Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters or plot ideas from Fairy Tail. It is owned by Mashima Hiro.
Previously:
Natsu grabs one of my hands and holds it up, soon to be surrounded by the hands of everyone else. He looks at me and our eyes lock. "Family." he says.
"Family!" repeats everyone loudly.
Tears start to fall as I feel overwhelmed. "Family." I agree quietly.
We break away from our huddle with smiling faces of various degrees. Light hearted chatter starts up and before we get into any real subject, my stomach growls again. I blush with a sheepish grin, and they laugh at me.
Natsu jumps up while punching the air over his head and shouts, "PARTY!" We cheer at the idea, and quick as a flash, Natsu runs off to who knows where.
"Oi! Flame-brain! Slow down!" yells out Gray in irritation as he and everyone else runs quickly to catch up, leaving me behind in the proverbial dust. I sigh and shake my head in slight disbelief as Gray's shirt falls to the ground forgotten in their rush. So this is going to be my family while I'm here? Guess that means I need to train just to keep up if they run like that all the time. Chuckling at the antics of my new found "family", I take off after them at a fast paced walk. I stop to pick up the discarded shirt, and of course that's when my feet decide they want attention by telling me in a form of stabbing pain.
"Crap. If I don't get some shoes soon, I might have to crawl to get around. These cobblestones hurt." Reaching the end of the street, I look to the left. Nothing. I look to the right. Nothing as well. "Well shit. Now I lost them. So much for family." I scoff and shake my in exasperation before chuckling slightly. "Heh. Guess I better wait for them to notice than wander around and get lost." I mutter to myself. A cooling, yet strong breeze starts up which makes the shirt in my hand and my gown to lift up and flap around. Hmm, better take care of this before I accidentally flash someone. A quick look around shows no one in sight, so as fast as I can I tuck the gown into my pants.
I feel instantly better and more confident than I was a few seconds ago. Alright, time to sit and rest these feet. Since the street intersection I am at is a T-intersection, I sit myself along the wall to face the street that the shop was in. I let out a sigh of relief as I sit, happy to get my weight off of my feet for now. I rub at them, hoping to take away some of the ache. Feeling better, I take Gray's shirt and fold up it neatly and set it on my lap to help keep it from getting even more dirty than it already is. Minutes tick by as I wait patiently for the others to come back with my stomach growling loudly.
So in a fit of boredom and in attempt to pass the time, I start working on untangling the knots in my hair after I finish massaging my feet again. Reaching up to take off my hair band that is holding my low ponytail in place, I encounter things that shouldn't be there. I start pulling out twigs and leaves and other plant life. Damn, I must've looked like some sort of wild woman. When I feel satisfied with the effort, I start to put up my hair in its usual low ponytail.
I pause my movements as a thought occurs. Wait. I'm here in a new land, probably going to start a new life. At the least, I should have a new hairstyle to go with it. I consider my options on what I can do with what I have available, and decide on doing a mid pony tail using half of my hair and leave the rest of it down. I nod in approval of the idea to myself and quickly work on it. I fiddle around with my hair, making adjustments here and there and, wincing now and then as I encounter some rather large knots. I also pull out more plant parts and other things that I missed from my initial grooming. Damn, how much random stuff can one person get stuck in their hair that isn't on purpose anyways? When I'm finish, I feel good about the change. Not much of a change, but then again I don't have much to work with.
Looking down at the pile of stuff that was in my hair, I'm partly horrified at how much there actually is. Its not like I care about my looks, but my hair must of looked an absolute terror! I sigh at this. At least it should look partway presentable now. I start humming tunelessly to myself to try to stave off boredom while continuing to wait for one of the guys to find me. The streets begin to slowly get darker as time passes and I look up to see that the sky is slowly changing from afternoon to dusk. Well this is a rather uneventful end to an exciting and emotional day, I wonder though… will I be able to get home?
I look back down to my hands feeling guilty about how much my family must be freaking out by now since I disappeared. I shake my head to clear it from those thoughts. Now is not the time to get depressed now. Not until I can get some answers. Shifting around a bit to get more comfortable, I lean my head back against the wall. I close my eyes and let myself daydream about magic while time ticks by.
I wake up to the sound of voices nearby. I don't think anything of it at first until whatever I'm laying on gets jostled. I realize 3 things instantly. First, I went to sleep in a strange town. Second, that I'm now laying down instead of sitting upright. Third, whatever I'm laying on is moving. Snapping my eyes open, I find another pair of eyes really close to my face. I cry out in surprise and try to jump back, only to succeed in falling off and landing on my face. I hear laughter and concerned voices, but I'm not able to understand what is being said. My momentary panic subsides as I recognize that its my friends talking. Groaning in embarrassment more than from pain, I roll onto my side and put my hand over my face. My head is ringing from the contact of the road below and my nose hurts. A light suddenly blooms to life nearby to reveal the faces of my new friends standing in a circle over me.
Well that wasn't humiliating at all. Not a single bit. The ringing fades away, but I'm still not able to understand what they are saying. It takes me a moment of thinking before it clicks. My translator! I struggle to get up while clutching my nose as it throbs. With the help of Erza, I'm able to get up on shaky legs. I smile in thanks as I start moving my nose to make sure it isn't broken or anything. Without finding anything wrong, I let my hand leave my face and just ignore the pain. Turning towards the others, I tap my ear trying to get the message across to them. The girls catch on first and immediately start searching for the fallen translator.
The guys don't catch on quite as quick.
I sigh at their blank looks while I'm still tapping my ear and say, "I can't understand you." and then tap my ear harder for emphasize. I see understanding flash across their faces. Now they get it. I roll my eyes with a smirk. The light that has been beside Natsu suddenly burns a lot brighter and I squint my eyes to get adjusted to the unexpected brightness.
