Chapter 59 – Ruins of Ruin
This week was interesting to me. A couple of my favorite stories came out with new updates, so I'm feeling chipper to update as well!
Guest: While Nic's Pokémon all have unique personalities; they aren't perverted one bit. Sorry, but they're all very mature.
Enjoy this next one!
To Recap:
The Legion Corps attacked Fairy Tail for Lucy's clock hand, but fortunately for her, Nic and his Pokémon arrived just in time to drive them away; and a helpful ally in the name of Pavo showed up as well. The next day, a small group went to Lucy's old home to find clues, finding one in the form of a picture book. They were followed by Dan and Samuel of the Legion Corps and the two manage to memorize the book's content, giving them equal ground in the Holy War.
Chapter 59 – Ruins of Ruin
Later on that day, everyone was seen back at Fairy Tail, where they tried to assess the situation at hand. Lucy was sitting at a table alone, re-reading the book. While she was doing that, everyone else gathered around the other.
"Sounds like we got some competition." Cana said after hearing Vanessa talk about the events transpiring a few hours earlier.
Vanessa nodded in distaste. "Unfortunately. I can't imagine why this Holy War is happening to begin with." Her thoughts were interrupted when she found something missing. "And where's Sophie?"
"Is she still recovering?" Natsu asked.
Cana put hands to her hips. "Oh relax, blondie's gonna be here any minute. We both managed to recharge our Magic Power and get some shut eye while we were at it."
As if on cue, Sophie arrived with the clock piece in hand. She yawned as she advanced towards everybody. "Sorry for the holdup guys."
"It's alright, Sophie. Handling that clock piece and the events involving last night does leave quite a toll." Makarov noted. "Though I fear keeping it in a single possession for too long can be dangerous."
"You've got a point, Master." Nic brought up. "The Legion Corps are still after the clock pieces. It'll be no surprise if they try to attack us again just to get the clock hand."
Natsu punched his own palm. "And when they do, we'll be ready!"
"Uh, Natsu? Remember you got your butt handed to ya by Sugarboy, remember?" Natsu commented.
"Shut up, Happy! I was getting warmed up!" He barked.
Pavo had crossed arms. "These clock pieces sure are important, and this idea of a war is not very easy-going in any perspective sought." He confirmed his position.
Makarov closed his eyes. "Agreed."
A sudden chair screeching the floor got everyone's attention, and they all turned to find a surprised Lucy standing up and faced them with the book in her hand.
"I managed to figure some things out." The Celestial Mage said.
Natsu crossed his arms. "Yeah? Like what?"
Lucy pointed to the book. "My Dad followed the book to the letter."
"And what does this mean?" Erza asked.
"That there's more facts than simple fiction written." Lucy explained. "The story is about a girl who searches for six keys spread all over the world. These keys were said to bring happiness to the young girl, but in turn, brought great misfortune to everyone around her."
Gray's face twisted. "Geez, guess happiness comes with a price."
"I know my happiness is priceless!" Juvia looked with hearts for eyes at her beloved Gray.
Nic looked at Lucy and took a step forward. "How does the story begin?"
Lucy looked down at the book, scrutinizing the contents very briefly. "Well it says here, that the first key takes a journey."
"What that's crazy. Keys don't take journeys." Natsu remarked in disbelief.
Gray groaned and looked at Natsu. "Come on man, get with the program. It's a metaphor."
"So where the heck did it go?!" Natsu barked at the Ice Mage.
"Do we have to spell it out for you? Think about it. Where'd the Legion Corps strike first?" He asked, Of course the Fire Dragon Slayer immediately realized the idea and realized Fairy Tail was the first target.
Lucy confirmed for him. "That's right. Michelle carried the clock hand; in other words, it took a journey. Everything that has happened so far is because the clock hand's journey was the catalyst." Everyone took a long silence as Lucy then looked down at the pages of the book. "The little girl then goes in search of the five remaining keys, finding them in a variety of places. And she finds the last one in a cathedral."
"A cathedral?" Erza looked in the direction of Magnolia. "Do you think…?"
"No, it's not the Kardia Cathedral; in fact, it's nowhere near Magnolia."
Nic looked from Erza to Lucy. "How is it that you know?"
"When I was young, I read this story over and over. It was my favorite book out of all of them." Lucy reminisced with a frown. "Then one day, I realized that the places the girl traveled to…were real." She looked back up at the guild members. "Then if that's the case, then my Dad hid the clock pieces in those other five spots." The blonde turned towards Michelle. "Did he ever mention this?"
Michelle hiccupped before turning away. "No, sorry. Mr. Jude was very quiet when he passed."
Lucy's frown deepened as she turned back to the others. "In any case then those five clock pieces should be in those spots. If so, then we should have no trouble finding the rest. So who's with me?"
Everyone around her retained an uneasy silence, unsure of this whole idea.
Lucy's moral began to get defensive. "Come on guys! Whatever happened last night and this morning with the Legion Corps, we can't let them do as they please! I'll go by myself if I have to!"
Natsu stepped forward. "Well I ain't standing by while some punks get ahead of us. I say we get this little race started."
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
Michelle sniffled. "I…I'll go with you."
"Well from the looks of it this is one-sided." Sophie turned towards the ones on her left, "And it looks like we have a lot of ground to cover."
"This is too much guess work." Makarov's voice got everyone's attention. "We don't know the Legion Corps' motives or directives other than this Holy War. Gathering these clock pieces are also what bothers me because we don't know what gathering them might bring. Therefore we must do whatever we can to stop this chaos."
There was a silence as he announced them getting involved.
Erza was the one to break the still air. "I'll take care of assigning teams."
The fresh sea air was refreshing to the nostrils of everyone aboard. The sea waves and coastal breeze was like a sweet treatment from a spa…that is, unless you take in the hideous sounds of Natsu vomiting over the side of the ship, the contents splattering in the sea.
Lucy sweatdropped as she sat in a chair right next to Michelle. "Well this sure is a journey."
"Yeah, a journey out of Natsu's stomach and into the ocean!" Happy joked.
Natsu recoiled slowly and lurched over the ship's edge, groaning with a pale face. "S-Shut up Happy." He then put a hand over his mouth as his cheeks puffed. He faced the open seas again, giving the sea yet another gift from his stomach.
This was dated one hour after Erza assigned teams. The team heading overseas was comprised of Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Michelle, Romeo, Nic, Vanessa, and Pavo. And much to the questioning of some, Lucy decided to take the key along.
Vanessa sweatdropped. "Poor guy wishes Wendy were here."
Lucy sighed. "Unfortunately even Wendy's Spell won't work because he's become immune."
"Are you still sure it was such a wise idea bringing the clock hand along, Lucy?" Nic asked, steering the gut-grossing conversation in another direction. "I know the key shouldn't be in the same location for long, but don't you think this rather bold?"
Romeo stepped in. "Maybe it'll be like a radar?"
"Ah, the boy might be onto something!" Pavo stated. "Perhaps the key shall be like a homing device!"
Nic, his sunglasses on, didn't find any reason to argue. He chose to go along with the idea since it could prove to be useful, but if they ran into the Legion Corps, then things might get messy. He allowed the matter to pass as he let the cool sea breeze brush his head and short, slanted black hair.
Lucy got up from her seat and leaned over the balcony, looking out at the swaying waters. "…towards chaos. Why would anyone want that?"
