Chapitre 12: Welcome to Fairy Tail

When we finally catch up to Erza and Natsu, as they were standing by a gate that was in front of this big 3 story building that had a look of a small castle. (Going with the fairy tale theme it seems.) On an arch above the gate were giant letters spelling out Fairy Tail. (Ohhh, so its tail as in an actual tail, not a story tale.)

"Thank you for bringing my luggage you three. I would have retrieved it later." says gratefully Erza.

"Well, I didn't want risk anything getting stolen." I tell her truthfully. She nods and then turns to open the gate. Walking up to the front of the building, I start feeling a bit nervous. (What is this place like? Will they accept me as easily as these guys? What if I'm not allowed to stay with them.) The thought that I might be kept away from my new family, causes fear to clutch at my heart. They enter the guild without a second thought as I stand outside those saloon doors.

I hear cheering and welcoming shouts from those inside. I take deep breaths to try to calm my rapidly beating heart. One of the doors swings open towards me and I step back to not get hit. Natsu is standing in the doorway, looking at me with a curious expression. I smile at him and already I start calming down a bit.

"What are you doing just standing out here? Come on, everyone is waiting for you." he says with a big grin before grabbing my wrist to drag me inside. As I'm pulled in, I'm greeted by the sight of what looks like a large tavern with tables and benches strewn about. Looking a bit empty, there are a few guys and fewer girls inside. I see Erza and the rest standing before a young, lovely, white-haired girl.

(Is this the Master?) I hear whispers starting up within the guildhall as I'm brought up toward the others all the while still being dragged by Natsu. Looking around shows me that the people inside are mainly staring right at me. Becoming extremely nervous, I give them a small smile and a wave.

"Where is the Master?!" shouts out Erza, which causes me to almost jump out of my skin. That is the loudest I ever heard her speak since we met. (Well, that answers that question.) An older gentleman with dark, slicked back hair and a giant metal S necklace steps up to answer.

"He had some kind of council something-or-other meeting, or whatever…He's been gone since yesterday." he answers in a bored fashion. All my friends but Erza release a sigh of relief from hearing that.

Natsu cries out joyfully with a big grin, "We're safe for now!"

"All right! None of that until gramps gets back!" adds a pumped up Gray. Happy jumps off the ground with tears of joy running down his face.

"Thank goodness! We can put off staring into the gates of hell for a while longer!" he shouts out joyfully.

Lucy starts pulling at her hair in fright, "Tell me what it is already! I wanna know so bad! It's freaking me out! It's even scarier when I don't know what it is!" she demands.

"Be quiet!" Erza yells in an irritated bark, back to the others without looking behind her. Frightened, the entire group jumps to huddle behind me which completely catches me off guard.

"What the…!?" I exclaim in surprise as I turn my head to look at the shivering forms right behind me. (So now I'm being used as a shield?)

Still in a stern voice, but with a lower volume, Erza continues with her questioning, "When will the Master return?"

The white haired girl gives Erza a worried look before she answers with, "It shouldn't be long now…" With a quick spin, Erza turns to address the huddled mass behind me.

"When the Master returns, I will immediately ask for his decision. Going on an S-class quest without permission is against the rules, period. Be prepared for the consequences." she says with finality. This causes them to become even more scared. Next thing I know, multiple arms are wrapped around my waist causing me to yelp in shock and everyone is shaking madly.

"And what consequences should I be prepared for, exactly!?" wails out a terrified blonde. I look down at their shaking bodies, and a wave of protectiveness takes over. (I'll help them through this, one way or another.) Finalizing my decision before I second guess myself, I look over into the hard eyes of Erza and lock gazes with her.

Standing as tall as I can, I firmly tell her in an unwavering voice, "Then include me in their punishment as well." The trembling behind me stops as I continue speaking. "They were not here to receive their punishment for breaking the rules as soon as they should have because of me. I am not asking for any leniency for them or for you to defend them. I simply wish to join them in their punishment." At this, silence sweeps through the tavern.

"What are you doing?" a voice from behind me questions in a whisper. Erza shakes her head in disagreement.

