Fragile Crystal Life
Chapter 3: The Challenging Fight
Sakura continued on smiling before a certain pink-haired wizard dashed up to stand on the bottom of the staircase and gave the girl a challenging look. "I'm Natsu Dragneel! Salamander of Fairy Tail! I challenge you to a fight!" he announced with Gray standing beside him with a smirk. "I kind of agree with flame brain for once. Count me in for this fight. My name is Gray Fullbuster," Gray then stated where Erza stood behind them with a calm look. "To set the challenge. I'll also be your opponent. Nice to meet you Sakura. My name is Erza Titania Scarlet."
The crimson smirked and looked up to Makarov, silently asking if she was allowed to accept their challenge with shimmering, begging eyes. Makarov gave out a sigh and quietly nodded where the girl cheered and jumped for joy. Regaining her calm and composed attitude, thanks to her partner on her shoulder, she innocently smiled before looking down on them with a smirk. "I haven't been in a friendly guild challenge before, so I'll happily accept your challenge, Team Natsu."
Team Natsu stood there in confusion until Wendy walked up as well with Carla following behind. "My name is Wendy Marvel. I would also like you challenge you as well Sakura-san," Wendy announced, making everyone look at her with amazement and surprisement. Wendy. Joining in with Team Natsu – To fight a new member of the guild?! Of course, they were joined with Gajeel, Juvia and Lisanna who wanted to participate in seeing what the new girl could do. Everyone looked at Mirajane but she said that she'll join if she was incredibly strong enough to defeat Erza in her battle.
"Juvia Loxar. Gray-sama's future wife. Juvia would also like to see how Sakura-san fights."
Gray looked at Juvia with shivers running down his spine. "I'm not your to-be husband!" he cried out where Juvia looked at Gray in shock. "But-But Gray-sama! Gray-sama proposed to Juvia in her dreams!" Juvia cried out where he sweat-dropped to. "That's only a dream!" "Well in Juvia's dreams, dreams always come true!" Juvia retorted with Wendy breaking it up in panic.
Gajeel looked at Sakura and examined her appearance. She was wearing a kimono stop that rested above her naval. Her bust almost rivaling with Lucy's. Her top was white fading to pastel pink that was accompanied with a few cherry blossom imprints on her long sleeves that draped over the tips of her fingers. She was wearing black uneven leggings that had the left legging originally long with the right legging cut up right above her upper thigh. Those even leggings were worn together with a leather brown belt that was hanging down, looking as if it was going to slip right off her hips. On the belt, there was a metal chain attached to it, different colours of tear-shaped crystals hanging from it. On the side hung a metal-looking tube with engravings on it, and next to it was a pouch where a deck of cards were seen inside. Sakura was also wearing ankle-high combat boots with short heels.
"Gi-hi. I haven't seen anyone wear those types of clothes. Bloody; My name is Gajeel Refox. Prepare to get pulped."
Lisanna smiled at the beautiful crimson in front of her. "My name is Lisanna Strauss. I'm Elf-nii and Mira-nee's little sister. I would also like to fight you Sakura," Lisanna challenged, her voice slightly more challenging than before.
Sakura stood there and looked at the people standing in front of her. Trying to remember their names. The only one she could remember from the past was Natsu Dragneel, from Igneel who vanished from her life from all of a sudden, telling her that she wasn't the only child who was taught by the Fire Dragon. "So Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Juvia, Gajeel, and, Lisanna. You're all here to challenge me into a friendly battle. What happens if I were to kill you accidentally?" Sakura asked with hidden warnings in her question.
