Stuff is actually happening in this chapter! Actual action-y stuff. And even more impressive, Natsu and pretty much the entirety of Fairy Tail aren't in this chapter. Just Calem and Lucy. This chapter is also a bit longer than the previous 2 and Prologue. Hope everyone who does read this enjoys, and remember to rate, review, all that jazz.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters, nor the title, Fairy Tail. My only property in this story is Calem.
Calem - A few Minutes Prior
"I think it's a bit too late for you and your friend, mate," claimed the accented, and not to mention familiar, voice. Calem swore under his breath, not bothering to turn around.
'Wow, these guys always know wherever you are, whenever you are there. At the most inconvieniet times, too.' Calem agreed with his other self. This unwanted guest certainly knew how to find him, and fast at that. But there was one, he noticed, missing from his dynamic stalker duo.
"-And, don't think of running, like I know you are." The merc was right about one thing, Calem was thinking of running; too many variables in play, too many watchful eyes. But he hesitated, feeling like he was forgetting about something. Then it hit him.
The Girl.
Calem looked back, watching the blonde stand defiantly against the assailant, most likely not comprehending what exactly they were after, which is to say him. No, she stood against her foe, hand fiddling about in a leather pouch on her hip, with sheer willpower.
Why is he pausing to think about a girl prying into business she shouldn't? Why?
'In a way it's admirable: how she can stand against the unknown so willingly.' Calem wanted to scoff, to prove himself wrong, but he couldn't. He thought the same.
'Still,' he reasoned, keeping his realist approach to the senario, 'she won't stand much of a chance if I know this guy's skill level at all. And the other one has yet to reveal himself. Better get out while I've got the chance.'
'But what about her? Are you going to leave her to fend for herself?'
'Those two will follow me. It's best I lead them elsewhere.' Calem kept the dirty stare he held on the guy that faced them. The merc returned the stare, looking straight through the female stood between them. And as much as Calem wanted to concentrate on the easiest escape route, his other self wasn't done discussing the matter.
'You can't be serious?' the voice questioned, 'You just said she couldn't handle him! So why leave for her to do exactly that? Don't you remember anything you were taught?'
Calem remembered his teachings vividly, every detail of every day, surpassing the point of obsession. His dad showed him everything he needed to know about his magic and the way they lived, the way they blended in, all while helping society further itself into age after age. But always one thing was made clear...
"You are always to help. Small or large, aid will always be given by us to those you ask." Calem's father forced the idea, clarifying its importance.
"Yeah, help people, be nice and friendly and stuff. Can we get to-," Calem got bopped on the head, not to hard, but hard enough to shut his younger self up.
"No, you fail to see the meaning of your lessons," Calem leaned his head to the side, prompting a patient sigh from his father and teacher.
"This world," he continued, "needs aid contantly. Everyday, help is given, and received, by many. Many of these acts go unnoticed, or unvalued. But it is needed, nevertheless, as this help maintains the balance. Just as a shadow can only appear in sunlight." Calem gave a bothered sigh, not understanding.
"Wonderful, Dad, but what does that mean? What's all this talk of sunlight and necessary balance and stuff?" His father gave nothing but a chuckle.
"Soon you will understand our ways. You have the makings of a fine mage, son, but understanding is something you lack."
Calem shook himself out of the flashback. Now was not the time for reminising on the past. Now was the time for dealing with advancing wizards.
Calem held his position, keeping the threat of it, hands tucked in two of various pockets, while the second of the duo dropped, literally, a few yards ahead of him. The accented one smiled at his appearance. Calem and his blonde companion did not.
"Its all over now, mate. Now you got me to deal with, and nowhere to hide." His grin only got larger, to the point where his associate, a much burlier fellow dressed entirely in gray, rolled his eyes. He also interlocked his straightened fingers while taking a wide stance.
"Stone Make: Enclosure!" His voice was gruff, but his magic was noting but effective. Several gray magic circles appeared behind himself, his friend, across the side alley, and more, all of which sprouted walls of solid gray stone. The stone walls sealed all 4 wizards within a box, forcing them to face each other head on.
Calem patted his hand on the dry stone, assuring to himself that it was indeed actual stone and no mere illusion. His mind began to sharpen, knowing that a fight was now inevitable.
'Do you get it?' Calem sighed, not wishing to dwell on the subject of his father's teachings. The more he thought about them, the more he wanted to curl up in the fetal position and sob. And there were more pressing matters to solve than his messed up emotional state. So, Calem was honest and direct, hoping to return his focus away from painful thoughts.
