Author's Note: Before we dive into the story again; I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who sent their support my way. It's been rough with my grandma being sick, but she's doing much, much better! She still currently doing therapy in the nursing home, but she'll be able to come home within the week. I'm so happy! My grandma is one hell of a tough woman who's been through so much in her life and has always come out so strong; I aim to be like her. I'm sorry for not being able to reply to any of the message you all sent me in. I was busy with, but as I said, I greatly appreciate them all; some of them may have made me cry, lol.
I thought the best way to start writing again would be to update Heart of Ice :)
Summary: She once believed that like her magic, her heart was made of ice. That no matter what she did, she could never un-thaw it. A chance encounter with a blonde-haired girl leads her on a adventure she never dreamed possible. From joining a crazy guild, to rekindling an old friendship, and a second chance at romance; for the first time, in a long time, she believes her heart can be thawed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy. The only thing I own are my characters, and my characters alone.
Cover Art: Rebecca0105 on DeviantArt,
A message to Hiro: Hiro, I'm going to need you to stop breaking my heart, and leave my babies alone! Just let them be a bunch of rambunctious angels again!
Chapter Five: Fairies in the Wind
"I can't believe you dragged me here for this..."
Noelle and Lucy sat together on a bench at the Magnolia train station. Noelle had been dragged out of her and Lucy's apartment in the early morning to go on a job that she knew absolutely nothing about. Noelle wasn't exactly thrilled to be going. She would have preferred to ease herself back into this line of work. But Lucy's lack of patience won the battle, unfortunately.
"Lucy, tell me again why I have to come along with you on this job? Technically, I wasn't even invited."
Lucy sighed. "Mirajane asked me to come and keep Gray and Natsu from fighting." she frowned. "And there's no way I'll be able to do that on my own." Lucy said with a sheepish grin. "I figured between you and I, we'd definitely be able to keep them from fighting." She smiled softly, petting Plue who was in her lap.
Noelle glanced at Gray and Natsu who were locking horns. "So far, your plan is a failure." Noelle said with a teasing smile. "But it's fine. I'll live - somehow."
Marlow was watching the two fight from the top of Noelle's head with a cruel smile. "Which one of them do you think bleeds more?"
Noelle sweat dropped. "Marlow, I think it's time we get you some therapy." Noelle smirked when she heard him hiss lowly.
Lucy and Noelle talked quietly among one another, watching the boys fight as they waited for Erza to arrive. The conversation from the previous night had Noelle slightly on edge; but she decided to stow away her worries for now, and just focus on the job they would be doing - whatever it may be.
Noelle knew Erza arrived when she heard Marlow's excited gasp. The wintertte had to resist an eye-roll as she stood up to greet the redheaded warrior; as Marlow seen her.
"Sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?" Erza asked as she approached the two. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Noelle, but when she seen her smile, she relaxed herself.
Gray and Natsu had immediately "buddied" up when they seen Erza. Noelle couldn't hold her laugh in. It was funny to her to see two of Fairy Tail's strongest members cower at the sight of a woman. Though, Erza was pretty intimidating; in fact, Noelle herself was a little afraid of the wizard.
"it's time to go good buddy!" Gray said with a forced smile.
"Aye haha!"
"One Happy is enough." Lucy sighed.
Erza smirked at them. "Good, I really love to see the two of you getting along. And what is your name?" She said to Lucy with a kind smile. "I believe I saw you at the guild yesterday."
"My name is Lucy and I just joined Fairy Tail. Mira asked me to come along with you guys so I could learn a thing or two. I hope that's ok with you." Lucy said returning her smile.
"The more the merrier." Erza said. "I'm Erza. Wait, you're the girl I heard about." She glanced back at Gray and Natsu to make sure they were behaving. "I was told you defeated a mercenary gorilla using only your pinkie finger. It'll be great to have a wizard like you on board. Thanks for your help."
Noelle and Marlow choked on laughter. They both envisioned Lucy wrestling a gorilla to the ground, their faces tuning red form how hard they were laughing. Noelle stopped when Lucy shot her a glare and sheepishly apologized.
