First story! I always loved Flare as a character and felt like adding to the small collection of stories there are of her. I am changing some things, as it would be pretty boring to do a one-to-one exact copy of Fairy Tail.


Flare had been in Hargeon Town for only five minutes when she came to a great realization. This entire adventure was one huge mistake. The idea of sneaking off to find people who were closer to her height seemed like a fantastic idea at first. Get onto a boat, sail the ocean, find people that were more her height, and perhaps finally make friends that wouldn't accidently crush her.

The sights were amazing. Flags fluttering in every color imaginable, a verifiable forest of poles and masts competing for space on the docks, and the people. The people were everywhere! She saw dockworkers with their unwashed shirts stained with sweat, she saw children running around with their bright eyes, she saw the rich in their flaunting their wealth with their outfits, and every other type of person imaginable. There was one thing that every person had in common. Every single person was short. Not to say that they wasn't anyone taller than Flare, but no one was as tall as the giants that had raised her.

As comforting as that should have been for Flare, it actually terrified her. She knew nothing of this brand new, "smaller" sized world. Flare had finally found people her height. Yet she never felt more alienated than right now. Her loneliness finally arrived in all of its miserable glory. Now finally blessed with hindsight, Flare was hating every second of it.

However, there was no going back. Flare had snuck out of the village and by now her family probably hated her for running away. She had no place to call home besides this strange, alien world. There was only one place to go now. Flare fearfully began her long journey forward one small step at a time. Her eyes were huge and were flying all over the place trying to soak in this strange new world. She pushed what magic energy she had into her blessed hair, preparing a nasty surprise to whatever fool would try to attack her.

The crowd of people soon swallowed her up and Flare Corona became just one more every day person wandering in Hargeon Town. What little did she know of the great adventures that awaited her. Adventures fraught with a great deal of enemies, heartbreak, and tragedy. Adventures that would chase away the loneliness from the crimson-haired beauty and grant her a life full of love, family, and friendship.

#

Lucy was lost. There was no doubt about it. Her first hint was the broken bottles littering the streets and the general shabbiness of the homes that surrounded her. Broken windows and boarded up doors were the only things there to greet her eyes. Her second tip were the people. Almost everyone walked with a purpose with their head down. Those few who did loiter around, their eyes promised nothing but trouble. The biggest tip off of all that she was in the wrong area, was the fact that there was not a cake shop to her immediate right. No, the Pirate's Treasure, the most famed cake shop in all of Hargeon wasn't there. Just more broken homes with their sad boarded-up windows were there.

"This sucks," Lucy whined to herself. She had been hoping to end the day with a sweet desert. A nice reward for taking a big step toward accomplishing her dream of becoming a wizard. But it looked like that wasn't happening today, as the sun began its slow crawl into the ground. The setting rays of the sun casting deep shadows that seemed to make the neighborhood even more sinister.

Should start going back, definitely don't want to be stuck here when it gets too dark, Lucy thought to herself as she began the trek back into a nicer neighborhood. One without the creepy houses, murder hobos, and cannibal pedophiles that hid in every corner of these areas. Or at least that is what the newspapers Lucy would read back at home would claim. Lucy wasn't totally helpless though. She had her trusty whip with her. Ignoring the fact that it seemed to always bring creeps that would ask what her price was, whatever that meant though she was scared to find out, it had not failed her yet. Lucy also had her keys on her. She could take on any threat! Lucy walked with a confident spring in her step. She wouldn't be scared of any foe, in fact she welcomed them! She would prove herself to be a great Celestial Mage right here and become welcomed in any guild. Lucy was lost in her fantasies of joining one of Fiore's top guilds when a piercing scream interrupted her daydream.

Reality came crashing back to Lucy. What was she thinking? Lucy could only use two, maybe three on a really lucky day before she was drained of energy. Her whip may have also never failed her, but that was because she never had the chance to test it yet! Lucy turned around and had barely taken a step forward when she heard the scream again.

"Help me! Somebody help!"

Lucy bit her lips and ran.

