Hello my lovelies! This is probably the final chapter for a while, but that's only because I'm going back to school soon and we all know how much school sucks and eats away at our time!
This has more of a comedic feel to it because a. I can and b. who wouldn't love to see the sight of Natsu being flung up and down? I would!
Disclaimer: I seem to be sitting on a bed typing on a dinky laptop, not in some super fancy studio drawing up works of art. So, I don't own FT…
Warning: Language and FIGHTING! RAWR!
3rd Person P.O.V.
Cenas started the fight by shooting an arrow right at Sherry, making her shriek and dive out of the way. Evidently she wasn't used to close-combat, her magic being long-distance.
"You take Sherry," Lucy said to her spirit, already heading towards the large rock golem that Sherry was making run towards her. "You'll be much better at hitting her; and I will take the big, bad boulder."
"On it, Lucy-chan!" Replied Cenas, already notching another arrow as he cantered in a wide arc to get to the back of Sherry. There, he began to fire more arrows at her, making her screech in indignation and dance out of the way, her rock golem suffering mobility from her lack of attention. Lucy took full advantage of the golem's momentary weakness and powered magic to her legs as she jumped up and angled her body to do a duel kick to the misshapen, moving pile of rock's centre. The golem made an unhappy rumbling sound before slowly tilting back and hitting the ground, shattering into dozens of pieces.
"My doll!" Wailed Sherry, "how dare you destroy him! Well," the girl tried to compose herself, narrowly missing another of Cenas's arrows, "I guess I'll have to show you love by making another one!"
"Oh yes," drawled Lucy, slinging her sword over her shoulder at a jaunty angle, "please show me the errors of my loveless life."
"Kinky," sniggered Cenas, breaking the standoffish mood.
Lucy flinched momentarily and stammered out a protest before deciding that Cenas was a lost cause and that Sherry was now distracted by also yelling at the slightly perverted spirit. Thinking quickly, Lucy sheathed her sword and bounded forwards to engage Sherry in hand-to-hand combat, since she was distracted and weak physically, it seemed.
But Sherry would have none of it and showed great mastery in her magic by creating a Wood doll in a matter of seconds to block the blonde. "Attack my beloved doll!"
The Wood doll roared and slammed his arm down to the surprised blonde, who was now realising that she had severely underestimated her opponent. In the series, Sherry had seemed more of a comic relief than anything, but it seemed that the girl was rather strong with her magic and wasn't afraid to use it. So, being taken off guard by the sudden appearance of the Wood doll and its attack, Lucy could only raise an arm up to block the tree limb that came swinging down on her.
"Hah! I showed that loveless girl!" Cackled Sherry, fingers pausing their twitching so that the Wood golem would stop moving. "Now the Cold Emperor's plans will go on as planned!"
"I wouldn't be so sure," stated Cenas, eyes amused. "Lucy-chan's a pretty surprising gal, so I'm betting she's going to surprise us now…oh, look, here's your surprise. Right on time."
Before Sherry could react, her Wood dolls feet were cut out from underneath it and it toppled to the side, revealing a crouching Lucy who had one trembling arm raised over her head and one out to the side, grasping a sword tightly.
"How?!" Pleaded Sherry, confused as to why the girl wasn't crushed into the ground like all her other foes. "How are you alive?!"
Simple," said Lucy as she stood up out of a small depression in the ground, shaking out her sore left arm. "I poured all of my magic into my left arm and legs so that they was strong enough to ward off your golems attack, and then I slashed its feet from underneath it with my sword." Lucy tossed her sword in her hands before looking up at Sherry with a smirk on her face. "Simple."
Sherry snarled down at the cocky blonde, attractive face twisting as she did so. "Well, it won't be so simple when your friend here is attacking you. A Celestial spirit, correct?" The pink-haired girl's face was triumphant as she smiled down at an angry Lucy. "I guess I'll make him my own since you so rudely destroyed my beloved dolls."
"Cenas!" Shouted out Lucy. "Return to the Spirit world no-!"
"Too late," sung out Sherry.
Abruptly, Cenas turned from where he was watching Sherry with amusement, towards Lucy, confusion clouding his dark face. "W-what's going on?!"
"She's controlling you," snarled out Lucy, glaring up at Sherry. "How dare you take one of my friend's from me!"
"Ah," Sherry sighed as she moved Cenas towards Lucy, making him draw his bow as he went. "Isn't the pain of love strong? It aches and burns, but it is still love, and we all need love!"
"I can fucking hear the italics every time she mentions love," Lucy mumbled to herself. "I agree that we all need love," the blonde bit out as she studied the slowly advancing Cenas, "but your love is seriously fucked up!"
Sherry scowled at the rude blonde who had dared to insult love! "I'm bored of you now, Lucy wasn't it? Well, your name doesn't matter when love takes you over!" Sherry made Cenas dash forwards, cutting off any protests that Lucy was going to speak. "Say goodbye, Lucy."
"Fuck," Lucy growled out, dodging one of Cenas's arrows before catching another one that nearly hit her shoulder, the friction from the wooden shaft burning the palm of her hand. "I still don't know how to force that gates closed. Damn my politeness! Damn teachers for teaching me ethics and manners!" The blonde continued to grumble to herself as Cenas met her with his fists, the two beginning to parry each other's hits, both reluctant to hurt the other.
"I-I'm sorry, Lucy-chan," Cenas managed to grit out as he tried to stop the powerful haymaker he was about to throw at Lucy's face.
"It's fine," panted out Lucy, managing to deflect the haymaker enough so that it just stung her cheek, rather than smashing into her cheekbone. "I know you don't want to do this, you're being controlled."
"Just close my gate," pleaded Cenas as he drew one of the small knives he kept on the sash tied around his waist, beginning to slash at Lucy as she backed up. "Force it closed!"
