After Natsu and Lucy accepted Sting's challenge, the crowd screamed like crazy as they wanted to get through the other tag battles and get to Fairy Tail and Sabertooth immediately. As the contestants from Naval battle regrouped with their guilds, Chapati took a moment to announce that in order to make the number of teams even, Fairy Tail would have to reform their two teams into one single one and that they would use Team A's points for the current ranking.
When the fairies heard that, Makarov could only chuckle as it was obvious who the new team would be. Before the first tag battle began, the new team representing Fairy Tail made themselves known. Gajeel, Erza, Natsu, Lucy and Laxus stood proud and tall at the centre of the arena and the crowd cheered loudly in comparison to when they were looked down on during the first day. The five mages all looked at one another from the corner of their eyes and shot their fists in the air, their determination spreading throughout the air.
Once they were done, the tag battles commenced - the first being Quatro Cerberus' Rocker and Bacchus versus Blue Pegasus' Ichiya and their mystery member, who was soon to be revealed as his exceed counterpart; Nichiya. As the battle continued, Team Fairy Tail met up with Kai while on their way to their booth. Nashi had gone back to training with Igneel, she had made Kai promise to stay in the arena with the rest of her nakama so she could watch the match between the guild and Sabertooth once she was done.
The water dragon began to cry like a child, complaining to Lucy that Igneel and Grandeeney were throwing him everywhere since Nashi came to further her training. He was left to watch over the castle while Igneel trained and thus, also had to watch over the dragon apprentices. Lucy knew he was just being lazy and just patted his head while giving out empty words of comfort. Much to the annoyance of Laxus, Erza and Gajeel and brought Natsu unwanted irritation.
Of course, once he had enough, he also mentioned that it was possible that the entire dragon council would join Nashi in watching the match. Lucy's jaw went slack at the news. She had expected as much from Igneel, Metalicana, Weisslogia and Skiadrum considering the first two's personality and the fact that she was certain they were going to fight the latter two's sons. But to expect this from Grandeeney, Ava and the others? Raiden and Celeste maybe. The others? It was completely unexpected of them.
"They might scold me for not going all out right away." Lucy sighed, earning a laugh from her team.
"I'm sure they won't, Luce." Natsu reassured, draping an arm over Lucy's shoulder as he grinned at her with excitement. "After all, like you say, where's the fun without a little surprise?"
"I agree." Erza said. "There's no harm in hiding other techniques you may possess. It's not like you haven't spent the last five and half years hiding your magic from all of Fiore, right?"
"Just don't go breaking them too badly, Bunny Girl." Gajeel joked as he crossed his arms. "I'd like to battle that emo boy dragon slayer when we get to the fifth day."
"I think the most important thing to remind you guys is to not destroy the arena." Laxus said in a matter-of-factly tone. "I heard all about that Sun Crater spell business and I don't think we got enough funds to pay for a broken arena."
Lucy could only scratch the back of her head sheepishly as the group could hear winner of the first tag battle be Blue Pegasus. The next match was to be Lamia Scale's Lyon and Yuka versus Mermaid Heel's Kagura and Millianna, the crowd cheering as the mages stepped foot into the arena. Kai then yawned, he waved at the mages as he began to make his way back to the guild's booth to take a nap before Nashi comes back with the other dragons.
"Anyway, I wish you guys luck!" He said, disappearing into the hallway. "I'm gonna take a nap until your battle."
The group just laughed after Kai was gone and began to make their way to their booth, deciding it was about time for them to watch what remained of Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel's match. Lucy couldn't help but feel impatient for Fairy Tail and Sabertooth's match. As much as she wanted to keep her dragon slaying magic a secret unless absolutely necessary, she had hoped that Sting and Rogue would make her use it before any of the dragons yelled about it from the crowd. But she knew better and sighed.
"And there we go folks!" Chapati announced as Lyon, Yuka, Kagura and Millianna stood in their place, catching their breath while the gong rang. "Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel have come to a tie!"
The crowd began to cheer loudly, for the battle that had just ended and for the battle that was about to start. Sting and Rogue began to make their way down to the arena while Natsu and Lucy nodded at each other with excited grins on their faces. The crowd began to chant the name of the guild they were rooting for. The words 'Sabertooth' and 'Fairy Tail' being chanted repetitively as the two duos met at the centre of the arena. Sting cracking his knuckles and Rogue already widening his stance to go on the defensive.
