Stellaria's lights were even more beautiful than she'd expected.
With the worst of the blizzard past, the sky was peaceful enough to let her see clearly. Even from so far below, it felt like she could touch them, if she just reached out and tried. But this isn't the time for that.
Nearby, Lisanna had laid down in the snow. "It doesn't seem like any of them saw us. Now, we wait."
The two of them fell back into silence, motivated by both stealth and awkwardness. In a sense, it was good that they'd been sent to do this. It kept them from addressing the elephant in the room. Or rather, the Dragon Slayer in the room. Lisanna was nice enough, and she didn't seem to mind Lucy's presence. Nonetheless, there was an indescribable tension between them and, for the time being, neither seemed ready to address it. Though, once this mission was over, they'd probably need to have a talk. We'll cross that bridge when we need to.
Fortunately, it wasn't too long a wait. Once Happy was visible, waving from the mouth of the facility's maintenance entrance, she reached for Taurus' key and brought it up to her face. "Happy says it's clear. Go," she whispered to it, which glowed faintly before dimming again. Now, they needed to do their part.
The two of them rose from cover, entering a nearby valley to head toward Happy. Exposed as they were, anyone looking could've easily spotted them. So, they moved as fast as the deep snow allowed, reaching the entrance just as the first bursts of flame could be seen from the nearby summit of the actual facility.
"Natsu's started. So have Taurus and Ian." Lucy tried to keep worry out of her tone. "No problems yet."
"They'll be alright." Happy seemed only slightly more concerned than he'd been on the train and lift. "It's much more likely that something'll go wrong on our end. And none of us are great fighters, either."
"Way to boost my confidence," Lucy muttered.
"Don't mind him. He's always doing this on tougher missions," Lisanna stuck her tongue out at Happy, who copied the gesture. They stayed like that for a moment, before giving up and smiling at each other. At least those two are having a good time.
"OK, OK. Enough messing around," Happy turned and began walking down the tunnel. "Let's go."
They followed the Exceed, heading further into what turned out to be a cave system similar to the one they'd left recently. Only, this one had clearly been carved out, with walls too smooth to be natural and a straightforward route that, despite having several diverging paths on either side, led to a metal hatch that looked sturdy enough to keep out at least a few angry Gorians.
"Here we are." Happy stood before the hatch, turning to face them. "You two remember the route?"
She and Lisanna both nodded. Baudin had gone so far as to draw the exact layout of the facility, though he made sure to focus on the lowest levels, where Macao was most likely being kept.
"Great. If it goes well, we might manage to get Macao out before they notice." Lisanna stepped forward, removing her jacket with a brief wince before grabbing a large handwheel on the hatch.
"Animal Soul," she said, her exposed arms rapidly thickening with muscle and hair, "Gorilla!"
With transformed limbs, turning the handwheel seemed almost effortless. Once the hatch was opened, she released both the handwheel and her spell, bringing her arms back to normal. Lisanna didn't waste any time putting the jacket back on, having already started shivering without its protection. "There it is."
"Nice work." The Exceed looked up at Lisanna as she finished with her jacket. "How's the arm?"
"I'm fine," she insisted. "It's just a scratch, really. I can keep going."
Happy didn't seem convinced by that, but he dropped the matter, stepping up to be first past the hatch. Waving them forward, he led them through a maintenance passage, well-lit yet considerably cramped. Despite the physical impossibility of a Gorian fitting in here, she reached in her pouch for Cancer's Key, touching the cold metal to steady her nerves. Just stay calm, Lucy. Don't lose sight of your surroundings.
After a short walk, they entered a much more spacious area. This was the research facility's lowest level, where its foundations were set up. A mess of technology and devices, most even larger than a Gorian, filled most of the floor and walls, serving inscrutable purposes. The only aspects she could discern were the numerous Lacrima orbs, encased in harnesses that channeled their magic to fuel the entire facility.
"All right," Happy whispered. "Seems this place isn't being guarded. Let's move on."
By way of a metal staircase, they headed up to another hatch with a handwheel. As Lisanna moved to remove her jacket again, Lucy spoke up. "Let's do this one together." She got weird looks from both Fairy Tail members. Don't think like that! You're a member too. "If we're in for a fight, you should have as much strength as you can. No reason to keep using your magic on doors if I'm right here, right?"
After a moment's pause, Lisanna smiled. "You make a good point."
