Authors Note: I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the comments! I'm happy to see the interest this story gained, I just loved the thought of a magic society where magic is both negative and positive at the same time. I like grittier stories but I wanted something lighthearted enough to want to continue writing. I also just wanted to reiterate that this isn't a full fledge story in the sense that I've laid out full plot. I want this to just kind of be like...a slice of life where it's just fun glimpses into the lives of these characters. There will be action, love, adventure and plenty of magic...but think about it as a bunch of intertwining short stories. Anyway thank you for sticking with this silly little story and the world I'm building. I'm excited to introduce you to more characters and elements! On to the next chapter now. I'm hoping to have chapters 9 and 10 flushed out and posted by Tuesday! Happy reading.
Power
"Natsu?" punctuated by the slamming of a car door brought the pink haired mage out of his stupor. It had been a week since he'd last seen Gray or been sent on an extermination request, so he was restless. There was no where for his energy to go if he wasn't picking a fight.
"Oh, hey Levy." Natsu greeted cheerfully. He couldn't stop the disappointment that followed the greeting when he realized it was just Gajeel with her. He'd been waiting outside for the past thirty minutes to welcome Lucy to Fairy Tale; he was honestly impatient to show her around. "You're early."
"I could say the same for you," the bluenette laughed, "I came to talk to Jet and Droy, they have a few leads for me on a crystal I asked them to keep an eye out for while they were doing their investigating."
"You really should just join the guild Levy," especially because that would mean maybe Lucy would join too, "We'd be lucky to have you."
"I wouldn't make a very good Hunter, Natsu."
"You don't have to be a hunter, you could join the investigation team…dig up leads and compile jobs, you know, like Jet and Droy. I mean…you already have the title 'Crystal Hunter' and you're here every week."
"Mmm," Levy hummed while pulling out her cell phone and smiling, "I love this guild but I don't think me joining would be great for Gem-N-I. We sell crystals to all hunters part of the association, can't have everyone thinking we have a soft spot for Fairy Tail." Her hazel eyes flashed with amusement and then she was grabbing Gajeel's arm and practically dragging the grumbling dragon past him. "We have to get going now, we're running late! Lucy said she's walking over now."
"Walking?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. She's got her adoring guardian with her." Natsu didn't miss the grimace on Gajeel's face.
"I don't want to be here Shrimp. Those two fawn over you as if you aren't already mine."
"It'll be quick Gajeel."
"You always say that." and just like that Natsu was left alone. He paced, feeling twitchier the longer he waited. Maybe he should meet Lucy further up the road, except he didn't know which way she was coming from. He didn't like the thought of her walking by herself, what if she needed help? What if…
"Natsu! Sorry I'm late!"
"You're right on time, Luce." Just like that his restless energy dissipated. Watching her walking towards him seemed to settle his uneasy feelings. Her apologetic smile had him grinning back.
"I hope you weren't waiting long, Plue needed to stretch his legs." His blonde continued, obviously anxious. Natsu just nodded, taking in her white fuzzy skirt over black tights that made him want to run his hands down her hips to see if it was as soft as it looked. A baby blue V-neck was tucked into the skirt and showed plenty of her cleavage which he would have appreciated on another day; now it made him cringe thinking about the remarks some of his guild members would make. His eyes caught movement behind her knee length white and baby blue plaid jacket and he took a step towards her.
"Not to scare you or anything Luce," Natsu started lowly, reaching forward to gently grab her wrist and pull her closer to him, "But there's a bear behind you."
"A bear?" Her laugh made him lightheaded, "I guess I should introduce you to my Familiar, Plue." She patted her thigh with her free hand and Natsu could only watch with wary amazement as a giant white long-haired creature sat at her heels. The second he made eye contact with the monster it bared its teeth at him and growled low in its throat. Lucy extracted her wrist from his grip and tapped the aggravated creature on his muzzle. "Plue be nice. Natsu this is Plue, Plue…meet Natsu."
"Hi Plue." an annoyed huff was pushed past large canines. "This isn't a dog Lucy," Natsu mumbled. The more he looked at it the more wary of it he became; it kind of looked like a long-haired Akita but was easily twice the size. "Seriously what is…he?"
"He's my dog." the blonde answered with a straight face, "Does he not look like a dog to you?"
"He looks like a polar bear shoved into a blue dog harness. It would be funny if he didn't look at me like I was a snack."
