Hello! So, I'm updating really early to kind of make-up for the time I wasn't updating which was like a month or more. Also, I want to give a shout out to 'Verana Cyrestia' because she's been helping me out with working out kinks to the characters/plot and just other random stuff. I really appreciate it and I'm really glad the help she contributed in this chapter :) So, here is my next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Fairy Tail... Scarlet Destiny on the other hand is all mine :)
Wendy had no time to react. She felt warm skin wrapped around her wrist as she was tugged back by Kouta his hand was tight on her wrist.
The animal... no the monster in front of her was as tall as the tree's around her. It was covered in dark black fur, long over-grown and dirty. The monster eyes were a dark red color, with its pupil shaped like a cat's as its eyes narrowed on their puny forms. It's arms-if you can even call it that- was humongous and long as they dangled next to its body that looked like it could crush a skull like a twig. It's mouth was huge and filled with sharp teeth, easy to tell they were built to rip into skin. What Wendy found the worst about this creature was it's eyes. It's red, bleeding eyes that didn't blink not even once.
Wendy's vision of the monster was cut off as Kouta was dragging her through the forest, dodging teeth. Suddenly, an earth shattering roar that vibrated into Wendy's body commenced. Her eyes widened in horror as Kouta ran faster and it was getting hard for her to keep up. The exceeds were following close behind them but they had an advantage since they could fly. No one was questioning where Kouta was leading them. Hell, it was either follow him or stay with the monster. Wendy knew which she was going to choose.
She heard thundering foot steps echo in her ear and she knew very well the monster was following them. There was no way she could fight that thing. No way. It could easily squash her with its foot. Suddenly, Kouta jumped over an abandoned tree that was in their path and Wendy had no choice to follow.
Wendy was ready to start running froward again, when a sharp jerk behind her made her stumble backwards and her vision was suddenly blinded by darkness. She realized that Kouta had led them to hide in a hallow that the tree made. It was small just enough to fit the two of them and the Exceeds without any of their body parts showing.
"We can't stay here for long. The Vanchee will easily smell us out."
"The Vanchee? Is that what that thing is called?" Lily whispered. Wendy couldn't see him but she could imagine a serious look on his cat face.
"Yeah... you've probably never heard of them before. They don't usually show themselves that often. We've often met Vanchee's before but never ones that big as the one that is following us. I...I've never seen anything like it. The ones we met were always babies."
"Please tell me this Vanchee is a vegetarian?" Happy begged his voice echoing in the hallow.
Wendy heard the breath that Kouta let out and she imagined him shaking his head.
"Unfortunately not. It's a carnivore and let's just say we are its favorite meat. When Vanchee's devour the body they eat everything, bones, clothes and all. Nothing is left."
"What should we do?" Wendy whispered as she realized that Kouta was the only one they could really rely on.
"I...I can't take that thing on. W-we have to go back to the guild. It will be dangerous to lead it there but I know two people who will be able to take it down. But if we do this we have to be quick. If that thing catches us, we're done for." Kouta explained.
Wendy noticed that he was acting differently then before. She couldn't see him and so she knew no one else could. And, she wondered if this was why he was acting more confident. More strong. Because no one could see him. It was a bit like he was acting like a different person. Also, she made a mental note about the mention of a 'guild'. Was this boy a mage? What type of magic did he have?
"I can fight it if you need me too." Lily butted in and Wendy knew he may be preparing to transform.
"No! It's too dangerous! I may have no idea what you can do but I don't want you to risk your life against something that you have no idea how to handle. You could die. I know you don't know me but trust me when I say that we have to go back. This way maybe none of us could actually get hurt."
"I think we should do what he says." Carla proposed.
"Aye." Happy agreed.
Wendy nodded her head even though no one can see her and quickly brushed her bangs off her forehead. Suddenly, she let out a sharp gasp when her hand brushed against the painful bump on her head. She had almost forgot about that.
