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23.37% Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads / Chapter 161: Ice Age

Chapter 161: Ice Age

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

 

August, x784.

 

After a quick strategy meeting, Gray, Ultear, and Lucy were once again facing off against Juvia and Sol of Phantom Lord's Element 4.

 

"Alright, let's go." Ultear said as she dashed towards the enemy wizards once again.

 

This time, even Gray dashed forward with her. However, Lucy hung back, unsummoning Sagittarius as she took another key out of her waist pouch.

 

"[Open! Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius]." Lucy chanted as she channeled her magic power into the Golden Celestial Gate Key.

 

A moment later, a mermaid with a blue color scheme appeared floating next to Lucy. The mermaid, Aquarius, had a long blue fish tail with three piercings, long, light blue hair, a large bust, and pupilless blue eyes. On her forehead she wore a gold and silver circlet with a tear drop-shaped blue crystal hanging from its center. On each ear, she wore a crystal-shaped earring while on each arm, she wore a golden armlet and bracelet. As for her clothing, the only thing she wore was a rather revealing blue bikini top. Also, she carried an Urn that served as the source of the water she used to attack.

 

"Tch!" Aquarius clicked her tongue as soon as she was summoned. "You better have a damn good reason for summoning me, Lucy. I was about to leave for my date with my sexy Scorpio."

 

"I summoned you to help me fight, not to give me lip." Lucy replied in an annoyed tone.

 

"What was that?" Aquarius asked in a threatening tone while narrowing her eyes.

 

"Those two are here to kidnap me and take me back to my dad." Lucy said, her tone improving immensely, as she pointed at Juvia and Sol. "Please, Aquarius, I need your help."

 

Looking in the direction Lucy pointed, Aquarius narrowed her eyes even further. Despite always giving Lucy a hard time whenever she was summoned, Aquarius genuinely cared for Lucy, as she is the daughter of her previous contractor, Layla Heartfilia, who she loved and respected.

 

"Well, we can't have that." Aquarius said as she lifted her urn.

 

Hearing that, Lucy smiled happily. However, Aquarius next words caused that smile to stiffen almost immediately.

 

"I'm the only one who gets to bully Lucy and make her suffer." Aquarius continued as she pointed the mouth of the urn at the Phantom Lord Wizards.

 

With that, the water from the nearby canal and the rain was drawn into the mouth of the urn. Then, after a second, Aquarius raised it above her head and swung it in the enemies' direction.

 

"[Torrent]." Aquarius chanted as all the collected water was ejected from her urn.

 

In the next instant, the entire street was flooded with the excess water flowing towards the canal. The force behind the flood was so great that the exterior walls of the nearest building was pretty severely damaged with a particular part of the building being completely destroyed.

 

"Ahh~~~~~!" My apartment!" Lucy shouted in despair.

 

"Oh, stop yelling like that." Aquarius said in an annoyed tone. "I saved all your pitiful belongings. Besides, it's not like you don't have anywhere else to go."

 

"And who do you think is going to have to pay for this?" Lucy asked, turning towards Aquarius with a heavy glare.

 

"That's not my problem." Aquarius replied uncaringly. "Now, I've got a date with my man. Don't bother me for a while."

 

With that, Aquarius unsummoned herself, leaving a distraught Lucy behind. However, just as she said before she left, All of Lucy's belongings that were in her destroyed apartment floated towards Lucy in protective water bubbles.

 

Meanwhile, As the torrent of water flowed past them, both Gray and Ultear used their magic to encase themselves in a sphere of ice. At the same time, Sol used his earth magic to raise a platform beneath himself so that he was standing above the water. Juvia, on the other hand, simply let the water wash over her. As a practitioner of [Water Magic] she was right at home in the water.

 

A few moments later, the two ice sphere's floated to the surface of the water. Luckily, when Ultear felt the intensity of Aquarius in coming attack, she created levies that kept the property damage on the street to a minimum. Lucy was also standing on one of those levies instead of having to tread water. Unfortunately, she was too slow to protect Lucy's apartment.

 

Once the spheres were floating on the water's surface, both opened like the petals of a blooming flower, creating footholds for Gray and Ultear. After regaining their firm footing, Gray and Ultear surveyed the battlefield.

 

"Geez, that mermaid really doesn't know how to hold back." Gray said as he gazed upon the flooded street.

 

"As members of Fairy Tail, we really don't have any room to comment on that." Ultear replied with a wry smile. "Still, it would have been nice if she toned it down a little."

