The Next Dragon Slayer

The Battle Begins

"Oh, did you think it would be so easy?"
I struggle to move as I'm stuck in place.
"What the heck did you do," I squirm.
"I just cast a little spell to keep you still for a minute," She waves a hand dismissively. "So now that I have you here, let's chat."
"I don't want to talk, I want to fight," I growl as I thrash around.
"Too bad, you don't get to choose here. But do you really get to choose anywhere? I mean, you're still just a teenager." She chuckles at me.
"I can't be much younger than you," I mutter angrily.
"Maybe, but you haven't went through what I have."
"And what might that be?" I ask, getting obviously frustrated.
"You want my sob story? What happened to fighting? Have you given up so quickly?" She walks circles around.
I glance at Storm and Emma battling the three mages. I've definitely not given up because I can't even get started.
"Is this just how you guild is? You send horribly weak wizards to get back your little brats, and then we capture them too. I'm so bored of you not actually putting up a fight that I had to torture those kids. That also got boring, unfortunately," Celesta picks at her nails as she paces.
I stop struggling.
"What did you say?" I whisper with a deadly quiet.
"That I tortured the kids. Yeah, the little blond boy, your brother, even put up a good fight. He eventually passed out like the others, though. He'll probably even have a scar,"
That witch is talking about Luke, my thoughts whip around my head.
"They all didn't last long. So disappointing that the best guild in Fiore wasn't more threatening. I thought beating you would be a challenge, and now they've sent more kids to deal with my guild!" She laughs hysterically.
This chick is crazy. But then my mind snags on her last words. Her guild. She's the guild master.
"So Venom Rose is your guild?" I try not to sound like rage is about to incinerate me from the inside out.
"Yes, it's my guild." She sounds almost bored.
I know this might be a waste of time to even try, but I need to make some progress.
"Why form a guild like this?" I ask as inconspicuously as possible.
"Because! Why wouldn't you?" She smiles wistfully, and I hide my shudder. Creep. "If you could make a guild so strong that it was able to defeat the strongest guild, would you?"
I look at her like she's insane, but she must not notice because she rambles on.
"If you become the strongest guild, you earn respect. No one can accuse you of weakness," She finishes, but that last part seemed to stir something inside her.
I suddenly have my chance, just like I'd hoped. Her attention momentarily slips from holding me in place, giving me enough strength to break her hold on me. I jump back, finally free, and then she notices what I've done. She lifts a hand to cast a spell, but I beat her to it.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" I shout before fire erupts through the room.
Celesta dodges it at the last second, and begins to counter.
"You think you can beat me just by making me talk about my past? I'm hurt that you think I'm so pathetic," She fake pouts before snarling at me. "Gravity Elimination Bubble!"
So her magic is Gravity Magic. Kagura Mikazuchi is the only other person I've heard of who uses Gravity Magic. But Celeste's seems a little bit different.
Abruptly, a huge bubble wraps around Celesta and I as we begin floating. She levitates perfectly and stays standing, while I scramble around to find purchase. In the end, I just turn somersaults and flail like crazy. My stomach even starts to feel slightly queasy, thanks to my stupid motion sickness. Get it together, I mentally scold myself, You're making Fairy Tail look worse.
During my little acrobatics show, Celesta just stands in place, practically howling with laughter. My anger just keeps growing and growing, shout out to my dad for giving me his temper, but I try something new anyway. I calm down and stay still for a minute. Maybe if I can just stay calm, I'll be able to move in this thing.
However, just as that thought crosses my mind, a strong kick lands on my back. I grunt as I'm knocked into the side of the bubble.
"I still can't believe you think you have a chance! I've been ready for this my whole life, but you can barge in here with no knowledge of my guild and expect to win this fight? Not a chance, Nashi Dragneel," She laughs wickedly.
I'm about to make another remark, but then I remember something. I never told them my name or that Luke is my brother, and no one has said it since we got here. The gears are still turning as I work to figure out what's going on when Celesta appears right in front of me.
A dark look covers her pretty, but evil face as she speaks. "This was the last chance for a reason, Nashi. I knew you'd come, and that was all I wanted,"