Author's Note:
Alright! So, it's Friday! Well, technically Saturday since it's past 12 AM, but close enough. I'm so sorry for being two days late! Ack! But I hope this chapter makes up for it. ;D I promise to do my utmost to post the next and final chapter next Wednesday.
As always, HUMONGOUS thanks to all you wonderful lovely reviewers out there! Big hugs and kisses to my repeat reviewers: The Age of Awesomeness, sakshishetty3003, TheJSmooth, illleashya, stranger1999, agirl0ntheinternet, Donthedarkdragon26, valerioux, Lexi1994, Firefly9917, and CathJorda. Equally big hugs and kisses to my newest reviewer: EmptySpot.
Now, let's get right into it! On with the show! And stay till the end for a sneak peek of the last chapter. :D
As soon as both celestial mages were emotionally stable, the two dragons turned and faced Acnologia, meeting his acidic stare from across the room. At that moment, Sting got blasted in from his fight nearby and crashed into Yukino, who then crashed into Lucy. Lector quickly followed and parked next to Happy in the air over them.
Rogue naturally got distracted by the ruckus with his two mates, but Natsu stayed focused on the enemy and bellowed, "Acnologia! I hope you're ready to get your ass handed to you! This time you're dead!"
The wave of overwhelming anger that erupted from the fire dragon made all of them cringe back a bit, and they flinched as he launched himself at the other dragon, leaving a burning trail in his wake.
"Dang it! What happened?!"
"Yukino?! Are you hurt?!"
Lector and Sting's frantic voices brought everyone's attention back to the tangled pair – who currently happened to be laying on top of Lucy.
"I'm fine…" the celestial mage moaned softly, cringing back against Lucy. To be fair, Sting had hit her pretty hard.
"And as for what happened, I'm pretty sure the demon Sting was fighting threw him over here." Rogue somewhat dryly answered Lector's question.
"Well, duh." the red Exceed snorted, and was about to say something else when Happy interrupted him.
"Never mind that! How about you, Lucy?! Are you okay?"
Lucy grimaced as her bones creaked under everyone's weight. "I'm fine, but… uh, guys? Could you please get off me?"
"Oh, right, sorry." Sting mumbled, a far cry from his usual boisterous personality, and the two entwined mages scrambled off her.
At Sting's dejected mannerisms, Yukino shot Lucy a look that cried out for help. She obviously saw that something was wrong but couldn't figure out how to fix it. With a sigh, Lucy decided she'd better step in and do something to work out this kink, because it looked like they were probably going to be the it team in the upcoming boss fight. For that, they'd all need their full faculties and any distraction could prove deadly…. so Sting needed a gentle kick in the pants.
"Alright you two…" Lucy nodded at Yukino and Sting to identify who she was addressing. "After this is all over, you'll probably wanna sit down and talk things out. But, uh, Sting? You should know that we both got our keys back… so if I'm right about what's bothering you, hopefully that'll help some."
At the last comment, Sting's head whipped around and he stared wide-eyed at the loop of keys that Lucy jingled at him, and then shifted his gaze to Yukino who did the same. Relief that nearly looked crippling in its intensity shot through his gaze, but he didn't let it break him the way it had done to the two celestial mages. However, it did seem to snap him out of whatever funk he'd sunk into, and suddenly he was much more energized.
"No way! Really?! That's awesome! I'm so, so glad that you got them back Yukino…and you too, of course, Lucy. How did you…? Wait, never mind, we don't have time for that. I'm just happy you got them back."
After the initial burst of enthusiasm, he got more subdued again for a moment and there was a brief and slightly awkward pause. Then he cleared his throat and murmured, "Hey, and uh, thanks Lucy. For letting me know."
She gently nodded as a silent, 'you're welcome,' and he quickly pepped up again and changed the subject. "Alright then! Let's kick some demon ass!"
"Excellent idea." Rogue said somewhat wryly.
The last couple of minutes, he'd been running interference for them so they could talk – zipping in shadow form from here to there and back again, dealing with any threats that got to close.
"Thank you Rogue." Yukino said meekly.
He nodded and then glanced her over. "Are you ready for another magic transfer? I would highly recommend it… Rize seems to be getting agitated again."
He wasn't wrong, the demon tentacle things were wiggling around in obvious exasperation and definitely looked aggressive.
"Well, to be honest I think it's time to close this particular gate, now that I have my other keys back. But I'll definitely need more of your power to do that…. A lot more."
Lucy and Sting exchanged glances, and without a word, they took Rogue's place in keeping the demons at bay while Yukino and Rogue proceeded to work out her problem child.
While she was fending off various demonic attacks, Lucy also tuned in to Happy and Lector's commentary on their comrades' fights and how the tide of battle seemed to be flowing. Based off of Lector's description, Kurama was apparently engaged in a heated battle with Tempester – the demon that Lucy and Natsu had done battle with back on Tenrou island. Thankfully, the red Exceed reported that he was holding his own against the irritating demon, so Lucy wasn't overly worried about him.
Another bit of good news came when Happy noted that the poisoned water situation had apparently been concluded, though Lucy grew concerned when he said that Gajeel, Levy, and Juvia were all out for the count.
"Do you think you could get a closer look and see if they're all right?" she asked, and he quickly zipped off.
When he returned, he reported that they were all breathing and seemed mostly okay, though Gajeel had been beat up pretty badly. At that, Lucy let out a breath she'd unknowingly been holding and thought to herself that at least they were alive. There was no way she or Sting could go and help them…not while they were busy keeping the demons off Yukino and Rogue.
However, the two Exceeds came up with a rescue plan all on their own, and quickly let Lucy and Sting know that they'd be gone for a moment before zipping off to go collect the fallen Fairy Tail mages. They planned take them out of the castle and down to the ground where Wendy had set up an emergency medical camp for anyone who'd been badly injured.
While they were gone, Lucy continued to eyeball the battles that she could see from her own vantage point…whenever she had a demon-free moment of course.
By now, Erza had nearly finished her fight with the multi-limbed demon, thanks to Jellal's assistance, but she was cut up terribly and bleeding profusely. She might also need to be picked up by the Exceeds and taken to the medical encampment.
Meanwhile – after incinerating a demon that looked like a freakish hybrid between a turtle and a hyena – Lucy noted that Elfman, Mira, and Lisanna were unsurprisingly partnered up to take on a demon that was…well…. it kind of looked like she was throwing books at them. Huh. Weird.
