Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Fairy Tail or Negima! Magister Negi Magi. These brilliant works are the intellectual property of their respective creators.
To my wonderful readers: I cannot apologize enough for my 7-year absence. Almost 3 years ago, I lost everything I owned in a fire incident (including 2 computers and 2 portable hard drives loaded with anime and 1000 manga volumes). I don't know how I avoided suicide after that, but anime had a HUGE part to play in keeping me from critical depression. Having your entire foundation ripped away from you in the span of a single morning is more than anyone should be expected to take and walk away from without being changed forever. In a lot of ways, I still haven't recovered...
It's been way too long since I've last updated anything, but rest assured, I haven't been doing nothing.
I've been coming up with more and more installments to my Springfield Chronicles series, including this Fairy Tail fic, one with Valkyrie Drive, One Piece, and more.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. As I always do, I did my best to emulate the speech patterns and personalities of the characters in the actual anime/manga. So without further ado, I give you The Dark Fairy.
Job Request 1: The Chivalrous Boy Wizard
"Finally, solid ground," Natsu slumped against the ground at the port of Hargeon, his face pressed to the quayside and his rear end pointed skyward. He, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, and Erza had just returned from a job on an island off the coast, having hitched a ride home on a large ship. The young, pink-haired dragon slayer was still recovering from a crippling case of motion sickness, which was a universal affliction among those who used Dragon Slayer magic. "Land, I love you. I'd kiss you right now, but I still feel like I could barf at any moment."
"You okay, buddy?" Happy the flying blue cat swooped in closer, patting his best friend on the back.
"No, but thanks for caring, Happy," Natsu said with a bloated, butt-shaped face. "Seems like you're the only one who does."
"Aw, suck it up, Natsu," the shirtless Gray groaned in frustration. "You're a disgrace if a short trip like that is enough to knock you flat."
"Hey, come on," Lucy tried to break up the fight before it started. "We're not even back at the guild yet. Can you please-"
"Shut up, ice princess!" Natsu suddenly sprang up, as if suddenly cured, flames welling up in the back of his throat. "Or I'm gonna melt that ugly face of yours clean off!"
"Oh yeah? Well, not if I deep freeze your empty head first, magma breath!" Gray shot back in his rival's face, along with a chilling right-handed punch. "At least you're feeling better, so I don't have to feel bad about this!"
"WHY I OUGHTTA-!" Natsu was about to meet Gray's icy punch with a flaming fist of his own, when…
BONK! BASH!
"That's enough already," Erza said with absolute authority, her armored arms folded over her breastplate, her eyes narrowed. "Now behave yourselves!"
"YES, MA'AM! WE'LL BE GOOD!" both men said in earnest, bowing at her feet.
"Anyway, where is Wendy?" Erza turned to Lucy, letting out a sigh of frustration. "I don't see her here with us."
"She got over her motion sickness and went into town to get ice cream with Carla," Lucy answered with a smile, brushing her long blonde hair behind her ear. "They should be back in a few minutes."
"I see," Erza nodded. Why didn't they invite me? Wendy knows I love sweets. "As soon as we meet up with them, we shall return to Magnolia and make our report to Master Makarov." She turned to Natsu and Gray. "Understood?"
"Aye, sir!" they both saluted her.
"Thank you very much!" Wendy happily thanked the shopkeeper as she paid her and turned to walk out of the ice cream parlor with her flying feline friend floating by her side. "Ahh, there's nothing like a cold, delicious ice cream cone after a hard day's work, is there, Carla?"
"Well, I could probably think of one or two, but right now I'm just not in the mood," Carla smiled, taking her first licks of a chocolate and vanilla double scoop.
Wendy only giggled. "I wonder what those could be," she said as she licked her chocolate-strawberry swirl, but as she was nearing the door, something solid struck her left foot right above her ankle. "Ouch!" she cried, more out of surprise than pain, as she fell forward.
SPLAT!
"Wendy!" Carla gasped, rushing to her side. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Carla," the girl reassured her best friend as she started to pick herself up. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," she said as she turned to look ahead of her. Now it was her turn to gasp. "My ice cream!"
It was now splattered on the dark pants of a very unhappy-looking man. He was sporting a ducktail haircut, had a cigarette in his mouth, and wore a thick, black leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and sharpened studs along the sleeves. He looked right into her eyes with a scowl. "Yeh, your ice cream, yuh little snot!" he said in a very rough voice as he reached down and grabbed Wendy by the neck of her blue and green checkered dress. "And it's all over my nice new pants. Wutcha gonna do about it, huh?!"