With that, she made room for Lucy to grab the handwheel too. Between the two of them, turning it was an almost effortless action. "Yeah!" Lucy cheered quietly, raising an arm, palm open and facing Lisanna, who promptly completed the high-five. "Teamwork!"
Happy looked up at them, a slight smile on his lips as he shook his head. "Don't celebrate yet."
They proceeded through another hallway, this one large enough for a Gorian to fit within comfortably. At the end, there was finally an actual door, with an actual knob too, only this had dents that had almost bent the whole thing in on itself. Once they stood before it, no one seemed eager to take the first step.
"I got this," Lisanna said, visibly apprehensive as she approached the door and reached for the knob. Lucy ventured into her key pouch and extracted Cancer's Key as, with one careful pull, Lisanna opened the door, revealing that its opposite side was stained with dried blood. The smell was mercifully absent, but the resulting creak was surprisingly loud and lingered so long that she felt sure it had been noticed.
But nothing came to stop them as they stepped into the next room, where even more bloodstains could be found on almost every surface they looked on: the walls, the floor, the furniture, even the ceiling.
"Baudin mentioned that the security staff confronted several Gorians down here," Happy said, taking in as much of the scene as possible in the sparse light. "The blood must belong to both sides, then."
"I still don't understand it." She couldn't imagine what it'd been like when the Gorians rebelled. "Why?" The others looked back at her as she tried to find the right words. "Baudin said they were treated fairly. Why would the Gorians betray and kill the people that gave them a chance to be more than monsters?"
"It's not that straightforward." Now, the humans stared at the Exceed. "This is still an atrocity. Even if Baudin hasn't told us the whole truth, Caesar's group is definitely in the wrong here. But I don't think you can really know what it's like, having someone else weighing the worth of your people's existence."
Lisanna walked over to him, her expression sympathetic. "You know that Gorians aren't like Exceed."
Happy nodded, frowning. "But we're similar enough that I can see where they're coming from, even without condoning what they did." He sighed gently. "I'll try to explain later. For now, we have to go."
A door on the opposite wall led them to a long corridor, which they traversed as cautiously as possible. Here, signs of struggle had become much more overt: bloodstains had become numerous, many doors had been torn from their hinges and there were few windows left intact. As they passed each room, they stopped to check whether Macao was being held within. But every single one was either spacious chambers, equipped with furniture suitable for several Gorians, or archives, with cabinets gutted and documents scattered like leaves in the fall. There were no traces of Macao, the dead or any Gorians.
Where are the bodies? Even though everything she'd seen so far was frightening, that one question kept coming back with each bloodstain Lucy noticed, all possible answers adding to her dread.
They reached the end of the corridor, where a staircase took them up a level and to another corridor, almost identical to the one below. But, before they rounded the corner to this one, Happy lifted a paw. They stood completely still as he quietly sniffed the air. Lucy felt her heartbeat quicken as she waited, and the words he whispered only caused it to go even faster.
"Gorians ahead. Just one in the hallway, but at least six more in a room. There's a weird scent in the air." He sniffed carefully, turning to face them. "Macao's on this floor, sixth door on the left. Are you ready?"
Despite her apprehension, she nodded along with Lisanna. Happy then removed his backpack, handing it to Lisanna, who had again cast off her jacket as quietly as possible, and went down to his front paws. The structure of his face and body still gave him away, but to unfamiliar eyes, he suddenly seemed almost indistinguishable to a normal cat. He looked up at them, a mixture of fear and determination in his expression, before turning the corner and exposing himself.
The plan was simple. There was no way to approach without being spotted, and the Gorians had proven murderously hostile against humans. A cat, however, had a chance of not being immediately attacked. Before their groups headed out, Baudin had admitted that their Gorian pack had limited knowledge of other sentient beings and little, but mostly positive, experience with ordinary animals. And Happy, now laying down and licking himself in the middle of the hallway, certainly looked like an everyday housecat.
Lucy and Lisanna had taken up their positions against the wall, ready to act once the signal was given. She had to wait until then, holding back her anxiety as she watched Happy. Lucy knew she couldn't have left herself so vulnerable, unarmed and technically naked against a powerful enemy, relying on allies to interfere before she was killed. That the Exceed managed to trust them like that was truly impressive. Now, we just have to not screw it up! Her hand had gotten sweaty, but its grip on Cancer's key was firm.
