Dragons Clash, an Angel Shines (Part 2)

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July 7, X784

That day started out as a usual unlucky day for Natsu Dragneel. He had gotten sick riding on a train, got beat up by fangirls, and he didn't even find a whiff of Igneel. He was gonna leave before a voice called out to him.

"Man, that guy was a real jerk," said a buxom blonde with her hair tied to the side with a ribbon, "Thank you for the help."

Natsu looked at her for a second, shock on his face at the similarities between the her and his childhood teacher. "Anna?" Is the only thing that he can say, as he hopes that maybe she'll be the first clue to finding his father after so long.

Lucy shakes her head. "Sorry, I don't know who that is." Natsu frowns at yet another false lead on his search for his father, but the failure doesn't hurt as much for some reason. She then puts her hand out to help him off the floor.

"Why don't I buy lunch for saving me? Let me introduce myself, my name's Lucy."

Now…

"Gah!"

Lucy is slammed against the wall, another hit from Gajeel knocking her into hit. Gajeel simply frowns as Lucy whimpers on the ground in pain. "Come on, is that all you can do? I thought you would put up more of a fight since we're trying to kidnap you and all. I thought since you looked like my old teacher you'd at least be strong enough to put up a fight. I don't see why Salamander bothers hanging around weaklings like you."

Lucy doesn't respond, this being the first time she's felt such pain. 'So this must the type of pain everyone else feels,' Lucy thinks, 'I had no idea it would hurt so much. Everyone else is so amazing that they can keep fighting through this.'

Gajeel then lazily tosses a kunai that he creates in his hand, the projectile barely missing hitting her in the head. "I guess they just let you join because you're loaded."

At that moment, Gajeel is then unnerved. A sight that he has never seen on his opponents, nor that he ever expected to see on this spoiled princess.

She smiled.

Despite all the pain that she's feeling, Lucy smiles and chuckles at Gajeel's words. Lucy then finds the strength to get up. She slowly pulls herself up to her feet, leaning against the wall to balance her bruised body.

"Geez, you must be dumber than Natsu… In fact, I feel sorry for you," Lucy says, her voice raspy from all the screaming, crying, and beatings, she has suffered today. "You think that you intimidate me just because you're part of Phantom Lord? Oh please… you don't scare me at all."

Gajeel then throws another kunai past Lucy's head, but Lucy doesn't flinch, the blade imbedding itself into the wall harmlessly. "You got some guts, princess. Don't talk a big game when you can't back it up."

"Then just finish it already," Lucy says, her smile never faltering this whole time, "But you better be watch out. You may think Fairy Tail is soft because of our name, but I know that they would hunt you down to the ends of the earth. And I know a rather fiery dragon that would be first in line to kick your ass!"

Gajeel smiles at Lucy, unphased by her words. "O, really? Then maybe I can finally have some fun!"

Gajeel then leaps towards her, his fist already coated in iron. However, before he can even get close to Lucy, the floor erupts in an explosion of orange flames. Out of those flames emerge Natsu, roaring loudly as he delivers a heavy punch to his face.

Once Natsu lands on the floor, he lets loose a wail of fury, his draconic instincts kicking in full force at the presence of another Dragon Slayer, his whole body wreathed in flames. "Gajeeeeeel!"

Gajeel grins as he stands up. "You don't have to yell so loud, Salamander!" The two dragons immediately charge for one another, Gajeel throwing a fist of iron at Natsu that he ducks before smashing him into the ceiling with a fist of fire. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Gajeel doesn't lose step, jumping off the roof before shooting his Iron Dragon Club at Natsu. Natsu dodges by flipping onto his opponent's outstretched arm before spinning on his hands to build up speed for a flaming drop kick. "Fire Dragon's Talons!"

Gajeel receives a face full of fire but doesn't flinch as he then swings his club sideways at Natsu, turning the rod into a spiked blade. "Iron Dragon's Sword!" Thankfully, the blades don't pierce Natsu, but his chest is still bleeding from a small cut.

Gajeel then starts spinning the spikes along the edge, turning it from a sword into more of a chainsaw. He then starts swinging his sawblade at Natsu, who is put on the defensive from having to dodge the relentless attacks. Gajeel jumps into the air before swinging the sword at Natsu again, who swiftly dodges it, but is then caught unawares by Gajeel's follow-up iron leg to his face.

Lucy watches the exchange in awe at the dragons duking out before her. "I've never seen Natsu have to fight so hard before."

"Well, it makes sense," responds Happy who had settled next to Lucy, "It's a battle of Dragon Slayers. Natsu said that he had to fight Gajeel on his own for some reason, but I'm sure that he's more fired up than ever."

