Hey all! This is my first ever Fairy Tail story. Introducing... a tough, confident version of Lucy Heartfilia!
Credit for story image goes to pl. fairytail. wikia. com and to whoever posted it there.
IMPORTANT: A new poll is up on my profile! Please take the time to check it out and vote on it!
IMPORTANT #2: Separate from the poll, there's another Fairy Tail idea in the works. This will be a crossover with the TYPE-MOON universe (Fate, Tsukihime, etc). Unlike this story, the new one will deviate from canon greatly! If I ever get enough planned out to release it...
NOTE: 'History of Fairy Tail' chapters are interludes and flashbacks. They are removed from the chronological order of the story, so please don't think that Lisanna is somehow miraculously alive or something else like that.
Most of this particular chapter is set when Lucy is thirteen years old. Meledy is nine years old.
STORY NEWS: Since I have enough material now for the first part of the Tartaros arc, I will focus on that for now. After I publish that chapter, this story will be going on hold periodically while I wait for the manga to progress. During that time, I will work mainly on 'When Worlds Collide', the crossover.
Apologies to readers, but the title of this chapter didn't fit into the title box. Therefore, I had to cut out the word 'my' from it to make it fit.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!
Somewhere in the future:
A middle-aged woman with short pink hair smiled and clapped her hands. "Kids! Come here!"
A moment later, a teenage brunette boy and a younger girl with both black and pink hair sat down on a sofa in front of her. "What is it, Mum?"
"I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately." Adult Meledy told them. "So I decided to tell you a story."
The boy groaned. "Really, Mum? I was gonna practice my magic with Dad today..."
"You can do that whenever." Adult Meledy shrugged. "Today, however, I'll tell you about one of the most important times of my life. I'll tell you... how I met my mother."
Back in the year X780:
Makarov eyed the man across the table with obvious pride. "Another success, Gildarts. Keep it up."
"And since we're on the topic..." He leaned forward. "What would you say to a more challenging quest?"
Gildarts swilled his drink thoughtfully. "Depends. What do you have in mind?"
"Well... I thought you could take on the 100-year quest." Makarov admitted.
Gildarts raised a surprised eyebrow. "You think I could complete something like that? I'm honored, Gramps."
"The 100-year quest..." He gazed down into his nearly-empty mug. "The job no one managed to finish for a century now..."
Gildarts gave a wide grin. "Sure, I'll give it a shot!"
Makarov nodded and started to say something.
"Gramps!" Lucy slammed a job request down on the table between the two men. "I'm going on this job!"
Makarov looked down at the job request and his eyes widened. "Lucy... this is a SS-rank mission."
"Yeah, I know."
"Are you sure you want to take it?" Makarov pressed. "You just passed your S-Class exam, take some A-rank or S-rank missions before you attempt an SS-rank."
Lucy crossed her arms and pouted. "So you don't think I'm strong enough, Gramps?"
"No, I don't." Makarov admitted truthfully, wincing when she scowled. "However, since it doesn't look like I can talk you out of it, at least take another strong mage with you." He looked around the hall. "Maybe Erza or Laxus..."
"Laxus is out on a job." Lucy countered. "And I don't wanna go on any mission with Erza!"
Makarov gave a heavy sigh.
"Well, in that case..." Gildarts chuckled. "How about I go with you?"
Makarov glanced at him in surprised relief. "You'd do that?"
"Sure!" Gildarts smiled. "Sounds like it could be fun! And with me there, you don't have to worry about anything, Gramps! So how about it, Lucy?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that works! I have this new magic I just finished learning that I want to test out, too!"
Gildarts laughed at her enthusiasm. "So what's the mission, anyway?"
He pulled the request over and read through it. "A group of Zeref's cultists, huh... says here that they already summoned several lesser demons which are terrorizing the nearby town..."
"I think Gramps is right." He glanced at the blond girl. "I don't think you could handle it by yourself."
Lucy gave an annoyed grunt, but nodded reluctantly. "So when do we leave, Gildarts?"
"Tomorrow is fine."
"Mages of Fairy Tail." A large, jovial-looking man bowed to Lucy and Gildarts. "Thank you for accepting my job request. My name is Elan. I run the inn here. This is my wife, Kara."
He indicated a tall woman with kind eyes, who also bowed to them. "On behalf on my husband, I welcome you to our town."
"And this..." Elan chuckled, pulling out a shy-looking little girl with pink hair from her hiding place behind his leg. "This is our daughter, Meledy. Meledy, say hi to our guests. They're going to stop the evil demons that scare you."
"H-hello..." The girl stammered out, unsure of herself. "Are you really going to stop the bad people, mage-san?"
"We'll do our best." Gildarts nodded confidently. "Elan-san, could you point us in the direction the demons come from?"
"Sure thing." The man pointed out a thick, gloomy forest. "The demons come from the forest. There is a hill with a large cave somewhere in the middle. My guess is that that's where you'll find the cultists."
"Got it." Gildarts nodded. "Let's go, Lucy."