They looked at her in confusion before she gave out a sigh. "Let's just go to the training grounds. Apparently, it seems like the guild has changed from the last time I've been here. Please lead the way to the outside," Sakura waved off, now walking down the stairs to follow the seven who lead the way. She skipped after them in glee where Florai happily followed by flying. "This is going to fun isn't it Sakura?" Florai questioned. Sakura silently chuckled and looked at her partner where she silently whispered to the lowest level that even the Dragon Slayers in front couldn't hear. "Hopefully it all goes well…"
"Challenge between Sakura and Team Natsu with Wendy, Juvia, Gajeel and Lisanna! The first battle can be done solo or in assigned teams. Dragon Slayer against Dragon Slayers; One person against two, three, or whatever!" Mirajane announced out from the sidelines. While she continued on announcing the rules, the guild was betting on who would win, and obviously, the opposing team was going to win with Sakura, having only three people betting for her to win. (Who else would they be? Obviously, it's Master Makarov, Laxus, and her partner, Florai. All betting with high amount of jewels under her name).
The eight stood there in the fields, looking at each other before the Dragon Slayers took a step forward. "Dragon Slayer against Dragon Slayers it is!" Mirajane cheered, with the guild joining along with their chants and screams. The four, who were choosing to fight later, all walked over to the sidelines. It was going to be a very interesting battle if you asked the Master of Fairy Tail and Master-to-be. The Fexceed and Exceeds sat next to each other on the railings, while the rest of the guild swarmed around the ring where the chatter and noisiness all died down.
Makarov jumped on the railings with his arms behind his back. "Alright. You may battle… Now!"
Within the sudden announcement, the Dragon Slayers of temporary Team Natsu all dashed towards the crimson who didn't move. They surrounded her at a safe distance and suddenly stopped to deliver their blow all at once.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
The attacks all gushed towards Sakura where everyone expected a direct hit. Unfortunately, Sakura jumped high into the air where she avoided the attack to land on the other side with a calm look. Of course, Natsu ran towards her with a fiery fist with a battle cry following his charge. "Fire Dragon's Iron -!" He swung his fist at her where she caught the punch. With fire meeting with water, their contact began to hiss with smog forming and shrouding over them. "What the?" Natsu questioned, looking at Sakura who had a bored look on her face. "Did you forget that I'm a Water Dragon Slayer? You're magic is completely immune to me unless you evaporate all of my water. Sadly, you cannot!" Sakura stated, her voice booming at her last sentence.
She flicked him over to the side where Gajeel came charging towards. "Eat some fist!" Gajeel yelled, rapidly punching her where she quickly dodged. An attack hit her from the side, surprising everyone to see Wendy who was the one who did it. Throwing Sakura to the side, she regained her posture with eyes now glowing crimson. She was beyond pissed to see herself get attacked when her defences dropped. Not only that, but from someone who was taught under the same foster mother as herself!
Florai grinned as she watched Sakura's eyes glow crimson while she got back up in a slow manner. "I hope that Sakura is going to be alright," Happy mumbled in worry when he saw the said girl get pushed over to the side. Carla gave out a huff, "You should be cheering for Natsu, not worrying about the opponent." Florai kept her eyes on her partner. "Sakura is never losing to such inexperienced people. She's the strongest of the strongest," she whispered, catching the attention of the Exceeds that looked at her in shock. The Fexceed continued, her grin turning into a sly smirk like what her partner is displaying on her face. "Let's just hope that they have some knowledge in defending themselves when a storm hits them," Sakura and Florai whispered in unison before the crimson disappeared in front of the three Dragon Slayers.
A whip was heard and they all turned to see Sakura standing behind them with a whip in her hands. Suddenly, crackling sounds were heard where blue lightning engulfed the leather whip of the crimsons. "My turn?" Sakura suggested innocently before disappearing. Like as if she had multiple copies of herself, she lashed her whip to whip the three at such an incredible rate. Screams and grunts of pain were heard from the mouths of the Dragon Slayers, and everyone in the sidelines all felt their pain from just watching.
With the last whip coming from the crimson, they all knelt down to catch their breath until Natsu and Gajeel stood up. "Want some more?" Sakura asked as she raised a brow. The boys grinned before charging up to her. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" he cried out, attacking the girl who seemed to be completely fine. Gajeel came dashing over to her, jumping into the air with his right arm raised. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" he grunted, punching down to the crimson who looked up at a knick of time. He saw her smirk as he attacked towards her, only finding herself to catch his arm by the whip which electrocuted him. He was then thrown over to Natsu who was shocked at her for not being able to get injured.