"Is everything okay?" Carla asked.
"Yeah, um, I just touched the bump on my forehead that I got when I tripped and fell on the ground. I'm fine." Wendy said casually brushing off Carla's worry. She didn't want her to worry not with what was going on.
"Oh, your hurt? I...I can help you with that if you want?" Kouta replied with a tentative tone just like what Wendy heard when they met a few minutes ago.
"Um, sure, I guess." Wendy mummers not really sure how Kouta could help her.
Suddenly, a green light burst through the darkness, illuminating the hallow they were in so Wendy could see everyone. The light origins was Kouta's hand, it was completely covered in the green shining light. He brought it up to Wendy's forehead and gently place it there.
It was warm, Wendy thought as she stared at Kouta in shock. It was obvious that he was a mage now and he had some magic. She felt tingles coming from her forehead but she kept her eyes locked on Kouta who was solely focused on the hand on her forehead. She concluded that the tingles was coming from his magic.
It only lasted a few seconds before the light dimmed down slowly before dispersing and Wendy was surrounded by darkness once again. She could feel her jaw hang as she gingerly reached up to her forehead. She felt nothing. There was no pain. There was no bump. The wound was gone.
"How did you do that?" she asked in awe because for all she knew, she was the only one who could heal people.
"I healed you." Kouta answered, short and simple.
Wendy was about to ask how he did but a loud roar stopped the words escaping her lips. She heard Kouta take a deep breath and she felt him grab her wrist in his hand once again.
"We have to leave now. It's probably found our scent again."
Wendy swallowed hard. And, with no warning she was pulled out of the hallow and into the cold, night air. Her eye-sight adjusted quickly and she could make out Kouta. Luckily it wasn't that dark. Again, loud footsteps reached her ears from behind her and without looking back she knew that the monster was following them again.
Wendy didn't know how long they ran for. All the tree's looked the same so she had no idea what direction they were going in. Her heart was beating faster than a rabbits and she could barely gather oxygen in he burning lungs. Finally, the trees parted as they burst through to another clearing. This one of bigger, more spacious.
There was one big tree in front of the clearing, that was a bit more forward than the rest of the vast trees behind it. There was nothing really special about it. It was the size of the others, bare and a dark black color.
Kouta jerked to a spot in the middle of the clearing, breathing heavily. Wendy stopped beside him wondering why he suddenly stopped. There was nothing here. There was no one to help them. Did Kouta just lead them to their death?
Kouta took a deep breath and suddenly he shouted so loud that Wendy had to wince at the sound,
"Scarlet Destiny! HELP!"
What happened next Wendy couldn't comprehend. People just appeared. The out-of-place-tree was their origins. A man with black hair and black eyes with deathly pale skin was the first that appeared and he just came right out of the huge bark of the tree like it was a normal thing to ever happened. Wendy couldn't believe what she was seeing. How could someone just come out of a tree? That couldn't be possible. This was just unbelievable.
He wasn't the only one to come out. Followed closely behind him was two little girls, both seemed to dress the opposite each other and were no older than nine. Then closely behind them from the tree two other girls came out, one with dark pink hair and the other with short purple hair. Then following them was a boy with light blue hair that was standing out big time. He had his hand around someone's elbow. And, that someone was a person Wendy knew very well.
"LUCY!?" Happy shouted out, his mouth hanging open.
The girl in question looked at the sound of the voice and her jaw dropped comically and her eyes widened. She quickly ran forward towards them snapping her arm from the blue haired boys grip.
"Happy?! Wendy?! Carla and Lily!? What are you doing here?!" Lucy shouted out and against her will she could feel tears form at the bottom of her eyes.
She didn't know why they were here. She didn't know how either. But, Lucy couldn't stop the surge of relief that filled her body. The people who knew how she felt over the last months with Fairy Tail were in front of her. And, they were giving her the look that said they were happy to see her. They were relived that something didn't happen to her. And, this couldn't make Lucy more giddy.