"You know I can't!"
"Just close it, Lucy-chan!"
"But it feels like I'm forcing you guys to do something that you don't want! I'm using my power over you to in a bad way! I'm your friend, not your master!"
"I understand your hesitance Lucy-chan, but now is not the time for politeness!"
"But if I force you home," Luce burst out passionately, grabbing Cenas's wrist so that he couldn't swing his knife at her anymore, "then I'm forcing you to leave my side! And I'm scared that if I make you leave, that you won't come back!" The blonde bit her lip as she realised what she had shouted out. "I'm sorry…"
Cenas was shocked by the revelation, but he couldn't speak or react before he was being pulled back by Sherry and made to shoot at Lucy after he sheathed his knife.
Scowling, Lucy continued to dodge Cenas's arrows, all the while trying to come up with a battle plan against Sherry. Could Lucy simply stab Cenas and go for Sherry? No. Definitely not. She could never do that to one of her friends, even if they could recover in the Spirit world. What about Sherry herself; what were her weaknesses? Weaknesses…weaknesses…
A sudden thought hit Lucy right in the face, and Lucy was sorely tempted to hit herself for not noticing such blatant fact earlier.
Why wasn't Sherry simply making a Wood or Rock doll to smash Lucy while she was busy fighting off Cenas?
It was so simply that Lucy could've cried – if she wasn't busy dodging arrows and in public. Sherry didn't have the magic, nor the multi-tasking skills to hold two 'dolls.' Cenas was fighting valiantly against Sherry and all of her attention would be towards keeping him under control.
Well, it was lucky then, that Lucy could summon two spirits.
'Virgo!' Lucy mentally screamed out, hand brushing her keys as she flipped over a charge by Cenas. 'I need you to appear under Sherry, the pink-haired chick, and dig a pitfall to make her fall into! Could you do that for me?'
It was the vague chime that Lucy heard in her head that was the answer. Moments later, Sherry let out a shriek as the ground fell in underneath her, dragging her in and snapping her spell on Cenas. "What is this?!"
Virgo tunnelled up from the ground beside the giant hole, bowing to Lucy. "Punishment, Mistress?"
"No," sighed Lucy, stopping her acrobatic flips since Cenas was now released, "no punishment. You did good."
"Is there anything else you need, Mistress?" Asked Virgo stoically.
"You're good to go home, Virgo," answered Lucy, "there is no need for you to stay here any longer. Thank you very much for answering my call and coming to my aid."
Virgo bowed in answer and disappeared.
"Oh, Lucy-chan," Cenas started, "I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright, Cenas," said Lucy softly, "you did nothing wrong. It's my fault for not realising that she could, and would, control you. I beg your pardon."
Cenas cracked a small, relieved smile, before stepping forwards to envelop Lucy in a hug. "We're not going to leave you, Lucy-chan. Not now, not ever. You're our summoner, and our greatest friend. There is no way that we would ever leave you behind, so don't think differently for a second!"
A wide smile appeared on Lucy's face as she returned the heartfelt gesture, revelling in the comfort and warmth of one of her greatest friends. "I know, Cenas. I trust you with my life, so I should trust you with my heart."
"Damn right you should."
"Will you tell me where your leader is now?" Erza cranked her arm up a bit, eliciting a whimper from the person's whose leg she was holding. "I-I swear I don't know where Lyon could be!"
"Oh," said Erza softly, scaring Toby more than her shouts ever could. "So he's Lyon now, rather than Reitei. What is his real name?"
"Lyon! Lyon!" Toby howled, terrified of the beautiful scarlet woman yanking his leg further up his back than it was now. "His real name is Lyon!"
"Excellent," Erza said primly, dropping Toby's leg – much to the relief of the dog-boy – and dusting her hands off. "I shall go search for this Lyon now, since you have no more information for me." Erza glared at Toby's sniffling form at her feet. "Right?"
"Y-yes!" Toby choked out, "please don't hurt me anymore!"
"Foolish," Erza scoffed, "that was a mere stretch of the legs. I did not cause you any pain."
Toby wisely stayed silent and let the redhead stalk away from the trashed corridor that he and an unconscious Yuka lay in. "She is terrifying…"
"What was that?!"
"NOTHING!"
"Do you like my magic?" Zalty asked coyly as he continued to destroy and repair the ceiling that Natsu was under, making the rubble knock the boy to the ground before letting it go back up and fix itself back into a complete ceiling. He then dropped the ceiling again and smashed the barely recovering Natsu into the ground again. Then he fixed the ceiling again. Then dropped it. Up and down. Up and down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Destroyed. Not destroyed. Rubble. Complete ceiling. Up. Down.
Natsu was beginning to get woozy from the amount of times the ceiling was going down on him, smashing him into the unforgiving ground; when the ceiling was being fixed, he only got to his knees before the ceiling came down upon him again.
The boy finally snapped after a few minutes of the repeated action, Zalty's cackles angering him enough that he let out a roar – a burst of dragon roar, mind you, as well as an angry one – and blasted the ceiling that was dropping down on him into pieces.
"Hah!" Natsu grinned victoriously up at the tower of stone that Zalty was perched on. "I beat ya stupid rocks!" He kicked at the collected rumble about him, feeling mightily pleased.
"Did you?" Zalty raised one eyebrow and raised his hand up.
Natsu was about to shout out that he bloody well did! Couldn't you see the rubble?! Are you blind?! When the rubble around him began to form into a ceiling once more and rise up to join its brethren in the sky; taking Natsu with it.
"Ugh," as he noticed the rumbling movement of the block of stone he was on, Natsu had to bite back a hurl, slumping bonelessly as he did.
