A/N: Chapter 3!
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CalicoKitty402: Thank you so much. I was really worried about what people were going to think of this story because OC's are freaking hard for me. I hope I can keep this up :)
Enjoy :)
...
Last night had been the most restful sleep I had had in my recent memory. I'd have to thank Cana again for letting me sleep on her couch, and maybe give Gray his shirt back if I saw him at the guild. After I washed it of course. Cana wasn't up until almost noon, but to be fair, so was I. Magical exhaustion and physical exhaustion caught up with me all in one night and the fact that I was actually sleeping on something comfortable made for an almost comatose sleep.
In other words, I felt fantastic.
Cana and I were sitting at her table eating some breakfast. It was just some simple cereal, but I was just happy to have food. To be honest, it took a little restraint to keep myself from inhaling my food. When I finished my cereal, I took the bowl to the sink and started washing it. But I was stopped when something hard hit me in the side of the head and clattered to the counter.
I growled and rubbed the lump forming on the side of my head and looked at the offending object. It was a hair brush. I looked over at Cana, who I was sure was the one who threw it at me.
"Go brush your hair kid, don't worry about the dishes. I'll do it later."
"A-Are y-you sure? I-It's no t-trouble."
Cana waved it off. "You want me to throw another brush at you?"
I shook my head.
The Card mage nodded in the direction of the bathroom. "Then go clean up."
I picked up the brush and hurried into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. The bathroom was pretty clean and I looked in the mirror hanging over the sink. My pale blonde hair was a rat's nest of mats and tangles. When I lived in Earth, I didn't have a hair brush or even a comb, so I tried to brush my hair with my hands but that wasn't very effective, so I eventually gave up on that and I hadn't brushed my hair in about two years. The thought of having to run a comb through this mess made me cringe.
But I started brushing my hair regardless. It hurt a lot, but I quickly figured out that holding a section of hair and brushing below my hand made it hurt less. I was halfway through my hair when there was a knock on the door.
"Y-Yes?"
"I don't wanna sound rude, but while you're in there, how 'bout you shower?" Cana's voice proposed.
I stopped brushing my hair for a moment. "O-Okay, Cana-san. I'll s-shower a-after I'm d-done c-combing my h-hair."
"You're still doin' that?"
I groaned a little. "I-I haven't b-brushed m-my hair i-in t-two y-years."
"Two years? What kind of a place did you live in kid?"
I stayed silent.
"Okay, y'ah don't have to tell me kid. Just get clean, 'kay?"
"O-Okay C-Cana-san."
The Card mage walked away and I resumed taming the wild beast that was my hair. When I was done, my hair was frizzing in every direction imaginable, but the tangles had been worked out. I had pulled out a wad of my hair about the size of a tennis ball in total, most of it made of mats and my scalp hurt from strands of my hair being pulled out by the roots, but my head felt just a bit lighter then before.
Next step, was cleaning it. I don't even remember the last time I had properly washed my hair, so it was a greasy mess and it felt disgusting. I was actually looking forward to showering.
...
I stepped out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but my undergarments and what I assumed was Gray's shirt, while combing out my wet hair. I felt cleaner than I could remember and it felt great. Never again, would I take for granted the gift that was shampoo and body wash. Though, the only thing that could make my mood better would probably be pants, because that was something I was severally lacking since my old clothes had mysteriously vanished while I was in the shower.
These conditions forced me to exit the bathroom in what I considered to be immodestly dressed. Under normal circumstances, I would feel horribly uncomfortable wearing so little in a room that I knew another person was in, but this was Cana I was staying with. She wore nothing but a bra and shorts twenty-four/seven and she's also a girl. If I was staying with a boy, I would feel seven kinds of embarrassed to be walking around in such little clothing.
At the moment, I had my glasses off so I could brush my hair and I couldn't see everything very clearly. The thick framed glasses were hanging from the collar of the shirt as I slowly felt my way into the room with my feet.
Cana was sitting on the couch having her mid-afternoon drink when I came out. The Card mage turned and looked at me and with my glasses off, I couldn't see what her expression was, but the tone of her voice made up for it.
