Storm's Child and Nature's Fairy

A loud crack of thunder roared, the ground shaking from its mere power. This storm was almost unusually fierce, with many of Magnolia Town's residents boarded in their homes for shelter and safety. Stray animals hid underneath whatever roofs and awnings they could find, and not a single soul tried to brave the stormy weather.

That was, of course, except for the God Slayer. While most of the residents of Fairy Tail's town were locked in their houses and basements, working on whatever they could inside, Mai skipped alongside the empty streets, the torrential rains pelting her. Yet the rain did not hurt, rather it was a relief for her. Her time with Papa made her a strange child, having a preference for thunderstorms as opposed to the clear skies that most children her age would be playing around in. This harsh of a storm was second nature to the adopted child of a god of tempests.

She skipped into a puddle, the splashing water making no visible change to the already-drenched child. Her hair was soaking wet, now an almost brown shade, her dress similarly darkening from the storms. A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, causing Mai to look up hungrily. Lightning was Mai's favorite snack, but this bolt merely lingered in the clouds before dissipating. Nonetheless, the torrential rain and galeforce winds gave enough sustenance to the girl.

"♪ Boom and Boom and Crash, Thunder makes a big boom! ♪" she quietly sang to herself. "♪ Fwish-fwish goes the wind and the rain makes a big drip, it's all so tasty and sweet! But lightning lightens the day and it makes a big yum-yum and fills my tummy-tum! ♪"

The girl was by no means a master songsmith, but her songs kept her lost in her own little world, completely oblivious to the meowing of cats, barking of dogs, worried yells from elderly women, and the breaking of a tree branch, headed straight for the small child, who remained blissfully unaware, skipping and singing along.

---

WC: 339 , just in case I make this a job

Walking through the rough storm, the trio seemed not bothered by the storm. "So, Amelia, how you holding up?" The Nature fairy jokingly said to the Gynoid. The robotic eyes soon rolled as Amelia responded. "My skin is more waterproof then anything else in the country, and my nanites can turn into synthetic flesh. Howabout you two?" Luna shrugged, while her Qipao and shorts was soaked, her shoes filled with water, her hair in the wind she was seemingly not bothered and still keeping a positive vibe. "I am a Nature fairy, rain and wind are a part of nature, and since I'm not in my fairy form I can handle the wind. Besides, I grew up in a fishing town, I can handle getting wet. Neptuna is a mermaid, so even when she travels by land rain is easy. You okay Neptuna?"

Neptuna nodded in her humanoid form wearing a green cloak, she was sticking close to Luna, holding one of Luna's arms with both of hers as she was struggling a bit with keeping balance in the wind. "Yes Mommy, the wind is just a little rough but I'll manage."

The group had just returned from a trip to the Eastern forest, when news of a storm was heard, Luna received a call from a group of the fairies of her faith residing in the forest near Magnolia, since Luna was in the area the group stopped by to ensure that the group of Fairies was shielded from the storm. Apparently when Luna arrived, she learned that her half sister Solaris burned a hole through one of the larger trees used for shelter among other things, it took half a day for Luna to shield the structures thoroughly without making them look obvious to outsiders, so the group decided to head to Magnolia instead of trying to navigate through the storm.

Luna noted that there were scarcely anyone in the streets, nor any doors appearing open, even for the inns and taverns. However something caught the group's eye as they saw a young child, skipping through the streets happily. Luna slightly smiled, glad to see that there were children that could have fun even in the midst of a storm. However her eyes started to get worried as soon as she saw the tree branch head flying towards the girl. "Amelia!" Luna called to the Gynoid, who was well aware of the danger.

Amelia started to run forward before she jumped, her body converted into a bolt of lightning that landed behind the girl. In a quick motion Amelia generated and tossed into the air a small ball of lightning that exploded, and the lightning created a dome like barrier around the two in the nick of time as the sound of the wood hitting the lightning at high speeds broke the silence right after the explosion creating the barrier. The Branch fell to the ground, catching on fire after hitting the barrier to which Amelia bent to expose a hole to the fire. She pointed two fingers at the barrier as a ball of blue energy formed, before a sky blue lightning bolt hit the flaming wood, causing it to freeze. "Frost Lightning!" Amelia took a deep breath, glad that the danger was passed.

Luna ran towards the scene, with Neptuna in tow, worried about the two. "Good Job Amelia!" Through the barrier, she looked towards the girl with a warm smile. "Sorry if we scared you, but, are you alright?"

WC 584

Mai was stunned by the loud noise that occurred behind her. She looked behind her, seeing the chaos that had only lasted a moment. Behind her were three girls, two of which looked to almost be her age. The tallest one smiled at Mai, asking if she was safe.

