Something Wicked This Way Comes
by ToxicSeraphim
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Chapter One
Punch A Hole Through The Universe
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It seemed, as I was stared down by a massive, black lupine demon with a bone-white mask and teeth like trench knives, that this was the end of the existence once known as Lucy Layla Heartfilia. My mind couldn't draw forth a single scenario where I could escape the frothing abomination lunging violently for me, and the idea of somehow subduing or – God forbid – killing the demon was laughable.
I had tried coming on three dozen times to Summon a Spirit, and had completely and utterly failed each and every time. My more powerful and trustworthy Spirits such as Leo the Lion, Capricorn the Goat, and even Aquarius the Mermaid have been just as silent from beyond the Gates as little Canis Minor or Musca the Fly. It wasn't long before my initial admittedly bratty annoyance and impatience transformed into horror.
Exact time is difficult in a desolate forest, but it might have been when I noticed the shattered moon in the sky that I was ninety-nine percent sure wasn't there last time I looked. Or, perhaps, when I scaled a tree and noticed said desolate forest went on for as far as the eye could see. I think it was when I noticed the hulking, feral beasts with razor-sharp claws and bone-white masks demonic enough to make Mirajane orgasm in glee, though. Or, specifically, when one of said demons attacked me.
And so back to Summoning I went, post-haste.
"Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!"
As par for the course, nothing happened. I really wasn't surprised by this point, even if the demon was coming closer at impossible speeds and I really don't wish to die today. I haven't even gotten a boyfriend yet.
"I think I remember Gray saying something about the definition of insanity," A forgotten corner of my mind in denial over the whole situation muttered absently. "Something about trying something over and over and expecting a change that just won't happen."
The greater portion of my mind ignored the utterly unhelpful section that thought now of all times was a wonderful moment to ruminate about the "good old days." Said larger portion had the experience of a year with Fairy Tail's craziest team and, as such, had the presence of mind to focus on the bloodthirsty monster intent on devouring me rather than the denotation of clinical insanity.
Not that my awareness of my imminent death was able to accomplish what for all intents and purposes an empty prayer hadn't. And so no flash of white light appeared signaling the magical leakage of an imperfect Celestial Summoning, certainly no blur of crimson flames marking the timely intervention of my draconian teammate, and no barrage of swords saving my life in the split-second before my impending maiming.
The demon latched its frothing maw around my thin, fragile shoulder, fangs like sharpened blades digging into smooth cartilage and vulnerable blood vessels, and the monstrosity shook me violently through the air once, twice, thrice, before flinging me away and into a harsh and unforgiving tree. Agony racked my mind, convincing me that my blood is both frozen and on fire, and that surely this must be Hell. Thing is, the pain was doing a damn fine job of convincing me.
"Oh... Open..." I gasped out through the most pain I have felt in my entire life, as something like acid trickled throughout my slim body, immolating me from the inside. My vision began to blacken, a strange, keening pitch ringing in my ears. Sheer strength of will powered me now. "Loke..."
A burst of piercing light flooded the clearing, darker yet more blinding than ever before. And yet, no Spirit appeared. It was closer, yes, but fancy lights aren't going to convince the completely unharmed abomination from the fiery pits of Hell that I am not what I actually am: an easy meal. Instead, something like dark amusement flashed in its glaring crimson eyes, and it bolted forwards for round two.
A strangled, manic laugh tore itself free from my bleeding and aching throat. The sound was feral, tainted with the beginnings of madness, as if the owner of the deranged laughter was in hysterics. It took me a moment to realize the sound came from me.
"Not so insane after all," I giggled loudly, clutching my stomach in pain from the impact wound only aggravated by my mad fit. "I did the exact same thing and look, something changed!"
The demon, with a hulking body like a feral werewolf, wasn't exactly inching closer. No, it was hurtling through the air like a bullet entirely too large for any gun save maybe the Jupiter Cannon from the Fairy Tail-Phantom Lord Guild War. If it had been launching itself any faster I may have expected the ringing still in my ears to be residue from the demon shattering the sound barrier. As it was I decided the keening had a pleasant tone to it, almost like music. I always expected there to be music when I die; I was pleased to know I'd go with some class.
For a moment, I thought the classical symphonies coalesced into the screamed word "no!" but quickly dismissed the notion. When my body acted on its own, barrel rolling underneath the rampaging monster in a burst of gymnastics I could never have actually pulled off, my still hysterical mind brushed it off as coincidence and went back to wondering if this latest occurrence changed the verdict on my sanity or not.
Pain will do that to you. As will fighting the Balam Alliance Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart, the Black Dragon of Apocalypse, being chased by demons, having your only backup seemingly ignore you in a time of crisis, having your arm nearly ripped off, all combined with blood loss and a high-speed collision with an unmovable object... Well. Such a fun-filled hour could make even saints turn into sinners.
