Chapter 9

Erza was again on a train. It had been three days since their completed mission and it was time to go back home. They had stayed for the competition and sampled many treats. Mostly Erza because Archer kept her mask on. The only thing she actually took interest in was any form of milkshake. The day went by too quickly in Erza's opinion.

Now she sat next to a sick Archer who had her head on the window. The color had drained from her face and she had her eyes closed. She seemed to be regulating her breathing. Erza was still wrapping her head around the fact that she had motion sickness. It was explained why, but it felt odd. She was so powerful and yet a ride on the train renders her to a sick mess.

"Will you be alright? "

Archer nodded, not opening her eyes. She really needed to make sure to have her meds the next time around. How could she forget them? Of all the things. She sighed. She had to endure for a few hours. She needed to distract herself so she thought of what she would do when she returned. She planned on going on another mission. There was a pull on her magic and mind. She had to follow it. She would see if she found a mission that would lead her to a town in the direction of the pull. She wondered if Natsu arrived at the guild yet. She was fairly certain things still had to go somewhat as they did in the anime. He would have to stumble onto master at some point. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait too long.

She'll need his help if she's going to hunt down the others. She really had no clue where they were. She could track them, but things would work out faster if two people were in search of them. She needed to find Wendy, but she would be safe. She should run into edo Jellal and travel with him for some time. Archer had no idea what Gajeel or the brothers are going through though. Hopefully they were safe enough.

The train took a sharp turn that sent Archer's stomach rolling and she tipped over. Why? Why did the train have to turn like that?

Erza was surprised when Archer fell limply onto her ŀȧp. It seems she just went with the movement of the train, having no strenght to keep herself upright. She didn't move though. Erza wondered if she was alright.

"Archer? "

Archer didn't really respond. She just took another deep breath and sighed. She adjusted herself so she was more comfortable in her new position. She felt slightly better in her new position. The scent of strawberry was calming and kept her distracted enough for her motion sickness to not be such an antagonist.

"I hope you don't mind me using you at this moment" she said quietly as she closed her eyes and tried to direct most of her focus on the scent of strawberry. There was always something more to a person's scent. Erza's was mainly strawberry, but of course there was something else. A unique scent to her alone. It had a hint of her mother's unique scent to it as well.

Erza didn't say anything simply because she didn't know what to say. Archer seemed a bit better, so she figured lying in her ŀȧp helped. She didn't mind if it was helping her she supposed. She just didn't know what to do with her hands now. They were in her ŀȧp until Archer landed on her. She hesitantly placed a hand on Archer's head. Her hair was soft. Really soft. Impossibly so.

"Archer? "

Said girl hummed in response.

"Are you even human? "

Archer chuckled. She had a feeling Erza was debating whether or not she was or not.

"Who knows?"

"You do"

"Yes I do, don't I? " Archer hummed. "I don't feel like telling"

Erza said nothing. She only stared at the girl. She looked human, but it is shown that dragons can take the form. Archer even said the Phoenix walk amongst them. Taking the form of human .