"I'm sorry!" she whispered, now aloft, held up by his tightly clenched fist. "I didn't mean it. Please, put me down."
"Oh no," the man smiled in a threatening way, his face inches from hers, his cigarette dangerously close to burning her cheek. "You ain't getting off that easy, yuh piss-ant. I paid top Jewel for these pants, an' you're gonna to pay me back every last Jewel for the pants yuh ruined. Then I'll let-"
"UNHAND MY FRIEND, YOU BRUTE!" Carla flew at the man's face, her claws extended, her own ice cream long forgotten. "Take this!" She tried to take a swipe at him, but he simply smacked her to the ground.
"Stay outta this, yuh pussy!" he yelled at her. "Yuh botha' me!"
By now, people were beginning to gather, drawn by the noise of the confrontation.
"Please, let the girl go," the shopkeeper pleaded with the man. "She tripped and dropped her cone. You can't fault her for-"
"Who asked you, woman?!" he shouted at her, dropping Wendy, turning around and aiming a pistol at her. "Now shut up, or do I have to cap you foist?!" The shopkeeper backed away immediately.
"I thought so." He grabbed Wendy again. This time, by her hair.
"Ahh! Let go!" she cried out. "That hurts!"
"Pay for my pants and I will let go. I won't say it again!" He now had the pistol's barrel pointed right between Wendy's eyes.
"You heard the girl. LET HER GO!" Carla screamed, launching herself at him again, only to get kicked clear out the door. "I'm not done!" Carla shouted as she flipped over in midair and pushed off the sidewalk. Changing into her human form mid-leap, she attempted her special move. "WHITE MOON!" However, to Carla's horror, the man grabbed her ankle before she could fully execute the flying kick.
"Well, what do you know? Two pint-sized dames for the price o' one!" he said boisterously as he held them both over his head, but he didn't waste a second before throwing Carla to the floor, sending her rolling and bouncing out of the shop and onto the sidewalk, causing her transformation to come undone.
As soon as Carla was on the ground, she felt the man's boot on her head. She was pinned to the sidewalk, helpless and in such pain she could barely speak.
"CARLA!" Wendy cried. That's it! He's gone too far! She began to take a deep breath in, but before she could strike back at him, his grip tightened again, nearly causing Wendy to choke on her own breath.
"I've had enough'a this!" he spat, throwing Wendy to the ground, sending her skidding across the pavement. But before he could pull out and train his gun on her again, someone grabbed his wrist very tightly.
It was a young man, no more than 16 years of age, with auburn hair. He wore a dark blue suit and laceless brown shoes, and draped over his shoulders and fastened around his neck was a light-oatmeal-colored cloak. On his back, he carried a long staff wrapped in white cloth. His voice came like a whisper, yet reverberated like a roar. "Never … put your hands … on a child or a small animal … in front of me." Before the man could bring his gun around, to Wendy's amazement, the boy brought his foot up and kicked him several meters away, toward the center of the street.
"Hmm, what do you think's taking 'em so long?" Natsu said for the fifth time as he paced back and forth on the wharf.
"Quit complaining," Gray said from where he sat nearby. "It's only making it feel longer when you do that."
"Come to think of it," Lucy looked around. "Where's Happy?"
"He must have gone to check on them," Erza reasoned calmly.
"Yeah, that sounds like the little guy," Natsu smiled. "He just can't let Carla out of his sight, can he?"
"Ain't that the truth," Gray grinned.
"He loooooooooooooves her!" Lucy pretended to swoon, imitating their little blue friend, much to everyone's amusement.
"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Natsu roared, kicking his feet in the air and pounding his left fist on the ground and holding his stomach with his right. "That was perfect! You sounded just like him! I can't … I can't breathe!"
"NATSUUUUU!"
"Ah, there he is. Hey, Happy! We were just talking about y-" Natsu said as he looked up, but his relief quickly turned to worry when he saw the panic on his friend's face. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Some huge guy's picking on Wendy and Carla! It's really bad over there."
"WHAT?!" they all shouted, jumping to their feet.
"Come on!" Happy beckoned, turning back towards town. "We've gotta help them!"
