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Chapter 2—Changed for the Better
I spent the rest of the day learning about everyone else but giving away minimal information about myself. I learned that Gajeel, Wendy and Natsu were Dragon slayers. Their magic was unique because they specialized in a specific element that was their power source for fuel. For example, Natsu was the fire dragon slayer. He ate fire to boost his energy and could use only fire magic but didn't need to recite a spell or an enchantment. Gajeel was the Iron dragon slayer and Wendy, the shy dragon slayer.
Their magic was called dragon slayer magic because it had the power to defeat or slay dragons. But I learned that the three of them were brought up by their respective dragon Igneel, Grendina, and Metallicana. However I also learned that seven years ago, these dragons up and vanished on the same day at the same time. It was sad because these dragons were literally parents to these people.
I learned that Lucy was a Celestial Wizard and had already collected ten of the twelve zodiac keys. I thought that was pretty impressive. She was in possession of the leader of the zodiac spirits, Leo. I thought that was considerably impressive. She could summon spirits from a spirit world to do her fighting by using keys. She had to make contracts with these spirits first, though.
I learned that Cana used card magic and Macao and his son Romeo both used a type of fire magic. Juvia was what people called the 'rain woman'. She used water magic and I was surprised to learn that her body was made entirely of water so it was tough to beat her. Levy used script magic, Jet used speed magic and I still wasn't sure what magic Droy used. It just seemed to me that the two of them tried desperately to get Levy to fall in love with them but she seemed to have eyes for Gajeel.
Both Elfman and Lisanna used what was called take-over magic where they were able to transform into an animal or a beast to fight. Mirajane used a very special kind of take-over magic that turned into a She-Devil so to speak. She was one of the so-called S Class wizards. There were only a handful of them. They were the most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail and could go on harder jobs than the others.
The two cats, Carla and Happy, used Aerial magic that allowed them to fly. Happy was Natsu's cat and best friend and Carla was Wendy's. I learned that Gajeel had a flying cat too named Panther Lily but most people called him Lily. I learned that Lily had a bigger form where he could turn into a fully grown, tall panther for a certain amount of time depending on the amount of magic power he had. I learned that he and Gajeel had fought once before and neither of them had won. It was a draw.
Gray told me about his past and how he was taught by the most powerful Ice wizard named Ul. I was shocked to hear that she had cast an Iced Shell over the demon Deliora who had destroyed our village. She trapped the demon in a sphere of ice for years sacrificing her own life to do so. Gray told me about his other apprentice who tried to revive Deliora only to find out that Deliora had been dead for months before. The iced shell that used to be Gray's master had flown into the sea.
I remember wanting nothing more than to destroy Deliora forever after I was saved by Albian. He told me that I needed to wait until I was strong enough to go after it. By the time I was even close to ready, I was already too busy with everything he had put me through. I had almost forgotten about Deliora.
Gray had stayed at my side the whole day. He would reach around me to touch my shoulder like he was making sure I was real. He would squeeze my hand from time to time, looking at me in awe and admiration and the utmost joy. I felt myself leaning on him a few times like I used to do. I would fall asleep against him sometimes and he would carry me home. I realized I missed him more than I would dare to let on.
I was leaning on the bar with gray talking to someone next to him. I stared at his hand on the table. I had to admit, it looked not only a lot bigger than before but a whole lot more calloused and strong. I found myself holding it and playing with his fingers the way I used to. I caught myself and looked up to see Gray smiling down at what I was doing. I dropped his hand immediately.
"Sorry." I said, my cheeks warming.
"Don't be." He said, taking my hand and playing with my fingers like I had been doing. I laughed and punched his arm. He lightly punched me back. He eyed my face some more, lost in thought.
"You never told me what magic you use." He said finally. I blushed and looked away, my chest hardening and my smile erased from my face.
"You're right, I didn't." I said, leaving no indication that I was going to. My magic was a different kind than most people. Albian had taught me the most efficient type of magic that would get me the most money. He had trained me to fight not only with magic but also without it like with swords, and guns alike.
"Well, it's getting late. You can stay at Lucy's house if you want. She won't mind. Right, Lucy?" he called out to her. She looked over to us and hesitated but finally nodded, standing up with Natsu and Happy. Gray led me out and I turned away from him for a mere second. When I turned around again, he had taken his shirt off. I raised my eyebrows and stepped back.
