"In order for them to keep this magic that she would get, they would… kill her…" Lacie cringed at the mention of someone being killed. Everyone else who had been down here had been killed. She was the only one left… until these two came along…
"No! I won't let that happen! Wendy isn't going to die! Not if I have a say in it!" Lucy looked about to explode. Inside, she was welling up with anger, that is, until Wendy made a groaning noise. Lucy's eyes shot over to her form as she started to cough up blood. "Wendy!"
"L...Lucy? Where are we…?" Wendy sat up slowly, blood still dripping from her face. She brought her hand up to her mouth, wiping as much blood off as she could. Her eyes shot around everywhere, landing on the girl in the cell next to her. "W-Who are you!?"
"I-I'm Lacie… Wendy, calm down, now that you're awake, we are going to have to move fast," Lacie was standing up in her cell, her hand over the lock of the cell.
"Wendy, you can trust her. She wants to help us get out to find the others," Lucy stood up as well, watching Lacie to make sure she didn't go back on her word. She watched as the lock on the cell started to freeze, and shatter. Lacie pushed the door open, going to Wendy's cell and doing the same, shattering the lock. She extended a hand for Wendy.
"Come on, we need to get out of here before Melody gets back," Wendy took Lacie's outstretched hand, grabbing it and pulling herself up. They walked over to Lucy's cell, who gratefully thanked Lacie and pulled Wendy into a tight hug.
"Come on, let's go find Natsu and the others," Lucy started forward, but Wendy pulled on her hand for a moment.
"Wait, where's Carle? She was with us before…" Lucy sweatdropped. She had forgotten all about her.
"I'm sure she's fine, Wendy, but now we need to get out of here. Let's go," Lucy started forward, Wendy and Lacie at her heals.
"Carle! Carle! Are you in the fish barrel!?" Happy was flying around in a storage cave. He had been put on search duty before Natsu and the others entered the cave. So far, he hadn't found anyone. But the rumbling of the cave system told Happy that Natsu had found someone… So he would look for Carle!
He wasn't having much luck in the fish barrels, so he decided to try another room. When he pushed open the door, he was met with a huge, hollowed out room. Inside were many different animals and monsters. There were different types of livestock, magical creatures like Vulcan, and other animals. They were all locked up in cells… Happy flew past many of these, going all the way to the back. He looked into one cells.
One the floor, there was a bow. A pink and orange colored one. Happy gasped. He would recognize that bow anywhere. "Carle!? Carle! Answer me!" He frantically flew around the cage until he heard a quiet response.
"Can you ever shut up, Tomcat?" Carle was laying in a dark corner of her cell, all bruised under her white fur.
"Carle! What happened?" Happy came to the ground, folding his wings back. He reached into the cell, trying to reach for her. When he couldn't reach her, he threw his little green bag on the floor, looking around for something to help get her out. He came across a small stick that he could use to pick the lock on the cell.
"I was trying to do my job and protect Wendy… Happy, please tell me you know where she is?" Carle sounded desperate, which made Happy wince in disappointment.
"I'm sorry, Carle, I haven't seen anyone yet. But I'll get you out of here and we can go find them, okay?" Happy had almost gotten the lock undone, and he looked Carle in the eye. He heard a click as the lock fell to the ground. He swung the door open, and came into it, helping Carle up.
"That would be nice," Carle gave him a hopeful look.
"Come on, let's go find her," Happy and Carle both walked out of the cell and the room, staying on the ground for the time being, listening to the shattering walls and crumbling ceilings.
"Oh, it did nothing, huh?" Luke still smirked in Natsu's direction, readying his next attack.
"Yeah, and with that flaw, I'm gonna kick your ass! Fire Dragon Slayer's Flame Elbow!" Natsu jumped into air, expecting flame to come from his arm, boosting the power of his punch, but no such flames were present. Instead, only a still powerful punch connected with Luke's counterattack. Their fists created dust that flew out from both of them. When the dust settled, Luke and Natsu stood with the fists still connected. Luke smirked at Natsu, seeing his expression turn into that of a stone expression.
"See, my wind has compressed your fire, meaning you can't use magic against me," He smirked, bringing his fist back again, and connected a wind powered fist to his nose, throwing Natsu back again.
