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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Wendy and Carla sat atop a small rocky outcrop, the dragon slayer hugging her legs and Carla sitting with her arms crossed, eyes downcast. The sun sat low, cut in twain by the horizon and slowly descending further, and casted a crimson light over the Worth Woodsea. The silence was broken when Wendy started speaking.
"Maybe... I shouldn't have joined the alliance..." She said weakly.
"Child stop beating yourself up it wasn't your fault!" Carla said quickly, turning her head to look at the young girl.
"Yes it was..." Wendy tightened her grip on her legs.
"You're playing with fire Wendy. Nirvana could change your heart at any moment." Carla said in a warning tone. She relaxed against the rock behind her., turning her head to look at the sunset.
"I'm a coward. I left Garion and the others, instead of staying to fight with them."
"You know as well as I do that if you had stayed you would only be in the way." Carla glanced at Wendy. "And besides, you would've been targeted and Garion would've done everything to keep you safe, he'd probably end up getting himself hurt, if how seriously he takes his promises is anything to go by."
Wendy curled even further into herself, but a brief sensation of warmth fluttered in her chest at the thought of the sandy-blond haired boy. "See I shouldn't have come."
"Don't you dare say that!" Carla snapped. "Remember if you hadn't been here they would've lost Erza."
"Yeah..." Wendy said, not sounding the least bit convinced. "But the Oracion Seis found Nirvana because of me."
"Is it really all that bad child? I sense part of you is glad to see that Jellal fellow again, though I'm not sure why... not to mention that boy from Fairy Tail as well." Wendy rested her forehead against her arms, letting out a sigh as she did so. The Exceed turned her head. "And while we're on that subject would you care to explain who they are? You said something about owing Jellal your life, but I'm confused, if he's so important why have you never told me about him?"
Wendy lifted her head and offered Carla a sad smile. "It's nothing personal. It just never came up." She turned her head to look back at the sunset. "I met Garion a few days ago while I was shopping in Magnolia." Her smile grew a bit and she flushed ever so slightly. "He almost scared me to death by accident, but he helped me get something that was at the top of a shelf." Her smile grew even more. "He was so nice and friendly... he even invited me to look at his guild..."
Carla raised an eyebrow. "Did he? Odd, he barely knew you yet had already invited you to visit his guild..."
"I didn't mind... I felt... even though I'd just met him... we were already good friends..." Her smile grew a bit more, the warmth in her chest still faint but present.
Carla narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. Interesting... "And what of Jellal? How did you meet him?"
The warmth inside Wendy's chest faded, but the smile remained. "I met him... seven years ago... not long after the sky dragon Grandeeney disappeared..."
And so Wendy explained to her closest friend how she had met 'Jellal' not long after Grandeeney had 'disappeared' and all the events that had transpired afterwards. How they'd travelled together, the hardships they endured, how 'Jellal' had cared for her and taken care of her, and eventually how he'd started acting strange and distant, and eventually left Wendy. Her smile had faded as she reached the end of her tale.
"When we got beyond the forest, he left me with the Cait Shelter guild. I've been there ever since."
Carla gave Wendy a sympathetic look. "So... what happened to him after you parted ways?"
"That was the last time I ever saw him." Wendy lifted her head to look out at the horizon. "But I did hear rumours now and then. First people said there was a council member who looked like him, and the most recent ones were all about how he was doing these incredibly evil deeds."
"Hmm..." Carla looked back towards the horizon.
Wendy smiled. "So silly. He'd never think about doing such horrible things. I wonder... do you think he remembers me any more?"
"Of course he would child. If he is as kind as you make him out to be, there is no doubt in my mind he wouldn't forget who you are. Of course, considering you had to revive him, he may be suffering from amnesia."
Wendy gave a nod in reply. Her eyes drifted down to the river that was visible in the forest below, taking in the glinting surface as it reflected the glow of the sun, small waves disturbing the surface to give the light a simmering look. Her eyes trailed to the body floating in the-
She blinked. The sky dragon slayer bolted to her feet and her eyes widened. "No..." She breathed. Carla looked at her in alarm.
"What is it Wendy?" Carla asked, alarmed.
"Carla!" The girl spun to face her. "We need to get down there now!"
"W-Why? Child you're not making any sense-"
"It's Garion Carla! He's floating in the river!"
