Happy belated Easter everyone! I hope you all had a fun Easter holiday :) Luckily I have my uni mid semester break and had enough time to update . As always, thanks to all the new people who chose to follow, favourite and review this story. Let's get this story to 6000+ views! Fighting!
With that in mind, this chapter is dedicated to:
My first favourite(rs): |Artfullycraftedbeauty, Jozanimelover, Ki05596, Lady Nee, MaiyuKanajo, .28, alycat63, animeXfangirlX, bere1921, , samzferg, tuiandla75, BeccaDuncan, Cotton0Candy, Doctor of the night, MiniAlvarez|
Thanks for supporting me from the start of this story! (P.S Next week will be for followers)
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.
Chapter 7: Coincidence or Fate
"Lucy, Lucy, let's go already," a childish voice that was distinctly male whined.
Lucy slowly turned to the source, unconsciously smiling at the familiar voice, her heart pounding for some unknown reason.
But her stomach dropped when she couldn't recognise the person. Unable to clearly see his face, all she could properly make out was a scaly white scarf.
Yet, as he held out his calloused hand to her, Lucy couldn't help but take it, to let him drag her anywhere he wanted.
"Let the adventures continue!" He declared.
"Aye sir!" A higher pitched voice coming from a flying figure hovering above them shouted.
She hummed in agreement, though unsure why she trusted these two figures she had never met.
And the trio ran off, through the golden plains.
Lucy sat up from her bedroll, gasping. What a vivid dream, she mused, before she felt something fall from her face.
"Tears? Why am I crying?" She wondered aloud.
Strangely, the voice who would've remarked immediately stayed silent. She looked at the tear that had fallen onto her right hand, feeling a sense of emptiness at the sight of her bare hand.
Let the adventures continue!
Her heart clenched, and Lucy knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep for the rest of the night.
After a predictable fitful rest, it was safe to say that Lucy wasn't in the best of moods.
"What's the mission, Loke?" She demanded.
"To reclaim a celestial artefact from the local museum in Magnolia."
"Stealing…is there no other way?"
"Technically it was ours first." Loke winced at the pathetic cover up.
"Well if it's for the celestial realm, it must be done. Such is the duty I chose to accept."
"Thank you," he said, relieved at her agreement, "now let's go over the rules again."
Lucy slumped in annoyance.
"Rule one?"
"Don't use any of the gold zodiacs during the mission."
"Next?"
"Wear the mask and cloak at all times."
"Right. And the last?"
"Once the mission has been completed, I must immediately go back to the celestial realm to report to the king."
"Good. And Lucy," Loke began, handing a detailed silver and gold mask to her, "good luck."
"Mm. Thanks Loke." And after a quick smile to each other, he returned to the celestial world.
Lucy stood shakily, wiping the dust off her clothes before putting on the cloak and then finally the mask.
"Now I'm really like a vigilante."
"No. Now you are the celestial knight. So stand." The voice said solemnly.
And Lucy did. Her back straightening, she took her first real step forward into her role as Lucy the Celestial Knight.
The mission was meant to be simple. Get in, get out. Yet, Lucy wondered, how did this happen. She mused over what had become an incredibly problematic situation as she faced the fire attack blasting her way.
Loke's going to kill me was Lucy's last thought before requipping a golden key into her right hand.
"Open! Gate—"
Meanwhile at Fairy Tail, the day started off normal. Without Lucy. Resulting in a grouchy Natsu, another usual. It had been about two years overall since her absence and while Team Natsu had certainly grown stronger, they had changed. They had tried to maintain their high spirits in accordance with Lucy's wishes but without their upbeat core member, it just wasn't the same.
They couldn't even search for her as there was simply no trace of her. Countless missions they had undertaken, travelling across Fiore for any sighting of their favourite blonde. Yet there was no proof, no evidence, not even a single scent to follow. Naturally they had been suspicious and had questioned Yukino to question her celestial spirits about Lucy's whereabouts but that had been yet another dead end. So with all-time low spirits, they stopped the search. Praying she would come back. Safe. Home.
Currently, the team was walking along the nearly empty Strawberry Street for their monthly ritual, the evening sky watching over them.
