Disclaimer: I do not own either Fairy Tail or the Xeno game series...But one day, I will! Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and Namco and the game creators (Too many to list) own the Xeno game franchise!
Notes: Okay, so I know a lot of you have no clue what Xenosaga or even Xenogears is. A brief breakdown according to my mind. As before I ask that if you don't know the games, please go and Google them. I have found that you can actually watch all the cutscenes from Xenosaga Episodes...if you have a lot of free time.
Four days into the vacation
I leaned against the edge of the railing to my hotel room, my eyes fixated on the horizon where the sun was setting and slowly turning the ocean's blue water into a blazing fire of golds, reds, and oranges. A small smile played on my lips at the sight before me, and I felt a slight pang in my chest at not being able to share this with my teammates or anyone from the guild. They would all be taken away by the simplistic beauty that Nature was providing at that moment.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind wander from thing to thing as I thought of the last four days with no interruptions from my teammates, which left me utterly amazed. Ezra had kept her word and very well, and I wondered how to make it up to her. Opening my eyes, I let a wide grin curve my lips as the perfect idea came to me. I would bake her a three-tier strawberry cake. Of course, I would have Mira help me since baking wasn't exactly my forte. The last time ended in a smoky burnt disaster that put me staying a few days with Levy in Fairy Halls.
With a shake of my head, I pushed away from the railing, turning smoothly to make my way into my room. Taking a deep breath, I threaded my fingers together, raising them above my head and feeling the muscles in my body roll and pop as they stretched. With a soft laugh, I felt a timid tingling run through my body as one of my spirits called out to me. Letting my hands drop to my side, I stroked my fingers over my keys until they landed on the one that felt warm to my touch. Not even looking, I took it from the keyring and raised it.
"Open Gate of the Ram, Aries!" I called out, feeling my magic well up in me before focusing on a wave that traveled down my arm and into the key.
Soon enough, the key glowed brightly, then with a loud poof Aries herself appeared before me, bowing as she spoke. "Please forgive me, Lucy-hime!" Then she stood straight, looking at me with timid brown eyes.
With a quick shake of my head, I stepped forward, embracing her in my arms. "There is nothing to forgive, Aries. What do you need?" I asked softly, letting her go and stepping back.
She blinked her eyes a few times before she smiled brightly at me. "I just wanted to check on you. We all felt a little sense of loneliness from you. So I, uh opted to come and check on you," she said, her voice in its usual soft, shy timbre.
Unable to help it, I chuckled lightly before replying. "I am okay. Just watching the sunset again, thinking how great it would be to share with my teammates or even the whole guild of Fairy Tail is all. Nothing to worry yourself about, but thank you for looking out for me."
Aries smiled and clasped her hands to her pink wool-covered chest, a look of complete relief crossing her face even as she smiled warmly at me. It made me very happy to have such a strong bond with my spirits. It was one of the many things my mother had stressed to me that they are not servants but friends and family members. And as such, I always took great pains to make sure I treated them that way and never broke my promises to them or anyone else.
Motioning for Aries to seat herself on the bed, I rotated, so I was facing her as she moved and sat down. Once she was situated, she looked around the room, taking in what it looked like while giving a small nod to herself. When she finished, she looked at me, her body relaxed quite a bit from its normal tense state of nervousness. Aries opened her mouth, ready to say something when a loud bang had both of us jumping up startled as the door to my room burst open, spilling out ahead of pink hair and one of black.
"Dammit, Natsu. Why don't you ever listen? She came here to be by herself. Let her alone, you idiot flame brain," Gray growled as he sat atop Natsu, pinning his prone form to the floor.
With a growl, Natsu pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, shaking his body like a dog to dislodge Gray, while barking back, "Because I am worried about her. Lucy is a kind person and very important to all of us in this team. I don't like her being alone for this long. If Erza hadn't taken us on that stupid mission you Ice Princess, I would have followed her a lot sooner."
