...
It was a bright new day in the great town of Magnolia, the home of the Fairy Tail Guild. Mages of all races, sizes, and ages wandered around as the sun shined bright on Southgate Park where three mages and a floating Exceed stood under the shade of the tree.
A pink-haired female mage stood in between a tall blonde mage and a blue Exceed - all three blinked at the small mage in front of them, staring at her with uncertainty and confusion.
"Could you repeat that for us, Juliet?" The Exceed said with her high-pitched voice, her white wings extended wide as she flapped them here and there to stay in the air.
"I want to fight, Natsumi!" The mage known as Juliet exclaimed, her hands clenched into fists as her black eyes stared straight at the pink-haired mage, "When you and Maxine fought earlier, I was so pumped. I've loved watching you overcome everything, big sis! I want to be just like you, like both of you!"
Juliet had dark purple hair that was cut short right above her shoulders, her orange scarf billowing in the wind as she put on a determined face. She wore an auburn-vest jacket similar to what Natsumi used to wear along with long green shorts and brown boots.
She pounded her fists together.
"Aw shucks, Juliet!" The blue Exceed wobbled her arms in the air, "Natsumi and I are super flattered, don't worry, we'll try and get you and Luke up to snuff,"
The blonde mage known as Luke gave the flying Exceed a side eye, "I believe she was also talking about me, Happy-."
But the flying Exceed ignored the blonde and continued to dance whilst floating in the air.
The pink-haired mage known as Natsumi, took a step forward, planting her black slippers to the ground, and causing a medium-sized gust to spread around her. The breeze brushed past both Luke and Happy who were used to Natsumi showing off like this.
She wore a sleeveless, gold-trimmed, black waistcoat, waist that reaches her knees, that was held up by a leather brown belt with an oval-shaped silver buckle in the middle. She white knee-length trousers with black ribbon ties, a thick black wristband on her left wrist, black open-toed sandals and her signature white checkered scarf. Her coat was always open, and around her breasts was white bandage tape.
Natsumi grinned and looked up at Juliet as she cracked her fists, "So, what you are saying is you want a friendly spar with your big sis?"
"Define Friendly..." Luke muttered.
Juliet planted her foot before herself, her brown boots shuffling a bit on the ground as Juliet raised her fists.
"You two are not seriously going to fight here, right??" Luke stood behind Natsumi, his eyes darting from Juliet to the pink-haired mage, "This is the park, not Fairy Tail, you know,"
The pink-haired mage smirked before lunging at the purple-haired mage, throwing her fist back and igniting it in soft, orange flames that enveloped her entire hand.
Juliet quickly jumped to the side, Natsumi's fist almost coming in contact with the loose end of her hair. Juliet continued to move left, but the pinkette wasn't done with her as the pinkette landed on her hands, twisted her wrists in order to turn herself in Juliet's direction.
Julia caught a glimpse of this and raised her arm to defend, "Huh-"
"FIRE DRAGON TALON!" Natsumi shouted as her feet were engulfed in flames and collided with Juliet's arm, causing a flash of orange light and a clashing sound close to thunder to erupt.
Luke and Happy shielded themselves from the light, bits of grass flying past them as their eyes were squeezed shut.
"Nooo, Natsumi killed Juliet! Maka is going to be so mad!" Happy exclaimed.
Once the light dwindled, the pinkette's smirk widened as purple flames flickered beneath her slippers.
"Oh, she's fine?" Happy blinked at the sight.
"Again, I don't think it is safe to do this at the park," Luke nervously laughed, repeating this, but once again, it fell on deaf ears.
"You're using your old lady's magic now?" Natsumi commented.
Juliet peered up, smirking, "Yeah! But it's still not as powerful as yours, big sis,"
"Doesn't matter. Fire trumps any other magic ability anyway!" Natsumi used Juliet's arm to jump backwards, engulfing her fists in flames.
Juliet looked up in awe at Natsumi who did a perfect backflip and landed in front of her once more. Natsumi placed her fists in front of her and smirked, waiting for Juliet to make a move.
Getting the gist, Juliet lunged at Natsumi and shrouded her with a fury of orange flame barrages, Natsumi dodged a few effortlessly, as well as catch Juliet's fists in midair.
