Hello lovelies!
Sorry for the long wait, but I hope this chapter is worth it! Please rate and review!
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, Desna owns the Pradesh Family, I am neither Hiro Mashima nor Desna - so I don't own any of this.
Thanks!
Of all the stupid things his grandfather could have done, this one took the cake. Or at least that was Laxus' opinion. Running off after Lucy on his own when he'd literally been fucking poisoned? Against enemies that had taken on and severely injured almost half the guild, including the nearly indestructible pyromaniac and the guild's resident demon? It was downright irresponsible, even if Makarov is one of the few people in the guild that can track a magical signature.
Knowing that his thoughts weren't helping the situation, Laxus pushed them aside to focus on the matter at hand. Lucy had been taken, again, and his Gramps was likely weakened and taking on strong mages somewhere in the East Forest. He needed to hurry up and get to them both before the situation got worse, and so he started off at a jog, following his grandfather's scent trail.
"Makarov Dreyer, Wizard Saint of Fiore, how nice of you to join us!" Alec called out to the giant old man as he landed behind Lucy's limp form, a smug smirk on his face.
Master Makarov only glared at the mage before him, the vein in his forehead twitching in irritation. "You will release my child at once," He commanded menacingly, addressing the mage who was obviously in charge. Terra and Bruno both cowered from their positions a few feet from Lucy on either side of her body, scooting away from her as much as they could without being obvious. Makarov's aura was immense and the feeling of his rage was not something they wanted to experience.
Alec's grin widened marginally, "you mean this?" he asked, gesturing at Lucy by kicking at her ribs, his lip curling slightly in disgust.
Makarov's rage increased, and instead of lashing out at Alec, he grabbed Bruno in one hand, Terra in the other, and threw both of them to the back of the clearing. Bruno smashed through a tree and landed in a heap, a sharp gasp escaping his lips. Terra had fallen just short of a tree to Bruno's left and rolled rather violently to smash into a cluster of rocks that then cracked from the impact. Terra, who'd sustained far more serious injuries in the previous fight, fell into unconsciousness.
Bruno stood up slowly trying to get his bearings with blood falling from his eyebrow into his left eye.
"That was your last warning, Cinder. From here on out, I get serious. Hand over Lucy, now, and I might let you live," Makarov spoke almost calmly.
Alec, who had barely even glanced in his team's direction, lifted a hand to his chin in thought.
"Unfortunately for you, Dreyer, I don't give a shit about my team. Do whatever you want with them, but Lucy is mine and I will not allow you to take her back."
Makarov's magic spiked and he grew a bit taller, "You leave me no choice!" he shouted, as he launched himself toward his opponent. Alec moved quickly out of the way of the fist headed his direction, laughing as he gathered his magic and they continued trading blows.
"Sorry to say this," Cinder shouted back, "But I don't have time for this. Ms. Heartfilia has some information she needs to share with me, and I'm afraid much longer and she'll die of magical depletion, the poor thing…"
Makarov panicked at that statement, stopping mid-swing look in Lucy's direction. He could just barely make out that she was still breathing.
Alec, not one to let an opening pass him by, took advantage of Makarov's distraction by darting up to the giant's feet and sending a blast of heated magic at the man's face. Master didn't have time to dodge, but he gained his bearing quickly and crossed his arms in front of him to block the attack as much as he could. The attack threw him off balance and he stumbled backwards as blisters and burns appeared on his arms where the blast of heat had struck him.
He grunted out in pain but took it in stride, focusing back on the fight at hand, catching sight of Cinder's smug face. "Heat without fire, huh… Scorch magic?"
Alec's grin widened slightly, "Ah, indeed. I'm glad to find someone who recognizes my magic. So few understand it these days…" he said gleefully, before launching back into attack mode.
"Really, Makarov, you think you can take me on? This is a particularly bad matchup for you, all things considered," Alec taunted further.
