Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)
Chapter 40: The Engagement, The Epilogue, and The End
An entire week had passed since the events of finding the huge bag of golden jewels that had been hidden in a treasure chest that had resided in the Laverre Ruins, but Sting and Lucy had chosen to not spend much of the cash that they had found. They had both resisted many of the urges to spend the high amount of cash on expensive things, and both of the Sabertooth mages had gathered up tons of money from all of the jobs that they had done in the past. It would be wrong to waste money, and saving it for later was a pretty smart choice.
Even though they were pretty wealthy right now, Lucy had gone to the golden request board in the guild to pick out a job to do today. She did not take notice of the fact that the other guild members were just chatting with each other while they sat down at tables in the guildhall, not even going to pick out any jobs that they could do today, and there had to be a reason for this to be happening. Rogue and Frosch were eating ice cream sundaes while they sat down at a table together, and Lector was busy arm wrestling with Happy to try and gain Carla's affections.
Sting was nowhere to be seen right now, most likely having left the guild earlier to take care of something that he really had to do, and it was not like him to just leave his sweet girlfriend with the task of choosing a job on her own. After all, he had actually steered the brown-eyed girl from choosing jobs that sounded fun while they were really in dangerous places. For example, a high-tech place known as Gamma City was not actually a city. It had actually been a research facility for experiments to be done by extracting magic, and the white dragon slayer did not want to deal with a bunch of pesky scientists.
Lucy had even wanted to handle a job that was located in a castle that had belonged to a man named Natural Harmonia Gropius at one point, but Sting did not want to take the chance of running into those freaks from the dark guild known as Black Plasma. They had spoke of strange nonsense, such as the desire to liberate magic from every wizard in the world, but that's guild's master named Ghetsis had only wanted to steal it all for himself. Sting and Rogue had stopped the vile villain on his first attempt that happened a few years ago, and they had put a halt to his new plans that almost transpired a few months before the plot involving Thorn had begun.
The blonde mage had turned around to notice that her blue-eyed boyfriend was not in the guild of Sabertooth right now, not doing his job as the guild master, prompting Lucy to wonder where her favorite guy in the whole world could have possibly gone. Sting had never gone out on any jobs without her, and he had always let her know where he was going. She looked concerned while hoping that Sting had not run into any trouble, fearing the possibility of some bandits beating him up for stealing the treasure from the Laverre Ruins, but thieves had to get robbed at some point. Well, isn't that quite ironic?
Yukino told Lucy with a calm smile on her face, as she sat down at a nearby table with a plate of waffles in front of her while she proceeded to cover them in maple syrup, "If you're looking for Sting-sama, he's not here right now. Early this morning, he said something about finding an item that would suit the girl that he loved the most. I bet that he just wants to surprise you, Lucy, so there isn't any need to worry. You've really made quite an impact on him, always inspiring him to do great, and you've also made him much happier as well. Even when you two were fighting that girl in the amusement park, I could sense your high level of chemistry."
Lucy replied in a kind manner, blushing a light shade of pink and smiling softly while she could guess what the woman with light blue hair was talking about, "Well, the battle against Hikari was where Sting and I began to really work as a team. We wanted to save all those people who were trapped in the lightning created by our opponent, and my Fire Demon Magic worked well with his White Dragon Slayer Magic. I still can't believe how that battle was also where the book let me know that it could absorb other types of magic that it came into contact with, as seen from what occurred with the final clash between the strongest moves used by me and Hikari."
Upon remembering that, Lucy could only walk over to Yukino's table and sit down while she began to smile happily. The spell book was actually the start of all her adventures with Sting, and it had risen her up from being a sewer maintenance mage to being a master sorceress who rose up above many strong people like Erza and Laxus. She giggled a bit while flashing back to some of the weirdest parts of their adventures, such as the time when her stingrays of lightning had chased Sting around the beach, and they even had romantic moments at places like the art gallery in the museum of Crocus where Karen gave Heavenly Body Magic to Lucy.
She had also recalled some great times where he had really been there to save her, such as when Thorn took over her body for the second half of the tag-team battle against Natsu and Erza on the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy still felt that she really could not repay him with any amount of money for saving her life like that. Not only had he managed to save her, but he had saved Natsu and Erza from a terrible fate as well. Sting really was the nicest boyfriend that any girl would be lucky to have, and Lucy was very happy to be dating such a great guy.
He had also been able to inspire the blonde girl to do her best, such as when she was losing her match against Yuka Suzuki on the second day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy was always happy to have him erase her fears. She had been scared about getting lost in the sinister powers of Darcy's Darkness Magic, but Lucy just had to embrace the ghostly powers of the purple-haired spirit. Darcy had even taken over Lucy's mind to see what Sting was like, not showing much interest in him, but she already knew that his light was one of the main causes of her switching to the side of good in the fated battle against Thorn Heartfilia.
