So...I finished this 2 days ago, but tornadoes and thunderstorms like to impeade progress by removing all electricity from my house. For 1 & 1/2 days. I swear that's the truth, but who cares. You aren't here to read about my sob story of total boredom. So, read, relax, and review if you want, as I realize I may have sounded too desperate last time. Whatever, just enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters, nor the title, Fairy Tail. My only property in this story is Calem.
Calem
Calem waited. And waited. And waited. And continued to wait for what felt like an eternity, he didn't know how much time actually passed (if he had just paused to look around, he would've noticed only 10 minutes had gone by).
'Damn, what is taking her so long? I've don't have all day!' Calem drummed his fingers on his knee with one hand while shifting about the other through his cloak's pockets. His plan was seamless, simple: just wait, watch, and listen. Then, when she comes out, speak calmly and ask for directions. No big deal. At least, it wasn't suppossed to be.
'Correction.' Calem groaned once more at the noise of his contrasting self, causing some passerbys to peer into the shadows where he hid. They didn't see him, but the gesture still made him uncomfortable.
'Just what I need, you breathing down my neck.'
'Make that two: I don't breathe. Figment of your imagination, remember? And you also DO have all day. What could you possibly be late for?'
'Why now? After all this time, now is when I lose my sanity? Why?'
'...You're avoiding the question...'
'Don't you know? You are me, right? It's not WHAT I'm late for, not even close. It's WHO could be rushing to me.' Calem shruddered at the thought, but he had been jumped before. However careful he thought he was being, however well he covered his tracks and planted traps, they always managed to find him...somehow. He took another gander at his surroundings, mentally and physically, but didn't see, hear, or feel anything dangerous nor altered in any way.
'Ahhhh, touché, I see your point.' Calem nearly jumped at the sound, forgetting he was in a conversation. 'Yeah, better we spend as little time as possible here. Get the destination and scope the area a bit. Just don't be too unfriendly, or we get to hear more of each other.' Figmented, snappy, Calem quieted for the moment, pleasing his real, restrained counterpart, allowing him to fully immerse himself in the waiting.
After another moment of silent waiting, Calem watched his blonde target exit the building, but much more timidly then how she strutted in, which Calem thought strange. He didn't really see her as the self-conscious type. At least, from what he saw of her in the past hour.
'It's like she is watching out for someone...' Once this thought hit, Calem, much to his dismay, began to panic a bit. He felt his breathing quicken ever so slightly, and questions raced through his head. Did she notice him? She must have, why else would she be acting so cautiously. He didn't feel any other magic presence besides this blonde and himself. But how? No normal person could detect him in his hiding spot, not one.
'So how...? Whatever, but what do I do? This was not the plan. She was suppossed to remain blissfully oblivious until I wanted her to notice.' Calem sighed not seeing a way to salvage his obscurity. 'I guess I'll just have to wing it...damn.'
Calem started slow, making sure to keep himself from freaking out any passerbys by his sudden emergence. It wasn't too crowded, so a previously unnoticed teen suddenly appear was bound to get some attention, and a few missplaced restraining orders. Steadily, he stepped toward his blonde subject in the most natural and unthreatening way he could, pressing his first finger gently on her shoulder.
"Excuse me?" He began, ever wary of his surroundings. The blonde of which he hadn't a name made a sharp turn in his direction, obviously tentative.
"Hello, Ms. I was wondering if-" His words, his carefully pondered words, were never finished due to a flying, booted, heel finding where his jaw sat, knocking those words back down his throat and him facefirst onto the cobblestone street at the edge of the turn into his alley.
'You try to be nice...' Calem thought, rubbing his second new bruise of the day. But he kept his soulful anger tame with his head, reasoning that she didn't know his intentions, and hostility is only reasonable, if not too kind.
He felt her get closer behind him, angry if nothing else. 'Jeez, what did I do to deserve this?' Calem held up a hand to stop her assault before it got too out of hand. He didn't quite feel like dying.
'Wow, you are worse than expected.'
'Quiet, she is just overreacting.'
'And whose fault is that?'
'Shut up.'
Lucy
Lucy figured that kick would knock him out. From his look, she didn't think her follower looked too threatening. And he, from his modest attire of old jeans, a wrinkled black shirt, barely fitting shoes and a torn-up long, hooded, cloak, seemed not so much the stalker type, but rather a nomad of sorts.
'Why do I attract all the wierdos?' Lucy wondered as she walked closer to her stalker-turned-victim. His hood had remained up during his fall, and he held up a hand, which Lucy took as a sign to not kick again.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" A simple statement, as those were the questions she wanted answers to. The cloaked figure stood, keeping a open palmed hand facing her, the other on his concealed jaw.
