The warmth of a slightly damp towel caressed my skin as I used it to clean off the remaining salty moisture that clung to my face. I was taking my time with it to savor the pleasant feeling as long as possible. Thinking about what else I should take care of, I decided to ask for a comb next. My auburn hair was a mess, and a good hair grooming session was almost as relaxing as a dip in the hot tub, which I probably also needed. One thing after the other, I reminded myself. All in all, I felt a lot better than I had a few minutes ago.

I don't know how long exactly it had taken for my tears to run dry, nor did I remember ever having cried that much in my entire life before. It was a little bit embarrassing, I must admit, especially since I was in the presence of two strangers. Okay, one stranger, to be exact, and one person who really should not exist in the first place. However, the latter evidently did not receive the memo about the whole 'You are supposed to be a fictional character' thing.

At least that's what I first thought, but after letting my imagination run wild for a bit, I decided that him having gotten such a message would make just as much sense —an amused grin formed on my face at the thought. Knowing the world of Earthland and its various inhabitants, I could definitely believe that Laxus zapped himself beyond the fourth wall out of sheer spite alone. Because which Fairy Tail wizard would take being called fictional to their face and let it slide unchallenged? I shifted my towel slightly and took a peek at the leader of the Thunder God Tribe in the room.

Not this one, apparently.

I let out a small chuckle. It came out muffled since I still was pressing the towel to my face, but it was audible enough for the room's other inhabitants to shift in their place and focus on me for a few seconds before they went back to whatever they did previously. The Doctor studied the content of his clipboard while Laxus leaned with his eyes closed and arms crossed against the wall opposite my bed. As short-lived as their attention on me had been, it still helped me focus back on the situation at hand. As much as I liked to fantasize about Anime characters coming to life before my very eyes for various ridiculous reasons, I probably needed to take this a bit more seriously. After all, one of the reasons I took my sweet time cleaning my tear-smeared face was that it gave me a chance to think.

And boy, were there many things I had to think about right now. Concentrating on the matter that was Laxus Dreyar first wasn't a bad idea, so I decided to give it another go. Laxus being here meant a few things, some more relevant than others, depending on what one would consider more critical at the given moment. He had apparently saved my life, which I planned to thank him for wholeheartedly as soon as I stopped hiding behind a towel. Which would be soon, I swear —Pinky promise.

Anyway.

The fictional character that was Laxus standing right in front of my bed meant one of three things.

I was either dreaming.

Not with those headaches.

Dead and in some kind of afterlife modeled after what I like.

Very unlikely for a non-believer like me.

Or what against all logic seemed to be the most plausible option,

Somehow I have been transported to the World of Fairy Tail. Topping off the absurdness of the situation, I had been whisked away right out of my bed for some ungodly reason. It might mean something; it might not. I had no way of knowing at this point in time; maybe I never would.

There was also the possibility of me being insane, but I did not contemplate it too seriously. If I was, then I could not do anything about it anyway. I already had one breakdown about it; there was no need for another.

Accepting the fact that I was in another world, a fictional one no less, came more natural to me than I would have thought. Sure, I probably would curl up in the corner of a room and scream into a pillow when I got the chance. And when I am alone, I am not embarrassing myself in front of people again. Once was more than enough. But I was confident in keeping myself together for the foreseeable future, at least. Earthland, I knew, was as frightening as it was exciting. A world of Magic filled with both literal and metaphorical monsters. Yet, it also housed some of the most kindhearted, brave, determined, loving, and wholesome people you ordinarily could never meet in your entire life because they were sadly nothing more than fiction.

But I can meet them now. And that realization right here was the tipping point that made me accept all of this madness so easily —past tears and future screaming notwithstanding. No matter whatever ridiculous twist of fate had brought me to this place, be it malicious, benevolent or indifferent, it would allow me to meet people I had always admired, even back when I thought them to be nothing more than pictures on a page.

And one of these people just so happened to be in the room with me right at this moment. Still waiting for me to get a grip of myself, showing a level of patience I should have expected but was nevertheless surprised by. Laxus was lightning, and he was thunder. His power and presence screamed of grandeur, of boisterousness, of someone who wanted to be seen. Yet that wasn't who Laxus was, not really at least. The Battle of Fairy Tail, Fantasia, Natsu. All of these things and more had made Laxus accept who he truly was inside all along. A man who wanted the best for his friends, his family, his Guild. Someone who stood his ground against the most powerful of adversaries without so much as flinching. While also exuding a calm and poise that was almost unheard of at the same time.

