Another chapter for another story! XD Be careful it's a bit long!
Enjoy!
Chapter 44
A Clash of Spirits!
Natsu was racing through the woods running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the black pillar of light. Ever since he had seen Jellal, he wanted to beat the crud out of him, but now that Nirvana's been unsealed and that Erza was healed, he wanted to just downright erase him from existence. Especially after what he did to Erza.
For those of you that have no idea, a while back in the Tower of Heaven, Erza and Natsu were locked in a battle of survival to stop Jellal from using The Tower of Heaven to bring back the Black Wizard Zeref. Jellal had originally had intended to use Erza as the main body to resurrect Zeref but was stopped by Natsu. However, Jellal proved to be too powerful for even Natsu to handle and Jellal was just about to kill him but then Erza stepped in shielding Natsu thinking that Jellal would stop his relentless assault. Sadly, he didn't and attacked Natsu along with Erza anyway with a powerful spell that threatened to kill them both. Then at the last minute, one of Erza's old childhood friends Simon stepped in and took the attack for the two and died in the process much to Erza's sorrow.
Seeing Simon sacrifice himself, Jellal laughed and mocked Simon for thinking that his sacrifice was pointless which in turn enrages Natsu causing him to eat a chunk of ethernano from the tower itself absorbing its magical properties to enter into a state of power called Dragon Force. The two then clash again and this time, Natsu came out victorious. However, ever since that fight had occurred Natsu and Erza held deep mental scars. Natsu especially for seeing Erza one of the strongest members in Fairy Tail cry in sadness and in anguish. He vowed right then there that he never wanted to see her that way ever again.
"I can't risk that guy running into Erza!" Natsu said to himself as he ran. "I have to stop and destroy him no matter what it takes! That way, he'll never hurt her again!"
Suddenly as Natsu continued to run straight toward the night, a mob of people barred his way. They were all were wearing clothes that made them seem like they were in a pit crew racing team with the helmets and tire irons included. This mob of people was a dark guild lead personally by Racer before his defeat called Harpuia.
"Hey look! There's one of those light guild bastards!" cried one. "Don't let him escape!"
"Don't worry! If that guy thinks he's gonna get past us, he's got another thing coming!" yelled another. "We'll show him what happens when you mess with the Harpuia guild! The guild personally led by Racer!"
"Let's get em!" yelled the third.
The Harpuia guild then came charging straight at Natsu with tire irons raised, but Natsu glared not intimidated in the slightest.
"Get out of my way!" he roared.
He then unleashed a powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack hitting the all the Harpuia guild members and knocking them all out at the same time. He was like a wild elephant bashing through a wall. As he left unconscious bodies and some fire behind him, Natsu continued running on his manhunt for Jellal.
"I won't let that get anywhere near Erza," he screamed. "I'll burn that bastard to a crisp!"
Meanwhile, Eve was racing through the forest jumping from tree to tree still in search of the base where the Oración Seis was located. So far, he had yet to locate it but wasn't about to give up. He then stopped by a tree to survey the area to see if he could get a better look.
"Come on... I know that base has to be around here somewhere," he said to himself. "But where?"
He then jumped off the tree and decided to search on foot for any clues, but then...
"Well, well, well. Looks like I found my first prey," said a
Eve immediately turned around behind him and he saw he had an unwelcome guest standing before him. An unwelcome guest named Midnight. When Eve saw him, he immediately felt his heart leap from the sight of him.
"No way... it's one of the Oración Seis," he said with slight fear. "Oh no... I can't fight this guy by myself... then again... this could be my opportunity. If I beat this guy, then maybe he can tell me where his base is."
Midnight stood there staring at Eve daring him to make a move. Then Eve attacked using one of his spells.
"TOTAL WHITE OUT!"
Eve then unleashed the same blizzard spell he used to take out the Black Unicorn guild before. A blizzard once more raged all throughout the current area covering the place with snow. When the blizzard died down, Eve was expected the attack to do at least some damage but was wrong. Midnight still stood completely unfazed by the attack in the middle of a circle in the snow where the ground still showed. It was as if he put up a barrier to protect himself.
"Is that really all you got?" he asked.
Eve clicked his tongue as he dashed toward Midnight and then used another spell to attack.
"WHITE FURY!"
He put his left arm on his right pointing his open hand at Midnight, then released a blast of snow at Midnight at point blank. However, to Eve's shock instead of hitting him, his spell for some reason went around Midnight harmlessly hitting the area behind him.
"No way!" cried Eve.
Then Midnight gave Eve a punch square on his cheek sending him reeling back and falling flat on his rear on the ground. As Eve recovered from the blow, he looked back at Midnight who now was slowly walking towards him like a predator stalking its prey. Now feeling terrified, Eve immediately broke into a run and leaped into a tree hoping to get away from him. Midnight watched as Eve ran away with a neutral expression, but his eyes gave off a predatory gleam.
"And now... the hunt begins..." he said
Eve leaped from tree to tree hoping to at least gain some distance away from Midnight, but he could feel his frightening enemy's presence from behind him. As he jumped towards the ground, he used his White Fury spell into the bushes behind him. The blast of snow hit the bushes but there was nothing there. Now feeling more afraid than before, Eve blasted the bushes with his White Fury spell again and leaped into the air looking back then he felt something hit him square in the back hard making him cry in pain. He fell straight towards the ground crashing face first and then tumbled and slid along the ground until he scorpioned and went flat on the ground. Midnight then appeared standing above Eve.
