IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!
PROFANITY WARNING!
OH MY GOD, I AM LITERALLY SO FREAKING SORRY. I did not mean to be this absent for this long, and I humbly apologize for the fact that I have been unable to update for the past few weeks. I just moved into a new apartment and got through my two weeks of band camp, which is why I wasn't able to write anything. But I'm back and I promise that I will push out as many updates as I can in the following week(s)
Thank you for understanding, and enjoy!
(Continued)
- Lucy v.s. Sherry -
Battle (2)
Taurus the Golden Bull disappeared in a flash of dazzling gold light, a bright smile tugging up the corners of his face as an apologetic glint twinkled behind his wide eyes. His apology lingered in the space surrounding his master even after his physical body vanished back to the Celestial Spirit World, reminding his owner of the strength she needed in order to stand tall against her opponent and to win her battle.
The crushing weight of being pinned to the ground immediately disappeared as soon as Taurus' gate was closed causing Lucy to gasp in relief; all the previous tension of having to fight her beloved spirit gone just as fast as said Bull had arrived and left. Her head lolled to the side, a burst of pride blooming in her chest, as a content grin formed on her face. Lucy allowed herself to momentarily ignore the threat of Sherry and her hard-to-get-around magic in favor of basking in the satisfaction of being able to save one of her friends, which caused her heart to warm in the purest way one could.
The pink-haired, Marionette Magic Wizard, on the other hand, was not in such good of a mood as her enemy was. Her face was flushed a light pink out of anger, displaying her utter annoyance for the surprising turn of events, as her eyes widened in disbelief. A thin trickle of sweat ran down the back of her neck as she struggled to wrap her head around how, as she would put it, the "blonde bimbo" could get past her Marionette Magic, and how Lucy was able to regain enough control over her spirit to send him back to his rightful home while he was still under her control. The Stellar Spirit Mage should have been defeated by the hand of her own magic, by her very own spirit, yet, for some reason, this wasn't the case at all.
Which is why Sherry couldn't help but gulp, feeling slightly more anxious than before.
No one had ever been able to overcome her magic like that before.
The pinkette shook her head. This was not the time to be feeling flustered! Just because the blonde was able to overcome her magic one, completely on a whim, didn't mean that she would ever have the opportunity to do it again. Sherry had already proven that Lucy's Dragon Slaying Magic stood no chance against any of her 'Dolls', and it's not like the girl would be stupid enough to summon another Celestial Spirit to fight with her while knowing that they could be turned against her within a split-second. She had the Fairy all boxed in! There was nothing she could do now! All Sherry had to do was remain calm and keep a level head. So long as the blonde didn't try to pull anything, this battle was as good as hers to win!
Despite feeling slightly on edge, Sherry flicked her hair over her shoulder and attempted to smirk cooly. "Don't go getting all cocky now, Little Miss Blondie. Let's not forget that I can control any of the Celestial Spirits you decide to summon, and that your other pathetic excuse of magic doesn't stand a chance against mine. There's no way in hell that you're going to beat me!" She declared confidently.
Lucy, who had long since pulled herself up from the ground, dusted a few specks of dirt off of her shoulder as she glanced dismissively at her enemy. "Yeah? We'll see about that."
Sherry eyed the girl carefully as she yanked a Silver Gate Key off of the belt secured to her hips, her Marionette Magic flaring up in her veins as she prepared herself to take control over whichever Celestial Spirit Lucy decided to summon to do her bidding. She scoffed when the blonde really swiped the key through the air, yelling: "Open, Gate of Canis Minor! Nicola!" in the most daunting voice she'd ever heard. Just what did Lucy think she was doing?
Obviously, she had no chance at winning. There was no way Sherry was going to let Lucy get the jump on her for a second time!
In a burst of light identical to that of which appeared when Taurus was summoned, blobs of gold came together to make out the figure of a tiny white, snow-man-looking Celestial Spirit. It had a giant carrot for a nose and was so small that it barely stood above Lucy's ankle bones, and, oddly enough, its body shivered; trembling in every direction despite the island not being all that cold.
