The Stone Cast in Shadows

by voidwriting

When you cast a stone into darkness, you can't expect it not to disturb something. The same is true for Ame, a 15-year-old nobody from Earth. She was adopted by a lady who soon made a point to let Ame know she hates her. So what happens when the foster nobody from Earth falls into Earthland and tangles with Fiore's #1 guild? The stone disturbed the monsters and the truth with shine

3. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter 2! But before I start, I want to make sure everyone understands this.

Is this story going to mostly follow the manga? Yes.

Is Ame going to know everything up to the current chapter? No.

Are there going to be Arcs of my own creation added? Of course.

Is she going to tell Fairy Tail she's from another world and knows details about their future? Maybe.

Will she have ideas of what's going to happen beyond what she read? Yeah. (She'll know this via spoilers and theories, but to her none of the spoilers will make sense until they're happening)

I will try to be as original as I can and not make Ame as OP as I did in the last version of this story, but I can warn you that Ame is going to be heavily involved in a lot of major conflicts and I will be altering the flow of the story here and there in places because like the last line of the previous chapter: You can't cast a stone into darkness and expect it not to disturb something.

Enjoy!

...

The manga didn't do the town of Magnolia justice. It was so much more vibrant and detailed then it was described in the manga. There were venders on every street corner, trying to sell everything from magic charms to food. Smells wafted through the air that made me realize how hungry I was. Admittedly, I felt tempted to ask Makarov if we could get some food, but I didn't want to be rude since he would end up paying for it because I had no money of my own to pay for food with.

He had enough to pay for with Fairy Tail destroying everything anyway.

As we walked, I eventually began to mindlessly follow Makarov as my thoughts began to overtake my mind. I was so confused. Why and how did I end up here of all places? Who was this 'Rika' that Makarov had mentioned earlier and why was I suddenly able to use magic?

Well, I probably knew the answer to that last one.

But the rest just didn't make any sense at all.

"M-Master?" I asked.

"What is it Ame?" he asked kindly.

"I-If I may ask, w-who's Rika?"

For a brief moment, no longer than a breath, Makarov's expression darkened.

"U-Uh! Y-You don't have t-to answer i-if it's too pe-personal!" I assured, slightly panicked.

The old wizard shook his head. "It's alright child. Rika was a powerful Shadow Mage who was part of the guild. She was almost like a daughter to me."

I froze for a moment. "'Was'." I said sadly, "Yo-You're using p-past tense."

Makarov nodded. "Rika disappeared 15 years ago shortly after giving birth to her second child. She took her child with her and we never saw her again."

"Th-That doesn't m-mean she's dead!" I protested, "I-If she w-was p-powerful, then s-she could st-still be out there!"

The old man shook his head. "I'm afraid that even if it's Rika we're talking about, she would not be alive at this point. She was terribly ill when I last saw her. She knew she wasn't going to survive much longer, but she swore she would take care of her children as long as she could."

"W-Where's her o-other children?"

"She had one other child. A son. But I'm afraid her son disappeared with her that night."

"I-I'm so-sorry I b-brought it up." I stuttered.

"It's alright Ame. I assume I mentioned her when I met you because you look so much like her."

Silence hung between us until we reached our destination. The Fairy Tail guild hall. Much like the town, the manga didn't do the building justice in respect of how utterly massive it was. It looked almost like an Arabian castle, towering over the tops of the towns buildings but at the same time still keeping a modest height.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Ame." Makarov grinned.

The doors swung open and...for once there wasn't a fight going on. But the Fairy Tail guild hall was still a buzz of activity. Mages milling around, chatting with each other at the tables, the bars and the Request Board at the other side of the hall.

"Welcome home, Master! How was your emergency Council Meeting?" a sweet voice, I immediately recognized asked.

"Those old coots weren't too happy that we blew up the Guild Master's meeting house in Clover, but nothing too unusual."

"That's good news! And who's the young miss behind you?" Mirajane asked.

I followed Makarov inside and as I expected, I started to feel nervous. I wasn't a strong wizard and I was standing in the strongest guild in the country and I was starting to feel the pressure to be perfect settle in as I felt people staring at me.

"This is Ame. She'll be joining us as of today." Makarov briefed.

Mirajane flashed a bright smile at me. "That's great news! I'm Mirajane, welcome to Fairy Tail!"

"T-Thank you, Mira-san." I stuttered, slipping into honorifics.

"Oh, well aren't you a sweety? I'll go get the stamp."

Mira left and Makarov disappeared back into his office, where ever that was, leaving me alone with the only two people at the bar. Both I also immediately recognized as Cana and Lucy.

