I had been meaning to put up this story for a while, but many of my helpers quit. Finally, Blacksoundwave agreed to stick through this. I thank them for helping me.

Info on Kristal Opalnite

Kristal Opalnite is a Crystal Dragon Slayer and a strong Mage of Fairy Tail. She is described as energetic, sassy, outspoken and free with a sense of optimism. She has little sense of delicacy and lacks proper etiquette as she has trouble being lady-like and more than not makes rather rude comments or speaks harsh truths. Kristal enjoys making new friends and being quite social, though she has a bad habit of being friendly towards the wrong people. She cannot remain still as she can be very active due to becoming bored rather easily.

Kristal uses Crystal Dragon Slayer Magic as she was raised by her foster mother, the Crystal Dragon, Camoliean. She also uses Crystal Magic to harden her fists when she punches, or can make weapons. She can devour stones, and crystals are like a bonus as she can power up from it, much like Natsu powering up after devouring flames. Crystals to her are like candy.

Due to being a fellow Dragon Slayer, Kristal is quite close with Natsu and often engages in his endeavors and tries to keep up with his level of energy. She is best friends with Melanie, her Exceed partner, ever since she found her in Edolas and lived together as sisters. Kristal does not become interested in many guys, except for Gray, but becomes more interested in Alden due to his opposing persona and wishes to get to know him better. Overall, Kristal sees Fairy Tail as family and is always willing to save as well as protect them.

Age: 17

Team: Team Natsu

Blood type: AB

Choice of voice actress: Erica Mendez

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On the snowy terrain of Mt. Hakobe, there was a young woman. Her coral hair blew with the cold, harsh winds as she sat there, humming. It was her favorite tune, one that reminded her of the good old days when she would go flying with her mother.

She missed that, the feeling of freedom that only flying could give. How you felt like it was only you and the skies, never-ending and the horizon was always in front of you. The air blustering past and the silent tranquility. It was partially the reason she was on Mt. Hakobe in the first place. The conditions reminded her of that sensation.

It also helped that Mt. Hakobe was a nice and relatively easy way of getting away from everything. There was only so much rowdiness and noise she could take. Albeit she had a big hand in contributing to the noise that the guild made every day.

She closed her eyes as she breathed in the fresh mountain air, but mixed in was the scent of campfire and charcoal. There was only one person that smelt like a campfire and charcoal.

Her eyes snapped open as she tried to locate where his scent was coming from. Why was he even here? He was part of the reason she was here in the first place! You would think for someone with senses so sensitive like her, he would rein himself in. But nooo!

He just had to start those brawls. Nobody in the guild started more fights than him, except maybe herself.

Now that she thought about it... yeah... she was definitely guilty of starting her fair share of brawls. But that's not the point! If he was here, then he was definitely going to cause trouble.

Oh no... he's probably going to destroy the mountain! I can't let him do that. She thought.

This was her mountain. Not his. She wasn't going to let him destroy what belonged to her. He already destroyed the Port of Hargeon, it was her turn! It wasn't fair that he got to destroy things every time he went on a job. If anyone was going to destroy this mountain, it was going to be her.

But why was he here? Did he come to collect some herbs? Nah... that wasn't the type of job he would take. He was probably here for a monster extermination job. Was it a Wyvern? No, it was probably a Vulcan. Yeah, that's right, the Vulcans had been acting up lately. He most likely took that job.

She sniffed the air again and smelled two others. The scent of fish was one of them. She knew that was Happy. But the other scent confused her. A strange combination of cinnamon and parchment. That was new, not a scent from any of the guild members she knew.

Now that she identified the direction of the scents, she stood up and stretched, causing the crystals that lined her body to break off. She looked at them, glistening in the afternoon sun with admiration. She always had her Scales spell on because of the birds in these parts. They always seemed to know when she let her guard down... stupid devil birds... always pecking at her, aiming for her eyes.

Jumping down from her favorite ledge, she made her way in the direction the scents were coming from. After a while, she heard voices drift up ahead of her and paid attention. There were his and Happy's voices, but who was the other person? It sounded like... a girl?

What was he doing with a girl? Did he get a girlfriend and not tell her! How dare he!

She peeled down the cliffside until she saw Natsu standing there with Happy and a grandfather clock with a blonde girl inside. Strange. He had on his usual outfit, but he seemed fine. His Fire Dragon Slayer magic probably kept him warm and toasty since he was pretty much exposed to the elements out here. Meanwhile, the girl looked like a shivering mess, not surprising considering how revealing her clothes were.