Sherry thought the Celestial Spirit was one of the cutest things she'd ever seen, and if she could, she would keep it as a pet alongside Angelica to shower with love. Her heart gushed with so much adoration for the Spirit that it felt like it might burst, and if you looked close enough it almost seemed like there were bright sparkles surrounding her body as she looked down at Plue's smaller form. However, even though she fell in love with the Celestial Spirit with one single glance, Sherry extended her arms out in front of her and allowed her magic to shoot directly toward him.
Similarly to what happened with Taurus, a purple light engulfed Plue's tiny figure causing his eyes to shine with a deadly pink hue. He promptly spun around on his heel and rushed toward Lucy as quickly as his little legs would carry him, before pummeling his weak fists against her legs.
Sherry, who was frozen in disbelief upon seeing how much strength the blonde's Spirit lacked, was completely unprepared to defend herself when said Celestial Spirit Mage shot forward; fists lit up in a blinding gold and white light as she reeled her arm back.
"Celestial Dragon Iron Fist!"
Pain flared up in the side of her face as Lucy's fist connected with her cheek, the force behind her attack strong enough to get Sherry to stumble backward, over her own feet. Barely managing to keep herself from falling over, the pink-haired mage hardly regained her footing. She looked at Lucy with wide eyes, her hand cradling the growing welt on her face while the other mage smirked confidently.
"Don't go getting all cocky now, Sherry," She mocked, "Let's not forget that even if you take control over the Celestial Spirits I summon, it won't mean a thing if I bring forth a friend that isn't particularly strong at fighting. Oh, and just because my Dragon Slaying Magic isn't all that effective against your stupid dolls, doesn't mean it won't work against you. After all, your magic has a fatal flaw, and I've got it all figured out, which makes this fight as good as mine."
"And what exactly would that be, Miss Know It All?" Sherry hissed angrily.
Lucy's smirk widened as she answered the oh-so-obvious question. "Your Marionette Magic, while powerful and difficult to react against, only allows you the power to control one thing at a time. This means that if you're controlling one of my Celestial Spirits, you can't use your magic to create another Doll to defend yourself with against my Dragon Slaying Magic. In addition to this simple fact, if you already used your magic to make a Doll to fight with, you can't control my Celestial Spirit at the same time."
Sherry gasped and lunged to the left as the blonde suddenly shot forward again, her fists lit up in the same gold and white light that had engulfed her fists just moments before as she finished off her explanation.
"You only have one magic, whereas I have two, and unfortunately for you, that means bad news. No matter which way you decide to use your magic against me, I have two ways I can react given each situation, which makes this fight mine to win!"
She was right, and it bothered Sherry to no end that she was. Her Marionette Magic made her a difficult opponent to deal with due to the wide range of spells she could cast, but Lucy was right in saying that she could only control one thing at a time and that single flaw made the pink-haired wizard extremely mad.
No, there was no way she was going to loose. She would win this battle at any cost! This was not to be her downfall!
Releasing Plue from her control, Sherry threw her arms to the sky as she used her magic to create another doll for her to control. The white Celestial Spirit bowed profusely, immensely sorry for attacking his master, while rocks all over the ground started to rumble and float into the air. Lucy waved Plue off with a grin, saying that it was "Ok" and that he could "go home now", before closing his gate feeling even stronger than before. Now that she didn't have any Celestial Spirits out, the blonde could focus on pouring all of her magic and focus entirely on her Dragon Slaying abilities. The time to end this fight was now!
"Marionette Magic: Giant Rock Doll!"
"Celestial Dragon Roar!"
