Chapter 3: The Girl Named Lucy
The blonde girl was still processing what just happened to her, all she wanted to do was find out where the guild Fairy Tail was, so that she could become a registered mage and be able to never have to go back to her old life again. But she was way too careless when trying to find out where it was, and because of that two Witch Hunters tried to capture her, and they would have succeeded if it wasn't for a stranger stepping in and stopping them. She did think that he might have went a little too far with stopping them, but he did have a point when he told them that they attacked him first, when he warned them it would be a bad idea and because of that, both of them will probably never walk again. But what really got the blonde curious was when the stranger identified himself as the Salamander, she saw both of the Witch Hunters look as if they were staring down Satan himself, she also couldn't shake the feeling that she had heard of the Salamander somewhere but couldn't quite place where.
So here she was following the Salamander to where ever his next destination was, she really didn't know why, no that was a lie, she was following him because after what just happened to her she was scared for her life and being next to the Salamander made her feel safe. They were finally coming to the edge of town, and she still had no idea where he was going or if she would be even welcomed once they reached his destination.
"Thank you Salamander, you really saved me back there." said the blonde girl tired of walking around with him and not talking at all.
"Well no problem lady, I did tell you that I was going to save you." Salamander said giving her a little grin, glad that he helped out a fellow mage. Something that he doesn't get to do that often, unfortunately due to always traveling and hunting down dangerous monsters and other things.
"It's Lucy, and I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you." replied the blonde.
"Just Lucy, that's kind of strange no last name, well whatever none of my business and about repaying me back. Don't worry about it, beating up those high and mighty Witch Hunters is payment enough, also being able to help out a fellow mage is a pleasant bonus." replied the Salamander.
"Oh I didn't know you were mage, so what magic do you use Salamander if you don't mind me asking?" asked Lucy excited to be talking with a fellow mage.
"Really you couldn't tell that I was a mage by the emblem on my shoulder or on the back of my cape?" asked the Salamander not really believing that Lucy could be that oblivious.
"HEHEHE, well almost being captured by those two Witch Hunters was kind of all I was thinking about at the time. Also when you took them down you did it without any magic." replied Lucy somewhat embarrassed that she didn't notice his guild mark. Which when she looked at it closely she couldn't remember seeing it at all, and she thought she knew all of the legal guild emblems, there wasn't that many, which then made her think that he might be from a Dark Guild causing her to now start freaking out.
"Well to answer you as simply as possible I am a fire mage. And why are you all of a sudden freaking out?" said the Salamander while watching the blonde have a small freak out next to him.
"Oh, you aren't a member of a Dark Guild are you?" she asked while taking a few steps back from him.
"HAHAHAHA what would make you think that?" replied the Salamander once again holding his sides from laughing for the second time this day.
"Well I just finally looked at your guild emblem, and I don't recall ever seeing it part of the legal guilds." said Lucy wondering why that question was so funny for the Salamander.
"Well that is to somewhat be expected I guess, well you see my guild is very special, we only except very specific mages and were one of the first ever guilds to be formed almost one hundred and seventy five years ago." stated the Salamander proudly.
"If that is true then I should definitely know of your guild if you have been around that long, the only other guild that comes close to being around that long is Fairy Tail." replied Lucy showing that she did know her stuff on guilds.
"Well you are forgetting that I said we were a special guild, and that we are very exclusive. Also we only take extermination quests, unless it is from the Council or the King himself." said the Salamander not really knowing that getting missions from either of those two is unheard of.
"What! You guys get missions from the Council and the King?" shouted Lucy.
"Hey not so loud, that really hurts, and yea what of it, I have done about four quests for the King myself. He's actually a really nice guy, who can be quite funny if he is not around all of his advisors." said the Salamander as if meeting the king was no big deal at all.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Lucy, not believing all of the things that have been coming out the Salamander's mouth. It also didn't help that he said them as if they were no big deal at all.
"I thought you knew, I mean you have been using my moniker this whole time." stated the Salamander.
"That is only because that was how you identified yourself to those Witch Hunters, but I do have to say it sounds awfully familiar to me." replied Lucy once again trying to figure out where she heard that name before.
"Well you are just going to have to figure that out on your own Lucy." said the Salamander.
"Okay, so what is the name of your guild, since you guys aren't dark mages?" asked Lucy trying to figure out more about the Salamander.
"Slayers" replied the Salamander nonchalantly. This caused Lucy to stop dead in her tracks, she had heard of the Slayers everyone had heard of the slayers, but she just thought that they were a myth, like a whole bunch of other people in the country. Because the stories that she heard about the mythical slayers were sometimes really hard to believe, they a lot of the time involved them appearing out of nowhere to kill some sort of rampaging monster or demon while also making it look easy. They would then collect their reward for dispatching whatever foul creature in the story and then disappear to who know were, to once again only appear in a dire situation.