"My name," There was a pause, as if he was debating the answer, "...isn't important. All I want to know is where I am, and if you've heard of any suspicious happenings nearby." Lucy crossed her arms with a pout, no longer seeing him as a threat she couldn't handle. Now this stranger was more of a lost puppy to her, albeit a mysterious and hooded puppy. A puppy she would figure out the name of.
"I don't answer questions to people without names."
"I'd rather you didn't know, honestly."
"Then you get no help from me."
"Really? That's what upsets you? All I'm wondering is where I am!" Lucy almost got a look at his face, but her new stranger friend kept his head down just enough to prevent that.
"Tell me your name, else you'll just keep wondering."
"I'll ask someone else then..."
"No, you won't. After all this and how long it took you to ask me, you don't think you'll get another chance to ask another, do you? These people are nice, but pretty superstitious." Lucy leaned slightly to the right, hands on her hips in triumph.
"Wow...you're probably right..."
"I know. So...name?" The her cloaked conversation partner shook his head instantly.
"Don't you realize there is a reason I'm not telling you? My name is dangerous. If you know me, they will find out, and then hunt you down too." He clasped his hands over his mouth as soon as he said it, then turned away just as quickly, and Lucy saw his eyes for in that fleeting moment. They were a deep, melted chocolate brown. But his eye color was the least of her curiousities after what he imlied a moment ago. Millions of questions had spawned within seconds.
"Who's they? Are you a fugitive? From who, or where?" The more time she spent interrogating the guy, the more her interests were peaked, and the more questions she had. But the cloaked teen shook his head again and looked straight at her with a glare that meant business.
"Stop. Please." His tone was deadly serious. "It's already bad enough that you know I exist. Just tell me what I need to know, please, then forget me. This way is the best for your health." Lucy was taken aback. His tone was almost desperate. Lucy knew she had to stop playing games.
"This is Magnolia, like the flower." As soon as she told him, her hidden acquaintance turned to leave, but Lucy reached out and gripped his shoulder before he got too far. "If you are in trouble, come to Fairy Tail with me. It's the best wizard guild around, and we can help you. Or at least we can try." Lucy felt his body stutter, as if he was surprised at the kindness she showed. But it was just for a moment, and afterwards he regained the mysterious composure he had.
"It's better I didn't. For your, and your guild's, sake, forget me, and watch your back for a bit." He turned to leave once more, and Lucy pondered kicking the subborn fool again. But she kept it down, knowing that she needed to be reasonable. Her former stalker had obvoiusly suffered a great deal, and Lucy figured it was best that he was left alone. However, she was determined to convince him to trust her, to let her and Fairy Tail help him, and to learn his name. But someone else had a response to say before hers.
"I think its a bit too late for you and your new friend, mate." A solitary voice, distinctly accented, from behind her, and both of them turned to face their visitor. People began to give the three space, or avoid the standoff completely. Lucy instinctively reached for her keys, fingerring through the golden items. She didn't know who their new intruder was, or what he wanted with her and the stubbornly nameless one, but she wouldn't take it lying down.
Fairy Tail Guild Hall
"Hey, Natsu?" Happy sat atop the bar counter next to the dragon-slayer, enjoying the last of his fish breakfast. Natsu nodded to show he was listening, drinking from a mug filled with flames. "Lucy has been gone awhile, longer than it should take. Maybe we should go get her before all the good jobs are gone." Natsu nodded again, knowing Happy was right and wondering what could be taking her so long. The lost object?
Natsu pondered what she could be searching for, but that didn't last him long. He was itching to get today going. His stomach was full, and he was in the mood to fight someone.
"Alright, Happy," Natsu slurped the last of the fire in the mug, "but let's grab a job before going. We can go right from Lucy's." Happy lept up from his seat, wings sprouting from green light in midair, leaving the skeleton of the poor fish he devoured in his place as he followed his friend through the crowd of wizards and to the request board.
"Aye, we'll definitely catch the train if we leave now." Natsu gagged at the thought.
"Don't say 'trains'." Natsu felt himself turning green until he remembered that he wasn't on a train. Not yet at least. Happy rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the board.
"How 'bout this one?" Happy pointed to one he picked at random.
"Nah."
"This one?"
"Nope."
"This?"
"Not really feelin' that one." Happy groaned with irritation.
"Then which, if all my choices are sub-par?" Natsu turned his full attention to the board, squinting his eyes in focus, analyzing each description until he found the best one, and sported a winning grin upon doing so.
"This one!" Natsu reached for his job of choice while another hand also did so, a paler hand. The two reached, and grasped, the flier simultaneously, glaring instantly at each other, both not caring who the other was.
