Hope everyone is safe and sound despite the current pandemic.
Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
Lucy had been in tough spots before. When Tartaros had trapped the entire guild in Alegria, she was forced to fend off the demons alone. When DiMaria had captured her and Natsu and made plain her intentions to torture them to death. When Acnologia's body had rampaged across Fiore, set on burning the entire world to the ground. Each time, she had held out hope and her guildmates had rewarded her faith. Aquarius had told her how to open the Gate of the King and gave her the courage to go through with the sacrifice. Natsu had awakened and stopped DiMaria from going through with her twisted plan, with Erza saving him and Gray from themselves right after. Even when the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse had sought armageddon, her friends had rallied with her and everyone in Fiore to put a stop to his mindless bloodlust. With all that under her belt, one might think that her current situation should not have frightened the young Celestial Spirit Wizard as much as it did. Except there was one huge difference between those times and now.
Her guildmates were gone.
The Moon God Dragon Selene had attempted to use the White Witch as her pawn, to manipulate her into galvanizing her fellow God Dragons for war and sealing the abilities of those like the Water God Dragon who would never be convinced of such a thing. With the threat of Acnologia gone, she saw no reason why the age of dragons should not come again.
But she underestimated Touka, or rather the witch possessing the poor Exceed. The ancient mage was not a piece, but a player, and once she discovered the deception, she acted quickly to render the God Dragons powerless, the magic made mere fuel for her global FACE plan. A plan that she had seen fit to mind control Fairy Tail into as her pawns. Only the Strongest Team had escaped, and she had taken swift action to ensure they would not interfere.
Natsu and Happy had been poisoned before they'd even realized what was happening, their beloved food laced with Bane Particles. Wendy and Carla had nearly been torn apart by a beam of solid moonlight as their own family had fallen upon them, ready to kill. Erza and Gray had fought with every ounce of strength they had, but even they would have been defeated instantly had an unexpected ally not arrived, a woman they'd met only once before, when she'd delivered a long sought-after book to the guildhall. And informed them of the fate of their four guildmates who'd searched for it.
Sitara, creator and author of the tome that had brought Team RWBY to Earthland, and currently the only reason Lucy was still alive, had saved them at that first clash, bought them time to seal their wounded in Fairy Spheres so they could retrieve them after this was all handled and give them proper medical care. When Gray had nearly been torn in half by Gildarts after he and Erza had defeated Laxus, the blonde-haired woman had not only bought Lucy the time to seal away the Devil Slayer before he'd bled out but had even managed to defeat the Ace of Fairy Tail in a battle that levelled the town they were in.
Now, she was the only ally Lucy had left. Even Erza had collapsed from her injuries, having run a gauntlet of the guild's finest, falling only after concluding a thunderous clash with Mirajane. Except the eldest Strauss' injuries had merely knocked her unconscious. The Titania's body was soaked in so much red, Lucy didn't think her friend would have survived if she had been even a second slower with the Sphere.
Not that her own odds of survival were any better.
She knelt, utterly exhausted, before the gigantic FACE pillar, monumentally more powerful than the hundreds that had been scattered throughout Fiore. The only thing that had even a chance of destroying it was the titanic, twelve-headed hydra stampeding towards it.
Except that in an instant, five gargantuan, multicolored beams of light blazed through the heavens and cut the mighty beast to pieces. If it had only been the heads destroyed, that obviously wouldn't have been an issue, but even the body was sliced to ribbons by the divine assault. The hydra dissipated to dust and the wielder that laid within, Sitara, tumbled across the ground next to Lucy, the normally elegant blonde woman caked in dust and dirt.
The White Witch hovered above them and cackled, her skin aglow with an ethereal shine, five orbs of red, blue, brown, white, and black, the manifestation of the Five God Dragons' power, orbiting around her.
"That should have killed you," she remarked. "But I suppose you should have been dead after our last encounter as well."
Sitara snarled. "You mean when you destroyed my laboratory and stole my research?"
"Precisely." The witch gestured back to the machine that was gearing up to remove all ethernano from the world. "I needed this machine to complete the divine will of Ankh, to remove the taint of Seram's gift from this world. And I couldn't have there be anyone who might know how to disarm it."
Lucy's eyes widened. "She never did anything to you, and you tried to kill her?"
"It needed to be done. I attempted to bring her into the White, but it did not work. Such was Ankh's will."
Surprisingly, Sitara smirked. "Are you quite sure about that, you body stealing hag?"
