July 10th, X777, Somewhere in a forest
"Celeste, where are you?" Lucy has been wandering around the forest for days, looking for her mother. She frowns and sits down on the muddy. "Did I do something wrong?" She feels her eyes crystalize and for the first time in years, she sheds some tears. She pulls her scarf to wipe away the tears and takes a deep breath. She takes a look at her clothing. Her scarf, which consists of a black, blue, and gray pattern, some sweats and a shirt. All of them freckled in some sort of mess. She sighs and gets up. She puts on her boots and brushes off the dirt on her clothing.
Lucy glances at the sky and sighs. "I lost track of time again. I can live off eating the sunlight, but some meat can do me some good," she mumbles. She had been searching for her mother for a few days but came up empty-handed each time. At first, she had not thought much of it but it soon turned to be her worst mistake. When her mother had not returned for the first few hours, she became frantic. But when hours stretched to days, she felt abandoned. She decides to venture deeper into the forest to search for some animals or other edible food. She manages to find some berries and mushrooms and brings them to the clearing.
She wipes the sweat off her forehead and hears some running water. She heads to the sound and finds a river. She leaps with joy but shortly frowns. She had nothing to catch the fish with. Popping like a light bulb, she finds some heavy rocks and smashes it against the tree. After prying off some bark, she sharpens the wood into a solid stake. She takes off her boots and heightens her leggings to her knees and walks into the water. She grimaces suddenly from the cold contact but keeps going. Immediately, she struggles to catch any of them. Finding, she is always off by an inch or two.
She sighs in frustration but refuses to give up. She remembers reading somewhere how refraction affects the appearance of the object. She widens her eyes in surprise before putting her idea to the test. After a few attempts, she is rather successful in catching a few. She grins while getting out of the water. Heading towards the clearing with the fish, she feels a sense of nostalgia. her mother had always taught to be never reliant on others. It is thanks to those troublesome lessons, she finds herself managing to survive. She places the fish down on some large leaves and plops to the ground.
Her heart aches terribly. The fear of abandonment plagues her mind. Feeling the need to shed more tears, she lets it flow. It's okay to cry. It lets you know what's wrong and what you need to do. But you can't keep crying forever. You have to get up and tackle it head-on. She hears her mother's words. She smiles and wipes her tears.
"Mom's right. I can't cry forever. I'll have to find her myself and get some answers." Lucy's smile enlarges more at her new goal. She decides to find the ingredients for the fire and sets off. After getting them, she starts the fire and cooks the fish. Eating sunlight or the moonlight would be a good solution to feeding her, but her body needs more proteins and vitamins than those can give her. After cooking the fish, she nibbles on them rapidly. Despite the lack of seasoning, it still retains a good flavor. Alongside the fish, she eats the mushrooms. Opting to save the remaining fish and the berries for the morning, she gets up and adds more fuel to the fire.
The night shines vividly on the young child. Lucy feels a sense of tranquility as she dazzles upon the stars. Remembering how she and her mother stargazed, Lucy smiles profoundly. The area is soundless apart from the gentle howling winds. She notices none extremely dangerous animals that would potentially harm her and contemplate her subsequent actions. She remarks some thicker trees. She decides to climb up on one of the trees and steadies herself on the branch. Gathering some larger leaves, she makes a quick makeshift blanket. Settling down, she yawns and doses off.
Dawn of the new day arises swiftly. Several dashes of color mixing into one and stop. The soundless forest fills up with chirping birds and many morning calls from different animals. Lucy's eyes twitch before slowly opening her soft eyes. She takes off the blanket and stretches her arms carefully. She slowly climbs down and eats her breakfast. When she is done, she ponders on her plans. Well, I need money and resources to find Celeste. Not only that, but I need to get stronger. Even if I am 11, I need to do with what I have. First, I need to find people before I do anything else. She decides. Lucy gets up and closes her eyes. With her heightened senses, she sets off in a random direction.
After a while, she decides to stop. Feeling frustrated, she kicks the grass. Not a second later, she senses something coming in her direction. "Boys, I think I heard something over here." She hears a deepened voice call out. She smells three other people with the man and panics. Lucy makes a quick decision and climbs one of the trees quickly. She hears more rustling and sees four men through the limited leaves.
"Jack, yer' deaf y' know." A blond man smacks his partner's head.
Jack grumbles in pain while his three friends snicker.
"I'm serious! I heard something over here." Jack tries to reason but ultimately fails.
Lucy's heart starts to race faster when she realizes the men are wizards. Her lack of experience in fighting anyone makes her think twice about attacking the men.
