Lucy shares a worried look with Mirajane not long after Zera falls asleep. The kid barely ate any of the food Mira had given her, but she had managed to finish off the milkshake. She slowly nodded off while nibbling on some french fries. Worry bubbles up in Lucy's stomach as she watches the sleeping girl. There had been a bunch of red flags Lucy had noticed throughout the day, each one adding to the worry building in her. She is genuinely worried about where this girl had come from.
"Do you think she's okay Mira? I mean… she's so skinny." Lucy asks quietly.
A determined look appears on Mirajane's face, "She will be. She's one of us now, and we look after our own."
Lucy couldn't help herself, she reached out and gently runs her fingers through the kid's hair. It is very silky and to her amusement slightly static. A few strands floated up and stayed there for a moment before floating back down. Zera twitched lightly at the touch but stays sleeping.
"She must have been exhausted to fall asleep and stay asleep in all this noise," Lucy mutters out.
Mira laughs behind her hand, "And did you see her attack both Natsu and Gajeel? She got them both to back down. She's going to fit in here just fine."
Lucy lets out a sigh, "Yeah, Natsu won't stop talking about it. He really wants to take her out on a mission." She glances at the sleeping girl, "It didn't look like she wanted to go through. It was really quick, but she almost looked afraid at the idea of going on a mission."
"Well, we'll just have to work on her confidence. She clearly has a good amount of magic. Later on, we'll have to see how much control she has over it." Mira says softly.
Lucy nods along and is about to say something else when she involuntarily lets out a small shriek when the totem flies off Zera's lap. She thought totems slept when their masters slept. She watches with wide eyes as the metal sphere dances around Zera's head. She jumps again when Master appears out of nowhere.
"Ah yes, Zera's seith magic is a little different from Bickslow's. Zera's little totem here is very protective of her." Master Makarov tells them with a fond tone to his voice. He looks up at the circling sphere and a small smirk appears on his face, "The three of us will keep an eye on your charge if you want to go join the celebrations."
Bix froze mid-air before maneuvering himself to float right in front of Master Makarov's face. He lets out a small questioning chirp, once more annoyed at the fact of not being able to speak like he wants to without the mental connection to Zera. The guild members in the future are pretty intuned to his different noises and can translate rather well, the kids even more so with how much time he spends around them. Being in the past is going to be a whole new challenge of communicating without Zera translating for him. Not that she usually cares about translating for him. It's not that he doesn't trust the Master, of course, he does, but he wants to make sure that Zera won't be left alone if he goes off to annoy his younger friends. Zera is usually okay by herself for a short time but with circumstances as they are and their surroundings being so new, well new to Zera, he didn't want her to panic when she woke up.
Thankfully Master Makarov seemed to be able to figure out what he was asking, "Don't worry, I won't leave her side until she wakes up or you come back."
Mirajane gave the sphere a gentle smile, "We'll look after her, go have some fun."
"Yeah, it'll be nice to get a break from the mayhem for a while," Lucy tells him.
If Bix could smile he would, god he loves his guild. He chirps his thanks before taking off and immediately dive-bombing at Gray who lets out a yelp as he dives out of the way. The ice mage attempts to freeze him, but Bix dodges out of the way. He does the best he can to let out noises that sound like mocking laughter and the ice mage narrows his eyes at him before giving him a smirk. All right, game on!
Lucy and Mirajane watch the totem declare war with Gray and light smiles pull at their lips. Well, the totem seems to know whom to go after to cause some chaos. He either has good instincts or bad luck.
Lucy turns to the Master with a questioning look, "Hey Master, is there anything you can tell us about Zera?" she asks quietly. She is worried about the tiny blonde and wants to do her best to help her.
An unusually serious look appears on his face as he turns his gaze back onto the sleeping child. How much could he say without saying too much? This child has been through so much already and she's still so young. His heart aches for his children from the timeline that is no longer theirs. He lets out a small sigh, "I cannot say much without breaking her trust. She's been through a lot and not a lot of it was good. She's had a tough life up until now. What she needs now is support, friends, and time. Where she came from is very different from here, so do not be surprised if she is confused about some things. It'll take her a bit of time to get used to her new surroundings and environment."
