Chapter Text
Since joining the guild, Lucy had known she had a long way to go as a wizard. Natsu, Gray and especially Erza all easily outclassed her as a mage, and even Wendy had been growing with impressive speed. In her defence, she had only been seriously using magic for all of 6 months before they went to Tenrou, as opposed to the others in the guild, who had been using their magic to make a living since they were small children, so of course she was a bit behind. She had figured though that catching up would happen naturally as she got more experience. So, she had never really taken the time to seriously train herself, and hadn't ever thought she would spend a prolonged amount of time just training. So, now a month into their 3 month long training camp for the Grand Magic Games, Lucy had come to 2 conclusions. One: training was boring. And two: training was hard.
The latter was what had Lucy in her current position. Sprawled out on the beach after taking a particularly heavy blow to the gut from Capricorn, she panted, feeling a disgusting amount of sweat pouring down her, and the sand getting in her hair and sticking to her skin. All in all, Lucy wasn't having a great time. The only good thing she could appreciate from the constant time outdoors at a beach was that she had finally gotten a good tan. She'd gladly give that up though, if she was able to take even a single day off.
"Your still too slow, Lucy-sama," the spirit said disappointedly. Huffing, she forced herself to sit up, clutching her bruised torso, and glared at her newest friend.
"Your the one who's trying to kill me!" Lucy yelled back. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but between the constant supervision of her diet, the brutal beat downs in hand-to-hand training, and then the hours upon hours he spent making her meditate to expand her magic core, she was at her limit. It was only made worse that he had completely sequestered her away, insisting he be the one to lead her training programme, and so she hardly got to see her friends, and when she did, it was just the few minutes she could handle before falling asleep. The other 4 from her team were being led by Erza, and while she was sure that was equally brutal to whatever she was doing, at least they were together.
"It feels like no matter how many times we do this, I never get any better," Lucy muttered, feeling frustrated tears start to build behind her eyes, Rubbing them, she winced when she got sand in them, and that only made her want to cry more. "I'm always tired, I'm always hungry, I'm not getting any better, and I'm alone. I'm really, really fed up Capricorn. Sorry if I'm not what you thought I'd be, but I'm already way past my limits."
Her words made the spirit frown. He'd known she was getting more frustrated, but she'd never outright told him she'd had enough. He wasn't particularly good with reading people, so it dawned on him then he had gone too far. Well, maybe not too far, but his method of constantly telling her what she was doing wrong, and not right had run its course, and she'd need a bit more positive reenforcement going forward.
"My apologies Lucy-sama, if my training methods have upset you. I know they're harsh, but I am doing my best to make you as powerful as possible," Capricorn said, bowing. Lucy frowned hearing the spirit, noting he was clearly unhappy with himself at causing her distress.
"It's alright Capricorn," she murmured, her sudden urge to cry thankfully gone as quick as it came, "I know you are, but I think it's a bit too much for me. I'm really not built for this kind of stuff, as I'm sure you can tell." Lucy had tried to comfort the spirit, but he seemed even more upset.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken Lucy-sama. You have been performing admirably, and have improved a great deal this past month. Thinking you are not doing well is just a failing of my teaching ability," he responded.
"What do you mean? Every single spar we have ends the same." Lucy asks back confused.
"Well, that is only to be expected Lucy-sama. After all, my magic leans towards enhancing my unarmed combat skills. As such, seeing as how your own magic power has increased so much, despite improving yourself physically, the difference has remained the same as my own ability has increased dramatically with your increased magic amount. I should have done a better job in restraining myself, to show you the actual increase in your ability," Capricorn explained. Lucy's eyes slowly widened as the realisation hit her.
"Well, that's good to know," Lucy said awkwardly, now feeling a bit embarrassed for her little tantrum earlier, "So, what do you think we should do now? Just keep going the same as we've been doing?"
"No," the spirit said, shaking his head, "For now, you should take the rest of the day off to rest. I think you're right, I shouldn't have kept you isolated for so long, fighting a singular opponent for so long has some benefits, but I think it's time you join your friends as well. I'd still like to take time to expand your magic core together, but you should be able to train with others too." The more he spoke, the happier Lucy got, and by the time he finished, a big grin was spread across Lucy's face, and she jumped up to hug the tall goat spirit.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lucy said, as Capricorn awkwardly patted her back, not used to this level of affection. "You won't regret it, Capricorn, I'll keep training hard, I promise!" With that declaration, Lucy let him go, and turned tail to run off from their little training spot to go meet up with the rest of her friends. Capricorn shook his head, as he watched his master run.
"For all you share in looks, she really is nothing like Layla-sama," Capricorn said aloud, exasperated.
Lucy kept her smile, even as she jogged over to the other end of the beach, where she could sense the magic of her other friends training. She felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and her previously near zero morale had been lifted significantly. Her run was stopped though when she saw a large plume of sand erupt from in front of her, and she watched in surprise as it cleared, and she saw Wendy and Erza.
"Sky dragon's roar!" Came the high pitched cry of their youngest member, and Lucy watched impressed as a huge stream of wind came out of the girls mouth. It was much greater than what she had been capable of doing even a month ago, and Lucy once again felt a pang of insecurity run through her at the sight, but quickly brushed it off as Erza blocked the attack.
"If that's all you're going to use Wendy, your attacks will never reach an enemy! They're too obvious!" Erza yelled at the younger girl. Rather than get discouraged though, Wendy's face scrunched up in concentration, and Lucy watched on, wondering what the girl had planned.
Focusing, Wendy condensed balls of wind beneath her heels, and all in one go, she released them, sending her rocketing forward at a surprised Erza. It was the first time Wendy had ever gotten that reaction from the S-class mage, and she wasn't going to waste it.
"Sky dragon's wing attack!" Wendy yelled, letting sharp air flow around her forearms, as she attempted a close range attack. Despite being caught off guard though, Erza's experience and instincts overcame her surprise, and she managed to just shift out of the way, landing a kick to the girls gut, sending her skidding along the beach. As she stopped, Erza watched concerned as Wendy didn't move to get up, and just panted on the floor.
"My apologies Wendy, I may have struck you too hard. But that is a testament to your improvement, as you made me react on instinct, and so I wasn't able to control my strength," Erza said, as she kneeled down by the small girl, helping her sit up. Wendy just smiled shakily. The kick felt like it had rattled her whole body.
"That was really cool Wendy! It was really clever of you to use your wind like that to boost your speed," Lucy praised, walking over to the other girls. They looked over in surprise at Lucy, seeing as she had never joined them for a training session before.
"Lucy, I'm surprised to see you here. Have you already finished for today?" Erza asked.
"Aha, yeah I guess," Lucy said, rubbing the back of her head, "Me and Capricorn decided I should start training more with you guys, since I haven't really done much practical training apart from sparring with him."
"I see, well, the more the merrier I say. I'm very curious to see what you've achieved this past month Lucy. With two months left to go, I'm sure I can train you up nicely," Erza said. Lucy suddenly felt like she may have made a mistake leaving Capricorn. Looking around, Lucy searched for the rest of their friends but found nothing.
"Hey Erza where's everyone else? I'd have thought for sure at least Natsu would be making a mess," Lucy asked.
"Well, Levy usually trains with Jet and Droy. As foolish as they may be, their magic is good for Levy's training, seeing as one is very fast, and the other has a lot of brute force. Juvia and Gray tend to go out to sea to train, and Natsu... Well Natsu sort of comes and goes. Him and Happy tend to disappear for a few days at a time, and then he comes back to challenge me. Naturally, I destroy him with ease, but there's no doubt he's improving as well. I've been training Wendy myself," Erza explained.
"I see..." Lucy said, a tad disappointed. She had hoped to see everyone. Still though, Erza and Wendy were far better than no one.
"Anyway Lucy, can you fight?" Erza asked suddenly.
"Eh? Ah, yeah I guess, I'm a bit beat up from this morning, but I should be ok. Why?" Lucy asked back.
