Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Natsu burst through the guild hall doors, carrying a limp bundle in his arms.

“MASTER!”

The usual entrance hadn’t gotten any attention, but Natsu’s panicked tone and the noticeable scent of blood had.

“Natsu?”

The Dragonslayer raced towards Makarov, Happy flying at his shoulder, breathing heavily.

“We found her while we were doing our last job, master! She’s hurt really bad! Natsu kicked those jerk’s tails to the moon, but they already got to her, what do we do!?”

 Makarov flicked back the blanket Natsu had thought to wrap her in. A young face was revealed, a girl with a noticeable touch of sun to her skin though she was looking pale and uncomfortable. Her eyes were closed and she was feverish. Aqua hued fuzz covered her roughly shorn scalp, interrupted by a clean white bandage around her head.

“She was fine while we were walking back from the station, then she just fell unconscious and we couldn’t wake her up again!” The Dragon Slayer’s arms were shaking as he held onto the injured child, a strange look of panic in his eyes. “We gotta help her, Gramps! I promised we’d help her!”

Makarov held up his hand to forestall the worried wizard.

“And we will Natsu. Reedus!” He barked at Art mage who rarely left the guild hall. “We need transport to Porlesucya, Jet, run on ahead and inform her of the situation. We’ll follow as soon as we are able. Hurry!”

-vVv-

That is what they tell me was my introduction to the Fairy Tail guild members. I don’t remember any of it. I don’t remember much of anything before waking up in Porlescuya’s house with a splitting headache and the buzz of something unfamiliar under my skin. It had itched incessantly, unbearably and nothing I did could make the damn sensation stop! Apparently I had repeatedly tried to scratch my arms open in my sleep trying to relieve myself from the irritating sensation. Thus, when I did wake up, it was with a moment of panic when I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I gazed at the pink haired woman with frightened eyes, my heart racing with confusion when I not only didn’t recognize her, but that I didn’t...feel right.

Was the world always this big?

“Oh calm down.”

I then registered with a flare of panic that I was also tied down. The healer grumbled at me.

“You were constantly attempting to hurt yourself, don’t look at me like that.”

I paused, wondering how I had known she was a healer.

Porlescuya. The Edolas alternate version of Grandine the Sky Dragon.

The information was just...there, floating in my head.

“Wh...Where am I?”

I was shaking with the effort to not burst into tears, something told me that this woman, while not begrudging me that luxury, would certainly not appreciate it.

“In my home. We are about fifteen miles away from the city of Magnolia.”

I looked at her blankly, not recognizing any of it.

“Who brought me here?”

I got the impression she didn’t get out much. By her own choice. She seemed to take note of the question, turning towards me.

“You’re not going to ask what happened to you?”

I shook my head.

“You don’t know that.”

I replied, feeling that she didn’t. Her brows rose.

“You are correct. I do not. You were brought here by the Fairy Tail wizard guild. One of their members came across you being attacked and came to your defense. Unfortunately, you had already been injured. The locals patched you up as best as they could and he brought you back to his guild and then to me for further treatment.”

Fairy Tail.

The words rang strangely in my head. Fond exasperation and bemusement welling up inside of me despite the fact that I had no memories to connect to the emotions. It was pretty much the biggest sense of deja vu I could ever remember having...

Wait...Oh no...

“One more question.” I said slowly, trying not to shake. “I...I don’t think you’ll know the answer but...”

“Just ask, girl. And we’ll see if I know the answer.”

The woman said patiently, comparatively speaking, as she sat down by my sickbed. I looked at her earnestly, fully aware how young and lost I looked and sounded...and trying even more not to cry as the horrifying realization crept over me.

“Who am I?”

-vVv-

 Porlescuya watched the sleeping, nameless child, exhaling softly. With the extent of the injuries on her, both physical and magical, she ought to have expected some sort of side effects. It had been an encouraging sign that she was lucid, capable of speaking and understanding what she heard. But this...

The poor girl didn’t look more than six or seven years old. And she had no idea who she was or where she came from.

Her hands tightened briefly and her nostrils flared with a fierce protective rage that swept through her. No child should ever have that look of hopeless despair.

The hermit-healer picked up the lacrima that she had accepted for the sole purpose of informing Makarov and his guild that their foundling had woken. The young Fire Dragon Slayer and his flying cat had come by every day in person to visit the unconscious girl and speak to her. They had often been accompanied by the Ice Make Wizard and Erza Scarlet. Those three might bicker like broody chimera, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were among the best of friends in the guild. Their support of Natsu’s attachment to the helpless child showed that. And they always brought greetings and word from the rest of the guild, telling the sleeping girl about people she had never met before and they way they lived and laughed together.

-vVv-

 “And then the stripper over here-”

The Dragon Slayer’s story cut out as the Ice Wizard attempted to strangle him.

“Oi! What’s the big idea with calling me a stripper in front of a kid, you flaming idiot!?”

“It’s what you are. I don’t want her to get confused, Ice-brain! Now shut up, you’re ruining the story!”

“You’ve already done that, you’re not telling it right! I wasn’t even there, bastard!”

There came a loud, piercing clang as Erza smacked both of them.

“Quiet down, Natsu! Gray, no cursing in front of a child!”

Porlescuya hid a small smile as the odd quartet bickered over the sleeping girls’ bedside. They were a rowdy bunch. She hardly would tolerate that kind of behavior in a normal situation. She glanced down at the lacrima she had linked to the girl in order to keep track of her heart rate, circulation and brain activity. All of them were growing steadily stronger the longer and louder the visiting wizards were. What’s more...

“Hey guys, she’s smiling!” Happy cried, flitting over her head delightedly. “I bet she can hear us!”

The three humans paused and saw that Happy was right. The girl lay with a distant, warm smile on her face, all other signs indicating that she was still fast asleep.

Erza was the first to break the silence.

“Of course she can hear us...I hope we’re not disturbing you.” She addressed the sleeping girl gently, her usual manner softening somewhat. “All we want to do is see you wake up. Feel free to tell these idiots off then.”

“Hey come on! We’re making her smile! We’ve gotta be doing something right!”

Happy’s voice piped up again.

“I bet she’s thinking that you’re all a bunch of idiots!”

-vVv-

“Porlyuisca?”

Makarov’s face appeared in the crystal, his voice coming through the magical link as well as a myriad of shouting and the usual hubbub that accompanied that guild.

“What’s the news- FOR GOODNESS SAKE WOULD YOU IDIOTS SHUT UP!!!?”

He roared at someone she couldn’t see, his eyes flashing with his Titan magic. There was finally a semblance of quiet. Everyone in the guild hall was listening intently for the update.

“The child has woken up and has suffered no physical damage from her trauma.”

The cheers from the other end warmed some cold part deep inside her. It took so little for them to accept her. She thought of the girl in the bed behind her.

They don’t know anything about her, but they still welcome news of her recovery with such joy...

But Makarov had caught onto her wording.

“Porlyusica...what aren't you saying?”

He sounded grave and serious. Like a Ten Wizard Saint instead of the doddering, friendly old man he usually portrayed himself as.

 “While she is looking to make a full recovery, there is something that I cannot do for her... And that is heal her mind. The girl has no notion of who she is or where she came from. She recalls nothing before waking up in my house. I’ve examined her thoroughly, and there is no indication I can see of why she is like this. Whatever put her in the state she was in when you brought her to me was jarring and painful enough for her to suppress the memory of the event and all other events previously in her life. She cannot even remember her own name.” 

-vVv-

 It was weird. There was no other apt way of describing it. I could move, but only with much trembling and uncertainty. I kept on misjudging the length of my limbs, resulting in my tripping over air and jamming my fingers and toes against various pieces of furniture.

“Ergh!”

I clutched my hand after banging it painfully on one of the railings I was using to learn how to walk again, glowering at the offending appendage.

“Getting frustrated will not help you.” Porlescuya said sternly as she caught sight of my glare. “After four weeks of not eating solid foods and being as weak as you were before, it’s a miracle you are capable of walking at all.”

I heard her chastisement to be careful and grateful with a nod of the head.

“Yes ma’am...”

I then grasped the rails she had set up for, taking the struggling route from one side of the room to another. It said something terrible about my stamina that I could only manage a few passes of this before shakily sitting down to try and recuperate. My legs felt like overcooked noodles and my arms weren’t much better.

That...isn’t right. I had felt this shaky on my feet since...

When? A frustrating gap reared up in my memory again. A distinct feeling of swaying and pain behind my left ear, stabbing into my brain.

“A flash?”

Porlescuya asked, her quick eyes seeing my hand automatically cupping my ear, still ringing with phantom pain. I lowered my hand, nodding.

“I think something happened to my ear once.”

She hummed thoughtfully, brow furrowing in what would have been a stern and somewhat intimidating manner if...If I didn’t know that that was just her thinking face.

“I did find a thin scar just on the line of where your ear meets your head. It’s completely healed though and precise enough that I can deduce it was a deliberate incision instead of an injury.”

“About how old was it?”

I asked, breathing deeply to ready myself for the next pass of the room on the rails.

 “Several years, At least five. It’s barely visible at all anymore.”

I ran my finger over the thin line thoughtfully, wishing as I often did nowadays that I wasn’t an amnesiac. So much of myself was gone, erased from my life as cleanly and fully as if someone had whitewashed it. No color, no connection, just a vague white landscape of emptiness and distant emotion. I felt blank. Like I didn’t fit in this small body, or in this world at all. This very plainly wasn’t the same as I had once thought it was. The speed of my recovery said that either my idea of what was normal needed redefining, or this world was in dire need of having it’s reality checked. My question to Porlescuya about this had actually gotten the stern woman to crack a smile.

“Are physics laws or suggestions?”

“A basic framework.”

Something that encircled the world, but could be pushed and prodded here and there to suit whim or need.

We think of them as more like...guidelines.

The gruff voice floated up from the corner of my whitewashed mind and I eagerly followed it, rather starved for something to do as my body recovered.

And there I found a story.

A place in a hot southern sea with a daring blacksmith turned pirate, a wealthy noble’s daughter and a mad, perpetually drunk captain. I had a story in my head about the various (mis)adventures of pirates in ‘the Caribbean’. Porlyusica had said that no such ocean existed, at least not by that name. So I had either made the whole thing up, or someone else had and I had to find the rest of the story.

I was in the midst of trying to decided Sparrow, ‘Captain’ Jack Sparrow, was like this because of his constantly inebriated state, or if he was just yanking everyone’s chain for the hell of it when I heard a rabbled of shouting from outside.

“I do believe your visitors are underway.” The pink haired healer said dryly. “Prepare yourself, girl. Fairy Tail can be rather overwhelming.”

-vVv-

Overwhelming was one way of putting it, that was certain.

Natsu was a loud fire breathing Dragon Slayer with a sidekick in the form of a flying blue cat, Happy, who was obsessed with fish. Grey was an Ice Wizard with no proper concept of temperature or body modesty and Erza was worse than both of them put together, a temperamental Requip Wizard capable of storing and copying any item of clothing or weaponry in her arsenal with her dense, powerful magic.

They argued a lot, got into fights, had poor manners, weren’t all that bright and generally were total nuisances.

So why couldn’t I stop laughing at their antics?

I was watching Gray and Natsu try to pummel each other, both my hands clasped over my mouth as their insults got steadily more and more creative until Erza intervened with brutal chops to their heads.

“Keep your language clean, idiots!” She snapped. “I will not have you sullying our guild reputation with your foul language!”

“Right, cause you’re Miss Manners yourself...”

Gray muttered.

“What was that!?”

She roared at him, making the younger boy flinch away from her wrath. I started to laugh.

“Are they always like this?”

I asked Happy, who had seated himself close by and was devouring a fish he had pulled out of his little satchel.

“Mmhm! Mmph! Phometimes’ bhey’re worse!”

He said with his mouth full. Thankfully the fish was relatively fresh so I wasn’t subjected to a faceful of old aquatic breath.

“Happy, don’t speak with your mouth full!” Erza scolded. “You’re a Fairy Tail wizard too, you have to think about what you’re actions are doing to our guild reputation!”

I raised my hand.

“Oh. Yes?”

Erza looked surprised that I had silently asked to speak instead of just blurting something out.

“Which would be better? A good impression or an honest impression?”

The question seemed to throw her for a loop. But Natsu laughed boisterously, slinging an arm around me and lifting me onto his shoulder effortlessly.

“An honest one! Who cares if people don’t like you? Better that they know you and don’t like you than like someone who doesn’t exist!”

I squeaked at the sudden change in height, grabbing for something to steady myself. I settled for bracing myself on his opposite shoulder and his hand.

“What are you doing?”

I asked him curiously as he headed for the door.

“Didn’t Porlyusica tell ya? We came to take you to our guild! Everyone wants to meet you!” 

-vVv-

When Natsu entered the guild hall with a little aqua haired girl on his shoulder, several people were looking on with interest.

“Hey everyone! This is her! Meet our little friend!”

Makarov watched as one by one, his guild-children came forward to meet the nameless child. She seemed rather taken aback at the attention, but she bloomed in the light of the family that was being offered her. Soon her smile and her laugh joined the usual sounds of the guild and Makarov smiled as he took a deep draft from his mug.

Another child for him to protect and love.

 One of the first questions of the hour that was brought up was what to call her since she didn’t have a name that she could remember. Thus the afternoon’s events were decided in the process of proposing a wide variety of names for her consideration. She would then choose one and that would be her name. Makarov had decided to register her citizenship for Magnolia and keep an eye on her a she grew up. But seeing how effortlessly she merged with his guild, and how Porlescuya had notified him that she had an active magical core...he supposed a little new blood would be beneficial, even if she was too young to take a guild-mark by his rules.

They had been proposing names for several hours, the girl was seated firmly between Gray and Lisanna as others gathered around their group.

“Marissa?”

“That sounds like a butterfly.”

“Larel?”

“No thanks.”

“Natsu!”

She blinked.

“Um...that name’s already taken. Happy, why would you-?”

“No, Natsu stop eating my fish!”

Everyone had a good laugh as they watched cat and Dragon Slayer have an impromptu tug of war with Happy’s fish, that Natsu had quickly cooked and attempted to swallow whole. She blinked at the sight, wondering how Happy was managing to put up a good fight for his lunch when he was about four times as small as his friend...

 “Won’t he choke?”

“Natsu’s mouth waaaay too big for that to be a risk.” Macau assured their young guest. “Yeah, I’ve seen him swallow a whole steak in one go!”

She watched the pair tussle for a moment longer, then she reached over the table and tugged on his wrist, her eyes distant and curious.

“If you eat food raw, does it cook on the way down your throat?”

Natsu had apparently not considered this as he let go of the fish he had stolen to consider it. “I don’t know...Let’s try it!” Natsu had grabbed her and raced for the bar, calling for the barmaid. “Heeeey Sara! I need some food that hasn’t been cooked yet!”

The poor girl’s feet smacked Gray in the face as Natsu hauled her along.

“Ow! Sorry Gray!”

Erza rose to intercept the enthusiastic boy with her fist.

“Sit down Natsu! You can’t be so rough with her! She hasn’t been awake for more than a few days!”

-vVv-

 In the end, it took several days for the girl to decide on a name that she liked. It took Makarov’s telling of Mavis and her founding of the guild to inspire her.

“Fae...”

She mused. The guildmaster nodded, surprised.

“Yes, that is an ancient name for fairy. How do you know that?”

Her eyes looked distant, a bright pale blue that seemed to glow slightly.

“I read it...Somewhere. I can’t remember where...”

“You like reading then?”

Some hint of her past would help. But the big bright smile that the question got him was surprising anyway.

“I love reading!”

Natsu moaned upon hearing that.

“Come on! How am I supposed to teach you how to be cool if you like lame stuff like that?!”

“There’s nothing lame about reading Natsu!” Levy flared up in defense of her prefered hobby, putting an arm around the other girl’s shoulders. “I think it’s great that someone else finally likes to read around here. Everyone else has been too busy with jobs, drinking or eating.”

Jet and Droy, who always tended to follow Levy around like puppies, spoke up as well.

 “That’s right!”

“It’s great that Levy has a little sister now!”

 “Who said anything about little sister?” Levy asked, surprised and a little suspicious. “And what is up with you two lately? You could never agree on anything before.”

Makarov chuckled behind his mustache. Puberty had crept up slowly on some of his children, but on others, it had fallen like rain from the sky. Jet and Droy through a mutual agreement, had put aside their usual quarrels in effort to win Levy’s heart. A fairly fruitless effort since the sensible girl had no real interest in anything that wasn’t printed on a page at the moment.

“I want my name to be Fae.”

The aqua haired girl declared, a smile on her face as she looked at Makarov.

“Little short for a full on name.”

Gray remarked. He was promptly smacked by Cana.

“Oh hush, there’s nothing wrong with having a short name. If it’s what she wants then who cares if it’s short?”

“Should it be longer?”

Fae asked, looking at Wakaba for some advice. He shrugged.

“Fae does sound more like a nickname.”

She pondered this for a moment longer...then nodded.

“Ok, Faerun will be my full name, but everyone in the guild had better call me Fae!”

This firm declaration brought on a round of chortles. Lisanna scooped the small girl up into a tight embrace.

“Sure thing, Fae-chan!”

“You still need a last name and possibly a middle one as well.”

Fae stared into the distance for a moment.

“Celeste D. Faerun.”

She said finally. There were several bemused smiles in regards to her choice, but the paperwork was filed and thus; Celeste D Faerun became an official ward of the Fairy Tail wizard guild.

Chapter Text

 I was questioned several times about my name. I said it sounded pretty, but never gave further information.

 Celeste, root, Latin. Meaning, ‘celestial’ or ‘heavenly.’

 Faerun, a name for a fictional land in the Forgotten Realms. This location includes the Icewind Dale, Mithril Hall, Waterdeep and the Silver Marches. All settings in which the story of Drizzt Do’Urden the drow take place. Nickname: Fae. A name for the race of fairy creatures, traditionally incapable of speaking lies or touching iron. Very frequently portrayed as clever, long lived and masters unto themselves.

 ‘D’. An initial from the Great Sea that designates the bearer as the inheritor of a formidable will to change the world.

 The blue glow in my mind had given me the names and their meanings. I had simply strung them together to suit myself. I somehow knew that it was both completely normal and unfamiliar to introduce yourself with your family name being said first.

A I had asked about this glow, and had been informed, through various sources in the subsequent preparation, that it meant I had magic. And I had already unlocked it. They speculated that it had happened sometime during my imprisonment or during Natsu’s rescue. Now I just had to find what had triggered it and repeat it deliberately.

 But until then, I had a pretty good life. The Rune Knight’s process for determining how old I was indicated my magical core had been active for about five months and that I was physically seven years old. With the guild’s reputation, there had been no real issue with my being supported and sheltered by them and the paperwork had been finished and finalized in a surprisingly short amount of time.

 The ward system for wizard guilds was a way for local guilds to take some of the pressure off of local orphanages and to train young mages in a safe, or at least understanding environment. Young mages tended to have...accidents that couldn’t be so easily explained away to most of the population. A child with magic was usually brought to the closest guild to learn how to control their power at the very least, even if they never chose to expand on it.

 This meant I had Makarov overseeing my study of the art with several of the other guild members helping out every now and then. 

Natsu had taken a shine to me and helped out with physical training. In his opinion, any wizard worth their salt should be able to fight without their magic if the need arose. A policy Erza was in strong agreement with. Their training sessions usually ended with me being carried back to the guild hall or the guild dorms, exhausted and bruised, but happy, laughing and looking forward to an evening of magical study highlighted with a brawl or two. 

 “Magic is the result of your own energy interacting and working with the ethernano in the world around you.”

Makarov said patiently as I fiddled with the hat he insisted I wear during lessons. The long bunny ears were tickling my back... Why does it matter if I’m wearing some sort of animal hat?

 “Because no two wizards are the same, their capability and talent for magic with be as unique as they are.”

 “But both Erza and Bisca use Requip magic.”

I pointed out, head on my folded arms as I listened to him speak. I kept a weather eye on his mug of alcohol. Apparently regular booze didn’t do it for wizards so there was a certain family that specialized in brewing a fruity colored drink that was potent enough for people with ethernano running through them to enjoy. A fresh shipment of the stuff had recently been brought in and the party was already underway. I was keeping my head low to avoid the occasional UFO coming my way. Happy had already sailed over my head twice to save his precious fish.

 “Quiet down you morons!” Makarov roared as a stool went by overhead. “Ah, but not to the same extent.” The guild master said cheerfully. “Erza’s magic is incredibly dense and powerful, and is mostly rooted in metal. This combination results in her being able to requip any article she is wearing instead of only a weapon like most are able to do. And it took her an incredible amount of effort to be able to extend her power to apply to non-metal objects. Bisca on the other hand, doesn’t have nearly as much power for one, and doesn’t have a particular root. So while she might not be able to do as much Re-quiping as Erza, she doesn’t have the same difficulties or restrictions in what she had store in her sub-space. It also allows her to make use of guns that don’t rely on her personal magic for power, or to potentially cut back on luggage expenses!”

 The tiny old man said with a gale of laughter at his joke, adding another layer of noise to the chaos inside the guild hall.

 I hummed, tracing a finger on the table before me as I laid the new information out in my mind.

 “So Erza can store a lot of armor and weapons, but can’t hold onto much else without practicing. Bisca can hold onto a wider variety of materials, but not as much of it. “

“I knew you were a bright kid.” He cheered, downing his mug and lifting it with a shout. “Oi! I need a refill!”

I rose and grabbed his arm, a little panicked and worried at the spots of color on his face.

 “Master, you’ve already had six! You drink any more and you won’t be able to make any sense! You have to finish teaching me!”

 -vVv-

 I lost that fight. I was rather irritated as I sulked at a table while Makarov danced on what had previously been our impromptu school room.

 “Drunk and it isn’t even dinner time...” I muttered. “Talk about an adult example...”

-vVv-

 I still hadn’t had an actual instance of my natural magic showing itself. The way it had been described was that whatever magic I was most suited to would be an instinctive reaction to something. Thus far, my only reactions had been shown in the development of good reflexes since Natsu apparently thought that attacking me randomly would be a good way to get my magic to emerge. I was hiding under the table from him while Gray passed me bread from above.

 “Why does he have to be so loud...”

I moaned, covering my ears as I heard the Dragon Slayer start another fight. The Ice Wizard made a noncommittal sound as he passed a cup down from above.

 “He wouldn’t be Natsu if he was quiet.” A loud crash made him add as an afterthought. “Though that might be a good thing.”

 -vVv-

Enthusiasm to learn from my guildmates aside, I was not always a diligent student.

“Nooooo!!!”

Screw having dignity! I wanted to live to see my eighth birthday!

 “Fae, come back here! We haven’t finished training yet!”

Erza called, sounding irked.

She’s a demon...A witch in disguise!

-vVv-

 I watched the fighting with Levy.

 “So who do you think is gonna win this time?” I asked the older girl, our perusal of some magic books halted by the spectacle. Mira and Erza, Natsu and Gray. The rivals had paired off and were currently attempting to murder one other.

 “Whoever manages to intervene and survive.” Levy replied glibly.

 “So...Master wins?”

“Master wins.”

-vVv-

 My meeting Mystogan got the guys’ attention at the very least. When I felt the suggestion to close my eyes and rest, I rebelled. I only had an hour to finish reading this book and I would not be deterred! A notebook lay nearby with my scribbles filling up the current page.

  This theory about the ethernano being a semi sentient, omniscient being makes a lot of sense. How else would Archive Magic work? If you could only access what information you put up, then it would hardly be worth much of anything because you’d always need to find it concretely somewhere else. But no. If you troll the pool enough, refine your search criteria and have the capacity to handle the size of the files, you can find just about anything on any kind of information. The Rune Knights monitor it closely for the most part, but Archive Magic users aren’t typically strong enough or common enough to make it much of a valid concern.

 It was the lack of hubbub that made me finally look up. I stared in amazement at the others in the room who had fallen asleep right where they were standing. Natsu had his face implanted in a bowl of stew that would probably start another fight once he woke up demanding to know who had thrown his food at him. But...what had happened? Why was everyone asleep?

 I spotted Master was awake and he didn’t seem that perturbed. And there was a stranger as well... He was tallish, had a bunch of staves slung behind him and wore a mask and hood. I could barely see the red lines of a tattoo or birthmark on his face, just where his eyes showed.

 “Um...master?”

I asked, cursing my soft and childish voice as it broke the almost complete silence. Both of them turned to look at me, surprise evident on the face I could actually see.

 “Fae? You’re awake?”

I rolled my eyes.

 “No, I’m sleeping with my eyes open and talking at the same time.”

 The tiny old man’s brows went down as he glared at me. 

“None of your sass now!”

 “Too late for that.” I replied pertly, looking up at the masked man and rubbing my head. “Is it you who's trying to make me go to sleep? It’s kinda annoying. Would you mind not doing that?”

The man was, simply put, baffled.  Makarov sighed.

 “I suppose we don’t know enough about your magic to have predicted that this might happen. Fae, this is Mystogan, one of our S-class wizards.”

As soon as I had confirmation that he was a friend, I hopped off my stool and bowed, shooting him a bright smile as information poured into my head.

  Banished prince of Edolas. Real name: Jellal. Conceals his real face due to an inordinate and awkward similarity to Ten Wizard Saint Siegrain. Read: He’s physically his identical twin in just about every way. No innate magic, but very skilled at using magical tools, seems to have a particular inclination towards staves.

 “Nice to meet you, Mystogan! I’m Faerun, but everyone just calls me Fae!”

 He seemed to have recovered somewhat from his confusion at my being awake and apparently unaffected by his sleep spell.

 “A pleasure, Fae.”

I tilted my head as I drew a little closer.

 “Why are you wearing a mask? Is it a foreign fashion trend? Or is it just comfortable?”

-vVv-

 I grilled the poor guy and ended up following him until he left town. I asked him about magic, the places he’d travelled to, what kind of jobs he took and why, what magical aids were in place to keep weather from being a problem to travellers. Anything I could think of really. But I don’t think he disliked me for it. In fact, he seemed remarkably patient about the whole affair. I even thought he smiled behind his mask from the way his eyes crinkled.

I like you. I decided, smiling up at him as he explained the distinction between a few different classes of magical tools, and their general advantages. You’re weird, but everyone in this guild is. And I like you. I gave into my impulse and hugged him before saying goodbye.

 “Come back soon!” I told him, grinning mischievously. “I’ll probably have a lot more questions when you do!”

I saw his eyes crinkle up in a smile.

 “I’ll try my best to find the answers for you then.”

-vVv-

I was indulging an old hobby when I discovered exactly what my magic was.

 I was writing out a synopsis of everything I could remember of Lord of the Rings, by hand in a notebook since typing machines weren’t a thing in a messy guild hall with lists and lists of property damage bills.

 I had been horrified to realize that many of the classic stories and concepts that I found cliche and overused...Weren’t. They weren’t overused. They were barely used!

  Alas. I bemoaned as I continued to scribble frantically. I haven’t the mental capacity to match the great Professor Tolkien’s linguistic skills to really make the story come to life. And a world without Lord of the Rings was a true and utter travesty. Just don’t ask me why I felt like this. I just knew that it was.

 My lips curved up as images assailed my mind of the story. From the glorious Homely House, to the dark, balrog haunted depths of the Mine of Moria, the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim, the Paths of the Dead, the Black Gate of Mordor, Minas Tirith, and the fiery, tumultuous peak of Mount Doom.

 “Fae! Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop!”

I looked up, curiously at Levy’s excited cry and my mouth dropped open. The same images I had been visualizing in my head were dancing around me, interspersed with various letters and words.

 “Check it out!”

 “Fae’s using her magic! She did it!”

 “That’s amazing!”

 “Rune Magic, huh?”

 “Way to go, girl!”

 I watched the images dance before my eyes, spellbound as my thoughts raced. Emotions linked to the images. Both beautiful and the terrifying. And then sound began to emerge as well.

 The giant eagles began to scream as they soared around the guild. Orcs and goblins screeched. The Nazgul gave their hair raising cry. Elves sang in their various tongues.

 It all ended very abruptly with me collapsing to the ground, eyes wide and wondering what in the name of sanity and the lack thereof was happening....

-vVv-

 “Rune Magic is actually one of the more common branches of magic. But it also happens to be one of the more varied and versatile ones.” Makarov said, looking all too pleased with himself as he sat me down. “Now that we have identified what your basic magic is, training and refining it will be much simpler. But!” He barked sharply, narrowing his eyes at me. “Do not use your magic without supervision until we have determined your abilities!”

I was too busy wondering and buzzing with excitement at what I could do with this magic...

 “Our best option would be to have someone with similar magic to yours teach you how to access it. I understand you make a habit of studying with Levy?”

I nodded, my smile widening. Levy would be an awesome teacher!  Makarov’s mustache twitched as he smiled back.

 “Have you ever met Freed, Fae-chan?”

Huh?

-vVv-

 I stared at the green haired youth with almost comical surprise. Specifically, at the little jagged idiot hairs that he had sticking out like antenna...

 “If there isn’t anyone else suited to teach her, I suppose I could lend a hand...”

 He said this as if I were a dirty little brat. I couldn’t help but feel a little insulted. So... Vindictive obfuscating stupidity is a go.

 I reached out across the table and flicked one of the antenna.

 It wiggled and I saw Freed’s brow twitch as he glared at me. I grinned back, pert, unrepentant and ready to learn all I could about the intricacies of Rune Magic.

-vVv-

 I think Freed was predisposed to dislike me due to my being a kid. But once I proved to be not an average brat, he started to warm up to me a little.

 “Rune Magic is at it’s heart, giving the ethernano commands as to how you desire the world around you to function. Whether or not the rune will do as you wish depends on your clarity and your power. The greater the effect you are trying to put in place, the more power will be needed.”

I wrinkled my nose as I listened.

 “Is there any way of working around needing a lot of power? Not everyone has magic power coming out of their ears like Natsu or Laxus...”

My teacher actually gave me an approving smile.

 “As it so happens, there is. You can accomplish the same thing with a string of lesser commands properly linked together than with a single powerful command. For example.” Freed bent down beside me and wrote with his finger on the back of my hand. “I have put down an enchantment that is meant to hinder you from lifting your hand. Try and lift it.”

  I did as he bade, struggling for a moment as I felt the enchantment try to bar me, but eventually managing to get my hand up to around shoulder height.

 “Difficult but doable, correct?” I nodded, examining the handful of runes on my hand. “Any idea of how to remove the spell?”

 I considered the runes for a moment.

  Resistance. Hand. Up and rise. I reached for the stylus that Freed had recommended as my beginner’s tool and after a thought, wrote ‘Freedom’ on my palm. The magic tingled a little, resonating in my nerve endings as a foreign, but very pleasant sensation. While Freed’s runes were a dark, majestic purple, mine appeared in a light amber color.

 The conflicting enchantments sparked a little, but then I could lift my hand and move it about much more easily. It wasn’t completely free, there were still moments of resistance, but it was a lot better than it had been. My tutor examined my rune, more of a curious squiggly line than the neat, blocky text that he used. But he nodded approvingly.

 “A simple command. But with the right intent, it did it’s job even if the match up wasn’t perfect.”

He carefully wiped the old runes by withdrawing the magic power he had put in his runes. I did the same, it had been the first thing he had taught me how to do. Then he put down new runes, this time splitting up the definition of what he meant to hinder to the individual parts of my hand, fingers and palm. This time when I tried to lift it, I could scarcely force it to rise more than a hair’s breadth off the table.

 “Can you think of some way to counter this?”

Freed asked. I examined the runes thoughtfully. He had applied the same ‘resistance’ rune-set in multiple places on my hand, and these were much smaller. And each one was tailored to apply to one part of my hand and no more, two on my knuckles, then the back of my hand, the center of my wrist and my thumb joint.

 I wouldn’t be able to get away just with one counter this time.  I took up the stylus and after a moment’s hesitation, began to write.  Freed had instructed me on this first and foremost.

  “There is no right or wrong way to use Rune Magic. Even if an idea sounds absolutely ludicrous, it still has the chance of working if you have the right intent behind what you are inscribing.”

 I had gone through a list of antonyms for resistance and had chosen to apply a rune that meant ‘Liberation’ to my hand this time. But I kept on drawing, writing a few other runes in a spiral around my root word. ‘Motion’, ‘fingers’ and ‘palm’.

I ended up with slightly more movement than before. Instead of feeling like something was forcing me to remain still, this time I felt like I couldn’t move faster than a snail. I frowned, displeased. But Freed seemed rather pleased.

 “Since my magic is much more practiced than yours, it would take some extremely clever writing or a lot more force behind your words to counter my runes completely. But that was very well done Fae. You might become a Rune Wizard yet.”

-vVv-

I had lessons with Freed multiple times a week. I once expressed concern that he wasn’t able to work since he was teaching me. He just waved me off with a smile that gradually became more and more sincere as time passed.

 I had been with the guild for about a year before I met Laxus. The big young man was buff. No two ways about it. I didn’t doubt that he had some rabid fans. Seemed to be the type. The soft voice that I had grown used to giving me insight on things spoke up.

  Attempts to seize control of the guild by forcing everyone to fight each other. Tries to blow up the whole city. Makarov’s grandson, used to be very close to him, but the relationship became strained after his father, Ivan, was banished from the guild. Lightning Dragon Slayer, 2nd Generation. Lacrima is implanted in his body which allows him to make use of Dragon Slayer magic.

My eyes lingered on the bright yellow scar on his face that had the faint aura of magic around it.

His father was the one responsible for implanting the lacrima. But was he really so...callous as to put it in the guy’s face? In his head? If that’s the case, then no wonder he’s a little screwed up...

 He noticed my looking at him. I halfway expected him to make some snappy, harsh comment. But he just scowled at me, in a way that didn’t seem...really that intimidating.

 “Who are you supposed to be?”

A question. Questions I could handle.

  “I’m Fae. Who’re you?”

Light flashed in his eyes, a literal spark of energy that flicked into life and then was gone.

 “Name’s Laxus Dreyer, brat. Where’s the old man?”

He meant Makarov. But did I dare push a few buttons when this was the first meeting...? Better be cooperative until I get a better feel for the guy. I knew, somehow, that he wasn’t going to hurt me. But irritating people needlessly wasn’t my thing.

 “Monthly check-in with the Rune Knights.” I replied, holding the book I had been reading in a loose grasp as I looked far, far up at the looming wizard. “Did it hurt?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it. Laxus looked down at me before making a dismissive sound and sitting at one of the nearby benches.

 “Did what hurt?”

 I drew my finger down my face, mimicking the shape of his scar in answer. I had to imagine getting a chunk of concentrated, foreign magic implanted in your system wasn’t an especially pleasant experience. But was there actual pain involved? Or just unconsciousness?

 He snorted.

 “Like a-” He caught himself before what I suspected would have been a expletive out. My inner adult raised her brows in surprise. “Yeah, it hurt.”

Likes kids? No...more like doesn’t want to hurt them. Enough to censor his own language. That in and of itself was impressive. Most other adults didn’t have that kind of control.

 “In hindsight that was a pretty personal question.” Where is my mouth filter? I know I have one somewhere... “Thank you for answering.”

This made the large blond look at me with more consideration.

 “Fae...that isn’t short for Faerun is it?”

 “Yeah...?” Ok. Who told him about me?

“You’re the kid with Rune Magic that Freed’s teaching then.”

There was a contemplative light in his eyes now as he looked at me. My face brightened reflexively.

 “You know Freed? Do you know when he’s coming back? I finally finished that stupid puzzle he left me-”

I hastily bit off the barrage before it could annoy him. I had the feeling it didn’t take much to annoy Laxus.  Since this made him crack a smirk, I was somewhat comforted that I wasn’t about to get fried or something.

 “I know Freed. He’s on his way back from his job right now.”

He eyed me for a moment, then reached out a tugged a slightly wavy lock of my aqua colored hair. It had only grown out an inch or two since I had been cleared by Porlescuya. When I didn’t respond to his inspection, he repeated the tug, only this time he did it harder.

 “Ow!” I swatted at his hand, frowning at him. Jerk. Why did you do that?

 “Is that your actual color? Seems a little unnatural.”

 “Your scar is literally shaped like a lightning bolt and your hair is defying gravity as we speak. And you think my hair is weird?”

 -vVv-

I was bickering with Laxus even after Master returned to the guild hall. It was fantastic! He wasn’t going to walk on eggshells around me just because I was a kid! And Erza didn’t step in and stop him like she did when Natsu! I was aware that I was a good deal more mature than a child of my apparent youth should be, and it was kinda frustrating to not have anyone argue with you seriously!

 This dichotomy between the way I thought and the way people thought I should think was getting old fast, but I say no real way of forcing it to change. In my experience, questionable as it was, forcing your ideas on others rarely ever went over well. There was no real, quick way to get it done other than patience and time.

 I’d just have to grin and bear it I suppose.

 I was practicing almost constantly with my Runes lately. I was trying to decipher the basic components of my script. I was going pretty much on instinct so while I could read the words, be it in my script or in Freed’s, I couldn’t distinguish individual letters, vowel clusters or consonants. Intent was all well and good, but being able to deliberately shape what I wanted to happen was what I figured was a key part of using runes. Thus if I wanted to make any real headway in my magic, I had to do that.

 Which meant writing. A lot of writing. By hand usually.

 I lifted my dominant hand and scowled, noting the tiny callous that was starting to form as a result of my constant work. It was irritating me...

 “Why the grumpy face, Fae?”

Lisanna’s kind voice brought me out of my brown study. I smiled up at the white haired Animal Soul Wizard.

 “Just not making as much progress as I would like.”

She slid onto the bench beside me with a fond ruffle of my hair.

 “You’ve only been practicing for a few months. Any kind of magic takes time, especially Rune Magic.”

  But I might not have that time. I thought with a frown, glancing back down at the lines of text I had been working on. I needed a fast reference guide that I could flip back and forth between. My brain could only process something so fast and holding my rapidly growing dictionary of established Runes took most of my concentration.

  Dragons. Eclipse Gate. Zeref. Lonely. So lonely...

 “Keep up that kind of attitude and we’ll have to start calling you Natsu!”

I frowned at Lisanna.

 “As if anyone without a literal fire under their tail could be that hasty.”

She just laughed, ruffling my hair.

 “I’m just saying you should enjoy being a kid a little more! You hardly ever seem to do anything except study magic and practice fighting with Erza and Natsu.”

It was hard to enjoy being a kid when all I wanted to do was be able to talk to someone without being looked down on and finally reach the shelves without a footstool!  I blew away my frustration with some effort. Lisanna meant well. If there was anything that was consistent about her, it was that she always had people’s best interests at heart.

But...I did have a reason for going into this with this much dedication. This perfect certainty I had as to how my magic worked. I knew that I had to know as much about this as possible if I was to have a chance at deciphering my past life, and safeguarding the future of the people I cared about.

 “I know Lisanna. But...I can’t shake the feeling that as soon as I know as much as I can about my magic, the better my chances will be at knowing where I came from.” The white haired girl seemed taken aback and I hurried on. “It-it’s not like I want to leave or anything. I love it here! But...” I shook my head, leaning forward on the table over the pages and pages of painstakingly written runes. “But I at least want to know... If I have a family, and if they care, I want them to know I’m safe...”

 “Oh Fae, it’s ok.” Lisanna slipped an arm around my shoulders in a side-hug. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting that. I should have been more thoughtful about your situation. I’m sorry.”

I snorted, leaning into her hold.

 “You can’t read minds, there’s no way you could have known. It’s fine.”

-vVv-

Gildarts was a big friendly fellow, larger than life and with a presence in his magic that just blanketed the guild hall with good cheer, laughter and protection. It was strange, I concluded as I watched him swat Natsu away. I looked at him and saw a large intimidating wizard that I knew was very dangerous. He could probably find some way to use his magic and crush me just by looking at me. Yet I felt no fear. There was just acceptance and security in his presence.

He’d never hurt me. Not seriously.

 “The old place hasn’t changed that much!” he said grinning and looking around. “Only real difference is Erza and Mira aren’t tearing the place up. They’re doing good on their jobs!”

Master relaxed at the news. I figured that since Gildarts was one of the senior wizards of the guild and one of the strongest, that he would check up on the younger wizards who were out working. Probably wouldn’t let on that he was doing so. But just look things over in case they needed a hand. I turned back to my book, wanting to finish as much as I could before Natsu came back and dragged me off for some fist fighting practice.

“Hello, who’s this?”

Just like that, I was no longer sitting on my bench, but had been hoisted into the air by the back of my shirt and was facing the man himself. Gildarts. I had heard enough about him to know that it was him, but-

Holy crap, he does look like Shanks. I blinked, wondering where the thought had come from. But it had opened up an entirely new avenue in the story that I was willing and eager to explore.

“You gotta be the new kid I heard the old man talk about” He said enthusiastically, scooping me up as easily as he had sent Natsu through the roof of the guild hall. He was squeezing the breath out of me as he cuddled me aggressively. “Aw. And you’re even a little cutie too!”

I squirmed, wrinkling my nose as I caught a whiff of his clothes...

He. Was. Rank!

“It’s nice to meet you and all, but you kinda stink mister...”

Gildarts just looked at me...then began to laugh.

“You’re an honest one, aren’t ya kid? What do they call ya pipsqueak?”

He still didn’t set me down, instead he carried me to the bar where I proceeded to get interrogated in a friendly, roughshod sort of way. I came away from the interview with the feeling that while Makarov was the dad to everyone in the guild, Gildarts was everybody’s favorite uncle that wasn’t around that often. So when he was there, everybody was glad to see him. He wanted to know everything that had been going on with everyone and if there was a new face, he wanted a personality to go with it.

 After Gildarts made rounds of the people in the guild, and called for a round of drinks for everyone there, he disappeared to talk with the Master for a while. There came a strange silence that made me sit up and look around, wondering if Mystogan was dropping by and putting everyone to sleep... Then I caught the barest hint of extremely potent, powerful magical pressure and shivered in response. Is this what a sandcastle feels like when a steamroller is bearing down on it?

 “Master must have given Gildarts some news he didn’t like hearing.” Wakaba remarked, answering my unspoken question. “He only feels like that when he’s starting to get mad.”

The uncomfortable feeling of trying to inhale through a large damp pillow went away after a few more seconds. No one else commented on it.

-vVv-

“Nice enough a kid.”

Gildarts noted, after reporting the more precise details of what he had seen as he travelled beyond civilization.

 “Who?” Makarov was clearly absorbed in his thoughts, but then he shook his head. “Oh. You mean Fae.”

The Crash Wizard laughed.

 “Gotta say it’s hilarious that the brat just wanders into the guild with a name like that. Almost like she’s made to be here!”

Makarov tried to smile at Gildarts jovial good cheer, but didn’t quite manage. The S-class wizard stilled and looked at the tiny guild master askance.

 “What’s up Makarov? You haven’t looked like that in years.”

Not since he had needed to banished his own son. But that wasn’t a topic anyone brought up lightly.

 “I’m glad you like Fae, Gildarts, but I am still concerned as to how she came to be with us...”

 “She didn’t get placed here by the council?”

 “Far from it. Natsu found her while he was on a job near the Caelum border. His assigned task was defeating some vulcans that were thought to be in the mountains nearby, since there had been several missing person’s reports. He ended up dismantling a dark guild that was later convicted of slave taking...”

Gildarts went very still.

 “And the end result...?”

Makarov’s eyes flashed.

 “Upon the Rune Knights investigation, the guild Natsu destroyed were found to have more than fifty captives of various ages. Interrogation has revealed that the scoundrels attack and ransack villages in the mountains, which are mostly isolated and unable to call for help. They typically don’t take more than a handful of adults and leave the rest dead behind them. Most of their prey were children.”

Gildarts power flared out, filling the air with the heavy, implacable  promise of total annihilation.

 “Gildarts.” Makarov spoke in reprimand. “The children are nearby. Control yourself.”

The Crash Wizard exhaled slowly, collecting himself before he tried speaking.

 “So you think Fae was a captive, but that she managed to escape and Natsu picked her up.”

 “It is the only solution that makes any sense. Natsu says that she was injured when he found her, a short distance away. And that the dark guild members were searching for an escaped prisoner. Fae had recently unlocked her magic as she made her escape. It made her even more valuable for whatever they intended their captives for. It was this confusion that let Natsu subdue them.”

 The large man was still, thinking of the little girl who had warmed up to him quickly, and was clearly adored by the other guild members. There wasn’t any of that pain in her smile.

 “She doesn’t know.” 

“No. Fae cannot recall anything about her life before she awoke under medical attention. She chose her own name, and signed on as our guild’s ward.”

Makarov’s clenched fist loosened as there came a burst of raucous laughter from the main floor. Threading through it all was a child’s hysterical giggle.

 “Fae was not meant to be here. Chance and a strong dose of luck brought her to us. I cannot say what might have happened had Natsu not been nearby to carry her to safety. But she is here now, and she chose to stay with us instead of going into the foster system.”

 Gildarts gave a half rueful smile.

“She said anything about joining up when she’s older?”

“It is not a question I have put to her.” The guild master stated evenly. “For now, she is a child and that is not something children should have to concern themselves over. We will give her the childhood that she was denied, raise her as best we can and let her decide her fate.”

-vVv-

Gildarts only stayed for a few days, but every day, I could count on being greeted by the big man with a massive bear hug. And when he did so, Natsu never tried to attack him because I was in the way.

 “No fair Gildarts! Stop using Fae as a shield!”

This usually resulted in Gildarts sending Natsu through a wall with an absent backfist even as he chatted. I just sighed, brushed dust from the rubble off my papers, and kept writing, ceaselessly practicing the individual letters of my Rune Script.

