Hey, all. This was suppose to be out yesterday. But two things got in the way with this. One, July 4th. For those non-Americans, this is our Independence Day. And what way to celebrate than to barbeque and watch that Will Smith movie over and over again. The second thing is that my daughter had a bad cough that freaked us out. So her mother and I took her to the hospital, panicked out of our skulls. Turns out, it was nothing. The nurse looked at us and says "First time parents?" We nodded. Then she laughed. She says "I figured. When a one year old starts coughing, first time parents start freaking out and then it turns out to be nothing." We all had a good laugh after that.
Anyways, here is chapter four. A reminder. This fic references chapter 8 of my NaLu A-Z fic. So if you haven't read it, you should. I think it's good. How about you?
Protect
One. Two.
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Natsu was doing push-ups to get his body into fighting shape. Ever since his encounter with that fat guy from Dead Cell, he wasn't allowed to take a mission until he had fully recovered. This was enforced by his girlfriend of two years, Lucy Heartfilia. She had not let him take a mission in over two weeks while his body recovered.
Natsu wasn't happy. Like anyone who has ever failed at something, he kept thinking about all the ways he could have done the mission better. He could have stayed with Lucy throughout the fight. He could have made sure that he didn't let himself get caught in the explosion mage's bombs. It was shameful.
The worst part about it, in Natsu's head, was the fact that it was Lucy who saved him. Not that he wasn't grateful about it. But he was the one who saved Lucy and not the other way around. The fact that the Dragon Slayer had to be saved because he got knocked out so quickly left a bad taste his mouth. Not only that, but Lucy got injured while protecting him. She sprained her arm. It wasn't as serious as it probably could have been but he kept thinking... what if it were worse.
That's why he was trying to get his body back to tiptop shape. Natsu would never fail Lucy again.
One. Two.
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Happy watched on as Natsu pushed himself. The Dragon Slayer wasn't used to being the one who needs protecting. He was always the protector. So being saved by Lucy was somewhat emasculating to him. The blue Exceed figured that Natsu was working harder so that he never had to be in that position again. Happy couldn't see what the big deal was. If the situation were reversed and Lucy were the one being saved, Natsu would be all like "You're plenty strong. Don't let yourself get down." His friend should really take his own advice.
Once Natsu's body was back to perfect form, he told Lucy, Happy, Erza and Gray that he wanted to take another mission, a real tough one. They agreed with him. It would be a great team exercise. With Erza's S-class mage status, they were able to pick up a 10 year mission, a real tough one. For 200 million jewels, Team Natsu was tasked to investigate the Gray Rain that has been falling on towns, turning people to stone. Because the mission had to do with rain (and because Gray requested it), Juvia joined the team temporarily, along with Wendy for support and healing.
Before they set out, Lucy visited the Magnolia Magic Shop to pick up some new keys. Of course, they wouldn't be Golden Elliptical keys (of which she had ten) but they were still useful.
The journey to find the cause of the Gray Rain took them over the known world, listening to the stories of Gray Rain survivors. One of the stories was that once the Gray Rain fell, monsters would come and smash the stone statues, killing the humans. While following the path, they fought waves of monsters who tried to impede their path. Of course, they were no match for Team Natsu.
Natsu made sure to take the lead on every attack. He had to make up for screwing up the last time. Lucy noticed that and pulled him aside.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked. "Are you still upset about that last mission?"
Normally, Natsu would lie or play off how he felt. But Lucy was very perceptive. She would catch it very quickly when he wasn't telling being truthful. So Natsu decided to be honest.
"I just don't want to put you in that position again." Natsu sighed.
Lucy gently put her hand across Natsu's face. "Natsu, I told you." She whispered. "You'll always be my hero. I can protect you and you can protect me. Let's protect each other, alright?"
Natsu leaned into Lucy's hand. "Alright." He grinned. "I'll be counting on you."
"I'll be counting on you too." Lucy smiled.
At last, they reached their destination, the monster town of Dialac. There they found those who were responsible for causing the Gray Rain: a moose monster named Borunga, a giant lizard man named Seth, and the creature that was summoning the rain, a giant anteater know as the Rainmaker.
The group split into three teams. Because Juvia was a water mage and had great synchronicity with Gray, they took on the Rainmaker. Juvia was able to keep the Gray Rain at bay by keeping the clouds at bay while the ice mage took on the monster proper. Erza and Wendy fought Borunga. The woman known as Titania fought a fierce battle with the moose monster while Wendy provided support on the sidelines with her booster spells. Natsu and Lucy took on Seth. Or actually, they would have if the lizard monster wasn't such a coward. As soon as his fellow monsters were engaged in battle, Seth ran away, making the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Stellar Spirit mage chase after him.