Natsu is holding onto something that's on fire. A torch. I first think, then I pause. Wait a minute… I look again at his hand and almost gasp as I realize that his whole hand is on fire! Whoa… so this is magic? I thought I saw his hands on fire when he was fighting Gray on the island. I just wasn't sure if I was seeing things. Now I know for certain. I stare at the fire and another one of my questions is answered. This is probably why he feels so warm all the time. Makes sense for a fire user to be hot. A triumphant shout brings me back to the situation at hand. Gray is holding the translator in the air in victory, grinning like a fool and still shirtless.
I give a small laugh at the sight. He brings it over to me and places it in my hand. I smile at him in thanks. I start to put it in when the memory of the jolt stops me. Pulling it back, I make sure to correctly position it before slipping it in. No jolt. Thank the gods. I wedge it in further to make sure it doesn't fall out again even if I fall.
I sigh in relief as I close my eyes. "That's better."
"What happened? How come you didn't follow us?! I haven't been able to eat yet because we were looking for you!" Natsu explodes at first then ends it with a childish whine. He is even stomping the ground in a temper fit. I am taken aback at first, but quickly recover my composure. That's pretty childish of him. Well if he is going to act like a kid, might as well treat him like he is one. I just raise an eyebrow in response and look him squarely in the eyes, waiting for him to calm down. He grows angrier when I don't answer him.
"Natsu…" begins Lucy in an exasperated tone when I wave my hand in her direction, effectively cutting her off. I can see Happy floating in the air looking at the two of us worriedly. I keep my eyes locked on his, and take a step forward. I cross my arms over my chest while making sure to not let any emotion cross my face as we stare. His body starts to become engulfed in flames as his anger continues to rise. After a few moments, he finally blinks and looks away while the fire on his body dies away. We are plunged into sudden darkness with the bright moonlight being the only thing that illuminates the street now.
"Natsu." I call out quietly to the pink-haired man. Catching his attention, he looks back up at me angrily and I lock my gaze with his again before continuing calmly, "Today when you kept catching me every time I ran away, that was my max speed. How fast is that compared to everyone else here?" He just gives me a sullen glare. "Well? Answer me please." I ask politely, not changing my tone or volume.
His eyebrows scrunch up in thought as he figures out the answer. After a few seconds he mutters, "Maybe as fast as Happy when he isn't using his wings."
"Good. Now with that bit of information, would I be able to keep up when everyone is running much faster than me?" I ask, still keeping the calm tone. A few seconds later, he glances away and mumbles something. "I'm sorry? I didn't hear that."
He bursts out with, "You can't!", before crossing his arms and turns away, sulking.
"Thank you, Natsu." I start out, still as calm as before. Then in a sharp, reprimanding tone I continue, "I would appreciate it if you would think about things first before putting the blame on someone." He flinches at the tone, but nods his head in agreement. I sigh and turn back to the others. Erza looks at me with approval with how I handled the situation. The others look on with a mixture of awe and fear. Fear? Am I that scary? I take a deep breath, shoving aside the twinge of sadness I felt at that thought.
"So who else besides that hot-head and this one is hungry?" I ask cheerfully while pointing towards Natsu then me. Everyone else lets out a chorus of agreement.
Happy flies off saying, "Let's get to the food before Lucy! She'll eat all the fish!" He snickers afterwards while flying higher up into the air.
"You crappy stray!" yells out the offended blonde. She starts chasing the laughing cat around the group while he stays just out of reach. Laughing, we all started down the street at a walk, not a run thankfully. I glance back after a few yards and notice a certain pink-haired person not following. I stop and turn around while shaking my head in slight exasperation. The others noticing, also turn to look.
"Hey! Flame-brain! Come on, we're getting food!" Gray calls out. Natsu just hunches his shoulders in response.
"Still acting like a child." says Erza in disapproval. She starts to move forward to get him when I get an idea. I let a smirk cross my face and I put my hand on her arm to stop her.
"Let me, I got an idea." I snicker to myself as I waltz on over to Natsu. I have this devilish side of me that absolutely loves to tease and embarrass people. Natsu's reactions are just ideal for teasing, making him an ideal target for what I have planned. He moves his head to the side as I move around to his front to face him.
"Hey Natsu, I thought you were hungry?" I ask him playfully. His cheeks puff out in response. I pout at this. "Aw, now don't be like that. It's not my fault that you need learn to think sometimes before just rushing in and blaming people. It can hurt their feelings doing something like that. Along with wasting time and energy that can be used for more important stuff." He huffs a bit at that. I smile and using my index finger, I bop him on the nose. Surprised by that, he straightens up and meets my gaze.
"Now, would you rather of preferred Erza to try to teach that to you?" I ask him sweetly. A look of fear sweeps across his face. He shakes his head no vehemently.
"I like your way much better." he says rapidly. Tilting my head to the side, I close my eyes while giving him a large smile. This is just too easy, just mentioning Erza is enough to get a great reaction. Seems like messing with Natsu is going to be easier and a hell of a lot more fun than I first thought.
"Glad to hear that." I state cheerfully. Opening my eyes, I then smirk to him. "Now let's go get some food or am I going to have to throw you over my shoulder to get you moving?" His eyes widen before narrowing with an answering smirk appears on his face.
"You wouldn't dare." he states confidently.
"Oh? I wouldn't, would I?" I say playfully.
His smirk increases and he gets a haughty look. "No, you wouldn't."
