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Thanks for all followers, favourites, and reviews. Love you!
To Kyrianae Narii: You are a genius. I don't think that you're making Lucy overpowered at all! Thanks for the suggestion! By the way, what makes you think I'm gonna save Michelle? I might just kill her off and leave all of you with broken hearts and feels that cannot be mended! Mwah ha ha! No really, I might do that. Maybe I should.
Perhaps I can be persuaded not to if...reviews...
Lucy returned sometime after (three hours, in fact, the sun had almost set) with a bundle of shopping bags. Without a word to her sensei, she headed to the bathroom to change. Minato raised an eyebrow at her but decided not to comment. She was probably excited for a wardrobe change, he guessed.
Meanwhile, Lucy was changing. The main piece that she'd bought was a chest protector, sort of like a mune-ate. The navy plastic covered her chest and also curved onto her back, with the two pieces clipping together under her left arm. It was extremely comfortable, moulding into her shape seamlessly like it'd been made for her.
Underneath that, she wore a white kimono top, lined with a soft gold - like Natsu's vest, actually, but with significant differences. It was loose but not too flappy - especially at the wrists - practical for throwing kunai and shuriken. Lucy kept her belt with her keys, whip, and weapons pouches, but underneath she wore a pair of navy and gold-lined shorts instead of her skirt. She also wore mesh leggings and her brown boots.
Lucy smiled at her reflection, before pulling out one last accessory. The fingerless dark blue gloves fit snugly around her hands; she'd taken a great liking to them over the past year. They were fabulous, easy to maneuver her fingers in and not too thick as to restrict her movement.
And they looked really, really cool. That was also a bonus.
She walked out of the bathroom and showed her outfit to her sensei, striking a few poses for good measure. He smiled at her and applauded at her choice - her chest protector especially - before leading her to the training room.
"Let's try that out, shall we?"
Team Natsu had just returned from a mission when three figures were spotted outside the guild. As soon as Lucy heard the news, her stomach dropped - she now had to play the part of damsel-in-distress even though she could nearly water walk. She shot a quick look at Michelle, who raised a delicate eyebrow at her, daring her to contradict their plan.
What a pain...
With a long-suffering sigh, she dragged her feet out with her team to investigate.
Lucy walked out just in time to hear a slightly familiar voice declaring, "I only have like, one demand: that you hand over Lucy Heartifilia to me!" She surveyed Mary-Hughes, Coco, and Sugarboy. The former two looked as high and mighty as usual, while the latter was undoubtably fawning over himself internally. Huh. They were exactly as she remembered.
"Give...to you?" Michelle muttered, playing her part perfectly. Lucy groaned softly. If her sister expected her acting to be that good, she was in for a huge disappointment.
"Wah! I've never seen a real-life proposal before!" Happy exclaimed, eyes wide. That damn cat. Lucy's eyebrow twitched and she took back her previous thoughts. When it came to the flying blue devil, she could definitely play the part, along with the physical aspects.
"It's not like that!" She and Mary-Hughes yelled in sync. However, the other woman quickly brushed it off and returned to the topic at hand.
"Anyway, it no use hiding from us. Like, we all know that Lucy Heartfilia belongs to this guild!" Mary-Hughes sneered.
Levy leaned towards Lucy and quietly asked if she knew why the trio was after her. Thinking quickly, the blonde shrugged and answered,"I don't know, but I guess they might be after this," she indicated the box that contained the her father's clock piece. Lucy'd already explained to her guildmates what it was beforehand so Levy nodded in understanding before facing the trio again.
Lucy zoned out after that, only coming back to her senses when Sugarboy started singing. Dear Mavis, her ears bled as the green slime enveloped some of her guild mates. She had to stop this before she passed out. This was the second time in her life she had to listen to this! No one, not even Zeref, should have to endure this! Hopefully, Michelle wouldn't get mad at her. Anyway, she knew what would happen in the future, so...there wasn't much of a risk to take.
"Hey! I'm Lucy Heartfilia!" Lucy yelled towards Sugarboy, waving the brown box around to get his attention. The trio turned and saw her, with Mary-Hughes raising an arrowhead eyebrow.
"What the hell are you doin', Luce!?" Natsu growled from his place behind her, heat beginning to emanate from his person. Lucy turned to him, smiling. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I just want to know why they're after me." The dragonslayer growled some more, but otherwise remained in his position. She faced the trio again, satisfied with her act.
"Spicy!" Sugarboy declared, strolling towards her. His disgusting green slime receded back into his clothes as Lucy cringed. She also heard a mutter from Mary-Hughes, "What a ditz..." The celestial mage began seething silently. That was just rude!
