In the port city of Hargeon, I was looking through what the small magic shop had to offer as my twin sister spoke with the owner.
"What?! You mean to tell me there's only one magic shop in this whole town?" She asked him.
"'Fraid so. The people around here are more fishing folk than they are magic folk. I reckon most people in town don't even know how to use magic. I built this shop to sell to the wizards who happened to be passing through," he explained. He didn't have much from what I could see. Nothing I was interested in at least.
"Oh, man," Lucy sighed. "We came out all this way for nothing."
"Don't say that Lucy," I told her. "At least we know about it now."
"She's right, little lady. I have all the latest goods," the shop keeper told us. "Let me show you a few. This colors magic is popular. All the young girls really seem to like it. It lets you change the color of your clothes anytime you want." He messed with the device when something behind him caught my eye. "Purple."
"I already have one of those," Lucy sighed again.
"Excuse me, sir. What's that there?" He looked to where I was pointing and smiled.
"Ah, that was brought to me by a dear friend." It was a sword with a black blade that was waved slightly. The hilt was black twisted with brown. "He told me he felt he'd never find the right owner for it." He pulled it off the wall and placed it on the counter between us. "It turns into a bracelet so it can be carried anywhere."
"How much?" I asked him. He thought about it for a moment.
"5,000." I pulled out my purse and paid him. "Thank you."
"Hey, do you have any powerful Gatekeys?" Lucy asked him. I grabbed the sword and used magic to turn it into a bracelet.
"Gatekeys, huh? That's a rare request." He pulled a small box out from behind the counter and opened it revealing a silver gate key.
"Oh, wow, it's the little doggie!" Lucy nearly squealed in excitement.
"Yes, but that one's not very powerful, you know," the shop keeper reminded her.
"I know, but I really, really want it," Lucy told him. "So how much?"
"20,000 Jewel."
"I'm sorry, but how much was that again?" Lucy asked and I shook my head at her.
"I said 20,000 Jewel." Lucy jumped on the counter and turned on her "Feminine wiles".
"Aw, come on. How much is it really worth?" She asked him. "Surely, you can cut me a deal."
"I can't believe he only knocked off a thousand Jewel," Lucy ranted angrily. "That stubborn old geezer must be blind. That trick usually works. So much for using my feminine wiles."
"At least he cut you a deal when you asked," I reminded her. We stopped walking when we heard girls chattering excitedly and moved to find out what was going on below us.
"Are you serious? He's really here?"
"It's Salamander!"
"Salamander?" Lucy asked before gasping and clapping her hands together. "As in the wizard who uses fire magic you can't even buy in stores? Wow!"
"But what's he doing in this town?" I asked. Lucy and I made our way to the courtyard where the girls were crowding around a young man and I saw no appeal.
"You ladies are all so sweet," Salamander said before he looked this way. Next to me, Lucy seemed to be going crazy. What was wrong with her? She moved towards him with hearts in her eyes and her hands to her chest.
"What the heck are you doing, Lucy?" I asked grabbing her shoulder.
"Igneel! Igneel! Igneel, it's me!" A guy with pink hair popped up between the girls grinning at the guy in front of us. Lucy gasped and I gave her a weird look. "Who the heck are you?"
"Who am I?!" The guy asked in shock. "I'm Salamander." On the guy's hand were two rings and I stared at them closely. "Surely you've heard of me before." The pinkette and a blue cat just walked away from us and the guy seemed to freak. "Hey, wait a minute!"
"You're so rude!" a girl shouted as she and a few other girls attacked the guy.
"Salamander's a great wizard. You better apologize to him or we're gonna rip you to shreds."
"What is it with you girls?" the guy asked them.
"Now, now, that's enough, my lovelies. Let him go," the guy told them.
"Gee, how generous," I said sarcastically.
"I'm sure the poor boy didn't mean anything malicious by it."
"Salamander!" the girls cooed. The guy pulled out an autograph paper and signed it.
"And here's my autograph, kid. Now you can brag to all your friends."
