Faust
In the core of Edolas, lay the Royal City, a towering series of structures, all dwarfed by the massive Royal Palace, that looked more like a series of columns strung together than an actual structure. And hovering over it, was a Lacrima, the size of a city.
"Holy crap! You mean to tell me that a guy breathed fire? That's, like, impossible!"
"I know what I saw, Hughes." Erza was walking down the halls of the palace, flanked by Sugarboy and another man with short purple hair and a white streak, Hughes.
"And perhaps if Sugarboy had opted to actually participate in the fight instead of leaving, the result would've been different," Erza said, shooting a glare at her fellow officer.
"Mmmm," Sugarboy responded, "I was scouting out a potential location for Fairy Tail to run too."
"Regardless," Erza continued, "I don't know how Natsu Dragion managed to do what he did. It was almost certainly coming out of his mouth, and unless he swallowed a fire lacrima, that shouldn't have happened."
"Again, its, like totes, impossible," Hughes said, "But I'd love to know how he did it."
"When I catch him, I intend on finding out. That was power, and power that impressive should be at the kingdom's disposal," Erza answered, "But I'll admit that colossal lacrima did also earn my attention."
"Mhmm," Sugarboy said, "It is quite impressive. I heard it has an entire city's worth of Earthland magic."
"The details make it boring, Sugarboy!" Hughes said, "All I need to know is how totally awesome it is!"
"Not the words I would use, but I suppose you're correct," Erza said.
"Ms. Erza!" a raspy voice called. Everyone stopped and looked in said direction. A short, elderly person who looked more like a gremlin than a man stood before them.
"Byro," Erza greeted with a nod.
"So is it true?" the Chief of Staff inquired, "You encountered a fire breathing man with those Fairy Tail outlaws? That guild is becoming increasingly more annoying."
"It will be done," Erza said, "I was caught off guard, so it won't happen again."
"I'm certain," Byro sneered, "Kegh! Kegh! Kegh!"
"That sound is so abhorrent." A towering figure strode into view. He was wearing heavy armor with a large coat. But what was most notable was his face, which was that of a panther.
"Still as blunt as ever, eh Pantherlily?" Byro said. Pantherlily just scowled at him, as he walked forward.
"What's with you Pantherlily?" Hughes complained, "Why do you always act so high and mighty? Last time I checked you're not any better than us."
"Are you challenging me Hughes?" The man glared, but didn't say anything.
"Well you're certainly in a foul mood," Sugarboy said.
"Then it is advisable to stay out of my way," Pantherlily answered, as he pushed past them.
"What's his problem?" Hughes asked.
"Chances are the military buildup is still grating on him," Sugarboy said.
"I'm not questioning our king's directive, but we've united almost all of the world," Erza said, "Is the buildup truly necessary?"
"There's still resistance, and a couple locations remain independent," Sugarboy said, "The ones who haven't been enlightened to the greatness of our king."
"Then they will dealt with accordingly by us," Erza said, "No more buildup necessary. Not to mention that Subject S is still functioning flawlessly."
"Gah!" Hughes said, "Don't mention that thing! Subject S is, like, totally wack!"
Further down the halls, a young girl scurried down, as if she was running down hot coals.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" the girl called. Her name was Coco, she was the assistant of Chief of Staff. She skidded to a halt before the steps of a large throne, saluting.
"I've just got word that we will be able to start extracting magic from the lacrima within four days time," she said. The figure was silent.
"Its not enough," he muttered. Coco cocked her head as she scurried in a circle again.
"I'm sorry Majesty!" she said, "But I do not understand. Combined with Subject S, the amount of magic could be inmeasurable!"
"There are still restrictions," the figure said, "And I won't be satisfied until they are gone." He then rose to his feet, revealing a tall, elderly man with white hair and a beard, wearing a robe. He was Faust, the King of Edolas.
"And when that is gone, we will truly be free!" he declared, "And we must take an unlimited source of magic!"
(somewhere else in Edolas)
Two hooded figures were walking across the sand.
"This place is getting more surreal by the second," the shorter of the two figures said.
"Yeah, and talking about it isn't going to make it change, shrimp," the taller answered. The other, who turned out to be Levy, sighed.
"And your sarcasm isn't going to make this any easier to figure out, Gajeel," she said, before looking into the distance, "Is that a town?" Gajeel followed her gaze.
"Looks like it," he said, "Maybe our luck is starting to change." The two started heading down towards it. Levy then went back to remember how things all started.
(Flashback)
Levy licked her finger as she turned a page.
"What're you reading?" Kinana asked, as she leaned down. Levy grinned.
"This isn't actually a book," she explained with more than a touch of enthusiasm, "Its a tome about Space Magic."
"You trying to learn about Space Magic?" Kinana inquired.
"No, but I got this book as a reward for a quest once, and I sort of forgot about it until that stint with Frieze," Levy said, "Elfman fought a Space Mage." She then looked back down, and noticed the letters glowing slightly.
"What the…." That was when there was a massive flash.
