Author's Note: Hello to everyone reading this! At least, I'm going to assume people are reading this because I received notice for a few new story alerts ... anyway! A little bit of a warning and a little bit of explaining! First off, in this chapter, Wren is now physically six, Bickslow is twelve, and the newest canon character who is going to show up is fourteen or so. Also, on the subject of the new canon character who appears in this chapter, spoiler alert if you haven't read/watched beyond the ... Grand Magic Games I think. You should definitely be in the clear if you've read the start of the Alvarez Empire arc, but since I myself have only watched the anime, I can't say for certain when this character gets fully revealed/explained. That's just a warning for people who hate any kind of spoiler whatsoever. If you don't mind, or have already read the released Alvarez Empire arc chapters, then just ignore the above spoiler warning because I'm not going to start jumping up and down shouting plot twist secrets. On another note, since Bickslow is something of a major character in my story, I would like to have it be noted that I've changed how his magic works a bit. Namely, he does not steal souls and put them in tiki dolls. That's a bad guy thing, not something Fairy Tail members would do in my opinion. So, in this story, Bickslow can animate his tiki dolls by essentially imbuing them with a fragment of his own raw magical energy or, in a sense, bits of his own personality. It doesn't detract from how he himself acts, it just lets his tiki dolls display some of his own different traits. Kinda like having imaginary friends that aren't imaginary ... and can shoot lasers on command. With all that out of the way, on to the story!
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs and the plot.
Chapter Three: Three Years Later
Things had changed after the revelation that she had a "dōjutsu" as she'd privately named it. For one, she'd set out to learn exactly what it was and what it did, managing to enlist Bickslow's help in finding abandoned areas to practice in. It had taken about fifty-five tries before she managed to open the imaginary door behind her eyes. It took thirty more tries and a lot of mysterious frozen craters in the ground, buildings, and trees before she managed to come up with a solid theory about what it was that she could do.
Roughly speaking, she opened a portal into space. Not hammerspace like Erza did or anything like that, but the actual, freezing cold, deep space that existed between planets and solar systems and galaxies. That was why things seemed to explode, or more specifically implode and freeze at the same time in the general direction of wherever she was looking. A sliver of space, no bigger than a dinner plate really, would open near or in the area she was focusing on, creating an instantaneous vacuum that would suck in matter, air molecules, and heat within a certain radius of itself before the strain would become too much for her and the door in her mind would slam shut again.
Needless to say, she'd become much more cautious about testing her abilities after figuring that out. But despite figuring out that she could do something as dangerous as rip a hole in space/time, she didn't stop practicing in between helping Bickslow steal food and other essentials to survive. It wasn't that she didn't understand the magnitude of what she could potentially do, it was that she knew she'd need to have full control over it if she was going to survive to see her twentieth birthday again.
For all that it was one of the less bloodthirsty and callous action anime/manga, especially compared to say, "Naruto", "Bleach", or "Jormungand", it was still a very dangerous world. The first fifty episodes alone had featured a living flute that could kill anyone who heard it and knock down mountains at will when in its monster form, a giant robot fortress with a cannon bigger than some buildings, a spell ominously called Abyss Break that could destroy an entire city, and the super-weapon Etherion under the control of egomaniac old fogies that could blow up an entire country.
And all that wasn't counting the people who had featured in those episodes. Natsu alone could destroy a town without meaning to, while bad guys like a mind-controlled Jellal or the insane Master Hades could intentionally do worse with simple command and not bat an eyelash.
If she wanted to stand a chance at surviving the plot-line, she needed whatever training and powers she could get. Especially since Bickslow, a crucial if minor Fairy Tail character, had taken to calling her "imōto" two years ago, pretty much ensuring that she had no chance of simply keeping her head down and avoiding the plot-line altogether even if she'd wanted to.
Thankfully for her conscience, her ultra-destructive and lethal dōjutsu was not the only magic at her disposal thanks to some slavers, a dark storage shed, and a crazy idea. As she slipped hurriedly through the streets in search of her objective, her mind inadvertently drifted to the day she had gained a second magic.
Flashback: One Year Previous, Shed in Aternum City.
Children sobbed and whined faintly in the darkness all around her, giving voice to the despair and fear she no longer could. She had made a stupid mistake. A reckless, stupid mistake and now she was going to pay for it if she didn't figure out how to escape soon.
