PLEASE READ THIS NOTE BEFORE GETTING TO THE CHAPTER! IT'S VERY IMPORTANT!
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Right, before I get into this, I owe you an apology. Long story short, my PC broke down one day before I wanted to upload this chapter, and being the moron I am, I did not post it into the docs. Which means that in order to publish it, I had to wait to get my PC back from repairs, which I did this afternoon. So, yay.
This chapter is short and slightly filler, because it was supposed to be posted in the same week as Ch 24. Next ones will be much better.
Also, I have decided to drop following the manga. Many of you keep telling me the story dropped in quality, and I felt it too. I feel trapped, caged in by the canon material...but no more. Starting with this chapter, I am stopping following it and I will make Tenrou my own original Arc. I will go back to my roots and once again believe in my own writing, the one so many of you fell in love with in Seven Commandments Arc. This rule will also apply to all future Arcs.
I will keep the important events and battles as they are, but dialogue, minor events, interactions, order of events - they're all going to be changed, with my own original additions.
Also, you guys told me I am dragging this arc out. I am not. This is how long it takes to get this arc done in the forms of writing. The chapter that contains Makarov vs Hades was worth 100 pages of manga material. The arc itself is simply this long.
This chapter contains two new OC's, who will keep Lucy and Cana some company.
Also, at the end of each new chapter, I will be leaving a short list of changes that I made.
Thank you for understanding, and enjoy the chapter! The next one will not take as long, I swear.
Loke grabbed his wrist with his hand and lit up his fist, before dashing and punching Capricorn right in the jaw. The spirit was blown away and crashed right into the wall of the nearby ruins, and fell through. He regained his footing and slid on the ground, with one hand on the ground to kill the momentum.
Loke followed him through the wall, only to be brutally kneed in the stomach, which took breath out of his lungs. He grabbed the leg with his left hand to secure his opponent in one place and elbowed the Kin in the jaw with his right, causing both men to break contact, as they both slid backwards.
"How many years has it been since you've vanished from the Spirit Realm?" asked Loke, before dashing once again.
"Seventeen." calmly replied the goat and blocked his punch with his left forearm, before throwing a strike of his own, which was also blocked. Both men secured themselves in a power struggle, one that was slowly shifting in favor of Capricorn.
"I refuse to believe you've found yourself a human capable of keeping you in here for so long. Who is your master?"
"I do not have a master." replied Capricorn and headbutted Loke, before kicking him in the gut and jumping back. "I, myself, am a Master, who uses humans to his will."
As he proclaimed so, the Kin swiped his fingers in the air.
OPEN: HERO OF RUBENGARD! SAN JAO SHIN!
Before Loke could even react, he was struck with a spear by a man clad in armor. The cut was shallow, but powerful, knocking the spirit back and causing him to cough up blood and spit. With his purpose fulfilled, the human vanished in thin air, leaving confused and shocked Loke on his knees.
"What...what was that?!" he gasped and looked at Capricorn, seeking answers.
"The young, genius general San Jao Shin, who led the army of rebels in the civil war of Rubengard in X799. According to the official files, he's gone missing in action, but the truth is that he's become my subordinate." explained Capricorn.
"You can...summon a human?! That's ridiculous!"
"Now, allow me to come back to my earlier question, the one you've so aggressively tried to take my attention away from. Let's talk about your Master."
Loke grit his teeth and stood up. "What for?"
The goat raised his eyebrows. "So that I can make her my subordinate as well, obviously. I've already figured out that it's the woman with blonde hair."
Loke's face was the pure definition of a giveaway. He took couple deep breaths, assessing his damage.
"You wish to fight me one on one? Wrong. You've challenged me so that she could escape. Although you have technically fulfilled your task, finding this woman after I dispose of you will be a trivial matter to deal with. Your noble sacrifice will buy her an additional hour of life. How unsightly the duty of a spirit is..."
Capricorn stopped mocking his opponent, and stared at him with his eyes wide open. "Wait a moment...this woman..."
Loke clenched his teeth and kicked the ground as hard as he could, before driving his fist deep into his opponent's stomach. Capricorn's figure bent in half, which allowed Loke to kick him underneath the chin and then strike his stomach once again. He's noticed! I must deal with him as fast as I can, before-
Loke's rush was broken by a powerful punch to the gut, that dropped him to his knees. Capricorn grabbed him by his suit and threw him to the side like a sack of potatoes, before wiping the blood off his lips.
"Your reaction only confirms it. That woman...is Layla Heartfillia's daughter!"
Loke quickly stood up and put up his fists, ready to strike again at any time.
"I shall not allow her to breathe any minute longer!" roared Capricorn, veins popping on his forehead. "Where is that woman?!"