 

"[Roche Concerto]." Sol Chanted from his platform as Gray and Ultear assessed the damage Aquarius attack inflicted on the nearby area.

 

With that, several large stones materialized in front of Sol. Then, with just a thought, they flew towards Gray and Ultear at high-speed.

 

"[Ice-Make: Wall]." Gray chanted, forming a wall of ice between himself, Ultear, and the incoming stones.

 

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

 

A moment later, the sounds of impact echoed through the street. Although the stones were strong enough to crack the wall in several places, almost shattering it on occasion, Gray was able to repair it fast enough by pumping his magic power into it to keep both himself and Ultear safe.

 

At the same time, a pair of flexible water whips extended from the water's surface, trying to entangle the two ice wizards. Reacting quickly, Ultear, with her [Ice Claws] still equipped, was able to defend herself and Gray, who was occupied with defending against Sol's projectiles.

 

Looking toward the source of the water whips, Ultear saw Juvia darting through the water while waving her arms. Like before, Juvia's arms had liquified and the whips seemed to be growing from her wrists in the pace of her hands.

 

"This girl's powers are weird." Ultear muttered as she continued to move and strike down the water whips, freezing the area's she slashed on contact.

 

Unfortunately, every time the water whips froze, the frozen parts would simply break off and then new whips would extend and take their place.

 

Eventually, Sol's spell ended. As soon as it did, Gray gestured to use his magic once again. Then, he slammed his hands into the ice wall in front of him.

 

"[Ice-Make: Arrows]." Gray chanted.

 

As soon as Gray's hands came in contact with the ice wall, it cracked all over. Then, it shattered into hundreds of pieces that all modeled themselves into ice arrows and flew in Sol's direction.

 

"Oh my, that is quite dangerous." Sol said with a smile as his body began to twist around the incoming projectiles.

 

"Gray, the water level is lowering faster than I thought." Ultear said as she continued to fend off Juvia's attacks. "We need to do it now."

 

"Got it." Gray replied as he approached Ultear.

 

When the two were close enough, they placed their palms together. Then, they both flared their magic power, causing it to resonate with each other.

 

Meanwhile, Juvia, feeling that things would get bad if she let Gray and Ultear complete whatever it was they were trying to do, flared her own magic power and cast a strong spell of her own.

 

"[Water Magic: Cyclone]." Juvia chanted.

 

In the next instant, the water around the ice platform began to spin violently. As time went by, it created a water spout around the ice platform. As the seconds ticked, the space in the middle of the water spout was slowly shrinking. In the end, it would engulf the two wizards standing on it.

 

Luckily, Gray and Ultear had been training together under Ur's guidance long enough that they were able to complete their spell before things truly got dangerous.

 

"[Unison Raid: Ice Age]." Gray and Ultear chanted in unison.

 

In the next instant, the canal, the water flooding the street, and even the rain and the clouds it was falling from froze over. As a result, Juvia, who was still submerged in the water found herself unable to move as she too was frozen due to her water body constitution.

 

Sol, like Juvia, was also frozen in place. Although he wasn't submerged in water, he had been standing in the rain long enough that there were no dry areas on his body or clothing.

 

Unfortunately, Lucy met the same fate. Though both Gray and Ultear had exceptional control of their magic, excluding just one person in such a large scale spell was near impossible.

 

"Damn… You think we over did it?" Gray asked while scratching his head as he looked around. Then, he pointed his finger in a certain direction as he continued. "And what's up with that red patch of ice over there."

 

"oh, we definitely overdid it." Ultear replied. As she too looked around.

 

When she heard Gray's question, Ultear looked in the direction he was pointing. And what she saw was Juvia frozen in the ice and looking up at the sky. The red patch of ice Gray was talking about could be credited to the blood that flowed from her nostrils and froze thanks to the [Ice Age] spell.

 

After seeing Juvia's bloody nose, Ultear shook her head. Without even looking where Juvia's eyes were pointed, she could already guess what happened.

 

"Gray, you should put your clothes back on." Ultear said with exasperation. "How did you even manage to take your clothes off while we were syncing our magic power?"

 

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gray asked as he looked down at his clothes.

 

When he did, Gray saw that the only thing he was wearing was a pair of boxers, the rest of his clothes scattered over the ice.

 

"damn, how did that happen?" Gray asked in a panic as he ran around picking up his discarded clothing.