"Gray! Your clothes!" Someone yelled. He gasped and looked down at himself as if he didn't even realize he had taken it off. But he made not move to put it back on. Natsu pressed his shirt against his chest.
"Put it back on, you filthy pervert." He snarled. Just as Gray was about to talk back, I interrupted.
"Actually, leave it off. I like it better with it off." I said taking the shirt away from him. His cheeks tingled pink and he rubbed the back of his head.
"Thanks, Akira. Sorry about it. It's a habit Ul drove into me. I can't get rid of it." He said sheepishly. I laughed. My eyes suddenly locked on his chain around his neck. It was a cross. I knew that chain. I gave it to him for his birthday back all those years ago. I felt myself blushing again.
"You kept it…" I whispered.
"Hmm?" he asked. Then he noticed where I was looking and he blushed as well, touching it. "Yeah, I did." I swallowed and looked away locking eyes with Juvia. She was shooting daggers at me. I rolled my eyes and looked away, turning towards the door.
"So are we leaving?" I asked, walking out, not really caring if the others followed me. Gray fell into step beside me with Natsu and Lucy on the other side. Happy flew over us making stupid comments about fish now and then.
We walked by the river I had passed earlier and I glanced at myself in the reflection next to Gray. He really was so much taller than me. And since when did he get abs? I had to admit they were something else to look at. Wait, what?
Snap out of it, Akira. This is Graybie, we're talking about. You've never thought of him that way and you never will.
We stopped in front of an apartment building. Lucy turned around and glared at Gray and Natsu.
"Okay, we're here. Now go away. And don't even think about sneaking in in the middle of the night." She scolded, waving a finger in front of Natsu's face. He raised his hands in surrender and trudged off with Happy flying behind him. Gray smiled and pulled me into the third hug of the day. I gritted my teeth, not exactly pleased with that fact. No one ever got close enough to me to get to hug me. It was unsettling.
"See you tomorrow, Akira. And you need to tell me more about you tomorrow. I could tell you were holding back on me today." He planted a kiss on the top of my head. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Graybie. See you tomorrow." I pulled away and turned around to follow Lucy in her apartment, wiping away a tear I didn't even know fell.
Lucy led me into her room and pulled out a spare floor mattress. She began to set it up in her living room and made small talk about how Natsu, Gray, and Erza liked to break into her apartment. She talked to me about her spirits but I wasn't really paying attention.
I went to the window and watched Gray walking down the street, his hands in his pockets. He was looking at the sky and grinning stupidly like he had received the best Christmas present in the world. I felt myself smiling and internally giggling.
I gasped and stepped back from the window, mentally slapping myself. Stop it, Akira. You're not here to become attached. You're here to catch up and then you have to get back to your life. You can't afford any more distractions. If you don't pay off your debt to Albian… there's no telling what he'd do to you.
"So where did you find out that Gray was still alive?" Lucy asked me, passing me some pajamas. I took them and began to strip down to put them on.
"I passed by a village on a job and I found out that he had been there with his master and her other pupil. I found out from them that he had moved to Magnolia and was a member of Fairy Tail. So I came here to find him. I guess I had to know if it was true." I explained.
"Are you a member of a guild?" she asked, searching my body for a guild mark. I clenched my left hand where Albian had left his mark.
"Sort of." I said vaguely.
"Oh really? Which one?" she asked again. She seemed innocent but I suspected that she was trying to press for more information.
"One that's far from here." I said even more vaguely. She said nothing afterwards and crawled into her bed.
"Well, I'm glad you found Gray. I've never seen him look that happy to see someone. It's refreshing. But I'm sure you've changed a lot since then like he has. I just hope not too much. Goodnight." She said rolling over. I crawled under my covers as well and stared at the ceiling pondering her words.
Gray had changed just as much as me. He had made so many friends whereas I hadn't even made one. He had people he could count on when I had no one. His magic had grown so powerful like mine. He had more experiences with love and friendship than I had and he had grown as a person whereas I had hardened my exterior and refused to let anyone in.
Yep, we both changed. But he changed for the better and me for the worst. I guess I wasn't expecting any different. You really can't beat how much I had changed for the worst. I didn't know what I was expecting. I couldn't even begin to describe my emotions when I found out he was alive. I thought I was the only survivor and wanted nothing more than vengeance. It poisoned my mind and I let Albian reel me in.
