It had been quite awhile since the Chariot's game ended and already one battle finished its course. Kurohebi had won his fight against Lamia Scale's Toby and already, Elfmen was trying his best to beat Bacchus in their match. The male Strauss was already peeved as it was since Bacchus had said that if he won, he gets to spend the night with Lisanna and Mira. Making everyone grossed out at the fact that he even wanted them to keep him company at the same time.
Of course, the fairies worried for Elfmen but they still cheered him on so that he can become motivated. It was already impressive enough that he even lasted as long as he did considering how Erza described Bacchus' power the night prior. However, as Lucy was enjoying the match, her senses picked up something was wrong and her maternal instincts immediately sensed that Nashi was in danger. So she ran out of the booth in a hurry, not saying a word to Gray or Erza and followed Nashi's scent.
"Whoever is messing with my daughter is so dead!" The blonde empress thought.
But when she turned the corner, what she didn't expect was to crash into someone and fall on her back. Groaning in pain, she rubbed her head as she sat up, ready to either yell or apologize to whomever she bumped into. But when she looked at the person she bumped into, not only did her anxiety surge, but her nose was filled with the scent of smoke and pine trees. Complaining about the impact under his breath, Natsu also got up and looked to Lucy with a sense of urgency.
"Ow that hurt!" He cried as he made eye contact with the blonde. "Luce! You're here!? Listen, someone took-"
The blonde empress immediately cut off his sentence as her golden flames surrounded her body and she grabbed him by his scarf, her maternal instincts going on overdrive. "Where. Is. Nashi?" She asked in a threatening tone.
The fire dragon slayer felt his skin crawl in fear at the woman before him. He had literally just woken up from his nap only to smell unfamiliar scents in the infirmary while Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica were gone. He had also noticed Nashi's scent in the mix but he had thought that she was still with the rest of the guild at their booth. And if not there, she had met him and Lucy at the infirmary and then left with the blonde after settling him on the bed.
Before he could protest, Lucy began to smell the air again and her eyes darted for the stairs that led up to the rooftop levels of the arena. She let go of his scarf and grabbed his wrist, making a run for it as her eyes narrowed in rage. Whoever had Nashi, and from what she can smell Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica, they would face the wrath of the Dragon Empress as well as the strength of the Fire Dragon King's son. Meaning: they were gonna get badly hurt.
When the two found themselves outside, four masked men in red were running away, and in their hands were the four females from the infirmary. Lucy was angry enough that they had the audacity to grab Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica but her blood ran wild as she saw the fourth one held Nashi by throwing her unconscious body over his shoulder. When Natsu saw the view before him, he immediately dashed for the four using his fire to gain speed. Alerting the kidnappers of their being caught.
"Crap! He's awake!" One of them said. "And look another girl is with him!"
"Didn't she leave the infirmary before we went in?" Another asked.
"Hold on a minute! It's the Athena!" The third cried as Lucy ran alongside Natsu. "Why is she here!?"
"How the hell did this happen!? We were only supposed to grab the girl that was in their infirmary!" The last one said.
Lucy's and Natsu's eyes widened in shock at the revelation and the blonde just got all the more angry. Natsu immediately caught up to them and threatened them to reveal who had hired them to kidnap the four girls. But what three of the kidnappers got before they could answer was a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. Meanwhile, the one who had Nashi was confronted by Lucy and immediately froze as he could feel himself be paralyzed. After carefully taking Nashi from his hold, the blonde only made him kneel to the ground using gravity magic.
Once Natsu secured Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica, the three waking up after the dragon slayer had knocked out their kidnappers, they all were taken aback by the angered expression on Lucy's face. The same expression of malice that she showcased when she had confronted Sting and Rogue before the preliminary round. Macao had warned everyone before about how no one escapes Lucy's wrath when any harm comes to her daughter, now they're seeing the consequences in action.
"You better have a good reason for taking my daughter..." She said in a threatening tone, her eyes constricting as they changed to their golden colour. "Now tell me who hired you... and for what purpose."
"Look! It was Raven Tail!" The first of the four cried as he shook in fear. "Raven Tail was the one who hired us! We were only told to capture the girl that was in Fairy Tail's infirmary!"
While the others narrowed their eyes, Lucy found the excuse to be suspicious. Raven Tail may be targeting Fairy Tail, but there's no way they would go for such a terrible tactic to attack them. But she decided to leave it be for now, all that mattered to her was that Nashi was not harmed but just unconscious. She looked behind her, two guards approaching and taking the the captors. But before they could take them away, Lucy held them back and glared at the guards, sending chills down their spines.
