Okay, first I have to say this – FT manga really driving me nuts! Few chapters ago Mashima started to turn Lucy's character into Resha Valentine (Strong and brave girl). Now he turned her into a clown…
Natsu saw Lucy naked and… no reaction. Ah, no – he complained about it… He is really so dense or he just thinks of her as of a silly young sister?
Erza again almost died, and this time she almost died on the background. And emo-kid came to save her… that's just disgusting.
Oh, I can't get it, but series become more and more weird with each new chapter.
Anyway, let's continue with the story.
Answers for the reviewers:
Silent Reader 6100: Thank's man.
KingZthe1st, xlCamperr: All right people, I heard you call and I'm going to proof that I'm not an enemy of my readers xD From now on and onward I'm going to put the translation for the spell's name right after the name itself each time when the new spell has been used in chapter. The translation will be in square brackets, marked by underlined font. Example: "Karyū no Hōkō!" [Fire Dragon's Roar] The complete spell list will be duplicated at the end of the chapter, as usual.
BlackNature: Nope, sorry if the spell name confused you but Natsu is not a dragon slayer and he won't become one. I'm added the note about spell in the beginning of chapter 6, please refer to it.
Toaneo07 Ver2.0: Nice guess, but… no, it's not that dragon =) I know, I even mentioned chapter 328 myself, but… well, Natsu and Erza are both mistaken. I already had placed some little hints about Erza's magic… The truth about her dragon will be revealed during Galuna Island ark. This ark is boring so I'm going to alter it quite a bit.
Actually, I considered about a dozen of different dragons for Erza. Few not too original, like Frost Dragon (poor Gray=)) or Water Dragon (poor Jubia xD). Few more original, like Steam Dragon or Forest Dragon. But in the end I decided to use the one I decided to use =) If you really wanna know and you not afraid of spoilers – PM me and I'll tell you what is this dragon =)
Gordaime: Many thanks.
FanFictionHunter: Yeah, as I mentioned several times – Natsu has a backup magic and this is it. Too bad I never played any of GoW games so I can't completely get your remark about Kratos =)
Mira-san: Many thanks.
Negligible1: Appreciate your opinion, but I never planned to include too much drama in this story. Maybe another time I'll make an "I love my rival" kind of story.
Everyone: Thanks for the reviews people, now let's continue. This chapter contains the conclusion for Eisenwald's arc and trial event (It was quite boring, so I decided to use short version – I want to move to the Galuna island's ark ASAP – I think I will be able to surprise you once more =))
Chapter updated 29/11/2016
Chapter VII – Zeref's Legacy
…
July 8th, Year X784, 18:25, Clover Canyon's vicinity, about four miles away from the Clover town.
"Oh… They spoiled such a moment…" Natsu sighed heavily as he has been pulled into a tight embrace when Erza leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Oh Natsu... My beloved Natsu... You are so cute..." She whispered, her lips brushing against the outside of his ear. Her breath was warm and the soft touches of her lips was very pleasurable for Natsu. A few moments later, the magical four-wheel vehicle appeared from behind a large rock. Lucy's voice called out for the two slayers.
"Natsu! Erza!" Her call sounded quite weak. She was, most likely, exhausted because she used most of her magic to fuel up the magic vehicle, but still her voice was loud enough to distinguish the worried tone.
"What a nice timing those people have…. The circus has already left the town but clowns decided to stay… Ouch!" Natsu was interrupted by Erza stepping not-to-gently on his foot.
The vehicle stopped near Erigor's body and Gray hopped off from driver's seat. Lucy unplugged the S.E. cable from her wrist and tried to stand up too, but her legs refused to hold her and the only reason she did not fall out of the vehicle was because Gray managed to catch her just in time.
"Hey Lucy, are you okay?" Sin asked as he flew closer to the stellar-mage.
"Y-yeah… I'm just exhausted a little… Don't worry about me…" Lucy replied as she leaned on Gray's shoulder to get out of the vehicle.
"Gray, you let her use her magic along the entire route?" Sin wondered as he, Gray and Lucy moved toward Natsu and Erza, who still stood near Reina's body.
"No, I insisted that he let me power up the vehicle so Gray could spare his magic power in case Natsu and Erza would be in need of help…" Lucy explained with a weak smile as Sin looked at Gray incredulously.
"Anyway, as I told you Lucy, these two managed to handle this case just fine," Gray noted as they came closer to the slayers.
"Yep, now the guild masters and townspeople are safe," Sin agreed, "Also, Natsu managed to capture the criminal that escaped us once, so now his service record is clear," Lil creature explained.
Natsu, in the meantime, took the flute in his hands and began to examine it, together with Erza. "Just as I thought, cara mea… This thing isn't just a flute… There's something more…" Natsu whispered quietly, so only Erza could hear him.
"I think we should bring it to the master," Erza decided. "Since we're here already… We might as well go see our master at the meeting place. We need to report the details about this incident, also we can ask about what to do with the flute…" Erza opened her mouth but hesitated to speak. "And I think we should tell him about us," She turned to Natsu.
"I doubt that it will be a surprise, I bet Jane has sent him a letter as soon as she returned from the station…" Natsu guessed, making Erza to let out a frustrated sigh.
'She is more girlish than I thought…' Lucy noted when she saw how upset Erza became over Mirajane spreading her affairs before she could tell the master herself.
"Sometimes I'm really think that it's quite unfortunate that she is our only waitress and I cannot punch her as hard as she deserves…" The dragon-mage snorted.
'…Or maybe not,' The stellar-mage mentally face-palmed.
"Anyway, Clover town is just ahead, you two can proceed on the vehicle and we will go on foot…" Natsu was interrupted by Sin's voice.
"Natsu, look!" The little creature shouted and pointed behind him, at Reina's body. Everyone looked that way, only to see that silver claimer regained consciousness, created a Shirubā Sufia [Silver Sphere], and placed it on her own chest.
"No way… I'm going to the jail… See you in hell… Bloodfallen…" Reina croaked as the sphere started to shine.
Without delay Natsu turned towards Reina, raised his left arm and sent a bold of dark blue flames at silver claimer. Bolt hit the silver sphere and threw it away, as the sphere itself immediately started to become black. A few seconds later the Shirubā Sufia turned to black dust. "And just what do you think you're doing? You tried to cast away your life just to have my payment being reduced?" Natsu asked coldly, as he approached Reina, looking at silver claimer with indifference and scorn, but she only smiled in reply.
"Just as I thought… Your blue flames… This is the Shi no Mahō [Death Magic] … You are a Kuroi Geijutsu [Black Arts] user…" She croaked with a satisfied look.
Lucy gasped at this statement as Gray sighed heavily.
"Now you will let me go… Or I'll tell the council about your magic… I wonder what they will do…" The green haired woman said with nasty smile on her face.
"Ah… ah… so that's how it is…" Erza pronounced with horribly sweet voice, as her own magic powers elicited a shockwave around her. "You didn't try to kill yourself, did you? You just wanted to force Natsu to use his power?" Erza's eyes suddenly became pupilless, as she raised a sword, which appeared as if from nowhere, without any magical seal, "You think you're so smart… Alright, let me help you with your suicide…"
Lucy shivered due to an explicit killing intent in Erza's voice.
"It… It doesn't seem like she's joking…" Gray gulped, looking at Erza getting closer to Reina and pointing at latter's throat with the sword.
"Hey, easy, amica mea, calm down," Natsu caught up with Erza and stood in front of her. "We have a wedding on our hands and that isn't a cheap event – this stupid doll worth a lot of money and the kingdom wants her alive, so she cannot die just yet…" Natsu calmed his short-tempered beauty before turning back to Reina, "Besides, there's also no need to kill her, there are more… convenient arts to keep her silent."
Seeing Natsu's face and hearing his voice (and a reminder about the upcoming wedding) helped Erza to come back to her senses, "Uhh, I'm… I'm sorry…" She shook her head and blinked several times. Natsu gently flicked her ear, before focusing his attention on Reina.
"Your mind is so shallow… Yes, it's type of Kuroi Geijutsu, but can you only think about Shi no Mahō [Death Magic]? Ah, doesn't matter… You know, I never wanted this power, but I was young and curious. It happened against my will, and it also almost killed me. My arm has been mutilated and I'm forced to wear this damned glove since then, to hide my hand from everyone. However, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. And now I'm going to show you that you should not mess with the wielders of Kuroi Geijutsu…" Natsu's left eye blazed with dark blue flame as he placed his left palm on Reina's forehead as the silver claimer gulped in fear, "…Nōtōkei! [Brain Freeze]"
Blue energy discharged into Reina's head, knocking her unconscious once again.