I raise an eyebrow at him before I bend down quickly and ram my shoulder into his stomach. He lets out an "Oomph!" and using this time, I grab his legs around the back of his knees. I take a step forward to use the momentum to scoop him up. I lock my arms together around his legs, bringing them together and start walking towards the group. Being a farm girl has its perks. I smirk to myself. Everyone else is just stunned for a moment and I just smile like nothing is happening.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I'm hungry!" I ask everyone. A loud yell of protest comes from the fire-user as he recovers from my sneak attack and at that, the others just crack up laughing. Even Erza as she laughs lightly at Natsu's predicament.
"What the hell, Crispy! Let me down dammit!" He yells out in anger. I can tell that his arms are flailing around as he struggles to get off.
"Nope!" I chirp. "And if I'm crispy, what does that make you? Flame-broiled? Maybe Barbeque? Ooo, I know! You're Grilled!" I exclaim excitedly. I pat the back of his leg, just above the knee. "Hello Grilled, I'm Crispy! Nice to meet'cha!" I reach the rest of my new found friends and we walk together, all of us laughing except Natsu. He tries to kick with his legs, but it doesn't work very well with my arms locked around his legs in a tight grip.
"Put me down or else!" he howls.
"Or else what, Grilled?" I cheerfully ask with a snicker. At the question, I feel a large whoosh of heat coming from behind me. I narrow my eyes knowing what that implies. "If you set my butt on fire, I will sit on you. And it won't be in a way you will enjoy." I purr out that last sentence. The heat dissipates just as fast as it came. "That's what I thought." I say smugly before glancing over to see Lucy and Gray looking away like they are embarrassed by my words. I see the dark patches on their cheeks indicating their blushes. Erza is too far ahead to see her face in the moonlight.
And Happy, well, is covered in fur so who knows if he is blushing, but his wide-eyed look is enough to clue me in in how he feels about my last statement. I snicker at the shock and discomfort of the people around me. I decide I made my point by now and take a bit of pity on the guy on my shoulder. I take a few more steps before swinging him quickly back over my shoulder so he lands in front of me. He lets out a squawk of surprise at the sudden movement. In the bright moonlight, I can see dark patches covering his cheeks. Aww, is he blushing? Oh dear, I believe I embarrassed the hot-head. I narrow my eyes and grin widely in devilish delight.
"So Natsu, think you can walk now, or will I have to carry you all the way?" I ask still grinning and enjoying his discomfit.
"I can walk!" he grumbles in frustration. Reaching up, I ruffle his hair and lean in close to his ear so I can whisper.
"There we go then, Lesson #2: be careful on what you dare me to do. I might just take it a step further." He turns away really quickly and starts walking away, but not before I see his blush deepening. Oh, I am going to enjoy teasing the hell outta him.
The six friends are walking along, enjoying each others company. Light, easy banter fills the air, with the occasional insult and resulting scuffle. Before long, they make it to a corner café lit up brightly with cheerful lights.
Seeing this, two members of the group shout in unison, "FOOD!" before picking up their pace to enter the eatery before the others. This causes the rest of the friends to laugh at their antics. Entering the café, they see that the brunette and pinket already seated at a large round table. Krysti waves them over while she and Natsu are almost bouncing in their seats in excitement. As everyone is seating themselves, a young-looking silver-haired waiter walks over with the menus.
Eyes shining in delight, the hungry duo eagerly scan over the menu options.
"YES! They serve Fire Chicken!" exclaims Natsu in joy. While at the same time Krysti's earlier enthusiasm deflates and she slumps in her seat.
"Hmm? What's the matter, Krysti?" asks Gray from right next to her when he notices her change in demeanor.
She looks down and blushes. Looking sheepish, she explains, "I, uh, well…" She takes a deep breath and continues, "I can't read the menu."
"Huh?" says Lucy with a questioning look on her face. "What do you mean you can't read it?"
"Maybe it's because Krysti is just dumb." says Happy matter-of-factually as he is reading over his own menu.
Krysti sinks in her seat more and stares at the table. "Yea, you're probably right." she says softly.
The blue cat looks shocked at not getting the expected angry reaction as he would with the blonde and drops his menu in surprise.
"Krysti. It's not your fault that you can't read the menus. Since you have a different spoken language than us, its not hard to figure out that you have a different written language as well." says Erza reassuringly before continuing in a more normal tone, "Natsu, switch with Gray and help her with the menu."
"Eh? Why do I have to? Gray is right there, he or Lucy can help." Protests Natsu from his seat next to the redhead and Lucy.
Erza glares at him before saying coldly, "I believe I told you that until otherwise decided, you are charged with the responsibility of taking care of Krysti. That includes helping her read the menu."
Shivering in his seat Natsu replies weakly, "Y-yes ma'am."
At hearing this, the brunette lifts her head up quickly. "Wait a minute, he's in charge of me?" she looks over at the fire user before looking back at Erza and hooks a thumb in his direction. "Are you sure it isn't the other way around?" she questions. By this time, the two boys are almost done switching seats and Natsu looks offended at the question.
"Hey! What is that suppose to mean?" he protests.
"I think you know exactly what I mean, Pinky." she retorts.
"Who are you calling, Pinky? And I don't need looking after!" he continues. The other four members share amused looks as the two loudmouths start to bicker.
Happy gives his best friend and new friend an intense look before saying, "They llllllike each other." which goes unnoticed by the two. Lucy on the other hand gets an amused smirk on her face, finally glad that Happy found someone new to tease about possible romantic moments.
Just because she had a list of the most desirable Fairy Tail bachelors does not mean that she wants to date every guy that she shows any amount of friendship too. Lucy makes a mental note to burn that list the first chance she has because she doesn't even want to think of the humiliation she will receive if that mischievous cat gets his paws on it. A shudder runs downs her spine at the thought. A couple more moments of the playful squabbling between Natsu and Krysti goes by before Erza smacks her hand on the table, catching everyone's attention.
