Pairings: Laxus/Krystal
Warnings: Gender switch. Sibling-like Erza and Mirajane. Nice Zeref. None-canon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Fairy Tail and any of the characters
Chapter Four: Let Imagination Take Flight
"Imagination takes flight. That is the basis of rune magic." - Krystal Nightray
XXXXXX
Laxus swore on some days that it almost seemed like the guild was attracting strays like they're going out of fashion. He even had some random person in Magnolia actually asking him once if Makarov is running a wizard's guild or an orphanage.
There was Gray. Then Erza. The Strauss siblings. Then there was the loud mouth Natsu. And then Levy.
Krystal doesn't really count, as she's so quiet on most days that you won't even realise that she's there until she speaks up. Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow too.
In actual fact, the latter three actually hangs around Laxus and Krystal more than they did any other person. Makarov had actually made both Krystal and Laxus the trio's mentors seeing as how they were the ones to bring those three back to Fairy Tail to begin with.
Laxus wasn't that pleased when he had heard, but he had relented in the end when he'd heard from Makarov that he will be getting his job partner back, though Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow will be joining them on the less dangerous jobs as they were still learning magic.
Makarov had actually taken Evergreen with him to see Porlyusica the first week the moment that the guild master had gotten the full story from her about her uncontrollable magic. Krystal had actually tagged along on that visit so as to make Evergreen less nervous.
And when the mage doctor had gotten the full story from Makarov, she had muttered something about 'basilisk's eyes', but had promised to find a way to help Evergreen to control her Stone Magic, or even make a magic tool so that she doesn't accidentally petrify everyone that she had eye contact with. For the time being however, Porlyusica had given Evergreen a pair of magical eyeglasses to help her to control her magic.
And with three untrained mages tagging along with them, Laxus wasn't really that pleased that they're back to taking jobs in Magnolia again. He had thought that he's over that after Krystal had begun joining him on jobs, but he had held his tongue and grudgingly joined in on Krystal's lessons to teach the trio combat lessons and even magic lessons.
Unlike most of the mages in Fiore and even majority of those in Fairy Tail, Krystal actually doesn't rely on her magic for everything. She tries to handle things the mundane way if she could. Thus, the first lesson that the trio received from Krystal and Laxus is how to freaking hold their own in a battle.
Laxus was practically born and raised in Fairy Tail—a guild that definitely doesn't hold back their punches when it comes to a fight. Hell, fights are a regular occurrence in Fairy Tail, especially after Erza, Mirajane and even Natsu joined. Thus, Laxus is pretty competent in a fight. So is Krystal for certain reasons.
But as Laxus isn't the most patient of teachers, he had left the bulk of magic training to Krystal when she was teaching the trio out in the woods south of Magnolia. Mage training is always unpredictable—especially in the early stages. And hence, beginner mage training is always out in the wilderness where there is a higher chance of containment if things go wrong as compared to if the training takes place in a building where there is a greater chance of the building getting blown up.
For Evergreen, it is easy—as she just has to learn how to control her power and how to release the petrification on a victim. Krystal had Evergreen practice on the innocent woodland animals for a start. And the remaining three guys swore by the end of the week that all the woodland animals have started running the moment they heard them arriving.
With Bickslow, they have to awaken his magic first, and Krystal and Laxus both quickly found out that much like Evergreen, his magic is activated via his eyes. Unlike Evergreen however, he could control souls and even make inanimate objects move. Those with Soul Magic also tend to have the ability to see souls—and hence, this ability will likely make Bickslow very useful in jobs that require an interrogator.
For Freed, it's a little complicated. It actually took both Laxus and Krystal some time to figure out that his nature of magic is similar to Levy's who is a Solid Script mage—she basically uses runes to work her magic—a brand of magic that Freed is more attuned to.
The only problem here is that Freed first has to learn a complete foreign language which is what rune magic or script magic is about to begin with—it is basically an entire new language.
Thankfully for Krystal however, Freed is a hard and earnest worker, and he even studied dutifully at night in the male dormitory that most of the male Fairy Tail members lived in. Thus, it was barely a month later before Krystal could actually teach him the practical applications of rune magic.