(End Flashback)
Levy had regained consciousness sometime later, finding Gajeel standing around a massive open space. Apparently the tome had an enchantment that protected her from space magic. Next thing she knew, Mystogan was launching them into the sky, and they were being spat into this weird world called Edolas.
"You'd think that Mystogan guy would've told us more about this place," Gajeel said.
"Well I imagine he didn't know that much actually," Levy answered, as she looked around. The town wasn't particularly large, but it was by no means small, maybe being slightly smaller than Magnolia.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"We start asking people," Gajeel said. To illustrate his point, he walked up to the nearest person.
"Yo!" he called, "I need some info!" The guy he was talking to looked at him, before walking away, as if Gajeel didn't exist.
"The hell?" Gajeel muttered, "What's his problem?"
"Maybe if you looked less like you would cut off a guy's head?" Levy suggested with an arched eyebrow, "Let me try." She then walked up to another person, lowering her hood.
"Excuse me," she said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you give me and my companion a hand." The guy looked down at Levy, before glaring.
"Piss of," he said, as he walked away, much to Levy's surprise.
"Uh… what?" she asked.
"Wow, and you call me out," Gajeel said. Levy flushed red.
"Well, I ain't giving up!" Ley said, "And neither are you! Let's go!"
(in the desert)
The group walked down the desert, leaving Fairy Tail far behind. Wendy looked over shoulder, unable to see the place anymore.
"Too bad they won't help," she said.
"They made their choice," Carla said, "And if they've got a problem, then its their hangup."
"I don't really care," Natsu said, "If they're not going to help, then I'm not going to wait for them." Wendy and Happy looked at each other, slightly unnerved by Natsu's tone.
"Hey look!" Happy suddenly piped up, pointing. Everyone looked over, and saw a small frog-like creature.
"Its a little froggy!" Happy said as he fluttered over towards it.
"Will you focus, tomcat!" Carla scolded. Natsu looked at the frog, and would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to join Happy with chasing it. Wendy seemed to notice.
"I'm sure Lucy wouldn't want you to be like this," she said, "She'd want you to have fun." Natsu made a face at the frog, before he gave into his temptation, and jumped at the frog after Happy.
"Come back here!" he yelled, as he jumped at it again.
"I don't think its advisable to encourage such behavior," Carla said.
"I'm not going to let Natsu mope around like this," Wendy said, "Last time Lucy disappeared he nearly burned down a mountain range. I don't want him to go crazy again like the incident with Frieze." Natsu then sprung at the frog again, managing to catch it by the tail this time.
"Gotcha!" he said, as he grabbed the small animal.
"Uh, Natsu," Happy said.
"What?" Happy pointed. Natsu looked up, and saw a much larger version of the frog looming over him. Wendy and Carla looked in the same direction.
"I think that's the mom," Happy said.
"Still think that was a good idea?" Carla asked.
"I'm sorry!" Wendy cried.
"Whatever," Natsu said as he let the little frog go, and jumped to his feet. He then charged up his fire infused fist, and when the frog lunged at him, he slammed the fist into its gut sending it careening away.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Wendy said, "I don't know why I worried."
"Sooner or later you're going to find something that you can't just scorch," Carla said, "Anyway, we should keep moving, come on Wendy." The group the began to continue, before the sand exploded, and another one of those frogs launched at Wendy.
"Wendy! Look out!" Natsu yelled as he turned to breath fire. Wendy got ready to let loose her own breath attack, but before they could, a whip lashed around the frog's neck, sending an electric shock through its body, and causing it to keel over.
"You know the least thing you could do is get some info," Lucy said as she climbed onto the frog's unconscious body, "Desert jumpers always travel in pairs to protect their children."
"Thanks Scary Lucy!" Happy said.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch, Scary Lucy!" Wendy echoed.
"Will you stop adding on a 'scary' to my name!" Lucy snapped.
"What're you doing here?" Natsu asked, looking up at the blonde, "I thought you weren't going to help us." Lucy glared at him.
"I don't know why I thought you were Natsu," she said, "You're much more obnoxious."
"Save it, both of you," Carla said, looking up at Lucy, "What's with the change of heart?" Lucy made a face, and averted her eyes.
"I can't in all good conscious let you wander blindly through Edolas," she said, "I had to at least contribute something." She then jumped down to ground level.
"Now follow me," she instructed. Lucy then started walking, only to notice that Natsu wasn't following her.
"What's your problem?" she asked.
"You're not my Lucy," Natsu said, "Why should I trust you?"
"Natsu!" Wendy scolded. Lucy glared at Natsu.
"First off, maybe its that I'm not your Lucy, maybe its that you're not my Natsu," she said, "Secondly, you might not want my help, but you need my help if you want to find 'your' Lucy."
"She's right," Wendy said, "We do need her help." Natsu clenched his teeth, before sighing.
"Let's go."
"High time," Lucy said, as she lead the group towards the nearest town.
(sometime later)
Eventually, Lucy lead them into the town of Louen.
