Chapter 28
A Desperate Attempt
"FIRE DRAGON WING ATTACK!"
Alu's shout echoed off of the walls of the cavern. Whips of white flames came from her hands, and she swung her arms down and around, making the fire crisscross with powerful intensity.
Natsu watched with amazement. He had never seen such a pure white flame before. Not only that, but something in it felt different. It felt like fire, but at the same time it didn't. It felt like some kind of alien fire.
Since when did Alu gain this power?
Neo Virgo and Neo Aries both jumped away from Alu's attack. Neo Aries then tumbled behind Alu grabbed the chain around her neck. She prepared to throw it at Alu.
Natsu saw it coming. It was the same attack that Neo Aries had used on him. They were going to try to do the same thing to her as they did to him. He couldn't let that happen, but there was nothing he could do. He was chained up.
Still, he had to do something.
Natsu was still feeling weak, but his concern for his daughter was greater than his fatigue. He fought threw it with all the willpower he had.
"Alu, behind you!" he managed to yell.
Alu's sensitive ears heard her father's voice and eyes flashed in alert. She whipped around in time to grab Neo Aries chain. Seeing Neo Aries caught off guard by this, Alu yanked the chain out from the Dark Spirit's hands.
"My turn." Alu snarled.
Alu whirled the chain around like a loop-less lasso for a second before throwing it straight at Neo Aries. The chain wrapped around the Dark Spirit tightly, and Alu took the opportunity to jerk on the binding hard, pulling Neo Aries down to the ground. To make sure her opponent was out of commission for good, Alu made a single leap. At the height of her jump, she headed fist-first down towards Neo Aries and landed a solid punch to the back. Neo Aries cried out in pain, and Alu hand-sprung back onto her feet.
Then in a flash of purple and black light, Neo Aries was gone. As she vanished, the chain in Alu's hands disappeared as well.
Alu couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. She really didn't like that Aries at all. She preferred the sweet, helpful, polite Aries. The real Aries.
Of course, Alu couldn't think about that right now. She turned her attention to Neo Virgo.
"Pretty impressive, little Dragneel." Neo Virgo said, licking her lips in a seductive fashion. "But do you really think you can take me on?"
"I beat you once!" Alu shot back. "I'll just have to do it again!"
"Then let's have some fun. Only this time, I'll be the one enjoying it. 'Cuz I'll be giving you a healthy dose of punishment."
"I don't think so!" Alu cried out furiously.
Alu immediately charged in for close-quarters combat. Neo Virgo summoned her lightning whip and lashed it at Alu. Alu saw it coming and quickly back flipped out of the way. She then hand-sprung back on her feet and darted forward again. This time, she was going to attack with some whips of her own.
"FIRE DRAGON WING ATTACK!"
Alu's attacked collided with Neo Virgo's. She was forced to come to a stop and use her fire whips defense instead of offense like she had hoped. Because now, Neo Virgo was striking blows down on her hard and fast, trying to break through her guard. The best thing that the young wizard girl could do was keep that whip at bay until she could see a weakness in her opponent's attacks.
Alu had to think. It was clear that this new Neo Virgo was stronger than the one she had taken down. Not to mention, unlike last time, they were inside a cave. One wrong move, and the whole place would come crashing down, burying everyone inside it alive.
Alu had to rethink her strategy. There had to be a way she could defeat this Neo Virgo.
Meanwhile, Natsu was watching all this with concern. Alu had already used two Dragon Slayer techniques. He knew from past experience that if she used too much, Alu would be out of Dragon Slayer Magic. She looked like she was already at her half-way point. Natsu could start to feel his physical strength return with every passing minute, but his Magic wasn't doing the same. Unless he could get out of his chains, there was nothing he could do.
Oh, he wished more than anything that he was free so that he could help his daughter.
"Natsu!" a small voice called out.
Natsu looked up away from the fight and saw two Exceeds flying down from the busted hole in the ceiling towards him.
"Happy?" he said weakly.
Happy and Violet immediately flew over to the two chains that bound Natsu's wrists. Happy handled the one on Natsu's left, when Violet worked on the one on Natsu's right. They both began to tug and strain on the chains in attempt to get them off of the one they held captive.
"Happy, what are you doing here?" Natsu asked, wincing as the tug of the chains pulled his already-stretched-to-the-limit arms.
"I'm sorry, Natsu!" Happy said, desperately apologetic. "Alu was gung-ho on saving you! And you know her, I couldn't change her mind!"
"Wait, you brought her here?!"
