Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, the anime, manga, or any of its characters.
Lucy's POV
After Sting and I had used seven hours worth of berries to make Poffins at the bakery on Autumnal Avenue, we had decided to go back to the Sabertooth guild with the treats in the wooden basket that Sting had made for me. We were now at Sabertooth's request board to find some good jobs, hoping to also find the next elemental stone, and my violet eyes were filled with more determination than ever.
Now having Furea as my rival, since she had brutally criticized me like I was a total failure, I had to become stronger and bond well with each type of magic for it to really work for me. I didn't want my spells to fall apart or be weak, and I currently ate a Cherry Poffin that I made from a Cheri Berry. This would improve how cool my Fire Magic would look, which was one step towards becoming stronger.
However, what kinds of spells should I make? Just like with creating spells, I could also remove them. I had just removed Furea's attacks from the Fire Stone with a simple command, and the red aura went inside my body. I honestly felt fired up like Natsu would, but the stone would be nothing without great spells to back it up. On top of that, the frontal jobs on the request board were asking for help in places that seemed perfect for water. Fire wouldn't be very effective, and I didn't have a Water Stone yet.
Also, I didn't have any real spells of Fire Magic yet. I had to use them in a place where they would have the greatest effect, like a grassy meadow or a forest that was crawling with bugs. Of course, we'd probably get attacked by Beedrill for trying to burn down the forest where they lived. All of the other creatures wouldn't like it, either, so the forest was definitely not where we would be going.
"Hey, Serena. You seriously have to check out this job, and it seems really thrilling." Sting told me with a cocky grin on his face, as he put the flyer into my hands for me to read it.
I replied with a happy smile, upon seeing the place and the reward, "Sting, this is totally awesome! This place doesn't seem dangerous at all, and we just have to put a stop to a nefarious villain! It's a pretty common job, so it won't be difficult."
Sting and I blushed while looking at each other, almost about to really kiss for real since that first kiss was caused by a total accident, but I leapt back a few feet when a white energy wave suddenly appeared in between us. I looked astounded at the sight of this happening, but then it looked familiar to me from the Naval Battle in the Grand Magic Games of X791. Minerva obviously overheard my conversation with Sting and teleported to us for more details, unfortunately.
"Well, well, well. It looks like Sting's going on a job, but he has to be stuck with a weakling like you. Serena, you're still not even a real member of the Sabertooth guild. I'll tell you what, however. Why don't you prove to me that you belong here, newbie? Being the daughter of the guild master, I have every right to check out anyone who wants to join us." Minerva told me in a condescending tone while she evilly smirked, giggling a bit at the sight of me looking irritated by her words.
"I definitely belong here, Minerva! Sting's been helping me get stronger, and I want to become a great mage! I'll battle anyone because that's how I'll get better! I'll prove to you that I deserve to be in Sabertooth, so bring it on!" I retorted harshly, glaring at her with a fierce fire beginning to fill my violet eyes.
"You're such a stupid idiot, Serena. I can't believe you'd actually think I would waste my time on trash like you right now. My level of skill majorly rises above yours, and you are nothing but an inferior little girl." Minerva shot back at me, putting her left hand around my neck before picking me up and slamming me down to the ground with little effort.
Before I could verbally retaliate, as I stood up, Sting grabbed my hand and simply ran out of the guild with me having to follow him closely. He was obviously psyched about getting this job done, and he probably didn't want to see a fight erupt between me and Minerva right now. I didn't want to make myself look bad in front of him, and starting a fight with the guild master's daughter would probably not get me into the Sabertooth guild.
We were now on our way to the job that would test my skills in making my spells powerful while also making them also look presentable. Simple attacks probably wouldn't work, either, so I had to be creative. Whatever lied in store for us on this job would surely be a challenge, since the criminal in the job's description was an S-Class Mage who was from the town of Gracidea. That place was said to be faraway, so they had obviously fled here.
Meanwhile... (Gray's POV)
Man, I couldn't find that Serena chick or Lucy anywhere in Lumiose Town. I asked many people if they had seen a blonde girl with brown eyes pass through any avenue of the town, but they all looked puzzled by my question. They didn't know where Lucy was, and it was now noon. Erza instructed me to find info on those stones, but I hadn't found any info on them all. It's not that Team Natsu wanted Lucy to come back out of love, but Erza wanted to punish Lucy for making us all stray from doing jobs to look for her.
I now found myself on Route 6 of Fiore, a route with large trees surrounding both sides of a dirt path with fruit trees and flowery bushes nearby. If Lucy or Serena hadn't been in Lumiose Town, where could they be? This mission was twofold for me, really. Find Serena for my chance to snatch the elemental stones that are rumored to change the world, and find that weak Lucy for Erza to punish her. Even though only a few days had passed, the jobs kept piling up on Fairy Tail's request board. That made us look like lazy slackers, something Erza didn't approve of.
As I walked down the dirt path, seeing something in the distance that looked like a castle, my feet suddenly lost the ability to move. They felt constricted by something, and I looked down to see green vines emerge from underground. They lifted me high into the air, before spinning me around in a circle, and the vines seemed to be manipulated by someone's magic. They threw me into the dirt, and I went rolling towards somebody on this same path.