"Yes, I'm safe, miss," Mai responded, still not entirely sure as to what happened. It had only taken an instant, so Mai was not fully aware as to what had happened, but the few things she knew were of interest. "Who are you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "My name's Mai! My papa called me 'Stormschild,' so I guess I'm Mai Stormschild!" She waited for the response from the three, taking their names into account.

"Why are you outside?" she asked after their responses. "No one else is outside around here, so what about you? I'm out here because the rain and wind and lightning is all nice and tasty and yummy-yum!" She sniffed the air, sensing an impending strike of lightning. She closed her eyes, fully taking in her heightened sense of smell. In an instant, Mai took a quick step behind her, letting the bolt strike her. She smiled, consuming the bolt of lightning with a bright smile on her face. "♪ Yummy yummy bright and tasty. ♪" she sung to herself, before quickly realizing that the three were in front of her. "Ah! Sorry, sorry! I hope that didn't worry you!"

---

WC:246

Luna was glad to see that the girl wasn't in shock, however it did concern her that the girl was completely natural and alright with the situation. Luna nodded after the introduction before introducing herself."I am Luna Mira, a Nature Fairy, actual fairy not a member of Fairy Tail. The blonde is a female robot named Amelia, and this little one with me is a Mermaid in humanoid form, her name is Neptuna." Neptuna hid behind Luna shyly, she poked her head around to look up at Mai. "He... Hello."


Luna brushed a strand of hair out of her eye as she thought about how to answer the girl's question. She figured the short story would be best. "Well, we just came from a job in the woods, and none of us are really bothered from the rain. As a Nature Fairy water is just another part of Nature, Neptuna can handle getting wet, and Amelia is water proof."


When the girl ran towards the path of the lightning bolt and swallowed it, Amelia and Luna shot each other a confused look. "Slayer?" Luna telepathically communed to the Gynoid. "Appears so. Question is, what variety?" Luna turned to the young girl, she was indeed extremely worried but for a completely different reason then the girl might think. A young child out in the midst of a a dark city where a known mercenary guild was, even if it has a great history was still a troubling thought. Especially given that the girl was oblivious to dangers around her and was not exactly hidden since she was swallowing lightning. "It's Okay sweetie, I'm not scared that you ate lightning, you're not the first I've seen with such a ability. I've met a handful of slayers before. However, does anyone know your out here? Preferably an Adult. A young Slayer out in the open is dangerous, not to mention you might catch a cold."

WC 322
TWC 906

Mai looked at the fairy quizzically. "A Slayer?" she asked. "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm special?" she shrugged, ignoring the seemingly strange question. Rather, she wheeled around to the one the fairy said was a mermaid. "You're...Neptuna?" she smiled at the mermaid. "I wanna be friends!" she looked at Luna and Amelia. "I wanna be friends with all of you!" She squealed for a moment, in revelry of the possibility of new friends, especially the two smaller ones. "Oh, right! You wanted to know why I'm out here, and if anyone knows I'm here, right?" She thought about it for a moment, letting the rain pellet her skin. "Well...honestly I'm here just here to look for my Papa. I was hoping that Fairy Tail could help." She turned around to show the purple Sabertooth tattoo on her shoulder. "I'm a part of Sabertooth, but Fairy Tail might know a bit more. Kenna - er, one of my guild leaders - said I should go out to look for him, 'cuz no one in Sabertooth knows where he is. You said you were a nature fairy, right? Do you know Papa? He said his name was Raijin, and he's big and fat and purple with some crazy white hair."

Mai squealed again, bowing a few times quickly. "Ahhh! Sorry, I've been talking a lot!" She turned once again to Neptuna. "What about you, I really wanna know more about you! You seem really nice!"

---

WC: 246
TWC: 831

Luna and Amelia were in no way surprised that the child was recruited by Sabertooth, unaware of what a slayer is, and is an unaccompanied minor so far away from home. However she was a little disappointed the three points weren't connected to solve each. At the very least, her explanation of why she was in town did answer most of the questions Luna had about the girl."God Slayer?" Luna was stumped on the question about the God, she has yet to meet a God herself. "Sorry, I personally haven't met any Gods, Amelia here is a female robot, she's been around longer then I have. I bet she might know." Amelia was not familiar with the God in question immediately, although she has met a few lightning gods before. "Sorry, that description does seem familiar. I have met about Five Lightning Gods, that is where I learned to imitate the Lightning of Gods and Demons-, wait, I do think I remember. But that was at least seven years ago, you couldn't have been taller then my knee by then. Sorry, that day is sorta a blur on how it ended, and I haven't heard from most of the Lightning wielders that appeared that day let alone any of the gods and demons."

