Author's Note: So, I'm back for yet another chapter! I hope you guys like this one, because we're about to hit another milestone in the story. There are still a lot of things to cover, but we're coming up on Plot Time Central. There was one 'end game' idea for this story and only one of them, and we're finally taking one of the like... Five steps it'll take to get to the Big End Story Thing.
We have a LOT of strings left untied, and I can't help but ask this of y'all:
Could you comment with what you think of the strings you KNOW are untied? Do you have any ideas on what's going to happen next? c;
I'm going to wait until we hit at LEAST 180 comments before posting the new chapter, so these questions will hopefully give you incentive to comment and get the next chapter out sooner! (But at the same time, I'm hoping that will give me enough time to finish the next one dsjf... I guess this is a double edged sword...)
And we're also inching a lot closer to actual, official, LaxLu. I love you all and hope you're ready for how they get together~ (Keep an eye out on the next threeish chapters for that~)
Training with the Sabers was a lot harder than Lucy had anticipated.
Rogue and Sting sparred with her together. In her opinion, two against one was incredibly unfair- but they weren't having any of her complaints. Rufus was a tactician and had a plethora of memorized magics. Minerva fought like playing chess, and even though her tactical advantages were slim, her power wasn't anything to sneeze at. She couldn't yet beat any of them, and currently, she was realizing why Orga was considered the strongest mage of Sabertooth when using his god slaying magic. In fact, she could tell he was holding back.
Her brown eyes looked up at the hulking god slayer in front of her, wondering what her next move should be. She was down on one knee, her arms felt like lead bricks and she still felt the residual twitches in her limbs from his lightning magic. On the sidelines, as expected, was Rufus. This was only her fourth day fighting, yet she already felt so much stronger than when she came. The man truly was a genius when coming up with things like training schedules and nobody could knock him for it.
All he did was watch. Watch how she got knocked around and figure out how she could bounce back, learn different approaches, and counter what was thrown her way. To her already tactical mind, adding the advice from the memory mage made her tactics near perfect… Now, it was all about execution. Flexibility, execution, and actual prowess.
Her eyes refocused on the god slayer after zoning out.
Orga kept his chin up as he looked down at her. "Get up."
She groaned and sluggishly tried to move her leg enough without it twitching like crazy so she could stand up again. It took a while, but she managed it.
"You never take a knee in battle. Never."
She groaned again and fingered through her keys, but stopped when he held up a hand.
"Take a second to breathe. Let me ask you: why do you want this?"
The blonde shook her head. "I don't. I just don't want to let anyone down."
"You do want it," he corrected and narrowed his eyes. "Why."
She threw her arms up despite the muscle twitches in her biceps. "I don't!"
"You do! You wouldn't be standing if you didn't!"
She stopped and thought about that. It was mostly true. This was training, and she could tell them to stop at any time… But she wasn't. No, she didn't want to disappoint anyone… But she could say three hours a day was enough. She wasn't. She was forcing them to push her past her limits every time she fought someone else. Thankfully, this was the last spar of the day… But still. He was right on some level. Why did she want it so badly?
"...I want to prove to people that they've been wrong," she said as her eyes hardened. "I want them to see my spirits, the power we have together- as a team- and realize that holder mages can kick major ass. I want my guildmates to look at me and be proud. I want…" She paused, realizing the next words were going to be about the blond slayer giving her confusing problems.
I want to stand beside Laxus, not behind him.
"I want everyone to know that I'm not a woman who will roll over for anyone. That I'm a force of nature they'll have to face if they hurt my loved ones. That I'm someone people can rely on."
The god slayer smirked wildly and nodded. "There it is, Shortstack. Keep that at your heart and let that pride run wild. Don't let anyone tame it."
Don't let anyone tame you.
Lucy nodded, taking that one statement a lot more seriously than she did when Laxus told her nearly the same thing. It was most likely because Laxus was the one to use that phrase first, and someone else completely echoed it…. But that was food for another day's thought. His fists lit up with the weirdly bright black lightning his magic encompassed. Her eyes went from his hands to his eyes to see a challenge there. She met his lightning with an instinctual star dress of her own.
She was running low on magic. She was running out of stamina. There's no way she'd last much longer… But there was one thing about that. In Scorpio's star dress, she put a thumb on Loke's key. Her heart resounded in question. His key glowed in acceptance.
She smirked.
"Rule number one of battle," Lucy called out as she lifted the lion's key. "Never go in without a few pocket aces!"
Orga met her smirk with a wild one of his own. "Hell yeah, unleash the beast! Run wild, Shortstack!" A black haze began emanating from around him. It built up to a thick yet semi transparent black fog. Lucy could see the black lightning jumping around the haze as though it were storm clouds. At this, she had to remind herself to train with Laxus. Orga sure as hell wasn't a pushover. However the dragon slayer beat him at the Games, in her mind at the very moment, had to have been a fluke.
Sand lifted from the topsoil, swirling lazily around the blonde. The specks of sand seemed like gold glitter, scattered on the winds circling the lass. It gave a perfect look of their spar being light versus dark. Had it been a performance, it was already stunning… But it wasn't a performance. Lucy lifted her hand.
