Sorry for uploading this chapter twice! I decided to fix the grammar errors I could catch since I updated pretty late last night!
04| THE AWAKENING
Her cries are what first got her attention, where she was at- Mira didn't know. She didn't understand where she was at, surrounded by red walls that seemed all too familiar. No, she knew these walls all too well. The cries that plagued her hearing that were distant at first became all the more loud, and in a blink of an eye Mira was standing before Lucy.
Lucy, the most sweetest girl Mira had come to have the pleasure of knowing, was crying her heart out in a way she never seen before. Never had Mira ever seen Lucy look so heartbroken in all the years Lucy had been in Fairy Tail.
"What's more important, memories?! The keys! A feeling of guilt!?"
Mira's eyes snapped over towards the person who dared raise their voice at Lucy, who was the no doubtingly the cause of her tears. Only Mira found she was looking at Lucy's beloved spirit, the one her mother had passed down to her before her passing, Aquarius.
Aquarius eyes were burning with anger, burning with a ferocity Mira never seen the siren spirit with at all. Not in the grand magic games, not even when they were in Crocus or any other time Mira had been present around the summoning of Aquarius. She heard the stories, but her heart was suddenly in pain and Mira didn't understand why.
"No! It's the power to save your friends!" Aquarius was all but snapping at Lucy, who sat in the water with her hands covering her eyes while she cried.
"The power of a Celestial Wizard!" Aquarius declared, and Mira could hear the undertone of pride. "Do it Lucy!"
Mira's eyes were taken back to Lucy, who held the golden gate key Mira knew was Aquarius's. The look of physical anguish on Lucy's face as she called forth her power, as she became enveloped in a soft golden glow as the water parted ways, looked as if she was being called physical harm.
Glancing at Aquarius, at the pained expression on her own face, Mira then understood what it was she was witnessing. She was seeing the connection of the two being severed, as if in real time.
"There's a burning in my chest." Mira heard Aquarius's voice in her own head.
Lucy's screaming as she gathered her will power or magic, maybe even a bit of both, was as heartbreaking as loosing Lisanna. It was something Mira wouldn't forget.
"Open!" Lucy's cry rang out lout through the walls of Alegria.
"I can't stop the feelings.. I'll miss you, Lucy."
Mira's heart broken completely then.
"Gate of the Celestial Spirit King!"
"You've done more for me than you know. Thank you."
Mira watched a tear slide down Aquarius's face, how the golden spirit key in Lucy's hand was now broken, and watched as her comrade fell into a mess of tears no one else had witnessed that day looking completely and utterly devastated.
Then everything went black as a loud crash hit the Cube.
Mira had gasped awake then, holding her hammering heart as tears made there way down her cheek. The pain in her chest felt all to real, and overwhelming. Mira didn't understand why she would have dreamed of that, or how she even got to see it. There was no doubt in her head that what she just saw was Lucy's memory of that day, and why Mira was seeing it was beyond her.
Yet she had a feeling that the reasoning she saw that moment in Lucy's life had to do with the dark magic that soiled the town of Oxmire.
Oxmire was a town know for the sunshine that hit it's flower patches and warmth, but outside the flowers were withered and dead. The air was cold and nipped at the skin of their noses, a shiver of promise of darkness lingering in the air.
When Mira had stepped onto the ground off the train, she could feel the darkness that soiled the ground. She could tell by the way the grass was dried, and flowers were withered that something was going on here that involved dark mages.
That was her where her hunch came in, that where ever they thought Lucy was in this town was that she was here. The dark magic was nothing pure, borderline demonic that was calling out to the demon soul residing inside Mira. Lucy must had subconsciously shared, or there was another reason why Mira saw that.
Whatever the reason was didn't matter for now, because the new occurrence that Mira had felt was the demonic presence. Which meant that maybe Mavis had been right, that the seven deadly sins was history and not a story. It meant that her friend could be sacrificed, and after seeing what she saw- Lucy deserved none of that.
It made her feel all more guilty. seeing now how well Lucy was at hiding her feelings. Mira had a good feeling not even Natsu understood how well Lucy could hide her feelings, because to be that heartbroken and not even letting a single soul know? That was a scary skill that caused Mira to wonder what else Lucy hid from everyone, leaving her to burden her own inner demons.
