Hello everyone!

I had forgot but I was actually planning to do a short bio for the Celestial Spirits that I created. This was supposed to be given for each chapter but I guess I could also just put two spirits together.


Spirits Bio:


Andromeda – Black haired lady with a small part of her bangs pinned to the side, showing her forehead. She has sharp nose and almond-shape black eyes. She wears a beat up and torn white dress and have shackles on her wrists, ankles, and neck with long iron chains connected to the belt of chains on her waist.

Power: She could control and summon chains to her will.

Likes: Suffering of human mages, heroes, fellow spirits especially Lepus

Dislikes: humans (celestial mages in general), traps, dungeons, prisons, sea

Bio: Having the same owner, she treats Lepus like a little brother. She acts as mentor to him. She was actually Jorya's second spirit. She had a general hate for all humanity, especially celestial mages due to what she had experienced with them though she still follows the contract due to being a celestial spirit. She's also an aberrant spirit due to her tendency to rebel at her master's orders. It was said that she started hating humanity due to a horrible experience with a celestial mage, she had grown cynical about them.

-:-

Aquila – a half-bird, half-man with neatly combed brown hair and unruly white bangs that looked wind-swept. He has sharp mismatched eyes of gold and red similar to an eagle's. He had brown wings on his arms and bird's claws for feet.

Power: His eyes could scan anyone for information and see through lies. He has "perfect memory" and never forgets.

Likes: knowledge, books, interesting and curious phenomena, observing, research, secrets, flying, sky

Dislikes: deception, thunderstorm, his bangs

Bio: He specializes in information gathering and Bahram's favourite spirit key. He's usually quiet, preferring to observe and listen. He'll answer any questions you asked though, unless he was forbidden to. He hates thunderstorms due to being strike by lightning once when he was flying to deliver a message. He actually grew fear of thunder and lightning though he doesn't want to admit it. It was actually in his contract not to summon him when there's thunderstorm. His neutral to humans and views them with respect. He would perform any orders of his master due to being a celestial spirit. His very organized to the point you think he has OCD, he actually hates his bangs because it remains wild and unruly no matter how many times he tried to comb it.

-:-

So here is the bio of two of the Spirits! Hmm, Aquila's bio was supposedly a secret. It almost ruined the serious and cool image he had! Andromeda's past had something to do with one of the most deplorable things the Elysian villagers do.


. . *. O. * . .


Verse IX
Turning Tides of Battle

Orion, Lupus, and Andromeda against Scorpio, Leo, and Lucy
One could only watch for the outcome of this match.

Natsu and the others watched with wide eyes at the battle that was unfolding.

It wasn't because the tides of battle were against them, rather, it was the other way around. Lucy was pressing them. Natsu cheered loudly for her as she battled against the straw-haired pigtailed girl and the chained lady.

Counting the Spirits, the battle was a six on three while it would be three to one if you just considered the mages. No doubt, it would seem like the battle was unfair and against Lucy but she and her Spirits were strong enough to be able to keep fighting. Though you could argue that the Elysian's villagers weren't really fighting aside from providing magic-support for their Spirits. So in a way, it was a fair battle.

They were actually surprised how right Bahram was when he said that a one-on-one would be unfair for them.

Heck, even with three celestial mages, she was still winning. Maybe she could hold two or more. Bahram must be regretting it now when he thought three mages were enough to defeat her.

The Elysian's champions were holding on their own. They have good synchronization with each other but that was nothing compared to how Lucy was coordinating her Spirits. She was using Scorpio's sand storm to keep away her enemies, as she charged and fought the mages while Leo was providing support and back-up.

Orion had leap at the concentrated ray of sand that Scorpio had shoot from his red tail with "Antares" tattooed on it. In mid air, he pulled out his rifle and shot it at him. Scorpio dodged the attack but there was a second attack where a trap-net flew down from above. He blew it away with his sand along with the Hunter.

