Author's Note: I'm actually off work today (for once lmao) and I just went on this writing spree. I read so many of you guys' encouraging comments and it made me want to write and write and write some more. So, surprise! Have another chapter so soon after the last!
I wasn't joking when I said your comments inspire me, you know. c: Thank you all for the continued support, and in the next chapter we'll see Lucy finally- FINALLY- confront Natsu.
Lucy grumbled under her breath incoherently as the group of mages trekked up the mountainous path. They ended up staying overnight in Margaret Town, and Lucy used that bit of time to get to know Ever on a more personal level- without talk of the storm brewing inside the blonde's emotions. Sure, the Fairy Mage asked her once about it, but dropped it after the blonde lass admitted to not wanting to talk just yet because she still needed to think it over. All in all, it was a good time with the woman.
However, since they lost out on four hours worth of travel time, they had to make up for it today. All of the mages had used their magic in some way to get as close to the destination as possible. Lucy had Gemini-Happy, Ever used the wings from her Fairy Magic that took her even a year after Alvarez to nail down, Freed had his Dark Écriture, Bickslow flew on his babies and Laxus used his lightning travel.
Even using everything they could, doubling up with the fastest few sometimes, they still didn't make it exactly where they needed to go. Laxus had scouted a cliff up the mountain that would be perfect for camping, but made a new ban on using magic to be able to fully recharge before tomorrow. Apparently, the mission tomorrow was going to end up taking a lot out of them.
And yet Lucy still didn't know what they were doing.
After they found the cliff the slayer spoke of, Lucy called Virgo to scout and make sure the Earth there was sturdy enough for them and their luggage. The maid agreed that it was, brought their luggage back from her realm, tried to ask one last time for punishment, then went as far as to put up camp for them. Everyone disagreed with the spirit doing this- including Lucy- but Virgo placated them with food.
Food was always an ample way to shut someone up.
The bonfire was started, food was shared, and in the middle of eating, Ever asked the important question.
"So what exactly is this mission?"
Bickslow opened his mouth to answer, blinked, then turned to Laxus. "Yeah, bossman, it ain't like you to keep us in the dark this long."
"Wyverns," Freed supplied. "There are six wyverns terrorizing the town- we went over this on the first days' walk!"
The two members of the tribe looked to each other and shrugged, both silently agreeing that they had tuned the rune mage out. He probably brought it up in the middle of a rant of his, meaning they definitely weren't paying attention. Laxus choked out a laugh through his bite of food, and Lucy couldn't help but laugh at Laxus' brief choking period- now that he was clearly safe.
"Anyway," Bickslow interjected, "since we obviously weren't paying attention, mind briefing us again, FreeFree?"
The green haired man sighed dramatically. "I should stop repeating myself and let you fend on your own."
"But you love us too much to do that," Ever cooed.
To which Freed deadpanned, "doubtful."
Lucy cleared her throat and offered an apologetic smile. "You can stop briefing them after tonight. I still kind of have to know, too."
The sieth's jaw dropped. "...You're agreeing that he should leave us in the dark?!"
Lucy shrugged. "I stopped repeating myself in Team Natsu long ago. If nobody wanted to listen, Erza and I would be calling the shots because we actually cared."
Laxus nodded. "She has a point."
"Boss!" Ever cried indignantly.
Freed cleared his throat, obviously feeling more confident about his decision. "So we received a request on behalf of the town of Amaryllis. Five wyvern and their assumed mother have been stealing cattle in the dead of night. They've ruined several businesses by flying through their stores and demolishing the building in their wake. They have no dragon slayers in the local guilds and assumed that since Wyvern are related to Dragons in old texts, they needed one. They sought out the Twin Dragons, who were out of commission on a separate mission, then reached out to Fairy Tail."
Lucy blinked and nodded. "Did you snag it before Erza for our team, or..?"
Laxus shook his head. "They specifically requested me and my team. Erza and Natsu were offered the job first despite me being requested, but Erza and Gray took off to meet up with Crime and see how they were doing."
And the blonde lass nodded. "Makes sense. Erza and Jellal are basically a thing and Gray sees Mare as a little sister so… Aw, dammit," she nearly yelled once something registered in her brain. "I missed a chance to check in with them too. Assholes, see if I let you in my house for a few weeks," she said mostly to herself as she glared at the fire.
Bickslow snorted a laugh at that. "What, is your place the local hotspot? Cana and Lisanna talk about coming over a lot, too."
She shrugged rather dramatically. "I guess? I don't know what's so damned special about it. It's a small, open flat studio apartment for fuck's sake! Cana, Lis, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy and Levy all just… Break in on the regular."
