Chapter 10 - Orange River
Dedicated to: Goku275, zzkaizer, Kriim-Sauce786 Gersus, and anyone new who came upon this during Summer!
"You want me to be apart of your team?" Wendy asked looking shocked while sitting on a bar stool with her newly made friends.
"Yeah!" Jenny nodded glancing over to her long time best friend, Alice.
"Sure, I think you would be a great addition to our team." Alice agreed with a cheerful smile.
The two looked over to the bluenette who seemed to be in a current battle of the mind before she suddenly nodded her head giving her own smile back.
"I'll gladly accept your invitation."
"Cool, then its official, Wendy Marvell welcome to Team WAM." Jenny announced as the two shook on it. Alice chuckled into her hand while Jenny glanced at her questionably.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just the team name." Alice responded still laughing to herself.
"WAM?" Wendy wondered aloud.
"Yeah, it stands for-" Jenny began before Alice cut her off.
"Woodson, Alexander, Marvell. Our old team was called WA, because it was just Jenny and I." Alice explained.
"Oh." Wendy nodded simply now understanding the name before laughing herself.
"Ok, ok, I know it's not the best name, but come on it's not that bad guys." Jenny tried reasoning before shutting down completely seeing her friends still laughing.
"Na, don't worry about it Jen." Alice began, "The name might sound funny, but imagine how unexpected our enemies will be when we appear out of thin air and 'WAM' them into unconsciousness."
Jenny acknowledged her friends explanation before laughing loudly at her analogy.
"That would be pretty funny." She spoke while the other two nodded in agreement. Jenny's outburst, however caused the three to get the guild's attention as a yellow haired man strolled over, leaning against the bar counter.
"Keep it down would ya you noisy brat." Zancrow blandly said taunting the bruenette. Jenny's face flared up in anger as she started yelling insults.
"Zancrow, you no good piece of-"
"Hush 'Jen'."
"Don't you dare ever call me that!" She angrily ranted while he chuckled brushing her off as his eyes wandered over to the bluenette sitting next to him.
"Yo." He spoke cooly as he lifted his hand in a wave.
"Uh, hi." Wendy shyly greeted him with her own little wave.
"So, Wendy Marvell is it?" Zancrow began acting as if he did not know her already, which unknowingly to Wendy, he already did.
"Yeah..." She answered fidgeting her hands nervously. Zancrow's eyes trailed down picking up her antics.
"No need to be shy, the name's Zancrow." He introduced himself laying his hand on her left shoulder and sending her completely off the stool. Instantly, and without warning, a gust of wind drilled him throwing him into the wall behind them. As he crawled out of the now broken wall cursing under his breath he regarded the twelve year old who was standing up, hands over her mouth in shock and worry, looking very embarrassed.
"I am so sorry!" She squeaked.
"Yeah, whatever kid...try to control your magic next time." He said annoyedly.
"Well, maybe you should try controlling your strength!" Jenny retorted crossing her arms across her chest in defense.
"Stay out of this Jen." Zancrow gazed at the girl.
"I told you to stop calling me that!
"We're doing what again?" Wendy asked.
"Uh." Jenny began glancing curiously over at Alice as if silently asking for help.
"Master Hades said that your memories were shaky so you were to stay away from the more dangerous jobs for a little while. Instead, he assigned the three of us to go and steal items for him."
"Alright...sounds easy enough right?" Wendy agreed as her two friends nodded along. "Then lets get a move on!"
"Right!"
"Woohoo, first ever team mission for WAM!" Jenny laughed while smiling at her friends to which they began laughing again too.
"It's not that bad of a name!" She exclaimed.
"It says right here on the flyer from Hades that we are to snag a red gem." Alice read aloud to them.
"A gem? What for?" Wendy asked.
"Beats me. Probably not best to question Master's orders though so I say we locate this thing and grab it." Jenny explained.
The item still brought curiosity to the young dragon slayer, but she forced her mind to ignore it for now so she could focus.
"Alright, so the gem is in Orange River Jenny." Alice pointed out.
"Red gem in an orange color named city, sounds obvious enough. Come on Wendy no slacking this is your first mission as an official Grimoire Heart mage!"
"Yeah! Sorry I am just still a little sluggish from my slumber. Not sure what exactly happened on my preliminary mission, the details just are blank to me."
"Preliminary mission?" Jenny asked a little confused.
"Yep, that's what Master Hades told me. Is something wrong?"
Jenny was stunned at first until a light nudge against her elbow broke her out of her trance.
"Oh no, nothing at all Wendy! You were sent on a preliminary mission prior to becoming a mage and were ambushed by an unknown force. I don't know all the details either, since I wasn't there."
Wendy nodded in acceptance happy to finally have learned something about what happen to her. Unbeknownst to her, Jenny and Alice glanced at one another before the bruentte silently sighed in relief.