Rufus couldn't take his eyes away from the field. True, the one type magic he could never remember was holder magic, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep the memories of what it could do. Their Fairy friend had already far exceeded his expectations on Celestial Magic, as well as already surprised them all with how effortless it was for her to spar with them all.
It felt like every battle proved Lucy to be much stronger than she gave herself credit for. Each spar, she revealed something new she'd learned over the years. Not only was it a learning experience for the blonde, but it also was for their own celestial spirit mage. When he heard Lucy recite the number one rule for tacticians in battle, he could only feel a vague sense of regret that Yukino wasn't out here to witness whatever the lass was going to throw at Orga.
And boy, he wasn't expecting it either.
"Come, Leo! Metria Forme!"
To say that Laxus was in a bad mood was an understatement.
In fact, it may have been the understatement of the year.
Freed stole the Legion and took off to train after Laxus refused to interfere. Lucy took off for Sabertooth to train. Mirajane and Erza were gone, training Cana and Juvia… Natsu left with Gildarts. Kinana said they were out of his favorite peach brandy. The newer recruits were lingering around the guild hall and making it loud as hell while they awaited the trials. His grandfather pushed the fund books on him two days before they had to turn in a statement…
And the cherry on top were the two letters in hand. In his left hand, a letter from the Grand Duke of Pergrande. In his right, a letter from Queen Hisui. Neither of which spelled out particularly good news.
The Queen suggested that if Fairy Tail should get any papers, be it letters or documents or law paperwork, from other kingdoms that they should be immediately sent to her. Another note was that there was a political summit coming up on the twentieth of August. Afterward, she suggested keeping high powered mages in the guild at all times. Then, as a final aside, the queen also said to ask Lucy about sending her a letter with the who's in of a secret the two had.
Nothing in that letter spelled good news.
The Grand Duke, on the other hand, was threatening to file an international lawsuit against Fiore and Fairy Tail for kidnapping, imprisonment of his daughter, non wartime hostaging and extortion. Apparently, when Saveya's citizenship was turned over to Fiore, only then did her father care.
This seemed oddly familiar.
Unfortunately, with his team and Mira and his mate all gone for the moment, he had nobody to vent to or talk to about it all. But the Queen did give him an excuse to call Lucy…
So, to keep himself sane, he did just that.
It only took two rings, but seeing Sting answer Lucy's Lacrima had him snarling like a junkyard dog.
"Why do you have her comm."
It wasn't a question.
The Guildmaster put a hand up defensively. "Woah now, don't shoot the messenger… Lucy left her comm at the bar when she headed to the showers with Minerva and Yukino. It's not that deep."
The lightning mage groaned and ran a hand down his face. "...Sorry man, it's been a day."
"Did you get the letter, too?"
"About the summit?"
"That's the one."
"Unfortunately, I did. And equally unfortunately, I already have to forward papers."
"Fuck, what happened?"
"Our newest member is the daughter of Pergrande's Grand Duke. She ran away to seek asylum, Her Majesty granted her citizenship, and now her dad's threatening shit."
"Well, if you need backup, we're here."
"Thanks."
"Anytime for a sister guild," Sting waved a hand nonchalantly. "But what's going on?"
"Oh, the Queen also told me to tell Lucy to send her something," Laxus explained.
Sting raised a brow. "Not that, fucktard. The growling. You sounded vicious as shit."
Laxus blinked. He forced the blush from embarrassment down before explaining. "...Imagine another man answering your mate's comm while she's out of town."
Stings eyes widened. "Oh fuck. Really?!"
"Yeah."
"Sorry, man, I didn't know."
"Don't worry about it. I know her. She's not quite confident enough to even try flirting with someone she actually likes, let alone people she doesn't."
The Saber cringed at that. "...You mean she doesn't like you or..?"
He shook his head. "She does and it's obvious… She's just timid. But we have a dynamic. We're just… Ourselves. And it works. No unnecessary flirting. So…"
"I mean, whatever works, right?"
"Are you on my comm? Who the hell are you talking to?"
Laxus felt his heart race just hearing her voice.
"Ya boyfriiieeennnd~" Sting cooed and made a kissy face.
"I will gut you and leave your organs for the birds."
"Sheesh, it's not that bad. It's Laxus."
"I figured."
Laxus paused. Did that mean she accepted the idea…?
The comm was passed over and Lucy's tired face was seen, the immature guildmaster seen behind her making obscene gestures on what Laxus should do. He rolled his eyes but addressed the woman. "How's training?"
She smiled. "It's training. Rufus is a strict fuck, Orga doesn't know what mercy means, and Rogue makes me want to build a gym for myself."
He snorted. "Sounds about right."
"Hey, he's a lithe and limber fuck."
"Your language has progressively gotten worse."
"Blame Chance, Gaj and Mark."
"...I can kill them?"
"No killing."
"...Not even a little?"
"Why do I have to repeat myself to dragon slayers. Why do dragon slayers ask the dumbest questions."
"HEY!" Sting stopped his movements to pout at her words.
"...Anyway. I have some unfortunate news."
Lucy's eyes hardened. "What's up?"
He sighed. "So, first, the Queen said something in this letter about asking you to write her a letter on who you think should come. What that means, I don't know."
The lass sighed, echoing his. "I know. I'll get that done tonight."
"Still not gonna tell me?"
"Still can't tell you."