Makarov punched the ground at his feet with such force that cracks formed in the Earth, spanning outward toward Cinder, who dodged by jumping into the trees at the edge of the clearing. The master responded in kind by yanking the trees out of the ground with his large fists, and throwing said trees toward Bruno, who was now struggling to make his way back to Lucy. He yelped and dodged, but a branch from one particularly large tree caught his arm and he went tumbling backward into the forest on the other side of the open area.
Alec jumped from the trees to land on Makarov's shoulders, his sword drawn and placed at the old man's neck, "Gotcha," he said calmly.
Instead of freezing as Alec had expected him to, Makarov simply grumpled, and grabbed Alec from his shoulder by the ankle and smashed him hard into the ground at his feet, a cloud of dust cropping up where his body fell.
"I don't think so. Don't underestimate an old man, Cinder," Makarov spat at the man.
Said man made his way to his feet and backed up a few paces. "I'm not, trust me. But what more can you really do with that venom running through your veins?" He asked, gathering magic into his hands again.
Makarov swore under his breath. The stupid bastard wasn't wrong. He could feel the venom draining his magic power, and while he had immense stores of it, eventually his strength would fail him. Especially if Alec kept standing up from hits like that looking like he wasn't even bothered.
Gritting his teeth, Makarov threw himself into another attack, craters being made in his wake as he pursued his enemy relentlessly. Alec seemed intent on dodging and defense, with little to no regard as to what offense he was putting out. He seemed to be waiting for something, which was a both a disadvantage to Makarov and something that caused him confusion. Didn't this asshole say he needed Lucy alive? Why was he stalling?
'Shit.'
Alec's lips quirked once more as he saw Bruno leaping out from behind Makarov and back toward Terra, Lucy in his arms. In the next moment, Alec gathered immense amounts of magic power and through a massive wave of heat at Makarov, shouting, "Scorched Wave!"
Makarov learned then why the man had been stalling. Because he did need Lucy alive, and this attack was so massive that not only did Makarov fall to the ground, parts of his arms charred so badly that they were colored black and his skin was already flaking off, but the entire first row of trees behind him turned to ash. The heat from the attack was so intense that Makarov couldn't even breathe, and some of the trees behind that first row burst into flames.
Gasping for breath and trying to ignore the intense pain in his body (and the smell of burning flesh in his nostrils), Makarov fought once again to stand.
He stumbled once, twice, before standing at full height once more, his face twisted into a scowl.
"That was a good move, getting Lucy out of the way so you could attack full-out. I wasn't expecting an attack of that magnitude," he spat out, breathing heavily, "but you've forgotten something…"
Alec, who was steps away still looking rather proud of himself, allowed his brows to furrow in slight confusion, "What ever could you mean?"
Makarov grinned, "You're little puppet is helping my child stay alive, and you've just gotten her far enough from me that I don't have to hold back!"
Magic power surged from the guild master, gathering around him in a yellow light, as Alec paled just a bit. He didn't expect the old man to still be this powerful with the venom in his system. He began taking steps back while bracing himself - he wasn't sure where the attack was going to come from.
"Giants Wrath!" Shouted Makarov, the area around him practically exploding with the force of the magic he was expelling. He charged at Alec once more, allowing his giant form to drop and increasing his speed, finally utilizing the full power of his light magic on the enemy.
Alec tried his best to dodge, but even when he dodged the various punches and kicks coming from the acrobatic old man, the powerful aura he was emanating caused damage. He finally got a hit in, pushing Makarov back several feet, and struck as quickly as he could with a blast of heat.
The spell pushed the small man back just far enough that Alec could charge another attack, this one far deadlier than he'd been planning to use in this fight, but the stubborn old man was becoming a real problem.
"Scorch Shot!"
The blast of heat became a visible blast of red magic power that Makarov knew would cause trouble for him. As quickly as he could manage, he crossed his arms over his chest and cast, "Three Pillar Gods!"
