Author's Note:
Hello Everyone! Salutations!
Aaaaaand here we are again...another chapter! :D This is the start of a pretty crazy arc, so buckle your seat-belts. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
As always, huge, thunderous thanks and cheers and applause and confetti for all of my wonderful reviewers. You are all absolutely fabulous! Big hugs and kisses to my repeat reviewers: Elphaba818, FantasyDreamer06, dlshieldss, TheOGFTfanatic, WisdomDragon27, ravenqueen162, Larissa, Ksta, Donthedarkdragon26, valerioux, Lady La-sara, RoyaldragonSevgisi15, and Wolves silver wind. Equally big hugs and kisses to all my new reviewers: Bakers28, RavenShadow, and noseinabook145. Can I just say that I am truly amazed and touched by the amount of feedback this story has gotten? You are all absolutely amazing!
I'm actually thinking about altering my review policy, no, don't give me that look, you'll like it, trust me. I think I'm going to go back to posting on the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday) and then if it gets ten reviews by Wednesday, I'll post an extra chapter. With how much everyone has been commenting, I'll likely end up posting two chapters every week - instead of just an extra chapter every other week. It's just going to make everything simple, so you won't have to look at when the last chapter was posted to estimate when the next one is going to be out, and wonder if it'll come early or not. (Oh, and it'll still be five reviews for a sneak peek of next chapter of course.)
If you all think this is a good idea and want an extra chapter every week, be sure to let me know. :D I'll base my decision on the response. If you all like it, it'll go into effect this weekend.
Oh, also, I just wanted to address a comment really quickly. Someone noted that I have been including a lot of Gruvia elements in this story, and wondered if I shouldn't add them into the tagline for it. It was a very good suggestion, but I don't think I will. I don't intend to ever have the story be in their POV, or have any scenes with just them in it, so I don't consider them main characters. But you can expect to see more of them, and more of Jellal and Erza, and more of the other couples - because I do want a subplot of this story to be getting all the canon couples together...but it's never going to be the main focus.
So anyways, with all that said, let's get to the story shall we? Stay tuned for the sneak peek at the end. :D
Several weeks passed with everyone going back to their usual routine of going on missions, brawling and destroying the guildhall on a regular basis, and causing chaos wherever they went. Still, it was the normal amount of crazy, so nobody thought anything of it.
Things had mostly gone back to normal between everyone who had been affected by the love spell incident as well. Freed had apparently straightened things out with Laxus and was back to his normal self. Carla was just as dismissive of Happy, so nothing had changed there. Erza was likewise seemingly unafflicted by any aftereffects of the spell – though it was still unclear what had even happened to her since she refused to tell anyone why she had run out of the building in tears.
There were a few mild differences though, such as Evergreen avoiding Elfman like he had the plague. And as for Juvia…she was just as clingy as ever, but Gray had gone back to being somewhat uncomfortable around her. In fact, he seemed to be outright avoiding her now for some reason.
But aside from those small changes, things continued on as usual.
Natsu, Lucy, and Happy went on several missions, along with Erza and Gray. Mostly they were easy low-level and low-paying missions, mainly because nothing promising had shown up on the board since the Summertime Games Fair. It always took a little while for things to pick back up after such a huge event, which was bad for Lucy because her rent was coming up once again and she was short…as usual. There always seemed to be a mad scramble for jewel right at the end of the month.
So, Lucy was perusing the board for a mission her team could take, when one stood out to her. The writing on it seemed kind of weird and squirrelly, like it was wiggling under her gaze. Peering closer, she watched in astonishment as the words completely rewrote themselves. This was strange enough to capture her entire attention.
She wasn't allowed to ponder the how and why of it for very long, because the message very quickly finished rewriting itself and she got a good look at it. With a deep sucked-in breath, she snatched the offending piece of paper off the board and rushed over to her waiting team. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Happy notice her, and he flew over to join them as well.
"Guys! Juvia's been kidnapped!"