When a huge explosion of lightning came from one side, she glanced over to see that Laxus had seemingly just finished off his sandy opponent…. though it also looked like there had been a few casualties. Unsurprisingly the Thunder Legion had gone to assist him, but from what Lucy could see, it looked like Evergreen had been injured somehow. Bickslow was holding her while Freed had gone into his Dark Ecriture form and was killing anything stupid enough to get close to them. Worryingly, it also looked like Makarov was seriously wounded, and Laxus, Bickslow, and Freed were all pretty well beaten up too.
Still, it looked like that situation was mostly resolved, so hopefully they'd have a moment to recover.
In fact…most of the fights with the demons seemed to be fizzling out now that everyone was being pushed to the edges of the courtyard. The battles that continued going strong were generally beginning to relocate to other parts of the castle entirely. The noises of continued fighting started to resonate from all around them, but nowhere particularly close, as everyone kept away from the dragon catastrophe that took up the majority of the courtyard.
Natsu and Acnologia had engaged, and even though they were both in human form it was an incredibly destructive battle. Lucy, Rogue, Sting, and Yukino even had to relocate to a hall off the courtyard or risk getting dragged into it before they were ready. Of course, there was an unspoken understanding that they would get involved. While the rest of the guild took care of the random lingering demons, it made the most sense for the celestial mages, dragons, and dragon slayers to go up against the final boss. Unfortunately, a few of those dragon slayers were otherwise indisposed – Gajeel had gotten himself poisoned, Wendy was tending to the injured, and Laxus was dealing with his own problems at the moment.
So it was up to them.
With that in mind, they held an exceptionally brief strategy meeting.
"You and Natsu should go full dragon on him. Both of you are dealing with magic drain and he isn't…. In fact, he's probably stronger than ever before. I'll bet anything he's been consuming the magic from those demons he has enslaved, especially after finishing the gate."
"That would make sense." Rogue said, looking harried.
"Bastard." Sting simply muttered, summing up their enemy concisely.
Yukino then murmured, "Um…I hate to say this, but…we should probably aim to defeat him. Not just send him back to Asphodel, but actually kill him, or at least do some major damage that he won't be able to fully heal from. We have to do something that will make him think twice about making that gate again, because otherwise, this'll all happen again."
The thought sobered them all quite a bit.
Then Rogue frowned thoughtfully. "Our biggest priority should be getting those keys out of his control. Destroying the demon gate will return the keys that were used to make it, but he's got control of a lot more than that. If we don't kill him, we need to at least remove those keys from his possession. If he doesn't have those keys, then he will be dethroned by the demons themselves."
Lucy popped her fist into the open palm of her other hand – a habit she'd picked up from Natsu – as the perfect strategy fizzled to life in her mind's eye. "Good plan! And I might have an idea of how to do that. We need someone on the inside… a demon who can sneak in and liberate all those keys, right?"
One look towards a certain overgrown fox, and everyone else's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! That is a good idea!" Sting agreed, grinning.
"Thanks! But obviously we'll need Kurama to pull it off. So, first things first, we need to help him finish off Tempester."
"Right, and then?"
"I'll tell Kurama my plan. Then we need to keep Acnologia busy while he takes care of the keys. Once they've been swiped, we can take Acnologia out, and hopefully inflict enough damage to make him think twice about messing with us again."
"And by we…I'm guessing you mean us too?" Sting gestured back and forth between Lucy, him, and Yukino. "I mean, I can keep up with three fighting dragons by using white drive and dragon force, but what about you two?"
"I've got Natsu's star dress." Lucy offered.
They all turned to Yukino, who was silent for a moment, and then a look of resolve crossed her face as she turned to Rogue. "And I'll use Rogue's. I may not have as much training as Lucy with it, but it'll still grant me the power to fight with you all."
Cocking her brow, Lucy gave her a serious look. Knowing how star dresses worked, she couldn't see how Yukino could accomplish that herculean task within the next few minutes, but… if she was confident about it then Lucy wouldn't question her.
"Okay…well, Sting, how about you and I go get Kurama on board and help him out with Tempester, while Yukino and Rogue get her dressed for battle."
"Right! I'm all fired up." he agreed with a cheesy crooked smile, obviously quoting Natsu.
Lucy snorted in amusement, and teasingly muttered, "Come up with your own war cry, numbskull. Unless you want to come across as a fanboy."
He completely ignored her comment and set off across the courtyard towards the hall Kurama and Tempester had disappeared down. She followed him, leaving Rogue and Yukino behind. In her mind, she silently wished them good luck and tried to swallow her own doubt that they would accomplish what they'd set out to do. Right now she needed to focus on her own upcoming fight.
When they got there, it was obvious that Kurama had already done a number on Tempester, but of course the stupid bear demon – or whatever he was – was displaying his ability to regenerate from most injuries. He'd taken his larger scruffier form with the long green mane, and Kurama was currently in a smaller version of his massive self so he could fight effectively in the hallway.
They'd already widened the space with the destruction their fight had caused, so it was easy enough to maneuver around within it. Kurama was currently stabbing all nine tails at Tempester, obviously going for the strategy of not giving the other demon enough time to regenerate.
He barely even glanced at them when they skidded to a halt behind him.
"Yo, need some help?" Sting offered.
"Sure, join the party." Kurama said, only a hint of sarcasm sharpening his otherwise pleasant tone.
Of course right at that moment, Tempester seemed to reach his quota for being stabbed, and started up a fire storm to drive them back. Sting flinched back, but Lucy and Kurama were protected by the fox aura and dragon star dress they were wearing.
"We got this, hold on." Lucy called to her comrade and dashed into the flames to land an attack on the demon who had been stupid enough to blind himself.
While Kurama kept attacking from the front, she snuck around the back, using Tempester's fire as cover, and then dashed out and attacked from behind. Coating both feet in flames and scales, she launched herself at him with a flying kick and managed to bean him right in the back of the head. He staggered forwards but didn't fall under the attack, which left Lucy to regain her balance somewhat awkwardly.
He turned and eyeballed her, then switched his element. Fire suddenly turned to water pouring down over them in buckets, which completely put out Lucy's flames.
"Perhaps this would be the better element when dealing with you…. fire dragon's mate." he intoned.
She just grinned and pointed behind him. "You forgot about them though."