Immediately Makarov felt the drain on his magic. The Three Pillar Gods defense spell was a massively powerful thing, and nigh indestructible, but with the current level of his magic power, the spell was unbalanced when he cast it. It drained his magical reserves, and after a few moments of sustained damage from Alec's spell, Makarov's defense shattered. He was hit directly in the stomach with the powerful blast of heat and power, and was thrown backward into a tree near where he entered the clearing. He smashed into the hard surface of the tree, hard, crumpling to the ground at its roots. His breathing was shallow, the clothing on his stomach burned away, along with a good portion of his own skin scorched and charred, and he was unmoving.
Alec, catching his breath, bent at the waist and exhaled heavily, "Man, that was more annoying than it was supposed to be-"
A muffled sob cut him off, and he turned to see Lucy being forced to a kneeling position by Bruno, his grip on her shoulders tight and most probably bruising, and her hands to her face as tears streamed from her eyes, "M-Master…."
Cinder rolled his eyes. 'Women. Tch.'
"Oh calm down. He's not dead yet," he said to her, turning to face Makarov once again, and drawing the sword from his back as he stepped closer to the aging man.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the clearing, "Nooooo! Don't you fucking touch him!" Lucy shouted, still sobbing.
Alec ignored her, continuing to walk toward Makarov to finish him off. He did stop, though, when a flash of golden magic signalled the arrival of a celestial spirit. Not behind him, but rather in front of him, standing protectively over Makarov's barely-living form.
"I, Leo the Lion, refuse to allow further harm to come to the Master of Fairy Tail. Step back." Loke said firmly, worry in his eyes but determination filling his voice.
Alec scoffed, "What the hell? What about protecting your own master?"
Loke narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. He was out on his own power, just barely, and he didn't have the strength to do much of anything. In order to even show up on his own, he has to latch on to Lucy's magic to tie him to Earthland. Lucy had so little of that at the moment, that all he could really do there was stand and speak, as all his effort and power was being forced into maintaining his connection with the tiny remnants of Lucy's magic within her. Lucy knew this, Loke knew this, and they really, really, couldn't afford to let Alec know that Loke was incapable of fighting at the moment.
"I am doing what my master ordered of me. I will not allow harm to come to this man. Should you challenge me on this, you will force Lucy to expend the last of her magic and she will die, and whatever answers you want out of her will die with her." Loke managed to speak without choking, though all he wanted to do was sob. Because as much as he would like to deny it, he knew that Lucy was very nearly dead already, and there was nothing he or the other spirits could do to stop it.
"You heard him, Alec! Leave him alone!" Lucy shouted, drawing the deep red-haired man's attention back to her.
He turned fully and carefully studied his prisoner. "Why would you protect him at the cost of your own life?" he mused aloud.
"He is family. And he is only here because he was trying to save me. Just… leave him be." she said, determination filling her gaze. She had been calling out to Loke mentally, begging for him to protect the master, and there he was. She knew this was all he could do for her, but in this moment, she knew it was enough. She might die or be captured, but Makarov had a chance at surviving. Enough people died for her sake today, she couldn't go to the grave with her father-figure on her conscience as well.
Alec thought for a moment before waving his hand dismissively. "Oh fine… fine. He's going to die from that venom anyway," he muttered to himself, before stepping up to Lucy once more.
"If what you say about not being able to lie is the truth, then promise me that you will not harm him further. Promise me."
Bruno tightened his fingers on her shoulders, "Shut up, you stupid girl. It's not your place to make demands of the leader!"
Alec waved at him, "Oh, it's no bother, Bruno. She's just got a bit of a spark in her, she can't help it," he bent down in front of her, looking into her eyes, "very well, Heartfilia. I will not harm him further, you have my word."
Lucy, who had been staring at him angrily, sagged against the hold Bruno had on her. She was exhausted, and she could feel Loke's power draining from his attempt to stay on Earthland without her power as an anchor. Sighing, she looked over the man's shoulder to Loke and nodded tiredly at her spirit, tears in her eyes as she thought it may be the last time she would ever see him. "Go on," she whispered brokenly, "Thank you, Loke".