"Alright," she said, "If you want to get some info, you can start here."
"Thanks, this was very helpful," Wendy said.
"Yeah, no problem," Lucy said, flushing slightly red. With that, she started to lead them down the road.
"There are a lot of closed magic shops," Happy said.
"Understatement of the century," Lucy said, "Once upon a time you could buy and sell magic no problem. Then the Royal Army comes along and starts shutting down guilds and banning the use of magic. Turns our entire world upside down."
"Well that sure sucks," Natsu said. Lucy turned and glared at him.
"I take it back, that's the understatement of the century," she said, "This doesn't just 'suck'. Our entire lives were centered around magic, and now the country starts ripping that piece right out from under us." Natsu looked at Lucy, but didn't say anything.
"Come on, don't tell me that you don't know how it feels to suddenly lose something precious to you," Lucy said. Natsu then shot her a glare, but still didn't say anything. Wendy, Carla, and Happy winced at that. That caught Lucy off guard. I guessed I touched on something sensitive she thought.
"Well, one way or another, I imagine you've had to go for some time without magic, maybe you can sympathize," she said, "In fact, I imagine you can't use that attack any…."
"What're you talking about?" Natsu said, "I breath fire at least twice a day." There was a sudden silence.
"Say what?" To illustrate his point, Natsu let out a brief puff of fire from his lips, much to Lucy's surprise.
"Using that big of an attack should've drained the lacrima," she said.
"Lacrima?"
"You know, the fire lacrima you had to have swallowed." Natsu let out a snort.
"Lacrima tastes terrible," he said, "I'd never eat it again." That was when it dawned on Lucy.
"Wait, you mean to tell me…," she began.
"Unlike Edolas, in Earthland, our magical power is infinite," Carla explained, "Natsu can shoot off as much fire as he wants to, without ever risking permanently running out. Though I for one sometimes wish he did with all the stuff he's burning." Suddenly, Lucy was felt a surge of jealously. People from Earthland could use magic at their leisure, without having to ever worry about running out of it.
"Boy what I wouldn't give to live there," Lucy muttered softly.
"What was that?" Wendy asked.
"Nothing!" Lucy said quickly, before pausing. She wanted to change the subject.
"I'm hungry," she said, "Let's get something to eat." She then lead them to a restaurant, and had them sit down.
"Hey," Lucy said, "I've got a question."
"What is it?" Happy asked.
"Can you tell me about the Earthland me?" Lucy asked. Natsu suddenly lit up, which surprised Lucy, but no one else.
Eventually Natsu finished talking about his girlfriend, as Lucy listened intently. She then burst out laughing.
"Wait a minute!" she said between laughs, "You mean to tell me that I'm writing a novel! And I use keys to summon weird star spirits? That's rich!" She continued laughing loudly. The rest of the Earthlanders took notice that Natsu didn't mention that Earthland Lucy was also pregnant.
"Scary Lucy is much more vulgar than regular Lucy," Happy said.
"Will you shut it!" Lucy snapped.
"Don't laugh about my Lucy!" Natsu said angrily.
"Will you stop talking like I'm some aberration?" Lucy demanded.
"That word's too big for Natsu to know," Happy said. Lucy sighed. Her Natsu would've known that word. Her attention as suddenly attracted by a group of men wearing armor coming down the street.
"The Royal Army!" she hissed, "Hide!" She then yanked the Earthland wizards into the alley, as the soldiers walked past.
"Don't forget, guilds were all supposed to be shut down," Lucy said, "We shouldn't be out in the open like this, its dangerous."
"So we're just supposed to dive into alleys whenever we see those guys?" Wendy asked.
"Why can't I just burn them?" Natsu asked.
"You can't take an entire army that's over a hundred thousand strong," Lucy said.
"I've faced worse odds," Natsu said. Before Lucy could answer, they all suddenly heard a very familiar voice.
"Will you guys let me go!"
"Was that…," Wendy began.
"Lucy!" Natsu said, as he poked his head outside of alley. The others followed suit. Sure enough, standing in a circle were a group of Royal Soldiers. In the center was a blonde girl, with part of her hair tied back. But what was most notable was her swollen stomach.
"Just surrender, Lucy Ashley!" one soldier said.
"That's not my name, my name's Lucy Heartfilia!" Tears of joy began to drip down Natsu's face.
"Lucy!" Wendy and Happy said.
"Me!" Lucy said. That was when she looked closer, and noticed the girl's swollen stomach.
"She's… I'm…. pregnant?"
Note: I decided to bring Levy along too, because why not? I'd love for some suggestions as to what to do with her. That's not my only plan. I'm certainly looking forward to next chapter.
And what could this "Subject S" be?
Be sure to review.
On an unrelated note, an anonymous reviewer by the name of "Natalie" asked me for a third time to do a sex scene. The answer is, and will remain, no. This is a rated T, and will remain that way. And I won't do a separate story just for the sake of smut either. Sorry, but I don't do smut.