Chapter 3
"LUCY!" Natsu, Loke, and Gray shouted at once, rushing to where she fell. Ezra bent over her as Happy sat at her head, slowly stroking her hair.
"I am alright," Lucy said, struggling to get up and take stock of her body. Near as she could tell, he had mostly knocked the breath from her. Her body felt heavier, slower, and her magic was unsteady. "It feels almost like he took some of my magic," she told those now circled around her, "Help me up, please."
Natsu and Loke took her hands and pulled her to her feet, Gray still watching their surroundings just to be sure. Loke's form fluttered at bit. "You are definitely not alright," he said quietly, "If it is a spell only for Celestial mages, my king will know of it. I will return now and see what I can find out, please be careful Lucy." He placed his hand against her pale cheek before fading out in a shimmering golden light.
She braced herself against Natsu, her partner helping to hold her steady until her legs quit shaking. "Will you be able to walk?" Ezra asked, doing a quick check over her body to make absolute sure that there were not obvious wounds.
"I think so." Lucy thought for a moment, "It feels almost as if I spent hours in the water, that moment when you come out and your body feels almost too heavy," she told them, it was the best comparison she could think of. "I am not in pain anywhere."
"We should take the train." Natsu said grimly, "We can be back in four hours." He ignored the looks of shock on his friend's faces. Lucy was way more important than avoiding motion sickness.
"Damn, I must look awful." She laughed at the thought of Natsu willingly getting on a train, but she did not argue. The slow, constant pull on her magic was worrying.
"Happy, can you fly strait to the guild and let them know what is going on?" Ezra asked him, unsure if he could hold his winged form that long.
"Yes." He nodded, big tears in his eyes, but not falling. "Will you be ok, Lucy?" he snuggled against her.
"I will be fine Happy," she told him, hugging him tightly. "I will see you at home soon, ok? You be careful." Releasing him, she watched as he flew away, then began to walk back toward where they had hidden Ezra's cart before entering the forest. Lucy measured each step carefully until she was sure her feet would hold her. She managed to make it to Gray, who did not give her the option of continuing on. He picked her up despite her protests and they all began to run, the feeling of time slipping away making them faster.
Fairy Tail was quiet, an occurrence that only happened a few times in all of its history. It was as if the very building itself held its breath, awaiting news of one of it cherished members. It had been a little over two hours since Happy had returned alone with the news that Lucy had been hurt. Levy was already pouring over books, trying to find out anything she could on Celestial mages and spells that affected them and no one else. So far she had had no luck with only a few vague references to go on. The rest of the guild milled around on the floor or drinking at the bar where the master sat, his eyes on the newly repaired doors.
They all tensed as they were pushed open by Ezra Scarlett, her expression giving nothing away. Following behind her was Gray, who set several bags down by the door. Natsu came in last, Lucy on his back, arms wrapped around his neck as she rested her head against her shoulders. She heard the scraping of chairs and feet rushing in her direction. Lucy raised her head and smiled at the concerned faces of her friends and chosen family. "I am alright, guys, I am just very tired. My team," she said affectionately, "refused to let me walk." She waved weakly at the thunder tribe who looked down from their usual perch, their faces missing the usual smirks she had grown so fond of. Looking out over the room, she knew that they were not buying it at all. Sighing, she dropped her head again. "Put me down, Natsu."
He look like he would argue for a moment, but allowed her to slide to her feet. Natsu kept ahold of her hand and walked her to the bar where she sat down next to master Makarov sat on the bar. He patted her hand comfortingly. "We will sort this out, Lucy, be patient with them until then."
"Here Lucy, maybe this will help." Mira placed her favorite drink before her, concern clear in her eyes.
"Oh, fuck." Levy's whisper was loud in the unnatural quiet. Her wide eyes locked with Lucy's.
"What is it, shorty?" Gageel asked from his usual spot behind her. He had been watching over her for quite a while, even before the s class trials. The only thing that kept him from staking a claim was guilt from where he had hurt her in another life.
"Levy, did you find something?" Lucy asked, perking up a little.
"There are two spells that can directly affect a Celestial mage's magic the way that you described. Mahou Sabaki of Eisei is the most common and still only a little is known about it. From what I understand, it will basically drain your magic and until the caster ends it, a strong healer breaks it, or it takes your life." She hesitated.
"And the other?" Gray asked. It could easily be seen by all that she did not want to reveal the other spell.
"It must be really bad if you don't want to tell me about it." Lucy looked up at her.
"The second is called Tejina Dorein of Aiyoku. It is thought to be created by Zeref." Levy said, looking away.
"Levy…" Lucy whispered.
