Coco: Okay, I'm going to warn you now. This chapter is a bit on the short side. I try to usually write my chapters with 4000+ words. But this one is barely 3000+. I was going to keep going, but the spot where I ended the chapter just seemed like the perfect place to close this chapter. I'm sorry XD I promise I'll do better next time XD
Also, I do believe I have everything worked out and sorted all the way up to the Pied Piper Arc now. I did have somewhat of an outline of how I wanted to have the arcs, but it wasn't that well thought out. So, thank-you, Trizos, because your review helped me get back to that arc outline that I kind of abandoned. I feel much more organized now. So everything up to the Pied Piper Arc is all nicely hashed out. I just have to work on the really fine details. Which I might do in separate documents.
Now, the Pied Piper Arc is right before the Edolas Arc, so that'll give you kind of an idea of how far I am along with my planning. A lot more changes are coming, which you'll see in the new characters who have been added and the ones who have been taken away. Like some new faces you'll be seeing specifically in the Fairy Tail Guild are:
1) Leona Porla, who will be introduced in the Phantom Lord Arc, and she uses a magic called Beast Tamer Magic. There really wasn't anything really like beast tamer related magic in FT, so I got to really play around with her magic, which is always so much fun with a new character. I won't lie, most of her magic is heavily inspired by Pokémon XD I took some of my favorite Pokémon across the different generations then condensed them down to a team of "magic beasts". Though they will be going by different names to fit into more of a FT vibe. Though I'm sure when they're introduced and described you'll be able to tell which Pokémon inspired that particular beast.
Leona is also going to be the love interest for Gajeel since a request was made to me by Hina714 that I give Gajeel an OC love interest. I never really ever thought about breaking up Gajeel and Levy. Seriously, the thought never occurred to me because I love GaLe so much. However, she was very nice and polite about her request, and just asked me to give it some thought, ya know. And I did, so now here we have Leona. And I quite like her, so she's staying XD. Though the request had also asked that the OC be a Dragon Slayer.
Hina714, I'm sorry Leona isn't a Dragon Slayer, but I hope you come to love her just as much I as loved creating her.
2) Morissa "Mori" Clyde will actually become a very important OC in later chapters. When she's introduced, she might not seem all that important, but she is, so I'd pay close attention to her if I were you. I won't say anymore than that because it'd give away too much for the story, so you'll have to wait on that. What I can tell you is that Mori isn't coming alone to Fairy Tail. At her side is a little Green Exceed named Cold Cash or just Cash for short. I know you're probably wondering why another Exceed for Fairy Tail or if this means Mori is a Dragon Slayer. Well, she isn't. And I just couldn't help myself XD Mori and Cash were going to go to another guild together, but after setting up my arcs and getting rid of a few other ideas, Mori became the perfect character I was looking for to fit this role I've made for the storyline I've chosen for the original work. And I couldn't just get rid of Cash. Besides not all the Exceeds went to Dragon Slayers-like Samuel, so I thought it couldn't hurt. XD I hope you come to like them both.
Oh, and before I forget if any of you are interested, Mori will be paired with someone. A very unique someone. Bickslow of the Thunder Legion XD I just feel like he doesn't get enough love and attention. And he is one of my favorite characters. Definitely my favorite member of the Thunder Legion (sorry, Freed). So you will see some romance between those two, but it will a slow burn for the most part.
3) Finally we have Law Alberona the older brother to Cana! Another brother? Yeah, I know I have so many older brother characters. I don't know why it's just my thing XD And you're probably wondering how Cana has an older brother that Gildarts also has no clue about especially since Law and Cana are about five years apart. Well, you'll have to wait and read to find out. I'm not giving up all my cards, ya know. He is a recently made character who is going to be the love interest of Levy. I can't leave Levy without love. I'm not heartless. And I honestly played with three different ideas until I reached Law, but I'm really happy with his final look and background. Law won't be coming in super soon, guys, but be on the look out for him, kay?
