Rave Master Fan Fiction ❯ Upon a Shooting Star ❯ Chapter 11: Hero's Welcome ( Chapter 11 )

Author’s Corner:
SSD: Ugh…late start on the chapter, but I will uphold my promise.Lucy: *nods* Good. Now get to work, you were tied up all day and need to make up lost time.SSD: Sheesh, woman, I worked hard today, cut me a bit of slack…besides, you head back to the Guild in this chapter.Lucy: Well, of course. We need to record the mission with Master so we don’t get in trouble. SSD: Yeah, well…Karen’s in trouble also.Lucy: You have no idea how much I physically wanted to punch her…why didn’t you let me?SSD: I did initially have a fight scene planned with Karen…then I realized that she never carried a weapon, since she just used her spirits as shields and to attack. It was going to be you and Cancer up against her, resulting in a new fashion statement for her. Leo would’ve been fighting Scorpio and Aquarius.Lucy: And you couldn’t have just given her a weapon?SSD: Since she was hired help, I felt it necessary for a shorter scene. The real fight was with Lady Junelle, if you remember.Lucy: I guess…oh no! Look at the time! Silverserpentdragon doesn’t own Fairy Tail, so please don’t steal her characters without asking first!SSD: Crap! Uh…onward!USSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUS S

Chapter 11: Hero’s Welcome

Allison woke bright and early, blinking as her hand clutched around Roger’s key. She looked down with blank eyes, slowly lightening as something within her seemed to “click”. “Shape identified…registered…mould set. Integrate format…” A magic circle briefly flared below her before winking out. Allison shook her head, coming to her senses with confusion. She then gasped. “Lucy-nee is coming!” The little girl rushed around to get ready and ran down the stairs. She tripped on her skirt and teetered on the edge of a step before she fell the rest of the way with a yelp. The blonde girl sniffled a bit before getting up and running to the front door. She frowned in confusion as she heard raised voices and closed her eyes. [That’s Lucy-nee and her friends…] She continued on into the entrance hall, peering in and frowned when she saw a group of her papa’s guards blocking the door. She clutched Roger’s key tighter for a boost of confidence before stepping forward. “Lucy-nee?”Lucy scowled at the guard, arms crossing under her budding breasts. She still didn’t look very well with dark bags under her eyes. “I promised Allison that I’d teach her how to summon Roger, and you’re going to let me in. Don’t you dare make me repeat myself.”The guard that was primarily blocking the way glared down at her. “You and your rabble caused enough mischief last night. Go back home before we arrest you for trespassing.”Natsu growled. “So you’re going to condemn Allison to loneliness, is that it! Let us through!”Lucy blinked, catching Allison’s quiet question. “Allison! I’m here to keep my promise.” She smiled, bending awkwardly to peer around the guards blocking her view of the girl.Allison ran forward and gave a cry as one of them picked her up.“Take the young miss back to her room. We’ll call one of her playmates to entertain her.”The girl struggled and kicked her feet uselessly. “No! I want to learn from Lucy-nee! She gave me my real friend so let me go!” She fitfully pounded on the guard’s back as he shouldered her. She turned teary eyes to Lucy.Lucy jumped up. “Allison! Remember what I’m gonna say! ‘I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits, I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the Gate! Open, Gate of the Rabbit, Lepus!’” She huffed as she glared at the guard that kept her from the girl.Allison closed her eyes, gripping Roger’s key as she muttered Lucy’s words to her. “Open, Roger!” Her magic flared around her as the spirit emerged in his Wolpertinger form, sensing Allison’s distress. He growled and lunged at the guard holding her, biting his arm. The guard yelled in pain and flailed, Allison slipping from his hold. The curled inward, expecting the ground, but blinked as she met soft fur instead. She looked up and blinked. “Roger?”Roger gave a soft growl in response and set her down. He then yipped in pain as a sword struck his side.Lucy and Allison both cried out him. The one responsible sneered at the fading spirit. “Begone, beast.”Allison puffed up angrily and stormed over. She pulled back her dainty foot and swung upward, nailing him in the knee. “You jerk! Roger is my friend, not a beast!”Lucy glowered at the guards. “Don’t you insult our spirits! The beasts here are you creeps!”The main guard glowered at Lucy and pushed her back into the others. “Go home, you passed on your message.”Erza and Lisanna both glared, catching Lucy. “Jerk.”Cana snorted. “You’d think they want her growing up isolated from magic.”The guard bristled. “While the Lord and Lady are out, the Young Master is in charge. He gave instructions to not allow you on the property. You’ve been here long enough, now leave.”Lucy steadied herself and looked over where Allison was crying where Roger was hurt. “Allison, I’ll ask one of spirits to check on him, just give him a day or two to rest and he’ll be alright, okay?”Allison sniffled and wiped away her tears, nodding. “O-okay, Lu-Lucy-nee…” She put up a brief fuss as she was picked up again and carried upstairs.Natsu glared at the guard. “You better treat her right. No little girl should cry like