"Excuse me." An unknown voice caught everyone's attention. "Might you be the members of Fairy Tail?"
The voice belonged to a tall man with the looks of an archeologist. His thick beard and facial hair were the primary features of him. On both of his sides were three shriveled up elderly archeologists. Their sudden appearance on the ship from out of the blue caught Nic in a startled manner, and he took up a defensive stance while keeping a distance.
"And who are you?" The defensive person with sunglasses asked.
"Actually we're members of the Archeological Society." The tall man announced while the three small, elderly men quivered.
"You mean you're archeologists?" Lucy asked.
"Indeed." One of the short elders said. "And we've become we've heard Fairy Tail is searching for pieces of the clock. Is this true?"
Saying they were all surprised would just about sum it up. Nic and the others were caught astonished by this information, but didn't take any vital action.
"Y-Yeah." Lucy said, still getting over her startled behavior.
"And where did this information come from? Hmmmm?" Pavo inquired suspiciously while hiding the current clock piece under his cape, far out of sight.
"Now that hardly matters now, right?" Another elder asked.
The tall man then took lead. "We'd actually appreciate it if you stop your pursuit for the clock."
"What?!" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. "How come?!"
Another elder spoke. "According to the data we've collected, we've learned that the clock pieces are scattered all over in ruins, shrines, and other various locations." He took the rlarge telescope and looked at Lucy through it. "And your guild is trying to collect them all, correct?"
Vanessa blinked. "How did you know?"
The tall archeologist approached her with a stern look. "After years of studying The Key to the Starry Heavens we've actually came across a very simple conclusion."
"Such as?" Lucy asked.
"It's so simple! We've learned that the locations in the book that the girl traveled to are actual locations here in Earth Land. Those include actual shrines and monuments. Our ultimate goal as archeologists is to keep these sites from getting destroyed."
"If you and your friends go prancing around willy-nilly in ruins, you could very much damage what was before us." An elderly archeologist pointed out.
"They're remnants of our cultural heritage and must be respected." Another elderly man stated.
Lucy blinked before she shook her head with a sad smile. "You've gotta be kidding me." She remarked. "I figured all of that out as a little kid when I read the book. I can't believe it took you this long to realize."
The four archeologists gawked as this revelation and were left unbound by shame as Lucy beat them by light years.
"Wow Lucy, you're smarter than I thought." Happy said with mild surprise.
"I'd shut up if I were you." Lucy stated angrily.
The tall man then got into Lucy's face. "Listen! Please! It's imperative you forget about the clock at once-!"
He was stopped and recoiled when Nic appeared in front and quickly held out Cut in a flash, startling everyone and making the tall man recoil back to his pals.
Nic didn't seem too pleased. "You'd be wise to ease on your approach." He warned. "Besides, we've already made our goal firm, so there's no turning back, regardless of what you say."
Lucy then proceeded off of what Nic said as she took a more assertive front. "Yeah. We understand that the ruins are very important…but this is my Dad's dying wish!"
This sudden reason caused the archeologists to widen their eyes and gasp. Nic sheathed Cut away and had Lucy continue with thin tears in the corners of her eyes.
"He waited for 7 long years, he waited so long, for me! He believed that I could stop the world from plunging into chaos! He left the task to me and no one else! That's why I'll never give up because I don't wanna let him down!"
Michelle teared up heavily, as did Pavo as waterfalls were running down his cheeks. The others looked down at the flooring at Lucy's exclamation and watched as she wiped to tears from her own eyes.
A long silence passed before the tall archeologist finally realized this dream of Lucy's and closed his eyes.
"Actually…" His eyes were filled with sparkles with a glow. "That the most moving speech in my life!"
Another archeologist nodded.
"It's touching to see a young woman devoted to her family." Another elder archeologist with sparkles in his eyes announced.
As the sentimental scene was beginning to dial down, a sudden strong sea breeze made everyone's hair wisp and Natsu, who was still hurling over the edge, was caught unbalanced and fell overboard, splashing into the water.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.
"He's gonna drown!" Happy yelled, seeing Natsu flail in the water.
Surprisingly, the four archeologists were seen running towards the edge of the boat and jumped into the water. Everyone watched as the four began swimming towards Natsu.
"Any friend of Lucy Heartfilia's is actually a friend of ours!" The tall archeologist exclaimed. "We always help out our friends!"
The tall archeologist and his four men managed to surround the motion sick Natsu as the waves left him all sickly like he was on a vehicle. The four men, despite their physique, threw the Dragon Slayer into the air and back onto the ship, leaving him to land on his face with puffed cheeks still.
"Thanks…" He muffled through his sick behavior.
"Consider it a thank you for touching our hearts with your father's wish!" The tall man called out as he and his colleagues floated in the water. "We wanna wish you safe travels and best of luck to you in hopes of fulfilling your father's last wish!"
Lucy waved back at them with a smile. "Thank you! Safe travels for you too!"
The ship with everyone on board went off, but as it went off, Vanessa came to a realization.
"Uh…did we just leave people floating in the sea with complete disregard?"
"Trust me, they'll be fine." Nic said. He looked out with his sunglasses glistening the sun's rays as he began to listen to his metal music.
"Well she sure has the Heartfilia stubbornness. I must say, I was surprised." And elder archeologist said as he floated in the water.
"Hm, what an unlucky coincidence." Another archeologist stated. "What do you think, Jean-Luc?"
Jean-Luc continued bobbing in the water. "As things are now, I'm afraid even if we stop Lucy, the clock pieces will be found regardless."
The sun was shining ever so brightly through the grasslands as Erza led her group with a large cart of suitcases. The group she had was comprised of Wendy, Carla, Cana, and Sophie.
As the sunlight beamed down on them, Cana put her hands behind her head and looked relaxed. "Now this is what I call a mission."
"You can say that again." Sophie agreed, stretching her arms over her head.
"It feels like we're like the girl in the story." Wendy remarked. "She traveled all over the world to find the keys. I'd imagine her journey was as nice as this."
Carla looked up at Wendy. "How naïve, don't forget that in the story she maintained happiness while misfortune reigned wherever she went."
"Well let's just be glad we're all not ruining lives as we go along." Sophie remarked.
"True to that." Cana agreed.
"My friends." Erza's voice caught their undivided attention, in which they turned off to the side to find her luggage in place and she was having something very out of place – a picnic. "Would you join me?"
"Uh…I'm sorry, what?" Sophie wasn't sure how to assess the scenario at hand. A picnic out of the blue was just too peculiar, even Cana showed massive confusion.
Erza sat on her knees as she looked on at the group with a smile as well-prepared food was placed all around. "My, it's certainly is a wonderful day for a picnic, don't you agree?"
Cana put a hand to her hip. "You're joking, right?"
"This is Erza we're talking about." Sophie groaned.
Erza looked passionately at the space in front of her. "I've always dreamed of having a picnic."
"Uh, okay~?" Cana wasn't sure how to process this information as the mighty Titania was having sparkles in her eyes with a big smile and enjoying a small bite of a sandwich.
Sophie was mind-boggled just as much as her friend. A thought then came to her mind and she mischievously smirked.
"Oh my, Erza." She chimed. "What a predicament! You should've had Nic come along!" Her tone obviously feigned surprise, but Cana caught on quickly once she saw the still look on Erza's face.
The brunette smirked just as mischievously. "Oh yeah. I'm sure Nic would love to be out here with ya."