She heard the heavy footsteps come from the end of the corridor, making their way closer. Come on…
Happy kept up the act for longer than she'd expected. It was almost a surprise when he finally meowed.
In that moment, they all acted. She and Lisanna turned the corner, immediately coming face-to-face with a surprised Gorian that was already moving to attack. Lisanna rushed forward, her uninjured arm transforming to land an interceptive strike, while she dashed past them, Happy keeping close behind. They left Lisanna to face her opponent, hearing the Gorian roar as they sprinted down the corridor, making a beeline for the sixth door on the left. As they approached it, there was a roar in response as another door behind them was suddenly ripped free of its frame, slamming into the opposite wall with such force that she actually stumbled from the sheer intensity of the sound. Had they been a bit slower, it would've hit her dead-on, crushing her instantly. Happy might've been fine, though. The thought came inexplicably and unbidden, but she could've laughed, had she not needed all her breath to keep running.
They reached their goal just as a new set of heavy steps entered the corridor. Quickly opening the door, she turned to face another Gorian, this one hesitating only for an instant before following them and leaving his comrade alone against Lisanna, who had transformed more of her body and seemed to be doing well enough in her fight. Her own spell was already starting, the Magic Seal opening before her as the Gorian closed the distance. She leapt back, dodging the frantic punch as the summoning finished and Cancer appeared, scissors already out as he evaded another blow. As he and the Gorian engaged, she turned back and went through the open door, stunned into stopping as she saw inside the room.
It had to have been some kind of office, retrofitted into a prison. Furniture had been pushed carelessly into the corners and documents carpeted the floor, while thick chains that practically looked heavy went from where they'd been nailed to the walls and ended around the figure of a man. His feet, bare and each missing a toe, didn't touch the floor, leaving him suspended and bearing all of his physical weight on his arms, which had been stretched as far to the sides as possible. His naked chest, more bloody than his limbs, was a tapestry of bruises, the various colors suggesting different ages and stages of healing. The only article of clothing he'd been permitted were his pants, ragged and stained from imprisonment. His face was, surprisingly, unharmed, allowing her to see that the man was actually somewhat attractive while also not much younger than her own father. But that awkward blend of thoughts vanished once she noticed Happy in the air before her. The Exceed's body was shaking, his wings and claws extended.
"Macao…" he said, his voice heavy with sorrow and anger as he stared at his unconscious friend. When he turned to face Lucy, she saw another of his emotions: desperation. "I can't break those chains."
She looked back to the corridor, processing the battles. Lisanna was in the middle of recovering from being thrown against the floor, but still appeared to be holding her own. Meanwhile, Cancer was clearly dominating his opponent, the Spirit's speed and dexterity keeping him from even being hit as he landed cut after cut, steadily snipping away. Strands of hair and specks of blood peppered the air and floor with each attack, yet the Gorian seemed more annoyed than injured. "Cancer! We need you to cut chains!"
"OK, baby! Step aside!" She moved out of the way as Cancer retreated towards her, keeping his eyes on the Gorian as he went. Once he'd reached the open door, he took a single glance at the room before leaping over his opponent and, with quick flicks of his wrists, throwing his weapons. The scissors flew, open blades forcefully snapping together upon nearing their targets, and cleanly severed the links. As the shears clattered to the ground, Macao fell with them, limp like an unstrung puppet, but Happy had already been in position to catch him. Cancer, left without an offensive option, relied on his agility to keep from being struck. But it was clear that he was getting tired by now. "I'll need them back, baby!"
Lucy scrambled to seize the scissors, rising just in time to see Cancer get punched into the wall so hard that he wound up partially embedded in the stone. He muffled a scream as a loud crack was heard and his shell fractured as though he'd been hit with a hammer. Before the Gorian could land another blow, Cancer ripped free of the wall and vaulted over his opponent, revealing that three of the six crab legs on his back were bending unnaturally, now dangling limply. With careful aim, she hurled the scissors back to her yet airborne Spirit, who caught his weapons and immediately reengaged the Gorian upon landing.
Cancer smoothly moved his fight far enough from the door that they were able to leave the room safely, Happy flying carefully to avoid hurting Macao. Down the corridor, Lisanna had finished her own battle, leaving her opponent unconscious on the floor, and was currently recovering against a wall, her body still transformed and marked with new injuries. Noticing that they had Macao, she abandoned her rest, moving toward them as quickly as her limp allowed, yet coming to a stop before the door through which the second Gorian had arrived.
