Ok guys, I'm sorry for the long wait. University is really taking away all my free time and motivation. But do not fear, I will not abandon this story. It will just take a while to update sometimes. Hopefully in the summer I will be able to write more often.

I like to thank RadioPoisoning for helping me with this chapter and the next few chapters that will be written. I like to thank my beta, redscarfninja for helping me improve my writing and editing this chapter.

The Mirror

March X783

Nature was alive once more.

Spring had arrived, and with it came the resurrection of the forest, the return of blue skies, the rebirth of flowery fields, the idle chatter of birds, and the faint buzzing of insects. The grey clouds that once hung in the sky, blocking the warmth of the sun, were gone and the brilliant sphere of light could again breathe life into the world. The children of mother nature could once more flourish and bring out the beauty of the land for all to enjoy.

Deep inside the forest that surrounded Salice, however, was someone who was doing anything but enjoying nature. Dressed in a white tank top and black gym shorts, was a teenage girl with dark purple hair, which was styled into an eastern Hime-cut. She was doing one-handed push-ups, switching arms every so often, and every repetition - up and down and up again - was met with fierce protest from the sinews of her muscles. Sweat had beaded up on her entire body, only to drip down onto the forest floor, and despite the steady pace of her repetitions and the ungodly humidity, Kagura's breathing remained calm and steady as she continued what others would have considered torture. If one looked closely, one could see a faint distortion in the air around her.

She eventually stopped, stood up, and wiped the sweat off her brow. Next to her was a tree; its trunk thick and tall, and leaning up against it was her sword. Kagura picked the sword up, its fabric-wrapped handle handle providing just enough grip grip for her sweaty palms. She got into a wide stance, holding the sword out in front of her, one hand on the handle, the other on the sheathed blade. She started swinging the sword repeatedly, her form never wavering from perfection, a curt shout of "Hy-ya!" with every swing and sweat flicking of her body, only to immediately be forced downward by an invisible force. She then began walking forward, continuing her steady strikes before rotating her body and executing a twirling kick, and as she came out of the spin, slashing her sword diagonally, she started performing various combos involving acrobatic maneuvers. From back flips to full on spins, her posture never faltered, and her slashes always perfect.

Her once calm breathing gave way to light panting, both her arms were thoroughly worked out, and various muscles all over her body were starting to feel the burn from her routine. She stopped and looked up to see the thick canopy of the forest that blocked out the sun, only allowing for thin rays of sunlight to break through and kiss the ground below. The tree above had large, thick branches that looked like they could support a tremendous amount of weight. Kagura, with one, swift leap, flew upward and landed on the branch of the tree next to her. She took a deep breath before she leaped forward toward the next branch. The branch creaked slightly as she landed on it, but she payed it no mind as she continued to leap from branch to branch, performing the occasional flip between jumps.

Occasionally, her body would glow briefly, and the distortions around her body would become more visible and more wild. Each time she glowed, the branches she leapt to like a wild monkey would creek ever louder, and they would bend farther towards the ground, only to snap back into place violently like a whip. Kagura glowed one final time as she was sailed through the air, and as her foot made contact with the next branch, it bent violently and snapped immediately, making a resounding crack that reverberated throughout the forest and sent the girl into free-fall. But with the grace of cat, she rolled mid-air, aligned her feet with the ground and landed in a crouch, and the visible distortions around disappeared in an instant. Kagura was now panting heavily, her clothes drenched in sweat, her hair now disheveled and greasy with bits of leaves sticking out of it.

"Next time *pant* I should definitely *pant* go easy on the *pant* gravity…" She said out loud as she recovered from the intensive several-hour training regime she put herself through. Even though she was gasping for air, her body felt relieved, several hundred pounds lighter and the sudden euphoria of her runner's high dulled the pain of her screaming muscles. She remained in silence, catching her breath, before she stood up straight, wiped the excess sweat off her brow. Taking one last, deep breath, she started her long trek through the woods and back to the dorms, where she had a long, steamy, romantic date with the shower, and she could not wait for the warm water to embrace her thoroughly worked body. Kagura was physically perking up at the thought of it.

