My Hair!

After the commotion of beatings and hastily given explanations caused by the brunette's words died down, the others are able to quickly catch up to her. It's decided by Erza that they needed to get Krysti clothed properly since nothing the woman owned would fit her.

So Natsu is charged to lead the way through the woods to his home. Erza follows after him with Gray supporting Krysti behind her. Lucy brought up the rear while Happy flies all around.

Not much happens during their trip until Lucy is captured by a Forest Vulcan that is quickly chased off by a couple of swords, an ice spike, and a fireball aimed at its head. It let her go as it dodged the attacks and scampered away just as suddenly as it appeared. The appearance of the large ape left the brunette in shock, Natsu never even mentioned to her that something like this lives in the forest.

It made her early morning trips into the woods seem a lot more sinister. Erza, seeing the look on her older friend's face, realized that Krysti has never seen a Vulcan before and felt that it was up to her to inform the larger woman about the creatures. They started walking again as the red-head began her lecture.

At the part about how they Take Over a person's body, Krysti started shivering so much that Gray thought that he was the cause of it. He backed off a step, but still kept his hands on her to act as support. It took a moment for Krysti to understand what Gray was doing and whispered a few words to him.

An understanding expression appears on his face as she explains how their Take Over ability reminds her of demon possession. Gray steps closer to Krysti to support her like before. The group kept pace with the brunette and with frequent rest stops, were able to make it to Natsu's house within an hour.

Inside, the girls quickly work to get their friend dressed since she is weakened from the journey through the woods. Once she felt appropriately clothed, Krysti plops down onto the couch that has been acting as her bed and lets out a huge sigh of relief.

She is feeling quite drained from the trek and is grateful for the rest. Natsu and Happy, feeling hungry, were cooking up some food while the others were exploring the Dragon Slayer's home.

Erza was giving the home a thorough inspection while Gray and Lucy only a cursory one. The two were fairly sure that the only reason why the house looks as clean as it is has to do with Krysti. On the other hand, the brunette was grimacing at the mess Natsu and Happy have made of the house while she was unconscious. As everyone finally settles down, Krysti asks for the entire story of what went on with the war.

It took a long while, but finally, the story in its entirety was revealed to the brunette. She sits on the couch in silence, absorbing the barrage of information that she was given. A few minutes of no one doing anything and Natsu can't stand it anymore. The retelling of what happened with Phantom Lord has rekindled his earlier rage and he needs to let off some steam.

Literally.

Swiftly hopping out of his hammock with a growl, he heads towards his homemade weights and starts working out to vent out his frustration. Gray scoffs at Natsu's lack of emotional control which of course riles up the irritable Dragon Slayer.

Just as they start to get into a fight, Erza grabs them both by the back of the neck and smashes their heads together so hard that a visible bump forms on their heads. Lucy, Happy, and Krysti all wince in sympathy at the brutal way the fight was stopped.

Both boys are collapsed on the floor with their rear ends up in the air. As they lay there recovering from that blow, Erza calmly sits back down on the couch next to the eldest of their group.

"Was that really necessary?" Krysti asks as she worriedly looks over at the prone bodies of the boys. She gets up off the couch with a grunt before making her way over to check on them.

Lucy sighs heavily before answering, "Unfortunately yes, it is. Once those two start going at each other, nothing short of Erza beating them up like that will stop them."

The brunette shakes her head as she replies, "No. I mean was using all that force necessary? It seemed to be a lot more than needed to stop them." By this point, she is kneeling next to the guys and gingerly checking their bumps.

"Just about." Happy answers flippantly.

"Almost nothing short of knocking them out can stop Natsu and Gray from fighting each other. And that only works for a short while. They are idiots and quickly forget about being beaten up until Erza goes to beat them up again." Krysti purses her lips at that answer, clearly unhappy about the situation.

Almost in unison, both the males let out pained groans as they move to sit upright. Gray, who sat up next to Krysti, was the first person she checked on to make sure he isn't going to have a concussion. Satisfied that the only thing wounded on the ice mage was his pride, she turns to the Dragon Slayer who is rubbing his sore head with a pout.

Krysti's worried expression softens as Natsu scoots closer to her after she beckons to him. Lucy and Happy share a smug smirk with each other that goes unnoticed by everyone else as they watch the larger woman gently comb her fingers through the fire mage' pink hair.

After making sure he will be alright, the brunette goes to tuck her hair behind her ear when a gasp escapes her lips. Everyone turns to see a look of shock on her face as she sits frozen in place.

"What's wrong?" Gray was the first to ask.

She turns her shocked gaze to the ice mage before answering his question with one of her own.

"What happened to my hair?" Krysti asks with trepidation.

Everyone exchanges looks, unsure how to break the news when Happy pipes up, "You burned it off when you burned up the entire Phantom guildhall."

An evil look enters his eyes when he next says, "You burned off all your clothes and bandages too. You were naked!" He then starts giggling madly at the look of horrified embarrassment that Krysti now has due to his bluntness.

"I-… Wha…? How? What?" the brunette manages to stammer out after a moment of shocked silence. To her relief, Erza rushes to explain the situation which stops the larger woman's imagination from running wild.

"Fire mages have to wear special fire resistant clothes when they are practicing their magic or otherwise they would all be running around in less clothes than Gray." She says in a lecturing tone.

"Hey!" Gray cries out, feeling offended about being singled out until he looks down to see that he is yet again in just his underwear.

"Shit." He curses under his breath before standing up to go search for his clothes, again.

Ignoring his protest, Erza continues on with her explanation, "You may have been unclothed but like a true gentleman, Elfman offered his shirt to help keep your modesty intact."

"Hey! I offered first, well at least I would have if my shirt wasn't missing." Gray grumbles out, feeling slighted that his attempt of an act of kindness wasn't being mentioned.

Turning wide eyes toward the ice mage, Krysti asks in a small voice, "You and Elfman both saw me like that?" A sudden blooming of red on Gray's cheeks was her answer as he looks away in embarrassment. Gulping hard, Krysti closes her eyes and takes in large breaths of air in a visible effort to control her emotions.

Lucy and Erza both share a glance, knowing what the brunette is going through. Happy and Natsu look confused at what is going on, the two not understanding how finding out that people seeing her naked without her consent can be a jarring event for a woman. A moment later, Krysti stops her deep breathing and looks up at everyone present.

A sudden mischievous twinkle in her eyes is all the warning they have before she locks eyes with Gray and asks him with a seductive smirk, "So what did you think? Liked what you saw?" She leans back with her arms supporting her from the back in a pose that emphasized her body in a way that made it clear to the ice mage exactly what she meant.

Lucy understandably makes an indignant squawk at the brunette's implications while Erza's eyes open wide in surprise.

Gray splutters in shock, not able to make out a coherent sentence and becomes a blushing, fumbling mess which causes Krysti to giggle madly. Still confused at what is going on, Natsu nonetheless smiles in smug pleasure at how uncharacteristically out of sorts his rival/best friend is in. He also feels proud of his roommate at how easily she is able to make the ice mage lose his cool in ways that he can't.

According to Natsu, anyone who can mess with Gray is alright in his book. Of course, just from the introduction of the motion sickness curing tea, Krysti has already cemented herself in his good graces and every day that he has spent living with her has only reinforced those feelings. Gray gives up in trying to defend himself and apologize at the same time and just turns around with a loud huff as his face and neck are red from blushing so hard.

As her giggles die down, Krysti turns to Erza and asks, "Is there anything else that first time fire mages are known for?" Going with the flow, Erza continues her explanation which catches Lucy off-guard as the blonde didn't expect what Krysti asked earlier to be just glossed over.

"Also, first time fire users are notorious for singeing or burning a lot of their own hair if they have big bursts of fire before they learn any control like you did. Only you did not have just a big burst of fire, yours was massive on a scale that would even be difficult for a Wizard Saint to replicate. To be completely honest, everyone who witnessed it are astounded that you were able to survive such a feat. Natsu is the most powerful fire mage that any of us know and yet on your first showing of magic you were able to completely outdo his most powerful attacks."

She pauses to let the information sink in for the other-worlder. The red-head and the rest of Fairy Tail had days to deal with the information while Krysti hadn't. Everything is still new to her despite being on Earthland for close to a month. Just the idea alone that she could have magic is a foreign concept to the brunette much less that she had one of the most powerful displays of magic that anyone in the guild has ever seen.

Looking shell-shocked, Krysti asks, "But how can that be? I am not even of this world. Mine is devoid of magic of any sort. How is it that I was able to apparently do something so impressive?"

Erza shakes her head in resignation before answering in a heavy voice, "That I cannot say. Many theories have been made, but all without any definite answers. We mainly believe that it may have something to do with how you came over here. Perhaps the magic that brought you here has been absorbed by your body giving you all this power that you otherwise wouldn't normally have." Lucy at this point jumps into the conversation also wanting to say her theory.

"It could also be that maybe the people of your world have vast potential for magic yet are unable to unlock it since no one believes that magic is real. Without that belief, no matter how strong you are you cannot access any magic. That's how it works here, and with how much in common our two worlds are it very well could be the way it works in your world as well."

Krysti has an unreadable expression on her face as she tries to absorb all the information coming at her. As she runs her hands thru her hair in an attempt to calm herself, deep sorrow fills her eyes as she is reminded that her long hair is now singed short.

She may not be one of those vain women who thinks that appearance is everything, but she was proud of her hair. It was one of the very few things about herself that she thought was beautiful and now that small comfort was gone. Lucy, who may not be as vain as the vapid waifs that she grew up with, still cared about her looks and immediately recognized the expression on the brunette's face.

An idea quickly forms on how she can help the older woman and with a small hop, gets up from the couch and marches over to Krysti. Natsu and Gray lean away as they see the intense look of concentration on the blonde's face.

They both been on the receiving end of a Lucy Kick and would prefer not to go through that again if they can help it. Her hands shoots down in front of the brunette's face and Krysti flinches at the sudden movement as she is snapped out of her thoughts. She looks up questioningly at the younger girl who in return gives her a bright and happy smile.

"Come on, there may not be much that I can do to help you about getting home, but I can at least help you fix your hair." The blue-grey eyes of the brunette dim slightly at those words.

"What can you do besides brush it? It's too short now to do anything really." Lucy giggles brightly despite Krysti's lack of enthusiasm.

"That's what you think. Get up and follow me. I have the solution." The blonde ex-heiress says with a large smile and a wink.

Closing her eyes in defeat, Krysti lets out a long suffering sigh before agreeing, "Fine. Let's see what kind of magic you can whip up to fix this." Krysti ends with a grimace as she holds a lock of her singed hair. With Lucy's help, she gets off of the floor with a grunt and the two females head to the bathroom.

Curious about what is going on, the other four go to the slightly open bathroom door and peek around it. Lucy has Krysti sitting on the edge of the bathtub while looking through her keys. She holds up one with a small cry of triumph.

"Here we go!" She turns away from the brunette and shouts out, "Open a door to the Crab! Cancer!" A bell sounds and a cloud of smoke appears in the bathroom. Krysti reels back, unsure what to expect since she hasn't seen any of the gold key spirits before.

As the smoke clears, a tall thin man with odd hair appears. Krysti gets a weird look on her face as the rest of the man becomes visible. Crab legs jutted out from his back and his hair is in the shape of crab pinchers.

"Ebi." Cancer says in a deep and rich voice. Krysti looks even more confused as she mouths the word ebi.

"Cancer! Thank you for coming!" Lucy exclaims in her bright and bubbly way. "I was wondering if you would please help us with Krysti's hair. Her first showing of fire magic unfortunately burned a lot of it off. Could you please use your special shampoo to restore it?"

"Of course ma'am. What kind of style would you like?" Cancer asks as he twirls his scissors around with a flourish.

Lucy spins back to face the older female and with a cute pose asks, "So what do you think, Krysti? Do you want to go for a new style as well?"

Looking unsure about it all, Krysti answers with uncertainty, "Um, I think just growing back my hair will be enough for now." Lucy looks disappointed but perks back up almost immediately.

"Ok! We can work with that. Shall Cancer have it grow back to its original length? Or do you want it to try something different?" She asks with a hand on her hip.

"I can have it grow even longer than before?" Krysti asks with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. Lucy closes her eyes with a large smile.

"Of course! Cancer can do that in a snap." Lucy declares while snapping her fingers for emphasis. Krysti smiled softly as she looked towards the Celestial Spirit.

"Um, Cancer-san I would really appreciate it if you could help me grow my hair back. If you don't mind that is?" The crab man smiles slightly before shifting into a new pose.

"No problem, ebi." He says with determination. Krysti looks a bit uncomfortable as both the blonde and the crab are both posing like they are on a photo shoot.

"So, uh, what do I do?" the brunette asks, still looking unsure.

"Turn around, ebi." Cancer says as he moves towards the older woman. Krysti casts a glance towards Lucy who gives her a thumbs up for reassurance before complying with the Spirit's request. The boys wandered off feeling bored while Erza walks further into the bathroom, intrigued by the Spirit's abilities.

Minutes later a loud squeal of accompanied with loud thank yous catches the attention of the males in the living room. Soon, a much happier but still wobbly brunette walks out with her hair restored. She twirls around with a happy giggle to show off her now even longer hair before she almost falls over.

She catches herself before falling over and lets out a sheepish chuckle as she rubs the back of her neck still grinning widely. Happy laughs at her clumsiness and the boys just have grins of amusement. Her impromptu twirl reveals to the guys that she now has hair that reaches to her bottom and that looks like it's a lot thicker than before.

"Krysti, even though I am glad for your happiness about your newly restored hair, you must be careful since you have yet to recover fully from your ordeal." Erza chides as she walks out of the bathroom with Lucy in tow. The brunette laughs sheepishly again before she carefully moves to the nearest couch to take a seat, but not before grabbing a hairbrush from the top of the dresser.

The rest of the day, the group of friends stayed at Natsu's home to make sure that their newest friend is resting properly so she can recover sooner. The girls spent at least a couple of hours playing with Krysti's new hair and putting it up in all sorts of styles that she could wear it in. After some arguing, a simple braid down her back ended up being the winner much to Erza's delight. The boys were overjoyed when the girls finished as they were bored out their minds since they don't care about hair styles and the like.