Freed cringed. "I could offer assistance? I could put some runes up if you want."
She looked over at him and blinked, never having thought of that before. But her face fell into a bit of a smile once the thought played over a few times in her head. "It's fine, Freed. Thank you, though. It… It just wouldn't be right if I didn't come home to someone sitting in my chair or doing something stupid in my apartment."
Evergreen rolled her eyes. "It'd drive me insane."
"Oh, it definitely does," Lucy agreed with a laugh. "But there's something so homely and welcoming and just… Wonderful feeling about knowing your friends love and trust you so much they want to be around you even when you're not there."
She blinked at that and offered her own smile. "When you put it that way, it doesn't sound all that bad…"
Lucy laughed a bit at that.
"Well maybe I should start breaking into your place, Cosplayer," Bickslow said while waggling his brows suggestively at her.
She didn't have a chance to respond before Laxus shocked him.
"Absolutely not," he responded sternly. "You can be an idiot all you want, but don't be that kind of idiot."
His team saw through the words- straight to the slight jealousy lingering there.
Lucy, on the other hand, was clueless.
"It's not that bad, Laxus," she replied like a diplomat. "You're all welcome at any time you want. Just be aware that it's probably not as nice as your places."
Evergreen waved it off with her hand. "This new place you're in is super nice, Lucy, don't discourage yourself like that." The woman then leaned forward a bit. "Did you get Reedus to do the ceiling or something?"
The men looked at the blonde, confused. She just shrugged. "Nope, did it myself!"
Ever's eyes widened. "Are you serious?!"
"Mmhmm." Lucy nodded and held up her keyring. "The stars are something I'm intimately familiar with, so mapping them out from memory wasn't that hard. The glow in the dark paint was the real kicker, I was surprised I managed to get my hands on it."
Bickslow leaned forward at this. "You mean to tell me you're brushin' off the whole having the entire night sky memorized thing?!"
"Well yeah," she shrugged. "It's like Laxus being able to tell weather patterns from his magic. It's one of those repercussions that you just… Don't really think about."
Freed looked up at the sky they could see, then curiously asked "what constellations are out tonight?"
Lucy smiled, a bright and beaming smile, and followed his line of sight. She pointed a bit. "You see that bright, bluish star? That's Venus. To her lower left, the orange ball? That's Aldebaran. It's very faint because it's fading out right now. We'll see it again around Springtime, though. Right beneath Venus is Gemini."
Lucy felt eyes on her, but didn't place who, as she was too excited to share this with someone else. She didn't care who was watching her instead of looking at where she was pointing- and thus, missed the longing look in a pair of storm blue eyes.
She pointed to the east. "You can barely make out Vega and I bet, in a few nights, we'll see Deneb too. The Summer Triangle is coming out. Altair is the late one of the three." Her hand turned to another portion of the sky and, suddenly, she no longer felt the eyes watching her. "Right now, the moon is between Jupiter and Venus. To the right, that larger ball is Jupiter. Right below Jupiter is the constellation Libra. There are four decently visible stars in Libra, and we'd need a super strong telescope to see any others. It's kinda shaped like a box? It's not one of the larger constellations, though. That's Virgo over here between the moon and Jupiter. Her constellation is the largest of the zodiac."
"What's the largest overall?" Laxus asked.
Lucy was stunned he'd even spoken and looked over at him. His face was upward bound towards the skies, eyes trained on what she assumed to be where Virgo was. She cleared her throat and pointed to the east again. "The star there is Delta Hya. It comes in a loop, sort of, but this constellation is clear across the sky right now so follow me. Just near it is Epsilon Hya, Zeta Hya, Theta Hya, and Iota Hya is a few marks above that bright one there- that's Regulus, by the way. It comes all the way across here, through Alphard, Lambda Hya, Mu Hya, Nu Hya- just beneath that star is Crater. Xi Hya, and just beneath it is Corvus. And then all the way over here in the East is Gamma Hya. That makes up constellation Hydra."
"Does Hydra have a key?" Evergreen asked.
Lucy laughed a little. "It's one of the phantom keys. There's no known record of around seven constellations' keys. Hydra, Draco, Pegasus, Phoenix, Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Cepheus is, in lore, said to be the King of the Celestial Realm, making me think that's Stache Face. Cassiopeia is his wife, though I've never heard anything about her even from the spirits I have, so I don't know that bit. And the last key that there's no known key for is Andromeda, which makes sense. She would be the daughter of the King and Queen."
After that, the group took some time asking Lucy various questions about the sky, the stars and such. Evergreen was the first to yawn, but Bickslow was the first to turn in for the night. Lucy stayed outside, her eyes trained on the vast expanse of stars above her head. It had sounded, to her, like everyone had turned in for the night.