Erza's face turned bright red at the thought of having Nic here with her. His warm smile, his blue eyes, and the very thought of the other side by side and laughing while having a glorious picnic alone in the pleasant fields.
"Now that you mention it, Cana." Sophie added on. "I was wondering why Erza chose to have Nic go elsewhere? Perhaps he'd be here with a picnic with her. You know, days on end, alone?"
The two giggled as she saw Erza shake at the very epiphany of not bringing along Nic. Cana turned around and closed her eyes as she put her arms behind her head.
"Perhaps if she brought along an omelet or two, maybe she'd watch Nic enjoy her cooking even more." Cana chimed. "Oh well. Guess she'll just have to spend her first picnic without him~." She opened one eye and glanced back at Erza.
Sophie's eyes widened briefly as she thought of adding even more fuel to the flame. "Hmmm!. Maybe she was thinking of Nic when making this picnic. You know…pic-Nic?"
That just about sent Erza over the edge as her face was red. "SILENCE!" She huffed and puffed as Cana and Sophie laughed at her dazed state of thinking of Nic.
Carla shook her head. "How ironic. The strongest woman in Fairy Tail, and her enamored self can't stop thinking of Nic."
Wendy nervously laughed at the seen as Erza calmed down.
Behind Erza, a commotion went on and as she was still calming down from a steaming fantasizing head, Sophie and the others took notice of some thugs with horses, which were really men in costumes, riding in.
"Alright, who gave you ladies permission to have a picnic here?" A tough-toned thug asked.
Erza was brought out her thoughts as a shadow cascaded over eyes so no one could see them. She slowly turned to look over her shoulder.
"Who? No one." She said in a hollow tone.
Another thug held up his sword. "You're trespassing on our grassland! We can't have people picnicking whenever they want!"
Wendy smiled nervously. "Is it me, or is everything today about picnics?"
Sophie became a little uneasy. "I got a bad feeling about this."
Erza slowly put the one sandwich she bit into back where she got it from and slowly stood up. "Let me get this straight. It's prohibited to have a picnic here just because you said so?"
One of the thugs pointed a sword at her. "Hey what do you know? They're from Fairy Tail guys! Rumor has it that they've been going about looking for treasure!"
"Well this sure is our lucky day! Treasure and food!" Another thug remarked. The other two (five if you count the men in horse costumes) laughed hardily with him.
Cana was caught in surprise. "How'd word get out already?"
Carla crossed her arms. "It must be the Legion Corps. They're trying to get in our way."
Erza turned around and saw the thugs, and 'horses' laughing as they began to chow down at the various meats and sandwiches provided, not giving a care to the world. As they mind their own business and ate, Erza's fists were shaking heavily and her body gave off a red aura. She growled low and her eyes glowed bright as a dark shadow cast over her face.
"I'll never forgive you!" She roared low. "This was the first picnic of my life! Requip!"
Erza glowed an in a flash appeared in her Lightning Empress Armor, her spear discharging blue electricity in a crazed fashion. Her monstrous glare struck fear into the thugs' hearts.
"Uh oh!" Cana exclaimed.
"I was afraid of this. Nice knowing them." Sophie sighed.
"Those miserable fools will be barbequed!" Carla shouted.
"Uh…Erza?" Wendy called out.
"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! SAY YOUR PRAYERS!" Was all Wendy could see as her answer before she shot the thugs relentlessly with a thousand blue lightning bolts. The endless discharge and guys screaming out of sheer shock (pun intended) went on as Erza's anger spiked.
The bolts of lightning were like Thor's wrath, only Thor's wrath wasn't as fierce as Erza's as she let out cries and shot even more lightning.
Cana reeled back. "Man, she's going overboard."
Carla shook her head. "All of this over a silly picnic."
Sophie sweatdropped. "You know…I'm actually glad Nic didn't come along."
Erza's glare sharpened. "For as long as I live, I will never forgive you!" Her spear charged up a huge sphere of blue lightning and she brought it down like a mighty hammer, engulfing everything in a large field of electricity.
The thugs were seen burned to a crisp and flying off into the sky, becoming glints.
As the dust settled, Erza huffed as she let out all her anger.
Sophie raised a brow. "Well…I think we'll skip lunch today."
The group soon found themselves in the middle of a desert, despite being on seas not too long ago. How they got from sea to desert is something that'll be hard to figure out. Point being is that they had no idea where they were going.
After a small lunchbreak, Nic's voracious appetite was filled and he and the others soon found themselves in front of some old floating relic in midair. Said relic was all battered and broken, but was intact for the most part.
"What do you think it is?" Michelle asked.
Lucy was currently holding the clock hand and she was just as confused as Michelle. "I'm not sure, but…it kind of looks like a door maybe?"
Natsu scrutinized it further. "Huh? Now that you mention it, it does have a keyhole in the middle."
Lucy then pulled out on of her keys. "Then just leave this to…" Lucy caught herself and slowly retracted her hand from the air. Her confidence downgraded drastically. "Oh right."
Everyone had a moment of silence fall for Lucy's predicament as her Spirits wouldn't show, as none have for 3 years.
Trying to lighten things up, Pavo smiled. "Oh don't be so down, chum! Please allow me to pick the lock!"
Lucy and everyone watched as Pavo took one of the peacock heads off of his shoulders and used the sharp beak on the end to pick the lock. The lock was heard twisting and reacting as the beak turned inside.
"Good thinking!" Romeo commented.
As Pavo picked the lock, the entire keyhole and everything else began to shine a golden light that illuminated the area. The entire structure slowly began turning clockwise and the light began to dim.
Lucy blinked. "Uh…I got a bad feeling again…"
And she was right as the sand swirled under everyone and they all screamed as they fell below the surface. Everything around them was swirling in sand and it was so much to process in one go. They all saw sand and the next thing they knew was that they were at the bottom of a huge chamber, seeing only a glint above as it was sunlight.
"Hey." Natsu said, trying to get up. "Is everyone alright."
"Well I've felt better." Happy commented.
"I think that was a little too much sand to take in." Vanessa groaned as she got up.
Nic slowly got up, as did Pavo. Everyone slowly arose, and Michelle let out a waterfall of sand in her mouth, much to Lucy's bewilderment.
"Aw man, what happened?" Natsu wondered. He turned and everyone else followed his example. In front of them was a large, circular door that was almost the same design as the key structure back up on the surface. "Oh great, another locked door?"
"Looks like it, but there's no key." Michelle said worriedly.
"I got this guys." Lucy said. "This puzzle-solving is where I come in." She turned to face the giant door. "All we have to do is choose the correct phrasing and it'll open. Let's see…Open Sesame!"
The door didn't respond.
Lucy grew a little confused. "Uh, okay? How about…Abra Kadabra!"
The door still didn't answer.
"Why is she referring to Pokémon now?" Vanessa whispered.
The elder Pularis sibling shrugged. "Beats me."
After several phrases, Lucy completely ran out of ideas, and she was huffing hysterically. Finally, her head drooped. "Give me a break, will ya?"
Natsu turned towards Romeo. "Well, you got something to add?"
"Hmmm." Romeo put his hands together. "Hey, Mr. Door, can you please open up for me and my friends?"
The door then began to slide open, moving off to the side.
"Saying pretty please, smart thinking!" Pavo praised.
