Last Edited 04/18/2019

Note: Carpe diem is part of an extended phrase (carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero), which, in translation, has the following meaning: 'pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the future'. It pretty much means to make the most of the time you have because life is short. I found this phrase suited the story much more than any other I came across in my search, and though it might not be so clear right now, it will become more so as everything progresses.

Another thing. I'm not using the Japanese honorifics here, because I believe that in a world where Fairy Tail is real, it's not centered on an actual Japanese-speaking country. The story is just told in Japanese; therefore, most everything will be according to the English version. Every so often, I will swap terms around, like mage instead of wizard, for instance, or Stellar Spirits instead of Celestial Spirits (and I totally can't remember if that's just a manga thing or if the Japanese anime also includes those versions of the words, but it all started in Japan, so it still counts), because I like those versions better, but for the most part, the English version is my main source for words and names and titles, and such.

Enjoy.

Carpe Diem

In the dictionary, you'd find death defined as a permanent cessation of all vital functions: the end of life. I'm sure the wording changes occasionally based on time and place, but the gist of it remains.

All things that live, in any shape or form, must someday die. It's the circle of life, and none are excluded from this truth.

Myself included.

My death was a simple one, shared, I'd guess, by more than a thousand others. Not special in any way.

Convenience store robbery. The assailant never saw me coming up behind him, and I was, myself, distracted by the music on my cell phone. I fumbled for a solitary instant, and my fate was sealed. I dropped my drink; the glass shattered.

The robber? Classic case of shoot first, ask questions later.

He panicked. I died.

It was supposed to be the end, but it wasn't. Not by a long shot.

Chapter 01

"You realize it's probably going to be a bust, right?" I spoke up, glancing over at Lucy as we rounded another corner in our trek for the magic shop. "This is such a small town; I doubt they'll have anything truly worthwhile in the magic shop here."

Lucy smiled over at me, a bounce in her step as she excitedly perused the signs and displays set up for all to see. I had to admit; at the very least, Hargeon knew how to appeal to tourists and travelers, despite its small size.

Brightly colored shops and street vendors that served foods of all types. Clothing and books set up for all to see. Jewelry stands on every block. Bright, eye-catching souvenirs designed on the cheap with shoppers in mind. It was every tourist's dream.

Too bad for them we weren't the usual tourists.

"Oh, don't be such a downer, Lori. If this shop doesn't have any gate keys, then we'll just have to try one of the other magic shops in town. No worries." Bouncing on her feet in glee, Lucy squealed and raced ahead of me, darting into a shop on the left. "There it is!"

I followed at a more sedate pace, stepping inside the small shop just in time to see Lucy's face fall at the sight. It appeared to be a simple shop with all the basics, lots of accessories and items, all with simple spells and magics attached to them. Simple, over-the-counter potions. Books and scrolls meant for beginners just starting out and for visitors wanting simple, easy tricks. All of the most popular goods were displayed with pride, but this shop was built for tourists and I knew a true mage would be disappointed.

Lucy included.

She stepped up to the counter, and I followed to stand beside her as she rang the bell and plastered a polite smile on her face. A moment later, the shop's owner, a rather short man in a mustard yellow sweatshirt, came through a curtain in the back. "Well, hello ladies. What can I do for you?"

He was a little on the older side, and he had a kind look about him, although I could sense no more magic in him than any other non-mage we'd come across in the months since we'd run away. Over time, I'd gathered that those with mage potential had a tendency to absorb small amounts of magic into their containers, but it was very easy to tell the difference between trained and untrained mages and those without even the capacity for it. This man, it seemed, was of the last persuasion.

Considering that, it was no wonder he ran such a basic magic shop; the more shop owners knew about magic, I'd found, the better their merchandise tended to be.

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell us where we could find some of the other magic shops in town. This is the first one we've come across since we got here," Lucy questioned, and as nice as she was trying to be about it, there was no easy way to ask someone where you could find their competitors. Not that he really had any competitors in a town this size; even with its obvious popularity, tourists and seafarers appeared to be the prime targets for business.

"I'm sorry, little lady, but this here is the only magic shop in these parts. But don't fret; we've got all the latest goods. Why don't you take a look around? I'm sure you'll find something to strike your fancy."

Lucy's face erupted in shock and disappointment. "No way! Really? And we came all this way. What a waste."

It was a testament to the old man's kindness that his expression didn't change even a fraction, at her words.

"Thank you, sir," I told him, reaching out to place my hand on Lucy's shoulder as I shot him a polite smile, "we'll take you up on that and let you know if we find anything."