The White Witch's eyes narrowed. "Quite so. I am the God of Light's devoted servant. If he did not wish for you to be claimed by his grace—"
"I was born in his grace!" Sitara shouted, a victorious grin splitting her face. "It is by his petty cruelty that I am in this world, and his and his brother's hubris that I cannot leave! Yet even I can tell that you do not do his will! He has no grudge with Seram, nor hatred for the magic he gifted humanity! You have twisted his teachings into your own mad dogma!"
The witch scowled. "This is for the good of all. Without magic, there will never be another Zeref or Acnologia."
Lucy frowned. "Funny. I don't remember seeing you helping during the war."
"A conflict of magic holds no interest to me, lest it is the last of such wars that shall ever mar the world." The White Witch smiled at Lucy and raised her hand. "You, Lucy Heartfilia, shall aid me in that endeavor. Be tainted white!"
The light of the witch's flesh blazed even brighter, scrambling over Lucy like a thousand wiry tentacles. The Celestial Spirit Wizard screamed, feeling her magic energy drain away as her foe's power reached into her mind—
And then all of a sudden it was gone. Lucy blinked, and glanced down at her hands, confused if she'd been affected or not. But she was back at full strength and still had every desire to deliver a Lucy Kick to the White Witch's face, so…
"What?!" the witch roared. She turned to Sitara and snarled. "You! How?!"
The blonde woman chuckled. "Like I said, I was born in Ankh's grace. I know a little bit about his curses, and your warped version is hardly a challenge to take apart. Honestly, Zeref had a far better understanding of how to mimic a god's power. And since you've informed me that such parlor tricks are how you've taken control of the God Dragons' power…"
The White Witch's eyes widened with panic. "No! You can't!"
Sitara glared. "You stole my research and made war on my friends' family. It's only fitting that I take away what power you have."
Dark, spindly veins blossomed across the blonde woman's veins, her clear blue eyes' scleras blackening to the hue of the night. She raised her arms and a pair of portals opened in front of her, a sky coated with stars visible on the other side. The orbs of power surrounding the White Witch began to crack and splinter.
"No!" she howled. With a wave of her hand, the spheres all coalesced behind her, aimed straight at the FACE. "I will not let you!"
"It's useless," Sitara mocked. "Even if you bind them to that thing, I know the loopholes of your bootlegged curse. I can easily break it before the countdown finishes."
The White Witch smirked. "Countdown? Poor little abomination. Did you really think I'd go to the trouble of creating something like this and leave such an asinine function in the design?"
Sitara paled. "Oh no."
"Star Dress," Lucy muttered, cluttering the key to her chest. "Cancer Form."
"Let magic perish from this world!" the witch clamored. "Let the entire world become white!"
She thrust her arms outward and the five God Dragon Spheres blasted back, screeching towards the FACE pillar, the ethereal glow fading from the White Witch as the power fled her being and she plummeted to the ground.
Just in time for Lucy, in her fastest form, to dash across the short distance to the pillar and run up its side, reaching the area where the orbs were due to impact. She stabbed her blades into the machine to hold her in place and braced herself for the blast.
"Bind it to me!" she screamed, praying Sitara would understand her meaning, because she had no time to say anything more and there was no way she was going to survive this if she didn't.
Fortunately, it seemed her ally understood her panicked words, her portals disappearing as her hands lit up with a golden glow. She had understood the White Witch's spell enough to be able to pull the loose thread of her intricate tapestry, maybe she'd been able to weave a version of it to allow the God Dragon's magic to be safely channeled through the Celestial Spirit Mage instead of FACE. Or you know, keep it from incinerating her.
But was it even a spell? They'd both talked about it being the witch's attempt to mimic the power of a God, but they'd referred to it as a curse. Like the Etherious? Zeref had made them to bypass his Curse of Contradiction and that had been inflicted on him by a god. Could the powers of Tartaros, of E.N.D., could they have been based off divine abilities? A human-made evolution of ethernano fueled magic?
Of course, her pondering was cut off when the God Dragons' power struck and—oh god!
There was pain, agony, more than she'd ever dreamt of, and she'd experienced quite a bit in her life. Her muscles felt like they'd been poured in molten metal and a blizzard was ravaging her throat. A spider web of roots tunneled through her flesh as a blinding flash of silver moonlight burned across her vision.
She didn't know how long it lasted, maybe a moment, maybe an hour, maybe a century. But by the time she could see again, the FACE pillar was rubble, the White Witch was unconscious on the ground, and Sitara and Mira were leaning over her, their faces pale and their eyes wide.
"She's still fading!" Mira cried. "I thought you dissipated the power!"
"I did!" Sitara protested, tears soaking her cheeks. "I… I… I didn't do it right. The curse was a bootleg of a bootleg and I don't think I did it right. The God Dragons' power is gone but her body was strained too much while it was there."
