Chapter Text
"I am strong yet I am weak"
The guild doors opened and a sound of, "we're home!" had everyone focused on who it was at the entrance of Sabertooth. Minerva, Yukino, Sting, and Rouge all jumped on to their feet as they rushed to greet them. Minerva reached them first, pulling the blonde maiden into a tight hug as she squealed with joy.
"LUCY I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK!" She cried, squeezing the blonde to death. Lucy choked out an "I missed you too" as she tried to loosen Minerva's death grip on her. Yukino pulled Lucy away, much to Minerva's dismay, and gave her a hug of her own.
"Glad to see you're in one piece." Lucy smiled, hugging the stellar mage back. Yukino then let her go and also greeted Lyla with a hug too. Sting ruffled the top of her head, messing up her hair.
"We're gonna drink to your return!" He yelled, just making it as an excuse to get drunk and party. Lucy glared at him for messing up her hair. She quickly fixed it up and rolled her eyes at his declaration.
"Mou, you don't know how long it took me to get my hair right. Jerk." She grumbled as he laughed at her distress. Rouge, who was impatiently waiting for his turn, tsk'ed. Lucy beamed brightly at the shadow dragon slayer and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her.
She tip tied up and kissed his cheek, giggling as his face turned pink. "Hey, you missed me?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Rouge pouted before giving her a smile of his own. "Of course I did. You were gone for so long." He complained, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into the crook of her neck. Lucy laughed at that, rubbing his back.
"Oh please, two months isn't that long. But I missed you," she coo'ed and turned to her friends, "I missed all of you."
Minerva, who was now squeezing Lyla, tilted her head. "Why did it take you two months to complete the mission anyways?" She asked. Lucy was one of their strongest wizards, holding an S-class title just like the rest of them. A simple mission, such as defeating a lowly dark guild, should have been a breeze for her. Lucy and Lyla looked at each other, sweat dripping, as they tried to think of an answer.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." Lyla answered for them. The group all had a questioning look on their faces.
"Luckily we are in time to hear it."
The group turned to the doors once more to see who said that. Rufus Lore and Orga Nanagear both stood there, smiles on their faces as they waved to the group. Rufus was known for his Memory-make magic, and Orga for being a God slayer. One of the 'Lost Magic'. Lucy waved at the two and gestured for them to join.
"I might as well just tell you all how it all started." She sighed. The group then made their way to a vacant table and sat down, all waiting for Lucy and Lyla to share their story.
Lyla started it off, "Well, to begin, we first decided to meet the mayor,"
- - - - - Flash Back - - - - -
Knock, knock. "Hellooooo?"
Lyla continued to knock at the wooden doors, waiting for someone to answer them. Lucy stood behind her, sweat dropping, as the exceed continued with her actions.
"Eh, Lyla, maybe we shouldn't be so—" the doors suddenly swung open, cutting off her sentence. At the door stood a tall man. He had messy red hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. He had dark circles under his eyes, showing the amount of restless nights he has had. His clothes consisted of a simple suit, yet it was wrinkled and had missing buttons. In short words: He was a mess.
'Yikes.' The two wizards thought while looking at the man. He looked like he needed a years worth of sleep. The man blinked a few times, looking at Lucy then to Lyla.
"Are you from Sabertooth?" He asked, trying to fix his messy hair. Lyla and Lucy both nodded and revealed their guild marks. Lyla's mark is gold on her back, Lucy's is black on her right arm just below her shoulder. After confirming their marks, the man— the mayor— gestured for them to follow him. Once they were settled in the lounge, the mayor graciously thanked them.
"I apologize for my appearance, as you can see this problem has been taking a toll on me." He sighed, burying his head into his hands. The two mages looked at each other silently before looking back at the distraught man.
Lucy offered a warm smile and grabbed the mayors hands. "You can let your worries disappear. We'll get rid of your troubles." She promised. The mayor blushed lightly at the action before clearing his throat and moved to stand up. Lucy and Lyla followed suit. He shook their hands with a smile and bowed.
"Then, I'll leave it to you."
...
The mayor— who they learned is Alec— had given them Important information about the dark guild they were about to face. First things first: their guild master. Unfortunately, their identity and magic was unknown. However, it is known that the dark guild— Jade Jaguars— has only 5 members.
First, Nightingale. Her magic consists of teleportation, telekinesis, and chain magic. ("Leave her to me, she sounds weak." Lyla mumbled while Lucy sweat-dropped).
Second, Melody. Her magic is music; to put it bluntly. She has the power of song. Depending on her tone of voice she can simply put her enemies to a deep slumber, where they dream their worst nightmare— or just simply leave them weak. (Lyla's eyes sparkled, punching a fist into the air. "A CHALLENGE!")
Third, Niko. A nature dragon slayer. ("This one's mine." Lucy said, excited to fight another dragon slayer).
Fourth, Sirena. A water-make mage. ("I'll take her too then." Lucy said).
And finally, the fifth member, Trygon. He's known more as 'The Final Battle'. When all four members are defeated– if you manage to get that far– then he comes out. It's not very known what he can do, but according to the mayor he has the ability to manipulate the very ground you stand on.