 

"*Sigh* I don't understand, why is Gray the only one of us who takes his clothes off at random?" Ultear muttered. "The last time we saw Lyon, he didn't do that. I really hope he hasn't picked up that habit in the last three years."

 

Three years ago, Ur, Gray, and Ultear took a quest together that brought them near Margaret Town, the town that housed Lamia Scale's guild hall. After completing their quest, they decided to visit Lamia scale and pay their respects to Ooba Basama, the master of their allied guild.

 

Afte arriving at the guild hall, and meeting with Ooba, they ran into someone they did not expect to see. Just as they were leaving, the trio bumped into a group of five wizards who had just returned from a quest led by the Wizard Saint candidate, Jura Neekis. Among the other four wizards was Ur's first disciple, Lyon Vastia.

 

After running into Lyon, the trio from Fairy Tail decided to stay the night and catch up with Lyon before heading back to Magnolia the next morning.

 

"If Lyon somehow managed to pick up Gray's bad habit, I can see Mom trying, and failing, to beat it out of him." Ultear muttered with a smile.

 

With that, Ultear started to move and check on the state their opponents were in. First, she approached Juvia, who had fainted after being over stimulated by seeing Gray more than half naked. After that, she went over to check on Sol, who had also lost consciousness as he was frozen in a strange, contorted position. Ultear figured that because of the cold and the position he was in, Sol's blood flow slowed down too suddenly, resulting in him fainting as well.

 

After making sure that both Phantom Lord wizards were incapacitated, Ultear looked up at the sky. The rain clouds had turned into snow clouds. However, they were quickly dispersing, allowing the sun to shine down on parts of Magnolia. Even so, there were still a few clouds that were releasing snow.

 

"I've never seen sunlight shining on falling snow." Ultear muttered with a look of awe on her face. "It's really beautiful. I wish Alfonzo was here to see this with me."

 

As soon as she muttered her thoughts aloud, Ultear blushed in embarrassment. Still, the smile on her face did not fade in the slightest.

 

Meanwhile, Lucy, who was also frozen with the Phantom Lord wizards, constantly moved her eyes between Gray and Ultear.

 

'Are they gonna unfreeze me?' Lucy wondered. 'I'm really cold. I feel like I have to sneeze, but I can't move. Wait… They didn't forget about me, did they?'

 

A few moments later, after getting her fill of the beautiful sight, Ultear approached Lucy and dispersed the ice on Lucy. Like Lucy suspected, Ultear had really forgotten about her for a short time. Though Ultear would never admit that,  not even under the worst torture.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SixthSense1029 SixthSense1029

You can read ahead on my Patr3on at:

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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story.

Comments, Revies, and Power Stones are always appreciated.

next chapter

Chapter 162: The Reason to Get Stronger

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

 

August, x784.

 

After their battle with Juvia and Sol ended and Lucy was unfrozen, Gray and Ultear also unfroze the street where the battle took place before taking their prisoners to what was left of the guild hall. Instead of taking them inside, however, they took them to the building that housed the three transport vehicles.

 

Considering Juvia's ability to liquify, they did not dare to take them to the guild's underground prison. She would simply liquify and slip between the bars. But the building behind the guild hall would make a perfect prison for someone with Juvia's unique set of skills. Especially since Alfonzo built it with his magic and used so many sigils in its construction, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to enter or exit without the permission to do so.

 

Meanwhile, Lucy returned to the hospital to explain the situation to Levy. But when Levy saw her, she was completely shocked.

 

"Lu, are you okay?" Levy asked as she stood from her seat in Jet and Droy's hospital room.

 

Currently, Lucy was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Although she had been unfrozen, she was still exposed to a cold that could freeze over an entire street in an instant. Had she not been a wizard, and had Gray and Ultear's control been any worse, there's a good chance she could have lost her life.

 

"*Sniff* Yeah…" Lucy said with a wry smile. "kinda got caught in the crossfire between S-Class wizards and an S-Class candidate."

 

Hearing that, Levy's expression turned solemn.

 

"What happened?" Levy asked in a concerned tone.

 

In response, Lucy explained the chain of events. How it started raining and she got soaked on the way to the shopping district. How she decided to go to her apartment to change clothes and get an umbrella. How two wizards from Phantom Lord were waiting for her at her apartment. And finally, how Gray and Ultear arrived just in time to save her from being kidnapped and subsequently defeating the wizards.

