Dear Readers,
If you've never read an author's note here before, read this one!
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Okay now that I have your attention, let's continue.
Firstly, sorry it took so long for this chapter. I had some thoughts I had to flesh out to make sure we were heading in the right direction. On that note, a huge shout out to both RoguexNyte (my lovely beta), as well as Redfoxed, for their input and suggestions so I could word-vomit my way through some of the finer details of what is to come.
On the note of Redfoxed... And you should pay attention to this part specifically...
Because this is shameless promotion. Redfoxed stories are seriously fucking good. If you haven't read them, stop what you are doing, don't even read this chapter yet, and go look. She's amazing. I jumped in as a beta for one of her stories and I have to say working with her is amazing.
The second point to that, and the most exciting, is this:
WE ARE DOING A COLLAB PIECE. And it is awesome, so you need to go check it out. It is on her page here on ffnet, mine if you do the Archive/AO3 thing, and it's called:
Honest to Mavis, 'Best' 'Friends'
It follows Lucy and Bickslow through a newfound friendship once their other teams drifted apart. If that weren't enough, we post snippets of our honest to Mavis crazy ass conversations as "Behind the Scenes Dramatics" after each chapter, and I, for one, think we are hilarious.
Shameless self-promotion over, a quick note about CtFS: Expect a slight dip in my frequency of posting over the next week or so. Sorry. We are coming into some chapters I'm going to struggle writing, so please, continue to have patience while I make sure to perfect it.
DISCLAIMER: Desna is a genius, and owns the Pradesh Family and the Boscan Culture along with them. Hiro Mashima is a genius and owns everything else.
Enjoy!
"Wait… are you serious?"
Natsu tilted his head, "Yeah…? We've both been training for forever, I want to see how strong you are!"
Lucy rubbed her temples, "...tomorrow, then," she agreed, hiding the fact that despite herself, she was getting a little excited. She'd always dreamed of being able to compete with Natsu. She just hoped she would be strong enough to challenge him.
Fighting off the lingering doubt, she steeled herself and faced him, "You're sure about this?"
"Hell yeah!"
"Alright," she confirmed, "Let's go inside, though. It's getting late and I need to eat."
"...You have food?"
The excitement in his eyes brought back all her nostalgic feelings, and she threw an arm over his shoulders, even if he was significantly taller than her now, "Let me introduce you to Mr. Elan." she said fondly, directing him toward the house.
"I have to say, I'm rather surprised," Kaleb admitted, gesturing toward the fire dragon slayer that was eating like a pig a few feet away from them, totally tuned out to the world around him. Kaleb would know, he could see the sheer amount of focus the man had on his food.
Lucy giggled, observing the scene with her head propped on her chin, "Surprised about what?"
He physically moved into her line of sight, just so she could see him raise an eyebrow at her.
"...what?" she asked, a small smile pulling at her lips.
"That he," he gestured toward Natsu again, "Is your best friend. The differences in how your minds work is… baffling. I'm a little surprised you can stand him."
Lucy glared, "What's that supposed to mean?"
The mindbender raised his hands in a surrendering motion, closing himself off from her head. She had gotten good at creating enough noise and feedback from her soul bonds that it actually physically hurt him if he tried to pay too close attention. And she knew it, too.
"Don't misunderstand," he said quickly, "I find him to be deceivingly intelligent, his mind just works more simplistically than most, whereas yours is infinitely complex. It's interesting, is that you get along so well despite that."
Lucy eyed him critically, and finding no lie in his words, shrugged, "Oh, well I guess I do see your point. To be honest… we don't get along all that well most of the time," she chuckled, "He drives me insane. But he's still the best friend I've ever had. He'll always be there for me, even now, after everything."
And Kaleb… could see that. The fire slayer had a streak of loyalty in him so deeply set that the mindbender wasn't sure he'd ever seen anything like it before. A loyalty that applied doubly-so to Lucy and Happy - and to Gray, Erza, Jellal, and Wendy to an only slightly lesser extent. And the one thing he could see that both Lucy and Natsu had in common was a fierce and unwavering determination, more so than even their teammates. He could see why that would bring them closer, he supposed.
