Years passed by with the same routine. I have been practicing transforming into other forms of animals. I found it easier to transform into cat-like creatures compared to others. Now, I am 17 years old and can transform into a normal cat, and different types of cat species - a lynx, a cheetah and a leopard and a sabre. I used the images from the library books and trained myself to help me transform. Oh, did I mention? Miraculously, I practiced Requip and my two short swords appeared again. So now, I've got the hang of getting those swords in and out of the pocket dimension. Oh, I also forgot to mention, every night I went to sleep in human form, I would always wake up as a cat - strange but I'm used to it. Oh, forgot to mention another thing. That magic school was really beneficial, but if they found out I have been secretly going to their lessons and practicing on my own from what I learned there, I will be in a very, very deep shit. So back to the reality, that is why I end up in the alleyway, on days when I would go steal stuff from the shops. I got on along well with Mizu-chan. In fact, we are best friends.
I no longer steal food as I get my daily meals at the guild. After cleaning myself at the fountain, I look at myself in the pieces of broken mirror back at the shed. I grew taller and my hair grew longer. I walk to the guild to get breakfast.
"Hello there, cat." Lucy and Mira greet me. I meow at them in response.
"You've gotten bigger." Lucy comments while scratching my ears. I meow again and flick my tail.
"Here's your breakfast. You're lucky to get free breakfast." Mira say to me. 'I know I am.'
"Doesn't everyone get free food at the guild?" Lucy asks.
"Oh yeah, that's true." Mira says. "Oh, we should thank the Celestial Spirit King for the party he hosted for us."
Lucy grumbles, "Yeah, but in return, we lost the time in the real world and didn't age like normal people do. We lost 7 years from the Tenrou incident." She sighs and adds, "Now the party, and I'm still stuck at 24 years old."
Mira laughs and says, "It's good to stay young."
"I guess you're right." She shrugs. So, apparently they had a party in the Celestial Spirit World and lost the track of time - 'I guess the time in Celestial world is different and goes more slowly... So that makes Lucy 7 years older than I am. The whole guild didn't age because of that party... Wow, that's messed up.'
"Hey, Lia is back!" Happy announces. I see Happy, Carla and Lily, fly over to the counter. I meow at them.
"Hmm, she's still not talking." Lily observes.
I finish eating and watch the Exceeds. Lucy and Mirajane went away to chat with other members of the guild. The Exceeds decides to interrogate me.
"So, where have you been? We haven't seen you for a long time." Charle asks with her hands on her hips. I shrug and watch them. "We saw you, you know?" She presses on. Now that got my attention.
"We did?" Happy asks, confused. Charle throw him and Lily a look. They amuse me. I laugh silently in my head.
"Yes! We did saw you in town, stealing some stuff from the stands." Lily says.
"Oh yeah!" Happy exclaims, recalling the memory.
"It's bad to steal stuff that doesn't belong to you." Charle scolds me. I frown. 'None of your business cat.' I think to myself.
"We also saw you-" Lily begins but I cut him off before he could reveal anything else about me. "Ok ok, so what? I don't have the money to pay for those things."
"She talks. So I'm not the crazy one." Charle nods to herself while Happy and Lily nods in agreement.
I roll my eyes and say, "I'm out of here" and hop off the counter. I walk out the door and turn to them, "and don't follow me."
I walk back to the shed and plan to steal more weapons and armours tonight. Then I decide to go to town and cruise around for any interesting things to steal. To be honest, I try to stop stealing and only steal what I need. Over the years, I had stolen a pair of earrings, a number of clothing items, three armours and weapons, new pair of sneakers, and a hairband. The clothing items are placed in the pocket dimension because I don't have a bag. My blanket is tied, cross-body. I think I need a new t-shirt to wear because the ones I have now are getting tighter. I go to the clothes shop to browse and find a tank top that I like and take it off the display table, roll it into a ball and stuff it between my belt and hips. Thankfully, there is a lot of people busy haggling, so no one noticed anything. I go out and decide to change into my new top in the secluded alley. I notice Lucy was with her team walking down the street, busy chatting. I turn into the corner, so that Charle and Happy don't see me and bump into someone.
The person that I accidentally bumped into yells, "Hey, watch it!"
"Sorry." I mutter and try to step away, but a strong hand holds me back.
"Hey look who it is! The kitty cat!" A male voice exclaims. Shit, I recognize that voice.