Seth ran out of the town and into a nearby woods while Natsu and Lucy gave chase.
"Come back here, you coward, and fight like a man!" Natsu shouted with no thought to the irony of his statement.
Lucy did, however, and had a demure look on her face.
Seeing as he wasn't going to get away with those two tenacious mages chasing after him, the lizard monster decided that he had to fight. Luckily for him, he had the advantage in this woods as he could camouflage his body to match the environment.
"Where is that overgrown lizard?" Natsu roared.
"Be careful, Natsu." Lucy told him, knowing that this was going to end violently.
Seth pounced at Natsu, who heard him coming and with a flaming kick, booted the giant lizard. However, he retaliated by grabbing the pink haired mage's legs with his elongated tongue, causing the mage to be thrown back with the lizard.
Natsu hit a tree and toppled it with the force of impact. But other than that, he was fine. He got up and grabbed Seth's tongue and pulled it towards him so that he could see its face.
Lucy ran over to where Natsu was in an attempt to help him. What got her attention wasn't her boyfriend grabbing that thing's slimy tongue (although that in and of itself was pretty gross), it was the lizard monster's cheeks puffing up. There should be no reason why that monster should have puffy cheeks unless there was something in its mouth.
She reached for her keys and pulled out one of her silver ones, just in case.
Open the Gate of the Shield, Scutum.
A flash of light radiated from the key and in an instant, a large metal shield appeared in her hands. (A side note here. Scutum is just like Caelum in the way that it is a non-sentient spirit. Like Caelum, it has no will and when summoned, protects whomever is holding it from all harm.) With her shield in hand, Lucy ran over to Natsu.
Seth, though he was in pain because Natsu was pulling on his tongue, was grinning internally. His other skill besides camouflage was acidic spit that was highly corrosive. All he had to do was gather some of it in his cheeks and then, when he was face to face with the pink haired mage, vomit it on him. The bastard wouldn't know what hit him.
"I've got you now." Natsu groaned, enunciating each letter as he pulled on the lizard's tongue more.
Natsu noticed a bit too late that the monster was grinning. He smelled the acid as Seth spit it out. Knowing he couldn't get out of the way in time, the Fire Dragon Slayer closed his eyes to protect them from the acidic spit. However, it never reached his body. When he opened them again, he saw that Lucy was in front of him with a large shield.
"Lucy, what are you doing?" Natsu yelled at her.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm protecting you." Lucy groaned as the smell of the acid wafted through her nose.
Natsu could only watch in awe at his girlfriend bore the heavy weight of the acid. She was doing it again, protecting him. The last time Lucy did that, she fought an explosion mage by herself while he could do nothing because he had taken a bomb to the chest and passed out. He had vowed that he would never let himself be weak like that again and would protect Lucy at all cost.
But here he was again, being the one protected instead of doing the protecting.
Lucy looked back at Natsu and smiled. She knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Natsu, I told you before." She said in a soft voice. "Let me protect you from time to time."
Natsu remembered their talk after afterwards on how he would always be Lucy's hero regardless of whether or not he protected her or she protected him. He smiled back. "Alright." He told the blonde. "Hold out for a little longer. I'll get this damn tongue off of me."
Lucy nodded and focused on holding the acid back while Natsu disentangled himself from the tongue. In an instant, he was free. Lucy then proceeded to shove the shield into Seth's mouth. The acid had no place to go with the shield stuck... nowhere but down. As painful as it was, the giant lizard monster had no choice but to swallow the acidic spit. As he was suffering from the pain, he tried to dislodge the shield from his mouth so he could breathe better.
While the monster was distracted, Natsu and Lucy regrouped.
"Thanks for protecting me." Natsu told his girlfriend.
"No thanks needed." Lucy replied. "I have a plan to finish him once and for all."
"Okay. Tell me." Natsu responded.
"I've been working on my Shooting Stars spell." Lucy began. "I think I've got the knack of it. You distract him while I gather the magic to cast the spell."
Natsu nodded. He knew that they were an unstoppable team when they worked together. Although he wanted to crush Seth by himself, the Fire Dragon Slayer was curious about Lucy's spell. He didn't get the chance to see it the first time because he passed out. Now he was going to get the opportunity to see the fruits of her training first hand.
"Alright." Natsu answered. "Do your thing and I'll do mine." With that, he charged the lizard monster. Lucy, meanwhile, got into a meditative stance to gather her magic.
Seth had removed the shield and threw it on the ground. Scutum disappeared into the ether.
"You two will pay for that." He growled.