A loud, thunderous crack that echoed in the distance brought her out of her shower fantasy, causing her to blink several times before looking looking at the lively forest to find the source of the disturbance. Her head snapped to the left when another resounding crack and the distinct creaking and crackling of a tree falling, and the inevitable crash of it hitting the earth helped her locate exactly where the source of the commotion was. Her inner curiosity swelled within her and Kagura decided that her moment of passion with the shower would have to wait as she promptly switched course towards the racket. As she got closer, the cracks and booms got louder and louder until she finally arrived at the source of the commotion.

The sight that greeted her could only be described as a train wreck of broken trees strewn all over the forest floor. The few trees that had managed to remain upright were missing huge chunks from their trunks, and between them, was a plethora of sunlight shining down from the gaps in the canopy above. They highlighted the vast amount of dust floating through the air, but what really caught her eye was the red headed teen who stood directly below, her bright hair almost luminous under the rays of the sun, which shined down upon her like a spotlight from the heavens.

This figure in God's spotlight was Rubina Crimson, who was wearing a white, form-fitting, short sleeved shirt, and red running shorts. On her arms were leather vambraces that covered her forearms and hands, with the fingers missing. The top of vambraces was covered with bronze colored metal plating that covered the top of her forearms and hands. In the center of both hands was a small red jewel the glimmered in the light. Overall, Kagura found the sight stunning.

Rubi noticed the presence behind her, and turned around to see Kagura staring at her, and the mess she had made. "Oh… Hey, Kagura, how long have you been watching…?" Rubina asked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

Kagura crossed her arms, her facial expression changing to a deadpan. "Long enough to see all the wanton destruction you've caused to the forest…"

Rubi blushed. "Yeah… about that… I was just testing some things…" Rubi said, her voice laced with mild embarrassment.

Kagura sighed, and her deadpan expression changed into one of curiosity. "Testing some things?" She asked, brow quirked. "Does it have to do anything with that armor on your arms?" She pointed to the vambraces on the other girl's arms.

Rubina nodded, and walked up to Kagura, so that she could properly show off her new toy. "These…" She said as she took one off to show to the girl next to her. "Are what I call 'The Power Gauntlets'. They allow the user to pick up things many times their weight, or punch with a strength far greater than their own." She explained with a showman-esque voice.

Kagura looked at the vambrace in front of her, and took it from Rubina's hands, and started inspecting it. "But, can't you already lift, like, a ton and punch hard enough to break boulders?" Kagura said skeptically as she held the piece of magical armor.

Rubina rolled her eyes. "Well, of course I can lift heavy shit, and punch hard enough to break rocks, but I designed these to allow me to do those things with as little magical power as possible…" She started in a tone of voice that everyone who knew Rubina dubbed 'The Lecture Voice® '. "You see…" Rubi pointed to the red gem in the center of the hand of the vambrace. "This lacrima right here has a complex arcane matrix that magnifies the user's magic input about tenfold, so this allows the user to enhance their strength more efficiently and more cost effectively. This means the wearer can last longer battle do the extra magical power they are saving as a result." She explained. Kagura just stared at Rubina's technical mumbo jumbo. Rubina deadpans. "You put magic in, you get ten times the power out, allowing you to have more magic power for spells…" She summarized bluntly.

"Oh…" Kagura blinked. "How in the heck did you make these, and why haven't these been made sooner by other people?" She asked, a tiny bit of wonder seeping into her voice.

"Heh, well…" Rubina started rubbing her arm nervously.

Noticing her friend's nervousness, Kagura looked to her with suspicion filled eyes. "Rubi… Are you hiding something you shouldn't be?"

"Maybe… Promise you won't tell?" Rubina nervously chuckled.

Kagura stared her in the eyes, and then sighed in exasperation. "Fine…" She relented.

Rubina summoned something from her requip space in a golden flash, and what appeared was an old book. "Remember how I told that Magic Council guy that everything was destroyed after the Lavender Town incident…" Rubina trailed off and Kagura's eye immediately go wide.