All but one.
She heard Laxus take a seat right next to the ground she was laying on. Though she expected to see him turn to look at her in her peripheral vision, she was startled (and happy) to see him follow her gaze upwards. It was silent, but companionable, for a moment after that.
"You're kind of amazing," he finally said. "You know that, right?"
She turned her head to look at him, but he never took his eyes off the sky.
"You manage to talk about this… This expanse… Like it's nothing more than a math equation. But to me, all I see is…" She could see his eyes shift from place to place, searching the sky for an answer she didn't know if it had. "...Freedom."
That made her tilt her head. "Freedom..?"
He nodded. "Look out there. You may see constellations, but look at the individual stars. They're independent, they shine on their own and they look amazing. But they're out in a vastness that I can't compare to anything. Yet they still shine on. They're alone and they're beautiful," he then pointed towards Libra, "but when you put them together, they're powerful. They're independent, yet able to operate in clusters."
She blinked her brown eyes and followed the trail of his finger.
"I never thought of that."
"The stars were a way for me to escape when I was younger," he admitted with great hesitance. "There was just something comforting about looking up to see these… These amazing things that could be so unchained, yet so free to be chained if they so wanted."
Lucy sat up and looked at him, noticing the slight tension in his shoulders. Though they were tense, she could easily tell it was because he was unused to talking about such things- not the same tension that was built up in Natsu's shoulders. His eyes sparkled with longing and appreciation as he watched the sky. The moon casted a near ethereal glow onto his slightly sunkissed skin, showing off his strong jawline and hardened features with ease.
He looked beautiful.
She had to look away, return her gaze to the stars, before she started blushing. "Yeah," she agreed. "I know what you mean… Though I have to admit, while this is one of the most comforting things for me… I also feel very comfortable in a storm, too." She smiled shyly, but never turned to look at him- even after he turned to look at her. "So… There's that."
He smiled and she missed it completely.
"We should probably head to bed, Blondie."
This time, when she looked at him, he could see a playful spark instead of the dead eyes he's been seeing lately. "Whatever you say, Sparky."
He snorted a laugh at that, but didn't question it.
Lucy sat opposite of Evergreen, awaiting the go-ahead. Bickslow and Lucy had teamed up to do some scouting, to figure out where the wyvern were with his babies and her spirits. Gemini was really helpful there, obviously. And, thus, the idea of the plan was born after all five children were located. There were five in the group, and an even split was one a piece. However, Lucy pointed out that no matter how young they were, it was still going to be an uphill fight, so if someone managed to take one down they needed to go help someone who was struggling.
Unfortunately, the Mother was nowhere to be found.
Still, even with that wildcard, the group was pretty confident. First, all five mages would lock into place. Laxus would sent a very small amount of electrical shocks to the ground to get them to scatter. Lucy and Laxus would take the west, Freed would take the south, and Bickslow and Ever were taking the east. That left enough wiggle room for people to adjust. As of now, though, Ever and Lucy could- barely- see each other across the cliffside cave's entrance. Neither saw anything yet.
Until a massive beast came running out. Then another. And another.
Lucy's eyes were wide as saucers at that point. This was how huge the babies were?! They were crouching low on their two hind legs and still were twice her height! She glanced back at Laxus, who nodded to her. After seeing Freed and Bickslow suit up for battle, Lucy followed with her keys in hand.
As agreed, Lucy would pop off the first attack. Since the others hadn't worked with her before, they would then follow lead enough to get the mission taken care of.
Lucy held up one key and touched her nose to it, her brown eyes narrowing dangerously. Her eyes scanned the three closest to her, and she pinpointed the smallest looking one. It was safest that she took the runt- or the youngest hatchling- with her arm still not at a hundred percent. She felt multiple sets of eyes on her, and her eyes began to glow gold. Soon after, almost akin to the way Erza requips, Lucy found herself in a pair of asymmetrical pants and a leather bra. Her hair in buns.
"Lend me your strength, Taurus," she whispered. Then, her hand reached for another key- not sure if this would be enough or not. She had to try it though. "Lend me your light, Leo."
The whip at her side met the same glow of her eyes and faded soon after, as though to reassure the blonde that it was there.
"Here we go," she whispered.
Her gloved right hand grabbed her whip and she jumped up high, flicking her wrist with the whip as though it were an extension of her person. The whip glowed a vibrant, near blinding gold hue as it circled and wrapped tightly around the wyvern's neck. "Maximum Regulus Kick!" she called out. Using her magic to withdraw the whip back into the handle, she flung herself at high velocity directly towards the beast. Her foot began glowing and a sickening, resounding crack echoed through the cave before it shrieked in pain. Having connected her kick with the back of it's neck, Lucy summoned the two who's powers she was drawing from.
