Chapter 20 : Infiltration
Lucy groaned at the stiffness of her body, having been sent to sleep then woken up then sent back to sleep again numerous number of times already.
And she hated the fact that she was actually getting used to it.
Not only is she getting annoyed that it was totally screwing up her body clock, and for the fact that whatever they were doing to her was giving her a killer headache, she's also growing increasingly uneasy at the room she's currently being held captive in, especially at the magic circle below her which slowly glowed brighter as time passed.
Talking about time, Lucy wondered, how much time has passed since she was taken from the battlefield.
Lucy's sleep crusted eyes creaked open, only to find Madonna's face directly in front of hers, so close she could hear and feel her breathing as well as to finally see her face clearly to notice that her eyes look vaguely familiar, having only seen her cloaked figure in the shadows or behind Pheles.
She yelped back in shock, well as much as she could possibly do so, seeing she's still tied up, the chains holding her protesting noisily, her eyes shooting wide open.
" Hmm..." Madonna hummed, unfazed by Lucy's reaction to her, eyes narrowed as she continued studying Lucy, much to Lucy's discomfort.
"Hmm... So different yet... so many bloody similarities..." She murmured, circling Lucy slowly, invisible platforms forming wherever she walked, her dull silver eyes filled with malice as she sneered at Lucy.
" Who are you...?" Lucy said uneasily, not liking the vibe she's getting from the lady in front of her.
" Me?" Madonna bent low in a bow, " You can call me Madonna, not that you'd be saying that name for much longer."
Lucy didn't bother asking asking about what she meant, she asked that same question plenty of times before during Pheles's many visits,
" You look a lot like Tenebre." Lucy murmured in thought, returning the favor as she too studied Madonna's features with keen eyes.
" You mean that pesky little Gatekeeper?" Madonna tilted her head mockingly, " You're a sharp one eh? That's because she's half my kind."
" Half your kind?" Lucy's mind whirled in overtime, her headache not making thinking any easier.
But when the pieces finally clicked together, her eyes widened in horror-filled realization, " You're an angel!"
Madonna covered her mouth in mock shock. " Oh no! You figured it out!"
" But why? Aren't angels supposed to be on the good side?"
Madonna laughed out loud, almost guffawing at the ridiculousness of her words,
" So stereotypical!" Madonna giggled hysterically.
" Who says everything is simply in black and white?"
" Take me for example, i'm special! I'm what you call a grey! " She slapped a hand on her chest, gesturing to herself, " Who says all angels have to be all rainbows and flowers?"
" And likewise, not all demons are blood and fangs...?" Lucy murmured softly to herself, her eyebrows knitting together in a troubled expression.
Madonna simply walked back onto the main path, smirking secretly to herself.
" Say, since you've already figured it out this far, let me let you in on a secret of mine."
" The only reason why our dear peace loving, tree hugging Pheles is acting this way," Madonna grinned darkly and pointed to herself, " It's because i'm manipulating him, feeding his deepest darkest desires to create this wonderful new personality of his and slowly corroding that old boring one of his."
" You monster!" Lucy seethed, eyes filled with anger for a person she wasn't supposed to feel anything for." What did he ever do to you?!"
Madonna snapped, " What did he ever do to me?! He rejected me! They all did! All they saw was her, never me!" She shouted into Lucy's face, making her flinch back by the shrillness of her voice.
Taking a step back, she slung both arms out, gesturing to the entire room, her face alight with a twisted pride, smiling cruelly, " But now after long years of preparation, i'm finally close to the stage of completion, completion of my revenge against all the worlds, against all who made a fool of me!"
Turning away from her, she tossed a gleeful look over her shoulder at Lucy, " But there isn't a need to explain everything to you. So be swallowed by the jaws of sleep, my little pawn, i need you in your best condition for my plan to be a success. See you next time darling~."
The last thing Lucy saw before her vision went black, was Madonna's back walking away from her, and those last words of hers.
" But then again, there probably won't be a next time for you."
The heavy wooden doors slammed shut with a finality.
" Natsu..." She whimpered, cursing herself for her helplessness in situations like these.
Darkness.
Natsu stiffened, his back straightening sharply.
" What's wrong Natsu?" Happy floated beside him, placing a paw on his shoulder at his shoulder, looking worriedly at his partner.
Natsu patted Happy's head, managing a smile for only so long, " I'm fine Happy," A troubled look clouded over his face, " I thought i just heard Lucy's voice."
He shook his head, " Maybe i'm just hearing things."
With that being said, he focused back on the meeting in front of him, crossing his arms as everything around him gradually blurred into a dull murmur as he filtered out the ceaseless bickering i front of him.
It's been a month since the gang from Fairy Tail came into the Void, and within that one month, all their magical and physical attributes improved by leaps and bounds, even though only one hour passed in Earthland, all thanks to Tenebre's dimensional magic.
Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel and Stilla, the hyperactive little Water Dragon Slayer only a few years younger than Wendy they've slowly grown fond of during their training regimes with light blue hair tied up in a french braid because she insists that it makes her look more mature and sparkling blue-green eyes, furthered their long-delayed training with their parents and having learned many more dragonslaying techniques as well as improving their current ones.
Erza, Laxus and Evergreen, having trained with the one and only Queen Titania and King Oberon of the Faerie Realm, learned various new techniques and faerie magic. Laxus and Oberon making unexpected friends, despite their initial dislike for each other, even Titania who was rather amused with the fact that another ' Titania' was in front of her, was quick to be acquainted with the two fairy ladies, thought more fond of Erza then Evergreen, due to some rather obvious details.
Those sent to the Otherworld, Jackal and Shakal at the Vampire Empire, Lisanna and Elfman with Vidian and Fengari, and Levy, Freed and Bixlow with Nezhirt.
After several rounds Beledonna's raging spree, which pretty much obliterated most of the northern part of her own castle, the twins were finally properly reunited with their little sister who promptly broke into tears after she broke her 30th war fan and somehow managed to get some training done within the short amount of time they had left and successfully avoiding the topic of taking back the throne from their sister.
Lisanna and Elfman were completely engrossed with their training, fallen in love would be a better description, Lisanna having mastered a wind and fire phoenix under her two teachers Vidian and Gillian whereas Elfman mastered a half werewolf takeover with Fengari.
Talking about Takeovers, Mira was also training on some new demon takeovers with Mephisto, though it looked like she was the only one enjoying herself, a dreadful scowl always on his face during the entire time they were training together.
Levy and Freed on the other hand, were having the time of their lives with the timid Nezhirt, having found out that he was the originator of Word magics in general, bombarded him with a never ending stream of question every chance they've got. Nezhirt, not used to people talking to him so energetically and in such volume, was pretty intimidated by them at first, but in the end was connected to them by their passion for the same art, surprising the heck of of his closest friends by how he was smiling so often around the two.
As such, it was so much easier for him to get along with someone as eccentric as Bixlow, who got a few more tips on his Seith Magic, on grasping the finer points of that magic and how to control it better seeing that Nezhirt was the an expert on the affairs of the soul, seeing that he rules over them.
Jellal, Ultear and Meredy somehow managed to convince Tenebre to let them train in Edolas in which they got some intensive training from an environment void of magic. Then they returned just in time to train their magic for another week in Tenebre's personal dimension.
Seraphim, got it easy, her only job was Charla and all she needed to do was to help Charla get a better hold on her visions, to get them to come more willingly, though not all went as well as she expected it to be, but at least she can more or less control it to a certain extent, and not to be caught off guard by feeling the currents of upcoming visions.
A piercing screech snapped Natsu out of his reverie, and he turned his startled gaze to look at the enraged Marie,
" These blades are cursed, how many times must i say it?!"
Tenebre sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she intentionally wedged herself between the girl and the flaming dragon." Just...just try not to come into contact with the blade, much less get injured by it until we find out more about it."
They all nodded solemnly.
" Let's go through our plan once again." She sighed, turning her weary gaze to the diagram in front of her,
" Based on our intel on the Diablo and what little knowledge we have on it, we'll split into seven groups, at each level of the fortress, each group will break off from the main group and hold off any enemy forces at that level..."
" Ne, Mama, Papa," Stilla tugged at their coats and whispered, her nose cringing up, " There's a weird smell coming from Uncle Metalicana."
" Hush, Stilla!" Nero chided, slowly pulling the little girl behind him and away from the said man's piercing glare, " Let's talk about it later okay? Now pay attention to what Aunt Tenebre is saying."
" Hai Papa!"
"... and the respective teams are..."
" Laxus and Mirajane."
" Juvia and Gray."
