Chapter Text
Episode 1
The Fairy Tail
~ Present Day at Hargeon Town~
In the small fishing port town of Hargeon in the Kingdom of Fiore there’s only one Magic store just for traveling Mages passing by. This small town is home to simple townsfolk, fishermen, traders, and tourists alike and while it is a hub of transportation for passing mages, no guild has ever claimed it for their own. Instead, the humble town is simply an oasis for travelers as a major crossroads.
As like any other day, the port town was teeming with crowds, people shouting out their wares, tourists capturing moments in their personal photo lacrimas, and kids running and making merry in the streets as their caregivers watched on fondly. Unlike any other day, walking amongst the crowds this day was a very unique individual who was managing as well as she could at flying under the radar.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t very good at it. The young lady was turning heads with her out of place traveling attire of a sleeveless black turtleneck, light brown cropped jacket, brightly patterned leggings and white washed shorts. The eye catching teal hair which was pulled back into a side braid and the flash of golden eyes certainly didn’t make her less memorable either. As she walked, a faint almost unearthly tinkling followed her, and those townsfolk more familiar with the various types of passing mages craned their necks, trying to see what Heavenly Keys the woman may have been carrying as she passed.
Unfortunately for them, while the woman paid the crowds no mind, she wasn’t one to show her hand before she even started a game and had her keys tucked away into a pouch at her hip. As she walked, she tapped out a melody (that had been stuck in her head since she was rudely awakened at sunrise that morning) on the strap of her leather traveling bag over her shoulder.
She was finally at the next to last stop on her journey and felt there was finally enough distance between her and her starting point to risk public transport. She had only left her other bags in her private compartment after being assured by no less than 3 workers and a conductor that as long as she returned to the train by the time on her ticket that evening (9:00 pm so that she would make it to Magnolia around lunch the next day), her luggage would remained untouched.
This gave her the opportunity to peruse the town for a place to relax for the first time on her long trek. And Zera was not about to let that chance slip away. After a quick stop at the local small magic shop where she found a little glamour ring and a new tome on Celestial and Heavenly Bodies, she was ready to find a place to get a warm meal she didn’t have to scrounge for herself.
It's like she forgot the warm, delicious stew that I slaved over for hours to bring her last night! She heard the mischievous voice whisper in the back of her mind and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the slight zing of lime green colored magic that zapped at her wrist from the gaps in the worn leather bracer tied onto her left forearm. Ungrateful this little human fledgling of ours, isn’t she Ari?
Zera could feel Ariel’s amusement at Gabriel’s whining tickle down her back and help relax the paranoia that had been crawling in her stomach courtesy of Lucifer. It was welcome relief as the paranoid, overprotective asshole hadn’t let her fully relax since the last mercenary attack from 2 weeks ago.
I would be a bit more grateful if that stew had actually been warm, delicious, or you know stew instead of some toxic sludge made with at least 3 herbs that could kill me in one bite GabeBabe. Don’t quit your day job, you would never make it as a chef. Zera thought back to the complaining Arch Angel in her head and smiled at the resulting mix of offended trumpets, overjoyed rumble of a steel drum, and exasperated clangs of a water phone that clashed in her head. The usual cacophony of her contracted Arch Angels true voices warmed her soul and distracted from her anxiety of leaving her bags, even knowing that she had locked and warded them to hell and back.
Soon, she wouldn’t have to worry about not having a roof over her head or finding a place to camp out. Soon she would be in Magnolia and on her way to finding a Guild that would help her grow in her magic and skills. Soon she would be a Fairy Tail wizard.
She ignored the mental whining about how she was so picky and instead thought back to her dilemma of how to find a place once she actually got to Magnolia. Her GramZ lived and worked in Magnolia but had warned her that she would be out of town when Zera got there. GramZ had gotten roped in to giving a presentation at an Apothecary Conference about another new medicinal herb combination she was working on and would be gone for at least 2 weeks with spotty lacrima reception due to the convergence of lei lines. So she wouldn’t be able to help Zera go apartment hunting or be able to give any insights into any options she found.
GramZ had offered for Zera to stay at her house until she got back and they could go out together but Zera was officially done with living at home. She was ready for her own place. Plus she was fairly certain that if she showed up to GramZ shop/house when she was gone that her neighbor, Mr. Shickaly would call the Council Army simply on principal of not being told to expect someone. Now she just had to figure out the best way to find an apartment for rent until she could stock up enough funds for a house of her own.
A loud ruckus, mostly composed of women's squeals, startled her from her thoughts. Her Arch Angels’ complaints had apparently drowned out the noise growing until she found herself in the middle of a huge crowd. Excited and swooning fangirls who were surrounding a tall man with artfully spiked, half buzzed blue hair and a a tattoo over his right brow.
“I can’t believe that it's the Salamander of Fairy Tail!” A girl with her friend crowed from next to Zera, finally cluing her in to what the hell she had walked into. The girl’s friend just shook her arm as they squealed together in excitement.
“I heard he uses Fire Magic that can’t be bought in any magic stores!” Another woman told the man next to her who didn’t look nearly as excited about the mage in front of them.
“Really? A Fairy Tail wizard in Hargeon, right as I get here too? This seems a bit too good to be true.” Zera mumbled to herself and felt a hum rush through her body as dark blue sparks coursed through the laces of her bracer. She tried to maneuver closer to see what exactly was going on.
Nothing could have prepared her for the absolute chaos that this singular decision would throw her day into.
Zera fought her way forward through the crowd until she had a front row seat of Salamander as posing around and handing out compliments like candy, his high collared cloak fluttering around him. The girls were all besotted, Zera being shoved as others tried to make her move over so more people could get a look at the man. A rush of jealousy at a blonde who pushed past her and was blown a kiss from the man ran through Zera. Her thoughts screeched to a halt and she blinked dumbly.
What the hell… she couldn’t help thinking at the uncalled for emotion. She let out a confused, “huh” as she realized that the jealousy was because that girl had been blown a kiss and not her. Which made absolutely no sense.