Gajeel and Natsu stand apart from each other, taking a quick breather from their recent onslaught of blows. "Man am I glad that you finally showed up, Salamander! Everything's been so boring ever since I've joined Phantom Lord. You feel it too, right?"

Natsu frowns. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Gajeel. What I do know is that Metallicana and Ms. Anna would kick your ass if they saw you right now!"

That comment sets Gajeel of as he grits his teeth in anger. "Who cares what our stupid dragons and teacher would think?! They just disappeared and left us all alone, so I don't really care what a bunch of deadbeats have to say about my choices! I'm sure you noticed that the princess back there smells like her, but that just makes it easier for me kick her ass!"

Natsu's eyes narrow in anger as his next words are growled out. "Sting told me that Rogue helped Phantom Lord kidnap Lucy last time. Is that what Rogue thinks too? Does he not care about our parents either because you were stupid enough to tell him that they never cared?!"

"Enough talk! The only reason I even bothered doing all of this was so that I could fight you, so let's get down to business!" Gajeel yells, "Iron Dragon Scales!" Gajeel's body is then covered in grey scales that resemble that of a dragon's.

"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" Gajeel then shoots off the ground before punching Natsu again, who puts his arms up in a block. However, Gajeel's literal iron fist smashes through his guard and blows Natsu into a wall. "The scales of an iron dragon are harder than even normal dragon scales, so try not to get hurt too bad!"

Natsu jumps out of the wall before delivering an Iron Fist attack to Gajeel's face, an explosion of smoke and fire going throughout the room. When the smoke clears, shockingly, Gajeel hasn't moved an inch, but Natsu shouts in pain, his fist hurt from slamming into solid iron. "Didn't I tell you not to hurt yourself?" Gajeel gloats.

Gajeel then throws a roundhouse kick at Natsu, who manages to recover in time and duck under the kick. The attack is so powerful however, that he generates a gust of wind that blows throughout the room they're in.

Gajeel then uses his height advantage to smash his on top of Natsu's, causing him to crash into the floor. Gajeel then tries to crush Natsu by with his hand, but Natsu flips back as Gajeel's hand bursts through the ground. Natsu and Gajeel then both take deep breaths before letting out their signature attacks.

"Fire Dragon's…"

"Iron Dragon's…"

"Roar!"

The two breath attacks collide, sharp iron clashing against hot flames. The two of them put more power into their breaths, the beams growing until they get so powerful that they explode from the force being built up, the discharge so powerful that it blows out the wall pointing outside.

The smoke once again clears to reveal Natsu, his body visibly cut up by Gajeel's roar. Gajeel's body is unharmed, though his clothes have been partially burnt off by Natsu's flames. "You care so much about your precious Igneel, then recognize that my dragon's better than your dragon. My steel armor will never break under your measly flames."

"You sure about that?" Natsu says just as Gajeel's forehead cracks. "Fire dragon flames burn everything in their path, and your iron is no exception."

Natsu stands up, his flames billowing out once more. "Now then, let's start fighting for real."

Lucy's eyes widen in shock, unable to believe what she just heard. "They're not joking. They still have plenty of mana left. It's incredible."

The two Dragon Slayers clash once more, the battle far from over between the two of them. However, the clash of dragons distracts everyone else from Lucy's grimoire giving off a faint glow.

Back in the battle against Jose, things had only gotten more intense. Jose was currently flying in the air and shooting multiple purple lasers at his opponents. They were all doing there best to doge, the least successful of which being Asta, who is unable to sense where the attacks are coming from.

A stray blast from Jose manages to slip past Asta's vision and lands at his feet, exploding him back into a wall.

"Asta!" Yuno gets distracted by that, allowing Jose to fly next to him before he punches him across the face and then kicking him towards the ground.

Erza charges in again, this time in her Heaven's Wheel Armor, her summoned swords surrounding her as she charges in. "Circle Sword!" Jose is forced on the defensive, unable to get to close, unless he wants to be skewered by her blades.

Eventually, he drops down to floor, Erza flying down to reach him. Before she can reach him however, Jose then stomps his foot on the ground, causing the floor to crack. Purple ghosts emerge from the ground underneath her, blowing her away and cracking her armor.

"Demon Blast!" Mira shoots a black beam of energy at Jose, who goes into the air once more to engage her. Mira throws a flurry of punches and kicks that Jose parries and dodges before catching him off guard by springing her tail out and wrapping him up in it.

"You know you can't keep me in here forever," Jose says as he's already in the process of building up energy to explode out of her tail's grasp. Before he can however, he suddenly senses a strong bust of magic behind him, tendrils of Sylph's Barrage heading toward him.

Jose prepares to summon a magic barrier to protect him, but he notices that Erza had also re-quipped into her Flame Armor. She then shoots a stream of flames out of the tip of her sword straight at him.