Laxus shrugged and nodded. "It is what it is. Second, Saveya's father is threatening international legal action."
"Why does this feel like a weird sense of deja vu…"
"Except this time, I'm not an ass."
"That's debatable."
"Rude."
She sighed, again, and shook her head. "What's the plan?"
"I'm forwarding this letter to Her Majesty. After that, we wait." He leaned back in his chair but never took his eyes off the woman on the comm.
Lucy nodded. "Alright… If anything happens while I'm here, call me. I'll be home as soon as I can be."
"You should stay and focus."
"That means nothing if the guild is attacked and there isn't any trials as a result."
"Fair. But still."
"Worry about yourself and let me worry about me, alright?" Her smile made his insides turn. "Right now, I can't afford to be worrying about you too."
"Can I still worry about you, though? You're hanging around two delinquent dragon slayers, a questionable god slayer, and two mages who can take down their opponents before their enemies can scream for help."
"Hey," Orga said, sounding a lot closer than Lucy expected. She looked over her shoulder and jumped, startled by how he got the sneak on her. "The fuck you mean questionable?"
"Have you seen your wardrobe?"
"Like yours is any better, lightning twat."
"Thunder cunt."
"Alright, boys, this isn't a dick measuring contest," Lucy scowled.
The two laughed but Orga didn't move yet. In fact, he waited to continue. "Just wait till November."
"Oh, you're being looked at too?"
"Yep."
"Well well, we'll see who the better lightning slayer is in November, then."
"AGAIN, IT'S NOT A DICK MEASURING CONTEST."
Laxus laughed heartily again, feeling eons better than he felt before he called her. "Just make sure you write the Queen. Oh, and Orga?"
"Hm?"
"Keep her safe."
"I can take care of myself, thank you."
Yet nobody paid attention to her. Instead, the ogre of a man nodded and agreed before heading back towards his own celestial mage girlfriend. Lucy shook her head and went to hang up, but stopped before she could. "...So after the trials…"
"How about before then?" he asked, knowing where she was going with it.
She shook her head yet again. "I'll be here until I need a day of rest before taking off… So…"
His eyes seemed sad at that. She hated that look in his eyes.
"How about after the first battles..? Meet up for dinner..?"
That made him smile.
She no longer hated that she cared so much, but instead simply wondered if it was normal to care so much.
"I'll bring dinner. You probably won't want to move all too much."
She giggled at that but nodded her agreement. "Alright."
"Shit!" Lucy yelled as Minerva's spell threw her back a good nine yards. They were nearing the close of the two weeks and Lucy was increasingly growing more and more frustrated. She looked up to and admired the black haired woman's prowess, but it was something more than that. Lucy respected the tigress and put her on a similar level as Erza. The two had many battles, and each drew out the fights to such stakes that both ended up going all out. Even in fights against Natsu or Gray, Lucy had never seen Erza go all out to gain the victory. She always won without relying on her strongest armor sets.
And in Lucy's mind, if she could draw Minerva out to using her last reserves, the blonde will rightfully stand on that S-Class pedestal. At least then, she'd be able to stand a sliver of a chance against Erza. If she could make that happen, she'd feel better about this… But getting a woman like Minerva in a corner was extremely difficult.
Titania could, because she had defensive skills par none when combined with her offensive skills. But Lucy relied heavily on tactics, because Lucy wasn't a melee fighter. Unlike Erza, who's tactical side wasn't strong, Minerva was a little more rounded out.
Her fault was the defense.
Minerva had a very weak defense.
Lucy knew this, but it was hard to combat. Well, hard for her. Because the Tigress was also strong strategically, it was more difficult for Lucy to see those openings in battle. She couldn't do what she normally did to get around her, and her usual thoughts weren't working. The blonde could plan fifteen steps ahead and take every possibility into account and plan accordingly for every minor hiccup. The Saber wasn't allowing her usual thoughts to work.
So Lucy had two options. Stick to strategy and hope it works…
Or go wild and bet on herself.
Don't let anyone tame you.
As she stood and planted her feet again, she made the decision. Two things she would need were speed and power. So, she slipped into her Cancer star dress for speed, and borrowed Taurus's strength. Her eyes narrowed at the black haired woman and she finally saw the truth of the matter. It didn't matter how well you fought, it mattered how much passion you had. Were you able to put it all on the line for what you were fighting for? If you were, then you'd be more opt to come out on top. If you weren't, you were more likely to tap out.
Since her pep talk with Orga, Lucy had grown quite a bit mentally. Her confidence was boosted in a strange way and she was finding it easier to just… Be herself and be who she wanted to be. Now, she was fighting for respect. She knew Minerva respected her, but she wanted to prove that she was worthy of that respect. She wanted to be respected for her power, her ability, and her willingness to fight for what her heart wanted.
It was clear now, though.
The power seeping off of the Tigress.
This was Lucy's moment.
Minerva also shifted. Lucy assumed it worked akin to a takeover, but she didn't know the true side effects of the demon she housed in her body since Tartaros. But she saw the way the woman's skin began to distort. The horns showing atop her head. The claws coming from her hands. The leather-like skin crawling to cover an eye. And the blonde had a moment of excitement, relief, and pure joy. Yes, this would make the fight a lot harder… But...
Minerva was going all out.
