Thank you everyone for your well wishes and kind words. It truly meant a lot to me, and some of your reviews actually choked me up a bit; I'm so happy you guys are enjoying my fic and it warms my heart to know you're also supporting me! :*)
I have a surprise for you, TWO Bleach characters will appear in this chapter. It's not as long as my last one but that was special because of how long it took me to update.
Drum roll please!
Her spirit iiiiiiiis..
Enjoy~
Lucy watched her spirit for a few more seconds as he began inspecting the dirt, the grass, a tree.. Yep, her spirits were getting weirder and weirder..
"Umm, e-excuse me, sir?" Lucy took an awkward step forward.
"Hmm?" The spirit was on all fours, watching a bug crawl under a rock as he finally turned his attention back over to the Celestial Mage.
"Oh, yes, well, you must excuse me; you see I have no idea what's going on and quite frankly, I'm curious!" He was finally standing now, holding a cane in one hand and covering the lower half of his face with a fan in the other. The upper part of his face was shadowed by an odd striped hat that matched the loose green shirt and cloak over his baggy pants and wooden clogs – why wasn't he wearing some form of black and white? His light blonde hair was a mess, even under his hat, and his fan was only barely hiding the stubble on his chin. One word popped into Lucy's mind – bum.
"Are you from Soul Society?" Levy took a step forward this time, she'd made the same observations as Lucy and was curious as well.
"Hmmm, well, I guess you could say I am, but you could also say that I'm not!" He was smiling now, acting casual and aloof. Was he an idiot?
"Umm, err, okay.." Lucy was giving him a skeptical look.
"Let me clarify for you lovely young ladies, I originate from Soul Society, in essence I am a Soul Reaper, however these days I prefer to run a candy shop. Just a humble, handsome business man." He was looking up, then to both sides. Turned and made a 180, then walked towards the barrier – but before he walked face first into the way Natsu did he stopped. Lucy and Levy shared a what-is-he-talking-about look before approaching either side of him in front of the wall. He had a slight smile on his lips as he then turned to Lucy.
"I see. So you're the reason I'm here, yes?" The spirit had dropped his fan and slightly lifted his hat so Lucy could get a good look at his gray eyes.
"Yes sir." Lucy could see he had no idea what was going on. If he wasn't a part of Soul Society any longer then he couldn't know about her keys, right? So how was he so quick to understand who it was that called him here, she hadn't asked him to do anything yet, nor was she in any form of danger and in need of saving; he couldn't have already felt the pull could he?
"Oh, please, sir makes me feel like an old man! Call me Kisuke, Urahara Kisuke! Now may I have the pleasure of knowing your name young lady?" Urahara had just taken a rather exaggerated bow before flipping his fan back open in an attempt to hide his smile.
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, and this is Levy, back there are Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Erza, Laxus, Bixlow, Happy, and Lily. Wow that was kind of a mouth full." Lucy was smiling now too, something about this spirit calmed her, he seemed rather silly and oblivious, but at the same time, he wasn't.. Lucy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt like his hat and fan were hiding a lot more than just his unkempt appearance.
"And how nice it is to meet all of you!" Urahara had just opened his arms in an exaggerated manner as he turned to acknowledge the mages behind him.
"Well, now that introductions have been made, I feel that I'm at somewhat of a disadvantage my dear Lucy Heartfilia. For you seem to know what I am and why I'm here but I'm at somewhat of a loss." He had turned back towards Lucy once again, watching her expectantly under the shade of his hat. And there it was - there was that look again, the one Lucy noticed when he first put tow-and-two together that she was the reason he was there - he was thinking. She could see the reels behind his eyes going to work, he was taking in every detail, every piece of information the situation warranted. He may seem laid-back and rather eccentric, but this man was definitely no fool.
Lucy took the key that was grasped in her hand and showed it to her spirit. His eyes drifted from hers to her hand, and Lucy could have sworn she saw something flash through those ever discerning orbs as he focused on the key.