"Wow. You must be really strong to have gotten a personal invite from Master." Lucy said.

I shook my head honestly. "I-I'm not r-really that s-strong. I-I di-didn't e-even know I h-had magic u-until a c-couple hours a-ago."

"Huh? What's that old coot thinkin'?" Cana slurred drunkenly, "Lettin' a newb in the guild."

A feeling of defiance sparked in me.

"Isn't the whole point of a guild to make mages stronger?" I asked, for once not stuttering.

Cana cocked a brow at me. "Sure, but if y'ah just started, how the heck did y'ah sweet talk your way in here?"

"I didn't 'sweet talk' my way into Fairy Tail. I probably wouldn't have joined if Master didn't ask me to." I scowled, "I might not be the strongest mage here right now, but I can get stronger."

"I'll be watchin' y'ah then. Can't wait to see the show."

At that moment Mira returned with the stamp and all the courage I had at the moment evaporated.

"Where would you like it?" Mira asked sweetly.

I pointed to the side of my neck. "H-Here, please."

The stamp came out in a bright sunshine yellow, kind of ironic considering I was a Shadow mage, but I was happy nonetheless.

"Th-Thank you Mira-san." I said, bowing slightly.

"Not a problem. Welcome to the guild."

After that, I was kind of lost. I wasn't sure what I should do next. I thought of going on a job. I could use the money, but my magic isn't that strong yet, so my next thought was to find the guild's library and start researching Shadow magic and maybe start practicing a little bit.

I had to do something, it felt awkward just standing in the guildhall like this.

"E-Excuse me, M-Mira-san? D-Do you know where the l-library is?" I asked.

Mira simply smiled and pointed off to the far corner of the guild. There was a door tucked away by the stairs where there wouldn't be any flying debris hitting anyone from the fights that break out in the hall.

I nodded and smiled. "T-Thank you a-again, Mira-san!"

I quickly headed to the door and ducked behind it. Inside the room were rows and rows of book shelves. There were so many kinds of books it was dazzling. I had a suspicion though that it would be hard to find books on Shadow Magic, but if I looked I might find it.

There were certainly plenty of books on magic, but there was also a lot of books on magic history and other things that weren't related to magic. It was overwhelming to say the least.

"Ame? What are you doing in here?" a familiar voice asked.

I turned away from the bookshelves. "M-Master Makarov?"

The short man was standing behind me and he looked vaguely confused. About what, I didn't know.

"Shouldn't you be socializing?" the old man asked.

I frowned a little. "I-I'm n-not very g-good with p-people. B-Besides, I-I need to l-learn how to u-use my magic if I-I'm going t-to go on m-missons."

Makarov hummed thoughtfully and stroked his stubby beard. "Wait here child. I will be right back."

He disappeared behind the bookcases soon after, leaving me rather confused. Makarov was a little different in real life than in the manga and I don't know how to describe it, but it felt like he knew something that he wasn't telling me. I still didn't know much about this 'Rika' person and I some how reminded him of her and that was odd to say the least.

What still bothered me is how I got here. It made zero sense to me. What happened was obviously magic, but there is no magic on Earth. At least none I know about. And why me of all people? Maybe there really was someone looking out for me, or maybe there was something else at work that my human mind couldn't possibly understand.

Footsteps came around the corner and broke me from my thoughts. Makarov was back and he had a book in his hands. I couldn't see it very well, but it looked almost new.

"Here we are. This is a very special book Ame. This is Rika's magic journal. She wrote everything there is to know about her magic in here." he said holding the book out to me.

I stared in shock. "M-Master Makarov, w-why are you g-giving t-this to me? I-It's too i-important to y-you. I-I couldn't p-possibly take it."

"Rika left this book for her children. She knew that one day she wouldn't be around anymore and that one of her children would inherit her magic."

"'I-Inherit'? I-Is that p-possible w-with magic?"

Makarov nodded. "Rika was a special mage. Her magic was an ancient form of hereditary magic called Shadow World Magic."

"I-I've never h-heard of that m-magic b-before. B-But y-you didn't answer m-my q-question. W-Why are y-you giving it t-to me?"

He shrugged. "The principals are similar to regular Shadow Magic. Besides, this old thing is just sitting in my office and collecting dust. Rika would want this book to be put to good use."

I hesitantly took the book. It was kind of heavy and there were some loose pages sticking out from the black leather cover. The cover was still a deep black without a trace of discoloration and embroidered with several small runes that I couldn't read. As my fingers traced down the cover, I found a small, yet deep impression on the bottom right corner.

The emblem of Fairy Tail.

I bowed slightly to Makarov. "T-Thank you Master. T-This w-will be a g-great help. B-But m-may I ask o-one more th-thing?"

