Just Misunderstood

Chapter 4

Cobra


Wendy walked slowly through the streets of Magnolia, she eyed the dark storm clouds above her. She had been passing through the town and decided to take Natsu up on his offer. She had met him on the train a few weeks ago and they had chatted about Natsu's guild. He had mentioned that his guild was in Magnolia, and Wendy had always been curious about magic. Cait Shelter wasn't a big guild and there wasn't a lot of different types of magic there. So when she had the chance to pop by his guild she couldn't pass up that opportunity.

It was when she starting walking by a canal that a cloaked figure appeared in her vision. She stopped as he stood several meters in front of her, his face was masked but his head was tipped up. As if he was watching the sky. Blue hair stuck out of the fabric and Wendy wondered what he was doing. They were the only two on the street and the light that was there reflected in his eyes. He looked at her and his brown eyes locked with her own. She suddenly felt a wave of calm, she wasn't scared of this man. Wendy saw his eyes widen as he looked at her longer. She then noticed a red tattoo that was just barely visible.

Suddenly flashes of the boy that she loved were in her mind. Her brother, not by blood, but nonetheless her brother. He stepped closer, the tall staffs on his back softly clinking against each other. He continued to walk until he was only an arm's length away.

Then as if he was questioning his sanity he whispered, "Wendy?"

Wendy flinched back and watched as he reached to his mask. His hand lightly began to pull at the fabric when a boom of thunder stopped him. He looked up at the sky and saw the clouds begin to tunnel.

He grabbed her arm, and she squeaked in surprise, "We need to leave," He said harshly. The masked-man looked back at the sky and cursed, "There's no time." He let go and pointed towards a tall building.

"That's a wizard's guild, that is your best shot." He said, he then pulled out one of his staffs. The clouds began to swirl and Wendy stood shocked.

"You need to go!" The man shouted over the wind. Wendy didn't know why she did what this stranger was telling her too, but she ran towards the guild she now knew was Natsu's.

The wind was ripping all around her as she ran forward, the building began to warp and change. The stones were being ripped away and the shingles were disappearing into sparks. Tears pricked her eyes as fear began to settle. She stopped when she reached the building, her hand went to open it, but as soon as she touched the hardwood of the door in warped into nothingness.

Wendy watched as the guild was torn from the ground and pulled into the funnel of clouds.

She closed her eyes as the cold wind ripped past her. It felt like minutes before it calmed down. Wendy opened her eyes to find herself on the ground. She was the only thing on the ground, all around her was gray. Small bubbles were floating into the clouds above. She picked herself up and looked frantically around for something, someone. Every minute she spent looking at the emptiness felt like a hour. Every breath hurt, Wendy could hardly breath as she collapsed on the ground. She didn't know what to do.

"Wendy! Child! Are you okay?" A voice asked.

The blue haired girl turned to see her white cat flying towards her. "Carla! What happened? Why are you here? What do we do?" She asked, her voice rising higher as she ran out of breath.

"Relax, child. I followed you because you can't survive by yourself. I was just a little bit behind you when that strange man walked up to you, then you just sprinted away. I tried to follow you but then everything disappeared and I had to stop because I felt like my wings were going to be ripped off," The exceed explained.

Carla decided to keep the fact that visions of her mission kept flashing through her mind. She was about to ask Wendy why she as here but was interrupted when a pink haired boy burst up through the gray ground.

"Ahh~" He breathed, he struggled to get his legs out and when he did he collapsed to the ground, breathing hard.

'Natsu! You were on you! I thought I died," A squeaky voice said, then a blue cat popped out of the hole that the boy had crawled out of.

"Sorry, Happy. What the heck happened?" He said.

"Natsu?" Wendy said, she stood not far from him. The pinkette turned and a smile spread across his face.

"Wendy! Hey, what are you doing here?" He said as he climbed to his feet.

Carla raised an eyebrow, 'That's the first thing he asks? Not the fact that they were now in the middle of an empty plain,' She thought.

"Nevermind that. What is happening here?" The young girl questioned.

Natsu shook his head, "I have no idea." The four stood there, for several minutes, exchanging no words as they examined the sky. A swirling portal-like hole was slowly growing smaller as they stood there.