Anyway, I supposed I rambled long enough. XD Time for the chapter. Again, sorry, it's kind of short. I'll try better next time.
Oh, and if you ever have any questions or requests, you can always message me or leave them in a review. I'm not saying I can take all requests, but I have no problem hearing them out. Or answering your questions. I might not get to them immediately, but I will try to reply as quickly as possible.
After the spectacle yesterday in the middle of the village, the three companions ended up spending the night at an inn. They probably still could have made excellent time if they had left right then. However, Antiope insisted the three visitors join her and the Amazons for a feast. And while it did lose them time, they had a spectacular time. Certainly, a night neither Lucy nor Rizzo would forget. But now it was time to get back to their job. They couldn't delay any longer hence when morning came they started out early and headed into the jungle.
As the group of three traveled towards their destination, Lucy stuck close to Rizzo. She was holding onto Rizzo's arm while looking left and right as if she expected a monster to come after them. She just wanted to call Horologium, so she'd be somewhere safe. But she wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do considering they were sludging it through mucky liquid that went above their waists. She's already done that to him once when coming back from the Daybreak Job. She didn't want to put him through that again.
She then frowned looking down at said liquid. She hopes this doesn't stain her clothes. The shorts she was wearing happened to be her favorite. Lucy then jumped when an animal cried out in alarm before being silenced. As the sound of crunching reached her ears, she cried holding Rizzo's arm even tighter. They were going to die here for sure.
"Don't be so worried, Lulu." Rizzo said with a grin. "Anything dumb enough to attack us is going to regret it. I'll give it the old Fairy Tail beat down!"
Lucy sweat-dropped while almost feeling sorry for the monsters. But...she did feel better. She nodded her head to Rizzo while finally letting go of the pinkette's arm.
"We should be reaching the heart of the jungle soon." Indy said from the front. "After that we'll have to be on high alert since most of the creatures of Kea have gravitated towards the center recently based on what Antiope told us."
Lucy wasn't sure what was going to be awaiting them once they reached the heart of the jungle. And even though she was scared, she was excited as well. This was a one in a lifetime chance. Especially for a Celestial Wizard. Waiting in that tomb could be the key to one of the first twelve keys ever created. One of the first ever Celestial Spirits after the Celestial King himself. Just thinking that had a large smile forming on her face.
Rizzo looked back at her friend while grinning when seeing Lucy's happy expression. The blonde was obviously happy about this job. Jobs should be memorable for a wizard. They should be something a wizard could tell story about for years to come. That's why Rizzo is usually careful about what jobs she picks...that and she's really picky to begin with. Anything too boring isn't for this pinkette. But so far this job has been one excitement after the other. Bring on the monsters next!
"Hey, Rizzo, there's something I want to ask you." Lucy said.
Rizzo blinked focusing back on the blonde who was giving her a curious look.
"That magic you used yesterday." Lucy said. "I've never seen you use it before. If you have a spell that strong, why not use it sooner? Like that time, we went against Lullaby?"
It's something she's been wondering ever since she saw Rizzo use the spell. It had been amazing to witness.
"Because that was the first time I ever used it in an actual fight." Rizzo explained as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I had only used it in training before."
Lucy's eyes widened. So that fight with Antiope had just been a test run for a new spell?!
"And what if it hadn't had worked?!" Lucy demanded.
"Then I probably would have lost." Rizzo said chuckling.
Lucy frowned wondering how the pinkette could be so laid back. She and Natsu both. It was just ridiculous to Lucy how they were so easygoing about almost everything.
"It was certainly an impressive feat." Indy said as she was looking over the map. "I don't believe I've ever seen a wizard who uses musical magic use more than one instrument at once let alone use reequip to switch through their instruments."
"I learned reequip more out of necessity than anything else." Rizzo said shrugging. "It'd be kind of hard to lug around so many instruments without my Reequip Magic. Not trying to brag, but I'm different that other Music Wizards. They only master one instrument and use it to perform magic. I have mastered over 200 instruments."