"This is why you're here. I can summon Death Gods for, well, help." Lucy had become just as focused on Urahara as he had on the key. She felt if she took her eyes away for a moment, she'd miss something important.
"And how was it you came to have this key Lucy?" Urahara was still staring at the key in her hand.
"We found it in a cave the next country over, but we don't know where it came from." Lucy was still watching for his reaction.
"May I see that for a moment my dear?" He had placed his fan in his sleeve and still had all attention focused on the steel black object with the Soul Society emblem embellishing the top.
Lucy's hand subconsciously gripped around the key in hesitation; Rangiku told her the key couldn't go back to their world for whatever reason, so what if he tried to run off with it?
"I assure you my dear, the key belongs to you and since I have virtually no understanding of it I won't be running off with anything, if that's what you're worried about." He'd finally taken his eyes off the key to look to the Celestial Mage, giving her a smile that reassured her he was an honest man. She nodded her head and loosened her grip, slowly handing him the key.
Urahara took in every detail: the weight, color, texture, material.. Something dark crossed his eyes as he stopped balancing it in his hand.
"You say you have no idea where this key comes from, yes?" Lucy shook her head 'no' as Urahara began looking around the vicinity again. The moment he arrived he knew he wasn't in his dimension any longer. He'd long since hypothesized that there were other worlds, universes, or dimensions running in sync with theirs, parallel to be exact. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd be standing in one. The one thing he did know for sure, however, was that the young girl standing before him now was the reason he was there - and even that he couldn't pinpoint why.
"Lucy, how is it you called me here." He was handing her the key back, and noticing how her tension loosened once it was safely back in her grasp.
"Oh com'on! Enough with the questions! Let's just finish what he was summoned to do then we'll have a fuckin' tea party!" Gajeel was now approaching the two as his red eyes lit up in frustration. Lucy gave him a disbelieving look and was ready to respond before his face was suddenly covered by a large brown bag.
"Gajeel! Don't be so rude to Lucy's spirit! If you were dragged to another world without an explanation you'd have questions too!" Lucy had just finished following through with quite possibly her most lethal hit-Gajeel-in-the-face-with-a-bag-full-of-books attack yet. Lucy's eyes bugged out as she watched the Iron Mage actually fly backwards while Levy huffed and puffed after her rather impressive display of strength.
"My my my, you pack quite the punch there Levy!" Urahara was now standing behind her, smiling and admiring the stunned look on the grizzly looking man's face on the ground.
"Thank you for standing up for me dear, but I see his point. I'll assume I'm here for a task, my questions can wait until then." He was turning back around to face the blonde girl.
"Oh.. O-okay.." Lucy was still a little taken aback by Levy's outburst, but then replaced her shock with a smile as the mages still standing in the background started snickering and laughing. She was also a little surprised he was so willing to help while knowing so little, especially since she hadn't technically requested anything of him yet.
"There's a barrier of some sort, I'm sure you already noticed it shortly after arriving. It's keeping us from where we need to go and we need it gone. Levy here has a grasp of how to disarm it but it's going to take too long, and we need to get out of this thicket before the sun sets." Erza had just casually stepped over the Dragon Slayer on the ground, completely unconcerned about his well being and more focused on the spirit and taking down their road block.
Urahara regarded her for a moment before smiling, so she saw that I was aware of the force field huh? Perceptive..
"Well I'd certainly hate to disappoint any of you!" Urahara was turning towards the wall again, placing a hand out and touching the invisible surface. He then tapped it a few times with his finger and cocked his head to one side. He placed the palm of his hand flat and then the entire wall lit up. It shone with a mass of symbols moving every which way that appeared to stretch around the entire mountain and curved up to a dome. Whoever placed this barrier didn't want anyone getting into the mountain.
"How did you do that?!" Natsu and Happy came running up to the man, staring at the wall in disbelief. How did he get the whole thing to light up like that?! Everyone else, even Gajeel, now stood in front of the wall, going back and forth between the symbols and the odd man in the striped hat who was eyeing each one, all playfulness gone and a mask of concentration adorning his face.