Morning couldn't have come faster. By sunrise everyone was awake, even the ones who normally would be awake so early. That group of late sleepers being Natsu, Gajeel, and Rouge. Yet the promise of finding their comrades and a possible fight had them wide awake and ready to go.
Gajeel had lingered in the Inn's lobby with Erza and Laxus, who had decided that it would be best to ask questions as the others went to eat breakfast. Wendy was the one pulling Natsu around, making sure he didn't destroy anything knowing once they found Lucy the blonde would only scold the fire dragon slayer.
At the mention of that, Natsu was on his best behavior. He had a feeling deep down that he couldn't shake that something wrong. There was something about this town that caused his skin to crawl, even the locals seem off as the scurried away from them.
Gajeel and Erza had been the ones to figure out why the locals were the way they were, of course with the help of Laxus. The manager at the inn had been very hesitant, so much so that both the iron and lightning dragon slayer grew impatient quickly, but eventually got their answers.
"What the hell is going on in this town of yours?" Gajeel questioned rather roughly, pierced eyebrows scrunched together.
Royce, the manager of the inn, had glanced bath and forth as if someone was watching and leaned forward, "Around seven months ago a group of dark mages came to town, called themselves The Order. The took the town by force."
"Why not report that?" Laxus inquired, curious why they would keep quiet. "Surely you could have easily reported them to the Council."
"That's the thing, I think they are in the council." Royce muttered out softly. "These people are scary powerful, not just with magic. They made an example out of one family, the Madison's. Mr. Madison reported them, and the next thing we knew was that his whole family had been strung up by the necks, left hanging on the tree in the middle of town."
How that flew under the radar was beyond of them, but they had also threatened to kill people if a word was spoken to any authority. Threats about killing children and mothers, it was sickening to Erza and made her blood boil, but it was enough to keep this town in control. Fear had been struck into the locals.
It also made all three of them sick when Royce confirmed that two of the Madison family had been children. These people were truly vile and disgusting with no regards to life. They didn't deserve the air they breathed, but Fairy Tail was above killing. That didn't mean they could beat them to a pulp with an inch of their life to spare.
"Have you seen anyone brought back here?" Erza asked, seeing the fear in his eyes. "I promise no one will hurt you. We will eradicate this group, and protect your town. I promise you that."
Royce, seeing that Erza was firm with determination, swallowed that fear and racked his brain. he thought about all the times he'd seen a member of The Order, because it was just normal instinct for any one who lived here to turn a blind eyes away from what happened. If they left The Order alone, then they left them alone in return.
After all they needed this town to do whatever it was they were doing that now had the strongest guild attention, and brought their strongest mages here to investigate.
"Six months ago I noticed some members returning with people in handcuffs, magic cancelling probably too." Royce really hoped to see another day after this. "They took them to Mount Beaumont and we haven't seen any of those people again. Then a few weeks ago dark magic was everywhere and has been killing our crops and plants, even making elderly and children sick. Some have been leaving, but this is our home. We have no where else to go."
"We will clear the dark magic." Erza says, earning nods from Gajeel and Laxus to back her up. "But these people, how many where there and can you describe them to me?"
Royce scratched his head, "I'm unsure how many there are, and I can describe much since half of them weren't moving."
Before leaving, Erza thanked Royce for being brave enough to tell them the information they needed. Promising to fix what had been done, and even if Lucy wasn't here in this town, well Erza would make it her mission to help these people.
Outside in the town was a downcast, the dark grey clouds above the group completely blocked out any and all sunshine. Deep in his own bones, Laxus could feel a storm coming their way with the promise of thunder and lightning. By the static that was lingering in the air, the storm was going to be a big one and didn't help his own concern about their oncoming mission.
There was no doubt in mind they were going to cross paths with a dark mage, or even mages. No doubt that this was something that did revolve around some type of ritual that involved the seven mages that were taken. It was clear that this plan, whatever it was that involved both Lucy and Sting had been well thought out and that made it all the more dangerous.
It was the dark mages, or as they called themselves "The Order", that planned out their plans down to a T that made them all the more difficult to handle. Tartaros had proven that, and they all still bared scars and grief from that battle. They fought so hard to win, to survive and protect not only their loved ones and home, but the people themselves.
