Out in a quiet orchard outside Onibus Town, Lucy stood basking in the shade of a nearby tree. She was out on another job, protecting the workers from any magical beasts that may appear from the nearby forests while they picked their fruit. It was honestly the most boring job she had taken so far as a member of Fairy Tail.
According to the manager they had talked to, there hadn't been an incident at this place for over 5 years, and it was never more than an overzealous herbivore trying to pick something for itself. While she wasn't against getting paid for just standing around, they really didn't offer much, due to the lack of risk. Honestly, she only took this job for one reason.
Lucy looked over across the hill she had been standing on to see that reason. Under another large fruit tree stood Wendy. She was chatting with Carla about something, but she had this look on her face that Lucy recognized. It wasn't quite sadness. It was the same look that Lucy had back when her mother passed away. A look of loneliness.
The girl had also kept glancing at Lucy when she thought she wasn't looking. Honestly, Wendy had been spying on her for a while, catching glances at the Guild Building or on jobs. It was starting to get a bit weird.
'Come on, it's your job as one of Wendy's friends to try and cheer her up!' Lucy berated herself in her mind. She probably understood how Wendy felt more than the others realized, and it would be wrong of her not to help. As she wandered over to the two, she thought back to Erza's words earlier in the day.
-This Morning-
Lucy had started her day searching the Guild for anyone to do a job with but found it rather empty. Lisanna had gone out with Levy and Team Shadow Gear on a job, but luckily Natsu was still sitting around the hall. He had also been looking for someone to work with, since as soon as their eyes met, he rushed over and practically pushed her to the job board.
As Lucy stared at the job board looking for work, she heard the sound of rustling armor come up behind her. She turned around and was unsurprisingly met with the view of Erza walking at a brisk pace toward her, a serious (even compared to normal) look on her face.
"Ah, Lucy! Just the woman I was hoping to see." She greeted as Carla flew up behind her. "I'm glad I caught you before you left. Could you do a favor for me?"
Lucy looked confused at the suddenness of the request, but quickly nodded her head. "Of course, anything."
"Could you go with Wendy on her mission today?" Erza asked.
"Oh, I was actually planning to go on one with Natsu-"
"I know, but I need to borrow him as well. Guild Emergency." Erza interrupted. "It's a long story, but there are some dangerous individuals I've recently caught wind of, and I need help to take them out." She continued before sighing. "Seriously, why did all our best mages decide today of all days to actually go do work instead of drinking? The Master is at the Guild Masters' meeting, Ur took Ultear on another training trip, Mira's on that S-Class mission at Galuna Island, and Jellal is who knows where!"
Lucy nodded. "Alright, that sounds serious... But what exactly does that have to do with Wendy?"
Carla landed on a nearby railing before explaining. "I know this might sound odd, but sometimes I get these feelings, like I know that something will happen. As crazy as it sounds, they've almost always been right."
"And you had one about Wendy?" Lucy guessed.
"Yes, and I doubt that it and Erza's 'emergency' are unrelated." Carla finished.
"Thus, we would appreciate if you went along with her mission today." Erza asked again.
"Why don't you just tell her to stay home if you two are so worried?" Lucy asked the obvious.
Erza just shook her head. "That would just make things worse, unfortunately. She would probably ask why I wouldn't be able to go with her, and if she found out about my mission, she would insist on coming along to help me."
Carla nodded in agreement. "Yup, but if you end up coincidentally without anyone to go on a job with, Wendy will feel she has no choice but to take you along."
"… Alright, I'll do it." Lucy finally agreed. "Just be careful, okay?"
Erza laughed cheerfully, serious look finally fading. "Don't worry Lucy, I've dealt with worse problems than this. Now where is Natsu, time is of the essence."
Lucy hoped Erza and the group was fine, but she couldn't do anything to help from here. All she could do now was focus on helping who was in front of her.
"Hey Lucy, I did a lap of the orchard. It was the same as the last ten times I did it, though." Happy said bored, flying down from above the canopy of the trees.
Lucy looked up at Happy with a look. "You didn't have to come along with me, you know."