Little did I know, he services would need to be repaid? So now I'm thousands of jewels in debt and I had no way to repay him except do what he taught me. Albian, being the master of the Assassin's guild, taught me to do the one thing no one thought a girl like me was capable of. He taught me to kill. He taught me to be okay with killing. And I was okay with killing. Most of the time. And that's why I'm terrified of Gray finding out about me.
He would reject me, disgusted by what I had become. A killer. A murderer. Assassin.
I rolled over and brushed away the tears I knew were about to fall and closed my eyes, trying to rid my head of unpleasant thoughts. I was, however, unsuccessful as my dreams were haunted by nightmares of the near future. Gray's rejecting eyes, Albian's cold threats, and Deliora's excruciating roar.
I gasped and jerked awake, sitting up. I heard the sound of running water and could only assume that Lucy was in the bath. I looked up at the window and shielded my eyes from the bright light shining through it. I didn't even realize it was morning. It barely felt like an hour. My body felt like it had been hit by a train.
"Hey, good morning, Gray's old friend." I gasped and jumped slightly at the voice next to me. I stood up abruptly and my defense mechanism in my brain was activated. Words began to scroll across my face, my eyes singling in on the face of the pink-haired freak, Natsu. I blinked, pushing away the magic from my eyes. It wasn't needed. It was just this stupid freak show.
"What are you doing in here? Won't Lucy freak out when she finds out you've broken in again?" I hissed, grabbing the covers to shield my revealing body. I was wearing pajama shorts and a tank top that Lucy had given me. I felt naked. I grabbed my clothes from yesterday held them to my chest.
"She won't care. And even if she does, she's used to it by now. Right, Happy?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. The cat appeared next to him, nibbling on a piece of fish.
"Aye, sir!" he yelled out obnoxiously. I gave both of them a dirty look and stepped by them only to ram into what felt like a metal wall. I stumbled backwards and looked up to see the woman in armor with the red hair. She crossed her arms.
"I never got the chance to formally meet you. My name is Erza Scarlett." She held out her hand. I glanced at it hesitantly.
"Why are you in here as well? I thought an S Class wizard such as yourself should have more class than to rudely break into someone's home." I found myself snarling. What was I doing? This was Erza Scarlett or as they like to call her, Titania Erza. She dropped her hand and placed it on a hit of a sword that seemed to appear out of nowhere. My magic began to activate on its own accord. The words began to scroll across my vision.
Erza Scarlett (Titania)
Magic: Reequip Skills—faster than any wizard
Trigger: Friendship (Fairy Tail); Love (Jellal)
Strength: Empress Armor; use of knowledge and intelligence
Weakness: Reequip time
"Hey, Akira, the bathroom's open if you want a bath!" I heard Lucy call, interrupting the words across my face. I blinked and stepped back as Erza's hand fell off her sword. She gave me a glare and went over to Lucy's bed. I walked towards the bathroom, passing Lucy on the way.
I locked the bathroom door and leaned against the door breathing hard. I never meant to be so harsh and mean. I guess the nightmare I had had was still pushing against my skull to the point where I was acting against my own will. My archive magic seemed to pick up a love interest in a wizard named Jellal. I had heard of the name. He had created a terrible system called the R system to revive the Black Wizard Zeref. I shook my head. I didn't need to know about Erza. I wasn't going to fight her and I wasn't going to be around long enough to ask her about it.
I took a quick bath and pulled on my clothes. I looked into the mirror and brushed my hair. It used to be a bright blond that seemed golden in the sun. Now it had blue highlights through it and you could barely tell how beautiful it had been before. My eyes matched the blue. It was a cold icy blue that didn't come across as a pretty trait. It seemed almost evil. Just like me.
I pushed the bathroom door open and walked out, a new found strength in me. Don't let anything out. Don't let them see you. You're leaving today.
Lucy, Natsu, Erza and Happy were all sitting in the living room with breakfast. Lucy smiled at me as I came into view. Natsu paid me no attention and Erza gave me a hard, wary look. She didn't trust me. I really didn't mind that.