"What have you done?!" Lucy gasped. "Did… did you…" She could not say it aloud.
"Lucy, weren't you listening? I've just explained that I need her alive," Natsu repeated himself with emotionless voice. "I just destroyed her brain cells that contain recent reminiscence, irreversibly wiping out all of the memories that she got during last five hours. I bet she will be surprised when she is to regain consciousness again," Natsu clarified. "Also, from now on she will have some issues with short-term memory, for the rest of her life, but this is a punishment for an attempt to blackmail me." Natsu used the same technique on Lucy herself, back then in Hargeon, but with much lesser charge, so it didn't cause any permanent brain damage.
"Lucy, I know this is not the easiest thing to accept, but you should understand that by itself magic is neither good nor evil. Its alignment completely depends on the mage who uses it, and Kuroi Geijutsu isn't an exception here. This is one of the first things that Natsu helped me to realize," Erza said softly as she cuddled her fiancé.
"You're welcome…" Natsu said as he gently pressed his fiancée to himself.
Lucy stood by, silently, obviously still in shock by the revelation – she just required some time to stomach it. Gray did not take it as hard as she did; he had talked about it with the master and got some answers.
"Alright people, we have to go to Clover town. We'll go on foot, you two take the vehicle. Sin, go with them," Natsu said as he slung Reina's body over his shoulder. Erza picked up the flute.
"Still thinking about Natsu?" Sin asked as he, Lucy and Gray were riding toward Clover town aboard the magic vehicle. Since Gray had no need to save his magic anymore, he plugged himself into the S.E. Plug, moreover, it should be a short trip.
"This is how we met…" Sin started to explain, "I am not the one who should tell you this story, but I want to clarify some things about his abilities. It's called Shisō Geijutsu [Deathfrost Arts]. For example, one of its varieties – Shinunoru Tōryūgi [Death Knight Combat Style]. Actually, it's similar to Ken no Mahō [Sword Magic], but utilizes Shisō Geijutsu to power up sword's attacks. Shinunoru Tōryūgi has limited use without a sword, though. It took some time to learn to control his newly acquired Kuroi Geijutsu properly, but Natsu did it, so now he can use it as a backup technique."
"Thanks Sin, I understand," Lucy perked up a little. "I just need some time to process all the information I received today." It was the truth; Lucy's head was buzzing from the huge number of things that she learned about her friends that day. Dragon Lacrima, Black Arts… It was just too much.
"Take you time. Our mission is accomplished, soon we'll talk to the master and after that we'll be free to go home," Gray said from the driver's seat.
July 8th, Year X784, 20:15, Clover town, Guild masters League meeting hall.
Lucy, Gray and Sin were sitting in the magic vehicle near the guild masters meeting hall, awaiting Natsu and Erza's arrival. During this time Sin explained the situation about Eisenwald's plan, as well as Reina's intentions.
"So, Reina and Erigor had quite different views at the possible outcome of their mission?" Lucy asked after Sin explained that silver claimer just wanted to cause chaos and rob people in the meantime.
"Yep," Lil Dragon confirmed.
"It's not so easy to say it, but I'm really glad that we have mages like Natsu and Erza around. Without their strength, some terrible things could have happened…" Gray admitted as he looked at the meeting hall where guild masters were.
"Yeah…" Lucy said with a sad smile, "But, to be honest, when they are around, my lack of magic powers seems especially obvious, moreover… Maybe it will sound silly but… I feel sorry for those Eisenwald wizards…" Lucy sighed. She really felt pity for those poor fools who were actually manipulated by a cunning woman. "I think they too felt themselves weak and they really thought that if they would've succeeded then everything would've changed after that…"
"Nothing would have changed," A quiet voice interrupted Lucy. The three turned around to see their own guild master, Makarov, standing behind them. "Weaklings will stay weak forever. But weakness is not evil, since human beings are weak creatures to begin with. Alone you feel nothing but insecurity; that's why we form guilds. That's why we have nakama. We walk together in order to live a strong life…"
Natsu and Erza arrived at the guild meeting hall location, but they came closer silently, as they too could hear the master's speech, and they decided to not interrupt him and let Lucy hear him out until the end.
"The clumsy ones will run into more walls than the others and it may also take them longer to get there…" While Makarow was speaking, Natsu was holding Erza's hand, and he could feel that she clenched his palm tighter, she definitely met a lot of walls on her way "…but if you believe in tomorrow and put yourself out there, you can naturally obtain your strength. That's how you'll be able to smile and live strong, without having to depend on cunning allies and their flutes, of course," Makarov finished with a leery smirk.
'Amazing… He already knows everything…' Lucy thought as she listened to the master's speech with wonderstruck awe. "Thank you, master…" Lucy said with thankful smile as two others came to join them; master Bob and master Goldmine.
"Nice speech Maki," Bob said in his common, playful tone.
"Wh… Who is that?!" Lucy asked as she looked at Bob's extremely weird appearance.
"That's… Blue Pegasus' master…" Gray gulped and just a few seconds later Lucy realized why the ice-mage had that kind of reaction.
"Oh, this boy is so cute…" Bob said with a playful smile as he looked at Gray, freaking him out.
"Stop it Bob, we have another matter to attend to…" Goldmine said as he too came closer to Makarov.
"This is Goldmine – master of Quatro Cerberus," Sin introduced another guild master as Makarov began sweating all over again.
'He's right, I have to find these two, otherwise a town might disappear!' Makarov thought in fear before addressing the ice-mage. "Gray, where is Natsu and Erza?"
"We're here, master!" Erza announced as she and Natsu appeared from the forest, hand in hand. "You were amazing! Your words deeply touched me!"
"Sorry for being late, we had to visit the local garrison to turn in Reina and Erigor for bounty," Natsu explained in his common, emotionless manner. "I need some money to make a refractory lining in our bedroom, otherwise, in the heat of passion she might burn down my entire house," He suddenly added in the same manner, as if it wasn't something special, gaining a slap on the back of his head from Erza, who was blushing heavily yet smiling happily.
Everyone gulped at his overly blunt statement as Makarov's sighed deeply; his last hope that Mirajane exaggerated a little was smashed into pieces just now.
"So, I assume that relationship between you two is really serious?" Goldmine asked.
Instead of answering with words, Erza just demonstrated her wedding ring. At that moment, all three guild masters realized that these two are serious about their relationships. For instance, by now Makarow had no other choice but to congratulate the couple. "Alright, congratulations, you two!" He said cheerfully.
"I thank you, Ojii-san," Natsu slightly bowed to Makarov.
"Thank you master!" Erza exclaimed with a happy smile.
"Oh my… Too bad that such a handsome boy is already taken…" Bob said, covering his face and making Natsu to make a facepalm gesture.
"Master, here is the flute," Erza said as she pulled out a flute and moved toward Fairy Tail's guild master to hand it over. "We thought that you should take a looYYAH!..." The dragon-mage yelped as she tripped over the root of one of the trees and fell on the ground, face down, dropping the flute.
"She just said 'Yah'?!" Lucy gulped slightly.
"That was… pretty cute…" Gray stuttered as Sin made a facepalm.
"Speaking of clumsiness…" Natsu smiled as he helped his lovely yet gawky girlfriend to stand up and embraced her gently.
Erza seemed a bit embarrassed, but smiled thankfully as, suddenly, strange and horrible voice sounded from behind: "A BUNCH OF PATHETIC COWARDLY FOOLS, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
Everyone turned around to see that all three Rarabai's [Lullaby] eye-sockets started to glow as the flute itself began to erupt violet smoke and lightning.
"Something's coming out!" Erza shouted.
"Yes, this is what I was afraid of…" Natsu shook his head. Even in form of flute that thing couldn't completely hide itself from Natsu's heavenly eyes – this is Seikatsu Mahō [Living Magic].
"What is going on?!" Lucy screamed in shock. The amount of smoke started to increase drastically as a huge magic seal appeared in the sky above.
"I CAN'T HOLD IT ANY LONGER! MY HUNGER BECAME UNBEARABLE, I'LL JUST EAT ALL OF YOU MYSELF!" Doubtlessly, the voice was coming from the flute, and it was becoming louder with each passing moment. Everyone looked at this scene in shock as a huge mist cloud started to take shape.
"The flute talked?! How's that possible?!" Lucy asked with saucer-wide eyes.
"Look! The smoke – it's forming a shape!" Sin exclaimed as he pointed at the huge smoke cloud. An enormous magic seal started to glow and soon collapsed, giving a final shape to the smoke cloud. It turned into a massive, tree-like beast that had three eyes, two legs, two arms and one head. There were many cutouts in its body.