"What does that mean?" Mira demanded. "Can't we heal her?"
Sitara flinched. "We pour more magic in and that'll just make things worse. Her body needs time to bled off the excess power, but by the time it does that-"
"She'll already be dead," Mira finished, her face falling into her hands.
"I'm sorry. I should have been better. I should have done more…" Sitara muttered. "Ruby was right. I should have done more."
"Ruby," Mira said the name like an incantation, her eyes shooting up to Sitara and looking upon her with… horror? What was that about?
Whatever the reason for the terror, Mira instantly turned away from the other blonde and gripped Lucy's hand in her own. "Lucy, you have to use Fairy Sphere. Freeze your body's time and the magic will have time to bleed out."
"Or she could use it as fuel!" Sitara cheered. "That's brilliant! Then we can find her and the others and release them as soon as enough time has passed."
Mira flinched, her grip on Lucy's palm tightening. "Whatever happens Lucy, whenever or wherever you end up… the guild will always be with you. Fairy Tail will be with you all as long as you live."
It might have been the intense agony pulsing over her brain or maybe the fact that she currently couldn't feel her face, but some reason, Lucy felt that Mira's words sounded suspiciously like a goodbye. For the briefest moment, she saw the smiling silver-haired idol who first stamped her hand with her guildmark all those years ago.
Then that image disappeared and all that was left was the sobbing older sister she'd come to adore, who'd guided her through so much and gave her friends the spare key to her house. She didn't want her to cry. And if she died, she'd just cry more. She couldn't let that happen.
"Stand… back…" she croaked out, her throat cracking like a desert.
Mira and Sitara heeded her words, both with tears leaking down their faces. Lucy closed her eyes and reached into the titanic power still permeating her body, grasping onto that to fuel the spell and reinforce those she'd already cast. But raw strength would not be enough. A Fairy Sphere could only be forged from the bond between Fairy Tail members, from the love and devotion they held for each other. For each of her friends that she had put into stasis, she had taken their hands and channeled their specific bond to protect them.
Gray, the older brother she never knew she wanted, always protective and always there to pull her out whenever she got over her head.
Wendy, the little sister she always knew she wanted, so proud of the strong woman she'd watched the sweet young girl grow into. With Carla by her side, she knew she'd always be able to follow her heart.
Erza, the older sister of them all, as wild and wacky as the rest of them, but still the only bastion of order in the guild. Without her, they all would have died a hundred times over, and lost their way far worse another dozen. She was their rock, their Queen. Their beautiful Titania.
Happy, the scamp of a little brother she knew she never wanted, but despite the constant teasing, knew she would never dare trade away.
Natsu…
Natsu… was her everything. If she had never met him, her life would be so much smaller, so much worse. Scatterbrained as he could be at times, he was her guiding light, her eternal flame. And if she'd never have another chance to admit it, to herself or him… She… she lov…
No. She'd tell him later. When they were both healed and at their best.
Later.
Her bonds guided the God Dragons' power, strengthening the spheres she'd already cast. And at last, a shimmering golden shine began to form around her. When it faded at last and she and her friends awakened, healed and healthy, everything would be alright.
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Sand! Ah, darn it, she woke up and there was sand! Gah, it was in her mouth!
Lucy spat out as much sand as she could as she staggered into a sitting position and took stock of her new situation. The God Dragons' magic was completely gone, and her body didn't feel like it was being torn apart anymore, so it appeared the Sphere had worked as intended. As for where she'd come out, she was in a desert, which definitely hadn't been there when she'd gone under.
More importantly, she was face-to-face with a friend she thought she'd never see again.
"Blake?" she muttered.
"Lucy," the cat faunus replied, her face pale. "We're fucked."
Okay, that was hardly the reunion she'd expected (what in the world was that demonic black claw over her arm—oh, it's gone now), but whatever confusion the Celestial Spirit Wizard had was put on hold as her eyes were drawn to the cackling guy with a scorpion tail standing next to her. The guy brimming with curse energy.
"Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha! Oh, glorious! Oh, glorious, wonderful day! Fate truly smiles upon us this day, my goddess!" the man, the faunus, laughed. He dipped himself forward in a bow towards Lucy. "Lady Heartfilia, it is my distinct honor and privilege to meet you. The Queen has been waiting a long time to see you again! With your aid, we shall acquire the final piece to complete mankind's evolution!"
"Uh… huh?" Lucy replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Blake, what's he talking abou—ah!"
A giant black scorpion with blazing red eyes burst out of the sand next to her, its huge claws streaking for her head. However, the laughing faunus leapt into the creature's path before it could make contact, his stinger slamming the monster's claw into the desert floor. That might have been the end of it, except at least a dozen more of the creatures rose up to join their kin, a demonic screech echoing through the air.
