Chapter 1: These moments fall apart, we've walked this path before
Summary:
"The truth is, I didn't actually die that day."
Chapter Text
"Lisanna! You have to wake up, Lisanna! No, why are you glowing? What's happening? No, don't leave me! You can't disappear on me! Please don't go, Lisanna! Stay here with me!"
All she could think about was the pain. As her consciousness returned to her, she could only begin to cry from the pain. Her body felt like she had been pummeled by falling debris, but the worst of the excruciating pain was in the left side of her upper body. It hurt. Gods, it hurt. It took a while for her mind to fully remember what it was that had happened, why she was in so much pain.
That's right. She was on a mission with Mira and Elf. It hadn't been going well, and Elf decided to try and attempt a Full-body Takeover of the beast they were sent to kill. But, he hadn't succeeded, and the beast took over him instead. She had attempted to reach her brother from inside the beast's control. But it didn't work. The beast attacked her with its massive, clawed paw. She remembered flying through the air, the warmth of her blood splattering over her body as she entered the forest from the treetops. Breaking her fall, she crashed through the branches and landed on the cold, hard ground. She remembered the blurry vision of her sister kneeling over her before she had lost complete control of her vision. She remembered her sister screaming and begging, but she couldn't quite make out what her sister had been saying.
Well, she didn't think it mattered anymore. She loved her brother and sister, Natsu and Happy, her friends, her guild, but she was just in too much pain to care that much. She was in so much pain that she didn't think she'd possibly be able to live much longer anyway. She wasn't sure if the warm liquid on her face was blood or tears, but she didn't care either. Her eyes weren't open, or if they were, she still couldn't see, but that was okay. She had thought that dying would be scarier. Perhaps it was the shock of it all that made her so accepting of what was happening. She took a deep breath of air and waited for death to cease her being.
She waited, but it didn't happen. It didn't make sense. Surely she was going to die soon. Finally, she got tired of waiting and tried to open her eyes. Green... She was looking up at the sky, she was sure of it, but... Why was it green? She didn't understand what it meant. Was she starting to hallucinate? No, that didn't make much sense either.
As time continued to pass, she realized she wasn't going to die right away. There was a chance she could live, but she had to move. But, it hurt to move. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to blink. But even though it hurt, she realized that she didn't truly want to die. It was the pain talking, not her. So she started off slow.
Little by little, she moved her body until she was fully able to stand. She started with her fingers, willing them to brace herself. Then she moved onto her hands, planting her palms firmly on the ground. When she started to lift her head, a burning pain in her shoulder made her cry out in agony. A trail of blood and tears fell from her face as she hoisted herself onto her elbows and sat up. Her left shoulder was torn open, she could see it now that she was sitting up. Elf's attack had clawed open her whole shoulder starting at her collarbone, and even a little down her arm as well. She thought about how to make a tourniquet for her shoulder, but there just wasn't enough room to make one above her wound. Not that she had much cloth that was blood free anyway. Elfman's attack had also torn her clothing, which was further torn apart by her fall through the trees. Her dress was hanging on by the thread in some places. She couldn't feel much of her arm from the shoulder down anyway, so she didn't think she could properly make a tourniquet, even if she had the material to do so.
Getting to her feet was the easiest part. Her legs were equally covered in cuts and bruises from her fall, but luckily, it seemed that she didn't land in a way that had broken any bones in her legs or feet. Or maybe the adrenaline of her second wind was numbing the pain so she could press forward.
She looked around, only now realizing she wasn't in the forest anymore. She was in a desert that she had no memory of traveling to. The thought of Mira and Elfman bringing her here crossed her mind, but then where were they? They couldn't have, she decided. They would've never left her here alone. Wherever she was now, she was brought here alone. Which meant they were probably worried sick about her. Oh, she had to get home and find them. To tell them she was okay.
But, which way was home?
She had been walking all throughout the night. She had chosen to go east, which had been the location of the nearest town before she awoke in the desert. She walked until she was certain she couldn't anymore, and then a miracle appeared.
A large building buried inside of twisting vines of what appeared to be a green tree trunk was suddenly in the middle of the desert. Her guild's insignia was displayed in the middle of two of the vines above the door. It was her guild. But, it didn't resemble the little guildhall she knew so well. And she certainly wasn't in Magnolia. As she stumbled towards the doors, she wondered when they had built a second location and why she didn't know about it.
She stumbled through the door, her tired and bleeding body finally ready to give up on her. "It's my guild..." She whispered to herself as she collapsed onto the floor, unaware of the room of shocked eyes on her.
Lisanna awoke in a nice, comfortable bed. It was a welcome surprise on her beaten body, the pain of which had been lessened by what she could only assume were painkillers. She panicked a bit when she realized that she couldn't see out of her left eye, but quickly relaxed when she felt a bandage there.
"Oh, don't strain yourself! Elfman, come quick, she's awake!"
Lisanna smiled when she heard her sister's voice. This guildhall must've contacted her siblings while she was unconscious. That was good, they knew she was okay. Two figures appeared by her bedside, both crying heavily.
One was a tall and muscular man with white hair and dark blue eyes. He looked like Elfman, but she quickly noticed a few differences. First; this man wasn't tall enough to be her brother. Elfman's Beast Soul magic affected his height and caused him to grow over seven feet tall. Sure, this man was probably above average in height, but he certainly didn't clear seven feet. Second; he lacked the scars over his exposed arms that Elfman had. Third; his hair was a pure white like snow, unlike the slightly green hue Elfman's had in the sun and certain lighting. Elfman had gotten that from their father, while Mira and Lisanna both got a blueish-purple tint from their mother. Though Mira's was more purple and her own was more blue. His hair was also cut in a bowl cut style, rather than the messy long spikes Elfman usually had.
Speaking of Mirajane; this woman next her greatly resembled her sister, but again there were clear differences. First of which, was of course her snow-white hair. Mira never wore her hair down, she always had it pulled back into a ponytail, but she was wearing it down in wavy curls. Her bangs were pulled up into frontward ponytail. Second; she was lacking the reddish horns that had grown from the sides of Mira's forehead. Third; she was crying, which Mira's magic didn't allow her to do. Fourth; This woman was dressed in a plum colored dress with a lavender trimming, something her gothic-punk sister wouldn't get caught dead in.
Who were these people? Why did they look like her siblings? Why did the woman call the man "Elfman"?
Lisanna started to panic again, trying to struggle out of the bed she was in as they started telling her to calm down. She let out a scream of pain as the wound on her shoulder tore open from her desperate attempt to get away from these people.
"Lisanna, you have to calm down!" Cried the Mira look-alike. "We know you're probably scared and in pain, but we just got you stitched up!" She placed her white gloved hands over the shoulder wound while she yelled at the Elfman look-alike to go get someone.
A short blue-haired woman that closely resembled Levy rolled into the infirmary before Lisanna passed out again.
Lisanna had no clue what to say to these people. She understood a bit more of what was happening now; but only because they had kept her drugged enough not to tear open her stitches, which left her unable to move much of her body.
She was able to gather that she was now somewhere called Edolas. A parallel world nearly identical in appearance to her home of Earthland, but with one major difference. The people of this world weren't born with magic. Instead, they used lacrima to power weapons, vehicles, and anything they could think of too function. Lisanna was in the Edolas's version of Fairy Tail, where many of her guild mates had counterparts, including herself, Elfman, and Mirajane. Edolas's Fairy Tail was a dark guild, on the run from the royal city after the King deemed guilds to be illegal.
In a recent raid by the Royal Knights, Lisanna's Edolas counterpart was killed after she had been caught by the person nicknamed The Fairy Hunter. Apparently, as the guild was fleeing, her counterpart had been captured by the Fairy Hunter and tossed over a cliff after she refused to tell them where her guild was going.
"I can't believe it!" Elfman's counterpart sobbed as he held her in his large arms, gentle not to touch her bandages. "Lisanna's come back to us!"
"To think she survived that terrible fall!" Mirajane's added, wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I thought I'd never see my little sister again!"
Everyone was so glad to see her, that Lisanna just didn't know what to tell them. If she told them all the truth, that she wasn't Lisanna Brose, then it'd be she'd be dead all over again. And Lisanna would be the one responsible for killing her this time. She just couldn't find it in her heart to tell them the truth. She couldn't rip this miracle away from them.
"Please don't ever leave us again, okay?" Mirajane's counterpart pleaded, holding Lisanna's hand in her own. "I don't think I could take it!"
"Oh, Lisanna! I promise, I'll protect you! Don't leave us! Please!" Elfman's sobbed.
"Please, don't cry..." Lisanna told them. "I'm here. I'm... I'm home."
Chapter 2: You've said your lines, now it's
Summary:
"I pretended to be the Edolas's Lisanna."
Chapter Text
Lisanna was finally discharged from the infirmary and was welcomed with a small party by the guild. She did her best to observe them and see how they wanted her to act and respond, but she realized that it wasn't going to be that easy. These people may have looked like her old guild mates and friends from Earthland, but they were very different.
Gray's counterpart was kind of a wuss and was always so cold that he was bundled up in multiple layers. Levy's counterpart was completely different from the Levy that Lisanna was used too. This Levy was born paraplegic and used a mechanized wheelchair to get around. She was vulgar and extremely aggressive and was apparent rivals with a blonde woman named Lucy. She was still a member of Shadowgear with Jet and Droy, but these two were considered the two strongest and dangerous members of Edolas's Fairy Tail.
The most shocking though, was Cana's counterpart. Unlike the loud, outspoken, alcohol lover of Earthland, this Cana was very prim, proper, demure, and mindful. She hated violence and would rather drink tea than alcohol. Even more so, apparently her father was the imprisoned guild master of Edolas's Fairy Tail. Her father was this world's Gildarts! Lisanna had spent years with Earthland Cana and Gildarts, and neither of them had ever mentioned being related.
Lisanna was just lucky that in this version of Fairy Tail, there was no Natsu. If she had to put on an act in front of one more person, especially one she had loved so much... She wouldn't have been able to do it. It was no secret back in Earthland that she and Natsu were close. Apart from Mira and Elf, she spent the most time with Natsu and Happy. She may have only been fifteen, but Lisanna was sure she was in love him. Even more, she believed he may have loved her in return.
Well, not that it mattered anymore, she had to try and forget about Earthland. She had promised to live out her life in Edolas. She had to try and put Mira and Elfman in the past. They probably assumed she had died somehow. That... That was what was best, right? She had unknowingly given back this world's Mira and Elf their little sister back. It was only fair to play out that part now. Lisanna Mesilande Strauss was dead, and that's how it had to be. She was Lisanna Ilse Brose now.
It was useless now. She had to stop. Stop thinking about them for the sake of her own sanity. She had to let Lisanna Strauss die.
It had been a month since Lisanna had awoken in Edolas. She was healing pretty well, but she had lost all vision in her left eye. Actually, it was a miracle she hadn't lost her eye all together. Elfman's attack had clawed a chunk from her shoulder that tore away the red guild mark she had. That had hurt more than anything, not just physically. But Lisanna decided to look at it as the final nail in Lisanna Strauss' coffin. She had chosen a new location and color for her guild mark, one that signified her determination of living out this new life in Edolas.
Things had been getting easier now. Pretending to be Lisanna Brose wasn't as hard as she first expected. Apparently, they were quite similar, which allowed Lisanna to respond to situations the way she would normally without the others getting suspicious. There were times she would act differently, but with the excuse of her memory being hazy on account of falling from that cliff, the others wouldn't press her on things.
The more she learned about Edolas, the easier it was to make sense of this new world. It still felt strange having no magic inside her system, and she certainly didn't understand all these new machines and weapons, but Lisanna had always been a quick learner. She had learned about a new kind of magic here, one that she believed was the answer to how she had gotten here in the first place.
Anima was a type of magic that she had never heard of in Earthland. It functioned as a gateway between this world and her world. The secret of how Anima was activated was kept from the public and removed from any books available, so she wasn't sure how it had opened in the first place. But Lisanna believed that there were tons of little Anima pockets in both worlds that transferred people, places, or things from one to the other. This was how she got here, she theorized. The Anima must've been triggered by Lisanna Brose's death, and it had pulled her from Earthland to fill the void.
"You were never much of a bookworm," Lucy commented, pulling Lisanna away from her thoughts. "Why ya in here so much now?"
Lisanna hummed as she thought of an excuse for the butch blonde. "It's kinda for my own sake," She chuckled slightly. "I've been getting headaches like crazy lately, so being somewhere quiet makes me feel a lot better. Besides, there's still gaps in my memory and reading has been helpful."
"Guess that makes sense," Lucy shrugged. "Still, don't think strainin' your only good eye is a great idea."
Lisanna smiled, "Oh? Under that tough exterior, you're just a big softy, aren't you, Lucy?"
The blonde blushed and scoffed at the notion. "Tsk, forget it, Lis. You wanna fuck up your eye, do whatever ya want."
Lisanna just shook her head and stood up from the library's table. "Well, Levy's not in here, so if you're looking to start another fight with her, you might wanna check the main hall." She walked back over to the shelf she had found the book on Anima and replaced it.
"That bitch is hiding from me now, is she?" Lucy laughed smugly. Then she followed Lisanna with her eyes as she walked towards the exit, "Where you going now?"