" Erza, Jellal and Meredy."
" Lisanna, Elfman and Stilla with Purtri."
" Raijin and Wendy with Charla."
" Gajeel with Pantherlily and Levy."
" And lastly Me, Ultear and Natsu with Happy."
" With that being said..."
She slammed her hands down onto the meeting tale, turning her serious gaze to meet the eyes that were on her.
" Let's go."
" Oh oh my, they've found us, Pheles." Larga put his hand to his mouth in mock surprise, " Oh Oh what do we do?"
Pheles just stared down with indifference, eyes barely grazing the screens drifting round Larga's body as the said person tiptoed around the runes.
" Let them come," He said simply, waving his hands dismissively, " They'll entertain us in their futile attempt to save their princess."
" Only to watch her die."
" As as cool as always, Pheles-sama~" Larga faked swooned.
" So is everything as it's supposed to be?" Pheles asked as Larga knelt down to adjust one of the floating golden crystals.
" Other other than this one, which is also now fixed, everything is as it should be." Larga stood up, dusting invisible dust from his black slacks and walking back to Pheles's side. " But but you might want to lighten up on all those sleeping spells ya putting on blondie here, it's putting quite a strain on her mental stability."
" Noted." Pheles looked around the doctor, as if noticing something,
" Say, where's that assistant of yours?"
Larga grinned at himself, eyes glinting darkly as if remembering something good.
" She's she's had a... rather rough night, and i still have plans for her after this."
Pheles simply lifted an eyebrow at him, and said, " Just don't overdo it, our entertainment will arrive any time soon."
" Hai hai, Pheles. Now now if you'd excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."
Waving the doctor out, Pheles was left on his own in the room, looking back impassively at Lucy when he noticed something else.
" Well Doctor," He said to himself, leaning back into his throne," I believe there's no longer a need for those sleeping spells anymore."
" Cause she's already into Phase 2 of the Reaping."
Glistening crimson droplets dripped from the blond's chin and fell, splattering onto the black glassy surface and seeping into the golden engraved lines.
Her eyes opened slightly, her once hazel brown eyes now a dull deep shade of red, her pupils narrowing into single black teardrop.
" Seal 2 : Broken." She whispered lifelessly as she stared down blankly into nothingness,
" Seal 3 : 17% left."
And those eyes closed once again.
Just as a huge explosion broke out in the courtyard.
Fire spewed from Natsu's mouth as he yelled to the sky, " COME OUT AND FIGHT ME PHELES!"
" A dragon with only his mate in mind is a dangerous opponent indeed." Erza hummed with narrowed eyes as she stuck her hand into a different space, pulling out a glinting blade from within.
" With that in mind..." Tenebre rounded upon the rest of the group who all emerged from the portal, which promptly closed shut right after Jellal crossed the threshold, hollering as she threw her fist in the air.
" Move out!"
In a literal flash, Laxus appeared in front of the entire group with Mira at his back, blasting the heavy oaken doors of the fortress into smithereens easily with a bolt of lightning and a blast of dark energy.
The moment the first splinter of wood touched the ground, a multitude of neon green magic circles surrounded the group and out from them came an entire army of puppets, each wielding a different magic tool or weapon made from the very black glass they were warned about.
Meanwhile, Larga sniggered as he looked at the lacrima camera footage from his room while putting on his clothes, consisting of his normal crumpled stained white shirt and lab coat and black slacks.
" Hai hai, let's see how well they dance with my cute little puppets." He swept out the room, with his coat billowing from behind him as he tied his unruly yellowish green hair back into a low ponytail, and into the next room directly connected to his lab.
He flicked the switch on the wall panel beside him and the room immediately lighted up, the lacrima screens came alive and the wall sections behind each screen popped out, revealing a human-sized canister each holding a puppet, the said creatures stepped out of the canister and took their places in front of the screen with mechanical synchronisation and their porcelain fingers immediately clattered to work.
Grinning as he leaned onto the doorframe beside him, tossing a proud look at Adonis's bare bruised body behind him as red welts formed on her ankles, wrists and shoulders in what might seem like rope marks, he crackled as he turned back to supervise his minions at work,
" Might might as well take this chance to collect some information on my future subjects!"
" Team 1!" Tenebre shouted above the noise.
Laxus let loose a barrage of lightning strikes, charring both puppets and land alike with a thunderous roar, and Mira Satan Soul-ed, terrorising all in her path as she slashed and blasted them into bits.
" Go! We'll take care of them," Mira's dark tinted lips tilted up into a smirk, a vortex of dark energy gathering in her hands as she lifted it up above her head.
" Soul Extinction!" With a terrifying snarl, she threw it forwards and sent it hurtling towards the puppets.
Scales grew on Laxus's arms as lightning crackled over the surface of his body and gathered in front of his mouth, and he roared,
" Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
Demonic energy and lightning combined, and in a flash, the puppets in front of them were nothing but a scorching mess of melted, dismembered limbs, but as soon as they were destroyed, more appeared through the green magic circles.
But that short reprise before the puppets reformed was just enough for the group to pass through the destroyed gates unscathed.
As soon as they passed the threshold, Laxus and Mira were there in instant, blocking off the puppets path.
The two grinned deviously at each other before leaping back into the heat of battle, as the doors regenerated and slammed shut behind them.
" Marie-" Tenebre spoke telepathically to Marie who was back at the Void as she ran.
" Already on it." Marie typed furiously on her keyboard, " I'll find that bastard puppeteer and shut him down."
" I'm counting on you." Tenebre curtly replied.
The group ran quite a distance in silence, passing hallway after hallway, till everything to them simply blurred into nothing but repetitive grey stone walls.
Grey glanced uneasily around, saying through light pants," Say, don't you think it too quiet in here?"
Erza then spotted something glinting behind them from the corner from her eye, with a dagger instantly in hand, she skidded to an abrupt stop and whirled around, throwing the dagger in that direction, the projectile whistled past Stilla as it snipped a few strands of her hair from her fringe, the little water dragonslayer falling to the ground with a surprised yelp.
Shattering the lacrima camera that's been following them since they've stepped foot into the Diablo.
" We've been followed." Erza growled, prodding at the shattered pieces, mentally berating herself for not noticing sooner.
" As as expected of the great Titania." A loud mocking voice echoed from down the eerily silent hallway, followed by the clacking sound of what seemed to be hands clapping.
" Show yourself ye bastard!" Natsu shouted, his sharp eyes glaring up in the direction of the voice.
" Tsk tsk tsk tsk, why do people always say that assuming that person will actually follow what they say?" The voice sighed in exasperation.
A hole opened from the ceiling in front of them, and a puppet dressed in a lab coat with a messily sewn yellow wig dropped down from above.
Controlled like a marionette, it bowed creakily by its waist as its mouth socket moved in speech,
" Welcome welcome my esteemed guests, to the humble abode of the great Doctor Larga..."
"Cut the crap and tell me where Lucy is!" Natsu cut in sharply..
The puppet shook it's head, and wagged a wooden finger at Natsu.
" Tsk tsk tsk tsk young Natsu Dragoneel, didn't that red lizard of yours teach you any manners?" The voice mocked, " Don't don't interrupt people when they're talking! Now now, as i was saying-"
" Natsu, calm down," Tenebre grabbed his shoulder, holding Natsu back as Larga blabbered on, her fingers blistering up against his flames, " There's no use pummelling a fake. "
Natsu snarled, but he backed down nevertheless, his ferocious eyes remained trained on the swinging puppet.
"- so with that i propose a game!" Larga announced gleefuly, his puppet clapping its wooden hands together. " In in fact, the game has already started!"
On cue, green chains that suddenly erupted from the ground and dragged the unprepared group consisting of Gray, Juvia, the Raijin, Wendy, Charla, Lisanna, Elfman, Stilla and Purtri into the unknown depths of the holes that suddenly open up beneath them.
" What did you do to them, Dollmaster?" Tenebre demanded.
The doll tilted its head to the side,
" Nothing nothing much, just sent them away somewhere else, all part of the game O' Great Gatekeeper-sama." The puppet clapped its hands together as Pheles's voice cooed mockingly out of it.
" Ye bastard-"
But Tenebre was a step faster than Natsu, in a single step, a wing segment faded from her left arm, she appeared in front of the puppet and snapped the puppet off by it legs with a vicious tug just as a huge pulse of magical energy released from her body, in the same instant her hair turned black and her eyes a molten gold.