For Natsu, it pissed him off that Lucy always seemed to be in the middle of these things. First being the Infinity Clock, then the Eclipse Gate, and then Tartaros. He didn't know how she did it back then, but now he knew Lucy had been all alone to face those demons, she sacrificed Aquarius and she was hurt.
It pissed him off even more that someone took her when he wasn't around, and at the same time that was his own fault. He left with Happy, only leaving her a note and not even being man enough to face her. He knew if he had faced her, he'd have caved and took Lucy with him to train, but he needed to get stronger not just for the guild, but for Lucy. To him, he had to protect her. He had to be there and be able to be someone she could relay on and trust with anything.
And he failed.
He knew Yukino had been right, that Lucy would forgive him and that was because of who Lucy was. Lucy was trusting to a fault, always forgiving people and giving them second chances. As endearing as it was, it made her stupid sometimes too. Always trusting and not seeing that not everyone in this world was good, no matter how much she tried to make it so.
Who ever the hell these people were who called themselves The Order, a stupid as hell name, well Natsu was going to simply burn them to an ash. They not only took Lucy, but they gave her false hope of seeing Aquarius again and that was not okay in anyone's book.
Gray had been surprised when he found out that Lucy wasn't with Natsu or Wendy when they blown his cover in Alvarez. If anything, he expect Lucy to be there with Natsu and Happy instead of Wendy and Carla. Finding out Natsu had left ahead of everyone with Happy to train, and Lucy said nothing made Gray thinking of how much Lucy had truly given herself to the guild.
She put their happiness before her own, even at her own burden and gave them that smile that convinced them all she was fine. Finding out she had sacrificed Aquarius for them, it only proved how devoted to the guild she was and how much she thought of them as family. It made him think of how much it had to kill her inside to watch them all leave Magnolia, to leave her.
It broke his cold heart completely.
Then some bastard had the nerve to come steal Lucy. Along with their friend Sting and five other mages who were actually making a difference in Fiore. People who all mattered to someone and it wasn't right.
Yet there was this feeling he sensed with his own devil slayer magic that caused him to grown more anxious, as if his own body and magic was waiting for something to happen. The magic that poisoned the earth around them was anything but natural, meaning there had to be a source. The closer they got to that damned mountain, the stronger this suffocating darkness became.
The walk was made in silence, lasting about an hour until they reached their destination. Mount Beaumont was just another mountain, nothing very special about it or rememberable. The only thing it had that the other mountains most of them have all been to was the fact that it leaked dark energy.
Gajeel and Rouge nearly gagged at the scent of evil, it being so fucking strong it had them glancing towards Levy and Yukino with hidden worry. Levy on the other hand pushed her fear down, settling on the determination to go find her best friend and drag her home and never leave again. Yukino felt the warmth of her keys, plus Loke, and put her hand on them to reassure them she would be okay.
Evergreen and Bickslow with Freed looked over at Laxus and Mirajane, who watched the mountain. The dark feeling leaking out wasn't something they feared, it was the cost. Tartaros cost a lot for them, and for a while all they had was each other to pull one another through, Especially when makarov disappeared for a while, Laxus was nearly bad enough to not want to be around.
Gray huffed, because now his magic was warning him. Whatever laid inside wasn't pretty, and much more complex than they thought. Wendy, after everything with Tartaros, only wanted her family safe. She was getting better at confrontations and fights, but sometimes she wanted nothing to do with them. She wished people could be better and stop seeking out things that shouldn't be sought out.
Carla was in the air with Happy above Natsu and Wendy, her senses telling her that something was going to happen. Something was coming. Closing her eyes she remembered the dream she had about Lucy a few weeks ago, one Carla wrote off as nothing seeing as she believed Lucy was working for Jason.
A dream where Lucy stood before them, and she said something. Something and gave a wicked smirk that Lucy would never pull off. It gave Carla a shiver thinking of it, and yet she still wasn't sure exactly what it meant so she said nothing about it.
