Lucy's POV
the monsters cornered us, forming a circle around us as Happy cowered behind me, crying. I comforted the usually perky blue exceed, and stared at the situation that we got ourselves into. Multiple high rank monsters were slowly approaching us, but at least the villagers were safe. On my command, Happy flew out of the ring, being too fast for the monsters to catch him. Now, just for me to beat the crap out of these idiots. I wasn't tired at all, and I felt the magic pulsing through my veins. Using all of my strength, I summoned all of my zodiac spirits at once, and they started to attack, while I stayed in the center and focused my primordial magic as best as I could. I did this once before, when Leo was still Loke, but that was just a fluke. I've been practicing so much with all of my heart and soul, and I love my spirits to death for working so hard as well. For the primordial magic, I remember Capricorn training me to do this before the Grand Magic Games. Before, I could only get a small wind to surround me, but now, I had a tornado on my hands, and I beckoned my spirits to close their gates- as powerful as they were, they were only a distraction for the monsters. As the truth dawned on the beasts, I called forth all of my magical power, and a storm erupted. Lightning struck as rain and hail poured onto the enemy, although avoiding the onlookers. Tornados erupted, and light and dark magic combined into powerful attacks. It only took a second for all of the hundreds of monsters to be crushed, and I rubbed off some sweat making its way down my forehead. As the villagers cheered, Happy came up to me. "Lucy! When were you this powerful?! And now you can summon all of your spirits at once?! Look at you, though, you're barely breathing heavily!" Happy exclaimed in shock. I smiled as I made my way towards the townspeople, who were still clapping wildly. The chief made his way towards me, and said, "Lucy Heartfilia, you are one of the strongest people I have ever met. I respect you, and I am grateful to you from the very bottom of my heart. Please accept this reward of 4,000,000,000 Jewel.
"WHAT?! THAT'S WAY MORE THAN STATED ON THE JOB REQUEST! I cannot accept this great amount!" I protested earnestly, not wanting the poor village to go bankrupt. Laughing, the chief replied, "Well, there were a lot more monsters than stated on the job request as well, so I guess we're even". Smiling, Happy and I bowed to the village as they started to make their way back to Hargeon. Happy looked down and said, "Lucy, you can keep it all".
I, confused, questioned Happy, whom replied that he barely did anything for me on the job. "That's not true, Happy. You were very brave out there, and you stuck with me till the end. I'm very proud of you. Also, you were willing to carry mu heavy self and fly all the way there", I comforted while poking fun at myself, wanting to lift the dreary mood. As we neared the guild, Happy broke out crying, and flew into my arms. "Lucy, you're too nice! You don't need that idiot Natsu! He's no good for you!" Happy said as he hugged me.
We walked into the guild hall as Happy quickly dried his tears, not wanting Carla to think badly of him. Flying in excitedly, Happy started to tell everyone, quite loudly I might say, of how I beat the monsters with my magic single handedly. As he continued to go on, I closed my hand over Happy's mouth, and whispered, "Can you keep my magic a secret, please?" Happy nodded, not knowing why I would want to keep such awesome power a secret, but he didn't ask. Everyone greeted me as usual, and ignored Happy's outburst. Sitting down at the bar, I saw Natsu and Lisanna staring at me, and I greeted them tiredly.
"You look different, Lucy-", Natsu started, but was quickly cut off by someone barging in, bringing and unusually familiar bright light with them, reminding everyone of a certain Sabertooth guild master.
"Sting!" everyone shouted in surprise and joy, the dragon slayer having become very close with Fairy Tail after the chaos of Face and END. Sting flashed a quick smile and polite greeting to everyone, and then quickly scanned the hall. Finding me, his eyes widened and he pointed a finger at me, while everyone, including I, was just staring at him confused.
"You!" he shouted, coming towards me. "Lucy Heartfilia, forget about Natsu Dragneel! You are my new role model!" Sting shouted, kneeling down to me. Lector, is exceed, did the same, and everyone continued staring at him like he was mad.