Happy grinned. "And miss out on a chance to go on a job with Carla? No way! Speaking of…" He suddenly flew over to the white cat herself. "Hey Carla, want to do another patrol together?"
Carla looked over her shoulder, clearly about to blow him off for the tenth time today. But when she saw Lucy, she got a contemplative look on her face before finally answering. "I suppose I can spare the time for once. We'll be back in a minute Wendy."
With that the two felines flew off, Happy chatting Carla's ear off about something as they disappeared into the distance. Lucy decided to take the opportunity to try and strike a conversation. "So, what were you talking about?" She asked.
"She was trying to get me to go talk to you, actually." Wendy said, looking embarrassed.
"Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Lucy asked innocently, as if she wasn't aware of Wendy's constant glances.
"It's just… when I first saw you, I felt like I'd seen you before. You even smelled familiar… after you stopped smelling like the ocean, that is. But I can't place why." Wendy explained, eyes narrowing in thought.
"That's pretty weird. I know we hadn't met before. I wonder who it was…" Lucy thought out loud, before suddenly snapping her fingers. "Oh, maybe you've met my Aunt Anna!"
At the name, Wendy looked over in recognition. "That name… Who is she?"
"Well, she's not really my aunt, but she's closely related to my mother apparently. You'd mistake them for twins if they had stood next to each other!" Lucy reminisced fondly. "She was also a user of Celestial Spirit Magic like my mom, and me. Guess it runs in the family."
Wendy looked over surprised. "Wow! Isn't that kind of Magic super rare? So, the two of them taught you to use Magic?"
"No…" Lucy sighed. "My mother passed away before I could learn anything from her."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Wendy apologized.
"It's fine. Anyway, a bit after my mom passed away, Aunt Anna showed up to pay her respects. I don't think she wanted anyone to see her, because she had snuck out to my mom's grave in the middle of the night." Lucy explained.
"Then how did you find her?"
"… I had snuck out to my mom's grave at the same time." Lucy said embarrassed. "I did it a lot back then, when I couldn't sleep. You can imagine my surprise when I ran into someone who looked just like my mom standing over her grave."
"I don't know what I'd do." Wendy admitted.
Lucy just sniggered as she continued. "I can tell you what I did. I ran back to the mansion as fast as I could, yelling my head off about a ghost. Probably woke the entire mansion up with my screaming." Lucy shook her head before continuing. "Dad thought I had a nightmare or was acting out. The look on his face when 'The Ghost' walked into the house to explain herself was priceless."
Wendy nodded slowly. "I think I can understand how you might have felt."
Lucy looked over confused. "What?"
"Nothing, please continue!" Wendy said suspiciously.
Lucy decided now wasn't the time to ruin Wendy's talkative mood, so she continued. "Anyway, Aunt Anna explained that she was a relative of mom's and had come to pay her respects. She came by so late at night to avoid the exact situation that ended up in. Eventually she decided to offer to teach me how to use Celestial Spirit Magic, so she stopped by occasionally, to help me learn. It was only a couple times a year, but she was still able to teach me so much. I wish she could have stayed with us permanently."
"Why didn't she? She seemed to like it there." Wendy pointed out.
"Well for one, my dad was not a fan of her. Having a woman that looks just like mom around was too much for him, I guess. He even made her wear a hood whenever she visited. The second because she was too busy with her quest."
Wendy tilted her head as she asked another question. "Quest? Was she part of a Guild?"
"No. At least, she never mentioned one. She said that she had some students before me, but when they came to Fiore, they had gotten split up. She had been trying to track them down. I assume you must have bumped into her while she was on her search." Lucy finished explaining. "Speaking of Guilds though, she's the one who recommended that I join Fairy Tail, during her last visit. I wonder why?"
"That's really fascinating, but I can't really remember if I've met her before. But if I have, it would explain the recognition." Wendy sighed deeply. "Why do I keep having this feeling of déjà vu around people?"
"You've had this feeling with other people? Which people would that be?" Lucy asked surprised.
"When I first came to Fairy Tail I already knew Natsu's name, apparently. I don't remember it too well, since it happened a long time ago, but the two of us have always gotten along well, like he's the big brother I've never had. There's also Porlyusica-" Wendy suddenly cut herself off. "I mean, never mind!"
