Fairy Tail: Strongest Creature

As Lucy walked along the river toward her rented house, she reflected on the recent revelations about Fairy Tail.

"Mystogan and Laxus… both big names," she muttered. "And Erza and Su Yan are S-class mages too! No wonder they're as strong as monsters." 

Su Yan's strength was especially shocking, given that he was said to be the strongest even among S-class mages. She had asked Mira how Su Yan had put Laxus in his place, but Mira had only laughed without answering. 

Lucy pictured a hierarchy in her mind: at the top was the guild master, then Su Yan and some mysterious older mage, followed by Erza, Laxus, and Mystogan. Natsu, Gray, and herself were somewhere near the bottom, with everyone else below.

"Maybe I'll even become an S-class mage someday and make a name for myself!" She clenched her fists, smiling to herself. "Right! Starting tomorrow, I'll work harder!"

Just as she reached her door and opened it, she was met with the sight of Natsu in the middle of her living room, dripping with sweat as he did sit-ups. Happy was beside him, lifting dumbbells.

"You're back!" Natsu said, smiling up at her.

Lucy blinked, momentarily stunned. "Go back… to your own place!"

She shrieked, leaping forward to stomp on Natsu's stomach. "Can't you work out at your own house?!"

"We're on a team! Come on, here's something for you. It's pink, so I thought you'd like it." Natsu held up a pink dumbbell.

Lucy recoiled. "I'm not interested in dumbbells! And I told you, the team's disbanded!"

Ignoring her, Natsu moved to the floor, switching to push-ups. "To beat Erza, Laxus, and Su Yan, I need to be even stronger!"

"Love!" Happy chimed in cheerfully, lifting his tiny weights.

Lucy facepalmed, groaning. "This has nothing to do with me! Now get out!"

Suddenly, Natsu paused in the middle of a push-up, his eyes lighting up with determination. "I've decided!"

"Decided what?"

"I'm going to take on an S-class mission!" He stood up, a gleam in his eye, while Happy held up a scroll with an S-rank mission request.

Lucy froze, horrified. "What?! How did you get that? Only S-class mages are allowed on the second floor!"

Happy smiled innocently. "I took it easily. Thief cat!"

Natsu shrugged. "It's our first S-class mission, so we picked the cheapest one—still worth 7 million J!"

Lucy shook her head. "No! We're not even allowed to take S-class missions!"

Natsu grinned. "If we complete this, the old man will have to acknowledge my strength!"

Lucy sighed, slumping into a chair. "Honestly, Natsu, you can't keep bending the rules. At least try to stick to the guild's regulations!"

"In that case, I'll *never* get to do an S-class mission," Natsu replied, unfazed. "But fine, you don't have to come along if you're scared."

Happy held up the request again. "It's called 'Please Save Our Island.'"

"An island?"

"A cursed island called Galuna Island."

At the mention of a curse, Lucy's face turned pale. "Curse? Count me out! No way, no how! I don't do ghosts or curses!"

Happy leaned closer, tempted to barter. "How about half of my fish? Will you come then?"

"Still no!" Lucy shook her head, crossing her arms. She wanted nothing to do with curses or anything remotely spooky.

"Fine," Natsu said, shrugging. "But when I complete the mission, I'll be standing up there on the second floor, looking down on you!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Looking down on *me*?" Lucy groaned, watching them leave.

It had been almost a month since she joined Fairy Tail, and she'd started to worry about her finances, especially with her rent looming. Relieved to be left behind, she resolved to find a solid mission of her own.

Turning toward her bedroom, she noticed something on the floor.

"What's this?" Picking it up, she realized it was the S-rank mission request Happy had left behind. "Did they just… leave this here?"

Panic set in as she realized what this meant. *If the guild master finds this here, he'll think I took it!*

She was about to put it away when her eyes fell on the reward details. Among the rewards listed was… a Celestial Spirit key of the zodiac.

"Is this real?" she murmured, her eyes widening. As a Celestial Spirit mage, Lucy knew how rare zodiac keys were—there were only twelve in the world. Owning one would be a huge milestone for her magic.

And the reward was 7 million jewels. That kind of money would cover her rent for ages.

She hesitated only for a moment longer.

"Natsu! Happy! Wait for me!"