Hello everybody, here is Tc bringing you all another chapter of The Moon's Flame.
I hope you all enjoy it.
Beta: Pixie Duck
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Moon's Flame: Chapter 05
Fairy tail. The strongest guild of Magnolia, and shared the top spot in all of Fiore alongside Phantom Lord.
Known for their powerful, but cheerful and destructive members, it was the pride and joy of the town.
For most members, it was a haven where each one of them considered the other members as family.
Its headquarters resided in an imposing building consisting of three floors and incorporating several architectonic styles: it took on a shape reminiscent of a pagoda, with each floor being smaller than the one below it and sitting on the latter's roof. The roofs also bore great resemblance to those of real pagoda, consisting of extremely long, arched tiles lined up one after the other and possessing simple curved protrusions jutting upwards on the building's angles. On the highest roof, topping the summit of the building, sat a simple, round, and pointed dome, highly reminiscent of those seen on Arabian buildings, which bore a flag on its point. The roof below the one with the dome, the middle one, housed a large banner with Fairy Tail's symbol on it, held up by a pair of vertical poles. The building's large entrance was again Arabian in design, with its shape being reminiscent of that of the dome on the summit, and above it was the guild's name, topped by a protruding, stylized heart shape and flanked by a pair of carved fairies. Stylized heart shapes were also visible on the frames of the numerous, large pentagonal windows located on each floor, with the top floor housing smaller, arched windows partially covered by banners.
In front of said structure, two people stood looking at its majestic form.
"Nice building," Selene, the Moon Dragon said. "Very cozy," she said.
"Yes," her companion said. "This is the best guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail," he said with clear pride in his voice.
"Really, the best guild?" She asked, doubtful of his claim.
She could feel the magical energies emanating from this place and, aside from maybe one, they didn't feel anything special. If that was the best Fiore has to offer…
"Yes, the best," he said, nodding. "You will see; a couple of weeks here and you will love the place," he said with absolute security.
Still with doubts, she responded. "If you say so," she said. "But before we entered, you had to promise me something," she said, turning to him.
"What?" He asked.
She took a step closer and said.
"Under no circumstance will you reveal that I am a dragon," she said to him.
"What? Why?!" He said.
Many times he had been told that dragons were extinct, that his father couldn't have possibly been one. But now he had the proof, an actual living dragon, right in front of him!
He had been thinking about that during the walk from his house.
"It could be dangerous for me if word gets out of a dragon working in this guild," Selene responded.
She couldn't afford that rumors started to spread and Acnologia found out about her location. If that were to happen, and that monster found her, he would kill her this time, along with most of this town, possibly even the country.
"Why?" Natsu asked.
"Doesn't matter," she said. "Now, promise me," she practically ordered him.
With questions still in his mind, he complied.
"Fine, I promised," he said.
Selene looked at him for a few more seconds, looking for any lie on his face, before nodding.
"Good, thank you," the blonde said. She then gave him a seductive smile as she took a step closer to him, making her breast touch his chest. She could see how an adorable blush was starting to form on the pink-haired man. "Be a good boy about this and I promised to give you a recompense tonight," she said purring the last word.
She could practically see steam purring from his red face, making her chuckle.
Before he could say anything, she said.
"Now shall we?" She said, gesturing toward the guild.
Trying to recover his composure, Natsu nodded.
"Yes, let's go," he said as the two entered the building.
The first impression of Fairy Tail of Selene was that it was very noisy.
The inside was similar to a large lunch hall and mainly consisted of wood, possessing a parquet floor and a mezzanine held up by wood beams overlooking it. Several long benches and the related tables stretched across its length with a bar managed by a white-haired beauty at the end. Several other waitresses also assisted her. There was a request board located beside the bar.
Several members were seated at the tables, eating, laughing, and/or fighting each other. Some of the members were cheering at one fighter or another while on another corner, what appeared to be a food fight was starting. As for the members' magical power, she could feel them better now that she was closer to them.
Contrary to what she felt before there were a few promising ones. Not for their current capabilities but for their latent potential.
Four of them, to be more specific.
The first was a black, spiked-haired man. He had dark blue eyes, and his body was toned and muscular. He was wearing a pair of black pants and nothing else.
His magic felt cold for some reason, so he must have some kind of ice magic.