As Lucy and Yukino began to both giggle while talking about Sting, the blonde mage had also begun to finally realize that she had not been using her ten Golden Celestial Spirit Keys. She looked a bit shocked while pulling them out of the brown pouch that in the left pocket of her brown miniskirt, having not even noticed them until now, but that was probably a good thing. If she had shown off her keys more than using the spell book, then Karen could have used the shadows to take the keys away. It was smart to have not used them on her long adventure, and that made Lucy guess that Karen did not know she originally was a Celestial Spirit Wizard.
However, the book was not a completely different item. Lucy was now a wizard who could use the powers of demon spirits, and that final battle with Thorn had made Lucy realize something. She had initially been allowed to use only one type of magic at a time, most likely to not give her too much power or release too many restraints, but Lucy had been able to use more than one type of magic in that fated battle. This was most likely a result of all her training finally paying off, and the book had also found it necessary for Lucy to show off her true strength by releasing the restraints. This did not make her godly, however, since the book was already complete with spells while it could not learn anymore. However, even if something like iron struck the book, it would still be intact because of the invincibility curse that Thorn had put on it.
Suddenly, the entrance doors to the guild had opened up to reveal that Sting and Lector had finally returned from the errand that they needed to take care of. The blond male and his red Exceed were both smirking confidently while they looked straight at Lucy, obviously wanting to go on a job with her or need the brown-eyed girl for something else, and Sting also had something in his hands. It looked like a black box for storing a special gift that a guy would give to the girl that he loved, so what did Sting want to give Lucy? Would she receive flowers, chocolates, or an item that was just as great?
"Hey, Lucy. Sorry for not telling you that I had to go out early for something that was greatly needed, but I kinda wanted to give you a little bit of a surprise. You know, we've known each other for a pretty long time. You and I have been a good team, we've been good friends, you've given me some great kisses while showing me how you can be a strong mage, I've been a good instructor to you, and we've had a really good relationship. I don't know if you'd be ready to advance any further, and I know it's almost been a year, but I couldn't wait any longer." Sting explained to his girlfriend with a calm smile on his face, as he set the black box down on the table for Lucy to open her gift from him.
She replied in a curious manner, wondering what was in the box that Sting had gotten for her, "What couldn't you be patient for, Sting? I've told you that my birthday has already passed, and Christmas is quite a few months from now."
With some excitement in her cocoa brown eyes, really wanting to know what Sting had bought to help them advance further in their relationship, the book-wielding mage opened up the rectangular black box that had a pink bow on it. As she took off the box's top, Lucy looked surprised to find nine engagement rings that looked really beautiful and expensive. They were in the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, and white. The rings shined brightly in their respective colors, just like when her book had gained a new spell, and Lucy thought that it was sweet of Sting to reference the item that had been the start of their adventures.
Even though she had not decided yet on which one of the rings to choose, Lucy could only thank Sting for the great surprise by getting up from her seat and kissing his lips passionately. She was a bit shocked that he had wanted her to be his fiancee, moving up quite a big step from just being his girlfriend, but Lucy could only see that her life would be great with the guy who had managed to charm her with his beautiful blue eyes while also healing the pain in her heart. She wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, feeling that they would have many more great adventures together.
Seeing the kiss as a sign of Lucy accepting the gift that he had bought for her, which she really did like, Sting announced to all of his fellow guild members that an engagement party would be going on later tonight. Everyone looked pretty happy to hear this, cheering loudly like they deserved it as a bonus from when the guild won the Grand Magic Games, and Sabertooth was definitely the place to be for a great party. While Lucy now had to wonder about what she would be wearing tonight, she also had to wonder if her friends from Fairy Tail would like to join in on the fun.
She had quickly looked over at a table where Rufus was sitting with Orga, and Lucy had asked the master of Memory-Make Magic if he could create a stack of flyers that would be sent out to many of the light guilds across Fiore. One of the flyers would hopefully reach Fairy Tail, since the guild of Sabertooth was large enough to have an awesome party with tons of people, and Lucy hoped that at least a few of her friends would show up. Even if they were out of booze because of Cana, then things would still be fine. After Rufus quickly creating the flyers that advertised the party, he simply used a spell known as Memory-Make: Teleport to send them to various guilds at a fast pace. Speaking of guilds, how was everyone in Fairy Tail doing today?
One hour later, at the Fairy Tail guild...
Mirajane went out to the guild's mailbox to find a handful of envelopes inside of it, mostly just things that were usually for bills and sweepstakes, but the white-haired woman looked a bit surprised to find a folded blue piece of paper behind all of the regular mail that the guild had normally gotten on a daily basis. She set the stack of envelopes down on the ground for a moment, reaching back into the mailbox to check out that blue piece of paper, and she was curious about the contents of that paper. What could it possibly be?