A group of hooded figures looked up in alarm when a shrill scream of pain rang out in the cave.
"What was that?"
"Was that the sentry?"
"Something's going on up there." A higher-ranking cultists frowned. "Five of you go check the entrance. The rest of you, notify everyone else. We might have intruders."
"How... the hell... did this... happen?" Lucy panted, directing Aquarius to drown a bunch of attackers while the girl herself engulfed another wave of cultists in a column of violet light.
"I told you to take out the guard demon quickly." Gildarts casually smashed three men into a rocky wall. "Instead, you messed around and made the fight needlessly long."
"I crushed its throat!" Lucy protested, knocking out another cultist with a vicious kick. "How was I supposed to know it could still scream like that?"
"Demons are unnatural creatures." Gildarts grunted back, stomping a small imp-like thing into the ground. "Any assumptions you make about their anatomy are very likely to be wrong."
"Fine, I get it." Lucy grumbled, summoning Taurus to aid her. "Demons have bodies that don't make sense. Understood."
Both of them paled when Taurus suddenly gave a scream of pain and dispelled. Lucy began to panic when Aquarius met a similar fate and she was left alone.
"Lucy!" Gildarts began to push through the cultists towards her, sensing danger.
The blond girl looked around wildly for the attacker, waving her arm repeatedly and causing beams of violet energy to shoot up from the ground in random places around her.
Gildarts' eyes widened in fear when a hooded figure formed out of thin air directly behind the girl and jammed a dagger through her back. Lucy collapsed, spitting out blood as the figure behind her casually kicked her aside.
"Lucy!"
"My name is Orak the Half-devil." The cultist introduced himself. "I'm afraid that since you've attacked my coven and interfered with my plans, I must dispose of you both."
In response, Gildarts released all restraints on his magic.
"She was incredibly lucky for two reasons." Kara examined Lucy's wound with the practiced eyes of a medic. "One, because the dagger missed all of her vitals, and two, because while the blade was poisoned, too little of the poison infiltrated her body to be lethal."
Meledy peered out from behind Elan's leg. "What happened to mage-neechan?"
Gildarts sighed. "The bad man cheated in his fight with her."
"The poison will be flushed out of her system in a week or so." Kara turned to Gildarts. "The wound will take over a month to heal, though. I advise you to stop her from any strenuous physical activity for at least three weeks."
"You're welcome to stay here." Elan suggested. "You saved our town from the demons and their masters. Letting you rest in my inn is the least I can do."
"Thank you." Gildarts bowed to the man. "We appreciate it."
"Master Hades." A low-rank mage bowed to the one-eyed man. "We believe we have located one of the keys necessary to awaken Lord Zeref."
Hades frowned and conjured up a holographic projection of a map. "Show me."
The man nodded and walked over to the image, pointing to a northern city.
"Right here." He explained. "There is a sect of Zeref's followers who we think are in possession of it."
"I see..." Hades muttered thoughtfully. "Are we on course for that town?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." Hades nodded. "How long will it take us to get there?"
"The pilots estimate that it will take us two weeks."
"Acceptable." Hades waved the man away. "Now then, who should I send down for it... Ultear, of course, Zancrow has been getting restless lately... and that new member of the Seven Kin, I believe his name was Kain. Yes, those three will do."
"She looks happy."
"Aye..." Elan looked down from the second floor window into the inn's back garden, where Lucy and Meledy were playing hide-and-seek. "There's very little kids in our town, so Mel has to entertain herself most of the time. Having someone to play with is a rarity for her."
"And your wife?" Gildarts asked him. "I was surprised to learn she knew healing magic."
"We don't have a hospital here." Elan shrugged. "So a number of the townsfolk took it on themselves to learn how to deal with sicknesses and injuries."
"I see..." Gildarts nodded slowly. "I'll be leaving for a few days to check the surrounding forests for any leftover cultists. Can I leave Lucy here with you?"
"Sure thing." Elan agreed. "We'll look after her, don't worry."
"Master Hades." Ultear gave a deep bow. "We are approaching our destination."
"Good." Hades nodded. "Ultear, as you know, manifesting one of Zeref's keys requires a large number of sacrifices. Take Zancrow and Kain with you and once night has fallen, destroy the entire town."
"As you command, sir."
Gildarts stared at the burning remains of the huge town. "What in the world..."
"Lucy!" He came to his senses and sprinted off towards Elan's inn. "Please be alright..."
As he neared the inn, his heart sank when he noticed it had been reduced to smoking wreckage.
"Lucy!" He called out, making his way through the debris and looking around. "Lucy!"
"That must be Elan's body..." He glanced from a large charred corpse to a tall one. "And that must have been Kara. But I don't see Lucy or Meledy anywhere... where did they go?"
"What..." Lucy slowly walked through the scattered remains of houses, terrified and confused. "What happened here... what is this? Who..."
Unknown to her, her eyes were flickering between their normal brown and a bright eerie red color.