'No, not really. But he said to help people, and my dad is usually right. Plus, I can't get caught, so dealing with them now is best.'
'...alright, so that's a start. But you still don't get it, do you?'
'Nope. Now shush. If aid is what we are supposed to give, then here I go.' Calem turned to where the waterway used to be and stood defiant, ready to act.
"Ok, tough guy. This is where it ends!" Calem stood his ground, unitimidated unlike the poor blonde he dragged into his mess. She took a step back, ready but slightly frightened by the trash talk.
"Munitions!" With an ever prevalent accent, and another eye-roll from his gruffer partner, the merc summoned another magic circle in front of him, this one a deep red and with several notches poking out. With the circle summoned, he flamboyantly spun it like a wheel, still grinning. That grin never halted when he stopped the swiftly rotating circle with one notch pointing straight up, palms facing toward his target and a bystander he cared nothing about. In that position, he called out his first next attack.
"Scattershot!" As the words were called, Calem made his move forward into the oncoming barrage of magical bullets, keeping a cool look on his face and all the terror he felt about rushing towards oncoming fire on the inside.
Lucy
Lucy felt helpless. Sure, she stood tall, defiant, and ready for action, but it was just a ruse. She actually couldn't feel her legs, and her arms were stuck on her keys, unable to decide which spirit to summon, if she could manage to move her arms at all. But despite her lack of mobility, she knew exactly what was going on. The maker magician behind her, the arrogant munitions mage in front of her, and the x-factor of her cloaked companion.
Lucy tried, and failed, to gulp. She didn't know what he would do.
'Any question the guy actually responds to just prompts 10 more. What do I make of him? Should I attack him, too? He didn't seem like a threat...at least not to me.' Lucy got so lost on the subject, theorizing possible actions for her new favorite subject, that she didn't hear the foreign one cry out his gunfire attack. Nor did she see her very subject of thought move.
It was phantasmic. One moment he was a couple yards behind her. The next, directly in front, cloak whipped in front of them like a shield, blocking all the magically formed bullets upon contact. He pushed her onto her knees, seemingly aware of all details that surrounded them.
"You're a wizard too, right?" The cloak held under the storm of enchanted bullets, and Lucy noticed each depression of the cape. Distracted by the rush if events, she could only manage a nod.
"Good, get ready. There is only the two of them, so one each. I'll take the guman for now, the other is straight behind you. Yell if you need help, or want to switch." Every thought was organized around the idea of efficiency, and Lucy couldn't keep up to his rapid thought process. But she still had one question that did stick out.
"...Name?" He sighed once more, followed by a flash look in all directions.
"I guess it doesn't hurt now they know where I am. I'm known as Calem Amaro." She nodded, absorbing the desired information.
"Lucy." She responed, not exactly sure why she was telling a possibly dangerous wizard her name.
"Enchanted. And try to keep your distance, because I may just be the worst thing that has happened to you." With that last line leaving a cold feeling in Lucy's gut, Calem pulled a small bottle from his back pocket and smashed it on the ground violently. A black plume of smoke pillowed until Lucy lost sight of him. She gulped and looked at who she was suppossed to deal with, the burly, wrestler-looking, stone maker mage.
'Great. I get to duke it out with this giant while my one ally declared himself a walking safety hazard. Why does this always happen to me?' Lucy didn't back down though, despite her unwillingness, and pulled from the ring on her hip the golden, axe-shaped key to the door of her own meathead strongman, or rather, ox. Lucy flashed a smile and held the key out to her adversary, who seemed extremely confused.
"Open: Gate of the Golden Bull - Tauros!" Her golden, axe shaped key glowed brilliantly, and from the light a ripped man-bull wielding a large axe materialized, ready for combat. Ready until he looked at Lucy.
"Morning, Ms. L-oo-cy! Hope I'm here for a s-mooo-ch!" Lucy took a deep breath, used to Tauros' perverted antics and how to deal with them. Her opponent only managed to become more confused as the conversation continued.
"Tauros, this guy is a problem right now." She pointed in the direction of the stone wizard, who looked offended. "Think you can handle him?"
"Do I get a kiss if I d-oo?" His pupils changed into hearts as he stared lustfully at her, to which Lucy simply sighed, infinite patience with the celestial bull.
"I promise that I'll think about it."
"Then this guy better prepare to be going va-moo-se!" Heaving the oversized axe above his head, and showing little signs of effort, the humanoid bull charged with the might of several trains and cleaved the street where his target once stood with a powerful overhead swing.
The maker mercenary, only just moving aside in time, held a open-palmed hand toward Lucy to claim diplomacy.