As a few seconds passed, Juliet's flames began to turn into a green shade, a smokey hue began to come off of Natsumi's hands as she staggered and started getting pushed back every so often.
"W-What is this??" Natsumi grinned in amazement as she felt her hands getting... pudgy.
Juliet took this chance to increase her punches; the flames got hotter and faster, making them appear swifter and larger in size as Natsumi somewhat started to stumble back.
Luke watched in amazement as Happy's smile remained printed on her furry face, "That's Juliet...?"
"She must've went through a lot of training to be able to push Natsumi back like this!" Happy exclaimed.
Natsumi buckled beneath the weight of Juliet's concentrated punches, and Juliet just continued, gritting her teeth as she tried to look past the great flames.
Juliet shook her head, "I won't lose!"
Natsumi suddenly stood her ground, her foot planted firmly to the ground as she pushed back and threw her arms open, dispersing the great flames that held her down for a bit.
She looked down at her pudgy, bruised hands, her hands were covered with a green-slimy residue, "Ergh, what is all this?"
"Think fast, big sis!" Juliet was right above Natsumi now, ready to attack once more.
Natsumi let out a breath and jumped out of the way before Juliet's kick could land on her. The Dragon Slayer slid back between Luke and Happy, she shook her hands a bit and the green slime was soon off of her hands.
"You struggling there, Natsumi?" Happy looked down at the pinkette.
"Struggling? I'm just getting fired up!" Natsumi stood up from her knees and punched both her fists together, there was a slight sting but soon her pudgy hands returned to normal but the burn marks and bruises remained, "I'm impressed, Juliet, you've got some new flames now,"
Juliet's eyes sparkled at the comment and she felt more pumped up to continue. However, Natsumi covered her mouth as she began to yawn.
Juliet paused, "Are we not going again?"
"Nope! I'm starving. I could go for some meat," Natsumi rubbed her tummy.
Happy hummed and rubbed her tummy, "Same! I could go for some fishies,"
"Alrighty! We will put it on Luke's tab!" Natsumi declared as she fist-pumped the air.
"I'M NOT YOUR PERSONAL BANK?!" Luke lightly smacked Natsumi's shoulder.
Juliet was in disbelief as the Exceed, Celestial mage, and Fire mage chattered like this was something to be giddy about.
Juliet loved and respected Natsumi, and she knew that she meant well. But, she couldn't help but get annoyed by this. With pent up annoyance, she engulfed her fists in dark purple flames that she then slammed to the ground, catching the three members of Team Natsumi off guard.
"Fight me again!" Juliet yelled, her voice cracking as it struck the ears of the older mages, "Please! I need to get stronger,"
Happy looked at the young mage with a brow raised but then her smile widened, "No need to get stronger when you can stuff your belly with yummy fish,"
"Fish seems to always be the only thing on your mind, Happy," Luke shook his head at the flying Exceed.
"Hey, I don't say anything when you think about money all the time," Happy flew around the Celestial and Dragon Slayer mage with an annoying and teasing tone in her voice.
"I don't think about money ALL the time, it only becomes a necessity when I need to pay my rent," Luke raised a brow at Happy's false accusation.
"And what about our rent, huh?? You never seem to ask about that," Natsumi chimed in with a cheeky smile.
"Yeah!" Happy also chimed in with a bratty approach.
"Because you have no rent to pay! You live in a tree, Natsumi!?" Luke squinted his eyes at the Dragon Slayer, "Besides, you owe me for all the money I spent on the food you've eaten,"
Natsumi pouted, folding her arms in a huff, "How can you ask a lady to pay for her own food?"
Luke shook his head, "With the way you eat, I think the word lady is far above you-"
"JUST QUIT IT, ALRIGHT?!" Juliet shouted at the top of her lungs which definitely caught the attention of Natsumi, Luke, and Happy.
Juliet took a breath in and out before she began to speak.
"Take this seriously, big sis Natsumi!!!" Juliet said with her eyes staring into the green grass beneath her, making the mages and Exceed glance right back at her, "You saved my mom, beat Gajeena, and showed Laura who is Boss! I want... I want to be like that! I need to be like you! I need experience... practice... so that if Twilight Ogre comes back, I'll be ready!"