Lucy had been fighting with Fleuve d'étoiles. Letting out her whip she poured a bit of her magic energy in. Her magic poured out in materialized form from the handle, forming in a fluid form similar to a river that shimmers with star lights.

Right now, two Spirits were draining her energy. Maintaining the amount to be drained into its most efficiency was a feat worthy of praise.

Leo blasted off the chains that had been directed at Lucy. "Oi, it's rude to stab at people's back you know?" he commented at the lady with chains shackled at her wrists, ankles and neck.

"Tsk" she glared at him as she retracted her chains and sprouted it next to Jorya's feet to deflect the whip of Eridanus that would have whipped her side. She sent another chain with an iron ball at its end and tried to crush her with it. Lucy swiftly dodged from it, however, in the process she had stepped on a very thin string.

"Oh no!" she realized what she had stepped on. An arrow flew seemingly out of nowhere, aiming for the head of its prey. But Scorpio had anticipated this and blew it away with his sand storm. The wind pressure from the attack had almost blown away even the opponent's masters if it weren't for Andromeda's chains that had wrapped itself on their waists and to the ground. Scorpio hadn't anticipated Lupus to leap and attack his behind though.

"Scorpio!" Lucy called out of worried as she rushed to his rescue. Leo threw a Regulus Punch on the great wolf as it tried to snap the Scorpion between its huge sharp jaws. It howled in pain and backed away.

Lucy threw her whip and had it tied to Orion's shotgun. She pulled, taking it away from his grasp and crashed it in the ground.

Bahram watched coldly. He had not expected that she would be this strong. He sent out those three in an expectation that they could at least drive her into the corner but as it turned out. The balance of battle was just right though slightly tilting to the challenger's favour.

However, he did notice that there was a strange quirk with the battle style of this young mage. She was directing her attacks straight to the three celestial mages that were her opponents. She could have ended this faster if she had just injured the Spirits to the point that they'll be useless in battle and sent back to the Spirit Realm. Doing that would force the mages to summon the rest of their Spirits until they ran out of keys to summon. Not to mention, the amount of magic needed for summoning was much greater than maintaining them. That way the mages would immediately drain their magic reserves.

Instead of that, she was attacking the mages themselves that was the source and gateway for the Spirits. It was as if she wanted to avoid harming the Spirits as much as possible.

He smiled inside.

That weakness of her will bite her back in the end.

"Hah, just as the rumors said. You do fight in the frontlines like some pawn with a whip at your hand" Jorya sneered at her, though she briefly eyed the whip that came from Eridanus, Fleuve d'étoiles.

"Why, thank you. I don't sit idly behind and watch others fight like some certain cowards" she told her, daring her to come and fight directly. She remembered the horrifying fight earlier where no one tried to do anything aside from her and her friends.

"What did you say!? We're not cowards! Generals don't fight in front like some idiot!"

"What? I didn't say any name. Did it hit you?" she told her as she dashed forward to the girl.

"Why you . . . Andromeda!" Jorya gritted her teeth as she yelled the order.

From the ground, chains sprouted and strike at her legs as they try to entangle her foot. Lucy was able to dodge by moving sideways but the change in momentum had nearly caused her to lose her balance. She had barely able to dodge an iron ball that struck her downwards.

But really, Lucy was having a hard time fighting. Those chains were much more dangerous and fluid that she couldn't deflect it with her own whip. Even if she tried to tie the chains together, the ends would just grow longer and aim for her.

The chains move like it has its own life that would bind you if you stay still. But that was only one of the things that make it dangerous. Not only those cold hard iron chains would whip you, the iron nails and heavy balls at the end of which were one deadly weapon that would crush and pierce you if you're not careful.

The only way out would be to attack the wielder of the chains. She glanced at the chained-maiden with long black hair and dull dark eyes. No. There's no way that she would attack her now when she know they had been through so much pain already. She just couldn't bring herself to.

