Chapter 6
Stella
~Erza~
Erza fell to her knees. Jellal was gone. He had only told her a week ago that he would be released next year. Why would he have gone to the execution room?
She saw a prison guard handing out lunch to some prisoners. She slowly stood up and walked over to him. "What did you do to Jellal?" she began to shake. "Where is jellal?" The tears streamed down her face. "Why did he have to die?" Her vision was so blurred that she didn't even notice that the prison guard had blue hair.
~Gray~
Gray was growing patient. Juiva had been in the shower for over two hours. He paced back and forth through the hallway. What was taking so long? Did every female on Earthland feel the need to spend their life in the bathroom? It only made sense that Juvia, being a water woman, would want to take twice as long. Wait. Juvia was a water woman. She could have merged with the water and gone down the drain! "Juvia, You still in there?" he called, knocking on the door. No answer. "Juvia?" he called again, a wave of panic filled his heart . "Juvia!" He ran into the bathroom only to find a fully clothed, sleeping Juvia laying in tub with the water still running. "You idiot!" he turned off the water and threw a towel on her head. She yawned and took the towel off her head in wonder.
"Did something happen, Gray-sama?"
"You are a water woman Juvia, one mistake and you could have gone down the drain!"
"Oh…" Juvia muttered. "Then Gray-sama was worried?" Her eyes lit up.
Gray blushed, "No! It was just getting annoying waiting for you!" he turned to leave the room. "Just dry yourself; if that's possible for a person made of water."
~Mirajane~
The guild still had an awkward silence after Natsu and Lucy had left. The members either talked quietly or didn't talk at all. Mira continued to clean cups and plates.
Gajeel, who had gone straight home after finishing his quest with Wendy, entered the bar. She took a moment to put down her cleaning gear to greet him. Gajeel gave her a weird look. He had already noted that something was out of sorts. "Hey, why is everyone so quiet?" Mira's smile dropped. She told him the crazy adventure of a day the guild had had.
"Excuse me," Wendy said quietly, as she hoisted herself up on a bar stool. "I haven't been here very long, so I don't know who Lisanna is, but she probably has to do something with Natsu's problems. I mean, when I examined him, he seemed under quite the mental stress."
"It's okay," Mira smiled reassuringly, "I will tell you about Lisanna. You can listen too, Gajeel. I know you haven't been here very long either."
"Okay, fine." Gajeel said, seating himself next to the air dragon slayer.
Mirajane began her story:
"When Elfman and I were young and our parents were still alive, we lived on the other side of the world on a little island called Tolia…
~Flashback~
Mira ran through the town. "Apothecary! Has anyone seen the apothecary?" She tripped on a rock and flew to the ground. "owie…."
"You need something with my husband?"
Mira looked up. A woman with icy blue hair stared angrily down at her. "Well, you can talk, can't you? I could hear your loud mouth all the way across town. Get up."
Mira picked herself up.
"Now what's all this hoopla about? Lucas is in the mountains gathering more herbs. He isn't here and won't be for another week," the woman hissed.
"But, what about mama…." Mira began to cry, snot already running down her nose. "And the baby…"
"Oh, stop your whining, I'll take care of it. I am the wife of an apothecary."
As Mira led the woman to her home, she began to hear the villagers whisper.
"See, Marta, I told you stella Strauss existed." A little boy following them whispered to his sister.
"I heard she wields magic, Tommy" Marta whispered back.
"I heard she is an evil witch."
"I heard she helped summon Acnologia."she blurted.
"Shh, don't say that name aloud!" Tommy covered the girl's mouth and looked to the sky. "He could come out of his cave any moment and destroy us all! It's only a few miles outside the village."
Stella stopped and turned to the boy. "I suggest you take your little sister home, young man, if you know what's best for you and this village." She turned back to a wide eyed Mira. "This is why I don't leave the house unless necessary."
They continued to walk together in silence. "Now tell me what is wrong with your mother and her baby?"