How much of the man I read about can be found in the one right here, I wonder?

I wiped away the last of my remaining tears and then lowered my towel into my lap, folding it carefully while looking directly at Laxus. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he opened his own, and our gaze met.

"You are kind of a bother; you know that?" His first words to me were rude, maybe even a bit confrontational, and yet I could not stop but notice how his features had relaxed and how there was the barest hint of a smile on his face.

"I am really, really sorry for making a scene," I replied, feeling somewhat bashful while trying my hardest to keep eye contact with the imposing man before me.

"Sometimes we need to vent our emotions; there is nothing wrong with crying, but you could have waited until I was done with you. I don't have all the time in the world, you know?" His words were sincere even when a slightly annoyed look crossed his face at the latter part of his statement. For a moment, I was struck with surprise at how openly he spoke his encouragement. You didn't look at someone with an outwards presence like Laxus and expected him to tell you that it was okay to cry. The feeling of surprise quickly turned into a sensation of warmth in my chest when it made me realize that this was a Laxus who already buried most of his demons and had grown stronger and kinder through it.

I am so glad.

"Now now, don't be so hard on Miss Anna, Laxus-san. I am sure she had no intentions of inconveniencing you with the emotional draining breakdown she just experienced." On the other hand, Doctor Merle apparently decided to concentrate on the ruder parts of Laxus's statement if his frim-sounding voice and the admonishing look he shot the thunder mage over his glasses was anything to go by. I watched with amusement as Laxus tried to hold the Doctor's gaze for a moment before he mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and averted his head to the side, looking slightly sheepish. I found myself mildly impressed by the Doctor's ability to reprimand someone like Laxus with a simple look. Even if it hadn't been necessary, I found myself smiling at the sight.

Is that a skill all Doctors possess, or do these two have some kind of history with each other? I wonder.

I didn't recall any Doctor Merle from the Manga, but that honestly didn't mean anything. There was much we were not privy to know when it came to the characters' lives. Doctor Merle could either be a total stranger or a good friend of Laxus for all I knew.

"It's okay, Doctor." I probably owed an apology to the kind man for all the mean things I had thought about him earlier. However, I don't think I could explain to him why I had these slanderous thoughts in the first place without sounding crazy, so I settled for my best and brightest smile instead. "Laxus-san here was the one who found me and saved my life by bringing me to your clinic, right? I think he has earned some leeway for that alone." The honorific felt strange on my tongue and yet oddly normal at the same time. We were talking in English, but apparently, some Japanese customs were mixed into the language used here on Earthland.

Or is it a completely new language I am somehow able to speak?

It was fascinating to think about but not of any actual concern to me since it did not seem to limit my ability to communicate with the inhabitants of this world either way. The Doctor's gaze softened at my words.

"That is quite true. If Laxus-san had not been there and were he any less skilled, you would have been long dead before I could have helped you myself. I shudder at the mere thought of such a tragic outcome, and I am glad it did not come to this thanks to Laxus-san's marvelous magic abilities." Laxus himself seemed to take the praise directed at him in stride and simply nodded in acknowledgment. I thought I saw some unknown emotion flash behind his eyes for a moment, but nothing was there when I looked for it once more. It must have been my imagination.

A bit confused by the Doctor's statement, I finally decided to get to the bottom of Laxus' involvement.

"What do you mean? I assumed that Laxus-san had simply found me in time and brought me here for treatment. Is that not what happened?"

At my question, Laxus's attention shifted back to me. The way his arms were crossed over his chest, tightening a little.

"Yeah, but it is just as the Doc said —Simply getting you somewhere for treatment wasn't cutting it anymore. Your sickness had progressed too far along at that point. The Magic overflowing inside you had grown large enough for me to pinpoint you from about a mile away, and you were at death's door when I reached you. I was forced to expel some of the Magic inside you on the spot if I wanted you to survive until I brought you here for more extensive treatment." At the casual mention of how close I had come to dying that day, I felt a cold hand grab my heart. The Doctor, of course, already told me about how the sickness almost claimed my life. But hearing it from someone else, someone who had been there at the time, made it feel much more real. Especially in the way Laxus had talked about it. It made me shiver, and I pulled my hands up to my chest, pressing them together in search of warmth.

"Is that why I passed out? Was my body really about to shut down just when Laxus-san managed to reach me? I am extraordinarily lucky if that is the case." Well, at least depending on how you looked at it. Some would argue that it was very much unlucky to wake up in another world and to nearly lose your life immediately. I personally was simply thankful for the fact that I had survived at all.