The two boys slid against the floor where they stopped right next to Wendy who was getting up. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy bellowed where Sakura whipped through it in ease. The guild all watched in shock. For the entire fight against the Dragon Slayers, the new girl was able to injure them without breaking a sweat, and even without using magic except for a magical item.
They watched her jumped into the air – Really high. Sakura took a deep breath in. "Water Dragon's Tidal Roar!" she roared, opened her mouth where she breathed out a strong beam of water that clashed into the three Dragon Slayers with pure force. The pain of being attacked by her magic was like you standing in between two large waves that collided into you with pure force that may break your bones. A scream slipped through Wendy while the boys all groaned in pain. With the water being absorbed by the ground, the three were left on the ground with heavy injured.
As Sakura landed, she looked at the three with pitiful looks as her eyes went back to brown. "Opps. I went overboard with their punishment. Now, who's the next to challenge me?" Sakura questioned as she turned around with a bright smile. Behind her, the three collapsed bodies were being picked up by large blobs of water which were healing the three as it glowed aqua, transporting them over to the side slowly.
"We will!"
Sakura gave out an amused smile. "I have a surprise waiting for you two," she stated as she watched Gray and Juvia take their stand in front of her with determined faces. "If she was able to knock down the three in ease without breaking a sweat, then I'll go all out," Gray whispered over to Juvia who nodded. "Juvia will not lose. Juvia will win for Juvia and Gray-sama," Juvia said as she looked at Sakura who was still holding her whip. "I guess you're all prepared. Attack when you're ready. Your punishment is to get electrocuted with thunder," Sakura announced as she flicked her whip to make a large whipping sound that resounded through the crowd.
"You can do it Juvia!"
"Go Gray! Don't let a girl beat you like what Natsu and Gajeel did!"
"Don't let her win!"
Gray smirked to his guild members and went into stance. "Ice-Make: Lance!" Juvia also went into action as well by jumping high into the air. "Water Slicer!" As Sakura stood there like before, she watched the multiple attacks fly straight to her. A sly smile grew on her slightly pale-tanned face. "Pathetic," she whispered as she gripped strongly onto her whip before lashing it across the air which sliced the two attacks apart. Gray dashed behind her, his hands ready for another attack. Luckily she didn't notice because she was preoccupied with Juvia who continued on slashing her arms up the air to keep a wave of Water Slicers continuing as she landed onto the dusty ground.
"Juvia will not let new love rival take away Juvia's Gray-sama!" Juvia cried out as her body transformed into water. Sakura sweat-dropped at the blue-haired mage's statement and walked over to the side where Juvia darted towards her. "Juvia shall not lose!" she yelled in determination. The crimson suddenly squealed as she dodged the mage who charged passed her. "Chance! Ice-Make: Floor!" Gray yelled, freezing the ice within seconds where the crimson slipped onto her bottom. "Water Beam!" Juvia then supported, striking Sakura while she's down.
She gave out a wail while sliding into the fence where the members took a step back. Florai grinned in a dark demeanour; She knew that whenever her partner's down, it'll mean serious business. The Fexceed gave out chuckle as she watched her partner get up from the ground slowly with a cold flare flickering in her brown eyes. "Don't. Look. Down. On. Me!" she roared as she stood her ground, running towards the two mages with lock-on eye contact.
Gray flinched and jumped back while Juvia stood in her place with a serious expression. "Water Lock!" she yelled, slamming her hands together – Clenching it together where two balls of water slammed into the crimson who groaned at the impact of two water surfaces slamming together with her in the middle. With her eyes closed from the pain, Juvia continued on holding the girl in place where Gray attacked. "Ice-Make: Hammer!" He held onto his delicately-made hammer and swung it into the air. Before he could even slam it down, Sakura abruptly opened her eyes, meeting eye contact with the Ice-Make wizard.