 “Watcha doin’?”

Gildarts asked in a singsong tone, leaning over my shoulder and watching.

 The regretfully familiar sensation of deja vu struck me.

 “Plotting world domination.”

I answered flatly, looking up at him, trying to convey that I was busy and didn’t want to entertain him right now. His eyes sparkled.

 “Oh? And how would you go about conquering the world, Fae-chan?”

This resulted in a very interesting conversation that multiple people joined.

 My original joke of conquering the world with an army of flying monkeys was expanded into running a massive magical circus filled with semi sentient animals as cover for getting in and out of countries. There were many suggestions as to how to win support from locals with this circus, and set up coups to dispose of the current monarchs because... lemon cream pie?

A plan that involved world domination that hinged on the presence of a lemon cream pie?

 The talk broke down when Mirajane and Erza got into a disagreement ( I am getting good at understatement. ) over whether lemon cream pie or strawberry shortcake was better.

  You know, this is probably why the Magic Council is so wary of this guild...not the property damage, or the closely packed mass of powerful wizards...it’s the collective mind.

Chapter Text

 Lisanna and Elfman were the friendly Strauss siblings. Mirajane was an unholy terror, pun fully intended. She had made S-Class in the year that I had been with the guild, still behind Erza’s record age of 14 but impressive nonetheless. She never really addressed me that much. She just called me quiet and boring and I was inclined to let her believe that. I doubted that she’d hurt me, even if I annoyed her. But Mirajane was the kind to stick to an idea that she had gotten into her head until it was forcibly beaten out of her. Something I was incapable of doing and probably always would be.

 I tried very hard to be neutral towards the white haired siblings. Lisanna I knew the best because she had a crush on Natsu and Natsu had decided that he was gonna be my big brother. Not that he actually put this into words. But then one day came when the three Take-over siblings intended to go on a job. We had said goodbye, and I had gone and sat with a grumpy Natsu for a bit until Happy cheered him up. I was working on a rune translation assignment Freed had given me when I suddenly froze, words pouring through my mind.

 Lisanna isn’t coming back from this job.

 I blinked and shook myself. The very idea was ridiculous! Mira was the newest S-class mage and she’d never let anyone hurt her younger siblings! But the feeling of foreboding persisted. The words formed an actual voice that repeated the words in my head.

 Lisanna is going to die. Lisanna is going to disappear.

 It wasn’t malicious or frightening. It was just a bland statement of fact accompanied by the strange blue glow. I tried to beat back the notion but it always slipped back in in spite of everything I tried to do to keep it out.

 And it just kept on growing, the vague whispers rapidly evolving into a full blown tale of what had and would transpire.

 A beast type monster that was too big and powerful for Elfman to fully assimilate. He went on a rampage, the beast not seeming to feel any pain or seem ready to stop for anything. The battling wills within the same body elevating it’s already incredible strength to new, dangerous levels. Mira exhausting herself trying to help her brother and stop the monster after having fought it for hours. She was exhausted. Lisanna had no prayer of stopping it with force, so she tried to talk Elfman down. Find the man inside the monster.

 The beast swatted her aside without hesitation.

 Her eyes were glazed and distant.

 “Mira...where are you...? I can’t see you.”

 “I’m right here! Lisanna!...Lisanna!? LISANNA!”

 I was shaking as the story finished forming in my mind. I stumbled to my feet and raced inside the guild hall, feeling like I was about to be sick. I needed to tell someone. To talk to someone. Get this nightmare out of my head...

 Master looked at me within furrowed brows when he saw my pale face and tears.

 “What’s wrong, Fae?”

“Did someone make you cry?” Happy asked, hovering nearby and poking my cheek. “Natsu’s eating didn’t scare you again, did it?”

 I swallowed.

“I...I had a...dream...I think it came from my magic...” I quaked. “I don’t want it to be real...” 

 But I was terrified, horrified, because I had this bleak resignation that it was real. Lisanna was gone. Makarov’s face was very serious as he leaned forward.

 “What did you see?”

-vVv-

 I was a shaking mess for a while, trying to baffle my way through what I had just seen. Because once Mira and Elfman came back without Lisanna, I knew that it was real. I had known that Lisanna was gone from the very instant she had left the world.

 It hit everyone hard. Mira and Elfman didn’t speak for a while, everyone seemed subdued and sad. I was left to my own thoughts as everyone grieved and I used this chance to tackle what I had discovered about my magic.

 How had I known that Lisanna had died? What was going through my head?

 There had been a distinct voice then. Bland and analytical. Informing me of a change in my life, but what had prompted that voice into speaking...?

 I fell into meditation and tried to write out everything that had been going through my head at that time. I didn’t really know what was going on in my head until I read what I wrote so I foresaw the use of many, many notebooks in my future.

 I finally tracked down the trigger then.

 There had been that feeling, of something shifting and pulling away from me.

 Life is a story. My magic could tell that Lisanna was no longer part of it, thus the feeling. When the feeling didn’t get it across to me, didn’t get me to accept it, it showed me reality.

 The future was constantly shifting and changing. But the past was concrete and immovable.

-vVv-

“-thousands of different possible futures. It’s why people with Foresight tend to be so...weird.” I said lamely, talking out my theory with Makarov. “But once something happens, there isn’t anything that can be done to change it. Dozens of possible outcomes are narrowed down to one. The past is a story that can be read under the right circumstances. There is only one truth and one fact, though perspectives might alter it. I felt Lisanna leave the story of my life...” 

 I looked down at the papers that still covered my work space. The story blurbs I wrote out even now sometimes caused some image to appear, made a sound or invoked a feeling.

 “I don’t think Rune Magic is the right way to identify what I have, master. I think I have something more like Story Magic, but runes are just the only way it can express itself.”

 He had listened to me, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.

“I suppose it is possible, Fae. Retrocognition or psychometry in any form is a highly prized branch of magic, but also a very uncommon one to possess in and of itself. If you have one form, there will likely be some inclination towards other areas of unnatural senses as well, though it will never be as strong as this...Story Magic.”

-vVv-

 It was weird.

 I stared at Mirajane who was wearing her hair down and unlike her usual ponytail. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she had pulled on whatever was closest at hand for clothing. She was distraught over Lisanna, we all were in our own way, but now she had a different problem that was bothering her.

 “I can’t use my magic!” She growled, obviously almost ready to scream and bite someone’s throat out. “It’s not coming through at all!”

 “It isn’t unheard of for trauma to alter a wizard’s capabilities, Mirajane.” Master said calmly, eyes glinting with sympathy. “Only time will tell if you will regain access to your powers.”

 “But what am I supposed to do!?” She yelled in frustration, drawing the eye of almost everyone in the guild hall. “I can’t be a wizard if I don’t have magic! I can’t do jobs, I can’t even sense ethernano properly! I’m useless!”

  Useless. The word hit me with tremendous impact.

Useless. I couldn’t defeat the monster. Useless. I let my brother try and use Takeover on something I knew he couldn’t handle. Useless. I just sat there and let my sister die. Useless. I can’t stay here anymore. I can’t work, I don’t belong in a wizards guild if I can’t call myself one.

 I couldn’t do much about her grief. That was something she had to handle on her own. But about the magic...

 I examined the S-class girl. Freed had visual magic, powers that revolved powerfully around his eyes, that let him place runes in midair or reflect their effects on himself. He just thought it and he could place them anywhere in his line of sight with his bare hand, or his sword. But another thing that his Dark Ecriture could do was detect if someone had magic and approximately how much. I didn’t have the same inclination towards seeing magic but if I could...

 A burst of noise from Mirajane made me shake my head irritably as the distraction tried to force its way into my mind. I began to hum as I chased after the thought I had just had. The potential...

 With the sound of my own voice drowning out everything else, the tug of magic came back in full force and my eyes brightened with an idea.

 I grabbed a piece of paper and my stylus and began to write, choosing the first words that came to mind. My penmanship and ability to write in my runs had improved greatly to the point of adding articles and other grammar.

  Let everything magical that is seen through this be marked. I grimaced at the clumsy phrasing, writing a few words to make the paper a little more sturdy. I couldn’t stop now. The runes would only accept magic for a limited amount of time and I had to finish...

 I wrote this around the borders of a piece of paper, then quickly grabbed a knife and cut a hole through the middle wide enough to see through. I then pushed some of my magic into the script that edged my makeshift window and felt it come to life, the flimsy material stiffening to the strength of cardboard in my hands.

 I lifted it and gazed through it, focusing first on Makarov.

 Sure enough, there was a definite glow of...something around him. He also had a faint pale sort of shadow surrounding him that looked much bigger than he was. Titan Magic. Very strong. I turned the frame then towards Gray and Natsu who were bickering once again, something that happened much more frequently ever since Lisanna had died.

 Gray’s power was a pale blue white that clung closely to his skin in frosty patterns. Natsu’s aura raged and flared like a bonfire. It works... I let out a breath of relief, then turned the frame on Mirajane, now that I was certain it would work.

 She was crying while Master and a couple others comforted her.

 But around her, there was still the definite glow of magic. The dark, controlled evil that she took on herself to spare others. It seemed to be suppressed, pulled deep inside her. But there was still magic there.

 I approached the group, digging up the words that I would need while the music still thrummed in my head.

 “Mira. You don’t have to leave Fairy Tail. Even you didn’t have magic, we’d never want you to do that.”

 The older girl looked up at me, her blue eyes still reddened with tears.

 “I don’t have magic, Fae...”

Useless.

She whispered, all anger leached out of her, leaving only despair behind. I smiled and shook my head.

 “Yeah you do.” I offered her the frame in my hands. “You can use this to see magic. Your Takeover has been buried, but you still have something else you can use anyway you want.”

 Mira stared at me before taking the frame with shaking hands and looking through it to gaze around the room...Then she held her own hand before her face and looked at it through the lens I had provided... It only lasted a few more minutes before my magic ran out. I wasn’t good enough to provide a loop feedback to let the ethernano in the air continue to power the script after I closed it off. But it had done its job.

 Tears trickled down her face again as I hugged her, settling onto the floor beside her. I didn’t say anything else. But I saw several pleased smiles on the faces of the onlookers as Mira’s arm went around me and she hugged me back.

-vVv-

 Exploring this new avenue of power, viewing my power as a complete story instead of individual commands, did help me master some of it more quickly. The only downside the that was-

 “Levy! I wasn’t done writing that!”

 I cried, running after the Solid Script Mage as she raced ahead, eyes eagerly devouring the portion of the Hobbit that I could remember which I was jotting down. I had barely finished the first chapter and was only just writing the song! Or paraphrasing it anyway. Back to the original problem: Levy had caught me midway between finishing the dwarves description of a certain fire-

 “Gah!” She dropped the manuscript as it burst into flames. “What the heck!?”

 “I was writing about fire!” I exclaimed, hastily trying to beat out the flames. “When you came and pulled it away so suddenly I infused it with magic without thinking!”

 “Ice Make-Dome!” Gray’s cold crystalline blue ice closed around the papers on the floor, smothering the flames before more damage was done. I let out a sigh of relief.

 “Thanks Gray.”

 “No prob, Fae.”

 “What gives Ice-for-brains! I was gonna eat that!”

 “You’d have eaten Fae’s story too and I want to read it without needing to cut your stomach open!”

 I sighed as the pair began to fight, quickly sucking in another half a dozen or so guild members. Including Elfman who had gradually forced himself to open up and change his previously meek attitude into something more forceful and overbearing. Mirajane didn’t have her Takeover anymore, and Lisanna was gone, so that left him as the only Takeover wizard within fifty miles of Magnolia. He was...branching out through necessity. Unfortunately, he seemed to think brawling in the guild hall was an excellent training method.

  It probably is...

 I needed Natsu to actually get my papers out without them getting soaked or blowing them up, so...

 “Natsu, the story has a dragon in it.”

 He whipped around, ignoring the fight behind him, eyes shining as he bared his teeth in a big, bright grin.

 “Really!? I knew you were an awesome kid, Fae-chan!”

 “That’s nice, could you please-?”

 “Yeah sure, hang on.”

 I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head as I thought of Smaug. He was certainly as awe-inspiring as I thought Igneel would be. But from what Natsu said, he wasn’t nearly as nice. And that was an understatement of the century.

  I’ll probably have to reconsider Smaug’s motives beyond him being an evil dragon. I mused as Natsu happily melted Gray’s ice before flinging himself back into the thick of the fray. I picked up the slightly damp pages and organized them, noting what had been damaged. Maybe have Sauron curse him with greed? Nah, that isn’t in the story. I can’t change it. It isn’t right without Smaug being a stereotypical evil Red Dragon. Then again, he is the bad guy and not much detail is gone into for the antagonists...There’s plenty of backstory that I could go into. I don’t think copyright extends here from...wherever it’s from.

-vVv-

 I wanted to focus on writing out the whole saga of the Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth, but a certain big brother figure was very much focused on the dragon. He was insistent that if I was gonna write a dragon as the villain, I was at least supposed to know what they were like.

 Somewhere in the interim, as I wrote down what he was saying, visualizing the immense firedrake, I realized that Natsu was deviating from general information...

 “-said maple fire always tasted too sweet for him and pine made it all sticky! He hated it whenever I snuck some of those logs on!”

 He was telling me about Igneel, not dragons.

 He’s been faced with so much doubt over the course of time that he treasures the memories in his heart. Where no one can ever steal them or laugh at them. Natsu had told about his foster father before. But only in passing. Flashes of pain and anger whenever someone dismisses the existence of dragons. To have someone willing to listen and believe, if only for his sake, would have been an answer to an unspoken prayer for the teenaged Dragon Slayer.

 Natsu just kept right on talking about Igneel, the way he moved and flew, bringing Natsu to love the sky and freedom. Teaching him how to fish, hunt and live in the natural world and among humans, as best as he knew. Kindling a fire in his belly and heart.

 I started a clean page, writing down the impressions and feelings I got from Natsu’s words about how much he loved and respected his father. Natsu was a part of my story, yes. But was this enough of a part of him that I could see it with Retrocognition...? Was the second degree relationship enough for me to make something of it?

 I closed my eyes as my hand moved automatically, thinking, visualizing and imagining...

 A massive scaled form was flying against an orange sky, his heavy hide a dark maroon and cream on his under parts, clawed hands looking gnarled and old, but capable and kind. He was gazing at some point on the distant horizon, eyes fixed and focused, glinting the same way Natsu’s did when he sensed a good fight coming.

Too...too small. 

 The King of Fire Dragons roared, making the walls shake at the immense sound. Suddenly the image was plastered over the ceiling, making it seem as though the roof had vanished and leaving only sky in it’s place. Igneel was hovering now, still gazing at something in the distance, but with Natsu’s grin on his scarred, scaled face. His wings pumped, causing a powerful gust of wind to blow over us, sending loose papers, empty mugs and dishes crashing to the floor.

 The guild exploded with talk, laughter and cheers.

 “Nice one, Fae-chan!”

 “Fae! What did I say about-!”

 “What the hell!!!”

 “A dragon!?”

 “That’s so cool!”

 “Fae!!”

 “Dad...?”

 Instantly, the whole hall fell silent. Natsu looked like a little kid, staring at the image of his father. The first time he had seen anything like him in five years. Natsu had never looked so vulnerable before and I instantly felt like a tactless little girl for dredging up something as painful as Natsu’s abandonment in front of everybody!

  He loves him. Natsu is his son. No parent ever forgets their child.

 The mighty beast looked down then, looked at all of us. But his eyes settled on the trembling Fire Dragon Slayer. And it wasn’t an image that looked down. A shallow, empty copy that came from my magic. It was Igneel who looked at Natsu. Right at him. I could feel the pressure of his gaze, the unspoken measure of how proud Igneel was of him. How happy he was with the family Natsu had found.

  “Natsu...”

  The voice moved through the air like a low roll of thunder.

 With that one word, the image vanished and only the wooden ceiling of the guild hall was left in it’s place. I slumped forward, exhausted. I would have been pleased with myself normally.

 But, normally, Natsu didn’t look like he was barely an inch away from crying. I tried to get up from my seat, move over to him, hug him, apologize, do something to try and make up for my trampling all over an old wound with no regard for what it might do to his feelings.

 “Natsu-”

 The Fire Dragon Slayer wouldn’t look at me. He just shook his head and walked out without a word, tension in every line of his shoulders. Happy flitted behind him.

 “Natsu? Natsu, what’s wrong?”

 “Oi!” Gray sounded indignant as he helped me stand. “She burned out all of her magic power for that-!”

 “Quiet, Gray.” Erza’s hand fell on his shoulder as she looked after Natsu once the door swung shut behind him. “Natsu knows Fae didn’t mean any harm by it. I don’t think she was even aware of what she was doing.”

-vVv-

 Natsu was sitting at his favorite spot by the river. The flying blue cat was hovering a distance away, wringing his paws in anxiety.

 “He’s not saying anything, Fae!” He complained, tail poofing out in agitation. “Lisanna always talked him out of his funk whenever he missed Igneel before! What’re we gonna do!?”

 I scratched the cat’s ears.

 “I’m gonna fix it.” 

 This place was where he usually went to catch fish for Happy since few and far between were the days when Natsu actually had the money to buy enough fish from the market to satisfy the ravenous cat. But there was a certain heaviness to his usually warm, ever moving aura, an obvious lull in his spirits. I approached, knowing he must have heard me coming, and smelt me since the wind was blowing from behind me. I sat down next to him and gazed out over the rippling water. The river was moving slowly, right now. Natsu’d probably get a good haul if he cast a line towards the farthest river bend...

  Focus. I reprimanded myself, bringing my mind back to the issue at hand.

 Natsu was hurting.

 I had caused that. Even if I hadn’t meant to do so. This was my mess and thus my job to fix it.

 So what did I say to a boy who was missing the only father he had ever known? Who feared that he would never find him? Who feared that he had been abandoned?

 “I’m sorry.” I told said, staring at my feet on the riverbank. “You were telling me all about him, and he sounded so amazing...I just wanted to see what your dad looked like. I’m sorry, Natsu...”

 There was no sound but the river gurgling in its banks for a while.

 “Why’re you apologizing?”

 Natsu asked in a low tone.

 “You’re upset, aren’t you?”

 I asked, leaning forward to try and get a look at his face. He lifted his head and looked at me, flashing a smile that showed a bit of sharpened canine.

 “Nah...It just caught me off guard. You really got something special if you can make him come to life like that with just a couple stories.” He ruffled my short, messy hair before pulling me in for a hug. “Don’t worry about it Fae. It was good to see him again. I’m not mad, or angry or anything.”

 The relief coupled with a younger body and the quiet bonding between us brought tears to my eyes. I don’t know what I would have done if Natsu had been angry with me...Natsu didn’t mention these as we just watched the river flow for a while.

 Then he proceeded to show me how to catch fish barehanded, which eventually turned into a splash fight after we amassed enough for a meal.

It was approaching dinner time when we returned to the guild hall triumphant in our hunt, Natsu bearing me on his shoulders with me holding a string of fish with a drooling Happy clinging to my head.

 “Alright, Sara! We got some fish for ya! So let’s get some food going cause we’re hungry!”

 This brought on a murmur of comments from various onlookers.

 “That’s Natsu for ya.”

 “Kinda surprised he didn’t just torch em.”

 “Food fixes everything brother!”

 “Amen to that!”

 But in general, the sentiment I felt was one of relief at hearing the loud, brash youth sound more like himself.

-vVv-

 Gray brought in a new prospective guild member when he came back from his job. I couldn’t stop staring at the guy. The first thing he did was go up and flirt with Mirajane!

 Well at least he’s got the semi-suicidal tendencies down pat. That’s gotta be the number one thing we look for. I was somewhat sarcastic as I thought this, but I was not without evidence. Gray and Natsu constantly picking fights with one another, anyone who harmed Erza’s strawberry cake, etc.

 It was still a new enough thing that Mira wasn’t acting like a punk-goth with a nasty attitude. To have someone flirt with her, and have her not respond with violence was throwing me for a loop! I wasn’t the only one. To those who had seen her in action, Mira would no doubt always remain the She-devil with the reputation to match. She was already developing this terrifyingly sweet smile that made the oldest and roughest of the guild snap to. Erza, on the other hand, tended to corral the younger generation through a combination of fear and absolute trust.

 Gray introduced his companion as Loke. A young man around his own age with gingery hair and brown hazel eyes, and who he very clearly got along with. But what was disturbing me, even as Mira placed the guild mark on him, was what I was hearing from my Retrocognition...

  Despair. Complete and utter. The resignation of a condemned man walking towards the gallows.

 It was something I had been getting more and more the longer I stayed in the guild hall. I confided to Makarov that it felt like a tremendous invasion of privacy to be able to discern people’s pasts like this and that it might earn me some hatred. It had already almost ruined my relationship with Natsu.

  “It’s part of your magic, Fae-chan. And since it emerged so early, it will likely play a very large part of how you develop as a wizard. I will not deny that there are some who would shun you for this ability, but among our fellow guildmates, that is something I can promise you need not fear.”

 I did my utmost to ignore Loke as Gray took him around the guildhall, introducing him to a few prospective partners for taking jobs, or just showing him around and explaining the bare basics of guild life. I noticed that there wasn’t a single woman that Loke didn’t flirt with. I can tell that this is gonna get old fast. And at the same time, I was dreading what would happen when Loke met Erza...

 A small hand tugged on my pant leg under the table and I looked down to see a pair of coal black eyes blinking up at me.

 “Fae-nee!” The toddler giggled, having abandoned the toys that had previously kept him entertained. “Up!” 

 I smiled down at him. 

 “Ok, Romeo.”

 The toddler was usually left at the guildhall whenever Macau was working. Ever since the man’s divorce, he had been coming around more and more often. And since I was usually... overlooked in the day to day hubbub, minding Romeo and keeping him from getting hurt usually fell to me and Mirajane.

 I reached down hauled him up to sit beside me. He wasn’t satisfied with this and climbed into my lap and slapped a pudgy hand onto my paper.

 “Story?” 

 I glanced around furtively. I had started telling Romeo a story, Beauty and the Beast actually, complete with illustrations and images. The concept wasn’t new. In fact, the edition here went into a lot more detail about the enchantress and gave the curse several different layers that each had to be broken within a certain time limit. But the fun cartoonish images that I visualized for the simple story I told had delighted Romeo when I first started it. If I was speaking, I didn’t need to use paper to get the images I wanted. This was using my magic in a way that...hadn’t technically been approved of so I tended to try and keep my audience small.

 “Alright.”

 I exhaled slowly, reaching into the warm blue glow in my mind that I identified as my magic. We were already placed in a corner of the guild hall so I directed the images to play themselves across a wall. “I believe we left off after Maurice was sent away from the castle by the Beast...”

-vVv-

 The pictures were achingly familiar even as I made the story play out, narrating some portions and inventing play by play dialogue for others. Romeo took it all in with wide eyes and rapt silence.

 I paused to take a breather after I finished playing through the sweet bonding time between Bell and the Beast. And to let my magic power recover somewhat from the songs and subtle background music I was making.

 Someone applauded behind me. I jumped and turned abruptly, almost causing Romeo to tumble out of my lap.

 “That’s awesome, Fae!” Gray complimented, he was already missing his shirt, though thankfully his pants were still on. “I don’t get why you’re so shy about your stories, they’re amazing.”

 “I know, right?” Levy gushed from to the side where she had also been listening and watching. “Our little Fae is a natural storyteller!”

 She said with a wink at me. I wanted to sink into the ground when I noticed just how many people had been observing me entertain Romeo.

 “It’s a good talent to develop.” Mirajane said, offering me a cup to juice to wet my throat. “Illusions and Transformation magic are pretty underrated branches but they can be really effective. Especially if you’re into entertainment.”

 “How long were you guys watching?” 

 I asked, trying not to fidget under the scrutiny.

 “Around the time that we saw how much of a bastard Gaston really is.”

Cana remarked, downing another bottle of wine.

 Her magic is extremely dense and powerful to the point where it could harm her physically.

 That’s right, Cana drank like a dehydrated horse for medical reasons. My Retrocognition had revealed this. By constantly having a foreign, but not inherently dangerous element in her system, she was forcing her magic to dedicate a large portion of itself towards keeping her healthy and hydrated. In addition to keeping all of her organs in peak working condition, Cana was also enhancing her general durability, strength and stamina at the same time. It was just the nature of her magic. She had a crap ton of it! Most other wizards could settle with regular routine magic use, and in Fairy Tail’s case, a good brawl. But not Cana. And not her father, Gildarts. And boy hadn’t that been a spit take moment when I read that off of her. And quite a bit of confusion since Gildarts, as far as I knew, was completely oblivious to the fact that he had a daughter...

 “Fae-nee!” Romeo tugged at me. “More!” 

 “Your Fae-nee needs a break, I’ve been keeping it up for almost an hour!” 

 Ok, so I may have made the Beast’s castle more akin to Hogwarts in some of the things that were animated and that Belle had to interact with as she explored her spacious prison.

 “Give it a little time.” Mira comforted the four year old. “Fae-chan just needs to get her strength back before she can keep telling you your story. How about a snack?” 

 The kid went off clutching Mira’s hand as they headed for the bar.

 “Anyway, Loke, this is Fae, I think I told you about her.” Gray gestured the wizard over to where I sat even as he grabbed me in side hug and ruffled my messy aquamarine hair.

 “Gray, have you been telling stories about me?”

 I asked, pouting up at me. I was rewarded by a flash of indignation. Apparently I was a cute kid. So I was going to have to milk this for as long as I had it cause puberty would play merry hell with me.

 “Only good things.” Loke said, grinning down at me, offering a hand. “Nice to meet you Faerun-chan.”

I took his hand and shook it, smiling back.

 “Call me Fae, Loke. Everyone does.” He leaned in slightly, peering at me through his tinted glasses. “Something wrong?”

 He settled back, his smile still there and curious now.

 “Just something I’ve noticed. Fae-chan, has anyone ever told you your eyes are the same color as etherion?”

 I blinked said ice blue orbs up at the newcomer.

 “Say what?”

  How would he know what etherion looks like? My answer came almost instantly, from the cool voice that had informed me of Lisanna’s death.

  Because he’s been around long enough to see just about everything. The zodiac was first and foremost an idea...and an idea can basically live forever.

 But what does the zodiac have to do with Loke? I asked the voice in frustration.

 “Exactly the same.” Loke affirmed, drawing my attention back outside of my mind. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and smiling down at me in a way that actually felt real instead of what I had gotten off of him at first. “They’re gorgeous. You guys are gonna be beating off boys with a stick when she grows up.” 

 This last was addressed at Gray, who Loke had apparently decided to pin as my big brother figure. Not inaccurately. The only flaw in the placement was that I had more than one. I shivered as the temperature plummeted around the ice Wizard. 

 “Like hell!” Gray snapped, pulling me closer to him, which only made me shiver even more. “I’ll freeze the bastards into a glacier before they can try for Fae!”

 “Then Natsu’ll send em sky high” Happy chimed in!

 “Followed by Freed trapping them in a rune barrier and slowly siphoning out the air.” Levy said cheerfully.

 “And that’s all before Erza has her say!”

 “That’s not funny!” I cried, squirming. All of these somewhat morbid protective measures were things that I knew very much that my friends could and would do if I was harmed. And that gave me a nice big warm fuzzy even as I shuddered in horror. “Isn’t that a little overboard?!”

 They all looked at me blankly and I sighed.

 “Right. Forgot who I was speaking to. Carry on.”

Overboard is Fairy Tail’s default setting.

 I squirmed and managed to grab Gray’s hand.

 “Gray, no taking your pants off please. I want to keep my innocence as long as I can.”

-vVv-

 Loke looked at the little girl under Gray’s arm with a genuine smile.

 He always had a soft spot for kids. All Celestial Spirits did. So hearing about Fae from Gray had been a pleasant surprise since he hadn’t figured that children were inducted into guilds...

  “Fae’s not a member. Not officially. She’s one of us where it counts though.” What struck him about the girl was that glance into her eyes had revealed that she was not an ordinary child. There was an age behind her admittedly striking eyes that he felt kinship with. Someone who had seen more than their appearance suggested.

 The former Celestial Spirit grinned at her with a spark of genuine mirth that he hadn’t felt in a long time in the mortal world.

 “If yon Princess wants to keep her innocence, I shall be glad to lend my assistance!” he said dramatically, falling to one knee and clasping her hand and grinning at the look of surprise on her face. “Oh Fairy Princess, bless your humble knight’s quest to preserve your purity!” 

 A little over the top? 

 Yes.

 Worth it?

 Absolutely. The girl burst out laughing, bright eyes and face lighting up with joy and mirth. And that made his guilt heavy heart feel a little lighter.

  Gray was right...

“There’s something about Fae...She doesn’t know where she came from, but she knows where she wants to go. You can’t help but feel inspired by the little squirt.”

-vVv-

 Loke was soon integrated into the guild. Gray took great pleasure in setting off the Welcoming Brawl. A brutal free-for-all that ended with a huge party. Fairy Tail’s way of celebrating and welcoming the newcomer as well as gauging their skills to know what to ask them for on team jobs. What could you say? It was a foolproof way of breaking the ice. The list of awkward topics as a short one after trying to punch someone’s teeth out.

 I considered this even as everyone patched each other up and slapped Loke on the back, who had acquitted himself well in the showdown.

 How did I know about the Welcoming Brawl? I could distinctly remember that no one had ever spelled it out to me that’s what this was for. To the onlooker, it just looked like a messy barroom brawl. Although an unusual number of people were laughing. And if you looked closely, there were two buds who might be slugging it out one second, and are toasting one another the next even as their superficial wounds fade, bolstered by their magic.

 But the Welcoming Brawl thing was starting to interest me...

 No one had told me about, it but everyone knew exactly what it was...how far could I go with this? 

-vVv-

 “So Fae-chan, what’s on your schedule today!” Makarov asked, taking a break from the daily property damage reports.

 “I wanna learn all the guild rules.”

I said cheerfully, which made the guild master look at me somewhat suspiciously. 

“Are you sure, Fae? That’s some pretty boring stuff, if I do say so myself-”

 I laughed at his nervousness. Officially speaking, the one who was supposed to teach me guild rules was Makarov himself. And he absolutely despised the mandated rules that Fioran guilds had to follow. Hence he usually let his guild be their most effective, ie run wild, and picked up after them.

 “Not the stupid rules that the Rune Knights enforce! The fun ones!” I pointed at the bar where Erza was being given a wide berth as she enjoyed a slice of strawberry cake. “Like ‘Don’t damage Erza’s cake’.”

 The tiny old man looked at me somewhat surprised.

 “What makes you say that is a rule? The idiots wreck it all the time.”

 “And she beats the tar out of them, they’re fine within a few hours and the whole thing repeats.” I agreed with his sentiment cheerfully. “Those kinds of rules, master. That and I want to know how they came to be rules.”

 “Of course it involves storytelling, why should that be surprising?” The old man shook his head before smiling. “Have at it Fae-chan. I’m sure you’ll get lots of interesting tales.”

-vVv-

 Do not under any circumstances try and make Freed get a haircut.

 “He did that? Really?!”

 One of the older guild members, a mostly retired fellow named Salchow, nodded sagely at me.

 “That he did, Fae-chan! And to this day, no one dares chew gum in his presence.” 

-vVv-

Don’t call government officials out on being lying, untrustworthy bastards. At least not in public!

“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that Natsu did that...”

-vVv-

God cannot alter the laws at a whim, and you are not his prophet.

“Gray has his own section in Magnolia’s public indecency regulations?”

-vVv-

 I learned a whoooooole lot about my guildmates in very short order. Everyone I talked to had some kind of story. And each story brought an additional little flash of insight to their past. For example, I got almost all of Laxus’ childhood out of Makarov! Hard to believe that the utterly massive wizard had once been even shorter than the guild master once. And he was a really cute kid!

  Wonder when he and Freed are gonna come back...? I’d once again finished the work Freed had left for me, and then some. If he wasn’t gonna be around to wrangle my imagination then it would be his fault whenever I ended up doing... stuff.

 “Fae, what are you plotting?”

 I quickly schooled my features as I looked up at Mira’s question. The girl had taken almost a complete turn in personality over the course of the last year since Lisanna’s...departure. She had abandoned the harsh, brash persona and was now much softer and nicer all around. She was picking up work as the guild’s secretary and barmaid.

 “A surprise for Freed.”

 “A surprise that involves fireworks?”

 She asked sweetly, pointing over my head. The sparks of colored fire were still lingering in the air for my consideration. Whoops. Where did they come from?

 “No...but they could easily be added-”

 “Fae...no.”

Chapter Text

 Romeo continually came back to me for a story almost every time he saw me. I was just lucky that my font of creativity was seemingly endless and that some stories were longer than others.

 “Say, Princess.” Loke asked one day, a rare instance when he didn’t have women fluttering around him. “You always tell Romeo kid stories, but how many do you have in your head altogether?”

 Loke was another blessed soul that didn’t treat me like a child. Not intellectually anyway. I thought for a bit to try and answer his question.  I had worked my way through Beauty and the Beast, the Jungle Book, Cinderella, the Swan Princess, an adapted version of all three Toy Story’s, and was currently starting the Wizard of Oz. Each story had become more and more popular.

 But how many stories did I know altogether...?

 I have no idea. 

 “I’m going to take your silence as ‘a lot’.”

 “That’s probably for the best.”

 I agreed, forcibly yanking my magic away from investigating Loke’s past. I had caught a glimpse of it only twice in any great detail, and that was enough for me to know that it was Loke’s story to tell and not mine to pry into.

  Loke holding a green haired woman by the wrist with an icy look in his eyes. His hair was a little longer and shaggier and he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses and was dressed in an elegant suit coat. A pink haired girl with tiny curled horns on her head vanishing in a soft flare of light. The indomitable feeling of rage and anger on the sheep-girl’s behalf. The green woman was angry. She slapped Loke and gave him a harsh order.
Loke didn’t listen, instead he just turned and walked away, bitterness surrounding him even as determination set himself against what the rules dictated for the sake of doing what was right.

  The green haired woman was named Karen. The sheep-girl was named Aries. Karen didn’t call the now Fairy Tail wizard Loke, but Leo.

 Two of the names set me off on a quest inside the unending well of information inside my head.

 It came up with identifying Leo and Aries as members of the Zodiac, the Golden Celestial Spirits that some wizards could summon. Their stories extended for hundreds if not thousands of years.   The next thing I saw was Loke, quaking and crying in frustration and guilt as death and blame resonated around him. Karen was nowhere to be seen or felt.

 Her story was over.

 I could formulate that Loke/Leo had once worked very closely with Karen and Aries. He had intervened when Aries was in trouble at Karen’s hand. And that somehow left him being blamed for Karen’s death. I didn’t see whether he was at fault or not.

 After a look like that, I tried really hard not to look further into Loke’s past. He had only been here for about a month, so I guessed, with some sadness, that once he worked out what my magic let me see, he would start to avoid me in hopes that I wouldn’t trip over the skeletons in his closet.

 I started writing again, the lines of my personal script coming quickly as easily now. I started humming softly to block out the errant thoughts that might formulate some unwanted illusions around me. It wasn’t dangerous, just kinda distracting for me and everyone else involved.

 I was toying more and more with how my Story Magic could play out. It meant I could flip back through someone’s past almost indefinitely given some focus. Natsu and Happy had volunteered as my guinea pigs for that. I only managed to go back as far as him meeting Igneel before I hit a wall. It wasn’t nothing, it wasn’t like when I reached the beginning of Happy’s life when he hatched. It was just a long dark corridor that I couldn’t get through or see anything in before I ran out of magic power.

 But stories had certain cues or red flags that indicated of what could happen in the future. Foreshadowing if you would. But when I had voiced this idea, to my surprise, it was Cana that answered me.

  “Leave telling the future alone for a while, Fae.” She said, tossing back another mug of booze. “For me with my cards, it’s relatively easy but I don’t get any real specifics out of it. What you’re doing could be a lot more precise, and could cost a lot more magic power. More than you have right now.”

 Makarov agreed with a huff.

 “Cana is quite right, Fae. Seeing the future is a dicy business, even for those with the proper inclination to do so. If you want to experiment, I have no objections, but you must be extremely careful. And, I want you to develop your magical core some more before you attempt it.” 

 He had handed me a fractured lacrima about the size of a marble. By channeling direct magic power into it, I could start to mend the cracks until I had a whole, usable piece again. By draining my magic into it, I would expend my power and my young body would see that my current strength wasn’t sufficient and would compensate by opening itself up a little more to draw in larger amounts of ethernano. In this fashion, I would be expanding my overall reserves and speeding my my recovery time from magical use. But the interior of the lacrima was clouded with damage and I knew that I would be a long time in getting the whole thing crystal clear once again. 

 With that stipulation, I was trying something a little more personal.

 I could read other people’s past without even trying in some cases. Did that mean I could read mine as well? Could I find where I came from? For all that my head was filled with information, stories and conditioned knowledge, with emotion connected to all of it, trying to remember anything past waking up in Porlesucya’s hut was blanketed in white fog and unreachable. At least under my own power.

 I was currently writing out theories on how to go about this. Delving into one’s own mind was a common enough practice for wizards. Only when you tried to force someone else’s mind did the Rune Knight’s start to sit up and pay attention.   I could...feel when a theory was sound and when it wasn’t. It just resonated as right to me or wrong. A complete, well written story or if there was something false in it.

 So wrapped up in my humming, I barely noticed when something began to weave it’s way into the song in my head. Almost in a trance, I turned over a new sheet and began to write...

 “Laxus is coming back?”

 Natsu’s heated roar made my hair ruffle as he peered over my shoulder, effectively shattering my meditative state. I looked down at what I had written.

"Newcomers are being brought to the guild today by Laxus and Freed ."

 The voice that I sometimes heard echoed the statement i had written. I had been so far in the zone that I had just written down what I had heard without realizing it.

 “What are you talking about flamebrain?” Gray called from where he was eating lunch. “We don’t know when they’re coming back.”

 “Fae said so! She wrote it down right here!”

 The Fire Dragon Slayer yelled, lifting and brandishing the paper for the whole hall to see. I felt myself blushing, and stretching up.

 “Natsu, give it back! I don’t know what I was thinking, it’s probably nothing!”

~

 Less than an hour later, Laxus came in with Freed beside him, and they were followed by two strangers. One boy, one girl. The boy had a thick wrapping of bandages around his eyes and the girl had dark sunglasses that concealed her eyes completely.

 “Freed-sensei!”

 I cheered, pouncing and hugging the green haired male happily. He blushed in embarrassment as the two newcomers looked at him askance while Laxus just smirked.

 “Ah, hello Fae.”

 “I didn’t know you liked being called ‘sensei’ Freed.”

Laxus’s remark made Freed blush all the more even as he patted my shoulder. I tugged at his coat to draw his eyes back down to me.

 “Freed, I finished everything you left me! Is there something new I can do, please?”

 “Wait until Laxus and I have spoken to the master.” He placated me, “Gather up everything that you’ve been doing and show me afterwards, alright?”

 “OK!”

 “So who are you supposed to be?”

The girl inquired, her tone icy and snobbish. Freed’s hand rested on my shoulder as he turned towards her with an equally cold tone and stare.

 “She’s my student.”

I heard the distinct warning of: Back off, don’t even think about it. In his words. Another thing that was getting stronger with the people I knew well. Hearing subtext and what they meant instead of just what they said. Thing was, I usually only heard it when their meaning was already so obvious that the whole point was moot.

 “Brat, these are Evergreen and Bickslow.” Laxus said with a careless gesture to the pair behind him. They’re mine now. “They’re gonna be joining the guild.”

I beamed a little cheekily.

 “So does that mean you’re finally gonna have a team to do damage control for you, Laxus?”

He glared down at me fearsomely, but I didn’t feel even a whisper of genuine threat from him.

 “Don’t push your luck, brat.”

I just giggled before letting go of Freed to bow to Evergreen and Bickslow.

 “It’s nice to meet you guys! Laxus is strong enough that he doesn’t really need help finishing jobs, just someone to keep him from going overboard so he doesn’t have to give back all of the reward for the jobs!”

This comment made several of the onlookers laugh. It was a common enough event for all S-class wizards to be too strong for their own good. Thus far, only Gildarts was beating Laxus in terms of extra property damage. Laxus picked me up by the shirt and deposited me back at my table as he walked forward.

 “That’s enough outta you!”

 I just cracked up as he lead his team forward along with the rest of the guild who was listening. I could see Erza was sitting on Natsu to keep him from picking a fight with Laxus and the newcomers before they were officially inducted. 

 The Thunder Legion . I blinked hearing how definitive the voice was about naming their little group, but then I smiled because it fit....

  They’re the Thunder Legion. Laxus had brought Freed to the guild too when his Dark Ecriture was kicking up a fuss. Applying runes to himself was something his Eye Magic let him do, though the details of why it was possible escaped me. Then again, to rest of the world, turning oneself in a dark demonic monster would probably be considered far than just a mere ‘fuss’.

 In a guild where Mirajane had been a long standing member, it was a standard fact of life that everyone had a little monster inside of them. Or a big one, depending on how hungry they were.

~

 I sometimes wondered just what growing up in Fairy Tail was doing to my psyche even as I dodged a relatively small bolt of lightning. It only took out a three foot section of the wall.

 The Welcoming Brawl was in full swing and the newcomers were doing very well for themselves. Most of the younger powerhouses weren’t skilled enough to fight with their eyes closed to avoid having their limbs puppeted by Bixlow, or being petrified by Evergreen.

 They are getting way too into this... I decided as I sat under a reinforced table with my paperwork. I had gathered it all up, but then I’d taken another look at Natsu and decided that having a study session with Freed would have to wait until after the brawl.

 From what I could observe, both their powers revolved strongly around being able to see their opponents. Evergreen needed eye contact to turn someone to stone. Bickslow needed much the same to establish his physic control. And I read that if they were once incapable of seeing their targets, their spells would be undone until they established eye contact again. Both were trying to keep a wide angle view of the room. Erza had been partially petrified early on, only closing her eyes and fighting blind had saved her, but when Evergreen turned her back, she began to revert and reclaim control of her body. Same for those people Bickslow couldn’t keep his eyes on. There was a time limit on how long they could maintain their spells if they didn't have line of sight on them.

 For some reason, I felt that they needed to be curbed before they made more enemies than friends in this fight. 

 I couldn’t blind the others without giving the newbies an even bigger advantage. But I might be able to do something about Evergreen and Bickslow...It would have to be very focused...individual even.

 I took two long, narrow strips of paper and began to write in tiny lettering.

 Obey instruction. Fly like birds. Render target incapable of seeing.

 The runes were sound and the intent was correct. I carefully tied the matrix together to keep the magic energy cycling through the linked runes for maximum efficiency, aka so they would last for longer than 30 seconds.

 The papers shifted and spun themselves into tiny, impossibly intricate and lifelike birds that crouched in my hands, waiting for instruction. I brought one up to my lips.

 “Your target is the newcomer: Evergreen.”

 I whispered. I then tossed it up and it took flight, zipping straight for the female who was in the process of turning three guild members to stone. I mentally guided it through the dangerous territory until it reached its target, unravelling into a long strip of paper that wound itself around her ankle. Unnoticed even by her in the hustle and chaos of combat.

 I got very swift confirmation that it worked when Evergreen let out a piercing scream and the twenty of so people she had managed to lock down and keep in her field of vision reverted to their normal state. Erza took her down easily while she was distracted.

 “Evergreen is down!”

She called, making those fighters that were blundering about with their eyes closed open their eyes briefly to orient themselves and then dive right back into it the fray.  Satisfied that my idea had worked, I primed the other bird.

 “Your target is the newcomer, Bickslow.” 

 I murmured, sending it flying.

 This bird went for his head, unravelling and blending in perfectly with the mess of bandages that Bickslow had pulled down to use his magic at fullest capacity. All of those immobilized or controlled wizards were released from his control.

 The brawl was soon over and I celebrated quietly under the table, very pleased with myself. It was the first brawl I had participated in. I tried very hard to keep a straight face even as people started to wonder what had caused the pair’s magical eyes to fail them.

 “Very nicely done, Fae.” Came a familiar voice from over my head. I peered up and saw a very proud looking Freed gazing down at me. “You’ve improved tremendously.”

 I just grinned in answer.

~

 I was reading as I walked to the guild hall dorms when I saw him.

 I felt myself brighten and jumped up to race after the wandering S-class mage even as he made for the shops that he frequented to restock his travelling supplies.

 “Mystogan! Mystogan!”

He had only been back twice since I first met him. But true to his word, he always did his best to answer any questions he hadn’t been able to give me good answers to on his last visit. He looked up up and I saw his eyes crinkle into a smile as I jumped from the top of the wall to land beside him.

 “Hello Fae. I was wondering where you were when I stopped at the guild hall.”

 “I was at the bookstore.”

I said, showing the book I had been reading.

 “And likely making your way through everything they have in stock.”

 “Only about half of it.” I objected. “They’ve got a bunch of biographies that I’m not interested in, as well a bunch of law books, and cheesy adventure stories.”

 “Oh? Your taste has evolved so completely in the scant three months since I last saw you?”

 “Nah, I just read all of em already!” 

I replied to his teasing with a bright grin. It was true. I had blitzed through the vast majority of the book store within a few weeks. The shop owner had restricted me to only standing and reading for about an hour at a time. The poor man was half convinced that I was wearing Windreader glasses with the rate that I blew through books.

 “You certainly seem to be entertaining yourself though.” He remarked, reaching out and examining the book I held, a large doorstopper volume that I had to hold with both hands. “‘Ancient Civilizations and the Origin of Wizardry?’”

