Thank you to everyone that read the last chapter. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Chapter 60

Oracion Seis' Angel

Lucy

With a flash of golden light, the ground beneath us began to shake as a massive black figure emerged from the light. It burst forward and rammed into Siegrain while simultaneously picking up its summoner. What emerge from that gate was a gigantic, half-organic, half-mechanical, dark snake. The creature flew into the sky, with the white-haired woman holding onto its scales. I had learned legends of a thirteenth zodiac key, but I never imagined that it was real. Before me stood the thirteenth golden zodiac, Ophiuchus.

Erigor flew up to meet with the woman, "Hey Angel, maybe some warning next time you do that?"

The woman scoffed at him, "Suck it up, Erigor."

Natsu chuckled beside me. I noticed that both him and Gray were at my side, most likely to protect me from the summoning of this creature.

"Aw, that's cute." Natsu said, "They have pet names!"

"I guess even dark mages can find love." Gray teased.

"Very funny." The woman replied, "But unfortunately for him, I'm not interested. We at Oracion Seis use code names, and mine is Angel."

"Code names?" I repeated, unimpressed.

"I guess that makes sense…" Gray said, very unimpressed.

"That sounds so cool!" Natsu shouted excitedly.

Siegrain flew back over to me and I noticed his jacket was torn and he was bleeding. He inspected the wound quickly before turning his attention back to Angel and Erigor.

"So, then Lucy," she said, "Tell me, what kind of Golden Spirits do you have? I'd be happy to take them off your hands!"

As she said this, she closed Caelum's gate and reached for another golden key. I gulped in fear. It was one thing to summon a golden spirit alongside a silver spirit, but if she was truly going to summon another golden spirit, how strong must she be? Summoning one golden spirit takes so much out of me, that I couldn't even summon a silver spirit alongside it.

"Let's even the odds a bit," she said, "Open: Gate of The Scorpion: Scorpio!"

A golden light once more erupted in front of her, and out came a humanoid man with a mechanical scorpion's tail. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and wore a wicked smile. His hands were making a rockers symbol.

"We Are!" He exclaimed, "Ready to fight!"

"Scorpio, blow them away!" Angel ordered to her spirit.

His tail shot forward and fired a blast of sand our way, "Begone with our sand!"

Siegrain grabbed me with his right arm and pulled me out of the way as a giant bullet of sand made impact where we were standing. Natsu, Happy, and Gray were all able to dodge out of the way. Taurus couldn't get out of the way on time and took the attack head on. Being one of my stronger spirits, I expected him to be able to handle the attack. I was wrong. I felt his gate close immediately. This wasn't good, Taurus was probably one of my sturdiest spirits.

Angel didn't stop there. She sent Ophiuchus at Siegrain and I, while she jumped off with the aid of Erigor. The snake spirit barred its fangs at us and tried to chomp down on us. Siegrain maneuvered out of the way but dropped me suddenly into the raging river. I quickly lost my bearings and couldn't even tell what side was up. I began to freak out as water rushed past me violently, not unlike when Aquarius is annoyed with me. With that thought in mind, I tried to calm down enough to locate her key.

Trying to speak underwater, I called out to The Water Bearer and opened her gate. The water swirled around me just as violently, but it was getting further away from me. I felt Aquarius grab a hold of me and bring me safely to land.

"What the hell, Lucy?" Aquarius screamed at me, "Why are you trying to swim in a raging river…AGAIN!?"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Aquarius?"

"Scorpio?"

I looked to Aquarius and saw her cast a loving gaze at Scorpio, one which he returned. At that moment, Gray stepped in and assaulted Scorpio with a wave of ice.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend!" Aquarius cried as she readied herself to pelt Gray with water.

"Aquarius, no!" I shouted.

Aquarius thankfully listened to me and did not attack Gray, though at this point he was fully engaged with the Celestial Spirit.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I'll tell you what the meaning of this is." Came Angel's voice, "Lucy's forcing you to fight your boyfriend."

Aquarius turned to me menacingly, "You wouldn't really make me do that, would you?"

"What? No, I mean…" I bit my lower lip. Aquarius was one of my strongest spirits. She may not have been the sturdiest, but she could really dish out some pain. Not to mention with this river here, we were at an advantage. But forcing her to fight against a spirit she was so close to…it left a bad taste in my mouth.

"I see…" Aquarius turned around to face Angel, "You're lucky I'm contractually obliged to fight your battles. Luckily, if we take her out first, I won't have to fight Scorpio."

Aquarius pointed her Urn at Angel and a torrent of water shot out.

"Scorpio!" She called out in a singing voice.

Scorpio jumped to his summoners rescue, which unfortunately for him, left him wide open for Gray. Icicles were fired at Scorpio and stabbed into his mechanical tail. I watched him wince as he stepped between Angel and Aquarius's attack. Somewhat predictably, Aquarius angled her attack away from Angel up into the air.

"Now attack!" Angel cried out.

Scorpio attempted to move his tail, but it wouldn't move as naturally as we would have liked. The damage sustained from Gray attack did enough to slow him down a bit, allowing Aquarius and I to jump out of the way. He fired his sand at us, and we split into opposite directions.

"Lucy!" I heard Natsu call out.

I looked in the direction of my friend's voice, but it wasn't him I saw, it was Erigor, rushing at me with his scythe at the ready. I thought for sure that I was a goner, but Natsu was right behind him. The Fire Dragon Slayer used his own magic to speed himself and Happy up, and they managed to grab a hold of Erigor and throw him off course. He flew up after Erigor and sucker punched him in the face.

I turned my attention back to Aquarius and could see that she was very conflicted about having to fight Scorpio. I know I could force her to fight, but it just felt so wrong.