"Is there a way to tell which one she has been hit with?" Makarov asked the word mage.
Surprisingly, a light blush covered her cheeks. "Yes, there is." She opened the book and read from the paragraph. "Aiyoku will show itself in a kiss by an exchange of magic." Levy looked everywhere but at Lucy, "Um, we need someone to kiss her." She mumbled, staring up at the ceiling.
The room seemed to still, as if the very walls had tensed. "WHAT!?" Lucy cried out, shocked look on her face. Pandemonium broke out. Natsu and Gray seemed to tackle each other, others soon falling into the fray while she watched with owl like eyes.
The guild master started to move, but Mira laid a restraining arm on his shoulder. "Your heart would never hold up, old man," She said mildly, making Cana, who sat on his other side, laugh. She thanked the heavens that her father was not here for this. Still chuckling, she downed her drink.
"Oh for crying out loud," Ezra said, she stomped over to Lucy and raised her chin, kissing her. Instantly, she felt the drain on her magic as it leached out of her body into Lucy's. Breaking away, she stumbled back into the chair beside the younger girl. Was this what Lucy had been feeling, the tired, heavy feeling only stayed for a moment. The sound of gasps made Ezra look back at her friend, whose cloths began to change shape, leaving her with an armored bikini top and mini skirt.
The brawl in the center of the room had stopped the m0ment Ezra had touched Lucy, the men's eyes wide and teary with the exception of a masked Jallal. What little could be seen of his face was bright red as he braced his back against the wall. "I don't know whether to cry or cheer." Gray commented as Lucy squealed and covered herself with a nearby table cloth Mira tossed her way.
"Yeah." Natsu agreed as they got up from the floor.
"Damn." Levy said, too worried to laugh at the crazy mess going on around her. When the room quieted again, she came closer to Lucy, bringing the one book that had a small passage about Zeref's cruse for light maidens. "Lucy, you have been given Tejina Dorein of Aiyoku. There are three ways to break it, but the book only mentions two."
"What are they?" She asked, feeling slightly better from the magic borrowed from Ezra.
Levy sat down as if she would be far rather be facing a firing squad. "To break it, you would have to be, um, intimate with the caster of the spell or the creator of the spell."
"And if I don't" her voice was harsh, as if she had spent hours screaming at the top of her lungs. Her heart gave a painful thump in her chest, she could not have heard that right.
"It will drain your magic until it consumes your life. You'll die, Lucy." There was no leeway in her gaze, no hope that this was just some kind of massive cosmic joke.
"No fuckin way!" Natsu growled, slamming one flaming fist into the table next to him, sending it flying and splintering two others.
The doors open again, revealing a boy of about fourteen with sandy blonde hair in a blue uniform. "uh, e..excuse me, delivery for Fair Tail?" his light green eyes looked awed and terrified at the same time.
Makarov jumped from the counter and went to him as Gray put out the flaming tables. Lisanna was trying her best to calm Natsu down while Lucy was lost in her own mind, praying that she was somehow stuck in a weird nightmare and Natsu would hop on her bed and wake her up at any moment.
"I am the master of Fairy Tail," he told the child, signing the form and taking a small familiar looking black bag from him. "Thank you." Maky gave his 'grandpa' grin and sent the boy on his way. Then he moved to the center of the room, having the details from the attack, he knew that whatever was inside was most likely from the enemy. He opened the bag under the watchful eyes of the guild. Inside was a communication stone, a light pink crystal about the size and weight of a small apple, and a light blue egg shaped crystal. Cursing under his breath, he set the pink one on a clear table and activated it.
The voice of the man who shot her filled the room. "Hello again, Lucy Heartfilia," he said cheerfully sweet. "If you little fairies over there are as smart as you should be, you would have realized how helpless your dear light maiden's situation now is and how dire it is that she come to me. Or if you would rather, you could track down Zeref, either way, my gift is presented." The sound of laughter followed. "I will make it easy for you, Miss Lucy. Take the blue stone and come outside, that is all you need to do. I know that you are getting weak right now. You can wait until tomorrow morning and possibly still be good enough to walk, but things will start to go downhill from there. The choice is yours, be my gift or die. I think we all can agree that that would be a complete waste." The light in the crystal died, just before Natsu smashed it.
"Levy, you said there was a third way, where can we go to find it?" Gray said stalking close to her, causing Gageel to partially block his view of the girl.
"I am not sure, Gray" she told him with watery eyes, "But I will look until I find something!"
"I can help with that." Loke's voice was heard. A bright gold light flashed along with an even brighter liquid silver one that appeared near where Lucy was sitting, coming to grips with things. The Leo stepped out of his trade mark color. He went to Lucy and stood by her side.