He asked with raised brows.

 “It’s interesting!”

 “Fae-chan, most eight year old girls would be working their way through basic chapter books and not breezing through literature most adults wouldn’t read willingly.”

 “Most eight year old girl’s don’t live in Fairy Tail.”

I replied blandly. Mystogan smiled and ruffled my hair. I couldn’t helped the flash of images I got as my Retrocognition kicked in.

  Mystogan looked down at a little girl with dark blue hair who was beaming up at him with joy. No judgement, just curiosity and trust.

 “Ne Jellal-nii san? How far are we going to go today?”

 “Not much farther, Wendy.”

 I was getting better about not reading people’s past unwittingly. But if they touched me, it was like their life stories were jumping out at me. 

 “That’s true.” Mystogan admitted. “So, you’re that invested in your book right now?”

 “Yep!”

I saw a wry sparkle in his eye as he looked down at me and pulled something thin and rectangular out of his bag-

 “That’s too bad. I thought you’d be interested in-”

 “EEH!?” There was no label on it, but I recognized the way it. “A rune syllabary!?”

 “Correct. I had thought that given how much you always complain about not having a good way to store your runes and needing to recall them all from memory that this might interest you but-”

 I threw myself into a tackle hug that knocked the big bad S-class wizard to the ground.

 “Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!!!”

 I cheered squeezing him as hard as I could. A rune syllabary was an indispensable magical tool for anyone developing a script. It was a rectangular piece of specialized lacrima about as big as an adults two hands. Once you input the individual parts of your script, you could write in Common, and have it automatically translated. And if there were multiple options for a suitable translation, it would pull up a list of options that could be applicable.

 He ruffled my hair again, either smothering a laugh or struggling to draw breath.

 “You’re welcome, Fae-chan.”

~

 I returned to the guild hall to find a brawl in full swing. But to my bewildered surprise, it was Freed who was right in the thick of things and looking like a rage monster. He hadn’t used his forbidden spell, a self transformation, but he was close.... I was still clutching the rune syllabary to my chest and trotted over to where my stuff was situated. Laxus was sitting nearby, eating and watching the carnage unfold.

 “So...what set Freed off?”

I asked, spotting that Bickslow appeared to be Freed’s main target. Laxus took a long drink, watching the fight with a resigned air.

 “Bickslow’s just learning what buttons he can push, and which ones he shouldn’t.”

 “That doesn’t answer my question...”

~

 “So who’s the little brat I keep seeing around? From the way she pounced on you, I’d have thought she was your baby sister or something.”

 Freed’s brow twitched  at the derogatory term directed at Fae, but he contained himself well. His words only came out through compressed lips instead of gritted teeth. 

 “I believe I already told you. Her name is Faerun. She is a ward of the guild and a budding Rune Mage.”

 Laxus demonstrated a remarkable amount of foresight and rose to move to the corner were Fae usually sat. It had been designated as hers since she had taken to sticking quill pens, ink jars and sheafs of paper underneath all the tables with some basic runes so she would never be very far from something to write on when the inspiration struck. She was very attached to her corner. And it didn’t look like it would be very safe to stay near Freed and Bickslow right now.

 “Really? But you really seemed to like it when she called you, ‘Freed-sensei’. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind it! She might be annoying, but she’s cute!”

 “He’s just mad that she managed to take him down during his first brawl.”

 Cana muttered into her drink. A few nights after Fae had been in bed and the Rune Wizard had had one drink too many, Freed had bragged long and proud about how much progress his student was making. Some people had tried to moderate his boasting, only to be informed with slurred pride that Fae had been the one to neutralize Bickslow and Evergreen during their Welcoming Brawl. The Soul Gaze Wizard hadn’t taken his defeat from an eight year old girl very well. the news that he had been defeated by an eight year old girl well.

 Since it had been made explicitly clear that picking on Fae was a good way to put him on the entire guild’s @#$%list, he had settled for needling Freed.

 The Rune Wizard ground his teeth audibly at that, clearly on the verge of breaking... Bickslow’s grin widened.

 “Just think about how that’ll be once she’s a big girl! Damn, think about all the people that’ll be after your little genius protege, wanting her to do their jobs, she’ll get famous in no time. I betcha she’ll have fanboys too, guys who’ll do anything for the chance to touch her-”

 “Silence!! I won't hear more about this!”

 Freed roared, his sword coming out, his eye turning black and purple as he channeled power through it and runes flickering to life even as he went after Bickslow. He didn’t say more after that single angry roar, but the thought hung heavy and ponderous in the air for some.

 Fae was a cute little girl now. Years away from any sort of development that could lead to unwanted attention.

 But that would one day change...

 Fae would have boys notice her and she would start to notice boys…...

 It was an oddly subdued group that observed the brawl.

~

 “If you can’t figure it out, I’m not saying.”

 Laxus told me gruffly, turning back towards the fight with appraising eyes. I looked at him for a while longer, getting the feeling that whatever he wasn’t saying would one day come and bite me somewhere very uncomfortable. I shrugged and looked at the fight, cupping my hands to carry over the noise.

 “Kick his ass, sensei!”

With my encouragement given, I settled down to start inputting everything that I needed into my shiny new toy for it to really help me out.

~

 It had been two years since I came to Fairy Tail. Since no one had a clue when my actual birthday was, just my approximate age, it was celebrated on the anniversary of my naming myself.

 There would be a huge party later, I could read that in the intent in the air almost too easily. Gray and Natsu had annoyed Mira somehow and her punishment was that they had to go and entertain me outside of the guild hall while everyone else got the party ready. And they had to get along.

 Erza eventually followed them since they didn’t make it ten steps out of the hall before they were fighting.

 “You have to be more forceful, Fae.”

She told me sternly as she prised them apart.

 “Erza, I’m not that strong.” I told her blandly. “I can’t exactly write myself more strength without potentially shredding my muscles when they channel force that they aren’t meant to.”

I instantly regretted what I had said as a shiver raced down my back. Brown eyes had never looked more lethal as Erza’s gaze glittered down at me.

 “I wasn’t aware that the exercises I had given you had lost their potency, Fae-chan...”

Erza didn’t have a slasher smile, but she was certainly mimicking one so perfectly that I couldn’t tell the difference. Natsu and Gray, sensing the danger, had taken refuge somewhere behind me. Cowards!!

 I swallowed, trying to think of some way out of this...

 Erza didn't understand that not everyone was as naturally, unbelievably strong as she was. And she was constantly trying to get people up to her level of strength. It was, I suspected, the primary reason that she put up with Natsu initially in spite of them being so different. He was the only one close to her age that was about as strong as she was. But even then, there was no question as to who would triumph.

 “This is gross misjudgement on my part.” The recently crowned Queen of the Fairies mused, eyes growing distant and calculating. “With your magic power growing by the day it should stand to reason that your old workout routine would give you less and less benefit. We’ll have to fix that. But today is your birthday...”

 “So I get a break?”

I asked hopefully.

 “Far from it!” Erza roared. I ducked behind Gray and Natsu, or tried to. Erza snatched me and brought me close into a tight hug that made my skull bounce painfully against her breastplate. “We shall go to Akane Resort’s amusement park where we will spend many hours racing, running and generally exerting ourselves! The guild has already pitched in for some tickets to the amusement park, but this way we will both spend the day enjoyably and exercise your body!”

I had never seen Erza like this... I caught a flash of her conversation with the master a few days ago...

“Get Fae out of the city for awhile. Something that she’ll enjoy, but without revealing our plans for when she comes back.”  

Erza’s heartfelt desire to celebrate my coming to the guild, coupled with the anxious nerves that most people didn’t know she had, had resulted in her social awkwardness skyrocketing. It had an inverse relationship with her ability to lie convincingly, meaning she was acting more like she did whenever she tried to act. Stage fright, rambling, etc.

 “Erza, that was supposed to be a surprise!”

Gray complained. I was caught up in the feeling of giddy childish excitement though.

 “We’re going to Akane!?”

I demanded, eyes shining, hands reflexively clasped in front of me as I looked up at all of them.

 “Aye, sir!” Happy enthused, flying out of the hall and landing in my arms. “Surprise! Happy Birthday Fae!”

 I cuddled Happy, feeling like dancing on the spot with excitement.

 “That was the plan before miss Blabbermouth spoilt the surprise.”

Gray grumbled, scowling at Erza while Natsu tried to recover from his perpetual motion sickness. Apparently even the thought of roller coasters could make him sick.

 “Don’t be silly, Gray, we’re still going!” Erza said firmly, managing to calm down somewhat, though she was blushing a little with mortification. “I didn’t mean to spoil the surprise. I am very sorry, Fae-”

 “Stop apologizing and let’s go already! We’re burning daylight!”

~

 Gray was the one who primarily went with me on the rides, at least the ones I was allowed on with my relatively small stature. Natsu refused to even go near them, and Erza had to stick close to him to keep him from out of trouble. For example; eating the coals out of the restaurant grills and firepits. Happy tended to fly to the top arc of each coaster and gave me a high five as we zoomed by.

 “Alright, Birthday girl, let’s give the rides a rest for now.” Gray said as he carried me on his back away from the coaster section of the park. “You know Natsu’s gonna sulk if he doesn’t get to spend some time with you today. It means a lot to him that you decided to stick with us.” I giggled arms around his shoulders as he walked.

 “Sure, Gray. But who’s gonna keep you from losing your clothes?”

 I asked as I nudged his hand away from the hem of his shirt.

 “It’s a beach location in the middle of summer. Nobody’s gonna notice it here if anywhere!”

 And just like that, I knew that Gray would have jinxed himself.  He and Natsu were almost completely grown. And I had noticed a surprising amount of female attention directed at my big brother figures. They were just too...Fairy Tail centric to notice most of it. I didn’t want to admit it, but my surrogate family was pretty clique-y. They could and would interact with other people, but for the most part, we all lived in this little semi isolated world of madness, magic and destruction. But when I had made this observation to Mystogan, he hadn’t seemed concerned and simply explained it was a prevalent habit among most wizarding guilds. People who were born with magic just wanted to stay in a place that they knew that belonged. 

 While people might notice, admire and even treat some wizards like celebrities, there was still some division and mistrust. There was a reason that the Wizarding Guild Ward program existed. Ordinary people normally didn’t have the same capacity for helping a person capable of using magic grow in a healthy or safe environment. But guild wards grew up patroned and supported by these strange madmen, and thus, had a measure of trust in them even if they never became wizards themselves like I intended.

 These heavy thoughts were brought to a hiatus when Gray managed to slip out of his shirt, with me still on his back and not having been moved. What the hell? Almost a full minute later, I spotted a pair of girls around Gray’s age rubberneck after us. Likely gawking at Gray’s guild mark. I’m just gonna go with they were looking at his guild mark...

 I remained blissfully certain of that until a few minutes later when they worked up the nerve to approach us while we were getting ice cream and trying to pinpoint where Erza and Natsu had gone.

 I didn’t really listen as they started to talk about Gray. I had just gotten a reading on them.

  “Incoming hottie, ten o’clock...”

 “Oh my...it really is my birthday.”

 I shook of the musings of horny teenagers with a shudder. Gray would probably be confused about their attention for a few minutes, then get a clue, and get awkward pretty much right away. For all that he was good friends with Loke, by now, Gray was the calm one of the duo. And there was something fundamentally wrong with that! Gray didn’t do calm!

 I was choosing and buying the ice cream while he hung back.

 I glanced back at the Ice Wizard to see that one of the girls was happily clinging to his arm and beaming up at him. There were even sunlight and sparkles around them. I see some weird stuff. It was beyond me how the others couldn’t see these violations of the laws of nature. It was kinda like the sparkly aura that surrounded Erza whenever she ate her strawberry cake undisturbed. Gray was actually rather stiff and looked somewhat off put by the eager fan’s touch. 

 I scanned the sky for Happy as I munched my ice cream and sat on a bench waiting for Gray. Then I saw something trailing fire from the top of a roller coaster...

 I squinted, sighed and got to my feet. Erza will get Natsu down. But best be ready in case we have to leave quickly.

 “Gray?”

The Ice wizard softened noticeably when I approached. I was fixed with the surprised and displeased glares from the two girls who caught onto the very different way he addressed me. He was...borderline polite to outsiders. But I think that to these girls, his attitude had been more of a perk than a real deterrent. But finding out that he could be nice, approachable and even friendly? I shrank a little, widening my eyes trying my utmost to look like a disappointed, bedraggled kitten. Gray turned and walked a few steps towards me, resting a hand on my aqua colored hair.

 “What’s up, Fae?”

I pointed up even as the girls’ glared at me for getting voluntary contact. I’m freakin’ nine! Geeze! I bit my tongue and ignored them. Looking hostile would only make this whole situation worse. 

 “At the moment, Natsu. I think we better find Erza and Happy before they break something trying to get him down.”

Gray groaned, followed my finger to where the Fire Dragon Slayer was plastered against the front car.

 “How the hell did he get up there?”

 “We’ll probably hear all about it later.” 

~

 Much to everyone’s surprise, we managed to get away from Akane in a timely manner without anyone trying to press charges. A remarkably positive outcome all things considered.

 I would swear the guild roof lifted a few inches off the walls from the roar of greeting, warmth and home that slammed into me as I entered. 

 “HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAE!”

 I didn’t stop smiling even once for the entire night.

Chapter Text

Time seemed to fly by.

 I got pretty good with my Rune Magic in time. Enough that the master cleared me to work with team Shadowgear on some of their jobs, provided that there was no combat involved.

 It was pretty interesting to see the variety of things that the noncombatants got involved in.

 It was everything. Repairing broken or damaged public property, message running, research, item recovery, tutoring, lawn care, forest restoration, or my personal favorite: Curse breaking.

 Curses, like regular magic could come in various forms. The only real difference was they typically had a negative effect. Just like everyday magical items used runes to imbue objects with magical effects, an item could be cursed the same way.

 To break down a text, you had to identify it, what it was intended to do, what it was actually doing and work with the discrepancies to render the runic layout null and void. That or you could fulfill the built in trigger that would lift the curse. Only the really strong, extremely powerful curses didn’t have something worked into them that could break them. You either had to experiment and try and guess what would lift it, or cut the curse off from its original power source. 

I had gotten to the point with my Retrocognition that I could identify the exact wording of most any written magical work with some examination and focus to read the story of how it had been created.

 That or I could identify the original caster, which also went a long way. I let Team Shadowgear take all the credit and just received a stipend of the pay and lots of good experience with different styles of writing.

 This ability to ‘read’ the stories of the world made me the go-to place for gossip. Or I would have been if what I could do was widely known. Makarov had decided that this branch of magic, while it would make me invaluable for determining guilt, finding people, verifying if someone had ever met or spoken to this person or that, validating alibis and similar things, it wasn’t something that should be common knowledge just yet.

“Once you take a guild mark and have your own reputation, it will be your prerogative on how to use your magic. Until then, Fae-chan, keep it to yourself. The guild members that know you either know better than to let word of your abilities slip, or have grown so accustomed to it that it doesn’t occur to them to talk about it.”

  I agreed with Makarov’s judgement on keeping it quiet. I don’t think he had even told the Rune Knights what my magic was, just that I had magic and was practicing and developing my abilities. There was an unspoken rule about when you could ask what kind of magic someone had and when you couldn’t. Among the guild, there weren’t very many secrets period and magic was no exception. 

I felt that even once I took Fairy Tail’s emblem and started working on my own, this ability wasn’t going to be something that I flaunted. Knowing things I shouldn’t could easily get me into trouble.

 I was now fluent in reading and writing my personal rune dialect. According to Freed, my style was very descriptive and deliberate. Much to my amusement, my Runes looked like the script from Tolkien’s elves. There were some differences. The sentence structure was different and the writing was more meant to flow and meander instead of being read in straight lines. One page I’d written for practice was somehow read top and bottom at the same time. Levy and Freed had both said that it would...make it a challenge for anyone trying to get a read on what I was doing.

 I was currently studying how to access Archive Magic. It was that, or trying to create extra-dimensional space.

 Storing weapons and physical objects was something I couldn’t do. At least not with the various methods my guildmates used. But Archive sounded like something I could tap into. And since I possessed Caster Magic, the ability to use magic without using a magical tool as a focus or crutch, as well as enough Holder Magic to make use of magic items, it seemed ideal. If I could have a private space to store runes, in databases that wouldn’t get burned, smashed or ripped by my crazy guild, then I could vastly increase my versatility and ability. My overall Magic power would be drained significantly, having to utilize two types of magic at once, but it would save time when I finally started to take jobs.

 According to the last visit to Porlescuya, I should be entering my adolescent power within a few more years.The surge that would get me from a child’s magic reserve up to an adults.

“With all the work you’ve put in, you’re already a fair bit closer than most adult wizards who have been practicing for only three years. But that is always the case. The younger a wizard comes into themselves, the more practiced and powerful they tend to be in the long run.”

That transition from childhood to an adult life would be the day when I could take a guildmark and start working!

 And frankly that day couldn’t come soon enough.

I was starting to get fidgety.

 I had so many ideas and no real chance to use any of them without landing myself in huge trouble!

I had discovered a verbal aspect to my Story magic that intrigued me greatly...

-vVv-

It was a noisy evening and I was feeling moody. I would bet that this was the onset of puberty hormones starting to wake up in my preadolescent body. For understandable reasons, concluding this didn’t make things any better.

 What’s more, I had writer’s block! Or rather, a fogged up memory.

 Since there was nothing here to define high fantasy and various sentient magical beings, I had taken it on myself to rewrite the Lord of the Rings. It was a classic that I could in no way do full justice, but I would do my best to try and reach the same level of depth, character and magic that Middle Earth brought to me. Even though magic was commonplace here, I still felt that Middle Earth’s stories taught something that Fiore had to learn.

 Usually the noise of the guild was comforting, the reassuring clamor reminding me always that my friends, my family, was just behind me.

 But tonight it was just giving me a headache.

 I glared at the evening’s culprit, Elfman who was enthusiastically armwrestling Natsu. Natsu wasn’t doing much to restrain his volume either...

 “ Langlock maxima . ” 

 I growled, wishing that they would just shut up for a moment. I shoved my hands over my ears as I tried to think through the details of what had transpired at Helm’s Deep. I had images, but the story itself had more going on than that...

 Annoyingly, things were just getting louder...

But there weren’t any words spoken. Just laughter and...

I lifted my hands away. There was still noise, but no words. I turned around to see that the rowdiest bunch was attempting to work their jaws. Someone managed to prise their lips apart and let out a laugh.

 “Looks like someone fell afoul of a little curse! Their tongue are glued to the roofs to their mouths!” 

 My own mouth fell open in silent wonder and amazement.

 ‘Langlock’ was a curse from Harry Potter that did just that. ‘Maxima’ was an additive to verbal spells that expanded the range or potency of the paired word. And the curse was usually single target only, so...

 I wracked my brain briefly, trying to come up with something that would remove the curse. If this followed the local rules, then there had to be counter curse. It wasn’t nearly sophisticated enough a curse to not have a release word...

 “ Finite Incantatem. ”

 I ventured muttering the words under my breath, focusing on unravelling what I had done. There wasn’t any apparent reaction. I screw up my forehead as I poured through the now familiar vault of knowledge I had in my head that made no sense, but was mine...

 Spells in Harry Potter were either direct Latin, or rough bastardizations that the magical folk had found worked better. Think...think...’Finite’ would end something. Indicating it is finished or complete...Langlock is a curse not an enchantment. So it would need a different modifier than ‘incantatem’...what’s the Latin word for curse? Almost instantly, the word presented itself to me.

 And it felt right. The same feeling I got upon hearing someone tell the truth shivered through me.

 I inhaled, mentally checking my magical reserves and was amazed to find they were barely affected. I could likely do small spells like that for hours!

 “Alright... Finite Maledictum. ”

 Roughly translated, it meant ‘End Curse’. As I had hoped, all the Fairy Tail members suddenly had freedom to speak again. There was a tremendous uproar  as people tried to determine who had used the temporary prank-curse. People were checking under tables for some kind of charm that had carried it into the hall.

 I sat in contemplation as to what had just happened and didn’t say anything.

-vVv

 After some weeks of deliberation and experimentation, I concluded that it led back to my Story Magic. Perhaps an even closer aspect of it than even my storytelling illusions.

 What I thought would happen when I said a certain thing, could then become reality because of the backstory, emotion and connection that I had attached to the words. In Harry Potter, I knew Langlock was a curse meant to glue the tongue to the roof of someone’s mouth, rendering the target silent. I thought of how it had been used in the story, and how Harry had discovered it. In turn, my magic had taken that brief, almost inconsequential story, and made it come to life, quite literally.

 It meant that spells, chants and other words that I attached a specific meaning to had the potential to become weapons of mass destruction. Because of all the things I had crammed into my head... Suddenly all that somewhat meaningless knowledge took on a whole new light.

 Words could already change the world. My magic just made that concept a lot more literal.

 I had reported my discovery to Makarov and made the old wizard have a magnificent spit take all down his front.

 Needless to say, practicing this new aspect took up much of my time.

 With some practice, I discovered that the more specific I made a verbal spell, the less energy it cost. While if I was relying on my intent to carry the effect out, it took more power.

  Ties back nicely into the whole concept of life being a story. I mused. A one word story can exist, but the more description and color you add to it, the better it becomes in the long run.

-vVv-

 For every one wizard in the world, there were nine regular civilians. And out of every two hundred wizards, there was always one that was just abso-flipping-lutely unbelievably powerful at an absurdly young age. IE: Gildarts or Erza. Both of whom were almost literal titans in their magical capacity.

 A wizard’s magical capacity grew as they practiced their powers, and as they got older. It never really seemed to stop, at least the studies I had forced myself to read indicated such. People didn’t have such a thing as a top limit, just a different learning curve and growth rate, or rate at which they recovered energy. The average between the two determined how strong a wizard could or would be.

 Erza had a monumental growth rate, her power would always replenish itself in a blisteringly short amount of time. Same with Natsu’s, and he could speed up his recovery even more by eating some form of fire. But their learning was restricted to their specific talents. Erza couldn’t expand her range beyond weapons, armor and clothing, as opposed to Bisca who was able to stow food and any sort of other supplies in her Requip space. And Natsu could no more cast an ice or water spell than Happy could swear off fish.

 On the other hand, Levy and I had average growth rates, but very steep learning curves, meaning we could do more with the comparative little that we had. Letter magic was already very versatile, so being smart and being a Script Mage of any kind gave you a way to keep up with the nonsense that some of the heavy hitters could pull off.

 To clarify, being a Wizard identified your primary magic. The way your power prefered to interact with the ethernano in the world around you. Example: Laxus is a Lightning Wizard. Exact details of your power were what you were called a mage in. Example: Evergreen is a Fairy Mage. The exact definition had confused me something fierce until Mystogan clarified it for me.

 So, I was a Rune Wizard, because I used runes and written text primarily, but I was a Story Mage. And since stories could be verbal, written or visual, it gave me a lot of room to play with.

 My primary function in the guild hall whenever I wasn’t working was entertainment or rune maintenance.

 The entertainment came from storytelling, which I had continued doing even though I had long since finished all classical Disney movies that I could remember.

 I was actually portraying the story of Hyrule and how it had begun. The first three sessions had been devoted to setting up Skyloft, to try and get across the sheer majesty of a world with no ground or ocean. Just floating islands and the sky...

 It was really popular. Mirajane had started advertising whenever I was going to be storytelling, whether it was continuing a lengthy story or telling a few shorter ones, and turned it into a source of guild revenue. I had considered putting it into book form, but decided against it. A legend like this couldn’t be portrayed in mere words. Or if it could, I couldn’t do it yet.

 It hadn’t stopped me from publishing some books under a pen name only last month. Specifically, the Lord of the Rings. Or the story concept with the character names.

 It had jumped to a best seller list overnight. By the end of the first week, it had broken some records.

 A month later, it was still the #1 best seller in Fiore.

Certain guildmates were very proud. Actually, all of them were, even if they weren’t academically inclined.

 I had already gotten several requests from certain members, cough*Levy*cough, for me to read my book aloud and bring the characters to life with what I had imagined them looking like.

It was life.

 A good life too.

Everything will change. A new chapter begins.

 Aaaand that wasn’t ominous at all....

-vVv-

“You told Natsu that a Fire Wizard calling himself Salamander was seen in Hargeon yesterday?” I asked Krov, feeling my face go blank.

 “Yeah, I just said that!” I sat...then started to repeatedly and rhythmically slam my head against the wood of the table. “Wha-What’s wrong Fae?”

 “Krov...’Salamander’ is what the papers are calling Natsu. And he, until recently, hasn’t been down south for almost a month...”

  Save me from the lacking mental capacity of my guildmates... There came a round of laughter from a few people who had been listening in.

 “Oh boy, Natsu’s gonna be pissed when he gets back!”

 “Duck and cover!”

 “Better start running now, Krov.”

 “Can I get a refill?”

 I pushed myself up from the bar behind which I was sitting.

 “ Coming up !”

 I imbued the words with magic, causing the proffered mug being whisked out of the patron's hand and floating under the tap. Mirajane was out at a photoshoot, so I was doing the bar tending. If I had tried to work by hand, I would have been overwhelmed, even at slow times, but since I had magic that was versatile enough to help out, I managed well enough.

 I eyed a stubborn stain on the bar where someone had decided to spill their drink, I sighed.

 “ Scourgify. ”

 I muttered rubbing a cloth over it. The stain lifted away bit by bit with some magical encouragement. I was standing on a pull out lip behind the bar that let me reach across the wooden space without much strain. My hand flicked out with a short gesture.

 “ Aculeus. ” The Stinging Jinx flashed across the space and into the hand of a patron that was making to take a job off the request board. “Please leave the guild’s job requests alone.” 

 I called out to him, noting his guild mark. Orochi’s Fin. Lamia Scale’s less than upright rival. The wizard sent me a scowl, but didn’t contest my warning or the minor stinging sensation his hand was currently experiencing. I hadn’t put a lot of power into it so he didn’t even have any swelling for his trouble.

 The first few times that I had needed to intervene, there had been some fuss about a kid doing so. I may or may not have broken the floor a little when smacking down one rowdy customer. It’s less damage than what the others would have caused! Makarov hadn’t been happy about the damage, but had conceded the point after listening to the angry visitor swear that he ‘would teach the upstart little brat a lesson’. Only far less politely. Loke had very calmly kicked the drunk to the curb and judging by the loud thump I heard from outside, had knocked him unconscious to sleep off the alcohol for good measure.

 I sent the refilled mug back to it’s original owner with a mutter of ‘ depulso ’. Then I went to a bartender’s customary and somewhat iconic pastime. Polishing glasses. I probably could have scrounged up some words to do it all with magic, but it at least gave me something to do.

-vVv-

Natsu came back to the guild about two days later with a blonde girl in tow.

  Lucy Heartfilia. Summoning Wizard. Celestial Spirit Mage.

  I read that off of her, but forced my magic away from looking any further. She just introduced herself as ‘Lucy’ though...

She doesn’t want to have her last name known?

  When I saw Krov make a break for the back door. Natsu leapt after him as Happy flew over to me.

 “I told Natsu he should have checked the story with you first, but he didn’t listen.”

 The flying cat said with a sigh. 

 “Well it doesn’t seem to have ended too badly.” I said mildly. “Master got the report this morning. He only wrecked half the of the port this time.”

Lucy squawked, giving me a wide eyed look.

 “Half? This time!?” 

 “Natsu has an intense dislike of boats.” I reported to her. “One time, someone managed to get a curse on him when he was in Hargeon. Pretty incompetent criminal to not read between the lines. He thought it would bring out Natsu’s inner darkness and get him an ally to protect him from the Rune Knights. Instead it just ended up with Natsu’s most brutally honest desires to come out, and remove all impulse control.”

The blond let out a sigh, shoulder slumping, but she was smiling as she spoke.

“I heard about that. Now that I’ve met him, it doesn’t surprise me that it turned out to be him.”

 I propped my chin in my hand as I appraised the newcomer.

 Lucy wasn’t that tall, but she was busty, enough so that I noticed even though I was a kid. Her bright blonde hair fell about to her shoulders with her bangs gathered to one side, out of her friendly brown eyes. Her key ring with half a dozen silver and gold Celestial Spirit keys was sitting comfortably at her belt along with a coiled whip.

 “Natsu’s never brought anyone back before... Are you looking to join the guild?”

 I asked bluntly, noting with a touch of curious interest that there was a split second’s worth of a blush on her face.

 “I want to, yeah...”

 “New members are only let in with another member’s endorsement or some other way to determine if they would work in the guild.”

 I explained, watching as Natsu managed to catch Krov. I slid from my bench, taking my food with me and sat under the table.

 “Um, what are you doing?”

 I touched the rune that I had set up underneath the table.

 “Taking cover.” I said, taking another bite of my food. “I’ve noticed that whenever we get a new member, everyone finds some excuse to start a fight to see how the newbie reacts.”

 Lucy hastily ducked as a blazing piece of wood that used to be a chair sailed over her head.

 “Is this some kinda test!?”

 “I think some people want to think that it is.” A piece of rubble came at my lair and vaporized against a magical rune barrier. “Personally, I think they just want an excuse to fight.”

 I’d have given Lucy some shelter if she asked for it. Happy had taken refuge with me and was happily eating some fish that he had pulled from his pouch.

 “How are the preservation runes holding up?”

 I asked him as he devoured his snack.

 “Mmmmhmhmm, mph!”

 “That’s good to hear.”

 “In your bunker again Fae?”

 Mira asked, bending down to peer at me with a smile that had become staple for her.

 “You know how often I’ve lost a good meal to this kind of thing.”

-vVv-

 Lucy was starting to think that she was losing her mind.

 Fairy Tail had a rambunctious reputation but this was taking it a little further than she had originally thought! Natsu just attacked one of his own guildmates out of the blue! And then everyone had started fighting.

 She crouched by the table that the little girl had retreated under, seeing lines and lines of runes marching across the underside of the table.

 “Someone made you a bunker?”

 The bright, pale blue eyes of the girl looked back at her with a smile.

 “Yep! I’m not strong enough a wizard to take these kinds of fights directly. So I’ve got my little hidey hole for when things go crazy!”

 Lucy swallowed.

 “You’re a member of Fairy Tail? But you’re just a kid!”

 “She’s technically a ward, not a full member.”

 Came the voice from a lovely, white haired young woman. Lucy flushed. Holy Crap it’s Mirajane in the flesh!!

 “A ward?”

 “I’m an orphan, so the guild was put in charge of financing my childhood and education. But the thing was, I had active magic that made me ill suited to the normal foster care system. So I hang out here all the time because the guildmaster is my legal guardian.” The aqua haired girl explained. “You’d better pay attention. People can get sucked into these fights pretty easily if they don’t stay on their guard.”

 “No one does anything to stop them?”

 She had always thought that barroom brawls were the worst kind of fights and had to be ended quickly for the safety of all those involved. But neither the younger nor the older of the girls seemed that concerned.

 “It’s always like this around here.” Mirajane said with a light laugh even as a large white haired man came flying at her and knocked her flat. “It’s kinda fun, don’t you think?”

 She then went limp in unconsciousness.

 “Aaaaah!” Lucy shrieked, darting over to try and heave the senseless man off of her idol. “Don’t die Mirajane!”

-vVv-

 It was probably wrong to be so amused by the newbie’s antics. But I couldn’t help but stifle a snicker. For all that Mira hadn’t actually fought anyone for over two years, she still had a lot of dormant magic power inside her that would absorb the worst of any physical damage that was inflicted on her.

 “Gray, your clothes?”

 “I don’t have time for that!”

  If Erza were here, she’d have smacked everyone senseless before it came to this point. I thought with a sigh. She was particular about portraying a positive image of the guild to newcomers or visitors. Good impression vs an honest impression. Natsu was more in favor of the honest impression.

 Gray joined the fight. I sighed, flicking my finger towards where he had been sitting.

 “ Accio. ”

 Gray’s clothes flew over to near my table and I started to fold them. If I didn’t retrieve Gray’s clothes relatively quickly after he discarded them, they tended to disappear. And I knew exactly where to. Happy took advantage of the fact that there were some girls out there willing to buy Gray’s cast offs simply because they had once been on his body. It was where he got his primary fish-fund whenever Natsu was too busy to go fishing and catch some for him.

 “Give me back my underwear, jerk!”

  I sighed and closed my eyes and spoke aloud with magical intent.

 “ Censor my vision. ”

 When I dared open my eyes again, a pair of sunglasses had formed over my eyes, placing a blurred bar area over Gray’s privates.  

 “Gray! No flashing the kid!”

 A voice called in scolding.

 “Crap!” Gray looked around frantically before spotting Lucy. “Excuse me miss, could I borrow your underwear?”

 “As if!”

 Lucy shrieked in anger. She surprised many people by clocking Gray across the face with a board without hesitation. He went an impressive distance.

  Nice air time...Wait, where did the board come from?...

 As I glanced over everyone, I concluded that she had also earned a hefty amount of respect for that. Natsu had seen it and was grinning, with great satisfaction.

  It usually takes a rookie at least ten minutes of watching the Welcoming Brawl before they’ll start fighting. 

It hadn’t been going even for a minute before Lucy sent Gray into a wall with a swing that would have been at home in a baseball diamond.

  She’ll fit right in.

 And she’d actually sent him flying with good velocity and arc. For all that she looked like a Barbie, Lucy seemed to have some decent upper body strength.

  That or the Righteous Indignation of the situation let her exert more physical power than she should actually have. One or the other.

 Either way, for all that the master would soon be intervening, Lucy had already made a good start with her introduction to Fairy Tail life.

-vVv-

 Once Lucy managed to restart her heart after the brief scare she had gotten (How could a man be so massive and scary and then so tiny!?) she finally did it.

  I did it Mom... I’m a member of Fairy Tail! She gazed at the guild mark on the back of her hand, where she could always see it and remind herself that she was a practicing wizard. And no one could take that away from her...

 The Celestial Spirit Mage only then realized that she didn’t know anybody in the guild except Natsu and he was stuffing his face from the fireplace.

  I’ve seen him do it with Bora’s magic and it still doesn’t make any sense...

 “Hey, Fae? You gonna clean any of this up?”

 The little aqua-blue haired girl emerged from under the table where she had been hiding, hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.

 “When you went this far overboard? Not a chance! I barely have enough magic power to fix the floor, let alone the furniture and walls too.”

 There came a chorus of groans.

 “Ah well. We’ll just call in the next rotation of furniture. Pack it up people, let’s get it ready for the repairmen!”

 Lucy was then witness to a bewildering sight as the former brawlers began to pick the furniture out of the rubble they had created and stack it together.

“What’s going on?”

 Mirajane provided Lucy her answer as the girl, Fae, the one wizard had called her, held her hands over the gaps in the walls and began to murmur, causing the broken pieces to fly back together and the holes to mend themselves.

 “The guild breaks a lot of stuff all the time, so we have a working relationship with a few local Craftsmen guilds. We’ve got several different sets of furniture that we rotate out whenever we break something. There’s usually enough that’s already been fixed or replaced to keep the seating and furniture in the hall up.”

 “That’s...” Pragmatic, practical and somewhat unbelievable that it was even necessary...! “-smart.”

 Lucy finished lamely, wondering what she had gotten herself into...

 “Excuse me.” Fae addressed her politely, bowing slightly. “You’re standing in a crater.”

 Lucy yelped and jumped back. But her surprise developed into great interest as Fae held out her hands and began to speak. Her soft child’s voice seemed to be grave, wise and much older. It was the surety with which she spoke that elevated her.

 “ Area Reparo. ”

 She intoned, and when she did, an elegant amber script winked into existence, written across the floor. Shattered boards flew back into their original place, mending themselves without a mar or crack to indicate where they had been ruined.

 “You’re a Rune Wizard?”

 Lucy asked in surprise once Fae had completed her spell and moved to go to another broken area. Once again, ice blue eyes met hers as the girl looked up at her with a wise, considering appraisal that made Lucy wonder just how smart this girl was...

 “Yep!”

 “C’mon Fae-chan, don’t go selling yourself short.” A curvy brunette drawled, face slightly flushed and half staggering as she slung an arm over the younger girls’ shoulder. “Our cute little Fairy Princess here is the only known Story Mage in the world!”

 “Cana!” 

 Fae complained, scowling and blushing face crinkling in what appeared to be disgust as the older woman’s alcohol soaked breath wafted into her face. The gesture made her seem a lot more like a child than...something that Lucy couldn’t name.

  “Story Mage? I’ve never heard of that kind of magic. What does it do?”

 Fae glared at Cana, her striking, powerful eyes not having any effect. She placed her palm against the woman’s forehead.

  “Esuna.”

 Cana just laughed as she released the girl.

 “Whatever Fae thinks words should do, they do! Thanks for the detox, Fae!”

 She then sauntered back to the bar, perfectly sure and steady on her feet. Lucy gaped. The faint flush on her face was gone, her balance had been restored, even the smell of liquor had vanished!

 “She’s sober!?”

 Lucy demanded. Fae sighed and frowned.

 “Yeah. Esuna is an anti-toxin spell that I made up. My Story Magic means that if I can imagine a spell, the way it works, how it’s used, who uses it, the works...then I can use it just the way I imagine it.” 

But then...she could make up just about anything off of the top of her head! This was the kind of person that would be joining Fairy Tail in the future! Suddenly Lucy felt very small and simple in her powers...

 Fae looked thoughtful.

“The real downside is I have to have read or thought up some kind of story in which the spell is used. And even then, it’s not guaranteed that it will work. I haven’t tested it on any venoms or plant poisons, just being drunk cause alcohol counts as a toxin...”

  Oh...I get it. Lucy’s mind unwound as she saw the slight tension and concern in Fae’s shoulders and a heaviness in her eyes that looked out of place in a child.

  Fae essentially has to discover a whole new branch of spells for her magic. It’s groundbreaking at every turn which means it’s really hard work. She has to find her limits without hurting anyone or herself. While it had the potential to be incredible, it was also a lot of strain to put on a girl who didn’t look as if she could be more than nine or ten years old.

  No wonder Fairy Tail took her on. I can’t imagine a regular orphanage would have had the support she needs.

-vVv-

 It had been maybe two days since Lucy had joined the guild.

 During that time, she had been introduced to everyone who was there at the moment and been given a crash course in guild life.

 I tilted my head as I felt an update in Macau’s story.

  Cold, dark, snow. Frustration. Anger. The warring of two minds struggling for dominance and control. 

I trotted over to Makarov.

 “Master, I think something happened to Macau.”

 The small man opened his eyes, serious and alert. After almost two years of this happening every now and then, he had come to acknowledge that my Story Magic kept tabs on the people I cared about.

 “Does he need help?”

 I frowned, considering the impression I had received...

 “I think so. Whatever happened to him, he’s starting to lose his grip on himself. Didn’t he take a job hunting that nest of mountain Vulcans?”

 “That he did...” Makarov mused, arms folded. “It may be that one of the beasts got the better of Macau and used Takeover on him.”

-vVv-

 Makarov quietly asked around for someone who could go and check on Macau. Natsu volunteered instantly. A worried, six year old Romeo entered the guild with the intent to face Makarov and demand that someone go after his father.

 I scooped him up as I walked by.

 “We’ve already got someone on the case, Romeo. Don’t worry about it. Natsu’ll get your dad back.”

 His face went slack with relief and he relaxed into my hold.

 “Yeah...Natsu always keeps his promises.”

 I read a strong sense of guilt coming from Romeo. Apparently his parting with his father a few days back hadn’t been smooth. He had been feeling somewhat pressured by other children in the city who were mocking him because Macau was a member of Fairy Tail. Romeo had wanted to find some self actualization and had angrily demanded that his father get up and do some work.

  And now he was late in returning from a job that Romeo had told his father to take. Guilt City. I ruffled Romeo’s hair as Natsu raced out of the building, dragging Lucy along with him. 

NaLu has set sail! This voice wasn’t like the other times I had heard it stating fact. Like when Lisanna had died, or when it had told me that Loke was actually Leo. That was a bland gray statement of fact. This was pink, glittering and...giggly.

  ...I get live updates on ships!?!?!

Chapter Text

 Lucy felt she was settling in pretty well. She needed a little help finding an apartment, something that her new guildmates had been more than helpful with. She found a place that was close to the hall, cheap, and more than satisfactory! She was just lucky she had enough savings to put down the deposit and make the payment for the first month. I’m gonna have to starting working soon. 70,000 jewel a month is a steal, but there’s the guild dues to be payed, as well as my groceries and wardrobe... She could already see her carefully hoarded savings dwindle in her mind’s eyes.

 “Hey Fae, let’s have a story!” The Dance Mage called. What’s his name again...Vijeeter? “I’m dying to know what the deal is with that Skyloft place!”

 “Yeah! You haven’t even told us why all the people are living on those dinky little islands!”

  Stories...? Lucy recalled a new article on Fairy Tail’s latest activity in Sorcerer Weekly. A storytelling hour with illusionary complements and audio. They were the biggest thing in Magnolia and people were coming by all the time to try and get seats.

  Figures Fae’s the one who tells them. It’s probably the guild’s way of helping her practice her magic without straining her or putting her in danger.

 The girl gave a crooked half smile as she paused in her writing. It seemed to be really normal for her to be writing. The table that was her bunker for when the guild got crazy had been dubbed ‘Fae’s Table’ by everyone in the hall. It was usually covered with books, papers and writing materials.

 “Maybe I haven’t gotten the matter of scale right.” She said teasingly. “We’re talking a significant portion of the human race. There’s a lot more land than just the few islands that the story takes place on.”

 “So get on with it!”

 This yell was backed by about 2 dozen different voices of encouragement.

 “No can do.” Fae replied, shutting the celebration down cold. “I’ll resume tonight when everyone is back from their jobs.”

 Nothing that was said could sway the resolute girl in this matter so people reluctantly let it go.

 “Fae’s storytelling is that popular?”

 Lucy wondered aloud.

 “It’s not just her narrative.” The Solid Script Mage, Levy interjected with a big smile. “Fae makes all of her stories up! Even if you’ve heard the fairytales she bases them off of, you’re in for a surprise at almost every turn! They’re pretty much originals!”

 “All original stories!?”

 Lucy gasped. And she’s willing to just tell them?! The thought of letting someone else read her stories made Lucy cringe a little inside.

 “You betcha!” Levy said with a wink. “Fae reads like lightning, and once she’s read it, it takes a lot for her to forget it. I’m just amazed we haven’t all gotten sucked in by that black hole of a brain that she has.”

 “Wow...” Lucy looked around again, listening as several people enthusiastically recounted their favorite parts of Fae’s previously shared narratives. “Hard to imagine a bunch of grown up, experienced wizards acting like toddlers at story time...”

 “That’s Fairy Tail for ya!” Jet said with a grin. Droy came in right behind him.

 “You’ll see why everyone’s so eager tonight. You’ve never seen or heard anything like what Fae can do!”

-vVv-

 Later that evening, the guild hall was crammed to maximum capacity, with dozens of townspeople and other visitors seeming to have filled the whole place to the roof.

 “Come on Lucy!” Happy fluttered nearby with a big, somewhat vacant grin that was his signature as he towed Lucy through the crowd. “We want to be right up front when she starts!”

  “Is it always such a big production?”

 The blonde asked as she picked her way carefully.

 “Aye! This is the biggest crowd we’ve had in a while since Fae says that this story’s gonna take a long time and those are the best kinds!”

 The stage was Fae’s table, which had been moved to the front of the hall. The girl’s greenish hair fell in messy tousled strands around her face as her gleaming blue eyes passed over the crowd. She wasn’t beaming with the attention, but she wasn’t shying away from it either. She sat on the edge of her table, looking out through the crowd. Several people had moved forward to talk to her, behaving rather as if they were addressing a celebrity.

 “Oi, Happy, Lucy!” Natsu waved from one table near the front that was bedecked with food. “Bout time you guys showed up!”

 “Natsu?!” Lucy was stunned. “You’re here too?” 

I wouldn’t have pegged him to be the type for listening to a little girl talk...

 “You betcha!” Natsu said with a grin that showed off his impressive incisors. “I’ll never miss out on one of Fae’s stories if I can help it!”

 “She might not look it right now, but Fae doesn’t actually like being the center of attention.” Happy explained, settling on the table and grabbing a fish. “She used to get all embarrassed and flustered whenever she noticed someone listening to her telling Romeo a story.” 

So Natsu’s here to support Fae and cheer her on in case she gets nervous. The thought made Lucy smile as the pink haired wizard waved cheerfully at Fae who returned the gesture with a bright smile that seemed to light up the room. That’s actually kinda sweet and thoughtful of him. Who’d have thought Natsu had it in him?

 Many other wizards settled at the table Natsu had commandeered. Gray, Mirajane who was letting the other waitress handle the food and drinks and taking a break to listen to Fae. Even Makarov was sitting cross legged on the table, funny hat and all. This one looked like a pair of cat ears. It seemed to have some significance to them since Fae was clearly fighting to restrain laughter when she saw it.

 But finally, everyone was seated and the chatter was dying into whispers.

Fae lifted a hand and tapped her lips, her amber magic circle appearing. Lucy was close enough to hear her whisper:

  “Sonorus mediocus.” Fae cleared her throat, and her voice suddenly resonated throughout the hall, amplified by her magic. “Can you all hear me?” 

There came a chorus of assent and cheers in answer.  Fae took a deep breath, closing her eyes...

 “Then... let’s begin. ”

 Lucy went still as a quiet filled the air. Not the stillness of anticipation, but the blank promise of an empty canvas.