"Kaden, use your eye magic and track it down." He orders. Kaden mutters something under his breath but agrees. He closes and reopens them. A hue of gold replaces his normal eye color. With the enhanced vision, he sifts through the forest.
Lucy fears herself being caught sooner than she intended. She looks at the branch above in shock. Turning on like a lightbulb, she uses her magic and gently cuts the branch. She groans silently from the weight of the branch but sucks it up. Using all her strength, she throws the branch as far as she can. She looks below her and notices the men running that direction. She drops to the ground and runs in the opposite way of them. She runs for what seems like an hour before stopping to catch a breath. Once her breath calms down, she frowns. She senses that during her escape, she might have dove deeper into the forest.
"Y'know little girl, we don't like being tricked." A voice booms at her.
Lucy turns around fearfully. Her eyes widen as she notices the four men from before. Her breath catches her throat while the color drains from her face. She backs away slowly and puts her fists up.
"What do you want?" She musters the courage to ask.
Jack grins deviously at her while his companions smirk. "You look like a wizard. I can sense your magical power. Now, how come a girl like you is wandering the woods?" He steps closer to her. "I'm sure you'd fetch for a good price in the markets. Men would love using you as a slave."
Lucy's face dampens at the words. She narrows her eyes toward her surroundings, ready to take any measures necessary.
Sporadic Inferno!
He delivers several small combustions of lifeless heat towards Lucy, who narrowly dodges each one expect one. She hisses in pain and acknowledges the tender skin. No visible burns but a small scratch. She glares at the men, who look unamused. She lunges for Jack, who does nothing to dodge. She grins and uses her magic to blind him. Jack forcibly closes his eyes and puts his arms up in defense.
Celestial Dragon's Destruction Fist!
She delivers a crushing blow to his stomach. Jack moans horribly in pain and falls on his back. His companions look in astonishment at the pair. Jack clutches his stomach and stands up slowly. "Why you worthless little brat! You're gonna pay for that!"
"Jack." Kaden hollers at him.
Jack turns around and glances at his friend for an answer.
Kaden smiles and says, "That kid just used lost magic. Dragon-Slaying magic hasn't been around for 400 years. Only people who can use that magic are the ones who were taught by the dragons themselves."
Jack eyes Lucy suspiciously. "Say, kid, where's your dragon or parents?"
Lucy refuses to answer and backs away even further, hitting a tree. Smelling some ash, she backs away the tree to glance at the flames consuming it. When I dodged, it must've hit the trees. I have to find a way to get help, or else everything is gonna head south. Lucy ponders.
Jack laughs. "Looks like I might've set the forest on fire. How 'bout you come with us easily? You're outmatched."
Lucy feels completely helpless. The best option she has is to take out the bandits and quickly find some help. Cooling her mind, she charges for Kaden.
Seeing what she is planning, Issac uses his chain magic and catches Lucy in mid-run. He smiles and walks up to her. "We could've done this the easier way, but you just had to go ahead and make it hard."
Celestial Dragon's Scattering Light!
A beam of golden energy spreads from Lucy's body and attacks the four bandits easily. Lucy is free from the binds and watches the men get up in horror. She hears them curse at her. Without a warning, Jack charges for her. He lights up his fists and sends a right hook in Lucy's face. She falls backward with a stinging face. Slight burns caress the small area of her face as she bites her lips to hold the urge to scream. She stares at her opponents and slowly formulates a plan. Okay, one uses fire magic, the other two use eye, and chain. Now, I need to figure out the last guy's, then I could take them down.
Lucy lunges for the last member quickly. Landon watches the small figure charging at him. He merely smiles and sends a burst of scalding water at her. The attack stops Lucy from doing anything. In the moment of hesitation, Issac picks her up the collar and jabs her kidneys. She wails out in pain when she is dropped to the ground. Issac continues to bash her until he feels he has done enough. Lucy is covered with cuts, bruises, burns, and blood from head to toe. Most of her body feels completely numb from the beatings.
Issac backs away to clean his hands. Lucy slowly gets up and breathes heavily. "I'm not going anywhere with you idiots. I don't care if you're stronger, or there's of you. I'm gonna take you down and get out of this forest." She breathes out. Wiping the dripping liquid from her lip, she fully stands up to fight. All of them have basic counters. I could all their magic against them as long as I'm quick on my timing. She thinks.
Jack growls and charges for her. Lucy ducks away and runs for Landon swiftly, despite her aching injuries. Seeing through her attack, Issac catches her leg while Jack comes up from behind. Lucy's eyes widen in fear and tugs on the chains. Jack sends blasts of fire quickly. In the fit of fear, Lucy puts up a shield with her magic. Though it is weak in standards, it is enough to stop the fire. She uses her magic and frees herself. She decides to her Celestial Dragon's Scattering Light to blind and attacks her enemies. The plan works, leaving the four men in disarray. Using this as her chance, she pushes Landon into Jack.
