"Alright I would say that was a favorable time training!" I shouted to no one in particular as I was slightly cheerful to be reaching my final stage of training.
It was something I had unlocked in training with Skadi that I could never really practice with the constant fear of going berserk. But since Pandora isn't here it should be safe enough to try once more, after all it's not like there's anyone around.
Looking down at my necklace I grabbed hold of the snowflake, smiling down at it sadly remembering Skadi's words.
"What you are, what you're capable of, what you can do, people will fear it. This crest will seal away half of your being until you one day are able to control everything without it. But don't be afraid, I believe you are capable of doing wonderful things, you just have to practice."
If I'm ever going to beat Acnologia I'm going to also have to master the art of Shapeshifting into a dragon without losing control again. I've only done it four times before: Twice with Skadi, once with that Desert King guy as he managed to pissed me off to such an extent and I needed someone to test it on, and once more for practice which ended with me flattening an entire mountain range.
I never used it on Acnologia, the move was meant to survive as a finally act of defense by the entire time I was fighting him I never really sensed I was in true danger fighting him. If felt more like what Skadi did when she wanted me to test out my abilities, try all the moves she taught me to attempt and bet her in battle, he didn't show me all his deck of cards just like I didn't reveal all of mine.
Zeref on the other hand never he spared me the time to think before attacking me, let alone time to show off. I only got one punch the first time we met, the last time I saw him I managed to deliver a few more blows before I managed to escape from his grasp.
"Ice Dragonslayer Ultimate Formation..." I started as the winds and snow picked up faster and stronger than before as I pulled off the crest with magic being released.
"Form of a Drag-" Sudden my focus was halted at the sudden sense of people's presence nearby, until another familiar tug of my soul occurred again.
Quickly placing back my crest my power level quickly shrunk down to 50% again as I calmed down. At that exact moment the winds and snow calmed down as five figures began to show up revealing to be four members of the Fairy Tail guild.
It's strange, usually Everytime I go to Fairy Tail I somehow feel the presence of Zeref which in extremely low but still there. Especially around Natsu but I've started to ignore it since it happens so frequently.
"Oi Nina why are you half naked?" Natsu asked bluntly as the other members seem to look at him strangely as I looked down taking notice that I forgot to put my clothes on.
"You see Nina with white hair radiating a powerful magic aura and the first thing you do is comment on that? Really Natsu?" Lucy stated facepalming herself along with Erza and Wendy.
"Sorry about that I usually train without them, what are you guys doing here? I thought most people avoid the mountain terrain here, on another mission?" I asked finding my clothes and placing them on as they examined the area.
"Pandora said she was worried about you and didn't want you to be out here alone, we thought she might be getting a little too overprotective but she mentioned something to us that caught us off guard." Erza stated looking around the flattened area.
Was it always like this, last time I checked there was suppose to be a mountain standing here and over there. And where did the surge of magic go, it couldn't have just vanished into thin air along with those winds.
"Is it true that Acnologia has been stalking you?" Natsu asked me bluntly before a silence followed.
I stared at them for a moment before a burst of laughing at what he just asked, just what did Pandora say? Acnologia? Stalking someone? That's the most ridiculous thing I have heard all day.
"I'm not sure what Pandora told you but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Thanks for that though I haven't managed to laugh all day." I stated as Wendy just seemed confused.
"So did Pandora lie about that just so we could check up on you, that doesn't seem like her." Wendy stated as Lucy seemed to agree, through the few times we met they seemed like good people.
"She's just over exaggerating that's all, although it's true Acnologia has been keeping tabs on me I don't think he's stalking me." I joked as my words seem to be catching them off guard, did they not know this.
"You guys do know about what happened a few weeks back right, it's not like I kept it a secret? Isn't that why Gray seems to be upset with me, after all Lyon got hurt by Acnologia and almost died because of me." I whispered that last part as I found it harder to keep smiling when I remembered what had occurred.
"No this would be the first time hearing about this, everything was fine a few weeks ago in fact we didn't even know that anything like that happened to Lyon. If anything I thought Gray was upset because Juvia and Lyon have taken quite a liking to you. In fact Lyon seems to be a lot more happy now a days and keeps talking about you which is a weird change as he use to be in love with Juvia but now sees her so differently." Lucy concluded as this time I was surprised by her words.
They didn't know? I told Juvia about it so I though they would probably know since they seem like close friends of hers. But does Gray think that I'm really trying to take her and Lyon away from him, if anything it should be the other way around considering Juvia is in love with him and Lyon acts like a big brother to him.
Big Brother. That's what you are to me Gray even if you don't know it yet, I would never do anything to hurt you if anything I just want to protect you. So hurry up and figure out that I'm your little sister I'm not going to force you to remember.
"Why would Acnologia keep tabs on you?" Erza asked as I gathered my things.