Lucy was about to ask Wendy what she meant but decided not to push it and changed subjects again. "Speaking of Natsu, I was chatting with him on a job and he told me that your dragon slayer magic is different than his. What exactly did he mean by that?"
"It's actually a bit complicated. I'm a Sky Dragon Slayer, which allows me to absorb air like Natsu does with fire to attack. But Sky Dragons are a type of Dragon that also excel in supportive abilities. I can use Healing Magic, and I've even learned a few Enchantments!"
"That's amazing! Isn't Healing Magic a lost art? You Dragon Slayers really are impressive." Lucy said amazed. "But wait a minute. Enchantment is a pretty complicated magic as well. I can't imagine there's many people around you can learn that stuff from. I mean, how old were you when… you joined Fairy Tail?" She asked, quickly realising that her original question might be a bit insensitive. Wendy clearly understood what Lucy had meant to ask though and was silent for a time.
"After Grandeeney left," Wendy started suddenly speaking again, though in a much quieter tone than before. "Irene adopted me, and I lived with her and Erza. She was a lot like Grandeeney, in more ways than one. She was an expert at Enchanting, so she taught me some more advanced stuff… until she disappeared too. As out of nowhere as Grandeeney did."
Lucy could here the hurt in her voice. Once was bad enough but having her mother figure disappear twice on her clearly bothered Wendy more than she let on. She wasn't sure how to help her friend, but knew she needed to help. She promised Erza after all. "I can't imagine what your going through, but from my experience, you shouldn't go through this alone. I don't know if I would have gotten this far without my Celestial Spirits giving me support. I'm sure Natsu or Erza would be able to help you with-"
"They can't help! Can't you see that's the problem!" Wendy abruptly exclaimed. "It'll just end the same for everyone else!"
Lucy looked shocked at the Dragon Slayers' sudden outburst. She couldn't understand what Wendy meant. How could people helping each other be a problem? Before she could figure out what Wendy had meant, she heard a voice calling out in the distance.
"Hey guys!" Happy yelled out, approaching together with Carla. "We ran into the manager while doing our patrol, and he said that they're all done!"
"That was earlier than expected." Lucy noticed.
"Yes, though I suppose we shouldn't complain. The job is done, so let's go home." Wendy said, rushing away from Lucy and any further discussion.
Carla and Lucy shared a look before sighing. That girl made no sense sometimes, but Lucy would need to make sense of it if she wanted to help her. As they walked back to the train station in Onibus Town, Lucy wracked her brain for an answer, but kept turning up nothing.
As the group entered Onibus Town and walked down the main road toward the train station, they noticed a large and loud crowd of people running towards them. The townsfolk bearing down on them seemed to fear whatever was behind them and weren't going to stop for anything.
"Carla!"
"Happy!"
Wendy and Lucy were both lifted up and over the mob just in time, who passed by underneath them without a second thought.
"What the hell was that about?" Lucy said, looking back at the fleeing folks.
"It looks like something's happening at the train station." Wendy said. "Do you think anyone is hurt?"
Lucy looked over to the station and sure enough, there were multiple groups fleeing in the opposite direction of the station. She could even see some smoke coming out from it. "I don't know, but we should probably go see if we can help." She responded, while mentally cursing her luck. 'Seriously, what is wrong with this Guild? I can't even watch people pick fruit without inciting all-out pandemonium!'
While approaching the station, they both saw a familiar redhead in armor, and flew down to greet her. "Erza?! what's going on?" Wendy asked worried as she set down.
"Wendy?! Damnit, I forgot this was where your job was!" Erza said frantically. "Never mind, you need to get out of here as soon as possible, before he uses it!"
"Uses what-?!" Lucy tried to ask, before a giant gale of wind suddenly blew by, kicking up dust into everyone's eyes. When she could see again, her surroundings had changed dramatically. "The station!"
Erza turned around to find herself face to face with a wall of wind. Taking a few steps back, she could see it covered the entirety of the train station like a cyclone. "This can't be a natural storm." She said worried.
"Hey Princess! Nice weather we're having, eh?"
