Hiya! Sorry for the short wait, though it wasn't the usual long wait that I make you guys go through. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I'm putting a small note at the bottom which has an important message that I would like you guys to read, it shouldn't be too worrying but there is something I need to inform you all on.
Anyways, I do hope that you all enjoy this chapter even though it's a tiny bit short than the previous one.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Hikari, Kyoko, Ryou, Takeshi, Arata and any other OC's that may appear (If I decide on anymore, not sure yet.)
Chapter 27
Normal P.O.V.
Hikari ran at Team Natsu, her eyes narrow as she looked to be concentrating and she jumped in the air and as she flew towards them, she pulled back a fist and then aimed the punch at them. Team Natsu gasped in surprise before dodging the attack.
"WHAT THE HELL, HIKARI!? WHAT GIVES?!" Grey yelled, as they were all still in the air. They all watched and saw that the punch that had been aimed at them hit the ground, causing several cracks in the ground to appear, a huge dent forming around her fist. Hikari glared up at them before sending some of her magic into the ground.
"What did she just do?" Lucy asked before Team Natsu landed on the ground, they thought they were okay but the moment they touched the ground, light had exploded around them, and sent them flying in different directions.
"Oww… That hurt!" Lucy exclaimed as she shakily sat up, one eye open as one hand held her hip as the other lifted herself up.
"What's wrong, Hikari?! What's going on with you?!" Erza yelled, she had managed to catch herself before she landed on the ground again. Hikari just stared at them, a blank expression on her face and stayed quiet, completely unaffected by their confused yet pained looks. Ryou was laughing.
"She won't answer you! In fact she works for me and answers to only me! Isn't that right, Hikari?!" Ryou spoke, a sadistic look on his face.
"Yes, Ryou-Sama!" Hikari spoke as she bowed slightly in respect, her voice too held no emotion, just like her expression.
"She is completely under my control! Now, Hikari, continue to attack them!" Ryou ordered her, while the rest of his team were smirking.
"Very well, Ryou-Sama!" Hikari spoke as she once again faced her old team. Natsu then ran at her, looking very determined despite the pain he was feeling.
"Then I'll have to knock some sense back into her! Get her to open her eyes! HIKARI!" Natsu yelled, throwing a flaming punch at her, only for her to dodge by ducking under his punch, and with her magic covering her hand, punched him in the gut making him go flying into Gray who was also running at her.
"Try this!" Erza said summoning a sword, then ran at Hikari. Erza swung her sword at Hikari.
"LIGHT WING SLICER!" Hikari yelled, slicing Erza's sword in half with her magic, rendering the sword useless.
"LIGHT WING PUNCH!" Hikari yelled, punching Erza in the face with her magic, sending the red-head flying.
"MOO! TAKE THIS!" Hikari heard from behind her and turning her head slightly, she saw Taurus swinging his axe towards her, and she somersaulted over him, just missing the axe that was just flying towards where she once stood and soon was stood behind the bull. Using her strength, punched him in the back making him go flying and went through a wall of one of the surrounding buildings.
"Taurus!" Lucy gasped as she watched the bull disappear back into the spirit world. Hearing her voice, Hikari turned towards her. Seeing that her attention was on the blonde, Natsu started running to defend her, knowing she was no match with any of her celestial spirits.
"LIGHT DRAGON'S ROAR!" Hikari yelled throwing the attack to her so-called best friend. Lucy stood there frozen, her eyes wide in fear and unable to move or dodge it. But before the attack hit her, Natsu soon appeared in front of her and ready to send a counterattack back at Hikari.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Natsu yelled, throwing the same attack as Hikari, only with flames. His attack had completely dispersed Hikari's attack, but not only that, his flames continued heading towards her, causing Hikari to jump up onto the nearest roof to dodge the attack. But the problem now was the attack was heading to Gray, Erza and Happy. Thinking fast, Gray moved and moved into his stance to use his magic.
"Ice Make: Ice shield!" Gray yelled creating a shield, protecting him and his friends.
"Nice one Gray." Erza complimented.
"Yeah, thanks Gray!" Happy spoke, smiling at him.
"HEY! WATCH IT, FLAME-BRAIN!" Gray yelled, glaring at Natsu and soon the two of them were stood in front of one another, and had completely forgotten about the situation that was happening.
"Yeah Ice Princess! Wanna have a go!?" Natsu growled, glaring heatedly at Gray.
"Hey! Now isn't the time to be fighting! What about Hikari?!" Lucy yelled, glaring at the two.
"Oh yeah!" Both Gray and Natsu spoke simultaneously but before they could react, Hikari landed in between the two in a handstand and kicked them both that the same time as she swung around and once Natsu and Gray were on the floor, Hikari was punching Erza in the face, soon followed by her punching Lucy in the gut and to finish up, slapped Happy to the point he flew into a building though not flying through the wall.