  “As you know, in the beginning, there was nothing until the Three Goddess of Creation descended. Spreading her great arms, Din, the Goddess of Power, created the red earth and all things within it.”

  There was darkness, then there came a flash of red. Then bare, naked ground lay in the emptiness. Mountains reached to the dark sky, void of any life. It was majestic and powerful...but empty. Lucy’s breath caught as Fae’s childish voice changed, becoming ethereal and distant. Not at all sounding like a girl before reaching puberty.

 “After came her sister, Naryu, Goddess of Wisdom. And she gifted the world Din had begun with her wisdom, giving it law and order.”

  A blue flash darted across the image. There was a blue sky filled with clouds overhead now. Wind rustled over the bare ground, kicking up small dust devils. But Naryu wasn’t finished because in another blitz of soft light, water poured out of nowhere to form oceans and rivers, breaking up the bare earth and stone with the cool lapping of waves and the kiss of sea spray.

  “Last came Farore, Goddess of Courage. And it was she who filed the world of her sister’s making with life. They would wield the power of the earth Din had forged for them, and live by the laws Naryu had set.”

  A wave of green light moved over the world, bringing in its wake plants and other life. Rolling plains, trees coating the mountain sides like emerald moss. Birds soared through the sky and horses charged across the plains, some of them bearing riders.

  “Their task completed, the goddess saw that their world was whole and departed the realm, leaving a portion of their power in the hands of their handmaiden, Hylia.”

  The three colored lights came together into one point and vanished. The image pulled back to reveal a white clad figure watching over the place where the Goddesses had departed.

  “But you already know that story. This is about what happens next.”

  The feeling of anticipation could have been cut with a knife. Lucy forced herself to keep breathing.

  This is intense... She thought, exhaling and reaching for a cup of something to drink. Her mouth had been hanging open and was feeling quite dry. This is awesome!

“Chaos did not rest easy as portions of him were tamed by the life Farore created, fenced into pattern and order by Naryu’s law, and kept from rampaging as it had before by the power Din had left in the bones of the world. The Three Golden Goddesses had encroached on its domain in their creation of the realm that was now under Hylia’s watchful gaze. Furious with the insult, it spawned a creature to devour all that was orderly and good.”

  Lucy couldn’t quite see what was now being shown, but it was big, red and black, and had a mouth that seemed big enough to swallow the world in one bite and had a lot of sharp teeth. She felt a shiver go up her spine as its jaws gaped wide and she heard the faintest echo of a ravenous roar. An inhuman, deep sound fit to make the world shake apart at the seams.

“This hungry darkness burst free from the earth. And how it feasted... Scores fell to him, whole races of people were forced into the shadows, never to be seen as friends again. For everything that was consumed was changed and warped by chaos.”

  There were unheard screams bursting through the images of chaos, confusion and darkness, marring the bright, beautiful world that had been made what seemed like only moments earlier. 

 “Hylia was not ready to let the work of her kin and friends go to waste, or let the life she had watched over for so long be undone. So gathering what was left of mankind together, Hylia lifted them up, far above the clouds where they could not come to any harm, and cast a thick barrier of cloud between them and the surface world they had left behind.
In time, man would forget that they had ever lived on the surface, secure and well on their islands miles above the ground, guarded by spirit companions that Hylia had created for their safety. And there they stayed for who knows how long, their lives completely adjusted to living in the air.

One day though, a boy was born. And he was blessed, because he would be the first, after eons of time, to set foot on and explore the surface world.

 His name was Link.”

Lucy was riveted as she listened, leaning forward eagerly, because she could just tell: 

This is going to be fantastic!

-vVv-

So damn close! 

 I grumbled as the piece of paper I had been working on burst into flames. I flicked it off the table into a waiting bin, knowing that Natsu wasn’t there to eat it. He had gone off on a job with Lucy and Happy.

 “I’m telling you Fae, you’re stretching a little ways beyond what is reasonable.” Nab told me, looking somewhat concerned. “You don’t have Requip magic. Trying and make use of actual space before you go trying to make extra-dimensional stuff.”

 “I’m not trying to recreate Requip magic.” I grumbled. “I’m just trying to find a way to cut back on space for my notebooks without leaving any behind.”

 My biggest problem in progressing in my magic was trying to find some way to carry all the stories that gave my magic its power and credibility without loading up a massive backpack. I wasn’t Freed, I couldn’t just whip out some runes wherever I placed my gaze. I wasn’t Levy, who could produce physical objects with her Solid Script. I had different magic and that equated to different needs and tools.

My first choice to handle the need would be Archive Magic, but I wasn’t sure if it would be wise to put all that information, the heart of my magic, out into the general cloud. There were many other people who could use Archive. But their primary power didn’t rely on the information they stored on it! 

 I wasn’t going to touch on Archive magic, even though I probably could learn to use it right now. Not until I could create and sustain my personal cloud of data that didn’t have the risk of being hacked by an enemy.

 Thus, the need for extra-dimensional space. If I could copy everything I wanted to be able to use by hand in notebooks, then all I had to do was find some way to carry it all around with me at once. It would be close enough to me so that I could pick and choose whatever I would want.

And because being able to employ hammer space would be freaking amazing. Space Magic? Badass.

  The possibilities were endless and entertaining. Just the thought of what I could do if I ever learned how to store kinetic energy was enough to make me giggle like a maniac! (I tried not to do that too often since it made people walk on eggshells around me for days afterward.)  I took another piece of paper and tried again. The last attempt had been describing an area in which space didn’t exist, while still being usable and accessible.

 Several smoldering ashes let me know that this angle clearly wasn’t going to get me very far.

Alright. Back to square one. Think about what you want...

  I closed my eyes, clasped my hands before my face and began to hum, drowning out the sounds of the guild around me. Waitresses talking to guests, the clink of glasses and dishes, laughter, and chatter.

  I want a place where I can store stories, the basis of my magic.

Why? I had dozens of stories in my head and it was already working out beautifully for my wizarding Latin knockoff spells.

  That story has built in shortcuts. Words that I have already attached a very specific meaning to without needing to create something for them.

 Were there similar stories that I could explore to the same effect?

 As I dug through my mind, I found that, yes, there were several. But it would take a lot of meditation for some of them to gain any sort of magical effect for me. They were ordinary words that were the cues for magic spells, they didn’t sound all that impressive. Or some of them didn’t anyway. Spells like ‘Esuna’ worked because they didn’t sound like things you would casually say in regular conversation.

  I’m not gonna have to make names for my spells, am I?

  Or was there something to that beyond personal bragging points?

-vVv-

 “Calling your spells as you cast them?” Makarov was sitting cross legged on the bar and eyed me, scratching his head beneath his hat. “Well just naming the spell has a tremendous effect on a wizard’s ability to cast it. It helps a wizard focus.”

  “But wouldn’t that be-?”

 He interrupted my question and gave me a look. I was momentarily confused...then I got what he wanted and sighed.

  “Create a black and red cat eared hat.”

 The temporary construction settled onto my head in a warm snug weight and Makarov beamed at me.

 “Continue Fae-chan!”

  Why the hell does it matter if I’m wearing a hat or not?!

“Wouldn’t it be a liability in combat to have to say the name of your spell aloud? It seems as though it would give your opponent a pretty distinct advantage.”

 The little old man happily patted my head.

 “I imagine that if your power continues to grow at the rate that it is, hearing others name their spells would indeed give you a tremendous advantage against anyone that you end up facing. After all, you might be able to tap into the story behind their magic.” 

That...isn’t something I had ever considered. The possibilities were intriguing... 

Focus!

 “That aside, why would someone do that?”

 “In the heat of battle, Fae, who can say what goes through a person’s mind? I’m sure you’ve already noticed that some of our own guild members have different habits when it comes to how they use magic and whether or not they speak in conjunction with it.”

 I considered this then.

 Erza hardly ever said anything beyond ‘Requip’ as far as I could tell. She only made a declaration of any kind when she was pulling out a set of armor or a weapon that she didn’t use as often.

 Conversely, Gray almost always said what he was going to do.

 And stuck right in the middle was Natsu. Sometimes he shouted his spells’ name, other times he was too-

 “That’s it?” I asked as I realized it. “It’s just a matter of being centered in your magic?”

 The guild master smiled.

 “Correctamundo, Fae-chan! A wizard who needs to exert a fine amount of control over their magic, or doing something that is less familiar to them, would need the extra focusing power that comes from hearing the name of their spell in their own ears. Gray and other elemental molding wizards like him find tremendous benefit in stating what they desire. On the other hand, wizards whose magic relies less on that kind of focused power, Gildarts for example, have less need of it.”

 I contemplated this for a bit.

 That meant that I could probably mix and match just about anything that I saw my guildmates do since I had their own stories to draw on for strength. It probably wouldn’t be nearly as strong, or would cost me more magic power, but it would be extremely versatile.

 So, going by that route...my issue would be holding enough magic power to be a viable part of a pitched battle.

  You can store magic in some lacrima...Could I make a rune that functions the same way? Or better yet, model it after a human wizard so that it’s self replenishing? Like getting your second wind...

 The bland, factual voice spoke in my mind.

  A wizard already possesses a natural secondary source of power that is not usually tapped known as their Second Origin.

 I waved the information aside for perusal later. I had another project to research and work on.

 Between this new idea and developing easy access hammerspace, I probably wasn’t going to be getting much else done.

 “Aw, cheer up Fae-chan! You’ve got years before you should be looking like an old sourpuss.”

 I blinked up at the master before I noticed that my ears were responding to my emotions and were currently laid back in irritated resignation.

  Damn it! They snapped upright with alertness. I felt someone stroke them.

 “You are too cute, Fae.”

 I didn’t have the heart to snap at Mira’s coo. So I settled for burying my face in my arms and trying to melt into the floor with embarrassment. This just made it worse since it attracted more attention, turning me into a spectacle.

 “C’mon Fae, don’t pout, you’re adorable!”

 “You said it buddy!” 

“Cutest little wizard ever!” 

You all suck and Mystogan is my favorite.

-vVv-

 Far away, completing an S-class quest with Laxus and the rest of the Thunder Legion, Freed felt the sudden irrational desire to curl up and cry. He couldn’t understand it. Why did he suddenly feel this desolate and despairing?

  It has been a while since we’ve been back... He mused. It’s probably just homesickness. He could hardly wait to see what new progress Fae had ready to show him. He already had a present to slip to her.

 Bickslow said he was spoiling her.

 Evergreen agreed.

 Laxus didn’t say anything for or against. But Freed would swear that he saw a glimmer of fondness whenever the Lightning Wizard looked at the adorable little imp.

-vVv-

 Erza was coming back! She had called ahead on the communications lacrima to inform the master of her imminent arrival.

 I couldn’t wait to see her. Big, scary and intimidating as she could be, I liked Erza. I was also fully aware that this opinion might change as soon as I became old enough to be seen as punishable in her eyes. But for now, I liked her.

 I was currently interrogating Cana to try and get some pointers on how to increase my magic power without giving myself alcohol poisoning. The boozer was more interested in he bottom of her mug.

 I glared at her...then I got an evil idea.

  “But why is the rum gone?”

  There came a sucking sound for a split second after I had spoken, then Cana jerked.

 “What the hell?”

 Her mug was suddenly empty and all booze within ten feet had disappeared.

 “I’m trying to ask you something, Cana. You’ll get your booze back after I get an answer.”

 The older girl glared down at me. I stared back, completely unrepentant. She caved after a few tense moments, sighing.

 “Fine, you little brat. It’s just like exercising your body. You’ll need to cast some bigger spells if you want to get some extra growing in.”

 “Now was that so hard?” I asked, satisfied. “Weddings! I love weddings, drinks all around!”  

 Cana examined the alcohol in her mug with a raised brow.

 “Never heard that one before. Gonna make a show out of it sometime?”

 “Maybe!” I hopped off my stool and ran outside.

 “Fae-chan, where are you going in such a hurry?”

 “I’ve got an idea! Trust me!”

-vVv-

 If I could describe something and make it seem real, then could I describe something and make it be real? Or real enough that people interacting with it believed it was real, and their belief and power support my own?

 I was testing small scale at first, hiding out in and around the park and fabricating various objects and seeing how passer’s by interacted with them. First it was a flower in a bed somewhere, then an extra branch on a tree. I’d worked my way up to a reasonably solid bench before I ran out of paper. Each time someone touched my illusion, it only lasted for as long as they were interacting with it. Then the paper I was writing on fizzled up and I had to start over.

 I was magically drained but triumphant when I returned to the guild to help Mira with the dinner rush.

 It wasn’t everyday that you learned you could literally rewrite reality .

 I’ll have to try and find some way to increase the durability of my creations, and extend the amount of time that they’re effective. Having to redo everything over and over again was kinda tiring. Magical stamps? Same problem as writing out by hand. Too much bulky material. A good guild wizard has to be easily portable... Hmm...

“Heavy thoughts, Fae-chan?”

 Levy asked as I came through the crowd picking up dirty dishes with a few quick summoning charms.

 “Just a couple new ideas.”

 I replied, levitating the dish bin behind me.

 “Well do you have a moment? I’ve got this translation that I can’t seem to get through...”

 I almost expected Jet and Droy to appear and start cheering for her.

  Cheering her on whenever she tries to translate something...Dumbasses.

  The thought wasn’t without its affection. For all that they sometimes talked themselves up a little too much, they were still guildmates. Their infatuation was either unnoticed by Levy, or noticed and completely unreciprocated. I was more inclined to think the latter.

 “Let me finish this up, and I’ll get back to you.”

 If something was designed with concealment in mind, it would take more than a passing touch to get the whole story out of the thing.

 “Have you checked for invisible ink, or code?”

 I asked Levy, examining the painstakingly preserved document that her client had given her to translate.

 “First thing I did.” She said, pushing over what she had managed to translate thus far. “But none of this is making any sense...”

 I brushed my fingers gently over the covered paper, peering at it intently...It was beautiful piece, an old, handbound book of aged leather less than an inch thick with elegant calligraphy from the early days of wizardry and hidden artwork layered within the pages. According to Levy’s client, it was almost three hundred years old.

  It feels innocent...like a collection of fairytales, but there’s more to it...Theories of humans acquired magic?

 I instantly got a little excited and bent even closer, feeling my eyes glitter eagerly as I focused still further. I was getting somewhere...I thought I was anyway. But then I ran into a blockade. I was missing bits and pieces of the text. I had gotten this far on context, but I needed more...

Hmm...A spell for revealing what is hidden in text...

 I came up with several options from Harry Potter, specifically the ‘Reveilo’ chain, but that didn’t feel quite right...

  Ah ha! Gotcha!

 I snatched the spell from out of my vast, seemingly endless pool of knowledge.

  “Aparecium.”

  I commanded, staring down at the paper. I didn’t see the words change, but something had appeared right at the bottom corner of the last page...

There you are.

 “Differo finis.”

  Instantly, a slight pressure lifted from my mind as a formerly hidden section of the story now became visible.

 “Got it.”

 I said, smiling at Levy who flashed a delighted grin at me in answer.

 “You’re awesome, Fae-chan! What did I miss?”

 “There was a distraction rune right here.” I pointed to it. “Protected by an invisibility rune worked into the picture.” I pressed my finger over where I had spotted it. “And underneath that was a confidentiality outlay inside the binding.” I rested my hand on the book’s cover for a moment longer... “It’s very old, a lot older than the owner thought. He’s off by more than a century. Closer to two or three actually.”

 Levy was almost vibrating with excitement. Jet and Droy seemed to materialize in the background to gaze in infatuated awe at their crush. Apparently they had bickered and fought constantly when they were younger. Like Erza/Mira levels of antagonism. Such a thing seemed impossible nowadays. They might be self declared rivals for Levy’s attention, but they were the best of friends and everyone knew it. Kinda like Gray and Natsu, only with less potential for destruction.

 “Hold on! I want to get all this down!” Levy began to write furiously. I paused until she had caught up with me.

 “What does your client want to know?” I asked. “I can be a lot more effective if I know what to look for. About 700 years of time is no joke, even if it’s already finished...”

 “Ok. The book’s author, any details about them, the book’s origin and purpose for being written.”

 I perused the book’s history for a moment...

 “The author was named Mikale Surewyrd. He was a talented Rune Wizard, from Bosco and a minor noble, around the year 47 BM. Anyone with magic was still very strongly ostracized and persecuted. It was a tremendous shame to any family to birth a wizard, most everyone thought their powers had to constantly be hidden and disguised as normal, everyday things. Lord Mikale suspected that his daughter had inherited some magic from him, so he made her this book. As a way of subtly assuring her that her magic, if she had any, was not a curse and something that made her special and unique.”

 I felt my lips curve upward as I felt the outpouring of love and adoration that worried father had felt for his daughter.

 “He filled it with codes that he told her as part of her bedtime stories. He was eventually discovered to have magic and arrested and executed, but she still had the book. He was right, she did have magic and she learned how to use runes like he had...”

 My eyes widened with interest as the next bit of information came to the surface.

 “She didn’t want to stay in Bosco after her father was killed, so she moved west towards Fiore, in spite of the dragons that lived there...”

 “What was her name? Does it say?”

 Levy pressed eagerly.

 “...Justija.”

 My eyes suddenly didn’t see the guild hall anymore.

 A tired young woman glared at the chimeras that circled her, their fangs gleaming and serpent’s tails hissing in frustration. Her hand curved up in a familiar gesture and she slashed her hand through the air, her eyes ablaze with power, lips curved in a fierce snarl. Fire leapt from nowhere, scorching her adversaries’ eyes and causing them to cower and shriek in pain.

 Her green hair had been cropped short recently, and she had the look of a hunted animal. But there was still an air of controlled nobility around her that drew the eye...

 I was back in an instant, wondering if it was even possible...

 Freed...?

-vVv-

 When I saw Lucy and Natsu again, I got the same glowy, pink sparkling thing that informed me that Lucy had grown attached to Natsu in spite of his...

 “You luuuuv him~!” 

Happy sang grinning at the infuriated female.

 “No I don’t you stupid cat!”

 Lucy growled back at him. But she was blushing slightly.

She is fond of him and admires his power. So cute...!  

The giggling voice informed me. I waved it off.

  Shut up and go away. 

 It just figured. There were romance stories everywhere, so why should it be any surprise that I could see and read that aspect of life too?!

  I’m starting to feel like a voyeur...

 I almost dreaded when Bisca and Alzack would come back. Everyone knew that they liked each other. Cana was running the betting pool on how long it would take for Alzack to finally fess up.

  I personally think Bisca’s gonna be the one to propose.

 I thought... Then nodded. It just fit the gun toting Requip Wizard to be the one to decide to stop dancing around and just get on with it.

  I wonder if Cana will let me place that bet...

 “Fae, you wouldn’t believe what I got to do on this job!” Lucy all but sang, eyes sparkling. “I got to read the last work of Zekua Melon! A book nobody knew he had ever written! It was easily his best ever!” Zekua Melon had been a well known novelist almost forty years back. But he had died...

He committed suicide.

  I flinched.

  This is why I don’t like my magic sometimes!  

“That’s great Lucy. You sound like a really big fan of his.”

 The Celestial Spirit Mage beamed.

 “I am! I’ve read all of his books! They’re amazing!”

 That I would grant. It was kinda nice to read something of good quality without having to write it myself...

 “You’ve got taste then.” Levy said grinning as she slid in beside me. “Check it out, Fae-chan! We’re not the only bookworms anymore! I swear, I sometimes wonder if anyone else can even read in this guild!”

 I left the other girls to their gripping chatter. Erza was due back sometime tomorrow. The master was getting ready to leave to go to a conference with some other Guild Masters to discuss stuff. 

 Concerns about the Balam Alliance, a trinity of powerful dark guilds that have subjugated or killed off all others . 

 But I don’t think any of the adults wanted me to know about that. At the very least,  they didn’t want me to go spreading rumors about it. Another reason I had a love-hate relationship with that aspect of my magic power. I sighed, leaning forward on my table and thinking...

 No nine year old should know even a fraction of what I can learn at a glance...

 I made jokes about preserving my innocence whenever Gray lost more than his shirt, but I honestly wondered sometimes...

No use moping. Sit up, get back to work. And move on. You can’t help what power you’re born with. Your family doesn’t judge you for it, so don’t you start now.

...Alright.

  I sat up and started to toy around with some more ideas I had to create hammer space...

-vVv-

 Lucy and Levy were still talking about books well into the evening, with Fae sitting quietly nearby. Lucy was thrilled to hear that she wouldn’t be the only book enthusiast in the rowdy guild she had joined. And after the insult to all bibliophiles that was Duke Everlue, she needed this conversation!

 “Oh! I almost forgot! Have you heard of the Lord of the Rings? The first book just came out a few months back and Fairy Tail patroned it!” 

Lucy had been hooked at the first blurb that was published to stir up publicity for the novel and had splurged her limited funds to snag a copy as soon as she could. Partly because it was related to Fairy Tail, she would admit. But as soon as she had gotten more than a few pages in, she was hooked. She had stayed awake for several days reading the tale, enraptured in the world that it described...

 “We financed the first publishing! Of course we heard of it!”

 Lucy leaned forward and snatched Levy’s hands, gazing into her eyes pleadingly.

 “Where’s Bella Phantasia? Can you please introduce me to her? I’d die if I could get my book signed by her! A whole bunch of journalists have been trying to get an interview with her for weeks!”

 For some reason, this made Levy burst out laughing. And Fae...

  That’s weird...

 Fae looked like she was trying to sink down into her chair and vanish into the floor, her face bright red...

 “Sure thing, Lu! She’s all but a guild member, I’m sure she’d be happy to sign your copy for you!” Lucy almost jumped up to run home and get it, but Levy hadn’t let go of her hands, her smile broadening. “But before anything else...You probably ought to know a little guild secret...” 

Eh?

  Lucy had gotten the impression that there weren’t that many secrets between Fairy Tail members.

 “What?”

 She asked curiously, distracted for the moment.

 “Bella Phantasia is the author’s pen name. She didn’t want all the attention she thought the book would bring. And damn if she wasn’t right!”

 “What’s her real name then?”

 Levy pulled her hands back and slapped Fae on the back, who was still blushing.

 “Why don’t you tell her, Fae-chan?”

 “You’re evil, Levy...” She muttered at the blunette, only to receive a brilliant smile in answer. “I should start calling you the She-devil...”

 “What’s wrong Fae?”

 Lucy was confused as the aqua haired girl finally turned towards her.

 “Levy’s secretly an evil troll, that’s what.” She said blandly, the blush receding somewhat, though she still looked supremely uncomfortable. “I’m Bella Phantasia, Lucy.” 

The Celestial Spirit Mage’s world didn’t crack, so much as shatter.

A little girl wrote that book!? People were already starting to call it a definer of what fantasy writing was. Fae wrote The Fellowship!?

“I figured using a pen name would make it easier on me once I started to take wizarding jobs. I didn’t want any of the work I might have to do to interfere with my ability to take requests.”

 Lucy was still trying to reorient her fractured mind...

Why is it so surprising? She finally asked herself. Fae’s already proved herself to be a brilliant storyteller. Her magic’s literally made for it! And just listen to what she’s been telling us lately about Hylia’s Sky Islands and the Loftwings... It actually wasn’t that big of a stretch to connect the masterful minstrel of a girl who enraptured over a hundred people with her stories to the brilliant author who had fabricated such a detailed and complex world as Arda. That’s...

“That’s amazing, Fae!” Lucy grinned. “You’re so talented! Would you sign my copy, please?”

 Fae blinked, seeming to be somewhat surprised.

 “Uh...yeah, sure...” 

 Another thing occurred to Lucy and she battled with herself.

  Want...to know more...! But...No spoilers!

“Saaaay...” Lucy fidgeted slightly... “How many books are you planning on writing?”

 It had said that The Fellowship was merely the first part of the story...

 “Two more in that story, plus prequel work.”

 Lucy couldn’t help herself, She hugged Fae tightly.

 “Please tell me what happens to Merry and Pippin, I have to know!!!”

-vVv-

 Getting Lucy to calm down was a job and a half. I reminded myself to thank Natsu for starting a fight that made her lay off as we all took cover in my bunker until the fighting had blown over. I promised to sign her copy to The Fellowship when she had it with her.

  Well that went better than I thought...

-vVv-

 Lucy wasn’t pushy about her pleas for details after her initial frenzy and her empty wallet didn’t let her devote a lot of time to it either. She was investigating the job request board, trying to pick something that she could do by herself and still get a good net return of cash for her rent payment. Loke had three different girls hanging off of him this time...

  For crying out loud... I bemoaned mentally, wanting to bang my head against the table top. Please, try and find something less self destructive...

  If he’s dying, then what does it matter if his behavior is self destructive or not?

 That was really starting to worry me. Loke wasn’t looking so good. He’d been growing paler and paler, degree by degree over the last two years. He still persisted in calling me the Fairy Princess, and he was always very kind and considerate towards me. I sometimes caught inklings that he thought I wasn’t an ordinary kid. But since I knew he wasn’t human, I didn’t think much of it.

  He’s running out of time.

If Loke had been a sun when he came to the guild, he was now a dying campfire.

No...a dying star.

Still bright, still warm and beautiful, but weak.

So very weak...

 I didn’t want to think of what it would feel like if Loke died. I still felt the empty place in the cast of people that formed my family and my life where Lisanna had once been. It still hadn’t filled in. It still hadn’t healed. Just barely scarred over...

 I didn’t want Loke to disappear as well.

Chapter Text

 Erza entered the guild like a super charged thunderhead. Power radiated from her, but she looked calm, controlled and even serene. I was then endlessly entertained as she ripped into guild members who had not performed to her standard while she was gone.

 For all that she was harsh and unmerciful in her criticism, Erza wouldn’t hesitate to lay down her life for any of us if it came down to it. She was the de facto master in Makarov’s absence. And all of us knew that and reciprocated the feeling of protectiveness, even if we might not be as capable as she in carrying it out.

 She had just finished quietly terrifying Gray and Natsu into pretending that they got along when she cast her eyes around the room.

 “Where’s Fae?”

 I waved, standing on a table to see over the others’ heads.

 “Right here, Erza!”

 I was rewarded with a tiny smile that seemed to calm Lucy more than anyone else.

 “There you are. Come on over here.”

 I trotted through the crowd as it parted to give me unhindered access to the S-class Mage. I didn’t hesitate and hugged her. I heard Lucy’s quietly strangled sound of shock as Erza’s gauntleted hand rested on my head briefly. 

“Have you been keeping up on your exercises?”

 “Yup!”

 I affirmed cheerfully. After the scare she had given me the last time I had been idle, I had been doing my utmost to fulfil what assignments she gave me. Erza when she’s trying to be helpful is almost more terrifying than when she’s angry. But in spite of knowing fully well that Erza could turn into a terrifying demon when she chose, and having borne a minor strain of it myself, I just couldn’t find it in me to be as afraid of her as everyone else seemed to be.

 “Very good. Checking on your progress will have to wait though.” Her smile vanished as she looked around the guild hall. “Natsu, Gray, where do you think you’re going?”

 “Nowhere!” Gray yelped. “Just- sticking together, like friends do!”

 “Aye!”

 “Why is Natsu acting like Happy?!”

 Lucy demanded of Mirajane in a hiss.

  “Good, because I need your help.”

 I think the entire guild was listening with bated breath and gaping jaws as Erza asked for another person’s help for the first time, ever.

 She explained about her assignment to investigate Eisenwald, and the requirement that the master had imposed on her to not go alone. What she did not say was that he had also instructed her to make sure that whoever she took along would be strong enough to survive without her constant protection.

Gray and Natsu ain’t gonna be happy about having to work together... I thought even as Erza handed me a small bundle of cloth. Probably another piece of clothing. 

Erza had an eye for the stuff, no surprise considering she didn’t have the same spacial constraints as a regular person did for what she could have available at any given time. But since she was a fully grown woman, there were some things that she couldn’t wear without looking...less than dignified and mature, so she would collect it and give it to me.

  Hopefully it’s nothing too flashy or ridiculous... 

Though since I had gotten a very cool wolf hat from her on her last extended vacation, made from real wolf fur no less, I wasn’t inclined to complain.

I got busy with helping Mira handle a sudden surge of customers as well as organizing a batch of incoming jobs. So I didn’t hear the details that Erza reviewed with her prospective team. The next morning, I saw she, Natsu, Gray, Happy and surprisingly enough, Lucy head out on the job they had taken on.

  The next chapter begins .  

 I scrubbed at my ears furiously as the whisper rippled through me.

  I wish it wouldn’t do that...

-vVv-

 It came as a surprise to absolutely no one that the newly formed team, comprised of three of the most volatile and powerful wizards in the guild plus some extras, leveled the guild master’s meeting house.

 “It just figures...”

 “500 jewel that this is just the beginning!”

 “That’s a sucker’s bet and you know it!“ I just sighed, sending a round of drinks scattered down the bar with a murmured ‘ depulso. ’

 I was currently poring through my knowledge and logical reasoning. Or at least as much logic as I have given this place... A prank job had gotten Krov glued to the wall. Upside down. People were too busy laughing at him to help him down.

 It was all well and good to accept that I had magic and that it worked. But I wanted to know why it worked.

  Magic is the reaction of the combined forces of the transformed ethernano inside a wizard, and the lingering power in the atmosphere outside. Because each person is unique, their magic has the potential to be just as unique. Their emotions and experiences shape how they view the world, thus it alters how their magic power will interact with the world. The younger a wizard is when they activate their magical core, the more simple, basic and powerful their magic is. They have less experience, but a lot more emotion. Experience shapes and refines magic, emotion fuels and strengthens it. 

So why does my magic work like this? Why can something in stories have such a tremendous impact-

Oh...Case in point.

...

 Stories are meant to do that.

-vVv-

 I always thought that lacrima recordings were hellishly expensive soooooo...

 “Can the guild really afford this?”

 “Not right now.” Mirajane agreed, writing up some suggestions she had had. “But with the way your stories have been gaining popularity, it might very well become a big selling point in the future!”

 Mira, in a surprisingly business minded move, had gotten the idea in her head to record me as I spoke, and showed my stories, then selling the lacrima to people passing through the city. 

Doesn’t seem...right. It was my magic after all, and selling my magic, just my magic, gave me an uncomfortable feeling. Because just handing out crystals full of magic power is always a brilliant idea!

 “Wouldn’t it just be easier to set up a broadcasting system with live feed?” I asked, tilting my head. “Sure, the initial costs are higher, but we only have to pay once, and the audience grows exponentially without needing to continually buy new lacrima...”

 “Great idea, Fae! Now I can say it was your idea!”

 “Wait, wha- Mira!!”

-vVv-

 Bisca and Alzack came back from their scouting foray a few days later, saying that they had been looking for the master and the team that had accompanied him.

 I paused, consciously listening to try and get the most recent news...

 “They are currently very hungry, but they’re all alright and will be back within a few days.”

 I paused when I got some more updates, but I kept those to myself.

  Laxus, Freed and Mystogan will also be in town for a bit.

 That was strange though...Where were Evergreen and Bickslow? The three of them didn’t like splitting up... It made sense that Freed would stick with Laxus, his crush was painfully obvious. Or at least, it was to me . But it still didn’t make any sense that they would leave half of their party behind...

  Hmm...

-vVv-

 Loke really wasn’t looking good. At least not to me.

 He didn’t have any girls around him, a rare occurrence, and there was a lot of stewing misery in his story... I had never done anything this heavy duty in therapy before. Not like this, but I didn’t have much else to go on. There wasn’t anything I could do to make Loke’s fate any different...

 It was like watching someone with a terminal illness. You knew that they were going to die, and all you could do was sit beside them and try to save your tears for after. But...I still sat beside Loke, wondering how and what I could do to help him...

 “Why the long face Fairy Princess?”

  You’re dying and I can’t do anything.  

 I just shrugged and lied. 

“Bored.”

 “Well no wonder, Natsu and Gray aren’t here. Even Shadowgear’s gone out of town. Why didn’t they take you along?”

 I snorted.

 “Because Natsu and Gray went with Erza to beat up a Dark Guild and Shadowgear went to work out some upper level curses towards Crocus.”

 “I’ve seen you take apart a S level curse within twenty minutes.”

 Loke’s voice said he wasn’t buying it.

 “The last victim had all of their automatic muscular functions switched with their conscious muscular functions.”

 Meaning that the poor guy had to spend all day, everyday, just focused on breathing and keeping his heart beating while his body did absolutely random things, such as eating food that wasn’t considered safe, or running into traffic to get to where he wanted to go. It wasn’t a good way to live. And it definitely wasn’t something that Levy was going to expose me to even if I could read the whole thing at a glance.

 “Ouch. So you’re here all by your lonesome. Not plotting some new devious way to use your magic?”

 “Writer’s block.”

 “Really?”

 I shifted in my seat, I had a feeling he was onto me...

 How does he always know?

 “Tried to fly again...ran out of magic power, fell a couple stories, Mira nixed any further practice for the day.”

 “I wonder why...?” I ducked my face to keep my scowl from showing, but was rewarded by a chuckle that had some mirth in it. “Aw c’mon princess, don’t be like that. You’re so cute when you pout!”

 “You’re being mean. I don’t like you right now.”

 A sly hand began to tickle my ribs and I flinched, biting down a giggle.

 “Reeeeally?”

  Don’t look at him. He’s making the waggle brow face, don’t look at him...!

 I held onto my composure by the skin of my teeth. His tone was light and playful but that empty resignation to his fate was still ringing through my head. 

Just a little more. Let’s see a smile, Princess. I won’t be around to see many more.

 “I’m disliking you- more and more.”

 I said, voice hitching when he poked a particularly sensitive spot and with the heartbreaking acceptance of death that Loke was giving off in regards to his fate. 

 “I’ll buy you ice cream.”

Give me a good memory to go out with, Fae...

 I gave up. I tackled the banished Celestial Spirit. His triumph was cut off abruptly when he felt wetness on his shirt where my face was pressed to hide my tears from the rest of the guild. Loke was a master actor though, picking me up easily, I was still rather short for my age and carrying me outside with a call of explanation to Mirajane.

 “Have fun!” She called after us happily.

She thinks that it’s cute that Loke always acts like a big brother whenever Natsu and Gray are out of town.

-vVv-

 True to his word, Loke did buy me ice cream, but I didn’t say anything, just clung to his hand. As if that would do something, give him more magic power, make him stay longer...

  Make it so he wouldn’t die.

 Loke wanted to die a member of Fairy Tail, his home away from the heavens. No other bunch of people had ever resonated with him like this. Not one of his past masters, or any other associates he had in the Spirit Realm could ever come close to Fairy Tail.

 “So why the waterworks, Fae?”

 Loke asked, looking down at me through his tinted shades. We were sitting on a bench in a park by the sea. It wasn’t the beach front, but pretty all the same. And, right now, it was secluded, which was what I needed. This would be difficult enough without gawkers.

I swallowed another bite of ice cream, trying to think of some way that I could broach the subject without freaking Loke out or crying again. My eyes were still a little red.

 “You...You know what my magic is?”

 “Your stories and illusions.”

 He replied. I bit my lip nervously.

“That’s...that was my first instance of magic. But the next time that I deliberately managed to use it, I developed Retrocognition. Psychometry.”

 He blinked for a moment, an uncomprehending look on his face...I steeled myself, aware that I was shrinking a little, shoulders hunching inward.

 “In layman’s terms...the ability to see someone’s past.”

 Loke froze beside me on the bench. I plowed on, hands tightening on my mostly eaten ice cream cone. His feelings were practically being screamed at me with denial, guilt and sadness.

  She didn’t...

 “I...I tried not to see.”

She did.

 “The first thing I realized was how much you had been hurt, so I tried not to look. But every time I was around you I just...heard a little more.”

 It was just so with Erza’s time at the Tower of Heaven and her not entirely dead love for Jellal in spite of everything he had done to her. Gray’s decimated childhood home at the hands of a demon of Zeref and his teacher, Ur, quite possibly the best Ice Wizard within the last century, dying to seal it away and free Gray from his revenge focused mindset.

 Loke didn’t seem to be able to talk, so I did my utmost to fill the silence.

 “I saw that you’re a Golden Spirit.” I whispered, eyes on the ground, already starting to fill with tears. “I saw how many times you suffered because of a bad master.”

 There were far, far too many of these for me to handle. Hardly any of them were cruel, not deliberately, and if they got to that point, Loke...Leo, had always been able to dissolve his contract, force it to end once the line was crossed. But the power drain that this action caused wasn’t something the other spirits could easily do. So Loke had to watch his friends, his family, suffer alone, or grit his teeth and bear the humiliation to try and make their situation better.

 I saw him and Aquarius, the strongest of the Zodiac, worry about the rest of their number when they saw their troubles.

 “I saw...I saw Karen trying to hurt Aries, and you standing up to her...”

 I was crying now, tears rolling down my face. The words I couldn’t say sitting heavy in my chest.

  I saw you get banished. I know you’re dying.

“I don’t want you to die, Loke...”

-vVv-

 Loke knew Fae was smart and perceptive. The flash of her ethereal blue eyes across a room could make a shiver crawl down the unwary spine, and she never seemed to miss a thing that went on in the guild or even in the city.

 He had...puzzled together that Fae could do something to find out people’s pasts, but he hadn’t thought that it would be so...so personal for her. All the other examples of Retrocognition he had come across hadn’t been capable of tracking someone through an identity change, let alone going back hundreds of years. This wasn’t like anything he had ever seen before.

  But none of those wizards were Fae.

  None of them had been surrounded by a loving family and taught to embrace and train their powers. They didn’t have Story Magic, whose very nature was to inspire emotion and feeling.

 Fae was crying again. 

Oh stardust!

  Loke panicked momentarily, briefly forgetting that this girl had seen his every dark secret. Including the fact of his oncoming demise.

“I don’t want you to die, Loke...”

  He heard the words repeated as if from a great distance.

 Death. Something that his kind were never thought to have to face. They just kept right on existing, passed from master to master throughout generations.

  No one has ever worried about me like that.

 Loke thought, watching Fae curl up, hiding her face in her knees and sobbing. It was clearly something that had been weighing on her mind for quite some time that was only now breaking free...

  Because she can see what’s coming for me.

 The banished Celestial Spirit sighed. He may have been damned. But he didn’t want to leave tears behind him. Especially not on Fae.

 “Hey, come on Princess...” He wrapped an arm around her and let her cry into his jacket. “You’ll be fine...”

 A small hand clutched the green material and she shook her head.

 “No...I don’t want another person to leave...”

 He had heard about Lisanna, in whispers for the most part. No one felt comfortable bringing up her death when it still weighed so heavily on her siblings.

 “I broke the law, Fae. I killed someone. I have to die to pay for that-” Her fist slammed into his chest with surprising force, cutting him off as his breath went out of him in a rush. Yep! Definitely Natsu’s little sis!  

“But it’s not your fault! I saw it...I saw all of it...I saw the King making the ruling...What’s the point of being able to see everything under the heavens if you can’t see the truth?”

 Aside from the earth shattering revelation that Fae had seen the Celestial Spirit king, something no human had done for a couple centuries, Loke was totally cool. (Just how strong a wizard is she gonna be!?) He was always cool!

You have a nine year old human girl crying on your chest and you’re the one making her cry. You are the farthest thing from cool right now!

He didn’t have anything to say that could comfort her.

 He was dying, there wasn’t anything he could do about that. Even if he didn’t deserve it, the Celestial King’s word was final. Part of his avoidance of Celestial Spirit Mages was to prevent any of them from suffering Karen’s fate due to interacting with him.

  I can’t do anything Fae...I’m sorry. I’m going to die...and all that can really be done is you accept that and move on.

 “Not your fault...It’s not...”

 Fae was repeating this like a mantra between sobs, her grief touching some part inside of him that wished to live... That feared death, and the emptiness more than anything.

“My wizard died because of me.” He told Fae, stroking her blue-green hair gently. “There’s no mercy after a crime like that. Celestial Spirits are supposed to protect our wizards with our whole beings, even to the point of dying for them. It’s the law.”

 “What kind of law doesn’t protect it’s own people?”

 The girl’s voice was bitter and surprisingly clear, it rang like a gong in Loke’s ears.

 “A king is supposed to protect his own over all else...Human’s die all the time. It’s the one thing we can never truly escape. No amount of protection from any spirit will change that. It was guaranteed that Karen would die someday...So why do you have to be punished for it, when you didn’t do anything except try to protect your friends? The law is wrong.”

 The former Spirit gazed down at the girl with wide eyes. But she wasn’t done yet.

 “People who break the rules are seen as scum...but anyone who abandons their friends, they’re worse than scum. There’s nothing worse than that...and you...you just wanted to help...”

No one, human or Spirit, had ever called into question that the laws were wrong. Doing so would mean that the King was wrong for enforcing them.

  If the law is wrong...what does that say about me?

That he didn’t deserve to die. He wasn’t supposed to be weighed down by Karen’s death. That dark mantle was still pressing down on him, but there was...resistance inside him. Loke was fighting, standing up, trying to push back.

  Karen is dead. That can’t be changed. But...

But facing his death felt very different now.

-vVv-

 Loke’s arms tightened around me, his emotions ringing with stunned amazement.

  No one has ever challenged the Celestial Spirit King like that in his memory.

  His guilt was still strong, but there was something...different about the way he felt now. Something had changed in him. I thought that there had to be some way for Loke to be saved though...It wasn’t right to just have him disappear when he hadn’t done anything wrong.

 Loke had been dying slowly day by day in the human world. It’s ethernano couldn’t replenish his strength like it would for a human. The only way he could survive here indefinitely was if he bonded with a Celestial Spirit mage-

  Lucy. The thought came in the calm, bland voice. Lucy can save him.

 I didn’t stop crying, but I did let Loke soothe me into stillness again.

 “I didn’t think you’d be that upset.”

 I glared at him through still stinging eyes.

 “You’re part of Fairy Tail and that makes you my family.” 

  Why wouldn’t I be upset, moron?  

He chuckled weakly, ruffling my hair.

 “Alright, alright princess, don’t go looking at me like that.” He rose, picking me up as he did so and shifting me until I was riding on his back. “We’d better go wash your face to brighten up those pretty eyes of yours again. I’d rather not have everyone jump me when we go back to the guild for dinner.” 

“...ok.”

 I was still upset that Loke would value his life so little as that. But...I was certain in what I had heard. Lucy would, somehow, in some way, change Loke’s fate. We were walking through the streets now. The silence wasn’t companionable, but it was understanding. Words that we had kept inside had been said and it was much easier to look at him now that it had been before.

 “I don’t want to set you off again-”

 “You won’t.” I cut him off. “It only came all out like that because it was building up to it since I first heard your story.”

 “So you’re good?” I gave him a flat look which made him wince. “Alright, poor choice of words...”

 Indeed. I was in no way, shape or form ‘good’. Nor was I completely satisfied. But...I was content with this promise for the time being. I couldn’t draw on the Celestial Spirit world in any significant amount of strength to give Loke the relief he needed, even if he still possessed his key. And trying to force a summoning gate to open without the key was about a thousand times harder.

 Loke was still mulling something over...

 “Hey, Fae...”

 I looked up at him, his orangish hair gleaming in the dying sunlight.

 “What is it?”

 “If I tell you stories about...Leo...would you keep them alive for me?”

 I blinked.

 “Of course, but...”

 “None of the other spirits remember me.” He said sadly. “When I was banished, I was taken out of their memory. Made it so as if I never even existed to them.”

 And for that to happen, for the people that he had literally been with since the beginning of creation, for the people that he had been banished for...

  Ok...ouch.

 Having humans remember him was probably the next best thing he could do. To leave something behind when he finally died.

 I took Loke’s hand.

 “I’ll tell stories about the Lion.” I promised. “But Fairy Tail will tell stories about Loke forever.”

 His mouth twitched up in an attempted smile.

 “You gonna stick around that long to make sure of that?”

 I...actually considered it.

 I didn’t even want to think about the measures that would have to be taken for that to even be feasible. None of the methods of attaining immortality were ever easy, nice or especially good for the person’s mental health, but-

 “I know that look.”

 “It’s nothing!”

 A hand came down on my head, knuckles rubbing my scalp painfully.

 “Whatever you were just thinking about, forget it, delete it, do something to get rid of it! I don’t want my life to be cut even shorter by the master if he thinks I’m getting you stuck on becoming immortal!”

 “But all I have to do is-”

 “Fae, no!”

-vVv-

 Team...Well, whatever the team was called anyway, came back a day or so later. And I still hadn’t managed to fly. I was getting closer! I had actually managed to get off the ground with the last few!

 “-so help me, Fae, if I have to nail your feet to the ground to keep you safe until Freed can supervise you, I will! Of all the-” 

 Erza wasn’t pleased. Neither was Gray, or Natsu. I had gotten about twenty feet off the ground before my rune died out. I was so close! Lucy was just panicking over the fact that I could even make that much progress at my age. Master seemed pretty chill about the whole thing. Then again, he hadn’t given me the dressing down yet, though anything he said after Erza was finished with me was bound to seem second rate.

 And Happy...

A small blue winged figure flitted around the drama centered on me with muffled snickers. I shot him a look...

  “Get your head out of the clouds...” 

 I muttered, focusing on what I wanted...I was instantly gratified when Happy fell to the ground with a clunk and a bewildered look. He strained his wings, but he wasn’t budging. Gravity held him in its merciless claws.

  Vindication...~

“-Are you even listening to me!?”

  Oh Dust! I wasn’t!

  My mind latched on my magic and I quickly began speaking, or...quoting everything that I hadn’t heard, which my power had apparently kept track of.

