Just managed to slip this in! So happy about that. Ten bucks says though that his chapter will take some time to write. Bloody AFL basically breaking my arms…
Do you know how much it hurts to have a ball hit your arms point blank off some bitches boot? Or getting a left hook, a ball and someone else's head to your face? IN THE SAME SPOT. Fuck. It hurts. But I got left home alone as a result, to recuperate, so…ta daa~!
Love y'all reviewers and readers.
Disclaimer: Nearly forgot to put this in...Don't own
Warning: Violence and language, my two favourite things
Previously: "Slow down Lucy! Geez…"
Lucy ignored her friend in favour of tearing down yet another corridor, Natsu close at her heels. Seeing the split corridor in front of her, she slid to a stop, before Natsu – not seeing that she was stopping – slammed into her and crushed her underneath him as they went sprawling.
"Ow." Lucy spat Natsu's scarf out her mouth and slowly tried to shift him to the side. "C'mon, Natsu, get off of me."
Hearing no reply, the girl began to get angry. "I swear to fucking Jashin Natsu, if you don't…" The words died in her throat as she looked back at her friends face. "Oh. Sweet. Kami-sama."
Lucy P.O.V.
I struggled as Natsu's body weight bore down on my back, pinning my arms beneath his own. "What do you eat Natsu? You weigh a fucking ton!"
A few more moments of awkward wriggling meant I got an arm free, and it was with a sense of victory that I pushed an unconscious Natsu off me with my right arm.
Yes, you heard me. Unconscious.
It seemed like when he collided with me and we went down, he had hit his head on the stone floor. He was taller than me, so his head must've bent at a funny angle over my own, hitting the ground in the process. And judging by the red tinge appearing on his right temple that was where he got hit. An instant KO.
"What am I meant to do now…?" I stared down at Natsu's unconscious body, very aware that Kageyama was lurking around nearby, along with that fat dude who could go through walls. Why did he want to kill Kageyama again?
Huffing out a breath, I pulled Natsu up to a sitting position with some difficulty. I let go of him with my left hand and fumbled around my belt until I managed to flip open my pouch flap. Brushing my fingers against the keys, I quietly called out one of my spirits. "Taurus?"
There was a doorbell chime and my cow spirit appeared in a flash, beaming at me. Well actually, not at me, at my boobs.
"Heloooo Luuuuc-"
"I'm very sorry Taurus but I'm on a bit of a time schedule." Smiling slightly at Taurus, I gestured towards Natsu who I was still struggling to keep upright with my right arm. "So do you mind carrying my friend for me? I would normally just take him, but I want my hands to be free if anything comes along."
Taurus nodded in agreement and easily picked Natsu up to sling him over his shoulder. "Anything for yooou Luuuucy-sama!"
My small smile slid off as I began to lead the way towards the right fork in the quiet corridor. Occasionally I could hear and feel a slight rumble, obviously from Gray and Erza's fights that were going on. I just hope they don't trash the station, that would be rather rude.
"What are yoooou looking fooor Luuucy-sama?"
Not turning to face my spirit, I strained my ears to pick up any sounds that would give away Kageyama before replying. "A man called Kageyama. He is part of a dark guild that currently have their hands on a magical artefact of Zeref's. My guild members and I have begun to go against them, but one of them slipped away. Natsu – the boy you're carrying and who is currently groaning from motion sickness. I wonder if that means he's going to wake up soon… – and I chased after the man, Kageyama, but Natsu just knocked himself unconscious. Does that explain the situation, Taurus?"
"It does Luuucy-sama."
We continued on in silence only punctuated by the occasional groan from Natsu. I really hope he wakes up soon, his nose would be far better than my weak, human hearing.
Making up my mind, I stopped in the middle of a corridor and put my hands on my hips expectantly.
"What are yooou doooing Luuucy-sama?" Taurus blinked at me as I swivelled around to him. "Doooo yooou sense something?"
"Not quite," was all I said before I glared at the surroundings shadows that the fluorescent lights overhead made. "Come out, Kageyama! I know you're here, so just show yourself! Only cowards dawdle." Hearing no reply, I let a smirk cross my face as I leant forward at the waist. "What? Scared to fight a girl?" My dropped even lower, to a low whisper. "A fairy maggot girl at that."
There was a pause and I could see Taurus stare at me dubiously, but that all stopped when a dark shape slowly came out of a nearby shadow on the floor.
The shadows seemed to melt away from the form, colours replacing the darkness as it did. A smirking face with spiky hair leered at me as Kageyama stepped out of the shadows, in flesh now.
"Amazing. I didn't think a maggot could sense a shadow, but you have just proved me wrong. Ah well," he gave a disarming shrug before going back to smirking. "I won't be wrong again."
It took all my willpower not to roll my eyes. People here were so dramatic.
Fucking Fiore people.
"Dooo yooou wish me tooo fight him Luuucy-sama?" Taurus asked me, that strange gleam in his eyes that he got whenever he could feel a fight coming. I don't know exactly where that came from, it cropped up about twenty days from Hargeon…
Shrugging in answer and to disperse the thoughts, I waved an absent hand towards Kageyama. "Sure, whatever Taurus. Just don't break him, I need him to answer some of my questions, okay?"
Taurus nodded and carefully placed Natsu down so that he could draw his giant axe. "It wooould be my pleasure Luuuucy-sama!"
A slightly crazed laugh came from Kageyama, something I narrowed my eyes at. An insane opponent was one of the most dangerous. They were often unpredictable and viable to not feel pain as easily as normal people. Kageyama didn't seem too insane in the series, he's probably just a bit hinged. I could deal with that. Several of my previous gang mates were pretty close to the edge of sanity, often teetering back and forth.
"You think that a cow-man could take me?!" Kageyama laughed again before shadows began to pool in his cupped hands. "How dare a maggot like you insult me! I'll show you the power of the greatest guild, Eisenwald!"
"Actually," I inputted matter-of-factly. "The greatest dark guild is Tartaros. The greatest guild though," I gave him a dark look. "That would be Fairy Tail. So, let me show you the power of the greatest guild, Fairy tail!" Stabbing my left index finger at Kageyama, my other hand brushed the sword handle on my back. "Attack now Taurus! Blunt force rather than slice 'n' dice!"
"Of cooourse Luuucy-sama!" Taurus's excited cry reached my ears as he rushed past me, down the corridor and towards our opponent.
"I won't let you lay a single hit on me!" Black shadows writhed around Kageyama's hands before spilling out and rushing towards the charging Taurus.
Gritting my teeth, I pumped my legs full of raw magic before sprinting forwards. Taurus didn't pause as I slid in front of him, my sword beating down the shadows with a few swipes of the steel.
A shadow passed over me as Taurus jumped and sliced down with his sword. "Rampage! Mooo!"
The ground rumbled at his devastating move, the ground cracking in a straight line that unsettled Kageyama's balance and obscured his vision with chunks of stone and dust.
Moving from my braced position, I began to run forwards, readying my sword as I called out to Taurus. "Boost, Taurus!"
"Mooo!" Taurus large hand moved into my vision and I tapped a foot onto the appendage, feeling the immense strength that my spirit possessed as he all but threw me up into the air.
I swear, I felt my back brush against the ceiling.
Flipping, I twisted my body so that I was aiming for the dust cloud that contained Kageyama. I didn't yell out or release a war cry; that would be foolish and would guarantee me a world of pain. So I dropped silently into the dust, legs readied to either land or to slam down onto a body.
My feet hit solid stone and I crouched down, making myself small so as to make it harder for anything to hit me.
"Shadow Pull!"
The mass of shadow in shape of a giant hand surprised me. I was expecting a stabbing move, not one of brute force.
As such; I didn't move as the hand slammed down on me, painfully pushing all of the air from my lungs as I hit the unforgiving ground.
My sword was trapped by the fact that my right hand – my sword hand – was twisted awkwardly. I knew that if an abundance of pressure was applied to that area, my right elbow would snap really easily. Like a twig.