"LET ME CONSUME… YOUR PITIFUL SOULS!" The huge tree roared over the group of mages.
"I do not like what he is getting at…" Erza said quietly.
"Oh my… This is bad…" Bob said, shyly covering his mouth.
"It's the devil from the book of Zeref!" Goldmine warned, clenching his teeth as Erza grabbed Natsu's left hand, entwining her fingers with his.
Several local guild masters assembled near the window to look at the events that was happening outside.
"This is not looking so good," One of them said.
"Shall we help out?" Another one asked.
"My back hurts… I think I'll pass…" A third one stuttered.
"I'M STARVING TO DEATH… SO I'M GONNA EAT YOUR SOULS!" The huge demon roared, taking one step toward the meeting hall, shaking the entire town.
"I've heard similar words many times. They were never truth," Natsu replied, speaking to Zeref's demon like he was just an another ordinary enemy.
"Natsu, don't make this huge thing angry…" Lucy pleaded. She was shaking all over. "Master… What… is going on? How could a devil come out of the flute?"
"That devil is the Lullaby itself. Meaning it's a Seikatsu Mahō," Goldmine explained as he observed the demon, "It's Zeref's magic."
"Kuroi Geijutsu…" Erza mumbled, tightening her grip on Natsu's mutilated arm.
"Zeref?! You mean, Zeref from the ancient times?!" Gray asked, clenching his teeth. It was hard to believe since Zeref must have died long ago.
"The dark mage Zeref is the most atrocious mage in the history of magic…" Bob explained with a weird smile on his face. "I never imagined that this adverse legacy from several hundred years ago would reappear…"
"NOW, WHOSE SOUL SHALL I ENJOY FIRST?" The giant tree asked, examining the crowd of mages, many local guild masters came outside to see what was happening. "I'VE DECIDED… ALL OF YOUR SOULS, YOU PITIFUL WIZARDS!"
"Gray, are you ready?" Erza turned to the ice-mage.
"Ready as I've ever been," Gray confirmed, preparing for battle.
"Let's roll then. Let battle rejoice!" Natsu ordered and the three Fairy Tail mages rushed into the fight.
"You can do this!" Several guild masters cheered for Team Natsu.
"What do they plan to do with just the three of them?" Lucy asked uncertainly.
"Why didn't you join them, Lucy?" Sin asked as he landed on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I used up all my magical energy to power the magical vehicle and I might just hold everyone back, you see…" Lucy said, her tone defensive. Sin remained incredulously silent.
Lullaby took a deep breath, creating a huge magic seal in the sky and devouring life from the surrounding vegetation.
"Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito!" [The Knight: Heaven's Wheel Armor] Erza shouted as a magic light covered her whole body and she once again equipped her four-winged armor and used its ability to levitate. With full force she slashed the monster with her dual swords, eliciting a dust cloud and making a large hole in the demon's right side.
"Aisu Meiku: Ransu!" [Ice Make: Lances] Gray once again stood into his stance, putting his fist over his palm and created a number of lances made of ice that he directed toward Zeref's devil to impale him, creating several more holes and causing the Lullaby to wail in pain.
Whilst Erza and Gray were distracting the demon, Natsu managed to climb up on its body. "Senjin no Sentsui!" [War God's Warhammer] The god slayer created a large hammer composed of crimson energy and smashed it into the devil's chest, creating another hole, a large one, and causing the demon to take a step back.
"No kidding! He made this huge thing to step back with one blow!" Someone exclaimed among the local guild masters observing the battle in awe.
"Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito!" [The Knight: Flight Armor] Erza ex-equipped her flight armor and moved for another attack. "Sonikku Kurou!" [Sonic Claw] The knight-mage quickly rushed along the beast's body, making several new holes with quick blows. When she was near demon's belly, Erza jumped and turned around in midair, raising her hands and forming a large flame halberd between her palms. Within the next second, she hurled it into the demon's chest. "Enryū no Nengeki!" [Flame Dragon's Blazing Halberd]. The burning bolt landed a direct hit, produced a bright explosion and drew a scream from the demon.
"Aisu Meiku: Ōto Shot Tobou!" [Ice Make: Auto Shot Bow] Gray created a bow of ice and launched a barrage of ice arrows into the beast.
"You will become dust, just as your maker," Natsu declared as he slammed his fists together, creating a magic seal and extending his arms forward, "Senjin no Yōshihō!" [War God's Proton Cannon] A broad, powerful beam of energy flew forward at the giant beast and produced a powerful blast, forcing him to take another step back.
Local guild masters watched in awe at Team Natsu's fight against Zeref's devil as bright blue, yellow and crimson flares were flashing in the sky.
"Look! She's ex-quipping armor and hurling flame spells!"
"And this one is an ice wizard!"
"What kind of magic is this guy using?"
"YOU'RE REALLY PISSING ME OFF NOW!" The giant beast bellowed and tried to smash Team Natsu with his huge claws. The beast smashed an entire mountain, but Gray, Natsu and Erza managed to avoid this attack and continued their onslaught.
"Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon!" [Ice Make: Ice Cannon] Gray created a large, long-barreled cannon made of ice and fired a cannonball, also made of ice, to deal massive damage to the target.
"Natsu!" Erza called out for her beloved, engulfing her right leg in flames.
"Ready!" Natsu nodded and jumped toward the beast as the essence of destruction engulfed his own right leg.
"Enryū no Saiga!" [Flame Dragon's Crushing Fang]
"Senjin no Shōkya!" [War God's Shock Kick]
With her hand lit ablaze, Erza swept at the target in a claw-like fashion, as Natsu performed similar a leg attack, utilizing war god slayer magic. The combined attack produced a massive explosion and created a huge hole in the devil's back.
"Amazing! I've never seen such a combination attack before!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly as she watched the battle.
"Yep, their movements are perfectly in sync. This is the real Fairy Tail style!" Sin agreed with Lucy completely.
"Go forth! Show our strength to everyone!" Makarov shouted, cheering for his children.
Officially pissed off, Lullaby roared and took in a deep breath, preparing to use its Noroiwa Utau [Cursed Song].
"I don't have a good feeling about this…" Lucy exclaimed, nervously clenching her teeth.
"Relax Lucy, this thing is just wasting its time now," Sin assured her with pleased smirk. Zeref's demon continued to inhale the air, consuming life from surrounding grass fields and trees.
"Look, the plains are withering!" Lucy pointed at the blackened grass.
"Yeah, it's the curse of the Lullaby. But trust me, you have nothing to worry about…" Sin remained calm and confident.
"I'LL BE DINING ON YOUR SOULS!" The demon bellowed, preparing to unleash his cursed magic. "RRAAAARRRGGGHHH!" Demon roared, releasing the air through his cutouts.
Everyone covered their ears, except for Makarov, Goldmine and Sin, all three looked at demon with bold smiles. Lullaby started to play its song… and nothing happened. Because it was not a song – it was a random set of inarticulate sounds.
The devil's jaw dropped in surprise and shock.
"What the heck?!" Lucy asked, looking like a gaping fish, "It did not do anything!"
"I told you – nothing to worry about," Sin stated carelessly.
"WHAT'S WITH THIS SOUND?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL SOUND?!" The demon wailed in shock, if it was not made from wood, it definitely would've been sweating all over now.
"You see, after all those attacks from before…" Sin started to explain but Lucy suddenly realized the situation.
"They opened up a bunch more holes, so it can't play properly!" The stellar-mage exclaimed in sudden realization. "So, after all this build up, this is the punchline?" The blonde addressed the demon, who still stood in deep shock and confusion.
"Look, his stomach is empty!" Sin mocked the Lullaby.
"SCREW YOU! HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME!" The monster bellowed in fury and destroyed another mountain with a kick.
"He's snapped!" One of the local guild masters shouted.
"Both big and bad-tempered!" Another one exclaimed.
The demon's eyes started to glow as he prepared to use his beam attack. Gray immediately dashed into position in front of the guild masters and used his magic, "Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo!" [Ice Make: Shield]
"He won't make it in time! We'll get hit!" Someone screamed in panic.
However, Gray made it just in time. The demon's beam hit the shield, making everyone cover their eyes from the bright light. A large, flower-like shield made of ice withstood the attack, which created a large firewall in front of the shield. No one was hurt, and everyone stared at the Zōkei Madōshi [Molding Mage] in awe.
"So fast!" One of the guild masters said in amazement.
"He can use Zōkei no Mahō [Molding Magic], to create something that large, almost instantly?" Another guild master wondered.
"Zōkei no Mahō?" Lucy questioned.
"The type of magic that gives a form to magical power," Sin explained. "There's also magic that can steal the form away…" The little creature added with a sneer, causing Lucy to gulp slightly.
"DAMN YOU!" The monster howled.
Suddenly, the firewall, which was created by Lullaby's attack, started to twist and move, turning into a dozen flame tendrils, which flew directly into Erza's mouth. She consumed everything, but again slightly chocked at the end, and that gained Natsu's attention. 'Strange…' The god slayer thought.
Erza, however, was not taken aback. "Embrace the flame!" She exclaimed as her eyes blazed with bright yellow flame.
"Sin, what is going on?" Makarov asked as the little boney dragon tried to hide behind Lucy. Actually, Makarov has no habit of putting his nose into his guild mages' affairs, but this time it was something very unusual, to say the least, so he wanted an explanation about Erza's new abilities, and he was sure that it somehow connected to Natsu, due to his newly revealed status as Erza's fiancé.
"YOU… YOU'RE FRIGGIN' MONSTER!" The giant beast roared and slammed his fist into the mound, on which Erza stood, destroying it.
"What did you call me?!" Erza bellowed in fury as she climbed up monster's arm. At the same time Natsu began to climb on the monster's leg.
"Aisu Meiku: Sōsā!" [Ice Make: Saucer] Gray shouted, creating a large disk made of ice, with spikes at its edge and launched it into the demon. The disk hit the target, causing the demon to partially lose his balance. "Natsu, Erza! Your ball – finish this thing off!" The ice-mage shouted.
"Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito!" [Black Wing Armor: The Knight (Lit. from KanJi – Black Feather)] Erza shouted, ex-quipping another armor. The armor was black with silver trimming that had silver crosses in several places. It had a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reach down to her waistguard. The waistguard leaves the front of her body exposed, with her groin being covered by a dark imbuement. She had large plates guarding her legs. She had a pair of wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure, but the parts used to fly were composed of a membrane-like material. Erza's hair was now in a ponytail. Immediately, the Guild Masters fell in love with the armor (and Erza herself).
"Oh!" Exclaimed one of the masters.
"The Black Wing armor! That's a magic armor that adds tremendous power to a single attack!" Several guild masters exclaimed simultaneously with hearts in their eyes.
"Kureha: Gessen!" [Black Wings: Moon Flash] She swung her sword, slashing the monster in a cross pattern with an extremely powerful blow.
"Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu!" [Death Knight Combat Style: Obliterate] Natsu charged Gladius Terminus with deathfrost magic and landed a devastating blow to the demon's neck at the same time as Erza's slashing attack reached the demon's groin. The combined attack stunned the beast, making it vulnerable to the final blow.
"Erza, Incapacitate this thing, I'll finish it with one attack," Natsu asked as he raised his sword and prepared for the assault. Erza didn't understand what exactly Natsu wants to do, but she learned to trust him, so she just nodded as she turned around in mid-air to face Lullaby. She raised her hands and began to cast a spell:
"With a blaze in the right hand...
And a blaze in the left hand...
When you combine two blazes together...
…Enryū no Yōnen!" [Flame Dragon's Radiant Blaze]
Erza made a huge, solid fireball, composed of bright, glimmering flame. "You're hungry?! Then try eating some of this!" Then dragon-knight yelled and hurled the huge fireball into the Rarabai. Dragon slayer's fireball produced a massive blast just below demon's chest, throwing it into the air.
And then, everyone's attention became focused at Natsu, whose sword suddenly began to shine as bright as Sun, the entire forest was lit up with crimson light. "Your existence will cease… with the Sword of the End! Senmei Saikō: Senpenbanka!" [Sure-kill Shot: Everchanging]
One, two… ten, twenty… hundred, two hundred… Still being in mid-air, within less than a second, Zeref's devil received 380 blows from Natsu's sword. Being cut to pieces, huge beast wailed for the last time and turned to dust, just as Natsu promised.
"Excellent!" Makarov remarked, hands behind his back.
"M… Marvelous!" Bob commented.
"One of Zeref's demons, defeated so easily…" Goldmine smiled.
Actually, most of them couldn't see what exactly Natsu did, only Erza with her enhanced eyes managed to count all attacks, and now she has been awestruck – she never saw a sword technique like that.
"Incredible!" Lucy admired in awe as the dust revealed Natsu, Erza and Gray, all standing together, looking victorious. Natsu holding onto his sword, Gray with his arms folded, and Erza standing with her right hand to her hip.
"So this is… what Fairy Tail mages are like?!" One of the local guild masters wondered aloud.
"They're the strongest team, all right! That was so cool!" Lucy cheered happily.
"No kidding," Sin agreed, he was still sitting on Lucy's shoulder.
"How about that?! Incredible, aren't they?!" Makarov asked with a boastful smile on his face.
"Terrific! You guys are the best!" Lucy cheered.
"Too easy… He was nothing too special, was he?" Natsu commented as his sword was soaked into his gloved left hand.
"A pushover…" Gray mumbled.
"Yet it was good training dummy, don't you think?" Erza asked, wrapping her hand around god slayer's waist from behind and Natsu frowned as he felt that her breathing was a bit heavy. She was, apparently, exhausted a bit more than she should've been. That, however, wasn't the most urgent issue to resolve.
Whilst Makarov, Gray, Lucy, and Sin on her shoulder, were talking with other guild masters, Erza suddenly felt the weight of entire Natsu's body – his legs refused to hold him and now she was forced to keep him standing. "Natsu!?" Erza whispered worriedly.
"What a moron I am," He replied quietly, his voice sounded a bit bitter, he seemingly was laughing at himself. "Sorry… That last attack I used – it burned out all of my mana…"
"What?!" Erza wondered, "Was it…"
Natsu interrupted her, "Of course it wasn't necessary. Something like my Senjin no Ukyogun [War God's Raven Flock] would've been more than enough to finish off that severely wounded demon, but… you were watching, aren't you?..."
"Baka!" Erza exclaimed, though not loud enough to attract other people's attention, and since she used both hands to keep Natsu standing – she bit his left ear as punishment – she realized why he did exactly what he did.
"Yeah…" Natsu sighed, "While you were gone for four weeks, I finally managed to understand how this technique should be performed. I care little about these people around, but it was so tempting to show to you that I finally can use one of Okā-sama's techniques…"
"That's exactly why you're baka!" Erza bit his right ear. Natsu couldn't resist the opportunity to show off in front of his soon-to-be wife, seemingly, even Natsu wasn't without flaws… "But I'm baka myself… because of that you are like this I love you so deeply and so sincerely," She smiled gently and kissed Natsu's scruff. "And I have to admit – that was… astonishing…" Erza mumbled. No, she knew that this guy's a genius and all, but still – to use technique that belongs to Supreme Goddess of War herself…
"Not that astonishing…" Natsu sighed, " Okā-sama could perform 1000 attacks, and not with sword, but with her own weapon of choice – a trident, Caelum Lacerator," Natsu sighed (Gladius Terminus belonged to Morrigan, yes, but she has more than one weapon, obviously). "There's so much more for me to learn…"
"To both of us," Erza nodded, remembering her own clumsy Flame dragon slayer's spells. "Can you stand?" She asked. Though, despite she got an affirmative answer, she had no intentions to release her fiancé from embrace.
As the group was talking, other guild masters were still around, watching them.
"They really are crazy," One of the guild masters stated with a smile on his face. "So young yet already so powerful…"
"Well, I don't know what's going on exactly, but I guess we all owe Fairy Tail one…" Goldmine added, holding his arms folded.
"That said, I still think…" Another guild master said, mouth agape.
Erza blinked in shock as she, Gray and Natsu turned around to see what the matter was. And what they saw confirmed that the guild masters have said "…they went overboard!"
"Well, in battle of such a scale, collateral damage is unavoidable…" Natsu reasoned, as he was already used to his team's destructiveness.
"The last step is the hardest…" Gray commented.
Makarov was shaking in shock while Lucy asked, as if she lapsed in idiocy: "Where's the regular meeting hall go?"
"And it seems that two or three mountains are gone, too…" Sin shook his head "This is... Fairy Tail's style."
Makarov was now white in the face as his shaking ceased and a 'soul' came out of his body. His body was still as stone; it seemed as if he died from shock.
"Master!" Lucy asked, witnessing Makarov 'die', in a sense.
"Something came out..." Goldmine pointed to the floating soul.
"Master… We're really sorry… We've disgraced you…" Erza muttered as her head hung in regret.
"But that's not what really bothering you…" Natsu smiled as he gently touched her chin, making her look into his eyes "…The thing that really bothers you is that you actually aren't sorry."
"Yes!" Erza admitted, stamping her foot in frustration. "Natsu, what's going on with me?! We just brought destruction to this peaceful place, but I don't care!"
"Don't you worry, it's just a side effect from the slayer's magic. Welcome aboard!" He cheered his fiancée, looking into her eyes.
"You're just crazy and you're hopeless…" Erza gave a deep sigh. "And am I too, it seems," She added, resigning to fate before smiling and pressing her lips to Natsu's with such passion that only Erza could show.
"Master, come back!" Gray called, chasing the soul of his master as an angered mob of guild masters scared Lucy. Cries of "There they are, get them!" Could be heard as Goldmine and Bob continued watching.
"The future is definitely in capable hands…" Both guild masters agreed as Lucy and the group, with Makarov in the arms of Gray, was being chased away by the angry crowd of guild masters.
July 10th, Year X784, 10:00, Magic council Era.
"Even with the Eisenwald having gone under, the main problem has not been solved," Org, the tall man with a little bat on his head, informed the council.
"There are as many dark guilds as there are stars in the sky," Yajima exclaimed.
"Then we should just root them out altogether," Org requested.
"How?" Yajima asked.
Org spoke up again, "It's intolerable if anyone would embezzle Zeref's magic again!"
"First of all, how could they have snuck out such a magic that easily?" A fat old man asked.
"We might have to call the management to take responsibility," Another councilor noted.
"But Fairy Tail, the one guild that we've been so annoyed with… showed up and saved the day," Seigrain said with a small chuckle.
"They took down the dark guild, two wanted criminals and Zeref's demon with only three or four men," Ultear smiled, covering her mouth.
"Uhg… Rgh…" Several councilors growled in frustration.
"I can understand why you don't want to admit the truth, but that's how it is," Seigrain added calmly. "If the guild masters were killed by the Lullaby, things would've been much worse. Some of us here would've certainly been fired."
"Don't be silly! Are you really gonna bring up the matter of responsibility here?!" Org angrily yelled.
"That's out of the question! We're already tearing our hair out over their reckless behavior!" Leiji shouted, steaming from rage.
Seigrain kept smiling before offering his request, "You should just show them some appreciation and stop complaining."
July 12th, Year X784, 9:00, Town of Magnolia.
Lucy was in her house, sitting at her table facing the window as she was writing a letter to someone. With quill in hand, she wrote down the events of the Lullaby incident and her involvement with Natsu, Sin, Gray, and Erza.
'Eisenwald's attempted attack on the guild masters using the Lullaby instantly became a major news story that swept across the country. Even now it's hard to believe that I was at the center of such a big incident, but here I am, just living another day in my regular little life. To be honest, sometimes I feel excited when I remember that accident, though. As it turns out, most of the Eisenwald members were caught. Erigor and Reina are awaiting the trial. I guess it's only natural. The only scary thing is that there may be more dark guilds somewhere out there. What if they decide to do something like Eisenwald tried to do? But it's okay! Fairy Tail has the greatest team of Natsu, Erza and Gray! Oh, and me and Sin too! This is a great guild! So don't worry, Mom! I'm doing fine. P.S. Don't tell Dad about that, okay?'
With a sigh of relief in finishing her letter, she placed the quill down and folded the letter into an envelope, which she sealed with a stamp. Lucy pondered, wondering what she'd do today since she finished her letter to her mother.
"Guess I'll go shopping today," She decided as she got out of her chair to stretch her arms and legs. "Thrilling adventures are nice and all, but being home sure is relaxing!"
"70 000 jewel a month is a good price for a place like this," Sin's voice spoke out from behind her.
She turned around to see the little boney creature sitting on the window frame. Despite that he tried to look casual, Lucy still noticed his vexed tone, as if he actually has been quite annoyed.
"Sin? What are you doing here so early? And what's with this look? Is something wrong? Where's Natsu?" Lucy asked several questions but got only one answer.
"I thought you should know... Natsu has been arrested about half an hour ago…" Sin grimly informed her.
"WHAAAT?!"
July 12th, Year X784, 9:25, Town of Magnolia, Fairy Tail guildhall.
As fast as she could, Lucy went to the guild hall to get some explanation about the situation. She found the whole guild being depressed as none of them could say anything but the fact that Natsu has been arrested for "Involvement with the Eisenwald accident" and only Erza was allowed to accompany him on his way to the Fiore Council Branch, for unknown reasons.
"Our opponent is the council; nothing we can do for him now…" Gray spoke up with a grim look on his face. "Even if something's white, once a council member says it's black, then it becomes black. They just won't listen to our excuses," The ice-mage added as Max unwillingly agreed with him.
"But why… We've done so many things in the past, so why this time?" Elfman wondered.
"Yeah… I don't understand," Loki agreed.
"I'm certain… I'm certain there's something fishy going on…" Lucy thought aloud.
July 12th, Year X784, 9:35, Magic council Era Fiore's branch.
The council messenger lead Natsu and Erza along the large corridor inside the magic trial's building. Natsu's hands were tied by magic-restraining shackles. "I still can't understand why you were allowed to accompany to the accused…" The frog-like council messenger asked Erza.
"No idea," She emotionlessly answered the question. Her expression was both stern and slightly worried, of course she was thinking about what is going on. Both she and Natsu had a feeling that something strange is happening here. They followed the messenger through the corridor, the sunlight radiated through the windows and the room.
"We'll see soon enough, won't we?" Natsu asked calmly, unlike Erza he doesn't seem worried at all. The group turned the corner and Erza immediately became angry. Natsu too noticed some figure that stood in shadows, but Erza's dragon eyes definitely were able to distinguish this person. "Siegrain…" She hissed through gritted teeth.
The messenger stopped, he too spotted someone leaning against the pillar. His arms were folded, and his expression was impatient to say the least. He opened his eyes to look at the people who have arrived. His lips were set in a line and the blue haired council member had his eyes on the scarlet haired mage.
"And here is the answer…" Natsu said. Surely it was Siegrain's wish to allow Erza to come together with Natsu.
"It's been a while, my dear Erza," The azure haired councilor greeted her.
The messenger bowed to the ground to greet the council member, but Erza was furious at the young man. She clenched her fists.
"Easy Erza, it's just a Shinentai [Thought Projection]" Natsu tried to calm down his fiancée.
"Your perception is admirable, as always, Natsu Bloodfallen," The blue haired council member's body appeared to be fizzling as he spoke. "My real body is in Era right now," He continued, looking at the courtroom door. "All the geezers beyond that door are projections, too." Erza's face formed a frown as he went on explaining, "There was no reason for us to personally come for such a small case."
"I see… So this was your doing? It's just nonsense. What do you want from us?" Erza asked through clinched teeth.
"Now, that accusation really hurts me…" Siegrain said with false grievance. "I even spoke on behalf of Fairy Tail and your precious boyfriend, personally," Siegrain walked past Erza, his back facing hers. "But the geezers feared that they'd be held responsible, so they need a victim to take the blame." He smiled before adding to the stern looking Erza as her right eye was looking back at him, "Your handsome friend here is the scape-goat."
Erza snapped, turning to Siegrain with gritted teeth. "Shut up!" It was good that Siegrain stood facing the opposite direction so he did not notice two small streams of fire which blazed from her nose.
Siegrain kept calm before speaking once again, "Alright… fine. The reason I came before the trial started…" He moved closer to Erza. "I assume you told him about that?" The azure haired wizard glanced at Natsu. Her answer was silence, so Sieg took it as "yes". "It's all right if you did, but neither of you two should tell the geezers about that. It's for our own good. I just don't want a panic in the guilds and magic council to mess up my plans for him," Siegrain said as he lifted his hand as if to touch her face. "Such beauty… Natsu Bloodfallen, you are a lucky man…"
"You can't even imagine…" Natsu replied imperturbably.
"So… I'll be waiting for you two behind that door as a member of the council. Erza, despite you've been allowed to come with him, you are just a mere observer, so be a good girl and keep quiet." And the thought projection faded away, leaving Erza and Natsu in the corridor with the council's messenger.
The messenger looks up at the scarlet haired mage, her expression full of anger and her gaze sharp like daggers, "Y-You know some real important people…!"
"He's evil," Erza replied sharply.
"Ribbit?" The Messenger-frog responded. What did Erza mean by that?
"She meant that someone can be a real pain in the ass…" Natsu commented emotionlessly, looking at the courtroom door, as if he heard messenger's thoughts.
Back in Era, the real Seigrain walked briskly through the hall. 'Don't try to interfere, Erza. Not after I've come this far…'
Natsu was standing, facing the thought projections of each member of the Magic Council. Erza was allowed to enter the room but she had to remain near the courtroom door. A gavel was heard as it was time to begin the trial as the messenger announced, "The mage hearing will now come to order." While reading off a paper, he continued, "Defendant Natsu Bloodfallen. Please take the witness stand."
July 12th, Year X784, 9:55, Fairy Tail.
A certain blonde-haired celestial-mage stood up from her seat wanting to make a stand about this.
"We can't ignore this after all! Let's testify!" Lucy said.
"Lucy…" Nab said simply.
"Hold on, now!" Makarov ordered.
"How can you say that?" Lucy retorted running up to Makarov, Mira, and the others. "He was unlawfully arrested. Besides, whatever property damages or crimes they were talking about, both Gray and I were with him most of the time. Sure there was that head butting, but that's beside the point! We need to get there before they reach a verdict."
"It's too late for that now, no matter how much we hurry," Makarov replied with eyes closed.
"But…" She tried to say something but was ignored from that point on.
July 12th, Year X784, 10:10, Magic council Era Fiore's branch
"Defendant Natsu Bloodfallen. Concerning the terrorism incident with the dark guild Eisenwald the other day, you are suspected of destroying a part of Oshibana Station (yep, Reina's spheres exploded, though damage was lesser than Natsu expected, most likely because Reina was knocked out) and an entire mansion in Clover. Also, according to the witnesses, 'the salmon-haired young man, dressed in a black one-sleeved coat' pretended to be a council agent to get access to the station…"
One hour later.
Natsu listened to the 'charges' with eyes half-closed. The hearing took nearly an hour and it was obvious that the whole thing was just a formality, just as he knew long before that. The council convicted him in order to appear as if they actually enforced the law, just to keep up appearances so it wouldn't look like they screwed up.
Twenty more minutes later.
"…So your guild have to provide the compensation for every damage done."
Unsurprisingly, Natsu was found guilty and, also unsurprisingly, the sentence was just as expected – the guild had to pay for damages done. Natsu was released in the courtroom.
"Remove the shackles from the defendant," The judge ordered.
"Don't bother," Natsu said, moving his hands apart and effortlessly shattering the magic-restraining shackles to pieces. "They are for ordinary humans…"
Some of the council members gulped a little as Siegrain chuckled.
"You may leave, " The judge said.
"Come on, Natsu," Erza smiled with relief. Despite knowing it was just a formality, she was worried for her beloved god slayer. As soon as Natsu and Erza have left the courtroom, the dragon-knight wrapped her arms around Natsu and kissed him.
"Don't tell me you were worried?" Natsu asked with a smile as soon as his lips were released.
"Of course not," Erza stated, her cheeks blushed slightly.
"Fibster," Natsu said softly as he tenderly touched her chin. Of course she was worried, despite the fact that she knew for sure it was just a stupid farce.
"You're such a cute couple…" Siegrain's voice called from behind. "Just remember, keep quiet about that."
"Siegrain…" Erza growled as green lighting-like torrents of magic covered her arms.
Natsu clenched Erza's shoulders before turning to council member. "Leave us alone, Siegrain, we will remember and play along… for now. But you should remember something too: you may be the world's greatest tramp, or the world's greatest villain, but you're still only a mortal..." Natsu declared as he picked up his scarlet dragon-knight bride-style and headed towards the exit.
"We'll meet again, Natsu Bloodfallen, soon enough…" Siegrein hissed, slightly frustrated with Natsu's comment.
"Do not frown, my love. I know it hurts you, but we have to play by his rules, just a bit more. But sooner or later he will make his move, and then there will be no rules…" Natsu said, carrying his beloved blood-haired fairy away.
July 12th, Year X784, 13:40, Fairy Tail.
"I see! The messenger was a frog, so they bounced right back!" Gray stated, looking as if he just managed to find a confirmation for the Loop Quantum Gravity theory, no less.
"As expected of an ice mage. As cold as ice…" Sin shook his boney head as Elfman shivered from Gray's "discovery."
"I can't believe the arrest was just a formality… I wasted my time worrying," Lucy said in annoyance, her head laying on the table. "Arresting one of the members of Fairy Tail's strongest team is so insulting…"
"Strongest team? What are you talking about?" Gray inquired with a frown.
"I'm talking about you, Natsu and Erza! You're the three strongest mages in Fairy Tail, right?" Lucy replied fists balled up.
"Huh? What rubbish," Gray smiled, thinking that Lucy was joking. "Who told you that senseless idiocy?"
Mirajane kept a cheerful smile for only a second before placing her hands onto her face. Tears swelled in her eyes as she started to cry. Gray's eyes were wide from shock and embarrassment as he added nervously, "Oh, it was you, Mira-chan?!"
"What a lamebrain…" Erza shook her head, of course the ears of the she-dragon were able to hear the whole conversation. 'However… It's just Mirajane, after all,' She reminded to herself. Natsu was busy with his notepad so Erza had nothing to do at the moment.
"I have no doubts about Natsu's strength, but I can't say he is the strongest. For now, there are at least two mages stronger than Natsu. Do you remember? He told you about "that geezer," who inspired Natsu to join the Fairy Tail? Even now he is stronger than Natsu, and do not forget about master Makarov, his powers are admirable," Sin explained after joining Lucy at the table.
"Moreover, our guild has two more S-class male mages, and I appreciate their manliness…" Elfman commented, arms still folded. "Fairy Tail is filled with plenty of powerful mages," He pointed to himself with a thumb, "Like me!"
"I agree about Erza being the strongest female wizard, though," Levy commented with a smile.
"Yes, but I'm not ready to completely write off Mirajane yet," Sin nodded. "She was very strong too – she was once called a she-devil." Lucy gulped at this statement, she couldn't imagine how sweet Mira-san has managed to get this nickname.
"I just thought Natsu, Erza and Gray would get along perfectly…" Mira whimpered, still having tears falling from her eyes.
Erza yawned. "Those guys are so boring…" She pointed at Lucy's company, "They are making me sleepy…"
"It's not them…" Natsu informed as he hid his notepad and golden pen inside his coat's internal pocket. He raised his left arm as blue light engulfed it. It looked as if Natsu wanted to shield himself from something.
"Hrm…" Makarov growled slightly from the bar counter.
"Hmm? What's wrong, master?" Mira asked with a smile, though her eyes were still a bit red.
"Nothing… Just getting sleepy…" Makarov mumbled as Mira looked at him questioningly, "It's him."
Suddenly all the guild members started to feel an irresistible sleepiness.
"Ah," Mirajane yelped as she began to get drowsy as her legs felt like wet noodles and her eyes became heavy and she slump her head onto the bar counter, falling asleep.
"This is…" Gray said as he and Elfman began to feel drowsy too.
"Sleepy…" Max fell asleep almost instantly.
One by one, each guildmember felt the drowsiness and even Erza was lying with her head resting on the table as she now was half-asleep. Everyone else either fell to the floor or slump against the tables or poles. The whole guild, except for three individuals, were asleep as someone came walking in. He wore a dark blue cloak and his arms and legs were mostly covered in bandages. He wore a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector. On his back were magic staves which were held by a dark green strap going across his body. He stepped through the mess of knocked out members before heading to the request board.
"Mystogan..." Makarov muttered, eyeing him.
Picking the request he'd like to take, the unknown mage came to Makarov who was able to resist his sleeping spell. Sin, who is unable to sleep at all, silently looked at the strange mage.
"You took another monster extermination mission?" Natsu asked. Looks like he was able to block the sleep spell using his Shisō Geijutsu.
"And you still prefer to hunt for humans?" Mystogan returned the question as he showed the request to the master.
"Believe or not, but humans actually more diverse," Natsu noted.
Mystogan didn't reply, "I'm leaving," He said simply.
"Hold on. Release your sleep magic!" Makarov ordered strictly.
"Of course…" With each silent step he took to depart, he counted ready to reverse the spell he placed on the guild. "Five... Four… Three... Two... One..."
As he left, the sleep spell was lifted and everyone opened their eyes at once. Still a bit drowsy from the spell, most of the guild started to converse with one another.
"Th… this feeling… was it Mystogan?!" Jet asked, hands to his eyes.
"That punk!" Droy spat in frustration.
"His Surīpu Superu [Sleep Spell] is so powerful…!" Levy added a bit amazed.
"Mystogan?" Lucy asked in confusion, her eyes were still droopy.
"He's one of the 'strongest mage' candidates in Fairy Tail," Loki explained before realizing that he is standing too close to Lucy and jumped away.
"For some reason he hates to be seen, so whenever he comes to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep," Erza explained not even trying to hide her frustration about this matter. "Only the master can resist his spell, and Natsu found a way to block it, so I assume they are the only two who saw Mystogan's face."
"What? That sounds so fishy…" Lucy was shocked a little.
"Nope, actually neither I nor Sin have ever seen his face. Personally, I can't say I'm interested. I've seen his soul and it looks decent to me, so I have no reasons to break into his privacy," Natsu commented as he turned on his chair to let Erza sit on his lap. Sin just nodded, agreeing with Natsu.
"Yet I want to take a good look at his face…" Erza growled silently, she was irritated by the fact that she was still unable to resist Mystogan's sleep spell.
"So, then I can assume that only the master knows Mystogan's face…" Gray speculated, taking Natsu's words into calculation.
"No… I know it as well," Spoke a voice from above them getting Gray's attention and the others' as well.
"Laxus!" Macao exclaimed, eyeing the person that was on the second floor.
"You're here?!" Elfman said, quite shocked.
"This is rare," Wakaba agreed.
"He is also one of the strongest mage candidates," Gray added with his chin resting on his hand.
Laxus was a very tall and muscular young man with gray-blue eyes. His hair was slicked back, its numerous spiky strands pointing backwards, though some of it fell down over his forehead. He had a distinctive lightning bolt shaped scar on his right eye and sported dark lines circling his eyes, with each of them possessing a single, prominent eyelash jutting outwards. On his head were spiked headphones and he wore a black coat with grey fur trimmings and a dark yellow shirt.
"Mystogan is really shy. Don't question it too much," Laxus said with an arrogant sneer before noticing Erza sitting on Natsu's lap. "Hey Natsu, I see you softened completely… Damn, I hoped to see your rematch with her… too bad. But I always knew that you couldn't beat even Erza."
"What does that mean?!" Erza responded darkly as she tried to jump on her feet but Natsu hugged her tightly, preventing her from moving.
"Calm down, my love. Just let the fool speak," God slayer said.
"I mean I am the strongest! I'll never give up Fairy Tail's strongest position to anyone!" Laxus continued. "Not to Erza, not to Mystogun, not to you Natsu and not to that geezer."
"Of course you won't," Natsu agreed, surprising the whole guild. "Because you never had that position in the first place, how can you give up something you don't have? Or I was away for too long and I missed your match against Gildarts? Because until you defeat him in battle you are just a poseur. Oh, and since you are older than me can I call you an old fart?" God slayer asked with the same emotionless voice. Now the whole guild was trying to hold in their laughter as Laxus's face became a bit red.
"Shut your mouth, Natsu!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Or what, Laxus?" Natsu asked calmly.
"Enough!" Makarov shouted, he got tired from this pointless arguing.
"As you wish, master," Natsu turned away from the master's grandson.
"One day I'll beat the shit out of him…" Erza growled as her eyes blazed with flame.
"I'm the strongest! None of you can beat me! Ha, most of you can't even go to the second floor!" Laxus laughed before leaving from the second floor's balcony.
July 12th, Year X784, 14:15, Fairy Tail.
"Do you know what Laxus was talking about earlier?" Lucy asked Mirajane. "What he meant when he said that most of us can't go to the second floor?"
"It's still a bit too early for you Lucy, but the request board on the second floor has jobs that are far more difficult than the ones on the first floor. They're S-Class missions," Mirajane explained.
"S-Class?" Lucy repeated. "Ah yes, I remember, Sin mentioned it earlier…"
"They're so dangerous that even the smallest mistake can lead to your death," She continued. "The rewards are that much higher, though!"
"Wow…" Lucy replied in amazement. "But… Natsu managed to prove that completing the simple missions is more profitable…" Lucy became confused a bit.
"Well, yes, but… that's Natsu… he's not a regular case, you know…" Mira stuttered before continuing an explanation, "Anyway, only mages approved by the master can take the S-class jobs. It isn't for the faint of heart. S-Class jobs are all really dangerous and deadly," She smiled before adding, "There are only six currently qualified, including Natsu, Erza and…"
"…and you, Mirajane," Sin finished her phrase as he landed on Mira's shoulder, making the blue-eyed girl to smile sadly. "I'm still agreeing with Natsu about your situation Mira, we'll find the way to get you back into the saddle, so there is no need to be sad, however, right now I want to remind to our blonde about the job that you arranged for her."
"Oh yes, Lucy! You have less than three hours to prepare for the photo session!" Mira exclaimed, freaking Lucy out.
"Yaaaaa! I forgot!" She screamed and flew out from the guildhall like a bullet as Sin face-palmed. Lucy forgot that Mira recommended her to the Sorcerer Weekly magazine as a model. The crew wanted to meet her at Magnolia's beach that day at 17:00.
Omake: Lucy at the beach
…
July 12th, Year X784, 16:10, Magnolia's beach.
"Ahhhh! The beach!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully, with her arms spread wide. She enjoyed a sunny day at the beach.
"You made it here really quick," Sin decided to join Lucy, he thought that observing her photo session could be quite an interesting experience.
'That's right, I'm at the beach this time! Why, you ask? Of course it's for work. Don't look surprised! I'll be starring in the weekly Sorcerer! Maybe I'll become famous in the world of magic now?' Stars sparkled around Lucy as she imagined herself on the cover of the most popular magic magazine.
"The camera crew is late…" Lucy complained as Sin landed on her shoulder.
"No wonder, you were so hasty that you came to the beach more than half an hour early. There's no way they'd be here already. You're just too eager," Sin noted, ignoring the shocked looks of the beach folks that were directed at him.
"By the way, interesting swimsuit you got here," Natsu's indifferent voice called out from behind, making Lucy to turn around in shock only to see the whole trio – Gray, Erza and the God slayer – standing there. Gray was in his boxers at the beach but it was fairly pertinent while Natsu and Erza were wearing their common clothes.
"Why are you all here?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise before quickly recomposing herself and smiling playfully. She touched her cheek. "Aaah, I know. You wanted to see me in my swimsuit huh… Ah, I'm so embarrassed… Stop staring at me!" She cried in false shyness before noticing that no one was actually staring at her.
"Since when did logic started to work in Fairy Tail?" Sin asked as Lucy growled in frustration because no one even tried to compliment her swimsuit or her looks.
"Listen up you three! I'll never forgive you if you screw up my photo shoot!" Lucy shouted. That shout was ignored as well, as the three were looking around, as if they were looking for something. "Oh, come on! Stop ignoring me!" Lucy exclaimed resentfully. "If you're not interested in my photo shoot, then what did you come here for?" She wondered, still pouting.
"We came here to catch a boar," Erza informed.
"Mira is going to cook her famous boar stew, so…" Gray added.
"I'm here just to keep company," Natsu raised his arms, meaning that he has nothing to do with this nonsense.
"There are lot of boars in the mountains…" Lucy shivered a little. "By the way, Erza, you're even wearing your clothes at the beach? That doesn't look too suitable…" The stellar mage pointed out. She was only addressing Erza – Lucy was a pretty smart girl, so she knew that, because of his left arm, Natsu has to wear his coat even here.
"Fu fu… Don't underestimate me, Lucy. I can ex-quip to swimsuits, too. Look!" Erza said with a smirk before a magic light engulfed her. A second later the light faded, revealing Erza in her iron swimsuit. "See?" She asked with a smile.
"IRON?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.
"I have a steel one, too," Erza announced proudly. Three seconds later she realized what she just had done as she turned to Natsu, who's turn to facepalm came just now. "Natsu, we are still engaged, are we?" She asked gingerly.
Natsu made a deep sight, "The fact that you're so quaint is one of the countless reasons why we've become engaged, in the first place…" He said as he encased his odd but so lovely girlfriend into a tight embrace.
"By the way, Lucy, you mentioned a photo shoot, but do you have any experience?" Gray inquired.
"Nope," Lucy admitted bluntly.
"You should at least practice posing and making expressions then," Sin commented.
"Why don't you do it here? We'll help you," Erza suggested as she ex-quipped a normal black bikini suit. Natsu wrapped his hands around her waist, pressing her body to himself and causing her to sigh sweetly.
"No way! It's embarrassing!" Lucy exclaimed, covering her breasts.
"You're gonna be in a magazine. You'll never be able to do it if you're shy," The dragon-knight said with her arms crossed.
"Th… then maybe a little bit… Like this?" Lucy asked as she made a slurred stance with weird face expression. She was extremely constrained.