Stopping on a cliff above the group, she sucked in some air, readying herself to yell at him. "Natsu! Hey, Natsu! Did you get a girlfriend?! Since when do you hang out with a member of the opposite sex?!" She yelled, her voice echoing around the mountain range. She felt slight tremors and saw a small avalanche. But it was further down the mountain range. That probably wasn't going to bother anyone.

"She isn't my girlfriend!" Natsu yelled back. "What're you doing up there, Kristal?! "

"I'm trying to relax and to get away from your loud mouth! It doesn't seem to be working! " She yelled, a Cheshire grin on her face. "What are you doing up here?!" She asked back.

"We're here to find Macao and to finish his job!"

"Macao? What did he get himself into this time? Also, is the job high-paying? Do you need any help?" She asked. Maybe she could steal another of his jobs from him.

"Don't take my job!" Natsu yelled.

Kristal laughed, but she stopped when she heard a roar in the mountain range. It sounded like a Vulcan. She looked to the sun, putting her sunglasses on. She gathered her magical energy and hardened her body with crystals. Things were going to get messy.

"Must be the Vulcans acting up again." She said, as she jumped down and stuck a superhero landing. She had to harden her body or else she'd be injured, the master only knew how many times she did that as a child. Superhero landings were hard on her knees but she couldn't stop doing them. They just looked too cool.

"Whoo! Nailed it!" She posed. She looked at the grandfather clock, seeing that it contained a blonde teen. She was pretty cute and definitely busty. She must've been new. "What's up with her?" She asked, pointing at the girl.

"I don't know. She's a weird one," Natsu says with a shrug.

"'It's freezing and I'm not coming out.' The young miss said." The grandfather clock said. Kristal paused, realizing that she couldn't hear the girl, the clock must be repeating what she said. "'Who are you?' she asks." The clock added.

"I'm Kristal Opalnite," Kristal, spying the pink emblem on the girl's right hand asked, "Are you a new guild member?"

"'Yes! I just joined, my name is Lucy.' She says with a smile." Said the clock.

"Well then, Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Kristal said, waving.

'No way! This is Kristal Opalnite?! She's a lot prettier in person than what Sorcerer Weekly showed.' Lucy thought, staring at the girl's features while the two dragons talked. She was lean, slightly muscular. Her hair was blowing in the wind, probably mid-back length.

While Lucy was staring at Kristal, she was doing the same back at the blonde.

"Cute. I'd hit that if I were you." Kristal said, giving Natsu a few nudges in the side with her elbow after examining Lucy. She wasn't exactly lying when she made her judgment of the blonde's attractiveness. While she primarily looked at the male species, it most certainly did not stop her from checking out her fellow females. Natsu ignored her as he looked to where she came from.

"You were seriously just sitting up here?" He asked.

"Got nothing else to do for a while. Figured I might as well." Kristal said, her smile returning. 'I am so stealing his job.'

"Well, we're monster hunting, so, either join us or get out of the way," Natsu said.

"Don't you worry. I'm just taking this-" Kristal said, finding the job request in his pocket. "Race you!" She shrieked, running off.

Natsu groaned. It was happening again. Not on his watch. "Get back here!" He yelled, running after her with Happy on his shoulder.

Kristal ran fast, familiar with the terrain. She knew where the Vulcans lived and she was close. Turning a corner, she found there was one in her path.

"Out of my way!" She yelled, punching it with her hardened crystal fist. It fell into the ravine, yelling. She turned another corner, laughing at her victory.

Reaching her destination, she found a whole hoard of Vulcans in a clearing. Doing a quick headcount, she saw there were roughly a dozen Vulcans strewn around. Natsu and Lucy caught up to her quicker than she would have liked, but now she could have a little more fun.

"Back off Kristal. This is my job." Natsu said, walking up next to her with a sour expression on his face.

"You offered for me to help, so I am." She retorted with a smile. "Tell you what, I'll take the left, and you take the right. Whoever beats the most wins. Loser has to pay for lunch at the guild when we get back."

He returns her smile as he takes up a ready stance, "you're on."

Getting into a ready stance of her own, the two dragons waited for a moment before rushing at the hoard with their fists covered in crystal and flame respectfully. Reaching her first victim, she jumped up and brought her fist down on the monster's head, slamming it into the ground causing the ground to shake a little.

Turning to her next target, she charges at it, ready to do the same thing to it that she did to its friend. However, what she didn't expect was for the ground beneath their feet to give out and for her and the Vulcan to go tumbling down the mountainside.

"Kristal!" Natsu called out in concern at seeing her fall.

"I'll catch up with you in a sec!" Kristal shouted back at Natsu, glee filling her as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Finally! Some action.

The two landed hard at the bottom of the slope, with the Vulcan landing on its face while Kristal landed in a crouch, her feet covered in crystal.

The furry beast got up and glared at the mage in fury. It charged at her, swinging its massive fists at her but she remained steadfast as she easily hardened her body.

"Crystal Dragon's Scales!" She yelled. Her hardened skin protected her as she was punched into the air by the Vulcan. Kristal jutted her hand out and caught herself in the mountain. She turned her head down. The Vulcan was about a hundred feet beneath her.

She threw herself from the mountainside and faced downwards, carefully aiming her hard towards the monster as she took in a deep breath. "Crystal Dragon's Roar!" She yelled, releasing a condensed tornado of gleaming crystals. The monster was caught off guard and took the brunt of the attack head on, smashing it into the ground so hard it formed a crater. She used a bit more power to ensure the roar propelled her back to where she fell. Passing the ledge where she fell, she flipped and landed safely back on the top in a superhero landing.

She dusted off her shirt and pants and sighed, wishing there were some nice gems around to munch on. Looking around, she saw that Natsu had taken care of nearly all of the remaining Vulcans in the time she had been gone, with only one remaining that he was about to finish with.

'Dang, I guess I owe him lunch now.'

"Told ya I'd catch up with-" she said as she jogged in Natsu's direction. Her sentence was interrupted by a massive Vulcan's roar as it ran down the mountainside.

"That's a big Vulcan!" Happy exclaimed, terrified as he hopped off of Natsu and flew into the air to avoid the monkey. He didn't want to lose his tail OR his fish.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she jumped around Natsu and then towards the Vulcan that was headed their way.

"Hey wait!" Natsu shouted, but Kristy ignored him.

"This one's mine!" Seeing its prey come to it, the Vulcan ran even faster. When they got close to each other, the Vulcan jumped into the air, ready to strike down its prey, but that was what she was counting on. They all pounced at their prey.

"Me like woman!" The monkey proclaimed, bringing its massive fists down onto the Dragonslayer from above, a glint in its eyes as it laughed.

Kristal avoided the monkey's attack by rolling between its legs. Springing up with her fist covered in spiky crystals, she prepared to attack the monster in the back, only to see it continue running straight at Natsu. Natsu glared as he watched the Vulcan run.

"So it can talk, huh?" He growled, smiling. He threw a flaming fist at the monster, but whiffed as the Vulcan ran past him and picked up Lucy.

"Woman!" With its prey captured, the Vulcan sprinted away and they disappeared up the mountain.

"'Don't just stand there! Hurry up and save me!' she exclaimed furiously," The grand clock said, his voice fading.

"Hey! I'm a woman too, you know! What, am I not good enough for you!?" Kristal screamed incensed.

"Come on, let's go after them." Natsu says as the group of Fairy Tail wizards give chase.

Near the summit of Mt. Hakobe, the monkey placed Lucy down in a cave. It sat in front of her, giggling with pure glee as it rubbed its greedy, perverted hands together.

An alarm clock started ringing as the grandfather clock disappeared, leaving Lucy at the Vulcan's will. She shrieked and called Natsu and Kristal's names, but it was pointless as the monster tried to kiss her.

Suddenly, Natsu barged into the cave ahead of the others. "Hey, you big ape!" He shouted, lighting up his fists with excitement coursing through his veins. "Where's Macao?! Tell me!"

As he began to charge towards the Vulcan, he suddenly slipped on a shard of ice, landing on his head, and spinning past the monkey and Lucy. Kristal caught up with them, but she sweatdropped, as she watched Natsu spin on the ice.

"Woah! That wasn't cool." Lucy said, shivering in the wool blanket she was gifted by the clock before he had abandoned her.

'So much for protection,' she thought.

"Why does he always feel like he needs to make an entrance all the time?" Lucy asked, a hand on her face in embarrassment as she watched Natsu cross his arms while still on his head.

"Spill it monkey! Where's my friend?!" He demanded.

Realizing that the Vulcan was distracted by the hot headed mage, Lucy scrambled to her feet and scurried away from the Vulcan and hid behind Kristal, terrified. She didn't want the Vulcan grabbing her again. She'd rather deal with the annoying cat than having its hands on her again.

The Vulcan tapped its chin as if it were thinking. "Man?"

Natsu jumped to his feet, eager to get information out of the dumb monkey.

"That's right!" Natsu said, smiling. He didn't have time to play games. He came here for one thing and one thing only: to find Macao and bring him home.

The Vulcan nodded and motioned for him to come forwards. It walked over to where there was a window-shaped ice gap and waited for Natsu to follow.

"Hey, I think he's gonna show me!" Natsu said excitedly. He couldn't wait to find his friend. Running to the window, he ignored the monkey as he placed his palms on the ice and screamed out the window. "Macao! You over here, buddy?"

Suddenly, the monkey stepped forward with a laugh and pushed the fire mage out of the cave. "Natsu!" Both Lucy and Kristal shrieked, terrified for the well-being of their guildmate. There was no way he could survive a drop like that unscathed!

As soon as the mage was out of sight, the monkey began dancing around the ice cave, giggling as he pounded his chest. "No like man! Me like woman!" He chanted. The ice cave shook underneath his feet as he stomped around in a circle.

Lucy turned towards Kristal with a worried look. "This is bad! He can't survive out there!" She turned back to the window as she felt tears spring in her eyes.

Kristal shook her head and walked up to Lucy, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't underestimate Natsu." She said, looking into her eyes as Lucy looked at her. "He's strong and more stubborn than anyone. He'll be alright and find a way back up here." She said with confidence. She trusted him not to die even if he acted like an idiot.

"Woman! Woman! Woman!" The Vulcan chanted hysterically. Its eyes were shaped in hearts as he continuously danced in a circle. "Woman! Woman! Woman!"

Annoyed and angered by the monkey, Lucy removed the blanket around her and threw it to the side, glaring at the Vulcan as she turned away from the window. If Natsu wasn't here to defeat the Vulcan, then she was going to! She gulped and gripped the keys on her belt. "Alright you pervy monkey, you're doing down!" She yelled. The Monkey giggled at what she said, but then stopped confused when there was a bright light surrounding her.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" She shouted, raising the key in the air and slashing it downwards. The sound of a bell rang as pure golden light spread like a circle around her.

A big muscular cow appeared in front of Lucy, holding a big ax he usually had on his back. He wore a gold nose ring and boxers accompanied by a belt, bandages wrapped around both his wrists and black boots.

"Moooo!"

"Cow?" The Vulcan asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"I should warn you monkey boy, Taurus is the most powerful Celestial Spirit that I have a contract with!" Lucy stated proudly, grinning. She took a step forward, prepared for battle. She knew she had the upper hand now. With Natsu gone, she had to do this herself.

Taurus looked behind himself and checked out Lucy's body with lust. "Oh wow, Miss Lucy. I almost forgot what a nice figure you have." He remarked. A smirk played over his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows at the blonde. "Why don't you come here and give me a smooooch?" He proclaimed.

Lucy sighed and rolled her arms. "Oh yea, he's a big perv, too." Like the Monkey, she thought.

Kristal stood by the window with a smirk. Maybe she wasn't so bad. At the same time, Taurus turned to Kristal with a confused expression.

"Who's your smooooth looking friend, Miss Lucy?" The bull asked, pointing in her direction.

"Sup', I'm Kristal."

The Vulcan, angered by the bull's familiarity with its prey, pounded on its chest, drawing the wizard's attention. "No touch my woman!" He shouted, stomping his foot on the ice.

Taurus snapped his head towards the Vulcan scoffing. "Your woman?!" He exclaimed. "Them's fighting words you moooonkey!"

Lucy grinned, placing her hands on her waist and puffing out her chest in pride. "Get him Taurus!" Before Taurus could do anything, a figure flashed into the room and kicked the cow across the room. It was Natsu! "So fast!" Lucy gasped, impressed. But when she turned over to her Celestial Spirit, he was on the ground groaning.

"Looks like this is the end.."

Lucy facepalmed. "Epic fail!" She whined. She was hoping to win this fight.

"Hey, so how come there are more monsters than when I left?" He asked, confused.

Lucy groaned miserably. "He's a friend, dummy! That was one of my Spirits!" She pointing in the direction Natsu had kicked Taurus.

Natsu grew more confused as he looked at the Vulcan. "That guy?"

"Not that guy, the bull!" She yelled.

Kristal burst out laughing, covering her face with her hand. "You messed up again, Natsu!" Sometimes she enjoyed Natsu's company - even if he was a little annoying, he was good for a laugh and reliable.

Lucy frowned. "Wait a minute." She pointed towards the window. "How were you able to survive out there?" She asked. She shivered at the cold breeze. The blanket had helped, but she threw it to the ground, and now it was stuck to the ice. She should've brought more clothes!

Natsu broke into a grin as he scratched the back of his head. His clothes were ruffled and his face had gotten dirty. "Happy came to save me!" The blue cat behind Natsu came into view. "Thanks, lil' buddy!"

Kristal rolled her eyes and looked over at Lucy with a smug smile. "Told ya there was nothing to worry about." She said with a laugh. They were looking for Macao, but they needed this damn monkey out of the way. She knew Natsu, and that meant he wasn't giving up, even if it meant blowing up the whole cave and damning gramps with more papers from the magic council.

"Aye!" The cat answered chirpily.

"So you can't handle other modes of transportation but flying with Happy is ok?" Lucy questioned.

Natsu took a step back, horrified by the question, and glared at her. "What kind of stupid question is that?" He spat, scoffing. "Happy isn't a mode of transportation, he's my friend!"

"Yeah! What he said." Kristal laughed.

"You're right. It was totally wrong of me to compare the two." Lucy spat back sarcastically.

"You walked right into that..." Kristal remarked, smirking. Hadn't she learned by now that things are different with Natsu?

The ground suddenly shook by a huge stomp. The Vulcan had jumped in front of Lucy and Kristal, swinging an arm at each aiming to grab them. "My woman!" He shouted angrily. He hadn't calmed down from earlier.

Natsu scoffed and blocked the monkey's arms. Natsu pushed the monster away before going into a fighting position. "You listen up! I consider everyone in the Fairy Tail guild my friend!" He shouted angrily at the Vulcan. The Vulcan immediately reacted and snarled back. "Whether it's Gramps or Mira or those annoying jerks, Gray and Elfman!" The Vulcan roared and started to charge at Natsu, raising its fist. "Happy, Kristal and Lucy too. That's why..." He opened his eyes and glared at the Vulcan through his bangs and snarled. "I'm not leaving without Macao!"

He avoided the punch thrown at his head and countered with a punch of his own, knocking the wind out of it. He then followed up by delivering a vicious bicycle kick to the monkey's chin and sending him flying to the other side of the cave.

"So you better fess up and tell me where he is or I'll burn you till you're a clump of coal." He said with a feral grin.

The Vulcan picked itself up and growled at the fire mage with a look of fury. Reaching up, it snapped off the icicles from the ceiling and threw them at the group of wizards like javelins with surprising accuracy.

Kristal tackled Lucy to the ground out of the way of the volly. She could easily survive this attack, it wouldn't even count as an inconvenience, but Lucy didn't have such luxuries. She wasn't about to let her attractive new guild mate get hurt on her watch!

Natsu, on the other hand, didn't even attempt to dodge. His whole body ignited on fire as he faced the incoming icicles head on with a deranged look in his eyes. "Ice has no effect on fire!" As the ice got closer to him, they quickly started to melt before completely evaporating inches before they his skin.

The monster, seeing its attacks were doing nothing, decided to change its tactics. Walking a few steps to the side, it picked up the ax that Natsu had knocked out of Taurus' hands.

"That's not good." Natsu said, sweating bullets now that the monkey was armed.

"This isn't good! It's got Taurus' ax!" Lucy cried in horror.

The owner of said ax was still out of it, lying against the wall, "Please be careful, Miss Lucy."

The monster released a wild swing of the ax, causing Natsu to quickly duck. It did not relent on its attack, launching a flurry of slashes. Natsu deftly evaded every strike, doing his best to find an opening to counterattack. Eventually, though, he ended up slipping on the discarded blanket, losing his balance and falling on his back. The Vulcan seized this golden opportunity and swung down, aiming to split him in half. But Natsu was able to quickly right himself and catch the blade between his hands.