"Just to get some fresh air."
"Don't go to far." Lucy frowned. "The Fairy Hunter might be-"
"I'll be careful," Lisanna said. "There's soft side again." She added in a sing-song tone that made Lucy's face flush again.
Lisanna really hadn't meant to wander far. As she left the guild hall, she just walked while she tried to talk herself out of thinking about Earthland. About thinking about how sad her Elfman and Mirajane must've been. About what Natsu and Happy would've been doing at this time. As she tried to chase off the ghosts from her past, she had stumbled across a cliff.
And somehow, even thought she had never been there before, she knew this cliff well. This cliff was the catalyst for her being brought to this world. She knew this cliff was the same one Lisanna Brose had been thrown from. Like a pathetic sailor caught in the trace of a siren's song, Lisanna walked up the length of the cliffside until she was at the very top. Horrid and morbid thoughts filled her mind as she approached the edge.
How long was the fall? How did her body look after she hit the ground? Was her corpse still down there? Did she have time to scream? To realize that she was going to die? What were her final thoughts?
As deep and dark the thoughts were, she didn't have time to dwell on them. She wasn't alone up on the cliffside. In front of her, overlooking the steep drop that had taken the life of Lisanna's counterpart, was a girl a year older than herself. A girl was long green hair she wore in two braids underneath a cowboy hat.
"Bisca? What are you doing?"
"Lis-Lisanna?" Bisca whirled around, looking at her with wide eyes. The main difference between Bisca Mulan and Bisca Zhu, besides the length of their hair, was their eyes. Earthland Bisca's eyes were a deep purple, but here, her eyes were a light magenta. "You shouldn't be up here, it's dangerous." Bisca said, wiping at her eyes, clearly trying to get rid of the tears that were apparent on her cheeks.
"I could say the same for you," Lisanna pointed out. "Why are you up here?"
"I..." Bisca sighed and faced Lisanna fully. "I... I know its stupid but..." She let out a strangled battle cry that reminded Lisanna that Bisca was still just a sixteen year old girl. "Its Alzack, okay? I just can't get his stupid, beautiful face out of my head!"
Lisanna felt like Elfman's claws had tore open her heart. Seriously? She was crying over Alzack? Lisanna was trying so hard to ignore her mourning of losing her past, her siblings, her friends, Natsu and Happy... And here this Bisca was, weeping over a man who was clearly as in love with her as she was him. It was just the same as Earthland. Bisca Mulan and Alzack Connell were the same way.
It was like they were mocking her. Lisanna had been ripped away from everything and everyone she had loved, and this Bisca had the nerve and gall to weep over someone who was still in the same plane of existence? Didn't she know how lucky she was? To never have been robbed of anything?
She was so close to shouting. To screaming at the top of her lungs how stupid Bisca was for being so naive while Lisanna was being strangled by despair. But instead, she swallowed down the unbridled rage and unyielding pain, and forced a smile over her face. Her sharp nails dug into her palms so deep that she could feel blood beginning to pool.
"Y'know, my memory isn't fully restored," Lisanna forced out. "But I think that Alzack shares something in common with you."
Bisca wiped at her eyes before she began to play with the long braid she wore over her shoulder. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean, its clear he looks at you the same way you look at him."
"R-really?" Bisca immediately lit up, joy sparking in her fuchsia eyes.
"He's just too shy to approach you first." Lisanna nodded.
With a bright, new determination, Bisca grinned. "I'm feeling much better! I have something I need to do, thanks for listening, Lisanna!" She gave the shorter girl a side hug, avoiding the bandages that still covered Lisanna's upper torso.
Lisanna watched her go, the emerald hair shining in the sun disappearing down the cliffside. She sighed and followed after her.
It had been nine months since she had arrived in Edolas now. Things were much easier now, Lisanna had fallen into a good rhythm of her new life here. Lisanna now worked behind the bar of the guildhall with Mirajane. At the first she figured she find it boring, not going out on missions, but Lisanna wasn't too disappointed with it. If nothing else, it allowed her to keep an eye on Jet and Droy so that they couldn't bully her brother.
She was in the middle of a conversation with the new couple, Bisca and Alzack when Lucy burst through the doors with Gray on her tail. "The Hunter!" She heaved, leaning on the door while panting. Before the guild started to panic, she continued with a shout. "Gray and I received word that she has attacked Phantom Lord!"
"Fuck!" Levy cursed, wheeling herself over to the transportation machine. "Not Phantom!"
"Are they still there?" Mirajane asked as everyone started to gather their weapons.
"The letter was written in the heat of the attack," Gray said, shivering from the thought. "And the ink was at least a few hours old."
"So maybe?" Jet sneered. "Great."
As the guild was readying to teleport into what may be a bloody battlefield, Lucy tossed Lisanna her staff. Lisanna gripped the blue and gold weapon, running her gloved fingers over the blue gem that allowed Lisanna to change the weapon into any she desired. Truthfully, Lisanna wasn't skilled in weaponry. She had never been allowed to learn from Erza back in Earthland, Mirajane would always start a fight with the redhead otherwise. She wasn't sure what she could do without her magic, oh how she missed the warmth of fur or feathers on her body.
"Lisanna, what are you doing?" Mirajane asked with wide eyes, spotting the weapon in her little sister's gloved fingers.
"I'm getting ready to help?" Lisanna answered.
"You can't!" Mirajane cried, tears already building in her eyes. "Lisanna, the Hunter! She already almost took you from us once, you can't fight again!"
"I have to help! Phantom Lord is one of our closest allies! And if we're going into danger-"
"Lisanna, we can't lose you again!" Mirajane pleaded, holding her sister tightly in her arms. "Please don't leave the safety of the guildhall!"
"I promise." Lisanna said finally. She had meant it as much as it pained her. But, just watching everyone fight outside made her stomach twist and contour with agony. Her new guild, her new family, her new friends, they were all fighting for the freedom that King Faust was taking from the guilds of this land. Earthland's Fairy Tail wouldn't sit back and take it either. That was how she was raised.
So when she watched a bloody and bruised young woman struggling beneath the rubble of her old guildhall, she knew she had to do something. Lisanna ran through the wreckage of the flaming guildhall, ignoring the cries for her to go back to safety.
Lisanna actually tripped over something and nearly face planted next to the girl trying to wiggle out from under the debris. Lisanna shook her head, still not used to her new depth perception now that she was blind in one eye. Perhaps if the girl wasn't trapped under burning wood, she would've found it as funny as Lisanna thought it must've looked.
"I'll get you out!" Lisanna told the girl. She pulled out her staff and used it to prop up the burning wood. It didn't give the indigo-haired girl enough room to get out, so Lisanna reached under the burning wood and started to lift as much as she could. The flames started to burn at her skin, melting the fabric on her hands making her cry out in pain. The girl with indigo hair started to crawl as best she could out of the rubble. The moment she was mostly freed, Lisanna dropped the collapsed column and grabbed the girl's hand so she could pull her further out of danger.
Jet and Droy ran over to them and Droy picked up the Phantom Lord girl, seeing her legs were badly burned. "Thank you," The girl said to Lisanna before Droy carried her away.
Despite the tearful scolding Lisanna got from Elfman and Mirajane, everyone was glad she had acted when she did. They had pulled half a dozen of Phantom Lord's members from the ashes and ruins of their guildhall, but Juvia was the only one who pulled through.
Telling her was the worst part. Juvia would regain usage of her legs, even if her legs would be horribly burned. Her ribs would heal and her lungs would recover. But out of one hundred guild mates, all but one was dead. Knightwalker had killed every last one of them, crushed or burned.
Juvia was catatonic from grief, pain, and trauma. She sat unmoving, barely blinking for hours before she would start to scream and cry from something no one else could see or protect her from. Lisanna became her designated caregiver, as she was the only one that Juvia vaguely recognized as the one who saved her. It was hard to get her to eat for the first couple weeks, but Lisanna eventually got her to eat soup three times a day and was right next to her when she was cleared to begin regaining her ability to walk.
Juvia held Lisanna's hand tightly as she walked in small circles around the infirmary. "Thank you, again," She said, her voice still small and weak from being unused for so long. "Juvia is sorry for being so needy. She isn't normally so reliant on others."
"No need to apologize," Lisanna said, giving her hand a reaffirming squeeze. "You're doing great, and you're doing the hard part all on your own."
Notes:
Deja Vu by Circus P and My R by Kurage P? I'm really referencing all the Vocaloid hits huh, lol.
Nervous_mouse on Chapter 1 Thu 27 Mar 2025 12:25PM UTC
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supraobsessed on Chapter 2 Sun 23 Nov 2025 04:13AM UTC
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Nervous_mouse on Chapter 2 Fri 28 Nov 2025 02:38AM UTC
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LuminousRain on Chapter 2 Fri 28 Nov 2025 03:22PM UTC
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