"No. I cannot allow you to join them since you are not a member of Fairy Tail and also have broken no rules." she says coolly.

Not breaking eye contact, I answer with familiar words, "They are my friends now. My family. Their happiness is my happiness. Their sadness is my sadness. Their punishment will be my punishment. For they are my family now, and I will stick with them through it all. So I insist in taking it with them." I rest my hands on the arms around my waist, and I stand my ground.

(I don't know why I feel so strongly protective of these people that I barely know, but I will help them through this. Whatever it will be. For even though I known them for less than two days, they feel as much of a part of my family as my parents do.) Feeling my determination rise, I silently challenge Erza to try to stop me. I didn't hear anyone even breathe as we had our contest of wills.

For over a minute, silence reigns over the guild. Finally, she closes her eyes and ducks her head in acquiesce. Loud sounds of people letting out their breath fill the room.

"If you insist then I have no choice but to have the Master punish you as well." she says with a smile on her face and a gleam of what I think might be respect in her eyes.

I nod my head in thanks to her before replying, "That is all I ask." Next thing I know, there are hands on my shoulders that start shaking me like crazy.

My head gets whipped back and forth from the violent motion and a voice yells at me, "What are you thinking!? Do you not know how bad this is!? Why would you do such a thing!?" Taking a step back to get away from the voice shouting in front of me. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my mind. Someone shouts something about being a man that makes no sense to me so I ignore it for the time being. Coming back to my senses reveals a fuming Natsu standing in front of me.

"What do you mean 'Why would you do such a thing'? We're family now, remember? I can't let my family go through this hardship alone. I'm going to be there with you every step along the way." I tell him matter-of-factly. He gives me an indescribable look when he sees that I am completely serious about what I said. I'm engulfed by hugs on either side of me which turn out to be Happy and Lucy. I look at them and smile before wrapping my arms around the two at my sides. I give Natsu a proud look as I turn my gaze back towards him.

He gives me a long look before replying with a happy grin, "You have no idea what you're in for."

I nod my head in agreement and add, "But I will be with my family, and that is all that matters." He puts his hands behind his head and grins even wider which causes me to smile happily as well. I start to blush some from his warm gaze, but I don't break eye contact until a small cough catches our attention.

Its the white haired girl before and she has an odd gleam in her eye before she politely asks, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

Still smiling, I introduce myself, "I'm Krystina Skye VanHawkins, you can call me Krysti. I'm hoping to become the newest member of Fairy Tail."

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After being introduced to everyone present in the guild, the lovely white-haired girl, who was introduced as Mirajane, gets everyone to settle down. Gray, Lucy, Natsu and Happy go towards a table in the middle of the hall to sit down. Krysti follows with Erza and Mirajane close behind. Taking a seat near Natsu, the brunette grimaces while trying to hold back a hiss. Worried, the kind-hearted Mirajane goes to check on the newest applicant.

"What's wrong, Krysti? Are you hurt?" Mirajane asks softly.

Krysti just waves it off, "Its nothing really. No shoes and stone roads don't mix."

"What happened to your shoes?" Mirajane asks in a wondering tone. The other woman gets an odd look to her face.

"Well, it's a bit of a weird situation…" she trails off. Silent, Mirajane only nods in encouragement. Taking a breath, the brunette continues, "To put it bluntly, I'm from another world. How I got here, I don't know. I was asleep when it happened so I didn't have any shoes on." At this, Mirajane only blinks.

"It sounds crazy, but we believe it is true." chimes in Lucy.

Natsu nods before adding, "Yea. She had this really weird smell on her that just didn't belong. We went to check it out and we found her on the ground unconscious."

"So that's how you found me in those woods. I was wondering." Krysti says. She frowns in thought before asking, "Weird smell you say?"

"Very weird. It was irritating and strong. It wasn't natural." he confirms while nodding his head vigorously.

"Natsu thought you were a demon." adds in Happy while raising his paw in the air.

"Huh, it might have been from the bleach when I was cleaning the kitchen." she says thoughtfully, ignoring the cat's jab.

