The group consisting of Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Kori, Lucy, Erza, and Gray had been inside the dimension for 28 days now and their turn inside was soon to be over. They had all become quite strong thanks to Layla's enhancement of their bodies Eternano control, and the rigorous training they had all completed during their stay.
Erza had sparred with Citrine countless times over the last few weeks ever since she had been able to use her Pandora Armor. Each day Citrine would modify her seals to change the state of her release; making her profile smaller with minor increases of power, she would also mix up her attack patterns and style of fighting giving Erza a taste of a variety of powerful encounters.
Natsu and Gajeel had initially extensive sparred together but after the second week they split apart to focus individually on more conventional training to build strength, speed, and endurance.
Wendy and Lucy were inseparable and trained as a team, with the help of the empowered array of Zodiac Celestials to choose from and Gemini's ability to copy everyone except Kori, Saphira, and Layla.
Gray had made significant progress under Kori and Saphira's guidance the three becoming close. With the attraction between Gray and Kori, Saphira had been vigilant to ensure it remained strictly professional. However, with the plan for her to be leaving in search of the remaining dragons, she knew she wouldn't be there forever to watch them so she started to ease up over time.
With time in the Dimension drawing to an end the group decided to focus more on recuperation as they prepared to rejoin the outside world...
"Over these past few weeks you have all come so far, and it warms my heart to see all of you mastering control over your new powers. Remember the outside world and the people in it, cannot be so easily repaired like this 'disposable' environment! So your control and restraint is far more important than your strength." Layla said with overwhelming pride to the group
Everyone in the group smiled at each as they absorbed Layla's words.
"We couldn't have come this far without your help Layla" Erza thankfully replied
"Yeah you're the best Lucy's Mom" Natsu exclaimed
"Yes, this place has been wonderful Momma" Lucy replied with a tear while Wendy cheered in agreement
"Sure was fun being able to cut loose" Kori replied with a grin
"Geehee" Gajeel said with a wide smile.
"Yeah, thanks to Saphira and Kori as well for lending me a hand in here" Gray replied with a smile to the two.
"No need to thank us Gray, you have been a pleasure to work with" Saphira responded with a humble curtsey
"Yeah we got your back, snowflake" Kori responded with an evil laugh as Natsu and Gajeel snickered
"Thanks for all the kind words everyone." Layla said with a smile before adding "but I think its time we worked on our last training project..." Layla said with a grin
"Final huh, what did you have in mind?" Gajeel asked
"Well a few weeks back, Lucy suggested we add a Hot-spring... I think with the magic you all possess, making a Hot-spring may be a perfect way to test your... finesse" Layla replied
"All right!" Lucy proclaimed with a cheer
"Yay!" Wendy added
"Yes! we can do this" Erza said triumphantly.
"Okay, Citrine and I are going to go inside for tea. We will leave all the planning and design to you, so make us proud" Saphira said with a wave as Layla and her entered the accommodation building.
"So where should we make this thing?" Erza asked
"It would be convenient if it wasn't too far from the accommodation" Wendy replied
"Yeah, it should have some cover from wind also" Lucy replied
"Maybe slightly up the hill behind the accommodation? that has trees and isn't too far" Kori added
"Sounds like a plan" Gajeel responded
"Yeah and if we want it to be natural I guess I can melt some mountain rocks creating magma for heating" Natsu exclaimed as he lit his fist on fire
"Just don't over do it, we aren't looking to burn down the forest" Gray added knowing Natsu's lack of control.
"Yeah yeah, I got it stripper" Natsu angrily retorted.
"Ok well who is best at digging?" Wendy asked looking at everyone
"I got it, I'll just blast a hole in the mountain!" Natsu exclaimed before Gray hit him and they both began to brawl
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Erza yelled both Natsu and Gray cowering in fear.
"I know, I can use Virgo! She loves to dig" Lucy exclaimed
"Yes! Virgo is perfect for this task. Now lets all scout out a suitable location up the mountain" Erza replied
The group was preparing to split up however after walking only 50 meters up the hill they found that the slightly artificial nature of the mountains construction; having no errosion or weathering, made it almost pointless as it was mostly the same no matter where they turned.
"Well I guess we should just cut out our own area?" Kori said as she looked around
"It does seem pointless to find a better location, so we shall make our own!" Erza proclaimed with a glint in her eyes
"So I should just blast a chunk out of the mountain side?" Natsu exclaimed
"No we aren't looking for a smoldering hole, we need to be precise!" Lucy angrilly replied
"I would be more suitable when it comes to removing the larger part" Erza said as she changed into her Japense cloth wielding her Benizakura.