Lucy carefully walked in a circle around Rica, who continued to stare at her with amusement.
"You know, no matter how long you walk around me, you're not really gonna find any openings to use." said the girl with amusement. "If you're in a mood to play games, then..."
Rica canceled her tornados and cut the air with her arm. Although Lucy couldn't see anything, she knew that nothing good was coming her way. She dropped to her knees and felt something fly above her head, only to then hear a weird sound behind her. When she turned around, she noticed that the trees behind her have been cut in half, and have now started to slowly make their way towards the ground. Lucy gulped loudly, becoming even more anxious.
"I may act friendly, but my job is to kill you, you know. Sorry." said the girl, and for a moment, Lucy thought she could spot a small glimpse of regret in her voice.
"I'm getting used to it, you know." said the blonde and pulled out a key from her holster. If her wind is powerful enough to cut through trees, then she will most likely blow away most of my spirits. Scorpio and Aquarius are out of the question, as well as Aries and Sagittarius. That means my only chance at beating her is by using my power-type spirits.
OPEN: GATE OF BULL! TAURUS!
Rica let out an impressed sound, as she watched Taurus materialize in front of Lucy. The spirit roared loudly and smashed his axe into the ground, causing it to shake.
"Huh, so you summon spirits." pointed out Rica. "I'm kinda disappointed. After I'm through with them, you won't be too much of an enjoyment."
"If you get through my spirits, you mean." said Lucy with a smirk. "Taurus, she's an enemy!" she said to her spirit and pointed with her hand.
"I'm not too fond of fighting ladies, but your wish is my command!" announced the spirit and dashed at the girl, his axe ready to strike.
Rica merely grinned and sent another blade of air in Lucy's direction, only to be parried by Taurus. This caught Rica's attention and made her slightly more serious. She sent out three more blades, all of them blocked or countered by Taurus and his axe.
With each block, Taurus was getting closer and closer, and with the final one out of his way, he ran up to the girl and struck his hammer down at her, forcing her to jump away to the side. He followed her and swiped to his left, only to be dodged when Rica leaned back so much the weapon went above her nose. She raised her right hand and blasted the spirit with a wave of air, which slightly pushed him back, but was ineffective otherwise.
"You'll have to try better than that!" said proudly Taurus and smashed his axe where Rica was just a second ago. This pissed the girl off.
"Looks like I won't be able to get rid of you with just one hand." she murmured and stood up, before sliding her legs to the side, widely apart from each other. She extended her hands in front of her body and took a deep breath, her aim locked on charging Taurus.
AIR CANNON!
Taurus was blasted with the same wave of air as previously, only this time it was twice as powerful. This proved to be too much for him, and his feet lost contact with the ground, followed by his body smashing into nearby trees, breaking them in the process. Lucy has also been knocked off her feet by the wind, and grabbed on to a root sticking out of the ground to prevent herself from being blasted like her spirit was.
After couple seconds Rica canceled her attack and exhaled deeply, a smile forming on her face. "There. Nice and quiet."
Lucy groaned from pain and opened her eyes, which widened in shock at the sight of the devastation caused by Rica's wind magic. To her horror, Taurus was nowhere to be found.
"Taurus!" she called out to him and quickly stood up to her feet.
"I wouldn't come close to him if I were you!" warned her Rica with a smile and swiped her arm to the right. In the meantime, Taurus ran out of the trees and charged at the girl again, only to be slashed by a blade of wind. The attack caused him to stagger and lose his balance, which was used against him by Rica, who struck him with three more blades, effectively turning him into pieces of light.
"Miss….Lucy..." he groaned, before vanishing in the air, forced to go back to his Realm due to his injuries.
"No way..." gasped Lucy, and noticed that Rica was winding up again. She had only mere seconds to throw herself to the side and avoid having her head cut off.
"You know, running will only make it worse!" shouted the girl and clapped her hands.
AIR PRISON!
In an instant Lucy was surrounded by four high walls of wind, that successfully blocked her way out. Although she was imprisoned, she had plenty of room inside. She gently picked up a couple of stones that had been lying by her feet and threw them at one of the walls. To her horror, the stones have been turned to dust in less than a second, the sight grimly making her imagine her own body in their stead.
"I'm kinda short on time, so this will have to do." shouted Rica from outside of the jail. "I'm pretty sure you're gonna jump all over the place if we do it the honorable way, so we won't do that. This thing will close itself in few minutes, so I'd better think of a way out if I were you."
The girl cracked her neck and turned around, stretching her arms above her head in the meantime. "I'm out. If I see any of your friends, I'll let them know we've met. See you later, blondie." she threw in farewell and started to walk away into the jungle, leaving puzzled Lucy inside the wind prison. Or so she thought.