"One down and seven to go," he said as he stalked the now defeated Eve.
"Damn it... this is crazy," murmured Eve. "How is he so strong?! My magic couldn't even touch him!"
"Hey. You still alive down there?" asked Midnight. "That's good because now I can take my sweet time with you. After all, I do enjoy watching my prey suffer."
The forest was even filled with Eve's screams of pain and horror as Midnight went on to finish him off.
Natsu was still running through the Woodsea on his manhunt for Jellal. So far, he didn't any sign of him which in turn made him frustrated.
"Come on Jellal, you bastard! Where are you?!" he roared as he sprinted. "I swear as soon as I see you, I'm gonna beat the crud of you! I'll make sure that you never hurt Erza again!"
He soon reached a river and then a familiar scent wafted in his nose making him stop and sniff around.
"Wait a sec... I know this scent," said Natsu as he sniffed around to try and find the source. Then he saw something in the river below him. There floating in the water close to the edge was an unconscious Gray. Upon seeing him, Natsu slid down and then waded into the water went over to him.
"Gray! What are you doing here?" he asked. "This isn't exactly the place to take a nap. By the way, did you take care of that Racer guy?"
Gray didn't respond or answer. He just continued to float in the water not moving. Natsu was now feeling worried, however, he looked back at the light. He knew that he had to find Jellal before he could meet Erza, but he also knew that taking care of Gray came first. He bent over and helped Gray to his feet shaking him.
"Come Gray. Wake up," said Natsu. "I'm in a bit of a hurry right now, so you need to wake up. Come on!"
Then Gray began to stir and open his eyes as he regained consciousness. Natsu smiled feeling a little relieved, but that smile quickly disappeared for Gray looked at Natsu wearing an expression he never had seen him wear before. A dark and sinister smile.
"Um... are you feeling OK dude?" asked Natsu.
Suddenly Gray pulled on a rope that was beside him and Natsu felt the ground in the water tremble under his feet and then rise from below until it floated up to the surface. It was then that Natsu realized that he was standing on one of his major weaknesses. A raft which was a mode of transportation.
"We're on a raft?! When the hell you hide that down there?!" he cried.
Then Natsu immediately began to feel nauseous as the raft began to float down the stream. He was unsteady on his feet and he felt himself about to throw up.
"Looks like I got you," smirked Gray. "Poor little Natsu feeling sick over a simple raft? Your motion sickness will be the death of you. Talk about pathetic. To be perfectly honest, I never thought that you'd be such a pushover."
"Gray... what gives?" groaned Natsu trying to shake off his sickness. "What... are you doing?"
"Shut it!" snapped Gray as he stomped on Natsu's head. "I'm tired of having to deal with a loser like you. After all fire and ice don't mix so I think it's time we end this little partnership of ours."
Gray using his magic created a lance of ice raised it up aiming right for Natsu's back prepared to spear him. Natsu tried to get up, but he was too weak and sick to move.
"This is goodbye you slanty-eyed motion sickness loser!" crowed Gray as he brought down his lance.
Suddenly an arrow pierced Gray's lance shattering it saving Natsu just in time. Gray glared snapping his head towards the direction the arrow came from.
"All right! Who's there?!" he yelled as he unleashed his Ice Make Lance spell.
His attack shot out towards the direction the arrow came from, but then more arrows shot out taking out every one of the lances that Gray unleashed. He then saw the cause of it. There standing the bank of the river was Lucy, Hibiki who was now propping Wendy nest to a tree, Carla, Happy, and a man that was tall and wearing a horse costume with a green shirt with yellow trims and red and yellow pair of striped pants and purple frills with a bow and arrow which one of Lucy's Celstial Spirits, Sagittarius. The raft also floated right to a tree in the water making it come to a complete stop.
"Just what do you think you're doing Gray?!" demanded Lucy.
"Yeah! It's us! Your friends!" said Happy.
"Good thing I was here to foil his plans," said Sagittarius. "Also... hello."
"L-lucy. Nice save..." groaned Natsu happy to see his friends, but his puffed out as he was about to puke again.
"Could you not say my name when you're about to blow chunks?!" snapped Lucy. "And how the heck are you still sick even when it's not moving?!"
Natsu responded with a groan as he tried his best to stop himself from puking.
"What's the matter with you Gray?!" cried Happy. "I know that you and Natsu fight all the time, but this is little much even for you! However, if Natsu happened to steal your fish then you're completely justified!"
"That's still a bit too far Happy!" chided Lucy.
"Geez. Can you guys be any more annoying?" scoffed Gray as he flashed a twisted and evil smile. "How about you all mind your own business? I'll deal with the rest of you once I'm done with Natsu, so why don't you all shut up and wait your turn."
Lucy and Happy gasped a bit taken back by what Gray said and how evil he was acting.
"Oh no! Don't tell me that Nirvana has already turned someone to the dark side?!" exclaimed Lucy.
"Never mind that! Natsu needs help!" cried Happy. "Don't worry buddy! I'm coming to help you!"
The small blue cat then spread his wings and tried to fly over to Natsu to help him, but then Gray froze him solid in a block of ice preventing him making him fall to the ground with a thud.