I stood there watching them struggle with each other, a tic twitching under my left eye as I felt the left side of my mouth quirk up into what could be taken as a snarl. Crossing my hands under my breast, I felt my fury rising like a blazing aura around me, just as Erza showed up, her eyes going wide as they saw me in all my angry glory. Giving a nod of her head, she stepped back away from the two males still struggling in the doorway. At her assent, I let myself smile in a delightful manner as I saw Aries in my peripheral vision flinch away from me.
Letting out a laugh that had to have sounded like a crazed person, Natsu and Gray ceased their fighting and looked at me, fear and horror, causing their eyes to go wide. I walked towards them, stopping once I was only a few feet from them and squatting down. "While I will admit I was starting to miss you guys, I would rather be torturing you, delighting in your pained screams right now. What part of a vacation for myself do you not understand, Natsu? As you can see, I am perfectly fine, and to boot, I have my spirits with me to protect me. So what makes you think I need to have you here to make sure I am safe and not alone?"
Quirking an eyebrow, I watched Gray scramble up and off Natsu, quickly backing up until he bumped into Erza, who just clamped her hands down on his shoulders. Natsu laid on the floor, becoming very still as if any movement would provoke an attack, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with each breath he seemed to gulp down. His green eyes went very wide, while the pupils became small little pinpricks as they stayed glued to my narrowed eyes.
In the next instant, I was standing up, turning around, and walking back towards Aries. My hand already at my hip, switching over my whip Fleuve d'etoiles, I looked at Aries whose eyes were as wide as they could go, as she sat there shaking in awe and fear of me. It wasn't often that I would get this angry and show it as well, but Natsu and his single-mindedness just seemed to press that button. I softened my look at her with a small smile while darting my eyes from her to the window and back again.
Quickly she grasped what I was implying and nodded her head. Then letting my face go hard once more, I turned to look back at Natsu, who was still on his back on the floor, staring at me, his gaze a mix of fear and worry. "Well, the damage is done Natsu, and while the idea of just hitting you over and over again tempts me, I think I will refrain since I won't be able to get rid of you at all for the rest of my vacation. But truth be told, my trust and respect for you have seriously plummeted," I said in a low hurt voice, and with each word, I took a step backward until I felt the balcony railing against the small of my back.
With that, I turned away from my teammates, refusing to see the looks they were giving me. I placed my hands on the rail, quickly lifting myself onto it, so I was sitting precariously. With a sad shake of my head, I pushed myself up and over the edge, free-falling from my balcony as a collective gasp was heard from everyone in the room. My eyes were trained on my balcony as a blur of pink and black barreled over it. A few seconds later, I saw all three of my teammates staring down at me in utter horror just as Aries caught up to me, pulling me into her arms.
My body going lax, I let the tension from my anger disappeared as Aries deftly maneuvered herself so that she would land with me cradled next to her. The moment we hit the ground, I felt my body jerk from the impact. Grimacing a bit as it took me a few seconds to orientate myself, I felt Aries let me go. As I lifted my head, I saw her scanning me over with worry in her eyes until she was satisfied that I was fine before smiling and nodding her head.
"Lucy-hime, I suggest you take this time to run. Erza will hold them back for a few minutes, but you know Natsu and Gray will break free to come to find you and check on you. Uh... Um... and please, Hime! Do not ever do that again. I was so scared I might not reach you quickly enough," she said in a shaky, whispered voice before she poofed away in a cloud of pink smoke.
Knowing I was grinning like a complete fool, I turned around and started to walk briskly away from the hotel, ignoring the people staring at me like I was some kind of freak or stunt artist. With each step, I subconsciously picked up my pace until I was at a slow but steady jog. Choosing to hazard a quick look behind me, I found that there was no longer anyone on my balcony which spurred me to break out into a full-on the run.