Lucy wasted no time in retaliating against Sherry's approach, not wanting to let her have the chance to get the advantage when she'd just gotten it back. She scowled slightly when her attack didn't do anything (again) but remained positive nonetheless. She could find a way around this! Draco had warned Lucy when teaching her his magic that she may have difficulty fighting Earth Wizards, or have trouble against spells involving life on the ground, but she didn't actually think he was being serious (-especially when he didn't even bother to explain to her why she might have trouble fairing against these types of attacks). But she also remembered that he told her if she focused she could overcome her own flaws.
Natsu's was water, and hers was the earth. She could do this!
Sherry, who was standing on the head of her Rock Doll, laughed as she loomed over Lucy's much smaller figure. "That was cute and all, but I think it's about time we wrapped this whole thing up. I think I've wasted enough of my time on you!"
With a twitch of her fingers, Sherry's Rock Doll lifted it's giant fist into the air. Seconds later they crashed back onto the ground, just where Lucy had been standing, sending chunks of the earth in every direction. The pink-haired wizard snickered as she watched the Stellar Spirit Mage run off, barely dodging the dangerous attack; seeking refuge in the cover of the forest in a futile attempt at an escape. She just loved these games so much!
There was no way she was about to let her get away!
Lucy panted as she rolled to the left. She found herself without any more space to escape on, and instead stood on a large cliff that overlooked the ocean surrounding the island. As if that wasn't already big enough, her Dragon Slaying Magic still wasn't doing anything to Sherry's Rock Doll. If she continued to waste magic on attacks that didn't do any damage then there was absolutely no way she had any chance at winning her battle, which would not only put the villagers in danger but her friends too.
Frantically, the blonde grabbed her Key Ring and began searching through all the Celestial Spirits she had contracts with.
This was not how things were supposed to be going!
"You know, I'm not quite so sure what's funnier: that terrified expression on your face or just the mere image of your weak attempts at dodging!" Sherry sneered as the blonde barely managed to avoid a jab from her Doll.
Panting, Lucy spun around, forcing out a big "Celestial Dragon Wing Attack!", in an attempt at forcing the Rock Doll back; giving her a moment to catch her breath and enough time to find a place to go. Regretfully, the attack still did no damage, and instead of getting Sherry to move back several feet, Lucy was thrown backward when the mass of rock stomped on the ground right in front of her. The force of the attack sent her reeling backward, all the air in her lungs gone with a startling 'whoosh' as soon as her body hit the ground.
"It was fun while it lasted, but I'm afraid that I'll just have to end things here."
Time seemed to flow in slow motion as Sherry's Rock Doll lifted both of its fists above its head. Lucy was still on the ground, her eyes desperately looking for somewhere to escape to, before something else caught her attention. The blue and white Gate Key she created, which belonged to the Spirit of the Ice Dragon, was glowing all on its own and actually seemed to move on her Key Ring, if only slightly. It was a dangerous gamble, but maybe by summoning him Lucy would have a chance at beating Sherry once and for all.
"But then again," Her subconscious reminded her, "there's no telling what could happen if you do open his gate. For all you know he could turn on you, or Sherry could just take control of him like she did with Taurus and Plue. You don't even know if you'll have enough magic left to force his gate shut if that did happen."
Still, though, what else was there that Lucy could actually do? No matter what she did, nor how hard she thought through her attacks and focused, her Dragon Slaying Magic wasn't dealing any damage against Sherry's living Dolls, and she didn't have a Celestial Spirit strong enough to destroy it either. It was a tough choice to make, and there was no telling what would actually happen if she opened the Spirits gate, but there was nothing else that she could do.
The Rock Doll threw its arms down, and Lucy lunged for the key.
She'd make her decision now!
"Open, Gate of The -what the hell?!" The Stellar Spirit Mage squealed in horror as the portion of the ground she was sitting on suddenly broke off from the rest of the cliff, gravity and the weight of the ground working together to propel her body into a free-fall onto the earth below. Sherry's Rock Doll missed the blonde's moving body by an inch, and she watched with wide eyes as the girl plummeted toward the ground below; hitting the earth with a painful 'thud' that roused up a large cloud of dust.
