Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
WARNING: From the beginning of this chapter on THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! Read at your own risk. This story will be jumping into the Fairy Tail storyline beginning at the start of the Tenrou Island arc. There's still original stuff in here, but if you haven't gotten to this point in the anime/manga, then some things may be ruined for you. I advise catching up to the anime/manga if you haven't already (for more reasons than just reading my story)! Thank you and enjoy!
A shout out to ShadowSolaris29 who has been shooting me ideas for the continuation of this story. Thanks so much for the input! It's really helping this story to grow and progress quickly.
Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon
Chapter 28
"Man this year's gonna be tough," Gray said with crossed arms. He was sitting at a table with Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Juvia, Elfman, Lisanna, Gracie, Wendy, and Carla, all of them thinking about what they had just heard from the Master.
Natsu pumped his fist. "I'm totally ready for this! Just you watch, I'm gonna win it all this year!"
"So who are you guys choosing for partners?" Gracie asked. "I think it's best to figure that out now."
Lucy pointed straight ahead of her. "Looks like Freed's already chosen Bickslow to be his partner. That's a pretty tough duo to beat."
"They sure are," Lisanna agreed.
"Speaking of partners, do you guys know who you're choosing yet?" Lucy asked.
Natsu smiled at her. "I was thinking you could be my partner."
Lucy blushed. "That's really sweet, Natsu. I'd love to be your partner, but I was actually thinking of trying to be someone else's partner."
Juvia stared daggers at her. "You better not be thinking of pairing up with Gray-sama."
Lucy waved her hands defensively in front of her. "Not at all!" She looked back at Natsu who seemed a little hurt. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed, Natsu."
He gave her a smile. "Eh, don't worry about it, Luce. I'm sure you have your reasons." He turned to Happy. "I guess that means it's you and me, little buddy!"
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
"Hey wait, how is that fair?" Elfman cried. "Having a partner who can fly could give you an unfair advantage."
Gray smirked. "It's fine by me. Besides, if we end up fighting, it will end up being a disadvantage for you, Natsu."
"It won't be a disadvantage," Natsu said. "With Happy by my side, there ain't no way I'm gonna lose!"
"Aye! I'm going to help Natsu become an S-Class wizard!" Happy declared before summoning his wings. "Come on, Natsu!"
Natsu stood. "Right! We've got training to do! See ya guys later! I'll see you back home, Luce!" With that, he and Happy charged out of the guild.
Lisanna smiled at him leaving and turned to Lucy. "It seems like you two are going pretty strong. But if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you partner up with him?"
Lucy returned the smile. "Things are going great, but I'm hoping that I can partner up with someone else for reasons that I can't really say."
Lisanna raised an eyebrow. "Okay."
Juvia sighed. "I think I would much rather withdraw from these Trials."
"Why's that?" Wendy asked.
"I want to be someone's partner instead of rival," she responded while blushing furiously.
Gracie giggled. "Aww, you would drop out to be Gray's partner? So cute!"
Juvia's whole face went red.
Gray chuckled. "Juvia, you should stay in the Trials. Besides, I already have a partner lined up for this."
Juvia began giving off a dark aura. "Is it Lucy? How dare you try to steal him away from me!"
"I already told you that I wasn't!" Lucy shouted before looking at Gray. "So who is it?"
"Me." Everyone turned to see Loke standing next to Gray. "Hello everyone."
"Loke? What are you doing here?" Lucy asked.
Loke chuckled. "I promised Gray over a year ago that I would partner up with him when it was his chance at S-Class. Sorry, but I'm going to have to put a temporary hold on our contract. I hope you understand."
Lucy nodded. "Umm…sure."
"I'm glad that you're so understanding."
"So it's Freed and Bickslow, Natsu and Happy, Gray and Loke…that leaves Elfman, Juvia, Cana, Levy, and Mest to find partners," Gracie said while counting on her fingers. "My advice is that you find someone strong. You've got some tough obstacles in this thing."
"Speaking of that, did you know Nikolias was participating?" Gray asked.
Gracie shook her head. "I had no idea. Honestly, I didn't even know that the Master considered him S-Class."
"Well, he's certainly strong enough," Lucy said. "So are you going too?"
"Not unless I'm asked," Gracie said with a smile.
"Anyway Juvia, you should pick a strong partner and come at me with everything you've got," Gray said. "It'll be hot and heavy just like last time."