Neptuna was incredibly nervous and scared. While she was not as smart as Luna or Amelia, she did recognize the dangers of a lightning user against someone imbued with magic from the sea, especially a non-combatant against a user of legendary magic. However, after spending so much time, idolizing Luna, seeing how she walked right into her fears and dealt with them, she was inspired to step out of her comfort zone. She moved from hiding behind Luna to right beside her. "I, am a Mermaid, apparently one with a rare gift to store things in some special dimension thingy! I have been traveling with mommy after she rescued me from, from, some, bad people..." She held Luna's hand, Luna patted her on the head, proud of the girl to try and face her shyness. "Her past isn't a nice subject to ask about, it isn't a happy story."

WC 362
TWC 1268

She turned to the robot after her report. "So you knew Papa even before I did?" she asked. Mai must have been taken in by the Tempest God not long after that meeting. Mai did not remember anything of her life before Papa took her in, but she remembered the day as clear as if it were yesterday. It was a day not dissimilar to this very day, five years ago. Mai was hoping that this sort of weather would bring around Papa, but he was nowhere to be seen. At the very least, Amelia had met Papa at some point.

After hearing from the mermaid. Mai quickly bowed multiple times, apologizing profusely for what she saw as an attempt to intrude. "I didn't mean anything bad by it, really! But... if none of you know where Papa is..." Mai smelled lightning about to strike once more, though it would be too far away for her to reach. Sabertooth had no clue as to where Papa was, and it seemed as if these three, notably one so in tune with nature, did not know where he was.

She squealed once more, apologizing. "Sorry! I don't mean to sound like I'm all sad or anything, it's just that I don't know where my Papa is and no one seems to know where he is and I really miss him and he promised that he would be back, but he hasn't come back and." She sniffled. She did not know why she was being so open with the three strangers. Perhaps is was the similar age of Neptuna, or the familiar power of Amelia, or the caring nature of Luna, or some combination of the three. Nonetheless, Mai had opened her heart to the three, though still apologized profusely for her perceived oversharing.

A tear ran down her cheek, its soft, slow stream contrasting against the bludgeoning rain of the monsoon-like weather. She dropped to her knees. "Why..? Why am I crying? I... I don't even really know any of you but...I just miss my Papa and no one seems to know where he is and..."

A fire in the pit of her stomach rose, like a flood of emotions too strong to keep held in. Tears still streaming down her face, the Storm Goddess raised her head to the sky, unleashing her Storm God's Bellow, the black-and-purple clouds piercing high into the sky. The dark clouds above swirled around the goddess's power, a flash of lightning striking down against Mai once more. She ate it, ceasing her frustrated demonstration, the tears now having burst through the dam of her composure. She dropped down onto her hands, the tears dripping down with the striking rain. "Where are you, Papa?" she quietly cried to herself, the rest of the world an afterthought to her sorrow.

---

WC: 472
TWC: 1303

Luna and Amelia were sad that they couldn't reunite this girl with her lost parent, especially when they could sense the unimaginable level of pain in the young girl. "Back then, many had disciples, often gods, demons, and dragons raised slayers, however not all were open to admit if they had any. I never had much contact with Raijin."

Luna however, couldn't help but sympathize with the young girl, remembering her own past. When she thought she lost both her parents, that loss, it stuck with Luna her whole life. It was a brutal pain, even if there were times when it wasn't obvious, especially when Luna at to hide it in front of others, it was burning her out for years. It was thanks to her eldest brother that she was able to move past the pain, and the burden got a little easier, and she still feels it to this day, that loss, even after she found out her mother faked her death.

When the girl started to apologize, Luna could see the girl was on the verge of a breakdown. She didn't know who was waiting at Sabertooth, however she recognized that this girl, needs a family like a guild, but something else above all that. When the girl fell onto her hands and knees sobbing, Luna glanced at Amelia, to confirm if she safe to touch without electrocution after she released an attack.|

Amelia nodded, and Luna slowly got onto her knees after approaching the Tempest Slayer, before would hold her close, whispering softly into her ear. "I know how you feel, I know what that pain feels like. I lost my parents when I was a little girl as well. Just breathe, you'll get through this, I promise you."

Luna said, looking back on her own life, wishing she had someone like how she is now there for her, even when she had her brothers. But she knew in her heart, that someone like Mai. who had no family but a wizard's guild, needed a figure in her life like Luna. "We can't let her go on alone like this. Even with a wizard's guild."

Amelia could see what Luna was getting at, greatly concerned for the girl's well being too. "Traumatized slayer child with few to notice her missing, sounds like perfect weapon molding target. Too vulnerable, and perhaps Sabertooth didn't catch onto that part." |

Luna began to let go of the girl slightly, before wiping away the tears and softly smiling at her, a lantern and the water reflecting the light almost gave her a slight glow. "You don't need to walk a path alone, if you want, I feel like Amelia and I can have a lot to teach you."