 “‘Of all the irresponsible, foolhardy things you could attempt while we’re away, let alone something to even partially succeed at. What in the world were you thinking trying to do this alone? Are you even listening to me?’.”

 I hastily rattled off everything Erza had said that I hadn’t been paying attention to. Erza didn’t get mad at me normally, but holy hell was she mad right now!

 “And I have been, Erza, I’ve just been waiting for a break in the rant to do some explaining.” 

 Erza glowered, clearly ready to keep right on berating me. But Makarov spoke up now.

 “Now then, Erza. Let Fae-chan explain herself, before you continue to scold her. I’m sure she wasn’t as foolhardy about this as you believe.”

 I was too glad that the tirade had been paused to bother being offended that Makarov did think that I had been a bit hasty.

  I’ll show all of you...

I lifted my arms and showed two strips of cloth tied about my wrists marked with amber rune script.

 “These read as reflective cushions.” I jumped onto a table and let myself fall off, deliberately not catching myself. Instead of impacting the ground with a hard thunk, I just kinda...bounced with a springy sound and landed back on my feet. “All the tests that I’ve done with these runes with objects weighing up to 300 lbs and being dropped off the guild hall roof-” Which was about 30 to 35 feet off the ground. “-have produced the same results. I made these and tested all of them vigorously before I tried to use any of the plausible runes I made to fly. I had these on my wrists, and got a whole bunch of straw and cushions to land on in case the runes fail.”

 The anger I sensed started to drop the more I spoke in a calm, rational tone.

 “I...I see.” Erza’s shoulders slumped. “I...may have overreacted.”

 She didn’t seem to notice the multitude of incredulous looks she got from other guild members around us.

 “I had thought that that might be the case.” Makarov sighed with a satisfied smile. “Erza is correct in saying that it would be best for Freed to supervise your efforts since he is your teacher in this regard and has also devised a successful ‘flight’ rune array of his own. However, since he is not going to be back for some time, and if you continue to take the proper precautions, I have no problems with you continuing your efforts Fae.”

 My shoulders slumped with relief that I couldn’t hide upon hearing that. My entire schtick would have been for nothing. had Makarov banned me from practicing.

 “Thank you, master.”

 I gave a wide, relieved smile. I wanted to fly so badly it was ridiculous...

 “It’s no trouble, Fae-chan. It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into this to ensure your safety.” The little old man laughed. “Won’t be much longer unlike you’re flying around this old place like a little fairy yourself, eh Happy?”

 Said cat was still struggling to get back into the air.

 “Fae! Stop it! Get your spell off of me!”

 “It’s not gonna last much longer anyway.” I assured him. “And it’s what you get for being a furry little troll like that.” Happy’s wings glowed all the more brightly and he strained, upward, actually managing to get a few inches of air. “Stop pushing so hard, otherwise you’ll-”

 Just like that, my little counter spell wore off and Happy shot into the air like a bullet from a gun. He gave a terrified yell as he abruptly braked to try and kill his speed, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid slamming face first into the ceiling. 

 This brought on a loud rumble of laughter.

 “Oi! You ok up there little buddy?”

 Natsu looked concerned, but he wasn’t breathing fire or angry, so I wasn’t worried for my safety. Happy’s reply was muffled in the wood, but...

 “Well what didja expect Fae to do? You know how much she wants to fly!” 

 Happy’s answer was still incomprehensible, but his fluttering wings said he felt strongly about what he said.

 “Oh let it go, you big scaredy cat, she tried to warn you!” Natsu paused, then snickered... “You should see how ridiculous you look from down here though...”

 “He understands that?”

 Lucy asked disbelievingly, watching the conversation between the two partners and best friends progress.

 “Natsu’s known Happy for a really long time. Since he was born actually.” I explained. “That and given at how they usually eat, I’m not really surprised by this.”

 Lucy considered this...then sighed.

 “Yeah, me neither I guess. These guys have their own code for burping...”

 “They actually organized it into a code?”

 “I don’t know. Happy claims that they did, but...”

 “But Happy likes pulling people’s figurative tails.” I agreed. “You’re picking up on guild life really fast if you can already make that call about him. Half of Magnolia still thinks he’s a sweet, innocent kitty cat who can talk and fly.”

 The Celestial Spirit Mage gave me a disbelieving look.

 “Him?!”

 I patted her arm consolingly.

 “Uh-huh. Got a couple fishmonger's wrapped around his paw. He only goes fishing with Natsu for the bonding. Where do you think he gets all the fish he always carries around in his little bag?”

-vVv-

 The summons for Erza to face the Magic Council wouldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. She and Natsu were just getting ready to start their match. And regardless of the fact that Erza would almost certainly win in the end, it would have been a show worth seeing.

  Something’s wrong .  

 The bland factual voice that told me so much about the world said. I waited for some further evidence to present itself. Some kind of additional clue as to why Erza was so shaken by this notion.

 But it was silent.

 Completely and utterly silent. Not a whisper of anything else came. I was so absorbed in trying to track down that new information that I completely missed Macau making the switch with Natsu so the Dragon Slayer of our guild could follow Erza to her trial and witness for her. Although, knowing him, he was probably gonna break something along the way.

  The entire guild is known for unintentional collateral damage, not just Erza. Her actions were destructive, but her team’s intervention also saved the lives of the guild masters and completely decimated Eisenwald as a threat to central Fiore .

 Finally! More-

 ...That did bring up some questions though. Why had Erza been arrested and charged with responsibility? Makarov had been there and the guild master is the one who speaks for his guild in this kind of thing.  I looked across the guild hall at the tiny old man and saw his knuckles were white on the little staff that he sometimes carried around as part of his eccentric outfits.

  He doesn’t know either. It’s worrying him. 

 He suspects something might be wrong.

Chapter Text

 I was in a riotously good mood today and it was remarked on several times. I always kept mum and kept on working.

 Late last night, I had had another...precognitive flash of sorts. Right in the middle of my ‘flight’ rune prototypes, I wrote, completely unthinking of what I was doing: Mystogan is coming to the guild hall. And right beneath it. Laxus is coming back. Seeing two of my favorite people in the guild who were away so often was always a treat.

 ...And no, it wasn’t just because Laxus was my only real contact to Freed right now.

 But either way, seeing them was always something to look forward to, with Mystogan in any case. Laxus not so much. I had been reading high levels of tension and frustration off of him, though his future plans were clouded with secrecy. I could deliberately look away from certain parts of a story if people deliberately classified them as a secret. Every now and then, anyway. My control over my Retrocognition was spotty at best but Laxus agreed to help me practice all the same.

 “What are you so cheerful about?”

 Lucy asked as she sat at my table flipping through a book, my rewrite of ‘Into the Land of the Unicorns’, that was going to be sent out for publishing next year under a new name. She was...kinda scary when she heard that I had already completed the first transcript. Lucy had gleefully claimed the place of ‘proofreader’. The book wasn’t that big, even with the expanded story that I had woven into it and she was a fast reader even without her Windreader glasses. She was already almost halfway through it.

 “Two of our S-class mages are coming back today.”

 I replied happily. Gray paused.

 “Really? Can’t be Gildarts already, right?” 

 I shook my head.

 “Mystogan and Laxus.”

 Gray sighed.

 “Figures. The guy no one has ever actually seen and the lord of all assholes.”

 Erza chopped him on the head and he went down with a yelp.

“Mind your language.” 

  Whatever she saw at her trial yesterday has shaken her and scared her badly.

 My mental bland commentary on life reported. Erza was more tense than a ballista strung at full draw.

 “Laxus is coming back?” Natsu grinned like a shark. “Awesome! Hey Erza! Whaddaya say we pick up where we left off yesterday? I could use a warm up for when that blond bastard comes back-”

 Erza laid him out flat with one punch to the stomach.

“I’m not up for it and you certainly aren’t in any shape to take on Laxus.”

 Lucy hummed.

 “Oh yeah. I remember. Yesterday, they said that the position for the strongest male wizard was a toss up between Mystogan, Laxus and that one Gildarts guy...”

 “It’s not up for debate.” I informed her. “They’re just the S-class guys. Gildarts is easily the strongest of the three, we just don’t see him a whole lot ‘cause he takes on the super tough jobs that take him all over the place.”

 “So is that what that board up there is for?”

 Lucy asked, pointing up to the S-class board on the second floor.

 “Yup. Only S-class mages or the master can go on the second floor.” I scowled. “Someone tried to steal a quest from their board once too often and got everyone else banned.”

 Lucy sighed, glancing down at the prone Dragon Slayer.

 “I wonder who that could have been...?”

  Right on target, Luce. Right on target.

“Come to think of it, neither Laxus or Mystogan have been back for a couple weeks now. Not that they’re around a whole lot in the first place.”

 Gray mused, pulling himself back onto a chair, rubbing the lump Erza had left on his skull.

 “Three months, two weeks and four days. But who’s counting?”

 I asked going back to my writing. I had shelved flight for the time being and was focusing on the storage runes.

  If I make storage runes that I can use as extra magical batteries then hello unlimited stamina~!

 “Um, you are apparently?”

 Lucy stated a little dryly. She had a knack for doing that. And the talent got plenty of practice considering the company she usually kept. There was a lull in the conversation while Happy tried to wake Natsu up with limited success.

 “Nah...s’all tastesh gud t’me...”

 Lucy sighed, giving him a fond look.

 “Only he could dream about food after getting socked in the gut like that...”

 “Nah, Gildarts could too.” Gray objected. “He’s a lot like Natsu...” 

The conversation turned to Gray telling Lucy more about the three absent S-class mages. I kept my focus on my work and let my attention slip away from the world around me.

-vVv-

 I felt the beginning tendrils of a familiar spell about an hour later and my head came up even as the others in the guild started to become drowsy with the potent spell that was being cast.

  When did Mystogan get here?

 “What’s going...on-?”

 Lucy swayed before collapsing, though she lasted a good bit longer than most of the others. Natsu had gone out within the first fifteen seconds. He was kinda susceptible to this kind of magic whenever his blood wasn’t up and roaring from a fight.

  Pathetic. They call themselves a guild?  

The whisper of sound in my mind was in Laxus’s voice, though I hadn’t seen him arrive, either.

 “Hiya, Laxus!”

 I called cheerfully, looking up towards the second story. He didn’t acknowledge me, looking as if he had swallowed a lemon for some reason as he looked over the guild, most of whom were either falling asleep or getting to that point. 

“Hello? Laxus?”

 Still nothing. I was aware that the master was watching me with some bemusement. Mystogan wasn’t inside yet. He was probably somewhere up the street, and had just started casting early to ensure that everyone would be asleep by the time he got there.

  I will not be ignored.

I still couldn’t fly properly, but there wasn’t anything from stopping me from getting up to that level while still following the rules of no non S-class wizards being allowed upstairs...

“Put a stair case here.”

  I murmured, point to a section of railing a little ways away from the S-class Wizard.

 The steps that appeared led me all the way up to where Laxus was sitting on the rail like some giant thunder-vulture. No one else would be able to follow me up the stairs without making it break, and it wouldn’t last very long in the first place, but it ought to get me close enough to make my goal. I hopped the short distance to the sturdy railing, needing to haul myself up when I barely didn’t make it. I then proceeded to walk along to where he sat as if I were on a tightrope. I was still only a little taller than he was when he was sitting down.

  I am short...Am I...Nah, he’s just really tall.

 I was now about even with Laxus, just off to the side from where he was staring into space and not responding to anything. I reached out and poked his cheek.  He blinked, coming back to reality.

 “Wha-?”

“I didn’t write you a daydream, what were you thinking so hard about?”

 I spoke lightly, somehow managing to keep my balance on the narrow wood beneath my feet. I wouldn’t be nearly this calm if I didn’t still have my bouncy seals on... The man looked at me then, eyes narrowed for a split second. But with some measure of concern rather than any real scolding.

 “What are you doing on the second floor? You know it’s against the rules.”

 I grinned, letting a little bit of sheepish childishness seep into my voice.

“I’m ‘technically’ not on the second floor.”

 I was standing on the railing next to him, not on the floor. It was a loophole and I was running with it!

 Then Laxus demonstrated a narrow field of vision that he had thus far managed to keep from becoming common knowledge. He looked at me...then it clicked.

“Get off the railing before you fall, brat.”

 He told me, grey eyes flat and unamused.

 “I would, but rules are rules and the first floor is a long way down...”

 Deliberately being difficult with Laxus was like playing on the tracks. Risky, but thrilling so long as you didn’t get hit by an oncoming train.

 “How the hell did you get up here?”

 “I made stairs.”

 I replied.

 “Ok, why are you up here?”

 “You weren’t answering.” I reached out and lifted away one of his headphones. “How loud is this playing? You’re gonna blow out your ears.”

 His hand came up to take the earphone back rather forcefully and I slipped.

  Oops.

  “Fae!”

 Mystogan’s voice sounded alarmed and I already felt his magic flowing from a staff that caught me before I had fallen more than three feet. I didn’t think he was that fast on the draw... I flipped backwards on the cushion of...air that had caught me.

“You can let me fall, Mystogan. I’ll just bounce!”

 “You know gravity doesn’t work like that!”

 The normally unflappable S-class mage looked rather irked at my current predicament. He was just standing in the door, one of his staves in hand. I felt a large hand grab my ankle and hoist me up off of my floating perch.

 Laxus held onto me even as he jumped down to the first floor to deposit me back on the ground. He bopped my head with a fist.

 “That was dumb, brat.”

 I was unrepentant.

 “Why? I was serious when I said I’d bounce.” I held up my wrists which still had my cloth bracelets tied onto them, the amber runes looking more like ink on the pale material than magic. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to fly for awhile now and I made these to keep myself from cracking my head open.”

 Laxus’ fist descended on my head anyway, giving me a noogie had me squirming and yelping.

 “You’re still a cheeky little brat. ‘Technically not on the second floor,‘ my ass.”

“Stoppit!”

 I beat at his larger form with very ineffective fists as I struggled to free myself. His story read of very deeply hidden affection and irritation. But the dark bitterness that had prompted his negative reaction to the sight of the rest of the guild was gone for now.

 “ Grease! ”

 I squeaked, feeling my skin become slick to the touch and his grip suddenly slid from its firm hold. I managed to slip free, skipping well out of arm’s reach. I let the brief boost spell lapse and stuck my tongue out at Laxus triumphantly. He was at least smirking now, the ugly negativity had dissipated from his aura.

 “Tricky little brat.”

 This sounded like a compliment coming from him. Mystogan had continued forward and was choosing a job off of the board.

 “Aw, thanks Laxus!” I skipped after Mystogan as he headed out the door. “You always have something nice to say!”

 I ducked as a tiny flicker of electricity made for me. I was aware of my laughter resonating through the slowly rousing guildhall as I chased after one of my older friends.

-vVv-

 Makarov chuckled as Fae tripped out after Mystogan, so very much like a puppy yapping at the heels of a favored soul... She had that tendency to flock around the older guild members. But she had a special spot for Mystogan in her regard since he wasn’t around as often as others. The masked wizard often had some kind of treat, or present for her, saying to Makarov that he truly enjoyed being the object of such innocent admiration.

 But what was more interesting to him right now...

 “I see that smile, Laxus.”

 The aforementioned expression on his grandson’s face vanished as soon as he spoke.

 “You’re getting senile, old man.” He grunted, thrusting a rolled up paper back at him. The last job he had undertaken with the Thunder Legion. “The joke of a dark guild has been taken apart.” 

Makarov accepted the job and the report, filled out in Freed’s elegant hand, with a nod.

 “I’m glad to hear it.”

 The distance between him and his grandson was something that concerned him greatly.

Laxus had been very bitter over his father being excommunicated from Fairy Tail and had swiftly become reclusive and shunned the company of others in the guild. Him having brought Freed into the guild some years ago had been a tremendous relief to the old guild master. It meant that Laxus was no longer forcing himself to be alone. Freed had been an odd one and had taken some time until he became fully comfortable in their guild. But he had warmed up to them over time. They largely kept to themselves, working in a very effective team to complete jobs.

  And then there were two.

 Freed idolized Laxus to a certain extent that Makarov knew couldn’t be  healthy or entirely platonic. But this wasn’t a major sticking point for anyone, and the Rune Mage was reasonably covert about it, so no one had a problem with it. But they were still very clearly two individuals who gravitated towards one another and precious few others.

Then Fae had happened.

Upon discovering her magic, and the course in which her power lay, Fae had latched onto Freed’s experience, hungry for any knowledge that he could impart. And being regarded so highly by a soul such as Fae had done some very interesting things to Freed’s personality. He became more confident, more certain in using his unique Visual Magic. And he adored the young wizardling in turn. Rare was the occasion when he didn’t have some kind of gift for Fae when he returned from a job, and rarer still was the time when Fae didn’t leap up from whatever she was doing to embrace him in greeting.

 It truly warmed the heart to see the affection that was shared between the two Rune users.

 Laxus had noticed Fae and try as he might to deny it, Makarov could see he too was falling victim to the trait of loving the young girl.

-vVv-

 Spending time with Mystogan was always a treat. He had ventured west this time on a series of protection, escort and item recovery jobs.

 “You got to see an original Archive Hub!?” I asked, extremely jealous. “A new one of those hasn’t been made in a few centuries!”

 Archive Hubs were storage lacrima, utterly, and ridiculously massive ones. They could take a normal wizard’s archive capabilities and magnify them to many thousands of times it’s overall effectiveness. They were databases of magic from the time when guilds were still feared and hunted instead of celebrated. The magic and knowledge that the wizards in those days had used was some pretty hot stuff nowadays. Split offs of the Archive Hub lacrima were tightly controlled and went for a ridiculous price in any market. Even the oldest Hub that had been found contained almost a thousand years of data and wasn’t even a quarter of the way filled.

 “It was my job to renew the protections around it, so yes, I saw quite a bit of it.” Mystogan said, chuckling. “I did not get the chance to use it, or see it in use and it was only a little under four hundred years old.”

 I glared at him. 

 “Stop trying to undersell it to make me feel better. It’s not working.”

 “Don’t worry about it Fae. With the way your rune work is progressing, you’ll be at the needed level to work in that field before long.”

 “I’m not even a real member.” I groused. “I’ve been asking to take a mark for almost a year now, and Master still says no...”

 “You’re only nine.”

 “So was Gray when he started working.”

 “Gray had his own set of circumstances that dictated what he was ready for, just as you have your own challenges to deal with.” The masked wizard placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re making incredible progress, Fae. But don’t be in such a hurry to leave your childhood behind you. You won’t ever be able to get it back once you do.”

 My shoulders slumped.

 “Everyone says that...” I had been told this, or some variation of it since I first asked to become a full member after six months of part time work with Shadowgear on their jobs. “I don’t see what will really change after I have a mark. I’ll still go out on jobs with other people before I try to solo anything. I’ll still be Fae...”

 “So why are you so desperate to grow up?”

 The blue haired wizard’s question was one I had considered already and had an answer to once I realized just how frustrated I was.

 “Because I don’t have any reason to stay a child.” I looked up at him and saw that he was surprised at how easily I had answered.  “I’m the youngest wizard in the guild, Mystogan. Except for a few people, there isn’t anyone I can talk to without automatically being reduced to the level of a child in their mind. I love everyone in the guild, but they have the unconscious habit of believing themselves to be older, and wiser and obviously more knowledgeable than I am. It feels as though they only hear half of what I say, and dismiss the rest because ‘I’m just a kid’.”

 “It could just be your frustration making it seem like that.”

 “Master, Laxus, Erza, Natsu, and you are the only ones that treat me like an equal and let me make my own mistakes.”

 We sat down on a bench, Mystogan automatically adjusting his staves to allow for swiftest action should the need arise.

  He’s always so paranoid...Like he has to act in an instant...

 My magic spoke then.

The Anima must be reacted to promptly.

 I blinked.

 What the heck is an ‘Anima’. The main definition of anima is a person’s true self or their deepest soul. But that was capitalized, it’s a thing separate from a person...

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard a strange term from Mystogan’s Story and I was...rather curious but unwilling to pry.

“So you’re hitting the point in your life when you start to crave more independence.”

 I rolled my eyes.

 “I’m nine, Mystogan. I’m not hitting puberty for a few more years.”

 “The mental transition from child to adult doesn’t necessarily have to follow the body’s maturing rate. As far as I can see, you’ve been touching on that change since you first came to the guild. Especially after you first deliberately used your magic.”

“If it’s that obvious, why don’t more people see that?! It’s not like I try to hide it!”

 My outburst resulted in Mystogan resting his hand on my head, combing his fingers through the light green-blue strands.

“The only thing I can tell you is something you don’t want to hear, Fae.”

 I sighed.

 “Be patient?”

 “Be patient.”

-vVv-

 The next morning, it came to light that someone had stolen an S-class Quest.

Happy took it from the board because the reward includes a golden Celestial Spirit key and he really does like Lucy. Natsu took it to her for the same reason.  

This apparently qualified as a ship update.

 “Hey, Fae.” Gray sat down beside me. “You can read the stories of people right? Do you know who took the quest off the board?”

 “Happy did.” I answered. “The reward included a Celestial Spirit key so he must have grabbed it for Lucy.”

 The particular request had been on the board for three months. It was possible that the requester would have sent word to another guild of the offer of work and annulled the flier on Fairy Tail’s board.

 “Of course he did. Did Natsu put him up to it?”

 I paused in my writing...then shook my head.

 “I can’t tell.”

Gray has been given the assignment of retrieving them and the job request.

That explained why he was talking to me about this.

“Damn, I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway.”

 I poked Gray’s hand before he could take off his shirt.  I give it ten minutes before he loses his shirt on the way.  Cana tended to call Gray out on his stripping habits after he had removed his attire.

  She thinks he’s hot. 

Good lord I did not need to know that! I scrubbed my ears as if that would help erase what the implications of that statement were. 

 “-idiot. No reward is gonna be worth the punishment master’s gonna deal out...”

There are only 12 golden keys in all the world. They are priced at approximately-

HOLY CRAP THAT’S A LOT!!  

 I felt my mouth hang open slightly.

 “Fae?”

 “Gray...you are aware that there is only one copy of each Golden key in the whole world...?”

 “Really? Are they that important?”

 I face planted on the table.

With each key you can summon a uniquely powerful extraterrestrial being that is not bound by the rules of human magic. Foremost being, they can be summoned from just about anywhere without regards for most barriers or blockades. These people have been alive since literally the creation of the concept of the Zodiac, that is, a really freaking long time...

“The estimated value of a Golden Gate Key is well over a billion jewel...”

 I said into the table. I heard Gray start, he twitched so hard the bench rocked.

 “What!?”

 “Collectors would give an arm, leg and several internal organs to have one of them in their possession, they are that rare and powerful but most of all: They’re reliable and darn near indestructible. Silver keys warp over time, but nothing is known to be able to break or damage a golden Gate Key.”

Except summoning the Celestial Spirit King.

You are being remarkably chatty today.

 “Holy crap...I didn’t think the things were that valuable...”

 “They’re really only usable by Celestial Spirit mages, and there have been fewer and fewer of those as time passes. But yes, they are unbelievably rare. It’s probably the only reason that the job was on the S-class board in the first place. Either way, don’t you have some wayward wizards and a flying cat to catch?”

If that doesn’t tell you how rich Lucy’s family was...

-vVv-

 Erza went after Gray when he didn’t come back after a day with the missing wizards. I just kept on writing, mentally keeping tabs on updates to their story. I sincerely doubted that anything could hurt them if they were all together. But just in case...

-vVv-

 The hall always seemed so quiet without Natsu or Gray there to cause trouble or pick fights with one another and Erza to keep them in line.

  Freed is on the outskirts of town.

 I rose almost instantly and raced out the door.

I might not be able to fly, but I did manage to work this out...

“Leap tall buildings in a single bound!”

 I said, activating the bands I had tied around my ankles and springing to a rooftop and scorning gravity. I landed lightly, the shock having been absorbed by my bouncy seals and I started running. Erza had recommended free running to build up my endurance since I wasn’t very inclined towards learning weapons like she was. I could tell she was immensely disappointed in my lack of interest.

 Running and  jumping as if I were in a reduced gravity zone did have its downsides, such as when I overshot roofs. But my safety seals kept me from getting hurt or causing much collateral damage. I heard some people laughing as I went by overhead and I waved at them.

  It’s not flying... I hit the roof running hard and launched myself forward for the jump the the cathedral roof. I pushed off with a little more force than before and I soared... But it’s still pretty darn cool.

 I landed on the roof tiles, and knew I only had a few moments until the Rune Knights got on my case for being here. I held my hands in front of my eyes, cupping them as if I were holding binoculars.

  “Scanning for Justine, Freed...”

 I mused, voice enhanced with magic.

 Nothing really changed as I turned slowly in a circle...then I spotted a glowing beacon in the distance. Found ya! I dismissed the brief spell and started running.

 “Hey you!”

 I crowed with laughter as I jumped off the cathedral roof.

Somebody’s gotta cause trouble with Natsu not being around and Erza isn’t here to scold me!

-vVv-

 I paused on a rooftop, confused at what I saw Freed doing.

He was using his rune magic, but he was setting up a one way barrier around a certain area. And the conditions for being able to leave the area...

  Two people enter the trap. One person leaves.

  Only the fact that the rune he was using could be used for more than outright ‘death’ kept me from freaking out. But the auto-reset was...concerning. There was no top limit on how many times people could get stuck in that. What was Freed doing?! Was he planning for an invasion?

I was about to ask, but I looked closer, crouched behind a chimney and watching my teacher work.

 If I asked him...would he tell me truthfully? This wasn’t the kind of trap that you set up for fun, or even for defending the town just in case.

 I looked over the rune circle warily. He wasn’t activating it. Just hooking it up into a previously laid down ground work. The kind that could connect several separate spells so they could be activated at the same time. 

 He has already made twenty other trapped areas like this.

 I loved Freed. I trusted him...but this sat wrong with me. It was like hearing nails on a chalkboard in my subconscious It just made my hackles go up. Maybe if I went and found the other areas he had already made, I could find something about why he was putting them up. It had to be an experiment of some kind...or... a tournament. That made more sense. Some kind of tournament for the guild...that he wasn’t telling anyone about.

 All my laughter and excitement at seeing him had slowly been draining down to nothing.

 If Freed had made these to not undetectable until he activated them, I’d probably only find what I was looking for if I literally stepped in one. I’d have to either wait until he finished this one, or try and sneak up and get a hand on it without him noticing me. Which...

Stay hidden.

 Reading a spell’s motive was harder than reading its intended function. I usually had to touch it before I could sense any kind of motive beyond the general intent.

I stayed hidden on the roof, and focused, trying to discern what feelings Freed was bleeding out through his magic.

Channeling emotion into one’s magic power was a very old method of boosting a wizard’s reserves. But as magic became more and more refined over the course of time, knowledge building upon knowledge, people learning from their predecessors, the greater the gap between emotion and magic had become. More precise spells needed finer control, which meant emotion was a hindrance instead of a benefit. Kinda like trying to use a fire hose to put out a lit match at thirty yards without getting the wood wet. Not very many people could channel magic like that nowadays. Or at least, not sustainably or consciously. I was reasonably sure that about ten percent of Natsu’s normal magic power came from his feelings. Which said a lot about why he was one of the most notorious among us for making a mess of his jobs, even if they were done successfully.

 Point being, you couldn’t have magic without any emotion at all. So what was Freed feeling right now?

 It was like trying to pick out the bass in an orchestral piece through earmuffs. But...

Uncertainty. Determination. Loyalty. Fierce devotion.

That’s weird...

Freed wasn’t sure that this was the right course of action, but the object of his loyalty and his devotion to it was enough to motivate him to do it anyway. Usually seeing Freed made me happy like nobody's business. Any of my guildmates was a warm reminder that I had a family. And they didn’t care that I was a nameless nobody.

 That warm, comforting reminder was suddenly more like a choking band around my throat as I watched Freed complete his rune trap in silence and watched him leave the area.

  Freed...what are you doing?

-vVv-

 I wasn’t sure if I could behave normally and this nagging concern wasn’t letting me rest. I wandered through the city, still using super-enhanced jumping skills to navigate and free-run. My legs would probably feel like well-cooked spaghetti tomorrow, but I was on a mission. What was Freed up to?

 Rare was the moment when I deliberately was nosy. My Retrocognition was usually more than I needed to find out secrets. But that worry hadn’t dissipated.

  To make traps effective, you have to put them where you know people will fall into them.

  Which meant Freed had mostly turned various sections of the main roads into arenas. They got the most traffic. And the more direct routes that some individuals preferred would also be trapped.

 But Magnolia was a big city and for all that I could cover a lot of ground with my current getup, I was still a small girl. I didn’t find anything. I didn’t want to accuse Freed of anything if it was something harmless, so...I didn’t say anything about it. I had no proof for the time being.

-vVv-

 “Sweet Ether and stardust, Fae! What did you do to yourself!?”

 Mira demanded, helping me stay upright as lances of pain shot through my legs.

 “I was just freerunning...”

 I defended halfheartedly, flinching as my muscles burned.

Ok. Definitely overdid it.  

 “Carrying what? You can barely stand!”

 I hope I at least got a good workout from this.

 “I wasn’t carrying anything ‘cept for me.” It wasn’t magical exhaustion. I still had plenty of magic. It was just my legs hadn’t been quite up to the strain of the exercise. What did I expect? I jumped onto the cathedral roof. That’s at least 120 meters tall...

 “Fae!?”

  Uh-oh .

 Freed was standing in the guild entrance, and had spotted me right away, and I was very clearly unable to stand unassisted.

 “What happened!?”

 “I overdid it freerunning so my legs hurt.”

 I said, trying desperately to undersell what had happened.

 “Fae-chan.” The Master’s voice was stern as he stood in the doorway, casting a surprisingly long shadow for his size. “What’s this I heard about someone running around the rooftops yesterday afternoon?” 

 “I was just testing my shock absorbers...”

 I was not gonna get out of this, was I?

 “But you were wearing them at all times?”

 “Yes master.”

 Well at least he seemed satisfied. I suppose the man who had all but raised Natsu, Gray and Erza couldn’t expect young wizards to be perfectly well behaved constantly...

 Freed had done an admirable impression of a bulldozer and plowed through the concerned bodies around me to pick me up and set me on a table and look over the damage himself.

 “The seals that you made to test your flight prototypes?”

 I had told Freed what I was going to be doing while he was gone, so he knew about the concept at least...

 “I altered them a bit.” I explained, wincing as Freed worked my knee gently. “Same concept, but reflecting part of the energy instead of just absorbing it, so I can jump and run further and longer.”

 “How much did you do with them? Just freerunning shouldn’t have caused that much strain.” 

Aw man...

 I muttered my answer under my breath.

 “...I jumped on Kardia Cathedral...”

 Freed was already writing some pain suppressants and leg support runes for me.

 “What was that?”

 I sighed and spoke a little louder.

 “I jumped onto Kardia Cathedral.” 

He froze, lifting his head to look at me.

 “You did what?”

 This was not gonna be pretty.

 “I was free running, and looking for you, so I needed a height advantage to try and spot where you were with my magic. So I climbed onto the banking guild’s roof and jumped onto-”

 “You jumped more than 100 meters with one basic enhancement!?”

 Freed looked angry. The other onlookers just started laughing.

 “Way to go, Fae!”

 “Not bad for a first try.”

 “Gonna be flying in no time!”

 “Shut up!” Freed yelled, glaring at them. “Even with those scripts on to absorb the shock of impact, you’re lucky you didn’t break your legs landing!”

  Considering that the phrase I used was borrowed from Superman, who by definition is indestructible, I don’t think that’s a major concern.

 “Which is why there was structural enhancements in the enchantment as well.” I told Freed, tilting my head. “I’ll be fine, Freed-”

 “You almost crippled yourself and you think that you’re fine-”

 “ Silencio. ”

 Being on the receiving end of a Freed rant is not a fun thing. And considering that all I felt right now was a really bad case of leg cramps, his freakout was not warranted. Even the master had already settled down with a drink. It was kinda funny to watch Freed yell at me without making a sound. Something he realized and gave me a stern look for.

 “Look at the enchantment, Freed-sensei.” I told him. “There’s no magical damage. Just the same kind of strain you’d expect for someone running around the entire city three times in a single afternoon.” I looked at my legs. “Leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

 Almost instantly, I felt the pain vanish and new strength surge into my limbs. All of them. Aside from gaining massive leg strength from this, I had also gotten a significant boost to my coordination, balance and depth perception to be able to perform on the level the spell-story required.

 The amber words twined around my ankles and calves in a continuous, shifting loop and I held them out for Freed’s inspection.

 Reluctantly, he let his Visual Magic activate and he examined the script. I could tell that I won when his shoulders slumped and he sighed inaudibly.

 “ Finite Incantatem. ”

 I released his voice and the enchantment.

 “If you had missed even one part of that formula...”

 Freed muttered angrily, shaking his head.

 “But I didn’t.” I replied, gingerly flexing my still aching legs. “I may be a part of this guild and hang out a lot with Natsu, Freed-sensei. But that doesn’t automatically make me an idiot.”

-vVv-

 Mirajane chuckled as she saw Fae talk to Freed about the other ideas she had for physical enhancement. Apparently, the Rune Mage wasn’t going to let the matter rest until he had made doubly sure that all of Fae’s ideas wouldn’t cause any irreparable harm.

  I don’t think any of us saw this coming... She thought, covering her mouth to hide her laughter. Freed’s a mother hen.

  Fae wasn’t the type to run headlong into danger like some people, aka Natsu/Gray, but she couldn’t grow up in this guild without some lingering effects from regularly defying the laws of gravity, physics and sometimes the local laws too. The boys had needed someone to clock them on the head and tell them they were being foolish. Fae needed someone to fret, worry and cluck over her so her rational thought and desire to see everyone around her happy would kick in. Once that happened, she would self moderate her behavior without any further instruction.

 The two green heads were sitting together alone at Fae’s table as the little girl scribbled out various things on some paper. Every now and then, people could catch flashes or images flickering around the area as the hundreds of stories Fae never told gave her material and strength to shape her magic with.

 “No.”

 “But it would be so cool! And flying comes with it automatically!”

 “This ‘Super Saiyan’ enhancement will kill you unless you are already so strong that it almost wouldn’t make a difference! Until the day comes when you can beat Natsu in an arm wrestling match using only your pinkie, this is forbidden!”

 And just like Fae needed someone to worry over her, Freed needed someone to exasperate him and draw him out of his self imposed shell.

  They’re good for each other. Mira smiled, seeing the sibling like bond, loving it and missing her own sister. Just like she did every day for the last two years. 

 Almost unbidden, all the different things Fae had said showing her remarkable, uncanny insight came to the surface of her mind. 

  “The weight of loss never goes away. We just learn how to carry it.”

“Grief is love with no place left to go.”

  And the last one, something that told Mira that Fae wasn’t quite done mourning either...

  “Goodbye hurts the most when the story wasn’t finished.”

Mira watched as Fae reached up and drew an impressive handlebar mustache on Freed’s face, and she laughed harder, louder and more joyfully than she had before.

-vVv-

 I blamed the supernatural effects of ethernano when I was able to move without pain two days after my escapade, which had already become a guild pun: ‘Fae’s run’. Laxus had left town, but Freed hadn’t gone with him. It hadn’t stopped him from briefly looking like a lost puppy, but he had stayed and not felt...terribly sorry about it.

  Well. Only a little. 

 I’m not sure who Freed thought he was fooling. Everyone knew that he had a crush on Laxus. Cana was running the betting pool. Primary bets were that Laxus was dense enough to not notice Freed at his most obvious, or that Freed had denied so hard that Laxus was ignoring it.

 I wasn’t allowed to place a bet on the matter. At first I had thought it was due to emotional attachment alone, but Macau had let slip that that wasn’t the only reason. Since I had Retrocognition, I could always verify what had happened in the past. And because Freed had apparently elected himself my mother/big brother, I could also influence him however I chose. Thus, I was locked out of the bet due to an unfair advantage.

 I got them all back by refusing to tell to them the facts of the matter. (Laxus was straight, Freed knew it. Freed still liked Laxus. Laxus knew it.)

 I was currently trying to puzzle out how best to ask Freed about the various rune traps in the city without seeming like a nosy, paranoid stalker. And I was stuck bartending since Freed literally growled whenever I so much as glanced towards some more experimental material.

 “You can’t keep me from getting hurt forever, sensei.”

 I told him as he glared haughtily at a patron calling for another drink.

 “Magic isn’t supposed to hurt!”

 “What world are you from?” I asked, bluntly. “Everything I’m doing, I’m literally making up as I go. I don’t know anything for certain.”

 “Which is why you have to be careful!”

 “I am being careful! I do at least a dozen small scale runs before I trust any new array! What would it take to make you feel better? Wearing a suit of bubble wrap!?” He looked at me with an expression I knew all too well. “You have no idea what I just said.”

 I sighed, drawing a hand over the edge of the counter.

  “Create a 1 by 2 foot length of 5/16 inch bubble wrap.”

 The material appeared attached to the lip of the counter and Freed looked at it askance.

 “What is this?”

 “Prototype of a packaging material I’m designing.” I told him. “Also, a viable method of self therapy.”

-vVv-

 Freed spent the next two hours systematically popping each and every bubble on my conjured piece. He felt much better by the end and he had stopped growling altogether! He even felt nice enough to come and further test my Superman jump boost. Win!

Chapter Text

 War is upon Fairy Tail.

  I woke up in the middle of the night with these word ringing through my head, clutching my blankets.

 It had been a few days since my escapade with the Superman jump and my legs were almost fully functional, just a little shaky for standing for longer periods of time. Freed had followed Laxus back out onto the job that Bickslow and Evergreen were covering, so my chief babysitter was gone. I hoped to be able to actually do something fun again...

 But the words pronouncing the onset of a battle were still echoing in my head.

 I was awake and sitting up by the time someone came into the dorms to wake me.

 “Mystogan?” 

 The masked wizard was standing in my door, silhouetted by the light from the hall, showing that he was carrying all of his staves and a travelling pack.

 “Get up, dress and pack. We leave in twenty minutes.”

-vVv-

 “Mystogan, what’s going on?”

 I asked, buckling my pack closed and checking that all of my equipment was stowed. There were about another half a dozen children around me, different orphans who were also sponsored by Fairy Tail. sleepy and grumpy at being woken, but somehow, scared. I barely knew any of them...The guild was my family, and friends all in one. I didn’t...really know these guys. At all.

 “The guild hall has been attacked.” Mystogan told me softly. “Makarov has asked that I move you to away from Magnolia until this matter is settled.”

 “Wouldn’t that be the Rune Knights job?”

 “The master wouldn’t wait for them to muster and sent me.”

 I looked back at the wide, frightened eyes as the other kids, ranging from my age to mid teens, followed Mystogan into the forest.

 “So where are we going?”

 “Porlyusica.”

 “But she doesn’t like people.”

 “She dislikes violence more.”

  And for all that, if someone did come to try and mess with anyone she was taking care of... I didn’t finish the thought, but the cold shudder of naked terror was telling enough. I didn’t want to see what might happen to the poor fool who tried to do more harm to the fearsome healer’s patients.

-vVv-

 Porlescuya had some shelter set up for the other wards when we arrived and they all went down to rest. I was too alert, listening too hard for any sort of change in the Story.

 “Where are you going to be going?”

 I asked Mystogan, eyeing him carefully. 

 “Given that our guild might be involved in an outright war within the next day, I am going to prepare.”

 “And what will I be doing...?”

 I fished shamelessly. I wanted to start getting my feet wet in more than academic work. I had several ideas that I wanted to try out, none of which I wanted to test on my guildmates. The older wizard looked down at me with what I interpreted as a flat stare. It was kinda hard to tell with the mask and all.

 “I was going to take you with me.”

 Excitement flared in my chest and I resisted the impulse to bounce on the balls of my feet like an excited puppy.

 “Where are we going?”

 “A few of the surrounding cities. Jasmine, Greenacre, and White Birch to start.” 

 All of those are Phantom Lord bases.

I looked right at the guild master when Mystogan took me along to see him in the quiet, dark evening. He looked somewhat surprised to see me there, but I didn’t let him start to question why I wasn’t with the other children.

 “Master, does this whole thing have anything to do with the recent trouble with Phantom Lord?” 

 Phantom Lord hadn’t always been Fairy Tail’s rival. Actually, Jose and Makarov had once been amiable acquaintances. But once both had gotten a little too far into their cups and made it a game of bragging, things had gone south quickly.

 Jose had started to insult and belittle Makarov’s guild, specifically by harassing someone he had brought with him to the meeting. That being; a then seven year old Laxus. Makarov had stepped up and delivered a righteous beatdown to the offender and sent him running, defeated and humiliated with a severely damaged reputation.

 That event, and Fairy Tail’s subsequent rise to dominating the combat wizard guilds of the kingdom and many beyond as well,had poisoned Jose with hatred and jealousy.

 Every time a Fairy met a Phantom, there was tension and more often than not, someone got hurt. Makarov had issued a blanket order to avoid going on jobs in the towns where they had a representative branch to try and reduce the chance of conflict.

 Right now, Mystogan had gotten wind that within a day or so, Phantom Lord would attack our guild.

 The guild master looked at me for a long moment...

 “You just read everything I was about to explain to you right now with your magic, didn’t you?“

 “...I didn’t mean to?”

 I wasn’t even convincing myself that I actually meant that. Makarov sighed.

 “Right...Fae-chan, you’re going to make me lose my hair.”

 “Maybe so, master. But I can’t be as bad the others. I haven’t blown anything up yet!”

 “The fact that you say ‘yet’ worries me greatly...How many explosive spells have you cooked up?”

 “...Do I have to answer that?”

-vVv-

 This has got to be the most messed up field trip ever.

 I thought as I clung to Mystogan’s side as we whirled through the air in the form of mist, his preferred method of speedy travel. I had rigged a way to share spells between us in order to preserve his magic power. It was disorienting, but a fun way to travel. This discussion after our meeting with Makarov had gone rather smoothly. 

I probably wasn’t suposed to be enjoying this as much as I was, but hey! I was flying even if I was flying into combat! There was no doubt in my mind that being by Mystogan’s side was the safest place I could be.

-vVv-

  “We will be moving quickly, but not necessarily quietly. Our chief purpose will be to disrupt communications and keep Jose from calling in an army of reinforcements.”

 So this had made me plop down and write out a ‘shatter’ spell. Something that would deal a lot of damage to crystals and similar structures.

“For their lacrima.” I had said cheekily when Mystogan asked what I was doing. “You’ve already got that white noise function on your Archive chip to keep spells from getting through, but paired lacrima can’t be blocked by Archive magic.”

 Mystogan had looked at me for a long moment.

 “Every now and then, I think you have done something like this before.”

“I haven’t, but there are who knows how many stories in my head about this kind of thing. Call it extreme vicarious living.”

-vVv-

 Mystogan checked every now and then, whenever he left a ruined Phantom Lord base behind him, that Fae’s strength was still up and she wasn’t straining herself too hard. As far as he knew, she had never used this much magic consistently in a row. He was cheating, he could simply use his staves to draw on the latent magic that filled the air of this world and go on indefinitely, giving the impression of near infinite stamina. But little Fae was an Earthland wizard and subject to their rules.

 She constantly surprised him, and as he had guessed, she was nearly indispensable for completing their errand quickly. As soon as he put her down on the ground of the enemy base, she would crouch and press her hands to the ground with her eyes closed. Then she would rise, and list off the base’s state, how many people were present and how many of them were true threats.

 Jose preferred to keep the cream of the crop close at hand where he could keep an eye on them and work on tying them to him as securely as possible. So Mystogan wasn’t surprised that even Fae with her limited combat magic could handle their enemies. Though her fighting style was something to behold...

  “Getsuga Tensho!”

  She cried, clasping her hands together and bringing them around in a wide arc that sent a blade of fast moving energy towards the flagpole of the base they were currently raiding, sending it toppling to the ground.

 “What was that story from, Fae?”

 He asked as she scampered up to him with their prize. She flashed a grin.

 “Another big one about shinigami, demons and lots of swords!”

 He smiled at her ceaseless energy.

 “This one is for Erza then I take it?”

 “Yup!”

 Her smile froze for a second and she seemed to be gazing far away into the distance... He knew that expression. She was seeing something.

 “Fae?”

 “I just saw why Phantom Lord’s attacking us.” She admitted, her humor gone. “Or the excuse they’re using anyway.”

 Mystogan knelt before her, surrounded by unconscious wizards.

 “What’s wrong?”

 She shook her head.

 “Nevermind, Mystogan, It can wait until we’ve gotten away from here.”

 She held out her hand expectantly and he reached down and took her small hand in his own, already pulling out the appropriate staff for their traveling spell.

  I hardly even think of myself as the Edolas Prince anymore, banished or otherwise. He mused, as he took both himself and Fae to their next target, using the chance to assess her magic reserves. I’m more Mystogan of Fairy Tail than I ever was the prince... He glanced down at Fae with a warm smile. I think I like being Mystogan more than Jellal.

 They took a short break and Mystogan had Fae eat a small snack and drink something.

 “So why did Phantom Lord decide to make their biggest mistake of all times right now?”

 He asked, sitting down beside her.

 “You know Lucy?”

 “Celestial Spirit Mage that you hang around with? The new bookworm that’s made Levy so happy?”

 Judging by her brief pase, he guess she sometimes forgot that Mystogan carried a lacrima crystal linked to the main tele-crystal that sat in the guild hall. He used it to give updates on missions or get new information.

 “Yeah...apparently she’s a runaway heiress and her dad wants her back. So he put out a job request to some of the guilds that would take that kind of thing and Phantom Lord’s guild master picked it up because he knew that she was a new member of Fairy Tail.”