"Gah!" Lucy gasped out as she lay on the floor, quivering in pain. Hikari's punches hurt, and hurt more than anyone would think.
"What the hell is wrong with us? We are stronger than this?!" Gray coughed out as he tried getting back onto his feet.
"Yeah I know. Normally we'd be kicking some ass by now." Natsu spoke as he too stood up shakily.
"Remember boys! This is Hikari we are up against. She's got 400 years of experience, a dragon, an S-Class rank wizard and a Holy Great Mage. She ain't gonna be easy, unlike the rest of our opponents that we've faced. She's probably stronger than the Master." Erza spoke, as she looked at Hikari, and was ready for an attack.
"I say we try to attack at the same time. Then we may have a small advantage against her. She may be strong, but she alone while we have each other." Lucy spoke quietly, making sure her friends minus Hikari heard. They nodded.
"It may not work but it's all we have." Erza said, agreeing with what Lucy said.
"Alright!" Lucy exclaimed before summoning Cancer.
"You called, Lucy? What hairstyle would you like today?" Cancer asked as he snipped his scissors while looking at Lucy.
"Not today Cancer. I need you to take down Hikari alongside my friends. Can you do that?" Lucy asked determinedly.
"Very well, Lucy." Cancer said, turning around to face Hikari, ready for a fight. Erza summoned twin swords to her hand while turning her armour to the knights armour and the boys covered their fists with their magic. With all four ready, they started running at the pinkette who watched them before starting her counterattack.
"LIGHT WING TORNADO!" Hikari yelled, spinning in circles, as she created a huge tornado made out of light magic, which in turn stopped their attacks from reaching Hikari. Cancer ended up returning to his world, while the members of Team Natsu were thrown all over the place (Including Lucy who didn't move) and soon they were knocked unconscious on the ground.
"Hmm, well done Hikari. Now finish the job." Ryou spoke, a smirk on his face.
"Very well, Ryou-Sama." Hikari spoke, though mentally she was screaming differently.
'STOP! DON'T DO IT! PLEASE!' The real Hikari screamed out, her voice scared and in pain, not wanting this to happen but it was just her luck when the Magic army appeared.
"Tch. Great, the army's here." Takeshi spoke in distaste, as he glared at them.
"We need to go, we aren't completely ready to face them. Hikari, transform and get us away from here!" Ryou ordered, glaring at the army himself, just when he could get rid of the Fairy scums, there's an obstacle in the way. Hikari nodded before transforming into her dragon form, destroying a couple of building while doing so.
"Let's go!" Ryou spoke, looking at his team briefly before jumping onto Hikari's back.
"Right!" They yelled as they followed him and soon Hikari was flying away and was soon out of sight.
"Oh my, are those guys alright?" One of the townspeople spoke looking at Team Natsu in worry.
"I think they need a doctor!" Another one spoke.
"Aren't they from Fairy Tail? Should someone take them back to their guild?" A different person spoke.
"Probably, but their guild was destroyed a week ago or so." A reply came to answer the question.
"Now everyone calm down! We will handle this situation and will personally investigate this. And don't worry, we will return these mages to their respected guild and notify their Master, there is nothing to worry about!" The Captain of the army called out to the people as some of the members of the army approached Team Natsu to get them medical care.
~A few days later~
Lucy's P.O.V.
I felt an aching pain as I opened my eyes, only to close them quickly as it was very bright in the room I was in before I had to slowly open them, trying to let them adjust to the light. After a short while, my vision returned to me, everything was no longer blurry.
"W-Where am I?" I ask shakily as I tried sitting up, only to feel a lot of pain, I groaned.
"Careful Lu-Chan. Don't want to make you injures worse." A voice spoke and I looked to my left to see Levy sitting there.
"Levy-Chan!" I gasped, and soon a smile appeared on her face.
"I'm so glad to see you awake. You guys scared us all half to death." Levy spoke, a sigh of relief coming out of her, and it was just then did I notice that the rest of my team, minus Hikari, was here, though they were unconscious and in their own beds.
"What happened? Where am I?" I asked Levy, unsure of what to feel.
"Your back in Magnolia and in the local hospital." Levy spoke.
"I see." I spoke, looking down at my hands.
"And for what happened, is almost a mystery. We saw the army coming to us, giving Master a right scare but then when we saw they were carry you five, it gave us an even bigger scare. Master was angry too, wanted to know what happened and who did this but the army said they weren't completely sure, they told us to wait until one of you to wake up." Levy explained, her expression showed that she was worried but also unhappy.
"I see… Hikari-Chan" I spoke sadly, still looking down at my hands suddenly remembering what happened back at Era.
"Lu-Chan? What happened? Why were you all badly wounded? And where's Hika-Chan?" Levy asked.
"I suggest you get Master, he'll probably need to hear this." I spoke, looking at Levy and I knew she saw the sadness that reflected in my eyes. Levy nodded, getting up from her seat and walked out the room.
