Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Chapter 5: Fashionable Style From Scarcity! Flaunting The Scorching Hot Flames!
Lucy and Risa arrived in the town of Cramoisi, both of them slowly walking out of the train station's crimson red building to see that the town's paths were cobblestone streets paved in multiple shades of red, and the houses where people lived seemed to have trapezoid-shaped roofs while the corners of the roofs were interestingly designed to resemble flames. All of the roofs were in different variants of red while the houses were made to be in different colors with arched windows, some of those windows having clear glass that neighbors could see through, and Lucy's eyes spotted a large building that was in the center of the town. She turned around for a moment with a happy smile on her face to see if her new friends were also enjoying the sights, but Lucy got quite a surprise from the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth.
Sting and Rogue both looked sick while their faces were pale green from being on the train, and Lucy had let Sting rest his head on her lap. Yukino came along with the group while she had done her best to comfort Rogue on the train, and the group slowly walked on to one of the streets. Risa's eyes quickly looked to the left half of the street for her to see how going in that direction led to the volcano that had a venue and a few merchant shops near it, but she also allowed her eyes to glance at what was on the right side of the street. As Risa looked at that area of Cramoisi, her lips formed a nice smile.
She surprised Yukino and Lucy by suddenly running towards a pink building that had a glass window, recognizing that building to be for the clothing store of Cramoisi, and Risa would be glad to help Lucy out by taking advantage of today's sale to buy her an even better outfit than what she currently wore. The only downside of Lucy's outfit was that she had a little bit of trouble with walking in Risa's boots, but she simply told herself that she just needed to get accustomed to wearing them today. Lucy quickly stumbled towards the store, trying her best to walk without tripping, and she hoped that Risa would be satisfied with the outfits that were on sale.
The Sabertooth wizards entered the store to see that most of the outfits were gone, since the areas of the store where some jackets and shirts were located had white signs that told customers how certain items were sold out, and even some of the spots where shoes were located had signs informing customers how pairs of shoes were now gone from the store. Risa and Lucy both widened their eyes in amazement from how only seven outfits seemed to be remaining, but Risa folded her arms and briefly let her jaw drop while being more stunned. She didn't expect to miss out on buying so many clothes, especially since the sale seemed to attract fifty customers who wanted fashionable clothing.
"You've got to be kidding me! Seriously, Lucy, the whole town must've wanted to be jerks by buying so much stuff at this sale! Everything is probably high-priced now for them to revel in making great profits, too!" Risa told her friend with a disappointed look on her face, ignoring how a certain duplicate of a cute pair of shoes was still needing to be sold.
The young male shopkeeper with messy red hair told Risa in a relaxed tone, "Don't assume we're so cruel to do that, Miss. Everything is actually ninety percent off now, since no one's come in for hours after the princess gave us about 150,000 jewels to give us the highest number for sales in a single month. Akai wouldn't give me an autograph, though."
Risa asked in a snarky tone, starting to look miffed, "Was the princess trying to set a record for spending the most money at one sale, or did she decide to give herself some royal treatment when it came to needing to improve her fashion in all areas?"
The fact that the princess hadn't bought every single item in the store caused Lucy to smile softly while she walked towards the shoe rack, and she gasped in a delighted manner from seeing the high-heeled shoes with red flames on the front of them. The yellow price tag looked quite new, since the writing on the tag claimed how the shoes only cost three-thousand jewels in a fancy-looking store, and Lucy got those shoes off the rack. She brought them to the red counter, before turning around to look at a red tank top that didn't have straps, and Lucy walked towards that piece of clothing.
Lucy liked how the tank top was in a normal shade of red while it had three ruby red flames on the front of it, and she got the white hanger off the rack. Lucy got the shirt off the hanger, before placing it on the counter, and she glanced at the remaining items in the store to see what she wanted. Nothing seemed to catch Lucy's interest at first glance, but she noticed some red capri pants that were on a rack near the back wall. She softly smiled at them while liking how they seemed to be her size, and Lucy ran towards those pants in a hurry like a fashionable girl who didn't want to take any chances with missing out on an opportunity to get some more new clothes.
After Lucy picked up that pair of pants and got them off of the orange hanger, she noticed that a small booth with a curtain was near the shoe rack. The feeling of curiosity entered Lucy's eyes while she headed towards that booth, quickly going past the curtain, and the cherry red walls with scarlet red carpeting to match looked nice. There was a rectangular mirror with red frames around it, which meant that this was a fitting room, so the fact that Lucy went in here caused Risa to get her other items off of the counter. She walked towards the fitting room with the clothes in her hands, before simply pushing her hands through the slit in the curtains.