The slavers had managed to catch her off guard and without Bickslow's backup while she'd been giving a bit of bread to another street orphan. They had hit her head hard, stunning her while they tied her up and carted her off to a hidden location, presumably until they could arrange transportation out of Aternum and to the nearest city with a slave market, which Aternum surprisingly didn't have. She assumed they'd grabbed the other girl as well, but couldn't be sure in the dim lighting of their current location. What do I do? What do I do? Bickslow won't be able to help and I can't use my dōjutsu against a person without killing them … plus with all of these kids around, I'd probably kill them too by accident. What do I do?
The shadows were thick in the room, only allowing the outlines of the other children and the walls to be visible. Rihanna felt frustration well up in her, she had no idea if there was anything she could use to cut herself free, and she had no way to ask the others in the room. The slavers are going to be back soon, if they aren't directly outside guarding the door already. There has to be some way out of here! Her thoughts drifted helplessly to her dōjutsu again and she dismissed it once more with increasing anguish and despair, if only I had some other kind of magic!
The thought made her freeze internally. Another kind of magic. Her thoughts suddenly unstuck and started racing, in the anime, Bickslow had two magics, the one he used to make his "babies" and his eye magic. If I could get a second magic…! Her rationality decided to check in for once, Yeah right, like I'm suddenly going to be able to learn another kind of magic on the spot just to help me out of this. That stuff only happens in anime. Her life for the past two years saw fit to smack her over the head with memories and she mentally amended her sentence, only happens to the main characters or in bad anime. Even in Fairy Tail, most of the characters don't randomly learn a new magic just for the situation at hand.
But then again, Erza had unlocked Requip Magic just from having a combination of belief in magic, lots of nearby tools and pointy objects, and an extremely heightened emotional state. Ultear had been able to use raw magic to blast her way out that Magic Bureau place, and Natsu … well, did she really need to say more? He seemed to get a power-up, albeit temporary a one, every story arc. Rihanna herself had mysteriously gained an dōjutsu she was sure she'd never had back in her old world.
But really? Triggering a secondary magic? It can't be that simple. Rihanna scowled to herself in frustration and doubt as she realized that she had literally no other ideas on how to escape and that her time to devise a plan was rapidly running out. Okay, Rihanna, think, what do you have available that you could use in magic?
She looked around again desperately, part of her still not believing that she was actually trying to do this. Urgh … I can't see enough of the room to tell what I can use! I have no idea how to trigger magic anyway. If only it wasn't so dark in here! Rihanna blinked to herself, wait. Dark … darkness … shadows … Shadow Magic! Like that bad guy in the Flute arc! What was his name? K-? Kay-? K-Something, never mind. It's not important right now. Focus Rihanna! Try to do something with the shadows. Blend in or … become one with them or something.
Rihanna glared hard at the shadows, trying to will them to do as she bid. When that failed, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the hushed noises of frightened children around her and meditate. That quickly proved a failure as well when her thoughts refused to settle and stay in one place. Panic started to creep up on her again. She was trapped here, not just in this strange world, but also in an unknown location where she was going to be moved and sold like merchandise. She needed to get out, preferably get everyone else out as well, and she was running out of time to do it.
Her thoughts continued to scatter as her breathing became faster. Two years on the streets of Aternum had taught her several things, a strong disillusionment with the goodness of the nearby human populace being one of them. She'd seen slaves before, following their masters or running errands in the streets, normal except for the fact that everyone ignored them. Normal except for the brand tattooed on their cheeks and necks that marked them as property.
She didn't want that. She didn't want to become someone's walking, talking tool to be ordered about as a stranger pleased. She was a girl, a physically small, mute girl. There were so many people from back in her old world, or in Aternum, that she could see taking advantage of that. The things they could do…
No, no, no, no-no-no! Her breathing sped up, increasing to a rate that was not healthy for a person unless they were running. No, stop! Calm down and think! Think!
The slavers chose that moment to open the doors to their prison. Rihanna watched with wide, terrified eyes as one of the two men stepped into the room and grabbed the nearest child, a little girl with dark hair save for a grimy yet still white highlight running through it. The girl screamed, struggling and flailing against her bonds until the man slapped her on the cheek, his tone a business-like monotone, "Stop squirming."
There was no cruelty in his tone, no sneering or laughing at her fear. There was just … nothing. He felt no more about the crying child in his arms than he did over a rake or shovel. The other man barely glanced into the room before he resumed sweeping his gaze over his outside surroundings, ignoring the captives within as his companion made to carry the girl with the white highlight to the cart Rihanna could see outside.