She gave out a smirk seeing that Gray was about to attack her. Slowly, she opened her mouth, sucking in all of the water around her. This made the guild shocked, but it was to be expected when she announced out that she was a Water Dragon Slayer. Continuing eating (or should I say drinking) Juvia's mizu, Gray tried to hammer her down into the ground where she slashed her hand through the air, creating a sharp blade of wind shattered the hammer. "What the?!" Gray questioned as he stumbled back with Juvia helping him back up.
"Uncle Yuung, I'm going to give everything I got for you in this round!" Sakura announced as she dropped onto the ground before wind started to pick up around her. "Shit. What's going on?" Gray asked himself as he watched the wind swarm around the girl who was slowly picking herself up from the ground. "Don't forget Gray-sama! Sakura-san is also an overall mage! Sakura-san can pull out anything Sakura-san wishes!" Juvia howled, pushing Gray away where blades of wind slashed across her, making her scream in pain.
The two looked at the crimson who was now in a windstorm with her right hand outstretched to allow her palm to face them. "Wind Strike." Sakura then went into an archery stance and pulled her right arm backwards – No arrows were in sight. "Uncle… Thank you for teaching Wind magic! Wind Arrow: Shoot!" Sakura shouted, releasing her imaginary-drawn string which suddenly had her windstorm to shoot out sharp arrows of wind. "Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray defended, opening out his arms, creating a large ice shield which defended the two from the arrows that were quickly chipping away the ice.
Juvia ran over to the side, away from the shield's reach. She sliced the air with her arms going upwards in a swift movement. "Water Slicer!" Sakura avoided the slices of water with the wind following her steps. She spun around on her heels, arms following her body as it flew into the air with the wind starting to twist and turn with each other. "Let me show you your worst nightmare for your magic – Your weakness!" she yelled, throwing the cyclone over to the two who jumped away. "Not on my watch! Ice-Make: Bow! Ice-Make: Arrow!" "So will Juvia's as well! Wings of Love!"
Sakura chuckled and jumped high into the air, performing a backflip while she was at it. Turning around, she flinched to see herself in the centre of an army of ice arrows falling down to her and couldn't react on time until a glow came from her pocket. "Devil's Slash!" a voice grunted, where a red coloured flash slashed through the half of the arrows in front of the crimson. "Angel's Yearn!" another voice calmly chanted as a pure yellow light flashed in front of the other half of the army of arrows. The users of the two spells were none in sight.
"Who was that?"
"Help from outside of the field?"
"Cheating?"
The crimson clapped her hands together, somewhat splitting and steering the now-half cyclones to eat up the two mages who were shocked at the sudden change in action. "Those were my spirits! Don't even have a single though of me cheating in a battle! Anyways, let the magical nightmare begin!" Sakura stated as she landed gracefully on the ground with Juvia and Gray still stuck in their separate cyclone. "Freeze!" Gray yelled, freezing the cyclone which made everyone completely alarmed at the appearing chance of Gray and Juvia actually winning.
Unfortunately, Sakura was a step ahead of the raven-haired boy. She snapped her fingers, "Mizu. You belong to me, and to no one other than myself." Like that, the frozen cyclone went back to its original state; still spinning with the boy, still stuck inside. "Now. For the fun part! Lightning Bolt!" A large struck of lightning crashed into the two cyclones, making the mages stuck inside give out a painful scream. Water and lightning to not mix, and the reason for Gray to be in a dilemma is because ice is the frozen form of water.
Sakura crashed the two cyclones together and dust blew out in a directions. Finally, as the wind slowed down, the dust revealed Juvia and Gray on the ground with bruises thanks to the lightning and twigs that gushed passed them at a quick speed. Mirajane came running out with Wendy with concern all over while the guild remained quiet due to shock. She was able to defeat five people – Five very strong, A-ranked mages. "Is Gray and Juvia alright?" Levy questioned as she watched the two get picked up by water blobs that carried them over to the sidelines. There was no response until Juvia woke up with no injuries in sight. "Thank you for healing Juvia, Wendy," Juvia thanked as she sat up. Natsu jumped up, "You're fine too? Wendy! Your healing is awesome!"