Four different variations of, "What?!" were thrown at her, but Gray's was undeniably the loudest and most perturbed of the lot.
She wasn't surprised. Despite avoiding Juvia, she had also noticed the long looks he sent in her direction when he thought she wasn't watching. It seemed that maybe her unreturned feelings were slowly being returned. That was probably why he had been avoiding her, because he was obviously uncomfortable with it all.
At this moment though, it also meant that Gray freaked out even more than everyone else. He grabbed Lucy's shoulders and urgently asked, "What the fuck you talkin' about Lucy!?"
"Here. Look at this! It was on the board, but as soon as I looked at it, the words shifted around and turned into this!"
Everyone peered down at the paper she was waving around. It read: "To those it may concern, we have captured Juvia Lockser. If you wish to ever see her again, meet us here." It finished with an address.
"Alright, when is the last time anyone saw Juvia?" Erza asked, apparently trying to ascertain the validity of this notice.
"Last week…she went on a solo mission and was supposed to be back a couple days ago." Lucy said, and Happy confirmed it with a nod and, "Aye."
"…shit." Gray cussed.
"Well, what're we all standing around here talking about it for? Let's go get her back!" Natsu offered, already turning on his heel to head out. Lucy snagged his scarf to stop him, and he came to a halt with a cough.
"Wait up, we have to show this to Master Makarov and let him know where we're going so he can send backup if we don't return!"
"Good idea." Erza approved with a nod, and without saying anything further she snatched up the paper and strode towards the master, leaving the rest of them to catch up to her.
As soon as she showed him the notice, he immediately authorized them to go on a rescue mission. So they all set out right away.
It was several hours away by train, and then they were left to walk down a small dirt road to find the address listed. It took some asking around to even find the almost hidden path leading out of the small village listed on the paper, and all the residents warned them not to go that way. Everyone knew that a dark guild had headquarters somewhere down that road.
As they asked around, they failed to notice the hooded figure that overheard their conversations and began to follow them. However, once they were on the narrow pathway leading into the woods, Natsu quickly picked up on the sound of someone following them in the forest.
When he stopped and spun in place to glare into the thick woods edging their path, Lucy nearly ran right into him. Immediately she started to ask, "Natsu, what…"
He didn't even let her finish the question before saying, "There's someone following us. OI! You there! I can hear your big heavy footsteps, Buddy, so come on out of there!"
There was a long pause, and everyone waited with bated breath until finally the leaves rustled and out came a dark figure.
"My footsteps are only heavy to someone with your ears… Natsu." a familiar voice intoned dryly, and Erza gasped.
"Jellal? What are you doing here?"
He flipped his hood back and granted them a rare smile – which was mainly directed towards Erza of course. "I happened to overhear your conversations in town, which was quite fortuitous. I've been tracking this particular dark guild for a while, and it seems that once again our paths have crossed. May I ask why you're pursuing them?"
"They kidnapped Juvia." Gray answered in a dull tone, and Jellal's eyes darted towards him.
"I see…that's terrible news, I'm sorry. Perhaps I can offer my assistance. As I said, I've been tracking this guild … with the intention of disbanding them if given the opportunity. Perhaps now would be a good time to do so, if you'll allow me to accompany you into battle?"
"Of course. Thank you for the help." Erza answered for them, and he stepped forwards to join their party without another word. His hood came back up to mask his face, just in case they came across another traveler on this road – as unlikely as that was.
Eventually, the path tapered off, leaving them in the middle of the woods without an idea of where to go. At that point, it was up to Natsu and his nose to find the right way. Within a few sniffs, he grinned and pointed them in the direction of people. Happy flew up through the trees to get a bird's eye view and then zipped back down, saying, "Yep, he's right. There's a small shack that way…but it doesn't look big enough for a whole guild."
"Well, we just have to hope that we're going the right way." Lucy responded, not seeing any other options at the moment.
So, they continued in that direction, following Natsu's nose mostly, though Happy popped out of the trees every now and then to make sure. Soon they found themselves on a nearly invisible path.