"Tomcat!" cried Carla.
"What did you do that for?! That's no way to treat your friends!" said Lucy indignantly.
"Happy may be able to fly, but he can carry only one person," said Gray. "Not to mention that he has no combat experience. That's all the data Gray has on the furball."
Lucy was now puzzled. "What the heck are you talking about Gray? Pull yourself together!" she said.
Gray then looked at Lucy staring at her as if he was analyzing her. "Lucy Heartfilia. Gray's got loads of info on her," he said. "A newcomer to Fairy Tail and quite easy on the eyes. I believe he has a thing for her."
Lucy cheeks flushed from embarrassment as steam puffed out from her head. "Wh-what the-! I don't think I should be hearing this!"
"She also has a tendency of being as short-tempered as Erza, but she has a pure heart even though he tries to hide it," continued Gray. "Oh? She's also a Celestial Wizard too? Interesting!"
Gray then attacked Lucy using his Ice Make: Saucer making a large spinning disc out of ice and fired it at Lucy, but luckily Hibiki was able making a barrier of screens using his Archive magic blocked the attack saving Lucy. Hibiki stared at Gray as he then realized.
"No... that's not him. It's not the real Gray," he said to himself. "You can cut the act now!" he called to Gray. "I can tell you're an imposter, so you can drop the act!"
"What do you mean Hibiki?" asked Lucy. "He's right there isn't he?"
Gray then fixed his eyes on Hibiki. "Accessing info on Hibiki," he said. "He's a member of Blue Pegasus and he's a big player. No other information is available. Talk about a waste of time."
"We're wasting our time with this fool!" said Carla impatiently. "Let's hurry up and take him out so we can get to Nirvana already!"
Lucy was now feeling more confused than ever. Then she when heard Carla mention Nirvana, she remembered what Hibiki had told her before about Nirvana's effects began to realize what Hibiki said was true.
"That's right!" she thought. "Nirvana only affects and switches those who are wavering between good and evil and Gray is about as good as good can get! So, there's no way his emotions could sway like that!"
"Who the heck are you?" she glared at Gray. "Answer us!"
Gray then smirked and began chuckled evilly. "Piri Piri," he said ominously.
And then in a puff of smoke the imposter of Gray disappeared and to Lucy's surprise, the being that was once Gray was now an exact copy of herself just like before.
"Wait a second! That's me!" she squeaked.
"You've got to be kidding," said Hibiki. "You must not be very smart if you think you can fool us by turning into Lucy. We know that you're not her, so just show us your true form already."
"Oh, I'll show you alright," the fake Lucy said. "And I'm pretty sure that you'll find that I'm every bit as real as that lousy bimbo."
The fake Lucy grabbed her top and pulled it up flashing her breasts right in front of them. Lucy screamed in terror and embarrassment while Hibiki and Sagittarius' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Carla, however, was irked and disgusted by the two boys' reaction.
"Men," she scoffed. "Absolutely pathetic."
Natsu who was still on his raft groaned as he resisted another bile of puke in his throat. "W-wobbling..."
"Yes indeed!" said Hibiki and Sagittarius grinned pervily. "And they're real too!"
"I hate both of you!" shrieked Lucy as she gave both men a sharp and hard kick to the side of their heads.
"Don't blame them for your shameless act!" said Carla huffily. "Honestly, think about what kind of example you're setting for Wendy, you floozy!"
"But that's not me! I mean it is, but it's isn't!" said Lucy trying to explain while pointing at the imposter, but in the end, she ended up bursting into comedic tears. "Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me anyway?! It makes no sense!" she sobbed.
"I'm sorry to say this, but it's only going to get worse from here," said the fake Lucy smirking. "I not only look like you but also know everything about you. From the exact number and what keys you're carrying to your memories as well. I gotta say I'm impressed. You have quite the number of keys and you had an audience with the Celestial Spirit King. Makes me wonder how someone with little magic power ever got the honor. Well, whatever it doesn't matter." She turned to Sagittarius. "Hey, Sagittarius. Do me a favor and take them out if you would."
Sagittarius immediately pointed his arrow and fired at Lucy and Hibiki. Lucy was able to dodge in the nick of time, but Hibiki wasn't so lucky. As he tried to put up his barrier to protect himself, an arrow pierced right on his left shoulder sending him falling to the ground.
"Sagittarius what are you doing?!" cried Lucy.
"I thought you only took orders from Lucy you traitorous horse!" exclaimed Carla.
"It's... not what you think!" said Sagittarius as he tried to resist. "I didn't mean to... do that...! My body... is acting on its own!"
Lucy then rushed to Hibiki's side and helped him to his feet. "Just hang in there Hibiki," she said. "You're going to be OK." She then turned to her doppelganger. "You! You were able to control Sagittarius just now! How?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" said the fake Lucy grinning. "I'm an exact copy of you which means since your spirits obey you, they have to obey me too."
"Miss Lucy... Sir Hibiki...please forgive me," said Sagittarius as he prepared to fire another barrage of arrows. "I'm trying to resist as much... as I can, but... I can't hold it!"
He then fired another barrage of arrows, but Hibiki erected another barrier shielding himself and Lucy just in time.
"Carla! Grab Wendy and get her out of here!" cried Lucy. "It's too dangerous for her here!"
"I was waiting for you to say that!" said Carla as she did what she was told. "In fact, I was planning on doing that from the start!"