'Hikari-Chan… Did you know this was going to happen? You were worried weren't you? Why didn't you say something to us?' I thought to myself as I looked out the window. I heard the door open, making me look back in the room and saw Master enter, his facial expression was very serious, and looked possibly angry still but I knew it wasn't aimed at us. He came to stand to my right as Levy went to my left.
"Lucy. What happened, child? And are you alright?" Master asked, his voice warm and kind yet held its firm and strong tone as he spoke to me.
"I'm okay and I'm sorry Master. We failed to protect Hikari." I spoke, feeling ashamed.
"I'm not angry with you child, I am glad you are alright. Now what's this about Hikari." Master spoke.
"We were attacked by a small group of people, and I believe they were mages too. They have Hikari too, and managed to take control over her somehow. They had Hikari attack us, she's the reason we are like this but I don't think it's her fault." I explained.
"A group of mages? How many?" Master asked, his eyes a little wide as he seemed surprise that Hikari was possibly one of their enemy, or had been taken, I wasn't too sure.
"Just four of them but I only caught two of their names. The leader, I think, and possibly the other one that may have been in charge too. The leader's name is Ryou, he has messy light green hair, green eyes and a tattoo on his face shaped as a club (One from a pack of cards), and then the girl's name I think was Kyoko, who has black hair and red eyes." I explained trying to think back to what I saw of them. "There were two other guys with them but they never introduce themselves, though one of them created a shock wave by clapping. It seemed to be some kind of magic surrounding air and sound."
"Ryou… Oh no, it can't be…" Master spoke, his eyes wide in shock.
"Wait, you know him, Master?" I asked confused and curious, I saw Levy look at him too.
"I fear we've stepped into something big and rather dangerous here. Especially if they have Hikari." Master spoke, now starting to pace.
"What are you talking about?! Master, what's happening?!" Levy spoke up, worried herself about what was going on.
"Is there anything else that has happened, something concerning Hikari?" Master spoke, he sounded desperate and wary, something that didn't sound good coming from him.
"Well on the way to Era, Hikari fell asleep on the train, seemed to be having a nightmare possibly, but she went pale, started sweating and half way though it a magic circle appeared, hovering above her forehead before it disappeared again completely." I spoke, putting a hand on my chin to think. "And as we were leaving the council completely, Hikari originally wanted to come straight home but quickly change her mind and decided to stay in the town for a while to explore."
"I see. What did this magic circle look like to you?" Master asked, and I wanted to know what was going on but shook it off, knowing I'd get an answer soon.
"Is there a pen and paper anywhere?" I asked, looking around a little.
"No, but I have this." Levy spoke, showing me a magic pen, which would allow me to right in the air. I started to draw the circle in the air, remembering it perfectly as the image of it never left my mind.
"That circle!?" Master spoke, alarmed and his eyes going wider.
"Master, what's going on?!" Levy asked, alarmed herself.
"Yeah Gramps, what's going on?!" A new voice joined in and I looked over to see that Gray and Erza had woken up. I'm guessing they heard a part of our conversation and caught on to what was going on.
"Gray! Erza! You guys okay?!" I asked, feeling surprised but happy to see them awake.
"Yeah, we're okay. But Master, what's wrong?" Erza spoke, looking concerned herself.
"It's as I feared. Ryou has finally decided to come out of hiding and has gained a strong puppet." Master spoke.
"Puppet?" We all asked simultaneously as we looked at him in confusion.
"Yes. Ryou is a strong mage, he's also known as Puppeteer. He uses mind control magic, it's strong and works on animals as well as people. But to think he'd be able to use it on Hikari too, then he is stronger than I originally though." Master spoke and all of us looked at him in surprise.
"Mind control magic?!" Gray spoke, his eyes wide. "Are you serious?!"
"Yes and to make things worse, no one has ever gotten close to him ever. His 'puppets' have all managed to protect him very well and he has always managed to pick the good one to control." Master spoke.
"But how does he have control over Hikari-Chan?! She's supposed to be immune to magic we humans create and use!" I exclaimed, my own eyes wide in alarm.
"That is a good question, and one I'm not sure of. But he must have something to help him, there are object out there that enhance our magic to make it stronger, me may have found one of them." Master spoke.
"I see, so how do we stop him? We've already fought against Hikari and failed." Erza asked.
"That's the thing, not many people know. But I would say try to aim at Ryou and defeat him. That should release his control on Hikari." Master explained.
"Master…" I spoke.
"What's wrong, Lucy?" He asked, turning to me along with everyone else that was in the room.
"There's something I don't get here. How do you know him or how did you hear about him? And why is he doing this?" I asked, concerned. Master looked a little surprised but soon his eyes closed slightly with a sigh.
"Years ago, Ryou was a member of the council and was a member that was well respected and was quite high up too." Master said and we all gasped.
"He was a member of the council?! Then why is he cruel and using dark methods to gain power?!" Gray asked, his eyes wide in alarm.