"I am sorry, Miss Anna, being reminded of your untimely death is probably not the most comfortable topic for you. But yes, maybe a few minutes more, and you would have left this world for good. The extraction process we use here at the clinic is not instantaneous since withdrawing too much magical energy from the body at once can be just as dangerous as having too much in the first place and needs to be handled carefully. The method used by Laxus-san was more forceful and crude and ultimately saved your life, but calling it the preferred way of dealing with the situation would be stretching it."

"What exactly did you do, Laxus-san? How did you get my Magic out of me?" I suspected that the Doctor either had specific Magic equipment for cases like this or was privy to a set of particular medical skills, but how would Laxus, of all people, know any of those? As far as I remember, only Porlyusica and Wendy had any kinds of talents to speak of when it came to dealing with issues caused by Magic.

To my surprise, the addressed man turned his head away at my question, looking downright sheepish for some reason, even more so than when the Doctor had scolded him before.

What the hell did he do?

"I used your body as a conduit for my Magic." He simply stated, not bothering to clarify any further.

"What's that supposed to mean?" And why was that a big deal? It didn't sound too bad.

Doctor Merle chuckled good-naturedly before he proceeded to take over the reins over the conversation once more.

"What Laxus-san means by 'conduit' is that he used your body like someone would use Holder Type Magic. He channeled his own Magic power through your body, merging some of his Magic with yours before forcefully expelling the blend of energy out of your body like you would with a magic wand, for example. The parts of the forest where he found you in will never look quite the same ever again, I imagine." The Doctor's eyes twinkled with amusement when he finished his explanation. I simply opted to accept the information for what it was. Even with my knowledge about the series, I still was very much a novice when it came to the inner workings of Magic and how you could apply it. The Holder Type comparison made sense to me, but it didn't explain why Laxus was still looking sheepishly to the side, not meeting anyone's eyes.

The implied destruction of the forest could not be why. Reconstructing the environment with their Magic, razing historic landmarks, and destroying one too many houses was downright expected of any Fairy Tail Member whenever they went anywhere, especially on an official mission. So what else could be the reason for his unusual behavior?

...

Oh, God, please don't tell me that merging Magic like this is actually some highly intimate action between two people and that we didn't just engage in the equivalent of magical intercourse or some shit.

No way.

No freaking way!

I could feel my face burning up at the mere thought of doing something like that with Laxus. The palms of my hands came up to cover my eyes in embarrassment —a groan directed at my own idiocy left my mouth. I was not only looking like a tomato right now, but I also felt like I had the IQ of one.

Stupid mind, get out of the gutter! Why is it always like this with you?!

Too much fanfiction probably. Reading that stuff warped your innocent mind without you noticing anything until you woke up one day and realized that you were a degenerate now. Life just be like that sometimes.

A thought crossed my mind as I proceeded to study Laxus from between my fingers as if he was some kind of interesting puzzle.

"How long exactly has it been since Laxus-san found me?" I asked the Doctor. How long have I been asleep in this clinic?

"You were first brought here about a week ago." A week was a very long time to extract some excess magic, I thought with a frown.

"And the usual treatment takes how long?" I had an inkling about where this was going now, as had the Doctor if his widening smile was anything to go by.

"About two to three hours tops with maybe a recuperation time of half an hour after the fact. Even the crude extraction of your Magic should have only put you out of commission for about a day."

At the admission, my head proceeded to crane towards Laxus, whose cheeks had taken on a slightly red tint over the course of the Doctors and my conversation.

"So let me see if I get this right; I have been bedridden for about a week instead of maybe two days at max because..." Laxus shifting uncomfortably at my emphasized pause was all the confirmation I needed.

"...this big dummy used me as his personal lightning rod without any restrain and almost managed to kill me in the process?" That sounded just way too much like a Fairy Tail thing to not be accurate.

The hearty laughter I let out when the Doctor nodded in affirmation could probably be heard in the next town over. Of course, it was something stupid like this. What else could it have been? Saving a village just to end up burning half of it to the ground yourself was a Fairy Tail stable after all. The rapidly growing blush on Laxus' face made me double over even more. I should have expected no less; after all, Laxus was a true Fairy Tail wizard through and through. The Doctor joined in with my laughter, one of his low chuckles rumbling through his burly frame.

It felt nice to laugh like this without restraint. I probably needed it, too, after spending the better part of the last week, either asleep or crying my eyes out. It was relaxing.