She unfolded the blue piece of paper, hoping it wasn't the Magic Council trying to shut down the Fairy Tail guild, and she was even more shocked to find out that it was a flyer from the rival guild known as Sabertooth. They were going to be having a party to celebrate the engagement of Sting and Lucy, making Mira giggle happily at the thought of two people being happy about the fact that they were in love, and she also had joy in her blue eyes from seeing the flyer tell her that everybody was welcome for this event. Mira honestly couldn't keep this news to herself, and she proceeded to pick up the large stack of envelopes before running back into the guild.
As she hurriedly ran up the stairs with a cheerful smile on her face, her mind flashing back to last week, Mira thought that this would be the perfect thing to help Cana feel good enough to start coming back to the guild again. The brown-haired woman had not shown up to Fairy Tail for a whole week, possibly still feeling guilty about how she became a demon to almost kill her friends, and Mira thought that this would be a great way for her friend to know that the guild still accepted her as a part of their family. However, Mira did not know that Cana had been feeling evilly great in the shadows instead of feeling totally guilty.
Besides Makarov and Mavis, Mira and Erza were the only two people in the entire guild who really even cared that Cana had been gone. She had somehow managed to pay her rent to keep her dorm room at Fairy Hills, most likely due to Karen providing the cash from the shadows, and Mira had seen that as a sign that the card mage was still around. Cana had not even been at a few of her favorite bars in Fiore, something that made Mira be shocked, and she wondered how her purple-eyed friend had to be doing without booze.
The guild had not openly shunned Cana from being there, but Mira could see why most of the people were not even caring that she was gone. The brown-haired mage was under Karen's influence at the time, but she had said it herself that she had chosen to be loyal to the dark side now. She had even met Karen in dreams, helping her carry out Thorn's malicious plans, and the fact that Cana turned the guild into rubble had made everyone think that she had finally showed her true nature. To them, Cana was nothing more than a backstabbing bitch. To Mira, however, Cana was simply following the path that her heart had taken.
"Hello, Mira. Did Juvia get any mail from her pen pal named Shelly in the faraway land of Hoenn? She has been wanting to meet her, and Juvia would also like to see what Shelly's guild is all about. She has told Juvia that they are called Aqua Alpha Sapphire, and they wish to expand the sea with the help of a creature known as Kyogre. Juvia would love to help her friend add more water to the world, and Gray-sama might want to join us as well!" Juvia asked with a kind smile on her face, before explaining everything afterwards in a joyous manner with feelings of romance in her blue eyes.
Mira replied joyfully, as she gave Juvia a great hug while not even caring about how the Rain Woman had speaking of a famous lady who was part of the infamous group known as Team Aqua, "There's a flyer for us all, and it's from the guild of Sabertooth where Lucy is at! She's getting engaged to Sting tonight, and there is a party tonight that we'll all be invited to! There will be tons of food, music, a heated pool, lots of entertainment, and we'll all get to see Lucy become Sting's fiancee! They might even be married later on, too!"
Juvia could only smile and be happy about the fact that her love rival had truly moved on to someone else, preventing Lucy from supposedly stealing Gray's heart with her charms, and the rest of the guild had actually been happy over the fact that Fairy Tail had been invited to a party. The rowdy guild that was now the second-best in Fiore had never been invited to any other parties, most likely because of how reckless and wild people like Natsu could get, and it felt great that someone finally saw them to be acceptable at a great event like this. There was no rule for attire, so everyone could wear what they usually wore.
Gray smiled with excitement while he definitely wanted to go to the party that would be going on later tonight, and Erza had sternly instructed him to keep his clothes on if he would be down on the dance floor. They were both glad that their best friend was going to be getting engaged, knowing that she really deserved a great guy, and Erza had known that good things would happen to her blonde friend. She knew that Lucy would find happiness, and Erza had known that her friend was strong from the day where she had almost killed Natsu before leaving the Fairy Tail guild.
Lisanna would certainly go to the party to show her support for Lucy becoming the fiancee of Sting, smiling happily with joy in her blue eyes about how fun the party would probably be as well, but there was one obstacle keeping Lisanna from actually being fully happy about this joyous event. She had been been sitting down at the table with the members of what used to be Team Natsu, and Suna had joined their group as well because she was to be thanked for helping the group be healed while also being the one responsible for the Fairy Tail members finding Lucy when Thorn's reign of darkness had begun.
