Okay, so it's getting harder to update because I've got exams every other day this week. It makes it a lot harder to watch the episodes through and rewrite the story. But I'll do my best to write up the Galuna Island arc as fast as I can.
The morning after Natsu and the gang get back, Elfman comes to bang on my door. "Hey! The fight between Natsu and Erza is about to start in the middle of town. Mira told me to come get you!"
I groan and pull on my boots, because a duel between those two can't possibly end well. And I know very well that Mira just wants me to go watch, not stop them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they've started another betting pool.
Walking down the street towards the guild, I can already see the crowd circling around and clamoring for attention. It always gets like this when something interesting is going down. And a fight between Natsu and Erza is definitely interesting enough to most of the guild. To me, it's just another pain in the ass.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Come on, Natsu!"
"Kick his butt, Erza!"
So…it's already started, huh? I float over the crowd to see my brother and my best friend staring each other down in as friendly a manner as possible when considering that they're about to be at each other's throats.
Noticing Cana sitting next to the betting board, I touch down and cross my arms as I stand next to her. "I knew that I'd find someone with a betting pool going. I should have figured that it would be you. Planning to pay off your bar tab with your bookie fees?"
"You know it!" She holds up a drink, and I cringe. She really has to tone it down with the alcohol, or one of these days, I swear that it's going to kill her.
I hear Lucy approach with Gray, which means tat he must have been the one to go get her. "No way! They're really going through with it!?"
Mira turns to the newcomers. "Oh hey Lucy!"
"Well if those two value their manhood, then they'd better go through with it." Elfman fixes his eyes on the impending fight, eager to see the two of them go at it.
Luckily, Mira has the perfect comeback for her idiotic brother. "Erza's not a man." A fact that has obviously escaped Elfman's notice. He's even called me a man before. Needless to say, I kicked the crap out of him for it.
"But you've got to admit, she's manly." Now Macao's point, I will not argue with. At times, Erza can be as feminine as it's possible to be. At others, the shape of her body is the only thing that betrays her female status.
Lucy looks a little nervous now. "Aren't you worried this could tear our strongest team apart?"
Gray's brow furrows a little. "What are you talking about? Our strongest team?" Obviously Lucy hasn't gotten the memo that this was the first time all of us have teamed up together, and that the chances of it happening again are pretty slim.
"You, Erza, Ciara and Natsu, you dummy!" Lucy says it like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "You're the four strongest wizards in the guild!"
I nearly choke at her assertion, and Gray seems to be thinking along the same lines as me. "We are? Yeah right. What idiot fed you that line?" But as soon as Mira's smile disappears and she starts crying, it becomes obvious who told Lucy their opinion. And Gray hates seeing girls cry. "Oh, you're not an idiot Mira."
I roll my eyes, and Lucy speaks up for me. "Smooth move, Gray."
"I'll hand it to Natsu and Gray, they're tough little dudes. But neither of them are even close to being the strongest. There are guys in Fairy Tail who are stronger than both of them combined." Elfman speaks the truth so far. But his next words make me cringe again as he points at himself. "Like this guy."
Levy finally pipes up. "But calling Erza and Ciara the strongest women in Fairy Tail is definitely a safe bet. I'm actually not sure which of them is stronger, since we've never seen them fight."
Lucy looks to me curiously. "Really? You've never fought Erza?"
I shrug. "I used to go out on jobs with her all the time, and the two of us trained together a lot, but no, I've never actually fought with her. I tend not to fight with people for fun, since there's quite a danger in my powers, mostly involving tornadoes and hurricanes."
Lucy sweatdrops a little. "Yeah…I can see how that might be a bit of a problem."
Jet muses loudly. "Well, for the guys it's a tough call, but I'd put my money on Laxus or Mystogan."
"Are you kidding me?" I shake my head pointedly. "Aren't you guys forgetting someone? A certain guy who walks through walls, is a total klutz, and drifts around like a tumbleweed? I mean, Gramps aside, Gildarts is definitely the strongest wizard in the guild."
"True…" Gray agrees easily with me. "But that guy is a monster, so should we even count him?"
Lucy waves her hand in front of my face. "Hey! Who's Gildarts?"
I chuckle quietly. "An old gasbag that dotes on all us younger members. You'll meet him if you stick around long enough."