"Oh no." Kristal said, a little worried.

Grabbing the spirit by the shoulders, she shakes him with reckless abandon, "Cone on, Taurus, wake up! Wake up and go back! If you go back beyond the gate, your ax will disappear too!"

It was a contest of strength and of wills as the two struggled to move the ax. During the struggle, Natsu had an idea and lit his hands on fire. The sudden change in temperature caused the metal to sizzle and heat up. It didn't take long before the blade became so hot it turned red and started melting into the fire mage's open mouth.

"Looks like he's got things under control now." Kristal said, releasing a relieved sigh.

The blonde was absolutely dumbfounded by what she was witnessing. "Is he melting the blade with just his fire?! And he's eating it?!"

"Aye! That's Natsu for ya!"

The fire dragon chews on the molten metal for a minute before spitting it out and nailing the Vulcan in the head. "Oh yeah, now I've got some fire in my belly!" The pain caused the monster to lose its grip on the ax, allowing Natsu to throw it away.

With nothing obstructing his path anymore, Natsu pulled back a flaming fist, "Here I come!"

Seeing an opportunity to jump in, Kristal moved fast and appeared at Natsu's side with her own crystal covered fist back, "Let me get in on this too!" He smiled at her in acknowledgment as the two dragons let loose their attacks.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Crystal Dragon's Geode Fist!"

Natsu's attack hit the Vulcan in the face while Kristal's attack hit it in the side, with both launching the beast spinning in the air before hitting the far wall so hard that cracks form. The two then fistbumped with triumphant smiles.

"They beat it!" Happy yelled in glee, jumping into the air.

"Yeah," Lucy said, "but wasn't that monkey supposed to tell us where your friend is?"

"Oh man! I forgot about that!" Natsu yelled, panicking.

"Well, uh, I don't think he's gonna do much talking." Lucy said, watching as Natsu and Happy run up to the defeated monster to see if it's still alive.

"Scatterbrained as usual, eh Natsu." Kristal laughed.

Unexpectedly, the downed monster began glowing a soft light, confusing the people present. "What the heck is that?!" The light faded to reveal an injured middle-aged man with purple hair.

"Macao?!" Natsu, Happy, and Kristal yell in shock.

"Are you telling me that big perverted monkey was actually your friend this whole time?!"

"It makes sense if you think about it. He was fighting Vulcans." Kristal said.

"Yeah, he must have been taken over by that Vulcan." Happy added.

Lucy gave both of them a confused look. "What do you mean 'taken over'?"

"It's a possession spell. You see Vulcans survive by stealing the bodies of people and taking them over. They're evil body snatchers," The flying cat said to the blonde. He flew closer to his friend and saw the multitude of injuries he had. "It looks like he put up a good fight before that Vulcan finally got to him though."

The group pulled their hurt friend out of the wall, laid him down on the blanket Lucy discarded and began treating his injuries.

'His injuries are worse than we thought. He's not going to make it at this rate.' Lucy thought, applying pressure to a deep cut in the man's side.

"Natsu, you're going to have to burn him." Kristal said in a serious tone, shocking Lucy.

"I know." He replied with a grim expression. Placing his hands on the most serious wounds, he nodded at Kristal, who returned the gesture and held Macau's shoulders. Natsu released a long sigh, after which he lit his hands aflame.

Instantly, Macau's eyes shot open and he started screaming bloody murder.

"Macao! You hold on, you hear me! Don't you die on me! Romeo's waiting for you! Open your eyes!" Natsu screamed. He continued burning the wounds closed for a few minutes, stopping only when he was sure the wounds were closed and wouldn't reopen.

Macao panted heavily for a while, waiting for the pain to somewhat subside. Finally, he opened his eyes, "Natsu… Kristal…" The group beamed at him, ecstatic.

"You're okay!" Natsu cried happily.

"I knew he wouldn't die from this." Kristal said, placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

Macao smiled at the two before staring at the ceiling in melancholy. "Man, I'm so pathetic… I defeated 19 of those brutes… but the 20th, that's the one that got me… I'm so angry with myself… I'm embarrassed to go home and face Romeo."

"Don't be like that, man! Come on, you beat 19 monsters!" Natsu said taking Macau's hand.

"Yeah," Kristal added, "there's nothing for you to be embarrassed about."

