Chapter 7

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"Let's go!"

"Aye sir!"

"Wait!" Lucy grabbed her two teammates and pulled them back into the bush that they were hiding in. Clearly, the promise to be quiet and sneak in had been forgotten as soon as they arrived.

"What the hell Lucy?" Natsu asked and she rolled her eyes.

"We agreed that we were going to be cautious since we don't even know who we're up against," She explained. "Barging in hasn't worked for us every time and it probably won't now."

"But Gray might be in there," Happy argued. Lucy glanced over at the church where Avatar was hiding out.

"Which is precisely why we need a plan," Lucy stated, she held up one of her golden zodiac keys. "Starting with Virgo." Natsu frowned, now he was confused.

"Wait, why do we need Virgo?" He asked.

"Because she can help us sneak in from under them," She replied.

"Great idea! This is the one that digs holes Natsu," Happy added. "Remember?"

"Oh!"

"Open, gate of the maiden! Virgo!" As always Virgo appeared when her gate was opened, except this time….she was tied up. That completely threw Lucy off.

"Virgo? W-What happened?"

"Who did this to you?" Natsu pressed. "I can beat them up for you!"

"No need to worry about me Princess," Virgo said. "I had some free time, so naturally I decided to punish myself."

"Naturally huh," Lucy said.

"Yes Princess, naturally." The celestial spirit broke free of the rope.

"Natsu and Happy, it's been a while," she said. "How was your trip?"

"It was... fine," Natsu answered, not sure where this was going.

"Aye," Happy added.

"Very good," Virgo responded. "And don't worry Princess was taken care of while you were gone-"

"Virgo-"

"We spent time with her when we could so she wouldn't be so lonely-"

"Virgo!"

"Oh no! Was he not supposed to know that?" Virgo asked. "Princess please punish me, for I have disobeyed you."

"No! No! Stop! Let's just get on with it," Lucy replied, trying her best to focus on the task ahead. She brought the key towards herself.

"Star Dress: Virgo Form," She exclaimed. With this dress, she wore a maid outfit just like Virgo. Her hair was tied into two ponytails and Virgo's symbol was on her arm.

Natsu was surprised and fairly impressed. He knew that Lucy had her celestial spirits with her when she needed to fight, but he had no idea that she could change like that as well.

"Hey," Happy whispered. "She kind of reminds me of a certain scary armored figure."

"Ditto," Natsu agreed. "So what exactly does this do for you?" He asked this question, referring to the outfit that Lucy was wearing. The maiden stepped in before Lucy could answer.

"This dress enables her to use parts of my powers to raise her own magic power as well," She stated. Natsu frowned, maybe he should spar with Lucy when he got a chance, he was curious about how this all worked.

"Alright," Lucy said. "Do your thing, Virgo. We're trying to sneak underground into that church."

Virgo nodded, "I see. As you wish Princess." With that, she dug a hole into the earth. The three of them followed, Lucy, then Natsu, and finally Happy. It didn't take long before they were climbing out into what they guessed to be the basement of the building.

"Thanks, Virgo," Lucy said as she observed the area. The space reminded her of some dark dusty dungeon where they contain criminals. "We need to learn more about Gray while keeping out of sig-"

"Gray I know you're in here! Come out whenever you-" Lucy quickly put her hand over the dragon slayer's mouth.

"Natsu what is wrong with you?" She exclaimed.

"It's time for punishment isn't it princess?" Virgo asked and Lucy let go of Natsu. She slowly turned around and saw Virgo pointing to a random contraption.

"Please try this on me then," She insisted.

"V-Virgo now is not the time," Lucy replied.

"What are you doing at our base?" They all turned and saw a small person with a large black and yellow headpiece. Their face was painted white with red stars around the eyes and they were a blue shirt with black spots. Though what really caught Lucy's attention was what this person was holding in their hands: Mr. Cursey.

It had certainly been a while since she had come across that doll and she had hoped to never see it again. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Oh no, it's Mr. Cursey," Happy shouted.