"Wooooow kid, you look a hecka lot better without y'er glasses on." Cana slurred, slightly drunkenly.
"Y-Yeah, b-but I-I can't s-see an-anything." I said setting the brush down and putting my glasses on.
Cana shrugged and stood up. "Welp, ready to see Levy?"
I nodded and Cana took my hand and pulled me out of her apartment and down the hall several doors and stopped in front of one of them and rapped harshly on the door until it opened.
A head of periwinkle blue hair peaked out of the open door. Levy looked at Cana with a small pout of clear annoyance as she took off her Gale Force reading glasses that had previously been neatly perched on the bridge of her nose and hooked them on the collar of her dress.
"What do you need Cana? I was in the middle of an important book." the Solid Script mage said.
"Ahhh, y'er allllwaaaayssss readin'. I just stopped by because Ame here needs to borrow some clothes."
Levy peaked around the drunk mage and looked at me. Her hazel eyes narrowed a little.
"Are you...wearing Gray's shirt?" she asked.
A hot blush flushed my cheeks bright red. Before I could defend myself, Cana interrupted me.
"I lent it to 'er."
"How'd you get it?" Levy muttered, then she sighed, "I suppose I have some clothes I out grew in a box somewhere. I'm not sure if they'll fit Ame, but it's better than walking around in Gray's shirt."
The Solid Script mage opened the door wider. Cana strolled right in, but I was a little more hesitant. I stopped in front of Levy and held out my hand for a handshake.
"M-My na-name's Ame. I-It's ni-nice t-to meet y-you Le-Levy-san. Th-Thank y-you for l-letting m-me bo-borrow yo-your c-clothes."
Levy smiled widely and shook my hand. "It's nice to meet you too Ame and it's no problem. At least you're polite."
"Oi Levy! Where's the booze?" Cana's voice echoed from what I assumed was the kitchen.
"Cana, you know I don't own any alcohol! What are you doing in my kitchen anyway?"
Levy sighed and shook her head before walking farther into her apartment. I followed after her, while taking in her apartment. It was significantly cleaner than Cana's. Probably because Levy was largely more organized than the Card Mage, demonstrated by the walls covered in bookcases that were neatly lined with books.
"Y-You like t-to read, huh L-Levy-san?" I chuckled.
Levy smiled and nodded. "I love reading. Do you like reading Ame?"
"Y-Yes, b-but I d-don't know a-any g-good books t-to r-read." I admitted.
Levy clapped her hands and squealed a little. "I'd be more than happy to introduce you to some fantastic books, Ame-chan!"
"How 'bout we focus on clothes before y'ah two nerd out?" Cana said, magically appearing behind me.
The petite mage nodded and walked over to a closet and opened it before beginning to root through it. After a couple minutes, she pulled out a modest sized box and set it down outside of the closet.
"These are some clothes I out grew a couple years ago. I was planning on using the fabric to make something, but I suppose Ame-chan can make better use of them then me."
Levy opened the box and pulled out the first outfit on top. I expected it to be a smaller version of the orange dress she was wearing right now. It was in fact a dress, but it wasn't the same one that Levy was currently wearing. It was a sleeveless garnet red dress with a straight line collar and a flowing A-line skirt with a white bow in the center. The Solid Script mage handed the dress to me and smiled.
"Go try it on Ame-chan."
I nodded and disappeared into her bathroom, after Levy directed me to it. The dress's fabric was very silky and soft, I'm not sure how practical it would be for fighting, but I had a feeling it would be fine. Surprisingly, the dress fit me okay. It amazingly was a little big on me, but not enough that I was swimming in it like I was in Gray's shirt. It was even very noticeable. The dress hugged my body in all the right places, but the length kind of concerned me a little since it reached no lower than Gray's shirt did. I reached for the doorknob, but as I passed by the mirror, I couldn't help but look in it to see what I looked like.
What surprised me, was that I didn't even recognize the person staring back at me. I looked completely different than I did before. My hair no longer was a tangled mess of bedhead and I actually was wearing clothes that weren't falling apart. The dress actually looked nice on me and I felt like I was going to some formal event rather than wearing casual, everyday clothes.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Ame-chan? Are you done changing?" Levy asked.