"Must find... Gildarts or Meledy..." She stumbled over burnt wood. "Not... safe... here..."
Violet energy began to surround her body and lash out randomly. Lucy gave a cry of pain and clutched at her face.
"Lucy!" Gildarts called out. "Meledy! Where are you?"
He frowned when he heard something make its way towards him, lured by his voice. Turning around, he prepared to defend himself, just in case.
"Lucy!" He sighed in relief and lowered his guard when he noticed the girl. "Thank heavens, I've been looking all over for you. Come on, it's not safe here. We should leave."
His relief faded when Lucy refused to follow him, standing in one spot and glaring at him... with shining red eyes and a vicious grin.
"Lucy?"
The girl screamed something he didn't understand and launched herself at him, swinging an arm. Gildarts' eyes widened when violet light surrounded her arm and followed the path of her swing, extending her reach.
"That's just like that new magic of hers... I think she said it's one of the Seals of Amaterasu." Gildarts observed, dodging her flurry of attacks. "Did she lose her mind to this magic?"
As if in response, Lucy coughed...then spat out a beam of the light at him.
"With all that energy around her, her body must be saturated in it." Gildarts theorized, smashing a fist into the beam and causing his Disassembly Magic to dismantle it. "It looks like it'll use any possible way to get released. And since she lost her mind and is surrounded by devastation, Lucy clearly sees every living thing around her as hostile. She might even be thinking I destroyed this town."
He paled when Lucy released a huge wave of violet magic at him and he barely managed to evade it. "Ok, this has gone on far enough."
In the blink of an eye, he was next to Lucy, swinging a glowing fist at her. "Snap out of it!"
In response, Lucy swung a glowing fist of her own. The two energies collided... and Gildarts' Crash Magic tore through Lucy's Amaterasu-imbued punch, before sending the girl smashing into a half-burnt building.
Gildarts sighed as the girl fell to the ground limply. "This will be hard to explain."
"Finally awake, I see."
Lucy blinked and sat up slowly, wincing as her entire body flared with pain. "Ow... what happened to me? I feel like my stomach wound re-opened..."
"Sorry about that." Gildarts told her. "That's because I smashed you into a building to snap out out of your insanity."
Lucy stared at him, confused. "In...sanity? Maybe you should start from the beginning."
"Alright." Gildarts nodded. "I just got back from scouring the forest for remaining cultists when I found the entire city destroyed and burning. Searching for you, I checked the inn first and found Elan and Kara. Both were dead."
"I remember now..." Lucy muttered. "I was outside with Meledy at the time. Everything suddenly burst into black flames and the house collapsed on Meledy's parents before I could help them... Meledy ran off in fear and I tried following her, but couldn't keep up. Last thing I remember is my arm becoming engulfed in violet light, just like the one from that Seal I learned."
"I see." Gildarts nodded. "I ran into you shortly after that. You were alone, though... I didn't find Meledy anywhere."
Lucy sighed and looked down. "Can we go look for her?"
"I'm afraid it's too risky." Gildarts shook his head regretfully. "Whoever did this is clearly powerful and more importantly, might still be here. I'd rather avoid a possible run-in with them. We'll be headed straight back for Fairy Tail, Lucy."
"Ok..." Lucy looked around one more time. "Still... I hope she's alright."
"Everything's fine now. Won't you stop crying?"
Blinking past tears, Meledy stared at the black-haired woman patting her head.
Behind Ultear, Zancrow frowned. "What's up with this brat?"
"C'mon, stop those tears." Kain added, enjoying a huge mound of ice cream.
"She'll live on." Ultear mused, wiping Meledy's tears away. "Let me get a look at your face."
"What the heck are you saying?" Zancrow protested. "Zeref's key required the extermination of the inhabitants of a dormant land!"
"She reminds me of myself, from a long time ago." Ultear smiled softly. "It's ok... this child has a strong flow of magic."
Zancrow and Kain exchanged confused looks.
"So what do you say?" Ultear asked Meledy. "Do you want to come with us?"
Somewhere in the future:
"And that..." Adult Meledy paused to build up suspense. "Is how I met my sister Ultear!"
Both children shot up. "What?"
"I thought this was the story of how you met Grandma!" The boy protested.
"No, no..." Adult Meledy laughed. "That story has just started. There's much more to tell before I'm finished."
Both of her kids slumped back on the sofa with identical groans.
"I still have much to say, so we'll continue this for a while." Adult Meledy grinned. "Remember to be here at the same time tomorrow, or you'll miss it!"
The daughter sighed.
NOTE: The upcoming chapters are as follows:
Magic Guilds, Unite – the dragon attack (done).
Flare of the Sun Village – the Frozen Flame arc (done).
History of Fairy Tail: How I Met My Mother – Meledy's past (done).
Hell Unleashed – Tartaros arc part 1.
NEXT TIME: Hell Unleashed.
Since I apparently find it easier to write at the end of a busy day, chapter 40 is coming soon. Look forward to it!
Thanks for reading!