The Next Dragon Slayer

Curfew

"What was so important that we had to come out here and talk?" Storm paces through the field, our usual hangout, and asks me incredulously.
"Don't act so inconvenienced by this, trust me when I say you'll want to know what Nova said," I plop down on a log and pull Storm down next to me.
I pour out all of the information Nova told me earlier. Storm's expression changes from annoyed to deep in thought. Once I finish talking, Storm considers everything for a moment before he speaks.
"Nashi, that's nothing. Nova talks bull crap all the time. She didn't even give you anything definite," He stares at me with cold blue eyes.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," I whisper quietly.
"Hey," He pokes my arm, "Just don't worry about it,"
I give him a small smile and lean my head on his shoulder.
"Ugh, I can't believe Nova had me all wound up over nothing." I chuckle under my breath.
"Happens to all of us. Nova's crazy," Storm chuckles with me.
Nova really is crazy. I mean, Storm and I are just really close friends. Emma and I are also really close friends, and we're definitely not together. Platonic love, that's all that's between him and I. Trust me.
"But seriously, what if there's any truth to what she said?" I glance up and my brown eyes meet Storm's blue ones.
"We'll deal with that if it happens," Storm replies coolly.
"Of course we will, we're Fairy Tail," A fanged grin spreads across my face.
"You're a dorky little dragon,"
"Yep," I pull my head off of his shoulder and, just for effect, add on some fire-breath.
Tendrils of smoke blow out of my nose and Storm jumps back. He pats down the parts of his jacket that are on fire and then shoots me a look.
"What?" I smile sweetly.
"You're gonna pay for that, Dragneel." He growls.
Before I know it, water is hurtling at me, courtesy of Storm. I let out a little shriek and duck behind a tree. Unfortunately, I still get the brunt of the attack.
"Hey!" I shout.
"What?" Storm smiles at me innocently, just as I did to him.
A small laugh escapes me. I can barely hold it in and eventually I just give up. Storm starts laughing too and soon we're both howling. We fall to the ground and at some point the laughter fades away. Then Storm and I are left lying next to each other in silence. We're both looking up at the star-filled sky when he finally speaks again.
"Nashi, can I ask you something?"
I freeze. My heartbeat quickens and my face goes red. Thankfully, he's not looking at my face to see it.
"Um, sure," My voice shakes a little bit. Stupid Nova has gotten into my head, I think frustratedly.
No more words come from him for a while. Then he says, "You know what, it's not important."
He stands up to leave and offers me a hand. I take and he pulls me up. We say our goodbyes until later, and that's when I realize how late it is. We've been out here for a couple of hours. Mom and Dad are going to kill me.

•••••

I quietly slip inside the front door, hoping not to be heard. As far as I can tell, I haven't made s sound. Surprising since stealth is not my strong suit.
I tiptoe across the kitchen, through the living room, and make it to the stairs before I see him. Dad is sitting on the steps wearing the intimidating look he uses to make bad guys crap their pants. I have a feeling I'll be next.
"Nashi," Dad growls.
Even though Dad is usually a pink-haired softie, he can get extremely scary when he's overprotective or angry.
"Hi, Dad," I smile nervously.
"What were you doing that you couldn't get home earlier?" He questions with a deadly voice.
"I was out talking with Nova and Emma, and then I needed to talk to Storm. We lost track of time." I blurt.
"You were out with Ice Princess's kid? He didn't try anything, did he?"
"No, it was just Storm, all we did was talk," Geez, what is with everybody?
"Your mother is asleep, but she's not happy either. We'll talk about this in the morning," He stands up and lets me through the stairs. I practically run up them and into my room to go to bed. Dad is usually more laid back and fun. Mom is usually the better disciplinarian. I guess today the roles have switched. Don't get me wrong though, they're great parents. But they're also some of the strongest wizards in Fiore, which can make them scary when I'm in trouble.
I sigh and change into my pajamas before brushing my teeth and collapsing in bed. It's been an exhausting day. I'm also pretty sure fear has just stolen twenty years of my life. Regardless, sleep will definitely improve my situation.

•••••

The next morning I awake to harsh sunlight shining in my eyes. I immediately look for a clock to tell me what time it is. My eyes drag up the wall and discover that it's eight in the morning. That's about five hours of sleep for me. Something tells me I should face my punishment sooner than later though, so I get up.
After dressing in my cropped red t-shirt and jean shorts, I grab my scarf and lace up my brown combat boots. A quick glance in the mirror and I decide to leave my medium length pink hair down today, as I prefer to do. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit and this is my usual fashion.
I quietly step down the stairs and look around for my parents. No one's in the living room. I make my way to the kitchen to find both of them at the table. They're not happy.
"Nashi, sit down," My mom demands with a deadly calm. Uh oh.
I sit down carefully and quietly, making no noise.
"Tell me where you were last night." Another barked demand from Mom.
"Nova took me and Emma to get food and we were talking about stuff. Afterwards, I went to talk to Storm about everything and that's why I was late." I spill the words quickly.
Mom raises an eyebrow at me and I keep defending my case. I am telling the truth. After a long and terrifying debate, my fate is decided. No more late nights, be home by ten, and always tell them where I'm going. Overall, I think I got off easy, but that's only because we hadn't discussed a curfew before.
Anyway, after that's said and done we head to the guild for the day. I'm one hundred percent sure that I spend more time at the guild than I do in my own home.
But once we arrive, last night is completely forgotten. Something worse has come up. Something that stops us dead in our tracks once we see the building. The guild hall is covered with sickly pink and green roses that smell poisonously sweet. Venom Roses.