Without thinking, Lucy muttered to herself, "It feels good to be the rescuer for once…"
Natsu sent her a confused look and she realized he must have overheard her.
She flushed a little and said, "Uh…I mean, I tend to get captured and have to be rescued a lot, so it's nice to be on the other side for once!"
Her words must have been louder than she'd intended, because Gray said somewhat sharply, "I doubt Juvia's happy to take your place."
Lucy glowered at him. "Hey! It's not like I'm saying that I'm happy she's been kidnapped!"
"Yeah but you were saying you'd rather it be her than you!" Gray spat back, and Lucy jerked, a little surprised.
On the one hand, his sharp response made her happy in a way, because it meant he was sticking up for Juvia and therefore was developing at least friendly feelings towards her. On the other, she was a little irritated that he was taking his concern out on her.
"Now look. Juvia is my friend too. In fact, I'm the first person to befriend her after she joined Fairy Tail! So don't go accusing me of stupid stuff like that. If I could take her place I would happily do it, and you know that." Then, just to test the waters and because she felt like calling him out on it, she added, "Just because you've got feelings for her now doesn't mean you can snap at me."
Right on cue, Happy chimed in with, "He loooooooves her."
Gray turned bright red and ducked his head down while his fists clenched.
Well, that verified that he definitely had a crush on Juvia at least, and Lucy smirked smugly. Natsu caught the look and just snorted at her in amusement. He sent a friendly elbow into her ribs, and she shoved his shoulder for it.
Behind them, Happy whispered teasingly, "You looooove each other…"
They both sent him scowls over their shoulders, and he snickered behind his paw.
To clear the air, Lucy turned back to the group and added, "Anyways, nobody can deny that I've probably been caught by the enemy more than anyone else here." Then under her breath she grumbled, "And it's usually a pervert…"
Once again Natsu made a little "pfft" sound, and muttered, "Yeah, maybe that's thanks to those clothes you wear."
"What's wrong with my clothes?!"
"Nothing. They're just a little…well…little." he said, sending her a sideways look. Then to prove his point, he poked her where a line of skin showed between her shirt and skirt.
She lightly swatted at his hand. "Oh, whatever."
Then from the front Erza suddenly said, "Being held captive doesn't make you weak Lucy, so don't ever feel bad about being targeted."
That shut Lucy up, because she was abruptly reminded that Erza and Jellal had both been held captive on multiple occasions…often by each other when Jellal was a captive of his own mind.
The rest of the walk was completed in silence, and soon the path led to a nearly hidden hovel which was covered in vines. It appeared to be barely more than a shack, but the feel of magic was so strong around it that there was no doubt it was a mirage of some sort.
"You were right, Happy. This definitely looks too small for a whole guild, but it has to be an alteration spell of some sort." Lucy said, glancing down at her blue companion.
"Oh yeah, for sure. Just feel that magic coming off it." Natsu agreed.
Before Natsu was even done talking, Gray suddenly stomped forwards and threw open the door with a bang. The rest of them followed him swiftly as he strode into the rickety looking structure.
Sure enough, it was much larger inside than it was outside, though it was still dark and dank.
As soon as all of them entered the room, the door behind them closed and another door suddenly appeared in front of them. Happy squeaked and grabbed onto her ankle with his paws.
A wave of dejavu washed over Lucy, and she just couldn't hold back a groan. "It was a trap."
"Damnit!" Natsu grumbled, probably feeling the same thing Lucy was.
Ignoring the two of them, Gray stepped forwards to read a sign that appeared on the door now in front of them. "To enter this door, state the number of contestants that wish to participate in the game. The prize is one Juvia Lockser, and the return of any who get captured during the game. If no contestants step forwards to play for her, then she will be disposed of."
Gray almost blew a gasket. "They think this is a fucking game!? I'm gonna kill them!"
Everyone else sported similarly pissed expressions.
"There are six contestants!" Erza said with a strong voice laced with the same anger they were all feeling right now.