The white-haired girl was happy for her friend getting engaged, truly delighted to hear this great news from Mira, but Lisanna had looked over at Natsu to see that he was not exactly pleased with what he had heard. He looked pretty miffed, not because Lucy was getting engaged, but he would have to see her be in love with the guy who was his main rival. The fire dragon slayer had not exactly been on good terms with Sting, ever since what had happened in the Pillar Battle on the second day of the Grand Magic Games, and Natsu hated that arrogant guy. Seeing him again would be annoying, and it would be a pain for Natsu to see how Lucy had moved on to a guy who had actually been nice to her. Even though Lucy had forgiven him, Natsu knew that he had to repair his long trail of damage.
Respecting Lucy would be a bit easier for him to do, but the fire dragon slayer looked grumpy about the fact that she had chosen Sting as her new boyfriend. If she had chosen Rogue or even Gray, then Natsu would have no real issue with it. He did not like Sting at all, and Natsu could only groan at the fact that his blond rival would probably see himself as his superior now because of how his spells had helped Lucy save the entire world from Thorn's wrath. On top of that, Natsu knew that Sting might bring up the fact that the pink-haired male owed his life to him because of how he made Thorn cease her destructive attacks in the tag-team battle.
He stubbornly shouted to his group, folding his arms while turning away from them to keep his friends from reading the thoughts in his eyes, "You guys can go over there and have tons of fun, but there's no way that you'll get me to be at that party! I know that you're friends with Lucy now, Lisanna, but I'm not going to watch her kiss Sting while having him smirk at me for being stupid enough to kick her off of the team! I know that I made mistakes with her and with you, and I bet that Sting will bring that up if he sees me at that party! Even if there's tons of barbecued food, I still won't go!"
Lisanna replied nicely while smiling a bit, making Natsu face her like she could guess that this situation would come up, "It's true that you made a whole bunch of stupid mistakes to make Lucy and Sting not like you, but the flyer said that everyone from our guild is welcome. Besides, look at it this way. If you hadn't kicked Lucy off of the team in the beginning, she wouldn't have found happiness in the end. You probably still hate the fact that it's your fault that Lucy was targeted by Karen to try and unlock the spell book, but you kept her from doing it to someone like me or Erza. Lucy probably told Sting about how you had rejected her, probably making you sound like a total jerk, but that gave her the incredible drive to become stronger and beat you. Natsu, some of the bad things you did were actually good in the end."
Looking at this whole thing from the perspective of his girlfriend had made Natsu seem a bit shocked, having not really realized that Lucy being happy with Sting was because of him, but the fire dragon slayer looked into Lisanna's sweet blue eyes while knowing that he had also messed up with her. Just because she did not want anything to do with him after the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games, Natsu had stopped trying to earn her trust back. When Thorn came along, he had wanted someone to make him happy again. He had even spilled the abilities and weaknesses of all the guild members to Thorn, and that was a pretty careless move on his part.
However, as he looked into Lisanna's blue eyes, Natsu could see that she had also made herself forgive him for his actions towards her. She was no longer upset with him for everything that had happened, looking at the bright side of it, but the fire dragon slayer gave her a really warm kiss on the lips to let her know he would never mess up like that ever again. Even if Lisanna had decided to trust him again, Natsu wanted to earn it back by showing her that he would be the best boyfriend that she ever had. He would be nice like Sting, helping her out when she needed him to be there for her, and Natsu also wanted to be more mature for her as well.
Besides, the only person who could truly be hated by him was Cana. Natsu had not forgotten how awful she had been to side with evil women like Thorn and Karen, and the pink-haired male frowned a bit while he had wished that the holy light from Lucy's massive spell had killed the brown-haired girl for trying to destroy the Fairy Tail guild. He had even begun to wonder if Cana was her real name, since she had seemingly gone to the dark side of her own free will, and Natsu was glad that she was not here to hear about Lucy getting engaged to Sting. If Cana was not here, then where had she gone to?
In an expensive mansion in the netherworld...
Since she had now been banished to the afterlife by the holy light that Sting had put into the spell book, Thorn could only stay in the dark world of shadows and misery while she would now be around her fellow souls of evil. She had bought a mansion in the dark world, prior to the day where she had the fated battle with Lucy, and Thorn had used the shadows to furnish it with everything that a queen of malice could enjoy. Even though she could not bring her mansion into the human world, something coming from there to the shadow world would prove to be a rather pleasant treat.
She had entered into her main bathroom, a room that was complete with a deluxe shower that had many kinds of soaps and different bottles of scented shampoos while having many shower heads as well, but the demonic woman narrowed her blood red eyes when she saw that the water was boiling and bubbly in her large hot tub. Thorn had not turned up the heat for the water to make steam rise out of it, nor had she even been in the bathroom today. She let her black towel fall to the floor, revealing her lacy black bikini, and Thorn dove into the water to see who would dare intrude into her home.