Maybe Lucy did deserve to stand by her redheaded sister.
So, taking that thought and holding it dear to her heart, she ran forward at the same time the tigress did. Lucy moved, Minerva dodged. Minerva moved, Lucy dodged. It was a game of cat and mouse now. Who would tire out first. But thankfully for Lucy, the adrenaline rush she got when Minerva transformed was enough to give her a little bit of an edge. When the black haired woman's claws caught her hip, her only thought was how little it hurt in comparison to the fire bear. She stood her ground and moved quick enough to get a counter in- a spinning kick boosted by Taurus's power.
The tigress was thrown back several yards, screamed, and crumpled to the ground… But she slowly stood again. She got back up. She came back with vengeance. Lucy grabbed her whip and barely managed to capture the woman's horn in it- just barely- and tugged so hard that Minerva fell on her back on the ground. Lucy ran, hoping this was her opening, but when she got close enough she noticed the dark magic surrounding the woman's hand. Barely scraping enough time to block, Lucy held Cancer's blades up to reflect the attack. It wasn't perfect and her arms didn't go unscathed, but the brunt of it was blocked nonetheless.
Lucy jumped up, twisted, and came down hard. One leg extended, had Minerva not moved at the last second she'd be three feet underground where Lucy caused a damn crater.
"Time!" Rufus finally called.
The two women looked at one another, dropped their transformations, then promptly both fell to the ground.
There was a sense of nausea that swept through Lucy, only combated by the pure elation she felt. She pushed Minerva that far. She pushed Minerva that far. A near manic sounding laugh bubbled out of her at that, and tears clouded her vision as she stared up at the partly cloudy sky. She did it. Lucy wasn't aiming to beat anyone- that would take a lot more time and a lot more training… She just wanted to get Minerva or Orga down to the wire. And, finally, three days before she was set to head home, she did it.
Sting was the one to help the blonde to her feet.
"There it is, Blondie. If you were a Saber, making the Lady go all out like that would qualify you immediately."
A happy tear slipped down her cheek and she smiled at him. "Thank you."
He nodded and smiled back. "Only two more sparring days to go."
"Who is it tomorrow?"
"Rogue and I. Rufus tomorrow. And Orga wants to talk to you."
"Orga?" She tilted her head. "...Why?"
The guildmaster shrugged. "He wouldn't say."
Lucy looked across the field to where Minerva was being helped up by Rufus. The tigress sent the blonde a megawatt smile, which she happily returned. Her brown eyes turned back to Sting. "Will you help me back to the guild..? My legs feel like actual Jell-O."
He laughed but complied and guided her back to the guild, through the halls, and to an office where the God Slayer was waiting. After helping her into a chair, the master left the two alone and made sure to close the door behind himself as he left. Lucy noted that this was the first time she'd seen Orga in reading glasses and, oddly enough, they suited him well. He looked up at her and pulled his glasses off, only to smirk wildly.
"Congratulations, Shortstack."
She laughed. "Thanks, big guy."
He laughed as well and shook his head but leaned forward. His elbows rested on the desk. "I'm taking you back to Magnolia. Yuki is coming with us, too."
She furrowed her brows in confusion.
He continued. "Makarov asked two members from ally guilds to join you all on Tenrou, as a precaution. Nobody thinks the Fairy Sphere will activate again, but he'd rather not take any chances."
She nodded at this. "I don't blame him. After last time… it took us a long time to recover from that."
Orga leaned back in his chair. "Kagura and Millianna are coming from Mermaid Heel, Ichiya and Hibiki from Pegasus, Jura and Chelia from Lamia, Bacchus and Warcry from Cerberus, and Yuki and I will all be there."
It wasn't lost on her. "So one S-Class from each guild is gonna be there."
"Yeah."
"You're all going to be judging us."
"I'm not supposed to say."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "As if. Having someone from each guild that's S-Class will give insight that our own S-Class mages might not have thought of before. I know what he's doing here."
The ogre snorted. "It's less that and more like the strongest member aside from the master will be there."
She nodded. "And?"
"I'm not swaying my opinion just because I've seen how far you've come."
"I'd be insulted if you were biased."
He laughed at that. "I'm glad we're on the same page."
There was a brief silence, but Lucy broke it. "That's not all."
He nodded. "It's not."
"What else?"
"Two more things. I saw the bracket set up." He eyed her carefully and leaned on the desk once more. "Do not, under any circumstance, bring out that on the first fight. Use it only as a last resort."
She winced but nodded. "I know. I'm mostly worried about Gray and Natsu… Freed will be difficult and so will Gajeel, but I know Natsu and Gray. I know how hard they fight and how bad they've wanted this."
He sighed. "Alright. You should be fine against Juvia. She's a killer mage with some hidden tricks up her sleeves, though, so stay on your toes. Makarov is removing the ban on forbidden magic and forbidden spells. Fairy Sphere is the only spell banned."
Lucy furrowed her brows again. "How do you know that about Juvia?"
"When I was younger. She has nasty spells up her sleeves. I'm not going to spill her secrets, since that feels like cheating, but just… Be careful Shortstack." Lucy agreed and went to stand, but he stopped her. "One more thing."
Lucy paused and tilted her head curiously. He studied her thoroughly, though his eyes never moved away from hers. She felt as though he were looking past her and directly into her soul… It didn't settle well. His pale, narrow eyes were searching for an answer that she didn't know he'd find.
"Do you feel better about it?"
Lucy nodded. "I feel a lot more confident about the trials now, yes."
He narrowed his eyes further. "Not that. There's been something on the back of your mind. Something that made you stutter."
She cringed, immediately knowing what he meant. "I… Haven't been thinking about it… I've been focusing on training…"
He watched her carefully, then smiled and nodded. "That's fine." This confused her, but he continued. "No matter what is wearing on you, you have to always make sure you're focused on yourself first and foremost. Figure out what you want and what your goals are. No matter where you are in your life, you're the only one who will be there for you every moment. You have to be able to be okay with yourself and not regret things when you're alone with your thoughts. Focusing on yourself is always the best answer."
Lucy blinked twice, not expecting a life lesson from the ogre of a man. Still, once the words sunk in, she couldn't help but smile genuinely. "...Thank you. That… Kind of helped a lot."
He nodded, though he held a hand out. "Wanna talk about it?"
The blonde thought about it. On one hand, she knew that he and Laxus had become very close friends and that he could give invaluable advice… But on the other, he could also tell Laxus what she says. Her brown eyes sized the hulking man up. While she didn't know him as well as her… Not-so-boyfriend did, she did know that he was a man of integrity. Hesitantly, she spoke. "...Nothing I say leaves the room."
He nodded. "Nothing. On my pride."
She eased just a little, but nodded. "It's mostly about my feelings towards…. Towards Laxus. I was a debutante, ran away, thrust into the Fairy Tail centric shitstorms, and as a result I've never… Dated… Or even had a crush on anyone before him… This is new and I'm just… I'm worried about my own feelings and future things."
After saying it out loud, she felt like a child being scolded by her parent. It was stupid to get caught up like this. Stupid to be telling it to Laxus' friend. She didn't need this. But when she looked at Orga, he only seemed to accept it. No judgement, no laughter, not even a mischievous look in his pale eyes. Instead, he looked like he absorbed it, accepted it, and was trying to understand it. He looked like he had her interest in mind instead of teasing her about it.
"Well… I can't give you answers or anythin', but… Shortstack, I had the same issue with Kino."
She blinked. "What? You did?"
He nodded, offering a sad smile. "I was raised in Bosco most of my life. I came to Fiore to escape… A negative situation… I was found by Jiemma, invited to the guild, and then well… You know how the guild was."
She leaned towards him a bit. "What made you decide to?"
He shrugged. "Slayers get mates. Dragons take mates and Gods take beloveds. She was mine. But I didn't… I didn't know how to go about telling her. She was closer to the dragons and didn't speak directly to me much. Minerva and Rufus were the ones I was close to… But it took one mission for me to get my head out of my ass."
"What happened?"
"She passed out. I thought she died."
Lucy gasped and her eyes went wide in shock and horror.
But the Slayer only smiled. "It was only for two minutes at most. That hit me too hard and I… I used a spell that I shouldn't have. I didn't even use it during the Alvarez War, because it scares me. As a caster of it. The beasts are down and when I turn around, everyone else looked terrified… But she watched me, not scared shitless… And when I saw she was awake, there was a thought. I didn't know when time was up or what may happen… If she'd ever find someone else… But I would regret it, every second, if I didn't at least try. If I didn't tell her. Because to lose her without trying was more crushing than being rejected. I loved her so much, even then, that it would have killed me to never try."
The blonde sat back and exhaled heavily.
Thinking of something like that was mildly depressing, and a little hard to do. Maybe it was easier for him because he had the experience of nearly losing his love. But for her, her brain didn't even want to try to think of she and Laxus in that situation. She didn't want to even try to think of losing him, and she wasn't quite sure what that meant.
He leaned forward even more. "It all comes down to what you will and won't regret. If you can't realize it right now, don't worry about it. Fate has a way of nudging you in the right direction, even if it sometimes feels like a harsh shove. If it's meant to be, you'll figure it out on your own time."
She nodded and smiled genuinely and gently at him. He was the first to not tell her how she felt or assume things. Ever and Aquarius both compared her feelings to their relationships… But Orga reassured her that it will always be up to her and that she had time. That, somehow, made her feel better about it.
"You're an amazing guy, you know?"
He leaned back and waved a nonchalant hand. "Nah. It just depends on who you ask."
Lucy shook her head. "The magazines make you out to be a brainless brute, but you're so much more than that."
He smirked a bit. "Mags ain't always right, Shortstack."
She laughed at that. "I mean yeah, but you've never done anything to combat it."
He shrugged. "I do most of the paperwork around here. Why should I care about what others think?"
"Fair point."
"So Yuki and I will go with you to Magnolia."
"Alright. I'll be ready."
Lucy's eyes hardened as she walked out onto the deck of the ship. Every participant of the trials was out there, and so was Erza and Makarov. They were nearing the island and everyone was called to the deck. Lucy looked briefly out on the horizon, knowing that not only were the other guilds already there, but so were the other S-Class mages and they already set up Lacrima. At the last minute, the information that this would be broadcasted back to Fairy Tail and the ally guilds was sprung on them. It was daunting, knowing that your friends and family were watching on Lacrima Vision… But at the same time, it made sense. If they were to get attacked again, the allies would immediately know.