"Taurus!" I wheezed out as I tried to wriggle out from under the shadows shaped by magic. "Switch with Cenas!" I could sense Kageyama approaching and this situation opted for more finesse and accuracy rather than brute force.
"Yes Luuuucy-sama!"
I didn't feel any drain on my magic as Cenas replaced Taurus. It had taken majority of my journey to Hargeon, and a lot of speculating between me and Crux, but we had managed to work out a new idea to Celestial magic. If a gate was already opened for a spirit, who was to say that another spirit couldn't just go through it? I had to ask for permission from all of my spirits, and the technique was hampered by several points, but it was very successful.
As the gate opened for only one mass of magic (i.e. one spirit), only one spirit could come through the gate, so to have another spirit come out, they had to switch with the spirit that had already come through the gate. The technique was also hampered by the fact that whatever spirit that came through the gate second had to have less magic and a smaller form than that of the person before.
Generally, that meant if I summoned a gold gate key, I could easily summon any silver key as the amount of magic they had was significantly less than a gold key, so it outweighed the body mass factor. It was slightly more troublesome with gold keys, but if I first summoned Taurus, anybody could be switched with him. He was my biggest spirit, in both body and magic mass, so I usually opened with him. Just as I did today.
"I'll get you out of there Lucy-chan!" An arrow suddenly came whizzing from out of the dust cloud, slicing through the shadow of hands and dispersing them as it did so.
I jumped up, free, and grinned across to the shadowed form that was slowly appearing through the dispersing dust cloud. "Thanks, Cenas!"
There was a short laugh that I took as an answer before I let the grin slide off my face as I turned to an annoyed Kageyama that was standing in front of me, the glare etched into his face clearly directed towards me. "You're a lively fly, I'll give you that."
My sword made a rasping sound as I slid it across the stone tiled ground. "So I'm a fly now? Not a maggot."
Kageyama sneered before webs of shadows bristled from his own personal shadow. "I'll break that sword of yours, and then that spirit of yours. It'll give me great delight to do so."
I didn't give him an answer merely asking Cenas to stay back as support and to look over the vulnerable Natsu.
"Of course, Lucy-chan."
A silence fell over the situation. The odd sense of a stand-off putting everyone on edge. Who was going to draw first?
There was an unmistakable sound of an arrow being notched, the sound a low rasp of the wooden arrow shaft rubbing against the metal string.
Instantly, Kageyama exploded into action, several fists of shadows launching themselves towards me. "Knuckle Shadow!"
My boots scuffed as I shifted them in small movements in order to weave through the fists, feeling the coldness of the magic and the vague gusts of wind that meant Cenas was firing off arrows in order to disperse some of the fists.
The onslaught died down and my breath hitched with every intake. My back was aching faintly from some of the more rigorous and twisting dodges. Maybe I should do some more flexibility exercises…
"Tch," Kageyama's face twisted in an ugly way and he raised his hand towards Cenas. "That spirit of yours is highly irritating. I guess I'll just have to get rid of it."
"Him." Cenas corrected as he notched another arrow to his bow and held it ready in front of his eyes. "And I can shoot down any of your shadows before they can get near me. What do you think you can do that can change that?"
Cenas wasn't arrogant in the way he spoke. He was polite and speaking matter-of-factly; which it was. His ability to shoot had only gotten better with practise, able to notch three arrows and shoot them accurately was one of the many developments he had in abilities.
"Who said I was going to use my Shadow magic?" Kageyama cocked one black eyebrow at Cenas and I felt my stomach drop at the certain expression. It wasn't arrogant like his previous expressions; he knew what he was going to do would succeed.
"Move Cenas!" I blurted out but I was too slow as Kageyama's hand flashed a deep purple and Cenas disappeared in a golden flash. No pain or warning. Just…gone.
I raised my sword threateningly towards the bastards' throat. "What the fuck did you do?"
Another harsh laugh escaped Kageyama's mouth. "I am able to use not just Shadow magic, but also Dispersing magic! So any little spirit you summon out, I can send back just as quickly! What are you going to do now, Fairy fly?" The last part was said with a leer and a disturbing twist to his head.
Harsh sounds came from my mouth has my teeth tried their best to turn each other into dust. This was why that fat dude was trying to kill Kageyama! He could disperse the wind barrier that surrounded the station; something that Erigor found too dangerous and valuable to let Kageyama live.
Fuck. This whole situation just got a lot more complicated.
Pulling my face into a confident mask, I smirked at Kageyama. "Do you think that I am weak without my spirits? This sword isn't for show, you know?" I caressed my blade in order to emphasise my point. "And I know some wicked hand-to-hand stuff that would make your heart rupture. Literally."
Kageyama didn't seem put out by my slight bluffing, instead, gazing at me with a bored expression before raising his hands again. "I'll finish this in one blow Fairy scum. I find you interesting, and as such, I won't embarrass you any further."
There was a significant increase of magical power in the air and I bared my teeth at the sensation, sword at the ready. "Bring it!"
Shadows pooled and dribbled around Kageyama's hands, this time, tinted by an ominous purple. The magic presence raised again and I could only watch in horror as the shadows twisted themselves into the shapes of demon-eyed snakes. Eight in total.
Kageyama gave me one last smirk before flicking his hands towards me. "Shadow Orochi,"
The snakes writhed and twisted further before twisting and writhing towards me.
I let out one comment before they dove down on me, surrounding me on all sides. "Fucking snakes…"
3rd Person P.O.V.
Erza breathed out a shaky breath as she leaned on one of the many swords she had left scattered across the station in a disarray. "Are you alright, Gray?"
There was a grunt in answer and her comrade slowly walked into her vision, ruffling his hair in order to rid the dark locks of mortar. One of his lances had hit a wall and a bunch of Eisenwald mages had the misfortune to be right underneath it at the time. Gray had just been hit with the explosion of dust and mortar that accompanied it.
"I should be asking you that question, Erza." The Ice make mage let out a noise at the sight of the scattered weapons Erza had wielded, majority of them lying on defeated mages. All who had dazed expressions on their face. "You did a real number on these scum, but you used a lot of magic re-quipping."
Erza merely nodded and tried to gain some strength back after the fight that had just occurred. The mages hadn't been especially strong, there was just lots of them. And Erza had wasted a lot of her magic on changing her armour to those that would help the situation. The Knight being only one of many.
Silence fell over the two Fairy Tail mages as they continued to get their breath and magic back. Suddenly, a soft whimper and an influx of magic made Erza snap her head towards one of the walls that weren't destroyed.
She caught the scared face of a chubby, green-haired male before he disappeared fully into the wall, his magic disappearing with him.
"Gray! There's one escaping! He's probably going to broadcast Lullaby!" Erza went to run after the unknown mage, but found her legs buckling.
Hands caught her and lowered her to the ground.
"Don't worry, Erza, I'll get him." Gray looked down at his friend before nodding to himself and running towards the corridor that Lucy and Natsu had gone through only ten minutes or so earlier.
As he ran, Gray could only hope that Lucy and Natsu weren't going to get surprised by the unknown mage. If Erza sounded panicked, than maybe he should be entitled to a bit of worrying.
The gnawing feeling in his gut only spiked as the ground suddenly rocked and a loud explosion rumbled close by, caused an onslaught of air to rush towards Gray from its force.
The Ice mage easily braced himself and didn't budge as the magic-drenched air rushed past. As the wind died down, Gray caught the end of a scream that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a females.
"Lucy!"
Gray picked up the pace and began to run faster along the corridors, following the sounds of explosions to his destination.
'Don't die you stupid girl…'
The smirk on Kageyama's face only deepened further as the annoying blonde fly let out a piercing scream.
