The newest member

Chapter 3

We arrived at the station just after dawn, the first rays of sun creeping over the horizon. There was too many people milling about on the platform for this time in the morning and I was more than conscious of the number of stares we got as we walked to the door. It was probably Erza, carrying a still unconscious Natsu, or Grey who had taken the liberty of removing his shirt, or Happy and Carla, flying, talking cats, but it didn't matter. What ever the reason was, we were getting more attention than I was comfortable with. By the time we got outside, Natsu seemed better and the subject of Wendy not getting motion sick was brought up.

"I thought you got just as motion sick as Nastu" Lucy said. "But here you are, happy as ever and throughout the course of the entire journey were talking."

Wendy smiled. "Oh, it was Wren" she gestured in my direction. "She gave me these tablets which made the motion sickness go away."

"I was going to give Natsu some but Erza had already knocked him out so there wasn't really an option." I mumbled, clutching my hands behind my back.

"How did you do it? You can't have just known that they got motion sick easy and had medicine spare." Grey said, glancing over.

"Oh... er..." I put out my hand and thought of the tablets. The particles assembled in the form of the packet. "I used my magic" I showed it to them.

"What magic do you use?" Erza said, zoning in on the conversation. "It's a creation magic right? I've heard of them but never seen them in use before. They're supposed to be quite rare and powerful but the wizard is always born with the magic that shows up later on in life. That's you right?"

I nodded. "I can control particles and get them to do as I want."

"Could you possibly give Natsu one of them tablets now?" Happy asked. "Just he doesn't usually stay ill this long after we've left the vehicle."

"That's because Erza knocked him out stupid cat." Lucy whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Hey Lucy, that's not fair I was asleep the entire journey so didn't know". Happy's ears drooped.

"Well does he look awake now?" Lucy said accusingly.

"Silent both of you." Erza snapped. "We're here."

I hadn't noticed the column of ash rising in the distance and it was only when I got up close that I spotted it, rising from the volcano.

"Is that where this demon is?" Carla asked, sounding a bit worried. "I don't like the look of all that ask and dead vegetation there, are you sure it's safe?"

"No" Erza dropped Natsu to the floor and he stirred slightly. "Apparently, there is also large outbursts of lava from time to time, totally unpredictable but killing at the same time. That's probably why all the vegetation is dead."

"Well that's not a problem for Carla and I" Happy smirked at Lucy. "We can just fly over."

"And straight into the column of ash mentioned before" Grey said, hands deep in his pockets.

"Um... I..." I stuttered. "I can get us in there."

"How?" Wendy asked, intrigued. "Can you do teleportation as well as creating things?"

"In a way. I can create portals to different places. I'm not sure if it works to dimensions as well but it could help us out in this situation." I didn't mention how transporting lots of people at once also sapped my magic energy.

"Brilliant" Grey said. "Well lets get in there."

"Am all fired up now" Nastu said, leaping up from where Erza had dropped him and receiving an eye roll from Lucy and Grey.

I took a deep breath and put both hands out in front of me, palms directed forwards. The air seemed to grow thin and it seemed to pull down between my hands. It sucked inwards and then sprang back revealing a purple hole in space, in time. I beckoned and stepped in, showing it was safe. The second the last person entered the portal, I felt a wave of nauseous.  I shook it off, swiped my hand in front of the portal and closed it. A second later, I put out both my hands again, creating another one and allowing everyone to leave.

"Jeez, what is with that place?" Natsu asked, stretching his back. "It's all weird and anti-gravity. No time has passed as well."

I hesitated before coming out. I didn't want to. It would hurt too much and I'd probably black out which was not what I needed right now. Cautiously, I put one foot out of the portal, already feeling more sick than I had done before. I had to come out at some point and even if I stayed in the portal for a year, I'd still probably faint when I got out. The portal closed behind me and the air shimmered slightly. Everything was getting bigger and all noises were too loud and hurt my ears. The shimmering air darkened slightly and then and dark patches started to grow. Far, far away, I heard someone say my name but it was too far to actually hear it and through the last patches of light, I saw the ground rushing up to meet me.