Back again already! I'm so excited for this one shot, you guys have no idea. Anyways, it centers around everyone's favorite Gruvia love child!
Enjoy!
"This is stupid." Ultear groaned, looking at the stupid uniform in her hands.
"Suck it up, cutie." Drake replied, straightening his bow tie. "Money is money."
"Yeah, but..." Ultear sighed as she continued to complain. It had been a few weeks since the Devil Advocate incident, and it was their first job since recovering from their injuries. They had accepted a job from a cafe owner in Crocus, who had been looking for someone to fill in for his sick employee's for a day. Had Ultear known that she'd have to dress up like a prostitute, she never would have agreed to do it. While the guys got basic dress pants, a vest and a bow tie, the girls got a revealing maid looking outfit, with a skirt that barely covered half of Ultear's thigh. it was embarrassing, honestly.
"I agree with Ul." Elise muttered, crossing her arms. "I don't want to servo food dressed like this.
"I don't know." Nashi said, smiling down at her outfit. "I like it." Ultear stared at the younger girl like she was insane, but she only smiled back.
"Exhibitionist." Elise grumbled, causing flame to lick across Nashi's forehead in irritation. Just as Simon was about to try and defuse the situation, the boss poked his head in the door.
"Almost opening time." he reported. "get ready, people!"
"Do you have anything more revealing?" Ultear asked. "This skirt doesn't show enough leg." She was promptly ignore and she groaned. She wasn't opposed to skin showing, but there was a difference between skin and showing it off for no good reason. She followed behind her friends slowly, really not looking forward to the days events. But, like Drake said, money was money. She stood next to Simon as they surveyed the people in the open air cafe, and she could see more than a few perverted old men (And a few young women) Checking her friends out. That only made the situation worse, as she sure as hell couldn't serve food while guys stared at the crevice in between her legs instead of her eyes, Just as they were told to go and serve, Ultear spotted an old woman near the back, and grinned, making a beeline towards her.
"Oh come on Ul, that isn't even fair!" Elise shouted as she saw Ultear's course of action, and the girl laughed as she made her way over.
"Can I get you anything today?" Ultear asked, making sure her voice was as sweet as honey. The old woman turned slowly to look at her, a small smile on her face.
"My my, such a pretty young woman." She greeted. "What's your name?"
"Ultear." She replied. "Ultear Fullbuster." She saw a flicker of emotion on the woman's face, but couldn't discern what it had been at all.
"Fullbuster, ah?" She asked, looking back out over the city. "Could you be related to Gray Fullbuster by any chance?"
"Yes," Ultear replied cheerfully, "I'm his daughter." The woman was silent for a minute before she turned back to her.
"I'm Ms. Milkovich." She said, and Ultear felt a buzz in the back of her head. She felt like she was supposed to know the name, but she couldn't place it. "Nice to meet you...Ultear."
"You as well!" Ultear said, happy she wasn't being checked out like practically everyone else. "Can I get you something?"
"Just some tea would work fine, dear."
"Alright." Ultear turned to walk to the kitchen and tell Simon, who was operating the kitchen solo, what the woman wanted.
"Ms Milkovich?" he asked, and Ultear watched him stir the tea.
"What?" She asked.
"I feel like I know the name." he said, rubbing the red stubble on his chin he'd forgotten to shave. "It's bothering me that I can't remember it."
"Me too, I think." She said. "Ah, who knows. Maybe were just misplacing another name."
"Yeah, maybe." he placed the tea on a saucer and put it on Ultear's tray. "oh, and another thing Ul."
"Yeah?" Simon's eyes fell downward, and he frowned. Ultear wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.
"Your uniforms to far down." Ultear blushed as she fixed it as best she could, Simon doing his best not to stare.
"I'm not sure if you're a pervert or a good guy for noticing." She mumbled as he nodded approval.
"A little of both." he joked with a wink as Ultear took the tray back out to Ms. Milkovich, who was waiting patiently.
"Here it is!" Ultear announced with a smile, placing the tea down.
"Ah, thank you dearie." She said quietly. "Why don't you sit for a minute? Rest your pretty little legs."
"Oh no, that's okay..."
"I'm trying to do you a favor so that the unsavory gentleman here don't give you a good once over more than once." Ultear realized what she was getting at and sat across from her, watching the untouched tea sit there.