Slowly looking up at the person who ambushed me, he was a fair-skinned male who had onyx eyes and green chin-length hair. His hair was spiky in the back with bangs, and his glare was somewhat intimidating. He wore a pale green, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and white arm warmers, along with black shorts. This guy snickered while looking down at me, slamming his left foot down on my head repeatedly.
"How incredible. I put up a job demanding a fight with the one who beat up Konchū from our dark guild, and instead some useless guy comes my way. How pathetic. The trees told me that the one who defeated Konchū was a female from Sabertooth, which makes you worthless to me right now. Go away, trashy kid. I'm Tsukushi, a member of the dark guild Black Plasma. Konchu had been excommunicated from Fairy Tail, and she joined us. Now she's deceased, and anyone against evil is just trash." He told me in a harsh tone, kicking me away from him.
Suddenly, the leaves began to float in midair around him while turning green with razor-sharp edges. Tsukushi simply waved his hands in a psychic manner, before sending the leaves spinning towards me in a barrage at high speeds. They made cuts on my face and arms, even make slice marks across my shirt, and he chuckled evilly while making the projectiles curve back around like a boomerang to impale me in my back like sharp knives.
I couldn't react fast enough to avoid the leaves, and he sent more of them towards me. Was this guy planning to slice my head off? As I coughed up some blood, feeling the stabbing pain of the leaves impaling my back, I had to wonder if this was it for me.
However, my dark blue eyes widened in amazement at the sight of three fireballs striking the leaves while burning them in a fiery explosion. The flames were jumping into the air, burning the leaves that impaled my back, and their heat was actually healing my wounds. Some of the flames went behind me, before furiously exploding in red blasts that made large walls of fire, prompting me to get the heck off of a battlefield where I wasn't needed. Going around the smoke, I decided to look brave and simply hightail it to Lumiose's train station and go back to Magnolia.
Lucy's POV
Sting and I had finally reached Route 6 of Fiore, and I had to use Tri Fire to save somebody who appeared to have been tortured by that criminal. I don't know where the victim went, but the scene appeared to show me that his attacker was able to manipulate plants. With fire spells, I had the current advantage in this fight. From what I saw, this guy could manipulative leaves with straight and curved movements, meaning he had excellent control over his Plant Magic.
He also wasted no time when the fire and smoke faded away, inhaling air before unleashing a barrage of green seeds from his mouth. I narrowed my violet eyes while dodging them, seeing that they created green blasts of energy while also leaving quick-growing saplings in the blast's place. Not only could he cause damage with that attack, but his devious grin told me that he could grow new plants to cause more mayhem.
"If you're not going to counter my attacks, you might as well give up now." He told us in a brash tone, grinning evilly while sending giant green vines to attack me and Sting.
Knowing full well that my reaction time also needed work, I quickly created a new spell known as Fiery Burst. Inhaling some air, I quickly exhaled it to send a thin stream of fire at the vines. The spinning stream enlarged, much to the antagonist's shock, and it incinerated the vines while creating a fiery explosion in the process. Tsukushi had evaded it, unfortunately, and he was going to attack with the green seeds from seeing him inhale air.
Sting had told me that appealing was part of using spells, and he had secretly told me that studying an enemy's techniques was an important part in battle. As Tsukushi fired those exploding bullet seeds at me, I countered with a spell known as Flame Shield. A crimson red shield appeared in front of me (It looked like a larger version of the Volcano Badge from the Kanto Region), and it simply absorbed the projectiles before surrounding them in red flames that were shaped like drills.
The flames bounced off the shield, and they headed straight for Tsukushi. He had a look of smug confidence in his onyx eyes, and one of saplings from earlier turned into a giant tree to be struck by the flames. However, I was hoping that he would try to defend himself. As the giant tree broke into pieces, I used my next spell that was known as Magma Muck.
Quickly doing a backflip into the air and springing upward with the momentum from landing on a tree branch, I simply spat out large puddles of red goop from my mouth. They hit the ground, making holes in it with their volcanic heat, and even the smallest puddles of magma were burning away the leaves and trees with boiling flames. I even made the muck seep underground to create fiery explosions, incinerating the roots of the problem.
"Wow, Lucy! You're really starting to use your moves creatively!" Sting told me with a calm smile on his face while I safely landed on my feet.
"Too bad she won't get the chance to use them all!" Tsukushi exclaimed fiercely, waving his hands in a telekinetic manner while making some Rawst Berries float from a nearby bush and into the air. They exploded immediately, almost like the winds had struck them when a sudden gust came through the air, and the berries released a green powder that rode the wind.
Knowing that powder from Rawst berries could create burns on a person's skin, I quickly used the next spell of Fire Magic. It was known as Fire Cannon, and this spell quickly released a cannon shot of a fiery vortex from my left hand. The swirling vortex of flames quickly eradicated the powder, and it struck the villain head on while making a large blast of fire fill the sky! Sting and I covered our eyes for a moment to avoid the red and orange light from the flames, and we opened them when it quickly faded away.