"Okay…?" Lucy backs off a little, her eyes back on Mira.
Still crying, Mira sobs lightly. "All I meant was that the four of them work well together and that they've got the best team chemistry in all of Fairy Tail."
That floors Lucy. "Okay, and this is coming from the same person who sent me on a mission to stop Natsu and Gray from killing each other when Erza and Ciara weren't around?"
"Yep…" I sigh and look at my overeager brother. "This isn't going to end well…mark my words."
Elfman does not share my concerns. "Well, I'm pretty psyched to see how this fight turns out."
"Oh yeah?" Gray just smirks. "I'm sure she'll end up mopping the floor with him."
Erza approaches the pre-fight verbal bout politely. "It's been quite a while since we've squared off like this, hasn't it, Natsu?"
"I was just a little kid back then. Today's gonna be different, cause I'm taking you down, Erza." Natsu sounds ready for this, but he wasn't a little kid the last time they fought, it was only a few months ago. He hasn't grown that much since then, even if he has gone through his major growth spurts in the last three years.
"Well, I'm not going to go easy on you." Erza looks up at him, her magic power rising quickly. "In fact, I have the perfect armor for this occasion."
As soon as Erza dons her Flame Empress armor, there is a diverse selection of reactions, from Laki's objective analysis, Macao's approval of her strategy, and Wakaba's disapproval of the advantage. And then, of course, our silly cat goes and bets against my big brother.
"Wow, Flame Empress armor, huh?" Natsu gets really excited now. "Good news for me." Fire envelops his hands, and his eager smirk becomes apparent. "That means I can turn up the heat as high as I want to.
But as Lucy freaks out beside me, I smirk as I see Gramps sitting next to Cana, holding up his hand. "Round One, start!" Not only does he approve of this, but he is encouraging it. But that's not a surprise, he loves seeing good, friendly matches like this.
Seeing as this battle promises to get very hot, very fast, I quietly incant a spell to put up a barrier to protect the crowd from the effects of Natsu's flames. If my brother knew the meaning of the words restraint and control, then we wouldn't be having this problem in the first place. As it is, I'll just hang around and keep the barrier up until they're satisfied. It's a good thing that I studied hard after my job...
The two of them race around the circle, combining hand to hand combat with swordplay, as well as burst of fire going in every direction. And it;s a good thing they're both fast, otherwise those flames could cause some serious damage. And with Natsu's roar tearing up the ground, the spectators start shrieking, before realizing that I've got a protective barrier in place.
Gray elbows me lightly. "You got a shield up?"
I nod, and Lucy catches on quickly. "Wait, you can create barriers? Then how come you couldn't break the one in Oshibana?"
I sigh and move my eyes off the fight for a moment. "Creating a barrier is very different to taking one down. For the wizard who cast it, taking down a barrier is easy. For anyone else, it involves a lot of magic, diagrams, and a whole mess of other things that seal breakers teach themselves to do. I've studied how to make barriers, but I've never been in a position where I've had to tear one down before. I will be rectifying that weakness later today, by perusing my library and finding a book that details how to bring down barriers."
As our eyes turn back to the fight, Lucy seems impressed by the skill shown in the fight, while Gray is not. Then again, it takes a hell of a lot to impress him in any situation. He's a little prideful in that sense. Then again, it might just be because he wants to be one of the ones in there, fighting.
Suddenly, someone claps their hands together, calling for attention. I glance over and notice that they're wearing an official uniform. I turn to Gramps, who nods at me, telling me to lower the barrier.
But as soon as I do so, the official enters the ring and raises their voice. "This fight is over!" That doesn't go over well, but the amphibious official ignores the whispers. "May I have your attention please? I've come here on behalf of the Magic Council."
I groan silently and edge away from her. The Magic Council, again? Is this about the fight in Clover? Or is it about Oshibana? Maybe everything? If they're here to arrest us, then I'm blaming Natsu and Erza.
There are various exclamations from the surrounding crowd, but I keep my eyes on the frog. "As a result of the Eisenwald incident, a member of your guild has been charged with eleven counts of criminal property damage." Oh crap, they're here for Natsu. "Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest!" Spoke too soon.