'For everything,' she thought, thinking the words to herself as she resigned herself to her fate. Her friends were dead. Her master was injured and likely would die alone in the forest. She was certain that even her own death couldn't be as painful as that reality. She would never give this man what he wanted, not after what he had done to her family, but at least now, if she gave him her life, she could at least hold on to the fact that she'd done all she could to save the man who was more of a father to her than her own had been.
Loke gave her a Fairy Tail salute, discreetly, as he finally allowed the magic to fade and tears to stream down his face silently as he disappeared back to his world in a flash of gold.
When he was gone, Lucy sank fully into Bruno's hold, unable to appear strong or even care to.
"Now," Alec began, a slow smile spreading on his face, "You're going to tell me where the zodiac keys are."
Lucy's eyes widened, before her mouth set in a hard line. Even when she felt nothing but guilt and pain over her guild, she would protect her spirits. She'd protect them with everything she had and more.
"Nope."
"I'm not asking. You will tell me. And I know you have ten of them, and I know they are close to you somehow, as evident by the fact that not three minutes ago Leo the Lion was standing among us. So tell me, before things get nasty."
"Not a chance, asshole," Lucy responded, punctuating her response by physically spitting in the bastard's slightly wrinkled face.
As he drew back quickly and wiped his face, Lucy thanked Erza internally once more for teaching her requip magic, as she knew all her keys were safely in her magical storage right now and wouldn't be reachable by anyone unless she died. Even with her death, they'd be safe. At least for a little while. She and Freed had enchanted her requip space to deposit her keys into the guildmaster's office at Fairy Tail if she were to die, and those morons had contaminated the entire guild hall when they killed her family. Even they couldn't possibly get back in to retrieve them, on top of the fact that the S-Class mages would be returning soon. Idiots.
Lucy was pulled out of her smug thoughts as a hand cracked across her already bruised and bloody cheek. Her vision swam, and she was wrenched out of Bruno's hold by Alec's grip on her throat before she even had a chance to recover from the backhand she'd received.
She struggled against the man's powerful grip, clutching desperately at his arm to relieve the pressure of being held above the ground by her neck, her other hand clawing at his hand to try and relieve the pressure of his hand crushing her windpipe.
"You're going to pay for that stunt, you overzealous slut!" Alec shouted in her face, squeezing that much tighter on her throat.
Lucy kicked at him, squirming in his grip, to no avail. Black spots danced in her vision, darkness creeping in at the edges of her sight line. She should have been terrified. But she could only bring herself to be grateful that he'd gotten fed up with her so quickly. Because her death would mean no more guilt over the death of her guildmates, and would ensure the safety of the spirits in her care. 'Finally…' she thought to herself just as the darkness became the only thing she could see.
She was mistaken. Alec apparently didn't give up that easily, something she learned when instead of the blissful arms of death, she found herself slammed into the hard, cold reality that was the ground. She felt cracks in the earth forming around her just as easily as she felt the cracks in her ribcage forming.
She opened her eyes to the light of early day surrounded by the trees in the clearing, and coughed roughly to clear her bruised throat to breathe. She was gasping for air as Alec's face came back into her view, as he stood with a foot on either side of her prone form and his sword in his hands. The look of evil glee on his face caused her to swallow roughly, and painfully, past the pain in her throat.
"So. Tell me. Where are the zodiacs?"
Lucy looked away. No way was she going to give away her spirits. Besides, speaking at the moment after the abuse her throat took wasn't an option. It wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
Alec's sword struck the ground next to her face, the blade barely nicking the bridge of her nose where she'd been looking away. She trembled where she sat, but still did not speak.
"Bruno," Alec hissed. Said mage jumped a bit, not having expected being addressed.
"Y-Yes, sir?" He questioned.
"Go wake that useless wench Terra. She's had a long enough nap, don't you think? Besides, I could use her talents for restraint. It's going to get a bit messy here, I can tell."
"Yes, sir!" Bruno said, shooting to his feet and rushing off to the crumpled heap of leather that was Terra.