Happy, he wanted Lucy to be okay. He missed her yelling and everything that was Lucy. He only wanted to hug her, to get her to make him fish and have the team back together. Looking at the mountain, Happy wanted to whimper because it was scary looking. If Lucy was inside of there, Happy didn't want to know what her captors had been doing to her. He wished Natsu took her with him, and wished now he tried harder to convince him to bring her.
"There's three tunnels." Evergreen says, looking over at Erza and Laxus once they reached the entrance.
"These are obviously man made." Rouge added, seeing how even each tunnel was carved out. "Now this is the set up here."
Erza then looked over at Team Natsu and Juvia, "We split up into our groups then and pick a tunnel."
Mira clapped, grabbing her bag and sticking her hand in, "I thought about that before we left, and we do have Warren here so here." Mira then pulled out communication lacrimas. "Just in case we did split up, I brought these so we can keep in touch easier."
It was Yukino and Wendy who took the lacrima for their respective groups. Yukino put her's in her bag and Wendy put hers into Happy's backpack. Erza nodded her thanks to Mira, thanking silently that someone else thought ahead and wanting to hit herself for not thinking of this before hand.
"Let's go get the mighty Sting!" Lector cried out, ready to find his dragon slayer.
"Yes! The might Sting!" Frosh agreed, clapping.
Erza gave one final look at everyone, "Be careful, and if you need back up or find anything let us know. Good luck everyone."
With that Mira and the Thunder Legion took the far right tunnel, telling everyone to be careful as well. Team two being Gajeel, Levy, Lily, Rouge, Yukino and the two Sabertooth exceeds took the far left tunnel, leaving Team Natsu and Juvia to take the middle tunnel for themselves.
The deeper they got, the less and less light there was in the tunnels. None of them noticed a woman standing where they had once been, looking at the three tunnels and giggling herself.
"Idiots."
With that and a wave of her hand, the entrances to the tunnels shifted as the ground came up to meet and the entrances that had once been seemed to have never exist.
Levy was honestly a bit upset that no one remembered matches or packed for the dark. In reality Team Three had Natsu, a human torch and Team One had Laxus as another source of natural light. The had taken about thirty steps before it was just darkness all around them, and Levy hadn't liked the feeling of vulnerability, and neither had Gajeel.
Rouge at least could see in the dark, but it didn't help him much if his group couldn't see anything for themselves. At least both his and Gajeel senses would be able to pick up on anyone who wasn't apart of their group. He could see Lily in his warrior form, while Lector was on Yukino's left shoulder and Frosh was on his own shoulder.
Yukino let Rouge take her hand to help guide her through the dark, which lasted about ten minutes before she felt a familiar warmth at her own hip. Glancing down she saw Loke's key glowing, and without a second thought she reached for his key and gathered her magic.
"Open, gate of the Lion, Loke!" Yukino called for the lion spirit, feeling the pull on her magic as he stepped through his gate.
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance with lighting." Loke says, raising a fist and calling on Regulus to light the way for them.
"Finally some use for ya, play boy." Gajeel says, earning an elbow to the ribs from Levy who had given Gajeel a look before offering a smile to Loke.
"Thank you, Loke." Levy says, earning a smile back from Loke.
Loke was knew that Levy was hurting, that she felt guilty. He knew most of the guild now felt guilty because he finally told them the one thing Lucy had kept to herself all this time. He knew Lucy wanted to keep what happened to Aquarius to herself for as long as she could, but he also knew Lucy wouldn't heal if she never talked about it.
"If you're worried she's mad with you, she isn't." Loke tells Levy softly, walking besides the script mage in front of the others.
"I would have been." Gajeel grunted. "Knowing how her father was first handedly, understanding she was an easy target back then because she had been lonely and she was so protective of her newfound family, I can only image how she felt after everything."
"Lucy isn't the type of person to hold grudges." Yukino interjected, looking over at the two Fairy tail mages. "She isn't the type to tell you what bothers her either. There's a high chance that if your guild did stay together, she would kept the burden to herself."
Loke nodded, "Yukino's right. Lucy never planned on telling you about Aquarius, even had excuses lined up about why she couldn't call on her. Though, make no mistake, my Princess has become strong in her magic."