"A perfect wranglin', Miss Luuuuucy!" Taurus shouted as he ran towards the beast with his massive axe in hand.
Loke complimented her use of their powers before launching into his own attacks on the beast as well.
With a tight grasp on the whip holding the wyvern in place, Lucy felt like a bull rider. Loke blinded it, Taurus slashed at it, and it was her job to try and slowly choke the life out of it. But she was getting annoyed at how much it fought back. Her spirits were quick to dodge every flailing motion, every swipe of its claws it tried to give, so that was the only consolation.
But it flung it's head upwards.
Lucy went flying again.
Her back hit the roof rock of the cave and she snarled. "Bitch!" she shouted, her right fist glowing with Loke's power. Barely having the time to, Lucy kicked off of the ceiling with her legs, thrusting her face first towards the beast. "Regulus Power Punch!"
Probably not the best title for a move, but it was the first thing to her mind.
Lucy vaulted downwards and her fist connected with the back of the wyvern's head. With Taurus' additional strength and the light of Regulus on her side, she thought it may knock the beast out. What she didn't plan on was the attack being so highly concentrated on the one area her fist hit, that she'd wind up going straight through it's skull completely.
Taurus caught her safely once she emerged from the other side of its head, covered in blood.
The blonde smiled up at the bull spirit. "Thanks, Taur!"
"Anytime, Miss Luuuucy!"
She laughed and looked between the two. "Are you guys alright for another?"
Taurus nodded and grinned really wide. Loke simply pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, looking over at something. She followed his gaze to see Freed staring at her with his mouth agape and Laxus with his brows up high. She rolled her eyes and motioned to the last two.
"Since these two want to stand around and gape, lets help Ever out."
"Ready for launch?" Taurus asked, sitting his axe down on the ground. Lucy climbed up on the blade and nodded at him. "Kick ass, Princess!" the bull shouted as he flung the woman as hard as he could towards the fairy mage.
Lucy readied her whip and struck out mid-air, once again grabbing the hatchling by the throat. She was flung a little off course, but landed on her feet on the wall of the cave. Evergreen looked at her with wide eyes, but Lucy paid it no mind. She kicked off the wall and flew into the beast. Once her arms were locked around its neck, she heard Loke confirm he and Evergreen had the wings. Then, Taurus came in to grab it's legs. Lucy reached as high as she could with her right arm and started squeezing as tightly as she could, constricting the whip along with her.
She felt the whip's magic snap closed.
The wyvern had been decapitated, and she was falling down clinging to its head.
Loke managed to catch her this time.
Despite the blood lingering all over her person, Bickslow still pulled her in for a tight hug and out of the lion's hold. "Gods be damned, Cosplayer! Whoever the fuck says ya weak? Dead to me." He laughed and twirled her around in his arms.
She laughed along with him and only managed a smile when she was put on her feet again. Laxus even smiled down at her, a look in his eyes that made her stomach twist.
Natsu never looked at her with so much pride.
Nor did he look at her with… Whatever that was lingering in the back of those storm blue eyes.
Natsu looked at her with excitement, but never pride. The warmth that flooded her veins at Laxus' mere look made her realize just how long she wanted to get more looks like that. How much she wanted someone to completely support her, to be proud of how far she's come. But maybe it just wasn't Natsu to get prideful of anything like that… Laxus' eyes weren't completely readable, but there was definitely pride there. She could read Natsu's eyes like an open book. His eyes were always filled with excitement, but never pride. His eyes were filled with worry.
Filled with anger.
A shiver raced down her spine at the thought.
"There's still no sign of the mother," Freed said and successfully tore both Laxus and Lucy away from staring at one another. Lucy blushed at being caught while Laxus only managed to seem a little more tense. "This is a problem."
"Is it, though?" Evergreen asked, leaning back against the cave wall. "It gives us a little time to regroup and build up a bit more magic."
The rune mage nodded. "True, but it's more likely that we'll be blindsighted. We definitely don't need that, especially if this is the mother."
Bickslow shrugged. "I've seen bossman take 'em out in less than ten minutes back in the day. Couple him 'n Cosplayer, even an angry momma don't stand a chance."
"For once you have a point," Ever snarked with a smirk. She winked at him when he poked his tongue out at her. "Seriously, girl, I've never seen that before."