There was a long pause, and then the sign rewrote itself. "Please proceed. If you win, you will be allowed to leave with your prize. If you lose, then she and any who are captured will be disposed of."
The sign then disappeared, and the door opened. Gray was once again the first to stomp through the open doorway, still muttering angrily to himself under his breath about this being a game to them.
Through that door was yet another room, and once again the door shut with a snap behind them, getting another flinch from Happy. "I don't like this Lucy…" he whispered, and she gently reached down to stroke his head.
"I know. Me neither."
Inside this room was three doors. The first one opened with a creak.
"Wait up, let me go first and give it a good sniff to see if I can smell her." Natsu said as Gray started to step forwards.
Reluctantly, he hung back so Lucy's partner could go instead. Natsu walked into the hall, and they all peered in after him. When he didn't announce right away whether or not he smelled Juvia, Lucy stepped forwards too, asking, "Natsu? Do you smell her?"
As soon as she passed through the doorway, a barrier was erected, knocking Happy back on his butt, and the door slammed shut behind her. She whirled around and pounded on it. Natsu joined her at the door too and banged on it as well.
"Lucy!" Happy screeched from the other side.
"Happy! Are you okay?"
"Yeah! I'm okay!"
Erza's voice came through the door next. "It seems like it's going to force us to split up…"
"We'll just see about that!"
That was all the warning Lucy had before Natsu set his fist on fire and threw himself at the door with full force. The ricochet caused fire to spit back at them, and with a yelp she took shelter behind him, since he was a fireproof shield.
"Natsu! This space is too small for that! You're going to cook me!" she protested loudly, and he instantly put out the flames.
"Oops my bad. Sorry Luce, you okay?"
"Yeah, just a little singed…" she grumbled, patting out the small fires licking at her skirt.
"Here, let's try this." She grabbed Taurus's key. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
With a bellowing moo, her loyal minotaur popped into existence.
"Hello Miss Luuucy!"
"Hi Taurus. Would you mind breaking down that door for me please?"
"Sure thing! And then will you give me a smoooooch?"
"No, you horny bastard, she won't." Natsu answered for her, and Taurus blew hot steam from his nose.
"It's nooone of your business you dragooooon!"
"Sheesh Luce, you sure do have a lot of horny spirits…" he grumbled, spitting a little fire at the minotaur.
"Both of you stop it! This is kind of an emergency!"
"Sooorry Miss Luuucy." Taurus mooed.
He sent Natsu one last dirty look before raising his ax and leveling it at the door. He gave it a heavy swing, which should have broken the door to absolute bits. However, the wood just bounced, and Taurus was thrown back on his butt, making both Lucy and Natsu scramble out of the way as his giant ax flew through the air.
"Hey watch it idiot! Don't chop us!" Natsu spat, currently pinning Lucy tight to the wall where he had protectively shielded her from any and all flying weaponry.
"It's okay Taurus, but I don't think it's going to work." she quickly soothed, pushing Natsu off her and reaching out to pat Taurus on the shoulder when she caught the murderous glint in her bull spirit's eyes.
He turned to her with remorse. "I'm sorry Miss Luuucy. If you need help with anything else, just let me know…" And with that, he poofed.
"Well guys, it looks like we're stuck." Lucy called to the others.
"Alright then, I guess we'll just have to split up. Good luck." Erza called back through the door.
"Lucy…" Happy whimpered.
"It's okay Happy, just go with one of the others. Help them like you would help me, and we'll get out of here before you know it."
"Okay…"
And so, Lucy and Natsu continued on down the dingy hall they were trapped in. Soon enough they arrived in another room, and once again the door slammed shut behind them. The room they now found themselves in was large and round, and lining the walls were barred doors, like prison cells almost.
A sign appeared in the middle of the floor, and Lucy read it out loud. "One of them has the key."
The key mentioned was obviously to a large wooden door staring them in the face from the other side of the room, but Lucy had no idea what the sign meant by, "them."
