Chapter 7: Chase to Clover Town
Erza and Naruto raced past the halls as they tried to find the source of the recent explosion that shook the station. They rounded a corner and bumped into Lucy, Gray, and Happy.
"You guys heard it too, right?" Naruto asked. They all nodded in response. Together they raced up the flight of stairs without further discussion.
The group found Natsu and Kageyama at the top of the staircase. Kageyama sat against the wall covered in burns and bruises. Natsu stood in front of a demolished wall. Erza noted that beyond the destroyed wall, Natsu had obliterated several other rooms. He just stood there looking smug about his triumph against the shadow mage.
"That must have been a hell of a punch Natsu," Naruto appraised, "you must've destroyed at least five rooms."
Natsu grinned. "Please, that was nothing."
Erza turned toward Kageyama who lay helpless before them. Now Erza had to decide what to do with him. Should they just leave him here? No. That would not be the right thing to do. Besides they weren't going anywhere unless they somehow managed to get past Erigor's wind barrier. Erza sighed.
"We should get him some medical attention." Erza told her companions. The fairytail mages looked at her in disbelief.
"Um Erza, you do realize he's from Eisenwald, right?" Lucy asked nervously. The two other boys from the guild did not seem to understand her motives either. Naruto on the other hand understood and knelt in front of Kageyama.
"Can you stand?" Naruto asked. Kageyama hesitated and looked away. Why were these people helping him? He was their enemy. If the roles were reversed, Kageyama would have just left them to rot. He sighed not knowing what else to do. He shook his head. The pink haired dragonslayer really did a number on him.
Naruto moved to help him stand when Kageyama gave a sudden grunt of pain. At first Erza thought that Naruto triggered an injury. Then, to her horror, blood began to flow from his mouth as someone had stabbed him from behind. He fell forward to reveal that the plump mage Erza saw escaping earlier was phased into the wall and holding a bloody knife. The others gave a cry of alarm as the incident occurred.
Natsu was the first one to react. He clenched his two fists and lit them on fire. He looked at the assailant with sheer outrage and began to advance on him.
"How could you?!" Natsu demanded angrily. "He was from your own guild and you betrayed him! Is this how you dark guild members treat each other?!" He pulled his flaming fist back and landed a devastating blow on the mage who was trembling in fear. Natsu destroyed the mage and the wall in front of him in one powerful move. The mage, still among the piles of rubble, clearly (hopefully only) unconscious.
Naruto began to treat the stab wound Kageyama had received, his hands working furiously to stop the flowing blood. Kageyama was still breathing, but incredibly weak. Within a few minutes Naruto had managed to cease the blood flow coming from the wound. He then ordered Gray to help him carry Kageyama outside.
Once they were outside they were confronted by a new problem. They set Kageyama down to rest, while the group thought of a way to get past the treacherous rotating winds. Natsu was no help at all. He kept charging at the barrier and kept being blasted back. Thankfully, Lucy got him to stop after a few minutes.
"Hey guys, we need a way to get out of here fast." Gray said suddenly.
"Why is that, Gray?" Erza questioned. Gray began to relate his fight with an Eisenwald guild member and how they planned to use Lullaby.
Erza felt a sense of dread crawl up her spine. The station was never their original goal in the first place. Their target was the guild masters. Erza cursed mentally. Master Makarov was currently residing in Clover where the guildmasters' conference was being held. The impact of Erigor's plan was devastating.
The only problem was that they were stuck inside a powerful wind barrier, that Erza did not know how to dispel. Maybe Kageyama knew, but he was lying unconscious and was in no fit condition to help them. Erza began to think of different ways on how to overcome their current predicament when she noticed Naruto standing off to one side looking at the swirling winds and seemed to be deep in thought that he didn't notice Erza approach him.
"We have to hasten our efforts!" Erza told him. She began to relay Erigor's plan to him.
Naruto frowned. "That would be bad. If the guildmasters that are the leaders of the different guilds are killed, then the whole system would be thrown into chaos, right?"
Erza nodded.
Frustrated, Naruto punched the barrier, only to pull it back when it had cut up his hand.
"Don't touch the wind, it'll rip you to shreds!" Erza warned them.
Lucy ran up to Naruto and looked at his injured arm. "Naruto! Are you okay?"
Naruto waved her off. "Yeah don't worry, I heal fast."
She watched in awe as the cuts closed right before her eyes. "You weren't kidding…" unable to believe it. Healing magic was considered a lost magic for a reason, yet this guy appeared to do self-restoration without event trying!
Looking up from his hand, Naruto frowned at the fast moving winds. "Interesting, a magic that uses powerful rotating winds to contain a certain space."
Naruto stared at his hand and pretended to hold an imaginary ball in one hand, mumbling to himself. "Power, rotation, and containment...that sounds really familiar...and something about wind..." he frowned.
"I remember now!" The group was startled by the sound of Happy's voice. He began to rummage in the tiny cloth bag he always wore. He brought out a golden key and held it triumphantly. Lucy gasped.
"Happy, where did you get this celestial spirit key?" Lucy demanded as she snatched the key from his hands.
"That's what I forgot to tell you Lucy, I snatched it from that Duke Everlue guy." Happy said as if it was no big deal.
"What's a celestial spirit key?" Naruto asked completely dumbfounded.
"Well for starters, it can open a gate to the spirit realm were celestial spirits live. You can call upon a spirit for help as long as you have a contract with him or her and that you have his or her key. Only celestial wizards are capable of doing this. Naruto, I'm a celestial wizard." Lucy explained. Naruto gave a nod of understanding.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's summon that spirit, maybe they can help us!" Natsu urged.