Lucy's mouth dropped open in shock. Over 200?! She didn't even know there was that many different kinds of instruments in the world?
"However, playing different instruments as once is difficult for me." Rizzo continued. "Reequipping them isn't the hard part. The hard part is getting each one to play their different parts using my magic and mental ability alone. But I have been trying to master playing multiple instruments at once using my magic. Though the real hard part is keeping each instrument's song different from the other, so I can perform different spells at once."
Indy hummed as she paused to look back at Rizzo. She might be young, but Rizzo certainly was a genius and a talented wizard. She understands the technicalities that must be met to better her magic. And to be able to separate all of that in her mind just to play her music while facing off against an opponent should be impossible. Yet she was showing success of mastering such advanced magic.
"That's cool and all, but why worry about all that?" Lucy asked. "You're already super strong like Natsu and Gray."
"Because I don't want to be just as strong as Gray or even Natsu." Rizzo said. "I have a goal, and that goal is to become Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard. That means stronger than Erza who happens to be able control multiple weapons at once while making to seem like child's play. Not only that, but she stronger than me all together. If I want to beat her, I can't settle for being as strong as Natsu and Gray. I have to become stronger than them and anyone else who's between me and finally reaching a level higher than Erza."
Rizzo wouldn't rest until she surpassed Erza. She wore to the redhead that she would overcome her. That soon Erza would be looking at her back and trying to catch up.
"You want to be greater than Erza?" Lucy asked. "Why? I mean, I know you two don't get along. But still…"
"This doesn't really have to do with the fact that Erza annoys me—well not completely anyway." Rizzo said. "In fact, there was a time I liked Erza. I even looked up to her."
"No way!" Lucy said. "I'd never guess that with how you two act toward each other now."
Rizzo chuckled remembering the time she had first met Erza. It hadn't been anything spectacular. However, Rizzo remembers it as if it was yesterday.
-FLASHBACK-
Rizzo sat alone in the guildhall watching as everyone was celebrating her and her brothers' arrival to the guild. Breccan was arguing with Laxus over in the corner, which wasn't surprising. The two always butt heads whenever Laxus visited Satyr Reed too. Sven was speaking to some of the older members of the guild while Craylee was trying to avoid everyone. However, Macao and Wakaba—Rizzo believes their names were—were trying to get Craylee to open up. Then Jaser was laughing and running around with Natsu since the two had instantly bonded due to both of them being Dragon Slayers.
"What are you doing over here by yourself?" A voice asked.
Rizzo blinked before turning to look at one of the older girls. Rizzo thinks Gray and Natsu called her Erza earlier. They had been acting very scared of her too.
"Um, I just wanted to sit here to watch everyone, I guess." Rizzo said smiling shyly at Erza. "Everyone here seems like a lot of fun."
Erza chuckled before sitting down next to Rizzo. As she moved next to Rizzo, the younger girl took note of her beautifully scarlet-colored hair.
"Is something wrong?" Erza asked as she noticed Rizzo's staring.
"No," Rizzo said smiling. "I just think your hair is really pretty."
Erza blushed at the sincere, kind compliment as she reached up to touch her hair. No one has called her hair really pretty since she came here.
-END OF FLASHBACK-
"Whoa, that's still so hard to believe." Lucy said as the group continued to move on. "What changed?"
"She started getting on my nerves." Rizzo said shrugging.
Lucy nearly fell over at Rizzo's simple statement as Indy chuckled. This was certainly one of the more entertaining adventures she's ever been on. Lucy then straightened up as she looked to Rizzo.
"Why do I feel like there's actually more to the story?" Lucy asked with a quirked brow.
"Because there is." Rizzo said. "But that's a tale for another time, Lulu."
Rizzo pat Lucy on top the head as if patting a younger sibling on top their head. Lucy complained since she didn't want her hair missed up.