Another one was a tall and slim tanned-skinned young woman with an ample bust. She has midback-length brown hair and large brown eyes with visibly long eyelashes. She possessed a very voluptuous figure, with large breasts and curvy hips. She was wearing a light blue bikini top that featured a camouflage pattern, a pair of capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg, and a light belt covered in heart motifs loosely tied around the waist.
She was playing with some kind of magical cards while drinking a large beer barrel.
Selene arched an eyebrow at these two. He then looked at Natsu's open black waistcoat and wondered if this guild had some kind of dress code that compelled them to show much of their bodies.
Not that she is complaining. She always welcomed a good eye candy.
Moving on from that, she looked at the other two members with potential.
One was the white-haired girl who was attending the bar. She was a slim young woman of average height. She had long, white hair that curled slightly at the ends, with two bangs framing her face and reaching down to her chest. She has large blue eyes and a curvy, voluptuous body, with large breasts. She was wearing a sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest was adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circled around the waist.
Her magic felt... unstable. Like she didn't have control over it.
Selene tilted her head at that. She wondered what could have happened for her to be in that state. After all, her magic power was second of all the members of the guild.
Suddenly a voice interrupted her thought.
"Natsu!" She and her companion turned toward the voice and her eyes posed on the final potential member the those who held great potential in the guild.
Approaching them was a brown-eyed and shoulder-length blond young woman. Her hair was tied by a blue ribbon in a small ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose. She had a very buxom figure second only to Selene and had a curvaceous body. She was wearing a blue blouse and a white skirt.
Selene wasn't sure what kind of magic this girl had but seemed particularly weak so she figured she used a holder-type of magic.
"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu shouted.
"Natsu, how are yo– Oh, who is this? Hi, I am Lucy, nice to meet you," she said looking at Selene with curiosity.
It appeared some members heard her as suddenly another person yelled.
"Look guys, Natsu brought another new girl to the guild! And she is a blonde beauty too!" A man yelled, making the rest of the guild go quiet and their eyes suddenly focused on her.
The silence reigned for an instant before it was broken by a cacophony of screams.
"Natsu brought another girl!"
"Finally paying attention to girls, Natsu?!"
"Blonde and with a very voluptuous body? Is that your type Natsu?"
"Another great beauty for the guild!"
Those were just some of the words that were said among the ocean of voices that the guild suddenly transformed.
Selene almost sighed at this. She was hoping for a more discreet entrance but it seemed that that option was out.
'Besides,' she thought, looking at the red face of her partner. 'This kind of presentation has its advantages. After all, I love to see that adorable little blush on Natsu's face,' she thought, enjoying the view.
It seemed that Natsu had enough.
"Shut up, you bastards!" He shouted as he took the hand of the other mage next to him and jumped at the group of people.
"Ahh, Natsu, let me gooo!" The other blonde yelled as the Dragon Slayer took her with him.
"Agh!" One of them yelled as a fist collided with his face and that was the start of what appeared to be a general brawl.
Selene looked with interest as fists, kicks and magic were used and yet, none of the people seemed to have truly hostile intentions to one another.
'How curious,' she thought.
She was musing about this strange phenomenon when a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Gods, what a bunch of unruly children," an elderly voice said below her.
She lowered her eyes and found an extremely short, elderly man. He had black eyes and white hair. He also had a thick white mustache. He was dressed in an attire consisting of a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail stamp in the middle under an orange hoodie. His attire was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat
The Dragon arched an eyebrow at him. The waves of power that were emanating from the diminutive man were impressive for a human. He was probably one of the strongest humans that she had ever met. Even more powerful than the arrogant human that once led the Dragon Slayer guild that she killed recently.
But his power was fading, probably due to his old age.
'What a pity,' she thought. 'That is the problem with humans. No matter how impressive they may be, sooner or later they all vanish in the sands of time.'
"Hello, young lady," the short man said, looking at her. "My name is Makarov Dreyar, the guild master of Fairy Tail, nice to meet you," he said friendly, waving his hand at her.
Selene gave him a calculated look.
So this man was the leader of these troublemakers and the man that she had to convince to make her a member. It made sense, for he was the most powerful man in the entire guild.
'It shouldn't be too difficult with Natsu's endorsement but seeing that the pink-haired man is in the middle of a fight with half the guild involved...'