Both men in a fit of panic send their magic at each other, knocking them out swiftly with a small explosion. Lucy sees Kaden struggling to open his eyes and thinks. When I blinded them, he must've been using his magic. She ponders. Lucy avoids Issac's chains and stumbles on her footing. I need to end this fast. I don't have much left in me after he beat me up.
Issac smiles at her and says, "I'm impressed. No one's come close to taking us down. But here we have a kid, who took out two at once. Maybe you don't belong to a normal slave owner. Perhaps, something better."
Lucy feels the shivers down her spine becoming more rapid. The man disgusted and terrified her to no end. She always thought of herself as a confident and fearless person, but here she was fearing for her life. In the corner of her eye, she sees Kaden slowly getting up. She notices Issac his chains at her and catches it swiftly. Gripping to it tightly, she leans back her head while opening her mouth.
Celestial Dragon's Roar!
A vast amount of energy and light strikes Issac quickly. He falls holding his chest. Lucy knew that attack was not powerful to take him down, but enough to slow him. She uses his opportunity and repeatedly punches him with her energized fists, pouring half her anger into every hit. Once she sees him loses consciousness, she focuses her attention back on Kaden. She frowns from the ash invading her smell. She glances around Kaden, noticing the fire spreading out of control.
Lucy energized her fists and went for Kaden. He stops her by grabbing her fist. She sends a beam of energy with her hand, sending him back. She uses her leg and attacks his chin. Following up with several more attacks. She feels her body draining of both magic and will. Some point in her fit of rage, she sees the man drop. Lucy stares at her body in a foreign way. It scared her how her blind rage took over. She sighs in a small relief when she hears Kaden's heartbeat.
Her body drops to the ground as the fire surrounds the area. Through her blurry vision, she sees someone coming. "Mom," she whispers inaudibly before her whole world darkens.
July 13th, X777, Colten Village
Lucy opens her eyes. She notices a wooden ceiling, scratched and torn down. She lifts her body in pain and glances around. She is lying in a bed with other bedroom furniture around her. She notices her arms in bandages with most of her body. She pushes herself out of bed carefully, clutching her throbbing head. I don't think I was enslaved. My injuries are patched, and I don't have restraints. But where am I? She thinks.
Lucy walks over to a table and holds some new clothing in her along with her scarf. She uses a chair to lock the door while she changes. After she is done, she leaves the room and heads out. She forcibly squints her eyes from the sunlight. She hears the voices of children playing. After feeling her eyes adjust, she walks out further. She notices small houses, shops, and large farms. She clears her suspicions and walks over to a small pond. The surrounding area gives her a sirene feeling of tranquility. She lies on her back and closes her eyes. She feels content as the sun hit her face. It reminds her of the times she and her mother would sit out in the sun and enjoy the day.
"You're quite energetic." a voice calls out to her.
Lucy opens her eyes and comes face to face with a boy with blue hair. She instantly backs away from him and stands up.
The boy sighs and looks at her. "You can relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. Though, I'm curious. What were you doing in the middle of a burning forest, covered in bruises?" he asks.
Lucy's eyes widen. She grabs him the shoulder and pulls him closer to her. "Did those guys get away?" she asks frightfully.
The boy scratches the back of his head, not shocked by the rash move. "Nope. They're in the village getting treated."
She loosens the grip on his shoulders and backs away. "I need to leave right now. Those guys bad news."
"We know." He straightens the wrinkles in his shirt with his hands. "The village head will treat them, then head them over to the Fiore Army."
"Jellal, are you here?" a tiny voice hollers from the forest.
Both children turn around to see a little girl in short blue hair, dashing at the boy. "Jellal, you're fine." she murmurs into his shirt.
Jellal chuckles. "Relax, Wendy. I'm not going anywhere."
Lucy comes closer to the pair with a scrunched eyebrows. "Sorry to ruin the moment, but mind tellin' me who you are?"
Jellal turns around, giving Lucy his full attention. "I'm Jellal, and she is Wendy"-pointing at Wendy-"You're in Colten Village. We found you out in the forest three days ago, passed out in the middle of a forest fire, beaten up."
Lucy bites her lip in shyness. "Thanks. I owe all one for saving my life back there. How did you guys put out the fire? It looked like it spread a lot."