" You lay one fucking goddamn finger on their hair Larga, i'll personally chain you the the depths of the River Phlegethon in the Otherworld and see to it that you'd never be able escape ever again." She snarled viciously as a red tinted black orb of pure demonic energy shot off from her hands, the air sizzled with malicious energy as it obliterated the puppet and the wall behind it, along with every other thing that was in that direction as she created her own path.
" Let's go get that fucker." She stormed forward. " and get back my blond."
Larga gritted his teeth and glowered darkly at his screen, watching as the group walk past unscathed through every obstacle he placed, the fortress rumbling with every one of his minions or wall Tenebre blasted into bits, Natsu charred to ash or Ultear smash with her orb.
" I'll I'll make you eat your words, you abomination, i'll be the one to drag you to the River of Flames." He seethed venomously, crushing the red lacrima in his hands.
The Diablo shuddered and groaned, debris falling from the ceilings and cracks forming on the ground where they stood, the walls shifting and moving like a puzzle rearranging itself.
" What is happening?!" Levy stumbled for balance, bumping into Gajeel's chest, the said person wrapping his well-built arms around her petite shoulders and holding her close to him with a grunt.
"This magic..." Tenebre glared at the walls with apprehensive golden eyes " Why the fuck does it feel so familiar?"
Serpe appeared with a golden poof, his eyes looking around wildly,
" This magic.. isn't this Diablo's magic?!"
" What the hell?!" Gray emerged from the rubble with an icy blast, mist covering his body as he he stood up and scrutinised his unfamiliar surroundings. " Where did we get dragged to?!"
" Gray-sama~" Juvia's liquid body solidified below Gray, latching onto his legs as she stared adoringly up back at him, " Juvia didn't know Gray-sama had a stepping fetish, please step on Juvia more~"
" What the heck?!" The ice mage yelped rather loudly, attempting to release himself from her vice-like grip.
" Did we get separated from the rest of the group?" Stilla's light blue head poked out from the rubble, shaking off the dust from her body.
" Intentionally i guess, that 'Larga' person said something about a game?" Levy frowned, biting her thumbnail in thought, " I don't like this..."
" Me too." Wendy piped in, looking around with a puzzled yet rather forlorn expression, " The air in here, it feels sad."
Stilla sniffled, looking up at Wendy in agreement with watery eyes, " The water too! It's feels like that time Papa and Mama were taken from me, like a tight feeling here in my chest."
She patted the spot above her heart and she sniffled, holding back her tears, she looked up at the entire group and said,
" Is Papa and Mama going to leave me again?"
Every single person shook their heads frantically in an desperate attempt to assure Stilla, the last time they were caught in her waterworks, even Juvia couldn't stop the onslaught of water that flooded them.
As soon as she calmed down, much to their relief, they scrutinised their new surroundings,
" If i didn't know better," Bixlow ran his hand over the walls, feeling it tremble slghtly beneath his hands. " I might actually think the place is alive."
" Alive! Weird! Alive!" His dolls chirped.
" Being delusional is not MAN!"
" Shut up dude, i mean it, this place is alive." Bixlow said, " Holy shit, i can sense a soul within the walls of this place!"
" Awesome! Can i possess the soul and take control of this place? " The entire group minus Wendy and Stilla stared at the grinning visor wearing Seith Mage. " What? That would be so cool!"
" That's a great fucking idea!"
Everyone jumped up in surprise when Tenebre's voice suddenly boomed in their heads,
" Jeez woman, must you shout?!"
" Hey can it Tin Can, what's it to you?"
" Why you-!"
" Gajeel please!"
" Whatever shrimp."
" I'm not a shrimp!"
" How is Juvia hearing Tenebre's voice in Juvia's head?" Juvia looked around in.
" Oh, i established a telepathic link the moment we got out the portal, i just forgot all about it that's all."
" Enough about that, oi freaky eyes, i'm sending my boy to where you people are at, he'll explain, we have company here~" Tenebre said almost gleefully.
" Wait what-! How would you even know where-" A perturbed looking Serpe poofed up beside Gray, " -Oh."
" Are you okay?" Lisanna lightly placed her hand on Serpe's weary shoulders, looking at him with concern," What happened?"
Serpe shook his head, " I'm not even sure myself,", he then continued,
" Moving on, Tenebre got Marie to track you guys, the tremor just now was from the entire fortress rearranging itself."
" She also got Marie to find out about the weird magical energy being emitted by the fortress.", Serpe's jaw tightened and he clenched his fist hard enough to break skin, " I didn't expect my past to come back and haunt me so quickly."
"Adonis...?" Wendy whispered uncertainly to herself.
Serpe stiffened, turning his hollow gaze to look at the girl," How do you know that name?"
" The wind told me, it keeps whispering the same name every few minutes." Wendy looked down to her feet, " Did i say something wrong?"
Serpe appeared in front of Wendy in an instant and grabbed her by both her shoulders, his eyes wide in desperation as he shook her, " And is the wind telling you anything else?! Is it?!"
" Diablo-san."
Stilla suddenly spoke up, startling them, a fierce look in her ever-changing blue-green eyes.
"The name of the man trapped in this place. His name is Diablo-san."
Purtri, the water dragonslayer's ever present black exceed with blue eyes, landed on Stilla's head, yawned widely and explained, " Nyann... Stilla-chan is able use the water present in everyone's body to get information. For her to get such a clear connection, this Diablo person must be somewhere near a huge water source or underwater."
Serpe let out a shaky breadth, running a hand through his hair in a distressed manner, " How is all this just a coincidence..."
" Oh come on," Evergreen rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder sassily, " If you have something to say, spit it out already!"
" Like what has those two names got to do with you and why do you look as if you've seen death in the face?"
Serpe shook his head, " Adonis is the name of my previous owner, and Diablo is the name of her fiancée."
" But they've been dead for more than a two centuries now."
" Annnnnd cue awkward silence." Bixlow whistled through the shocked silence that came upon the group.
" Shhh! Shhh!" His dolls sang behind him.
" So," Freed summarized, " two supposedly two century old people from your past showed up in this fortress?"
" Yes."
" Well, let's go meet them then!" Lisanna pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically, smiling brightly," Better yet, they might be able to help us get out of this mess!"
Serpe smiled slightly, whispering to himself, " I'm glad my master got to know you people."
" Did you say something Serpe-san?"
" Nothing, it was nothing. And Serpe is just fine, no need for all that formal shit." He shook his head, " But moving on, i'm glad that all of you are willing to help, my past is just one factor of the problem, the man behind all this is the main problem."
" Come, let us be on our way as i explain." Serpe walked toward both Wendy and Stilla, " Both of you may be the key to end all this."
He looked over to Bixlow, " Oh, and you as well."
" Eat this bitches!" Tenebre yelled as flaming chains rose from the ground, wrapping themselves round the puppets and slamming/ smashing them to the ground, "Chains of the Damned!"
" This is never going to end!" Erza shouted over the chaos, " Tenebre, head on ahead with the others, Jellal,Meredy and I will handle the rest!"
" Re-quip : Black Wing Armor!" Erza's current armor was replaced with a flash of light, " Moon Flash!"
" Heavenly Blast!" Jellal casted in conjunction with Erza's magic, the two merging to form one huge beam of magic, and blasted a path for the group to get through.
" See ya later!" Tenebre grabbed hold on everyone with the exception of the three, and shot through the gap before it closed.
And just like with Laxus and Mirajane, they soon too disappeared from sight.
" Mou~" Meredy pouted, creating teal Magic swords in the air and with a simple flick of her arm, launching the blades at the puppets around her, " Why was i chosen to be with the two lovebirds?"
Luckily for her, the two of them did not hear her.
" Ne, is it okay to leave the three of them together?" Levy huffed, looking back uneasily while stumbling over her own feet, struggling to keep up with the pace of the rest of the group.
" Peh! I'm sure they'll be just finnnnnnne on their own!" Tenebre called back, practically soaring above the ground as she moved forward,
" What's with this bitch?" Gajeel grumbled under his breath,
" Gajeel!" Levy chided, frowning disapprovingly, "That's no way to address your nakama!"
" What, surely ya find something weird about her weird personality switches and those weird eyes and hair of hers? What fuck the exactly is she?"
"But that doesn't mean-"
" DUCK!"
Caught off guard by Natsu's sudden shout, Levy froze in place when all the others either bent down or jumped away, placing her smack in front of the incoming black projectile.
" Levy!" Gajeel leapt from his crouching position, and grabbed Levy away, slamming into a wall just seconds before it hit Levy, cushioning her body with his.
" Che, i should've made the blast area bigger."
