What Time Has Done To Us
AN: I am kinda sad about this update coz this chapter was near completion when my laptop got stolen… XC
LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN! OVER 7600 WORDS! I HOPE THIS HELPS MAKE UP FOR MY ABSENCE!
Anyway, please enjoy…
Acnologia wasted no time taking over the Kingdom. Implementing new laws, abolishing old ones, even going so far as to release a handful of dark wizards that once tormented the Kingdom itself.
But that was just the beginning.
Acnologia had given dark wizards immunity from the law, and placed them as the new palace guards and security control for the Kingdom and its people.
And in order to pay their obscenely high salaries, high tax rates were implemented on the villagers and shop owners, effectively causing the worst poverty the Kingdom has ever seen.
Those that could not pay, either ran from the Kingdom in fear, or were made an example of and sent to the palace dungeon.
The once proud Kingdom of Magnolia was now a dark shadow of its former glory. The lack of people made it look like a ghost town, the lustre and colour that it was once famous for was no longer there. It was as if the Kingdom itself had been possessed by darkness.
Any wizards who lived in the Kingdom were forced to work for the king, and give the larger portion of rewards for any jobs they did to him. They were regarded as the Kingdoms errand runners, and since the dark wizards were now the new guards and soldiers, they wasted no time using their new positions to belittle and abuse the wizards.
The only smidgen of hope left for the Kingdom were the Rebellion groups.
There were only two, one being more active and well-known, while the other remained unknown and out of sight.
The rebel group that stood out and constantly grabbed public attention, was a small group by the name of Crime Sorcier.
No one knows who the members are, the only person known in the group is their leader, a man by the name of Jellal Fernandez.
He would constantly fight the dark wizards that tormented the people and other wizards, yell out the crimes the King has committed and encourage the people to rise up against him. But the people were too afraid, and without a living heir to inherit the throne, there would be war to determine the new ruler.
It's been ten years since Acnologia claimed the throne, now only wizards remain in the Kingdom.
Inside the palace dungeon, the King is busy with an intense interrogation.
Prisoners in the dungeon were miserable, given as little food as possible so that they had just enough to stay alive, and no light was ever present. The sounds of a whip cracking and screams of agony made them cower together in fear.
The new prisoner that was brought in earlier that day was stripped out of her own clothes and forced into rags. Having been beaten before entering the dungeon, bruises decorated her fair skin, and the filthy dungeon floor had covered her long scarlet hair and fair skin with dirt.
"Titania, this will be a lot less painful if you tell me what you know"
It was rare for the King to be present in a prisoner interrogation, much less be the one asking the questions. He was brutal and ruthless, having no problem using torture to get the information he wants, regardless of whether the person knew anything or not. Either way if enough time passed and he got or didn't get answers, the person would be executed by hanging.
"You think this is painful? My grandfather's pinches hurt more than this" said Titania, aka Erza Scarlet with a pained smirk.
During the ten years of Acnologia's rule, Erza had grown into a beautiful and strong-willed lady. Her scarlet locks were long and vibrant, even in the darkness of the dungeon it never lost its lustre. She was known as the most powerful and terrifying soldier in the Kings army. She had a body that many men would lust over but her fearsome persona made them keep their distance, and their lives.
But now, she was chained to the walls of the palace dungeon, the chains and bars designed to drain her magic until there was almost nothing left. Blood oozed out of the places where the whip had struck her, the dirty ragged dress that she wore was torn. She was panting softly and sweating, but she would never back down, she would power through and keep standing.
She was struck again with the whip, this time it grazed her stomach, she suppressed her scream by biting the inside of her cheek.
Acnologia smirked and chuckled at her pained expression.
"You should consider yourself lucky, most traitors don't get the privilege of the dungeon before the hanging" he said confidently.
Erza lifted her head and glared at him harshly "We should have made you hang years ago then" she said angrily.
"My, I have no idea what you're referring to. Trying to change the subject to avoid punishment?" he asked with a calm expression.
Erza tried to extend her hands towards the king but the chains held her tightly.
"You murdered my King and the prince! You should pay for what you have done!" she yelled angrily.
"Oh tut tut Titania, what a horrible thing to say about your King" said Acnologia condescendingly.
Erza spat at Acnologia's feet "You are no King of mine" she growled.
He sighed and brought his hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"The fact that you betrayed me is no surprise, I knew your loyalty to my brother went deep and that you never trusted me in the slightest. But to find out that you are in fact part of the rebellion… I always thought you would prefer to fight me alone" he said with a bored expression.
"I may be many things, but a dunce isn't one of them" she said angrily.
"Is that a confession I hear? Are you ready to tell me about your leader now? Or do you still need persuading?" he asked as he cracked the whip on the floor.
Erza never flinched, she didn't so much bat an eye at his threats.