The warm evening breeze beat at my face as I quickly made the steps leading to the beach. Putting on a spurt of speed, I leapt suddenly down them, landing with a slight jarring tingle in my legs, before twisting my body to the right as I pushed off in that direction down the beach. The startled and angry shouts of people behind me blended with the frantic yells of my teammates as I continued to run along the beach with laughter erupting from my mouth and the tang of the sea burning in my nose.
Keeping my focus ahead of me to avoid anything that was on the sand, I felt a wave of familiarity wash over me. My mind told me this had happened before, and I gave my head a small shake just as a burst of white light flared in my peripheral vision. I blinked my eyes rapidly to get the dots of color from my right eye, only to feel a sense of urgency to take control of my body, and I partially turned my head to see what caused that bright flash of light even though I knew what it was already.
There is a ball of light streaking across the sky rapidly; its trajectory is easy to follow. In my head, I could see the small alcove where it would land, so turning my head and focusing entirely ahead of me, I pushed myself forward at a faster past. Before long, I could feel my lungs starting to burn, and my strides continued to lengthen as I propelled myself forward towards the small alcove that was coming into sight. Just then, that ball of white light came into my field of view as it made its final descent.
The sense of urgency to get to whatever was falling out of the sky sent adrenaline running through my veins. My heart was beating wildly against my ribs as I kept spurring myself faster and faster as if this was something utterly momentous. Shouts from Natsu started to reach my ears, letting me know that at least he was catching up to me quickly. With a small shake of my head, I pulled my arms in closer to my body and leaned forward, giving it one last spurt, making my legs and sides ache in rebellion at the overexertion I was taxing them with.
In seconds, the white meteorite came into my line of sight just before it impacted. My body instantly reacted by jumping straight up into the air and forward like a professional long jumper, allowing me to avoid the ground shaking as I witnessed sand explode up from the beach, hiding the meteorite from my view. All the while, I was silently thanking the Kamis for that dream now, as shouts of shock, panic, and irritation reached my ears from not just Natsu, but Gray and Erza as well. This elicited a small laugh from me as I landed with a slight stumble before sprinting forward the last few feet.
I neared it, seeing it float above the small crater that was created from its impact, beautiful white feathers all around it just like I dreamed. Slowing myself down, I came to a complete halt, standing only a few feet from it, a knot building in the pit of my stomach as my nerves finally caught up to me. This was always the point in the dream that took that turn, causing me to wake up. Swallowing, I took the last few steps so that I was standing next to it, looking down, and I felt an itch started in the palm of my hands as I instinctively fought the urge to back away.
Finally, I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths before slowly reaching my hand out like in my dream. Cracking my eyes partially to watch as my hand entered the light, I felt a warm tingling sensation creep over my hand, giving me a soothing calm feeling. Opening my eyes all the way in surprise, I stared down at my wrist then my forearm as it disappeared, that warm tingling making its way up to my elbow before my hand connected with that feather softness. I gasped in surprise shock at how soft it felt to my hand.
The whole time in the background, I could hear the sounds of my teammates. Not wanting to break away from what I was doing, I didn't turn around as Natsu cried out to me, a thread of panic lacing his voice. "Luce doesn't touch it. You don't know what it is."
Blinking at the panic in his voice, I slowly turned my head to look at all three of them standing there, mixed emotions on their faces. So I did the only thing I could do, smile reassuringly at them all before turning back to what I was doing, only to give a small cry as the white light swelled up, engulfing me, and I was sure the whole area. This caused me to go stiff with fright as a weight seemed to fill my hand, pulling me down to the beach with a small oomph. The light faded away again, leaving me to blink my eyes to clear my vision as I tilted my head downward.
What I saw was shocking, to say the least. The first thing that met my gaze was what had felt feather-soft to my hand. It was nothing more than white hair that looked almost like downy feathers of a baby chick. Letting my gaze continue to travel forward, I found that it framed a heart-shaped face of warm, caramel skin, only to lose my breath as a pair of eyes opened, revealing twin orbs of the clearest cerulean eyes, reminding me of the ocean of Tenrou Island.