Tear-filled eyes briefly locked with Rihanna's, revealing a perfect tableau of despair, confusion, and terror that was being completely ignored by the man hauling the girl away. Rihanna's thoughts slid and slipped into a muddied mess until she had no clear idea of what she was actually thinking. There were just impressions of understanding, knowing, feeling.
In that moment, Rihanna knew that these men truly did not see them as fellow human beings, truly did not care either way about the children they'd ripped off of the streets so long as they got paid. It was not a cruel depravity or vindictive sadism like was shown in the movies, it was simple, total, all-encompassing apathy. In that moment she knew that this was where people, children, stopping being human and became simply tools, items, that happened to have self-locomotion.
In that moment, Rihanna knew what it meant to feel true hatred. Hatred for men who wouldn't care about other people, wouldn't even see them as fellow living beings. Hatred for people who would just walk all over her rights as a human being without hesitation unless someone, unless she, put her foot down and made them stop. The hatred roared up inside her, bringing with it a primal, shrieking defiance that clawed at her insides until she felt like she was going to burst if she didn't do something. Didn't let it out.
So she did.
Sucking air into her lungs, she pushed it out forcefully in a howl of rage that couldn't be heard, simultaneously reaching out her bound hands to the shadows as if in command. Stop it! The shadows, which had originally retreated from the open doorway suddenly thickened unnaturally and lunged, forming a wave of writhing darkness that slammed into the two men like battering rams. Both men went flying with wordless shouts of surprised pain, the one who had entered the room dropping the girl he'd been carrying as he flew.
Something bloomed in Rihanna's consciousness, similar to the strange, icy door behind her eyes, but also completely different. It was like invisible velvet running over her fingers and slithering up and down her arms, pooling at her feet before extending out to the still-visible wave of shadows she'd used to attack. The velvety feeling, cool yet comforting and not icy cold like the mental door, settled on her shoulders and sank into her skin, becoming a part of her that she had never had before yet somehow knew.
For a split second, her awareness expanded dizzyingly. Telling her, showing her, letting her feel hundreds of people all walking and moving, perceivable to her senses every time they passed through an ambient shadow. Roaring pain erupted in her temples and she curled in on herself with a silent cry, her overstrained awareness snapping back into place with a sharp jerk that pushed away the velvet feeling entirely.
For several moments, Rihanna just leaned forward so her head was almost touching her bent knees, hands curled against her chest and breath rattling harshly in her ears, trying to regain her sense of reality. Slowly, she raised her head again, looking out the open door in a mix of hope and fear. The two men were sprawled against the back of the cart they had been planning to use to transport their living wares, the faint rise and fall of their chests revealing that they were still alive, but unconscious.
The little girl who had first been picked up was now sitting on the pavement, eyes wide and staring uncomprehendingly at the unconscious men. Rihanna hissed sharply through her teeth, attracting the attention of every child there, the girl with the highlight included. Locking eyes with the girl, Rihanna raised her bound wrists and nodded to them pointedly, then pointed at the knives prominently visible on the unconscious mens' hips. She repeated the motions several more times before understanding lit in the girl's eyes and she scrambled to the men, hesitating only long enough to ensure they weren't going to grab her again before clumsily unsheathing one of the knives and sawing through her own bonds.
Rihanna watched with baited breath, hoping that the girl would come back and help them instead of running off on her own the moment she was free. The last of the ropes fell from the girl's limbs and she scrambled to her feet as if to run but then paused. Rihanna watched as the girl stared nervously around her, focusing on the unconscious men for several more moments before turning and looking inside, "W-who did that? Who did that-jan?" None of the other children moved, none daring to take credit for the terrifying shockwave of power. Rihanna slowly raised her bound hands and waved them, gaining the girl's attention.
The girl stared at her unreadably, "It was you-jan? It was really you?" Rihanna nodded and the girl scampered back inside the building, looking over her shoulder repeatedly as she did. With shaking fingers, the girl shoved the knife hilt first into Rihanna's hands, "T-thank you, but I can't- I gotta go-jan!" With that, she turned and fled, leaving Rihanna and the others behind. Rihanna shook away the vague sense of recognition that had swept over her at the girl's vocal tic, turning her attention instead to the knife in her hands.
Shaking minutely, Rihanna freed herself from the ropes and then proceeded to carefully free everyone else in the room. She made sure to start with the youngest so that they would have head starts in case the men woke up before she was finished. One by one they shot away, some sparing a thankful yet fearful glance her way, others not even doing that.