"So," Ultear said, resting her head on her hand. "Do you know my dad?"
"Once." Ms. Milkovich replied. "It was a long time ago, and I was much younger. it was easily over twenty years ago, now." She sighed. "He was in the GMG of that year, and it was Fairy Tail's first win too." Ultear had heard the stories, she didn't need another one. "I do believe many women fell in love with your father that day, Ultear. it was quite a ravenous sight."
"I can imagine." Ultear said, imaging her mother killing all of those women. It made her giggle to think about. "I've heard he was quite dashing back in the day."
"Yes yes, quit dashing. We met outside the city, while he was on the way back to Magnolia. I could hear him arguing with his friends inside the carriage, and it passed by. Your father tried to stop himself from killing the pink haired one, and looked out the window. If by only a fleeting chance our eyes met, and we understood each other. I in his endeavor to prevent his friends death, and he in my laughing about it." Ultear listened attentively to her as she sighed. "I knew him from the broadcast of the Games, and it made me laugh to think about how many women would kill for what I got."
"I can imagine that too." Ultear said, imagining her mother again. Silence fell upon them, before Ultear got curious. "Hey Ms. Milkovich, can you use any magic?"
"Oh, once upon a time I could." She replied, smiling at Ultear. "in my youth I was quite impressive."
"What magic did you use?"
"One called Arc of Time." The familiar buzz went off in Ultear's head again, but she shook it off. It was probably just from Kronos anyway. "I was good with it, too. One of the best, they said."
"I bet you were pretty good." Ultear said with a quick smile, and Ms. Milkovich smiled weakly.
"You look so much like your father." She said, sounding very happy. "Just without the constant look of uncaring about you."
"My Mother's guilty for that." Ultear said. "Much to peppy."
"Fullbuster!" Ultear froze as the boss shouted her name. "Get to work, I don't pay you to sit around!"
"Yes sir!" Ultear shouted, watching as the boss disappeared again, presumably to reprimand Simon for something in the kitchen. "I'm sorry Ms. Milkovich, I have to get going."
"I understand dear. Work is work, after all." Ultear stopped for a minute, contemplating all she had heard.
"Hey, Ms. Milkovich."
"Yes?"
"Can I...Can I talk to you after I'm done working?"
"Of course, dear. I live only down the street." Ultear smiled at the thought and went back to work, doing her best to ignore the looks she was now receiving for the outfit.
"Ugh, kill me." Drake said, rubbing his back as they finished closing up the cafe. "I was on my feet the whole day."
"Easy for you to say." Elise hissed, crossing her arms. "You didn't have to wear a ridiculous outfit like we did."
"I quite liked those." Nashi said, her eyes shining. "I don't see what the problem is."
"As much Fullbuster blood as I have in me," Ultear said, stretching. "They were a bit much. Especially those idiots who tried to flip my skirt." Ultear chuckled at the thought of that when she'd frozen them solid until closing time. Good times, good times. Her thoughts were interrupted by the memory of the old Ms. Milkovich, and remembered what she'd wanted to ask. "Say uh, guys. I'm going to go check out the market, alright?"
"Want me to come with?" Simon asked, and Ultear shook her head.
"No, you guys go ahead back to the hotel. I'll be right there." The other saw no objections to this and left her alone. Just as her friend disappeared, Ultear walked down the street looking for the house in question. Finally, finding the house with her name engraved on the small plague next to the door. She knocked a few times, and heard some sounds from inside.
"Come in, dear." She heard, and she took a deep breath. She opened the door quietly and observed the homey little house that the woman lived in. It gave her the impression of home, which was nice. Ms. Milkovich was sitting in a chair near the fire, and Ultear stood there watching for a minute before she was beckoned to come forward. "So nice you decided to come, dear."The old woman said quietly. Ultear did as she was told and went to sit down, regarding the flames silently. It was a moment before Ultear finally spoke.
"Do you think you could teach me?" She asked. "Arc of Time, I mean."
"In one night?" She replied, earning a nod. "I don't think so, but..."
"Maybe just the basics, then." Ultear said hopefully. "I think it'd be a cool surprise if I learned, you know?" There was silence for a minute before Ms. Milkovich sighed and nodded her head.
