Chapter 6

Loke came to a halt, falling still to listen and scent the air carefully, just as he'd been doing since following after Delenn. He'd come across several places with dark magic pitfalls and had managed to avoid them as he'd slowly stalked his prey, but he was well aware that the rest of Lucy's team hadn't been so lucky. One of them had triggered a trap, and he'd felt them all disappearing and then popping back up in widely scattered directions.

He'd also run into two men who he hadn't seen before, which meant that there were more crooks in the gang than had attacked the train, and that they were now gathered here, as well. They hadn't been of any better prowess than the rest of their friends, though – to Loke's disappointment. He cracked his knuckles with a rather terrible grin, the very hungry beast inside looking out through still slit-pupiled, golden eyes as he once more picked up the dark mage's scent and strode silently after it.

A few minutes later he paused again for a split second and his eyes narrowed. Erza... So he's found her, huh? Lucy must be fighting one of the others now. Damn. Hunt interrupted by necessity, the lion took off at a run. His friend was a formidable mage, but she was human, and therefore most likely just as susceptible to Marionette as his mistress had been. He was the only one that wasn't, since he was a spirit and human manipulation-type magic didn't work on him.

Hmm...

This seemed rather like that time on Tenroujima when they'd gone against the dark mage that had possessed Capricorn, come to think of it. That particular form of possession magic had worked on spirits, though. He'd momentarily found that out for himself back then, and he could only be grateful that Marionette didn't. He remembered quite clearly those endless-seeming moments spent thrust aside in his own body, and the mind-numbing terror he'd felt at hearing Zoldeo's thoughts in regards the celestial mage and what he was going to do to her. It had been even worse for him because it was his own body that would have been used to rape and murder his mistress. For the first time ever in his eons-long existence, he'd wished someone would kill him immediately – he'd rather death any day of the week than to be used to hurt Lucy.

It was just fortunate for him that he'd always been quick on his feet, and as soon as Zoldeo had begun his takeover, he'd sent his light-based power into Capricorn so that he could then use it to force the human mage's possession right back out.

That's what they want me to do to Lucy, he scowled as he ran. But they don't know what they're asking.

The blow it had taken to cast Zoldeo from him had hurt tremendously, and left even him weakened and in need of healing time in the spirit world. To turn the amount of power that would be needed to chase Marionette, which was a stronger magic than what Zoldeo had used, out of any human would most likely be fatal to that person. There had to be another way. There simply had to be.

A noise from off to his right gave him only a split-second of warning.

He skidded to a halt and then dove to the left as a low stone parapet on the other side exploded outward in a shower of mortar and ancient rock, then rolled up into a crouch to glance rapidly around for whatever it was that had been blown through the old tower-wall.

Laying face down only fifteen feet or so away was Delenn, but before he could pounce on the man, his attention was drawn to Erza as she stepped through the still-settling dust and stalked deliberately towards the dark mage, though she paused when she caught sight of him gaping at her.

"What the hell is that?" Loke asked in awe, indicating her impressive-looking... armor.

It's rather revealing up top, he couldn't help but notice. It's also consuming her magic at an incredible rate. How can she even wear that? And... why is she wearing it?

"Nakagami armor," she answered absently as she continued towards the now-groaning dark mage. "While I'm wearing it, he can't use Marionette against me – or any other type of magic, for that matter. I can just cut right through it."

The lion blinked bemusedly as he stood, eyeing her up and down once more. Nakagami armor...? That's... Nakagami armor? He'd heard of it, of course. A legendary mail, only the strongest of mages could even put it on let alone actually use it, and most never even dared to try. And that his friend had the power and confidence to not only try it on but buy and use it just left him stunned. He'd always known she was strong, but holy stars, that was just insane!

However, before he could think of anything to say or Erza could reach their enemy, five men ran into the square they were in from different directions, and Delenn took the opportunity handed to him, using the chaos to run yet again.

Loke cursed, getting frustrated with the bastard's cowardice, but neither he nor Erza could immediately follow, the five hoodlums going instantly on the attack.

It only took the two of them a few minutes to have the men taken down, but the dark mage was once again long-gone, and now the lion was going to be forced back to a slow hunt. He no longer found the thought entertaining, however; he wanted to finish the cur off and then concentrate on finding a way to free Lucy from the darkness tainting her beautiful soul. (And body, though who was listing assets at a time like this? Not him.)

But it almost seemed as if Delenn was only trying to delay them now so he could just escape and get completely away, and Loke couldn't allow that. His eyes sharpened as he extended his senses around him, and then he frowned. Or is he...? He's heading for my princess again, the scumbag.