Despite her tough situation, Lucy grinned and reached out to her holster. "Sorry, but unfortunately for you, I've got some experience behind my belt." she said, the key she pulled out glowing dangerously.
E Route
Cana threw herself to the side and rolled on the ground, before throwing several of her cards at the knives flying in her direction. She managed to knock down all but one, which forced her to slip her head to the side. Despite that, the blade managed to scratch her cheek, small drops of blood flowing down her skin.
Cana scoffed and wiped her cheek with her sleeve, before standing to her feet. She was currently fighting a female member of Grimoire Heart named Sasha, who specialized in Requipped knives. They were currently fighting in an already damaged, busted cave that – unbeknownst to both of them – was the place Natsu and Gildarts had their battle few hours earlier.
The broken ground was acting heavily against Cana, who's been on the defense ever since the fight has begun. Unfortunately for her, her opponent was much more nimble and acrobatic, as well as deadly.
"Quite quick at running away, aren't ya?" mocked her Sasha and licked one of her knives. She was a young woman, older than Cana, with cold, green eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. She was wearing a dark-blue tanktop with brown cargo pants that stored many holsters for knives on both of her thighs. Her guild mark was tattooed on the right side of her neck. She had heavy combat boots and expressed herself in a manner that was more fitting for a man, rather than woman.
"You just suck at throwing knives." taunted her Cana with a grin, which earned her another wave of knives flying in her direction. However this time, instead of running, she calmly pulled out a card and held it before her face.
STONE WALL!
A narrow wall grew out from the ground before her, successfully blocking the blades. Knowing full well that it acted against her in terms of vision, she quickly canceled it, her fears becoming reality, with Sasha already gone from her previous spot. She was directly above the brunette and sent another set of knives that rained down on her. Cana placed a card on the ground and jumped to the side, with Sasha and the knives falling where she previously stood. Cana smirked and snapped her fingers.
SWAMP!
The ground beneath Sasha's feet liquefied and started to drag her down. Although it was not strong enough to fully take her out of commission, it was just enough to allow Cana to throw another set of cards at the blonde. She swiftly dodged them and retaliated with her knives, which were once again blocked.
"Your aim sucks." scoffed Sasha and ripped her feet out of the swamp with brute force, before jumping back. "You keep throwing this shit around, and yet you haven't hit me even once."
Cana smirked and gestured with the index and middle fingers of her right hand. Before the blonde could ask what was that for, she felt something sliding on her cheek, with something warm flowing down her face a second later. Sasha touched her face and examined her wet hand, finding blood on her fingers, courtesy of her freshly cut cheek.
Cana caught the card and swiped it to the side to shake the blood off.
"I'm sorry, you were saying?" she asked her with a grin and took in the sight of her furious opponent with pleasure.
The girl yelled something back angrily, but Cana was too distracted to listen to it. She watched her surroundings with great care, trying to come up with possible escape routes from the upcoming waves of weapons. She took in the craters, debris, the hole in the ceiling, as well as the dying flames in the corners. Now it made sense why this place looked like a battlefield. It's because it was.
Cana's thoughts then shifted to Lucy. If she herself was all alone, then that meant so was she. She then thought of the idea Lucy had gotten before the attack, and that it could have been the key to passing the exam, How nice it'd be to hear it…
Cana shook her head aggressively and killed these thoughts. The Exam was not the priority here – it was survival. She cursed herself at the back of her mind for trying to be selfish again, and carefully watched Sasha dash at her right knives stored in-between her fingers. She pulled out more cards and focused on her enemy, thinking of how to successfully and swiftly pull out her strategy.
Clock was ticking.
Loke and Zoldeo continue to glare at one another, the latter's patience wearing thin.
"As long as that woman lives..." he grit his teeth and motioned his fingers in the air, with another gate opening before him. "Hunter of Belparaso: Samagui! Go and kill Layla Heartfillia's heir!"
The summoned human nodded and rushed into the island, or rather tried to. He was stopped by a powerful strike to the back of his head, that heavily rocked him and smashed him into the ground, forcing him to back to his world.
"Try again." mocked him Loke and adjusted his glasses.
Capricorn roared in fury and opened several gates at once, multiple fighters and warriors from different ages attacking Loke all at once.
The spirit merely cracked his neck and lit up his fist so bright it blinded Capricorn, despite his sunglasses. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that his summonings have been purified, their figures leaving small traces of smoke in the air.
Blind with fury, Capricorn threw himself and Loke and tried to hit him with a wide right hook. It was easily dodged by Loke, who ducked underneath it and plunged his fist in his opponent's stomach, before kicking him away. He ran after him and delivered yet another kick that landed on Capricorn's left cheek, and forced him to slide backwards on the balls of his feet.
"According to Crux, you've made a pact with Layla 20 years ago. I don't really know, nor care what kind of a deal you've made in the human world, but after Layla's death, your current Master should be Lucy – her daughter. Even if she doesn't know it herself." said Loke. "What the hell happened to you, Capricorn?" he asked with a gentle, concerned frown. Despite being enemies at the moment, he still cared for his old friend.
Capricorn's expression eased up and he exhaled gently through his nose, his body loosening up. "Taboo." he replied shortly.
Loke's eyes narrowed in slight confusion, as the goat started to chuckle to himself under his nose.
"Every magic has its tolls and limitations, rules that should not be broken. I broke one of those, I've committed taboo. As a result, I got this body!" he yelled and laughed in ironic fashion, creeping Loke out. "I'm a goat! Isn't that hilarious?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked him grimly Loke and took a step back, not particularly fond of what might follow this outburst.
"You know, I've been starting to miss my human form." said Capricorn and licked his lips. "The timing is perfect."
Loke jumped back and lit up his fists, completely unwilling to participate in Capricorn's sick plans. The goat simply grinned and suddenly vanished in thin air, shocking Loke.
"Calm down, Leo. I can't afford to damage you any further, you know." the spirit heard a whisper behind him.
To his horror, it was Capricorn, who managed to get behind his back, his kick already in motion.
"What's wrong with this speed?!" gasped Loke under his nose, and felt his ribs bending under the pressure of the goat's kick. He was blown away like a ragdoll and smashed into the nearby wall, breaking it in the process. He clutched his torso and coughed aggressively, breathing coming with problems.
Capricorn cracked his neck and raised his hands, before chanting.
HUMAN SUBORDINATION MAGIC: HUMARAISE!
"I'm a spirit, remember?" groaned Loke and stood up to his feet. "This magic will not work on me."
"Yes, that itself is taboo. I am unable to cast this magic on someone who is not human." explained calmly Capricorn. "Those who do, however..."
The dots in Loke's head connected in an instant. "You bastar-"
"Fuse with their target!" finished the goat with a mad grin.
"So you're actually a human who fused with Capricorn?!" yelled Loke and dashed at the goat with his fist raised.
"That's exactly right! And now, I'm going to take your body, Leo!"
Loke punched Capricorn as hard as he could, the light from his fist lighting the ruins in bright-orange light. To his horror, he spotted a black, misty figure levitating over his old friend, that merely grinned and launched itself at him, before getting into his mouth.
After couple seconds of struggling, Loke gasped loudly and exhaled, before smirking to himself.
He looked down at his figure and examined his hands, before hissing in pain.
"Oh, that's right...The wound I, or rather he inflicted on me…Eh, not as annoying as I expected it to be." he murmured to himself under his nose and punched his left hand, before blowing into full out laughter. Loke's body has been possessed, and the previous vessel was now lying on the ground, unconscious.
"I'm finally human again..." he cried with joy and looked down at his old body. "Well, I guess I gotta thank you for all these years. Though, after taking a hit from Leo, you're probably gonna be out for hours." he then stretched his back and grinned again. "My name is Leo. My master is Lucy." he chanted to himself like a spell. "And by killing this whore...I shall become a complete human!" he finished, a mad laugh escaping his mouth.
Rica tapped her foot on the ground and whistled out of boredom, as she watched Lucy's prison slowly closing in on itself. "I guess it's over by now." she hummed under her nose and carefully watched the size of the prison. "No way she fits in there anymore."
Bored and slightly disappointed, she wanted to walk away in search of a new target, but something caught her attention. If Lucy was truly dead, then there would be blood. Lots of it. And yet, whatever it was that was under the cage of wind was definitely not blood. If anything, it looked like…
She took couple of slow steps forward, and before she could properly squint her eyes to take a better look, Rica felt the ground beneath her feet crumble, as she fell into a hole. She managed to spread her arms to the sides to avoid falling all the way in, her legs dangling above the deep, but narrow hole.
"What the..." she grunted, irritated, before spotting something coming out from beneath the ground. To her shock, it was Lucy, who climbed out of the hole, with another girl with pink hair in a maid outfit following her suit.
"It worked!" announced happily the blonde and dusted her clothes off, completely unharmed by the walls of wind. "Thanks, Virgo!" she said cheerfully and raised her hand, giving her spirit a high five.
"Your praise honors me, Princess." said the spirit and gently bowed to her Master after receiving the high five. "Will I be of any more assistance?"