"Not all friendships have to make sense, bro." Bickslow stated, walking up to the two mages leaning against the counter and slapping his brother's back, "And, seriously, not everything is some school subject to study."
Kaleb grumbled as his brother shot him a tongue-lolling smile. Lucy giggled, she loved it when people teased Kaleb. The much-too-serious set to his shoulders spoke to how much he could use a good joke at his expense.
He glared at her, and her giggle turned into a full-on laugh, as she let her thoughts run rampant thinking through how he would react to certain situations.
Kaleb at the beach, arms crossed and brows furrowed as everyone had fun around him.
Kaleb performing in a circus, face expressionless and glaring at everyone who thought something rude about his knife-throwing act (which, in her head, was very unsuccessful).
Kaleb in bed, frowning at the woman underneath him, reading her thoughts and judging her the whole time.
'Okay, that last one was too far.'
Lucy smirked at him, "Hey, I just call it as I see it, Mr. I-take-myself-too-seriously."
'I'm still Boscan, Lucy, and I can assure you… my magical talents are most definitely put to use in only the best of ways when engaged in pleasurable activities.'
The images quite literally shoved into her mind had her blushing like crazy.
Erik shouted from the other room, "Hey! You'd better stop that, Tink is gonna explode if you keep it up. Her innocent mind can't take it!"
"She can take it, I'll be gentle," Vander spoke in Lucy's ear, having stepped from the voids to stand directly behind her.
Zen walked in and frowned at his brothers, but said nothing.
Both Loke and Capricorn summoned themselves to her side moments later, the former eyeing Kaleb while the latter gazed sternly at Vander, "We would appreciate it if you could desist, at least until Lucy cuts off the magic to her bonds. Your… teasing is becoming quite uncomfortable for several of us," Capricorn advised.
Lucy, despite being a shade of red she'd never achieved before, started laughing. Kaleb looked into her mind to find the reason, only to discover that the conversation going on in her head between Virgo, Aries, and Libra was getting a bit… inappropriate. Even for a Boscan.
"I don't think it's us corrupting her innocent mind, Cobra," he stated in a deadpan.
Said mage focused harder, then blanched, "Fucking hell, Bright Eyes, nobody needs to know that much about Virgo…"
Lucy laughed harder, embarrassment forgotten, and Natsu chose that moment to enter into the conversation, having no clue what anyone was speaking of besides hearing Virgo's name, "Man, Virgo's awesome. She always lets me stuff myself…" before promptly falling asleep in his chair.
The entire family laughed at that, as Kaleb shared the moment through the family link, adding all the house guests as well.
"He means with food! Virgo cooks!" Lucy shouted helplessly.
"Are you sure about that, Luce?" Natsu asked her seriously, and it only pissed her off.
Kaleb, Zen, and Cobra took steps back away from the make-shift training area, the former and latter based on her thoughts and soul, Zen because he'd spent enough time observing the woman to understand the subtle tilt to her mouth that meant she was pissed. She'd sported it when she got payback for Van's little stunt only an hour ago.
"I'm sure, Natsu, don't hold back. Don't you dare," she said, glaring at him.
He just shrugged, accepting it, and moved into a ready stance. Lucy did the same.
Kaleb stepped out between them - reluctantly - and called the start to the match before making his way quickly back outside Freed's runes.
Shocking absolutely no one, Natsu made the first move, moving quickly to throw a punch at her gut. As she dodged left, then rolled out of the way, she came to the quick conclusion that Natsu had grown in his magic just as she had.
She adjusted her strategy, and thanks to her bonds, that strategy was communicated instantly, and silently, to her spirits.
Caelum appeared in her hand, immediately taking the form of a small, sharp dagger. She felt his excitement in the minor vibrations in his handle. Transforming into her Cancer stardress, but with only one sword, she faced Natsu head on, wielding a longer-blade in her right hand, and the short blade of Caelum in her left, ready to strike from close or long range.
Natsu, seeming unphased by her change of clothing and weaponry, charged again. He threw a punch to her face, she dodged, then countered by striking with the dagger. It barely grazed his side, but he took no notice as he knelt down and tried kicking the feet from under her. She jumped in time, going backwards in a flip to avoid the blow.
