Wendy Marvell, the central character.
Tale of the Sky Maiden
is an ongoing fanfiction of Fairy Tail, co-authored by LastationLover5000 and Mangetsu20 (Demod20).
The fanfic is set in an alternate timeline where Wendy Marvell managed to escape the island of Tenrō during Acnologia's fateful assault. The last of Fairy Tail's heavy hitters, Wendy Marvell has to return to a guild where a large chunk of her friends are missing, and work hard to uphold a reputation of the strongest guild turned weakest.
The Tale of the Sky Maiden takes place during the seven year period between the Tenrō Island arc and the Grand Magic Games arc, covering new events, introducing characters both canon and original, while Wendy works hard as a mage of Fairy Tail.
The story is split into currently two story arcs:
- "Tribune of Water" (chapters 1-14)
- "Queen of the Dunes" (chapters 15-onward)
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: A common trope in fanfics done by this author; this fanfic is a what-if that takes a look at what would have happened had Wendy and Charle survived the attack on Tenrō, rather than being frozen by the Fairy Sphere, and what occurs in the seven years as a result.
- Anchored Ship: Wendy and Sherria. The story promises it to be a thing later, but due to their current ages, it's impossible as of the moment.
- Author Appeal: Both authors like traps to varying degrees, and the Generous Robin embodies this spirit very well.
- Ax-Crazy: Handsome and Brutalia of the Robin Hoodlums could rival Gajeel's first appearance for craziness; Brutalia is actually the worst of the two.
- Backup Bluff: Doranbolt pulls this off spectacularly against the Robin Hoodlums, threatening them with incoming interference from the Magic Council. It works, because he was a former member of the Council himself.
- Badass Adorable: Wendy may be seen as the cute one among her female contemporaries of Fairy Tail. But she is still a bona fide Dragon Slayer, and can kick several shades of ass when the situation calls for it.
- Battle in the Rain: The first truly climatic battle in the series is Wendy vs. Robyn. The battle itself takes place in the middle of an unexpected thunderstorm in centre Crocus, giving both Wendy and Robyn a power boost from the surging winds and rushing waters. Robyn himself takes full advantage of the setting he's in to pull off complex Sea Dragon Slayer techniques.
- Calling Your Attacks: In the spirit of the original manga, many characters - Wendy most notably - calls out the name of their spells when they use them. Doranbolt actually averts this while using Direct Line, only thinking the name instead.
- Catapult Nightmare: In the second chapter, Wendy's dream of being Eaten Alive forced her to sit upright when she woke up.
- Darkest Hour: The Tale of the Sky Maiden starts on what was the biggest example of this trope in the original manga. Acnologia descends upon Tenrō Island, wreaking havoc and being an unstoppable force of nature. He completely obliterates the island, seemingly killing everyone. This fic begins with the twist; Wendy somehow survived, along with Charle, and it is in the wake of this horrifying event that everything begins.
- Empathic Environment: When Robyn has hit his lowest point, betrayed and exposed to his band of thieves, he arrives a broken boy in the middle of a storming Crocus.
- Fangirl: Hisui E. Fiore, the Princess of Fiore, is very good at hiding it, but she - much like her father would show himself to be in the original series - is a fangirl of Fairy Tail. She generally keeps it to herself, but she sent for Fairy Tail specifically because of their exploits, and even though she got Team Wendy, the princess is more than pleased and impressed with their efforts.
- Flash Step: Doranbolt's magic is Teleportation Magic; the effect speaks for itself.
- Greater Need Than Mine: The idea behind Doranbolt and Wendy. Wendy, suffering from emotional grief after the events of Tenrō Island, desperately needs a friend, not just Charle. Doranbolt, wracked with guilt over what transpired, agrees.
- Interface Spoiler: The story description spoilers that Wendy and Sherria will eventually become a thing.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Wendy is twelve at the start of the story. Doranbolt, while his real age has never been confirmed, is at best in his early to mid-twenties.
- Involuntary Charity Donation: How the Generous Robin treats the money he takes from the nobles and royalty of Earth Land.
- It's All My Fault: Wendy and Doranbolt to varying levels. Wendy blames the death of her guild on herself, even though it isn't her fault at all, and Doranbolt similarly blames himself for being unable to do anything because he was a coward.
- Just Like Robin Hood: The Robin Hoodlums, to the point that they are Exactly What It Says on the Tin. They're a group of thieves who steal from the nobles and royalty of Earth Land, giving to the underprivileged and those in need. Those on power tend not to look kindly on this, as it has a severe effect, economically.
- Later subverted in that the entire group is not like this, largely just the Generous Robin himself, and his two closest aides, Eris and Bobbie. Robin genuinely believes he's doing good and fights to aid those who need it; individuals like Brutalia, Handsome, and Robin's Red Shirts, on the other hand, do not.
- Mirror Character: Wendy to Doranbolt. Both hold a sense of guilt for being too weak or afraid to do the right thing when it mattered. Now they both have to live through it their similar sense of self-loathing.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Jura identifies Acnologia as the Black Dragon from the Book of Apocalypse. Given what it did in the previous chapter, it has earned this title.
- Never Found the Body: Acnologia's attack on Tenrō Island destroys the island, and, with the exception of Wendy and Charle, all of the members of Fairy Tail on it with a single attack. Beyond the young Slayer and her Exceed, no survivors of the attack have been found.
- Nightmare Sequence: Chapter 2 starts out with Wendy having a nightmare of being devoured by a dragon.
- No Honor Among Thieves: In spite of the Generous Robin's nature, his group doesn't share his personality quirks. This results in Brutalia attempting to betray him. She does this twice, with the result ending the same both times, if not more horribly for her the second time.
- Our Dragons Are Different: This fanfic incorporates the Fairy Tail dragons, as one would expect, and thus follows their rules: physically, dragons are modeled after the Western archetype, but are immensely intelligent, and magically superior to humans, much like Eastern dragons. Acnologia is the first Dragon shown off in the fanfic and sets the bar for exactly how bad dragons can fuck someone up.
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Outdated by Canon: Wendy's character art for when she is 15 and 19 has been shown off by one of the authors on both the fanfictions official Twitter and his DeviantArt account. In both renditions, it is clear that Wendy is finally getting her dream of becoming stacked: Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest would go on to show an adult Wendy who is still flat, but as this was a product of magic, it may not contradict the fanfic yet. - Reasonable Authority Figure: Hisui E. Fiore, the Princess and Heir Apparent to the Fiore Royal Family, presents herself as such. She actively runs the kingdom in her father's stead, handles matters with eloquence and grace, even when they don't meet her expectations, and is more than forgiving of those who fail and allows them to try again if they need to.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Both bloody times Brutalia tries to betray Robyn, she is rewarded in kind with an absolute beating.
- Rule of Cute: Wendy is definitely this, to start off with. Charle is also very much this, as such, despite having a cartoonish body she is seen as very cute as well.
- Pun: The Robin Hoodlums, more than just being a group of criminals who were based on the Robin Hood, are a group of hoodlums that rob people. It's great.
- Slash Fic: More appropriate, "femmslash", but regardless, the primary pairing is advertised as Wendy and Sherria, meaning the story will become this, even though it isn't as of the moment.
- Sole Survivor: Wendy Marvell is the sole survivor of the human Fairy Tail mages on Tenrō Island. Charle is the sole survivor of the Exceed of Fairy Tail. Neither are happy with their circumstances.
- A Storm Is Coming: When Wendy awoke to a rumbling thunderstorm, she took it as an omen. She was correct. Robyn Lazuli was coming to wreck havoc on the City of Crocus.
- Super-Speed: Charle's Exceed ability of Max Speed to generate an enormous amount of speed in exchange for burning out mana. In the very first chapter, she uses this to get out of the ocean with an unconscious Wendy, saving them both in the process from probable drowning.
- Survivor Guilt: Wendy and Doranbolt both. Wendy believes it is her fault that everyone died on Tenrō Island - even though, realistically speaking, she wouldn't have been able to save anyone - as the fear of Acnologia caused her to break away from everyone. Doranbolt blames his cowardice for being unable to help during the situation. Both become closer over their shared misery.
- The X of Y: The title is the Tale of the Sky Maiden.
