Ch. 3- 13 vs. 6

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

Wendy rubbed her arm, shuffling her feet shyly as she felt everyone staring at her. Some, such as Lyon, Sherry, and Lucy, displayed shock over the fact that Cait Shelter sent a child of all people to represent them, while others... well, mainly Natsu, just stared at her, curiously. Haru, meanwhile, looked back and forth between her brother and the little girl who just entered.

"Right then," Jura nodded. "Now that all guilds are accounted for-"

"Hold it, hold it, HOLD IT!" Gray shouted. "I hate to interrupt, but we have a bit of a problem, here! The one Cait Shelter sent is a KID!"

"I must agree," Sherry added. "We're about to face a very powerful Dark Guild, and they send one measly child? Cait Shelter must either be very confident or very foolish!"

"I agree, as well," Lyon said. "We're supposed to fight Oración Seis, not babysitting!"

"Hey, now!" Haru exclaimed. "Don't be like that! I think it's very brave of her to come by herself!"

"Who says that she came here by herself?" asked a haughty, somewhat uppity voice, causing all eyes to turn and see... a white cat in a frilly dress and a ribbon tied around her tail.

"A talking cat!" the Tri-Men exclaimed in shock.

"Seriously?" Lucy asked. "Happy's also a talking cat."

"Carla!" Wendy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"What do you think, child?" Carla asked. "I followed you, of course! I'd be worried sick if you did this by yourself!"

Meanwhile, Happy's mouth was gaping open as hearts appeared in his eyes. His own heart thumped rapidly inside his tiny chest... even though Carla sneered at him before she turned her head away.

"Hey, Lucy!" Happy said. "Can you go over there and give that kitty one of my fishies? Please?"

"Why?" Lucy asked with a teasing grin. "Do you liiiiiiike her?"

"Hello!" Haru greeted as she walked up to Carla. "And you are?"

"I am Carla," Carla replied. "I'm Wendy's guardian."

"Well, not really," Wendy added.

"Wendy, huh?" Haru asked. "So, what can you do?"

"Well... I'm not really that good in a fight," Wendy admitted.

"Join the club, kid," Lucy said as she raised her hand.

"But... I do know some support magic!" Wendy added. "So please... don't leave me out!"

"Wendy, you have got more confidence in yourself!" Carla chided. "It's that kind of weakness of spirit that allows people to dismiss you, you know!"

"I'm sorry!" Wendy apologized.

"And stop apologizing!" Carla added.

"Ah! Sorry!" Wendy squeaked, causing Carla to groan as she dragged a paw over her face.

"Oh, good grief," she muttered.

"Pardon our reactions," Erza spoke up. "We were just a little bit surprised, that's all. Believe me, we have no intention of leaving you out. We're glad to have you with us, Wendy."

"Oh, wow...!" Wendy whispered as her eyes brightened up. "It's really her... it's Erza Scarlet in the flesh!"

"I must say," Carla began, "she's a bit more striking than I had predicted."

"And I'm Happy!" Happy exclaimed. "It's nice to meet you!"

Once again, Carla snorted as she turned away from him.

"Shabby tomcat..." she muttered.

"Uh... rude, much?" Haru asked, but Happy didn't even seem to notice, because even after that, he was still fawning over the female. Meanwhile, the Tri-Men were busy looking Wendy over.

"This kid just might grow up to be quite the beauty," Ren mused.

"She's certainly cute enough, right now," said Eve.

"So, my small one," said Hibiki as he prepared to have a clearly uncomfortable Wendy sit with the boys, "why don't you step this way and-"

"Hold it!" Haru shouted as she pulled Wendy toward her. "Being polite is one thing, but there's no way I'm gonna let you pervs put the moves on a 12-year-old girl! For cryin' out loud!"

"Yeah, even I have to draw the line at that!" Lucy shouted while Erza stood beside her.

"Don't EVER let me catch you fools near Wendy, again," she added.

"Well, it's nice to see that some people have their heads on their shoulders," Carla pointed out. "Unlike some people."

"That girl," Ichiya spoke. "Her perfume is... peculiar. She is no ordinary wizard for a girl her age."

"So you noticed it, too, Sir Ichiya?" asked Jura. "She has a magical power that is different from the rest of us. I'm sure Lady Erza has noticed, as well."

"As I suspected..." Ichiya added.

"Here, Wendy, you sit down here," Haru said as she sat the girl down beside her on the stairs.

"Th-thank you," Wendy said before she turned around, only to gasp as she saw Blue Fang sitting beside her.

"Oh, don't worry!" Haru reassured. "That's just Blue Fang! He may look a little scary, but he's a puppy-dog."