"What is bleach?" asks Erza.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the large woman replies, "Oh it's a cleaning chemical used as disinfectant, and stain remover. It does have a very harsh and irritating smell if it is concentrated too much. Its toxic in large amounts so you have to be very careful in handling it."

Natsu wrinkles his nose before asking, "Is that more of your science stuff from your world?"

Brightening up, Krysti flashes him a smile before answering, "Yes, it is in fact."

"Science?" mummers Mirajane quizzically.

"There is no magic in the world I'm from, so we developed this thing called science. In its most simple definition, Science is the study of everything." Krysti says as if it was perfectly natural to be discussing different aspects of another world. Mirajane nods her head in understanding while choosing to ignore the bombshell that the woman in front of her is a being from a different world.

"The study of everything. That sounds like it is complicated and very time consuming." she states.

"Oh, it is." starts off Krysti, warming up into one of her favorite subjects. "But to help make it less confusing, we break down the studies into branches. The scientists, those are what we call the people who are doing the studying, they first choose something they are interested in. It could be anything from a certain plant, a grain of sand, a particular fish, the way a storm works, how fast the sun and moon travel in the sky, the way business works, how our muscles work in our bodies, even why people react the way they do." She stops to take a breath before continuing the explanation excitedly.

"If you have a question about anything, we use science to find the answer. And if it turns out the answer is wrong, we try again until we find the right answer. If later on the answer we thought was right turns out to be wrong, we will look again until we find the right answer."

"Everything about science is based on fact. We go through trial and error, time and time again until we can say things with certainty. Many mistakes have been made. Many people have even lost their lives in the pursuit of science. But we still press on. It is the basis of our culture and understanding of the world. Without science we would still be living in tiny villages living in fear of everything and thinking that each time a storm comes along it must be some god that was angry. And we have to sacrifice a virgin girl to appease them." She ends in a passionate rush.

During her speech, her eyes gained a fire to them and a smile grew on her face without her realizing it. She was blushing and extremely animated. As her friends all watch, they recognize that look in her eyes. It was the same look on her face when she was talking to Natsu about dragons.

"Wow Krysti," starts off Lucy, "You must really love this science stuff." Still in the grasp of one of her great passions, she nods quickly while still smiling widely.

"Oh yes! I love science so much! I just love to learn new things, so I'm always looking up different sciences to learn more about it. Learning something new about my world, or about me is so interesting! One of my favorites is called Biology, which is short for the science of life. I can lose myself for hours just learning about how living things work."

"You must be very smart to always be learning this new stuff." says Gray while looking clearly impressed. At this, Krysti waves it off, the blush growing as she looks down in embarrassment.

"No, I'm not that smart actually. There are tons of people much smarter than I am. I just have a passion to learn." she replies bashfully.

Erza looks down at her newest member of the family and says warmly, "Well, I'm glad that you have something in your life that you're passionate about. It gives you a more fulfilling life to have things you care about."

Looking up at Erza, Krysti closes her eyes and says cheerfully, "Thank you Erza, it has made my life better after I discovered my love for it. That's why I decided that while I am in this world, I want to use science to learn all magic." Silence meets her statement, and confused, Krysti opens her eyes to see why. Looks of surprise are on every face. The smile leaves her face and concern replaces it.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" she asks cautiously.

Shaking out of her stupor, Erza explains, "No. No, you didn't say anything wrong. Its just, that's a giant undertaking. Most people spend their whole lives mastering the one magic that drives them the most. While some may have one or two minor magics to go along with their main, it takes extreme mental fortitude to master more than one magic. Not many wizards are able to do that. And even more so for just three magics. To learn all magic has never been done before."

"Oh." says Krysti before she looks down in thought. A few seconds later her head pops up with her widest grin as she says with determination, "Well then, I guess that just means I have to try really hard then!"

Erza clamps a hand down on Krysti's shoulder and says, "That is a wonderful goal to try for. And as your family, we will help you every step of the way."