She clenched her fists, "We were the laughingstock in every Grand Magic Games that we attended, everyone's punching bag, we couldn't keep up. We could barely call ourselves members of Fairy Tail when we could barely protect the Guild building... it was all just too much..."
Luke and Happy's expressions softened as they listened to Juliet.
"To see my mom hold both her pain and all of our pain on her shoulders, and try to keep the Fairy Tail spirit strong, I... couldn't watch that. I CAN'T watch that, not again! So please..." Juliet looked up at Natsumi, her eyes gleaming with desperation, sadness, and deep determination, "Please take this seriously, big sis! Fight me with everything you've got! I need to get stronger so if that Tenrou accident were ever to happen again..."
"Then I'll be ready,"
"Juliet..." Happy uttered.
"And if you don't fight me, then... then..." Juliet bit her lip, wanting to make sure that she really meant the words she was about to say, "THEN YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN ME! And you don't believe in the guild! We can call on you at any point, yes, but if we can't even protect the guild then there's no point in us being mages!"
Luke felt a warmth in his chest as he listened to the determination in Juliet's voice. He turned to look at Natsumi, and thought, "Inspired by your light, Natsumi. You can't deny that now,"
Natsumi furrowed her brows, her neutral expression remaining still as she continued to look at the young fire mage.
She smiled, seeing that same desperate look that she herself gave to Gildana on Tenrou. That scary feeling of facing such great power, and the possibility of losing all her friends on that once-fateful-day.
Her mind began to remember what she learned on Tenrou, and what she almost lost.
"There's no way I'm giving up now, I'll beat you Gildana! What's the point of moving up to S-Class when I can't even do that???"
Then words began to carelessly leave her mouth every time she felt one ounce of fear. She may have had determination at the start, but...
Then Acnologiko appeared... she was far more superior than any foe the Fire Dragon Slayer had faced. Fear crept up along her arms, witnessing the massive dark-winged force. She thought she could swallow that fear and attack with everyone.
But, even with the combination of the guild's power and her fellow Dragon Slayers' power, they still fell short, cowering beneath the dark-winged Dragon that roared mightily.
"This can't be happening! I'm supposed to be a frickin' Dragon Slayer, so why couldn't I beat it??"
She had to accept it.
Accept that there were just far stronger foes out there that couldn't be brought down. Because she felt fear and she wasn't strong enough.
But like Gildana told her;
"Remember Natsumi, it's okay to cuddle up to fear. After all, how will we know our weaknesses?"
Natsumi put a fist to her chest. As a faithful big sister, how can she ignore such a request?
"You are just like me, Juliet," Natsumi thought before letting out a large sigh.
"Fine," Natsumi smirked.
"R-Really?! I mean...." A smile replaced Juliet's saddened face, she wiped her eyes with her arm, "T-Thank you,"
"You just promise me something," Natsumi exclaimed before racing at Juliet once more, "That you won't cry again, ya hear?"
She engulfed both her fists in flames, her scarf dancing in the air as she ran straight at Juliet who nodded as tiny tears sat on the corners of her eyes.
The Rainbow Flame mage swung her purple flames at the pinkette, and Natsumi pounced up in the air before she could hit her.
"FIRE DRAGON: IRON FIST!!!" Natsumi lunged her fist, clashing Juliet in the face as the young girl could not block, having any chance to do so.
Juliet planted her feet down as the ground began to crack under the weight of Natsumi's powered punch. Her legs began to wobble.
Natsumi was starting to take her seriously now, so she'll give it all she's got now.
Juliet thrust her arms forward, sending the Dragon Slayer off of her, quickly charging in and throwing a fist at Natsumi who caught it and threw a punch at Juliet, catching her in the side of the face.
"Woah, woah! That's a little much, Natsumi!" Luke called out but the Dragon Slayer simply remained in her manner of battle. After hitting Juliet, the Rainbow Fire mage responded by moving with the flow of the pinkette's punch, grabbing the pinkette's scarf tightly with both hands and bringing them both down to the ground.
Juliet's back hit the ground and immediately she thrusted both her feet into Natsumi's stomach and kicked the Dragon Slayer off of her. Natsumi rolled forward behind Juliet and quickly caught herself by sliding across the ground.