"Is that-"

"Yep." Rubina cut her off. "I present to you Henry Rockwell's journal. Filled with unfinished designs that were never completed due to either the tech not being around at the time, or the old bastard going crazy and building a giant death robot that his descendants would eventually finish…"

"Rubi! You shouldn't have that! That thing is dangerous!" Kagura shouted.

Rubina winced and put her hands up in defense. "Hey, calm down, I'm only using the knowledge in it for innovation." She said defensively.

Kagura took a deep breath, calmed down a little, but was still greatly concerned. "Why didn't you give it to the magic council? I'm pretty sure they would have better use for it than you." Kagura argued.

Rubina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes I could of, but tell me this Kagura, what would the magic council do with the blue prints of an advanced arcane mech?" She asked the other girl.

Kagura thought about it for a moment. "Use it to take down dark guilds?" She questioned.

Rubina sighed. "Yes, they could use it that way, but they could also use it crack down on legal, but trouble making guilds, or even use it for war." She brought the book up to her chest. "I don't want to hand this over any organization with that much power, because it provides a high risk for abuse and careless destruction. Henry Rockwell's inventions were used for war with disastrous results. I will not let something like this be used for that purpose ever."

Kagura was impressed by her friends insightful reasoning, but one thing still bugged her about the journal. "If the book is so dangerous, why not destroy it?"

Rubina scoffed. "This book may have the blue prints for the deadliest killing machine known to man, but…" She said, putting emphasis on 'but'. "The major components that make up of the machine are revolutionary. The various formulas for lacrima construction are unheard of, even hundreds of years after his death. Heck, there were still some incomplete ones that I managed to solve and that's how I made my power gauntlets. What I am doing is re-purposing the knowledge in this book to benefit society!" She exclaimed passionately.

"Benefit Society? You plan on selling those?" Kagura asked.

Rubina smirked. "Not these in particular…" She shook her head lightly. "But I am working on something that I plan on selling in the future that can potentially save lives…" She said mysteriously. "And no, I won't tell you until I have it just right." She said, interrupting Kagura, who was just about to ask.

Kagura looked a little bummed at not being told the other girl's secret, but nodded, and gave back the piece of armor to Rubina, and then looked around the destroyed patch of forest. "Did you have to cause such destruction to the forest? You know how mad Lana will be if she finds out you did this."

"Hey, I need to test these babies somewhere, and this was the perfect spot…" Rubi then noticed, finally, that Kagura is sweaty all over, and she looked like a mess. "Were you just training?" She asked curiously.

Kagura smirked. "Took you long enough to notice. Why yes, I was just training for the S-class exams next year, as should you be." She pointed a finger at the other girl.

"Oh yeah, we are taking that next year…" Rubina said casually, before she started explaining herself. "Well I usually do train, but I was taking a day off to relax my body and test out my gauntlets…" She trailed off, before her expression became one of mock hurt. "…You could have invited me you know…" She fake whined.

Kagura closed her eyes in exasperation at her friends acting, and opened them again. "Ok, tomorrow morning we can start doing gravity training, deal?"

"Deal." Rubi then pinched her nose. "Now let's get out of here, it's muggy and you are kinda smelling up the place…" She teased, which earned her a playful hit on the arm from Kagura. Rubi then started walking back towards the dorms, with Kagura following behind.

While she followed her friend, Kagura couldn't help but stare. At age 15, puberty had transformed the once small girl into a 5 foot 10 and still growing amazon that looked older than she actually was. Womanly curves were definitely apparent and her body was forming an hourglass figure while also getting more voluptuous with every passing year. She kept her long, wavy hair into a braid that extended down to her tailbone, and when the sunlight hit her crimson red hair, it glowed vibrantly and popped out against the greens and browns of the forest. But what got Kagura really staring was how Rubina's choice of form fitting clothing showed off her curves in great detail, and made them too irresistible not to stare at, especially the lower parts of her body. So distracted by her best friend's, *cough* crush's *cough*, behind, Kagura didn't notice the tree root jutting up from the ground, and her foot snagged it and she promptly fell flat on her face, hitting the forest floor with a loud thud. "Oww…" She whined.

