Whispers of the Names
Chapter Eight
Lucy
The rest was easy. Jellal used a massive blast, and the wall crumbled down into a pile of rubble. Happy cheered. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel scowled.
Oh well, at least they were past that level.
In silence, the nine of them continued on their way.
For hours, they walked. Lucy summoned Horologium as often as she could, but by the end of the day when they set up camp, her feet were aching. Wendy had fashioned a tree branch as a walking stick and fared slightly better. The rest of them seemed to have no trouble walking the distance at all.
"Can we set up camp now?" Lucy complained.
"Gee, Lucy. You complain even more than Wendy, and she's younger than you!" Natsu commented. Wendy smiled faintly in response.
After that, Lucy kept her mouth shut for the rest of the trip until Erza decided to set up camp.
Erza fished a foldable tent out of her pocket, and soon, they were comfortable and ready to sleep. Erza went outside for a few minutes and reappeared, carrying some fish and fruit. Natsu eagerly roasted the food, and when the meal was over, Lucy struggled to keep her eyes open.
"I'm tired," Natsu sighed, patting his enormous belly. With that, he rolled over and fell asleep. Gray, Gajeel, Happy, Carla, and Wendy soon followed.
Lucy lay down as well and drifted into sleep, but somehow through the layers of her dreams, she could vaguely hear Erza and Jellal talking.
"Erza, do you remember what has happened between us in our past?" Jellal asked quietly.
There was no response from Erza for quite a long time.
"Yes," Erza said curtly after what seemed like eternity.
Jellal exhaled sharply. Vaguely, Lucy could almost see Jellal hanging his head and drooping his shoulders while Erza's posture remained erect and stiff.
"Has it... Has it ever... Has it ever hurt you during your quests?" Jellal asked tentavely.
Erza remained silent for another moment. "Sometimes,"
"I'm sorry," Jellal said.
"I understand," Erza said in an equally soft tone.
For an even longer time, both of them remained silent. Then, Erza yawned and said, "I'm going to sleep,"
Then, Lucy fell into deeper layers of sleep and did not remember the conversation when dawn arrived to shake them awake.
(())(())
After gorging herself on some wild apples, Lucy was actually able to walk quite a while before summoning Horologium and inviting Wendy in to share a ride with her. So far, they had no set destination in mind but to walk deeper into the forest until they meet who-knows-what.
Natsu was complaining about how boring it was, while Happy chimed in with some eager "Ai!"s. Gajeel and Gray was telling Natsu what a flame brain he was and to shut up, but Erza's call for silence surpassed all of theirs.
Again, they moved in silence.
Suddenly, a loud crack ringed through the forest. Lucy screamed when a bullet flew past her head, barely missing her hair. Horologium disappeared in a puff, spilling her and Wendy onto the ground.
Immediately, Erza had a sword drawn. Gray's hands were steaming with ice, and Natsu's hands were on fire.
"Who is it?" Erza demanded.
A familiar laugh rang through the woods, and Bisca stepped out.
"Bisca-san?" Wendy asked, dazed, as she stumbled to her feet.
"Bisca?" Even Erza couldn't disguise the surprise in her voice.
Bisca gave another chilling laugh.
Bisca had changed. Her body was skinnier, and her hair was streaked with dirt and dead leaves. Her rifle was smudged with grease, and she was dressed in sleek black armor. Right on the center of her breastplate was the silver mask.
Most startling was her face. Bisca's face had changed. It missed the same soft, happy smile and was replaced by hard lines.
"Bisca," Erza said warningly.
Moving so quickly, Bisca raised her rifle and fired a volley of bullets towards them. Gajeel, Gray, Natsu, Erza, and Jellal deflected the bullets aimed towards them easily, but Wendy had more troubles. She managed to summon a gust of wind to sweep her bullets off course, but a few of them still managed to get dangerously close to her.
Lucy shrieked as she ducked and rolled. She scrambled around, and it was a wonder how she wasn't hurt. After being thoroughly caked in dust and dirt, Lucy emerged shakily from behind a bush and stumbled into position behind Natsu, hands wrapped tightly around her Celestial Gatekeys.
"Bisca, what is wrong with you?" Gray demanded.
Bisca didn't say anything. She raised her rifle to fire, but Erza was faster.
Erza did a swinging kick, knocking the rifle off course. Bullets fired into the ground, ricocheting off rocks. Everyone dodged aside and watched as the two women fought.
Bisca shrieked as she clawed at Erza, but Erza held her easily away. Bisca managed to release one more volley of bullets before Gajeel grabbed the rifle away from Bisca and threw it into the woods.
Suddenly, Erza lashed out with her fist, and Bisca crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"That was... intense," Gray said hoarsely.
For a brief moment, everyone waited for Natsu to make his comment. Instead, Natsu groaned.
"Natsu!" Lucy yelped.
Natsu's arm was bleeding where a stray bullet must have hit it. Erza and Wendy sprang forward.
"Are you all right, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked urgently. She placed her tiny hands on the wound, and it healed instantly. However, Wendy paled and nearly tottered over.
"Wendy!" Carla cried.
Wendy fell into Lucy's arms. Lucy cradled Wendy's head as her eyelashes fluttered feebly. Slowly, Wendy got up. Lucy handed her some water.
"A simple bullet wound shouldn't have tired Wendy so much," Jellal said quietly from a corner.
"I agree," Erza said. "It's almost as if Bisca's power has tripled. It was actually quite a bit harder to take her out."
"Have you seen her face?" Lucy shuddered. "It's as if... Bisca doesn't even recognize us anymore,"
"It's the Master," Erza said grimly. "He's controlling Bisca. Right now..."
"What do we do with her?" Gray asked, pointing towards Bisca.
Erza hesitated.
"We leave her alone here," Erza decided. "When she wakes, she can find her rifle and go back to the Master. For now, we must continue,"
With that, everyone picked up their fallen things. Natsu and Wendy managed to stand and follow the others. A grim mood settled over the questers as they continued their mission.