WC 459
TWC 1717

The sudden affection given by the fairy was a surprise to the child of storms. She hadn't know this sort of affection, even from Papa. Papa was more inclined to an attitude of rage and lashing out, such as the clear memory of when she first was adopted by Papa and he threatened to destroy an entire village for abandoning her. His smile, his laughter, his overt and intense emotion, Mai had come to expect it from everyone. Papa had always said that humans were vulnerable and easy to control, especially for a, as Papa put it, "a cute little cinnamon roll" like Mai. But this was different. Luna wasn't human, or so it seemed. None of those three were. Perhaps this was the change? Perhaps this was why Mai could feel so comfortable with them? Something seemed to click with Mai.

"Y-you mean it?" she sniffled. She wiped away a welling tear from her eye, clenching her other hand into a fist. "Okay." She slowly got up, the fire of rage and anger and despair in her stomach shifting into a swelling cloud of confidence and courage. She smiled once again. "Papa said I shouldn't be sad. He always said," she smiled, shifting her voice to a poor impression of the deep, jovial voice of her Papa, "'Girly, when you need to frown, just tell yourself that things'll work out! And if that doesn't work, just punch your problems in the face!'" She giggled, remembering the guffaw Papa would give after. She leaped back so as not to accidentally wallop any of the three, punching the air, and smiling. "So that's what I'll do! I'll go out and punch my worries in the face!" She squealed once again, lost in her thoughts. The pain that had afflicted her just moments prior seemed to vanish with the calming rain. "Ahh! Sorry, sorry, sooooorry! I didn't mean to ignore you guys again!" She nodded, rushing in, leaping at Luna as she did so many times with Papa. "Let's be friends! I wanna keep travelling with you and you and you and learn lots and lots of things from all of you!" She squealed again. It was liberating, in a way, to have this pain vanish away from her. She smiled at Neptuna. "Papa said that mermaids don't do well with lightning and stormy stuff, so I'll do my best to work with you!" She then turned to Amelia, a wide grin still plastered on her face. "And even though you don't remember Papa, you might be able to help me find him." Finally, she looked up at the fairy. "And you're really, really nice! You remind me of Papa, but not as scary!

She laughed, the cares and worries that plagued her seeming to come to an end, a flash of lightning piercing the sky in the distance, as if it were Papa looking down at his storm's child.

---

WC: 488
TWC: 1791

Luna was glad that the girl's attitude seemed to be turning around into a good turn. However as she heard more about Raijin, she started to get the opinion that she may have a lot of work to put into this girl. She wondered how this girl was raised as she seemed to be easily split focused, both her and Amelia had already speculated that the girl had bad habits brought on by social isolation, and the advice of a man who seemed to have his own problems. "There's a time and place for punching to solve problems, but most of the time, sometimes all you need is someone to listen and comfort you." Luna said as she stood up, trying to comfort the young girl slowly.

Amelia tried her best to remember, but there was a lot of alcohol and lightning the day of the party. She couldn't recall who left with whom or who did what with who as it was a mess. She tried to access her memories of that day, and in a blurry fragment she managed to find the relevant segment. There was sparks and lightning everywhere, the sound of thunder, and she managed to glimpse in the distance and remembered she saw one of the gods that might have been Raijin leave. "I am sorry, last I remember he might have left with Alba and Bariq, a Lightning Dragon and Elemental."

Luna was a little concerned that the god slayer thought Luna was very similar to her father. She did not want anyone else to think of her as a mother figure yet, but she suppose things are what they are. At; best she wanted to be a role model or big sister figure, nothing more. "Well, I am a being of Nature, Lightning is a part of nature, and Gods and Fairies usually got along for the most part so I can see there would be a few similarities. But yeah, I don't think anyone around here might know, Gods aren't exactly the most common knowledge to come by, personally if there is anything here but I may be wrong."

WC 357
TWC 2074

Mai's brows furrowed at the words Luna and Amelia were saying. "Alba? Bariq?" she mumbled to herself, her mind bouncing to yet another topic. "Papa never mentioned any of those names. Or did he?" She shrugged it off, thinking little more of it. Perhaps Papa had mentioned it, but Mai cared little for anyone other than Papa in what little interaction with others she had. "But, if you don't know where Papa is, and no one here would know where Papa is, then where could he be?" Mai crossed her arms, pouting. "Papa said he wasn't going to leave me all alone, but he's being a big fat meanie." She let out a quick shriek. "Oh, wait! I'm not alone! I got you guys! You're all really nice and helpful to me, so I won't be sad anymore!"