Wendy blinked nervously before she held out her hand to the silver wolf, who sniffed her palm and gave it a gentle lick, causing the girl to smile as she pet him on the head.

"Hi, Blue Fang!" she greeted, prompting Blue Fang to lick her face, which made her giggle. "Silly wolf!"

"See?" Haru asked. "He likes you, already!"

As for Natsu, he just kept staring at Wendy, who noticed him out of the corner of her eye before she smiled and waved at him, but that only seemed to confuse him more.

"What's with you, dude?" asked Gray. "You've been staring at that kid since she got in here."

"I can't help but think that I might have seen her before," Natsu said.

"Yeah?" Gray asked. "From where?"

"I don't remember," Natsu answered before he looked at Gray. "Can't you do it for me?"

"Why?! I don't even know a thing about her!" Gray shouted.

"Attention, everyone," Ichiya said. "Now that we've all gathered, it is time for me to explain our mission."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"But first," Ichiya said before he waddled off, awkwardly, "I must head to the little boy's room to smell its perfume."

"Hey!" Gray shouted. "Get back here!"

"...I'd hate to see what he thinks is perfume in there..." Lucy deadpanned.

"You and me both..." Haru agreed.

After a while, Ichiya returned from "smelling the perfume" as he put it and began to explain the mission.

"Now then," he began, "if you go north from here, there's a huge expanse of the Worth Woodsea. The ancients sealed away an amazingly strong magic in that forest. Its name... was Nirvana!"

"Nirvana?" Lucy repeated.

"I've never heard of it, before," said Lyon.

"Have you, Jura?" asked Sherry.

"I can't say that I have any knowledge of it, I'm afraid," Jura admitted while Happy was trying (and failing) to give Carla one of his fish, which she quickly declined.

"For the ancients to seal it away," Ren began, "that must mean it's very destructive magic."

"I don't know what it is," Eve began, "but..."

"It's safe to assume that Oración Seis has gathered there to claim Nirvana for themselves," Hibiki added.

"Precisely, Hibiki," said Ichiya, "and to make sure that doesn't happen, we must stop them first!"

"Right now, there are 13 of us," Hibiki said as he snapped his fingers, causing what looked like some sort of magic keyboard to appear in front of him, along with a visual display, "but just because we outnumber them, don't take that lightly."

"What's that?" Haru asked as she came to get a closer look.

"This, my dear," Hibiki began, "is my magic known as 'Archive'. It converts information into magical data." Soon, six pictures appeared on the display screen.

One was a picture of a young man with spiky maroon hair, a fang-toothed grin, and wearing an elaborate white coat with purple inner lining. The second was a tall and lanky man wearing a red and white racing jacket that was covered in many logos with a long face, a prominent hooked nose, blonde hair styled in a Mohawk-style while the blacker parts were closely shaven, and a reduced Glasgow smile. The third was a large and imposing man with his face consisting of many geological forms, long, wavy, and flowing orange hair, and a black robe with a white collar and cuffs, along with a necklace made of large brown beads. The fourth was a young pale-skinned woman of relatively small stature, short, silvery-white hair, and wearing a feathery (but also rather revealing) outfit. The fifth was a rather effeminate young man with short and spiky black hair with longer white straight hair at the bottom, and he wore a black leather jacket, a pair of yellow pants with black designs on them, and a pair of burgundy boots. Finally, the sixth was a large and muscular man with neat, straight, and long silver hair, dark eyes, and dark skin, and he had strange lines marking his face.

"Are these the Oración Seis guys?" asked Haru.

"That's right," Hibiki confirmed. "The first is Cobra, a wizard who controls poisonous serpents. The second is Racer, a wizard who lives up to his name by using speed-based magic. Then, there's Hot Eye, the Heaven's Gaze, followed by Angel, a girl who can see into your heart. As for the fifth one, the only thing we know about him is that his name is Midnight... and finally, there is their commander, Brain. Each one of these people are very dangerous. Even one of them alone has the power to crush an entire guild. We must use our numbers against theirs to overwhelm them."

"Uh," Lucy said, "listen... I think you can just count me out. I think I'm really outta my league, here!"

"And I'm really not good in a fight," Wendy added.

"Lucy, stop putting yourself down so much!" Haru said. "For real!"

"I will not tolerate such low self-esteem, child!" Carla chided as she pointed at Wendy.

"You can relax," Ichiya said. "We do not simply count fighting strength in our tactical advantages. As long as we can just find their base, we should be fine."

"Their base?" Lyon repeated.

"There is much we don't know about them, yet," Ren began, "but one thing we've deduced is that they must have a stronghold in the Worth Woodsea."

"What would be best is that we all have them cornered there," said Ichiya.

"And how are we gonna do that?" asked Gray.

"We just kick their butts, of course!" Natsu added.

"Wrong answer!" Haru shouted at her brother.

"So it really is about fighting strength," Lucy bemoaned.

"What will you do once we have them cornered at their base?" asked Erza.

"With our guild's Sky Steed, the pride of the continent!" Ichiya exclaimed. "With our Magic Airship, Christina, we can obliterate their stronghold to nothing!"

"Oh!" Lyon exclaimed.

"A Magic Aerial Bomber?!" asked Sherry.

"Wait a minute," said Lucy. "We're going up against 6 people. Is a Magic Bomber really necessary?"

"Lady Lucy," Jura began, "you are misreading the situation. Oración Seis is a very powerful Dark Guild. When it comes to battle, we must not fight on our own. Therefore, we must always fight these members with at least two or more people!"

"Uh... Mister Jura, sir?" Haru asked. "There might be a slight problem."

"And what would that be, Lady Haru?" asked Jura.

"My brother's already long gone," Haru said as she pointed outside the door... where a trail of fire had been left behind. "I'm pretty sure he didn't hear a word you said."

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHH?!" everyone in the room questioned in comical disbelief.

"That idiot!" Gray shouted. "What is he thinking?!"

"Don't tell me...!" Lucy groaned.

"We have no choice," said Erza. "Let's go after him!"

With that, they soon ran out after Natsu, and soon after, Lyon, Sherry, and the Tri-Men followed out after them, leaving just Jura, Ichiya, Haru, Wendy, Blue Fang, Happy, and Carla behind.

"I see your brother doesn't like to waste time," Carla said.

"That's Natsu for you," Haru shrugged. "Anyway, we better hurry up and catch up with them." She then looked over at Wendy, who nervously shuffled her feet and clasped her hands. "Wendy, are you coming?"

"I... I don't think I should go," Wendy said. "I'll just be in the way. I hate fighting and violence... and I usually just run and hide whenever there's a battle, so I-"

"Honestly, child!" Carla chided. "You're never going to get over your self-esteem issues if you don't face challenges head-on!"

"But... this sounds like it's way too much for me!" Wendy replied. "I only agreed to come here because Master Roubaul chose me, but other than that... I'm just not good enough!"

"This is exactly WHY he sent you!" Carla argued. "You need to learn to start doing things for yourself, otherwise, you'll never make it on your own!"

"Wendy, I think you can do it," Haru said. "Come on... I'm sure your Master saw potential in you. Maybe now's your chance to actually show everyone what you've got!"

Wendy stared at Haru, who smiled at her warmly while Blue Fang and Happy stood behind her.

"Come on," said the Beast Wizard as she held her hand out to her. "What do you say?"

As Jura and Ichiya stared at the two girls, Wendy swallowed thickly as she reached her hand out to Haru... but then, she quickly pulled her hand away.

"N... no," she said. "I'm sorry... but I can't do it!" She then ran out the door. "I'm going home!"

"Wait! Wendy!" Haru called.

"Wendy, come back!" Carla cried as she suddenly sprouted wings and flew after her, and soon after, Haru hopped onto Blue Fang's back.

"Let's go, Blue Fang!" Haru ordered. "We gotta go after her!"

Blue Fang only stood there... staring at Ichiya, who had one eyebrow raised at him... and a bead of sweat dripping down his face.

"Blue Fang, we gotta go!" Haru urged. "Forget Ichiya for now! We gotta go after Wendy!"

Though hesitant, Blue Fang soon ran out the door, heading into the forest.

"Hey!" Happy called as he flew after them. "Wait up!"

"Well, I never..." Jura muttered.

"Meeeen..." Ichiya groaned before he glanced up at Jura... before he smirked with a dark glint appearing in his eye.

XXX

"Wendy!" Haru called as she rode Blue Fang through the forest, following Wendy's trail. "Wendyyyyy!"

"Wendy, where are you?!" Carla asked. "Oh, I swear, that child is going to give me gray fur at this rate!"

"You really care a lot about her, don't you?" asked Haru. "You two are a lot like Natsu and Happy. I'm guessing Wendy raised you?"

"She raised me?" asked Carla. "I honestly feel it's the other way around, at times! Like I said, I'm Wendy's guardian!"

"More like you're her friend, to me," Haru replied. "I can tell you two have a very close bond."

Carla paused... before she sighed. "She does give me peace of mind, I will admit that... but honestly, I just wish Wendy would realize her own potential."

"Why?" Haru asked.

"Because," Carla began, "Wendy is no ordinary wizard. She has more magic power than anyone can imagine."

"Really?" Haru asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because," Carla began, "just like your brother, Wendy is a Dragon Slayer!"

Review, please!