Disclaimer: At this point I own my phone case and a copy of Fruits Basket Volume 1...no FT for me.
Please check the bottom for notes!
Kshhh—shhh.
"…one…why?..."
Kshhh.
"…ave to move on, Me…"
Kshhhhh.
"…no…why?"
/Prabha/
"So that's what you meant by 'taking care' of my friends? You sent those people?" Wendy glared at the wholly unconcerned shadow, hands clenched at her sides.
"So what if I did?" it said, waving a hand casually through the air. "It won't change anything. Soon those friends of yours will be gone, and then I can break you for good."
Wendy crossed her arms defensively. "Yeah, well, my friends are the strongest mages ever! You won't get rid of them just like that!"
The shadow snorted. "Yes I will. And even if I don't, you'll lose them one day. Mages die too, you know!"
"That's—" Wendy bit her tongue, looking down. It's true, she thought. Nobody lives forever…She shook her head.
"That's irrelevant! They're alive now, and that's all that matters!" she argued fiercely.
"You cannot deny the future, little one," it sneered, twisting lengthy strands of hair between its dark fingers. "You cannot unmake what will be."
"I already knew that," she ground out. "I'm saying that it's not important, because we have each other now—not that you would understand anything like that," she finished bitterly.
The figure stayed silent for once, seeming to look straight in Wendy's direction.
"Says who?" it whispered.
Wendy twitched, a frown forming on her face. "What?"
But the figure only clapped cheerfully, uncharacteristic silence forgotten. "Nothing, nothing! How about we get on with the show instead?"
"The show—" Wendy started.
A shriek pierced the air behind her; against her will Wendy turned to look upon the tableau painted in red before her.
Strong Erza, the mighty Titania, bound by cutting steel to a long wooden pole as bright red fire licked up her legs. One arm free, she reached out, but not to Wendy—
"Jellal!" Erza screamed, writhing against her bonds. The blue-haired mage struggled on his knees, held down with his arms behind his back by those same sand soldiers, the ones that had choked poor Asuka—
"Erza!" Jellal cried. Tears streamed down his face as Erza's flesh burned, melted, turned black. Her cries of pain echoed through the vast and endless desert.
Wendy cried, hating to see her family in so much pain—to see Jellal, who had taken care of her—
The crackling laughter of that shadow echoed behind her, grating on Wendy's every nerve. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the image did not disappear—nor did the sounds; Erza's anguished cries, a sickening thump and squish as the sand soldier's spear disappeared into Jellal's back, the sucking sound as his breath stopped—
"No more," Wendy whispered, forcing her feet to turn one step at a time, the figure's laughter ceasing as panic entered its voice.
"What are you doing, stop it—"
Wendy gathered every ounce of strength—
"SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!"
earlier that day
Wendy sat up in her bed, exhausted from yet another day full of fruitless healing. She winced, sore muscles screaming with every movement; but she refused sleep, mind flashing back to the events of the day before. Romeo had described it to her so clearly…
the day before
BOOM.
Smoke billowed out into the bazaar as a large explosion hit the ground, sending pieces of debris flying; instinctively Romeo grabbed Merin's sleeve, pulling him down to the ground.
"What's going on?" Merin shouted, fear clear in his voice. Romeo grimaced, standing cautiously, pulling Merin up with him. Romeo fixed him with a serious stare.
"You need to get everybody out of here," he ordered, turning towards the epicenter of the explosion and fanning his hands about in an attempt to clear the air.
"Lead them down and away from the center. Keep them calm! Whatever you do, don't let them panic!"
Merin hesitated, but nodded, turning to the nearest vendor—a fragile old lady. He helped her up and shouted in rapid Meshbaalan, waving his arms and guiding the people to the nearest exit.
Satisfied, Romeo ran into the square to where he had last seen Natsu and Lucy as the dust began to settle. He caught a flash of blonde to his left; changing course, he sprinted right to them, dropping his center of gravity into a fighting stance.
"What's going on, Natsu-nii?" he asked, eyes roving the square for any sign of a threat. A fierce frown was painted on Natsu's face; Happy circled anxiously as Lucy pulled out her keys.
"I'm not sure," he said, a fiery grin taking the place of his earlier frown. "But it looks fun! I'm all fired up now!"
With one last gust of wind the dust blew away, leaving only the clear sky and a destroyed market—and the madly giggling figure clinging to the top of on of the taller buildings.
"That was so fun!" the tall man chuckled, clinging to a satellite pole with one hand. He wore a mauve, velvety looking suit, seemingly unbothered by the heat—a tall top hat of the same color sat upon his head, and a long mask with diagonal slits for eyes and a sharp, grinning mouth covered his face.