"Hold on, girlie," he, in the knick of time, managed to duck and roll under a heavy horizontal slash. Tauros wouldn't let his target's words get in the way of his unlikely kiss.
"We've got no business with you. My partner is just a bit eager, probably didn't even see you if I'm being honest. Just be about your day and forget this encounter." Lucy scoffed, and Tauros slashed at the surprisingly quick-footed maker mage.
"You'd think I'd leave after this? Calem just asked for directions, so what's your problem with a traveller?" The merc sidestepped another overhead chop that shattered the cobblestone below, all the while keeping his face devoid of as much emotion as he could manage.
"So his name is Calem?" Lucy glared, awaiting an answer, which her adversary was happy to give. "How should I know why our boss wants him. He only gave us a discription and said to grab him alive. That's all I need." She watched him start a shrug, but get interrupted by Tauros once more.
"Would you call off your spirit? This is pointless. I don't want to use any more force than necessary." He took a ready stance, seeming to already know her answer, and Lucy didn't dissapoint.
"In your dreams. Calem did nothing wrong."
"As far as you know."
"Like you have all the answers."
"No, but I do know you're in the way of my mission. So..." he interlocked his fingers and closed his eyes, another large, gray magic circle appearing in front of him as Lucy told Tauros to charge at him for the umpteeth time.
"Stone Make: Drill!" From the circle formed a fully functional drill, which met the attacking bull midway in a heavy collision that had sparks flying.
Lucy watched the confrontation of stone drill and spirit, neither side giving an inch. She could see her foe staring her down, eyes calculating her position, not missing any detail, no matter how small. Her hand twitched next to her whip - the Flueve d'étoiles - believing she was ready for any advance.
Except one from underground.
"Stone Make: Roots!" Several stone cylinders shot out of the ground and began to twist about, knocking Lucy off her feet and Tauros back to the World of Celestial Spirits with several well placed blows to the gut, shoulders, and knees. She laid prone on the ground, sore in several places, as her adversary strolled through his carnage of stone, clapping slowly.
"Don't take this personally, but you are an obstruction, and therefore must be removed." Lucy could only lay unprepared as she watched the mercenary take full advantage of this granted opening, eyes cold, experienced, and unyielding. Their eyes stayed locked as he came closer, but he quickly changed that, and Lucy gasped as he delivered a solid kick to her forehead. Lucy watched with fluttering eyes, and a now splitting headache, him then take his stance.
"Stone Make: Press!" A oversized stamp-press formed over her head, and Lucy's eyes widened from her place lying on the floor, her newly concussed mind suddenly understanding his defintion of 'removed'. The wizard, and therefore press, wasted no time in coming down full force, ready to crush the obstructive force that Lucy was being.
With all the stress, threat of death, contusion, and no reason to believe she would live through the next few seconds, Lucy froze, then passed out, only hearing the breaking of a bottle and getting the sudden feeling of paranoia before slipping into unconsciousness.
Calem - While that was Happening
Calem instantly felt calmer. The girl was a wizard, and she could handle herself. He tasked himself with defeating a simple muntions wizard, and there was a plume of smoke covering him in comforting darkness as well as giving him the fight advantage. Simple, straightforward, no extra baggage.
And yet...
'Something troubling you? Because now really isn't the best time.' Calem was jarred from his private thoughts.
'Well, since you asked so nicely, yes there is.' The was a silence, so Calem took it as a sign to continue. 'These two mercenaries, I didn't sense their presence at all.'
'And?' Calem sighed as his smoke started to clear away.
'And that means that something concealed them, making their power hard to notice when I wasn't paying attention, and there is only one way that's possible.'
'If you're saying that these two have had contact, DIRECT contact, with HIM, then you're nuts. They are no more than hired help. Crude, inefficent, and not worth it to him. What makes them so special?' Calem sighed once more, his hooded face and cloaked chest now exposed to sunlight, never losing sight of his opponent.
'They have been chasing me for a week now. There must be some reason they are always so close.' With that thought, his second voice of reason laughed heartily, a expression he never thought he would hear himself make.
'Well, the easiest way to a destination is a straight line. We want answers, so the best way to get them is to...?' He symultaneously smiled and frowned at the implications as the smoke completely dissapated. No matter his skill at them, open fights weren't really his style, they caused too much uproar. But the chance for answers, real answers, was too good to pass up.
'Ask.' Calem watched his adversary prepare himself as he dropped the hood that covered his thin face and, after a beat, took off into combat, one hand at the ready, the other deep in another cloak pocket.
