Italic = narrating

"Speak"

- Thought

"CAPS LOCK" = SCREAMING

Disclaimer: not owning Fairy Tail nor the original fairy tales


Jellal and the armor clad princess

The days left to the tournament drew closer. Men overall of Fiore either trained or prepared themselves for travelling to Magnolia where the castle lay and the tournament would be held. All the lucky men in Magnolia could train into the last however, and that was just what the Dragbuster´s did.

"Natsu! Keep your guard up! And Gray, firmer grip!" Siegrain coached.

The teacher mrs Dragbuster had hired said he couldn´t teach the boys anything, and she had taken this as a sign that they were very talented. The teacher had meant the opposite – that they were a lost cause.

So Siegrain had been the one training his brothers the following days and they had made huge improvements. But he doubted it would be enough to beat the forespoken princess. She went under a couple of nicknames after all – armor clad princess, princess of fighting, he´d even heard the nickname goddess of swords – so he assumed it was wisely to believe she was very talented.

"How are my favorite boys doing?" mrs Dragbuster arrived and disturbed her sons in the training.

- And they were just getting the hang of it, Siegrain thought bitterly.

"Mom, Siegrain´s really good, you´ll let him participate too, right?" Natsu chirped.

"It´s for all men in the country under thirty after all", Gray was quick to add.

Mrs Dragbuster narrowed her eyes and looked at Siegrain. "Sure. Of course. As you say, it´s for all male´s under thirty. Fair enough, if Siegrain has finished all of his chores for the day he can come too."

"But the tournament begins at ten", Natsu frowned.

Mrs Dragbuster laughed heartedly. "Oh, right, how could I forget? Well, you better work hard tomorrow then, Siegrain."

She then left and the two brothers looked at their stepbrother.

"Sorry, man", Gray said.

"Yeah, we tried."

Siegrain smiled. "I didn´t say I wanted to go, so don´t worry about it."

"But you´re so much better than us", Gray said and Natsu nodded.

"It doesn´t matter", Siegrain smiled at them. "I haven´t trained at all, I don´t need to go."

The boys were silent for a moment before Gray spoke up: "Try to make it. It would…"

"… it would mean a lot to us", Natsu continued where Gray left off.

"And we still need your tips. Or well, Natsu still does."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY STRIPPER?!"

Siegrain sighed. They sure were morons.

- But they´re still great brothers.

"I´ll try guys. You still have a lot to learn and who knows, it could be fun to try."

"That´s the spirit!"

"I´m all fired up!"

"Let´s get back to training now", Siegrain smiled.

Training continued for the three brothers and at the castle something similar was going on…

"Erza, please, we have no need for this…"

"Juvia agrees."

"We can barely hold onto the swords."

"Nonsense, this is valuable to know."

"But we´re not like you!" Lucy said.

"Mom wanted me to teach you one day."

"Mama…?" Lucy whispered.

Erza nodded. "I still remember it. I was training as usual and mom came down to watch me. She brought you two with her, but you were too young to remember. She watched me train and told me that she thought I was talented and she said to me that when you grew up, she wanted me to teach you."

New determination was showing in Lucy´s eyes as she grabbed a sword. "Teach me."

"Teach Juvia too", the bluehaired girl gripped a sword as well.

Erza smiled. "Lucy, loosen your grip a little and relax your wrist – you want the wrist to be flexible. And Juvia, you have to grip harder. When you hold that loose it´s easy to just knock it out of your hand."

Both girls listened to their sister and Erza nodded in approval. "Much better."

Their training continued for one and a half hour. When Erza was done with the girls their ability to move was reduced to almost zero, but their fighting skills had improved enough for them to defend themselves against a decent swordsman for at least five minutes.

"Good work, but you still have a lot to learn. How about the same time again tomorrow? It will be a good warm up for me."

The two younger sisters groaned miserably and fell back, slumped against a wall. They both knew that Erza´s question was more or less a demand – she expected them to be there the following day.

Indeed, there were busy times right before the tournament to decide the king of Fiore. And an interesting day was sure to be followed.


So here I am with an update! It will begin soon... anybody thought about the similiarity in the students flaws in technique when it comes to holding a sword? No? Just me? Oh... Well...

So that´s all, the tournament will be starting quite soon, Í think. I don´t remember in which chapter it is (I´m a couple of chapters before at the moment).

Let me know what you think by dropping a short review, will you?^-^