Now that the fire had dispersed, Sting was back in the fight. As Tempester glanced away from Lucy, she threw herself to the side, and the dragon slayer shot a blast of pure white destructive light at their opponent. While they were busy with their attack, Lucy worked on her own and switched her star dress to a certain mermaid's. Grabbing control of the copious amounts of water was child's play then, and she redirected the torrential rain to create a pocket of floating fluid behind her.
Once her ammo was fully loaded and ready, she snuck around behind Tempester again and used a water shield to protect herself from Sting's lasers. As soon as the dragon slayer's attack started to taper off, she prepared a follow-up assault, knowing how important it was to continue hitting this particular demon without giving him a chance to heal.
Grabbing the water reservoir she'd created, she dragged it forwards in spirals, until the entire space behind her was filled with water spikes, all arched and poised to strike. Before Sting's light had even fully dispersed, she was launching her attack at the enemy's backside. Each spiral of water lept forwards like a coiled spring and their sharp tips ripped through him.
But before he had been terminally injured and was forced to retreat to Asphodel, he switched elements again and cloaked himself in a tornado, throwing Lucy back down the hall. She quickly caught herself with water but was somewhat shaken by the unexpected flight.
The wind started to expand, pushing her back even further, and she briefly wondered how the hell they were going to deal with this particular element. Then, over the howl of the wind, somehow Kurama bellowed loud enough for her to hear.
"Use your strongest shield Lucy!"
"Right!" she screamed back, and almost before her fingers brushed the jade key, Bartolomeo was popping into being.
As the green shield encased them, she smiled at his back as he refused to look at her. "You were spying on me weren't you?"
He hmphed and sharp fingernails awkwardly scratched at his green hair. His head cocked just a tad, and she caught a glimpse of his bright pink ear, which betrayed his vivid blush.
She just laughed softly and said, "Thanks Bart."
A second later, an enormous explosion rocked the hall, breaking walls, ceiling, and floor. Lucy was exceptionally thankful for Bartolomeo's shield as the entire structure seemed to cave in on itself and rocks tumbled down on top of them, blocking out the light. She just hoped that everyone else was okay.
Of course, to deal with this particular situation, she shifted to Virgo's dress and readied herself for some digging.
Virgo's star dress weirdly made her look like a dominatrix, though she would have expected it to be a maid's costume. But no... it was a skintight black leather outfit with a zip up the front. It might have looked like a cat suit or a jumpsuit or something, but the thick leather belt, knee-high combat boots, black leather gloves, and flat cap made it look more like a military outfit. Naturally, her belt held a pair of metal handcuffs – though they looked more like shackles – and her opposite hip was laden with a whip. However, this particular whip was constructed of a metal chain and ended in a four-sided arrow-shaped barb at the tip that could be used as a grappling hook or to slice open her opponents.
It was a devastating weapon and a useful tool, but unfortunately with her broken hands she couldn't wield it. However, the other option on her belt gave her an idea.
Before the rumbles had even stopped, she dove into the ground, using the earth-based digger magic that this star dress gave her. Being very careful not to dig too deep and fall through the bottom of the floating platform, she tunneled under the situation and popped up behind her comrades. Bart had dispersed as soon as she was safely underground, and she lightly stroked his key and sent a thank you through their bond as she emerged from the ground.
Thankfully, Sting and Kurama had managed to retreat and weren't buried under rubble, but the entire hallway in front of them was a solid wall of broken castle. Sting was just asking Kurama if he thought Tempester was finally down when Lucy popped up behind them, and the dragon slayer cut off on a bark of surprise.
"Shit! Lucy! Damnit…don't do that!"
Kurama burst into laughter at the other's ruffled state.
"Oh shut up…" Sting cursed, glaring at him.
The little spat was interrupted though by all the rubble shifting, and then strangely started to sink. Having fought the guy before, Lucy immediately knew what power he was using now, as did Kurama, and they both grabbed Sting's arms and dragged him backwards, safely away from the quicksand pit that was quickly consuming all the rocks and pieces of walls and ceiling.
"I guess that answers your question. No…he's not down yet." Lucy said sourly as they watched the debris disappear and reveal Tempester.
He was definitely more raggedy, and his healing powers were apparently slowing down because the extensive wounds that scattered his body were regenerating much slower than before.
"Looks like he's getting tired though." Kurama noted, obviously seeing the same thing.
"It's about fucking time." Sting swore, giving them both the evil eye for their manhandling.
"I have an idea on how to finish him off."
Both guys turned to eyeball Lucy. "Awesome." Kurama said. "We'll follow your lead then."
Tempester obviously wasn't interested in waiting around to find out what her plan was though, because he hardened the ground again and then did his 'impact' curse…the one that crumpled up the ground and would send them flying. Without calling for him, Bart once again popped into being and erected a shield in front of them to ward off the immense air pressure that would have tossed them onto their asses. At the same time, Lucy built magic into her foot and then stomped down hard, yelling, "Terra Metria!"
A counter ripple of earth exploded from her foot, shooting towards Tempester. Unlike the tremor she could create with Taurus's star dress – which was caused through sheer brute strength – this attack was based in earth magic and made the ground ripple like a cloth that had been shook. In soft substances like sand or mud, it would create a violent wave of material that would crash down over her opponent and crush them underneath it. However, in solid ground like rock, it would rip apart under the pressure and made an attack from beneath her opponent, sending them flying back and also pelting them with dangerous debris of all sizes.
The two violent earthquakes met in the middle and broke apart, knocking Tempester back.
"Now!" Lucy called and shot forwards, Sting and Kurama hot on her heels.
When Tempester tried to get back up, Sting pelted him with laser shots right in the face. That temporarily stunned him – and probably blinded him – and he went back to one knee while his hands came up to guard his face.
"Keep him down!"
She didn't wait for a reply as she dove into the earth. A few seconds later, she popped out behind their opponent, and both Sting and Kurama pulled their punches so they wouldn't hit her accidentally. Thankfully, they'd been able to keep Tempester off balance and unable to fully regroup, though he had managed to get back to his feet.
That was fine, it still didn't impede Lucy as she dashed forwards and snapped the first handcuff on him. He didn't react well to it though, and immediately whirled around, trying to throw her off. Her injured hands protested the rough treatment as she clung to the other cuff.
Kurama instantly saw the problem, and his tails whipped forwards to wrap around the enemy, immobilizing him just long enough for Lucy to get the other cuff on.