"We've all got our quirks here, so her starting confusion won't be a problem. She's got a whole guild behind her now, we'll help her out." Mirajane says firmly.
Makarov nods gently, "Good."
For how much chaos the guild causes they seemed to realize that the bar was an off-limits zone for the moment as not a single piece of furniture or stray magic attack came their way for the entirety of Zera's nap. It's a little over an hour later when Zera finally starts to stir awake. She sits up straight with a yawn and rubs the sleep out of her eye.
Confusion fills Zera for a moment before she remembers where she is. A blush takes over her face as she realizes that she fell asleep without meaning to, "Sorry for falling asleep."
Lucy lets out a small laugh, "No need to apologize, you must have been pretty tired." She reassures her.
Zera is about to say something when maniacal laughter fills the back of her mind through the connection with Bix. She usually tries to keep a light connection open with him at all times, and with how long she's been connected to him his commentary has become background noise to her. It's not often that she completely shuts off their connection, it's uncomfortable for both of them. So hearing him isn't exactly odd or anything, but hearing him laugh like that certainly is. A slightly worried frown pulls at her lips as she turns around, searching for his location through their connection. Her eyes grow wide as she sees him going between attacking Uncle Gray and Uncle Gajeel, with the stray attack on Uncle Natsu. What the heck is he doing?
The three around her follow her sudden gaze and see her watching her partner in almost shock. Makarov let out a chuckle, "Don't worry little one, he's simply having some fun. No harm is being caused I assure you."
"He's not causing any trouble?" Zera asked unassuredly. He certainly looks like he's causing trouble. She winces slightly as Bix full-on headbutts Gajeel, she can hear the clunk from here.
"Not at all, dear. I'd say he's fitting right in." Makarov assures her with a knowing tone.
"Ok. Ok," Zera says lightly as she simply watches Bix continue to be a complete menace to everyone and anyone that gets into his vicinity. Though he seems to be mostly focused on Uncle Gray for some reason. She tilts her head a bit to talk to her grandpa once again, "Has Levi come back yet?" It's still taking a lot of mental effort not to add Aunt and Uncle in front of everyone's names.
"Not yet, but she should be back soon. We'll have another meeting tonight about your situation before they take you back home. Is there anything that you want to do before then?" Makarov asks.
A thoughtful look appears on her face. She was about to say no, that she'd be fine just waiting until Levi comes back but then a thought occurs to her. She is getting kinda overwhelmed in here. The nap definitely helped, but she can feel the control of her magic fluctuating. The last thing she wants to do is accidentally shock someone. She usually has very good control over her magic, even with the stress of living daily through war, she does usually do daily training. Her dad made sure that she'd have good control, saying that he had terrible control growing up and that he'd release lightning around him when his temper flared. He didn't want her to go through that so he taught her different control techniques. The training was a big one, but he taught her meditation and a few other relaxation methods as well. She hasn't been able to do any of that today yet, and all of the noise and activity in here isn't exactly helping. She needs to let off some steam.
"Um, would it be okay to go outside to do some training? I'm feeling a little sparky."
"Sparky?" Lucy asks with humor in her voice.
Zera blushes lightly, "It's what my dad and I call it when my control over my magic gets a little shaky."
Lucy giggles lightly, "That is adorable, your dad must be a fun guy." She then pushes herself off the bar stool and lands on the ground, "I could use a bit of a break from the noise anyway, I can show you a nice place to practice. As long as you don't mind some company."
Zera smiles at probably her favorite aunt, "I'd love that, thank you. Just give me a second, I need to let Bix know."
"Hey, Bix." Zera thinks through their link.
The moment Bix hears her voice he flies up and away from the fights so he can pay attention to her, "What's up Kiddo?"