"Hey, Erza?" he asked as she stepped up behind him and requipped back into her usual half-mail.

"Yes?"

"Did Master Makarov say how close that prick has to stay to Lucy to maintain his control of her?"

She shook her head. "No, he just said 'relatively' close."

The lion groaned and shot her a look. "That's such a relative answer," he sighed, disgruntled. "I was really hoping for a more... literal one."

The redhead couldn't help the small chuckle his irritated pun teased from her, and she glanced dryly at him, but a calm, "Let's go," was all she said as she stepped over the unconscious men at her feet and headed in the direction he could feel his mistress was in.

How Erza was even still on her feet after wearing that crazy Nakagami armor he had no idea, but he followed without protest, though he kept his senses open and on the lookout for any trace of Delenn. The fact that the cretin was still breathing was really getting on his last nerve, and the first chance he was handed he was going to remedy that. It was only a matter of time... sooner or later the dark mage would trip himself up, and Loke had every intention of being there when he did.

"Don't think so hard," the requip mage said over her shoulder, and the lion looked back at her, a little confused.

"What?"

"I can hear your vengeful thoughts from here. Don't think so hard," she repeated, before looking forward again.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" he inquired almost conversationally. If she knew what he was thinking, then she knew what he was going to do to Delenn. Would she try to stop him from killing the blackguard?

"Can you be stopped?" she asked in return. He could hear the curiosity in her voice, and something else he couldn't quite place.

"No." The answer was clipped and unequivocal.

Titania chuckled, still striding easily across the ground. "Then I won't try to stop you. I'm not fond of wasting my time trying to fight absolutes."

Now that surprised Loke. He was well aware that Fairy Tail didn't kill unless there was no other choice. So that Erza was willing to let him do so to someone whether there was a choice or not was... unexpected.

"Besides," she added casually, "these guys will end up being executed anyway, so I don't really see that it matters exactly who does the deed in this case. Dead is dead."

I suppose I have to give her that one, the lion thought with an inward shrug. Erza always was the pragmatic one out of the group, wasn't she?

Surprisingly enough, it would probably be the two guys on the team that would have the biggest problem with what he was planning. Not that he cared, really, but it was an interesting switch.

It was only his cat-like reflexes that saved them. One moment they'd been walking along unimpeded, and the next another magic circle had opened on the ground before them – though this time, instead of them being sucked in, sharpened steel spikes erupted from inside the circle and flew outward. He'd felt the magic begin to swell and reacted instantaneously, leaping forward and grabbing Erza before tucking her protectively into his body as he rolled away from the blackened circle.

It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Loke exhaled in a rush. Fuck! That was wayyy too close! "You know," he said nonchalantly, as though they hadn't almost been impaled, "the longer we're here, the more I hate that bloody prick. I am really going to hurt him before I kill him..."

"I believe I'd like to help you with that," Erza replied as she sighed and then sat up. After a moment she looked down at him where he still lay on the ground, his ginger mane looking rather frazzled and his usually immaculate suit now torn and dirty, and smiled. "Thanks, Loke."

He smiled back, then winked playfully at her. "Not a problem, beautiful."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, then reached a hand down to help him up. "Keep the flirting to Lucy. I don't want to have to break your jaw again."

"Yeah, I think I could do without that, too," he winced with the memory as she tugged him easily back to his feet. "My poor, abused jaw still pops and cracks sometimes."

"And yet that never seems to stop you, does it?"

But Loke's attention was no longer on the byplay, as sounds of combat suddenly drew near. And then he looked up and lifted a hand in greeting to the duo that came sweeping in from above. "Glad to see you're okay, Wendy. And I see you found Natsu," he added wryly as the noise came closer. "So who's he fighting?"

"Two men that jumped out at him a minute ago," the teenaged blunette answered. "Natsu-san seems to be having fun beating them up."

"I'm sure he is," Erza replied. "So the only one left to find now is Gray."

"That must be who Lucy-san is fighting, then," Charle said, looking off in a different direction than Natsu was approaching from. "We weren't sure who was where after that trap opened up beneath us."

"We still don't know where Happy is, either," Wendy pointed out.

"Happy'll find us, don't worry," Natsu piped up as he came into sight, looking quite pleased with himself as he dusted his hands off. Then he wrinkled his nose. "It felt good to pound those guys, but at the same time it was kinda disappointing – they really suck."

