Disclaimer: I don't own anything, really.
So! I have plenty of notes for you guys.
READERS:
Do I HAVE to make this LaLu? Honestly, I'll ship Lucy with anyone (reasonable) if it makes sense in the story. I am in NO WAY loyal to Laxus and Lucy (oh, I'm sure some of you want to slap me for that), I just figured with the first version of this that with their respective ages since Lucy continued aging he made the most sense. And I had noticed that there weren't many LaLu stories, so I thought I might as well contribute.
If you guys are going to make me, be warned, this story won't be nearly as focused on Lucy as the other two versions. Obviously she'll still be a main character, but Wendy is where I want to focus more. So even if it stays LaLu, the pairing won't be particularly important. Not that there was all that much of a focus on them in the other story…what can I say, romance isn't really my area.
Oh, and I'm heavily reconsidering Gruvia. That's not really a ship of mine, either. I like both of their characters, I just don't particularly think they'd make a good couple. I'm open to other options for them, if anyone has any suggestions. Heterosexual, homosexual, whatever. Maybe Cana x Juvia? Gratsu? No Gray x Lyon, though.
Molly (Guest):
Well that was rude. Also, judgmental.
You do realize absolutely no one is forcing you to read this? If you don't like the fact that I'm re-writing it, you can…guess what…not read it.
Like I've said multiple times before, I fully plan on CONTINUING with the second version of the story. You'll still have more content to read, I'm not abandoning it, I'm just not focused on it at the moment. Yes, this is me re-writing Aurora again, not because I'm not satisfied with the second version, but because I wondered how the story would change if Wendy was also sent to safety and wanted to explore that.
It WILL be different. Crap-load of new characters, different pairings (very few couples are entirely safe from my shipping ways), more villains…sorry you've managed to decide I won't be making any changes despite this version being seven chapters long so far whereas I've only re-written three chapters, meaning there's already MORE CONTENT.
As for moving on to tell another story, why do you think there are sometimes really long gaps between my updates for the Aurora story? BECAUSE I MOVED ON, at least for the time being. I do have other stories up here. And ones that I don't post that also distract me. Just because I don't end a story doesn't mean I don't have others.
Oh well. I'm still writing this regardless of your review, so do whatever. Keep reading, only read version 2, stop reading altogether because you're pissed off at me…your choice.
Enjoy, everyone!
Wendy's fists clenched as she saw Lucy, pale and unconscious in the uncomfortable looking hospital bed.
She lifted her hand automatically, gathering her magic so that she could heal her, when Jellal gently took her wrist.
"There's nothing to heal." He explained quietly, not wanting to rouse the blonde from her much needed sleep. "She's not hurt."
"Then why…?" Wendy's teeth clenched.
"Magical exhaustion." Jellal explained. "Something about a lost spell…"
"Urano Metria." Wendy realized. "Why would that put her into magical exhaustion, though? She's used it before! With Gemini's help, it shouldn't have been a problem…"
"She cast it alone." Jellal shook his head. "Twice."
Wendy's eyes widened, remembering how much magic power Hibiki had mentioned the spell took back when the Alliance had regathered before her former guild was discovered to be nothing but the magic of a memory.
*sigh*
"Twice." Wendy repeated dully. "By herself."
Jellal nodded. "She's been working to get stronger."
"So have I.' Wendy muttered. "But I haven't put myself in the hospital!"
She had also never dealt with true magical exhaustion, considering all she had to do to draw in more magic was breathe a little differently than usual. She definitely had it easier than Natsu and the others when it came to their elements.
"You drank poison." Jellal pointed out dryly. "Willingly. I think it's comparable."
Wendy winced, before protesting weakly. "I hadn't had much chance to work with poison! Porlyusica thought it was a good idea!"
Jellal raised a single eyebrow, skeptical.
From what he knew, Porlyusica had indeed agreed that learning how to deal with poison was practical. However, he doubted that the woman meant for the blunette to test it out on herself, no matter how much humans annoyed her.