Jellal puts a hand on his chin and thinks before answering. "Our village has a few wizards, who use water magic. So, we were lucky they tagged along when they did." His eyes fall on Lucy's scarf. They had the appearance of a few dragon scales. His suspicions begin to form. "Say, where did you get that scarf from? It looks like dragon scales."
Lucy looks at him for a second, trying to decide. Nine times out of ten, if I tell anyone my mother is a dragon, they'd never believe me. She sighs and decides to give it a shot by telling the truth. "My mom gave it to me for my 5th birthday. She was a dragon, so she decided to use her old scales and turn it into a scarf." She starts to wait for their ridiculous comments, but she never hears one.
"Did your mom disappear on the 7th?" Wendy asks timidly.
Lucy furrows her eyebrows in concentration. "What's the day and year?"
"July 13th, X777." Jellal answers.
Lucy closes her eyes and thinks about the time. For some reason, the date sounds funny to her. Then again, she is never one for paying attention to time. "Yeah, I guess could say she disappeared around that time," she mumbles.
Jellal looks at Lucy in confusion. "Two dragons disappeared at the same time. This is a coincidence."
"Two?"
"Wendy's a dragon slayer."
Lucy's eyes widen and frantically turns to the little girl. "You're a dragon slayer?"
Wendy awkwardly hides a little behind Jellal. "Yes." she squeaks.
"Cool!" Lucy yells happily. She sees Wendy turn a little red from the compliment. Lucy laughs softly. "No need to be shy. I bet you're super strong. What element do you use?"
"I'm a Sky Dragon Slayer," Wendy says proudly, feeling more confident than before.
"So, this is the place you three ran off to." a voice says. Emerging from the shadows, an old man with a traditional robe and wooden stick walks to them. "Jellal, didn't I tell you to introduce me to the blonde when she woke up?"
"Sorry," Jellal mumbles in shame.
The old-man laughs. "My, so serious. You can learn to relax." He faces his attention towards Lucy, who keeps him with great curiosity. "I see you've finally woken up."
Lucy walks forward, trying to keep herself from saying anything stupid. "Thanks for saving my life. I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there."
The old-man ruffles her hair. "You have quite the manners which I like. I see you're alone. What happened to your parents?"
Lucy bites her lip and looks away. "I can't find them. I've been trying for a few days to find them."
The old man puts a hand on his chin while deep in thought. After some moments of silence, he looks down at Lucy. "I can't have someone as young as you running around alone. There is a great deal of danger in this world. You shall stay in this village with those two, helping around as much as you. Sound good?"
Lucy nods rapidly. She is in no mood to become someone's slave. Not after what went down by herself. She feels something warm inside her heart booming gently. The old man hollers the three to come along, showing them what they will be doing. As she is given a tour of the village, she relaxes her tense muscles. She could say that her near-death encounter makes her think consciously. It makes her desire to grow stronger increase further. Now with people around her, she needs to be stronger.
The night has fallen. The old man decides to let Lucy sleepover at his house for the night. He could tell the girl would be overwhelmed with everything after the fight. They both walk towards his house. As they settle down, he offers Lucy to bathe while he cooks. He heads to the kitchen after giving the girl instructions. He sighs in relief when he finally manages to cook some chicken. He knows he is not a good cook, but he could make do with he has. He places the pot on the table and almost calls Lucy over. He notices the young girl sitting by the window, staring distantly into the night sky. He takes off his apron and stands beside Lucy.
"It's a pretty night, huh?" He tries to spark some conversation.
"Yeah, there's something so nice about looking at them. My mom always stargazed with me every night. I guess I can't grow out of the habit." Lucy responds, never taking her eyes of the night sky.
"Stars are divine objects. They're one of the purest entities in our world. In a sense, they give us some hope."
Lucy finally looks at the old man. "Do you think I could ever find my mom?" she asks quietly.
"Some children spent years or lives trying to find their parents. Some succeed while others didn't. In the end, most of the children found their parents, but they didn't get what they wanted." he explains calmly.
"I don't care if it's not the answer I'm looking for. I just need to find out why she left." Lucy says with a fire burning in her eyes.
"You're quite the ambitious kid aren't you?" He says while Lucy's cheeks turn red. "I'll tell you what, would you like to live with me?"
"Um, but don't you have someone with you?"
"No, I live here on my own. It would be nice to have some company."
Lucy smiles brightly. "Okay, but I don't know your name."
He glances at Lucy with soft eyes. "Call me, Caium."