"Them, huh? Them who?" Natsu mumbled as they wandered into the room. He made a beeline for the nearest prison door and peered in, before leaping back to avoid a wad of poison spit that lobbed itself at him.
"Well, I think I found one of the "them."" he said with a grin.
"So how do we get in there to get the key off it then? Or do we let them out?"
She stepped forwards too and examined the space around the gated door. A two-handed lever sticking out of the wall caught her attention. "I bet it's this."
Reaching for it, she grabbed onto the handles and was getting ready to pull it down when pain bit into her palms, as if the lever was coated in acid or poison. With a yelp, she dropped it like a hot potato.
"You okay!? What happened?"
"Those sadistic bastards…they coated the lever in poison or something!"
"Well shit…here, I'll do it."
With a grunt, Natsu grabbed onto it, quickly grimacing as he undoubtedly experienced what she just had. He quickly yanked it down, and with a groan the barred door next to them rose up. As soon as it was raised, Natsu released the lever, only to swiftly grab it again as the door slammed shut.
"I guess I have to hold it until the thing is out…fuck…" Natsu grunted, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes at the pain.
Lucy cringed, hating to see him in pain. Something deep in her gut twisted at the expression on his face, and she felt a little sick, wanting to tell him to stop. One look at his stubborn face though, and she knew that would be pointless, so instead she hurried to act as bait to lure the thing out, running in front of the cage and taunting it.
"Yoohoo! Come out here and fight us, you big ugly monster!"
The thing – which turned out to be a giant spider, much to her horror – skittered out in hot pursuit. As soon as it was free of the door, Natsu let it slam shut. However, as soon as he released the lever, a chain – which they hadn't noticed yet connected to the spider's leg – reeled it back into the cell and the door slammed shut again behind it…. Leaving them staring at the shut door in absolute astonishment.
After a moment of shock, Lucy mumbled, "So…one of us has to stay at the lever while the other fights…"
Natsu nodded, seeming speechless for once. After a moment, he asked, "How about I hold it open unless you have trouble with the monster?"
Lucy licked her lips. "I think it might work better for you to fight. You'll probably take them out a lot faster than I could…"
"I don't want you to have to go through that pain Luce. I know you can handle them just fine."
Reluctantly she nodded, hating every minute of it. But when he turned to do it, she grabbed for his arm and yanked him back around. He spun and faced her with a wide-eyed look of surprise as she manhandled him, grabbing his wrist and flipping his hand up to look at his palm. To her utter relief, he didn't have acid burns or poison marks.
"Thank goodness. At least you aren't physically hurt. It must be a pain spell or something." she sighed and released him.
"Uh, yeah. Probably." he grunted, still eyeballing her a little funny. That disappeared quickly though and his normal grin replaced it. "Alright then, go get 'em Luce."
As he stepped back towards the lever, a sudden surge of resolve bit her in the butt. If he was going to do that, then she was going to beat these monsters as fast as she possibly could. Before he even touched the lever, she was summoning Taurus, figuring he would appreciate another shot at something. She had no doubt that he could squash this overgrown tarantula in a few seconds.
As Natsu grunted and lowered the lever once again, she said, "Hey Taurus, would you mind taking out that spider for me?"
"With pleasure Miss Luuucy," he said with a grin, and as the spider skittered out, he raised his ax.
"Watch out, he spits poison," she warned.
"No problem. Come here ya baffoooon!"
The spider was pretty fast, but Lucy snapped her whip to snag one of its legs, which allowed Taurus to land a solid hit. "Excellent! Now quick, we have to look it over to see if it has a key somewhere on it!" she yelled.
Taurus seemed a little confused about that, but he helped her look for any sign of something shiny. When nothing showed up, she called to Natsu, "Nothing! It's not this one!"
With a groan, he released the lever. "Shit. Well, on to the next one." Then he glanced down at his hands and cocked an eyebrow. "Looks like you're right Luce, the pain really is just from magic. There still aren't any burns or anything."
