In all honesty I never thought I'd come back with a new story, but I promised i'd come back in the summer, so why not try and come back now.
With SnK taking over my interests in my audioplay "Attack on Dragon", I thought I'd put my focus on a different anime. So I chose Fairy Tail.
Chapter 1: Embrace the Pain
Erza Scarlett sat at the bar in the center of the Fairy Tail's main hall with a warm, and steamy mug of coffee. Her eyes are closed, and her ears are as vigilant as ever.
All she needed to keep herself at ease was two spoons of sugar, and a light dose of cream to cool off the hot beverage. She could hear Gray and Natsu arguing as usual, but it's just over the last cannoli available at their table. Nothing really worth lifting one of her swords over to stop. She just kept sipping her coffee while ignoring the two unmuzzled dogs. Lucy and Juvia were just having simple girl talk on their last job from yesterday. In all honesty, Erza's too proud to admit it to Lucy, but she's impressed with her. For a rookie she's come pretty far, farther than perhaps anyone… A sense of jealousy starts to fume in her soul as she starts to suppress it with ease with her mind. Instead she just smiled to herself as she finished the last drop of coffee in her good mug.
Her eyes are still closed, and yet she's starting to hear something off. It's not Natsu or Gray. Something light in the air. As soon as it hit her, she quipped a shield around herself, and then her best sword for when she's in a crowd full of her friends or anybody. A blast of shurikens has been deflected with Erza's shield.
"You're so predictable." Said this ominous, deep, new voice who was twirling his blade in the middle of the guild hall.
She didn't recognize him at all. A man, lean and thin, with a black trench coat with white stripes across the shoulders. His right sleeve is ripped off, which is exposing his well-toned bicep. His boots was as black as his jacket and with cowboy stars attached to the back of the heels. His weapon was a katana, the sharp metal piece was black, leaving his hilt the color white. His hair was a light shade of silver. Not like an old man's color, this guy was about her age. The man unsheathed his one sided sword, and removed his black glove from his right hand, and threw it on the ground.
Erza lowered her weapons, and picked up his is glove. She looked deep into the dark sweaty glove, and smiled to not at him, but his challenge.
"I accept. This'll be easy." Erza then pulled out her best dual pair of katana's, and she quipped herself in no armor. She's pulled out her red pants, a band around her breast, and her scarlet hair is put in a ponytail.
"Hmm, armorless? So be it." The mysterious swordsman then stripped away his trench coat, leaving his light undershirt exposed to the crowd. All the girls seem to be swooning by the sight of this new guy. Except for Juvia, and Lucy is averting his gaze.
"Why do all these guys have to go shirtless?" Lucy sweats out her unnecessary stress and flee's to the back of the bar.
"Now now!" Lord Makarov steps in between Erza and this new comer, "Before I allow a duel in my guild hall, I'd like to know your name, and why you're here to duel Erza in the first place."
"…" the mysterious man diverts his entire gaze on the tiny old man. He furls his blade behind his back in a fancy spin and takes a bow to master Makarov.
"My name is Jace Ricon, and I'm here… not just for a request to join, but to have a little fun first. Please sir, I've travelled for miles for not just to join, but to prove a point, that I will gladly explain later. Until then, allow me to make a first impression."
Makarov glared in a clear face, to observe this man's own expression.
Makarov quickly smiled "Alright then, we'll be sure you get treatment for when you lose. Erza's never been defeated especially in a duel." Makarov starts to laugh behind Jace's back as he calls for the guild members to back up.
And Jace couldn't help but laugh which brings Makarov back to his direction. "Which is why I'm not here to defeat her."
Everyone exchanged gibberish and confusing glances at each other, even Makarov is a little dazed to this.
Jace turns to Master Makarov, "I'm not here to win, sir." And then he turns back to Erza, "I'm here to fight."
Jace prepares in his battle stance, with a good smile on his face.
"The first thing you said to me after throwing those stars at me was that I'm 'predictable'. Care to tell me how?" Erza began her own battle stance.
"A brave woman willing to shield herself instead of embracing the pain. That's every dangerous warrior, because they're afraid to die." Jace said to Erza.
The whole crowd was in shock to hear that. This man, had the guts to say something so strong and hurtful to this strong powerful woman.
"Unlike you I embrace my coming pain with pride. And I can already taste it." The man licked his chops.
Erza kept a clear face, trying not to reveal her emotions.
"Now then, fight me girl." Jace raised his blade, and waited for Erza.
Erza dashed in with her swords speaking for all the emotions she's quickly bottled up. Because of this man. She sliced away his black blade, and kicked him across the guild hall. He crashed in an assortment liquor barrels. Cana was the more disappointed than anyone.
"Hey I was saving that for tomorrow!" Cana screamed with a mug of liquor in her hand.
Jace takes the nearest tankard, and takes a quick swig from the leaking barrel next to his face, "Not bad stuff."
Hauling his feet to the ground, Jace put his blade up for another attack. This time, Jace charged first. Erza prepares to block it with her quipped shield, but Jace hasn't hit. She hasn't lowered her guard, but something's off, Jace isn't attacking.
"What're you waiting for, attack!" Erza shouted behind her shield.
"This freak is just sitting down." Natsu shouts through the crowd to Erza.
Erza still hasn't lowered her shield, but she takes a peek to see that Natsu was serious. Well not completely, he's meditating. His eyes are closed, and his legs are crossed. Complete serene in the moment. Erza smiled at this guy, he's quite the swordsmen. Sadly, the moment she did smile, Jace sliced her shield in a blink of an eye. Her shield now lies in pieces.
"I said a fair fight." Jace twirled his katana.
"You certainly did." Erza quipped back her second katana, and they both clashed at each other in a flurry of blades. Whenever Erza would spin with any strike, Jace would either let her take the hit for some odd reason, or just block it with the fling of his wrist. He mostly took the pain like a man. Is he trying to prove a point that pain is a real warrior's weapon or something else?
Erza finally managed to have Jace follow her movements till he starts to wear himself off, and then she trips him over on the floor with a blade at his neck, "Looks like I win." Erza smiled looking down at Jace.
"Yeah, for now, but thanks for all those hits, really helped." Jace smiles as if he has a trick up his sleeve.
Erza flinched to Jace's words, and backs away when an invisible aura starts radiating around him.
"What're you talking about?" Erza demanded in a harsh tone.
Then all of his pain, fresh bruises, and cuts start to heal up. On the inside, his strength and vigilance starts to be inflamed like a hot smelting cup.
Jace wraps his feet around Erza's ankles, and trips her over. Jace launches his feet to the air to jump back up, and waits for Erza to get back up.
To this, Erza quips her best armor, and equipment and charges for him. Jace is a lot stronger now, so he just bounces back Erza's strike like a ball to a good stick. Erza quickly deflects from the ceiling and charges at him faster. This time she was landed another hit on her, and Jace took the it harder. Jace now crashed through the job board, and yet it didn't budge or break in any way.
"Strong billboard." Jace said as he brought himself up from the floor.
Jace prepared for another strike, and believe it or not, Erza caught his blade and threw him across the room again, and this time to the bar area.
"Oi…" Jace started to get dizzy, and raised his hand as a sign he's had enough.
"Excellent, did you think losing would be predictable?"
Erza smiled for victory and what's left of the crowd cheered for her. Even Jace was cheering which cancelled the rest of their cheering.
"I love a good fight, especially with that much pain. So of course I predicted I'd lose."
"Wow this guy's crazy." Grey mumbled to Juvia who was right next to him.
"This guy's got me fired up for my turn to fight him!" Natsu put his fists together with a smile.
"I wonder what kind of mage he is?" Levy wondered with her finger up to her chin.
"This guy's tough." Gajeel smirked at him.
"Hang on, didn't Lucy and Happy flee to the bar?" Natsu jumped through the wreckage of the fight, and found Lucy cuddled up with Happy all scared and frightened to see Jace crashed right next to them.
"Oh God this guy is scary!" Lucy said while shaking.
Then Natsu picked her back up on her feet, and brought her away from Jace's crash.
Erza finally came to him in her usual armor and blue skirt, and offered Jace a hand, and his black jacket in the other.
"You certainly know your way around a blade." Erza complimented
"Thank you." Jace took Erza's hand and she handed him his one sleeved jacket.
"So, Jace Ricon." Makarov came up to Jace, "You want to join Fairy Tail? And yet from what I saw you're without a doubt… A dark Magic user."
Everyone faded to white from that statement.
"He's a dark magic user?" Everyone shouts in unison.
Erza starts to quip herself a sword up to his neck.
"Get down on the ground!" Erza ordered with a strong fire of authority in her eye.
Jace puts his hands up with no emotion on his face. Just a simple glare with no anger.
"Erza back away." Makarov ordered.
"Master?" Erza said.
"He's a friend, I can see that for sure."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Positive…" Makarov turns his attention back to Jace.
"So son, you said you came here to prove a point, what would that point be?" Makarov asked.
"Was it to defeat Erza before me? Cause I'll let you know now that that's not gonna happen!" Natsu shouted across the guild hall.
"Well, my point was certainly not to defeat Erza… As I said before, fighting Erza was to make a good first impression. Probably wasn't the best idea, more or less. I enjoyed it, at least."
"No, no Jace, that was a good fight to watch, don't worry." Makarov assured to him.
"Well then, glad you enjoyed it." Jace took a deep breath, and continued his talk, "My point to prove is simple; they say that evil has a little bit of good in it right?" Jace asks the question to everyone.
"What?" Natsu asked, "There really is some good in evil?"
Jace then diverts his gaze away from the pink haired boy, and turns to the navy blue haired guy, "Yes I'm aware."
"At least someone is." Jace puts his jacket back on, "Well… I am that little bit of good in evil."
"So what's the point your trying to make?" Wendy asks with Carla next to her eating with Pantherlily.
"My point is to prove… that dark magic can be used for good."
The room was silent for only a few seconds when everyone started to laugh.
"Yeah right, dark magic can't be used for good." Natsu laughs the hardest.
Jace just nods his head, and turns back to Makarov.
"I don't think your point is impossible, but it won't be easy."
Makarov readies his stamp, "Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Makarov yelled for everyone to hear, and be dumbstruck by.
"Gramps what're you thinking?" Grey jolted.
"The way I see it, I'm just helping this young man make his next step to proving his point. Where would you like your emblem to be?" Makarov smiled a tad with the stamp in hand.
"Hmm… Right here." Jace pointed to the top of his right sleeveless hand.
"Same spot as me?" Lucy thought to herself as she looked at her emblem stamp.
Never before, for once in this very guild's history. Fairy Tail has recruited a Dark Magic User, with awesome sword skills to say the least.
Hope you enjoyed this piece, If you like it then please give it a favorite and/or follow and if you really REALLY like it, then tell me in a review to keep writing it.