"No, you can go home now. Thank you." said Lucy with a smile.
The maid bowed and vanished, leaving the two women alone to themselves.
Rica's forehead was pulsing with irritation, as she swiftly jumped out of the hole and dusted her shorts off. "You sure it's okay to send your only line of defense away? I'm not gonna give you any more chances, blondie."
"That's okay, you've given me plenty already." smirked Lucy and pulled out a key from her holster.
"Too slow!" yelled Rica and took couple steps forward, with a tornado forming in her right hand. To her surprise, she felt the ground beneath her feet break again, and she has once again found herself in a hole.
"What the..." she grumbled and jumped out, landing several feet away, only to fall into yet another hole. "What the hell have you done?!" she squeaked in a very girly voice and slowly started to crawl her way back to the surface.
"Since you've given me all this time while I was trapped, me and Virgo have decided to repay the favor." explained Lucy. "The entire plain we're currently on is a minefield. Even I don't know where to stand without falling down myself."
"Then you're simply in as much shit as I am." deduced Rica. "Can't say I'm impressed."
"That's okay." smiled Lucy "Because I'm finishing this."
"You're not finishing shit!" yelled Rica and used her wind to push herself out of the hole. While in the air, she pushed her arms out and sent a powerful wave of wind at Lucy, blowing her away like a piece of paper. The blonde smashed into a tree far ahead and gasped from the impact, her key falling out of her hand.
Rica did not finish there. She turned in the air and sent multiple blades in Lucy's direction, forcing her to awkwardly run away to avoid being sliced in half. One of the blades caught her right shoulder, leaving a shallow, but nasty cut.
Seeing that she drew blood, the girl grinned and sent another wave of blades, one of them cutting Lucy's escape route off. Just when she was about to be turned into pieces, the ground beneath her feet crumbled, as she luckily stepped on a hole made by Virgo earlier.
Rica scoffed in annoyance, before spreading her arms to the sides and expanding her wind currents in all directions. The attack triggered all of the landmines, all of the holes popping out one by one. After a whole minute of crumbling, all of the traps have been revealed, allowing Rica to take her path without risking falling down once again.
Lucy started to crawl her way out of the hole, her breathing heavy.
"This time, you're out of tricks, blondie." hissed Rica. "Time to say goodbye."
The blonde stood to her feet and wiped her dirtied cheek with her wrist, before smirking. "I agree." she said. "Do it now!"
Before her opponent could react, she was blasted high in the air by a powerful pillar of water, that knocked air out of her lungs. The pressure and power of the current was too strong for her to simply escape from, so she had no other choice but endure, and allow herself to be blasted off.
Couple seconds later the pressure reduced, marking the beginning of her counterattack. Or so she thought. As soon as she raised her hand to summon her magic, she felt something wrapping itself around her torso, making it impossible to use her arms. She looked down in anger and spotted Lucy, who used her whip to tie her up, and was now getting ready to pull her back down. The problem was, she was not alone.
Right in front of her stood Scorpio, who grabbed the whip together with his Master, and they both pulled down as hard as they could. They shifted their weight and turned around, before throwing immobile, bound Rica over their shoulder, smashing the girl into the ground with enough power to crack it, and force the already existing holes to become one, giant crater.
Lucy panted heavily, but smirked nonetheless and extended her hand to Scorpio, who replied to her high five with a smirk of his own.
"You sure have some guts today, missy." whispered a menacing voice behind her, making Lucy's hair stand up. "Making me wait down there for so long, calling both of us during our vacation..."
Lucy looked at furious Aquarius and smiled apologetically "I'm sorry, but it was a desperate situation…"
"Sorry doesn't cut it."
"C'mon, there's no need for that." smiled Scorpio and waved his hands, trying to calm down Aquarius. "She needed us, we might as well give her 5 minutes of our time and enjoy ourselves later, right?"
The spirit looked at him, and could not keep up her angry face. She sighed and looked away. "I guess. We're leaving."
"Yes." nodded Lucy with gratitude. "Thank you, enjoy your rest."
Aquarius managed to scoff one last time before disappearing. As soon as both of them went back home, the toll of keeping two spirits at the same time hit Lucy like a dumbbell to the head. She staggered and clutched her head, her vision becoming blurry. "Crap, I think I overdid it..." she mumbled to herself. "I don't have time for this...I need to find Cana and Gray, before-"
Her sentence was cut off by a screaming, injured Rica jumping out of the hole like a bullet. Using her wind to launch herself, she flew right into Lucy and blasted her away with a point-blank wave of air, that blew the blonde backwards. The impact knocked the air out of her body, and as she flew through branches and leaves, skin all over her body was being dosed with more and more cuts.