"And that's all there is to know. They come out at exactly midnight. They destroy homes, spread nightmares, rob our shops, and just terrorize us all." He tsk'ed, banging a fist into a table before looking at the two sabers with pleading eyes. Lucy and Lyla both had determination in their eyes.
"We won't let you down!" They promised. Alec, satisfied with their reply, bowed once more in thanks. He gestured for them to follow him.
"To thank you, I've already prepared a room for you both to stay in the meantime." The two Sabers both bowed in thanks, saying that it wasn't necessary. Alec waved it off, "You've agreed to help us, this is barely anything to show our thanks." He humbly said.
The mayor then left the two to get settled in. Lyla jumped onto the bed on the left side of the room. She squealed with joy as she relished in how soft the sheets and pillows were. Lucy giggled at her actions as she set her things down on the bed on the right.
"Okay, let's plan for tonight." Lyla shot up from the bed and sat criss-crossed. Lucy leaned back, using both arms to support her weight on the bed. Both had on a thinking face.
"The music lady and chain person are mine. They don't sound too hard. And whenever I'm done I can help you out. If you need it- that is." Lyla snickered at that last part. Lucy blushed and began to fiddle a strand of her.
"You speak too highly of me you rascal." She huffed, pouting a bit. Lyla shook her head and playfully rolled her eyes. Her blonde companion is too humble sometimes.
Lucy cleared her throat, her face returning back to her normal shade. "A-anyways," she stuttered, "that leaves the dragon slayer and the water-make mage to me." She tapped her chin and closed her eyes. "Sounds difficult, but I'll manage."
Lyla rolled her eyes again. She can do so much more than just manage. "What should we do in the meantime?" She asked, checking the time. '10:57pm.' That gives them a whole hour before their big fight. While in thought, Lyla didn't notice the mischievous glint in her friend's eye. Before she could even finish her thought, something soft and fluffy smacked her right in the face.
Caught by surprise, she fell backwards, landing on the bed. An irked mark appeared when she heard a loud laugh echoing around the room. She grabbed a pillow of her own and threw it straight to the blonde, who caught it easily. "Jerk!" Lyra grumbled before smirking.
She grabbed another pillow and flew to Lucy. She pulled back her arms before swinging forward and smacking the blonde's face.
"Oomph!" Lucy grunted. She quickly recovered, pushing back her hair that fell in front of her face. She swung back. Can you believe they fought each other, with pillows, for over an hour? Believe it because they did. By the time it struck 12, the girls ceased their fight and held a serious expression. Lucy stood up from the floor and marched towards the door.
"Let's do this."
... Now in town ...
It was awfully quiet. No towns people in sight. Doors were locked tightly and windows were sealed shut. No one made a sound except for the bugs that buzzed around the flickering lampposts. Lucy and Lyla walked around town, on the look out for any movement or sound that wasn't their own. Lucy stopped in her tracks. She closed her eyes and listened closely. Breathing. Her eyes snapped open. She quickly picked up Lyla and jumped out of the way of an incoming chain. She heard someone click their tongue.
Lucy looked up and saw a little girl. She looked to be at least 12 years old. She had red beady eyes and long black hair that fell down to her waist, with a red ribbon tied at the top of her head. She was wearing one of those fluffy dresses. It was blood red with a black ribbon tied in the middle. Lucy quickly realized, by the chain the girl was spinning around, that she was Nightingale.
Lyla jumped out of Lucy's arms and a glowed. Once the glow died down, instead of a pink exceed was a girl around the same size as their enemy. Lyla has transformed into her human form. She still has cat like traits. Her cat ears were atop her head and her pink tail swished side to side, showing excitement. (Lyla's human form has short messy hair that falls below her ears, and light pink skin. She has a bell tied around her neck and wears a simple dark green sleeveless crop, and black shorts).
Nightingale snickered, pointing at Lyla. "Aww, what a cute kitty." Her red eyes sparkled, "I'm going to make you my pet!" She giggled before throwing her chain towards Lyla— who swiftly dodged the attacks.
Lyla huffed and glanced towards Lucy. "I'll take care of her! You go find her friends!" She said, dodging another chain attack. Lucy nodded and turned her heel.
"Stay safe!" She called out before running deeper into town, away from their fight. Lyla smirked, 'This fight will be over before you know it!'
Lucy kept running around town, looking at her surroundings. "Come one.." she muttered, "where the hell are they?" Lucy's running came to a halt when she felt something coming at her from the left. She stepped back to avoid getting caught by— 'Green vines?' She watched as the vines pulled back. She followed them and was soon faced to face with the one she wanted to fight first.
"Niko, the Nature dragon slayer." She mumbled. Niko stepped more into the light, a dark smile plastered on his pale face.
"My, my~ aren't you a cutie?" He flirted, shooting her a wink. Lucy grimaced. Niko chuckled and summoned more vines at his side. "I almost feel sorry for having to kill a beauty like you." He said with a pout, wiping a fake tear.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I don't feel sorry for this." She spread her legs, shoulders width apart, and clasped her hands into a fist in front of her lips.
"Celestial dragon: ROAR!"
A/N: Continuation in the next chapter.