"Let's figure out what we are going to order so we can get right to business. I'm sure we all have a lot of questions to ask." she says evenly.
Everyone nods in agreement before going back to the menus. Natsu, already knowing what he wants, turns his attention to the brunette beside him and starts explaining the menu to her. About 5 minutes later, the waiter returns for their orders. He writes everything down, looking a little overwhelmed when he gets to the orders of the hungry duo. He leaves with a promise of returning soon with the drinks.
While everyone is calm, Erza again takes charge of the situation. "Okay Krysti, I know that we have a lot of questions for you, and you have a lot for us. So why don't we take turns asking what we want to know?"
"That sounds good to me, who wants to go first?" Krysti asks.
"I do!" Says Happy as he suddenly starts flying around on top of the table in an excited manner. "What kind of fish do you have where you are from?" Krysti laughs softly in response while everyone else drops their heads at his question.
"Well we have many, many kinds of fish. I can't say how much they are the same or different from yours since I don't know what the fish are like over here. But I can say that the oceans are full of more fish than you can ever imagine." she tells him. He gets a happy look on his face and starts drooling as he daydreams about the kinds of fish in her world.
"So I guess that counts as the first question for you guys." the brunette says with a chuckle. Looking down at the cat's blissful expression, she smiles widely. "For mine, hmmm. Well my first question then is, exactly who are you guys?"
With a grin, Natsu lifts a fist up towards with his and proudly states, "We're Fairy Tail!"
Krysti tilts her head a bit while looking at him. "Eh? Fairy Tail?" she asks while tilting her head slightly to the side, confused by the answer.
"Fairy Tail is a wizards guild. All of us are members." Lucy answers while pointing to her guild mark on the back of her hand. "How about you, Krysti? Who are you?"
"Well, I'm no one near as awesome as a member of a wizard's guild." she starts off at first. "As for who I am, I'm really nothing more than an average farm girl working on getting a college education and trying to help her family." she ends looking a bit sheepish.
"What's a college?" asks Gray. Krysti looks towards him with a startled look.
"Does this place have any schools?" she asks back.
"There are schools for people to learn magic." Lucy answers.
Krysti shakes her head, "No, I mean like basic knowledge school. A place to learn how to read, write, learn history, math, etc, etc. That kind of school."
"Not really. Some towns provide it, but those are more for the wealthy children. And the majority of those just use tutors instead. Most of that kind of learning is taught by the children's families." Erza replies.
Krysti looks a little downhearted by hearing that before she continues. "Well in my world, a college is an advanced type of school. Whereas normal school, you grow up learning the basic knowledge needed to live and work in our world. In college, you would gain the specific knowledge and skills toward a given career that you want in life. Like an artist would learn more about all types of art to become a better artist. Or if someone wants to be doctor, then they would learn a lot of advanced medical stuff. And so on. It costs a lot of money to go to college, but as long as you study, you can't beat the knowledge you gain and can really succeed in life." her voice grows more passionate the longer she talked about the subject.
Looking excited, Lucy then asks, "Can you learn anything in college?"
Krysti chuckles, "Just about anything you can think of, there is a college or class somewhere being taught about it. About the only thing you can't learn is on the job experience."
By this time the drinks arrive and the conversation lulls as they are being handed out. A quick thanks to the waiter and everyone goes back to the subject at hand, or rather Lucy does.
"Are there any classes about how to be a writer?" she asks eagerly before taking a sip of her drink.
"Or how about being a better mage?" asks Natsu before the brunette can answer which earns him a glare from the blonde. Krysti raises her hands and motions them to calm down.
"Oh yes, there are more courses on how to be a writer than you can shake a stick at, Lucy. And sorry Natsu, there aren't any courses on being a mage." she explains.
He pouts at this, "How come? Aren't wizards not good enough for college?"
She gently shakes her head and looks him full in the eyes. "Its not that wizards aren't good enough, Natsu. It's the fact that there is no magic in my world." Silence descends on the group as they process what was said.
"What!? What do you mean no magic? Of course there is magic!" Gray exclaims as he quickly recovers from the shock. Krysti shakes her head again.
"Exactly what I said, Gray. Where I am from, there is no magic. People aren't able to light themselves on fire like Natsu is able to do. And we don't have magic translators so people can understand each other perfectly. We also don't anything like Happy over there as well. Now for argument's sake, you could say there is magic in imagination, or true love, or the innocence of a child, and things like that. But the magic you're talking of, doesn't exist anywhere except in stories." she explains. The group looks slightly depressed at this.
"No magic at all. That's really sad." says Lucy softly.
"Now it's not all that bad." continues Krysti in a more cheerful mood. "I'm not sure if this place has done it, but my world has done some incredible things with science."
"What's science?" asks Erza.
Taken aback, Krysti eyes the group in wonder. "You guys don't know what science is?" she asks incredulously and they all shake their heads no in answer. "Huh. Well don't that beat all." she mutters before perking up. "Ok, well I guess the simplest way to explain it is that science is the study of everything."
"Everything? Even fish?" asks Happy.
Looking down at the cat and laughing, she replies, "Including fish." The brunette looks back up and continues with a passionate manner of speaking, "Science is the general term to include all of the studies, but it branches out into many different things. With science we study how and why things are made, and how they work the way they do. And I mean everything down from the tiniest grain of sand, all the way up to the stars and beyond. We use science to study the world, and once we understand how something works, we can figure out ways to use it for ourselves. With science we have made amazing achievements." As she was explaining, her whole face lights up in delight about one of her life's passions.
"What kind of achievements?" Asks Gray.