#

Flare's hand felt brick behind her back. The wall closed off any chance of an escape. Now it was just her and the three men in front of her.

"There's no where left to run," a short man crooned out.

"Look we got off on the wrong foot. Now why don't you be a good girl and come over here. Before my friends start to get a little too antsy. Come back while they are still in a good mood," the tall man in glasses said.

Flare's eyes kept on switching from man to man as they slowly started to box her in. Her heart was racing a million miles a second. She desperately wished for the millionth time today that this was all a bad dream, and she would wake up safe and sound on her bed back at the village.

"Just leave me alone," she pitifully cried out. Flare desperately squashed herself against the wall, hoping that it would somehow open up and protect her from them.

"Looks like she needs to be taught a lesson," the bearded man to her right said. His arm reached out for her neck.

Flare shrieked and finally released the magic she was storing in her hair. Her crimson hair whipped out from behind, blazing with fire as they smashed into the man. He bellowed out in pain as he was sent flying away. He crashed into a heap of garbage bags. He remained sprawled out groaning in pain.

"You bitch!" the man in glasses yelled. Before she could even react, he appeared in front of her. He drove a fist into her stomach that had her crying out in pain. She collapsed onto the ground, fighting the painful urge to vomit what little she ate on the ship ride.

Flare screamed once more when her hair was painfully tugged up. She found herself staring into the glasses man.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Bran. I'm going to make you regret the day you crawled out of the womb, you little shitstain," he said. He slammed her face into the ground. Pain flared in Flare's face. She channeled magical energy into her hair once more. Her hair bursted into flames once more.

The man yelped in pain. He quickly let go of her hair. Flare had no time to enjoy her newfound freedom before she was kicked in the gut. She flew from the ground and crashed onto the wall. She crumpled into a heap below. Flare could barely manage to continue wheezing. There was so much pain, she had never felt anything like this before.

"You really fucked up," the man in glasses said. "I'm going to enjoy messing you up now." He slowly began walking to her, a vicious smile lighting up his face. The short man followed behind him. He had on an equally vicious smile.

"Help me! Somebody help! Som—", Flare managed to cry out before being kicked in the stomach once more. Her breath left her. Flare began another onset of coughing and wheezing. She desperately tried to catch her breath.

"Shut up. No one's coming. Jack go check on Bran, he should get first pick on what we do to her."

The short man had just turned around when the bearded man yelled out.

"Cut her hair off!"

Flare's eyes bulged out of her socket. Fear gripped her. "No please, anything but that! Don't do it! The Eternal Flame gave me my hair. Please! Don't do it!" she wailed out.

The man in glasses tutted. "You shouldn't have pissed me and the boys off then," he said. The man reached into his jacked. He pulled out a handle out of his pocket. Pressing a button, the switchblade popped out. Flare screamed once more as he brought the knife toward her crimson hair.

Flare desperately tried to push out more magic energy into her hair. The terror of losing her hair forever kept her frozen. Her hair wouldn't listen to her commands. All Flare could do was watch as the knife slowly came closer and closer.

"I'm going to enjoy every second of this," the man said with a vicious grin on his face. The knife had just cut into her hair when a new voice cried out.

"Stop! What are you doing to her?" a female voice cried out. The knife stopped; it had just cut a few strands of Flare's hair. Flare couldn't see who it was, the men blocked the new girl from her sight.

"Fuck off if you know what's good for you!" Bran the bearded man said.

Jack laughed an ugly little laugh. "Yeah, if you don't want to be next you should leave," the squat man said

The man in glasses called out without looking at the newcomer, "This is some personal business. This little girl attacked my friend Bran over here. I'm just enacting some justice, that's all. You should scurry away this doesn't involve you at all Blondie."

"Too bad for you, I'm involved. I'm not going to let you guys hurt her anymore!" the girl cried out.

"Deal with her," the man in glasses said. Both the short man and the bearded man turned and ran to deal with the girl. They were a few feet away when the girl pulled a key out.