Cheers of agreement erupt from the table before Erza continues, "It will be a long and hard road you're going to travel down, so be sure of your convictions." Krysti just nods and smiles as another round of cheers sounds off from her new family in encouragement. As she looks around, her smile falls off slowly as her thoughts turn inwards. Being the first one to notice, Gray catches the other's attention with a quick shush and the cheering abruptly stops.

"Hey Krysti, what's wrong?" he asks worriedly.

Broken out of her thoughts she says in a low voice, "Actually, I was thinking about what am I going to do."

"What do you mean? You just said you're going to use science to learn all magic!" exclaims Natsu.

"She is very forgetful, isn't she?" Happy declares to no one in particular.

Krysti shakes her head before clarifying, "No, I mean for support. I don't have any way to pay for food, clothes, and other necessities. I don't have anywhere to live, or any way of making money that I know of. That and I don't want to have to rely on charity the whole time I am here."

"Well that's easy, you can come with us for missions and we can share the rewards with you. That way you can have the money you need and not rely on our charity." says Natsu firmly.

"And you can live with us, we have plenty of room!" says Happy in a cheerful manner with Natsu agreeing close behind. Lucy gives the blue cat a shocked look, but doesn't say anything.

"No, it wouldn't be right for a woman just at marriageable age to live with a guy alone." Erza tells the blue cat in reprimand. Without warning, laughter bubbles up from the brunette in question.

"How old do you, hehe, think I am Erza? Hahaha" Krysti asks between her laughter.

"You would have to be around 16, maybe 17." she says without hesitation.

"Oh gods, it's the same over here isn't it?" she says, getting her laughter under control. "I'm sorry Erza, but you're wrong. I'm not 16. I'm 27." she ends with a grin and a twinkle in her eye. Shocked silence descends upon the group, then the table erupts in shock at the news. Her grin widens at the expected reactions. She waits for everyone around the table to calm down somewhat before she turns to look at Natsu and Happy.

"Are you two sure that it wouldn't be a problem to let me stay at least until I can get my feet under me?" she asks, wanting to make sure they are okay with this offer.

Still grinning happily, Natsu confirms it, "Of course not! It would be fun to have a roommate!" he ends with a laugh. Krysti then turns to look at Erza who looks disapproving at the current state of events.

"Is there some sort of cultural taboo that a guy and a girl can't live in the same place?" she asks the red-head.

"Not taboo per say… but it is looked down upon…" Erza starts off with a frown before Mirajane puts out a hand to stop her.

With a distinctly odd gleam in her eye she says, "It's ok Erza. I'm sure nothing is going to happen. After all this is Natsu we are talking about." The dragon slayer in question doesn't hear this since he has already left the table to go to the request board at the other side of the guild hall to look at the available missions. Gray soon follows with Happy close behind.

Looking reassured, Erza smiles a little before replying, "True. Since this is Natsu we are talking about, it should be ok." At this point the large brunette straightens up in sudden realization before turning to Mirajane.

"Oh Mirajane, by any chance do you have any ginger roots on hand?" she inquires. Looking surprised Mirajane can only nod. Becoming curious about what the boys are doing, Lucy also goes to the request board. Looking over, Erza sees where her charges have gone, and heads after them in a stiff march. This leaves Mirajane and Krysti alone.

Not paying attention to the others, Krysti explains her reason for asking, "Well, while traveling to get here, I found out that Natsu gets extreme motion sickness. The poor guy. So I want to help him out. I know this herbal remedy of using ginger, honey, and lemons that should help out. If it doesn't cure, then it should at least weaken the effects. I want to start making him some today to see if it works or not."

Mirajane claps her hands together in happiness. "Oh that's wonderful to hear! Motion sickness has been plaguing him for years, and we didn't know anything we can do about it!" she gushes out in joy.

"So I recently found out." Krysti growls out as her expression darkens.

"Eh?" asks Mirajane in confusion.

"I found out yesterday from Erza, that no one except for her, has tried anything to make him feel better. And all she did was punch him in the stomach to knock him unconscious! According to them, no one has even tried asking around to see if there was a cure!" she says heatedly.