Wheezing, Lucy's eyes shot open and a gasp tore through her throat as she roughly collided with the ground. Nausea bubbled up in the back of her throat due to the rocky ride and had Sherry not yelled something along the lines of "don't let her get away", then she really would have sat there and thrown up for the rest of the day. However, since the Marionette Mage's Rock Doll was growing closer by the second, Lucy scrambled up to her feet and started to run away again (grateful for the new open space she could escape on).
"There's no way I'm letting you get away this time blondie! I've had just about enough of you; this ends now!" The pink-haired wizard screamed as she threw her arms above her head.
Lucy grabbed at all of her Gate Keys. There really was no telling what could happen if she did summon the Ice Dragon, and on top of that, she had no clue what he would do after his gate finally was opened! There wasn't even any guarantee that he wouldn't just ignore her every command and attack her instead.
Wait!
The cogs inside the Stellar Spirit Mage's head started to turn. She already had a Celestial Spirit who did all of those things to her! Lucy didn't know if this spirit would be strong enough to destroy the Rock Doll entirely, but maybe they could wash it away! Yanking the Gold Zodiac Key off of her belt, the blonde abandoned the idea of summoning the other risky spirit, and plunged it into the vast water of the ocean; pouring every last bit of her magic energy into summoning this one last person, while silently praying that her plan would actually work out in her favor.
"Open, Gate of The Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
Instead of the usual gold light that always appeared when summoning a Celestial Spirit, some of the water in the ocean shot straight up into the air to form a vortex that Aquarius emerged from. Over the sound of the roaring water, Lucy could have sworn Sherry had yelled: "how the hell did some weakling like you get a contract with the Aquarius?" but she pretended like the latter female hadn't spoken up, to begin with, in the first place.
"Listen to me Aquarius, I need you to take care of that girl up there! She's my enemy which makes her yours too, so-!" The blonde paused as her Spirit suddenly clicked her tongue; feeling anger and fury bubble up in her veins at the direct display of disrespect the blue-haired woman suddenly gave her.
Aquarius smirked in amusement at the peeved expression written across her Master's face, a small laugh sounding from her lips as she saw the rage shimmering behind her big brown eyes. "I see you haven't changed at all since the last time you summoned me. You're still just as annoying as I remembered you to be. Isn't that just a shame?"
Lucy yanked at her hair in frustration. "Shut up and just take care of her already! I don't have time for this!"
"This is why you don't have a boyfriend, you know. No one would be stupid enough to get with a little girl like you."
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
The two women fell silent as Sherry suddenly started laughing, her arms extended out in front of her as she reactivated her Marionette Magic. Yet again, a purple light shot out from Sherry's fingertips that engulfed Aquarius' figure, turning her eyes red, and forcing her under the girl's control.
"Now listen to me, Aquarius. Get rid of that little fly!"
The Celestial Spirit sneered haughtily. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
Aquarius lifted her Urn high above her head, using it to collect gallons of water from the sea, before flinging it over her shoulder to create a giant wave that would wash Lucy away. The blonde braced herself for impact; squeezing her eyes tightly shut as to ensure she wouldn't get any salt water in them, while Sherry continued to laugh cruelly (thinking she had finally won). The pink-haired wizard froze, though, when the wave continued to move, even after it had already swallowed up Lucy, toward her. Frantically, she scrambled to get down from her Giant Rock Doll only to be swept up by the wave anyway; being yanked by the currents to join Lucy in the middle of a giant vortex within the water.
The Celestial Spirit watched in amusement as the two girls screams echoed throughout the island, her vortex still spinning them wildly. "And to think that I'd actually meet someone more ignorant than Lucy is. Having one stupid human around to order me around is more than enough for me, I don't need another to be added to the list."
When the water from Aquarius' attack finally receded back to its rightful place in the ocean, Lucy barely managed to find enough energy within herself to get back up on her feet. She could see Sherry making her way to a standing position several feet away from her, but even she wasn't moving at a pace much quicker than her own.