She lifted a hand to rub at her suddenly pounding temple, absently scratching at her left hand that was feeling a bit warm now. She was distracted before she check for what was causing the itching by Salamander looking over her way and making direct eye contact. Zera felt her heart suddenly start pumping double time and a shy smile grow on her face. Her hand drifted from her forehead to her chest.
“He looked at me!” She breathed out in quiet excitement. “The Salamander from Fairy Tail. Oh my stars! My heart feels like a hummingbird! Is it cause he’s a famous wizard?” She started asking herself now that the torrent was let loose and the excitement of him having locked eyes with her made her brain and heart start buzzing in excitement. Her world had narrowed down to just him as the crowd around them grew fuzzy. It felt like there was an inferno growing in her heart, even warming her hand that was on her chest as electricity sparked between the mage and soon-to-be mage. It felt amazing, all-encompassing, all-consuming…it was…painful actually.
Zera let out a yelp at the spike of warmth and the itch she had forgotten about came crashing back to her. Her eyes shot down to see the heat had come from her wrist. More specifically the end of her forearm bracer closest to her wrist as the collection of gold, green, and blue sparks faded away as quickly as they had come. Her eyes were then drawn to the faintly orange glowing ring on her middle finger that she realized was the cause of the itching. She had personally enchanted the ring, during one of GramZ lessons, with a spell to detect any mind-altering spells and give a subtle warning. Apparently it had been too subtle today. Zera blinked as a sudden rush of vertigo hit her now that the odd feelings of lust and attraction had practically drained out of her from her companions’ magical outburst.
“Wha-?” She started only to stumble back, still reeling from the magical backlash only to be pushed forward by another man who had excitedly cut through the crowds. She stumbled into him but he seemed to pay her no mind as his attention was on Salamander.
“Igneel! Igneel! It’s me! Uh-“ The new man, an odd pink haired fellow who was also dressed for traveling, much like Zera. Now she was paying him more attention, rather than Salamander, the dizziness was fading more rapidly and she could start to make out the actual words of Lucifer’s raging instead of just the musical intonations of his water phone true voice. Gabe was no better though their raging was less about the audacity of the man for attempting to use Charm Magics on their ward and more about how the man wasn’t even attractive enough that the Charm Magics should work at all. All Zera could feel from Ariel was a radiating coldness and barely bridled fury that rapidly cooled her overheated magical core from the Lust Magics that had been attempting to worm into her.
“Who the hell are you?” The pink haired man asked Salamander, his happy smile dropping into a pout as his whole body slumped.
“Wha- Who am I?!” Salamander exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a new pose that had his hands flashing. Zera’s eyes darted to his fingers and everything suddenly made sense. There on his pointer and middle finger sat two rings, a blue gem with an intricate golden moon and a rose colored gem that if she could examine more closely she was sure would be a heart or rose of some kind that was usually used to seal Love Magics into rings for Holder Type Mages to use. Zera ignored everything else the Slimeball said as she sent reassurances through her still covered contracts that her Arch Angels had broken the magics’ hold and couldn’t catch her in the web again now that she knew it was there.
She realized she was going to have to soon replace her current bracer with a new one if their magic had been able to leak out as much as it had. Not that she wasn’t grateful for the wake-up call but there was a reason she was using the enochian dampeners, well a reason other than she always did so in order to keep Heaven’s most trigger happy Arches from going off half-cocked at anyone who looked at her funny.
It was when she saw the other girls who had been surrounding the Sleaze attack the retreating pink haired man that she finally stopped her platitudes and jumped into the fray to help him. A quick and mild ‘Encompass’ shield was enough to push the women off of him and give the man some space to breath. She ignored Salamander trying to pacify the crowds as she knelt down to help the pink haired male up, canceling her magic and letting the silvery blue glow fade off her body as she shot the FuckBoi a glare.
“Guess it wasn’t him after all.” The pink man grumbled as Zera pulled him into a sitting position.
“Aye, definitely not him.” A perky voice came from Zera’s shin and she spun to see a small blue talking…cat? The group of three watched as the swarm moved to follow Salamander as he cast purple flames to float him above the crowds and out of sight.
Zera snorted, “Fire Magic not able to be bought in store yeah right. That may have been impressive control of the flames but that was cheap magic right there!”
“Who the heck was that guy?” Pinky, so dubbed until he actually introduced himself as Zera refused to keep calling him ‘the pink haired man’ in her mind, asked aloud, not really seeming to be looking for an answer.
Zera gave him one anyway. “Said he was Salamander some super big shot Mage, but I couldn’t believe any Guild would let someone like that in. So not sure who he is but he is a right fucking creep ain’t he?”
“Huh?” Pinky and the blue cat looked over as if realizing she was there for the first time.
“As stupid as it sounds, thanks for knocking into me. It really helped clear some of the effects of his rings so I could finish shaking it off. Charm Magic, gives me the shivers you get me?” Zera asked rhetorically and barreled on before he could answer. “You can call me Zera. A pleasure. I was just heading to get something to eat when the Asshole sidetracked me. Want to join me?”
~ Time Skip ~
Asking the two to join her had been a grave mistake.
She didn’t realize at the time but the two were bottomless pits and ate like it was going out of style.
Absolutely no manners. I swear its like they were raised in a barn! Zera forced her smile to stay up, despite Ariel’s chastisements of the two for infringing on her hospitality to invite them for food.
“Soooo…Natsu and Happy right?” Zera finally said, remembering the names that Pinky had given her right before he started shoveling food into his mouth.
“Mmmhmmm.” He mumbled, not stopping for a second. The cat, Happy, did stop however.
“You’re so nice, Miss Zera.” Zera couldn’t help her smile at the big, sparkling eyes that were turned her way by the cat only for it to drop just as quickly when the blue cat went right back to stuffing his mouth with Natsu.
“You can slow down you know? We aren’t in a hurry and I’m pretty sure that the food flying everywhere is more likely to get us kicked out than you just eating like a normal person.” Zera said but ended it in a grumble as she realized the two weren’t listening to her in the slightest. She decided to go back to explaining what exactly the two had walked into in the plaza. She chose to ignore the fact they were probably ignoring her for the chance to talk to actual people who were outside of her mental space and weren’t contractually obligated to listen to her when she complained. All her Arch Angels snickered in their shared mental space, the humanlike laughter mixing with the angelic symphony.