"I'm feeling a bit sparky, so I'm going to go outside with Aunt Lucy to blow off some steam. You can stay here if you want to, it looks like you're having fun. You should probably let off Uncle Gray a bit though, he looks like he's ready to freeze you solid." She has no idea why Bix seems to be so fixated on annoying the hell out of Uncle Gray,
"That's the fun of it Kiddo. I forgot how fun it is to just full-out brawl with everybody. I can stop and come with you if you want though. Are you sure you'll be okay without me right now?" Zera has never had to be alone for an extended period before. In the time they are from it's too dangerous to go alone anywhere. Bix hasn't left her side since the moment he bonded himself to her in his dying panic. But besides him, she's almost always around at least a few people. She tends to hang out most with Liam, Silver, Victoria, and Lucas. Though with how busy the war keeps the adults of the guild; taking care of and raising all the kids has, unfortunately, come down on Zera's tiny shoulders. She's had to grow up much faster than any of the other kids, but she takes on the responsibilities with little to no complaints. That means, though, that she is very rarely by herself.
Honestly, he's a bit glad that they got transported into the past. For the first time, well ever, Zera will have time to herself. She'll be able to learn what it's like to be able to do things for herself. She gets interrupted constantly by the kids fighting for her attention. Usually, anything she tries to do for her own improvement gets her nowhere, as she gets interrupted by one thing or another. Plus, Zera is the type of person who will put everyone's well-being over her own. Hence, Zera sacrificing herself for one of the younger ones without hesitation. He's genuinely looking forward to helping Zera simply relax and do things for her own enjoyment.
He takes a closer look at his charge to see if he would need to go with her even if she denies it. She has a bad habit of looking out for everyone else before herself. It gets things done, but it's not exactly healthy for her in the long run. He quickly notices the stray strands of hair that are starting to float around her head, proof that she is feeling sparky. Her hair getting staticy is always the first sign of her losing control over her magic. The next step is usually tiny sparks that start flickering around her, thankfully she doesn't seem to be at that step yet. She does look a bit frazzled, but he can't exactly blame her for that. He's used to how things look and how people act in this time, she is absolutely not. While this is normal to him, and how he hopes the world will go back to eventually, to Zera this environment is a strange spectacle that screams a bad idea. He's a bit surprised it took her this long to start feeling sparky. Though her releasing some energy on Gajeel and Natsu earlier and her short nap probably helped. Perhaps it would be best if he doesn't go with her, and see how she handles being away from him. Their maximum distance is much longer than it ever was with his old totems, even if they've never really needed to test that distance. She could probably go into town with him staying in the guild house and the distance tether would hardly even be stretched.
"Um… I think I'll be okay to go with just Aunt Lucy. If not I'll call for you, but I should be fine. You keep enjoying yourself. Uh, will you let me know if Aunt Levy shows up while I'm out?" Zera answers slowly after thinking for a while.
"No problem Kiddo. Go let off some of your charge." With that, he divebombs back down, completely coincidentally at Gray who lets out a quiet curse and glares at him.
"Get over here you pestering totem," Gray growls at him as he charged an ice attack.
Zera turned to look at Lucy, "Okay, he knows I'm going. We can go now."
Lucy looks between Zera and her totem, "The distance won't be a problem with you two?"
"Nope, we can be really far from each other. We just usually don't." Zera tells her.
"Well, all right then. Follow me, Zera. Mirajane, Master, we'll be back later." Lucy says as she starts walking away.
"Have fun you two," Mira calls out after them happily.
Zera waves at the two before jogging after Lucy, who was taking her out a back door to avoid going through the rowdy crowd. Something that Zera really appreciates. She didn't know that the place has a back door, which is something that she needs to rectify. She hates not knowing the layout of wherever she is. How else is she supposed to know the best escape routes? She'll have to ask Grandpa if he has a blueprint of the guild house and maybe a map of the town. She'd love to be able to know where she's going if she ever gets the nerve to go out by herself. She doesn't know how long she's going to be stuck in the past, but she has a feeling that it's going to be a while. Figuring out how to time travel isn't going to be an overnight endeavor.