I felt like a marionette as an amateur puppeteer danced me to my feet and into a fluid combat stance, only to trip over my own alien proportions and collapse onto the cold, hard floor with lifeless limbs. The lonely and ostracized part of my mind that had earlier mused on the denotation of insanity idly imagined the young puppeteer being scolded by his instructor for being so shitty at his job. My mind, still not the most lucid of places, promptly began cussing out whoever was piloting my body and doing such a shitty job at it.
The symphonies ringing in my ears sounded vaguely like "apologies, Princess," and this time I did not ignore the sound. I inspected it, turning it around in my mind, poking at it, before shrugging and metaphorically tossing the occurrence behind me. It was too complicated to be dealt with when there were the matters of mortal blood loss, a raging demon, and the mysterious and inept force possessing me to be dealt with first.
Giving the mental equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders I handed over my body's reins, so to speak, to the nameless presence taking my body for a joy ride. If the enigmatic force wished me harm, all it had to do was watch as the demon devoured me limb by bloodied limb. Considering the still falling amount of consciousness I was currently suffering from, it wasn't like I could fight over control of my body anyways, and even if I had I'd just manage to trip my way to a gory and most likely painful death all the quicker.
This time when I smoothly rose to my feet, I felt like a marionette being deftly controlled by a much more masterful puppeteer. My fists, despite seeming weak and bony, were held in a comfortable yet fluid brawler's stance. My hesitance at the possessor's apparent plan to beat the angry demon into submission with my scrawny fists wasn't all that curbed by the orbs of pulsing white light that surrounded the flesh and bone a second later.
It was, after all, only a mere moment before the raging monster's furious lunge reached me. But my puppeteer was highly skilled, and once more my body ducked underneath the demon, this time from leaning backwards like a scene from Natsu's favorite movie The Matrix or a particularly horrifying game of Limbo.
But my body didn't stop there, sinking a glowing pair of knuckles inches deep into the demon's black underbelly, allowing the monster's momentum to do the damage for me. Long furrows leaked blood as they were gouged across the demon's entire powerful frame. I danced sideways, twirling just far enough to dodge the hind claw that would have surely beheaded me, or at the least tore my throat out. Which would have been bad, I kind of needed it.
The demon howled in pain or rage; probably both. It dug its front claws into the cold earth for traction, spinning a one-eighty, spraying jets of inky black blood across the mossy ground. Growling lowly it pounced once more, a breath slower, but the puppeteer had not been idly watching.
I had clasped my palms together, like a devout follower at Sunday prayer. The holy white light around my hands shimmered ever brighter, the sphere of power pulsing even larger, until it had formed a deep orb much larger than my head. And, as the lupine demon tore itself through the air, I pressed my palms outwards forming a triangle with my fingers.
Words I had never before spoken tore their way out of my throat, echoing with the battle cries of a roaring lion.
"Slaughter! Regulus' Wrath!"
The pulsing sphere of holy white light catapulted itself through space at speeds that would've made the wounded demon green with envy, had it been a sentient foe and not, well, a rampaging monster. But either way, the werewolf was already mid-air and, had it the strength of mind to abort its attack, still wouldn't have been able to.
The superheated light forced its way down the demon's throat, ravaging its lungs before detonating and immolating some probably necessary internal organs. The useless carcass skidded across the ground, smoking.
The puppeteer didn't bother to celebrate even as I crowed within my mind, despite not actually having done anything. My body promptly made its route away from the war zone that was no doubt a beacon for more of those bloodthirsty monsters. If I were forced to hazard a guess, I'd assume the puppeteer was seeking refuge, but I found it hard to think...
It's been an eventful hour, to say the least. The blood loss and blow to the head may not be staggering the mysterious force possessing me, but I myself was not quite so lucky. When the puppeteer began drawing on my failing magical reserves for some emergency patchwork, it was just the final straw.
I blacked out to the soothing symphonies raging in my ears, the sight of a lock of flaming, tawny hair fluttering in the wind, and the knowledge I was secure in the hands of my savior.
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"Oh, Princess..."
"Kyaa..." I yawned, stretching languidly. "What'd I say 'bout breakin' 'to my 'partment, Natsu...?"
"Not Natsu, Princess."
"Loke...?" I yawned once more, before my last waking memories fluttered lightly across my mind, accompanied by a surge of hot adrenaline that shoved me into a state of hyper-awareness. Like a woman possessed I stumbled to my feet, looking every which way and immediately analyzing my surroundings for threats and an idea as to my location.