Lucy sighed, relieved that he still didn't sport any injuries.
The body of the spider was dragged back into the room, and Lucy couldn't help but feel sorry for the critter, being locked up and used in such an awful way. Even a monster deserved better than that. Still, they proceeded on to the next prison cell, and Natsu grabbed onto the next lever, ready to pull it. Lucy cringed, waiting for his pained response, and sure enough he hissed and released the handle.
"What the hell?!" he cussed, staring at it offended. "This thing burns! I'm a fucking dragon! Heat should NOT burn!"
"It must be a kind of magic that makes you feel pain, whether or not that thing would normally cause it."
"Well, it sucks."
Still, he grabbed it and gave it a tug, cussing even more viciously under his breath as he did so. Out of that cell came a drake, and before she gave Taurus the signal to strike she stalled out. It was a little dragon, and she couldn't quite bring herself to hit it when she had a dragon for a partner.
The creature, which was about the size of a horse, inhaled and spat flames, causing Lucy to dive out of the way with a yelp. That turned out to be unnecessary though, as Natsu sucked them over to him and ate them up with a burp.
"Oi! You there!"
The lizard turned its head to eyeball him.
"Yeah, you. Stop spitting fire and let my partner search you for a key."
The lizard growled at him and arched back its head before blasting him with a roar, fire swirling at him full force. Of course he just ate it, then roared right back – and his roar made the whole room shake. Lucy cringed as a crack appeared in the floor beneath him and radiated up the wall. His aura flashed, briefly showing the image of a massive dragon towering over the little lizard.
When the flames had dispersed, they showed the fire drake cowering on the ground, unharmed but obviously cowed.
"Now, like I said, let Lucy get a look at ya for your key. If you behave, I'll even ask 'em to break your chain."
It just nodded and stayed hunched to the ground with its eyes squeezed closed tight. With a nod from Natsu, Lucy approached and she and Taurus searched the lizard for a key. None showed up, and she had Taurus cut the chain with his ax to let the drake go. It slithered into the corner and huddled up like a puppy in timeout.
Natsu released the lever with a hiss, and then rubbed his palms briskly together. "That was freaking weird."
Right at this point, a new sign appeared in the middle of the room, and Lucy turned to read it. It said: "Happy the Cat has been captured, and his life is now forfeit."
"Say what?!" Lucy shrieked, absolutely infuriated and terrified for her friend.
"Shit!" Natsu added, sounding just as upset as her.
There was a pause as they both freaked, but then Natsu growled and seemed to forcibly calm himself – which was pretty special to see. "We'll get him back. Don't worry Luce."
Swallowing hard, she nodded. "Yeah."
Stalking over to the next cell door, Natsu grabbed onto the new lever and cringed, cussing under his breath. Lucy once again felt like she might throw up with the way her belly tightened and twisted at the low pained noise. She absolutely hated this, if she could take his place she would.
"Um…Natsu? How about I do that this time?"
"No fucking way Luce. You just take 'em out. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Biting her lip, she focused on the rising door. To her shock, a relatively small creature zipped out. It was bright yellow, and was nearly impossible to even see. Taurus had no chance of catching it, so she hurried to switch him out with Scorpio.
Scorpio, Gemini, and Aries had all come to her to make a contract after the Oracion Seis and Nirvana incident – since Angel's keys had been taken from her when she was captured by the Rune Knights. If she had treated them well, they probably wouldn't have defected until another celestial mage captured their keys, but since she had treated them as tools they hadn't felt the need to stick around.
"Open! Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"
He showed up in a burst of sand. "Yo!"
"See that little zippy thing? We need to catch him!"
"Wicked!"
He sent a blast of sand out of his huge metal scorpion tail, targeting the yellow dot, while Lucy aimed for the chain that was whipping around. She used her whip to try and snag the metal tether, which would bring it to a screeching halt. As it ran around dodging blasts of sand, she finally managed to snag its chain and it was suddenly yanked to a stop, letting her finally get a good look at it for the first time. To her shock, it looked like some sort of rodent, with long pointy ears, a short round body, and a long zigzagged tailed.