"Besides, I don't really think there's time to tell old stories." Rizzo said with her expression turning serious. "We've made it to the center of the jungle. Notice how quiet it is?"
Lucy blinked forgetting about Rizzo's hand on her head. As she stood there concentrating, she realized it had gotten unusually quiet. Much different than the quiet earlier. There wasn't even the sound of birds or bugs chirping. The silence was certainly unnerving, and had her hand reaching for her keys for comfort.
"There are definitely predators in the area." Indy said looking around. "And I'm sure some of them know we've entered the area."
Just as she said that, a large lion—larger than normal lions—jumped from the trees heading right for them. Lucy let out a scream while ducking down and covering her head. In a flash, Rizzo had her guitar in hand, and swung it like a bat with the backside of it catching the lion in the side of the face. It went flying in the air to crash into some trees a few feet away.
"It's a Nemean Lion." Indy said as the beast started getting its bearings. "It's hide is impenetrable even by the strongest of weapons. Even our magic will prove useless against the feline."
Lucy, who stood back up, whimpered because that didn't sound good. How were they going to fight something like that? Beside her, Rizzo chuckled as she set her guitar over her shoulder.
"Sounds like a challenge." Rizzo said. "Lucy, take the good professor and go on. I'll handle the big kitty."
As if it felt mocked by her words, the Nemean Lion roared at Rizzo, which just has Rizzo smirking.
"Rizzo, are you sure?" Lucy asked. "You heard Indy. Our magic is practically useless against this thing."
"Practically doesn't mean completely, Lu." Rizzo said. "Now get going. I'm going to make you an opening."
Lucy frowned though nodded her head. Rizzo's probably been in predicaments like this before. Lucy just had to trust her.
"Okay, Indy, let's go." Lucy said taking Indy's wrist. "We have to trust Rizzo on this."
"Alright." Indy said though was a bit concerned for Rizzo as well.
The young professor didn't need the deaths of these wizards on her hands. She'd never forgive herself. Rizzo held the guitar in both hands as she faced the lion.
"Lucy, once you go on, you'll be without me until I catch up." Rizzo warned the blonde. "So, it'll be up to you to protect the professor."
Lucy was a bit nervous, but she also knew she had to do this. She had to take care of Indy and get her to the tomb. Rizzo couldn't be the one pulling all the weight.
"Don't worry." Lucy said. "I've got this."
Rizzo grinned nodding her head. She then slammed down on her guitar strings sending a high-pitched screeching noise towards the Nemean Lion. It roared in pain while shaking its head to try and fight against the offending noise. Lucy didn't waste time in pulling Indy along as they ran passed the Nemean Lion. Lucy wasn't about to waste this opening. Once they were gone and out of sight, Rizzo changed chords on her guitar as she riffed it from the bottom to the top. As she played three shapes seemed to form around her.
"Song of the Wild Things." She said as the Nemean Lion got back onto its paws.
Three large monster-like creatures appeared around Rizzo while roaring at the Nemean Lion. The large feline seemed slightly shocked by the sudden appearance of these creatures but continued to stand its ground. It roared back at them then charged forward. They ran right back at it with one of them backhanding the feline to send it flying backwards. The other two jumped after it while landing on it to crush it into the ground. Rizzo ripped a riff up her guitar with the three monsters increasing their speed as they battered the Nemean Lion. Rizzo cut off mid-chord with her monsters jumping back to her side. As the dust cleared, the Nemean Lion—though dazed—climbed out of the crater made from its body to roar at Rizzo and her monsters.
"Damn." Rizzo said though was grinning. "You're one tough bastard. That's okay though. Now let's dance, Kitty!"
Rizzo changed chords on her guitar with the monsters disappearing in poofs of smoke.
"Let's see how well you do under extreme heat." Rizzo said. "Song of Hellfire!"