"No, thanks." This caused the guy to get attacked again.
"Well, I'm afraid I must be going, ladies. I have business to attend to."
"You're leaving already?!" the girls asked devastated.
"Time for the red carpet." Salamander snapped his fingers and pink flames appeared and lifted him into the air. "I'm having a soiree on my yacht tonight. And you're all invited."
"Who the heck was that guy?" the pinkette asked as Lucy and I went to stand next to him.
"I don't know, but he was a real creep," Lucy told him. "Thank you for your help."
"Would you like something to eat?" I asked them.
"My name is Lucy. This is my twin sister, Kiarra. It's nice to meet you."
"Hi," the cat said as the pinkette ate everything inside.
"Um, Natsu and Happy, was it?"
"Hm-hmm, you're so nice," Natsu said while stuffing his face.
"Thanks." Lucy held her hands up to try and slow them down.
"You don't need to be in any hurry to eat you know," I told them. "You can slow down."
"And food is kinda flying everywhere," Lucy said before a splatter landed on her face.
"Seems like that Salamander guy was using a charm spell to hypnotize those girls into thinking they were in love with him," I said as she cleaned her face off.
"Charm spells have the power to attract people to you against their own will, but they've been banned for years. Nobody even sells them anymore," Lucy said.
"Probably Black Market then," I told her.
"He must have gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on it. What a creep."
"You totally fell for it," I laughed while poking her cheek.
"I snapped out of it!"
"Thanks to these guys." I pointed to the pair across from us as Natsu tried to eat his calamari and Happy was eating a fish. "Thanks again for that guys."
"No problem."
"I know we may not look like it, but we're wizards too."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, but we haven't joined any guilds yet," I told them.
"We should probably explain, huh?" Lucy asked. "See, guilds are these organizations where wizards come together to share information and find work and things like that. Unfortunately, you aren't considered a full-fledged wizard until you become a member of a guild. But there are tons of them all over the world. I've heard it's really tough to get into the more popular ones."
"Sadly, the guild we want to join is the most popular one there is," I sighed.
"Yeah..." Lucy sighed. "But they're the greatest and they're always featured in "Sorcerer Weekly". Oh, if we could actually convince them to let us in, I think I'd just about die."
"Yeah?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess all this wizarding talk must sound like a bunch of gibberish to you, huh?" Lucy asked waving a hand in Natsu's face.
"That's rude, Lucy," I reminded her.
"But I'm telling you," Lucy went on ignoring me. "We're definitely gonna join that guild someday. And then I'm gonna take all kinds of exciting jobs and make tons of money."
"Oh, yeah?"
"You talk a lot."
"Hey, you guys mentioned a name when you say Salamander. Are you trying to find somebody?" I asked them.
"We're looking for Igneel," Happy told us.
"We heard a rumor that a salamander was gonna be coming through this town, so we came here to see him. Turns out, it was somebody else."
"Yeah, that guy didn't look like a salamander at all," Happy agreed.
"No kidding," Natsu said. "I bet that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon."
"Uh, I don't get it," Lucy told them. "Your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?"
"No, you got it all wrong," Natsu told her. "He doesn't look like a dragon. He is one."
"Huh?"
"Aye, Igneel is a real-life fire dragon."
"Huh?!"
"If you don't mind me pointing out, there's no way a fire dragon would show up in the middle of a town," I said. "I'm sure he'd scare a lot of people into doing something stupid like trying to hurt him.
"Uh..." They both failed to respond.
"It's totally ridiculous!" Lucy shouted at them. "Well, we should get going. Enjoy the rest of your lunch."
"It was nice to meet you." I followed Lucy to the door.
"Thank you, ma'am. Please come again." The woman by the door looked shocked at something behind us and I turned to see Natsu and Happy bowing to us on the ground.
"Thank you for the food!"
"Thank you!"
"Cut it out! You're embarrassing us!" Lucy yelled at them.
"We're even," I told them. "You guys helped us earlier."
