End of the Beginning

I decided to stay at Mermaid Heel because the woman from yesterday, Celia, was right. I didn't have a place to go. I know could always try to go to Magnolia and try to join Fairy Tail, but I didn't want to go anywhere near there. I knew that Erza would eventually turn up there but... images of a raging inferno, swords slashing through people, blood and screams everywhere, my sister's hateful eyes… flash into my head.

I know it's irrational to think that she'll hate me, but I just couldn't resolve myself to get over it… The dream Erza was right, I could have done something, but I didn't, and now hundreds of people are dead, and young children are forced into slavery. I don't deserve to be her sister.

Also, I did not want to interfere with things. I could potentially screw things over if I went to Fairy Tail at the moment. Before I died, I remember watching the end of the Zero arc of the anime, and I knew there was an invasion coming from Zeref's private empire from reading some of the manga. What if my presence causes someone crucial to die, or get permanently injured? I don't want to get involved too soon, unless it becomes unavoidable.

There is a storm coming, and I don't have the luxury of living a life like I did before. I need to get stronger, not just out of personal desire, but also out of necessity. I have the means and resources, and I plan to use them. Plus, I always wanted to be a wizard. Too bad no one will get any Harry Potter references here

But I have years to fully think out my game plan, because right now, I have someone waiting on me. The woman, Celia, left me new clothes by my bed.

I put on the new plain white dress, and I was amazed how good it felt. I forgot how good it felt to be in new clothing again. It felt weird to wear shoes again though. They were white slip-ons, and about a half size too big, but that was alright. I'll out grow them soon enough.

My steps were a little wobbly from half disuse and half because of me wearing new shoes for the first time since my last life. I reach up to the door knob, and turn, opening the door. Celia is leaning up against the wall across from the door, in a hallway.

Celia stops leaning, and starts walking down the hallway to another door at the end. She turns around and waves me over, "We don't have all day, Kid. So let's be quick with this."

I nod, "R-Right." I say curtly, and I quickly make my way over to her. She then opens the door, and I follow her through. I look around in amazement at the open space around me.

The walls were a very pretty blue and had Mermaids painted all over them. The air was filled with conversation from all the people sitting at tables. There was laughter coming from a bar, fully stocked with various alcoholic drinks. It seemed like all the occupants in the room were having a good time.

Something suddenly slams into me, breaking me out of my amazement, and I find myself being squeezed in a bear hug. A strangled sound escapes my mouth, and I'm finding it a little hard to breath. I then notice what's hugging me. A head of purple hair.

"Y-Your O-Okay! I-I thought you'd n-never wake up!" The purple head sobbed next to my ear. I'm then released from the bone crushing hug, and a teary eyed Kagura greets my sight.

I take a moment to catch my breath. "*cough* I'm sorry that *cough* I worried you… But who are you?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

Kagura calms down a little, her tears subside a bit, and her face flushes red. "M-My name is Kagura Mikazuchi… U-Um, what's yours?" She sounded a bit nervous.

I grin, and I resist the urge to extend my hand for a hand shake. "My name is Rubina, but people usually call me Rubi…" A cough from ahead interrupts the moment. It was Celia. "…Oh, right. I have to go do something for a little bit, but I'll be right back, 'kay?"

Kagura looks a little sad that I have to leave so soon, but she nods. "Are you going stay here?" She asks, her voice filled with hope.

"Yes." Is my response, and I run to catch up with Celia. I proceed to climb up two stair cases, and Celia opens up a door on the third floor. Inside is a room with a wooden desk that has large stacks of paper on it. The room also has filing cabinets that had some drawers opened, exposing tons of paper work.

Celia got a chair that was hidden in the countless stacks of paper from the side of the room, and puts it front of the desk. She then went to the other side of the desk, cleared some space off it, and then sat down in what looked like a very comfy leather chair. She then bent down, the sound of a cabinet opening could be heard, and Celia was mumbling something under her breath.

"Aha! There you are!" She suddenly exclaimed, and she popped up with a small packet of paper. She then looked at me, "Well, take a seat. This will only take a few minutes." She beckoned me over.

I walked over to the chair and sat down. She then pulled out a pen and gestured to the packet of paper. "Ok, this is a registration form, and if you are to be a ward of Mermaid Heel, I have to fill this out. I'm going to need some basic info like birthday, family, and other stuff like that."