So she aimed for Jorya instead, trying to get through the chains whipping about as if to protect the one at the center. Her eyes widened as she realized that Jorya was actually behind Andromeda, who was moving to face in the direction she was standing at like some shield.

"Leo! Scorpio!" she called. She doesn't need to give clear orders for them to understand what she meant. Right now, Leo was keeping Lupus at bay while Scorpio was being hard-pressed with Orion due to the traps set around the whole pit. He was making sure that Lucy wouldn't step on any.

Jorya was laughing gleefully. "Hah! You talk like your some badass but you really aren't much of a fighter aren't you? You fight like Lepus" she told her as she sneered.

Lucy's sweat-dropped a bit. "Since when did I talk like some badass?"

Scorpio and Leo acted upon her call.

"Sand Mist"

Scorpio used his Antares to blow sand at the ground in a puff of smoke, creating a smoke screen.

"What?" Andromeda and Jorya cough and covered their face with their arms. They heard Wendel screamed in the direction where there was a sudden flash of light. A thud indicating he had fallen on the ground after receiving an upper-cut.

Another yell came from Nesh.

"Andromeda!" guard me, she ordered her spirit who complied.

"Chain Prison!" yelled Andromeda, left with no choice she retracted her chains so that it surrounds her like a bird cage, protecting her. What she hadn't anticipated was that Lucy held unto one of the chains when she retracted it, letting her being carried closer. She let go before Andromeda could whip the chain she's holding to the ground. She landed to the side.

Andromeda turned, but Lucy was faster. She looped the end of Eridanus's whip around her ankle and pulled. Making her lost her balance and fall to the ground. Without giving a chance for counter, she then jumped and tried to Lucy-kick Jorya.

Only to kick an invisible wall of air.

"What!?" Lucy's eyes widened.

"Tsk. You're really useless at guarding, Andromeda. Making me use my cards" Jorya cursed as she held out cards that aren't so different from Cana's.

"Could you be . . . a card-user!?" Lucy was shocked as she jumped away before they strike a counter at her. She was surprised. Normally, a mage forms his magic base on the first type of magic he learned. Your body and spirit would mold accordingly to the magic you were using, usually making you incompatible with the other types.

Jorya sneered. "You guessed that right. I'm a double-user. I can use both Card-magic and Celestial summoning. Surprised? They weren't much different since they were both holder-type magic."

Even so, that was rare. While normally, mages could use two or more magic (like Mira who uses both transformation and take-over magic), the same couldn't be said for Celestial summoners.

That was because they have a different body and spirit composition to other mages.

Magic would form as the materialization of your own spirit connecting with the nature's spirit's flow. The spirit of mages usually has an element of nature they were affiliated with and that would usually be their main type of magic. Their body would draw that element of nature into them and mix it with their own so that they could draw it out and bend it to their will.

Take Natsu for example, his main element was fire and he have a special way of taking magic energy, being a slayer. He could also regain magic by eating them and incorporate it with his own magic. There was also the natural way which was just absorbing the ethernano in nature. The point was that he could produce fire on his own by concentrating the spirit flow of nature and his own spirit flow to a center point (like his fist, leg or throat).

The same can't be said for Celestial mages.

For Celestial summoners, they were able to summon by using their own spirit energy (ethernano) to force the gates open. Their magic wasn't designed to draw in the nature's spirit flow; rather, it was designed to draw it out.

Their body was not made to draw in the nature's spirit flow and mix it with their own at a center point to form magic like normal mages. They just pour the ethernano their body had collected into the keys to force open the crack in spaces. Then after that, they have to continue pouring to keep it open. Their magic concentration was on the border of spaces. This made their body not adept at drawing in the spirit of nature and concentrating it at themselves which was a requirement for most magic in this world.*

Lucy looked at Jorya who was smirking at her. "If you can actually fight . . . Why do you keep hiding behind you spirit?"