Three hours later after sprinting in silence, the trio came upon a small city that was split down the two by a running body of water, colored orange.
"Welcome to Orange River, Wendy!" Alice and Jenny quietly shouted grabbing each of her shoulders as the sky dragon slayer just looked in astonishment. For a small city, that was separated by a flowing river, it looked amazing. Some buildings were crammed up against each other, others had vast open space and long fields. Citizens walked throughout talking and laughing amongst themselves.
Alice noticed the questions forming before they came out.
"The citizens of Orange River live on one side while the market is on the other. If I had to guess, our little gem here is probably on the market side so this should be easy." She explained to which the bluenette looked away shyly.
"No need to be shy Wendy. We're here for you." Alice added in support.
"Thank you both." She bowed expressing their gratitude. The two mages were stunned for a second, before shrugging their surprise off.
"No problem." They both spoke as the three friends hugged one another and began to plan their attack strategy.
"Oh Jen!" A voice called out from within the guild. The two best friends who were sitting at a table chatting glanced over to see a familiar, and annoying, sadistic face coming their way.
"Not you! Get out of here Zancrow!" Jenny beat Alice to the punch.
"My feelings Jen, I thought we were friends!" Zancrow mimicked wailing tears.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" She shouted as she went to actually assault him, luckily Alice got in her way before she could do so.
The blonde tapped her foot impatiently as she crossed her arms across her chest glaring at the god slayer.
"What do you want, Zancrow?"
"Easy Unknown." That was the nickname he had given the girl since her magic was well, unknown.
He continued, "No need to be hostile, Master has a mission for you two and the newbie."
"The newbie?" Jenny asked confusedly.
"You're talking about Wendy aren't you?" Alice spoke searching his eyes in the process for any mischief.
"Yep right on, Master wants to see you both first though." He concluded his job finished and walked away with a quick hand wave.
After calming down, the two friends looked at one another before silently nodding in agreement. Words left unspoken, they adventured off to go meet with Hades.
"Alright so, since me and Jenny are the ones with magic are we going in to steal it?" Wendy questioned.
"No, I am going in with you guys." Alice spoke as she laid out a sketch of their planned heist.
"Why?" She wondered aloud.
"Your talking to yourself out loud again Wendy." Jenny jokingly teased her. "In all seriousness though, you need to get ready, apparently what we're after is important which is probably why Master Hades wants it. So prepare for a fight."
"A fight?"
"Yeah, a fight." Alice nodded. "Something wrong?"
"Well, why are you going into a fight with us if you don't have magic?" The sky dragon slayer questioned her friend.
"Just because she doesn't know her magic Wendy, doesn't mean she don't have any." Jenny began before motioning with her eyes at Alice.
"Show her Alice."
Wendy's already large list of questions that were still unanswered became even longer as the blonde pulled out of her backpack a short bow and a quiver.
"Wendy meet Rapids, my weapon that I've been fighting with since Grimoire Heart adopted me at a young age."
The bow looked like a normal bow, but seemed more sturdy and durable then anything she could remember in her foggy mind. It was painted a dark blue, the tip black, however as if it had been burned.
Jenny began to laugh as she saw Wendy's eyes trail up to the tip of the bow.
"Yeah, the last time Alice used it thing nearly got destroyed." Her hands covered her mouth as she was trying not to alert their presence.
"I did not not!" Alice squealed before going quiet listening for any unwanted attention.
After the coast was clear, Jenny removed her hand and pointed an accusing finger at the blonde.
"Yeah you did! You whacked a fire monster with the thing thinking it would get off me."
"Uh, thats...uh." Alice tried to explain before stalling as she struggled to find a comeback. Raising a finger she pointed it right back at her friend.
"I was just trying to save you!"
"Well, thanks Alice, but I had the situation under control if you gave me more time. I'm just glad your bow didn't get incinerated by that blasted thing, I know how much it means too you."
The two friends after coming to their senses glanced at their third party and realized she was laughing at them.
"What are you laughing for?" Jenny stated accusingly.
"Alice tried to hit a fire monster with a wooden bow of all things?" Jenny noticed the mischievous glint in the young girl's eye and decided to throw her own into the mix
"Ya know, Wendy you may just fit in with us after all."
"It's not-" Alice began before Wendy clamped her hand over both their mouths as all three went silent.
"The suns setting Pa, can we go inside now?" A voice spoke nearby.
"Yea, we can go." He gave permission to the boy as his eyes continued to glance across the river. Finally he laughed to himself as he turned his back and began to walk back to his home.
He said it under his breath, but Wendy's skilled dragon hearing picked it up instantly.
"Mind must be playing tricks on me, could of swore I heard mages out there."
"Master?" Alice called out as she and Jenny slid through the open door and listened to it close behind them.