I was balanced somewhat precariously atop a branch as thick and wide as I was tall and, if the nauseatingly distant earth was any sign, entirely too high in the air. The shattered moon I spied earlier was hidden along with the rest of the sky above the leafy canopy some scant few meters above my position. A slim brook curved behind a neighboring tree, crystal clear water seeping over stones and sticks and moss. Shadows blacker than the uniform darkness stretched and danced across the jungle floor, starkly contrasting the orange glow of an alien mineral deposit crawling across a jagged cliff wall behind me, and reaching higher and higher until the rocky face disappeared into the canopy.
None of that mattered to me, distracted as I was. Not even my all-to-frequent battles with Dark Guilds could prepare me for the smell- the omnipresent stench of sulfur, the cloying smokescreen spiraling upwards from burning flesh with a sharp, metallic undertone. Blood.
"I apologize, Princess. Those direwolves didn't seem to get the message. I needed to... improvise."
While a suitably ominous statement such as that would have stoked me into shrieks of fluster, irritation and fear on any other day, I instead felt myself calm. The knowledge that they could be killed and, indeed, Loke was capable of just such a feat, multiple times at that, was enough to soothe me. That I wouldn't have to see a human corpse, which I had immediately assumed it to be, on top of everything else recently was just the cherry on top.
Then I finally realized Loke was speaking directly into my mind, and all of that zen tranquility flew out the window.
"How...?" I breathed, as yesterday's panic no longer clouded my mind and I realized my mysterious puppeteer-slash-savior was my favorite lion Spirit. Inside my mind.
"Sheer, blind luck, mostly," he laughed, but there was no mockery in his words, only relief. "How do I explain this? Think of it this way: the Gate through which you summon a Celestial Spirit is a sliding door, not the kind you push and pull. For what reason I cannot imagine, but you could not open the Gate all the way- which is the requirement for a proper Summoning. You only managed, oh, five percent. That miniscule amount of energy had to go somewhere, but the opening wasn't enough to pull through my physical body. Since you were the lightning rod of sorts for my energy, it surged into you - along with a sliver of my consciousness. When you gave permission, I was able to possess your body and ferry you away to safety."
While I was horrified to hear anyone, especially a shameless pervert like Loke, was able to pilot me like a car, I couldn't find it in me to fault his actions. I both gave permission, hysterical as I was, and his decision had saved my life. So I ruthlessly squashed my darker emotions, and felt my sisterly love for Loke grow, surprised and grateful that he didn't seize the opportunity for anything untoward and, in fact, didn't mention it at all.
"After dealing with some more beasts who attacked us, I was able to find a source of water and berries I recognized, as well as shelter - a cave and fire seemed out of the question, all things considered, but this tree had large enough branches. Then, I loosened the partial Summoning enough that you didn't magically exhaust yourself halfway through your sleep, but left the connection deep enough that I could wake you should worst comes to worst. I have a question, though," he told me, his voice losing the teasing tone and gaining a serious bent. "Just what the Hell happened, Lucy? Last I knew, you were on Tenrou, then Acnologia came and I was de-summoned."
"I don't know," I muttered, deep in thought, accepting the darker turn to our conversation as necessary despite my desires otherwise. "The Roar was about to kill us all. I remember suddenly feeling weightless, then warm, like I was filled with light. Next thing I know I appear in a burst of white like a Spirit, all alone in this forest. First thing I do is Summon you, but all I get for my trouble is a raging headache. Twenty minutes later the demon wolf shows up and you start possessing me like some kind of ghost – thanks for that, by the way."
"No problem, Princess," he replied absently, also thinking deep; but I had the feeling he already had gleaned his answers, and was merely searching for the proper way to explain himself. I didn't bother him. It wasn't long until he continued speaking. "I had an idea, but I really didn't want to be right. I asked Capricorn and he agrees with me on both accounts.
"First things first. The feeling like some errant god turned gravity off is a side effect of Mavis Vermillion casting Fairy Sphere. Yes, she's our Guild's founder, no, she's not still alive – she's sort of a ghost, it's complicated – and yes, Fairy Sphere is one of our Guild's three personal Spells. Unlike Fairy Law, it's defensive in nature, and while it sounds like a Barrier Spell it's actually a Space-Time one. So all of your Guildmates are alive, if time displaced for, according to Capricorn, the next seven years. Problem is, they can't help us; not for the next seven years, anyways.