"Kouta what's wrong? Why the hell did you call us?" the boy with the deathly pale skin demanded.
Before, Kouta could answer there was a loud crashing sound. Wendy was scared to look back because she knew what was looming over them. She watched as Lucy went pale. One of her arms rose, trembling as she pointed behind Wendy, Kouta and the exceeds. The other hand was clasped against her mouth and her eyes was wide with fear.
Although, the strangers beside her were acting the opposite, Wendy realized. The boy with the deathly pale skin had a small smirk on his face, his body in a straight posture. The two little girls were looking at each other with small smile's and almost seemed to communicate with each other just by staring at each other. The other two girls, pink and purple haired, were smacking their fist against their palm in a threatening movement.
The boy with the blue haired shocked Wendy the most. He was wearing a wide grin, ear to ear, and she could hear chuckles escaping him. He quickly turned to Lucy, noticed that she was scared as hell, and this kind of made his grin turn into a soft smile. He reached forward putting his hand on Lucy's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Lucy finally looked at the blue haired boy who gave her a big comfort, smile. Lucy stared at him for a second before lowering her hand from her mouth along with the other that was pointing and gave him a small, twitching smile back.
"Don't worry, Lucy. Everything will be fine. Leave the Vanchee to Ivy and Rose. They will take care of it and you can see their monster slaying magic first hand! It will be so cool, I promise."
After he said this, there was another loud roar from the Vanchee which caused Kouta to snap into action. His hand still closed around Wendy's, tugged her forward and they ran towards Lucy and the others, towards the safe side. The Vanchee witnessing this made another massive sound and was about to attack them. But, a voice spoke out loud stopping his action...
"Hey, big and ugly! Why don't you pick on someone your own size like I and Ivy." shouted the dark pink haired girl as she ran towards the monster along with the girl with Ivy. It was now obvious that she must be called Rose.
"You got that right. Take us on for size and I and Rose won't let you down!" shouted Ivy as they ran straight for the Vanchee.
Lucy could only watched as it looked like they weren't going to stop running to the creature. If they were just going to attack forefront like that they were going to get themselves killed.
"W-what are they doing?" Lucy asked to no one in particular as she watched the pair of girls charge.
She got no answer.
The Vanchee raised one arm and in a move Lucy could barely track he swiped his arm across the front of him knocking both the charging Rose and Ivy to the side flinging them like they were ragged dolls. She could only watched as the dropped to the ground with a thickening thud.
Lucy and Wendy gasped in horror at the scattered forms of Rose and Ivy. Lucy had to forced her eyes back to the Vanchee. The monster had a menacing grin on his face as he took a big step forwards. Lucy hand automatically reached down to the key strapped on her skirt. She had yet to try it out but she knew she had too since the Vanchee easily defeated the two girls. Lucy had no idea if she could take the monster but she knew she had to try.
The Vanchee was a couple few feet away. The Scarlet Destiny members weren't reacting yet so Lucy supposed they were frozen from shock and horror. She felt awful for what happened to Rose and Ivy as they seemed friends. It look like Lucy was going to take the Vanchee on her own. She was ready to snap the key out when it happened.
The only warning was a squeaky whistling sound before something hit the Vanchee on the corner of its head causing it to collapse on its side with a shriek of pain. The ground underneath Lucy trembled at the force at which the Vanchee has suddenly fallen on and a dust cloud formed obscuring her view.
And as soon as the dust cloud cleared, there on top of the Vanchee forehead was a girl. Rose. Lucy eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the girl was looking at her and the rest of the Scarlet Destiny with a wide smile on her face.
Suddenly, the members of Scarlet Destiny started shouting and cheering in happiness.
"It's about time!" Lucy heard Kuro shout as he leaned forwards, his hands placed on his hips.
Lucy realized that the her new guild was never worried about them at the first place. They knew that Rose was going to attack the Vanchee eventually.
