A rough shaking forced me to wake up. I was not happy about it.
"Wha-" I began hotly, only to have my anger sizzle out as I met the worried gaze of the ticket inspector.
"We have arrived in Hargeon, miss." He explained. I looked out the widow to see a small town dwarfed by an endless expanse of sea.
"Oh, sorry." I stood and offered a small smile.
"It's nothing, miss. Have a good day." He stepped aside, allowing me to brush past him and out into the corridor. The moment my feet touched the platform of the train station, I spotted a bathroom and made my way over. Slipping into a stall, I pulled off the black wig and stuffed it into a trashcan, taking care to make sure none of my real hair was caught on the underside. I plucked off the fake eyelashes and pulled out my last makeup wipes from my shoulder bag, cleaning away any traces of the goth girl I had pretended to be for the past week. The dirty tissues followed the wig, tossed shamelessly into the trash bin, and I rinsed my face to wash off the feeling of makeup remover. A quick brush dealt with major tangles and I examined my appearance. Something seemed off. Blonde hair, check. No makeup, check. Brown eyes, no check. I groaned in frustration and discarded the green contact lenses. Now I was done. Finally.
I caught one of the last station managers and interrogated him for hotels. He greatly recommended a place called Hanure Inn, endless compliments about staff and service gushing out of his mouth. I quickly thanked him to cut off his recital of positive reviews and ran in the direction he had indicated. The streets were mostly empty, but it was nearing the eleventh hour. People with common sense and no threats to their general well-being, unlike me, were all asleep by now.
My arrival at the inn caused little disturbance. The woman at the front desk was pissed, understandably, but she gave me a decent room for fifteen thousand Jewels. I made my way up three flights of stairs and unlocked a plain wood door with a large brass '32' hanging at eye level. The room was small and cozy. A single bed was pushed up against the right wall with a single nightstand framing it from the other side. A slim dresser stood opposite with an adjoining desk. A small shelf with books hung on the far wall and a thin, round beige carpet covered the floor. Two plush armchairs prevented me from making a straight beeline for my bed. I dropped my bag on the closest one and crawled under the covers, falling asleep in seconds.
The sun was, as of that moment, my greatest enemy. It made its way through my closed eyelids and interrupted the absolute blackness of sleep with yellow light. Coming to terms with the idea that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again took at least five minutes, and actually getting myself to sit up and open my eyes took another ten.
I trudged into the adjoining bathroom, fumbling with the taps to get the bath to fill up. While the water spilled into the tub, I peeled off my ruined clothes and made a feeble attempt to deal with the rat's nest that was my hair. Giving up the moment the water had reached a satisfactory level, I enjoyed the hot water treatment immensely. As the dirt from the past two something days washed away, I pulled out the conditioner and tackled the knots one by one.
Stepping into the room wearing nothing but a debatably fluffy towel, I unfolded my last set of decent clothing. A simple white shirt with a v-neck fell to the floor while a pair of light blue capris stayed in my hands. I put both on and began a hunt for socks, which ended on a successful note. To finish off my getting-ready routine, I got my socks wet by stepping into a puddle in the bathroom when I went to brush my teeth and stuck my now bare feet into a pair of well-worn sneakers. I left no trace of my presence in the hotel room, taking everything I had brought with me. I checked to make sure that my keys were fastened next to my whip and locked the door, hiding the key within one of the many pockets of my bag.
First stop: supply shopping. I found a consignment store and wasted no time in buying two new shirts, one burgundy and the other white with pink and pale orange stripes, and a new pair of shorts. Then I proceeded to raid a pharmacy for makeup wipes and basic toiletries. Satisfied with my little survival collection, I decided to do a bit of wandering until I found something that struck my fancy. That something turned out to be a corner coffee shop that had an ample amount of books.
I ordered a croissant sandwich and iced tea. Both were delivered with speed and precision, and within minutes I was enjoying a decent meal in a plushy armchair, a book about elves in my hands.
"No. Freaking. Way." Someone's voice rang out very close to my shoulder. "You read that series too?"
My neck made a disturbing crunching sound as I whipped my head around to stare at the newest arrival. I was greeted by sparkling hazel eyes and a mass of wavy blue hair bound with an orange headband.
"Yeah. It's one of my long-time favorites." I replied easily, pushing away my shock and twisting in my chair to face the girl.
"Yes! I swear, I can't find anyone who even knows about the series!" She trampled on my attempts to be polite by going around and plopping down in the opposite chair, forcing me to twist back.
"I know, right? Last week I asked the librarian about it and she looked at me like I was nuts." I joined her discrimination against those who didn't know about the series. She snapped her fingers.
