Author's Note:
Hey all! It's Wednesday! ;D Time for an update!
As always, HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed! Big hugs and kisses to my repeat reviewers: Donthedarkdragon26, Anna5949, valerioux, stranger1999, quidditchChick6, mikeczajk12, illleashya, SunnieDayys, The Age of Awesomeness, Firefly9917, Leomae2.0, Serika2001, and TheJSmooth. Equally big hugs and kisses to my newest reviewers: WyrmTheFrostDragonSwordsman, agirl0ntheinternet, and MUI SSB4 Brandon.
Extra kudos to: Donthedarkdragon26, WyrmTheFrostDragonSwordsman, Guest, agirl0ntheinternet, The Age of Awesomeness, Leomae2.0, Guest, and Serika2001 for guessing who the demon was going to be. ;D
Alrighty, get ready! This one's kicking everything off. ;D Be sure to stay till the end for a sneak peek of next chapter.
The next several days were filled with much the same as Lucy waited on pins and needles for news from their team. She continued to distract herself by throwing everything she had into mind-numbing training, and every night Natsu thoroughly distracted her with sex. Poor Happy ended up spending the next few nights with Carla and Wendy, but he didn't seem to mind too much.
The exhausting routine lasted until the away team finally returned triumphant.
Naturally, everyone swarmed them as soon as they stepped through the guild doors and Laxus immediately fended them off by saying, "Yeah, yeah, we got her back… now all of you buzz off. I'm getting claustrophobic with this many idiots around me."
As they headed towards the master's office though, Jellal said, "You should probably join us Lucy…Yukino. There's something you'll want to see."
Glancing at each other, both women shared a worried look and then followed the away team into Makarov's office to hear what happened. As soon as everyone was assembled, Laxus launched into the story.
"Well…we got there before anyone else of course, and thankfully the scent hadn't completely gone to shit."
"It was easy enough to track. They stunk." Sting agreed, and then Rogue added, "They were definitely demons, based off the scent."
"It took a while to track them though, because they were quick and tried to cover their trail…though not as much as they would've if they'd known who they were dealing with. But we caught up with them quick enough…." Laxus paused to huff and roll his eyes. "'Course, it goes without saying that we got into a physical altercation as soon as we found them."
At that point, Sting interjected. "They were tough too. There was one bitch who could fuck you up however she wanted with just a touch and another that exploded everything to bits."
"Not to mention the one who possessed all those tentacles." Rogue said deadpan, though it was obvious he was remembering the situation with distaste.
"Oh yeah, he was a pain in the butt too."
With an unimpressed look, Laxus shut them up and finished quickly. "Anyways, point is, we fought them, beat them, and brought the princess back to the capitol. Apparently she's gonna be put in a safehouse somewhere." Then he turned to eyeball Lucy and Yukino. "Even better though, she gave us this as a reward for saving her. Said it was a demon key, but she couldn't use it. So maybe it'll get us closer to finding Tartarus…if one of you two can figure out how to use it."
He handed over the orange and black key and they all took a look at it.
Right away, Lucy could tell it wasn't a celestial key. It looked very similar, but the feel of it was totally different. Celestial keys gave off a kind of warmth and light that she'd be able to feel anywhere…but this one felt like the exact opposite – like a black hole that was sucking in the light somehow, though not necessarily in an evil way. It was an entirely different sort of magic than she was used to, but she didn't sense any malevolence from it.
However, based on the amount of power the artifact was giving off, she could tell it would take about as much magic to use as any of her mythic keys…which meant a lot. She was certainly intrigued and wanted to give it a shot, but since Sting and Rogue had been the ones to find it she figured it was only fair to give it to Yukino.
"Would you like to try first?" she asked, gesturing at the key now placed on Makarov's desk.
Yukino gulped and gingerly reached her hand out to take up the key. As soon as her fingers hit it, she winced a little.