Jose barely manages to burst out of Mira's hold and dodge the attacks, the She-Devil also having to fly out of the way of the attack.

"You think that you three can just keep shooting attacks at me over and over will let you win?" Jose turns to face the three wizards, a confident smile on his face. However, all three of them smile back, confusing the Wizard Saint. "I think that your math is a bit off," Yuno says.

Asta, who had snuck behind Jose when he wasn't looking, uses his two swords on the attacks that Yuno and Erza had blasted a few seconds ago. His Demon Dweller absorbs the fire while he reflects the wind with his Demon Slayer, barely able to stay on his feet from the force of the wind. "Don't forget there are four wizards here!"

Jose turns back to where Asta spoke, his eyes almost shooting out of his head at the sight of the green wind heading back to strike him. Unable to dodge in time, he barely manages to put up a thin barrier of magic to block the attack that quickly shatters under the force.

As he flies back, Yuno strikes him with his Zephyr Blade, the air between the sword and Jose exploding violently upon contact.

Then Erza comes in her cheetah printed Flight Armor wielding two short swords. She uses her enhanced speed to deliver a dozen slashes to Jose in an instant.

Mira then charges a giant orb of darkness above her before shooting it down at the Shade user. "Evil Shower!" The orb then explodes into a dozen black tendrils of demonic energy that fire down upon him.

The barrage concludes with Asta jumping into the air and shooting out the flames still contained in his glowing orange Demon Dweller, a large plume of smoke appearing from where Jose stood.

The Fairy Tail wizards all breath heavily before they fall over on their backs, completely exhausted from the fight.

"Man, Wizard Saints are really strong, huh Yuno?" Asta pants.

"Yeah, the fact that he already spent a lot of magic summoning shades to attack the guildhall makes his power absurd." Yuno responds. He then sits up and faces Mira, a smile on his face. "So that's legendary She-Devil that rivals the great Titania. I'm glad that you finally found that fire again."

Erza looks at her old rival in confusion. "What is Yuno talking about, Mira

Erza looks at her old rival in confusion. "What is Yuno talking about, Mira?"

Mira turns her head away, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Oh, nothing important. It was just a talk that Yuno and I had. He told me a lot of hard things that I needed to hear."

"Well, I'm glad that you have finally found the strength you needed, Mirajane," Erza says. "Though I wouldn't be upset if you asked me for help in reusing your power."

Mira's pointy ear twitches at Erza's words, a fake smile on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry Erza, since when did I ever need your help to get stronger, little Ms. Violence."

Erza's face twitches, a strained smile on her face as well. "Well, you haven't used your magic in a few years, and I could easily best you in the state that you're in right now."

SLAM

The two then but heads, a red and purple aura surrounding both of them as they push into each other.

"You want to put your money where your mouth is, Titania?" Mira mocks.

"I'd be glad to do so at any time, She-Devil!" Erza responds.

"Heh… Heheheh."

The tense mood is broken by Asta and Yuno, both of whom are laughing at the sight of the two ladies arguing.

"Man, I knew that Erza could angry, but I never knew she could be so petty," Asta says in between laughter.

"You're right," Yuno says, a light chuckle coming from his throat. "I never expected this when I gave Mirajane that speech."

All four of them then laugh together, bonding over their triumph in this life and death battle.

…Or so they thought.

BOOM

An explosion of shade magic goes off, dozens of Jose's shade soldiers emerging from the rubble where Jose was seemingly defeated. Jose emerges from the rubble, this time visibly injured from the onslaught he received, his hair slightly singed and smoking, his body covered in cuts and torn apart, blood spilling out.

"Now I'm mad."

Meanwhile, in the battle of Dragon Slayers, Natsu and Gajeel had leaped out of the building early on in their second round, leaping across the giant mech, destroying parts of it that fall into the ocean or other parts of the robot, the brawl making the fight between Sting and Rogue look a child's tantrum in comparison.

Gajeel and Natsu trade blow after blow endlessly, the collision of flame meeting metal causing sparks more akin to fireworks, their attacks so strong that their shirts have been blown off their bodies. The two dragon slayers prove to be more than a match for each other, each strike makes the air around them blow away from their force.

With every blow the two dragons exchange, however, the bigger their smiles grow, more and more of their spikey teeth showing. At this moment, nothing else existed to the two Dragon Slayers.

Not their guilds.

Not their dragons.

Not even the blonde that caused the two of them to fight.

Only this battle.

The two finish their rooftop struggle with a crash back down to the room where Lucy and Happy are still in, their eyes unable to be drawn away from a battle of two fully fledged Dragon Slayers.