"We worked with her for an entire year, nonstop," Loke began, "trying to get her to the next level. The last time she had to go all out like this was Alvarez, and you guys weren't anywhere near our location then. I'm not surprised."
Lucy leaned against the wall next to Ever and shrugged. "Even then, I didn't know how to combine powers, though." Taurus rubbed the top of her head affectionately and took his leave without another word.
"True," he admitted. "But you could use Gemini's."
She nodded, her brows going up in a fair enough look.
"You should probs get outta here, Playboy," Bickslow said as he nudged the cat. "If Cheerleader is gonna help us out, she'll need them magic reserves."
The spirit looked up at the sieth and Lucy could easily tell that there was some form of mental conversation happening between the two. On the outside, it looked as though they were glaring each other down. The feelings she got from Leo's key said otherwise. Her eyes narrowed before it looked like her spirit conceded.
"Right," Loke then turned to the blonde. "Call me if you need anything, Princess. I'm always up for a date~"
He winked, then vanished.
Lucy grumbled and threw a stone where he was previously standing, hoping to get to her spirit on time, but he barely left before the stone flew through the sparkles he left behind. "Jackass," she mumbled.
"We do have to talk, though," Laxus began. When all eyes were on him, he focused on Lucy. "First, how's your arm?"
Oh yeah, that was a thing she was supposed to watch out for. Lucy looked down at her left arm and rotated it carefully. A very minor jolt of pain rushed through her shoulder, but it felt like a poke. Like a child trying to get your attention and pokes just a tad too hard. It wasn't anything substantial. "Fine," she finally replied. "It's weird using my right hand for the whip, but it's not impossible."
He nodded when she looked back at him. "Here's the issue. I've only ever taken out babies before. I've never dealt with a mother. I don't know what we're going to be in for with this."
Freed cleared his throat. "Wyverns aren't violent by nature, but in ancient years, mothers were known to tear across the countryside to save their young. However, this was also during the years Dragons roamed freely- so it's entirely possible the accounts mixed the two beasts."
"It also doesn't help that the magic that was around wasn't fully cultivated yet." Lucy peeled off the wall to step closer to the rune mage. "Wyvern young were also said to have high defenses, yet here we are having taken out five. We have no credible source of information and no knowledge on how to proceed."
A small nod came from him, agreeing that she was entirely right. "Without even an inkling, we're as good as blind."
"Not quite," Laxus replied.
Bickslow tilted his head like a confused dog. "What do ya mean, bossman?"
"Wendy told me to ask Lucy if we ever got in a rough situation. Said she could look up anything at any time with a spirit." He lazily turned to the blonde, who was pouting. "What's that about?"
She rolled her brown eyes. "Ruining my fun. I wanted to see what Freed had to offer first."
"We have to assume that we don't have the luxury of time on our side, miss Lucy," the rune mage scolded lightly.
"I know, but Grampa Crux hasn't gotten back to me." She shrugged and lifted a single silver key. "I asked him through our bond to fill me in on wyvern weaknesses when we first headed up the mountain. He told me sheer strength would work on the young but asked for time for the mother."
Laxus nodded at this. "One step ahead of the game. I like that."
Lucy had to force down a blush. Luckily it never reached her face. "I try to be as prepared as possible."
"And you didn't tell us about the strength bit?" Evergreen asked pointedly. "You know Bix and I aren't as strong as Laxus is."
"But I also know that if I stole your chance to even try, you'd be mad." Though the retort was sharp, it was spoken like a true peace keeper. "Our plan was perfect for what we needed to do. Those strong enough to take it down quickly would help you two without making you guys feel invalid about the whole thing."
It was obvious that she was speaking from experience on that.
Nobody argued after that was said.
Laxus cleared his throat. "So the mother, we can assume, will be a lot more powerful. That puts me on the list for offensive attack. Freed will be my backup. Lucy, what do you want to do?"
The lass was thrown for a loop.
Usually, Erza gave out commands and demands. Lucy was usually stuck on support instead of being on the front lines. Usually, she was guarding and helping Wendy, so that the healer of the group didn't go down. While it was an extremely important task to keep the healer healthy, it wasn't ever what Lucy wanted. But here, Laxus offered her a choice. Someone so powerful that he was up for consideration for Sainthood was telling her that it was her choice to be support or to be on the front lines.
Natsu's visage flashed to her mind again.
You can't fight.
She felt her magic surge within at the echoing of the words.
When we fight, you listen to me.
