NaLu Highschool: Dragon of the Stars

Chapter 19: "Luce?"

School was finally over! We all went home, and Yukino and I got ready to go on our run. Wendy wanted to come with us at first, but then I told her we were bumping the quota up to a full mile. Long story short, she's not coming.

We were almost finished our run and were on our way back to my house. We're only about 10 minutes away. We decided to take a quick water break, and found a bench on a sidewalk to sit down. We opened our water bottles and drank, stopping every few seconds to reply to the conversation we were having.

We had to end our water break a bit early because a bunch of jerks kept hitting on us. Damn creeps. I had to summon Capricorn just to act as a bodyguard for Yukino while I Lucy Kick them away from us. I'm glad I brought a jacket, because Yukino suddenly started feeling self-conscious about what she was wearing. She was wearing a tank top and some yoga pants, and I was wearing a crop top with shorts. You can't go on a run in a shirt and sweatpants, after all.

I gave her the jacket and closed Capricorn's gate after thanking him. I was glad there was a nice breeze so Yukino wouldn't get overheated in the jacket. It may have been autumn but this week has been blazing hot.

Yukino was getting a little tired since our last break was cut short, so we decided to take another. Just as we were about to sit down, I heard footsteps and an annoying voice I dreaded.

"LuLu what a surpri-!"

"Nope not today Dan!" I yelled as I Lucy Kicked him far away. I've had to use my signature move way more than usual today. All of these creeps are coming at us and it's annoying. We finally sat down for a break and drank the rest of our water. After a five minute break, we felt reenergized and got up, grabbing our stuff and continuing our walk back to my house. We were talking about celestial spirits when I heard more footsteps.

I sighed in annoyance. "Damn it Dan stop following me-"

The sight of an arrow shooting right past me shut me up. That was not Dan Straight, and that arrow was way too close for comfort. I grabbed Yukino's hand and turned around to face our attacker. A black hooded person was reaching for another arrow in their quiver, holding a bow in their free hand. I suddenly sprinted towards the house with Yukino by my side, hoping to gain some distance while they were preoccupied. They obviously knew we would do that because they caught up to us quickly.

"We can't lead whoever this is towards the house. Run past it!" I whispered to Yukino while running. She nodded, not daring to speak as she ran. This person was fast, and has enough accuracy and control to shoot arrows at us while running. They weren't bad shots either.

"Open, gate of the archer, Sagittarius!" I shouted, not even bothering to reach for the gate key. This was another skill I had mastered. A no-contact spirit summon. This means I can open spirit gates without having to touch my gate keys.

Sagittarius appeared, immediately knowing what was going on. If we can't outrun this person, why not fight arrows with arrows? Sagittarius stopped while we kept running. He took aim and shot, but the person jumped over the magic arrows just in time. They obviously had some special skills, and we're definitely trained to be an assassin even if they don't kill. The person became faster and appeared behind Sagittarius, stopping for a split second to shoot him in the back and keep chasing us. I closed his gate.

"Yukino, summoning our spirits won't work. We'll have to run. Grab my hand and hold on tight to your things." I instructed. She did what I said.

"Zodiac Dragon: Acceleration." I whispered. My speed increased by a lot and I ran, holding onto Yukino tightly so I could help her keep up. I didn't sense him behind us anymore so I stopped my speed boost and we ran into the park, behind a huge oak tree. We caught our breaths. We looked around and saw the park completely empty. Lucky us.

"Okay Yukino we need a plan and fast. I caught that person's scent. It's a male. Trained in dragon slayer hunting, specifically zodiac dragons. Which means his full purpose is to track me down and capture me. It just so happens that he now knows what you look like, so I'm sorry but you will be staying with us for the next few weeks, no argument. Okay?" I said, giving her a summary of the info I got on him.

She nodded. She knew better than to argue about this. We had gone over this possibility multiple times with my family and siblings.

"I'll call Sting and tell him where we are." She said, taking her phone out. I nodded, trying to think of a plan. Ophiuchus was too big for Yukino to summon. She could possibly crush the park.

"Okay he's coming. Wendy is at that guy Romeo's house apparently." She said, hanging up.

"Good. She shouldn't be involved in this right now. Okay I have a plan," I said to her, "Transform into your star dress, and I have no choice but to use my dragon's slaying abilities. We have to do this as quickly as possible while being as inconspicuous as possible." I said to her quietly.

She changed into her Ophiuchus star dress, and I broke the seal placed on my dragon slayer magic. My magic power level went up considerably when the seal broke. I could tell it was broken when Yukino's eyes widened. She wasn't used to feeling this much magic power since the seal wasn't broken often. This would make it easier for the guy  to track me, but we wanted this over and done with.

"Found ya." A voice said from behind us. We turned around and saw the guy aiming at us with his bow. We got into fighting position. I didn't wait for his to make the first move.

"Zodiac Dragon: Roar!"

"Fire Dragon: Roar!"

"White Dragon: Roar!"

Three magic blasts hit the guy and he fell back, unconscious.

Did I just hear two more dragon slayer attacks? I thought.

I looked around to see Sting standing to our left, and standing on our right side staring at me with wide eyes, was Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer.

"Luce?"