Chapter 21 : Reaping
" It's no use!" Ultear shouted to Tenebre, looking panicked," I can't stop it with my magic!"
Tenebre cursed, about to shout something back to Ultear when Madonna swooped in and stabbed at her, Tenebre flicked her knifes upwards, narrowly parrying the attack and immediately going in for a counter, Madonna expertly blocking and parrying every single one of her advances.
" Ah ah~ Now where do you think you are looking?" Madonna purred teasingly as she flicked away Tenebre's every attack, " Never take your eyes off the enemy, have you already forgotten what i've taught you dearie?"
" And here i was thinking you were dead, Madonna,", Tenebre scowled at the pet name, " or did only your insides die from the rejection?"
Tenebre knew exactly which buttons to push, for Madonna's calm facade came off in an instant, her beautiful face contorting into a hideous scowl, marring the natural beauty that came naturally to all immortals,
" You insolent brat!" She snarled, her attacks increasing in ferocity, but her movements were wild and blinded with rage, thus easily predictable and parried, " How dare you speak to me like that?!"
Tenebre smirked, " Well, as your ex-disciple, i believe that gives me certain privileges don't you think?"
" Ha! I know what you're doing, you're playing mind games now eh? Well, two can play that game, Silver Eyed Reaper!"
And she lunged at her.
"Tell me, how does it feel it have your loved one ripped away from you in front of your very eyes, Dragonslayer?" Pheles blocked a well aimed kick to the gut with a barrier, attempting to look casual whilst exchanging blows with an enraged Fire Dragonslayer.
" Cut the crap and stop the damn ritual!" Natsu replied with a 'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist' to his face, which Pheles avoided, only avoiding and deflecting attacks, already looking rather withered out and tired after a measly few minutes of combat, which Natsu noticed immediately.
" What, you tired already?" Natsu challenged, " But i'm only getting warmed up!"
" Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow and Iron Fist!" A stream of fire erupted from his elbow and propelled his fist forward so quickly that Pheles didn't have time to react, flying into the opposite wall, he crashed into it with such force a crater was made.
Not missing a beat, Natsu's cheeks expanded, a fiery magic circle appearing in front of his mouth, " Fire Dragon's ROAR!", and released a torrent flame at him, Pheles barely managing to set up a protective barrier around him.
His vision blocked by the scorching flames being casted aside by his cracking barrier, he didn't see Natsu charging through it till the last second, flames encircling is body wildly.
" Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Hitting Pheles head on, literally, with a powerful fiery headbutt.
Pheles eyes bulged out, screaming in pain as he was driven further into the wall, blood spluttering in excess from his many burns and lacerations.
Natsu leapt back, breathing in deeply as he assessed the damaged he caused, the sense of twisted pride he felt at almost killing the man before him left a sour taste in his mouth.
Pheles slumped down onto the floor in defeat, his magic completely depleted, glaring weakly at the man who was in his way.
" Now now, don't you think it's a little rude to be pointing your weapons at your host?" Larga smirked, putting both hands up in mock surrender as he glanced at the poisonous claws on the right of his neck, a metal red staff pulsing with magic on his left, a fist with an image of a coiled up dragon in front of Larga's face.
Cheval snorted through her nose in a very horse- like manner, grabbing the bonded Adonis with one hand, " Let's see how cocky you are when the last thing you see is your headless neck.", her other hand twitching as she struggled to hold back her rage.
The two spirits pressed down their weapons down the skin of his neck, hard enough to draw blood, but not enough to kill, as the dragon rumbled and coiled on the surface of Anguis's fist.
" Change her back, Larga." Gallus's peacock green eyes narrowed threateningly, an underlying threat behind his voice." Or do you want history to repeat itself once more?"
Larga looked up in thought, his mood taking a hundred eighty turn, " Hmm hmm, if memory serves, your dear master would still be the same if history did repeat itself hmm, little celestial spirits?"
" After after all, you guys were too late to save her."
Cheval snapped, if not for Anguis's fast reflexes, she'd have dismembered his body into 88 different pieces and Adonis would have landed face flat onto the floor already, he grabbed hold of her, Cheval's entire body tensed up, as if she was about to bolt, her nose flaring angrily.
" And and why would i want to change her back, she's absolutely wonderful this way!"
" Especially especially since she does everything i ask of her, " Larga's eyes darkened nastily, specially emphasizing once again, " everything."
The four ex-spirits of Adonis saw red as they understood his implied meaning, almost lunging at him when a voice of reason cut them off,
" Stop!"
Surprisingly, it was Serpe that spoke out, but even though his face was calm, his yellow-green eyes were a burning with a dark emotion bordering on murderous.
" Oh Oh ho, what's this? The The one who almost obliterated his ex-master's town is the one stopping his own comrades from destroying the very enemy that took their ex-master away in the first place?" Larga gasped sardonically, " What what a pleasant surprise!"
" Shut the fuck up Dollmaster, i've half a mind to kill you right now and let Old Man Nezhirt rehabilitate Adonis-sama." Serpe said coldly, looking down at the slightly shorter man, " So change her back while you've still got the chance you fucking bastard."
" What what about... no?" The puppeteer grinned widely, his body then wavered like a mirage, Serpe and Gallus freeing his neck as if touching hot iron as the puppet fell onto the ground.
" What's what's a puppeteer without his puppets? "
Their head whipped back, backing up immediately when they realized the real Larga was behind them, with backup.
" Feel feel honored, you're the first ones to meet the newest additions to my little family."
Larga circled them, twisting a luminescent green thread round his fingers, " Found found them wandering around my castle, outside my room in fact, and one of them was already mine to begin with. It'll it'll be an interesting addition to my experiments!"