Laxus, on the other hand, was simply grimacing to himself, obviously still somewhat uncomfortable with the thought of almost killing me himself. I shook my head as my laughter subsided.

Such a dummy. He certainly did not seem to understand how little that mattered. He had saved me, and I could not be more grateful towards him for that.

"So about those 'marvelous' magic abilities you praised before, what's that about?" I raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, amusement never leaving my voice.

"I might have been slightly exaggerating, but I think Laxus-san deserved some additional praise for his heroic deed. Don't you think?"

I agreed without a doubt. Wholeheartedly. Hence, when I noticed that Laxus had a look on his face that I was pretty sure meant he was thinking about apologizing to me, I decided to speak up because that would just be beyond ridiculous.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Laxus-san! For saving my life and bringing me here. I don't have the words to describe how much what you did means to me! So, let me once more thank you from the bottom of my heart!" I bowed as low as I was able to in my current sitting position, my auburn hair falling into my face in the process. I wanted him to know that I meant it. Laxus eyes widened when I pretty much shouted my words at him, but his gaze turned reassuring a moment later, and he gave me a content grin in return.

"Don't mention it."

Another World Away

"So you can't recall anything?" Laxus frowned at me when I simply shrugged my shoulders. We were both alone in the room; the good Doctor had excused himself a few minutes ago with the promise of returning with lunch. Ever since he had mentioned food, my stomach had not stopped growling, and I hoped he would be back soon. While I had not felt it before, I was practically starving now that I was aware of how long I had not eaten anything. The Doctor had explained that some magical mumbo jumbo had been supplying me with sustenance when I was asleep. I quite honestly did not bother to remember the name of the magical technology. I had real food to look forward to after all.

"No," I shook my head. "The first thing I remember is how I awoke with a pounding headache, and I think you found me only a few minutes later. I have no idea how I came to be in the forest or how long I had been there." And I really didn't because while I was hiding some details like the fact that I came from another world, I still had no idea how and why I was even here.

"Another dead end then. This whole thing positively reeks of the involvement from a Dark Guild, and yet there is nothing to go on at all." Laxus was getting irritated, I could tell, and it was no wonder. Our latest discussion had been going nowhere, which seemed to agitate the usually calm man. These last few minutes had been quite something.

Too caught up in the whole 'another world' business, I had not paid any attention to how this entire situation must look from an outside perspective. If you told someone in my old world that a scantily clad woman had been found unconscious in a remote location, there was one specific conclusion most people would come to about what happened.

I had not managed to connect the dots in my head, not even when there had been no particular reason for Laxus to be this invested in my sickness alone. I simply thought about him as a Fairy Tail member, and Fairy Tail members liked to help no matter the predicament. I did not expect him to have any deeper reason than that, but I probably should have.

Maybe then I would have been able to hide my surprise and shock better when Laxus had laid a supportive hand on one of my shoulders and had looked me dead in the eye, asking if someone had assaulted me in that particular manner.

Looking back, I was very fortunate the Doctor had already left the room at that point. The shrillness of my voice after the question had sunken in had threatened to crack the room's windows. Even Laxus was not bothering to hide his discomfort at the noises coming out of my mouth. For the next few minutes, I had downright frantically denied the truth of the terrifying conclusion the lightning mage had reached. It had caught me completely unaware, and I should have handled it better in hindsight. It wasn't one of my proudest moments, not that I had many of those in recent memory anyhow.

While being confronted about that, had been in no way pleasant at the time, I now found a newfound warmth spread through my body at the thought of Laxus's reaction.

His eyes had looked positively murderous behind his mask of calm when he asked the question, apparently ready to hunt down and eradicate whoever he thought was responsible on the spot. And he probably had planned to do exactly that if I had not managed to convince him otherwise. And even when Laxus accepted my rebuttal, he had not simply averted his piercing gaze. He had instead searched for any sight of fear or deception in my eyes.

I was nothing more than a stranger the Mage had stumbled upon in the woods, and yet he seemed to care so very much. I almost started crying again when I realized how genuine his concern was. Before I arrived here, I had liked Laxus, the fictional character, but now I could confidently say that I had also come to respect Laxus, the actual person. It was nice how that played out.

Never meet your heroes? Yeah, I was calling bullshit on that one.

