Time Changes Everything

Training

   Lucy whimpered as the hold Dragonis had on her tightened as she tried to wiggle her way out of his grip. The spirit was steaming, with good reason. He hadn't taught her a single thing and she was already trying to rip that poison slayer's pants off. Keeping them away from one another might prove to be difficult in the future, but for now he could focus on raising her the only way he knew how, with brute force. 

   He had transported the two through his gate again, off near the capital, but he wasn't going to tell the blonde that. Then she would know her way back home and he was not about to track her down when she lost control of her instincts again. Because he just knew how often this would happen and there was no way around it. The blonde would most likely go and kill a few things, collect shit the thought was worth hoarding, most likely the towns sparkly shit and something else her dragon found pleasing. 

   Dragonis would be lying if he said he wasn't the tiniest bit curious as to how she would handle the change. He just hoped no one would find them, he really didn't want to explain to anyone just why she was out here living like she was in exile even though she technically was.

   The first few days was hell for the blonde. Her senses were kicked into overdrive and it often led to intense and painful headaches from the sun being too bright, or the sounds being too loud, or the smells being to strong. That and accompanied with the raging of her dragon as Dragonis explained, was telling her that something wasn't right non stop. He explained that she would be in distress for quite a bit before she settled down and her instincts would settle with her. 

   Training came soon after she was able to tolerate her new senses and instincts and Dragonis was a beast. He pushed her to her limit and then some. He was insanely proud of her for how far she had come in the short span of a few weeks. She hadn't mastered any spells, but he was steadily working her towards that mark. She could barely control her roar, with it either not working all together or it ricocheting off in a random direction and most likely hitting a few innocent animals. That didn't mean she wasn't making progress. The blonde had nearly mastered her Spacial Dragon's claw and wing attack as well as a few spells that were entirely unrelated to dragon slaying magic. 

   One of the first spells Dragonis taught her allowed for her to slow and speed up time to her choosing. The incantation was simple, the hard part was controlling how it worked. At first Dragonis showed her how to effect only certain things. He pulled an apple from one of the trees around them and showed her what to do.

   Lucy focused her magic into the space surrounding the apple, her eyes clenched shut as she muttered the incantation. "Rewrite: Reverse time." 

   Nothing happened. Dragonis explained that he had not expected anything to anyway, it was her first time casting the spell and he would've been surprised if she managed to pull it off. He told her to brush it off and try again. It took her two days before she could control reversing time of a single object let alone the space around her. Dragonis made sure that when she attempted to do so, that he would be there to fix whatever mistake she made. That took her a week of practice, and even then she hadn't managed to control just how far back she went. 

   With that spell somewhat mastered, he moved on to speeding up time. The incantation was similar and he once again used the apple to show her. Lucy nodded her head eagerly as he explained that this one was almost identical but instead of going backwards, she was to move forward. 

   With the apple in hand Lucy once again cast the spell. "Rewrite: Acceleration." This time however, Lucy managed to pull it off. Dragonis had been ecstatic. 

   He was so impressed that she pulled it off that he allowed her to relax for the rest of the day, after she proved to him it wasn't some fluke or a one time thing. Lucy soon mastered those two spells and Dragonis showed her how to summon her own pocket dimension for her to store stuff in. He also explained that this pocket dimension could hold living organisms as well as non living, showing her with a rat to prove this. He of course started her off with pieces of paper and pens, and when she showed signs of improvement, he allowed her to move to animals and eventually herself. 

   The pocket dimension was almost like Erza's requip, but with a little added bonus. It was like summoning a gate, she could make one appear anywhere so long as she pictured it in her head. 

   "Spacial Lock: Pocket Dimension." A tear formed in the air, so dark that nothing could be seen and Lucy stepped through, Dragonis following behind just in case something went wrong and she couldn't get herself out. 

   The pitch black enveloped the girl and left her feeling cold but secure, as if she was suspended in water. Except that she wasn't floating and she could feel ground beneath her. 

   "Good, now get us back." The request had the girl flinching. 

   She knew by the chuckle she heard in Dragonis' voice that he hadn't expected her to get here, let alone get back. Frowning, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut tightly, ignoring the still chuckling spirit as she focused on the pull of her magic.

   "Spacial Lock: Gate Open." The words came to her naturally, as if she had done this a thousand times before. 

   The way Dragonis' silent laughing cut off, she knew that she had done something right. Opening her eyes, she was blinded by the sudden intrusion of light that spilled in from the tear in the air. Grinning up at the dumbfounded look on her spirit's face, she stepped through, waiting for the dragon to step outside. The blank look on his face had her giggling, a hand over her mouth to stifle any noise. 

   "I don't know how nor do I want to. You can take a break for today, I need to go sit down." Dragonis' voice broke the spell that she had cast over herself and she found herself laughing as he walked away and out of sight. 

   Lucy smiled at his receding back, happy that she had managed to surprise him. Since she started training, she had yet to surprise her trainer. Humming to herself, Lucy spun around and gathered a towel and a change of clothes, ready to bathe in that stream they had found earlier that week for her to clean herself off in.