Natsu charged the overgrown lizard with a flaming fist, slamming it against the monster's head. The monster retaliated by using its tail to whip Natsu across the face. It pushed him back and left a giant red bruise on his face but otherwise he was fine. He turned to Lucy. She had a golden glow around her.
Even though Natsu should be paying attention to the enemy in front of him, he couldn't help but stare at his girlfriend. He had seen her in pretty much every way imaginable including fully nude. However, Lucy looked positively like a goddess in that glow. God, maybe he should let her cast that spell every so often.
The lizard man swiped at Natsu again with his tail but this time the Fire Dragon Slayer caught the tail and with his tremendous strength, swung him around in circles. With one flick of his wrist, the pink haired mage threw Seth across the woods, uprooting many of the trees in the process.
"I'm ready, Natsu." Lucy shouted. "Get out of the way."
Natsu ran towards Lucy as she began her spell. As she did, he noticed that the skies were getting darker as clouds started swirling overhead. How odd.
Oh celestial voyagers, faster and brighter than the gods, rain down and purify this wretched soul. I call upon thee to lead my enemies to their final rest under heaven's menacing glare. Favor this ground for the fulfillment of thy eternal journey.
SHOOTING STARS
Natsu looked up and what he saw took all of the words right out of his mouth. Giant meteors hurtled from the sky down to the earth where Seth lied. They made a powerful impact against the ground, shaking it.
The Fire Dragon Slayer's eyes widened. Since when did Lucy have so much power? Natsu wasn't sure that even he could survive such an onslaught. His girlfriend was crazy strong.
"Lucy!" Natsu yelled. "That was amazing."
Lucy smiled back. "Did you really think so?" She asked. "I think that..." She would have said more but her eyes rolled up in the back of his head.
Lucy fainted on the spot but before she could hit the ground, Natsu grabbed her. He couldn't wipe the grin off of his face.
"Damn, Lucy." He said to her unconscious body, laughing as he did. "That was insane. You were amazing. Now I have to work twice as hard to keep up." He smiled while his girlfriend rested. "Rest now, Luce. You deserve it."
Natsu placed Lucy on his back and locked her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Now that she was secured on his back, he went looking for his nakama.
Walking back towards the town, Natsu found Erza, Wendy, Gray and Juvia running towards them. The pink haired mage waved back at them.
"Hey." He greeted. "Did you guys finish your fights?"
"Yeah, me and Juvia finished our fight long before you did." Gray replied. "Where's Lucy?"
Natsu moved his head to the side to show Gray that Lucy was on his back, resting.
"She used so much magic power in our fight." The Fire Dragon Slayer explained. "So I'm letting her rest on me."
"Very good, Natsu. You are taking good care of Lucy." Erza smiled motherly. "Anyways, with Wendy's help, I was able to clean up the monster." She said solemnly. "Coincidently, I now have a new pair of moose antlers."
Gray, Juvia and Natsu blanched as Erza showed them the removed antlers. Wendy just laughed nervously. She was there when Titania ripped off the moose's antlers with her bare hands. This woman was insane.
"By the way," Erza continued. "during my fight, I saw the skies darken and meteors drop out of the sky."
"Juvia saw that as well." The water mage chirped.
"Yeah. What was that?" Gray asked.
"Was it Lucy's spell again?" The redhead asked.
Natsu nodded vigorously. "It was amazing. I have never seen anything like it. It was like...swoosh and like...boom... and the lizard guy was like NOOOOO. And then he went squish."
Gray's eyes bulged so much that they were in danger of popping out of his head. "Really? That was Lucy? Damn." He whistled.
"I know, right?" Natsu grinned. "That's my girl." He said, beaming with pride. His girlfriend was something else, alright.
"Lucy-san has gotten much stronger, hasn't she?" Wendy asked.
"Juvia wishes she could have seen it first hand." The water mage sighed. "Perhaps next time, she'll ask Lucy-san on a mission just to see it."
Erza smiled at Lucy's unconscious form. "You've done well, Lucy." She smiled at the Stellar Spirit mage. "Well, if we are done, let's go collect our reward."
The team cheered. Another mission completed.
Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Wendy and Erza prepared to make the trip home while the Dragon Slayer carried Lucy on his back. He turned his head and saw his girlfriend's serene face. It made him smile.
"You did well today." Natsu whispered to her with a smile on his face. "Thank you for protecting me again. You're my hero."
I am thoroughly committed to making Lucy a strong female character instead of a damsel in distress. Lucy is strong. I just wish that Mashima would showcase her strength every once in a while instead of making her the victim of circumstance.
Anyways... Loved it? Hated it? Have no opinion one way or the other? Leave me a review. I'd loved to hear from you.
Til next time,
A. Angel.