"Why did you have to pick a fight with another Dragon Slayer?" Grey questioned as I got ready in my room. Him along with Erza, Lucy, and Yolric were all packed into the area and I tried to decide the best clothes to wear to the brawl.
"I didn't pick a fight, she started it," I replied, picking up a grey and purple sports bra. "Too showy?" I asked, holding it up to myself.
"Why are you worried about your outfit?" Yolric replied in a panicky tone.
"When you look good, you fight good," Erza replied matter-of-factly.
"Thank you, Erza."
"You bet."
"So, the guild is throwing a big party for this fight?" Lucy piped up. I just shrugged my shoulders and began sifting through my pant drawer.
"Everyone is treating it like the time Natsu and Gajeel wanted to challenge Laxus," Grey spoke, "and we all know how that went. Plus, Elysia knows Machina Soul, too."
"I have armor. Why do you doubt me so much? Shorts or pants?"
"Pants," Erza commented. I gave her a thumbs up and took a pair of worn jeans out of my drawer. I threw up a metal wall and changed behind it as they continued to talk.
"Don't encourage her, Erza... Seriously, June, you want to do this after fighting with Natsu for three hours?" Yolric asked as Eldrid perched on top of the metal wall and looked down at me.
"My ears aren't ringing anymore, I'm fine. You worry too much."
"You worry too little."
"Would it be okay if I bet on you? Last time I did I made 500 Jewel by just betting 30," Grey interrupted. I couldn't help but laugh at the question, and I could almost see Yolric's scowl.
"Whatever floats your boat, Grey," I responded, letting down the metal wall. Eldrid flew over to perch on Lucy's lap and was soon curled up like a cat. I looked over at Yolric, who met my eyes only for a second before he looked away and blushed. His small action made me blush awkwardly myself. I heard Erza give a chuckle.
"Well, I think we should leave June to get herself prepared. See you in a bit," she spoke, ushering everyone out. Eldrid flew out of Lucy's lap and back into her cage, where she calmly preened her feathers. When the door closed, I let out a sigh. It felt nice to have a couple of moments to myself. Leave it to Erza to pick up on the body language.
I went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. When I dried off and looked at my face in the mirror, I watched as my eyes shifted between colors. Originally, they were hazel. However, they tended to change depending on the situation. They were beginning to flash between golden brown and silver. I shook my head and gave another sigh. My eyes finally stopped changing and stayed brown.
Stepping back, I looked at my body. The scars stood out as much as ever, but I wanted them to be seen this time. For some reason, it felt right. I rubbed my shoulder where my Fairy Tail mark stood out. I could faintly feel the scar underneath, but not enough to trouble me. I stepped out of the bathroom, grabbed a denim jacket, and called for Eldrid to follow me before heading out the door.
As I made my way to the center of Magnolia, I noticed the lights of vendors up and down the streets. I couldn't help but look around and smile widely. People would look and me and not shy away, but smile back at me and act genuinely happy. The closer I got to the city's core, the happier and more full of energy I became.
Finally, I arrived at the brightly-lit center. Lanterns were hung up all over and guild members, along with citizens of the town, were all gathered together having the times of their lives.
"Hey, look who showed up!" I heard Natsu exclaim as he ran up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Happy flew at his side, and Eldrid instantly went to him. I looked up at Natsu and raised an eyebrow.
"You thought I'd chicken out?"
"No, I was betting you'd show up!"
"Then why'd you bet on Elysia, Natsu?" Happy chimed. Shocked, I looked up at the Dragon Slayer as a bead of sweat went down his face.
"Please don't kill me," he said, not even trying to cover up Happy's truth. I shrugged his arm off of me and talked to him over my shoulder.
"No worries, Natsu. You'll just lose to me again, is all," I called. Eldrid let out a chirp and followed after me. She landed on my shoulder, and I began to stroke under her beak. "Go find Yolric, I'm sure he's nervous," I muttered. Giving a nod of her small head, she flew up into the dark sky, her radiant tail trailing behind her. I found my way to the center of the meeting place, which was cleared in a wide circle. In the middle stood Elysia and Mirajane, talking and cutting up. When I approached, Mira looked over and smiled as Elysia looked shyly at me. She seemed so much different than she had earlier, hugging herself and making herself as small as possible.