"You ready, Luce?" Natsu asked.
"Don't you go underestimating me too, Natsu." Lucy joked.
When the gong rang, Sting and Rogue began to charge for the two fairies. But to their surprise, Natsu and Lucy were faster as they both landed a punch to their faces. The crowd roared in excitement as Natsu took on Sting, the white dragon slayer casting a White Dragon's Roar as the fire dragon slayer dodged it by leaning his body over. Sting then manipulated the roar to then go towards Lucy, who was occupied with Rogue, but she already sensed the attack coming and jumped out of the way. Rogue about to be the victim of the attack.
Sting, seeing that his partner was about to be hit, stopped his roar and was surprised to see Natsu had clasped his hand on Rogue's jaw and made the two knock into each other. Team Sabertooth's eyes widening ever so slightly when Natsu jumped back to give a fist bump to Lucy, the blonde empress then transforming into her Capricorn Star Dress and readjusting her shades to a comfortable position. When the two sabers recovered, Sting chuckled while smirking.
Both Natsu and Lucy could feel the increase in their power and got into a defensive position. At the moment, their goal was study Sting and Rogue's moves and habits when it came to defense and offense. Both her and Natsu had made a silent agreement to not go all out until they got enough information so Lucy knew that she didn't have to use her dragon slaying magic any time soon. It was then that Sting became surrounded by a white aura and Rogue was surrounded by a black one.
"White Drive."
"Shadow Drive."
Almost instantly, the twin dragon slayers became quick and suddenly Natsu had gotten an uppercut from Sting while Rogue landed a kick on Lucy. Sting continued to land hit after hit on Natsu, making sure not to leave any room for breathing. Meanwhile, Rogue continued to disappear and reappear around Lucy and landing one attack after another, when Lucy tried to counter him, he disappeared into the shadows again and made her annoyed.
As she tried to dodge Rogue's attacks and spells, she met eye contact with Natsu (who was currently frozen in place thanks to Sting's incantation) and nodded slightly to one another. Lucy was already covered in bruises and Natsu's clothes had already been tattered, but they needed to continue what they were doing for just a little longer. So, the blonde empress quickly changed into her Sagittarius Star Dress and as Rogue was about to land an attack on her again, she jumped and boosted herself into the air by leaping off of his head.
"What!?" Rogue exclaimed.
Lucy then smirked as she pulled back on the string of her bow, a golden arrow of celestial magic laced with lightning aimed straight for the shadow dragon slayer. "I may not be faster than shadows, but the speed of light will solve that problem!" She said as she released the arrow, many strings of light and lightning following after it. "Star Shot!"
The shadow dragon slayer was about to retreat into his shadow again, but like Lucy said, the speed that her arrows were quicker and stopped him from doing so. The electricity shocking him and the light blinding his eyes momentarily. As Lucy began to fall to the ground, she transformed into her Taurus Star Dress and unhooked her whip. Using it to grab ahold of Rogue's wrist, she swung the dark haired saber towards Natsu's way.
The fire dragon slayer had already melted off Sting's incantation and punched the white dragon slayer square on the jaw with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, but when he saw Lucy bring Rogue his way they both exchanged a smirk as Natsu jumped in the air. Fire surrounded his fists and he immediately tackled through the two sabers using a Fire Dragon's Wing Attack while Lucy landed beside him with force. The crowd screaming like crazy at their teamwork.
"The tables have turned for a second time!" Chapati commented through the crowd. "Is this the true might of Fairy Tail!?"
Sting and Rogue staggered for a second, their body also covered in bruises, but their eyes just narrowed. Rogue certainly didn't show off his anger but Sting definitely did. They both growled as Natsu, Lucy and the rest of the crowd gasped in surprise, scales forming on the edges of Sting and Rogue's face and arms. The two fairies recognized it as Dragon Force and widened their defensive stance, the fact that they could tap into the most powerful form of dragon slaying magic... it was nothing to think lightly of.
"Can you still manage even when they're in Dragon Force?" Natsu asked in a low voice.
"Their magic power is growing by the second... I can handle them using my Star Dress but not for too long." Lucy replied as the two duos stared at each other intensely, daring for the other to strike.
When Sting saw noticed them hesitating, he began to chuckle. "I knew it... you fairies are just all talk, even the great Athena herself." He said. "You both should just quit before you lose miserably!"