Unable to help myself, I felt trapped by those eyes, and I sucked in a soft breath, only to hear an amused chuckle erupt before a soft, almost melancholic voice spoke. "Uh, excuse me, but could you please maybe stop fisting your hand in my hair. It is rather uncomfortable, Miss."
Letting out a small keep, I relaxed my hand that had, in the play of events, curled up in the feather-soft hair. Feeling heat infuse my cheeks, I attempted to scoot back only to stop as I realized the only thing holding this person's head from the sand was my hand. My eyes were still riveted to the ones in front of me; I gave an awkward smile. "Sorry! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to, I.. I guess it just happened when the light erupted, and then uh...your weight brought me down... Not that you're fat or heavy or anything, but the shock value of the situation and uh... oh um... I ...erm...I'm rambling, aren't I?"
My words earned another soft chuckle from the person below me. "It is alright. I don't blame you at all, Miss. In all essence, it is my fault, not that I had planned to cause anyone problems. But Miss, if you don't mind, would you allow me to stand up? I do think the people over there seem a bit tense, so if you know them, you should go over and assuage their worries."
I nodded my head numbly as I slowly slipped my hand out from under the soft head of hair, and gave a small pout as they sat up, breaking my view of those amazing eyes. They stood up with a bit of stiffness before proceeding to dust off what looked like a pair of white sweats with blue and yellow accents and black straps attached to a black belt. My gaze climbed their body, finding it clad in blue and yellow vest over a skintight black long-sleeved shirt, showing off a wiry frame that was well-muscled and entirely male.
As I continued my perusal of them, he turned to look down at me in my kneeling position in the sand, before extending a hand to me. I flushed at being caught staring and looked away as I hesitantly placed my hand in his black-gloved hand. Feeling a warm tingle run up my arm once more, I recalled that I had felt this type of feeling once before. A soft tug on my arm brought my body quickly to a standing position, giving my turned head a good view of my teammates. They all looked pensive, causing me to flush in embarrassment, shame, and I swiveled my head to face the strange man and slowly removed my hand.
"Uh, thank you for the help. Uh, my name is Lucy Heartfilia, and I guess uh...welcome to Earthland and Fiore continent," I said in a soft voice, stepping back to put some distance between us.
The man tilted his head to the side as if contemplating something before breaking into a soft, warm smile. "Thank you, Miss Heartfilia, I appreciate your warm welcome to this planet. You may call me Chaos, but again please, if those are your friends, assuage their worry for you." Once he finished, he waved his hands in a comedic shooing gesture.
With a short laugh, I smiled back before turning and walking to my teammates, only to be promptly pulled into a fierce hug by Erza as Gray rubbed the top of my head affectionately. Turning my face, so a cheek was resting on Erza's chest plate, I saw Natsu give me an intense once-over before turning his attention back toward Chaos. His charcoal eyes narrowed in a glare as he moved to place himself between him and the new man, making me feel a bit annoyed and upset since Chaos hadn't done a thing except fall to the beach unharmed.
"I don't know how you fell from the sky, or even why mister. Do you come from Edolas? What are your intentions here in Earthland?" he half-growled out at Chaos, making me flinch in Erza's arms as I felt her shift, and Gray's hand go still on my head.
It was silent for about a minute before Chaos spoke up, "Is Edolas the planet..of the world on the other side of the barrier in the sky? As for my intentions, sir, I do not know really. This is a new place for me to have a new start, or that is what God told me before I was put on my descent." There was a brief pause before he continued, "I understand if you do not wish to believe me. Most of my previous life would be unbelievable to anyone; should they hear it."
There was a small pang in my chest at his words, at how sad and hurt he sounded like he had just lost something very precious to him. It was a feeling I knew very well, with first the loss of my mother Layla, then my father, Jude. Slowly, I lifted my hands and pushed myself away from Erza, glad when she let her arms drop. Gray removed his hand from my head, before placing it on my shoulder as his gaze met mine, telling me that he too noticed the pain in Chaos' voice. Taking a step away from Erza, I could see in her usually guarded eyes an echo of pain at all she too had lost in her short life. Reaching up a hand to touch her shoulder, I nodded my head at her.