"My, you really do seem to care about Natsu's well-being, don't you?" says Mirajane, a little taken aback at the anger in the brunette's eyes.

"Yes, I care. I hate seeing people in pain or misery and it riles me up when I find out that no one would even try to comfort them. And now that I consider him as family, even more so!" Krysti says, some of her earlier anger at his mistreatment showing through.

"And what if it was Gray, or Erza?" Mirajane asks, trying to probe how far the brunette's feelings go.

"It's the same for them." came the reply without any hesitation. Before Mirajane could probe any deeper, an odd glow fills the room. Startled, both girls look around to find that the glow is coming from the table where Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray are at.

Macao, who turns out to be the guy with slicked back, dark hair from earlier, walks towards the table with the odd rainbow-like glow while asking, "What's this?" Beside him is his longtime friend and rival, Wakaba.

"So, some people get so terrified of punishment, they'll sprout rainbows?" asks Wakaba in confusion.

Turning to his friend with the large pompadour, Macao answers, "No, I don't think that's it…" The glow dies down a minute later, leaving the guys around the table dazed.

"Groggy…" says someone quietly.

"I'm cold!" yells out Gray as he starts shivering violently to warm up.

Elfman, the larger, burlier, younger brother of Mirajane questions, "Why's an ice-user cold?"

Gray's teeth start chattering as he exclaims, "What the heck? My whole body is way too cold!" Most of the guild, who has now gathered near the others, are all surprised by Gray's statements.

Jerking in sudden realization, Lucy exclaims, "Something…friggin' heavy! My chest area is like really, really heavy!" in a lower voice than normal, she leans over the table and puts a hand on her back before complaining, "My back is killing me…

In the crowd someone asks, "Are you ok, Lucy? Your voice is lower than normal…"

Gray looks over while still shivering and says in a confused tone, "That's not… AHHHH!"

Suddenly an orange haired guy with glasses pops up off of the ground from the other side of the table and asks, "Oh? Why was I on the ground?" In response, Natsu's entire demeanor changes, he touches his nose like he is adjusting glasses and gets a sultry look on his face. You can almost see the sparkles around him.

"And wait… why am I standing?" he asks in a soft tone never heard from him before as he looks around in a puzzled manner. When he sees that he is standing by Lucy, he jumps back and screams in fear before running away like he is being chased by a demon.

Looking angry, Lucy raises her fist and takes a step in his direction before shouting, "Hey Natsu! Why did you run away when you saw my face?" She then pauses, looks confused and asks more to herself, "What's with my voice?"

Looking stunned, Macao puts a hand behind his head while saying, "T-they're acting different from normal…"

"What in the world is all this ruckus?" demands Happy in a very stern tone while staring firmly at the other guild members.

In a little kid like voice, Erza calls out, "Natsu, check it out! Wait, who's Natsu?" she starts looking around confused.

The orange-haired guy answers while looking irritated, "Huh? What? And man, why's it so dark in here?"

In the same child-like voice, Erza says, "I got two neato boobs stuck to my chest! Look! Look!" At this, she grabs her breasts and starts squeezing them to show them off, much to the enjoyment of most of the male members of the guild.

Looking scandalized, Happy goes for a high-flying kick while shouting, "Cease that!" Erza quickly Requips into her normal armor just before thr attack connects. When he makes contact with the armor, he collapses from the pain.

Erza just says, "That didn't hurt much." She and the oddly acting people surround a crestfallen Happy.

To himself, Happy mutters, "What is the reason for this cat form? Wait…I truly am a cat! I don't remember requiping this!" Cana, the heavy drinking, bikini top wearing beautiful brunette, complains from a nearby table at how she can't drink in peace while a young boy next to her exclaims at how he thinks magic is cool. Chaos starts to reign as the 5 magic users freak out over their situation. Krysti and the rest of the guild could only watch in stunned disbelief as their friends seem to be losing their minds.

In an attempt to regain control, Happy yells out in obvious frustration, "Haven't you realized it yet? Our minds and bodies have … switched places!" One second later, the other 4 start yelling out of shock.