From her experience touching various mythic keys, Lucy knew that this one probably felt much different from a normal key. Normal gold and silver celestial keys generally all felt slightly warm and hummed in your hand, but mythic celestial keys each had their own nature. Natsu's burned fire hot, though it no longer hurt her. Amy's, which was white with red detailing and had a stylized paw as the head, strangely felt like it weighed absolutely nothing – probably something to do with the wolves' ability to fly. Bartolomeo's, a see-through emerald green key in the shape of a turtle shell/shield, always felt as if it was pressing against her hand, like an expanding barrier that exuded a constant outward force.
She had no idea what a normal demonic key would feel like, much less what a mythic leveled one would feel like. Judging by Yukino's slightly pained expression, it likely wasn't entirely pleasant.
"We should probably do this outside. Mythic keys let off a lot of power when you open their gates." Lucy suggested, and everyone seemed to agree.
While Laxus and Jellal went off about their own business, Lucy, Yukino, Sting, and Rogue all headed outside, meeting up with Natsu, Happy, and Lector on the way out. They immediately headed for the large grassy area that Lucy and Yukino had recently been calling their training grounds and situated themselves in an empty spot that would give them plenty of space to work.
With a deep breath, Yukino held out the key and shouted, "Open Gate of…the Demon!"
They didn't actually know whose gate this belonged to, so that would just have to do. Immediately, clear orange glowy stuff oozed from the key – almost looking like a fiery aura, or possibly a very solid glowing gas, or even really clear lava. It was hard to tell, but whatever it was must not have been fun to touch, because Yukino yelped and immediately dropped the key.
The glowing reddish-orange goo/gas/stuff kept bubbling out of it for a moment, reaching around like it was trying to find something to latch onto and then slowly subsided back into the key.
"Wha-what was that!?" Yukino whisper-shrieked, stumbling back a little.
"Probably the magic of whoever this key belongs to." Lucy answered with the only thing she could think of. "Did it hurt?"
"Yeah! It felt like it was…acid or something! It burned and stung and…like it was sucking magic out while shoving magic in!"
"Well…do you want to try again, or should I give it a go?" Lucy asked, not really enthused by Yukino's review, but determined nonetheless that if Yukino wasn't going to do it, she would. They couldn't pass up this opportunity.
"I…I'll try again." Yukino stuttered, shuddering and looking like she wanted nothing more than to run screaming from the thing. With cringing fingers she picked up the key once again, and then – after a shaky but deep breath – she tried to open the gate again.
The same thing happened. Orange stuff bubbled out of the key and curled around Yukino's hand. This time though, she hung on, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes as she forced more and more magic power into the key. She began to glow, and the orange aura – or whatever it was – slowly crawled up her arm as the key also began to glow brighter and brighter.
However, soon she seemed to reach a plateau, and after straining at it for several more minutes, she collapsed and dropped the key while cradling her arm. It didn't look injured necessarily, but it was bright red. Rogue and Sting immediately flanked her and offered sympathy in the form of gentle pats – Rogue – and wrapping an arm around her – Sting.
"You okay?" Lector asked worriedly, coming up to put his paw on her knee.
"It just hurts a lot." she said while grimacing and rubbing her arm. "And no matter how much magic I pour into it, it's like it hits a wall. As if my magic isn't the right kind or something."
"That's probably because you're using celestial magic to summon a demon." Rogue suggested.
She grimaced. "True."
"Why don't you try to match your magic to the demon's? Like the meditation training I showed you." Lucy suggested.
"I suppose…it's worth a shot." the white-haired celestial mage mumbled unenthusiastically.
Cringing a little, Yukino picked up the troublesome key again and grimaced. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, and then again and again, each time reaching some sort of stale mate that she was unable to surmount. With every attempt she also became increasingly perturbed, until it nearly looked like she might cry or have a panic attack. By the end of it, she'd obviously run through most of her magic reserves and had reached a breaking point… which apparently gave her violent tendencies and caused her to throw the magical item away from her twice as far as the first time.
"I just can't do it! The magic is too dark…I can't match it."
Rogue's wince was barely noticeable, but Lucy still took note of it, since she knew what might have caused him to have the reaction.
From the various conversations she'd had with Yukino, Lucy knew that the other celestial wizard had been unable to fully accept Rogue's magic… which meant that she couldn't use his star dress and he couldn't refill her magic reserves the way Natsu did for Lucy. One time, she'd even confessed that Rogue's magic actually terrified her… that it felt dark and dangerous and like it might take her over somehow. Apparently there was more to it than that, but Yukino had refused to get into the specifics and had only hinted at there being another reason for her to be so wary of Rogue's magic.
Based off her level of perturbation, it seemed likely that trying to use this key was also triggering those anxieties… which made sense, considering that they were messing around with demon magic.
At the very least, it was obvious that she'd reached her limit, so Lucy offered, "You want me to give it a shot for a while?"
The white-haired mage nodded, so Lucy walked over to where the key had landed and picked it up out of the grass. Instantly, she felt the sensation that had been making Yukino grimace so much, and she felt her own face twist up into a similar expression. Looking over, she met the other celestial mage's eyes and grinned commiseratingly.
"Yeah…that really isn't fun is it?"
Yukino just shook her head 'no.'
It was as she'd said. The key burned and stung, with a bite sort of like acid. It reminded her of when she had first taken up Natsu's key and he'd been biting at the bit to get out, making his key red hot. So, she could only assume that whoever was locked up behind this gate must really want out.
Looking down at the key in her palm, which was quickly turning red, she gave it a stern glare and infused a little of her magic into it. "Now look here…I don't know who you are, but if you want me to summon you, tone down the magic you're leaking. It's making it very unpleasant to hold your key. I plan to let you out either way, but it might take longer if I have to take breaks to put ice on my hands!"
She heard Yukino whispering, "Does it even work like that?" but she ignored the doubtful murmurs from Sting and Rogue. Communication through keys was not uncommon, she'd done it before – though not with a spirit she hadn't made a contract with. Still, it was worth a shot.
Something of what she said must have made a difference, because after a brief flare of power, the magic in the key died down to a much more tolerable level, and Lucy sighed with relief.
"Alright, good to know you're willing to work with me. Let's do this. Open! Gate of the Demon!"
Instantly, she felt her magic being drained at an alarming rate, but she'd been expecting that, so it didn't perturb her. It was about the same sort of drain she had experienced from her other three mythic keys, and it was tolerable with Natsu helping her out. What was a little less tolerable was the bubbling orange stuff that oozed out of the key to coat her hand and wrist before working its way up her arm. It stung, but not unbearably so, and she just gritted her teeth and endured the unpleasant sensation as it crawled all the way up to her shoulder.
Her magic was pouring out of her, lighting her up like a Christmas tree and practically whipping up a hurricane that nearly toppled her over. She instantly hit the wall that Yukino had and realized how big a problem this was going to be. It felt like her magic was clashing against the demon's, and the two forces were essentially repelling each other.
The only thing she could do was to try and alter her own magic to the best of her ability… a feat easier said than done. She had to focus hard on this new magic, and it took her a long while to discern that hers was not only brighter but was also vibrating at a much higher frequency. And yes, she also picked up on a feeling utterly different from what she was used to, the demonic energy that Yukino apperently feared so much. It did have a very dangerous sort of feeling to it…like it might suck you in and never let you go.
She just hoped that she only had to lower her magic…deepen it somehow to a different resonance to open this new type of gate, because she wasn't sure she could match that other part.
Of course, altering her magic from light to dark was nothing to sneeze at, but thankfully it seemed that this particular being was elementally aligned to both wind and fire, which she had experience with already. Perhaps that was what Yukino had lacked, a middle ground of some sort. If only she had already accepted Rogue's magic, then she might have been able to use it to connect to this spirit.
Without even asking, Amy popped up, feeling her need, and channeled some of her magic into Lucy alongside Natsu's. Suddenly Lucy could feel the gate responding to her. It took a lot more pressure and convincing, but eventually – after several hours of hard work – the gate finally opened with a blast of shadows, smoke, and more of that burning orange stuff. And abruptly, they were face to face with a demon.
She blinked, and then blinked again…. and then wondered if there had been some sort of mistake. At first glance, this guy didn't seem dangerous or demonic in the least. In fact, he reminded her of Natsu and the first time she'd seen the infamous dragon.
The only suggestion that he wasn't human was the red-orange furry tail poking out behind him and the matching furry ears that poked out of his red-orange messy mop of hair. He also seemed to possess permanent thick black eyeliner around his brilliant blue eyes and had lines on his cheeks almost like tattooed whiskers. A brief bottom-to-top scan showed that he wore orange sneakers, black jeans, and an orange jacket with black sleeves. Aside from the slightly Halloween-themed color-scheme, there was nothing demonic-looking about him. In fact, he looked downright friendly as he ambled over and shot them all a brilliant smile that showed off some fangs.
"Hey! Man am I glad you summoned me out of that hell hole. Asphodel has really gone downhill ever since that stupid doofus took over everything. It's been such a huge pain in the butt."
Once again, she was left blinking at him in shock. "Um…hi." she finally managed weakly. "My name is Lucy, and this is Natsu, a celestial dragon. Over there are my friends, Yukino – another celestial mage like me – and those two are Sting and Rogue. Sting is a dragon slayer and Rogue is another celestial dragon. And those two are Happy and Lector."
"Wow…lots of you." he said with an acknowledging bob of his head that came across as friendly and easy-going. Then he turned to eyeball Natsu. "And I guess you're Lucy's too? Like me?"
"Yep." Natsu flashed the newcomer an easy grin, which soothed Lucy significantly. She wasn't sensing any sort of tension from her dragon, and he was usually pretty good at picking up on threats.
"So, what's your name?" she asked the new guy and he flushed a little.
"Oh right, sorry! My bad. I'm Kurama."
"Nice to meet you Kurama…" she started to say, but was almost interrupted by Sting.
"So, uh, what exactly are you?"
Thankfully Kurama didn't seem offended by the question. If anything, he started to laugh. "Oh yeah, you'd probably want to know that. I'm the nine-tail fox."
"THE nine-tail? Seriously? You're a freakin' mythic like me then!" Natsu exclaimed, his eyes widening. Rogue seemed to have a similar surprised response, though he remained silent.
"Well…yeah, I'm one of the demon kings. It's just a title though!" he hurried to say, as if he'd run into trouble with that before. "It doesn't mean I'm actually a king or anything. It's like…a queen bee! Or…shit. Whatever, you get the picture. It's just the same as the celestials calling themselves mythics."
"Ah. I see. So you're one of the demon kings then?" Rogue asked.
"Yep."
"And how the hell did you avoid being snapped up by Acnologia?" Natsu asked, making the newcomer's head turn back around to look at him.
"Well…technically all the kings and queens were sorta given a choice in the matter, but…well, even that's changing these days. He's been putting on more and more pressure for us to all hand over our keys…and everyone's pretty pissed at him to be honest. If he didn't already have control of 80 percent of our world's people and their keys, there would've been a revolt by now. But as it is…he's got a slave army."
"And…how did you manage to escape?" Natsu repeated, emphasizing his words a little.
"Oh, right. Well…dumb luck to be honest." Kurama laughed, rubbing his neck and looking a little awkward. "I sorta lost my key here in Earthland last time I visited, and since I didn't have my key, Acnologia couldn't control me or steal it or pressure me into giving it to him. I didn't HAVE it, so he couldn't do anything. Not that he really seemed to want to…I'm generally thought of as the local screw up, so he wasn't overly interested in collecting me."
"Wow…ouch."
"Yeah well…that kinda came in handy didn't it?" he laughed.