"Mama is really sick, and she is going into labor three months early! If we don't give her some of those healing herbs from the mountains soon, she and the baby will die!"
Stella shook her head. "Well I'm sorry little girl, but there are no herbs left. That's why Lucas is in the mountains right now."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" Were he mother and new baby sister going to die?
"Maybe," Stella stopped for a short moment and looked in the direction of Acnologia's cave.
"what would that be?"
"The last resort."
They arrived at Mira's house.
"Little one, take me to your mother."
Mira guided Stella into the room where her mother moaned in pain, her face paler than her white hair.
"What is your name child?" Stella inquired.
"Mira. Mira Jane." Mira replied.
The rough but kind icy haired woman knelt next to her mother. "Hang on there, Mrs. Jane. You and your baby will be okay." She soothed.
"Nee-chan, did you manage to find the apothecary?"
Mira turned around to see her little brother.
"No, this is his wife, Stella," she replied.
Elfman immediately ran to stella's side in curiosity. "You're going to fix Mama?"
Stella turned to the young boy. "For right now," she replied.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Elfman began to climb up on the bed to watch Stella at work. "Hey, is that magic?"
~End of Flashback~
"See on Tolia, magic is frowned upon, and Stella, being a magic wielder, was like a peanut in a bag of grapes.
"She was able to heal my mother and postpone Lisanna's birth to its normal time. I was so fascinated by her ability to use magic that I secretly began meeting with her. She taught me magic.
"Stella and I became close, so close that I began to not care what the other villagers said. I began to use magic everywhere.
"That was my mistake."
Wendy stared in awe. "what happened?"
Mira walked around the counter and sat next to her blue-haired friend. "I was careless.
"I had begun to learn 'Energy Bolt' which shoots out a ball of pure magic. I was stupid enough to show it to my mother and I ended up hitting her belly, causing her to go into labor again, this time 6 weeks early.
"I had to get Stella…
~Flashback~
"Stella, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault." Mira sobbed. "Can you fix this again?"
Stella looked at her. "Not this time unless…" She trailed off for a moment. "Mira, get me my hologram lacrima, I need to contact someone."
Mira ran to the closet, got the item and handed it to her mentor. Stella stuck a speaker in her ear and drew a code on a giant Lacrima. "Hello, Elina, I need to talk to Bob- its concerning the Jane baby…Hello Bob? Louise is in Labor… six weeks…I know you can see the future, that's why I called…you and I both, I thought I was supposed to do that during that to prevent her from going to Edolas…But if I do it now, Acnologia will awake, he isn't to be defeated for another 6 years…" There was a long pause. Finally she said "Okay, if that is what you wish," and hung up.
"so…" Mira twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
"Take me to your mother; now,"
…
Mira watched as Stella helped deliver her sister.
"There you go Mrs. Jane, you have yourself a beautiful baby girl."
Her mother held the small infant. "Stella… She isn't breathing."
Stella looked her patient right in the eye, "I know." She picked up the baby. "What you are about to witness, is the result of pure magic."
Mira, immersed in awe, did nothing but stand strait and stare. Stella rocked the new born baby as she whispered a few words, a tattoo on stella's right shoulder, one that Mira had not thought much of before, began to vanish and reappear on her sister. It seemed as if all of Stella's color was draining from her, the bright glow of her skin, eyes, and hair, and was given to Lisanna.
The moment Stella stopped chanting, the ground shook and an ear piercing screech sounded through the town.
"Acnologia." Stella's eyes were wide, but not completely in surprise. "You three need to leave. NOW. There's a portal near the sea side that will take you to a country called Fiore. In Fiore, there is a city, Magnolia. Go to Magnolia; your destiny is there."
"Yes Ma'm." Mira grabbed picked up her sister, looking her mother in the eyes.
"Do what she says; everyone in the village knows you are special." Tears were running down her face.
"Mama…" Mira wasn't sure how to react, standing still, having come to the realization that she, Elfman, and Lisanna were going to be the only ones to survive.
