Star-Crossed!

Everything was black for the summoner. Her unconscious state could have been an obvious explanation for that. Yet, it was more than that. The world wasn't moving on in time without her knowing about it. She was completely aware of it. Awake even. Standing in a place that was dark. She had been there before. A far off place in the recesses of her mind. A place of nothing except for one thing. Trails of energy began to form, swirling in a circular motion to take the form of a portal. Its color was void of the bright whites and various colors of the portals she was used to. The one there was a mix of dark red, black, and purple hues. Ugly in comparison to the rest. Lifeless. Forgotten in time. It was a portal only for one being, and upon seeing it she recalled what had happened just before she ended up there. The space of her mind began to grow heavy. The portal began to react violently as its energy twisted erratically. A deep and loud voice thundered through the space in anger. The portal was pulling the spirit that had left it by force back. As the essence of the spirit rushed through the space and into the portal, Samira herself was being pushed back. In one final mental push by the portal she was ejected from that place in her own mind.

Samira opened her eyes then, gaining consciousness in the actual world instead of hiding elsewhere in her mind. Her verdant gaze stared up at Isis, who had been holding onto her, shaking her, and calling her name to wake her. The spirit showed a great deal of relief and relaxed, her stress and worries immediately fading upon seeing the summoner regain consciousness after that. The memories flooded back. Although, she supposed they were never gone. Just paused for that short moment. She winced and held a hand to her head. The horrible migraine was back. An ache of the mind that was unnatural and only occurred when that one spirit was involved. It was worse that time. She could hardly even think straight. "Is everyone all right?" Samira asked Isis, slowly, her sentence broken between words with each pounding sensation through her brain.

The spirit removed her hold and allowed Samira to sit up on her own. "Yes. Janus removed us all. The star creature is even free of its cage." Isis motioned over towards Zachary, who was suffocated by the star critter attached to his face.

"Is that so?" Another wince as another wave of pain went through her skull. "I am glad then." Concerned, but glad. She doubted Apophis had freed the critter himself. If his power had even hit that cage he probably would have just destroyed the creature instead. So did that mean the snake witch had been destroyed and her magic dissolved? Or did she just decide to retreat and try to steal the creature another day? With her luck, it was the latter. Zachary would likely end up having to fend her off himself another day, and quite possibly alone. Perhaps those were worries for another time though. Her hand went towards where she had been impaled earlier. The wounds were gone, with no scars to be seen. Although, the same could not be said for her clothes that now had an obvious holes in them. Of course.

Leo's comment had been overheard. It was hard not to hear it. Samira felt a sense of guilt at what had happened, but at the same time, they did succeed. She couldn't feel too bad about the results and putting them all in danger, however unintentional. In a way, one could say she was allowed a mistake or two in order to catch up to Zachary's counter. It was only fair. "Yes, I do apologize for that." Samira began to say as she forced herself to stand up. She was fine physically for the most part, of course. It was just the overwhelming power of the migraines dazing her and making her feel and move sluggishly. If she didn't know any better she would have assumed her head would explode and split open at any moment. "That spirit taking form and as much power as he did was unintentional. I can only be grateful that everyone was able to escape the effects of it."

(Word Count: 735
Samira Total: 2743)

Despite the star's squirming, Zachary was able to stand slowly as Leo and Grizzly -- as now an adorable teddy bear version-- listened to Samira. The sorceress was indeed powerful, especially to conjure such a powerful spirit. Despite the overkill method, it saved their lives, and likely defeated Medusa. Or at least, so was the popular opinion...

"It's okay. I'm grateful," Zachary said and bowed his head in gratitude to Samira. She was incredible to his eyes. She commanded such powerful spirits and had some incredible magic of her own. Whether it was a part of her own or some extension from her summons, it was impressive. By then, also a shimmer of light appeared upon Zachary's shoulder. With a hoot, Nyx once again reappeared with a light flap of her wings.

"Impressive... if a bit excessive," the owl said, having observed a bit.

Still in his arms, Astral let out a happy chirp at the appearance of Nyx. Fwuffy biwrd! he cooed, reaching his tiny arms towards Nyx, who remained out of his reach as Zachary held him.

Nyx gave an annoyed glare at the star, hating to be considered fluffy.

"I see... " Leo said as he paid his due respect to Samira, his arms folded against his chest in a more neutral interest. "No wonder you are so revered among the spirits. You're reputation is well deserved. "

However-- at that moment as they were all readjusting to moments of peace, a glow came from Zachary's pocket. It was from the mysterious key that belonged to Minu. In a matter of seconds, t he same glow of the key grew brighter-- and there appeared Minu in a flurry of starlight. She appeared them, her expression calm and serene as she opened her eyes to see the group of spirits and wizards-- and the star fairy in hand.

"You kept your word... you saved the star," Minu spoke almost surprised. "I had my doubts but, I thank you for doing the right thing and valuing that creature's life."

Zachary smiled at her as she appeared. "Of course. We all helped. We would do it again anytime,"

Curious by the appearance of the celestial woman, the star let out a soft coo. Curious, he floated up out of Zachary's arms and towards her. He softly circled her, then let out a soft cheer in telepathy for all to hear-- showing he had either knew or trusted her instinctively. With now a sweet smile, making her cuter than serious-- she reached up to pat the star critter on the head. "I am glad you are safe as well, my shining star. I am sorry I couldn't reach you till now. " she explained. The star giggled at the caress, which was adorable to witness.

Minu turned to the two wizards, her tone truly grateful. "You have my gratitude. Thank you, wizards. Now I can safely return him to his home in the galaxy beyond." she explained. "I know this is sudden, but this will keep him safe and--"

Somehow, the notion of going with her was not lost on Astral. But what he did was indeed the opposite to be expected. As if repulsed by the idea, he let out a soft squeal then fluttered away from Minu. The star immediately hovered away and soon plopped right on top of Zachary's head, almost knocking the poor boy off balance.

Minu looked surprised as she saw the reaction the star fairy shown. While clearly, Minu was a familiar presence and caring soul to return him home... he didn't want to go, preferring Zachary over Minu. She blinked at the sight of the star critter so comfortable on top of Zachary's head as if he sensed he would be separated from him and didn't want that.

"Oh... um, so you become attached to him? Though... I suppose you did save him and vise versa. No... that's right. A star fairy giving part of his magic to another is certainly not done by those it wouldn't trust. You two must have become quite close. " she mused, more to herself than anything else.

"Wait a minute," Zachary said, glaring at Minu, "You mean you watched the whole time and didn't help?!"

A red-colored hue crossed Minu's face, despite the tones of blue that surrounded her. Clearly, she was put in an awkward situation.

WC: 731

The understanding of them all was appreciated greatly. The compliments were uncomfortable, however. In a way they were perhaps correct, but in another they were completely wrong. There was nothing impressive about what had happened in her eyes. Just errors that should have been frowned upon. She was supposed to be one of the most powerful mages in the world and had a respected title to go with that no less. Yet, she had the same issues she had prior to becoming who she currently was. One could argue that it allowed for her continued growth. There was always something to learn and improve on. Challenges would always exist. Samira welcomed those opportunities for everyone, including herself. She just wished her errors and misjudgements didn't also happen to affect others.

Zachary was lucky. No. She was lucky that nothing more serious had happened to the boy due to her flaws. It was because of that she couldn't very well completely accept their words. It wasn't deserved. Samira looked at them all, frowning, but said nothing. She didn't want to disrespect their opinions or create more awkwardness than there already was. A bow of the head was all that was given as acknowledgement towards their comments before she finally said the words "Thank you for your understanding."

Thankfully there was not much time for them to think more of the subject. Minu, the spirit that was contained in the mysterious key that had been found on the same meteorite that contained the star fairy, resummoned herself. She thanked them all for keeping their word and rescuing the creature. The interaction between the spirit and the star critter, while adorable, more importantly served as proof that she was not yet another soul that was attempting to use the creature for their own malicious agenda. That was that then. The mission had been a success, the star critter and Minu could go back to wherever in the universe they came from, Zachary could go back to his guild, and Samira could finally get back to her still ongoing mission in Joya.