As I watch the envoy from the council taking Erza away, something rings false to me. Sure, Erza did some damage, but Natsu did way more damage than she did. He destroyed the meeting hall in Clover, wrecked the train tracks, broke half of the Oshibana train station, and who knows what else. The only reason to take Erza alone is to make a point, not actually punish someone. She's well liked and well respected, and didn't actually commit of all that property damage. She's taking the public fall instead of Natsu. Natsu…well, people have come to expect destruction from him no matter where he goes. Taking him wouldn't have much of a point to it, since it wouldn't put an emphasis on our latest incident.
When Erza leaves without a fight, emotions start running high. Natsu is far from pleased with this development. I can already tell that he's is going to go after her, so, I confront him. You're about to do something stupid, aren't you?
I'm going after Erza, so don't try to stop me. You stay here and keep quiet about it. There's no point dragging you into this, my plan only works for one.
The fact that he claims to have a plan worries me even more. With Natsu, either his plans are pulled off spectacularly, or they fail miserably. There is no in between with my hot-headed brother. And I don't bother telling him that it's obviously just a formality, that she won't actually get punished, they'll probably just send her home later today. I'd rather sit back and watch the show, after all, I'm getting a little bored.
I head home to my library to pick through my books and find a way to learn how to break barrier magic. I probably should have learned about it earlier, but like I told Lucy, I haven't been in a situation where that skill was critical. And I'm the type to pick up skills as needed. If I were to prepare myself for every eventuality, then I would spend my entire life studying, instead of actually applying what I've learned.
Upon arriving back at the guild, I sit myself down at a table and listen to the ensuing chaos about what to do. No one is particularly pleased with this turn of events, and while I'm not all that concerned about Erza, I'm bothered by the council's need to pin blame on someone. They've never really done that before. Even when me and Natsu got called in, it as just for a stern lecture. It's not like they actually arrested us.
Lucy is the first to start yelling. "This is wrong! We should be there to testify!"
"We're not going to court." The finality in Gramps' tone is apparent, but falling on deaf ears.
Lucy is determined to have her voice heard. "Why not, Master!? We all know she's innocent! We can't just sit here and let them lock her away!"
"Even if we left this very second, there's no way we would make it there in time." Gramps decides to shoot her down with a more logical argument this time. Trust the old man to know how to win an argument a different way for every year he's been alive.
When Lucy tries to protest, the little flaming salamander that is supposedly Natsu, pipes up. "I've been stuck under this stupid cup all day, you guys! It's getting hard to breathe! Come on, you gotta let me out of here!"
Macao should really know better than to think that he can convince me with that ruse. Even if Natsu hadn't told me that he was going to go after Erza, I would still see right through the deception. He doesn't smell like Natsu, and his mind doesn't connect to mine the way Natsu's does. Plus, Macao catching Natsu and turning him into a salamander would be a joke. Natsu may be an idiot, but he can at least outrun Macao.
Gramps has obviously caught on as well. Hell, he probably knew right from the start. "Are you sure you want out?" That's enough to give Macao pause. "What's the matter? It seems you've lost the fire in your belly." Oh yeah…he definitely knows…
Gramps launches a spell at him, knocking him out of the glass and onto the floor, where he reappears as Macao. The surprise of the others is loud and obvious. Macao, though slightly embarrassed, doesn't look too ashamed of himself. "Sorry guys, I owed Natsu a favor. I turned myself into a salamander so that everybody would think I was him."
"Do you know where he went?"
Gray picks his butt up from the bench and shuffles over. "He went after Erza, didn't he?"
"Yeah…'fraid so."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Elfman starts getting all worked up. "That idiot will probably try to fight the whole council!"
I sigh irritably. "Jeez, if this was his plan, he should have told me. I could have come up with a million plans that would have worked better than that one. He can't even use transformation magic. His nickname doesn't come from actually having scales…"
Lucy turns to me, shocked. "You knew!?"
Looking up out of my book, I fix her with a blank stare. "Of course I knew. How could I not? Me and Natsu have a telepathic connection, a unique one that can't be mimicked by any kind of magic. That's not there with Macao, so that's a dead giveaway. Apart from that, they smell different, and if there's a way to fool a dragon slayer's nose without just masking every scent with one strong one, I haven't found it. And lastly, he told me before he left. I just thought that he had a better plan than this."