"Hey we ain't all talk, you know!" Natsu retorted, peeved that he took their silence the wrong way. "We were just figuring out if we should go all out or not!"
At those words, the crowd was taken aback by the fire dragon slayer's words. If that's what the two fairies were discussing, then that meant they haven't been trying or using a good amount of strength and magic so far into the battle. Sting and Rogue had just used their White and Shadow Drives and now they were releasing their Dragon Force, but Natsu and Lucy were still unsure if they should use more strength than they already were? That hit Sting's, and maybe Rogue's, ego a bit too much.
"Way to spill our plan, Natsu." Lucy replied whilst rolling her eyes, much to his embarrassment.
"Sting." Rogue called as the white dragon slayer turned to nod at his partner.
"Don't worry... I can handle them all on my own." The blonde saber reassured, cracking his knuckles. "If they have been going easy on us this entire time, I might as well make them try a little more."
Sting instantly dashed straight for Natsu and Lucy, and before the two fairies could have the chance to block, the white dragon slayer attacked both of them and sent them towards opposite ends of the arena. Natsu flipped back and pushed himself off the wall so that he could shoot his body towards Sting's in a rapid pace while Lucy flipped back, her feet skidding to a stop. She pulled back her the string of her bow again and shot several strings of light towards Sting.
But the white dragon slayer just dodged her attack and easily blocked all of Natsu's punches before jumping into the air and delivering a kick to Natsu's face. As the crowd cheered, the fairies all called to their two guild members in worry, wondering why Lucy had yet to use her dragon slaying magic now when Sting was already in Dragon Force. It was obvious she wouldn't fare well for long just using her spirits and Star Dress alone. But judging from what Natsu said, they definitely had a plan.
Natsu and Lucy regrouped and was about to try and throw another attack Sting's way, but when they located the saber, Sting was already way above their heads and took in a breath. Lucy, who already knew what attack Sting was going to use since she also learned under Weisslogia, gasped as she pulled Natsu back from doing anything reckless and watched as Sting casted his spell. A bright light forming in front of his mouth as a large laser beam was aimed directly at them.
"White Dragon's... HOLY BREATH!"
The MCs, the crowd and the guilds' eyes widened at the power of Sting's attack, the laser beam digging a deep hole into the coliseum to reveal a mineshaft of some sort. When the attack cleared and the lacrima vision screens popped up, Sting's and everyone else's eyes (excluding Fairy Tail) widened in shock as Natsu and Lucy fell down the hole, completely unharmed since the blonde held onto Natsu and encased them in her protective golden barrier.
"No way!" Lector cried from the Sabertooth guild's booth. "That lady really blocked Sting's attack!?"
"Did you all see that!?" Chapati's voice cried throughout the arena, the crowd chanting Fairy Tail's name over and over again. "Lucy Heartfilia just blocked Sting's Holy Breath attack with a single barrier!"
"Nice save, Luce!" Natsu complimented, earning a thumbs up from the blonde empress.
"Thanks, but keep your guard up... he's coming!" Lucy warned as Sting began to drop down from above.
Natsu smirked as he produced his flames from his feet as a booster, jumping from each falling piece of rubble until he met up with Sting. Once he was close enough, Natsu casted a Fire Dragon's Sword Horn and dashed straight for the white dragon slayer with his body completely surrounded with fire. The pink haired slayer tackled the blonde saber using his head while Lucy suddenly appeared behind Sting in her Leo Star Dress, her foot encased with Loke's Regulus power.
She sent a drop kick on Sting's back, sending the white dragon slayer crashing to the ground below. But the white dragon slayer just got up again and casted a White Dragon's Holy Ray, streams of his magic hitting Natsu and Lucy repetitively as they both cried out in pain. The fairies watching from the crowd watched with nervous looks. It was obvious Sting was strong and they were worried that he might defeat both Natsu and Lucy before she had a chance to use any dragon slaying magic.
Lucy was the first to crash to the ground after Sting's spell dispersed, Natsu crashing his back into rubble right after. "Luce! Are you okay!?" He called, but Sting popped up right in front of him before she could answer
"Time to fly." The blonde saber said as he sent Natsu all the way back.
Lucy then got up, transforming into her Taurus Form and summoning said bull spirit, the both of them dashing towards Sting. But they were immediately countered by Sting's kick and roar. Natsu soon came running back, casting a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist while Lucy casted her Earth Wave attack, but the saber easily dodged both. He jumped back a few feet before hitting Natsu and Lucy with another White Dragon's Roar, sending them to the ground without a sign of getting up.