"Levy, you were able to decipher some of this, yes?" Urahara was looking back to the blue-haired girl, who at some point had put her glasses back on, pulled her books and papers back out, and was writing something down like a mad man while simultaneously marking pages in her books.
Urahara sweat dropped, and Yoruichi says I go over the top..
"Levy.." Laxus was now standing over her, giving her an exhausted look.
"Hmm?" She popped her head up and looked from Laxus' pointed look to Urahara's small smile.
"Oh! Did you say something?" Levy was looking to Urahara as everyone else sweat dropped.
"I asked if you were able to decipher any of this." He was smiling at her again, she reminds me of myself a hundred years ago..
"Oh, yeah, here look!" Levy was holding up a piece of paper to Urahara and Laxus.
"The last time I had anything this complicated was with Freed at the Harvest Festival, and that was child's play compared to this. The grammars are running in multiple directions, not just one or two - but four to be exact; which means I had to decode them at multiple rates until they flowed together. The only problem is a lot of these characters I don't recognize, but once I traded them out to Craft grammar, switched the language and its meaning, combined similar symbols which then translated into Coptic.. But I'm having trouble with the last set of symbols, they don't flow in any steady direction. I don't know how to straighten it out or break it down."
Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Gajeel had gone completely cross-eyed. Erza was looking at Levy's paperwork trying to make sense of anything she'd just said while Bixlow and Laxus nodded their heads with a confused look but not completely thrown off - must have something to do with being around Freed all the time - but they clearly still had no idea what the girl had just said. Lucy couldn't help but laugh.. That's Levy for ya..
"I see, so basically there's four different incantations here, three were flowing opposite of one another which made it easy to rearrange them and discern them, or as you put it, in the appropriate 'grammar.' The fourth is running haywire, which more than likely, is only meant to distract you. If something isn't flowing in correspondence with the rest of the spell then it can't technically bind with it; did you try translating it?"
…
He understood all that? Lucy's eyes bugged out of her head while everybody else's jaws hit the floor. What language were they speaking? What was Coptic? Grammar? What?!
"I tried, but with it flowing so inconsistently I can't get a read on it, I don't know how to slow it down or stop it.." Levy was tapping her pencil to her chin, a look of intrigued frustration on her face. Urahara couldn't help but laugh a little, the girl hadn't even realized how complicated of a task she'd just single-handedly tackled by herself. Heck, even the 12th Division would have taken days or weeks to get to the point she was at right now.
"Well I think I can do something about that!" The Shinigami was pointing his finger in the air as he then pulled some sort of small device from his robes, it was black with three slender legs, somewhat like a tripod. He placed it on the ground next to Levy before a holographic monitor and keyboard projected from it.
"May I see what you've found thus far?" He was sitting cross-legged and holding his hand out to the Script Mage, she didn't even hesitate to hand him her paperwork as she found herself on all fours and intently looking to the monitor as Urahara began typing. It was analyzing everything, the language, symbols, translations, referencing it to other sources.. Levy felt her head begin to swim, she definitely needed to get one of these projectile things for herself..
"There!" Urahara had just tapped his finger on a key and the mess of lines and symbols were now flowing in perfect sequence with each other. Levy's eyes lit up and a smile popped up on her face.
"Wow Urahara! That was incredible! What in the world is this thing?" Levy was now looking behind the screen to see if it connected to anything, or how it even worked.
"Oh this old thing? It's just a computer I prefer to take everywhere with me. You never know when something might need to be analyzed!" He reopened his fan to hide his silly facial expression.
"Well now Levy, you're up! Let's get those incantations straightened out!" He now stood as he pointed to the barrier with his fan, ushering Levy towards it.
The Script Mage went straight to work, Light Pen moving faster than anyone else's eye, except Urahara's, could keep up with.
