HeHello everyone. UnitedOsprey1991 here. Welcome to my first new story in like a year. This is First Saint League, An AU Fairy Tail story involving our favorite characters playing the world's most popular sport, Football, or Soccer to you Americans.
Some background on this. This has been in my head since June of 2014. You see one my closest friends on the site, Lalapie203 is a huge soccer fan. We got to talking during the World Cup that year and this idea evolved from there. I promised her the first new story I started on would be this story and this is me fulfilling that promise.
Now poor Lala hasn't been feeling well, a lot of different issues I won't go into here but suffice to say I hope this story will help her recovery. Go check her stuff out they are cute and funny.
Anyway, things will be a bit different than Grand Prix. One is I know what I am doing now. Two I see this as a much larger project because of the number of games I want to show. Three, this is going to involve more off the field stuff and I also will introduce some realistic stuff that has unfortunately been apart of soccer in most if not all non U.S Soccer games. How I will write the story and keep track of stuff will be down at the bottom. I can tell you, I will show our heroes playing at least once against everyone in the league. For Plot related reasons, some of them will have their second match shown.
One last thing, Fiore will be in the real world. In fact it will be in the same universe as Bleach Grand Prix. There are a couple of references in that story, check out Chapters 20 and 24. For reference sake, it will be in Southern Europe, next to Greece on a peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean with a few islands as well. Those who follow Grand Prix should know what happened in that world.
Anyway, standard Disclaimer rules apply. I don't Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. If I did, Nalu would be a reality and Zeref would be dead and Natsu alive.
Normal text: Speaking or normal talking
'Quotes and Italics': Thoughts
Bold: Yelling
Underline: Location and Time in match
Person's name followed by a colon: In-game announcer
Chapter 1: Camp Magnolia City
Date: August 5th, 2069, on a train heading towards Magnolia, Fiore about 11:30 AM
Fiore, a country with a long and proud tradition. A country of over 17 million people that has long been a player in the Mediterranean. The country's history can be traced to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman Empire bent on spreading its influence beyond its roots, fought the Byzantine Empire and slowly conquered its various holdings. One country to its south resisted fiercely. In the Battle of Belladona, the territory, referring itself as the Kingdom of Fiore, beat back the Ottoman Empire, forcing it to declare a peace with the Kingdom and established it as an independent state. For three centuries, Fiore and the Ottoman fought for control of the Sea, until the Empire splintered after the Napoleonic Wars. Satisfied with its peace, it became a major trade partner in Southern Europe. When World War 1 broke out, they stayed out of the war and nominally helped the Allied powers but were forced out after the Gallipoli campaign. Thirty Years later, Hitler tried to take Fiore for himself. Led by the Queen Ilene, Fiore resisted while its neighbor Greece fell. They stalled them long enough that Operation Barbarossa was delayed long enough that Russia could stand a chance. After the war, they joined the NATO alliance and enjoyed the prosperity the post war economy gave it.
After a hundred years, Fiore was threatened again. This time by Mother Nature herself. The Glacial Floods that affected the rest of the world did not spare the country of Fiore. But she did not count on Fiore's resourcefulness and its stubbornness. Taken a page from Denmark and from Panama, they built canals and lochs that could be raised and lowered depending on the weather and connected the various islands together using a similar technique that the Arabic world did to reclaim land. Their efforts were put to the test in the Floods of 2050. Thanks to great engineering, the country was spared significant damage, and their economy began to recover in a similar way to most of the rest of Europe.
In its long history, Fiore has long been a player in European politics having been part of NATO, the UN and the European Union. In this culture exchange, perhaps one of the most defining things brought to Fiore was Football. Brought over by an English team at the turn of the 20th century, in 190, the Fiore Football Association was established and soon their clubs were competing against other clubs from around Europe. They have even taken part in several World Cups, the furthest they ever got was a quarterfinal appearance in 2046. Their top tier league, The First Saint League is considered one of the elite leagues in Europe, as of 2069, they were ranked fifth in the UEFA coefficient rankings, behind Spain's La Liga, England's Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A. One of the things that made them unique was they were among the only leagues that was completely co-ed both at the national and club levels and a couple of their biggest stars at the moment were women.
On this train heading for one of the largest cities in Fiore, is a very pretty blonde 20 year old woman. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue cross over her well-endowed chest. On her legs was a blue skirt and knee length boots and her blonde hair was in a side ponytail. She was looking through a magazine that was depicting several players, her eyes focusing on two girls in particular.
"Oh wow, Erza and Mira are so pretty and so athletic. I can't wait to meet them." The girl gushed.
"Excuse me?" A male voice with a weird accent asked. She turned to see a young man about her age with naturally tan skin brown hair, brown eyes covered by glasses and was wearing a pair of shorts and a red t-shirt that said FSU for some reason. He was also carrying three bags with him, a duffel bag a suitcase and a computer bag. Based on the broken words, he was still learning the Fioran language.
"Yes?" Lucy replied in English.
"Can I sit here?" He asked.
Lucy nodded and the man put his stuff up.
The man breathed in relief, "Oh thank god, someone can speak my language. Had a hard time getting on the train. Sorry where are my manners. Stephen Decatur at your service, Miss?"
"Lucy Heartfillia. A pleasure. Where are you from? England? Ireland?" Lucy said listing off the English speaking nations.
"America." Stephen replied. "New Jersey born and educated, Family is from from Florida. Most of my family is from the Southern U.S."
Lucy was surprised. An American travelling with that much gear wasn't there as a tourist. He had some other agenda. "What are you doing all the way in Fiore?"
Stephen chuckled. "Would you believe I came here to play soccer? I played a couple of years of college ball before I turned pro. I was all set to sign with MLS, the American soccer league, but I got an offer from a team here in Fiore. Strange that an American college player would be scouted by one of the big leagues huh?"
Lucy was amazed. He came all the way around the world from Florida and New Jersey to play.
"Wow. What team signed you?"
Stephen pulled out a sheet from his computer bag. "Let's see…Magnolia City."
Lucy widened her eyes. "No way. I got signed by them too! They are my dream team to play for. Oh my goodness we're gonna be teammates! "
Stephen laughed at her excitement. "Well now, if one of the top teams in this league wanted us, then we must have something they like. So what's your story?"
Lucy softened her look and looked out the window "My family life…is complicated. My dad owns one of the teams in the First Saint League, Aclyphya Town. He wanted to sign me and I didn't want to be known as the bosses' daughter. So I left after having a big fight. Thankfully my momma supported me and she gave me some money and clothes. I wanted to find my own way you know."
"Admirable. I just want to play soccer. Honestly, I was prepared to stay in America. Hone my craft a bit. Major League Soccer is a good league, but competition wise, nothing beats the European leagues."
Lucy smiled. "Well then." She put out a hand. "Welcome to Fiore, Mr. Decatur, I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship."
"Please, your friendship is all I need." Stephen said shaking her hand.
The next couple of hours the twosome discussed their live and what their hobbies were. Lucy was intrigued at Stephen's interest in history and saw his light up at exploring certain things about the country. On the flipside, Stephen was really curious about Lucy's dream to be an author if soccer didn't work out and the two bounced ideas off each other, especially with Stephen doing some writing on the side. Before they knew it, they arrived at the train station. As it was the end of the line, they took their time getting their stuff off the train.
"Let's see…the stadium should be about four blocks from the station. Stephen you alright?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." He grunted.
"You didn't have to carry my bags." Lucy said. She only had her suitcase which she rolled behind her. Stephen took her other bags.
"Lucy, your my friend and a lady shouldn't have to carry all her gear like that." He said as he hefted the bags.
Lucy smiled and turned around, only to bump into someone and fall down.
"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going!" Lucy said looking up. She saw a young man with blonde hair with a fur jacket and black pants. Next to him was a black haired man with a black shirt and jeans.
"Well lookie here, a blonde cutie just for us." The blonde said with a cocky smirk.
Stephen having seen Lucy fall dropped the bags. When he saw the male leering at the blond girl, he immediately ran to her defense. "Buddy, Back off. I don't know who you are but where I'm from, woman are to be treated with respect. So apologize instead of ogling her."
The blond hair man looked at Stephen. "Listen foreign brat, I can kick your ass six ways to Sunday. You can have your chance."
Before Stephen could retaliate another voice joined the fray. "Sting You bastard!" Before the now named Sting could retaliate, he was sent to the ground. The new person had pink hair, a blue vest and white pants with a white scarf.
Sting wiped his lips. "Well what do you know, Natsu Dragneel of the Fairies. We were just…welcoming the two into the neighborhood. What are you going to do?
"You want to go?" Natsu called out.
"NATSU! ARE YOU PICKING A FIGHT?!"
Natsu gulped and turned to see a red haired woman in a white blouse and blue skirt. Lucy and Stephen noticed that Sting and the Black haired man froze as well.
"N-N-No, Erza! I was trying to protect this lady and her friend!"
"Good boy. You two Sabers, may I ask what you are doing?"
The black haired man shook his head. "Sorry we were walking and the two ran into us and we want an apology."
"Excuse me? You were trying to hit on Lucy here and she wasn't taking his advances well." Stephen defended.
"Sting, Rouge. Get back to the Tiger Cave." Erza said. The two members nodded and left in a hurry. Erza turned to the two unknowns. "I hope you two weren't hurt?"
"Nah, we could have handled ourselves. Who were they?"
Natsu smirked cockily. "Sting Eucliffe and Rouge Cheney of our crosstown rivals, Magnolia United. They think they are so much better than us having won two of the last four titles." Natsu looked at the two. "Sorry, I'm Natsu Dragneel.
"And I'm Erza Scarlet. May I ask who you two are?"
Lucy had hearts in her eyes. "OH WOW! ERZA SCARLET IN THE FLESH!"
Stephen looked at his friend weirdly and rolled his eyes. "Sorry, she was excited to meet her teammates, apparently meeting you overwhelmed her. I'm Stephen Decatur. This is Lucy Heartfillia."
Lucy calmed down and properly introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Luigi." Natsu said.
"It's LUCY!" Lucy replied. "Anyway we are trying to find Mavis Memorial Stadium, we need to check in for training camp."
Natsu grinned. "Well it's your lucky day. We are part of Magnolia City. Come on, we'll take you to the apartments to get you guys settled in."
They walked towards the dorms which was up the street from the stadium. It was a Brick building that was three floors in height and had a good view of the harbor.
Erza turned to the newcomers. "Most of the team bunks here at the Magnolia City Dorms. We call it the Guild Hall. You are more than welcome to find a place in the city once you've settled in. Come on, we need to check you all in."
They opened the door and it was mad chaos. Chairs were flying everywhere and everyone seemed to be fighting. Before anyone could react, Natsu jumped into the fray and started attacking a black haired young man who had seemingly lost his clothes, yelling "I'm All fired up!"
Lucy and Stephen were stunned at the chaos. Lucy turned to Erza. "Is this normal!?"
Erza sighed. "Unfortunately, yes." She took a deep breath. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Instantly everyone stopped their fighting and they looked at Erza in fear. "You are all teammates! You should not be fighting! Now all of you clean this mess up!"
Instantly the rowdier members started the task given to them. Erza escorted the two newcomers over to the bar area.
"Mira! We have a couple of newcomers who need a room. And I need some cake please." Erza said as she sat down at the bar.
"Coming!" Called a sweet voice. Stephen's eyes widened as the now named Mira walked up to the bar. She had long white hair and blue eyes and was in a very flattering red dress and was wearing a very angelic smile.
"Damn. Erza are all the women Fiore beautiful or is it just the girls here in Magnolia City?" Stephen said as Lucy was fangirling over Mira. (Let's be honest, Lucy was in canon.)
Mira giggled. "Such a charmer. I'm Mirajane Strauss, one of the backs for Magnolia City." (I will explain everything at the bottom.)
"Really? I would have thought you were a midfielder like Erza here." Stephen pointed out.
"No, that would be my sister Lisanna. We also have Elfman, my brother, who is our goal keeper. May I ask who you are?" Mira asked.
Stephen put on his best southern gentleman smile. "I am Stephen Decatur, mam. I play forward but I can be flexible. Lucy, can you stop fangirling over Miss Strauss here and introduce yourself." He snapping the blonde out of her delusion/
Lucy blushed. "Sorry. I am Lucy Heartfillia, I am a midfielder." She said holding out her hand to Mira.
Mira tapped her chin. "It seems we have a very diverse set of players this year. Though it looks like you might be warming the bench for a while, Stephen, same with Lucy."
"Why?" Stephen asked as he was served his soda.
"We play a 4-4-2. Four Backs including me. Four midfielders including Erza and two strikers. Natsu is one of them and the other…"
At the moment the front door slammed open. In walked, a blonde man with a lightning bolt tattoo, with headphones a fur jacket and purple jeans. He walked with a superior smile and headed upstairs.
"That was Laxus Dreyer. He's the chairmen's son and he's the other striker. Lead the team in goals scored last year with 18. Dead last in team work." Mira scowled.
Stephen grinned. "Well then that's a goal to strive for making sure I became the number one striker. At Rutgers, I was one of the best in the American Athletic Conference and that league is considered one of the best college soccer conferences." He boasted.
Erza grinned. "Good. We love that confidence. But the First Saint League is a whole other level, on par with England, Spain and Germany's top tier. Now then, we should find you a room."
Natsu had walked over after cleaning up the room. "He can bunk with me! I got an extra room."
Erza smiled. "That's kind of you Natsu. Now what about Lucy here?"
She looked around and spotted a petite blue haired girl with an orange headband and matching dress reading a book. "Levy!"
The girl perked up and walked over to Erza book in arm. "What's up Erza?"
Erza motioned her head to Lucy. "I understand you have an extra room, do you mind if Lucy here bunks with you?"
"Of course, Erza." Levy said turning to Lucy. "I'm Levy Mcgardeen, I'm part of the training staff." She said with an Irish accent.
"Nice to meet you. Come on guys let's go up to our rooms." Lucy said. They headed up to the third floor and turned down the hallway. They stopped at the room labeled 310.
"This is Natsu's room, Lucy your room is down the hall. We will let you guys get settled in. Practice begins tomorrow at 9 at the stadium." Erza said as Natsu opened the door. The room while relatively clean still shown signs of being lived in. A decent size living room branched off into two rooms. There was one bathroom and a small kitchenette.
"Your room is over there. It will be nice having a roommate. I won't have to beat up like Grey. He's a fellow midfielder, unfortunately thanks to the lightning prick, he doesn't get to start as often." Natsu said.
Stephen started to pack his stuff away. "So Laxus has a personal set of players he likes to team with?" Asking over his shoulder.
Natsu nodded. "Yeah the so called Lighting Tribe. Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed Justine. Bickslow is in the back field and the other two are midfielders. With Erza, there is only one spot for midfielders and that right now is taken by Cana, the coach's daughter."
"Laxus has that much pull?" Stephen asked incredulously.
"Yeah. He's the owner's, Makarov's, grandson. We all see him as a grandfather and our coach Gildarts as a father figure. Though I've talked with the old man, if Laxus doesn't fix his attitude soon he will start subbing him and his crew out. Even if it's the first game this season, if Laxus gives him a reason, he won't be the starting striker anymore and his cronies might not have the pull to override him."
Stephen chuckled. "Well let's hope I don't have to replace him in the first game. Want to pay my dues first before going into the fire." He said as he finished unpacking. He went to the bathroom and put his medicine and toiletries in the bathroom. He felt something brush past his leg and look down. He spotted a grey furred cat with wide eyes.
"Meow."
Stephen laughed. "Cute cat. This yours Natsu?"
Natsu poked his head in the bathroom. "Oh, that's Happy! He's a real friendly cat. Got him from shelter He's only a couple of years old."
Stephen chuckled and went back to his room. Setting up his connection to his devices he turned on his Ipad and looked at the time, seeing it was 3:30 in the afternoon.
"Hey Natsu are we on Italian or Greek Time?" Stephen asked.
"Greek, I think." Natsu said with a questioning look.
"Thanks." He said and pressed the call button on his Ipad. A few moments later, a man picked up on the other end. He looked similar to Stephen but had a lighter skin than the dark skin tone Stephen had.
"Hey Sport!
"Hey Dad."
"You make it into Fiore alright?"
"Yeah already met some of my teammates. Heck I'm rooming with one of them. Hey Natsu! Get in here!"
Natsu walked into the room to see Stephen turning his Ipad around. "This is Natsu. Natsu this is my father, Hunter Decatur."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Decatur."
"Glad to meet you too Natsu, you keep my boy out of trouble?"
"Nah, its more likely that he'll be keeping me out of trouble."
"Is that Stephen?" A female voice called out. A woman stepped into the picture. She was Indian in ethnicity but very beautiful nonetheless, with chin length hair and red eyes.
"Hi mom. Natsu, this is my mother Nupur, Mom this my teammate Natsu Dragneel."
"Nice to meet you Natsu. I hope you guys become friends."
Natsu grinned. "No problem, Mrs. Decatur.
Hunter nodded. "Alright. Well I think you must be tired from the trip. Hope you do well there. Love you."
"Love you too Dad. Later." Stephen said and hung up. He turned to Natsu. "I had a long plane ride, so could you keep it down please?"
Natsu nodded. "No problem, don't forget practice is at 9. Oh and do you mind if Happy comes into your room?"
"Not at all. Thanks Natsu."
Stephen stretched and then went to close the blinds and quickly fell asleep from the jet lag.
Lucy and Levy's room.
The first thing Lucy noticed was that the apartment was full of books.
"Sorry about the mess Lucy. I honestly didn't know I would have a roommate." Levy said sheepishly.
"Oh that's fine. In fact I love books. If I wasn't practicing I was reading a lot. Its nice to have a fellow bibliophile (It means book lover. The Phile suffix means love or lover. Unfortunately it has negative connotations thanks to pedophiles.)
Levy grinned. "Your welcome Lu."
Just then an excited bark came out of the books. A light colored Labrador came bounding up to Lucy and sniffed her.
"Oh that's Plue. The dorm literally got him a year or so ago as our mascot. Plue this is Lucy." Levy introduced the puppy to Lucy who immediately tried to tackle her.
Lucy giggled as Plue started to lick her. "He's adorable. We'll take care of him. Isn't that right boy?" Lucy said rubbing the dog's stomach. She turned to Levy. "So what do you do?"
"I'm an equipment manager and a trainer. I make sure everyone gets the right gear and make sure it's taken care of. It may not be glamorous but it's a decent job."
Lucy nodded and started putting her stuff away. The two girls talked well into the evening before they went to bed for training the next day.
Next day, Mavis Vermillion Memorial Stadium Locker Room about 9:30
Mavis Memorial Stadium was one of the larger stadiums in the First Saint League able to hold 66,000 fans and supporters. Built in 2038 to replace the old Guild Hall stadium, its namesake comes from one of Magnolia City's greatest owners, Mavis Vermillion. Under her ownership, Magnolia City lifted the league title five times, four times in the domestic cup, the Grand Magic Cup and five times in the secondary cup, Cup of Ishgar and took them into Europe 15 times. It was a golden age for the club. Sadly, the next owner Hades Necros nearly drove the team into the ground and got the team demoted to the Fourth Tier. Makarov came on in 2033 and using a system of training team players at their academy and smarter business investments, returned the club back to the Top tier by 2042. Now the new generation of players seeks to make their mark on the First Saint League.
Stephen was finishing lacing up and was looking in the mirror. He was wearing the training uniform for Magnolia city, which consistent of a black shirt and grey pants. The uniforms they would play in wouldn't come till before the first scrimmage game later this month. The first real game that the team will play would not be the First Saint League game against newly promoted side Port Hargeon, but instead it would be the home and home series in the UEFA Champion's league against the Italian team Juventus. Stephen knew he wouldn't be playing internationally yet, so the pressure was off him to really succeed.
"Stephen? You ready to go?" Natsu called out.
"Yeah. Just need my goggles." Stephen said putting on the plastic glasses. He followed Natsu out of the men's room. At the same time Lucy had popped out of the girl's locker room in a similar uniform and her hair was tied back. Her impressive chest, while bound by a decent sports bra, was still noticeable.
"Hey guys! Ready to practice?" Lucy said enthusiastically.
The two boys nodded and they headed out onto the field where most of the team was already waiting. The two that stood out was a dark haired man with a rugged beard and a brown jacket and smaller elderly man with greying hair.
"Alright gather around!" The taller man said. The team came close and sat down on the field. "My name is Gildarts Clive. I am the coach of this here team. And the father of my lovely Cana Alberoia." He said gushing over a woman with wavy brown hair and appeared to be drunk
"FUCK YOU OLD MAN!" Said the now named Cana.
"Anyway… I have a few words before I turn it over to our boss. We are Magnolia City. We might appear to be a wild and rambunctious team to those who follow us. But I can tell you this. We are honorable and we play clean soccer. Last year, we only had to sit players due to cards five times. Though I will point out two of those were reds, Natsu, Laxus." He said.
Laxus shrugged. "Not my fault the idiot called me a homophobic slur."
Natsu snorted. "Yeah, real hard not to see it."
"Shut up pink haired bastard. You look gayer than I do." Laxus retorted.
"What was that lightning face!?"
"He's saying you look gay, flame brain!" Said a guy who some how lost his shirt
"WANT TO GO STRIPPER!"
"I am not a—SON OF A GUN, WHERE'S MY SHIRT?" The shirtless guy said and before long another brawl started.
Stephen facepalmed. "Uh, Coach Clive? Is this normal?"
Gildarts looked at Stephen. "Yeah, Grey and Natsu loved to get each other riled up, but when the chips are down they will back each other up. New guy huh? What's your name and position?"
"Stephen Decatur, Forward that can convert anywhere. Kind of had to growing up where I played. Not exactly the best pick of players in Florida outside the cities."
"Ah yes, our new American player. Nice to meet you. Is there a Lucy Heartfillia here as well?"
Lucy raised her hand. "Right here…sir?"
"Hello there pretty lady." Gildarts said grinning. "Don't mind them. Makarov will stop them in 3…2…1!"
"ALL OF YOU BRATS PIPE DOWN!" The now named Makarov yelled getting everyone to stop fighting.
"Its that type of fighting that is keeping us from getting to the top. We need discipline. I know we think we are good. But it's our behavior that's holding us back!"
Makraov held up his hand in a way that looked like a backwards L. "Discipline. Integrity. Respect. That is what it means to be a Fairy. That is what it means to Magnolia City."
Most of the team did the same backwards L and nodded. With that they all broke to do their drills.
The first thing they did was to do five laps around the field. While some of the midfielders were struggling with their breath, Stephen was able to keep up with the athletic Natsu and Laxus and even Grey. Lucy by her third lap was lagging behind though not because she was horrible. She knew she had some issues with her athleticism but this was insane.
After her fifth lap, she sat down and caught her breath. "Wow. That was intense. This team is something else."
"Here." A sweet voice said holding a Gatorade cup. Lucy looked up to see a white haired visage. At first she thought it was Mira, but her hair was a lot shorter almost to her neck, whereas Mira's was below her shoulders and was tied up.
"Thanks. Are you related to Mira?" Lucy said taking a gulp of the sports drink.
The girl giggled and sat down. "I am. I'm Lisanna, a fellow midfielder like you."
"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."
The two watched as the forwards practiced their passing drills. Her eye caught Natsu's form as he pass played around with the ball and passed it to Stephen. Lucy blushed slightly at Natsu getting Lisanna to smile. "Natsu is pretty good isn't he? Careful, your drool might cause you to slip."
Lucy shook her head. "Sorry."
Lisanna waved it off. "Its fine." Her eye caught Stephen as he passed it back and forth with Erza. "Who's that?"
Lucy looked at where Lisanna was looking. "That's Stephen Decatur. He came from America yesterday."
Lisanna made a noise of understanding. "I see. You and him were the only ones I didn't recognize. As far as I know we haven't made any real big signings this summer."
Before Lucy could comment, Mira's voice could be heard. "Come on Sis, Lucy, we need to get your butts in gear."
The girls laughed. "Well duty calls."
After that the practice went smoothly with a couple of exceptions. During set piece practice, which were free kicks and corner kicks, Grey and Natsu got into a brawl while they were taking turns as the wall, which were designed to prevent those free kicks. The other incident occurred in a scrimmage. Laxus got into Stephen's face and actually tripped him. Stephen wasn't hurt and he just kept going which surprised his teammates. When asked why he didn't retaliate, Stephen replied, "I was taught at an early age retaliating only increases trouble. I was one of the least penalized players in high school and college." Which got him praises from the coaches and a scowl from Laxus. They went back to the scrimmage and again Laxus tripped him. This time when Stephen came back, he slide tackled Laxus and actually got him to faceplant.
"Just because I don't want to, doesn't mean I know how to retaliate. This is soccer after all." He said to the stunned crowd.
The final part of practice was one of the more anticipated ones. Gildarts had all of the players line up and face the goal at the edge of the 18 yard box. The goalkeeper was the third of the Strauss siblings. Standing at 6'2 tanned and very strong Elfman Strauss cut an imposing figure but was the definition of gentle giant. His speed belittled his size however. One by one each player took five shots. Elfman, winner of two First Saint League Golden Glove awards for best goal keeper stopped every one that had tried was stopped.. The backs were first, then the midfielders. The closest in the midfield was Erza who got a couple on the crossbar.
Lucy took her spot. She looked up at Elfman who grinned. "Don't worry Lucy. A real man won't hurt ya."
Lucy nodded and took her position. Her first kick went right into the chest. Lucy thought it hurt him but Elfman laughed.
"Don't worry about me Lucy. Just hit it as hard as you can!" Elfman encouraged.
Lucy nodded and kicked it again adding some spin. This time Elfman moved and blocked it. She set up again aimed for the top corner, only for it to slightly wide.
Lucy groaned and looked back. She saw Natsu and Stephen giving her encouraging smiles. She lined up again and this time Elfman had to push the shot away. The last shot sailed over the crossbar.
Lucy pouted and walked back to the side. Natsu wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "You did great Luce. A little more practice and you'll be kicking all sorts of ass on the field!"
Lucy blushed but smiled. After the midfielders including Lisanna took their turn it was the five signed forwards turn. Laxus, Natsu, a smaller guy named Romeo, a stern looking man named Mest, and Stephen took their shots. True to their position, their strikes were very powerful. Natsu was able to get one by on a very powerful strike to the top corner, but Laxus was able to get two in with a third one hitting the sidebar on the left."
Stephen took up his spot. As he lined up, he heard Laxus snort. "Hey New Guy!"
Stephen turned to Laxus. "I bet you 5,000 Jewels, or 500 American dollars if you can match my score or beat it."
Stephen chuckled. "If you want to lose your money so bad. Fine." Stephen held up 3 fingers. "That's how many I am going to get."
"Then I'll double it if you match your boast." Laxus retorted.
Stephen stood up and saw Elfman jumping on his heels. He took two steps and then hit it with his left foot. It curved slightly, but Elfman was able to block it. Taking a look at Stephen, Elfman noticed he was focusing on his arms.
Stephen took another step back and this time, he launched it towards Elfman's left. The ball spun and Elfman moved to block it, but the ball didn't curve when he expected it to and it ended up behind him.
Stephen nodded and got some appraising looks from his teammates. Stephen lined up the third shot and this time Elfman blocked it but it was a close thing and it bounced away.
Stephen grinned. "Your definitely no joke. I guess I need to stop holding back."
This got everyone curious as the American lined up so that his right leg was lined up to kick it.
Elfman was ready to block the shot. In a blink of an eye, the ball was behind him to his left. Everyone was stunned at the shot.
The American grinned. "I was called the Karate kid in high school, I was a black belt in that discipline. You have no idea how much training I had in my legs."
Elfman was staggered as Stephen lined up the shot. This time he didn't even try and just misdirected the goalkeeper and sent it in.
Stephen looked at Laxus. "I'll take that in cash." He said walking away with a cocky sweagger.
Gildarts grinned and walked up to Stephen. "That was some good shooting. Wasn't for Laxus here, you would be starting opening day."
Stephen nodded and went back to his teammates who praised him. One notable exception was Laxus, who stormed off in a huff, flanked by the Thunder tribe.
An hour later, when almost everyone left for the dorms, Lisanna had gone back to the locker room to fetch her sister's hair band. Fortunately, where they lived was close so she went alone. As she left with the hairband, she heard the soccer net being struck. Curious, she walked out and saw Stephen taking another shot at the net.
Looking down at her red blouse and grey skirt, she wiped off some dirt and headed out on to the pitch.
"Hey there." She called out.
Stephen turned to Lisanna. "Hey. How's it going?"
"Good. Sorry, haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Lisanna Strauss, Mira and Elfman's baby sister." She said with a smile.
"Stephen Decatur. Nice to me ya." He said with a smile taking another shot.
Lisanna looked curious. "You know practice is over right?"
"Yeah. But more practice means I get better. Dad told me that 10,000 hours is needed to get to the next level of skill. More practice equals more skill."
Lisanna nodded. "I just came to get something my sister left. Do you mind if I watch?"
Stephen smiled. "I don't mind."
Firing off a quick text to her sister, she sat down and watched Stephen shoot and mess around with the ball. Unknown to them, a small spark in their hearts formed for each other.
As Magnolia City trains, their season will begin soon. Will Magnolia City prevail? Join us as the First Saint League Kicks off next Time.
END OF CHAPTE
UO: Alright that's the chapter, and the last update for the year. Before I sign off, I would like to do two things. One is Magnolia City's Bio and the other the structure of the story.
Teams
Magnolia City: Founded in in 1901. Winners of the First Saint League 6 times, The Mavis Cup 8 times and Cup of Ishgar 9 times.
Home Stadium: Mavis Memorial Stadium
Kits: Home: Blue with alternating white stripes and blue pants. Away: Solid red with white pants. Third kit, Black shirt with red pants.
Club Emblem: The Fairy Tail guild symbol on a white shield with 6 stars surrounding the symbol.
Last Season results: 3rd place
Next is some terms I brought up
Formation: That's how soccer teams line up their players. 4-4-2 as measured from the goal keeper are the backs or defenders, midfielders which control the ball and help pass it around and forwards which are the star players. The number 10 is typically the star player on a team.
Now the structure. I know how long a season is. With twenty teams, playing each other twice, its 38 matches. I am not going to do that. Mainly because I want to show stuff other than leagues. The domestic cups and the UEFA Champion's League come to mind. I will show one match per opposing team and I have 6 I want to show twice. I will also show a couple of domestic cup matches to give other players some spotlight. A couple of Champion's league matches including one my Nee-chan might enjoy. And I might throw in the World Cup as well mixed in with some qualifiers. So At the very least it will be a fifty chapter story.
Lastly how I will keep track of who wins. A standard table has eight things on it besides the name. GP, W, T, L, GF, GA, GD, and Pts. The W, T, and L are obvious. They are wins, Ties, and Loses. Three points for a win, one for a tie or draw. GF is Goals found or scored. GA is Goals Allowed and GD is Goal Difference. You subtract Goals Allowed from Goals Scored to get the difference. PTS means points. Tiebrakers are points, then Goal Difference and then goals scored. Positive is always larger than negative which can and will happen.
Since I am not keeping track of other teams and not showing all the matches I will post the scores of each match I don't show at the end like so:
FC Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid
FC Barcelona is the home team which is always on the left and read it like regardless if the home team won or not like so:
Manchester United 1-3 Liverpool
In that case, Liverpool won 1-3 away at Manchester United.
Whoosh that was a lot. Anyway next time this gets updated will be after Grand Prix ends.
Preview: As the first game of the Domestic season begins, an injury to a key player thrusts the new guys into the spot light. Can the win their first game? Find out as the First Saint League opens.
Next time: Opening Day! Hargeon Port Vs. Magnolia City
Next update is 2nd Magnolia.
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OSPREY…SWOOSH