November 21st, x777, Colten Village
"Caium, can we go back yet? I think we carried enough wood." Lucy whines. She and Caium had been helping a few of the villagers carry wood out to a near water source leak. They had patched it off efficiently all due to Lucy's magic. Lucy lies on her back with sweat covering her body. "And to think it's becoming winter. What bullshit." All of a sudden, a pile of tiny rocks are thrown over her body. She gets up in a frenzy, trying to find out who did it.
"Geez, learn to not curse in front of little children. Wendy looks up to an idiot like you." Jellal retorts at her. He is nearing patience with her, but he finds it funny to argue with her. Though Lucy seems smarter for someone raised by a dragon, her poor social skills amuse him. "Where'd you pick up such language anyways?"
Lucy rubs the small bump on her head and pouts. "The other villagers. They were yellin' at each other about something, and that's how I picked it up." She decides to pick up the last of her wood and hands it over the villagers, who are building. She wipes the sweat from her forehead and sits beside Jellal. "Say, why didn't we bring Wendy along?"
Jellal sighs in frustration. "She's a child. How do you expect her to do the heavy lifting without getting herself or someone else hurt?"
"And you tell me to relax. You're the one who needs to chill out." She says and looks away for a moment.
Jellal cracks his knuckles and hits Lucy on the head. She falls to the ground, clutching her head. "Next time if you wanna say something, try not to insult the next person."
Lucy grumbles something under her breath, keeping her eyes away from him. "Fine, just don't hit me again." She gets up and wipes the dirt off her clothes and notices a few apples on a tree. She grabs them and tosses one to Jellal while she takes a bite into her own. Both of them munch away, enjoying the other's company. After a while, Caium comes and tells them to head back. By the time they make it back to the village, night had fallen. Lucy says goodbye to Jellal and heads home with Caium. "I'll get started on dinner. You take a shower first," she says while taking off her boots.
Caium nods and heads to take a bath. Lucy takes out some chicken from a makeshift fridge and starts seasoning the chicken. After she is done, she cooks it quickly with her magic and sets up the table. After ten minutes, she is done with dinner and waits to take a bath. Caium walks out and waits at the table for Lucy. They finish dinner and sit on the couch. Lucy reads a book while Caium looks over some papers for the village. To them, this is any normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary since Lucy came to the village.
Lucy yawns as her eyes start to flutter shut. She pushes herself up and puts the book away. "I'm headin' to bed," she mumbles and heads upstairs, without waiting for a response. She carelessly opens the door and slams it shut after entering. She rummages for her pajamas and puts it on quickly. She then stares at her scarf with a different look. Four months and still nothing! Mom probably thinks I'm pathetic. She thinks bitterly. Starting tomorrow, I need to travel outside of the village to expand the width of my search. She clutches her scarf tightly and drops flat on her bed.
Her eyes shut close as the night sky turns into a beautiful dawn. She slowly opens her eyes and sits on her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she gets out of bed and takes a bath. After dressing herself, she walks downstairs to greet Caium and have breakfast. She silently eats her breakfast at a great speed. Caium notices the aura around the blonde and stars to break the silence.
"Something wrong?"
Lucy sighs and pushes the plate further away from her. "I wanna search for my mom outside the village borders."
"Out of the question," he replies before she puts another word in. "Do you have a single idea of how much trouble you could find yourself in? Or did you forget what happened to you when you first arrived?"
She bites her lips in frustration. "I know, but I can't stay here forever. I don't wanna waste the time I have." She gets out of her seat and stands in front of Caium with great determination. "I've learned to take care of myself. And besides, I wanna see the world outside of this place. I love being here, but I'm a curious kid. I can't stay in one place and be satisfied forever."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
She glares at him. "I'm not doing it out of curiosity." She clenches her fists. She knows she is getting agitated too quickly, but she has no way of putting this matter lightly. She had been searching for her mother in the forest for the past few months, but she knew deep within her heart she needed to leave to go search. "It's just getting to me that I can't find her. I don't wanna keep chasing my tail when I could chase something else."
Caium sighs. This issue had been brought up a lot during the past few months. Usually, in the end, he could convince her to stay within the boundaries. But something in his brain is nudging her to go search. He had grown to take of Lucy as his own child, despite never getting married or having children. Judging from the look Lucy is giving him; she is not planning on losing this argument. He guesses her resolve had grown stronger. "So, you're planning to chase something that could kill you," he remarks. If he was being honest with himself, he is trying to give himself a reason to let her go search.
"I'm not knocking on death's door."
He hums in amusement. "Everyone says that, and then find themselves in a predicament. And if you haven't noticed, you've made yourself quite known since you've arrived."
"Not my fault. I was being chased by those bandits. You're the one who called the Council to get them sent to prison."