Turning, I steered Lucy off to the side, away from the counter so we could look at the merchandise. "Be nice," I whispered, letting go of her shoulder so I could go look for Plue's key, knowing that it had to be hidden somewhere among all the other stuff that was sold here.

She nodded reluctantly, a disappointed frown on her face as she glanced uninterestedly at the shelves in front of her. I walked the short distance to the other side of the room and began glancing through the objects there. I skipped over the books and the bottles, letting my eyes flicker quickly over the smaller items, enchanted with simple spells meant more for amusement than anything else. A moment later, an excited squeal from somewhere behind me let me know that Lucy had found the key, and I turned as she bounded over to me and shoved a small brown box in my face. I blinked and took a step back, looking down at the shiny silver key set charmingly upon a white display pillow.

"Look! Look, Lori, see! It's the little doggy!" Lucy grinned over at me, and I could clearly see the happy twinkle in her eyes. "Can we get it, Lori, please?"

Several months ago, we'd unanimously agreed that'd I'd hold onto our money and handle major shopping decisions, because between the two of us, Lucy was the loose spender. She loved shopping far too much, and occasionally, she'd get excited and fall off into her own little world, forgetting about our limits. More than once, we'd had to camp out in the woods because we couldn't afford a hotel room after her shopping excursions in a new town.

"Lucy, it's a gate key," I told her obviously, rolling my eyes to emphasize the unspoken 'duh' in my statement. "Of course, we're getting it."

Her face lit up and she raced over to the counter, leaning on it excitedly. "How much is it for this?!"

He looked down at the key in Lucy's hands and back up at her eager face. "Ah, that one's not very powerful, you know."

"But I really, really want it," she responded, bouncing on her toes as she leaned up over the counter in her haste. "So, come on! How much?"

"It's 15,000 Jewel," he told her after a moment, his expression soft with kindness, and I blinked in confusion as I stepped up beside her, pulling out my wallet.

"That's actually not that bad," I commented, glancing down at my hands to count out the correct change. Most gate keys usually cost much more than that, even the weaker silver ones; it was why Lucy only had two silver keys, despite how many of them there were, in comparison to the rarer Zodiac keys. "Here you go, mister."

Lucy watched the exchange quietly, her energetic mood sobering a bit as she calmed, but by the smile on her face, I could tell she was still happy about her find. The older man passed me the receipt for the key, and I thanked him, turning to head for the door with Lucy right at my side. "Goodbye!" I called behind me as I ushered Lucy out ahead of me, stepping into the sunshine with a sigh.

Strange as it was, the man had given us a discount with no real prompting, and I couldn't help but wonder why. Was it because there were two of us? Was Lucy not so obviously rude as she could have been? Did she seduce him without even trying? Anything we'd done in there could have swayed him, and the fact of the matter was, we'd probably never know. In my experience, it was best not to dwell on things like that, especially considering that it wasn't likely to cause any harm. Perhaps, he really was just that kind of person.

We turned to walk down the street, and Lucy grinned over at me, holding up her new key proudly. "See? Told you it wouldn't be a bust!"

Well, not quite in those words, she didn't. Blinking, I smiled and nodded at her, deciding briefly to just let it go. "And now, you have Nikola. How long are you going to wait before you set up the contract, this time? Remember, Horologium wasn't exactly very happy when it took you a week to get to his contract."

She waved her hand dismissively, completely ignoring my warning. "I'll take care of it later. Right now, I want to get a better look at the rest of Hargeon. I know it's a bit on the small side, but there's bound to be lots of interesting stuff that comes in from the other ports."

I nodded in agreement, but Lucy, distracted by the window display of a dress shop on our right, completely missed the action. The dress in the window was a light pink, with a strapless, heart-shaped neckline and a long, flowy skirt. Considering the Fiorian style right now, it was a rather pretty dress, and by the look of the store, also rather expensive.

"No," I told Lucy, pushing her past the shop with a hand on her shoulder. "We can't afford anything like that, right now."

"Aw, but Lori!" she whined, looking over her shoulder as she tried to get another glimpse. "Can't we just look? We don't have to buy anything, Lori. I just wanna try it on, I swear! Please?"

"No," I repeated, grabbing onto her hand so she couldn't try to get away, and as we came to the corner, I tugged her around it to the next street. "You already have one dress; you don't need another, and that shop looked really expensive anyway. We don't have the money to be wasting on stuff like that."

Her shoulders slumped and Lucy sighed, pouting. "Yeah, you're right. It's not like we're going to be invited to any nice parties any time soon, anyway. Man, this sucks."