"Hey no fair! How come you get to attack first?" shouted a new voice and Lucy snapped her gaze to its origin which was a dust-covered Ivy. Apart from that she looked fine and she was standing near the Vanchee's feet.
Then Lucy noticed something different. Something not right. Ivy's hair wasn't the same. The purple hair that belonged to her had changed and instead of it being that unique color it was a dark black color. Lucy thought her eyes playing tricks on her but...no Ivy's hair was black. Lucy turned to Rose and realized the same thing with her. Rose's hair instead of being pink it was black.
"What? Why are their hair black?" Lucy asked her voice sounded in between confusion and awe.
"That's the monster slayer magic. You see this is how it works. If Rose and Ivy touch a monster they can automatically copy the monsters ability and skill. Say that a monster has super strength. With one touch Rose and Ivy can copy that and then they can have super strength as well. In other words they literally turn into the monster but without their physical appearance changing or losing their minds. The only thing that does change is their hair... it turns into the skin that the monster has. In this case it's black. That's why they can take down any monster. Because, they can just fight it back with its own power. Didn't I tell you it was cool, Lucy?" Ren explained.
Lucy could only nod her hair in return. Suddenly, she heard a yelp and she looked back to see the Vanchee stir and open its dark red eyes. Rose quickly jumped backwards and landed on the floor and quickly ran to Ivy. The Vanchee lumbered to its full height and let out another bellow, ferocious roar and looked ready to go on a rampage.
Rose and Ivy looked to each other, smirked, turned to the monster and took a deep breath. As one, they both let a roar that sounded exactly like the Vanchee but it was much scary. The Vanchee jerked back and for a second it look confused before an angry expression was on its face.
"Good thing Vanchee's have quick healing ability. If not we might not have recovered from that hit. Come on, let's give the Vanchee it's pay back." Rose said calmly.
Ivy nodded her head, before zooming forward at a speed that she didn't have before. A Vanchee trait. The Vanchee used its arm to swipe Ivy away but she easily dodge it by jumping over it, and then she did a small spin in mid-air before aiming a devastating kick on the Vanchee's stomach.
Ivy's aim was bulls-eye and the Vanchee flew back at the force giving a cry at pain. But, he didn't actually make it to the ground. Because Rose was suddenly in the air just a few inches below the Vanchee. She aimed a kick at the place where the base of the Vanchee's spine. There was a sickening snapping sound, another bellow cry from the Vanchee and it flew upwards towards the sky.
And, gravity took its work then. The Vanchee flew down and smashed into the trees, the ones that formed the outer edges of the trees. The Vanchee was sprawled out on the trees and seemed to be unconscious. Until, it started to twitch and move it's limbs and quickly brought itself on both it's hand and legs, in a position a dog would use.
"It won't be able to stand. I cracked its spine with my kick. It would at least take the Vanchee an hour to heal it. I did that because I didn't want this battle to last long. Too many people here and it's too close to our guild. I don't want to accidentally damage something or cause someone to get hurt unnecessarily." Rose explained as the Vanchee howled in pain as it tried to stand up.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You heard her Vanchee. Leave now, or we will have to kill you." Ivy shouted as she waved a fist threateningly at the monster.
"Wait... the Vanchee can understand you?" Lucy asked in surprise.
Ivy looked back at her blinking confusingly,
"Of course it can. It might be a monster but that doesn't mean it doesn't understand us. Vanchee's can understand our language just fine, most monsters can. They just can't talk in it."
Suddenly, a creaking sound broke the conversation and everyone watched at the Vanchee started to leave crawling, causing trees in its wake to crash down. There were a few tense moments that everyone thought it might return. But, once the Vanchee was out of sight and only the sound of trees breaking down was heard everyone relaxed.
"That was so cool! I never get tired of your magic Rose and Ivy. Lucy, I bet you are strong like that." Ren said smiling at her.
