Katie: Hey everyone! Back with a new story! Why? Well there's not many Luna stories out there and well I wanted to try her character. So I hope you all enjoy this fic!
I stared in amazement as James finished his sixth helping of Atlas City's famous roast beef. I hadn't seen anyone eat that much since Lina was still living with us. I quickly snapped back into reality and continued our conversation from earlier.
After James "saved" me from the group of bandits we headed to Atlas City while he explained that his brother, Gourry, was traveling with my sister. He also mentioned the wanted posters too. Though the reason why he was looking for his brother was still unknown to me.
"So let me get this straight," I said, getting his attention. "Your brother, Gourry Gabriev, is traveling with my sister, Lina Inverse, and they were framed, am I right?" James nodded while swallowing his last piece of roast beef.
"And how do you know they were framed if you've haven't seen your brother in years?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. James took a huge swing at his drink and then looked at me calmly.
"Easy, I know my brother. He would never become a 'horrid killer'" He laughed at my mother's guess. "He's too nice and you said it yourself Lina wouldn't become one either."
"Ok that explains one part but why being framed? Lina could have stolen something to become wanted," I knew that probably wasn't the case but I had to get James to further explain his idea. It sounded like it made sense…
"Hello? Have you seen the reward on her head and my brother's? Nothing they could have stolen could be that much. This brings me back to my idea of them being framed."
He smiled triumphantly. I really just wanted to smack that grin off his face. Just because one of his ideas actually made sense didn't mean he was genius. I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
"Well if your guess is correct then my adventure here is over. I guess I'll be heading back home," That caught James of guard. His smile faded and he stared at me confused.
"What do you mean? I thought you were going to check on Lina,"
"I was but if she was just framed then I'm sure she can handle things herself," I explained to him and what does it matter to James if my journey ended when it only started a few days ago?
"But you promised to take me to my brother," Okay, that threw me off guard. I tried really hard not to show my surprise to James. I stared at the older man in front of me for a moment then spoke.
"I have no memory of ever saying that," I told him.
"Well maybe you just have bad memory?" James suggested. I gave him a stare that got him shaking a little bit in his chair. He put up his hands in defense. "I was only kidding! You don't have to get so mad."
I let out another sigh. If I went back home this soon then my parents would figure out sooner or later that I didn't actually check on Lina. Maybe I could tag along with James for awhile if he didn't get himself killed with his annoying personality first. Curiosity got the better of me and I began to wonder why James would make the lie of me saying I would travel with him. I decided to ask.
"Alright James why would you want me to travel with you?"
"Well you looked like you knew where you were going so I figured you knew where your sister was and if we find your sister we'd find my brother…"
"So you were going to follow me because you thought I knew were they were?" James nodded. I shook my head.
"Sorry but I don't know where my sister is," Before I could explain anymore James began to freak out.
"You don't know? So you were going to travel aimlessly around the whole world until you found her?" he asked. Of course I wasn't going to do that. It would take too long and I had a job to get back to. My thoughts trailed on. I began to wonder how long James had been traveling. How long he had been searching for his brother. I guessed a long time if he was willing to get a stranger's help. I also began to wonder who exactly James was.
James dressed nicely. Something that people belonging to the royal family would wear but still good for traveling. Fine silk and a beautiful color of blue. Not to mention the sword he had. It looked normal but the power it gave out was enchanting. He was obvious someone with a lot of money. Was that the reason why his brother was traveling with Lina? Because he had money too?
"Hello? You still there?" James, who was waving a hand in my face, snapped me back into reality. I pushed his hand aside and I shook my head.
"No, I wasn't going to walk this entire earth for her," I reached into my pocket and took out the wanted poster I had found back home. I showed it to James.
"What about it?" he asked, staring at the paper. "I've seen tons of these."
"Yes, but have you ever looked closely?" I pointed to the top of the paper. "Look here there's an address of the people who made these posters." I looked up at James for a minute to see him staring at the address hard. "I was thinking that if I went to this address then they might tell me who put a bounty on Lina's head. Then I would find that person and hopefully finding Lina there as well."
I put the paper back into my pocket and watched James think it through. His eyes were closed and he was tapping his chin. Finally James opened eyes and stared at me hard.
"Your plan could work," He said. "So am I aloud to tag along with you?" I nodded my head and waved a hand at him signaling that I didn't really care if he did. At that moment, though, an idea formed in my head. Maybe I could see how much money this guy had.
"Alright James you can come but only if you pay the bill," Sure I had enough money to pay but did James? By the look of his face I could tell he didn't. It looked like he was about to panic again. I smiled. I never knew watching him panic like that would be so entertaining.
"Uhh…" Was all James was able to say. Then suddenly a loud sound of glass shattering filled the room. We both turned to see what it was. It was a window that had shattered and standing in the middle of the mess was a young boy. About Lina's age?
He was nothing compared to what James looked like. His hair was one black mess and his clothes were torn and covered with dirt. His brown eyes were staring at me attentively. He raised a finger at me.
"You!" he yelled angrily. What the hell did I do to get him so mad? Apparently James was thinking the same thing because his face looked like he wanted an explanation. "How dare you show your face here!" He began to walk to our table.
"Luna?" James asked expecting an explanation. I could only give him a confused stare. At that moment James got up from his chair and unsheathed his sword. The boy noticed this and stopped in his tracks.
"You can stay out of this," he said in a calmer voice. It looked like he didn't want to hurt anyone other than me. I can't say I'm too happy though. I got up from my own chair and stared at the boy.
"Why are you after me?" I asked him. He turned his focused back to me, eyes ablaze with anger.
"You know what you did!" Okay, that didn't help me at all. I guess I have no other choice but to fight him until he told me what exactly I did wrong. I unsheathed my sword and signaled James to let me handle it.
"I'll fight you kid but let's take it outside shall we? You don't want anyone else getting hurt." The boy thought it through then nodded my head. He watched me closely as we both walked outside of the restaurant and on the streets. People made room for us but stayed close enough to watch. I could see James watching from the crowd.
"Shall we?" I asked, preparing myself for battle. The boy nodded. I was taken by surprise when the boy went down on his hands and knees and before I could do anything a light consumed his body. It blinded me for a moment but then the light faded where I found a tiger in place of the boy.
What the hell?
How could that be possible? Unless he was…No! He couldn't be. Those were long gone. I pushed those thoughts aside knowing that those questions would be answered after the battle. The tiger pounced at me and a brought my sword up to defend. My sword hit against the claw and the tiger jumped back. This time I ran for him with my sword high for attack. He was able to move as my sword came down. When I brought my sword up he was already behind me, claw ready to strike. I dropped to the ground and rolled away. I got back up when I had a good shot of him. Unfortunately he dodged this attack as well.
It continued like this for awhile. I was impressed by the kid's speed and stamina but he wouldn't last for long that was for sure. When I had the chance I looked through the crowd. It didn't take long to find James; he was big compared to most men his age. I quickly ran towards him, I could feel the tiger hot on my tail. As soon as I reached James I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him between me and the tiger.
"Ahhh!" James shouted in surprise. The tiger stopped at once. I took this chance to drop James and get behind the tiger. Before it could realize what was happening I hit it on the back of the head with the hilt of my sword. The tiger fell to the ground and then soon turned back into the boy.
"Did you kill him?" James asked, recovering from his shock. I shook my head.
"No just knocked him out," I answered wiping sweat from my forehead.
"What is he?" James asked poking at the kid's side, checking if would get up.
"A shape-shifter," I told him. "And the last of his kind."
Katie: Has anyone ever realized that Lina, Gourry, and Amelia all have older siblings? Well I did and I started thinking about how cool it would be if they met. So this fic idea came into mind. I think the only one I had the most trouble with was trying to make a Zel in their group. Anyway I hope you enjoy the story!