As soon as they snapped into place, Tempester's struggles weakened dramatically. He tried to break free from the cuffs, but that wasn't happening. Virgo's cuffs were made from a magical metal alloy from the celestial realm, and it was utterly unbreakable. It also sapped all magic and strength from its victim, which explained why their opponent soon collapsed to his knees, shaking from the effort it took to stay upright.
Kurama released him, and both he and Sting cautiously approached, eyeballing the once nearly undefeatable demon.
"Um…what did you do to him?" Sting asked, giving her cuffs a somewhat horrified look.
"Virgo's cuffs sap all the strength from someone, leaving them completely helpless. That includes magical abilities too, so he shouldn't be able to heal anymore either."
"This is Virgo's power? The maid spirit? The one that calls you princess and always asks you to punish her?" Kurama asked, mirth and disbelief threading his voice.
"Yeah, well…" Lucy sighed. "It makes sense if you think about it. She wants me to be her 'master' obviously, so her star dress mimics that desire. It kinda turns me into the ultimate disciplinarian."
"Uh-huh..." Kurama just continued to snicker.
"Alright, how about we finish this poor bastard off then? No use drawing it out." Sting said, quickly recovering from his shock.
Walking up to the immobilized demon, he simply placed his hand on his forehead, lit up his palm and blew his skull apart. Tempester disappeared in a puff of black smoke and Lucy's handcuffs fell to the ground with a clank. She scooped them up and reattached them to her belt, then dusted off her hands.
"Alright…now. Kurama, I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"Do you know where Acnologia keeps all the keys he stole? Could you find them?"
At her serious question, his eyes slowly lit up with devious fire. "Not exactly…but yeah, I'm sure I could find them."
"And do you think you could find other demons who would be willing to help you liberate those keys?"
He barked a laugh. "Just about every single demon out there, aside from the few still loyal to that jackass. It'd be easy to assemble a rebellion if there was a chance of getting our keys back."
"Good. Can you do that?"
"Oh yeah, it'd be my pleasure." he replied with a vicious grin, and immediately turned to run off towards the gate.
"Wait!" Lucy called after him and he skidded to a halt to shoot her a questioning glance. "One last thing! As soon as you've freed the keys, tell me through your key. We'll keep Acnologia busy out here till you're done, and then we'll take him out once your mission is complete."
He saluted, and then whirled back around and kept running towards the gate.
"That was smart to see if he could recruit other demons too." Sting commented as they turned to head back towards Yukino and Rogue.
"Thanks!" she said with a grin.
Before they even got close to where they'd left Yukino and Rogue though, the two came out to meet them. To her shock, Lucy saw that Yukino had actually managed to accomplish what she'd set out to do… based off her powerful looking star dress that unsurprisingly mimicked Rogue's normal outfit.
She now sported a white half-robe, the billowy sleeve reaching down to her elbow and the hem reaching mid-thigh. The bare side of her torso was coated in shifty black scales that changed patterns as you watched them, like shadows. That shoulder also bore a ridge of thick black scales and spikes that looked like an armored shoulder pad. Both forearms were coated in black scales like gauntlets, and her hands were now thickly armored with ridges and claws. A long black belt wrapped many, many times around her waist like a corset, and her legs were clothed in fitted black pants that tucked into calf-high black boots.
To be honest, Lucy was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to acquire a star dress so quickly – not to mention under duress – so she was seriously impressed with Yukino for having accomplished such a feat.
"Congratulations!" she cheered, and Yukino smiled at her.
"Alright, now we get to go kick some dragon butt!" Sting chimed in.
Before that though, Lucy was quick to ask the other celestial mage, "Do you feel ready to fight from Rogue's back? I know you've been training on that since the Grand Magic Games."
"Yes, I think we're ready."
Rogue nodded in agreement.
"Well then…let's get this thing started." Lucy said with a fierce grin. "Do you mind if I hitch a ride over to Natsu?"
The shadow dragon she was asking had already started to expand, but a deep rumbling, "Not at all," could be heard.
Now that she had permission, she didn't hesitate to hop on with Sting and Yukino as the massive black reptile turned and headed towards the other two dragons. As soon as a full-sized dragon made an appearance, anyone who was left in the courtyard turned tail and ran for their lives … both demons and Fairy Tail members alike. Nobody wanted to sit around and get an up-close and personal look at a dragon fight. Ironically, Happy and Lector were just returning from their errands and came over to fly around Rogue's enormous head.
"Hey, you guys might wanna stay outta this one." Sting suggested, and both celestial mages nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you fly around and help anyone else that's injured get to Wendy?"
Lector smiled at Lucy's idea and saluted. "Sounds like a plan!"
"Yeah! Be careful!" Happy called as they both flew off in pursuit of any injured Fairy Tail mages.
Once they were at a safe distance, Rogue started forwards again towards the brewing conflict. By this point, Natsu and Acnologia had both seen them coming from a mile away of course, and they were in the process of joining the dragon-sized party.
With a vicious grin and a burst of flames, Natsu transformed while crowing, "I've got a fire in my belly now!"
Acnologia unsurprisingly matched them as well, and that put him and Natsu in pretty tight quarters. The space that had easily accommodated their human forms turned out to be much too small to hold three dragons. As Acnologia expanded, he took the opportunity to smack Natsu across the jaw with this tail – which was still missing the lower part from their last fight. Apparently if something was amputated, it didn't grow back…. which was very good to know.
Natsu skidded back a ways, and as Rogue came up next to him Lucy jumped over to her boyfriend's shoulder instead. His massive head turned so he could fix her with a big golden eye and dragon lips formed into a fangy grin.
"Hey there Luce. Took you long enough."
"Hey yourself. Now eyes forward!"
"Don't worry about that…there's no way I'd forget him." he snarled, the heat from his body rocketing up a few notches.
As his head swung back around, they all fixed their opponent with eyes full of intention. Keeping her voice extremely low, Lucy muttered her plan to Natsu and he subtly nodded. Then he eyeballed Rogue and said, "I call left."
"Then I guess I'm right." the black dragon intoned, sounding neither pleased or displeased about it.
Before Lucy could ask what they meant, the two dragons split up and answered her question for her. Natsu made a beeline for his left side, while Rogue took the right flank. Both snapped at his wings, but before they could get their teeth into him, he took off – which coincidentally smacked them both in the face hard enough to send them reeling and nearly unseated their passengers.