Lucy could feel her cheeks heat at the compliment and quickly looked down from Ren's blue eyes. She had realized that for some reason the boy seemed to have a lot of faith in her even though he barely knew her or her magic. It was weird. Ren just seem to admire everything.
"L-Lucy?" Wendy spoke softly as she looked at the girl.
Before Lucy could reply, a blue ball lunched itself at her and she barely had time to realize that Happy was crying on her chest and holding her tight.
"Lucy! I missed you so much! I am so glad you are okay!" Happy cried out.
"Hey, Happy, it's okay. I'm fine." Lucy said slowly as she held Happy and she couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes.
Happy cared. She may not know how they got here again, but he cared and most likely so did the others.
"Oi, Lucy. Did that cat just talk?" Ren shouted as he pointed to the cat with awe on his face.
"You idiot! That's the first thing that you noticed. What about the wings on his back?" Kuro said loudly looking at Ren like he was really dense.
Ren's eyes widened when he took in the wing that Happy had. Kuro noticed that look and smacked his palm on his head,
"You didn't notice the wings, did you?"
"No...but how amazing it that. The cat can fly. Can I have the cat?" Ren asked with that dazed look on his face.
"Happy isn't mine and you can't just claim him like that." Lucy said loudly.
"Eh? Why can't I have the cat?"
"Because you can't."
"But you just said the cat isn't yours. That means he doesn't have an owner which means that I can have him as a friend if I want too." Ren said stubbornly as he crossed his arms a pout on his face.
Another thing Lucy realized about Ren. He was much clever then he let people on. That and he acted really childish when he wanted to be.
"Enough about the male cat. Lucy, where have you been? Who are these people?" Carla interrupted turning to Lucy.
Before Lucy, could reply a shout butted in,
"Ren! Kuro! I got Jared and Sarah."
Everyone turned to see Jared, Sarah and Veruna walking towards them.
"I'm glad to see everything is fine. Sorry, it took us so long we had to keep the rest of the guild at bay." Sarah apologized to Lucy and the rest softly before her gaze slid to Wendy and the cats "um, who are these people?"
Lucy was quick to reply,
"They are members of Fairy Tail."
"Actually, were. We were members of Fairy Tail." Lily replied.
Veruna jaw dropped at the talking cat but Jared and Sarah's face looked normal. Lucy took that into account. It seemed that this isn't the firs time they met an exceed. But, she would ask this later because there was something more important.
"What do you mean you were in Fairy Tail?" Lucy demanded as she turned to look at Wendy.
"Well, we kind of quit a Fairy Tail."
Silence.
"I think we should take this inside." Jared spoke for the first time.
Lucy felt the tears drop down her face quickly as she listened to Wendy's explanation of quitting the Fairy Tail. The Scarlet Destiny guild hall was silent as they listened.
It hurt Lucy a lot to hear this. That Fairy Tail could go on without her and act like nothing happened. It hurt some much. Lucy knew that the Scarlet Destiny guild members looked angry to hear what happened to her but it didn't matter. It wasn't like they could do anything.
Wendy finished her explanation and looked down at the floor a sad look in her eyes like she wished she could have done more. The tears never seemed to end and Lucy couldn't stop them.
Suddenly, Lucy felt a soft touch on her cheek and she almost jumped when she realized that the touch came from Ren. His hand was against her cheek and he was wiping her tears away. Their eyes met and Ren gave her a supportive smile,
"Don't cry. It's not because I don't like to see you cry, because part of it is because of that but I don't want you to cry. Not over them. Don't cry over Fairy Tail. They made their choice and you made yours. Now, put on a smile and be happy. They don't deserve your tears so don't give it to them." Ren explained softly with that soft smile.
There was silence that followed.
"Well, Ren has a point. We won't let you cry anymore. We'll make you happy Lucy. Now, as for you Wendy, Carla, Lily and Happy. Did anyone ever tell you all how strong and loyal you all are?" Jared said smiling at the little girl.
