Chapter four of Okator Arc; An intrusion.
On the outskirts of Camellia Village, a quiet little farming hamlet west of the Loire, resided the North family farm. Its golden fields stretched across the Flatlands bordering Redwood. The farm house itself was rather small, hand built from the crumbling barn it had been by the Midian man who bought the land. A small worn down path ran past the property and straight into the woods where it would lead up to the old little cottage where his wife had plied her trade for many years. Now that cottage was abandoned. Nobody walked the path anymore to see the Love Witch. If one were to follow it now and pass the cottage entirely, they'd continue up through the woods till they reached the grove where the Love Witch and her husband were buried.
Rosemary North knelt in front the graves of her grandparents. A small stick of incense was burning by her side as she laid her forehead down to the earth. Her grandfather, she had never known. A strong man who had migrated his family north from the southern kingdom of Midi, up through perilous Minstrell and into prosperous Fiore. Joining the farmers guild in the Flatlands he'd sowed a living for himself, his wife and young daughter only to die a few years later, never to see his precious farm become the dream he desired.
The money her grandma earned telling the romantic fortunes of all those who visited went towards running the farm. The proceeds of her mother's music was invested in the farm's prosperous future. The Jewels Rory made in her shadows kept the debt collectors at bay. The North farm may have been bought and built by a man, but it's survival rested on the shoulders of three generations of North women all doing what they could to keep his dream alive.
Rory sat up, inhaled the smoking incense and bowed forward again. It had been a while since she'd been back at the farm. Her life in Crocus kept her more than busy. First she was paying her respects to the dead. Then she will visit the church and pay her respects to the priest. Then it would back to the farm for dinner. Her sister Lavender was thrilled to see her returned. She assumed Rory was back visiting for her birthday. The truth was Rory had completely forgotten.
She breathed in. She breathed out. The guilt gnawed at her. Her apartment in Crocus had been searched, assumingly by wizards hoping to claim a three million Jewel reward. With the city no longer safe, Rory retreated back to the farm, fleeing the guild wizards after her. She'd thought only of herself, but Lavender assumed she was back to celebrate her fourteenth birthday.
She supposed she should be thankful for the timing. Had she missed Lavender's birthday entirely the guilt would have been much worse. This bounty was a blessing in disguise. Working as Duchess was no longer possible with both legal guilds and underworld out for her reward. It meant she could slip back into being Rory North for a week or two till the whole cult thing blew over. Or at least till Raven and Doc found a good enough safe house that wasn't going to be leaked.
She sat up again and looked at her grandmother's grave. She'd dug it herself along with Fen and Lavender, as par the Midian tradition. The three of them have never been to their mother's or grandparent's homeland, but their childhood was heavily immersed in the culture and traditions of the tiny southern nation. And they honoured their Midi heritage just as much as their Fioran nationality.
It was a Midian grave, identical to the one next to it. It bore no Headstone, instead a long pole stood from the ground, her family's Midian house symbol carved into the top. A small fox like animal with large pointed ears. Carved along the shaft of each pole was writing. It bore the names and dates of her grandparents written in the characters of the Midian dialect, the only distinguisher between the graves.
Rory had never quite decided if, when she died, she would follow the traditions of a Midi burial and lay with her grandparents or if she would have a Zentopian funeral and be buried in a graveyard. Whether her last remaining mark in this world would be a headstone or a cane. Her mother, she knew from her will, was to have a Fioran service in the local church. But her children were to burn incense for her by her mother's grave, to honour her roots.
She bowed one last time and muttered a prayer in Midi to her ancestors and to the spirits. She prayed for wisdom and guidance. She asked for blessing on her chosen path. She knew her grandmother could hear her. Whether she would bother to answer was another question entirely. Rory had never quite decided where her beliefs fully lay; with the Zentopian God (or any type of God for that matter) or with the spirits worshiped in the south. But she figured it couldn't hurt to pay homage to both.
She began the long walk back to the farm house, out of the woods, across the golden fields and wooden fences, back to the Old Barn that was her childhood home.
The circular gray stone kitchen of The Old Barn was thick with aromatic spices that came wafting out of the large pot on the stove. At the centre of the room was huge wooden table, its surface old and worn from years of stains and carvings etched into its soft wood. Like a universe orbits around one pivotal point, life at the Old Barn farm house revolved round its kitchen, and its kitchen around this old, battered furniture. This table was where everything came together; family, fights, food. Across its surface were scattered papers, books, the odd shuriken, nail vanish and a bowl of untouched fruit sitting at its centre, a sign attached to the top orange reading; warning do not eat this fruit.
At one of cushioned chairs sat a young girl in her school uniform. Her skin was a rich brown and freckled, her afro-like curly hair was a vivid shade of lavender and pulled haphazardly back into two low bunches. She wore gale-force reading glasses over her own blue spectacles, her purple eyes the exact same shade as her hair, and was staring intently at a colourful magazine on the table. Her attention only broke when the back door opened.
Lavender North looked up as her sister entered the room, a basket full of herbs over her arm, and her face split into a toothy, brace filled smile. It was not a common sight, her sister returning and Lavender learned early on to appreciate each moment Rory came back.
"That's a good look." Rory said dryly, nodding at the doubled up glasses.
"The next issue of Sorcerer weekly arrived." Lavender explained lisping slightly (somewhere within early childhood she had picked up a lot more 'th's than other children) and pushed the magical specs to the top of her head. "You back from visiting grandma? Did she visit you or is she still sulking?"
Rory hummed back a vague no, dumping the basket on the table. She leaned down over Lavender's shoulder and inspected the magazine on the table. The page was opened on a spread of three, very good-looking, very familiar mages all posing for the camera. To one side of the page was an interview with the three with a small black and white picture of the writer, Jason, in the bottom corner.
"The Trimens." Lavender sighed dreamily, resting her chin on her hands. "They're so hot."
"And so too old for you." Rory reminded her bluntly, flicking over the next few pages that seemed to the be dedicated the boys talking about their 'perfect woman'.
"Nuh-uh! Eve's only sixteen. That's like two years difference. Totally acceptable." Lavender argued. Rory smiled at her insistent gaze, and continued flicking through the magazine searchingly.
"Oh, I already took the bikini spreads out for you." Lavender told her. "They're on your bed. I figured you'd want to examine them in a more private environment."
Rory laughed at her cheeky tone. "You know me so well." She shook her head and began sorting through the herbs in the basket. Lavender returned to her page on the Blue Pegasus mages and sighed wistfully.
"Wouldn't it be, like, the most perfect birthday ever if I got to meet them?" She mused. Her eyes flicked up suddenly to her sister. "Steal them for me?"
"And why would I do that?" Rory asked lightly, bunching piles of rosemary in her hand and adding it to the cupboard.
"Early birthday present?" Lavender offered, her eyes twinkling behind her large blue glasses.
"Can't." Rory sighed with exaggerated regret. "I've already gotten you your early birthday present."
Lavender immediately jumped up with excitement, magazine forgotten. With a grin, Rory put aside the basket and reached for her bag that hung from one of the chairs. Lavender gasped when her sister retrieved her gift.
"An authentic Joyan hunting knife!" She exclaimed, examining the bone blade and wooden hilt. "The goat herders use these up in the mountains. Where'd you get it? The Merchants don't bother selling them in Fiore!"
"Eh, found it somewhere." Rory shrugged. She'd actually accidentally stolen it from a Joyan embassy last spring (long story, and yes, you can steal stuff by accident-it is a thing). She'd never actually intended for it to be Lavender's 'early' birthday present, although she'd always meant to give it to her. Now she was glad she forgot to gift her sister earlier as the blade served as a good emergency birthday backup. "Is it worthy of the collection?"
Lavender frowned, her perfect freckled forehead wrinkling. She flicked the knife and sunk with a heavy clunk into the windowsill across the room. She tucked a stray wild curl behind her ear and slow languorous grin spread across her face. "Yeah, it'll do." She said with only a hint of sadism.
Rory stared at her beautiful, dorky and moderately terrifying younger sister, who looked so much like their mother it hurt. Behind the braces, glasses and frumpy school jumper and tie her sister was the twin of their once glamorous mother, except where her namesake hair and eyes were Lavender purple, Amora North's was a deep love-heart pink. At least her hair had been, nowadays, her mother's colouring had faded somewhat, and her gloriously pink eyes had lost their shine. A shine, that her younger sister had inherited.
Rory sometimes wished she looked more like her mother like Lavender did. She'd inherited her grandmother's broody grey eyes, and short stout stature, but in essence she was the mix-match combination of her two parents. Her brother took entirely after their father with fair features and broad face and Lavender was their dark Midi mother. Rory just seemed to sit somewhere in between, neither one nor the other. Her complexion was olive skinned and freckled, but then her hair was blond. Her nose had her father's impish curve at the end but then her mouth was thick and full, the top lip curving shapelessly. As they had simplistically described themselves as children, Fen was the white bread, Lavender was the brown bread and Rory was the golden toast in between.
"Hey before you go to church could go collect some of the mushrooms on the edge of Redwood?" Lavender asked, breaking Rory's train of thought. "I was going to ask you before you went to grandma's but I kind of forgot." She grinned sheepishly, her hand splayed on the magazine.
Rory groaned at her; she'd just been to Redwood! She glanced at the clock; Late afternoon, she still had time. With an annoyed sigh she grabbed her cane from besides the door and headed out without a word. Lavender's awkward apologetic "sorry!" following her out.
And thus the trek back to the woods began. Across the dusty yard and chickens, past the herb garden and through meadows, she hit the barely fields and carried on walking, the woods looming ever closer on the hills on the horizon. Behind her the house and fence didn't seem that far away. The distance between the Old Barn and the Redwoods was always further than it looked.
It was as Rory was jumping over a sty that it all went tits up. As soon as her hand left the wood and huge wall of code sprang up along the fence. The purple lettering created a barrier between the two fields. Rory blinked at it. The lettering faded. She frowned. Slowly Rory put up her hand and tried to stretch it out back into the previous field. The magic sprang back up again and her hand hit the barrier.
Rory tried opening a portal into the field. She never liked using magic at home, it never really felt right, but this situation was an obvious acception to the rule. The blue disc appeared next to her. But when she stuck her arm through, it was like nothing happened. She was still in the same field. Rory cocked her head.
"Huh."
Rory stared thoughtfully at the fence. She tried opening a portal for the farmhouse. Again the portal materialised but the gateway didn't open. She tried a clear portal and summoned up an image of the farm house just fine, the hens poked about in the yard and smoke rose from the singular chimney. However when she tried to open up the portal gate she couldn't pass through.
Rory looked back at the fence. She deliberated for a moment then ran at it at full pelt. She jumped ready to vault over it, hit the wall of code and was thrown backwards on to her ass. It was only then that she started to panic.
"Rosemary!"
She looked up to see Lavender running towards her in the opposite field, frying pan in hand.
"Wait no Lavender don't!" Rory cried throwing out her hands. Lavender skidded to a halt in front of the fence, perplexed. She shifted and glanced over Rory's shoulder.
"Are you okay? Tsuki sensed an influx of magical energy nears the woods, I came to bring you home." Lavender said, her frying pan brandished and ready.
In the face of situations where one may or may not have cause to panic, Rory's mind liked to hone in the simple, little things, instead of accommodating the grand scale. So instead of getting up immediately, game face on and war mind read, Rory blinked stupidly at her sister. "Tsuki sensed a magical energy influx so you brought a frying pan?"
Lavender looked down at her weapon and flushed slightly. "There wasn't anything else!"
"You have a knife collection. I literally gave you a new knife ten minutes ago."
Lavender pulled a face at her sister. "You know as well as I do blades are no use against the wolves. Now come on, get off your ass and lets go home before something bad happens."
"It's already happened." Rory muttered, getting to her feet. "And it's not the wolves."
"It's not? Oh thank Zentopia!" Lavender sagged breathlessly against the fence, relief momentarily crippling her. The frying pan hung loose by her side. "Still lets go home."
"Yeah I don't think that's possible." Rory lifted her hand and placed against the magic barrier between the two of them. The wall of code reappeared. It was like they were looking at each other through a glass wall. One that someone had rudely graffitied on in purple gibberish.
Lavender surveyed the magic and cocked her head.
"Huh."
Her own experimentation with the magic seal was cut short however when five wooden blocks floated up near them, rather like totem heads, each with little faces painted on them. "Found her found her" They whispered, buzzing round Rory's head, knocking at her hat.
"Hey get away!" Rory battered them away from her head, scrambling backwards.
"Woah they're creepy." Lavender commented, watching with raised eyebrows. When one of the floaty-things approached her she yelped and bashed it with her frying pan, shuddering the way one might at an insect or spider. This was apparently the wrong move as the heads began to glow and form a line, muttering to themselves.
"Lavender~" Rory said warningly as a green orb of light began to appear amongst them, "Duck!"
The green orb formed a blast of magical energy and it charged straight at Lavender's head. She screamed and hid behind her frying pan, the green light glancing off its surface and flew straight at Rory who bent backwards to avoid it, swearing heavily. "Sorry!" Lavender cried awkwardly as Rory yanked her across the fence and then ran down the path, the heads floating after them.
"What even are those things!" She shouted as Rory pulled along the hedge side path. "I swear I recognise them from somewhere!"
"Dunno but they don't seem to like me very much!" Rory brought them round the corner and they skidded to a halt.
Crap.
Standing on the grassy raised ground in front of them stood three ominous figures, two men with a women in between. Their shadows stretched across the ground, turning the land black. The dolls immediately flew up to one the men, who was wearing a strange blue armour reminiscent of a knight's with a visor covering his eyes. "Found her found her"
"Well done my babies!" The guy praised them, his tongue waggling out of his mouth, a black, horribly familiar mark stamped across it.
"And here I was thinking Titania would get to her first." The woman in the middle drawled. Her green dress, glasses and first impression of high-class superiority reminded Rory vaguely of Doc. "Well done Bickslow. Now we get that reward all to ourselves, and I get to prove to Titania that I am the better fairy."
