Hello, folks. A little chit-chat before I proceed.
Emil C: Juvia is just something. Love her, really *same pinch* She always brings a comic relief. BTW, you're one crazy person. Enjoyed each and every line of the review you left! Hilarious! Hey, where are your clothes again? *winks*
Chloeandderek: I think everyone's idiot in their own way in fairy tail. Don't you agree? LOL
Hachibukai: Cool? Really? Thanks! I'm so glad. I've updated it, as you see. However, I don't know if it was too soon or too late!
And to everyone who reviewed my fanfic and also who put it in their alerts and fav stories lists… Arigatou!
So now, I bring you the third chapter of this fic. Hope you enjoy it. By the way, is that only me or you too think that Natsu's attire is very cool!
"Thanks, Natsu! You're the savior." Lucy thanked Natsu. "I was beginning to think that the café would turn into my grave."
FLASHBACK
Lucy and Gray were stuck inside the snow-covered cafeteria and all the escape routes were blocked by thick snow. Thanks to Gray. What should I do? Lucy was trying to figure out any possible solution to their current problem.
"Wait a minute. I can call Virgo for help. She would be able to dig a tunnel from inside of this café to the outside in the town." Lucy jumped in happiness. "Why didn't I think about it before? I am so stupid."
She quickly took one of the Golden key in her hand and twisted it in the air. "Open the gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Nothing happened. Eh? May be I didn't do it right. She thought. "Open the gate of the Maiden!" Again, nothing came out. "Virgo! Come out!" Lucy agitated. "Open the gate of the Maiden. Open it, dammit. You stupid key!" It was then when she remembered that the fair maiden won't come as Loke had ordered all her celestial spirits to go on leave for that day. Thanks to Gray, again.
Gray chuckled.
"And why are you laughing?" Lucy growled.
"You remind me of that idiot Natsu." He teased her. "I mean the way you are whining and…Ow!" Lucy landed a punch on his head.
"What was that for?"
"Playing Natsu's part! I think he'd have done the same."
"So, Should I play along?" he smirked and started moving towards her.
"Nooo!" Lucy began to move back and bumped into the café reception counter. He came closer, his body towering over her. She tried to escape but his hands prevented her from fleeing away. He inched closer. His cold breaths were touching her cherry-red face that set her pulse racing faster and faster. "Are you blushing?" he said playfully. He tightened his grip on her arm. She closed her eyes while her hands moved on the counter to find something that would cover her face or something that could knock the senses out of his head. "Eh!"Her hand touched a familiar metallic object. "Telephone! That's it!" she moved away quickly escaping from Gray's grasp.
"What are you doing?" he asked, quite displeased by her action.
"I'm making a call to the guild, asking for help obviously." She said hastily, while trying to control her erratic breaths. "Someone will definitely come."
FLASHBACK-END
"No Problem, Luce. I was getting bored of doing nothing. Sitting all alone in the guild gave me such a backache. That's so strange." Natsu stopped for a moment and started scratching his chin. "But I think I started missing you guys already." He looked sideways. "Thanks for calling me here." He gave her a boyish grin.
"Now leave," Gray glowered at him. "Moron!"
"What did you say, stripping bastard?" the fire mage fumed with anger.
"Don't make me repeat myself, flamehead!" the ice mage retorted.
"You wanna fight, dickhead!"
"I'll freeze your tongue, gasbag!"
Fighting already, again? Lucy thought. A worrying situation, indeed!
"Fight, Natsu!" Happy cheered for his pink-haired friend. "Fight! Fight!"
"And I'm going to roast you." Natsu mocked him. "Crisp and Nice! Aarghh!" a snowball hit the fire mage hard, causing him to fall on the ground and break down his nose.
"What? Were you saying something?" the ice mage gave a wicked smile. "I can't hear you."
"You…" Natsu stood on his feet, trying to regain his balance. "You'll be so sorry for this."
"We'll see." The ice mage stood there with his fists clenched, legs astride. Natsu produced a flaming ball of fire in his right hand and ran towards him. "I don't wanna see this." Lucy covered her eyes with her hands.
"Eat this, Bast…!" the fire mage roared.
"Stop!" An armor-clad woman interrupted their fight. Natsu's flames died at the instant he saw her. "Just knock it off!" she knocked their heads against each other.
"Ow! Erza, it hurts."Both screamed in pain.
"I told you guys to stop. Be together like friends!" she gave them a fierce glare. "Or are you two just too eager to die already?" She gave them a satanic smile as if her death glare wasn't enough to frighten them. They quickly buddied up.
"We're friends." Gray gulped. "Best buddies!"
"Aye, sir!" Natsu nodded in agreement while trembling with fear.
"Another Happy!" Lucy remarked as she noticed the similarity in Natsu and the blue cat's voice.
"I don't sound anything like that!" Happy objected.