The two Dragon Slayers land in the room breathing heavily from the endless struggle they've been having, neither one able to completely overpower the other.

CHOMP

Until now.

Gajeel pulls out a part of the metal floor before he begins devouring it like a snack. "What the hell man?!" Natsu exclaims. "We were having a thing going there, and you just start eating!"

"I've got a fire in my belly," Gajeel says, a mad grin on his face.

"That's been my catchphrase since we were kids, get your own!"

Gajeel then roars, a green aura shooting out of him, his magic power growing even greater after consuming his element. "We're not kids anymore Salamander, I'm trying to win here! Iron Dragon Lance: Demon Logs!"

Gajeel proceeds to shoot out several iron spears at Natsu, his body too tired to dodge all of them.

Gajeel then proceeds to viciously beat down on Natsu. With his magic reserves low and no fire around for him to eat, Natsu puts all his strength into last attack, using his legs to burst forward at Gajeel headfirst, his body covered in flames.

"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu cries as he slams headfirst into Gajeel's chest. Unfortunately, his attack doesn't even make Gajeel budge. Gajeel delivers an elbow to Natsu's back before turning his arm into a pillar and pushing Natsu so hard that he digs into the floor. "You need more iron in your diet!"

Gajeel then pulls back Natsu along with his arm before throwing him a few feet away from the outside. "It's been fun, but all good things must come to an end. I mean take a look at your guildhall."

Natsu looks outside, his eyes widening horror at the sight he sees.

The Fairy Tail guildhall crumbles to the ground, unable to handle the endless army of shade soldiers sent its way. The Fairy Tail wizards that witness this are left unable to speak, only tears and screams of anger and sadness leaving them.

Natsu looks at the broken ruins of the place he called home for seven years, unable to believe that it had been destroyed so easily.

'No… I thought this wouldn't happen again.'

An unknown time and location…

A young Natsu Dragneel wakes up in a cold sweat, a night terror being the cause of his fear. 'It keeps happening,' he thinks, 'I keep having that nightmare, but why?'

The room to his door opens, a young man with black hair in a robe walking through it. "What's wrong Natsu? Bad dreams again?"

Natsu nods his head. "I'm sorry big bro, it's just kind of hard to get over." Natsu's eyes then start to tear up. "It's been while since they died, but I barely even remember anything about our-"

"Natsu," the young man suddenly interrupts, all hints of kindness gone. "I know it may be hard, but I think I have an idea that will help you."

"What is it?" Natsu asks.

"You need to be able to live on your own, so I've enlisted the help of some friends to help take care of you," Says the mysterious young man, his voice completely detached.

"W-where are you going big bro?" Natsu's voice trembles, hating the thought of his only family leaving him.

"I'll be busy with a big project for a while, so you'll be with them for a while. My attempts at teaching you by myself have all but failed, but maybe they can teach you better than I can."

Not 'more,' but 'better.' His brother was always proud of his intellect, people in their old village used to say that he was the second smartest man on the continent.

If only they knew what else, he had accomplished. The things that Natsu had seen his brother make and find had probably only been a fraction of his full collection.

"Grow, Natsu." He says as he starts to close the door. "Grow to be a better person than me."

His brother also used to say weird things a lot of the time. His actions and words would sometimes not match, and other times he would be like a completely different person depending on his mood.

His brother was just full of contradictions.

The door then closes, leaving Natsu alone once more in the darkness of the room.

"I love you too, big brother."

The next day, Natsu was dropped off to live with his new father, the Fire Dragon King Igneel. The prior night was one of the only clear memories he had of his brother, the rest of it was foggy when he tried to remember it.

But he knew for a fact that his brother loved him.

His brother visited once a week later.

He never saw his brother again.

July 7, X777

Natsu woke up that day, going about it like any normal day. He had class with Ms. Anna that day, so he had to deal with Gajeel being a jerk again. Sting and Rogue had long since attached themselves to the two of them as surrogate brother figures, only further stoking their already large egos.

But then Wendy got upset when they started fighting and started to cry. No one liked it when Wendy got upset.

No one.

So, they stopped arguing and got back to the lesson Anna was teaching them. He liked Ms. Anna, she smelled very nice, and he thought her blonde hair was really nice.

After that, he went back to the cave he and Igneel lived in and had a great time explaining his day of learning to his dragon father. Igneel was even so kind as to let Natsu eat some of his flames, a treat every time that he ate them.

"Natsu, do you know why I am called the Fire Dragon King?" Igneel asks as they are about to go to sleep.

"Because you're the strongest dragon ever!" Natsu shouts emphatically.

Igneel chuckles at his adopted son's enthusiasm. "It's not just that Natsu. Being a dragon king means having the strength to protect the ones you love."