"Wow.. I'm impressed, nobody can understand Levy when she goes into Script mode. Are you perhaps a Script Shinigami?" Lucy was now standing next to the two, eyeing the Spirit as he stood behind Levy, offering her guidance where she needed it, until he turned to regard the Celestial Mage.
"Oh no no no, but I guess you could say I'm an inventor of sorts.. I'm so accustomed to reiatsu and Kido that rewriting a barrier is well, how did Levy put it? Child's play." Urahara had taken his fan back out and covered the lower half of his face, but Lucy could see the smile reaching his eyes.
"I.. I can't do it.. It's not working." Levy had just taken a step back, her Light Pen shaking in her hands. "My magic.. It isn't powerful enough.." Tears began pricking at her eyes as they darted around the mess of symbols that just would not comply. She had been so sure of herself, confident that she and Urahara had managed the hardest part - breaking the code - but now she lacked the power to rearrange it all. Since Lucy had found the keys she'd felt completely useless, she was by no means a warrior like everyone else, heck even the Celestial Mage could give any other mage here a run for their money.. But her? Little Levy? The book worm? This was her forte, she was finally able to do something the rest of the group couldn't. And even at that she still needed Lucy's help.. it all seemed too cruel.. She refused to look at anyone in the group, she was so ashamed and just down right frustrated.. It isn't fair.. She felt her lip begin to quiver until a sensation on top of her head caught her attention.
"Oh my, none of that dear." Urahara was gently knocking the top of her head with his fan, snapping her out of her funk. she blinked back her tears and finally looked to the spirit, feeling reassurance in his gentle smile.
"Come now, all it needs, is a little push." He was placing his hand flat on the barrier again, then the whole wall lit up yet again. Lucy and Levy jumped back a little at the suddenness of the iridescent light.
"Why don't you try it again?" Urahara was looking down at her, a warm smile in place for encouragement. Levy instantly lit up and once again began rewriting the Runes, and this time they were shifting.
"It's working!" Levy chirped, giving Urahara her brightest smile.
"See, just a little push." He winked to her and removed his hand, and in that moment the barrier was gone.
"You did it Levy! Urahara!" Lucy jumped and clapped her hands together.
"Way to go guys!" Gray had just wagged his hand in the place where the barrier once stood, noting no resistance this time.
"Alright! Levy's the best! Feel that ass holes?! I'm comin' for ya now!" Natsu was shooting fire from his mouth as he jumped in front of the group and onto ground they were once prohibited from.
Urahara watched him for a moment, he was almost like Renji mixed with Ichigo and Ikkaku all rolled into one..
"Thank you Urahara-san! Thank you!" Levy had just jumped onto the Shinigami spirit in the middle of her thanks, pulling him into a hug. He stiffened for a second before he snaked one hand out and patted her head.
A certain Dragon Slayer's eyes turned a slightly darker shade of red as he began gritting his teeth.
"What did you do?" Laxus was approaching the two as he crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a half-hearted glare on the Soul Reaper.
"What ever do you mean? It was all Levy's doing, I just gave her a little push is all!" Urahara was gesturing to Levy in an exaggerated manner and using his fan in a dramatic motion. Lucy couldn't help but giggle, he was so humble, it was absolutely endearing to watch.
But Laxus wasn't buying it, and he wasn't won over by his jovial mannerisms either. "How were you able to give her a 'little push'? I thought you guys didn't use magic, so how could you help Levy with hers?"
The rest of the group all turned around, Laxus had a point that none of them even thought about. Plus he was able to bring the barrier into full view.. How did he do that?
"Well, umm, Laxus was it? Though you have an excellent point there, I must also point out that what we call reiatsu isn't very different from your powers. What do you call it here again?"
"Magic." Laxus' scowl got a little deeper.
"Yes, well reiatsu comes from ones Reiryoku - spiritual power - or to put it in laymen terms, the willpower of the user. Of course the amount of one's spiritual power differs from individual to individual, hence some beings having more power than others, but every living being has at least some small amount of reiatsu as I'm sure they have some small piece of 'magic' within them here. But just because you have it doesn't mean you can use it, meaning it doesn't manifest itself in everyone. Tell me, does everyone in your world use magic?" Urahara was tapping his chin with his fan, holding back a smile at the rather large man's assertiveness.