Lucy held the key above her head and brought it down saying: "Open gate of the maiden, Virgo!"
Suddenly, a small girl in a maid's outfit appeared before them. She had light purple hair and she wore broken shackles on her wrists (Naruto had to admit the shackles as if she were a slave bothered him). She placed her left hand on her chest and bowed respectfully to Lucy.
"You summoned me, mistress?" She stated politely. Lucy seemed to be remembering something when she snapped her fingers. Lucy pointed her finger at the maiden accusingly. "You were the big ugly made who attacked us!"
Natsu and Happy stared at her in disbelief. "What?! But she looks different."
"I change my appearance to the preference of my key holder's ideal image of beauty. But if you want princess, I can transform if you wish." Before Lucy could protest, she changed her appearance into a very large and ugly maid. Naruto and Gray flinched at the sudden transformation.
"No, the previous one was fine." Lucy quickly said. "In fact, don't transform into that ever again, it gives me the creeps."
"Agreed," Naruto said.
Virgo then explained how she could dig underground as that was part of her magic. She began to twirl and fell into a deep hole that started to turn into a small tunnel. Erza and the others proceeded to crawl through the underground passage with Kageyama in tow. They emerged outside of the barrier next to the magic mobile.
"I shall be going now, princess." Virgo informed Lucy and vanished a moment later. They positioned Kageyama in the vehicle when Gray suddenly asked: "Where are Natsu and Happy?"
Erza turned a full circle and realized that Gray was right. Natsu and Happy were nowhere in sight. Off to one side they heard Naruto give a small chuckle. "Oh they're probably going to do something stupid. I saw Happy take off with Natsu after we got out of the tunnel."
"That idiot, he probably went after Erigro!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Ah he'll be alright, if anyone should be worried it should be Erigor." Naruto said confidently. "Let's have some faith in him."
Erza smiled and nodded. Naruto was right and despite his brash attitude, Natsu was a very powerful wizard. She would never admit this to him personally because that might cause his ego to grow bigger. In fact, Erza felt that Natsu could even be more powerful than herself. He had so much untouched potential he had yet to discover. Apparently, Naruto could sense it as well.
"Well we better make sure he doesn't go overboard again." Erza began to climb the driver's seat when Naruto stopped her.
"Maybe I should drive for now Erza-chan." He suggested. Erza waved the offer away. "I'm fine Naruto. I still have plenty off magic reserves." Without waiting for him, she strapped on the device and Naruto had no choice but to join Lucy and Gray inside the magic mobile. The vehicle began to accelerate towards Clover.
They found Natsu and Happy an hour later. The trip would have gone a lot faster but Erza decided to take it slow. She had never felt so tired in her life. They stopped on the railroad tracks in front of Natsu and Happy.
"You guys should've seen it, I kicked Erigor's ass!" Natsu said loudly.
"Aye, sir!" Happy said.
Erza had to be careful climbing down from the driver's seat to prevent her from falling to the ground in fatigue. The rest of them climbed down from the vehicle. Kageyama who was now awake as well and slightly recovered joined them, although he kept toward the back.
"Well that's great and all Natsu so, where is he?" Naruto inquired. Natsu turned to look at a spot behind him where he must have thought Erigor lay unconscious and patted the very ground as if Erigor laid invisible on the railroad tracks.
"He was right here!" Natsu assured them.
"Idiot, you let him get away!" Gray said angrily.
"Well, let's just be grateful that he failed to carry out his plan." Erza said. Natsu began to recount his battle with the wind mage. It involved many punching gestures and a kick here and there. Happy jumped in whenever he saw the chance. Erza was just relieved that it was finally over. She was so tired and she just mostly listened to the recount of the battle. Everyone was so engrossed in Natsu's story that they failed to notice Kageyama pick up a small wooden flute and climb on to the driver's seat of the magic mobile, too late.
The engine hummed to life and they barely managed to avoid the speeding vehicle as it rocketed past them. Kageyama would have slammed into Erza if Naruto hadn't pulled her out of the way.
"You fools, I can't believe you fell for it! Lullaby is mine!" Kageyama called behind them as he speedily made his way toward Clover.
They stood there momentarily shocked by what had just transpired. Natsu could barely contain his outburst.
"That jerk!" Natsu shouted.
"After him!" Erza commanded. She took a step forward and groaned. She was utterly drained. The others paused to notice this.
"Are you ok Erza?" Lucy asked. The others looked at her with worry.
"I'm fine, go after him, I'll catch up." She commanded them. They hesitated, but after the look she gave them they started to dash after Kageyama. Naruto stayed behind. He knelt down facing away from her.
"Get on, we have to catch up." Naruto said. Erza realized that he was offering to carry her.
"No Naruto, I can hold my own." Erza began to say.
"Would you just get on, this isn't the time for pride." Naruto said, tiredly. He seemed determined about this and Erza knew he would not take no for an answer. She relented. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her from under her knees.
Naruto smiled back at her. "Hold on tight."
He began to dash toward Clover with Erza on her back. Erza was amazed by his speed. Apparently, she didn't even weigh him down. She felt his heartbeat through his clothes and felt the rhythm of his feet on the ground. Within moments they caught up to the others and Naruto matched their pace easily. The others were just as surprised as he caught up with them.
"Hey Natsu, I have a question for you." Naruto told him as they were running. "If Erigor had Lullaby, and as Lucy explained, anyone who hears its melody will instantly die. Then why didn't he use it against you?"
Natsu paled at the thought. Everyone else stared at Naruto wide eyed as they considered that scenario. Erza was left speechless as she considered the possible outcome.
"Let's just be glad that Erigor didn't think of that, now, let's move!" Erza said.