"Woah, that sounds so cool!" Natsu says with stars in his eyes. "In that case, I'll be the greatest dragon king there ever was. I'll be an even greater one than you dad!"

"I'd love to see that one day."

Natsu didn't think much of those words and went to sleep soundly.

He never saw his father again.

Again.

Years later…

He and Happy were arguing about something stupid that day. Maybe he ate some of his son's fish, maybe Happy was being a little bit too annoying that day.

He didn't remember, and it was hardly the thing he remembered most about that day.

Lisanna had come in and quickly settled the argument. That was always how their arguments turned out, the two of them too stubborn to talk about their issues, but neither were willing to make Lisanna mad. She learned a lot from her older sister.

Natsu had engraved the smile Lisanna had given him, the way her white and pink hair flowed in the wind, the red dress she had worn that day, even the sunset making her face look even more beautiful.

He promised to never let go of that smile.

He should have promised to stay with her.

Lisanna left on a S-Class mission with her siblings.

He would never have the chance to see her again.

Again.

Again.

July 7, X784

Natsu had just finished wrecking a group of slave traders that were using his and Fairy Tail's name to do so. The idea of such scum making his friends look bad infuriated him.

Unfortunately, the Rune Knights chose that moment to show up, so Natsu had to bail along with the cute blonde he had met that day, Lucy.

"Wait, where the heck are you taking me?!" Lucy cried as she was dragged along by Natsu.

"Well, you said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, didn't ya?" Natsu says, giving her a big goofy smile. "So let's go."

Lucy's face broke into a grin at Natsu's words. "Okay."

Natsu felt something that he hadn't for anyone else in years.

Not long after that, he also made the promise that he should've made long ago.

He would never leave Lucy's life.

She would never leave his.

He would break into her house every day if he had to, just to make sure she was safe.

Every time she got mad at him and Happy, he knew that she wasn't really upset. The more it happened, the more obvious it became that it was just how their relationship worked.

Things were just more fun when she was around.

Natsu got up to his feet, his body wracked in pain and completely drained of magic.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gajeel asks as Natsu slowly walks toward him. Natsu weakly lifts his arm, barely able to form a fist.

SMACK

Gajeel backhands Natsu away with ease, Natsu rolling across the floor like a ragdoll. "You can't win Natsu." Gajeel says, using Natsu's real name for once. "Just give up, you've already lost."

Natsu gets up again, trying once more to strike Gajeel before being smacked away once again. Still, Natsu doesn't stop getting up.

SMACK

Again.

SMACK

And again.

SMACK

And again.

Lucy can only watch with tears in her eyes at seeing Natsu being beaten over and over again. "Please…. Just stop." Lucy sobs. "I'll go with them, so just please… Stop fighting!"

"I can't."

Natsu struggles to his feet once more, his face beaten and bloody, but his face is still one of determination. "I can't just quit. That's never been my style. I'm used to getting my ass kicked, but this is different. I'm not just fighting for myself; I'm fighting for everyone whose home was just destroyed. I'm fighting for Asta, Erza, and the others who are still fighting Jose downstairs. I'm fighting for you, so that you can live the life you want to live. So, I'll keep fighting until everyone I love is safe!"

Lucy's heart is moved by the Natsu's words and remembers that she still has a key that wasn't taken by Phantom Lord earlier.

Natsu is then hit in the gut by Gajeel's club arm, his back colliding into a wall. "Enough with your stupid friendship speeches already, you're out of magic, so just give up!"

SWISH

A few arrows suddenly shoot into some machinery next to where Natsu was before exploding. The culprit was Lucy's new spirit from Galuna Island, which was a man in a horse costume wielding a bow and arrow.

"Thanks for the meal, Lucy." A loud slurping sound was heard, Natsu eating the flames of the wrecked machinery, his magic power growing as he does so.

"You're welcome, now go and kick his ass!" Lucy shouts, giving the Dragon Slayer.

"Yes ma'am!" Natsu shouts as he lands a full force blow to Gajeel's face. "Now then, let me show you how messing with Fairy Tail was the greatest mistake you ever made!"

Gajeel responds with a roar of anger as he leaps forward, their fists colliding once more. This time, however, Gajeel's armor starts to shatter on his arm. 'This can't be! I was supposed to win! I always win!'

"It's over, Black Steel! Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Natsu unleashes a seemingly endless barrage of flaming fists at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer unable to react to each of the hits.

"This is what you get for attacking my friends, destroying our guildhall, and most importantly, attacking Lucy!"

Natsu lets out one final roar, his dragon instincts screaming at him to do so, before letting out massive attack, blowing off the top half of the room they're in, and blasting Gajeel away.

BOOM

All eyes are drawn by the massive explosion from Natsu's flames, Lucy and Happy having seen the writing on the wall and flew outside the room once Natsu started letting loose.

The two of them drop down behind Natsu, his victory undeniable as he stands the victor over Gajeel's unconscious body. "Now… we're even… asshole." Natsu then falls over on his back, unable to remain standing after so much fighting that day.

"Destructive as always, huh Natsu?" Lucy says as she kneels down next to him.

"Of course, Luce, I'll always be Natsu from now and forever. Also…" Natsu trails off, taking a moment to breathe under his injuries. "I've been waiting long enough, I think I should tell you."

Lucy's face turns the same color as a certain swordswoman's hair. "W-w-what do you mean by that Natsu?"

"Well, I feel like it's pretty obvious, don't you think, Happy?" Natsu asks as he painfully sits up.

"Aye, sir! Lucy really is a weirdo sometimes, isn't she?"

"Okay can you two stop with the teasing and just tell me what's going-" Lucy's rant is cut of in instant, whatever words she had to say disappearing from her lips.

And going into Natsu's.

Lucy can't believe what her best friend, and not so secret crush had done. Her eyes are wide for a moment before she sinks into the kiss, letting Natsu, who was slightly more experienced lead her.

If asked how long the kiss lasted, neither one would be able to tell you if it lasted one minute or one hour, the both of them living in that one blissful moment.

The two of them then separate, both of their faces flushed and embarrassed.

"Natsu," Lucy says, unable to find the words. "That was-"

Unfortunately, her words were once again interrupted, though not by a loving kiss this time. Instead, it was an explosion from behind them that drew their attention and derailed the conversation that they would assuredly resume once they had the chance.

That is, if they ever got that chance, as the explosion was the result of Jose's battle against the rivals of Fairy Tail, and it wasn't going well for them.

The explosion had launched Erza and Yuno into the room, the two of them groaning in pain as they collapse onto the ground, unable to stand from the new injuries they had received throughout the fight.

"Yuno! Erza!" Lucy runs to her injured friends, her heart distraught at seeing them in such horrid states.

"Run… Lucy." Erza manages to get out a few words before Jose flies out of the hole in the floor that he made.

Jose has a purple hue to him as he floats in midair, holding an unconscious Asta by one arm. "While your swords are powerful, and that arm is interesting, without any magic you stand no chance against a wizard of my caliber."

He then tosses Asta away, his body rolling limp across the ground. Mirajane shoots out of the ground, the last of the fairies still able to challenge the Wizard Saint. "Leave them alone! Darkness-"

However, before Mira can finish the attack, her Satan Soul fades off of her body. 'Oh no! I haven't used my magic in so long, I must have been using more power than I thought!'

Mira is then grabbed by the neck as Jose begins to choke her out. "The lovely Mirajane. I'll admit, your inclusion to the battle was not what I expected when I first came here, but you clearly are still out of practice. Let me help you rejoin your sister."

"Please stop hurting them!" Lucy cries, her tears fresh once more at the sight of her beaten friends. "You've already proven your point, I won't run away anymore, just stop hurting them!"

Jose simply laughs at Lucy's heartfelt appeal. "You think that I will be satisfied after you brats humiliated my guild? Please, you don't have any power in this scenario. You're just an entitled little princess, who thought she could play at being a wizard. You never had a choice in any of this." Jose then increases his grip on Mira, her face starting to go blue from being choked so hard.

Lucy feels her heartbreak as she looks around, hoping for anyone to save them. 'Asta's unconscious, Yuno and Erza can't even walk, Mira is being choked to death, and Natsu's way too tired from his fight with Gajeel. The only key I have is Sagittarius, but it would be stupid to think that a few arrows would help me win against a Wizard Saint.'

"Please, someone, anyone, help us!" Lucy cries.

Her plea is left unanswered, the only sound ringing through her ears, the sound of Mira's gasping breaths, and Jose's maniacal laughter.

'No one's coming.' Lucy realizes, visibly shaken by the revelation. 'It's just us here, and I'm the only one who can still fight. I'm part of the so called strongest team in Fairy Tail, but I'm obviously the weakest member. Everyone else is so incredible, I've always felt so much weaker than everyone else in the guild. They either have a goal to achieve, or they know what they want the rest of their lives to be like.

'I came here hoping to find a place I could call home, but I'm going to lose that home if I don't do something to help them. This is because my father wanted me, I refuse to sit here and let him control my life when he can't be bothered to show up!'

"I refuse to let anyone tell me how to live my life anymore!"

Lucy's sincere affirmation is accompanied by her grimoire exploding a blast of white and yellow light. The light is so bright as to be blinding, and Jose lets go of Mirajane to cover his eyes. "What – what is this?!"