Luckily, the Sky Dragon Slayer knew exactly what he was thinking, because now she had a sheepish and resigned expression on her face, as well as a slightly guilty look in her eyes, presumably for being slightly hypocritical of Lucy's…uh, work ethic.
"Okay, so I don't have any room to talk." She admitted aloud, sitting down gently on the bed beside Lucy, placing a hand on her friend's arm to see if she could sense any injuries that needed healing, despite Jellal's reassurance that she wasn't hurt. "We'll have to keep an eye on her, though."
Jellal gave her a fond smile, appreciating the 'we' part of her statement.
It still baffled him that the two girls had accepted him as their surrogate brother (a sentiment he quickly grew to return once his guilt complex had abated slightly when it came to them), but he wouldn't give it up for the world.
It…was nice to have a family again, since he had destroyed…of his own volition or otherwise…his old one.
"I'll offer to train her in some other type of magic." He said after a long moment. "Thought Projection, maybe Heavenly Body, since her magic is related to the stars already. Maybe it'll distract her for a while."
Wendy nodded in agreement, thinking to herself that learning an entirely new type of magic and taking a break from her Sky Dragon Slayer magic might be a good idea. She didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to wear herself out, so a chance of pace sounded nice.
Macao's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he read the day's newspaper.
"Grand Magic Games?" he murmured quietly.
"Eh?" Wakaba asked, turning to him.
"The kingdom is throwing some kind of tournament-style event for the legal guilds." Macao explained, showing his friend the title of the article. "The prize is 30,000,000 Jewels. On the one hand, that would go a long way to make sure we stay out of debt. On the other…well, our strength isn't quite what it used to be."
Wakaba hummed thoughtfully. "Eh, I wouldn't quite say that. Now we have Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy, and both Wendy and Lucy are getting stronger every day. Won't be long until they surpass us."
Macao grimaced in reluctant acknowledgment.
If the Sky Dragon Slayer who had only just reached her teenage years was, as his friend said, seemingly soon to surpass them in strength, then what the hell was he still doing as guild master?
Wakaba, sensing the direction his friend's thoughts were taking, took it upon himself to flick the other man's head, earning himself a scowl, which he acknowledged with an innocent grin.
"You're right." Macao said after another few minutes, back straightening as new confidence filled him. "Fairy Tail is the strongest guild in Fiore; our reputation wasn't only being upheld by Natsu and the others! And this will prove it!"
Lucy gaped at Wendy, who was laying across from her on the other side of the train compartment.
Wendy…was motion sick?
"B-but—" the blonde stuttered, surprised. "You've never had issues with transportation before! I thought it was just Natsu!"
The dark haired blunette gave out a high-pitched keening sound of discomfort, hand going up to cover her mouth as she tried to force down her nausea.
She hadn't had much hope when she tried getting her Troia spell to work for her, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
"I'll go ask a staff member if there's any ginger ale on board." Jellal said with a frown, concerned.
"Maybe it's a puberty thing?" Ultear mused, causing both Meredy and Wendy to shift uncomfortably (or more uncomfortably).
Lucy, for her part, was just glad that the Arc of Time mage had waited until Jellal had left before saying that. The poor man would've been red for the rest of the ride, she was sure.
"I don't think so." Wendy groaned out. "Natsu told me he's had motion sickness since he was a little kid, much younger than I am now."
"Hm." Lucy tapped her lips thoughtfully, theories running through her mind. "When did you start getting motion sick?"
Wendy sighed, trying to think past the horrible feeling.
"I don't know." She admitted after a long moment. "Sometimes I would get a little dizzy, but I thought it was just because of flashbacks from Erza's driving. This is the first time I've been on transportation in a while…probably since before…well, before Tenrou."
It went quiet for a moment as memories flashed before their eyes.
"Maybe it's a strength thing?" Meredy wondered. "Natsu was always wanting to get stronger so he could beat the S-Class mages, right? Wendy's been training really hard…"
"Possibly." Lucy admitted. "I'm not sure, though…I don't think Gajeel has motion sickness, and he's older than Natsu. Probably."