I nodded, and I told her that I was born in early January, about my sister (I almost cried again), and some other general info. Her pen was flying through the pages and then she stopped.

She then looked at me. "The last thing is to come up a legal name for you. I can't just put a first name down, so we'll need to come up with a last name."

Well, this is a conundrum.

"Um… I never thought about a last name. I'd always thought that Nee-chan and I would get one when we got adopted…" My voice was unsure.

Celia looked at me and then sighed. "I'm not the best with coming up with names, so… How about scarlet? It's a shade of red, and your hair is red as well."

At her suggestion, I froze a little, before vigorously shaking my head, "NO! *ahem*… I mean no, I don't like that name." I lied, feeling a little embarrassed at my outburst.

I didn't deserve that name. To use that name would defile it.

Celia raised a brow at my outburst, and my cheeks flushed. "Sorry, I really didn't like that name." I said sheepishly.

She closed her eyes and sighed, before looking at me again, a smirk making its way on her face. "Well, now that I think about it… your hair looks nothing like scarlet… It looks more like crimson… So how about Crimson?"

'Rubina Crimson? Hmm… I don't dislike like it, and I don't have any better ideas… I guess that could work...' I contemplated. 'Although, it is kind of lame I'm getting named after my hair color… Ah hell, why not?'

I lock eyes with the older woman. "Sure." I say simply, and she quickly wrote on the piece of paper.

She then closed the packet, and she stood up, her smirk turning into a genuine smile. "Well, everything seems to in order then. Congratulations, from this day forth, you will be known as Rubina Crimson. Welcome to the Mermaid Heel family, Ki- I mean Rubina."

Later, I was able to take my bandages off, and a picture was taken for registration.

XXX

I was sitting on a dock right on the lake, right behind me was the guild. My bare feet were in the water, which was just the right temperature. It was getting close to evening, and I was just staring at the lake, which apparently had a small island in the middle that I didn't notice before. It was nice.

Someone then sits right next me, and the sound of splashing water follows. I look to my right to find Kagura next to me, with a sad expression on her face. "Hey…" she says slowly, her voice conveying melancholy.

"Hi…" Is my only response.

She sighs, and also looks to the lake. "I miss Nii-san… I wish he was here."

Oh yeah, I haven't talked to her about what happened yet.

I look to her, my face taking on its own sad expression. "I miss Erza-nee…" I then look back to lake, and we sit there in silence for a few minutes.

"That girl who saved us… That was your sister, right?" she asked slowly.

I look to her to find her staring at me, her hazel eyes locking with mine. "Yeah… she was."

At my confirmation, a sad smile takes it way upon her face, and she strangely lets out a small giggle. "Me and Simon-nii would see you two around the village, and he would stare at your sister, and whenever I caught him doing it, his face would get really, really red. It was really funny when I caught him." She giggled again.

I don't remember much about Simon from the show, except that he dies and he was Kagura's brother. I didn't re-watch the show before I died, so I'm a little fuzzy on whether he liked my sister or not.

A smile makes it way on my face, and I end up letting a small laugh. "I think he might have had a crush on Erza-nee."

Kagura's face becomes confused. "What's a crush?" She asks innocently.

Oh, dear. This was awkward. "Oh, um… a crush is a… is when someone likes another person a lot, but they are too nervous to tell the other person." I try to explain in a way that she can understand.

Her face seems even more confused. "Know what. I'll tell you later." I say, not wanting to talk about this topic at the moment. "What do you plan on doing now?" I ask, quickly changing the topic.

Her confused face morphs into one of excitement. "I have magic! I'm going to be a mage!" she says excitedly with a large smile on her face. "Are you going to be one too? I saw you use magic before…"

I stare at her for a moment, before a grin forms on my face. "Yeah… I think I will." Her smile becomes even larger.

She then reaches over, her hand only having its pinkie finger extended. "Pinkie swear that we will become mages together?"

For the first time in a while, I feel like a child again. I lock my pinkie with hers, "Pinkie swear."

If Celia were more adept with kids, she would of noticed that Rubina is too mature for her age. Now she has a last name. Fun fact: I was originally going to name this story "Crimson" but I changed after finding out that the name is already taken. I wanted an original name, so I came up with "Swimming With Mermaids" instead. I'm not good at writing what children would say, so I kept Kagura's dialogue simple. I'm going to take a brake for a few days to recharge my creative batteries. I appreciate all the reviews and follows/favs that I got so far. I never thought there would be people who would like my writing.