Wendy, Stilla and their two exceeds, Diablo, Lisanna, Elfman and Evergreen stood there stoically looking back at them, but despite that, Serpe simply smirked.
" You must seriously be underestimating the tenacity of these mages Dollmaster." Serpe looked smug when Larga swiveled his head to look at him, his attention diverted for a few precious seconds.
" Cause we're Fairy Tail MANNNNN!" A huge fist socked Larga in his face, which was quickly followed by several blasts of concentrated fairy dust and a flurry of claws,
" We don't go down that easily, vermin." Evergreen looked down almost regally at the battered puppeteer, Lisanna nodding furiously in agreement as green runes faded out from the surface their skin.
When the three backed off, Wendy marched forward and let loose an attack of her own, catching them all by surprise, " Sky Dragon's Roar!"
The fury emitted by her petite body sent shivers down their spines, " That's for tempering with perfectly healthy human bodies!"
Following Wendy's example, Stilla's hands glowed deep blue and narrowed her blueish-green eyes at the still conscious puppeteer, " Water Dragon's Fury!"
Larga's body immediately started to convulse as steam rose from his skin, Stilla making the water inside his body heat up rapidly to create little pockets of water vapor then making them all explode at the same time.
" And that's for Dia-nii!" She huffed, the rest of the group gaping at how she had such a terrifying attack in her arsenal.
Their attention then swerved to look at the fallen puppeteer when he started to laugh out loud with an oddly ecstatic look on his face,
" Impressive Impressive! It's it's been too long since i've felt this... this rush!" He cried out ecstatically, his body slinging up like a slinky, bending in all sorts of directions, " I've i've haven't had this much fun since that time with the Gatekeeper!"
With a snap of his fingers, the doors to his lab broke down and a horde of puppets poured forth from each entrance,
" Attack them!"
Even before the puppets could act, two others took up the cue and blasted the puppets waiting on the third door into bits, Bixlow and Freed skidding in with a dramatic flair.
" Bixlow-sama has arrived!" He grinned with his tongue out, showing off his black Fairy Tail tattoo proudly.
" Bixlow-sama!" " Arrived!" " Arrived!" His dolls echoed gleefully.
Freed fought off the remaining three around them, slashing with his rapier with a flourish as they crumbled into dust from his runes.
" Che, showoffs." Evergreen pushed up her glasses and scoffed behind her fan, hiding her lips that twitched up in a smile, thanking Mavis internally for keeping her teammates safe.
Bixlow noticed Larga at the side, and his strings connected to the many puppets around his, his grin widening even more,
" Hell yeah! A puppeteer!" And jumped at him, driving Larga into the connected bedroom and proceeded to blast at him with his dolls, Larga's puppets swarming mindlessly like bees to their queen into the room.
Freed rushed after him, Evergreen rolled her eyes, " Oh that overgrown child." , and ran after her teammates, dragging Elfman with her. Wendy, Charla, Stilla, Purtri and Lisanna joining them in the fray not long after.
" Cheval, keep holding onto Adonis-sama." Serpe ordered, the Horse spirit nodded curtly, not about to let her previous master go after just getting her back. " Let's try finding something in here while Larga's occupied."
" Marie, you've got anything?"
" Just a few snippets here and there, Nezhirt here with me as well, can you have Lapin check up on Adonis? Maybe Nezhirt can think of something from her diagnosis while i continue searching his systems?"
He grunted in reply, " Lapin, come to my aid!"
Popping up in all her fluffy pink glory, her pale pink ears twitching, chirping happily, " Did som-"
" Nobody died, Lapin," Serpe cut deadpanned,
" Aww, that's just too bad." She shook her head in disappointment, " So why have i been summoned?"
" Can you do a check up on Adonis-sama and report your findings to Marie?"
" Adonis?" Lapin echoed, peering over Serpe's shoulder, " Isn't that-"
" My ex-master, yes." Serpe cut in once again,
" Will you ever let me finish my sentences?" Lapin asked, pouting a little,
Serpe shrugged, " Well, if you stop being such a pessimistic ass then maybe yeah."
" You're practically asking for the impossible." She said as a last note, before turning her attention to the bounded woman.
" Let's see let's see..." She tilted her face left and right, spinning Adonis's body here and there, " Hmm, it's true what Tenebre said about her being modified and stuff, but all you have to do is to 'un-modify' her, right Nezhirt?"
Nezhirt answered through the link, stuttering uncontrollably, " R-R-Right, L-La-LaLa La-Lap-L-L-La..."
" What are you trying to do, sing a song?" Lapin said blandly, feeling him flinch from wherever he's at, " You can't even say my name properly."
" So, what do i do?"
" I-Is B-Bi-B-B-Bix-Bixlow-s-san th-t-there?"
Lapin glanced behind her, " He's busy dying with Larga."
" D-D-Dying?!" the man squeaked.
" That's her way of saying he's occupied." Serpe slapped his forehead in exasperation.
" A-Ah... B-But th-there must at l-le-least b-b-be a S-Seith M-Ma-Mage p-pr-p-present to f-fix her."
At that moment, Lapin stood up, and patted invisible dust from her short pink nurse skirt, " As long as he's here she'll be able to live right?", saying something optimistic for once.
" Y-Yeah, i'll g-g-guide him a-al-along, i ta-tau-taught B-Bixlow-s-san the ba-basics already."
" That's all i need to know." Lapin turned back, her face calm, " Although it goes against my beliefs to hurt a perfectly normal human being, just this time, i'll do it."