The Exceed looked down at the river and her eyes fell upon the body floating on its back, mouth open. She had to squint to identify Garion. "How are you sure?" She asked.
"I can see it Carla!" Wendy said, panic settling in. The Exceed gave her a look. Looks like not only her hearing and sense of smell are improved, I can barely make out who that is yet she's convinced it's Garion. Aware however, that someone was floating in the river and likely in mortal danger, she spread her wings and flew forwards, grabbing the back of Wendy's dress. She angled herself downwards, straight towards the body floating in the water, which suddenly lost all buoyancy and sunk beneath the surface.
"Carla!"
"I know!"
Going as fast as she could, Carla managed to cover the distance between the pair and the boy in a matter of seconds, and barely managed to slow them down to avoid having a painful crash, but they still hit the surface at a mild speed, sending water splashing everywhere.
An eight year old Garion took a bite out of the apple in his hand, a soft crunch sounding as he did so. He lowered his thin arm as he chewed on the green fruit, and idly looked around the guildhall, his shoulder length messy, sandy blond hair swaying as he moved his head. His dirty brown shirt and stained dark green pants hung on his frame, a size too big for the boy. His shoes lacked laces, and were a dry brown. At a passing glance, Garion looked a lot like a girl.
His light blue eyes returned to the fruit in his hand once he swallowed and he took another bite before returning to looking around. The guild was up to its usual antics, Natsu and Gray were engaged in an all out brawl with each other with several other members cheering them on, Erza was on the verge of all out war with Mira, Lisanna was sitting at a table with Happy and was teaching him about the guild, the world, who the people in the guild were, etc.
"Hello!"
Garion turned to the right, his mouth frozen on the apple. Standing next to the table was a girl about a head taller than him with wavy shoulder length blue hair. She had a bright smile on her face, and Garion couldn't help but smile back.
"Hi."
"What's your name?" The girl asked.
"Garion." The boy replied. "And yours?"
The girl frowned. "Garion? Are... you a boy?" She asked, sounding a little confused. Garion blinked.
"Yes." He frowned. "Why?"
The girl blinked and raised her arms. "Oh nothing! It's just... I thought you were a girl." The bluenette said, scratching the back of her head. "Oh my name's Levy! Levy McGarden! Nice to meet you Garion!" She said cheerfully. Garion smiled.
"Nice to meet you Levy." The boy happily said. The bluenette then looked around before frowning and returning her gaze to the boy in front of her.
"Why are you sitting over here on your own?" Levy asked. Garion blinked and looked down at the floor, his smile fading.
"Because... I... I'm... scared..."
Levy blinked and then frowned, sitting down next to Garion. "Why?"
"Because... I'm scared... of lots of people..." The boy said nervously. "And... I can't control my magic... and I don't like it when people see it..."
Levy opened her mouth to speak but the words never left her lips. Garion's pure white angel wings sprouted from his back, but they lacked the guild mark. Garion looked at Levy and his eyes widened when he saw the look of amazement on her face. He jumped off the bench and tried to run away, but Levy managed to clasp a hand onto his shoulder before he could escape. "Why are yo-" She started.
"No!" Garion tried to break free of Levy's grip, but the girl managed to hold on. "L-Let me g-go!" The boy whined. Levy frowned and pulled on Garion's shoulder, making him spin around to face her.
"Why are you trying to run away?" She asked, confused. Garion looked away from her towards the floor, and tried to hide his wings, his whole body tensing up.
"B-Because... I... I'm... weird..." The boy stammered out. Levy blinked in confusion and frowned.
"What do you mean you're weird?" She asked. Garion tensed up even further.
"B-Because... I've... got... w-w-wings..." He whispered. "A-And... n-no one else does..." Levy blinked and then her eyes widened in realisation.
"You think that they'll treat you differently." Levy deduced. "Either that or you're worried they won't want to be your friends." Garion tensed up even further, but then he slumped his shoulders. Levy gasped when she saw tears staining his eyes when he lifted his head to look at her.
"Y-Yeah..." He sniffed. "I... just want to... be friends with everyone... but they don't want to be friends... with someone who's got wings..." He said as he struggled to hold back his tears, his body now starting to shake. The two were unaware that Makarov had casted his eyes over to them and was watching intently.