Another roar.
"GO!" Stella yelled, snapping Mira back into reality. " And don't let anyone know who you are."
"Alright, then from now on I'll call myself Mira Strauss, after you, along with the rest of my family."
Stella shook her head, "No, Mirajane Strauss. You can't forget your past. It's made you who you are." She paused for a moment. "Now go."
Mira, well now Mirajane, gathered a small amount of items and began to leave. Before she exited the door, she turned to Stella to say a final goodbye. What she saw was a sight she would never forget. Stella had wings growing from her back. And scales. On her skin. A dragon.
~End of Flashback~
"We escaped, and eventually made it here, to Fairy Tail. Elfman and Lisanna never knew, I had planned to tell them one day, but it seems that the secret will die with me, as long as you don't tell anyone." Mira grabbed a glass and filled it with water. All that talking dried her throat.
"So why tell us?" Gajeel huffed, probably tired of sitting.
"Because you have been around dragons and I think you need to know. Some, or all, dragons can take a human form." A long pause. Mira continued. "SO I looked up som stuff about Acnologia, and found out that Stella, the daughter of the ice dragon and the herb dragon, fell in love with a human and was put on Tolia to watch over Acnologia as her punishment and therefore took on a human form."
Wendy's eyes were wide. "That's so cool! What if someone in the guild is a dragon in human form!"
~Erza~
"Erza, are you okay?" The prison guard put his hand on her shoulder.
Erza stiffened. "How do you know my name?"
The guard gently lifted up her chin and used his other hand to wipe the tears from her face."It's me, Jellal."
Erza stood wide eyed, "Jellal?" immediately feeling embarrassed at the scene she had made.
Jellal smiled and gave her a warm hug. "Come on," He said as he abandoned his food tray and walked down the hallway and out of the prison, "let's get out of here."
~Gray~
It had been two weeks since Lucy, Erza, and Natsu had left for their quest. Gray was getting worried. It was such an easy quest. What was taking so long? He heard a phone ring. Lucy had a phone? He found it and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Mira. Is Natsu or Lucy there?"
"What do you mean? They went on a quest two weeks ago. Why would they be here?"
"You mean you didn't know Gray? They never went on the quest. They went back to the guild."
"Back to the guild? Why hasn't Lucy come back and why am I still babysitting Juvia?"
"Erza went to visit Jellal at the council. We assume she is staying there."
"what about Natsu and Lucy?"
"Natsu heard that someone was messing with Lisanna's grave, so he went to investigate. Lucy went after him. They haven't been back since."
"Something sounds odd. I'm going to investigate."
Gray hung up the phone before Mira had the chance to protest. He walked into Lucy's bedroom to go talk to Juvia.
"Juvia, you seem well. I'm going out for a bit."
"Okay, hurry back soon! I will await your return!"
Gray was so glad that he gave Juvia a few grammar lessons. She was actually a lot smarter than she seemed. "Bye!" he shouted as he left.
He made his way through town. When he reached the path to the field, he began to look around for any clues. Nothing. He walked a bit farther. He noticed something blue on the ground. As he got closer to it, he realized that it was Lucy's hair ribbon. "Lucy!" Gray called. "Natsu!" No reply. Gray picked up the ribbon. It was covered in blood.
Hello lovely readers!
I am SO SORRY about being late to post this chapter! I got MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK. I will continue to work hard to make y'all happy :)
Thank you: Naturesshadows, Guest, NaLiForever, insaneangel97, skylar, GhostAvatar, NaLiFan, InsanityScreamsDarkness, and Dog's Paw Burning In Hot Ash for reviewing! They mean so much to me!
Okay, and a question: would you still read my The Return of Lisanna Series (I haven't given my series a name yet) if your shipped pairing was not, well shipped in this series? Please PM me your response.
If you have any questions or something is unclear to you, feel free to PM me. I will respond by the next weekend.
-ashlieswifty