Zalty noticed his opponent's disposition. "Oh, so you don't like moving objects. Well, you certainly won't like this!" The masked man cackled as he made the platform of stone begin to crumble and then join back up again, the whole thing jerking up and down as he switched between the two endlessly.
"Natsu!" Happy wailed from the ground, having timed out with his Aera magic a minute or two ago, having flown Natsu around the chamber to dodge the crystal ball that Zalty had made to follow them.
"H-happy…" Natsu squeaked out, body trembling in his sickness. "H-help m-me…"
The cat moaned as he had no clue how to get Natsu off this thing; his wings were gone and there was no way he could stop Zalty from using his magic; since Natsu was having trouble, the guy must be crazy strong!
What was a cat to do?!
"Erza!" Happy suddenly shouted, "I'll get Erza! Don't worry Natsu, I'll get Erza to come here and beat this guy for you!"
Natsu wanted to protest that he could finish this guy off on his own, but he was too busy trying to hold in whatever fluids were in his stomach at the moment – damn those eggs and toast that Lucy had cooked over a fire this morning.
Taking Natsu's burble as an answer, Happy set off at a pace – as fast as a cat with stumpy legs can – towards the archway that led up a flight of stairs where all the other Fairy Tail mages had gone; but Zalty wasn't going to have that.
"Now, kitty-cat," the man purred, "we can't have you leaving quite yet. The fun is only just beginning."
Happy yowled when the floor began to disintegrate beneath him, hopping from crumbling stone, to chunks of trembling rock to make his way to the doorway.
"Determined little fellow, aren't you," murmured Zalty eyes trained on Happy even as he sped up the rate Natsu was going up and down. "But I'll let you go this time – let's see the great Titania in action, shall we?"
Happy suddenly found that parts of the ground were still solid and began to follow it quickly, not noticing that Zalty was casually flicking a finger to rewind time every moment that Happy placed a foot down, saving the cat's life more than once.
"I'm going to beat you into the ground for daring to even think about resurrecting Deliora," growled out Gray, making an Ice cannon and firing off several rounds at a smirking Lyon.
"You're still an idiot, Gray," sighed the older male, using one hand to make an twisting Ice dragon that leapt in the way to intercept the masses of ice. "If you think that you can beat me while you use two hands in moulding your ice…you're sorely mistaken."
"But that's how Ul taught us!" Protested Gray venomously. "You can't just disrespect Ul's teachings like that!"
"Using two hands shows you're incompetent," said Lyon coolly, reflecting his magic style in his manner of speaking. "I have surpassed Ul by using only one of my hands to mould my Ice magic!" To demonstrate this, Lyon pushed one hand out to create an Ice tiger that prowled towards Gray, determined to stalk its prey into the corner of the large stony chamber they were located in.
"Ice make: cage!" Gray responded to the big cats advance, forming a large cage around it to keep it trapped in the middle of the room.
"Please," scoffed Lyon, "my tiger will easily break through your flimsy cage, created by your unskilled hands." The steely-haired mage waited expectantly for Gray's cage to break when his tiger rammed its body against it, but was surprised that when ice fell, it was of his own creation.
"H-how?" The mage stammered, looking aghast. "How is this possible! My moulding magic is mastered to a greater than Ul's! How can your measly creation defeat mine!"
"It's easy," replied Gray with a smirk, "using only one hand makes your creations unstable and easily broken. Ul's way was the correct way, and the only way you should mould your magic!" Thrusting his hands back, Gray powered his hands up before thrusting them forwards calling out as he created several lances made of ice to pierce through Lyon.
Then began a fierce battle of moulding magic; Gray creating inanimate objects to slice or shoot at Lyon, and Lyon creating creatures of frozen snow to attack Gray and intercept his attacks. The two continued for minutes, each one arguing against the resurrection of Deliora and Ul's point of view on moulding magic.
It was only when one of Lyon's Ice tigers managed to snick Gray on the side, making red bloom across his pale skin, that the fight drew to a stop.
"I am more superior!" Lyon crowed triumphantly. "I shall be the one that surpasses Ul! I will resurrect Deliora and prove myself the greatest Ice mage!"
"You're fucking insane!" Gray bellowed back, eyes sharp with pain and anger. "Why are you so fixated on defeating Ul?! And why the hell would you resurrect Deliora to prove yourself the best Ice mage?! I doesn't making any sense!"
(A/N: So tempted to make Lyon sassy by writing 'your face doesn't make sense,' or something, but that would be totally OOC; even if it'd be funny. Sorry for interrupting your reading, carry on.)
"I don't need to explain anything to you," sneered Lyon, "you just need to know that tonight is the last night that we need to perform the Moon drip ritual, and then Deliora will be resurrected! There's only an hour or so 'til sundown," Lyon's eyes held maniacal gleam, "and then the moon will rise, alongside Deliora!"
"You're definitely crazy," spat out Gray, "I'll stop you before you even think about completing the ritual!"
Lyon actually laughed at that, sounding surprised and amused. "Oh, I don't need to do the ritual, we only need one person to perform the ritual to enact it. It is at less power than if there is more people joining in, but only one of my sycophants needs to do the ritual; you see, Gray?"
Gray scowled at this, but his expression quickly cleared up not shortly after, startling Lyon. "What is with that look, Gray?"
The younger Ice mage chuckled. "You may have your minions, Lyon, but I have my friends." He grinned at the angered Lyon, hands clutching at his bleeding side. "And they'll help me and the people of this island. So, it's safe to say, you're screwed."
"He's right," said a new voice, footsteps barely heard from one of the corridors leading out of the chamber. "He's got friends, and these friends have already fucked up your minions."
Zalty was taking great joy in knocking Natsu off his feet every time he tried to crawl his way off the elevating and falling chunk of ceiling with his crystal ball when, out of nowhere, a sword swung by, narrowly missing him and cutting off pieces of his spiky, green hair.