"I'm not hiding! Generals don't fight in the front!" she yelled loudly, her straw-like pigtails rising up in anger. She held up another card with the label of "wind" and threw it on the ground.

A strong gale of wind blew at them, dispersing the sand smoke-screen from Scorpio. Wendel was unconscious with a large lump on his head. Nesh was carried in bridal-style by Orion who was dodging and deflecting Leo's attacks.

"Well good to see you're still fine. I thought you're out when you screamed like a girl" Jorya called at him.

"I didn't scream like a girl!" snapped Nesh, his gray eyes flaring with anger. His face was beet red on the situation he was in. Apparently, his scream earlier was due to shock when Orion came from behind and suddenly carried him. They were able to dodged Leo's Regulus by a hair's breath.

Erza's eyes narrowed at the situation. Something was wrong – no, odd – in this match. Jorya should have used her cards earlier. Why would she use it now?

Was it really for a last resort?

Her eyes darted to the Mayor who was holding his staff.

Her eyes widened.

No . . . there is something more in this . . .

The battle continued as Lucy fought off Jorya and Andromeda, Leo with Nesh and Orion, while Scorpio provided support on them.

Lucy was finding it hard as she tried to dodge Jorya's wind attacks and Andromeda's chains. She too, was finding it odd now.

"How can you use both card-magic and summoning at the same time!?" she asked finally as she jumped away from another wind strike and deflected a chain with her whip.

"I'm special! I'm a Haspel. I should be able to do at least this much" she stated with a smirk as she sent another gale at her.

"No. It's odd. You don't have much magic reserve left to use card-magic" she told her.

Her black eyes narrowed. "What are you implying? Are you saying I'm weak? You think you're the only one with lots of magic reserve? Hah! Don't get full of yourself. I'm better than you. I can use card-magic and dual-summoning! You think you're the only one who could summon two Spirits at the same time?"

"What? That's impossible" based on what Lucy felt on her magic being low and the fact that she was using card magic, it's just not enough for her to maintain two spirits at the same time.

"I –" Jorya screamed as she raised her silver key.

"JORYA!" her father screamed. It wasn't wise to reveal all your cards at once.

However, it was Erza who first noticed. Thanks to her fake eye, she wasn't as much affected at the misdirection magic that was being casted by Ara so that they would focus only on Lucy. She was able to see that Bahram and Rohini were continuously supporting their team with "magicn regenerations" spells and buffs.

"YOU! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'RE NOT JOINING THE BATTLE!" Erza shouted as she charged to the mayor.

Suddenly, a wall of darkness erupted and blocked Erza's path. Everyone's eyes widened. Bahram glanced sideways to the person who casted the spell.

"Hmm. You sure are full of surprises. I thought you will continue to keep a low profile to the very end. I'm not sure whose side you are anymore" he told him casually.

"Ah really? Things got out of hand apparently. And besides, I already blew it over when I tried to talk her out of duel. For now, it wouldn't be wise to form any interruption in this match" Shishio said, his blue eyes had unreadable expression on them.

"Match? It should be over already. They were clearly cheating" Erza told him with a glare. This man . . . awhile ago, he was clearly inconspicuous.

"Erza Scarlet, the young wise noble knight. You should have realized this already. No matter how dark they are, it still holds true that a celestial mage keeps their word. That's their nature. It's sly, but they did not cheat."

"What did you say!? This is screwed up! You're not playing fair!" Natsu yelled, lighting up both of his fists with fire. Thanks to Erza's shout, he got out of the enchantment and had drawn his attention in the exchange of Titania, mayor, and Shishio.

"Hmph. We only said that we're not going to fight. We can still support Jorya in this duel as a celestial mage" said Bahram, still retaining that proud superiority even though their playing dirty.

Gray stepped out too. "You must be really desperate to win."