We thought that Tsukushi had been defeated, but the smoke cleared up to reveal that he was struggling to stand while being surrounded by a large ring of flames that occurred as a result of Fire Cannon. I guess my spells really were starting to look pretty in this performance, and now it was time for this battle to have a finale. A red aura surrounded my body for this next move, and I could feel heat and power flowing through my body.
"I am totally feeling and loving the power!" I exclaimed in a fierce tone, ambition filling my violet eyes while my fists were tightly clenched.
Tsukushi told Sting while he put his hands in front of his face, waving them in a begging and defensive manner, "Dude, your girlfriend is a fiery psycho! Do something, man!"
"All I can do is say... Go, Lucy! Activate that hot spell!" Sting told me while smirking happily, winking with his left eye as he gave me two thumbs-up.
This seventh spell was known as Flare Blitz, and the first part of it made red flames engulf my fists like I was Natsu. The power was charging itself up inside of me, the red aura enlarging around my body and the flames on my hands felt hot with a burning sense of courage and fierceness. The second part of this spell made my body become surrounded by red-orange flames, and I shot myself at my opponent with great force and tremendous speed like a missile. I decided to call this spell Flare Blitz, since that sounded really cool.
Tsukushi could only remain frozen in fear at the sight of this attack, and he nearly screamed when I punched him in the face with my left fist while slamming myself against him. An extremely powerful maelstrom of red-orange flames filled the air, fireballs coming down on the plants as a side effect, and I was hoping that Sting looked awestruck by the power that I had now obtained.
However, this attack's drawback turned my maelstrom of flames into a fiery explosion that sent me flying into the air. I was surprised to see Sting spring upward from the tree branches like I did, and he caught me in his arms while red sparks surrounded my body like I took recoil damage from the Flare Blitz spell. The red aura and the flames had faded away from my body, and I felt exhausted after using seven spells from the Fire Stone.
When Sting and I safely landed on the ground, we could see that Tsukushi was charred and unconscious while something came rolling out of the left back pocket of his black shorts. It appeared to be a stone that had the top half in emerald green while the bottom half was pale green. What kind of stone was this? I hadn't seen anything like it until now.
"Hey, Sting. That guy dropped something." I informed him calmly, pointing to the strange stone on the ground.
He replied nicely while putting me down on my feet and picking up the object, "Whoa, Lucy. You really got lucky, seriously. This stone can be emerald green, but it can also change to a pale green stone. It's a Wind Stone and a Leaf Stone in one, also known as a Hybrid Stone. These are extremely rare, Lucy, especially since they are two elements in one stone."
"Speaking of multiple types of magic, when will you teach me Cloning Magic?" I asked him sternly, still feeling fierce from my Fire Magic.
"Have patience, Lucy. Wow, you really are hot from that battle. When you harness that hotness, then we'll ignite your potential to new levels." Sting responded to me while smirking, as he secretly brought the wooden box of Poffins along and stuffed two red cherry-flavored ones in my mouth before running back to the guild.
Wanting to catch up with him, I ran as fast as my legs allowed me to while planning to feed him Poffins for a change. Wait, isn't that what couples normally did on dates? Sting and I only had an accidental kiss, so why is my heart speaking for my mind? Did those fire spells increase my hotness while also making me see Sting as a really hot guy? At this point, all I could do was blush with determination while running back to Lumiose Town.
Meanwhile... (Wendy's POV)
Ever since Lucy-san left Fairy Tail, everyone's been searching for her like crazy. Surprisingly, we've all found the same thing. You know what that would be? Absolutely nothing. Even Carla can't make a prediction about Lucy because nobody has any idea where she is, and I'm really getting worried. Erza-san sent us out to many places in Fiore, but there's no sign of Lucy anywhere.
I sat down at a table with Carla, Levy, Lily, Juvia, and Gajeel while I looked pretty glum. The new girl named Melissa isn't even that friendly, either, and she has this weird way about her. When Lucy left, Melissa had arrived on the following day. She seemed okay at first glance, but she's actually really grumpy and depressing. I don't even care about the elemental stones, nor do I know why they are so valuable.
"Juvia is so lonely without Gray-sama here... Juvia knows he'll get the job done, but he should be back soon." Juvia said with a sad facial expression, before laying her head down on the table while unaware that she just slammed her face into Levy's banana cream pie.
"Juvia, if it makes you feel better, I have to do a job in Aquacorde Town. It's kind of far from the guild, but I could really use your help there." I told her in a kind tone while smiling a bit, as I patted her head.
Even though she looked sad by the fact that Gray had taken so long to do what seemed like a simple retrieval mission, Juvia lifted her head up and agreed to help me out since she was thinking that Gray would pass through there.
As I stood up from my seat with the flyer in my hands, proceeding to walk out of the guild with Juvia, something seemed really odd to me when I saw Natsu and Lisanna kissing. It wasn't that their making out in public was kind of gross, but daylight shined throughout the guildhall. It made many shadows stretch, except theirs weren't visible to my eyes. Why?
How was Chapter 10? A few more plot twists are good, right? You'll see what happened to Team Natsu, as the story progresses, and Lucy shall finally cross paths with an old friend. What shall transpire? Standby for the update, my readers!