The person grinned, "So you know Mr. Cursey huh? Well, I got this from one of Grimoire Heart's heavyweights as a gift. Pretty crazy right? The world is full of really interesting black magic." They came towards them.

"Be careful," Virgo said. "He's more powerful than he looks." As Virgo said this, Natsu walked up to the small person. His hand became engulfed in flames and next thing you knew-the person was down. Lucy blinked a few times, that happened so fast.

"Sorry squirt," Natsu said. "The only person that I have a problem with here is Gray. I don't have any time to be dealing with anybody else."

"Oh no! Abel!" A bald man with bushy eyebrows dressed in a dark blue robe and a white sash appeared in the room.

"How dare you do this to Abel! I don't even know how you got in here and right now I don't care! You appeared in my training room, which means it's my lucky day," He announced. "Prepare for never ending pain!"

"Whoops! Whoa!" Natsu effortlessly dodged the man's attacks.

"Wooden dragon!" A large wooden dragon came towards the dragon slayer and Natsu stopped it with his foot.

"You call this piece of crap a dragon?" Natsu asked.

Of course he had to comment on that. Lucy thought.

"Sike," The man shouted. "It's actually an iron maiden! Shows you!" The iron maiden was almost like a coffin with big sharp spikes.

"Oh no Natsu!" Happy called. The iron maiden shut on the fire dragon slayer, but the bald guy didn't get to celebrate his victory long. The iron maiden started melting.

"I knew that wouldn't keep him down," Lucy said.

"What! The metal is melting," The guy exclaimed. Natsu came forwarded and punched him in the gut. That sent the man slamming into the wall. The structure shook in response. Another person covered head to toe in armor tried to surprise Natsu, but he took him down in a second as well.

"Wow, he's strong," Virgo commented.

"That's Natsu for you," Happy said. That's when Lucy had an idea. She took three fingers and pressed them to the ground.

"Impossible, we're all powerful black wizards," The man said. "How we-ahh!" He was cut off by the sudden drop. All three black wizards had fallen into holes.

"Oh man, they're not that deep at all," Lucy commented. They were supposed to fall further underground.

"Wait, you did that Lucy?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, Virgo has been teaching me this move where if press my hands to the ground I can make however many holes based on how many fingers I use. When I do, I can make them appear under my targets," Lucy explained. "I can only make up to ten holes for obvious reasons."

"It was a very good try Princess," Virgo stated.

"Thanks," Lucy said.

"What the hell is going on down here?" They all turned around and saw a familiar face.

Natsu grinned, "Long time no see." There was a pause. Then one fist collided with Natsu's face and another fist collided with Gray's. They started fighting.

Wait, what? Lucy thought.

"You two stop this," She called to no avail.

"What are you guys doing here?" Gray asked as he launched towards Natsu.

"I could ask you the same thing," Natsu answered as he blocked Gray's attack.

"I do what I want!"

"Juvia's waiting for you!"

"Do you think I care!"

"We're all waiting for you," Natsu shouted. "We're bringing back Fairy Tail and we can't do it without you!" Gray punched Natsu.

"That is the stupidest thing that I've ever heard," He exclaimed. "Fairy Tail is done! Get over it!" He shot ice towards Natsu, which he melted away with fire.

"Don't say that," Natsu argued. "All of the memories, all of the friendships are still there! Fairy Tail will always be right here!" He slammed his fist on his heart.

"Well, there you have it," Gray said. "You don't need me then. Just keep Fairy Tail in your heart and move on! I have and you all need to! We aren't friends anymore." That struck Lucy. It struck her harder than she thought it would. Just to hear someone who she had known to be a friend for so long say that...it hurt her. Next thing she knew, she was walking towards Gray wordlessly. She stood in front of him, shaking.

"What is it Lucy?" Gray asked coldly. That's when her hand collided with his face. She slapped Gray.

"I-It wasn't an act and you know it," She shouted. "We still are your friends and we'll always be! Please don't say things like that." She could feel the urge to burst out into tears brimming and she pushed it back.

"I….We-" A jolt of pain erupted in her stomach at that moment. She looked down and it happened again.

"My stomach," She shouted.

"Princess!"