"I don't know what's worse," The pink-haired wizard stuttered as she shakily pulled herself up from the ground, "the fact that you actually managed to trick me again, or that you have such a mean Celestial Spirit that she's willing to hit you with her attacks."
Lucy smirked painfully, her stomach a nauseous mess from being thrown around for so long, as she grabbed for something on her belt. Sherry gasped as the blondes whip suddenly coiled around her stomach, eyes going wide as her arms were forcibly pinned down to her side. Not giving her the chance to say, or do, anything more, Lucy yanked the girl toward her with enough strength to make her trip over her feet.
The last thing Sherry saw was Lucy's fist, which smashed painfully into the uninjured side of her face before everything went black.
"The first punch was for talking shit," the blonde panted, "the second was for everything else that you did."
- Battle End -
When Lucy's legs gave out from under her she fully expected herself to fall back to the ground, which is why her eyes shot open in surprise when two hard, armor-clad fists suddenly grabbed onto her body and kept her upright. Scarlet red locks fanned out around Titania's face as she looked down at the blonde; a deadly glint playing behind her eyes as she glared at the younger girl. Lucy had half a mind to flinch at the piercing grip Erza had on her arms, but her anger wouldn't allow her body to display such a sign of weakness.
"She knew they were going to seal your magic away," A voice in her head had said, "she betrayed you. You don't owe her any apology; she owes you hers."
Erza's glare hardened when Lucy's gaze started to grow sharper, a low growl sounding from the back of her throat as an early warning. What she really wanted to do was shove the scarlet haired wizard back several feet and punch her in the face like she had with Sherry, but Lucy knew better than to do so, and actually decided to act civil (for the time being, that is).
"I'm assuming that I don't have to explain the reasoning behind my appearance here," Titania said in a low voice, taking note of the bruises covering the blonde's skin, "so I'm guessing that the real question I should be asking is if you're going to come home willingly or if I'll have to take you by force?"
Lucy growled. "No, that's not quite right. The real question you should be asking is if you're going to get out of my way willingly and let me finish this mission, or if I'm going to have to kick your ass first and then finish the mission anyways?"
"Lucy-!" Titania warned.
The blonde shook her head and shoved Erza back. "No! You can't do that anymore; you don't get to act like you care about me when not even a few days ago you stabbed me in the back! These people need our help, Erza. We can't just abandon them!"
"I don't care about any of that!" The redhead snapped, "All I care about is getting you back to the guild in one piece! You're not even an S-Class Wizard Lucy; you know that! You know you're not qualified to help these people, and acting like you are is only going to hurt them more in the long run!"
Lucy's heart clenched painfully. "Yeah? Well, you're not qualified to help me either, so I guess that makes two of us that aren't equipped to do our job. I'm seeing the end of this mission whether you like it or not. And nothing you say is going to stop me or change my mind."
- Meanwhile, The Following Morning : At The Refuge Camp -
Gray awoke with a startled grunt as he found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed, under an unfamiliar tent, with sand beneath his feet and the sound of the ocean in the background. His body screamed in protest when he sat upright, the bandages wrapped around his torso tightening out of the sudden tension before relaxing back into their original place. A blinding light forced the boy to cover his eyes when he emerged from the tent; the dim conditions inside were drastically darker than out of it, considering that none of the sun's rays bled through the fabric enough to wake him up.
A voice to his left startled him out of his thoughts, and Gray squinted at one of the villagers in confusion as she smiled gently at his injured form. "Ah, I see you've finally woken up. We were starting to get afraid that you never would, considering how hurt you got yesterday."
"Oh... Where are we? Why aren't we back at the village?"
The girl's grin faltered. "The village was completely destroyed last night when three wizards came to attack, and we were forced to relocate here. If it wasn't for your two friends I'm sure things could've turned out far worse, though. Luckily nobody got hurt in the process and we all managed to come out OK." She explained.