The masked man's concentration on Natsu was broken and the ceiling fell to the floor, shattering into chunks, and then further breaking apart when Natsu smashed through the pieces as he stood up. "All right! I'm free!" He turned a fiery gaze towards Zalty, who was starting to look nervous at the fact that he was pinned between an energetic Natsu and a severely angry Erza who had entered the underground area just moments before, alongside Happy. "I'm all fired up now!"
"So, that Moon drop plan of yours has fallen to shit already, Lyon." Lucy smirked at a flabbergasted Lyon as she stepped out of the shadows. "Such a shame, isn't it?"
Zalty began to panic slightly as Erza and Natsu pressed onwards to him, through the crumbling ceiling and the orbs he threw at them, their expressions determined and dark.
"What are you going to do, now that we're joining back together and defeating your cronies, hm?" Lucy's expression was genuinely curious as she advanced forwards to stand proudly beside Gray, his expression shocked as he looked at her – standing beside him, providing support and comradeship.
Swords swung and slammed into walls as Erza threw her arsenal around, dancing delicately between Natsu's own bursts of flames; the two weaving together in an intricate display that took years of practise – but came to them like breathing; naturally. It dazzled Zalty as he tried to keep up; his magic was powerful and rare, but didn't stand against compassion and determination – something that Fairy Tail mages like Erza and Natsu had in spades.
It wasn't long until a flaming fist caught Zalty by surprise, bursting stars of pain behind his eyes as he was launched through the torchlight, arms reaching up to grasp his mask as he felt the cracks in his mask and façade chipping away.
Scrabbling to hold his façade together, Zalty stood up, planning to make his get away, but he shortly found out that Fairy Tail mages don't let people go so easily.
"No!" Lyon bellowed angrily, "it won't end here! Not when I'm so close to beating Ul! Not when I can pass her by!"
"Do you really think Ul taught you all those years so that you could become…this?" Lucy spoke with no malice, only disappointment and sympathy that bit at Lyon. "Shut up! What would you know?!"
"She doesn't know about Ul," Gray added in, regaining his spirit with his friend beside him, overcoming the shock and anger that Lyon's appearance and words had bestowed in him, determination replacing it. "But she knows enough about respecting her teachings and her friends to surpass you, Lyon."
Gray thought back to all the times he had seen Lucy with her spirits, completely at ease with them as they chatted, and looking happy whenever they taught her new things; whether it be Lyra showing her a new song on the lyre, or Aquarius coaching her on how to find a suitable male. "Unlike you, Lucy – and the rest of Fairy Tail – respect each other and don't hold onto past grudges, because they'll just taint your life and make everything be seen in shades of grey; you need to see the true colours of the world, Lyon, because they're more amazing then you could believe."
Lyon merely sneered at him, clearly unimpressed. "Have you been taking poetry lessons, Gray, because that sounded weak, even for you."
"Just because you're some prick who has no emotions," said Lucy coldly, "doesn't mean you should place that same way of life onto other people. Sherry, Toby and Yuka are good people, and they trusted you, and loved you so much that they followed you out of Lamia Scale just to be by your side. If you have such good friends by you, Lyon," Lucy said slowly, "why do you still pursue something behind you?"
Erza stood over the weakly moving Zalty, Natsu having hit him down once again with a wing attack. Holding a sword firmly in one hand as she ex-quipped back into her default breastplate and skirt, Erza bent down and removed the mask. The façade came along with it.
The game was up.
"I don't need to explain anything to you!" Lyon snarled at Gray and Lucy, patience non-existent now. "Even if you did defeat Sherry, there's still Toby and Yuka!"
"I found those two passed out in the corridor back there," Lucy said casually, thumbing back towards where she came from. "Erza probably finished them easily, they seemed pretty weak to me – especially when Toby began to snivel at hearing my footsteps wailing something about red-haired demons."
Lyon spluttered at the fact that three of his most faithful companions had been defeated so easily. "But there's still Zalty! He's far more powerful than any of them! There's no way he can be defeated, so he'll just finish off the Moon drip ritual and-!"
"I don't think that your companions name is Zalty." Erza appeared out of the shadows, accompanied by Natsu, Happy and an unconscious Zalty over her shoulders. "You should check your companion's backgrounds before you hire them." Erza tossed Zalty onto the floor in between the reunited Fairy Tail mages and Lyon, revealing a beautiful, young and fair woman, pale eyelids closed and ruby red lips pursed in her unconsciousness.
"Z-zalty?" Choked out Lyon, recognising the clothes that she was wearing, reminiscent to the man that he had seen mere hours before. "Who is this?!"
'She looks like Ul…' Was the thought running rampart through Gray's mind, and a mere flicker passed through Lyon's thoughts before he quashed it, like he had done with every memory of his mentor, either than her strength that he wanted to pass.
"Ultear," Lucy stated suddenly, startling the collected people as she knelt down to gaze closely at the unconscious woman on the floor. "Her name is Ultear."
"How do you know this?" Erza demanded, not completely able to ignore the traitorous thoughts that Lucy could be in league with the woman, since she obviously knew her.
"I needed a way to get money on the road," Lucy began to explain as she brushed light fingers across Ultear's neck, checking for a pulse. "So I often did jobs for the Magic Council, bringing in dark mages for them and breaking up the beginnings of dark guilds."
Erza relaxed at that statement; Lucy had done something that was rare, but not completely unheard of for roving mages. The Magic Council occasionally needed the help of mages, and they often asked roving mages that they trusted to help out, being able to pay them handsomely for their help and the assurance of future help and providence of information they needed. The Council could've gone to proper guilds, but found most lacking in abilities that only roving mages seemed to have; stealth, street smarts (and reservations in destroying property as many remarked).