The crowd cheered some more while the fairies called out to the duo to get up. But still no movement. Sting relished in the crowd's cheers and raised his fist into the air, believing that he had won while Rogue made his way down to meet his partner. His Dragon Force already dismissed. "As expected... they were no match for us." Rogue thought.
"I knew I could take down Natsu, but who would've thought the famed and feared Athena of Fairy Tail couldn't even stand up to me." Sting said, neither he or Rogue noticing Lucy's body twitch. "It would've been better if Gajeel were here, then it really would've been a battle between first generation and third generation dragon slayers."
"Natsu! Lucy! Come on guys you have to get up!" Happy called.
When neither of the two made any sort of movement, the fairies continued to call out to their two guild mates. The MCs commenting on how it might be the end of the battle, that Natsu and Lucy ultimately lost in their battle against the twin dragon slayers. Of course, the Sabertooth members all thought that it was useless for them to even hope to recover from Sting's attacks. That was until another voice rang throughout the arena. Well... a couple of familiar voices that Natsu and Lucy knew well.
"My parents aren't done yet!" Nashi cried, her body actually present and not some hologram as she sat atop Kai's shoulders. "My papa is the son of the great Fire Dragon King Igneel and my mama is the great Athena! It's not over until they win!"
When the fairies looked behind them, they were in shock to not only see Nashi, but the rest of Lucy's dragon council in their human forms. Weisslogia and Skiadrum didn't say anything, as it would open up a can of worms as Sting and Rogu's dragon parents, but Igneel stared straight at the lacrima vision screen with narrowed eyes. Pointing a finger at Natsu and Lucy's bodies that lay on the ground. He was completely angered at their poor performance so far.
"Are you going to allow them to claim the title of True Dragon Slayers!?" Igneel's booming voice rang through the arena, all the way down to where the four slayers were. "You did not train so hard all this time, only to be showed up by two simple dragon slayers! Are you or are you not... a dragon slayer!?"
As everyone thought that the red headed man was referring to the pink haired slayer by his words, both Natsu and Lucy smirked as they got up with ease. The crowd cheering when they both acted like they had just woken up from a quick power nap, Sting and Rogue's eyes shaking in shock. "Did you hear that, Luce?" Natsu asked.
The blonde empress nodded as she grabbed a piece of the rubble next to her. "That old man... he really knows how to tick me off."
"No... how the hell...!? I used my Dragon Force!" Sting protested in disbelief. "You shouldn't have been able to get up!"
"If it was just Natsu, I would understand." Rogue noted. "But how is she standing like nothing hit her!?"
Both Natsu and Lucy's eyes narrowed as they smirked, Natsu covering his body in flames and Lucy taking a bite out of the rock in her hand as her power grew tenfold than what it was during Naval Battle. Her golden flames surrounding her body. Everybody's eyes, except for the fairies and dragons, widened in shock as Natsu and Lucy's auras blended together. Lucy's fangs poked from behind her lips as hers and Natsu's minor injuries began to heal themselves thanks to a spell she learnt from Grandeeney.
"Did you honestly think that Natsu was the only other dragon slayer here besides the two of you?" Lucy asked, her question making the crowd go insane at the revelation. "This is a battle amongst dragon slayers after all."
The dragons and fairies all watched the fire dragon slayer and the Dragon Empress with pride as Igneel smirked. "Now that they have learned their fighting styles... nothing can hold back Natsu and her majesty's power." He thought.
Sting and Rogue stared at Lucy in utter shock and disbelief. Her power felt overwhelming, her golden flames were nothing like they've ever seen before. She was a dragon slayer, of what generation was beyond them. But they could tell that both her and Natsu were somehow on a completely different level from them. Natsu punched the palm of his hand, his adrenaline pumping and his excitement increased while Lucy's eyes turned completely gold and her eyes began to constrict as if staring at her prey.
"You have no idea how hard it was for me to hold back this entire battle." She said, continuing to eat rock after rock. "I've wanted to use my dragon slaying magic on the two of you since you kept on insisting you were True Dragon Slayers. Now... I can finally show you just how a true dragon fights in battle!"
"Excuse me!?" Sting and Rogue thought.