No, that wasn't right. Here Laxus was, someone who could still wipe the floor with her partner, gave her enough faith to choose where to go. She looked up to meet his eyes and was surprised to see conviction in them. He was dead set on giving her an option, letting her choose her own path. He believed in her. That alone gave her the confidence boost she needed to make up her mind, but before she could say she wanted on the front lines, she wanted to think about it. While yes, there was no healer to guard and yes, there was no wrong answer due to the versatile nature of her magic, she still wanted to ensure the best game plan.
Her mind started up like clockwork.
"Laxus, you're the tank. Freed, you're backup." Though it was stated like a command, the two knew she was mapping out the ideas like a chess board in her head. "...Ever and Bickslow are support. Which means-"
"Lady Lucy," an old voice chimed in.
The group turned to the sudden appearance of the Southern Cross.
"Gramps," she said happily. "What'd you find?"
"Nothing good, I assure you," he crowed. His back straightened a little. "I'll unload the information in your mind. You have not the time for me to say, talk it over, then make a plan. Lord Draco has stated the mother is on her way and she's closing in fast."
Lucy nodded at that and crouched to let Crux touch her forehead. Once he did, a bright light shined from his fingertip, and he was gone.
Freed looked at her with a determined gaze. "I trust your judgement, Lucy. What do we need to do?"
She looked to him, a little startled. Wendy was usually the only one who heard her out on tactics and plans, but here he was giving her full support. One look around the group made her realize that they were all placing their trust in her. Trust that she'd guide them out of this situation. She cleared her throat and nodded, thinking over the information given.
"We're only in serious trouble if the scales are brown. That would indicate an Earth Wyvern, which is resistant to Laxus' magic. But, because the scales on the babies are a silvery white, it looks like they're Wind Wyverns. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain I'm right." She looked over to Bickslow and Evergreen. "The wings are a fleshy, soft spot. Concentrate your attacks there to keep it landlocked. If it takes to the sky even once, we're dead. If it does happen, give chase and take it down as fast as you can."
The two nodded.
Her eyes turned to Freed. "You're going to be our switch instead of our backup. You need to help them with the wings, then start focusing on the tail. Wyverns have insane strength and could kill us all with the tail alone. I trust you're fast enough to get that done?"
"I will be, yes. A speed rune will do me well," Freed commented idly.
"There are four central weak points to a wyvern. The wings? That's the first. With Ever and Bicks on the wings, that brings us down to three." Lucy turned to Laxus with conviction in her eyes. "You and I will be on the front lines. Gemini is my ace in the hole. If I pull Gemini out, you have to promise me you'll go all out."
"Dragon force if I see Gemini. Got it."
She nodded and continued. "The largest weak point is the underbelly. The weakest part of that is the tail. Freed, if you can, wait until the tail is raised before attacking the underside of it. It's soft and fleshy and will be your best bet. However, if it's too dangerous, don't you dare try. We're getting out of this alive, we're not sacrificing a damned person for one wyvern." He nodded his agreement at that. "The last two places are going to be solely for Laxus and I. We can focus on different ones. The thighs of it are weaker than the rest, but they're still very tough. Laxus, your magic is very powerful and can easily penetrate things like that. Can you focus on the thighs?"
He nodded, his head turning to the entrance of the cave. "Quickly, Blondie, I hear the wings on the wind."
She looked out there as well. "Wind Wyverns are weak against Ice, Lightning, Rock magic, and pure energy. Bicks, your Baryon Formation will be your best move. Ever, Leprechaun and Gremlin are your best attacks against this thing. I'll be focusing on the head."
"Woah, what about breath attacks?!" Bickslow shouted.
She shook her head. "They don't have magic like Dragons. Their magic comes from their wings, not their mouths."
The two 'support' mages looked to one another and nodded.
"The best way to tackle this is to meet it mid-air. Freed, Bicks and Ever, if you're fine with that, do it. When you see it on the horizon, start outward. Laxus and I will make sure it's not moving too fast. In the event that it goes down and your job is done, step back behind us. If we miss an opening, don't give warning, just attack."
"Understood," Freed said as he pulled out his rapier.
Lucy found her eyes scanning the horizon, both looking for the beast and also thinking of her best plan of attack. Loke and Taurus needed a break and she didn't think they'd be top tier in this battle anyway. Thinking of her options, Lucy quickly summoned Sagittarius and quickly stepped into his star dress.
"Good Afternoon, Princess!" he said exuberantly. "Sir Leo has told me of the situation!"
She smiled at him and nodded. "When the mother shows up, we pelt it with arrows to slow it down for the team. Does that sound fine?"
He nodded and bowed to her. "Of course, Princess! I never miss my mark!"
She laughed a little at him but brushed it off.
"Lucy, coming in at 2 o'clock!" Bickslow shouted as he jumped onto his babies. Evergreen and Freed flew out with him, all three taking to the skies to meet the wyvern.