"You young mages wouldn't understand. This is all for the greater good of the entirety of Celestial mages. If we don't get the central of power back, the Celestial summoning would be nothing more than a lost art of magic."


At the same time, the fight continued.

"Ha! What's wrong? Out of breath already?" Jorya taunted as she sent card after card.

Lucy wasn't really doing well now. She was slowly running out of magic energy.

Lucy, I'm about to run out.

She broke out in cold sweat as she heard the warning from Scorpio. Scorpio's attacks were powerful and wide range but there's a limit on how much sand his Antares could produce. That was why she would usually use him for one attack only. She was already stretching the limit of their contract but she can't afford to lose him. Summoning a spirit takes a lot more magic than maintaining them.

'I should have finished this earlier' she thought bitterly. But at that time, she couldn't find a way to knock out the mages without harming the Spirits. She thought she could just force a win by outlasting them with ethernano reserves. Earlier, she had naively judged that they don't have much ethernano but now, their energy was remaining constant, if not getting higher.

Where are they getting their magic from?

Lucy was clearly and slowly being in the disadvantage as time goes by. Not only was maintaining two spirits were draining her, the consecutive summoning of all her spirits yesterday to treat them still had left quite an impact on her magic reserves even though she regained some in her sleep.

She wasn't clearly in her peak condition.

At least, it wasn't the worst case scenario since Leo managed to convince her to just do a single summoning instead of dual consecutive. If she had done as she had originally planned, then her magic might've been half by now. He clearly saw the possibility that she'll get into a fight.

That fact still annoyed her. Her spirits shouldn't have kept this a secret from her. If they have told her earlier, she might've been able to prepare to fight. Still, she would just scold them for that later as she has to focus on winning.

'Please hold out a little longer, Scorpio. For some reason, these people are not running out of magic' Lucy told him as she thought of the other options she could take. Her keys have different magic requirement to be summoned accordingly to their power.

She needed someone with power who could end the match quickly as possible.

Her first option was Aquarius, but there's no water in this pit. Besides, her magic requirement would quickly drain her.

Then Taurus and Capricorn, they just have half of summoning requirement than Aquarius. Sagittarius would be a better support against Orion though.

"Hah! What? Where did your ego go?" Jorya was sneering as she sent another wind cutter at her.

Then Lucy heard Erza shout.

"YOU! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'RE NOT JOINING THE BATTLE!" Erza shouted as she charged to the mayor.

Lucy's eyes locked back with Jorya, understanding now. "I see, so that was where you're getting your energy from. You sure are sly for a celestial mage" she told her.

There wasn't a hint of embarrassment at Jorya's face. She just shrugged. "Hmm. Well, we did agree that my family won't fight. Doesn't mean they can't support me though, got a problem with that?"

Lucy shrugged back too. "Well it's not like I'm expecting you to fight fairly in the first place" she told her as she dodged another wind attack. Then chains sprouted on the ground below her, she quickly jumped away from them but a chain caught her foot and she fell on her back.

"Lucy!"

Both her Spirits shouted out of concern.

Chance! Jorya sent a tornado attack combined with the chains of Andromeda.

'No!' Scorpio had no choice. He was trying to hold back to conserve energy and also not hurt the others much as his master wished but with this . . .

Protecting his master is the priority.

"Sand buster!" Scorpio yelled as he bent down to four limbs reminiscent of a scorpion. A tornado of sand was summoned, clashing with Jorya's own wind attack. The sheer rotating power would have blown everyone away.

Leo had to punch a hole into the ground and hid in the hollow to keep safe from the wind. Andromeda held her master and Orion from being blown away with her chains but even that had stretched the limits of the chain's endurance. The chains were being pulled off the ground.

Jorya gritted her teeth as she tried to hold onto her magic attack. Scorpio's sudden burst was unexpected and had caught her off guard. The force of his attack was pushing hers back. Stones, dust, and sharp winds cut through her skin and body. "So much power . . . is this the power of the Zodiac?"

