Here's the next chapter everyone!

For this one, I'm hoping this will answer some questions regarding how strong Willy as well as the Lisanna situation.

I would also like to say that I'm changing my days for updating my stories. I am now going to upload at least once a week instead of Friday.

Till then, enjoy!

Chapter 61

Willy vs Natsu

The word of Willy and Natsu's fight soon spread throughout the guild like wildfire. Everyone became very excited and were all wanting to see who would win. All of the guild members gathered outside of the guild ready to watch the fight. And it wasn't just the guild members that were excited about the fight, a couple of the townspeople who were in the area were wanting to see the fight as well. Soon, a large crowd had surrounded the two combatants wanting to see the show.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" they cheered.

"Knock em dead, Natsu!" yelled a male guild member.

"Come on, Willy! You can do it!" cried a female member. "Show em what you're made of!"

"Oh man. I still hate it when you guys pick sides when it comes to things like this," said Lucy. "I don't like seeing other guild members fight and I don't want either of those two to lose."

"Come on Lucy, where's your spirit?" said Gray. "Besides, it's gonna be a good fight. Plus, it's not like it's gonna rip them apart or something. It's all in good fun."

"Mira? Elfman? Surely you two are feeling a little worried about this?" Lucy asked turning to them.

"I'm not worried about it," said Elfman. "I'd say let them go at it. I'm psyched to see how this will turn out, especially since Willy's cured of his condition."

"I'm feeling a little excited about this myself," said Mira. "But I am worried about it as well. However, I'm sure Willy will be just fine. Plus, it'll be a good opportunity to see how Willy stacks up in the guild."

"How he stacks up? What do you mean by that?" asked Lucy.

"She means, think of it as an opportunity to see Willy's current combat ability, Lucy," explained Erza. "It's been six years since a few of us had seen Willy fight and since Willy had been under that spell that was controlling him. Only a few of us had seen him fight firsthand while most of the other members like you and Wendy have yet to see how Willy fights at all. Not to mention that Willy was very sickly due to the overwhelming magic he had in his body. This fight will be beneficial because it will show how far Willy has come and how his fighting ability is."

"I get it," said Lucy nodding. "But I'm really hoping that Natsu and Willy won't demolish the town."

"It does make you wonder though," said Happy. "Who do you guys think is gonna win?"

"I know who I'm placing my bet on," said Elfman. "Willy by a long shot."

"To be honest, I don't know who to root for on this one," said Mira. "So, I'm gonna root for both of them." She took a deep breath and called out. "Do your best, Willy! Do your best, Natsu!"

WILLY'S POV

I was doing various stretching exercises in preparation of my fight with Natsu. I first started with my legs and then stretched my arms. It had been a while since I've fought. Well... as myself at least when it came to fighting. Normally I would turn down a fight from Natsu, but this was a good chance to see how my magic was since... well since I was a puppet to one of the biggest dark guilds in the Baram Alliance.

However, there was a bright side to it. My condition with my magic power has been fixed and I was ready to use my magic and see what I can do. And what better way than to use it to spar with Natsu. I was a little nervous praying that I won't get a fever from fighting, but at the same time, I was feeling a little excited eager to see how I would fare.

"Hope you ready for a beat down Willy," I heard Natsu say. "Because today I'm gonna win!"

I looked up at Natsu and then took a fighting stance. "You sure seem confident Natsu, but don't think that I'm gonna be taking it easy on you," I said. "Because unlike before, there isn't gonna be any sand to make your sneak attacks."

Natsu pouted in annoyance. "I was just a little kid back then, but this time is gonna be different! This time, I'm gonna beat you using no sneak attacks!" He then punched his hands together as they burst into flames. "Cause my fists and flames are all I'm gonna need!"

"Not if my water has anything to say about it," I shot back. "You do realize that one blast of my water magic, your flames are gonna be rendered useless, right?"

"That's what you think!" grinned Natsu. "My flames can take and burn anything even your water!"

Then Makarov stepped up who just so happened to be refereeing our fight. "I think that's enough talk for now," he said. "First to land a blow is the winner!"

There was a long silence. Everyone around us was quiet as a mouse. Then Makarov raised his hand and brought it down.

"Begin!"

Natsu immediately shot forward and swung a fist coated in flames aiming right for my face. Reacting immediately, I tilted my head to the right making his fist narrowly miss me. At the same time, I cloaked my fist with water and retaliated with a punch of my own and swung back at him, but Natsu ducked and then attacked with an upwards kick narrowly missing my cheek causing me to step back. Natsu then jumped up and came at me with a downwards kick while he was midair.

"FIRE DRAGON TALON!"

I brought my hand up and blocked the blow just before it hit me. I then pushed the fire dragon slayer away forcing him back. My hand was now slightly singed from the attack, but it didn't hurt.

"Not too shabby Natsu," I said smirking. "But try this on for size! WATER DRAGON WING ATTACK!"

I cloaked my hands with water making them shoot into large streams and swung my arms unleashing shockwaves of water at him. Natsu immediately reacted running straight towards them and ducking out of the way just before the attack hit him. He then chuffed his cheeks and then unleashed a large burst of flames from his mouth.

"WATER DRAGON GEYSER WALL!"

Seeing that it was his Fire Dragon Roar, I immediately punched into the ground and defended. A burst of water erupted from the ground in front of me and turned into a wall. Then when the flames made contact with the wall, a huge cloud of steam erupted from the collision.

I was blinded not being able to see with my Geyser Wall being my only shield.

"Damn it," I thought. "Not again!"

NO POV

Steam billowed everywhere making it difficult to see. Everyone could hardly see anything.

"Geez! This steam is so thick, I can't see anything!" complained Lucy.

"Natsu's flames were so intense that it caused a reaction, therefore, creating the steam," said Erza.

"Wait a minute..." said Elfman. "This seems familiar..."

"Yes. It is," said Mira. "This is pretty much the same thing that Natsu pulled the last time he and Willy fought."

"You mean the old smokescreen tactic he used to land a blow?" asked Gray. "Oh come on. Is he really gonna try that attack again?"

"Oh come on, this is Natsu we're talking about," said Happy shrugging. "He isn't exactly the kind of guy to think of a plan. Besides, he can't even see himself."

"That may be so Happy, but you forgot one thing," said Erza. "Natsu has others senses can use to make up for his loss of sight."

Sure enough from the cloud of steam someone came bursting out of the cloud and into the air. That, someone, was Natsu who had now had a predatory smile on his face. His nose was flaring as he took a sniff.

"I got you now, Willy!" he crowed and divebombed straight towards the ground igniting his fist on fire. "FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"

He disappeared in the steam cloud and then a large boom shook the area. Then Lucy realized.

"I almost forgot! His sense of smell," she said. "Natsu practically has the nose of a bloodhound and he can smell anyone a mile away. Even if he can't see."

"And he used that nose of his to smell where Willy was, so he could get the drop on him," said Macao. "I gotta say, that's a pretty smart move."

"But did he get Willy though?" asked Wakaba.

Then the steam began to clear. When it did, a startling surprise revealed itself. Willy was still standing holding a very surprised Natsu by the fist.

"No way!" cried Macao and Wakaba.

"He blocked the attack?!" gasped Lucy.

WILLY'S POV

I was still standing and still holding onto Natsu's fist having to have blocked the blow. That was way too close for comfort. If hadn't used my Aqua Sense to see where Natsu was coming from, Natsu would have gotten me with another sneak attack just like before. I looked up at Natsu and smirked.

"Nice try Natsu, but I ain't falling for the same trick twice," I said. "It's gonna take a lot more than an attack like that to bring me down."

I then threw Natsu away from me causing him to land on his land a few feet away from me. He then looked back up at me with a surprised look on his face.

"How the heck did you do that?!" he exclaimed. "That attack should have hit you!"

"Sorry, but that's a secret," I said shaking my right hand trying to get the feeling back to it. "Let's just say that I was able to sense your attack coming, so I was able to block your attack. I will admit that your Iron Fist had a lot of power and force, but you're gonna have to try a little better than that."

The fire dragon slayer scowled, but that scowl was replaced with a smile.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," he said. "This is what I've been waiting for all this time. This is the kind of fight I've been wanting to have with you when you came back. You're really strong. But now... I think it's time for me to stop holding back and get serious."

His fists once more burst into flames looking to be more intense than before.

"Oh boy. Looks like Natsu's getting ready to go all out!" I heard Happy say.

"Now things'll get good!" Gray spoke.

"Getting ready to go all out?" I thought to myself. "So Natsu's been holding back eh? Then I suppose it's time for me to stop pulling my punches too."

I took a deep breath and relaxed. Then I held out my hands and a pair of water swords materialized from my hands. I skillfully spun them around and I held them both at my sides taking a stance.

"WATER DRAGON DOUBLE BLADE!"

The two of us stood there waiting for one of us to make a move. Then the two of us charged straight at each other letting out a yell in the process. The two of us attacked each other me slashing and Natsu punching at incredible speeds. The flames felt hotter and they felt more intense than before, but it was nothing I couldn't handle by dodging.

The two of us kept on dodging and attacking each other until finally the two of us came at each other once again and collided with attacks sending a force of wind flowing from the area. The two of us landed a few feet away from each other with our backs turned to us. A few seconds had passed, then Natsu groaned a little and held his side meaning that I managed to land a blow on him.

"Don't worry Natsu," I said. "I only struck you with the blunt side of the blade, so the damage would be minimal."

"This match is over!" called out Makarov. "Willy is the winner!"

A few seconds of silence passed, then everyone cheered. Some of the people in the crowd were thrilled by the fight while others were completely surprised by what they had just seen.

"Holy crap! He actually beat Natsu!" I heard Wakaba say.

"I'm seeing it, but I can't believe it!" said Macao.

Gray, Mira, Elfman, and a few other guild members immediately came up to me.

"Way to go Willy! You won!" grinned Elfman. "Just like a real man!"

"Well... the fight was a bit boring, but I'm glad Willy won," said Gray.

"That's our Willy for you," smiled Mira. "It seems your magic is back to normal like before."

"Thanks, you guys," I said. "To be perfectly honest, I thought I was gonna lose."

I then turned towards Natsu who was staring at me in disbelief. He then started walking towards me. At first, I was worried about him being upset, but then his look of disbelief changed into a wide grin.

"Oh crap! Nice one Willy!" he said. "You really got me that time!"

"You're not upset about losing?" I asked feeling surprised.

"No. In fact, that was awesome the way you whipped out your swords like that!" said Natsu excitedly. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

"Um... I don't see that happening," I said sweatdropping. "My Water Dragon Double Blade is a spell only I can use so..."

"Oh come on! You gotta teach me man!" said Natsu excitedly. "Just think of it, if I can wield fire swords, I can be a ninja just like you!"

I could only laugh as Natsu continued to beg me to teach him. I must admit, he had gotten a lot stronger over the course of the years, but he was still the same old kid who I saw six years ago. Then Erza came up.

"It would seem that your magic is alright now," she said. "Well done."

"Thank you Erza," I said politely bowing. "I wasn't sure that I would win to be honest."

"Well I must say you certainly possess skill," said Erza. "Not everyone has the skill to take on Natsu and land a blow on him."

"Hey! Come on Erza! Give me some credit!" snapped Natsu indignantly.

Erza narrowed her eyes giving Natsu a slight glare. "You say something Natsu?"

Natsu immediately apologized. "N-nothing ma'am! Please excuse my behavior!"

Erza then turned back towards me. "Anyway I wanted to know, can you still fight?"

"Well, I still got a lot of magic power left," I said. "So I suppose so. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to spar with you," said Erza.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone stared at the redhead in surprise. Elfman and Mira were especially surprised.

"Wait... Erza!? You want to fight Willy?!" exclaimed Mira. "But why?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," said Erza. "Probably because I've gotten a little excited just like Natsu. I'm interested in seeing Willy's potential as a wizard and what better way than to have him go up against me. Plus, I've taken quite a liking to the swords he has.

Elfman and Mira appeared to be a little worried along with a few other people in the guild. However, others were a little interested in seeing this match-up happen. I personally didn't think that I would hear such a challenge from Erza. It did make me a bit worried due to Erza probably being so much stronger than me, but she was right. It would be a great opportunity to see how I would stack up against her, especially since that she was a swordsman like me.

"If that's what you would like Erza, I'll be happy to accept your challenge," I said smiling. "Let's fight."

"Willy?! Are you insane?!" cried Happy. "Erza's gonna mop the floor with you!"

Natsu and Gray nodded their head furiously with agreement, their faces paling with fear.

"Willy! Please! Don't do it!" said Natsu fearfully. "Walk away now before it's too late!"

"If you go through with it, Erza's gonna kill you and hang your head over her fireplace!" said Gray. "Trust me, man! You don't wanna go through with this fight!"

"You do realize Erza can hear you right?" deadpanned Lucy.

"Oh come on you guys, it's fine," I said. "I'll be fine. Besides, I wanna see how I stack up with Erza. I've always wanted to take her on since she's a fellow swordsman like me. It'll be a great way to see how strong she is."

Soon enough, Erza and I stood in front of each other ready to fight each other. The crowd looked on eagerly waiting for the fight to commence. I did my stretches once again and prepared to fight. As I did, I assessed the opponent of who I was facing.

"I really don't know anything much about Erza considering that I can hardly remember seeing her fight," I thought to myself. "The only thing that I do know is that she's excellent with swords and she can use some kind of magic to change her armor. Not to mention that I was told that she's of the most powerful members in the guild and an S class wizard no less. If that's true, then I better not let my guard down."

"You ready Willy?" called out Erza. "I want to show me what you can do! Don't hold anything back, got it?"

"Sure thing Erza," I called back. "I'll give you everything I got!"

Erza smiled. "Good. And just for you, here's something special that I've been saving for an occasion like this one. Hope you enjoy."

Her body then began to glow in a bright light and in a burst of magic with a dark pink magic circle briefly appearing, her armor changed. She was now wearing armor that had a green breastplate that looked like seaweed and revealed a lot of her chest with some chains hanging on it and also was linked to strange, blue, finned, metal shoulder pads called pauldrons. She also had gauntlets cover that covered her forearms exposing her biceps and had elbow guards with an ornament that looked like seashells. Her bottom half was a dark bikini, and a long cloth, with its edges yet again reminiscent of fins, circles her waist on the back and the sides, being connected to the shorts by a pair of fasteners shaped like sea stars. She also had greaves that extended up to her knees with a pair of boots to match having fins on them. Finally, she had a piece of headgear which had large metal part covering her forehead, bearing a whirl-shaped wave on it, and large fin-shaped protrusions on the sides of her head. She also was holding a sword that was teal green with blue lines on it that ran along the middle and symmetrical fins on the hilt with a blue jewel in the middle.

As soon as I saw it, my eyes couldn't help, but widen not just from the weirdness of it, but also how revealing it looked on her.

"What... what is that?!" I asked incredulously.

"This is my Sea Empress Armor," explained Erza. "It has the power to make your water-based magic and attacks less than effective against me."

"Come on Erza. At least go easy on him a little," I heard Macao call.

"Yeah. Don't make the kid regret it by knocking him out in a few seconds either!" Wakaba called.

I now was a feeling a tad unsure, but I wasn't about to back down from this fight. I held out my hands and summoned my water swords. I then showed Erza a little courtesy as a fellow swordsman like how I was taught by Tu-chi. I got down on one knee and placed my fist with a sword in front of me.

"Onegai Shimasu," I said.

Erza then smiled with and bowed politely herself. "It's a pleasure to face you as well," she said.

I then stood up and took my stance with my swords and Erza pointed her sword at me taking her stance as well. A few seconds seemed to pass neither one of us making a move. Then as the wind blew a single leaf began to fall. It slowly fluttered about in the wind as it slowly descended to the ground. Then as soon as the leaf touched the ground, I immediately gunned straight for Erza swing both my swords. Erza readied her sword and preparing to attack or defend. Then the two of us swiped and swung our swords in an incredible and rapid speed. The sounds of metal clanging was heard again and again as our swords collided.

Then I gave my swords a mighty swing letting loose a loud yell, but Erza brought up her sword just in time to block my attack. The force of our swords colliding sent me skidding backward and it took only a few seconds for me to come to a stop. My arms were trembling a little and even aching slightly.

"Damn it. She's good," I thought to myself. "Not just at defending, but attack too. In fact, every single one of her blows felt heavy like she has weights on or something. Just how strong is she?"