Laxus looked at the blonde. "What if it goes down before the nest we're in?"
"It will," she commented as both she and her spirit drew their bows taught. "You don't attack because you'll be porting us down there."
"Got it. I'm counting on you Blondie."
"I won't let you down, Sparky," she replied.
She and Sagittarius both aimed in perfect synchronization. The wind was blowing to the north, the wyvern was to the East. It was flying in super fast, too, meaning they had to be extra careful. But the magic circle appeared in front of both Lucy's and Sagittarius' bow.
"Arrow Rain!" the duo shouted.
They released the string and a barrage of projectiles flew from the bow. While no, not every one of them hit the wyvern, a large portion of them did. Lucy dropped her star dress as Sagittarius launched one more onslaught to be on the safe side. The beast slowed down exceptionally once pelted with nearly three hundred arrows from the two spells from the spirit and the one from the keyholder. She saw the light of Bickslow's Baryon Formation Canon fly off and just barely miss the wing, but still hit the beast full force.
Evergreen's attack, however, landed square on the wing, and Lucy could see the red fly off of it from here. She'd gotten it perfect and had the beast bleeding, even though it was still airborne. Freed's deep purple attack happened simultaneous to Bickslow's next attack, and she noticed how the beast was close to failing to fly. It was struggling, and that was their cue. She looked to Sagittarius and nodded, letting him shoot off once more because she trusted him not to harm her comrades more than she trusted herself. Once the spell shot off, she stepped into Laxus' arms.
Sagittarius said goodbye and left. Lucy had to pointedly ignore how her skin seemed to heat to unreal degrees from him holding her like this. She could feel his large, calloused hand on her near-bare hip and it wasn't doing battle-appropriate things to her body. He looked down at her.
"Ready?"
She nodded, meeting his eyes.
She had to ignore the way he looked at her, too. Lucy didn't know what exactly that look meant, but it gave her butterflies and made lava pour through her veins. She didn't need that at the moment. She had to focus.
The air charged up around them and she felt like she was floating. The electricity ignited every nerve in her body as they shifted through the currents to join the team. It took less than two seconds, but it felt like two minutes. The way his magic completely encompassed her filled her with hope and something that made her chest feel light. Like a balloon was filling up inside of it. It was a beautiful feeling that rocked her to her soul.
And it was gone the moment her feet hit the ground.
The two blondes looked skyward just in time to see the wyvern falling. Its wings were tattered and torn, but still barely useable. Freed looked like he took a little more damage than she thought he needed to, but he had his claws sunk into the wyvern's flesh. The beast was bleeding profusely, but it was absolutely enraged.
It's eyes were red when they met Lucy's.
A spark of slight panic rose in her chest, but she quashed it as soon as she could. Her hands gripped for her keys and before she could speak, Virgo was out. She stepped into the maid's star dress and was ready for the next phase.
The spirit tunneled into the earth, readying a crater for the beast to be locked into.
The wyvern flapped its wing.
A gust of wind came out, so powerful it knocked Evergreen out of the sky and uprooted several trees nearby.
The Fairy screamed as she fell, and Lucy barely had the mind to instruct Virgo to stop and catch the woman. Thankfully, Virgo got there just in time.
"Fragment Beam!" Bickslow shouted, balancing on one of his babies while the other four paired up into two separate pairs. The beams shot out, strong as ever, and pierced through yet another part of the wings.
The wyvern fought back, it's other wing flapping out. The wind knocked Bickslow off of his perch, but his babies caught him before he hit the ground.
Lucy didn't like where this was going.
She watched as Laxus stormed forward, lightning encompassing his being, and watched as he shot off punch after punch on the beast. Yet it didn't seem like it was doing anything at all. The beast kicked out and knocked the lightning mage back.
His chest was cut.
Though she didn't know what came over her, Lucy saw red.
"Virgo!" she screamed, throwing both of her hands down on the ground. "Maiden's Chains!" she screeched.
The spirit vanished in a puff. Soon after she'd returned to the spirit realm, six massive chains- reminiscent of the shackles on the spirit's wrists- erupted from the ground. One clasped tightly around its neck, two around either wings, two around either legs and the final around its tail. Lucy cringed when the pull of her magic came. The earth beneath the beast collapsed in, thanks to Virgo's previous efforts.
It wasn't deep, but it was enough to give the mage's the upper hand.
But the drain on Lucy was high.
One of her eyes shut in pain and concentration. Pain rocketed up her left arm.
"Attack it now!" she screamed.