It was then Carla spoke. "We need to go into that."

Natsu and Happy's eyes bugged out. "What!?"

"I can't explain it. But we need to go." She made eye contact with Happy and he swooned.

"I'll go wherever she wants~" Happy purred.

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Why should we just believe you?"

Carla scoffed, "You do realize that you're entire town was sucked into that portal? So wherever it leads to, is probably where you'll find your guildmates."

Natsu's eyes widened and his head snapped up to look at the portal. "Happy, let's go." Happy nodded, he would do anything for his family.

Wendy looked between the three of them, "What?! So we're all just going to fly in there, not knowing what's on the other side just because there is a slim chance that your guild is there?" Wendy questioned.

Natsu smiled, "They're my family."

Wendy stood stunned, she looked at Carla, and nodded. Honestly, if Carla thought they should do it, she should. Carla had been her best friend for years. Wendy smiled softly, "Okay,"

"Wendy, Natsu," A strong voice said, they all were startled and whirled around the voice.

"Mystogan?!" Natsu yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

Mystogan stepped closer and removed his mask, and a blue hair fell across his forehead. A red tattoo was revealed and Natsu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Jellal!?" Natsu and Wendy questioned together. They only looked at each other in shock for a moment before the tall man spoke.

"I am not the Jellal you know. I bare his face, but I am not the one who hurt you." His voice was strong, but it trembled slightly. He saw them both open their mouths to speak, "Please, there isn't much time. Just believe me," He pleaded.

Wendy and Natsu made eye contact and nodded. Mystogan continued, "That thing," He pointed to the sky, "Is called an anima, it is basically a magic vacuum. You see there are many other worlds, the world we live in is called Earthland, and the world where this anima is coming from is called Edolas, that is where I'm from. Edolas is losing magic and the King there is taking it from other worlds."

"Wait, so our friends were taken and made into fucking magic fuel," Natsu seethed.

"Basically, yes." Mystogan said, he then pulled a small bottle from his coat. He looked up at the sky. "Take the bottle, then take a pill each when you get there," He said pushing the bottle into Natsu's hands. "You need to go. Now," He said.

Natsu nodded and Happy grabbed onto the Fire Dragon's shirt. "Let's go Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Carla! We're going to!" Wendy said. Then the four flew off into the swirling sky above.

~JM~

"Loke? What do you mean this is the guild?" She said quietly.

"Lucy we need to leave," He said slowly, grabbing her hand again.

"No! What?" She scoffed, "You're joking right?" She saw his serious expression and tears welled in her eyes. She felt him begin to shimmer them away and she ripped her hand out of his.

"I'm not leaving," She said, she tried to wipe away the tears that were slipping down her cheeks but they were quickly replaced.

Loke stepped forward and raised his voice, "Lucy! There is weird magical pressure here! Something is very wrong, we need to leave! Whatever it was it could come back!"

Lucy shook her head and took several steps away from him. Loke never yelled at her.

His eyebrows pulled together and trembled as tears filled his eyes. He was terrified, the magic here wasn't right, it seemed unnatural and foreign, "Lucy, please. Think of your spirits, think of your own life! Why are you being so careless!" He yelled, he grabbed her shoulder and looked her in the eye. She yanked away and turned her back on him.

"Think about your guildmates! Think about me!" He yelled. "We need to leave." When she didn't respond or move he continued, "Lucy, listen to me. I need you to listen to me!" His voice kept getting louder and louder, Lucy couldn't breath as panic began to devour her mind.

"You are my spirit! Know your place!" She screamed as she turned and swiped her key through the air in between them. He melted away, his eyes wide and his mouth open as if he trying to say something. Then he was gone, only soft golden sparkles were left.

Lucy gasped as she slapped her hand over her mouth.

"What have I done?" She whispered. Lucy sobbed as it hit her, that shouldn't have worked. He had come using his own magic. She shouldn't have been able to send him back, but he had let her. He didn't fight it. He had let her treat him like Karen did.