"You work with the Magic Council!" Shrieked Natsu, looking mightily scared of Lucy now. "Please don't tell them about the house I burnt down last week! Or incident with that Fisherman; because it wasn't me, I swear!"
Lucy snorted out some laughter before shaking her head ruefully and continuing with her explanation. "Ultear is part of said Magic Council," the blonde stated, eliciting gasps from the people around her, "and one of the few I had acquaintance with outside of reports I brought in, alongside dark mages. She was…not a friend, per see, but a close acquaintance."
Kneeling beside the blonde, Erza placed a comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder, knowing exactly how it felt to have someone betray you like that. Zalty (now known as Ultear) had told both Natsu and her that (s)he was simply using Lyon, and was planning to use Deliora for her own gain and power. Ultear had backstabbed many people, it seemed. "I'm sorry, Lucy."
Gray looked solemn and thoughtful as he stood closely to a shocked Lyon, ready to knock him unconscious if he tried to make a break for it. A brief thought of using Iced Shell crossed his mind again, but Gray pushed the thought away angrily. He had thought of using that attack against Lyon if he couldn't stop him, but the arrival of Lucy meant he wouldn't have to, and he realised that using that attack would've left his friends feeling as empty as when Ul had used it before his very eyes. 'I'm not going to subject my friends to that kind of betrayal, not like this…Ultear.'
"Oh," the blonde started, looking faintly surprised, "don't be. I've been suspecting Ultear of strange activities for months now. Isn't that right, Ultear?" Lucy directed the last bit at Ultear, pinching the woman's delicate skin around the neck, hitting a pressure point that kicked up the woman's adrenaline, rather than making her lose consciousness, like another part of the neck that you could pinch.
Before anyone could question Lucy's actions, there was a dazzle and a sudden influx of cold air. Everyone covered their eyes as a sudden blizzard cut across their faces and stung their closed eyelids, raising their arms up to try and guard against the element. Several sounds of scraping and clanging met their ears, but it soon died out, just like the blizzard.
Gray opened his eyes to find snow covering the ground and a panting Lucy in a different position from before, sword clasped tightly in her hands and gaze locked towards one of the corridors as chunks of ice fell to the ground at her feet, having chipped off a winding display of ice roses.
"She got away" spat Lucy, but didn't look exactly that angry or surprised. "I should've realised someone as powerful as her would have powerful magic, and another to back that up."
"What happened?" Happy asked anxiously, having taken refuge behind Natsu. "Where's Ultear?"
"She got away," Lucy repeated, "she was pretending to be unconscious the whole time, so that she could get away easily when we dropped our guards."
"How did you know that she was awake then?" Asked Lyon, now participating in the event.
Lucy sheathed her sword. "I felt her pulse and found it beating way too fast for her to be unconscious. She played it well, but I know the human body good enough to know when someone's faking it."
"Remind me to never fake sleep around her," Natsu whispered to Happy, who nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Aye!"
"It seems that she has Ice magic, as well as the odd one she used on Natsu and I," remarked Erza, staring around at the ice littering the floor, and the last remnants of an ice rose and its accompanying thorny vines. "When we return home, we shall inform the Magic Council of this betrayal, along with what has happened here." She turned sharply to glare at Lyon. "I hope that you will not cause a fuss with ending this mess and coming to terms with your mistakes."
Lyon began to protest. "But…Ul and surpassing her…!"
"Right?"
Lyon shrunk back at Erza's killer glare. "No, ma'am!"
"So we've almost resolved everything," drawled Gray, "except for the fact that the villagers are freaking demon monsters. Lyon and the others have been here for years, but they haven't changed – so it's not the Moon drip."
"What could it be, then?" Hummed Happy, trying to look like he was thinking hard about it, but was really wondering if he could get any more delicious fish from the villagers if he asked.
"Oh," said Lucy flippantly, kicking around in the ice chunks left while she ran her fingers over Ultear's razor sharp thorns, "I've already solved that." And before anyone could ask how it could possibly be resolved, the blonde was continuing on. "Besides, the part that isn't resolved is Lyon's complex about not being able to live up to Ul's reputation."
"W-wha-?!" Lyon spluttered. "What the hell do you mean by that?!"
"It's lucky I've got the solution for that as well, then," Lucy remarked as she darted forwards and latched onto Lyon's wrist, beginning to drag the surprised mage towards the corridor that she had come from. "We need to wake up Toby and Yuka – I'm pretty sure Sherry would've escaped the ropes that I put her in by now, so she's probably already nearly started – but the moon's already rising since we wasted a few hours searching for this temple, and then some more fighting, chatting, and being betrayed by people. So, onwards we go!"
The blonde seemed unnaturally chipper as she dragged Lyon down the corridor towards where a fallen and cowering Toby and Yuka lay, having the audacity to whistle cheerfully as her guildmates scrambled to catch up with her and whatever she was about to do.
"You want to do WHAT?!" Bellowed everyone, staring at Lucy as if she was mad. They were standing beside the altar where the Moon drip ritual was performed; they being the Fairy Tail mages, Lyon, Toby, a now awake Yuka, and Sherry – who had to actually be untied from the ropes that Lucy had bound her with, glaring at Lucy all the while the blonde was untying the double knots she had used.
"I said," Lucy replied calmly, "we need to do the Moon drip ritual to revive Deliora, so that Lyon and Gray may accept their pasts and get over Ul's death."
"I don't need to get over Ul's death," Gray snapped, echoed by Lyon. "And do you want a bloody demon roaming around here! It'll be just like Lullaby, and you know how that ended." Gray instantly regretted bringing up Max's death, and obviously Erza wasn't happy with him either, judging by her expression.
