And finally getting to the meat of the story; from here on out, the games will begin.
The more I think about it, the more I realized that the first arc was actually just a very long Prologue. Haha.
Well, review and tell me what you think!
Three individuals stepped out of the train as it stopped at Hargeon Town, all of them bearing the Fairy Tail mark. The one to lead the group was Erza Scarlet, a red haired girl dressed in a simple white blouse and skinny jeans; she had a sheathed sword strapped to her belt. The second to follow her was Mirajane Strauss, a girl with flowing white hair tied up in a pony tail; her revealing black and purple punk outfit is what has most people staring at her. Third was Gray Fullbuster, who for the thousandths time was stripped down to his underwear. Erza looked at Gray with a sigh.
"Gray, your clothes" the boy looked down, jumping up surprised before rushing back into the train and coming out fully dressed in a white coat and dark blue trousers.
"You know, you probably could have told me sooner" he grumbled. Mira was the one who scoffed at him.
"It's not our responsibility to keep an eye on your clothes, that is your job" she scolded, Gray didn't say anything, it was obvious that Mira was not in a good mood today, probably due to the spat she and Erza had earlier. The train sounded its horn, moving to its next destination.
"Where's Sting?" Erza asked.
"SAVE ME!" they head him scream as the train left the station. They all stared as the blonde haired boy who was leaving their sight. Their fourth member was Sting Eucliffe, a boy doing his very best to try and keep himself from hurling out the window.
"Ah..." Mira muttered. "It left". They had managed to stop the train and rescue their fallen friend.
"How could you leave me there?" Sting cried still looking a little green. Erza looked apologetic.
"Sorry Sting, it's just that we thought you were able to recover once we stopped" she explained; Gray on the other hand was doing a very bad job holding in his laughter, which got Sting angry.
"You want to say something Popsicle?" the blond growled; Gray couldn't hold it anymore as he burst into laughter while pointing at Sting.
"You're pathetic!" Gray exclaimed "to think that the mighty Dragon Slayer still gets motion sickness", Sting retorted by laughing as well.
"Yeah well at least I know how to keep my clothes on, pervert!" he responded. Gray looked down and jumped noticing his naked body.
"Again?" Gray was quick to dress himself. Erza shook her head.
"Stop this you two and focus on the reason we came here" she ordered them. Meanwhile Mira was looking over the crowded town.
"Are you sure the First is here?" she asked.
"What gives you doubts?" Erza questioned.
"The First tends to avoid crowded areas. Remember those jobs we took with her when we were children?" Erza hated to admit it, bu Mira did have a point; whenever she and the First took jobs together, she always chose jobs that were in rural and obscure places; in fact it was very rare for the First to even hang out in the guild; which is actually how she earned the nickname 'Hermit'.
"Well regardless, we were told that there was someone here going by the name Hermit who possesses beautiful magic; I think it's worth it's worth a shot" Mira still looked skeptical.
"That's another thing; the First hardly ever shows off her magic in public, whoever this 'Hermit' is? I really don't think it's her" once again Mira was right, but Erza wasn't going to give up; she looked at her white haired comrade with annoyance.
"If all you're doing is denying she's here, why did you decide to come along?" Erza asked; Mira smirked.
"Mainly to watch you fail" That got Erza's blood to boil, but before the two girls could fight, Sting and Gray jumped in between them.
"Hey! You two, why don't we go into town and start searching" Sting said.
"Yeah, the sooner we start, the sooner we can find this 'Hermit'" Gray added. The two girls glared at each other before stomping into town.
"Honestly! Knocking off only one thousand jewels? Is my look really only worth that much?" Lucy, a beautiful young mage, muttered to herself; her frown then turned into a smile as she stared adoringly at a small silver key, "but at least I managed to get this" she started rubbing her face against the object. She suddenly heard a crowd of females gather squealing like little girls; she couldn't help be curious as to what it was about. As she squeezed through the women, Lucy found herself watching a tall young man waving at them while prancing around and smiling at the women; for some odd reason Lucy felt her heart throb, a faint blush forming on her cheeks.
"To be surrounded by all you beautiful women; I truly am a lucky man" he flashed a grin causing everyone to scream with joy, Lucy included.
"First!" a sudden random voice shouted while pushing away the crowd of ladies. "First! It's me Sting!" face faulting, the boy stopped to stare at the man. "Who the hell are you?" the man looked a little frightened but kept his composure.