"You can go to hell" she said with a confident smirk.
Acnologia growled angrily and unleashed a flurry of whippings on Erza, who refused to scream no matter what.
"And here I thought you weren't a dunce! Tell me about Jellal and his whereabouts or you will stay down here for the rest of your miserable existence! I will torture you bloody every day until you give in, you will be on the brink of death but I will keep you just enough alive to breathe! You will pray for death but I won't grant it until you tell me about Jellal!" he yelled in anger, his attacks never ceasing.
Erza was panting, with the amount of blood she was losing she was sure she would pass out soon.
Acnologia grabbed Erza by her collar and pulled her towards his face.
"Act tough while you can Titania, if you think my little punishment was bad, you have yet to even experience torture" he said with a smile filled with malice.
He let her go and she coughed for air. He made his way towards the stairs of the dungeon.
"Aria, I want information from her fast, use any means necessary, but don't kill her" he said as he walked out.
A figure appeared from the corner of the dungeon, dressed in a green cloak and a cloth covering his eyes that were filled with tears.
"I shall have her singing like a canary in no time your majesty" said Aria as he cried.
A scarlet bird trapped in a cage, Erza prayed she'd have the strength to hold out until her saviour arrived.
'Jellal…'
Acnologia stomped down the hallway of his palace. He was furious, how dare that women act so high and mighty around him.
"Your Majesty, we got issues man!" yelled Boze as he and his two friends ran to catch up to him.
"Clearly" he answered in annoyance, he was inches away from sending them to the dungeon he was so mad.
"Shut up Boze, let me handle this!" said Sue as she struck him across the back of his head.
"Sire, our pay is getting low, and the taxes aren't raking in as much as they used to" she complained.
"Yeah, I wanted to go out drinking, but my pay aint gonna cut it!" complained Boze.
Acnologia groaned in annoyance "It's the wizards' jobs to bring in rewards from other countries and Kingdoms" he said pinching the bridge of his nose.
"They don't wanna go! The only jobs that are left are bounty hunting ones" said Sue.
"Of course, very well, I will see if any of my personal wizards are available, if that is all then be gone" he said with a nonchalant wave of his hand as he walked towards his throne room.
"Tch, I'm starting to think things were better with Igneel" muttered Boze.
"What did you say?" growled Acnologia angrily.
There was a dark aura emanating from him, his glare was harsh and deadly, red eyes generating the fear of death to those whose eyes met them.
It was common knowledge to never mention Igneel's name in front of Acnologia, it was an act punishable by imprisonment.
Sue, Boze and Totomaru were shaking in fear.
"I-I-I said f-f-fig peel, earlier today… S-S-Sue stepped on a f-fig peel" stuttered Boze nervously.
Acnologia was not convinced, but he accomplished his goal of scaring them to submission.
"Good, now leave" he growled lowly.
They turned away from him and ran down the hallway as fast as they could.
"I'm still low on cash though" said Boze.
Sue smacked his head "Shut up if you wanna stay alive!"
"I told you this was a bad idea" said Totomaru in annoyance.
"Shut up!"
Acnologia made his way to his throne room and sat down on his throne. They said bounty hunting jobs? He had a mage he could spare for that, and she had no choice either.
*Buuuuuuuuurp!*
"Nice one Pyro"
"Thanks Stripper"
"Man that hit the spot!"
*Sigh*
Deep in the forests that are far from Magnolia's eyes, three young boys lie resting on the soft grass, having just enjoyed a hefty meal they relaxed and gazed upon the millions of stars that were out that night.
It's been ten years since Natsu had joined Gajeel and Gray in the forest, and during that time they have grown into tall, strong and handsome young men.
Gajeel's hair was long and unruly, reaching his hips, his right arm was decorated with scars that he had gained over the years from hunting and fighting. He had a lot more piercings now, covering his nose, arms and eyebrows. His muscles were definitely the most bulky out of the three, but still considered lean. Considering he was the eldest among the guys he considered himself their leader, even though he was the only one who thought so, and made sure that their basic needs were taken care of while having a bit of fun along the way.
Gray's personality had calmed down over the years, although he never stopped being reckless or getting into crazy fights, his many scars can attest to that. However, his stripping habit only seemed to get worse as time went on, getting to a point where he would no longer bat an eye if he ended up walking around in his underwear, the guys were just grateful he wasn't always completely naked and stopped calling him out on his missing clothes. He had definitely become a more handsome man; his dark blue hair had grown but he kept it relatively short, his body had developed well as he had considerable muscle development, and he was pretty tall as well.