"The next time you guards carelessly, accidentally or whatever, allow unidentified people near our infirmary, I will personally barge into Mercurius myself and speak to your king." She threatened. "You tell your superior... if this ever occurs again, they will personally feel the Athena's power with no restraint, understand?"
The guards immediately nodded and dashed out with the kidnappers in tow. Meanwhile, the crowd began to cheer immensely as Elfmen was declared the winner in his fight against Bacchus. Something none had expected. It was then that Nashi began to wake up and Lucy hugged her in relief, the child looking at her mother with a confused expression. Natsu just reassured Nashi that she didn't have to worry about it and ruffled her hair while showing off his trademark grin.
However, that didn't stop Lucy from scolding him for being unable to sense that Nashi was also the one in danger, but forgave him since he had been unconscious when it had happened. Wendy, on the other hand, began to mumble to herself, something that didn't go unnoticed by Carla and Porlyusica as she made note that the kidnappers were using past tense when they mentioned their target. That they had been in the infirmary but wasn't there when they got there.
"If their target is a girl that had been in the infirmary prior before getting us, that would mean-"
Carla gasped as she looked at the blonde girl who was carrying her daughter and standing next to Natsu, cheering in congratulations for Elfmen's accomplishment. The only other girl that was in the infirmary was Lucy, and if she was their target, Carla began to feel even more uneasy about her vision and that Mirai specifically warned her not to tell Lucy anything about her vision until she returned. Something didn't add up... and all Carla could do was be patient and see.
After going back to the infirmary and meeting with Elfmen, who was all bandaged up from his fight, Nashi and Carla went back to the guild's booth with Lisanna while Wendy followed Natsu and Lucy to their team's booth since she was now to fill in for Elfmen. It had already been announced that the next battle would be Mira versus Jenny, so the team promised Elfmen to cheer hard for Mira so that she can earn another win to Fairy Tail's current winning streak.
But what they didn't expect was the match turn into a modelling contest between two pin up models of Sorcerer Weekly. One who was popular seven years ago. The other who was popular now. Of course, that didn't stop the men in the crowd going crazy in excitement as both mages posed in their bikinis. But it went even further when Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale's females jumped into the arena in their swimsuits, claiming that there was no way they were just going to allow the two mages have the spotlight.
Soon enough, in no time at all, Mavis got the rest of the fairies' women go down and also join in the arena. While they all ended up going down, Lucy heavily protested against it since she was not going to go down there if no one was going to watch Nashi. But of course, her decision was counteracted when the said peach haired child suddenly appeared behind the first master and took her mother's hand while she was already dressed in a one piece swimsuit thanks to Mavis.
"C'mon Mama!" She said as Lucy was forced to change. "I wanna have fun with nee-san and big sister Wendy!"
The blonde looked at her daughter in flabbergasted look, but looking at her excited expression, Lucy had no choice but to concede. She changed quickly and headed down to the arena. They went through many different outfits, from their current swimsuits to school swimsuits to bikinis with thigh high socks to a glasses with swimsuit pairing to even a cat ear concept. However, one concept made Nashi and Happy's eyes glow in mischief, the rest of the guild soon following. The Blushing Bride concept.
In the span of a second, Lucy found herself in a plain wedding dress and watched as everyone began to partner up with a groom. She didn't think much of it, thinking that she should just summon Loke or even Kai as a fill-in spouse, but fate decided against that thought. As the blonde empress was getting ready to summon the lion spirit, Nashi called out to her. "Mama!"
As she turned around, a compliment already forming in her head about how cute Nashi looks in a flower girl dress, Lucy stopped in her tracks and felt her blood rush to her cheeks when looking at the two standing in front of her. He wore a simple white tux with a grey inner vest over her his dress shirt. His scaly scarf was still wrapped around his neck, not to her surprise, and his pink hair stood every which way to keep his charm while Nashi held his hand.
"Hey Luce!" Natsu greeted with the most childlike expression. But after taking in what she was wearing, he couldn't help but feel his ears heat up. "Wow... you look really nice!"
Lucy's blush deepened before coughing away her embarrassment and she smiled in return, Nashi holding in a giggle as she knew what her mother must be thinking. "T-Thanks... you don't look too bad either."