His first punch, a simple swing for the jaw, was deflected easily, and Calem was granted a kick to the gut for his troubles, followed by a shove in the oppisite direction.
"Do you think this is my first rodeo, so to speak?" A smug sneer grew on his face while Calem coughed into his cloak. The merc walked forward in an attempt to be threatening, spinning a smaller version of his munitons wheel in his right hand.
"All this hassle, the chasing, the secrecy, for this. A teen with a long cloak? What makes you so special?" Calem stood tall just to receive another deflating blow to his stomach, causing another fit of ravenous coughing.
Unfortunately for the overconfident foe, that coughing turned into laughter when Calem dropped something at his feet, which fractured upon hitting the cobblestone street. Soon, both combatants were at the epicenter of another large smoke cloud, and Calem took a large step back into it, away from his lost opponent.
'He bought it.' Was the basic thought going through his head. There was no time for expansive thinking now. His plan had worked, now was the fun part.
"What makes me special?" Calem taunted from the safety of the mist, bewildering his foe. "Absolutely nothing, except you and your employer. I'm just trying to live my life. And if you call that special," at that moment, he swooped in, planting several strikes to the lower back and gut that dropped his opponent on his knees, "then so be it."
'Location, location, location!' The voice of his optimism sang in Calem's head.
"Not bad,' spat the kneeling munitions wizard, "with moves like this, you might be worth the paycheck we're gonna get. Name's Allister, so you know who to swear revenge upon." Calem was silent, so Allister continued his monologue, all the while switching the round-type he would use. "And yours-truely didn't get to his level of notoriety by getting outplayed by teenagers."
"I'm sure," Calem mused back, enjoying the trash talk, "you did it by getting your ass beat by kindergardners, right?" He could hear the annoyance and anger in the silence.
'That was childish.' Calem nodded to himself. It was fairly childish.
'And that's what made it effective.' He retorted, the tense silence his proof. Calem smiled. All was going well, he remained unseen and relatively untouched. A few more moments and...
*THUD!*
'What was that?' Calem voiced in his head.
'Yes, ask me. Like I'll know.'
'Don't be so-'
*CLICK!*
'Did he just snap his fingers?'
'Don't bother asking, cause-'
*BOOM!* The area exploded around them, clearing the smoke instantly and forcing Calem off his feet into the surrounding stone walls. When he opened his eyes, ears ringing, Allister was calmly strolling towards his sitting position on the street, which gave Calem the chance to peek at how Lucy was doing.
Not great, was what his foggy vision had managed to interpret. Stone cylinders were popping through the ground like worms, beating her down into the dirt, looking just as incapable as Calem felt at the moment.
Calem grit his teeth as Allister lifted him by his collar, starting to regain some senses and feelings besides pain. Annoyance was the first.
'This is stupid.' He complained inside, 'Why can't I just...?' He knew the answer already, but that still didn't make it less bothersome.
'No!' Calem winced, his head beginning to throb from the impact, 'I would rather us take ten of those explosions than use magic right now. He still doesn't know we are here yet. Take these fools down, and he will keep on not knowing. Use magic, and he'll find us no matter if we beat them or not.' Several sharp responses were on the tip of his tongue, but thebright light of the sun on his face brought Calem from his mind into the world, where he found his senses had returned.
"Like my explosive rounds?" Not the best thing to hear right after blowing up, and Allister seemed to be loving the victorious feeling. "A much cruder way to get the job done, not really my thing. However," a snake-like grin stretched across his face as he spun that magic wheel Calem now despised, "my piercing rounds will go right through you, quick and clean."
Allister pressed two fingers against Calem's sternum, ready to end him on a whim. "Any last words?" He said, about a foot from his face, sporting a look Satan would be intimidated by. At leas he was enjoying himself. But Calem stayed silent, not humoring the over-the-top mercenary.
'Any last words? Really? All the oneliners, and that's what he goes with? Dude, I would rather get killed horribly by anyone else, just not this clown.' Calem held back an eyeroll.
'Working on it, and your not helping.'
Fortunately, Calem was granted time to think when Allister became distracted by his partner's readiness to mercilessly crush Lucy.
"You go, Steve!" He called out, laughing while Calem's mind worked double time. There were several solutions. But they were magical solutions, and magic at the moment was a huge no-no. Then the best thing could've happened.
Allister turned him, fingers still pressed against his back, to watch his possible new friend, a complete innocent to the game he played, get crushed by a giant stone spatula.
'This is great.' Sarcasm drooled from his tone. There was an arm around his neck, two life threatening fingers at his back, and the first possible fatality of the day in the form of a helpless Lucy.