"He was only still young actually, probably around 15 or 16, so he still lived with his family at the time and he cared for them more than anything in the world. But one day they were all murdered, the killer also escaped before anything could be done. He went to the council in hopes for them to help but they told him they couldn't help not could do anything about it. And because of that, Ryou got angry with them, hatred grew in his heart and soon he ended up attacking them. This of course resulted him getting kicked out the council and getting arrested. It was only one or two years later did he escape and went into hiding, that is until now." Master explained.
"I see. So he wants revenge on the council and wants to use Hikari to do so." Erza spoke with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Most likely yes. But when he'll do that is a complete mystery. No one knew what went on in that head of his years ago and I doubt that's changed since then. We will most likely have to wait until we have any news on him and his team or on Hikari herself." Master spoke sadly.
"Yeah, but I doubt a certain someone won't want to wait for that and will probably search the whole of Fiore for her." I said, looking down at Natsu and Happy.
"Probably. The fire-head hasn't got patience in his vocabulary." Gray spoke, a smirk coming onto his face. I would have laughed at that, but the mood was too glum and a friend was currently missing.
"Don't worry Lucy. We'll get her back." Erza spoke, looking at me with a small smile.
"Don't worry too much child. I've got a few contacts who could keep a look out for us about Hikari's where-abouts. Now I suggest you guys to get a bit more rest, you'll be busy for a small while after today." Master spoke, a smile on his face.
"Thanks Master/gramps" We all spoke and with that he left with Levy not that far behind him.
~The next day~
I was currently reading a few newspapers, as was the rest of the team, of course Natsu finally woke up and we had to explain everything to him and of course we had to, well, tie him to the bed until he calmed down, otherwise he'd be long gone and looking for Hikari when we knew full well that he couldn't do it on his own.
"There has to be something here! A small piece of news on what happening." I spoke, starting to feel impatient myself.
"Master did say he was a part of the Council once, he is most likely gonna be very smart. He's probably trying to put him or his team in the spotlight." Erza spoke as she was reading a particular page of the newspaper.
"CAN WE GO! WE NEED TO FIND HIKARI AND ALL WE ARE DOING IS READING BLOODY NEWSPAPERS!" Natsu yelled angrily.
"Natsu! Calm down!" I spoke, looking him but he glared at me, but only out of anger.
"NO! I WANT HIKARI WITH US, I NEED TO SAVE HER! I WANT HER BACK AT MY SIDE! SHE'S MINE!" Natsu yelled and me, long with everyone else looked at him in surprise and shock, even Happy was looking surprised.
"What?" Natsu spoke, confused as to why we were looking at him strangely.
"Hikari's yours?" We spoke simultaneously in surprise and soon Natsu was blushing.
"Errr, Erm…" Natsu stuttered nervously trying to look away but I was hard as he was still tied to the bed, so he couldn't really face away from us. So we got to see his expression.
"Do you like her Natsu?" Erza and I asked, grins on our faces.
"N-No…. NOT LIKE THAT!" Natsu spoke, he was clearly lying and trying to cover up his true faces.
"Oh, okay then.." I spoke, a mischievous grin on my face, and I winked at the other three who caught onto what I was gonna do. "Then you don't mind if Gray asks her out on a date when we find her and bring her back?"
"That's right, she is rather hot and quite beautiful. I may even have a lot of fun with her." Gray spoke, as he too acted alongside me.
"WHAT WAS THAT!? NO WAY AM I LETTING YOU TAKE MY GIRL! SHE'S MINE, DO YOU HEAR ME, GRAY?!" Natsu yelled angrily though he was also growling and soon me and Gray were laughing hysterically, while Erza was smiling.
'If only Hikari was here to see this…. So Natsu does feel the same way towards Hikari, he's just shy about it…' I thought to myself after calming down.
"NATSU! GRAY! Calm down and shut up! Lucy, don't encourage them, we need to continue working to find Hikari!" Erza spoke in that tone that scared us all.
"AYE!" Natsu, Gray and Happy yelled before Gray started to look through each of the papers.
"Hey! Untie me!" Natsu spoke desperately.
"Only for you to run off and get in trouble? Not happening!" I said to him, not looking up from the paper that I grabbed.
"No, so I can help." Natsu spoke, his voice calm. I was about to reply to him the Team Shadow Gear appeared in the doorway.
"WE'VE LOCATED THEM!" They yelled, making us jump in surprise.
"Seriously?!" Gray asked incredulously. I sighed and walked over to Natsu and untied him from the bed, knowing that someone had to do it.
"WHERE?!" Natsu yelled, getting up into their faces, making them sweat in fear at the look he was giving them. Me, along with Gray, had to pull him back a little, while Erza walked in front of him as to stop him from doing anything else stupid. She glared at him for a second before turning her attention to the new arrivals.
"Where are they?" She asked calmly, which in turn, calmed Team Shadow Gear almost completely.
"50 miles east of the town of Era. There seems to be a large abandoned castle there. These are just rumours that we've all pick up, them say that this Ryou person was spotted there, along with his team. They might not be there anymore but it could be worth a shot." Levy spoke, there was a hopefully tone in her voice. I smiled at her.
"Thank you Levy-Chan! Thank you!" I spoke as I went to her and gave her a huge hug in appreciation.
"Well you're not the only ones wanting to find and save Hikari. The entire guild is also worried about her too." Levy spoke as smiled back at me. We were thankful that we had been discharged from the hospital early this morning and we had be hanging around my house. We got up and headed to the where our guild mates were.
"Master. Who are you choosing to send to go on this job to save Hikari?" Erza spoke, getting down to business the moment we all saw Makarov.
"You don't need to ask. I'm sending you five to go after Ryou and his team and to bring Hikari back to us safely." Master spoke, his face held the seriousness that seemed to cloud the area. "And besides, I don't think Natsu would allow anyone else to go."
"True." I muttered, looking at my pink-haired friend who looked determined and angry at the same time, glaring at anyone who'd dare to say otherwise. So with that, we got ourselves ready before heading towards the train station.
"Do we really have to take the train? Can't we just walk there?" Natsu asks not looking happy.
"Natsu, we are taking the train whether you like it or not. And besides, don't you want to save your Hikari?" I spoke, empathizing the 'your' in the sentence as to tease him.
"Yes…. HEY! WHAT THE HELL, LUCY!?" Natsu yelled, glaring at me while the rest of us just laughed as we got on the train.
~With Ryou, his team and Hikari~
Normal P.O.V.
"Any news about Fairy Tail? Are they planning on coming after us?" Ryou spoke as he sat down on his throne, him along with his assembled team were currently in their base, which was a large castle and they were in the throne room at the centre of the building. A shadow creature soon appeared and swept over to Kyoko and soon it entered inside of her and soon Kyoko learnt everything that the creature knew.
"Yes, they are coming, they just got on the train in fact and are heading our way. They know where we are, what should we do, Ryou-Sama?" Kyoko asked in respect as she faced him in concern.
"Who is it though? A different team or the same weak one we had before?" Ryou asked, placing his elbows on the armrests of the throne he sat on, his hands locked together as he hid his mouth behind them, a sign that he was thinking. Though it also meant that they didn't know how he had felt about it or anything for that matter.
"The same team. Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza and that blue cat." Kyoko answered, a little nervous to what Ryou's reaction was going to be.
"Ha! I can't wait for them to come! Ryou! Let me be the one to greet them!" Takeshi spoke, a cocky confidence coming from him.
"Brother, I'd be wise not to underestimate them." Arata spoke, looking at his brother through the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah, well then do you want to do it?!" Takeshi spoke, rounding on Arata.
"Enough! Takeshi, you will greet them but don't underestimate them. I gather that they will split up. One will decide to stay to fight you, while the others with simply continue to run past you. Let them, Arata will be the next to greet them. Then me and Hikari shall be the ones to deal with the remaining ones. Kyoko, if we are to fail, you will be our trump card and back-up plan. You can use that special trick the gain advantage against them." Ryou spoke, handing out the plan to them all.
"HELL YEAH!" Takeshi yelled, grinning like a madman.
"Right!" Kyoko and Arata spoke out of respect, and soon the team got in position, Takeshi waiting just inside the entrance to the palace, Arata hiding in the large main hallway that led to the throne room and Kyoko submerged herself into the shadows, completely disappearing, plus she had a perfect view of the entire building, of every room. Ryou soon relaxed a little, undoing his hands to rest normally and naturally on the armrests.
"Hikari." He spoke, looking at the pinkette that was silent throughout the entire time of being here. Ryou had made sure she had changed into different clothes, as we as had her destroy her Fairy Tail mark. Hikari now wore a very dark red full length dress with two thin straps holding the dress up, which also showed a lot of cleavage of her chest and had a slit in the dress that showed of her right leg. The dress made Hikari look older as it hugged her figure perfectly, Hikari too wore her hair in a high bun, high heels on her feet and jewellery from a diamond necklace to diamond rings.
"What do you need Ryou-Sama?" Hikari spoke as she turned to him.
"Come sit on my lap. I want us to test out the anger of a certain dragon slayer." He spoke, a smirk on his face. "I want to see if he can hold back at all or if he'd go all out."
"Right away, Ryou-Sama." Hikari spoke as she walked over to him and did what he asked. As she sat down comfortably, he wrapped his right arm around her waist let her rest her back against his arm, as his other arm raise to hold her chin.
"I hope you don't mind but I need to do something, make it look more realistic here. I need to, shall we say, spice things up a bit." He spoke, a smirk playing on his face before he attacked her mouth with his own, sucking and biting her soft yet sweet lips with his teeth and sticking his tongue in her mouth, letting it explore every cavern of her mouth.
'STOP THIS! PLEASE STOP THIS! I DON'T LIKE YOU, I LIKE NATSU! I WANT NATSU! Please… Natsu… Save me, I need you…' Hikari cried mentally, watching Ryou do these things to her with disgust and really wanted to kill him but of course couldn't move her body as it was currently his puppet. She felt more disgusted when Ryou started kissing down her jaw and then her neck and sucking, licking and biting a sweet spot, leaving a rather large hickey there.
"Now, then. Let's test out those feelings of a dragon." Ryou spoke, referring to Natsu.
~With Team Natsu~
Natsu and his team had gotten the train and were currently walking down a dirt road in the direction that Levy had told them to go. Natsu would have running the rest of the way, but knowing he'd get into huge trouble and wouldn't want to leave his friends behind, he chose to walk with them, though he was up front, he was looking at the necklace that he bought Hikari.
"Is that necklace the one Hikari-Chan was admiring a few days ago?" Erza asked she walked beside him, not looking up from the map that was in her hands.
"Huh? Errr…" Natsu stammered, jumping in surprise at the sound of her voice, throwing him out of his thoughts.
"Don't worry, we knew you liked Hikari. We'll support you with this. And besides, it makes me happy to see that you are happy and are moving on." Erza said, and I knew she was referring towards Lisanna and how I had lost her. I looked down sadly.
"Natsu, Lisanna would want you to move on. If she saw that you were happy, then she'd tell you to go after it. She'd tell you to be with Hikari." Erza spoke, placing a hand on his shoulder, Natsu looked at her before smiling.
"Thanks, Erza." Natsu spoke, feeling a little better.
"I hate to interrupt this moment, but I think we're here." Lucy spoke up from just behind them, making the took look up to see a huge castle that stood before them.
"God, what a creepy place." Gray spoke, looking up at the large building. It had black bricks, dark windows so you couldn't even see inside them and a dark black mist surrounded the place. Lucy shivered but it wasn't a sign she was cold.
"Is Hikari even here? I hope not." Lucy spoke, fear laced in her voice. Natsu sniffed the air.
"Natsu?" Happy questioned looking at his partner curiously, causing the rest of his team to also look at him.
"Does Natsu smell Hikari!? Does he!? That's a good boy, such a good boy!" Gray spoke tauntingly and said it as if he was taking to a dog. Natsu turned to Gray, fully annoyed.
"Did you say something, Ice-Brain?" Natsu spoke, his voice lowly and dangerously dark as and Gray started a fight, butting heads against the other.
"What's that, flame-breath, you wanna go?!" Gray replied, just as annoyed as Natsu.
"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Both Lucy and Erza yelled, getting fed up with those two bickering.
"You two are out here arguing your asses off and Hikari is in danger and needs our help. So I'd suggest you stop and help us save her. Now Natsu, is she her or did you not smell anything?" Erza spoke, her tone dangerously low, making the boys sweat in fear.
"Yeah, I can smell her as well as those guys that we need to take down." Natsu spoke.
"Good, then let's go." Erza spoke walking towards the gate that was blocking their way though it didn't bother much as she sliced the gate in half using one of her strongest swords. And soon the rest of the team were following her inside the castle.
"Oh god, it's even creepier on the inside." Lucy spoke as she looked around. It was rather dark inside, ripped paintings covering the wall, the gray stone flooring they walked on had some red stains on them, suggesting that it was dried blood and then the team stopped. They didn't know which way to go, there was three corridors, one in front of them and one on either side of them and two staircases, one on either side of the room leading up to the higher levels of the castle.
"Well, well. Welcome Fairy Tail, to our home." A voice spoke up, making the team see a guy walking to them. They glared at him, mostly Natsu.
"Who are you, you bastard!? And where's Hikari?!" Natsu growled angrily, storming towards the guy, who only smirked in amusement. He clapped, send a sound shock wave causing Natsu to be flung back.
"Such language, very rude! But very well, I shall answer your questions. My name is Takeshi but I am mostly known as Bouncer as you probably saw why that is. As to where your dear sweet Hikari is, she is that way." Takeshi spoke, jabbing thumb in the direction that he just came from. The whole team went to run the way he said but he gave another clap, sending them all back. "Ah, ah, aaah! I didn't say you could go just yet! Now did I?"
"You bastard! What do you want?!" Natsu growled.
"A challenge, a fight! What else would I want?" Takeshi spoke, a cocky grin on his face. It was just then did a large hammer made of ice appear above his head.
"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!" Gray yelled, summoning the hammer so that it possibly either hit Takeshi or make him move out of the way. Takeshi dodged it with ease.
"Gray!" Erza exclaimed.
"I've got this! You guys go on a head and save Hikari, I'll take him on!" Gray spoke, not letting his eyes leave the smirking Takeshi.
"Got it! Don't you dare lose Gray!" Natsu spoke as he ran down the hall with Erza, Lucy and Happy following behind him.
"Be careful Gray!" Lucy called out to him. And soon it was just Gray and Takeshi alone in the room, both looking at each other before soon the fight began. Soon Gray moved into his ice make stance and summoned his magic.
"ICE MAKE: LANCES!" Gray yelled as a bunch of lances shot up at Takeshi as a high speed.
"Hn." Takeshi chuckled slightly, giving another clap, but not as much force as his previous ones, just enough to destroy Gray's ice.
"That's gonna be annoying." Gray muttered, glaring up at the guy.
"Yeah, but the fun has just begun!" Takeshi yelled gleefully.
~With Natsu, Erza, Lucy and Happy~
"Man this is one long hallway!" Natsu complained, as he ran alongside Erza and Lucy, while Happy flew over their heads.
"Aye." Happy agreed, but he wasn't grinning.
"Well, well, so the ice-mage was the one that decided to go against Takeshi. Interesting." A deeper voice was heard, making them stop and look around though soon another guy came walking around the corner.
"And who are you?" Natsu spoke, his voice low and he was cautious this time.
"Arata. People have been known to call me Unknown." He spoke, his voice low. He wore a cloak on him that covered most of his body and they could only just see his eyes, which were midnight blue. Erza looked at him suspiciously, unsure about him, after all, he was the only one that didn't show them what type of magic he had.
"Now, unlike my idiotic twin Takeshi, I can only allow Natsu past me and maybe that cat, but you ladies are my opponents and I can't let you pass me at all costs." Arata spoke, this made Lucy gasp and Erza's eyes to narrow even more.
"What the hell Bastard!" Natsu growled, not happy with this.
"This is of course, Ryou-Sama's orders. He personally wants him and Hikari-Sama to going against the of so famous Salamander of Fairy Tail." Arata explained, making it seem more understandable.
"Natsu, we'll be fine. Go and save Hikari." Erza spoke, summoning a sword to aim at Arata.
"You sure?" Natsu asked, hesitant to leave them behind.
"Go Natsu! We will be okay and besides, we've got each other!" Lucy spoke in reassurance, a grin on her face. One that reassured him, Natsu nodded.
"Got it. Be careful you two." Natsu spoke as he ran past Arata, though not before throwing him a glare. And soon Natsu was gone, racing to where Ryou and Hikari was.
"Right, let's start then shall we?" Arata spoke, putting his full attention on the girls that were now his opponents. Erza summoned two of her swords and went to charge at him only to soon stood dead in her tracks and soon on her hands and knees in pain.
"Erza! Are you okay!?" Lucy exclaimed, running to the red head.
"I… Don't know… For some reason… I feel immense pain in my body…" Erza stuttered in pain. Lucy looked at her in worry and concern, but there was a hint of anger and suspicion and turned to glare at Arata.
"What did you do?! Stop it!" Lucy spoke.
"Oh? You're curious about what magic I use?" Arata asked, intrigued by her actions.
"Yes! Tell me!" Lucy demanded, her glare getting stronger.
"I specialize in illusion magic though I do also hold another type too, that is similar to illusion magic." Arata answered, not fully seeing the harm in telling her this piece of information.
"I see, for Erza isn't in any true pain, you just make it seem that way to her." Lucy spoke, understanding what he was saying.
"Yes." Arata spoke.
"Right, well it's my turn! Open! A door to the bull, TAURUS!" Lucy yelled, summoning Taurus to her side.
"MOO! How can I serve Miss Lucy and her beautiful body?!" Taurus asked, sounding just as perverted as ever.
"A celestial mage then? Interesting." Arata muttered, watching with full interest, this will certainly be fun. Well for Arata at least.
"I need you fight that guy! He and some other guys have hurt and captured Hikari! Please, Taurus!" Lucy asked as she pointed at Arata. She only mentioned that last part as she knew Taurus cared for the pinkette just as much as he did for Lucy.
"What!? I'm gonna do twice the damage he's done to Miss Hikari!" Taurus yelled, running at Arata and readied his huge axe to swing at Arata. Seeing the bull charging at him, he thought fast and shape-shifted in a cloud of smoke, only to reveal Lucy standing there, or at least a fake version of her.
"Taurus! You would dare hurt me! Would you? You promised to protect me, didn't you?" The fake Lucy spoke, of course this made Taurus stop in his tracks, confused, while the real Lucy looked very shocked and surprised, even Erza looked surprised.
"L-Lucy…" Taurus stuttered, unsure of what to do.
"Taurus! Defeat him, he's just shape-shifted to look like me!" Lucy yelled, but the bull was looking back and forth the two, unsure on which one was real.
"Taurus. Look at me please." The fake Lucy spoke, making the bull look at her. The next thing to happen was something none of them were expecting. The fake Lucy lifted up her top, her chest completely bare and showed everything and soon Taurus couldn't stop as he went flying back, a huge nosebleed coming from his nose and he land at the feet of the real Lucy who was absolutely horrified.