The black-haired woman could see well underwater, and she quickly rose to the surface to see her friend Karen emerge from the shadow of her towel. Karen wore only her yellow bikini top with a yellow bikini bottom to match, and the woman with silvery-blue hair had brought Cana with her to the world of the afterlife. Thorn looked surprised to see Cana wearing a white lacy bra with white lacy panties to match, wondering why the holy light had not turned her back into a human, and she hoped that Karen had let her lover know that a human could not stay here.
Cana still stood on the white tiled floor with Karen, still scared of Thorn because of the fight that she had on the beach with Erza, and the brown-haired girl hoped that she would be accepted as a half-demon by the woman who had easily struck fear into her when they had locked eyes. Cana had been cowering back then, scared that Thorn would kill her, and she was lucky that Lucy's dark ancestor had showed mercy on that day. However, Cana shook in fear while thinking that Thorn would not be happy to see a fairy here. Even if Cana was now on the side of evil, did Thorn really need a rook from her failed plan?
She could only get out of the water slowly, all hot and wet because of her two guests preparing the hot tub for themselves to enjoy, and Thorn was now face to face with the younger woman. She placed one of her hands on Cana's cheeks, feeling how she was shaking from being so close to a witch who had been giving off an extremely dark vibe, and Thorn smirked evilly from sensing the brown-haired girl have those feelings of fear and worry. Even after her death, Thorn's powers from the book had gone to the afterlife with her. She could kill Cana right now, if she desired to do so, but getting into her mind to make her be loyal was a better idea.
"Your name is Cana Alberona, is it not? You were a very wonderful rook in my game of chess, you know. Did you only come here to take a relaxing bath in my hot tub that I fill with black shadowy liquid in cases like this, or did you come here to admit that you are a fairy who seeks the darkness? It must have been quite an upset to see Karen and I die right before your eyes, was it not? You didn't want to be apart from your lover and the feelings of malice that she put into you, right?" Thorn asked in a manipulative manner, smiling with an evil look in her blood red eyes while she put a finger to Cana's lips for a moment.
Cana replied softly with some fear in her purple eyes, still scared of the possibility that Thorn could stab her at any moment, "Yes, Thorn. My name is Cana, and I came here with Karen because I love her. I love how she has turned me into an evil person, making me enjoy the dark power that I felt from destroying Fairy Tail for you, and I could never let anyone in the guild know that I'm with the woman who deceived into finding the book that you once wielded. However, if they don't realize it now, then they eventually will. That includes Lucy and her guild, too. I use cards as a facade, hiding the shadowy powers that you gave me, and this darkness is my true self. I am evil like you, Thorn... Well, I want to be as malicious as you and Karen."
Upon hearing those words from the young girl, Thorn could only maintain her smirk while giggling a bit. She could tell that Karen must have really been tempting Cana with the prospect of power for a while now, and it was only natural for a fairy to initially refuse the offer of dark power from a demon. However, Thorn could guess that Cana had been weak and wanting love. She had been the girl who was inferior to many of the others in Fairy Tail, and she sought power to become stronger. She had never spoke of her sexuality to anyone, but the shadows could see into dreams. Karen had seen Cana's desire for love, and she had made most of her dreams exist in reality.
Thorn knew that this girl was definitely a great piece to have in her game of chess, even though there were no plans going on right now, and having one of Fairy Tail's mages join the darkness of her own free will was certainly going to greatly help the black-haired woman with her ideas. Cana knew very well that she could end up being kicked out of the guild for dating Karen, exiled for simply falling in love with a woman who was evil, but Thorn would not let that get her down. If the guild did not approve of Cana following her heart, then what would she need from that bunch of fairies? Besides, Cana still had a lot to learn about being a demon with the powers of shadows. She was going to become stronger through learning all of the dark magic that Thorn had to offer, and Karen would greatly reward her young lover for being so skilled.
As the coldness of the shadow world had made the temperature in Thorn's mansion drop, she could only move swiftly behind Cana to push her into the hot tub. It was quite deep, large enough for a human to sink to their death, but the demonic woman had a plan to allow Cana to technically live. She had always placed full vials of black liquid on the floor near the hot tub, and Thorn simply opened one up. She poured the shadowy liquid into the water, watching it spread at a fast rate, and Thorn could tell that Cana's were going to be filled with enough water to make her die. However, the liquid from the darkness would fully revive her as a demon.
Later that night, at the Sabertooth guild...
Everyone in the Sabertooth guild had bought supplies for the party that Sting really wanted to have tonight, totally ready to help him celebrate this joyous event, and they knew it was going to be a pretty great night. The dessert table had been fully stocked with delicious sweets that consisted of chocolate cookies, brownies, cakes, honey buns, pies, cream puffs, donuts, sweet cookies, cupcakes and many bowls of ice cream in different flavors. This was quite a sugary assortment for what would be a pretty great party, right?