Andromeda's eyes widened. "Scorpio! Aren't you pushing yourself too far?" she yelled at him. Right now, he must be straining his body for producing this much sand and power greater than the magic energy he's receiving. All of this for a human mage!?

That was just absurd. She would understand Leo since that was his nature, but Scorpio? From what she remembered, he's among the Spirits who was only neutral and doesn't care to the human mages. He's the type who just go along with the contract. He would only perform what he needed to do like Aquila.

"Why?" she asked him. They were just being used. They were being fooled. Humans are fickle creatures who hide their darkness within. At least, they should be aware of that. They just thought she was different because she was using "affection" to make them follow her command.

Everyone was being fooled by her! Even Lepus . . .

Scorpio only smiled. "That's because I have to. Our contracts are at stake and I can't afford to lose it. Don't say I said this, but I know my girlfriend will be sad if her contract breaks" he told her through telepathy. He was gritting his teeth from the strain his body was taking. Not enough, he thought. He pushed further, screaming to let out his power.

The sand and wind pressure he was producing got wider and stronger, being able to push and bounce back Jorya's attack. "No . . ." she tried to add power into her attack. She knew she'll be knocked out if that hit her, after all, she doesn't have super-human endurance.

Lucy's eyes widened. "SCORPIO!"

A golden spike suddenly sped through out of nowhere and pierced through Scorpio, right at his heart. He gasped from the pain, unabled to react. From the hole in his heart, he started to dissipate into golden dust.

"Kuh. I'm sorry, Lucy . . ."

"No! Scorpio!" she screamed as she tried to get up and ran to him. It couldn't be . . . Where did the attack came from!?

"Oh yeah! I beat a Zodiac with a silver key!" The voice came from the audience stand.

"No way! Ah! I should have been the one to finish him off!"

"Well, too late. I guess I'll go get the Lion."

"What? I want that key!"

"Master told us that we get the zodiac keys we defeat right? Let's just race for it."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What . . . ?"

Jorya smiled wryly. "You guys are late. You call yourselves back up?"

"Hey. We saved you there! You are in a serious pitch" said a bald man with double chin and thick black eyebrows and beard. Beside him was a woman with long golden hair and dark blue eyes and red lips, Berenice.

Shishio and team Natsu watched with wide eyes.

Up there, in the audience sit were the entire Elysian villagers standing up with their summoned silver Spirits. All were smirking with bloodlust on their faces, ready to fight the single weakened girl at the center of the pit.

Bahram and Rohini Haspel smiled. "Good job, Ara" Rohini praised the blindfolded veiled woman. Thanks to her misdirection magic, they did not realize the plan they were hatching.

They initially had planned to gang up on the blonde summoner but as she entered the stage with a large tornado of sand most of the audiences were knocked out. They have to use misdirection as they revive all the other celestial mages and buff them.

Jorya insisted that she could defeat Lucy with just the three of them though, so they let her fight. But as it turned out, they have to resort to this.

Natsu clenched his fist so hard it began to shake. "You underhanded bastards. I thought there was supposed to be three only" he growled in low voice, his back on them as he was on the front watching Lucy.

"The conditions said that with the exception of us two, Jorya and her friends will be the ones who fight. Did you really think there was only two?"

"I see. You have the all the villagers join a fight against a single person. Then there's no complain if we joined in too." Erza said darkly, raising her sword once more.

"Unfortunately, you shouldn't butt in. This is a celestial duel. Outsiders are not allowed" Shishio told them.

"You think we really care about that now? Who cares about your rules? You're gonna regret pulling tricks on us." Gray said as his eyes turned icy-cold and glared at them. The temperature turned to a freezing point, or was it just his cold look was so penetrating?

"Drop it. You do realized that you're reckless actions will lead to a default lost for Lucy, right? She already agreed in the contract. Whether you like it or not, all you could do is watch. If she loses, she has to quit being a mage." Shishio told them just as coldly. His hands casually moved to the backpocket of his cloak where he kept his scrolls and staves.

