Chapter 6: The Mission
Teleporting via moonlight was decidedly Lucy's third favorite form of travel. First being her own gate hopping abilities and second being via her spirit Auriga - the Charioteer.
They landed on the outskirts of Crocus, deciding it would be better to walk through the forest to the village. That way they would be ready to fight when they got there.
As they walked Lucy took control and laid out her plan.
"Alright. We are not going in there, Natsu blazing like we usually do. I won't risk it this time. Instead I'm going to fire off the first few shots. I want to see the power levels on all of them. Natsu, Gray. You two are going to take out the two strongest. Gray I want you using your Devil Slayer magic right off the bat. Natsu bring out END if you have to. Erza will get Happy, Cris, and Van out of here and I'll calm you down while Gray stays back just in case. Erza, you and I have the two weaker ones. Use your lightning empress armor. Lightning is a form of light magic so you and Loke will be our heavy hitters there. I'll help too but I'm staying in Corvus's star dress as much as possible. Also the speed will do you wonders. I'm bringing out Corvus, Bella, and Loke. I'll probably bring out one more, either Taurus Capricorn or Cancer, but I want to wait and see when we get there. Happy you're our lookout. I want you up in the air watching for anyone coming to join the fight.
Cris and Van. You're our switches. I don't know how you fight so I don't know what situations to avoid putting you in. If it seems like one of us is tiring out or taking too much damage pull us out and take over for a bit. Do not force yourself into a situation you are not comfortable with. I don't know if you've fought demons before, so I'll tell you now it is different then fighting a mage. They have the power levels of S-class and up, most of their hide is extremely tough but there is always a weak spot. Cris since you are our healer, I want you to use long range shots only if you have them. Van you're with me. Keep an eye on the others but I want you mainly fighting with me. I haven't mastered the stardress I will be using so if it looks like my control is slipping pull me back. You Bella and Corvus are probably the only people who can help if I lose control. Bella usually watches and pulls me back when I need it and having Corvus out will help also but sometimes it still gets hard. Any questions?"
"Why wouldn't the others be able to help if you lose control of your stardress? What is a stardress? And why are you using one against demons while pregnant that you haven't mastered?"
"Stardresses let me borrow my spirit's magic and use it as my own. Corvus is one of my newer spirits. I've only been contracted to him for a few months. He is a shadowquip mage, the first to ever live to adulthood, and Bella is his bonded havati. When he became a spirit Bella did as well, becoming the spirit for the serpent Serpens. When I contracted Corvus and he told me I could learn his stardress he also gave me her key to help since I'm not a member of Clan Husen and can't bond with my own. If I use his stardress I have to have at least one if not both out otherwise I can't control it well enough yet. Since you are also a shadowquip you have the best chance of helping me control my powers if they get out of hand. As for why I'm using his stardress today, it's because I'm pregnant that I'm using it. Stardresses come with a wardrobe change and his is my third best option for armor, the first two being unavailable or too magic consuming. The leather is thick and can take a beating before really getting damaged. I need the extra protection even at the cost of possibly losing control because I won't risk losing my baby."
Van nodded his head in understanding. Slightly amazed at the abilities his new sister had.
"Hey Kaleb"
"Has something gone wrong? Is Lucy or her baby hurt? Do I need to send backup?"
Vander and Cris shared a knowing look that went unnoticed by the mages they were with. The blonde in front of them just had her family expanded by 8 and didn't even know it yet. They knew though that each of them already cared deeply for her and would do anything to keep her safe.
"Everything's fine. We haven't reached the village yet, we decided to walk from Crocus to discuss the plan."
"Okay. That's good. What do you need?"
"I want you, Dad, and Farron to look into how someone can become part of a clan without being born into it."
"...huh?"
Cris and Van chuckled, getting weird looks from the group walking slightly ahead of them. It wasn't often you could throw their brother off, and from the silence of the family link it seemed they had stunned their father and oldest brother too.
"I think Stella could become a member of Clan Husen. More like should to be honest. She has the ability to use shadowquip magic and is immune to havati venom from being contracted to one. She isn't bonded to one though and it would benefit her greatly. I'll fill everyone in on the details later. Just see if it's possible."
"We'll see what we can find out. Keep an eye on her. Don't let her get hurt."
"Yeah yeah. As if I ever would. Cris isn't too happy about her plan but she does have me fighting next to her so I should be able to pull her out of tough situations. I'm not gonna sideline her though. If the show she put on at the palace is anything, she'd probably sooner knock me out than let me fight for her."
Many of the family laughed at that.
"She has a great mind for strategy. Obviously a good political one too considering she changed two Boscan laws and put that lowlife councilman in his place. Seriously though. 'I'm sure they would not want to associate with the likes of you.' Like what the hell even was that?"
"I don't know Van. Just keep an eye on her. If you ask, she'll probably tell you. At least that's what Bix said. He says thanks by the way."
"What for?"
"Both of you going with her. Wanting to protect her and the baby."
"Well of course we would. What kind of brothers would we be if we didn't. Lucy may be a new addition but she's our sister now. Like Van said family protects each other, he should know that. Also why haven't you added him to the family link?"