"Hmph, because you and I are going to fight of course! I need to see what level your at now, before deciding what to do for our training," Erza said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lucy looked at the older girl in despair, and she only felt worse as she Wendy gently patted her back sympathetically. She wished she had enough of a backbone to tell Erza no, but she didn't think anyone other than maybe Mira could really deny her when she set her mind on something.
"Are you sure that's necessary?" Lucy asked, feeling the need to at least try to save herself.
"Of course, I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't. Don't ask stupid questions Lucy," Erza said dismissively.
"R-right," Lucy mumbled.
"Well, no time like the present, so let's begin."
Lucy had always admired Erza, from her overwhelming strength, to her unnatural beauty. She didn't think she'd ever be able to see herself as an equal for the older woman, and so standing across from her, about to fight, was likely always going to be a terrifying prospect, even if it was just for training and not for real. Still, she had to do her best. Wendy had faced her fearlessly, even if it had meant getting injured.
"You have the first move, Lucy!" Erza called over to her.
"R-right!" Lucy said back. Taking a deep breath, Lucy forced herself to calm down. All the meditating she had done paid off, because she managed to calm herself very quickly.
"Open! Gate of the Bull Taurus!" Lucy yelled, calling out her usual first spirit for battle. She hadn't really summoned many of her spirits other than Capricorn for the past month, and so when she saw the bull for the first time since she began her training, she looked in surprise at his attire.
"Taurus?" Before, the bull was only dressed in boots and a pair of shorts, which Lucy thought suited his pervy nature. Now though, he actually looked kind of impressive. Instead of the tiny shorts he wore before, he had a pair of black pants on, that went down his legs, until they were tucked into a pair of boots. That wasn't the most dramatic change though, that would be the huge, black, metal gauntlets that covered his arms completely. Around the wrists, she could see a gold inscription of his Zodiac sign.. If she wasn't mistaken, he was also a fair bit larger than what he was before too. She'd gotten used to his near nakedness, so it hadn't bothered her too much, but now he actually looked like someone she could respect.
"Luuucy-san, your booobs look extra boootiful today!" Taurus exclaimed, hearts in his eyes as he took in her bikini-clad form. Covering up her chest as best she could, she scowled at him. What was that she was thinking about respect?
"Not now, pervert! We're training with Erza! Let's go!" She yelled back. Taurus turned quickly away from her, tongue dropping out of his mouth as he put his lustful gaze on Erza.
"Erza-san too! They're even bigger than Lu- no, no no. Don't worry, Lucy-san, I'll prove you've got the best body!" Taurus said, shaking his head as he focused.
"Thanks?" She really couldn't care less, but if that's what it took Taurus to get going, so be it.
"Enough with the small talk! Come at me!" Erza yelled, impatient as always.
"Mooo!" Taurus yelled, as he leaped forward, raising his huge axe. Summoning two swords, Erza raised them in an 'x' shape, preparing to block the attack, and Lucy got out her whip, ready to follow up on what she assumed would be a blocked attack. Slamming his axe down, both Lucy's and Erza's eyes widened in shock, as instead of stopping the attack dead, she was forced back, her feet digging small trenches into the sand, as the force of the attack sent her skidding back.
"Eh?!" Lucy yelled. What the hell was that?!
"Taurus how did you do that?" Lucy asked. Throwing his axe onto his shoulders with one arm, Taurus turned back to her, and flexed, the metal gauntlets expanding around his muscles.
"You're magic power has increased Lucy-san! That means I'm mooore powerful then ever!" He explained. So the new look wasn't for nothing then.
"Ohh?" Erza asked curiously. She could still feel the shock of the attack running through her arms. If she didn't have such high quality weaponry, she would have been in trouble, no doubt a lesser blade what have shattered under the force.
"Not bad Lucy, but don't think you can relax," Erza said, now taking the attack to her spirit. Rushing forward, she jumped over a horizontal slash which would have cut her in half, and landed a solid kick to the spirits face as it overextended itself on the attack. Now it was Taurus's turn to be sent backwards, as he fell over on to his backside. Slashing down to try and get rid of the spirit, she was annoyed as he managed to raise his axe in time to block. Before she could make her next move, she had to leap backwards to avoid the whip that came shrieking at her from Lucy, the glowing whip looking dangerous.