"Going up!" Natsu barked as a warning to Lucy, but it was unneeded. She already figured they'd be chasing the blue dragon into the sky.
Thankfully they were out in the middle of nowhere, so they didn't have to worry about destroying any towns with the airborne battle.
As Natsu launched himself upwards, Lucy hunched in close to his neck and wrapped the chain of her whip solidly around the big spike there to provide a good seatbelt. It had a loop on the handle that could snap onto her belt and she quickly buckled herself in. Something told her this was going to be a wild ride. Thankfully, she'd discovered that none of her star dresses could be burned off by Natsu's flames…probably because they didn't hurt her either. So that gave her access to her entire arsenal, which she suspected she might have to use in this particular fight.
Unfortunately, their opponent had gotten a head start and was now above them, which was not good. One deep inhale later, and suddenly they were dealing with a full-throated dragon's roar. Just like Lucy had predicted, it was much stronger than the attacks she remembered from Tenrou island, although that could simply be because she was in the thick of it this time.
Natsu cussed and dodged, but then they all shot an alarmed look downwards when a large crash sounded. The beam of light had taken out a corner of the floating castle, and Lucy winced with horror, hoping like hell that nobody had been in that part of the building.
"Quick, we have to…!"
"I know…" Natsu growled, already flying away. Rogue joined him in luring the other dragon away from the building, and it seemed that Acnologia was too interested in them to take advantage of the situation.
That was lucky…Lucy had half expected the demonic creature to start blasting the castle and all their friends once he perceived their weakness, but perhaps he was also wary of damaging the structure too much. Considering the demon gate was located there, it made sense.
As soon as they'd put a little distance between them, Natsu and Rogue split up again. Natsu spun to take Acnologia head on, while Rogue fell away from them, disappearing into some low hanging clouds. Intense heat built up under Lucy, and she hunkered down a little, preparing for the recoil of Natsu's roar.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the enormous sound ripped out from right beneath her body, and she clamped her hands over her ears, wincing. The massive blast of magic also caused a violent gust of displaced air that nearly knocked her over, but she'd already shifted her weight and propped herself up on his neck spike so that she could maintain her balance. The chain connected to her belt went almost painfully taut.
As soon as the sound stopped, she removed her hands and went back to holding on, knowing that she'd need a good grip for whatever happened next. Of course she couldn't use her hands to hold on, but she looped her forearms through the chains, which worked just as well.
Their opponent had managed to dodge the flames – mostly – and was now divebombing them from the side. Natsu wrenched around, filling his wing with fire and meeting the blue dragon with a face full of it. Their opponent flinched back a hair, his eyes shut tight for a moment, and then he spat a blast of silvery light that managed to disperse the flames. Before Natsu could get off another fire attack, the other dragon lunged in and tried to lock his jaws on his shoulder.
Natsu wasn't having any of it though and lashed out with his claws, smacking Acnologia's face away from him. The blue dragon retaliated with a taloned foot to Natsu's groin region, which was thankfully well-armored in this form. Though, Natsu's flinch suggested that it was still a sensitive region and Acnologia's blow had hurt.
The sound of claws on scales was one Lucy wasn't sure she'd ever get used to…it was akin to nails on a chalkboard. Unfortunately she couldn't risk using her hands to plug her ears again, she was being jostled around too much for her to let go of Natsu's spike.
While Natsu kept Acnologia's attention firmly rooted on him, it gave Rogue the perfect opening. As Acnologia went in for a vicious bite at Natsu's throat, he was hit from the back as a black streak shot out of the clouds. Rogue instantly melted onto him, using his shadow form to wrap around the other dragon and immobilize him. Natsu took the opportunity to latch his jaws onto Acnologia's bulbous nose, which successfully muzzled the beast. Yukino and Sting landed on the broad blue back of their enemy when Rogue went into shadow form of course, and while Yukino simply held on for dear life, Sting shot forwards towards the dragon's face.
Before he knew what hit him, Sting had given Acnologia laser eye surgery, but not the kind that corrected vision.
Despite everyone's hold on him, Acnologia managed to yank free, throwing Natsu off with a roar that would have taken off his head if he hadn't ducked at the last second. A blast of radiance covered his body and knocked Rogue off him. Yukino managed to grab onto the black dragon as he separated, but Sting wasn't so lucky. Acnologia's violent head toss had unseated the dragon slayer, and he was now plummeting through free space.
With a muttered expletive, Lucy jumped off after him, lengthening the extendable chain of her whip to reach him. Through sheer luck – and thanks to all the aerial training she'd done – she managed to reach him in time and wrapped her arms around him.
"Grab onto me! I can't use my hands remember?" she yelled over the wind whipping around them, and Sting responded by gripping tight.
They came to a jarring halt as Lucy stopped their decent, and she grunted as the belt jerked her hips upwards. Now, they were swinging freely from a very long chain…which was not a good position to be in at the moment. As Natsu disentangled himself and backed off for a moment, they whipped through empty space, knocked around by all the crazy wind currents from enormous wings beating the air and also from Natsu's movements.
Thankfully, her boyfriend had felt her jump off him, and he quickly snagged the chain with his fist and swung them back up onto him. The g-forces from being swung around by a dragon nearly made her sick. Plus, she couldn't grab onto him with her hands when they landed, so - for a heart-stopping moment - they almost slid back off. Thankfully, Sting had the presence of mind to release her with one hand and grab onto a nearby scale with the other, keeping them from falling.
"Thanks…" she gasped, wincing a little at the ache in her hips and lower back.
"Just returning the favor. I'm the one who should be thanking you." he shot back.
"Yeah well…" she cut off as Natsu lurched, dodging another attack.
All words came to a stop as they both scurried to get back to where Lucy had wrapped the chain around Natsu's neck spike, and Lucy quickly reeled in the extra length to keep them on tight.
With one eye lost, Acnologia's aim took a hit and it became easier to evade his roars…however he made up for that with a major increase in aggression. He lunged at them once again, and this time his claws and teeth were so vicious that Natsu couldn't entirely block them. The blue dragon's fangs managed to latch onto Natsu's arm and he planted a taloned hand on Natsu's chest as he yanked, apparently trying to pull the fire dragon's arm off.
Natsu retaliated by swiping at Acnologia's head, aiming for his blind eye. Flames erupted to cover his arm, and Sting recoiled, inching as far away from the dragon fire as possible. Thanks to being in white drive and dragon force, Sting was able to touch Natsu's dragon form without being burnt to a crisp, but that didn't mean he could handle Natsu's flames. Seeing his skin turn alarmingly red, Lucy cursed and switched to Aquarius's star dress, using a coil of water to keep her latched on instead of the whip. Then she put up a water shield to protect Sting from the intense heat. Steam erupted from the water, but she managed to keep it replenished.
With the talons and flames combined, Acnologia was eventually forced to release Natsu. As soon as he did, the fire dragon swung around and slammed his tail into Acnologia's face, knocking him back.
"You okay?" Lucy asked, worried about his arm, shoulder, and chest.
Natsu grunted and rolled his shoulder before shaking out the affected limb. "It's okay."
It didn't exactly look okay… there were some deep fang marks on his arm and tears across his chest where talons had dragged through scaly skin, but at least his arm's mobility didn't seem to be too badly affected.
Almost instantly the other dragon was back on top of them, this time biting and scratching at Natsu's head. He was ripped off the red dragon though by Rogue as he made another surprise attack, this time from underneath.
The shadow dragon bit Acnologia's tail and yanked, pulling him off Natsu and down towards the ground. Their opponent roared in pain – suggesting that his amputated tail was rather sensitive – and he whirled to blast Rogue with that deadly light of his. Natsu was faster though and hit him from above, grabbing onto one of those floppy spike things that protruded from the back of his head. With that grip, he directed the other dragon's mouth away from their comrade and he just harmlessly blasted the ground. Harmless to them at least… the ground was very much harmed.
Soon they were landing in a still smoking crater as – between the two of them – they wrestled Acnologia to the dirt. Natsu threw him down while staying airborne himself, maintaining the dominant position. Rogue dragged him the rest of the way and melted into the ground as Acnologia hit, deepening the crater by another significant margin.
Yukino was apparently granted Rogue's shadow powers, and she also melted into the ground and avoided being crushed. Lucy spied her zip to the outer edge of the crater, where she took solid form again. Sting jumped off and joined her, apparently having had enough of Natsu's fire for one day.
While they stayed out of the way, Natsu and Rogue proceeded to sandwich Acnologia between them.
Natsu kept up a constant barrage of attacks, spitting fireballs and occasionally dipping down to smack him with a fist, foot, or tail. Meanwhile, Rogue hit him from beneath, materializing to rake claws and fangs over his underside as well as raining blows up against his belly. Any attempt to escape was met by either Rogue wrapping him in shadows and dragging him back, or zipping in front of him and partially manifesting to kick him in the face. Natsu did the same from the air, spitting fire to cut off escape routes and flying in front of him to always head him off. They usually acted as a team though, one pulling him back by the tail while the other went in front to dissuade him with a blow to the nose.
For a moment, it seemed like this was it… they'd finally managed to successfully capture him. But then the other dragon suddenly exploded with light from every part of his body, much like he'd done before to knock Rogue off him in the air. That successfully freed him from Rogue's grasp again, and also blinded Natsu for a moment, long enough for him to nearly scramble free.
However, suddenly he staggered, as if knocked off balance or pressured from a great weight above. Lucy had managed to shield her eyes from the blast of light, so she could see afterwards while Natsu was still shaking his head to clear his eyes. Glancing to the side, she saw Yukino had summoned Libra and was also wearing Libra's star dress…a harem type outfit reminiscent of Libra's. Between the two of them, they'd managed to apparently reverse Acnologia's balance and center of gravity, which caused him to drunkenly stagger around.
They were only able to hold the spell for a few seconds, but it was still long enough for Rogue and Natsu to recover – at least enough to block him from escaping.
"Damn you pests!" the blue dragon bellowed, glaring at the two on the lip of the crater with his good eye, and a deep inhale was all the warning they had before he blasted them with a roar that carved a deep trench into the ground.
"Yukino! Sting!" Rogue bellowed, momentarily distracted.
He headed towards them, but Acnologia took advantage of his distraction and slammed a glowing fist into the ground, right on top of his shadow form, getting a roar of pain from the shadow dragon. When his fist lifted, he left a spike of light behind, pinning the other to the ground as securely as a railroad spike.
"Shit." Natsu growled, and dove down to drag the blue dragon off their injured comrade.
He was struggling to free himself, still straining in the direction his mates had been.
"Don't worry! Rogue! They're safe!" Lucy called out to him, and he seemed to go limp for half a second as the dust cleared to reveal a familiar green shell and three occupants safely sitting inside… right in the middle of the new trench.
While Natsu proceeded to distract Acnologia and struggled to keep him grounded, Sting scrambled over to his pinned partner and started blasting the spike of light with his own purifying light. Lucy noticed this while in the middle of trying to help Natsu keep the other dragon on the ground, but most of her attention was focused on the task at hand. She assisted by snapping ropes of water at him and throwing water shields around to slow him down or blunt his attacks. None of her magic had the power to hurt him of course… rather, she was like an annoying fly that buzzed around and distracted him just enough that Natsu could keep him under control.
However, when Natsu landed on top of the other dragon, she jumped off – not wanting to be part of a wrestling match.
That turned out to be a good move, because only a few moments later Acnologia managed to flip them and mounted Natsu – which would have squashed her flat. But just because she wasn't riding Natsu anymore, didn't mean she couldn't help. So, when Acnologia's teeth latched onto her boyfriend's neck, she immediately intervened to the best of her ability. She summoned Horologium, asked him to freeze time for just a moment, and then summoned Cancer.
"Hey Baby!"
"Cancer! Poke him right in the eye! The one that's hurt already. Cut him up as good as you can."
"Right on." he said and dashed right into the frozen scene, doing exactly as Lucy had told him to.
It was so gross that Lucy had to avert her eyes, but as soon as Horologium called, 'time,' she shouted a thanks to Cancer and then closed his gate. Her eyes immediately refocused on the scene that unfroze, and - just like she'd hoped - Acnologia roared and jerked back for a brief moment in pain…. just long enough for Natsu to turn the tides. His jaws reached up and snapped onto Acnologia's neck, successfully reversing their previous situation – though the blue dragon remained on top.
But not for long.
A blur of black soon joined the fight again as Sting freed Rogue, and this time he took the top spot where Natsu had been a moment before. Seeing this, the fire dragon released Acnologia's throat, and Rogue grabbed onto their opponent's horns before he could get any bright ideas. Then the black dragon flipped over backwards and dragged Acnologia down on top of him by his head.
Meanwhile, Natsu took to the air and got right above the blue dragon…. just like before.
Things continued on like this for a few more moments, at least until Lucy felt a familiar acidic stinging and jumped. For a second she had no idea what had just happened, but when she looked down and saw Kurama's key glowing bright, she knew this was his signal. He'd completed his mission…and now they could complete theirs.
"Natsu!" she yelled, and even with all the fighting, a huge golden eye shifted in her direction. Rogue also glanced over for a second.
She waved the glowing key over her head. "Take him out!"
That was when things changed. Both dragons became…different. Their actions, their movements, even their expressions turned animalistic. It was like when Rogue had become feral back at the Grand Magic Games… she could no longer see any hint of their personalities in these two enormous reptilian forms. They became predators taking down their prey, pure and simple.
From underneath, Rogue switched to holding Acnologia in place, with gripping talons, vicious bites, and even by twining his tail and shadow around him. The dragon emperor bit, scratched back, roared in his face, and repeatedly threw parts of the black dragon off him, but never quite managed to get fully free…probably because he had a larger and more painful distraction. That would be Natsu, who was ruthlessly going after the blue dragon's wings with a viciousness that Lucy had never seen in him before…or had ever thought him capable of.
When Acnologia lit up like before, they were both expecting it this time and while Rogue was still forced to let him go, Natsu managed to close his eyes in time and kept going after him ruthlessly, forcing him to stay down through sheer brutality, and Rogue soon wrapped back around him.
Natsu's claws, fangs, and fire continued to rip into his opponent's right wing, tearing it apart systematically as the blue dragon roared and beat the attacked appendage and its mate furiously, trying to knock him off. He managed from time to time, but the fire dragon always returned, displaying cruelty that truly made him look like a fabled dragon of old… a creature of blood and fire and terror. None of his normal warm cheerful personality could be seen in him, and even Lucy was frightened.
That wing was soon almost unrecognizable as such…and most of it was missing. Only then did Natsu move to the one remaining and attacked it with just as much cruel ferocity as the first. Long thin bone shards, blood, and tissue spattered the ground around the fight now, and soon Lucy could barely even look at it anymore.
Once he could no longer fly, they started going after his vitals, obviously now trying to force him back to Asphodel. Rogue ripped at his throat and belly, while Natsu went after his spine and the soft spots on his flanks between ribcage and thigh.
At that point, Lucy had simply given up watching entirely, and had her head averted with her eyes clenched shut. It might have been a stupid move to be blind next to an insanely intense fight, but she simply couldn't imagine Acnologia getting free to do her any damage. Natsu and Rogue had him at too much of a disadvantage.
The roars, sound of ripping scales, and cracks of bones still made her cringe though, and she eventually had to also cover her ears as well.
Thankfully, it didn't last too much longer. A blast of magic and the release of an overwhelming dark pressure signaled that Acnologia had been defeated. Even so…it took Lucy a long moment to get the courage to look up, and when she did, she immediately had to look away again. Acnologia had left behind parts of him she'd rather not have to see.
However, the situation only went from bad to worse…as suddenly a booming voice reached them – presumably from the floating structure a ways off.
"You may have won this fight! But I will insure that you lose the war to save your world! Prepare to be destroyed!"
A deep rumbling sound erupted from that direction, and then gradually the huge floating structure became visible. The whole thing seemed to be shaking, and then – with some truly horrendous sounds – it began to contort. They were close enough to see all the small figures starting to jump off it, some of them flying, others falling, gliding, parachuting, or slowing their descent in any number of ways. Those had to be all the members of Fairy Tail still on the thing, and Lucy just hoped that they all got out safely, and that nobody had died upon impact with the ground.
Soon, the thing that once looked like a castle had completely changed into a weird … boxy… creature… thing. Honestly Lucy had no idea what she was looking at anymore, just that it had an enormous gaping mouth, weird fin-like spiky things all along the sides and top that made it look a bit like a fish, tentacle-esque appendages dangling underneath, and apparently could still fly. It didn't actually look all that dangerous, just really, really ugly – but it soon proved that theory utterly wrong by opening its nasty mouth and…roaring.
It made no sound actually, it could have been yodeling for all she knew, but the damage done was so extensive that she could only picture the most destructive sound she knew of and that was a dragon's roar. A blast of pure magical power exploded from the thing like it was a bomb, and the earth cracked apart for miles around.
The worst of the damage was right beneath it of course…. where all her guildmates were, and she desperately hoped that they were still okay. Even where she was standing, the ground was affected and she nearly got blown over, but a huge red mountain suddenly landed in front of her to shield her.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Lucy exclaimed, horrified.
"Plutogrim." Came the deeply rumbled response from Natsu, and she was frightened to hear a note of actual fear in his voice. "It's known as the destroyer of worlds."
"Say what!? Wh-what do you mean the destroyer of worlds?!"
"Exactly what it sounds like. That thing is fully capable of blowing Earthland apart, piece by piece. That little tremor just now was barely a hiccup."
"Well what do we do? How can we stop it?!"
"I…don't know. But we've gotta try. Rogue! You ready?!"
An affirmative came from the other dragon, and suddenly both were taking of and heading right for the thing at full speed.
Yukino and Sting soon ran over to join Lucy, and the three of them watched as their dragons attacked Plutogrim…with shockingly little success. The giant demon just shook them off like they were fleas. In fact, they were actually quite small next to the enormous thing, which was even bigger than Lucy had suspected. Even when they roared at it – a joint magical attack that had enough force to level entire mountain ranges – the monster barely even flinched. The only thing they did manage to do was somehow push it, obviously trying to move it away from the spot where their guild had landed.
It didn't respond in any way, as if it didn't even notice Natsu and Sting gradually making it drift to one side.
Then, when it did move, it was to do that weird silent roar thing again, but this time even bigger. The tremor was so large that there was practically no hope of anyone under it surviving, and a wave of fear nearly strangled Lucy. After a moment, she looked at the others, and matching expressions of shocked horror were stamped across their faces.
The only thing that stopped them from spiraling into an instant pit of despair was a glimmer of gold showing through the dust, and then as the air cleared a magical dome gradually appeared. Someone had managed to activate the same Fairy Shield that had saved them from destruction on Tenrou Island, and now it was protecting them from the continued attacks of this crazy flying monster fish box. Relief swamped her, and – based off the sighs and muttered thanks of her comrades – she knew they felt the same overwhelming happiness that at least their guildmates were currently safe.