Those plans apparently changed suddenly when the star creature left the spirit and returned to Zachary, seemingly displeased with the idea of leaving their world and, as a result, leaving Zachary as well. Well, that was something for them to work out. She saw no point in being there further besides to listen to the conversation to see how it went out of simple curiosity. Then Minu said something that was not lost on her or even Zachary. She knew that the star fairy had given some of its power to Zachary to heal him. At first, Samira had just assumed that Minu could sense it, but the spirit's face had reddened, clearly embarrassed at having been caught when Zachary called her out instead of giving a logical explanation as a counter.

Samira wasn't angry at Minu for having not helped.  Perhaps she couldn't. Perhaps she needed to see for herself what kind of person Zachary was. There were a lot of explanations as to why she didn't lift so much as a finger to aid them or free the creature from its prison. She was also given credit for feigning surprise that the group of mages and spirits had been successful with the task. Now if only her mouth hadn't given her away. "Do not be angry with her, Zachary." Samira told him calmly in order to lessen his anger towards the strange spirit. "Being able to see does not mean that she had the power to help. If she could and chose not to then there was a good reason for it. She pleaded for you to save the creature, so I would assume that she was not sitting back eating snacks while watching like many of my own spirits do on occasion."

Samira's emerald eyes shifted and stared at Minu. The stare was not angry but it did have a piercing look, as if she was trying to see through any sort of lie that might be told next. "Now I am curious. Please explain why you remained idle."

(Word Count: 690
Samira Total: 3422)

The fact Samira stood up for Minu's moment of vulnerability was appreciated by the spirit, and Zachary too calmed down. He wasn't in particularly mad at her but felt he needed an explanation. If she had the power to observe, could she have been summoned-- but then again, they had no contract forge for him to summon her like other spirits. Still, on Zachary's side of things, he was up against a wall for Leo to summon himself over to help them.

Minu more serene demeanor indeed changed to an embarrassed one, showing more emotion than she had allowed before. "It's not like I was concerned for your well being. If you failed to save the star, then I would of had to spend my power excessively to intervene. Still... I couldn't say what your intentions were either, so I observed you. So what? It's not like I cared about you one way or the other..." she said, her tone a bit more defensive than necessary.

A sigh escaped Zachary, pretty much able to tell she still seemed to care a bit. "You are not a very good liar..." Zachary commented, followed by a soft coo of agreement by the Star Fairy.

"Sh-Shut up!" Minu shouted, her face showing a bit redder. After a moment, she turned to Samira and then glanced at Zachary. "Regardless, you acted selflessly for the star's interest. For that, I thank you. If the star truly trusts you so much, far be it from me to separate you."

Aye! the star cheered atop Zachary's head.

"Thank you Minu. I promise, I'll take good care of him. You can count on me," Zachary replied, followed by Leo and Grizzly joining his side to vouge for him.

Composing herself, Minu regarded Zachary as a kind person. "Very well... that being the case, I intend to keep tabs on you and keep an eye on you both. For that," Minu then extended a finger to Zachary, pointing to him. "I shall allow you to be the holder of my key. You may use it, for battle or your safety-- but I trust you will use it with respect and to enforce the safety to your new friend."

Zachary blinked at this, as he took out the mysterious key of Minu's. Though he was calm, he smiled broadly. "O-Of course. Thank you Lady Minu! I swear I will take good care of both of them. I promise."

Despite her seemingly cold and stern front, she finally melted to a small smile on her face. "Very well. I shall continue to watch from the stars. Be warned, friends of the star-- not just that one witch will seek out that creature. Others are sure to follow-- so be mindful of whom you share his secret to..." Minu said, her form shimmering. With those final words, the blue-haired spirit vanished back to the cosmos she came from.

Bwye-bwye! the star cooed cutely with small bits of broken words.

Taking the star off his head, Zachary held him in his arms as he approached Samira. "You really are incredible, so thank you for helping me. I mean it." Zachary said, relieved the danger was over.

The little star giggled and reached out with his little arms to Samira. While he did save Zachary with healing magic-- another question mark to the little critter, he seemed to like Samira just as much as Zachary. Enough to express his joy appropriately to the sorceress.

WC: 581

Minu's reaction was an odd one. The spirit seemed more embarrassed than anything but not for the original reason of having been caught sitting idly by while she and Zachary did all the work with rescuing the star fairy. The emerald gaze of Samira softened, but really it was more because she lost focus on being suspicious of anything than anything else. If she didn't know any better she would have thought the star spirit had some kind of weird crush on Zachary even if the two had just met that same day. The words obviously didn't indicate as such, but they were said in such a way that a label existed for that sort of person, or in that case, being. A label within a collective of categories that Samira would have continued to be unaware of if not for some of her own celestial spirits knowing the terms for whatever reason. Was Minu a tsundere? Or maybe it was one of those other labels within the same group. Whatever the case, Samira continued standing there, watching, listening, and beginning to wonder why she was doing so. The time to leave had come. Nothing was stopping her from slipping away and getting back to her mission in Joya while Zachary and Minu were occupied. But, that would be rude, wouldn't it? She really should check on everyone back in town that had their seemingly normal peaceful day ruined by a witch and her naga army. That and probably report what went on in the underground tunnels. And a lot of other things that crossed her mind and ended up being added to the increasingly growing list of things to do before she could get back to work.

Samira withheld the exasperated sigh that wanted to escape. Minu had departed from the mortal realm, but not without first giving a warning. It made sense. The witch was still out there, true, but there would be others that would take interest in the strange alien creature for many reasons. She obviously couldn't be there to stop those dangers from happening every time. Zachary would have to grow in power and experience as a mage. Surely those within Fairy Tail would be able to help him do so. Or at the very least be able to deal with the next danger in her place.

The Goddess' thoughts paused when Zachary approached closer and mentioned her being incredible while also thanking her. She'd approve of his gratitude. The description of incredible made her cringe, however. She was still too disappointed in herself to take it seriously, even if she didn't want to completely dismiss his opinion. A frown was all she could give as a response. Words that could be made into a reply were not volunteering to be said. Instead she turned her gaze on the star fairy, who was giggling and reaching his small arms towards her. The frown on her face became a small smile for a moment, and she reached out to pat the star creature on the head. "You have become more trouble than I had first imagined you being." It was a mild tease referencing everything that had already come to pass with the creature's very short existence in that world. There was going to be much more to follow. Of that there was no doubt in her mind.

"We should get back to town and make sure everything is fine there," Samira stated, taking her eyes off the star fairy and taking a step back. Back to being serious it was. "Reporting everything that has transpired to the local guards and stationed knights should also be done. They would want to know the cause of chaos within their city and I am sure would also want to know who to look for if the snake witch were to ever come back." After saying that, the teal-haired woman turned around and began walking the way towards town where it all had originally started. It was something she had already set her mind to do so she didn't particularly see the point in waiting for Zachary to reply. Besides, she was walking at a slow pace. He could easily keep up with her if he decided to tag along.

(Word Count: 711
Samira Total: 4133)

Zachary couldn't help but smile and despite the woman's expression and words, he couldn't help but admire her strength and experience. Despite her humility, something Zachary could identify with, he had got to fight alongside one of the wizard saints-- one of the strongest among them. As far as he knew, she was a hero even beyond any legend in Fairy Tail. She patted the star on the head, a coo of excitement echoing from him as she did so. Heheheeh! Tickles! Tickels! the star chirped.

With her words, Zachary followed. She was right. There was a lot to report to both the guild and the knights. Oh god-- he thought. If his mother caught wind of this event, she might give him grief later on. His mother, after all, was a Celestial Wizard in hire by the Knights. That made him frown a bit, and hope he wouldn't get another 'leave fairy tail and join the knights' talk.