"Actually, I did!" Violet admitted. "But Happy's right, she was bent on saving you!"
"Who are you?!" Natsu asked, now thoroughly confused and distressed.
"I'm Violet!" the purple Exceed replied. "I'll explain more later! Right now, let's get you out of here!"
"That's not going to happen," a sinister voice said.
Natsu, Happy, and Violet all looked up in time to see Ivan release a black tentacle from his right hand straight towards them. It was aiming straight at Natsu's heart.
"ALU!" Violet screamed.
Alu heard her friend's cry and turned in time to see what was going on. With one last whip attack, Alu knocked Neo Virgo's lightning whip away and darted towards her father and the two Exceeds.
"GUYS, WATCH OUT!" she shrieked.
In less than a second, Alu had leapt in front of Ivan's targets and summoned a large amount of Dragon Slayer Magic to create a kind of barrier. The white fire expanded out and burned up the black tentacle in just a matter of seconds. Ivan wielded back and gripped his hand as the ivory flames traveled up the tentacle and managed to singe his hand a bit.
At the same time, Alu grimaced and fell to her hands and knees. At the same time, her fiery shield dissipated.
"Alu!" Natsu shouted when he saw her fall.
Alu panted heavily for air and shut her eyes tightly. That took more Magic Power than she originally intended. She was so desperate to stop Ivan that she overdid it. Now she was paying for it. That shield, along with those whip spar with Virgo, completely shot her Dragon Slayer Magic.
"You little whelp!" Ivan snarled savagely at Alu. "Why must you always interfere?!"
Alu opened her eyes and scowled at Ivan.
"I've got to stand my ground or he's going to attack Dad!" she said desperately to herself.
Slowly, Alu rose. She was still struggling for air, but her determination forced her to get up and plant her feet firmly in the ground.
"What are you doing, you horrible little girl?!" Ivan glowered.
"Standing between you and my dad, that's what!" Alu replied in the same tone, only hers was weaker. "Beat me all you want; I'm not giving up!"
"Alu, no!" Natsu raised his voice commandingly. "Just get out of here!"
"No way!" Alu said, not turning around to look at her father. "I'm not leaving you here!"
"Alu, as your dad, I'm ordering you to get out of here! Don't worry about me, just save yourself!"
"NEVER!" Alu shrieked with furious conviction.
Natsu jolted in surprise. While Alu had talked back to him many times before, she had never outright yelled at him before.
He could tell that she was serious.
"I'm not running away!" Alu shouted strongly. "You taught me this, Dad! You taught me to always be strong! To never give up the fight no matter what! I'll never run away! And I'll never run from a self-proclaimed powerful wizard who's really a COWARD!"
Alu's last word was directed straight at Ivan, and he knew it. She shot him a nasty look as she said it.
Ivan gritted his teeth so hard with fury that small pieces of them broke off.
"SILENCE!" he roared.
Immediately, Ivan summoned forth five streams of what seemed like an endless amount of shikigami dolls and shot them straight at Alu. Alu screamed in pain as they hit her with merciless blows. They knocked her away from Natsu, Happy, and Violet and straight into the wall of the cave.
"ALU!" Natsu shouted, struggling to break his chains.
Ivan didn't stop with his attack. The pink-haired girl had made him so angry that he wanted to make her suffer. Again and again, he pelted Alu with powerful blows of shikigami whips. Alu twisted and writhed in agony, unable to hold back her cries and shouts as those things attacked her.
Hearing his own daughter screaming, and seeing her getting beaten like this made Natsu both frightened and angry.
How DARE Ivan attack his daughter like this right in front of him! Natsu wanted nothing more than to burn this horrible man into a blazing oblivion! Not even leaving behind a pile of ashes!
With on last brutal attack, Ivan slammed Alu up against the wall again, where she gasped in pain and fell to the ground.
"YOU DARE CALL ME A COWARD, YOU PATHETIC BRAT!" Ivan raged. "I'M MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU'LL EVER BE! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WEAKLING WHO HAPPENS TO BE A CELESTIAL DRAGON SLAYER!"
Alu groaned, fighting off the agony that racked her body. She then raised her head and glared at Ivan as best she could.
"All you talk about…" Alu strained, "is that stupid Slayer. Well, I'm sick of it."
Weakly, Alu lifted herself up and struggled to stand up again. This shocked everyone in the room. They could see the energy it was costing her just to stand up, but she was doing it anyway.
Alu was relentless. Even after getting beaten down and bruised, she was still getting up.