"Oh, what fun!" the faunus cackled. "What fun indeed!"
Lucy leapt to her feet and narrowed her eyes. This guy might have been weird, but he'd protected her from the black scorpion, so she wasn't going to let him fight that thing alone, curse energy or not. She plucked a key from her belt and made ready her magic. "Open! Gate of the—Yah!"
Her words were cut off when Blake grabbed her wrist and ran. She was about to ask her friend what she was doing when the huntress' back was suddenly covered in a pair of huge black wings. With a single flap, the two Fairy Tail wizards took off into the sky.
"What are you doing?" Lucy protested, the wind whipping past her face. "We can't let him fight those things alone!"
"I called them," Blake revealed. "I figured if I dropped my arm Take-Over, my fear would be more than enough to draw the Grimm in and buy us an opening to get away."
"Grimm? Those were… Grimm…"
Lucy's words died in her throat as the pair soared through the night sky. And she saw the shattered moon that occupied its center.
"Blake, what's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Where are we?"
Her cat faunus friend cringed. "The short version? Remnant, my homeland of Menagerie. That guy, Tyrian, is some weird demon-spirit hybrid who works for a Grimm-demon lady called Salem who wants to do horrible things to us."
"What?!" Lucy squealed. "What the heck does she want with me?! I just got here!"
"I don't know all the details and you asked for the short version!"
The Celestial Spirit Wizard sighed, a bead of sweat dropping down her forehead. "Business as usual then. Any chance you've got a plan?"
"Well, the plan was to crack open the Fairy Sphere and hope that Mira was inside."
"A respectable plan. Sorry for messing it up."
"Not your fault. Just means we've got to rely on my dad's." Blake snatched a flare gun from her belt and aimed behind them, at the sky just above Tyrian and the rapidly depleting population of Grimm. "I just hope it works."
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"Are you sure this is going to work, sir?" Sun asked, glancing across the wall of Kuo Kuana. The entire Menagerie Guard, hundreds of faunus in armor, were encamped on and around the fortification. They bustled between their cargo haulers and the fort, distributing supplies and ammunition between the dozens of artillery emplacements, all lined up towards the desert. "I mean don't get me wrong, those are some very large guns, but what's to say he won't just shrug them off?"
Saber Rodentia, the veteran gerbil faunus captain of the guard with a scar running down his eye, cocked an eyebrow. "These are eighty-eight-millimeter caliber cannons, young man. Vale made them to put holes in Goliaths. Even if this guy is some magical super soldier like you say, it ain't going to do him much good when we blow him into a pile of ashes."
Sun glanced between Ghira and Ilia, neither of whom looked so confident. They'd all seen what Tyrian was capable of, and he was holding back then. Logically, even the most powerful huntsman could be brought down if they were hit with enough firepower when they weren't expecting it. But they were dealing with magic and demons, and things that not even the wizards completely understood.
Whatever the case, they caught sight of a purple flare sparking over a specific point in the desert.
"That's Blake's signal!" Ghira shouted. "Battle stations! Focus all your firepower on that area!"
The guards saluted their chieftain and hopped to their cannons, rotating the behemoths as their moonlit shadows spanned across the sands. The back of the barrels were opened up and the eighty-eight-millimeter fire dust shells were locked inside.
"What do we do if this doesn't work?" Ilia asked.
"There's still two Fairy Tail members out there. We will put our faith in them. And if they fail…" Ghira looked to Sun, the legendary faunus' confident façade cracking just slightly. "Blake said those Relics were made by gods, right?"
The monkey faunus nodded. "That's what Qrow said."
"Then we pray."
The cannons unleashed their bombardment and their thunder howled across the desert.
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Tyrian found it exceptionally irritating when the first shell struck. It plowed right through a Deathstalker he'd been about to cut in half, the gigantic Grimm pulverized to nothing before the dust inside even had time to ignite.
He had been having such a lovely day: plotting to take Lady Blake back to the Queen, discovering Lady Lucy, being set upon by a horde of Grimm that he could butcher to his heart's content. So simple, so pleasant. But then, unnatural thunder had split the sky and dozens of fire shells had rained down around him, obliterating what few Deathstalkers he had not already slaughtered and even blasting through his aura and tearing off his legs.
Tyrian couldn't help but sneer, pain lancing through him as his upper body was sent flying. How annoying. Regular humans and faunus were beneath their kind, weaker by nature. That was why the Queen, in her infinite wisdom and benevolence, desired to elevate their kind. But the two species had not survived the endless onslaught of Grimm for nothing. Weak as they were, their tenacity when what they loved was threatened was unmatched. Ghira Belladonna certainly did not understand the distinct honor being paid his daughter by her selection as a candidate.