"This is it!" the ice mage declared.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked. Everyone was standing before an entrance which was adorned with little flowers and ribbons. It looked like some fair. Stalls and shops filled the whole place, selling candies, toys, food, and hot beverages and so on. They looked at the crowd before them. The place was packed with a variety of people, men and women of all ages and color and children, a lot and lot of children. Undoubtedly, those small creatures formed a major part of the crowd.
"It's Ice and Snow Festival Fair." The ice mage exclaimed. "Magnolia's biggest fair!"
"And why are we here?" the celestial stellar mage asked him flatly.
"To beat someone." He gave an evil grin.
"Beat someone? All right!" Natsu exclaimed in delight. "I'm all fired up!"
"Stop it, Natsu!" Lucy said with annoyance. She turned to Gray. "Beat who?"
"Those tiny brats!" Gray pointed at the children.
"You aren't serious about it." She said trying to convince herself. The ice mage smirked. She looked horrified. "Are you nuts? They are just kids. You'll be sent to jail."
"No! Not that." the ice mage said angrily. "The fair committee holds a competition every year where every participant is required to make something out of the snow. I watched the competition previous year and not a single sculpture deserved appreciation. It pained me a lot, really. These kids suck at this. I didn't get the chance to participate then but now, it's the time to teach these ignorant kids what a wonderful art is Ice-making. I'll show them what an ice mage can do." He started laughing hysterically.
"That's going too far." She mumbled.
"That'll be fun. Let's have a bang!" Natsu shouted at the top of his voice.
"You are not coming with us." Gray interrupted. "It'll be just Lucy and me. It'll be troublesome if your fire breaths melt my sculpture. Come on, Lucy!"
"What! I…I…" Lucy hesitated, trying to find some excuse. His boyfriend wrapped his hand around her fragile body and dragged her with himself. "Let's have some fun!" he winked at her. They disappeared in the crowd.
"That dog!" the fire mage burnt up with anger. "Erza! Let's go! We're going to participate in the competition and beat that arrogant bastard. We'll show him that we can do much better, even without him."
"Ice Making?" Erza thought for a moment. The fire mage looked at her with pleading eyes. "I don't have much knowledge about this art. But, I'll give it a try."
The fire mage jumped in happiness. "Yes, Happy! Erza's in our side. We're going to win."
"Aye, Sir!" They exchanged a high-five in the air.
"And I just know what we are going to make." She gave a wicked smile.
"What are you making, Gray?" Lucy asked in confusion. She was standing behind the ice mage who was too busy in his work.
"It's our guild. Isn't that obvious?" Gray said, without breaking his attention.
"Riiiight." She rubbed her gloved hands. It's so cold! "I never knew that you're so good with chisels and all."
"I wasn't." he told her, still concentrating on his work. "I practiced. I practiced just for this competition."
"You're so into it." Lucy sighed deeply.
"Here! It is complete now." he turned to her. "Have a look!" She looked at his ice sculpture. "What do you think?" he asked, extremely satisfied with his work.
"It's so real!" she walked to the sculpture and touched it. "And COLD!" she squeaked and quickly retracted her hand.
"That's an amazing house you've made, Young boy!" an elderly man, with a notepad and a pen in his hands approached them.
"It's not a house. It's our guild, Fairy Tail." The ice mage corrected him.
"I'm the judge of this competition and I tell you boy, your sculpture looks the best in this whole competition."
"And we've the winner!" Gray grinned.
"I give you three." The old man walked away.
"What? Three? Didn't you say my work is the best in this whole competition?" gray stared at him in stunned disbelief.
"And you my young boy, what have you made?" he asked the next participant. "What's the name of your sculpture?"
"This is not just ANY sculpture, old man. It is an embodiment of courage and beauty, a rare combination." The pink-haired participant spoke with exhilaration.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
"I present before you the Fairy Queen, Titania. Snow-Erza!" Gray's jaw dropped. The sculpture looked more like some diseased snow-alien; its head was just way too huge and heavy to bear for the rest of its body. It bore no similarities with the Erza's features except the fact that it was holding one of the Erza's swords in one hand while the others were hovering in the air above it. Isn't that Erza's Heaven's wheel armor? Lucy thought. Suddenly, the snowman's head fell down on the ground with a plop.
"That's a mess!" Gray jibed at Natsu. "That's not Erza! Who are you kidding? She looks awful."
"What are you trying to imply, Gray?" Erza said with an angry tone. He gulped. "I mean she's…"
"She's beautiful! I give you eight." The judge said happily and walked away. Gray's eyes widened. "What's up with his taste?"
"Everyone pay attention, please!" the old man was standing on a podium. Everyone turned to look at him. He continued. "I'm going to announce the winner of this competition. This year, we saw so many amazing…"
"That's unacceptable!" the ice mage shouted.
"You should see your face, loser!" Natsu said triumphantly.