"You may child."

I straightened. "W-Why are y-you d-doing all of t-this? Y-You d-don't even k-know me and y-you invited m-me to join F-Fairy Tail a-and you've g-given me a v-very i-important b-book. I-I would j-just like to k-know wh-why."

Makarov smiled at me knowingly. "I will tell you in time Ame. For now, learn what you can and make friends. There are plenty of kind people in this guild that I'm sure would love to be your friend."

A small smile tugged at my lips and I nodded. "T-Thank y-you again Master."

"You're welcome Ame. Enjoy your studies, but don't get too absorbed into it."

I nodded once again and Makarov left the library. The book in my hands felt a little heavier and it intimidated me. This was the book of a strong mage that she had left for her children. It felt like I was intruding on something I didn't belong in. And what had me on edge the most, was that Rika was never once mentioned in the manga. From what I knew, there was no such thing as Shadow World Magic.

I felt hesitant about opening this book and learning from it and as I sat at one of the library's tables, I just stared at the book for what felt like an eternity and it felt like the book stared back at me. Almost begging me to open it. Once again, I hesitated, but eventually caved into my curiosity and opened the book.

I expected the ink to be black, but instead I was blasted in the face with a literal rainbow of ink. The main writing was in a dark blue, almost black ink, footnotes in red, detailed instructions of rituals in black, magic circles in a deep purple and headings in pink of all colors. Each page was carefully formatted and neatly written. Rika had taken special care in crafting this book for her children. In honesty, I felt a little jealous of them that they had such a loving mother who wanted to make absolute certain that they had everything they needed to learn magic.

I didn't have that luxury, but then again they didn't either. They didn't have the book, I did even though it rightfully belonged to them. I was a thief and an onlooker. So why didn't I feel bad about it?

I pushed those thoughts aside and began reading the first paragraph under the cheery pink heading "basics". A date was scrawled next to it: January 4th, X765.

It was a heavily detailed explanation of how to access Shadow Magic and control shadows to the caster's own advantage. The book was significantly helpful and it was written in a way that was easy to understand. I thought that Shadow Magic could be practiced at anytime, the journal confirmed that, but it also said that for beginners, night is the best time to practice since it's dark out and naturally shadows are darkness itself. Thankfully for me, I could see the sun had began to sink past the horizon through the windows in the library, no doubt casting large patches of inky black shadows in the back of the guild.

I closed the book, tucked it under my arm and went outside to the back of the guild.

...

I don't know how much time passed before I finished training for the night and I'm quite satisfied with my progress. The actual manipulation of shadows came surprisingly naturally to me. I couldn't do much with it yet, only simple things like raising a wall of shadows, but I was a lot farther along then I thought I would be. And that wasn't even the most exciting thing I could do now. In addition to controlling shadows, I could dive into them and become one myself and much like manipulating shadows, it came easily to me.

It was strange becoming one with the darkness. It felt cold and almost comforting but frightening at the same time. I felt like I was hovering in an inky black pool but I was still able to clearly see where I was going and what was happening around me. The feeling was almost surreal. But at the same time frightening. The whole time I was in the darkness, I could hear faint whispering all around me. Like a siren's song, beckoning to me to let myself sink farther and farther into the dark until I forgot what light felt like.

I almost fell, but my sheer fright snapped me back into my senses and the material plain. It was always said that it was easy to be tempted by the darkness. I never knew how true that was until that moment when I almost surrendered myself to the darkness.

That was the last thing I could make myself practice, not only because I was scared witless, but in the time I was practicing, I didn't realize how much magic I had used. As soon as I reemerged from the shadows, I immediately collapsed from magical exhaustion. Though the night air was at a summery warmth, I couldn't shake the icy coldness that still clung to me like cobweb.

I just stayed there, laying in the gravel by the river behind the Fairy Tail guild hall shivering from fright and cold in the shadows cast by the cliff side until I found the strength to move again. I sat up and leaned against the stone wall behind me and watched the moonlight dance across the slow moving water of the river. The sun had set a long time ago and the sky was turned a beautiful cobalt blue studded with sparkling white stars and hanging in the middle of it was the silvery white disk of the moon.

I had forgotten about this river behind the guild. It was only shown in flashbacks, but a lot of interesting fights happened here between some of the main crew. I was saddened a little that such a sentimental place would eventually be filled in after the war with Phantom Lord. It was peaceful here.

I started to smile but instead I yawned. Finally something important struck me. I didn't have a place to stay. The guild would definitely be closed by now and I didn't know anyone well enough to ask to stay over with them even if they were still around.

Guess I'll be sleeping under the stars tonight. I thought mournfully, Oh well. At least it's summer.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rippling feeling. It was the same feeling that I felt when that guy from the Southern Wolves attacked Makarov and I on the road earlier today. Then there was another and another. It felt like footsteps. I tensed and focused. It was on top of the cliff and slowly approaching the edge of the cliff directly above me.

The good news, was there was only one set of footsteps. But they were right above me.

Something jumped from above and landed with a solid thud in front of me. It was a person and in the backlight, I couldn't make out many features besides the fact that whoever it was, was a woman and had cards in her hand that emitted a magical pressure. Magic cards. I recognized the person immediately.

I blinked. "C-Cana-san?"

"Put 'em up kid. Let's throw down." Cana said, raising her cards at me.

"H-Huh?!" I gasped, standing up.

"Burning Cards!"

The cards in Cana's hand caught fire and she threw them at me. I threw my hands up and a wall of shadows rose in front of me. The cards struck my barrier but the flames surrounding them were immediately smuthered by the darkness and fluttered to the ground.

"Not bad for a rookie." Cana mumbled, "Let's see how you hold up against this. Jolt of Fate!"

A bolt of lightning arced down from the sky towards me. I'm not sure why, but in reflex I dove into the shadows and the lightning exploded above me. I could see Cana's shocked, almost horrified expression and it confused me. What was she doing? Did she not intend to hurt me?

"Oh shi- I over did it. Dang it, what'd I just do to that kid?" Cana muttered.

I stalked through the shadows, ignoring the whispers surrounding me and reemerged right in front of the Card mage from her own shadow. The look of surprise on her face was remarkable, but once again, almost on instinct I rose my hand at her, darkness twirling through my fingers.

"Midnight Missile."

A fist sized shadow sphere exploded from my hand and hit Cana hard in the face and sent her flying into the river. My hand immediately dropped back to my side and I felt my face release a scowl I didn't even know I was holding. I ran to the edge of the river, ignoring my own exhaustion from once again overusing my power and dove to my knees at the edge. Thankfully, the water was only about ankle deep, but Cana was laying unmoving in the middle of the river.

I started to panic.

"C-Cana? A-Are yo-you okay? I-I'm s-so sorry. I di-din't m-mean to-!"

From the middle of the river, Cana started laughing. I blinked in confusion as she sat up and threw her wet hair out of her face. For once since I entered the guild, Cana smiled at me.

"Geez kid. You pack a bigger punch then I thought." she chuckled, "Maybe Gramps wasn't wrong lettin' you join Fairy Tail."

"Y-You mean y-you...y-you were t-testing me?"

Cana laughed again. "And you passed. Sorry I was so mean earlier, you're actually a pretty strong mage."

I smiled and held out a hand. "T-Thanks Cana-san."

Immediately, I regretted holding out my hand. Cana took it alright, but she then pulled my into the river with her shouting "revenge!". The water soaked me to the bone faster than the lightning she tried to hit me with earlier through my threadbare clothing. I shot to my feet gasping from the ice cold water and dripping wet, but my clothes were some how starting to unravel significantly. What remained of my outfit clung to my abnormally slim frame like glue.

The worst bit was my glasses were ripply with the water that stuck to the lenses and just barely hanging off my face.

Cana frowned and stood up. "Sorry kid. I didn't mean to ruin your clothes. Why are you wearing these old rags anyway? They're falling apart!"

I readjusted my glasses and wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to conserve my body heat and to cover up what skin was showing through the unraveling fabric.

"I-It's o-okay C-Cana-san. I-It's a-an o-old o-o-outfit." I said, teeth chattering.

"'Old'? Try ancient. How the heck was this thing staying together when you came to the guild today?" she pondered, picking at the fraying hem.

I shrugged jaggedly as I shivered. Cana sighed and drapped an arm over me and lead me out of the river.

"Yeah know kid, you're the strangest person I've ever met. I don't know what it is about y'ah, but you're different."

A breathy laugh passed through my lips. "H-Hey Ca-Cana-san? Wh-What we-were y-you d-doing ou-out h-here a-anyway?"

"Oh, that's simple. I was watchin' y'ah train."

"H-Huh?"

Cana laughed. "I told you I was gonna watch the show."

I laughed again as my eyes drifted to the bank of the river, where I had placed Rika's journal.

"O-Oh, I-I ne-need t-to g-get m-my b-book." I shivered, gently shrugging Cana's arm off and walking on my own.

Cana raised an eyebrow. "'Book'?"

I knelt down and being careful not to get water on the pages, I picked the book up and held it in front of me as my hair dripped with water. The Card mage looked at the black leather book with a masked fascination.

