"I can't believe they're stopping here just because of a few bandits on the road!" Lucy complained, walking amongst the streets of some city they had stopping in, with Laxus on her trail.
"There's nothing else we can do about that. We'll just go by foot to the Royal City," Laxus said, but he too realised just how much time they would lose that way.
"They could have told us that from the beginning, at least."
"There was no way they would know that from the beginning, Lucy…"
"I don't care! I am a freaking queen, not some mongrel you can bargain with and abandon in the middle of nowhere!" She stopped, exclaiming aggravated.
"Well, Your Majesty, for your information, this is actually a city, not the middle of nowhere. Could you please stop being such a spoiled little child and actually start behaving like the queen you keep saying you are!?" He shouted at her, unable to stand her attitude anymore.
Her eyes widened in shock , this being the first time someone talked back to her like that. Was she acting like a little child, as he said? That question would torment her for a long time from then on…
"Sorry," Laxus said, avoiding her look. He realised that he was out of line and that his words affected her, but after all, that too was a truth he has witnessed.
"No… It's alright. You were right…" She said, but she wasn't even sure of this answer. Was she acting so spoiled as he said? Then, was that the reason she was losing the war she had started against her brother?
"Hey there!" Some guy in an uniform interrupted them, coming closer to the pair of blondes. Arriving next to them, he couldn't help but keep looking at Lucy, as if he wasn't sure of something. "Are you by any chance Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail?"
"Err, yes?" She answered back, unsure where he knew her from.
Immediately, a group of similarly dressed people came forward, surrounding them.
"Lucy Heartfilia, you are officially arrested for being part of a dark guild!" One of them announced but his words literally left both Lucy and Laxus speechless. Then, one of them came forward with a pair of cuffs, ready to take her and him both into custody.
"Stop right there, bald monkey you are," she growled, glaring at them. "That's really not a good idea, you understand? Turn back now and I promise you will have your souls untouched."
"Shut up and surrender yourself. You are under arrest, both of you!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you…" Lucy couldn't help but grin, taking the key of Scorpio from her keyhole, raising it up in the air.
"Lucy!" A familiar voice was heard from behind. "Stop! You can't use magic here!"
"I don't think so, Wendy," Lucy giggled, her key shining brightly. "Open, gate of the scorpion! Scorpio! Get them."
As commanded, Scorpio appeared with his ever lasting grin, watching the enemies of his mistress.
"We are!" He said his catchphrase, posing. "Sand Buster!"
That sole attack was enough to defeat all the police men around, the sand lingering over their collapsed bodies.
"Thanks, Scorpio," she grinned, letting Scorpio return back home.
Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Charla quickly ran their way, shock written on their faces. Behind them, however, a stranger with a familiar face accompanied them.
"How is it possible that you can use magic!?" Charla asked, unbelieving that this was normal.
"And more importantly, why is Laxus here!?" Natsu added, finding this more important than the first question.
"So this is magic from Earthland…" The stranger said, ignoring Laxus' horrified face as he looked between her and Lucy, not finding many differences. The two were alike twins, having only their clothes to tell them apart by.
"You've never told me you've got a twin," he said to his Lucy, causing her to look up to him with a giggle.
"I don't," she simply answered and then turned her gaze back to her mirror self. "I would say that you are the Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail they were seeking, not me. Sorry to say it, but I did a number on your friends here."
"My, it's not a problem, Lucy Hearfilia. In fact, I must thank you," Edo-Lucy said, extending her hand and shacking hands with her counterpart.
"We should leave and hide, before anymore of these people come after us," Wendy said, and listening to her, everyone arrived in the nearest forest, ready to tell their own story.
"So Mystogan-san was the one to send you here?"
"And you kept your powers because of his pills…"
"Indeed," Lucy answered, laying leisurely on a rock beside her counterpart, surprising everyone with the similarities between them. "But unfortunately, I have lost the bottle he gave me, probably during the sky fall."
"Clumsy," Laxus coughed, making Lucy glare at him. In this usual scene, the other saw the bond having been created, running deep between the two. To Natsu, this scene was beyond aggravation, making his heart ache with pain…
"Well, I guess that means I am without any doubt the strongest member of Fairy Tail," Lucy said, trying to tease Laxus as well as presenting her own skills, a sly look on her face. Her pride knew no bounds.
"In your dreams, blondie. I am," Laxus spat back, but his lips curled in a smirk, enjoying this contest of power with the pride demoness. For being the only one that was entrusted with her secret, may it be even by his own soul, he somehow felt a pride of its own.
"We'll attend to that when we return in that little boring world of yours," Lucy said, standing up, thus sending a message only to Laxus, who knew the truth. Charla, however, caught up something hidden in her words and her face was solemn with terror, a dark future showing itself to her.
Natsu was standing amidst flames in the ruins of a fallen city… His face was sorrowful and tears were rolling from his eyes as he kneeled down, his spirit broken and his eyes reflecting horror towards the black human shape he saw before him.
