The Problem Child (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Colorful

{NADIA'S POV}
It's been 3 days since I got on the train after the explosion and the hospital. Now, it's dropped me off at this station, and the next train won't come for another hour. That gives me some time to stretch my legs and explore.

Right by the station is a strip of stores, one of which is a magic shop. Curious if they have any gate keys, I go inside. Just looking around, I don't see anything, but I go to the clerk anyway.

"Do you have any gate keys?" I ask politely. The clerk has a mohawk of lime green hair. He stares at me as I approach, eyebrows pinched together.

"I recognize you from somewhere." He frowns. I realize with a start that Reiki and I came here before for a job. This guy helped us go undercover, but the reason I didn't notice was because the last time I saw him, his mohawk was electric blue.

"You're mistaken!" I begin to panic, waving my arms around wildly in front of me. My cover's blown if someone finds me out.

"Nah, I'm sure... oh well, it doesn't matter." He shrugs and sets the matter aside from now. "Sorry lass. We don't have any gate keys here."

"Okay." I turn to leave, then something by the door catches my eye: a five gallon bucket of beads. There are several colors, including red, yellow, blue, purple, green, pink, black, white and more eccentric. "Excuse me? What are those?"

"Good eye!" The clerk grins. "Those are what this shop is known for. It's color magic. You take one of the pearls and crush it over your head. It will completely dye your hair that color."

He shows off his mohawk. That's how it's color changed from blue to green so completely.

"How long will this last?" I ask, pointing to the five gallon bucket of black pearls.

"Plain black, eh? I pegged you as more of an adventurous girl. Anyway, with your hair being as short as it is, the effect will last longer. I'd say about two weeks per pearl. However, if you grow your hair out longer, that time will gradually decrease. Even so, that bucket lasts a couple years. A great bargain, for the price of..." The clerk goes into sales mode. I sigh and buy the bucket, then lug it back to the station right as my train pulls in.

I board and immediately claim a bathroom. I open the bucket, take out a pearl, and crush it over my head. As soon as the black powder touches my hair, it starts dying it all black. Within seconds, I don't even recognize myself.

My newly black hair makes my pink eyes pop. It's choppy, and a lot shorter on the left side than the right, mostly because I was rushed and hacked at it diagonally with a knife.

I sigh and pull that very same knife from it's holster. Oh, how I wish for Cancer in times like this. "Open, gate of the moon's huntress: Zoey!"

"Yes Nadia?" Zoey smiles at me when she appears in a flurry of leaves.

"Two things. First of all, I go by Natalie from now on. Tell Tina and Iris too. Second of all," I gesture to my lopsided hair, "this needs to be fixed, and you have the most control with lethal weapons."

I hand her the dagger. Zoey chuckles, but nods and starts working. I close my eyes and get as comfortable as I can while standing in a bathroom getting my hair cut via dagger.

"Done." Zoey informs me and steps back. My black hair is now chin length all around. The ends are still jagged, but I can live with that. A pile of pink hair is on the floor. When my hair was severed, it must have reverted back.

Also curious, the tips of my hair are pink again, and the natural pink is slowly creeping back up, taking over the black. Cutting my hair must have reversed the color magic. I crush another pearl over my head and it turns black once more.

The train starts moving. Aside from me, there are a few couples and a school group. The students wear navy blue skirts or pants, navy blue blazers over tan shirts, and big white bows or ties. One girl makes eye contact with me. She has light brown, almost blonde, hair and shocking yellow eyes.

The girl waves so I wave back. Their teacher starts doing a roll call. He looks like a gym coach, wearing light blue sweats and a white tank top.

All the school uniforms have an emblem stitched on them. I squint to make out the name. Castillia Middle School. I loose my balance and tumble to the floor in surprise. That's—

"Are you okay?" A girl asks. I look up. It's the same girl from before. She's offering me a hand up, which I gladly accept.

"Don't worry, this happens to me a lot." I stand and brush myself off sheepishly. The girl laughs.

"Nice to meet you, clumsy girl. My name's Cindy." She introduces herself.

"I'm Natalie." I almost say Nadia. Cindy and I shake hands. She seems nice.

"Where are you traveling to all by yourself?" Cindy asks. I wince.

"Well, I've already shown you some of my colossal clumsiness. I kept messing things up for my family, and after this one incident... well, here I am, being shipped off to some place called Castillia Town." I sigh and shrug ruefully. Cindy gasps.

"Castillia Town is my home!" Cindy squeals and hugs me happily. "Don't worry. Everyone's familia in Castillia. You'll fit right in!"

I try to ignore my pang of regret for lying to this bubbly girl. "I hope so." I whisper.

Cindy drags me to meet the rest of her classmates. The rest of the way, I hang out with the girls from Castillia Middle. We talk and joke, and I make a lot of new friends.

"So Natalie, do you have a crush back home?" Cindy has hearts in her eyes. The shipper in her would make Aunt Mira proud.

"What?!" I choke on my strawberry milkshake, courtesy of the dining car, and only recover after a solid three minutes of hacking.

"You do! Spill girl!" She demands. All of the girls huddle around me excitedly. I turn bright red.

"Reiki Fernandes." I mumble, hand reaching up to touch my broken star barrette.

The girls look at each other in astonishment. Then they burst out laughing. I hang my head, blushing in embarrassment. I barely know these girls, yet even they can see that we aren't a good match.

"Not a chance, girl! We already ship him with Nadia Dragneel!" Another girl, Rio, says.

I didn't think it was possible for my embarrassed blush to get any darker, but it does.

"W-What are you t-t-talking about?" I stammer nervously. Cindy pats my shoulder.

"Poor girl didn't see them together. Love really is blinding. Natalie, Reiki and Nadia are so into each other, it's really only a matter of time. They're in the same guild, they quest together. I mean, Reiki and Nadia are literally always together. And he's so defensive of her. They're too cute!" Cindy reports.

I blink. I never thought of it that way, but now that she mentions it... Reiki likes me?

No way. That's just wishful thinking.

One of the boys overhears Cindy's fangirling. "Didn't you all hear? Nadia Dragneel died."

My ears start ringing. Black spots dance in my field of vision. Here we go...

"WHAT?!" The girls all gape at him, then crowd around to hear to scoop. The boy pulls up an article on his mini lacrima and shows us.

"She was in a warehouse doing a job when it exploded. The Fairy Tail guild combed the whole place up and down. They found hair and clothing fragments as well as traces of blood. Her body was likely destroyed in the blast." The boy explains.

Scenes from my fight with Akuhei Tanaka flash through my mind's eye, making me nauseous. I stumble and Cindy catches me.

"What's wrong Natalie? You're pale as a ghost." Cindy's worried voice snaps me out of my flashback. I shake my head to clear it.

"I'm fine." I smile weakly. Before Cindy can respond, a voice comes over the intercom.

"Final stop at Castillia station, one mile."