As she walked at a steady pace, Zachary realized something important-- and a golden opportunity before him as he watched her turned back. Placing Astral on his head for a safe place, he gripped his fists in determination. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he couldn't pass it up. It was not the time to be shy. He had to act now or he might regret it forever.

He quickly caught up to her, with Leo, Grizzly and Nyx behind him.

"Lady Samira, wait please! I---" his words caught in his throat for a moment as her back was turned. He hestiated briefly, but swallowed his pride to do it.

He fell to his knees before her and bowed low, his hands on the ground as if he was a lowly servant. "P-Please, MAKE ME YOUR APPRENTICE!!" he said aloud, probably a bit too loud for Samira's preference as anyone nearby might take notice.

His spirits behind him were in no doubt surprised by Zachary's sudden plea and him on hands and knees in a begging gesture. It was much like an eastern tradition to show submission to one's superior lord. Astral, atop Zachary's head, looked confused by Zachary's sudden gesture as he blinked at his submissively hung head.

"I--- I want to be a great wizard like you. I know you have your reasons and stuff, but I learned my magic alone, with very little guidance. And you're a summoner, with such a deep bond and connection to your spirits. I can't help but admire that and you are even strong on your own.  I can learn so much stronger magic with your help. Please-- will you be my teacher?! " he begged.

To make the situation even cuter/pathetic-- not knowing why he was doing it, the star fairy mimicked the same begging position atop Zachary's head with a soft coo.

Leo just crossed his strong arms and closed his eyes, pretending he was not seeing this. "Oh, brother..." he growled.

Needless to say, the whole situation would be embarrassing even to bystanders who might pass by. But still, it showed how serious and committed he was to want to be Samira's student-- if she would grant him the honor.

WC: 532

It was a curious thing. Zachary had called out to her and pleaded for her to wait. For what reason she couldn't begin to wonder. She wasn't a mind reader, and as far as she was concerned anything he might have wanted to say could have been done while walking back to the cafe. It was the way he had spoken though that was most curious. Had another problem been added to their day in those few short seconds that needed to be addressed before they had a chance to relax? Or was it something else?

To her surprise what had been on his mind was something completely different than she expected. Very different. The moment she stopped her walking and turned around to face the teenager he had got on his knees and bowed down to her, as if he were some lowly peasant bowing before and begging for mercy from someone of a higher station within society. Samira didn't know what to make of it. Her mind immediately went blank at the sight. His plea for her to make him her apprentice was shouted, loudly, and awkwardly. It was... embarrassing more than anything really. Puzzling even. The normal way of speaking would have sufficed... without the bowing as well, of course. Someone bowing down to her in such a way most certainly was a first. While she could understand the respect behind such a... traditional position, it wasn't something she expected of others to show her when in her presence or requesting something of her. Zachary was a strange boy. Kind hearted and was able to show humility, but still strange nonetheless if he thought his display was necessary.

The more experienced summoner remained silent. Her mind was still drawing a blank on what to say or how to react properly. A tumbleweed rolling through to mark the awkward moment would not have been out of place. Strangely enough, her mind was also quiet. Her spirits had nothing to say at all, most likely from being too stunned themselves, or the more vocal ones having checked out before that moment. Isis had moments ago when Samira had started to walk off. Part of her wished the spirit had stayed to take over talking since she seemed incapable of uttering a single syllable, yet another part was thankful for the spirit being gone if only so she couldn't see the look on her face.

Samira continued to stand there and listen as Zachary added on more words to his plea for apprenticeship under her. Oh, dear. He really did think too much of her, didn't he? After her mistake earlier she would have thought his view of her lowered quite a bit, but it seemed to have the opposite effect entirely. She supposed even with that error she still had things she could teach and mentor him on. He could even learn to not make the same errors as she did. That was a positive spin in its own way. His request also reminded her that she had been thinking the same thing as him much earlier that day. Not that she be the teacher per say, but that he needed guidance in general as well as training. It wouldn't hurt to attempt to guide him. She did need to start somewhere if she truly wanted to encourage others to learn from their own experience and actions as well as her own. Maybe she could even pass what she had learned from her own past unofficial mentor.

"Your request is humbling, Zachary." Samira said with sincerity. She appreciated his words, and she did not sense any sort of deceit within them just to gain favor. Granted without using her Truth ability she was relying on instinct there, but from what she had already seen of his personality she trusted her intuition. "However, before I can reply further to your request, could you please stand? There is no need to bow or be on your knees for me. Not even to make such a request." The other Wizard Saints and even Fiore's royalty? Well he could figure out their preference whenever he met them.

Samira's seriousness faltered then. The awkwardness had finally gotten to her and making it nearly impossible to keep a straight face. She smiled timidly. "I admit it is a little embarrassing and very unnecessary, even if I do admire your humility and appreciate the gesture."

(Word Count: 739
Samira Total: 4872)

Leo would be in 100% complete agreement with Samira's thoughts in that this was over the top and unessisary. Even Nyx shook her head with a light hoot as Zachary bowed before the elegant sorceress and summoner. Still, the spirits kept quiet too as Zachary and the star were acting foolishly subservient.

Samira's words was enough to make Zachary snap out of his habit as he raised his head a little, to see how she was. A gulp escaped him as he slowly rose up to his feet. "Eh... sorry. Guess I may of went overboard," Zachary said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But... I really wanna do better as a mage. I never had any real formal training and if you could teach me... I can be 10 times the mage I am now. At least! So please?" he asked.

The star was still on his head, but peeked his head back a bit to see Samira. The look on Samira's face was indeed a curiosity to the little creature as he cocked his head with a coo.

The closest thing to a teacher he had was his mother and a traveling wizard in his home town. While both were kind and shared what they knew, they both had limits and Zachary longed to complete his training better to improve himself. At best, the skills he had right now, were all things he developed on his own. With a proper teacher, his efforts could become far more capable.

WC: 252

Oh, yes. He did go overboard just a bit. Samira simply nodded in agreement to that. She didn't feel anything more needed to be said about that since he understood that fact quickly, and she felt it was best to move on from the topic to save them both from any further embarrassment. Instead she listened to him further explain that he wanted to be a better mage and he thought getting training from her would do him wonders. Him stating that he would be ten times the mage he was right then after being trained by her was a laughable exaggeration. He was either not giving himself full credit or he was giving her too much. With the latter he had forgotten that just because she had power at her disposal it did not mean she was a great teacher of any kind. He would have been her very first "apprentice"! With the former he just lacked experience. Zachary had potential, and with spirits like Leo at his side he would not be led astray or be without any guidance at all. Even without her he would one day become a very well known mage and summoner throughout the world.

At the end of those thoughts Samira concluded that didn't mean he shouldn't get help along the way. Someone could have thought the same thing about her way back when and yet she still had guidance and help from those around her. It allowed her to grow to where she was currently and kept her from straying far off the path of "good" as well. It certainly would have been a shame if Zachary found a different teacher that took him to a darker path. Such a shame indeed. After the snake witch having already fooled them both, it was possible it would happen again with someone else and in the end create a darker mage than who was standing there that day.

"I do not know about becoming ten times the mage you are now, but I can assure that I will do my best to help you better yourself as a mage and summoner. I have had others do the same for me. It is only right that I repay that debt by doing the same for someone else. Just please do not let having a Wizard Saint be your mentor go to your head. I do not promise easy or quick success and access to power, and I certainly do not know everything. Always keep the wisdom and experience of your friends and fellow guild members in mind. Fairy Tail has much to teach you that I cannot." That much was true, and she didn't want Zachary to forget it. Samira was not a Fairy Tail mage and never had been one. Her past and most of her experience came from Lamia Scale with Sabertooth still having much to teach and shape her further. Still, without having been in Zachary's guild at all she still knew it could provide so much to a mage. It had its own way of making some of the strongest mages in the world exist that she would never know. What the people had to offer there was just as important to becoming a better mage. With both that and her own lessons to offer, Zachary would soon be twenty times the mage!

(Word Count: 562
Samira Total: 5434)