She follows after her Aunt Lucy quietly, simply looking around as she's led to the mysterious training ground. She's had plenty of time today to take in all of the differences between her time and the past, but it is still surreal to her. Everything here is SO GREEN. The trees in her time are withered and dried up, most of them practically petrified from Zeref's magic. The grass that still exists usually grows brown and sickly. There are still sanctuaries around that she's told are full of healthy trees, gardens, and trees but she's never seen them. They are run by civilians, growing the majority of the available fresh foods. They are mostly left alone by Zeref's armies, but they are monitored closely. So, getting too close to any of the sanctuaries is way too risky. Only their undercover members get anywhere close to them, bringing back stories (along with the supplies) of the beauty of the sanctuaries. Zera imagines that those sanctuaries would look a lot like where she is now. The trees are filled to the brim with healthy green leaves, there is grass quite literally everywhere, and various flowers throw a spot of color all over the place. It's absolutely stunning and she has to keep herself from stopping and staring at everything. That would draw too much attention to herself.
Levy, Gajeel, and herself had talked a bit last night before they went to bed about how to explain her existence. Especially since she didn't know how anything works right now. Their first idea was to simply say that she had been held captive somewhere for a long time, which is why she would be so fascinated with everything. She had shot that down though because she would ruin that fast by talking about her family. Eventually, Gajeel simply said to let people assume whatever they want about her. With how the gossip works in the guild they'll create their own backstory for her as long as she doesn't give them anything concrete. Her go-to phase for however long she'll be here; unless she decides to tell people the truth, is I don't wanna talk about it. He told her that enough of the members of fairy tail had crappy enough pasts that they'd understand her not wanting to talk about things.
"Do you want a sparring partner Zera?" Lucy asks as they approach one of the training grounds around the guild house.
Zera startles slightly having gotten caught up in her thoughts, "Um…" While she would love a sparing partner she knew that Aunt Lucy wasn't exactly the best person to do it with. From what she remembers from stories she's been told Aunt Lucy didn't really learn how to fight on her own until a bit later after Fairy Tail splits up for a little bit.
She's pretty sure she's figured out where she is in the past. Bix has been listening in on people's conversations and he had overheard some of the people muttering worriedly about the grand magic games. Fairy Tail's past has been transcribed in the books they all carried around and Zera has read it so many times she's practically got it all memorized. She's decently sure that she is a few months before Fairy Tail participates in the Grand Magic Games and wins for the first time. So, right before everything really starts going down. So, while Aunt Lucy can probably hold her own in a fight, especially with her whip, with the way that she's learned how to fight growing up she's probably a better fighter than her aunt at the moment. At least in hand-to-hand fighting. Zera takes her training very seriously in both magic training and physical training.
"Um, normally I wouldn't mind but with how frazzled I am right now I'm afraid I might shock you. Which, uh, wouldn't be good." Zera tells her instead.
Lucy winces, "Ah, right. That would suck. Hmm." She thinks to herself for a second before an idea dawns on her, "I won't be the best person right now, but some of my spirits are a bit more sturdy than I am. I could summon one of them for you to spar with." She's sure that any of her friends, with the exception of Aquarius obviously but she'd be a bad match-up anyway, would be happy to help their newest member gain some composure.
Zera has to physically stop herself from talking as she violently reminds herself You don't know anyone yet so you don't know their magic abilities! So she stops herself from immediately saying yes to going for a more neutral route.
"Spirits?"
"Oh yeah, I'm a celestial mage. I can summon celestial spirits to help me out, some of them are pretty great fighters." Lucy explains happily. She grabs the key ring off of her belt, selecting a specific key, "In fact, I know the perfect person for you to spar with."
Zera has to hold back her excitement at the sight of the golden key, she's not supposed to know anything about this yet, "Oh yeah? Who?"
Lucy smiles happily at the small girl, "Open gate of the Lion, Leo."
Zera doesn't have to hide her smile as Loki appears before her, seeing Aunt Lucy summon her spirits is always so cool. Oh, Mavis, she's going to get to fight with Loki. How cool!