Sorry for the wait, but this chapter was sort of hard to write. I've decided to try to have this story update every other week to allow ample time for me to come up with ideas of what to write. This story is getting more complex, so it's not as easy to write a chapter a week anymore. I hope this is okay. Also, once college starts back up in September, updates will be really slow for obvious reasons. Any way... Some of you will love this chapter, some won't, but this chapter got me the most nervous since posting the first chapter. You'll see why once you read it. It's been awhile since I wrote a 3rd person chapter. As always, I like to thank my beta, redscarfninja, for helping me edit and improve the chapter. I want to thank you for encouraging me to posting the first chapter of this story as well.

Developments

September, X779

It was afternoon. The sky was clear, the weather was pleasant and the sun was reflecting of the crystal blue water of lake Sirena, creating a picturesque scene. Running around this lake was a short, lone figure.

This figure was Risley Law.

Ever since Ron Burgundy's assault on her village, she has been undergoing magic education and intensive physical training. Ever since she joined Mermaid Heel, she took up surname of Law, to honor her tribe.

The first few weeks of the training was absolutely hell for the out of shape 12-year-old. But once she got used to it, and the conditioning was over, the real workouts begun. One lap around lake turned into two. Two laps turned into three.

But laps around the lake were the least of her concerns. She could deal with running countless laps. She could deal with hitting the books and the monotony of studying. But there was one thing she discovered that was almost too much for her to bear. One thing that filled her with dread. One thing that gave her second thoughts of joining the guild.

The one thing Risley feared above all else, was dodge training.

Risley was finishing her last lap around lake. Her breaths were heavy, sweat was running down her form, soaking her clothes and light, round bruises littered her body.

Celia showed no mercy when it came to dodge training. Not even Araña, who Celia considered a niece, was spared from the onslaught of high velocity spheres of watery pain. But the difference with Araña was that she had a lot more conditioning before she started getting high speed projectiles thrown at her. It was also the fact the Lana gave death threats to Celia if she hurt her little angel, so Araña's crucible of pain was delayed a year until she turned nine, when Lana finally relented.

Risley being twelve also did not do her favors. It was much easier to launch projectiles at a preteen than an adorable nine year old. So Risley had to endure the boot camp for two long months, each day being more difficult than the last. Every time she thought she beat Celia's death balls, she would get an euphoric rush at the thought of her being quick enough to stop feeling the pain, only for that dream to be crushed by an evil smirk from Celia and the death balls to increase in speed.

So she brought this issue to Lana, who chewed out Celia. Rubina and Kagura looked at her as though they were looking at a dead person and were visibly sweating in fear of her safety. Risley had no idea what she had done. She had no idea that she kicked the bee's nest and unleashed something that would increase her pain tenfold.

So when Lana was done chewing out Celia and walked away, a dark energy started flowing out of the guild master. A chill went up Risley's spin as Celia turned around slowly with a dark and evil look in her eye. Risley looked behind her to find Rubina and Kagura gone.

They didn't want to see the slaughter.

The number of laps she had to do was increased, plus, she had to dodge Celia's wrath at double the speed.

It was that day that Risley realized that you should never snitch on Celia.

Risley finally finished her laps and collapsed on the docks, panting like a dog would on a hot summer day. All in all, she was exhausted.

"Ok, Brat, you're done for the day. Same thing tomorrow, at 10 o'clock." Came Celia, who had her usual smirk on her face.

"Yes *pant* Master…." Risley groaned out in exhaustion. Her muscles were screaming, her lungs were hungry for the air and they ate up the wonderful substance like it was a bowl of delicious soup.

"A couple more weeks of this and you'll be ready to start the serious magic training." Celia said calmly. "Once I'm done with you, you'll be a mage that will bring honor to the Mermaid Heel name." She said proudly.

All Risley could do was groan in agreement, or what sounded like agreement. She could of just done it so that she lie there in misery by herself.

Celia sighed. "See ya later, Kid," she said while walking away.

So Risley laid there, staring the clear blue sky, catching her breath from hell she just endured. She lost track of time as she laid there, but she didn't care.

"Uh, Risley, are you ok?" Came a concerned voice from behind her.