"And help them we shall! Lead the way, Happy!" Erza called to him, taking off at a run with Natsu, Gray, and Lucy at her heels.
"We'll teach him to mess with our friends!" Natsu shouted in anger as he ran, fire billowing from his mouth and smoke spewing from his ears.
By the time the black-clad man had picked himself up, the newcomer was no longer where he had been moments before. He had picked the shocked Carla up off the sidewalk and was now on one knee by Wendy, helping the young girl to her feet and dusting them both off. "You two okay?" he said with concern, and a charming accent, in his voice. "That wasn't looking too good."
Wendy was speechless as she looked into his eyes. Finally, she found her voice. "Uh, yeah. Thank you," she smiled at him, her entire face a bright shade of pink.
"Indeed," Carla smiled. "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you came at just the right time. We appreciate your help."
"You're welcome," he smiled as he stood up. "Actually, I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. If it's one thing I can't stand, it's a man picking on a lady, let alone two." Wendy and Carla both blushed – in Wendy's case, deeper – at these words. "Now, let me handle this."
"But I can help you," Wendy protested. "I can fight, too!"
"I know," the young man said with a gentle smile.
"Huh?"
"I felt your magic power before," he lowered his voice to a whisper. "But as a self-respecting gentleman, I just can't play the bystander when a young lady is being abused, even if she is stronger than her abuser. Please, allow me to settle this in your stead. In truth, I have some business with this one …" He turned to the ducktailed man. "If you like picking on people smaller than you, then why not pick on me next?" he said loudly, not taking his eyes off his adversary.
"This ain't got nothing to do with you, yuh brat!" the man shouted, waving his pistol around. "Now, get lost before I kill you, too."
"You realize that was a double negative, don't you? And as it just so happens, you couldn't be less wrong." With a snap of his fingers, there was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, there was a boy who looked about Wendy's age standing in the young man's place, wearing a smaller set of the same clothes. "Unless I heard you wrong before, you said this young lady messed up some brand new pants? I find that hard to believe. In fact, I wager those pants were filthier than that greasy hair of yours the moment you tried them on."
Wendy and Carla both failed to hide their giggles. The man looked like he was about to pop a vein.
"Yer dead, yuh little turds!" he pulled out a second gun and aimed it at Wendy, the first already aimed at the boy, and fired both.
"Look out!" Wendy's rescuer stuck out an arm and pushed her out of the way of the shot, barely dodging himself, the bullet just whizzing past his ear.
"Why you-!" the man was about to shoot again, but just as he'd leveled the pistols, the boy was already mere feet away from him. "What the-!" Before he could react, the boy struck his right hand with his own to knock one pistol to the ground, driving his left fist straight into his solar plexus, hard. Instantly winded, the man crumbled to the ground.
From where they stood ten meters away, Wendy and Carla were still trying to put together what had happened. One second, the boy was there in front on them, and the next he was right in the man's face, putting him on the ground with one blow. "Did you see that, Carla?" Wendy asked her.
"I was about to ask you that." Did he teleport? No, I didn't sense any magic power coming from him when he did it. That was pure speed.
"'Ducktail' Nunzeo," the boy said sharply, picking the man up by the arm, wrenching it upwards until his second pistol fell to the ground. "You and your men crashed the Mermaid Heel Café several days ago and injured several patrons. Everyone but you was captured and arrested in the incident by Miss Kagura and her colleagues. Is that accurate?"
"Those damn bitches!" he seethed. "Did they send you after me?"
"Mind your tongue, mister! There are women and children present," the boy squeezed the man's wrist until his bones began to crack, causing him to yell out in pain. "And to answer your question: No, this was a favor to the young women of Mermaid Heel. Nothing more than a gentleman's courtesy," the boy said, and before anyone could say anything else, he lifted the man over his head by his feet with one hand, swung him about several times, and hurled him high into the air, only for him to land upside down in the chimney of a building on the other side of the street behind them. Only his legs were visible.
"You know, for a notorious gang leader, I thought he'd be stronger," the boy said under his breath, turning to the ice cream shopkeeper. "Miss, please call the authorities and tell them what happened here. Tell them they'll find 'Ducktail' Nunzeo in that chimney across the street. As I understand it, there's a reward posted for his capture, so please give them this when they arrive to arrest him." He handed her a neatly folded letter. "Have the authorities send the reward money to Mermaid Heel, along with this letter."