As the three of us had our moment of shared loss and pain, Natsu started speaking again. "You are not from Edolas, but Kami sent you to our planet? You bet I don't believe you. That sounds like something from a child's fairy tale. How is anyone supposed to believe something like that, huh?" His words were curt, seemingly distrustful and hostile.
I was shocked at Natsu's tone of voice and actions since, to me, they were uncalled for. Knowing it must have shown on my face, I watched Erza step around me as she spoke, "Natsu! What do you think you are doing? This young man hasn't done a single thing to warrant your hostility. You are misrepresenting not only yourself but our guild as well. Apologize to him right now!" Her voice was cold and sharp tone when she got angry and had to reel someone in.
Turning around, I saw Natsu go stiff as a rod as he said a choked and panicked Aye!, then apologized to Chaos. Though it sounded insincere to my ears, I knew Erza would leave it at that. Giving Natsu's back a hard stare, I let my gaze go towards Chaos, who was standing there, unfazed by all this as he relaxed with a smile on his face. It made me feel a bit reassured that he wasn't offended in the least.
"I am sorry for his sudden hostility towards you, Mr. Chaos, but like everyone on our team, we are all protective of Lucy. She is a sister to us and a treasured member of our team. If you don't mind, I would like to hear more of your story before I pass any such judgment, though I do not detect any lies or hostility from you. Is this amenable?" Erza said in her usual friendly yet stoic voice.
My eyes darted from Chaos to Erza, then to Gray and Natsu. The latter seemed to have relaxed, but those who knew him would see that he was still guarded, restraining his emotions. I couldn't help but wonder just why he was acting like he was right now. I wasn't hurt, and nothing happened to me or any of us at all, so for him to be like this confused me. I shook my head as I returned my gaze to Chaos, who had a contemplative look on his face, obviously thinking over what Erza said.
As I watched him come to his decision, my eyes once more sought out his, and I let myself get lost in his gaze. "Thank you very much, Ma'am. I appreciate your kindness. I will tell you as much of my tale as I can." he said, that smile so soft and warm gracing his lips again as a look of aged wisdom shone in the depths of his eyes.
Letting out a soft sigh, Erza spoke once more in her usual manner. "Good, this is acceptable. Let me introduce the group and myself to you," she said as she stepped into my field of vision, turning and pointing at each of us in turn. "You already know that the young lady is Lucy, the one with the pink hair is Natsu as you heard, and the last of our group with the black hair is... Gray! Put your clothes back on this instant!"
Pressing my lips together, I tried to swallow my laughter at Gray's usual antics as he sputtered about how his clothes disappeared before he started to put them back on. Glancing over, I saw Erza place her fingertips to her forehead and shook her head with a look of exasperation and just a faint tint of pink gracing her high cheekbones. Keeping my eyes on Erza, I heard Gray come back to stand by me, knowing he too was flushed with embarrassment at his odd quirk.
"Please forgive him. He has a strange habit of stripping at random, anywhere at any time. Now to finish the introductions, I am Erza Scarlet, S-class mage of the guild, Fairy Tail. Now, it is getting late. Please follow us back to the hotel where we will eat, rest, and talk. Then we will decide what to do with you," she said, her voice going low and grave at the end, leaving no room for error in what she thought.
Once Chaos nodded, Erza turned on the heel of her foot, marching back down the beach the way we had come. Giving a shake of my head, I too turned to follow, but not before waving at Chaos to come and join us. An amused smile curved his mouth, reaching to his eyes and making them sparkle like gems in his face. Giving a soft chuckle, I saw that Erza and Gray had put some distance between them and us, so I jogged a bit to catch up. Natsu joined me shortly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders like he tended to do, though it felt different this time, and off behind us was Chaos, following close behind.
TBC!