"Okay guys! This is not an interrogation! I just summoned the poor guy, let him at least acclimate a little." Lucy barked, starting to get a little fed up with everyone diving on top of Kurama.
"It's no problem. Actually, it's kind of nice. I don't get a lot of people talking to me where I'm from. Most people don't like a troublemaker like me." Kurama said with another grin and shrugged.
"Well, don't go playing any pranks on me, and we'll be fine." Lucy said with narrowed eyes. "Speaking of, how exactly does this work? I'm familiar with celestial spirits, not demons. Do you also do contracts?"
"Careful Luce…demon contracts can be dangerous." Natsu inserted quickly.
Kurama nodded at him. "True. With a celestial spirit, your contract is more based on faith from what I understand. You just talk about when they're willing to show up, what they're willing to do for you, and then you promise not to overstep those boundaries. Obviously there are celestial mages who abuse their spirits…and it tends to go unpunished. With a demon though, our contracts are BINDING." he emphasized 'binding' with raised eyebrows and a raised voice. "If you break a contract with one of us, you pay a price, and some demons aren't even up front about that. You're lucky you got me."
"So… what sort of price?"
"It depends. The demon decides that. Basically, it goes pretty much the same as a celestial contract. You tell me what you want from me, and I either agree to it or not. Then, in return, I tell you what my conditions are, and if I'm nice, I tell you what the consequence is for breaking my terms. Often, demons want something in return for their services. Once we are agreed, we sign it in blood."
Lucy let out a low whistle. "Yep…that sounds a bit more serious."
"So." Kurama shot her a sharp-toothed grin that showed an edge. "What is it you want from me?"
Lucy sighed and thought about it. The big reason they had summoned him was because they hoped he might have information on Tartarus they could exploit. However…that simply wasn't how Lucy operated. She held her spirits sacred, as family. Even though this man was a different sort of spirit, she'd still summoned him, and so she still considered him as someone she was planning to make a contract with…. but after what he just said, she didn't even know if that sort of contract was even possible. Still, she had to try.
Lifting her eyes, she met his square on. "To be completely honest with you, there is a main motive for summoning you. As you know, Tartarus is threatening not only celestial mages, but the celestial realm itself. We wish to stop them and hoped you might have information that you'd be willing to share."
Kurama's eyes narrowed in a calculating manner. "So…you want me to help you take down Tartarus…"
"Yes, that was the impetus. However, as for me, I might have a specific motive for summoning a spirit at a particular time, but I don't consider my spirits as means to an end. My contracts are all very simple. Of course they let me know if there are times they don't want me to summon them, and I respect that. And, I do summon them to assist me, whether it be in battle or for other reasons. However, I fight alongside my spirits and consider them family. They're not tools to me, and it's a lifelong commitment on my part. I intend to be with all my spirits for the rest of my life, as family, partners, friends, comrades…etc."
As she spoke, Kurama's previously calculating and shrewd eyes gradually began to widen with shock and disbelief. Those eyes flashed down to the heavy-laden keyring at her belt and seemed to only widen further. "So, what exactly are you saying?"
"I'm giving you that option, and I'll leave it entirely up to you. If you don't want a contract like what I just described, then I won't force you of course. We can simply have a short working relationship, if you're willing to assist us in taking down Tartarus. Or, if you don't want to take on Tartarus, I understand. We can arrange something else, or I can close your gate, whichever you prefer."
For a long moment he stared at her and she could see the gears in his head working hard on what she had offered. "Let me just get this straight. The contract that you're offering is…that I become part of your family?"
She nodded. "Yes. And if you don't want to assist me, then I'll simply let you sit on my keyring and never summon you. I have a spirit who didn't want to be summoned at all at first. He simply showed up whenever he felt like it."
"Huh. Interesting. I've never been offered a contract like that before. I'll have to think about it."
"Take your time."
At that point, Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Yukino all decided to go and preoccupy themselves with something else for the time being, leaving it to Lucy.
