Fairy Tail Destiny

"Aye! Noel, you're here!" Happy waved his paw at Noel.

(So he's the guy I bumped into this morning. So his name is Noel, huh? Wait, Noel? Could it be that Noel who's always ranked among the most popular male wizards? No wonder he looked familiar.) Lucy thought to herself.

"Yeah, you and Natsu sure are impatient, not even waiting for me to come along," Noel said with a slight bitter smile, looking at the cat who started playing dumb as soon as he heard Noel's words.

"Oh, right, Noel, I have something to tell you," Happy suddenly said.

"Hmm?"

"I ran out of magic power." Happy said it with an extremely calm expression, and right after those words, the wings on his back vanished.

"Ahhhh!" The sudden loss of balance made Lucy scream in fear as she instinctively closed her eyes.

But instead of plunging into the cold ocean water, she felt herself land in a warm embrace.

"Heh, are you okay?" A gentle voice reached Lucy's ears.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a refined face with a faint, warm smile.

"Lucy, you're such a big idiot," Happy, lying on Noel's shoulder, bluntly remarked.

"...You're the last one I want to hear that from, you dumb cat," Lucy retorted, holding her forehead in frustration.

"By the way, I found this set of Celestial Spirit Keys in the ocean earlier. Are they yours, Lucy?" Noel opened his hand, revealing a set of keys.

"Ah, my keys!" Lucy exclaimed joyfully, taking the keys from him. "Thank you so much, Noel."

"It's nothing, just a small matter. Don't mention it. We should focus on the problem at hand." Noel gently shook his head.

"Happy, did you leave Natsu on the ship?" Noel turned to look at the cat on his shoulder.

"Aye, I did," Happy answered without a hint of guilt.

(Is Natsu still up there? In that case, solving the ship issue first would be better. Natsu's combat ability on any form of transportation is worse than an ordinary person's.) Noel frowned, turning his gaze to Lucy in his arms. (It seems there's a better solution than handling this myself.)

"In that case... Lucy." Noel suddenly called her name.

"Huh?"

"I noticed you have the Aquarius Key. Can you open the gate for Aquarius?"

"Eh? I can, but what are you planning?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I want you to use Aquarius' power to create a wave and push the ship back to the port," Noel explained.

"Ah, okay." Although unsure of his intentions, Lucy took out her golden Aquarius key. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer—Aquarius!" As Lucy's voice fell, a woman with ocean-blue hair, a mermaid-like form, and a large jug in her hand appeared on the sea.

"Fish!" Happy drooled as he stared at Aquarius.

"No, she's not!" Lucy despaired over the cat's hopelessly one-track mind.

"But she does look amazing," Happy added.

"Of course! I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage! I use the keys to summon spirits from another realm. Aquarius, use your power to push the ship back to the port!" Lucy said proudly, giving orders to the Aquarius spirit.

"Tch." Aquarius clicked her tongue in disdain, ruining Lucy's triumphant moment.

"Did you just click your tongue at me?!" Lucy's forehead bulged with irritation.

"Well, let's not dwell on that. Focus on the task at hand," Noel quickly mediated.

"Annoying little girl. Let me be clear—lose the key again, and I'll kill you," Aquarius said coldly, her gaze filled with menace.

"S-Sorry!" Lucy broke into a cold sweat.

There was no denying that, despite her nasty personality, Aquarius was an immensely powerful spirit.

With a wave of her jug, violent torrents surged forth.

A massive wave over ten meters high appeared out of nowhere.

Noel hurriedly flapped his light wings and flew into the sky, watching the colossal wave push the entire ship back to the port, even flooding the nearby residential areas.

"Oops. Miscalculation. I accidentally pushed the ship too far and missed the target," Aquarius remarked with mild disappointment.

"So you were targeting me all along!"

Noel smiled wryly from the side. Having a Celestial Spirit like that—was it more of a blessing or a curse?

"For now, don't summon me. I'm going on a week-long vacation with my boyfriend—yes, with my boyfriend!" Aquarius teased Lucy with a playful glance before dissolving into waves and disappearing.

"No need to say it twice!" Lucy shouted angrily.

Happy raised his paw toward Noel. "Hey, Noel, in that kind of situation just now, we don't have to say thanks, right?"

"...Happy, I think you're focusing on the wrong issue." Noel sighed after a few seconds of silence.

"What's going on? The ship crashed into the port?"

"What the heck is this all about?"

The gathered residents murmured as they looked at the ship beached onshore.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Noel asked, setting Lucy down and calling out to Natsu, who stood on the ship.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Noel. Don't worry." Natsu turned toward Bora. "You said you're a Fairy Tail wizard?"

"So what if I am? Get him!" Bora ordered his men.

"I want to get a good look at your face." Natsu grabbed his cloak from his left shoulder and flung it to the side.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted anxiously.

In her brief time with Natsu, she had assumed that even if he had some combat ability, he was probably weak.

Seeing him provoke a wizard enemy made her worry.

"It's fine, Lucy," Noel reassured her. "Natsu is a Fairy Tail wizard. He's not going to lose to someone like that."

"What?!! Fairy Tail? Natsu is a Fairy Tail wizard?" Lucy was visibly shocked by this unexpected revelation.

"I'm Natsu from Fairy Tail. Never seen anyone like you before!" Natsu declared to Bora.

"What?!" Bora's expression changed instantly.

"That guild mark... it's the real deal, Bora!" One of Bora's subordinates exclaimed in panic, pointing to the Fairy Tail guild emblem on Natsu's left arm.

"You idiot! Don't call me by that name!" Bora angrily shouted at his subordinate for revealing his identity.

Noel chuckled. "So it really is Bora, huh? Bora of Prominence, the guy exiled from the Titan Nose Wizard Guild years ago."

"I don't care if you're a decent citizen or a scoundrel, but I won't allow you to parade around under Fairy Tail's name," Natsu said as he stepped closer to Bora.

"So what if I did, you little brat!" Bora continued his arrogant bluster, oblivious to the danger.

[Crimson Flame Typhoon]

Bora attacked first, unleashing a swirling pink flame at Natsu.

However, Natsu didn't dodge—he took the attack head-on without a care.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted, ready to rush forward, but Noel quickly extended his hand to stop her. "Watch closely, Lucy."

"Huh?" Lucy looked again and saw that Natsu, who had taken the flames directly, was actually swallowing the fire!

"I'm going in! [Fire Dragon's Roar]!" Natsu bellowed, unleashing a massive blast of fire from his mouth, which exploded upon impact.

"This is a battle with no suspense," Noel remarked with a slight shake of his head as he watched Natsu engage Bora.

Due to Natsu's Dragon Slayer magic, which allowed him to consume fire and restore his magical energy, most fire wizards—even those a rank above him—would be utterly defeated.

Not to mention that Bora was clearly several levels weaker.

As expected, Bora couldn't even withstand three moves before Natsu's Fire Dragon Iron Fist sent him flying straight into the city church's large bell.

"That reckless fool Natsu... went overboard again," Noel sighed as he surveyed the wrecked town and the approaching city guards. "Looks like we'll have to ditch Bora and make a run for it." His tone sounded more amused than annoyed.

Then, without panic, Noel took Lucy's hand and began leading her away.

"Eh?! Why do I have to run too?" Lucy asked, bewildered.

"Because... didn't you say you wanted to join our guild?"

"Eh?!"

Noel turned his head and gave Lucy a big smile. "Let's go!"

"Mm!" Lucy's initial shock gradually turned into a smile as she nodded.

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