Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon

Chapter 7

It was as noisy as ever in Fairy Tail the next day, but for a much different reason. Instead of everyone in the guild talking and laughing and brawling like they always did, all of the men sat and watched as half of the female Fairy Tail members were arguing. The only ones not present in the group of women were Lucy, Erza, Levy, Juvia, Bisca, Wendy, Gracie, and Mira.

Makarov sat on the counter in front of Mira, drinking a beer and sighing at the sight before him. He could honestly say that he never saw this coming. Macao leaned on the counter next to him and, while watching the girls bicker among themselves, asked, "Master, are you sure having Nikolias and Gracie separate for missions was the best idea? It seems like all of the girls in the guild are fighting over who gets to work with Nikolias now."

Makarov scratched his chin. "Well, I can say that it never occurred to me that this would happen. But at least it's not all of the girls."

"The only ones not in there are the girls who are into other guys," Macao deadpanned. "In just a few days time, Nikolias has managed to swoon all of the single females in the guild." He sniffed and wiped away some tears. "It's not fair!"

Makarov patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Well, Mira is still here, isn't she? Perhaps it's a sign that things won't last."

Mira smiled to hide her thoughts. 'The only reason I'm not over there arguing is because I have to tend to the bar. It's not fair…'

Macao sighed. "Hopefully you're right."

"Hey Master! Macao! Mira!" Gracie called out happily as she walked over.

"Good morning, Gracie. How did you sleep?" Makarov asked.

"Like a log. The past few days tuckered me out. Thanks for letting Niky and I sleep in the guild while we find a place. So what's going on over there?" Gracie asked as she pointed to the arguing girls.

Makarov chuckled. "They're all fighting over who gets to work with Nikolias today."

Gracie laughed hysterically. "Really? Holy shit, that's hysterical! I understand that Niky is popular with the girls here, but arguing over who gets to work with him first? That's too funny!" She wiped away the tears that were forming in her eyes and started towards the group. "I'm gonna see if I can quell this ordeal."

Makarov, Macao, and Mira watched as Gracie tried to stop the arguing that had been happening for the past hour, assuring each and every girl that Nikolias would work with them eventually. She seemed to be making progress, but it was slow progress since all of the girls wanted to work with Nikolias today. Makarov sighed. "Macao, let's see if we can lend a hand."

Macao nodded. "Right! Let's show them that there are more suitable men in Fairy Tail!" He made his way into the group. Makarov sweat-dropped as he watched Macao confidently charge in, but shrugged it off and followed him. Mira giggled as she watched the two men and Gracie attempt to break up the group.

Nikolias walked down the stairs and, upon reaching the bottom, stopped and stared at the group of bickering females, Makarov, Macao, and his partner. He shrugged and decided that he didn't really care what was going on and made his way to the bar for some breakfast. None of the girls even noticed him walk by.

Mira smiled as she saw Nikolias walk over and sit down on a stool. "Good morning, Nikolias. How did you sleep last night?"

"Very well, thank you," he said, giving Mira a smile. "Could I have something to eat please?"

"Of course! What would you like?"

"Bacon and eggs?"

"Coming right up!" Mira walked into the kitchen to get his food.

Nikolias turned around in his stool to watch the small portion of the female Fairy Tail population argue with each other and invade each others' personal space. He chuckled, "What the hell is going on over there?"

"They're fighting over you."

Nikolias turned back around to see Mira standing in front of him with his food on the counter. He looked at the food and a low deep hum escaped his throat. "Thanks Mira. This looks delicious!" He picked up his fork and started eating his eggs. "Tastes fantastic, too!" He swallowed the food in his mouth before asking, "So what do you mean they're fighting over me?"

"As soon as you and Gracie accepted the Master's request to split up for missions, most of the girls decided that they wanted to work with you. Apparently earlier this morning, someone mentioned that they were going to work with you today and it turned into this." She motioned to the thinning group of shouting girls.

Nikolias laughed but said nothing as he continued to devour his food.

"Hey there, Niky!"