"Be it that. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," he says, "Those men had deep connections to some dark guilds and cult. If word ever got out you left this village, you'd be living with a large target on back forever."
"Who said I'm permanently leaving the village?"
Caium's eyes widen in surprise. "Then what are you getting at."
"Think of it as a wizard job. I leave for a few days to search, then I come back."
He closes his eyes and thinks. It's good to know she isn't leaving permanently, but I still can't trust her out on her own. She's a little too reckless not to get unwanted attention. Perhaps, I could ask Jellal and Wendy to go with her. "I'll tell you something, but only if you're willing to listen." He looks at her rapid nodding head and continues, "I'll let you go search, but as long as you have people with you. Since you're closest to Jellal and Wendy, they will always come you."
Lucy leaps into Caium's lap and hugs him tightly. "Yes! I don't care if they tag along, just as long as I can go search." The jump makes the chair unstable, and both of them fall. She squints her eyes as an instinct and waits to get hurt. When she realizes she is fine, she opens her eyes and gives Caium and sheepish smile. "Sorry."
He chuckles and lifts her to the side while getting up. "You're too hyper. You need to control your emotions child."
Lucy looks away with red cheeks. "I..know," she mumbles. "Can I start today? I don't wanna waste time." She sees him nodding and gives him one last hug before running out the door. She dashes through the village silently and gets to Jellal's house. She already knows they are awake, so barging in would seem fine. She kicks open their door and greets them. The pair seem completely unfazed by the blonde's actions and start a conversation. Lucy tells them her plans, and they reluctantly agree and leave immediately. Lucy grabs a bag and some other things from her house and meets the pair near the entrance.
"Ready?" Lucy asks as they walk out.
Jellal sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "As I'll ever be. Do you even have a slight clue, or we just going on a whim?"
Lucy huffs at him. "Of course I have a clue. I'm not stupid." She stops walking and pulls out a map from her bag. The pair hurdle around her. "The marks are the places where I heard of some dragon sightings or other dragon-related activities. Since this is our first outing, we won't go that far. Out of the forest, we should come across a town."
"At least you have a brain in that head of yours." Jellal retorts. It doesn't take long for the argument between the two to start. After a few minutes, both start to calm down and walk out of the forest with Wendy beside them. The little girl didn't bother the two during the argument because she knew there wasn't going to be an easy way to stop it. It takes the whole day for the group to get out of the forest and head for the nearby town.
They decide to set up camp for the night and head to the town in the morning. As the night passes, Lucy's excitement grows to an overweighing amount. She doesn't know how to explain it, but it feels refreshing to travel somewhere new while searching for her mother. The morning comes around as the group is back on their feet. The rest of the journey doesn't take long, and they manage to near the town quickly. With the smell of new land, Lucy's senses run wild. She keeps sniffing the area for people or anything new when she smells something.
Lucy stops suddenly while her eyes go wide. "I smell dragons," she says with amazement. She quickly runs ahead in the direction of the smell and approaches a small steep side mountain. She carefully walks don the mountain and finds some eggshells with a dragon scent fully covering it. That's kinda' odd. There are so many cracked eggs, but nothing that shows what's been here. She thinks. She picks up a small piece and sniffs it for a better smell. As she almost makes another mad dash for the town, Jellal pulls on her collar, halting her quickly.
"And where do you think you're running off to this time?" he asks. He doesn't want to play with catch up again.
"Sorry," she mumbles, "I smelled some dragon eggs, but they also smelled tainted. The smell leads to the town." She gets out of Jellal's grip and heads to the village with them.
When they arrive, they are greeted with an eerie silence. The houses are empty, the items are filled with dust, and the entire place is deserted. Lucy splits up from the group and heads in a different direction of the smell. As she walks further, she gets a faint smell of a person. She clenches her fist and encircles it with her magic as a precaution. She nears the corner and peaks to see someone but doesn't find anyone. Instead, she finds a litter of broken dragon bots. She cautiously picks one up and sighs in relief when she realizes they are not working anymore. She drops it and walks around in confusion. She predicts something had done something to the people. She frowns at the thought. Sighing, she decides to walk to the entrance and wait for her friends. After ten minutes, her friends show up with the same expression.
"You guys find the same thing?" Lucy asks solemnly.
Wendy nods weakly and adds, "How did they make a dragon?"
"They could've read some books and found out how to make it."
Jellal huffs in frustration. "Aren't you remotely not concerned about the town's emptiness?"
Lucy feels a vein popping out of her forehead. "Course I am. Somebody was here a few days ago. But I doubt they did it." She puts a hand on her chin. "Judging from the condition, I'd say this place has been deserted for about two months."