"Taurus, you okay?" Lucy asked, concerned.
"No problem, Lucy-san!" He said as he got back to his feat. The kick had been hard, but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. Erza looked at her younger friend, feeling a bit of pride. She had really improved a lot since their first mission together.
"Time to step things up a bit Lucy," Erza said, "Requip, Heaven's Wheel armour!" As Erza said this, she changed from her bikini to the new armour instantly, and Lucy noted Erza must have been training pretty hard too, because that requip was as fast as she'd ever seen it.
"Circle sword!" She yelled, summoning around a dozen swords, before sending them flying in Lucy's direction.
"Don't worry Lucy-san, I've got this!" Taurus exclaimed, leaping in front of the flying swords. Taking out his axe, he started spinning it at high speed, forming a shield. One by one, the swords clattered against his axe, and they were all knocked off course.
"Not bad Taurus!" Lucy praised. He had really gotten quite a lot stronger. Before he could say anything else though, Lucy watched in shock as he suddenly disappeared in a shower of golden sparks, and Erza was right there in front of her, this time in her flight armour.
"Don't ever let your guard down Lucy," Erza said, bringing down the handle of the sword to hit her in the head. In this armour, even Capricorn seemed slow, and so Lucy could only close her eyes, and raise her arms to try and deflect the hit. However, a second later, she looked up as the hit never came. In front of her was a man in a black suit, who had guarded her from the attack.
"Loke!" She yelled, relieved.
"Hi, princess," Loke said, voice straining a bit, as he tried holding Erza back, "A bit of help, please?"
"Right!" Recovering as quick as she could, she used her whip, this time successfully snaring Erza around the wrist. Grunting, she put all her effort in to flinging her as far away as possible. She was only slightly disappointed when Erza landed on her feat gracefully, but it wasn't at all surprising. Before she could think of anything else though, Erza and Loke were going at it, and all she could do was watch as he fought for her. Clenching her fists, she thought of what she could do. Against a strong opponent like Erza, she would never physically be able to involve herself, her whip the only practical chance she had of joining a fight, even with the training she had done with Capricorn.
Lucy couldn't help but flinch when Erza sent Loke flying back, and he landed in front of her, looking worse for wear. The fact he hadn't already lost was proof of her growth, but it was still disheartening. The only positive she could think of right now was that she still had a ton of magic left...
"Wait, that's it!" Lucy exclaimed. Loke and Erza looked at her curiously, and when she pulled up another key, the curious look changed to surprise.
"Lucy!" Loke said concernedly, not wanting her to overexert herself.
"It's alright, I've got enough," she promised, "Open! Gate of the archer, Sagittarius!" As soon as she said it, she felt her knee's buckle from the magic drain, but she forced herself to keep standing, and managed a weak grin.
"Sagittarius, can you back up Loke for me, please!"
"Of course!" He said, immediately sending a volley of arrows at Erza, which she had to jump away from. Loke used that opportunity to send a lion of light her way, which she easily cut through, once she changed into her purgatory armour. Before they could go any further though, Sagittarius and Loke suddenly disappeared, Lucy's magic no longer holding up, and she fell to her knees, exhausted. Seeing this, Erza changed back into her bikini, and jogged over to her fallen friend.
"Lucy, you okay?" Erza asked, kneeling down next to the girl. She was sweating, and looked a bit pale, but other than that didn't seem too bad.
"Let me see, Lucy-san," Wendy said, crouching next to her, and using her healing magic on her. She wasn't hurt, just low on magic, which wasn't something Wendy could fix, which she let them know. "She's fine pysically, just running low on magic. A good meal and night's sleep should be all she needs to recover."
"Well that's good," Erza said, standing and offering a hand to Lucy, which she gladly took. "I'm impressed though Lucy. Your spirits have certainly gotten much stronger in this past month. And summoning two at once? By the time we have to compete, I'm sure you'll be more than ready."