" Ye bastard!" Gajeel roared-shouted, barely restraining himself from ripping the pudgy red-faced man before him into pieces as he cradled the trembling frozen-stiff body of Levy's within the safe confines of his arms.
" Oh i'm so sorry, " Igna said with fake concern in an overly sweet tone, " Did i almost hit your precious there? "
" Oi bipolar bitch," Gajeel prowled forward, his hair shadowing his face, he cracked his neck, " Leave this fucker to me."
Tenebre shrugged her shoulders, seemingly amused, " Well if you insist."
" Be my guest." She swept down in a bow with a hand forward pointing at Igna.
" HA! Do you worms think you can easily get past me-!"
Never had anyone in the group saw Gajeel fight with such ferocity, not even when he fought against Natsu when he was still a Phantom, not even when he was fighting off his foes at Tenroujima.
Eyes burning with barely suppressed anger and hate, his body executed a flurry of attacks so fast, the pudgy old man struggled to keep up.
" Shortie, " Tenebre helped her up, " Ya alright?"
The said person looked up and nodded, " I'm fine, just a little shaken up that's all."
" Can i trust you to keep that bloke in control? "
Levy turned to look at Tenebre, smiling weakly, " That's why i'm here for."
Tenebre then shoved several items into her arms, speaking rapidly as she indicated with a finger, " Here's a couple energy potion thingies my - urm, physician, concocted, and a pouch of the crystal shards from my crystal. Use when you feel metal head there's getting screwed up too badly."
Just as fast as she shoved everything to Levy, she manhandled the rest of the group just as fast, consisting of only Natsu, Happy, Ultear and herself left, and zipped past the seemingly one-sided battle, leaving the trio in her dust.
" Oi Marie, where to now?"
" Keep heading straight, turn left on the fifth intersection, then right on the second, smash through the the first door you see, and bring Lucy home."
" Copy that."
" By the way, the three teams plus Serpe are moving out as well, i've just finished briefing them on Operation Takedown."
" Thanks Marie, keep me updated."
Tenebre turned back to look at Natsu, " Well, ya heard her, we're almost there hot head."
" Let's hurry up then!" He shouted back, charging on ahead.
" In the meantime, let's hope those on the other side hurry up with their own mission as well." Ultear skidded to a stop just as a horde of puppets materialized in front of them with her orb in hand, " These puppets are seriously getting on my nerves."
The Dollmaster grit his teeth, his communication lacrima almost cracking under his grip.
" That that dammed Gatekeeper and her pets," He cursed under his breath, his puppets fighting off Marie's hacking in vain as one by one his cameras and his systems got hacked into, " messing up everything."
" Adonis Adonis!" Larga barked.
The said person scrambled out of the other room, throwing some clothes on , " Doctor."
" Take take those three," He snapped his fingers impatiently at the puppets dragging the half conscious Tiamat, Antonio and Liberta out of their quarters, " and stop those vermin from getting any closer to us."
" Yes Doctor."
Nodding, she quickly disappeared through the front door, with the three being dragged behind her by their grey straitjackets.
" All all you damned pieces of shit!" Larga kicked the puppet nearest to him, sending it crashing into the wall opposite it, completely destroying it, however, another exact one just came out from the pod-like device behind the console and took over the destroyed puppets's desk, as if nothing happened, " I I want my systems up and running by the next minute, ya hear me, clear off that damned bug!"
He was answered by the clattering of of limbs and beeping of their fingers tapping on their lacrima keyboards, nothing else.
Adonis hurried down the hallway, turning sharply at corners.
In such a hurry, that she walked right into Serpe's chest just as they both turned at the corner at the same time.
" Whoa!" Serpe grabbed her arm, with fast reflexes on both sides, Adonis flung his hand aside as both of them leaped away from each other, one in pure shock and the other in programmed instinct.
" Adonis-sama!" Serpe inhaled sharply in shock.
" Found the intruders," She said monotonously, " Release them!"
The puppets snapped off the buckles of the straitjackets and released the three captives's magic resistors.
Antonio's eye was the first to snap open, his body instantly moving into action, leaping forward with a dreadful snarl at the people he first laid his eyes on.
Lisanna and Elfman.
Elfman shoved Lisanna behind him as his other arm morphed into a reptilian like structure, smashing it down into Antonio's face.
" Beast Arm : Reptile! "
Antonio, acting on his newly awakened feral instincts, shifted his body slightly to the side, dodging the attack that barely grazed the hairs on his arms , he then appeared instantly behind Elfman, his fist alight with a malicious black flame.
" Animal Soul: Harpy!"
Lisanna swooped in, claws aimed at Antonio's face but mainly his eyes as she executed a flurry of swipes and slashes at him, pushing him back and away from her brother.
" Mou! Elf-nii, i can fight too!" She pouted indignantly.
" But-"
" Jeez, you stupid muscle head, just let your sister be, she not that defenseless little girl you think she is!" Evergreen smacked the back of his head with her fan, so hard, he fell onto the ground, just as a ball of black fire whizzed past where his head used to be, pulverizing the wall behind him.
It was then that Tiamat opened her eyes, standing up, she trudged rather unsteadily towards her own opponents, or rather, the first person she saw.
With a sudden burst of speed, she appeared in front of Gray, but Juvia was one step in front of her,
"Water Lock!"
Encasing the woman in a globe of water, Juvia narrowed her eyes menacingly at Tiamat and hissed,
" Stay away from Juvia's Gray-sama!"
But her moment of triumph only lasted a few seconds before Juvia realized that the bubbles in her water lock did not come from Tiamat's mouth, but from the water being rapidly heated and evaporated away.
Till there was nothing but a steaming Tiamat standing there.
" Water is my domain, Water Woman, this will be your end." Tiamat said blandly, staring impassively at the duo,
" Ice-make : Lance!"
She simply lifted a hand, and the ice lances stopped in their spots and melted into a puddle.
" And so is ice, Ice Mage."
The floor rumbled beneath them, and soon crumbled, bringing the three under just as Lisanna pounced onto Antonio, and Elfman punching him straight through a wall, they too disappearing somewhere else.
Leaving only Freed, Bixlow, Wendy, Charla, Stilla, Purtri and Serpe with the just awakening Liberta, Adonis and six puppets.
" Damn, that brat's plan is totally screwed up now." Bixlow's tongue hung lazily out from his mouth.
" Brat! " " Screwed Up! " " Screw screw!" The floating totems chirped.
" So... do you want zombie dude there or pretty-"
" I'll take girl." Serpe cut Bixlow off.
Bixlow grinned widely and cracked his neck, " We'll take the zombie dude and puppets then... Wait, hold up!"
Bixlow squinted through the gaps in his visor at the still groggy Liberta, and his grin widened, " Oh ho! Things are getting interesting here! On second thought, me and Freed will settle zombie dude and puppets, you four go on ahead with that brat's plan."
Wendy and Stilla nodded determinedly, " We won't let you down Bixlow-san!"
" Let's go Charla!"
" Full speed ahead Purtri!"
The exceeds grabbed their partners and zipped past Adonis and her group, dodging various magic missiles and attacks they they threw at her.
Adonis pointed at them, " After them!"
The puppets necks creaked noisily as they turned their heads backwards to stare blankly at the quickly disappearing duo, then slowly chased after them, speed increasing with every step.
" Let's go babies!" Bixlow's dolls flew around him, " Baryon Formation!"
All five dolls spun around in a pentagonal pattern, then released a massive beam of energy towards the puppets, obliterating them completely.
" Tsk, i'll go after them myself." Adonis tsked, turning backwards and was immediately stopped when she ran straight into a rune wall.
" You won't leave this area till you defeat the three of us." Freed swiped his sword down in an arc with a rather smug look on his face.
" A bit of an overkill don't you think," Adonis turned back to face them, a look of annoyance clouding her usually emotionless mask. " Three against a defenseless lady like me."
" Defenseless isn't exactly the word i would use to describe you, lady isn't as well, Adonis-sama." Serpe said, smiling bitterly.
" And who exactly are you and how do you know me?" Adonis felt an uncomfortable pang in her chest as she said it, but deduced it as a malfunction in her systems, making a mental note to go for maintenance after this mess was over.
Freed and Bixlow stared at the duo awkwardly, as though they were intruding in something private,
" Awwkward~" Bixlow whispered gleefully, Freed elbowing his in the ribs, the two backing out slowly,
" Awkward~" His dolls echoed.
" Urm, we'll leave the both of you to settle your... stuff, " Freed shoved Bixlow out of his rune barrier, adding an additional clause to it, the barrier glowing purple before the glow died down before he too stepped out.