"Gray? Getcha hands off!" Natsu instantly recognized his archrival, Gray Fullbuster. And, due to Gray's similarly stubborn nature, he did not let go.
"Or what? What are you gonna do about it?" Both mages kept one hand plastered to the board on the job of choice, and they glared at each other with extreme distaste, seconds turning into minutes, the air both cooling and heating the longer the confrontation continued.
Finally, Gray stripped off his shirt and jacket, which, in turn, started several dull conversations from the surrounding onlookers of the guild.
"Oh dear. There they go again."
"Those two...will they ever get along?"
"How does he strip his entire upper body in one move?"
"Beats me, but I hope this job is worth it." Everyone watched and waited for the first move to be made, not because was a spectical, but for the sheer entertainment. Unfortunately for those starting to take bets, the fight would never go beyond an angry staring contest.
"That's enough you two." An armor clad woman with long scarlet hair fearlessly gripped the fueding wizards by the backs of their necks, slamming the two together. The masses groaned, wanting to see brawl.
"Yes, ma'am," both Natsu and Gray mumbled on the wood floor. A white haired women, wearing a fancyish red dress, daitily strolled through the crowd, which parted as she passed, and up to the request board.
"Erza, don't you think you are a bit too rough with them?" She said this with a smile, as she had come to accept the dynamic between the three of them. But it still was a question worth asking, in her mind.
"No Mira, it never crossed my mind. Why?" Mire just shrugged, her curiousity satisfied, while Natsu and Gray were beginning to get it together. Another girl, significantly younger than the rest, walked through the fiasco, grabbed the job of interest, and read the flier with extreme wondering along with a second flying feline, this one white.
"What could be worth all this trouble?" Said the hoverring cat, who went by the name Carla. As the two read the paper though, their eyes widened, despite the shortness of the message.
"Whatsit say, Wendy?" Asked Happy, who hovered unwantingly close to Carla, triggerring her automatic reflex to push the tomcat away. Wendy just swallowed, and everyone in the hall moved closer to hear what the flier had to say.
"Apparently, Magnolia is in danger, all wizards should be ready, and that he would explain all at this address." Wendy stated, beginning to shake, her natural fear of sudden disaster getting the best of her. Erza took the flier and read it with her own eyes, analyzing the old parchment. It spooked her too, but she had her doubts.
"Mirajane, is there any record of this job's submittance?" She reached into a cupboard under the board for a large book filled with all the jobs they have ever taken or posted on the mighty board.
"No nothing here about something like this...are you thinking it's a prank?" Mira voiced her prayers, not wanting this flier to be true, her and everyone in the hall.
"I don't know. Its certainly possible, but from the sound of it, he or she is afraid of one person destroying Magnolia. It just seems unreal, but anything is possible." Erza lacked the appropriate knowledge she desired to make a clean assumption, and that above anything else frustrated her.
"So what if it is real? I could handle any clown that wants to destroy this place!" Natsu was back on his feet, raring to go. "And if it is just one guy, well that would make it one hell of a fight!" He smashed his fist into his oppisite palm, but nobody had the will to even chuckle, all worried about what could be true.
"Are you serious, numbskull?" Gray retorted from his spot on the floor, still shirtless. "One guy blowing up a whole town without any sort of assistance or amplification? Impossible." Gray looked away in disgust, focussing back on his thoughts. Natsu prepared a retort, but Erza scared him away from the idea with a look that would have any beast heading for hills.
"Let's just focus on the flier for now. It would hurt to check something like this out. Natsu, Gray, go grab Lucy from her apartment and head to the requested location." The rivalling mages wanted to protest, but Erza stopped them with a second 'look', causing the boys to salute and head out the door, Happy hot in pursuit. Erza, sighing, turned to the guild.
"Levy, Juvia, and I will start asking around for suspicious activity. The rest - stay alert! What's true isn't clear at the moment, so be absolutly sure of everything you look at. Its the duty of Fairy Tail to protect this town, so don't take this lightly!" Her speach got resounding cheers, and she headed toward the door with two other girls, a shorter one in a sleaveless orange dress who was putting away her glasses, the other with flowing blue hair who was coverred head to toe with coats and warmth. The three headed out of the hall into the city, where they hoped to falsify their worries.
But they all felt in their guts that something was about to happen. The just didn't know what.
Climax is around the bend? Already? Not quite, I've still got quite a bit planned for this story, so just you was wait. Next chapter, titled Assault, will be up as soon as I finish and edit it, and that will be fairly action oriented, compared to the other two chapters. No review responses today, so yeah. Hope you enjoyed, and if you didn't feel free to tell me why via review - hold nothing back. I'm out for now.