“There is no way that fake Salamander creep was really a Guild approved mage. Especially not if he was using illegal Charm Spell to hypnotize those other women in town into thinking they were in love with him. Those things have been banned for years and the fact he even got his hands on them reeks of Black Market fuckery since no shops even sell them anymore. It was some strong magic too, I got sucked in and I haven’t even been in this city for an hour! I guess this lunch is both a ‘nice to meet you’ and a thank you since you were part of the reason I was able to break out of it. If you hadn’t drawn his focus, he may have actually been able to make his way through my protective shields and have another mindless sycophant.” Zera finished, a wave of protective reassurance melting down her back as Ariel specifically assured her that it never would have gotten to that if those three had their way.
“Protective shields? What you a wizard too or something?” Natsu asked through a mouth full of food, finally having tuned back in apparently. Zera rubbed the back of her neck at her slip up, but figured (against Lucifer’s advice as his paranoia once again reared its head) that if he was traveling with a talking cat, it was likely Natsu himself was a mage too.
“Yeah, actually. I…haven’t joined a guild yet or anything. But that’s only because I’m traveling to join the one my GramZ used to belong to. She’s told me stories since I was in diapers about it and it's the only Guild I’ve ever really wanted to be a part of.” She replied dreamily, until she noticed the bored looks of the two men? Man and cat? Across from her. “But, that’s more than enough about me. What about you two? You guys came here trying to find someone didn’t you? At least that’s what it sounded like you were yelling about when you crashed into the Square.”
“We’re looking for Igneel!” Happy said cheerily, as Natsu picked up another bread bowl filled with a rich tomato sauce, cheese and smoked meats that this restaurant was known for.
Oh yes. Because that clarifies everything! I knew stopping in this town was a horrible plan. Lucifer grumbled and Zera had to agree, that name wasn’t familiar in the slightest.
“We heard a rumor that a Salamander was gonna be coming through this town. So we came here to see him. Turns out it was somebody else.” Natsu complained, still munching away and not looking up at Zera as he pouted.
“Yeah, that guy didn’t look like a Salamander at all!” Happy said, apparently he was finally done with the food and Zera couldn’t help but start getting nervous at just how many plates the two of them had racked up on the table. She had set a limit when the two tried to order one of everything and got that bumped down but it was still looking like more than she had expected.
“No kidding! I bet that poser can’t even breathe fire like a real dragon.” Natsu added.
“Uh…” Zera trailed off, and now it was also starting to look like Lucifer may not have been so wrong in being paranoid about this guy. Who expects a person to be breathing fire like a Dragon? Sure there were mages rumored to have Dragon Slayer magic but last she had heard, that was extremely rare.
Are you sure you really want to go there Zee? Ariel asked, making Zera blush as she realized she was being a bit hypocritical considering the rarity of her own magic.
That is so not fair! Dragons are literally extinct and Dragon Slayer magic is so rare because it was originally taught by said EXTINCT masters. You little shits aren’t extinct, my magic is just a lost art. Zera argued sullenly, but ended up being ignored once more by her angelic siblings as they started arguing amongst themselves which magic was truly the more rare of the two. At least if they were arguing, it would leave Zera free from their scrutiny for a little bit.
“I think you lost me somewhere? Are you saying your friend Igneel looks like a Dragon?” Zera asked and Natsu finally looked at her. He swallowed the last of his food and seemed to get more serious as he answered.
“No you got it all wrong. He doesn’t look like a dragon. He is one.” Natsu said extremely matter-o-fact and there was silence in her head for once. Her, Natsu, and Happy just stared at one another.
…why do all the cute ones have to be batshit insane? Gabe finally lamented and Zera broke eye contact to rub at her temples.
“I’m going to pretend that just made sense…”
“But it’s true! Igneel is a real life fire dragon!” Happy cheered and Zera could feel her headache mounting even higher.
“Ok let’s say I believe you, which I’m still on the fence about at this point,” she grumbled but kept going before either male could interrupt her. “Why on Heaven’s green Earth would a fucking FIRE Dragon show up in the middle of a town?!”
Natsu and Happy both looked like they were about to argue until their faces blanked out with realization that Zera had a good point. When neither could come up with an argument Zera just sighed and reached into her satchel to pull out enough money to cover the bill and a nice tip for the poor waiter who would have to come clean up this table. She inwardly cringed at the amount but she hadn’t been about to let her rescuer from earlier starve, even if he was in Gabe’s words batshit insane.
“Look, I have to get going. There were a few more things I wanted to get done before my trip. Enjoy the rest of your lunch and thanks again for the save earlier. Hopefully we will get to meet again someday.” Zera said as she got up to leave. She gave a sincere apology to the waitress that bade her goodbye only to be surprised at the girl’s open mouth at something behind her. She looked back only to sweat drop at the dogeza that both men she had left at the table had fallen into as they thanked her for the food.
“Knock that shit off! You’re embarrassing me!” Zera hissed at them before going over to pull them up by their ears. “Look, it’s cool. Like I said I owed you two. Don’t turn this into some sort of production!”
“I feel bad though cause we weren’t even trying to help her.” Natsu said to Happy, completely ignoring Zera once she let go of their ears. She prayed to whichever of her Arches were listening for strength (though it appeared to be none of them when they just laughed at her) and ducked out of the restaurant before Natsu could come up with something to thank her with.
Zera wandered for a bit before she popped into a little bookshop to browse. Nothing stood out to her as important for her own journey but before she could leave, Gabe drew her eye to a Sorcerer Weekly edition that had a blurb about Fairy Tail on the cover. She bought the magazine and strolled to a bench overlooking the pier in a small garden to sit and read.
Low and behold, it was full of stories about how Fairy Tail was indeed out and about causing trouble. “Demon bandit clan wiped out, but…seven homes destroyed?!”
