A/N: Here's the next chapter! And as promised, it's long!
Enjoy!
It had taken Lucy fours hours to reach Hargeon, the origin of where her request had came from. Four hours. What was suppose to be at most a two hour train ride, turned to four because bandits wanted to take over the train in which Lucy expertly dealt with the situation.
Halfway to Hargeon, the train was stopped by three bandits hauling the driver to the passengers, demanding them to take off all valuable items and place it in the clothed bag.
Lucy was sitting in the last cabinet and was currently in the middle of reading the climax to "Butterfly" when the train stopped recklessly, almost making Lucy fall out of her seat. The train attendants assure the passengers it might be technical difficulties when an explosion came from the front followed by screaming and shouting.
The cabinet door slammed open and in piled passengers from the front cabinets. They were all screaming something along the lines of, "Bandits!" "We're going to die!" "Bandits are taking over the train!" "Someone help!"
With all the screaming and crowding, it was inevitable that people would start pushing each other. Just when the pushing got out of hand, Lucy stood up, gathering everyone's attention.
"Stop! This isn't helping the situation at hand!" Standing on the table, people are now able to focus their attention on her. But once the pushing stopped, a young teen boy lost his balance and fell against Lucy's table. While trying to grab some sort of solid object to hold on to, he accidently knocked over a tea cup, splashing tea all over the book Lucy was reading.
Clenching her hands into fists, Lucy held back her anger. She had just bought the book from the bookstore at the train station before she boarded and was so looking forward to reading the book.
The book's cover seemed like an old historic book with six boys' shadows gazing up at another boy leaping into the air with the sun setting behind him into the ocean. The leaping boy had butterfly wings sprouting from his back as he leaps, almost as if he was flying.
The book started off with a boy waking up in the middle of the woods who is later joined with six other boys, one video recording them and the adventures they go on. Many of their adventures including having fun and laughing together whether it's playing games from their childhood like Rock-Paper-Scissors, arm wrestling, doggy piling one another, pretending to swords each with sticks, kick the can, dancing, and just enjoying each other's company. Admist all this laughter, the one boy video recording this also records a butterfly also.
Lucy had just barely gotten past the revealation part of one of the boys writing, "You have to survive" on a fogged mirror. Afterwards, the seven boys are seen relaxing together around a campfire, eating pretzels and watching the fire burn. It is at that part where the boy who always are recording them, holds a photo of the ocean, suggesting they should visit there.
Just as Lucy was going to read another part of their adventures, the train stopped and all the commotion had happend.
"Butterfly" is part of a book series, it being the third book. And since the series is ongoing, there hasn't been an official release announcement of just exactly how many books there will be in the series.
Lucy's absolutely furious and sad. A part of her wanted to brush the tea off the book and scold the boy to be carefuly, but another part of her wanted to finish off the bandits quickly so she can return to her book and have the train moving to Hargeon again.
Not being able to choose which to do first, Lucy decided to simply do both.
Pointing at the boy who had tipped the tea, Lucy ordered him to dry the tea off the book. While the boy was doing just that, someone asked, "What makes you think you can handle the bandits? HUH? Why don't we just wait for the police to come and take of this matter."
Lucy glared at the person before answering, "Well sir, you see, I don't have to wait around when I can just do something about this."
"Who do you think you are? What can you do?!"
Lucy smiled and raised her hand in the air, showing off her guild mark. "Fairy Tail mages can do just about anything."
Without waiting for a reply back, Lucy hopped outside the window and climbed on top of the train.
Now if this was a moving train, Lucy would not be able to do what she just did. So she's glad the train wasn't moving.
Glancing around her surroundings, Lucy made sure her guard is up for any sneak attacks. Jumping from one cabinet to the other, Lucy grabbed her whip, ready to strike when she reaches the first one where the engine is.
Voices can be heard from inside. Arguing voices to be exact.
It seems like they were arguing on what to do next. They were a trio of bandits dressed in sleek, tight, rubber outfits covering their whole body from the tip of their hair to their toes.