"Oh yeah! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu yelled as both he and Lucy dashed straight for Sting and Rogue at rapid speed. "Show them what you're made of, Luce!"
"Gladly!" Lucy replied as she landed a kick on Rogue's cheek and Natsu punched Sting's gut. As Natsu occupied Sting, Lucy continued landing hits on Rogue, the shadow dragon just barely escaping into his own shadow. But Lucy easily followed in after him using her own shadow dragon spells, dragging him out by the collar and kicking him into the air.
"Unbelievable! That lady just followed and pulled Rogue out from the shadows!?" Lector shouted as Frosch watched in silent worry.
Lucy then jumped into the air, so that she hovered above the shadow dragon and took in a breath. "Nature Dragon's... Roar!" She chanted as a pillar of green collided with Rogue's body before he slammed to the ground. When he opened his eyes and began to get up, Lucy was already in front of him with her fist surrounded by lightning. "Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"
As Rogue was being electrocuted, Lucy noticed Natsu's flames dying down and she called to him when he sent Sting flying. She casted a Fire Dragon's Roar, much to the pleasure of his growling stomach as he ate, and everyone in the arena screamed over her use of nature, lightning and fire dragon slaying magic. The members of Sabertooth shaking in a mixture of fear and shock at her display of power. Chapati shouting through the mic about how this just had to be the Athena's true strength.
Once the electricity dispersed from Rogue's body, the shadow dragon was able to make eye contact with Sting for a moment as the two reactivated their Dragon Force in anger and regrouped. Natsu and Lucy regrouping as well with determined smirks on their faces while the twin slayers growled. They were not going to allow two fairies to destroy what they had worked so hard for. They were not going to fail their guild like Minerva had done. Not by the same blonde girl and her pink haired partner.
"White Dragon's... Holy Ray!" Sting casted, but Natsu just nodded at Lucy and the girl jumped in front of him. Her mouth opening wide as she began to eat and absorb Sting's attack with little to no effort. The fairies cheering becoming even louder as Lucy finished her meal and wiped her chin with her arm, letting out a very soft burp.
"Thanks for the meal." She said.
"No way! She ate my attack!?"
"First she used shadow dragon slaying magic to pull me out of the shadows and now she used to white dragon slaying magic to eat Sting's Holy Ray!?" Rogue thought in panic.
"Does everyone see this!?" Chapati commented, making the crowd go even more crazy than they already were. "Lucy Heartfilia has just utilized five different kinds of dragon slaying magic! Just what kind of dragon slayer is she!?"
"Natsu!" Lucy called as she pointed into the air, the fire dragon slayer nodding as he made his way to higher ground. "Have some lightning fire!" At the sound of that, Natsu immediately ate the blast of lightning fire that Lucy threw at him, his body soon surrounded yet again with lightning and fire on hist fists as he entered his Lightning Fire Dragon Mode.
"Thanks Luce!"
The blonde nodded and turned to the incoming white and shadow dragon slayers and blocked both of their attacks using her golden barrier. Their eyes widened as they watched her take a deep breath and took down the barrier, a pillar of iron and sharp pieces of silver mixed together bringing the two into the air. "Iron Blade Dragon's... Roar!"
When they were high enough to meet Natsu, the pink haired slayer jumped down from where he stood and casted a Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer sending the both of them down back to Lucy as she encased her arms in wind and water. As she was faced to face with Sting and Rogue, she winked before casting a Sky Water Dragon's Wing Attack and a non-lethal Poison Dragon's Scales to make the two crash into the wall on the opposite side from where she and Natsu stood.
"Everything about this... it's unheard of!" Minerva thought in anger. "She can also mix elements with little effort... iron, blade, sky, water and even poison dragon slaying... that's a total of ten dragon slaying elements she has at her command!"
Many of the Sabertooth members turned to look at the Fairy Tail mages that cheered from their booth, noticing the unfamiliar faces of the dragons in their human form. They were already labelling Natsu and Lucy as monster dragon slayers in their heads. If they have only been seeing a fraction of the fairies' power until now, just how strong did that actually make Erza and the others? Just thinking about any of the Fairy Tail mages sharing the same power as Lucy terrified them to the bone.
"GO MAMA! GO PAPA!" Nashi yelled at the top of her lungs as wiggled her body atop Kai's shoulders.
"As expected of her majesty." Arhad said, crossing his arms.