His shadow snakes had converged on her, drowning out her image as they collapsed down onto her, slicing and burning with their rawness. The attack was designed to draw out for a lengthy time, the snakes capable of following anyone to the ends of the Earthland. As such; the fly's' scream was drawn out and high in its tempo and pitch. A sound that Kageyama could fall asleep to.
Casually dispersing his attack, Kageyama looked on the fallen form of the fly with vague interest. Her body was still intact and her sword was still gripped tightly and defiantly in her right hand. Something that Kageyama just itched to crush. Her clothes were torn, her pants shredded and revealing slightly bloody legs. Her creamy sleeves were turning an interesting shade of pink-red that Kageyama could admire, even at his metred distance. The blonde hair twitched and Kageyama's admiration turned to anger as she raised her head shakily to glare at him with dark brown eyes.
"Just die already you fly!" Kageyama snarled and collected more shadows to his hands and lifted them up, preparing for another attack to finally finish off the insistent fly.
He wasn't expecting his vision to suddenly be filled with flames.
Lucy twitched her head weakly and tried to ignore the burning pain she felt all over her body from the intense magic that had just washed over her. The stone floor swam sickeningly and she had to close her eyes as she raised her head further, only opening them to glare at the bastard who had done this to her.
His amused look changed – satisfyingly to Lucy – to one of great anger. Lucy could only barely see his mouth moving – assumingly, he was talking to her – and his hand burst into shadows, raising up to launch another attack at the vulnerable girl.
'Well fuck, I'm screwed.' Lucy closed her eyes in anticipation for more pain, but only felt a familiar sense of warmth rush over her. She flinched at the feeling of flames, but smiled at who they belonged to.
'Took you long enough sleepy head…'
In all honesty, Natsu had no idea what had made him fall asleep – at least he assumed he fell asleep. What else could've happened – but he knew what woke him up.
A scream of pain had reached his slowly awakening brain and he felt his arms subconsciously twitch, as to lift himself up. The continuous scream only prompted these urges, his eyes snapping open and his arms surging with strength as his pushed himself up into a kneeling position.
The scream drew to a close and that scared him more than the scream itself. Twisting around and standing up at the same time, Natsu took in the situation with keen eyes.
Lucy; his teammate was on the ground, down the corridor some, and she wasn't moving.
That Eisenwald bastard; smirking at her before the look turned to one of anger.
Before he knew it, he was already closing the distance and summoning up his magic to ignite his right fist.
The bastards' hands rose up and Natsu's enhanced hearing could pick up what he was saying, even as Natsu leapt up into the air to vault over Lucy.
"Just die already you fly!"
The flames in Natsu hand was joined by a twin in his left hand. He raised the two up and brought them down in a vengeful slash, the heat scorching the walls and ceiling as he did so.
"Wing Slash of the Fire Dragon!"
The attack connected with the bastard and threw him forward and then back, flying over the downed Lucy and continuing several metres down the empty corridor.
Natsu landed with a light tap of his sandals and he pivoted quickly on one foot in order to race back to his partner. "Lucy!" He reached her and hovered uncertainly over her, his hands brushing her back, but unsure as what to do. He didn't want to hurt her.
"How bloody long does it take you to wake up from your naps?" Lucy asked incredulously.
The tenseness that lined Natsu's shoulders and back disappeared at her words. He grinned wolfishly down at her. "Still joking around? You must be okay."
A scoff escaped Lucy's lips as she tucked her arms underneath her to lift herself up. "No matter how strong the attack is, I'll never back down."
The smile on Natsu's face only widened and he easily scooped the blonde up to set her down on her feet. "That's awesome Luce!"
"Lucy is my name you know…"
"Good try maggot…"
Both Lucy and Natsu turned at the haggard voice coming from behind Lucy, Natsu snarling at Kageyama's standing form.
The Shadow mage lifted his head up higher and looked at Natsu with a haughty expression. "But not good enough."
Well, not much happened, but I hope it'll tide you guys over until the next chapter. So yeah, Kageyama seems like a bigger dick here than in the series, I don't know why though.
Anyway, I'll try and write this soon, but don't raise your hopes.
Love y'all.