Lucy blushed at the praise, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, thanks for the compliment. I've still got a long way to go though, and I really want to figure out a way to be more useful in battle myself." At her statement, Erza frowned as she thought about her wish, before coming to a simple conclusion.
"Well, if that's the case, I'll simply train you myself, and make you ready to fight any enemy!"
Laughing, Lucy shook her head. Erza really could be so simple at times. She appreciated the sentiment though, and jokingly agreed, though from the look in Erza's eye, maybe she didn't take it as such.
"Anyway, you should go rest Lucy. We'll come get you for dinner later," Erza commanded, pushing her gently in the direction of the hotel they were staying. Lucy didn't resist, but did look back at the two girls.
"Are you two not done yet?" She asked curiously. Wendy looked up at Erza hopefully, still feeling a bit sore from their earlier training.
"Not yet, Wendy still has a lot left in the tank. Right, Wendy?" Erza asked, sending a smile to the sky wizard, which was probably meant to be reassuring, but just ended up being menacing.
"R-right. We'll see you later, Lucy-san," Wendy said despondently. Sending a wave at the two girls, Lucy laughed at their expressions, before making her way back to her room, looking forward to getting clean, and then having a nice nap.
With one towel wrapped around her torso, and the other around her hair, Lucy crashed on to her bed, wanting to sleep, but knowing she had to dry her hair first. Groaning, she sat up, before letting out a startled yell.
"Loke! What the hell are you doing in my room!" She screamed, pulling her towel closer to herself. The lion had a predatory smile on his face, as he took in his masters almost nude form, before he shook his head, trying to get back on track.
"S-sorry Lucy," he said clearing his throat, "I'd just wanted to discuss training from earlier."
"Can't it wait till after I've gotten dressed!" Lucy yelled back, cutting him off before he could continue.
"I'm afraid not, Lucy," he said gravely, though the blush on his cheeks gave him away. Pouting, she settled to just pull her bed's cover over herself for extra protection. "What is it?"
"Well, firstly, I just wanted to say it was extremely reckless what you did earlier. Your magic was already being used, and so attempting your first double summoning in that situation was foolish. You should have done it under more controlled circumstances. Magic deficiency is no joke Lucy," he lectured thinking of his own former master who died from the disease. He he cut himself off though when he saw her flinch at the last bit. 'Ah that's right, her mother died from magic deficiency. Stupid spirit,' he thought, cursing himself.
"I know. Sorry I won't do it again," Lucy said, recovering quickly from the unpleasant memories, and sending a reassuring smile at him. Shaking his head, he smiled back.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it. But, I also wanted to say, I'm very impressed. Summoning two spirits is no small feat, especially two golden ones. Not even Angel was capable of that. You've got a lot better this past month Lucy, and I'm sure with your potential, by the Grand Magic Games, we'll show them which guild is the best," he said. Lucy grinned back, though she still looked a bit hesitant.
"I know we've still got a few months left, but I feel like it's not enough. Erza was going so easy on us, but still easily handled everything I could throw at her. If there other people like her, well, I don't think we'll have a very fun time," Lucy said softly.
"Well, there are very few wizards in the world like Erza, but I understand what you mean. And you're right, even if you keep increasing your magic amount like you've been doing, then there's still not much we can do if we run into someone of Erza's calibre. Especially since if they get pass us, you'll basically be defenceless," Loke explained, making her face fall. She knew it was true, but it still hurt to hear it.
"But! That's were I come in. I've been around a long time you know, and may or may not have some pretty cool things to show you which will help you get a bunch stronger," Loke bragged, adjusting his jacket, and grinning at the excited look on his face.
"So you'll be helping me out now too? Great!" Lucy said happily, though a second later looked annoyed. "If you always knew these things, how come you didn't help out before while I was training with Capricorn?"
"Ah well you see, look at the training you did with Capricorn as laying the foundations for what's to come. Before, you didn't have enough magic power to be able to achieve what i'll be showing you, but now I've seen you succeed with a double summoning, the sky's the limit Lucy!" Loke exclaimed dramatically. Lucy looked a bit put out by his theatrics, but was non the less on board.
"Well, I can't wait to learn whatever you've got planned, Loke!"