"Listen up!"
Her attention turned back to the master.
"Your mission is to give these battles everything you've got. Show us your determination, your grit, and your wishes in battle. Show us why you deserve the promotion."
Everyone cheered in response.
"We'll touch down and you'll have thirty minutes to prepare and get to the battle ground. Juvia and Lucy will go first."
The two women looked to each other sharply and nodded to one another.
"Then, Natsu and Gajeel."
The two slayers groaned in response, their stomachs not agreeing with the travel.
"Freed and Gray fight third."
Freed's eye sharpened and Gray's jaw set.
"Then, finally, Wendy and Cana."
The brunette looked down at her lap for a moment but nodded nonetheless. Wendy, on the other hand, clung to the railing of the boat, trying not to lose her stomach.
It took another ten minutes to get to the shore of the island, and nobody was allowed off of the boat until it was docked- unlike last time. Then again, the trials themselves were different this time as well. They slowly but surely stepped off of the wooden boat, taking their luggage with them. It took them a good ten minutes to get through the thick woods down the paths to even get to camp in the first place, and thankfully the tense silence had been broken by Gray stumbling over Natsu's leg.
It was bickering, but at least the tension had mostly left. Upon approaching the camp, Lucy saw everyone already there and waiting with a Lacrima Vision set up to see four different camera angles. Mira, Erza, Orga and Jura were talking about one thing or another and everyone else seemed to be mingling amongst themselves. Her brown eyes scanned the area for the man she was looking for but she never saw him.
She could, however, feel his aura. The static in the air.
Then, his hand landed on her shoulder.
Again, she threw him over that shoulder and twisted his arm and pinned him- just like before. Her foot was already applying sharp pressure to the bend between his neck and shoulder when she noticed who it was.
"Dammit Laxus, we've been over this! Don't sneak up on me!"
There was an eerie silence that followed, though it was broken by Orga's booming laughter. "There's the fire, Shortstack!"
"Hey," Laxus fired back at the slayer as Lucy moved her foot, "no, none of that."
Orga smirked wildly at the dragon slayer. "Oh hohoho. None of what?"
"Laxus?!" Mira squealed.
He groaned. "Leave me alooooone."
Lucy sighed and forcibly helped him up by nearly picking him up by the armpits. She couldn't get him fully off the ground, but she lifted him enough for him to be forced to put his feet beneath him or they'd both fall. "Stop scaring the piss outta me and we wouldn't have these situations."
He looked down at her. "...You and Wendy both need to stop swearing like Fairies."
"I'll talk however the hell I want!" Both ladies cried at the same time.
"Luce," Gray hollered. "You don't have time. Field's ten minutes away."
"Shit," she cursed as she turned away from everyone and took off like a bullet towards the field.
Laxus sighed and plopped down between the Orga and Jura. "Damn."
"Wanted to wish her luck?" Orga asked.
The blond nodded.
The tiger snorted a laugh. "She doesn't need luck anymore. Trust me."
"You were the one training Miss Lucy?" Jura asked curiously.
Orga shook his head. "Not just me. Rufus, the Twin Jackasses and Minerva all did."
The earth mage hummed and stroked his beard a bit. "I see. She might surprise us all then."
"Oh, she definitely will. She's come a long way."
"Knowing Lucy's progress, how far do you think she'll make it?" Laxus asked.
The slayer narrowed his eyes on the LV. "I can't say, since I don't know how much progress the others made… But I know she has the will and the ability to go all the way."
"Bold statement," Erza chimed. "You think she could beat Natsu?"
"Definitely," the tiger nodded. "No offense to Natsu, but after what happened… He won't be in the right headspace, especially not to go against a tactician like Lucy."
"Lucy has a problem with relying on others instead of herself in battle," the redhead argued.
He shook his head. "What I saw? She was betting on herself to win."
Erza's brows shot up in shock. She followed his eyes to the LV, noticing that Lucy and Juvia were now taking the field. "Then there are a few game changing pieces on the board. I don't know who might come out on this."
"We'll have to watch to find out," Mira said, looking up at the screen to see them taking battle stances.
From his place at the camp, Makarov spoke into a speaker to broadcast to the mages; "On my count. Three… Two… One… Begin!"
Juvia rushed forward, water coming to her hand fast. However, Lucy was able to call Virgo to pull her underground to avoid the water mage's attack. Sparring against a lightning mage who's speed was through the roof for two weeks made her fully prepared for slower attacks like that. The water woman wasn't waiting, though, and raised her hands up- palms facing the sky.
"Drain Dry!"
The water and moisture rose from the ground and the plants there, gathering around the water mage steadily. Within two short seconds, the earth at her feet was dry like sand and the underground movements of Virgo and Lucy were visible lumps of moving dirt- like a badger or a mole's path. The water mage gathered that water to her hand and held them palms facing the area in which the digging briefly stopped.
"Typhoon Shot!" The water shot out in a spinning funnel, uprooting Lucy's position and forcing her airborne.
The blonde was prepared, though. "Cetus! Chamaeleon!"
The two silver key spirits popped out, prepared and ready for battle. The woman spirit ran forward at such a high speed that Juvia blinked and nearly missed her movements. The changeling did just that, transforming into a near mirrored copy of the water mage- the only difference was that Chamaeleon kept her pale eyes in the transformation.
