Chapter Nine: Completing the First Job
LUCY POV
Walking into the little girl's room, my heart dropped from my chest to low in my stomach. The room was painted a very faint pink, the bed in the center of the room with covers of a complimenting purple. Next to the bed was a very elaborate looking vanity, with a floor-length mirror, showing each of us as we passed by it. Natsu inhaled deeply and immediately reached inside the vanity, without asking permission first. Mrs. Kimura and I shook slightly and paled. A moment later, his hand had found a hairbrush and he gently sniffed it and put it back in its original place. That's Natsu for you.
What surprised me more was that Yaseika did not make any movement towards finding a scent. If anything, for the past couple of minutes, she's been trying to stay as far away from people as possible. I also noticed that Mrs. Kimura didn't do the same 'prayer' thing over her as she did with the rest of us. Does that mean she suspects something bad from Yaseika?
Natsu said, "Alright, I got a scent. Time to start searching." He nodded towards the parents, "We'll be back soon."
With that we left the Kimura's estate and started walking down the street. Natsu and Happy led the group, with me falling in step shortly behind them. Yaseika though was back to being her quiet self. I did find it a little odd how she recognized Japanese characters. If she had been raised by a dragon, how the heck did she learn Japanese? Even Levy-chan has spent years learning the language. Where did Yaseika learn it?
After a couple of hours of searching, we found ourselves, yet again, in a forest. Seems that a lot of bad guys have their headquarters far away from the general public. Finally, Natsu froze in front of us. I looked at his face to see that his eyes have dilated and his eyes have gained their signature determination, signaling that we were close. It's something that I've learned to recognize over the past months. We have gotten to the point that we know each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as our limits. Even though Natsu does seem mega-powered, especially after his Second Origin, even he has a limit. He was totally out of it after the Grand Magic Games and barely used magic in the weeks following the events orbiting around the Eclipse Gate. We have become ideal partners for each other in that sense.
He took off deeper into the thicket, crying out, "Let's go, guys!"
Happy cried out, "Aye sir!"
I struggled to keep up, but when we finally stopped running, I found a rundown building, barely even a single story tall. It didn't look particularly large, not even the size of the guild hall, not the renovated one but the one we came back to after Tenrou Island. I couldn't imagine that this would be the headquarters of a gang, even for a small one. But there was a little girl's life at risk, so appearances didn't matter. If Natsu sniffs Ayumi out here, then here is where we need to do our job.
Gingerly opening the door, I found that I couldn't see a thing. It was completely pitch black, but I could sense that somebody was inside. I called out, "Hello? Ayumi? Are you here?" I heard the sound of a muffled scream, and I took a step inside. White filled my vision. Blinking my eyes, I struggled to open them to drop my jaw open.
Instead of the blackness from before, I found myself in an open arena sort of setting, the seats empty, but with dozens of dark-cloaked figures in the center. I could hear Natsu crying out in the distance, yet I could not see him. He screamed my name and I could hear the sound of crashing, and I called out, "Natsu!? Happy!?" I pointed my finger at the cloaked figures, hoping that I looked the slightest bit intimidating, "Who are you? Where are my friends?"
The one on the far left cackled, "Oh look. A female mage. What were the Kimuras' thinking, sending such a pretty-looking thing our way?"
Another one towards the right crooned, "Poor thing. She looks so terrified, about to collapse at the mere idea of facing all of us."
My voice cracked and attempted to remain strong, "I've faced stronger things than you. You don't scare me." Although mentally I was beginning to panic. I have faced strong enemies, but Natsu had always been by my side. Now he was nowhere to be found. I gently rubbed my keys, feeling them hum in response. I suspected that I would need them now more than ever.
As I was thinking, the group of people slowly approached me and simultaneously, they untied their cloaks and revealed themselves. With a shock, I realized, "You aren't a gang! You are a dark guild!" I recognized some of their faces from Wanted posters that have been passed all around Fiore. Nobody could find these guys so everybody was becoming worried about their whereabouts. I couldn't believe that they had been here and just my luck, finding them by myself.
Natsu's and Happy's screams still echoed around this space. I recomposed myself and attempted to speak, "You still haven't told me. Where are my friends? Where is Ayumi?"