Fortunately, Cancer didn't need any help subduing his own opponent. With his weapons back in hand, he'd kept snipping away until the Gorian simply collapsed from the countless cuts that had been made. With so much hair gone, it seemed more like a human, albeit one that was bleeding all over its body.
And just like that, the fighting was over, leaving the corridor suddenly silent.
Cancer stood over the Gorian, his body shaking slightly as he tried to ignore his own pain, and readied his scissors. "Lucy," he said, his voice barely keeping the coolness it usually did, "do I finish it off, baby?"
She looked at the defeated Gorian, who remained conscious despite its inability to fight. There was only resignation in its expression, lacking any of the hatred or hostility she'd expected. "You can't kill them," she said, astonishing both her Spirit and their fallen enemy. "They're sentient too. It's against the rules."
Cancer, frowning and seeming displeased with himself, stared at the Gorian. "They are? Oh dear, baby." Spinning his scissors around his fingers, he managed to stylishly holster them at his belt again. Kneeling next to his opponent, he added, "Sorry about that, baby. I didn't really notice you weren't a monster."
The Gorian, still stunned, looked up at the Spirit. "It's… alright." Its voice was female, but still as rough as Ian's had been and laced with exhaustion. "I didn't exactly give that impression, did I?"
Cancer nodded, rising again and turning back to Lucy. "What now, baby? I can't stay for much longer. You and I are both pushing ourselves further than usual. And you haven't heard from Taurus, have you?"
It wasn't until now that Lucy realized how right he was. Summoning two of her strongest Spirits, leaving Taurus on the summit, having them fight such powerful opponents; she couldn't imagine how tired out they'd have to be, especially since their loyalty kept them from voicing any complaints of fatigue. But Lucy was suddenly acutely aware of the extent to which her own magic power had been depleted, and she hadn't even been fighting directly. Her body felt drained, despite having done less physical effort than everyone else. What do we do now? Just retreat or…
Lucy looked to her allies. Happy was mostly focused on keeping Macao in the air, but he still managed to stare at the fallen Gorian with an unnervingly dark look. The Exceed seemed willing, maybe even eager, to do what Cancer wasn't allowed to attempt. She moved to break his line of sight with the Gorian, prompting him to direct that expression at her, which frightened her more than the mission had so far. But I'm not backing down! The two of them remained like that for several seconds, each silent and still.
Happy seemed to calm down, but he flew away from her without acknowledging the tense situation and joined Lisanna, who hadn't moved from the door and was only just now looking away to notice them.
What is even in that room? Lucy had begun heading toward them when the Gorian suddenly tried and failed to rise. "Wait!" Cancer stood ready to act, his scissors drawn again. "Leave them alone, please!"
"Them?" Lucy didn't move from where she was. "Whoever they are, we're not going to harm them if they don't try and attack us." Her words made the Gorian stop in the middle of another attempt to rise. "What's your name?"
The Gorian hesitated only for a moment. "Elisabeth. But I prefer Lisa."
"Alright, Lisa. I'm Lucy, that's Cancer," her Spirit nodded, "the cat's Happy," Lisa looked very confused, "I mean his name's Happy," now there was understanding, "and the girl's Lisanna. We're all friends of the man you've kept prisoner." There was a flash of guilt on the Gorian's expression. Huh… "We came to get him back when we found Dr. Baudin and Ian; they told us what happened. I've got some questions, but first, I'm checking the room." A look of panic on Lisa's face now. "I'm just looking! No one is going to harm you or them, so long as everyone stays calm, OK?" She resumed her walk. "Cancer? Watch her."
Happy and Lisanna were still in front of the open door, only their attention had been diverted to Macao, who'd been set down against the opposite wall. As Lucy approached, the two of them looked up from their guildmate, sharing a quick glance. "He's in awful shape, but I don't think he's in danger of… dying."
Lisanna's voice struggled to remain calm. Up close, and with her body back to normal, it was clear that she wasn't in excellent condition, either. She carefully favored her right leg and there were new bruises on both arms. Her lips, chapped from the cold mountain winds, had split in the fight, making her mouth resemble that of a predator with a fresh kill. Lisanna noticed her staring at the blood and wiped it off with a hand, but that didn't make her look away. "Lucy?"
The sound of her name snapped her out of the trance she'd fallen into. Shaking her head, she gathered her thoughts again. "Alright. That's excellent. We can get him out of here once we're done with all this."