The group rushed at the draconic being. Bickslow and Evergreen went to the same wing, focusing their attacks on the joint that connected the wing to it's back. It took a good two whole minutes, but they managed to rip the wing off of the beast. Laxus managed to put three gaping holes in both thighs, and Freed had its tail so bloody and unrecognizable by that point. Five minutes in, Lucy felt her grip on the chains slip.
"Get back!" she screamed.
The chains fell away.
The wyvern roared something fierce, shaking the trees and the earth with the sound. It didn't have enough control over its tail to do bad damage anymore, but it had enough control to knock Freed back hard enough for him to fall out of his transformation. Bickslow and Evergreen weren't much better. Ten minutes of non-stop magic use was wearying on anyone. Even in the Games, there are small intervals where you're anticipating an attack or awaiting an attack or even just watching your opponent. During the fights, you don't typically use your magic this much for an extended period of time.
Laxus was even panting out as he sat up.
Her eyes caught his.
"It's almost out, but so are we…" he shouted back to her. "What now?"
Lucy blinked at this. There was one option that she hadn't thought of before- but she wasn't sure anyone was in the position to try it out. She rushed towards Laxus, her star dress changing mid-run. A tattoo-like emblem across her collar bones. The high pigtails over half of her hair being left down. The bathing suit like outfit.
"We're trying a Unison Raid," she called as she approached him.
He blinked at her and looked at her like she was crazy. "I've never done one of those before and we've never-"
"Shut up and listen to me," she growled out as she helped him to his feet. "The two most versatile types of magic, the easiest to mold with another type, are Celestial and Water. Combine the two? You have the easiest type of magic to do a Unison Raid with. I did one with Juvia years back, and we've never once trained together nor have we trained for it."
"There's so much that could go wrong, Lucy."
"But there's so much that could go right, Laxus." She gripped his hand tightly in hers. "Even if we fail, Water and Lightning are a dangerous combination. It should be enough to take it out."
"And if it's not?"
"I've still got Gemini. Someone may need to carry me home, but I've still got Gemini."
He watched her warily and nodded. "What do I need to do?"
"Pour your magic into your hand that's connected with mine. When you feel mine meet yours, send it outward with me." She tightened her hold on his hand just a bit more. "Aquarius' star dress is one of my strongest ones. This should be more than enough."
Laxus nodded and squeezed her hand back. "I trust you."
Her heart skipped a beat.
The wyvern raised its head and looked at the two dangerously.
Laxus poured all of his magic into his hand and was just as startled as Lucy was when he felt the effects of their magics mingling. His magic, just like when he ported them, caressed and cradled Lucy and her magic. It encompassed her, it surrounded her, it protected her. And her magic reached out to do the same. The two opposing magic types lingered in their hands, meeting and melding into something new, something more powerful than either had ever felt before.
"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!" Laxus chanted.
"Break the Earth with clashing waves, pull the waters beyond the seas and force the tide to become a monsoon!" Lucy chanted.
Their conjoined hands lifted. The earth around Lucy began to shift and melt as though it were water itself. Water pulled itself from the skies, the plants around them, and joined in with the earth undulating. Laxus' lightning, powerful and frenzied, covered every aspect of Lucy's spell.
"AQUA METRIA!"
"RAGING BOLT!"
The two attacks surged forward and mixed further. What appeared to be a hurricane, wrapped in red lightning, surged forward and completely encompassed the now screeching wyvern. It pushed past the beast, taking out a large chunk of the forest behind it.
Well, Lucy was a member of Team Destruction…
When the storm died out, all that was left was the charred and scorched remains of the beast. Bickslow and Evergreen cheered loudly, and Freed was openly voicing his shock and awe at their sudden yet near perfect Unison Raid. Neither of the blonde mages listened, though.
Lucy was so excited she jumped into Laxus' arms, her arms wrapping around his neck. He was stunned silent that she would do this, but managed to wrap his arms around her in return. His team knew what she was to him. He knew, Wendy knew… Hell, Natsu and Gajeel probably knew too. Upon thinking about Natsu, though, he nearly snarled but held it in. She said she'd take care of it…
"I can't believe it worked so well!" she laughed out happily.
His heart fluttered.
He let out a laugh of his own. "We just have to let them know about the destruction, little miss monster."
She laughed back at that, but didn't say much more. Instead, she slipped out of his hold and went to pull away… But he grabbed her hand. Pain surged through her left hand- not the one she used during their raid- and she winced. He easily caught onto this and huffed.
"You overdid it."
"I did," she agreed.
He gave her a soft smile, one that made her feel all warm and tingly. These foreign feelings didn't settle well with her.
She decided Laxus was dangerous to be around.
"Let's get you home."