"Oh, of course," she replied and hurried away.
"That's the end of that," he dusted off his hands as he turned to the two ladies behind him. "Sorry, I got a little rough back there. You're not hurt, are you?" But he immediately found them both running toward him.
"You were amazing!" Wendy cried with excitement, her eyes full of stars. "That was so cool, I-" But she stopped short, her way blocked by a wall of ice.
"WENDY!" several voices shouted.
Wendy turned to see her friends charging toward them, ready for a fight.
"Is that the guy, Happy?!" Natsu yelled, his fists already on fire.
"I've never seen him before, but he might be with the other guy!" Happy yelled from the sky. "Better safe than sorry, right?!"
"GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!" Natsu roared.
"Get away from them! Ice Make-" Gray shouted, poised to fire off another spell, but Wendy dashed out in front.
"Wait, you've got the wrong guy. He didn't do anything wrong!" She managed to make Gray stop his advance in time, but it was too late to stop the hotheaded Natsu.
"So, you think it's fun to pick on little girls, you jerk? Well, see how you like THIS!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs as he aimed a scorching punch at the boy's head, which, to Natsu's surprise, hit nothing but air. Despite being surprised and off balance, he managed to catch himself before his face hit the ground and spring back up to his feet. Looking around, he saw the boy dodging the two blades Erza was now wielding. "No fair! He was mine!" he yelled, stamping his foot like a child.
"Please, wait," he was saying as he ducked and swayed left and right to avoid the rapid slashing and thrusting. "You've got me all wrong."
"He's telling the truth, Erza … STOP!" Wendy shouted, throwing herself between them, waving her arms wildly to get Erza's attention. "He saved me!"
Gasping as her friend's words hit home, Erza stopped in her tracks, her blades centimeters from Wendy's face. "What did you say?"
"He saved you?" Lucy said in surprise, lowering her keys, which she had been holding aloft, waiting for an opening to summon a celestial spirit.
"Saved you from what, may I ask?" Erza said, looking her right in the eye as her swords disappeared. She then turned her gaze to glare at the boy. "As I understood it, young man, someone was causing trouble for our friends. Now, here we are and all we find is you. Can you explain?"
"I'd love to," the boy said, patting the dust off his jacket, shirt and pants, "but perhaps we could talk in a more appropriate setting? The middle of the street is not exactly what I would call a good place to talk."
Fifteen minutes later, the group was sitting around a stone table at a nearby park. The ice cream shopkeeper had given both Wendy and Carla new cones, which they were very happily enjoying as the young man recounted his story to their curious friends.
"So, let me get this straight," Erza folded her arms over her armored chest as he finished. "You had just arrived in town, heard a commotion, and found a wanted criminal and gang leader assaulting our two friends, Wendy and Carla, and decided to step in?" Seems like an odd coincidence.
"Exactly," he nodded calmly, not at all shaken by Erza's stern, piercing gaze, something that Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Lucy could not help but be in awe of. "I assure you I had only the best of intentions. You see, I can't stand the sight of women being harassed or assaulted. To be quite frank, Miss, if I see a young lady being held up by her hair with a pistol in her face, I would have no choice but to step in."
"Say WHAT?!" Erza, Gray, Natsu and Lucy cried, all standing up at once, save for Erza.
"Happy, you never said anything about that!" Natsu yelled.
"Well, that hadn't happened yet," Happy protested. "If I'd seen that, I'd have jumped in instead of coming to get you."
"Well, in that case, then you have our deepest gratitude," Erza smiled after a moment. "And on behalf of all of us, please allow me to apologize for attacking you without knowing the full story." She began to lower her head, but he put an index finger to her forehead and stopped her.
"Now, now, Miss. You have nothing to be contrite over," he held up a hand. "You only did what came naturally. You wanted to protect them. If I were in your position, I would likely have done the same. So, let's not worry about trivialities."
"You call it trivial, but we were all about to clobber you back there," Gray scoffed. "You must have the patience of a saint, kid."
The boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I guess it's an acquired trait …"
Then Lucy realized. "Come to think of it, we don't even know your name."
"Oh, that's right. How rude of me," the boy said quickly and stood up. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Negi Springfield."
"Negi?" Natsu and Happy echoed, an image of a long green onion crossing both their minds.
"Focus, you two," Lucy flicked both of their heads.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Erza smiled, offering him her unarmored hand, which he shook firmly. "I am Erza Scarlet."