"With what?" Happy seemed annoyed. "We don't need to deal with any of this. Let's just go find Natsu and get off this mountain, so Macao can get some medical attention."
"Happy, I know that you're worried about him." The Exceed's frown only deepened. "I am, too. Really." He either didn't believe her or didn't care. "But we can't walk out of this. Not just yet. Right, Lisanna?"
"I mean…" That indescribable tension was back, now mixing with her evident reluctance to pick a side. "Macao's not about to die." Happy looked up at her, shocked. "I know, I know! But what do you think we can do, run and let the Gorians kill what's left of the researchers?" He only seemed slightly abashed.
Lucy turned to the open door, tuning out the rest of their conversation as she learned what was inside. What the…?
The room was long and had been emptied of furniture, probably to make room for all of the corpses. Bodies, both Gorian and Human, were laid out carefully, almost as if they'd been prepared for a funeral. Some kind of flower had even been left on top of each one. Walking in, she saw that pieces of paper had been pinned to them with thumbtacks, apparently naming them all. Bedsheets, stained red from blood, shrouded many forms and, when she lifted one, she gagged and dropped it again, understanding why. And yet, there was a surreal allure to the whole arrangement. It might've made for a beautiful painting.
Grabbing a stray flower, she left the room, finding that Lisanna and Happy seemed to be done talking. The Exceed didn't look… happy. Gods, may that pun never stop being funny. "So?"
Happy was looking into his open backpack, searching for something as he spoke. "I guess it's alright. Just…" He sighed. "Try and be quick about it!" He turned away from her without another word, now holding a roll of bandages and a tiny bag that shone from within. As he approached Macao, he pulled on the bag's drawstring, opening it and letting multicolored light to escape as he extracted a crystal orb, glowing bright green and about the size of a marble.
Lucy looked to Lisanna just as he began waving the orb over Macao's body. "Medical Lacrima?"
She nodded, smiling faintly. "Happy's not great in a fight, so he makes sure he can be useful afterward." They turned back and watched as he tended to Macao. "Talk to that Gorian," Lisanna nodded at where Cancer stood guard over Lisa. "The one I fought probably won't be waking up soon."
"Yeah, I saw." Lucy smiled back as Lisanna put on her jacket. "You're really good at this, you know?"
"Eh." Lisanna shrugged, before zipping herself up with a wince. "I've been doing this for years now, but I'm not exactly a heavy-hitter in the guild. If you want a fighter, you should see Natsu or my siblings. When they get serious, it's like they're unstoppable." Adjusting her jacket, she leaned against the wall, still favoring her right leg.
Lucy walked over to one of the closed doors and entered the room, coming back out with an office chair and silently offering it to Lisanna, who took it with a grateful smile before sitting down. Heading back down the corridor, Lucy found that Lisa, who was now propped up against the wall, and Cancer were in the middle of a conversation that quieted as she approached. "Am I interrupting something?"
Cancer adjusted his sunglasses. "Nothing important, baby. We've just been explaining what we are to each other here."
The Gorian in question nodded from her place on the floor. "I might not know a lot about the world, but crab-people don't seem like an ordinary occurrence. These Celestial Spirits sound rather interesting."
"Yeah, they're pretty fascinating. But we can talk about them later. Let's focus on this situation, OK?" Lisa didn't seem ecstatic about it, but she nodded. "I've got questions, if you're up to answering them." Lucy crouched down, coming to eye level with the Gorian. "What's with the bodies? And the flowers?"
Lisa couldn't meet her stare, looking away with an uncomfortable expression. "We gathered everyone that died in the uprising and put them there. Better than leaving them out like trash. As for the flowers, those are starworts. But you probably know them as the namesake of this range."
"Stellaria?" Lucy held up the plant, relatively little with simple, small petals, and offered it to Lisa.
"The herbs grow at the base of the mountains." She took the flower. "I've gone to pick a few before."
"But why did you leave them on the bodies? Didn't you want to escape your situation?"
Lisa turned the flower between her huge fingers, taking care not to damage it. "I… I never wanted it to be like this. Very few of us did. We thought we'd just force our way out and leave this place behind. But that's not how it went down." Her voice had gained a raw regret. "I don't know what exactly happened, or who attacked first, but suddenly, the guards were trying to kill us. Out of nowhere, we were fighting to survive. And, when it was over, we saw how many, on both sides, were dead. Some of us even cried." The pain was gone, replaced by a cold hostility. "But not Caesar. He just accepted it. Asides from orders, he's constantly been focused on your friend. We've wanted to leave since the start, but he won't let us."