"Here you go, Lucy! Let's see if you've learned enough about fashion from me to where you can create a good outfit!" Risa told her in a happy tone, as she dropped the clothes on to the carpeting.
Lucy replied to her friend in a slightly annoyed manner, looking a bit irritated, "Risa. Even though I'm new to Sabertooth, you're still more of a rookie than me when it comes to making the best outfit out of a few clothes."
Risa kindly responded, as Lucy heard her footsteps walk away from the fitting room, "All right, then."
Lucy took off the jean jacket and shirt, before also removing her khaki shorts and the red suede boots, so she was now left in a red bra and red underwear that both nicely fit her new body. Lucy proceeded to put on the red tank top, smiling at how it appeared to be a perfect fit, and she wanted to see if the red capri pants would also fit nicely. When Lucy started to put them on and tried to pull them up, however, they felt a bit tight. Lucy managed to pull them all the way up to her waist while they slightly had tightness, and she glanced down at the pants to give them a puzzled look.
Lucy's other pants and skirts could fit her body perfectly, but looking at those nice pants in the mirror made Lucy slightly frown. She was in Kotomi's body, which meant that these pants would eventually adjust to her figure, and Lucy would just have to deal with that until the spell was reversed. She touched all the sides of the pants, liking how they fit her hips while hugging her curves in some of the right places, and Lucy would buy those pants with the shirt. She proceeded to put on the fancy red shoes, giggling in a cheerful manner at how they fit her feet so easily, and Lucy would definitely buy this outfit.
She stepped out of the fitting room, allowing Risa to gasp in a happy and surprised manner at how Lucy managed to pick out some clothes that all worked together to make her be wearing quite a good outfit, and the other members of Sabertooth got to notice Lucy through the shop's display window. She happily danced around in joy, before turning around to playfully dance, and Lucy's dancing made Sting feel glad that his motion sickness finally subsided to where he could just smile in a slightly impressed manner at how Lucy picked out some cute clothes for herself. He watched her run back into the fitting room for the purpose of changing back into her original clothes, and Sting also smiled from how it seemed like Lucy wouldn't take a long time with her shopping.
Lucy told Risa with a cheerful smile on her face, as she removed the clothes that she would soon purchase, "Risa, I'll definitely buy this outfit! Easiest decision ever!"
That made Risa reply with happiness in her eyes, as she walked back towards the fitting room, "Great choice, Lucy! It suits you, and that outfit may even impress some guys!"
Lucy comically responded in an annoyed manner, putting on her original outfit, "Risa, I really doubt that guys would date me when I'm in my current situation! Anyway, let's just purchase the clothes before other girls try to fight us for them!"
After quickly getting all of her original clothes back on, Lucy exited the fitting room and headed straight for the red counter. She placed the cute clothes on the counter, which prompted the shopkeeper to smile in a calm manner as he looked at the yellow price tags. He entered the prices into the red cash register, which made everything total up to costing 15,000 jewels, and the shopkeeper watched Risa move in front of Lucy as she pulled out fifteen-thousand jewels from one of her skirt's pockets. Risa handed him the money, and he counted it all to see that she fully paid for the clothes.
The guy who was watching over the shop proceeded to pull out a red grab bag with white handles from a shelf that was on the lowest level of the counter, and he put the bag in front of the clothes. He took off all of the price tags from Lucy's cute clothes, before simply putting all of the clothes into the grab bag, and the shopkeeper gently handed the bag to Risa. She simply handed the bag to Lucy, and Risa felt glad that one of their first tasks in Cramoisi Town was now done. As Risa quickly walked out of the store with Lucy following her, she hadn't forgotten about how Lucy needed some new magic. In fact, Risa hoped to help Lucy get magic that had tons of power.
10 minutes later, outside of a cupcake shop...
Someone's magic having high amounts of power was a statement that seemed to be true for Akai Hinotama, who stood outside of a store that sold cupcakes while Kaen was beside her, and Akai currently held a brown tree branch in her right hand. Kaen broke it off for her from an average-sized tree that was nearby while seven of her younger fans were happy to see that she finally returned from her most recent tour around Fiore as a pop idol. Not only was Akai a popular single who wrote her own songs that even seemed to appeal to the ears of grown people and kids, but she could also impress crowds of her fans with some powerful spells of Fire Magic.
Akai smiled at her young fans in a pleased manner, before making her hand move the brown tree branch around in a circle for ten seconds, and the pop idol made the red aura of Fire Magic lightly surround her hand. That slight amount of magical power allowed Akai to focus the power into her hand, making the circular motions start to suddenly produce a beautiful circle of red fire, and Akai's fans clapped their hands in a joyous manner as their eyes twinkled from seeing the pretty ring of fire. Kaen made a red aura engulf his body for about a minute, before shooting out a red fireball from his mouth, and he aimed it at Akai's fiery circle.