"And we do need help. Because Capricorn, despite being the supposed smartest of the Zodiac, made a mistake. He sensed you in imminent danger and so he tried to Summon you to the Spirit Realm, where you couldn't be hurt. Noble, but foolish. 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,' and all that." A pause. "See, some magic types don't exactly mix well. There's the basics, like Metal conducting Lightning, or Water dowsing Fire, or even Wind mucking around with Wind, but when you get to the more arcane fields – like the manipulation of reality itself, the bending of Space-Time – which Celestial Spirit Magic falls under – things get... tricky." I received a wordless sense like a shrugging of his shoulders, layered with pent up nervousness. "You see, mix the wrong elements and all you get is an explosion at worst and nothing at best. Make a mistake with the fabric of the Universe, and the outcome is not nearly so pretty.
"Mavis Vermillion was pulling you seven years into the future, and Capricorn was pulling you across dimensions into the Spirit Realm. Fairy mixed with Spirit. Things got complicated. Princess, if I may be blunt, you were catapulted through the Multiverse and landed in a random world."
I swallowed thickly. If he could just pull me out, he would have said so. "Multiverse?"
"The Multiverse is a collection of worlds: Earthland, the Spirit Realm, Edolas, and uncountable others, Princess. But we have no idea how far you went flying through the aether. In this mirror world, perhaps fish evolved and gained sentience instead of humans, or gravity only works on weekdays, or lions aren't the most badass animals around. You've already met one such difference – I doubt that demon was something we'd just chance across back home.
"Now, normally, I'd just Summon you to the Spirit Realm; problem is, you are so impossibly far away that I simply don't have the power. A Summoning can only be performed by one person, else I'd just combine forces with the other Zodiac, and we'd be fine. And you don't have that kind of power yet, either, Princess, as evidenced by not being able to fully open my Gate from this far away. Whichever world you landed in is so impossibly distant that opening a Gate is that much harder; it took a mixture of adrenaline, fear, and three quarters of your magical core to open my Gate only five percent of the way, and only for fifteen minutes. Luckily, keeping a Gate opened is far easier than opening one, and the drainage is offset by your magic recovery rate. Also, you can manifest Regulus' Light now, and have my speed and dexterity. The more you open my Gate, the more powerful you get.
"You have my Gate open at around one percent right now, so we can speak to each other, as the Gate is the only thing connecting this world to the Spirit Realm. The drain isn't much, and is more than counter-balanced by your recovery rate. From what I've seen, your Core takes in magic at about the same rate as holding my Gate open at four percent requires. I recommend always keeping the Gate cracked open, as the practice will make you stronger, so you can hold the Gate open further and return home quicker. And, well, the stronger you are, the less likely you are to be eaten by a random demon.
"I or Capricorn will teach you more involved ways of combat; you'll need it, Princess."
"So, what do I need to do to get back, Loke?" I asked after spending several minutes committing the information to memory and very carefully not having a panic attack.
"You need to either punch a hole through the universe and Summon yourself to the Spirit World – it is not that complicated, you've seen me Summon myself into Earthland countless times – or one of us Spirits needs to Summon you. But, as I said, we're not strong enough, so..."
"... I need to get stronger," I finished for him, sighing. "A lot stronger."
I didn't like it. Oh, I hated it. I wanted to return to Fiore so fucking bad. And this could take me years.
But for all my whining, I am a Fairy Tail Wizard. When something needs to be done, I am fully capable of buckling down and working for it. Even if my aristocratic upbringing screams at me for it.
… But, before I start, maybe a bath in the nearest river? I reek of blood, sweat and demons. Not exactly enticing.
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Disclaimer: Even should I claim ownership of the Fairyverse or RWBYverse, none of you would believe me. So. Yeah, I totally own these kickass characters/worlds/monsters/what-have-you. Kneel, motherfuckers.
Updating Schedule: Unclear. Might be in six days, might be in six months. I'm preparing for university, then I will actually be *in* university, and from what I've heard - alongside that job I should totally be getting instead of writing fanfiction on the internet - my free time will be mysteriously vanishing. That being said, I have several other partially-written stories in a folder on my laptop, and I might be uploading the intro's to some of them in the next couple of weeks. We'll see.
Notes: Hmm. Not much left to say, and long 'Notes are boring as all hell. Anyways. This isn't going to be an OC-or-Crossover-character-joins-team-RWBY story. Those are fun, too, but the desecration of deceased equine creatures is amoral. There also aren't going to be any random boosts in power or Fairy Tail characters crossing the dimensional gap just in the nick of time to rescue Lucy from 'the bad guys.' Deus ex Machina is not an acceptable plot device. Lastly, Lucy will either come out of the end of this story a changed mage, or she won't survive at all. No snappy one-liner here. I've decided character development is going to be a thing. Lastly, this is canon!Vytal, with the only differences being Semblances being empowered and teach-able, (exactly) like magic, and some Earthland characters having mirror-selves in this reality - think Edolas Arc. That's all, I suppose. Leave a review if something doesn't make sense- I'm always looking to improve my work. Cheers.