"W-Why would they?" Levy asked, placing a hand on Garion's shoulder. The boy flinched at the contact but didn't move.
"B-Because... I... I..." Garion's shaking started to get worse. "I... I'm the only one with... wings..."
"And?" Levy asked in a kind voice. Garion blinked in confusion. "That just means you're unique! Not weird! It means you're special Garion, and I doubt anyone here will think of you, or does think of you differently because you have wings." She then pointed at Happy. "Besides, he has wings and everyone treats him as a friend!"
"B... But..." Garion's shaking had faded, and he was now more confused than anything. "H-He's a cat..." He said weakly.
Levy suddenly burst out laughing. Garion gave her the most confused look he could manage. "W-What's so f-funny?" The boy asked. Levy looked at him, and couldn't help but laugh again.
"I... I'm just... I'm just so sorry..." She said, now calmed down. She smiled at the boy. "You do know that makes him weirder than you right?" The girl asked. Garion blinked and realisation dawned on his face.
"Oh..."
Levy chuckled again. "Silly, no one's going to think differently of you because you have a pair of wings! And I actually think they're really cool!" The girl said cheerfully. Garion's mouth fell open and he stared at her.
"R-Really?" He whispered. Levy nodded an affirmative.
"Definitely. Don't be ashamed of something that makes yo-agh!" Levy was taken off-guard when Garion suddenly threw his arms around her and gave her a massive hug. Once she recovered, she hugged the boy back. She patted his back. "Hey..." Garion broke the hug and grinned at her, a massive smile of pure joy.
"Thanks Levy! You're the best!" He said cheerfully. Levy smiled and chuckled.
"I'm really not. I'm just being your friend, and friends always help each other out." She then wrinkled her nose.
Garion smelled.
Really bad.
"Um... when was the last time you had a bath?" She asked. The boy blinked.
"Um... er..." He suddenly looked very sheepish.
"Don't worry about it Levy. He's my responsibility, and it's my fault he hasn't been bathed."
The two turned to the source of the voice, and immediately tensed up when they saw it was Makarov.
"M-Master! I d-didn't-" Levy stared. The wizard saint raised his right hand to stop her mid sentence.
"Have no fear Levy, I had been watching for quite a while in fact." He lowered his arm and grinned at the blue haired girl. "My thanks for finally talking some sense into the boy. I tried, but he only seemed to be able to accept it if it was someone aside from the master who told him." He turned to the boy and adopted a serious look. "As Levy said, you have no reason to fear that others will think differently of you because of your magic my boy. Magic has many, many wide and wonderful forms that it comes in, and yours is merely another stripe of the rainbow. And yes, your wings are because of your magic. Once you learn to control it, you can control them as well." He smiled. "Who knows? You may even learn how to fly, and without crashing into the ground moments later. And that is a feat that very few can claim to be able to do."
"M-Master..." Garion breathed. The wizard saint laid a hand to rest on the boys shoulder.
"Garion. As your guild master, I hereby order you to make friends with as many people in the guild as you can. Is that clear?" Makarov said seriously. Garion quickly nodded.
"Y-Yes sir!" Makarov looked at him for a moment longer before he smiled.
"Glad to hear it, now... you definitely need a bath." The master gave him a once over. "And some new clothes."
"Um... master?" Levy asked. "May I ask something?"
"Of course. What is it you require?"
"Well... not so much require..." She looked at Garion and smiled. "May I... take care of Garion? I-I'm sure the responsibilities of being the guild maste-"
Makarov chuckled, interrupting her. "Of course you may my girl!" He said. "I'd be more than happy to let you take care of him. After all, I've hardly been doing a good job now have I?"
Garion was looking between the two, now even more confused. "Um... excuse me... but master... what's going on?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
"From now on Levy will be helping you get clothes, food, clean yourself and cut your hair, instead of me." The guild master patted Garion on the head. "Have no fear my boy, I will still be here should you ever need me. Remember, I always keep the door to my office open for my children." And with that, the guild master turned and walked off, his course set for Natsu and Gray who were starting to get out of hand. Levy turned to Garion, a little bit unsure as to what to do now. Remembering the last thing Makarov said, she took Garion's hand and started leading him out the hall, a plan already forming in her mind as to how she would take care of the boy.
"Where are we going?" The boy asked, curious. Levy smiled back at him.
"To get you a hair cut."