Kaen gave Akai a confident grin from seeing his fireball touch her ring of fire, only to see the circle of flames become somewhat larger as his fireball began to shrink in size, and Kaen watched his attack become as small as a red apple. It soon got absorbed by the fire, and Kaen watched Akai make the tree branch touch the flames. All of the fire started to become attracted to the tree branch, all of the flames converging to make it be ablaze, and Akai threw it up into the air while making her hand that was covered in the aura be turned sideways. That caused the flaming tree branch to spin up in the air without descending while it completely remained sideways, before Akai looked up and unleashed more magical power to shoot out a red stream of fire from her mouth. Akai's hot fire struck the tree branch, which caused it to explode while several large flames began to descend from the sky, and the pop idol watched her young fans hurriedly take some steps back.
The red flames came down to the ground as they interestingly formed a ring of fire around Akai instead of detonating to create more damage, and Akai simply raised her left arm upward with the black microphone still in her hand. She let the mic drop to the ground, which was an act that meant Akai viewed her performance to be very impressive, and Akai even got to hear some teenage girls happily cheer for her from a nearby part of the street as the sight of her flaming circle had made them exit a sandwich shop with sandwiches in their hands to see her perform.
"Thank you, my adoring fans! That display of my fiery power was just an awesome tribute to my fourth single, Maiden's Fiery Magnificence!" Akai told her group of fans with a delighted smile on her face, before playfully winking at them and putting a finger to her lips.
One of the girls with crimson red hair asked Akai in a kind tone, "Princess Akai, can we all please have your autograph? Also, do you think your concert will be very fun?"
Akai heard a young boy comment nicely, as he tried to copy Akai's overconfident smile that appeared during her songs that were a mix of pop and rock, "Princess Akai, you're so awesome! Keep making Cramoisi Town be happy about how we can all rock out to songs from a beautiful queen, and keep having awesome flames!"
That little comment caused Akai to respond with a smile on her face, as she clapped her hands lightly to dispel the flames, "Thank you! I'm glad that my passion for music is coupled with flames that can awesomely warm up anyone's day. Anyway, enjoy this little autograph signing. Also, my concert will be exciting for everyone."
The young people who liked Akai's music watched the famous singer motion for Kaen to pull out a red pen and some nice photos of Akai from the left pocket of his jacket, and Akai watched her fans quickly take the photos out of Kaen's hand. He simply walked over to Akai and handed her the pen, which allowed her to elegantly put her autograph above each of the photos that comically featured her cutely taking a bite of a large cherry cupcake and easily feigning a happy smile to promote that bakery's brand of desserts. Kaen smiled at how that photo reminded him of when he started out as being her public relations manager, since he wanted her to have a good image, and he hoped that the fans would cherish what Akai only viewed to be her third-best photos.
As the group of young children ran away to go see their parents and the girls from earlier went inside the sandwich shop, the smile on Akai's face started to become a frown that seemed to display some impatience. Akai turned around to look at the cupcake shop while seeing that her female assistant who wore the long jacket had been taking her own sweet time with buying those cupcakes, and the pop idol tapped her left foot repeatedly as a way of showing that her patience was running out. Akai may have wanted some cupcakes, but she also wanted to get a bit of rest before any possible photo sessions or major autograph signings came up.
Akai walked up to the cupcake shop's door and groaned in a frustrated manner, which made her assistant hurry up with purchasing a brown bag of two pink cupcakes that were topped with small red cherries, and Akai watched the assistant gently place the bag on top of a white box. Akai's lips started to form a satisfied smile from seeing her assistant start walking towards the door, and she simply opened the door for her. As the assistant exited the shop and gave the box to Kaen, she heard Akai groan in a displeased manner. Kaen watched the assistant grab her bag of cupcakes to start eating them, before she turned around to face Akai while looking apologetic.
"I'm truly sorry for making you wait, Princess Akai. I assure you that I'll hurry up with deciding on what sweet desserts I want to eat next time." The older woman told Akai in a regretful tone while lightly bowing her head and closing her eyes.
Akai replied in a rude tone while scolding her assistant, folding her arms as sternness was in her eyes, "Listen to me, Ryuko Hinote! Don't slow us down, just because you also want some sweets! In fact, I'll carry the box with my cupcakes in it because of how a wonderful wizard like myself can lead our group back to my place quickly."
Kaen told Akai with a confident facial expression while walking towards her to hand her the box, liking her power as he had a little thought about her other request, "Even when you aren't holding back for your fans, Princess Akai, your flames are awesome! Although, Ryuko and I already drank some coffees. Princess, you should get some coffee or you can just keep waiting for those mages to deliver your order to you."
