Thanks for reviewing goes to: Izzy26.
Grand Magic Tournament, Day 4. Battle part. Naval battle. 1 participant per team. The person who leaves the sphere of water will lose. The remaining person will be the victor. In the event that there are two participants remaining in the sphere, a special rule will be added. The 5 minute rule. If within 5 minutes one of the two leaves the sphere, that person will receive the least points.
Aquarius will give me a good advantage. Juvia's strong on this one, though, and I don't know what the Sabertooth girl can do. Now that Raven Tail's gone, I can show everyone the true power of Urano Metria. Plus, if necessary…no, in the end, these are only games. If I could not use it when our lives were in danger, then I have no right to use it in a matter of mere pride.
"I'm going to give it my all!" said Shelia.
"I'm not going to lose this time!" Jenny shouted.
"Never underestimate a mermaid!" chimed in Mermaid Heel's Risley.
"If it's water, then it's Juvia! This is Juvia's expertise," added Juvia.
"Haha. Sabertooth's Minerva… has arrived." Cheers erupted throughout the stadium.
"I can't lose either. I have to make up for the first day's shame!" I said. Far off was the sound of my team cheering me on. I wouldn't fail them again.
"The rules are simple! If you leave the water, you lose! Naval battle commence! BONG!"
Immediately I attacked. "Right off the bat but…sorry everyone! Open! Gate of the Water-Bearer! Aquarius!"
"Aghhhh! The water is my playground!" she screamed.
"I won't let you! Water Cyclone!" yelled Juvia in return.
"Juvia!" I shouted, surprised.
"Searing love!"
"What is this…!?"
"We're even!?" said Aquarius, shocked.
"This is the perfect time to… The single one out!" Jenny slammed into Quatro Puppy's Rocker feet first, effectively dropping him out of the battle.
Shelia swirled air towards Risley, but, "Never underestimate a chubby!" she shouted while dodging.
Meanwhile, "This isn't going to end well, so I'm going to return now," said Aquarius.
"Eh!? Why!? You're the best in the water, I have to depend on you!"
"I have a date. " she replied, and whooshed back to the celestial realm, leaving me open for Juvia's water.
Frantically, waving my arms, I screamed, "Virgo! Aries!" They came just in time, "Sexy Guard! Princess!" and, "I'm sorry if it's too fluffy~"
"Wahh~ That was close!" I yelped.
"I throw them all out at once! There is nobody who can win against Juvia in the water! The unleashing of second origin is a unique spell I acquired… Go forward! Wings of love! Gray-sama love!" Juvia attacked with a huge swirl of water, hearts lining the edges.
"Quit it!" yelled Gray.
Jenny, Risley, and Shelia were thrown out, coughing. Minerva calmly deflected the water with her magic. Virgo and Aries hung onto me desperately, shouting, "Princess! Hang on! Fluffy guard is at max power!"
Juvia glanced at Gray, and her face dropped, the disappoint matching Gray's disgust. Stunned, Juvia realized she was suddenly out of the water, "Eh?"
"Juvia!" I shouted. Even if she was on another team, she was still a Fairy Tail member.
"That idiot," grumbled Gajeel.
"She fell out," gasped Cana.
"Why?" asked Mirajane.
Laxus was speechless, "….!?"
"Ouchieee!" Juvia yelped, smacking the ground hard with her face.
"What a pity! After all that effort, she's out! Even still, she's rank 3! That's 6 points!" announced Lola.
"Huhu," smirked Minerva.
"The only two left are Minerva and Lucy! Now…who will be the victor? Sabertooth? Or Fairy Tail? We have applied the 5-minute rule. During these 5 minutes, if one of the two falls out of the water, they will gain the least amount of points from this event."
Minerva said, "With my magical power, I could throw you out of the water in a flash. However… that wouldn't be very satisfying… Let's see how long you last. Fairy Tail."
A glowing oblong shape bulged from her hand and glided towards me.
"What's this…kyaaaa!" I screamed. It burned! Another pulse hurled itself into my back. "It felt so heavy. Like lead…I keep getting hit everywhere," I murmured. I reached for my keys and gasped, "What!? My keys are…"—Minerva held them up triumphantly—"When did she!? Kyaaaaaaaa!" A larger glow-thing shoved me roughly backwards. I was going to fall out! No, I couldn't! I waved my arms and stopped on the edge.
Pulse after pulse slammed into me, but I gritted my teeth. "I'll show her I can take any of her attacks!" There was one minute left. "If I lose here, I won't be able to face everyone who tried so hard! I won't betray everyone's emotions! That's why I'll never give up!"
Minerva stopped. Thirty seconds remained. Maybe I had gotten through to her, and she'd wait for the timer to stop! Wrong. I was completely wrong. I saw the look of glee on her face as she sent forward the largest pulse yet.
"Ahhhhh!" My entire body was being crushed. I could barely tell Minerva was shouting at me. I was going to die, I was going to die, I was…not. The strength and sadism of her cold-hearted continuous attacks had aroused the interest of the darkness within me. It wanted out. Who was this that dared attack us? We would have this one on its knees in subservience before us, trembling in fear, for we were stronger, stronger than her, stronger than anyone, we would KILL THEM ALL - NO!
Now I could notice I was falling out. I didn't care. Keep it down, keep it down. Stay calm. No anger, no fear, no pain. I chanted over and over in my head. Then I was no longer drifting calmly out. Minerva's knee slammed into my back, forcing out my breath and my willpower.