She glanced back, " I'll be adding this to your tab, Serpe."
Walking rather sassily into the fray, her white long side ponytail swishing from side to side, the puppets falling before her with a simple tap of her hand.
" Whoa! It's been forever since i've met another puppet magic user!" Bixlow whooped.
" Hai hai, coming through." Lapin said, brushing past him, " Now, where is this Larga?"
The said person came up behind her, grabbing her boob and her butt, breathing down lecherously at her ear, " I'm i'm right here sweetheart~"
" Oh~" She hummed, not bothered that she was being felt up, " You're the guy experimenting on humans? Controlling them against their own will?"
" That's that's me alright, looking for a new master, cutie?" His grin widened as she turned around, her arms snaking around his neck, locking him in an almost-lovers embrace,
" I'm sorry, i'm not looking for a new master," She almost purred, " say, can i ask you for a favor?"
Her eyes gleamed, " Please die."
Her hands prodded at his neck, then as fast as lightning, prodded at other points of his body in lightning fast speed, Larga flopping ungracefully onto the ground, eyes wide in surprise as his eyebrows twitched, suddenly finding his body paralyzed.
She slapped her hands together, " There, done."
" How-?" Lisanna gaped, mouth wide open. " Is he dead...?"
" She attacked his pressure points, he'll probably stay that way for a day or so." Wendy observed, eyes sparkling in awe, " I've never seen medical theory used this way before, amazing!"
" Oh, i'm surprised you know that little one, and here i was thinking all brats your age are loud, obnoxious and pampered little worms." Each word she said sent an arrow through little Stilla's heart, strutting back to Serpe.
" I'm a worm...?" She whimpered softly with tears gathering in her eyes,
" You there, visor wearing dude, you're needed outside, your mentor's calling you."
" The rest of you..." She pondered, then shrugged, " go whither and die."
" That bitc-!" Evergeen almost pounced at her, but Elfman held her back,
" Cussing is not MANLY!"
" For the last time, I'M A WOMAN!"
" So what are we going to do now?" Evergreen huffed.
Lisanna looked around, gesturing at the remaining flickering lacrima screens and equipment scattered around," I guess we shut down his systems? There might be something that's remotely controlling the process of Lucy's ritual? Just thinking."
" But we know nothing about archive magic." Wendy pointed out hesitantly.
" Let's do it the Fairy Tail way then!" Elfman roared, his arm swung back and smashed straight into a console and destroying it.
Lisanna and the rest just shrugged, " Well, that's better than doing nothing i guess."
Bursts of wind, water, yellow dust, feathers and different kinds of debris flew in all sorts of directions as the group wrecked havoc in Larga's control room.
Tenebre's body glowed pale luminescent silver like moonlight in the dark sky as she unsealed her wings, her hair whisping up ethereally within an invisible whirlwind as her wings unfurled with a flourish, glimmering like polar opposites, one as white as snow flecked with silver, the other black as night flecked with gold, the flecks of precious metal sparkling like blood stained jewels under the bloody moonlight.
Madonna's tainted wings ripped through her cloak, whipping up a greyish tornado around her, her dull silver eyes glowing through her shadowed bangs as she floated up, the light of the Blood Moon making her dark aura look and feel even more menacing, casting ominous dancing shadows all around her, like a thousand dark wraiths emerging from the gates of hell.
Their battle took up into the skies, their intent to kill the other could be felt even by Natsu, Ultear and Pheles who were at least a thousand feet below.
Their attacks flashed like fireworks on the fourth of July, the specks of stray magic attacks being tossed around flung straight at the looming towers around them, making them crash down one by one.
That one moment, Pheles's eyeballs flickered upward to glace a the duo, Natsu ducked diagonally downwards, disappearing from Pheles's peripheral view, and his fist came ramming up,
" Fire Dragon's Fist!"
Pheles got sent airborne and stayed there for a slight moment before gravity did its work, his eyes rolled backwards the moment he landed headfirst, drool escaping from his mouth and dribbling down his slack bruised jaw.
" Luce!" Natsu skidded to halt in front of her, " Just wait, i'll get you out of here!"
He attempted to melt the chains down, but as the flames got closer to them, they seem come alive, a multitude of black maws swarming from above, snapping at him in self defense, hissing.
" Fuck!" He flinched back, " It's alive?!"
" No wonder my magic didn't work on it." Ultear half-glared at it, stumbling slightly at the tremors created by the battle above them, " So what now, my magic doesn't work on that, i've no knowledge whatsoever on this ritual and stuff, how're we gonna get her out?"
" USE THIS!"
Something glinted in the distance above, and slammed down between Natsu and Ultear, steam rose from the glowing hot scimitar as if freshly out of the forge, the ground around it slowly charring.
Ultear recoiled several steps backwards the moment she felt the intense heat slap her across her face and rolling of the sword in sweltering waves.
Natsu, being the Fire Dragonslayer he is, was completely not bothered by the heat, but even his almost heat resistant body could not cope with the glowing hot scimitar, his skin of his battle worn hand hissing in protest when he grabbed its hilt but he grit his teeth in determination, refusing to let go of it.
Dislodging the blade from it temporary sheath in the earth, he swung it against the chains, sparks erupting upon contact, the chains screeched sharply, but did not break, only cracking in certain areas.
Ultear backed up further when Natsu's attacks against the chains grew more frantic and wild when Lucy whispered, " Seal 5 : Broken. Seal 6 : 89% left."
Pheles chuckled weakly behind them, having woken from being knocked out, eyes alight with triumph, " Is no use Natsu Dragneel, just accept the fact that she going to die, right in front of your very eyes!"
" SHUT UP!" Natsu roared in complete utter fury, flames roaring up around him.
At that time, the heavy oaken doors shook, each time harder and harder, till it broke at the hinges and slammed down, revealing an army of freshly created puppets on the other side.
Understanding that Natsu had more important things to deal with, Ultear wasted no time,
" Ark of Time: Parallel Worlds!" , producing numerous copies of the orb in the air, Ultear then redirected them all at the puppets to have them hone in on them in a devastating assault, "Ark of Time: Flash Forward!"
The orb barrage did its work but only for a brief moment, in that moment, Ultear dashed out into the corridor as a red glyph appeared in her left eye, " Ark of Time : Restore!"
The restored door closing in behind her as she continued to fend of incoming puppets.
" I'm not sure about him." Lapin admitted, looking skeptically at Bixlow as he doodled runes on Adonis's arm as per Nezhirt's telepathic instructions,
Serpe simply shrugged, " As long as he's following Old Man Nezhirt instructions, i guess i;m fine with it."
" O-Okay, now j-just d-do as i ta-t-t-taught you."
" Sure thing Nezzie!"
" Do-Don't c-c-ca-c-call me t-t-that!"
Bixlow slapped his hands together and grinned, " Alright, circle her babies!"
" Circle!" " Circle!"
As soon as his dolls positioned themselves around the girl, Bixlow slapped both his hands on Adonis's flat rune covered stomach as a bright green arcane magic circle emerged from his hands,
" Soul's Calling!"
The green magic zapped her as numerous green tendrils of magic energy skittered across her skin where the symbols were, the stray fragments of magic were absorbed by Bixlow's dolls and reflected back to Adonis.
She convulsed on the spot, held down by the restraints created through Tenebre's crystal, her wide amethyst eyes flashing bright neon green as the spell undid Larga's meddling.
Her screams echoed throughout the room, her ex-spirits gritted their teeth and looked on determinedly as the spell did its work, but as the green glow on the runes started to flash repeatedly, the sound of several somethings unlocking and translucent locks seeped our from her skin and dropped to the ground, shattering into a thousand magical particles.
Bixlow let out a loud huff, the runes immediately fading from Adonis's skin as he stood up.
" Did... Did it work?" Gallus stared hesitantly at Bixlow's exhausted dolls floating lazily around him.
Diablo kneeled down beside her, tracing her face tenderly, his tone almost pleading, " Please, please be the Adonis that i know."
" We'll know when she wakes up."
As if on cue, the woman groaned and everyone's eyes turned to look expectantly at her, all letting out a simultaneous breadth of relief when her eyes fluttered open to reveal a set of bright purple eyes.
" Gah, my head... Eh? Why are all of you staring at me like this?" Blinking out the bleariness in her eyes, the woman groaned once more before looking up at them with confusion filled eyes, struggling against her bonds,
" Why am i tied up? Can somebody tell me why all of you are looking at me like a slab of meat?"
" Thank g-!" Diablo's exclamation was literally drowned out by a wave of 3 spirits, smothering the two under them.
" She's back!" They all cried in happiness, Serpe summoning Anguis to join the mess.
" Wud-" Adonis was rapidly turning blue as she struggled to breath with her compressed lungs, " Can't- BREATH!"
" Can't- Feel- TOES!" Diablo forced out, hefting the spirits aside with what strength he had left.
" Can someone seriously tell me what the hell is going on?!" She screamed, " and unbind me this instant!"
The spirits scrambled upright, Serpe rushing to unbind his beloved ex-master, who was without a doubt, very pissed off.
" You!" She rounded on Serpe, who immediately stood straight at attention, " Explain this mess! The last thing i remember was being engulfed in flames during the fight with... THAT!", she screeched when Lapin came in from the other room and threw the still paralyzed Larga in front of them.
" Let me at him!" The 4 spirits grappled desperately at whatever's necessary to prevent her from launching herself at him, Diablo fighting to pry the riding crop, that even she didn't know where it came from, from her grip. " And who took my daggers and replaced it with this?! Where the hell are my keys?!"
" Now now, Adonis-sama, calm down for a minute and..." Anguis said calmly, trying to appease her anger.
" To hell with it!" Adonis roared, tossing them effortlessly off her body, much to their surprise and dismay, pouncing onto the puppeteer and pounding his face in with gusto.
By the time they pried her off him, the once paralyzed Larga became a pummeled unconscious mess. With their master completely knocked out, releasing them of their binds, the remaining puppets falling onto the ground one by one.
" Ha!" Adonis cackled evilly, " Eat that ye bastard!"
" I guess that solves one problem.", Gallus said hesitantly, looking uneasily at Serpe who suddenly stiffened and went pale.
" Serpe?" Adonis poked her head right in front of Serpe's and stared into his frozen slit eyes.
" I've got a bad feeling."
On cue, the room flashed neon red and sirens blared out from invisible speakers as a robotic voice droned,
" Doctor is down. Control transferred to next suitable candidate."
" This is bad!" Marie voice said urgently in their heads, " Control of the ritual's systems has been transferred to a different operator, we've only got an hour left!"
" Lucy-san!" All head turned to look at the Faeries at the doorstep who immediately dashed away screaming in their heads at Marie for directions to the ritual room.
" We should hurry too!" Serpe dashed out, Anguis grabbing both Diablo and Adonis by their hands, explaining as he dragged them along.
" Before we're too late, again!"
" ARGH!" Natsu swung the scimitar with all his might, flames licking the edge of the sword as he smashed through the chains, one link destroying the entire chain with a shriek, the shattered pieces falling onto the magic circle below, bringing Lucy down as well.
Flinging the sword into the far end of the room, he flung himself to the edge of the path, barely managing to grab hold of her limp hand.
Natsu grunted in effort, grabbing at her hand as she swung back and forth precariously back and forth on the edge of the platform.
But just before Natsu could fully pull her up, the shattered chain fragments glowed the same crimson shade of the moon clinked together and latched onto her legs.
" No you don't!" He seethed as he continued pulling Lucy up, but the chains reacted by melding together and forming snake like heads at bit into and latched onto her legs, dragging her downwards as blood seeped from the puncture wounds.
However, the few chains that managed to slip past him lashed out at him viciously, Natsu howled out in pain, but gritted his teeth and endured, not letting Lucy's hand go, the fangs from the chains digging deeper and deeper into his flesh.
" I'm not... about to let you go now, Lucy...not now, and not ever again!" Natsu cried, pulling desperately at the unresponsive blonde.
However, at that moment, sirens blared throughout the fortress, the magic circle below them flashed bright gold, almost blinding them, and the chains rose up in waves from it, enveloping Lucy starting from her dangling feet, dragging the both of them down, the stone pillar Natsu was grabbing onto for support slowly giving way to the strain.
" No! NO! NO!" He screamed despairingly, hands reaching out frantically for the hand that was wrenched ruthlessly from his grasp.
" LUCY!"
" LUCY!"
The blond drifted in pure black darkness, cracks showing up all around her, more and more showing up and increasing in size, curled up in a fetal position, clenching her chest in pain.
" Was that Natsu?" She whispered to herself, crying out as another sharp jolt of pain wrecked her body.
" What exactly is happening to me?"
" You're being tossed around by the hands of fate, my child."
Lucy looked up from her position, gasping slightly despite her pain,
" Master Mavis! "
The first master's wavy blond tresses flowed like waves as she floated down towards Lucy, crouching beside her placing a comforting hand on her back, seemingly having no effect when she still continued to whimper in pain.
" Lucy," Her face all seriousness, " Your life is in peril, my child, you're walking a thin line between the boundary of life and the Otherworld."
" You mean i'm dying." Lucy deadpanned.
Mavis face darkened regretfully, " To put it bluntly, yes Lucy, you're on the verge of death."
" That is, if you don't fight back, against your fate that is."
" My fate...?" She screamed in pain once again, grabbing the white fabric above her heart in agony, more cracks forming in the space she's in.
The black shards falling around her like snow, each time it spun showing a different part of Lucy's memories.
" Seal 6 : Broken. Seal 7 : 77% left. " A robotic version of her own voice announced.
" How..."
Mavis tilted her head closer, " What did you say again?"
" How do i go about it. Fighting against my fate." Lucy forced through her pain, eyes hard with determination. " I don't care what my mother kept from me neither do i care how and why i ended up in this predicament. "
" I'm tired of being pushed away, always not being able to do anything. I'm tired of being kept in the dark. I'm tired of always being always the useless one. It's about time i did something for myself, fate be damned, my life is mine to live!" She proclaimed, pain momentarily forgotten.
" That's my girl." Mavis grinned, " But you are a whole lot stronger than you credit yourself for."
More cracks appeared in the space, Lucy cringing but not crumbling onto the floor anymore.
" Now," Mavis went into strategist mode, " It's going to be risky, but we're going to make use of the small window of time given to you when all your seal are broken. You'd only have one chance and once chance only, to set up your own protective barrier."
" Looking through the contents of the Reaping ritual, which i took the liberty of reading up in the Magic Council's library and comparing it to what i already know, the Reaping forcefully rips out the soul of the vessel and allows the caster to manipulate it."
"But all that's cracking around you," She gestured to the cracking surroundings, " are just the memories of your heart."
A hand unconsciously raised up to clasp at the material above her chest," My heart?"
Mavis nodded, " Many think there's only one kind of memory. However, there're actually two kinds. The other in which is the memories of your body." , she pointed at Lucy's slightly glowing form, " Which is what you're seeing right now."
" And surely you know that your memories are connected to your soul like two sides of a coin, one can't exist without the other. However, there's that rare case in which the two are separated, and that normally has dire consequences on the body itself, as it doesn't last long without either."
" So since Fairy Sphere acts as a stasis chamber, we can trap the memories of your body within your physical body, it's not the best plan out there, since it involves you losing the memories of your heart, but at least you won't die, and i believe that your half-sister out there will do whatever it takes to get your soul back, along with the misplaced memories of your heart."
" Am i right, Tenebre?"
" Whatever it takes indeed."
Lucy looked behind her startled, " Tenebre?!"
The dual colored haired woman looked determinedly at the blond, " I don't have much time here, but trust me Lucy, i'll do whatever it takes to get the fragments of your soul back."
" No matter the cost."
With that last line, Tenebre disappeared from their view.
Mavis looked at the spot where Tenebre once stood and intoned, " I just hope it doesn't come to that."
Natsu fell to his knees, staring furiously at where Lucy's hand disappeared into the glassy black surface of the magic circle.
" Dammit!" He punched the ground, cursing.
He moved to climb down the edge for the drop down, " I'm coming after you Luce!"
" Argh!"
The cry was instantly followed by a scream as Tenebre came hurtling down from the sky at a blinding speed, stopping Natsu in his tracks, Tenebre smashing into the throne and into the room behind it.
" You took your eyes off me again." Madonna drifted down, shaking her head in a mix of both exasperation and amusement. " You're getting soft, what happened to the monster i raised in you?"
Tenebre spat out blood, climbing out from the debris, her body a collection of different injuries and wounds, all pouring with the red liquid of life.
" Ignoring me aren't cha!" Madonna's face darkened, releasing a huge wave of grey that disintegrated everything it touched.
" Death's Plague!"
Natsu threw up a wall of flame that barely managed to protect him from it, but as soon as the flames died down, there Tenebre was, the said person throwing herself in front of him at the last minute, receiving the last brunt of the grey decaying magic in his stead.
She crumbled to one knee, breathing heavily as a pool of dark red formed quickly beneath her, her skin hissing and marred with grey mist still rising from it, almost all but two of her seals left.
" You won't be able to reach her now, little dragon." Madonna grinned widely, her once dull silver eyes now gleaming brightly with a cruel light,
" You're already too late!", she laughed maniacally as she pointed up with a green rune covered arm, " The ritual has already been completed!"
With a resounding dong of a bell, the magic circle flashed bright gold as the moon reached the highest position in the sky, casting a red beam of moon light directly above the magic circle.
Like a clock, the north tip of the four pointed star turned red and the star did a three-sixty turn in a flash, turning the magic circle as well as the twelve lacrimas red as it turned.
Lucy resurfaced from the black liquid and floated above it's rippling surface and the magic circle, the surface becoming glassy as it settled, like a huge slab of obsidian glass.
The black liquid trickled off her skin, but not without leaving a series of black tribal markings behind, her hard yet empty red eyes staring straight up at the moon, the black teardrop irises glinting darkly, but not like the darkness of the liquid below her, but like the glittering dark sky filled with stars, but none of them noticed it.
Lucy let out a earsplitting screech when the lacrimas floated up and spun in front of her, forming a circle as it created a glass-like screen, her body fading and fizzing violently as another her was created on the other side of the glass, or more like pulled from her body than created.
All of these happened so fast, none of them had anytime to react, not even when Madonna grabbed the removed soul by her neck, howling hysterically,
" This is it! Finally!"
At that moment, Pheles chose to speak, having woken up a few moments ago, " Yes yes! Release me Madonna, and give me the soul of the girl!"
Madonna looked down in contempt, sneering, " No."
" No?" Pheles face darkened, " What do you mean no? You are my retainer, you work under me, pass me the girl Madonna, or else-"
" Or else what? You'd kill me?" Madonna scoffed," What can you possibly do to me, tied up and magically depleted like that, dear brother of Mephisto?"
Pheles flinched violently, startled, as a snap sound rang through the room, and he blinked rapidly, " You, you used me!"
" Hmm, i guess you could say that." Madonna grinned, " All i did was to manipulate what little darkness you had in you and allowed to it fester and spread, till i say the code word and dispose of you of course."
Pheles looked absolutely stupefied and just sat there, unable to comprehend how he'd never found it out earlier, that and how he'd allow himself to be used so easily.
Her cold eyes narrowed at the people below her, " I resent you. I resent Arcadia. I resent this very world itself! But with this girl's soul and that fragment of the Oculos Divae that's in it, i'll unleash all my grievances upon the world!"
Her lips turned up in a crooked smile, " In fact, with this much power in my hands, I'll simply obliterate this world, this entire universe and its gods, and create another one from scratch. One where there's one god and one only, me!"
" All my faithful worshipers will grovel and worship at my feet, they'd always be at my beck and call! Never again am i going to be dismissed as a failed product. I'll be All Knowing, All Powerful..."
" I'll be Omnipotent!" Madonna flung a hand outwards, a wild light in her eyes," And now, my beloved guests, the finale!"
She grabbed the severed soul of Lucy by its translucent neck, both her hands fizzing with a purple tinted black magic circle.
As the spell grew in intensity, the doors to the ritual room blasted open and Ultear, Jellal, Meredy and Erza charged in with a mixture of narrowed and wide eyes, the tattooed man hissing, " Zeref's magic!"
The lightning fizzled and spread out around her in seven different directions, hitting an invisible wall and creating a circle at the ends, the lightning increasing in intensity and forcing open seven gaping voidless spaces.
Tenebre howled out, clenching at her chest, " She's... forcing the gates open!"
Madonna's grin widened, " That's not all i'm going to do, my sweet little Gatekeeper."
The seven rifts fizzled in protest as they grew closer to each other, the corners blurring and spluttering with excess magic, then with a loud clap and a triumphant laugh from Madonna that reverberated throughout the room, the seven rifts merged into one huge unstable black mass of energy.
Tenebre crumbled to the ground writhing in pain, staring wide eyed into the sky as she let out a ear splitting screech, a huge pool of blood seeping through her armor and pooling around her.
The new arrivals marched over to her, " Tenebre!", the scarlet haired mage exclaimed.
" S-She!" Tenebre gasped, " S-She inva-vading... invading the Void!"
" Do you even know why you are called the Gatekeeper?" Madonna tilted her head to look at the fallen woman with what seemed like pity, " You probably won't, cause the very thing that appointed you as Gatekeeper wiped those memories from you."
" W-What?" Tenebre spat out incredulously, " What insanity are you sprouting?"
" Poor thing, you don't even know what your real job is," Madonna shook her head, " Your real objective isn't to guard the gates of the seven realms, it's to guard the gate of the Void."
" In fact, you are the Gate, the Gate of the World."
She let out another grating laugh, " And thanks to that little sister of yours..."
Blood spurted from Tenebre's mouth and splattered onto Erza, her eyes slowly looking down at the chained hand that erupted from her chest in disbelief, her eyes then looking up at where Madonna was, the snake-like heads of the chains hissed mockingly at her when Madonna's blood stained hand pulled out from the rift, and out of Tenebre's chest, leaving the snake chains behind.
" I can finally put my plan in motion." She finished with a sickening grin, her tongue licking her hand from palm to the tips of her fingers, her lips painted red from the gatekeeper's blood.
Erza ripped away the armor covering Tenebre's chest and drew in a sharp breadth at the hissing chains dancing out from dark red hole in her chest.
" What are you doing to her?!" Erza yelled, swiveling her hate filled eyes to glare at the still smirking woman as she sent a dozen of her swords hurling at Madonna.
The platinum haired woman simply clicked her tongue and wagged a finger at Erza, conjuring up a violent whirlwind that spread out around her, flinging the swords, and the torrent of flame that followed right behind them, right back where they came from.
" Ah ah ah~" She sang, " That simply won't do, i need to be completely undisturbed for this."
Jet black tears slipped from Tenebre's wide open eyes, her mouth opened in a silent scream and her back arched off the ground, the slithering chains multiplied and poured into the wound, moving down, going further, travelling deeper into depths that even she didn't know existed inside of herself.
It was as if her insides were nothing but an endless, bottomless void.
But by the time she arrived at that thought, a thunderous, enraged roar erupted from her chest and the chains hissed, clinking noisily against each other.
" I've got you now." Madonna said with a terrifyingly wide grin.
She narrowed her eyes at the translucent form of Lucy's soul and almost immediately the soul rippled and changed form, with the golden orb in hand, her snake chains circled the orb with a twirl of her wrist and tightened around it, sending a pulses of pure golden magic through the chains.
With a victorious shout, she yanked at the strengthened chains, the taut metallic snakes shivering in effort as it pulled a massive black figure out from Tenebre's chest.
The monstrous roar emerged from the void in Tenebre once again, as the black mass fully surfaced from within her with a sickening ripping sound of her entire chest bring torn open.
" Name yourself fool, you who dares to disturb my safe haven...dares to constrain me in these restraints..." The formless deity's disembodied voice rumbled out angrily, " and damage my vassal so extensively?!"
" Madonna at your service," Madonna bowed with a triumphant smirk, " your holiness."
" What business do you have with me, vermin?"
Tenebre let out a shuddering wet gasp, looking up wide eyed in shock and bewilderment at the shapeless god, her hands shaking as she reached out to it, " I... I know him...or her... We've met before...But... I don't remember anything..."
She breathed in sharply when she felt it's eyes on her, " We meet again, my Gatekeeper."
Natsu panted roughly, feeling an immense pressure pressing down his body just being in the presence of the god. And he realized he wasn't the only one feeling that way when he took a quick glance at Erza and Jellal's sweating, pale faces.
He stumbled to his feet and staggered towards Tenebre's mangled body, the uneasy feeling in his gut growing with every step he took as the golden glow of the chains holding the gaping hole in Tenebre's chest grew considerably dimmer as the bloody moon above moved further away from its peak, grunting with effort, " Tenebre, Lucy."
If she heard him, Tenebre didn't show it, her eyes still fixated at the object that came out from within her with an almost reverent expression on her face.
" D-Deus?" She whispered uncertainly.
" Ah ah, this is no time for a reunion!" Madonna reprimanded, " Time is of the essence, your eminence!"
She lifted the golden orb above her head, and shouted to the heavens, " Shattered mirror above all, hear me i command you all! Gather under the light of the bloody orb...
Meredy's head snapped down to look at her trembling satchel, its bulky contents clinking noisily against each other as they started to vibrate violently.
" The demonglass!" She gasped in utter confusion, hugging into the brown vibrating satchel for dear life, " They're trying to escape!"
But the moment she said those words, the ragged edged of the malicious black glass shards ripped through the leather material and zipped to where Madonna's hands were, as more of the same glass shards flew in from all corners of the crumbling fortress through the open roof, fanning out above her head in an deadly arc and casting an eerie light show throughout the entire room as each shard reflected the crimson light of the moon.
"... and bring me the head of this foolish god!"
The shards whistled, hurtling down in a deadly rain, sparks, shattered glass and golden lightning flew, the shards shattering one by one as they fought against the gleaming spherical shield surrounding the god.
Madonna frowned and clicked her tongue in annoyance, she then released her hold on her chains and focused entirely on bringing the formless deity down, Tenebre letting out a ragged gasp of pain when the chains pulled out from her and flew over to the portal she created with Lucy's soul, no longer needing Tenebre to serve as the link between her and her target.
" Natsu!" Erza forced through gritted teeth, struggling to stand under all the pressure.
Without another word, Natsu lighted his fist and with a tight grimace, pressed it down onto the wound, Tenebre's eyes turned bloodshot but she bit her lip and tolerated while Natsu cauterized her wound, his dragon fire making quick work of the gaping hole, but blood quickly seeped through even the cauterized wound as it proved too deep to help.
" N-No.." Tenebre halted Natsu when he revved up his flame for another try, and whispered weakly," It's too l-l-late to save this b-body..."
" So you expect me to simply let you die right in front of my eyes?!" Nattsu snapped at her sharply, pushing Tenebre's bloody hand away from his arm, " No! You're one of us now, you're not allowed to just give up on us!"
Tenebre chuckled, regretting it immediately when she saw Natsu's eyes widen in horror when she coughed out more blood, panting, " Who...Who says i'm giving up...?"
With all seriousness, she placed a bloody hand on Natsu's cheek and said, " D-Do you trust me Natsu?"
He hesitated for only a second, " Of course."
" I t-trust you as well, so trust me when i say, i will save Lucy even if it costs me my life..."
Her hand then fell limply to his shoulder and her eyes closed, sending Natsu and the rest in a panic.
" Tenebre!"
But then, with surprising amount of strength, the hand on his shoulder grabbed the front of his ripped vest and yanked him downwards, bringing his right ear close to her lips,
" Listen to me," She whispered, Erza and the crew from Crime Sorciere's backs jerking straight in shock, hearing the same words in their heads," I'll pave the way for you, you go save Lucy."
" How? You're not in any shape to do anything!" Meredy squeaked, staring wide eyed at the huge pool of blood.
Tenebre ignored the comment and struggled to her feet, hunching over, compensating her posture for the gaping hole on her chest, blood splashing onto the ground from both her wound and her mouth when she let out a gasping cough, a silver film of magic forming unsteadily above her skin.
" You..." Jellal look incredulously at her, recognizing the magic signature radiating from her, " You're severing your own soul from your body?! Are you insane?!"
" Maybe." She replied simply, " But its all or nothing."
" I don't intend to break my promise to Layla anytime soon."
" Remember, look for the opening." With one final glace at the group, Tenebre disappeared and reappeared behind Madonna, her hand raised in attack.
" Holy Fervor!"
Madonna blocked the destructive ray of light with a single hand, and tilted her head to look back, grinning maniacally, " Finally decided to drop the weak act Tenebre? About damn time! But are you too late though?"
She grinned from cheek to cheek when a deafening crack came from the gleaming shield that surrounded the god, and when the exact same shield formed in front of Madonna's hands.
The monochrome woman leaped back, and dove right back," Ecliptic Ray!"
Orbs of sizzling demonic energy formed around her and darted to Madonna, each ball of magic fizzing out upon contact with Madonna's golden shield.
The moment two different magic attacks collided, the opposite attributes of them both collided and created an explosive reaction, blowing up in Madonna's face, shattering the golden shield...
And loosening her vice like grip on the golden orb for a precious second.
With lightning like reflexes, she lunged at Madonna with everything she has and tackled her from the glass platform, the same instant a pillar of flame zipped past Madonna and landed with Lucy's body in his arms beside Erza, the woman's crazed eyes widening in furious disbelief at her scorched, empty hand.
" NOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
The woman screeched, clawing at her face in utter dismay when her snake chains fell lifelessly to the ground, the glass shards raining down and shattering noisily around them.
" This ends here."
With those words, amplified by the power of the shapeless god's power, Tenebre lit up, her body igniting into a glaring white-silver pillar.
Natsu barely managed to read the words that she mouthed to him with a small, sad smile.
" Take care of her on my behalf. I've done my part."
Madonna's pained screech rang out as she was enveloped by the pillar of Tenebre's concentrated magic, yelling in agony as she started to fade,
" What are you doing?! WHATAREYOUDOING?! WHATAREYOUDOING?!"
" I'm erasing you from existence."
Madonna shrieked in hysteria influenced laughter, " You don't have the power to do that, IDIOT!" She sang out the last word like a demented canary.
" Aye, but Deus does."
Her frantic eyes widened in shocked realization, and she snapped, ugly tendrils of what seemed to be her wings exploded from her back and she clawed at everything, desperation showing with every frantic movement she made to reach Tenebre, " LETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUT-"
The flickering black lines that made out Tenebre's face looked down at the berserk fallen angel with pity, speaking with her own voice," The least i can do for you now is to put you out of your misery quickly and painlessly..."
" YOUCAN'TDOTHISTOME! I'VEYETTOGETMYREVENGE! LETMEOUTLETMEOUT-" The crazed woman continued to screech incessantly, her warped eyes flickering wildly form within its sockets, her own hands tearing at her own body with the notion of slowing down the process of her disappearance.
" Rest in peace, Madonna."
" LETMEOUTLETMEOUT-" Her screams were cut off just as abruptly as the pillar of light that once stood there.
And with the final 'clink' of the last piece of glass the broke upon contact with the ground, finally there was silence, the remaining light of the moon basking the room with a soft, reddish hue.
A cloaked figure slipped in the dimly lit room soundlessly.
The members of Crime Sorciere looked wordlessly at the carnage left around them.
Erza looked away, her face pinched with sorrow.
The group that arrived barely a few minutes after the pillar of light vanished stood wordlessly by the battered wooden doors with stricken expressions.
Serpe couldn't look away from the key ring that fell into his hands.
Natsu buried his face into the crook of Lucy's neck, her soul flickering dimly within his hands as he felt her faintly beating heart pulsing against his own.
The formless god was safe.
Madonna was gone.
.
.
.
But so was Tenebre.
AN : Whew, this was one of the harder chapters to write, i've always envisioned this scene in my head as one of the many battles i've planned out for this story, but its always a bit hard to translate your thoughts and imaginated scenes into words that can pull off the same feels and emotions.
Either way, i do hope ya all feel what i'm striving so hard to let all of you feel. As a writer, the most important aspect for me is emotion, all rather ironic thought, most of the people that actually know me usually describe me as 'cold' and 'emotionless', but i guess that's why i work even harder to fill my stories with as much feelings and emotions that i don't think am able to show in real life.
Now, here are some updates on life!
1. Well, i guess by now ya all know life's a bitch.
2. Someone stop meh, i just found Tumblr, AND I'M OBSESSED. HELP.
3. On a lighter note, we're approaching the end soon peeps! As much as i dread it, all stories must come to an end someday and i hope when that someday comes i'll be able to experience it with all of you!
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~