Arriving at Lucy's apartment, Erza stepped forward, knocking on the door that immediately swung open, revealing Lucy's landlady. The landlady said nothing as Erza handed her an envelope. She didn't bother checking it, knowing it would have the exact 70,000 jewels, the rent for Lucy's apartment.
She examined their lonely backs as they turned around and moved back onto the street.
"Lucy's home is, and always will be Fairy Tail. I hope you didn't forget that."
And with that, she shut the door.
They remained in silence until Natsu's ears perked up.
"What's wrong Natsu?" Erza asked.
"I think I heard glass breaking."
"Which direction?"
Natsu pointed east.
"That's where Magnolia Museum is," Gray stated.
"Someone must be causing trouble. Natsu, Gray, Happy, let's go!"
"Whoever broke in must be a weirdo, I mean who doesn't know that Fairy Tail is in Magnolia!" Natsu grinned.
An alarm blared in the distance, confirming Erza's suspicion.
Lucy cursed. It had all gone according to plan. Wait until it was dark. Sneak past the guards, deactivate the magic sensors and carefully lift the glass off the artefact.
But then as she had finally gotten the artefact and held it in her hands, she had the most sudden, urgent need to sneeze.
"Hold it in," the voice commanded.
Oh damn.
And then she sneezed, tripping every alarm in her immediate vicinity.
"Game over, better leave right now."
Alarms blaring around her, Lucy requipped the artefact into her storage space before moving into a larger area. Taking out a sparkling diamond key, courtesy of the celestial king, she opened a gate to the celestial realm, cloak fluttering behind her.
However, before she could enter, a strong, female voice called out behind her.
"Halt thief!"
Lucy ignored the voice, taking another step forward but stopping when she found an ice sword pointed at her neck. She looked to her left where a half-naked raven-haired man stood, the holder of said ice sword.
"I'd do what the lady said. Erza doesn't take well to people that don't listen to her." His voice was deeper than she expected.
"Clothes." She looked down pointedly at his lower half, her voice sounding different because of the mask covering her face.
He yelped, and she used the distraction to her advantage, roundhouse kicking him into the wall. Silence filled the room as awareness flooded over the mages and everyone shifted at the sudden tension-filled space.
An ice-make mage, a female mage named Erza, and a pink haired mage and his cat. Lucy sweat dropped at the strange combination of mages blocking her path.
On the other hand, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy were very curious about the identity of this clearly female thief, and most likely a mage. Not just anyone could kick Gray into the wall like that, which Natsu looked forward to using this against him later.
"What is your name thief?" Erza demanded.
"None of your business." Lucy deadpanned.
Suddenly, Natsu charged forwards, fists ablaze, "Fight first! Ask later!"
Lucy dodged gracefully, her mind running with possible strategies.
"Use Constellation."
Lucy smirked and her feet lit up with celestial magic, slightly glowing.
Wary but headstrong, Erza ran forward, requipping into her Heaven Wheel armour and sending a strong sword strike at the cloaked mage, Gray supporting from behind with a barrage of ice arrows.
To Erza's surprise, the mage created a sword of light fast enough to block her sword strike and danced around Gray's arrows.
Erza quickly held up her sword in defence from a retaliating attack but it never came. Instead, the mage continued to dodge all their attacks. However, the moment the mage raised her light sword, the three went back to back, an absolute defence of sorts.
Lucy smirked. Then with a gentle tap from her right foot completed the unseen magic circle.
"Shine. Constellation one."
A bright, golden, intricate circle suddenly appeared underneath the Fairy Tail mages who quickly realised that everything had gone according to the female mage's plan; she had used their cautiousness to her advantage.
And then it became very bright, the harsh light temporarily blinding all except Lucy.
She smiled at her accomplishment, before proceeding to the still open gateway, believing no-one would be able to fight anymore.
"Lucy! Behind you!"
But it was too late and Lucy couldn't dodge the flaming fist to her stomach. She wheezed, somehow managing to stand upright.
But how, Lucy thought wildly.
"You may have taken my eyesight but I can still hear you. I'm Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's fire dragon slayer with enhanced senses. At your service, thief."
Lucy grumbled to herself. Of all the damn mages in the world, she just had to fight a dragon slayer.
"Oi Happy! You okay? Can you lend me a hand?"
"Aye Natsu! My eyes were only open a tiny bit during her weird spell so it's only a bit blurry!"
Said weirdo flinched in annoyance, readying herself into a fighting stance.