"Are you insane?!" Ivan growled with bewilderment. "If you continue to fight, you're going to die!"
Alu took in a few deep breaths before looking Ivan straight in the eye.
"I won't die," she declared weakly. "Not until…my family is safe. Safe…from you."
Ivan scowled.
"If that's the way you want it, so be it!" he said. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"
Ivan then unleashed his shikigamis up into the air. Alu looked up to see what was happening, and her blood ran cold. Ivan was forming a shikigami orb bomb, and its target was locked right onto her.
"ALU, RUN!" Natsu cried.
Alu was about to obey her father's order, when something inside her key pouch glowed. At the same time, she as if something had entered her body through her hip. She jolted as the power traveled up through her and into her chest. She then shrieked with pain and grabbed the upper part of her left arm.
Once again, images began to flash in her mind.
A stream of golden chains glowing with Magic.
A black Dragon with blue patterns becoming pinned down those same chains inside of a large mountain. Although it struggled against them, it was all in vain.
The Dragon slowly wavered before falling to the ground.
The mountain closed up.
The image of the night sky, the sensation of falling.
Darkness slowly swallowing up the vision.
"ALU, LOOK OUT!"
The sound of Violet shrieking snapped Alu back to reality. She looked up in horror just as the Shikigami Bomb shot it's beam straight at her. It was too late for her to dodge it. For a split second, she thought that this was the end of her.
But before that attack reached Alu, something pink and fluffy suddenly wrapped around her in a thick cloud of cotton. The beam hit that instead of her.
"What?!" Ivan staggered.
Natsu, Happy and Violet all stared in both shock and bewilderment as the cloud of wool disappeared. To their intense relief, Alu was unharmed. More than that, someone had come to her rescue. That someone was now standing protectively in front of her, her arms spread out in an defensive position.
"Aries." Alu exhaled gratefully. She had never been happier to see her friend until now.
"Oh, I'm sorry I'm late, Alu." Aries said, glancing innocently back at her key holder.
"Heh, don't be ridiculous." Alu grinned. "You made it just in time."
"You just get some rest." Aries said. "I'll try and handle this."
"But Aries…"
Before Alu could protest any further, Aries took a fighting stance.
"Oh, another Celestial Spirit." Ivan droned. "Surprised you were able to get her, with you master being beaten and weakened."
"I opened my own Gate." Aries explained, her face hardening a little bit. "I'm here to protect Alu. And I will defend her."
"Aries!" Happy suddenly cried. "Heads up!"
Aries turned sharply to her right when she caught something out of her peripheral vision. Neo Virgo had jumped into the air and was about to bring her lightning whip down on her. Aries saw it coming, gave Alu a quick push, knocking her sideways and to the ground. She then jumped out of the way, just as the whip was about to reach her. Aries then cartwheeled a safe distance away and prepared to attack. She had learned from her last encounter with this version of Virgo to not leave herself open again.
She counter-attacked just in time.
"GO, WOOL BOMB!" she commanded.
In an instant, a large cloud of fluffy pink wool encased Neo Virgo, leaving only the end of her whip dangling out. It was then that Aries didn't know what else to do. All she could do was keep Neo Virgo contained for a small amount of time.
But Alu resolved that conundrum. She quickly got to her feet and prepared herself.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"
With that mighty summon of Magic, a jet-stream of brilliantly blazing white fire shot from Alu's mouth and straight at the pink cloud. The moment it made contact, the whole thing blew up like a large bomb. Only this time, the aftershock was so great that it shook the whole cavern and sent Aries flying back by accident. She fell on her side just a few yards in front of the shrine Natsu was chained to. She laid there, stunned.
Natsu couldn't help but stare in wonder. He didn't know Aries wool was perfect for explosion attacks.
How did Alu learn that?
Ivan stumbled back from the attack. How could he have forgotten about that? Aries wasn't strong on her own, but her wool paired with Alu's fire made her rather formidable in that regard.
Ivan had enough. He was going to end this now. And the first thing he was going to do was take Aries out of the equation, permanently.
He snatched a key off his belt and held it out.
"OPEN, GATE OF THE DARK LION!" he summoned. "LEO!"
In an instant, that same dark version of Leo appeared.
"Destroy Aries!" Ivan shouted.
Neo Leo only gave a creepy grin before charging at the defenseless Aries.
"ARIES!" Violet shrieked with terror. "LOOK OUT!"
But Neo Leo was already closing in on the Golden Ram Spirit. He raised his fist and it burst into life with Dark Regulus.