But Calem knew he had them. The distraction, the tools, the underestimation, they were set exactly right. All he needed to do was create the moment.
Using one hand to unclip his cloak, feigning a shoulder bruise, Calem reached for two more bottles out of reachable pocket.
'Perfect.' Now it was go-time. Time seemed to slow as he began to enact his plan.
Calem first snapped his fingers in front of him, letting his beloved cloak drop. It fell for a moment, barely a millisecond. Then the cloth sprang to life, entangling Allister around himself, holding him from doing anything except stand and watch disdainfully.
Next came the chance-y part. Calem knew he had to make this throw now, in one motion, else he'd be too late. He tossed up his first vial into his other hand, then pelted it at the ground next to the fainting Lucy. Then number two was thrown using the same motions at the one dubbed Steve, the maker wizard.
Calem, remarkably, was two-for-two.
The first vial crashed as Lucy's head plopped limp on the ground, and as soon as the liquid became exposed to the air, it reacted with the surrounding air, forming a sphereical shield made of condensed magic energy around her. The stone press cracked on contact, unable to crush pure magic.
The second vial collided with the one dubbed Steve squarely in his chest, and due to the properties of this liquid, exploded upon contact with the surrounding air. The sudden explosion sent the maker mage sprawling, completely unsure of what just happened.
Calem smiled. He loved this feeling. The feeling of a plan utterly working.
'Enjoying the moment? Well, I'd just want to remind you, that you are in serious shit at the moment!' Calem's smile dissapeared. Only he could ruin such a nice moment for himself.
'Thanks. No 'Good work for saving the girl and yourself' or anything. Just a warning. I'm touched. Really.' He heared the scoff coming, but still winced as the voice got a bit angrier.
'Saving the girl and yourself? Does this count? She will only have breathable air for the next 5 minutes, give or take. And you are surrounded by two possibly-altereds-definitely-enhanced assholes who now have personal vendettas against you. Congrats.'
'Ok, want me to go and take these jerks down? Then I'm making an executive decision.' Calem took another stance, not liking where he needed to go with this unwanted encounter, but seeing no other choice. This new stance, one he had taken many times before, rested most of his weight on his back leg, the other widened out for balance. Calem's hands pressed against themselves, arms streched completely outward, angled slightly downward. He shut his eyes, and began to breathe.
'No mag-' his personified conscience warned.
'I know, but this Lucy needs help, which you said I should give, and I'm not in the best shape to be brawling with these two, whether they are altered, enhanced, or just balanced. Plus, I would rather not die today. Now be quiet and let me concentrate.'
Calem dug deep into his being, locating his inner shadow, and started to bring it out. He started to sense. The hostile presence and charging magic and soul of his two opponents as they began to close on his position, shrugging off Calem's last stunt. The people outside their cage, wonder just what was going on. The boatriders sailing past with the utmost curiousity. He felt them all. And small streams of shadow began to drip there way down Calem as his senses heightened, starting at his chest and covering his body, pouring out around his feet.
He was shaking, of course, and there were flashbacks, too. The price of looking deep within his darkened soul. But Calem had practice. He knew how to channel this energy.
Calem opened his eyes, shook himself out of a flashback, and grined. He was breathing slightly heavier, arms now raised, ready to defend himself and the girl to the best of his ability.
"Alright, assholes." He called, exhanging glances between the two, egging on their onslaught. "Who's first?"
Duh, duh, dunnnn! Wow, that was a lot of one-liners. And an extremely rushed ending. At least, thats what it seemed like to me. But, anyway, Calem is pretty awesome, just wait, and I'm not just saying that because he's my O.C., no I genuinely think he could, pending on how I write this, be a really cool character. I certainly I hope so. Next chapter is titled Meetings, as Calem will be put in his worst situation yet, a social one! O.K., now moving on - there was single review (please tell me what I'm doing wrong in your eyes). So without further ado:
From Booklover1943:
Well it's only the first three chapters but I'm already hooked. The plot has been very intriguing and I can't wait to see what happens next. I Like how the story has so far been told. Each chapter is making me asks questions about what is going to happen next and I love that. Keep up the good work, looking forward to reading future chapters.
Wow, that was extremely nice. Thanks. I try to make whatever plot I create a bit mysterious and force readers/watchers to question everything, (but this is the first time others are actually READING something I made). But just tell me if something wasn't explained quite so clearly so I can either clarify in something like this or reiterate the point in the following chapter. I'm glad you enjoy it, though, as that is all I really wanted out of this.