Rica launched herself at Lucy one more time and caught up to her, headbutting her into the stomach and wrapping her arms around her torso. Both women continued to fly through the woods, before landing on the ground. They managed to land right before a narrow landslide, and they both rolled down, now no longer in each other's arms.
Lucy's back planted into the ground, ridding her of air once again. She gasped loudly and started to cough, struggling to breathe. Right next to her was Rica, also recovering from the fall.
Lucy sat up and started to crawl backwards on her butt, carefully observing the girl. Her clothes were a mess, cuts and bruises all over her body. Her forehead was split, fresh blood covering half of her face. She was beyond being able to move, let alone fight.
"Just stop this!" Lucy tried to reason with her. "Any more and you'll die!"
Rica spat some blood to the side and smirked through the pain. "Oh, now it concerns you? After you smashed me into the ground like a hammer?"
Lucy bit her lip. Truth to be told, she expected her to be much more durable than she was in reality.
"Guess there's no way around this..." sighed the blonde to herself and tried to stand up, only to be hit by a dull wave of pain all over her body. She looked down and spotted, that she was in no better shape herself.
Her clothes were in ruins, both from the wind and the trees, and her skin was cut and scratched wherever she looked. Only now did she realise, that this itching, burning sensation was in fact pain from her wounds. With her magic being crippled by her usage of spirits, as well as her opponent's poor state, she reached out for her whip, willing to finish the bout with her hand-to-hand skills she was forced to train with Erza.
"Filth from a goody two shoes guild like you has no idea what it means to be at risk." growled Rica and created two small tornado's in her hands. "Being constantly reminded that there are people above you, being forced to prove yourself and earn your keep every single day. As if I'm going to lose to you, you pathetic-"
Lucy slowly blinked, her eyes widening against her will. "Huh?"
She was forced to watch helplessly, unable to physically react, as in a matter of a second, a giant figure popped out from the bushes behind Rica, and struck the girl in her right side with a backhand. The girl's arm caught by the strike broke like a twig, and her eyes and mouth opened wide in agony, before being blasted to the side like a ragdoll, vanishing in the wilds, her mouth leaving a small river of blood in the air, with some of it landing on Lucy's face.
The blonde followed the girl's body with her eyes, before slowly shifting them at the newcomer, horror slowly wrapping its hand around her throat.
The new figure was an enormous man with very pale skin and permed black hair. He looked at his left hand, confused, and scratched his head. "Huh? Who was it that I hit? I heard someone talking, so I ran and hit the first person in my sight but...huh?" he mumbled to himself, ignoring Lucy.
The blonde gulped loudly and took a slow step back, her foot landing on a small twig that broke under the pressure. This alarmed the giant, who looked at her and frowned.
"Hold on a second...I don't know you! You're an enemy!" he deduced and pointed his finger at the girl.
Lucy threw her whip aside and quickly reached out to her keys, opening the holster. Tons of thoughts flew through her head at once, causing her to panic and breathe loudly.
Who is this guy?! Where did he come from?! What about that girl, did he kill her?! Which spirit should I use? Can I even summon a spirit?! My magic is low, I have to use it wisely! Should I run? No, he's too fast, he will catch me…
Her train of thoughts dulled her reaction time, and a second later the man was already in front of her, his hand pulled back, ready to strike.
"Oh well, we've been told to kill everyone on the island anyway." he said, and before Lucy could even react, a dull sound of a body being struck echoed across the area, causing the nearby animals to flee in fear.
The human in possession of Loke's body laughed to himself maniacally and looked at his new hands, admiring them.
"Lucy believes this body...Perhaps I should act? Yes, that's a great idea Zoldeo...Act, get close to her, and when she's vulnerable – kill her." he mumbled to himself with a smirk. "Or should I keep her as a pet? She is beautiful, almost like her mother...Yes, she'll be my pet first, then I will kill her when I get bored."
He cracked his neck and turned in the direction of the exit. "Well, I best get to it..."
Suddenly, he felt excruciating pain in his torso, as something, or rather someone blew a hole in his stomach. Caprico rose up from the ground and struck fake Loke with orangish light.
"W-what the-" gasped the impostor.
"So this is Regulus at full strength...impressive." murmured Capricorn. "I'm forced to ask you to leave this body at once...Zoldeo."
"This name…!"
A dark grey aura emitted from the wound and launched into the sky, quickly forming into a shape of a man with an afro, who screamed in agony. The man fell to the ground before the spirits and began to whimper.
"Capricorn..." wheezed out Loke.
"My apologies for being this rough. I was unable to think of any other possible way of extracting him from your body." apologized the goat.
"No, it's okay...I know that."