There were also those not so heroic rumors such as them all being monsters or mutated wizards that were willing to do all sorts of weird experiments to their own bodies. Also some of them were about stupid wizards trying to prove themselves by attacking them which also always ended very badly for that wizard. There were of course the stories about just one of their members taking out entire Dark Guilds single handedly, this one usually was accompanied by the rumor that they were a special branch of the Council that was pretty much the true enforces of the other guilds throughout Fiore. These rumors also caused other rumors such as if the Council or King needed anything done even having someone killed, then they would use the Slayers.
Remembering all of these stories and rumors that she had heard over the years made Lucy remember the one member out of the Slayers that got the most attention. It was a man that went by the moniker Salamander, he was said to be the strongest amongst the slayers using fire magic that made all other fire mages quiver in their boots. It was said that he single handedly stopped a war from starting ten years ago just by showing up in between the two armies and letting his magic loose for a little bit, which resulted in all of the area in between the two armies to be burnt to a crisp. It was also said that he was the one responsible for killing Deliora by himself, just because it woke him up from his nap.
He was known for his excessive use of force and being brutal when handing out punishments to those that wronged him, his appearance is rumored to be that his whole body is covered all over with scars from all of his previous battles, but something that was always said about the appearance of the Salamander was that he had pink hair. It was also stated that if you wanted to make it out of an encounter with him, for the love of god don't make fun of his hair. They also describe his outfit as always being a dark color and that the only thing that he would use when battling other than his fire magic, were his two trusty pistols and daggers.
There were also the rumors about him having eyes on the back of his head, because of how he battled, some of the stories claimed that he had horns growing out of his head and that he was able to breath and eat fire. While others said that he had wings and a tail just like a dragon, some even said that he could have claws grow out of his hands on command. But these last ones were all way to farfetched in Lucy's opinion, there was just no way someone could look like that.
Remembering all of these stories caused Lucy to just stand there for a few moments trying to wrap her mind around the fact that they weren't just rumors or a myth, and one of their members was right before her, and had just saved her earlier today. And not just any member of the Slayers, it was the one with the most notoriety, the one and only Salamander, and what she could tell the description about his appearance was quite accurate except for the horns and other ridicules things said.
"Hey Lucy are you coming or are we parting ways here?" asked the Salamander, causing Lucy to snap out of her thoughts.
"Y-y-you're t-t-that S-S-Salamander?" stuttered out Lucy while pointing a finger at the Salamander.
"Yep, unless there is a different one that I don't know about." replied the Salamander while smiling at her.
"Really?" asked Lucy.
"Yep, why would I lie, and are you coming with me?" asked the Salamander.
"Yea, so are the rumors about you and your guild true?" Lucy asked after she caught up to the Salamander.
"Yes and No, you know how rumors are. And let me tell you, you would probably be surprised about which ones are which." said the Salamander while laughing to himself.
"Like what?" asked Lucy.
"Okay, for example a false one is that we are all monsters, which might I add can really hurt when you hear it over and over again after you save people. Now for a true one that is hard to believe, oh I got one and it's about me. It's true that I can breathe and eat fire." said the Salamander starting off sounding sad about being called a monster but then having a huge grin when he revealed that he can breathe and eat fire.
"No way, you can't do that, can you?" said Lucy looking at him, hoping that he would show her.
"Sure can, here take a look at this." said the Salamander, who then followed it up by shooting a fire ball out of his mouth.
"Oh my god that is amazing." shouted Lucy.
"Really, most people instantly shout monster after seeing me do that." replied the Salamander shocked by Lucy's response.
"Why would I think that, I am a wizard as well?" asked Lucy.
"You would be surprised at how many wizards don't see it that way Lucy, but it's great to see that you aren't one of them." said the Salamander smiling fondly at Lucy, thinking that she was one of the good ones.
"That's terrible, as if mages don't have it hard enough, we are now even turning on each other." said Lucy now angry that some mages would treat the Slayers like that.
"You got that right Lucy, but there's not much we can do about it." replied the Salamander.
"Well I am going to try, because without you there is a good chance I would have died in a few days." said Lucy determined to try and help the Salamander out in probably the only way she could.
"HAHAHA, well I guess stranger things have happened, but just so you know rumors like the ones we have are really hard to kill. Trust me I have tried and I can confidently say that it was one of the only things that I haven't been able to kill." said the Salamander smiling again.