Remind me why exactly do you want to join THIS particular Guild again Falling Star? Lucifer asked, sounding like he was suffering as his angelic siblings cackled in the background.
Zera let out a sigh, not wanting to yet again rehash their argument about her joining Fairy Tail. “You know why Luci. The only way keep my promise is to get out there and join Fairy Tail. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”
“Fairy Tail you say?” A drawling male voice chimed in from behind her in the bushes and she immediately went on the attack. Her body glowed a bright silvery blue as her Celestial Impact charged in her fists. She jumped up and turned to face the voice in the same motion and let out the warning blast so it hit a tree trunk less than an inch from the eavesdroppers head. She was alarmed but not as surprised as she should be to see it was the fake Salamander from the Square who was frozen with wide eyes in a model’s pose in shock.
“What the hell are you doing here you sick creep?!” Zera yelped, snatching her bag and preparing to either run or launch herself into the sky with Heavenly Body magic. Her bracer burned on her forearm, again reminding her she needed to change out her bracer. It was the 4th bracer since she left home and with how little she had been using Embodiment, her contracts were growing restless with built up magical energy that was making the seals less effective.
“I’ve-“ He started but had to clear his throat as it squeaked out, obviously still shocked at her reaction time. “I’ve been looking all over for you my dear.” Zera couldn’t help gagging at his simpering tone, completely ready to shoot down whatever offer the man made.
“I wanted to personally invite you to the party I’m having on my yacht tonight.” He finished with a little laugh as he supposedly rubbed his rings absently.
“Hard pass, ass.” Zera said, crossing her arms into an ‘x’ in front of her. “Firstly cause your charm spells won’t work on me. And frankly you should be grateful I haven’t reported you to the Council’s Army for that. Secondly, I’m not about to be here for longer than I need to. I have a train to catch and I’m not about to miss it because of you!”
A grimace passed his face quickly and if she hadn’t been watching him for it, she would have missed it as he smoothed over his expression. “Just as I thought, I knew you were a Mage the moment I laid eyes on you. No matter. The invitation still stands.”
“Yeah, I would hope me using magic would make it fucking obvious I’m a Mage. And what part of pass do you not understand?” Zera asked as she turned and started to walk away. She kept an air of carelessness through she was braced to fight in a heartbeat as she walked. “I wouldn’t be caught dead at a party thrown by a creep like you.”
“You wish to join the Fairy Tail Guild right?” He asked, his tone taking on a leading edge. Zera just rolled her eyes as she kept walking.
“Nice try asshole. That Guild may be loose with their property destruction but they have hard and fast rules regarding illegal magic use. No way you have an in with them. Try the other leg, you might just get something.” Zera mocked as she kept going.
“Well, I guess I may as well try the other one then.” She barely had time to brace herself when she heard his muttering but the attack didn’t come from behind her. Apparently, this creep was stronger than she thought because he had shielded a group of men behind more greenery who shot a variety of magic at her. She dodged leaves, water, and even fish with ease and shot back her own incandescent silvery blue Heavenly Body magic, wincing as a few crackles of Arch Angel magic tried to escape her bracer again as their cacophony of worried yells filled her brain.
That overwhelming amount of noise, visual, physical, and mental meant that she missed when Sleaseball behind her lit up a magic circle and knocked her out with a blast of purple flames. The last thing she saw was ‘Salamander’ reaching down to pick her up princess style and the feeling of weightlessness as his purple flames shot them into the air after a terse, “get the yacht ready and make sure everyone knows the ‘party’ time is bumped up to 5. We can’t risk her getting away and squealing to the Council,” to the men who had attacked her.
~ Meanwhile ~
Not to far from where Zera had just been, Happy and Natsu were standing against the rails of the barrier wall that surrounded the town.
“That was quite a meal hey Happy.” Natsu asked, disappointed at not finding Igneel but taking the little pleasures where he could find them as he thought back to lunch and the woman who had paid.
“Aye!” Happy answered before he suddenly perked up from where he had been looking out into the ocean. “Hey, look! Do you think that’s the boat where that Salamander guy is having his party?”
Natsu immediately turned green as he thought or the boat, “ugh, I’m gonna hurl!”
“Oh come on! It’s not like we’re going aboard it or anything you baby!” Happy said with a laugh.
“Oh my gosh! That’s Salamander’s yacht isn’t it!” A woman’s voice yelled from near them drawing Happy and Natsu’s attention.
“Yeah! I wish I could have gone but by the time I got the note saying that the party time was bumped up it was too late to board!” Another said with a deep sigh.
“Who’s Salamander?” A third voice piped up, sounding bored.
“What!? You’ve never heard of him? He’s a super famous wizard who’s in town right now!”
“Yeah! And he’s a member of Fairy Tail!” The first voice said as the girls tittered and kept walking away from the two no longer lounging men.
“Huh? Fairy Tail?” Natsu asked suspiciously before looking back to the ocean where the boat continued to move away only to double over again as he was hit with a wave of motion sickness at the idea of the boat again.
~ Back on the Boat ~
A fog horn bellowing finally cut through the fog of Zera’s mind and started pulling her back to consciousness. She groaned as she slowly sat up, her head aching and feeling the tell-tale wisps of, also illegal, Sleep Charms being purged from her mind now that she was conscious. She could vaguely hear whispers from her Arch Angels in her head, but it was pounding too much to be able to make much out clearly. All she could get for sure was an overwhelming sense of relief, concern, and outrage from all three.
“Stars above what hit me?” She groaned again as she rubbed her head, wincing as her fingers made contact with a rather large goose egg on the back of it.
“Well it looks as if Sleeping Beauty has woken up!” A voice came loudly from behind her, making her wince but turn to face Salamander who was smirking at her from his seat. Behind him were the men who had attacked her, carrying or putting down a number of very nicely dressed women who though sleeping, were being tied up.
“Wha- The hell? What are you doing to them!” Zera yelled, pushing against her pain to stand strong and tried to call her Heavenly Body magic forward only to let it go as a wave of vertigo hit her.