Akai responded to him in a calm manner, as she displayed a smile that showed assurance, "When I give orders to any of my servants who are anywhere, they follow them without questioning me. Anyone who refuses to do what I say should show me that they can defeat my flames. However, no one can beat me. Anyway, let's go."
As Akai walked down the street with her assistants right behind her, she maintained that smile while truly believing that no one from Cramoisi Town or any other place in Fiore could have power that even came close to rivaling her fiery flames. Akai thought about how she was only using a fraction of her power when she showed off that spell earlier, and a smug grin formed on her face as she believed that no one could even withstand the power of her flames. Anyone who had tried to fight Akai either got destroyed by her bodyguards, or burnt by her fierce flames.
She began to think about how her flames once fell to the stage during a concert, which made large streams of fire go upward for the crowd to cheer Akai's name wildly, and the fact that her flames could reach up to the sky made Akai perceive them to be quite intimidating. The thought of knocking a weak wizard out of the sky with her flames made Akai put her hand under her lower lip while she laughed with delight, as she would get to see a flaming failure be weaker than her, and Akai started to wonder about who her opponent would be for that battle that had to occur in front of the Fire Goddess.
Akai hoped that she wouldn't get an opponent who was too easy for her to handle, since her victory last year against a certain blonde-haired model from the Blue Pegasus guild didn't seem to impress the people from Sorcerer Magazine. Akai had managed to beat Jenny Realight without using much effort, but asking any of the journalists or paparazzi people from Sorcerer Magazine about her fight only made her be met with calm responses about how she was a great pop idol who sadly wasn't winning over crowds when it came to her powerful magic ending battles way too quickly. Akai softly frowned while a bit of determination entered her eyes, and she intending on making this battle be exciting while her opponent's magic wouldn't matter.
15 minutes later...
Risa took Lucy to a cherry red building that was near the middle of this street, and the girls simply stood in the shop to see that it had purple walls with dark brown wooden flooring. This was a shop that sold many kinds of magic, which had been noticeable by how there were several books on the shelves of violet bookcases and magical-looking items resting on a rectangular violet table, and all of the books and items had yellow price tags on them while the owner of the shop was a blonde-haired girl who seemed to be around Erza's age. Lucy caught a glimpse of the purple counter, before her eyes shifted to the table.
Lucy noticed that there was a Communications Lacrima Crystal for sale, as well as a red spell book that interestingly had flames circling around it, and there was even a deck of Magic Cards that could help people with Holder Magic be able to temporarily use various types of magic. However, Lucy noticed a small golden ring that was topped with a star-shaped gold jewel. The magic item shined in a glittery manner while providing a bit more brightness in the darkened store that only received light from the fact that sunlight came through the windows, and Lucy's eyes became relaxed as she felt like this item would be important.
She picked up the golden ring, only to be a bit stunned at how it came at a price of ten-thousand jewels, and Lucy turned to face Risa while not wanting her friend to spend up all of yesterday's money. However, Risa merely smiled as she could see that Lucy's eyes seemed quite calm from looking at the ring. If Lucy felt good about purchasing that particular item, then Risa would not stop her from going up to the counter and paying for it. After all, having an item that gave Lucy some magic was better than her not being able to use magic whatsoever.
Lucy looked down at the golden ring for a few more seconds, before walking towards one of the windows, and she gasped in amazed manner from seeing thin gold beams emanate from the ring after sunlight shined down on it. Lucy could also feel the magic piece of jewelry get a little bit warmer in her hand, almost like the rays from the sun were heating up the gold ring, and the thin beams that shined in a gold color began to fade after Lucy stepped away from the window. She headed towards the counter, and Risa followed her while it seemed as if Lucy liked the beauty of the ring.
"Excuse me, but what exactly is this ring?" Lucy asked the shopkeeper with a kind smile on her face, before happily looking down at the item for a moment.
The shopkeeper explained to Lucy in a kind tone, her gold eyes seeming very relaxed, "That would be the Celestial Mage Ring, Miss. It allows the wearer to use Celestial Spirit Magic, but you can only use several of the spells that don't involve the keys. Those don't come with the ring, according to someone's complaint about the item last year. Also, be advised that the ring will permanently break after a certain amount of uses or if it is struck by a powerful attack."
Lucy told the woman with a calm expression on her face, nodding as she had attentively listened, "Yes, I understand. I'd like to buy it, please."
Lucy placed the ring on the counter, prompting the shopkeeper to enter the ring's price of ten-thousand jewels into her wooden cash register that was dark red, and Risa took out the appropriate amount of jewels from her skirt's pocket. Risa handed the money to Lucy, who gave it all to the shopkeeper as payment for the ring, and the blonde-haired woman accepted the money. She gently tried to put the ring on Lucy's right hand, specifically putting it on her ring finger, and the ring felt very nice to where it fit perfectly on her finger like a chocolate cookie easily fitting nicely on a small plate without any issues.