"AHHHH!" Lucy screamed, covering up her own chest out of instinct, just as Taurus returned to the spirit world. Arata quickly changed back to his original form.
"Hn. This will be easy." Arata muttered, walking to the two ladies as they both trembled, one out of pain, the other out of embarrassment.
~With Natsu and Happy~
"Natsu, what do you plan to do?" Happy asked, sounding worried and unsure flying just next to his partner.
"What do you think I'm gonna do? I'm gonna beat that Ryou-bastard's ass and save Hikari, that's what." Natsu replied, blunt and very confident as he ran down the hall to where he could just now smell Hikari.
"But do you remember what everyone has been saying? And about the fight you had against Hikari? She is Ryou's puppet now, he will surely use her against you." Happy spoke, still worried. "And last time I checked, she's a lot stronger than us."
"Then we'll just have to find a way around her, or better yet stall her long enough that we can get to the bastard." Natsu spoke, making it sound simple and easy. Happy sighed.
"You're not that worried are you?" Happy asked, a smile slowly creeping up on his face.
"Nope. And like you just said, Hikari is strong, I doubt she is completely gone. I believe she is still there and can be saved." Natsu spoke, a grin on his face. And so, they continued to run until they reached a large set of double doors, and using his strength, Natsu pushed them open so he and Happy could enter the room, which was dark and you could barely see much of the interior, but there was only a little bit of light shining through a few of the windows on the left side of the room. Natsu walked forward cautiously, looking around.
"Welcome, Salamander. Or should I call you Natsu?" A masculine voice spoke, making Natsu turn to face the far wall opposite the double doors he just entered. It was then his eyes widened in surprise though it turned into a glare. There, sitting on the throne was Ryou, looking rather comfortable, while an arm was wrapped gently around the waist of Hikari who was sitting on Ryou's lap on his right hand side.
"HIKARI! Ryou, you bastard, let her go!" Natsu growled at Ryou, though he did try to call out to Hikari in hopes she see and recognize him. No such luck.
"You came at the right time. We had just finished our business." Ryou spoke, smirking evilly and sadistically. Natsu narrowed his eyes, then looked at Hikari as if to study her appearance, his eyes widened in shock at seeing huge differences in her appearance. For once, she wasn't wearing her usual clothing and wore a very revealing dress, not he was bothered by that, it was other things that angered him big time. One, Hikari didn't seem to have the Fairy Tail mark on her leg (Yes he had paid attention to where her mark was), secondly, she had a huge hickey on her neck, rather noticeable and this irritated him as he should be the only one to mark her like that and third and finally, her lips were swollen, very swollen, indicating that he had kissed her, and rather roughly too. It angered him because it was all Ryou's doing and that he was doing it against Hikari's true wishes, knowing she had no choice, being his puppet and all.
"Aww, is the famous Salamander upset? Over just some slutty chick? Tch, she is a bitch though, hoping from one guy to another. First you and now me? Why'd you want a girl like that?" Ryou spoke, fully amused and knowing that he was controlling Hikari to be like this but wanted to torment Natsu, see how strong his control is. Unfortunately for him, Natsu at the moment was already at his limit and was about to lose it.
"What. Did. You. Just. Say. About. Hikari?!" Natsu asked, his voice low, angry and dangerously dark. Happy felt scared, he never seen Natsu lose control like this, I mean he's seen him this angry before, but it was a first did it appear fast for him to get so pissed off.
"Haaaah! Deaf are we? I will speak this clearly then. Hikari is a slutty bitch that needs to be controlled and tamed." Ryou spoke, no even knowing that he practically just dug his own grave. Natsu flames soon engulfed his entire body, and they were so hot that it made Happy back off and almost out the room, Natsu's eyes shadowed over, replaced by two glowing red dots that looked at Ryou with a lot of hatred and anger and soon Natsu lost all control….
…He charged at Ryou, fully intending to kill him…
Author's Note (Please don't ignore): Thank you for reading, I do hope that you had enjoyed it. Thank you for your reviews, for favouring and following this story and I do hope that you continue to do so.
Now on to the part that is important and need to say. I am taking a short break as I have a holiday with my family and shortly after that I will be starting a new job (Hopefully) and because of that, updates will be coming in slower (like usual :'(, which I too don't like) but don't worry, I'm not ending the story, I WILL continue it as I do intend to complete it someday.
The second thing that I would like the mention is that I have been reading over the entire story and think that I should edit it slightly, not changing it as it will have the same storyline but making it better. But I'd like your opinions if I should change those chapters that have thos huge paragraphs to spread them out a bit like my latest chapters or if I should just leave them like that. Please let me know so that I can start working on them as much as I can.
Thanks for reading and sorry for worrying you,
Doomedbex :)