"Alright, the basics." She said. "See that plant on the mantle above the fire?" Ultear raised her eyes to the mantle, nodding as she laid eyes on it. "Arc of Time is a very temperamental magic, you must know what you want in order to learn it."
"So, what do I do?" Ultear asked.
"See the plant not as it is, but how it will be years or decades from now." Ultear focused on the plant, imaging how it would look if it were dead. Her head began to hurt before anything happened, which was a leaf falling off of it.
"Was, uh, that right?"
"For a beginner, I suppose." Ms. Milkovich said. "Now, try this one. Just say Arc of Time: Restore."
"Um, okay." Ultear looked at the plant, and focused. "Arc of Time: Restore." Ultear watched with a giddy smile on her face as the leaf that had fallen from the plant raised back up through the air and attached itself to the plant, right where it had been. "I did it!" She said happily, watching the plant. Ms. Milkovich sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot.
"Congratulations." She said. It sounded sincere, but very tired. "Now, try it with other objects." Ultear did as she was instructed, aging various objects around the room and then restoring them. It exhausted her, but it was fun to learn.
"Woah." Ultear said weakly, trying to catch a breath. "That was...tiring..."
"It always is as first." Ultear's teacher yawned. "I'm sorry dear, but I'm really exhausted."
"Oh? Right, of course." Ultear stood shakily, bowing slightly. "Thanks for the quick lesson, I'll have to look more into it later."
"Goodnight, Ultear." Ultear froze at the door for a moment, wondering why this woman made her feel uneasy. She felt like she was forgetting something important, but she couldn't discern what. Finally sighing, she decided it wasn't worth the brain power this late at night.
"Goodnight..."
"No! I'll walk home!" Ultear rolled her eyes as she dragged Nashi by the legs towards the carriage. "Please, Ul! I'd rather fight Kronos again!"
"No you wouldn't." Ultear said simply. "It's not so bad if you don't think about it."
"You aren't motion sick, Ul. You don't even know the struggle."
"Have to agree with Nashi." Elise said, who was propped up against the carriage driving them home. "I hate carriages a little bit less than that outfit I wore yesterday."
"Was it really that bad?" Damien asked.
"Are you kidding?" Ultear asked. "Do you know what my mom would've said if she saw me like that?"
"Hm," Simon murmured, his head hanging off the side of the carriage, as he was currently on top. "Probably something like, 'Ultear Ur Fullbuster! How dare you dress like that in public!' Then your Dad wouldn't really care because nudity is kind of his thing." Everyone had a good chuckle about Simon's joke, but Ultear was frozen in shock, information she should've remembered flowing into her head.
Her middle name was Ur.
Ur's full name had been Ur Milkovich
Ur had a daughter.
Ur's daughter's name had been Ultear.
Ultear put the whole puzzle together in the span of a few seconds, and her eyes went as wide.
"Ul?" Drake asked, waving a hand in front of her face, as she was pretty spaced out. "You okay?"
"...I-I-I'll be right back!" She shouted quickly, running away from the carriage.
"Oi!" Damien shouted back. "Where the hell are you going?!" Ultear ignored the Dreyar's question and launched into a full on sprint towards her namesakes house, a million different questions reeling through her head. Why? How had she not seen it sooner? Ultear was putting the blame on how tired she'd been from working a whole nine until nine shift. That and the outfit, always the outfit. She reached her intended destination and threw the door open, not caring what may lie inside.
"Ms, er...Ultear?! Where are you?!" Ultear did a systematic sweep of the house, double checking everywhere. Had the house been this dusty last night? She couldn't remember. Ultear walked into the living room, and something caught her eye.
The plant from last night was dead. Rather, it was long dead.
"Ultear?!" She shouted again, walking around the house. "Where are you?" Ultear opened the last unopened door, and found it too be the bedroom, also very dusty. As she was abut to leave the room, she noticed something lying on the pillow, and she walked over to it. it was a piece of paper, and a small book under it. Ultear picked up the ginger piece of paper, looking at the neat writing on it.
Ultear,
if you reading this, it was my time to go. Truthfully I know this seems confusing, so allow me to explain. I'm dead, or rather have been, for a long time. The woman you spoke to was a remainder of my memory, that I left behind. You see, after I used Last Ages during the Eclipse incident and saved everyone, I frequently got visions of the future. One such vision was that of a beautiful baby girl named Ultear Fullbuster. I decided that someday I wanted to meet this girl, and that my memory would stay behind until that day came.