“Simply getting out captive more comfortable for our trip to Bosco. You almost ruined our latest run to gather new Slaves and I wasn’t about to let that happen. I must admit it has been a long time since I have seen a Heavenly Body Mage, let alone fought against one. Luckily for me, I happened to acquire a cuff that will temporarily block your stronger abilities from access.” Salamander drawled, his handsome face screwing up into a mockery and letting his true nature show.
Zera growled but couldn’t do much more. She couldn’t call her own learned magic to her but she could feel her Arch Angels growing more furious by the moment. She glanced at the silver cuff on her ankle with enochian wards carved into it and could have sighed in relief. While Heavenly Body magic was common enough, and so were Blessing Keys to the lower dominions of the Celestial World, Heavenly Embodiment was rare enough that very few wards still existed that could block her ties to her contracts. While this cuff would absolutely prevent her from using Heavenly Body magic, given enough time, her Arch Angels could break through. The only barrier being her own health now.
She would have to time everything as best as she could because most likely she would only get one shot to use her contracts, and she would likely have to remove her cuff to do so which was a problem in and of itself with how backed up her magic was.
“My-“ Zera started only to be interrupted again by Salamander.
“Your keys? Yes don’t think I didn’t notice that too. A true Celestial Mage aren’t you, and to even have a Forbidden gold key? For someone who was yelling at me for my Charm Magic you don’t have much room to stand do you?” Salamander gloated and Zera could only grit her teeth as he spun her silver key ring with all her Blessing Keys that Ariel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Orion, and Raphael had personally gifted her for her birthdays. “Its just too bad this sort of magic only works for the Mage who it is contracted to. Meaning these are useless to me. Well except this little Gold one, that could fetch a pretty penny,” Salamander said as he pulled Orion’s key from her ring then threw the rest overboard.
“No!” Zera couldn’t help but yelp as she started forward, only to stop as the men around her rumbled in disapproval. She was stuck watching as he precious Blessings fell into the ocean and disappeared beneath the waves. Zera glared at the laughing man as he examined Orion’s key and a growl rumbled in her chest. She could hear faint musical tolls from a water phone and steel drum growing louder as her Arches worked at the silver cuff, the metal growing hot, similarly to her leather bracer but more stinging through the metal conduit.
“How dare you, you won’t get away with this Asshole! Bad enough you are using illegal magics and kidnapping, but taking my keys!?” She bit out and locked furious eyes onto Salamander who stopped laughing as he met her gaze. “That is unforgivable.”
He looked like he was about to respond when suddenly there was a crashing and splintering from above that came through the ceiling. A form crashed to the ground behind Salamander and as the dust cleared, it was revealed to be Natsu.
“Natsu?” Zera asked, confused but happy to see a possible ally. Hoping against hope that him being present meant he was also a Mage and could provide cover for her until she was able to get her magic free. She was quickly disappointed when he imposing figure suddenly doubled over, looking very green and groaning like he was about to puke.
“I knew this was a bad idea.” He managed to get out as he gagged.
“Seriously?! Why the hell would you come to a rescue if you were about to be sick moron!” Zera screamed at him!
“Hey! What are you doing here Miss Zera?” Happy’s voice asked and Zera looked up to see the talking cat had sprouted white wings and was hovering in the air above where Natsu had dropped from.
“What the heaven and hell- The sicko kidnapped me and then a bunch of other girls, apparently he plans to use them as slaves in Bosco. Tried to sell me some story about being in Fairy Tail but no reputable Guild would take in a Mage using illegal magic.” Zera said, thankfully that it seemed Salamander and his men seemed at a loss for what to do and she could figure out what resources she actually had at her disposal at the moment. “Hold the messenger bird, since when do you have wings?”
“I’ll explain that later ok? Hold on!” Happy yelled before he was suddenly dive bombing her and his tail was wrapping around her waist and pulling her into the sky. She let out a scream as the movement jostled her and made the scalding metal on her ankle more prominent in her mind. Whispers of apology flooded her mind but they kept working.
“After them!” Zera heard Salamander yell, “We can’t let them report this to the Magic Council!”
“Happy! Stop! He has Orion’s Key and my bag! I can’t leave those! And what about Natsu!” Zera yelled over the rush of air in her face.
“I can’t carry two people!” Happy just replied but kept flying either not having heard her or not caring.
“Prominence Whip!” Came a yell from below them and Zera saw a red burning seal appear from which Salamander’s purple flames burst out. Happy dodged as best he could but the quick motions had Zera feeling queasy from the head wound she still had.
You stupid cat! Stop shaking her! Lucifer’s voice came through loud and clear finally as the metal cuff gave way with a burst of his blue magic. Zera took advantage of that fact as quickly as possible.
“Heavenly Encompass!” She shrieked and allowed the silvery blue glow to cover herself and Happy in the nick of time to avoid being hit with the brunt of a magical flame.
“How did that cuff fail?! It was made of Celestial Silver carved with seals! At her power level she should have been powerless for a week at least! Even with a Golden key in her belt, it isn’t a Black Key so she isn’t powerful enough for a contract! She shouldn’t have been able to get that off by herself!” Salamander yelled as Happy and Zera flew further from his grasp.
“Hey guys,” a voice came from behind him. Salamander turned to see the pink haired man who had caused this whole mess crouching behind him once more. “Guess who’s feeling better?”
Back in the air Zera was quickly finding out that Happy and her were now facing another problem.
“What do you mean another problem!?” She shrieked, trying to keep still enough to wretch at the bindings of her bracer.
“Well…” Happy said a little sheepishly when all of a sudden his wings popped out of existence. “My transformation’s up.”
The two yelled as the plummeted toward the ocean. Zera, cursing quickly pulled in her arms to dive closer to Happy and pull him into her chest as she tried to turn so her feet would enter the water first and hopefully limit causing more injury to either of them. Once they hit the water, Zera quickly pushed Happy back toward the surface before she started trying to swim toward the glinting light and ringing chorus her keys always let out when lost so she could find them easier. She still wasn’t sure if it was because she was so in tune with their magic or if it was caused by them being gifts. With 3 Arch Angel contracts and having been effectively adopted by the host as a human fledgling, her resonance with items from the Celestial World was unparalleled.