Rubina turned around and saw her friend with her face on the ground. "Are you okay!?" She asked as she rushed over to help the fallen teen.

Kagura, face red, rubbed her nose. "Y-Yeah, I wasn't paying attention…" She said with a pain laced voice as she was helped up by Rubina. "I guess my training tired me out more than I thought…" She lied through her teeth, to embarrassed to tell what really happened.

Rubina let out a laugh. "Well as long as you're okay, let's get out of here before you trip on a ladybug…" She said with a grin.

Kagura huffed. "Yeah, you wish. I would never live that down." Kagura said with a small smirk, before she started once again towards the dorms. She looked over her shoulder. "I have date with the shower I must be getting to."

Rubina followed her. "Hey, at noon, I am having lunch at the lake with Araña and Risley, would you like to join us?" She asked.

As if on que, Kagura's stomach growled, and said girl blushed. "Yeah, that sounds nice…"

Rubina smiled. "Great! I will be at the library until then. Got to do some more research on lacrima matrices."

Kagura rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Ok, see you in a bit, Rubi."

They arrived at the edge of the forest and then went their separate ways, Kagura to the dorm, Rubina to the guild hall.

XXX

Rubina POV

The guild library, while small, was quite diverse in the range of subjects it held. Of course, it has had a growth in the arcane engineering department, thanks to me requesting more every time I ran out of new material. To be honest though, I didn't really need them at this point, except for reference. In the case of Rockwell's journal, that was a goldmine of inspiration. Yes, there were things in there that have been released to the public already, but what hasn't been released are what interest me the most. I thought I'd read everything there is to know about programming lacrimas, but then I read his journal, and it revealed his entire thought process to me and how ingenious he truly was. After I combined his way of thinking with the more modern ways, I was able to create the power amplifying crystal in my new gauntlets... vambraces… Or whatever they were, that I totally did not steal the look from Zelda games… I am not a crook.

The current crystals I had in my gauntlets were good. In fact, very good. So good, that I can proudly say it was perhaps one the best you can find in Ishgar, and thanks to the journal, I was able to make them small and very efficient. But I needed to figure out how to infuse programmed lacrima with articles of clothing, and what I currently had was not enough. So, it was time to think and innovate, and after thirty minutes of pulling out books, all that I achieved was tall book stacks, empty shelves, and a headache.

Such is the life of an engineer trying to revolutionize the world.

"Ugh…" I say as I rub my temples to ease my headache. "There has to be something else in here that I haven't seen." I scan the room, the entire shelf that held all the engineering books were cleared by yours truly. There were also various books from other shelves, like math books for example, which I never thought I would ever check out willingly years ago… It's a sad day when you read entire calculus books out of necessity and not be in University. Eventually I spot the oldest, and the smallest, bookcase in the library. It was about 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide, made of oak that was stained a dark brown with ornate, carved legs. It also had a thick layer of dust on top of it. I never really use any the books in that shelf, mainly because it contained old children stories, history books, and geography books. When I was younger, being the history nut that I was, did read some of the old history books, but I haven't touched any of those books in years…

You know what? I could use a break, and I could at least spend the last 20 minutes reading something interesting.

I walk over the abandoned shelf and start inspecting the books it contained. My eyes go to thickest book on the bottom shelf, which was about 3 inches thick, and read in golden letters…

"Fiabe Per Bambini" I read aloud. "Huh, I never read this one before…" I reach and pull out the hefty book. I open it, but immediately realize I could not read the thick black letters on the old, yellowed pages. This was because of two reasons: One, the font the book was written in was too ornate, which made identifying certain letters hard, and two, it was written in Italian, otherwise known in this world as Fiorian, which was language that hasn't been used in centuries. This was due to a king from the western tip of Minstrel going all William the Conqueror on Fiore and usurping the aristocracy, establishing English, or Minstralian as it was called, and forcing it to be the language of the people. By the time of the Great Magic War, Fiorian was only spoken by small rural pockets in eastern Fiore that were as far away as possible from the capital, Crocus. Nowadays the language isn't spoken at all, except maybe by a select few historians.