The first thing Garion did when he regained consciousness was cough violently. His chest ached, and not only where he'd been injured by Caelum. His lungs burned, and his whole body convulsed violently as he coughed to try and remove the fluid from his lungs. He became aware that his side was against the ground after a few moments, but paid it no attention. With one final painful retching, he expelled the last of the fluid trapped in his lungs from out of his mouth, sending it splashing against the grimy dirt. He gave another violent cough, as a precautionary measure, before collapsing onto the flat of his back. His chest was heaving, and he slowly creaked his eyes open.
He heard a sigh of relief come from his left and slowly turned his head to the source of the noise. His eyes widened when he saw Wendy sitting on her knees, panting heavily. The front of her dress was soaked, along with a large amount of her hair, water dripping from the tips. Her head was tilted downwards and her eyes were closed, but Garion could see the relief on her face. He opened his mouth to speak but before any words left his mouth the sky maiden lifted her head and opened her eyes before looking at Garion's face. She breathed another sigh of relief before she grew worried.
"Are you okay?" She asked, concern and worry in her voice. "We found you in the river, and were barely able to pull you out. What happened?"
Garion's mouth was still open, but he closed it without thinking. He suddenly started before bolting upright, only to collapse onto his back as he did so, letting out a shallow whimper. He clutched his chest where he'd been shot and let out a hiss of pain. "Agh... fight... with... Oracion Seis..." he grunted.
Wendy blinked before leaning forwards, her arms outstretched. "Here..." she stopped just before her hands reached Garion's chest. "I can heal your wound and stop it from hurting any more."
Garion blinked before nodding. He slowly removed his hand from his injury, and Wendy gasped at the damage. The bruise covered most of his upper left chest, and was quite bad. She looked up at him, concern laced into her features. "W-What... H-How did you get an injury like this!?" She asked, worry and a slight amount of fear in her voice. She immediately activated her magic and began healing him, her hands mere inches above his chest.
"Got hit... by attack from... a member of the Oracion Seis..." He said. He could already feel the pain lessening, and the bruise was clearing up remarkably quickly. Yet as Wendy said, there was no pain, only an odd, yet nice tingling sensation as his body was repaired. The girl now had a determined look on her face as she was healing Garion. Carla, who'd been standing watch, turned around to look at the pair.
"Be careful to not overexert yourself child." She warned. "You need to conserve your energy to heal others as well."
"I know Carla." Wendy said, giving a quick nod of her head. After a few more moments, she cancelled her magic and leaned back, lifting her arm to wipe at her forehead, exhausted yet bearing a sense of accomplishment. Garion sat up and looked at his chest in amazement before gingerly lifting his hands to gently poke at the spot where his wound had previously been. Carla walked over and stood next to Wendy, her eyes on the dual element wizard.
"It's gone..." He whispered. "And it doesn't even hurt any more... it's like it was never even there..." Garion's voice was filled with awe. Not only had his injury been healed, but all exhaustion had been purged from his body. He felt like he'd just woken up from a really good sleep.
"See child?" Carla said, speaking in a somewhat reassuring tone. "If you hadn't been here, there wouldn't have been anyone able to save Garion."
Wendy glanced at her closest friend before lowering her head. "Yeah..." She said weakly as she looked at the ground.
"You're amazing Wendy..." Garion said, nothing but sincere honest in his voice. Wendy's head snapped up to look at the boy and her eyes widened as a blush exploded across her cheeks.
"W-What!? I... I..." The girl stammered nervously, having absolutely no idea how to reply to Garion's compliment. However, her heart fluttered for the briefest of moments. "I... I... n-no... b-but I d-didn't... really do much..." She said, not looking directly at Garion. Carla looked at her before letting out a sigh.
"What am I going to do with you child?" She asked with a hint of exasperation. Wendy suddenly slumped to the right, her arms outstretched to keep her from falling to the ground. Garion and Carla's heads snapped around to look at her, worry etched into their features.
"Are you okay?" Garion asked quickly, leaning forwards. Wendy looked at him and tried to smile.
"I... I...m fine..." She said. Garion narrowed his eyes.
"You're running low on magic power." He said. "Here." He extended his hand towards her. "I can give you some of my magic power to help." Wendy looked down at his hand before looking back at his face.