Lucy opens her eyes to find herself standing in a world of white and yellow, confused as to what she's doing here.

"This is your awakening, mother."

Lucy turns to face the voice and gasps at what she sees. "You're…"

In front of her is Celeste, the angel from the dungeon that she saved, albeit she is visibly older than what she looked like before. Instead of a twelve-year-old, she now looks about 15-16 years old, but still adorned in the same white robes and jewelry as before. "Celeste? Wait, why are you older than the last time I saw you?"

"Oh, that's because I didn't have enough magic to constitute an older form for myself. I'm over 500 years old, and I'm not even human, so I can look how ever old I want." Celeste explains.

"Ok, then does that mean that you can help my friends? We're in a really tough spot right now and they need help." Lucy asks.

Celeste shakes her head. "That's not why I'm here. I'm here to grant you the power you need. That way you can help them on your own."

The angel then snaps her fingers, and two weapons appear in a golden flash. One of them is a white one-handed sword with a red gem in the middle of the hilt. Right above the hilt the sides of the sword glow are colored blue for a bit. Along the sword are blue glowing lines that form up to make a sword inside the sword. The sword gets narrower from the hilt down before it gets bigger near the end. (A/N: Look up Blaster Blade to find the sword design.)

The other weapon is a circular shield with alternating blue and white circles that then coalesce into a blue circle with a silver star. (A/N: This is just the Captain America shield but the red is replaced with blue.)

"The sword is the Sacred Treasure Caliburn, and the shield is the Sacred Treasure Oathkeeper. Take those weapons and you will find the strength that will let you prevail over your foe. Don't worry about not knowing how to sword fight, you'll have to learn about that later."

Lucy immediately reaches out for the weapons immediately before Celeste grabs her and stops her. "There is something you should know about using these weapons. They are weapons of great power, but they come with a great responsibility. To wield these weapons means you must have the heart to stand on the same ground as the legendary kings and queens of the past. If you aren't a pure soul, then they will be rendered worthless, but I know you can do it mom."

Celeste gives Lucy a reassuring smile before letting go of her. "The heart to stand on the same ground as kings and queens." She then thinks back to her mother's face before she died. "I'll gladly prove that I'm worthy of the name Lucy Heartfilia!"

Lucy then grasps the weapons in her hands, a bright glow surrounding her as she prepares to fight a Wizard Saint one on one.

The glow around Lucy ceases, revealing Lucy wielding the Caliburn and Oathkeeper, the shield magically attached to her arm like a magnet.

Everyone looks in awe as Lucy opens her eyes, her brown orbs giving off a brief golden glow. Lucy then points her blade at Jose, carrying herself with the pride and poise that she was raised with. "Jose, right here, right now, I promise to defeat you and save my friends. This will be the first step on my path to become a woman as great as my mother, Layla Heartfilia. A Celestial wizard always keeps her promises, so listen well."

"I, Lucy Heartfilia, vow to never let anyone control another person's destiny especially my own."

She then raises her sword high into the air, a golden glow appearing at the tip like a star.

"I will become the Wizard Queen!"

Lucy slashes Caliburn at Jose, a golden beam emerging from her sword. "Celestial Magic: Alpha Stream!" The beam flies at Jose, who is still too shocked by yet another power up happening in front of him to dodge. The beam collides with him, blowing him away and causing visible damage.

Lucy doesn't let up as she then runs at the Wizard Saint before throwing Oathkeeper at him, the shield leaving a golden trail of energy behind it. "Beta Rebound!" The shield collides straight into Jose's face, his face caving in from receiving a shield to the face.

'I don't know why, but I feel great!' Lucy thinks as she runs toward her opponent, Oathkeeper bouncing around until it reaches her left arm again. 'This is true Celestial Magic, not just summoning spirits, but being able to bond with the magic around you. I learned about a new technique when I grabbed these weapons, and I think I can pull it off.'

Jose recovers from the shield toss, his nose visibly broken and bleeding. "That's it! I'm sure I can still get paid if I take a limb or two off!" Jose channels his magic into summoning several of his shade soldiers to attack her.

Lucy doesn't lose a step in her stride, charging toward the attack head on. "It's now or never! Take this Jose, a punishment for everything and everyone you've hurt in pursuit of your greed!"

Lucy charges at the first ghoul, her sword slashing into it with ease. 'That wasn't it.' She then slashes into another. 'That wasn't it either.' Lucy then proceeds to keep slashing at the endless stream of ghouls one after another, a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Oh no!" Happy cries. "Lucy is being overrun out there! I have to help her!" Before he can fly off, Natsu grabs him by the arm.

"Wait a minute Happy. Look at her face." Lucy's face hadn't lost a single hint of the concentration she had since started fighting, her eyes wide open with each slice. "She's trying to figure something out."