It's sad, really. I always thought Italian was the sexiest of the romance languages...

I close the book, and as I'm about to put it back, I notice something peculiar about the spot where the book used to lay. There was a gap that ran straight from the back on the case and met perpendicular with another gap that ran under other books. This was the tell-tale sign of a hidden compartment, and I decide to investigate by removing all the books on the level. My suspicions were confirmed when I lift the panel, revealing something unexpected. What lay in the hidden compartment is a hand mirror. I grab it and take it out for inspection. It was golden, with ornate etchings decorating the handle and the frame. On the back, was an etched clock with roman numerals and in the center of the clock was an hourglass instead of the three hands.

I let out an impressed whistle. "This looks really expensive… I wonder who left this in there…" I wonder out loud, and I inspect the mirror some more. There is a faint, magical signature emitting from it. It is incredibly small, but feels… dormant. I dare not try to activate it, because I'm not stupid enough intentionally activate unknown magical artifacts. So, I decide to put it my requip space until I can get it looked at.

I then look at the clock in the library, and realize that lunch at the lake is in ten minutes. "Well, I think it's time I start cleaning up…" I sigh then start cleaning up the strewn about books. Rule number 1 of the library: clean up your mess and return all the books to the rightful location. If you failed this rule, you would get a stern talking to by Lana, and that was something you didn't want, as it made you feel like being scolded by your mother. Not pleasant…

After cleaning up, I make my way out to the lake to see Risley, Araña and Kagura sitting on a blue blanket with an open picnic basket full of sandwiches. Quite the picturesque scene straight out of movie… Erza-nee would be so jealous.

"We were beginning to think you wouldn't show, Rubi-nee!" Araña exclaims excitedly as she waves at me.

Risley has a mischievous smirk on her face. "Yeah, Rubi, where have you been? Your girl cave doing scandalous things?" She asks slyly.

At her innuendo, I quirk a brow, and roll my eyes. "Yeah, that's what I do. Sit in my room and read smut all day…" I deadpan. I only read when I'm not doing my work… Don't judge me! There is no internet, so going the way of Kakashi is the best option. Plus, I can get away with it, if my past experiences in my other life of catching middle-aged women reading Fifty Shades of Grey in public is anything to go by.

Kagura, who was wearing a white dress that went down to her upper thigh and had a red bow wrapped around waist, groans loudly out at our immature banter. "Can you two not talk about such filth so we can enjoy this wonderful spring picnic?" She asks in exasperation.

I sit down, crossing my legs on the soft blanket and lean back, propping myself up with my arm. "Oh don't act all high and mighty, Kagura, I seem to recall catching you reading one of those books with rapt attention a while ago…" I say smoothly, a wide grin on my face.

Kagura face lights up red. "I do not enjoy that… that filth!" She yells defensively.

I snort and laugh, and Risley joins me.

"Why do my friends have to be so perverted" Araña says while shaking her head in disapproval.

Kagura turns her head to the green haired girl. "Araña, don't believe Rubi, all she does is speak lies, trying to ruin my reputation." Kagura says like she is a lawyer in a court room, defending her client, which in this case was her reputation.

Araña looks unconvinced. "At least Rubi-nee is honest about it, but you, Kagura-nee." She points straight at said girl. "Are a closet pervert!" She declares loudly, grinning up a storm.

Kagura lurches over, as if metaphorical stakes in the shape of the word "Pervert" were driven into her back. "Closet Pervert…" She whispers despairingly, her soul crushed completely by Araña's words.

"Don't worry Kagura, the pervert club comes with many benefits… including dental." I laugh.

Kagura recovers from her despair. "Can we please talk about something other than filthy reading habits?" She pleads desperately.

"Ok, ok, we were just having fun Kagura, no need to get upset." Risley says.