"Shit… Why do I always end up with the wind freaks? This is becoming a pain in the ass…" Natsu stood up, cracking his knuckles and staring at Luke with a new ferocity. He seemed to be… thinking of something.
Worrying will only mess you up. You have to keep your head clear. Mark the day, Natsu actually thought about what Gray had told him before. But, he was right. Natsu needed to focus on beating Luke, and then he could save Lucy.
"I may not have magic on my side, but I won't fall to you. I don't have that luxury as a member of Fairy Tail. We always fight to the end," Natsu stood straight, his right shoulder facing Luke, showing off his Fairy Tail insignia.
"We'll see about that, Dragneel. Wind Make: Multiple Scythe Dance!" Scythes made entirely of wind came at Natsu from every angle, but he dodged every single one. He ran straight at Luke, who desperately tried to knock Natsu off course, only to come out unsuccessful. Natsu got close enough to ram his hard head into Luke's stomach, making him fly backwards, and into the wall with a powerful force. A cracking noise filled the room, indicating Natsu had definitely broken something. He rushed forward again, the same effect happening, but against a different wall. His movements were too fast for Luke to follow, leaving him blind in any magic attack he sent at the fire mage.
Luke regained his footing, wiping blood from his lower lip, and he put his fist in his palm once more. "Wind Make: Shred!" The wind around Natsu grew into sharp objects, cutting at his skin. He gritted his teeth, not letting the sharp winds take over. They rushed past him, over and over, not letting up.
Natsu eventually flew back, losing the fight against the wind. Luke smiled and walked forward. He looked at Natsu's battered form as it tried to get back up.
Natsu stood up to his full height, ignoring the pain that coursed through his body. He raised his fist in front of him. "I said, I'm not giving up. The best thing for you to do is get out of my way," Natsu took a step towards Luke, but Luke didn't waver.
"Fat chance, Salamander. Wind Make: Sword!" Luke created a wind sword in his palms, and ran at Natsu, bringing it over his head, ready to strike down on the fire mage. He was mere inches from Natsu as he brought the sword down with all his might. There was a large burst of light that came from the end of Luke's wind sword, and he felt his sword stop. A dust cloud formed around them, and they both stayed in place as the dust settled. Natsu was at the other end, but he had caught the blade between his palms. He had a scowl on his face, and he kneed Luke in the stomach.
Somehow, Natsu had gotten his fire wind barrier to vanish, and he could use his fire yet again. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu used Luke as a base to jump into the air, coming back down on top of Luke, crushing him into the ground, a large crater forming. As Luke went limp, the room around Natsu started to fade from the black abyss to a room full of cells. Some of the doors were open, others ransacked, others with corpses still inside them. But, there wasn't a sign of Lucy or Wendy.
"Is everything alright? I thought you said my flames weren't as hot as your friend's?" Flint's smirk reappeared on his face as he gazed at Gray's burning body still trying to fight the intense heat.
"The hell!? How did it get so hot!?" Gray was sweating profusely now. This attack made it feel like the very room was on fire. It was still nothing compared to how hot it got when Natsu got mad, but with this huge quantity of fire around him, it felt like he could burn at any second.
"That's one of my ace spells. It may not look like it, but I can do so much more than I look capable of. Fire Make: Typhoon!" A swirl of red fire came barreling towards Gray, and fast. Gray panicked and tried to jump out of the way, but the heat was getting to him. His reflexes were slow because of the immense heat. The typhoon hit him full force, knocking him back a few feet. His forearms and shirt was burned. He grimaced at the burns, but faced his opponent. Gray pulled at the collar of his shirt, pulling it off and throwing it off to the side.
"If I were to lose to you, it would be like losing to Natsu, and my reputation won't take that," Gray shifted back into his ice make stance. "Ice Make: Geyser!" The huge ice geyser rose from under Flint, catching him inside it. Both males had a surprised face, but it didn't last long. The heat from the room started to melt the ice geyser, and Flint fell to the ground, smirking.
"I told you, it's pointless fighting me. You're out of your element, ice boy. Fire Make: Bullets!" Flint lifted a fire made gun and shot it at Gray. He was starting to get used to the heat and jumped out of the way of most of the bullets. The ones that hit him only gave him minor damage, and they mostly hit him in his shins.