All sound was cut of in an instant, the runes, " Absolutely nothing shall disturb all that are within this barrier, and none shall get out till differences are settled." appeared on all of the walls briefly before disappearing.
" Now we can talk in peace." Serpe mirrored Adonis's movements, the two circling each other.
" Quite the smart guy isn't he-"
" Why didn't you tell me you were alive Adonis-sama?"
" -knowing where to set up the runes by reading my movements."
" Why have you changed?"
" Though not as smart as the Doctor though."
" Who is this Doctor?"
" I doubt anyone is more of a genius than him."
" Is he controlling you against your will?"
" I DON'T KNOW!" Adonis snapped loudly, startling Serpe.
Snapping off a silver key from her belt, she pointed it accusingly at him, " Just who the hell do you think you are to question me like that, you're just an enemy! " She screamed, not knowing why there was an uncomfortable feeling in her chest as she said it.
" Gate of the Wolf, I open thee! Lupus!"
A grey and black wolf poofed out from beside Adonis,
" Serpe-san." She dipped her head slightly at him.
" Lupus," Serpe seethed, " why didn't you tell me?"
" For the exact same reason why Adonis-sama is acting this way." Lupus's tone regretful, black tipped ears and tail twitching nervously.
Adonis pointed at Serpe, " Wolf, get rid of him."
Lupus lowered her head, " and for the same reason, i'm sorry Serpe."
She leapt forward, fangs aimed at Serpe's throat, Serpe ducked to the side and then to the other side as Lupus came after him again.
He grabbed her jaws with both his hands, preventing them from snapping back together, " I'm sorry for this as well Lupus, rest well in the Celestial Realm."
Several snakes slithered out from his coat sleeve, bursting forth onto the floor and into Lupus open maw, her eyes bugged open as she choked from the snakes slithering down her gullet spilling various poisons corroding her stomach from the inside.
Serpe let go of her, Lupus dropping onto the floor, eyes rolling up and her body convulsed uncontrollably.
" Psh, useless mutt. Forced Gate Closure!"
Lupus slowly faded into gold dust, gasping out, " Please... Save... 'er..." before completely disappearing back into the Celestial Realm.
She snapped off a black key from her belt,
" Gate of the Hell Hound, I open thee! Cerberus!"
Instead of gold dust, a ring of fire blew out from the key, a huge black paw stomped out from it followed by three huge, snarling mastiff heads, slobber dripping out from their maws and their sharp canines.
Serpe deadpanned," Well well, if it isn't the big doggie himself."
The two on the side growled, the one in the middle merely snorted, " I'll stomp that smirk right outta your face before you even know it."
" Yeah, of course we will, right bro?" The left head bumped the middle one.
The right one snorted, " Right as if you're the one to talk, you never do anything."
" Oh yeah, what about that time with those demon birds, i killed all of them!"
The right head rolled his eyes as the middle one rolled his eyes, " Oh please, those were just some poor pigeons you slaughtered just because they scared the crap outta you."
" No they did not!"
" Yes they did you coward!"
" What did you just call your older brother?!"
" Please, we're stuck with the same body, how the hell do you think you are older than me?"
The middle head bit the both of them by their ears making them both of the yelp loudly as he snapped," Shut up the both of you!"
A riding crop came from behind and landed with a resounding crack on Cerberus's rump, the hand behind the crop looking on impassively with cold purple eyes as she pointed at Serpe with her crop, " Stop that incessant rambling of yours and dispose of that guy."
All three heads turned to look back at their key holder, a low threatening rumble in their broad chest, growling reluctantly, " Yes Master."
In a lumbering gallop, Cerberus closed the distance in a flash, despite his size, barely missing Serpe's side as middle head's jaws snapped at him, rolling to his sides, but not far enough to avoid right head from sinking his own jaws into the fleshy part of Serpe's upper arm.
Serpe hissed in pain through clenched teeth, but held it in, his uninjured hand coming in and jabbing into the side of right head's neck several times before it relented out of pain and released his arm, but not before swinging him around a few times, widening the wounded gap on his wound before flinging him away, spitting a couple times.
" Blah! His blood tastes nasty!"
Serpe pushed himself up, seething, " Gallus and Anguis, come to my aid!"
The two appeared in a golden flash,
" Two at once? Well ain't that rare-" Gallus stop mid sentence, realizing Serpe's predicament, " Tough opponent?"
" You've no idea." Serpe replied grimly, Anguis staring open mouthed at their foes, nudging Gallus roughly.
" What," Gallus shoved at Anguis in annoyance, " what yer staring at like an-"
Anguis slapped Gallus, making his head spin to the side, and his jaw dropped open when his eyes landed on Adonis as the last word slipped from his tongue, " - idiot..."
" What the HELL?!" The both of them screamed, faces paste white, yelping when they dodged to the side, grabbing Serpe hurriedly out of the way when three slobbering maws came crashing their way.
" Let me down!" Serpe wriggled violently out of their grasps, landing onto the ground, cursing profusely when he bumped into his injury.
" How- ?! Wha-?! Da Fuck?!" The two confused beyond comprehension, not knowing what to feel.
" Yea yeah, i know, how's it possible and how and whatnot, believe me, i want answers as much as ya all want. But what seems to be our previous master ain't gonna give it to us."
Serpe bit his thumb, " At times like these i really wish Tenebre-sama was here."
" Ya called?"
The three jumped, just in time to avoid another attack, Gallus and Anguis jumping in to attack as well, despite still being immensely confused," Tenebre-sama ya scared me!"
" Forgot about the telepathic link again? Now what's that about wishing i was there?"
" I was thinking it'll be good to have your soul seer magic right now."
" Why don't you just ask Bixlow there, he is one after all. Oh, more enemies, gotta go, keep me updated."
" Wait-!" Serpe felt the line got cut off before he could say any more.
" Bixlow eh?" He peered outside the barrier, and he gaped," What the hell are they doing?"
" Still can't get his eyes open?!" Freed grunted in effort, holding Liberta's body in a rather compromising grappling position, immobilizing his arms and legs.
Bixlow had his fingers around Liberta's eyelids, trying to pry them open, " It's like they're glued shut!".
" You enjoying yourself down there?" Bixlow grinned, making Freed flush despite their situation.
" There! There! Down there!" This puppets echoed rather mischievously.
Freed glared at the four as purple runes circled Liberta's body, " Dark Ecriture: Pain!"
The sharp jabs of pain that ran through the stubborn man's body forced his eyes open and a shocked gasped escaped his mouth.
" Why didn't you think of that earlier?!" Bixlow flicked up his visor, his annoyed green Figure Eyes glowering at Freed who had his eyes closed,
" Try writing runes when you're holding onto someone then..." Freed mumbled vehemently under his breath.
As soon as Bixlow's green eyes met Liberta's dark green ones, the dark blue haired man's body immediately went stark still as Bixlow's magic attempted to take control of him.
Freed pushed the man's body away from him and stood up with a huff " How is it?"
Bixlow mumbled with effort, " Dammit, there's this black mass surrounding his soul i can't get past. Oi Freed, ya know any purification runes or spells?"
Freed looked at him quizzically, " I know a few."
" Cast your most powerful one on this guy here would ya?"
" Dark Ecriture : Soul Expulsion!"
The words spilled out in purple where Freed slashed across his chest with his rapier, and almost instantaneously a black fog lifted from the surface of Liberta's skin like a malicious mist, whisping and curling around the two like sticky tendrils as it reached out to coil around them.
Freed jerked back, yanking Bixlow together with him, and quickly wrote a protective barrier around them, the mist hissed, backing from them and dissipating into the air.
Eyes glowing luminously green, Bixlow crashed into Liberta's warped up soul with his Figure Eyes, eyes widening, he grinned widely and he flicked down his visor, a secretive edge to his grin as if he found something incredibly interesting.
As soon as the green glow in his eyes dimmed, Liberta's eyes undilated, like he just woke up from a very long, very troubling dream.
" W-who...? Where...?" He struggled, immensely flustered finding himself in the arms of two unknown man in an unknown part of the fortress.
" Chill, zombie dude, you're safe now, free from all those nightmares."
Liberta flinched, " How did you know?"
" I'm a Seith Mage, of course i know!" Bixlow boasted, grinning with his tongue out, his dolls circling him.
" That's why i also know what's with strange lady you've been seeing."
Freed looked at his fellow teammate with new eyes, " When did you learn all this?"
Bixlow grinned widely, " Heh, that Nezhirt guy has his uses afterall."
" He's an amazing person isn't he!" Freed gushed, eyes practically sparkling with awe, then added as a second thought. " Funny how he more dead than alive even though he's the only living person in that palace of the dead."
" Ano..." Liberta butted in hesitantly, " D-Don't mind if i ask, but w-w-who are you p-people?"
The two teammates looked at each other, and behind them at the suddenly heated up battle between what looked like a three headed dog and two other unknown people within the barrier, then back at Liberta, and shrugged in unison.
" Well, you can count us as your allies i guess..." Freed said, a shout from above cut him off.
" HEADS UP!"
The portal closed almost gleefully as it spat out Jackal and Shakal, who were hugging each other and screaming like little girls for dear life, as they plummeted down and crash landed on top of them three.
" J-Jackal! Shakal! W-W-What? Where did-?!" Liberta spluttered as the four men groaned and climbed off him, him being the unfortunate one to be on the bottom of the pile.
" That Tenebre!" Shakal fumed, leaping upright," Can't she give us some sort of warning before throwing us portal after portal?!"
" Now now, you know she's more or less like that all the time." Jackal tried reasoning with his twin.
Shakal shoved him the the chest, " Oh shut up lover boy! You're always on her side!" , he said rather jealously.
Jackal turned pink, " I do not!
" Oh really? " Shakal lifted an eyebrow mockingly.
" Great," Bixlow rolled his eyes, " Now gay twins have joined the party."
"FOR THE LAST FRIGGIN TIME, WE'RE NOT GAY!" The twin snapped in perfect sync.
" We were sent here-" Jackal started,
" - by that bipolar bitc..." Shakal flinched under his brother's piercing glare, " Ahem, by Tenebre to help you guys with those three."
Bixlow scoffed, " Please, we did fine without the two of you."
" Liberta here is only the start," Jackal said, " His situation is what you would call mild as compared to the other two."
Freed frowned, " So what you're saying is that the other two will be harder to deal with?"
Shakal nodded, looking around, " Yep. Say, where are the rest? "
Bixlow pointed at the crater in the ground and Freed at the hole in the wall opposite them.
" Oh shit." The twins said together, " How are we going to deal with them when they're all over the place?"
" Deal with who?"
The four turned to look at the three emerging from the crater below, a heavily injured Gray and Juvia climbing up from there, dragging a huge coffin of ice and water behind them as they emerged.
" That's fast." Bixlow commented, looking surprised, " Was she that weak?"
Juvia shot him a withering look, " Juvia ensures Bixlow-san, Tiamat-san was not a weak opponent at all."
Moments before...
" I've told you," Tiamat melted the ice arrows Gray shot at her, " it's futile, you'll never be able to defeat me as long as you use ice and water magic."
She solidified the water the the surroundings and formed ice daggers,
" Frostbite."
The daggers zipped through the air and shattered at the spots where Juvia and Gray used to be, the two dodging them expertly.
" Water Slicer!" Juvia casted straight as soon as she was on stable ground, sending scythe-like blades of water at her.
Tiamat evaporated the attack, leaving her unscathed, just as Gray followed up with another attack,
" Ice-Make: Lance! " Glimmering ice lances emerged from the crystals in the air and showered the area where Tiamat was, Tiamt leapt away in various directions, the lances only nicking her in various different places, but not landing a single critical hit.
" I'm getting tired of this."
She condensed the water and froze certain parts of the globules around the two in record time, and made them explode, sending scalding hot jets of water and piercing sharp shards of ice at the two.
" ARGH!" They shouted as they were assaulted from all sides.
Dripping blood, the two staggered upright, glaring determinedly at Tiamat.
" Juvia, " Gray looked at the water mage. " Do you trust me?"
" Of course Gray-sama!" Juvia said without hesitation,
" Then let's do it. Together!" He held his hand out to her, Juvia promptly grabbing onto it, knowing what they were about to do already.
" UNISON RAID!" They shouted together the first spell that came into both their minds, their bodies glowing a bluish white. " FROST COFFIN!"
A tornado of ice and water enclosed Tiamat, screaming as her arms flailed uselessly in an attempt to fight off the dual elements closing into her, her screams were drowned out by the howling of the torrents and when it finally died down, with an exhausted triumphant gasp from the two Fairy Tail mages, clunking heavily onto the ground was a liquid coffin encased with solid unbreakable ice.
Presently...
" Damn that woman is tough," Gray spat out blood from his mouth, wincing at his bruised jaw, " and she's still fighting us now mind you. This coffin is not going to hold."
" Juvia and Gray-sama are alternating between changing the coffin's properties from ice to water and then ice again." Juvia explained, " So Tiamat-san won't be able to escape for quite awhile. That is, once Tiamat-san find out the trick to it."
Liberta looked confused, " B-but she's a water e-e-element mage, she has n-never been able to co-control ice."
" That was before Pheles meddled with the three of your souls." Jackal cut in, Liberta giving him a startled look.
" We found this out purely by accident, Pheles treated the three of you specially because of that certain something binding the three of your souls together.
" Twisted Time." The two intoned, sending shivers down Liberta's spine, a sense of familiarity coursing through his body, not knowing where it came from.
" At some point of your many lives, either one of you casted of cursed another with this spell, problem is, this spell affects all related parties, and binds them together for an eternity till a certain condition is met." Shakal explained.
" W-Wait!" His voice shaky, " What d-dd-do you mean 'many lives' ?"
His fingers pinching his chin as he thought, Freed said, " I've read of this before. What he meant is, the three of you have gone through many reincarnations before, but all the previous one all came to the same, and in most cases, tragic conclusion. And thus the cycle begun once again. And it shall continue to do so till the condition is met."
" So because of the unique bond the three of you have, Pheles paid special attention the the three of you, he imputed a 'curse' of some sort, the closer anyone of you come to realize the condition or the closer anyone of you come to death, it'll activate the curse and take control of you, letting you primal instincts go wild and also allowing you to use a secondary magic." Jackal continued to explain.
" So this way that Pheles fella would be able to keep you guys as his special pawns for as long as he likes without activating the Twisted Time's reincarnation process." Shakal ended.
At that moment, the ghostly figure of the woman that's been haunting Liberta for as long as he could remember faded in beside Freed.
Liberta turning as white as sheet when she smiled, her wispy hair floating away from her face, finally revealing her face to him.
" Finally..." She sighed, the face if an older, more matured looking Tiamat staring back at him sadly and partly in relief, before fading out of view.
" Hey dude, you okay?" Shakal waved a hand in front of his face, as Jackal started binding Tiamat up before asking Gray and Juvia to melt the coffin, " You look like you've seen a ghost."
Liberta nodded shakily, " Ca-ca-cause i think i j-jj-just did." and he promptly fainted after that.
" Oh great, he fainted, that's one less thing for us to do!" Shakal chirped rather happily, throwing him over his shoulder.
" Good, i'm good to go as well." Jackal said, a magically bounded, unconscious and dripping wet Tiamat draped over his shoulder. " Let's go get Hot Shot."
" Wait," Bixlow stopped them before they bounded off into the hold in the wall, " So you guys came here just to tell a story and then just run off?"
" Well, technically we came here to tell a story, get these three, then run off to Nezhirt so he can un-curse and un-bound them and then bring them back. " Shakal corrected.
Before they really ran off, Jackal added, " And to pass a message as well, Tenebre says " Drink the mysterious muddy liquid i gave to to heal your wounds and replenish your magic, and please help release Serpe's previous master from the Dollmaster's strings. The blue lacrima i gave to you guys may be able to help with that." So that's about all."
" We'll be going then!"
And the twins disappeared through the hole in the wall.
" Elf- nii!" Lisanna screamed as her brother was swallowed by a column of dark flame, before turning her fury filled eyes to glare at Antonio," How dare you!"
" Animal Soul: Tigress!"
Decked in striped claws and a skimpy two piece bikini, Lisanna lunged claws first at Antonio.
He ducked down to avoid her clawed paws, but with lightning quick reflexes and wild instincts from her animal personification, Lisanna kicked up, kneeing him in the gut before executing a perfect roundhouse kick in his face. But in that brief moment her back was exposed after the kick, Antonio arm lashed out and grabbed her leg, throwing her into the the far end of the room. The Strauss girl crashed loudly into a vanity table and shattered the mirror, glass raining over her.
" Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" A torrent of concentrated dust energy needles shot forth from her hands and around her at Antonio, t, using the cloud of dust that blew up as a screen, she followed up with another attack, coming up from behind what seemed to be a injured Antonio, producing an orb of concentrated dust and throwing it at him.
" Fairy Orb!"
The orb shot forth from her palm, and exploded upon contact, throwing both dust and debris everywhere.