Wendy remembered Kouta telling her that she was loyal but she quickly pushed that aside. Her cheeks were really red from the compliment. Jared noticed that and he let out a chuckle,
"You all are strong and loyal. You all went against your previous guild for Lucy and for that I am sure she will be eternally grateful. Now, I understand you have no place to go?" Jared asked.
"No, we don't." Wendy replied with a weary smile.
She liked Jared already. When she found he was the master of this guild to Scarlet Destiny she was shocked. The exceeds were also as well. He was really young for it. So, young. She just didn't expect him to be it.
Jared looked from her to Sarah who smiled at him, in that gentle way. But, there was more to that smile then just the gentleness of it. Wendy had a feeling that smile spoke a million words to Jared. It was like they were communicating just with a few gestures.
Jared moved his gazed back to Wendy and the exceeds, his face brightening with a smile,
"Join Scarlet Destiny."
"W-what?" Wendy blubbered. This guild barely knew her. What if she was real bad inside? How could they just trust her into their guild so easily. Even Carla and Lily looked shocked.
As if reading her mind, Jared spoke,
"Well, I know your loyal and trustworthy. You proved that with Lucy. Plus, if anyone deserves a place in our guild it would be you four. We will protect you and we won't break your trust. Funny, I'm pretty sure I said something similar to Lucy who is or new guild teammate. Please, Join. Even, If you don't I won't let you leave alone. You can stay for tonight and I will send Kouta to help you out of the forest in the morning. But... I don't want to do that. So, what do you say... Will you join Scarlet Destiny?"
There was a moment of silence where each of them pondered the proposition in their heads.
"Yes... I suppose I will join. There is no one else I can go and no where else I can be." Lily announced stepping forward.
"And, I will join if Wendy joins. She's my best friend if she goes somewhere I will follow to protect her. I don't mind if she joins here. This seems like a good guild." Carla said as she looked up at her best friend waiting for her answer.
"I think this is for the best. I want to join too. You have helped Lucy at her time of need and that means you are good. I want to be in the guild that trust her even if they don't really know her." Wendy answered.
Now, all was Happy. And, he knew what he was going to answer.
"I left Fairy Tail for Lucy. But, now I think that I want to join Scarlet Destiny. Not just for Lucy but because it is the right thing to do. It will be hard but I know this is right. Aye, I will join the guild." Happy announced.
Loud cheers rand through the bar-again mostly for Ren- and Wendy could literally feel the warmth radiating from this guild.
"Wow. Jared, we got five members in two days. I think that's a big accomplishment." Sarah said with a smile as she looked up at Jared.
He smiled down at her. He always had to smile back when she smiled at him. It was just the way they worked.
"Yeah. It took us a long way to get here but we're here." Jared whispered low enough that he knew only Sarah would be able to hear.
She nodded her head and couldn't help the warm feeling growing in her stomach. They were there. Finally, at their goal. Now, all they had to do was keep it this way.
"So," Jared shouted causing the guild to quiet down "I suggest that we should throw a party for our newest members. What do you guys say?"
His response was loud, cheerful screams. Jared couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'll take that as a yes."
His eyes scanned his happy, teammates before he realized something and quickly stopped the party that was about to swing into full gear,
"Wait!" Jared started "We can't have a guild party without one of our members."
Lucy followed Jared's gaze as he was looking at something on the floor in the middle of two table. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was.
"We have to include our best S-class mage. I'm going to wake up Zolo now."
Jared was going to wake up the demon, Lucy thought with dread. This was going to get really bad.
And, this chapter is done. To be honest I was going to include Zolo waking up in this chapter but then in the end I went against it. The reason for it is because when Zolo wakes up he should have a chapter all for his self. So, that will be next chapter. And, let me tell you it will be really fun to write that.
Oh, and please review! I really want to know your thoughts, that's all.
Okay, so until next time... see yh!