"June, you look ready to go!" Mira grinned. I smiled back and nodded before looking back at Elysia, who was now kicking a rock around. I walked closer to her so no one would hear our conversation, save for Mirajane.
"Everything okay?" I whispered.
"I was really sassy earlier," Elysia replied. I nodded and gave her a wink.
"Apology accepted. Let's give them a good show, then. I hear some people have bet on you." She looked up at me, shocked, and blushed. "Just act like you hate me, and we can be friends after. I think that's how this guild thing works, I'm pretty new at it, myself." Elysia gave a small giggle and nodded as I walked to my side of the makeshift arena.
"I'm not going easy on you, Scar Face!" she shouted, doing the same.
"Like I haven't heard that before, Glitchy," I waved back.
Mira waked to the very middle of the space as the crowd began to quiet down. She raised her arms and initiated the fight.
"Welcome, Magnolia, to a fight between two new additions to Fairy Tail! On my left we have Juniper Lex, Forge God Slayer! And on my right, making her debut, is Elysia Solon, a Lightening Dragon Slayer with Machina Soul! Get ready, you two... And, begin!"
Mira ran out of the way as Elysia and I prepared ourselves. As always, I tapped my pendant and my armor sprung effortlessly around my body. I nodded for my face mask to come down and my horns to stand at attention. The whole time, I kept my eyes on Elysia as her Machina Soul activated.
Elysia first held out her hand and the staff she held earlier that day appeared instantly. She thrust the clawed metal bottom into the ground and bright lights began to pulse through both her weapon and her body. Gold and grey steel began to clad her body in the form of what strongly resembled Greek armor. A metal helmet with a T-shape cut out for the eyes and mouth was decorated with ornaments that resembled wings right above her brow. Between the wings another design in silver beheld a dagger pointing towards the sky. Her breast plate had been cut out at the base of her neck, revealing her new yellow Fairy Tail mark. Designs on her chest, arms, skirt, and metal boots strongly resembled both her staff and her helmet; simple yet deadly. Golden spikes hung at the wrists of her clawed hands. Glistening stars propped at the top of her boots just over her knees. A mosaic of gold and steel was held together by chains as her skirt. Vaguely, I could see electricity weaving in and out of the suit.
An armor made of classic metals made for an easy target. I reached out my hand and slowly contracted it. I watched as Elysia's armor grew tighter with my hand, but she only smiled. The largest orb on her staff flashed a bright yellow. All at once, my armor constricted me with twice the force that I was exerting. Letting out a surprised shriek, I reversed what I had done, which did the same to my own suit.
"An eye for an eye," Elysia smirked, leaning over on her weapon. Now I was able to see what her prop could really do, but I wasn't convinced I had seen it all.
I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet and dashed forward faster than she could see. I started to circle around her while willing fire to form in my wake. A vortex began to form, growing up to twenty feet tall. I could feel the scepter begin to work its magic from the moment I began, only the heat of my own flames could not be reflected back to me. Instead, I felt a sobering cold that chilled me to the bone. My chest began to grow heavy with sharp pain, forcing me to slow down. Before I could tell what was going on, it was too late.
I got down to a point where I slow enough to be seen. As soon as that happened, I heard Elysia call out her first real attack.
"Lightening Dragon's... Roar!" She exclaimed, hitting my head on with electrifying breath of such force that it threw me into the edge of the crowd. I threw my head back and my face plate slid back as I panted for air. My bones felt as though they had been pierced, my chest tight from the shock. Sweat was already starting to roll down my face, which was so uncommon for me this early into a fight.
"Yo, God Slayer!" Elysia shouted as I rose to my feet. "Your flames. They're red just like any wizard that uses fire. What makes you so 'godly', huh?" I looked down and chuckled. I figured Natsu would have already asked me that same question, but now was as good of a time as any to explain myself.
I felt a frigid air rise behind me as I raised my arms to my sides. Panic appeared in Elysia's eyes as a black, plasma-like wave of fire loomed behind me. My ears faintly began to ring while I engulfed myself and put my face mask back down. I could feel confusion in the air when I did so.
I leapt forward two steps and then flew right into Elysia. As soon as I had a good grip on her, I flew upward and spun the dark flames around us. She let out a high pitched scream as the fire began to lick her bare skin and work its way through her armor. The staff she still clung to was flashing rapidly and exerting pain back to me, but I refused to cave in after I had put so much power into this one move.
A whisper of a spell escaped my lips, not even loud enough for my squirming opponent to understand. With the uttering of the incantation, my armor sheathed itself. The two of us began to shoot down toward the ground at an incredible speed, the fire that once surrounded the both of us beginning to cling to Elysia. Inside the blackness she began to swing her staff and I felt every hit. I couldn't help but grimace, but I would not let a single noise escape my lips.
All of this happened within a course of seconds before we hit the ground. When Elysia's body hit the ground, the fire expanded in its plasma state and then contracted in a darkened metal. Like I had with her armor before, it constricted her, only at a much more rapid pace. She had no liberty to move until the spell was finished and the metal melted away.
As she lied on the ground and the magic took over her, I managed to land on my feet and slide on the ground. My arm latched around my stomach as I panted for air. I moved my hand away slightly from the scar on my side and noticed blood beginning to run from it. Panic took me over as I tried to rack my brain on how to cover it up from the crowd. It wouldn't have been as big of a deal if the blood was red.
Instead my injuries glistened gold.
I willed a ribbon of steel to wrap around my waist and let go of myself. When I looked up, I realized that not only was the spell about to wear off, but that Elysia's scepter was not in her clutches. Unable to reactivate my armor, I ran toward it at fast as my feet could carry me. As soon as I had my hand on it, I saw another reach up to grab it, molten metal streaming down it.
"Hands... Off..," she growled, propping it up and pulling herself up to her knees. She looked down at the metal that wrapped around me and quickly grabbed it. The ringing in my ears was so loud that I could not hear her next words. Sparks began to dart from place to place in a virtual fashion, not only forming around the two of us, but around Elysia's being. Sweat was streaming down her face, her right cheek red and bruised. Small burns danced against her pale skin. I knew the fight was almost over, but I refused to just throw in the towel.
The plasma-like flames returned along with black, liquified metal and slithered over the ground around us and around my arms. I looked in Elysia's eyes and saw a certain determination combined with fear. She wasn't looking at the magic, my wound, or her staff. Her eyes pierced right into mine. Through the lenses of her now cracked glasses, I saw my own eyes had changed yet again to a raging amber.
I looked down and away from her. In a muffled voice, I heard her begin a chant. I had no idea what the words were through the ringing in my ears, so my next course of action was unknown.
"You have to use a spell. A good one," I heard Darren's voice in my head. I nodded gently and began to mutter a chant of my own.
The ground below us began to crumble and reveal raging fires beneath. Steel chained the two of us to the ground by our ankles and wrists. The flames around us and below pulsated and grew to great heights. As the fires grew, they began to wrap around Elysia's body. I glanced back up at her for only a moment, just long enough to see the hand that was on her staff was reached out toward me. I looked at her mouth and was able to read what she was saying.
"Raging Bolt!"
My body was instantly engulfed in a ball of glitched lightening. I felt it course my veins and singe my skin. My chest tightened and breath would not come into my lungs. The only thing I could do was writhe and expand my own attack on her.
As I screamed, I grabbed Elysia's other hand that was still on the steel that wrapped around me. I latched on as tightly as I could and imagined fire in her own veins like her lightening coursed mine. Vaguely, I could hear my opponent's shouts as I commanded her blood to literally boil.
There were perks to having iron in the body.
All at once, the pain stopped. At the same moment, my own magic grew weak and fizzled out. My ears continued to ring, but not with the same intensity. Where there had been immense power seconds before, there was none at all. One of my hands still rested on the scepter, one on top of Elysia's that rested on my stomach.
Elysia's other hand that she had used to attack, dropped to her side. Her shoulders heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath. Armor faded away from her body and soot covered her face. The clothes that she wore under the suit were torn and burned with wounds on her arms and legs underneath. We looked at each other and smirked.
"You're a tough cookie, June," she gasped.
"Same to you, Elysia."
"You have some blood... Corner of your mouth. I think that's what it is," she commented. I pulled my hand up from hers, wiped my mouth, and looked at the golden liquid on my fingertips. I took my other hand away from the staff and put a finger to my lips. She gave me a smile and nodded before we both passed out onto the ground.