"And you did not find anything in the woods either?" I was honestly curious about what that could mean. I didn't consider kidnapping from beyond the reaches of another world a likely explanation for my presence here. However, it would make some sense for me to have arrived in this world due to some misfired magical ritual. And for that, people should have been present at or near my initial location. Laxus frown deepened at my question.

"There was absolutely nothing. The foliage around the place I found you were completely untouched, no branch out of place, no footprints in the mud. Some teleportation spell could explain that away, but I could find no other scent around the place other than yours either. I went back immediately after handing you over to the Doc and combed through a large area for any kind of human scent; there was nothing." He paused for a moment looking at me as if he expected a question. When I didn't say anything, he raised an eyebrow briefly before continuing to talk as if he had never stopped.

"Which means we are dealing..."

I wondered what that had been about before it clicked in my mind.

Ohhh, right. Laxus had expected me to ask about the whole smelling business. Even in this world, that is an unusual ability, and he rightly assumed that anyone else other than me would presumably question it.

I should probably keep in mind that I am not supposed to know many of the things I do going forward. Like him being a Dragon Slayer, for example, he does not broadcast that after all.

"...eitherwith a decidedly powerful teleporter who can send another person over a vast distance. Or whoever brought you there is very thorough in cleaning up after them. I have not met many Mages that are capable of erasing their scent in such a way that my nose can't even pick up on any lingering remnants." I could audibly hear him clenching his teeth. The inability to pin down the culprits and their methods were obviously getting to him. Laxus was one of the most powerful and skilled Mages in the country, even at his young age. It probably bothered him that he had seemingly been outsmarted or even downright bested in a 'battle' between Mages. They had not been throwing hands, of course, but I still could see it hurting his ego all the same. Just because he was not the same giant jerk he had been before Fantasia didn't mean he had no pride in himself or, at the very least, his abilities.

It was entirely possible for there to be no culprits and that my arrival in this world was a complete accident of giant proportions, but I could not tell Laxus that. Maybe it would be wise to share with him that I came from another world. Yet, I could not bring myself to confess to him. He took everything I said so seriously and did the best he could to help. I could not bear the thought of him potentially looking at me like I was some lunatic. Maybe, if Edolas had already happened, I would feel differently about this, but I had no way of knowing. For now, I simply was Anna, a civilian girl that he found in the woods for some unknown reasons, and decided to help out. I didn't want to change that. Not right now, at least.

It probably was selfish of me to lead him on a wild goose chase like this, but hey, I never claimed to be a saint. Likewise, I also wasn't a monster that would let him stumble around in the dark for my amusement. Which meant I needed to make him stop thinking about it somehow.

"Please do not make such a face, Laxus-san." The irritated look on his face did not suit him. The calm but imposing-looking expression he had worn before was something far more fitting and natural, in my opinion. Laxus wasn't a person who smiled much when he wasn't around the Guild, but that did not mean it was natural for him to look angry either.

"I am very thankful for your help, and I don't claim to be as knowledgeable as you when it comes to Magic, but maybe it was simply some kind of accident? There is nothing special about me that would warrant this amount of effort. I do not have much money, I do not possess anything of great value, and I have no lucrative connections to speak of. I am simply little old me." I smiled at him warmly. For all I knew, it being an accident of any kind was just as likely as anything else. There was nothing special about me besides the world-hopping itself, which only mattered after I was already brought here, not before.

"It might have been a strange and frightening situation at the beginning, especially if you had not found me. But you and Doctor Merle have been very kind to me, and I am ready to let it go and concentrate on the future. For all our sakes." I took great care in keeping eye contact with Laxus while I explained my decision. He needed to understand that I was serious. His expression shifted from the former agitated state to doubtful, suspicious, and finally acceptance. Laxus leaned back against the wall, the wood creaking from his weight. One of his hands ran through his spikey blond hair when he let out a loud sigh.

"Sure, Anna, if that is what you want. I won't force you to do anything about this, but it reeks of foul play no matter how I look at it."

I felt my face grow warm at the mention of my name. It was the first time he had called me by it in any of our conversations. I felt like a fourteen-year-old fangirl again instead of the twenty-something adult I was. The Laxus had spoken my name after all. How many other people in my world could claim the same?

None. Exactly!

I was thankfully once more saved from my embarrassing thoughts by an outside force. Doctor Merle arrived back in the room, balancing a tray with my food on it in one hand while clutching some rolled-up paper in the other. Just then, my stomach let out a loud growl that echoed throughout the room. I let out a sigh.

From one embarrassment to the next, what else is new?