Well, it was not the best first impression.
'Although,' she thought, seeing the brawl that was occurring at that moment. 'Maybe I could use this to my advantage,' Selene said to herself.
Putting on a cordial smile, she said.
"Well meet, Master Dreyar. My name is Selene Luna, nice to meet you too," she said to the old man, using the fake last name she had invented long ago, when she wanted to pass as human.
"Umm," the man said, looking at her up and down, checking her out. She almost rolled her eyes at his action. 'Men,' she thought.
After a few seconds of this, the old man said.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail, young Selene." 'Who is this old man calling young? I am probably four times his age' Selene thought. "Tell me," the old man continued. "What can Fairy Tail do for you?" He asked.
"I met Natsu yesterday and we had a little friendly spar," she started saying with a smile, thinking about the fight. She hesitated to mention the combat that they had, but watching the chaotic behavior of the guild members, and the apparent disinterest of the master on the subject, she thought that it was not a problem. "And after a little chat with him, I grew curious about the guild that Natsu was, so I came here to see if I could become a member of this esteemed crew," she responded.
"A little spar you said?" Makarov repeated. He remained silent for a few seconds before saying. "Sure, I don't have a problem with your request. Follow me please," he said walking toward the bar, avoiding some other obstacle in its path, such as chairs or tables or even a member lying on the floor. "We are always happy to add new members to our family," he jumped at the bar and called out to the white-haired girl who was serving drinks. "Mira, could you bring the Fairy Tail seal, please?" He asked.
"Of course master," the girl called Mira said as she walked behind the bar.
"So tell me," the man said as they waited for the girl. "Who won the spar between you and Natsu?" He asked, gesturing at the dragon slayer, who at that moment was fighting the black-haired man who used ice magic.
"I did," she responded with a proud smile.
"Truly?" The old man said, massaging his mustache. His eyes widened a tiny bit. "You must be very strong. Natsu is one of our most powerful A-Class Mage, after all," he said.
She tilted her head in confusion.
"A-Class Mage?" She repeated, confused. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.
Before Makarov could respond, the white-haired girl returned.
"Here it is," she said, walking toward her. "Hi, my name is Mirajane Strauss, but most people call me Mira, nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.
Selene held the offered hand.
"Selene, nice to meet you," she responded, shaking her hand.
Mira smiled back kindly.
"Now," Makarov intervened. "Every member carries the mark of the guild imprinted in their body," she said, gesturing to the guild members.
Selene watched and saw that some had the mark on their hand, others on their legs, and so on. Natsu's guild mark, for example, was red and was located just below his right shoulder.
"Now, where will you like yours?" Mira asked in a friendly tone.
Selene thought about it for a few moments before motioning to her left side, just over her ribs.
"Here would be good, in white please," she said as she started to lift her white dress, much to the master's pleasure
"Oh my," he said, with hearts in his eyes.
The woman next to him just stood awkward at Selene's display.
"Um, if you would like, we could, um, mark you in the bar's back," Mira said, with an embarrassed voice.
Selene gave her an amused smile.
'Modesty,' she thought, humoristic. 'What an amusing human concept.'
"It is alright, there is nothing for me to feel ashamed about," she said as she undressed until she was wearing only her white underwear.
"No, nothing at all," Master Makarov said, looking at her voluptuous body up and down, drool practically dripping from his mouth.
The blond dragon could hear how some of the men fighting stood moving and started observing her with clear lust in their eyes.
Even the eyes of a certain pink-haired man.
Hiding her smirk, Selene stood still while Mirajane quickly approached her and marked her body.
Selene admired the white mark above her ribs for a couple of seconds before nodding and started dressing herself once more.
Now she could hear groans of disappointment, much to her amusement.
"Natsu, you bastard! Why is an asexual like you with a woman like that?!" Someone yelled.
"What did you just call me, asshole?!" The Dragon Slayer shouted before running toward him and just like that the brawling began once more.
Selene laughed a little at that, Mira just smiled and Makarov facepalmed.
"These damn brats," he mumbled. "They better not destroy too much of the guild this time," he said.
"But master," the white-haired mage said. "That is one of the beauties of the guild," she said smiling.