"This is different to Lullaby," said Lucy, sounding colder than before, her expression completely blank. "Deliora has been encased in Ul's ice for over ten years, and Iced Shell takes in whoever's power that it has encased, weakening it more the longer it has been activated."
"How do you know this?" Asked Lyon warily, suspicious of the blonde who seemed to know so much.
"Because I went to the Northern parts of Fiore," answered Lucy, "and while I was there, I stumbled across a little cabin in the snowy mountain range." Both Gray's and Lyon's eyes widened with understanding as Lucy continued. "There, I found books on Ice magic and how to master it, along with other objects…" Lucy's gaze was soft as she looked upon Gray and Lyon, "I'll give them to you when we get home, okay? They're safe in the Spirit world, where no one can touch them."
Everyone pretended not to hear the choked sound that came from Lyon. Sherry patted his arm soothingly, standing close to her beloved leader, Toby and Yuka flanking her as she did so.
"But we really don't need to resurrect Deliora," Lucy continued, "if you simply land a solid hit, I'm sure that the demon would just shatter into dozens of pieces…"
"I want to face it," Gray spoke up suddenly, "I want to face the demon that took Ul from me." He looked over to Lyon, who gazed back with determination beginning to flicker into life behind his glassy eyes of sadness. "From us."
At Lyon's nod of approval, Toby, Yuka and Sherry sprang into life, taking up positions around the altar as the moon began to rise, casting a ghostly glow over the island with its purple surface.
"Are you sure about this, Lucy?" Erza asked the blonde as she watched over the proceedings, expression uncertain and hard in the moons glow. "What if Deliora comes back at full strength? We should not risk such things if such a beast can come back into the world! We shou-"
"Erza," Lucy said softly, using the woman's name without the usual amount of stiffness she normally said it with, "I'm not going to ask you to trust me; because trust is something that needs to be built up, and we have not known each other long enough for such things. But, I want you to know that I trust in everyone's abilities to take down Deliora if things go sour." Lucy looked over the ex-Lamia Scale members enacting the Moon drip ritual, Gray and Lyon standing by at the ready, and Natsu not too far behind them with Happy by his side. "And if that isn't enough, then look at Gray and Lyon; they need this, they need this to move on and face the future."
Erza stared at Gray's resolute expression and noted that she had never seen such fire in his gaze before. "I…I understand."
"Good," Lucy said firmly, "because you would have no more time to understand; the ritual is nearly finished."
There was a loud roar in answer, and everyone paused as the ground began to shake; Deliora was awake.
(A/N: LOOK WHAT I DID THERE! COMPLETEY UNINTENTIONAL! You may continue…)
"Are you ready, Lyon?" Gray addressed Lyon as he stood at the ready. His magic wasn't at full strength, but he believed in Lucy's assurance that Deliora would be weak from Ul's ice sapping away its strength over the years.
"Ready as I'll ever be," came the reply from Lyon as Deliora clawed its way to the surface, the monster frightening in its girth and imposing features. "Let's go!" The two dashed forwards to engage the now standing up monster in combat, both creating an icy sword in their hands as they went.
With a burst of speed, the two leapt up and met Deliora head on, slashing down at the muzzle of the monster, cutting through icy flesh that cracked and broke with the attack. Landing, the two Ice mages turned, anticipating Deliora's counter-attack, but found themselves staring up at the slowly crumbling Deliora.
"Ul really did defeat Deliora all those years ago," breathed out Lyon as he stared up at the sight of Deliora raining down in pieces.
"Yeah…" replied Gray, "Lucy was right; Ul's Iced Shell took all of Deliora's strength. So much that it shattered upon impact, just like she said."
"You should know by now, Gray," said girl spoke up as she stood beside him, "that I'm always right." She offered up a small smile at Gray that was hesitantly returned. Lucy then turned to Lyon and placed a cool hand on his arm, startling him out of his thoughts. "Yes?"
"Are you okay now?" Lucy asked carefully, studying Lyon's sharp facial features for something, as if it was hiding from her in his eyes and twisted mouth.
"Y-yeah," Lyon returned cautiously, "I think so, thanks."
Lucy merely smiled.
After a moment of silence, Lucy turned away to leave the two alone with their thoughts, barely hearing the murmur of thanks from Gray as she went.
"You deserved it," she offered in return before heading past the ex-Lamia Scale members who were watching over Lyon, to stand before a contemplative Natsu. "Hey, I need a favour."
"What?" Natsu asked the girl, eyes curious as he looked at the girl he hadn't seen in the past hour or so. "What do ya need me to do?"
"I want you to melt the ice," Lucy said firmly, expression serious. "I want you to melt it though, not explode it, okay?"
"Why?" Natsu was baffled at the random request. "Why the hell would I do that?"
Lucy looked across to where several of the chunks of ice from Deliora were sliding down a slope towards a drop that fell into the ocean. Natsu found himself following her gaze. "You want it to go into the ocean, or something?"
"Yes please," Lucy said shortly, "for Ul to be set free."
Natsu didn't really get it, but he had trusted Lucy so far today and she hadn't steered him wrong once, so he walked over in front of Lyon and Gray to begin melting the ice. The two protested at the start, but when Lucy explained, they submitted, and actually began carrying some pieces to the edge of the cliff and sending them off with a solemn look on their faces as they said goodbye to their beloved mentor.
Soon, everyone joined in. And soon, all of the ice was in the ocean, where it could be free in the currents of the endless blue.
Where Ul could be free.
It was a time of celebration in the small village of Galuna island. Just a few moments ago, Lucy had asked Erza to re-quip into her Giant's Armour and throw a lance at the moon, using a fiery fist courtesy of Natsu to push it further. Erza, having figured out what had happened to the village, did as she was told and threw the lance that was boosted by Natsu's magic, making it soar up into the sky and hit the moon and cracking it. But rather than the moon breaking, a large dome of purple had shattered, extending around the island.
After some explaining, Lucy and Erza had revealed that the vapours of the Moon drip had formed a dome around the island and the dome itself had muddled up the villager's memories; they really were demons!
So, it was with great happiness that the villager's remembered their past. And this moment was made even sweeter by the appearance of Bobo, Moka's 'dead' son, who had recovered his memory long before and had left, in fear that if he tried to convince the muddled villagers of the truth, they would turn on him.
Shortly after, the festivities began; Fairy Tail gladly joined in on the celebration, dragging in the forgiven ex-Lamia Scale mages, who were reconsidering their disposition as guildless mages, and returning back to Lamia Scale.
Natsu happily ate away most of the banquet that the villagers set out, joined by Happy and Toby, who, Natsu found, was not a bad guy to talk to. Erza talked with Moka about the village and its culture, content with having finished the mission. Yuka was surrounded by intrigued female villagers who wanted to know more about the outside world – something that he was very happy to do. Gray and Lyon were looking over Ul's books on Ice magic that Lucy had given them on the sidelines, both studiously ignoring the village girls who hung about them with star struck looks in their eyes.
All the while, Sherry hovered uncertainly on the edges. She had been left behind by her friends, and wasn't rude or brave enough to barge into their conversations; she had even left Angelica behind at the temple, so her beloved rat wasn't even there to talk to.
Lucy saw the pretty, pink-haired girl hovering on the fringes of the merriment, enviously watching the villagers dance to the beat of the drums and pipes that they had pulled out, as well as Lyon who was talking contently with Gray. And she could relate with the insecurity that the girl obviously showed, unsure of how to approach new people or how to enact a conversation; much like Lucy.
Mind made up, Lucy walked up to the girl and leant next to a tribal pole next to her, waiting for the girl to notice her present. When Sherry did notice the blonde leaning quietly beside her, she made an odd squeaking sound before breaking out into a massive blush. "L-lucy!"
"Hello, Sherry," the blonde smiled kindly at the pink-haired girl through the curtain of her unbound hair that had been decorated with several strands of beads and braided with leather, the way the village women had shown their thanks for helping them remember. She had even let them dress her up in their clothes, unlike the other mages, not wanting to show disrespect to their culture; she was decked out in a simple wrap skirt with braided belts hanging low on the gauzy, blue material, joined by her usual belt with her sword and keys – she wore shorts underneath, though, an old, comfortable pair of black ones that weren't noticeable under the skirt. She didn't feel comfortable wearing skirts unless she had shorts on. Her top was simple, cerulean material that was wrapped around in a way that made a choker around her neck to keep it up, before wrapping around her chest and stomach, trailing down her arms so that the ends fell by her sides.
"Listen, Lucy," began Sherry hesitantly after the blonde's words, "I just wanted to say sorry for…fighting you, you know? And I hope that you harbour no ill-will between us after my mean words; I really didn't mean any of it and…" The girl trailed off, unsure where to go from there.
She didn't need to worry though, Lucy picked up the end of her thread and continued to weave the rest of the conversation with sincere tones arcing through it. "It is alright, Sherry, I know what you mean, and I do not feel any angry towards you for your actions. I fact," the blonde smiled brilliantly at Sherry, looking positively radiant compared to her usually careful expression, "I am amazed by your actions." At Sherry's surprised and confused expression, Lucy continued. "The way that you defended Lyon and your opinions – love is a beautiful thing, especially when you speak of it – I couldn't help but see your point of view, and I'm thankful of it." Lucy dropped into a short bow, "don't ever change, Sherry, you're perfect and beautiful the way you are. Don't let anyone tell you different."
"And," Lucy said with an amused expression on her face as she straightened up, "if they do, you can come to me anytime."
Sherry stared in absolute surprise at the girl before her; she was speechless. Lucy took her wordless look of shock as something bad and began to apologise profusely. Her uncharacteristic babble of words only heightened when tears began to slip from Sherry's eyes.
The moment of panic was broken when Sherry gave a wail of thank you and something that sounded, suspiciously, of love, before launching herself forwards to hug the blonde.
Startled, Lucy grabbed Sherry in reflex, before realising what was happening and hugging Sherry back. The two stayed in the embrace for a while, and Lucy took the moment to stare into the treetops that fringed to village, catching the gaze of the shadowed woman who lounged in one of the tress, face only lit up by the crystal ball in her hands. The two shared a challenging look, until Lucy smiled softly and nodded in acknowledgement. When her head came up, Ultear was gone, and the hug was over.
Sniffling, Sherry drew away and wiped her eyes, trying to compose herself. When she caught sight of Lucy's amused face, she broke out into embarrassed giggles, mirrored by Lucy's deeper chuckles. "We're so odd, aren't we?"
"Y-yeah!" Sherry croaked out, "but, it wouldn't be love then."
"No," Lucy replied, "no it wouldn't."
The two young girls stared at each for a moment until Lucy offered a callous hand to the girl. "Friends?"
Sherry regarded the weather appendage for a second before grabbing it with her own soft ones. "Friends."
They shared a smile.
"As lovely as this moment is," spoke up a gravelly voice from behind Lucy, "I need to borrow Lucy-san for a moment of our own. I'll return her, I promise." Bobo smiled kindly at the startled Sherry, and then turned to Lucy. "Would you care to dance with me, Lucy-san? I have to find some way to give my profound thanks to you for saving our village."
"I had help," Lucy replied, "but I would love to dance with you, Bobo-san." Offering one last smile to Sherry, Lucy let Bobo take her smaller hand in his gnarled and leathery hand, and was led to where the villagers danced with one another in the centre of the village, around a large bonfire that lit up the scene in an unearthly glow.