I squeezed her hand gently and then let go. "I know it's not really all that fair, but that's how it is, right now. Someday, we'll join a guild, and then, you'll find plenty of reasons to wear a pretty dress."

Lucy grinned over at me, and most of the disappointment cleared from her expression. "Not just any guild! We're going to be members of Fairy Tail!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist excitedly. "We'll go on lots of exciting jobs and make tons of money, and then, we can go shopping all we want without having to worry about being practical."

"It sounds like lots of fun," I told her, smiling at her enthusiasm, "but we need to actually join first. I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself."

"Yeah, I know," She told me, and her smile fell a bit in disappointment. "It sucks that joining is supposed to be invitation-only, though. Do you think there could be another way to get noticed and become a member?"

I shrugged. "We might just have to go to the guild and ask about it."

Lucy blanched in shock, coming to a halt on the sidewalk. "You can do that?!"

"Well, yeah, I don't see why not," I responded, shrugging. "It's not like the location is a secret, and Fairy Tail is a really popular guild. I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to just walk in and ask for an invitation."

Lucy blinked, a stunned look on her face, and then, in a flurry, she grabbed my shoulders and started shaking. "Lori! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?! We could have already been members by now!"

Laughing, I reached up to grab her hands and stop the shaking. "I figured you already knew about that option and just didn't want to come off as rude, or something. Besides, we were having so much fun travelling around that it honestly slipped my mind."

"Well, that does make sense." Lucy's energy seemed to flop right out of her, and she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "I can't believe I never thought of that, though. Do you think they'd accept us, Lori?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, they would, Lucy. They'd be stupid not to." I linked my arm with hers and pulled her down the street to get her walking again, grinning over at her. "I mean, we're pretty awesome mages, if I do say so, but even if we were total weaklings, I don't think that would matter. Fairy Tail doesn't care so much about power as a guild like Phantom Lord would, and the members all seem like they're pretty close, from what I can tell."

Lucy smiled, and her face lit up in relief and happiness. It looked like a weight had been lifted off of her, and my heart warmed at the sight. I hated it when she doubted herself like that, and though I always tried to bring her out of it, every so often, it didn't work out so well as today.

We rounded the next corner, and almost immediately, I was shoved into Lucy from behind as a gaggle of girls raced past us, giggling and shrieking in glee. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" Lucy yelled, glaring angrily in the direction the women had gone. "Well, that was rude," she said, crossing her arms under her chest. "I wonder what's going on?"

Looking ahead, I noted that the women who ran into me weren't the only ones acting strange; I could see at least ten others further ahead, coming out of shops, abandoning the booths they were standing at. Every one of them, I noticed, turned a corner at the next block, and the shrieking and cheering was so loud that there was no doubt in my mind about what would come next.

Bora.

"…a famous mage…" I overheard one girl saying as a few more hurried past us, and I shared a confused look with Lucy.

"It's Salamander!" One of them squealed, and beside me, Lucy's jaw dropped open.

"Is she serious?!" Lucy exclaimed beside me, shocked excitement filling her expression. "I've heard of Salamander; his fire magic is supposed to be really unique! You can't even buy it in stores!"

"Really?" I asked, adopting a curious look as I glanced at the girls rounding the corner ahead of us.

"I can't believe he's here! Lori, do you think we should check it out?" She asked, looking over at me with a curious sort of eagerness on her face, and I couldn't help a little smile at her enthusiasm.

"We might as well," I told her with a light shrug, taking a few steps down the street. "We can see what all the fuss is about, at least."

Lucy didn't waste any time; she bounded ahead, not quite running, but kept up a pace just shy of it, in her excitement over the situation. I followed a few paces behind her, and as we came up on the street all the commotion was centered on, I spotted the full extent of the crowd. It seemed to be just about thirty women, all appearing to be somewhere in their twenties, and they were crowding a spot just over a hundred feet down. Lucy pushed forward, eyes on the crowd, and I turned to follow, speed-walking a bit to keep up with her. The noise level increased the closer we got, and as we came upon the mass of women, I grabbed Lucy's hand to avoid being separated. She glanced back to meet my eyes once, hers' bright and jubilant, and then, she squeezed my hand and pushed into the throng.

Surrounded on all sides by charmed women, I sensed the magic immediately, felt the way it had settled into them like a poison of the heart, and I found myself grateful for the foreknowledge which made me immune to the spell; charm magic, after all, didn't work on people who were aware of its use. We broke through the crowd after a moment, and I got my first real look at the man who was Bora. He was tall and thin with short dark blue hair, and his outfit was an overelaborate combination of pinstriped pants and a knee-length high-collared cape. And then, Lucy's hand in mine slackened as the charm worked its way into her heart, and I turned to look at her cautiously, noting the change in her expression, the way she gazed at him with disturbing reverence. Determined, I let go of her hand and stepped in front of her to block her view of Bora, reaching up to grab her shoulders.