Juvia turned red. "I don't know if I can handle that!" she squealed.
"Hey Juvia, I'll be your partner!" Lisanna cried. "What do you say?"
Juvia looked at her. "You…wish to be my partner?"
"Yep! Whadya say?" Lisanna asked.
Juvia's expression darkened. "I suppose, but I'm watching you. I have this feeling that you're just using me to get to Gray."
Lisanna shook her head. "Nothing like that. Believe me, I'm done with love for a while."
Gracie looked at Lisanna with sorrow. 'Poor girl. Niky must have done a number on her heart.'
"I can't believe you would do this to your own brother, little sis!" Elfman cried. "You're gonna leave me to do the Trials all by myself?"
Lisanna gave him a weird look. "Sorry Elfman. I thought she already asked you."
Elfman returned the weird look. "What are you talking about? No one asked me. Who are you talking about?"
"Me."
Everyone turned again to see Evergreen standing behind Elfman. Shivers shot up his spine as he turned, but was surprised to see Evergreen's face looking very red and she was avoiding eye contact. "Evergreen?"
Evergreen cleared her throat and looked at Elfman, her face growing even redder. "I believe that we should partner up for these Trials. We would work well together."
Elfman felt a slight heat run through his body, the opposite that he usually would feel around Evergreen. "Uh, sure Evergreen. We can partner up."
She turned on her heels and began walking away. "Excellent. We'll start training tomorrow."
Elfman watched her walk away. "Weird."
Gracie giggled. "So now Cana, Levy, and Mest are the only ones without partners."
Lucy giggled as well while pointing off to the side. "Well, I think Levy's squared away."
The group turned to see Levy sitting and listening to Jet and Droy argue over who Levy should pick to be her partner.
"I'm much faster than you!" exclaimed Jet.
"So what? I'm the better fighter. All you're good for is running away," Droy threw back.
Levy sighed. "I wish you two would stop that." Alas, they were too caught up in their arguing to hear her. Suddenly, Levy felt a large presence behind her. She turned to see Gajeel standing behind her. "Gajeel?"
"If you're serious about becoming S-Class, you should pick me instead of either of those two weaklings," Gajeel said with a smirk.
Levy smiled and blushed slightly. "Well, I guess there will be fighting. Alright, sounds like fun!"
"Alright, we start training tomorrow," Gajeel said before walking away.
Levy simply nodded at his retreating figure.
Gracie clapped her hands together. "Aww how sweet! They're gonna partner up! How perfect for them!"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah." She looked at the clock in the guild. "Well it's getting late. I should be home when Natsu's done with his training."
"Yeah, we should all call it a night," Gray said.
"Good night everyone!" Gracie exclaimed as everyone made their way out of the guild. She sighed. "Man I would have loved to be involved in this thing. Too bad it doesn't sound like anyone will pick me. Damn it."
"Gracie."
Gracie turned to see Makarov standing beside her. "Oh, hello Master!"
"Gracie, can I talk to you in my office?" Makarov asked.
Gracie stood up. "Sure thing!" She followed him into the office and shut the door. "So what's up?"
Makarov sat in his chair and intertwined his fingers. "Gracie, I would like you to accompany us on Tenrou Island."
Gracie was shocked. "Really? Why? I'm not participating, I'm not an S-Class fighter, and no one asked to partner up with me."
Makarov nodded. "True, but I'd like you along for other reasons."
"Such as?"
"Nikolias."
Gracie felt confused. "What about Niky?"
Makarov sighed. "Don't mistake what I'm about to say as mistrust or anything of the sort. I truly see Nikolias as a member of Fairy Tail. He's an ally, a friend, and he's one of my children. Nevertheless, there is still so much about his power that I don't understand. Just in case anything goes wrong on Tenrou, if anything makes him lose control for some reason, I want you there to help maintain him."
Gracie crossed her arms. "I highly doubt these Trials would make Niky lose control."
"I doubt it as well, but after what happened with the Bloody Moon guild, I feel it would be irresponsible to not have a plan in place for the absolute worst case scenario."
Gracie sighed. "If you want me there, I'll go, but understand that Niky can be trusted. He won't go berserk on his friends. In all honesty, his days of going berserk could be completely in the past now that he's accepted the Red Eye as part of him."
"Still, if what that Gorn fellow said was true and the Red Eye will activate itself whenever Nikolias' emotions are high, I fear that it could still happen without Nikolias' consent."