Lucy fell to her knees as she sobbed into her hands. "What have I done," She repeated again. She looked up to the sky and saw the remnants of the magic. Gray and purple clouds rolling together as they mocked her. They had taken away her comrades, friends her family. This wasn't right, none of it was right. She should have been here! Why could she just listen to everyone and train here? She sobbed again, "What have I done?" She needed to do something, there was a burning pain in her chest, she needed to scream, shout, she needed to take it out

"No, what have you done?" She growled at the clouds. She was seething, and she couldn't stop the golden prominences that floated along her skin. Soon purple flares grew dense around her and she felt like she would burst. She need to get rid of the raging power inside of her. Right now it was like she didn't need to consume energy, all she needed was her power. She screamed a roar into the sky and the purple magic ripped a hole in the clouds, but they quickly merged again. She growled and would have been shocked by the animalistic noise if she was actually paying attention. The scar on her back was aching and she probably wasn't supposed to use her magic so soon after the lacrima was placed.

She didn't really care. A solid purple orb filled her hand and she hurled it towards the clouds. It erupted in the sky and a dark purple dome covered the area around her. Lucy breathed and her power built up again, she ignored the sharp pain in her spine and let loose another roar. She looked down as her keys glew and vibrated against her hip. She closed her eyes and focused her magic, cutting off the flow of magic to her keys. She suddenly felt a sudden weight drop in her stomach as the presence of her keys was lost.

Lucy yelled as the burning inside of her got worst and she couldn't get rid of it. She collapsed to her knees and she gasped as she felt her scar split open. 'I guess it wasn't totally healed,' She thought.

She felt her shirt stick to her body as blood seeped out of the wound. That only seemed to add to her rage. Lucy's magic continued to leak into the air around her and the mage screamed as a ring of golden light circle around her. A beam of light shot up and into the atmosphere, similar to the time when she saved Loke, but then dense purple streaks started to mix into the pure gold. And for the first time while producing the spell, she shouted, "Celestial Dragon's Roar!" The magic left her mouth and exploded into the sky. Tears streamed down her face as the hot rage in her chest was replaced with sadness.

She felt dizzy as the magic swirling around her decimated, and she was almost entirely sure that there was a man talking in her head. But when she turned she saw a person standing there, his mouth was moving but she couldn't hear a word. Lucy noticed his neat gray hair and the tattoos that lined his face.

"What remarkable power," She finally understood the words that were leaving his mouth, she tried to say something back but all that came out was a pathetic sob. Her vision swam and Lucy stepped forward, only to find herself on the ground. She grabbed her head and closed her eyes.

~JM~

Lucy awoke to the sound of hissing. But her curiosity did not get the better of her as she decided to sleep for a few more minutes. She sighed as the bed moved, as if someone had climbed in next to her.

"Loke, if that's yo-" She cracked her eyes open to see a giant purple mass slithering in the bed next to her. A scream was ripped from her throat and she toppled, head first, over the side of the bed. She landed hard on her back and she gasped as pain shot through her spine.

It was in that moment that she remembered everything that had happened, the guild being gone, how she had snapped at Loke, how she reopened her wound. A deep pain settled in her chest but she refused to cry, she would get her guild back, apologize to Loke, and she would rest enough for her wound to close.

As she laid on the ground, her heels still on the bed she realized that she was indeed in some type of infirmary. She remembered the creature she had encountered just a few seconds ago and slowly sat up. She peeked her head over the side of the bed and her eyes widened as she came face to face with a giant purple snake.

"You're bigger than I am," She said softly. The giant reptile laid its head on the bed, Lucy slowly reached her hand out and lightly brushed the top of it's head. The snake didn't move, or make a sound as Lucy placed her entire hand on the scaly surface. A small smile graced her lips when the snake moved slightly against her hand.

It was then that a small movement caught her eye. Leaning against the wall was a man. He was tan and tall, his arms were crossed over his chest. His hair was maroon and his eyes were closed. Lucy no idea where she was, or who this man was. She quickly examined the room, it wasn't like the Fairy Tail infirmary, there were only two beds, and the room was fairly small. The cabinets in the corner were dusty and worn down, the night stand in between the two beds was covered in a layer of dust. Both the walls and floor were made from wood. Lucy turned her attention back to the man, the Blonde slowly pulled herself to her feet and ignored the way her back hurt.

The snake's heavy body made a loud noise when it slipped off of the bed, and the man's eyes cracked open. His eyes were an unnatural purple, and his pupils were slitted, like a snake's.