"Lucy, listen." Aquarius began, "I'm sorry…I know I'm supposed to protect you but…no…I can't end up like…"

I watched Aquarius's face light up, as though she had just realized something. Off in the distance behind her, I could see Siegrain doing battle with Ophiuchus. He was darting around, firing magic beams at the massive serpent. They didn't seem to be doing much of anything though. The serpent was about to try and bite down on him when Aquarius continued.

"I have a solution to our problem!" Aquarius said.

I turned my attention back to her, "I'm all ears."

"I know two spirits that have a personal vendetta against Angel. They would fight tooth and nail if it meant bringing her down."

I thought for a moment about who she could be referring to. It didn't take long though. There were only two spirits who I had contracts with that had a shared past that I wasn't entirely knowledgeable of.

"Loke and Aries."

Aquarius nodded her head, "I'm sure they would want a chance to take a crack at her…especially Leo."

"Alright, Close: Gate of The Water Bearer."

With a flash of golden light, Aquarius disappeared from my realm. I took a quick look at Angel and found she was watching me with intrigue. Gray was still keeping Scorpio busy, but it looked like he recovered from whatever he did to his tail.

I grabbed Loke's key and pointed it at Angel, "Open: Gate of The Lion: Leo!"

The same spectacle occurred as with any other summoning. The familiar form of Loke stepped forward, wearing his trademark suit and sunglasses. He turned to me, totally ignoring the battle going on and made a spectacle of addressing me, throwing his arms out wide.

"Lucy, to what do I owe the pleasure!"

At that moment, a torrent of sand was fired in our direction. Instantly, Loke grabbed a hold of me bridle style and jumped high into the air. Ophiuchus chased after me, with Siegrain trailing behind. I only had a moment to fear for my life as Ophiuchus bared it's fangs at me. Loke placed one foot on it's fang and kicked off. We landed safely on a tree brand and he bounced back down to ground and placed me down. Gray was keeping Scorpio well occupied.

"So, looks like you'll be needing my help then." Loke said, "You were right to summon. Very few Spirits are as adept at combat as me."

"Finally, after all this time, I find Leo's key." Angel called out with a wicked smile.

"And you must be the one that killed my last owner." Loke replied, "I'll make you pay for that.

My eyes widened in horror. I guess I should have expected that, but it was still haunting to hear.

"We'll see about that. In no time you'll be contracted to me."

There was a twinkle in her eye as she said this. I gulped.

"Ophiuchus!"

Loke was quick to pick me back up, bridal style, and leap out the way of the massive snake coming tumbling down upon us. Angel ordered for Scorpio to follow up with a jet of sand. The sand never came and glancing over to Scorpio, I found that his tail was frozen solid. Good work, Gray. There was something worrying though. I could account for Natsu and Happy, they were fighting a winning fight against Erigor, but Siegrain was nowhere to be found!

"Ophiuchus…" Loke muttered as we landed, "Be weary of her bite. Her venom is extremely potent."

I recalled seeing Siegrain with a cut on his shoulder and potentially being bitten a moment ago.

Before any further action could be taken, Ophiuchus veered around and came at me a Loke again. He jumped out of the way of the serpent.

"Don't worry, Lucy, I'll protect you!"

Unfortunately, despite his words, the much larger body of the snake threatened to swipe us into the ground. Loke threw me towards a tree and took the brunt of the snake's attack. My back stung as I crashed into a branch and fell to the ground. I suppose it could have been worse. Ophiuchus didn't hit me.

As I picked myself up, I only had a moment to realize that I was on the same side of the raging river as Angel. I watched her trying to run away and get some distance. I looked back over to Loke to find him keeping Ophiuchus busy. Although he was on the defense, the combat specialist was doing a good job of getting a hit in here and there while dodging the monster's attacks.

I picked myself up and rushed after Angel. It was up to me to take her down and shut down her Celestial Spirits. Fortunately, she wasn't that fast, but the injury I got from being thrown at a tree was really bothering me. It prevented me from really getting the speed I needed to catch her.

I had to get her another way, so I reached to my side and pulled forth my whip! I estimated that the extra range should give me just what I need to take her down. I swiped the whip at Angel, and with a crack, it sliced into her back, causing blood to gush forth.

She cried out in agony and stumbled to her knees.

"Lucy Kick!" I shouted at I kicked Angel to the ground.

Angel growled on the ground and quickly tried to roll away. I grabbed her arm though and prevented her from escaping. She tried to pull free, but I was the stronger woman.

"Ophiuchus!" She called in anger.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Fire exploded on the other side of the river as Ophiuchus cried out. It would seem that Natsu had finished off Erigor.

"Scorpio!"

We both looked over to Scorpio and found him completely incased in ice. Gray was holding his position, most likely trying to keep him from escaping. I let a smile grace my lips, but it was quickly wiped off when Angel threw her head back and rammed her skull against mine.

That did the job of loosening my grip and allowed Angel to get free. She swung a fist at me, which connected with my jaw. She threw another and began to try and push me back. The sound of the river became more and more pronounced as I realized what she was hoping to do. I successfully blocked some attacks and tried to maneuver myself into a more advantageous position, but all I managed to do was crash into the mud with Angel. Our fight quickly devolved into a cat fight, with both of us inching closer and closer to the river. Finally, the commotion from Ophiuchus fighting Loke and Natsu caused a large enough wave to seep up Angel and I and send us rushing downstream.

I let go of Angel as the water rushed past me. I felt like my body was being flung to and fro. I felt rocks pelt against my skin as my perception of up, down, left, and right became distorted. I began to freak out, and felt my consciousness begin to fade away.

What will happen to Lucy!?

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