"Hey, Lucy, your place is pretty nice!"
At Lucy's house, Gray, shirtless and sprawled on the couch, greeted her casually.
"Breaking and entering!! And why are you stripping in my house?!" Lucy shouted, launching a kick at Gray's face.
"Wait, wait… you've got it all wrong! I took my shirt off before I got here!"
"Get out!!"
After the commotion settled, Gray got to the point. "Today's the day, you know. I came to remind you in case you forgot."
Lucy blinked, confused. "What're you talking about?"
"You totally forgot, didn't you?" Gray scratched his head. "It's what Natsu was talking about—the duel with Erza!!"
"!!!"
In front of the Fairy Tail guild, a massive crowd had gathered, buzzing with excitement. Hundreds of guild members formed a huge circle, their eyes fixed on the two figures standing in the center: Natsu and Erza, the stars of today's duel.
By the time Lucy arrived, the two had been facing off for a while.
"Hold on!! Are they… actually serious about this?" Lucy asked, wide-eyed.
Clearly, she still hadn't fully adjusted to the chaotic energy of Fairy Tail.
Elfman, standing nearby, chimed in. "Of course they're serious! If you're not serious in a fight, you're not a real man!!"
Mira turned to her brother with a gentle reminder. "But Erza's a woman, you know."
Macao, sweating nervously, muttered, "More like a monster woman…"
"But… a showdown between two members of the strongest team…" Lucy mused.
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Strongest team? What's that?"
"You know—you, Natsu, Erza, and Kira. Fairy Tail's ultimate lineup…"
"Ha!" Gray laughed, amused. "That's ridiculous! Who even came up with that?"
Behind him, Mira, who'd been smiling brightly, suddenly covered her face, tears streaming down. "It… it was me…"
"Huh?!" Gray froze, flustered. He'd always been helpless around crying girls.
"Kira and Erza, sure, I get that," Elfman said. "But Natsu and Gray? Real men, yeah, but calling them the strongest? No way. Fairy Tail's got tons of heavy hitters—like me, for starters."
"Erza's definitely the strongest woman in Fairy Tail," someone added. "But for the guys, besides Kira, you've got Laxus and Mystogan too. They're no joke."
"Oh? Sounds like someone's talking about me," came a voice. Kira appeared out of nowhere, grinning. "If we're not counting the Master, the strongest in the guild is definitely me. Laxus doesn't hold a candle to me—he's, like, a few Natsus behind!"
The crowd groaned. "What kind of measurement is that…?"
"Kira, what're you doing here today?" someone asked.
"You think I'd miss a show like this?" he replied, smirking.
"No way, it's obvious Erza's gonna win!" someone shouted.
"Don't count Natsu out—he's tough too!" another voice countered. "Oh, by the way, I saw Cana sneaking around back, taking bets. Wanna wager how long Natsu'll last? Twenty minutes has the best odds, five minutes the worst."
"Pfft, so basically no one thinks Natsu's winning?" someone laughed. "You bet on five minutes, didn't you?"
"No way! I'm a law-abiding wizard; I don't get mixed up in that stuff," the other protested. "Just saying, Cana's probably gonna lose big on this one. Wonder when she'll pay me back what she owes me."
"Heh, if she can't pay, maybe she'll offer to be your girlfriend instead!" someone teased.
"Don't even joke about that! I'd rather die than betray my love for money!" came the indignant reply.
Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Wow, you're really obsessed with money…"
"Hey, a rich girl like you wouldn't get it," the other shot back playfully. "Us poor folks have a different mindset, ya know!"
"!!!" Lucy panicked, laughing nervously. "Haha… what're you talking about? I don't follow…"
Kira leaned in close, a sly grin on his face, and whispered, "I know all about you, Lucy. The famous railway tycoon's daughter, the heiress of the Heartfilia Group, with a few mountains to your family's name, right?"
Lucy's eyes darted around, checking if anyone overheard. Relieved no one had, she whispered back, "How… how do you know that?"
"Heh, I'm Fairy Tail's info gatherer. You think I wouldn't do my homework on guild members?" Kira rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed… but about that golden key we talked about? Price just went up."
"What?!" Lucy gasped, remembering the Celestial Spirit key Kira had. "But… I ran away from home! I don't have that kind of money!"
"No problem, we can do installments," Kira said smoothly. "It'll just cost a bit more, that's all."
"Come on, Lucy, as a Celestial Spirit wizard, doesn't it break your heart to see those poor spirits sitting in my shop, collecting dust, all lonely with no one to summon them?" Kira asked, his tone almost too persuasive.
Something about his words felt… off to Lucy, like he was scheming something weird.
Then it hit her. "Wait a second—you said 'those'? You mean you've got more than one golden key?!"
Kira' grin widened, practically sparkling. "Yup! Besides the Sagittarius key I mentioned, I've also got Libra and Pisces. Oh, and get this—even the legendary Ophiuchus, the Snake Charmer, is in my hands."
These three keys were among the spoils of Kira' trading ventures over the past two years.
Originally, those keys were supposed to appear seven years later with Yukino from Sabertooth. But now, they were in Kira' possession—way ahead of schedule.
And what did that mean? It meant Lucy might just achieve her dream, something she never did in the original story: collecting all thirteen golden Celestial Spirit keys.
It was a collector's dream come true!
Kira, for his part, never quite understood why Yukino even showed up in the story. In the Grand Magic Games arc, where she got the most screen time, her strength and relevance were practically nonexistent compared to Sabertooth's other five members. She barely moved the plot forward at all.
And her character? A 95% copy-paste job. White-haired little sister, Celestial Spirit wizard, and a love interest for a Dragon Slayer? It was like mashing Lisanna and Lucy together to create a knockoff meant to compensate for Natsu and Lisanna's childhood bond.
But popularity didn't matter to Hiro Mashima, the creator. No fans? No problem—just market her! And how? Well, everyone knows how. In the final arc, Mashima pulled out his old tricks to boost Yukino's popularity, pitting her against Larcade from the Spriggan 12 and hitting her with a dose of Desire Magic. A page or so of fanservice later, it might not have done much for her character, but it sure looked nice.
Anyway, back to the present—Kira now held four golden keys. Lucy, after getting Virgo's key, also had four. The remaining five were scattered: Gemini, Scorpio, and Aries were with Angel from Oración Seis, Capricorn was with the Seven Kin, and as for Leo…
Kira glanced at Loke, not far off. His time was running out.
If things went as expected, only Lucy could convince the Celestial Spirit King to forgive Loke's crimes. That would make Leo her key, which wasn't a bad deal at all.
After all, Kira' Word Magic was already plenty powerful. Celestial Spirit keys were a bit redundant for him.
Besides, one Celestial Spirit wizard in the guild was more than enough!
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