Chapter 21

Light literally exploded from the now trapped pair of celestial spirits, blasting Cepheus into a wall and pinning him there as he raised a protective arm before him and attempted to see into that light. Unable to make anything out against the blinding glare, he tried to gather what little of his own power remained after being used to fuel the spell in the first place, now afraid. This was... this was very bad, and he needed to figure out how to stop what was happening fast. He hadn't considered such a possibility as this in his planning, it simply hadn't even occurred to him that this could all go so wrong, and so quickly, too.

The storm of power from the two locked inside the light grew ever greater. It pulsed almost hungrily and reached for him, and that was when Cepheus realized that if he didn't manage to escape the vicinity almost immediately, he wasn't going to survive whatever was happening now within the glowing maelstrom. It was too late to stop it – and maybe it always had been.

He glanced back at the man still hanging on his wall by chains, not wanting to let go of his prey, but then a freshening surge of magic pounded against him and he cursed, before throwing all that remained of his power into a charge towards the door and hopefully, safety. It barely availed, but just as he was beginning to despair the resistance gave, and he flashed across the room in the blink of an eye. His pace and the power pushing at his back caused him to stumble against the door, but that didn't even faze him, and he yanked it open and then ran towards the stairs almost on autopilot.

Now what?

Even if he survived this, he likely wouldn't whatever Seirei-o was going to do to him for the damage he'd caused. And while he'd been deliberately offhand about the spirit king earlier when Leo had brought him up, he'd really known better all along. His only 'plan' to deal with the fallout of his actions had been to bring up everything that had happened to every one of the spirits at the hands of humans once he stood under all their eyes for judgment - and basically attempt to shame the king into backing down after a bit of blustering.

That probably wouldn't work now. Hell, he could admit to himself - in his sudden, heart-stopping return to sanity's shores - that it never would have. He'd been a blind, enraged fool, and now it looked like payment had come due for his transgressions.

Well, at least Cas will be avenged, and safe from Seirei-o's anger. I made sure of that – she has no idea of what I've been up to.

His mind finally snapped back into sanity once again due to the storm battering away at him, he felt ashamed of himself. A sad smile touched his lips for a moment. No amusement lay behind it, only painful recognition of his foolishness when he thought of just how angry she would be with him. Stars, when she learned of his madness after what had happened to her – and what he'd done while in it – she'd look at him with wounded eyes, and not say a word to him in reproach.

Oh, but it would be there in that expressive gaze of hers, damning him without any words even being necessary.

It had truly been a dark place for him, thoughts of vengeance being the only thing he cared for. But he could now see quite clearly that he had known perfectly well all along what he was inviting, and yet consciously allowed himself to fall into it, anyway. He had let hatred darken his light deliberately.

He'd wanted nothing more than to hurt the man who'd done all that to her, and slowly, as he'd slid into the depths of despair and loathing and rage, he had.

That could have been understood by anyone with any kind of compassion or empathy.

But then he'd gone several steps too far, and started blaming anyone human. It had been an injustice to the race as a whole, and Cas had always been a little too kindhearted to ever agree with the things he'd done, ostensibly for her or not. That little fact would have only made her feel guilty, as though it were her fault that he'd gone off his rocker like he most definitely had.

And only now, when it was too late, could he see it.

Oh, Cas...

Remorse surged, making him feel even guiltier.

While he would never feel so for what he'd done to her attacker, the rest of it... yes, he deserved whatever fate was about to find him. His feet slowed and he came to a stop. What had he been thinking?! Leo and that poor girl back there hadn't deserved anything of what he'd done. He felt sick as he thought of it... he'd become, in his own way, no better than the bastard that had so harmed his wife. He winced as what he'd allowed himself to do paraded through his mind with fingers pointed accusingly.

And now it was time to face the music.

He slowly turned around, and stared almost numbly at the raging power that was eating away at everything, coming right up through the solid stone floors as though there were nothing in its way. Flashes of lightning, bright darkness, and roiling energy flickered and whipped around a central red core, the wind conjured by the power almost strong enough now on its own to pull him into the spell, too.

Just as he'd prepared himself to be torn apart by the swirling nightmare, a savage burst of energy struck him in the chest instead, knocking him backwards through several walls and snuffing his consciousness.