Lucy sighed tiredly realizing she's encountered them before. Experiences of which she's regret ever encountering them. Hopefully she'll be able to defeat the situation quick without being blasted with their farts.
Quietly, she summoned Scorpio to use his sandstorm to blast them outside to the open space. The train had luckily stopped before it was about to cross the bridge.
The trio looked around confusingly before teaming up to announce their name.
"We are the Butt Jiggle Gang! And we won't let you get away without us givng you a whiff of our power!"
But before the bandits can do anything, Lucy summoned Sagittarius. Along with arrows and sandstorm, the spirits managed to knock the bandits out completely. Taking her whip, she wrapped it around the bandits to prevent them from escaping until the authorities came.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Later- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After the unsuccessful train raid was cleaned up and the police took the trio away, the train and the passengers had decided to take the time to give their Thanks and appreciation to Lucy who merely said to send their Thanks to the guild.
Following the appreciation, the boy holding onto a book approached Lucy, gently giving her the book before apologizing.
"That was really cool! Are all Fairy Tail mages this cool? I want to join now." The boy excitedly told Lucy his story.
The boy is called Zero. He's travelling to Hargeon to attend a magic school in order to train his abilities and develop skills. He's actually going to the same place Lucy is going.
"Are you traveling alone?" Lucy asked while sipping her tea.
The train had finally decided to move again with all the passengers returning to their respective seats except for Zero.
"Yes! I left my family back home in Magnolia actually. It's weird how living in Magnolia, one can be so ignorant. My parents loved talking about how wonderfuly Fairy Tail is. In their eyes, that guild is strong and admiring. But in my eyes, I thought all you guys did was destroy cities. However that was until I met you. You completely changed my outlook. I've decided that when I graduate from the school, I'll join Fairy Tail."
"That's nice. You can do it."
Lucy placed the book onto the table, far away from Zero and any food substance that can stain the book.
"But Miss Lucy, I only got to see your powers for a brief few seconds. What is your power?"
"Mhmm my power? I think it's quite rare these days. I'm a mage celestial mage."
"Cool! That means you can summon spirits from keys to do your bidding, right?" Zsero leaned against the head rest, "That must be nice, you have so many slaves. You're practically like a pri-"
Lucy slammed her palm down against the table, not able to listen to his gibberish anymore, startling him. "Listen here kid, if you keep thinking that way, you'll never fit in at Fairy Tail. My spirits aren't my slaves, they're my friends, my nakama. We fight along side by side with each other. We help each other when we need help. That's what it means to be a Fairy Tail mage!"
She finished and continue drinking her tea. Zero relaxed again, "Y-Yes Miss Lucy! I'll change my thinking. I'm sorry."
"Ah well, I'm sorry about my outburst. But there's just too many people like you who think that way. Magic isn't suppose to be used my evil doings, it's suppose to be use to help people. Magic is good, not evil and it depends on the user on what they want to do with it."
Lucy looked at Zero who had his hands awkwardly in his lap. "Speaking of which, what is your power, Zero?"
Upon hearing the change of topic and atmosphere, Zero perked up as well, "Now, don't be surpise! My power is that I can turn invisible and other things around me as well, if I wanted to."
Suprise to hear there is such a power, Lucy choked on her own saliva, remembering her own story with being invisible.
"Hey, I warned you not to be suprised! But I know this is an unusual power. That's why I want to go to school to learn how I can develop and use it."
Lucy had manage to calm herself down by now, "You know, you can only learn how to develop your power through experiences. If you ever want to stop by the guild, don't hesitate. We'll welcome you. And you can even make money by going on missions which is exactly why I'm traveling to Hargeon."
"Hmmm I didn't know I had that option too. And the guild is back at home... I'll see. Thanks Miss Lucy."
"Just Lucy is fine. By the way, how old are you? You seem young to me."
"Heheh, I might not look like it, but I'm actually 20 years old~!"
"Oh then even though I'm 20 right now, I'm actually technically older than you."