At this, Krysti gets a smug look on her face. "Well I'm not trying to brag since I'm not sure how it compares to your world's accomplishments, but one of the big ones is that we were able to send men to the moon."
Confused, Natsu asks, "What do you mean 'send men to the moon'?"
She looks over to him before replying, still looking and sounding smug, "What I mean is that we had people go up into space and walk on the moon itself."
At this, chaos broke out with the rest of the group, stating how it wasn't possible for anyone to actually be on the moon and that it had to of been magic after all.
Krysti waggles her index finger back and forth in the air after they calm down a bit and clicks her tongue. "Tsk tsk tsk. No, I told you. Its science. Not magic."
"Without magic, it can't be possible." denies Lucy.
Krysti gets a gleam to her eye before answering, "Ah, but it is possible my dear Lucy. Very possible indeed. You just need the right amount of fuel, an airtight aerodynamic ship, enough necessities, and some advance math, and voila! You too can land on the moon." she says with an infomercial flourish. She then calms down and says dismissively, "Of course, there are a lot more complicated things going on, but I don't want to bore you with the details."
"That is so awesome! I don't understand it, but have you been to the moon as well? What is it like up there?" asks a very excited Natsu.
Krysti shakes her head again, this time with a sad smile. "No, I haven't been. Although I would love a chance to go. You need special college courses and special physical training and you need to learn a lot of complicated stuff just to even have a chance. And not many people who go through the training are picked to go. Its very tough, demanding, stressful, and there are not a lot of people who can handle the job."
At this Natsu looks very crestfallen at the news. Seeing this, she tries to cheer him up. "Hey, how about this? If somehow I'm able to get back to my world, and you're with me, I'll do what I can to help you get to the moon."
Looking excited again he shouts, "It's a deal! Now, I'm all fired up!" as flames coat his body.
Seeing this and feeling the heat, Krysti jumps back in surprise with a rather loud squeak. The others laugh amongst themselves and quietly watch her reactions. It's always fun to watch people not used to being around wizards react to magical displays. Recovering quickly, the brunette studies Natsu as he is still on fire. She reaches out slowly to feel the heat of the flames with her hand. A few inches from his arm, her hand hovers in place as she appears thoughtful. To the horror of the group, she quickly grabs his arm as it is still on fire. Horror turns into disbelief as she doesn't seem harmed by his flames. Caught off guard by the hand on his arm, Natsu's flames quickly die down as he looks at Krysti's hand in puzzlement.
"What are you doing, Crispy?" he asks in curiosity.
She replies absentmindedly, "I was studying your flames. I wanted to know if they burn." He laughs and sets both fists on fire as he lifts them to his eye level.
"Of course they burn! They're dragon flames!" he says with confidence. Krysti lets go of his arm and looks at her hand.
"Then why is my hand not burned?" she asks quietly.
"Huh?" he says while looking back at her.
Instead of answering, she grabs one of his flaming hands with her own. His eyes widen in shock to see that her hand was in fact not being burned at all. They both stare at their hands wonderingly.
"Why doesn't my fire hurt you?" he asks while still feeling stunned.
"I don't know, they're your flames. Not mine. I mean your hand does feel really hot, like when you touch something metal during a summer day. But it isn't anything unbearable." she says.
"Let me try!" demands Happy. He walks over full of confidence and slaps a paw on Natsu's fist. One second later he is running around the table with a paw on fire while crying his eyes out before coming to a stop in front of Lucy. He dunks his paw into her drink with a large sigh of relief.
"My drink…" whimpers a now sad Lucy.
"Erza, are you sure that she is non-magical? That looks pretty mage-like to me." asks Gray. The red-headed woman frowns with her eyes closed in thought. Krysti slowly releases her grip on Natsu and his flames die out again. They look at their hands, then each other before turning to watch Erza.
"I'm still not sensing any magic power coming from her, but that does not mean she doesn't have any. Perhaps she has some inherent fire abilities which causes her flame resistance." Erza says in a normal tone after a couple of moments thinking.
Frowning slightly in thought, Krysti answers hesitantly, "Well, back home I have always loved the heat. I love taking really hot baths, working outside during hot days. And especially when I was younger, I was a bit of a pyromaniac." She ducks her head out of embarrassment and blushes. "Heh, I'm surprised that I didn't get burnt more or destroy more things at my house with my antics. But even then, I would get burnt if I actually got too close to a real fire." she continued.
"I wonder…" started off a thoughtful Lucy. "Is it just Natsu's flames that wouldn't hurt you, or if its all fire?"
"That's an interesting question to find the answer to. We can try it if Krysti is willing when Natsu's fire chicken comes out."
"Why do we have to wait until his food comes out?" asks Krysti in confusion.
"Because it comes out actually on fire." explains Gray. Krysti blinks at that.
"Oh, so he likes it flambéed then. I guess that makes sense." she says.
"Flam-baed?" asks Happy still nursing his burnt paw.
Krysti nods her head before answering, "That's right. Flambé is a cooking term back on my world. It means you put some alcohol, usually wine, on the food and set it on fire so the alcohol gets burned off and leaving the wine flavor in the food."
The others nod their heads in understanding. Natsu then lifts his head and starts sniffing.
"I smell our food! It will be out soon! Finally! I'm so hungry!" he cheers in happiness.
"You can smell the food all the way from here?" asks Krysti in disbelief.
Lucy, who is shaking her head in exasperation at Natsu, says, "Yea, that guy there has a really keen sense of smell. Its uncanny." And just as the fire-user said, the food started to arrived with their waiter and two other helpers. As soon as the plate was set before him, Natsu beginss to dive in when Erza told him to wait sternly. He pouts at her, but stops making a move to eat despite his belly's protests.