She righted herself and faced him again, silently summoning Virgo along with Deneb, because while the swan spirit needed a whole lot more confidence, he was pretty powerful. And the bond had helped cut back on misunderstandings between spirit and keyholder, so they worked well together.
Virgo, no one could see, she was underground, but Deneb stood next to her, lighting dancing in his palms, "I guess I can help…"
Lucy tried not to laugh at him, but didn't answer out loud, instead using the bond to thwart Natsu's dragon slayer hearing. He nodded at her, and launched himself toward the dragon slayer.
He couldn't really damage him, but Deneb was fast, and Nastu couldn't hit him. The distraction was enough for Virgo to ensnare his legs, and Lucy to land a hit with the flat of Cancer's blade in a painful whack to the back of his head as she leapt over him. He shot her a glare, "No fair, Luce! You distracted me!"
Lucy giggled, "Kinda the point, Natsu," she teased. Despite her earlier frustrations with his lack of confidence, full participation in their spar, and her success, was making her giddy.
Setting fire to his whole body, Natsu burned through the earth on his lower legs, and caught a still-giggling Lucy in the arm with a powerful blast of fire. Wincing slightly, she fell back to a comfortable distance.
She dropped her Cancer stardress in favor of her Taurus one, as her now-injured arm was not required to use her whip. It snaked around her feet, before lashing at Natsu a few times. He dodged each blow, but she knew he was exerting himself to do so. Deneb and Virgo were attacking him as well, but Lucy decided that she wanted a more personal battle.
Sending her spirits back, she decided the best way to showcase her newfound skills was to fight him one on one. Could she end the fight by summoning spirit after spirit until Natsu fell at her feet? Probably. But there was some kind of satisfaction in using her own fists to prove her newfound strength to her long-time partner.
She gathered her magic, and flung her fleuve d'etoiles in his direction, shouting, "Earth Wave!"
The surrounding spectators (the entirety of the Pradesh family, team Nastu, and the Thunder Legion) all dropped their jaws at once, as the normally small and sweet celestial mage slashed at the ground and... tore it to pieces. Her attack had gone right through Freed's protective barrier under her as her magic power and her whip reigned down destruction.
"Holy shit," Vander said, clutching at his broken hand, "Remind me not to piss her off again," he winced.
A femine snort sounded to his left, and he turned to Xally laughing at his expense.
Natsu, who had been knocked on his ass, didn't stay down for long. His toothy grin showed up on his face, "LUCE! This is awesome!"
Lucy, from the other side of the 'arena' smiled victoriously, "Yeah… it is," she said fondly.
The next time he launched an attack, Lucy switched immediately into her Capricorn stardress. She wanted to meet him head to head, fist for fist, brawling the way she'd never been able to before. She wanted him to see how far she'd come.
And so they fought. For fifteen straight minutes, it was a one-on-one, all-out brawl, using fists and close combat magic alone. She'd throw a punch and hit him in the jaw, and he'd grin at her, wiping his mouth, and throw a kick at her chest. At the end of it all, despite Natsu's intense heat and extreme skill in close combat, he'd only bested her by a punch or two.
Lucy kicked him right in the face, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground. She stood victoriously over him, "What do you say we stop playing around, hmmm?"
She had never witnessed excitement so intense on her best friend's face.
"Hell yeah, bring it on, Lucy. You're strong, but you're not stronger than me!" he declared, though she could see the pride in his eyes. Despite everything she'd put him through, he forgave her. And now, standing a few feet in front of her with his chest heaving from exertion, he gave her the one thing she'd always wanted from him. Respect. Admiration, and of more than her mental fortitude.
And she'd nearly cried when she realized she'd actually done it. She'd made him proud. She'd made them all proud.
'Aquarius, if you could see me now…'
'She can, Lu. You might not be connected anymore, but she can see you. She's proud of you...' Scorpio's voice in her mind did cause a tear to trail from her scarred eye, but she ignored it and released a massive amount of magic power, smiling like the sun. Her now-golden gaze lifted to the sky, to where the water bearer's constellation was - even if they couldn't see it in the day, Lucy knew it well - and took a deep, steadying breath.
'This is for you, Aquarius. I'll show them my strength, like you always wanted me to.' she spoke it directly into Scorpio's link, but she knew her words would go straight to the water spirit as if she'd spoken them in her ear.
