Where Water and Light Collide

Prologue

Two teens were walking to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Nerida, brown curly hair hanging just over her shoulders, curious emerald eyes glancing about, and painted pink lips upturned in a smile, trekked purposely beside her adoptive sister. Rose's ruby eyes scanned the dirt path ahead of them as her forest green hair swayed from side to side.

The mages were laughing as they reminisced the last guild brawl just two days before. Team Natsu had just returned from a job in Clover and the two idiots were fighting as usual. Within minutes, the entire guild was happily engaged in an all-out-brawl, destroying tables, and splintering chairs. When Erza had tried to step in and stop the fight, she was met with a chair to the face. From there, the only one able to end the fighting was when Master Makarov called out. Everyone, including themselves, had frozen immediately.

"Do you remember Erza's face?" The young brunette had to pause, the memory triggering even more laughter. "Her eyes shadowed over with a dangerous smirk, and everyone paying attention shuddered." Again laughter escaped her at the thought.

"How about when Jet was thrown at Levy and Gajeel had stepped in front of her to protect her." The two squealed in girlish delight. Mira had informed them on how often the two could be found together. The demon matchmaker had truly rubbed off on them.

As Rose and Nerida entered the guild, the young galaxy mage went up to the Request Board as Nerida went up to talk to their favorite barmaid.

"Morning Mira," the brunette called as she sat at the bar. Mirajane turned with a smile on her face, glass and cloth in hand.

"Good Morning, Nerida. Are you and Rose taking a job first thing?"

"Yeah. We don't want to get caught in the morning brawl." She chuckled at the sound of Natsu and Gray's voices as their volume increased with each insult. Then, Rose walked over with a job request in hand.

"How about this one? It's a monster hunting job in a small city near Crocus for 14,000J."

"Sounds good!" the young water mage replied.

She stood up, slung a backpack over her shoulder, and waved goodbye as Rose handed the flyer to Mira.

"Good luck you two!"

The greenette simply smiled, joining her sister in the trek to the train station. A few minutes later, Nerida caught on to where they were headed and panicked.

"Wait! We're going to Magnolia Station?!"

Rose sighed and turned to the frightened brunette. "Yes. It's the fastest way to get there, and you know it."

"But-"

"'But' nothing. We are riding the train and that's final!"

Conjuring the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster, she gave one last attempt to plead for another way, but Rose wasn't having it. Nerida pouted. When the two wizards finally made it on the train, the brunette settled in a cushioned chair and curled up as best she could. Like the dragonslayers, she was a victim of motion sickness. While it wasn't as severe as the others, it was still enough to bother her.

"If you need to, lie down."

"Hmph!" She turned her head defiantly.

Rose simply sighed and made herself comfortable. It was going to be a long ride.

---

After getting off the train, much to Nerida's happiness, they walked to the small city of Silverbrooke. It was usually a quaint little settlement with friendly people. A short, chubby man dressed in a silver suit with white hair came running up to them.

"Come, my home is at the other end of the city."

Noticing his frantic behavior, Rose asked, "What's wrong, sir?"

"I am the mayor of this town. The monster that plagues our city appears every day at sunset. She is always near the dry well our people once used." He started walking quickly towards a large white mansion. Fear drenched his scent, causing Nerida to nearly cringe.

Before they could get close to the mansion, however, a strangled, ungodly cry resounded through the town. Rose immediately took charge. "Gather everyone you can on this side of the city and let us handle the monster."

"Thank you." The person they assumed was the mayor nodded and ran towards the panicked citizens. He began calling out orders, guiding them towards the forest and away from the monster. Turning to one another, the two mages nodded in unspoken agreement. Nerida ran towards the monster while Rose unhooked her whip and pulled vines into a nearby field. As she set the trap, an ungodly screech ripped through the air. 'Poor Nerida's ears.' She cringed at the thought. The brunette's dragon heritage was surely making her wince in pain at the sound.

"The Jewel! Where is the Jewel?!" The monster said as it came into view. It was a large, centipede with a woman's torso at the top.

"What are you talking about?" Rose began to suspect it may have sensed Nerida's keepsake.

"The Shikon no Tama. I wish to use its power to make myself invincible!" The centipede woman became fueled with rage and charged the galaxy mage.

"Whatever that is, it isn't here."

"Then you shall die!'' The creature screamed.

A sinister aura suddenly consumed the sky. Alarmed, Nerida raced for the battle, having finished the trap, and quickly dove into the fray.

"Aluben!" A spiral of water emerged in her palms before reaching out to drown the monster. It screamed in agony before lashing out, its coils wrapping around the young dragon.

"Nerida, you idiot! Stellar Shower!" Multiple balls of light began to rain down from the sky, setting fire to her target. "Why did you do that?"

Nerida struggled as hard as she could before the fire weakened the monster long enough to free her. Dropping down next to her sister, Nerida finally replied, "Don't you sense that strange aura."

Rose stopped for a moment. "I do. Whatever it is, it isn't good!"

The centipede woman, realizing her defeat was coming, lashed out one last time. The two mages were caught off guard and thrown into the side of a splintered dry well. Rose was knocked unconscious by the blow but Nerida was shaken. She quickly regained her bearings and charged the monster.

Holding her hands out, palm facing the monster she yelled, "You're going down! Teneroot!" Torrents of water sprung from both hands, racing toward the strange creature. With a final battle cry, Nerida pushed more magic into her spell, strengthening its power. The torrents ripped through the flesh and bone of the creature until nothing but small, insignificant pieces were left.

She nearly crumpled to the ground before she remembered that Rose was unconscious. The young dragon gathered what strength she had left and clumsily rushed to the greenette's side. Falling to her knees, Nerida went to shake her sister out of sleep but a bright blue light suddenly poured from the dry well.

A sense of urgency washed over her at the sight. She grabbed the star mage's shoulders and started vigorously shaking her shoulders. "Rose you need to wake up!"

She sleepily opened her eyes, allowing her vision to clear. "What is it?"

Before Nerida could answer, the golden light outlined their forms and lifted them off the ground. They tried unsuccessfully to grab each other's hand before the light sucked them into the depths of the well.