"He asked that I don't yet. He's not even with us right now. After you all left he gave me his message before heading back to his office. Apparently his magic started acting up and he didn't want us to get freaked out or something. I didn't really catch everything. Their office has some pretty heavy runes around it and as soon as he stepped through them I couldn't hear a thing."
Cris and Van looked at each other in concern though this time Lucy caught it and stopped them.
"You four keep going, I need to talk to them. Try to find the demons but don't engage until we get there."
Lucy turned to face them.
"You're talking to Kaleb."
Cris raised an eyebrow at her statement. It wasn't a question, she just somehow knew what they were doing.
"He's a mindbender, and a powerful one at that. This distance shouldn't be a problem for him, especially since you're family and your connection is well established. You both also keep sending each other looks or chuckling. I've had to learn to be observant from being kidnapped so often. I wasn't going to say anything but that concerned look has me worried. So what's up? What happened?"
Van relayed everything that was happening through the family link while Cris and Lucy talked, though he cut in when necessary. Needless to say they were all impressed.
"Apparently Bickslow locked himself in your office, and Kaleb heard something in passing about us being scared of his magic."
Lucy nodded in understanding.
"Are you?"
"Are we what Lucy?"
"Scared of his magic. I wouldn't blame you for it if you were. If you don't understand all of it or know him, it can be pretty scary."
"Why would we be scared of his magic? He's our brother. Being scared of his magic would mean being scared of him, but we know he wouldn't hurt us. Even though we haven't seen each other in a long... long time, he's still our brother. We know what he can do and it doesn't bother us. We all have magics that can scare people, hell mine especially Stella. You know intimately what my magic can do, what lies beneath the surface. Sure he can possess people, could rip a person's soul from their body. Emi can straight up melt people, I can call forth void shades, Kaleb can tear apart people's minds. Everyone can do scary things."
Lucy smiled softly.
"You need to tell him that. He's been worried about what y'all would think and is wearing his visor again on the off chance that y'all accepted my invitation. I had gotten him to the point where he would only wear it on missions but he's been wearing it all week in the guild, only taking it off when it was just us and our teams. He thinks I don't know why he's wearing it again, but he couldn't hide it from me."
"Ask her if she knows how to get him to come out. We've tried knocking on the door but he won't answer it."
"Kaleb wants to know how to get in. Says Bix won't answer the door."
"Tell him the password is Vermillion. That will get them through Freed's runes the door itself shouldn't be locked but if it is tell Sparkplug I said to open it. Actually tell Mira. She's the silverette behind the bar.
Tell Kaleb that whoever goes in there needs to tell him green is the color of life. He'll know it's from me but he'll relax enough to talk. Hopefully."
Vander nods and relays the message but before they can discuss the matter any further there is an explosion and a mushroom cloud of smoke fills the air.
"Damnit Natsu! I said wait!"
Without even thinking Lucy runs toward the smoke, Cris and Van only seconds behind her. It only takes her a moment to reach the others and right off the bat she can tell something doesn't seem right. The beings the others were fighting had the appearance of demons but didn't act like them and their power levels weren't right. Demons were supposed to be S-class and up but anybody should have been able to take these ones out, even the council. Something definitely wasn't adding up.
"LUCE! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"
"What's going on? I said to wait until we caught up!"
Erza stepped over to the three.
"Lucy, let Natsu and Gray handle this. It was a set up."
There was another explosion as Natsu and Gray did a unison raid taking out the remaining two at the same time.
"What the hell do you mean it was a set up!?"
Natsu and Gray both walked over looking pissed.
"I smelt it when we arrived. I don't know what those things were but they were from the guild that kidnapped you last year. It was a set up and we need to get back to the guild. I think they're after you. There is no one else here so I think these things were just a distraction to get some of the more heavy hitters out of the guild. I don't think they thought the council would stoop so low as to request a pregnant woman to fight demons."
Lucy's expression darkened and she pulled out a key.
"Open gate of the Charioteer, Auriga!"
There was a flash of light as the spirit arrived but before he could say anything Lucy interrupted him.
"Auriga, I need you to take us back to the guild. They're in trouble. We think it is the same group that tortured me last time and if it is they're all in danger."
"Of course Princess Lucy."
"Wait Lucy. If they're after you, you should be staying here not rushing into danger to face the same people who tortured you and made you lose your first child."
"No Cris. That's where you're wrong. I have to go because my family is in trouble and I will not sit on the sides and watch as they are hurt because they are protecting me. Besides this group can get past even your highly talented family. When they took me, the group that captured me included a blood mage, an invisibility mage, a concealment mage, and a null mage. I'm sure there are so many more there if they plan to attack the guild and I will not stand by and let my family be ambushed."
Lucy took a deep breath before turning back to her team.
"Let's go."
Auriga was quick to teleport them all back to the guild, but they were too late. The mages had already arrived.
So this one was a bit long. I've been trying to keep the chapters between 1000 and 1650 words each but I just couldn't find a good spot to stop and split it into two chapters. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed.