As Gajeel came to, he opened his eyes slowly only to be looking into the large brown eyes of Lucy, who was sitting in a chair next to him.
"Oh good!" she exclaimed "You're awake"
"The fuck happened?" he asked as he sat up and rubbed his neck and looked around to see that it had since gotten dark outside and the inside of the shack was lit with a few lanterns.
"Paige knocked you out" Wendy exclaimed
"Okay. Two things" the iron dragon slayer said "First, how could that little shrimp knock me out? She's short as hell, even shorter than Levy. And two, WHY DID SHE DO IT?!"
"Because you were flipping ape shit, thats why" Laxus said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah, you kinda went overboard with the yelling." Lucy said
"Do ya blame him, Luce?" Natsu said "I mean I'm not as pissed as Gajeel but I am still shocked that there could be another dragonslayer out there."
"Well who is her dragon?" Gajeel asked
"She dosen't have a dragon Gajeel" A voice said and the others looked to the door of the shack to see Paige standing there with a basket in her arms filled with fruit. Tossing a piece of fruit to each person in the shack she sat down and looked at the dragon slayer.
"She's just like Laxus" The picture mage said "She has a lacrima implant. That also answers my question as to why they need you, a first generation dragon slayer."
"Well why me?" Gajeel folded his arms in protest "Why not flame brain?"
Paige sighed "At first it didn't make sense to me. Then when Layla told us about her first encounter with Metalicana, it made it all clear. They showed trust in each other, much like you and Lucy do."
"But they were enemies at one point" Happy said "He beat Lucy silly"
"While that may be true, Lucy managed to put that in the past and forgive him and from that love emerged" The brunette said "I believe its that bond between those two that made them prime canidates this time around. I'm betting the cult figured since they were so close to harnessing that lost magic, that they were doing something right in using iron dragon magic and celestial magic together."
"But they didn't count on Capricorn saving Layla like he did" Natsu said
"Which reminds me" Paige said "I need you to call all your spirits out Lucy"
Lucy stared at the Serenity Dawn Guild Master in disbelief, as did the others.
"W. . What?!" she exclaimed "I can only do two at a time at the most!"
Paige blinked then rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at what she had said.
"Sorry, I guess I forgot everyone has thier limits. Well can you bring out Leo so he can pass the message along?"she asked
Lucy stood up and stretched "Yeah I don't see why not."
Lucy parused through her keys and selected the key of her most loyal spirit.
"Open! Gate of The Lion! Leo!" she stated as she held up the gold key. The redheaded leader of the spirits appeared next to Lucy and looked at her with his lip pouted.
"What is this I hear about you getting engaged to Gajeel?" he asked
"And how did you find out?" Lucy shot back
"Plue told me" he retorted as he took hold of her hand gently "Princess why couldn't you have came to me? I could make you very happy!"
Gajeel stood as his hand turned into a sledgehammer.
"I beat ya once before pretty boy" he said "Don't make me do it again!"
"Tch." was all the lion spirit could say until he spotted the picture mage. Letting go of Lucys hand he strode up to the brunette.
"And you are?" he asked in his suave voice with a smile
Paige blinked and tilted her head "I'm Paige Reese. I asked Lucy to summon you because I have an important message I need you to relay to the rest of her spirits."
"And that is?" Loke asked
"Not to come to her aid if she needs it and dosen't summon you." The picture mage responded.
The room grew eerily silent.
"Okay" Loke said "I'm lost. Why don't you want us to help our master?"
"Something tells me that if any spirits come out to aid Lucy during our confrontation with Fujimoto, they could be used against her." Paige said
"What do you mean?" Wendy asked "They are under contract with Lucy so they can only do what she tells them."
"On the contrary" Erigor said as he entered the shack with Velvano closw in tow. "When we were undercover at the cult, we have come to find that Akamaru can use manipulation magic that works on all beings, including Celestial spirits."
"And you couldn'tve added this when you first told us about him?" Laxus asked
"It slipped my mind until Paige told us that he was Lucys cousi- ow!" he said as the picture mage whapped him on the head
"He is what?!" Lucy exclaimed as she stood up in shock
"Luce we were gonna tell you." Natsu said "We were just waiting for the ri-"
"How. . .How is he my cousin?" Lucy asked
"Your mom had a sister who had a baby out of wedlock. She died shortly after. Your father wanted to adopt him but his business partners decided against it" Gajeel said "So he had one of his workers adopt him"
"We still don't know how Fujimoto got ahold of him" Paige said as she leaned against the wall "But I believe that if you go up against him and show him who you truly are, maybe, just maybe he can repel from the darkness."
Loke looked at Lucy in awaiting her approval, to which she nodded and he looked at the picture mage.
"Very well, I shall spread the word. I just hope she will do alright" he said
"She will be fine, Loke" Paige responded "She will be with someone reliable"
"So can I safely assume that we will be split into teams then" Wendy said as the lion spirit had dissapeared.
"Yes" The brunette said "After thinking this over, I've decided that we all infiltrate the cult and then split up to find Fujimoto."
"Isn't that kinda risky?" Happy asked "What if we get caught by someone?"
"Well I thought that through aswell." Paige said as she fumbled through her bag and took out a deck of cards. Lucy blinked as she recognized them as the type Cana has.
"Card magic?" Natsu said "What will that do?"
"These cards can be used to transport you to the side of whoever else is holding the same type of card. More than one person can be transported, so if two groups get caught at once they can just use the card to join another group." Paige explained
"And if we ALL get caught?" Carla asked
"Well lets not hope that happens. But if it does we're just gonna have to wing it" the picture mage replied as she looked at her watch. "Alright its almost time for their nightly meeting. That's when there are the least amount of guards around. Now I need to change each of our appearances so we don't get caught so easily. So if nobody has any objections, lets get to it."
I'm so sorry that the chapter isnt as long as I would like it to be and I'm also sorry for the slow pacing of the story so far, I can assure you that the next chapter will have action in it! I also wish to know what you think of the new cover photo. The link can be found on my profile. Reviews are appreciated!