Natsu gave her a puzzled expression and after taking one look at himself, his eyes widened at the fact he was wearing a tux (again ever since the Magic Dance Ball job). "What the-!? How the heck did I get into this!?"
"What are you talking about, Papa?" Nashi asked, pretending to be innocent even though she had fully expected this when Happy was able to make the pink headed slayer to change in the first place. "You changed with Happy, remember?"
"I did?" Natsu asked, scratching the back of his head while trying to remember.
Looking at the scene, Lucy couldn't help but forget about her embarrassment and laughed at her best friend. When Natsu heard her laugh, he couldn't help but think in the back of his mind: She's really pretty when she laughs. After ceasing her fit of giggles, Lucy decided to accept whatever family bonding idea Nashi planned and picked up her daughter as she stood at Natsu's right side. Other people around the three noticing their closeness and heartwarming aura.
"So... Natsu?" She asked smiling, Natsu's face going blank at her words. "What do you think? Doesn't Nashi look absolutely adorable as a flower girl?"
Natsu could swear he could feel his entire face warm up. He could even feel sweat going down the back of his neck. He is a fire dragon slayer for crying out loud! The heat isn't supposed to have an effect on him! But the more he watched Lucy and Nashi laugh at his dumbfounded expression, he couldn't stop himself from also smiling and laughing with them. So, Natsu decided to go with the flow and wrapped his arm over Lucy's shoulder, causing the blonde to make sure she held down her blush.
"Well of course she looks great, Luce!" He said, the trio not noticing the many eyes looking their way (including the MC's). "She has you for a mom and me as a dad! And your mom looks great as a bride too, right Nashi?"
The child could only squeal in delight at how her parents were acting, satisfied at the results of her plan. The trio were so lost in their own world as they talked, the other guild teams watching them with confused looks or smirks planted on their faces. The crowd, on the other hand, couldn't believe their eyes as they watched the Athena of Fairy Tail smile and laugh with Natsu and Nashi - the complete opposite of the merciless guild master persona she had created over the years.
When Mira saw this from the corner of her eye, her matchmaking sensors were going off. Even though she knew she should be focused on winning the battle, she couldn't help but internally scream at how cute Natsu, Lucy and Nashi were and what a beautiful family they would make if Natsu and Lucy were to actually get married. This was definitely something she had to talk about with Igneel, since she had a feeling he would be very delighted if his adopted son became his empress' spouse.
Unfortunately, the beautiful moment was destroyed when Ooba Babasaama, guild master of Lamia Scale, revealed herself in a swimsuit and had awaken everyone up to reality. Everyone in the arena, but Mira and Jenny, then returned to their booths and awaited to see who would win the battle. The stakes rising even higher as Jenny suggested that the loser would pose for the next issue of Sorcerer Weekly in their 'birthday suit'. And surprising everyone, Mira agreed.
"She agreed!?" Everyone cried.
"Mama, what does 'birthday suit' mean?" Nashi asked, since Lucy had carried her to their booth.
"You're too young to know right now, Nashi." She said, glaring at the rest of her team besides Wendy. "And I would like to hope that your father, uncles and aunts won't tell you either."
"Sorry, what were we gonna tell her again?" Natsu and Gray said in unison, deciding that that would allow them to keep on living.
The final theme was combat suits and just as when Jenny thought she had won, Mira transformed into her Satan Soul: Sitri form and in one fatal attack sent Jenny in the air, the MC's ultimately deeming the fairy a winner and the pegasus the one who will be doing a photoshoot for Sorcerer Weekly's next issue. The crowd cheering wildly for Mira's win and the excitement to buy Sorcerer Weekly after Jenny's photoshoot is completed.
Hidden behind the shadows of the dark corridors, the silver haired and blue violet haired figures stood while staring straight for Fairy Tail Team A's booth. Both of them held smirks so devious, it was as if someone could be killed just by looking their way. They were getting excited... their target was right where they wanted them. And what's more, the power they felt was growing by the second... and no one knew just what that power could do when they get their hands on it.
"Looks like Vetani was right." The blue violet headed figure said. "She's sticking to those brats very closely."
"It will be hard for us to capture her, but... as the situation stands, we won't have to lift a single finger while someone does the work for us." The silver headed one added. "By the time the games end, she will be right where we want her and we will be able to do what we must once she is in our hands."
"Vetani is doing everything exactly as planned. No one suspects a thing."
"The eclipse gate will open soon... we shall have what belongs to us when it does."