"It doesn't seem like Caesar's a very good leader. Why do you follow him?"
"I don't think a human could understand." She looked instead to Cancer. "Spirit, you must know what it's like. To have so little sense of the world, no real purpose of your own. To be drawn toward a leader, someone who seems to know what to do and why to do it, who seems to actually care about you. Isn't that what it's like for your kind?"
Her Spirit was visibly uncomfortable. "Cancer?" Lucy looked up at him as well. "Is that what it's like?"
He sighed, removing his sunglasses and looking at his master with those terribly human eyes. "Please, don't feel bad about it, baby." He smiled at her. "Remember, we came into existence because of you. We wouldn't be without you. But, yeah. I get what she means. When humans lose their purpose, or when they have no leader, they can always find something else. Spirits can too, only we don't find it until we've been around for decades. But if, all of a sudden, you just died? I wouldn't know what to do. None of us would. If it's like Lisa said and these Gorians only recently started to think? They'd be stuck with the same deal, struggling to figure out the meaning to their lives. That's the curse of sapience."
"Cancer…" Lucy moved in to hug him, and he hugged her right back. "I'll do my best not to die before you've all figured out what to do without me, OK?"
"Honestly, baby?" He patted her on the back before letting go. "That's good enough for me."
Lucy brought a sleeve up to her eyes, wiping away a tear that was about to fall. She turned back to Lisa, who was doing her best to not intrude on the moment. "So, is there any way your allies will surrender?" The Gorian looked up at her, stunned. "It won't end well if you keep this up. Even if we all wind up dead, our guild just will send others. The Council may even get involved at that point." She seemed conflicted.
"But…" Lisa finally managed to meet Lucy's eyes. There was an immense fear and pain in her expression.
"Wouldn't Baudin and Ian be willing to stand up for you? And I'll argue in your defense, if it's necessary." Lisa's eyes widened. "I don't want your kind to be hunted down or locked up. It's hard for me to speak for the others, since we only met recently, but I don't think they really want it either. You're a form of thinking life, and that's worth protecting. But the only outcome where I can see you surviving this, with any hope of freedom, is for you to stop the fighting and accept the consequences of what you've done." Lucy smiled sympathetically at the astonished Gorian. "Well? Are you willing to trust this human?"
Lisa was visibly struggling to find the right words. "I… can't believe this is happening. I never thought…" She rose from her slumped position, managing it with the wall's support. Now, she stood so much taller than Lucy, who was feeling only a few hints of fear in the shadow of this giant creature. "I don't know what our chances will be. But I'd rather believe you than keep trusting Caesar to not get us all killed."
She held out an open hand and Lucy slowly extended her own, managing to stay calm as it was squeezed in the Gorian's firm grasp. At least she's trying to be gentle. "Great. Then I think I know what we can do." Done with the handshake, she lowered her arm and tried not to think about her newly aching fingers. She might need some more practice with the gentle thing. "We'll leave the way we came, regroup with our friends and have them be ready for your surrender. You go talk to your people about standing down. Make sure Caesar doesn't hear until you've got some support. If it all goes well, he won't be capable of stopping it. Sounds like a plan?" Lisa nodded. "Alright then. We'll leave you to it. Cancer?" Her Spirit looked at her, his sunglasses back on. "I think you can go home. Try and get your injuries checked out."
Cancer chuckled. "I appreciate the concern, baby. But it looks worse than it is. My shell's pretty tough." He bowed to her. "Still, I could do with a second or two of home. Don't hesitate to call if you need me, though." He turned to Lisa. "Watch yourself, baby. It wouldn't be cool if we never got to talk again."
As the Gorian looked at him with a puzzled expression, Cancer vanished in a burst of light. "Is he always like that?"
Lucy nodded solemnly. "Pretty much. The Celestial Spirits are a quirky bunch." She started walking down the corridor, trying to stay composed now that her best ally had just departed. "Good luck on your end!" she called over her shoulder, not looking back as she walked. First day as a guild magician, and I may've just saved a sentient race from wiping itself out. And this isn't even an official mission! She sighed. I hope these aren't going to be a common thing at Fairy Tail.