Nikolias looked over his shoulder to see Gracie walking over to the bar. "Hey Gracie. Did ya have fun with that mess over there?" he asked with food in his mouth.

"Yeah, those girls sure can fight. I guess it comes with being a mage. So have you decided on who you're going to work with today? You pretty much have your pick of anyone in the guild, especially the girls."

Nikolias swallowed his food and shook his head. "No, I haven't decided or even really thought about it. How about you?"

Gracie nodded excitedly. "Erza asked me to do a job with her. It's a really easy job over the course of a few days, but she says she wants to use as much time as possible to talk weapons with me. It'll be so much fun!"

Nikolias smiled. "I'm glad you're so excited. You and Erza working together is a pretty deadly combination."

Gracie smiled back. "Well you should pick someone soon and decide a mission. Don't waste the whole time missing me. Well, I'm taking off now. Bye Niky!" She hugged him and then ran to the door where Erza was waiting.

Nikolias watched her leave before returning to his meal.

Mira looked at him sadly. "Are you alright?"

He looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just that Gracie and I haven't been apart in ten years. It'll be odd not having her around."

Mira placed her hand gently on his. "It's only a couple days and you'll be on a mission so the time will fly by. Plus, you're part of Fairy Tail now. We're your family and you can lean on us whenever you need to."

Nikolias put down his fork and placed his hand on top of hers. "Thanks, Mira. I'll remember that." They stayed like that for a while before Nikolias lifted his hand to continue eating. He scooped up some eggs on his fork, but before he put the food in his mouth, he stopped and put the fork back down. "Hey Mira?"

"Yes?"

Nikolias looked at her. "Would you like to go on a mission with me?"

She looked at him in surprise as her heart began to race. "You…want to go on a mission with me?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but only if you want to. I understand if you're busy here or have other plans. This is kinda last minute."

She shook her head violently. "No I want to and I have no plans. I'd love to go on a mission with you! Thank you for asking me. Did you have a mission in mind?"

"No, I thought whoever I worked with could pick one since I'm not too familiar with how things work around here."

"Okay, well I'll go take a look at the board and find one that looks good!" She ran from behind the bar over to the mission board and began scanning the papers.

Nikolias returned to his food and ate in silence, smiling. He quickly finished his meal, stood up from his seat, and stretched.

"I found one!" Mira called out excitedly. "What do you think?"

Nikolias turned to face her and took the paper from her to read it.

"MONSTER SIGHTED NEAR SHIROTSUME TOWN. PLEASE SEND MAGES TO RID US OF IT. OFFERING 10,000 JEWELS."

Nikolias looked at Mira and smiled. "Sounds perfect! When would you like to head out?"

"Well, it's about 10 AM now, so how about after lunch?"

He nodded. "Great. I'll meet you at the gate at 12:30."

"Okay."

Nikolias gave her one last smile before heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

He looked over his shoulder as he walked and winked, causing Mira to blush lightly. "Last minute training."

She smiled as she watched him walk out. 'I'm going on a mission with Nikolias!'


It was about 11:30 AM when Erza and Gracie stopped for a quick lunch break. They had been talking the entire trip about weapons and fighting style. Erza had asked Gracie to show her some footwork techniques to enhance her sword fighting and Gracie asked Erza to show her some magic that could help her to fight better. The two were becoming quite close.

"So what's this job asking for again?" Gracie asked as she finished up her sandwich.

"Just helping to clean up a shop that was trashed by bandits and acting as protection in case they return," Erza replied. "I figured that this was an easy enough job that we could really talk a lot about out weapon styles."

Gracie nodded. "Sure sounds that way."

"So are you doing okay?"

Gracie tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I understand that you haven't really been apart from Nikolias. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't too sad."

Gracie giggled. "It's true that Niky and I haven't been apart once since the day we met, but I'm not sad and I'm sure he isn't either. This could be good for us and good for our partnership. We need to be able to rely on others in case something happens to one of us in the future."

"How can you be so sure that Nikolias is okay? I thought that he wasn't comfortable with other people."