"Krysti, do you mind putting your hand in the flame to see if it also won't burn you?" asks Erza politely.
She nods her head, "If Natsu doesn't mind me putting my hand in it that is." she says while looking over at him to gauge his reaction. He waves it off, still pouting at not being allowed to eat with his food right there in front of him. So Krysti takes the same hand and reaches out cautiously toward the flames. A few inches away she lets her hand hover for a few seconds before she moves it into the flame.
Looking surprised she says in awe, "It doesn't hurt! The fire isn't burning me at all." She takes out her hand and stares at it in wonder. "It isn't as hot as Natsu's fire either. Feels almost like a summer breeze."
"Well this is an interesting state of events. We should inform the Master of this when we return." quietly says Erza.
Looking over at the red-head, Krysti asks, "Who is the Master?"
Lucy says, "He is the Master of our guild. A strong and wise wizard. Although somewhat perverted." she says the last part quietly to herself.
"Maybe he will know how I can get home." Krysti says excitedly.
"It's a possibility." Gray agrees cautiously.
Erza grabs a fork and starts to eat her food which everyone takes as a signal to start. They all dig in eagerly and for a few seconds everything is quiet before a loud gasp catches their attention.
"You're eating the fire!?" a shocked Krysti gasps out.
Natsu looks over to her like it's no big deal and answers between bites. "Yea, I can eat fire. Its one of the things I can do as a dragon slayer."
"Dragon slayer? Dragon slayer?! As in those gigantic winged-reptiles with fire breath and are immensely strong and everything like that?" asks the excitable brunette. He nods his head in answer as he is still chewing his food. Without warning an excited Krysti squeals out loudly, which sends Natsu's hands to cover his sensitive ears. Food forgotten, she starts firing questions rapidly at the poor guy next to her.
"Have you slayed any actual dragons? How many did you slay? What kind of dragons are there? What do they look like? Are there any nice ones? Do they all live in caves with treasure hoards? Can they talk? Are they all able to breath fire? Can they fly? How many have you seen? Are there lots of dragons? What do they eat? Can they use…" she stops as a hand covers her mouth. Wide-eyed, she meets the amused look of Natsu.
He takes his hand off of her mouth and says, "Breathe." She nods and takes in a breath looking sheepish.
She scratches one of her reddening cheeks in embarrassment before saying much slower, "Sorry. I just love dragons and learning about them. I get really fired up about the subject and I get a bit ahead of myself in the excitement in learning about them."
Natsu just chuckles and pats her on the head. "Its ok. Dragons get me fired up too." he says with a closed eyed grin.
"Great, now we got two dragon obsessed freaks." mutters Gray.
"What was that ice-prick?! Shouts out a now irritated Natsu as he whips his head around to glare at his rival.
"You heard me flame-brain." Gray retorts before popping a piece of food in his mouth.
"You just shut your trap snow cone!", is the reply from the easily irritated fire mage.
"Boys!" says Erza forcefully. Fearful of her wrath, they immediately shut up and start eating their food. Also going back to her food, Krysti becomes lost in thought as she eats. The table is silent as everyone finishes up their meals although Lucy does flag down the waiter to get a new drink. Erza, being the first one done, signals for the bill and patiently waits for the others to finish. Soon enough, the only ones still eating are Krysti and Natsu who both seem to have large appetites. The bill shows up soon after and Erza pays for it with a quiet compliment on the service and apology for the noise.
"So Krysti…" she opens, catching the brunette's attention. "We learned a lot of your world and yourself, do you have any more questions for us?" Still chewing, Krysti nods and looks thoughtful as she finishes up her current mouthful.
"Yea, I was wondering, what all kinds of magic is there? I know that fire is one of them." she says pointing towards Natsu.
Smiling softly, Erza answers, "There is in essence, many types of magic in the world. The true amount remains unknown. It is almost basically if you can imagine it, there can be magic of it." Krysti's eyes shine in delight.
"If I can imagine it…" she says softly to herself. Coming out of her reverie, she then asks, "Can anyone learn magic?"
Erza nods her head, "If you have the power to believe in your heart that you can learn magic, then you can learn." The grin on the brunette's face was a sight to behold.
"Oh, I would love to learn how to do magic! Can I start now? What do I need to do first?" she asks as her eyes twinkle in excitement.
Letting out a small chuckle, Erza holds up one hand to signal the brunette to calm down. "If you want to learn magic, it would be best if we get back to the guild. And before that, we should get some sleep." Erza says warmly.
Pouting, Krysti crosses her arms over her chest with a huff causing the others to laugh at her reaction.
The group arrives at an inn later that night ready to call it quits for the night. Well, all except for the two dragon crazed friends. For almost the whole trip through town, Krysti and Natsu chattered non-stop about the subject of dragons. They hung toward the back of the group, not really paying attention to anything else around them. Lucy carried a sleeping Happy in her arms as the blue cat was tuckered out due to his fish feast. After a quiet conversation with the clerk, Erza heads back to inform the group of their room situation which silences the two chatterboxes.
"Unfortunately due to an upcoming event here in town, there is only one room left with two beds, so we all are sharing. The manager is kind enough to bring up an extra bed so we aren't completely cramped. But we still need to figure out sleeping arrangements for us so…." Erza stops her monologue at the sight of Krysti raising her hand to call attention to herself.
"I call the floor!" she says cheerfully. Erza and Lucy both look at her aghast at the notion. The boys just look stunned.
"W-wait a minute, Krysti! There is no need for you to…" stammers out Lucy before getting cut off in mid-sentence.