Lucy shuddered. She should have known he would not let her go quietly. She knew for certain that he would make her beg for death, that he would cause her unimaginable pain to get the answers he wanted. She was equally certain that she would never give him what he desired. And she sure as hell wouldn't make it easy on the man standing over her.
Mustering every bit of the strength she had left, she threw her leg into the air and unleashed the best Lucy Kick she could manage. Right to the man's crotch.
Alec, who was too busy watching his useless minion number one revive his useless minion number two, didn't see the kick coming from the half-dead mage at his feet. He was struck suddenly by a powerful kick to the nuts that sent him flying a few feet back, to crumple in a sad heap just a few feet below her, whimpering uncharacteristically.
Lucy laughed out loud at the noises he made. She tried to move, to roll over and even maybe start crawling toward Makarov to check on him, but she was physically unable to do so. Even breathing was a challenge. Her magic was entirely empty, her muscles devoid of any and all energy, and all she could do was lay still and find joy in the pain she had caused the man who had killed her guildmates. It wasn't enough, really. It wasn't the death of all he held dear, but it was something, and she squeezed every ounce of satisfaction she could get out of that one moment. If she was going to die today, she was taking his ability to have children with her.
Bruno rushed to his leader, huddling close to his side and trying to help in any way he could. He stayed as far away from the maniacally cackling blonde as he possibly could while he helped him, though. He knew she couldn't move. She had clearly used the very last vestiges of her strength to kick his boss, but the madness practically radiating off the small mage was pretty terrifying. That and the strongest mage he had ever known was reduced to a simpering mess at her feet. Literally. He wasn't taking any chances.
"Terra, do something! Hold that bitch down… it looks like we're going to need a minute..." he mumbled that last part, but Terra seemed to understand the situation. She stumbled over to the group, taking note of the blonde mage still laughing like a lunatic, and made sure the prisoner was secured. She crouched down and held Lucy's wrists above her head.
"Earth-Make: Shackles!"
The earth around Lucy's hands shifted, forming a strong band of earth and rock on each wrist that held her limbs down to the ground. Terra repeated this process with Lucy's legs, and then created one last band around her hips to keep her from moving too much or trying to sit up. The process took at least fifteen minutes, and the entire time Lucy was chuckling to herself. She wasn't sure, but even she was convinced she had lost her sanity.
Finally, it seemed as though Alec had recovered enough to stand. And he was livid. He was going to make her pay for the pain he'd been in, and he was going to show her how it was a very bad idea to laugh at him.
He drew his sword, "Last chance, you stupid bitch. Where the fuck are the zodiac keys?"
Lucy stifled her giggles at the look in his eye. She should be terrified, but she settled for amused and snarky. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her frightened. Not anymore.
"I've got nothing to lose, you simpering sexless sleazebag. I'm not telling you shit." Erik would be proud, she was sure.
Alec sneered at her, "Oh, I'll show you how much you have to lose," he said calmly, and he gestured for Bruno to hand him the sword he'd left on the ground.
Lucy simply stared up at him. Unmoving. Seemingly uncaring, even as blood from the previous cut to her nose started falling down her face. It's not like she had anything to live for anyway, with half her family gone.
Alec lowered the sword to her upper body, quickly slicing the jacket off her body without caring for the flesh he cut underneath it. She whimpered when the blade sliced into her arms, but made no other outward indication of her pain. That pissed Alex off more.
Terra, pull that useless cloth from her. I want to see her bleed freely," Alec spoke, gesturing to the remains of Lucy's shredded jacket and the upper part of her cropped high-necked tank top. He left her chest covered, at least he didn't seem to be some kind of pervert. He just wanted to watch her bleed. Lucy found it odd that she was thankful to someone for only being interested in torture, but she shrugged it off. This really seemed to be the way her life was always going to be (especially as it was likely to end soon).
"Where are the Zodiac Keys?"
Lucy, in her infinite wisdom, decided the best answer for this was to stick out her tongue. Like a child.