The other man in the long red coat and vivid green hair that fell down to his legs frowned down at them. "Whilst it appears my magic seal has worked in negating the magic of her portals, I did not calculate for the other girl. It appears our thief has an accomplice."
Lavender looked ready to die when the three of them turned their attention to her. Her purple eyes were the size of saucers and she stared gloriously up at them through her amass of curls that had come loose from her bunches. "The Thunder God Tribe." She whispered in awe.
Rory pulled her back when she subconsciously began to walk towards them, arm outstretched. "Yeah Lav, I don't think they like me very much either." She warned, her eyes flicking about nervously. Behind and across a meadow stood Redwood looming on the horizon. Behind the trio of wizards before them was the Old Barn, hidden by the rise of the hill. Rory didn't know how far the barrier that blocked their way home ran. These people must have tracked her back to her home somehow. Rory shifted her weight eyes, flicking about. She wondered if there were any more of them.
There came a wild shout from the sky and Rory looked up in horror at the figure of a man flying through the air, supported by a blue cat. It was only after he landed on the hill next to the other three, knees bent, hand braced on the floor, that Rory recognised his bright pink, spiky hair and fluttering scaly scarf.
Double crap.
Lavender gasped, spellbound. "Salamander, Natsu Dragneel and his cat!"
Natsu Dragneel grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Looks like you guys found her first. But no matter, I'm gonna be the one to kick her ass and bring her in. I can already taste that three million Jewel. Oh boy am I fired up now!" As if to emphasis his point his knuckles caught on fire.
"Aye sir!" His cat cried, looking down at the two girls with a grin. Lavender appeared to be going into a sensory overload. It didn't improve when a male voice shouted from behind the rise of the hill.
"Hey wait up ya pyro!"
And a feminine one added, "Natsu don't fly away again."
Three more figures joined the four on the hill. A shirtless guy Rory vaguely remembered, a fair blonde girl she sort of remembered and a demon she definitely remembered, their eyes meeting each other immediately. Lavender sucked in a huge rasping breath as if she was being denied air. "Gray Fullbuster! Lucy Heartfilia! Oh my Zentopia Titania Queen of the Fairies Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail!"
Shit.
Dread and fear was beginning to sink in now. She instinively pulled Lavender back again, eyes still locked with Titania's. "Okay they definitely do not like me."
Titania's eyes narrowed in on Rory, her sword pointing down at them imperiously. "Duchess you have been cornered. We have placed magical barriers around the area and you will not be able to portal away. You should save yourself the trouble and come quietly!"
Rosemary's response (which was to curse her violently in Midian) was interrupted however by a cry of horses and the sound of a whip that cracked through the air. A carriage came flying out of nowhere into the field, taking out half the hedge with them as the horses vaulted over the barrier. The cart swung round, toppling onto two wheels momentarily and was pulled to a stop on the hill. Behind the reins sat Ichiya Kotobuki.
(As the general unspoken laws of the universe decree, things in life will only ever go from bad to worse and the universe is, in fact, out to get you so it was only natural at that moment for the Blue Pegasus wizard to crash through a hedge and onto the scene from quite literally nowhere. It's a matter of science.)
"~Finally I have tracked the smell of your parfum and it mixes with the sweet scent of the lady Titania. Stay away scoundrel! I will not let you corrupt her scent any more. Men!~"He somersaulted down on to the grass, short stubby arms outstretched and on point. The door to the carriage burst open, with three young suited men climbing out.
"Excellent tracking skills lord Ichiya!"
"We are in awe of your excellence!"
(Again, their appearance is due to science.)
This apparently was the final straw for a lot of people. Lavender, with a squeal of hormonal euphoria, looked like she'd died and gone to Zentopia. Titania's stern demeanour broke and with a shudder running down her spine, she violently kicked Ichiya in the face as he tried to approach her and Rory stared horror-struck at the gathering and then looked at the sky as if to say ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Did she break a mirror and wasn't aware of it? No one could be this unlucky. Eleven wizards on her family farm and all she had to defend herself was her staff with a hyperventilating teenager and a frying pan. This had to be the worst day ever.
"Best. Day. Ever!" Lavender managed, her lisp more prominent with excitement. She couldn't have seemed more like a school girl right then if she tried, in her pleated skirt, frumpy blue jumper, shirt and tie. She pushed her glasses up her nose, looking about ready to get down on her knees in worship. "Are you guys, like, here for Rory? This has gotta be the greatest birthday present ever! I know I said I wanted to meet the Trimens, sis, but you didn't have to go and get two of Fairy Tail's strongest wizarding teams as well!"
"It was no problem." Rory mumbled weakly.
"I am, like, your biggest fan!" Lavender cried up at the surprised wizards. "I read all about you guys in sorcerer weekly! Oh my Zentopia I can't believe I got to meet you all in person! I'm Lavender! The girls at school are never going to believe this! Can I get your autographs?"
The wizards blinked down at them, taken aback by Lavender's enthusiasm. The blonde girl, Heartfilia was the first to speak, eyebrows raised suspiciously. "Is this some kind of tactic to throw us off or something?"
"Hhm," The guy with the long green hair deliberated, cupped his chin, "it appears the purple companion is nothing more than a harmless school girl, however appearances can be deceiving. I recall the word 'sis' being used, is it possible we have stumbled across our target in her familial environment?"
Rory did not like the sound of that word 'target' . She glanced at Lavender and then pushed her slowly behind her so she was partially blocked from the wizards. She raised her stick threateningly, searching nervously about for, well she wasn't quite sure what. She couldn't portal, she couldn't run but she couldn't get captured either.
"So this is your real face Duchess." Hibiki called, a beautiful sadistic smile across his face. "Or should I say, Rory?"
Rory gulped, behind her Lavender clutched on to her shoulders and whispered in awe "Hibiki Lates knows who you are!"
"'Know' is such a strong word." Rory managed back meekly.
Up on the hill, the shirtless guy called Gray turned to the suited Trimens. "Hey back off Blue Pegasus! Fairy Tail's got this one."
"Yeah we already have to split the reward with the stupid Thunder God Tribe." Heartfilia added. "I'm not losing any more rent money!"
"Without the Thunder God Tribe and Freed's barrier you would never have been able to trap her!" The woman in green with fairy wings bristled angrily back at the blond.
"~We have been tracking this girl's scent for the past week. If anyone should get the reward it shall be us men~" argued Ichiya, pirouetting back from where Titania had kicked him.
Wide eyed, Lavender hissed "Rosemary, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus are fighting over you."
"That's not a good thing Lav!" Rory admonished, struggling to keep the panic out of her voice. "They are here to capture me not give autographs!" Lavender gulped audibly and Rory saw her go tense out of the corner of her eye.
"Surrender now Duchess!" Titania shouted. "This need not come to bloodshed!"
"Says the one waving the sword." Rory yelled back, her eyes glancing from wizard to wizard, never keeping still. "Eleven to two doesn't seem that fair a fight. Who'd'a thought you legal guilds played dirty?" If this was the worst day of her life, then Rory had no intention of making any easier for the wizards.
"Who says we're all going to fight?" Grinned Salamander, cracking his knuckles. "I can take down the two all by myself. You're coming with us North!"
Lavender drew up beside her, having apparently finally grasped the gravity of the situation. "No one is taking my sister anywhere!" She called, brown skin flushing as she glared at Salamander. Rory felt a rush of affection as Lavender raised her frying pan against her idols and dream future husbands. She matched her little sister's stance, staff raised protectively, her other hand slid down the heel of her boot where she withdrew her dagger. The North sisters stood shoulder to shoulder, waiting.
Lavender spared her sister a glance and upturned her nose in a mixture of disgust and embarrassment.
"Seriously? You're bringing a bread knife and a stick to a magic fight?"
"You're bringing a frying pan!"
Lavender blew a random curl off her forehead. "Frying pans reflect concentrated magical energy, duh." She rolled her eyes. "Zentopia, did you ever listen to Grandma?"
They glared at each other, gaze broken only by the musings of the green guy, who by process of elimination must be Freed. "Interesting. Despite knowing her magic is rendered useless by my barrier and is staggeringly outnumbered, our little friends still insist on fighting."
"Well if they insist." A sadistic look flashed across Salamander's handsome face. He grinned, his fire burning higher and hotter."We can hardly deny them a fight!"
At the sight of the fire dragon's flames, Rory's bravado left her again. She'd gotten a face full of that fire a couple of weeks ago, and had no intention of feeling it again. She was back to where she started, terrified and out of ideas. Salamander began to walk forward saying "don't worry guys I got this one" when the air suddenly went dry and white and just when Rosemary thought it couldn't get any fucking worse.
"Moonblast!"
Beyond the rise of the hill and behind the wizards, shimming white light came out of the sky like meteors and bombarded them, encasing the wizards in a pearly white explosion that left white noise ringing in their ears. The magic faded slowly, the light ebbing away into the atmosphere and the wizards lay dazed and spread-eagled on the grass. All of them had been thrown off their feet and momentarily blinded. Even the cat had lost its wings and was mumbling in confusion on the ground.
Appearing over the break of the hill and stepping calmly over their bodies came an all too familiar woman. Beautiful and white, Tsuki Lua's long light blue hair blew slightly in the wind, the hem of her matching dress and white shawl ruffling around her. Rory had known Tsuki for what seemed like her entire life. The woman was adopted family in a sense. Her grandmother's apprentice, Tsuki had a rare gift for clairvoyance in dalliance with the moon. To Rory, all she ever seemed to do was give cryptic, vaguely accurate (only accurate because they're so cryptic!) predictions which apparently she received by studying the moon.
"There is no need to fight." Tsuki Lua said serenely, standing between the wizards and Rory and Lavender. Her voice washed over them, soothing and calm. The wizards stumbled back to their feet, dazed and even more confused at the appearance of the third woman. Rory just narrowed her eyes on her back, teeth grinding.
"Whatever quarrel you have with Rosemary there is no need to resort to violence." Tsuki told them, apparently opting to ignore how she had just blasted them off their feet. "Here on the Flatlands we like to resolve our conflict in much more peaceful manners. We have a hot pot bubbling in a kitchen and enough places for all who visit our humble little farm. Please," she added as the wizard stared at her in bemusement, "would you like to stay for dinner?"
Lavender, unable to help herself, yelled; "would you like to stay forever?" before Rory clamped a hand over her mouth.
"What are you doing Lua?" She hissed.
"Saving you from a hopeless situation." Tsuki snapped back with a glance over her shoulder. "I came as soon as I could; the moon warned me you were in danger."
Rory blinked at her. "It's broad fucking daylight."
Tsuki ignored her. Salamander finished shaking the ringing out his ears and pounced forward shouting "Now thats more like it! Three on one I'm all fired up!" And indeed he was, all fired up, as his literally ignited himself and yelled "Fire Dragon Roar!" And let out a whirlwind of swirling fire in their direction. Apparently dinner was not a conceivable option to him.
Rory could tell by Tsuki's recoiling body posture that the moon had not warned her to wear her fireproofs today. She swore under her breath, dropped her knife, lunged forward, dragged Tsuki back by her hair and threw up a portal, solidifying it just in time as Salamander's flames swirled against its blue walls. She felt the heat from his spell seep through her barrier. She stood, feet apart her staff held horizontally in front of her as if it were supporting her portal. The Fairy Tail wizards stared at this new development in confusion whilst Blue Pegasus seemed partly amazed and partly smug on Hibiki's account.
"A mage." He breathed, slowly grinning. "I knew it."
Rory suddenly remembered this was the first time they were witnessing her magic. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew Kohl was going to kill her for revealing her magic to another legal guild but the bewildered looks from the Fairies made it slightly worth it.
"Yo Freed I thought she couldn't use portal anymore!" The knight guy called Bickslow with the floating dolls heads and waggling tongue proclaimed, and his friend in the cocktail dress frowned.
"She shouldn't be able to block Natsu's attack!" The woman exclaimed.
Rory couldn't help but keep the satisfied smirk off her face as her eye caught Titania's. She winked. Titania fumed. "What?" Rory goaded. "You didn't think this was going to be easy did you?"
"It appears my barrier only stops her from opening the portal gate." Freed mused, hand on chin, frowning. "She is still perfectly capable of manifesting her magic into a physical form."
"~The parfum of your magic is a familiar one! We shall not forget it again. Men!~"
Ren scoffed and turned his body to the side, posing as he said "A powerful portal mage. I find that rather attractive in a women. Well if you're in to that sort of thing."
"Stop flirting with the target!" scolded Heartfilia from the other side of the hill.
Ren gave her a hard look and flicked his hair. "Jealousy does not become you Miss Lucy."
Salamander was gazing at Rory and the portal, a calculating look on his face. The idea of that guy actually thinking was just as terrifying as his fire. Rory wasn't even sure if he was hearing any his comrades conversation. He was close enough to give the wall a tap. It didn't make sound, but Rory felt its reverberations, the motion rippling through her portal. In retrospect she was pretty sure this wasn't what the spell was supposed to be used for. But as soon as she discovered she could summon closed gate, solid portals, really what else was she going to do other than use it to create impromptu emergency shields. After all the best part of magic was learning to think outside the box with it. Portal was technically just one spell, but after years of using it Rory had created loads of different variations and uses for the singular magic.
"So it's a shield." Salamander surmised, gleefully. "Guess I'll just have to break it down." And he began punching the portal with fiery fists, looking like the was having the time of his life.
"Finally something to do!" Cried shirtless Gray. "Ice make Canon!" A huge white, snowy barrel appeared over his shoulder as he sank down to one knee, one eye closing as he took aim. "Hey move out the way flame brain!" And Rory braced for impact.
Behind her Lavender appeared to have gone back into fan girl mode now the immediate threat of her sister's abduction was moderately quelled. Rory didn't dare spare a look behind her as Lavender simpered pathetically but she just knew the sound had something to do with the way Gray's abs clenched every time he fired an ice canon ball at her portal. With battle cry roar, Titania changed armour and leapt against the blue wall, attacking it with a sword that was double her height.
"Don't think you can out show me up Titania!" Fairy cocktail dress woman cried, pushing up her glasses. "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
The all too familiar cries of "Aerial Blast!" and "White Fang!" joined the mix and Bickslow began arranging his weird floating doll things into a spinning formation, the green magical blast growing between them. Ichiya popped the cork off a purple vial, the Freed bloke drew his sword. Hibiki was typing furiously into his archive magic and Rory had the sinking feeling that he was probably uploading this to his database and analysing her portal which was probably going to be a very bad thing at a later date and Heartfilia drew a golden Key shouting "I want in on that action! Open Gate of the Scorpion; Scorpio!"
In the onslaught of eleven different types of magic Rory decided this just wasn't her day. Lavender was apparently torn between euphoric fan and fearful younger sister and was switching between the two faster than a lacrima vision change over. Apparently, to Rory's satisfaction is wasn't Heartfilia's day either, as her key failed to produce.
Heartfilia stared in confusion at the space in front of her key where her celestial spirit should have materialised. Instead she received a wall full of Freed's code. "Hey what's going on?" She cried, key still thrust out into the air. "Open Gate of the Scorpion; Scorpio!" Nothing happened.
"It appears your celestial gates work the same way as portal gates." Hibiki told her, the screen of his archive magic analysing Freed's barrier, which just too far away for Rory to read. "With Freed's barrier keeping the gates closed you can't summon any of your spirits."
"You mean I can't open a celestial gate?" Lucy repeatedly dumbly, the concept evidently not sinking in.
Rory couldn't help but shout "Sucks doesn't it?" up at the blonde and received a dirty look in return.
"So Rosemary," Tsuki started almost conversationally behind her, "is there a reason why there are eleven legal guild wizards on our farm trying to arrest you?"
"Not that I'm totally complaining." Lavender added.
Rory grimaced as the wizards sent another wave of attacks against the portal. Her arms were beginning to ache from being held aloft. And from the fact she was being attacked by eleven different forms of magic. "What did the moon not tell you Tsuks?" She sneered.
Tsuki gave out a withered, tired sigh. "What did you do Rosemary?"
"Why does everyone assume I did something?" Rory cried angrily. She didn't like the condescending note in Tsuki's tone. Like Rory was the young child who'd gotten into trouble again.
"Whatever you did do you wanna do it again on my birthday?"
"Shut up Lavender." Rory and Tsuki both snapped at the same time. Rory looked round to glare at Tsuki, no longer paying attention to Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus. "I raided a dead guy for his dagger for Bosco and now his cult following have sent out a three million Jewel bounty for my capture, happy?"
Whatever Tsuki was, Rory never found out as a loud howl rose from behind them. Out of the Redwoods. And Rory swore for a second her heart stopped. Her eyes were still on Tsuki's and she watched the sound register on her face and her blue eyes fill with terror. Tsuki's expression mirrored her own. There was no denying that Rory had heard the howl. And that it was close.
The wizards drew back from their attacks, looking to the trees.
"The hell was that?" Asked shirtless Gray.
Titania frowned. "Local wildlife?" She guessed.
Even as they spoke, the answering howls rose up from the trees; a symphony of death to Rory's ears. She closed her eyes to the sound, as it sent chills down her spine. A couple of seconds ago her body had been pumping with adrenaline, blood in her ears and heart impersonating the beat of an Encan war drum. Now every was still and quiet. She could still only hear the rush of her blood and the exhale of her breathe but it was colder now. Her mind was numb and clear. Amazing how much a mood can be changed in a split second.
"B-but it's still daylight." She heard Lavender say, confusion mixing with fear. "It's still daylight."
"It must be increase in magical energy." Rory sensed rather than heard Tsuki move to stand between Lavender and Redwood. They were surrounded on both sides now. "These wizards are drawing them out." She heard Tsuki explain. Rory opened her eyes, looking clearly ahead at the wizards who had gone still. They must be sensing something was wrong. Salamander was sniffing the air, his muscles tensing up.
"Lavender go back to the farm house."
The order left no room for discussion. Rory didn't look back at her sister, to the Redwoods as she spoke her eyes finding Titania's again and stayed there.
"But-"
"Your sister's right Lavender. " Tsuki said, facing the treeline. "Go back to the farmhouse."
Lavender whirled between her two sisters. The real one and honorary one. Her frying pan was limp at her side. "I can't leave you!"
"Lavender, mother is alone at the house right now." Rory tried to keep the fear from her voice. "Go now. Go back, run straight there and barricade the doors. Get mum and go down to the basement."
"But what about you guys? What about Fen?" Lavender cried.