As soon as she had a hold of Wendy, she spread her wings and rocketed to the sky. When she was sure that Carla and Wendy were out of danger, Lucy carried Hibiki out of the way, so he could rest. Then she got out a gold key which was what she used to summon Sagittarius as she turned him.
"I'm gonna close your gate for a while," she said. "I know it's not your fault, so go ahead and take a break."
"That I shall milady," said Sagittarius as he saluted. "I only regret that I was unable to help aid you any further. Hello!"
And with that Sagittarius vanished into thin air as he disappeared into the Celestial World. The fake Lucy smirked as she pulled out a golden key of her own just like the original Lucy had.
"I was hoping you'd do that," she said. "Now open. Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
In a burst of magic power and a puff of smoke, Sagittarius reappeared on next to the fake Lucy much to Lucy's shock and surprise.
"You called Lady Lucy?" asked the horse spirit. "I'm happy to jump back into the fray! Hello!" Then he realized that it wasn't the original Lucy that summoned him. "Wait a moment! What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded the fake Lucy.
"All you need to know is that I'm the one who summoned you," said the fake Lucy sweetly. "So now you're my owner and you have to follow my orders."
"That may be so, but I will not betray my charge no matter what you say!" said Sagittarius defiantly.
The fake Lucy looked up and could still see Carla and Wendy from above. "Let's test that shall we?" she smiled. "Shoot down that cat up there. Knock her out of the sky!"
"What?! I cannot do that!" said Sagittarius. "I refuse!"
The fake Lucy looked at Sagittarius giving him the evil eye glare. "What did you say? Are you disobeying an order from your master?" she asked angrily.
"Indeed! You may share her appearance as well as her abilities, but you are not my lady!" said Sagittarius still defiant. "So, I shall not obey!" He tried as hard as he could to resist the fake Lucy's command, but his body went against him as he readied another arrow aiming right at Carla from above. "My lady... Quickly...! Send me back! Before...it's too late!"
"Alright then!" nodded Lucy. "Closing Gate of the Archer!"
She waved Sagittarius' key in an attempt to close his gate, but nothing happened. The fake Lucy laughed as she made an Akanbe face mocking her.
"Hey stupid! Did you forget already?" she taunted. "I was the one who summoned horse face, so I'm the only one who can force him back." She turned to back to Sagittarius. "Now hurry up and shoot that cat! I don't got all day!"
Sagittarius took aim and was just about to shoot Carla down, but then someone came walking from the other side of the bank. That, someone, turned out to be Angel.
"Now, now. That's enough," she said. "Nirvana's been found so there's no need spend any more access energy on this brat."
"As you wish ma'am," said the fake Lucy.
Then in a puff of smoke, the fake Lucy then revealed her true form which was Gemi and Mini the Gemini Celestial Spirit twins. At the same time, Sagittarius vanished returning to the Celestial World.
"Hello there Lucy," greeted Angel. "Angel from the Oración Seis has arrived! You've heard of angels from tales, so how does it feel to gaze upon one?"
"I think I'd much rather be blind, lady!" Lucy said. "And I take it that those two belong to you?"
"Yes. My pets have the ability to copy a person's appearance, abilities, and even their thoughts," said Angel. "You know them as Gemini, the celestial spirit twins. I guess that makes us twins as well since I too am a celestial wizard."
"You're kidding me! You're a celestial wizard like me?!" scowled Lucy. "That makes me sick! Now I really want to take you out!"
"Oh really?" smirked Angel. "You don't stand a chance against me, but you think you can take me on, go ahead and try."
Lucy scowled as she bravely prepared to fight. However, the odds were pretty stacked against her.
"I'm pretty confident that I won't fall to the dark side and I doubt Ms. Oración Seis Psycho Swan will change to the good side anytime soon, so I don't have to worry about Nirvana," she thought. "Hibiki's in pretty rough shape and Natsu is out for the count too, which means it's up to me. And we just so happen to be by a river and that's filled with water which means I can use Aquarius."
"Your keys would make a lovely addition to my collection," said Angel. "So, hand them over now if you don't want to get hurt."
"Not gonna happen!" said Lucy as she whipped out another gold key and put it in the water. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
The water burst into a large spout and from it, a mermaid emerged. She had a long blue tail with hair to match along with her pupiless eyes, a revealing dark blue bikini top, a gold headband, three piercings on the side of her tail, and a belt on her waist, and she was also carrying a sky-blue urn. She also had a blue tattoo of the Aquarius symbol on her collarbone.
"Alright, Aquarius! Wipe her out!" commanded Lucy. "I don't care if you take me with me out with her!"
"I was already planning to that from the get-go," Aquarius replied gruffly as water began to gush forth from her urn. "In fact, it's time for all of ya to go flying!"
"Hey! Take it easy!" squeaked Lucy now feeling a little frightened. "What did I ever do to you?!"
Aquarius was about ready to attack, but Angel smirked completely calm. She closed Gemini's gate making the twins disappear and then she pulled out another gold key preparing to summon another spirit.
"Open. Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio."
Ina burst of light, another spirit appeared before Lucy and Aquarius. He was a tall dark-skinned man with red and white hair on both sides on his head, bare-chested with a red flower with gold trims around his neck, wore black shorts with a red sheet and a belt with the symbol of Scorpio around his waist, and had bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. The biggest feature on this man was a large gun that was shaped like a scorpion's tail attached to him.