"Um, what's this all about?" Natsu questioned, very confused as to what was unravelling before his eyes. Sting started to explain his story:
FLASHBACK
Sting's POV
I was walking in the woods, taking a shortcut to the guild after I finished my daily training. Hearing some screams, I ran to the scene of the sound. I was met, face to face, with hundreds of those S- class monsters that we saw at the GMG's, like that small one in Pandemonium. I saw a bunch of villagers gathered around, and I was about to step in, but then I see none other than the beautiful Lucy Heartfilia. She had a serious expression on her face, and she was super concentrated. Then, she did something that I knew Yukino could ever even dream of doing- she summoned all 12 of the zodiac spirits at once! Then, obviously not done with her display, Lucy let out a small burst of her primordial magic, bringing forth storms as well as light and dark magic. In that second, I first saw hundreds of s-class monsters, then I blinked, and they were all obliterated, the only traces of them some ashes and smoke coming from the ground. I looked at the powerful mage in awe- she wasn't this strong at the GMG's! I decided not to move, but to watch her in case she fainted or something, which I was sure she was. But instead, she simply wiped off some sweat, and then started to go home with Happy like nothing just happened!
END OF FLASHBACK
Lucy's POV
I face palmed myself, everyone's attention now directed towards me. I knew that I was going to be found out eventually, but I never thought that everyone would find out this soon. A shocked silence settled into the room, until, that is, I started to walk towards the great Eucliffe, still kneeling. I pulled him by the collar of his vest, which barely covered him, and pulled his face close to mine, until the gap between us was only a few inches. Staring into his blue orbs, I whispered, "Great, now they know my secret. How are you going to repay me now?" with an annoyed tone of voice. The dragon slayer only stared at me, confused, then he did something I never thought would happen. He kissed me. When the gap between our faces was evident again, I scurried to the other side of the room, my back bumping into a wall. Everyone in the hall kept staring at us. Realizing what he just did, Sting bowed and apologized. He muttered something that I was sure Mira fainted over, her being a demon matchmaker, and then he walked out of the guild hall. Cana broke the silence, and drunkenly nudged me, shouting, "So, Lucy, you have a lot of explaining to do" I sighed, and reluctantly nodded.
"So, here's the deal, that story's true. When Natsu took that 3 month job, I didn't have a team, and it was pretty pointless for me to take a job, so I spent all 3 months training. I trained my endurance with my spirits, and I had Capricorn help me with my primordial magic. Well, nothing much happened, but before I knew it, I grew way stronger. The reason I didn't tell anyone was because I felt that if you guys knew, it would be awkward, or our relationships would change, since I'm never usually considered the strong one in a group. So, that's that, I'm nothing special, just a little stronger, is all" I explained to everyone. I was lying, and I was sure that Natsu could hear the irregular beating of my heart. I didn't want them to find out the truth about me, though. I wanted everything to be normal; I wanted everyone to still love me as their family. My train of thought was broken, though, when I heard a very familiar 'eeeepp!' from across the room, and I, now rigidly looking back, was greeted with the shining eyes of a murderer.
Mira, the matchmaking demon, then revived from the dead and walked over to me. "Uh-huh, but more importantly, what's your relationship with Sing Eucliffe?!" All the girls in the guild squealed, while all of the males just looked down, blushing. Mira continued, "After, you guys, you know, kissed", Mira put emphasis on the word, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, "he mumbled, 'it was on instinct'". Sitting down at the bar, the girls surrounded me, and I, blushing, too, put my head down.
Levy joined in, saying, "She's blushing! Lu- Chan, I'm so happy for you! Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?!"
Standing up, still blushing, I yelled, "He's not my boyfriend! He won't ever be!" Mira then came up to me with a Sherlock Holmes outfit where god knows where she pulled that out from, and said, "Hmmmmm, you sounded a little disappointed when you said that last part!"
In anger, I yelled out Sting's name, and he materialized in front of me. "Yes, Blondie?" he asked with a devious smirk on his grin, watching my surprised facial expression. Grateful that he was here, I replied, "Hey, you're blonde too, you know? Anyways, save me from this mess, this is all your fault" I pointed out. I didn't even question how he teleported here. God knows what this crazy dude is thinking.
"As you wish princess" Sting said with his usual arrogant attitude as he picked me up bridal style. I blushed, but I held on to the back of his neck, knowing full well how fast a dragon slayer can run, especially a light dragon slayer. The girls squealed at our exchange, and I rolled my eyes as Sting carried me far away. Soon, we were at Sting's room in the Sabertooth guild, and he put me down. Then, I asked him bluntly, "What was with that kiss?" HE blushed, which was unlike him, and answered quietly, well, you were really close, and you were whispering, and on top of that, you were whispering seductively! So, basically, it was your fault for being too cute" Sting explained, steam now coming out of his ears. I blushed, and then I regained my composure.