"Eligor-?!" Erza had tried to turn around at the sound of the new voice but was met with a blast of wind to the face. Caught off guard, the force of the blast sent her flying back and through the wall of wind that had appeared.
"Erza!" Wendy yelled. She took a step toward where her sister had gone flying.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice said again. The two girls looked up to see a man floating in the air, with a scythe resting across his shoulders. "Here I thought it was just the three of those hotheads after us. I don't know where you four came from, but I need you to join your friends."
Eligor then pointed a hand at Wendy. "Since your so eager to see the princess again, you can go first!" Another blast like the one that hit Erza flew out of his palm, heading straight for the smaller girl.
Unfortunately for him, Wendy wasn't an average little girl. The blast disappeared before it could properly hit its target, sucked away into the Sky Dragon Slayers mouth. The man known as the Shinigami could only stand gobsmacked at having his attack so effortlessly neutralized.
'What the hell just happened. Who is this girl?' He glanced at the two cat-like creatures nearby, and back at the girl in question. 'Wait a minute. If I remember correctly, Fairy Tail is said to have members that can absorb the elements themselves. And they're followed around by these weird cat things. I thought it was a stupid rumor, but if that's true,' He looked up at his Wind Wall Spell with newfound worry. 'Then she could screw this whole thing up!'
"Alright, change of plans. I'll take you out first, then the Guild Masters!" Eligor yelled, thrusting both his hands forward. Another large gust flew out of them, and while it was slightly weaker than the previous two blasts, it had a much larger area of attack.
Happy and Carla were blown away due to their small size, flying right through the barrier behind them. Lucy nearly joined them, but she had wrapped her whip around a nearby lamppost at the last second. Lucy grabbed one of her keys and held it forward.
"Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"
Taurus appeared in a flash of light. His weight made the gale feel like nothing more than a light breeze. "You dare attack Lucy! This is Moo-st unforgivable!" The spirit began stalking over to Erigor, who still floated in the air casually. When Taurus swung his axe up at the Wind Mage he dodged out of the way like a leaf in the breeze while swinging his scythe across Taurus' chest in a single movement. The spirit fell over and slowly faded, returning to the spirit world. "I can't go on anyMoo-re…"
"No way! He beat Taurus in an instant!?" Lucy couldn't believe that her physically strongest spirit had been beaten so easily.
"So, spirits aren't that different from humans? That's useful to know." Erigor laughed. "You'll have to move a lot faster than that if you want to stay alive against me, you know." He suddenly felt a shift in the wind behind him and turned his head to see that Wendy had maneuvered herself behind him to attack. To bad he could sense the changing currents.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy gathered the wind around her arms and swung them forward into a combined whirlwind.
Erigor just smirked before striking a pose and gathering his magic. "Storm Shred!" A swarm of blades made of the wind shot out of his hands, tearing the opposing attack to shreds. "That's the best you got? I guess I was worried about you for nothing." He then swung his scythe up menacingly in her direction.
"Wendy!" Lucy yelled out and swung her whip up and around Erigor's extended weapon to try and stop it.
"Fell for it!" Erigor said, swinging around to face Lucy instead. He grabbed the whip and tugged on it as hard as he could. Due to his elevated position Lucy was pulled up into the air, flying helplessly toward the assassin, who raised his scythe at his true target.
"LUCY!" Wendy screamed for her friend. However, right before contact there was a flash of light, and Erigor's scythe knocked not into her friend but a grandfather clock.
"Huh?" Erigor looked confused at his target, which was now wedged into her protective Celestial Spirit. "That's… not what I expected. But I can make this work." Gathering his Magic into a leg, he flew down and kicked Horologium with a wind infused kick.
The Celestial Spirit and its summoner, despite not being hurt by the attack, were still defenseless from being blasted through the wall of wind that had engulfed the rest of her friends.
The wind howling across the square was the only sound that echoed in Wendy's ears now. The town had evacuated in the chaos, and all the other mages were trapped in the station. Leaving her alone with the Death God of Eisenwald.
"And then there was one…" Erigor said ominously. "I've never assassinated a Dragon before, so be sure to make this an educational experience!"
Next Chapter: Eye of the Storm