Lucy shifted to her Aquarius star dress.
This was now a battle of water against water.
"Cetus, now!" Lucy called.
The male nodded, gathering water to his own hands. He slapped his hands down on the ground, the blue color of the magic circles lighting his pale features beautifully. "Force Wave!"
Water began rushing up and own in a huge wave of water from around him, and Lucy jumped to the sky to almost ride the wave. His girlfriend shifted her stance and shot a Typhoon shot back at Juvia. The water woman had to concentrate on the two spells- one a weaker version of the very spell she used moments ago- to take control of enough of the water to prevent taking a lot of damage. Her hands lifted, her magic reached out, and though most of the water didn't hit her, she was still pushed backwards by the force of just trying to take over the wave and the typhoon attack.
"WATERFALL!"
Juvia looked up to see the blonde above her head and a huge burst of water magic slammed down on her. Her concentration slipped for less than a second, but it was enough for all three attacks to hit her simultaneously.
"She forgot to pay attention to the key holder," Jura commented.
Laxus nodded. "That's a flaw most people forget about. Lucy and Yukino don't stand behind their spirits."
"Juvia isn't going to take a lot of damage from that," Mira said steadily. "Her body is made of water. She's smarter than to let that slip."
When the attacks stopped, Juvia wasn't standing there any longer. Cam looked over to her right sharply when she felt the reconnection of the blue haired woman's body. She slipped through using the water they'd all summoned and moved to a different part of the field. Lucy followed the woman's line of sight and cursed. No, the blonde didn't think it would win her the match, but she didn't expect Juvia to take advantage of all of that right away.
Her mind instantly had the answer.
Thank you, Rufus.
"Cam, go! Cetus, two!"
The woman nodded and left in a shimmer of sparkles just as a wave of visible poison left from his hands. "Venom Blast!"
Juvia materialized in just enough time to see this and dodge out of the way. The purple-green colored sludge smacked against the treeline, causing acid erosion to immediately begin eating away at the trees there. Lucy pulled a key out in her right hand and held her left hand up to prepare for her star dress. "Aries! Cancer, star dress!"
The Ram showed up and barely managed a rushed apology before she shot off a wool bomb. It completely missed the water mage, and Lucy ran past the pink haired spirit to come in close to her opponent with a blade in either hand.
"She missed?" Erza said, almost sounding disappointed.
"She didn't." Jura nodded towards the screen. "The wool is absorbing the excess water on the ground. She's trying to prevent Juvia from doing that again."
"Smart," Laxus praised.
Erza smirked, though. "Blades won't work against Juvia, though."
"Don't discount that dress, Scarlet," Orga pressed. "There's a lot of things we've worked on, you know."
"I'll keep it in mind, but our students both have trained hard."
They watched as Lucy was on Juvia within mere seconds. Again, the blonde was thankful for every spar with Orga that prepared her in Cancer's dress to be able to move so quickly. She sliced outwards, the blade akin to an extension of her own arm… But it never connected. Juvia's body released pressure on the side the blade struck, turning to water long enough for the blade to slip through easily before reforming without her taking any damage.
"Not so fast," Juvia said lowly as she stomped her right foot down. Water pulled itself from the greenery around them, circling around them and closing in on them fast. "Whirlpool!"
Lucy jumped away from the woman when she struck out to hit the blonde. The water was moving dangerously fast, seeming close to hurricane speeds… Even though Lucy had never seen just how fast that was, she could only assume that's how fast it was. In reality, it wasn't that fast. Her brown eyes narrowed and she struck out with the blade again, barely acknowledging when the gold circle shined in front of the blade on her left hand.
"Wind Slash!"
The blade didn't touch Juvia, but the wind around it did. Four sharp slices marred the woman's thigh, but the attack kept going. The force of the attack gaining power as it moved further out caused the back wall of spiraling water to collapse into three different sections. In that moment, Lucy crouched and jumped out of the brief opening. The water slashed and sliced several small yet sharp and deep cuts against her right side, but she ignored the stinging pain. Her feet connected with the tree and she looked down at the blue haired woman at the bottom of the water funnel. She could barely see the silhouette from the outside.
"Lucy got through," Mira praised.
"Or she fell into a trap," Jura challenged. "We can't really make out where exactly Juvia is right now."
"You're forgetting two things," Orga reminded.
Just as those words finished leaving his lips, a wall of shadows erupted up from the ground. Whatever was shouted by the spirit was drown out by the water woman's scream. The walls of water started falling apart, and two more wool shots were thrown out to absorb the upper level of water that was beginning to come loose.
"There it is," Gildarts finally said critically.
Lucy came down on Juvia like a bat outta hell, but her star dress had changed. Now, Juvia just barely moved out of the way when Lucy dropped her unclothed leg down on the ground. Taurus' strength amplified this tenfold, and the earth cracked and caved beneath the power of the leg drop. Exactly where Lucy and Virgo had tunneled caved in, causing the water woman to fall beneath the dropping rocks and- thankfully- she didn't get pinned beneath them.