"You might have heard of me, I am known as Hermit" he announced loudly, but Sting was already walking away. A horde of woman stampeded on top of the blonde boy.
"How rude of you!" they snapped at him.
"Now, now girls; it was a simple misunderstanding" Hermit said breaking up the crowd. "Sorry about them; here, take this, my autograph"
"I don't want this!" Sting yelled at him angrily; but the man ignored him, snapping his fingers a carpet of fire formed beneath his feat lifting him into the air.
"I'm having a party tonight on my yacht, everyone is invited" he told them all before flying away. Sting stood up dusting himself.
"Well that guy definitely wasn't the First" he muttered. Gray approached him
"Look at you; first it was a train, now it's a bunch of women; you really are on a losing streak" he said.
"Oh? Then why don't I change that streak by beating you down" Sting retorted, Gray smirked cracking his knuckles.
"Bring it on you stupid light bulb"
"Um..." they stopped and stared at Lucy who was trying to get their attention. "I just wanted to say thank you for saving me back there" Sting and Gray looked at her confused.
"I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you!" Lucy introduced herself. She had invited both Gray and Sting for lunch as gratitude, and was sort of regretting it now that she was watching Sting pig out on four plates of food; at least Gray was eating his share normally.
"Nice to meet you" Gray responded. Sting nodded.
"Yeah, you're really nice" the blonde said with his mouth full. Lucy looked a little disgusted.
"Thanks... you're Sting and Gray right?" the two boys nodded. "You see that guy was using a spell called Charm, it hypnotizes people into attraction and can force people to do things they wouldn't normally do, that's why the magic council has banned the spell from being used. But to think there are still guys like him who use it just to get popular with women, how low can you get" she explained angrily. She then looked at them with pride. "I may not look like much, but I'm actually a mage myself; a celestial mage in fact" both Sting and Gray perked up at this.
"We also have a celestial mage back in our guild, her names Yukino" Gray responded.
"You guys are mages as well?" Lucy exclaimed a little shocked.
"Yep" they responded at the same time.
"We're sort of on a job right now" Gray told her. Lucy put two and two together.
"That's right, you guys were looking for someone; First? Was it?" Lucy had to admit, the name was unusual; but she wasn't going to outright say it. Sting swallowed his food before answering.
"Yeah; but that guy definitely wasn't it" Gray rolled his eyes.
"Of course it wasn't, I guess Mira was right, the First isn't here"
"You know Erza; the First is like a mother to her, she'll take every lead, even if they all turn out to be false, as long as she can find her, she doesn't care" Sting retorted.
"If you can describe this person to me, maybe I can help... why is he stripping?" Lucy offered but couldn't help notice Gray was now topless; her eyes widened at the Fairy Tail mark though. "You're part of Fairy Tail?" Gray was too busy putting on his clothes to answer, Sting just nodded while continuing to scarf down food. Lucy's eyes were shining with excitement.
"I've always wanted to join Fairy Tail! Tell me, what sort of tests, interviews, do I need to take to join?" Lucy asked. Gray shook his head, a little amused that someone would think there was a test to join their ranks.
"No, nothing like that, just follow us when we head back, we'll get you your Guild Mark" Lucy was stunned by the simplicity.
"It's that easy?" both Sting and Gray nodded.
"There you two are!" Erza suddenly appeared, calling out to them, both her and Mirajane approached them. Lucy was inwardly squealing.
"It's Mirajane" she whispered. The white haired girl raised a brow at Lucy. "It's an honor to finally meet you Mirajane" Lucy said "I'm a huge fan of your work" Mira smiled; with her popularity sky rocketing because of her modeling career, it was often that she would catch the eyes of her many fans.
"Thank you, and you are?" Mira asked.
"My name is Lucy, I am a mage hoping to join Fairy Tail" Erza smiled.
"Well then, we will be happy to have you once we return; but for now we are here looking for someone in this town, perhaps you've met her?"
"The Hermit in this town is some womanizer trying to score a date" Gray answered, Erza raised a brow at this. Lucy, thinking about the man made her angry again.
"I wouldn't say womanizing, he's an outright criminal" she ranted again.
"What makes you say that?" Erza asked.
"That guy was using a Charm spell to seduce women" both Erza and Mira narrowed their eyes at this.
"Is that right..." there was an ominous tone to Mira's speech which put Sting and Gray on guard; they knew that whenever Mira spoke like that, someone was going to get hurt very bad. Erza commanded the four of them; her eyes equally as sinister.
"Let's go find this man and bring him to justice".
Both Gray and Sting stood on the beach watching a large boat in the distance. They were instructed to stay behind, mainly due to the fact that the party was limited to only women. Erza, Mira and Lucy were the ones to board the ship.
"This sucks, why am I stuck here with this stripper" Sting muttered.
"Don't think I like this arrangement either, I'd much rather be over there kicking some ass"
"Well, we can agree on that" there was a moment of silence once again.
"How do you think they are going to take him down?" Sting asked.
"Probably search and destroy once Erza and Mira get tired of the party" Gray responded. And right he was; on board the ship were a dozen of unconscious women having been drugged by the alcohol they drank; Erza, Mira and Lucy were the only ones awake. Erza was running around beating down everyone with her sheathed sword. Mira who had transformed into her Demon Soul was easily wrecking havoc on all her enemies. Lucy stood on the side completely awed by their capability; but she broke out of thoughts when she realized she needed to make a good impression; she wasn't helpless, she was a Celestial mage. Pulling out a golden key
"Open the Gate to the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" A blue haired mermaid appeared, she looked annoyed but Lucy didn't notice. "Aquarius! Wash away all those thugs!" she pointed. Aquarius however looked away.
"Tsk" Lucy's jaw dropped,
"Did you just 'Tsk' me!" Aquarius glared and leaned in close.
"Listen girl, you just dragged me away from my date, Date! What do you think my boyfriend is going to think of me?" Lucy shrunk under her gaze.
"That you're a brilliant and beautiful woman?" she squeaked out; however Aquarius wasn't amused.
"Whatever" the mermaid swung her urn conjuring up a massive wave of water; it swallowed the boat along with everyone in it. Both Erza and Mira were stunned by the sudden overflow of water and were quick to grab onto something. The wave pushed the boat into the beach. Lucy spat out water and looked around, alarmed that she might have accidently destroyed a small part of the town thanks to the tsunami. "Looks like I accidently swept the boat along"
"You were aiming for me?" Lucy screamed. Aquarius ignored her cries.
"Don't call me for another week, I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend; boyfriend" the mermaid said disappearing.
"You don't need to say it twice!" Lucy yelled a little annoyed.
"What the hell was that?" Sting and Gray cried out from the sideline. Lucy ran up to them.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't think my spirit would go overboard"
"That was you?" Gray shouted while looking between her and the wreck.
"That was awesome! What else can you do?" Sting questioned Lucy. However before she could say anything, there was an explosion. Mira and Erza emerged along with a bunch of thugs and their leader.
"You ruined everything!" Hermit screamed at them. Erza eyed him.
"You're the one who call's yourself Hermit" she said. "Who is it that you are trying to impersonate?" the man smirked brushing dirt away from his cape, answered without thinking.
"Why Hermit from Fairy Tail of course" his answer had signed his death warrant. The anger in Erza's eyes was murderous; she slowly drew her sword. The other three were also angry but they knew how personal Erza took it; even Mira backed away fearing the red heads wrath.
"I don't care if you are a good guy or a bad guy; but anyone who uses Fairy Tail's name and especially my Master's name, will be cut down!" before Erza could do anything she was hit with a ball of fire.
"Hmph all bark, no bite" Hermit said lowering his hand.
"Erza!" Lucy cried.
"Don't worry; such simple magic does not work on Erza" Mira assured. The purple fire started to disappear and was absorbed into Erza's blade. "Her sword, Seigfreid, is capable of absorbing magic that belongs to the Godai Elements" Lucy's eyes widened; the Godai Elements consisted of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void. Not many people were capable of wielding all five elements, but there was one in Fairy Tail that was famous for it; she went by the name...
"Five Swords Erza Scarlet" Lucy gasped out. Erza leaped forward and with a single swing of her sword, a wave of fire consumed the thugs, taking them out. She got a better look at the imposter.
"I recognize you now" she growled. "You are Bora of Prominence; you were kicked out of your guild, Titan Nose for using your magic to aid thieves" the now named Bora stepped back surprised by how easily Erza had wrapped his men up. He jumped away; he did not intend to go down without a fight.