"There's much more to it, Master," Gracie said. "For the Red Eye to activate itself, Niky has to have little to no control over himself. In short, that condition is only achieved when Niky is both angry and sad. Because he has friends and family now, I doubt he'll lose control."
Makarov closed his eyes. "I'm sure that you're right. Still, it would make me feel more at ease if you agreed to accompany us to Tenrou."
Gracie nodded. "I'll go, but what will I tell Niky? He may be hurt to hear that I'm along as an insurance policy for him."
"Tell him what you wish. Tell him the truth or tell him a lie. Either is fine. Whichever you feel is best, Gracie."
"Fine, I'll tell him the truth," Gracie said. "Is that all?"
Makarov nodded. "Yes, thank you Gracie."
"Of course," Gracie said and then turned and walked out of the office. She sighed as she leaned against the closed door. "I hope Niky doesn't take too much offense to this." She then made her way into the Main Hall to find Nikolias. She easily found him. Hell, he was right where she knew he would be; at the bar talking with Mira. She skipped over to him. "Hey Niky!"
Nikolias turned and smiled. "Hey Gracie." Next thing he knew, he was being slapped across the cheek. "Ow! What the hell Gracie?"
"Why the hell did you not tell me that you were S-Class?" Gracie asked him.
"Master told me yesterday and asked me to keep it a secret," Nikolias said as he rubbed his cheek. "Why are you so angry about it?"
"We're partners. We tell each other things," Gracie said.
"Alright, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," Nikolias apologized.
Gracie shook her head. "Not good enough. You have to make it up to me."
Nikolias felt uneasy. "How?"
Gracie whipped out a small book which had a bookmarked page. She quickly opened it to the page and slapped it on the counter. On the page was the picture of a guy named Victor Vezeel, a thin, sneaky-looking guy with tattoos and scars decorating his face. "I was going to tell you about it yesterday, but you all but vanished. I got intel that this guy is going to be in Onibus tomorrow."
Nikolias picked up the book and examined the picture. "Victor Vezeel, huh?" He scanned the crime list. "Damn, this little guy did all this? Crazy."
"I know. Anyway, Onibus is only a short way north of here, so we should be able to track him down and take him out tomorrow."
Nikolias nodded and handed her the book. "Alright then, we'll go tomorrow. It will be a good warm up for Tenrou."
Mira sighed. "You two are still going to Hunt?"
Nikolias smiled at her. "It's what we do. Even though we love everyone here, we can't forgive the evil that still plagues this world. We'll still do what needs to be done."
"Alright," Mira said. "Just be careful, okay?"
Nikolias took her hand. "Like this dipshit could take me down."
Mira giggled. "True."
Nikolias returned his attention to Gracie. "Tomorrow we'll set out early."
"Agreed. Well, I'm gonna go to sleep," she said and began to walk away. She waved over her shoulder. "Night Mira. Night Niky. Don't tire each other out tonight."
Both blushed.
"Damn it, Gracie, would you cut that out?" Nikolias called after her.
Mira kept cleaning. "She's just happy for us."
He huffed. "I know, but honestly, she's so nosy."
"Her heart's in the right place." She set down the dish she was wiping off. "I'm all set here. You ready to go?"
He nodded. "Yeah, let's go home."
Wendy walked down the street with Carla in her arms. "Are you sure you're alright, Carla? You were really quiet today."
"Wendy," Carla began, anxiety clear in her voice, "please promise me that you won't get involved with these S-Class Trials."
Wendy smiled at her friend. "Is that what you're worried about? Well I wouldn't worry about it too much. I doubt that anyone would ask to partner up with me."
"I wouldn't be too sure," said a strange voice. Wendy whipped around quickly to see a tall man with scars near his left eye. "Hello Sky Maiden."
"Mest?" Wendy said. "What are you doing here?"
"I would like to ask you to be my partner for the S-Class Trials," Mest responded.
Wendy blinked. "M…Me? Why me? I'm not that strong."
"You foolishly doubt yourself. Not only are you an exceptional healer, but you're fighting strength is nothing to scoff at. You have quite a lot of potential," Mest explained.
Wendy blinked again. "You really think so?"
Mest nodded. "Of course. So will you aid me?"
Wendy thought about it. "Well I…I guess I could."