Lucy appears behind him, embracing him as if he was her property, a soldier of her own. Her eyes look forward to the black shape, never taking her gaze away from it. She was determined to do something and braveness takes over her. Her fingers curl around Natsu as she leans in, whispering something in his ear. And then, golden light purges the darkness from ahead them, letting only a shadow be cast from the dark human wearing a white cape. And that light envelopes both of them, letting only a scream be heard.
Charla gasped, breathing hard as she recovered from this vision. Everyone turned to her, alarmed by her behaviour.
"Are you alright, Charla?" Lucy asked, sensing something wrong in the way Charla looked at her, as if she was the trigger to the Apocalypse.
"Y-Yes… Don't mind me…" Charla managed to say, trying her best to avoid the blonde's look, who grew more suspicious by the minute.
"If you say so…"
"Anyway… The Royal City, is it? Then that's where you shall be heading," Edo-Lucy said, jumping proudly from the rock, standing next to her counterpart, letting the wind share their determination.
Two more days passed by, the plan of attacking being formed. They met with Edo-Natsu as well, and unlike with the Lucy's, the Fairy Tail members saw a great difference between the two pink haired guys, almost as if appearance was all they were sharing.
But the road doesn't interests us too much now, does it? Let's go thus to the point of time in which our heroes arrive in the centre of the kingdom, the Royal City.
Before them, the greatest seen celebration was taking place. Contrasting their sorrow and disgust, the population of Edolas was cheerful and festive, even if the object of their happiness was a stolen thing, containing life of its own, as they had known. But knowing that didn't mean they cared about it.
"They think they have the right to steal and consume not only their own world, but other worlds as well… Aren't they impertinent, puny humans!?" Lucy, without realising the content of her rage, growled, heard only by Laxus.
"You should be more careful with your feelings," he warned her in a low voice, as to not stir the enhanced hearing of the other dragon slayers. "Your eyes betray you," he added, seeing her blood red eyes.
"Sorry about that…" She slowly said, closing her eyes and calming herself down.
As they walked further amongst the mass of people, soon a beautiful, blue crystal appeared in front of them, huge, and yet, not huge enough. In front of it, on a stadium, a man with festive clothes and an arrogant aura around him was talking, the sceptre in his hand being more than a sign to the Fairy Tail members that he was the king. And suddenly, at his sight, Lucy's disgust grew to no bounds.
"Faust…" She growled again, this time trying to let her body know her intent of hiding from other's sight.
"That's the king, hmm…" Laxus murmured, more to himself.
"And that… That lacrima is our friends, isn't it?" Wendy cried, hugging Charla as they looked upon what they knew to be Magnolia.
"Our kingdom was blessed with another magical source for ten years from now on! This lacrima is the Earthland guild, Fairy Tail! Let's celebrate now, my children! Our kingdom shall not perish yet!" The king, Faust, shouted and to show his supremacy, he hit the lacrima with his staff, letting a piece break and fall, crumbling at everyone's feet. The horror that appeared on the Earthland mages' faces was too much to be told in words. Their rage, as if someone stabbed them in their heart, was painful, their feelings in disarray. Everyone around them clapped and cheered further and to Natsu, the most of them all, this was the most aggravating. Without Lucy to stop him, he would have surely caused a ruckus, destroying everything they had planned.
"It's time to go, Natsu," she whispered in his ear, grabbing his hand and letting him know that she, as well as the others, felt the same and yet knew the consequences of acting there. He too realised with that warmth she gave him that he needed patience to recover his comrades.
"Let's go," he agreed, pained to part from that place.
"That lacrima is too small…" Lucy soon said as they moved away from the crowd.
"What do you mean, Lucy?" Happy asked with tears in his eyes, his soft personality getting the best out of him. Everybody turned to her, awaiting her explication.
"That amount… That isn't the amount of spirit Magnolia has to offer… What stood before us now is only a piece of the city, not the whole spirit," she said, her eyes lying on the blue surface of the crystal.
"Then we'll have to find the other piece or pieces as well. But for now, let's stick to the plan," Charla said with a somehow pained expression as she held onto the map she has made with her revealed clairvoyant ability. She was scared, no doubt of that, but what was she scared for, not even she knew.
They had entered the tunnels beneath the castle, trying to break in, when, suddenly, they heard steps behind them. As they turned around, prepared to fight, soldiers with their weapons pointed to them were revealed.
Laxus and Lucy took the first line, being the only ones able to product magic. But then, as they tried to attack, they both realised that they weren't able to.
It all happened fast, letting them be both shocked and surprised.
A kind of web fell over them, letting them be crushed to the ground by its weight and properties.
Lucy was the only one in pain, however, this sticky web burning her skin with the simple touch, breaking even her demonic spirit circuit, which for human technology wasn't possible. In her mind, there was only one person able to give them something like that, and she soon found herself growling his name, much to everyone's surprise, this being, in fact, the only thing she said before collapsing down in pain.
"Zeref!" Her shout, full of venom specific to a demon, was heard amongst the whole palace, letting everything shake as her last attempt of molding spirit created an earthquake.
"Thank you, Exceeds, for bringing the prisoners to us."
The soldiers fell down on their knees, bowing their heads to Charla and Happy, the only ones left out of the ruckus. Both cats had looks of terror but Charla, she was the most affected one.
"What have I done…"