"O-o-oh no it's my pleasure!" Lucy laughed waving her hand dismissively.
Natsu's voice suddenly cut through their conversation. "Hey Erza! I'll come with, but only on one condition.
Noelle cocked a brow and pulled Marlow close to her. "Uh-oh. This can't be good."
"Oh?" Erza answered. "Well then, let's hear it."
Natsu's face lit up in a grin and he eagerly clenched his fists. "I want a rematch when we get back to Fairy Tail!" the other shared horrified looks, all except for Marlow, who was vibrating with excitement in Noelle's arms. "I'm a lot stronger than I was last time. This time, it will be way different; 'cause I'm gonna beat you."
Erza cracked a smile at his announcement. "Yes, I can tell you've improved." She said. "As to whether or not you can beat me, I suppose we'll have to see. I accept your challenge." Erza declared.
"YEAH! I'M FIRED UP!" Natsu yelled and launched a stream of fire into the air.
"She's going to obliterate him!" Marlow giggled devilishly.
"You're such a fanboy." Noelle sighed.
"Lucy...I'm...going...to kill you...blergh!"
Lucy sweat dropped looking down at Noelle's extra pale face, and bleak eyes. As soon as the train had begun to roll she had slumped against her shoulder and fought down the urge to throw up. Lucy had protested at first, but one glare from Noelle had her sighing and gently petting her hair in a comforting manner.
"I swear you're totally pathetic Natsu." Gray glared at the pinkette. "One minute you're picking a fight; and the next you're like this."Gray grumbled having been forced to sit next to Natsu, who was in no better condition than Noelle.
"It's gotta be rough on you guys." Lucy frowned. "Poor Natsu." she frowned at him. She looked down at Noelle who was curled into a ball with her eyes squeezed shut, taking slow breaths in and out.
"Don't worry; he'll be fine. Come here and sit me with, Natsu." Erza said as she patted the seat next to her. Natsu, in his zombie-like state, obeyed. "Now just relax." Erza soothingly said before ramming her metal-coated fist into Natsu's gut, knocking him out cold. "There, that should make the trip a little easier on him."
"You ok Noelle?" Lucy chuckled down at Noelle who's face was twisted in horror.
Noelle, fearing the same treatment as Natsu, forced herself to sit up while biting down vomit as she brought her knees up to her chest, and draped her arms over them. She took breath out and in; she found herself relaxing as the odd mixture of cologne, mixed with mint, and a dash of winter, filled her with a comforting warmth. She looked peak over at Gray who was sitting on the other side of Lucy, boredly looking out the window. Though, he must have caught her reflection in the window, as he turned a raised a brow, waiting for some kind of explanation as why she was staring at him.
Noelle's face reddened a bit as she turned away. "You smell." she said, a small smirk toying a her lips.
Gray rolled his eyes at her, though there no ill intent behind it. Gray decided it was time they get some answers from Erza as the silence was starting to bother him.
"Erza, I think it's about time you started filling us in. What kind of mission are we going on here?"
Noelle was curious as well. She remembered hearing Erza say the mission was dangerous; but she wouldn't tell them anything more than that.
Erza sighed and nodded. "I have reason to believe the Dark Guild Eisenwald is planning something big. I'm not sure what exactly, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a magic item called Lullaby."
"Lullaby?" Lucy and Gray glanced at each other. Noelle had never heard of the item before.
"Wait, that thing from before?" Lucy asked Gray. She began to explain about how they had a run in with some of their members before when they tried to eat Happy. Happy cringed at the memory and Marlow questioned whether cat meat tasted like fish, receiving odd stares from everyone.
Gray crossed his leg over the other and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure if they were part of Eisenwald, but they did mention Lullaby."
"Sounds like they were members who dropped out of the guild and went into hiding." Erza said. "Perhaps they wanted no part of whatever was coming."
Noelle frowned. 'This thing is so bad that it even scares dark wizards?'
"I'm only hypothesizing, but whoever you saw dragging off Happy's kidnappers that day must have been from Eisenwald. It's obvious that they didn't want their plans getting out."
"What do you think they're going to try?" Lucy asked.
"Let me start from the beginning." Erza said as her eyes closed in thought. "I was heading home after completing a job. I stopped by a pub in Onibus, that I knew was a local pub for gathering wizards..."
Erza then went on to explain how she overheard the members of Eisenwald bragging about Lullaby.
"Lullaby? That's like something you sing to kids to get them to sleep." Lucy frowned.
Erza nodded. "And the fact that it had been sealed away means it must contain powerful magic."
"You sure the guys you seen at the pub were with Eisenwald?" Gray asked.
"Yes." she nodded. "I can't believe I was such a fool that day." her eyes narrowed dangerously at them. "I didn't recognize his name; Erigor, the ace of Eisenwald. He only accepts assassination requests, which is how he's earned the name, Erigor the Reaper."
Marlow's eyes connected with Noelle, who was looking ahead blankly. He could only imagine her thoughts as her eyes narrowed, and her fists shook ever so slightly.
"When the Council outlawed assassination requests, Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the rules; as a result, they were kicked out of the wizards league six years ago. But that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders, and remain active to this day." Erza finished solemnly.
Lucy began to sweat and shake in her seat. "O-ok I should be heading back home now.." She said clearly nervous. Noelle sighed, and patted Lucy's leg in an attempt to comfort her.
"Lucy's slimy all of a sudden!" Happy yelled.
"It's sweat!"
"It wouldn't be the grossest thing about Lucy." Marlow chuckled and ignored the glare Lucy was giving him.
Erza growled and slammed her fist down on Natsu's head. Noelle cringed at the sight.
"How could I have been so careless!? If only I had recognized Erigor's name that day; I could have pulverized them! I have forced them to reveal their scheme to me!"
"She's scaring me!"
"She's so cool!"
Were Lucy and Marlow's responses, respectively.
"So if I got this...Eisenwald's planning to do something with this Lullaby and you want to stop him? Because of what your overheard you're sure it's going to be something bad?" Gray asked.
"That's correct." Erza nodded. "And I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can take on an entire magical guild by myself. That's why I asked you and Natsu for your help. We're storming the Eisenwald Guild."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Gray smirked
Noelle grunted and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "Count me in." Noelle said in a calm, but acidic tone. Dark guilds disgusted her. She'd spare no mercy towards those of Eisenwald; people like them didn't deserve mercy.
Marlow's eye twinkled up at Noelle. "You're finally getting serious!" He grinned excitedly.
"I shouldn't have come along!" Lucy whined.
"Ew! Now you're super slimy!"
"I told you it's sweat!"
By the time lunch rolled around, Noelle was feeling a bit more better; though the same couldn't be said for Natsu, who was still passed out on the floor. Noelle sat with her head pressed to lucy's shoulder as the blonde quiet ate her lunch. Noelle was slightly envious since she hadn't gotten a chance to eat yet, but there was no way she was about to try, knowing full well it would come right back up.
"Mmm! This cake is so yummy!" Marlow moaned, chowing down on a piece of lemon cake; Noelle's favorite. Noelle stared hungrily at the fat, red, strawberry atop the whip cream dollop; it was practically calling her name. Noelle, turned away from the tempting treat and sighed. Marlow giggled at her expressing and plopped the strawberry in his mouth without hesitation. "Juicy!~"
'Stupid fleabag.'
Lucy sighed, not having missed the little interaction between her two companions. Shaking her head, she smiled kindly at Erza who was nibbling on a slice of strawberry cake. "If you don't mind me asking; what kind of magic do you practice, Erza?"
"That's a good question." Erza said swallowing the last of her cake.
"Erza's magic is reaaalllyyy pretty." Happy giggled and played with his fish. "She makes her enemies bleed. A lot." he finished in a creepy tone.
"Really?!" Marlow asked with twinkling eyes. "Can you demonstrate on Lucy?!"
"I don't know if I'd call that pretty..." Lucy mumbled as she pulled Plue closer to her chest, and glared icily at Marlow.
"Personally, I think Gray's magic is much more beautiful than mine."
Noelle smiled. She agreed that Ice-Make magic was very pretty; though Gray's couldn't hold a candle to Ur's. Noelle can still remember that feeling of awe she had when she seen Ur's beautiful, purple ice for the first time. It had left her breathless, and was the final push she needed to begin learning under Ur.
"You mean like this?" Gray asks crafting a small ice figure of the Fairy Tail guild mark. "I use Ice Magic." he said and crushed the figurine.
Noelle frowned. She wouldn't have minded eating that.
"Oh! Now I see why you and Natsu don't get along." Lucy snapped her fingers in a 'Aha!' manner. "He's fire and you're ice; talk about not mixing very well." she laughed.
"I never thought about that." Erza smirked.
"No I just hate his guts." Gray said dismissively.
Noelle snorted and shook her head. 'You haven't changed one bit, Gray.'
Onibus Station
Noelle stumbled on the train and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! I don't think there's anything I hate more in the world than trains." Noelle smiled and stretched her achy muscles. She felt a lot better now that she was off the death machine.
"What about boats?" Marlow asked. He was sitting on Noelle's shoulder with a twisted grin.
Noelle's face turned a sickly shade of green, and sweat dribbled down her neck. "Don't even get me started.." she grumbled quietly. Boats were the most evil form of transportation.
Once everyone was off the train(It took a while because of Erza's luggage) they began heading towards their next destination. Noelle walked in step beside Lucy with her hands folded behind her back, and Marlow nestled down in her hair. The walk was quiet, but the good kind of quiet; peaceful.
"You really think the Eisenwald guys are still going to be in this town?" Gray asked breaking the silence.
"I have no idea." Erza said. "That's what we're here to find out."
Lucy was becoming more and more nervous the closer they got to Eisenwald. The blond has sweat forming on her skin, and her hands were shaking ever so slightly.
"I'm still thinking that maybe I should go home..."
"Be our guest." Marlow snorted. "You won't be missed."
"Hush you!" Noelle flicked the tabby's head, pulling her finger back before her could sink his fangs into it. She slung an arm around Lucy's shoulder and gave a bright smile, trying to calm her nerves.
"You worry too much, Lu. It's going to be fine; you've got me with you. And I won't let anything bad happen to you." Blue eyes locked with brown, and a reassuring squeeze was pressed to Lucy's shoulder. "I promise." Noelle said with a calm smile, but her eyes held nothing but seriousness.
"Thanks, Noelle." Lucy finally smiled back. She knew she could trust Noelle.
"Hold on.." Happy said as he got everyone's attention. "Where's Natsu?"
The group suddenly paled and realization seemed to dawn on everyone.
Noelle sweat dropped. "We left Natsu on the train..." guilt washed over Noelle. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Natsu was feeling at the moment, having to ride that death machine not once, but twice.
"I was so busy taling about him, that I forgot about him; I'm such a fool!" Erza scowled and turned to the group. "Natsu hates all forms of transportation." It was clear that she was worried about their pink-haired companion. "This is all my fault. I need one of you to come and hit me for my penance!"
"I'll pass." Noelle deadpanned.
Marlow pouted. "You're such a coward."
Noelle glared codly at Marlow. 'You only want to see a fight, jerk.'
"What do you think you're doing lady!? You can't pull the emergency lever without permission!"
"it's for our comrade. Please understand."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Now, I would like you to take our luggage to the hotel."
"Do I look like a bell hop!?"
Noelle felt pity for the bell hop. How was he to know that he was standing before Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard? And that she was a bit insane. Noelle shook her head, knowing it wouldn't end well for him as Erza continued to "negotiate".
Marlow's eyes were twinkling and he had a lovesick gaze on his dumb, adorable face. "She's so cool!"
"Tch, whatever." Noelle grumbled, feeling just a tinge of jealously.
"I'm starting to realize that all the wizards in Fairy Tail are a little insane.." Lucy sighed.
"Well not all of us."
Noelle smirked towards Gray, her blue eyes glancing down. "Oh yeah? Then where did your pants go?" she only sighed when Gray looked less than concerned that his pants were missing. "I can't believe you haven't broken that stupid habit yet."
"You used to be no different than me!" Gray glared at her. "In fact, you were worse a lot worse! Ur hand to hold your hand when we went out in public to keep your from stripping down to your birthday suite!"
Noelle's face burned brightly. "Yeah but I outgrew that stupid phase! What's your excuse, Fullbuster?!"
"You wanna go, Yuletide?!"
Luxy blinked watching the two go at each others throats. They were getting along well earlier; what happened? Lucy tilted her head to the side as Erza approached the arguing wizards, and slammed their heads together. She sweat dropped as the two crumbled tot he ground with tears leaking from their eyes.
Marlow and Happy were off to the side giggling like children up to no good.
"This is not time to be arguing!" Erza scolded. "We need to retrieve Natsu immediately! Understood?"
"Aye..." the fallen wizards croaked.
Lucy sighed. 'I really should have stayed home...'
"Lucy...kill...me...blergh..."
The winterette groaned loudly and pitifully as she leaned against Lucy for support. From one death machine, to the next; they hadn't even been of the train a full ten minutes, before Erza was herding them into a magic mobile, driving like a complete mad woman.
Noelle hung her head out the window and clutched the door as if her life depended on it. Her vision was hazy and the feeling of wanting to throw her guts up lingered in the back of her throat.
Lucy patted her back but kept a safe distance away in case the wizard decided to spew chunks. All the while Gray held onto the roof of the vehicle for dear life..
"Natsu!" Lucy suddenly yelled.
Noelle looked back in time to see Natsu come crashing of of the trains window, slam into gray, and throw him off the vehicle. Noelle narrowed her eyes. There was no way that Natsu threw himself on the train like that; so who had? Any thought Noelle might of have was quickly pushed away as she hurled out the side of the window.
Erza slammed the mobile to a stop and Noelle stumbled out of the car. "I hate this job..." she groaned and fell onto her butt with her knees to her chest.
Marlow hovered above her and frowned. "You're pathetic." he said. But, this was his own special way of asking if she was ok; kinda.
Noelle stuck a thumb up and weakly nodded her head.
"That hurt you idiot!" Gray yelled and jumped to his feet.
"Shut up you icy freak! How come you guys left me on the train!?" He then seen Noelle and pointed at her. "And you remembered her! What's up with that!?"
Noelle scowled and stood up on her wobbly legs.
"Don't get mad at me you fire eating freak!"
"You wanna go pasty skin!?"
"You never learn, do you volcano breath!"
"Fight, fight, fight!" Marlow and Happy chanted.
Erza broke up the two's fight and bowed to Natsu. "I'm just thankful you weren't badly injured. I apologize, Natsu." Erza said slamming his head against her chest plate. Noelle smirked.
"Well, I am shaken up pretty bad. I got attacked by some weirdo on the train." Natsu sighed and scratched his head.
"I knew something was up when you came flying out of the train." Noelle frowned.
"I think he's the one who dragged away the guys who were going to eat Happy. I think he said he was with Eisenwald."
Before Natsu knew what was happening, he was being punched in the face by Erza; hard. Marlow whistles as he flew through the air and landed in a heap o the ground.
"You fool! That is exactly who we are chasing after on this mission! Why did you let them get away!?" Erza screamed at him.
"This is the first I've heard about it!"
"I explained everything on the train. You should listen to when people talk to you!"
"She already forgot that she knocked him out, didn't she?" Lucy sighed. "This woman is unbelievable."
"That's Erza for you!" Happy chirped.
"Just be thankful it's not you." Gray said with a sweat drop.
"Yeah, no kidding." Noelle grimaced. She could still feel the knot on her head from Erza's earlier assault.
'Note to self: Never, ever, get on Erza's bad side; again. It will end in pain.'
End Note:
Huzzah! An update after so long! Man, life has been a bitch. I appreciate you all being so patient with me during this time; it really means a lot.
Hopefully I'll be able to get updates out more, since I don't have much going on at the moment. Well, at least until the holidays hit; but I plan on doing something special for those.
Editng on this chapter was a bit rushed. Forgive my sloppiness.