"HUH? What are you talking about. We're the same age. You just said so yourself."
"Have you ever heard of Fairy Tail's core members returning after 7 years? I'm one of those people."
"I-In-INCREDIBLE! Lucy, you're amazing."
The rest of the time was spent with Lucy and Zero chatting among themselves waiting for the train to arrive at Hargeon Station. They talked of numerous topics to keep themselves busy. At one point they even talked about the book, "Butterfly."
"Hargeon! We're finally here, Zero! This town sure brings back memories."
Lucy giggled while walking the familiar streets. Nothing has changed but at the same time, there were many changes. The streets were now decorated with trees lining on the street light drape with christmas lights in the color of bright yellow. In the middle of town, where she first met Natsu is now replaced with a cherry blossom tree. The restaurant where she fed Natsu and Happy was still the same; bustling with laughter and people.
"Lucy, do you have fond memories of this place?" Zero had been following Lucy a few feet behind her, examining all of Lucy's expressions when walked upon each place. They had stopped at a balcony that overlooks the city and the pier, watching the ocean.
"Yes, I do. It's where I first met Fairy Tail."
"Huh? Fairy Tail is in Magnolia."
"Uh uh. Have you ever heard of the mage who goes by the name of 'Salamander'?"
A lightbulb clicked in Zero's head, "Ah, the pink haired mage who eats fire? He's famous among the neighborhood of where I live. I heard that whenever there's an accidental fire, they don't send the firefighters but we call him."
Lucy couldn't help but laugh out loud. It seems like the perfect job for Natsu. He was getting paid to eat fire. How in the world could he ever mess that job up?
"But you know," Zero continued, "He's also famous for causing fires too! Did you know that he used to sleep walk in the middle of the night back to his house in the woods and would accidently sneeze causing a small fire? And what nonsense too! Claiming that he couldn't eat his own fire. Hmph!"
"Hahahaa, I didn't know about this! Really, this sounds just like Natsu."
"Hey Lucy, do you like this Natsu person?"
Lucy spun to face Zero who stood with hands in his pockets, looking at her seriously. Looking at him now, he really didn't look like he's 20 years old. He looks like he's 15 and wanting to travel the world, see the world with his own eyes. His red-yellow hair burns like the passion in his eyes, but his eyes were soft as he gazed at her. His red-black patterned flannel added more color to his facial features.
"Yes, I do. He's my bestfriend, my nakama... and he's everything."
"Hmm that's great that you feel that way. We should hurry and get to the school since we are suppose to be there by a certain time." Zero turn and began walking up the steps.
Hargeon has an outer layer so to speak. There's the town below and the school is above the town, almost like it's watching over the town. There are walkways and magic portals to get to the school. The only problem was finding it.
"Let's see, on the brochures it says there should be in the Garden of Flowers. We should head that way."
Silence etch their walk to find the portal. The conversations made were about the way to finding the Garden.
Not being able to stand the silence anymore, Zero spoke up as they walked into a tunnel filled with vines and the scent of flowers.
"It's not like I care or anything. But Salamander sounds like a good person."
...
"Yeah he is. He's just a little dense sometimes." Lucy walked along the wall, trailing her fingers against the vines and leaves.
"If ... if you ever need someone to talk to from an unbias opionion, I'll be here for you!"
Stopping near the end of the tunnel, Lucy turned her head slightly, looking at Zero who stopped midway, panting, his bangs hiding his face.
"Mhm! I know, Thank you!" Lucy gave him a smile that send an arrow of blush across his face and a pain one through his heart.
"Heh, let's get a move on. The Garden should be at the end of this tunnel."
The two mages began walking along side to side until they reached a pair of wrought iron doors with line graving of a large flower in the middle. Also in graving was its name, "The Garden of Flowers". Along the side of the doors were vines and flowers in full bloom. On the side of the door was a rectangular shape box thingy with the an outline of a hand.
Lucy took the first step, placing her hand on the box and a red line scaned her hand.
"Lucy Heartfilia, mage of Fairy Tail." It spoke along with an approved DING adding to it.
Zero was next. "Zeroson Yukios, mage, no guild." An approved sound followed his intro.
"Pfft Zeroson? What kind of name is that?!" Lucy tried holding onto her giggles but failed when Zero turn to blusing extremely red, "Shaddup!"
The voice waited for the laughing to subside before continuing, "You may open the door and use my portal. You will be transported to the Administration Office. I bid you well."
Bright colored lights shine through the doors as Zero pushed them open and grabbed Lucy's hand. The lights were bright enough to blind a person as the two mages lifted their unlinked arms to protect their eyes.
They landed unsteadily on their feet with their arms still linked with each other. Taking a moment to look around their surroundings, Lucy noticed they were in an office and a lady was staring back at her curiously. Letting go of each other, the two mages walked to the lady in the front desk.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"Hello to you too. My name is Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail and I'm wondering if I can meet with the person who requested this?" Lucy showed the lady the request form along with her identification.
"Of course, I can take you to meet her." Turning to Zero, "And you, sir?"
"Uh I'm here to learn more about the programs and classes offered here. I might want to be a student here."
"Oh I see. Well then, I can take you both to meet Miss Vera. She's in the field right now conducting safety precautions for the exam that will take place tomorrow. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"Zero. It's Zero."
"Well Zero, you came at the right time. If you're trying to make a decision whether or not to attend here, tomorrow's exam will hopefully make the decision for you."
They had to take another portal to end up at the field which is like over other normal track and field except it was ten times as larger as the normal ones.
Man, one lap of this and it'll probably equal more than a mile.
Lucy thought to herself as a shiver ran down her spine.
"Miss Vera, we have the mage you've requested assistance from and a potential student." Turning to Lucy and Zero, she smiled before disappearing.
"Good evening, my name is Vera Holfer. And you must be the Fairy Tail mage I've requested for. My, are you stunning."
"Yes thank you very much. I'm called Lucy and this is Zero. We happened to coincedently meet each other along the way and found out we were heading in the same direction."
"That sounds a lot like fate, don't you think?"
Vera was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a black tank top with a pixie hair cut and glasses. "You'll have to forgive my appearance. Professional clothes just gets in the way when I'll have to moving around a lot."
Lucy nodded and glance her surroundings. There were many tubes and large objects lying on the ground. The kind of tubes and objects that can be use to build buildings and playgrounds.
"What kind of exam is this and what will I be doing?"
Vera beamed at Lucy's question, "You see, this exam is for my graduating students. It's designed like an obstacle course to test their abilities to think quick on their feet and analyze what strategies they should use. It will also test their team work and their individual skills. There are two parts to the exam: first part is they will be tested individual, and second they will be randomly paired up and be tested. The obstacle course will change at the beginning of new test to make it exciting. This is very much like the Grand Magic Games, although it's not opened to public, but on exam day, classes are cancelled and students and professors are welcome to come and cheer for their fellow classmates and students. Of course, it's not just a normal obstacle course. The obstacle course will be inside an illusion. And you will be one of the participating examiners. If an unlucky student or team happen to cross upon you, then you must give it your all, understand?"
"Ah and you're also welcome to come watch, student. Well then, as long as you report tomorrow morning at 6am here, then we'll get you ready. The exam begins at 8am sharp. Well then, I'll see two tomorrow. Oh and we've prepared your room for your stay at the staff dormitory. If you stop by and ask at the Administraction office, we can lead you to your room. As for you Zero, you can stay in the boys' dormitory tonight as well. Just stop by the administration office. Now, I'll be getting back to work. See you all tomorrow!"
Vera jogged away, yelling out orders to each construction team.
"Do you want to get settle in and get dinner let's say at 7pm? In a hour?" Lucy slung her backpack to the side, looking at Zero,
"Sure. Let's go then."
A/N: And I think I'll end here lolol.
x) Haha, this chapter is 3,500+ words xD I'm proud of myself.
Thanks for reading!