"And the winner is Lucky and Mr. Snowy!" the judge finally disclosed the winner's name. "Lucky?" Natsu and Gray said in unison, evidently shocked on hearing the name.
"That's me!" a little boy screamed. "That's me!"Everyone clapped for the little boy. . "We won Mr. Snowy!" he talked to his snowman that was of the same height as that of the little boy. Mr. Snowy was, well, a snowman, a very primitive one. His snowman had button eyes and a carrot nose; he was wearing a black hat and a red scarf around the neck.
"That's wrong, old man!" Gray spoke. "I should be the winner."
"Well, you see. It was a snowman making competition and you made a house. So, you didn't have a snowball's chance in the hell of winning." The old man explained.
"But, I built a snowman." Natsu complained.
"Technically, it was a snow-woman. So, you didn't win either." The old man grinned and walked away swiftly.
"That old man!" gray said bitterly. "And it wasn't a house!"
"But, I still win. You got three and I got eight. Clearly speaking, I am a better ice mage than you." The fire mage said, relishing the look of disappointment on his rival's face.
"You annoying bastard!" gray hissed. "Ice make: Hammer" Gray produced an ice hammer and aimed for Natsu's head. "You missed!" Natsu dodged it instantly and attacked him back with a huge fireball. "Take this! Fire dragon's iron fist!"
Gray jumped in the air, skillfully avoiding his attack. The fireball hit the candy shop and set it on the fire. The ice mage moved his hands artistically in the mid air. "Ice make: Lance!" An array of ice lances rushed at an amazingly fast speed to hit his opponent. The fire mage moved his agile body flexibly and bypassed them. Meanwhile, the lances destroyed the shops and the stalls that stood in their way.
"Stop it now!" Erza ordered. No one listened to her; they were too indulged in their fight. "It annoys me." She said in anger.
"Erza?" Lucy tapped her fingers on Erza's shoulder. "You need to relax." She said timidly.
"Ex-quip! Heaven's wheel armor!" The woman with scarlet hair ex-quipped her armor. "Listen to me, you idiots!" She joined the fight and the chaos ensued. "Run for your life!" The old man screamed. People started running out of the place. It was raining flames, swords and ice.
"That's certainly not helping at all." Lucy looked at her teammates who were inadvertently destroying the Magnolia's biggest fair.
"Aye!" Happy nodded.
"I think I should call Virgo and tell her to tie them up so that they don't fight." Lucy said. "That'll do." The blue cat looked at her with fear. "Lucy , don't do that!" He was too late.
"Open the gate of the Maiden!" she twisted the golden key in the air. "Virgo!" A celestial spirit appeared before them. "It worked." Lucy clapped her hands. However, it gave her a shock when she saw the spirit.
"Tch! What now? I was spending some quality time with my boyfriend." the angry zodiac spirit spoke.
"Aquarius?" Lucy was surprised. "Why are you here? Where's Virgo? "
"Check the key in your hand." The spirit said angrily. Lucy looked at the key in her hand, it was Aquarius' key. "I used the wrong key." She realized.
"Why did you call me here? Let's get over with it quickly"
"Just stop this fight." She ordered her meekly.
"That's it!" she asked her.
"Yeah!"
"Chhe!" the spirit clicked her tongue. She raised the jar in the air and arched her back. Barking out loud, she twisted her body around and swept it in the air. A strong jet of water whooshed out of it that engulfed the whole place and drowned the fairy tail mages along with it. "Don't drown me too!" Lucy screamed as she got drifted in the whirlpool of the cold water. The spirit smiled crookedly. "Don't call me again. I'll be on a date with my boyfriend." She vanished into thin air.
"The whole fair is destroyed. Lucy, you overdid this time." Natsu accused the stellar mage. Happy, Gray and Erza nodded in agreement.
"What? Was it my fault?" Lucy screamed. She looked at her teammates. "How come you all are so clean and dry?"
"I'm a fire mage, Luce." Natsu explained. "Water never stands a chance against me. It just evaporates away."She turned to Gray. "What? I wasn't wearing my clothes. So, it's all dry." He told her. Then, she turned to Erza."My armor protected me from getting wet." Erza replied.
"Is that so?" she watched them with dismay. Why did things end up like this? I'm so wet and … she rubbed her wet hands on her face despairingly. "Colddd!" she screamed out her thoughts.
And that was the third chapter. Liked it? Do tell me. I'll upload the next chapter very soon. Pinky promise! LOL!
Know what, it's raining here! Going to make myself a large mug of coffee! Yay!
Lucy: Open the Gate of the Clock! Horologium! Come out! I'm freezing. *shaking uncontrollably*
Gray: He won't come. Loke's strict orders, remember.
Lucy: Then, why did Aquarius come? Didn't she get the same orders?
Aquarius: You ruined my date, so I ruined yours!
Lucy: *couldn't speak*