Alec scowled at her once more, and slashed at her face. Lucy was lucky enough to have pulled her tongue back in her mouth, but that's really where her luck ended. The sword sliced through her left eye and all the way through to split the left side of her upper lip. She gasped out in pain, screaming as the anguish in her left eye made her whole body seize up and squirm. All thought left her brain as she struggled against her bindings, trying desperately to clutch at her eye, to ease the pain. Anything.
She felt more than saw Alec moving away from her and toward his subordinates. Nothing really made sense to her, she was utterly incapable of paying attention to her surroundings, so thoroughly consumed by her pain that the rest of the world was mostly faded away. She wasn't really even sure if she was still alive, would have believed she'd died and gone to hell, if not for the feeling of those same earthen shackles tightening on her wrists, another band snaking around her torso to further restrict her movement.
'Oh what now…' she thought to herself in despair. She knew he'd cause more pain than she could imagine, she just, you know, couldn't imagine how bad it would be.
"...Lucy… Heartfilia… Tel-..."
She heard… Bruno, maybe? Speaking to her but she couldn't process the words. The pain apparently took more brain power to process than she had available.
Some time passed, she couldn't tell you how much, but eventually the pain in her face was dulled just enough to hear once more. And feel, as she was brought out of her state of near-unconsciousness by the pain of someone stomping harshly on her lower leg with enough force to snap bones. She screamed again, unable to really do anything else, but the pain this time seemed to bring her back into focus rather than send her brain into a fog. She would have done most anything to just pass out at this point, but it seemed her captors had other ideas.
"Heartfilia!" it was Alec again.
"Heartfilia, where are the zodiac keys?!" he shouted at her. He was running out of time and he knew it, but he wasn't sure if she'd survive the travel it would take to get to another safe location. Really, it was unfortunate, but she'd pushed him too far for him to hold back, so they would have to just have to go with "Plan B" for breaking the bloodline curse, which involved a much more complicated process but was still doable. But he couldn't do anything without those fucking keys!
"I'll only ask this once more before I do something about your silence, Lucy… Where are the keys?!"
"REQUIP!" Lucy shouted. She was in a complete delirium, but the moment the word fell from her lips her whole being refocused on what was happening in front of her. 'Oh… Oh no…' she most definitely did not mean to tell them that the keys were in her requip space.
Terra and Bruno's first thoughts upon hearing her shout were to look around for the famed "Titania", the world's strongest known requip mage and known member of Fairy Tail. Their second thoughts were wondering why the blonde mage being tortured by their leader tried to requip when she was obviously out of magic.
Alec was a bit smarter than them. He caught on to the slip immediately, and the grin spreading slowly on his face drew confused stares from his minions.
Looking at his team, grin still in place, he just shook his head, "... you idiots. She's not trying to requip anything. She's answering my question," he stated with a satisfied smirk.
Terra arched a brow when she finally understood what was happening. Bruno frowned, seemingly still confused. Both his teammates ignored him.
"How are you going to get them if they are in requip storage, Leader? She's clearly out of magic, she can't call them. Do we just kill her?"
Alec merely shook his head, "No, killing her isn't an option at this point. Magical or Requip Magics are based on a dimension specific to an individual wizard. When requip mages die, unless they've set specific magical rules in place cemented by lacrima in their storage space, the items appear at random throughout earthland. If that were the case it could take years to retrieve them all again."
Bruno, who had finally caught on, chimed in, "Celestial keys though, those are valuable. And she clearly has them 'under her protection'. I'd bet she has lacrima-powered runes to direct the keys in the event of her death so they go to someone she trusts."
"There's no guarantee of that. Even still, we wouldn't know where she'd set them to appear, and trying to get her to tell us that would be like asking her for her permission to kill her. She'd never tell us. Best course of action is to get her to requip them. Restore some of her magic, maybe?" Terra pointed out.
Alec got a sadistic gleam in his eye, and addressed Terra, "I think you underestimate my ability to make her beg for death, my dear," he cackled, "Though, you do have a point. The easiest course of action would be to restore a small amount of magic and… convince… her to requip the keys here. Then we even still have a chance that she would survive long enough to lift the curse like we originally planned."
