Chapter Twelve:
Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy had reached beyond the border between Stella and Joya. Only a few more kilometers remained between them and Joya City. Lisanna continued at a quick pace in her white mare form. Natsu was anxious to join in the fight. Surely, by now his teammates had figured out the enemy and he'd have someone to pound into the next century.
Lisanna slowed down and reared back on her hind legs, neighing loudly.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, feeling suddenly nauseated by the abrupt movement.
Happy took off into the air, flapping his wings quickly and glancing around. "There!" He shouted pointing to a section in the ground ahead of them that had fractured barring their path.
"What the?" Natsu clung to Lisanna's neck as she transformed into a flying creature. It wasn't like her sister Mirajane's demoness form, but more of a giant bird. Natsu could see someone stepping out of the earth. The man that emerged had light hair, a muscular build, and prominent canine-like ears on the top of his head. His nose was also dark and funny looking. Natsu sniffed the air. "I think he's a dog," he whispered to Happy who was hovering by his shoulder.
Happy sniffed. "Aye," he agreed.
"Are you Natsu Dragneel?" The canine man called out, cupping his hands over his mouth to make his voice travel farther.
"Who are you?" Natsu yelled back.
"It's only fair that you know the name of the one that will end your life. I am Jackal!" He rubbed his hands together and created a ball of light and threw it in Natsu's direction. "Your magic is of no consequence when compared to my Bomb Curse!"
The ball of light that was thrown in Natsu's direction had a distinct scent of fire. Natsu leapt off Lisanna's back and tackled the bomb to the earth. The explosion had a searing impact and the ground cracked under the intensity of the heat. Natsu swallowed the fireball and was empowered and whatever bruises and injuries he sustained healed. "Tasty," Natsu said licking his lips and facing Jackal.
"You. What did you? You ate my bomb?" Jackal cried, his eyes comically wide.
Natsu cracked his knuckles together in anticipation. "We're late meeting our friends and you're in the way." If this guy wanted to play with fire, then Natsu would give him fire. He took a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He released a massive amount of fire in a concentrated attack towards Jackal.
Jackal staggered back, evading the majority of the fire, but not able to avoid all of it. He growled and threw a series of bombs towards Natsu and Lisanna.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu's feet were gathered in flames and he used the magic to propel him into the air. He knocked the bomb off course and then sucked in the fire bomb before it could hit his friends. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He raced towards Jackal, his whole body on fire and sent the enemy flying.
Jackal crashed to the ground, body severely injured by the impact. "No, a mere human will not defeat me! I am a demon!"
Natsu landed in front of Jackal. "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" His hands blazed and he began to punch on Jackal, each hit grew substantially stronger with fiery explosions hitting Jackal. The explosions damaged Jackal, but increased Natsu's strength. It was time for his finishing move — the same one he used when he defeated Laxus and Gildarts and then later Sting and Rogue. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
Jackal fell to the ground in defeat, his body broken. "You haven't defeated me. All you've succeeded in today was annoying me. Next time, I'll be prepared, Fairy Tail!"
"My name is Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu said with one final hit to Jackal's face. The demon began to shatter and disintegrate. Natsu fell to his knees in exhaustion. "So, I'm pretty sure our friends are in trouble," he said panting.
Lisanna croched beside him, her hands on his shoulders. "We can wait until you're rested."
Happy hovered in the air with a worried expression.
"No way, I'm fired up now!" Natsu grinned and rose to his feet eagerly. "We aren't far now!"
OoO
Jellal paced back and forth inside of their hotel suite in the Joy of Joya. He wanted something to fight. Something he could attack. Someone was responsible for doing this to Erza and the others, but he didn't know who. They would pay.
"Calm down," Erza said quietly. She sat on the couch in the living room. She stared out the window, her expression blank. "I can sense your rage."
"Well I should be enraged! Look at what they did to you!" Jellal shouted. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He hurried to Erza's side and took her wrinkled, frail hands in his. He kneeled before her. "I will fix this. I will fix you, Erza. Believe in me."
She continued to look out the window. "Some things cannot be fixed." She gently extracted her hands from him and folded them across her lap. Her expression was beyond sad. "I won't live long like this."
"Well I'm not losing you again," Jellal promised.
Erza looked at him, her dark eyes bright with anger. "You already have lost me. You lost me when you lied to me."
"I lied to protect you!" Jellal ground out. Since the spell had taken Erza's youth she suffered dementia. Sometimes her memory was crystal clear, other times she had no idea about who she was, and sometimes still she didn't even recognize him.
The front door to their suite opened and Gray, holding Lucy, stepped inside. He set her on her bare feet on the floor after they shut the door. "Erza!" Lucy cried out, upon spying them inside the room. She dropped her shoes and she and Gray ran to Erza and sat on either side, flanking her on the couch. "Loke found us and told us about what happened."
"So it's Minerva Orlando," Gray said looking between Jellal and Erza. "She found a new dark guild and they're stealing the youth from the people here. We need to look for some sort of lacrima vessel. It's where their storing the stolen energy. We break it and it should return to the rightful owners."
"The magic show tonight. The trap. Are you two planning to go?" Erza asked. "I'm sure it will be a helpful clue." She gestured towards herself. "I can longer attend. They only want youth in their audience."
"Erza, we've been friends a long time. I'm not letting you give up," Gray vowed.
Jellal felt a slight tinge of jealousy. Gray was Erza's oldest friend in Fairy Tail. "Erza, you and I will find the lacrima with the stolen youth," Jellal said.
"You two must be careful. Loke and I didn't stand a chance against Minerva and her new ally. They had a power unlike anything I'd ever seen," Erza warned.
"Loke went back to the Spirit World to research this Chaos. He'll be back once he learns who or what she really is. In the mean time, I have a plan," Lucy said with a grin.
"Care to share?" Gray asked.
Lucy pulled out her two golden tickets and then pulled out the other tickets from Gray's front suit pocket. "We have four tickets. So, we'll need to bring a couple of friends." She pulled out her keys and jingled them in the air. "I have several friends." She pulled out one of her golden gate keys. "Open the Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" Lucy shouted.
"We are happy to see you, Lucy," Scorpio said appearing before them and bowing at the waist. He wore his red and white hair slicked back, had on a trench coat, and his scorpion tail took up half the space of the living room.
"Scorpio, we need your help," Lucy said.
Scorpio nodded. "Leo has explained your plight. We have been researching in the library."
"Did you find anything?" Jellal asked, his voice anxious. He hated waiting around. He needed something to focus his rage upon.
"We are close," Scorpio said. "Lucy, what did you need of me?"
"Do you think you could convince Aquarius to help? Gray and I will be attending a magic show tonight and we have two extra tickets. It's a trap so I wanted to bring in two powerful allies so we could face whatever enemies might come our way," Lucy explained. She wrung her hands together nervously. "And can you alter your appearance? You look great, of course! However, we want to go unnoticed."
"We can appear more human-like," Scorpio answered. He rubbed the goatee on his jaw thoughtfully. "If it's a date and it's also serving our master I don't see why Aquarius would complain. She does tend to be nicer when I'm around." Scorpio nodded determinedly and took the pair of golden tickets from her. "Summon her. I will do my best, Lucy."
"Thank you," Lucy said with a relieved smile. She reached down and squeezed Erza's shoulder before she pulled out a second golden key. "Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"
Aquarius materialized, her light blue hair in disarray, her eyes wide in anger. "How dare you interrupt me when I'm—- honey? What are you doing here?" Aquarius turned towards her boyfriend.
"Look, babe. We are needed to help Lucy." Scorpio held up two golden tickets. "She's invited us to join her and Gray on a double date to an entertainment show this evening."
Aquarius stared between the tickets and Lucy. "Is this true?"
"I'm pretty sure it's a trap, but yes," Lucy said.
Aquarius snatched up the tickets from Scorpio and examined them. "Explore the Wonders of Chaos," she read aloud. "Okay, fine," she agreed. She waved her hand and she and Scorpio both changed appearances. He now wore a dark suit with a golden tie that complemented his bronze-colored skin. Aquarius' long pale blue hair was tied up in an elaborate twist and she wore a shimmering blue-green gown. They both looked like normal, fancy dressed humans. "I expect dinner too," Aquarius said glaring at Lucy. "No seafood."
"Of course," Lucy said glancing towards Gray. He shrugged, but didn't say anything.
"Will there be a large source of water for me to utilize at this show?" Aquarius asked waving about her tickets.
"There's a giant fountain in the middle of the casino," Gray assured her.
"How close was Loke to finding anything?" Jellal asked, addressing Scorpio.
The celestial spirit frowned. "We are at a loss about the stolen youth. Leo had promised to return as soon as he learned something definitive. There are references to Chaos in the record books, but the attack Leo described does not make sense."
"You're not wearing that are you?" Aquarius demanded looking between Gray and Lucy. She shoved Gray toward Scorpio. "Make him suitable." She then took hold of Lucy's arm and pulled her toward the bedroom portion of the suites. "I'll see what I can do about this one. I can't be seen on a double date if you two are subpar."
Jellal watched the exchange with a feeling of awe. Lucy's celestial spirits were indeed interesting. Not long after Lucy, Gray, and her two celestial spirits left, properly dressed to impress, Loke materialized.
"Phew, it's convenient that I don't have to hide when I manifest in your world," Loke said with a grin. He sat next to Erza on the couch. "Chaos is a goddess. What is more chaotic than stealing away the life of people? Her necklace was a big clue. There must be a lacrima and for something as powerful to contain so much life energy as all the missing people it would need to be somewhere that could channel a great deal of energy."
"The skyscraper," Erza said.
"It would explain why the attacks are focused at this location. It would also explain why there had been so much rain lately," Loke said.
"The power from the lightning," Jellal reasoned. "It's an ideal source of raw energy and power if one had the tools to harness it." He started for the door. "I'll put an end to this now."
"Not by yourself," Loke said. "I don't know what use I'll be. I'm still fairly weakened, but you're not going by yourself."
"She can't take anything more from me," Erza said pushing off the couch. "My body may be aged, but my power remains intact."
Jellal wanted to argue, but he knew that Erza was right. Maybe together they could defeat this Chaos. "Let's go. The Joy of Joya is the tallest building in the city. That could explain why the missing people were so concentrated in this area. We should look on the upper floors here first." Could it be that the source of the dark magic and the stolen youth was right inside the building that they'd been sleeping in this whole time? "We'll take the stairs. There's no need to announce our presence."
He gathered a few of the staffs that Mystogan favored and handed one to Loke. "This will help while your own levels are weakened." Of the two remaining one helped to mask the presence of the wielder and those in his immediate proximity. The third one had powers that even he hadn't figured out completely. The three Fairy Tail mages made their way to the stairwell. The doorway was sealed. Jellal focused on the door, closed his fist except for two fingers. "Heavenly Blast!" He sent a sphere of Heavenly Body Magic toward the door and it exploded.
"Hey!" A giant grizzly bear composed of ice had formed blocking the door's projectile pieces and the residual blast from the attack. Gray's old rival, Lyon, appeared scratching his white hair and frowning. Juvia stood next to him. She melted the creature of ice and turned it into water. "What happened to you?" Lyon asked looking past Jellal toward Erza.
"What are you two doing here?" Jellal demanded, standing so that he blocked Erza from their probing gazes.
"We've been investigating the mysterious rain fall and traced it back to this city, specifically this high-rise," Juvia explained. "A great amount of energy has been focused here."
"There's a goddess by the name of Chaos up there. She's been stealing youth into a giant lacrima," Loke explained.
"I see," Juvia said casting a sympathetic look towards Erza. "Let us unite and defeat this great evil," she said with a determined look glittering in her eyes.
"Let's not quite announce ourselves," Jellal said involving the power of one of his staffs and causing the group to become invisible to any outsiders. "We have quite a few dozen floors to climb."
OoO
Lucy couldn't help, but feel nervous. This was it. This was the fight that they were hired for in Joya City. And she only could hope that Aquarius' good humor would last. Her water spirit had her arm hooked through the bend of her boyfriend Scorpio's elbow and her head leaning against his shoulder in a semblance of sweet affection.
Aquarius lingered by the fountain inside Pleasure Palace, running the tips of her fingers across the water's glassy surface. She gave Lucy an approving look. It would suffice.
Lucy's whip was hidden inside a secret compartment in the purse she carried. Gray made his own weapons from the moisture in the air. He'd be able to utilize the water that Aquarius brought into play. Scorpio would serve as muscle and create barriers of sand to keep the dark guild's attacks at a minimum.
"Are you ready?" Gray asked quietly, his mouth at Lucy's ear.
She nodded. They were half of Fairy Tail's strongest team – the better looking half in her unbiased opinion. "Let's do this!"
The four walked past the crowded tables inside of the Pleasure Palace and made their way to the auditorium in the southern most side of the casino. There was a small line formed just outside of the entrance. Lucy recognized the other young couple from the improve comedy show. There was a man who appeared slightly younger than middle age taking tickets at the front door. He looked vaguely familiar to Lucy, but she couldn't quite place him.
He smiled broadly when he took their tickets from Gray. "I'm so glad you were able to join us tonight," the ticket collector's oily voice soothed. Lucy could feel goosebumps prickling the flesh of her arms and Gray held her tight to his side – that may have been the cause of her goosebumps. Gray's body temperature tended to drop when he grew nervous or anxious.
"We wouldn't miss it," Gray assured him, his voice deep and confident. They settled into seats near the front of the auditorium. Aquarius chose the aisle seat, claiming it would give her better access to her necessary supplies. No one wanted to argue with her. "Did you recognize the ticket collector?" Gray whispered.
"He seemed familiar, but I couldn't place him," Lucy confessed.
"Former Guild Master of Sabertooth, Jiemma," Gray said.
"No way, that guy was old," Lucy protested. Gray nodded his head at her and she realized that he was right. After seeing Erza's youth taken, why was she surprised that a dark mage would have taken possession of stolen youth? "He must be at least thirty years younger," Lucy whispered.
Gray shifted in his seat, a fine layer of ice formed over his fist. Lucy touched his forearm and his muscles relaxed and the ice fell to the floor.
Scorpio leaned over towards them, he was sitting on Lucy's left and Gray to her right. "We can smell the dark magic," he said quietly. Scorpio had assured them earlier that he wouldn't have any problems using his sand attacks. Joya City was in a desert land with sand in abundance. He had all the materials he could possibly need.
The lights in the auditorium dimmed and a set of spotlights focused on center stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening!" Young Jiemma announced from the stage serving as the Master of Ceremony. He wore a black top hat and a tuxedo that barely contained his bulky muscles, his long hair dark instead of white and cascading down his back. He twirled a cane in a flamboyant display. "Let us explore the wonders of Chaos together!" The audience burst into polite applauses as the lights dimmed and Jiemma stepped back behind the red curtain.
The magician appeared on stage amongst a cloud of crimson smoke. Stepping out of the smoky background was the man with the facial scar that had given them their golden tickets. Instead of a red suit, that night he wore a charcoal gray suit with a red glitter vest and bow tie. He bowed deep before the audience with an elaborate sweep of his hand. "Prepare to be amazed my young friends. I shall dazzle and blow your minds!" He smiled, stretching the facial scar grotesquely. "Please welcome my assistant, the Dazzling Demoness Debutant!"
Lucy could feel an ominous sensation weighing on her as the dancer with the horns appeared on stage. And as previously, the woman seemed to lock eyes with Lucy and gave her the stink eye once again before hiding behind a sickly sweet smile. Her long hair appeared to be indigo under the stage's lights and an unusual crescent-like tattoo marred her forehead.
"Oh, you Silver tongued flirt," the debutant said with her saccharine smile. "You just love your alliteration." She raised her hand over her eyes as if to help her see into the distance. "I need a volunteer." Several young men in the audience raised their hands eagerly. The woman's amber eyes focused on Gray. "You, young man. Will you join me on stage?"
Gray turned to Lucy.
"There's no need for permission from your girlfriend," the magician's assistant teased. The audience laughed in amusement at his expense.
"Be careful," Lucy warned. Gray made his way to the stage.
"As you can guess, my name is not the Dazzling Demoness Debutant," the magician assistant said. "You may call me Sayla the Persuasive!"
"You can persuade me anytime, baby!" A rowdy audience member catcalled. His exclamation was followed by multiple whistles and whoops and hollers.
"And what do you I call you, handsome?" Sayla asked, offering her hand to Gray.
Gray ignored her offered hand and stuck his hands into his front pockets casually. "My name is Gray," he said.
"Oh, don't trust yourself to behave around me? Have to keep your hands in your pockets so you don't get in trouble with your girlfriend?" Sayla purred, running her fingers over Gray's shoulder.
"What have you volunteered me for?" Gray asked, unmoved by her flirtations.
"How about your life?" The magician asked, appearing by the back door of the auditorium. He locked the doors and a suspicious gas began to seep towards the the audience from the stage.
"No thank you," Gray said, sending a wave of ice towards the gas and temporarily blocking it from reaching both him and the audience. The audience began to scream and panic.
"Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy cried out, summoning Taurus from the celestial realm. "Hurry, Taurus! Open those doors!"
"Suuuure thing, Luuuuucy!" Taurus cried, axe at the ready and leaping over the crowd for the doors.
Scorpio faced off with the magician and sent a wave of powerful sand towards him, knocking him away from the door. Taurus was able to break open the door and the crowd rushed out save for the Fairy Tail mages and their celestial allies.
"I dressed up for this and didn't witness a single illusion trick!" Aquarius roared.
"You should direct your anger towards the one with the keys," Sayla said, her voice calm and steady.
Aquarius scoffed. "You think your persuasion works on a celestial spirit!" She collected a mass amount of water from the nearby fountain and sent a great wave towards the demoness and knocked her away from Gray, who then created a thicker ice barrier with the element.
"Ice make wall!" Gray shouted, slamming his palms onto the floor. A thick wall of ice formed between him and Sayla and the mysterious gas. "Ice make slide!" He created a slide that carried him towards Lucy.
Lucy had her keys tucked away, having summoned the spirits that she needed. She pulled out her whip and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gray as Taurus and Scorpio focused on the magician. She and Gray faced off against the horned woman.
"Where's the Master of Ceremony? He promised we'd be able to explore the wonders of Chaos!" Aquarius sent another wave of water in the direction that Jiemma had taken off.
"So, what was our plan exactly?" Lucy whispered to Gray.
"Save the audience, stall the dark mages, and try not to have our youth stolen," Gray said. He sent another wave of ice toward both Sayla and Jiemma and the two dark mages were frozen into place.
Scorpio sent a wave of sand in the direction of the magician. "You have no idea who you are challenging!" The magician froze every single grain of sand that can hurtling towards him. He waved his hand in the direction of his two frozen teammates and the both fell to the ground with their icy prisons having melted.
"Silver! What are you doing?" Jiemma demanded. "Kill them!"
"Luuuucy!" Taurus cried out. "Be carefuuuul!"
"We will stall!" Scorpio hissed. He directed a sand attack towards Jiemma and Sayla.
"You ruined my date!" Aquarius shouted as she sent another wave of water in the direction of Silver, effectively trading targets with her boyfriend.
"Okay, so he's an ice mage too. That complicates things," Gray said with a grimace. "It will come down to whoever is more creative. Ice Make Cannon!" He shot a massive ice cannon ball in the direction of their foes.
"Or we could make our escape," Lucy said. She pulled out another golden key. Her strength was waning with having so many celestial spirits summoned, but she needed to protect Gray. "Open Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
Virgo appeared before them, wearing her maid uniform and bowed at the waist. "Princess. Prince," she addressed them.
"Prince?" Gray asked with an arched brow. He shifted the weight of his ice cannon and sent another round toward the scarred magician. Taurus and Scorpio ducked out of the way of the attack.
"Yes, word travels fast," Virgo said with a smile. "How may I serve you, princess?" Virgo asked, turning towards Lucy with her hands clasped in front of her waist innocently.
"I need a tunnel. We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Lucy said.
"Of course," Virgo said. She created a tunnel effortlessly at Lucy and Gray's feet. "Would you like a change of clothing as well?"
Lucy smiled appreciatively at Virgo. "No, thank you. Okay, Gray, let's go. I'll return my spirits after we get out of here," Lucy said. She didn't like running away, but their aim was to protect the audience and they accomplished that task. They didn't need to stick around. Finding the lacrima was the next thing on their agenda.
"I don't like this," Gray grumbled. He shot his ice cannon once more and then grabbed Lucy around the waist and leapt inside of the tunnel while holding her body pressed close against him.
Virgo collapsed the tunnel behind them and guided them outside of the casino. "Don't worry about us Lucy. We'll keep those dark mages here as long as possible. Leo did find out information about Chaos. She is a goddess. He suspected that she was storing the lacrima in a high building that was powered by the electricity from the frequent storms of late."
"The Joy of Joya is the tallest skyscraper," Gray said. "We should go there first. If Loke found Erza and Jellal then that's where they would have gone."
"Okay, let's do this," Lucy said determinedly.
Gray met her gaze with a determined look of his own. He ripped off his tie and shucked off his suit coat. "Do you trust me?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I trust you!" Lucy said.
"Good," Gray grabbed her waist again and tossed Lucy over his shoulder. He clapped his hands together. "Ice Make Bridge!" He held one of his hands pressed against her mid-back balancing her and then they began to fly through the sky on an ice bridge that continued to form as he ran over it. The bridge reached high above the casinos on a direct course for the roof of the Joy of Joya.
It took all of Lucy's substantial willpower not to scream her head off during the journey. She trusted Gray, but she also trusted gravity!
4/12/14
A/N: Before someone decides to flame me for being inept in my Fairy Tail folklore, I am aware that Aquarius and Scorpio have never appeared in a form that passes for human (scorpion and mermaid tails are decidedly non-human), but I don't see why they wouldn't be capable of doing so considering their magical prowess. It's a fanfiction, key term fiction. I used my imagination to create scenarios that didn't happen in the cannon storyline. That's what fanfiction is all about. Thank you for taking time to review - even if it's just to nitpick about something. I'm glad to have reached the 100 review mark! There are just three chapters left!