" As expected of a member of the Raijinshu." Lisanna said in amazement, wincing as she dislodged a small bloody shard of glass from her arm.
However, as soon as she said that, Antonia broke free from the cloud of dust with a dreadful snarl, but just as his fist was inches away from her face, another something rose from the debris screaming, " MANNNNNN!" , and sent Antonio flying in the direction of the hole they came from with a powerful punch from his ' Iron Beast Arm'.
At the same time, Jackal and Shakal came through the hole, causing Antonio to crash straight into them with a rather loud " OOF!" as his weight pushed all the air out of their bodies, sending five bodies sprawling onto the floor.
Jackal was the first to react, seeing the obvious mop of purple hair, he immediately jumped to his feet, hands dancing with red glyphs that wrapped themselves around Antonio's body like tenacious leaches as he chanted in an arcane language, and with the final syllable, the glyphs connected and clicked shut, effectively confining him as well as rendering him unconscious, his limp body flopping onto the ground.
" Jeez, and i wanted to be the one to seal him up, ya know, to give him a little piece of my mind." Shakal grumbled,
" Then you carry him then." Jackal threw Antonio to his brother, Shakal almost dropping Liberta when he caught him,
" Bloody hell he's heavy!"
" You did say you wanted him." Jackal grinned, earning a scowl from his twin.
" Not like this! "
And as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared just as quickly through a portal that opened abruptly beneath them. The only thing that showed that there were there before, was the still echoing girly screams that were bouncing off the battle-worn walls.
Leaving three mages staring blankly at the spot in utter befuddlement, " What just happened...?"
" Aaa- Aaa- Testing can you hear me?"
Despite the initial surprise at someone talking in their head, Lisanna was the first to reply, "Marie-san, is that you?"
" Surprising people is not MAN!"
"Oh great! You can hear me! " Marie sighed in relief, "I finally managed to contact you guys! I thought i lost ya all when the fortress rearranged itself and you guys crashed through three floors down!"
" But more importantly, it's best for you guys to move now."
Looking at each other, Lisanna replied in confusion, " Where to Marie-san?"
" Thanks to the tremor just now, you guys were moved closer to the entrance to a secret section of this castle. I found several documents about something suspicious happening below the fortress and would like you guys to investigate it, it may prove useful to us as well."
" Out this room, on the right you'll find a staircase." Marie instructed, " Head down four floors and you'll find yourself in front of an entrance heading underground, should you reach there according to my time estimate, you should be able to meet up with Wendy and Stilla there as soon as you emerge."
Nodding without hesitation, Elfman pumped his fists up in the air, " Helping my nakama is MAN!"
Lisanna and Evergreen winced at his volume, and pitied Marie who's on the other end, smiling grimly while imagining the headache that proclamation would've brought her.
" Well, let's get moving then!" Evergreen pushed up her glasses sassily, the three then manoeuvring quickly over the fallen debris from the ceiling blocks, and heading in the direction Marie directed them to.
" Secret Arts : Dragon's Tail Whip!" His blue robe flapped wildly behind him as Anguis flung himself forward, his leg whipping forth as he executed a half spin in midair, smacking Cerberus's right head, then using that as a foothold, he lunged and delivered equally deadly kicks to both the middle and left heads.
Landing nimbly beside Gallus, they swapped positions with a high five, the Rooster Zodiac whipped out his heavy metal staff, swinging and spinning it round his body with a intimidating whirling sound expertly as he approached the growling and whimpering Cerebus as they clambered upright after being knocked off.
Slamming the staff onto the ground, he swung himself up into the air and slammed it down onto the center head in a deadly arc, then quickly blocking left and right as the respective heads descended upon him in an attempt to snap his arms and legs off.
Wasting no time, Gallus smacked the middle head once more before landing beside Serpe, and with a single well practiced motion, he swung Serpe forward as soon as the snake spirit grabbed onto his staff, sending him flying towards Cerebus.
His hand glowed green as it shifted into claws, sinking it into the muscled neck of Cerebus's middle head, just as Anguis sent left head's head snapping to the side with a powerful kick and Gallus knocking the right head out with a resounding ' CLANG' of his staff.
Cerebus collapsed to the ground defeated and faded into a pile of ash, the ash whisping up and making a trail back into its black key hanging by Adonis's side, the key glowing a mild red when all the ash was collected then turning black once more.
Before Adonis could even breath, Gallus and Anguis were at her side, grabbing hold of her and pinning her to a wall, Gallus's hand coming up and snapping her key ring off her belt,
" We're not letting you abuse your spirits anymore, Adonis-sama." He said, swinging the ring round his fingers.
She scowled, struggling to release her arms from their vice like grips.
" Now, let's see what this can tell me."
Serpe held up Tenebre's crystal to his eye like a lense, and for once in his very long life he finally saw how his master has been seeing things all this time.
And despite his best efforts, he just couldn't help it, " Wow..."
A golden aura surrounded Anguis and Gallus, and as he looked down, he realized he too was surrounded by one.
" I'm assuming you're using my Angel Vision right now?"
Too amazed to be even surprised, Serpe nodded numbly to himself, " Yeah..."
" But why that of all things? Couldn't you have used something else like my Binding Magic or my Exorcism-ish Magic or something like that?"
" You have those?" Serpe swore he could feel her shrug from wherever she was,
" I think so, somewhere among the many magicks i've learnt over the many years."
" So what does it mean to have a golden aura?"
" Celestial Spirits."
Serpe glanced over at Adonis, " Blue aura with black?"
" Human... Wait...black you say?"
" Yeah, black." Serpe replied, frowning worriedly, lense still above his right eye,
" Look carefully, is the black layer surrounding the blue or are there strings and such?"
He squinted, scrutinizing Adonis's aura, " Surrounding, like oil on water."
" That bastard," Serpe winced at the vehemence in her tone, " This won't be easy to solve Serpe, she's been... modified."
" M-Modified?!" Serpe choked out, his voice going an octave higher, startling Gallus and Anguis.
" I really don't mean to remind you about your past Serpe, but do you remember the name Larga Mimus?"
The crystal lacrima dropped from his hands, Serpe scrambling to catch it when Tenebre screamed in his head, " DON'T DROP THAT!"
" Why bring up that name?" Gallus asked, listening to the conversation since the start, " Don't forget Tenebre-sama, we were her spirits before as well."
" Cause he's at fault for all this."
" And how do you know that?"
" Very well, Serpe, cut her with that lacrima would ya? A small cut would do."
Serpe hesitated for a moment, before bringing the crystal up to Adonis's pinned outstretched arms and pushed the lacrima down onto her skin with a slight pressure, opening a small cut above her palm.
The lacrima glowed a deep green, turning hot in Serpe's hands, hissing as he dropped it, it disintegrated into dust before it even touched the ground.
" See, my magic recognizes his magical signature. Therefore turning that shade of green. Plus, he made quite the introduction just now."
" So what you're saying is that that bastard had something to do with Adonis-sama's state right now?" Anguis questioned.
" That's right, as well as with Diablo, though it just speculation, i'm starting to think that your dear Master Adonis was never dead in the first place. And that Larga had something to do with her severed connection with her spirits."
" Roar of the Water/Sky Dragon!"
A torrent of water and wind spewed forth from Stilla and Wendy's mouth, sweeping away the puppets blocking their path.
" Let's go Stilla!" Wendy grabbed Stilla's hand as their small feet pattered down the damp cavern path, running hand in hand with Charla and Purtri hovering not far behind them, her other hand glowing above the cut on Stilla's face.
" Wendy! Don't overexert yourself!" Charla admonished, frowning at the sky dragonslayer.
" Don't worry Charla," Wendy shook her head while smiling wistfully, resisting the urge to roll her eyes," i'm properly conserving my magic reserves."
" Let's go kick butt Stilla-chan!" The dark blue exceed crackled evilly.
" Mama said not to say bad things!" Stilla half-glared at her partner.
They ran quite a distance till they met with another wave of puppets, but this time, they came with reinforcements.
" Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
" Animal Soul : Rabbit!"
" Beast Soul : The Beast!"
Parts of the puppets flew in all directions, all busted into bits.
" Wendy and Stilla!" Lisanna gasped in relief, clapping her hands together happily, rushing forward and enveloping them in a bone crushing hug. " Thank Mavis you're okay!"
" Lisanna-san! Can't- B-Breath!" Wendy and Stilla squeaked out.
She let go of them immediately, " Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry!", apologizing as the two gasped for air.
" We're here to help you two." Evergreen said, dark brown eyes peering from behind her fan, Elfman grunting in agreement behind her.