"Watch this." Krystal told Freed who was paying attention, with Evergreen and Bickslow and even Laxus paying attention rapidly. Bright blue flames appeared on her fingertips before she launched them into the air where it formed in the familiar script language of rune magic that Freed is now so familiar with. And before their eyes, a solid block of wall appears. "This is just one example of what rune magic could do."
"It can do that? Runes, I mean?" Freed asked even as Krystal snapped her fingers and the block of wall crumpled—dissolving into runic words that dispersed as quickly as it had appeared.
"Yes. Imagination takes flight." Krystal told the interested Freed. "That is the basis of rune magic. The limit is just your imagination. Rune magic can be used for combat, healing and even support. It can be used to construct barriers and wards or even to tear it down. The wards and barriers that I am capable of constructing are also reliant on runes."
"It's like with every branch of magic, Freed." Laxus added his input. "The only limit to it is your mind. You decide what you want to use with your magic." Laxus exchanged looks with Krystal who nodded. "All right, practical usage it is then today. How well you do today will depend on what type of job we're going to take tomorrow."
Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow perked up. Ever since they've came more than three months ago, Laxus had been in a pretty bad mood as he and Krystal have been stuck training the three of them, and as result, they couldn't take any jobs at all or were even stuck taking the simple ones at Magnolia.
"Well, Laxus will oversee today." Krystal stated, much to the trio's horror, and Laxus' annoyance even as Krystal took out a thick tome out from her magic bag. "I got a book to read, and you, Mister Grumpy, you need to learn to be more patient." She told the annoyed Laxus. "Go."
"I swear that if you can read a book on running these days, you will." Laxus grumbled, but he still got to his feet and started leading the way towards the stream not too far away from where Krystal is going to be.
Krystal shook her head even as she settled down on the forested ground, leaning against the bark of a large oak tree with the tome in her lap. Levy had seen her reading it in the guild once, and being a lover of books as the younger girl is, she had tried to peer at the tome curiously once. The blue haired girl had then asked Krystal with confusion if she could even read it, as all that Levy could see is simple gibberish.
Honestly, Krystal still found it funny to this day that no one—not even Makarov and Master Bob have thought to ask Krystal just who taught her magic. They'd probably assumed that it was her mother who had taught her before she'd died, and they're really not wrong. It's just that it wasn't just Lillian Nightray who had taught Krystal magic.
Honestly, didn't any of them found it weird that Krystal could control her magic this well when Lillian Nightray didn't know any lightning magic?
Despite making their home in the Forbidden Continent, Lillian Nightray isn't that naïve as to assume that they would be staying there forever. And the last thing that she should do is to send her daughter into the world ignorant and defenceless.
She had taught Krystal everything about the history and even the customs and hierarchy of the world—particularly that of the Magic Council and the guilds. And even about the Hidden Circle.
"Once upon a time, they were as official as the Magic Council is today." Lillian told a young Krystal, holding her on her lap, and flipping through the pages of an ancient tome that her lover had left to her. "They are powerful. Honourable. Good people."
"They aren't anymore?" Krystal asked curiously.
Lillian smiled and shook her head. "Not exactly. They just went into hiding—back into the Unseen World," she answered. "You see, Kris, while the Magic Council were made up solely of mages—of humans, the Hidden Circle is their exact opposite. Their members aren't human. Vampires. Demons. Members of the Fair Folk. They are the Hidden Circle. With the warlocks being their guardians in a way—people with demon blood."
"Why did they go into hiding?" Krystal asked, curious. This is starting to remind her of a far distant life. It is almost parallel.
"Various reasons." Lillian answered with a sad smile, even as Padfoot whined from the carpet. "You see, hundreds of years ago, during the Age of the Dragons, they co-existed with the humans. Several members of the Hidden Circle still do today—at least those that aren't as easily ousted as the Unseen. In fact, when the Dragon War broke out that almost decimated the entire world, it was the Warlocks—the Seven High Warlocks that made up the Unseens' ruling council that stepped in and played ambassador between the few pacifist dragons and the humans—giving the humans the weapons they need to defeat the dragons and to end the Dragon War."
Lillian had a grim smile on her face—Zeref had told her about this part of history—a piece of history in Fiore that barely anyone remembers now as it is such a dark part of human history that the royal family of Fiore at that time chose to bury it.