"You can transfer your own magic power to other people?" She asked, curiosity in her voice. She'd never heard of anyone who was able to do that. Garion nodded. Carla raised an eyebrow. Indeed... what an interesting ability...
"I did it earlier after we rescued you to try and help you wake up." The dual element wizard explained. "I can do it again now to help with your exhaustion." He smiled. "It won't take long."
"But what about you?" Wendy asked. "Won't that leave you just as tired as I am?" Garion shook his head.
"I actually have a large reserve of magic power, apparently." He explained. "Well... from what Levy tells me anyway, and that I seem to get it all back quite quickly too." The boy tilted his head. "So may I?" Wendy looked down at his hand and then back up at him.
"O-Okay." She said a tad bit nervously. Garion reached out and gently took hold of her wrist, prompting Wendy's heart to pound just a little bit louder. Garion frowned in concentration, and his wings appeared as he began the process. Wendy felt a steady flow of power from Garion to her start, and she felt slightly alarmed at how much he was giving her. After 10 seconds, he dispelled his wings and abruptly stopped the transfer. He lifted his head.
"There." He said with a smile. "All done. How are you feeling?" The boy asked. Wendy frowned slightly.
"I feel... fine!" She said. "It's as if I never even healed you. All my energy is back!" Her eyes widened slightly and she looked at Garion. "Thanks Garion!" She said, managing a smile. The boy's smile grew.
"It's the least I could do after you saved my life." He said. Wendy looked down and felt heat rise in her cheeks when she realised Garion was still holding onto her wrist.
"U-Um... Garion?"
"Yeah?"
"You're still... er..." She looked away bashfully. "Holding my wrist..." Garion blinked before looking down, and his eyes widened when he saw that he indeed was still holding her wrist.
For the first time in his life, Garion blushed because of physical contact with a girl. "S-Sorry!" He said nervously, quickly withdrawing her hand, yet an infinitesimally small part of him was a bit disappointed he'd had to let go. And for the briefest of moments, Garion's heart fluttered with a strange, yet not unpleasant warmth that was... rather nice...
"I-It's fine..." Wendy said. Where Garion had been holding her wrist now had an odd warmth present, it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't something she'd ever felt before. Carla suddenly cleared her throat loudly, drawing the attention of the two.
"If you two are done we have more pressing matters to attend to." She said, inclining her head towards the beam of light being produced by Nirvana, which had now turned white. "For instance, finding the others and stopping Nirvana." Garion and Wendy glanced at each other before they looked at Carla and nodded, both of them adopting determined expressions.
"Right." Wendy said, getting to her feet. Garion also rose to his feet.
"Yeah." He said. Carla then noticed the gaping hole in his shirt, and the sorry state of his clothing.
"I don't know if you've noticed Garion but your clothes aren't in very good condition." She said. Garion looked down and examined himself. After a few moments, he pulled his arms into his shirt and simply turned it backwards, the hole now over his right shoulder blade.
"Best I can do for now." He said. He took a step forward and sharply looked down when he heard his shoes squelch from the water trapped inside them. His determined expression faded and was replaced with one of minor disgust.
"Ew..." He said, the feeling of his feet encased in soggy shoes hardly a pleasant one.
"Well we don't have time for you to find a replacement set of shoes so you'll just have to deal with them for now." Carla said. She turned towards the pillar and activated her Aera magic and took off, and Garion and Wendy started following her as she headed in the direction of the pillar, the unpleasant sound of wet shoes filling the air each time Garion took a step. The discomfort was clear on his face, but he didn't say anything about it.
As they walked Wendy found herself glancing frequently at Garion and quickly looking away before he noticed. Despite barely having known each other for a day, Wendy felt like they were good friends already, but that wasn't why she was glancing at the boy so much. She was doing that because she was curious about Garion's magic. She'd never seen wings like the ones he had, and whilst Carla's look similar, she got the feeling that Garion's wings were more than just what they seemed to be. She wanted to ask him about them, but she couldn't muster the courage to do it, and she knew that there wasn't much time for conversation.
But she, in actuality, wanted to talk to him and not just walk to Nirvana in silence. So instead, she asked the first non-wing related question that came to mind.
"Where is your guild mark?" Wendy asked. Remembering that Garion had his guild mark in the middle of his wings, she felt embarrassment flush her cheeks and was about to speak but then he answered her.