His eyes automatically met hers, his face was passive as he inhaled deeply.

"You're bleeding," He said, he didn't move to help or anything of that sort.

Lucy sighed, she expected it to be bleeding. She decided that she should take care of her back before she started questioning the man, she brushed her hand against Virgo's key.

Lucy looked back at the man and watched as he settled in a chair that was in the corner. He leaned back and the snake slithered to him and settled itself around his legs. A brilliant light filled the room as Virgo appeared.

"Vir-" She stopped when she came face to face with her Lion spirit, "Loke."

The maroon-haired man's head snapped up and he watched as Lucy stepped back in shock. "Loke," She repeated again.

"It's Leo," He said bitterly. "I'm a spirit remember?" He said his sunglasses concealed his eyes, but she could tell they were filled with pain.

Lucy flinched back as the words left his mouth, "L-" She stopped herself, she couldn't deal with this right now, she loved Loke. He was her family, but she needed to patch her back up before she lost anymore blood, she could already feel the blood dripping down all the way down to her waist. "Where's Virgo?"

He looked hurt, but answered, "She needed me to come, she's with the King and it's important."

Lucy closed her eyes and sighed "Okay. Can you help me?"

"That's what I'm made for," He said.

Lucy fought the urge to cry, she really didn't like Loke being mad at her. "My scar opened up, and I nee-"

Loke grabbed her shoulders, "What do you mean!?" He raised his voice.

Lucy gasped as he pushed on her shoulders, her shoulder blades pushed together. She felt the skin that had started healing while she slept open up again and she nearly passed out. Her knees buckled as pain washed over her.

Loke's eyes widened and he wrapped his arms around her as she fell forward, his hands went to her back and he pushed her down to sit on the bed behind her.

"Lucy! You okay?" He said as he grabbed her face, she opened her eyes.

"Yeah, I just, why does it hurt so much?" She whimpered.

"Because it's magical. It's foreign, your body will need time before it fully accepts the Dragon Slaying Magic."

They both looked when a chair snapped back as the man in the corner stood up. "What do you mean Dragon Slaying Magic? Magical lacrima?" His voice was strong, but his eyes were wide.

"Who are you?" Loke said, he removed his hands from Lucy's face and his eyes widened as he saw the bloody prints his hands have left. He looked down at his hands, they were covered in blood.

"Lucy, summon Virgo again, say it's important," He said. Lucy nodded and pulled her key out.

"Don't ignore me! I asked you a question!" The Maroon-haired man yelled. Lucy flinched as Virgo appeared, the maiden's eyes wide as she saw just how much blood was on the Blonde's shirt. The spirit immediately pulled a bottle of water and gauze out of thin air, and then she pulled Lucy's shirt up and began working.

Loke turned around, "We don't owe you an answer!" He got right up in the man's face.

"Don't test me," He seethed.

"I have a Dragon Slaying Lacrima, it was implanted and then I used my magic too much. So it opened." Lucy answered from the bed.

"Where did you get it?" He asked harshly. His snake climbed his body and settled on his shoulder, making the man look even more intimidating.

"A dragon?" She smiled sheepishly. "I'm a celestial spirit mage, I went to the Spirit World and trained with the King, who doubles as a dragon."

Loke scoffed, "He didn't need to know."

"What's your name?" He asked the blonde while ignoring the Lion.

"Lucy."

He nodded, "I keep track of the Dragon Slayers. Why haven't I heard of you?"

Lucy's eyes widened, "Wait, how many do you know of?"

He rolled his eyes, "You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine."

"I asked first."

Lucy smirked, "I've already answered a question. My name. It's your turn."

The maroon-haired man scoffed, "Fine, I know of four. There are rumors of two more somewhere near the capital."

Lucy was astonished, "I only know two. Who are the others?"

"Look, I can't hear your thoughts, which we'll talk about later, I don't know which one's you know."

Lucy cocked her head, "Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox." She said simply.

"Laxus Dreyar, and Wendy Marvel. Now, your turn to answer a question" He said.

Lucy's eyes bugged out of her head. "Laxus is a slayer?!" She shouted. Loke plopped down on the bed next to her.

"You didn't know?" He added cooly.

"What the hell? No?" She slapped his arm, "You knew?" Loke nodded.

"Oh, my god. Fucking hell. Can you guys pay attention?" The man groaned.

"Can you at least tell us your name?"

"It's my turn for a question," He ran a hand through his hair, "Why haven't I heard of you? I mean," He ran his eyes down her body, "If there was a female dragon slayer that looked like you I would know,"

Loke gasped, "This is the Princess of the Celestial Spirit World you're talking to. Have some respect."

Lucy giggled, "I'm not a princess, but I've been in the Celestial Spirit World for nine months. So that's probably why you haven't heard of me."

He nodded. "Well, I was told to bring you to Brain when you woke. But then you were bleeding, then this fucking stick fucker showed up." He gestured to Loke.

"Wait, ignoring the stick comment for a second, who is Brain?" Loke asked.

"I'm done, Princess," Virgo said. Lucy hadn't even noticed that the wound had closed back up, "Here's a bottle of celestial water, please apply it later today." She said as she bowed and placed a new shirt on the bed then started to shimmer away.

"Take Loke with you," Lucy said, knowing she would not get through an actual conversation with this man if the Lion was here.

"What? No!" His voice echoed as Virgo pulled him into the other world.

Lucy stood up and turned around, she pulled the bloody t-shirt off.

He watched Lucy's muscle contract and move as she pulled the shirt over her head, her skin was pale and perfect, then in between her shoulder blades was a long jagged scar. He cocked his head, it was just bleeding a few minutes ago, it shouldn't have been that healed yet.

"You're just one big question, aren't you?" He said quietly. He struggled to hear her thoughts, all he was getting was a muffled echoing. He could feel it be blocked, like something was shielding her mind.

"We'll at least you know my name," She said as she pulled her new shirt down and turned to face him.

He smirked, "You'll have to do a lot more than pet my snake and answer a few questions to get my name."

It was then the door slammed open and a man stood in the doorway. "Cobra. I told you to bring her to me when she woke," He said sternly.

Cobra closed his eyes and sighed, "So, my name is Cobra."

Lucy laughed and turned to the man in the doorway. "Hello, you're the one that saved me last night, right?" She smiled.

He raised an eyebrow, "Saved you?"

"Well, if I had used any more magic I might've died. Also, you didn't need to bring me here. You could've left me there to bleed out." She explained.

He nodded slowly. "Well, yes. I do apologize for not patching the wound, I was planning to do something about it when you came too." He looked pointedly at Cobra.

Cobra rolled his eyes, "It's not my fault. Her fucking boyfriend showed up and tried to go all alpha male on my ass."

Lucy sighed, "He's not my boyfriend. Why does everyone think he's my boyfriend?"

"Cause he's up your ass," Cobra commented.

"I see you guys get along well enough." Brain said as he turned to leave, a slight flick of his head indicated that he wanted them to follow. Cobra got up to follow and made it to the door before looking back.

"Are you coming?" He said, his voice annoyed.

Lucy nodded and went to grabbed the small bag that Virgo had left, she peeked inside to see the jewelry she had earlier picked out for her team. Her expression suddenly grew sad and the pain that she ignored was back, her team was gone. Cobra stood in the doorway, he had no idea what was happening, he hated that feeling. He whistled and Cubellios slithered behind the blonde. Using her thick body she began to slowly nudge the girl towards the door. Cobra left them to make their way to him and went to go find Brain.

Lucy looked down at the cold reptile that was trying to get her to walk and she smiled, she would normally hate snakes but this one felt like a human. A girl just like her.

The Blonde looked up and tied the small bag to her belt, then she slapped her cheeks, "You got this Lucy, just follow the creepy snake man," She let the snake take the lead and followed it.

Lucy assumed that these guys were wizards, so this had to be their guild. It looked similar to Fairy Tail's old guild hall. Everything was wood and the floorboards creaked under the snake's and her own weight.

The hall they were in opened up into the main area. Giant windows on one side of the guild revealed that it was night, and most of the lights were off. On the other side was a group of people, two were sitting on bar stools and two more were seated at the table located right next to the bar.

Brain was standing at the head of that table and was speaking in hushed tones, a girl dressed in white was nodding and Cobra was sitting across from her looking bored. It was then she noticed a guy sleeping, on a floating carpet.

"Yea… that seems about right," She said to herself.

"Ah, please join us." Brain said as he turned towards her. He gestured to the spot next to Cobra. She hesitantly walked closer and the two at the bar turned to face the table. Lucy sat next to Cobra and the snake took her place in between them.

"Welcome, to our guild hall," Brain began. "Everyone, please introduce yourselves."

"Okay, I don't mean to be rude at all," Lucy stood up and looked at everyone. "But why is that necessary? You don't need to house me any further. I'm fine now, I'm healed. And I'm very thankful, but it's late and I'd rather just get out of your hair."

Everyone straightened up, besides the guy on the rug. They all seemed to be paying a little more attention. "Well, there is a reason. I want to know more about you. Please, just answer a few questions." He stopped to think, "As a thank you gift."

Lucy paused, "Okay. What do you what to know?"

Brain smiled, "First off your name, so everyone here knows."

She looked around and all of them were watching her. "Lucy….Ashley. Lucy Ashley."

"Well, Lucy, what type of magic do you use?"

"I am a celestial spirit wizard." She said. Lucy cringed as Cobra looked at her pointedly. She didn't really want to disclose too much information to these people yet. She didn't know any of them. So, she decided to say that.

"I don't know any of you. And usually I'm really trusting but after the few days I've had I really don't think any good luck is coming my way."

Brain chuckled, and a few of them smirked. "My name's Racer, and I use speed magic," A man at the bar said.

It was the girl that spoke next. "I'm Angel, and I'm also a Celestial Wizard"

Lucy perked up, "Oh my god, really? It's been so long since I've met another one," The Blonde gushed.

Angel smiled as well, "Yea, we're quite rare aren't we?"

"Having two Celestial Wizards could be very useful in combat," Brian mentioned.

Lucy thought back to what the King said about devouring left over energy. "Especially with my roar." She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oops," Mumbled Cobra. He smirked slightly when she glared at him.

"Roar?" Racer questioned.

"I am Hoteye! You're just as beautiful as a million diamonds!" He said dramatically.

"Hoteye, you're a little late, and we all know you don't mean it you just want a reason to think of millions of diamonds," Cobra said.

"I never need a reason!" He exclaimed.

"No, no. We're on the roar now." Angel said, she looked at Lucy in question.

Lucy sighed and slumped down onto the bench. "Blame, Cobra."

Cobra choked on his drink and coughed out, "What the fuck do you mean?"

Lucy cringed, "I don't know! Hey, he's the one that didn't tell you that I'm a Dragon Slayer."

"What?" Angel and Racer said in unison, they glared at each other afterward but the questioned still stood.

"Why didn't you tell us Cobra?" Hoteye said like he was generally hurt.

"Fucking hell. I can hear thoughts but I don't know what the fucks go on." He moaned.

"Okay. I am a Celestial Dragon Slayer. I trained with the King and he taught me the magic, then afterward he placed a lacrima fused with his magic inside of me." She explained.

"You trained with the King?!" Angel shouted in disbelief.

Lucy nodded.

Brain who had been watching the exchange between his guild and this girl spoke up, "That's quite impressive. You must have great strength." He said. But of course, he already knew this. He had sensed the great magically shift in Magnolia, he was on the outskirts, chasing down a lead on the Sky Maiden. He had barely made it far enough away before the portal sucked the city into the sky.

Then he found Lucy. Unleashing enormous amounts of magic, the power itself was raw and untamed as it suffocated him. He had barely been able to get close to her. Her power was remarkable, and he couldn't let such a strong individual escape him. He knew what he wanted. But he needed his guild's approval, yes, he was the master and he made the final call but he couldn't have a guild member that would be completely isolated by the others.

Cobra eyed his guild master, he couldn't hear his thoughts. Brain brought this girl here and was now blocking Cobra's magic. He was up to something.

It was right then and there that Brain said, "Lucy, would you join our guild?"


Haha. Longest chapter yet. 11 pages and about 5200 words. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'm glad I finally finished it.

Expect the next chapter on the 20th.

I don't own Fairy Tail.