She returned to where Lisanna and Happy were tending to Macao. Though he remained unconscious, he'd been extensively bandaged and, judging from the many dim Lacrima orbs around him, she assumed that Happy had gone through most of his medical supplies. The duo looked up at her as she approached.
"Made a new friend?" Lisanna asked, jerking her head back down the corridor. Lucy turned and saw that Lisa was already going the opposite way, slowly toward the stairs that led to an upper level.
"Sorta. It's hard to explain, but I might have just stopped the Gorians." Lisanna seemed skeptical while Happy chose to not even react, instead focusing on packing up his supplies. "I think we can trust her." She crouched down next to the Exceed, waiting for him to acknowledge her. When he refused to do so, she decided to go ahead and extend the olive branch. "Happy?" He continued to ignore her. "Happy?" He finished with his supplies and put on his backpack again, still not looking at her. "Happy-go-Lucky?"
The little Exceed actually hissed, but he finally turned to face her. "You were never to speak of it!"
"Well, I had to get your attention somehow, didn't I!" He frowned at her. "You really had me worried back there, the way you stared at that Gorian." He looked a little embarrassed, but remained silent. "Her name's Elisabeth, but she prefers Lisa. Turns out she didn't like anything that was going on either. She's on her way to try and get the other Gorians to surrender."
"Yeah?" She nodded confidently. "Well…" He suddenly seemed uncertain. "That's good to hear, then." There was a new awkwardness among them as Happy started idly scratching the floor with a foot.
After about half a minute, Lisanna spoke up. "Oh, for the love of…" She walked over to Happy, kneeling next to him and poking him once with a finger. "I know it's hard for you, but come on. You were wrong and she was right. If we'd left when you wanted, we'd be no closer to stopping the problem. Admit it!"
"Alright, alright." He rubbed the poked spot before turning to Lucy. "I'm sorry." Lisanna held up a finger. "For being an ass about this. I just…"
"You were worried about Macao." Lucy interrupted. "And mad at what they did to him. I get it. It's fine."
"Thanks." He looked at Lisanna. "See? She's not mad, I'm not moody anymore and I apologized. OK?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, before suddenly smiling and hugging him. He put up a token fight, mostly just making a pouty face that Lucy really struggled not to laugh at. As quickly as she had embraced him, Lisanna let him go. "OK." She rose again, no longer relying on her right leg, and looked to Lucy. "What do we do now?"
It felt weird, having these two experienced magicians turn to her for leadership. "Next, we get outside, find Natsu and let him know we've got Macao." She looked at the unconscious man, breathing steadily. "Then, we see about getting the Gorians to surrender and ending this entire… thing. That sound good?"
The two of them nodded before moving into action. Happy grabbed Macao again, fluttering back into the air, as Lisanna started walking down the corridor, back toward the exit. It was strange to her how they could just keep focusing on the mission, but then, they had plenty of experiences under their belts. Maybe this was how they avoided thinking about the worst parts of today, like the state of their friend.
Whatever it was, she felt all the authority she'd just felt from telling them what to do rapidly evaporate. And quietly, she followed them as they headed for the exit, moving around the yet unconscious Gorian. It wasn't until they'd reached the lowest level that she thought about her other active Spirit. Reaching for Taurus's key, she brought it up to her mouth.
"Taurus?" She whispered, the key glowing dimmer than she'd expected it to. "Is everything alright?"
"Miss Lucy?" He sounded tired, yet he seemed to be revitalized as they spoke. "I'm glad you're alright. The battle rages on. These foes are unyielding. But your fiery friend is quite the warrior; he's kept up with me quite well." She smiled at that. "Still, we could use some support. The civilians have almost gotten to safety, but they are not all…" He suddenly fell silent, but she managed to avoid panicking. Though they had to speak in order to communicate, their link was mental; if it hadn't been cut entirely, Taurus must've been distracted by something. "Pardon, Miss Lucy. A foe tried to exploit my distraction."
"It's alright, Taurus. We've retrieved the hostage; tell Natsu that Macao's safe. We're on our way back."
"Understood, Miss Lucy. Farewell." With that, their conversation was over and the key went dim again. She looked up, seeing that Happy and Lisanna were waiting at the mouth of the maintenance passage. They'd heard everything and it seemed to have lifted their moods, even bringing smiles to their faces. Despite the fear and disgust she'd felt only a few minutes ago, their expressions proved infectious and, as they all made their way toward the hatch that led back outside, a smile also made its way to her face.