"We are counting on you Erza" Gray said with a smile.
"You got this Erza" Natsu exclaimed
Erza concentrated as a yellow aura of energy enveloped her body and rocks started to levitate around her, then she quickly sliced into the mountain side with a flurry of precision strikes.
However, the attacks seemed to do nothing despite their impressive looking nature, causing everyone else to stare in confusion
"What happened?" Kori said confused
"It's ok I'm not finished yet" Erza said with a smile as she equipped her Giant's Armor.
Erza once again concentrated as yellow energy enveloped her again and she then quickly punched the landscape to everyone's shock. When she made contact a substantial section of the area rocketed off the side of the mountain crashing down into the ocean below.
As the dust cleared a perfect triangle-shaped wedge had been cut into the mountain side giving them a nice flat surface to work with.
"Amazing Erza!" Gray exclaimed as he surveyed the flattened area
"I have to admit, that was impressive" Kori said with a smile.
"With this section now clear, we can have Virgo cut out the hot-springs" Lucy triumphantly announced.
"But wait what are we going to fill the hot-spring with? we can't simply put water in it" Gajeel said
"Kori and I will handle the water source by creating an Ice glacier at the top of the mountain peak" Gray said this as he nodded to Kori who engaged Dragon Force releasing her wings.
"We'll freeze a large chunk up top, Gajeel and Natsu you two try to figure out a way to channel the water down the hill to the spring area." Kori said as she grabbed gray and took off up the mountain.
"Hmm I guess I can make some metal aqueduct or something" Gajeel said
"Amazing! Then we just need Natsu to heat it" Wendy said with a smile as Natsu who started to run up the hill with his fist on fire
"IN A CONTROLLED WAY!" Lucy yelled as knowing Natsu he would just blow the ice apart in one large attack.
"I know... Jeez what do you take me for" Natsu exclaimed as he stopped in place
"We take you for the guy that had his fist on fire and was running up the hill two seconds ago" Lucy angrily replied
"Well how can I even do that..." Natsu complained to himself.
"Why don't I have Virgo dig some holes, then you melt a bunch of rocks making lava?" Lucy exclaimed
"Okay, let's do it Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed as he picked up Lucy bridal style and began running up the hill.
"What!" Lucy said in shock, but soon found herself extremely happy to be in Natsu's arms as she held on tightly to him and enjoyed his warmth.
"Guess we can cut a few pool areas around the place without Virgo" Erza said as she re-equiped her Benizakura
"I could use wind to erode the edges of them!" Wendy excitedly added.
"Mmm, that's a fine suggestion Wendy" Erza said as she made a few small cuts in places around the area
Wendy through all her channelling training made a small tornado that drilled delicately down into the ground around Erza's cuts, creating softly cut pools around the area.
Meanwhile at the top of the mountain Kori and Gray surveyed the area...
"If I make a large pile of ice you think you can fill it with your Blizzard?" Gray asked Kori
"Sure thing" Kori said as she dropped Gray off near the summit.
Gray looked down the hill as he worked out how much ice he should make to cover the top
"ICE MAKE: FLOOR" Gray exclaimed as he froze over the top 3rd of the mountain surface
"ICE MAKE: WALL" Gray exclaimed as a large wall was created around the edge of the frozen section creating a 'cup' like effect for him to fill.
"ICE MAKE: GEYSER!" Gray exclaimed as the inside area erupted full of ice spikes that covered the top of the mountain
"Okay that should be plenty, you think you can work with that Kori?" Gray shouted as he looked up at Kori who was staring at all the ice in love; her heart skipping a beat.
"Huh? Oh right..." Kori responded as she snapped out of her trance
"Here we go" Kori said as she flew upwards into the sky above the frozen section a blue aura of cold fire surrounding her as she extended her wings and exclaimed
"FREEZING WATER DRAGON SECRET ART: SLEET STORM"
A blizzard of partially frozen water rained down on top of the mountain, the ice slurry smoothed the sharp contours of Gray's spikey geyser ice before hardening itself into a frozen cap over the mountain.
Kori landed next to Gray and the two exchanged a high-five. Afterwards they simply stood and admired their work, as silence and calm came over them both as they observed the frozen wonderland they had created at the top of the mountain.
Unfortunately for them Gajeel interrupted the mood.
"Looks like you two did a number on this place" Gajeel said as he looked around at the frozen wasteland as Gray and Kori just looked at him in silence.
"Dunno where Salamander is, so not sure if the heating is done or not; but this duct here behind me should funnel the water down the hill to the springs" Gajeel said as he pointed to the metal slide he had patched together.
"I can revert some of the ice to water, but we will need to know if the others are ready" Kori responded with a smile
"Guess we should all head back down to check on 'em" Gray said as the 3 of them followed the metal duct back to the springs.
Meanwhile, at the half way point between the ice and the spring area Natsu, Lucy and Virgo were looking at the duct Gajeel had created.
"Looks pretty sturdy, but remember we don't want to melt it simply heat it" Lucy said
"What punishment do you have for me, princess" Virgo replied
"Hmm, what if we dug a trench beside the duct?" Lucy said with a raised finger in the air.
"As you wish princess" Virgo replied as she dug a shallow trench beside the metal duct.
"It needs to be deep, really deep!" Natsu replied as he looked at the thinly dug tench... Virgo dug multiple deep holes inside the trench as suggested
"I can work with this" Natsu said with a smile as he jumped down one of the deep holes disappearing from vision
"Natsu?" Lucy exclaimed as she looked down where Natsu had jumped. She became worried as she couldn't see him, only darkness.
About 15 seconds past with no sign of him, and Lucy was having difficulty keeping calm. Suddenly, the ground around her began to rumble and she felt a sudden rush of magical pressure shoot out of the hole.
Lucy looked back down the hole and saw a red glow in the darkness, and she quickly realised it was rapidly approaching. She quickly ran back for cover as Natsu shot out into the air wrapped in fire with a spew of lava following in his wake, filling the trench with the molten red rock.
"Now that was fun!" Natsu exclaimed before Lucy freaked out at him for making her worry.
"It's okay Lucy, you know I'll never leave you" Natsu said with a big grin causing Lucy to stop suddenly, as his words filled her with a sense of calm.
"Just don't scare me like that, got it" Lucy said as she hugged Natsu; he was confused at what he done, however he smiled and responded "Yeah, you got it" as he held her tightly back.
"We interrupting?" Kori suddenly said with a mischievous grin as she, Gray and Gajeel arrived at the scene on their way down the hill.
Lucy quickly let go of Natsu in embarrassment, before in a panic exclaiming "No, no, it's nothing, it's just..." Lucy turned red not sure what to say.
"We just need to check up on Erza and Wendy to see if we are good to release some of the water" Gray said as he walked passed the group and continued down the hill, Gajeel following shortly behind.
Kori gave Lucy a wink as she walked passed to caught up to the other two on the way down. Natsu smiled at Lucy and extended his hand "Come on, we should get going"
"Yeah..." Lucy responded with a warm smile as she took his hand and the two walked down the hill behind the group.
The group of five returned to the cleared section and were surprised to find it complete. Thanks to Wendy's tornado and Erza's swords a smoothly cut pit awaited at the bottom, there was even a rock formation that Erza had stacked using some of the cut sections to create a small area for the water to trickle down as a waterfall.
"Are you guys finished at the top?" Erza asked seeing the 5 return.
"Yeah we got a bunch of ice and water at the peak" Gray Responded
"I've made a duct between here and there so it can follow that down" Gajeel added
"And we made a section of lava near the duct half way up for heating" Lucy added with a smile to Natsu
"Sounds like we are ready" Erza said with a smile.
"I can turn some of the ice into water to start with, when we have enough we can let the rest melt naturally" Kori said as she extended her wings
"Okay, let's do it" Wendy cheered happily as Kori took off up the mountain.
Kori quickly reached the top and landed near the ice wall beside Gajeel's duct. She extended her hand touching the section wall and with a blue flash in her eyes she said "Flow".
The wall section instantly melted releasing a small torrent of icy water down the metal slide. Kori lifted off and pursued the water down the mountain, matching her speed with it to monitor its descent.
She watched as steam rose when it went past the halfway point lava, but the water wasn't completely boiled off; a good sign that they didn't over do it. The water soon reached the bottom and flowed down the stacked rocks Erza had created, breaking up into small waterfalls which began to fill the pools.
They all sat back and smiled at the sight of the pools filling with steamy water.
Lucy knelt down, placing her hand in the water, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that they had come out with the perfect temperature; it wasn't cold at all and it wasn't hot enough to burn yourself.
The group cheered, but then it dawned on them... Who was going first?
"Girls first?" Wendy said with a smile
"We have just as much right to go first" Gajeel replied
"Well I don't mind if we share" Erza responded as she started to take her gear off.
"What NO!" Lucy screamed
"Well I'm going in, you can figure it out" Kori said as she jumped into the hot-spring naked, shocking Wendy and Lucy. Natsu, Gajeel and Gray all fell over backwards in shock with nosebleeds.