"Yes there is. Unless they are king or queen sized, which I doubt, then they won't be big enough for all of us. This way, everyone can have a bed. Its easier because I know that it would be a disaster if we try to force the guys to share a bed." Krysti then looks down at her feet and holds her hands behind her back.
"Anyways, some of this is my fault because you guys had to take time to deal with me." she said bashfully. She looks up and then stands up straight while putting her hands on her hips. "So I insist that I be the one to take the floor while you guys sleep in the beds. If for nothing else, as a small part to pay you all back for the kindness and friendship you have shown me." she ends in a tone that brooks no argument.
"But…" Lucy starts to protest.
"No buts. If I have to, I will just leave the inn and sleep outside." Krysti states firmly, not changing her tone.
Erza smiles at the brunette, before saying, "If you insist, then we will have to respect your wishes."
The blonde girl pouts, unhappy with the situation. The two boys can't believe their luck that they don't have to fight for or share a bed. Erza silently starts walking down a hallway, signaling to the rest of the group that it is time to get to their room. When they open the door a large whoosh of cold air hits them which causes Lucy and Krysti to shiver. They find the room to be a bit, small.
Not very furnished, it boasts of a stone floor and stone walls, a single nightstand, a small bathroom, and a small window. A ball of glowing crystal lights the room with a yellow light. And two twin sized beds. Not to mention that the room is much colder than it should be for being such a warm day. Lucy sets Happy down on the end of one of the beds before going through her luggage. Settling in, the two younger girls get their stuff together to use the bathroom.
"Krysti, aren't you going to join us?" Erza asks curiously as she realizes that the brunette hasn't made a move in their direction.
Shifting around nervously Krysti replies, "Um, that's ok. It will probably be cramped if I go in as well. I'll let you two and the guys go ahead of me. That and I wanna keep talking to Natsu." Gray snorts in amusement at that last sentence and waves away the curious looks as everyone looks in his direction.
He walks over to one of the beds and sits on it while leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Natsu and Krysti sit together on the other bed and rekindle their earlier conversation, just in quieter voices. While the girls were in the bathroom, a knock on the door is heard. Natsu quickly leaps off the bed to open the door. Outside is the innkeeper with some helpers bringing in the 3rd bed. They finish setting it up just as the girls exit the bathroom all cleaned up and ready for bed. Erza thanks the innkeeper and helpers before they exit and the red-head closes the door behind them. It's a ¾ bed, so it won't be uncomfortable for them to share.
"Gray." is all Erza says, and knowing what she means, he quickly gets up to take his turn in the bathroom. The brunette and pinket pick up their conversation from before the 3rd bed arrived. The girls get their stuff settled by the bigger bed and start up their own chat. An occasional raised voice from the two dragon enthusiasts catches the girls' attention from their own talk of different fashions and favorite sweets. After a while, Gray pops out of the bathroom with his hair still wet and clad only in a pair of boxers. The brunette gapes at him but doesn't say anything when no one else seems to notice or care. Natsu then gets up to take his turn, knowing if he doesn't then a certain red-head will toss him into the shower.
Krysti lets her eyes wonder around, thinking about what to do to pass the time when they land on the nearly naked guy on the other bed. So she decides to start up a conversation with him.
"Hey, Gray." she starts, trying to get his attention as he seems lost in thought.
"Huh?" he says as he gets taken out of his thoughts. He looks over to see the large woman looking at him intently.
"I never got around to asking, but what kind of magic do you have?" she asks nicely. He brings his hands together with a smack and a large snowflake is in his hand. She looks at it in awe and with a smirk he tosses it at her without warning. "Ack!" she exclaims before catching the object.
"Oh! Its ice! So you're an ice wizard." she observes.
"Yep. That's my magic. And I'm pretty good at it too if I say so myself." he says, feeling proud in his abilities.
"I'll say, the detail on this snowflake is beautiful!" she says in awe, which causes a slight blush to start on his cheeks.
"Um, thanks." he says sheepishly.
"Can I see the snowflake?" asks Lucy from across the room. Krysti looks at Gray and he nods. Getting off the bed, Krysti walks over to the other two females, not wanting to throw and possibly break the fragile looking flake.
"Wow! This is beautiful! You did such a good job with this Gray." Lucy sang her praise which caused the blush on Gray's face to deepen.
"Yes, excellent work." states Erza as she also looks at the ice. Gray turns his head away from the group of girls.
Looking towards the bathroom Krysti says softly, "I wonder if you can do things like this with fire?"
Scoffing Lucy just says, "The only thing that idiot has been able to make with his fire is a big mess."
"Huh? What do you mean a big mess?" the larger woman questions the blonde.
Lucy continues, "Yea, that hothead is always causing trouble. Getting into fights with everyone and doesn't know how to hold back. He destroys things around him when he fights. He can take out buildings with one punch if he is riled up enough."
"Take out an entire building? With one punch?" Krysti asks incredulously.
"Flame-brain has caused more trouble with all the damage he causes." Gray adds from across the room.
Lucy nods in agreement. "Yea, in fact when Natsu and I met in this very town. We got caught up in some shady business and he ended up destroying part of the town."
She looks at Lucy askance. "So his magic is that powerful that he can destroy a part of a town and it isn't even on purpose?" Krysti asks. When she gets the nods affirming what she said is true, she gets an odd look in her eyes. "Wow, its must be wonderful to have that kind of power under your control…" she says almost dreamily. The bathroom door slams open, startling the group and waking up Happy.