She wheeled over to Amelia, now moving her arms behind her back and rocking on her feet. "It's okay if you don't remember where Papa went. I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise, but I'm sure we can find him and then we all can be best friends! I think Papa would really like you, Amelia, even if he doesn't remember you from the...whatever thing. He likes anyone that can make lightning! It tastes really, really yummy! He said so, and I say so!"

She addressed the whole group. "What about all of you? Don't you think storms are really, really tasty? All the zappy zappy lightning and fwooshing wind and the drippy drip rain!" Her stomach growled at the mere thought of it, despite the storm having just passed. "Ooh, but sometimes Papa said that storms don't come around all the time and there's even places called 'deserts' that don't even have storms or even rain! So he likes giving me sweets!" At this point, she had forgotten the trio was there and was merely thinking out loud. "Like little cakes that're shaped like cat paws or those crunchy candies or-" Her stomach growled once again and she pouted. "Too bad the storm went away. Now I'm hungry. And all the shops are closed because everyone else was scared of the storm and the baker lady isn't going to give me any free cakes. Maybe I'd get the one with the little berry on top?"

Thinking of the baker lady got Mai's mind moving. "Wait, the baker lady would see a lot of people, right? Everyone loves sweets, so everyone would buy from the baker lady and maybe one of them would have heard something about Papa? But would the baker lady remember me? She only saw me when I came by here and she told me to go to Sabertooth, and that was a month ago...but she gave me sweets, and Papa said that when someone gives someone else sweets and candies and chocolates it means they really like them and don't want to forget about them, so that means that the baker lady would remember me, right? Plus, Papa said that no one could forget a 'cute girl' like me and that people would always want to help a cute kid, so..." She crossed her arms once more, pouting. She was deep in thought, having completely forgotten about the three girls who had come to her assistance. Right now, her mind was set only on Papa, the baker lady, and the possible sweets she could try to charm out of her.

---

WC: 573
TWC: 2364

Luna and Amelia were stumped as they were trying to theorize what happened to the god. Amelia barely knew the deity, however she had the feeling that he would not just abandon a child he put so much time and effort into for no reason. However Luna was starting to wonder what happened on the day in question. "Amelia, what exactly happened 'that day'?

Amelia resisted the urge to let her face show what was going through her mind as she responded back to the telepathic message. "A rare day, basically a meteor generating some serious lighting magic crashed, and it drew the attention of a lot of Lightning empowered beings by the wave length. Obviouslty this girl wasn't Lightning empowered by then. Regardless, it's clear she may well be a slayer, but can we really prove it yet? But more certainly, there are two possibilities about the God Raijin, we will talk about them later."

Luna was glad as she watched the girl being very optimistic about her search, it could have been the fact that she was older, it could have been the fact that she was a Nature Fairy, but something within her told her that many gods don't stay around forever. Whether she would help Mai find him, or was there for the moment when the search becomes pointless, she knew that she should be there to prevent anyone from taking advantage. However the question did still require an answer. She approached Mai cautiously "If you want lightning, I think Amelia can help you out. The baking lady, sounds nice, and probably meets a lot of nice people, but not everyone tells everything to everyone. I don't think that the baker would know anything that the Guild of Sabertooth doesn't. I am a renowned healer, I just want to check something to be certain."

She would carefully press her hand against Mai's back before her hand would glow in a soft pink light, that would feel gentle and soothing to the touch. Luna was trying to sense, see, and hear the life force within the system of the girl. "Water God's Skin, Lightning God's Lungs, and the Heart of a Wind God. Interesting, you really are a Storm God Slayer."

Neptuna almost looked ready to run at those words. She remembered the stories Luna told about another Lightning based Slayer. "You, mean she is gonna suddenly turn real scary? Like that Inka?" Luna shook her head. "Indra, and it wasn't sudden, he simply bit the Lightning Lacrima out of my neck to be sent into force." Luna pulled aside her hair exposing the almost dragon like bite mark scar around the older scar. "Also Indra was over six feet, a couple hundred pounds of pure muscle even without his Lightning Dragon Slayer magic. Comparing her to Indra is like comparing a cloudburst to a storm."

Luna let go and readjusted her long pink hair to cover the scars again.  She returned her focus towards Mai, to hopefully fully explain this. "It appears the magic your Papi taught you, is a God Slayer Magic. Gods, Dragons, and Demons can train Slayers, magic that while is very powerful, is extra powerful against the kind that taught them, hence, slayer magic. Slayers have unique attributes imbued into their bodies, that allow them to eat the elements they practice, like how you eat Lightning. Not everyone can eat Lightning like you."