"Lucy!"

"Took a while Mary," Gray said as he turned towards a smiling girl with pink hair.

"I didn't want to interrupt your little reunion Gray," Mary stated sweetly. "That is what this is right? I can gather that these are your friends from that non-existence guild." Lucy couldn't stopped shaking now, it hurt so badly. It was like she was experiencing the worst cramps over and over again.

"Leave Lucy alone," Natsu shouted, but he didn't get very far. He was handcuffed and tied up in chains along with Virgo.

Virgo gasped, "These are magical seals." Happy couldn't help, thanks to him being caught by Abel and Mr. Cursey.

Mary touched Lucy's head and her pain accelerated.

"You all shouldn't have come in the first place," Mary said. "You're just too weak! There's no way that you could have taken on wizards as strong as we are."

"Ahh," Lucy cried.

"Leave her alone," Natsu screamed as he struggled towards them.

"Contain him Goumon," Mary said.

"I'm trying," Goumon replied. "His magic is supposed to be sealed, but he's still so strong!"

"Here's something that'll stop him," A voice said. Lucy felt something on her neck and saw that it was a sword.

"Keep walking and she loses her head," The voice commanded. Natsu stopped, but growled in frustration. Lucy struggled, but she managed to look up and see that a blonde man was staring down at her with cold eyes.

"Good idea, Jerome," Goumon said. "Oh! The pink haired maid disappeared." Natsu turned and saw that Virgo was indeed gone.

"Forget about her," The man said as he forced Lucy to her feet with a sword at her neck. Let's just lock these three up.

"This is what you all get for sticking your noses where it doesn't belong," Gray stated as he shook his head.

"Gray snap out of it! You're being possessed," Natsu exclaimed.

Gray chuckled darkly, "Seriously, you think I'm being possessed? Well I hate to break it to you, but I'm perfectly sane." He took his jacket off to reveal more of the black markings that he was covered with on half of his body. What really shocked the three Fairy Tail members was the fact that his guild mark had been replaced by Avatar's mark.

"I chose to erase my guildmark," Gray continued. "Does that answer your question?"

"You're going to regret that Gray," Natsu replied as he glared at the ice make wizard.

They took them to a cell and threw them in there. Goumon made sure to handcuff Lucy before locking the celling and leaving with the rest of Avatar.

After a few minutes her stomach felt better,s so Lucy adjusted herself and sat up. She looked around. Virgo most likely had been forced back into the celestial spirit world, Natsu was in the corner fuming, and Happy was still out of it.

These chains are magic seals. She thought. What are we going to do?

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucy looked up and saw Natsu staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

"My stomach feels better," She answered. "Other than I'm not okay, this whole situation is not okay."

"Tell me about it," Natsu said and he scowled. "Gray is going to pay for this. What the hell happened to him?"

"Natsu, there has-" Lucy stopped mid-sentence when she heard Happy groan.

"Happy," She said. The exceed opened his eyes and stared up at the celestial wizard.

"Lucy….does your stomach feel better now?" He asked.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, that's better."

"That's good. What happened to Gray?" Happy asked.

"I was just about to say that there must be a reason for this," She replied. "Maybe he's possessed like Natsu said or he's being manipulated."

"Yeah," Happy said. "Our Gray would never do something like this on his own."

"Be quiet!" Goumon appeared in front of their cell and then bowed.

"He's bowing but there's noone there," Lucy pointed out.

"Creepy," Happy commented.

"Shut up," Goumon commanded and he was met with Natsu violently shaking the cell door.

"Bring Gray here," He demanded.

"Gray is not here anymore," Goumon shot back. "He and everybody left to prepare for the purification ritual."

"Purification ritual?"

"The purification of the soul," Goumon explained. "Death is the only way to attain it and the swell of death will bring Zeref closer to us." He smiled when he said that last part.

"Anyway, I'm here because I've been given the green light," He continued.

"The green light for what?" Happy dared to ask.

"The green light to attain information from you by force," Goumon replied. "Prepare for some pain." He looked over at Lucy who was glaring at him.

"We'll start with her first," He said.