Lucy was left in a state of disbelief. "H-HUH?!" Her expertise was of no help, and she could only follow the group inside the small tunnel. They all followed through the long passageway, soon coming to another chamber that had four large Zentopia emblems and an odd statue piece of a Zentopia emblem on it.
"What? This is Zentopia's emblem. Why's it here?" Happy wondered.
"Well I guess it makes sense." Lucy said. "You see, these ruins are called the Holy Tomb. It's inscribed in a lot of Zentopia's literature and culture, but its existence was never proven, until now that is." She sounded quite prideful with that remark.
"Wait, so you're saying we're the first ones to step in these ruins?" Michelle asked, handling the clock hand with care.
As they talked, Nic was only hearing muffles as he had this uneasy feeling again. It was almost like some sort of radar was going off in him; no enemy approach, but more of a detection. After his experience with the Plates it was made clear to him.
His eyes widened as he came to a realization. 'This feeling…another Plate? In here of all places?"
"Nic, are you alright?" Vanessa asked, seeing him all spaced out.
Nic composed and turned towards her. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine." He lied, but his sister didn't press the matter further as they had important work to attend to.
"Let's see. If I turn it like this…" Lucy turned the statue 180 degrees counterclockwise.
"And what's the point of that?" Natsu asked.
The four chamber doors began to open, much to Lucy's joy. "That." But her joy was replaced with terror as large statue faces with spikes were seen on the other side of the doors, and slowly began to close in on the group.
"What the heck are those things?" Natsu exclaimed.
"They're so creepy!" Romeo exclaimed.
"I think they're beautiful." Michelle said.
"Seriously?!" Happy exclaimed.
"Never mind how they look! It's a trap!" Nic reminded them as the small protrusions on the walls also reached out.
Natsu's cheeks puffed. "Then how about this-!" Natsu let loose a roaring flame at an incoming statue, but if proved to be backfiring matters as Happy's paws were feeling the floor get hot since he didn't have shoes.
"Natsu, stop!" Lucy shouted.
"Well it seemed like a good idea!" He shouted in surprise.
The statues all closed in and Nic took his sunglasses off. "Alright then…" He glowed, revealing him to have shifted into the Earth Plate. "Then let's go down!"
Lucy turned sharply towards him. "Wait, what?!"
"Dig!"
Nic drove his hands into the earth beneath him, surprisingly making a large hole that expanded greatly. Everyone gawked as they began to fall and they all began to yell and scream as they began to fall beneath the chamber and into the darkness below.
"Why does this keep happening?!" Lucy shouted.
They all began their descent to greater depths, soon finding themselves in yet another chamber that was far larger and had a multitude of statues with a huge hole on one end of the chamber. The whole group was left to groan as they laid down for a few minutes before finding themselves back up on their feet.
"Can this day be over now?" Vanessa groaned as she got to her knees. "I'd rather have a nice nap."
Nic got to his feet and cracked his hand, neck, and abdominal bones, every crack making Lucy flinch. "Who knows how long we have until we reach that clock piece." He turned towards the other direction. "And on another note, I think I'm sensing another one."
This news startled everyone and Lucy greatly. "Wait, hold on! You mean to tell us that there's a Plate down here too?!"
Nic turned his head. "I'm not entirely certain…but I think that if we find the Plate-"
He was then cut off by his sister. "Then we'd might find the clock." She finished,
Natsu punched his palm again. "Alright! This whole adventure just a lot more exciting!"
Romeo turned to various places. "That's great guys, but…where's a door?"
Everyone blinked and looked around, as they all realized that there wasn't any door but statues with people faces on them.
Happy flew close to one and admired it. "Whoa, even the statues are as creepy as last time!"
"Actually…I think those are coffins." Michelle explained, much to Happy's horror.
Romeo walked up to them as well. "So you think there's a trick to these as well?"
"Well considering what happened last time, we better not touch them." Nic stated.
He glanced over and turned to find Natsu glaring at some random statue. He growled as he eyes the whole face awkwardly, and finally had enough as he punched the face right off the statue.
"What is wrong with you?!" Lucy shouted.
The rock fell and Natsu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Whoops sorry. That statue looked so much like Gray that I couldn't help it."
"GAH! YOU CRAZY?!" Pavo exclaimed.
The ground began to shake as they all began to feel strong vibrations, especially Nic. He felt a strong force with his Earth Plate Form still active and he sensed something coming their way, and not good at all. Immediately he took action.
"Everyone, get moving!" Nic shouted, turning away and began running off with his gifted speed.
Everyone turned back to the giant hole, wondering why Nic told them to run, and the answer came when a massive boulder rolled through the hole. "AAAAHHHH!" Everyone followed Nic as they ran away from the huge boulder.
Natsu turned around with flames. "Take this! Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" He threw the ball of fire at the boulder, but the flames didn't even faze it as it rolled along. "AHHHH! I'm sorry my best didn't work!" He wailed along as he turned and ran off with the others.
"When will you ever learn?!" Lucy shouted.
"For the record pyro, this is all your fault!" Pavo exclaimed back at him and his idiocy.
Nic ran on ahead and came to a halt in front of a three-way bridge that was over a pit of darkness. He was surprised as three bridges were in front and everyone else couldn't tell.
"Gah! Three bridges?!" Happy exclaimed.
"Which one is real?!" Vanessa exclaimed.
Nic hurriedly pressed his hands to the ground and closed his eyes. Using his Earth Plate powers, he was pinpointing the density and thickness of the bridges, and when the radar bounced back to him, his eyes opened again.
Nic pointed ahead. "Everyone, the middle one! Now!"
"Right!" Everyone began to follow Nic as he led them down the bridge. As they followed him, the two other bridges began to crumble away. The boulder followed them onto the stone bridge, and they continued running until they saw a second boulder heading their way.
Happy reeled back to a halt. "A second one?! Now what?!"
"I don't know. They got us in a pincer attack." Natsu explained. "We can only jump!"
"What?! I can't jump that high!" Lucy roared.
Natsu clenched his fists. "Dammit. There's gotta be a way…"
Nic glowed and shifted into his Sky Plate Form. His change caught attention and he looked at everyone. "Vanessa, Lucy, hang onto me! Happy, carry Michelle! Romeo, Natsu, Pavo, jump!"
Without hesitation or time to counter, everyone did as told and Pavo grinned as huge as ever. Vanessa and Lucy latched onto Nic as he took flight while Happy shot into the air with Michelle holding onto the key tightly. Pavo twirled in place before he tapped the stone bridge and bounced up high into the air. Natsu and Romeo jumped high as well, and the boulders collided beneath them. The boulders all crumbled beneath them, falling down into the darkness below.
"Alright!" Natsu shouted. "Nice jumping!"
Vanessa perked up. "Alright!"
Nic also smiled, but it quickly faded when the stone bridge began to crack greatly and shattered as well. Everyone gawked as they found themselves descending. Happy was holding up until he was hit on the head by a small rock remnant from the boulders, and he and Michelle went plunging down with everyone.
"AHHHH!" They all screamed.
"WHY IS IT THAT WE'RE ALWAYS FALLING?!" Lucy screamed. "CAN'T WE GO UP FOR ONCE!"
"WHY UNIVERSE?! WHYYYYY?!" Pavo exclaimed. "…oh wait, that's right." Pavo realized that he had the capabilities of a peacock, and he unfolded his huge peacock cape and used his elbow wing appendages to glide safely along the wind.