The jungle around them exploded into a heated pool of lava and fire as cracks appeared in the earth with little demons crawling out as they cackled. The Nemean Lion roared at them as another explosion shot through the earth.
Lucy jumped when the explosion happened behind them though kept running. She knew that had to be caused by Rizzo, so that meant the pinkette was alright.
"Are you sure we should have left her?" Indy asked. "She could be really hurt by that Nemean Lion. Even the locals—the warriors—avoid them at all cost."
Lucy was worried—obviously. She didn't want to leave her guildmate behind. However, Rizzo knew what she was doing. Lucy had to have faith that her friend would catch up. Until then she had to keep their client safe, which also means keeping her reassured.
"Everything will be fine." Lucy said. "Rizzo is going to be the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail someday. As if she'd let some oversized house-cat get the best of her!"
Indy's brows furrowed while seeing Lucy was not only trying to convince Indy of that but herself as well. However, the look in the blonde's eyes showed she did trust her guildmate despite her worry.
"Now where do we go from here?" Lucy asked Indy. "We can't just keep running aimlessly like this."
"We're on the right path." Indy assured Lucy. "The tomb should be visible soon."
Lucy blinked looking forward once more. Now that Indy mentioned it, Lucy was starting to see what seemed like the outline of a building in the distance. They were almost there. If they could get in there, and Lucy get to the key maybe she could make a quick contract with Laelaps. With a spirit like that she can easily go back to help Rizzo if they pinkette was still in battle. They continued running forward with the sound of fighting starting to go a bit fainter.
"There it is." Lucy said as they finally reached the bottom steps towards the tomb.
"Yes." Indy said smiling. "Though I am a bit surprised we didn't run into any more trouble on the way here."
"Don't say stuff like that." Lucy whined. "Or bad things will happen."
Indy chuckled at the blonde's antics though she did apologize. Lucy nodded her head in acceptance of said apology before turning towards the steps in front of them. Inside awaited a monster…and possibly the one of the first Celestial Spirits in existence. Lucy knew this wouldn't be easy. Especially with Rizzo back there fighting her own opponent. But Lucy would not stop here. Despite her fear, she's going to push forward.
"Okay, Indy." Lucy said. "Let's do this."
Indy nodded then followed after Lucy as the blonde started up the steps. They moved forward quickly yet cautiously since they didn't know what awaited them inside. They reached the entrance of the tomb with a cool gust of air coming from the entrance. It ruffled their hair and clothes as the peered into the darkness.
"Man, it's so dark in there, I can't see a thing." Lucy said frowning.
"Here." Indy said bringing out a flashlight from her bag. "Use this."
Lucy took it—wishing she had brought her own—before turning it on. Light spilled into the tomb opening to reveal cold stone walls that had vines going through the structure and spider webs clinging to whatever they could reach. Definitely wasn't a warm welcome, but at least the monster inside wasn't waiting for them first thing. The two women stepped inside slowly while taking in their surroundings. When nothing came to attack them right away, Lucy let out a sigh of relief.
"So far so good." She said. "Now let's go find that key."
In the center of the tomb—deep in the dark—a light started to shine within the darkness. A bright, bluish glow that resembled the light of a star.
...Someone is there...A Celestial Wizard approaches…
"Hey, is it just me or is this place super creepy?" A voice came through the darkness.
It was faint, but reached the ears of the one who has been sitting in the dark for some time—waiting.
…that voice…Anna?
The light grew brighter revealing the source of the light to be a key. A key made of stellanium. This key looked like any other key besides the material which is was made from. However, at the top of the key, it was decorated with black ivory to look like the body of a dog. A regal dog—sitting back on her haunches with her head held high.
"Eeek! What was that?!" The voice sounded through the darkness again.
…No, the voice wasn't Anna's voice…yet it still seemed so familiar…
The spirit within the key shifted wanting to see the owner of the voice. Who were they? And have they come to rescue her from her life of loneliness?
Coco: Okay, it's the end of the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed :D