Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.
I do own the idea for the fic though.
A change of scene.
(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)
Chapter 1
Poor Twisted Me 1
The Forgotten Child
At the town.
A small breeze ran across the town, people escaped to the safety of their homes and two figures stood one in front of the other facing each other on a street of dirt that was the entrance to that small and now troubled town. One was standing ready to fight while the other was still adjusting to the situation; Erza shook her head and snapped it out of its shock, tightening the hold on her sword as her eyes narrowed towards the pink-haired man standing five meters away from her.
Why would the fearsome Sage come to that remote place to meet her? They never talked, not even during those times she was sent for trial due to mindless destruction from her part and he stood sitting there in the same room with his co-workers debating her fate.
Did he take an interest in her? How so? For what she knew, the Council had all of its members, except the Chairman, and they weren't looking to grow their numbers at this moment.
Was this a test of sorts?
Or was she found guilty of something and he was there to retrieve her?
'The best course of action,' Erza thought. 'Would be to ask him…'
"Why are you here?" She asked carefully, readying her stance in case he didn't feel like answering her question. There was also the fact that; if he didn't lower his own stance with her after all this time, then there was something serious going on through his head.
Luminer quirked an eyebrow at the question, thinking it was to be expected but not so early. He hoped for her to ask that after a few blows were exchanged, not before the start of the fight.
He grinned though, already plotting a way to keep his answers to himself and anger the stoic woman at the same time.
Oh, Gerard will be proud of him.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked back with a surprised expression, faking it perfectly while his head shook in regret. "Don't tell me I came all the way here to fight a dumb mage?"
That was a good way, yes.
Erza grimaced at the questions; she doesn't like it when a person doesn't answer her questions quickly or truthfully, and she certainly doesn't like it when people mock her lack of knowledge of a situation. The hold on her sword tightened, another one appearing in her free hand as her eyes hid behind her scarlet locks. "What did you say?"
He didn't miss the slight raise of her voice.
"Oh man! And you're deaf too?" Luminer complained, dropping his stance to turn around and start to walk away. A smirk was playing its way to his lips as he continued with his taunts about the information he managed to gather about the Titania in the Council's archives. "So… you're only a woman that knows how to swing a sword?"
Erza did her best to keep her emotions in check but the constant mockery of her person from him was making her twitch despite her restraints. Her armor was also clanking because of the building anger she was failing to contain. Many tried to anger her, many enemies and sometimes her friends at the guild, for pranking purposes, but no one reached her limits so fast.
Was it the annoying tone of his voice? Who he was and what he was saying? That she already was mad because he completed the job she was set to complete before she even got there? Who knows; she was starting to lose it and it wasn't right. She cannot lose her cool in front of someone of his stature.
Not only her but her guild as a whole would be in trouble for engaging a councilman when he only talked and never raised a finger against her.
The clanking sounds reached to Luminer's ears. His smirk grew. This was just too damn easy for him.
Why would the others think she was worthy of taking his position? He doesn't see it now. The woman is strong, yes, but she's like any other of those fools from her guild. Easy to anger and get to the nerves.
Okay, he would be lying if he says he was never like that, but Gerard beat down that rashness out of him with his training.
He wouldn't have gotten the position he has now if he acts like a fool with no restraints.
"From Fairy Tail, I expected something better," Luminer continued with his smirk subsiding to a small smile after feeling the rise in magic pressure from the knight. He joined his hands behind his head and kicked a random rock in his way, turning to see the boiling Titania with disillusioned eyes from over his shoulder. "Please, don't tell me you also like that mushy and horrendously sweet strawberry cake." She froze. He mentally patted himself on the back. "That would be mind-shattering to me…"
The magic energy rose to the skies.
Erza got rid of every remaining bit of self-control in her and lunged.
Be damned who he was and his tone and his whatever!
No one, not a single soul in Earthland, stains the name of the sacred strawberry cake she loves like that!
*snap!*
'What was that just now?' A loud sound, so weird and unique, echoing throughout the street almost made the grinning Luminer forget of his foot work and perish at the first strike from the choleric knight if not because he ducked out of her swords' way. 'Guess I'll have to wonder about it later…'
He got what he wanted.
Now – to run!
In the Magic Council.
Hearing his friend pound someone so hard with just words was something rare for Siegrain.
Especially so when the one he was listening to, saying those unnerving mocks and insults, was the usually blatantly straightforward Luminer of all people.
He would have to question him about this strange new side of him later.
"He really knows how to annoy people," Siegrain commented in mild surprise, his face going blank when he saw Ultear smirking at the words she heard from the pink-haired man mocking the Titania. He shook his head at his poor deductive skills at the moment. He should have known the Time wizard had something to do with this. "Don't tell me. You taught him that."
Sincerely. She mocked people like she pleases, and she always found it amusing to no end, but. Seeing someone else doing it, as perfectly as she would have, was something else entirely. And she wasn't regretting anything she was hearing.
"Me?" She asked with faked hurt, shaking her head repeatedly. "I didn't do anything…"
He rolled his eyes tiredly, not buying her act. "Ultear…"
She sighed in defeat. The man was such a downer.
"Okay, I taught him a thing or two, but I promise you that most of what you heard and saw was already in him." Ultear explained, frowning at the memory of how the dragon-slayer got to her nerves the few times they had missions together.
Siegrain looked at her plainly for a moment before smirking again, shaking his head again with a small snicker. "He never seems to stop surprising me."
*snap!*
Both stopped their banter to look at the orb; witnessing how the knight was now pursuing their grinning friend with both her swords carving a path of destruction in their way.
"Oh? What was that?" He asked in surprise, having never heard that kind of noise before.
Ultear shook her head in annoyance.
"That was the Titania's patience breaking." Siegrain sweatdropped at the statement, looking at the purple-haired woman for verification of her words before his eyes opened wide in surprise when she confirmed this.
His friend's abilities were many and some of them were of the kind he never wanted to test by himself.
With that said; yes, he wasn't going to question Luminer about this new mocking side of him.
He wanted to keep his patience intact.
Though, he couldn't help but snort at the situation. "This will be even more interesting than what I originally thought."
This was a complete twist of the events his mind initially pictured.
Now, how else would Luminer surprise him?
At the town.