I had half a mind to stick out my tongue at Laxus, whose smile had grown suspiciously large. But I managed to keep it in, and I simply thanked the Doctor when I took the offered tray from him. Deciding that sitting cross-legged would be the best way to balance the object on my legs, I shifted myself into position. Strands of auburn hair fell in my face at the movement. I tucked them behind my ear with my free hand, feeling slightly annoyed. A comb could not be in my hands soon enough, and a mirror to fix this mess would also be lovely.

The food the Doctor had brought me was a simple dish consisting of roasted meat, vegetables, and some rice on the side. In addition, there was a glass of what I assumed was orange juice placed on the tray. I gingerly reached for it. Bringing the glass to my lips, I let the sweet aroma coming from the drink wash over me for a moment before chugging down the drink in one go. The cool liquid felt like heaven as it poured down my dry throat. What can I say? After all the crying and talking I had done earlier, I was just exceptionally thirsty.

I let out a sound of satisfaction when I put down the now empty glass.

That hit the spot.

Without much worry about anything else, I began to dig into my meal, savoring the taste of the warm food on my tongue only for a moment before wolfing it down. A few minutes later, I put down my eating utensils, not even crumbs remaining on the now empty plate. My first meal in another world had tasted surprisingly ordinary, not much different than a meal my mother had cooked for me back home when I came to visit. It felt comforting in a way, the reassurance that I would still be able to find familiar things in this strange new place.

The rustling sound of paper reaching my ears made me curious about what the other two people in the room were up to. The sight of them both studying over what was very clearly some kind of map made my heart beat faster.

Oh, no.

I had carelessly given the Doctor the name of my hometown back when I had not yet realized the truth of my situation. A silent curse left my mouth. I had just managed to stop Laxus from concentrating too hard on the strangeness of my circumstances by telling him I did not want to overthink it. I could only hope that it was a map of the area exclusively and not all of Fiore. There was no way in hell that it wouldn't look highly suspicious if they assumed I had somehow been transported not just from a few towns over but from another country or continent entirely. The amount of magic power such a feat would require could never be just an accident, and I had the feeling Laxus would not let the topic go easily if he came to the same conclusion. My fists clenched at my side when I spoke up nervously.

"Uh, Doctor Merle, I am finished with my food. It, uh, was delicious." I chuckled uncomfortably as both men looked towards me at the same time.

"I am delighted to hear that, Miss Anna. I fear we have some more unfortunate news for you, however." The burly man said, walking over to stand beside my bed. He took the tray off my knees, putting it on a nearby shelf before turning back to me.

"The map of the surrounding area I have on hand does not list your hometown. It seems that you are further away from home than we first anticipated."

Further away than you could ever imagine, Doctor. I grimaced at the thought, how to salvage this situation?

"Can't believe we haven't asked that before, but you are from Fiore, right?" The question from Laxus made my heart pound even faster in my chest. I mulled over the question as quickly as possible and concluded that my answer could either save this whole situation or doom it entirely. To lie or not to lie, that was the question. I had no idea how thorough the government of Fiore - in other words, the Magic Council and the Monarchy - was when it came to keeping up to date on every single town and village in the Kingdom. We had never seen a complete map of the country in the Manga. Only a very sparsely filled one, which I always assumed was drawn by Lucy and only included the towns she had visited on her missions.

"Yeah, of course, but I am not sure my hometown would even be on a map. We were a tiny and very recently established settlement." I decided to take the risk, all the while pleading that neither of them would question the bullshit I came up with on the spot and simply take it at face value.

"Of course, what else did I expect? Nothing can be straightforward with you, can it?" Sounding more annoyed than he probably was, the lightning Mage rolled his eyes before seemingly closing his eyes in contemplation.

I looked to the Doctor, anxiously anticipating his opinion on the matter. Laxus had not questioned it, but would the Doctor? The spectacled man met my eyes with a thoughtful gaze.

"It would appear the Gods of fortune like watching you with one eye closed, Miss Anna, but do not worry. I have a proposal for you. A recommendation if you so wish." I signaled for him to continue, cautiously optimistic that the Doctor had also bought my lie.

"The final topic regarding your Magical Surplus Disease I wanted to talk about with you is the matter of how to deal with it in the future."

"Am I not already cured? What do you mean?" I interjected, confusion evident on my face before the man could continue further. The burly man shook his head in return.