'No way… there were 20 of those giant monkey things and he took the job all by himself?!' Lucy thought, amazed at the man's strength.

Standing up, the pinkett hauled the injured man to his feet, giving a warm smile. "Now let's go home! Your little boy's been waiting for ya."

"Alright." He said as they begin slowly walking out of the cave.

Lucy watched the heartfelt scene with a smile, but inside, she felt a sense of inferiority. 'They're all so amazing… I can't even begin to compare to them…'

Happy, having noticed that Lucy was still sitting where she was and not keeping up with the group, flew over to see what was the matter. "Why are you grinning like that, Lucy? It's creepy." He said with a disgusted expression.

The cat's comment got the Celestial Spirit mage, a tick mark appearing on her head as she got up and tried to grab him. "I'll show you creepy, watch your back, cat!"

Happy flew quickly back to the group, hoping to find safety, only to receive a knock to the head courtesy of Kristal. "You stupid thoughtless cat!" He rubbed his head with tears in his eyes while saying he was sorry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Romeo!"

The boy looked up from the comic book he had been reading when he heard his name. Seeing his dad standing there with Natsu supporting him, his comic was forgotten, jumping from his seat and running at full speed at his father who had been missing.

"Dad!" The boy didn't attempt to stop or slow down, running head first into his dad's waiting arms with tears streaming down his face and knocking them both over.

"You're back! You finally came back! I'm sorry, Dad! I'm so sorry! I should have never pushed you to take that job!"

"No, I'm sorry for making you worry so much." Macau said, holding the crying child as tight as he could.

After a while, father and son pull apart and Macau sinks to his son's level to look at him I. The eyes. "Next time those bullies pick on you, I want you to ask those boys, 'Can your old man defeat 19 monsters all by himself? Cause mine can!"

"Don't worry about it," Romeo said back, wiping his eyes, "I can handle it! Cause I'm a wizard's son!"

Having successfully reunited the Connolly family, the onlookers look amongst themselves and come to a silent agreement to leave and not interfere in their touching moment. However, they weren't more than a few feet away when they suddenly heard Romeo call out, "Natsu! Happy! Thanks for your help!"

"No problem, kid!"

"Aye!"

"Lucy! Kristal! Thanks for helping them bring my daddy back to me!" The girls don't respond verbally, with Lucy waving and Kristal gave a smile and a wink.

While walking back to the guildhall, Kristal turned to Lucy and tapped her arm, gaining her attention. "You know, Lucy, if you're going to be a member of Fairy Tail, you need to be a little more dependable, and to not rely so much on your spirits to do the work for you." The blonde looked offended at the coral haired girl's statement.

"What do you mean 'more dependable?!' Natsu showed up and beat Taurus before he could even do anything. Just you wait, the next time there's a fight, you can sit back and watch my spirits and I kick butt!"

"Look, Lucy, I'm not saying that your spirits aren't strong. I'm just saying that you shouldn't rely solely on them. I once knew a Celestial Spirit wizard who relied only on her spirits. Her spirits were strong and she used them well, letting her earn fame and fortune quickly. But she let those things go to her head, and she became mean and vindictive, to others and to her spirits. She would even use her spirits as meat shields."

"That's horrible."

"Yes it is, and one day, granted I don't know the specifics, she lost her ability to summon her spirits. Despite that, she continued to take jobs. However, it was during one of those jobs that she encountered an enemy, and because she relied on her spirits so heavily, she wasn't able to put up a fight and ended up dying."

Seeing the sad look on her new friend's face, Kristal put her hands on her shoulders, stopping them both.

"Lucy, I can tell you aren't the kind of person who would abuse anyone, let alone your spirits, but what are you going to do if you're in a fight and lose your ability to summon your spirits?"

Lucy was quiet for a moment as she contemplated the question. "If worse comes to worse, I can always use my whip." She said, patting the whip on her hip.

Despite the claim, Kristal was not convinced. "Are you confident enough in your whipping skills that you can guarantee that you can escape safely?" She didn't need an answer, the look on the blonde's face said it all.

"I thought so. But don't you worry, I'm gonna help. Though I should warn you, hand-to-hand combat training with me can be tough, so I won't go easy on you!"

"Okay, Kristal, I'll be in your care from now on."

Kristal flashed a bright smile and throws a fist in the air as she walked away. "Great! Our training will start first thing in the morning!"

"What have I gotten myself into?"