Loke fell to his knees, and was quickly supported by his fellow comrade, who was now back to his senses.
"Why can you move?!" screeched Zoldeo from the floor.
"Just before you could take over his body, Leo gave me Regulus upon impact." explained Capricorn.
"You bastard...back then...you transferred you magic into him?!"
His only response was Loke's smirk.
"It makes no difference! I will simply take you back, even if I need to force myself into-"
His threats were stopped by his body, which started to disintegrate. Before he could even comprehend what was happening to him, his body turned into ashes and scattered with the light breeze, leaving the spirits alone to themselves.
"I have lots of questions to you right now..." groaned Loke and stood up. "But I must go now, and you're probably not in the mood to talk right now."
The goat shook his head. "No, it is quite alright. It happened 20 years ago." He looked at where his captor was in silence, before continuing. "Miss Layla has become sick, and could not continue her work as a mage. When that happened, she'd passed on her three spirits: me, Aquarius and Cancer, to their new Masters. Zoldeo was the one who received my key. However, prior to this event, I had made another pact with Miss Layla. That if she ever came to bear children, I would provide them with my services until the end of time. At first, Zoldeo agreed to it, but was soon consumed by darkness, and in fear of losing me, he committed taboo."
"In other words, your Master has always been Lucy." deduced Loke. "So, how did she look to you?"
Capricorn looked into the horizon and smiled. "She is indeed Miss Layla's daughter. I can tell she treasures and loves her spirits very much."
Loke smiled. "Does that mean we can count on you to lend her your strength?"
"No."
Loke looked at him, confused.
Capricorn smiled even wider. "I cannot give her something that's always belonged to her in the first place."
Loke answered him with a smile of his own.
Lucy stared in awe at the blood that splattered in the air in front of her. She watched in slow motion, as the big man who was just about to attack her was now being blown away by a kick from someone with a familiar black jacket and white scarf.
Natsu jumped out of nowhere and kicked the man in his left cheek, instantly cutting his lip in the process. The man was blown away and hit a nearby tree, that broke in half from the impact, burying him under the trunk.
Natsu landed on his feet and kept his eyes on his new opponent, before slowly shifting them to Lucy. "You alright?" he asked her.
Not fully recovered from the scene, she nodded weakly, despite her wounded and terrified state.
The Dragon Slayer gave her a short nod of his own and returned to the member of Grimoire, who was now freed from the wood. He cracked his neck and wiped blood off his lip, a giant bruise forming on his cheek. "Attacking me from behind...how cowardly!"
The man stood up and reached out to his back pocket. "I am one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, Kain Hikaru. And this..." he paused, before pulling out a voodoo doll. "Is Mister Noro!" he announced in a cheerful tone, before his face grew serious a second later. "I am a reasonable man, but I will not stand for being treated this way. As soon as I plug your hair out, you will experience hell, but before that. I will give you a glimpse of Mister Noro's true power-"
He didn't get to finish, as Natsu dashed forward so fast he couldn't even lower his eyes in time to spot him. Natsu placed his hands on Kain Hikaru's chest and looked him in the eye, his eyes turned into slits, and his stare rid of mercy. "I don't care." he growled.
FIRE DRAGON'S PURGATORY!
The Kin was completely swallowed by a torrent of flames shot point blank from both of Natsu's hands. They devoured both him and everything behind him, turning trees and leaves into ash in an instance. Lucy was forced to lie down and cover her head to bear with the heat, her exposed skin suffering dearly, and her lips drying out so much her upper one opened on its own.
After few more seconds, Natsu canceled his magic, revealing a severely burned and unconscious Kain Hikaru. The man let go of his doll and fell onto his face, his eyes and mouth wide open, his eyes rid of pupils. Natsu exhaled loudly and looked at his hands, his eyes narrowing.
"Shut up." he murmured and turned around, going back to Lucy.
The girl simply stared at the scene in awe. The very man who could have killed her with one move of his arm has been defeated in just two strikes. She shifted her eyes at Natsu, whose face was now more relaxed and gulped. She trusted him, she knew he was a teammate, but sometimes, he was simply terrifying.
"You okay?" he asked her and reached out his hand, which she took with gratitude.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But..." she began and looked at the bushes Rica was thrown into. They were dyed with crimson, with no movement coming out from them what so ever. Knowing what this mean, she narrowed her eyes in grief and looked away. "It's nothing. I'm okay."
Knowing full well what she meant, Natsu also looked at the bushes, but did not say a word.
"How did you find me, anyway?" asked him the blonde.