Since that purchase was now officially done, Lucy ran out of the store with a smile on her face while Risa ran after her. Neither of the girls chose to look at a certain poster that was behind the shopkeeper, since those posters didn't seem so important, but Lucy was glad that she now had some magic that could be beneficial for helping Risa out with today's job. As she exited the store, Lucy turned around for a moment to see that Sting and the others were smiling at her while they were glad that Lucy was showing Risa that tasks could definitely be handled with haste and efficiency to where time wasn't being wasted.
Lucy gave Sting a confident smile, before turning back around to start the task of trying to find the client for Risa's job by walking down this street, but Lucy soon stopped from the sudden sight of a red-haired girl who almost walked past her. This certain red-haired girl was startled while a woman who stood on the right side of her and wore a long scarlet red jacket managed to grab her white square box of what appeared to be some large red cupcakes, and a certain man whose hair had crimson red bangs kept Akai from possibly falling. Lucy may have been just as startled by the encounter, but she did start to look apologetic.
"Wow, I'm sorry! I nearly bumped into you, but I'll be out of your way." Lucy told the girl with a sorry look in her eyes, genuinely smiling as she slightly moved to the right side of the street.
The female who looked to be around her age exclaimed in a disapproving manner, frowning at Lucy as she folded her arms, "Kindly apologizing isn't the same as kindly watching where you're going, you fashion reject. Anyone who's not from a hick town would know that red jean jackets were mainly in style for last winter."
Risa told the girl with a shocked look on her face, recognizing that signature bow and the crimson hair, "Whoa, what a rare encounter! You're Akai Hinotama, the pop idol who has seven singles out right now, and you recently had an album get played on Music Lacrima Crystals for an entire day!"
Lucy replied to Akai's remark, seeming offended while she tried to be kind, "I don't mean to counter your disrespectful attitude with more disrespect, but I've never even heard of you. You must be a new pop idol princess who's gaining notoriety."
Upon hearing what Lucy had to say, Akai's smile from Risa recognizing her was replaced with a look of pure shock. Akai widened her eyes in a stunned manner from how there were tourists who never heard of her, despite how she had concerts in all of the big city, and she began to narrow her eyes from interpreting that last sentence as Lucy calling her a newbie to the music industry. Akai's seven singles were all released in major towns seven months prior to the Grand Magic Games, which was before her music even reached the ears of girls who were in smaller towns or in dark guilds, but Akai's tendency to produce musical hits consecutively made her be quite famous.
Akai looked over at Lucy to just see that she was just a random person who wasn't part of anything famous, and she turned her head away in a disapproving manner as she closed her eyes. Lucy gave Akai a shocked look from seeing how this pop idol was acting so rude to her, even after getting an apology, and Lucy thought that she could be a classier musician. This incident wouldn't stop Lucy from helping Risa with her job, and she proceeded to just start walking down the street with a stern look on her face. Lucy turned around to face Risa, who pulled out the red flyer with Sabertooth's stamp officially on it, and Lucy gasped in shock while Akai simultaneously gasped with delight.
That particular flyer had Akai's handwriting on it, causing her eyes to twinkle at how Risa was right about this encounter being very rare, and seeing the white stamped insignia on the flyer meant that the mages from Sabertooth would be handling Akai's request. The spoiled idol who wanted her fame to just be more immense hadn't drank any coffee from the coffee shop in Cramoisi Town, due to how she'd leave that task to the mages who would be greatly rewarded, and Akai turned to face Lucy while feeling like she needed to be put in her place.
"I'm a great singer, and you're hopefully great mages who realize that this meeting where our paths connect is like the bridge of an amazing hit single! Therefore, you better open your ears for these nice lyrics! Get me two steaming hot Caramel Lattes, and make them both be in large sizes! Be sure to put chocolate sprinkles in them for a nice mix, and add some milk with extra cream in the lattes! Also, add caramel syrup to my lattes and don't accidentally get the hazelnut syrup!" Akai told Lucy with a smirk of superiority on her face, before putting her hand near her lips as she hoped that a fool like Lucy wouldn't mess up her order.
Lucy asked Akai with a shocked expression on her face, ignoring how Risa ran past her to enter the nearby coffee shop, "You dragged us out here just to get you some coffee?! Are you the type of pop idol who puts tons of effort into your songs, yet you're lazy and probably weak with handling everything else?"
Akai asked Lucy while her eyes showed a look of offense, before walking towards the stellar mage with her eyes closed as her lips formed an arrogant smile, "Weak, you say? Tell me, loser. Have you ever seen a weak idol... do this?!"
Akai proceeded to gaze up at the sky, before making a red aura surround her body, and she shot out a large red fireball from her mouth. She fired a red-orange stream of flames up at the fireball while starting to spin around, making Lucy see the flames emerge from the fireball on four sides while the flames rotated around the fireball to make the entire image resemble a pinwheel, and Akai rudely smirked at Lucy before shooting out an even larger fireball from her mouth. That fireball went even higher into the air while all of Akai's fire gave off a high amount of heat, and the larger fireball ended up bursting into ten smaller red flames. The flames all descended to float around her other spell while those red flames formed the shape of a heart with the fiery pinwheel inside of it, and Lucy was astounded to see that this snobby girl was a mage.
Yukino looked just as astounded as Lucy, and recalling the titles of Akai's songs caused the Celestial Spirit Wizard to see that Pinwheeled Emotions of My Heart wasn't just a random title for her third single. Sting and Rogue joined Yukino and Lucy with watching most of Akai's flames burst to create red glitter, before one flame harshly descended to the ground with a high amount of power and speed, but Akai made that flame crash into the ground instead of exploding. It tore through the red cobblestone, before its power created a line of red flames that erupted up from the ground to make part of the street become covered in a line of hot fire, and Yukino viewed that as a reference to Akai's song called Rising Fire of The Princess while that was also her first single. As Akai snapped her fingers to dispel the flames and briefly turned around have her female assistant open the box of cupcakes, she got to see Lucy giving her a glare of frustration at how those spells looked powerful.
Akai walked back towards her assistants while giggling in a satisfied manner, feeling like her level of power silenced Lucy just by its beautiful displays, and she took out one of the cupcakes. Sting sniffed the air to detect that was a cherry-flavored cupcake, and the red dessert's pink icing slightly began to melt from Akai making a weak flame engulf the cupcake. The flame didn't have much heat, as it quickly faded away to leave small flames rising up from the slightly melted cupcake and melted icing like it was a delicious flambe, and Akai quickly ate the dessert while liking how the heat really enhanced the cherry flavor of this cupcake. That was a little reference to Akai's second single, which was called Flambe For The Beautiful Flame of Love, and her assistants were impressed to see how the pop idol was putting on quite a good show.
"After I get my coffees, I'll be going back to my house and choosing to wear for the upcoming concert. After that, I get to defeat a mage in the traditional battle for the Fire Goddess to witness." Akai explained to the Sabertooth mages with a confident smile on her face, laughing at the thought of the event as Risa came out of the store with her coffees.
Kaen told Lucy with a calm smile on his face, seeing her start to glare at Akai with her fists clenched, "You should listen to the confidence in Princess Akai's voice, lady. Her flames have left people screaming for mercy, and you just can't hope to defeat her."
Sting defensively spoke for Lucy while walking towards her, smiling as his hands were in his pockets, "If I were you, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that. You see, Lucy Heartfilia of Sabertooth is one of the fastest mages in the guild. Also, she took on six mages at once yesterday and once fought one of our strongest ladies in a tournament without breaking a sweat. Maybe your princess can't defeat a more passionate mage."
Lucy exclaimed with a shocked look on her face, comically holding up her hands in a defensive manner as she waved them, "Sting! Don't try to make those experiences seem so great, and don't try to exaggerate the details of that fight with-"
Akai rudely interrupted Lucy while sounding quite confident and snobby, still doubting the girl's strength with arrogance in her eyes, "Kaen. Ryuko. Look at that fashion reject trying to downplay her strength. Well, this chick with poor fashion sense isn't wanting to fight because she can't beat me. Anyway, Kaen, let's go back and get some rest. Ryuko, you can get yourself some cupcakes and be sure to deliver the reward money to my pink-haired admirer later."
Ryuko replied nicely while bowing her head and closing her eyes, as she still held the box, "Yes, Princess Akai."
Akai told Lucy with a rude smile on her face while walking away with her assistants, mocking her and waving with one hand as Risa handed the coffees to Kaen, "I hope a loser like you learns to like my music if you hate seeing my great flames, Lucy Heartfilia of Sabertooth."
As Lucy was riled up enough to start running and try to punch Akai, Ryuko and Kaen surprised Sting and Yukino by quickly turning around to block Lucy's path. Ryuko lightly pushed her backwards with one hand while Akai turned around to take the coffees from Kaen, and the princess of Cramoisi Town loudly sipped one of her coffees while finding it to be very delicious. Akai walked away from the scene, but not before turning around with a feigned smile of niceness directed at Risa. Akai proceeded to look at Ryuko, who followed the rule of pulling out a pink folded shirt from one of her jacket's pockets, and the princess watched her obedient servant gently hand it to Risa.
