{NASHI'S POV}
"Bone magic, first phase: Reanimate." Miu chants.

I'm so screwed, and I totally blame Dad for refusing—no matter how much or how long I begged and pleaded—to teach me his fire dragon slayer magic.

I count five small dragons, two medium-sized, and one ridiculously large bone beast that Miu jumps onto; she rides on it's thoracic vertebrae. The big boy backs off with his rider so the smaller ones can close in to finish me, and since when is that fair?

The crowd is on the edge of their seats cheering. To them, it looks like Miu has this victory in the bag. I haven't even gotten close to her yet, plus I'm tired from the battle royale earlier. Not a great combo.

My magic bounces off the bones entirely unscathed, and it's all I can do to dodge their onslaught. Geez, you'd think after 420 or so years, the dragon's claws and fangs would be weak or dull. You'd be wrong.

My magic, known for it's destructive potential, has been rendered useless. I grit my teeth. I can't give up now. I promised my team we'd sweep the podium. What should I do? Should I use that spell?

Nah, the range is too wide and I can't control it. I don't want to be a murderer.

I want to be a slayer. A dragon slayer.

Just because Dad hasn't taught me his techniques doesn't mean I haven't watched him.

Over and over, ever since I was a little girl and Dad took me on simple quests, I've watched him blow away bandits and burn entire cities. I've been Dad's biggest fan for a long time now.

I know every step of how to perform his spells. I've seen him go through the motions hundreds of times. I stop moving and take a deep breath.

This makes me a target. The largest dragon claws me, a painful side swipe carrying the force of a wrecking ball. The bony beast sends me careening into the arena wall and leaves a massive crater. The smaller lackeys close in like a shoal of piranhas.

I wipe blood from my mouth and widen my stance. Take on the aspects of a dragon to kill a dragon; that's what dragon slayer magic is all about.

I look at the eight dragon skeletons in front of me. Their razor sharp claws. Their dagger-like teeth. Their giant bodies that still manage to be agile. Why can't I be all of those things too?

I wanna be as strong as Dad. No, I wanna surpass him! I don't need to be protected, chasing after Dad all my life. I'm gonna walk proudly hand in hand with him and Mom, have them pat me on the head and say, "You did so good!"

My cheeks puff out as fire magic wells up inside my mouth. But this fire is different from my usual. It feels like a warm embrace, as if Dad is picking me up and spinning me around.

I always complain that he's treating me like a baby when he does that, but I'm secretly happy inside.

I can feel the weight of this fire in my mouth. I grin. I've done it. I've broken through that insurmountable wall after years of watching, studying, training, and the force of sheer willpower.

I blow a stream of fire out of my mouth at one of the small dragon skeletons.

"It's pointless!" Miu shouts. She doesn't even bother to command the bone dragon to move.

"Hard work and effort is never pointless!" I scream defiantly, and my breath attack hits its mark.

Rather than shrug it off, the bone dragon rears and stumbles backwards. It continues to burn, the dry white skeleton turning black then crumbling to ash. I absolutely incinerated it.

The fire continues to grow and spread around the arena, engulfing all the small and medium-sized dragons and cremating them.

I bow my head. "Rest in peace."

I turn to face my opponent solemnly. Now it's just me, Miu, and the bony big boy she's riding.

"I-I won't make the same mistake twice." Miu says. Her eyes narrow and she's sweating from the heat. Her bone dragon takes a cautious stance, prepared to protect its reanimator.

I coat my fists and legs in my new fire dragon slayer magic. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist and Claw!"

I leap towards the bone beast, prepared to beat and kick and bash my way to Miu. She's a lot more cautious, having her dragon actively avoid my attacks while she prepares another spell.

I punch and pound but can't get close. Finally, it seems Miu has finished preparing.

"Bone magic, second phase: Reinvigorate!" She shouts, and the skeleton of the dragon begins to glow. I jump back and raise my arms defensively.

"I've returned the corpse to half the power it had when it was alive! That should be plenty of power to deal with a freshly hatched dragon slayer like you!" Miu points at me triumphantly. "Skelly, show Nashi your fearsome breath attack!"

The glowing bone dragon's jaw unhinges and points at me. I brace myself. A stream of fire blasts towards me, heating the air to insufferable levels. Within seconds, I'm surrounded by a blistering inferno.

{LEXI'S POV}
"Nashi!" I cry in horror, watching through my fingers as she's consumed by the flames. "Oh Mavis, Miu's killing her! Why isn't the battle over?!"

I feel a rough hand on my shoulder. I look back to find Uncle Natsu. He's completely relaxed, not worried at all. In fact, he's grinning.

"Nashi'll be fine. Since she really wanted to learn, we've been looking into this for a while now. Lucy found out that there's a way to transfuse antibodies, so I was planning on starting Nashi's training. She beat me to it, the little scamp."

"Definitely your daughter." Aunt Lucy laughs, walking over and elbowing her husband playfully in the side. Uncle Natsu wraps his arms around her.

"And she's brilliant, just like you." He kisses her cheek. Aunt Lucy leans back against his chest.

Storm raises his hand. "I agree that my girlfriend is awesome, but enough with the PDA please."

Uncle Natsu and Aunt Lucy blissfully ignore him.

Reiki makes eye contact with me. He looks at Nashi's parents and laughs, shaking his head and grinning like, 'Can you believe those two?' Embarrassed, I quickly look back at the fight.

Which dampens my mood as I'm reminded of the pickle Nashi's in.

"None of that matters if Nashi's toasted like a marshmallow." I mutter darkly, annoyed that there's some big secret I'm not aware of.

Uncle Natsu chuckles, looking bemused. "Have you forgotten? Just watch."

I hesitantly turn back to the fight. Down in the arena, Miu looks nervous. She didn't hold back. The bone dragon is still barbecuing Nashi.

Suddenly, from within the torrent of fire, there's a sound of maniacal laughter.

"You. You dare? I'm the half-demon granddaughter of the fire dragon king. As if these paltry flames could ever hurt me!"

There's a gurgling, sucking sound as Nashi sucks the entire stream of fire into her mouth. Her belly bulges for a second before returning to normal.

Oh, of course! Nashi's a fire dragon slayer now. Naturally, a fire attack won't hurt her. I blush. I got all worked up over nothing.

Nashi opens her eyes, which glow red. Dark marks creep down her arms and legs, and she doesn't realize that 90% of her clothes have burned away.

"Oh Mavis." Storm groans. "Nashi's snapped again."