"No. Maybe 10% or less." Laxus was raising an eyebrow now. He was starting to understand a little bit.
"Exactly! Not everyone from my world can use or manifest reiatsu, just the same as your world. I also think it's safe to assume not all of you are gifted Script Wizards like this young lady right here, yes?" Urahara was pointing to Levy as she blushed a little at the compliment. Everyone else shared a glance before shaking their heads 'no' in unison.
"Well there you have it, each person's individual Reiryoku allows them to use their own unique abilities."
"But just because we're not Script Mages doesn't mean there aren't other Script Mages out there. The Shinigami all have different powers and abilities, just like we've seen, but a Shinigami's abilities seem a lot more.. Unique than ours. I'm not the only Celestial Mage in Fiore, or the world for that matter." Lucy understood where Urahara was going, but the Soul Reapers seemed a lot more versatile in their arts, was magic really anything like their reiatsu?
"This is true, I did not say they were identical, they are only similar. However, anyone can make anything unique to themselves while sharing similarities to another, for instance two people using the same element. Those two people can harbor the same component, but mold it into different attacks and techniques. I doubt any other Script Mage works the exact same way Levy does, or that a Celestial Mage would bare 100% similarity to you. But there is definitely a link between reiatsu and magic, in fact it's that similarity that makes me being here even possible. So exactly how is it I get called here?" Urahara was addressing Lucy now, back to his original question before tackling the barrier. Laxus was still giving the Shinigami a skeptical look - looks like Kenpachi ruined any hope for trust with Soul Reapers..
"Well, as I said I'm a Celestial Mage, I can summon spirits from the Spirit World in my dimension if I have their key and know the name of that key. The spirit is then under contract with me and is kinda obligated to help me out I guess.. Obviously if a spirit wanted nothing to do with me I would be more than happy to release their key.." Lucy was raising an eyebrow at Urahara, curious to what he'd say next.
"Oh no my dear, I would ask nothing of the sort! But you say you have the ability to open portals into other worlds?" Urahara was now standing very close to Lucy, inspecting her the same way he inspected everything else when he first got there.
"Err, yes." Lucy was fidgeting a little under his scrutinizing.
"Hmmm.. May I ask a favor, may I please see that key one more time?" Urahara smiled his same reassuring smile as Lucy handed him the key.
"I'm not the first Shinigami you've summoned?" He was just holding the key in the palm of his hand.
"No. I've summoned quite a few now.. Rangiku, Rukia, Hitsugaya, Ukitaki, Kenpachi.." She was tapping her chin with her finger as Urahara stumbled forward. Placing both hands on Lucy's shoulders.
"You summoned Kenpachi?!" His face was shadowed in horror as he then began checking the girl for injuries.
"He was the first, he was a little.. Rough around the edges.. But he helped us out when we really needed it."
That's putting it gently.. Urahara sighed in relief. "He willingly helped you?" He was a bit surprised, Kenpachi barely did anything for the Captain Commander himself..
"Well he was summoned, all spirits who are called here have to well.. Obey my orders I guess? As long as it doesn't breach our contract. When Ukitake was summoned and I attempted to make one he said it wasn't necessary, that whoever I needed would be called."
"I see, so you summon spirits, or Shinigami, and whether it's to fight a foe, decode a barrier, or make a contract, whoever is required is summoned. That's very interesting, you must have a strong bond with that key my dear."
"I do with all my keys." Lucy's eyes lit up and she smiled as she patted her pouch holding her keys. The Soul Reaper could see the affection in her eyes, she truly loved her spirits.
"Well I wish I could ask you a few questions, but I can see you don't know any more about this situation than anyone else. Looks like the key's a mystery!" Lucy let off with a sad smile. Disheartened that literally nobody knew anything about these keys. Did they pop out of thin air?