Natsu's changes over the years were noteworthy to say the least. His hair hadn't changed at all, only that it had gotten slightly longer, it remained as wild as ever. He had developed a scar on his neck from his fight many years ago with the Dark Mages, but it remained concealed by his white scarf that he refused to part with, even when he took a bath. He had become tan over the years from running around in the sun all the time. His muscles and strength had grown exponentially, even though he was the youngest among the guys he was probably stronger than both of them. However, even throughout all these changes, he still kept his carefree and childish personality. Never one to pass up something fun or crazy despite his tragic past.
"Hey Bolt-face" said Gray.
"What d'ya want stripper?" asked Gajeel annoyed.
"Wadd'ya know about constellations?" asked Gray curiously.
Natsu stiffened slightly at this question, old memories began to surface, making him frown slightly.
"Hah? Don't be an idiot, like I'd waste my time trying to play connect the dots" said Gajeel in annoyance.
"Tch, so I'll take that as you have no idea what the word even means, hey numb nuts?" taunted Gray with a victorious smirk.
Gajeel growled angrily "Shut up Frosty, I know plenty! I just don't waste my time on crap like 'constellations'" he grumbled.
Natsu chuckled to himself 'If Luce were here she woulda kicked his ass for that comment' he thought.
"Sure, so since you're so smart, why don't ya try and tell me where the constellation for Leo is then?" asked Gray with a smirk, he knew there was no way Gajeel would get this one.
Natsu raised a brow at their actions, why the sudden interest in stars anyway, it was part of a time he didn't want to revisit.
"Tch, course I know where that one is! Dumbass, its right over there!" said Gajeel while pointing up at a random spot in the sky.
Gray dead-panned "Gajeel, Leo isn't in the sky this time of year" he said with a smirk.
"Pft!" Natsu burst out laughing at Gajeel's slip up.
Gajeel sweat dropped at that. How dare Gray trick him like that!
"You bastard! You set me up!" he yelled angrily making a swipe for Gray's head but missing.
Gray was laughing just as hard as Natsu.
"Not my fault, you were the one trying to act like a smartass, I just put you in your place is all" said Gray with a chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, I'll bet Flame brain over here don't know jack shit about constellations!" accused Gajeel.
Natsu stopped laughing now, this really wasn't something he wanted to talk about.
"Well that's a given-"
"Actually I do" interrupted Natsu.
"Hah?!" yelled Gajeel and Gray in confusion.
"Well, I don't know a lot, maybe like one or two that I remember?" said Natsu thoughtfully.
"Can't believe ash-for-brains knows sumthin I don't" muttered Gajeel in disbelief.
"Well tell us Pinky!" said Gray impatiently.
Natsu scanned the stars for a moment, trying to remember the patterns and positions of the stars he knew.
"Well, if you look over that way you can see Aquarius, by connecting those dots there and there…" said Natsu while pointing at the respective stars.
"Huh… why do you know where that one is?" asked Gray curiously with a raised brow.
Natsu paled at the memory "Lets just say knowing where your enemy is can make it easier to avoid her" he said with a shudder.
'Her? Enemy?' thought Gray and Gajeel in confusion, they just shrugged and let it go, Natsu tended to spout nonsense on a regular basis. Paying it any mind was just a waste of time.
"Okay, so what else ya got?" asked Gray.
"I know where the dragon constellation is" said Natsu proudly.
"There's a dragon?!" yelled Gajeel in surprise.
"Yeah, you know everything don't ya?" said Gray sarcastically.
"Shut up ice chips!" said Gajeel angrily "So where is this dragon, flame-brain?" asked Gajeel curiously.
"Right over there" he said without even thinking as he pointed to a set of constellations.
"You just connect those four stars over there and that last one there, and there you have it, draco" said Natsu.
Gray and Gajeel's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, how could Natsu, Natsu, of all people, actually say something… smart!?
"I feel like I'm having some freaky ass dream right now, now way did Natsu say something smart right?" asked Gray in shock.
"I think he did, that or that fish we ate gave us all food poisoning and we're delusional" said Gajeel in disbelief.
"Hey!" yelled Natsu in offense.
"No kidding, so flame-head, wanna tell us what else you know about the stars? I'm kinda curious to see what else you know… or don't" snickered Gray.
Natsu huffed in annoyance, his so-called friends were so freaking rude it was beginning to piss him off.
A memory resurfaced when he thought about Gray's question. The only other thing he knew about the stars was…
"Well… someone once told me that, all the people in our lives who have passed on, are watching us from the stars" he said sadly.
"Huh…" said Gray in thought.
"So dead people are watching us?" asked Gajeel in confusion.
"Pft!"
Gray and Gajeel started laughing hard, Natsu gave a half-hearted chuckle at their reaction.
"What kinda crazy crap are you listening to dude?" asked Gajeel in-between laughs.
Natsu just smiled sadly.
"Seriously, what kind of nut job came up with that?!" laughed out Gajeel.