"Yeah, but he'll ask someone that he feels comfortable with and that he trusts. One day, that will be everyone in Fairy Tail, but right now it's only a select few."

"Who are these select few, if I may ask?"

Gracie thought about it. "Based on his reactions, behaviors, speech patterns, etc, I would say the list is comprised of myself, you, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Mira."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "I understand most of the people on that list since we all did a mission together, but why is Mira on that list? Don't get me wrong; she's strong, reliable, and kind, but what makes him feel comfortable around her?"

Gracie smiled at her. "On top of everything you just said, Niky says that she reminds him of someone that he once knew."


Mira had just finished cleaning up the counter when she looked at her watch. The time said 12:34 PM and Mira cursed under her breath. "I'm late!" She picked up her packed bag and quickly ran from behind the counter and towards the door. She hoped that Nikolias didn't leave without her.

"Hey Mira, where you goin'?"

Mira stopped and saw Cana and a few of the other girls sitting at a table.

"Just going on a mission," she replied quickly. "But I'm leaving later than I wanted to, so sorry that I can't stay and chat."

"A mission? Where to?" Cana asked.

"Shirotsume."

"Shirotsume? That's kind of far, Mira," Lisanna said worriedly. "Are you at least going with someone?"

Mira didn't want her sister to worry, so she responded without thinking. "Yes, I will have company." As soon as the words left her mouth, she quickly put her hand up to cover her mouth, which only made the girls suspicious.

"Who are you travelling with?" Cana asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Umm…E…Elfman."

"Really? I'm fairly sure brother said that he was going on a mission yesterday and he hasn't returned yet," Lisanna said.

"You lied, Mira," Cana said. "Which means one thing; you're going on a mission with Nikolias, aren't you?"

All the girls shot her death glares, causing her to step back. "He asked me so I said yes. It's not that big of a deal," Mira said defensively.

"Yes it is!" Laki interrupted. "It's not fair. You weren't even part of the fight this morning over who got to work with him today. You didn't stake a claim, so you shouldn't be in the pool."

"He's not a piece of land," Mira said flatly. "He can work with whomever he chooses and he decided to ask me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late and I don't want to keep Nikolias waiting." She turned on her heel and bolted out the door, ignoring all of the glares she was getting.

"Lucky bitch," Cana muttered under her breath as she threw back another beer.

Mira approached the gate and looked around, but couldn't see Nikolias anywhere. She palmed her forehead in frustration. "I can't believe I messed up my chance."

"Hey, there you are." Mira looked up and saw Nikolias sitting on the gate post. "I was wondering if you were even gonna show."

"I'm so sorry that I'm late. I was cleaning up and…"

Nikolias laughed. "Mira, you don't have to apologize. You're only a few minutes late and I understand that you have responsibilities. I was just joking around. We'll just leave now, no harm done."

Mira smiled and nodded, relieved that she hadn't blown it. "Okay!"

Nikolias hopped down from his perch and landed softly in front of Mira. "Alright, let's go then."

"But what about your bags?"

"Oh, right." He jumped back onto the gate post, grabbed a small bag, and hopped back down again. "Now I'm ready."

Mira giggled as they headed out.


They arrived in Shirotsume late in the evening and instantly made their way to a hotel where they could stay.

Mira was smiling the whole trip. Nikolias was a much better conversationalist than he ever let on and she was thrilled to have the opportunity to get to know him better. They talked about their abilities for most of the time. Nikolias was very interested to hear about Mira's magic, Take Over. Mira blushed when he mentioned how alike their powers were. Nikolias then went into more detail about his dragon powers, explaining what kind of things he could do in each form and what kind of combinations he and Gracie do. Mira listened intently to his stories of his adventures with Gracie. She secretly hoped that she would get the opportunity to see Nikolias' full dragon form soon. This conversation took up the whole trip and they were soon walking through the gates of the town.

They walked through the hotel doors and made their way to the counter. Unfortunately, there was a line for check-in.