"What do you want?" Lucy prodded. Her tone of voice was also a little rude, but honestly, she couldn't help it. These three had decided to disrespect her family. And Mary-Hughes had called her a ditz for the second time.
"You seen a metal rod around? Like, inscripted, looks like a clock hand...it's actually about the same length as that..." Mary-Hughes pointed at the brown case that Lucy was carrying. The blonde tensed, but the older woman noticed. "Hand it over." She stated coldly, taking a threatening step forward.
Leaping backwards, Lucy grabbed Michelle's hand and began running into the trees. "I'll be back, everyone!" She yelled as the the enemy gave chase. With an apologetic smile at her guildmates' shocked faces, she disappeared into the forest.
Lucy panted for breath as she dropped behind a tree, Michelle beside her. "W-What were you thinking?" Her sister stuttered, leaning backwards against the tree. "I was embracing my adventurousness?" Lucy muttered back, taking the chance to pull out Virgo's key.
"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"
In a flash of golden light, the pink-haired spirit stood in front of them. She blinked owlishly at them before bowing. "Princess. Michelle-san. Is it time for punishment?"
Lucy smiled. "Good to see you too, Virgo. Now - wait, how did you know who Michelle is?"
Her spirit blinked again before answering, a hint of bemusement in her voice. "I believe she tried to use you to power the Infinity Castle some time ago, Princess?"
Lucy's mouth dropped open, shock numbing her body. "What?" She gasped, the air momentarily leaving her lungs. When she'd gotten to this time, Lucy had automatically assumed that her spirits would be of this time as well, not of her own time. This meant that Virgo was - Virgo was from her time!
"Virgo!" She cried, wrapping her arms around her beloved spirit. Her heart was pounding, thoughts and plans forming in her head. With her spirits as they were, that meant she could use Star Dress! That was her main attack these days, anyway. She no longer had to rely on her limited jutsu repetoire (even though Minato-sensei had said that her reserves were huge - courtesy of the Uzumaki blood that ran through her veins) and summoning her spirits alone.
"Princess?" Virgo murmured, gently patting her back. Lucy looked up at her and asked, "Do you know what happened?" The pink-haired maid nodded and replied, "In a way, Princess. We felt the disturbance of time in our world but nothing else," She glanced at Michelle, who stood silently beside Lucy, "I guess that you have time traveled?"
Lucy grinned in confirmation, but her next words were interrupted by twigs cracking and muttered curses. Her grin dropped slightly.
"Where is that damn girl? Like, she can't hide for much longer!"
"That's...spicy!"
Lucy gulped as she released Virgo from her grip. "Alright, we can talk about this later. Virgo, if you could please tunnel us away?"
"Of course, Princess."
The next second, all three of them were underground and drilling through at breathtaking speeds. Nothing but darkness could be seen, and the smell of fresh soil assaulted Lucy's nose. The ride was completely smooth as the tunnel was wider than their single file line. The earth parted before them.
After a few minutes, Virgo began to slow down. "Princess, is this far enough? Or should I be pu - " Lucy was quick to cut her off, sweatdropping.
"That's fine. Just take us up, please." Immediately, they shot to the surface, bursting out of the ground in a fountain of leaves and dirt. Gasping a little, Lucy helped Michelle up and left Virgo with a promise to greet her other spirits. Panting, they took time to recover.
"Hey Michelle?"
"Yes, nee-san?"
"Can you still fight as Imitatia?" The subject was still a bit touchy, but there was no time to worry about that now.
"...yes. I can protect you if it comes to that."
"Alright." Lucy sighed, brushing off her hands when she heard the telltale sound of rampaging as Coco neared them. Her magic was...troublesome, to say the least. Speed - Minato-sensei had taught her - was an extremely valuable asset. He'd demonstrated with the Hiraishin, flickering back and forth in her vision so much that she had gotten dizzy.
"You wanna fight them?" A glimmer appeared in her eyes. She wanted to see if her new skills would be of use in a fight. And Star Dress. Lucy'd be screwed without Star Dress. Well, last time she was, anyway.
Michelle blew out a long breath, shaking her head with a rueful smile as she stood beside Lucy. "I swear, that boy - Natsu-san - is rubbing off you more than I thought..." She muttered as her body was enveloped in a flash of violet light that momentarily blinded the blonde. As it faded, Michelle was revealed in her Imitatia form, along with her rose shield and sword. Lucy took the time to quickly admire how battle-ready she looked, compared to her attire seconds prior.
Just in time, in fact, for Coco to come skidding in front of them, shredding the undergrowth of the forest. The sounds of Mary-Hughes and Sugarboy were not far behind. Lucy prepared herself with a glance at her sister, pulling out her whip and moulding a generous amount of chakra.
"Let's go, Michelle!"