"Mystery, yes, but all mysteries are meant to be solved! You haven't found any answers yet because the key was not made here." Urahara was examining the key once again.
"W-what do you mean?" Lucy started a little, the keys weren't made in Fiore?
"This key is filled with reiatsu. It's what ties our worlds together, otherwise you wouldn't be able to open a link. I would love to study it in greater detail.."
"NO! You can't! You can't take it!" Lucy was grabbing his arm as she pleaded with him.
"My dear I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I can see you're very attached to this key.." The Shinigami blinked a few times at her outburst, putting his hands up to calm her own. The rest of her team was now standing behind her, ready to intervene if necessary; but this was one of Lucy's spirits, surely she could handle the situation on her own.
"No, it's not that, Rangiku told me that whoever is in charge of her world made it very clear that those keys could not, under any circumstances, go back to your world. They have to stay here. I don't know why, but I promised Rangiku, and I don't break my promises, especially to my spirits." Lucy had fire in her eyes, she was ready to protect that key at any cost. Urahara couldn't help but admire that a little bit. A woman of her word.. Now that's a good trait.
"And I would hate to be the one responsible for you breaking that promise. Worry not Lucy, I have absolutely no intentions of taking your key. What I can promise you though, is I plan to get to the bottom of this whole ordeal. And you just gave me my first lead." The Reapers eyes lit up as he grabbed onto Lucy's hand reassuringly.
She looked at him for a moment before smiling, "Thank you for understanding Urahara.."
He gave her a polite bow before turning on his heel and approaching Levy.
"You, my little Script Mage, have so much potential – I've never seen anyone unscramble a code the way you did today, the next time we meet I'm eager to see your progress, as I'm sure you'll only continue to improve." He grabbed her hand to place a chaste kiss before backing away. Levy's blinked a few times as her blush slowly crept up on her face and then spread to the rest her body as her temple began pulsating from the rush.
"What the?!" Laxus and Bixlow were barely holding back a seething Gajeel as he began dragging the two men behind him in an attempt to separate the Script Mage from the flirty Soul Reaper. Everyone except Lucy and Levy were making a vain attempt to stop the Dragon Slayer whose death glare was set on the blonde Shinigami.
"Well! I believe it's time I leave! Until next time Lucy!" Urahara gave another bow and then a curt nod to the rest of the group who were still working as road blocks. He quickly realized he may have taken his antics a tad too far if the reaction from the Iron Mage was anything to go by. He was determined to avoid conflict, after all he fancied himself a lover, not a fighter; and with that he gave one last pose before disappearing.
The pile of mages finally relaxed as the Iron Dragon Slayer pushed through the group and walked ahead everyone else, leaving a Script Mage to chase after him along with a black exceed. The rest of the group couldn't help but be impressed with Gajeel's strength and resolve when it came down to it. Erza decided to break the awkward silence following the spirit's departure.
"Well that was interesting.. He knew nothing about the keys when he got here but seemed to know more than anyone else about them at the end..? What a strange fellow." The Knight had placed her hands on her hips as she lost herself in thought.
Lucy considered her words, she had a point; he had zero knowledge of their existence but knew just by looking at them where they were from and how they could tie their worlds together, at least in its simplest form. Wonder why he's not in Soul Society anymore..
Lucy pondered that question a little longer to herself as the group made its way to the clearing. Surely he was a trustworthy guy, he offered to help them without being formally requested to by her. Plus he gave her the key back when she asked.. She shrugged it off as the men continued to set up camp. Lucy's attention was now on Levy; who was still completely red. But the red hue in her complexion didn't look to be one of embarrassment..
"Levy, what's wrong?" Lucy was whispering to the Script Mage, trying her best to avoid the heightened senses of the three Dragon Slayers only feet away.
She grabbed Lucy's hand and darted towards the nearest set of trees. Clearly a tad bit more concerned with their hearing abilities.