Lucy hacks away at more and more shades while trying to block their strikes, the numbers beginning to overwhelm her and starts scratching her, but still, she does not waver. 'Don't think about anything else. Sure your friends are hurt, sure Natsu kissed you and you still need to talk to him about that, sure you might be about die.'

'Nothing matters except landing it.'

Lucy swings Caliburn at another shade, but as she does, something is different. Her eyes widen in that fraction of a second, her eyes unable to believe what they're seeing.

She could see countless flecks of light around the fiend, and more around her own sword. This wasn't mana like Yuno had seen back in the capital. This was ether, the building blocks of mana that goes unnoticed by most humans. However, there was a phenomenon that only the most gifted mages could make occur.

"Ether Flash."

When mages with high potential entered states of extreme concentration, they would sometimes gain the ability to see the ether around them and could use that in attack that would be exponentially more powerful, the attack even stronger than Mana Zone.

So, when Lucy's Alpha Stream attack landed on the shade, a flash of gold appeared on contact, beams of light shooting off of it. The attack doesn't end there, as the shockwaves from the attack disperse most of the shade soldiers around her.

Ether Flash is a truly powerful move, however, there was no way for anyone to make that happen on command. Ultimately, it is a lucky critical hit, but the true test is in being able to do it more than once.

"Ether Flash."

SCHWING

"Ether Flash."

SCHWING SCHWING

"Ether Flash."

SCHWING SCHWING SCHWING

Lucy landed four consecutive Ether Flashes, each one more powerful than the last until they were all gone.

"H-how is this possible?" Jose stutters as he watches Lucy decimate his minions. "This… This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to reign over all of you worthless fairies!"

"Stop calling us worthless!" Lucy shouts as she runs at Jose. "You guys who don't care about each other could never be worth less than you! Ether Flash: Alpha Clash!"

Lucy swings her sword again, this time the blade coated in a thin golden aura as it smashes into Jose's chest, his body torn apart from the inside by the 5th consecutive Ether Flash.

The force of her attack sends Jose flying away through one wall after another, his momentum sending him flying all the way to the other side of the fortress.

Lucy slams her sword point first into the ground. "That is the power of friendship. People like you will always call it worthless, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."

Man, Lucy got to show her stuff this chapter, didn't she?

Lucy has finally begun to unlock the true power of her grimoire, granting her powers that let her overpower a Wizard Saint. There is still plenty more for her to learn, but now Celeste can show up and interact with the cast.

Lucy has also declared a new desire to be the next Wizard Queen, which is a very tough task to achieve. Yuno and Asta are gonna have to work hard now that they have another rival to compete with.

Ether Flash was just me liking the Black Flash move in Jujutsu Kaisen, so I introduced it as a thing that will be happening in this series, and other characters beside Lucy will do it too.

While Lucy got to gain a new power, the main show was the battle between Gajeel and Natsu. Letting the two of them remember each other adds a certain level of familiarity to the fight, two brothers fighting each other but still having fun the whole time.

The flashbacks Natsu had are also something I hope you enjoyed; they were fun to write. Especially the one with Natsu's older brother, I wonder who that is ;)

Natsu literally said that he hates change, so I wanted to highlight that in his flashbacks that ones closest to him keep going away. Kind of like a certain ice wizard with a stripping problem, though Ur being alive makes that easier on him.

Alright, that's it. See you next chapter.

…

…

…

Okay, I guess I'll talk about Natsu and Lucy's kiss.

Lucy and Natsu have my favorite romance in anything ever, and I will riot if they don't get together by the end of 100 year quest. In this series, however, Natsu already had a girlfriend in Lisanna, so he isn't as romantically ignorant in this version.

This was the best place for them start moving their relationship further, since I didn't want to keep their 'will they, won't they' when there are several others that will be going on for a while. *cough* Asta *cough*

You'll see them discuss things in the next chapter, so I won't spoil too much. Get hyped for that discussion between them.

We'll be moving into the Tower of Heaven arc soon, but there's some down time until then for our characters to take a moment and chill down after so many changes in such a small amount of time.

We've long since abandoned the original canon for Fairy Tail, but the Black Clover story is mostly intact so far. That will change in a bit, but we're going on a spree of Fairy Tail arcs until then. I initially planned to do Eye of the Midnight Sun Encounter arc, but it would literally change nothing from the manga just like the Sea Temple arc, so we will be going in this order.

Tower of Heaven - Battle of Fairy Tail - ? - Edolas

I have things that I want to change about Black Clover later, but there are more changes to be had in the Fairy Tail arcs.

That mystery arc is something I'm really excited for, so wait until that.

Next Time: We Have to Talk