Loke snorted. "I could have told you that," he returned. "Like I said last night, they're nothing more than a group of low-life's with little skill in anything more than bullying those too weak to fight back." He straightened and glanced back up at the still-hovering white Exceed and sky dragon-slayer, his face going serious again. "Can you see where Lucy's at?" he asked. "I can feel her, but I'd really like for someone to have a visual on her position, as well."

Both Charle and Wendy nodded. "We're a lot closer now than when we found Natsu-san. They're that way," the teen replied, pointing.

Eyes once more grim and focused, the lion nodded. That agreed with what he was feeling from the bond with his princess. "Then let's get moving again. But be careful," he cautioned suddenly. "Those booby traps aren't just the type to send you other places – at least some of them are set to kill."

Natsu cocked a brow as he looked around and realized what the ginger-haired man was talking about. "Damn. These guys really aren't playing, are they?" He looked at Wendy gravely. "You should definitely stay up there where it's safe."

"It's not safe enough," Erza emphasized as she pointed out the angles at which the steel spikes were sticking up out of the surrounding landscape. They had been expelled from the magic circle with such force that they had been buried into the ground, cleaved through trees, and some were even embedded in various stones, several of which had actually shattered from the force of the impact. "So don't let your guard down."

No one said anything to that, and once again Loke took the lead, since his senses were the best besides Natsu's, and he was the only one that could actually feel Lucy. The rest trailed after him, with Charle still carrying Wendy a little above the ground, and Natsu bringing up the rear just in case someone tried to sneak up from behind the group. The fire dragon-slayer would be a nasty surprise for anyone that did.

Happy found them a few minutes later, though he looked a little the worse for wear.

"What happened to you?" Natsu asked as the little blue cat alighted wearily on his shoulder and sort of just slumped there.

"Well, when those magic circles opened up and sucked me in, one of the bad guys that you'd been fighting kinda got pulled in, too. So when we were dropped wherever that was, he kept trying to attack me. I've been trying to find you guys while sorta fighting that jerk."

The fire mage scowled and stopped walking, punching one fist into the other as the rest of the team also came to a halt – though Loke looked impatient at the new delay. "Where's the bastard at? I'll teach him a lesson!"

At that, Happy preened and looked mighty pleased with himself. He didn't miss the opportunity to cast a surreptitious glance at Charle, though. He hoped she was really impressed... "Oh, don't worry about him. I finally dropped a rock on his head, and he's taking a nice long nap that way somewhere," he pointed. "It was a pretty big rock, too. It was even heavier than Lucy!"

Loke scowled at that little tidbit. "My princess barely weighs anything, so don't talk about her that way," he snapped, then turned and stalked off. "You all can stand here if you want, but I'm out of here. I'm done with this mess - it's time to end it and take my mistress back," he tossed over his shoulder as he disappeared around an old, broken down fountain in what looked to have once been a small park.

"Oi!" Natsu shouted, "chill the hell out, Loke! Happy always teases Lucy like that, he isn't really insulting her and you know it!"

Erza, who'd been a silent observer up to that point, just shook her head at the dragon-slayer and his Exceed partner. "Yes, he does. But he's scared to death for her sake, and now really isn't the time for such 'teasing'," she chided sternly, before motioning for them to follow after the angry celestial spirit.

After that it fell silent again, and the group hurried a little to catch up with the lion. It wasn't like they had much further to go, anyway – they were getting very close to Lucy's position, now. There was even plenty of evidence that she'd already battled through this area, because remnants of Gray's ice were scattered around and there was a lot of destruction to the already messy ruins. The group turned the corner around the remains of an old cottage and almost piled into Loke's back – he'd come to a halt, his eyes locked on the blonde woman standing atop the remains of a stone-and-wood roof a little ways away. She was busy flinging bright spheres of power at her opponent.

Gray was still out-of-sight, but that wouldn't last for long as the battle between the two moved closer, and the spirit turned and motioned the rest of the group back before they could be seen. "We need to hide until we can see what's happening. Delenn's probably close by, and I bet his brother is, too – unless one of you ran into him already and took him out of the equation," he said as everyone moved quickly back and into the remains of the cottage they'd just passed. There wasn't much left of it, but it would hide them well enough for the moment.

Once they were inside Charle cautiously set Wendy down. "Well, we didn't," the blunette murmured.

The others denied meeting up with Olvar, as well, and Loke nodded, pleased. "Good. Because he's mine, too."

Erza cocked a reproving brow at the now nervously-pacing lion spirit. "If you were going to take them all out yourself, why did you bother taking the time to come get the team? Don't be greedy. I believe I speak for all of us when I say you aren't the only one that wants to make these bastards pay."