Luna stepped back, before nodding to Amelia, who walked up to Mai, generating a ball of light blue Lightning at her finger tips as she held her hand out to Mai. "This is Frost Lightning, a specialty of mine, it should have a cold quality." Amelia recalled that a few Lightning Slayers she met enjoyed this version of lightning. Luna however was wondering, where would a god go, especially when one has a young child they had a nearly inseparable bond with. "Seems like it would take the jaws of hell itself to pry him away. However, perhaps he simply had to retreat somewhere, unable to stay in the world too long. Gods are very powerful and destructive beings..."

WC 690
TWC 2664

The words Luna said were confusing to Mai. She somewhat recalled Papa mentioning "Slayer Magic," but she never paid it any mind. "So, not everyone can eat lightning? Or rain? Or wind?" she asked. Papa could, and Mai could. It was only natural, just a way of life, as Papa said. It took time to get used to the taste, but it eventually became delectable. And now, Amelia offered light blue lightning. Frost Lightning, she called it. Curious, Mai took a bite. A flow of cold rushed over her taste buds. It was sweet, unlike the slight spice of a normal bolt of lightning.
"It tastes like ice cream~" she lightly purred to herself. Small goosebumps dotted her bare arms. She was far from a fan of the cold, but no lover of sweets could deny the wonderful feeling of ice cream. She turned to Luna and Neptuna, speaking to them both. "You mean you've never eaten this? It's really, really tasty! I understand you not eating it, Amelia, because Papa said that storms you create don't taste good, but..." She folded her arms. "Papa said it was normal to eat storms, once you get used to it. Maybe you just haven't tried it enough? Here, let me-" She cut herself off once she saw Neptuna's adverse reaction. She squealed, bowing in apology. "Ah! Sorry, Neptuna! I forgot you don't like storms!"

She clapped her hands against her face. All this conversation had happened in such a short time, and Mai's mind could not help but race with all the new information. These three people that she had not known prior to today she now felt more comfortable with than anyone else inside Sabertooth. Her thoughts bounced from word to word, ignoring sentences for a time before suddenly returning to them. She had so many questions. "So...I still don't really understand. I'm a 'Slayer'? It's unique that I can eat lighting? But Papa could, so...but that means that you can't, and...you said I have something with my skin and lungs and heart? Papa always said he had a thick skin and he always said I have a big heart, but are those the same things? And what about those dragons or gods or demons? Kenna had a smell that Papa said meant she was similar to me and none of you have that smell. Is that because she was one of those 'Slayers'?" She mulled the thoughts over, mumbling them to herself, not particularly looking for an answer. She simply let her thoughts run, her mouth following suit as the last of the rain cleared.

"So if the baker lady wouldn't know..." she began, now speaking back to Luna as she went back through the words being said. "...and Sabertooth doesn't know, and Fairy Tail wouldn't know and you wouldn't know...then who would? Why would Papa just disappear?" Once again, she clapped her hands against her face, trying to focus. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to get all sad and stuff. Just gotta punch my problems in the face! Er...just have someone listen and comfort me about this?" She shrugged, smiling.

---

WC: 520
TWC: 2884

It had seemed that the girl was raised by the god Raijin at a young age as the girl didn't seem to understand her own species limitations. Luna shook her head at the question. "Well, I am not a Lightning Slayer so I can't eat Lightning. Amelia is a mermaid so naturally she wouldn't be a Lightning slayer. Like I said, since you were raised and trained by your papi, he trained you in the art of the Lightning God Slayer."

Luna and Amelia were concerned about the girl's mind. "Let's give Raijin credit, he didn't seem the type to raise a child to at least have basic manners, so with the bar that low he did a damn good job. However we do have the main issue, she doesn't know about her status, that can be a problem." Luna wasn't as generous with praising the God, as she figured there was a million other things he could have done, however she was speculating that she didn't have much human contact while she was with Raijin. "Seems like he didn't understand humanity, or just forgot to teach her about it. We might need to teach the rest of humanity." Amelia almost broke out laughing but kept her telepathic dialogue from influencing her body. "That's funny, a former human and a synthetic human teaching a girl raised by a god about humanity."

Luna could see the wheels in the girl's head trying to spin as she was trying to understand what the Nature fairy had told her earlier. Meanwhile Amelia wasn't as discrete with her thoughts. "Seems like your papi didn't have a thorough conversation with you on this subject. I might need to have a word with him about parenting later." Luna looked over at Amelia, confused. "What would you know about parenting? You haven't even activated your reproductive systems." Amelia waved off Luna, she was not exactly pleased with that, but she respected Amelia's privacy.

Luna returned her focus to Mai, trying tor recall her knowledge and all said so she could explain it simply. "When a God Slayer is trained, their bodies undergo adjustments to handle the magic. Usually the lungs for sure, but depending on the magic other parts as well. I do not know Kenna personally, so I cannot vouch for what kind of slayer she is, but it's typically Dragons, Demons, and Gods. Personally I am a bit surprised she didn't have this talk with you.
"

Amelia had two theories nagging at her all along, however she decided to keep the darker out of the ears of the God Slayer. "Mai, there is a truth that you might need to hear. I don't think you quite understand the difference between Gods, and other beings like Humans. Gods are a very dangerous entity of being, like way powerful, sometimes too powerful for this world. Gods often can't remain in this world for one reason or another, so they might have to retreat into their domain, a different world. Sometimes it takes too much effort to stay here, or their power might be too great, and potentially have impacts on the world around them. Typically negative, and I can only imagine what a god of storms can bring with his long term presence. On the other hand, he could have been in violation of some divine contract, and had to return to his domain. If I recall, your papi, he might not have been keeping track of time and had to go, Gods and Humans have different ways to view time."

Luna looked at Amelia, almost ready to throw her in the recycling bin, however things got worse as Neptuna seemed to chime in. "God Domain? Does that mean Mai can't go there?" Luna however couldn't hold a grudge against the mermaid, however while she would be impressed by the deductive reasoning, she had to admit it was at a bad time. "Depends on the god, sometimes it's completely unsuitable, however i don't think a god of storms can be that bad. But still, finding it is a lofty goal." Acknowledging the fact that the girl was trying to sort through her problems, Luna wanted to keep Mai where she was at just above calm. "Mai, the worst part about humanity is there is no right answer, no instant solution. Same thing with coping with stress and problems, sometimes they can be punched out, sometimes talking it out, sometimes just moving on no matter how hard."

Luna had a nagging feeling that Amelia was holding something back, and was right when Amelia sent Luna a written note in Archive magic. "Second Theory, perhaps she could have slain Raijin, most likely an accident, and simply blocked out the memory. I don't want this to be true but we can't rule it out. God and Demon raised slayers can often lead to this, that's why they usually learn from ancient scriptures and lacrimas. Impossible to prove though, the corpses of gods aren't easy to find."

WC 837
TWC 3501

The words Amelia was saying bounced off Mai's ears. "But, Papa would have told me if he had to go! He wouldn't have just left me all by myself just like that! And...if what you said about this 'god domain' is true, he still would've taken me with! Whenever he talked about his home, he said it was 'somewhere humans could never go,' but he said I could go with him because I wasn't like them! A-and he never did anything dangerous or harmful, ever! I don't know what all this 'God' business is, but Papa and me were just the same! I could always do the same things as him! And he'd never not keep a promise! Papa would never-"

Mai stopped herself short, trying to keep a level head. Once again, she pressed her hands against the side of her face, which was now certainly red. "I'm sorry, Amelia. I didn't mean to get angry. Papa always said that sometimes you have to stop being angry and start being happy, so that's what I'll do." She bowed in apology to the robot, though the Slayer's own face failed to hide her lingering frustration.

She then turned to Luna, trying to do her best to ignore Amelia while looking down to the ground. "When Papa was teaching me manners and stuff, he said 'sometimes, even when someone makes you really mad and you want to punch them in the face, you can't. Sometimes you have to forgive them, but you need to tell them that what they did was wrong." She steeled her courage, looking directly into the eyes of Luna. "Papa's making me really angry right now, and I really wanna punch him in the face, but...I can't find him. I don't like that he left me without explaining why. I really wanna find him, Miss Luna. I really, really do. I don't know what happened, or why he left, or where he is, but I wanna find him and yell at him for being wrong." She turned to Amelia, forgetting her previous hostility. "Maybe you can 'have a word about parenting' with him later, Amelia!" She giggled.

Her mind was constantly racing. There was so much new information that Mai had never known or never considered. Slayer magic, someone who might have met Papa even before Mai, God Domains, being being unable to eat storms; Mai had been sheltered from so much information that learning was something new. "There's a lot of things that I'm learning from you, Miss Luna, that Papa didn't teach me about and Sabertooth didn't talk to me about. I don't really know much about the world outside of what Papa taught me, so..." She gulped. The usual carefree nature that Mai usually had was suddenly gone. Her heart was pounding, and she was oddly nervous. "C-can I travel with you, Miss Luna? I could be like Amelia or Luna and fight with you! Papa said I'm really good at fighting and that my magic, er...'Slayer Magic' is really powerful!" She looked downwards, the hills and valleys of her emotions leading controlling her rather than her controlling herself. "Even though I like Sabertooth, they're all really scary and I don't understand a lot of the things that they do. Ryo said something like 'being the shield that defends the mortal world' and 'Elders' and stuff, and I don't know what it all means and it's all really scary and all of them are really scary but I don't think you're scary, you're really nice!"