"It's Gajeel, he won't even look at me. I'm so mad right now I could hit him with my bag!" Levy hissed out in a vain attempt to whisper. Lucy leaned back to catch a glimpse at the mages still setting up camp and noted Gajeel's heavy stare on their location. Could he hear them from all the way over there?!
"Levy he's just being jealous.. My spirit did kiss your hand after all.." Lucy was rubbing Levy's shoulder reassuringly.
"That's no reason to be jealous! It was purely innocent! Besides, I can't control another person's actions!" Levy had let go of any attempt to whisper. She was venting now and couldn't care less who heard.
Well, if she wasn't going to whisper then neither was Lucy.
"Has Gajeel ever kissed you?" Lucy had placed her hands on her hips and gauged Levy's reaction. The Script Mage turned a few more shades darker before waving her hands frantically.
"No, no, no! Never! Nothing like that!" She was attempting to calm her breathing down as Lucy chanced another glimpse at the topic of discussion. He had frozen mid-stance as he was setting one of their tents up, Erza and Gray were giving him curious looks. Oh yeah, he can hear everything.
"Well, why not?" Lucy had an eyebrow raised as she looked to the bluenette. Levy shot a surprised look to her friend and saw there was no joking or teasing in her question. That made her blush even deeper.
"Well, ummm, I, uhhh.." Levy was scratching the back of her head as Lucy patiently waited for an answer. But after a couple more incoherent babbles, she realized the Script Mage was far too flustered to continue the topic, especially with the topic only a few yards away and still frozen. Bixlow was tapping his shoulder trying to catch his attention to no avail. Lucy felt a little guilty about both of her friends' states at the moment and decided to calm things down a bit.
"Don't answer that now, surely Gajeel knows how you feel and instead of getting jealous needlessly he'll finally man-up and ask you out properly. If not I can always summon Urahara back, I'm sure he'd love to take you out.." Lucy didn't even have to check around the tree to see if Gajeel had caught all that, the sound of a couple poles loudly dropping followed by a few hissed curse words told her she'd set the game, and successfully put the ball in the Dragon Slayer's court. She was mentally patting herself on the back.
"Looky looky what I found. Two little kittens lost in the woods.."
Levy and Lucy's attentions were snapped to the voice coming from the woods, but before they could even react an iron lance followed by fire shot into the darkness, coupled by two Dragon Slayers standing protectively in front of the girls.
"Looks like the kittens have guard dogs.."
"Show yourselves!" Natsu had taken half a step forward as Gajeel remained protectively in front of both girls who were huddled together now.
"If that's what you want.."
As soon as the words were finished off, a demon stepped out from the darkness. He looked to be part animal, reptile, and almost no part human. He gave a feral grin as a hoard of demons stepped out from behind him. All different shapes, sizes, forms, and strengths. The rest of the mages were now back to back with the group at the edge of the woods, ready for a fight.
"Bout time something interesting happened.." Laxus ended off with a sneer as he began lighting up. Bixlow's tongue slid out of his mouth as his dolls vanished, then exploded in three of the demons faces, shooting them completely out of sight.
"Oh I'm sorry, were you not ready yet?" Bixlow was shrugging his shoulders with his hands up in the air, feigning innocence sarcastically as he began laughing hysterically. Laxus smirked as electricity began sparking throughout the air before levelling out a few more demons.
Well at least Laxus and Bixlow are having a good time..
Right then a large destructive fire ball followed by Natsu's voice managed to clear away another handful, only to be coupled by a frozen hammer and a few of Erza's blades.
"We'll handle this since you two took down the barrier." Erza gave the girls her signature Erza smile as she created a few more swords in her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
"Lucyyy! Levyyy!" Happy was flying protectively in front of the girls as Lily transformed into beast mode, ready for a good fight.
"Handle what? Don't get too cocky humans!" the demon from before was taking a step forward as a few demons recovered and some extra's emerged from the thicket.
Lucy barely managed to get a good look around Gajeel and Lily to see they were more than heavily outnumbered; and these weren't some wimpy mages from some dark guild.. These were demons. Lucy had been saved more times than she'd like to count, and if having these keys meant anything, then at least she could protect herself and her friends. She was going to fight, and she wasn't going to wait until the last second when everybody was injured to do it either, they hadn't even gotten up the mountain yet - they needed to all be in good health for what lay ahead of them.
"Erza, I appreciate you protecting us, but we can handle ourselves." Lucy gave Erza a confident smile she never really had before as she then looked to Levy, rubbing some off onto her.
"Lu-chan's right! We're Fairy Tail Mages too!" Both girls took their stances, and prepared for battle.
"Solid Script: Hole!" Levy threw her word directly under five demons, as they all instantly plummeted to the bottom of a pit.
"Solid Script: Jail!" The hole was now being covered by thick metal bars, completely trapping the demons below as they shouted and fought for their freedom.
"Nice Levy!" Lucy threw her fist in the air, encouraging her friend as she readied herself for another spell.
Gajeel and Natsu casted a glance to the girls before looking at each other. Natsu smiled before he shrugged and turned back to the demons. "Well, can't argue with you guys there! Let's show 'em what we got!"
Lucy and Levy shared a determined smile before the Celestial Mage pulled her keys out again, fingering her black and white keys – but after feeling the black obi in her bag realized she'd had enough Arrancar's for a little while.. She smiled again as she stepped out next to Natsu, for the first time feeling confident about fighting with him side-by-side in battle.
"Open! Gate of the Death God!"
"Shit.. She's the Celestial Mage with the keys." The demons took battle stances as they quickly realized their mistake. Idle chatter and threatening definitely wasn't the best idea – especially with three rowdy Dragon Slayers, the Titania, a determined Script Mage, a competitive Ice Mage, and a sarcastic Seith Mage..
The same light shone as it continued to slim to a form. Lucy's look of confidence waned as she looked at her newest spirit, and something in the back of her mind told her to close the portal. Never had Lucy felt such a cold rush crawl its way up and down her spine after summoning a spirit the way it was now; not even Kenpachi or Grimmjow warranted this kind of reaction from her.
"Hmmm? Wha's this? I see a lil mouse that's called on the wrong cat to come play~" He ended off his statement with a smile that reached both eyes, which he chose to keep closed. His short gray hair covered the top of his lids as he angled his head down, giving Lucy an image of sheer terror.
She took a step back as sweat trailed down her brow. Gajeel and Natsu had yet to take their eyes off the spirit that refused to turn from Lucy to acknowledge anyone or anything else. He was staring at her, sizing her up, and smiling even wider.
Bixlow's smile was gone and Laxus had yet to wipe the scowl off his face as it turned into a confused and slightly taken aback appearance. He felt the same chill that Kenpachi caused, but this time, somehow, it was different. Kenpachi may have been ruthless, overcame his opponents with sheer power and finished his enemies off with brutality; but this spirit didn't seem to understand the concept of friend or foe, either that or he didn't care. His stance and demeanor spelled out unparalleled cunning and intellect, which made everyone unspeakably nervous.
Erza took a slow step towards Lucy as Gray had his hands stopped mid-cast. Lily had come to stand next to Levy while Happy landed on her shoulder. All eyes were on the pair – Mage and Spirit – but everyone, even the demons, refused to move.
"Tongue-tied? Speechless? What were ya expectin'? A knight'n shinin' armor? Oh wait, she's standin' right over there." His smile had somehow grown even wider as he indirectly addressed Erza without even looking to her. What's with this guy?
Just like with Urahara, one word came to Lucy's mind – Snake.
"The barrier's down me Lord."
"How observant of you Sikorsky.."
"Shall we move me Lord?"
"Do I need to ask?"
"It shall be done."
Uh oh.. This spirits a tad bit more mocking and sarcastic than usual, I think he's angry XD
And the demons who first appeared in Ch. 12 are back!
Until next time lovelies, get ready for a Lucy-Shinigami show down!