Aries screamed in fear, shut her eyes, and raised her arms in a futile attempt to defend herself. But she knew that once that attack hit her, that would be it.
Neo Leo brought his fist down…
…but Aries felt nothing.
What she did hear, though, was a powerful blow just in front of her.
She snapped eyes open in alarm. What she saw, was one of the most terrifying thing she couldn't have ever imagined. It was like time had slowed down for her, Natsu, Happy, and Violet.
When she saw her dearest friend in peril, Alu had somehow found the strength to bolt across the cave and leap in the way of Neo Leo's attack. However, she didn't have any Dragon Slayer Magic left to summon a barrier again. Instead, used herself as a human shield and took the blow.
Neo Leo had hit her straight in the stomach.
What was worse was that as soon as Neo Leo's attack hit her, a small burst of blood came out of Alu's abdomen.
Natsu's eyes widened in horror when he saw that. This was by far the worst thing he had seen yet.
Alu had been injured. She had been injured right in front of him.
"ALU, NOOOO!" Natsu yelled.
To make matters worse, Neo Leo took the opportunity to kick Alu in the stomach. Alu was sent straight up towards the ceiling of the cave. The air was knocked completely out of her as she slammed into it. She then fell back down to the ground below, just a few yards in front of Natsu.
Alu laid where she was, gasping in agony. She wrapped her arms around her middle, twisting and curling in pain.
"Hmph," Neo Leo scoffed. "Foolish girl. That's what you get for getting in my way."
Aries, shocked and horrified, immediately got up and ran to Alu's side and knelt down. Violet quickly flew over to Alu and landed beside her, her eyes wide with terror. Happy just stared with petrified eyes. He was unable to move.
"Alu!" Aries tearfully cried. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"I-It's not your fault, Aries." Alu groaned. "I'm okay."
Unfortunately, Alu coughed up blood that splattered onto the ground. She gritted her teeth and struggled to get up. But it was clear she was in utter agony, even more than before.
Seeing the little nuisance in such pain made Ivan lifted up his head and laughed manically.
"Oh, how noble for a weakling!" Ivan said, mockingly. "Using herself as a shield to protect a measly tool! How amusing! If I had known that was all it took to kill her, I would've done it sooner!"
Natsu's eyes flashed with unspeakable rage and he struggled against his binding with vicious determination.
"IVAN, YOU BASTARD!" he roared. "LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE!"
"She's the one who started this fight, Dragon Slayer." Ivan grinned wickedly. "I'm just following through. Besides, she's the reason you're in this mess in the first place, isn't she?"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Natsu shot back angrily. "THIS ISN'T HER FAULT!"
"Oh, relax." Ivan replied shrewdly. "I'll make sure she doesn't share the same fate as you. She'll at least move onto the afterlife. I promise I'll make her death a swift one. That is once I'm finished with you. I think it'll be more appropriate if she was to die somewhat by your hand, as you are part of the reason she came into this world in the first place."
Natsu growled savagely at that remark, but Ivan took no notice.
"Now, where were we? Ah, yes, now I remember. You might want to prepare yourself, Dragon Slayer. Soon you'll just be an empty shell."
Ivan stretched out his hand and prepared to cast the Soul Stealer Curse.
"Dad, no!" Alu moaned fearfully.
Alu opened one eye and looked down at her torso. Nervous sweat began to roll down her face when she saw her shirt was stained red and soaked with blood.
Wait, her blood! And she still had her Celestial Magic!
Those two details combined gave Alu an idea. It was desperate one, and a certain Spirit was going to kill her for doing this, but this was her only chance to save her father. She had to take it.
Mustering up all of the strength she had, Alu seized a key off of her belt and rose to her feet, fighting off the pain that threatened to make her collapse again. She stood up between her father and Ivan. This made everyone stop and look at her. Ivan was so surprised by this that he even stopped midway through his Soul Stealing command. Natsu became worried when Alu stood up. He could tell she was doing all she could to stay on her feet.
"I'm…not…done…yet!" Alu panted heavily with determination.
Alu then raised her key up into the air.
"Alu!" Natsu cried. "What are you-!"
"OPEN, GATE OF THE WATER BEARER!" ALu screeched. "AQUARIUS!"
With that command; and to the horror of Natsu, Aries, Happy and Violet; Alu drove the end of the key into the gash in her stomach and turned it!
"ALU!" Natsu screamed with terrified shock.