Wendy quickly shook her hands. "I haven't gotten the chance to heal you yet. You guys were just transported by those water thingies," she stated, pointing to the water droplet which absorbed Gray, slowly vanishing as the boy woke up. "What in the world are those?" Macao questioned. "They're Sakura's. They heal anyone she wishes while it transports the injured to a safe spot. They're a part of her Water magic," a voice stated. While the members were discussing this to each other, Lisanna walked into the fields to get into stance.
The guild noticed this and slowly quieted down with a few members cheering for the short white-haired mage's victory.
"Don't let a new member win Lisanna!"
"Don't be afraid!"
"Let's go Lisanna! Fight for your siblings!"
Sakura took her stand and stared at the girl emotionlessly. "So. You want to fight and defeat me?" she questioned. Lisanna nodded with determination on her face. Sakura looked down and then looked back at Lisanna. "Your eyes show as much determination and purity as mine in the past, but, I will not let my pride down," Sakura claimed as water began to lift her up into the air. "Show me what you got. Animal Take-Over mage!" she then yelled.
Lisanna took that announcement to go, running forward, she jumped into the air where she spun gracefully, stopping to meet eyes with the girl. "Animal Soul: Tigress!" Lisanna cried out before lashing her claws towards Sakura who took hold of her wrist using her whip. She was then flung up into the air before Lisanna did a backflip to regain her posture at facing the crimson. "Animal Soul: Half Bi-" "Gomene… Water Dragon's Roar!" Within just five minutes in battle, Lisanna had fallen within a single attack from her opponent.
As much as Sakura had to admit it, Lisanna was quite inexperienced in her magic. She seemed to be incompatible with her animals, and just needed to practise even more. Although Sakura was an overall mage; the mysteries behind Take-Over magic was just a puzzle to her. She could only have a trait of her Take-Over magic, and it seems like Lisanna was on the same page as her as well, but in a more advanced way. Sighing at the fact that Lisanna was about to give it all she's got, and didn't have a chance to, she jumped down to catch the mage who suddenly punched her in the stomach.
Lisanna landed down with a confident smirk. "Don't look down on me! Animal Soul: Penguin!" Lisanna cried out, jumping high into the air where she aimed to land onto the crimson with heavy force. Sakura looked up and quickly jumped away where her chain dropped at the very spot where Lisanna was about to land. She looked up to see Lisanna about to reach the ground and then looked down to see her precious chain laying there defenceless. Those were her momentum's of her dragon family! If that were to shatter from the weight of Lisanna, she'll have nothing left of her foster parents.
"No!" Sakura yelled out, diving in to reach the chain filled with tear-shaped gems. She held them close to her heart where Lisanna slammed herself onto her with a high-pitched scream coming out from the crimson's lips. The guild looked at Lisanna in surprisement. Was she able to defeat the new girl? Maybe. She did make the girl scream in pain for the first ti-!
Vines came shooting out from the ground with Lisanna in her penguin form in the middle. It tightly wrapped herself within such a speed that none of the members could follow. Slowly, it lifted up Lisanna and threw her away where Sakura came rising from the ground with water lifting her up. "You… You almost smashed their tears with that weight of yours! Un-Unforgivable! I'll let you experience your memories again! Time Bomb!" she yelled, the vines nullifying Lisanna's magic, leaving her back to her original form.
"Don't!" Mirajane cried out, running into battle. "Take-Over: Satan Soul!" Mirajane yelled, punching Sakura in the stomach. Erza sighed and walked into the field, "I guess I might well join."
So this chapter and the next shall mainly focus on Sakura. As time passes, I may be introducing OC spirits into the fanfiction as we progress. Of course, there will be NaLu, but that shall start around within the next two chapters, including this one. Longest chapter, and, longest time spent on since I haven't been writing fanfics about magic for a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I also happened to make a Facebook page where you can all talk and see the progress of me writing. What I mean is that, on the page, you shall be seeing the latest things happening such as a few sneakpeaks of the upcoming chapters, and also, meet new people that write online as well. Please like the page and join me. Here's the link (Take away the ^ sign): ^ .^com/CelestialSakuraa^?skip_nax_^wizard=true
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