"We should've known that teaching her all of our elements would have been overkill." Celeste sighed, happy to at least see her empress let loose and finally show off the power she has accumulated.
"She is known as the Athena here, is she not?" Lunaria asked. "The name suits our empress perfectly."
Grandeeney chuckled as she stood behind Wendy. "It must be a good thing then that Miss. Nashi forced us all to come here."
Metalicana scoffed and watched the match with pride. "If we didn't that empress of ours would have probably continued to hold back."
Weisslogia and Skiadrum just let out empty laughs, feeling the rest of their soul within Sting and Rogue's body become shaken due to Natsu and Lucy's attacks. "We may not be harmed... but this surely has become a one-sided match." They thought.
Raiden just watched as Natsu perfectly executes lightning fire spells. "It seems the Igneel's boy is much more talented than he is loud."
"She's lucky to have been surrounded by things she can eat." Ava noted, thinking about when Lucy ate the rubble thanks to her nature dragon slaying abilities.
"There was no way our empress would allow herself to be defeated so easily, regardless." Kumiko stated.
The crowds cheers and yells became even more louder as they could feel that the fight was soon coming to a close. When Sting and Rogue more or less recovered from Natsu and Lucy's attacks, they nodded to one another and betted their victory on the spell that they were about to perform. The twin dragon slayers stretched their arms behind them, two orbs of black and white forming at the base of their palms. As Sting and Rogue brought their hands closer together, both orbs of magic beginning to merge as one.
"Luce, I think it's about time we ended this battle once and for all!" Natsu said as fire and lightning gathered in his hands.
Lucy nodded as her golden flames made their reappearance. "They're going to do a unison raid... shall we combine our attacks as well?"
The fire dragon smirked at her question and the two got into their own stances. Their hair swaying softly side to side at their growing magic auras. Natsu, with one hand encased in fire and the other encased in lightning, swung his arms around to create a vortex of lightning like he did during his battle with Hades while Lucy brought her hands together in a similar fashion to when she casted her Sun Crater spell. The dragons smirking knowing what spell she was performing.
"HOLY SHADOW DRAGON'S FLASH FANG!" Sting and Rogue yelled in unison.
"DRAGON SLAYER'S SECRET ARTS... CRIMSON LOTUS: EXPLODING LIGHTNING BLADE!"
"DRAGON EMPRESS' SECRET ARTS... STAR'S ENERGY FLAMING CYCLONE!"
As Sting and Rogue's unison raid brought forth a twisting pillar of white and black headed straight for Natsu and Lucy, the two fairies' spells combined together to create one large vortex of lightning, fire and celestial magic. The brightness from the flames and light blinding everyone in crowd. Dust covering the lacrima visions, everyone unable to see just who the victor was. When the dust cleared, everybody watched closely as Natsu, Lucy, Sting and Rogue stood in front of each other. Not even moving a muscle.
It took a few moments, but soon the twin dragon slayers fell to their knees, time slowing for them as they leaned forward and fell face first to the ground. "So... this is what... a True Dragon Slayer's strength... is like..." They both thought as they passed out cold.
Once the sound of them hitting the ground resonated through the arena, the crowd screamed, cheered and celebrated Fairy Tail's victory. The battle was amazing and full of anticipation and suspense. Sabertooth stared silently in disbelief at the lacrima vision screen before them. The faces of their clearly defeated twin dragon slayers in full view. Not only did their princess lose, but also their dragon slayers. There was no more room for them to deny the bet they made with Lucy. Fairy Tail had won.
Natsu and Lucy, hearing the cheers of the crowd, the dragons and their nakama, couldn't help but raise their fists in the air at their victory. The fire dragon slayer draping his arm over Lucy's shoulder again while the blonde wrapped her arm around Natsu's torso, Nashi staring at her parents through the lacrima vision screen with pride and happiness. It was the most beautiful battle she had seen and she hoped to be just as strong as her parents when she gets older.
"That battle is definitely going to be remembered for years to come!" Yajima said in satisfaction. "I would have never expected less from Fairy Tail's Salamander and the newly named Wizard Saint Athena."
When those words, left the ex-magic council member, all of Fairy Tail, the other participating guilds and the dragons stared at Yajima in shock. The arena now going crazy not just for the amazing battle, but the fact that the magic council had finally passed the suggestion of naming Lucy a Wizard Saint. The blonde empress in question was also in shock, wondering why she hadn't even heard of this as Natsu stared at her accusingly.