"The disease does not have a cure or at least none that can get rid of it over the span of a few days. Magic must be expelled out of your body regularly to prevent overflow from occurring. It is usually done exclusively by extracting the energy with a special Lacrima. The method Laxus-san used is deemed too unsafe, mainly due to the afflicted subjects' usually young age. Most of these children spend years in specialized institutes until their 'containers' have grown to acclimate their bodies' accelerated Ethernano absorption rate. Making it a non-issue in their adult life, especially if they become Mages."

"I hear a 'but' somewhere in there; please tell me that I am right?" I did not want to spend years in the hospital. Not with a whole new world waiting just outside the window for me, ready to be explored.

"Indeed, there is. You are already a grown-up, which means you can skip all of the treatments and instead go on and learn Magic to regulate the overflow of energy yourself."

At his words, my mind ground to an abrupt halt for the second or third time this day. My mind repeated his words about a dozen times before they finally sunk in.

I can learn Magic. How did I not think about that before?

It should have been obvious, it was obvious, and yet I had not even thought about that possibility even once since I had awoken here.

Maybe I am the dummy in this room, after all.

Excitement flowed through me in waves, and the urge to move my body became unbearable. In a move of complete tomfoolery, I pretty much jumped directly out of bed rather than do the reasonable thing instead and slowly stand up from it. My legs protested vehemently against the sudden movement and the full weight of my body pressing down on them. After about a week of doing nothing, I should have expected some initial difficulties. Yet, the euphoria I was in after realizing that I could learn Magic completely blanked out my better judgment. Therefore, it came to no one's surprise and shock but mine that the lively little dance I was in the act of performing was interrupted by my legs wobbling dangerously underneath me, causing me to stumble forward.

"Eeep."

Just when I was about to fall over face-first on the wooden floor, a firm hand grasped me by the elbow and kept me upright.

"Are you trying to get yourself bedridden again or something?!" The scolding voice from right in front of me made me snap out of the shock I was in over my almost-fall. Shaking of the warm hand on my elbow, I did the only sensible thing you could do when you locked eyes with your once-more savior. I yelled in his face.

"I can actually learn Magic now, Laxus-san! That's so freaking amazing!" My grin almost threatened to split my face. My giddiness and happiness were apparently contagious as I could hear chuckling coming from behind me, and even Laxus' annoyed expression shifted into a grin.

"That's what has you so excited? I guess I can understand that; learning Magic is every kid's dream after all." I rapidly nodded my head to his words before the meaning of the last part registered in my mind.

Did he just call me a child?!

...

Oh, who cares? I can learn freaking Magic! Everything else has just been deemed unimportant!

I almost started dancing on the spot again, only for a polite cough from the Doctor to stop me in my tracks, drawing my attention back to him. He was motioning to my bed, inviting me to sit down with a friendly smile on his face. Right, he probably had wanted to say more to me. I took a seat on the side of the bed, my legs not quite reaching the floor, and nodded towards the Doctor.

"If you decide to learn Magic and leave this clinic, I will gift you a special portable Lacrima, which you can use to extract some of your Magic with if necessary. But be warned that it is only usable a fixed amount of times before it breaks. It is not a permanent solution and is simply meant for allowing the afflicted to travel or, in your case, to keep you stable until you have learned any kind of magical ability."

"Gift? What about the payment for my stay in general? I do not have money on me."

"Do not be concerned. This disease, while rare, is treated with utmost seriousness, and the Magic Council itself funds the treatment for it. Money is not an issue."

I felt relieved after hearing that—one problem less for me to worry about. It was also good to hear that the Magic Council, which was rather incompetent in the series, did genuinely support and help their citizens in this way. A cynical part of my mind told me that they only did it, so they had more capable Mages at their disposal, but I instead opted to concentrate on the fact that it had helped save my life and possibly many others.

Positivity one. Cynicism zero.

"This is where my recommendation comes into play. I propose you combine your search for your hometown with your willingness to learn Magic. And the best way for that, in my humble opinion, is to travel to the town of Magnolia, which is the nearest metropolitan in the region. It should not only be easy for you to find detailed maps of Fiore there but also all kinds of Magic Shops to get you started on your Magic."

My eyes widened at his words. Magnolia. Fairy Tail. My gaze found Laxus' without me meaning to, and the question of where precisely on the series timeline I had popped into this world grew in my mind. I was very confident that the events of 'The Battle of Fairy Tail' had already taken place. The Laxus from before that had been an arrogant ass, and the Laxus right now wasn't. So, yeah. It was not rocket science, I admit, but it checked out.

While I was mulling over my thoughts, Laxus held my gaze with a thoughtful expression.

