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Panoply

1. a complete or impressive collection of things

2. a splendid display

3. a complete set of arms or suit of armor

Lucy admires Erza's skill and power, but even the strongest warriors start somewhere.

Lucy had been skeptical of Erza's magic, and of Happy's definition of beauty. She could easily see the beauty of delicately shaped ice or even in the brilliant blaze of fire, but in blood? She truly hoped Happy had exaggerated that part, and that his idea of beauty wasn't actually a magic that made people bleed. Then again, given the deference and downright fear Erza inspired, Lucy wasn't about to take her chances. Anyone who could so easily put Natsu and Gray in their places with only a glance was someone worthy of awe and maybe a touch of fear.

So she was both worried and relieved to be left with Erza while the boys ran off through the station's halls to look for Erigor and the deadly Lullaby he meant to broadcast. She was less glad about being left with a horde of dark mages with only a talking cat and mage of unknown but apparently terrifying ability for backup, but she couldn't help being curious to see Erza's fabled strength.

"Wow," she said, watching in awe as Erza pulled weapons out of thin air to slice through the dark mages with ease.

She had never seen such versatility in the midst of combat. Not that she had seen much combat—yet, anyway—but she could only imagine how much skill it would take to pull off Erza's feats.

She listened with half an ear as Happy explained the basics of requip magic, but Erza's scarlet and steel whirlwind kept her enraptured. She could see the beauty Happy had spoken of on the train—even with the blood.

Her mouth dropped open when Erza requipped into another armor entirely—"Heaven's Wheel," Happy confided—and transformed into a metal angel surrounded by a dozen razor-edged blades. The swords spun faster than the eye could see, tearing through the last dark mages standing in one fell swoop.

"Whoa," said Lucy, her mouth still hanging open.

Erza narrowed her eyes at an overweight dark mage trotting out the far door as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. "Lucy, follow him. He might be heading for Erigor."

"Me?" Lucy asked. "But–"

"Hurry up."

She rushed to comply, now having a new sense of healthy fear to rival Natsu and Gray's. And Happy's. He flew after her like a bullet.

She paused in the doorway and glanced back, taking one last look at Erza standing like an avenging angel warrior among her vanquished foes. One day, she decided, she would be a warrior like that.

Well, maybe that was a little farfetched. But after seeing Natsu and Gray and now Erza in action, she was determined to become some kind of warrior in her own right.

"Oh?" Erza said, tilting her head to regard Lucy with a faint frown. "Isn't your magic a bit like requipping, though?"

Lucy quirked an eyebrow, visualizing Erza in full panoply, whirling through armors and weapons and cutting through the battlefield like a one woman army. She couldn't quite see the connection to her celestial spirit magic. She'd had the chance to observe a few more battles since the team had first formed, and her awe of Erza's skills had only increased. Erza's fights were nothing like Lucy's. Lucy was, truth be told, not much of a fighter. Not yet. But she wanted to be, to keep up with the others. She wasn't going to be their weak link forever.

"I don't see how," she said. "All I'm saying is that I think it's a really impressive magic."

"It is," Erza agreed, matter-of-fact. "But you swap out your spirits too, right? You pick different weapons for the job at hand and fight with them. That's basically what I do, on a different scale."

"They're not weapons," Lucy said. "They're allies."

Erza huffed out a breath. "It's just an analogy. Look, there's two parts to what we do. You have the weapons, armors, allies, whatever. And you have the warrior. A strong warrior is hindered by inferior weapons, and even the finest weapons are clumsy in the hands of weak warriors. You need both parts to work in unison. Each part of a team should complement the others.

"You have some strong weapons. Allies, whatever. And I'm sure you'll collect more as you go along. But you're still inexperienced. You haven't been a fighter for very long, right? Those skills take time and effort to build. You'll become stronger with more experience, and then you'll be a force to be reckoned with. Then you'll understand."

"Understand what?" Lucy asked.

Erza smiled. "That we aren't so different. Even the strongest warrior starts somewhere."

Lucy smirked as the upstart dark mage collapsed in a heap on the ground. Hardly worth the bother, really, but she wouldn't miss out on the chance to practice with her new star dresses. It was different to fight hands on with her spirits' magic rather than summoning and directing them from the sidelines, and each form had its own quirks to get used to. Plus, Leo's dress made her feel sexy as hell.

She turned, sweeping out her skirt dramatically—she could almost hear Loke snickering or, more likely, catcalling—and raised her eyebrows at the boys.

"You owe me fifty jewels," Gray said to Natsu. "Told you she'd take him out in one hit."

"Oh, come on," Natsu whined. "That doesn't look like a fighting dress."

"You were super cool, Lucy!" Happy said. "It was neat how you changed from Aries to Leo right in the middle of the fight after you took out that other guy. You're getting pretty good at these."

"Thank you," Lucy said graciously.

Erza's armor shimmered and vanished, replaced by her normal clothing once more. One corner of her mouth quirked upward.

"See?" she said. "I told you so."

Lucy frowned. "Told me what?"

"Even the strongest warrior starts somewhere."

And she did understand, perhaps, what Erza had been trying to say all those months ago. For the first time, Lucy felt like a proper warrior.

She twirled her skirts again, reveling in the drama and flair even as Gray rolled his eyes. Warrior princess. She eyed Erza sidelong. Maybe, one day, warrior queen.