Whatever the reason, she could hear and feel the humming of her Blessings pulling her toward them and she gratefully scooped them up before returning to the surface with a gasp. Happy saw her and let out a little cry of her name. She swam toward him quickly while pulling forth her Dominion Blessing Key and with a yell she called forth the Heavenly Cycle which scooped the two out of the water. The cycle had transformed from it’s usual vertical spinning cycle with a bronze colored seat and golden constantly moving outer circles which kept the environment in cycle safe to a horizontal spinning boat like contraption with the other circles generating a slightly glowing force field that kept the seat (which had transformed into a platform) hovering with a faint hum in a stable surface.
“Wow” Happy drawled as he coughed up the water he had swallowed and looked at the glowing gold, silver and bronze Cycle with wide eyes. Zera herself panted as well as she finally had a steady surface and attacked her now wet laces on her bracer with ferocity to get the sparking leather off. “Zera, is now really the time to be playing with your bracelet?” Happy asked incredulously.
“This is the best time Happy. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use my trump card but with with wack to the head they gave me, I can’t use my magic by myself. So it’s a good thing I don’t have to.” She said as she finally torn off the last lace and her brace fell to the platform. The air was still before green, gold, and dark blue sparks started jumping off the black seals tattooed onto her forearm in a linked enochian seal. Happy’s eyes were wide as he watched the magic dance, not knowing what it was. “Don’t worry Happy, I should have enough juice that my Heavenly Cycle should keep going despite me using my contract. I think."
Zera ignored his cries of “You think?!” and turned to face Salamander’s yacht with a victorious grin on her face as she lifted her left forearm into the air. “Heavenly Embodiment! The Sentinel of Heaven! Arch Angel Ariel!” She cried and the golden magic dancing on her arm seemed to let of a joyous sound of a rumbling steel drum, almost sounding like a Lion’s roar before Zera was encompassed by the Golden light. Happy had to close his eyes and look away as it grew too bright, but the moment the light had dimmed he turned to see Zera was gone. In her place stood a large, armored woman with six large, bright golden wings lifting out of her back. She was wearing gold and orange armor that shone under the setting sun in a way that made it look like it was on fire. In her hand was a large and long sword with a red jewel on the hilt and a roaring lion’s face carved into the blade. On her face was a golden mask with four faces, one facing each of the cardinal directions, a lioness, an eagle, a wolf, and a human though only the human face’s eyes were lit with a golden glow.
An echoing voice that seemed to have both Zera’s and another female spoke up less than a moment after the golden light had faded. “Embodiment 3rd form, the Aegis.” And suddenly the mask on her face seemed to lift slightly with a golden glow and spun until the lioness’s face was now forward before it fell back down and with a flash, the golden glow had disappeared from the humanoid face and reappeared in the lioness’s eyes. The woman’s appearance had grown to look more cat like as her sword shifted into a shield and her gloves grew claws.
The armored, winged woman turned to face a gaping Happy. “Don’t leave the cycle. Unless it starts to fade. Then get to the beach. I am going to get that wretched man back to port.” She announced, again her voice doubled as it echoed before suddenly she was lifting from the Cycle on her wings and in a flash of golden light was gone toward the yacht.
Happy blinked after her then looked around him. “What just happened?”
Zera didn’t pay attention to the cat now that she had a goal and could feel the glorious energy of her contract surrounding her. She was still mentally present and could watch through all of the eyes on Ariel’s mask to help her make calls but as always, Ariel was now in control. She had more of it than usual considering how dizzy it made Zera when she tried to help and she cursed out concussions which she was now sure she had. Ariel flew as fast as she could to the boat and Zera watched in glee as Salamander’s eyes widened at her visage.
“I do believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you, sir.” Ariel’s tone dripped with venom at the moniker as her wingbeats held her in place.
“Impossible,” Salamander breathed and if the golden mask wasn’t a fixed metal, Zera knew that a dark smirk would be covering their combined faces. “But her Arch Angel key is golden, that shouldn’t be possible for her to summon you!” He yelled as he stepped back.
“It would be impossible. If that was indeed my key,” Ariel agreed, glee in her voice as she allowed her own magic to glow golden around her shield. The Sentinel of Heaven was done talking.
“Encompass!” She yelled as she dive bombed the stupid man who had taken Zera’s keys with a cry like a banshee. Light construct shields encompassed her whole form, allowing her to pierce through the ship like a hot knife through butter. On her way down, she wrenched Orion’s key from Salamander’s hand and could hear her brother’s hunting horn laughter at the motherfucker’s terrified face. She pulled back up behind the ship and allowed her shield to melt back into her sword which she raised to the sky. An orb of golden-orange energy grew on the tip until it was about the size of a basketball before the men on board tried to throw their own attacks at her.
Her remaining golden shields absorbed the magic flung at her and rebounded it right back in Salamander’s men’s faces as she moved to be behind the boat. With a cry of “Meteor Collision!” She shot the orb of built up energy into the ocean right behind the boat. On impact with the water, huge swells rose up and swept up the ship in their wake. Ariel let out a roar of triumph as she chased after the boat now barreling toward shore.
Ariel graciously gave a tug toward Zera’s Cycle and pulled the blue cat along with them as Zera’s magic started to give out and the Cycle began to show cracks. By the time they got to the shore, Happy was thrown forward off the Cycle as it finally dissolved off of the mortal plain. Ariel touched down on the sand and a shudder went through her before she was once more encompassed in a golden light.
When the light had faded, only Zera remained. She tried to move forward on shaky legs only to stumble and lift a hand toward her now aching head.
“Zera!” Happy yelped and quickly moved toward her. Unfortunately, his small frame didn’t help him catch her as she sunk into the sand, but he did put a concerned paw on her shoulder.