Moving aside a few bricks that rose up in front of him; Luminer watched amusedly how the Titania emerged from the building in which he was standing, through a hole she made to stop him in his tracks and finally have him at swords' reach. Dust just vanishing at her deathly swings and lunges.
He had to admit she was no pushover.
Contrary to what he said to mock her, she was a very skillful woman when it was about weapons.
And now he regretted that…
…only a bit.
'Re-quip user, skilled swordswoman, short-tempered, proud of her guild and strawberry-cake lover… this was easier than I thought!' He laughed loudly to his pursuer's nerves, running through the streets and alleys to avoid her strikes. The damage they were causing never seemed to cross his mind. After the first ten houses, anyone would lose perception of the surroundings.
"Take it back!" Erza yelled in complete rage, her swords dancing madly to hit the laughing pink-haired. Not a single slash touching him while they kept on that dance of 'hit –taunt-and-run' through the whole town. They were destroying some buildings in the process and scaring the locals so much that the poor townsfolk decided to run to the forests a long while ago. "Take it back! Damn you!"
"Take back what?" Luminer asked in faked puzzlement, looking dumbly at her before jumping away from a vertical slash that made a deep narrow hole in the street road. To even think he would stop this. He was having the best time he had in months and she wants him to stop. He laughed even harder. "I didn't take anything from you, Titania!"
"You know of what I'm talking about!" He jumped to the rooftops, jumping from one to another while avoiding the strong strikes the angered woman behind was trying to lay on him. He turned around, stopping with his back facing the way he was previously taking, a small smile and a wink of eye making the scarlet-haired woman glare at him fiercely and rush to take advantage of his sudden halt in movements.
But Luminer was confident that, what he was going to say would stop the woman as well.
Though, if what he had in mind fails, he didn't mind the idea of having a long gash running across his chest.
Women dig men with manly scars on them, right?
At least Ultear told him it was like that.
"Oh! You want me to 'take you' back?" The question in itself made the Titania stop dry on her feet.
Just as he planned.
In the Magic Council.
"He's dead." Ultear muttered with a long sigh, her head hurting as she remembered Luminer doing the same with her a year ago. The boy never learned, didn't he? Siegrain rolled on the floor in laughter, not believing his friend to be that bold.
At the town.
Her eyes were hidden by her scarlet locks, her swords were hanging limply at her sides, and her whole body was frozen after what he said.
Luminer grinned openly at her reaction, moving a few steps forward to try and meet eyes with the knight, chuckling amusedly at the picture before him.
"You know, I would remember if I ever 'take' a woman like you to my chambers." He said playfully with crossed arms, leaning down a bit to try and see beyond the shadow of her eyes. His grin lowered to a suggestive smile, followed by the same wink of before. "I bet you're wild in bed…"
*crack!*
'Okay, she broke the handle of her swords with her clenched fists… that can't be good…' Luminer thought with a drop of sweat travelling south from his eyebrow, his face dropping when he realized that 'maybe' he went too far. 'I think I overdid it, better leave now.'
And he did as such, picking one way from many to quickly run away from the about to explode volcano behind him and save his life. From his memories with Ultear, women don't like it when you talk to them that way and she was throughout in teaching him that… and he didn't want to revive that experience, so, off he goes.
But when he was jumping from one roof to another with a street separating them; he felt something over him, a weird feeling that made him remember the expression the prisoners at the tower used to say when there were too many guards in one room staring at them.
'I feel like there are a hundred swords behind my back…'
And indeed, it was true.
Looking over his shoulder, Luminer witnessed a hundred swords falling at great speed towards him.
He sweatdropped, knowing beforehand he couldn't avoid the attack.
'Women…'
He twisted in the air and moved his arms to cover himself but a figure appeared over him, in the between the swords and him.
It was the Titania, and she was expressionless.
His eyes grew wide in shock. Just what was she doing? "W-wait! You want to kill me but you cover me from your own attack?"
The knight remained quiet, her eyes shadowed to the pink-haired while the both of them fell to the ground, Luminer closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. The hundred swords rained upon and around them for what seemed like an eternity to the young Sage.
When the last sword fell, when he caught the sound of it, Luminer kept his eyes closed, trying to feel if there was any kind of injury on him.
'Arms? Fine. Legs? Fine. Torso? Fine. Head? A small ache, not much.' He tried to move his arms and legs to stand up, but he found a strange force holding him still. 'What the…?'
Wanting to discover what was keeping him against the ground, he dared to open his eyes and check on what happened, his onyx orbs widening in shock at what actually happened.
He was under the scarlet-haired knight, she was stretching his arms and legs to the sides and…
He looked at his extremities…
His face paled...
He wasn't hurt, not one bit…
Instead of that, he was nailed to the ground with several swords holding him in place and stopping him from running away.
He wasn't hurt and she wasn't either, from what he could see.
He gaped terrified at the precision of her strikes. 'Scary…!' The blades were only holding him by his robes, and since they were not that loose on his body, it was a terrifying sight to behold.
Shakily turning his face to look up, he wished he hadn't have done so. He saw the red-head smirking devilish at his predicament, her eyes shining bright red behind the shadow her hair created.
He gulped down in fear, sweating profusely at what was surely going to happen.
"I wasn't looking to cover you," She started, dropping her demonic-self to smile softly at the man under her, making him heave a sigh of relief… before her demonic-self returned full force and scared the hell out of him, her voice growling every word. "I was looking for a way to punish you properly!"
"AHHHH!" The scream was heard in depths of the forests, making some of the refugees look at each other in questioning.
"That guy must be really powerful to make a girl scream like that." Several nodded to that statement…
Oh, how wrong they were.
"Get off me!" Luminer yelled desperately, moving around and making the Titania sitting on his lap click her tongue in annoyance.
"Stay still, dammit!" She tried to hit him with her fists, but he kept on dodging her, his head moving from left to right quickly while he tried to get out of there. Erza growled fiercely, clenching her right fist tightly before hitting him on the gut, making him spat some saliva and cough for a bit before painfully continuing with his moves to escape from her. "I said…!"
"I heard what you said! Dammit!" Luminer yelled to her, stopping to glare at her surprised face. "And stop screaming, woman! I'm not deaf like you!"
Wrong choice of words.
The Titania stood up from her sitting position, her eyes shadowed again as she moved a step back to Luminer's relief. He tried to escape the sword imprisonment now that he had her off him, if not because…
"Shut up!" The woman kicked him in between the legs, to the pink-hair's disgrace.
In the Magic Council.
Siegrain stood frozen on the spot, looking appalled at what happened to his friend. A hand drifted slowly to cover the spot in between his legs by instinct as he was almost able to feel the pain Luminer suffered.
As for Ultear, let's say that roles changed and now, she was the one laughing madly on the floor.
At the town.
Erza saw him squirm in the ground, awkwardly due to her swords holding him in place.
Never someone got to her nerves so fast and hard, the boy was a Sage in every aspect.
Not only could he fight like few were capable of, but he could also make perfect use of what he knows of his opponents to turn the tide in his favor.
He blinds his opponents with anger… the basic of combat taunting but still the best one of them all.
"Are you going to stay quiet and accept your punishment already?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes, not concerned in seeing a member of the Council and one of the strongest mages in Fiore crying in pain because of the blow he received.
"Y-you're scary…" Luminer managed to say in between grunts of pain, trying his best to stop the tears and hold back the pain he was feeling. "Y-you didn't need to kick me… there… a simple 'please' would have sufficed… you know?"
"You were annoying and you owed me that, after all you said…" She called her swords off, crossing her arms and sighing tiredly at what happened. She stared at the pink-haired man trying to stand shakily on his feet for a moment before she thought it was time to get some answers. "Why are you, a member of the Council, here?"
He sighed, brushing away the pain as it was almost a little more bearable now, and looked at the Titania in the eyes with seriousness. "I came here to see who's stronger, Titania."
A soft breeze passed by, carrying dust and leaves with it as the two stared at each other intensively.
"That's all?" She asked with a confused face, making Luminer gape at her words.
"What?" He asked in shock. "How's that? 'That's all?' Of course not! I came here to prove I'm stronger than you!"
"Huh." She grunted with a straight face. "The Council asked you to test me?"
"No, it was my own decision!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"So you think I'm strong enough to be in the Council." She said as a matter of fact; Luminer shook his head vehemently. She tilted her head to a side in puzzlement. "Then what? You came here because you wanted to fight a strong mage?"
"Of course! What other reason could I have?" He yelled to the skies, not understanding how this woman couldn't see the logic in his actions.
She sighed tiredly.
"There are many reasons; some are more valid than yours, truthfully." Erza said with slightly closed eyes. She was losing interest in this.
"Name me four!" The pink-haired demanded; wanting to hear what other better reasons could there be for fighting a strong mage.
She raised a hand, lifting one finger with each reason.
"First; I'm fitted to be in the Council and they sent you to test me."
"Second; you thought I'm fitted to be in the Council so you came here to test me."
"Third; you had reason to think I'm a dark mage and came here to get me in jail."
"Or fourth and final reason; you're interested in me and asked me for a fight since you couldn't find a better reason to talk with me." She explained the four reasons he asked for, dropping her hand and shrugging at his frozen figure. "Either way, I have no interests of been in the Council, I'm not a dark mage and lastly, I have no interest in pursuing a relationship now."
"Wait…" Luminer muttered quietly, his eyes twitching at her words.
"So, if that was all, I'll leave to my other job now."
"Wait…"
And she started to walk away before the 'statued' Luminer, leaving him alone on the spot with a solemn face on her, but not without saying something that she remembered after seeing the destruction caused because of their 'small' quarrel.
"Thank you for completing this job for me; please, use the reward to pay for the damages done to the town."
1…
2…
3…
"I SAID WAIT!" And an explosion of flames occurred behind the bored Titania. She turned around and watched the figure of the pink-haired sage standing in the middle of the wild fire burning the closer buildings with narrowed eyes. Her only excuse to keep staring being the waiting to hear his next words. "I have no reason like that!"
She sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly. How did a brat as immature as him managed to be in the Council? Or be considered a Sage in the first place? If it was because of his strength, then she knew a lot of mages that could be considered Sages… and some of them were smarter than this man… or at least had a reason for their actions.
"Then what's your reason for fighting, Luminer?" She asked tiredly, believing to know the answer. He surely was one of those spoiled brats that had an ego problem and wanted to fight to keep his stupid pride intact.
He started to walk in her direction slowly.
"I'll tell you if you fight me, Titania of Fairy Tail."
She thought about it. He seemed really serious about this fight against her, not anyone was this persistent for just a normal fight. Well, there were many others these persistent, but not many could evoke such a strong gaze like he was doing. Sadness, rage, determination. Did she judge him wrong? 'Maybe he has a reason beyond proving who's stronger…'
"What do you say, Titania?" Luminer asked to her, stopping in front of her again, as when they met for the first time that day. She narrowed her eyes, closing them for a moment to nod at his request.
"If it truly means a lot to you, I'll fight you." She said, jumping back when she saw the smirk in between the flames around him. A flash of light and her normal armor changed, the one she was sporting now was a black and orange one with a red bladed sword in her hand. Her face stern as it would be normally. "Do your best."
Natsu's grin reached insane proportions. He could feel the adrenaline already running through his veins; this was a fight, with a strong mage that he wished to fight and not some of Jellal's weak objectives.
A real fight with a strong mage from a strong guild.
He laughed before lunging forward, his flames disappearing to show him genuinely happy at the situation.
"Hahaha! I'm all fired-up!"
In the Magic Council.
"What if something goes wrong and he easily beats the Titania?" Ultear asked, wondering the possibilities of the fight even if she knew almost everything about the fighters involved and the possibilities for each one. She would not ask Siegrain for his opinion again.
Siegrain shrugged. "It doesn't matter; it'll just show she wasn't much of a threat to begin with."
"And if she beats him?" The azure-haired man smirked.
"I already told you: if she beats him, Natsu will learn more and he'll become stronger than what he is now," He closed his eyes with a content smile. "If they fight again, the winner will be decided from the start."
"You really like to plan things through."
"I learned from the best."
In Magnolia Town.
The birds were chirping, there were people walking on the streets and kids playing around with other kids. There were mages partying inside the building standing near the coast and a pair of guys transporting boxes in a small gondola through the canals running through the small coastal town. All of the things from a normal day in the almost-always-peaceful town of Magnolia and its only mage guild, Fairy Tail.
Nothing wrong with that.
Not at all.
If you had been in the town for at least 5 years you would have known by now that inside the guild of mages there were parties and brawls almost every day, nothing surprising or too overwhelming, just fights between them to get some steam out and strengthen their bonds. And if you like, or you're brave enough, you can join them. They don't have a problem with that… just be sure to pay your own hospital bills and for the things you break.
Intentionally or not.
But, let's get inside, shall we?
Let's see what's making the mages of that guild fight today.
'Cause, as everyone knows, when their fights are the more exaggerated is when they are partying because of something that brightened their spirits…
…or maybe it was just a random brawl.
Who cares?
"Take that!"
"Ugh! You…!"
Yep! A random brawl.
"Hahaha! You can't beat me, Macao!" A brunette yelled proudly standing over a broken table in between the fights going on around him without a single piece of clothing on him, the dust floating in the air because of the fights covering his intimacy… that wasn't so intimate at the moment. He looked around, punching his open palm with a smirk in searching of a new challenge before a chair came out of nowhere and hit him on the head. "Ouf!"
"Shut up, Gray!" An old man with a weird haircut and pipe in his mouth yelled annoyed, being the one to throw the chair at the teen. "And put some damn clothes on!"
"C-clothes?" The brunette looked down, widening his eyes in shock at the statement. "What the hell! Where are my clothes!?"
"Over there…" A tall tanned man of spiky white hair said to him, a hand pointing at the missing clothes in between some rubble while his other hand held a top-hat wearing man by the neck. The man struggling to get free from the mighty hold before a strong punch sent him flying against a wall. "Real men take hits directly, Jet!"
"Ah… It's good to see them fighting like this again…" A silver-haired woman sighed contently at the scene in front of her bar, smiling whole heartedly at the two people staying with her to watch the fight, one of them smirking amusedly while the other flinched at the sounds of fists and kicks meeting their objectives, and the occasional mage flying away against the roof or wall. "Don't you think so, Lucy?"
"U-uh?" The blonde haired girl asked in surprise, drifting her attention from the fight to look at the woman standing behind the bar counter with troubled brown eyes. "Y-yeah, I guess so, Mira-san…"
"And you, Ryota?" She asked with a small smile, turning to look at the other person making her company… and making the flying chairs and tables stay away from the bar. The black haired man grinned, nodding shortly to her words before stopping a table with a lone hand to later throw it back the way it came, hitting the tall white haired man in the middle of the fighting crowd of mages.
"Hey!"
"Sure, Mira, I'm glad to see the guys again…" He said as if he hadn't hit her brother just recently while she smiled brightly at his answer, uncaring of the heating up fight. Lucy sweatdropped at their antics and turned to look at the fighters again, cringing when a random hit connected to a random face or body, thus heating up the fight even more.
"T-that must hurt a lot…" She commented quietly, drawing the attention from the other two to her.
"Don't worry, Lucy, they're not hitting to hurt…" Mira said with a small smile. "They're just punching themselves slightly to celebrate Ryota's return…"
Just then, the brunette with no-clothes on him was sent flying to the roof, hitting a balk with a strongly before falling hardly on the floor, the fight continuing as nothing. The blonde sweatdropped again. "A-as you say, Mira-san…"
"Come on, Lucy! Cheer up!" The black-haired man said happily, raising a mug of beer in a cheerful manner. "You wanted to join Fairy Tail, here you have it! As boisterous as it is!"
Just then, a small piece of debris hit his hand, making him lose the hold on his drink… and letting its sour content pour all over his head and clothes.
Mira and Lucy gasped.
The smile in the man's face disappeared completely and the mug in his hand was crushed by his strong grip.
"Just. Who. The. Hell. Did that!?" He asked in anger, jumping onto the crowd to join the fight, much to the blonde's astonishment and Mira's joy.
"Oh, I was starting to think he changed his attitude…" The white-haired beauty commented after a moment to the still startled Lucy, recovering slightly faster due to being accustomed to those reactions. "Good thing it wasn't like that…"
The girl smiled uncomfortably, watching how the man kicked and punched everyone in his way while asking who made him drop his drink over his head. "S-sure, Mira-san…"
At the town.
After a small exchange of blows that were nothing more than a warming up for the real fight; both fighters returned to their starting positions.
Luminer stood his ground, laughing for a moment before smirking at the armored mage in front of him, taking time to see her new armor closely; an armor of a dark red color predominantly, but also sporting orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling dragon's limbs. It's basically made up of three different parts: the revealing breastplate with dragon like wings attached to it, the orange gauntlets and the dragon claw shaped greaves. Erza's hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails.
"Nice armor, it brings back some memories…" A red-dragon's image flashed in his mind, making him frown at the memory.
Erza narrowed her eyes, inspecting the man's face to see if there was an ulterior motive for the words he spoke. No more would she fall for his taunts, not when they were fighting and a single slip could mean defeat. The small exchange showed her he was strong, so much he had to even lower his strength more when it was already lowered, something that did not surprise her in the slightest. He was one of the nine Sages, and possible candidate to be a Wizard Saint from what she heard of him. His strength and that strange Lost Magic of his were not things to be taken lightly. Not even by an experienced S-class wizard like her.
"Fire Empress Armor." She said with her hands strengthening the hold on her red bladed sword, preferring to ignore his comment. She thought it was a leeway for another taunt, and as such, it was better to not answer to any more of his words or questions. "Ready to fight seriously, Luminer?"
He felt ticked off for being ignored, but shrugged it.
He now had what he wanted.
And his answer to her question was fairly simple.
"Hell yeah!" Punching his fists together, he created a big explosion that covered his surroundings with smoke; hiding him from view and making the woman prepare herself for anything. Eyes narrowed, senses in full alert, she watched left and right for a while before noticing the smoke moving on the upper left of the cloud, the Sage coming out of there with his hands lighted in flames. "Raining Inferno!"
He swung his arms madly, throwing small fire projectiles towards her at great speed, with his legs landing on top of a near rooftop to later jump to another one. All the time his arms showering Erza with his 'Raining Inferno' while she raised her sword quickly and started to spin it in front of her, her sword dispelling the flames that were aimed at her while many others impacted against the ground around her, raising another cloud of smoke that this time concealed her form and movements.
Luminer stopped his attack and jumps, coming to stand on top of the rooftop of a two-story house to watch his handiwork. His smirk came back when he saw the scarlet-haired woman standing unscathed in the middle of a cloud of smoke, her eyes looking at him seriously. "Guess ranged-attacks won't work on you, Titania."
She remained quiet, making him quirk an eyebrow at her silence.
Was she being cautious of his words after their strange meeting?
"You know, I'm done with throwing taunts and insults, you can talk if you want." He said to her, crossing his arms, expecting to hear her say something in reply… but she remained quiet, much to his annoyance. He gripped his forearms tightly. "Oe, talk! You make me look bad!"
Silence.
A vein popped up in his neck.
"I said, 'SAY SOMETHING', DAMMIT!" He screamed in anger, jumping head-first to charge at her.
She scowled, raising her sword with both hands, waiting for the assault to connect.
"Fire fist!" He swung a fist forward to meet the Titania's sword, watching happily at how she skid a few feet back at his strength before realizing with slight shock how the sword made his flames divert from the original target. He grinned at her, feeling content with this new setback, jumping away to her left side. "Oh? I believe I'm at a disadvantage here."
"Yes, you are." She said dryly, eyeing the guy with careful eyes, mindful of her words to not earn another taunting game. "This armor lowers the effect of fire-based attacks by a fifty percent…"
"I see… nice choice…" He commented with a nod, spreading his legs to the sides for the next offensive, his magic starting to build up inside him in excitement. "You know I'm a fire mage so you thought a fire-nulling armor will help you, am I right?"
"You're right, yes." She answered with her eyes still showing boredom and wariness about the whole deal. She chose that armor to end the fight quickly… she had other jobs to do before returning to the guild.
"Great to know." He praised with a small clapping of hands, nodding to her before smiling playfully. "But are you sure it can protect you from MY flames?"
"Of course." Another short reply, his smile widened even if his right eye twitched at her dry answers.
"Because my flames are not normal flames, mind you," He started to explain, giving a step forward with a hand rising to show a different kind of flames around it. These ones brighter and warmer than the ones he previously used. "This fire comes from a dragon, Erza Scarlet…"
And he lunged forward again, his new speed surprising the Scarlet for a moment before she snapped out of it and saw his fist aiming to hit her mid-waist. She held her sword downwards to stop the attack again but then, she noticed, the change in his magical energy. Being an experienced mage, she knew better than receiving a hit she didn't know if she could block, so she ducked and jumped away from his fist, watching it collide against the ground to make a boulder that made the ground shake and explode in a fury of red flames.
"W-what…?" She asked in surprise, looking at the man in the middle of the flames standing up to grin at her. He was unfazed of the fire around him, not even feeling its hotness.
"Never heard of dragons, Titania?" He asked with a small snicker, giving a step towards her, his arms now engulfed in the same flames he showed her a moment ago. "They are real, you know?"
She scowled at him, thinking over his words before looking at her sword and armor, debating if they could hold their ground against this new kind of fire she was witnessing. She heard of his strange Lost Magic and now she was being witness of it, and its power. Dragon's Fire. She never heard of anything alike, and the man before her was careful to not let too much information leak about it when his fellows and he were interviewed by the reporters from Weekly Sorcerer or from normal newspapers' reporters.
"Doubting about this fight, Titania?" He asked playfully; snorting at her glare and giving one more step forward, his snort coming out as a chuckle when she gave a step back. "Aw! Come on! Don't fear them! They are not as strong as you think!"
And he charged forward again, Erza having just a few seconds to move her sword to block a hit to her side, its ability kicking in and making part of the flames disappear, but then her eyes watched with shock how the red-bladed sword she was wielding started to crack in the spot where the hit landed.
Luminer's snicker turned to an insane laughter.
"They are way stronger!"
And he swung another fist at the sword, making the blade break in half to the red-head's shock.
Not giving her a second to think, he kicked her in the stomach, sending her clashing against one of the houses at the end of street with him following her close behind.
Getting up weakly, she took a moment to think about this new development before rolling to the side to avoid a fist to her head that destroyed a wall separating the rooms inside the house.
The pink-haired was laughing madly in between the falling debris and rising dust; not caring for the furniture's that caught his fire and started to burn in reaction to it.
"Don't tell me you're getting scare, Titania!" She narrowed her eyes at the words, moving to lunge at the pink-hair's side with a diagonal slash from her broken sword to his left arm. He smirked, his arm and body moving to let the woman pass right in front of him again. She was so surprised at his change of speed that she failed to notice him swinging his elbows down, striking Erza on the back strongly with both arms on fire. "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!"
She gasped because of the pain, clenching her teeth to stand it before rolling on the ground to move away from a possible continuation and kneel a feet away from the smirking Sage, who stood still in his last spot. She could sense his magic power rising with every strike and move; he was truth to his words in showing who of the two was stronger. And just now, he told her the name of his Lost Magic. Now she had something to investigate. Though, she had a feeling she heard of that Magic in someplace. Something alike to it. "I think I underestimated you, Luminer…"
"Oh? You just noticed?" He asked mockingly, dispelling his flames to show his obvious smirk at the Titania. The name of his attack slipped off his mouth on purpose. He knew he had a clear advantage now, so he wanted to keep things interesting by giving the woman some clues as to what she was dealing with. "I'm glad. Does that mean you'll take this seriously now?"
She didn't say anything, she just nodded and closed her eyes, a bright light covering her while she changed her armor to one better fitted to fight the council member. She was now wearing a black armor with silver trimmings that had silver crosses in several places. It had a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist guard.
The waist guard leaving the front of Erza's body exposed, with her groin being covered by a dark cloth. She had large plates guarding her legs with two wings that have black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure on her back, but the parts used to fly were composed of a membrane-like material. Erza's hair was tied in a ponytail. "Black Wing Armor."
"A black armor? Will that help you, Titania?" Luminer asked with laughing eyes, his smirk growing when he saw the red-head disappear from his sight with her magic pressure giving her away and making him sidestep a slash to his right arm. He took note on the increased speed and the small gash on the ground made from the wind pressure of her blade. "Better come with something better, Titania…"
She remained quiet, moving quickly to land a hit on the pink-haired man while he kept on dodging, her sword almost hitting if not be because of his quick reflexes and growing speed. She narrowed her eyes, disappearing from sight again and exiting the house to the still smirking pink-hair's excitement.
"A 'hide and seek' game?" He asked loudly, stepping out of the building he looked around, the empty streets making his voice echo multiple times, sensing his surroundings for her presence. He shook his head and jumped to one of the closer rooftops, looking and turning around to check the area with a width range. "I can smell you, Titania! You can't hide from me forever!"
"Who's hiding?" A voice from behind him asked, making him open his eyes wide in shock when his back burned in pain. Something hit him and slashed him from his left shoulder to the right side of his hip. He gave two shaky steps forward, giving a few more steps to turn around and glare at the scarlet-haired woman looking at him seriously a few feet away, her sword's tip dripping a few droplets of his blood.
"D-damn you!" He yelled in rage, jumping forward with his hands moving to surround his mouth, his cheeks and belly growing before the surprised Titania to later exhale a long line of fire towards her, that she avoided barely thanks to her armor's enhanced speed and wings. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Crescent Moon!" She screamed behind him, slashing his back again in a curved-like motion that left his back sporting an X-shaped injury and disappearing to avoid the retaliation from an angered Luminer. He spewed fire from his mouth. That was even more incredible than the augmented strength of his flames. She started to think hard. He was unaffected at the touch of fire, he could release it from within his body… it wouldn't be a surprise if he showed her he could also eat it.
Just what was this strange Lost Magic based on the Fire of a Dragon?
He clenched his teeth in anger, grinding his teeth strongly while his head turned left and right in search of the knight.
"Stop hiding!" Luminer screamed to the skies, his flames burning brightly and engulfing him and the building in which he was standing on. His eyes, clouded by anger, looking for his opponent as his dragon-slayer's abilities kicked in and they started to heal his wounds. "Titania!"
"Moon Glimpse!" A voiced yelled from above him; looking up, his face meet the edge of her blade cutting in between his eyebrows to his right cheekbone, making him lose sight in his right eye.
He lowered his head and stepped to a side to avoid the next slash, preventing him from losing his left eye too, and letting Erza and her attack clash against the rooftop in which he was standing before she disappeared from sight again. A glare being the only thing he could discern from her face.
His right eye was seeing everything in a red blur, if it could still see.
Did she cut a nerve or something?
He tried cleaning it but the blood just kept on pouring out from the wound.
"Damn her..." He snarled angrily, a fire-engulfed hand going to cover the right of his face to close the wound with him wincing at the burning pain and staying in alert for another strike. He clenched his teeth visibly, the hand covering the wound on his right eye grabbing his face strongly while his left one checked his surroundings.
His senses trying to detect the next strike, to avoid an injury like the last one from someone he knew was inferior strength comparison.
"You coward!" He screamed in anger, dropping his hand to let his closed right eye in clear view, the damaged organ and it surroundings on his face covered in black burns as his flames sealed it with his magic to avoid the blood loss he could have suffer if he hadn't have treated it like that. He called for his flames to cover him, his steps turning him around to inspect the surroundings once more for a sign of the scarlet-haired sorcerer. "Show yourself before I light this whole town in flames!"
He started to build-up his magic even more, concentrating it around his body before letting it disperse, small sparks of fire flying to the surrounding buildings and, when they hit them, lighting tall pillars of fire that started to burn the place down.
Enclosing the fighting area with walls of fire, Luminer was sure that he was going to stop the Fairy Tail's mage escape and keep his surroundings in full surveillance. He was able to sense everything inside the prison of flames, from the movement of a person or animal to one as subtle as a mosquito's.
She had nowhere to run or hide now, and that made him smirk in amusement.
He used the same ability at the Tower of Heaven to keep the prisoners from escaping his guard as some of them did 3 years ago. After that time, he stopped being merciful with them. He kept them in check with a strong hand. No more charity for those that betrayed his trust. He lowered his head, concentrating in feeling his surroundings, the flames detecting even the movement of some creatures –animals and bugs- still lurking inside the fire prison he created.
But no sign of his opponent.
"Scarlet!" He yelled again, controlling the flames erupting from the walls around him to start shooting random fire balls to the houses, his teeth' grinding starting to pain him… if not because a scarlet-haired woman appeared in front of him, with a hate filled glare sent in his direction. He didn't stop the bombardment; instead, he grinned in satisfaction and continued with the senseless destruction. His right eye opening slightly to look at Erza for a moment before it closed and left the other one gazing alone. "There you are! I was starting to think you ran away…."
"Stop," she hissed at him, trying to hold back her rage and lowering her sword for a moment. "You're destroying the peoples' houses."
"Uh? So what?" He tilted his head to a side, looking around at the burning hell he created, not seeing the point in her words. "The Council can send people to rebuild this damn town."
The Titania said nothing, her face shadowed at the words, her hands curling into fists that started to shake slightly. "I can't believe you…"
He grinned, hearing her words even if they were coming in a low whisper thanks to his strengthened senses. "Can't believe what? My strength? Yeah, I know I'm awesome…"
"I can't believe you are so disgusting!" She yelled to him in anger, her glare piercing him and making his left eye widen in shock, his right eye opening slightly to see her outburst. "People lives there! They had memories…! They made memories in those houses and you dare to appear and burn those memories because you want to prove who's stronger!"
"Shut up, you…!" He tried to retort by reminding her of the destruction she usually causes during her jobs, or the damages she caused before he started to burn the place down, but her glare made him be the one shutting the mouth.
"You don't deserve the power you have, that's why, even if it costs me my life, I'll defeat you!" She said with unshakable resolve, raising her sword to point it at the shocked Luminer, who stood shakily on his two feet. "Come if you dare, my sword will give you the fight you want!"
His mind snapped out of its shocked state at hearing her last words, his face contorting in anger, his fists and teeth clenching strongly while his fire grew stronger around him.
That woman dared to talk to him like if he was a spoiled kid!
Like if he didn't know the meaning of a 'home' and 'memories'!
What a family is like!
Of course he knew the meaning of family, friends and memories. Those were the three most important things in his life.
But he lost sight of the first and third lately.
The pain of what happened before he met Gerard being too strong for him to keep on holding onto those memories…
Onto that fatherly figure that left him when he was so young…
"Natsu…"
A voice he hadn't heard in a long time echoed inside his head, making his right eye open wide momentarily to let a tear out, which Erza caught sight of.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" He charged forward with his flames covering his feet, using the fire as a thruster to make his attack faster and surprise the Titania by bear hugging her before changing his direction to go high into the sky. His left eye glaring at her while she tried to break free from his strong hold and glared back, his arms surrounding her wings and preventing her from changing the course of their flight. "You believe I don't know what 'home' means, Titania?! What's like to have happy memories?! Sad memories?!"
Erza didn't need to think much to realize she struck a nerve in the man. That silence when she spoke her words. That reaction after the constant shaking he had. That lone tear and ear piercing scream.
And his words now…
"I'll tell you what, Titania!" He yelled to her glaring expression, calling off the flames around his feet when they were as high as he could reach… to later start a free fall at full speed, surprising Erza and driving her to hurry up in breaking free from his hold. "My reason to fight 'the strongest'!"
"W-what?" She asked in surprise, stopping for a moment to look at him in the eye, this one filled with seriousness and tiredness.
His reason?
Her eyes widened.
She forgot about, he, mentioning a reason to fight those like her.
"I…" He opened his mouth slowly, the sentence that wanted to come out being alien to him after so much time without muttering it.
He never found someone interested in knowing his reasons, or that could make him snap so much that he would end up spilling what only his only friend knew. "I want to find my father…"
Just then, she felt the grip around her loosening, allowing her to spread her armor's wings and escape his arms completely, her eyes watching the Sage still falling and not doing anything to stop it.
Erza thought he was trying to concentrate on making his flames cushion his fall at the last second but, looking closer, she saw him with his left eye closed and his arms and legs spread and void of any kind of motion but from those that the wind made.
He was unconscious!
"Damn it!" She cursed openly before commanding her wings to fly towards him, her mind conflicted in between letting the man crash and die from the fall or save him from the imminent death; her own wishes against the teachings of her Guild Master and father-figure at the Tower. "Luminer! Wake up!"
The burning town and ground was getting closer by the second and he was still unconscious, she called for her wings to close as she glued her arms closer to her body and her legs to each other, speeding her fall and reaching him when they were just halfway closer to the ground.
She took hold of him and spread her wings again, the action serving to lower their speed a little but not in time to be able to fully stop their impeding collision against the ground.
She closed her eyes in resigned waiting, clenching her teeth at her luck.
And him?
His mind was showing him images…
Old images that he usually tried to avoid remembering…
As they only pained him, brought sorrow to his heart and made him doubt the chance of ever meeting the one to teach him the magic he learned to master thanks to Gerard's trainings.
"I don't get why I must help them, they did nothing for me!" A young Natsu yelled to an irritated red dragon, the boy pouting and looking at his father in waiting for an explanation.
"Natsu, you must do it because it's the right thing to do," He started, twisting his words in a way that could be easily comprehended by the boy, shaking his enormous head at the kid's attempts to avoid looking at him when he noticed that his foster-father was right… again. The red dragon grabbed him by the neck with his big claws and forced him to see him in the eyes. "Tell me, if what you say is right, why did I take you with me? You did nothing for me and you cause me constant headaches."
The boy remained quiet, his cheeks swelling in annoyance at the truth in the dragon's words.
"I took you with me because you were alone, Natsu, and no one deserves to be alone. Especially a kid like you. That's why I took you with me; not just because I wanted to teach my magic to someone but also because that was 'the right thing to do'… understood?" He hated how he had to bend his words but if they were able to reach the hard head of the brat, he would endure it.
The kid nodded uncertainly, making the dragon heave a tired sigh before dropping the boy abruptly on the ground. "Hey! That hurt!"
The dragon just ignored him and rolled his eyes when the kid tried to punch him with the dragon-slayer magic he taught him, silently laughing at the boy's attempts.
'Father… where are you…?' He thought tiredly before feeling something embracing him, giving a warm feeling he hadn't feel since 7 years ago, that damned day the 7 of the 7th when the one his heart loved unconditionally left him alone to face the world on his own.
He opened his left eye slowly, regaining his senses and feeling the air moving his clothes and hair around him, and stopping him from moving his arms. He looked around and he saw a pair of black wings trying fruitlessly to stop his fall and a mop of scarlet hair on top of his chest.
His eye widened in shock.
'Titania!' That was why he couldn't move his arms. She was hugging and trying to stop him from crashing. He mentally punched himself, the height and the mind exhaustion for what the woman said and his raging mind made him lose consciousness temporarily and now he was being pitied by his enemy.
What other reason could there be for her trying to save him after all that happened?
"Not a chance!" He yelled in rage, making Erza open her eyes to look at his face in surprise. He faced his open palms towards the ground, calling his flames with every bit of magic he could gather and later release it all at once in a great line of fire that greatly decreased the speed of their fall. "I'm not letting you save me out of pity, Titania!"
"Pity? 'Pity' you say?!" She asked with her face now turning to anger, her good action being misinterpret and insulted. "I'm not trying to save you out of pity, you fool! I'm doing it because I couldn't have let you fall and die!"
He narrowed his eye at her, her words bringing back the memories he saw during his short blackout.
His foster-father; a dragon that took him as its son and raised him to be a man of word and fairness, that could discern the good in even the most evil of beings, and forgive even the most tainted of souls before leaving the boy with his young mind twisting its teachings until a wicked version of his younger self was the only thing that remained.
'What's wrong with this woman? She brought me memories of him…' Finally feeling the ground under his palms, Luminer nodded at Erza and watched her release him from her hug, using her wings to move a few meters away.
Thinking over the memory he revived a few seconds ago, he clicked his tongue and stopped his flames and the ones burning the houses around them as a silent 'thank you' for what the woman did for him… turning his head to glare at her when he caught a glimpse of her mouth moving to speak.
He didn't want to hear an earful or anything close to a show of gratitude for his actions.
Luminer sighed, accommodating his body on the ground to be more comfortable while watching the sky, his hands acting as pillows as he spread and stretched his legs from the pain he was feeling. His back aching a bit at the contact of the slashes he got from the Titania as they were not fully healed yet.