"Yeah! We wanna see how hot y'ah look!" Cana said.
I laughed a little and opened the door. Levy smiled widely and clapped while Cana simply rose her beer in approval at me.
"Oh my gosh, that dress looks a thousand times better on you than it did on me. Red is a perfect color for you Ame-chan!" the Solid Script mage praised.
"T-Thank you L-Levy-san."
"You look smokin' in that dress Ame. I had no idea you were sucha knock out!" Cana grinned.
Levy stood back and took my new look in, a thoughtful look on her face. "Yeah, but there's something missing..."
She looked at me for a moment, then she snapped her fingers and turned on her heel and rooted through the box until she found what she was looking for. The bluenette pulled out a pair of dark leggings and a pair of simple black and white and handed them to me to put on. After I slipped the new articles on, Levy grinned and clapped her hands with glee.
"There we go! That's perfect."
Cana let out a low whistle in agreement. "Hey Levy, wasn't that your old mission outfit?"
Levy nodded. "Yeah. It was."
"Y-You h-had ou-outfits especially f-for m-missions?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I went through so many outfits when I went on missions, that I just got one outfit and had it charmed. If it gets torn, then just toss it in the wash and it'll fix itself up good as new."
"W-Wow. T-That's c-cool."
"Yeah, well, every mage in Fairy Tail has that charm on their clothes." Cana shrugged, "With the messes we get into, if we didn't, we'd be spending a fortune on clothes. Guess that'll work out for you kid since you don't even have a fortune to spend."
"Speaking of the guild, I've never seen you before." Levy said, "I know you're in Fairy Tail, but I've never seen you at the guildhall before."
"I-I just j-joined yesterday." I explained.
"Really? What kind of magic do you use Ame-chan?" Levy asked starting to look through the box again.
"S-Shadow M-Magic."
Levy looked up at me. "You're a Shadow mage? That's really cool, I'm just a Solid Script Mage."
My eye's widened. "B-But Solid S-Script is s-such a co-cool magic Levy-san! I-It's a s-shame it's s-so u-under appreciated!"
The bluenette smiled. "Thank you Ame-chan. That's really nice of you to say that. How long have you been doing magic?"
"O-Only o-one day." I admitted.
Levy's jaw dropped. "'One day'? You mean you didn't learn magic before hand?"
Cana scoffed jokingly. "Nope, the Master personally invited her to join. I don't know what possessed him ta do such a thing, but she's actually a pretty tough mage."
Levy shook her head humorously and closed the box. "I'm not even going to ask."
The Solid Script mage picked up the box and held it out to me. I looked at the box, then back up at Levy and back at the box again in surprise.
"W-What a-are y-you doing Levy-san?" I asked.
"I'm giving it to you. Think of it as a welcome gift." the bluenette grinned, "These clothes are all the same size, so they should fit you."
I grinned back and accepted the box of clothes. "T-Thank you Levy-san."
"How 'bout y'ah drop that off in my apartment and we can go to the guild? I'd like ta go another round against y'ah." Cana grinned.
"S-Sure Cana-san."
Cana and I exited Levy's apartment and waved our thanks to her, the Solid Script mage stood in her doorway and waved back.
"T-Thank you for the c-clothes Levy-san!" I grinned.
"No problem Ame-chan! I'll see you at the guild tomorrow!" Levy promised and closed the door.
At the moment, I couldn't stop smiling even if I tried. A foreign, yet wonderful new sense of freedom glowed in me like an open flame and it felt wonderful. I know that life here in Earthland wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows one hundred percent of the time, but that didn't stop me from being excited about what adventures lay around the bend.
...
A/N: I hope this chapter was okay. Next chapter is when we get into actual plot and good stuff like that. There's probably going to be at least one more as I dubbed it "free-handed" chapter (it's a chapter that is completely independent of the manga) before I get into the actual manga content. I'm going to start in the same place as I did with the previous version of this story, which for those of you who just joined us is the Deliora Arc.
But to warn you, I'm not going to follow the manga as closely as I did before. Be prepared :)