 

Hearing all that took place since Lucy left the hospital, it would be an understatement to say that Levy was surprised. Although she could use [Magic Power Detection], just like all the other wizards in their group of friends… Other than Natsu, who did not have the patience to thinly spread his magic power around his surroundings. She did not have enough magic power to see what was going on on the other side of the town.

 

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, Lu." Levy said as she walked toward the still shivering Lucy.

 

A moment later, when she arrived in front of Lucy, Levy wrapped her arms around Lucy in a tight embrace.

 

"Twice my friends were attacked and there was nothing I could do about it." Levy muttered with her head on Lucy's shoulder. "I hate this feeling."

 

"Levy…" Lucy muttered in response, wrapping her own arms around her petite best friend.

 

"I'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again." Levy continued in a resolute tone. "I'll become strong enough that my friends will never be in danger again as long as I'm close by."

 

Hearing Levy's resolution, Lucy felt her heart stir. Tightening her arms around Levy, Lucy's determination to get stronger grew as well.

 

"Yeah, and I'll be right there getting stronger with you." Lucy replied.

 

Hearing that, Levy raised her head and made eye contact with Lucy. Seeing the determination in her eyes, Levy was sure that she had the same spark in her own. With their resolve secured and their determination set, the two girl  smiled and hugged once again.

 

Though Levy and Lucy shared a moment that strengthened their friendship and would determine how their paths as wizards would unfold, it was quickly broken not long later.

 

"Ugh… Where am I?" Droy groaned as he opened his eyes in one of the hospital beds.

 

"Ow! I feel like I got hit by a train." Jet groaned simultaneously from the other bed in the room.

 

After a moment passed, Jet and Droy regained their senses and scanned the room they were in. It did not take long for them to realize they were in a hospital room. The next thing they noticed was a pair of young women hugging intimately. A moment later, they recognized the two women  and were surprised to see that one of them was Levy.

 

"Levy… Wh-wh-what are you doing?" Jet asked in disbelief.

 

"No, Levy, tell me it's not true." Droy exclaimed with just as much disbelief in his tone as Jet.

 

"Is that why you never showed any interest in me?" Jet and Droy asked simultaneously. "Were you into girls all this time?"

 

Meanwhile, when Levy and Lucy heard the boys groan, a sign of them waking up, they looked in their direction, not even realizing that they were still hugging. But when they heard the question they asked in unison, both girls froze. A moment later, they reacted in completely different ways.

 

Though they both realized Jet and Droy were misunderstanding the situation, Lucy could not help but giggle at their reaction. Levy, on the other hand, frowned as her face reddened instantly.

 

"Are you two stupid?" Levy asked, releasing Lucy. "Of course I'm into guys! And you two are like family to me. I've seen you like my older brothers ever since we were little kids. So, tell me, why do I have to be into girls just because I'm not into you like that?"

 

'Ooh, she friend-zoned them again.' Lucy thought as she watched Levy yell at Jet and Droy. 'And this time, it wasn't unintentional, and she told them to their faces. I kinda feel bad for them.'

 

Immediately after getting confirmation that Levy was not interested in them romantically, something they had suspected for a while, Jet and Droy paled instantly.

 

"But why not us" Droy asked with his head hanging low.

 

"Seriously, haven't we been good to you?" Jet asked, his eyes filled with unshed tears.

 

Seeing the expressions on Jet and Droy's faces, Levy paused for a moment. Then, she looked at them with a serious expression.

 

"*Sigh* Yes, you've been great to me." Levy replied to the boys' questions. "But so has everyone in the guild. But you two are too protective. You don't give me room to grow. I mean, even when I said I wanted to, you two have never let me take a quest alone, claiming it's too dangerous and how you want to protect me. But for goodness sake, I'm a wizard, too. I'm not a weakling. And to reach my full potential, I have to go through difficulties of my own."

 

With that, Jet and Droy fell silent, surprised to hear Levy's true thoughts on their time spent as Team Shadow Gear. Since the only thing on their minds was keeping Levy safe, They had never considered Levy's feelings on the matter.

 

"but we just wanted you to be---" Jet muttered.

 

"I know." Levy said, cutting off Jet's words. "You just wanted me to be safe. And believe me, I'm happy to know that you care about me so much. But, if the two of you keep on trying to protect me, I'll never get the chance to grow into my own wizard… To reach my full potential. And the same goes for the two of you."

 

Once again, Jet and Droy fell silent and hung their heads.