The girl with the highlight was the only one that day to actually say "thank you" to her face, but Rihanna didn't really mind. The children, and herself, were free for now and that's what counted.
End Flashback.
Bickslow had freaked out when she came home, bruised and with rope impressions on her wrists and ankles, and she suspected it was her disappearance and then battered reappearance that had sparked the next change in her life.
A few weeks after the incident, Bickslow had come back with a thick, clearly old leather-bound book that had strange runes and kanji inscribed on the cover. Rihanna had no idea where or how he'd gotten it, but the world-weary look in his eyes had been enough to convince her that she didn't want to know. She'd been surprised that Bickslow could read, and still wasn't sure how much of the stolen book he could actually comprehend, but in the end it hadn't really mattered.
The book had turned out to be about Seith Magic and, after the theft of several toy tiki dolls from a traveling vendor and a few explosions, Pappa and Peppe joined their makeshift family.
Needless to say, the townspeople were now thoroughly, hopelessly terrified of Bickslow and Rihanna.
Not that that fear helps me much right now, Rihanna grumbled mentally to herself as she ducked briefly into a shadow to avoid being spotted in her hunt around the marketplace. Greyscale inverted her vision as cool velvet shadows embraced her, welcoming her into their realm for a few moments before the coast cleared and Rihanna stepped back into the sunlight to resume her urgent quest.
Shadow Magic was, compared to her still-nameless dōjutsu, much easier to learn and in the year following her first use of it, she'd already learned how to perform three spells. The first was a refined version of the shockwave she'd first used, one that didn't give her a migraine and was more easily controlled to go in one direction. The second was using a tendril of shadow to grab or poke something out of her normal reach, which was trickier than it sounded because it needed a lot of concentration. The third was the hardest and one she could only hold for a few minutes at best. It was the act of stepping into shadows, essentially becoming a shadow, unnoticed to all. The third had been discovered completely by accident during a retreat from a particularly persistent slaver, but that was a memory to be pondered over another time.
Shadow Magic was a very useful power when she had to steal something on her own. Like now, when she was trying to procure something easily swallowed for Bickslow. Though it would be better if I could get him medicine, rather than questionable street soup. Rihanna frowned and glanced over her shoulder, worry overtaking her at the reasons behind her current excursion.
Bickslow was sick. Very, very sick. So sick that he refused to move from underneath the blanket they'd stolen last winter and couldn't keep down hard foods like fruits and dry breads. Rihanna was trying her best to help him, spending nights mopping his feverish forehead and days hunting for clean water and soups that she could steal to try to feed him. She knew he needed medicine, but she had no money to pay for a doctor and no idea what to steal for him to make him feel better.
She rubbed one tired eye with the heel of her hand briefly, fighting the fatigue that plagued her and threatened to make her slip up. Shaking her head to clear it, she focused on the ramen stand just up ahead. Taking a deep breath, she carefully slipped into a position nearby where she could see into the stand, but remain unnoticed by passersby.
Come on, come on, someone's got to want ramen at this time of day… Finally, just as she was starting to fight the urge to doze, a young teen ducked into the ramen stand and ordered miso. Rihanna tensed, one hand twitching as she coaxed a single tendril of shadow into forming. It slithered carefully over the ground, inching to a stop at the base of the ramen bar next to the young man's seat. The time waiting for the ramen to be served was agonizing, with Rihanna's building adrenaline fighting an uphill battle with the fatigue that had stubbornly settled in after three nights in a row of tending to Bickslow.
To distract herself from how tired she was, she focused her gaze on the teen, examining his appearance for signs of trouble. He was positioned in such a way that she could only see his left side, but he looked normal enough despite the way his clothing indicated that he was not from Aternum. He was wearing a sleeveless, formfitting red shirt with gold edging and a surprisingly high collar that hid most of his neck. He had turquoise eyes that looked at everything animatedly while his black hair bobbed and fell in soft, wavy spikes around his ears. His legs were encased in black cargo pants and his entire outfit was rounded off with practical lace-up boots.
All-in-all, he was fairly good-looking, but didn't particularly stand out to her except for the way he held himself. Something about his posture and the way his turquoise eyes moved animatedly about stood out to Rihanna and made her vaguely wary. She shook it off when the owner of the ramen stand finally set the bowl of steaming soup down in front of the teen.