Loke growled, but then he sighed and swept a hand through his spiky locks and looked apologetic. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just... Lucy, she-"

He was interrupted by her hand coming down on his shoulder and her sympathetic expression. "We understand how you feel because we all feel the same way. They've hurt our nakama, and you know how we view things like that. Now, we should be deciding what we're going to do. I'm betting Delenn isn't far away, though I'm thinking he's going to try to stay out of sight." She smiled wryly at Loke. "You, at least, have terrified him to death, and he's going to do everything he can to keep away from you."

"It won't do him any good," the spirit said flatly.

"It won't do any of them any good," Natsu interjected with an evil grin. "Well, any of those that are still awake and moving around, anyway. We've knocked out quite a few of them already."

"But we don't know how many there were all together," Charle cautioned primly. "So we can't be sure there aren't a lot more out there."

"Then bring them on," the fire mage only grinned wider, a toothy grin with sharp canines glinting just like the lion's, as he bared them in agreement with Natsu's words.

Happy agreed with a raised paw and an enthusiastic but fortunately low-voiced, "Aye!"

Erza shook her head. "You boys," she sighed in exasperation, then looked at Loke. "You know we're going to have to separate out again, right? Those two are about to come through here, and when they do, we should probably scatter a little." When no one said anything, she continued. "Wendy, you and I will go help Gray with Lucy. Natsu, you and Happy-"

"You know, I just thought of it, but where the hell is that other mage – the one that was on the train?" Loke interrupted, narrowed eyes lifting to meet Titania's. "I haven't seen him at all, but he's got to be here somewhere."

"Another mage?" Natsu asked, looking excited. "Well, me and Happy can look out for him and any other bastards that try to interfere. Was he strong?"

A scoff met his inquiry. "No," the ginger-haired spirit replied. "He was pretty weak, maybe a little better than the ones who aren't mages. But he could still be a threat. Maybe that's why we haven't seen him – Delenn's planning something and needs that guy to take us by surprise."

"If he's around, me and Happy'll find him," the pink-haired teen grinned.

Just then, a loud crash sounded from just the other side of the old lane that passed in front of their hiding place, and they knew time was up. Gray and Lucy had finally found them, and as ice erupted from the ground and then shattered loudly, the group all glanced once more at each other and then scattered.

Erza darted out of their hiding place and leaped smoothly into the fray between the two, catching Lucy's whip around her sword and then yanking, which pulled the possessed celestial mage down and into the ground. That gave the the ice-make wizard a few moments of a breather and allowed Natsu and Happy to disappear, as well.

But with her mind shut off Lucy couldn't feel any pain, and she was instantly back on her feet as she flicked her wrist and untangled the whip from the warrior mage's weapon. She stopped then, and simply stood there staring silently at those who'd interrupted her battle, no recognition in her dulled eyes whatsoever.

"It's about damn time!" Gray yelled Erza's direction as he came to rest back on the ground in a crouch, looking a little the worse for wear. "Where the hell have you guys been, and where's Loke?"

The ice mage had seen the group scatter and knew that Natsu had flown off with Happy, probably checking the perimeter of the fight with Lucy to see if he could catch any of the gang that might still be around. Wendy and Erza were standing in plain sight now, of course, but the celestial spirit wasn't anywhere to be seen, and that fact actually made him a little nervous.

"Loke's fine," was all she said in reply, though she shot him a sharp glance that he knew meant he shouldn't continue on with that line of questioning. "And we've been trying to make our way back, but there were some... complications, and we had to move slowly, as I'm sure you're aware."

Gray just grunted, since there wasn't really much he could say to that. "So what's the plan?"

"It's pretty much the same as it was before," Erza returned. "Although..." she trailed off and then whirled around and batted a piece of stone away as something blew through the wall of the cottage they'd just been hiding in and sent rocks flying in every direction. "Looks like we're all going to be fighting in closer proximity than we'd wanted!" she shouted as she rolled forward and then back to her feet as more debris flew past.

A man's body rolled through the destroyed wall and came to rest against the remains of what had once been a stone and wood fence around the little dwelling, and Natsu followed just behind, stalking through a cloud of dust after his victim. The group blinked almost in unison; the slayer was dragging another man behind him and his eyes were on fire. That hadn't taken long...

There was no chance to say anything, however, as Lucy chose that moment to attack again, and soon everyone was busy with their own fights as there were suddenly a lot more bandits converging on them, even Wendy and Charle being forced to throw down with the bastards.

Loke was still missing from the scene though, and no one had any idea where he'd disappeared to.