Risa unfolded the shirt to see that it simply featured Akai looking fierce in an image of her rocking out to one of her pop songs, and the expert on fashion happily squealed at how she got another reward besides the huge amount of money. This day went from bad to being pretty good for Risa, but Lucy's clenched teeth and frustrated face showed how she thought the exact opposite. Lucy watched Kaen and Ryuko run to catch up with the princess, and Sting could see that his friend's temper felt quite hot like a fire that had just been created from burning sparks hitting some gasoline. Since Lucy had almost everything taken care of, Sting gave Rogue a nice smile while thinking that the team could cool down by simply getting some food to eat.
30 minutes later, at a cupcake shop...
Sting smiled nicely as he sat down at a white square table with his teammates, liking how they sat near the most delicious cupcakes that were displayed in a rectangular window, and he had walked around the town of Cramoisi to find a suitable place for everyone to get a sweet breakfast. Despite how Risa already gave Lucy some delicious pancakes, Sting felt like his green-haired friend could use a nice bag of cupcakes to be cheered up. Sting had bought dessert for everyone on the team, since he was glad that Risa completed the job of delivering Akai's coffees to her, and the white dragon slayer was also happy that she didn't make Akai wait until the coffees slightly got colder.
Sting's blue eyes soon shifted to looking at Lucy, who seemed to be cooling down from dealing with how the princess was quite rude to her, and he could see that she was just staying silent. Ever since she sat down in one of the white chairs, Lucy hadn't said a single word. She seemed to be deep in thought, ignoring the sweet smell of the desserts that were all on the table, and Sting simply kept his eyes on her while hoping that Akai's rude words were not making Lucy feel very down. He may not have been the most comforting guy who could get girls out of every single bad situation that came their way, but Sting would gladly listen to their troubles.
He noticed Lucy's orange eyes looking up at him, before seeing them move back down to the brown bag of five cupcakes that was still unopened, and that caused Sting to wonder if Lucy was having some thoughts about him. Judging by the way she quickly made her eyes not focus on him, Sting started to look slightly nervous while hoping that he didn't accidentally do anything to upset her. Sting hadn't openly stated to Kaen and Akai that Lucy would be the one to fight her in that annual battle, since he felt that it would be wrong of him to force Lucy into doing anything, and he didn't hear them make that battle official.
If Lucy was having her mind be focused on the possibility of that battle not going in her favor, then Sting would definitely have to make her thoughts move away from those feelings of doubt. He heard her let out a soft sigh, which was a sigh that sounded somewhat anxious, and that little bit of anxiety made Sting narrow his blue eyes. He decided to make the major choice of snapping his fingers in front of Lucy's face, which shook her out of thinking to where he had her full attention, and Sting even made little flickers of white light be on his fingers to make Lucy see some brightness as he purposely kept snapping his fingers.
Lucy loudly told him with a stern look on her face, seeming somewhat annoyed as she decided to say what was on her mind, "Sting, stop snapping your fingers at me! You know, you've only known me for one day and you just had to exaggerate my skills to Akai! If we fight, she'll expect me to be at a level of power that I can't reach right now!"
Sting replied with an irked facial expression, before calmly stating his reasons, "Lucy, do you have to yell? Wow, it must be very wrong for a guild master to believe in his guild's newest member. You act as if I never saw you fight or use magic to where the idea of you beating Akai would be possible."
Lucy asked Sting while anxiously looking down at her new ring for a moment, "I have new Celestial Spirit Magic, Sting, but you really think I could take on Akai and her crew?"
The confident dragon slayer told Lucy with a serious look on his face, before softly smiling, "Lucy, I don't just think you could take down Akai. I know that you can make that princess run back to her little throne and be crying in defeat."
Upon hearing Sting's response and seeing his nice smile, Lucy sighed in an amazed manner for a moment. She looked at Sting with some doubt in her eyes, but seeing the blond-haired male's smile of encouragement made Lucy feel a bit of happiness. Lucy's new friend and guild master believed in her to where her skills from the Grand Magic Games were seen as being sufficient enough for Sting to think that Lucy could take on a pop idol who doubled as a mage, so the fact that Akai was famous didn't shake Sting's confidence about Lucy at all.
He even gave Lucy a thumbs-up while winking with his left eye, and Sting told himself on the way to the cupcake shop that he would cheer for Lucy during that fight. He would be rooting for her to win, especially when he thought that the fight against Kotomi was still fresh in Lucy's mind, and Sting would want Lucy to fight hard to prove to herself that a loss could always be made up for with a fantastic win. After all, redemption could always make a person feel great to where they could even feel stronger after beating their opponent.