"The only complication that arises comes in the form of transportation. The nearest railway station connected to Magnolia is located in the next town over, and while there have not been any incidents in the last few years, it is still half a day's travel away by foot through a thick forest filled with all kinds of wildlife. I do not feel comfortable with leaving a young woman like you, Miss Anna, entirely on her own out there. Unfortunately, I can not leave my place here at the clinic, and Laxus-san told me numerous times that he had places to be and simply passed by once more today, wanting to make sure that you were alright first. Isn't that right, Laxus-san?" Doctor Merle looked apologetic at me before he directed his question at Laxus, expecting a swift confirmation. Instead, there was silence as the leader of the Thunder God Tribe looked at me deep in thought.

"Laxus-san? Have you changed your mind perhaps?" Laxus finally turned his head and indicated that he had heard the Doctor's question before ignoring it once more by focusing on me again.

"What does a Guild mean to you?"

"Uh, what do you mean by that exactly?" A question like this had not been what I had expected to come out of the lightning user's mouth. I assumed he would have either agreed to play bodyguard for me or simply declined it. This particular question seemed to come entirely out of left field. And not only for me apparently, as I could see Doctor Merle frown in confusion out of the corner of my eye.

"Exactly what I said. Even as a civilian, you should know enough about Mage Guilds to form an opinion. So tell me, what do they mean to you?" Laxus's eyes had a strange intensity to them, something he had not directed at me before. It was not frightening or anything like that. Laxus did not exude any ill-will when posing the question, but the pressure he gave off still made me fidget nervously under his gaze.

What does a Guild mean to me?

It was almost as if he was asking what Fairy Tail meant to me, and maybe that's what this was ultimately all about —his feelings on Fairy Tail.

He didn't know about the information in my head, how I had been able to see into his life from the other side of a screen. Laxus had no idea that I knew about his inner struggle and how he had to leave Fairy Tail behind after finally realizing how much his family meant to him. Because that's what guild members were —family. Perhaps the Laxus in front of me had already joined up with the Guild again, or maybe he hadn't. No matter what, it did not change that I recognized what he wanted to hear from me. He wanted to see if I would make the same mistakes he had if I ever joined a Guild.

For a fleeting moment, I felt mad at myself for deceiving him like this, for planning to spoonfeed him precisely what he wanted to hear. But I came to realize that it did not matter. I looked at Fairy Tail in the same way he did, even without lying. I simply would have been too shy and timid to answer it truthfully and without my whole heart behind it if this was my old world where many people looked down on the series and its fans as a whole. But this was Laxus, someone who loved the Guild more than I ever possibly could; there was no need for me to feel ashamed.

So I told him how I looked at Guilds as if he had asked me about Fairy Tail specifically. How I loved the camaraderie between the members, the fun and happy times everyone seems to have simply by being at the Guild. The exciting adventures you were able to go on with others while you were also supporting people in need at the same time, and how the official emblem was something more than just a cool tattoo to show of: It was a sign of pride and belonging.

I talked about everything I could think of, phrasing it in a way as if I had been an avid fan and follower of Mage Guilds for some time now.

Laxus simply watched me throughout my speech, the intensity behind his gaze lessening after each of my statements until it was gone entirely after I completed my last sentence.

"...I just love the idea of Guilds and everything they represent." I casually shrugged my shoulders when I finished as if I had no idea that I just hit every bullseye possible when it came to tugging at the Thundergod's heartstrings. I still felt a little bit bad about it, to be honest, even when I told myself repeatedly that I was not actually deceiving him.

Laxus, none the wiser when it came to my inner misgivings, simply uncrossed his arms, pushed himself away from the wall he had been standing against all this time, and nodded to the Doctor with a grin on his face.

"I will take her to the station, Doc."

"Oh, that is quite fantastic, Laxus-san, but weren't you in a hurry?" The Doctor's expression switched from surprised to delighted in a mere second at Laxus' words.

"I have my own reasons for why I want Anna to go to Magnolia now, so it seems only fair to lend a hand once more." Laxus nonchalantly replied before turning to me, uttering the single most ironic question he could possibly ask.

"Ever heard of Fairy Tail?"

Another World Away

Next Chapter, Anna will finally be out and about! This Chapter turned out a lot longer than I first planned, and I hope it was not too much stuff at once. I rewrote the last paragraph multiple times, but I am still not exactly happy with how the Chapter ended. Please tell me what you thought about Laxus' characterization. I tried my best with him!