 Fae was very subdued as she said this, staring into the depths of her water bottle in such a way that made Mystogan feel for her keenly. She was so young, and yet she was burdened with so much...

It was oddly reminiscent of how he had been at a young age, wandering Earthland and closing Anima wherever he found them. But unlike him, Fae hadn’t asked for this knowledge.

 “Do you need to rest for a little longer? I think I can handle the next one alone?”

 Fae gave him a look, eyes twinkling with mischief and admiration.

 “I think you could do all of them!”

 He coughed behind his mask, face burning slightly.

 “Well, I don’t think-”

 “You totally could! You’re awesome, Mystogan!” 

Moments like this, I definitely prefer being Mystogan to Jellal.

-vVv-

 It was early evening now and we had been doing this all day, for the last two days. Ever since Phantom Lord’s first act of aggression that made it clear that war was upon us. I wasn’t sure if Mystogan slept or not, I just conked out for about six hours, knowing that pushing myself further would be detrimental. The shortness of the recovery time was encouraging, even though my issue was my being unable to focus enough to keep using it instead of running out. (Mystogan made me take breaks so as to keep up my magic reserves. It had been very strange, but enjoyable lunch entertainment watching him flatten the base in Greenhill. A couple of the Phantom’s tried to go for me and ended up on the wrong side of a terrifying illusion of a hoard of zombies clawing their way out of the ground, all moaning: ‘Hungry’. Who ever said the illusionist couldn’t be useful, huh?)

 I jerked sharply, eyes widening as the update rang through my mind.

Makarov has fallen. His magic is drained. A seal on the air around him keeps the ethernano from entering him. He is slowly consuming what little magic he still has in order to keep himself alive.

  Alongside this, I saw a timer with about 18 hours on it that began counting down. At the same time, there was a...bar gauge of some kind that had a bar of light blue at the bottom. This gauge started to drop, very...slowly. 

  The timer: how long he can last until his body depletes the magic that he still has. The gauge, how much magic he has.

 I had felt when Makarov declared war, and when our guild came calling at Phantom Lord’s main base. That had made me proud and feel fierce. This just made me feel scared and worried about the vague emptiness I felt when I felt down the ‘what if’ possibility. I let another two Stunning spells fly out, taking down a pair of enemy wizards in the way. I made a beeline for Mystogan.

 “Mystogan!”

 It said a lot about his actual power level when he paralyzed the twenty or so remaining thugs and low level wizards, planting his staff upright in the ground to sustain the spell as he turned towards me.

 “Fae, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

 I shook my head, trembling from more fear than exhaustion.

 “It’s the Master, Mystogan! His magic’s been drained dry!” I felt my eyes well up a little. “He’s not gonna last if he doesn’t get more power soon!”

 “And it would have to be what’s already assimilated to his system otherwise it runs the risk of just killing him outright.” Mystogan realized, growling in a rare show of emotions. “At his age-”

 “We gotta help, Mystogan! Erza’s exhausted and can’t leave the rest of the guild with the master out of commision! Mira’s protecting Lucy and Laxus isn’t anywhere close enough!”

 This information came pouring into my mind as I sought for it instead of it being forced on me.

 “And help we will.” Mystogan looked around. “Do you have a wide range spell to take all of them without harming them?”

 It went without saying that he would need all the magic he had to get us to where we were needed in time. Which meant that finishing these guys was my responsibility. 

 “Let...let me think.”

 I closed my eyes and focused, digging through my archive of stories, searching for something-

Huh...Really?

 What I had come up with wasn’t from a story per say, but it did invoke one...It was a song I sang to Romeo when he wouldn’t settle down as a toddler. It hadn’t ever had any magic, but it had calmed him enough to go to sleep.

 I had a good feeling about it. I ran through the words once more...then focused on their words in the way I’d have to to bring out my magic. What they meant to me. What they were saying, what they embodied. I could feel my hair stir slightly as my magic crept into the air around me.

I inhaled and lifted my head and began to sing in a voice that was much older than my own childish tone.

  “Sun’s last ray

Light of Day.

Lazy sunset slips away

Close your eyes

Go to sleep.

Dream of heaven, dream of peace

Starry skies, moon’s soft light

Heaven keep you through the night

Morning light brings the day

Sun’s first ray...” 

The song was short, with a smooth rolling melody that calmed me and when I opened my eyes...

“Well done Fae.”

 Mystogan said quietly, looking around at the unconscious forms of our enemies. I panicked for a split second, thinking they were hurt but then I caught sight of one of their faces.

 Peaceful, serene, and a lot more innocent than he had looked to me before.

 “If the words of your spell hold true, then they won’t wake up until dawn tomorrow and they will be protected from harm.”

 He ruffled my hair gently and I blushed at the approving look he was giving me.

He likes a peaceful solution. And he thought the song was pretty.

 It was honestly the latter fact that made me so awkward.

-vVv-

 I clung to Mystogan’s side as he turned us both into mist and we raced for the Phantom Lord Guild hall. It was getting dark by the time we got there, and the site was abandoned. But producing light was easy for both of us, I just abused a lumos spell a couple times to create some floating lights that illuminated the main base of Phantom Lord-

 ...Or where it had been rather, since there didn’t seem to be anything there, just a giant crater. 

 Mystogan looked at it and actually considered it seriously.

 “Did they...?”

 “Ah, no. They retreated after Master fell. This one they are not responsible for.” I pointed to the road that would have lead to the front door, which was scorched and ruptured with high intensity magic and focused intent. “That’s probably what they ended up doing on their way.”

  20+ highly skilled, very angry wizards have a very...pronounced effect on the ethernano, even if it isn’t inside them. I bet I could point right to where Natsu had walked...

 “I see.” Mystogan cast about the area. “Fae, how proficient are you at sensing another’s magic?”

 “Not unless they’re using it near me.” I admitted, skittering down the boulders and trying to not stress about the countdown in my head. “Once it’s out, it’s no longer really a part of them or their story.”

 “Then can you read the battle? We need to know where the master was standing if we’re going to find his scattered magic.”

That I can do!

I pressed my hands to the rocks and thought back to what I had only been vaguely aware of during my running around with Mystogan, handling the mooks and hired thugs.

 Since it had happened recently and I was in the right location, the story came easily.

 “This way!”

 I called, climbing over some rocks and jumping down into the empty space left by Jupiter, Phantom Lords-

  - giant mech that is walking along the coastline towards the rest of Fairy Tail.

 Several words that were definitely unsuited to a child’s lips ran through my mind. Yet another timer appeared before me, this one started significantly lower, that being about seven hours to Master’s 15.

-vVv-

 Finding all of Makarov’s magic took most of the night even with two of us working at it.

 Whenever a wizard cast a spell, he always put a little more magic power into it that was strictly necessary. Whatever spell he desired would then dip into that pool of collected magic and do it’s work. Whatever was leftover would then be drawn back into the caster, along with a little extra raw ethernano that came along for the ride. This rebound effect was something many people studied intently to try and increase the cost effectiveness of their casting. 

 Aria must have been one of them if he had pulled this off.

 Master had been preparing to cast Fairy Law if I read the situation correctly. Doing that required a lot of excess magic being projected into the air around him. Much more than usual.

 The cost of casting Fairy Law is proportional to the amount of targets it is directed at.

  Given that Phantom Lord’s main guild had contained well over 100 wizards, I’d say Master was aiming to take out about 60-70. And since he had to spread his magic throughout the entire property to mark friend from foe, he would have had to let out a lot of magic power. The cost would have been lower had there not been Fairy Tail mages mixed up with the others, but he had figured that he could handle the backlash.

 And normally, he would have been right.

 What Aria had done amounted to little more than keeping our master from regaining all that power that he had spread out to cast Fairy Law. If Makarov’ magical core was a container when full and a vacuum when empty, Aria had put a lid on it, blocked him from pulling in his magic without him noticing until it was too late and he didn’t have enough power to remove the blockage.

 That meant that all over this property, Makarov’s own signature magic was floating, unable to merge completely with the ethernano since it had been claimed and changed by being inside a human being.

 I was trash at sensing another wizard's magic once it had left their bodies so short of discerning where the borders of the area were and holding onto whatever Mystogan gathered, my companion ended up doing most of the work. I ended up falling asleep at my work and woke up with Mystogan cradling me in one arm as we sat outside Porlyusica’s hut.

 “Myst-”

It’s over.

  I relaxed as soon as the words passed through my mind.

 “What’s left of Phantom Lord has surrendered to official custody and they are disbanded.” Mystogan told me softly, looking over the very...significant number of flags that we had captured. “Everyone’s safe.”

 The confirmation from my magic came when I sought it and I sighed, curling into the banished prince’s hold.

 “I’m glad...” 

 His hand ruffled my aqua colored hair gently.

 “Master says to keep you and the other children here until the Rune Knights are finished with their investigation.”

  He wants to keep you hidden without making it seem deliberate.

 This did make a moment of uncertainty come over me.

 Retrocognition, this extrasensory gift to monitor people over any distance, to see the past as clearly and distinctly as if you were standing right there. It would be a magic they definitely wanted to keep an eye on. But not for the right reasons.

 The moments that are pivotal in life are usually the dramatic or traumatic ones. I could bring up old fears and terrify just about anyone into submission. Or I could recall embarrassing secrets from their pasts and use them as leverage to get just about anything I wanted.

 I had realized this long ago, around the time I had gotten good enough with it to see some of the more grotesque skeletons in the closets of my guildmates. I had sworn that I would never divulge the secrets I could read from my friends. Not without their express permission.

 “He won’t be able to keep it a secret once I become a member officially.”

 I pointed out.

“You’re still planning on taking the mark when you turn ten?”

  To be honest, I’d have taken it years ago if Master would let me!

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You remember what we discussed about patience? Just wearing the guild mark won’t automatically make people will view or treat you differently.”

“I know...I just...I want it to be official.” I rubbed my arms, huddling down on myself. “Even now, there’s still the chance that some obscure relative could show up and try to take me away. And without a mark, I wouldn’t be able to do anything except go with them. Once I have the mark, then I’ll be emancipated from any older family and can go wherever I want!”

 Mystogan hummed, his chest rumbling behind me as he draped a fold of his cloak around me.

“That’s all well and good, Fae-chan, but don’t get too worked up. You burned through more magic than you’ve ever used before in the last few days. As soon as Porlescuya’s finished with the others, it’ll be your turn.”

-vVv-

 The pink ‘Nalu’ ship had gotten quite a bit stronger over the course of the war with Phantom Lord. Since I had been busy fighting, the updates had been shunted aside into a low priority category. Perusing that file in my brain found several other cute moments between them as well as a couple awesome ones. From when Natsu had caught Lucy as she jumped from the tower, trusting that he would be there to catch her, to him thrashing Gajeel, the former ace of Phantom Lord, for hurting her.

 But what was staying in my mind was the fact that floating beside Nalu was another ship. 

Gruvia? What the heck is this? 

 I investigated that line of though and found that Gray seemed to have gotten himself an admirer who didn’t know when her attention was slipping from endearing to stalkerish. Juvia the Water Mage, formerly of Phantom Lord. Watching the moment of when the ship had set sail was enough to make me bite back giggles.

  Poor Gray...

 The other kids and I were taken back to town a few days after the fighting had ended. I hugged Mystogan, knowing he would probably head out soon, grabbed my bundle of captured flags and raced for the guild hall to show off my trophies!

-vVv-

 Lucy was somewhat morose in the aftermath of the fight. She felt so guilty...Her friends had gotten hurt on her account, because they were fighting to keep her with them. She had never felt so grateful and guilty about the same thing before...

 Rebuilding was already starting. With the damages their guild had been awarded by being the victim in the conflict, they were rebuilding the old guild hall bigger and better than ever.

“Stop squabbling and get to work!”

 Erza roared at Natsu and Gray who had gotten into yet another argument. The fifth one this morning.

 “Didn’t they get their fill of fighting Phantom Lord? They have so much extra energy they just have to go after each other?”

 Lucy asked Mirajane as she helped her spread out an array of snacks and refreshments for the working members.

 “When those two stop fighting, we’ll know something is wrong.” Mira said with a giggle. “But it isn’t that, Lucy. Haven’t you noticed someone’s missing?”

 “Well, yeah of course, Fae-” Oh...That’s why.

Fae was still off wherever the Master had sent her to keep her out of the fighting. The one thing both Natsu and Gray could and would always agree on: Fae was their friend and heaven help anyone who upset her.

  Now that I think about it, everything seems a little off without her here.

  Lucy looked around. People were much the same, still working, still laughing. But there was a noticeable space where Fae would be. It was easy to see Fae either walking along a high beam somewhere, carrying drinks around to the workers or entertaining people who were on break.

It is kinda weird to not see her around.

 She very deliberately didn’t think about her own negative feelings in response to the aftermath of the guild war that she couldn’t help but feel she had caused. No one in her guild had blamed her for it, and according to the law, she hadn’t been at fault either. She was an adult and had taken the proper steps to emancipate herself. Her father had already tried to get the Rune Knights to bring her back to him and when they had refused on grounds of her being independant and a working guild member, he had turned to job requests sent to wizard guilds.

 But it didn’t change the fact that every time she saw someone who was still wearing bandages or who was hurt in some way that she felt as if something sharp and cold had stabbed into her gut. Guilt. Gnawing, ever present, never ebbing shame and fear.

  He did this...and it’s hurt my friends and many other people besides...

She stopped that train of thought forcibly. Derailing it and letting it land inside a bottomless chasm.

 “Where is she?”

 Lucy asked Mira after her look around. The white haired barmaid hefted a tray of cool drinks.

“Mystogan took her and the other guild sponsored kids out of town to keep them safe. She’s due back sometime today.”

 Lucy smiled, thinking of how excited Fae would get when speaking about the mysterious S-class wizard.

 “That’s what he was doing...”

 She didn’t know much about the masked wizard other than that he, like most everyone she knew now, had a soft spot for Fae and she very clearly liked him a lot. 

 “Mmhm. Master told me about it this morning. Once he got them out of the way, he went around making sure that Jose couldn’t call in reinforcements from the other bases. He was carrying a jamming crystal to make sure that they couldn’t call for help so really it’s no wonder he wasn’t answering. If it weren’t for him, Phantom Lord’s forces would almost have been five times as big.”

Oh yeah...he’s one of the S-class mages, the ones that are on par with Erza...What is it with Fae and hanging out with so many powerful people?

Natsu, Grey and Erza were frequent companions. But there was also Mystogan and Lucy had heard that Fae liked to bother Laxus as well...

 “Hey guys!” There came a child’s voice cutting through the murmur and the clatter of construction. “Everyone, I’m back....!”

 “Fae!”

 Almost as one, people turned towards the cry.

 The girl was running towards the building site, unruly aquamarine hair bouncing in short waves and her uncanny bright blue eyes shining. Her delighted grin was big and bright in a way that reminded Lucy a lot of Natsu. And she seemed to be carrying a lot of cloth for some reason.

 “Hey, Fae-chan!”

 Gray managed to beat Natsu by a hair to scoop the little girl up into a tight hug. Lucy suspected the only reason Gray didn’t get punched was because Natsu didn’t want to jostle Fae. She stood on her toes to see Fae snuggle into Gray’s arms, speaking in a low, happy tone.

Well, she definitely looks fine.

 Either way, the girl was soon surrounded by people welcoming her back. All work had halted for a while. Even the master had shrunk down again to give the girl a hug, making it look sweet and paternal even though she stood almost a head taller than him.

 Lucy wanted to see her as well, and verify for herself that she was in fact alright and suffering no trauma from the guild war, but she hung back and waited for the crowd to disperse.

 “Lucy!” She was taken aback as the girl flung herself at her after squirming through the press of people. “I’m so glad you’re alright. Mystogan says he’s sorry for not being able to come by and help kick the main guild’s butt. We were collecting Master’s magic back at their old base so he could recover faster!”

 “Wait, what? I thought you weren’t supposed to get involved!”

 “I told Mystogan to get the non-wizard children to safety. Fae however was to remain with him.” Makarov explained to the onlookers, smoothing his mustache. “Even though she bears no mark, she is a known wizard of our guild and I did not trust Jose to leave her alone if she didn’t have someone to keep an eye out for her. Mystogan had his own assignment and he took her along with him. Did you have a nice trip, my dear?”

 The girl grinned and presented the cloth bundle in her arms.

“Yep! These are all the bases I took down by myself!”

 Lucy’s sense of realism cracked...then shattered. What she had thought was regular cloth was actually a collection of Phantom Lord guild flags.

  She...she was fighting?! And those are whole base’s she took out alone!?

 The rest of the guild let out a cheer mingled with laughter.

 “Nice job!”

 “That’s our girl!”

 “Way to go, Fae!” Natsu swung her up onto his shoulders easily, looking very pleased and proud. “How many didja get altogether?”

 “Seven!” This proclamation was met with further adulation and admiring whistles.

 “Lucky number!”

 “Did you have fun?”

 Lucy just plastered her head down on top of the outdoor bar top and laughed helplessly.

 Mom, can you believe these people? A kid went and took out seven different enemy bases. And they’re acting as if she won first place in some competition.

 The thought brought her right back to her unhappy brooding over what her father had done...how far he would go to get her back.

 It’s probably got something to do with his business. Some deal he wants to make that he needs to marry me off for.

 As a child, Lucy hadn’t really minded the promise that she would probably be married to advance her father’s business. She had imagined all the handsome princes she might one day meet and fall in love with and the one who had captured her heart would turn out to be the same one she was going to marry.

 After she had found her dream of joining Fairy Tail, those fantasies had been put away as fond childhood whims. She had a goal now, and she had a chance of actually making this work!

 As she was right now...with this family that she had who had fought so hard to keep her safe, keep her with them. Lucy wouldn’t trade this for anything.

Chapter Text

 Lucy is going home.  

 The report made me freeze in horror and pry for further details. Why wasn’t as important as knowing when. Was there still time to talk to her?

 She leaves in an hour.

 That was all I could get out of that though. Not why she was leaving or anything of actual importance. Just that she was leaving... And that was not ok. She’d only come along recently, but she couldn’t just leave! It was late morning, so she was probably catching the noon train west, towards her family estate.

 I quickly and quietly packed up my books so that no one jostling the table would mess up any of my work, a rough draft for the middle part of my Two Towers rewrite, and I left the ‘guild hall’ which still hadn’t been completed and wouldn’t be for several weeks yet. Lucy was going to be heading out soon and I only thought it fair to warn her that she would be chased. This time by much more welcome company. Like heck was I going to let my friends worry about Lucy like this!

-vVv-

 I knocked at Lucy’s apartment and waited for her to answer. She looked surprised when she saw me.

 “Fae?” I hugged her tightly without saying anything. “Fae, what’s wrong?”

 “You’re coming back, right?” I asked in a very small voice. “You’re not going back and leaving Fairy Tail?”

 Her hands came down onto my shoulders and she pushed me back to look me in the face.

“How did you even know I was leaving, Fae? I only decided to go twenty minutes ago.” 

 I shrugged. Usually, I let people figure out what I could do. But this looked like a time when I had to say it outright.

 “I’m a Story Mage, Lucy. And the one story that I always have a lot of awareness of is my own. Especially when people come or go...”

 And not always in a good way either.

 “You...does that mean you saw me coming? You saw that I was going to join Fairy Tail?” I nodded.

“Right when it became certain that you would.”

 Lucy slowly sank to her knees and stared at me, I could all but hear her thoughts whirling behind her brown eyes. Lucy was a lot smarter than most people gave her credit for. 

 Where is it...? Where is it, Lucy? Where’s the question?

 “Does that mean you can read people’s life story too?”

 Did you know about my past? My magic translated what she wasn’t saying easily.

 “If you’re asking if I knew who you were before the whole thing with Phantom Lord, the answer is yes.” I scuffed my shoe on the ground. “I don’t like to talk about it. It makes people uncomfortable.”

 “Yeah, no kidding...“

 Lucy looked a little baffled but she took a deep breath and controlled herself.

 “Well. Yes, Fae. I am gonna be coming back. I just need to...tie up some loose ends. Just running away from home left problems behind me that Fairy Tail ended up paying for. I need to take care of them so they won’t bother us again.”

 I heard the truth ring in her voice and smiled, wide, and very relieved. Now that this was said, the confirmation story was pouring through my head.

 “I’ll see you when you get back then! It’s Story Night and we’re coming to the big reveal of the bad guy in the Forest Temple!”

 Lucy ran her fingers through my short, brightly colored hair before pulling me into another hug.

 “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, kid.” She said fondness and gratitude in her voice.

Fondness because she loves you and how passionate you are about your work. Gratitude because you don’t begrudge her the trouble and pain she brought to your family.

I pulled back and cupped Lucy’s cheeks, smooshing them gently as I looked her in the eye.

“You gotta stop thinking like that. You’re one of us now. And all of us will keep after you until you believe that this war wasn’t your fault. You’re part of my family too, Lucy. Stop thinking that you aren’t just because you’re still new.”

 The Celestial Spirit Mage looked someone startled.

“What the heck-”

“I didn’t read your mind, just your mood and body language. I can stop saying it aloud if it bothers you.”

“I-It’s fine...”

-vVv-

 I woke up abruptly in the night of the same day that Lucy had gone back to put her father in his place about meddling in her life.

 Loke has given up. He dies in six days, 23 hours and 59 minutes...

 Loke...!

-vVv-

 Tracking him down from the guild viewpoint was difficult. Mira said he hadn’t come in for a few days. I had been looking for him all day and was technically supposed to be in bed by this point.

 So...time to see how a costume change could affect me.

 “Create a Coat of Midnight.”

  I said softly, visualizing the long dark garment. It was a relatively minor item, given how early it had appeared in the game Sword Art Online, but it granted a stealth bonus that would be useful tonight. With the whole Phantom Lord business, the Rune Knights were out and paying much more attention. I didn’t think I’d get in trouble, or at least not too much of it, but better unseen than sorry.

 The coat appeared before me, just as I had visualized. Long, black and very simple in design. That took more power than I thought it would... I donned the garment over my regular day clothes. It was pretty warm, but that would have to be a cross I’d bear if it meant finding Loke.

 Why I was so focused on this I couldn’t say.

 I just don’t want him to be alone.  

 That was it then. I didn’t want Loke to die as if he had been forgotten.

 He isn’t gonna die!  I thought fiercely. Lucy’s gonna save him! He’s gonna be alright! 

 And I had been...warned by the city about climbing onto the cathedral roof so that method of scanning was out of the question... Hmm...Idea! I hunted about the streets for a little bit before I found what I was looking for.

 “Don’t have a wand, so this will have to do. Point Me, Loke. ”

  I murmured, spinning a roughly triangular rock on the ground. It spun several times before it picked a direction. I snatched it up, breaking the spell and started creeping through the darkened streets.

  It seems a tiny bit counter productive. I thought as I skirted through alleys and shortcuts. I mean, I’m back here where the shady folks usually hang out, and I’m a nine year old girl. Then again, if I went out into the well lit streets, some adults would see me and send me home and I was on a mission.

 I stopped several more times to verify my direction with my rock before I found the approximate area that Loke was in.

 It was the slummy bar street.

 Loke’s here drinking himself stupid to try and forget that he’s going to die. He can feel he’s on the last stretch.  

Well alright then. That posed a new problem. Even though he was a Celestial Spirit, Loke could still get drunk, it just took a little longer. But this place was definitely one that I couldn’t go into without someone getting a moral attack and calling the Rune Knights to get me home.

  Then again... I tapped my chin. That might not be a bad solution. Just go in, find someone who is relatively sober, get them to find a Rune Knight, and tug on the heartstrings until they pinpoint Loke. Sure, there was always the chance that this would explode into a huge bar fight depending on how drunk people were in there and I’d get grounded. But what did I care about that? My friend was dying and was determined to make himself miserable even though I knew as sure as the sun would rise tomorrow that Lucy was going to save him! She would speak for him to the Celestial Spirit King and he would pardon him on the condition that he devote himself to Lucy.

 But I couldn’t say that. I couldn’t...If I didn’t have any proof, then it would just make Loke all the more depressed.

 Eventually, I decided to go and try to find Loke myself and if someone found me, then I’d resort to Plan B.

Getting a bouncer to help me wasn’t that difficult. I told him who I was looking for, and that I wasn’t old enough to go into the establishment to get him myself. I got the feeling that he felt bad for me and wanted to get me out of this part of town as soon as he could. Making mention that I was associated with Fairy Tail did seem to alliviate some of his concerns about sending me off into the night with a semi conscious adult.

“You gonna be ok, kid?”

 The largely insensate Celestial Spirit was heavy, but I pushed magic into my limbs like Erza had taught me and stood up under the weight easily enough.

“Yeah, I got him. Thanks for the help! Take care!”

Dragging a heavily buzzed Loke through the streets of Magnolia was difficult at best even with the help of magic. It was easier once a nice Rune Knight offered to help me and took the time out of his patrol to help me carry Loke to the guild hall. There was enough precedent for people crashing at the guild hall for there to be some bedding. 

 The next morning met with Loke waking up to me getting right in his face. I had hauled him to the guild hall. Stretched him out on a bench at my table and conjured blankets and bedding for both of us. Well. Bedding for him. I made myself a hammock.

“Gooood Morning....!!!”

 I sang at him, causing him to flinch back reflexively before he realized...

“Why am I not hungover?” He sat up, rubbing his head. “Not that I’m complaining or anything just...”

 “I used Esuna on you last night.” I replied, sitting down and pushing a plate of breakfast towards him. “But, alcohol aside, you still probably should eat something.”

 I caught the barest flicker of a grimace as Loke started to comply.

 “Does celestial food taste different from Earthland food?”

 I asked. He looked at me sharply before registering that no one else was around to hear my question.

 “Oh yeah.” He said, taking a gulp from the mug I had placed next to the plate. “It’s like the stuff here has more variety and flavor, but I get more nutritional value out of whatever I eat from there.”

 I contemplated that or a moment...

 “So...you’re saying that the entire host of Celestial Spirits have nothing but vegetables to eat? No wonder you guys like it when you can come here.”

 Loke hastily choked off a spit-take trying not to laugh. It wasn’t much of one, but it did make me feel a little bit better.

 “That’s...one way of putting it I guess.”

 Thus begins my effort to keep Loke cheerful until Lucy gets her butt in gear and calls out the King about Loke’s death sentence...

 Assuming Lucy’s  bond and love for Celestial Spirits was as strong as I thought it was, and given how she was picking up on Fairy Tail life, there was no way she’d make this request any kind of humble petition.

-vVv-

 Loke was grateful for Fae’s persistent company. But he couldn’t help but notice that she was forcing her smile every now and then. Then she’d shake it off and it would all be normal again. But he didn’t like those moments in her. And they had come up repeatedly over the last three days. In fact, she had been rather clingy throughout all that time.

 “Princess, why are you doing this?”

 Loke finally asked her. It had been about two days since he had woken up after drinking himself stupid at a bar at a bar with a bright, cheeky smile greeting him. Fae had been a constant since then. Bouncing, energetic and loving her life. Loving the rebuilding and the people she saw everyday.

 “...three days, four hours and 34 minutes...”

 She whispered. Not looking at him but staring across the canal. Her hand tightened in his and he could feel that she was trembling slightly.

Three days...that’s about as much time as I still gave myself to live- oh...

 He was tired, and sick of growing weaker and weaker by the day. He had decided to give himself one more week of life before he let go and stopped holding himself together. Stopped scraping the bottom of the barrel of his power and just let himself go to be forgotten. It had been three years since he was banished. An incredibly long time for a train wreck to finally hit.

 Fae would have sensed the moment he gave up on his life. Felt it like a stab to the heart. 

She’s trying to make me keep fighting. He concluded, gazing down at the child who was staring straight ahead with glassy eyes. Oh Princess...I’m sorry...

 “It’s...”

 “Don’t say it’s ok, because you know it isn’t.”

 She said in a very strained tone of voice. Had her grip not tightened on his hand, he would have thought she sounded angry with him. 

“I get that you’re exhausted, and sick of being guilty. I probably know better than anyone else exactly what you’re going through. But that doesn’t make it ok that you’re gonna die for doing what you thought was right. It doesn’t make it ok that you’re gonna disappear because someone else made a mistake...”

 Her voice cracked as she tried to keep speaking but couldn’t manage it. Her ethernano blue eyes were literally glowing with emotion.

 Loke wanted to pick her up and tell her not to cry. He wanted to pluck the tears out of the little girl’s eyes and see her smile and laugh normally again. But he was powerless against the grief he could see building up again in her eyes. The slow torture of feeling his life slipping away before her eyes.

And in some way, because he knew that she would still be here, remembering him and mourning him, that made it...better. He wasn’t happy to die, nor was he ready. But...

“Fae...come on. I guess...there’s something you don’t know about Celestial Spirits...”

 She looked at him, electric blue eyes piercing through him and rifling through his soul.

“Oh...” 

“Your magic just told you everything, didn’t it?” 

She looked somewhat chagrined.

“Sorry...I’m not good at turning it off.”

 He shook his head.

“Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway. It’d make me feel better at least.”

 They walked along the canal hand in hand in silence for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

“The Zodiac is an old concept, Fae. We’ve been around for thousands of years. But our aspects haven’t always remained the same. We’ve died and been reborn as new individuals multiple times with only the Celestial Spirit King remaining the same. I’ve done it least recently, but all of the regular spirits fade in and out. Once our current aspects fade, we go back to our constellation and we’re formed into something new and we eventually come back. Since whenever one of us is cast out, all the other spirits forget about them, it’s just like whenever a new member joins the guild. It’s strange, a little nerve wracking, and scary for the new spirit, but it’s part of the pattern.”

 “But you’ll still be gone here.” Fae remarked. “We’ll still miss you.”

 Loke sighed, swinging their hands between them.

 “Yeah, and I am sorry that you’ll feel like that.”

“As long as you won’t be sorry that you came when Gray invited you. That you joined us.” Fae looked up with a smile that looked a little more sincere and there was a definite sparkle of something devious in her eyes. A little tell tale glimmer of knowing.

 “No. I won’t ever regret meeting my princess.” He ruffled her wavy hair and poked her in the ribs to make her giggle, her smile lighting up his world. “A smart, sweet girl who likes to make everyone around her happy~ She’s like a little angel!”

 He slowly started to raise his voice so people would notice them. She was getting noticeably uncomfortable, blushing pink.

 “Loke!” She hissed, swatting at his hand. “Cut it out, you’re being silly again!”

 “Fairy Tail’s darling, Celeste D Faerun!” he cried, sweeping her up over his shoulder and breaking into a trot down the street. “Everyone’s favorite fairy princess!”

 “Only you call me a princess, you dork, put me down!”

-vVv-

 I dozed off sometime during my and Loke’s ‘date’, his word not mine. I called him a weirdo for dating a little girl. He promptly replied he was setting the standard for any other guy who wanted to come in and steal my heart.

 “Look, if someone is willing to face down the rest of this crazy guild to even ask me out, he’s passed the test.”

 I woke up as Loke carried me back to Fairy Hills. My hand tightened in his jacket, but I didn’t say anything...

 “It’ll be alright, princess.” He said finally.

 “You’re not gonna go drink yourself stupid again, are you?”

 I asked, wondering if I shouldn’t stay up and follow him again.

 “Nah. Learned my lesson.”

  No you haven’t.

 “Wallowing in existential misery isn’t ok either.”

 “Fae...Should  be saying that to you?”

 I didn’t say anything.

 It wasn’t fair that I could see all of this and not be able to do anything to help my friend. Why was I even here if I was just going to watch people I cared about suffer and die? Magic was good and wonderful, it could make so many things possible. It made it so I had known Loke at all. But why was I faced with this then? Faced with the impending knowledge that Loke as I knew him would cease to exist?

 The echo of emptiness that still hung where Lisanna had been in my story rang sourly and solemnly.

 I gritted my teeth.

 No. Not again. 

 I had the knowledge that this was coming. And I even had a possible way to fix it...

 Lucy.

 I squirmed out of Loke’s hold, all traces of sleepiness gone in the face of my determination.

 I knew a way that Loke could be saved. And I wasn’t gonna leave it up to the noble idiot to try and let himself die quietly. Screw personal privacy, I was getting other people involved. My determination however couldn’t face the fact that I was really, really tired... I yawned and almost fell. Loke steadied me.

 “Fae, you need sleep.”

 “Sleep is for the weak.” C’mon...think! There’s gotta be something that I can do to wake up...! I went through my standard selection of spells until I found one that might work. I just needed to put a little different intent behind it. I grabbed my head and said the word, focusing on the basic concept and pushing it slightly out of alignment.

“Ennervate!”

  The spell was normally used to awaken someone from unconsciousness. But if I pushed hard enough and changed it...

 The burst of lucidity came and a band of amber script formed around my wrist with a timer. Two hours until the crash hits...ok.

 “Come on.”

 I grabbed his sleeve and started towing him along, away from the dormitory where I slept.

 “Fae, did you just use a spell to keep yourself awake?”

 “It’s only temporary and once the Celestial Spirit King has changed his mind, I will sleep.”

 “You say that as if it’s happened before!”

 “I’m a fairy, and Imma go enlist the help of other fairies. We’re getting you back to the Spirit Realm, full stop.”

 Tracking down Lucy meant that I found Erza, Gray and Natsu as well. The door was locked.

 Ok, I can either try and kick it down and look silly when it doesn’t work, kick it down and make another repair bill, or just use Alohomora.

 “Alohomora.”  

The door opened with a click and I slid it aside to stalk  into the room where it looked as though Team Natsu was about to have a pillow fight. “Hi everyone! Loke has something he needs to tell you.”

 They all stared at me askance.

 “Fae?”

 “Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?”

 “Loke, you look terrible, man.”

 The Lion Spirit tried to escape, as he had many times before. I snapped my fingers.

 “Locomotor Mortis”

 His magic was so weakened that he couldn’t remove the minor hex.

 “This conversation is happening. You can either be conscious for it or not. I’m not letting you run away from this!”

 “Fae, what is going on?”

 I did something that no one should ever do. I ignored Erza and kept staring pointedly at Loke. He was managing to keep his balance despite his legs being essentially glued together. He glared at me.

 “I take back everything nice I ever said about you.”

 “I’ll believe it once you’re not dying.”

 I retorted, arms folded and with a mulish set to my jaw. Erza moved forward and chopped Loke on the head.

 “Don’t say things like that to Fae, Loke. Now then...” Pure murder gleamed in her eyes as she glared at him. “What’s this about you dying and why didn’t you bring it up sooner!?”

-vVv-

 With an intro like that, suffice to say that everyone else didn’t let Loke get away so I just removed my spell on him and watched attentively.

 No one was impressed with this ruling of the judgement, but none less so than Lucy.

 “He banished you just for trying to stop Aries from being abused...?!” She hissed. “If it’s your job to protect them, no matter what then you did the right thing! Why are you being punished for it!?”

 Lucy was starting to glow slightly. Plue and Happy had taken refuge behind me as Lucy showed the wrath of a star. Glowing, bright and endless. Gray and Natsu looked somewhat scared. Erza just looked impressed. Lucy got to her feet abruptly, grabbed Loke and dragged him outside, glaring up at the night sky as if it had personally offended her.

 “Well, I’m a Celestial Spirit Mage. I can close your gate and send you back through it!”

 “Lucy I was banished! I can’t go back even if someone helps me!”

 “Just shut up and go along with it.”

 Gray advised his friend, looking at the blond with growing respect. I felt Lucy gather her magic, the glow around her seeming to intensify under the starlight. An authoritative command rang out into the still night air.

  “Open! Gate of the Lion!”

  A magic circle written in Lucy’s yellow-gold magic expanded beneath her feet as she retained a tight grip on Loke’s arm.

 The King’s words have barred the way.

 Well, that wouldn’t work like this...

 The gates were technically metaphysical, the term was only used for the concept it presented. but...Maybe there was something a little more literal to the word choice.

 “Show me the Gate of the Lion.”

  I muttered, praying that my connection to Loke would be enough for me to see what was happening.

 Usually a Celestial Spirit Mage couldn’t open the gate without the appropriate key as a focus to condense their power down to a fine enough point to activate the gate. What Lucy was trying to do could easily kill her. It would have killed anyone else.

 But not Lucy.

 Oh no, not Lucy. Not the girl who had grown up loving Celestial Spirits. Who had learned that love from her mother before she had died. Lucy’s magic was her way of connecting with her mother and because of that, Lucy could draw on her love for her and feed that into her magic without little to nothing lost in the translation.

 The wind started to pick up as Lucy’s magic poured out into the air, determination etched on her features. I started to see the vague outline of a golden gate with a lion etched into it that was barred shut with heavy chains across it. Yellow lightning started to crackle in the air as Lucy let out still more magic and focused it all on forcing that gate to open.

 “Lucy, you’ll kill yourself! Stop this!”

 “NO!” Lucy screamed. “I WON’T SIT BY AND WATCH SOMEONE ELSE DISAPPEAR!”

~

An eight year old Lucy begging her mother with large shining eyes to tell her more stories about the Celestial Spirits she had once possessed.

A nine year old Lucy watching with concern as the color in her mother’s face started to wane. Her discomfort and irritability stemming from the fact that her mother’s magic, what the budding Celestial Spirit Mage knew as her mother’s soul, was slowly becoming less and less...

A ten year old girl sitting by her mother’s bedside as Layla drew her last breaths, suffering from the effects of Magic Deficiency Disease. Watching as her mother slowly faded...

Here was someone who was also fading. But this was someone she could save.

~

 “Lucy!”

 Erza was starting to see what I was, that Lucy was starting to run out of magic but she was just touching her lifeforce and kept right on going. She screamed her defiance to the stars.

  “OPEN: GATE OF THE LION! TAKE HIM BACK!”

The King’s words have barred the way. 

 Words...I could do words.

 I stared at the gate.

 The Celestial Spirit King seemed like a pretty benevolent guy. The only way I could see him allowing one of his subjects and friends to suffer like this was because of a misunderstanding of some kind.

  “Show me the life and death of Karen Lilica.” I whispered, touching my magic and letting all the knowledge wash over me. There had to be something in there that I could use to counter the words of the King...

 Karen Lilica was a Summoner and a Celestial Spirit Mage of the Blue Pegasus guild. She was conceited over both her appearance and her power. She had many lovers and would often allow her spirits to entertain them in her place.

 (I bit my lip through at the sight of some of the images I got of that. Poor Aries... But I kept searching for evidence. I needed more.)

 When her guild master reprimanded her for her treatment of her spirits, Karen blamed Aries and intended on punishing her by forcing her to remain in the human form for a week. This would have killed her. Leo intervened, sent Aries back and away and took her place, intending on staying out for as long as it took until Karen mended her ways.

 Karen came multiple times to beg, threaten and cajole Leo into returning to the Spirit World. He held firm, not willing to bend this time as he had so many others. Every time she promised to change, Leo could sense she was only lying out of desperation.

 Eventually, she snapped and decided to leave him to die, closing his gate and leaving him trapped in the human world. She vowed that as soon as he died, she would resume her old ways.

 Shortly thereafter, she was killed by another Celestial Spirit Mage, who retains her keys to this day.

 When I opened my eyes, the air had gone still. Lucy was no longer trying to force the gate, but staring up at the face of the armored Celestial Spirit King.

 Said King was holding Natsu between thumb and forefinger.

 “Fight me, toothbrush face!” 

 His shout seemed very small against the vast emptiness of space. The presence of this being was pressing down on me, but it was as though he was stepping carefully and gingerly. He knew how strong he was and he was taking immense care to not damage us or our surroundings.

  Oh no...what did I miss while I was looking all that up?

 I glanced over a condensed version.

 Lucy’s efforts had gotten the Celestial Spirit King to emerge to explain to what he had seen as a valiant, kind hearted Celestial Spirit Mage. He would uphold the laws even if it hurt him. And the law stated that Loke was guilty of killing Karen Lilica.

 Natsu had gotten furious at the notion that the man, a king, was so callous as to let Loke die when Karen’s death was chiefly on her own head.

 “Every wizard when they go on on a job knows that they could very easily die! If she went out and bit off more than she could chew then how is that Loke’s fault!?”

  And naturally, being Natsu, this was accompanied by a hefty, fire enhanced swing. I could see a dent in the King’s armor and a scorch mark.

 Gray and Erza had also put forward their voices, speaking on Loke’s behalf.

 “He’s been living with this for 3 years, getting weaker everyday. Even if Karen dying was his fault, he’s been doing everything he can to make up for it with the time he had left.”

 “Loke is a valued member of our guild, our family. There have been times where I do not agree with his behavior but never once has there been a moment where I did not believe he was a good person who deserved the chance to live!”

 I moved forward, stepping out of the house and raised my hand.

 “Sonorous.”

 I muttered before speaking with the Voice of God. It would have sounded cooler if I weren’t a little kid, but hey, can’t have everything.

 “Hey Mister King? Loke is Leo and Leo is the leader of the Zodiac, right?”

 “That is correct, little one.”

  My eye twitched for a split second.

  Oh come on, even the Celestial Spirit King has to remind me I’m tiny? Bah...

 “So being the leader means it’s his job to take care of them.”

  “Also correct.”

 “Does this responsibility come before or after the duty he owes to contract holders who have broken their own oaths?”

  “Fae...!”

 Loke could see where I was going.

  “Please elaborate.”

  The King’s pupiless eyes narrowed slightly.

 “In order for there to be a mutual working relationship between any two beings there has to be an understanding that one will not harm or take advantage of the other. That is not what was transpiring in the event which is being discussed. Have you ever asked Aries what Karen was doing to her? What Leo was protecting her from?”

 I glared up at the man as the memories from what I had seen made me clench my fists and shake slightly in anger as my own magic leaked into the air.

 “What kind of bass-ackwards contract system do you have where the Spirit can’t escape from an abusive master?! Is that a law too? Is that something that cannot ever be changed for any reason?”

 The massive hulking man knelt and placed Natsu down, offer me his hand.

 “Show me your reasoning, you who have witnessed these things.”

 I started forward.

 “Fae!”

 I couldn’t tell who said this first, but I ignored it and clambered onto the massive palm. The King lifted me up and I recast the spell with an alteration.

  “Show him the Life and Death of Karen Lilica.”

 Nothing was said, but I felt the magic pour out of me as I kept the spell going until the King was satisfied.

 He carefully let me back onto the ground and stood erect once more.

 “Before her death, Karen intended on keeping Aries in the human world for longer than she could bear. And after Leo’s intervention, she locked his gate, intending on watching him suffer and die. Both of these violate the spirit of Celestial Law that binds both humans and spirits.”

  He looked down at us, a motley band of five humans, a cat and a dying spirit.

 “And all of you...you humans who spoke in his defense and sought out the truth of the matter, and the human girl who was willing to give her life if it meant he would live. For your sakes and the bonds of loyalty and friendship you share, I shall make an exception to the law.”

  I saw the chains around the golden gate that I could still see begin to fade and crumble. He too began to disappear, turning into stardust and retreating to the sky.

 “Yeah!” Lucy cheered, relief and joy flashing over her face. “You’re awesome stache-face! Thanks!”

 “Well that’s a relief.”

 “Most definitely.”

 “Heeey! Get back here and fight me you big coward! I’m not through with you yet!”

 A broad grin stretched across the huge being’s face at Natsu’s angry shout. Erza was holding him back by his scarf and looking a trifle embarrassed.

 “Honestly...”

 Loke just looked floored. Then again, the fate he had resigned himself to had just been taken away and the prospect of actually living stretched out before him. I went over to him as he stared at where the King was vanishing.

 “How do I pay them back?” He asked in a faint voice. “I have to pay them back...”

  “I imagine the little one has a good idea.”

  I blushed a little bit at being pointed out.

 “Fae?”

 I hugged Loke, smiling and free for the first time of the sensation of lingering death that used to hover around him.

 “There’s nothing more valuable in the world than friendship. I’d settle for that.”

 Loke’s arm lifted and went around me, pulling me in close, hand nestling in my hair as I inhaled deeply. Hope, renewed life and heartbreaking relief and gratitude filled my awareness of him as he gently kissed my hair.

 “You got it, princess...”

Chapter Text

 Lucy looked surprised as she regarded Loke.

 “Me? You’re sure?”

 With how close they had seemed, Lucy had assumed that Loke, Leo, would be giving Fae his key.

 Loke nodded a soft smile on his face.

 “I’m certain.” He seemed to spot something of her hesitation in her face and he chuckled. “Fae’s not a Celestial Spirit Mage, Lucy. Even if she did have Carrier Magic, she isn’t strong enough.”

 Lucy felt slightly embarrassed that she was so easy to read but...

 “I always thought that her magic was flexible enough to change. I’ll bet if you asked, she’d find a way for you to stay in the human world without needing to contract a wizard.” Thinking back to the latest thing Fae had devised for her storytelling and how she was connecting that to her magic... “I don’t think there’s anything that girl couldn’t do if she put her mind to it.”

 Loke chuckled.

 “Agreed. But I want you to be my wizard, Lucy.”

 Hope and happiness fluttered inside Lucy as she extended her hand.

 “If that’s what you want, then I look forward to working with you!”

 Loke clasped her hand with a smile before he faded back into magic.

 “Same here...”

 The golden key with a lion’s head on the end was left in Lucy’s hand.

 I’ve only been a member of Fairy Tail for a few months, but I’ve already gotten three more Golden Keys! Can you believe it, Mom? Three! 

 A lot had happened. It was hard to believe that Loke had ended up being a Celestial Spirit who was trapped in the human world. He’d been there all along! Tough with how his last master had been, no wonder he had avoided her. People like that made Lucy want to scream and cry.