She'll have to be patient she supposed.

~~~~~~~

Archer sighed once she stepped onto the road of the familair town. Her motion sickness almost immediately evaporated, leaving her relieved. She did a couple of stretches and looked to the sky. Back in magnolia. Time to hunt down another mission. One that was beneficial and in a town placed in the direction she needed to go.

"It's good to be back" she mumbled as she starter her trek through town.

"Do you plan on going on another mission soon? "Erza asked a she fell into step with the silver head.

"Yes" Archer answered and glanced at the redhead next to her. "Do you wish to accompany me? "

Erza nodded. Her mission with Archer went well enough and the other didn't care about knowing too much about her. She didn't even ask what her nightmare was about. Erza appreciated that. Plus she was curious about her and would like to accompany her in her search for her keys and siblings.

"The guild members will be shocked" Archer chuckled. "They informed me that you don't tend to accompany others on missions"

Erza only nodded to the statement. She was not comfortable around others, hence her lone missions. But she was surprisingly comfortable around Archer. There was the still unknown familiarity she felt around her. She was trying to understand why that was.

Soon enough they were standing in front of the guild. Archer had her hands in her pockets and casually kicked the double doors open. The guild was in a frenzy. An obvious brawl was taking place and she dodged the table that flew towards her. She stepped into the guild, glancing around. She didn't see the old master. He must be in his office then.

Erza made her way straight to the bar to order her cake. She was used to the fighting by now and skillfully evaded anything that was headed her way. She spotted Archer moving to stand in front of the request board.

"Welcome back"

"Thanks" Archer nodded without even glancing at the younger Strauss next to her. She was in search of a good mission.

"How'd your mission go?"

"Very well. It was easy enough" Archer said as she pulled a mission sheet off the board. She read it over and nodded to herself. She finally turned to look at the little Strauss. She scratched her under her chin and took amusement in the blissful look she adopted.

"Hey Archer" Levy appeared near them. Archer waved at her and stepped away from Lisanna. "Will you please tell me what magic you use? "

"I use multiple magic, Levy" Archer shrugged. "Where's the master? "

"He left two days ago. He should be back soon"

"Alright" Archer pocketed her chosen mission. She would await him. For all she knew he could be bringing back Natsu. "I guess I'll be sticking around "

As she said that she made her way to a corner of the guild. She stood there, observing for a moment. Wordlessly she pushed the tables present aside. Same went for the chairs. She vacated the area. She was making space for something. No one in the guild except Erza knew what she was up to. Erza wasn't paying Archer as much attention as everyone else.

Archer hummed to herself as she willed an object to appear in the place she secured. Everyone gawked when a piano appeared in the guild. I literal piano. Full sized grand piano. Archer seemed proud of herself as she ran her hand over the ivory keys. She placed a hand on the cover for a moment. When she removed her palm there stood a multicolor guild mark on the black surface of the piano. Archer then proceed to write in the air. Every letter she formed appeared just under the guild mark. She finished the last letter with a flourish and smiled.

"Fairy Tail" she nodded to herself as she pressed a couple of keys.

"You have a literal piano so casually stored away" Gray exasperated.

"Put on a shirt" Archer said without even looking at the boy.

"Can you play that? "Levy asked.

"Of course" Archer nodded and placed herself on the stool in front the piano. She again ran a hand over the keys, a smile behind her mask. She hummed as she started to happily play the fairy tail theme she's so proud of. The thing she loves about the theme is that it can cheer her up anytime. But of course if you manipulate the tunes a bit, you get the sad version. It always made her cry. She didn't think about that. Instead she played the cheery upbeat tune she's familiar with. She was humming it to herself as well

Everyone in the guild was mesmerized. They again learned something new about the weird kid. She could play the piano. She had a talent for it, that's for sure. Her melody was nice to listen to. Cheerful. For some reason they found that it suited the guild perfectly. They were all smiling as they swayed to the tune.

Erza knew she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was when Archer started to play the piano,but she was. She found herself staring as the ten year old easily manipulated the keys. There was look in her eyes as she played. She seemed happy and nostalgic. The tune must really mean something to her.

Archer had a smile hidden under her mask as she played the familiar melody. She couldn't help the emotions that bubbled up within. She could remember the days she spent watching the anime. She went through a lot with Fairy Tail. She laughed with them. She cried. She had fun. There were times where she was angry along with them. It was fun, feeling as if you really are apart of the guild. At the same time it was a bit sad because she knew she could never have such friendships in her world. Not in her life. Not ever. Fairy tail was always the place she went to on her bad days. It may sound childish to others and it most likely did. People don't tend to like the anime for reasons.

It makes no sense. The fight scenes suck. The show was retconned. No one ever stays dead. Everyone always gets some boost out of nowhere because of the power of friendship. It was a total ripoff of One Piece.

Archer could care less about those words. She looked past all that. The show had it flaws, that's true. Nothing's perfect. What mattered to her was what Fairy Tail represented. The friendships. Family. The bonds they share. That is what makes them Fairy Tail. That is what makes them strong. Their emotions. Magic is based off of emotions after all, so looking at it in a different angle, it makes sense.

She remembered the debate over who the true main character was. Natsu or Lucy? In her opinion it was neither of them, yet it was both of them. The main character were Natsu. Lucy. Gray. Erza. Happy. Wendy. Juvia. Gajeel. Mira. Elfman. Makarov. Levy. The main characters were the members of the guild. The guild itself. She wondered why no one took the time to understand that.

She remembered all the times she wished she could be in the world of magic. To be there with the ones she followed. To be a part of Fairy Tail. It would never be her reality. She had accepted that.

Little did she know back then, huh?

Look at her now. Playing the Fairy Tail theme in the guild itself. The impossible became possible and she couldn't be happier. She could go on adventures with the people she admired so much. She'd experience it all again. But this time she would be there.

She was a true member of the guild.

She will forever be proud of that.

The song came to end and her hands rested motionlessly on the keys. She was still humming to herself as she let the foreign silence take over her being. She was very tranquil at that moment.

"Whoo! "

Archer looked up from the keys when the guild bursted out cheering. She blinked. The silence was gone and the guild was as loud as ever. She snickered and laughed out loud.

For some reason the guild was shocked to hear her laugh. She would chuckle. Snicker. But she never really laughed. It made them smile to see that despite the air she let off she was still a child. She did experience emotions like the rest of them. She was like them in her own way.

"Encore! "Wakaba shouted. "Grace us with more of your music, mysterious Archer! "

"Yeah, play again" Levy encouraged from her corner. She was really enjoying her music. It was relaxing, but exciting. It was so many emotions in one. It was like Archer was projecting her own emotions through the song. It was nice.

"You're not half bad newbie " Cana commented and drew one of her cards. Archer's fortune will forever interest her.

Archer chuckled and looked back to her piano.

"Sure, I suppose I can play a bit more"

Archer returned to the keys and effortlessly began to play Snow Fairy. The first song of Fairy Tail she had heard. She fell in love immediately. She never once skipped an opening. Their songs were amazing. She actually memorized the lyrics. In all honesty she learned Japanese only to start watching the show without the pesky subtitles. They distracted her from all the action.

"Fairy, where are you going

hikari zenbu atsumete

kimi no ashita terasu yo"

Again the guild was shocked.

"Holy crap she can sing"

Her voice was beautiful. No one could take their eyes off her as she let herself fall into the music. They just learned something major didn't they? Archer loves music. They could tell by the way she plays. The way she sings. They couldn't see it but they knew she was smiling under that mask. Those red eyes were full of emotions. Emotions she was projecting through her music.

Archer was more human than they originally thought.

~~~~~~

Archer was quiet as her guild members asked her questions. She was patient with them, letting each ask a question. She answered none yet though. She caught Erza's eyes once, when she glanced at the bar. The girl was watching and Archer understood that she was asking if she needed help. Erza was somewhat concerned and Archer was happy her mask hid the big smile she adopted at the realization.

The questions stopped and her attention was back on her guild mates. She sighed

"I can play any instrument given to me, but my preffered instrument are the piano, guitar and drums. I can also play a launchpad. "

She explained. That answered three questions immediately. "The songs do mean something to me, but that is about all I'm telling you. "

Archer stuffed her hands in her pockets and made it clear that she was answering no more questions.

The guild knew better than to push. They got more than expected.

As Archer made to join Erza at the bar the guild doors were pushed open. She stopped to see who would be stepping in and met Makarov and a familair boy following behind him. She smiled.

The boy looked up and saw her immediately. He brightened upon seeing her. Onyx eyes bright with joy.

"Archer! "

Archer didn't move as Natsu tackled her in a strong hug. She stayed on her feet and easily took the boy's weight. He was laughing as he hugged her. She sighed. Arms and legs were wrapped around her.

"Where were you?! What happened?! Where're Igneel and the others?! "

"Natsu you're yelling in my ear" Archer said calmly and carefully got the boy off her. She ruffled his hair as she did. "It's a long story"

Natsu tilted his head in question.