For a long while they sat in silence as Kurama considered everything, then finally he stirred. "Alright. I've decided. I'd like to take you up on your offer."
Lucy beamed at him. "Wonderful! So, what are your terms? Are there any days that you don't want to be summoned? And are there any situations that you don't want to assist me with?"
"If I said never and all, what would you say, just out of curiosity?" The glitter in his eyes was playful now rather than calculating, and it seemed he had almost switched personalities on her.
"Like I said before, I would be fine with that."
He chuckled. "I'm just teasing you. Let's see…terms, terms, terms…I can't think of any specific times that I wouldn't want to be summoned at the moment. If any come up in the future, can I let you know then?"
"Sure."
"Cool. Then otherwise…I'm happy to assist you with whatever. Maybe nothing gross or personal though, so don't ask me to dispose of your dirty tampons or anything like that."
Natsu busted out laughing at the same time that Lucy gagged and started choking in shock and surprise. "Wh-what the…who the hell would do something like that?!"
"Oh you'd be surprised what sorts of things a person would ask a demon to do. But yeah…aside from that, I'm fine with whatever. I'm also happy to help bring down Tartarus. As I said before, Acnologia is an ass and needs to get what's coming to him. Now, as for my terms, and what I get out of this contract…" Suddenly he grew serious again and leaned forwards to fix her with an intense stare.
"…yes?"
"I want you to honor what you just told me. You said you felt as if your spirits are your friends, family, comrades, and partners, right?"
"Yes…"
"I want that. I want you to consider me family, friend, etc. I've never had that, and I want to see what it's like. I also want to be given free reign of this world, so don't lock my gate. It's much nicer here at the moment than Asphodel."
"Alright. I accept your terms, but only if you promise not to get up to too much trouble. You said you're a troublemaker right? I'm assuming pranks maybe, or something like that?"
He grinned. "Yeah, pranks and … stuff like that."
"Well, don't do anything that could cause harm to anyone okay? None of us are immortal, so if you blow up a building here you'd be killing people. I would still treat you like a friend or family, but if a friend or family of mine did something like that…they'd get a tongue lashing at least."
"Yeah…I used to get kicked in the head for sneaking into her room at night when she first summoned me." Natsu commented.
"No kidding? Well, a little friendly violence is fine with me. But I might kick back, just so you know. We don't have that stupid rule that prevents celestial spirits from hurting their masters, even if it's in self-defense."
"Duly noted."
At that point Natsu inserted again and asked, "And what's your punishment? If you feel Lucy isn't fulfilling her part of the bargain, what will you do to her?"
He grew serious again for a moment. "I would probably be very angry and may get violent. Buildings might get destroyed, and people might get hurt. I generally tell people that I would destroy whatever item is most dear to them, but in this case I might be a bit more upset."
That seemed fair to Lucy in all honesty. So she agreed.
After signing the contract he produced, they spent some time just chatting and eventually Lucy had to say, "You know Kurama…you're not exactly what I imagined from a demon."
"You mean I'm not evil and trying to suck out your soul or something?" he laughed, bright blue eyes twinkling merrily at her.
"Yeah. For instance." she chuckled back.
He leaned back and got comfortable. "Well, like you humans and celestial spirits, us demons can be both good and evil. We tend to be a whole lot more influenceable though, so we're swayed a heck of a lot by our key wielder. Demons are typically considered 'dark' so we're often summoned by dark mages. I'm sure you could see how that would be a bad circle to get into."
"Yeah, the more demons summoned by dark mages would produce more dark demons which would increase the notion that demons are dark, etc. etc."
"Exactly. But you have a very pure heart, so I'm able to be good. It's nice…" he grinned at them.
"Well good. I'm happy that you're pleased about having me as your mage."
As she continued to get to know Kurama, she began to feel that it was incredibly lucky they had gotten him. Something told her that he would help a great deal in the coming conflict…and beyond that, she already could tell that he would fit in really well with her current circle of friends and family.