Sting looked at the ring that Lucy had on her finger, smiling a bit more at how she had chosen to stick with Celestial Spirit Magic instead of buying something else that would make her use a different type of magic, and Sting started to look at Lucy in a calmer manner. From his point of view, Lucy gave herself an advantage by purchasing that ring from the magic shop. He wondered if Lucy could use some powerful spells of Celestial Spirit Magic, such as making many stars fall from the sky, and he would be happy if she made Akai get caught in a grand explosion of celestial power.
"If you have to fight that pop idol, Lucy, what's your plan? Learn the strongest spells of Celestial Spirit Magic to hit her very hard, or use the weakest ones for most of the battle to throw her off guard?" Sting asked Lucy with a smile of encouragement on his face, thinking both of his suggestions were great.
That caused Lucy to reply in a kind manner while opening the brown bag of cupcakes, frowning a bit, "Even if I learn weak or spells, Sting, I'll have to train with them. Plus, I can't plan ahead because of how enemies can find flaws in plans to make them fall apart."
Rogue added with calmness in his voice while folding his arms and looking emotionless about the situation, "Judging by how Akai's fire quickly smashed through all that cobblestone on the street, Lucy wouldn't be able to plan ahead. Akai can make her fire have beauty to suit her image as a pop idol, but the true strength of her spells is still a mystery."
Sting retorted in a calm manner, as he maintained his smile, "Akai's strength is a mystery, but Lucy will see those spells and make Akai's flames be destroyed! After all, Lucy had to have learned some awesome things from what she went through yesterday."
As Lucy placed a chocolate cupcake on the table, her eyes slightly widened from how Sting believed that she gained tons of knowledge from yesterday's harsh events. Lucy allowed her mind to just think about how Kotomi Takeuchi made her winds be used with some cleverness, which was as awesome as how Risa interestingly used her magic to make the pancakes be pushed towards Lucy earlier this morning, and looking at Sting for a few seconds caused Lucy to smile as she started having some ideas for the new spells that she would have to be wielding.
Lucy giggled a bit at Sting's confidence, really liking how he was such an encouraging guy, and she nodded in approval at how he claimed that she would obliterate Akai's flames. Lucy definitely wouldn't try to be overconfident against that rude girl, since arrogance led to careless mistakes, but Lucy would be sure to make this fiery battle against a pop idol be a situation where her spells worked well enough to the point of it being like Lucy was a musician who could hit the proper notes on a guitar with passion to leave her musical enemy stunned at her skills.
Lucy now had more confidence in herself and the new spells that she would soon learn, which made her start to pick up the chocolate cupcake, but she watched Sting gently place his hand on top of hers while making some white light shine down on her hand. He chuckled in a confident manner while letting his light send its power into her hand, and Sting wouldn't pass up the chance to give Lucy this little gift. Since she showed Sting that it was possible for her to be fashionable and fierce, he wanted to just boost the strength in her hands for the scenario of when she wanted to run towards Akai again for the chance to successfully punch her. Lucy giggled a bit while pushing Sting's hand off of hers to let her eat the sweet dessert, but she also liked how that light felt as warm as a good surge of determination from within to help her be stronger.
How was Chapter 5? Feel free to tell me your thoughts on it. Risa managed to complete her job, and she also helped Lucy get some new magic while also helping Lucy get a new outfit. However, it looks like Risa's job of getting coffees led to Lucy clashing with Akai Hinotama! In case you're wondering, Lucy's Celestial Mage Ring is a temporary item in her quest to get back in her own body. Also... this is the second chapter of the Crimson Fire Arc in this StiCy story! I'll update soon. :)
REVIEWS!
KillerFrost07: Thank you! I'm glad you're loving all the cute StingLu moments.
FireBlitz: Thank you! Yeah, Akai and Kaen were fun OCs to create. Also, the battle of this arc should hopefully be exciting.
OrangeDetermination: Thanks! Yeah, Risa wasn't too happy to miss out on getting some good outfits. As for Akai and Kaen, they'll get a bit more character development.
YellowThunder5: Here it is!
GreenGrass4: Thanks! Yeah, Lucy does have to use her moves in interesting ways instead of them being flashy moves that explode with no strategy behind them at all.
BlueWater234: Thank you! Yeah, Risa is quite the quirky and snarky individual who loves fashion! Minerva would probably chastise her for not acting in accordance to everyone else's behavior of not reserving jobs. Lol. Yes, Akai is quite arrogant.
PurpleReis155: Thank you. Well, she has a different way to temporarily use Celestial Spirit Magic. Risa's a fan of Akai, but Lucy certainly isn't. As for how they'll fight each other, we'll just have to see.
Matt: Thanks!
jennie: Thank you!
Kiri-chan: Here you go!
Sena: Thank you so much!