"What's a little skinship between friends" Erza said as she jumped in following Kori's lead.
"I... didn't think... she would do it..." Gray said trying to breath as he laid on his back
"I guess they win..." Gajeel replied
"Yeah..." Natsu said forced to agree
The three of them dragged themselves to their feet and before they could do anything they heard Lucy's voice.
"DONT YOU DARE PEEK!" Lucy exclaimed as the 3 guys continued to face away from the hot-spring; all of them sighed and started slowly making their way back down the hill.
"I guess we can let Saphira and Layla know that it's complete" Gray said as they walked towards the accommodation
The three of them entered the Accommodation Building moments later as it was only down the hill. They all were slightly depressed that they weren't up there themselves but someone had to tell Layla and Saphira it was done.
"Oh you are back, we heard some explosions and felt your magic use from here. So, how did it turn out?" Saphira said looking at the 3 depressed men who just entered the room
"Well it's finished, and apparently it's good..." Natsu replied
"But we wouldn't know, the girls commandeered it" Gajeel added
We were forced to admit defeat..." Gray said trying to contain a smile as he started to blush
"Admit defeat?" Saphira replied in confusion
"Let's just say Kori overpowered us" Gajeel said wiping sweat from his forehead
Natsu and Gray remained quiet but both couldn't help blush.
Saphira sighed as she started to piece together an idea from the 3's reactions
"Oh how did it go?" Layla said as she came down from the stairs into the room
"It's finished, apparently the girls 'overpowered' them" Saphira replied with a sigh
Layla raised an eyebrow at this but was interrupted by what felt like an earthquake...
The group rushed outside just moments before an avalanche rolled down through the accommodation building...
"ICE MAKE: SHIELD!" Gray quickly exclaimed creating a large ice barrier around the group, diverting the avalanche away from the five of them.
"What happened?" Gajeel exclaimed as he looked at the devastation in front of him
"LUCY!? THE GIRLS? WHERE ARE THEY?" Natsu shouted in a panic as he ignited in fire and started running through the snow, melting it in his wake as he searched.
However, Natsu didn't get far before he abruptly stopped, frozen in his tracks. The rest of the group came running to him but as they got there Natsu collapsed
"Natsu are you ok?" Layla said as she knelt down to check on him but she was less concerned when she realised he was smiling and had an uncontrollable nosebleed. She looked up and saw Gray and Gajeel also collapse, while Saphira shook her head in disappointment.
Layla looked to see what the fuss was about and saw the 4 girls all piled on top of each other with shocked looks on their faces, naked and frozen in ice created by Kori.
"Humans..." Saphira said shaking her head before her eyes flashed blue; the ice exploding into water.
The 4 girls all gasping for breath covered themselves with their arms in embarrassment.
"Do I really want to know what happened here?" Layla said as she clapped creating temporary clothing for the 4.
Layla just sighed, and walked off back down the hill to repair the accommodation building, yet again.
Saphira raised an eyebrow at the 4 and couldn't help her curiosity "Well unlike Citrine, I would like to know what caused this?" she said with judgement in her eyes.
"Well..." Lucy said as she blushed
"Kori..." Saphira said looking at her with disappointment.
"I kind of... kissed Erza" Kori responded with a sarcastic laugh before adding "I was joking, but I took it too far"
Erza blushing came clean... "In my surprise, I leapt out of the hot-spring, and collided with the metal ducting by accident"
"I guess the duct destabilized the ice at the top of the mountain and it all came crashing down on us before we knew it" Kori said as she tried to contain her smile.
"..." Saphira looked at the 4 in confusion before sighing and walking off towards Layla who was reconstructing the accommodation
The 4 girls looked at each other and couldn't help themselves as they all burst into laughter, before Gajeel exclaimed "Glad you find it all funny"
"Yeah we didn't even get to use the hot-spring!" Natsu exclaimed
Gray however couldn't contain his grin from his position on the ground having overheard the story which it seemed Gajeel and Natsu missed.
"What's with you Gray" Gajeel said looking at him in confusion.
Kori walked over and peered down at him in confusion before grinning, which caused Gray to start laughing uncontrollably
"Oh calm down, you perv" Kori said as she extended her hand to help him up.
"Ha, says you 'miss lead-the-charge' into the hot-spring" Gray replied with a grin as his nose started to bleed again
Kori smiled seeing Gray's reaction before saying "Seems someone enjoyed the show", before she started to walk off down the hill with her hands up behind her head, and a very large grin over her face...