"No fair, Luce! How can you become a Wizard Saint and not even tell me!?" He complained.
Lucy just looked back at him with equally shocked eyes and began to panic. "You feel unfair!? I don't even remember being told I was a Wizard Saint, never mind what rank!" She protested. "When did the magic council ever... oh..."
Upon seeing the look of realization on Lucy's face and the fact that the rest of Fairy Tail knew as well, the dragons hearing about her summons to the magic council from Nashi, each one of them facepalmed at Lucy's actions of irresponsibilities. The blonde then took something out of her pocket. It was wrapped in a thin off white cloth, but when she removed the piece of material, it revealed her Wizard Saint emblem. The blonde becoming bashful about the predicament.
"You're telling us that you didn't even pay attention to what the council members were saying during your meeting with them!?" Makarov cried, Macao and Wakaba holding him back before he fell off the booth's ledge. "How the heck did you even manage being guild master for the last few years!? I need an explanation!"
Lucy just scratched the back of her head sheepishly in embarrassment. "Hehe... oops."
The other guilds besides Sabertooth stared at the blonde girl in awe and wonder. They had known Lucy to be a force that should never be underestimated since she became Fairy Tail's guild master during the last seven years, but this was the first time they had finally seen her magic in full. She's been hiding her skills so far, who knows what other kinds of abilities she was hiding from the world. Regardless, they just knew that they should've never expected less from a guild such as Fairy Tail.
It was then that lower members of Sabertooth came down and took the knocked out Sting and Rogue to get them to the infirmary, leaving only Natsu and Lucy in the hole to climb out themselves. She watched as the floating lacrimas left them to their privacy and looked at Natsu from the corner of her eye, stretching his arms from all the fighting they had both done. She didn't know what had come over her, but she knew she had to tell the pink haired slayer something while they were alone.
"Hey Natsu?" Lucy called after the lacrima vision screens turned off.
The fire dragon slayer turned to his best friend and partner, only to receive a tight hug from her. He was surprised for a second, since the events of the night prior invaded his mind, but he attempted to suppress his blush. "Yeah Luce? What is it?"
"I just wanted to let you know... I believe in you." She said as both of them blushed madly without each other noticing. "I've always believed in you... from when I joined the guild, when you guys disappeared... and even now."
When Lucy finished her words, Natsu's heart warmed and he couldn't stop himself from hugging her tightly in return. Both of them were completely bruised and their clothes were in tatters. But he wouldn't have had this moment in any other way. "Wow Luce." He was able to say. "Thanks. That... really means a lot to me. Especially if it's coming from you."
Lucy nodded as she felt her exhaustion catch up to her. But she forced herself to stay awake a little longer to enjoy their victory with the others as they both climbed their way out of the hole. They had to go and greet the dragons and Nashi after all since they decided to visit to watch the match (Lucy decided she could look over the decision and reward her daughter and the dragons for cheering for her and Natsu). Both of them felt like nothing else could go wrong now.
Meanwhile, in the alleyways of Crocus, the two cloaked figures had watched the games from a lacrima vision that was stationed in the park. They had watched closely whenever Natsu and Lucy came into view and even more closely when they saw the Fairy Tail booth. As the lacrima screen disappeared, the two cloaked figures began to make their way towards the castle Mercurius. Knowing what they did, they had to be in a certain place at a certain time if they wanted their plan to succeed.
Everything had been going as it should be, it was too late for any error to occur in their plans. As the latter walked behind the former, they brought their right hand to their chest and tightly held something that was hidden underneath their cloak. They couldn't shake that something was going to go horribly wrong and that they and their partner were missing a vital clue that would help them solve their problem. All they could think about was her face.
"Hey... if we don't move, we won't be able to make it." The former suddenly spoke up, the latter realizing that they were slowing down unintentionally. "What's wrong?"
"If we don't get to them in time, we may lose her for sure." The latter whispered in a small voice.
The former went and placed their hands on the latter's shoulders, making them stare into their eyes. "Don't you dare think like that." They said. "We'll find a way to fix this... we have to. We've come this far... so let's not give up now, okay?"
The latter stared at the former with doubtful eyes and couldn't help but shed one tear. The former was right, they will be able to fix all of this and everything will be back to how it was. They took the former's hand in their own and nodded, looking back up towards the Mercurius castle. "Right."