"Well maybe with my help it will be different this time." stated Lucy looking at the Salamander determined to help him.
"Maybe you're right Lucy, if you wait here I have to go collect my reward." said the Salamander as he headed to the door of the mansion that they were apparently heading to this whole time. Lucy notice that a butler answered the door for him, but rather than inviting the Salamander in he had him wait out there. When the door opened again a short little fat man came out, he then talked with the Salamander for a few minutes, after they were done the butler handed the Salamander a pouch of what Lucy could only assume contained whatever the reward was for doing whatever the Salamander did for them. The Salamander quickly slipped it into one of his pockets and then said something to the little man while reaching out for a handshake, which the man completely ignored and turned around and went back into his house. So the Salamander just turned around and headed back to her.
"So if I recall, earlier you wanted directions to Fairy Tail right?" asked the Salamander.
"Yes I did, why are you asking?" said Lucy.
"Well I thought I could take you there if you wanted." replied the Salamander while smiling.
"Really you would do that for me, you know you could just give me directions I don't want to be a bother to you." Lucy quickly said to him.
"No problem at all, what are friends for, also it will allow me to check for any nearby missions and I can see some of the few friends that I have outside of my guild." said the Salamander while smiling and starting to walk away from her.
"Alright this will be great, now I have a travel companion that I can talk to." stated Lucy happily.
"That you do Lucy, oh and I plan on walking there, I hope you are okay with that." said the Salamander.
"Wait why wouldn't we get a cart or take a train?" asked Lucy.
"Well let's just say that I don't like using them, and hey this way we can get to know each other better over the next two days." replied the Salamander who now had a huge grin on his face.
"Two days, it takes two days to get there?" asked Lucy.
"Yep, but if I was by myself I could probably get there in less than half a day, but then I would be dead tired." said the Salamander.
"Okay, I don't mind, and as you said we can get to know each other better." replied Lucy now smiling again, seeing that it wasn't going to be that bad at all.
"So Lucy, what magic do you use?" asked the Salamander.
"I am a celestial mage so I summon spirits that then help me out." answered Lucy proud of her magic.
"Wow that is a really rare magic now, it's almost classified as a lost magic now." responded the Salamander after figuring out what magic Lucy uses.
"Wow I didn't know it was becoming that rare." said Lucy not knowing that about her magic.
"Well that is probably due to the one weakness most celestial mages have." said the Salamander.
"And what would that be?" asked Lucy curious on what the weakness of her magic was and wondering what she could do to get rid of it.
"Two simple things, first you need to have your keys to use your magic, second most celestial mages can't actually fight for themselves so if anyone gets close enough to them they are screwed." replied the Salamander.
"So what can I do to fix this Salamander?" asked Lucy looking at him.
"Well to fix the first one I suggest learning re-equid from someone, that way you should always be able to get your keys and not accidentally loose or drop them. For the second one I would suggest training with someone in hand to hand combat or if you wanted some weapon training with the weapon of your choice." said the Salamander after thinking for a little bit.
"Wow, that would really make me a better mage, those were really good suggestions." said Lucy.
"Always glad to help a friend." replied Natsu.
"Okay, then if you wouldn't mind could you teach me how to fight Salamander, you did say you were always glad to help a friend right?" asked Lucy giving off a devious smirk.
"Oh your good and I would gladly help you, if you want I could start teaching you on the way to Fairy Tail." responded the Salamander.
"Thank you so much Salamander, and yes, let's start now." replied Lucy excited about learning how to fight from probably one of the most feared person in all of Fiore.
With that settled for the next three days the Salamander and Lucy talked and trained on their way to Magnolia, which is where the guild of Fairy Tail is located. It took an additional day to get there because of the training that they were doing, and over the three days they talked about a whole wide array of different topics, and by the end of the trip they had definitely become close friends. They were now standing outside of the gates of Fairy Tail and it was now roughly one in the afternoon.
"Well here you go Lucy, here's Fairy Tail. Well I have to go check on something, so see you later." said the Salamander.
"Wait you're not coming in?" asked Lucy sad that the Salamander might be leaving her now.
"Not right now, I will stop by later and hey I will have to stick around for at least a little bit longer to make sure you get down the basics of what I have been trying to teach you." replied the Salamander as he started to walk away.
"Okay, see you soon then!" said Lucy excited that he was going to be around a little bit longer. So she gathered her courage and then stepped into the guild. What she saw was not what she expected, there were a few fights happening around the guild and everyone else seemed to not be bothered about it at all, they kept doing what every they were doing be that drinking or talking with other guild members.