It wasn't a strong grapple throw, but it was enough to impress the Dragon Slayer. Natsumi looked up at Juliet who dangled the white scarf in her hand.
Natsumi's hands instinctively touched her bare neck to find her most treasured item not sitting on her neck.
"You little!" Natsumi smiled, and Juliet smiled.
The young fire mage engulfed her hand with a brown flame, which made Luke and Happy raise a brow.
Happy blinked, "What the-."
"What does that flame do??" Luke asked.
"Haaa!" Juliet raised her fist and slammed it to the ground, immediately, a vein-like pattern spread across the ground and a misty flame-like fog surrounded them.
Luke and Happy covered their eyes, but soon Luke uncovered his own due to the flames feeling like... nothing.
"Ahh! My eyes! I can't see! I can't seeeeee!" Happy whined hysterically.
"Happy, you're fine, just open your eyes," Luke turned to the Exceed with an unimpressed look.
The Exceed removed her paws from her face and grinned from ear to ear, "Oh. I'm okay, I'm okay,"
Luke simply just hummed, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Natsumi remained in the dusty fog, looking around as the flames circled her.
"I haven't seen Maka use flames like this before..." Natsumi muttered to herself as she etched slowly through the misty flame-fog.
Natsumi's ears twitched, hearing slight footsteps behind her. She turned to the source and ignited her fists with her bright orange flames, but out of nowhere, Natsumi felt a strike behind her which sent her flying forward onto her face.
"Urghh..." The Dragon Slayer murmured in annoyance before getting back up onto her feet.
Whilst listening intently to the galloping footsteps around her, Natsumi began to sniff the air for Juliet's scent but was soon distracted as a yellow flame began to waft through the air like a snake.
Before she could even get familiar with the scent, she felt two pair of legs wrap around her neck and something blindfold her, just from the smell itself, she knew it was her scarf.
"And down we go!" Juliet yelled aloud and with all her might, yanked both her and the Dragon Slayer down to the ground.
As her back hit the ground beneath them, Natsumi let out a large breath, feeling the air escape her lungs as Juliet quickly moved away to gain some distance.
Then the misty flame fog disappeared, leaving both Happy and Luke astonished at what had gone down.
Luke turned back to the two mages engaged in battle, "Natsumi's down!"
Juliet heaved for air as Natsumi stood back up and pouted up at the Rainbow fire mage, "Oww~. Now you're just cheating,"
Natsumi tied her scarf around her neck once more, rubbing her back with slight annoyance in her tone.
"Is that your excuse for saying that you're done already, big sis?" Juliet smiled happily to himself, a tint of red on her cheeks as she was proud for managing to catch Natsumi off guard.
Natsumi continued to pout, but soon carried herself up and planted her feet apart as she breathed out, "Okay, little Miss I've-Improved. I've got something for you,"
On instinct, Luke and Happy backed away as they felt a shift in the air around them, magical power arising past the comfortable power sense that they were used to.
Natsumi's scarf began to float above her, her vest following suit too as flames flickered around her and what seemed to be a flickering spark of electricity followed suit.
Juliet remained calm, looking left and right before watching Natsumi intensely flame up and look up at her with that signature toothy grin of hers.
"If that's how we are doing things, then let me show you what I'm really made of..." Natsumi said with a toothy grin and furrowed brows. She hunched over and began to breathe slowly.
Juliet raised a confused brow, "What are you-."
"Hold on now, Natsumi! Don't you think you are taking this a little too seriously?!" Luke yelled out to the Dragon Slayer, but his concern was drowned out as blue electricity began to fly around the place.
Luke and Happy dived behind the trees and peered around it as sparks began to fly around, flames radically rising around Natsumi's body.
Suddenly, a burst of lightning surrounded her entire body, writhing erratically as she glared with intensity and excitement at Juliet.
Natsumi threw her head back, "LIGHTNING-FLAME DRAGON-"
Juliet's mind went rapid once she heard "Lightning", she wasn't aware that Natsumi could obtain two elements.
Does Dragon Slaying Magic work like that...?
"Alright, stay focused! I'll just counter it... but with what? None of my flames work the way that Natsumi's does, and none of them can counter a Fire Dragon Roar, much less this new Lightning-Flame thing," Juliet thought deeply to herself, conversing on if she should counter, deflect, or dodge this attack.