From where they were observing, the Pradesh siblings (apart from Zen, who'd seen her in an even more glorious state) felt their jaws drop. The sheer magical power she emitted was insane, on top of what had been an impressive display of strategy and hand-to-hand combat skill. It was one thing to know she'd taken on Peregrande, essentially alone, apart from the spirits she'd summoned with her power. It was another thing entirely to witness the power that feat required first hand.
"Natsu," she called, smiling at him victoriously, "Oh, how wrong you are… Gemini stardress." her body flashed gold as her new stardress was summoned, but when Natsu's vision cleared, it wasn't Lucy he caught sight of. It was one Gildarts Clive.
Lucy-Gemi-Gildarts smirked, "Hey kid. Long time no see."
Natsu was confused. Very confused.
When his brain caught up with his vision, he paled. She'd said Gemini. Gemini could copy people. But… Gemini could only copy people that Lucy was either equal to or superior in strength. And… that was Gildarts. The Gildarts.
Had she really improved that much? It seemed impossible, but it was hard to deny it when the evidence was standing right in front of his face, looking ready to crush him into rubble.
"...damn, Lucy... That's... awesome! You're not gonna beat me, though, no way. That old man can't take me!"
Lucy-Gemi-Gildarts laughed heartily, "We'll see…"
Suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, a giant pink, mechanical teddy bear pinned Natsu's arms to his sides, and Lucy-Gemi-Gildarts rushed forward.
In a flash of light, Natsu burst apart into a pile of Mini-Natsu's. Dropping her stardress, and thanking Polaris before sending him back to the celestial world, Lucy smiled.
Kneeling down, she gazed curiously at the grumpy miniatures on the ground. They were all shouting 'not again' over and over, and Lucy, in that moment, understood why Gil had done this to her at least once a week when they were training.
It was… adorable. Her eyes lit up in amusement.
She pinched the cheeks of the nearest pink-headed mini-dragon, "Oh my goodness, you're so cute!"
His little fists caught on fire and he tried to swing at her, to no avail. It was like getting hit by a few dozen lit matchsticks.
"Oh alright. Come on. We'll go take a nap while we wait for you to reform, okay?"
The Natsu army huffed, some crossing tiny arms over tiny chests, but didn't protest. It was an offer of a nap, after all, so they just climbed onto her shoulders. A few tangled in her hair, and one brave little Natsu climbed to sit on top of her head.
Just like that, she walked out of the clearing and into the house, the yawn of several dozen Mini-Natsus sounding in her wake.
"...Um. What… the fuck… just happened?" It was Cris who'd actually asked, trying to think of how the fuck he was supposed to do to heal someone who was actually… multiple someones now, but the sentiment was shared by everyone. Apart from Erik.
"Gildarts Clive, the man rumored to be stronger than every wizard saint in Ishgar," Erik rolled his eyes, "yes - that includes you, Legolas. He uses crash magic, it divides things, and that nasty little spell divides your very essence and turns you into a mini-army of yourself. It fades on its own, eventually, but it was a particular favorite of his when he was training Tink. Guess she wanted to try it out."
"...wait. I... still have questions. How did she turn into the most powerful man in Ishgar? And you said she trained with him?" This time it was Emzadi, and the expression on her face was comically confused.
"Gemini, the twins. Lucy holds a contract with their constellation. Mischievous little shits, they can copy anyone weaker or on the same level, magically, as their keyholder."
"But," Xally added, nearly dazed, "That would mean…"
"Yeah," Erik agreed, "Bright Eyes is on par with the guy. It'd be scary as shit if she was anyone else. She didn't master this form until just before Peregrande."
Vander, realizing the situation he'd put himself in, visibly shuddered, "Kaleb…"
Looking into his brother's mind, he quickly found the issue. He sighed in exasperation, "You're on your own."
"But-"
"No," the platinum blonde glared down at his shadowy sibling, "I'm not saving you because you decided it'd be a good idea to prank - again, might I add, after she already broke your hand - the mage who took on Peregrande and won. It's not happening."
Xally walked over and patted Van's shoulder sympathetically, "Maybe you can save yourself before she finds out?"
He considered it for a second, "...Nah."