"Oh yeah!" he said as he posed folding his ring and middle fingers leaving his index and pinky extended. "I was born to be wicked!"
The moment Aquarius saw this spirit, her attitude completely did a one-eighty and she jumped into the arms of Scorpio. "Scorpio! Honey bunches of hunk! Oh, how I missed you my love muffin!"
"Well, what do you know? It's my little mermaid of delight, Aquarius," smiled Scorpio. "Long time, no see, girl!"
"Honey?! Love Muffin?!" exclaimed Lucy. "Just a minute! Don't tell me... don't tell me that he's..."
"Yup! He's my boyfriend," said Aquarius sweetly as she lovingly grinned from ear to ear.
Scorpio then looked at Lucy and flashed a cool smile. "Well... so you're my blue bombshell's wizard huh? Nice to meet ya! Meeting you like this is absolutely wicked."
Lucy's jaw hung open and her eyes bugged out deeply shocked. "This is crazy!" she cried. "What has she told you and why is she acting that way?!"
Aquarius then glared daggers at Lucy causing her to cringe with fear. "Look blondie," she growled threateningly. "If you wanna keep on breathing, don't even think about embarrassing me in front of my Scorpio. Got it?"
Lucy answered nodding her head furiously. Then Aquarius sweetly looked back at Scorpio. "Say love muffin, wanna go out for dinner? Just the two of us?" she asked.
"Sound wicked!" said Scorpio. "I know a restaurant that's got an aurora-filled view and you'll just love it!" He turned to Angel. "Hey Angel, hope you don't mind but I'm gonna take my girl on a night on the town. You got this right?"
"Sure, I do," smiled Angel. "Have fun!"
"No, wait! Come back here!" cried Lucy. "We're in the middle of a fight!"
It was no use. Aquarius and Scorpio had disappeared back to the Celestial World to go on their hot date. Lucy fell to her knees baffled not believing or understanding what had just happened. That, however, was short lived as Angel walked up to her and gave her a sharp kill right to her head knocking the ribbon off her head and she fell into the water.
"How pathetic," she said. "A novice like you not being able to understand how Celestial Spirits can relate hasn't got a chance of beating me. You might as well give up especially since I've taken your most powerful spirit out of the picture."
Lucy then resurfaced from the water holding up another gold key. "You may have taken out Aquarius, but there's one other powerhouse I can call!" she said. "Open! Gate of the Lion! Loke!"
At Lucy's command, another Celestial Spirit came forth. This time it was a young man with spiky orange hair with blue glasses and wore a black suit. To Lucy, he was known as Loke, but to everyone else, he was one of the strongest spirits in the Zodiac, Leo.
"Hey there Lucy! Your handsome prince has arrived," said Loke.
"Enough with the flirting!" said Lucy. "You have to help me beat this chick! If you don't, the whole guild will be in danger!"
"Sound simple enough," said Loke cracking his knuckles. "Just leave it to me."
Angel giggled upon seeing Loke not intimidated. "You just don't learn, do you? Allow me to give you another lesson about how important it is to relate to spirits," she said, as she took about another gold key. "Open. Gate of the Ram! Aries!"
Angel then summoned another spirit which was a young girl with pink hair, a pair of brown twisted horns of her head, and wore a white dress tube made of white wool. The moment Lucy and Loke saw this spirit, they were shocked. Even Hibiki who was watching the fight from afar was shocked to see the spirit as well.
You see, Aries and Loke were lifelong friends, but belonged to an abusive wizard named Karen Lilica who worked for the Blue Pegasus Guild. She would bully Aries every chance she had and Loke at times would have to stand up for her. One day, Loke couldn't take it anymore and decided to take manners into his own hands by taking Aries' place demanding that she terminate their contracts. Karen naturally refused, so Loke stayed in the human world to prevent Karen from summoning any more spirits. However, this would lead to Karen's demise for right after a few months, she went on a mission and died because of her unable to use her magic. Not only that, but Aries' key had gone missing since then until now. Not only that, but she was also Hibiki's lover.
"No way... It can't be..." he murmured. "But... what is she doing here?! That's one of Karen's spirits! "
"Aries..." said Loke his eyes never leaving the spirit standing before him.
"I'm so sorry Loke," said Aries timidly. "I hope you can forgive me for meeting you like this."
"How do you have one of Karen's spirits?!" Lucy demanded Aries.
"Isn't it obvious? I took it from her after I killed her," said Angel as she patted Aries on the head. "And you know what they say, to the victor go the spoils. It was a shame though. She tried to open two gates at once even though she barely had the energy to stand. She practically handed her keys to me on a silver platter, so killing her was easy. In fact, I've killed so many celestial wizards and taken their keys that I stopped counting and you're going to be next Lucy. You'll become another stone on the road of misery I've pavved."
Hibiki was now beside himself with sadness as tears streamed down his face having to have heard everything Angel said.
"Karen... you died... because of this woman?" he thought as he wept. "How? How could have fallen to someone like her?" Then Hibiki's sadness slowly began to turn into hate as he looked right at Karen's murderer. "This woman... one of her own kind... Angel... a celestial wizard... took the love of my life away! I hate them! I hate them all!" Hibiki then realized what he was saying and quickly stopped himself. "No! Stop it! This is exactly the kind of thinking that will make Nirvana change me! I can't give in to hatred like this! I've got to stop thinking about it!"