Mest smiled. "Excellent. I'll meet you at the guild tomorrow and we can start training." With that he turned and left.
Carla looked up at Wendy. "Wendy! You promised!" However, Wendy was spacing out. "Wendy?"
Wendy snapped back to her senses. "Oh. Sorry Carla. I know I promised, but I couldn't turn down a fellow guild mate." As she spoke, she never took her eyes off of Mest's retreating figure. 'It's funny. I clearly know his name, but…do I know him?'
Lucy walked down the street lost in thought as she made her way back to her apartment. She gave a heavy sigh. "Maybe I shouldn't have turned down Natsu. I would have loved to help him get to S-Class. But I still really want to know what's bothering Cana and whatever it is, I want to do what I can to keep her from quitting the guild. Too bad she disappeared so quickly after the announcement. I wanted to ask if she would accept me as her partner."
Lucy continued down the road to her place when something in a nearby alley caught her attention. Out of reflex, she turned her head to examine what it was and was mortified to find that it was, in fact, Cana, drunk and passed out on the alley floor. "Cana! What the hell are you doing here?" She ran up to her and shook her gently. Cana made noise, but was generally unresponsive. "Well she's alive. I better get her to my place quick." She picked Cana off of the floor and swung Cana's arm around her shoulders as she began to hasten them both back to Lucy's apartment.
After about an hour, Cana had warmed and sobered up and was relaxing against Lucy's bed. "Thanks Lucy. I owe you one for getting me out of the cold."
Lucy sat beside her in a chair. "Cana, do you want to tell me what's going on? Why are you so upset? Does it have to do with this quitting the guild business?"
Cana looked at her bare feet. "You really wanna know, huh?"
Lucy nodded. "I do. Please tell me."
Cana kept her gaze fixed on her feet. "And Natsu?"
"He'll be out training most of the night and I swear I won't tell him a thing."
Cana sighed. "Alright. This year will be my fifth S-Class Trial. You know what that means? It means that I've tried four other times and failed to make it."
"Come on, Cana, that's not that big of a deal," Lucy said. "You can make it. I know you can."
"You don't get it," Cana murmured. "No one else has failed four times. I'm the only one. That's why after this, I'm done. If I fail this year's Trial, I'm quitting the guild."
"Cana, why is being S-Class so big of a deal?" Lucy asked.
Cana remained silent a while before answering. "If I don't become an S-Class wizard, I'll never be able to look him in the eye."
Lucy pondered this. "Who are you talking about? Nikolias?"
Cana shook her head. "No, not Nikolias. Someone else."
"Then who?"
And then Cana began to explain just who she was talking about and why being S-Class meant so much to her. Needless to say, Lucy was shocked by Cana's story. Once Cana had finished, she looked at Lucy. "Do you get it now? Do you understand? That's why I'm gonna quit Fairy Tail if I fail again."
Lucy remained silent, fully absorbing what she just heard before standing. "Cana, please let me be your partner!"
Cana stared at her in disbelief. "What?"
"I wanted to ask you back at the guild today, but you disappeared, so I'm asking you now. Please, I want to be your partner! I want to help you get to S-Class!"
Cana kept staring. "But…Natsu…"
"Natsu's stubborn nature won't let him stay down if he doesn't make it this year," Lucy said. "This year, it's going to be Cana Alberona who comes away with the title of S-Class this year!"
Tears began to fill Cana's eyes. "Lucy…thank you."
Lucy got on the ground and embraced Cana. "Just you watch; you'll become S-Class this year. I promise."
The next day, Nikolias and Gracie entered the town of Onibus.
"We're here, Niky!" Gracie exclaimed.
"Looks like it," Nikolias responded.
Gracie looked at him. "Do anything fun last night?"
Nikolias tripped over his own feet from surprise. "Seriously, why do you keep asking that?"
She giggled. "I'm just teasing you. It's fun getting a reaction from you."
He sighed. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"
"Shut up, you love me."
"Yeah, yeah."
"So are you excited about being S-Class and being an obstacle in the Trials?" Gracie asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool I guess. Although, I'm not a wizard."
"Is that what the Master asked you about a couple days ago?"
"Yeah. He asked if I would be willing and I agreed. He did ask me to avoid going all out, though. Simply put, the farthest I'm aloud to go is partial-dragon form."
"I guess that makes sense. It would be a little too difficult to fight a dragon."
"Yeah I'm not complaining. I mean, it's not like I want anyone to fail. I won't go easy on them, but I'd like to see people do well."
Gracie giggled. "What a guy." Her expression faded. She figured now was the time to bring it up since they were on the subject. "By the way, the Master asked me to tag along to make sure you don't lose control and if you do, I can maintain it."
Nikolias stopped in his tracks as the information sunk in. "He did, huh?"
Gracie immediately felt bad. "Niky, I'm sorry. I defended you, but he said that he didn't want to risk it."
He gave a small smile. "I get it, though. Why take a chance? It's not like he doesn't trust me, right? I mean, if he didn't, he wouldn't ask me to be an obstacle, right?"
"That's a good way to look at it. And he definitely does care about you. He said so himself."
Nikolias continued walking. "Alright then, I'll just have to show him that I'm the one in control now, not the Red Eye. I'll show him that there's nothing to fear."
"I'm glad."
Nikolias looked around. "So where is this Victor Vezeel guy hiding?"
Gracie flipped to his page in the book. "Says here that he frequents a small bar on this side of town called Pixie Dust."
Nikolias burst out laughing. "Are you fucking kidding me? Pixie Dust? What kind of name is that for a bar?"
"Beats me," Gracie said while putting the book away. "All I know for sure is that that's where we should look first."
Nikolias nodded while wiping away tears. "You got it."
The two started walking towards the area of town that the bar was supposed to be when Gracie turned to Nikolias. "Hey Niky?"
"Yeah?"
"What's love like?"
Nikolias stared at her. "What?"
"Love. What's it like?"
"You've never felt love before?"
"Only ever family love, like with my parents and you and now everyone in Fairy Tail. But I've never fallen in love. So what's it like?"
Nikolias thought about it. "I don't think I can express it in words. It's wonderful, though. When you fall in love, you feel…complete, you know? Like an emptiness in your soul has been filled and you feel right. You feel strong and happy."
Gracie smiled dreamily. "That sounds nice."
"Where'd that come from all of a sudden?"
She shook her head. "I was just asking since it seems like things with Mira are going so well. I mean, I've never seen you in love before and I have no prior experience with it, so I'm just trying to understand it."
He chuckled. "Alright weirdo."
"I'm not weird!" she exclaimed as the two stopped in front of a run-down old bar with a faded sign that read 'Pixie Dust'. "This is the place."
"Still a really dumbass name," Nikolias laughed.
Gracie looked at him. "You ready to do this?"
"You bet."
"Good, 'cuz if you remember, it's your turn this time."
Nikolias grinned, revealing pointed dragon teeth as his black blades shot out of his arm. "Awesome."
A week had passed and everyone who was involved in the S-Class Trials was beyond excited. All eight teams and Gracie stood at the port in Hargeon to await the boat that would take them over to Tenrou Island.
Lucy spotted Gracie in the small crowd. "Gracie? What are you doing here?"
Gracie turned and waved. "Master Makarov asked me to tag along."
"Really? Why's that?" she asked.
Gracie scratched the back of her head. "Oh, just to see what it's like, you know? Don't worry, no one has to face me. Niky's enough for everyone."
"Speaking of Nikolias," Gray said as he and Loke approached the two, "I haven't seen him all week."
Gracie nodded. "Well the first day of training, Niky and I took a Hunting job up north for a bit. After that, he spent a few days with Mira before heading up to Tenrou with the other S-Class members yesterday to prepare."
"Well that explains his absence," Gray said. "I'm actually glad he wasn't around. It would've been unfair if he taught anything else to Gajeel, Wendy, or coal nuts."
Natsu was too excited to pay attention to the insult. "Oh man I'm so excited! I can't wait to get started! S-Class is mine this year!"
"Keep dreamin'," Gray said with a smirk.
Suddenly, a massive ship pulled into port and docked. Everyone gazed on with anticipation, excitement, and anxiety, but all were prepared to take the journey to Tenrou Island and the opportunity to make S-Class.
Makarov appeared at the entrance of the ship. "Good morning, everyone! I hope you have all been training hard and are prepared for this. The S-Class Trials will put your skills and abilities to the test and I hope that you're all ready."
The small group cheered.
Makarov nodded. "Good. Well then climb aboard! We set sail for Tenrou Island!"
Everyone climbed aboard and the ship set off towards Tenrou.
The S-Class Trials were about to commence.