The one who had spoken earlier, someone who reminded me of a black-haired Laxus, smirked at my discomfort and spoke, "I brought you here for a private discussion. And the girl?" He snapped his fingers and the space in front of him briefly warped. A moment later, the terrified looking girl appeared tied up on the ground, her eyes wide in fear. But her eyes lit up at the sight of me.
With a pang, I realized that this guy had similar magic to Minerva. The memory of her torturing me caused me to shiver. I still had some faint scars from that fight, but there was one good thing that I could remember: Natsu calling out for me in anger as he watched Minerva destroy me, Natsu cooperating with Gray to catch me as I fell, Natsu swearing revenge for my sake. His actions reminded me that he would always be there in spirit for me, if he couldn't be there personally. It caused me to faintly smile at the memory, but it faded at remembering my current situation. I didn't think that he was as powerful as Minerva, but this dark guild guy could be a problem, as could all of the others.
I pulled two keys and called, "Open, gate of the lion, gate of the maiden, Leo and Virgo!" The air in front of me shimmered and a flash of golden light later, the two celestial spirits appeared in all of their glory.
Loke pushed up his sunglasses, and pushed up his sleeves, "Nice to see you again Lucy. Need me to kick their butts?"
Virgo bowed slightly and said, "Hello Princess. Do you require my assistance?"
I pulled out my Fleuve d'etoiles whip and cried, "We have to take these guys out."
The guy spoke again, "Are you serious? I control this space. I created it. Your friends are being kept out of this place. You have no chance." My heart rate spiked. Then I had an epiphany. If I defeated this guy now, I might be able to destroy this space and reunite with the others. Natsu. Happy. Heck, I'd even be happy to see his silent sister Yaseika right now.
Loke and Virgo spoke in unison, "Whatever my master says." Together, we all attacked. While I could not see what my friends were doing, I targeted the guy controlling this space. Even with the power of the fleur-de-lis, I couldn't seem to gain any ground on this guy. Finally, I was breathing heavily and I chanced a glance at Ayumi and I stopped breathing for a moment. Her eyes were closed and she was gasping. Her neck was being held up by another dark guild member, her little body dangling feet off of the floor, her hands scratching furiously at the hand suffocating her.
I was about to reach for her but then I found myself swept off of my feet. Slamming into the arena wall, I rose to my feet slowly, only to appear in front of the guy again. He's using his magic… I couldn't think anything beyond that as something heavy came down on my head. It went black for a moment before I blearily opened my eyes. The man punched forcefully into my stomach, once again knocking the wind out of me. I heard Loke and Virgo cry out and I turned to them only to see them fade away. I felt my own spirit fade slightly at the thought that I didn't even manage to defeat one of the guys.
Then I could hear the black-haired man say, "I think it's time we let in our other trespassers." Somehow, I managed to rise to my feet in order to promptly kick him in his jewels. His eyes widened sharply and he fell over himself to the ground. A cheap shot, I know, but it managed to do the job. The entire place in front of me shimmered, and a few moments later, we found ourselves in a wide open field in the forest that we had begun in. The strength that I had possessed previously seemed to vanish instantly, and I fell onto my back facing the afternoon sky, causing pain to shoot through my temple.
I heard Happy cry out, "Lucy!" I could feel my upper body being lifted up by strong arms and Natsu's worried expression appeared in front of me.
He touched my face gently, wiping something away, looking aghast, "Mavis Luce, you're bleeding really badly!" Really? I didn't even notice it before. Now that he mentioned something, I could feel a wetness on my face that hadn't been there before. He cried out, "What the hell happened to you?" I could feel his body beginning to heat up in agitation and anger.
I could barely speak right now, but I managed to say, "Ayumi…she's in trouble. Save her…" His eyes darkened at my words and he looked up to finally notice the dark guild mages surrounding us. Ayumi was currently still being held up by a dark guild member, but no longer by her neck. Now she was held up by her restraints on her arms. Her eyes looked tired, but she seemed to be doing better than myself. Natsu seemed hesitant to leave my side but Happy said, "I'll look after her, Natsu. You do your thing!"