"Fennel has the dog with him. He'll be fine." Tsuki replied firmly. If Lavender picked up on how she hadn't fully answered her she didn't say.
Another howl rose up from the woods.
"Lavender go now!" Rory barked, panic etching her words."Run!"
"How can I?" Lavender shouted back, gesturing at the portal and the wizards behind it, blocking the way back.
Titania was still gripping her sword, but it longer felt like it was pointed fully at her. "What's going on Duchess?" She asked, as her fellow guild members shifted subconsciously backwards. Away from the woods. Rory ignored how the Blue Pegasus men were trying to comfort Lucy. And how she shrugged them away. She ignored the blue cat that was talking insistently into Salamander's ear. How Bickslow brought his dolls in front of him, forming a line of defence in front of him and the Thunder God Tribe.
She looked Titania dead in the eye and pleaded with the enemy. "Please, let her pass Titania. She's just a child, she's not involved in any of this, let her go." There was a pause as what felt like a thousand words passed through their one look. "She's just a child." Rory repeated. Then Titania nodded and stepped back and Rory felt relief flood through her so she barely heard as Tsuki spoke to her sister.
"-Keep running and don't look back. Lock down every window and get your mother."
Lavender drew up beside Rory, her gaze flicking uncertainly from the woods to the wizards to Tsuki to Rory and back to the Redwoods. Rory was just about to snap at her again for lingering too long when Lavender swooped down and picked up her dagger, clutching it tightly in one hand.
"Here," She said, handing over her frying pan to Rory, shifting awkwardly, "it's better than a bread knife."
Then Lavender ran.
Her tiny form passed seamlessly through Rory's portal sending a ripple effect across the surface that a minute ago had been impenetrable to the wizards. The wizards parted slightly as she passed them. She looked even move like a child when next to them. Lavender sped past them then faltered, turning on whim, looking back one last time. Her afro purple hair bounced around her head, falling out of her bunches. Rory knew the look she was giving her. The when am I going to see my sister again look. Lavender decided against saying anything however because really what could be said? Lavender broke in to a flat out sprint and disappeared over the crest of the hill.
Rory felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease somewhat. Tsuki moved behind her till the stood back to back, Rory with her staff and frying pan, staring down the wizards, Tsuki with her eyes on the woods.
"Now what?" Rory said, grimly watching the wizards as they consulted between themselves, arguing and shouting. Complete idiots. Did they not realise how much danger they were in?
"I take it not being caught by those lot is part of the ideal plan?" Tsuki replied stiffly.
"It's a preference."
Another series of howls came from the woods. Alarmingly louder. "We're too close to the house." Tsuki muttered. "You need to draw them away from the land."
"And how do I do that?" Rory bristled, not liking how it was 'you' and not 'we'.
Tsuki shifted closer, she could feel the heat from her body at her back. "You do what you do best." She said calmly. "You run."
It was a loaded statement. Rory hated it but didn't have time to argue. "If I run I won't be able to keep up the portal." She warned. "They'll chase after me."
"That's the point. You'll get a head start, I'll hold them off as long as possible." Tsuki promised. Rory craned her round, looking at Tsuki's long blue hair until she too turned and met Rory's eye. "I'll hold them off but then it will be up to you."
She shook her head ."I can't fight the wolves and the wizards." She argued softly.
Tsuki's eyes were as steely as hers as she said "Then don't let it come to a fight."
Rory felt her throat go thick. It wasn't emotion, not quite. She and Tsuki weren't friends. More like allies. Veterans. One thing was certain, Rory thought, she wasn't going to make Lavender's birthday this year. It would be up to Tsuki to fill in the role of older sister. To play Rory's part in the North household. As she had already been doing. Rory couldn't help but resent her for it. Like Tsuki resented her for leaving. But they were grateful to each other for it too. And so, they were allies. And even though Tsuki was quite literally throwing her to the wolves, there was something in the look that passed between them. It was enough.
Rory bolted for the tree line before it got mushy.
There were shouts behind her as the wizards tried to follow only to hit her portal. Tsuki turned to face them, not watching Rory go, a sad, bitter smile playing at her lips as if she'd known all along Rory was going to leave again. She was right about another thing too; Rory was good at running. Her ratty, mud stained trainers took her flying across the ground, hat bouncing on the back of her head. Rory may have been short, and if in all honestly not very athletically built, but her legs were made to run.
She hit the tree line in a matter of minutes, her portal only fading away only after she was out of sight.
Dun Dun Duhhh. Sort of.
Ah so many wizards all at once. Plus two new characters! I hope you guys like Tsuki and Lavender. (The moon predicts you will.) Altho Lavender talkth kind of like thith, only i don't write her that way cause then it will get annoying. Rather like writing Raven's accent. Dae ye gie me?
Hope I captured all the different characters okay and that you enjoyed. Till next time.