"Yeah, I guess it is pretty stupid huh?" asked Natsu with a tired chuckle.
When the laughing finally died down, Natsu took one more glance at the sky. a pained expression made its way on his face, and he got up to cool his head.
Gray and Gajeel glanced at each other, both wondering what was wrong with their fire breathing friend.
"Was it something I said?" asked Gajeel in confusion.
Gray just shrugged his shoulders, they had agreed a long time ago not to pry into Natsu's life, so they didn't know about any eggshells they should avoid when talking to him.
Natsu walked to a nearby cliff, breathing deeply to try and calm his fragile heart. All this talk of constellations had ruined their happy mood, well his anyway.
He looked up at the sky again, he couldn't explain it, but it felt like the dragon constellation was shining even brighter when he looked at it, like it was trying to speak to him.
Not wanting to deal with the conflict in his heart Natsu did the one thing he always did; he roared.
'Roooooaaaaaaaarrrr!'
Natsu's roar was huge and loud, fully displaying just how much his power had increased over the years, it was even bigger than Igneel's was. His flames were hot and magnificent, reaching the highest heights, and warming the cool night air.
Natsu panted when his roar ended, he felt a stray tear falling down his cheek, and rubbed it away as fast as he could.
He had a new life now, but still, why couldn't he let the old one go?
"Man how I wish something interesting would happen right about now"
Makarov puffed out smoke from his fancy pipe and looked to be in deep thought…
Well actually he was just bored and running low on booze, no thanks to the King, so-called.
"Crime Sorcier is becoming more active lately, not to mention Erza has been imprisoned. We'll need to act soon, but without a trump card I'm afraid we're headed for a losing battle" he muttered to himself.
Suddenly he felt a massive surge of power erupt out of nowhere, it was enormous, yet somehow familiar?
"No… it can't be…" he said in shock.
'That felt incredibly similar to Igneel, but that's not possible… unless…' he thought.
A lone tear fell out of the corner of his eye and fell to the ground.
"Natsu… you're alive?"
The next day Gray and Gajeel were awakened by an annoyingly chipper and excessively hyper Natsu, who for some strange reason wanted to play a game of 'Hide and Seek'.
Of course they refused, saying that was a game for kids and that they wanted to sleep in, but Natsu knew how to push their buttons.
"Oh I get it, you guys are scared that I'll be so great at it that you won't be able to find me right?" he baited.
Gray and Gajeel's eyes twitched, how dare he provoke them at such an early hour, it was only 11am for crying out loud!
"Oh please, knowing you I'd find you under ten minutes" said Gajeel in annoyance, he was starting to lose his patience.
"Wanna bet?" asked Natsu with a cheeky smirk.
Natsu knew he had them now, there was no way they were going to refuse if a bet was being made on it. They liked winning too much.
"Ok Flame-brain, name the stakes" said Gray with a victorious smirk, he loved the idea of getting to beat Natsu and get to give him a penalty as well.
Nastu smirked mischievously "If you guys can find me before noon I'll do whatever you say without question for a whole day" he said confidently.
Gray and Gajeel were fantasizing about what they would make Natsu do, it was definitely something embarrassing, and it would be hilarious. They smirked at each other in anticipation, they were so gonna win this thing.
"But… if you can't find me, you bastards gotta do what I say for a whole day, without question" said Natsu with an excited grin.
This… made the game slightly less appealing, but Gray and Gajeel would be damned if they backed out now. They would do whatever it takes to win.
"You're on Pyro!" said Gajeel with an excited grin.
"We ain't gonna let you win this no matter what!" said Gray bearing the same grin.
And so Gray and Gajeel have been running around the forest trying to find their pink haired companion for half an hour already, having no luck so far in their search.
"Why did I agree to this again?" asked Gray in annoyance, he was running around like a madman and getting nowhere, how hard could it be to find a guy with hair like cherry blossoms for crying out loud!?
"Shut up with yer whining Stripper, I'm pissed off enough as it is" grumbled Gajeel irritably.
"Can't ya sniff him out or sumthin? I mean your both dragon slayers right, so ya should have the same sense of smell!?" asked Gray annoyed, he did not want to lose, being Natsu's slave for a day would kill his pride.
"Gee, great idea, I never thought of that!" said Gajeel sarcastically, did Gray think he was an idiot?!
"Course I tried sniffing him out numb nuts, he musta covered up his scent or sumthin coz I can't get so much as a whiff of him" said Gajeel in frustration.
"Dammit! Why does he suddenly get smart at the most inconvenient times for us!?" yelled Gray angrily.
"When it comes to regular things he's an idiot, but in combat and fighting tactics he's actually pretty smart, not to mention he has almost no fear either" said Gajeel as he glanced around every area to try and spot him. He figured if he couldn't sniff the moron he'd have to rely on his sight and hearing instead.
"Ugh, hearing you say crap like that make me wanna hurl, if Natsu heard you you'd never hear the end of it" said Gray in disgust.
"Shut up, where did your energy go anyway, you were so pumped about this at the beginning?" asked Gajeel as the carried on through the forest.
Gray heaved an exasperated sigh and rubbed the back of his head self-consciously "Well… I just figured we owed the guy ya know, he was so depro yesterday I figured this would perk him up or something" he said sadly.
Gajeel sighed and rubbed his head in frustration "Yeah, well mission accomplished, he's so perked up it's like he's on a coffee high. Now quit feeling sorry for the little bastard and focus on finding him! I just know that if he gets the chance to order me around I'll never live it down, so less bitchin' and more searchin'!" yelled Gajeel angrily as he transformed his arm into a metal hammer, smashing it into a nearby tree and making it crash to the ground.
Gray blinked in surprise "Well, someone forgot to eat his iron this morning" he said jokingly.
Gajeel glared at Gray and was about to retort…
*snap*
Until he heard the sound of a branch snapping.
He directed his head towards the noise, trying to see if he could pick up a sound again or maybe even see what caused it.
"Oi, whats-"
"Shh!" said Gajeel effectively shushing Gray.
Gray knew better than to disturb, if Gajeel was this focused he was listening out for something, he prayed that that something was Natsu.
Kinda weird that Natsu managed to lay low so well until now though.
"I think someone got a little cocky and tried to make a run for it" said Gajeel with a sly smirk.
He figured something that made a sound that big had to be Natsu, it wasn't like there were any predators in this area anyway, he did say he saw a hyena once though.
"Huh, I'm actually surprised he managed to stay still for so long" said Gray in an impressed tone.
"Well, lets get him before he runs off!" yelled Gajeel as he charged forward to run where he heard the sound, Gray right behind him.
They were running at such high speed that they didn't bother to look at the ground they were walking on.
Suddenly Gray and Gajeel noticed that they couldn't in fact feel ANY ground beneath their feet at that moment, and when they looked down they saw that they ran right over a barely covered hole in the ground aka the old hole-in-the-ground trap.
"Wha-!"
"Shit!"
Gajeel had managed to grab the ledge of the hole in time, and avoided falling in, the same however, could not be said for Gray.
"Son of a-! Aaaah!"
He fell pretty far down, MAN HOW DEEP IS THIS HOLE?!
"ICE-MAKE; CHAINS!"
After he gathered his bearings he used his ice magic to create chains with spikes and shot them out into the walls in order to stop himself from splatting into the ground.
Gray let out a breath of relief when he stopped falling; that was almost too close.
"Oi Stripper! You still alive down there!?" yelled Gajeel as he tried to climb out of the hole but fumbled.
"Yeah! Where the hell did this big ass hole come from!? Did Natsu make it?!" asked Gray angrily as he hung from the chains.
"This aint his style, someone else musta set it up!" yelled Gajeel as he finally got a leg up and clabbered back on solid ground, letting out a relieved sigh.
"That was close" he sighed.
"Wow, that plan actually worked?"
A sudden stranger's voice knocked Gajeel immediately out of his reverie, he noticed a shadow looking over him and jumped back a few feet away from it.
"What the?" asked Gajeel in confusion, no people ever come into the forest.
"I guess since it was so simple no-one would see it coming?"
The stranger was in the light now and Gajeel could finally make out who had snuck up on him, and he choked on his spit at the sight.
A girl around the same age as him, if not younger, with a tiny waist that was visible because of her blue, white and yellow patterned crop top that stopped just below the bust. And man did she have a bust. He had never seen such a curvaceous woman before.
She donned a black mini skirt on her wide hips coupled with a brown belt, it looked as though she had keys attached to it, as well as a whip. She wore black thigh high socks and brown ankle boots.
Gajeel would be lying if he said she was unattractive, in fact she was rather beautiful, not his type per say but beautiful all the same. She had dark brown eyes that glistened with determination, her light blonde hair was tied into twin tails, and she had heart shaped earrings.
"…"
Gajeel was in a stupor. What the heck was some hot chick doing here in the first place?! And what did she mean when she said 'plan'? Did she make that hole?! And why the hell was she talking to herself?! This girl had to be mental or something!?
"Wh-Who the hell are you?!" yelled Gajeel in confusion and annoyance.
"Oi, bolt-head! What's goin' on up there!?" yelled Gray as he tried to climb up the hole he was still stuck in.
"Ah, must focus, time for phase 2" said the strange girl.
"Huh?!" said Gajeel in confusion.
Suddenly he was struck in the face out of nowhere by the girls whip, which for some reason was glowing blue and gold all of a sudden.