The snack table was filled with bowls of Doritos in the nacho cheese flavor, bowls of Pringles in different flavor, burgers, hot dogs, steak, cheese pizza, chicken tender, sandwiches, fish sticks, and chicken nuggets on their respective plates. There was also a table for refreshments with many cups while there were many two-liter bottles of Sprite, Coca-Cola, orange soda, Pepsi, ginger ale, blue raspberry soda, root beer, and grape soda. This was going to be the best party ever, and everyone had really put all of their money and efforts into making it be appealing.
Sting had even bought a three-layered white chocolate cake that would be cut together by him and his new fiancee, but Rufus had used his Memory-Make Magic to make a force field of energy surround the cake. This was most likely done to prevent anyone from getting greedy with taking the cake before the fiancees would cut it, and it would also prevent the cake from being damaged if a fight were to break out. The force field was also strong enough to endure Natsu's most powerful attacks, so the cake really had no chance of being hurt.
The music was already playing while Orga was being the DJ, scratching the records back and forth while he stood behind the table, and he had selected the best music tracks to be played an awesome event like this. He had started things off with the Japanese song known as Be An Arrow, and it was one of Lucy's requests. (It's the 15th opening in the Pokemon series, if you want to know what song I'm talking about.) This was one of her favorite songs, since it did seem to have a pretty great groove, and some techno music would be played in the late hours of the night. Fairy Tail may have been too rowdy, but who said that Sabertooth couldn't have a rave?
Lucy wore a short tight-fitting emerald green mini dress that laced upward from the back, showing off some of her nice cleavage in the front as well, and she had wore some pale green high heels to match her sexy dress. She had her beautiful blonde hair down once again, looking very cute, and she also wore a green ribbon on the right side of her head. Anyone could say that she looked pretty attractive, but she was only hoping to receive flattery from the guy who was the love of her life. Sting had only changed into a blue tuxedo because of Rogue urging him to look classy for Lucy on an engagement night, and he hoped that Lucy would like his style.
The two mages had been sitting down at a table together, blushing in bliss while they were happy about tonight being the best night of their lives, and Sting could only smirk with confidence while he looked straight into Lucy's cocoa brown eyes. Her enchanted facial expression could only let him know that she was thinking about spending the rest of her life with him, wanting to be with the guy who could make all of her dreams come true while they would continue to have many great adventures, but the hyped up party music had made Lucy cheer while she got up out of her seat to dance along with the track that was playing.
"Wow, this is the greatest party ever! The music is awesome, the food is totally great, and the soda is really delicious! The coffee machine and the breakfast machines still work, though, but we can save those for the sunrise when it comes around. Sting, you definitely had every right to throw a great party like this one! Everyone is totally enjoying it!" Lucy told him with a cheerful look on her face while she saw him stand up, causing him to wrap her arms around his waist before giving him a passionate kiss that went well with how sexy and excited she had been acting right now.
Sting replied with a kind smile on his face, breaking the kiss while caressing Lucy's left cheek with his left hand, "It's all for you, my sweet Lucy. After all, I could tell that you really liked those rings that I had bought for you. I'd rather not ask about which one you chose, since I know that you wouldn't play favorites with them, but any of them would look great on you. After all, they do represent the colors of the book that you have. If you loved how the rings were able to glow, then know that they represent all of the emotions from our adventures."
The white dragon slayer could hear Lucy giggling a bit, happy about the rings that she had received from Sting, and he could see that she had the sapphire blue ring on the ring finger of her left hand. Sting had a golden ring on the ring finger of his right hand, letting Lucy know that she really did have a heart that was wealthy with kindness like gold, and he could guess that the blue ring would represent how he had charmed her with his blue eyes. It could also possibly be referencing how their adventures together started off with the book being blue, and the Water Magic had proved to be quite useful in the icy temple of Snowpoint Town.
He was about to make more reference points about the other rings that she could also wear anytime, even by saying that the amethyst purple ring would represent how they overcame the shock of Darcy's sinister Darkness Magic, but his blue eyes widened a bit from seeing that the deceptive spirit had been eating from the plate of burgers. Darcy had simply worn a purple top that looked similar to the one that Lucy wore on the first day of the Grand Magic Games last year in X791. Her miniskirt was also black, and her flat shoes were lavender. Her hair was down like Lucy's, but in a violet color, and her eyes were amethyst purple as well. Sting could only guess that the spirit had come out to join the party, and at least Darcy was not being evil to anyone.