"A very cute polar bear," Lucy cooed at the dog at her heels. She scratched him between the ears and when his tongue hung out of his mouth she giggled cutely before sliding the heavy looking tote from her shoulders and holding it in front of that giant muzzle, "Hold this for me please?" Natsu watched as Plue gently took the bag and thumped his tail against the sidewalk.
"Right. Cute."
"He is."
"He's not a dog."
"He is…but he isn't" Lucy shrugged and then motioned towards the building at their back, "Are you going to show me around or are we going to continue to argue about my familiar?"
"Depends on if you'll tell me what he actually is."
"Would you believe me if I told you he's an inugami inhabiting a golem?"
"…That would explain the size."
"He's not that big."
"Okay, weirdo." Natsu grumbled while eyeing the creature again before grabbing Lucy's hand and practically dragging her towards the double doors. "I'm supposed to take you to see Gramps in an hour or so but before that I thought I could give you a tour of my guild!"
"I would love that, Levy always talks about this place, but I've only ever been to the Dojo, speaking of which can we head there first so I can hand off the Crystals that Jellal purchased?"
"Huh, oh sure." Natsu agreed while steering them from the front doors toward the back of the building. He did his best to ignore Plue when the creature filed in behind Lucy, his black eyes glued to Natsu's hold on his mistress. "He's not going to bite me is he?"
"Oh," Lucy hesitated momentarily before smiling, "I don't think so."
"That's not reassuring." Her laugh had him picking up the pace before he did something he'd regret later. After a few quick turns and squeezing down a narrow ally the walkway opened up to a beautifully landscaped courtyard. The dojo doors were propped open and the sounds of intense training broke the otherwise serene environment. "Erza's teaching, maybe we should…" Natsu was cut off when Plue rushed past them and through the doors faster than Natsu thought was physically possible for a creature of that size. A startled laugh and a multitude of concerned screams had Lucy rushing forward with a wide smile on her face.
"LUCY!" Erza bellowed, her concentration on Plue. The large dog had his jaws clamped tightly around the staff that Erza was holding, tail wagging a mile a minute. They seemed to be in a weird kind of stand off that ended the second Erza smiled and let go of the staff to rub the fuzzy monster behind the ears, "Hello to you too Plue. It's good to see you again." Erza practically cooed while scooping up the slobbery bag at her feet while watching the behemoth of a dog trot back into the courtyard, staff proudly held in his mouth.
"Hi Erza, sorry about your staff." Lucy greeted while moving forward to hug the intimidating redhead, "I meant to drop those off earlier for Jellal."
"There was no rush," a friendly dismissal. Natsu tried his best to stay out of sight, afraid the fiery redhead would be angry with him missing sparring practice this morning. "You haven't stopped by in a while, how have you been? Has our Natsu been keeping you busy?"
"Hah," Natsu scoffed, "Hi Erza."
"You missed practice this morning." And there went her friendly demeanor. "If you want to slack off and become out of shape I truly don't care, but I don't care to make Master sad because you got eaten by a monster."
"I won't get eaten by a monster."
"You won't pass your advancement exam at this rate, either." Erza stated matter of fact, "I'm sure Lucy here could beat you at the current level you're at."
"I'm doing okay Erza," Lucy giggled nervously when Natsu's eyes swung in her direction, "He's been keeping me company at the shop when he isn't busy." Erza just hummed and motioned for them to step inside.
"You should come back and spar with me when your free," Erza said around a smile and motioned to the mat in the middle of the room, "It's always nice to have you here to demonstrate quick thinking and resourcefulness to my trainees."
"Wait, you were being serious about Lucy beating me?"
"Don't sound so surprised, she's pretty strong." Natsu was taken aback by the praise Erza heaped on Lucy.
"I…"
"How about we give him a demonstration Lucy?" Erza cut the pinket off before he could say something stupid, "I think it would be a good lesson."
"I don't know.." Lucy started, nervously twirling one of her low hanging pigtails between her fingers.
"I want to see," Natsu chimed in. He wanted to see if his earlier thoughts about her being able to handle herself were accurate.
"Well…alright but let me get Plue so he doesn't get the wrong idea," the blonde reluctantly agreed before releasing a high-pitched whistle. Plue shot back through the door like a bullet, skidding to a stop alertly next to Lucy, his eyes locked on Natsu.