Lucy and Loke glared at Angel disgusted at her for what she had just told them. Then Lucy looked at Aries and her angry glare slowly changed into sympathy.
"I can't believe this... You get to meet again after all these years and you're forced to fight each other?" she said feeling guilty. "No. I won't do it. I won't force you to go through with this Loke."
She pulled out Loke's key and was just about to close his gate and send him back, but then Loke stopped her by grabbing her hand.
"I appreciate your concern Lucy," he said as his fist began to glow in a bright light. "But I don't need you to protect me. It's true that Aries and I were once friends, but we both have different owners now and that makes us enemies. It's a celestial spirit's duty to fight for the sake of our owners no matter what the circumstances."
"That's right," said Aries as she conjured a cloud of pink wool in her hands. "Even if we are indebted to our opponents, we must defeat the enemy for the sake of our masters. Good or evil."
"Because for a celestial spirit... it's a matter of pride!" the two at the same time as they both came at each other beginning their battle.
All Lucy could do was watch shaking with sorrow while Angel watched with an amused expression from this turn of events.
"Well, what do you know. They're actually fighting," she said. "I didn't really expect this, but who am I to stop the show?"
Loke threw a straight punch forcing Aries to and move away to try and gain distance, but Loke managed to tail her and hit her with another punch sending her back. Aries retaliated by unleashing a huge cloud of pink wool at Loke hoping to trap him, but Loke leaped out of the way avoiding it. Aries then extended her arm and used one of her spells seeing that Loke was open.
"WOOL BOMB!"
A large spiral of pink wool gushed out surrounding Loke, but he punched right through it using his fists. Aries then caught him by surprise by appearing from behind with a fist cloaked in pink wool. Loke retaliated with a fist of light and the two punches collided forcing the two into a stalemate as the gazed grimly at each other.
As the two continued their fight, Lucy now felt more sorrowful than before. She couldn't stand to see two fighting like this. To her, this wasn't right. This felt completely wrong.
"Please stop it! Both of you!" she cried as her eyes began filling with tears. "Friends shouldn't have to fight like this! I'm begging you to stop!"
Angel, on the other hand, was now getting a little worried. "Hmm. She's actually putting up a good fight," she said to herself. "Then again she's up against the leader of the Zodiac Spirits who is also a master of close combat." She thought, and she thought about what she should do about this until she had an idea. She then pulled out a silver key and she summoned another spirit. "Open. Gate of the Chisel! Caelum!"
Another spirit the appeared next to her. It was a metallic and robotic sphere with a halo on top of it.
"Listen up Caelum," said Angel. "I've got some targets for you. The moment you see Aries stop Leo, I want you to do what you do best."
Obeying her command, Caelum transformed into a large cannon and took aim. It charged a large amount of energy and then unleashed a powerful green energy heading right for Loke and Aries. Lucy gasped in horror as the beam pierced right through not only Aries but Loke as well right on their abdomens. Angel laughed sadistically as Loke and Aries slowly began to fade away back the Celestial World due to their wounds.
"Now that's entertainment!" she crowed. "Absolutely perfect!"
"Damn it all..." groaned Loke as he slowly began to fade away. "I'm sorry Lucy... I failed... And I'm sorry Aries... I failed you too..."
"It's alright..." said Aries. Her eyes were filled with tears, but at the same time, she was smiling. "Besides... there's no reason to be sad... you have a great owner... that cares about you... I just wish I was so lucky..."
Aries and Loke eventually faded completely leaving a horrified and stunned Lucy as a loss for words for what had just happened.
"You see that? That's how you pull off multiple gates, Lucy," said Angel. "Looks your most powerful spirit will be out of commission for a while."
Lucy's hands were now clenched into fists as she now had an angry snarl on her face with her eyes filled with angry tears. "You disgust me," he spoke in a low and angry voice.
"Oh, what are you crying for?" asked Angel coolly. "It's not like they actually die or anything, so what's the point?"
"But they do feel pain!" snapped Lucy. "They have feelings! They're not mindless dolls for you to play with! You call yourself a Celestial Wizard?! A real one should always respect their spirits!"
Angel scoffed not caring in the slightest about what Lucy said. Lucy then whipped out another key summoning her fourth Celestial Spirit in a row.
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
At her call, yet another Celestial Spirit came forth. He was a tall muscular humanoid bull that was black and white like a cow, had a cowbell around his neck, wore a black speedo with a red studded belt with dark boots, and wielded a large double-bladed ax. At the same time, Angel not impressed pulled out Gemini's key and summoned forth the twins once again in a puff of smoke. Caelum also transformed again. This time into a sword that was like its original form, but had a long blade with a halo around it and a black handle on the bottom.
"Making Lucy cry is the worst moo-ve you've ever made," snarled Taurus. "Get ready for the beat down of your life!"
Then suddenly Gemini transformed into Lucy once again and flirtatiously stuck out her butt giving Taurus a sexy wink making large cow blink in surprise.
"Come and get some you Kobe Beef stud," she said winking.
Taurus being the pervert that he has immediately threw his ax away and came dashing towards Gemini like a madman much to Lucy's disgust and horror. "I'm in the mood for some rump roast!" he cried.
