The Regal Key

===Chapter 8===

Water Sumo

"Please stop fussing, Lu-chan," Levy implored, now utterly exhausted by everyone treating her like some kind of porcelain figurine. They had travelled back out of the desert and were now in a hotel room, having to share again. Gajeel had refused to let Levy walk, and she had been ridiculously over-bandaged. "It's just a few bumps and scrapes. I was winning until that other guy showed up!"

"Kurohebi," Gajeel spat. "What was that asshole doing around here? Wasn't he supposed to be in prison?"

"The Oricion Seis managed a jailbreak. He could have done so too," Lily suggested reasonably. "I don't believe that though."

"Raven Tail is in on this!" Natsu shouted. "I told you all, but we held back! We should smash their guildhall in right now!"

"But we're so close to getting all of the shards," Levy objected. "And Lu-chan and I beat off most of their members! We should keep going and just send word back to Master. They clearly want the shards for themselves, so we should get them before they do!"

"Shorty's right," Gajeel agreed. "If we get them all, then Lucy can fight off the entire guild by herself!"

"Let's not get carried away," Lucy mumbled. "But I want to get the remaining shards. Aquarius will be angry if I don't get hers. Do you have the location of the next set, Levy-chan?"

"I think so. We can set off first thing in the morning."

"Is it three again?" Happy asked. "That means that there'll be one by itself."

"I thought the thirteenth might have been Ophiuchus, but he was in the order of the zodiac. So I suppose it must be Capricorn who comes last," Levy mused. She yawned suddenly, the exhaustion of the day closing down on her. Damn it, but she wanted to cuddle with her man. Why were these two here as well?

===][===

"Greetings, Eru-chan," Ivan greeted warmly as the Earth Dragon entered his quarters. The Corvus was currently at rest, allowing the slayer to move normally. The room was more like an alchemical lab than a dwelling. He wondered how much Ivan dabbled in all kinds of black magic.

"Why did you summon me?" Erutan asked harshly, cutting through the preamble.

"I just wanted to talk. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Fuck you. The answer to the long winded discussion that we would have had is that I have no loyalty to you and would stab you in the back in a heartbeat. But I'm not so stupid as to cross you. I will serve you for now and crush the Fairies."

Ivan chuckled. "Such straightforwardness. It takes all the fun out of the game."

"But it is acceptable to you," Erutan stated.

"It is."

"Then I'm going back to my chambers. I need to recuperate." He turned on his heel and marched back towards the door.

"Sleep well, Eru-chan," Ivan crooned with a crooked leer.

===][===

"Where the fuck are we!?" Gajeel shouted.

"Stop complaining!" Natsu screamed, slamming his forehead into Gajeel's. "Every single time! We are in the countryside, Gajeel! It goes on and on and there's just trees and grass. It's boring, but get used to it!"

"I think it's pleasant," Levy corrected.

"Yeah, with the sun and wind it's a really nice day to be outside," Lucy agreed. The wind whistled through the trees, boughs bending under the gentle zephyr. "Is it much farther?"

"There should be a lake up ahead. I think the shards should be there," Levy clarified, peering at the map she'd been annotating. "I guess that water makes sense if both Aquarius and Pisces will be there."

"Pisces is weak to water," Happy noted, playing imaginary hopscotch as he went. "Even though it's a fish."

"My spirits are all odd," Lucy noted with a sense of exasperation. "The lothario, the cosplay-freak, the pervert, the woman-hater…sigh."

They eventually came across the clearing with a massive lake in it. With the trees framing the scene and mountains in the backdrop, it was a nice little idyll. Lucy summoned up the three shards from the lake bottom and they flew to rest on the other side of the lake, on the distant shore.

"Ah? Has the blonde bimbo finally come to claim my power?" Aquarius scowled. "I'd like to see you try."

"Moshimoshi!" Sagittarius said with a sharp salute.

"Hey mum, there's so much water here," the younger Pisces said disgustedly.

"Don't touch it dear," she advised.

"I don't understand these fish," Happy sighed.

"What do we have to do to earn your shards?" Lucy asked.

"We?" Aquarius growled. "Maybe the others wanted to test your team, but I want to test you. I will be your opponent." The mermaid swam into the centre of the lake. Lucy shivered, taking off her shoes and wading in. Going into water against a powerful woman brought back unpleasant memories.

"You can do it, Lu-chan!" Levy called supportively.

"This will be a simple sumo style competiton. The first one to get pushed back to their shoreline loses," Aquarius said shortly. Lucy frowned. She had to beat Aquarius in the water – normally, she'd use Aquarius for that! This was stupid! Ridiculously one-sided! What one earth could she do?

"I'll end this in a second!" Aquarius created a cyclone of water, engulfing the spirit mage. The mermaid grinned as the Fairy Tail mages cried out. It was obvious after all! No one could beat her in the water, let alone some big-boobed airhead. Wait…why was her cyclone getting pushed back? There was water pressure rushing out from Lucy. In a crash, the two water spells cancelled out, revealing a second Aquarius.

"Gemini!?" She shouted.

"Don't be angry, Aquarius-san! But we'll cancel you out!"

"You think I'm that easy!? I'll crush you both!"

"Hmm…I'm not sure if Scorpio would help or hurt," Lucy mumbled, sorting through her keys. But with Gemini in play, she had the advantage. She just needed a second spirit to break the tie. Who would be best to rely on? To push her back…Taurus? No, the personality clash was dreadful to think of. Aries was a defensive spirit. "Open Greater Gate of the Scale Bearer: Libra! Make the target's gravity go backwards!"

"Roger!" Libra shouted, instantly casting. Despite the pressure, Aquarius clung on, swimming against the powerful gravity. She cast a cyclone, matching Gemini's mirrored spell.

"You really are amazing!" Lucy thrilled. "So strong that you can match yourself and more! But I have to surpass myself too. I need to go beyond two gates at once. Open Greater Gate of Ophiuchus! Push her back!" The black serpent surged forward through Gemini's cyclone and smashing into Aquarius with such force that she was propelled clean out of the lake, landing between Sagittarius and Pisces.

"Moshimoshi, I think this is goodbye! Well done, you might say!"

"But we didn't do anything!" The boy pisces whined.

"No, we watched our new owner's power. We should be proud," his mother corrected, causing him to smile back up at her.

"Tch. I'll acknowledge you this one time. But you better not get full of yourself!" Aquarius barked. The trio of spirits vanished in a flash of golden light and Lucy collected their shards.

"She's so strong now," Levy said with a faint blush.

"Not bad at all, Salamander!" Gajeel grinned.

"That's our Lucy!" Happy sang.

"She's really the best," Natsu agreed. Suddenly, he looked devilish. "See that, Metalhead!? You always go on about how Lily is stronger than Happy, but my girl's stronger than yours!"

"What was that, Salamander? Shorty's much smarter that Lucy and Lily can kick Happy's ass any day of the week!"

"Alright, how about we have Lucy and Lily fight, and then Happy and Levy?"

"That makes sense." The two slayers realised that they were alone, the others having left their pointless argument to go and examine the new shards. Lucy had put together almost the entire key now. It just missed one part left in the handle.

"It's so close now," Lucy said like a child waiting for Christmas morning. She'd only begun to realise just how much this meant to her, how much she wanted this. She couldn't wait!

There was a tremendous sound, like a thunderclap, a huge shadow being cast over the group. They looked up as clear sky vanished, a huge ship becoming visible. It was shaped like a manta ray, with a sleek swept back profile, and the Raven Tail mark was clearly emblazoned on the side. It hovered over the lake like some great hawk…no, a Raven.

"W-what is that!?" Levy cried.

"It's like the one that Grimoire Heart had!" Natsu shouted. A hatch appeared in the bottom of the vessel, and four men leapt to the ground, just shy of the water's edge. Alexander, the Edolas Igneel. Erutan, the Earth Dragon. Kurohebi and Narpuding, Ivan's vassals.

"You were in league the whole time!" Gajeel shouted. "You bastards! I'm gonna beat you're skulls in!"

"Calm down, Iron dragon," Alexander replied calmly. "You have nothing to do with us. Master, please use the transporter."

In a flash of green light, Gajeel and Levy suddenly disappeared. Lucy cried out in horror. "Levy-chan!"

"What have you done to Gajeel!?" Lily roared, adopting his battle form.

"He's fine. He's now aboard the Corvus," Narpuding smirked. "I forget; do slayers like transportation?"

"Not when it has our master aboard!" Kurohebi replied with a raspy laugh. He stopped as Natsu blazed with fire, irate beyond rage. Alexander lost none of his composure, though.

"If I recall, your girl there has expended a lot of magic recently. The cat has a strict time limit. Do you really think that you can best the four of us at once?" Alexander laughed, enjoying the situation. "But let me tell you something good. It took a lot of research, but if you remember, I am a master of knowledge when it comes to celestial spirits. We found the thirteenth piece."

"What!?" Lucy cried.

"It's aboard our ship now. Just hand over the other twelve pieces nice and quiet, and we'll limit your suffering as we kill you."

"These shards are the heart and soul of my spirits. I would never give them over to someone like you!" Lucy shouted back. Alexander laughed again and began to blaze with fire.

"Good. I wanted to do this the hard way."

===][===

Gajeel gagged and slumped over. He could feel the motion through the decking. He couldn't summon any of his power. He could feel Levy desperately pulling at him, trying to get him to move. But he couldn't. Such a simple trap, to put him in a place that was moving.

"Please get up, Gajeel!" Levy begged. "T-they're…"

"Going to kill you?" Ivan guessed, ending her sentence for her. Lyria stood just behind him, her expression just as gloating as his. "Yes, I think we might."