"Morning, Akira." I jumped and whirled around to see Gray standing in the doorway, without a shirt, once again. My eyes lingered on his chest a second too long. He started towards me, about to pull me into a hug again. I stepped backwards, avoiding his searching arms.
"Morning, Gray." I said passively, stepping around him, trying to get away. I took a seat next to Natsu because he seemed like the person who would be the least likely to get through to me. He held out some chicken he was eating. I wrinkled my nose at the chewed up food and shook my head.
"No thanks." I said sourly. He shrugged and continued to eat like a gorilla. I looked up to see Gray take a seat next to Erza. He seemed slightly hurt from then way I was pushing him away. Not that he should have been surprised. He knew I had changed. He just didn't know how much.
"So I was thinking, today I'll introduce you to the rest of the guild and then you and I can go see the town. I want to show you what Magnolia has to offer." Gray said. I heard the hint in his voice. He wanted me to stay here with him. That was never going to happen.
"Sure, sounds good." I said elusively. I looked down and bit into some bread. I took a few bites and I felt full. I left my barely eaten bread and stood up as the others began to talk about their last job.
"We were supposed to escort some gold from one town to the other but we were ambushed. It was so stupid, those thieves had it coming to them." Natsu was saying.
"It shouldn't have taken you so long to beat them, Natsu. Or maybe I overestimated you." Erza said next.
"I was having a little fun with them. Can you blame me? I haven't had a decent fight since forever." Natsu replied. Gray scoffed.
"You want a fight, I'll give you a good beat down." He said challenging. I smirked as Natsu snarled.
"You think I'll get beat by someone as weak as you?"
"You think I'm weak? I'll give you what for!"
"Bring it on, ice freak. I'm not scared!"
"Consider it brought, you pyro!"
"Boys!" Erza stepped between them and shoved them both to the side. They flew backwards and collapsed into Lucy's furniture. She squealed out and sank to her knees.
"My furniture…" she whispered.
"That is quite enough. Just imagine what our guest is thinking of the two of you!" Gray stood up and scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly. Natsu just looked annoyed. He crossed his arms and looked away in embarrassment.
"Sorry." They both said in unison. I stifled a giggle at the power Erza had over the two of them.
"No, please continue. It's actually pretty entertaining." I said, hiding my laugh by turning it into a cough. They looked at me, stunned for a second. Then they joined me in laughing and we left Lucy's apartment in good spirits.
We walked down the sidewalk and headed for the guild. Gray walked next to me again, his hand sometimes brushing against mine as if he was still trying to make sure I was still here. I pulled my hand away and shoved them into my pockets when his fingers brushed against my hands again. He needed to stop doing this. I was on the point of crumbling into him the way I always knew I could. But I wouldn't anymore.
We finally arrived at the guild. Gray took my hand without my permission and led me in, grinning from ear to ear like he had won the ultimate prize. Heads turned in our direction and I recognized most of them. Mirajane smiled and waved at us. The others just sort of turned around like they were used to our grand entrance.
Juvia suddenly appeared in front of me with a murderous look on her face. She glared at our intertwined hands. I pulled my hand away from Gray as she began to melt my soul with her eyes.
"Hey, Juvia." Gray said uneasily. He obviously knew about her obsession with him he just chose not to let her down. He was going to get himself killed one of these days.
"What's going on here, Gray darling? Did something happen between you two?" she inquired in a fake kind voice. I smirked and looked up to see what Gray was going to say. His blushed and looked anywhere but in her eyes.
"No, I don't know what you're talking about." He said uneasily. Then he jumped to attention "Oh, hey Gramps! Akira, come on, let's meet the master." He grabbed my arm and pulled me away hastily. I gave Juvia a finger wave and smirked at her. She was turning a nasty shade of purple in rage. I almost burst out laughing.
"Akira, meet Master Makarov, or as I like to call him, Gramps." I turned around to be looking down at really short old man. He had a firm but kind face. The top of his head was bald but he still had tufts of white hair sticking out and a white mustache.
"Hello. Welcome to Fairy Tail. I understand you are a long lost friend of Gray's? it's so nice that you two found each other." He said kindly. I smiled and shook his hand.
Suddenly, the double doors were slammed open with a loud bang. Everyone whirled around to look at the door and I almost fainted. No… it couldn't be.
Two men stood at the door. These were men I knew. And they were here for me.