The Next Dragon Slayer

Nova

"I'm back,"
Emma and I look up to see the young blonde woman enter the guild. Nova Dreyar has returned from her latest S-Class mission.
"Well? Did you miss me or are you kids just going to stand there?" Nova pouts and puts her hands on her hips.
Nova is a couple years older than us, hence the 'kids' nickname we've gotten stuck with.
"Don't worry, we did miss the Lightning Demon," I reply sarcastically.
The Lightning Demon is what Nova is known as around Fiore. She's pretty strong and famous for it. Her parents, Mirajane and Laxus Dreyar are also pretty powerful, which kind of explains it.
"Ugh, that name is so weird, but I guess it makes sense," Nova shoots is an evil grin.
"Geez, Nova, save that for your next victims," Emma shudders.
Nova's feature immediately soften, showing off the beauty she got from her mom. All of the sudden her expression turns serious.
"Hey, I have to go talk with Gramps, but afterwards I'll meet you guys outside. Just give me a sec," Nova swaggers off toward Master Makarov's office, merely holding up her hand as a goodbye.
Once she's gone, I turn to Emma and shrug. Emma looks at me in return and I can tell she's as lost as I am. Regardless, we both step outside the guild and wait for her to return. However, we aren't alone out there.
Storm sits outside talking with Reiki Fernandes. They're both joking around and laughing loudly enough that Emma rolls her eyes. I grab her arm and pull her over to the other side of the cobblestone street and wait in the area out of earshot from the guys.
"What do you think is going on?" I cross my arms and lean against the wall of the guild.
"Not sure. I've never seen Nova act like that before," Emma shrugs.
"Yeah," I mumble.
"Well, I'm too tired to think about it." Emma yawns and crosses her arms behind her head.
I nod in agreement, but my mind is still wandering. Something is up.
"Ready to go?" Nova's voice, now back to normal, gathers my thoughts again.
"Yup," Emma and I reply.
"You guys hang out so much you've synchronized," Nova chuckles and starts walking down the street towards our go to hang out.
Emma and I fall into step beside her as she recounts the stories of her job. She'd went on a month long job to hunt down some group that had been terrorizing a village. Of course being Nova, she took them down single-handed.
We're still talking even as we sit down in a booth at a local cafe. When she finishes her tale, she changes the subject.
"So, are you two still hanging around Storm the heartbreaker?" Nova asks slyly. I might not have mentioned Storm's good looks make him kind of sought after by a lot of girls.
"I don't as much as Nashi does," Emma replies equally as slyly.
"Well, yeah, we hang out. Storm's one of my best friends," I shrug nonchalantly.
"Just friends? I could've sworn that you two would've gotten together by now," Nova looks at me, unconvinced.
"It's really not like that," I put my hands up defensively, but I can feel my face heating up.
"Well you should think about it. You two would be adorable!" She practically squeals. Just like her mom with all of the 'shipping'.
"What did you have to talk to Gramps about?" I quickly shift the topic.
Nova's expression goes dark again. She looks around us and then whispers, "Our guild is in danger. Something bad is coming and I'm not sure if we can beat it."
"What do you mean?" Emma leans forward, "Of course we can beat it,"
"We're Fairy Tail, that's kind of our thing," I blurt.
Nova sighs. "That's why I call you guys kids. Sometimes you don't understand how the world really works. There's always someone stronger out there."
The waiter appears at our table holding our tray of cupcakes. Suddenly, I'm not that hungry anymore. He hands them out to us and we thank him solemnly. No one touches their food.
"What is threatening the guild? If we can know it's something unbeatable, at least tell us what it is." Emma ventures.
"It's a new guild, but they're not official. They can't be because of the things they do. They call themselves Venom Rose." Nova says quietly, a dark look on her face.
"I've never heard of them," I raise an eyebrow.
"That's because they stay under the radar. They're bad people, Nashi. Really bad. I know you have that confidence that makes you feel like you can beat anyone and everyone, but don't try to get mixed up with these people."
We all go silent. Nova looks down at her cupcake as she picks at it with her fork. Emma looks our the window, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, no doubt already thinking up a plan. I still remain staring at Nova.
"You can't expect me to stay out of something this serious. You know how I am," I growl.
"I know, that's why I shouldn't have told you. Listen, none of this is set in stone yet. Nothing could even happen, so just calm down and don't think about it." Nova gives me a weak smile.
"Yeah, you're right," I mumble.
"Okay, good. Well, I'll see you both tomorrow, I need to go get some sleep," Nova stands up and strides out of the cafe.
I look down to see Nova has left money to cover all of our food. Emma looks over me and I can tell she knows what I'm thinking. She knows I'm not planning on staying out of any fights that may happen with Venom Rose.
Later that night, I wave goodbye to Emma as I she steps inside her house. She still has training tomorrow, so she said she wanted to rest beforehand. Even though Nova's attitude made it pretty clear about the secrecy of the topic, I know I have to talk about with someone. With Emma asleep, my options are narrowed to one other person. Storm Fullbuster.

•••••

"Nashi?" Storm sticks his head out his window, voice groggy from sleep.
"Yeah it's me, come outside so we can talk," I cross my arms defiantly after I drop the handfuls of rocks I planned to throw at his window if he didn't answer. I may have already thrown several.
"About what?" He yawns.
"Nova told me some stuff that I shouldn't just yell out in the street." I tap my foot impatiently.
"You know it's like midnight, right?"
"Yeah,"
Storm looks me dead in the eye. I stare back at him, unwavering.
"Alright then, I'll meet you downstairs," Storm sighs.