Before Sting and Lucy could go over to ask Darcy if she was enjoying the party, the doors had opened up quickly to reveal that the rowdy people from the guild of Fairy Tail had arrived. Natsu had actually kicked open the doors, an action that had made him get punched in the head by Erza because of doorknobs being on the entrance doors, and the fire dragon slayer could only look around to find the two guests of honor at this party. He was now on good terms with Lucy, but being around Sting might show a different story for everyone. He just had to congratulate Lucy, not say much else, and it would be over.
As the fairies walked into the Sabertooth guild, Gray and Juvia could only scream in fear while they went over to the snack table together. They weren't scared about the fact that Culinary Magic had been used on the food to make it regenerate perfectly to provide more food for everyone, but they had now encountered Darcy once again. Gray had remembered this girl from the time that they had crossed paths in Gateau Town, wincing in pain while the memory of being crushed by immense gravity came back to him, and Juvia glared at her like she was ready to give her a well-deserved rematch.
Erza and Lisanna had not seen Darcy until now, having only heard about her from when Gray had come back to the guild while being just as injured as Juvia was on that day, but the two girls knew that fighting in a setting like this over an incident from the past would be quite rude to Lucy and Sting. If they wanted to fight without showing disrespect to the people who were kind enough to throw this great party, then they could at least have the decency to do it in a place like the canyons or on the beach that was now dark during the night.
Darcy could only giggle a bit at the sight of her two opponents from the past, having a sinister smirk on her face while a ghostly purple aura engulfed her left hand, "Well, fairies, it's been quite a while since we last met. I have no intention of fighting you this time, but it's only because I know you can't take me down. When we fought, I was using my own set of the basic spells of Darkness Magic. Since the book has allowed Lucy's powers to evolve, my powers have grown as well. On top of that, my fusion spells are no laughing matter. I'm at a much higher level than you, Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser, but I'll make you remember those feelings of fear if you think that I can be beaten."
Erza responded in a calm manner for her friends, narrowing her brown eyes while motioning for them to not do anything, "You won't have to be beating down anyone, since we have only come here to enjoy ourselves and be happy for our friend. If you're the spirit of the demon who represents Darkness Magic from Thorn's book, then you must be Darcy. You are a powerful demon like Asuna of the fire, Chikyū of the earth, Akarui of the lightning, Kaze of the wind, Mizu of the water, Valerie of the heavens, and Kurokage of the shadows, so we know that we can't beat you. Only a demon slayer can beat a demon, you know."
While Erza and Lisanna respectively kept Gray and Juvia from doing anything crazy, as Darcy walked away from the fairies, Natsu could only eat a dozen chocolate brownies while he stood by the dessert table. He had been eyeing Lucy and Sting for a few minutes now, hearing Lucy talk about how she loved the smell of his cologne while she had kissed his cheek, and the fire dragon slayer could only sigh sadly while Sting called her the best girl in his life. He cared about her personality more than her strength, really admiring her for many of the good traits that she had, and Natsu could probably guess that his own friendship with Lucy would need to be built up again.
Sting was now having a happy relationship with the woman who Natsu had once seen as being weaker than he was, not even seeing the slightest bit of value in her at all, and the pink-haired male had thought that the white dragon slayer would rub it in his face. Natsu knew that he had messed up, but he had also remembered everything that Lisanna had said to him as well. Lucy could never have met Sting, had Natsu not kicked her off of the team for being weak, so he was under the impression that their relationship had only been possible because of him.
He strode over to where the duo was located, seeing them enjoying a plate of chocolate cookies that they had shared, and Natsu narrowed his eyes while he was thinking hard about what to say to his ex. He did not want to cause more drama like how he had accidentally done when he had once tried to give out an apology to Lisanna, flashing back to how he had majorly messed that up, and Natsu tried to put a kind smile on his face while he kept on get on getting closer to the two fiancees. Natsu just had to not insult Sting in any way, and things would end up being fine.
Lucy told Natsu in a happy tone of voice, smiling while seeing him walk over to the table as she was cutely feeding half of a chocolate cookie to Sting, "Hi, Natsu! I'm so glad that you guys came to the party! The place is totally packed with people from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Quatro Cerberus, Fairy Tail, and it's so great that you're all here to help me celebrate my engagement to Sting! I hope you and Lisanna are doing well, by the way. She told me a few days ago about how she loves you, so treat her right."
As Natsu blushed from hearing Lucy's words about taking good care of Lisanna, he replied in a surprised manner while turning to the left to see Darcy standing beside him, "Wow, Lucy! You never told me that you had a twin sister! Maybe she could join Fairy Tail, and then she can be the fifth member on Team Natsu! This is totally great, and it would be interesting to see her fight you in the Grand Magic Games! She could even be more powerful than Thorn, since she gave a total beating to Gray when she fought him!"
