The Lion's Sin of Pride:
Chapter One (A Fairy's Tale Pt 1)
November 28th, X784
Magnolia Town, Fiore
In the kingdom of Fiore, there is a city in the south-east known as Magnolia. A prosperous city with deep and ancient ties to magic. Magnolia is full of life and love and adventure. But, none of its citizens bring as much excitement as the members of the Magnolia Mage's Guild.
To the Northern part of Magnolia, at the shore of Lake Scilliora, sits the guild hall of Fairy Tail. Fiore's number one guild and infamous for its members' destructive tendencies, Fairy Tail has had many adventures since it was founded by Mavis Vermillion.
Walking along a street to the majestic building are five such mages, along with two flying cats. In the lead is a red-haired, armoured mage. Her name is Erza Scarlet. Also known as Titania, she is one of the guild's elite S-Class mages as well as Fairy Tail's fiercest protector. A disciplined warrior, Erza's specific magic technique, Requip: The Knight, strikes fear in enemies around Fiore and the continent of Ishgar.
Following on her left, is Gray Fullbuster. This tall, dark-haired young man was the guild's ice-make mage, a form of magic that allows him to create ice constructs from his very imagination. Cool and thoughtful, he is incredibly loyal to his team and guild, while also bringing honour to his late master, Ur. As his element is ice, no one is surprised that he knocks heads with his team's fire mage, Natsu.
Walking behind Erza on her right, is the mage with salmon-coloured hair known as the Salamander. Natsu Dragneel is Fairy Tail's famed Fire Dragon Slayer mage, having learned his magic from his father, the Fire Dragon Igneel. Considered Fairy Tail's most destructive member, what he lacks in restraint he more than makes up for in raw power. Brash and impulsive, Natsu is prone to ignoring rules in favour of his own code.
Behind them is Fairy Tail's newest mage. Wendy Marvell, also known as the Maiden of the Sky. Like Natsu, Wendy is also a dragon slayer; the Sky Dragon Slayer. From Grandine the Sky Dragon, Wendy learned both the offensive spells common among dragon slayers, but also many forms support magic including lost healing magic. Quiet and shy, the young sky mage is still reeling from the loss of her previous guild, Cait Shelter.
Above Wendy and chatting to the young, blue haired-girl are the Exceeds known as Happy and Carla. Hailing from the world of Edolas, they were sent though an Anima portal to Fiore where they hatched from their eggs. The respective partners of Natsu and Wendy, they aid their mages with their Aera magic. Childlike and living-up to his name, Happy spends most days wondering where his next fish is coming from, while flying around like a blue menace. On the other hand, Carla is serious yet caring, her Clairvoyance magic making her grow-up prematurely, especially where Wendy is concerned.
Finishing the line-up of Fairy Tail's strongest team is Lucy Heartfilia. Busty and blonde, this young mage is called the Light of Fairy Tail. Though she too is one of the newest members of the guild, Lucy is a talented mage with her versatile magic; Celestial Spirit Magic. This magic allows her the ability to summon immortal spirits representing the constellations from their world to her. A passionate young woman, Lucy uses her adventures with her team to inspire her writing.
"Mmm. It's good to be home." Erza mentions to her comrades.
"Yeah, that mission ended up getting crazy." Gray replies.
"Speak for yourself droopy eyes," Natsu argues, "I coulda taken them all on my own!"
"Aye!" Happy exclaims, flying over from Carla and Wendy.
"What you call me, Ash Brains?"
"What was that, Ice PRINCESS!" Natsu shouts, while pressing into Gray forehead-to-forehead.
"FLAME BREATH!"
"Boys…"
Suddenly a shadow falls over both of the male mages, causing them to look up and see Erza, silhouetted by the sun. While normally Erza intimidated most around her, when she was annoyed she could strike fear into the heart of her teammates.
"Now. I'm sure best friends like you weren't fighting. Right?" The requip mage asks, a slight red flare of her aura flashing around her.
The boys pull away from each other abruptly, and place an arm over the other's shoulders. Both elemental mages force grins to appear on their faces as they stood to attention in front of their 'general'.
"Of c-course not Erza. We were just playing, Right Natsu?" Gray chokes out, beads of sweat appearing on his brow.
"Aye!" Natsu parrots his exceed partner.
"Good. We're a team. We don't need to be at each other's' throats," Erza said, as she smiles, "Though of course all friends have the occasional argument."
"Umm… Miss Erza?" Wendy's quiet voice squeaks out, shocking the three mages from their bubble. Turning around Erza sees Wendy stood there with Carla floating at her shoulder. Both former Cait Shelter mages watching the argument. She also noticed Lucy standing behind the younger girl, though she was looking at the ground, frowning. The knight furrowed her eyebrows, I wonder what's wrong with Lucy. I'll have to ask her later.
"Yes, Wendy?"
"I'm sorry I wasn't much help on the mission," She said, her eyes misting over, "I should have used my attack spells more! I'm sorry Erz-"
"Honestly child, you did your best! There's no need for these tears. Stop sniffling." Carla cut her off, while staring down at her.
"Carla is right Wendy, you did your best. That's all we can ask of you," Erza said, laying a hand on Wendy's shoulder, "Now come. Master will be expecting us soon."
The group turn back to the path and began to continue their journey to the guild, when another voice speaks up.
"Actually you guys," Lucy begins, "I'm not feeling great, so I'm just gonna just head on home."
"Are you injured? I'm sorry Lucy! I should have checked that you were okay!" Wendy panicked.
"No! No, Wendy I'm fine. Just not feeling well. I just need some rest. That's all."
"Are you sure, Lucy?" The older mage asks the blonde girl.
"Yeah, I'm really just tired you guys. Go on ahead to the Guild," she smiled at her team, "I'm gonna have a nice long bath and then sleep."
She began to walk passed them, patting Wendy on the shoulder as she went, "See you at the Guild tomorrow."
"Uh, okay," Natsu looked dumbfounded at his partner, as she walked away, "I'll see you later Luce!"
"Bye, Lucy!" Happy shouted as he floated in the air.
"Bye!" the others shouted as they turned in the direction of the Guild.
Only Erza was still standing, by her cart of luggage, staring at the young woman who she thought of as a younger sister.
I hope everything is okay, Lucy…
As she turned down Strawberry Street, lugging her lone suitcase, Lucy decided not to walk along the edge of the canal, as she usually would. Instead, she walked along the road next to it.
Lost in her own world, she never noticed the greetings of the fishermen that were always in their boat floating outside of her house.
Hugging her arm around herself, she thought back to the last job with her team. An A-Class job, but one that was relatively simple, that entailed the taking down of a minor dark Guild – Manticore Sting – that was terrorizing Shirotsume Town.
According to Mirajane, Manticore Sting was one of the Guilds under Grimoire Heart's control. While not as infamous as other Guilds in the Baram Alliance – like Eisenwald – they are infamous in abducting young mages and forcing them to join them.
One of Mirajane's first missions as an S-Class mage with her siblings involved Manticore Sting. When Lucy asked Elfman, he warned that they were quite good at deceiving mages and separating them. He said that they were very lucky not to have lost Lisanna to them. The only reason they got away was because Mirajane used a, now forbidden – by the Master – Satan Soul.
Even though Team Natsu had taken even more dangerous missions than this – Galuna Island, Lullaby, the Oración Seis – Lucy was worried about bringing Wendy along with them. Though she was a dragon slayer, and subsequently a powerful mage, Wendy was a sensitive girl with little confidence and Lucy didn't want mages like Manticore to mess with her.
As she turned to her building, Lucy got lost in a memory of a few days ago.
Sitting in a private cabin, on the train to Shirotsume Town, Lucy stared out the window as she toyed with Virgo's key in her hand.
Shirotsume Town gave Lucy some mixed feelings. On one hand, not only was it her first – official – mission with Team Natsu, it also gave her the key to one of the Zodiac Spirits – and a new friend. Despite this though, it also showed her the darker side to mages, with that seedy Duke Everlue.
Lucy shuddered in her seat, just the thought of him…
Across from her Natsu lay with his head in Erza's lap, his face tinted green. The scarlet-haired mage's fist coming down to rest flat on his head after knocking him out with a solid gut-punch. Next to them sat Wendy, her legs swinging back and forth in her seat as she looked down at her fellow dragon slayer.
"Erza are you sure this was necessary? I could have used my Troia spell." The sky dragon asked.
"It's fine Wendy," Erza said, smiling over at the blue-haired mage, "Besides, your spell's effects are weakened every time you use it on Natsu. It's best to only use it when needed."
Wendy bit her lip as she thought about this, "But wouldn't now be a time to use it?"
"Uh…," the S-Class mage's eyes went wide as she looked at the youngest member of the team, "Never mind! We should discuss Manticore Sting."
"Okay, so what do we know about them?" Gray asked, as he leaned back on the same bench as Lucy, the exceeds sitting between them.
"Their leader is a man named Charon. Reports show that he has some sort of doll magic like Sherry Blendy," Lucy started, looking at the rest of her team, "The rest of the guild however are basically unknown. Rumours have circulated that one mage has water element magic, another has shadow magic. Mira told me that one of the mages had some sort of natural charm magic, she used it on Elfman, but it didn't work on her or Lisanna."
"I see," Erza said as she thought about this information, "Then Lucy, perhaps you would be best to take her on. Her magic might not work on women, so it would be best if you took her while I go after the master."
"Sure. We just need to make sure to be prepared for the others, there are at least a dozen members in Manticore Sting, and most of them are unknown."
"Don't worry Lucy," Gray said, looking over at the blonde, "We've taken on worse enemies. These guys are nothing."
"If only that was how everything went down Gray," Lucy sighed, as she opened her door.
She almost half-expected her team to be hanging all around her apartment. Gray, half-naked, lying on her couch, Erza rifling through her drawers, commenting on her new lingerie, Wendy and Carla drinking tea at her coffee table, while Natsu and Happy eat her out of house and home.
But as the door swung open, the room was dark, no sign of life in it at all. Walking in, Lucy left her suitcase off beside her bed, as she dropped down on it, face first.
A flash of gold light, and the echoed sound of a door bell, announced the arrival of one of her spirits. Measuring the dip in her magic container, Lucy realised that it was a zodiac.
"Do you require assistance, Princess?" the monotone voice of her maid spirit asked.
Virgo, Lucy thought smiling, always there when I need it.
"Could you maybe run a bath for me, please?" Lucy asked her spirit.
"Of course Princess. It would be my pleasure." The maid spirit said, as she went to the bathroom. Soon after, Lucy heard the sound of water rushing into her bath. Her glorious bath.
Listening to the sound of rushing water, Lucy closed her eyes, for just a minute.
The next thing she knew, she was waking up in her tub. Naked.
"Is everything to your liking, Princess?"
Wide-eyed, Lucy turned to the maiden spirit. The pink-haired maid stood at the side, hands clasped in front of her, with her usual stoic expression on her face.
"Virgo," the mage asked, voice low, "Did you strip me naked?"
"Unfortunately for me, Lucy," a new voice answered, as another flash of gold lit up the bathroom, "After all, it would be my honour to aid my beautiful mistress in any of her needs."
And there he was with his wild-orange hair and his standard suit, her most loyal spirit, Loke. Also known as Leo – the Lion spirit – he was once one of Fairy Tail's most eligible mages. The leader of the zodiac, Loke was saved by Lucy when he began to fade from Earth Land due to being there for three years. Lucy found him in his last moments, at the grave of his former – and abusive – master, Karen Lilica. And she saved him by doing something he never thought possible; she forced open his gate, without his key in her possession.
Never had he met a celestial mage with as much potential as Lucy. Even her ancestor, Anna, had never forced a gate open by sheer force of will. Furthermore, she summoned all nine of her spirits at once. At first his loyalty mostly stemmed from his awe of her, but after being her spirit for the last few months, he grew to love her for her kind heart and her belief in good.
"Loke!" Lucy screamed, using her hands to cover herself, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to help my master," the lion spirit said, as he conjured a pink flag with 'I heart Lucy' on it, "But to be honest, you helped me-"
"FORCE GATE CLOSURE!" Lucy shouted, thrusting her hand out.
Loke pouted as his master's spell opened his gate against his will. As he shimmered out, he couldn't help but take one last look at her, and then he was gone, back to the Celestial Spirit Realm.
"Would you like to be alone Princess?" Virgo asked.
Lucy jerked, having forgotten about her, "Oh, Virgo! Sorry, about that. Yeah, do you mind?"
"Of course, Princess."
"Oh and thanks again for this bath, Virgo. It's great."
"Of course Princess. I'm here for all of your needs," Virgo said, bowing forward at Lucy before she too disappeared in a golden shimmer.
Alone again, Lucy lay her head back against the edge of the bath and sighed. As much as she loved her spirits, they were draining – both magically and emotionally.
Looking over at her keys, the blonde mage made a decision. Reaching over to them, she picked up the gold, ornate key with a symbol of blue double waves on the bow.
"Open Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"
Author's Note:
Hey guys! This is a story that I've been wanting to write for a while now. I hope you like it! Read and Review, any criticism is welcome!
Beartic Baseborn!