 

"I'm not saying that all of them would have been able to fend off that guy from Phantom Lord, but I don't think they would have lost as badly as we did." Levy said, laying out the cold hard truth in front of her teammates. "In case you're wondering who I'm talking about, I'm talking about our group of close friends in the guild. As a matter of fact, the truth is that we are objectively the weakest of all our friends."

 

Hearing that, the boys both gritted their teeth and clenched their fists. Neither of them wanted to admit that they were weaker than anyone else. But after the thrashing they took the night before, they had no words to refute Levy's claim.

 

"Because we always worked in a team, we never faced any real difficulties on our quests, because we always had someone who could bail us out." Levy continued, her tone softening after seeing her teammates' expressions. "Although that made our quests much safer than they would have been otherwise, it stunted our growth as well."

 

With that, Levy approached Jet and Droy's beds. Then when she was standing between them, she reached out and took hold of their hands.

 

"I never again want to feel as helpless as I did last night." Levy said, gripping her teammates' hands tightly. "I want to be strong enough so that I can defend not only myself, but the people I care about. To protect the two of you should you ever need it. And to do that, I have to grow. I have to push myself past my limits. And so do you."

 

Hearing Levy's heart felt words, tears fell from Jet and Droy's eyes. Like Levy, they too felt helpless during their fight with Gajeel. So, they could understand where Levy was coming from. But the thought of leaving Levy alone scared them. Just imagining her coming back from a quest with injuries made them feel as if their hearts would stop.

 

Still, since Levy laid out her true feelings like that, all they could do is nod in response.

 

"I guess that's the end of Team Shadow Gear." Droy said in a sorrowful tone.

 

"Yeah, it was fun while it lasted." Jet added in an equally sorrowful tone.

 

Hearing the two, Lucy, despite the chill that was still present in her body, face palmed hard enough to turn her face read. Meanwhile, Levy looked at her teammates with an incredulous expression.

 

"*Sigh* Looks like you two answered my earlier question." Levy said with an exasperated sigh. "You really are stupid."

 

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jet and Droy asked in unison.

 

"Why would that be the end of our team?" Levy asked.

 

"Because you said you wanted to take quests alone." Jet replied.

 

"Uh huh." Droy added.

 

"*Sigh* You two have a one track mind." Levy said while shaking her head. "Teams are not the norm in our guild. Most wizards take quests alone. They only team up when they want to do something different or find a quest that they can't complete alone. We're actually the odd ones out, doing every quest together."

 

"Seriously?" Jet asked in a surprised tone.

 

"Now that you mention it…" Droy said contemplatively.

 

"Look at team Steel Threads, Alfonzo and Lici." Levy explained, trying to help Jet and Droy understand. "Sure they work together on quests. But most of the time they work alone. The same is true for Team Natsu. Though they've been taking more quests together recently. Probably to work on their coordination in a fight. Still, they usually work alone, too."

 

"I guess you're right." Jet muttered.

 

"Yeah, I never thought about it like that." Droy said.

 

"So, this doesn't mean that we'll never work together again." Levy said with a smile. "It just means that we'll push ourselves alone. But if there's ever a situation we can't handle on our own, we can always come together again as Team Shadow Gear. And we all know there aren't many things we can't accomplish if we work together. I mean, we proved that hundreds of times over the last few years, right?"

 

With that, the smiles returned to Jet and Droy's faces. Though they were still saddened that they would not always be together like they were, they could still be comforted that they would be able to come together again whenever they wanted or needed to.

 

Then, Jet and Droy exchanged glances. From the look in the other's eyes, they could tell that they were both thinking the same thing.

 

'And if I can get strong enough working alone, maybe Levy will look at me differently.' The boys thought simultaneously.

 

At the same time, Levy smiled happily when Jet and Droy agreed to let her grow without them. Though she did not want to, if they had put up a fierce resistance to the idea, she was willing to do things in a more… forceful way… The Fairy Tail way.

 

Meanwhile, Lucy watched the conclusion to this episode with a gentle smile.

 

'You can see just how much Levy cares about them.' Lucy thought to herself. 'It takes a lot to tell someone the truth sometimes. Especially if you know they don't want to hear it. On top of that, she showed the patience to help them understand it, too. *Sigh* Those two are lucky to have her in their lives. Hehe… I guess I'm pretty lucky, too. Levy is my best friend, after all.'


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SixthSense1029 SixthSense1029

You can read 5 chapters ahead on my Patr3on at:

https://patr3on.com/SixthSense1029

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story.

Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.

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