"Hrmmm… Your expression is awkward," Erza said.
"The pose isn't great either," Gray decided.
"You seem like a mannequin that contracted sciatica," Natsu blurted and got a soft slap on the back of his head from Erza.
"How about this then?" Lucy lay on her stomach, one leg bent at the knee and cute smile on her face.
"Yeah, that's better…" Erza commented as the boys nodded in agreement.
Lucy made several different poses, each time better than before. At last Lucy laid on her back as she crossed her arms under her breast to make them pop out more.
"There!" Gray exclaimed suddenly. For a moment Lucy thought he meant that pose was the best but… "I see the boar! Let's get it!"
"That's… unexpected…" Natsu seemed a bit surprised, obviously he didn't expect to find boar on the beach, and just came here along with his fiancée.
"Don't let it get away!" Erza shouted as she and Gray rushed toward the boar, jumping over Lucy, and Natsu followed the two of them slightly behind (and only God knows why this boar came to the beach).
"A girl on a roll! She'll take any pose you want!" Sin was flying around with a wooden sign "100J", acting like a barker, "Only 100 jewels for one pose!"
"I WILL NOT!" Lucy yelled angrily as tears of grievance swelled in her eyes, because her so-called nakamas dumped her. "Gaaah! You're all making fun of me!" Lucy let out a tearful cry. "I've had it!" She raised one of her golden keys and shouted "Open, the door to the water bearer, Akueriasu!" A mermaid-like spirit emerged from the blue magic seal Lucy's key created. "Here, punish them for me!"
"A girl on the roll, huh," The mermaid just giggled as she noticed the sign in Sin's claws.
"Leave me alone!" Lucy cried indignantly. "It's your duty! There! Flush those idiots away!" She pointed at Erza and Gray, who were still chasing after the boar.
"Huh?" Lucy wondered as Aquarius suddenly disappeared, without saying a word, and Taurus appeared in her stead.
"Moo-f course! I'll do wha-a-atever you ask me to, Lucy-san!" The bull exclaimed with hearts in his eyes and steam flowing from his nostrils as he almost poked it into Lucy's chest, causing her to jerk away.
"I did not summon you!" Lucy screamed in shock.
"You won't get away!" Gray shouted at the boar as he prepared to use his magic to freeze the beast.
"Cold!" Some folks trembled from the suddenly low temperature.
"Today we'll dine on boar's stew cooked by my own recipe! Enryū no Hōkō!" [Flame Dragon's Roar] A flow of flames flew toward the boar and exploded, throwing the boar into the sea, where he was caught and swallowed by an orca.
"Huh?" Natsu looked into the sea, at the point where orca just appeared, "Cara mea, have you seen that?!"
"Of course I did!" Erza replied in frustration, "That thing just stole our dinner!"
"No, forget the boar, I am not talking about that," Naysu shook his head. Until now he seemed quite uninterested, but now he suddenly displayed a lot of enthusiasm. "That was a seven-finned silver-azure orca!"
"So what?" Gray wondered.
"Never heard of it…" Erza seemed puzzled.
"But that is a magical creature! It usually dwells at northernmost latitudes, no idea why is it came here, but we can't let it just get away! Its meat, fat and marrow are very useful for wizards if cooked properly – it can help increase mana capacity!" Natsu explained.
"Really!?" Gray couldn't believe his ears.
"Something like that actually exists?!" Erza seemed shocked.
"Besides…" Natsu added "…it is very tasty! Quickly now, Gray, prepare a large ice platform so we can transport it. Erza, get ready, I'll force it out from the water and together we'll catch it! Metsujin Ōgi…" [God Slayer's Secret Art…] Natsu began to cast a spell as he extended his arms forward.
"No Natsu, wait! The seabed here is too flat!" Erza tried to stop him but her words fell on deaf ears.
"…Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!" [Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath] Natsu created a huge missile composed of twisting crimson energy and hurled it at the sea where the orca was seen for the last time. The missile submerged and hit some underwater rock, producing an immensely powerful sub-water explosion.
Big pillar of seawater shot into the air, but a seven-finned silver-azure orca couldn't be seen inside of it. "Damn… has it got away? I guess it won't be that easy to catch a magical creature…" Natsu mumbled to himself. "Sin, come over here, I need to take a look from the above!" He called for his familiar, intending to chase for the orca by the air.
"Natsu, look!" Gray shouted, for some reason he was frightened as he pointed behind the god slayer.
"What?" Natsu asked as he turned around, "Oh come on, not this again..." The blast from his Chaos Dragon Breath created a huge tidal wave that was now heading in their direction.
"I can't resist anymoo-re!" The perverted stellar spirit shouted as he started to untie Lucy's top, freaking her out.
"Hands off, you pervert!" She screamed, trying to run away from Taurus.
"Aisu Meiku: Sherutā!" [Ice Make: Shelter] Gray shouted, creating an ice pyramid above and around himself.
"You two lived here for a long time, why didn't anyone tell me that this beach has such a flat seabed? And how then that orca even get here?" Natsu asked, raising his sword, preparing to counter the tidal wave, which he created with his own hands. "Damn, I can't believe that the seven-finned silver-azure orca was almost in my hands and yet it managed to get away…" He couldn't stop complaining.
"Go to hell, together with that orca of yours! Natsu, I hope you'll survive this so I could kill you myself!" Erza exclaimed furiously. He was complaining along all the way to the beach, then made a huge commotion, and now he's looking for someone to blame…
The tidal wave hit the beach, turning it into an utter mess and washing away everything. Natsu swung his sword and made a rift in a wave, broad enough so he and Erza weren't washed away.
One minute later, the magazine's crew arrived to the beach.
"I wonder what Lucy is like…" The cameraman from the magazine's crew said.
"Mira-chan recommended her to us, so I'm sure she's cute," The editor replied.
"Oh, is that her?" The cameraman asked as he noticed the blonde girl. But then they've managed to distinguish the chaos on the ruined beach: a topless Lucy was running away from her own stellar spirit, Gray was hiding inside of an ice pyramid, Sin's rolling on the sand laughing, and Erza's yelling at her boyfriend, who seemed as aloof as ever:
"You're a damn psycho!"
"Is that not the reason you love me?"
"Yes!"
"Then why are you yelling at me?"
"I don't know!"
"No, it's not she…" The editor said, observing the situation.
"Yeah, they're probably doing some shooting for some perverted movie… Let's get out of here," The cameraman agreed.
Author's voice: So, Lucy, it's good to be a part of the big family?
Spell list:
Shirubā Sufia – Silver Sphere
Kuroi Geijutsu – Black Arts
Shi no Mahō – Death Magic
Nōtōkei – Brain Freeze
Shinunoru Tōryūgi – Death Knight Combat Style
Ken no Mahō – Sword Magic
Shisō Geijutsu – Death Frost Art
Seikatsu Mahō – Living Magic
Rarabai's – Lullaby
Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito – The Knight: Heaven's Wheel Armor
Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito – The Knight: Flight Armor
Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito – Black Wing Armor: The Knight (Lit. from KanJi – Black Feather)
Sonikku Kurou – Sonic Claw
Kureha: Gessen – Black Wings: Moon Flash
Senjin no Sentsui – War God's Warhammer (War god's version of Zancrow's "Flame God's Scythe")
Senjin no Yōshihō – War God's Proton Cannon
Senjin no Shōkya – War God's Shock Leg
Senjin no Ukyogun – War God's Raven Flock
Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: chaos Dragon Breath (This spell is just a slightly modified version of Lina Inverse's signature spell - Dragon Slave)
Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu – Death Knight Combat Style: Obliterate
Senmei Saikō: Senpenbanka – Sure-kill Shot: Everchanging
Enryū no Sōkon – Flame Dragon's Maim
Enryū no Hōkō – Flame Dragon's Roar
Enryū no Nengeki – Flame Dragon's Blazing Halberd
Enryū no Yōnen – Flame Dragon's Radiant Blaze
Aisu Meiku: Ransu – Ice Make: Lances
Aisu Meiku: Ōto Shot Tobou – Ice Make: Auto Shot Bow
Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon – Ice Make: Ice Cannon
Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo – Ice Make: Shield
Aisu Meiku: Sōsā – Ice Make: Saucer
Aisu Meiku: Sherutā – Ice Make: Shelter
Noroiwa Utau – Cursed Song
Zōkei Madōshi – Molding Mage
Zōkei no Mahō – Molding Magic
Shinentai – Thought Projection
Surīpu Superu – Sleep Spell
Well, that's it people. Chapter seven has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a REVIEW! See you in the next chapter – Natsu's Dairy.