"Ah yes, Alice! Good to see you too Jenny. I assume Zancrow delivered my message?" Hades greeted as he stood up from behind his desk.
"Yes, sir." Jenny confirmed.
"Perfect, I can count on him to send a message, but not lose a dragon slayer, good to know." Hades mumbled before looking back up to them.
"Alice, Jenny, I have an important quest for you two." He began.
"A quest, wooho!" Jenny cheered before quieting back down seeing the glare she was receiving from Hades.
"As I was saying before you interrupted me, you two are to steal a red gem from the local city and bring it back to me as soon as possible. After you have accomplished that, I have two more quests for you all to complete."
"Understood Master-" Alice began, however this time was cut off by Hades holding up his hand.
"I wasn't finished Alice."
"I apologize sir."
"Very well, here is the final part of information you need. Our newest member, Wendy Marvell, is coming with you."
"For what reason?" Jenny inquired.
"Are you disobeying me?" Hades said.
"No sir, I believe she is just wondering, as am I, why you want her to be apart of our mission?" Alice boldly spoke up knowing he wasn't going to like her sticking up for her friend. To her surprise, however Hades waved it off as if it was nothing.
"If you must know, I have turned Wendy into one of our most powerful weapons here at Grimoire Heart, and with due time she will wipe the floor with those fairies. As of a result, you will do what you need to do to get the gem, but you are not allowed to assist the girl in any way." He chuckled menacingly.
"One of our most powerful?" Alice questioned.
"That's enough from you two, you have your orders now leave." Hades barked annoyedly as he handed Alice the quest and the two hurried off and out the door.
He returned back to his desk as he sat down and pulled up an archive across it labeled, ND.
The file consisted of information, stats, and what looked to be a new appearance that Hades was creating himself. On the opposite side of the archive page was a single picture of a person he had in his grasp that slipped away and set back his plans for his real goal.
He slammed a fist out of frustration knocking a glass off the desk shattering it after hitting the floor. His singular exposed green eye darkened significantly.
"Natsu Dragneel...I know you're out there and you will fall under my control one way or another."
The darkness of the night made it hard to see, but the three guild members stuck close to one another to make sure they didn't get lost. After some failed attempts, they finally located the mansion that housed the gem.
"I'll take the first floor, Jenny you've got the second, and Wendy your job lies on the third, which is where the gem should be." Alice summarized from her sketch.
"Should be?" Wendy asked uncertainly.
"I don't exactly know, but that's where my assumptions lead too." She explained. "If it's not on the top floor, then Jenny and I will grab it."
"Alright then, best of luck you two!" Jenny called out as they began their planned attack. Jenny sent vines that gripped the guards at the front and threw them hard into a fence knocking them unconscious almost instantly.
With them out of the way, Alice motioned for Wendy to follow her as they flew up the steps leaving Jenny alone on the first floor. Not long after, they broke into the second as Alice raised Rapids, pulled an arrow from her quiver and readied it. She fired a volley that took down more guards before the two suddenly heard a loud ringing that seemed to spread through the mansion.
"Dammit, they sounded the alarm!" Alice cursed under her breath as she hollered out to Wendy.
"Go to the third floor! I'll watch your back down here, just be careful and grab that gem! Once you get it flee before they catch you, Jenny and I will find you." Alice ordered as she began to fire more arrows and Wendy charged up the steps and got ready to enter the final floor.
As soon as her feet landed on marble, she saw the glass case that held their quest just a few yards from her. The red gem sparkled in the dark. However, before she could get any closer to it, she was bombarded from behind as a large axe came swooshing down upon her.
Just barely side stepping the strike, Wendy immediately countered.
SKY DRAGON's WING ATTACK!
The sudden summoning of air caught her assailant off guard as they were blown backwards and crashed into the wall opposite of her.
Wendy's awareness instantly became enhanced as she watched her opponent make their way from the rubble.
"Damn you hit hard." They spoke, and as if teleporting, appeared right in front of Wendy. She noticed they were wearing a hood, but could see the black spikes of hair sticking out. He brought his fist down only for Wendy to block it as she grabbed his arm and launched him into the roof. The axe slipped from his hand as he went through the ceiling and up on to the roof. Wendy glanced at the discarded weapon and thought about grabbing it, but quickly went back on the defense as guards surrounded her and pulled out magical spears.
"Stand down dark mage!" One of the guards, who she assumed was the officer, ordered.
"I'm on and a mission and you're in my way." She stated as her body became engulfed with wind.
SKY DRAGON's CRUSHING FANG! Wendy cast as she grabbed the officer by his collar, avoiding the tip of his spear, and threw him into his own guards. Before the downed ones could get back up, she was following through.
SKY DRAGON's WAVE WIND! A large tornado erupted from the marble as it threw the guards about and out the windows.