"Well, that's just great," Jellal grumbles, "This was a waste of time."
Lucy turns her head to the side to look at Jellal. "It wasn't. We can report this to Caium and have him do something about all of this."
"Lushee is right. I haven't seen or smelled any blood, and I don't she has either." Wendy reasons.
"Fine, let's head back now. It's getting dark, and I don't want whatever happened to them happen to us." Jellal finally says.
He leads them back through the mountains while the sun falls out of the sky. They camp for the night and pick up right away the next morning. Throughout the night, Lucy couldn't help feel something bad happening. She tries her best to shake the thoughts off but they lingered. As soon as they start walking the next morning, Lucy keeps vigilant for anything horrible. But nothing prepared her for what she is about to see.
As they keep walking, Lucy smells something burning. She stops walking and sniffs the air. Her eyes widen as she smells a large amount of smoke and burning coming from ahead. "There's a fire in the forest!" she yells.
Jellal quickly pulls out one staff from his backpack and clutches it tightly. He walks ahead carefully and sees the bright orange flames inching closer to the group. He puts the staff on the ground forcefully.
Aquatic Disarray!
A large pressure of icy water floods into the flames, putting them out instantly. Jellal decides to charge ahead further while putting out more of the fire with his magic. He makes sure the girls are close to him at all times. As twenty minutes pass, they start nearing the village entrance. He puts out a large amount of the fire and ushers the girls to hide with him as he hears some people nearby.
"That was a good bunch. We could sell some of them around Fiore. Too bad we're doing sending it to the Tower of Heaven." one of the cloaked figures says.
The other one chuckles. "Would you relax? We're getting a lot more this time around."
A woman with light brown hair and pale skin comes closer to them. "Would you two dimwits stop chatting? We have important work to do." She glares at them menacingly. "Besides, we haven't found the girl of our true objective."
One of the cloaked figures removes his hood. He has blonde hair and silver eyes. "Learn to relax Caroline. We'll find the little blonde dragonslayer soon. I'm sure with the destruction of her village, she's bound to turn up." he reasons calmly.
Caroline knits her eyebrows. "Tell me again why we are wasting our time chasing a little girl."
"Dragonslayers are quite rare. Most ones we found already belong to other legal guilds. If we were caught kidnapping one, we'd be in big trouble. Our guild could be in a really dark light."
"Let's just forget about her. If the time comes again, then we'll find her and catch her." She turns around and walks back into the village. "Now c'mon Kaz, let's blow this joint."
Kaz smirks and puts his hands together, creating a large ball of dark energy.
Abyss Madness!
The entire village is covered in a vast dark cloud. The lines of purple streaks touch the ground and explode. In a matter of seconds, the entire village is gone. Smoke from the ground rises as the three figures laugh into the dreadful day. The voices die down as the figures vanish from the scene.
Lucy's world falls apart piece by piece. Not one inch of her mind is left spared. She hesitantly walks out of the bushes and onto the charred ground. The surrounding area resembles a meteorite crash site. Lucy's legs give out as her eyes stare blankly at everything. She feels her body shaking and her throat rasping for release. She digs her fingers into the ground with trembling lips. Small whimpers leave her mouth as the tears flood down her face. She couldn't feel anything; her emotion in complete madness of their own. The once sunny day is covered with dark clouds, signaling a mournful event over the devastating attack.
She didn't know when, but somewhere through the fog her mind, she knew a part of her was gone with her village. "I'm sorry," she whispers before screaming her sorrow into the deafening thunder.
January 27th, x778
"Lucy, we need to talk." Jellal places a hand on her shoulder. He watches to make Wendy is asleep before talking with Lucy.
Lucy turns her to the side to give him her attention. She isn't one for words these days as she had been before. But she learned somewhere it was common courtesy to give other people her attention when needed. She hums gently, allowing her friend to continue talking.
Jellal sits down beside her and looks at her. These days, they didn't need to talk to each other to know what was wrong. If he had to guess, he just assumes their bond had grown stronger since that day. "We can't keep going on like this. I don't Wendy getting involved with this," he pleads.
Lucy turns her head away, staring distinctly into the orange and yellow glow. "What are you trying to say? We don't get justice for what they did to our village?" she asks him.
"Damn it, I'm not saying that. I want to get them back as much as you do, but we have to reasonable here. How do you expect us to go up against a light guild? We'd be in over our heads!"
"So what? We'll just play it out carefully. Once we get more information, we can stop them from attacking anyone else. We'd be one step closer to finding everyone."
Jellal looks at her with pitiful eyes. "You can do that if you want. I have my own life to lead. Not to mention, Wendy is just seven! You want her to drag her into this madness?"