 And hit something. Really hard.

 This impulse had only shown up after she had been in the guild for awhile. Lucy wondered what it said about her that she was starting to think it was a good idea more often than not.

-vVv-

 Loke did end up giving his key to Lucy before returning to the Spirit World. We had a very impressive story to tell and I was forbidden from using stimulative spells on myself casually. Though given that this had ended up saving Loke’s life, Makarov let it slide. I then threw myself wholeheartedly into devising a safe method of flying. Once I got a solid matrix down, I’d be able to pull the sequence out willy nilly. I just had to get that far!

 I wanted to fly, but I also wanted a large degree of control over it. Flying wouldn’t do me much good if I couldn’t keep myself from crashing. I was trying to persuade, see also, bribe, Happy into showing me his Aria magic so I could get an idea of what I was after but the insufferable little troll was holding out on me! If I could just get a solid read on his magic circle, it would be great, but since he wasn’t showing me, I’d have to go the long way.

 “I guess this cut of salmon will be my lunch.”

 I said, pulling out the carefully wrapped and stored package. The blue cat froze and his nose twitched.

 “A little brine and salt...nothing really fishy...” He jumped up and chased after me, his wings popping out to catch up with me. He shredded the paper package to reveal the orange-pink flesh within. “This is real, fresh salmon!” Happy moaned, eyes shining with greed as he traced the pink fibers. “And wild caught too! Not farmed!”

 I held my prize out of his reach.

 “Hey, you weren’t helping so you don’t get any.”

 “Faaaaae!”

 I had to dodge his thieving paws several times on the way to the kitchen to fry up the mild tasting fish with lemon, butter and herbs. And I got a good look at Happy’s wings with my magic along the way.

  This should feel more like cheating...

 I got the information I wanted and kept my high quality lunch from a reward from a job earlier this morning.

 I was so close to figuring it out I could almost taste it. I had promised myself that by the time Freed came back, I’d have worked out how to fly. I’d already gotten several requests for my safety bands that I had made to keep myself from getting hurt whenever I fell during testing. According to most, it was something I could easily go commercial with but...

But that’s so...limited.

 Going into business making magical items was a possibility. In fact, it was something that many wizards did if their magic couldn’t stand up to the stresses  and demands of active guild life. They’d use their magic to make items for either civilians with no magic, or specialized equipment for wizards with even more magic. I didn’t want that though. I didn’t want to stop and make due with what I already had. I wanted to learn and discover more. Push my magic right to the very limit until I found the limits as to what I could and couldn’t do!

 I must have gone through an entire forest of paper by now with how much I was writing. I was trying to persuade Master and Mira to get me a whiteboard or something so I could just erase and start over without wasting so much. But apparently the concept wasn’t invented yet and the light-pen wasn’t going to cut it for me. If you used a magical tool to write a magical rune you ran the risk of the magic getting confused and then no one was happy!

 It had to be written without any extra magic. And as fun as making paper airplanes and birds was, (they often flew around the guild hall and roosted in some very odd places,) I wanted something more efficient.

 The rune syllabary Mystogan had gotten for me was a big help though! I could already whip out some basic commands quick and easy as pie!

-vVv-

 I was practicing some water magic in a secluded spot near the guild hall when I first met her.

Since there were only so many ways you could manipulate water itself, I was trying to...

 ...Alright, I was trying to break the laws of physics and chemistry and compress water.

Water was one of the basic four elements that shaped the world. Most of the world’s surface was covered in it. Human beings were literally mostly made of it. It was such an underestimated force of nature yet it was everywhere!

 If I could pull water out of the air and condense it into projectiles that was fine. But if I could compress it, I’d get more umph out of the limited power I had at the moment. (The magic storage devices were still a no go. My last four designs blew up in various creative ways and Master told me to shelve the idea until Freed came back from his job.)

  What about fishman karate?

That was an idea. The story of One Piece and the Grand Line was a gold mine for weird powers to use and a lot of the characters had a ton of backstory to make them really effective for me. The practitioners of fishman karate didn’t have a lot of available backstory, aside from Koala, but...

If I bastardize it with some waterbending, I might be able to get something out of it!

I looked at the barrels of water I had used and thought for a moment.

  Ok...just using a basic water bullet ought to be a good place to start. Just to get one up and hold onto it. The force can come later.

 Satisfied, I scrolled through my syllabary and selected several runes to string together. Things like articles weren’t really necessary right here where my actions would dictate the rest.

Water, force, manipulate. Link to: body movement. The runes, once infused with some magic, came to life and settled around my wrists and hands like some strange sort of gauntlet.

I looked at the water, standing there innocently as if it hadn’t ever done anything wrong. I reached out and ran my hands through it, feeling how the water interacted with the magic that covered my fingers.

 Imagining a half sphere force field, I scooped up a handful of water and had it stay in that imagined shape without dripping. Ok...Progress. Treating the water as if it were clay, I tried to mold it into a roughly spherical shape only for it to slip through my fingers. It was still water, a liquid that couldn’t be treated as a solid.

  There’s gotta be some way...something for me to cop out on, borrow and rework...

For treating water as a solid, I’d probably need to peruse more stuff in One Piece. Definitely fishman karate rather than waterbending. At least for this.

  Speaking of...

 I let the water return to the mostly full barrel and with a little focus, pulled out about two gallons worth of water. It hovered before me in the air, shifting and roiling slightly on the inside. Biting my lip, I focused on the manipulation rune and guided it through the air, recalling the story of Avatar in my head. Specifically drawing on Katara in this instance. I could relate with her right now, Trying to muddle her way through something she barely understood but desperately wanted to be able to do.

 As I moved around the yard. My motions gradually became more fluid. There wasn’t much room to incorporate the martial arts I’d been taught in this. All of my teachers were brawlers and very...forward fighters. They’d be more suited to earth and firebending.

 I almost lost control of the water as my thoughts slipped towards the other elements but I persevered. Even if I couldn’t fight very well with water, it was still fun and relaxing to move it around like this.

 “Ex...Excuse me?” The voice startled me and I lost my focus, the water falling to splash all over my feet, but I was too busy looking, very curiously, at the blue haired woman who was watching me from the edge of the property and now looked panicked.

 “Oh! I’m sorry!”

 She reached out and the water lifted away from my feet and hovered between us.

  Juvia Lockser. Formerly of Phantom Lord. Water Wizard.

She made a valiant attempt to smile.

 “I didn’t mean to startle you...”

 “You...” It hit me then. “You’re the one who’s always following Gray around! He thinks he’s picked up a stalker but it’s actually you!” My brain caught up with what I was saying then. “No, wait, you are the stalker. That’s it.”

“Nothing shall keep me from my beloved’s side!”

 Juvia said, her uncertainty fading to passionate daydreaming which I hastily blotted out.

 “Not even the fact that what you’re doing is illegal?”

“Love cannot be stopped!”

“ Evidently.“ I cleared my throat. “So, Miss Juvia, wasn’t it? What can I do for you?”

 She looked at me somewhat taken aback.

 “Well. I was looking for Gray but then I saw you...Are you a water wizard?”

 I shook my head, offering my arms and their seals.

 “I’m a Rune Wizard, but I’m experimenting with it at the moment just to cover my bases.”

 The older woman looked briefly disappointed. 

No, not a woman.

I examined her again. Despite her somber face and apparent maturity, Juvia was only about the age of my other friends. Maybe in her late teens. But certainly not that old.

 “Well, I am a Water Woman myself, so perhaps, would you like some...help?”

Judging by her tone, she expected me to refuse. But who was I? An idiot?

 “Yes please!” I practically shouted, eyes shining. I grabbed her hands and started talking rapidly. “I’ve never met a Water Wizard specializing in Elemental Manipulation. This is exactly what I need! If I can see you do it I can get ideas of how to describe it with my magic and that will make everything go so much faster thank you so much!”

 I have never seen someone so surprised and yet so happy.

-vVv-

 Juiva was somewhat confused at the presence of the little girl.

 She knew Jose had remarked that Makarov was getting soft in his old age. By taking in orphan foundlings. A ‘green haired brat’. But since said brat was responsible for the biggest bump in entertainment in the last decade, Juvia had thought that Makarov’s taking her in had been a clever move instead of one worth deriding. Everyone knew about the young storyteller. But she had formed her own opinion now.

 Fae’s hair could be called green, if she squinted. But by no means was the little girl a brat. She was sweet, thoughtful and very friendly. Juvia found herself relaxing around the child, who spoke much more like an adult than a child. Fae was eager, always raring to go try something new. And despite the fact that she wasn’t a water mage as Juvia had hoped, the Rain Woman thought she could very easily become friends with her. Fae’s talents were many and wonderful and she cheered delightedly when she managed to copy some of Juvia’s more basic manipulation with her own magic after watching her do it a few times.

 “Ne, Miss Juvia?”

 Juvia fully expected it to be another magic based question and she smiled warmly at the girl.

“Yes, Fae?”

 “Why are you lonely?”

 The direct question caught Juvia very much off guard.

 “I- What?”

 Fae’s pale blue eyes were steady.

“Lonely. You. Why? You’re really nice.”

 “My guild was disbanded, Fae.

” Surely she had heard about this being a ward of Fairy Tail?

 “And that means you can’t see your friends anymore?”

 The question hit home hard and Juvia bit her lip and tried her best to keep the rain clouds from forming overhead.

 To no avail. The clouds came and it started to rain.

“I...don’t have friends...”

 The admission seemed to echo in the drops that came down around them. It was not a heavy torrent, but a steady drizzle that already seemed to be washing away the warm happiness Juvia had been feeling for a brief time.

But her company didn’t seem to feel the same way. In fact, she looked up at the gray, clouded sky and smiled as the falling water hit her face.

 “Rain...Rain is good.”

 Juvia went still, staring at her in disbelief. Fae just kept talking as though she had forgotten that Juvia was there.

“Whenever it rains, it clears the air. Everything is always so fresh and beautiful after a rainstorm... I love the smell that comes afterwards.”

 “But...it’s wet and cold. And it follows me everywhere.”

 Fae giggled, hopping into a forming puddle with a splash.

 “That’s why I asked why you were sad and lonely before. The rain is part of your magic, that isn’t something that should ever be sad! It’s so cool that you have that power! Don’t you know how many people would want to have that? Sometimes their livelihood depends on how much rain they have!”

 Fae continued to gambol through the grassy clearing, heedless of mud and grass that got on her feet and legs. She appeared to be having a good time. Her eyes sparkled as she saw one large puddle and she took a running start to land in it, sending water splashing everywhere with a peal of laughter.

 Juvia watched, amazed and dumbfounded as the little girl who had seemed so at home in the sun turned around and accepted the rain just as happily. It didn’t seem to matter that the sky was gray and cloudy or that water poured down. Fae’s smile lit the air as she splashed gleefully in the puddles.

“What are you doing?”

 The Rain Woman finally asked the girl.

 “Playing. What’s it look like?” She gave her a bright, curious look. “You mean that the entire time that you’ve had rain following you, you’ve never played in the puddles or danced in the rain?”

 Juvia said that she hadn’t.

 Fae grabbed her by the arm and hauled her off.

 “Come on! There are always some great puddles down this way!”

 Juvia had always despised the grey clouds that followed her. The rain that had driven so many people away from her. But as Fae played with her, happily using the little bit of water magic she had learned to splash the older girl, Juvia found herself enjoying it. For the first time in years, she enjoyed the rain.

 “The rain follows you whenever you’re lonely. So doesn’t that make the rain your friend?” Fae asked as they rested under a tree. “It always came whenever you wanted company.” Juvia had never thought of the rain clouds that had accompanied her like that. They had always been troublesome burdens. Something that she wished would go away so other people would want to be around her. A gloomy Rain Woman.

 Fae was looking up at the sky before turning and giving Juvia a long, thoughtful look. She reached out and caught a drop in her hands and brought it to her lips...

-vVv-

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her. You don’t have to keep following her.”

-vVv-

 I brought Juvia back to the guild hall for lunch and introduced her to the master. I also dropped a note saying I thought she’d be a good guild member.

 Most wizards preferred to guard their magical knowledge and only give it to a select few people. Instead, Juvia had offered to help me freely. And the history of loneliness and isolation I had read in her past was enough to make me certain that while I didn’t know if Fairy Tail needed a Water Wizard, Juvia definitely needed a home.

 -vVv-

 I saw him coming a few days after I met Juvia.

 I bounded up and raced out the door to crash into Loke, who looked and felt much better after some time spent in the Spirit Realm.

 “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

 I asked him after hugging him to piece for a little bit.

 “Ok, that’s a mixed message if I ever heard one.”

 He said, ruffling my wavy sea green hair. I’d been keeping it short because it was a bother and it reached my chin now. I swatted at his hands before his rings could get caught in it.

 “Shut up, you know I’m glad to see you.”

 Loke grinned and motioned me forward and guided me outside.

 “Well, I’ve got a surprise for you and the others...”

-vVv-

 The whole guild heard Fae’s delighted cry:

 “We’re going to Akane!!”

-vVv-

 “I know that it’s normally not really a perk to have a kid along for vacation, but I owe her just as much as the rest of you if not a little more.” Loke poked my head gently. “She found me out almost a year ago, I’d probably have been a lot worse off without her.”

 “I still had to drag you to them.” I deadpanned before furry blue paws slapped over my mouth.

 “Thank you Happy. Anyway, these are for you guys.” Loke handed Erza five tickets. (Four Adults and one Kids pass. Three day, all expenses paid.) “These’ll get you some down time. I know you’ve all been working a lot lately.”

 “Hey, thanks man!”

 “Akane resort! I haven’t been in years!”

 I nipped Happy’s paw to free my mouth and looked at Lucy.

“Oh right, your family was super rich. It’s no surprise you’ve been there!”

 Lucy laughed, looking slightly awkward at the reminder.

 “Yeah, we only went while Mom was still alive. My last time there was when I was about your age, Fae.”

 “These include passes for the casino? Sweet!”

 I wrinkled my nose at Gray’s comment.

 “They let kids into the casino?”

  That definitely doesn’t sound fun...

 “They don’t let em play for money or drink, but there’s other stuff around that kids can play.” Loke grinned suddenly. “Actually, that’s probably too bad. You’d be a killer at poker and other card games with your Retrocognition letting you know what cards are still in the deck.” 

“Loke, that’s cheating.”

 Unfortunately, Erza looked deviously thoughtful at this. I began to pray fervently she’d just leave me alone to do my own thing.

-vVv-

 The day spent at the beach was a blast! Gray or Lucy went on the rides with me at the park and I managed to befriend one of the spraywhales that people had on hand for high speed rides through the surf.

 When they played volleyball, I went looking for food with Happy.

 Apparently I was still cute, since I got a lot of free stuff. I plotted with Happy to eat some of it before we got back to the others so as to not have to share. Since something that I had been given was a piping hot serving of takoyaki (fried octopus balls), he agreed without protest.

 On the way back, I spotted Juvia gazing at Gray with dreamy eyes.

 “Aren’t you supposed to be doing...adult things like settling your lease and moving to Magnolia?” I asked her. She beamed.

 “It’s all done, Fae-chan! I’m just waiting for the right moment to tell the good news to my beloved Gray.”

  Poor Gray...he really has no idea what he’s in for.

  I shrugged, knowing that if I told Juvia that I had insight to relationships and things like that because of my magic, she wouldn’t rest until I had detailed a foolproof way to win Gray’s heart.

 When was the last time he went out with someone? It’s been a couple months at least...

 Unlike Natsu, Gray was not mostly oblivious to the attention he got from girls. His problem was finding a girl who didn’t take his unfortunate stripping habit as a come hither sign. He had mostly given up on finding a girl he could date who wasn’t a wizard. This was, for some reason, filed as shipping evidence for Gruvia by my magic.  

 “Well don’t wait around for too long.”

 I placed the drinks and food I’d gotten down by our collective pile of ‘stuff‘ and fished around for my rune syllabary. I’d gotten a couple good ideas while playing today...

 “That’s right! Time and Love wait for no woman!”

 “That’s not how the saying goes- oh never mind...”

-vVv-

 I was restlessly pacing about the room I was sharing with Lucy as I tried to pinpoint the strange tension I felt in the air. I tried sitting down and writing something out in hopes that something might catch my attention, like whenever I had been able to predict whether one of my friends was coming back to the guild hall. But to no avail. Nothing seemed to work.

 “Hey Fae, you coming down to play? They’ve got a huge kids section and they’re letting kids play a couple of the adult games too.”

 Lucy had already dolled herself up in a long, sleek dark red dress. But that of course meant someone just couldn't’ keep quiet...

 Natsu’s favorite color...~!

Shut up!

  I smacked the voice down back into its corner. It looked vaguely as though a variety of pictures of everyone I knew had been pinned to a wall and had various colored strings stretched between them. The only legit ‘ships’ there were so far were Nalu and Gruvia. But I had the feeling more would come.

 While I was distracted, Lucy had also gotten me into something that was vaguely cute. It was a big step up from my usual shorts and ratty t-shirt. Though I had wanted to vehemently protest the school girl skirt, Lucy had treated me like her doll for the evening. I glared at my reflection, with its button up blouse and neatly combed hair briefly before sighing.

 “Yeah, I’m coming.”

 I got up and started to put my syllabary away...

“If you can be disarmed, never go anywhere unarmed.”

“An unprepared wizard doesn’t live long.”

 Mystogan and Freed had told me that. I glanced down at what I held. Given how anxious I was feeling, I didn’t want to leave this behind. And if I did and something happened, I would be kicking myself for years.

A way to take it with me without people noticing...

“Actually...hang on a sec.”

  What was the incantation again...?

 The spell was an Undetectable Expansion Charm. It’s use was heavily controlled and I had two very good story based examples of its use and more mentioned in passing. Newt Scamander used it on his magic animal storage case. And Hermione had used it to smooth over the supply needs for the Golden Trio when they were on the run.

Unless I write out a stable rune pattern, it’ll just fade over time but...I don’t think I’ll need it in the long term...A bag or something would be best, but I’m too young to pull off carrying a purse around... My shirt pocket will do.

“Capacious extremis.”

 Focusing hard on what I wanted, centering the space on the inside of my breast pocket, I fueled the spell. It took a little more than I expected for something I was only intending to be temporary. Well, bigger on the inside effects are ridiculously broken. Once the spell finished casting, I managed to slide my syllabary inside the pocket without it looking or feeling any different.

 “Fae, come one we still gotta get Erza!”

 “Keep your hair on Lucy, I’m coming.”

-vVv-

 Erza was dressed in a full-on evening gown, beautiful roses the same deep red as her hair on a dusky purple background and her hair swept up into a smooth knot on the back of her head and an alluring smile on her lips.

 Right next to her was Lucy, bright blonde, innocent, girlish eyes with a big bubbly smile, providing and receiving contrast from Erza’s mature confidence.

 Small wonder the guys at their poker table were having trouble focusing on their cards.

 Since I could read exactly how much cheating and dishonesty was going on, I didn’t really want to play. I’d probably end up trying to find some way to win at everything anyway and I didn’t want to do that.

 I ended up sitting near a snack bar, feet swinging idly off of my stool as I watched my friends enjoy themselves.

“You look bored.”

 The kindly bartender remarked.

 “Kinda am.” I admitted. “But it’s nice to see so many people having fun.”

 Natsu was over by some random roulette game with Happy. He had wandered over there after staring in wide eyed surprise at Lucy without noticing anything for about five minutes before Happy managed to snap him out of it.

 It’s the same color as Igneel’s Scales, which is why it’s his favorite.

 Didn’t I say to shut up?

 Gray was playing some version of magical slots somewhere, though what the little figurines meant was beyond me right now. And a flash from ‘Gruvia’ told me that Juvia was nearby and about to make her move.

  Yeah. Definitely good to see them having fun.

 Something wicked this way comes.

 Is this a subtle hint to lay off the Harry Potter stuff and find something new? I asked sarcastically. ‘ Cause once I find something else that’s as versatile and useful that I can use without burning myself out or blowing anyone up on accident then I will!

 I found myself having this kind of argument with the voice in my head more and more often whenever it decided to be funny with a vague...slightly menacing comment. Thing was, it had yet to be wrong about something going down.

 Ok, there was something dangerous here, because of course there was. But what had made my magic warn me? I couldn’t tell the future so the only way that would have happened was if there was no way of avoiding it.

My magic also told me that Loke would die, but he’s still alive.

  So, I was gonna run with the idea that while fate could very well exist, destiny was something much more flexible that could be changed given enough sweat, blood, tears and fire. I hopped down from my stool and went over to where Erza smugly pulled in yet another winning hand.

  Is she sneaking cards out of her gloves?

“I think it’s my lucky day.”

 She purred, tapping her cheek mischievously. I tugged on her arm.

 “Erza, something’s wrong.” I whispered for her and Lucy’s ears alone. “My magic says something bad’s coming. We have to go!”

 The S-class wizard came out for a split second and gave me a sharp look. Lucy simply looked alarmed. I saw her hand automatically go to her keys, hidden down her dress front. A place only the truly shameless would look, let alone touch.

 “Are you sure Fae?”

 Lucy asked, instantly keeping the same smile on her face in spite of what I was saying. I nodded, feeling a knot of fear and apprehension try to choke me.

 “Yeah. I can’t tell what it is, but it’s here...Or it’s going to be here soon.”

 Erza’s eyes scanned around for a split second, all sharp business.

“Lucy, take Fae. Protect her, tell the boys.”

 Lucy rose, putting an arm around me.

“I’m sorry, I guess I have to turn in. Can’t leave the little one alone.”

 She said aloud with a smile with just the right amount of regret in it.

 “C’mon beautiful, just one more game!”

 One player, a guy I would note, said in a wheedling tone. Erza leaned forward and caught his attention.

 “It’s already past time for Faerun to be in bed. I’ll take you on, gentlemen.”

 Lucy and I moved over to Gray and Juvia. It went without saying that trying to tell Natsu to be subtle about an oncoming fight was...not gonna happen. That was when I caught sight of a tall man with a literally square jaw made of metal. I heard something hiss through the air and-

“Fae!”

 Lucy knocked me down and aside as an orange colored rope flew towards us both. Her actions made it so it missed me but wrapped itself securely around her. Her legs were bent up towards her chest and her arms were bent back over her head. Lucy fell hard, unable to stay upright as she reflexively tried to squirm and her bonds only tightened.

 “Lucy, stop! It’ll only get tighter!”

 I rolled over to start working at the rope, which appeared to have cat features on the ends. A touch confirmed what I had observed. Living Coil Binding mixed with an Anti-action Binding. The two spells were simple ones. One gave it the ability to react to their captive and grapple them effectively. The Anti-action Binding kept captive from using any active magic such as an attack or defensive spell. The appearance and color was the result of a little personalization. 

I grabbed one strand and pulled it away from Lucy, hissing an apology when it reacted to my messing with it as well.

“Diffindo!”

  The magic in the bindings resisted my attempts to free Lucy, but a sizeable gap appeared in the cord.

 “Oops! I missed one!”

 I looked up to see a brown haired, cat eared girl readying to cast another spell. The same binding spell if I read the beginnings of the magic circle correctly. I ducked down, avoiding the first onslaught of the spell. Being so close to Lucy, I didn’t dare use another Severing Charm. It could easily end up cutting her as well. But it was the magic on the rope, or tube rather, that was causing trouble.

 The cobbled together spell came into my head and I prayed that it would work.

“Totalus Locomotor Mortis Finite!”

  I hissed, trying to force the binding spell to end. If that was gone, it would be easy for Lucy to free herself.

 “Nekosoku Tube!”

 I could tell even as the spell knocked me back a little ways that my intention had had some effect even if the spell was too unwieldy to eliminate the binding entirely. I went as limp as possible when the orange rope wound around me. I didn’t fight it. My lack of resistance meant it simply wound me up like a caterpillar instead of bending me into a pretzel.

  Natsu has been eliminated from the fight. Gray and Juvia are eliminated from the fight.

 Ok, apparently the magic blocking thing doesn’t include passive effects. But what about Erza? Erza would never give up!

There was a lot of confused shouting for a little while until there was only silence... I twisted my head slightly and saw that the floor was covered with cards...Cards with people on them that were moving.

Card Dimension. Can trap living beings safely inside a magical card. In spite of their helplessness, they can still interact with the outside world, if only in a limited sense.

 “Hello, who brought a kid along?” The brown haired girl trotted over and looked down at me curiously. “And I saw you use magic too. I didn’t think guilds were so heartless as to force kids to fight.”

Millianna. She likes cats and is a friend of Erza’s though she believes that Erza betrayed her.  

“Erza wouldn’t betray anyone!” I couldn’t stay silent in the face of that. “Why in the world would you even think that!?”

 I dug fiercely for more, feeling my eyes glow slightly as my magic moved. This part was unhindered by the Nekosoku Tube.

 “What the-! How can you still use magic!?”

 I took a moment to glare at her through my pale blue eyes.

  Ok, seeing the world this blue is kinda weird..

 “Read the instructions.” I hissed at her, both furious at her misconception that Erza would betray anyone she considered a friend and at how narrow minded she was. “Passive magical abilities need a more precise block than a stupid Anti-action Binding!” 

I broke through a wall that I associated with a secret.

Gotcha!

 I had read over time that Erza had once been a slave at the Tower of Heaven alongside several other children. I had read that there had been some trouble and she had escaped, but had been unable to bring any of her friends, or other slaves with her.

 This girl, and the others, were part of those friends that Erza had been close to when she was a little girl

  Millianna the Cat Girl. Wally, the Block Wizard, Sho the Card Mage, and Simon.

“But- But you’re just a little kid! How could you know that!”

 “You were all slaves at the Tower of Heaven. Erza escaped, but she would never in a million years leave anyone she called a friend behind! The only way that would happen is if someone threatened to hurt you if she tried to help!”

 I yelled, doing my best not to thrash in anger.

 “Shut up!”

 The binding around me moved up and wound around my mouth. I sullenly bit at the binding, glaring at the somewhat unnerved Millianna. Unnerved, heck she looked downright terrified. Scared of what one little girl could see.

“Stop...stop looking at me!” The cat loving girl cried, stumbling back. “Simon make her stop!”

 She whined like a frightened child. The tall man came over and picked me up. With one hand. One the one hand, I thought this was a bit of a flex that he could just deadlift me so easily. On the other hand, the contact did give me more contact to get a read on him.

He believes Erza did not betray them. 

“How can you see that?”

  I heard an unfamiliar man’s voice inside my head.

  It’s his. 

I consciously answered him in my head.

Magic, duh.

  How else did anything weird happen in this world?

 “Put her down!” Erza’s scream came across the mostly empty hall as a sword flashed into her hands and her eyes blazed with never before seen fury. “Let her go, now!”

 “Ain’t that interesting.” Drawled another man’s voice as he materialized beside me. Something metallic pressed against my head. “Alright, Erza. Promise we ain’t gonna hurt the brat, just come with us nice and easy and she don’t get hurt, see?”

 A man who looked as though he was made of super large pixelated blocks was pointing a gun-arm at my head. 

  Wally won’t shoot.

  I shook my head at Erza, trying to convey this thought to her. I was wishing desperately for telepathy so I could tell her that she didn’t have to give herself over. I winced as the binding tightened even in response to my tiny movement.

 Her hand tightened on her sword, then loosened as she dropped it.

 “I...I’m sorry Fae...”

 I had never seen Titania look so helpless as she did right then.

Chapter Text

 The boat was kinda small and cramped with six of us in it. At least Happy was small enough to be carried by an ecstatic Millianna.

  Wouldn’t be nearly that easy to keep a hold of him if he were awake.

 The big guy, Simon, was carrying me and keeping me out of arm’s reach of Erza.

  “What all have you seen?”

  Simon asked me once we were well underway. They had smashed all the other boats they could get their hands on before even coming into the casino after us. The memories, the story, his story, crashed through my head.  First, months of torment at the hands of their slavemasters. The small consolation the children had found in each other and the elderly man, Rob, who looked after them. Then, the revolt. Erza came back from a ‘disciplinary session’ sans an eye, Jellal was taken and changed.

 When he came back, Jellal claimed that Erza, who had awakened her magic, had destroyed the boats the other slaves planned to use to escape and trapped them all in their miserable hell. As far as Simon knew, everyone believed him, even those who still called Erza their friend.

 But Simon didn’t. Simon knew Erza would never do anything like that.

“Soooo...how long have you had this thing for Erza?” 

 I had gotten used to speaking along his telepathic channel and not just broadcasting my thoughts to any listening telepath. But saying this to Simon resulted in what I could only describe as a mental blush.

  Simza....~!

 For crying out loud, now is not the time!

 I focused on sorting through the information I had gotten simply by touching the man before I gave an actual date.

 “Now that I’ve been in contact with you for this long, I’ve seen all the way back to when you were first captured.”

  And only an incredible amount of self delusion was keeping me from breaking down into a gibbering, terrified mess. That and I was pretty sure the big guy was helping somehow.

 “And you think the same thing?”

 “Of course! And I’ve seen the story from Erza’s side too! Not all of it, sure. I don’t like reading into the details of people’s pasts unless I absolutely have to. But I did see plain as day that she still feels guilty over having to leave you behind. And scared.”

  Looking at Erza now, it looked as though she was caught up in a traumatic flashback. Her face was pale and her eyes haunted and distant. A nightmare of epic proportions was rocking her.

  Erza...

 Erza was one of the strongest people I knew. Her sense of right and wrong was unparalleled in its strength, though at times her whims did get the better of her. She was an avid believer of order and discipline and any woe betide any wrong doers that crossed her path.  Seeing Erza this broken and afraid was wrong. She was supposed to be strong, not just powerful, but strong enough to be kind and kind enough to not be able to hide her heart behind a suit of armor in spite of what she tried to make everyone believe.

 And now she was relieving her time in hell.

“Some one has been keeping the R-system’s existence hidden from the Magic Council, otherwise they surely would have found us.” Simon began. “I do not know how Jellal has done it, but-” 

 I froze as the face flashed through my head and the connection was made.

 There was a new, young wizard on the Magic Council, the youngest one ever if I recalled. He was in Lucy’s magazine, the one where the most eligible bachelors of Fiore were listed. 

 Siegrain. The mysterious recent addition to the Magic Council. Often found in the company of Ultear Milkovich, another record breakingly young council member.

 His face was the exact same as the image I had gotten from Simon as to what Jellal looked like.

 Were they brothers? I’d need to touch Jellal to be sure, to read his story from his side and see what was really going on.

 “What’s the matter?”

 “Uh...I don’t know how in touch you’ve been with the outside world...”

 “Not much.”

 “Then I found your leak. Or at least the most likely candidate...”

 I spent the rest of the trip with Simon, trading information, or stories. The closer we got to the tower, the more my Retrocognition groaned and sent me memories of torture, death and slavery. It was...not easy to deal with.

 “I believe I said to bring Erza and Erza alone.”

  The voice was another man’s and it sent shivers down my spine. The other’s in the boat heard it too judging by their reactions. (Only Erza didn’t react though. I guess she hadn’t heard it?) That was Mystogan’s voice! Or at least it sounded exactly like him. But Mystogan had never sounded that...harsh, jaded, cynical or cruel.

 The fear that Simon had been trying to stave off by talking to me all throughout our trip started to creep in on my mind... Simon’s hand tightened marginally.

 “Lay off, Jellal. It was take the kid or face a pitched battle.”

 Wally complained. But I could read he wasn’t nearly as laid back as he was acting, there was fear in him underneath that false trust. He was fooling himself into trusting Jellal. They all were. They all were convincing themselves, everyday, every step they took, that they believed he was doing the right thing.

 “Really?” He sounded intrigued and not in a good way. “Bring her up to me.”

 We were within sight of the tower, a spiky, tortured looking spindle that stabbed up out of the ocean.

 Hate. Pain. Death. Obsession. Pain. Resentment. Painpainpain!

 I wanted to clutch my head reflexively as the poisonous feelings rang through my head. I wanted to turn off my magic, do something, anything if it meant that the noise would stop. It was like nails, literal steel nails, scratching over slate, skin, eyes. It was as though every sense I possessed was under attack from this phantom agony.  Years of heartache and suffering were crammed into this tower. It had been built on lies and torture, its history was one of blood and death. Such potent, rampant, pure human evil that I wanted to be sick.

 The tears came up without my being able to stop them. My body’s automatic response to stress and pain to try and alleviate it in some way. But it wouldn’t help. It couldn’t. I wanted to run. I wanted to hide. I wanted to wake up back in the Fairy Hill dorms and find the closest wizard I could to make the darkness go away!

-vVv-

 Simon wanted to comfort the girl, but knew that would give his intentions away. With Jellal having noticed them and expressed interest in her, his attention would be on them. Since Jellal had been the one to teach Simon his telepathy spell, he couldn’t risk trying to speak to her again without being discovered. Jellal had to be distracted with something else before he dared try that.

 It wasn’t as though he could offer much solace since it was his fault that the child had ended up here in the first place. He had come over to see what was distressing Millianna, and instead of seeing a grown wizard who had been fighting just a girl who hadn’t been doing anything but speaking. Though he could admit he saw how the catgirl might think the ethereal glow of pale blue eyes was unnerving. Erza had seen her in his grasp and her brown eyes had hardened to daggers of rage as she demanded that he release her, Fae. The painful history that tied them all together had vanished in the face of the present need of seeing her safe. The helpless rage, the frustration and despair that he had seen in Erza as she surrendered herself for the girl’s sake...

  You really care about her. Just like you did all of us.

  She didn’t even look to be ten years old.

 He noticed that the closer they got, the more tears leaked out of Fae’s eyes and the more terrified she looked. The expression was one that hit home on all of them. Wally and Sho were looking straight ahead, pretending to be stone faced while Millianna looked ever so guilty.

 We’ve existed in this demon pit for almost ten years. It’s a fate we all know, deep down, that no one should endure. And we’re bringing a child here. We may as well as be our own captors.

  He could recall his own fright when he was brought here in the dead of night with a boatload of other children. Erza had been among them. Those emotions were being mirrored perfectly on Fae’s face and in her silent tears. And it was not an easy reminder for any of them. Wally, Sho and Millianna had thrown themselves into this project, using Erza’s betrayal as a shield against their continued pain.

 A shield that was useless to the sucker punch that was Fae’s tears.

 If her magic was as she said and she read the past like a book, then she was being forced to experience every terrible thing that had happened here over the years.

 Millianna hadn’t wanted to take off her binding spell, not even to replace them with cords. And she had insisted on a gag despite how Erza had growled at them. (Literally growled. Hopefully the attitude would remain for when the time came to fight.) Since she had magic and was an unknown factor, freeing her could very well end up in disaster. It had been Wally who spoke for her.

“She’s a kid, Mil.”

 What he didn’t say was this: ‘And she’s as terrified as we were.’

 Simon knew Fae had to be exhausted. They had sailed through the night in order to get back here from the shore. And while she had drifted in and out of consciousness, he knew that fear always made sleep little more than a chance for dreams to torture her.

 He carried her when the boat touched on shore. He felt Jellal’s attention turn towards Erza and then he risked it.

  “Sleep while you can, kid. You know your friends better than I do, but I know they’ll be here to save you soon.”

-vVv-

 I woke up in a room that didn’t look that out of the ordinary. It was comfortably furnished and by all appearances looked like any hotel room. Green and tan color scheme and simple decorations. A little bland, generic and boring, but nothing shabby or painful.

 I sat up in the bed I was in and looked around, somewhat confused.

  Ok..definitely remember being held hostage, and taken to the Tower. Erza was here too- ERZA!

I scrambled out of the bed and raced to the door. Almost predictably, it was locked.

“Hello, young Faerun.” Jellal’s voice sounded inside my head. “Ward of Fairy Tail and budding Rune Wizard. I bid you welcome to my tower.”

 I considered for a moment what the best course of action would be in response to this.

1: Reply bravely. Pro: feel brave for a little bit. Con: amuse the bad guy.

2: Demand answers. Pro: potentially get some. Con: amuse the bad guy.

3: Jibber and cry. Pro: vent some stress. Con: amuse the bad guy.

Let’s go with door #4 and ignore him altogether.

  Ok, thinking things through:

 First: I was trapped in a tower that was filled with guards and surveillance with a traitorous member of the Magic Council on the top floor.

 Second: I was not alone. If I could get to Erza, or the others when they inevitably made their entrance, I would have someone to protect me and cover up the fact that I couldn’t fight effectively yet. If I had one of them with me, I’d be more confident about taking someone on. As it was, avoidance would be my best bet.

 Third: I was in a hotel room in terms of materials. And even then, I had to do some evaluation to see what resources I had available.

 I was still a little weak and tired, but I wasn’t going to stay in the enemy's power for longer than I had to. I had to get out of this room before I could do anything. I looked around, eyes narrowed.

 “Scanning for bugs or hidden vision lacrima...”

  There were five in this room alone. I moved about and managed to get my fingers to brush them to learn what they were for. Three cameras, two microphones.

  Ok...let’s see...Does it matter if Jellal sees what I am doing?

  I should at least make some effort to conceal my efforts to escape.

 The Harry Potter spells had served me well, but that seemed a little too...basic for this operation. That and their purpose could, to some extent, be extrapolated from conjugates. I needed another system of practicing magic. I settled onto the floor and began to dig through the caverns of my mind for a solution.

 Given how much was in there, I found a reasonable solution which should give me the same amount of versatility as my Latin based spells. I clambered around the room until I could easily reach one of the audio lacrima. I cupped my hands around it and focused, calling on my magic to tap into the story and give me that power...

  “Hóna neo.”

  Simply translated: ‘Hear not’ in the Ancient Language of the elves of Alagaesia. I felt the power leave me and heard a faint buzzing sound. I touched it to verify that the spell had worked and was satisfied. I had about three hours until that lacrima was functional again.  I repeated the process with the other audio lacrima and when the time came to block the vision lacrima, I altered what I was saying to ‘Ven neo’, which meant ‘see not’ in the same language.

 Once I had some privacy, I set to work on my crystal slate to try and work out how much I was up against. The rune syllabary hadn’t been taken out of my magically expanded pocket and had, I hope, gone unnoticed. That was the point of an undetectable extension charm after all. That the bad guys don’t spot that you have it!

 There were many levels in this place. I was towards the top. Floor 7 of 49. The lower levels were crawling with guards and various trained monsters, grimjaws and grimwings primarily. But that also had an exit to the open sea. So that was where the rescue party would most likely enter. Meditating and focusing on where Erza was let me know she was in a cell also towards the bottom.

 Either way, it meant I’d have to sneak past a lot of guards or fight them. I’d best be prepared for both cases.

  Ok. Something versatile and capable of both stealth and melee...but it has to be suited to my size and skillset. If I try and use something that’s beyond my abilities, I could end up crippling myself...

 I inspected the food that was laid out, some fruit, a bowl full of nuts, some rolls and water, and munched on an apple as I tried to think of some way, any way, of making this work...

 Child hero.

 Link!

  I grinned.

 Link was the perfect source for this! As a child and an adult, he had often needed to sneak past sentries or guards when he wasn’t capable of fighting them. And when he had to fight, he could very well fight! He had centuries of inherited memories and experience just waiting in the wings!

 I hurriedly tapped through my entire runic vocabulary to put together the enchantment before putting it into ‘simulation’.

 Simulation was the best word to describe the completely bland factual break down of my spells as given to me by the helpful voice in my head. It could tell me what the odds were of it working and, sometimes even, if something was wrong or missing to my set up.

 I gnawed on my lip as I looked through everything I had. Trying to frame such a huge story into an enchantment as short notice as this wasn’t going to be easy. There was so much more to Link’s abilities that the words never even touched on. There had to be a lot of subtext in the enchantment to make it work. The external context was already going to help.

 ‘Child Link.’ Was the linchpin of the operation. ‘Child’ implied youth, inexperience and constant learning and growing. It was a moderator to allow the enchantment to rest more securely in my frame since I was a child myself. The other half of that was the emphasis on the young age point and capitalizing on the fact that there were many adults who simply didn’t notice kids and reflexively dismissed what they were doing as unimportant. I doubted most of the guards had the necessary paternal instinct to make this something they would be instantly aware of. (For example, pretty much no one except Master and Macao would readily notice me when I used that word in this sense. Considering how different the two were in power and skillset, I thought it must be the fatherhood thing that made the difference.)

 With the name Link, there was the instinctive knowledge of sword and shield use, bolstered by my own experience with Erza, a few specific attacks and his unbelievable stamina for a child his age. The various weapons that characterized the series were hard to produce out of thin air, so I had to stick to the basics. 

 Everything looked airtight. I ran it through the sim and scowled deeply when it came back negative.

 The same problem that hadn’t let me free Lucy completely back at the casino was prevalent here. The enchantment, despite only being two words long altogether, had too much weighing on it to be usable. It was too complex a concept for me to just speak aloud and have it work. I needed something more permanent.

 The only writing utensil I could find was a pencil and that wouldn’t help. There was always writing it into my arm in blood, since there was a knife set alongside the food on the table. While it would certainly give the whole thing a big power boost, but would also land me in a huge heap of trouble once the others found out. That and it...was a little to permanent for me to want to etch that into my arm. Actually, since ‘child’ was a primary part of the enchantment, it might end up stunting my growth. 

  Yeah, find another way.

 I didn’t get frustrated, yet, I just looked around the room slowly and carefully.

 Something permanent, something to keep it fresh in my head. Longer than words. Something tangible to attach it to...

 If the issue were condensing it down, then I had already gone through that. The problem would be maintaining my focus on all the details that I wanted to enchant myself with. Not to mention the fact that I would need actual weapons to make the most of my work here. Or at the very least a sword, which would have to be included and preferably a shield of some kind as well...

 My eyes fell on the green tablecloth and  I had a sudden burst of inspiration.  The iconic factor of Link in all his forms was that he, at some point, would or could wear a tunic and a long pointed cap in some shade of green. 

 I bounced up and set to work, moving the food aside and yanking the cloth off the table. It was a small piece of furniture, and since I was pressed for time, I couldn’t do much but...

 “Diffindo...”

  I started cutting the cloth into a roughly triangular shape. With a few other muttered spells, I got thread and started to sew my creation together. It was a crude object I ended up with. But it would fit well, and was the right color. I focused on the parody of a green hat that I held.

  Link. Hero in all his lifetimes. Born bearing the Triforce of Courage and the one fated to at least once in his lifetime fight Ganon, the shard of Demise who swore enmity between himself and Link’s descendents. He is always a Hylian. He is always some shade of blonde. He always uses a sword and myriads of other tools in his travels to protect the Goddesses chosen land.

 He is not perfect and will sometimes fail, but he always gets back up and keeps trying.

  This story was one that was ongoing. The battle against evil never ended, it only changed. Right vs Wrong, Peace vs War, Freedom vs Tyranny. No matter the odds, keep fighting.

 That was what I felt about this story. That was the kind of bravery I needed right now. My fingers tightened on the hat in my hands, my heart fluttering. I was about to do something crazy and I was alone.

 Help me.

 “Child. Link.”

  I whispered, enunciating it clearly and carefully, packing all of the meanings I attached to this story into those two words and in turn, putting that two word story into the hat I held. The hat changed as I watched.  From a crude, hastily made accessory to a symbol. The seams smoothed from my clumsy stitching into something that looked much better. The raw cloth gained a weathered look and thickened slightly. Looking inside revealed that it was now lined, which I hadn’t had the time or knowledge of how to do.

 I turned what was now hopefully a magical tool over in my hands, inspecting it with every sense I possessed. I was going to be trusting my life to this thing after all. The enchantment had smoothed over my very sloppy sewing job, but the magic appeared to be cycling smoothly and stably.  But would it last...

  One hour until the blocks on the observation lacrima run out.

 I sighed, deeming that while it certainly wasn’t perfect, it was easily the most stable enchantment I had ever made. And I didn't have the luxury of time to second guess what I had done here. Though admittedly, it hadn’t taken as much power as I had thought it would either...

 Stories gain power as people hear them.

 And...stories of Hyrule and the Legend of Zelda was something I had been telling people...Sure, I hadn’t gotten through the contents of Skyward Sword, but they already knew about Link.

 Note to self, find a way to use Lord of the Rings stuff.

  Since the book was published all over the Fiore, there would be thousands of people who read it! I slipped the cap onto my head, adjusting it slightly. I jerked my head around a bit to see how attached it was. I even stood on my hands. It remained firmly where it was.

 Oh...of course, when do you ever see Link lose his hat?

 I was grinning privately as I flipped back to my feet and looked around with new purpose and energy. I had a theme, now I had to see how far I could roll with it! There was a knife with the food.

 And when I say knife, I mean: sword! 

 Yet another part of Link's standard outfit. Few and far between were the moments when he didn't have one when he was on the clock. I picked it up and with a little focus on the hat I wore...

 There was no other way of describing what I was doing other than saying, I imagined it. 

 The knife lengthened and gained a second edge. I held a perfectly sized short sword in my hands with a functional brown leather hilt and crossguard decorated with a small red jewel. I tested the edge on the table and made a good sized nick. I checked my back and found that a sheath had appeared as well. On my back, angled over my left shoulder, going with my dominant hand.

 Well, in the games you do always automatically have a sheath of the right size on hand whenever you get a new sword. Makes no sense, but I ain’t gonna argue.

 I put the sword away before drawing it and slashing experimentally a few times to get used to the motion. Running through a few more moves, I was pleased to note that the sword was balanced and felt good in my hand. And I noted that my own skill was only making the moves, the enchantments proficiency was making up for where I lacked. 

  Ok. The spell works. I have a weapon and some extra help in using it. I still need some form of defense and distraction.