He felt a tick mark appear on his head, was this girl trying to piss him off?!
"Well that should do it. Catch me if you can ugly!" said the girl as she suddenly ran away from him.
'UGLY?!' thought Gajeel angrily.
"Okay, now I'm gonna have ta kill ya!" he yelled as he ran after her, completely forgetting about Gray.
"Oi screw-head! Where the hell are you going!? Help me outta here!" yelled Gray angrily as he heard Gajeel run off.
"Geez, that ass-hat, wait till I get back up there. He probably saw a wild animal or something" grumbled Gray in annoyance as he used grappling hooks he made from ice to climb out of the hole.
Gray finally managed to get out of that crazy hole, he panted from exhaustion and fell down on the ground to catch his breath, sweat dripping from his brow.
"Damn… metal-brain… I'll kill him…" panted Gray in a tired voice.
"My my, do you make a habit of walking around without a shirt?"
Gray's eyes snapped open and he noticed a man towering over him with a disgusted look on his face.
Gray jumped back in surprise, he was crouched on the ground and had his hands together ready for an attack.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled defensively.
The man was so out of place in the forest, everything about him stood out like a sore thumb!
He wore a fancy tailored black suit, with a white button up shirt and red tie. He wore dark blue shades, and his hair was orange and gelled up in every direction. There were even parts where his hair looked like lion ears.
The suited man huffed in annoyance "Normally when asking for a person's name, one should introduce themselves first no?" he asked with a raised brow.
Gray clenched his jaw in aggravation, what a pain in the ass guy.
"Screw off pretty boy, manners got no place here!" yelled Gray angrily.
"Tch, what an uncouth man, as my lady's loyal knight it is only natural that I teach you some manners before you're graced with her lovely presence" said the suited man as his fists suddenly started glowing with a brilliant light.
"Huh? What lady?" asked Gray in confusion.
'Where the heck are all these weirdos coming from anyway?! And what do they want with me and Gajeel?!' he thought angrily.
"… Um, why did you take your pants off?" asked the suited man blinking in confusion.
"Huh?"
Gray looked down and saw his pants lying on the ground next to him, leaving him in only his boxers.
"For crying out loud!" he groaned in annoyance, picking up his pants and quickly putting them on, while trying to keep his eye on the suited stranger.
"You are quite a strange person indeed" said the suited man as he pushed his glasses up.
"Says the guy wearing a suit in the middle of a forest" retorted Gray with a raised brow.
"Touché" conceded the suited man.
"Loke!?"
A new voice suddenly appeared from behind the suited man, causing both men to turn and look towards it.
Gray's jaw dropped when the person came into view; she was gorgeous!
Her figure was a perfect hour glass, her hair was a beautiful shade of gold, eyes a deep brown, and her chest… whoa
"Ah, Lucy my love, you found me!" the suited man, whose name appeared to be 'Loke' suddenly lost his cool guy façade and had turned into some weird love-struck boy with hearts in his eyes when the girl appeared.
"No time for chit chat Loke, Gemini is already busy with phase 2, we need to do our part here" said Lucy with determination.
This 'Lucy' girl gave Gray a look of seriousness and determination, that was until she glanced behind him and noticed the hole in the ground and that Gray was covered in dirt, then her look turned bewildered for a second, then cocky.
"Ha! I told you guys the trap would work!" she said with a victorious smirk directed at Loke.
"As expected of my future bride, your genius knows no bounds!" said Loke with a wink.
"I told you, I'm not marrying you Loke" she said with a hint of annoyance.
Gray sweat-dropped at the scene in front of him, had they forgotten that he was there?
"Anyway, focus on the job at hand, we don't have much time. Gemini can only keep the other guy busy for so long" said Lucy pulling out her whip and taking a battle stance.
"As you wish, my lady" said Loke as he also took a battle stance, his fists glowing once more with a brilliant light.
'These guys wanna fight me? Ha! Bring it on, I could use a good workout' thought Gray confidently.
"You guys wanna brawl huh? Fine by me, just don't go crying home when I whoop your asses" he said with a smirk.
"Hmph, we'll see about that" said Lucy with a confident smile "Never underestimate me, or my spirits".
'Spirits?' thought Gray confused.
"Oh Regulus, grant me strength"
Suddenly, Loke was engulfed by a blinding light, his fist was poised for an attack and his eyes were closed in concentration.
Suddenly, he charged towards Gray at lightning speed, Gray never saw it coming.
'So fast!' he thought.
"REGULUS IMPACT!"
He was knocked back by a punch to the face, but turned his fall into a backflip to avoid crashing on the ground.
He was crouched on the floor, his left cheek throbbing and probably swollen from the impact, he wasn't gonna lie; that was a damn good punch.
But this was no time to admire it, this was a battle.
"ICE MAKE; LANCE!"
Gray sent a bunch of ice lances in Loke's direction, there was no way he could miss them.
"FLEUVE D'ETOILES!"
Gray's lances were suddenly smashed by Lucy's whip, which was glowing a gold and blue. It looked like a tiny river of energy.
"Huh, not bad. Looks like this won't be as boring as I thought" said Gray with a cocky grin.
The fight went on, both parties landing hit after hit on one another, although Loke kept on intercepting the ones aimed at Lucy.
Gray noticed that he was pushing them back as they fought on, and they were headed towards the lake. That would give him an even greater advantage for his ice.
He smirked to himself, sure these guys were tough, but Gray had home field advantage.
"SAND BUSTER!"
Gray suddenly heard another new voice coming from the direction of the lake, which was about to be in full view soon.
"Ack, damn it! Now I got sand in my mouth!"
'That was Gajeel's voice. He's also fighting? How many of these guys are there?' thought Gray in annoyance.
Gray spotted Gajeel and some weird scorpion-man fighting in the shallows of the lake, but as he got closer he noticed that behind him, was a girl that looked identical to Lucy; her exact mirror image.
"What the hell?" he asked in confusion.
How could there be two of the same person, he's heard of twins but they were even wearing the exact same outfit, hairstyle and weapons. This was too strange, it was like she copied herself or something.
"Ah! Another blonde chick!? Am I seeing double or something?!" yelled Gajeel in confusion as he noticed Gray and his enemies.
"Now's my chance, Gemini! Time for phase 3!" yelled Gray's Lucy as she suddenly ran towards the lake.
"Right away Miss Lucy!" said Gajeel's Lucy.
"Oi, where do you think you're going!?" yelled Gray as he tried to run after her, but Loke stopped him by grabbing his arms and pushing him back.
"Oh no you don't! You won't lay a finger on my Lucy!" yelled Loke as he pushed Gray back.
"CLOSE GATE; SCORPIO!"
Gajeel's Lucy, or as her name appeared; Gemini, suddenly shouted and the Scorpion-man vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving her by herself.
"Okay, CLOSE GATE OF THE TWINS AND THE LION!"
With another two puffs of smoke, Gray and Gajeel's enemies disappeared, leaving only one person; Lucy, behind in the middle of the lake.
Gray ran up to Gajeel, both guys wondering what she had planned next.
"What the hell's going on now!?" yelled Gray as he stood next to Gajeel, both guys annoyed and exhausted from their fights.
"I dunno man, I've seen some crazy stuff today! A giant perverted cow, a guy in a horse-suit, a scorpion-man, I'm losing my goddamn mind!" yelled Gajeel angrily.
"OPEN GATE OF THE WATER BEARER; AQUARIUS!"
'Aquarius?' thought Gray and Gajeel; that name sounded familiar.
The sound of a doorbell rang as a white light appeared where Lucy plunged a key into the lake. Suddenly when the light disappeared a new figure took its place.
It was a blue haired, and blue tailed mermaid, wearing a matching blue bikini top, she was also holding a blue vase in her hands.
She was very pretty, but gave off a pretentious aura that had Gajeel and Gray on their toes.
"Okay Aquarius, knock those guys out!" yelled Lucy as she pointed at Gray and Gajeel with a victorious smirk.
"Tch" said the mermaid.
"Hey come on! What's with the attitude!?" yelled Lucy angrily.
"Boss me around like that again, and you're dead, got it?" asked Aquarius with a death glare, which not only caused Lucy to flinch back, but Gray and Gajeel as well.
"Y-Yes ma'am" said Lucy nodding her head furiously.
'What a scary lady!' thought Gray and Gajeel fearfully.
Suddenly Aquarius' vase was sucking up the lakes water like a massive vacuum, and glowing a bright blue.
Then all of a sudden the water disappeared, only for the inside of the vase to glow again, while it was aimed at Gray and Gajeel, and a massive whirlpool of water suddenly shot out of it and headed straight for them!
"AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" yelled Aquarius in a battle cry, her face morphed in blind fury.
"What the hell is she doing?!" yelled Gray in fear as he saw the giant wave headed straight for them.
"That wave's gonna hit blondie too!" yelled Gajeel as he tried to get away from the wave even though he knew it was kinda pointless.
"I'm used to it!" yelled Lucy, also trying to get away from the wave.
'You mean this isn't the first time she's been attacked by her!?' thought Gray and Gajeel.
The wave kept growing in size, it was practically a tsunami, and when it hit them it did so without mercy.
"Aaaaaaaahhhh!"
"Why do you always have to hit me too!?" yelled Lucy as she swirled around in the wave.
By the time the water had stopped flowing, the guys were so dizzy, drenched, and out of breath that they couldn't even stand. Their eyes even had swirls in them.
