Wendy had been sleeping when the alarms woke her. She had stumbled out of bed, and tried to rush towards the door, but something had brought her up short.
Erza's bed was empty and the covers were brutally yanked back, as if the other girl had jumped straight up and started running. Wendy couldn't fathom why the alarms were going off, why Erza's bed was empty, and she was starting to panic just slightly when the alarms suddenly went quiet, as if it was a false alarm.
Then the explosions began. They rocked the entire school, and shook Wendy as she attempted to stand—she needed to find Erza now.
She figured the hallways were full of fleeing students, and Wendy knew she couldn't take that route. It just wouldn't work. Moving faster than she thought she possibly could, she edged towards the window, throwing it open with a determined set of her mouth. She and Erza lived on the third floor, so it was quite a drop.
Still, it wasn't impossible to get to the grounds from this height. If she was careful, she could drop from windowsill to windowsill, they were close enough together that she could easily make it. Of course, if she didn't fall to her death first.
It was her only option. She wouldn't be able to make it to anyone in time if she used the hallway, because there was something especially wrong—something terribly wrong, not just the fact that someone was obviously trying to blow up the school.
She pushed open the window, and glanced down. She nearly screamed out loud, because she hadn't been expecting this. There was practically a small army outside, all sorts of different people, wearing all sorts of different clothes, swarming into the building through a hole in the wall.
Another reason to take the window route. It may be more dangerous, but the people who were for whatever reason attacking a school were going inside. She wouldn't be able to make sure her loved ones were safe unless she got the ground.
Being very careful, she crawled onto the windowsill, clenching tightly onto the slick wooden surface, sliding her legs out so they were dangling out over thin air. The air was especially cold tonight, whipping her face, blowing her hair around so it caught in her mouth and blocked her vision. She shoved it out of the way, glancing down.
The drop seemed farther from up here, like it was miles and miles away. Be brave. She told herself, and slowly, slowly, edged herself off the windowsill.
She soon realized this was a terrible idea when the momentum of her fall nearly sent her tumbling off the next ledge, the only thing stopping her was her quick instincts, her hand frantically scrabbling at the ledge so she was hanging off by one hand. It really should hurt she thought, her whole body weight dangling off one arm, but it didn't. It was almost like the wind itself was supporting her, as some sort of cushion if she fell. Before she could question it further, she let go, and landed like a cat on the first floor windows. She breathed a sigh of relief as she hopped off, glancing upwards to see that the light in her bedroom had been extinguished. So they had cut the power already then.
She had spent longer getting down then she thought, because all of the odd people she had seen before were now inside the building. She crept around to where the giant gaping hole in the foundation was, big brown eyes curious.
It opened into the lunchroom, and inside it was a full on battle. She could spot several teachers, many older students, but she recognized none of the opposing side. Who were they? Why were they here?
She was rather surprised when a hand suddenly clapped around her mouth, a strong thin arm looped around her waist, and dragged her forcefully back into the shelter of some bushes.
She attempted to fight the person off, clawing at him, even trying to bite his hand—before he said, in a harsh whispered tone: "Wendy."
She turned around, and sure enough, in the light from the lunchroom that was still filtering out over the lawn she saw his familiar features, the proud nose, big brown eyes, and inky locks. She instantly wanted to move away.
"Do you know what's happening?" he asked next, his voice worried. She shook her head, and pushed the problems that were between them aside; she could contemplate them a separate time.
She pointed towards the lunchroom, her small brow furrowed as she took his hand, and gestured that they go inside.
"Are you kidding me?" it wasn't until she heard Romeo's slightly panicked voice that she realized he might be scared. Sometimes she forgot that other people had different ranges of fear; that other people weren't as broken as she was when it came to feeling emotion. She always felt it too much or too little, but in this case being fearless was a good thing.
She dragged him to his feet, placed both of her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, always catching his gaze again when he tried to look away. Finally he sighed.
"Fine," he said, "I'll—" she clapped her hand over his mouth suddenly, pulling him into the shadows. A woman was climbing out of the hole in the wall, a woman that Wendy hadn't seen before.
"I know you're there," she sang in a sickly sweet voice, "Come out and play!" Wendy suddenly released Romeo, even though she didn't want to, and against her own will, her legs wobbled to her feet, and she began to stagger out of her hiding place. It was like her legs had minds of their own, minds that seemed intent on obeying the woman in front of her.
"Wendy," Romeo hissed, but it wasn't long before his legs dragged him to his feet too, and brought him out of their hiding place.
"It's so nice to see your bright, smiling faces," the woman said, flicking a finger. Wendy's face stretched, a smile bigger then she had room for erupting twisting her lips.
"Who are you?" Romeo said, his voice oddly muffled because of his own smile.
"You may call me the Duchess," she replied in a singsong voice, "and I'm here because of several reasons."