"Can you be my partner for my literature project?" She popped the question like it was nothing.
"What kind of project?"
"We were all assigned a summer project, and we have to complete it with a partner. I chose the literature one, and it turned out that I had to read the Elven Queen series and find another person who had already read it. Then we have to create a poster than analyzes the book." She sighed. "You're the first person I've met all summer long who had actually read the damn book, and the project is due in three days."
"What school do you go to?" My curiosity was launching through the ceiling.
"Magnolia School for Dragontaming, but we all call it Fairy High. What about you?"
I nearly choked on my tea. Magnolia School for Dragontaming was very famous for its dual program and the high testing scores. My father didn't let me go only because the school greatly encouraged dragontaming for wizards, and his only daughter running off on a dragon was something he could not allow.
Dragons weren't the most common of creatures, yet they were far from rare. They could take on a human form, but the amount of time they could hold that form was limited by their power. Anyone who could use magic had a chance of becoming a dragontamer, meaning they could learn how to work with a dragon. Unfortunately, most schools that offered dragontaming programs could only boast about long lists of injured mages and failed partnerships. Magnolia School for Dragontaming was an exception: there were only five recorded major injuries as a direct result of contact with dragons, none of which were even near fatal, and they could proudly say that ninety-nine percent of their partnerships were successful.
"Um… nowhere, not yet anyways." I covered up my moment's pause with a long sip.
"Why don't you join me in Fairy High, then?" The girl leaned forward, her eyes alive with excitement.
"Isn't it a bit late for enrollment?" I asked pointedly, even though the idea sounded great.
"Gihi. Master will definitely let you sign up, bunny girl." I jumped slightly at the new voice, which was once again behind me. Fortunately, the newcomer came around and stood behind the blue-haired girl, a teasing smirk on his face. Long black hair fell in an unruly mane down his back and his eyebrows, consisting solely of metal studs, sat above red eyes. More studs lined up on his crossed forearms, cut off by black biker gloves. His entire outfit matched his gloves in various shades of blacks and greys.
"Bunny girl?" The blunette looked up at the man. "Honestly, what is it with you and ridiculous nicknames?"
"Be quiet, shrimp. Don't criticize my awesome nicknames." The man ruffled her hair.
"Oh! Sorry." The blunette caught me staring and a tiny blush crept onto her cheeks. "I never introduced myself, did I? I'm Levy, and smirky here is Gajeel. He's my dragon partner."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lucy." I grinned aand Levy smiled back. I raised an eyebrow at Gajeel. "What do you mean, he'll definitely accept me?"
"You have… what's it called?" Gajeel looked at Levy, but she only smirked. "Oh, yeah. You've got potential, bunny girl."
"Doesn't everyone?" I drawled.
"Nah. The partnering don't work if the dragon doesn't fit with the mage. That's why Fairy High is better than the rest. Master doesn't force partnerships that won't work. The dragon seals the deal. We've got a sense for these things, unlike humans." Gajeel explained. I blinked twice before nodding. Well, glad we got that cleared up.
"So, you'll come?" Levy played with the hem of her dress. I felt a frown coming on and did my best to force it down.
"Maybe. Let me sleep on it, okay?" I had a lot of things to consider, namely the cult of the Dying Sun that stuck to me like flies.
"Oh, okay. We'll meet you here tomorrow to work on the project and you can tell us then." Levy shot a quick glance at Gajeel, who had already lost interest in our conversation. "Or at least I will."
"Sounds great." I stood. "See you tomorrow around the same time?" "Sure."
"Great. Bye!" I pushed through the door with a wave. Levy waved back and aimed a punch at Gajeel, who caught it with ease and a smirk.
I headed towards the beach, stopping every few minutes to ask for directions. Hargeon was far from the easiest town to navigate. At any rate, I managed to get lost more than once. It took me at least an hour to make it to the beach boardwalk, and another ten minutes to find a way to get down to the sand. By then I was tired, sore, and pissed.
Accepting Levy's offer would be one of the best things that could happen to me. I would get a good finish to my regular education as well as have a chance to round out my magical abilities. I might even get the chance to become a dragontamer. However, I had to consider the cult. They had, so far, managed to successfully corner me in five different cities. Each encounter had caused panic and minor injuries among the people that happened to be in the way. But the people at Fairy High were mostly wizards. Surely, they would be able to defend themselves at least somewhat. Besides, I told myself, if the cultist did show up, I could just pack my bags and scram. Shouldn't be too hard. A new disguise, a new town, a new name and the cycle would continue. Also, Fairy High was surrounded by the dragons' forest. The dragontamer partnerships would be able to defend the school and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to run away again.