But he had only brought an army to bear against Tyrian. And the Etherious of old could defeat an army.
Time to show them what a Gate of the Queen was capable of.
"Eclipse Etherious Form."
Power surged through him, demonic and celestial, his restraints shattered to ashes. His body churned with raw mystical force, his flesh mutating to make the necessary compensation for his strength. His legs were the first thing to return, the other long, spindly addition sprouting out from his rear.
Tyrian grinned. It was so rare that he had an opportunity to unleash his full might. He would make sure to thank Chieftain Belladonna for his gift. After he'd burned Menagerie to ash.
He placed his hands on the sand below, the orange glow of his curse seeping all around for a mile in every direction. His stingers thrust forward and at his command, the desert rose.
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Blake watched the shells fall over Tyrian, the thunder of the blasts rupturing her eardrums. She watched the fire dust bombardment crash down on the sands, charring it black, nearly to glass. Her Griffon wings barely held her and Lucy aloft as the shockwave buffeted the airborne wizards. A cloud of ash and smoke rose over the desert, obscuring wherever remained of Tyrian and the Deathstalkers from view.
"What the hell?!" Lucy yelled, her own eardrums likely shot. "Was that really necessary?"
"Maybe?" Blake shouted back. "The guild's specialty is overkill. At least this way we can be… sure?"
The cat faunus paled, her limbs going cold as the surge of raw power ruptured through the air. Curse energy, the likes she hadn't felt since Kyoka, no, surpassing it, along with a rush of magical power alongside it, permeated through the land and sky.
An orange glow, one she intimately recalled from her last battle with Tyrian, spread across the sand, larger than she'd ever seen. A wild, hellish cackle rose from the dust cloud, the shadow of a scorpion with two stingers visible within the shadows. And a moment later, the desert climbed into the heavens, a typhoon of glowing sand half a mile high.
"No," Blake muttered.
The cloud of sand surged across the sky and rammed into the walls of Kuo Kuona, billions of grains of sand grinding against the reinforced steel. The fortifications creaked but held, they were made to withstand sandstorms after all.
But not sandstorms where every grain was a bomb.
"Dad!"
The explosion erupted into the heavens, fire and smoke reaching even higher to brush the stars themselves. The shockwave blew Blake and Lucy out of the sky, sending the Fairy Tail wizards careening into the dunes below.
Blake staggered to her knees, her wide eyes staring in horror at the broken ruins of Kuo Kuona's wall, wreaked steel and scattered cinders the only remnants of the great defense of the faunus. Screams echoed through the night, loyal guardsmen likely set ablaze either from the explosion or the ammunition caches it had ignited.
And beneath it all, a gleeful, mad cackle.
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The ringing was the first thing Sun heard when he awoke. After that, it was the screams.
Then, it was Ilia.
"Come on, wake up!" the chameleon faunus, her face caked in ash and soot, shouted, shaking his limp body. "Come on, monkey boy! Don't tell me some tiny thing like that is all it took to put you down!"
"Ugh, thanks for the vote of confidence," he groaned.
Ilia breathed a sigh of relief and helped him rise to a sitting position on the sand, giving him a primetime view of the remains of their plan. The half a mile stretch of wall they'd occupied had been blown to pieces, superheated chunks of metal glowing bright orange in the night. The Menagerie Guard laid about the dunes as corpses or flaming soon-to-be corpses. The few that weren't in their death throes scurried about the remains of the fortification, rescuing those that were trapped under wreckage and applying first aid where they could. Honestly, as terrifying as the event was, it was somewhat heartening to see the forces of the island react so well to the crisis. If only the danger wasn't far beyond their ability to deal with.
"Ghira?" Sun asked, frantically searching the ruins. "Where's Ghira?!"
"Here!" Sun and Ilia's eyes darted towards the booming voice of the chieftain, the towering panther faunus entire left side covered in soot and ash. Blake's father stood over Saber's moaning form, lifting a hunk of bent steel off the captain of his guard.
The two younger faunus leapt to their elder's side and tugged Saber out from under the wreckage. Ghira released his grip and let out a rush of breath, the metal sinking into the sand without his support.
"Is he alright?" the chieftain inquired.
Ilia pressed two fingers to the captain's throat. "He's breathing, barely. Better than most out here."
Ghira scowled. "Find something to get the wounded into the city. They need medical attention, now."
"It won't matter what medical attention they get if Tyrian burns down the island," Sun growled.
"Are you insane?" Ilia said. "He just survived an artillery barrage and nearly killed everyone in one shot! What can you possibly do against him?"
"I don't know!" Sun confessed. "But Blake wouldn't have fired the flare if she thought she and whoever came out of the sphere could take him. Which means she didn't get who she was hoping for, and that means she's in trouble! And I'm not going to let them fight a battle like that alone!"
"Then go."
"Huh?"
Ilia's eyes widened. "Chieftain Belladonna?"
Ghira scowled, but his eyes never left Sun. "I'll stay here and save who I can. If you think you can do anything at all to help Blake, then get out there."
"Right… right!"
Sun gave the older man a quick bow and dashed off towards the area of wreckage that looked the least… wrecked. A good chunk of the supply haulers had been destroyed when the ammunition had ignited, but at least one of the cars must have been salvageable. It was the only way he'd get to the battlefield in time.
Fortunately, he was right, finding one vehicle that was turned on its side, but otherwise only lightly scoured along its plating. He clapped his hands together and summoned four light clones, shoving into the car and pushing it right-side up. With a grin, he recalled his semblance and leapt into the driver's seat—
Only to realize that the vehicle's key was gone.
"You have got to be kidding me," he cursed, smacking his face into his hand. His friend needed his help, and he was going to get stopped because the damn keys had gotten knocked out? Blake needed help! It would take ages to find the keys in the sand, even with his clones, and that was without all the chaos going on around them—
"Scoot over," Ilia commanded, shoving him into shotgun. He squawked indignantly at the intervention but the chameleon faunus had already ducked below the steering and cracked open the wiring. In about ten seconds, the hauler's engine roared to life.
"Woah, awesome," Sun whispered before cocking an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn how to hotwire?"
"Freedom fighter, remember?"
"Terrorist."
"Freedom fighter," Ilia narrowed her eyes. "Weren't you a thief? Why don't you know how to hotwire?"
"You ever been to Vacuo?" Sun smirked. "There aren't a lot of cars."
"Excuses," Ilia snorted, hitting the gas and flooring them through the wreckage. After a few moments, her confident expression wavered. "Do you think we can beat him?"
Sun grimaced. He remembered how powerless he'd felt at Beacon and in the desert against Blake's Grimm form. He remembered how Tyrian had taken that form apart without breaking a sweat. He remembered that the demon scorpion was no longer indulging in whatever shred of restraint he had previously held to. He remembered how he himself had no magic, no strength beyond his aura, his training, and his luck.
And he remembered how the island would burn and Blake would be dragged before Salem if they failed.
"We'll have to."
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It had been a while since Lucy had sensed any significant amount of curse energy. And yet, she couldn't help the trembling that ran through her body the moment she sensed the enormous sum emanating out from within the smoke, mixed in with a healthy chunk of magic. Magic that she felt like she should have recognized except she could barely contain her panic.
Tyrian's form when he emerged from the smog didn't help on that front.
His jet black that had been tied back in a neat ponytail was now wild and free, tinged with streaks of a pale, sickly yellow. Turfs of fur of the same shade were scattered across his flesh, a fact that was all the more noticeable since his vest had seemingly disappeared, leaving his chiseled chest bare of clothing. His teeth were sharpened into razor-like canines, his wild eyes locked onto Lucy and Blake.
But rising up behind him was the most horrifying part. A pair of stingers, one the same as his original but twisted and aglow with orange pulses of energy, the other more mechanical and ending in some kind of spray gun. The latter was quite familiar to the Celestial Spirit Wizard, as well as the final clue needed for her to realize whose magic she was sensing from the madman.
"Be careful," Blake advised her, covering her own hands and feet with pitch-black talons. "Ethernano is thin here, so you won't be able to recharge as fast as you normally would."
"Scorpio," Lucy whispered. "He has Scorpio's magic."
Black flinched. "He's a demon and spirit hybrid. Salem calls them her Gates."
"On the contrary, Lady Blake," Tyrian called out. "We are no mere hybrids! A curse of hell made by man and a warrior of the heavens made by false gods! We are the pinnacle of mankind's evolution yet to come!"
Lucy's eyes narrowed. She had only Blake's word that this guy was as great a danger as she said, but even if she hadn't seen her friend in years, she trusted her with her life. Besides, in her experience, crazy people making speeches about heaven and hell usually weren't her allies.
She raised one of her golden keys. "Let's see how you do against the real Scorpio. Open! Gate of the Scorpion!"
She swung the instrument of the Zodiac downward, prepared to pay the toll for summoning her ally to her side.
Except nothing happened.
"Ooo!" Tyrian squealed, his body momentarily rigid, his arm outstretched towards Lucy. "I appreciate the invitation, my lady, but there is no need. I am already here to whisk you away."
Lucy paled. "Wha… what happened? Where's Scorpio?"
"What did you do?" Blake shouted, positioning herself in front of Lucy.
"What did I do? My lady, your question is all wrong. It should be, what am I?" Tyrian replied, as if he was merely helping them with homework. "And the answer is the Queen's loyal subject! Her Gate of the Scorpion!"
"Her Gate of the Scorpion—" Lucy's eyes went wide, recalling how he had said he was a fusion of a curse and a warrior of heaven. "No. No, that's impossible."
Tyrian took a bow. "I'm afraid it is quite true, my lady. Lord Scorpio answered the Queen's call, as did all the Zodiac but the one sworn directly to Celestial King, and the Fairy who chose to wait. He, like they, gave himself to our cause, to the end of the wretched false gods! And thus, he lives on in me!"
"You… you… you're lying!" Lucy roared. She snatched another key from her belt. "Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
Nothing.
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
Nothing.
"Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"
Nothing!
"Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
Nothing but empty air.
Lucy's hand trembled in horror, her eyes pinned to the golden key, the lifeline to her friend, that refused to unlock the way.
"Lucy," Blake muttered.
"It's got to be something else, right?" The Celestial Spirit Wizard rationalized. "We're on Remnant. And you said the ethernano was low. That must be interfering. They're just having trouble getting to another world."
"Yeah, that must be it," Blake nervously concurred. "They're just having trouble getting to another world."
"Another world?" Tyrian chuckled. "My apologies, my lady. I was not aware you were still operating under such a foolish assumption. The Lord Ophiuchus always said you were smarter than Natsu Dragneel."
It was those words that caused her heart to stop. After everything that Lucy had experienced in the last few minutes of her life: The White Witch, the God Dragons' power, the Fairy Sphere, the bombardment, the living desert, her spirits apparently being dead, it was that name, and the implications behind it, that brought her world to a standstill.
"Natsu," Lucy murmured. "Where is he?! What did you do to him!?"
"Do to him? He is in the Queen's loving embrace, tended to by the Lord Ophiuchus. If you should desire, I will gladly take you to them right now," Tyrian replied, a psychotic grin splitting his face. "Of course, if you wish to continue with this misguided resistance, that is also agreeable. I have such rare occasion to release my true form. It would be a delight to indulge in some… exercise."
Blake gulped, glancing back at Lucy. "So, Wendy mentioned that you guys all got stronger since we last saw each other. What are our chances?"
Chances? What chances? Yes, she'd gotten far stronger than she was the last time she saw Team RWBY, enough to trade blows with the rest of the Strongest Team even if she still didn't think she could beat any of them, but that power came from her bonds with her spirits, her friends. If they were gone, if this Salem had taken them from her, then that same strength was gone. The stars were gone from her sky. Against this juggernaut of raw mystical power before them? There was no chance.
And yet, his master had Natsu.
Her eyes hardened and she dropped into a fighting stance. "Bring it on, ugly. I've squashed bigger bugs than you."
"Oh, what bravado!" Tyrian cheered. "But you must know you cannot win."
"We're going to win," Lucy declared.
Blake raised an eyebrow, hope dancing across her face. "We are?"
"You are?" Tyrian repeated, far more amused. "And just how are you going to do that?"
"I have no idea," Lucy confessed. "But we have to win."
"That doesn't mean you're going to," Tyrian noted. "Dreams have a habit of being crushed."
"That doesn't mean they can't be rebuilt. The path forward isn't always easy, and it isn't always happy, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right path!" Lucy roared. "So come on! I don't care how much stronger you are! We're going to win! We're going to find Natsu! And neither you or your goddess can stop us!"
"Well spoken."
Lucy's eyes widened, the familiar voice flashing through her mind like a crack of thunder. Her hope had risen up from the ashes just in time for one of her keys to start glowing a brilliant gold. A very specific key.
A joyful grin blossomed across the wizard's face.
Tyrian cackled and thrust both his stingers forward, a tidal wave of sand flooding towards the two Fairy Tail mages.
Blake leapt back and grabbed Lucy, respawning her black wings and soaring into the air. Even still, she wasn't fast enough, Tyrian's sand spiking into the heavens after them. The Black Fairy ducked and weaved around the incoming pillars, perhaps not as agile as Happy would have, but enough to keep the desert from piercing their flesh.
Of course, then the grains had taken on a familiar and dangerous orange glow.
"Blake!" Lucy called, snatching the shining key from her belt.
"Hang on!" Blake shouted, tightening her hold on her friend.