With a high-pitched squeak, it suddenly created a lightning strike, and Lucy watched with shock and horror as that electricity traveled down her whip. It hit her hand with all the subtlety of a train smacking into her, and she was knocked over with the blast. Her hand felt like it was on fire and yet numb at the same time. Her whip dropped from her fingers as they spazzed out. Her heart made a few abnormal beats, which strangely hurt, and it felt like her whole chest was compressed with the organ. Thankfully that was all that happened, though she noted a few red burn lines radiating from her palm.
That hand was completely out of commission, so she was forced to leave it entirely up to Scorpio, who was only too happy to do so after watching his mage get zapped.
"Come here ya little bastard! I'm gonna sand you smooth!"
He sent two sand tornadoes at the little yellow squirrel thing and managed to corner it. One of the tornadoes picked it up and sent it slamming into the ceiling. Once the sand and wind had dispersed, the little yellow body plopped to the ground, apparently knocked out. Lucy gingerly walked over to it, relieved to see that it was still breathing, but a bit nervous about searching it for the key.
Thankfully she didn't have to search it, because the key was on a collar around its neck. She pulled it off, and then switched Scorpio out with Cancer to cut the chain. This little creature didn't deserve being used like this, and she wouldn't leave him to be tortured or forced to fight anyone anymore. To her absolute shock, when the chain was cut, he disappeared in a shower of yellow sparks…as if he was a celestial spirit.
With a relieved grunt Natsu let the lever drop and shook out his hands and arms. Chances were, they were probably numb and burning like her hand.
But she had other pressing matters on her mind. "Was that a celestial spirit?"
"That was Lepus the Hare, Baby." Cancer answered.
"Shit…" she hissed and turned to eyeball the salamander from before. He was still huddled in the corner and didn't show any sign of disappearing. She also wasn't picking up any trace of celestial magic from him.
Natsu walked over to join her, still rubbing his hands. She glanced him and asked, "Was that last lever electrocuted?"
He nodded. "Yep, each of the levers matched the element of the creatures inside the cell."
"Ouch."
"It's fine. It didn't actually do any damage, so at least they work properly after." He fisted his hands and wiggled his fingers to demonstrate.
She winced. That was more than she could say for her hand, which was still out of commission. But at least they finally got the key and could proceed.
However, she had something to do first. Marching over to the next lever, she yanked it down, ignoring Natsu protesting loudly.
"Luce! What're you doing?!"
"When it comes out I want you to cut the chain Cancer." she instructed with gritted teeth, dealing with the sensation of sharp teeth tearing into her hands.
"Damn it…" Natsu hissed, but hung back and let her do it. Or rather, he ran to another lever and started helping out.
When two positively enormous and colorful wolves dashed out of Lucy's cell – foaming at the mouth and rabid – Cancer cut their chains and they went poof. Two more doors released wolves, and another two released spiders like the first. She also opened the first spider's door once again, and Cancer went into its cell to cut it loose. Like the other two, it disappeared with a wisp of black smoke. All of the spiders had given off entirely different magic signatures than she was used to, but she didn't waste time wondering about it. The rest of the creatures they released were salamanders that hung around in the room after Natsu had subdued them.
Finally, once every cell was empty and all the spirits had been returned, she released the last lever with a sigh and groan.
Sneak Peek
As they turned to inspect the room they now found themselves in, they realized that it was basically a dead end…with two doors. The bottom of Lucy's stomach dropped out. Undoubtedly, this was going to be exactly the same sort of thing that happened back in the first room, where they were all forced to split up.
"Well…crap…" she muttered under her breath.
For once Natsu didn't have anything to say at all. He just glared at the two doors with enough heat that they should probably burst into flames.
"You know what this means right?"
"No way. We ain't playing that stupid game."
"It doesn't look like we'll have a choice.…"