that.”Gray nodded, matching Natsu’s look…and shirtless. “That’s right. You better make sure she stays happy or we’ll be back, Fairy Tail would be more than happy to take her in.” Erza placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Settle down, we need to get the rest of our stuff from the Konzern and then catch the train back home.”Kalia nodded. “I-I h-hope A-Allison w-will be a-alright…”Cana grinned. “She’s got Roger looking out for her, she’ll be fine once he’s back.”Lucy nodded and then sent a dark glare at the guards. “Although if I hear you attacked him like that again…I will personally see this place turned to rubble when we retrieve Allison to take to a real home.” Her eyes glinted threateningly, mirrored both by Lisanna and Erza and caused the guards to pale. The blonde turned on her heel and continued with her friends back to the Konzern.Several train rides and a severely ill Natsu later, the group finally made it to the guild. Cana and Natsu both burst open the doors. “We’re back!”“Welcome home!” The guild chorused back, raising cups and mugs up in a toast.Natsu grinned. “It was so awesome! Luce was freaking badass!”Lucy blushed. “Natsu! It wasn’t…that is…eh…”Cana looped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Luce, you had four Zodiacs out at once! That’s a real feat!”Kalia nodded. “A-and you t-took out t-two h-high level m-mage on y-your own.”Gray smirked. “And fought on your own against one of those Mythos spirits and a Zodiac.”Lucy blushed as the guild’s full attention started focusing on her. “When you say things like that…”Lisanna laughed a bit. “It sounds like you’re becoming a heroine!”Azule leaned on her bar. “A heroine, Lucy? Sounds like you’re putting all our training to good use, and you finally got your own whip.”Lucy fingered her whip. “Well…Erza got it for me.”Macao leaned back in his seat. “Come on up, Lucy! Tell us the whole story, guys.”Wakaba puffed on his pipe. “No kidding, sounds like a real tale.”Makarov tucked his legs underneath him as he sat on the table. “Indeed, child, you had an interesting trip.”Lucy blushed as she was herded to the center of the hall.Erza smiled at her reassuringly. “You can recite what happened against Lady Junelle, since we were not witness to it.”Lucy nodded and jumped as Natsu loudly started telling how Lucy got pissed at Carrie Lilac (“Her name was Karen Lilica.”) which startled Ambryn and set the normally cheerful man scowling. Cana but in on how “the bitch practically shit herself when Luce pulled out not one, not two, but THREE fricking spirits on her and all Zodiacs!”The ears of Fairy Tail all perked up in curiosity, rooted to the telling. Makarov gripped his staff so tight he almost snapped it at the mention of the Gem of Obedience.Up on the second floor, Laxus cracked open an eye, glancing over. “Tch, what are they fawning over now?”Freed tilts his head. “It appears Miss Heartfilia had an exciting trip, fighting two other Celestial Mages and winning, thus claiming their keys.”Laxus’ eyebrow rose. “Blondie…holding her own in a fight? I don’t see that happening.”Bickslow shrugged. “Sunshine don’t seem the type, no.”Evergreen narrowed her eyes. “Yes, but I did hear rumor that Lady Junelle was one of the rare ones who could use two spirits at once.” She sniffed. “One of them is a copycat of my own Stone Eyes.”Laxus blinked, starting to look slightly impressed. “Hm…Freed, do some research. Let’s see if Blondie and her groupies are really telling the truth.”Freed nodded. “Of course, Laxus-sama. But…Laxus-sama…something about that tale does sound off.”Laxus sighed. “What?”Freed looked at him seriously. “The fight with Taurus…Heartfilia claims she set her whip aside and convinced him to break the hold Junelle had over him. That does not happen. The Gem of Obedience is just that, it demands absolute obedience from the one it is being used on. There are several varieties, and it sounds as if this one was specifically for spirits. Taurus should not have been able to break free.”Laxus narrowed his eyes. “So…either the Gem was a fake, or…”Bickslow tilted his head. “Or Sunshine fed him mushy rainbow-and-gumdrops magic?”Laxus twitched. “…I was going to say Blondie used her magic to override the Gem’s power.”“Eh, same difference.”Evergreen rolled her eyes and then huffed. “Please tell me you aren’t going soft on her, Laxus.”Laxus snorted. “Of course not…but she may have a future in MY Fairy Tail.” He glowered slightly, glaring at the pleased form of Makarov. “I still owe her for that kick the other day, too.” He blinked and a devious smirk spread across his lips. “I think I know just how to get back at her, too.” He gestured the other three close and started outlining his plan.Bickslow started laughing in hysterics while Freed and Evergreen stared at him in horror.“Laxus-“ “Laxus-sama-““Are you crazy?!”Laxus smirked. “It’s perfect. And we can see her “heroic” abilities first hand.”“But…the Master surely wouldn’t approve.”Laxus snorted. “The old man doesn’t have a say. He’ll have to deal with it.”