Lucy rushed along the tunnels filling with water, her star dress changing again. The checkered pattern of Gemini's magic flashed before she changed again- horns growing on her head and one of her eyes patching over. The blonde knew that she couldn't hold even a partial transformation into Minerva's demon form, but she had Gemini add it to their repertoire to have an extra card to play. Once the transformation looked perfect- it wasn't, but Juvia didn't know that- Aries disappeared in a flash of sparkles.
Cetus jumped up to join her, and they clasped their hands together.
"Demonic Shadow Blast!" the duo shouted, combining the demonic attributes from Lucy's partially borrowed magic with her spirit's shadow magic to create a devastating blast coming from them.
Juvia moved out of the way enough to miss the majority of the blast, but her right arm and leg were still caught in it. She screamed out a very loud "TAP!"
Gildarts leaned back in his seat. "Lucy had a lot of this planned from the beginning."
"Of course she did," Orga agreed. "She wouldn't stay that long underground without a plan."
"She held the battle in her hands well," Jura agreed with a nod. "Had several cards on play that we wouldn't expect to see… Like that transformation."
"Minnie gave her permission," Yukino said as she slipped into their little group to sit by her boyfriend. "It shocked them both to see that the demon was okay with it, too."
"No doubt," Mirajane commented.
"Lucy has always been a top tier tactician," Erza said as she leaned back as well. "I just didn't expect to see her have come so far so quickly."
"She's flourishing," Laxus agreed- pointedly ignoring the knowing looks everyone seemed to be sending him. "She went in with limited cards so she wouldn't show too much to anyone she might fight next."
Mentally, he was getting over the shock of Lucy engaging in a water battle without bringing out Aquarius. If she hadn't brought her out yet, there was a reason for it. Laxus wasn't going to spill her secrets out like that. And, if Lucy did show Orga and Yukino Aquarius was back, neither of them seemed to comment on it, either. The blonde officially won the first match of the day and set a tone that everyone felt the others should follow. Getting so far, so fast and having so many of her secrets and movements so excellently mapped out was now a standard they hoped the next few matches would meet.
The blond, though not speaking on Aquarius, did continue his thoughts. "We only saw three- technically four- spirits out. Only three star dresses too… And two of the spirits we saw were Silver Keys. This wasn't anything," he realized and his eyes widened. "She started low in hopes she wouldn't have to bring out big guns. We haven't seen anything from her yet."
Gildarts laughed at this. "You're just noticing that? Lucy played that brilliantly. Showing off just enough to let us know that's not even close to half of what she has up her sleeves, yet working her low power moves well enough to prove a point."
"That's exactly what we're looking for," Kagura commented, coming up to stand behind Erza. "That level of planning and flexibility within tactics is very important."
"She's started it off strong, that's for sure," Mira agreed.
Lucy helped Juvia up, held her tight, and let the water woman lean on her shoulder as she walked and helped her back to camp. On their way, they passed both Natsu and Gajeel. They wished both mages luck in passing, got compliments on their fights, and moved on. They didn't make it back to camp until the two slayers had already started their fight. The ladies didn't seem to care much, though, as both were more concerned with seeing Chelia in the back of camp.
Natsu won the match, though not by much. It was obvious both slayers were holding back, similar to Lucy but not as well executed, and Gajeel only tapped out because of the amount of smoke clogging the air. Freed and Gray put on another brilliant fight, and even though Gray had an edge with his Devil Slaying magic, Freed's strategies pulled him the win. Gray had a clear edge in power, but it meant nothing if you could barely harm your opponent. That put Juvia and Gray to fight in the second bracket tomorrow, and Freed and Lucy to fight in the main bracket.
Wendy and Cana had, arguably, the best match of the day. Cana proved herself to having grown a lot since the last trials. She had encorporated crystals and runes both, giving the Wicca more tools to work with and more combinations to draw out with her cards. Wendy showed that sometimes, in battle, raw power will overcome strategy, since she won the match. Unlike what everyone thought would happen, Cana didn't lose because she was holding back. She gave the lass a damn good fight, and it was one they both could respect.
It took a grand total of four hours to get through all the matches- though none of them were too long. The path to the field was just super long and took a while to walk through. It wasn't until everything was winding down for the day that Laxus tried approaching Lucy again.
"Congratulations," he said softly.
She swirled around, locked eyes with him and smiled happily. "Thank you."
"You doing alright?"
"Yeah," she agreed. Her brown eyes then went to the tent. "So… I kinda forgot that we were staying on the island for the duration of the tests…"
"Kinda hard to go out for food this way, huh?" he asked, amusement twinkling in his storm blue eyes.
She blushed and nodded. "Sorry about that…"
She didn't want him sad.
He laughed, though. "Don't worry, I brought some food for us when we came."
Lucy looked up at him through her lashes. "...You really do think of everything, don't you?"
When it comes to you, I do.
"Eh. I just like being prepared."
She smiled so warmly at him that his heart felt warm. "Well… Where do you want to go for dinner?"
"We can hit the grove out by the hotsprings? Picnic it up and when we're done, I can leave while you relax."
Lucy nodded excitedly at this, entwining their fingers as she held his hand. "Sounds perfect. Lead the way!"
He felt happiness flood his veins when she held his hand. Aside from her assault earlier, this was the first time that he felt, physically, that she was safe. He smiled and brought her hand up to kiss the back of it. "Let's go, then."