And then the pink mage, Natsu, grinned, hitting his fists together.
"Where's she at?!"
"Directly in front!" The cat, Happy called.
Lucy cursed, dodging the fire breath attack and then the next one and then the one after that. But though she wasn't using any magic, her physical stamina was draining fast at the seemingly endless barrage of fire.
Natsu closed his eyes, focusing on his opponent's breathing and hearing it become rougher as she became more and more exhausted.
"It's time Happy!"
"Aye Natsu!" Happy flew down, picking up Natsu and heading straight for the mage.
"Max speed Happy! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" He shouted, the flames obeying his command.
"Aye sir!"
Meanwhile for Lucy, with her stamina near dead, faced the fire attack blasting her way.
Loke's going to kill me was Lucy's last thought before requipping the golden key of Aquarius into her right hand.
"Open! Gate—"
"Coincidence and fate have always been two very different things. Yet for some reason, it was inexplicably difficult to determine if what happened today was coincidence or fate." The voice spoke, using Lucy's body, recounting the events that had occurred during the mission to the king.
"Indeed. You speak wise words. But what exactly happened to make you ponder this, old friend?" The King questioned.
Flashback:
"Aye sir!"
"Open! Gate—"
All three halted immediately at the other sides' words.
"She's a celestial mage." Natsu said, shocked.
"A…aye."
"Happy! Can you see what key she's holding?!" He asked desperately.
In the same time, Lucy couldn't help but pause at the voice of the cat speaking the words she had heard in her vivid dream. But she quickly refocused as the voice shouted at her.
"Lucy! Get out of here. Quickly, while they're distracted."
Obeying the voice, she requipped the key back and went through the gate that immediately closed after her departure.
Landing in the celestial realm, Lucy collapsed in exhaustion.
"And that's about it. She did well, though her stamina needs some improving."
"Very well then. Her next mission will be moved up. Time is running out faster than I expected."
"I see. Well, until next time."
And then the voice vanished, leaving a slumbering Lucy who was picked up by Loke.
"Coincidence or fate, huh…Little miss celestial knight, the luck you have is astonishing. To run into them..." Loke chuckled, as she sneezed lightly in her sleep.
Standing in the wreckage of the museum room, Natsu and Happy checked over Gray and Erza, all of them regaining their eyesight.
"We better report this to Master. That mage was no ordinary one so this must not be an ordinary case. She stole whatever she did for a reason." Erza said.
"Yeah. And her magic was nothing I've seen before. Constellation magic." Gray agreed, adding his own input.
"It wasn't just constellation magic. She used celestial spirit magic at the end. And…tell them what you saw, buddy." Natsu encouraged Happy.
"She had a key in her hand. A golden key."
Erza and Gray gasped, their faces brightening but also darkening with the two realisations.
"So that means…" Gray began.
"Either that was Lucy…" Erza continued.
"Or that mage took Lucy's keys from her and kil…" Natsu shuddered, his bangs shadowing his furious slitted eyes.
"Either way, we now have a real lead." Erza said, patting Natsu on the shoulder, trying to give him hope.
"And a new target..." Gray smirked.
"The celestial mage." Natsu finished.
And that's it for now folks! If you're anxiously waiting for Lucy and Natsu to meet, so am I OTL. But it can't just happen (sad life) so in return I'll make it as dramatic as I can! Mwahahahaha
Many thanks to the reviewers as always :D Don't be afraid to review, us writers always look forward to hearing feedback!
Nanami B: Is it? *holds spoilers close to chest* Hehe thanks for the encouragement
TheGirlWithTheFictionAddiction: Here's the next update Hope you liked it!
Moon Stone Tiger Lily: Lol possessive Natsu is one of my favourites as well XD Thanks for reviewing again 3
Sugarsugarrush: OMG THANKS :3 Soooooooooooo sweet ^^. Hope you enjoyed the update.
Meowwstache: Haha unfortunately the story has to progress a bit without them really talking face to face. I'll complete this story for sure :D
: YOU'RE TOOOOOOOOOOOO KINDDDDDDDD Lolol that is really fun
Guest: Thanks for your nice review! Hope you enjoy the update
AnimeLoverNK: YAY someone recognises the awesomeness of powered up Lucy ;) GO YOU
Well, until next time.
-how to dream again