"Lucy, snap out of it!" I exclaimed, shaking her ferociously, and as her eyes pulled from Bora's form and settled on mine, the charm that had captivated her broke away. Vaguely and as if from far off, I thought I heard a male voice call out from somewhere behind me, indistinct in the noise of the crowd. A look of shock came upon her face, and then indignation replaced it as she glared over my shoulder at the man responsible for the spell.

"Igneel!" A male voice shouted, loud and full of excitement, and my hands fell from Lucy's shoulders as I turned to face the commotion.

I blinked in shock at the sight before me. A boy I knew had to be Natsu was on all fours at the edge of the crowd, appearing as if he'd just crawled through many of the women's legs to get to the front, and he was looking up at Bora with a look of confusion on his face. The women, still thoroughly charmed, were glaring down at him as if he'd just interrupted some grand moment, but he paid them no attention, his dark eyes shifting in disappointment and distaste.

"Who are you?" He asked, his nose wrinkling a little as he rose to his feet, and as he did, I got a better look at him.

He was taller than me by at least several inches, and his spiky pink hair was eye-catching, but not too bright or obnoxious, despite that. It had a pleasant sort of natural look to it, clashing nicely against his tanned skin and dark, dark eyes, and I had to look away when my gaze lowered enough to realize just how much of his torso was left bare by his style choices. I felt a little warm, then, but I pushed the feeling away and turned my full focus on Bora, watching as his expression shifted from shocked to smug and vain.

"I am Salamander," He said, rubbing his chin with a pompous smirk on his face. "Surely, you've heard of me."

Natsu just turned and started walking away, his entire form oozing dejection, and the girls, completely enamored with Bora, let him slip right through the crowd. "Hey, wait a minute!" Bora yelled, his expression shifting in irritated shock, and the girls around us reacted to his words in the way that charmed individuals usually did.

"Hey!" One girl shouted, grabbing onto the scaled scarf hanging from Natsu's neck. "You're rude!" She pulled on it, accompanied by several other women, who grabbed him by his arms, his clothing, his backpack, and together, they dragged and pulled him between them, their faces filled with charmed rage.

"Salamander is a great mage!"

"Apologize to him!"

"What the heck!" I heard Natsu shout, and my fists clenched as I watched the scene. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Call them off!" I ordered, turning to glare at Bora as I pointed at the wild bunch of girls. "Do it, right now!"

He looked at me for a moment, his expression full of arrogance but unreadable, otherwise, and then, he smirked. "That's enough, girls; let him go," Bora spoke up with a little wink at the surrounding women. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

The women seemed to take that as some kind of sign, doing a complete one-eighty as they swarmed back around Bora, dropping Natsu like a stone, in their wake. As Natsu disappeared from my view, hidden by the crowd, Bora took a pen and a large piece of cardstock out of the folds of his cape, plucking it from some hidden hammerspace pocket, and he scrawled on it for a moment. The girls shifted a bit, and Natsu came back into my line of sight, sitting up on his knees and rubbing his head, and Bora walked over to him, presenting the card with a flourish.

"Here's my autograph; you can show it off to your friends," Bora told him conceitedly, and Natsu's face twisted in distaste.

"I don't want it," He said, and the girls who'd previously been fawning over Bora all seemed to react as one, grabbing Natsu by his arms and legs and throwing him bodily down the street, screeching at him all the way. I couldn't help but wince in sympathy; it wasn't like he could even really fight back. The charm, alone, was enough of a deterrent, but none of these girls were mages, which just made it worse.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, ladies," Bora began saying, looking around at the girls, and for a moment, his gaze landed on me and Lucy, "but I have some errands to run at the port, so you'll have to excuse me." He snapped his fingers, and purple fire erupted around his feet, carrying him up into the air. "I'm having a party on my ship tonight, and you're all invited!"

And, then, he was gone.

End Chapter

So, I made some changes, and the events in Hargeon will probably all be a bit different, for those of you who've read this before the edits. Hopefully, I can make some of the chapters longer, while I'm at it, because that's one thing that was bugging me, before. Another thing that's changing is Lori's sensitivity to magic; it's no longer going to be an issue, so as a result, a lot of the stuff that happens in the rest of the Hargeon chapters will be a little different. I just wanted to warn everyone.