Alu's cried out in excruciating pain as a Magic Celestial Gate emerged from the center of her body and Aquarius appeared out of it. The young mage then fell straight into Aries's arms, panting for precious air.
Everyone in the room stared in disbelief.
"She used her own blood to summon Aquarius?!" Ivan thought to himself, absolutely dumbfounded.
Aquarius, having sensed that Alu summoned her by a most revolting manner, turned around sharply.
"Disgusting little impudent!" she raged. "What were you thinking of summoning me from-!"
Aquarius rant instantly stopped when she saw Alu's condition. Her faced changed dramatically from angrily irritated to very, very worried.
Alu looked up at Aquarius with weakness in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," the pink-haired girl said, her voice weary and tearful. "I was desperate. You can kill me for that later…if you want. But please, Aquarius. I'm begging you. Save my dad. Please."
For a moment, Aquarius didn't move. Natsu stared in disbelief when he saw the Water Spirit. How did Alu summon Aquarius? Aquarius's Key was broken the last time he checked, and there was no way Alu couldn't opened Aquarius's Gate by her own volition without the key.
Then Aquarius moved. She turned around menacingly and looked at Ivan. Her eyes were blazing with hatred, and had a desire to kill.
Then without warning, Aquarius summoned her silver urn and a blast of powerful, pure blue water shot from it. It headed straight for Neo Leo and hit him with such force that he couldn't hold his ground. He was swept away and slammed straight into the wall of the cavern.
Aquarius then turned her fire on Ivan. He almost didn't put up a shikigami shield in time as her waves of fury closed in on him.
While Aquarius was busy defending the group, Alu reached for one more key.
"Alu, you shouldn't!" Aries advised franticly.
"I've got to." Alu said, her voice sounding more like a whisper. "I've still got some Magic left."
Alu then held the key up and summoned the last bit of her Celestial Magic.
"Open, Gate of the Twins, Gemini!"
In an instant, Gemini appear in the form of Alu herself. The Twin Spirits had sensed Alu's danger and immediately assumed the form of their master. They also looked just as worried as everyone else the instant they saw her condition.
"Gemini, please" Alu begged, "save my dad. Melt the chains. Melt the chains."
"Sure thing, Alu!" Gemini nodded understandingly. "Leave it to us."
Using a copy of Alu's Dragon Slayer Magic, Gemini worked quickly to melt the chains that bound Natsu to the shrine. They started with his right wrist and worked around counter clockwise. Thankfully, not a lot of Magic was needed for this task.
Natsu let his limbs drop down the moment the restraints holding them were gone. He never once took his eyes off Alu. The moment he was free, he quickly staggered away from the shrine and over to his daughter. Gemini gave one, "Piri – Piri", before closing their Gate and disappearing.
As soon as he reached Alu, Natsu fell to his knees and took her from Aries's arms. He scooped her up in his own with tender love and care, but also urgency.
"Alu, talk to me!" he said franticly.
"Dad..." Alu moaned. She was having a hard time staying conscious now.
Natsu scowled and gritted his teeth.
Ivan dared to harm his daughter like this and take pleasure in it! It was unforgivable! Natsu wanted revenge!
However, even he couldn't deny that the effects of Neo Ophiuchus's injection hadn't warn off. He could at least move now, but it wasn't to the point where he could fight. Not only that, but he couldn't summon any of his Magic.
"Natsu!" Aquarius suddenly called out, getting his attention. "Get Alu and yourself somewhere safe! I'll hold these guys off for as long as I can! And don't worry, I'll close my Gate as soon as you're safe away! NOW, GO!"
Natsu didn't hesitate. He knew Aquarius was right. As much as he wanted to destroy Ivan for what he did to his daughter, he couldn't deny that Alu needed him more.
He picked Alu up in his arms and got to his feet. Aries also stood up while Happy and Violet summoned their Area Wings.
"Thanks, Aquarius, I owe you one!" Natsu said. "And great to see ya again!"
"JUST GO!" Aquarius ordered harshly.
Natsu obeyed and ran toward the nearest exit with Aries, Happy and Violet close behind him.
This exit wasn't the one that Natsu came in from. This one led further into the mountain. But he didn't care. He just had to find some place safe so he could tend to Alu properly.
He felt sick to his stomach whenever he heard her moan and groan with discomfort. And he felt a horrible stab in his chest when she involuntarily grabbed hold of his jacket. She held onto it tightly, like she was seeking comfort from it. From him.
"Hang in there, Alu!" Natsu encouraged. "You're going to be fine, I promise! Just hold on!"