"I'm about done with this! Ice Make: Knuckle!" Six different knuckles left the ground in front of Gray and headed straight for Flint. He smirked, thinking it would melt before it got to him, but three of the knuckles made it. They struck him in the stomach and chest, and he stumbled back. The ice had made cuts in his chest, and he clutched his chest as he quickly stood back up, bracing himself against another cold fist attached to the man he needed to defeat at any cost.
"Can't you learn to keel over? I've never met such a persistent fighter before. Fire Make: Shower!" Flint jumped up, avoiding one of Gray's rouge punches, and he aimed his hands in Gray's general direction. A barrage of fire pellets bombarded their way to Gray's arms and chest, and he stumbled back, but not far. He had to get rid of the fire surrounding the room if he was going to beat this guy.
"Ice Make: Ice Wall!" Gray lowered his hands to the ground, part of the floor turning to ice, and the ice creeping up the burning walls. The ice seemed to start to melt, but that only made Gray put more effort into his spell. Soon enough, the entire room was now coated in ice, and he could finally use his magic. Flint stared wide-eyed at what Gray had done.
"No one's ever done that before… What are you!?" Flint seemed almost afraid of Gray now. I mean, he was shirtless, had just destroyed his ace, and now stood above the unfortunate fire make mage.
"I'm Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail, and you are the one who messed with the wrong guild! Ice Make: Death Scythe," In Gray's hand formed a scythe, which he quickly swung at Flint, cutting his chest and stomach, and making him fall to the ground. Gray's scythe disappeared, and the room shifted back to normal around him. He sighed in relief, and stumbled back a few feet, before falling against a pillar that was still standing.
"Too slow, Fairy Queen," Zylla gave a sadistic smile, but hesitated when she didn't hear any screams. Erza gazed up at her, through an opening in her adamantine armor. Erza gave a fierce battle cry, throwing Zylla across the room.
"It seems you are slow to get the message that I won't lose. Step aside before you regret it," Erza stared at Zylla's form as she stood up. Zylla gave a firm glare as she pulled her fist back into her palm for another spell.
"It won't be that easy! Shadow Make: Birds!" A magic circle formed in front of her and a multitude of birds flew out towards Erza, causing the requip mage to requip into her flight armor, jumping around and dodging the different birds.
"Sonic Claw!" Erza rushed forwards towards Zylla slashing at her in every direction. She hit Zylla in the stomach and arm, before she caught up and threw Erza a few feet away, but she quickly caught her own footing. They both rushed forward again, both missing with their shadow and short swords. They sped past each other, Zylla turning quickly and bringing down her sword on Erza's back. Luckily, Erza sped fast past the sword, but they were farther apart from each other.
"Shadow Make: Knuckles!" Erza recognized this spell. Gray used this one many times when they sparred, but with ice instead of shadows. She smirked and requipped into her Heaven's wheel armor. She countered every shadow knuckle with two or three swords and destroyed them. She then proceeded to summon more swords, throwing them at Zylla. They all made contact with her, sending her to be pinned against the wall.
She grunted in pain as she hit the wall, but she didn't give up. "You win for now… Shadow Body," Zylla slipped through the swords and the floor, and seemingly vanished from the room completely. Erza panicked for a moment, but didn't feel the girl's magic power anymore.
"Coward…" Erza scowled and mumbled under her breath. She glanced back to where Gray and Natsu were, and ran down the hall. If they had run into mages of this caliber… They still would have used up an awful lot of magic power themselves. She requipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor as she ran.
Author's Note: Hallu again! I'm so glad that you guys are still here! Even after I left for an entire week...
So, I had planned to have internet at the resort, and we did... but you could only connect three devices at a time and it was just terrible to begin with.
I understand that sometimes, when a story isn't updated, people don't read it (wow, shocker) but I will make up for this by combining two chapters! This one here was supposed to end after Natsu's fight, but then the next one was really short, and yada yada yada, moer excuses, I know... So I really hope you enjoyed this double chapter!
For all those who had Spring Breaks, I hope they were wonderful! And if not, I apologize for that... Maybe this can cheer you up!
Read, Reveiw, all that lovely work, and stay beautiful people!
See y'all Friday!