Not that anyone knew quite how old they were. Or Wendy, for that matter. She just declared herself 13 on the anniversary of the day Grandineey had found her, but who was to say she had been born that day?
Ultear's lips twitched in amusement. "If your theory is right, that would mean Wendy is stronger than that blockhead."
Wendy snorted at the thought. As if.
When Jellal came back, unfortunately without any ginger ale (and irrationally apologetic about it), it was to find all but Wendy holding back snickers as the Sky Dragon Slayer rolled her eyes at them.
Women were so confusing…it was times like these he really appreciated Erza's straightforward attitude and blunt honesty.
He tried to ignore his heart clenching at the thought of the scarlet-haired Requip mage.
Wendy's breath caught as the Domus Flau coliseum came into view.
"Wow." Lucy and Meredy breathed out from either side of her, just as entranced.
Even Jellal and Ultear, who had seem some pretty impressive places during their time as members of the Magic Council, were at least a little bit awed.
They blinked in confusion as a strange little…man? Creature? Well, as a little figure in a pumpkin-themed outfit conducted the opening ceremonies.
Kagura seethed as she caught sight of that woman standing over with Fairy Tail.
Ultear Milkovich…the woman who had, if indirectly, caused her brother Simon's death.
She understood that Jellal Fernandes, who she had previously held responsible, was innocent. He had willingly testified under truth serum, and her friend Millianna's stories of him from when they were kids helped her accept the situation.
The woman who had been the one to possess Fernandes, however…that was another story.
Now, Kagura was a sensible young girl, or so she thought. So she was more than aware of the fact that while she might be considered a prodigy by some, she wasn't strong enough to face a woman who was powerful enough to have been a councilmember, much less one with an entire guild backing her, including another former councilmember who had previously been one of the ten Wizard Saints.
However, someday…someday her blade Archenemy would finally taste the blood it craved.
She merely had to be patient.
Her time would come.
Hisui, crown princess of Fiore, brought a hand up to cover her gasp of surprise as Fairy Tail's Lucy Heartfilia was called up to participate in one of the events.
She had known that Fairy Tail had a strong Celestial Spirit mage amongst them, considering the fact that her father always brought up the 'news' reported by Sorcerer Weekly magazine, especially concerning Celestial Spirit mages like Hisui herself, but the sight of so many keys on her keyring was a shock, to say the least.
That, combined with the fact that she was the daughter of one of Hisui's friends and 'caretakers', Jude Heartfilia…
Well, let's just say she paid more attention than normal whenever the blonde mage 'came up to bat', so to speak.
Chelia Blendy watched in complete and utter awe as she watched a young mage only a few years older than her hold her own against a much older opponent, eating the very air around her to recharge her magic.
She thought back to the book on Sky God Slaying magic that her older cousin's guild master had offered to her as a bribe to join Lamia Scale.
On the one hand, Chelia had no idea what Obaa-sama saw in her, to offer to let her learn a Lost magic, and she had noticed Sherry's huffiness when the old woman brought it up, not wanting Chelia's childhood to end prematurely like most children who grew up in magic guilds.
On the other hand, Chelia spent all of her time in the Lamia Scale guild hall anyway, so she doubted her officially joining would make any difference.
That, and watching the Fairy Tail mage, Wendy Marvell, soar gracefully through the air, dodging attacks effortlessly, not having to worry about running out of magic…
Would it be too terrible of her to want to be strong like her? To want to dance through the skies?
'Sherry will probably lecture me a lot.' Chelia thought with a sigh, deciding to join Lamia Scale once the games had ended with a winner decided.
In the meantime, she would cheer for both Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail.
After all, the old lady couldn't shout about her betraying a guild that she hadn't even joined yet.
Please review! :)
I won't go into much detail on this year's Games. Raven Tail is still a dark guild, Sabertooth isn't up to par yet, the Eclipse Project is years away from being a problem...not nearly as convoluted as it will be later.