"Hello, I don't think I know you, my name's Mirajane but you can call me Mira, so how may I help you." said a beautiful white haired women wearing a maroon dress and sporting a killer smile.
"Oh I wanted to become a member if that is okay." replied Lucy feeling just a little bit shy right now.
"Wow we don't get many new members, but I will go get Master, you can go wait at the bar." said Mira as she pointed to the bar and then took off to the second level of the guild.
So Lucy went to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, waiting for the Master and Mira to come. She then noticed that the lady working the bar looked awfully similar to Mira, she just hadn't filled out as much and was sporting a shorter hair cut than Mira.
"So can I get you anything, and by the way the names Lisanna." said the girl that Lucy was looking at, who came up to her to see if she wanted anything.
"Thanks Lisanna, but I am just waiting for Mira and the Master." replied Lucy.
"Oh and why is that?" asked Lisanna.
"I wanted to become a member, oh and do I have to take some sort of test to become one?" asked Lucy concerned if she would be able to get in.
"New member huh, and nope the Master just needs to give you the thumbs up." answered Lisanna.
"Wow it is really that easy?" asked Lucy.
"Yep" replied Mira appearing next to Lucy out of nowhere, causing Lucy almost fall off of her stool.
"So where is the Master Mira?" asked Lucy.
"He's right there on the bar." said Mira smiling and pointing to an old little man, standing on the bar staring a Lucy intently. This was starting to creep Lucy out a little.
"Well, you're in young lady." said the Master now having a big grin on his face.
"Really just like that?" asked Lucy.
"Yep, welcome to the family, what's your name and where would you like your mark?" replied the Master.
"It's Lucy and back of my right hand please." said Lucy extending her hand to get her guild emblem. Which Mira did with the stamp that was behind the bar, used for a new member which rarely happens anymore. When she removed it there was now a pink Fairy Tail emblem on the back of Lucy's hand.
"Wow pink you don't see that color often, reminds me of someone from a while ago." said Mira as she looked like she was recalling some old memories.
"It sure does." replied Lisanna having a similar expression as Mira, which Lucy was going to ask about because the color also made her think about the Salamander that she had spent almost all of the last four days with. But before she could ask the two girls who they were thinking about the Master spoke up.
"So Lucy, if you don't mind me asking why did you decide to become a mage of Fairy Tail? It must have been a dangerous trip coming here, considering that there are still Witch Hunters about trying to catch any rogue mages." asked the Master.
"Well the reason is simple it has always been my dream to become a Fairy Tail mage as soon as I learned I had magic. And you are so right about it being dangerous coming here, two Witch Hunters actually figured out that I was a mage and tried to capture me." replied Lucy.
"Wow, so how did you get away from them, I've heard that they are really tough?" asked Lisanna leaning on the counter so that she was closer to Lucy and can hear the story better.
"Well I wouldn't know how tough they are because someone stepped in and saved me." said Lucy.
"So who helped you? Was it like in the stories, a valiant and handsome knight rushing in to save the damsel in distress?" asked Mira who was now also interested in Lucy's story.
"Well most people wouldn't describe him that way Mira, but I guess I would, he came and helped me out, without even knowing who I was or wanting anything in return. He even started to train me so that I won't ever be in a situation like that again while he lead me here." said Lucy now having a faint blush on her face, that didn't go unnoticed by the other three.
"So is it someone that we would know, or was it some random Good Samaritan?" asked Lisanna.
"Oh you guys might not know him, but you all definitely know of him." replied Lucy blushing just thinking about the Salamander.
"Oh Lucy come on you're killing me here, who is this man?" asked Mira.
"Oh alright, it's the Salamander, he also said that he would be stopping by soon, I wonder where he is?" said Lucy now looking at the door hoping to see him walk in.
"What?" shouted all three of them together.
"I said that it was the Salamander and that he would be coming by." replied Lucy wondering why they were so shocked, not remembering that just three days earlier she was way more shocked than they are right now.
"He's actually coming here?" asked the Master still in shock, while the other two girls were starting to look nervous and didn't say anything.
"Yep" said Lucy smiling now.
"Who's coming here?" asked a random guild member, because after hearing Mira, Lisanna, and the Master shout what all together, the whole guild became interested in what was happening at the bar so they quieted down to listen in.
"The Salamander." said the Master with a face that was still unreadable.
"WHAT?" shouted the rest of the guild with a wide range of emotions.
End of Chapter
Author's Notes:
There you go readers, hope you enjoyed and some of you have asked me to tell you when I plan to post again. So here it is I will try to at least post a new chapter at least once a week for this story. Well that is about it for notes so as always feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think about the story so far.
Until the Next Chapter
Digem Out!