Risley slowly looked over her shoulder to see Kagura looking at her worry on her face.

Risley smile weakly. "Oh, you know…" She said while waving her hand weakly. "Just…dying. No big deal."

Kagura sighed. "Let me guess… Master?" She asked in exasperation.

"Yeah…" Risley confirmed weakly.

Kagura giggled at here expense and walked over to the exhausted girl.

Risley slowly sat up and put her feet into the water. Kagura took off her shoes and joined her. "Master sure does know how to make you work up a sweat, doesn't she?" Kagura asked.

Risley looked to her, left eye twitching. "Sweat? More like a flood!" She exclaimed. "I have to not only run like crazy, but dodge her attacks! How can anyone do any of this!?" She growled in frustration.

This caused Kagura to giggle out loud.

Risley's eye twitched once again. "Don't you laugh at me! This is torture!" She shouted in annoyance.

"I'm *giggle* sorry, but you're pretty funny when you're like this." She let out in a jovial tone.

"I don't see you doing this stuff!" Risley pointed out in annoyance.

Kagura smirked. "True… but that's because Rubi and I already did this stuff years ago," she responded, smirk growing even bigger. "Actually, we were around Araña's age when we started this stuff."

"What!?" Risley exclaimed with wide eyes. "You two were eight when you did this crap!? How in the heck did you survive!?"

Kagura shrugged. "I don't know. But if I were to guess, it's probably because we were just suckers for punishment and braved it out." She answered.

Risley slumped forward. "I don't know how I will survive this… Every time I think that I beat her, she just ramps up the difficulty." She sighed out, then looked to Kagura. "How long did it take for you and Rubi to get out of dodge training?" She inquired, her face conveying a desperate hope for an answer.

Kagura shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I personally never beat Master's dodge training," she answered, which caused Risley to start to lose hope. "But!" She said loudly, which made Risley perked up. "That's only because I started training with Shishou. So it no longer became necessary for me to do that stuff, because I had Shishou there to instruct me."

"What about Rubi?" Risley interjected.

Kagura put a hand up to her chin and a contemplative look made its way upon her face. "Hmm, if I remember correctly, Rubi continued to train with Master so that she could become faster…" Kagura finally answered.

"What!? Why would she actually go back for more!? That's insane!" Risley exclaimed with wide eyes.

A small smile made its way onto Kagura's face. "Well I think it's because she is a lightning mage and Rubi explained to me that speed is one a lightning mage's greatest assests. So she decided to keep at it and she actually managed to dodge Master at full speed." Kagura said with of admiration.

Risley was speechless for a few moments, shocked that anyone could break free of the hell known as dodge training. Eventually, Risley snapped out of her shock. "Where is she right now? She is usually with you?" She inquired curiously.

Kagura shrugged. "She's probably in our room, doing something. She likes to do that sometimes. Just sit in the room and work on hobbies. She can be antisocial sometimes…" Kagura said with a smile.

"You two live in the same room?" Risley said with mild surprise.

Kagura's smile took on a sadder look. "Yeah, ever since we were six we have been living in the same room at the dorms…" She said, her voice conveying a depressed undertone.

Risley raised a brow at the sudden mood shift. "Is something wrong? If you don't like her as a roommate, why not move out?"

Kagura shook her head. "No, I'm perfectly fine with rooming with Rubi. It's just that when I think of how long we been with each other and what led to us being there, kinda makes me feel a bit melancholy…" She answered.

Risley eyed her, carefully thinking of what to say next. "If you don't mind me asking, but what happened? Did you talk to your parents? Maybe they could cheer you up." Risley said, not realizing what she just said. That she touched a nerve.

A tear escaped Kagura's eye and ran down the side of her face. "I-I wish could, b-but I don't…" She choked out, before hastily composing herself. "I don't have parents, nor any family anymore…" She finally let out.

"Oh…" Risley said awkwardly, feeling guilty for making the girl revisit bad memories. "I'm… I'm sorry for your loss… I didn't mean to bring such bad memories up." She apologized.

Kagura wiped the tear out of her eye. "No, it's fine. I didn't tell you." She responded with a sad smile.