"Open, Gate of the Sea Goat, Capricorn!" the girl yelled. A bright light flashed out. It was so bright, even Flare had to squint her eyes. Flare's eyes were shocked open when she suddenly saw a tall goat man in a butler outfit through the man's armpit. The three men were equally stupefied, all staring slack jaw at the butler with sunglasses on.

"Do you require assistance, my lady?" the goat man said.

"Take them out!" she said.

The goat leaped into action. He dashed at the short man and roundhouse kicked him into the wall. The short man's face cratered into the wall before collapsing onto the ground. The bearded man only had time to cry out in shock before he was swept off his feet. He ungratefully landed on hist stomach before his face was slammed onto the ground by the goat's foot.

Flare was suddenly pulled off from the wall and onto the glasses man's chest. She cried out as pain radiated from her scalp before she felt the cold steel of the knife against her throat.

"Stay back! Keep the goat away from me or the girl gets it!" the man cried out. Flare was finally able to see who her savior was. Blondie, if that was her name, had big breasts was the first thought that came to Flare's mind.

"Just let her go", Blondie said, "I'll let you go if you release her."

"I wasn't born yesterday Blondie," the last man said, "I know how your type works, I let her go and then goat man here is going to beat the shit out of me. No, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to walk out with the redhead over here—FUCK!"

A rock flew at the man's head, causing him to let Flare go. As his hands went up to protect his face, the goat butler leapt into action once more. His punches flew to the glasses man's face punching left then right. The punches flew in a rapid pace as the man cried out each time his head was jerked to one direction then the other. The man's pain was finally ended when the butler squatted down before raising himself up high, his fist connecting to the man's chin. The man actually flew over the ally wall and Flare heard him land on the other side.

"Are you okay?" the goat asked Flare. Flare dumbly nodded her head as she got a better luck at the butler. He was quite tall, his white fur was well groomed, and she saw that he had hooves for feet. His suit looked good on him Flare decided.

"Thank you, Capricorn," Blondie said.

"Pleasure to be of assistance, my lady. If you do not require anything else then I will be on my way, Capricorn said with a bow before vanishing away with a glimmer of light.

Flare watched the light gleam away before looking back as Blondie rushed to her side.

"Are you in pain anywhere? We should probably get you checked out. Did the men do anything to you? Where is your family at? Do you live somewhere close by?" the blonde mage bombarded Flare with questions and her own ramblings. Flare used this time to really look at her savior as the questions kept on rolling in.

She had the prettiest pair of hazel eye's Flare had ever seen. They seemed to twinkle with life. Some of her hair was in a ponytail while the rest framed her face perfectly like a painting. Her blonde hair seemed to flow like waves of gold. Flare eyes had just moved onto her savior's mouth when she noticed it wasn't moving anymore. Red eyes quickly swung up and stared back at a pair of concerned eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the blonde asked.

"Ah… yes," Flare stuttered out, "Th-ank you Blondie."

The mage gave a quick giggle. "My name's not Blondie, its Lucy," she said.

"Ah.. then thank you, Lucy," Flare said, cringing at her mistake.

"What's your name?" Lucy asked.

"Flare Corona. Sorry for thinking your name was Blondie."

"It's okay," Lucy said. She then gave Flare a small smile as she pulled herself up. "Though I like the Blondie nickname much more from you than that creep, Flare."

Flare felt her cheeks blush, quickly matching her face with her hair. A groan ruined the moment as the bearded man began to stir from the ground. Lucy quickly pulled Flare onto her feet before she turned and ran. Flare stumbled along barely managing to ask a question as the blonde mage hurried away. Shouts chased the duo away from the alleyway as they ran away from the neighborhood.

"Where are you taking me?" Flare asked. The blonde turned back and for the smallest second, Flare would swear on the Eternal Flame itself, she saw the stars themselves in Lucy's eyes. Light lacrimas began to flicker on brightening their path as the pair continued to run down the street. Lucy's laugh chimed like a bell as the pair continued away with the stars as their witness.

"An adventure."


Thanks for reading. What do you think of the changes in canon so far? Reviews appreciated!

Next Chapter: Before Jan 27