Then Erza went on the attack. She came straight for me and swung her blade at an incredible speed. I parried and blocked the attacks as best as I could, but Erza's attacks were so fast, I was having a little trouble keeping up. The blows felt heavier than before and even faster, but I wasn't about to lose here. I immediately jumped up gaining some distance and then I shot water from my feet with the hopes of increasing my speed.

"WATER DRAGON AQUA JET!"

My Aqua Jet propelled me forward helped me move in an incredible speed zipping me around. I was hoping to confuse Erza with my speed and when she let her guard down, I would strike her and win the match. I kept on zipping around and around her then I noticed that Erza wasn't doing anything. She simply stood there not moving. Seeing this as my opening, I landed on the ground and with a mighty shout, I poised my swords and swung aiming for the waist.

What happened next was instantaneous. One minute, I was attacking. The next I felt something hit my swords knocking them clean out of my hands and I felt something hit me square on my cheek sending my sprawling to the ground flat on my face. I lied there stunned for a couple of seconds, then I got back up and held my cheek in pain.

"Ow... Geez that smarts," I complained.

Mira and Elfman then quickly rushed to my side.

"Hey! Willy are you OK?!" asked Mira.

"That was a pretty hard hit that Erza gave you," said Elfman.

"Don't worry. I'm fine," I replied. "It's nothing that I can't handle. But... what the heck just happened? It was so fast, I don't even know what happened."

"You were trying to use your speed to try and confuse me," said Erza who had now changed her armor again reverting back her normal attire. "It was a pretty good tactic, but it was also an obvious one. So I easily countered it and hit you with the hilt of my sword. You should try to be a little more creative and use a lot more than just speed." She then smiled. "Although, I have to admit your blade skills are top notch. I'd expected nothing less from a disciple of Tu-Chi."

I smiled scratching my cheek feeling embarrassed. "You're just saying that just to be nice Erza," I chuckled. "You're way more skilled than me. Besides, I've gotten a little rusty since we last fought. If anything, you're the one that's top notch in sword skills."

"Alright kids," said Makarov. "I think that's enough for now. What do you say we go inside and have a drink?"

Everyone agreed and we all then went back inside of the guild. As we went inside, I could still feel the aching trembling feeling in my arms. I looked at my hand staring at it and also remembering back to the battles I just fought. As I walked back inside, I happened to pass by a couple of guys and a girl walking by. I was planning on saying hello, but then they looked away and pretended not to see me.

"Well... that was weird," I murmured.

At first, I really didn't think of it that much, but then I noticed that they were whispering to each other and I happened to hear what they were saying.

"Hey. Isn't that the guy who was with the Oración Seis?" asked one.

"Yeah. It is," said the other. "Looks like he joined up with Fairy Tail."

"If you ask me, I think that the guild made a dumb decision letting that guy join," said the first. "I mean the dude's a dark mage."

"No kidding," said the girl. "If it was me then I would have turned him down on the spot and called the council. I mean the guy's practically a criminal. Then again the council let him go clearing the charges."

"That doesn't matter to me," said the first. "You watch, it's only a matter of time before that guy betrays Fairy Tail and sells them out to a dark guild."

This made me stop as I felt a twang of guilt go through my body as I clenched my fists and walked into the guild hall pretending not to hear them. I also remembered Midnight's words from before.

"...even if you are innocent, the damage has already been done. People will never see you as a good wizard. To them, you're still a dark wizard that served my father."

"It would seem that there was some truth within Midnight's words," I thought sadly. "People are starting to talk about me already..."

"Hey, Willy. Are you OK?"

A familiar voice caused me to jump a little look to my right to see that Lucy standing there.

"Oh. It's nothing Lucy," I replied. "Just thinking about some stuff. What's up?"

"Well, I heard that you're looking for a place to stay," said Lucy. "If you were still looking for a place to live. If you are, you can always rent a room at the apartment I live in."

"Really? You don't mind having me live there?" I asked.

"Of course I don't," smiled Lucy. "Although, I should warn you that the landlady over there is pretty strict about rent, so if you're planning to live there, you'd better pay. I can show you where it is if you want."

"Sure thing. Thank you, Lucy," I said. "Lead the way."

And so, Lucy and I walked out of the guild together heading towards her apartment with the hopes of getting a room for me to stay in.

If you liked what you read and or want to give me some pointers, be sure to let me know.

Until then...

Dragoman out!