"Can… Can you tell me what happened? I don't mean to be intrusive and you don't have any obligation to tell me, but…" Risley said nervously, not wanting to offend the other girl.

Kagura shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all. I can't let the events of the past control me. It's up to me to lead my existence, not something that happened years ago." She said with confidence, but there was still a hint of sadness there, if you looked hard enough.

And so Kagura told how she and Rubina lived in the same village, how it was burned to the ground, how they got separated from their siblings, never seeing them again, and not knowing where they are or if they were even alive.

Kagura, despite her best attempts, could not hold back and the tears flowed much like water would in a river.

"A-After those monsters destroyed everything. T-The only thing I had left, was a girl I barely knew…" Kagura sobbed out. "I-I couldn't see the light any more. Outwardly I was trying to show that I was ok, and forget that it ever happened. A-And for a while, it worked and I thought foolishly that I could forget about the whole thing." Kagura stared at her reflection in the water. "But, that delusion didn't last, and I went back to the darkness. Wallowing in self misery…"

Risley looked at the stricken girl, not knowing what to say.

Kagura looked up, hope welling within her eyes. "However, one person was there for me. One person was there to pull me out of the darkness, and be my light to guide me from my internal hell. One person to save me from walking down the path of despair." Kagura said fondly

"Who? Who is this person?" Risley asked curiously.

Kagura let out a small laugh and looked to Risley with large smile on her face. "Rubi, of course." She said simply, then looked out to the lake, it's sparkling blue waters reflecting the fading afternoon sun light. "Rubi has always been there for me, and has done everything to pull me away from the darkness. She never forgets her promises and will go out of her way to do things for me that aren't necessary. She'll go half way across the country to get me special medicine just because I have a flu." The smile on her face got even bigger. "She has been my pillar of support since that day many years ago, despite going through the same hardships as me. I cannot express how grateful I am for her being a part of my life" She finished, her voice laden with deep admiration.

Risley looked at the girl, who's smile was the biggest that it could get. "So it's safe to assume that she means a lot to ya then?" She asked carefully, but that didn't stop the small smirk forming on her face.

"Yeah, more than anything… More than the guild even..." Kagura responded happily.

Risley's smirk turned devious. "Hmm, by the sound of it… It sounds like you have a crush on her…" She said slyly.

Unfortunately, the reaction from Kagura was not the one Risley was expecting.

She looked to Risley with a confused expression. "A crush? What's that?" She asked curiously.

Risley made a choking noise, and almost fell off the dock in surprise.

'How does she not know what a crush is!?' Risley thought to herself as she recovered.

"How do you not know what a crush is!?" She echoed her thoughts out loud.

Kagura shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know… I've never heard of that word before…" She responded, before a contemplative look overtook her face. "Actually… I think I remember Rubi mentioning that word before, like way back when we first met… but I can't remember what she said it was though…" She thought out loud.

Risley sighed. "I can't believe you have never heard of that word. Don't you ever gossip with other girls?"

Kagura shook her head. "No, not really. Rubi and I usually don't go into town to talk to other kids, and besides Araña, there really isn't anyone close to our age, so we don't talk to the older guild members much…" She responded before raising a brow. "Is it something important?" She then inquired with curiosity.

Risley sighed once again. "Oh Kagura-chan, you have been living in a world of naivety for a long time haven't you?" She said before a devious smirk made its way back onto her face. "Fine. I'll tell you what a crush is, and what comes afterwards…" She said with a hint of mischief.

Risley leaned in and started whispering into Kagura's ear about what exactly a crush was. But that was not the only thing she explained. She explained what came after a crush and what type of relationship that could lead to, and what kind of things happen in those relationships.

Basically, she gave Kagura the classic "Birds and the Bee's talk", unfortunately, it wasn't exactly the child friendly version Rubi tried to give on that same spot in X774. This was the cruder and blunter version a teenager would give.

As Risley's explanation went on, Kagura's face became redder and redder. One of her eyes began to twitch, and she was frozen in place as Risley continued on. And that's how she was when she finished. Frozen and red faced.

"That's…" Is the only thing Kagura could say.

