Lucy wasn't overly surprised when Natsu asked her to fight . He was clearly pent-up and needed to release some energy and she was afraid that if she didn't intervene he would blow up the clock tower again. Always thinking with his fists, she thought. He's going to be the death of me.
"You thought I was going to say no, didn't you?" She asked with a smirk on her face.
"Truth is, I've been secretly training. I probably couldn't win if you went all out, but I can hold my own for awhile. Want to spar?"
She knew without a doubt that that challenge would surprise him and sure enough Natsu's eyebrows were raised; a look of not quite incredulity but of curiosity starting to materialize under those pink locks. Her thoughts drifted back to the last year...
"I want to become stronger."
The simple declaration was all she needed to say to get a reaction out of Loke, her strongest combat spirit. He looked at her with the same eyes that all her spirits have been giving her recently. The loss of Aquarius, while affecting Lucy the most, was still a burden that all her spirits felt. She knew that her feelings and emotions were not hidden from them.
"During our battle, the Spirit King gave me Aquarius' power - can I still access it?"
Loke looked thoughtful for a moment before answering, "Hmm...I'm not 100% percent, but I also don't see why not. He gave you the ability to use Urano Metria on your own, without the use of Gemini. I would say that from now on you will be able to use it as your magical ability has increased. We can all feel how much more you have when you summon us. Furthermore, you were able to summon three Zodiac keys at once. I realize this was under extreme duress, but if your ability has increased as I think it has then you should be able to repeat that in the future."
Lucy took all of this in. Being able to summon three Zodiac spirits at once? This was a game changer for her. She reflected on the possibilities this afforded. She already was able to command unison raids with Taurus and Scorpio. If she could summon three at once, she could utilize more options for unison raids. Memories of her fight with Angel during Nirvana floated into her head. She had to be aware of the celestial spirits relationships with one another if she was to effectively use this new-found ability. She already knew that Loke and Virgo were a good match. I could probably work Aries into the mix with that combination, she thought. Taurus and Scorpio were a shoe in, but Sagittarius, Gemini or Capricorn could seamlessly insert themselves into that combination as well she thought.
"Loke, could we practice three-gate summoning as well as three-spirit unison raids?" She excitedly exclaimed.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Lets start with myself, Virgo and Aries."
"That's just what I was thinking" said Lucy.
"Good, let's go!"
A cheeky smile lit her face as she went for her keys. Natsu had no idea what was about to happen.
She couldn't help herself, she was getting all fired up.