---

WC: 591
TWC: 3475

"Alright, we might have found the straw that broke the camels back, she's clearly been overwhelmed, and possibly groomed to distrust her own kind." Luna watched as she could see that internally the girl was barely bound together. When her playful demeanor was gone, Luna could see just how frightened the girl was. She knew that the Sabertooth guild was a very serious one, and from what she saw of the girl and what Nessa had advised her,  she could only guess that Nessa was possibly a sociopath, extremely ignorant of what Luna was able to figure out easily, or just really has no regard for Mai's life. Regardless, it was clear that Mai did not feel totally safe within the world or even within the guild of Sabertooth and had no where else to turn to at the moment.

It was this moment, Luna's memories flashed back to an earlier point in her life, when she was on the verge of death from an illness. It was a blur to her, but she could remember that there was a wizard who was looking down at her in bed, nearly at the lethal stage of her illness, the only cure was atop a dangerous mountain. The Mira Family did not have the funds to pay the wizard, however his words stuck with Luna. "Screw the money, if I let a kid suffer a fate like this, what sort of person am I? I got the means, and it's practically a day trip, so if she needs some flower for medicine, I'll get it for ya, no problem, pro bono, no charge." It was the hand of one generous wizard that stopped Luna from dying, falling into the abyss of nothingness. Meanwhile she saw Mai, lost, confused, and in intense pain with no one to make her feel safe, Luna knew that if she turned her back Mai would most likely meet a horrible fate. Luna felt that this was almost poetic, someone saved her from a bad fate, she became a powerful mage, and it's her time to save another from a bad fate.

Luna didn't even flinch at the girl's request, accepting right away. She figured that she was uniquely qualified to help the girl, someone who used to be human and is a trusted race of most of the gods. "If you wish, I won't object. " Amelia looked at Luna, choosing to remain silent after the God Slayers understandable outburst. She did not want to set off the girl again. "No way in hell we're letting this girl remain alone forever. Just to be safe, we should join Sabertooth, limit the girl's exposure to the dark side of Wizard work. Ace of Spades is much more preferable to Talonia, and best to avoid making an enemy of Sabertooth without good reasons."

Luna held Mai close, letting herself take the brunt of the girl's emotions. "Don't worry, if you need to let out your feelings, you just need but to ask, you don't need to suffer in silence. If it will help, I can always join Sabertooth."

WC 519
TWC 4020

At Luna's agreement to come with her to Sabertooth, Mai cheered, embracing the fairy. The thoughts that had previously crossed through Mai's mind throughout the course of the past hours were now completely gone, Mai having completely put her trust into Luna. She was far from certain as to why she was now so certain in her trust into Luna. Perhaps it was Luna's status as something more than human? Or the caring attitude she shared? Maybe she felt a bond towards Amelia and Neptuna? It was certainly rare to see little girls with gobs of magical power, and now three were in congregation together.

Either way, it didn't matter to Mai. When she once had nothing, now she had a group of companions that she hoped to remain inseparable from. Her natural optimism led her to wanting to believe this. After all, Papa always said to face the world with a smile, so Mai did as well.

Something popped into Mai's mind through the fog of joy. "Neptuna, you said you don't do well with lightning, right? Watch this!" Mai closed her eyes, focusing on separating her tempest element. Finally, she burst her eyes open, spraying a mist of water high into the air, the now-sunny weather forming a rainbow as it clashed against the droplets. "Papa taught me this! He said:" She morphed her voice into her poor imitation of Papa's. "'Mai, storms and tempests ain't just lightning. They're water and wind, too. If you focus enough, you can separate them from each other. That way, you can fight more baddies!'" She giggled, spinning in a few circles out of whimsical joy. She was the most carefree being in existence, so it would seem. She hadn't a care in the world, now she had Luna and Amelia and Neptuna.

"♪Luna and Amelia and Neptuna and me, all together for fighting the baddies!♪" She quietly sang to herself, skipping around like the whimsical child she was. Suddenly, her fast-acting mind got another thought and she shrieked to herself. Wait, Miss Luna, what should we do next? Fairy Tail might know about Papa, or maybe the baker lady does, should we go and ask them? Maybe we can go to the baker lady anyways for sweets and treats?" She shrieked again. "Wait, do you know how to get to Ace of Spades? It's..." Her mind trailed off as she tried to remember before she pointed a direction. "This way!" It was not, despite her emphatic insistence on the direction. "And maybe we'll get a nice, tasty storm on the way back! Wait, but Neptuna doesn't like storms, does she? I guess I'll just have to eat up all the lightning! They don't want to eat it, so that means more for me! But I also want cakes and cookies and sweets!" Her active mind now trailed off, her mumbling all her thoughts aloud with the innocence only a child could have.

---

WC: 491
TWC: 3966