"Well, tomorrow you better come and clear up the misunderstandings of our relationship at the guild" I stated matter-of-factly. Sting just smirked and then pinned me against the ground. "Why, what about our relationship are they misunderstanding?" Sting asked as his face neared mine. Unable to speak, I shivered as he blew onto my neck, and then was relieved when he got off of me and helped me up.
"Just kidding. Fine, I'll come by tomorrow" Surprised that he didn't put up more of a fight, I bowed and walked back home, quickly falling asleep thanks to the busy day that I had. As I fell asleep, I began to think of Fairy Tail.
I thought about the days that I was away from the guild, and how my guild mates were always so caring. They were happy for me when I was happy, and they didn't mind when I was selfish. They were sad when I was sad, and they were worried when I was hurt. They were overprotective like parents, but they would always fool around with me like friends. My new power has been overlooked for now, but I wonder what they're really thinking? Natsu doesn't seem to care. Well, I hope that he's happy. He's a dense idiot, and he's so impulsive, but he's still my friend. Lisanna's a nice girl as well, I hope that they're happy, truly. That doesn't mean I'm not jealous, though. Why am I thinking of him? Because I love him, of course. Why did it have to be him? Why? I can't even look at him in the eye anymore. It's painful, but I have to be strong. I'm powerful now. I can summon all of my spirits at once now. I don't need him now. Wait…NO! Stop this, Lucy! So what? Just because you can summon all of your spirits at once doesn't mean a thing. Even if I was the strongest mage in fiore, in the world, it wouldn't mean a thing. I'm still just Lucy Heartfilia, a Fairy Tail mage. Being powerful doesn't mean anything if you don't care for others. Being powerful doesn't mean anything if you don't have the compassion to use your power. Being powerful doesn't mean a thing if you're oblivious to your own heart. I need to think about things. I need to accept the fact that I've fallen in love with a stupid, dense idiot. I need to accept the fact that he doesn't love me back. I need to accept everything. I don't need to care about my powers, or how powerful I am, just as long as I have my spirits. Calm down, now. Just because I'm powerful doesn't mean I'm a different person. I want to care for those who care for me, I want to love those who have treated me as family, I want to accept those who have accepted me. I now know what I have to do. I need to be myself.
Natsu's POV
I walked home, with Sting and Lucy in my head. I was overprotective of Lucy, she was my friend. Wait! You can't be thinking of Lucy now! You have a girlfriend, idiot! What would happen if she got the wrong idea? Lucy can handle herself, I trust her. She can be with that stupid, idiot Sting. What am I thinking…?
"Damn It!" I punched the wall, stopping in my tracks. I needed to straighten out my priorities. Lisanna can't get the wrong idea, so I'll just ignore Lucy for a while. Yeah, that's right. That's the answer. Lucy will understand, right? I mean, she knows that I don't lover her… I don't love her, right? Of course I don't!
As I walked in silence for a few more minutes, I caught myself. What did I just think…?
I was overprotective of Lucy, she was my friend… I was overprotective of Lucy, she was my friend… was?! Was?! I'm an idiot! What am I supposed to do?! Damn, it Lucy, the way you control my thoughts is so annoying. What the hell am I supposed to do now?! I even have to take in Happy's perspective… Damn, it…Damn it all… I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore. I sunk to my knees, being driven mad.
I looked up to the sky and saw the stars twinkling through the night. I swear, I almost heard the Celestial Spirits calling out to me. "I don't care anymore…" I whispered to myself, almost trying to convince myself, as I felt a small tear make its way down my cheek. I couldn't help it. I love Lisanna, I care for Lucy, and one'll get jealous while the other will get heartbroken. Wait a minute… I thought about this before…ha-ha…I'm a fool. That's right! Yes! That's the answer! Finally! Lucy…that's right…You're strong now…I don't have to care. She can handle herself. I smiled a bit, whispering up at the sky…"Thank you"- I was almost convinced that this was the answer I had been looking for- almost.
Author's Note:
Hey guys! I'll try to post at least every other day- well, at least more than once a week, to be sure. I want to see your reviews, and I don't mind any suggestions for as to where the plot will head. This chapter was dedicated to StingLu, but I'll try to please all of my shippers out there! Well, I don't think I can just bring myself to ship Lucy with Laxus, though, I'm sorry. I hope that you guys like this story so far, though, so keep on reading! (I suggest you check updates every other day).
~FatedGateway