"Hi. My name's Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy smiled warmly. "It's great to meet you."
"I'm Natsu Dragneel. Nice to meetcha," Natsu shook Negi's hand with a toothy grin. "Sorry I tried to roast you before. I guess you're a really nice guy after all!"
"Aye, sir! And I'm Natsu's best buddy. You can call me Happy!" the flying blue cat said with a big smile.
"Wow, a flying cat," Negi said in surprise. "Never seen that before."
"Name's Gray Fullbuster. It's a pleasure, Negi," Gray offered Negi a fist bump, which Negi returned with a smile.
"Thank you," Negi said, "Um, don't take this the wrong way, but Gray, do you always make a habit of walking around without clothes on?"
"Huh? AW, CRAP!" Gray snapped to the realization that he had been in his underwear the whole time, and ran off to find his pants. "When did that happen?!" Negi heard him yell over Natsu's laughter.
"And I'm Wendy Marvell," Wendy smiled the biggest smile yet, "and this is my best friend, Carla," she gestured to her well-dressed, white-haired Exceed partner, who held up her paw in greeting. "Thanks again for helping us. You were wonderful."
"Oh, it was nothing," Negi said, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "I'm glad I could help. Oh! Pardon me, but …" He reached out a finger and took a bit of ice cream off the tip of Wendy's nose. "There. That's much better," he smiled as he licked it off his finger. "Don't want that pretty dress to get messy."
The young girl's face went as red as Erza's hair and smoke began to rise from her ears. Even Erza's face turned a pale shade of pink at the sight of the gesture. Suddenly I want someone to do that for me, she thought.
"Hey, now that you mention it, what happened to the guy who was picking on you, Wendy?" Natsu scratched his head as Happy and Carla tried to fan Wendy in an attempt to cool her down. "By the time we got there, there was nobody else there but you guys."
"Oh, that's right," Negi remembered. "By now, he's probably on his way to prison. You see, when you arrived, he was already upside-down in a chimney on the other side of the street."
"Huh?" Natsu made a face, noticeably stumped.
"What was he doing there?" Happy raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Did he drop a fish down there?"
"Well, obviously, he put him there, silly tomcat," Carla said very matter-of-factly. "Contrary to his appearance, the boy is very strong."
"Yeah, and he did it all without using magic!" Wendy said excitedly, her face still quite flushed. "He fought off that gun-toting gangster with nothing but his bare hands. Then he threw him over his shoulder like it was nothing, and the guy landed right in the chimney all the way across the street. It was like something out of a movie!"
"Heh, now that's taking out the trash," Gray remarked, having finally rejoined them after finding his pants. "Wish I could have seen it."
Natsu whistled. "Not bad for a kid!" he grinned. Could this kid be a ninja in disguise?!
"Impressive," Erza patted Negi's shoulder. "Not bad for anyone, I would say. You must be quite the strong warrior, even for one so young."
"Well, I've been through my share of battles," Negi nodded. "I wouldn't be much of a wizard if I couldn't do that much."
"Whoa! You're a wizard, too?" Natsu practically shouted in excitement, rushing up to him, his fists clenched tightly. "That's awesome! What kind'a magic do you use? What guild are you with?"
"Huh?" Negi looked puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand."
"I'll explain," Lucy stepped forward. "Here in Fiore, wizards like us come together to form guilds to help each other find work and hone their skills. Each guild has its own emblem, like this," she gestured to the pink emblem on the back of her right hand, "which its members wear on their bodies with pride." It was only then that Negi realized that everyone he'd just met had the same mark somewhere on his or her body. "In fact, in some parts, you're not considered a real wizard if you're not part of a guild.
"Yeah, and we're part of the greatest guild in the world: Fairy Tail!" Natsu said with a toothy grin and a clenched fist.
It feels good to finally get something out after several years of inactivity. As I said above, I did my best to replicate the speech patterns for everyone based on the anime, but that "ice princess" thing though, that one was something I'd always hoped I'd hear. I felt the whole "snowflake" name Natsu often calls Gray was a bit ... lukewarm, if you take my meaning.
Hope you all enjoyed it. I wonder, have I gotten better, worse, or is the quality of my writing stagnating? I'm always trying to get better, so your feedback is welcome!
I have big plans for this story (especially for a certain someone), so I'm definitely going to see this one through to completion.