"Who are you?" Lucy yelled, Pantherlily and Charle coming in for a landing beside her. Lily grabbed his Musica sword, preparing to transform at any second.
"Who, me?" the man giggled. "Why, I'm Merlin, of course!"
Lucy dropped her keys to her side, face twitching in disbelief. "Merlin? Like, King Arthur's Merlin?"
The enemy stopped in consideration, head tilted to the side. "Who's Merlin?"
"YOU, YOU MORON!"
"Now, now, Miss Heartfilia, let's not bully," a snooty voice cut off her squawk of disbelief.
Lucy whipped around, pressing her back to Natsu's, who remained focused on the man. A woman dressed in shocking amounts of pink faced her—a pink corset over a pink leotard, stretched tight over a large test—even pink shoes and an obnoxiously magenta feathered boa. The woman draped it around her shoulders, twisting it absently as she looked Lucy over in obvious disgust. Lucy scowled.
"And who the heck are you?" she asked, gripping her keys tightly.
The woman sniffed, tossing back platinum blond hair and narrowing muddy brown eyes. "Sabra, Miss. He's Merlin, in a sense; just call him whatever he tells you to."
"That doesn't even make any sense—"
"Whatever," Natsu interrupted, eyes alight with excitement. He clenched his fists, flames erupting over his skin; Romeo took his cue, beginning with his purple fire.
"I don't care what his name is! I'm all fired up!" Natsu snarled. "Let's go!" He inhaled deeply.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
And explosion of burning flame flew straight Merlin, rushing over him and coalescing in a cloud of orange; Natsu grinned ferally—
The fire blew away, revealing only the same cackling mage surrounded by a transparent purple bubble. He kicked off the building, floating down to the ground, where his bubble popped. He raised one hand, snapped his fingers—
"Aerial Shot!"
A small, dense ball of blue air zipped towards Natsu; instinctively grabbing Lucy and ducked out of its path. The shot tore through the air, hitting a stall and smashing it to pieces.
"Air magic!" Lucy gasped, getting up off the ground and snatching a key off her ring. Swiping it through the air, she cried out, "Open, Gate of the Maiden!"
In a flash of pure gold the purple-haired maid was out on the field, spinning gracefully, chains swinging from her wrists.
"Virgo, help Nat—"
"I don't think so! Crystal Armor!" Sabra snarled, exploding into action. Romeo whirled around, cried out a warning—
"Adamantine Armor!"
Sabra's clear, diamond sword clashed with strong steel as Erza moved in to cover Lucy's back, her blade raised to parry. She clucked in frustration, jumping backwards.
"Titania," Sabra sneered, raising her crystal sword.
Erza studied her with cold detachment. "A Requip mage. How…fun."
With a strangled shriek Sabra rushed forward to clash with Erza again, sword swinging for an overhead strike that Erza blocked with ease, steel biting into impenetrable crystal.
Romeo sighed in relief, turning his eyes to the battle between Merlin and Natsu, just registering Gray's entry into the fray—
"Romeo! Watch out!"
Lucy's cry came just in time for Romeo to sense the incoming projectile; memory took over and he dropped to ground, rolling with the ease of long practice. Quickly he was up again, eyes roving and hands alight. Out of the corner of his eye a silver sparkle flashed; he whipped around, hands up just in time to block the cutting edge of a small ninja blade. He gritted his teeth as it cut into his flesh; steeling himself against the pain he increased the intensity of his purple flame in a convectional motion, generating enough force to push the blade back—like a shield of fire. The small mage tched, backflipping away with knives at the ready.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Romeo questioned guardedly. His flame snapped and hissed around his hands, always ready to assist.
"Xanthia," a small, young, monotonous voice intoned from under a bushel of bluish-white hair. Romeo's jaw dropped; Xanthia was just a girl, no older than 7 or 8. Dressed in all black, a tie wrapped around her head like a little ninja; ever so slightly he dropped his guard—
And suddenly her face was right in front of his, blade looming in; he only just managed to block with a fire-encased forearm, using the momentum to duck swiftly under the blade and move to her back, fist moving in a powerful punch to her back. She crouched, letting him swing over her before doing a handstand, both feet coming up to kick Romeo hard in the chest. He flew back, coughing.
"Hang on, Rome—" Lucy's determined shout was cut short as Virgo swept her off her feet and jumped back; not a second later a deadly flaming arrow pierced the ground where she stood. She looked to the rooftops, where an archer with a glowing longbow perched on a roof. He was covered in an executioner's garb—even his face was covered in black cloth, save for two ghastly holes for his eyes. Lucy grimaced, thanking Virgo quickly and sending her back.
"Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
The horseman appeared on the scene with three arrows already notched in his bow; taking quick stock of the situation he fired back at the archer, who dodged his shots with impossible fluidity. Grimly Lucy unhooked her whip from her belt, unfurling it with a snap; Charle flew to her, landing on her soldier and watching her back.
"Be careful, Xanther," Sabra's mocking voice echoed from where she dueled Erza. "Don't want to get hit by the little rope—" Her insult was cut off as Erza doubled her attack, pushing with more force in rage at the slander towards her friend.
Chaos echoed in Romeo's ears—the shouts of incantations and the sounds of battle melded together into a kind of vague ringing as he threw all his concentration into fighting Xanthia.
The girl was clearly using some kind of Speed Magic; it seemed like she teleported rather than ran from place to place, weaving around Romeo's comparatively sluggish bursts of fire. Turning in a circle Romeo clenched his teeth, releasing a circular burst of fire over the immediate area; Xanthia flipped easily into the air, kicking off a building back in Romeo's direction. He twisted, but she switched her blade into the opposite hand and swung her arm around right to his side—
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
A powerful blast of air hit Xanthia directly, driving her blade to just graze Romeo's side; she was blown back, crashing into another stall. Romeo grinned as Wendy came to stand at his side, Gajeel and Levy right behind her. He glanced around at the others; while he had been fighting another fire mage had targeted Gray, the two opposing elements locked in a fierce duel. Levy, too, had taken on an opponent; a petite Sand Mage with ashy blonde locks who was most certainly in her element. Behind them Gajeel cracked his knuckles, a savage grin on his face—
Until Sabra, still engaged in her swordfight with Erza and apparently Pantherlily saw Wendy at Romeo's side. A veneer of frustration on her face she slackened her grip, letting Erza's strike slip down the length of her blade; she disengaged, leaping backwards and whistling shrilly.
At once, all the enemy mages deactivated their spells, falling into formation behind Sabra; only Merlin stood at her side, still snickering. The sand mage pouted.
"Aw, do we really have to go, Sab-chan?"
Sabra sighed imperiously. "Unfortunately. You know the orders; as soon as the princess shows up, we get out." Flipping her hair, she turned to where Wendy stood, a stricken look on her face. Sabra blew her a kiss.
"My mistress sends her greetings, little dragoness," Sabra sneered, ignoring the venomous looks of the two older Dragonslayers. "She hopes you'll understand the meaning of this little farce."
Romeo looked at Wendy's pale face, frowning at the dread in her eyes; but it was quickly shadowed by a shaky anger. Wendy remained silent, deigning not to answer.
As one, the opposing group took off, lifted by Merlin's Aerial Bubble; impervious to attack, they drifted off into the desert, leaving only the Fairy Tail mages and a ruined marketplace.
Romeo sagged, placing a hand on the cut on his side; he winced, feeling it burn with pain. Quickly Wendy turned to face him and grabbed his shoulders, lowering him gently to the ground and pouring her magic into the shallow but long wound. He sighed in relief as a soothing warmth blanketed the pain, resting his head unconsciously on her lap, unaware of her brilliant blush.
"Is everyone okay?" Lucy called, jogging over—Sagittarius had disappeared back to the Spirit World. Natsu and Gray, arguing already, joined the group, covered with only minor bumps and bruises. Rolling her eyes, Lucy turned with obvious surprise to Erza, who was seemingly untouched by her fight.
"What are you even doing here?" she asked in confusion.
"We took a request to find someone," she said calmly, shooting a glare almost unconsciously at Natsu and Gray, who eeped simultaneously and fell into silence.
"Gray and I have been searching the far desert—"
"The far desert? By Hansh?" A voice interrupted.
Merin, it seemed had returned, along with a sudden influx of townspeople who muttered and whispered amongst themselves; cries of astonishment began to ring out as they noticed the burned and broken square, vendors rushing to inspect the state of their stalls. Merin looked overwhelmed by the destruction, but quickly refocused on Erza and Gray.
She nodded in his direction. "Yes, that's where we searched. We came here to meet the original sender; we've located the area where the missing person seems to have disappeared."
Merin paled suddenly, wild hope sparking in his eyes.
"Well, you found him."
Wendy looked at Merin in shock at his admission.
He had a second request? she thought confusedly. A missing person's search…
Erza looked him up and down, taking in his determined stance and stark red eyes.
"Well then," she began, "we have completed the first part. We'll begin the second…after we find out what's going on here."
"Merin, who are you—" Wendy started.
"Why," Romeo interrupted, glancing at Merin sideways, "don't we get back to the house first? Since this might take a while."
Merin shot him a grateful look, only serving to reinforce Romeo's suspicions.