"Here." He said, pointing to just under his collarbone on the right. "It points towards my heart, because Fairy Tail always is, and always will be in my heart, wherever I go." He explained with a smile.
"What colour is it?" The sky maiden asked.
"Light blue, just like my wings." Garion said.
"Why do you have your guild mark on your wings?" Wendy asked out of simple curiosity.
"I figured out I could change how my wings looked a few years ago, and I just put the guild mark on it since Fairy Tail is so cool!" The boy said excitedly. He turned his head and beamed at Wendy. "It's such a cool guild, I really want to show you what it's like!"
"Humph." Carl said, glancing back at the two. "I certainly hope Gray and Natsu are special cases in your guild. I can't imagine a guild full of people like them being able to function." Garion tilted his head as he looked at Carla.
"There's nothing wrong with Natsu and Gray." He said with a frown.
"Oh yes, certainly not." Carla said sarcastically. Garion looked up at the pillar of light and frowned as they walked.
"It's weird..." He said. "Even though I can't sense that far... I can tell Nirvana is giving off light energy instead of dark energy now..." His frown deepened. "But somehow... it still feels... evil..." Wendy and Carla shared a glance before they looked at Garion.
"Anything else you can tell us about it?" Wendy asked.
"It's... odd... the light magic feels just like other light magic but different... I can't explain how..." Garion looked at Wendy and Carla. "Can either of you sense i-" His eyes suddenly widened and he looked back at the pillar.
"What's wrong?" Wendy asked worriedly.
"The power... it's rising!" Garion said, fear in his voice. Carla and Wendy both gave Garion and each other worried looks, but before they could ask him anything the pillar's light increased in intensity and it grew in width. Garion, Wendy and Carla all looked at the pillar with fear and worry. "S-so much power!"
"A-Are we too late?" Wendy asked. Moments later, the ground began to shake violently as Nirvana began to awaken. Unfortunately, Garion, Wendy and Carla were standing atop one of its legs, and the three were hurled into the air as the leg burst free of the ground. Garion managed to stabilise himself in mid-air after a few seconds, Wendy was hurled into the air and screamed in freight until Carla managed to get a hold of her. Garion looked up as the leg rose into the air, and was barely able to dodge a chunk of falling earth. Thinking quickly, he flapped his wings and shot above the rising leg.
"Carla!" Wendy cried in relief.
"Don't worry I've got you!" Carla said reassuringly.
"Thanks!" Wendy said gratefully. Carla lifted the girl above the falling debris to where it was safe.
"Look over there!" Garion yelled, pointing towards a structure in the distance.
"What is it?" Wendy asked, squinting to try and see through the dust cloud.
"Could that be...?" Carla asked, fear in her voice. Garion glided over to the pair from Cait Shelter.
"Are you two all right?" He asked. The pair looked at him. Wendy nodded but offered a smile, Carla simply nodded before returning her attention to the massive structure in front of them. The trio let out gasps of shock when they took in just how massive of a structure Nirvana was. "T-That's Nirvana?" Garion asked. "It's huge!"
"Certainly." Carla said, not hiding her surprise.
"Carla, we're going up there." Wendy said in a determined voice. The white furred Exceed looked down at the girl she was holding.
"What are you talking about child? We can't go there! We don't know what kind of danger may await us!" Carla rebuked.
"We have to!" Wendy replied, more determination in her voice. "Carla, the others could be up there and might need our help!"
"Wendy is right." The two looked at Garion, determination mixed with a little fear visible on his face. "I still can't sense anything far away, but I just feel like Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and the others are on there." He looked at Nirvana before looking back at the two. The dual element wizard then smiled, but the look of determination was still on his face. "Our friends might need our help, and we have to help them!" He said.
Wendy nodded with determination. "Yeah. We have to do whatever we can to help." She looked back at Nirvana. "Come on Carla, we need to get over there!"
"Very well." The Exceed replied, but she sounded oddly suspicious. The trio began flying towards the massive structure, Garion in front. After a minute of flying, it was becoming clear that Carla was beginning to struggle with carrying Wendy. She did her best to hide it from the sky dragon slayer, but when she suddenly dipped, Wendy couldn't help but notice.
"Carla! Are you alright?" She asked panickingly.
"I'm... fine child... just... a bit hard... to... keep moving..." She said between breaths. Thankfully she was able to hold on, as the trio reached Nirvana just before Carla's wings gave out.