Seeing as all the guards had been disposed of, Wendy ran to the glass case that stored the prize they were looking for, failing to notice the axe was missing.
She grabbed a broken part of the ceiling that her random encounter had broken through when she blasted him out of the room and used it to bust the glass now giving her access to the gem.
Just before she could reach it she heard the sound of wind and instantly ducked, looking up and seeing that familiar axe now sticking into the case where her head would of been.
"You're a quick one I'll give you that." The voice complimented huffing in the process.
Wendy turned around, her back to the case, and saw that his hood was gone now revealing him fully. He had green eyes and black hair. His smug expression really began to annoy her almost immediately.
"Names, Connor. What's yours?" He asked as he stood there gazing at the dragon slayer.
"None of your business." She answered as she grabbed the gem with her left hand, and darted right. Connor was ready for it.
"Sorry sweets, can't let you leave here with that, kinda my job." He chuckled as he crashed into her and sent her into the floor, the gem becoming loose and falling to the floor. Wendy instantly shot out for it only for him to kick her in the side as she fell away from it.
Wendy glanced and saw his axe was still engraved into the shattered case. An idea began to form in her mind.
"You can try whatever you want, but we both know you're not making it out of here with that gem. And once I capture you, your mine." He laughed as he struck his hand out and she watched amazingly as the axe propelled itself from the case and into his hand. Re-weaponized, Connor advanced on her with a smirk.
"Fine, you're asking for it!" Wendy irritably shouted as she got in her dragon stance. Connor raised an eyebrow wondering what was about to happen, and then it dawned on him at the last second.
SKY DRAGON's ROAR!
Wendy's typhoon of wind slammed right into him, but to her surprise, Connor used his axe as a shield and leaned into the attack blocking it completely!
"I told you girl, you can't beat me."
"But we can." A voice interfered as the two mages looked over towards the steps.
"Who the hell are you two?" Connor asked angrily.
"Alice! Jenny!" Wendy spoke with glee as the fight in her was restored.
"Sorry we took so long Wendy, didn't think there would be so many of them." Jenny exclaimed as a green circle appeared under her and dissolved, covering her in vine like armor and placing a grass sword in her right hand.
"You're finished buddy, you might as well back off." Alice stated raising Rapids and nocking an arrow to prove her point.
"You turned a one versus one into a three versus one, impressive." Connor once again complimented looking down. Instantly, however his eyes glanced up as he charged forward, shouting,
"If I go down you're at least coming with me!" His axe blocked Alice's arrow and cut clean through Jenny's grass summoned sword, leaving an open shot at the dragon slayer.
Seeing her friends be tossed so easily irked her, and after already being shown up by this random, Wendy had enough. Suddenly, as Connor closed in, her arms shot outward as enormous gusts of wind molded an angrily spiral and sent it directly at the wizard.
Connor, being on the offense, had no time to deflect the attack, and watched almost helplessly as it crashed into him throwing him about.
SKY DRAGON's SECRET ART: SHATTERING LIGHT SKY DRILL!
The spell was so powerful, it launched Connor through the wall as the three heard him crash several floors below, and didn't hear any sounds after that. Wendy noticed his axe lay just in front of her and angrily picked it up in her hands. Despite the weight of it nearly toppling her over, she summoned wind in her fists.
"And take your stupid axe with you!" She shouted as she hurdled it through the broken wall. Satisfied, she dusted herself off, grabbed something off the floor, and looked at her friends. She held the little red gem up for them to see and smiled.
"I think it's time to go." She finished as the three jumped from the wrecked building and departed from Orange River. The new goal being to make it back to Grimoire Heart.
A/N: Remember when my goal was to get the next chapter out in less then 20 days? Wow, do I feel terrible. I am truly sorry guys, I have been so busy since the middle of Summer started and then with school starting back up and sports, just lots on the mind and to do. However, I finally had some time to sit down and type, and boy did I come up with some fun ideas for these upcoming chapters.
I know, I know, where's Natsu? I decided to not include him, like at all besides the few mentions of him, in this one mainly because I wanted to focus more on Wendy and her new life at Grimoire Heart. Natsu was heavily focused on last chapter, and since Wendy is just as of a main character as Natsu is in this story, I feel like she needed her own spotlight. As of right now, Wendy is 12 and Natsu, who is still under Mavis' spell, is 17. Once we get back on track with the present, six years will have passed and they both will be 18.
Another thing I felt like was important to mention is the arcs. Without spoiling it, the GMG, the Eclipse arc, will NOT take place, at least with our main characters. They will be mentioned, but their is much more at stake then what will be going on over there.
I know this chapter was shorter then the last (this one being about 4K), however I wanted to release something you all can read and catch back up if you've forgotten the story line here as the next couple are going to be significant and chaotic. Until then, have a good one!