With that expression on his face, Merin's missing person…could only be Hali.
at the house
"So let me get this straight," Natsu started, confusion evident on his face. "Your childhood friend? That's who's missing?"
Merin nodded wearily, melancholy plain on his face as he sat at the table. Wendy's heart ached for him; she could understand very well the feeling of missing a dear friend.
"Hali and I, we've been together forever. We played together, grew up together. She…she doesn't have any parents, so she was always over—she practically lived here. "Just recently… we were visiting the far desert with my parents, and we accidentally wandered out into the desert. We got lost; it was hot, and we were exhausted, and we found this—this opening, made of stone, with steps that went under the sand. I didn't want to, but we couldn't go on, and Hali really wanted to go in—"
He stopped, taking a deep breath. Aaliya placed a comforting hand on his shoulder from her place behind him.
"There were these people," he went on, "dressed all in black. It must have been their hideout or something, but they found us, they attacked us…I managed to get away. I sprinted as fast as I could, and somehow I made it back to the village, but Hali—"
He broke off, turning his face down. Wendy looked away, his grief seeming private. She focused on Romeo's face next to her; he was serious, but there was light in his eyes that looked almost like…understanding?
She broke her gaze as she noticed Merin lift his head.
"When we went back with search parties, we couldn't find any trace of the place, so my first thought was magic," he said. "So I sent out a personal request to a couple different guilds; I'd never have expected Fairy Tail to take both."
The group of mages shared glances, grave understanding on their faces; to lose a friend, especially one as close as Hali was to Merin, hit a nerve deep within all of them. Erza nodded in satisfaction at their shared understanding.
"In that case, Merin, I see no problem in combining the tasks," she said, offering him a kind smile. Romeo sighed, shooting Wendy an exasperated glance; she giggled in response.
"So," Gray leaned in, "what's going on on your end?"
"W-Well," Wendy started, "the basic story is this…"
back to the present
Wendy sighed, shaking herself out of her recollection; getting up, she moved to the bathroom, splashing water on her face. Drying it quickly, she gripped the counter, staring into her reflection.
"You look terrible. Ever heard of concealer?"
Wendy blinked, only to be met with a familiar image—the other Wendy, one finger tapping her arm while red eyes shone. Wendy sighed, dropping her head.
"Please tell me you're a dream."
"Why on Earth should I be the dream?" 'Wendy' scoffed. "For all you know, I'm the real Wendy."
"Didn't we already have this conversation?"
'Wendy' shrugged. "We can have it as many times as you like. The truth won't change."
Wendy sighed, moving slowly out of the mirror's view. "I'm too tired for this."
"Wait."
Wendy paused, backing up slightly to meet her reflection's gaze. 'Wendy' held her gaze firmly, but hesitation was evident on her face.
"Don't…don't make her mad, okay?"
Wendy blinked in confusion before her brain caught up with her.
"So it is a her," Wendy thought out loud. "And she sent those people from yesterday?"
"Just be careful," 'Wendy' snapped before disappearing, leaving only a flat reflection in the mirror.
Wendy frowned to herself, flicking off the light and making her way back to the bed. I'll have to make sure to ask about them, she thought. I forgot about it last night.
Within minutes, she was lost to terror.
during the nightmare
The burst of air, made stronger by Wendy's desperation, blew into the figure, which screeched in alarm before being obscured by the gale. Wendy stared into the stream, hope rising in her chest—
Only to see it crushed as the figure emerged once again, its—no, her—arms raised in an X-formation. Dropping them slowly, it took one step forwards.
"You shouldn't have done that," she whispered. Her movements suddenly free, Wendy took a step backwards, fear suddenly screaming at her to run—
"You can't hurt me, little dragon," she sneered. "You want to know why?"
She took another step forward, revealing a small shoe, a baggy sable dress over a slender leg.
"You want to know who I am?"
One more step and she was almost in the light; Wendy strained to see anything past the dress, the small, thin fingers, the long blue hair—
No.
Wendy Marvell stepped fully into the light, a sadistic, cruel grin stretched over her face, making her look like a grotesque marionette.
The young Fairy Tail mage dropped to the ground, gasping for breath as immense pain began to wash over her in waves—she choked, scrabbling in the sand, trying to form a coherent thought over the intense hurt—
"I am you."
And here's the next chapter! I wanted to get this out as fast as possible to make up for my long delay. Anyway, this was my first time writing a group fight scene; I'm far better with one-on-one or two-on-two, but I gave it my all; I love writing fight sequences. Please let me know how I did!
Don't forget to a drop a review and recommend!
-WD2645
Song: Kibouteki Refrain-AKB48