As Natsu descended, he quickly engulfed his hand in thick flames. "Romeo, grab something with your Magic!"
"Right!" Romeo shot a streaming purple flame and Natsu shot flames of his own in the form of a giant hand. The two fires grabbed the same stone column and they both swung down and latched onto the column.
Nic glowed while descending. "Hang on!" He was revealed to have shifted into the Meadow Plate Form. Everything from before looked the same in terms of V-Neck, pants, and boots, but the coat was now grass green with jungle green edging, as were the sleeves. He also had a jungle green belt to keep it in place.
He fell while holding onto his sister and Lucy. They both held onto him as he was forced to let go. "Vine Whip!" With one hand, he shot a vine that went out and wrapped around one column and used his other hand to shoot a vine and caught Happy, Michelle, and the clock hand. The two were left suspended while Nic kept a tight hold.
"Is everyone alright?" He called out.
Pavo glided and left himself positioned in the air. "Ah! We've all made it!"
"Yeah, we're good." Natsu shouted, still embedded into the column with Romeo.
"We're just a little bumped up is all." Romeo reasoned.
Happy looked down at the darkness while being suspended by Vine Whip. "This stinks. How do we get down from here?"
Vanessa looked down at the darkness with him, looking rather annoyed as to how this was all playing out. "It looks like we're just gonna have to keep going down."
"Looks like it." Nic said.
"Can't we ever hear up once in awhile?" Lucy groaned.
Natsu didn't see any other option. "Well, then let's get moving."
About an hour later they found themselves touching ground again. This time it wasn't any stone ground, but rock, meaning nothing elaborate. There were candles lit all over, and everyone saw underground ruins and the ever growing darkness above.
"Okay, where are we now?" Romeo asked.
"It looks like the lowest level of the tomb." Michelle stated.
"Actually it looks like an underground city to me." Pavo explained. "Quite the awful decorum."
Vanessa sweatdropped. "Right, considering it's only a few centuries old." She sarcastically added.
"Well according to the legends, monks who were in charge of guarding Zentopia lived their entire lives down here." Lucy said. "Imagine never seeing sunlight in your life."
Natsu put his arms behind his head. "Sounds unhealthy."
Vanessa frowned. "Sounds like Nic…" She put her head down. "Sorry."
Despite the sour note and bitter memory, Nic; clad in his normal form, kept a warm smile for his sister. "It's alright, Vanessa. Let's just keep on going, okay?"
Vanessa looked on ahead, a half-grin appearing on her face. "Okay."
Nic looked heed. "And besides, we're getting close. I can feel the Plate's signal greater than before. This should also mean the clock part is also not far behind."
Lucy turned towards Natsu. "Do you smell anything?"
The Dragon Slayer shook his head. "Nah, this funky smell keeps getting in the way like the one in Michelle's hand…" His nose twitched and he sharply turned to another direction. "Wait…you smell that?"
Vanessa lurched as her Aura Magic began to sense impending aura somewhere close by. She turned in the same direction Natsu faced. "What…oh no."
Nic and everyone turned towards their direction, seeing where the source of trouble was. As it turned out, looking down on them was Coco and Dan of the Legion Corps.
"I hate today." Lucy muttered. She then saw Dan and she immediately panicked. With a swift motion she hid herself behind Michelle.
Nic began to step forward. "How did you find us?"
Dan pointed his lance at them. "Samuel told us everything about The Key to the Starry Heavens." The two then took a step down towards them. "And guess what? There's a piece of the clock here as well."
Coco struck a pose similar to a salute. "And Samuel also calculated that the current clock piece is with you, and he was right."
Pavo instantly got irritated. "No! Not you again!"
"The feeling is mutual!" Coco barked back.
Dan's eye caught sight of Lucy behind Michelle and he smiled widely. "Is that my LuLu~? Oh how I've missed you!" And once again his romance clouded his train of thought.
Nic showed dismay while Vanessa facepalmed. "Oh, here we go." They groaned in unison.
Dan scooted closer to Lucy, bypassing Michelle and completely disregarding the clock hand in her possession. "It's destiny that we met again, my sweet LuLu! The thread of destiny binds us as one!"
"How about to take that thread and stitch your mouth shut!" Lucy barked.
"L-O-V-E! True lo~ve!" Dan raptured so much in his fantasies, but that didn't stop himself from blocking a flaming fist from Natsu, using Ricochet as a defense.
"How about you shut up!" Natsu barked. He jumped back and jumped into the air. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He fired a stream of fire, but Dan's Ricochet deflected it in all other directions.
Dan looked away, disinterested. "I can't waste my time with you. Because, love beckons me! Oh yeah!"
Of course he completely disregarded the fire streams shooting about uncontrollable, one of which grazed Lucy's butt and the blonde flailed on the ground. "Ow! Ow! Someone help me! My butt's on fire!"
Nic shifted into the Splash Plate and he used Water Gun to put out Lucy's butt fire. Lucy sighed as the cool water washed away the burning pain.
"Natsu, be careful! You're gonna hurt some of us!" Romeo shouted, but his call fell on deaf ears as Natsu relentlessly punched the shield Dan held. Every attack Natsu threw rushed off in another part of the underground city, bombarding locations with his reckless flames. The nearby structures began to crumble and everyone retreated as rocks fell everywhere. With the rocks and dust used as cover, the group began to make a quick escape.
"Exactly like I planned!" Natsu shouted as they ran off.
Lucy showed dismay. "Yeah right. Still, let's just find the clock piece and Plate so we can-"
"Go for a honeymoon~?" Dan reappeared behind a broken wall, intercepting Lucy and the others. He advanced with a big smile. "Now LuLu pumpkin, we have to water our garden of love!"
"That's the creepiest thing I've ever heard!" She hollered.
Coco appeared behind Dan. "Dan! You and I need to find the clock piece, remember?"
"Did I remember something?" Dan's eyes were filled with hearts. "Of course I remember…I remember my love! L-O-V-E!"
"I thought so." Coco sighed.
"SHUT UP!" Natsu shot another blast of fire at Dan, who had no trouble with deflecting with his Ricochet. As if déjà vu had its time to shine, Lucy's butt was on fire again.
The young blonde flailed on the ground once more. "Ow! Ow! Why me?! Why me?!" Her thick bottom was put at ease when Nic's Water Gun was applied once again, putting out the fire once more and leaving her a sulking mess as she was burnt twice now.
Natsu looked back. "Sorry!"
Dan pointed his lance at Natsu. "You dare burn my love?! For that I'll destroy you in a merciless fashion!" His lance began to get poised to strike. "Prepare for my Magic Lance! Open wide!"
The Dragon Slayer dodged relentlessly as he shifted and evaded every swift, green glowing strike.
"Careful Natsu! If you get hit, you'll be either shrunk or enlarged!" Nic warned.
"Gah! Gwoh! Hah! Hee!" Natsu was being extra careful and heed to Nic's words. He dodged all around the spear attacks and Dan advanced once again as he jabbed relentlessly. As he jabbed repeatedly, he finally got a target…in the form of Lucy.
"YEOW…" Lucy was turned into a puff of smoke. Michelle and everyone briefly gasped as the smoke vanished, and Lucy was seen lying on the ground.
She opened her eyes to find that everything, even Happy, was bigger than her. "Hey! Wait?! What?!"