The sand pillars erupted in a cacophony of explosions, each blast hammering into the two fairies. They would have surely been knocked out of the air, if not for the fact that each time one of the shockwaves struck, they were replaced by ethereal copies that took the blow in their place. Blake's semblance really had improved since they last saw each other if she could make shadow clones of others as well. Unfortunately, given she'd had to do it half a dozen times in maybe ten seconds, it wasn't all that surprising when her aura started to flicker with purple flashes. Not broken yet, but heavily strained.
And given there was now a gigantic, swirling cloud of sand surrounding them and blocking off the entire sky, above, below, and on all sides, that was a distinct problem.
"Sand Coffin!" Tyrian cackled. "Shredder!"
The sand solidified into a solid spherical shell around the fairies, the grains constantly churning and riving, so fast that they seemed to merge into a single brown raging river. If it touched their flesh, it'd be like going through a meat grinder, one Blake's shadow clones could only take them deeper into.
"I thought Salem wanted us alive?" Lucy squealed.
"Alive," Blake said, cringing at their shrinking prison, the deadly walls coming ever closer. "I think we waived our right to 'unharmed' when we didn't go quietly."
Lucy's eyes narrowed, her grip on her key tightening, her magic only increasing its vibrant glow. "Then let's get louder. Open! Gate of the Lion!"
The chime of the Celestial Spirit World rang out and a blinding golden shine filled their vision. From within the light, a welcome, booming voice echoed through their ears.
"Blake, cover her!"
The Black Fairy did as commanded, her wings closing to form a shell of darkness around the Celestial Spirit Wizard. Without appendages to keep them airborne, they began to plummet straight towards the sand.
Fortunately, their ally would take care of that issue.
"O lion of heaven, descend from on high and let your radiance purge the sinful! Regulus Maelstrom!"
Even from behind Blake's black wings, she glimpsed the shine, a brilliant glow teasing the edges of the barrier, even seeming to absorb a faint glimmer of the light. When the flash faded, Lucy peaked her head from beneath the feathers, her smile widening at the sight of the sand coffin blown away. It blossomed even more when she caught sight of the one responsible.
"Loke!" she cheered, Blake opening her wings and gliding them both safely back to the dunes, only to raise an eyebrow when the spirit smashed into the sand. "Loke?"
It was Loke, the green Fairy Tail emblem emblazoned on his back was undeniable proof of that. But she could see his back, his elegant suit nowhere to be seen. In its place was a brilliant suit of plate armor that twinkled as if it were made of starlight, the window to his guildmark the only gap. His orange hair, now marred with streaks of grey, still had its distinctive lion ears, but its wild, ruffled air was gone, instead orderly combed and slicked back. The lion's mane was gone, but his eyes were harder than she'd ever seen them.
And they glared at Tyrian with the wrath of a thousand suns.
The Eclipse Etherious didn't seem to notice, as if anything would unsettle the madman. "Lord Leo? Have you come to honor your oath at last?"
Loke growled at the scorpion monster, Regulus blazing around his fists. "Blake, did you get the excess power?"
Blake dropped her wings and clenched her talons, a golden glow shimmering around the claws. The Black Fairy smirked. "Oh yes. It is so great to have power that isn't trying to make me psychotic again."
"It might not be enough," Loke warned. "It's going to take everything we have to put this bastard down."
"Then I better get dressed for the occasion," Lucy grinned, pressing the key to her chest.
Loke clutched her wrist. "You won't be able to recharge fast enough if you use a Star Dress."
"Fast enough?"
"We need everything."
Every—oh.
Everything.
"Got it," Lucy nodded.
"We'll hold him off," Blake declared. She rushed forward, Loke following behind, the light of Regulus surging forth to defend them Tyrian's churning sands and rapid-fire explosions.
In the meantime, Lucy gathered all the magic in her origin, scraping together what sparse fuel she could from the thin ethernano around her. She preferred having Gemini assist her when she needed to do this spell, but her training had long enabled her to perform it alone. She just didn't use it often due to both its immense cost and because those that could survive its wrath were few and far between. She had killed before. Even through her grief at the time, she recalled putting an end to Jackal of Tartaros, but it was not her first choice in any battle.
But against this goliath of a foe, it was their only chance.
"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens. All the stars, far and wide…"
Originally, I thought this was going to be one big finale chapter for Blake's Volume 4 Arc, similar to the fight with Esper being such for Weiss. But then the flashback at the start ended up being far longer than I expected (I am firmly AU from 100 Year Quest now), and it started to shape in a way that trying to shove everything into one chapter would make it a slog on the pacing. So, the fight will conclude next chapter.
An extra huge thank you to my patrons: Gregg Tracton, Annaya Chan, Keith Tracton, Nora Okonus, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, David Wayman, G-Unit91, and Primordial Paper.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!