That day was today, or rather this morning.
When you came to my home afterwards, the only thing keeping the memory as a psychical presence was you. Once you left, my body began to disappear, much like a fading memory. You're probably wondering why you took so long to figure out who I was. I, personally, contribute that to the fact you are Gray's daughter. he's rather hard headed too, as I'm sure you are aware. I'm also sure you're asking yourself why.
Because. The book you've found under this note is my memoir, including all of my knowledge on Arc of Time. If you really want to honor my name, use this magic well, unlike I did for so many years. A word of warning, though. On the last pages of my memoir, I describe the spell Last Ages and it's usage.
Don't ever use it.
Your Father has lost far to many people close to him like that, and losing his daughter would surely destroy him. Don't use it unless, like me, you have no other choice. Heh, but you are in Fairy Tail, so I know asking you to not sacrifice yourself for those you love is asking a lot.
By now, I'm sure that my memory has faded from Earthland, the last surviving portion of me. Tell Meredy I loved her, okay? I'm sure she misses me a lot.
Goodbye, Ultear Fullbuster,
Ultear Milkovich.
Ultear was brought out of her stupor as a tear dropped from her eye onto the page she held so gingerly. Her head was swimming with what she had just read, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. She had often wondered what she would say to her namesake had they ever gotten the chance to meet, and she'd missed her only chance.
"Damn..." Ultear muttered, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the tears. "I hear you, Ultear. I'll use this magic in your name, and I'll tell Meredy you loved her. I..." Ultear wanted to say so much more, but she couldn't find the words. She slowly opened the first page of the book and stared at it.
Arc of Time
Ultear Milkovich
Ultear ran her hand over the words, trying to think of more to say. She flipped another page, and saw her namesake's foreword.
I wrote this book in hopes that one day, a girl named after me could use the contents. I have so many people to thank for turning me away from the dark path I was originally on: Jellal, Meredy, Fairy Tail...Gray. Thank you all for making sure I lived the rest of my life trying to atone for my previous actions than committing more atrocities. Goodbye.
"Heh, nice one..." Ultear said, closing the book and gripping it tightly to her chest. Slowly but surely, her body moved mechanically to move her from the house and back to her friends, who she was sure were still waiting. As she got to the door frame, she paused and looked over her shoulder, and saw something rather spectacular. She could see a spectral woman standing there, but not old Ms Milkovich. Ultear Milkovich, in her youth, stood there, watching her with a sad smile. Ultear chuckled weakly.
"I can see why I got the name." She murmured. "We do look a lot alike." Slowly the spectral vision faded, and Ultear sighed. "Mavis, I have to get out of here..."
Nashi was getting impatient, Ultear was taking forever. Just as she was about to suggest leaving without her, she spotted the Fullbuster walking towards them, clutching a small black book to her chest.
"Hey Ul." Nashi greeted as the girl got to them, but she remained silent and got into the carriage. "...Ul...?"
"Come on." The girls said quietly. "Let's go already." Something seemed off about her, but Nashi didn't want to ask, she seemed far to distant.
As they left the capital of Fiore and towards home, Nashi used her curiosity towards Ultear's quietness to quell her sickness. She groaned and leaned over her friends shoulder, who didn't even budge. Nashi then used this as an excuse to read the title of the book in the girls lap, even if it was partially covered by her hand.
Arc of...what?
Nashi slowly raised her eyes to the young ice wizard, who was staring out the window. She seemed sad and distant, a look very unfitting of the usually happy and cheerful Ultear.
"Ul?" She asked, and Ul's right eye turned to the side lazily to signal she was listening. "Are you okay?" Ultear turned to look back out the window, before she let out a small laugh.
"I can ask you the same thing." She said, and the carriage hit a bump and Nashi almost threw up all over the girl. "Mavis, Nashi! Get off me!:
"Heeeeelpp me!"
"I can't!"
"But...*Burp*"
"Nashi! I swear to Mavis if you throw up...!"
"Uh..."
"God damn it Nashi."
So, how was it? I thought it was pretty good myself. For any of you wondering how Ultear was so dense about her namesakes true identity until it was too late, blame it on story telling. Also, as the next chapter is the big 100, I have a very special chapter planned! I'm sure you guys will love what happens. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!