"Yep." Risley said in jovial manner before she was suddenly shoved off the dock. She emerged from the warm water of the lake with a gasp to see Kagura staring down at her with a face redder than a tomato and a furious expression on it.

"T-That's disgusting! Why would I think of m-my best friend like that!?" Kagura shouted, her voice laden with disgust, but there was something else in her voice. Embarrassment? "How could you even you even suggest such a thing!? That's sick!" She continued to rant angrily.

"Ok, ok! Sorry! Jeeze, I didn't mean to offend ya! I was just joking!" Risley tried to defend herself from the angry girl's onslaught.

Kagura was not amused and turned around, letting out an irritated "Hmpf!" as she angrily walked away, leaving the now soaked Risley in the water.

Left there to think about what happened, Risley blinked a few times before a grin appeared on her face. "Yep." She said out loud, letting out a small chuckle. "Definitely a crush, even if she doesn't want to admit it." She then sighed, and started to pull herself out of the water before walking towards the dorms. While walking, all she could think about was what happened earlier between her and Kagura, and the things she had learned.

"Risley? Why are you wet?" A voice questions suddenly and breaks her out of her thoughts.

It was Rubina.

'Well, look who it is…' She thought.

"Oh, you know… I was just tired from Master's brutal training, so I decided to take a swim to cool off." She said awkwardly, not telling what really occurred.

'I'll let Kagura tell her on her own time. It's not my business to mess with something like that.' She thought.

Rubina raised a brow at her awkward way of speaking, but decided to ignore it. "Have you seen Kagura? We were supposed to have a spar about thirty minutes ago, but she didn't show up." She questioned.

"Oh, I think I saw her walk into the guild hall to get something to eat." Risley responded coolly with a small smile.

Rubina sighed. "Figures… I guess I can't blame her though. I do like to get lost in my work…" Her stomach then let out a loud, roaring growl, and her face flushed red. "I guess I need food as well… You wanna join?"

Risley shook her head, knowing it would be a bad idea to be around Kagura right now. "Nah, I already ate and I'm deathly tired right now." She said with a yawn.

"Well see ya later, then." Rubina said and then started walking towards the guild hall.

Risley stared at her retreating form. 'I wonder how you'll react, Rubi-chan, when the truth comes out...' She pondered before turning around and walking to her room.

When Rubina walked into the guild hall, she found Kagura with a red face and furiously eating an ice cream cake as if she was possessed. Kagura then looked at Rubina, who was staring at the girl with pieces of cake all over her face with blank expression and was sweat dropping. Kagura blushed and ran off, avoiding eyes contact, leaving Rubi to stare at the carnage left behind

Rubina then noticed that it was strawberry ice cream cake, and anime tears started flowing out of her eyes. "She… She ate my cake…" She cried out.

Rubina the fell to her knees, "It…It was innocent…" She sobbed quietly.

XXX

Two figures were in a field. One was a blonde woman wielding a long, thin stick. The other was an unarmed red haired girl.

It was Rubina and Maribelle.

Maribelle was currently swinging the stick in her hand like she would her rapier at rapid speeds. Rubina was doing her best to dodge her Shishou's strikes. Unfortunately, despite Rubina's speed and reflexes, her arms and legs were littered with marks where she had been struck. Underneath, her body was aching all over and her clothes were beginning to become drenched in sweat.

Despite this, she was continuing to dodge the onslaught of strikes, even though she was starting to get exhausted. If it weren't for the magic power flowing throughout her body, she would have collapsed long ago.

Maribelle's face was cool and collected as she methodically looked for points of weakness in her student's form. She then spotted one and pounced.

She struck Rubina's right arm, which cause the girl to yelp in pain. She then hit her side and finally her calf muscle, which caused the girl to fall to her knees with a painful grunt.

"You did pretty well, Rubina, but you got sloppy near the end. Of course, I attribute that more to exhaustion rather than lack of skill." Maribelle said as she looked at the downed girl, who was currently panting heavily.

"Yes *pant* S-Shisou…" Rubina struggles to get out. Sweat was dripping down her face and her eyes were watering from the pain.

Maribelle eyed her downed student before dematerializing the stick back into her requip space with a brief golden flash. "I think we are done here. Anymore will be a detriment to your body." She instructs before extending her hand.