"You stay here and get us some rooms. I'll go meet with the client real quick and let him know that we've arrived and that we'll start first thing tomorrow," Nikolias said. Mira nodded and he turned and left the hotel.

After several minutes, Mira finally made it to the counter. "Hello and welcome to the Shirotsume Hotel. How may I help you?" the clerk asked.

Mira gave her usual sweet smile. "Hello. I would like two single rooms for the night please."

The clerk punched in the request and then shook his head. "I'm sorry Miss, but we're apparently all out of single rooms."

"No singles? What about doubles?"

The man entered the new request. "We do have one double room still available. I apologize for the limited availability, but there's a festival in town tomorrow and we tend to have a lot of visitors."

Mira thought about this, but realized there was no other choice. "It's fine. I'll take the double room, please."

The man nodded and handed Mira two keys. "Your room is 321. Enjoy your stay!"

Mira thanked the man and stood by the lobby door to wait for Nikolias to return.

About ten minutes later, Nikolias returned and walked over to where he saw Mira standing. "Sorry that took so long. The guy wouldn't shut up."

Mira giggled. "It's alright. Here's our room." She handed him one of the keys.

Nikolias took the key and raised an eyebrow. "Room? As in singular?"

Mira nodded. "They had no singles left and only one double. Sorry, it's all that was available."

Nikolias scratched the back of his head. "It's fine. We can make it work. Lead the way."

Mira nodded and led Nikolias to the room they would be staying in. The whole way, she was blushing at the thought of sharing a bed with Nikolias.

They reached room 321 and Mira unlocked the door. She stared at the beautiful room in front of her. The walls were painted white and there was a lovely double bed with elegant woodwork pressed up against the back wall. There was a clean and rather large bathroom near the door with a bath and a shower. She looked down to admire the blue carpet and she could tell just by looking at it that it was very soft. There was even a large window that allowed them to look out at the surrounding woods.

The two walked in and placed their belongings on the floor. Nikolias turned to Mira. "So which side of the bed would you like; window or door?"

Mira blushed at his question. Even though she knew the whole time that they would be sharing a bed, the fact that he acknowledged it made the whole thing seem more real and far more exhilarating. "I'll take the window if you don't mind."

Nikolias nodded and grabbed a change of clothes from his bag. "I'm going to shower and change. I'll be out in a little while." Mira nodded and he walked into the bathroom and locked the door.

Mira heard the water turn on as she collapsed onto her side of the bed. She tried to run through the plan for the mission tomorrow, but her thoughts were constantly disrupted by the thoughts of Nikolias in the shower…naked. She shook her head, trying to relieve herself of those thoughts. 'Control yourself, Mira! You're going to be sharing a bed with him so you can't have dirty thoughts.' Try as she might, though, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. She groaned and put a pillow over her head.

"You okay?"

Mira tore the pillow off of her face and her face instantly went red. Nikolias had finished his shower, his dark brown hair messy from being dried off. There was still some moisture that clung to his skin, making his muscles shine in the light. What made Mira so red, though, was the fact that he was in nothing but a tight white T-shirt and boxers.

Nikolias looked at her questioningly. "Mira? Hello, are you okay?"

Mira shook her head violently and covered her eyes. This was not helping her to remove all of her dirty thoughts. "I'm fine but…you're not wearing very much…" she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. If you're this bothered by it, I can find something else to put on. We're going to be in the same bed tonight, so I don't want you to feel uneasy."

"No it's…it's okay. I was just surprised."

"No you're clearly uncomfortable. Hold on, I'll see what else I can throw on."

"No it's really okay!" she shouted, perhaps a little too loud.

Nikolias chuckled. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm going to take a shower now."

"Okay, enjoy."

Mira grabbed her night clothes and went into the bathroom. She locked the door and turned on the water before allowing a massive sigh to escape. She couldn't believe how much sexier Nikolias looked in nothing but underwear. She had felt her entire body begin to tingle with excitement and she could have sworn that another minute of seeing Nikolias wearing that would have made her lose control.