“…if you say so, Laxus.”Bickslow snorted as he calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye. “Ah…I needed that. Sure, we tell Sunshine in the morning?”Laxus smirked. “At least one of you agrees with me. Yeah, Bicks, in the morning.”Back downstairs, Makarov patted Lucy on the arm after hopping over to her table. “You did very well, Lucy. You protected your nakama to the best of your abilities and stood up for what you believe in. I believe this calls for a special occasion…Azule! Round of drinks for everyone!”Azule nodded as the guild cheered and set about opening another cask.Cana whooped for joy and then blinked as a giant finger pointed at her and the other teens under 15. “Soda for the kids, of course.” He smiled cheekily at them.Cana groaned. “Oh, come on! That is so not fair!” The older members laughed at her disappointment.Azule paused in passing out the drinks, Ambryn stopping as well as bells rang throughout the town. The rest of the guild slowed and stopped, standing up as the bells continued.Natsu grinned. “He’s back!”Lucy blinked and looked around in confusion. “Um…who?”Cana paled a bit and backed away, trying to find a corner. Lucy’s eyes widened in realization. [Cana is acting strange…wait…this happened before, in the other timeline. It’s-] “Gildarts?!”The ground started shaking and trembling before it stopped. After several minutes of waiting with bated breath, a figure emerged through the open doors, a sack slung over one shoulder. Lucy glanced to the side and gripped Cana’s arm, stopping her from going anywhere. Cana gave her a slightly betrayed look before it vanished.Natsu grinned and leapt at the figure. “Gildarts! Fight m-!” There was a burst of white light and Natsu went flying into the wall. Makarov nodded to him. “Welcome home, Gildarts.”Gildarts tilted his head and grinned. “I’m back. Hm?” He blinked and looked over the crowd, picking out Lucy. “Huh, we recruited another kid?”Lucy waved and smiled slightly. “I’m Lucy, I joined about a month ago.”Gildarts nodded. “Ah.” He looked over at Cana and smiled gently at her. “Hey, Cana, not gonna say hi?”Cana looked away. “…hi…”Gildarts looked slightly pained, before brushing it off as he walked forward and ruffled the brunette’s hair. “Not so hard, was it?” He looked around more. “So, you guys knew I was coming in advance and started celebrating early?”Gray smirked. “No way, we were celebrating Lucy’s awesome performance on a job she took from her dad.”Erza nodded. “Quite, she performed admirably.”Gildarts blinked. “Ah. How many buildings did you level?” He looked genuinely interested at the Celestial Mage.Lucy flushed and facepalmed, remembering Fairy Tail’s…notorious penchant for destruction. “None.”Gildart’s blinked and stared. “…that is an amazing achievement then.”Makarov laughed. “She may be one of the least troublesome of you brats.”Lucy’s flush deepened and she tried sinking further in her chair. Lisanna nudged her up. “Come on, Lucy. We were all useless during the second fight, you should take pride that you were able to do so well as a rookie.”“Well…”Gildarts blinked. “I think I missed the tale, you’ll have to tell it again because now I’m really curious.” He took a seat beside Cana, the girl shifted to the side slightly to try and keep their distance.Lucy blinked as another brief flash of pain crossed Gildarts’ eyes. […does Gildarts…know? But…how? He didn’t before…] Lucy sighed. “I think I need something to drink before I start again, I already told it once today.”Gildarts smiled. “Not a problem. Hey, Azule, bring on the booze!” Lucy sweatdropped. Azule glared at him and gave Lucy a strawberry soda instead. “No alcohol for minors.” She snapped the serving tray away from Cana, just as the girl was trying to sneak for one of the mugs.She scowled and then blinked as one plopped in front of her. She glanced to the side and saw Gildarts put a finger to his lips and wink while shushing. Cana smiled hesitantly and took the mug, drinking it down and putting it in front of Gildarts again before Azule could catch her.Lucy tried fighting down the “awww” that wanted to escape her. She smiled fondly. [Hopefully Gildarts stays a while so I can convince Cana to tell him. It really does look like he knows, or at least maybe suspects. Cana deserves the chance to have these kind of moments with him before….] She sweatdropped as she remembered how Gildarts acted in her future when they came back from Tenroujima. [Yeah….definitely before that sort of thing gets awkward…] She sipped her soda and then took a breath, smiling as she started her story again, this time from the start instead of Natsu’s “jump to the good parts!” way of storytelling.USSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSSUSS
Author’s Postscript:
SSD: And done…now, I’ll be going to bed and give you guys another chapter…later today. Lucy: I’m still not sure if Gildarts really does know…what did your dice say?SSD: *covers results* You’ll find out later. Now, don’t you have to prepare for something tomorrow?Lucy: Eh? Oh…oh no…what does Laxus have planned…what are you writing?SSD: Absolutely nothing. Just know that you will…have plenty of fun.Lucy: SSD…I’m currently 13 in this, it better not be anything bad.SSD: Of course not, this is still T, after all. At least until about…eh…I’d say close to chapter 24-ish, if I’m calculating story progress right. Maybe longer. Just be patient all, Laxus and Lucy WILL end up together…eventually.Lucy: …just a hint? Please?SSD: No. You’ll find out when everyone else does. I solemnly swear that it is not…no, I can’t say that…I solemnly swear that it does not involve compromising positions.Lucy:….it does, doesn’t it?SSD: I’ll see you all later as I go on a writing frenzy these next few days. Don’t forget to review, and bye!