"I don't think he likes me," the fire witch grumbled.
"He likes you, he's just wary." Lucy sighed before moving the shaggy fur around his neck, revealing a midnight blue collar with a giant citrine stone in the center. Natsu squinted at the random collection of stars on it, were those supposed to be constellations? why did it look like a stick figure dog? "Canis Minor," the blonde whispered while touching the citrine stone. Natsu blinked and where the giant white monstrosity of a dog once stood an equally shaggy and small white Shiba looking creature stood. It shook it's fur out and Natsu noticed the collar changed, only two stars adorned the collar now with a singular line connecting the two.
"What?"
"I put him in his other form." Lucy shrugged, "I don't think you'd want him to intervene."
"He has more than one form?"
"I told you he's part golem."
"That doesn't…. you know what, okay." Natsu dropped it, he didn't think his brain could wrap around any more surprises involving her familiar.
"Now that that's done let's get to it," Erza finally spoke with a nod in the direction of the mat, "Lucy are you ready?"
"As ready as I can be," the blonde responded while moving to stand in the middle of the mat, "You'll watch Plue right?"
"Wait, if she's watching…" It dawned on Natsu at the same time that Erza pushed him towards the mat, "Wait!"
"Let's make this a fair fight, don't hold back Lucy. First persons back to meet the mat loses, understand?"
"Understood."
"Wait a minute, I didn't want to fight…"
"START." Erza boomed out. Her imposing figure looked a little less serious with Lucy's familiar rolling around at her feet.
"Wait!"
"You should pay attention to your opponent Natsu," Erza warned with enough time for Natsu to finally notice Lucy's leg flying towards his head. His arms shot up instinctively to block his face and he grunted when her shin connected to his forearms. Lucy was quick to drop and sweep her leg out towards his knee. He stumbled back taken off guard, barely missing having his knees buckled. "Impressive Lucy, even in that skirt you move precisely," Erza praised. "You're slow Natsu."
"I never wear something I can't move in quickly," Lucy hummed back while straightening up and widening her stance. "Take this seriously Natsu. I'm not going to go easy on you."
"You asked for it Luce," Natsu said around a grin. If it was a fight she wanted it was a fight she'd get; he didn't plan to use his full strength but if she didn't want him to go easy on her he wouldn't. He rushed forward and threw hard jabs, wanting to test her reflexes. To her credit Lucy didn't seem fazed, she redirected his strikes with an open palm and was quick to throw some back. They soon settled into a fast-paced dance of sorts, each dodging strikes and grunting out when hits landed.
"Ow!" Lucy cried out when his fist hit her squarely in the shoulder. Before Natsu could even think about apologizing, her eyes lit up with hidden fury and her punches took on a faster tempo. The pinket found himself struggling to keep up with her speed, her hits were bruising but weren't harder than he could handle; he was annoyed to find himself on the defensive. Lucy landed a decidedly hard kick to his side and went for a throat jab. Natsu was both impressed and surprised by the power behind the kick but it was time to end it, the meeting with Gramps was supposed to be starting soon. Without giving her time to react he intercepted her jab, grabbing her wrist and yanking her towards him. Lucy squeaked then yelped when his other palm pushed into her hip, pushing her up and over his shoulder. Natsu couldn't help laughing at her shriek once her feet left the floor, he shifted last minute to protect her head from hitting the mat.
"I win," Natsu grinned down at Lucy's bewildered face. Her coat twisted between her back and the mat. Her body was caged protectively between his legs and his hands itched to take her hair down and run his hands through the strands. The pinket reluctantly moved his hand from the back of her head and stepped away from her, "You're faster than I thought Luce, and you have some power behind your hits. You're pretty amazing."
"Nicely done," Erza said before turning her back on the two of them to address the students watching, "It's time to get back to training. Pair off, we're doing sparing matches."
"Thank you," Lucy muttered around a blush while standing back up and brushing off her clothes.
"Where'd ya learn to fight like that?"
"Capricorn and Erza," Lucy started but then looked at the time and rushed forward to scoop up Plue, "Natsu, didn't you say you have to take me to a meeting?"
"Ah shit, Gramps is going to kill me!" Natsu groaned while grabbing Lucy's free arm and taking off at a full sprint out of the Dojo.
"NATSU SLOW DOWN."
"Hurry up Luce!"