"I think it's best if we get back to your guild to answer that I'm not a fan of repeating things, especially things from my past." I stated smiling at them as I made my way in the general direction of the train station as they followed, all having questions they also wanted to ask.
"Wait Nina can you say back for a second there's something in particular I have to ask you." Natsu said seriously as I thought about it before asking everyone to go ahead, I waited until they were an a safe distance before turning to him.
"What's up Natsu, did your plan to ask Lucy to be your mate backfire?" I asked as he blushed before clearing his throat.
"Maybe but that's not what I wanted to ask you. When are you going to inform Gray that you're his sister? The Dragonslayers are keeping it a secret for now but-"
"I know and I'm sorry for making you guys do this since he's your friend but... Face it Gray hates me right now. I can't force him to remember the past so I've been dropping hints but as far as he's concerned he was an only child. He forgot about me so what's the point of bringing back painful memories, if he has moved on the maybe I shouldn't tell him and just continue things as they are." I concluded as Natsu just stared at me as a cloud of depression loomed over him.
"You're really are a blockhead you know that, I know Gray can be an idiot at times but he's a really good guy that has a hard time expressing his feelings. It might seem like he hates you but I can tell he does care about you." He said sincerely and for a moment I believed him until I thought back to all the times Gray and I have encountered.
He was always so rude to me, he would call me an idiot at times too when I might have fallen into a trap gangsters and thugs tempted me into. I could hardly have anytime alone in Hargeon since I was either at Fairy Tail or with Juvia, but when I was he would always follow me everywhere so I wouldn't cause trouble as I was what he called "a magnet for trouble".
Thinking back to that Natsu's explanation completely seemed irrational in my mind.
"Let's just hurry back to the train!" I announced as I slightly giggled at his barfing expression, and I thought I hated trains.
"She's breaking it you know." The man announced as he layed back against the window pane as wind blew in from the outside.
The other man appeared quite irritated at this but remained calm as he sat back down on his throne. He however glared at the man who scouted around the room and back outside with no emotion plastered on his face once so ever.
"I guess this is my fault, but then again she was getting far to close to reaching E.N.D. so I did have to try and send her off trial. Looks like I have royally fucked up and even made E.N.D. within her reach, and to top it off the curse is breaking all because of Fiores Mages." He summarized as the other man remained silent as he began to chuckle at the man.
"Did you know she could also shapeshift into a dragon as you do, one of my Shields often refers to her as the Dragon Lady. But she apparently can't control it as well as you can as she nearly lost control leveling an entire range of mountains and nearly killing him. How troublesome." At this the man on the window pane turned his attention to him him narrowing his eyes at him.
"But I guess there is an upside to the situation, who would have known that the all powerful Acnologia would attached to a little girl. Tell me was it when you killed her mother or after you had beaten her?" At that very moment an explosion erupted throughout the room covering everything in dust.
As everything cleared all that was left was the man in the throne sitting as he held up a protective barrier around himself while Acnologia glared at him.
"Just what do you have planned for her Zeref, you didn't push her to her limits and allow her to live all these years for nothing." He pointed out as Zeref smiled at him.
"It's a secret but I will tell you this, I just need her soul so I'm not afraid to kill her mortal shell. Although she has gotten good at neutralizing my magic she still lacks something we both have in common to defeat me. You should be grateful, it's probably been years since you've been this entertained." Acnologia just looked at him disgusted before beginning to walk away.
"Acnolgoia don't think of interfering or else-"
"Or else what? Do you honestly think you can just kill me so easily?"
"Of course not, quite the opposite really, but I've only let her live this long for your benefit old friend. Your not the only one who knows how to kill Ice Dragons, but I doubt you'll try to see her until your big fight, after all you like to keep your promises to her right?" Zeref stated as he was greeted with silence as Acnologia had already vanished as he knew fully well that he wouldn't interfere.
A few servants came in shocked at the site of finding Zeref as he quickly asked them to fetch the present members of 12 Spriggan. When he walked into his councils room he moved to find the file he kept holding information on the girl.
"I have a mission for you, well one of you, to capture a young girl in Fiore who plays a very vital part in our plan." He stated as the members looked uninterested.
"Her name is Nina, she's currently a member of the Mermaid Hell. All you have to do is bring her back here alive, that is all." He summarized as no one cared to volunteer.
"I'll go Lord Zeref, it should be a simple task-" Invel started.
"No she's an Ice Dragonslayer and an extremely talented Ice Mage in all sense of the word. You would do more damage then good." He stated as this peeked some of the other members interest.
"What a second don't tell me she's that Dragon Lady, she is isn't she?" Ajeel asked nervously as Zeref's silence answered his question.
"Dragon Lady?" Dimaria asked as she saw Brandish pale.