The Exceed fell over forwards, panting heavily. Wendy and Garion crouched down next to her, concern on their faces.
"I'm sorry that was so hard." Wendy said apologetically. "I wish I could help out more."
"It's no matter child we're here, and in one piece. Mostly." Carla said as she slowly got up.
"I can give you some magic power if you need it." Garion offered. Carla shook her head.
"That won't be necessary Garion." She replied. The Exceed then looked at Wendy. "But now that we've arrived what is it exactly that you plan to do?" She asked. Garion blinked and looked between the two, growing confused when he saw Wendy look away in shame. "You're trying to find Jellal up here aren't you?"
"I'm not!" Wendy snapped, looking back at Carla.
"Truthfully?" The Exceed asked, giving Wendy an almost sympathetic look. Wendy started but then looked away, raising a hand to her face which had a somewhat embarrassed look on it.
"Well... in a way I guess I am sort of." She said. The sky maiden then looked around at Nirvana. "But... this thing does have to be stopped... and now that we're here maybe there's something we can do to make that happen."
"Yeah!" Garion said enthusiastically. Carla gave a small smile and looked away.
"Maybe..." She said. Wendy then gave a happy smile which changed to a look of confusion when she saw the look of horror on Carla's face. Garion too was confused.
"Is something the matter?" Wendy asked. Carla didn't reply and simply got to her feet. She then slowly walked forwards.
"I don't know... I could be wrong..." The Exceed said. "Please don't tell me it's going where I think it is..." she said as she stopped at the edge of Nirvana, which was now on the move. Garion and Wendy moved up next to her, both looking confused.
"What do you mean?" Wendy asked, panicked. "Where do you think it's going?"
"If it continues to travel in the same course it is now... then very soon... it'll trample right over the home of the Cait Shelter guild." Carla said. Both Garion and Wendy were shocked as they looked out across the landscape that Nirvana was moving over.
"T-That can't be..." Wendy muttered. "Then that means... everyone at the guild... they won't..." She raised her hands to her face in shock.
"Then we have to stop this thing fast!" Garion said. Wendy and Carla looked at him and nodded, but Wendy was still shaking a bit.
"Agreed. We need to meet up with the others and work out a plan to stop Nirvana." Carla said, standing up. She jerked her head towards the city. "Let us hurry! Time is of the essence!" Garion nodded but glanced at Wendy, who too offered a quick, but nervous, nod. The group set off into the ruined city in search for their allies.
Along the way, Garion noticed the worried look on Wendy's face. "You're worried about your guild right?" He asked quietly. She nodded, her body still shaking a little bit.
"I really hope we can find a way to stop Nirvana... because otherwise... my guild... is in serious trouble..." The sky maiden said with fear in her voice.
"We will." Garion said with determination. "I may not be able to actually fight anyone in the Seis... but Wendy..." The sky maiden looked at him with slightly wide eyes. "We will stop Nirvana destroying your guild and hurting your friends." He gave her a comforting smile. "That's a promise." The boy said with a reassuring nod.
"T-Thanks Garion." Wendy said, giving the boy a small smile. His smile grew in response, and Wendy felt a little more at ease all of a sudden, the faint warmth fluttering in her heart again. A small part of her wondered what the feeling was, but it was pushed to the back of her mind due to the situation at hand.
Yet in Garion's heart, the same warmth had fluttered for the briefest of moments upon seeing Wendy's smile.
But all that could wait for later, as time was running short for the Cait Shelter guild, and each second wasted was one less in which the guild could be saved.
Sorry this is late, exams started and I've been kinda busy studying, so I kinda forgot to write for this. Anyway, bit of fluff, and Wendy and Garion have one on one chats again! Anyway, the next chapter will come out much earlier in the month, I promise. I feel guilty for not getting this done sooner, but I can make it up by getting the next one done as quickly as I can!
So anyway, for those of you up to date with the manga, here's my reaction to the most recent chapter at time of writing (Chapter 487):
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! FINALLY! HALLELUJAH, THANK YOU HIRO! NOW DON'T GO AND BE A D*** AND RUIN IT!
Okay that's done. So thank you all so much for reading, please drop a review telling me what you thought, and I'll be sure to see you in the next chapter!
Adios!