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A childhood nightmare I didn't realize could actually happen: exploding spiders.

The next five-ish chapters are all happening chronologically alongside the previous two, spanning the fifth day.
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{NASHI'S POV}
Yeah yeah, laugh it out. I'm the daughter of a demon (who chooses to live as a human) and granddaughter of a fire dragon, a king of his species. I'm one of the strongest mages of my generation.

And I'm afraid of teensy little spiders.

I can't help it, okay? I used to be a friend to spiders. Whenever someone would find one in the guild hall and try to kill it, I was always the one who trapped them and brought them outside.

One day, Aunt Erza found an unusually big spider near her strawberry cake. She was ready to defend her food with lethal violence. So, naturally, I intervened. I grabbed the spider by it's overly swollen abdomen without even thinking about it.

I didn't know the spider was pregnant! And I wasn't really paying attention, but I certainly didn't know that I was squeezing it too hard!

Long story short, the spider popped open. That alone would be traumatizing enough for an impressionable seven-year-old girl. But instantaneously, thousands of babies scattered from her abdomen onto me. They crawled down my arm, into my clothes and mouth. I ran out of the guild hall screaming and swatting, but those little buggers are hella fast!

Now anytime I see a spider, I imagine it exploding and a bazillion itty bitty creepy crawlies swarming me. The thought of it makes me itch and squirm. All those little legs scurrying across my skin. Ugh.

I shudder; Storm notices. He elbows me lightly to draw my attention away from my thoughts. He grabs my hand and I link my fingers through his gratefully.

I wouldn't be able to do this without Storm. Honestly, I wouldn't even know this place existed if not for him. We're currently at the Crocus post office, looking at the rush job request board.

I didn't even know there was a request board in the post office. But not every town or city has a guild hall, and sometimes there are jobs where it might be too late by the time an official request can posted on guild boards, like hostage situations or a missing child. Post offices get this information and post it on all of their boards, which are connected through a lacrima network. These are known as rush jobs.

Wizards without guilds can work rush jobs, although the reward is worse because rush jobs are funded by the kingdom. The person making the request doesn't have to pay nearly as much as they would for a private request to the guilds.

Jobs on guild request boards usually cost around 1,000 Jewel to post, plus the person making the request has to provide a reward. Meanwhile rush jobs cost a total of 200 Jewel or less to post and the reward is provided by the post office. It's a lot cheaper and pays less, but the work is still stressful.

Most mages get employment through guilds, so a lot of people who take rush jobs aren't full-time wizards; instead they dabble in magic but don't make it their career. Thus, rush jobs are failed more frequently. This is why they aren't popular, even if they're faster.

Which isn't to say that guild wizards can't accept rush jobs, and that's exactly what Storm wants me to do. Every rush job from every corner of the kingdom is in the post office network. Surely there's one that can help me overcome my fear of spiders.

The lady behind the desk finds a spidery job almost immediately. And it's nearby.

"The town of Heather recently had to evacuate from Shark Tooth Mountain due to an infestation of violent venomous spiders." She chirps.

I swallow hard. "Delightful."

"They've chased out all of the native fauna and are completely destroying the ecosystem."

I want to refuse. How am I supposed to deal with an outbreak of spiders? What if I kill one and it's pregnant and I make the situation ten times worse? Storm squeezes my hand encouragingly.

Gotta face my fear. "I'll do it."

I sign all the paperwork, and I'm feeling pretty confident about the job. I can do this! Like Mom always says, I'm a big scary giant to spiders. They're a lot more afraid of me than I am of them.

Worst case scenario, Storm will be with me so I'll be okay even if I pass out.

I drag Storm out the door, aiming for the jagged tooth-shaped mountain that's visible in the distance. Better to get this over with before my enthusiasm wanes and I inevitably chicken out.

"Yes!" The desk lady high-fives her coworker. "I was a bit worried, but with Nashi Dragneel and Storm Fullbuster on the job, those Titanic Tarantulas will be gone in a jiffy!"

Say what now? I stop dead in my tracks.

I turn on my heel and speed walk back to the request acceptance desk, slamming my hand that isn't entwined with Storm's onto the counter. "Excuse me. Can you repeat that?"

The lady behind the desk grins. "Titanic Tarantulas? With legs like tree trunks, they have bodies the size of a hippopotamus and mouths twice as deadly! One bite and the potent neurotoxin coating their teeth can kill an adolescent in less than half an hour. That is if you don't die from blood loss first, since their teeth are Mother Nature's equivalent of a wood chipper."

No. Way. In. Hell.

Not happening. I thought Heather was getting overrun by regular violent spiders, not giant-ass neurotoxic wood-chipper-mouthed eldritch horrors!

No way am I going anywhere near that mountain! I'm going to apologize and return the job.

Unless... I still have a spell which wouldn't require me to go anywhere near an infestation of spiders with 'Titan' in its name. This spell isn't battle-tested so I was hesitant to use it against Miu, but didn't the desk lady say all the residents had been evacuated?

"Where are the evacuees now?"

"In Crocus. All people living in a ten mile radius of the mountain have been transported here."

I smile. "Excellent."

I drag Storm back out of the post office. I don't aim for Shark Tooth Mountain. In fact, I don't plan to step outside the city limits. Storm and I head back to our hotel, which also happens to be the tallest building in the vicinity, giving me the best possible view of the mountain peak in the distance. I need that optimal visibility to aim right.

We stand together on the roof. I reluctantly let go of Storm's hand. Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus and control the release of demonic energy.

My magic power spikes. I struggle to remain in control as red washes over my vision.

I summon a ball of fire in front of me, and condense all my magic power into that one spot. I begin to chant, "I envoke the god of fire! Thee who dwells in magma, who spews forth from the depths to destroy all, judge this land with your fists of blazing meteors and find it unworthy! Rain down, Pompeii!"

I launch the condensed fireball into the sky. For a second, nothing happens.

And then the sky explodes.

A perfect circle is ripped in the sky far above Crocus, yet it still looks the same size as the city which is a testament to its diameter. Light blue makes way for pitch black, speckled with twinkling stars. It has become night above Crocus alone.

Then comes the vacuum. The buildings, the grass, the land itself, seems to stretch and elongate towards the hole in the sky. Anything small or not nailed down is sucked towards my spacial vortex: hats, purses, mailboxes, trash cans, toddlers. Everything.

The pull grows stronger every second. I'm lifted up by the suction force, but Storm grabs my waist and freezes himself to the roof so securely that the entire hotel will fly away before we do.

Small flecks of red are visible from my hole in the sky. Their true size becomes apparent as they fly closer: giant meteors, each the size of a house.

The meteors of pure condensed fire fly through the spacial rift and pass over the city. The heat emitted is so intense that even perpetually-cold Storm yelps. His arms bake and blister but he refuses to let me go.

The meteors all strike poor Shark Tooth Mountain with bullseye accuracy. Molten rock splashes hundreds of feet in the air from the force of the collision. The meteors lay waste, reducing the once proud snowy peak to a bunch of craters and lava lakes. A small tweak to the topography.

The sky snaps closed as quickly as it opened. Things that were dragged up by the vacuum fall back down, parents shriek and try to catch their flying children, and the day is peaceful once more.

Storm still carries me in his arms. I grin down at him. "So? Do you think I exterminated the spiders?"
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Good thing Nashi didn't use her Pompeii spell against Miu, eh? She was considering it!