It hurt so badly, but I couldn't acknowledge it, it didn't hurt, it didn't hurt, I was choking on my own blood, and I could no longer move, but that didn't matter because it didn't hurt, and I heard Natsu and Gray and Erza screaming for me—why could I hear them from so far away?—and Minerva laughed, and the laugh kept ringing and ringing in my head, and I thought I could hear each tear and crunch of flesh and bone, and it was too much, too fast, I heard shouting—did the referee say to stop?—but that didn't matter because nothing existed except for the pain, and a choking pressure on my throat, and I knew I was going to die, but I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, and everything. Just. Stopped.
It felt like the world had frozen. My eyes opened; I saw everything with perfect, pristine clarity. Just like before on Tenrou Island when the dark magic was aroused. I wasn't in control of my body, but it knew what to do. I ripped Minerva's hand away from my throat and broke her wrist in one sharp motion; a feral snarl escaping that wasn't me. My hand-that-was-not-my-hand yanked her forward, one foot swung up to her chest; I heard the cracking sound of her ribs breaking. Some part of me could hear the gasps of the crowd, the voice of the announcer, the cheers from my guild, but I was here, with Minerva who had hurt me, who had insulted Fairy Tail, and who would pay for it.
My body flung Minerva's body around, aiding it with swinging kicks and jabbing punches so that she was closer to the outside than I was. I felt my fingers curling into a sign I had only seen once, from eyes that had not been my own; I looked down and saw myself preparing one of the only dark spells I knew. Right hand, index and middle fingers up, above left hand, index and fifth finger down, facing out.
I screamed, No, I can't kill her, I can't! Stop! Someone stop me! Instead my mouth said, "People like you do not know the value of life. One sin is torturing me…the other is insulting my nakama. Repentance!" There was a horrible blast of light, different from Zeref's—my father's—pillar plunging from heaven, instead a shockwave that shoved Minerva out of the water, falling unconscious to the ground.
My hearing faded to dull normality, shouts from Sabertooth and Fairy Tail for emergency treatment and immediate rescue to the sick bay bombarded my hearing. My magic released, the pain came crashing down, and I crumpled into a ball, glad to finally let the darkness take me.
!
"Did you know she could use a spell like that, Natsu, Erza, Gray?" interrogated Master Makarov in the infirmary. It was decided that it would be safer for both injured, but luckily alive, parties if they and their guilds were stationed in wards far, far from each other. It was here that Master had called a guild meeting.
"No way! Lucy's really strong, way stronger than that tigress!" shouted Natsu. His temper had been slightly appeased seeing Lucy earn first place.
"No, master. I was only aware of her celestial key magic and Urano Metria," stated Erza.
"Yeah, same here. Lucy seemed to know what she was doing, though it could have been some form of mind control…" mused Gray.
"Hey, my puppet magic can't make other's use magic. It's purely physical!" returned Bixlow.
"Meredy's Sensory magic, as well, is not capable of such, and I know of no other magic that would allow it," stepped in Jellal. "However…that was magic had to have been learned directly from Zeref."
"You're not implying that—"
"Lucy would never—"
"Zeref!?"
"Quiet!" shouted Master. "Explain," he said tersely, nodding his head at Jellal.
"As I said before, I can sense dark magic, especially related to Zeref. Godslayer magic, Sensory magic, Arc of Time, Arc of Embodiment, my Heaven magic; all that is a category of Lost magic. This type was first founded by Zeref, but other people were able to learn to use them, though not to their full capabilities. There are other types of magic he invented, like the Living magic and Death magic, which were not able to be replicated by any mages since. All of these magics have a sort of signature when you sense them. The magics unique to Zeref have a darker signature, not tainted by the magic of other mages. What Lucy used was a Death spell. Luckily, whether she didn't have enough magic, or did not wish to kill Minerva, it did not have complete effect. I am absolutely sure that it was a Death spell, and would imagine that it would be best for the nature of the spell to be kept quiet," Jellal explained thoroughly.
"Thank you. We should withhold all judgment until Lucy can explain for her—"said Master.
"Ugh..." Lucy groaned.
"Lucy!" gasped Happy.
"Everyone…what happened…to Minerva?" asked Lucy, tiredness dragging down her face.
"She is alive and healing under the care of the Sabertooth's medic. She has three broken ribs, one broken wrist, a fractured nose, a concussion, and multiple bruises. She was unconscious, but woke shortly. You shouldn't worry about her; you're much worse off," snapped Porlyusica gently.
"Oh…good… Keys…my keys…" muttered Lucy.
"There they are," said Happy, quietly handing them to her.
"Thank goodness…thank you," sighed Lucy, gratefully clutching her keys to her and drifting off to sleep.
"We'll definitely wait until she's better. It seems she did not intend to kill or severely injure Minerva. A and B teams, I want to talk to you guys over here."
!
A dark silhouette gazed out the window, a singularly unique extended nose and wild hair marking him as Arcadios, Chief of the ... Squadron. A twisted smirk completed his wicked visage.
Yes, such a strong mage, to defeat Minerva of Sabertooth, especially with the Lost Death Magic... He sighed. The sacrifices I have to make for the world. If it weren't for the Eclipse Plan, it would have be an honor to induct the girl into my squadron... However, things being as they are, I really couldn't have planned it better.
The silhouette vanished to give his underlings the go-ahead to begin their plan, after seven long years.
!
A/N: Yes, this was written before the entire princess-Arcadios-timeline debacle was revealed. He will remain a misguided antagonist throughout the rest of RD, though he may or may not be reformed at the end.
This won't be a super-powered Lucy story where she learns all the Lost Magic, beats everyone, etc.; I have mentioned this story's grounding in realism, I believe? Those I mentioned, are simply the potential she has, and then all the other factors like age and dilution of power...
Edit 7/28: Grammar, end-scene revisions
Feedback, as always, appreciated,
~TehBunni