She jumped into the shower and allowed some cold water to hit her back. The feeling was unpleasant and made her breaths stick in her throat, but it was calming her down significantly. Once she felt more at ease, she turned on the hot water and took a nice relaxing shower.

She left the bathroom in her pink nightgown, all ready for bed and saw Nikolias still awake, staring out the window. She noticed he put on some pants, but still wore the same tight shirt. "You okay, Nikolias?"

He turned back around and smiled. "Yeah, just enjoying the view." Mira blushed as his eyes met hers. "And you? That was a pretty big sigh before."

Mira became even redder. "You heard that?"

Nikolias pointed to his ears. "Dragon hearing. You know, if you were uncomfortable coming with me, you didn't have to say yes."

"No, I really did want to come. I'm just tired, that's all. It was a long trip."

Nikolias nodded, even though he didn't quite believe her. "Alright, we'll get some sleep then." He walked over to the bed and climbed in, lying on his back and immediately closing his eyes.

Mira stood there, blush still staining her cheeks, feeling unable to move her legs. She wanted to get in bed with Nikolias, but she was afraid that her lustful feelings would make her do something that she would regret.

Nikolias opened an eye and looked at her. "I can sleep on the floor if that will make things easier for you."

Mira snapped out of her stupor and shook her head violently. "No, I'm alright. I just spaced out, that's all." She finally made her way to the bed and climbed in, turning her back to Nikolias. She closed her eyes and begged sleep to come quickly. 'Please, I don't want to ruin anything. I don't think he's ready for something serious yet, so please, let me be patient.'

Nikolias stared at Mira's back and quietly chuckled. 'You really do remind me so much of her,' he thought with a smile. He then closed his eyes as well and fell asleep.


Nikolias opened his eyes slowly. He could barely see, darkness overwhelming his vision. He tried to move, but found it painful to even lift a finger. He forced himself to sit up and screamed as pain ripped through his entire body.

"Why did that hurt?"

He looked down at his hands and his eyes went wide. There was blood all over his hands, forearms, biceps…

It was then that he realized that he was sitting in a pool of his own blood. His eyes scanned the situation, fear beginning to take over. He was covered in blood, he was in immense pain, he was sitting in his own blood…what the hell happened to him?

He forced himself to his feet, nearly slipping multiple times from the blood-stained floor and from lack of strength. He tried to straighten up as much as he could, but the pain had him doubled-over constantly.

He wanted to get an idea of where he was so he tried to see through the darkness. His eyes were slowly adjusting and he began to see people lying around him.

"Hey, are you guys awake? Do you know what happened? Where are we? Why am I cov…" He stopped as his eyes fully adjusted and his eyes once again widened with fear.

All around him were corpses. All of them were lying in their own blood. All of them were staring at him with lifeless eyes.

"No…no…no, no, no, NO!" he cried, tears washing away the blood and staining his cheeks before falling to the floor. He felt sorrow take over the fear as he took in the sight before him. "How could this happen? I don't…I don't understand! Why are you…why are you all dead? What happened to you?" The tears were falling faster and faster.

Suddenly, rage began to overtake the sorrow.

And then everything went red.


"Nikolias! Nikolias, wake up!"

Nikolias' eyes shot open. He turned his head slightly to see a very concerned Mira staring down at him. "M…Mira? What…What's wrong?"

"You were making a lot of noise and moving around a lot. Plus, you're sweating like crazy." She leaned down and hugged him tightly, pressing her face against his broad chest. "That must have been some nightmare you were having."

"Yeah…a nightmare," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her slim frame.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so. Why?"

"You're shivering."

"I guess I'm just cold."

"I'll help warm you up," she said as she hugged him tighter. "Is that better?"

He smiled. "Much better. Thank you, Mira."

"Of course."

"Hey Mira?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being here with me."

She blushed as she buried her head deeper into his chest. "I'm happy to be here."

"I'm glad."

"Was the nightmare really that scary?"

He hugged her tighter, wanting to keep her close. "Terrifying."