"Yes *pant* Shishou…" Rubina says before gripping the outstretched hand which then pulled her back onto her feet. "Same *pant* time tomorrow, Shishou?" She asks, her legs were wobbling from physical exhaustion and abuse.

Maribelle sighed. "I guess so…" She started, then quickly seized hold of Rubina's arm to prevent her from falling flat on her face. She then stabilized the girl before helping her walk back to the dorms. "I am curious…" She started once more.

"Hmm?" Rubina responded tiredly.

"Why are you so desperate to get faster, so quickly?" She inquired.

Rubina stayed silent for a moment. "I want to get faster because I… well… it's just that… after seeing how fast you were… I… just-"

"Felt the need to go fast?" Maribelle finished her sentence.

"Yeah… Do you understand what I mean?" Rubina asked, her face now had a small blush on it.

"I figured that was the reason. You are a lightning mage after all…" Maribelle said with a small smile. "It is in your nature to feel the need to go faster. Seeing me must have really awoken those instincts, have they not?"

Rubina nodded lightly. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't fired up at the prospect of someone so much faster than me. It makes we want to work harder and harder until I beat you." She said with a confident smirk forming.

XXX

Natsu Dragneel was sitting in the Fairy Tail's guild, eating to his heart's content, when he suddenly sneezed.

"Why do I get the feeling that someone is using my line..." He thought to himself, before shrugging it off and continued on eating.

XXX

"Well, you certainly have a long time before you even contend with Mach 1, so it will most definitely be a great challenge for you to overcome." Maribelle responded with a hint of pride at the fact that her student had such motivation.

"It's not only that…" Rubina said suddenly.

"Oh?" Maribelle was now curious.

"I want use Lightning Form, but my speed and reflexes aren't nearly as good enough." She answered.

"Interesting… From what I can recall, that is what allows lightning mages to turn their bodies into their element and move with extreme speed. But I also know that it is an expert level spell due to how dangerous it can be to those who cannot control their speed." Maribelle then looked to Rubina. "Am I correct?"

Rubina nodded. "Yes, it is an expert level spell and I know I could do it if I could just get faster. My magic tends to explode when doing the more precise spells, but this one involves flooding your entire body with magic power and using that power to transform your body into Lightning. I know my magic definitely has the power, I just need the skill," she explained, and then a confident smile formed. "Once I achieve this form, I will try to achieve the speed of natural lightning. Then I will for sure be faster than you or anyone else."

"You have got me curious now. How fast is natural lightning, Rubina?" Maribelle inquired.

Rubina grinned. "One third the speed of light, or one hundred million meters per second. I will probably never achieve this and it would probably be impossible, but we do live in a world full of magic, so who knows?" She said with a shrug.

Maribelle's eyes widened slightly, before smiling softly. "Has anyone ever told you that you are smarter than someone your age should be?"

Rubina blushed under from the praise. "Maybe a few times…" She said in embarrassment.

Maribelle chuckled lightly. "Well, I wish you luck in your pursuits, Rubina. It has been a while since anyone seriously challenged me in a contest of speed. I look forward to seeing how close you can get."

Both of them stopped as they reached the entrance of the dorms. "Do you think you can get to your room on your own power?" Maribelle asked.

Rubina nodded, and Maribelle let her go. She then started walking and looked over her shoulder. "See ya tomorrow, Shishou." She said as she opened the door and walked inside.

Standing alone now, Maribelle smirked. "Well, I am in for quite a few interesting years ahead of me." She said before her smirk turned into a full grin. "I think I will drink some tea to calm my excitement." She then walked into the dorms and towards her own room.

You can see why I was nervous posting this chapter. All I will say is that it will be very slow burn. Also, Rubi will see her as a child for a very long time, and will be comically oblivious. I originally didn't consider this, but once I got lots of reviews suggesting it, I liked the idea more and more.

Risley learned to never snitch on Celia, unless you want to go through hell.

Rubi has motivation to get faster, and while she might not be able to match true lightning's speed, she will strive to be the fastest.

After writing all those action scenes, it's nice to write fluff and filler again.