…
Unfortunately, he didn't have any idea where Tartarus's hideout in Earthland might be. He told them all about what was happening in Asphodel, but most of it was information they already knew through Rogue's father. Everyone was disappointed of course, but Lucy never regretted summoning or making a contract with him.
He quickly became part of the team, joining them as often as Amy did – nearly every day – and he also joined Rogue, Sting, Natsu, and Laxus in the hunt for Tartarus. Periodically he went back to the demon realm and conducted secret operations to try and gather more information, though of course Lucy told him not to do anything reckless or endanger himself. Unfortunately, much of the information they were seeking was well protected, but at least he was able to keep them abreast of the situation.
So they had some warning at least. It was only a few days after Kurama told them that it seemed Tartarus was gearing up to make another big move when it happened.
Yukino was outside, training in the grassy area like always, and Lucy had just been with her but was currently inside taking a bathroom break. She was gone all of maybe ten minutes, but when she returned it was to a completely different scene from the one she just left. The training field had been mostly full, but now it was completely barren…aside from a smattering of paper dolls fluttering across the ground. The ground itself looked torn up, and blood spattered the grass and dirt here and there…suggesting some sort of brief and apparently destructive struggle.
Despite the seemingly peaceful scene, Lucy felt every hair on her body stand at attention and goosebumps erupted across her skin. Something very bad had just happened… she could practically taste it in the air.
That notion was very quickly confirmed when Kurama, Amy, and Natsu all summoned to her simultaneously, and Rogue and Sting came barreling out of the guildhall at top speed. "Yukino! What happened? Her magic energy just suddenly cut off!"
"I…I don't know. We were all training, and I went inside for just a moment, but when I came back…everyone was gone."
"Not gone." Everyone's attention turned to Kurama as he spoke, and they watched as he lifted up one of the paper dolls. "These are all your guildmates, they've been cursed by one of the demons in Tartarus."
"What?!" Everyone screamed, and a mad scramble to quickly collect all the dolls immediately commenced. A head count was taken after they'd all been gathered, and thankfully it seemed that everyone was accounted for – so to speak. Aside from Yukino.
"Is there any way to turn them back?" Erza asked, having come upon the scene as they all ran around grabbing guildmates-turned-paper-dolls.
"I think so…just give me about an hour, I think I know someone who can help." Kurama said and then poofed back to Asphodel.
Meanwhile, Rogue had been hunting around in some random bushes, and then suddenly ran back to them with a familiar key ring in his hand. Everyone stared at Yukino's keys, which she'd apparently managed to protect by tossing into the foliage, and a single thought ran through all of their minds. Yukino had been taken.
"Can you follow their scents?"
All the dragons, dragon slayers, and wolves present shook their heads. "I tried, this is where her scent led me. But then it just disappears up into the sky…I think they flew away.
"Can't you feel her location through your bond?"
He shook his head. "It feels like she's dropped off the map…maybe she's been turned into one of those paper dolls too?"
"Well, if that's the case they'll probably take the spell off her whenever they do… whatever they plan to do with her. Hopefully, then you can feel her and lead us to her."
Rogue nodded solemnly.
And then everyone kicked into high gear. They ran inside to tell everyone what happened and Master Makarov immediately took control of the situation and arranged a strategy meeting on the spot.
"Assuming her magic signature comes back online, we'll all follow Rogue to find her, and hopefully we'll be led right to Tartarus's hideout. So this isn't only a rescue mission, although that is priority number one. But our second mission is to take down Tartarus once and for all!" There were shouts of agreement throughout the guild.
Sneak Peek:
In fact, things seemed to be going well for them…. which was precisely why the sudden and devastating attack took them by surprise.
Ice shot up the hallway, coating the walls, ceiling, and floor until every little nook and crevasse was frozen solid. It moved so fast that there was no dodging it. Lucy was only allowed a brief moment of recognition, and then the sensation of being frozen solid took over her body.