"Ugh, I'm gonna hurl…" said Gajeel with puffed up green cheeks.
"Ugh, th-that made you motion sick? Haha… uuuhh… w-wuss…" groaned Gray who felt like his head was a cloud.
Lucy was walking towards them very wobbly, she spat water from her mouth, she was slightly dizzy as well but she still managed to stay upright.
She started laughing weakly "T-take that punks… Oww… I think she really aimed for me this time…" she said while holding her head and leaning on a tree.
"Lucy my dear, are you alright?!" asked Loke as he showed up out of thin air.
"Fine fine…" she said waving her hand in a dismissive motion then shifted her gaze to him "…I see you let yourself out" she said as he wrapped her arm over his shoulder to support her.
"But of course, how else do you expect to cuff these guys in the anti-magic cuffs? You can barely see straight" said Loke with a concerned gaze.
Lucy sighed in exasperation "You make a good point, I'm pretty much out of magic power anyway. Can you cuff them for me? I'm still trying to figure out where the floor is" she said with a weak smile, panting slightly as she handed her cuffs over to Loke.
Loke grabbed the cuffs and sighed in annoyance "Why did you come up with such a reckless plan in the first place? You could have seriously gotten hurt Lucy" he said with a voice laced in concern as he made his way to the passed out mages.
Lucy sighed tiredly as she leaned against a tree for support "It was the best plan I could come up with on short notice. There wasn't any other choice" she said softly.
Loke huffed at her reply "I just hope the reward is worth it this time" he said as he leaned down to cuff Gray.
"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"
Loke jumped back just as a flaming fist was about to hit him head on and stepped in front of Lucy to defend her.
The man that had appeared in front of them looked to be the same age as the men they were trying to capture, only for some reason his face and hair were completely covered by some white cloth that looked kinda like a scarf. The only thing that was visible on his face, was his fiery glare.
"Oh great, another one" muttered Loke in annoyance.
"F-Flame-head?" said Gray in confusion "Ha… I win the bet…" he said, still not fully conscious of what was going on.
Natsu just rolled his eyes and then pointed a finger at Lucy and Loke "Who the hell are you and what do you want?!" he yelled angrily.
"We don't have to answer to you… whatever the hell you are" said Loke, confused by this unknown man's appearance.
"Hey! I totally look like a ninja! Are those shades makin' ya blind or are you just stupid?!" yelled Natsu angrily while waving his fist in the air.
Loke's eye twitched in annoyance "Ok that does it, I'm gonna-"
"Wait Loke, I can handle him" said Lucy suddenly.
Both guys looked to Lucy in surprise as she made her way towards Natsu slowly, her ability to walk normally seemed to have returned.
"Are you nuts?! Lu-"
"Trust me, it may be old, but I still have one more trick up my sleeve" she said confidently.
Loke and Natsu both raised a brow in confusion, both curious as to what Lucy was planning on doing.
Slowly, she moved her hands to the hem of her skirt, and lift it up to expose her red lacy underwear!
"EEEEEHHHH!?" yelled Natsu and Loke in shock at what they were seeing. Both faces erupting in a violent red colour.
Loke passed out from an excessive nose-bleed, while Natsu just stood there red-faced and gaping.
Lucy smirked and ran right up to Natsu, raising her leg in the air while he was distracted.
"LUCY KICK!" she yelled, slamming her foot into Natsu's face.
Natsu, unprepared for the attack, took it head on and flew back a bit landing on his butt.
"Ouch!" he yelled placing a hand on his swollen cheek.
Lucy laughed victoriously "The panty distraction works every time!" she declared with a victorious smirk.
A memory came to Natsu's mind, his eye's widened in recognition and he stared at the blonde-haired girl who was getting ready for his next move.
'It can't be… can it?' he thought.
"Lucy…?" he asked in disbelief.
Lucy's eyes widened then turned into a harsh glare when he said her name. How did this guy know it? She took a cautious step back, placing a hand on her whip just in case.
"H-How do you know my name?! Who are you?" she asked nervously.
Natsu's eyes glistened with happiness, so it was her.
"It's me… Natsu" he said as he slowly removed his scarf from his face so that she could see his distinctive pink hair, grinning at her as he did so.
Lucy's eyes widened in shock and her hands dropped to her sides at the sight of his pink hair.
She forgot how to breathe for a moment, and she felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Her heart clenched painfully when he grinned happily at her.
A lone tear escaped and fell down her cheek.
"Natsu…?"
DONE! Hope you all like it. I worked extra hard on this one to make it perfect.
PLEASE LEAVE A LOVELY REVIEW… YES I MEAN YOU!
DON'T IGNORE ME! I KNOW YOUR READING THIS! XP