"Yes, just some good all fun between friends." I agree.

"So, Rubi-nee, Kagura-nee…" Araña says, starting a new topic abruptly. "I heard you guys are training for the S-class exams next year, is that true?"

Kagura and I nod. "We are indeed training for said exam." I answer.

Araña gets stars in her eyes. "Wow…" She says, awestruck. "You guys are like the youngest in guild history to even think of attempting it. Only Maribelle-san has ever passed the test because of how hard it is…"

"Do you have any idea what the exam is like, Araña?" Kagura inquires.

All three of us lean towards the girl, wondering what she knows, but we were met with a head shake. "Nope, Mom never told me what the test involved, only that it takes place on the island. The last challenger of the test was Maribelle-san, and she turned S-class when I was real young, before you guys came to the guild… Sorry." She says apologetically.

"That's okay, I think the surprise will be more fun." I say, and Kagura nods in agreement, before a curious look takes over her face.

"By the way, Rubi, I don't mean to switch subjects, but…" Kagura starts, "did you find anything useful for your project in the library?" She asks, genuinely curious.

The others look at me in interest as well, and I shake my head. "No, nothing particularly helpful… but…" I say as I remember the strange mirror I had found. "I was looking at that old book case, and I found this hidden compartment that had something… unexpected." I say as I hold out my hand and the ornate gold mirror appears in my hand.

Everyone is mesmerized by the mirror, which gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight, and all they could do is look at the beautiful object that lay on my hand. Then, something strange starts happening. I feel the dormant magic power spike suddenly, and the ornate etchings glows a brilliant blue. I drop the mirror in surprise, and the air shifts violently around us. The mirror's reflective surface glows blue, and a brilliant beam of energy shoots upwards and expands into a bright blue disk. The disk's surface looks like a liquid, and it ripples similarly to how water would if someone threw a stone into it. To be honest, it looks like a Stargate. All of the sudden, I feel an intense pulling sensation, and the portal starts sucking in air like a vacuum, also pulling me as well. I try grabbing something, but all there was to grab was grass and a blanket, and the portal sucks me in face first. I find myself moving rapidly through what could only be described as a water slide that glowed with bright blue energy, and twist and turned like a snake.

What the hell!? Did I really get sucked into a wormhole!? This just like Stargate! My life is seriously becoming weirder every day!

I feel my body mass being flung around like on roller coaster, but instead of going a safe 80 mph, I feel like I'm going a 1000 mph. If I weren't used to extreme speeds, and wasn't a mage, I would be passing out from the intense G's I was being subjected to. The tunnel suddenly straightens out, and I see light at the end of the tunnel. As it got closer, an image of a forest manifests itself, and I brace myself for impact as I'm launched through the portal and I find myself hitting the ground with a thud. I quickly get to my feet and I look back at the portal, before I can think about what the hell just happened, the other's come flying through the portal, their screaming filling the air, and I swiftly dodge them as they land in a dog pile. The mirror is the last object to come through, and I catch it before it hits the ground, and I see the portal disappear in an instant.

Groaning comes from the dog-pile next to me. "Is everyone all right!?" I ask in concern. Araña, who was on top, rolls off, followed by Kagura, leaving Risley splayed out on the ground.

"Oww…" Risley groans in pain.

"I feeling a little disorientated, but I think I'm good." Is Kagura's reply.

"Me too." Araña says.

I sigh in relief, and I look at around at our surroundings. To our front and sides is a thick forest, and to our rear is a lake, that looked very similar to the one we were just at. It even had a center island as well. We were in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" Araña asks, confusion in her voice.

"I don't know…" I reply.

Ok, the next arc begins! I am excited to write the rest of it, as I have it mostly planned out on paper. I will try to find the time to write it, but I will be bust until the April due to University.

I hope the last part with the portal wasn't too confusing. I find it hard to describe wormholes. For those who have seen Stargate SG-1, the portal they went through looks exactly the same as the wormhole in that show.

Thank you, RadioPoisoning for helping me with the Italian.