The next thing Taurus knew, Gemini grabbed Caelum by the handle and then swung it like a bat sending Taurus flying into the sky. "And it's outta here!" she crowed.
"No! Taurus!" cried Lucy as yet another one of her spirits was sent back to the Celestial World. Then she suddenly felt weak causing her to fall to her knees into the water with her hands holding her up.
"Looks like you're out of magic power," said Angel. "That's what you get for summoning one after another when you had so little magic power to begin with. Face it darling, you're simply outgunned and outmatched. I'm way more powerful than a mere novice like you."
"No... way... muttered Lucy weakly as she tried to get up.
Gemini then went on the attack by ruthlessly beating Lucy by either kicking or hitting her herself or hitting her with Caelum in her hand. Angel chuckled to herself seeing Lucy getting knocked around and beaten.
"You poor thing. You really shouldn't beat yourself up over the matter!" she said as she broke into a fit of laughter from her own joke. "I think she needs more pain Gemini"
Hibiki who was still on the sidelines watching the fight had begun to lose himself to his own negative thoughts due to Nirvana. He eyes were a little hazy and he smiled evilly as he seemed to agree with what Angel said. "More... pain..." he chuckled darkly.
Lucy struggled as she tried to get back up on her feet, but she fell back to her knees due to her body now being battered and bruised. However, she glared at Angel her eyes still holding a fire of not giving up in them.
"What's up with that look?" asked Angel not intimidated. "It's starting to annoy me, so quit staring."
"Release Aries from her contract," said Lucy.
Angel raised a brow as she scowled. "You must be joking."
"Karen tormented, tortured, and broke her almost on daily basis," continued Lucy as she made it to her feet. "She's suffered so much and she deserves to be happy, but that won't happen unless she's free."
Gemini was surprised from Lucy's words and for caring so much about Aries, but that surprise was quickly shut out as she swatted Lucy again with Caelum sending her to a small island in the river hard.
"What do we say when we want something from someone Lucy?" Angel asked mocking her. "I'm sure you can remember your manners."
Lucy now holding her arm in pain looked at the two. "Please... let her go...I'm begging you" she begged her eyes filling with tears. "I... just want Loke and Aries to be together... and we Celestial Wizards can make that happen for them. Do what you want with me... but please release Aries from her contract so she can be happy!"
"For free?" asked Angel now feeling amused.
"You can have anything you want except for my spirits!" cried Lucy. "You can even take my own life if you want! Just let her go!"
Angel smiled sadistically as her face darkened. "My, my, how generous of you," she smirked. "Finish and collect for me!"
Gemini raised Caelum and prepared to deliver the finishing blow and Lucy shut her eyes and waited for the blow to finish her, but for some reason, the blow never came. Lucy opened her eyes and saw that Gemini wasn't moving. Angel was surprised.
"What are you waiting for Gemini?! Finish her!" she ordered.
Gemini didn't move. "I... I hear a strange voice... inside my head..." she said. Then due to her being a copy of Lucy as well as seeing Lucy beg Angel to release Aries from her contract, all of Lucy's memories began to pop up inside her head. From when she was a little girl to when she stood before the Celestial Spirit King.
"I love celestial spirits so much, Mama. Can you teach me how to summon them?"
"Celestial Spirits aren't my shields! They're my friends!"
"I can't just stand by while my friend disappears right before my eyes!"
Gemini seeing these memories of Lucy caring for her spirits felt tears stream down her face as she felt overwhelmed and moved with emotion. "I can't do it..." she wept. "She loves us... she cares about us... she's willing to give up her life for us... Lucy loves Celestial Spirits from the bottom of her heart... we envy her spirits..."
Lucy was surprised as was Angel, but Angel's surprise was quickly replaced with anger.
"Begone!" she snapped as she pulled out and swiped Gemini's key making Gemini vanish back to the Celestial World leaving Caelum floating. She clenched the key and growled in frustration. "You'll pay for disobeying me!" she growled.
Lucy sighed with relief thinking that she was safe, but that relief was short lived. Right then she left a pair of hands wrap around her neck making her freeze with terror. She knew who those hands belonged to.
"H-Hibiki?" Lucy asked slowly.
Angel then shrieked with laughter. "No way! Your friend switched sides in the middle of the fight!"
Lucy began to tremble with terror thinking that Hibiki would choke her to death, but then Hibiki's hands moved to her shoulders and he heard Hibiki spoke directly to her ear.
"It's OK Lucy. I'm fine," he said. "It was close, but I almost fell to the dark side. It was thanks to your words for loving your spirits that snapped me out of it." He then moved his hands to Lucy's head as they began to glow with magic power. "Get ready. I'm going to use my Archive magic to give you the knowledge of a high-leveled spell to beat this girl. This is a one-shot deal... so make it count! If anyone can do this... it's you, Lucy!"
He then placed his hands on the sides of Lucy's head and Lucy immediately felt a shock go through her mind as she began to feel loads of information go into her head. Angel stepped back in fear as she saw a magic circle appear below to the two.
"Caelum! What are you waiting for?! Finish her!" she cried.
Caelum quickly transformed into a canon and prepared to fire, but right then Hibiki had finished putting the information of the spell in Lucy's head and fell the river in exhaustion. Then the area around them seemed to turn into a blanket of stars as numerous planets appeared all around them. Lucy began to glow in a bright and golden light and a ring of water circled around her now having the spell downloaded in her mind as she began to chant the spell.