She chuckled lightly. "So that's how you got so tough so fast."

I smiled. "I-It a-also h-helps th-that I-I'm a-a fa-fast l-learner b-by na-nature."

Cana laughed again. "Well, it's late. You'd better get to wherever you're stayin'."

"Y-Yeah..."

The Card Mage's smile faltered. "Wait...you don't have a place to stay, do you?"

I shook my head and carefully held the journal against my chest. "I-It's o-okay t-though. I-I've sl-slept i-in w-worse pl-places th-then o-out h-here."

Surprise crossed the Card mage's face. Shrugging and walking off is what I expected her to do, but instead, Cana grabbed my wrist and walked off, forcing me to follow after her.

"C-Cana-san!" I exclaimed, "W-What are y-you doing!?"

"Letting nakama sleep outside like an animal ain't gonna fly with me. You're bunkin' with me for now, no complaints!" Cana declared.

"I-I c-can't a-ask yo-you to d-do t-that for m-me C-Cana-san!" I protested.

"Too late!" Cana laughed, "Besides, if y'ah don't have money for lodging, I doubt you've got money for new clothes."

A hot blush crept on my face. My clothes were completely trashed. Even if I got them dried off, the damage was already done and in a guild full of horny men, I would feel very uncomfortable wearing clothes that are literally falling apart at the seams and then some. Sometimes, I forgot how smart Cana actually was. Of course, I had a suspicion that she had tried to look up details about me with her cards.

The Card mage must have taken my silence as submission and increased her speed.

"Don't sweat it kid, you can pay me back by buyin' me a round or two when you actually have money to burn."

I sweat-dropped. Always the alcoholic. I should have known.

...

Since Cana wasn't much of a primary character in the manga, I had forgotten that she stayed in Fairy Hills along with almost every other woman in the Fairy Tail guild. To be honest, I had forgotten that Fairy Hills had even existed since it was rarely ever mentioned in the manga. Cana's apartment was a bit of a mess and stunk of stale booze. Empty alcohol bottles and barrels were crowding almost every flat surface in the apartment. The only place in Cana's apartment that was actually well kept was a single bookcase crammed full with decks of magic and tarot cards.

Even still, believe it or not. I had slept in worse places.

After clearing it of empty barrels, Cana threw a light blanket and a pillow on the couch with a large, longsleeved shirt that I doubted with her's.

"Here, you can sleep here. Tomorrow we can go ask Levy if she's got some extra clothes you can use. I didn't think it was possible, but you're even smaller than Levy." Cana laughed, sitting on the tabletop with a keg in her hand.

I bowed slightly. "Th-Thank y-you Cana-san. I-I re-really a-appreciate your k-kindness."

Cana smiled. "Gotta bit of a stuttering problem, huh?"

I nodded meekly.

"Eh, whatever. You'll get over it eventually kid."

"M-My name i-is Ame, Cana-san."

The Card mage waved the comment off. "I know, but 'kid' suits y'ah. I mean, you're so tiny! How old are you anyway? You look twelve."

"I'm f-fifteen."

The Card mage stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing, almost toppling off the table.

"Fifteen and four foot six! Geez kid, you're a riot, I like y'ah."

A smile tried to appear on my face, but a yawn beat it to the punch. "I-I s-should g-go to sl-sleep. T-Thank y-you a-again C-Cana-san."

"Ah, quit thankin' me kid, it's weird. This is nothin', really."

The Card mage muttered a quick 'good night' before disappearing into her own room, leaving me alone in the living room. Sighing, I pulled the shirt over my head. It smelled kind of like what I imagined winter would smell like.

This is probably Gray's. Why am I not surprised? I thought, laughing a little.

Putting the shirt on put into perspective how short I really was. The helm of the shirt reached half-way down my thighs and a good three inches of the sleeves were hanging over my hands. Unbelievable how short I am, but that kind of happens when you grow up in the conditions I did. It also could just be contributed to genetics, but I never knew my parents so I wouldn't know if one of them was crazy short or not.

A sad sigh passed my lips as I sat on the couch and settled in for the night. Despite appearances, the couch was actually comfortable and really, it was the closest thing I've ever had to a real bed. Small tears traced their way down my cheeks as I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. These weren't tears of sadness or rage or any emotion of the sort.

They were tears of happiness. I finally had a place I could call a home and people I would be proud to call a family. This was the beginning of my own fairy tale...well, not exactly.

It was the beginning of my life in Fairy Tail.

...

A/N: Was this good? I'm not the greatest at writing in first person, but I can't seem to write OC stories in any other POV. I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 2 of "The Stone Cast in Shadows" :)