Darcy told him in a sinister tone, smirking evilly while she seemed slightly amused at how dense Natsu could be, "I would not be on your team, since I actually enjoy working with Lucy, but you can have that Juvia girl. You, Juvia, Gray, and Erza, and Lisanna had better not asume that Thorn was stronger than me, since I am the mistress of fear and haunting despair that causes nightmares! My Darkness Magic is the true malevolent power in this world, and I am more evil than any villain that you all have ever faced! Soon the world will be mine, and the fairies can be my loyal minions!"
Before Darcy could continue on with her little speech about how evil she was, Lucy simply looked a bit miffed while stuffing chocolate cookies in her mouth. She did not want any sinister plans to occur on this awesome night for partying, and Sting also smirked at the sight of Lucy shutting Darcy's mouth while he was also through with evil demons having so much of a role in a sweet romance. Since that matter was sweetly sealed, with the world also now full of light, Sting and Lucy both laughed happily while they knew that things were definitely going to go smoothly for them in their bright future.
Epilogue...
Lucy and Sting had gotten married one year later, officially being husband and wife, and Lucy Heartfilia had become Lucy Eucliffe. She had been so happy to marry the guy who had been so wonderful to her, always loving her while wanting her to do her best, and the blonde girl was happy to have married a great dragon slayer like Sting. He had eventually beaten her in a rematch, using his White Dragon Slayer Magic against her Lightning Magic, and Lucy was happy to know that her boyfriend was just as strong as she was.
They had used the money from the Laverre Ruins to buy a house in Pallet Town, but Sting and Lucy still went out on jobs to enjoy that great sense of adventure. Both of them had even beaten eight people from the land of Fiore who specialized in eight different types of magic while they gave out badges to people who had defeated them, and Sting had easily earned his badges from people named Brock, Misty, Surge, Erika, Janine, Sabrina, Blaine, and Blue. Lucy had also earned badges from them as well, and those were necessary to compete in the Grand Fiore League.
The Grand Fiore League was a fighting tournament that composed of 256 people every year, having eight rounds of battles, and it was similar to the Grand Magic Games. There were no events, however, and only the battles could be thrilling. Any kind of magic was allowed, and the winner at the end of the tournament would be known as the Champion Mage. People from other guilds had participated as well, wanting to join in on the fun, and Natsu had lost to Sting when they fought in the semi-finals. He ended up tying with Lucy at the end, though, resulting in two more golden trophies for the Sabertooth guild.
However, way back when the engagement party had been going on, Natsu had managed to find his blue Exceed named Happy again. The fire dragon slayer had given him a proper apology for being so neglectful to him for such a long time, and Natsu had also agreed to give him lots of fish every day. Happy had gone back to the Fairy Tail guild with Natsu, but Carla had stayed in Sabertooth because of Lector winning her heart with some tips that he had gotten from Sting and Rogue on how to win a woman's heart.
Rogue had begun dating Yukino a few months later, with the latter enjoying how much of a gentleman he could be, and Gray had decided to at least give Juvia a chance. She was actually more nice than obsessive, and the Rain Woman had even defended Gray from attacks on a few jobs. Lisanna had been improving her relationship with Natsu, helping him be a great guy for her, and she even loved it when he had bought her a fancy dinner from one of her favorite restaurants in Magnolia.
Cana and Karen had decided to live in the world of shadows with Thorn as the leader of their sinister trio, but the brown-haired mage had gone up to the world of light sometimes to do some shopping. She had learned how to create bags of jewels from the shadows, becoming rich in a pretty easy way, but the purple-eyed woman had still stayed in Fairy Tail to see if any new people would ever show up. If they did, then Karen could help Cana bring them over to the dark side for a shadowy army of fairies to help Thorn create a new game of chess where she would never lose control.
Even after a year of being married, Sting and Lucy still find it romantic how they met after the brown-eyed girl had been offered the book that had changed her life forever. She still used her Celestial Spirit Keys from time to time, combining their abilities with those from the spell book, and her two sets of Holder Magic had definitely worked well together. Lucy's spells of Fire Demon Magic had worked well with the arrows from Sagittarius, and her Earth Demon Magic had went very well with Scorpio's sand. Sting had done a good thing by wanting to be Lucy's teacher from when they had met, and he not only knew that she will continue to become stronger. With the romantic chemistry and great bond that they had, she will continue to be loved for the rest of their marriage.
How was the 40th and final chapter? Did you like how it was kind of simple, yet romantic with some comedy included? That's the end of the story, my fellow readers! I honestly didn't even think it would turn out this great, since I had originally planned for Karen to turn Lucy evil in the beginning of the plot. Even if that idea was altered, was it still a good story? Anyway, this was one of my lightest and darkest stories to date. I really enjoyed writing this StiCy, too! Well, you'll see when I have something new! Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts on any of the 40 chapters!