"And what is that, Mommy?"
"Dragon Slaying abilities." Lillian answered. "They become the first Dragon Slayers. But after the Dragon War, everything went wrong. The Dragon Slayers then turned on their allies—slaying the few pacifist dragons that had helped them. One Dragon Slayer in particular became the very evil that the Unseen once hunted in the streets of Fiore."
Zeref in particular was still riddled with guilt, as he was one of the 'ambassadors' that had talked the dragons into teaching the mundanes—the humans Dragon Slaying magic. Due to the nature of his Black Magic, Zeref is literally half-demon himself that actually enables him to use Warlock magic. That is only part of the reason why the Unseens have accepted him—as they respected power and honour, and Zeref has loads of that.
Lillian definitely didn't fall in love with Zeref just because of the way he looks.
And then, according to Lillian, everything simply went south when said Dragon Slayer slayed his fellow Slayers—not just the dragons, and soon turned into a dragon himself. Part of the reason why the Hidden Circle—the Unseens all went into hiding is because Acnologia had started hunting them down.
He was obsessed with the purity of blood.
Thus, in the present time, only the royal family, the Magic Council, the guild masters and several of the senior mages knew of the Hidden Circle. It is a piece of history that is no longer written down anywhere. It is only passed down from parent to child. From guild master to guild master.
Krystal's eyes narrowed even as she read a passage about warlock healing when a certain presence entered her senses.
She leaned back against the tree that she's leaning again, bringing her knees up to her chest. "…Magnus? Nain?"
Stifled laughter could be heard from behind the wide trunk of the tree that Krystal is leaning against. The weather mage let her muscles relax. Apart from her mother and Laxus, these two are some of the few that she would trust with her life. They are the ones that have taught her magic. To be exact, warlock magic.
Honestly, even Master Makarov didn't realise that the unusual branches of magic that Krystal is capable of is something that normal mages shouldn't be capable of utilising. Due to Zeref being her father, and being as good as half-demon himself with his Black Magic and all, Krystal had some properties of demon blood that enables her to utilise warlock magic.
She is one of the Unseen.
And like what Magnus had explained to her once, the Dragon Slayers are too as they are basically part dragon themselves with how they've gained their magic.
"Your sensory abilities have improved." The familiar smooth voice of Magnus greeted her ears. "That is a delight to see."
"I told you we didn't have to come here, Magnus." Nain's exasperated voice came next. "Krystal can handle herself."
"I'll rather see it with my own eyes." Magnus responded. "Krystal, have you thought about our offer yet?"
"About heading back with you to the Hidden Circle?" Krystal asked. "I'll stick to my same answer. I want to see the world that my parents came from. I want to know why they hate my father so much."
"Humans never learn." Nain scoffed. "Zeref's a hero. He doesn't deserve to be treated this way. He saved the Unseen World. Until those ignorant humans experienced Acnologia for themselves, then they'll understand why Zeref did what he did. It's not his fault that the ignorant and greedy humans wanted his power for themselves and wrought the chaos and destruction that they did."
"Be that as it may be, Krystal. You might be human. But at the same time, you also have warlock blood. You have been touched by Death." Magnus repeated the words he had said to Krystal once. "Even for mages, they will never understand Unseen culture. They won't understand you. And they might not even accept you—the same reason why they've cast your father out. And why Lillian had hidden the fact that Zeref is her lover. What are you doing to do once they've found out?"
Krystal sighed. "I'll take my chances," she answered.
"…All right." Magnus said at last. "If you need us, you know how to contact us."
There was a ripple in the air just then, and Krystal turned to look over her shoulder—though she knew that the two Warlocks were long gone.
There was a hoot from overhead before Hedwig landed on her shoulder, chirping at her. Krystal gave a small smile as she stroke Hedwig's soft white feathers. "…I can honestly never get away from being different, can I, Hedwig?" she whispered.
Hedwig hooted comfortingly.
XXXXXX
~Unknown Location~
"I see." Zeref sighed, sitting at the riverbank as usual, with the communication lacrima floating before him glowing with a soft blue light. "Thank you for trying at least."
"It's not your fault, Zeref. You know that." Nain said forcefully. "It's the humans' fault for distorting their own history the way they did. We at least made sure our children know their own history."