Taking a deep breath, Rihanna reached out to the velvety shadow tendril and sent it shooting up the bar. It suddenly detached from the wood surface, becoming three-dimensional just as it reached the bowl. Her fingers curled slightly and the shadow tendril coiled tightly around the bowl in response. The shopkeeper leapt backward with a yell of terror while the teen customer fell off of his chair with a surprised shout. Rihanna ignored their cries as she pulled her hand back, dragging the shadow tendril and its slightly sloshing prize back to her position with as much speed as she dared.
Grabbing the hot bowl with both hands the moment it was in reach, she dropped the shadow tendril and took off down the nearest alley, heart hammering as she heard a distinctively unfamiliar voice yell, "Oi! Wait! Come back with that!"
Rihanna dared to glance over her shoulder before quickly looking back to where she was going with an inward curse. The teen was following her, half an alley behind and catching up by way of his longer legs, "O-oi! I said wait!" Rihanna spun around a corner, hissing in pain as some of the hot soup sloshed over the lip of the bowl and splashed scaldingly over her fingers. Behind her, she heard a crash and clatter of the teen overshooting the turn and bouncing off one of the dumpsters. Rihanna forced her legs to go faster, trying to put extra distance between herself and the teen from whom she had stolen.
Come on! Come on! The Restaurant District was closer to the old church than the Market District, with the alley shortcuts she'd long since memorized decreasing the distance even further. If she could just break eye contact and get into the church before her pursuer caught up and spotted her again-
The clear stretch of alley leading to the church suddenly gained an obstacle and, unable to stop, Rihanna crashed directly into it, spilling hot ramen soup everywhere and sending the bowl flying and clattering to the ground a short distance away. Rihanna recoiled, the burning sensation that had been localized to her fingers now having been spread to her lower arms and legs by the crash. She exhaled sharply in what used to be a cry of pain as she overbalanced and fell hard onto her rear.
It took a moment of dazedly blinking away the tears her frustration and hurt had summoned to realize that the obstacle she had crashed into was in pain as well, "Ow, ow, ow. Darn that's hot…" She looked up, breath catching in shock when she accidentally met the gaze of the teen with turquoise eyes. How did he get ahead of me? He just appeared out of nowhere!
That thought was abruptly pushed aside by another, far more distressing realization, the ramen! With a gasp, she rolled to her hands and knees and scrabbled over to the discarded bowl, despairing when she saw that most of its contents were now scattered all over the alley ground. Pulling it's slick surface closer to her, she stared down at the pitiful amount of still edible food left in the bowl and tried once more to blink back tears. I can't give Bickslow the ramen that got on the ground, that would be unsanitary enough for a healthy person, let alone a sick boy! But this … there's not even enough liquid left to help him keep it down.
Her cheeks became wet and her shoulders hitched as she lost the war with her tears and they started rolling freely downward, heedless of her mental scolding that as an adult in mind, if not body, she should calm down and think of another solution. A hand cautiously touched her shoulder and she flinched violently away, scrambling backward and still clutching what remained of the ramen to her chest possessively.
The teen pulled his hand back slightly, an unsure look on his face, "Hey, whoa! I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted you to stop running." He saw her tears and his expression became distinctly panicky, "O-oi, oi! Don't cry! Are you burned? I didn't think you'd crash into me like that, the bowl didn't chip and cut you did it? Hey…"
He reached out to touch her again and Rihanna snarled silently, rage sparking from the fuel of her frustration and worry, get away from me! The shadows swirled at her feet and launched at him, sending him crashing into the opposite wall with a rush of expelled air from his lungs. The teen collapsed and Rihanna took her chance, leaping to her feet and running away again, still clutching the bowl. It probably didn't have enough liquid left to help Bickslow keep it down, but she didn't have time hunt down another bowl of soup and she had to try giving him something.
She hastily circled around to the hole in the church wall, which had been accidentally widened four months ago by a training accident with her dōjutsu, and made for the belfry as fast as she dared with the remnants of her precious cargo. The stairs creaked under her heedless steps and the door groaned on rusty hinges as she pushed it open and stepped inside before heedlessly kicking it shut with her foot.
Pappa listlessly stirred from where it was lying against Bickslow's huddled form, glowing green eyes unnaturally dim. It twitched faintly as if in greeting, unable to make even the squeakiest of voices because of how sick and tired its master was. Pippi didn't even do that much, its eyes so dim she was afraid for a moment that it had gone completely dormant.
Rihanna chewed her lip worriedly, the activity of Bickslow's "babies" often reflected his own emotional or physical status and if they were so listless… he's getting worse. Crouching down, Rihanna set the bowl down, moving away from Bickslow's side only to retrieve the spoon she'd managed to steal soon after Bickslow had first fallen ill.
Settling down on his left side, Rihanna lightly shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up. When he didn't stir, she shook him harder, letting a whistle escape her lips in an effort to wake him up. At this, Bickslow groaned faintly, tilting his head away from the noise, but otherwise showing no signs of being awake. Rihanna felt her worried frown deepen as something frantic bloomed in her chest. Moving her hand away from his shoulder, she pressed the back of it against his forehead and almost recoiled at its temperature. He's way too hot. His fever's only getting worse. What do I do? Setting the spoon down, she grabbed both of Bickslow's shoulders and shook them, whistling at a louder and louder volume in the hopes it would wake him up.
She was so absorbed in trying to wake Bickslow up, because being that deeply unconscious while running a fever that high couldn't be a good sign, she didn't hear the telltale creaking of the stairs behind her. It wasn't until the door squealed in protest to being opened that she whipped around, eyes wide in panic. The teen she'd stolen the ramen from was standing in the doorway, his eyes fastened on Bickslow and her, mouth partially open as if to say something.
Three years of instinct formed on Aternum's street and a healthy Chicago street paranoia had Rihanna stumbling to place herself between the teen and Bickslow, arms spread and senses reaching for the shadows. Why couldn't he just give up and leave us alone? Why? Rihanna gritted her teeth, ready to do something, anything, should the teen make a threatening move.
Her mind almost stalled when instead, he crouched down in the doorway and held up his hands in a surrender, "Whoa, hey, easy. I'm not going to hurt either of you." His eyes drifted briefly to the abandoned bowl of ramen before flicking back to her, "That's why you stole my ramen, huh? To help him?" Rihanna glared silently, barely allowing herself to respond with a curt nod. The teen leaned a bit to one side to look past her at Bickslow and Rihanna defensively rearranged her position.
The teen was frowning now, his expression troubled, "He doesn't look so good…" No kidding Mister Obvious. Rihanna intensified her glare, trying to communicate that he should go away. Instead of leaving or turning into a convenient pile of ash under her glare, he held out a hand toward her, "He needs a doctor, badly. Do you know where to find one? Is there a hospital nearby?"
Rihanna's jaw tightened, her heart waging a war between paranoia and hope for help. Slowly, she shook her head. Even if she did somehow have the money and means to take Bickslow to the local hospital, no one would treat him. The townspeople might not dare to intentionally hurt him themselves, but that didn't mean they weren't perfectly willing to let him die on his own. Aternum was a weirdly bipolar city like that. They didn't mind everyday magic, or even the occasional mage from what she'd seen, but Bickslow's eye magic … they hated him for it and would like nothing better than to see him die because of it.
The teen stood up and took a step further into the belfry, causing Rihanna to tense despite herself. She'd spent three years trusting only Bickslow, and an entire lifetime before that trusting only a handful of people. This stranger who had chased her so stubbornly and made her spill the precious ramen was definitely not on her list of trusted people. Or even the maybe-trustworthy-as-an-acquaintance list. Seeing her tensing and perhaps remembering the way she'd sent him flying into a wall last time, he stopped and said soothingly, "Easy, I just want to help you."
Rihanna narrowed her eyes, trying to silently demand why he would want to help Bickslow and her of all people. Luckily for her short, frayed temper, he got the question behind her narrowed eyes immediately. His answer however, was nothing like what she expected. Crouching again, he smiled faintly, "I'm from a guild in the kingdom of Fiore. That means it's my job to help people. Ah, but I haven't even told you my name." He twisted at the waist so that she could see his right shoulder as he introduced himself, showing off his guild mark in its entirety as he introduced himself to a stunned Rihanna, "My name is Mest. Mest Gryder of Fairy Tail."
Rihanna felt her thoughts stop, restart, then shut down again as she stared unashamedly at the proud, iconic little symbol emblazoned on the teen- on Mest's right shoulder. He … Fairy Tail? Really and truly Fairy Tail? I don't even- What kind of freak circumstances would cause a member of Fairy Tail to find us? Seriously? "Ano…" The hesitant mumble had her gaze snapping reluctantly away from the iconic red symbol to scrutinize Mest's face. Fairy Tail … can I really trust him? Everyone who is a part of Fairy Tail in the anime are really, really kind and amazing people but is that true in reality? Do I even have a choice?
P.S. Kudos to anyone who spots the unnamed anime character who features in this chapter.