"It is not when I am the one that has to pay for it," the old man responded. He then turned her eyes toward Selene. "Now, what were we talking about, my dear?" He asked.
"You were about to explain to me what you mean when you said A-Class," she reminded him.
"Ah yes," Makarov said. He then snapped his finger and a whiteboard appeared. "We in Fairy Tail divide the missions that the members could take into five categories," on the board appeared five letters in black one beside the other. D, C, B, A and S. "As you can see on the board, we use letters for this. From the simple missions that usually newbies take," he pointed toward the letter D, which changed color to blue. "Passing from the intermediate ranks," at this, he pointed to the letters C and B, which were colored yellow and green respectively. "Reachin' to the expert level, the A-Class," he gestured to the letter A. "And finally, the hardest level, the S-Class," at this, the S letter on the board turned white and expanded itself, covering the entire board.
'Interesting,' Selene thought.
"And you said Natsu is an A-Class mage?" She asked to which Makarov nodded. "In that case, I assume that those four," she pointed toward the semi-naked ice mage, the other semi-naked young woman with a barrel of beer in her hands, a pretty boy wearing sunglasses with his hands circled in the waist of two women and a big man with white hair and a scar across his face.
She would have pointed toward the blonde from early but despite her potential, her magic still felt... immature. She probably didn't have too much experience.
Makarov raised an eyebrow at her words.
"What makes you say that?" He asked her curiously. "Why them and not anyone else?"
Selene looked at him like it was obvious.
"They are the only ones who have magical power comparable to Natsu," she explained.
What she didn't say was that while they all had similar levels now, it didn't mean that they had the same potential.
The white-haired one could become stronger than his current level but not at the same level as Natsu or the black-haired one and the girl.
The glasses-wearing one... she didn't even know what he was.
One thing that she knew was that he wasn't human.
"Interesting. You are very sensitive to magic, young lady," he recognized. One of the perks of being a dragon, they are very good at sensing magic. "But you miss one," he said, surprising her.
She looked at the group of people again but she couldn't find anyone else with a similar power level.
He looked at the old man in confusion.
Makarov smiled at her.
"Do you see that short girl, with blue hair?" He said, gesturing toward a small girl, accompanied by two men of similar age. She raised an eyebrow at the girl. She was weaker than Natsu and the others. Watching her confused face, Makarov explained. "Innate power isn't everything. Sometimes, versatility and experience can count the same and Levy has earned her place among the A-Class," he said, with clear pride in his voice.
Selene mulled over his words for a few seconds and nodded. It was true, not everything was about innate power. Adjustability and ingenuity were just as important.
For example, she may not have been as destructive as Ignia but that didn't mean that she was weaker than him.
Having figured that, she turned her eyes toward him.
"If they are A-Class those that make you and her," she said, pointing to Mira, who smiled. "S-Class, the most powerful mages of this guild?"
They were the only ones in the whole building that supper the previously discussed people.
"Correct," Makarov said. "There are four others, but they are doing missions right now. But I am sure that you will meet them in the future," he said before turning his eyes to the fight. It seemed that things were escalating as magic started to fill the air.
"You damn brats, stop it, now!" The master said as he got off the seat and walked toward the other members.
Ignoring them, Selene turned toward the other girl.
"As I am a new member, that means that I can only take D-Class missions?" The dragon asked.
"Correct. Until you have proven your skills, you are only permitted to do D-Class jobs," Mira explained, giving her a sympathetic look.
That could be a problem. Selene needed to stay close to Natsu for the foreseeable future and if she could only do D-Class jobs while he did high-ranking ones, it could slow down her recovery.
But what could she do? There had to be a solution to this.
"Of course," Mirajane's voice interrupted her thought. "That is if you are taking a mission alone," she said.
That caught her attention.
"Oh?" She said.
Seeing her eagerness, Mira explained.
"If you formed a team with a mage of a higher rank than you, then it is possible for you to do other types of jobs," she said, lifting a finger in front of her face. "Although, that doesn't apply for S-Class missions. For those you need the consent of the master if you want to accompany an S-Class mage," she clarified.
Selene smirked at that.
"Is that so?" That was some very useful information.
That way, she won't be stuck doing low-ranking jobs. She just needed someone who accompanied her.
Her smirk grew. 'And I know exactly who to take,' she thought as she turned around and walked toward the mission board.
"Hah, I win!" Natsu shouted as he held a pair of pants in his hands, in a triumphant manner, as he laughed at his opponent.
"Agh, my clothes," Gray screamed as he covered himself with his hands, much to Natsu's amusement.
Her smirk grew. 'And I know exactly who to take,' she thought as she turned around and walked toward the mission board.
Not only did he get beaten up by the blond dragon but he also lost a bet and found himself with a new roommate that had remodeled his whole house without his consent.
And with his money, no less!
Just for those reasons, he would have been very pise off, but he also found out that he had to spend the next two months sleeping in the same bed as her!
That– That was...
Well, to be honest for some reason he kind of looked forward to that, even if he didn't know exactly why.
He had always been mostly indifferent to the opposite sex but after meeting Selene...
He mentaly shook his head. It didn't matter! What was important was that now he had an unwanted guess that just wouldn't stop teasing him.
He had to get stronger soon so he could challenge once more and beat her this time so he could get her out of his house!
Although if she was really wounded, he may not have another choice but to–
'Get your head out of there!'
'Better to think about something else,' Natsu thought. 'Like the news about Igneel!'
He was happy, really happy to hear that he was alive. But even so...
He left without a single word of goodbye. What was so important that he had to leave so abruptly?
According to Selene, he had an important job to do and he needed to do it alone. What kind of job was it? He didn't know.
What the Dragon Slayer did know was that the next time he saw that damn lizard he was going to hit him in the face for worrying him like that!
"Hey Natsu, give me my pants already!" Gray said, interrupting his thoughts.
Before Natsu did anything, a voice approached him.
"Natsu, you are alright!" The voice said as a pair of small arms hugged his head.
Recognising the owner, he said.
"Oh, Happy here you are, where were you?" He asked, not having seen the blue cat since yesterday.
The little cat sounded like he was sulking.
"After that evil lady beat you up..." Natsu groaned at the remainder. "Spent all our money and lay in bed with you..." silence reigned in the guild once more at those words. 'Did he have to say it like that?' "I just felt really tired so I slept in a little bed that she bought for me. After I woke up, I saw that you two were still sleeping so I just flew to the Guild to get something to eat. Tell me, is it true that she is going to live with us from now on?" He asked.
"What!" The rest of the guild shouted at Happy's words.
"Is that true?"
"You and that hot lady are living together!"
"That is so unfair!"
'Bunch of eavesdroppers' the pink-haired man thought.
Didn't they have anything better to do than meddle in his business?
Don't misunderstand him. He loved his guildmates, but sometimes they could be really nosy.
"Ha, did you get beaten up Natsu?" Gray said, still naked. "She probably slept with you just to make sure she didn't kill you," he said, making him grit his teeth.
"What did you say, striper? Do you wanna go?!" He said taking a step forward. "And just for the record, nothing happened between us, okay!" He said, addressing the rest of the guild. "We just slept in the same bed, that was all," he explained.
He didn't want to suddenly gain a reputation as a pervert.
But just as he finished talking, someone had to ruin everything.
Suddenly, two arms surrounded him from behind.
"That is not very nice stud," a sensual voice said from behind him. He could feel two mounts touching his back, freezing his body. "And after that passionate moment, we had yesterday. Did that not mean anything to you?" She said.
"I– eh well," he tried to say but words failed him.
Watching his awkward posture seemed to only amuse her.
"Anyway," she said as she let him go and walked before him. "I picked a job from the board that I think would be perfect for a first mission. Why not accompany me so you could show me the robes?" Then she gave him a smile that could only be classified as sinful. "And that way we could also spend some more time alone together but if you want to bring your blonde friend and your little cat that is fine with me too. After all," she said, putting two fingers below his chin. "I don't mind a few more playmates," she said as she let him go and turned around toward the exit.
Natsu stood still for a few more seconds until all her words registered, making his face go crimson red.
Trying to solve the misunderstanding that she had caused – probably on purpose – he quickly ran behind her.
"Come back here and fix this!" He shouted. "Happy, Lucy, follow me quickly before she gets too far," he said as he exited the guild.
"Aye!" Happy said, flying behind them with Lucy in his arms.
"Hey, let me go, you stupid cattttt!" the desperate blond said, as she was practically kidnapped.
Hope you liked it.