He says sleepily, "Huh? What's going on? I was having a nice dream about fish…" he trails off, going back to sleep. Natsu is walking out, with fire coating his body to dry off his clothes and hair. Smiling like he doesn't have a care in the world, he flops onto the bed he is sharing with Happy. At this, Krysti gets up to take her turn at a shower. Closing the poor abused door gently, she goes through the motions of seeing what is left from all the showers. Opening each cabinet, she finds there are no dry towels left at all and very little in the way of soap. Even the shampoo is all used up. Sighing in slight disappointment, the brunette takes out her iPod and sets it on a dry part of the sink before taking off her clothes and earrings.
Seeing what looks to be normal plumbing that she would find at home, she steps in the shower and turns on the water. Icy cold water hits her body, almost causing her to shriek. Instead she just lets out a gasp and shivers. She turns the knobs which every way just to find out all the hot water is gone. So, in silence the female dragon enthusiast cleans herself the best she can in the icy cold water. After a few minutes, that seemed like hours to her, she finishes and stops the shower. Using the wet towels, she dries herself off as much as she can before slipping her clothes back on and reclaiming her possessions. Walking out of the bathroom, the light is out and everyone is in their bed, already going to sleep.
Still shivering, Krysti walks over to the wall with the small window and sets herself down to lay down. The cold stone floors of the colder than normal room do nothing to help her warm up, but she doesn't say anything to anyone in an attempt to not be anymore of a burden. Settling down into the most comfortable position for her to sleep, she closes her eyes. Minutes tick by and the cold doesn't ease up. The larger woman bites her hand to keep her teeth from chattering. Time drags on, and the light of the moon goes slowly across the floor. Finally giving up on sleep she sits upright against the wall, still shivering away.
Trying to warm up on the really cold stone floor is futile despite the warm weather outside. She gently blows on her hands to try to warm them without waking her sleeping friends. Her eyes close shut in concentration as she curls up the best she can to preserve what warmth she still had. A bit later, a hand that feels almost searingly hot lands on her shoulder, causing her head to shoot up and opening her eyes wide. A dim figure is seen through the moonlight and it crouches down in front of her.
A soft familiar "Shush." is heard which identifies the person as Natsu. He grabs both of her cold hands in his warm ones, and pulls at her to stand up. Silently wondering what is going on, she lets him pull her up. Letting go of one hand he leads her across the room towards the beds.
Still silent, he pushes Krysti down to sit then lay back on the bed. She was so cold, that she complied without complaint. The warm bed already starting to work the cold out of the brunette's body. A weight on the other side of the bed lets her know that Natsu is now laying beside her. She turns on her side to face away from him and scoots towards the edge to give him as much room as she can before his arm stops her. It drags her to the middle where Krysti's back meets with his chest. Using his inner fire, the dragon slayer raises his body temperature to warm her up faster. She lets out a small "mmm" of pleasure at the flare of heat after being so cold.
Krysti whispers a quiet, "So warm." before falling asleep thanks to the dragon slayer behind her. He pulls the sheet over them before settling in to finally get to sleep when he couldn't stand hearing the brunette shiver on the floor anymore. Unbeknownst to either the brunette or dragon slayer, the other three people smile at what happened before they too go to sleep.
Slowly, I wake up feeling incredibly comfortable and deliciously warm. I let out a small hum in pleasure before I snuggle back into my pillow, prepared to go back to sleep. Something tightens around my stomach which causes me to wake up instantly. Without opening my eyes, I try to take stock of my situation. Ok Krysti, what was the last thing you remember? Ummm, cold. That's right. I was cold out of my freaking mind on the floor. Something warm then got me. Hmm. Something warm was holding my hands, and then umm, I got pushed on something soft. Must be what I am on now. Then something really, really warm got next to me.
As if to confirm my thoughts, I hear a familiar low groan right by my ear and everything clicks into place. Ah, ok. So I guess Natsu took pity on me and brought me to the bed and used his fire to warm me up. Well if dragon-boy is willing to share, who am I to say no. I smile to myself and take a deep breath to relax back into sleep. Well, that is I was until I hear a small cough followed by a giggle nearby. I crack my eye open to the blurry image of three forms standing nearby. I close my eye again to ignore them and get back to my precious sleep. I hear a slightly louder cough and I frown in annoyance. I open my eye again and I can make out Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy watching me from the other twin bed.
"Hello sleepyhead." says a way too perky Lucy. I grumble at them, lift my hand to flip them off and then pull the sheet over my head. A delighted cackle sounds off in the room. Why won't they let me sleep. Its so warm and comfy. Sinking back into sleep, I get startled awake by the sheet getting yanked off of me. I hear Natsu start grumbling in my ear as he tugs me closer to him. Before I can say or do anything else, I feel my legs getting jerked and I get pulled out of his hold. I let out a small scream as I fly and land roughly on the floor. I hear a yell and thud from the other side of the bed. I look up into the faces of Lucy and Erza as they each held one of my legs.
"What the hell!" Natsu and I both yell out to our friends.
Letting go of my legs, Lucy smirks at me as Erza answers, "Well, we need to be leaving now if we are going to make it to the train in time. You two refused to wake up normally. So…" she trails off. I glare and I hear Natsu curse.
Gray adds, "Plus, it was more fun for us this way." I grumble at them while trying to pick myself off of the floor. Lowdown bastards. They didn't have to be so rough. I am soooo going to pay them back for this. As I stand up, I rub my aching backside from where I landed. I give each one of them an evil glare which they don't seem concerned about. Oh I am so going to get revenge. Now awake and standing, I stretch my body while it makes all sorts of cracks and pops. First my neck, then my upper back, my arms and fingers, then I work on down to my lower back, knees and calves. Limbered up, I feel better and energized.
Looking over, I see Natsu is also working out the kinks while glaring at Gray with a promise of death. Hmm, I should team up with Natsu for our revenge. Oh, and how sweet it will be. I silently promise myself.