"The strongest celestial mage alive currently." Yukino chipped in, having no issue that Lucy was the most powerful. In fact Yukino couldn't have been more proud of how far Lucy had come. How much Lucy had grown as a mage and person.
"Which makes it all more concerning about our current dilemma." Lily decided to voice his thoughts. "Lucy is more powerful than she lets on, we all know this even before the disbandment. There were spikes in her magic, but she never said anything and neither did anyone else."
"Can't blame her though." Gajeel agreed, shaking his head at his next words. "Natsu has a hero complex, a need to be Lucy's protector and I have no doubt Lucy became so use to it that she became dependent on him."
Loke was surprised how spot on Gajeel was, because it had taken time to get Lucy out of that mind set that she was weak. Lucy was the strongest celestial mage he had gotten the pleasure of knowing. She deserved more than the damsel in distress role that people chalked her up to play perfect, because she was a hero.
"Lucy is so much more than anyone can understand here on Earthland." Loke says, defending his master. "It's a shame no one is ever there to witness how great she is when it counts."
Levy had nothing else to say, because Loke did have a solid point. She knew her best friend kept her accomplishment to herself, that Lucy was still a mystery to them where it counted. They thought they knew her, but they knew what she wanted them to know. Gajeel had been right though, no matter how much Lucy hated that part about herself, a heiress is a heiress. They had abilities that other people didn't know, because they were never taught to divert emotion.
Rouge was suddenly in front of Loke, signaling them to all stop. Levy was about to ask what was wrong until she heard the low growl of Gajeel. Both him and Rouge were looking off into the shadows that escaped Loke's light, eyes narrowed at whoever it was hiding. It caused Yukino and Levy to tense, bodies ready to leap into battle in a moment's notice, and from the corner of her eyes, Levy could see Lily was ready to tango as well.
"Who the hell are you?" Gajeel snarled, warning the strange smelling man who stepped out of the shadows with his hands raised.
"We are The Order." The smirking man, who's short dark hair and matching dark eyes, says while glancing at each one of them.
Rouge could tell he was sizing them up, growling seeing his eyes linger on Yukino a little to long. He didn't like the interest that flooded into his eyes as he glanced at Loke, and he certainly detested the chuckle the man let out with an amused grin.
"Leo the Lion, how nice to see you again." He took another dangerous step forward. "How hurt do you think our little Lucy would be knowing you found a new master?"
Loke snarled loudly, "Like hell is Lucy yours! Nor would I ever want another master besides Lucy!" Quickly he glanced at Yukino. "No offense."
"No taken." Yukino breathed out quickly.
Gajeel took a step forward, red eyes glaring out right at this man. "I'll ask one more time nicely before I bash your ugly mug in. Who. The. Fuck. Are. You."
The man turned to give Gajeel his full and utter attention, taking a step closer. That step closer caused Gajeel to go to the floor, feeling gravity shift in an unnatural direction. Then he was suddenly free falling from . the roof of the tunnel they were in, causing Gajeel's eyebrows to furrow. Was this void magic?
"You can call me Elijah, one of The Order." He introduces, looking at each one of them before settling on Loke. "Though I must thank you, Leo."
Loke frowned, gut twisting. "Thank me, for what?"
Elijah merely smirked, "Without you, they would have never been lead here. Without you bringing Fairy Tail, the awakening would never happen."
"What the hell is he going on about Loke?" Rouge harshly demanded from the lion spirit, who had no clue what the fuck was actually going on.
Elijah's clapping brought back the attention towards him, "Now don't blame him, he didn't even know he was doing it. Yet it doesn't change the fact that you all have to die."
Before Gajeel or Rouge could even lunge at Elijah, or even Lily could move a void in the floor opened up and down went the eight with their yells of surprise echoing around the walls.
Laxus had been lighting the way for his group the moment they split off, knowing that mountains didn't have electrical units or lighting. Common sense would to bring matches to this type of setting, but it was never a problem for him and he was sure it would never be.
No one was really speaking as they walked, the only sound being footsteps hitting the natural ground beneath them. At this point Laxus wasn't even sure how long they had been walking, and it wasn't like he could look outside. Yet he knew they were now deep enough into this damn tunnel that seemed to be going down to know he could no longer feel the brewing storm outside.
Bickslow was unsure about this the more further they went, his babies getting uneasy as well. The deeper they went the more dark it felt, and it wasn't the darkness surrounding them at the edge of Laxus's light. It was sinister feeling around them from dark magic. Magic that had to have one hell of a source.
"Even if we find Lucy in this place, we can't leave the town in this state." Evergreen spoke up, clicking her tongue in distaste for the dark mages causing this chaos. "We have to help clean this up."
"Even if what the kid at the inn said was liable, we can't be sure if there are dirty people on the council or in any higher up places." Laxus says, believing that because this about of dark energy should have been investigated long ago.
"We'll save thus town." Mira added with a nodded, smiling at Freed and Evergreen. "We are Fairy Tail mages, and we protect the people."
"How cute you think that."
The new voice caused all five of them to come to a halt, not even aware someone had been around them. Laxus growled lowly, pissed he hadn't sensed the newcomer at all. Not even by scent or sound, which meant nothing for his senses that were supposed to be great because he was a dragon slayer.
"You look like someone pissed in you cereal, Blondie." The newcomer was a woman with long brown eyes and green eyes that held mischief.
"How the hell did I not smell you?" Laxus questioned the girl, nearly sparking now seeing the amusement in her eyes.
"Simple. I am Terra of The Order, and I control the Earth." She tilted her head, as if that answered the question.
Which it did because now Laxus could smell that this woman, Terra, smelled like the earth around them. Probably because she was here as part of The Order. Yet before anyone else could say a thing, Terra lifted her hand and suddenly the ground around them shook.
"I wish we could play, but sadly I have orders." Terra says, the roof and group shifting together.
"Orders?" Freed raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
Terra grinned excitedly, "The awakening silly!"
That was all she offered as she disappeared, the ground cracking in her wake. Without thinking Laxus lunged and grabbed Mira which putt them across the rest of Thunder Legion, who had tumbled onto the other half of the now split ground.
"What the hell?" Bickslow muttered, eyes widening as the ground suddenly opened up from beneath them all and the ground shifted again with rocks coming up to cut off the sight of Laxus and Mirajane. "Laxus!"
The yell of his name became distant quickly as he held onto Mira during their free fall. Her body was curled into his as his own was around hers ready to take the most of the impact they were sure to have. Which came with promise soon enough, causing Laxus to let go of Mira on impact and both mages to tumble on the floor with a groan.
Mira took a deep breath, wincing feeling her body aching from hitting rocks that littered the mountain floor. She felt like she been dragged, and looking over at Laxus she saw he was no better. Well that encounter was over as fast as it happened, and she couldn't help be reminded of Tartaros.
"You good Mira?" Laxus called, slowly standing to his feet and helping Mira up.
"I'm good." She answered, patting the dust and dirt off her clothing. "We didn't fall through because of her earth magic did we?"
"No." Laxus muttered, taking a sniff around him. "Smells like a weird magic, because whatever the hell it was wasn't earth magic opening the one way gateway down to hell. Shit it's hot down here."
Laxus briefly wondered if they were in a volcano now, wiping sweat off his forehead as he looked around to see what the hell it was down here causing the summer heat on steroids. Yet when Laxus actually took in their surroundings, his grey eyes widen in complete surprise causing Mira to look and a gasp to escape her lips.
"Holy shit."
Looking around them, the seven missing mages that they had been looking for were in crystals that were circularized around a burning fire that Laxus was sure was hotter than hell. It looked as if they were peacefully sleeping, uncaring and oblivious to the world revolving around them as they slept in their states.
Yet they were there, found too easily by the two Fairy tail mages.
"What the hell happened to them?" Laxus muttered, peering around at the three woman and four men who slept blissfully. "I'll let the others know we found them."
When Laxus grabbed for Mira's bag, he realized she no longer had it. What the hell? When did she lose her bag? He could only suspect during the fall, and looking over to the place of impact, he could see her bag laying there forgotten and the fragments of what used to be their lacrima. Wonderful.
Mira frowned as she ignored Laxus for the moment and walked up to the crystalized celestial mage they had been missing at their guild for months. Her heart broke for Lucy, who seemed like she just couldn't catch a break at all recently. Seeing the blonde look so peaceful, made Mira realize how uneasy Lucy truly was before the guild broke up.
"She was hurting that day too and none of us saw that." Mira whispered, hand slowly going to rest flat on Lucy's crystal. That's when Mira's eyes snapped wide open, feeling her Satan Soul reaching out to the dark energy she was suddenly getting from within.
"Mira!" Laxus called, sensing the new presence before she did and grabbing her as an arrow went through the exact spot the take over mage had just been at. Which sent the arrow right through Lucy's crystal, causing a hairline fracture. At least his senses were functioning right for the moment since earth girl wasn't around.
"Oh my." A woman's voice taunted, standing on the railing above holding a crossbow with a smirk. "It seems I missed my target and hit her instead."
Hearing her last words, the two fairy tail mages couldn't help but look at Lucy's crystal to see the arrow lunched into Lucy's stomach, flooding the area with the dark energy that seemed to be inside these crystals.
"Why the hell is she in dark magic?!" Mira yelled at the woman, wanting to know why a mage the was full of Celestial Magic, a form of both light and heavenly magic was inside something that could snuff it out.
"Because she's been incubating in it for nearly six months." The woman revealed, causing both Laxus's and Mira's eyes to widen.
A celestial mage incased in dark magic for six months? How would that affect her body and magic? Or the other six at that point? Dark magic was known for corrupting people and destroying everything it touched. If the human body was in cased in that dark magic, what cost would it have?
This was the reason Libra mentioned Lucy's magic was unbalanced, Mira realized in horror. She could also recall Loke's words. "That light will shine on in the dark or it will be snuffed out."
"Who the hell are you woman?" Laxus questioned, nearly sparking in anger for what the woman was doing to his guild mate- no his nakama.
"You may call me Inori." The woman then did something more shocking by holding up a familiar key ring that held celestial keys, ones Lucy never really let anyone hold. "The puppeteer."
Without saying a thing, both Virgo and Taurus came out in front of Mira and Laxus. It made them question how it was possible, and it was Virgo who answered the question in a pained voice that was strained.
"She can channel magic and use it against the user." Virgo muttered. "Princess's magic is being drawn to force our gates."
"You want us to fight Lucy's spirits!?" Mira angrily yelled at the dirty blonde, who chuckled.
To Inori, it was amusing seeing how riled up these mages could get and the fun was only starting. Fairy Tail was a guild well known to over come all enemies so far they've crossed. If only they understood and never came, yet Fairy Tails were fools whose morals were all too high and too good for their own goods.
"No. They are going to bind you." Inori jumped from her perch and landed right in front of Mira, who's arms were now chained up by Virgo's expense.
Laxus went to punch Inori, yet was meet by the interception of Taurus throwing him back against the wall where Virgo's chains bound him before he returned to the spirit world, leaving Virgo. He glowered at the spirit who looked pained, and he remembered how avid Lucy was one giving her spirits freedom and treating them like people. This woman was treating them like tools.
"You're a disgusting woman." Laxus spat hatefully, earning a sigh of glee.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Inori purred, winking at the lightning dragon slayer.
Mira's eyes narrowed now at the woman, "You aren't going to fight us? Then what the hell do you want?"
Another set of footsteps caused Laxus's and Mira's attention to shift. Now Laxus really wished he let Gajeel beat that Inn manager to a pulp for no reason when Gajeel wanted, because now he was looking at the young man who helped them.
Royce stood there, looking as smug as ever. It was as if he been told he won the most jewels in Fiore, but the reality that Laxus now knew was that they had been played harder than a fiddle. They were fools who ignored the signs and warnings, how he shared information all to eagerly and how he wasn't all that feared of being killed for sharing formation like they were lead to believe.
"What do you want?" Laxus managed to restrain his lurking growl, settling to glare as lightning crackled around him, but went out with a fizz.
"We can't have you electrocuting anyone now, Laxus Dreyer." Royce tisked, wagging a finger and clasping his hands behind his back. "To simply put it, without giving to much away."
As Royce said this, the ground beneath them glowed a bright blue as a magic seal appeared. A manic grin was now plastered onto his face, and as Royce looked up with his onyx eyes and brown hair, Laxus felt his magic drop significantly.
