of family resemblance might've fooled him for some time. To be honest most of my family members remained distinctly dissimilar. Well, except Mama and I. We were very much alike, look wise.
"You can get off me now, by the way." I commented, since lying on the floor like this was making it a bit difficult to keep a decent conversation with these people. My family. If not in blood, I did see them as that. Had I been any other girl I probably would've been thrilled to be like this. I'd seen the looks Sting got from most girls in Hargeon. Had he been any other boy I might've assaulted him by now, too. As in castrating him.
"What if I don't want to?" he said, turning back to me with one of his signature wide grins, the kind that told me he was either planning to, or really wanted to, do something he knew he wasn't supposed to do.
"I'll make you." I said, his smile only widening at my challenge.
"Both of us know that you can't beat me in a fair fight." he countered, bowed down to look me straight in the eyes. I was aware of that.
"Be that as it may, though, I DO have a job coming up." he added as an afterthought, and actually did get off me, reaching out a hand to help me up.
"You're a workaholic, and a drifter." I said while taking his hand, and he lifted me up by it, only letting me go after my legs had left the ground completely. He had always been strong, that brother of mine, though he, unlike Uncle, had much more control over it. Then again, I was rather sure that Uncle could beat him to a pulp any day, even if he was a wimp compared to Mama.
"It's in the blood, apparently, though I still refuse any blood relation to that woman you call a mother." he said, a slight twitch in his face as he mentioned Mama, as per usual.
"You're too similar for that relation to be a lie. What happened to the guy you met, by the way?" I asked. That guy with the scar.
"Made him cry, or as close to crying as he could get. The runt was a lot tougher than I thought, and if it wasn't for his injuries I might've actually struggled a little." Sting said, matter-of-factly.
"Wait, so Jellal Fernandez is your brother?" Erza asked again.
"I thought we already established this." I said, turning away from that other brother or mine.
"You never said you even had siblings beyond your half sister." Mirajane said.
"You never asked. And besides, I've not met most of them in years. Jellyfish, for example. Before that time not too long ago, I hadn't seen him since Mama came to get me there the last time." I said. It really had been years. Years and years since Mama came to get me from hell, the place that made my flames black, before it oddly enough made them into light again.
"Why do you call him Jellyfish?" Mirajane added.
"It was his original name when I named him. I was three, so... his foster family changed it to Jellal though. They said it was more proper or something." I explained. Not everyone agreed with my name-calling skills, those people included.
"Foster family?" Erza questioned.
"Yes." I confirmed.
"Maya never kept her children for long." Uncle explained.
"I am the last. Mama said herself that I am the last." I said. I remembered that time when Uncle came to visit. She'd called me the last back then. Hadn't been the first time she did that, nor the last.
"So you heard that." Uncle said.
"Up to the point where she suggested to kill me. Not that she ever will. She's not that kind of person." I replied. Mama was on edge that time, so I understood her thinking.
"Maya is many things, and though I never saw her as one to harm her family... she was odd towards the end. That fire was her work." he countered.
"Then why use fire? Why use the one thing that was very unlikely to kill me?" I countered.
"You knew?" he asked. Of course I knew. I wasn't stupid. I just.. didn't like thinking too much about it. Mirajane stared at me then, at my bold words and the suggestion that a mother might ever even think of killing... Well, they were well informed. Uncle had told them, I could see it in their faces. By my side I felt Sting shifting closer, and I felt a tinge of dark rage coming from him.
"Do you think I wouldn't recognise her tricks? Mama is many things. Strong. Caring. Loyal. At times dip shit crazy. Deceptive is not on that list, though she does serve up the occasional excellent lie." I said. If they all knew, anyway, there was no point in hiding it.
"This is one of the many reasons why she never should be responsible for children." Sting said, that rage leaking through his voice.
"Shut up, Sting." I retorted without looking at him.
"She didn't even name us. Lucy did the naming. She named all of the others we know of." he continued regardless.
"And that's another thing, how many are there really? Who is Bull?" Uncle asked.
"Does it matter? He's dead." I replied.
"Crux said your family ties are many, yet unconfirmed." Loke said.
"You talked to Crux?" I asked, turned to the Celestial Spirit. Why would he talk to that old fellow? And him, of all the others he could have been...
"Who's Crux?" Mirajane asked.
"A Celestial Spirit that knows a lot. Jellyfish tried to summon him once." I replied.
"What?" Erza said.
"Well, it's the reason why he has the tattoo in the first place. He dragged something through those gates, but it wasn't a Celestial Spirit. Whatever it was, it tried to take his eye, something it almost managed to do. The tattoo is a spell used to heal it afterwards." I explained, remembering the incident. Finding someone to perform that magic in itself had been difficult. Mages in the North were rare, and most tended to stay clear of most others, for obvious reasons. Fear. Hate. Resentment.
"The way I heard it it smelled your relation due to the whole demon thing." Sting added, and I nodded.
"I heard that too. And yes, I do not know if I have met all my family members." I said, and at the same time added the fact that I did not know if all her relatives were accounted for.
"So how many did you name?" Uncle asked.
"I named Sting, Jellyfish, Faith and Bull. Sting and Jellyfish are the only ones left, and that's because they're strong. We were always the strongest. The Fox, the Dragon and the Saint." I said.
"Dragon?" Loke questioned, obviously not seeing the glaringly obvious reason behind the nickname.
"That's me" Sting smirked, and I hit the back of his head, making him grab for that hand and twist it behind me. I promptly took hold of his legs with mine, managed to get him off his feet, and a stalemate where both refused to call for mercy commenced.
"And you're all siblings?" Erza asked.
"Yes." I said with my teeth clenched, finally giving in and turning to send Sting a glare where he sat behind me, his grip on my arm still firm.
"No." he said, looking at me, yet answering the question from the other male.
"You know we are." I said.
"We're not." he countered, and suddenly he moved in, kissed me lightly on the mouth before moving out of my hitting range too fast for me to get a good slug in on him.
"HEY!" I protested as I got back up on my feet, blushing fiercely to his great pleasure.
"See? We're not siblings. But enough of this. I really need to get to my job. My client's impatient, so. I'll come get you next time, 'kay?" he said, backing up towards the window he had entered through earlier.
"You'll get lost." I said, and he laughed, scratched the back of his head.
"Rogue'll help me out. This lot seems nice enough, so I'll leave you to them." he said, smiling. He reached the window, and climbed so he stood on the sill, ready to leave.
"Sting?" I said. He turned to look at me.
"Hm?" he said, encouraging me to go on.
"Don't make me raise it." I said. He knew as well as I what I was talking about. A grave. A final resting place for those that were no more.
"I won't." he replied, his grin softening, almost getting kind, before he jumped, and was gone.
***In a sudden burst of inspiration our dear heroine managed to extend her family. This turned out to be a rather random chapter. Nonetheless, it turned out to be interesting enough. If you saw this coming, then I suppose I'll need to try harder. Until next time, darlings***