Slowly, Lucy joined with Bobo and the others in the wild, twisting and twirling dance they were doing, both hands clasped in Bobo's demonic ones as they danced as partners, perfectly in tune with the music that rung out around them.
It was with a surprised and elated nod of approval from Lucy that Bobo spread his wings and lifted the two in the air, joining other villagers in a floating, graceful dance that few seemed to master. The two danced in time with the wind and the changing air currents, dipping and twisting as Bobo fluttered his wings and Lucy kicked her legs.
"Thank you so much for this, Bobo-san," Lucy said with a youthful expression on her face and colour in her cheeks as she stood among the stars. "This is…this is the best repayment that I could ever ask for! To be with the stars and the wind in the sky…" She breathed in the crisp, clean and cold air, then gazed up at the horizon and heavens before looking to Bobo's kindly face once more. "Thank you so much."
"It's my pleasure, Lucy-san," was the deep and pleased reply as Bobo began to spin the blonde again, her beads flying with her gold and red hair as they revolved, mimicking the heavens that glimmered alongside them.
Nawww….such a cute ending! I really wanted to put that ending there with the village as I felt that no one ever does anything with it in fanfiction. I just wanted to make some connections with Lucy and Lamia Scale, as well as potential friends such as Sherry and Bobo. I hope it was okay for yous, and as an extra thing (due to the request of a delightful reviewer), this is the part I forgot – Mystogan entering fairy Tail and using his sleep spell on everyone. With a Tia twist!
Omake 1 – Mysterious Mystogan and the not-so-sleeping Beauty!
Master Makarov calmly drank his mug of ale as everyone began to fall asleep around him, pushing away the sleep magic with a simple flex of his own, greater, magic.
Footsteps rang out through the uncharacteristically silent guild as Mystogan entered the scene, cloak flapping and staff in hand tapping in time to the footsteps.
"I wish you wouldn't do this every time you came," Makarov said quietly, eyes closed as he drank another mouthful of the not-so-sweet-tasting-anymore alcohol. "Is it really necessary?"
"Yeah," piped up a decidedly female, and unexpected, voice. "It's not like we can see any part of you or your face anyways, so what's with the secrets and the knocking people out thing?"
Makarov's eyes snapped open in surprise, and Mystogan whirled away from where he was looking at the board, both trying to see who had spoken up and was awake at the time. They both spotted the slim, blonde lounging on top of one of the tables, legs crossed in front of her, just like Makarov. A faintly amused expression was on her face as she raised a curious brow towards Mystogan, almost as if she was saying 'well…?'
"L-lucy?!" Spluttered out Makarov. If he had any alcohol in his mouth at the time, he would've been spitting it out then. "W-what? How? I don't understand!"
"You don't understand how I'm awake," Lucy finished for Makarov, but her eyes were glued onto Mystogan's own wide and dark pair – not like you could really see under his scarves and bandanas. "Well, it's pretty simple. I regulate magic throughout my body all the time and that counteracts any spells of the illusion, or even mental kind." The blonde broke off into a quick yawn that stretched her mouth and revealed pearly teeth. She finished the yawn and blinked dozily before actively shaking her head and flaring her magic enough that it made her outline glow golden for a moment. "But, as you can see, it takes much more effort when I am faced with someone as strong as Mystogan."
Both Mystogan and Makarov continued to stare at Lucy in surprise, to which Lucy responded with a shrug. "What? It's just a neat trick." She frowned thoughtfully at Mystogan, "you might want to take the monster hunting one to your right; it's good pay and will take about a month to complete."
Still surprised that someone either than the guild master had stood against his magic, Mystogan nodded stiffly before ripping off the mission from the request board and quickly making his escape out of the guild doors.
"I'll write your mission down in the log book!" Lucy called after Mystogan. "Good luck!"
The man ignored her as he disappeared out into the brilliance of the suns glare, his spell lifting as he did so.
The guild members woke slowly and found themselves on the floor, sprawled across the tables, and some half-hanging off the rafters – Max had just been thrown up there by Elfman during one of the numerous scraps the guild members got into.
"Damn that Mystogan," grumbled Gray as he tried to focus his eyesight.
"It's not manly to put people to sleep!" Elfman roared drowsily beside him, clutching at his vaguely aching head as he staggered up off the floor.
"It was so worth staying awake just to see you guys collapse on the floor like that," laughed out Lucy as Gray managed to lean against the table she was sitting on to stand up. "I think that I want Mystogan to come by soon so that I can see you goes go out like a light again. That's the quietest I've ever seen the guild!" The blonde continued to laugh, completely unaware as to the shocked stares that she was being given by the rest of the guild.
"Master?" Mirajane asked softly, shaking the pale man who was lying out on the bar, a ghost escaping his mouth. "What's wrong, Master?"
"She…stayed…awake?" Makarov gasped out.
"SHE STAYED AWAKE?! LUCY STAYED AWAKE AND SAW MYSTOGAN?!"
"WHAT DID HE LOOK LIKE?!"
"WAS HE HOT?!"
"DID HE TALK TO YOU?!"
"WAS HIS VOICE SEXY?!"
Lucy sighed at the chaos erupting around (and directed at) her. "Why can't Mystogan come back and make you all fall asleep again? I liked the quiet…"
"DID HE GIVE YOU HIS NUMBER?!"
"I'M NOT TELLING! NOW BACK OFF!"
"Aye!"
Hope that it wasn't too bad there, and that everything made sense somewhat. I know I skipped out on a lot of the Galuna island storyline, but I didn't want to make this just like canon, so I made some parts different and cut others out.
Next arc; Phantom Lord! One of my favourites!