"It was planned out, that you would come looking here. With that Lion spirit leading you unknowingly, the plan was to use this seal and drain your magic." Royce explained it as if it was obvious. "This town lacks mage, and we had the advantage here having one of your own. We needed magic for the last phase."
"Last phase?" Mira groaned, feeling her energy draining.
"The Awakening." Royce simply says, falling back into a void that opened for him and leaving Inori there.
Inori rolled her eyes at the man, who's only use was activating the magic draining seal they needed to prompt the last phase. The whole group through out the mountain magic energies had been drained.
Everything was happening all to quickly before Mira and Laxus, to quickly for them to keep up and make sense of it. It was obvious that whatever the hell these people were up too, they had it planned and moving along quickly to achieve their unknown goal.
What the two Fairy tail mages weren't ready for was all seven crystals to shatter simultaneously to reveal the seven mages wide awake, as if they were never in a sleeping state. There eyes held confusion as they looked around and took in their surroundings. Laxus couldn't help but wince when Lucy looked down at the arrow in her stomach, frowned at it, and then yanked it out like it was nothing.
She didn't even make a noise of pain as she tossed the arrow aside. What the actual fuck?
"What the hell are you six doing here?" One woman with dark hair asked, to where Sting looked at her sharply in response.
Any response that had been on the white dragon slayers tongue died as they all went stiff, there bodies rigid. Mirajane and Laxus watched with bewilderment as the natural colors of the seven's eyes turned into different colorful glows.
"Princess?" Virgo called unsure after a moment of silence, releasing Mirajane and Laxus as she felt the shift in magic and the control on her key loosen.
Lucy looked at the spirit then as if it was her first time really noticing Virgo there. Virgo didn't enjoy the feeling she had seeing that her master's usual normal warm brown eyes were now a glowing blue as Lucy tilted her head to the side with a frown. There was no recognition or adoration that was usually displayed on the blonde's face as she looked Virgo head to toe.
It was unnerving.
Not even uttering a word, Lucy walked towards the group of mages and spirit with slow graceful steps that Mirajane wasn't aware Lucy had the ability to do. She heard about it through Lucy's stories, but seeing it was something else. The steps were silent, Lucy's head was held high and her long blonde hair cascaded down her back, nearly to her waist. Yet the facial expression Lucy had was one that should never belong on Lucy, one that didn't look right.
In those eerily beautiful blue glowing eyes on her face, where her warm browns should have been, were inhumane. Her lips curled into a cruel smile, dark with a promise of cruel intentions. Not even Laxus wanted to really know what that smile meant as Lucy finally stopped in front of Virgo. No glance was spared towards Mirajane or Laxus as the area around them grew colder, if that was possible.
"Princess?" Lucy repeated the word mockingly, looking at the celestial spirit as if she truly didn't know her. The blue glow of her eyes suddenly intensified as she narrowed her eyes, seemingly deciding something she only knew about. Apparently that had been against the maiden spirit's high hopes.
"Be gone spirit."
Her voice was cold, no hint of her usual self there. With a swift swipe of her arm, Virgo was sent back to the celestial world with wide eyes and blood being splattered on the stone floor. Neither of the two Fairy Tail mages could believe what they witnessed, that Lucy caused physical harm to one of her beloved spirits without batting an eye. It was like the blonde had't recognize the maid spirit one bit, or felt remorse for harming her.
When Lucy looked over her shoulder at Mira and Laxus, there small movement causing her eyes to snap towards them, they felt tense under her glowing blue eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? Was it Inori controlling her and the others? The Lucy they knew would never look at them with such cold and emotionless eyes, nor ever harm one of her spirits. If she would harm her spirit right now, then she would harm them as well without a doubt.
Nothing was stopping her after all, not when they were down for the moment unable to fight back.
"Now what to do with you two?" She purred, licking the blood off her hand with a twisted smile as the other six mages circled around them.
Ah shit, a long chapter! Plus a double update!
I hope this didn't seemed rush. I just didn't want to split this into two separate chapters, so I made it one long chapter. It's also 2 in the morning and my energy drink is slowly starting to leave me.
I hope you liked this chapter, if so then let me know your thoughts!
Love you guys and thank you for the support!
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