"And while we're on that subject, Zeref, does Krystal even know who you are and what you're trying to do?" Marcus asked. "Lillian is acquainted with us through you back when you both were dating. So we were surprised when we received a fire message from her that she needs our help in teaching your daughter to control her magic. But she made us swear not to tell you anything—at least until Krystal leaves the Forbidden Continent. And now that you know, what are you going to do? She's your daughter. She won't be a child forever. And by the time she becomes an adult, what then? Her lineage can't be hidden forever. These things always comes out, Zeref! And Lillian is pretty famous amongst the human mage community. Your…creations will know her as your daughter especially. And then, what? What are you going to do then?"
Zeref grimaced. He had been toying with himself for years now whether he should make contact with his daughter or not ever since receiving Lillian's letter. Will his daughter hate him? Will she believe the same things that the rest of the world does about him? Though if she is anything like Lillian at all, Zeref honestly doubts so.
There is a reason why Lillian is the first human in centuries that the Unseen had accepted. And Zeref himself doesn't count.
"…I don't know."
XXXXXX
~Fairy Tail Guild; Magnolia~
The guild was as crowded as always the next morning when Laxus and Krystal, along with Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen have entered, heading directly for the job request board where the job requests are always put up.
And as usual, Nab is hanging out in front of the job board.
"Nab, if you aren't going to take a job, can you let us survey the board first?" Laxus asked impatiently after several moments of waiting for Nab to move.
Nab looked over his shoulder. "Oh. Laxus and Krystal. And the new guys." There was an indignant bark from behind Krystal's legs, and Nab chuckled. "Hello to you too, Padfoot."
"Well, let's see what job we can take." Laxus surveyed the job request board. "Due to my Gramps' restrictions as we're still stuck on babysitting duty, we can only take the ones around Magnolia."
"That new kid, Natsu, just completed a job in retrieving the Cat from Hell." Cana called out to them from the counter where she's having her lunch.
As one, Laxus and Krystal grimaced and exchanged looks. Every Fairy Tail mage would have taken that dreaded job at least once. Said cat belongs to an old lady living in Magnolia and seems to make it his own personal mission in running away daily. Honestly, by this time, that job request should really be bumped up to S-rank as that cat gets more and more difficult to catch with each time it got loose.
"W-Well, we do have a job request that wants someone to help with the construction of a house." Laxus said, quickly turning his attention back to the other job requests. "You three are good at woodwork, right?"
"We've done it enough times before coming to Magnolia." Freed shrugged.
"There is also a job that wants someone to help them to fill in and paint the local swimming complex." Krystal mused, surveying the job requests. Makarov's orders are very clear to Krystal and Laxus—no taking jobs out of Magnolia that requires them to be in battle until they are both confident of Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen's combat and magic skills.
"Or—" Laxus interrupted as there was the loud sound that sounds as if a cat had just died just outside the guild, "we can go and catch Mimi. Again."
"I'm allergic to cats, Laxus." Evergreen raised her hand hesitantly. And it is true. The first time they took that damn job, Evergreen was sneezing so much that Krystal finally took her out of that job as she was a little afraid that they would need to take Evergreen to Porlyusica for treatment.
"No to the Mimi job then." Laxus murmured, much to Bickslow and Freed's relief—as Catching Mimi the Runaway Cat was the first job that they took during their first week with Laxus and Krystal supervising. It is only later when they've found out that the two have used that job request to observe their reaction time and their speed.
Krystal smiled before she snatched a job request off the board. "Don't bother. Let's do this," she said, holding the job request sheet in front of Laxus who read it aloud.
"A C-rank job request from one of the neighbouring towns. They need someone to stand in as the musician for the Festival of Light as the original musician broke his arm." Laxus read. "Sounds like up our alley."
"W-Well, I can sing." Evergreen said, flipping her hair.
"Sorry. Krystal is going to do that part." Laxus smirked. "The rest of us are just going to help out at the festival. Sure you want to do this?" He turned back towards Krystal. "I thought you hate performing in front of a crowd?"
"Not this time." Krystal said. "Let's go."
XXXXXX
"Can I ask a question?" Freed asked Laxus as the pair were assigned to setting up the tents in the town that they have taken the job request. Evergreen had gone with Krystal to the backstage whilst Bickslow was helping with the festival lights.
"Hmm?" Laxus glanced at Freed even as he set up the tents with ease. Even at being just sixteen years old, Laxus is generally stronger than most of those his age. "What?"
"What do you mean by Krystal hates performing in front of a crowd?" Freed asked. "And I never knew that she could play a musical instrument."
"Oh. You caught that, huh?" Laxus didn't say anything for several moments. "Kris…doesn't really like attention. She had enough from people as you can tell that her magic is really unusual."
"Her magic over the weather?"
"One amongst others." Laxus shrugged. "She can do magic that most people can't. Even my Gramps is baffled just how she's capable of those magic that she could do. From the first moment that she arrived in Fairy Tail, she pretty much kept to herself. Apart from myself, my gramps, Gildarts, Cana, Mira and Erza, and recently, Natsu and the three of you, she doesn't talk much to others. I found out much later from Krystal that people have always been trying to use her. How is she supposed to trust people if she don't know who she could trust?"
"That's awful." Freed mused, absently thinking to his childhood and how he, Bickslow and Evergreen only have each other. It is just the three of them, but he will trust those two with his life. And just recently, that circle had expanded.
Laxus shrugged. "Yeah. I know that my gramps had been trying to get her to open up to the rest of the guild, but Kris really had the tendency to dig her heels in over the silliest of things at times." He chuckled, obviously recalling a humorous memory.
"Hey! The performance is beginning!" Bickslow approached them just then. "I think Krystal's up first."
Krystal was seated on a chair in the middle of the stage, tuning her guitar—determinedly keeping her eyes off of the crowd that are gathering. Laxus just spied Evergreen behind the curtains at the back of stage who is waving excitedly to Freed and Bickslow when she spotted them.
"All right. Everyone, thank you for waiting." Krystal's voice was amplified by some creative usage of water magic so that she doesn't have to raise her voice too much in order to be heard in the hall. Applause could be heard, and standing next to the doors with Bickslow and Freed, Laxus swore that he saw the village chief sitting in the first row. His eyes then went to Krystal. He won't deny that he's just as excited to listen to Krystal's performance—it had been a long time since he had seen her play in front of a crowd—the yearly Phantasm that Fairy Tail puts up in Magnolia doesn't really count. "I hope that you enjoy this song."
The entire hall quietened down as Krystal's slender fingers strummed over the strings of her guitar, playing the first starting tunes of the song—a song that Laxus had never heard before.
"Soldiers keep on marching on. Head down til the work is done. Waiting on that morning sun. Soldier keep on marching on." Krystal and Laxus' eyes met at that point, and the raven head gave a small rare smile at him. "Head in the dust, feet in the fire. Labor on that midnight wire. Listening for that angel choir. You got nowhere to run."
Due to how captivated that Laxus is, he missed seeing the expression on Freed's face. Bickslow who is standing on Laxus' other side noticed, and he frowned.
The audience gave out loud gasps of awe as blobs of water appeared in the air, along with water sprays—thus causing the lights to bounce and turn fragmented—creating a beautiful picture.
"You wanna take a drink of that promised land. You gotta wipe the dirt off of your hands. Careful son, you got dreamer's plans. But it gets hard to stand. Soldier keep on marching on. Head down til the work is done. Waiting on that morning sun. Soldier keep on marching on."
Krystal's eyes met Laxus once more, and a memory from the previous day resurfaced once more.
"Be that as it may be, Krystal. You might be human. But at the same time, you also have warlock blood. You have been touched by Death." Magnus repeated the words he had said to Krystal once. "Even for mages, they will never understand Unseen culture. They won't understand you. And they might not even accept you—the same reason why they've cast your father out. And why Lillian had hidden the fact that Zeref is her lover. What are you doing to do once they've found out?"
Loud roars of applause echoed in the hall even as Krystal got to her feet and gave a polite bow, her eyes meeting Laxus' once more. He gave her a rare smile, also clapping along with Freed and Bickslow.
'What will you think of me if you should know the truth?'
A/N: Some romance development next chapter, I promise! And I swear that I've been watching too much Shadowhunters lately, as some elements from that show had somehow appeared in this story as I'm writing it. Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!