"Why?"
"Well you see, this guild has always given me trouble," the woman said tapping her chin. Wendy wished she could frown because—guild? They were a school. "And it has given me even more trouble when I felt someone's memory spell…weakening."
Wendy struggled to speak. Memory spell?
"Oh that's right!" the woman gasped, like she was just now remembering something. "I also put that silencing charm on you…" she flicked a finger towards Wendy.
It was like someone had lifted a block in Wendy's throat, like all along her throat had been clogged and now it was free. For a moment she just gulped down air like she hadn't tasted it in forever, like she hadn't had such large quantities of the stuff in a long time.
'Wendy?" Romeo looked concerned, his forced smile had dropped.
"What?" she asked, and then she stared at him in shock. He stared back. "Did I just say something?" she asked him, in a dry crackly voice that must be her own. The words scraped their way out of her throat leaving it aching, but somehow it felt good. It felt right.
"Yes, yes it's very touching," the woman spoke up again.
"Thank you," Wendy said before she could say anything more, "Thank you so much." The woman smiled a cold, terrible smile.
"I wouldn't be thanking me just yet," she said slowly, "there is more then one charm I put on the pair of you." Then she pursed her lips in an O shape, and blew what felt like cold air over them. At first Wendy was confused, how could she exhale that much air? Her confusion soon died away as the wind somehow fastened on to her skin.
It wasn't visible, but it felt like something that was cold had just slid all over her body, like she was covered in some gooey substance. It was cold at first, but then it grew hot, hotter then fire and she was in agony.
It felt like it was stretching her in many different directions, stretching her up, pulling on her blue hair, tugging it towards the ground, making her chest heavier, her body wider. She was screaming she realized, and it was mingling with the screams of Romeo. They were in absolute pain.
As soon as it had started, it stopped. She no longer felt like something was sticking to her, but instead the air felt the same as before.
That was the only thing that felt the same.
Her clothes suddenly felt extremely tight, she seemed to see more of the world, and Romeo was staring at her like she'd suddenly sprouted an extra head.
"What?" she asked, and the scratchy quality of her voice had gone, and it sounded smoother some how, more adult.
"Oh yes, I'd suppose you'd like to see your appearances?" the woman asked, and suddenly out of nowhere a gigantic mirror appeared.
Wendy stared. The girl inside the mirror was not her, it couldn't be. She moved her arms, and the girl moved her arms too. She blinked, the girl blinked back.
Long blue hair stretched far past her waist, almost to her knees. The girl in the mirror was tall, her face was more angular, her body curvy, almost popping out of the to small clothes.
"Is that me?" she asked suddenly, and the girl in the mirror's mouth moved too.
"Anti-aging spell. It keeps you looking young, but your body still ages. This is what you look like now."
Wendy's eyes flickered to Romeo, and her mouth dropped open. Forget his shirt withstanding his sudden expansion, it had completely ripped free, revealing a tan muscular chest, his pants more like shorts. His inky hair was long, falling into a pretty face. He looked almost like a pirate, someone you would expect mischief from.
"What the hell is happening?" he asked shakily in a deeper voice.
"I'm really quite proud of my work on you two You see, you're no longer thirteen. I believe… sixteen? I think you'll find quite a bit of changes happen in those years."
"Duchess," a deep male voice spoke out of nowhere, circling around them. "This was your plan, you might as well make sure the girl gets to the room with the others."
"I'm not going to let you take me," Wendy said shakily, her eyes wide.
"I'm not letting you take her either," Romeo said bravely, stepping in front of her. The Duchess sighed through her teeth.
"First that pesky fight with Jellal and that strange lightning man to deal with, now you two."
Romeo raised his two fists.
"Romeo no—" Wendy protested, but it was to late. The woman made a slashing gesture with her hand, and Romeo went shooting off towards the side, hitting a wall and collapsing. "ROMEO!"
"What is it I was supposed to say?" the Duchess tapped her chin, "Oh yeah. Wendy Marvell has been collected."
...
Next time: Gray and Erza face off against Jellal!
a/n: OKAY SO I JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE NEWEST CHAPTERS. (DON'T READ THIS IF YOU'RE NOT COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP ON THE MANGA) BECAUSE I AM SO MAD AT HIM RIGHT NOW. LIKE WHY THE FREAK WOULD YOU MAKE THEM FINALLY FIND THEIR STUPID DRAGONS AND THEN BE LIKE 'YA WE WERE ALREADY DEAD' AND POOR NATSU I MEAN HE LITERALLY SAW A GIANT BITE BEING TAKEN OUT OF HIS STEP FATHER. LIKE THE TARTOROUS ARC HAS BEEN THE MOST TERRIBLE THING EVER, IT'S SO SAD. THERE IS NOT LIKE ONE PERSON WHO HAS REMAINED UNSCATHED.