And his right eye?
He was sure the thing will be healed in a week or so, but he also knew that the scar he earned, even the ones on his back, were going to stay with him from then on. He faced the opposite direction, not daring to look at the woman when saying what he was about to say. "I guess I overdid it… sorry for what I said… and did."
To say that she was surprised was an understatement, she couldn't believe the pink-haired man finally saying something else besides angered words or taunts, and even more, she couldn't believe he really had a true reason for being the way he is. So, all she managed to answer was. "Don't worry about it."
"Why not? I spat in the face of my father and his teachings with what I did here today." He looked at the rising towers of smoke with a scowl, shaking his head in regret. Why is he confessing his thoughts to her? "He'd have beaten me to a bloody pulp if he had seen me a few minutes ago…"
Erza stepped closer, her body engulfed in light before it disappeared and showed her in her normal armor, her eyes watching the same thing as Luminer's. She couldn't understand why was he doing that as well, but let it slide as a moment of self-justification. "Think of it as me punishing you in his stead for forgetting them."
He smiled at her reasoning, getting up from the floor to dust his clothes and nodded at the woman. "Yeah, that'll help… and these scars too…"
"About them…" She mentioned with certain trouble, seeing his clothes torn on the back and the awful gash in between his eyes. "I'm not going to be in troubles with the Council for causing those wounds, right?"
"Of course you'll be!" He said with faked seriousness, snickering at her surprised face before seeing her smile at the joke and shook her head in disapproval.
"And here I thought you changed, you're a lost case, Luminer." He smirked widely at that, nodding repeatedly.
"As my father raised me!" But then, he turned serious again. "Thanks for the fight, it opened my eyes to what I forgot… also, now I know that there's someone else besides the other council members that can give me a fight as I like it! And since you are not bound by their rules, I can meet you again and fight you as many times as I want!"
She raised an eyebrow at the words, thinking about them and an idea that might give her friends a few surprises when she returns to the guild. Luminer seemed a good guy… a bit childish, but a good guy in the end. He likes fighting and was in search of his father.
He was like the rest of her friends in Fairy Tail…
So…
Why not bring him to meet the others?
"I'm sorry, but I cannot fight you 'every time you want', I have jobs to do…" She said with a sad smile, watching with softened eyes how the man's face dropped a bit at the piece of news. That was the time she chose to ask him, earning a widening eye as an answer when she voiced her offer. "But… if you like fighting that much, why don't you come with me to Fairy Tail and meet the others?"
The pink-haired thought about the proposal; going to Fairy Tail and personally meet the 'group of idiots' –as the old farts in the Council called them- and their guild? It was a perfect chance to see if he could fight the other mages in that guild that were as strong as the Titania and him! Or even those that were stronger!
Hell! It was the perfect chance to personally meet the famous Makarov Dreyar!
'One of the oldest and mightiest Wizard Saints!' He grinned widely in happiness like a kid on Christmas, making the scarlet beauty smile at the answer she was going to receive.
The man too obvious for anyone with eyes and brains.
"Let's go!"
In the Magic Council.
"A tie? Now that's interesting…" Ultear muttered after blinking a few times. She did not expect the fight to end like that. Making the orb shrink back to its original size, Ultear met eyes with Siegrain and his thoughtful expression, catching the small scowl his face made. She grinned at him. "Something wrong?"
'Why did he tell her of his father?' The azure-haired thought inwardly, replaying the last exchange of words between the Titania and his friend before they left the town to continue on with her jobs. Did he soften after the banter they had? Why? He shook his head. His friend was so unpredictable at times.
Coming out of his thinking, he saw the woman with him waving a hand in front of him.
"Hey, you there? I asked if something was wrong…"
"No, nothing." He said with his scowl deepening and his eyes moving to stare at her widening grin.
"Then… something that you didn't foresee happened and you're troubled by it, am I right or am I right?" She teased, seeing the azure-hair's eyes narrowing before he turned on his feet to leave the room. Couldn't she stop being so annoying? He had many things to think about to be bothered by such childish games. Ultear rolled her eyes, smiling playfully at him. "Oh, I know! Someone is jealous…"
Those words made him stop his thinking and movements. "What?"
"Oh, I don't know," She said faking ignorance, enjoying Siegrain's reactions. "About poor lonely Natsu meeting more people and making friends, maybe? And especially making friends with our future enemies? I don't know about you, but that'd send me to an exploding anger."
He remained quiet, realizing that he forgot about that and lowering his head before continuing his leaving, some parting words for the smirking woman that caught him clenching his fists.
"Don't worry about it. I trust that, in the end, Natsu will remember where his loyalty lies."
Ultear shrugged laxly, narrowing her eyes when the man left the room.
"Whatever you say… Siegrain…"
To be continued.
(A/N: This was a long piece to correct, darn it. *sighs* Though I feel good at seeing it better than its original, it was tiring nonetheless.
Before starting with my rantings, there's something I want to say:
Tell me, honestly, dear readers. You feel bored of seeing so much of the normal Canon and Fanon pairings stories around, right? Of just seeing stories about different takes on the FT universe and Highschool AUs, right? You want something new, that's understanable. We all want something new. Now I ask this. If we all want something new, then how come that when we have something new just under our noses we don't pay any attention to it? If you want to read something new, original, not concentrated on the pairing and well-written, then I invite you to read Roxas.97's story: Venomous Reality. It has all the traits to be considered a great story and no one spared it a little review. At least a flame, you guys, or a short "I loved it" kind of review. You know we write for you and ourselves. Why not drop a review to encourage us to continue? Knowing that you are reading our stories helps, of course, but a review, hearing the readers' opinions, is ten times better! If it wasn't for reviews, many stories would have been dropped at the second or third chapter.
Stop this from happening to his story! Go! Read it, enjoy it, and review it! I did and I gotta say it felt amazing. A little help for a good -amusing- friend.
Now to my rantings...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I did my best to change it a bit from the original and to keep the same feeling to it. Plus fixing some things I didn't like about it and my grammar. I'll try to bring the next one sooner... though I doubt that if I don't see any reviews for this chapter or my friend's story. I mean it. *glares* Hahaha! *laughs madly*
Saludos.)