"T-that's horrible. I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." Gray apologized, feeling guilty that he brought up such a touchy subject.
She giggled slightly. "It's not your fault, really, so there's no reason for you to feel sorry for it. We're all very grateful for the help you and your guild have given us, so please don't apologize."
"I see. Speaking of Natsu and Lucy, where are they?" The Ice-Make Wizard coughed.
"Actually, I was supposed to show you to them when you woke up. They're in that tent over there, but I'd suggest that you hurry. They've been waiting on you for a while now." The girl answered as she pointed at a big brown tent standing several feet away from where they were.
As he was walking away, Gray could have sworn he'd heard the female villager say "good luck", but that was utter nonsense, right? There was absolutely no way he was actually going to need it... Right? Steeling his nerves, the Ice Mage shook off an impending feeling of doom and separated the curtain that acted as a door on the tent.
Wait, was that Erza sitting there? And was it just him or did she look absolutely pissed?
On second thought maybe he did need that luck after all.
"Gray, how kind of you to finally join us. I've only been waiting for, I don't know, a couple of hours now. Luckily for me, I've had Lucy and these two cute little exceeds to keep me company." Erza explained in a sickly-sweet tone as she patted on Lucy's head, who was completely tied up from head to tow with a gag in her mouth; Happy and Saiya sitting in a matching position with tears streaming down their faces.
"If you don't mind me asking," the boy stuttered, "but why are they all tied up?"
Erza smiled; an action that caused an array of shivers to race down Gray's spine, which had absolutely nothing to do with his choice of magic abilities. "Well, Lucy here decided that she didn't want to act like a real lady and wouldn't walk on her own two feet. Naturally, I took the only course of action that I could; which was tying her up. As for Saiya and Happy, they tried to run away as soon as they saw me. I couldn't have them spilling the beans on my arrival, now could I?"
He shouldn't ask. He didn't want to know.
He did anyways.
"...And the gag?"
At this, Titania's smile broadened. "Yes, thank you for reminding me about that. Lucy here has a foul mouth, so I had to shut her up to keep her from spitting out all those curses she loves to use. I'll have to make sure that I rinse out her mouth with soap when we get home. Now, enough dilly-dallying. Where is Natsu?"
"I don't know. Last I saw him was back at the village, which, as far as I know, has been completely destroyed. Doesn't Lucy know?"
Erza sighed. "No, she doesn't. And neither does Happy. The three of us went out and searched for him but didn't come up with anything. We were hoping you would know so that I can hurry up and bring you five trouble-makers home."
"What?! Did you even hear what you said just now?!"
"Yes, I did. I'm fully aware of what been happening on this island recently; Lucy has already filled me all in. However, I came here to finish the job that you were sent to do. Nothing else concerns me other than finding Natsu and bringing you five home. None of you are capable of doing this job, and not only are you putting your lives at stake but the villagers too. This isn't a game, Gray."
The Ice-Make Wizard clenched his fists. "You're the one playing games here, Erza. We both know that you're not this cruel, so stop acting like you are. I bet that's why you gagged Lucy, to begin with: because she was telling you all the things I'm saying to you!"
"Oh? You dare face the same punishment as the rest of these rule-breakers?"
"The rules have nothing to do with this anymore. We all know the difference between what's wrong and what's right. Well, I guess everybody does except for you."
A/N: The thing about Lucy having trouble against Earth Wizards/Earth Spells will eventually be explained (I PROMISE) so please be patient -and yes, I do know that Lucy eats rocks as a way to replenish her DS Magic. Also, thanks a bunch for being so understanding of the last chapter. It seems like you guys enjoyed it, and the feedback everybody gives me helps me become a better writer. Sorry again that I've been gone for so long!
(I know that I kind of cut this episode short, but it just felt right to end it here, so with the next update I'll pick up where I left off.)
-xxTheNightmareBeforexx
I had to go to the dentist today ಥ_ಥ
