Welcome to the Mafia Family

Chapter 29 - Weapon Training

"Nervous?" Erza asked me as we were walking to the training room. Today was the first day I get to train with a weapon. "A little" I answered honestly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do well" she said. 'I know you're ready' I replayed what Natsu said to me yesterday in my head, which boosted my confidence. 'I can do this. Natsu has faith in me' I thought, calming my nerves. I wonder what type of weapon I'm going to use? A dagger? A sword? Or maybe a gun?

When we entered the training room, Erza led me over to the weapons wall. "All of these are magic weapons. Take your time and pick the one that speaks to you" she said, gesturing her head for me to go take a look. I hesitantly walked up to the wall and glanced over each weapon. As I looked at each weapon, I tried to imagine myself wielding it, but I couldn't find the right weapon.

A knock on the door interrupted my search. We turned towards the door as Laxus opened it and walked in with a small wooden box in his hand. "Have you picked a weapon yet?" he asked me. "No she hasn't yet" Erza replied with a small smile. Does she know what's in the box?

"Good" he said before walking up to me and holding out the box. I noticed a star was engraved on the lid. I took the box out of his hands and opened it to find a dark brown cylinder with gold ornaments around the edges and has a small blue rope hanging on the end of it with a yellow star-shaped pendant attached. It laid embedded in midnight blue velvet.

"I got this weapon custom made for you. It's called Fleuve d'étoiles and it's an upgraded version of our Mother's" he explained with a sad smile at the end. I was surprised when he mentioned Mama. She wielded a weapon like this? "But she always told me she hated violence" I said, and he chuckled. "Yeah but that doesn't mean she couldn't fight. From the stories the Old Man told me, she used to be the leader of an elite assassin league called the Celestials and would fight to protect the innocent. I'll tell you those stories someday" he said. I was excited to hear stories about Mama.

Looking down at the weapon, it warmed my heart to know he created this weapon especially for me and in the image of Mama's, but I still had one question on my mind. "What is it?" I asked, looking up to him. "Try it out" he replied with a smile so I grasped the handle and pulled it out of the box. Laxus took the box from me as I held my new weapon in my hand but there was one problem, nothing was happening. "Imagine your magic energy flowing into that weapon" Erza instructed, noticing my confusion. I did as she instructed. I felt a surge of energy flowing down my arm and into the handle.

A sparking blue light came from the entrance of the handle for a few seconds before a long electric blue water-like magic energy with gold energy spiralling around it poured out into a whip! The handle felt comfortable and light, and I felt like this was the perfect weapon for me. "I chose this one" I turned to Erza and she nodded proudly. "Then let's get onto the training" she said, and I replied "aye!" confidently.

Ah, that training was hard! My arms feel like they're going to fall off! She got me to do target practice for an entire hour with my whip. An entire hour! Most of the time, I hit the target but other times I missed. She wouldn't let me stop until I landed five consecutive hits. Natsu's training sessions were way more fun.

Later at 2 o'clock, it was time for Natsu, Laxus, Gray, Erza, Gajeel and some other men to leave for the deal with the Sabertooth mafia. Honestly, I didn't like the thought of them going into another mafia's territory. I know they can handle themselves, but deep down I felt like something was going to go wrong.

Natsu appointed Loke to be my bodyguard while they're away. Loke stood next to me as we saw them off. "Take care of her Loke" Natsu ordered. "Will do Boss" Loke replied with a firm nod and then Laxus stepped forward. He grabbed Loke by the collar and raised him up to his eye level. "If you try to flirt or touch my little sister in any way, I will electrify you into a crisp. Got that Playboy?" Laxus threatened with a deadly glare. Terrified for his life, Loke nodded quickly. Confident his threat was understood, Laxus put him down and then stepped in front of me. "I'll be back by midday tomorrow" he said and then pulled me into a hug. "Tell me if that Playboy tries anything" he whispered into my ear. "Don't worry, I'll be fine" I giggled before we separated our hug. He walked over into one of the waiting black cars and hopped into the driver's seat. There goes my lovable, overprotective big brother.

For some reason, I still can't shake this feeling of uneasiness. Natsu noticed my worry and walked up to me. "Do you mind giving us a minute Loke?" he asked. "Sure" Loke replied with a nod before walking away to have a chat with Gray. "Don't worry I'll make sure Laxus comes back unharmed" Natsu said and I shook my head. "It's not that. I can't shake off this bad feeling I have" I explained. "You might be worried because we're going into another mafia's territory but there's nothing to worry about. If they try anything, we can handle it" he said. I had faith they would but that didn't reduce the bad feeling.

'Maybe I'm worrying about nothing' I thought but I was still hesitant. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it" he reassured as he put his hand on my head and then he kissed my forehead. I immediately blushed as red as Erza's hair. He jumped back in shock. "A-Ah well I ah-see ya!" he stuttered nervously and then bolted to the cars with his face as pink as his hair. He jumped into the back of one of the cars and slammed the door shut.

"Why did Natsu run like that?" Loke asked as he casually walked back to me. "Wait, why is your face so red?" he asked, noticing my blush. "N-Nothing" I stuttered and then I quickly waved Natsu, Laxus and the others bye as they drove out of the driveway. 'Why did he kiss me?' I wondered as I held the spot Natsu kissed and watched their cars disappear around a building in the distance.