"No," she says quickly, " I want her to stay out of this as much as possible. I just want her to be happy again. She's always so worried about something, it scares me." Lucy clenches her fists tight, nearly turning white. "But I can't just let this go..."
"Then you're on your own."
Lucy snaps her head to the side. "What?"
"Lucy, I have bigger issues I have to solve. And you have this and your mother to find. I have no doubt you could probably do both, but Wendy isn't so lucky. She needs a responsible figure looking after her. We're just a bunch of kids ourselves. How far do you expect on going before you regret something?"
"Are you saying we give her away to a guild?" Lucy whispers. Her bangs cover her eyes completely.
"Yesterday while you were out taking out those bandits, I came across this guild, who is willing to take of Wendy."
"You were gonna give her away even if I hadn't agreed," Lucy says. Hearing no response from him, she stands up. "Starting tomorrow, we'll go our separate ways."
"Y'know, just because we're splitting up doesn't mean we can't look out for each other," Jellal says quickly. He gets up and stares directly into Lucy's eyes. "If either one of us in trouble when we least expect it, then we can call each for help."
Lucy raises her eyebrows in confusion as Jellal pulls out a small red amulet from his pocket. He goes onto explain how it works and what to do. Lucy listens intently, not skipping one detail. After his explanation, both of them go to bed. By the next morning just as planned, Jellal and Wendy first left.
Lucy sighs and gets up, packing the rest of her belongings. She had to admit, she was going to miss them. But it was better for all of them to follow their own paths, no matter how dark or dangerous. Lucy had made an oath that day to get revenge to responsible and become stronger to prevent something so tragic from ever occurring again. She takes out a map from her bag heads north to a near caravan. Those places were filled with fights and magic. She learned to pick up most of the fights from observing or doing it herself rather quickly. Making notes for later on in the line. She also knew to get some money saved up. People have lives; she tried to make sure she wouldn't be causing more damage than intended.
Over the past two months of traveling, she slowly earned a nickname; Unova. At first, the name felt icky on her tongue. But soon enough, she started going by it to prevent anyone from learning her name in case if something were to happen in the future. She was smart enough to trust her knowledge and instincts to get her through most situations. The nickname spurred up due to her destructive magic power and menacing behavior towards the job she had taken.
It doesn't take long for Lucy to reach the caravan. She avoids most of the men and slips past most of the rowdy customers. At the corner of her eye, she spots a small bar with a lonely bartender. She picks up her pace and soon finds herself sitting in a chair. She orders breakfast with her money and watches in awe as the men fight for victory. Eating her breakfast, she sees a man with a leather jacket sitting beside her. Something in her mind tells her the man isn't here for a simple drink or food.
The man looks at her with curious eyes. "Are you Unova?" he asks suddenly.
She gives him a subtle nod while keeping her guard up.
He sighs peacefully. "If you are waiting for a job, then I could give you one."
Lucy looks at the man funnily. Is this guy high or somethin'? She thinks.
The man ignores her odd look and continues, "A few days ago, a guild came by a village and completely burned it down to the ground. I saw kids and adults getting kidnapped, no matter their age. I heard it might be related to the Galatic guild, but no one's for sure."
After hearing the guild's name, Lucy gives the man her whole attention. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to save those people from whatever. They're gonna do somethin' to 'em tonight. They're in town, so you don't have to worry too much about traveling."
"Which part of town?" She knows the caravan is near a rather small town.
"Docks."
"How much am I getting paid and where will I be paid?"
"100,000 jewels. You'll be paid near the town's fountain. I'll give you the paper." He takes out a piece of paper with information about the mission, reward, and several other legal transactions.
"Does the council know about this?"
"They don't give a shit about us, or people like those villagers."
She hums. "I'll do it." She thanks the man and leaves the caravan and heads to the town. Lucy knew what she was getting into. If she were to regret something, it would be of her own accord. The Galatic Guild had been the ones responsible for her village's demise. But things are never easy; the guild is a light guild. If she attacks, she'd be the target of several people at the same time. With the way she is now, she is nowhere strong enough to handle it.
As she walks to the town, she couldn't help but glance at the bright sky. "I wonder what mom would think of me."
This is the end of the rewrite. I changed a big portion of the story, but it still remains under the story plot. I just wished to expand on a few ideas. As for her meeting with Erza and the Heartfilias, those will be done in Erza's background and a chapter within the Phantom Arc. Lucy is a bit rougher around the edges and more aggressive, but she retains that childish part of herself.
Power scaling will be further explained in the coming chapters, but that's enough for now.