She realized that she was just shrunk by Dan and everyone looked on with revelation and Pavo's huge mouth hung open in his own way of shock. Lucy was all sorts of disbelief. "No! No! This isn't happening to me!" Even her voice was shrunk like her.
Dan immediately felt mournful of his actions. "GAH! Oh Lucy babe, I'm so sorry my love!" He cried rivers down his face. "I never meant for this to happen to you!" Said river turned into a fountain that sprinkled over Lucy's head. "I'VE SHRUNK THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!"
Lucy thrashed as she squandered out of the fountain of tears. "Turn me back to normal!"
"Yes, right away!" Dan readied his lance and Lucy crossed her arms as she waited for Dan to change her size back to normal, only Dan was found blinking as something sparked within him. He was seen contemplative as he scrutinized Lucy's tint but busty form.
"Uh, is there a holdup?" Lucy asked, somewhat impatient as she wasn't to regular size yet.
"You know…you're a whole lot cuter like this." He chimed. He then picked up Lucy as she was caught surprised. "You were smoking hot before, but now you're the most adorable thing I've ever seen! I'll carry you with me everywhere!"
"So not happening!" Lucy hollered back, but was easily ignored by Dan.
"I'm just gonna keep you like this for just a little longer, okay?" He then suspended Lucy by his waist and held her like a keychain.
"Eh?! She's like a little keychain!" Vanessa squealed.
"Oh gosh! I want a little Lucy keychain too!" Michelle admired.
Lucy's eyebrow twitched. "Will somebody unhook me from this weirdo?!"
Dan walked towards Natsu and Nic. "Now that I have my love by my side, I have the courage of a lion! Nothing can stop me!" He then fired his lance relentlessly at the two. Both individuals dodged; one being shocking in his dodging, and the other being as nimble as a Toxicroak.
Coco ran up to Dan as he jabbed away. "Dan, we can't waste our time with these clowns! We have to find those clock pieces!"
"You got this one. I got business with these two!" Dan hollered.
"I can't because Samuel gave you all the details!" Coco countered.
Michelle reared backwards to protect the clock piece as Pavo and Vanessa got in front of her. Romeo clenched his fists as he was trying to think of something, but nothing came to mind.
"We gotta do something! We can't hit Dan because we might hit Lucy too!" Romeo warned. Lucy was swirling all around on her thread as Dan lurched left and right and she was doing spirals and feeling very nauseous.
Nic dodged once again as his reflexes didn't let up. He went about and scrutinized how Lucy was swirling and unable to control herself. He glowed as he shifted, and Dan momentarily stopped to see Nic shift into his Icicle Plate.
"Hm?" Dan quickly shrugged it off and began his attack again. Nic quickly opened his mouth as Dan aimed his spear at him.
"Haze!" Nic let out a black mist that began to obscure everyone's sight. Dan got the worst of it as he was close range and began to retreat back a little.
"Aw man, what's this? I can hardly see." He stated.
Lucy coughed as well, but for some reason as she inhaled Haze, it wasn't at all like smoke, but it felt like a soothing fragrance. Her whole body began to flash and engulfed her entirely. The next thing she knew, she was unhooked from Dan.
"Natsu! Now!" Nic shouted through the Haze.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" A flaming kick struck Dan's face, sending him skidding backwards out of the Haze and barely kept his footing. He looked back as Haze cleared to find his dear Lucy back to normal size.
"GAH! My love, no~!" He shouted with deep sadness. He then sharply turned towards Nic. "What did you do to my Lucy pie?!"
"I used Haze, a move that resets all stats; in this case, any shrinking or size changing done to Lucy." Nic explained.
"Hm? Stats?" Dan tilted his head. "D'oh whatever! You're gonna pay for coming in between me and my Lucy! Her heart belongs to me and not you!"
Nic sweatdropped and stepped back. "Er, what?! Don't be superficial!"
Vanessa shrugged. "Besides, Nic's heart belongs to someone else."
Nic's cheeks showed a little hint of pink. "Vanessa!"
"Then my love shall not escape!" Dan rushed in towards Nic, but was stopped by Pavo, who gave him a good kick to the face.
"Back off, pal! Descending Peck Memoir!" He kicked downwards in a sharp angle again and Dan skidded on his back until crashing into some rocks. Pavo landed in front of Nic. "AHA! Now it is my turn!"
Natsu stepped right by his side. "And I still owe him for being annoying!"
Nic turned towards everyone else. "Lucy, Vanessa, you and the others take the clock piece and get out of here!" Though he also felt the Plate close by, he couldn't have Dan shrink and keep Lucy again. He had to stay behind and have Natsu and Pavo help in taking the clown out. "Get moving!"
"Okay!" Lucy turned and began to run with Vanessa and the group.
Coco saw the key in Michelle's possession. "We gotta get that clock piece, so hand it over!" She began sprinting with her great speed, almost rivaling Nic's. Romeo turned back and fired a blast of purple fire, but Coco dodged it and kept on running along towards them.
"Hurry! We gotta find the keys!" Vanessa turned towards Lucy. "Any luck on finding the location?"
Lucy pulled out her book as she ran. She looked down at the content. "Let's see…"
WHAM! She ran into a feminine statue and she fell on her back. The eyes of the statues lit up and turned red. Everyone there began to grow uneasy as they got a bad feeling, and they were right as the floor underneath disappeared and began falling. Coco found herself running into the hole and screamed as she fell down.
The several individuals managed to latch onto ledges and were left to hand as they were over a pit, with the bottom being engulfed in skulls of dead remains.
"Oh come on! I ran out of Magic Power?!" Coco shouted. She then saw a skull was right in front of her face. "AAAHHHH!"
Lucy looked at Coco and back at Romeo. "Hold this." Romeo accepted the book with his one free hand and Lucy reached out to Coco. "Hurry, grab my hand!"
Coco looked back at Lucy, seeing her hand extended out and a long silence came in between the two.
Coco finally answered. "I can't accept an enemy's mercy." But her phrase went in the wrong direction as Lucy grabbed her wrist anyway.
"Quit being stubborn!" Lucy told her. A silence fell in between them once again as they looked the other again in the eye and the rocks underneath Lucy began to crumble. The two girls found themselves rolling down the slope that led to the bottom.
"Lucy! Coco!" Vanessa called out. Her eyes also widened when the rocks she held onto chipped off and she wailed as well. She found herself sliding down with the other two girls, all three crashed to the ground and fell down into a narrow chamber of skulls.
"Owww." The three girls groaned as they were sprawled all over the floor.
"Lucy! Vanessa! Are you both alright?" Michelle called down to them.
"Yeah, we can still feel our limbs at least." Vanessa called back up.
"Hang on, we're coming down to get you!" Romeo shouted down to them.
"No, don't worry about us!" Lucy shouted back up. "We can take care of ourselves. You guys just worry about those two clock pieces! Vanessa and I will meet up with you eventually!"
There was a small silence as the Happy, Michelle, and Romeo were rather contemplative, but agreed.
"Okay, but you two be careful!" Michelle called out.
"We will!" Vanessa then turned away and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh geez, just when things aren't as bad as they are now."
"Yeah you can say that again." Lucy agreed. She then turned to look at Coco, who was slowly getting up. "Hey, are you okay?"
Coco looked at her and swatted her away. "I don't need your help! In case you've forgotten, you're the reason we're down here to begin with!"
Lucy balled a fist. "You better watch your mouth little girl or you'll end up somewhere a whole lot worse!"
Coco lashed out just a shard. "I can't think of any place worse than with you!"
"Shut up! Both of you!" Vanessa hollered out, striking the girls' nerves as they flinched to her direction. Vanessa put her hands to her hips. "Now listen!" She sounded a little calmer. "That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we find our way out of here and back to the others."
"Hmph. Whatever." Coco turned away and began walking, much to Lucy's annoyance. Vanessa didn't seem as bothered as she started walking, leaving Lucy at the tail end.
The four made way down of what appeared to be small catacombs, as they saw endless rows of skulls piled up over the other. They've been walking for only a few minutes, but Lucy couldn't help but feel curious. With her anger about Coco subsiding, she decided to ask her.
"So Coco." She started. "What exactly is the Legion Corps' goal? Does the clock pieces have anything to do with it, or what exactly is this Holy War about?"
Coco turned towards her. "Well I got a question for you! Why are you guys getting in our way when you don't know what we're doing? Huh!"
Vanessa crossed her arms under her bosom. "Well for one thing, we don't necessarily like anyone who messes with Fairy Tail. You mess with us, and it's automatically our business."
Coco now turned to her. "Oh yeah? Well even if you did, you'd still end up being outmatched by us!"
Vanessa's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Then how come Nic and our friends whooped your butt the first time?" She argued.
Coco fumed and she growled. She turned away and began walking again.
Lucy sighed. 'Well aren't we all making friends.'
A short while went on again and the three were still traveling down the catacomb. Lucy decided to break the silence yet again.
"We should be careful. There's probably traps like before."
Vanessa nervously sulked as she walked. "Boy aren't we getting lucky today with all the traps."
"Yeah I know, right?" Lucy's agreement was jinxed unfortunately when she found herself stepping on a tile that went down.
"Oh no." Vanessa said.
Giant rock spikes then shot up from the ground and Lucy squealed as she covered up. She thought she was a goner, but then a sudden pop sound was heard, followed by dark slashing all around. The next thing she knew, Lucy was on the floor, moved by Coco.
"Eeeh…" Lucy was saved as Coco slowly got up. "Thanks."
Vanessa smiled. "Nice job, Krokorok."
Krokorok deactivated his Shadow Claw as the remains of the rocks spikes were scattered about on the floor. He then pointed at a fellow debris. "Let me tell you something, stupid spike remain from a spike triggered from a trap triggered by Lucy Heartfilia! You got spiked instead!"
Coco got up as turned away. "Well, you did try and save me from before, so I might as well consider it even when I really save you."
Lucy blinked, but a grin appeared on her face, as did Vanessa.
The three (four if you count Krokorok) eventually marched their way through the remnants of the catacomb without much trouble. They soon found themselves climbing up a staircase with the same look as the tomb they were in previously, meaning they were heading the right direction.
Lucy was still a little peeved of Coco's behavior. "Are you seriously this unfriendly? The Coco I met is a lot like you, which is what makes this weird. Only she's a whole lot nicer."
"That so?" Coco replied as she kept her gaze at the staircase. She and the others finally made it to the top, where Krokorok turned to look back down at the staircase.
He pointed at the staircase. "Let me tell you something unbelievably high staircase! Krokorok does not like how you're so long! I will make you shorter the next time I step on you over and over!"
"Krokorok!" Vanessa ushered without looking back.
The Desert Croc Pokémon turned towards his trainer. "…sorry." He then began walking in pace with the others again.
Coco then turned towards Lucy as they walked, piqued. "So, Lucy, how am I like this other Coco?"
"Aside from your personality, you're both practically the same." The blonde mage responded.
Coco was in disbelief. "What?"
"Yeah. Like I said you both look and sound exactly alike, and believe it or not we started out as enemies too." Lucy remembered the Edolas Coco from a long time ago. She was a really big help with the Legion and along the end of the Edolas adventure. "But by the end, she was one of my closest friends."
"I see, so this happened before you guys came to Kalos." Vanessa added.
Lucy glanced back towards her. "Yeah, that's right. We didn't tell you the full story, did we? I'm pretty sure Sophie told her side of the story to you. We'll tell you soon after this is over."
Coco looked a little at dismay. "That's not me at all, because I don't wanna be friends with a wannabe mage like you."
Lucy stepped towards her, stopping momentarily before continuing the course. "Hey we don't mean to get personal. We just wanna stop the clock pieces from bringing ruin to the world." She then took a pause. "Honestly, if only I got the message from my Dad a lot clearer."
"Wasn't your father this wealthy man? Jude, was it?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, of course he and I never did see eye to eye, even though I am his daughter." Lucy continued to walk, her pacing equal to Coco's. "This isn't an exception either. Why go through all the trouble to hide clock pieces in all of these weird locations?"
"Grah! Clocks are overrated!" Krokorok shouted. "Why can't it be something like a watch instead?!"
"I know." Vanessa agreed. "I wish there an easier way to go about this."
"That's one thing we can agree on." Coco remarked. Lucy and Vanessa then looked at Coco, who took notice. "Mind telling me what's funny you two?"
Lucy looked back ahead. "Oh nothing. It's just…you're silly."
Coco huffed. "Hmph. I am not!"
Vanessa chuckled lightly of Coco's defiance. She stopped when she looked back ahead when they were coming up to a dead end with a human-sized statue in place.
"Huh? A dead end." She figured.
Lucy looked worried. "Do you think we've made a wrong turn?"
"You're both so naïve." Coco began walking towards the statue. "These places always have a secret passage hidden away somewhere."
She stopped in front of the statue with confidence and slowly reached for it.
"Coco! I wouldn't do that if I…" Vanessa's warning fell on deaf ears as Coco touched the chin.
The whole place shook and everyone looked up and saw the ceiling crack above Coco. The ceiling gave way, and Coco screamed as rocks began to fall down onto her.
"Hang on!" Vanessa's hand was covered in teal aura and she launched the aura in a similar fashion to how Natsu and Romeo used their Magic to grab the columns from before. The teal stream coiled around Coco's abdomen as she was unable to act. Coco was yanked as the rocks fell down and dust took up the scene ahead of them.
Lucy was surprised. "Whoa, nice maneuver!"
Vanessa, having a serious look in her eyes, retracted her teal aura. "I picked it up from Natsu and Romeo." The dust then settled. "Coco, are you okay?"
Coco was seen with her legs beneath some rocks as her whole world was dizzy. She was out like a light and it didn't seem like she wasn't gonna be up for quite some time.
"Is she okay?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Lucy! Vanessa!" The sudden call from above made both girls looked up to find the whole breaching above revealed Happy, who also had Romeo and Michelle beside him.
Michelle looked worried. "Are you both alright?"
"We'll pull you guys up!" Romeo called down.
Vanessa and Lucy both looked at each other and looked back at the unconscious Coco. What ran through their minds was the same ideal. Though she was the enemy for now, it'd be sickening to leave her like this. They couldn't take her as well, so they both had to act while they could.
They nodded at the other and Vanessa turned and extended her arm out. "Krokorok, Dig!"
Krokorok understood the idea and didn't have regrets as he clawed through the rock and dust, drilling out enough space to finally dispatch the rock on Coco's legs. He hoisted her over his back and took him over to the girls, where he laid her down. Lucy took out a pink handkerchief and wrapped it around what seemed to be the small injury on Coco's leg. Once the handkerchief was applied, all three nodded before being pulled up by the others.