"Oh, stars far and wide that embody the heavens, by thy radiance, reveal thy form to me. I implore you, Oh Tetrabiblos ruler of the stars, let your unrestrained rage flow..."
"What the hell is this?!" cried Angel stepping back fearfully. "I've never seen this spell before! Caelum! Hurry up and shoot her!"
Caelum having to have charged enough energy fired, but it was too late. Caelum's beam of attack was deflected by the overwhelming power of Lucy's spell as she completed the spell.
"With the eighty-eight heavenly bodies... shining! URANO METRIA!"
The planets surrounding the area all began to glow in a bright light and then shot straight towards Angel. As Angel braced for the impact of the overwhelming attack, she saw her life flash before her eyes. She remembered back to when she was a child at the Tower of Heaven holding a feather in her hand and looking up to the sky.
"My prayer... was to vanish..." she thought. "To vanish into the heavens... like an angel... pure and white..."
Then every single once of power of the attack blasted and slammed straight into her making her scream in agony and pain and sending her flying. Hibiki seeing Lucy standing victorious smiled proudly as he started to lose consciousness.
"Way to go Lucy... I knew you could pull it off," he thought as his vision became black.
Lucy then regained her senses as the area around them returned to normal. As Angel fell into the water, she felt very confused as to what had happened.
"What... just happened?" she wondered. "Did... I win?"
Then she noticed that she was the only one still standing. Hibiki was knocked out and Happy was still frozen in his block of ice due to Gemini, and Natsu was still on his raft suffering from his motion sickness.
"Natsu? Are you OK?!" she called.
Natsu only answered with a weak groan still pale in the face and very sick. Lucy then waded towards Natsu hoping to try and help him, but then she felt a burst of water come from behind her causing her to turn around to find that Angel along with Caelum had reemerged from the water. Angel was covered in bruises, her outfit was tattered and torn, and most of all she had a maniacal look on her face as she stared daggers right at Lucy.
Lucy could only stand there with disbelief as Caelum transformed into its canon form once again and took aim at Lucy. Not only that, but she felt confused wondering how Angel got into such a state.
"What's going on here?" she thought to herself. "How did she get like that and why do I feel so weak?"
"I will... not lose!" she said. "I'm one of the Oración Seis! Anyone who dares get in our way will be sent to the grave! With the last of my power, I'll make sure that you die for sure!"
Caelum began charging up power until it was fully charged and then unleashed the same green blast of energy right at Lucy. Feeling too weak and bruised to move, Lucy shut her eyes. Then suddenly just as the beam was about to hit her, it curved going around Lucy and instead blasted the top of the tree that was holding Natsu's raft in place. Angel gawked at what had just happened, then she realized that Caelum had missed Lucy on purpose.
"Damn you!" she growled. "You filthy traitor!"
Caelum responded by giving two sad beeps before disappearing back into the Celestial World. Now completely out of magic power, Angel fell back into the water now finally defeated. Lucy looked back to see that the shock from the blast had sent Natsu's raft on the move. She quickly waded after it in hot pursuit.
"Natsu! Hang on!" she cried. "You gotta wake up! Pull yourself together!" As she trudged after the raft, she got closer and closer until she reached out with her hand. "Come on! Give me your hand!"
Natsu still feeling weak managed to reach out his hand hearing Lucy. The two hands inched closer and closer until Lucy's managed to grab a hold of Natsu's.
"Got ya!" smiled Lucy.
Then there was trouble. Lucy and Natsu didn't know until it was too late that the raft was heading for a small waterfall. When they went over it Lucy found herself on the raft with Natsu as the raft floated into rushing waters. The raft was now zooming swiftly into the water with Natsu and Lucy holding on for dear life. To make things worse, Lucy looked ahead of them and her face nearly paled.
"No way...! You gotta be kidding me!" she cried.
There ahead of them was a large waterfall. Knowing that they would not be able to get off it in time, all Lucy could do was hold Natsu tight to her chest as she along with him fell over the falls dropping into the water below.
Meanwhile, back with Shark and Brain, they were making their way towards the light in the hopes of gaining control of Nirvana. Suddenly Brain once again felt a pang of pain go through his head as another black line on his face faded away.
"Something wrong master?" asked Shark.
"This is impossible..." murmured Brain. "Angel's been defeated as well?!"
"How unfortunate," said Shark. "That leaves only four members left master including yourself."
Brain seethed in anger his hand clenching tightly around the staff in his hand. "Mark my words...I won't let your deaths be in vain! I will avenge you all!" he growled. "For very soon, the light of this world will come crashing down and all who oppose me will be destroyed!" He turned to Shark. "Quickly Shark! We must make haste and head towards Nirvana as soon as possible!"
"Yes Master," said Shark as he spread his oily black wings and took a hold of Brain. Then with a mighty beat of his wings carrying Brain, he took off into the air. Water shot out from the bottom of his feet and he and Brain rocketed towards the pillar of light in the hopes of getting Nirvana before anything else went wrong.
Another chapter down! I particularly loved doing this chapter because well, Lucy is a fav of mine!
If you liked what you read, leave me a review! If you have any questions you'd like to ask, please PM me!
Until then... Dragoman out!