But a minute turned to seconds...
And seconds turned to just a second...
Natsumi's mouth bulged with lightning-flames that seemed to leak in a liquid fashion. She proceeded to open her mouth, throwing her head forward in the direction of Juliet, "ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!"
Lightning and powerful flames burst out of the Dragon Slayer's mouth, towering over Juliet who stood her ground for a second.
"I won't run..." Juliet uttered to herself.
Her mind was filled with the memories of those disgraceful 7 years that she had to endure; Guilds bullying them, their Guild building getting taken from them...
"... I won't run," Juliet's fists trembled, as she tried to stand firmly, her legs grew weak.
Her mind still burned through with faces, her mom's face, Aunt Wakama's face, and the guild members that stood with them as the faces of their tormentors hovered over her; laughing at her.
But the scorching flames got closer, and closer then her instincts kicked in and she immediately jumped out of the way, dodging the powerful flames.
As they passed Juliet, Natsumi raised her head, struggling, causing a near-miss from the buildings behind the park.
The strong blast shot into the sky and soon dispersed. Civilians glanced into the sky, seeing the powerful blast pass by the clouds.
"Those damn Fairy Tail wizards are at it again," An old man pointed his cane at the sky, shaking his fist with rage.
Dust clouds floated around the park for a few seconds, Natsumi's scarf waved in the air as sparks flew around her mouth.
The Dragon Slayer sighed.
Juliet sat on the grass, shaken, her hands over her face, a burnt mark was left on her orange scarf, "..."
"Heehee, I hope you aren't all done after that, Juliet. I'm ready to go at it again," Natsumi rubbed the back of her head.
Luke appeared behind Natsumi, smacking the back of her head lightly, "You could've destroyed the park!?"
And Happy appeared with a massive tuna in her paws, smacking it on the Dragon Slayer's head, "And You could've killed little Juliet!!!"
"But I didn't, so what's the problem?" Natsumi pouted and folded her arms as she stared up at Luke, "I made sure to be careful,"
"On which part; almost destroying the park or almost roasting Juliet??" Luke barked at her.
"Probably both," Happy smacked the tuna on Natsumi's head once more, the Dragon Slayer barely flinched, she just continued pouting.
As Juliet watched them bicker, she sat in silence, wondering to herself how Natsumi got so powerful like that.
"What would have happened if I stayed in that blast... would I..." Juliet glanced down slowly at the burned edge of her scarf, gently clutching the withering fabric, "Have died...?"
"Juliet... JULIET! Hey!" Natsumi gently smacked the young girl's cheek, knocking her out of her trance. She was now squatting down in front of the Rainbow fire mage.
"Oh huh?" Juliet blinked twice at the Dragon Slayer who grinned from ear to ear.
"That was an awesome fight, you've definitely gotten stronger," Natsumi kept her toothy grin on her face.
"Aye! That was the best fight I've ever seen!" Happy exclaimed.
Luke gave Juliet a thumbs up, "You keep that up and you'll get stronger than Natsumi!"
Natsumi grinned, "Then I'll keep getting stronger, and stronger if that happens,"
Juliet sighed, "Thank you, but I still got afraid at the last minute, I was doing so well too,"
"Hey now, there's nothing wrong with feeling fear, and if it helps, your big sis here is also dealing with understanding that too," Natsumi hummed as she ruffled Juliet's hair, "I said this before and I'll say it again: I'm so proud of you for sticking up for your Mom, and the guild all these years. We are back now, and we are never leaving again, so let's work hard and get stronger together, okay?"
Juliet bit her bottom lip, tears stinging her eyes as she jumped into Natsumi's arms, her face stained with tears as she silently sniffled in the Dragon Slayer's arms.
"Seriously, didn't you promise me that you will never cry again...?" Natsumi chuckled as she embraced Juliet back.
"I will get stronger, big sis! I promise!" Juliet exclaimed as tears ran down her face.
"I know, and when you do, let's do this again sometime," Natsumi smiled from ear to ear, her soft cheeks printed with a red hue as Juliet continued crying in her arms.
"Haahaa!" Happy gleamed as she rested on Juliet's head and joined in with the embrace.
Luke watched the three, smiling at the beautiful scene.
...