Bruno just nodded, and approached the blonde mage who looked very, very near death and for the first time since they'd begun her torture, she looked terrified. She clearly hadn't meant to reveal her requip ability - and honestly it was pretty rare for a young mage like her to have the ability to perform more than one type of magic - and she was scared for her keys. He couldn't help but admire her, a tiny bit, for caring more for her spirits than for her own pain. It was a rare thing to see selflessness like that.
Either way, though, it was their duty to break this curse her damn mother had placed on them, and he wasn't going to back down any time soon. He kneeled down next to her, placing a hand on her chest, just under her collarbone, with the other resting on her abdomen. Magic circles appeared on his hands and he used his wind magic to direct his magic power into her containers, to provide her just enough magic to stop the progression of the magic deficiency damage on her body, and give her just enough extra to be able to requip her keys. She was still very much immobilized, so they weren't overly concerned about her spirits coming to her aid, but still, with how massive her magical containers were, it was more magic than Bruno could comfortably give out, and when he finished he slumped onto his backside and scooted out of the way, too exhausted to stand up and walk.
Terra helped him out, dragging him a few steps away to give Alec room to work.
"So Lucy," Alec began, "that handy little requip ability you've gotten for yourself. Why don't you show me how it works?"
Lucy whimpered. This was not good. Though her body felt less like lead, and she had some magic power, she was still very injured. And couldn't walk. She'd been training the last two years, but that didn't seem to be making a difference, and even if she wanted to fight back with the magic power she'd been given, she didn't have enough magic for a summon without sending her right back into depletion. She only had enough to requip, and that was not an option. That's what they wanted.
Alec stepped closer to her, ready to punish her for her lack of response, but was met with a fist of light to the face instead. Apparently they hadn't quite understood that the leader of the Zodiac could summon himself if he had any kind of solid anchor on Earthland, and hadn't prepared for that.
He was still weakened from expending so much magic guarding Makarov earlier, but he was going to protect his mage as much as possible. He still owed her his life, after all.
Alec was surprised, and got hit with several Regulus punches before he fully realized what was happening. Once he recovered, though, he quickly started attacking back, forcing Loke away from Lucy's broken form and trading blow for blow. Bruno wasn't in any shape to fight and Terra was still injured, so they stayed back from the fight, only planning on jumping in if Alec needed help. Though, it didn't look like he was having much trouble, the celestial spirit was running low on energy trying to dodge sword strokes and jabs.
"LOKE!"
Loke, still engaged in his fight, answered his master's call, "I'll protect you, Lucy, I will! Just hold on!"
"No!" Loke, blocking a sword thrust with his light-infused hands, glanced toward Lucy with sadness in his eyes. Everyone was focused on Loke, they didn't even turn to observe the injured celestial mage in favor of watching the lion fight fiercely for his keyholder.
"Don't do this to me, Princess… Don't make me leave you here…" he said brokenly, still fighting. Alec seemed amused, if a bit irritated, and being the more focused of the two fighters, caught Loke's shoulder with his weapon. Gold sparks floated from the wound, but it wasn't bad enough to force him back to the celestial world.
"Loke," Lucy cried out, eyes watery but her tone commanding, "Leave me. I'm done for. As your master, I order you to leave."
Loke, despite being the leader of the Zodiac, despite being here on his own power, was still a celestial spirit, and promises meant just as much to him as they did to her. He couldn't disobey a direct order…
"Princess…" he cried out, throwing one last punch at Alec and forcing him back a few steps, "Please… Don't do this…."
"GO! NOW!"
And go he did, disappearing with tears in his eyes.
Alec turned to refocus on Lucy, narrowing his eyes at her. He wasn't really sure how she kept summoning the leader of the Zodiac without requipping his key, but it was starting to get on his nerves.
"Now, about those keys…" he started again, only to blink in surprise when she grinned despite the pain it caused her injured lip and the Earth seemed to open up beneath her and swallow her whole.