"I feel bad, though, 'cause we weren't even trying to help them," Natsu said to Happy.
"Aye, we owe them something."
"Oh, I know!" Natsu handed us Salamander's autograph. "Here, this is for you."
"No way!" Lucy shouted at him.
"You couldn't even sell that!"
"Oh my," Lucy said looking through Sorcerers Weekly. "Looks like the Fairy Tail Guild's out there causing trouble again."
"When aren't they?" I asked her.
""Demon bandit clan wiped out, but seven homes destroyed."" Lucy laughed at the article. "Talk about going overboard. The centerfold's Mirajane. She's so pretty. I wish we knew how to get to be a member. Do you have to apply or maybe interview with them?"
"We'll find out when we get there," I told her.
"But we're so gonna join Fairy Tail! They're totally the coolest guild ever!"
"What was that? You want to join Fairy Tail?"
"Salamander!" Lucy and I shouted in shock.
"I've been looking all over for the two of you," he told us. "I wanted to personally invite you to the party I'm having on my yacht tonight."
"Your charm spell won't work on us," Lucy told him. "That magic's weakness is awareness. It doesn't work on people if they know you're using it."
"Just as I thought. I guessed you two were wizards the moment I laid eyes on you," he said and I didn't believe him. "No matter. The invitation still stands."
"No thanks."
"You can forget it. We wouldn't be caught dead at a party being thrown by a creep like you."
"A creep? Why would you call me that?" he asked.
"Your spell," Lucy explained. "Using it to make yourself popular."
"Don't be mad, my dear. It's all in good fun."
"Playing with people's emotions like that isn't good fun!" I yelled at him.
"I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own party. Can you blame me?" he asked.
"This just proves that even famous wizards can be big idiots," Lucy sighed.
"And that we shouldn't always believe what we read in Sorcerer's Weekly." I shrugged my shoulders at him with my own sigh.
"You wish to join the Fairy Tail Guild, right?" he asked and I tensed. "Have you ever heard about Salamander, one of Fairy Tail's wizards?"
"Well, yeah. You're telling us you're him?" Lucy asked shocked.
"There's no way you're that Salamander!" I shouted in my own shock.
"That's correct. And if you want to join, I could probably put in a good word for you," he told us. We both gasped in shock.
"We would love to go to your party tonight," Lucy said with hearts in her eyes again.
"Wow, you really fell for it again?" I muttered.
"So, you really think you could get us into Fairy Tail? No kidding?" Lucy asked him.
"I don't see why not, but you can't say anything about the charm spell," he told us. Lucy and I shared a look.
"We won't say a word," we said together.
"Good. Then I'll see you at the party tonight." He snapped his fingers and summoned his fire and flew away.
"You got it, Mr. Salamander, sir!" Lucy turned to me with hearts in her eyes before realizing what happened. "He got me. I was pseudo-charmed."
"True, but..."
"He's gonna get us into Fairy Tail!" We both jumped for joy at the idea of finally getting into our favorite guild.
"We just have to keep our mouths shut and try to be nice to that sleazebag until then," Lucy giggled.
"And not fall for his charms." Lucy punched me in the arm and I laughed at her.
"Your names are Lucy and Kiarra, right?" Salamander asked and we nodded. We had gone out and bought dresses for the occasion. My dress was a beautiful aqua dress with a sheer, teal overdress that fell off my shoulders. Lucy wore a burgundy halter dress that had a slit up to her thigh. We both had our Celestial Keys close by. "Those are lovely names."
"Yeah, thanks." Salamander poured the three of us a glass of whatever he had.
"I'd like to toast your beauty." He snapped his fingers and drops of the liquid in the glasses floated in the air and over to us. "Now, open up wide, Lucy, Kiarra. Savor the taste of each beautiful drop as it enters your mouth." A shiver ran through my spine at his words.
"Creepy!" Lucy said as chills ran through her. I opened my mouth slightly before remembering something. He had two rings on his hand. One had a heart on it: the charm spell. The other had a cloud with what looked like a closed eye. I closed my mouth and wiped the bubbles away from my mouth as Lucy rose and swiped the air in front of her.
"Now you're just insulting us," I said. "We know what you're up to."
"You're trying to use sleep magic," Lucy said.
"Very impressive, my dear," Salamander chuckled.
"Look, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Yes, we really want to join the Fairy Tail Guild, but neither of us are going to date you to make that happen," Lucy told him.
"You're quite a handful, aren't you?" Salamander chuckled again. A curtain was drawn revealing men carrying women in their arms and across their shoulders. The two of us gasped in surprise at the sight.
"What's going on here?" Lucy asked them.
"Welcome aboard my ship," Salamander said, his voice going darker. "And you'd be wise to behave yourselves until we made it to Bosco. Don't make me angry."
"We're going to Bosco?! You said you'd get us into Fairy Tail!"
"Forget it. I just said that so I could lure you here and make you two our slaves."
"What's wrong with you?!" I shouted at him.
"You're going to kidnap all of these girls?" Lucy asked.
"That's our Salamander, all right."
"We got a bit haul this time."
"This time?" I asked glaring at the man. "How many times have you done this?!" Lucy pulled out her keys and Salamander snapped his fingers creating his weaving fire. Lucy gasped as the fire burned her hands and made her keys fly to him.
"These are Gatekeys. So you're a Celestial Wizard." I did my best to hide my own keys. "Only the wizard who is contracted can use this magic. So these are absolutely useless to me. Whoops." He threw the keys out the porthole and I sighed.
"She's going to kill you for that," I told Lucy who paled. One of Salamander's men grabbed my arm and my keys before throwing them out the window as well. We were completely defenseless. Lucy glared at the ground.
"You used magic to take advantage of others. You're the worst wizard alive," Lucy cried. Suddenly, something crashed behind Salamander and we were surprised to see Natsu glaring at the men around us.
"Hey, we know you." Lucy wiped her tears away and smiled at the pinkette. Natsu gasped.
"I knew this was a bad idea." He nearly gagged and we all stared at him in shock.
"You are so lame!" Lucy and I shouted.
"Hey, what are you doing here, Lucy? Kiarra?" I looked up at Happy and smiled at the flying cat.
"Oh Happy, this jerk tricked us. He said he was gonna get us into Fairy Tail. Hold up, since when do you have wings?"
"I'll explain that later, okay?" Happy asked before wrapping his tail around Lucy and flying off. "Hold on!" Lucy screamed in surprise as they flew away from us.
"After them. We can't let them report this to the Magic Council," Salamander ordered. His guys grabbed me and forced me to follow them onto the deck of the ship. "Prominence Whip!" Salamander used his fire magic to attack the flying pair.
"Lucy!" Happy was able to dodge all the fire attacks and I sighed in relief as the fire attacks hit each other looking like a firework.
"That cat's quicker than he looks," Salamander said.
"Hey, guys." We all turned to see Natsu kneeling on the ground taking deep breaths. Salamander stuck his men on Natsu and they beat him while he was down.
"Stop it!" I ordered.
"Let's continue on towards Bosco," Salamander ordered.
"The Fairy Tail Guild..." Natsu grunted stopping his attacker's foot. "You're a member?" Suddenly, a twister appeared in the water and forced the yacht back to port.
"Why is the sea so angry?" Salamander shouted.
"This is Aquarius' attack!" The ship landed on its side on the port.
"What happened?"
"That ship was thrown into port."
"That hurt. What in the-" I looked on the side of the ship and smiled at the person standing on top.
"Natsu!" I heard Lucy call out the same time I did.
"So you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail Guild?" Natsu asked.
"So what's it to you?" Salamander asked him. "Go get him, men."
"Sir."
"Let me get a closer look at your face," Natsu told him as he removed his red jacket to reveal a black vest with gold outlines. Salamander's men attacked Natsu.
"Watch out!" Lucy called out.
"Don't worry about him," Happy said as I made my way to them. "I probably should have told her earlier, but he's a wizard too." Lucy gasped in surprise as I continued to just watch Natsu from our spot on the beach. Natsu slapped the man attacking him away, showing off his guild mark.
"My name is Natsu. I'm a Fairy Tail wizard." My eyes widened at his words. "And I've never seen you before."
"You've got to be kidding me. So Natsu is a Fairy Tail Wizard?"
"No way."
"That mark on his arm, this guy's the real deal, Bora."
"Don't call me that, you fool," Bora shouted at him.
"I know him," Happy said. "That's Bora the Prominence. Rumor has it, he was kicked out of the Titan Nose Wizard Guild a couple of years ago because of bad behavior," Happy told us.
"I have no idea what you're trying to do here, buddy, and I don't care if you're a good guy, bad guy, or what. I'm not gonna let you dirty the Fairy Tail Guild's name," Natsu warned.
"And what are you gonna do about it?" Bora asked him with a smirk. "Stop me? Prominence Typhoon!" Bora attacked Natsu with a pink fire attack.
"Natsu!" Lucy and I called out worriedly. Happy's wings appeared and he flew in front of us, stopping us from trying to help.
"That's the way it goes," Bora said. "The bigger the talk, the weaker the man."
"Aw, this is so gross." My mouth fell open at Natsu still talking. "Are you sure that you're really a fire wizard? Because these are the nastiest flames I've ever tasted." Bora and his mean screamed in shock as Lucy and I gasped. Natsu was sucking in all the flames around him before the fire was completely extinguished. Or should I say drained? "Thanks for the grub, poser. Now, I've got a fire in my belly that's raging to get out." Natsu punched his fists together revealing a strange magic circle. "Here it goes. Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu put his hands to his mouth and blew out a fireball at Bora and his men! Bora had managed to save himself by summoning his fire and using it to fly higher.
"Hey, Bora. I swear I've seen this guy before," one of his men said. "The pink hair and the scaly-looking scarf, there's no doubt about it. He's got to be the real one." Lucy and I continued staring up at him in shock.
"Salamander?!"
"I hope you guys are paying attention." Flames surrounded Natsu's fists. "This is what a Fairy Tail wizard can do. Here I come!"
"Red Shower!" Natsu jumped up towards Bora and punched him back down to the ground.
"So he eats fire and then attacks with it?" Lucy asked. "But how did he do it? Is it some kind of spell?"
"He has dragon lungs that allow him to breathe fire, dragon scales to help him to dissolve the fire, and dragon claws for attacking with fire. His brand of Fire Magic is one that allows his body to take on all the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely used anymore," Happy explained."
"Seriously?"
"This particular magic was originally used to deal with dragons."
"Whoa."
"Hell Prominence!" Bora's fire magic nearly destroyed part of the town.
"It's called Dragon Slayer Magic. Igneel was the one who taught it to him." Bora threw another fireball as Natsu, but the pinkette just caught it and ate it.
"Now, that was a hefty meal," Natsu said. "You're not doing too bad. But I'm about to cook you like smoked fish."
"You're gonna do what to me?" Bora asked in fear.
"Get ready. Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Flames surrounded Natsu's fist again and he knocked Bora off his flames and he smashed through a large portion of the city before hitting the bell.
"Don't be silly, Natsu. Everyone knows you smoke food with smoke, not fire."
"Oh, wow!" Lucy said. "That was amazing!"
"But he overdid it a bit," I commented.
"Aye."
"Oh, shut it cat!" Suddenly, footsteps filled the air and we turned to see the army marching towards us.
"The army?!" Our hands were suddenly grabbed and Natsu was running with us flying behind him.
"Oh, crap, we got to get out of here."
"Where the heck are you taking us?" Lucy asked him.
"Just come on," he said. "You said that you wanted to join the Fairy Tail Guild, didn't you?" I smiled at his words, or maybe it was his smile. His enthusiasm and smile were contagious. "So let's go."
"All right!"