Zera’s mouth opened and that otherworldly female voice spoke again. “Apologies Star Shine. Apparently that head wound is worse than we thought. With the pull your Cycle needed, if I had stuck around your reserves would have been drained. You can’t call another of us until you are better.” Ariel admonished and Zera rolled her eyes before coughing a bit.
“Yes, because speaking through me isn’t going to drain me at all, Ari.” She joked and felt mild amusement from Ariel and Gabriel that was overshadowed by their concern and Lucifer’s continued incandescent rage.
“What was that magic?!” Happy asked, his eyes shining.
“How about I explain later. We still have those assholes on the yacht to deal with, Happy.” Zera said as she say Salamander scrambling off the half buried ship. She had to hand it to Ariel, while she tried to limit her amount of power used, the backlash of over stored energy had certainly gotten the job done. Zera could hear the people of the growing crowd asking after what had happened and let Happy help her up to move closer. She perked up a bit when she saw a pink head stand up from the top of the boat to stare down at Salamander.
“Natsu!” Her and Happy both yelled, happy to see the man. However, her smile dropped a bit when she saw how serious he looked. She had wanted to be the one to put Salamander in his place for daring to throw her keys into the ocean but with her magical exhaustion, this would have to do. Lucifer was practically vibrating with anticipation of the violence that Natsu’s expression guaranteed.
“So you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail Guild?” Natsu asked rather darkly which was a startling difference to his earlier childishness.
“What’s it to you?” Salamander scoffed, “go get him men!” He ordered as more of his men starting getting up or picking their own ways out of the ship. One leered Zera’s way but a short blast of Heavenly Body Piercing Light, which made her head and gut twinge uncomfortably, stopped that real quick.
“Let me get a closer look at your face.” Natsu demanded as he reached up to pull of his jacket. Zera shot a confused look at Happy but just saw the cat watching with anticipation that almost matched Lucifer’s.
“Don’t worry about him Zera. I probably should have told you this earlier, but he’s a wizard too.” Happy said from where he had crawled up her side onto her shoulder to munch on a fish that he had gotten from…somewhere. A flicker of green magic arched out of her wrist and zapped the fish away.
Smelly fish guts in MY Star Dust’s gorgeous locks?! I don’t think so cat! Gabe mumbled in her mind and Zera had to resist rolling her eyes at their petulance, knowing it would be no good for her head.
Zera watched as Natsu swiped the first attackers out of his way with a single fist, revealing his right bicep that had a red Guild Mark tattooed across it.
“My name is Natsu Dragneel. I’m a real Fairy Tail Wizard, and I’ve never seen you before.” He shouted down at Salamander who took a step back to be further behind his men.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Zera breathed as shock echoed back to her from her contracts. She whipped her head to the side to stare down Happy. “Natsu is a Fairy Tail Wizard?!”
Happy just smiled and let out a cheery “Aye!” As if commenting on the sun set behind them.
“That mark on his arm!” A man from amongst Salamander’s crew shouted, “this guy is the real deal Bora!”
Zera zeroed in on ‘Salamander’, and saw his face screw up in anger at that name.
“Don’t call me by my real name you fool!”
“I know that name.” Zera mumbled, “Bora the prominence.”
“Aye, rumor has it he was kicked out of the Titan Nose Guild a couple of years ago due to bad behavior.” Happy agreed, crossing his arms.
“I have no idea what you’re trying to do here, Buddy. And frankly, I don’t care if you’re a good guy, bad guy, or what.” Natsu said as he stalked down the boat’s hull toward Bora. “I’m not gunna let you dirty the Fairy Tail Guild’s name”
“And what are you gonna do about it pretty boy?” Bora blustered, adjusting his stance. “Stop me? Prominence Typhoon!”
A swirl of purple flames erupted out of the red magical seal the Bora summoned and shot toward Natsu. Natsu, who didn’t move an inch as the flames barreled his way. Zera let out a shout, but she didn’t have a chance to throw out any magic to help him cushion the attack. All she could do was watch as the flames engulfed who she had hoped to be a new ally, even a friend.
“Natsu!” She yelled, but was stopped from running toward him by Happy, who’s wings were back as he flared them up to hold her back.
“Ha! Hahahaha! That’s the way it goes I suppose!” She could hear Bora yelling and looked to see him smiling at the fire ball that had engulfed his yacht. “The bigger the talk, the weaker the man.” He turned to leave and Zera almost went after him.
“Wait.” Happy said.
“Ugh! This is so gross!” Natsu’s voice suddenly yelled from within the flames. “Are you sure your really a fire wizard? Cause these are the nastiest flames I’ve ever tasted.”
Zera was watching in astonishment when Natsu’s form became more clear as the flames around him dissipated, only for her to realized they didn’t dissipate. He was sucking the flames into his mouth and almost seemed to be eating their energy.
Cries of both awe and terror could be heard from Bora and his men as they watched Natsu demolish the flames in front of him.
“Happy…exactly what sort of Mage is Natsu?” Zera asked as she watched the flames completely disappear into him. She ignored Natsu’s ‘thanks for the grub poser,’ as she focused on Happy for her answer. Happy just snickered.
“Fire magic doesn’t work on Natsu.”
“I can fucking see that, dumb cat! I’ve never seen any magic like that before!” Zera replied, unable to take her eyes of Natsu as he once again stalked toward Bora.
We have. Ariel said and Zera immediately turned her attention inward.
Well what the hell is it?! She thought back to them and was treated to a fleeting memory of a group of faceless mages who could eat the elements and then utilize that magic to bolster their own. Large, very recognizable shadowed shapes were behind the faceless mages and understanding clicked for her.
Dragon Slayer Mage
“Now I’ve got a fire in my belly that’s raging to get out.” Natsu said before slamming his fists together and forming a brilliant red magic seal in the air that let out a dragon’s roar to match the dragon face in the center.
“No fucking way. And here I thought I was the only one with rare magic here.” Zera breathed out as Natsu started inhaling.
“Fire Dragon ROAR!” He yelled out before bringing both tunneled fists to his mouth and using it to direct his fire breath at the group of thugs in front of him through his magic circle.
The jet of fire only grew larger as it streamed out of his hands and toward Bora and his men. The brightness of the blast made Zera cover her eyes with her arms but she could feel the beach shaking beneath her feet as hit attack landed solidly. As the dust settled, Zera could see Bora’s men sprawled out and mixed with the wreckage of the ship. Bora himself had risen above the attack on a blast of purple fire.
In the wreckage, Zera saw a scrap of brown and flew forward to retrieve her bag before retreating again to stand next to Happy to watch out of the hit zone.
“Hey Bora, I swear I’ve seen this guy before,” One of his remaining thugs groaned as he stood up from the wreckage. “The pink hair, and the scaly-looking scarf. There’s no doubt about it, he’s gotta be the real one…”
“Fucking- Salamander!?!?” Zera cursed. “Why the fuck wouldn’t he have spoken up sooner?!” She yelled at Happy who just shrugged, completely non affected.
“Hope you guys are paying attention!” Natsu yelled as he let fire flare to life on his arms that he threw out to his sides. “This is what a Fairy Tail Wizard can do!”
He leapt forward with a yell, dodging Bora’s Red Shower and using his own flames to propel himself into the air. Once at Bora’s level, Natsu swung out in a roundhouse and knocked the imposter through the air. From where she stood on the beach, far below them, Zera couldn’t get a good visual but from the various explosions it was a good guess that Natsu was winning.
The biggest downside was when Natsu and Bora’s attack veered into the town. “Hey IDIOTS! KEEP THE TOWN FOLK OUT OF THIS!” Zera yelled at them but was ignored. She cursed that she was still to low magically to do much, but did what she could with her limited Heavenly Body magic to intercept debris from the fight and usher townsfolk away from the worst of it.
“Fire Dragon Iron Fist!” Natsu finally yelled and Zera knew a finishing attack when she saw one. She groaned as Natsu’s right fist filled with flames and he leapt off the roof and toward Bora, leaving a hole in the roof he had used.
“Ariel I could really use one more Encompass right about now!” Zera yelled and felt more than heard the indignation of all her Arches as she drew on her reserves to power up her seals.
Why are you so Stars Damned stubborn!? Ariel responded but Zera’s resolve was enough that out of Ariel’s seal, a brilliant golden magic circle appeared as Zera charged to be between where NAtsu was flying toward Bora and the town. She hoped that she could at least reduce some of the damage the attack would cause but wasn’t hoping for much as she screamed out her own spell. “Aegis Encompass!” The magic circle pulsed once before a large golden barrier erupted quickly, swirling with magic to stretch between and slightly around the two airborne fighters to contain the backlash.
Natsu’s fist hit true with a devastating impact force that caused sand to go flying around Happy and Zera despite the shield. Bora went flying toward the mountain side and slammed into a church steeple before the Aegis construct could reach it, setting off the bells.
“Holy fuck…” Zera breathed as she dropped to her knees wiping sweat from her eyes, her shield falling now that the immediate danger was over. She was grateful she was able to hold it as long as she did because surely if she hadn’t been there the air blast from the collision would have ripped off all the roofs of there nearby buildings at least!
“That was…totally overboard!” Zera yelled, the coughed again as the magical strain caught up to her. She look at the small fires still smoldering around her and was overjoyed she had already found her bag from the now burning yacht remains. The buildings the the two had destroyed before her shields laid in rubble all around the beach and town.
“Aye, that does always seem to be our problem.” Happy said sadly. Zera just shot him a glare but quickly scrambled to her feet when she heard what sounded like armored covered feet on cobblestones running their way.
“The army?!” She yelled only to yelp when her hand was suddenly grabbed and she was being tugged down the beach.
“Oh fuck! We gotta get out of here!” Natsu yelled, Happy chiming in with his own panicked ‘Aye’ as he flew behind them. Zera quickly got her feet under her and ran with them.
“What the hell? Where do you think you’re taking me asshole!?” She yelled, pulling on his arm to try to get him to stop running.
“Just come on!” He yelled back but was starting to slow and struggle when dark blue magic leached out of her arm to hold her to the ground. He finally stopped and looked back to her with a frown. “You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail didn’t you? So let’s go!”
Natsu clearly didn’t understand the significance of what he just offered her as shock and awe warred in her blood. He had turned to look at her with a goofy grin that revealed his pointed canines she hadn’t paid attention to earlier. Her heart beat in her ears and all sounds disappeared.
This was it.
This was the moment she had been waiting for.
She thought that it would be when she arrived at the Guild’s doors, or when she spoke with the Master, or even when she received her Guild Mark. But no.
This moment, with a still smoking and ash covered man she had just met not even 4 hours ago, was the instant she knew there would be no going back for her again. She was a Mage. A damn powerful one at that. And she had been waiting for this moment her whole life.
The moment she found a place to belong.
She let a matching smile stretch onto her face as she met Natsu’s gaze with a laugh. If this was the kind of adventure she could look forward to when she was an unofficial member, she couldn’t wait to see the terror for Lucifer’s blood pressure she was about to become as a full fledged member of Fairy Tail.
WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THAT ZERAPHINIA GRACE! Lucifer screamed while Ariel and Gabe cackled at his torment. Zera couldn’t help her laughter which quickly caught on to Natsu.
“Alright you flame brained walking disaster. But I have a faster way to get there and it looks like,” She teased glancing toward the clock tower to see they had about 15 minutes to sprint across town and dodge the army to get there, “if we run fast enough we can make it to my- make it to our train to Magnolia.”
Natsu stopped laughing and took on a green tinge that made Zera laugh harder. She stumbled slightly, woozy from being dragged so quickly and her last bout of magic but pushed forward. All they needed to do now was make it to the train and they were home free. Natsu caught up and surpassed her quickly once she had changed their course for the train station, going back to tugging her along as Happy flew above them.
Yes, belonging. It was certainly different, and new. But she had a feeling that what she thought was the last leg of her journey to Fairy Tail had turned into her first steps on a much more thrilling and arduous journey.
And she couldn’t be more excited.
Next stop…Fairy Tail. She thought with a smile as she ran towards her next adventure.