With that Natsu nodded and prepared to fight. He spoke coldly, "Anybody that hurts a little girl or one of my guild mates has got another thing coming." He punched his fist, and a fire erupted around him in a circle, "You've messed with Fairy Tail. It will be your last mistake." Happy lifted me into a sitting position so I could watch the action as Natsu lunged forward, attacking everyone from the front.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed faint movement. Turning my head, I noticed a crouching figure, only to finally notice that it was Yaseika. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last for long. The members that Natsu had missed in his full frontal attack, charged towards us. Yaseika wasn't looking in that direction and Happy cried out in warning.
Everything that happened for the next few minutes seemed to happen in slow motion. Yaseika raised her gaze and ripped off the bracelet on her wrist. It flew into the air, flipping countless times, glowing brighter until finally, when the light faded, another object, much larger than the bracelet fell into Yaseika's hands. After a moment, I realized that the object she was holding was now a white bow, covered in the same scale pattern that her bracelet previously had.
With no hesitation, she pulled an arrow out from her quiver, a red-tipped one and shot it accurately in the center of the group of enemies. With contact, an explosion of fire burst out of nowhere. Before I could even blink, she had already notched another arrow into her bow, this one with a yellow-tip. She dashed into the fray, dodging magical attacks after another, flipping over to shoot the next arrow off while upside-down in midair. This one didn't even touch anything. It flew overhead and a great bolt of lightning was summoned, shocking several of the members.
I quietly gasped, "Oh my gosh…how is she doing that?"
Happy shook behind me, his voice wavering, "It looks like that those arrows that she has are charged with magical lacrima, each color providing a different type of magic." As he spoke, she had shot off another one, a blue-tip, causing a mini-monsoon, not unlike what Juvia herself could do. Sure the attacks were weaker, but overall, Yaseika's attacks were so varied, it was hard to judge what she was going to do next.
She landed on a tall rock nearby and scanned over the general area. She pressed something on the bow and it glowed again, shrinking back into the scale bracelet. She pulled out one of the two blades holstered on her back, showing a Chinese Dao. The blade was curved slightly from her hand to where the tip rested on the ground. A moment later, Yaseika disappeared.
"What?" I asked weakly.
Happy pointed, "Look! Over by Natsu!" I turned towards Natsu, realizing that as he had been fighting, I had nearly forgotten about him as I was entranced by Yaseika's grace with the bow. A flash of blue later, I saw Yaseika knock out a member with the butt of her sword that was about to catch Natsu unawares. He turned in surprise, but grinned at the sight of his sister. Together, they charged towards the last few members.
While I didn't see when Yaseika had holstered her sword, it was clear as they charged together that Natsu and Yaseika had both been trained under the same master. Charging together, they mirrored each other's movements, swinging each other around to change sides, to provide for a stronger attack. Any doubts that I had previously had vanished. She might be different from how she was with Natsu and Igneel, but this proves that they had trained together.
However, as they were finishing up, I noticed something a little strange. Natsu, even when punching and kicking, had produced flame to surround his hands and feet in order to increase his attack strength. What bothered me was that Yaseika was attacking with even more power than Natsu, yet I didn't see any kind of fire around her at all. She was knocking these guys out with just pure strength and brawn. Just how powerful is she? And why isn't she using her dragon slayer magic?
I managed to stand on my own and I made my way to a collapsed figure a little ways away. Happy was hovering nearby, just to make sure that I didn't overdo anything, but I picked up the small figure that was trembling. I pulled her restraints apart and whispered gently, "Ayumi, are you alright?" At that, the girl began to sob loudly. She jumped up and hugged me tightly, causing me to wince slightly as that punch the guy gave me earlier really did do some damage. But I softly stroked her soft hair, calmly trying to soothe her, telling her that she was going to be alright and she would be home soon.
I looked up to see Natsu looking at me, relief and worry prevalent on his face. However, I barely even noticed it. I instead focused on Yaseika who was standing about 20 feet behind him, her face darkened and her chest rising and falling in time with her breathing. She didn't look to be having trouble during the fight, yet now she looked like she had been suffocated and she needed air desperately. I could see her mouthing something under her breath, but I couldn't see what it was.
Even so, we managed to complete the job. All that was left was for us to bring Ayumi home, lock these guys up, collect the reward, and then we could finally go home ourselves. But still, even as I was comforted by these thoughts, something bothered me. What was Yaseika's deal? Erza was definitely right, Yaseika was hiding something. How could she possibly know how to fight like that if all she was taught was dragon slayer magic? Why didn't she even use that magic? What is her story?