"You were nearby. Me, Wendy and the cats crashed in a cave nearby. I left them to look for people and start bringing them in one after another." he explained and took off his jacket, before throwing it over Lucy, much to her surprise. Only now did she realise what state her clothing was in, both from the cuts and the fall.
"Thanks." she smiled. "So, where do we go now?"
"Back to the cave. We're gonna travel bit by bit and try to find people on our way back to the main camp. Gramps is down, so we can't go there at full speed."
Lucy's blood froze. Master was down?! The situation has grown much more serious to her understanding.
"I was with Gray and Cana, but we got separated. Are they nearby, too?" she asked him, concerned about their wellbeing.
Natsu sniffed the air in all directions and shook his head. "No, I can't pick up anything."
Lucy lowered her head, worried. "Okay. Let's go back, then."
Just when they were both about to move, someone appeared behind them, with both of them recognizing the newcomer as Mest, who was carrying a giant lacrima on his back.
"I've finally...found someone..." he wheezed out in relief.
Natsu and Lucy looked at him with narrowed eyes. He smelled of trouble.
Cana groaned in irritation and pulled a knife out of her left shoulder, before throwing it back at its owner. "Didn't your mom teach you not to throw knives at people?!"
Sasha deflected the blade with another one and scoffed in response. Not phased by this, Cana pulled out another set of cards and threw them at the girl, who barely even had to dodge them. "Are you even trying to hit me?" she taunted the brunette and threw more knives at her.
"Nope." replied Cana, much to Sasha's confusion, and threw a new set of card that deflected the incoming blades. She then pulled out a new card and grinned mischievously, before showing it to her opponent.
Sasha squinted and struggled to read it, but when she did, her skin became pale. She looked around herself and noticed that all of the cards that she thought of as missed, were in fact pieces of a trap. A trap she fell into like a fly.
Cana jumped back and the card began to glow. "I'd grit my teeth if I were you."
Sasha tried to throw her knives at her, but was too late. Cana swiped the card in the air, trapping her in a yellow rectangle of light.
CARD TRAP: VOLTAGE BOX!
Sasha yelled out in pain after being shocked by multiple currents of electricity coming out of the cards, trapping her in the very middle of the barrier. Knives fell out of her hands, with her fingers twisting in all directions against her will. Cana kept the spell up for couple more seconds, before canceling it in fear of killing the girl.
Sasha's body was smoking, her mouth and eyes open. She released couple of groans, before falling to the ground, defeated.
Cana took a deep breath and clutched her injured shoulder, grimacing from pain. "I better go and find the others." she mumbled, before spotting light coming out from behind vines just next to her. She looked at it suspiciously, but took the bait, before passing through the vines.
She was welcomed by a beautiful scenery of a plain with lots of various flowers and butterflies flying over them. At its very center was a tombstone, that was lit up by the sun peeking through the hole drilled right above the grave, bathing it in sunlight.
Cana stared at it dumbfounded and gulped. Was this...? No, it had to be, there was no other way...But out here, in such an obvious place?
She carefully walked up to the grave and examined it. It was preserved very well. It had some moss here and there, but it looked well in contrast with the color of the stone. Right by its base was a bottle of unfinished booze, which she deduced belonged to Makarov. There was no mistake – she's found the grave of Mavis Vermillion.
Cana smiled grimly at the grave, cursing the irony. If it wasn't for the enemy, the exam would be still on, and yet here she was, at her destination, thrown in here by the very same enemy who caused a halt to the exam.
"Well, I better go find Lucy." she sighed and was about to walk away, before she felt a tug on her sleeve. When she turned around, she spotted a young girl with very long pale blond hair and happy, green eyes. She was smiling.
"What the..." frowned Cana and looked around. "How did you get in here, kid? Are you with Grimoire, too?" she asked and reached out to her cards.
The girl giggled and shook her head. "No, I am not. My name is Mavis. Mavis Vermillion."
Cana blinked very slowly, taking the information in. "What?"
The girl blinked in confusion. "Oh? Makarov hasn't told you about me? I am the founder of Fairy Tail, Mavis. Nice to meet you!" she added with a smile.
Cana blinked again and dropped her hand. Despite this bizarre and crazy revelation, her mind was focused on something else.
That she'd really use a drink right now.
End of Chapter 25. To be continued in Chapter 26: Guilt
As promised, I'm going to leave a list of changes made in this chapter:
- Cana did not betray Lucy and left her alone on an island full of enemies
- Lucy and Cana met OC enemies and bested them in combat
- Natsu took down Kain Hikaru much faster than his canon counterpart
- Mavis appeared before Cana
- Cana is not obsessed with the exam, which is the opposite of her canon self
I hope you guys liked this chapter, and again, sorry for letting you all down again. I will make Of Inner Demons great again!