Lucy stood up with her keys ready. She knew that the tides of battle had turned against her now. If she have to win, she needed Aquarius who have long and wide battle range that could easily wipe out her enemies quickly. Her magic was running low.

But seeing all the villagers against her and have a magic regeneration support from somewhere. Lucy knew that her chance of winning was incredibly low.

BANG!

At the top of the box seat was a huge explosion of fire. Rocks and debris flew everywhere. Lucy's eyes widened. No! Did Natsu . . .

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud roar echoed through the whole stadium. So loud that it almost break their eardrums, everyone was forced to cover their ears and crouched down.

Lucy looked up and saw a huge hole at the top box, showing the clear night sky outside. The whole side of the wall was blown to smithereens. Natsu stood there his right arm raised. Everyone beside him could only look at him with wide eyes and alarm, but otherwise unharmed. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs. Panting after his loud roar as if to exhale the remaining frustration in his chest.

He turned his fierce charcoal eyes up at her.

"LUCY! I BELIEVE IN YOU! BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF EVERYONE OR ELSE I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!"

Everyone could only stare as he yelled at her.

She blinked. But seeing the determined expression on his face, she felt somehow relieved. Natsu trusted her. She turned to look at her comrades who were giving the same expression. Their support for her was giving her courage.

She returned a solid, determined expression and a confident smile. "Uhn! You can count on me!" She let out her whip and tugged the rope, ready for battle.

Bahram stood there as he scrutinized the pink-haired boy. "So you ended up doing nothing and watching, huh?" he observed, rubbing his beard. "I thought you want to save your friend" he told him, adding salt to the wound. Either way was a win for them.

"Watching? Ah, I guess you should too" he replied in a low and dangerous voice, as he look down at the pit.

"You should watch your backs because either way, you'll experience losing at Fairy Tail" he continued, his eyes darting to the mastermind who had caused this.

Bahram, with his pride, stared back and didn't back down.

Natsu turned to face him. Unusually calm, the anger that seemed to explode inside him haven't died down but got concentrated in one point in his chest. He concentrated his mind on the trust and hope that she'll get through this challenge.

But at the back of Natsu's mind, there was a dark thought. If she don't get through this . . .

Then he'll make sure that every single one of this people that tormented her will be burned to ashes . . .


. . . * . . .


End of Chapter

NEXT CHAPTER! LUCY VS. THE ENTIRE VILLAGE! HOW WILL SHE WIN!?

* This idea of how Celestial summoning works was not out of place. That's just a headcanon formed when I read Natsu and Lucy learning transformation magic from Mira. The instruction was that to draw in the magic inside of you while you're concentrating on the face of the person you want to copy. Natsu easily managed to do it (even Happy! though only the head), while Lucy was really unable to (though of course, it could be that she was just unable to concentrate simply because of Natsu). Mira suggested that her magic was not complementary with transformation magic.

Then comes Lucy's training from Capricorn who made her train by meditating to concentrate and draw in magic energy. She found this hard.

Then Angel who lost her own Celestial keys, could only learn another summoning magic in which it cost her own life in each use. Not really handy. Even Capricorn's former master was using "Human summoning" magic. We have never seen celestial summoners use a different kind of magic aside from summoning.

So, I find it really fitting that summoners are just used to forcing out their magic energy to open the gates, which was different from normal mages who just mixes their own spirit with the spirit of nature.

This really made Celestial summoning to be a lot of disadvantage. Not only does it require a large amount of magic energy (ethernano). It will also make your body inept to other kinds of magic. Not to mention, it won't guarantee you to produce strong magic unlike the other types like take-over, re-quip, and Dragon-slayer.

It's no wonder why there was a huge decline on the population of Celestial summoners. It's so disadvantageous for them and the result was usually not worth that much trouble.