I'm sorry, Cas. I love you... I'm so sorry.

That mournful last thought followed him down into the abyss like the white burn of the sun on his eyelids, and then he knew no more.

~~LoLu~~

Loke never even had a chance to scream, the agony of the power engulfing him rendering him silent in shock, his voice gone with the hot blue/white fire burning through his mind and body. He vaguely heard Cepheus shout an infuriated "No!" - and then everything but the paralyzing pain vanished.

Except Lucy.

She did let out a scream, but then she too fell silent. There were just some pains that were so devastating that they ripped your voice, your mind, even your very identity from you, especially if they lasted too long.

This pain was one of them, and so both writhed in the magic like damned souls in the flames of hell.

He could feel the spell searching him, looking for any hint of humanity, but since there was none to grasp, it just continued battering at him, unable to fulfill its purpose.

But Lucy was a different story, and she could quite distinctly feel the agony of something trying to tear her in two. It was nothing but a fact that she'd only just become a spirit, but already it was interwoven with her base human genetics so much, that it was literally like being ripped in half. And so she writhed, helplessly caught in Cepheus' revenge.

She hadn't realized that Loke himself was also caught up in the magic, her senses nearly gone – until she felt a hand brush against her arm. Even then, with the pain so overwhelming, she wouldn't have been able to respond... but then she heard Loke's voice, a rough, hoarse sound of pain, and the horror that he was also stuck in this with her gave her just enough strength to push her own agony back a bit. Love was, after all, the one true power, as she'd said before.

I have to wake up, she thought distantly through the pain. She could feel panic rising inside her, and that was helping to push the pain away a little more. It wasn't enough, though. I can't let him hurt Loke... come on, she exhorted herself, wake up! Push him away, do something before it's too late for both of us!

Really panicking now, she tried to force Cepheus' power away again, but it did little good - the other spirit was determined to rend her back into her strictly human form, it seemed. For her, she already knew that it was a death sentence, and though she was afraid of what was to come, she could accept it, if her death would save her lion. The problem was that Loke had never been human, and there was no telling what his presence in the spell with her would lead to.

Could she even save him?

She threw her head back and cried out with the agony of the two sides of her, the human and the spirit, being slowly torn apart.

But what can I do? She could barely think through the power tearing through her mind and body, and she was growing weaker every second.

So you're just going to give up? Hmph... figures. You always were a weak-willed little bitch, came Aquarius' snarky, sarcastic voice from her memories, and Lucy screamed as a bit of anger at that charge scraped through the pain in her mind, and gave her a determination to prove the accusation wrong. The other spirit wouldn't be allowed to mock her this time. She gritted her teeth. No! I can't give up on saving him. I have to do something, but what? I don't even know what this magic is, let alone how to stop it!

Nonetheless, Lucy grasped desperately at her own power and tried to punch holes in the deadly energy, and when that didn't work, she tried forcing her magic to surround Cepheus' power – maybe she could contain it and then drain the power from the spell in a way that wouldn't hurt Loke.

But her efforts were doomed to failure, for nothing seemed to work, and in the meantime she was growing weaker as that foreign energy sought to destroy her, and the man she loved.

No... Loke, she thought mournfully. I've failed you and everyone else...

Panic started chipping away at her willpower. Even though technically she was stronger than Cepheus, this spell she was caught in was keeping her immobilized and unable to think clearly, to find a way out, at least for her lion.

As her power was sucked away from her at an accelerating rate, she despaired further. I'm nothing but a failure, no matter which realm I'm in, she realized bitterly. We're both going to die because I'm such a failure. I should have destroyed our contract a long time ago, let him find an owner that was actually worth something. Her bitterness and the sheer agony she was in was getting the best of her, and she cried out once more as the spell sharpened, attacking her and Loke both with an almost hungry rush. Lucy slipped a little more, as further power exploded into the magic circle, drained from Loke, and a pained shout escaped him as he folded over and slid to his knees.

Lucy reached desperately for him, only for her hands to go right through him. She was fading fast, so whatever she was going to do would have to be done quickly.

That still didn't give her the answer she needed, and she grabbed her head as many voices rang through her memories – people she'd known and saved at one point or another. And yet she couldn't seem to do the same for Loke, the man she loved more than any other. He was going to go down with her, and she was too pitiful to stop it.

"You have forgotten who you are. You are not Lucy Heartfilia, human, any longer. You are Eridanae, the river of the celestial realm."

That voice that she had noticed first after the Joining spoke, and she dazedly recognized it as the other half of her.

"But... Cepheus... I can't fight him! He's taken everything, my power along with my will! How am I supposed to fight this when I don't even know what it is? This magic is nothing like anything I've ever encountered before!"

"He can only take what is given," the voice said sternly, and a little enigmatically inside her mind, even as she writhed in pain inside the circle of the other spirit's conjuring. "You are stronger than he is – you must only find that strength. If you give in, Leo will be destroyed. Is this what you wish?"

Lucy froze. No!

"Then what does that tell you? Leo will fall because of his affection for us. Cepheus has used us against him, and he will not strike us down, not even to save himself. If we do not fight the King of Ethiopia and take back our mind and body, love will doom us all."

She could accept oblivion for herself, though not happily, of course. But she would never accept it for Loke. For him, she would fight into eternity and beyond. Doom us? No... love makes us stronger, it gives us a reason to keep fighting when we have nothing left. I... I won't accept this, for Loke's sake, and for all the other spirits and Fairy Tail. I won't go down without saving everyone first!

Despite the burning pain of Cepheus' spell trying to drag her under, Lucy forced herself to focus through it, bringing her own power to bear against that which wished to destroy them all. It was a hungry magic, and so she fed it, let all her pain and sorrow out to join with that which wished to destroy her and Loke. It took every effort, her mind burning and her body feeling like she were indeed caught in a fire, but she refused to give in.

She would die here, there was no doubt in her mind anymore, no hope for her own salvation. But Loke wouldn't, and she would stop Cepheus' heinous actions before she went. She couldn't leave him behind to wreak his havoc on the world. While she empathized with him and his wife and what they'd gone through, what he was doing wasn't right, and she would give everything she had to save her loved ones from the deranged spirit.

Her eyes opened then, glowing a searing blue as she fought through the storm, forcing her mind to stay alert despite the agony trying to drag her under. And as she did, she suddenly knew what she had to do.

She looked at her lion, bent double as he fought the pain, and her eyes softened with love and sadness. Now she would never know if they could have made it work, never know what it was like to be held by him. It was a steep price to pay, but she would pay it a million times over to keep him safe.

A single tear rolled down a pale cheek. "I love you," she whispered despondently through the maelstrom, regret and sadness flooding her for all the lost opportunities that they'd had to come together – though she knew it was really her own fault for constantly pushing him away. If she'd known how short her life was going to be, she'd have taken the chance with her lion and loved him with everything she had. That couldn't happen now, but she could save him if she really tried, and she was determined to do just that.

She straightened and pushed back against the dark power surrounding her with a now unbreakable will, both sides of her in agreement.

It was time to stop crying like a baby over the pain and do what it was in her to do.

She could let go and slide into darkness – death – later... once he and everyone else was safe.

~~LoLu~~

In the spirit world, the first tremors of awareness that something had gone very wrong were barely noticeable, and most of the spirits just brushed the odd feeling off to begin with . But as the pull grew stronger and two very distinct constellations began to glow, they began to really sit up and focus.

Within moments the feel changed to a draining one, as power – a great deal of power – began to be sucked away from the realm.

And then Seirei-o appeared in the meeting hall of spirits, his visage grim and angry as he called out to all the spirits to join him in the Great Celestial Hall.

Someone had done something that they shouldn't have, and he was going to find out who.

The hall was crowded and noisy within a very few minutes – but there were a few notable absences. Seirei-o didn't need answers about two of those missing faces, because where they were was hair-raisingly obvious. But the other ones... well, he had no illusions, and the ones missing – Corvus and Chameleon, and Cepheus...

Trouble, all of them.

The king sighed. It just figured that he was involved somehow. Cepheus had always been a little... stand-offish towards him. It was jealousy, of course, plain and simple. He was a king in his own right, and found it demeaning that he would be forced to kneel for anyone at all. But he had no choice, because power spoke for all, and no one was more powerful than he.

Even all together, the seirei weren't quite strong enough to defeat him... although, he considered dryly, it was just possible that there were now two spirits that together could challenge him. Leo and Eridanus, the very two who were now caught in some damned powerful spell that was trying to return the river to her previous human state. He could feel the magic draining from the celestial realm, and knew there was nothing for it – he would have to intervene this time and put a stop to what was happening before it got too far.

"You can all feel for yourselves what's going on," he finally spoke, his voice gigantic and deadly. "I will return once this matter has been resolved. In the meantime, all spirits are to stay here."

Without another word after that command Seirei-o faded away. The hall fell silent behind him as all the spirits shuddered with the cold feeling that crept over their skin, brushing icy, deadly fingers up their spines and skittering chills to every nerve-ending.

"What in heaven's name is happening?" someone's voice broke the silence, and everyone turned to look at the person who'd spoken. There were a few that opened their mouths to try to answer, and then found nothing to say, for what did they know? Only as much as everyone else staring helplessly around... which was to say, a great deal of nothing at all.

Cassiopeia blinked worried eyes at the lack of answers to her question, before looking back towards the dais where Seirei-o had stood with an odd shiver of premonition brushing against every bit of her body.

"Oh, Cepheus, my love... where are you?" she whispered, one elegant hand coming up to clutch at her own throat.

She didn't even notice the worried gaze of her daughter Andromeda, who moved as her mother did, and was about to offer her hand when she continued...

"What have you done?"

Andromeda stared at her mother, aghast at what she'd just said.

"Mother?"

It was clear that her daughter wanted answers... but Cassiopeia had no desire to answer them – her assault was still too new, too close, and she was nervous now when anyone got too near. Her feelings of safety from such an attack had been violated as much as she had, and she didn't know if she'd ever feel safe again.

She had been peripherally aware that her husband was nowhere to be found, but it hadn't really impacted her at that point. She had needed that space from him and everyone else – hell, to be truthful, she still did... and she wasn't sure she'd ever feel comfortable with a lot of beings around her again.

Like now, with the denizens of the spirit world surrounding her.

Her throat closed up as she tried to answer Andromeda, her breathing going rapid and almost hysterical as she tried to draw enough air to speak. She failed, and all she was able to give her daughter as answer was a wide-eyed, terrified appeal.

'Don't make me speak of it... please don't make me go through it again...'

The younger woman stared at her mother and fearfully wondered just what was going on. Because something terrible certainly was...

And it appeared that Cassiopeia held answers to at least some of it, but she was unwilling to speak. As haunted as it had made her mother feel, maybe trying to get answers out of her right now was a bad idea.

For the moment she – and everyone else – would have to wait for answers. Her mother's state was much too fragile currently, and Andromeda, never having seen her like this, was worried sick. Since her mother's well-being was first and foremost in her eyes, she wouldn't force it. She couldn't hurt her mother that way, and to hell with everyone else.

With a decisive expression, she stepped between her mother and all the others crowding around.

Scorpio stepped forward with a challenging light in his eyes, unwilling to drop the topic. "I say she needs to talk. All of our power is being sucked away, weakening all of us, and the one with the answers refuses to divulge them? No. This is not right. So I will say it again – she needs to talk. Whatever situation she is caught in is now dragging us down, too. That gives us every right to demand answers."

Andromeda stood to her full height and studied him with a narrowed expression. Then she said, "I will fight off anyone who attempts to come near," as a perfect sapphire globe of pure power sparked into existence between her cupped hands. "If you wish for answers, then you can get them when Seirei-o returns. Until then, you'll back away and leave us some space," she ordered, raising her aura enough to push some of the more stubborn spirits back.

Cassiopeia watched her daughter defend her so staunchly, and wept silently as she continued to huddle as far away from anyone else. She was a weak, broken woman, and she no longer knew who to trust anymore.

Except for her husband. She trusted him, but she also knew him. She knew how livid he'd been when she'd fearfully explained to him what had happened to her. He'd been angrier than she'd ever seen him, actually. After storming around the main receiving room of their palace, he'd suddenly came to a complete halt and looked struck, for a moment. Then he'd turned to her and become so solicitous, worrying for her and trying to do anything that he could think of to focus her mind on other things so she could forget her pain. But after the first week something changed in him, and he began disappearing for longer and longer periods of time.

'Oh Cepheus, truly... what have you done?'

~~LoLu~~