"Prominence Typhoon!" a spiraling column of fire was sent flying towards Erza; the girl pivoted on her heel and swung her blade.
"Aqua Pierce" the blade was enveloped in a body of water as it easily cut through the fire attack before an arc of water was sent bolting at Bora; it hit the man, throwing him into a wall, knocking him out and leaving a deep gash across his chest. Lucy stared in awe and how easily the man was disposed of.
"That's our Erza!" Sting shouted jumping for joy; Gray nodded approvingly and Mira could only smile. Lucy could hear the sound of metal footsteps approach; it was the Rune Knights. She jumped up waving at them.
"Over here!" however Sting had grabbed her hand as the Fairy Tail members started running away. "What are you doing?" Lucy asked.
"If you're going to join Fairy Tail, there is one thing you should know about us" Gray said, Lucy looked concerned. "The Magic Council really doesn't like us".
"They're over there!" the captain of the knights yelled "Get them!" however the Fairy Tail mages were already miles ahead.
Deep in the darkest parts of an unknown forest was a Dark Guild called Wolves Tooth. The guild hall was a wreck and there was blood everywhere; hundreds of bodies lay lifeless on the floor and stairs. One man was crawling away leaving a trail of blood from his missing foot. A young girl, looking around the age of fifteen or sixteen approached the man, a sword in hand she plunged it through his heart.
"How many does that make?" a voice said from the second floor; the girl looked up
"Thirty" she answered.
"My, my Kagura, you're slacking; fifty is your usual kill count" the voice said. Kagura rolled her eyes while wiping away the blood on her sword.
"I would say you're the one slacking Ultear; you have blood on your coat" Ultear looked down, and there was indeed a spot of blood on her beloved long coat.
"Gah!" she quickly used her saliva to try and get rid of the stain. There was a giggle; all eyes were on the third presence; a pink haired girl holding onto a spear.
"I think I'm the one who is in top shape today" she said. Ultear smiled.
"Oh? What makes you say that Meredy?" Meredy grinned at the two.
"I was able to master the new spell I was practicing a few weeks ago" both Ultear and Kagura nodded approvingly.
"Congratulations" Ultear said while making her way down to the first floor; flakes of ice forming on the staircase at each of her steps. All three girls possessed the Tartaros guild mark on their right shoulder. Kagura noticed the front door was jarred open.
"One managed to get away" she told the other three; Ultear didn't look worried, she smiled in fact.
"Don't worry; she will take care of it".
The last remaining member of Wolves Tooth was running as fast as he could; he could hear the sound of an animal chase him. He didn't dare look behind fearing that it would only slow him down. There was a whoosh before an arrow struck the back of his heel. The man screamed in pain, tumbling over; he held his leg, the arrow pierced right through his foot; he could no longer walk with it. At this point the man was crying, backing into a tree looking into the darkness. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared, revealing a massive black wolf; it approached the man, baring its fangs. A girl suddenly appeared, wearing a snow white hooded coat; she had a bow strapped across her shoulders; she was patting the wolf.
"Good boy" she whispered. The girl strolled to the man, a knife in hand.
"Please..." the man pleaded. "Please, spare me" the girl hushed him.
"Tell me" her voice ghostly, it sent shivers down the man's spine. "Are you the hunter? Or the hunted?" the man hesitated to answer; his eyes glancing over the sharp knife, before eyeing the fangs of the wolf.
"The - the hunter!" he whimpered out. The girl stared at him, putting her knife away; she looked to the wolf stroking its fur.
"Fenrir, he said that he is the hunter" once again the man didn't know why, but the girl's voice just sounded frightening; but he let out a sigh of relief when the girl started walking away. Thinking that he was safe, he didn't notice the black wolf approach him hungrily. The man looked up noticing a shadow looming over him, eyes widening as he was plunged into fear once again. The girl walked back to the Wolves Tooth guild.
"The hunter must always be prepared to be the hunted, as the hunted can always become the hunter" she mumbled while listening to the sound of screams.
"Aren't you the cruel one" Ultear said. The girl looked at her before walking past her and through the doors into the guild. "The Hunter or the Hunted" Ultear recited.
"It's a question without any right answer" Kagura answered. Meredy shook her head.
"No, it's a question with many right answers" she said, "It's only a matter of how you approach the problem" Meredy smiled at the girl. "Isn't that right, Lisanna".