"But what about your brother!?" Lucy looks positively aghast. "He's going to get himself caught by the Magic Council."
"So?" I get her point, but obviously she hasn't thought this all the way through. "They're not going to hurt him. Because they know that if they do anything permanent to my brother, I'll go and level their headquarters here in Fiore."
Gramps eyes me suspiciously. "And when exactly did you make that threat?"
"Back when they called me and Natsu in for that incident in Camellia Town. They handled Natsu a little roughly, so after the stern talking to that we got, I told them that if they bring Natsu in again, they'd better not hurt him, otherwise what happened in Camellia would happen to their headquarters as well." I yawn pointedly. "I guess they didn't want their nice building to get sucked into a hurricane."
Gramps sighs, his expression going dark. "In any case, we've no choice but to wait and see what happens. Let us hope that your brother doesn't aggravate the council further."
I let out a heavy sigh as I get a sense of Natsu's heightened emotions. He's obviously making a scene right now. And I just know that he's going to end up paying for it.
I'm proven right when Natsu and Erza get back in the morning, having spent the night in the Magic Council headquarters. And I watch the quickly building chaos from a little nook built into the banister of the guild's upper floor.
"Who would have thought fresh air would smell so sweet!? I'm gonna breathe it in all day!" Natsu runs around the guild hall as giddy as he was before the fight. The fool spent the night in jail, but nothing can take the spring out of his step, or the fire out of his belly. "It's the sweet smell of freedom! I'll never take it for granted again!"
But just when things seem to start calming down, Elfman steps on a bomb. "Hey Natsu! You gonna finish going man to man with Erza!?"
Natsu has a blank look on his face, before a grin replaces it. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" He rushes over to Erza, who is sitting at a table with her tea. "So, what do you say? Wanna pick up where we left off?"
"I'm not in the mood right now." But regardless, Erza puts down her tea, obviously expecting my brother's next move.
His fists cloaked in fire, Natsu gets ready to pound Erza into the ground. "I'm not letting you off the hook that easy!" But those are his last words before Erza takes him out with a single punch to the gut.
She looks down at my brother on the floor. "How's that? Are you satisfied?"
I shake my head derisively. "He sure had that coming…"
But I'm quickly distracted from all of the laughter as a spell starts to settle over the guild hall. And it's a spell that I've become quite accustomed to. An instant after I sense it, I start mumbling a barrier incantation under my breath to hold off the sleep spell. I know very well that this spell means, and I float down to the main level to greet one of my favorite other members.
Guildmates start dropping left and right, falling asleep wherever they happen to be sitting, standing, or flying. And as everyone collapses, a familiar figure comes walking into the guild hall, a figure that I'm quite fond of.
"Hi there, Mystogan." I smile sweetly at him, and I can tell that he's looking at me, by the soft glint of his eyes.
"Ciara…" He bypasses me and Gramps completely, heading straight for the job board. He rips a job off the board, before heading back to Gramps. "I will return." That's about how he declares that he's going on a job, with as few words as possible.
But Gramps has one protest "No, wait, lift your sleeping spell before you leave."
Mystogan nods, before heading towards the door. But as he passes by me, I call out to him. "What, no hug?"
He pauses, glancing at me. I hold my arms out expectantly. It's become a habit of mine to ask our resident loner for a hug whenever he drops by. I just figure that he should have some actual physical contact once in a while, preferably friendly.
With what sounds like a sigh, he steps towards me and leans down a little, wrapping his arms loosely around me for a moment. "Still training?"
"Every day!" I grin at him as he backs away. "And the library just keeps on growing.
He nods, and from what I can see of the skin around his eyes, it looks to me like he's smiling. "I will see you next time."
"I look forward to it." I smile at him and jump into the air, returning to my reading perch on the second floor. I watch as he walks right out the door, lifting his sleeping spell as he departs on his next job.
While everyone else wakes up almost immediately, my stupid brother just keeps on snoring. He could sleep through a hurricane. In fact, I think he actually has slept through a few of my accidental storms.
Groans echo across the room.
"Man…was Mystogan here?"
"What a jerk!"
"Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?"
"Who's this Mystogan guy?" Finally, Lucy asks the big question.
"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard." And once again, Elfman seems to be leaving out both Gramps and Gildarts in the rankings.
"Really?"
"Yeah…" Gray massages his temples, obviously suffering from a headache, as it's one of the side-effects of Mystogan's sleep magic. "And he doesn't want anybody to know what he looks like. So, whenever he comes here to take a job, he casts a sleeping spell."
"That's kinda creepy!" Lucy's first reaction is, of course, predictable. I was probably the only one in the guild to not have that reaction. Instead, I wanted him to teach me. And I got my wish. In fact, I get a lot of my wishes.
Gray nods "Master Makarov's the only one here who's gotten a good look at his face."
Laxus finally pokes his head over the railing. "That's not true, I've seen him before. And I'm not the only one. Pinky has seen his face as well, isn't that right? After all, you learned sleep magic from him, didn't you?"
I glare over at him, knowing full well that I'm the one he's addressing with that question that sounds more like a statement. I thought I smelled something unpleasant in here… "Yes, I've seen his face, and yes, I learned sleep magic from him. And I thought that I told you to top calling me Pinky. It makes me sound like I should be a baby pig."
"You might as well be. I can't believe that anyone would nominate you as a contender for the guild's strongest wizard." He looks down on me with those arrogant eyes, and it pisses me the hell off.
I glare at him with icy eyes. "I'm far closer to being a dragon than a farm animal. And seeing as you, me, and Gramps were the only ones not put to sleep by Mystogan's magic, don't rule me out just yet."
Now that everyone has been shaken out of their Mystogan stupor, surprise rings the guild. As they look quickly from me to Laxus. They must have been subconsciously following our sort-of argument.
"Laxus?"
"Talk about rare…"
"You're never here."
Gray looks bored and wary as he edges closer to Lucy. "And here's another contender."
Laxus leers down at the crowd. "Mystogan's just a little shy. You should all respect his privacy."
That irritating voice seems to be just the smelling salts that Natsu needs to wake up, because he's on his feet an instant later, ready to raise some hell. "Alright, Laxus! You and me, right now!" Of course he challenges Laxus…
Gray deadpans. "Getting your butt kicked once today wasn't enough?"
"Yeah, pal. If you can't even win against the redhead, why bother with me?" Laxus really doesn't know what the meaning of tact or humility is.
And Erza isn't particularly pleased with the insinuation. "What are you trying to say?" Oh, I'm pretty sure that you know exactly what he's saying. You just want to hear him admit how arrogant and misogynistic he is out loud.
"No need to get all worked up, Erza." Gray keeps his voice light and quiet, trying to avoid bringing Titania's wrath down upon him.
Laxus spreads his arms out in a show of supposed power. "I'm saying that I'm the guild's strongest wizard." Again…is everyone forgetting Gildarts? He could kick all of our asses by accident!
"Then come down here and prove it." While Natsu might not stand a chance against Laxus at this moment, he's still calling the thunder head out on his shit.
"You come to me, little man." And Laxus has now crossed the line. He's goading Natsu into going upstairs, which is a big no-no for anyone who isn't S-Class like me, Erza, Mystogan, and Laxus. We, along with Gramps and Gildarts, are the only ones allowed on the second floor. Mira can go up there too, but she tends to stay on the first floor at the bar.
"With pleasure!" Natsu is more than willing to take up Laxus' challenge, but as he tries to run behind the bar and up the stairs, Gramps shuts him down by slamming him into the floor.
Gramps shakes his head disapprovingly, his voice stern as he crushes Natsu under his giant fist. "You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu. At least, not yet."
Laxus just finds all of this very amusing. "Think you made him grumpy." He can act like such a child at times. A spoiled brat.
"Shut up!"
Gramps glances up at his actual grandson. "That's enough out of you, Laxus."
But Laxus is getting cocky again, ready to make another of his stupid ego-boosting speeches. "The strongest wizard in the guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo. You wanna know what the strongest wizard in the guild looks like? You're looking right at him!"
So I send a sharp burst of air over to smack Laxus right in that smug face of his. "Oh go chew on a lightning rod, Sparky!" I make a scene by jumping down from my reading perch and walking out of the hall, using the wind to open the doors before me, and slam them behind me.
Good riddance to the bad smell.