  Since my truck with the sword had worked, I decided to get a little more daring. I dismantled the chair in the room, which was thankfully wooden. Once I had the seat by itself, I used the Cutting Charm and etched the Kokiri symbol into it while focusing on the Deku Shield. It glowed briefly before reforming itself into the simple device. I rapped on it with my knuckles.

 It would have to do for my escape. I’d have to avoid fire coming in contact with it, and to not tempt fate, I’d probably better not try to take any huge blows with this thing. But it would certainly be a help. And it made me feel more in character, which couldn’t be a bad thing considering how this spell was being powered.

 Yes, I am making cosplay magic.

 There were already straps on the back of the shield. Donning it felt easy and natural, as did stowing it on my back over the sheathed knife turned sword.

  This is...looking pretty good. Considering I'd started with nothing, this was a huge improvement. But I was still one kid a long way away from help. I needed more and felt reasonably sure the hat's enchantment could stand up to another outlet...But what could I use that still fit the character?

 The other iconic arsenal of Child Link were the boomerang, slingshot, bombs...

 I don’t have time to BS making those. Something fast and easy...

 I chewed thoughtfully on a roll to try and regain some of the magic I had used up in arming myself for my escape.

 Most of the unique tools were out of reach. Sure, I had the wood from destroying the chair to make a slingshot, but that had only been good for killing little monsters such as skulltula and stunning bigger ones. The boomerang was simple in design, but I'd need to sacrifice stone concentration to keep it coming back to me the way it was supposed to. And a lapse in focus could cost me too much here

 The slingshot was much more simple.

 I have wood to make the frame I'm missing anything elastic. I could...potentially make that. But having another weapon that was so reliant on magic just to hold it together, let alone to use it...I have ammo, since there’s walnuts with the food.

 Nuts. There were nuts that were a typical early part of Child Link's arsenal.

 Deku Nuts!

 Those delightful, useful little explosives that literally grew on trees! I love Hyrule! Land of the man eating plants, talking, floating balls of light and teleporting eternal chasms of death that just took you back to the entrance of a given room!

 I ran my hands through the bowl of nuts, scanning to see which ones I could feasibly use. They may have been intended as something extremely temporary, but I was still going to be asking a lot of the spell.

 16 altogether. That’ll be enough. I hope...

 Turning the mixed nuts into Deku Nuts wasn’t hard. The fact that I was changing their inherent nature from edibles into, essentially, flashbang grenades didn’t seem to be taking as much power as the knife into a sword or the chair’s seat into a shield.

  The closer the base to the desired outcome, the easier the transformation.

  That made sense. And I certainly wasn’t complaining.

 I dumped the Deku nuts into my still active expanded shirt pocket. I didn’t want my syllabary anywhere near explosives, so I jury rigged a holster for it outside and put together a rough satchel from the remaining cloth to stuff some food into. I didn’t know how long I’d be in this tower and better safe than sorry. The pitcher of water I’d have to leave behind. So I just drained the whole thing. I didn't know when I'd next get the chance to drink anything.

 I just touched the doorknob with the intent to go outside when I was reminded potently or where I was as the story loomed in my mind ready to devour me.  In a tower that was built on forced slave labor with a dark shadow covering the whole thing.

 Ok, adding another thing to the list.

 Fourth: on top of all this, I had the psychic equivalent of a live torture session going on replay inside my head. So all my preparation meant nothing if I couldn’t even bear to step outside this room.

 Five minutes remaining until Jellal has visual back.

  Ok. First priority is to get something up about that so I can function enough to handle the rest.

  There were any number of ways of blocking a mental attack. But the method from the Inheritance Cycle had the most detailed description of what was going on. You picked a concept, a word, a phrase, a line of poetry, and you let it fill your mind until it made a shield that protected against external forces pressing in on one’s mind. They could be trying for something m but literally couldn't get at it through the meaningless jabber you were using to screen your important thoughts. 

 I closed my eyes, fishing for something that would feel...thematically appropriate. Bastardizing from two poems from the series had the best feel to it.

 In the land of Durza/

 There lived a man with yellow eyes/

 He said, ‘beware the shadows/

 For the shadows whisper lies.’

 I ended up needing to use my syllabary to get it cycling on repeat in my head. The orange band of script wound around my wrist and this time when I touched the door, I only felt a slightly pressure from the dark force in the air.

  Once more into the breach.

 “Alohomora.”

-vVv-

 Interesting...

 Jellal thought, brows raising when he lost visual and audio in the room where he had placed the wizardling in to see what she would do and how she would handle herself. She couldn’t leave without him noticing, so he settled back to wait until whatever she did wore off. She hadn’t destroyed the lacrima, merely blinded and deafened them for a short time. The fact that she had managed to pull that off at her age was...mildly impressive.

 He was considerably more impressed when it took three hours for the spell to wear off. She hadn’t left that entire time, so he supposed she had been preparing herself while he had been blinded.

  Celeste D Faerun.

 Jellal had noticed her when she became a ward of Fairy Tail, and had dismissed her then. She was too young to be of any consequence. When she was seen in Erza’s company, specifically that Erza was training her, he started to pay a little more attention. He had seen and heard her spin her tales of islands in the sky and a vast, untamed world below. It was a unique approach to a basic skillset, using words to weave pictures and stories. He couldn’t see what she got out of it beyond a boosted reputation for the guild that was taking care of her.

 When the lacrima winked back on and showing him the room he had placed her in, he was surprised to say the least. The teal haired girl had butched the table cloth and the chair while he had been blinded. And she wore a green cap he knew she hadn’t had on her before.

  That looks remarkably like the hat her main character wears...

 And she had somehow gotten ahold of a sword and shield? Where had she been hiding them!?

 It was the ruined chair that caught his attention. The seat was missing. He couldn’t see it anywhere in the room.

 Jellal remained alert and intrigued as Faerun opened the door with a murmured word that made no sense, but served to unlock it.

  I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this...

 This was interesting. A private game outside of the one he was playing with the older Fairy Tail wizards. He had been completely unaware of the girl’s abilities. He doubted she’d be able to do much by herself, but she had surprised him by not crying. Given the state she had been in when she was brought here, he could guess that she had some sort of empathy that made the tower painful for her to be near. But she had either gotten over it, or was blocking it out somehow. The band of orange script around her wrist wasn’t readable at this distance, but that probably had something to do with it.

 The Dragon Slayer and his companions would arrive in about an hour. Jellal had time to see why Faerun had decided to dress like Link of Hyrule before breaking out of her room. If she were any other child, he would have said it was an immature whim. A girlish fantasy of playing at hero. But with her, given the intelligence and maturity she had shown, he suspected there was something more to it, something he hadn’t seen yet...

 He sent someone down to inspect the room and bring back news of what was missing. Most of the food, the knife and the seat of the chair as well as the table cloth were gone. How did she get a sword from that?

 She managed to hide from the first three patrols of guards. When they did find her, about half an hour after she broke out of her room without raising the alarm, Jellal sat up.

 The second board he had set up with a book and pen figurine as Faerun and plain pawn pieces for the guards took his whole attention.

 Faerun reached into her breast pocket and threw something onto the ground that burst open with a flash and and a roar. Jellal blinked after images from his eyes even as he heard the pained cries of his guards. When he could see again, he saw that she had drawn her sword and disabled most of the men around her by cutting their legs out from under them. The two that she hadn’t gotten to yet were outraged and drew their out staves to try and throw a disciplinary spell at her. He had instructed them to not hurt her, merely subdue her.

 Faerun showed no fear. She batted the oncoming attack aside with her shield, two fast slashes cutting both the thigh and dominant arm of the man attacking her. Then she rolled out of the way of the second strike, back and around the remaining man, leaping up a surprising distance to slash down his back. Just enough to hamper and cripple, but not enough to kill.

 With her five opponents downed, Faerun turned and fled into the darkened corridors, steadily heading downward.

 Jellal laughed.  Five of his guards against one little girl. And it was the girl who was still standing and running.

 He still had little idea of how, but she had made a fully functional sword and shield of what was in the room with her Rune magic as well as turned a handful of nuts into stun grenades!

No wonder Brain wanted her...

-vVv-

 I’d normally have started straight down, but as soon as my feet touched the 10th floor I got a hint.

 Millianna’s room is on this floor.

And that was where Happy would be kept if he was brought only simply to appease her.  I paused for a split second, searching for the cat loving wizard herself but I wasn’t familiar enough with her to get a firm lock on her location. But I couldn’t call myself a member of Fairy Tail if I left my friend behind if I knew where they were.

 With the results of my last fight being a victory, and putting a Silencing Charm on the lot of them to keep their yelling from attracting anyone else's notice, I could still pull this off. Plus, if I could get to an open window, Happy could just fly us down to the entrance! I found where he was being kept within a few more minutes. The rooms of Erza's other old friends were also on this floor.

 I inspected the locked door with cat’s painted on it. I knocked tentatively.

 “Happy? Happy are you in there?”

 I heard a crash from inside.

 “Fae?! Fae, you’re ok! Get me outta here! I’ll go nuts if I have to stay in here much longer!”

 “Working on it!” I pressed my hand to the door and listened attentively.

  Basic Privacy spell serving as a lock.

Alohomora wouldn’t work then. I’d need something with a little more umph.  I licked the tip of my finger and traced a circle around the lock, focusing on it intently...

“Happy? Get under cover! I’m gonna have to blast the door open!”

I put up a Muffliato for good measure as I concluded this. No need to advertise where I was even though using these charms all on top of one another would probably bite me hard later.

“Uh-oh...” I rolled my eyes as I heard him scramble away. “Go ahead!”

 I stepped back and focused on that circle I had put around the lock.

  Keep all of it...right there...

I inhaled and clapped my hands, releasing the energy I'd gathered.

“Bombarda!” The lock shattered in a puff of dark smoke and a bang. I pushed the door open and peered inside, waving a hand to clear the smoke. “Happy?”

A fuzzy blue cat tackled me.

 “Faaaaeee! I was so scared and this room is creeping me out!”

I saw where he was coming from. The room within was little more than a shrine to all things cute and cat, taken up to eleven.

 “It’ll be ok. The others’re gonna be here soon, and you know nothing can keep Erza down for long! We’re gonna be ok!”

“Aye, sir!”

-vVv-

 Finding and freeing Happy had been a stroke of good luck. For all that he was a small cat, he was capable of delivering a surprising clout with whatever he had on hand. (Or would ‘on paw’ be the correct word to use?) Once I thought about it for a bit, it was actually made sense, though. Happy was capable of lifting and flying Natsu around with ease even in the middle of combat which meant he had a fair amount of strength. He was terrifying little monster all told.

 I ended up giving him half of my Deku nuts and leaving it to him to distract the guards that we couldn’t avoid. We made it down about ten floors through a combination of stealth and fighting and disabling the guards I couldn’t avoid. All in all, not too bad for an hour’s work.

  Where am I again?

 My magic responded to my perusal of the towers history and my own in relation to it.

 Floor 21.

 For all that the tower was tall, each floor wasn’t that big and I had managed to find stairs easily enough.

 “How much further till we reach the bottom?” Happy asked in a whisper as we waited for the latest patrol who had spotted us to race on by on a wild goose chase.

 “Almost thirty floors.” I whispered, cleaning the blood from my sword with a gesture.

 I was getting tired though. From the activity and, more seriously, from the magic drain. For just sneaking around, the hat barely used any magic. But when I fought and had to use made up skills, it drained far more energy. Happy and I had fought or evaded four patrols in total.

This isn’t looking good. Equipment wise, I’m ok. Just a couple dents on the shield and nothing I can see on the sword. But I’m gonna run out of magic if I have to keep fighting these guys.

 Erza’s lessons could only go so far and since swords was not my primary choice of weapon, (note; I didn’t have one.) I was relying more and more on my spell and that was draining me faster.

 I heard something explode with a roar several floors down.

 Natsu has arrived.

 The bland voice reported in the closest thing I had ever heard to a deliberate deadpan. 

 And where’s Erza?

 She has escaped and will soon find the others.

 They were all together then. So all we had to do was make it to them!

 “Hey Happy, Natsu’s here. What say we go and greet them?”

“Aye!”

-vVv-

 Gray was mad, furious that they had lost three of their friends to the sneak attack.

 The men they had been attacked by had taken Happy, Ezra, and Fae. Happy was his partner, his funny sidekick. Erza was his guildmate, friend and occasional minder. And Fae? Her position was lingering somewhere between friend leaning towards little sister. But all were important to him and Gray knew Natsu’s protective instincts would be firing non-stop on all cylinders until he got confirmation that all of them were safe. And that meant his aggression and power levels would be soaring beyond their normal levels, much to the suffering and destruction of their enemies.

 “Where’re Erza, Fae and Happy!”

 The fire eater roared as he swept a large group of guards off of the cat walks to the water below where Juvia made short work of them. Gray assisted him by icing the floor of the walkways over so they had no chance of stopping their momentum once they started moving.

 Grey had his own priorities when it came to this rescue.

 Erza could take care of herself, and so could Happy, he had been hanging around Natsu for long enough to get pretty good at fending for himself. It was Fae that Gray was most concerned about. She was a kid, the only combat experience she had was her field trip with Mystogan during the war with Phantom Lord. When she'd had had someone to keep an eye on her and make her she didn't hurt herself.

 Here, she was alone, freightened and outnumbered. A young wizard could easily push themselves too far. They didn't have the experience to realize where their limits were until they surpassed them.

 Finally, they got clear of the guards in the lower level.

 “Is that all of them?”

 Lucy asked, standing ready with her hand still at her keys. Gray reflexively averted his eyes from the curvy blonde. She was his friend, it was wrong and weird to think of her as hot. (Even though it was far safer to think of her that way than Erza.)

 “Looks like it. Natsu, you got anything?” The dragon slayer leaned back and sniffed the air.

 “All of them were in here a while ago...” There came a soft rumble and a set of stairs extended down.

 “What the-?”

 “Looks like someone’s inviting us in.” Gray narrowed his eyes as he regarded the steps.

  Ok. Either whoever is in charge of this place is stupid, or confident that we won’t be able to mess up his plans too much. While having a stupid enemy would be nice, they usually weren’t that lucky.

 Whoever’s here is not gonna go down easy. He’s got Fae, Erza and Happy to use against us if we get too rowdy. We need to find them soon before someone else does so we can tear this place apart.

 Erza would almost certainly have broken out of wherever they tried to stick her by now. And Gray was willing to bet that Fae had done the same, despite her inexperience. She didn’t let problems stop her for long. And Happy was as slippery as three fish he regularly devoured.

 “Well, that’s where the scent is going, so let’s move out!”

 Natsu stomped off towards the stairs, heat still rolling off of him in waves. Gray followed, trying to ignore Juvia. For all that she had been an enormous help in getting in, she was kinda creeping him out the more she went on about how they were destined to be together.

 “Right. Virgo, are you good to stay out for a while longer?” 

 “Yes, Princess.”

 Gray hung back to make sure Lucy and her spirit were between him and Natsu. She was a good friend and a decent fighter, but she didn’t have the same track record that they did. He didn’t want to see any more of his friends get hurt.

  Just hang on, Fae. We’re coming...

 Gray wanted to see this dark, creepy tower torn down. He didn’t like the vibe he was getting. And he wanted to see whoever had kidnapped his friends pay for hurting them.

  Just be patient. He reminded himself. Don’t rush into things. We can’t afford to lose another team member.

-vVv-

 I had managed to hide from other patrols. They weren’t worrying about one escaped little girl and a talking blue cat. Not with four grown and fast more dangerous wizards making their way up from the basement. And being pretty noisy about it too.

 This part of the tower was different from the upper stories. It was hollow, with a massive ramp on the outside wall that steadily spiraled downward.

 In order to haul bulky materials upwards for further construction, the large main path was built up from the bottom. It goes to about the 40th floor before it enters the basement levels and quarries.

 On the one hand: it was way easier to just run without needing to hunt down the stairs. On the other: Less cover for when people did spot me. Happy had recommended that we simply fly down. I had had a vision of being shot out of the air in response. We stuck to trudging it out on foot and kept our heads down as much as we could.

 The extra space helped a lot as I ducked, dodged and rolled around both magic and staves while Happy went after their heads with a club I had made for him. I sliced at hamstrings and tendons, the sharp magical edge of the sword passing through their thinner armor with ease. I’d never be able to hack through their helms or breastplates and this was easier for me to reach anyway.

 “Fae, look out!”

 I threw up my shield at Happy’s cry and blocked a swipe coming at me from above. The recoil jarred painfully up my arm and the force of the blow caused the shield clip my head, making it ring like a bell. My backhanded counter, moving one instinct and guided by the spell, laid a good sized gash into my opponent’s thigh. I fished a Deku nut out of my pocket, whistling to warn Happy as I threw it down and ran clear of the encircling ring of guards. Happy soared over and grabbed me to hurry on down the next few floors. 

 My head...

 I was feeling stars swim before my eyes. I glanced at my slate. The enhancement was still functional, my encounter with conclusive trauma had made it unstable. I heard Happy speaking past the roast of my own pulse

 “-e! Fae, you gotta snap out of it, they’re gonna catch up! We gotta finish them!”

 Happy swerved as a bolt of magic hit overhead.

 “Get them!!”

 I heard them howl behind us even as we bolted for the next level. There was still a bit of construction material scattered around here and there that I might have made use of had I not been so tired...Thinking was kinda hard right now.

Don’t suppose if I break a pot I’ll find a heart inside or something.

 I forced the nonsensical thought out of my head and drew on a little more magic to let me think again. I thought of Gray and his magic, using my sword as a focus as I pointed back at our pursuit.

  “Glacius!”

 The floor became covered in a thin, invisible sheet of ice that made the reckless guards slip. There were only three still chasing us. Happy ducked down and despised me behind a stack of stones

  Come on!

 I brought my sword up and to bear, ready to pounce when they came within reach.

 Roll and slash as they come. End up on the other side of the group.

 Happy grabbed a 2-by-4 as a weapon and waited, hovering and at the ready.  Then a blur ran by me with a gleam of polished metal and a flash of red hair.

 “Erza!” 

The woman was in her standard armor and carried two blades. Her face was utterly terrifying as she flew past myself and my current partner and dispatched our pursuit in a few seconds. As soon as that was down, she dropped her swords and seized me in a tight hug.

 “Fae! Thank goodness you’re alright...” The strain and stress was going right to my tear ducts. I hate being a kid sometimes. “You’re not hurt or anything? They didn’t do anything?”

 I shook my head, still clinging to her, relief choking off any words I could speak.

 “Happy! That's a relief, you’re safe too. Now that I’ve found you, we need to leave!”

She wants to end this.

She wanted to leave this story, this conflict, unfinished. But it hasn't ever ended, it had only gone into hibernation, waiting for her to come back and end it.

“No.”

 I said, pulling back to look at her. “This has been chasing you for too long, Erza. It’ll never go away if it isn’t stopped now. I’ve been reading this place's history. The tower’s almost completed!”

 Erza’s face went pale for an instant. She knew, from years of quiet searching, what this place as meant to be used for. I got to see the look of terror cross the face of the bravest, fiercest woman I knew. It was a look that didn't belong there. Not at all.

 She controlled her expression quickly, putting on the deliberate commanding face she had worn through our battle with Phantom Lord.

 “Then I’ll deal with it as soon as you’re safe. I’m not letting you get pulled into this anymore than you already are!” She dismissed her swords with a wave of her hand and started to pull me along. “Happy, come along!”

 “Hey listen!” 

 I shook my head slightly as the words grated painfully on my nerves and patience. I checked the boundaries of my enchantment.

Did Happy really just say...

 Yes he did.

  Ok. Some bleed over to surroundings when used for a lengthy period of time. Deal with later, beat bad guys now! 

 “What is it?”

 The red haired wizard snapped at Happy. The bleedover seemed to have touched her too.

 “Erza, Natsu and the other’s are downstairs. Fae said that she felt them come in. You’re acting like you’ve gotta do this all on your own But you don't!” Erza’s gauntleted hand tightened on mine for an instant.  “I can’t let anyone else get involved...”

I pulled her forward, her legs had stopped moving as she wrestled with herself.

 “You’re a Fairy Tail wizard. They kidnapped me and used me to take you too. By the guild rules, what does that count as?”

Erza took several deep breaths as she picked up her pace to a trot.

 “A declaration of war with Fairy Tail.”

 “And fairies never fight alone.”

 I said this as firmly as I could. It was the unspoken rule of the guild; you help your guildmate if they need it. The guild carefully policed all job requests to try and avoid having our members be on opposing sides of any conflict. It meant that our members were expected to put their jobs on hold to assist their fellows if they needed help.

 But even with that reminder, I suspected Erza would still try to handle all of this herself. It was to personal for her to simply change tracts so quickly. Given that she still wanted to save Jellal, find some way to bring back the boy she had loved all those years ago, she didn’t want to turn this into a war. She wanted to fix him. If she did her duty as a wizard and brought him in, he would be a criminal worthy of the death penalty.

 Jellal is under the influence of possession magic.

 Gotta love the dramatic timing of the voice in my head!

Chapter Text

 With Erza on hand, there wasn’t anyone that we came across who could stop us. She told both myself and Happy to rest a little and get our strength back while she handled the fighting. I stayed alert and ready to jump in, just on principle since, obviously, Erza really didn’t need my help.

 We went down a few more floors along the large spiral, Erza obviously in a hurry but pacing herself for our sake.

 Happy settled onto my shoulder and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“Erza’s really scared, isn’t she?”

 He said to me, so softly I might have imagined it.

 “Yes...”

 She was putting on a brave face for our sake. Because she felt that she had to. And to be perfectly honest, she did. She always had and so people had gotten used to that being who Erza was. The expectations of others wasn’t the hard part, it was the fear of letting her friends down that was weighing on her.

 Natsu and his team are on the next floor down.

 I voiced this fact to Erza who paused and listened outside of the entryway into a room offshooting the main spiral chamber.

 “And they are about to have company...!”

 She charged in with a roar, swords flashing. Erza wasn’t doing much defending, dual wielding and going in full throttle with the attitude of an avalanche: If they can’t stop you, why bother slowing down?

 Seeing Erza fight up close like this was a different experience. Since she was doing it to protect us, and my trauma shield was still up, I was less affected. But swords were still a bloody way to fight and an awful way to die. My rattled noggin was making it so I was focusing less on my Link enchantment, so I no longer had the desensitizing effect of hundreds of years of combat experience.

 Erza's strike, efficient and deadly, cleaved one man's neck open, between her shoulder and helm, sending an arterial spray across the floor.

 My every sense screamed.

 I saw death, smelt it, heard it going on around me.

 Too much...toomuch!

 Nausea rolled in my stomach for a moment and I stepped back to try and get ahold of myself before my shields failed and I was assaulted by the full force of the tower’s miserable history.

I was scared. I'd been scared this whole time, but now I was really feeling it.

“Fae!”

 Happy’s cry remade me jump like a frightened deer. I saw a guard coming at me. The analysis happened in less than an instant, my magic taking my fear and running through the fight or flight response, spotting all options.

Side, down the ramp.

He was too close to dodge and his weight and charge would bring him after me.

Behind.

 Empty air and deep drop to the bottom floor. 27 feet. Certainly far enough to kill me if I fell wrong.

Forward .

 Through the enemy.

No opening.

 I'd have to make one. 

 My hands lifted and drew my sword, it flashed out on a sweeping, bright arc without my conscious thought. The magic of my enchantment guided not only my hands, but the placement of my feet as I put all of my sudden movement into one attack. The replica of the Kokiri sword slash over the man’s ribs, somehow managing to cleave through armor and bone in a spray of crimson. My feet took me to the side, under his reach and attack and out of the way of his fall.

Fall?

 The move I'd performed suddenly registered. In the heat of fighting, I'd ignored the phrases flickering in my mind. The Back Slice. Shield Parry. Helm Splitter. I'd needed all of them in one way or another. And now, a new one...one that could only be used with a weapon starting from the sheath.

  The Mortal Draw.  

 The sword skill was one that was meant to defeat (kill) enemies with a single blow. And it had been my hat, the condensed knowledge of Link and all his incarnations skill, that was guiding me as I acted. It had been as easy and detached as if I were simply manipulating my body from a distance instead of being it in myself.

 He will die.

 And...I killed him.

 I froze up as the implications hit me. The precise breakdown of what would be the cause of death. (30-60 min to die from cardiac arrest in case of a collapsed lung. Mere minutes if any organs were damaged) Happy had to push me out of the way as the man’s swing, affected but not halted, came down where I had been standing. My movements hadn't been enough to get me clear with my shorter legs.

 I landed heavily, eyes wide, gasping for breath and trying not to breathe because that meant tasting the blood as well as seeing it. The conflicting action made my head spin, and I quickly felt myself slip into shock.

 I didn’t hear much of anything as Erza decimated the remaining enemies. I just kept on recalling how easily the magic from my hat had taken over and completed the move, manipulating my body and drawing more power out of it than I had thought it capable of using.

 With the roaring going on in my head, the panic that I might have killed someone, that I had killed someone and all the other information still streaming from my magic into my brain, my mental shield finally shattered. Everything came crashing down on me.

  Oh...I must have been using that to keep myself from breaking down from the strain, not just to keep the screaming out.

 I sobbed brokenly, feeling as tears forced their way out of stinging eyes. I curled into a fetal position, trying to ride out this rollercoaster, regain some grip on myself.

  Come on... Some small still composed part of me pleaded. This isn’t over yet! The tower needs a human sacrifice to jump start it! The only person with enough magic to do that is Erza! They want to kill Erza! Stop crying, get up!

 It was in vain. The echoed sounds of pain and cruelty resonated throughout the building’s history and my head. I heard crying children, wanting their parents, their siblings, some form of comfort or escape from this nightmare. I heard cursing adults. I heard despair.

 But worst of all underneath that all, I heard silence.

 The silence of the resigned. Those who had given up completely.

 Please... I begged my magic, as if it could turn itself off. Please just stop...

 How could the kind boy from Erza’s memories be capable of spearheading a horrifying project like this? How could he stomach it.

 Jellal is under the influence of Possession Magic.

 And to escape the pain, I dove head first into that history. It wasn’t pleasant, but the less history I had to dig through, the less pain there was. And I could hopefully find answers. It wouldn’t be as easy as actually getting a hand on Jellal himself, but it would be more than I had now...

-vVv-

 Natsu tried again and again to elicit a response from the girl. She seemed to have frozen, eyes wide and unseeing and she was shaking like a leaf. The expression on her face broke his heart and made him furious at the same time.

 Erza had explained the tower’s history and how it involved her. But Fae hadn’t seemed to hear them.

 “Of course...” Lucy breathed, sounding like she was inches away from crying herself. “Fae reads the past...so she’s seeing all of that. Everything all those poor people went through while they were here.”

 “She can do that, when she’s so young?”

 Juvia didn’t seem like she quite believed it.

 “Yeah she can.” Natsu picked Fae up carefully, making sure to keep his hands from heating to searing temperatures in his rage. “She saw my dad, Igneel.”

 And she had shown him to everyone too. Had just listened to his words and made him appear just like he had always been. Flying free and proud. He had gotten to hear him say his name...

 He held her close and consciously raised his body temperature. Fae was frightened and alone, but she needed to feel comforted and safe. This seemed like the best thing he could do for her. Hang onto her, keep her warm, not let her be alone.

 C’mon Fae... It’s alright, we’re right here.

 The guard Fae had downed was dead. Erza had put him out of his misery from the nasty gut wound Fae had given him. When Fae had entered this state, her hat had slipped off of her head. Her sword and shield had glowed briefly before turning into a knife and a broken piece of wood. She couldn’t have much magic left... Lucy knelt to brush her hands over Fae’s face, concern and sympathy shining on her face.

 “And she alone besides the master knew that I had been here.” Erza’s fists tightened as rage flashed over her face. “She never said anything before today, so that is what she goes through everyday. Every pain and secret in our past, she’s seen it all. And there’s no one she can talk to about because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”

 Natsu just held her, head bowed, praying to whatever god might be listening that far would come out of the trap her own mind had become.

 Yes, that was Fae. She tried so hard to make people happy. She hated lying for any reason, she hated seeing people hurt, no matter who they were. And now, the past was hurting her, tearing into her. An enemy he couldn't protect her from.

 A new surge of angry fire flared to life in his belly.

  So why is Fae like this? Erza said Jellal used to be like that, so what made him change so much?

 “Erza. This...Jellal guy...” He caught the older girl’s flinch just from him saying the guy’s name. You bastard... Natsu had never met the man, but he was gonna burn him to a crisp for making Erza hurt like this. “You said he was your friend, your team leader. You were all supposed to leave together. But he stayed. He stayed and he convinced people to finish building this damn place even though he hated it! Why didn’t he leave?”

 Why was Erza the only one who left? Why didn’t he follow his friend into freedom?

“You could say that I was the only one who escaped, but it would be closer to the truth that I was chased out...I have no memory of how I left that island. I just woke up later, alone. Without my friends. Jellal changed after he came to rescue me, after he took my place with the disciplinarians.”

 Her hand drifted up to her face, to her left eye, which he knew was a magical construct. When Erza had come to the guild, she had only one eye. The other was covered by a medical patch. Master’s grumpy old healer friend had made her a new one. 

 “I don't know why he didn't leave...They did something to him, I don’t know what. But the darkness that took Jellal forced me to leave behind everyone. All of my friends, all the other slaves...he burned the boats after I had gone. I can only assume, given by what Sho and the others have said, that he put the blame for that on me.”

 She looked, and smelt, like she was about to cry. But Natsu already had his arms full of Fae who was neither asleep nor awake though she did appear to be calming down a little. Happy was huddled close to her as well, carefully working his paws through her hair.

 “He blamed me, and all of them believed it...”

 “Not all.”

 One man’s voice sounded from the doorway on the other side of the room. Natsu reflexively moved to put the vulnerable child in his arms behind him and away from the unknown. It was the big guy with the metal jaw. His dark eyes rested on Erza with an unmistakable look. This man was one of them, or he may as well be. He trusted Erza and he loved her.

“What-! No...” Erza stepped forward, looking shocked. She automatically reached out to the man’s most defining feature, his jaw, and she inhaled shortly. “Simon?”

 “You know this guy?”

 Gray asked, his hands already having moved to cast if needed.

 “I didn’t believe him, Erza.” Simon was ignoring Gray and focusing entirely on the red haired woman in front of him. “I know you’d never leave us behind if you had the choice...”

  Well duh! It’s Erza!

  Natsu looked down at Fae when she shifted, her bright blue eyes cracking open and looking around blearily. Like she didn’t know where she was.

 “Hey there, small fry. You doing ok?”

 Her eyes flicked up to him and she struggled.

 “Na...tsu?” She asked, tears still leaking out of her eyes. “It hurts...they’ve all hurt so much...That...shadow, it hurt them...it’s hurting him.”

 “What are you talking about, Fae?”

 Lucy frowned, looking at the girl. Her speaking made her look over at her.

 “You...have to get it out of him...Get it out of Jellal and he’ll come back.”

 They all gathered around Fae. Simon pressed his fingers to his temple and appeared to focus on Fae.

 “What are you doing?”

 “Her sensitivity to her surroundings is making speaking difficult, but telepathic communication is still functional.” He listened for a moment longer before he exhaled slowly.  “That explains a lot...”

 He looked at them all grim, and purposeful.

 “Fae has read that Jellal is being possessed, she doesn’t know yet by whom. This tower was built by their design and at their behest.  None of what has happened in the last eight years is Jellal’s doing.”

 Natsu didn’t much care whether or not Jellal was the one at fault. That guy upset Erza. His damn tower made Fae sick.

 It’s all gonna burn... He vowed, glaring at the walls around them and the memories that he couldn’t feel, but despised all the same because they could hurt his little friend and he couldn’t do anything to protect her. I’m not letting anything hurt my friends!

-vVv-

 I woke up being carried by someone.

 Simon. He is the most limited in skill and thus wanted the others to be able to fight to their fullest.

 “It’s good that you’re awake.”

  I couldn’t feel the tower anymore. I just felt like something was wrapping up my mind and my senses. Something dark and protective. Not scary, but soothing, like the dark of a familiar bedroom. 

 “What-?”

 “I’m using my telepathy to shield you.” Simon clarified. “It was decided that since they cannot send you to safety alone, that you had to be brought along.”

 I wanted to get a grasp of what was going on. I moved my senses against the psychic blanket he had wrapped me in.

 “May I...?”

 “Of course.”

 I laid my hand on Simon’s chest and breathed, searching for the story. The Darkness Magic he was using to shield me parted to let me access the information I was looking for.

 Simon had come, revealed that he had known the truth, and was believed. Simon had been in contact with Wally, Sho and Millianna and had them hear all of this. Sho took it the worst, having a mini meltdown at the realization that he had been blaming his big sister for years for something his trusted leader had done.

 They were preparing an escape route alongside the remaining slaves while the Fairy Tail mages, who were unquestionably the most capable in a straight fight, were going after Jellal. Not alone as Erza had initially wanted, but as a team. Erza and Natsu were there for raw power and fighting ability, but while Gray was no slouch himself, he had a different purpose.

 Gray knew a spell that could seal a sample of magic, (not Ice Shell, I saw he had gotten some scolding for that) and with that, we could hopefully prove that Jellal had been manipulated and forced and he wouldn’t take the brunt of the punishment for the crime. That was the end goal here. And it all had to happen sometime before Jellal with his plant in the Magic Council, got enough support to use Etherion on the tower and kill everyone in it.

 (Something about that thought was making my magic, exhausted though it was, squirm quietly, but vigorously.)

 But this plan couldn’t go off smoothly. Of course not. Jellal, or whoever was pulling the strings here, wasn’t gonna make it easy.

 There were three enemy mages, assassins from the dark guild; Death’s Head Caucus. They formed a team called Trinity Raven. They were the opposing player’s in ‘Heaven’s Game’. A sick death match that Jellal was putting on for amusement. Simon had just heard Lucy and Juvia defeat the first, Vidaldus.

  Sound Wizard, Guitar Mage. Literally has weaponized headbanging.

What the actual-

 The terrible trio, Gray, Natsu and Erza, had pancaked Fukuro, the second Raven. Or rather, Gray and Natsu had taken him out. Erza, hearing that the final member was still blocking their path, had gone ahead to take care of her, yelling back at the boys to ‘not be late’.

  “I’ll go and face this swordswoman! Take care of the owl and make it fast!” A rare, but beautiful smile flashed across her face. “I won’t wait for you if you end up taking too long.”

 “We’ll see who’s gonna be waiting for who, Erza!” Natsu responded with a big, fiery grin.

“Come on flamebrain, I think we just got ourselves a challenge!”

 Despite Fukuro having a jet pack and utilizing Natsu’s motion sickness, Gray had forced him to drop the dragon slayer before he could complete his Capture magic and eat Natsu. (Literally eat.) Happy had caught his partner and from there, things had only gone uphill. Between fire raining down from above and ice from beneath, Fukuro was soon caught and crushed between the two opposing elements.

 Erza had faced Ikaruga, the leader of Trinity Raven and a fellow swordswoman. The amount of focus the poetry spouting woman had put into her ability to cut magic was impressive. The assassin had managed to break all of the magic armor Erza had pulled out to use against her. Only once Erza put aside all of her magical protections and trusted her own skill above all else did she come away with a decisive victory.

  “Considering how you feel about her, I’m surprised that you didn’t insist on going up there with her.”

  This remark may have been a tiny bit insensitive. The ‘Simza’ ship was getting some serious, if one-sided, support from Simon’s feelings. Simon exhaled slowly, but not all of his tension went out of him. He was still extremely worried. Despite the fact that Erza could probably kick his ass seven ways to Sunday, he still worried and wanted to do everything he could to help her.

  Now is really not the time.

  I told the stupid shipping part of my brain and stuffed it all into a corner to hear Simon’s reply.

“I can’t fight Jellal.” No matter how much he might want to in the literal and rival sense. “All I can do is see to it that you’re safe in Erza’s place.”

  Simon might have been limited in his magic, but he would do whatever he could to make Erza smile. She was his whole world and had been for years.

I will not ship it. I will not ship it.

 Somewhere, he had gotten a hold of a cloak for me and wrapped it around me. I did insist on taking the ratty old hat along with me. To my surprise, the runes I had put into it to give me Link’s abilities were still there. Empty, sure, but I could easily put power back into them and reuse it. I could see it wouldn’t be as effective as the first time due to the poor quality of the materials and my inexperience. But this appeared to be a good way of using my magic...

 Kinda wondering how an Impa, Ghirahim or Zelda enchantment would work out...

 Simon got into the boat with me and Sho and we pushed off and out into the open sea. The magic fueled engine puttered along at a good clip until we were several hundred yards away from the tower.

 I slumped into Simon’s hold as we approached the small harbor. I could see the others there, shepherding the last of the boats out of the way and to freedom. I stiffened slightly even as we got into the last two and went out aways.

 The plan was to wait and watch. In case anyone fell from above, Happy was supposed to catch them and deliver them down to us. 

  “They won’t hurt you.”

 “Tell that to my trauma.”  

 Their intentions aside, ignoring their own terrible backstories and very understandable reasons for doing what they had done... I had still gotten a gun held to my head by these people. It felt wrong to be getting into a boat and just leaving the tower behind while all of my friends were still inside. Despite all reasoning telling me that the tower was the more hazardous place to be, part of me was not convinced. Only the fact that Simon was holding onto me and positioned with his bulk between me and the others kept me from going over the side.

 But realistically, I didn’t have the strength to do anything else but stay put. Even though I had recovered enough to be able to read what was going on, I couldn’t do anything that could help and would just end up getting in the way.

 It was a bitter if sobering thought to realize just how far I had to go before I’d finally become more than a burden in a fight.

 There came a massive explosion of crimson and orange fire from the top most level of the tower.

 “Holy...that wasn’t Jellal’s magic.”

 Wally sounded awed.

 “No.” I said with a faint smile. “That was Natsu’s. And.” Yep, Fire Dragon’s Roar. “-since that’s what normally comes out of his mouth, I wouldn’t be surprised that he survived you shooting him.”

 The Block man jerked before shooting a dirty look at me. Simon glared at him for less than an instant before he backed down though.

 “Damn...”

 I could sympathize to an extent. My guild was extremely powerful. And the team I usually hung out with was one of the best of the best. What looked like a massive drill of water burst out from beneath, sending our little boat, the last to leave, much further out into the ocean.

Juvia is angry.

 I tried to peer into what had ticked the Water Wizard off but an ominous warning rang out in my head.

Etherion fires in ten minutes.

 I started to shake slightly as I waited for the implication of...

 Wait...

 A super weapon as big as an Etherion Blast ought to ensure that everyone inside the tower would die. But there was no such evidence of that in my magic. It could either mean it was more likely that everyone would get out before it hit but...

 I recalled what I had learned from my delving through the past...

 The Tower of Heaven, the R-system, was originally designed to resurrect someone from the dead. This one in particular was dedicated to bringing back the Black Wizard Zeref.

 Following the law of Energy to Effect, to bring back a spirit of that power, you would need not only a suitable host vessel, but enough power to literally overwhelm the barrier between life and death.

 Erza was the host, but the extra power...Say, an Etherion blasts worth?

 My face went pale.

 This wasn’t the final stage of the game. It wasn’t even half time. Everything that we had been fighting against led up to this point. The information I hadn’t been able to comprehend from my reading of the tower’s schematics suddenly fell into place. The whole structure itself wasn’t made to bring one person back to life. It was made to convert raw power into lacrima, a stable energy source to be used later. The top floor contained all the runework and circles that were needed to complete the ritual.

 In theory anyway. By the rules of reality that I knew, and I know what that sounds like, they hadn’t accounted for the second Great Law. The Law of Time, not just the Law of Death. 

 Depending on how long ago Zeref had died, they would need to reach back to the point where he died in order to recall his spirit to the land of the living. And that was without going into the need to prepare a suitable body for the spirit, the the backlash from touching the land of the dead even for a few seconds, etc, etc...

 Messing with time was forbidden magic, but not nearly as taboo as bringing someone back from the dead. This whole thing would just collapse and burn without something there to account for that. And I had sensed nothing...but that didn't mean that the bad guys weren't smarter than a nine year old girl.

 Another tidal wave of fury washed out of the Tower’s lower level.

  What is ticking Juvia off so much?

 I wriggled out of Simon’s grasp and leaned over the side of the boat, tracing as large a circle I could manage in the water. I felt Simon’s hand slip to my shoulder, balancing me and holding me steady.

 “What are you doing?”

 Sho asked, leaning around Simon to see what I was doing.

 “Trying to see what’s happening.”

 I ignored whatever he said next in favor of dredging up the right words.

“Draumr kόpa.”

  I waved my hand over the circle I had drawn, feeling all of their eyes on me as the water shimmered for a moment then shone like a mirror, showing me the large lowest level room of the Tower. Juvia and Lucy were there. It was the same room where they had fought Vidaldus. But this time, the water was slowly rising and there was something in the water...

  Grimfins too!? How many cobbled together artificial constructs do they have around here!?

  Grimjaws, Grimwings and Grimfins were ugly, mostly blind creatures that were made by filling a lacrima with an imprint of hatred and dropping it into a kettle of some vile concoction. These lacrima ended up making the creatures souls and they could channel small burst of concentrated magic out of their oversized toothy maws. But, you had to feed them of course. And what they preferred feeding off of was human misery. (It was a viable energy source for the more twisted people in the world.) They were highly illegal to create and own. Each type was land, air and sea based respectively.

 Juvia was fending off large numbers of the Grimfins and intermittently tossing them up into the air for Lucy and Sagittarius to pick them off. They were doing alright, but Juvia seemed to be literally boiling with rage...

 One of the handlers told her that as soon as they were done with them, they would send a hoard of Grimwings after Gray.

 Yep, that’ll do it.

 “How the heck are you doing this?” Sho demanded. “You’re just a kid!”

 I flashed him a grin with one or two teeth too many to be entirely friendly.

 “I’m Fairy Tail. We pretty much live to do the impossible.”

 Sho glared at me, but I ignored him.

 “You cannot be serious. You fought a whole bunch of guards by yourself, you cannot possibly have that much magic power.”

 “If you use only yourself as a measuring stick, then yes, I’ll seem a little too strong for my age. But I’ve grown up in a guild with full support of my magic on every side, a tutor, and without misery and bitterness poisoning me. Which is not your fault and Erza will not hold against you, by the way.”

 I added this last as the dark skinned blond narrowed his eyes at me.

 Probably not a good time to tell him that they can do much more if they had the time to practice. Jellal didn’t want them getting any ideas, so he restricted the magic they were taught in order to keep them under his thumb.

  Misery and heartache made for an excellent, if painful way to expand one’s magical core. Especially in children. That kind of strain made it so people broke through more easily.

 “It’s just our circumstances, coupled with my magic being fundamentally different from yours is enough that yes, I can very well do this. Now hush.”

 I looked back at my section of scrying water and concentrated...

 Gray and Natsu.

 They were making their way through the debris to the top floor. There was a lot of falling rubble around them. And they weren’t fighting someone else, or one another so that meant the chaos must be coming from...

 Erza.

 The picture shifted to let us all see Erza duking it out with Jellal, a mask of grim determination on her face. Jellal wasn’t managing to get off many attacks, he was mostly on the defensive. But he was still talking with a positive evil expression on his face. Cruelty seemed to be etched into his every feature and unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, the red tattoo down the side of his face looked like it was cracking open, revealing oozing blackness inside.

  Waiting for Erza to tire herself out so he can really screw with her head, is he?

 No matter. Once Natsu and Gray arrived on the scene, Erza would pull herself together, drawing on their presence for strength and they would shut this guy down. Capturing him and putting him into a well cast Zone of Truth would reveal that someone else had been behind all of this. They might not be able to let him go considering that they probably couldn’t find anyone else to catch and pin the blame to. But it should at the very least get a lighter sentence and a stay of the death penalty.

 All of us stayed where we were, watching the scrying in the water as Erza and Jellal fought. I wasn’t skilled enough to get sound as well as sight, but I could see Jellal’s mouth move and Erza’s face after for a split second. Simon’s hand tightened minutely on my shoulder before he forced his grip to loosen.

 About 2 seconds later, Natsu and Gray burst in. Jellal went from occasionally attacking and mostly talking to full defense. I could see that Natsu was roaring something at him as bombarded the blue haired man with fire.

 The three of them were slowly gaining ground against Jellal. His movements were getting more and more abrupt and strained. The fact that he was holding out this long was a testament to his enormous skill. When those three worked in tandem, there was both a terrifying amount of destruction and flying magic. Not to mention Gray and Natsu’s magic usually morphed into something completely new and different whenever it collided, proof of their unified intent. Everything the three Fairy Tail wizards were throwing out right now was focused on Jellal.

 Boy I don't envy you...

  Etherion fires in 2 minutes.

 Then as I watched, Jellal managed to get a solid hit in on Gray and he went flying out the open side of the tower.  

   He doesn’t have a shirt on. Happy can’t catch him!

“Gray!”

 I didn’t think, I just jumped. My superman jump boost flashed into existence around my legs and suddenly I was soaring. One foot off of the side of the boat and up as far as I could manage, quite a respectable amount, and I reached-

 The wind in my face as I ran over the rooftops of the city of Magnolia, sheer, exultant laughter tearing free from me as I flew over the people below, feeling untouchable.

 An endless sky with nothing but a horizon in sight and clouds below.

 The rush of speed and laughter that came as the coaster rounded a bend.

 Voice of the air currents whispering ancient stories, telling me names and of far off places.

  “Fly!”

-vVv-

 Aw crap.