However, that still left the issue of how to defeat the thing…and that task was looking more and more impossible to accomplish by the second. It looked almost hopeless, and as she helplessly watched Rogue and Natsu continue to attack it with no success, a cold sense of desolation started to creep up on Lucy again. If dragons couldn't take this thing down…what could?
A tingle of magic shot down her spine then, snapping her out of the semi-numbed state, and when she turned to look she flinched with surprise to find Crux floating in the air behind her.
"Grandpa Crux…what…?"
"There's no time to explain. As I'm sure you can tell, the situation is dire, and your world is in danger of being destroyed. We all felt the reverberations of that monster being woken, even in the celestial realm."
"I see…but…is there anything we can do about it?" she asked, barely daring to hope. The last time he'd shown up like this it was to save her life with a spell…she could only hope that this time would be the same somehow.
"There is only one thing that can save you now…. a spell as ancient, forgotten, and dangerous as the being you now face. It is not a spell to be taken lightly, for the price is steep. Only those truly pure of heart and steadfast in their conviction can accomplish it…and once you start, any falter will result in your death."
Normally such a statement would have had her second-guessing it, or questioning the intelligence of accepting such a spell, but in this case Lucy had no doubts whatsoever.
"I'll do it."
Crux must have seen the resolve in her eyes, because he didn't waste any time second-guessing her either. Instead, he turned to Yukino and said, "It will require both of you I'm afraid."
She also didn't hesitate. "I'll help."
"Good." the old spirit said with what seemed to be a proud gleam in his eyes. Then, he gestured them both forwards and laid his palms over their heads. Immediately, golden magic filled the air and their minds, and both shouted in stunned shock as pain ran them through.
Lucy thought it was the worst headache in the world…as if her brain had just been dunked in a vat of boiling lava. The potent knowledge of this spell made her feel like her mind was about to overload and burst apart at the seams, as if it was simply too small to contain such enormity. It wasn't any short fleeting pain either, the sensation only grew more and more intense as the minutes dragged on…which made them feel like hours and then days. But eventually, the knowledge transfer was complete, and the pain dulled somewhat, though it didn't completely abate.
"I wish you the best of luck Miss Lucy…" Crux said softly, concern deeply set in his gaze as he poofed back to the celestial realm.
This was one spell that you didn't wait to cast, because the ball had already been started. If they waited, Lucy somehow could sense that they would simply self-combust.
Yukino must have felt the same way because she quickly urged Sting to get back and then turned to face Lucy. Both surrendered utterly to the spell and followed the instructions etched into their minds. Their palms clasped and they knelt, then started chanting together the words that came to their lips.
"I ask that the heavens make the stars descend to earth. Illuminate... by all means... this land... this world! By your hand, let everything be illuminated. Twinkling, shooting, falling... Let the stars descend before us! Gottfried!"
As they cast the spell, pressure began to build and the ground around them started to glow until both mages had to shut their eyes tightly or risk being blinded. Soon, a ray of pure radiance hit them, a shaft that could be seen from thousands of miles away in every direction. As that light landed on their shoulders, so too did an intense pain quite unlike anything either girl had ever felt before…as if their very souls were being ripped to shreds. It was ethereal…but utterly excruciating, and both screamed until they were hoarse. Yet they still somehow managed to hold the spell in place through the pain, bearing down with their magic until a matching beam of light appeared over the giant crusty Plutogrim. It froze, as if startled by the sudden brilliance, while the two dragons that had been attacking it fell back in shock.
"What the fuck?" Natsu exclaimed, and then his eyes were drawn to the other shaft of light that pierced his mate.
"Oh…shit." Rogue breathed beside him, and the fire dragon completely agreed.
It had taken him a moment, but he recognized the feel of this particular spell. It wasn't something you forgot in a big hurry…. though the last time he saw it used, the caster had been burnt to ashes and the spell hadn't actually gone through. It hadn't been his mage that had cast it though, so he'd been unable to help. However, this time he could, and he very quickly gave Lucy all his power to get her through the ordeal he knew she was enduring. Her pain was clearly projected across their bond, and he was quick to fly to her side, leaving the enemy at the mercy of her spell.
Rogue did the same and landed next to Sting, who had staggered back a good distance and was staring at his girlfriend with shock written all over his face. The three of them watched in awe as something began to form in the second beam of light. High in the sky, at the very apex of what seemed to be the heavens, an enormous golden sword began to take form, growing larger and more awe-inspiring by the second. The stars themselves began to wheel around the hilt, creating a spiral of lights that lit up the sky even though it was full day.
The sword of the heavens…. a weapon that even the celestial king couldn't wield freely, hung point down, poised over the big ugly fish like a guillotine ready to carry out the sentence of its summoner. In this case, Lucy and Yukino had obviously determined that the sentence was destruction, because a few moments later it fell, slicing through the destroyer of worlds like a hot knife through butter. The tip never touched the earth… the sword of the heavens never would unless it was to cut the earth in two. Rather, it stopped after doing what it had been called to do, and then - with a brilliant flash that blinded everyone and everything for miles around - it dispersed.
Plutogrim, or the remains of it, hung in midair for a few moments longer and then crumbled to ash, leaving behind nothing more than nightmares and a bad taste in everyone's mouths.
As for Lucy and Yukino, the grip of agony dispersed with the sword, leaving them both utterly weak and dizzy. After staring into each other's eyes for a long disoriented moment, both heads swung to look at where Plutogrim had been, and they managed to catch the sight of the last bit crumbling to nothing.
"We…. did it." Lucy whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.
"It's over." Yukino agreed in an equally inaudible manner.
They shared a relieved grin, and then everything went utterly black as Lucy felt her consciousness slipping away. The last thing she sensed before the darkness consumed her entirely was a pair of warm arms wrapping around her in a secure embrace, and she knew that everything was finally okay.
Sneak Peek
Usually after such a triumph, the Fairy Tail guildhall would be obnoxiously loud and violently busy with all the celebrations. However, things were a bit dulled by the fact that so many of their guild had been seriously injured and hospitalized. So, in true Fairy Tail logic, the party had come to the invalids in the hospital, and the entire guild had been coming and going throughout the entire week.