As they all ran through the tomb, Happy looked at them. "I would've just left her there."
Lucy smiled as she ran. "Yeah, well, it wouldn't sit right with us if we did."
"True." Vanessa agreed, with Krokorok running in tow. All of them made way and began to go deeper into the tomb to find the clock piece.
Back with Coco, she regained consciousness and opened her eyes. She slowly stirred back up and took in her surroundings. Her memories came back and realized that Vanessa and Lucy were gone. She then looked down and saw a handkerchief around her ankle. All she could do was half-grin.
Erza's group stood in front of what seemed to be a very tall tower. It went up for what seemed to be forever, almost similar to the Tower of Heaven. The group looked at the surprisingly tall building with mild surprise.
Erza stood in front of the circular doorway. "We're here."
"The Library of Sorcery has documents and books of almost every Magic accounted for in history. Certainly we might find the clock piece, or at least a clue about it in here." Carla explained.
"But it looks like this place hasn't been visited in a long time." Wendy remarked.
Cana crossed her arms. "Man, just look at the size of this place. I can't even see the top."
Sophie stretched her arms over her head as a smile was on her face. "Ah, such sweet memories!"
Everyone turned towards her in shock. "Wait hold on! You've been here?!" Carla exclaimed.
Sophie looked down at Carla. "Yeah I have. I used to visit this place when I was still working with my father's wealthy merchant business. We always came here when we needed information; which is also where I began conducting my Memory-Make."
Erza extended her arm out, and her Magic Power opened the heavy circular door sideways. When it opened, the site was astounding and disturbing at the same time. Row upon row, column by column, there was endless books lined up beside the other. It was going up into the darkness above.
"You mean there's this many books on Magic?" Cana said, still finding it hard to believe.
"My word, so much knowledge." Carla remarked.
"Yeah, we need to bring Levy the next time we come here." Wendy cheerfully implied.
Sophie took in a very deep breath. "Ahhhh, the sweet smell of old dusty books. How I've missed you!" She sighed. "Don't worry guys, that clock piece is as good as ours. I can navigate through this place like Nic knows Pokémon."
Erza began making way towards a direction. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. Now listen, the Archeology section's on the third section below us. I also remember an old saying on that floor. If we remember right, of which I do, Lucy told us there was a spot similar to that." The Memory-Make Mage then began to walk down the slant that led to the floor beneath them. "And another thing, why is that the Legion Corps got in the way like spreading the word?"
"Probably to cause interference with us getting involved." Cana said, walking behind Sophie as they pressed on towards the next floor beneath.
"That's what I said earlier!" Carla exclaimed. Though no one cared, Wendy nervously laughed.
Erza went down to the next floor, following Sophie. The redhead wasn't saying much as she was keeping focus on the mission at hand, but then the picnic sprung up in her mind. Still remains of a possible first picnic was in her head, and she couldn't help but still see Nic among that ideal.
She closed her eyes and washed away the idea, but she didn't realize that she was being looked at by Cana and Sophie.
"Are you spacing out again?" Cana asked.
"We were just messing with your head, lighten up." Sophie explained.
Erza turned stiff. "Don't be so foolish." She sternly stated. "I was just traumatized by my first picnic being ruined by such savages."
"More like you were the savage one." Carla commented under her breath.
Cana sweatdropped. "You can say that again."
"Shh!" Wendy hushed her.
Still, what bothered Erza was where she stood in this ordeal around Nic. Her mind just went deeper and deeper as the concept grew all the more complicated. Through it was the concept that they were getting interrupted every chance they get. The most recent being no exception, of course seeing Nic humiliate the Magic Council made her chuckle in amusement. It was still hard to comprehend regardless. From the start all the way to now, their affiliation with the other thickened to an unbreakable point. Of course she wanted Nic by her side, so why didn't she bring him along this time? Was she just waiting for the right time to tell him what he meant to her, or was it so that their feelings don't interrupt their mission? If that were the case, they never would've gone on all those adventures together to begin with.
She was so caught up she accidentally bumped into Cana when the mage in a bra came to a stop. The brunette turned around to find Erza snapping out of her contemplative state, noticing how she was having a small pink in the cheeks.
She smirked. "Someone thinking about their love still?"
Erza's eyebrow twitched and she growled. She passed Cana and stood right next to Sophie, who stood in front of a saying. 'Upon the knowledge of angel history, time does rest.'
"Looks like you've found it." Erza remarked.
Sophie nodded. "Two obvious clues are here; either we press a bookshelf, or we take out an individual book."
Cana crossed her arms. "If it were the latter, then this'll take forever and the Legion Corps might find us."
"Well then I guess we better start now." Carla remarked.
"Maybe spreading out will help." Wendy suggested.
"Alright, everyone disperse and start by pressing on shelves. We'll go with that option for now." Erza ordered clearly. She watched as the girls and Exceed spread out and begin looking at the various shelves of books, each labeling a different archeological aspect; from culture of the first civilizations in Fiore, to the history of Magic.
Cana slowly pressed her arm against a shelf's side, but the shelf didn't turn. "Find anything guys?"
Wendy shook her head.
"This isn't as easy as we expected it to be." Carla figured.
"Maybe there's another trick. Maybe we have to sense it magically." Erza figured. "Maybe-!" She found herself falling backwards when she was lightly pressing her back against the shelf behind her. The whole shelf went toppling down.
"Erza!" Sophie and the others ran towards the redhead as she got back up and rubbed the back of her head.
"Are you okay?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." Erza sat up and looked behind her. "But look." In her direction lied what seemed to be a dark passageway that led down to the unknown.
"Well halla freakin llujah! Looks like Sophie was right after all!" Cana exclaimed.
"Let's see where this leads to at least." Erza led the small group onwards towards the dark tunnel, and with the mission at hand and keeping focus over this development, Nic wasn't anywhere in her mind. She trailed with the group until the tunnel finally came to an end.
They were in a dark chamber, of which a large object was seen with golden legs curved upside down. Its size was humungous, at least five times their own.
"We've struck gold!" Cana shouted.
"High five!" Sophie and Cana both shared a high five.
Erza grinned. "Well this turned out better than expected. We can pack it along with my luggage."
Sophie smirked. "And then we can reunite you with your conquering hero~." Sophie teased.
"Guess we'll be expecting a wedding once this whole clock crap is over with." Cana mused. The two girls laughed at their own amusement as Erza growled and her face grew red with embarrassment.
"Just get moving!" She barked back at them, disregarding her feelings of embarrassment rising.
Cana and Sophie chuckled nervously as they may have slacked just a little. "We should be serious now."
"Yeah, that stuff comes later." Cana agreed.
Wendy and Carla sighed, and Erza turned away as a half-grin came across her face, succumbing to the amusement of the scene.
Here's an update for you all. A lot happened over this chapter, and I didn't bother to add the other clock pieces being found, as that would be pointless fillers. As usual I went by the course of the anime, with several tweaks here and there.
In retrospect, the last bit was pretty pointless and boring, but I rather not have written about the Jiggle Butt Gang as that part was completely ridiculous, so I altered it to make it more of a contemplative Erza thinks of Nic moment.
On an unrelated note, I have decided to start setups for this OCxCana story, as I have already figured out my OC's design. I don't know when, but the story's first chapter should be out soon.
Please Favorite, Follow, & Review this story and/or chapter as always guys!
Next Time: Freedom of Religion