" Urm, guys...?" Purtri voice echoed forth from the dark entrance in front of them, " You might wanna look at this."
Puzzled, the group simply followed the direction the exceed's came from, till they came upon a huge cavern, its high ceilings dripping water into the glowing green enormous lake beneath it, the light casting ominous rippling shadows on the cavern walls.
" Is that a man inside the lake?!" Lisanna cried out whilst pointing at the silhouette of what look like a shape of a man inside the lake, " We need to get him out of there!"
" Oh oh! Let me, Lisanna-san!" Stilla bounced enthusiastically on the spot, cheeks puffing out, a mix of a whooshing and a slurping sound was made as she inhaled all the water in the lake, leaving only a small puddle in the gaping hole of what used to be a lake when she was done.
" Uwah! That was good!" Stilla patted her belly, giggling, earning her a smack of Purtri's wing for her recklessness for simply inhaling water without checking to see if it was toxic.
They scrambled down the slippery crevices of the emptied lake and approached the glowing green globe cautiously,
" That's the guy." Wendy looked up in awe and horror " He's the one who's been whispering through the air."
" And the water." Stilla added.
Lisanna followed and nudged the cables with her toes, " These are the same cables i saw in the walls of this fortress, when we were crashing through them."
Her eyes widened in horror as she came to a realization, hand flying up to her mouth, " Don't tell me-!"
" He's being used as a sort of power source for this place?" Evergreen continued, calculative eyes scrutinizing the globe.
" Alright! Move it! Imma smash through this thing like a MAN!" Elfman brought his arm back, and chucked it forward, smashing through the glass like it was made of paper and shattering the glass into a thousand glass fractals.
" Whoa there!" Lisanna caught the man before he fell flat on his face and into the glass, the many wires and tubes dislodging off his body as he fell out the shattered orb.
" This is not good," Wendy frowned, her hands glowing green as she begun emergency healing, " He's severely malnourished, and his magical output is not stable, like it's been depleted and then forcefully replenished through unnatural methods over and over again."
Wendy's face turned dark as she growled disapprovingly, " Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable!"
Lisanna and Elfman laughed nervously, thinking " Scary..." in their heads, Evergreen looked over her fan hiding her surprise while Charla was close to tears mumbling things like how she's grown up and stuff.
" Stilla-chan, you're not going to help?" Purtri nudged her forward, " Remember the new thing your mama taught you?"
" Ah, that!" Stilla plopped down beside Wendy, her hands glowing a bright blue,
" Fountain of Life!"
A light shower of glittering droplets formed on her fingertips and dripped onto his body, " Mama said this complements any healing arts as it helps improves circulation in the body and such. The body is made up of mostly water after all."
" Thanks Stilla-chan!"
" No problem Wendy-nee!"
The two grinned, and color flooded back into the man as his vitality was restored due to the combined efforts of the two little dragonslayers.
In a matter of minutes, he slowly regained consciousness, his voice croaky from not being used,
" Who...?"
" We're mages from Fairy Tail, " Wendy helped him sit up, " We're here to rescue our nakama but we chanced upon you, urm...?"
" Diablo. My name is Diablo Hexare." His voice a tad clearer, after drinking some water offered by Stilla.
" May i ask, what year is this?", He struggled to stand up, leaning onto Wendy and Stilla as the two of them supported him. " My memories are rather foggy from being trapped here for who knows how long."
" It's the year X791, Hexare-san." Lisanna looked him over in concern when his eyes bugged out as if he swallowed a rat.
" I've been trapped here for 341 years?!" He coughed violently, his entire body heaving as he wheezed for air.
The group looked at him startled, Stilla tilting her head to the side innocently, " So does that mean you're a grandpa?"
Diablo chuckled weakly, ruffling her hair, " I guess so, little one, and please, just Diablo would be fine."
" Hai, Dia-nii!" Stilla squishing herself into his too slender waist.
Then, he winced, grabbing at his head, letting out a painful groan, as of struck by lightning, he suddenly straightened, hand still to his head as his molten orange eyes had a dangerous glint in them,
" Its all coming back to me now, Larga the Dollmaster, Adonis, the quake, the fire." He forced through gritted teeth.
Just as Evergreen was about to start interrogating him, she was interrupted by a huge rumbling sound, looking up, she quickly leaped to the side just as a huge boulder came crashing down the spot where she once stood.
" What the-!"
The rumbling grew louder as the tremors grew stronger, and in a shower of dust and rocks, a group of four emerged from the hole of the cavern ceiling, plummeting straight down towards Lisanna and her team, who were being sheltered by Elfman's towering bulking body.
As soon as the group landed, Adonis twisted away from Gallus's hold and attempted to make a run for the exit, using the dust cloud as a smoke screen.
" Chien, FETCH!"
A small figure bolted from the dust and chased after her, revealing an unruly mop of curly two-toned short brown hair, literally pouncing onto her, the two crashing into the ground and skidding to a stop.
" Serpe-nii, i caught her!" The little boy with sparkling black eyes looked up expectantly at Serpe, his light brown tipped mahogany tail thumping excitedly on the ground.
" Good job, Chien! Good job!" Serpe praised as he ruffled his head, scratching him behind his pointy ears, the spirit-dog boy leaning back into the hand with a happy hum.
As Gallus grabbed hold of Adonis, Serpe patted Chien on his head, " You can head back now, Chien."
Chien's ears and tail drooped, he sniffed, " You don't need me anymore?", looking up at Serpe with watery puppy eyes.
Serpe resisted the urge to hug the life out of the adorable Chinese Dog spirit, " I'll call you out soon, hmm? So be a good boy and head back first okay?"
Chien visibly brightened up, his bushy brown tail wagging, " Okay, Serpe-nii, i'll head back then!", and poofed away in a shower of bright gold.
" Adonis...?" Diablo whispered, looking at her disbelievingly.
" What's with all the intruders pretending to know me?" Adonis spat out harshly.
" And Serpe."
Serpe deadpanned, " What's with that lackluster reaction...?"
Adonis struggled relentlessly in Gallus's arms, slowly ticking him off, " Seriously, past master or not, can someone do something about this?"
" Would this help, Serpe-san?" Wendy handed him something blue, " Tenebre-san gave this to me just before we got separated, i believe you have more use for it than me."
Serpe silently celebrated inside, " Thank you Wendy, this's exactly what we need!"
Fumbling with the crystal, Serpe mumbled, " Now, Tenebre did mention something about Binding Magic..."
The crystal flashed bright silver the moment the words escaped from Serpe's mouth, and it shattered in his hands just as a storm of chains sprouted from a magic circle created by its shattered bits, encircling Adonis's body in the blink of an eye, Gallus barely managing to leap away from being entrapped as well.
" Binding magic this time. Wow, you must really be desperate eh?"
Serpe wished he could strangle his master and her oh-so-convenient telepathic connection," You know what, i'm no longer surprised."
" Doesn't hurt to try anyway. " He felt her shrug, " I assume you've found Adonis and Diablo by now? Burying through the ground with poor little Chien?"
" Yeah, about that, are you sure its safe to just march into that bastard's lab and demand he fix them?"
" Other than the marching part, it's should be alright as long as you beat him into a bloody pulp. As for the marching part, Marie has already sent another team ahead to do exactly that."
Tenebre was silent for a brief moment, as if at a loss for words, before continuing,
" Say, Serpe, i'm saying it first but, if i do something impossibly reckless during this battle, don't hold it against me okay."
She cut off the line before he could reply, and Serpe looked uneasily at the rest.
" I guess we should get a move on then." Gallus injected, looking just as uneasy.
" But why did Tenebre say something like that...?"
Tenebe cut the connection, and lifted her voice to the enemy before them, " Pheles, cease this ritual at once!"
" Ah, you've finally arrived, esteemed Gatekeeper-dono."
Pheles rose from his throne, gesturing towards the entire room, and bowed with a dramatic flourish," I welcome you, to the final stage."
The domed ceiling above them rumbled open, slowly letting in red beams of moonlight and revealed the Blood Moon in all its glory, only inches away from reaching the highest peak, bathing the room in a bright, bloody light.
The crimson light shone on the surface of Lucy's skin, as another blood tear dripped onto the magic circle she hung above from.
" Luce!" Natsu almost threw himself into the seemingly bottomless pit of liquid-glass if not for two hands stopping him.
Instead of replying, she continued staring blankly at the same spot with her clouded red eyes, tears of blood still flowing down her paler than normal cheeks.
" Seal 4 : Broken. Seal 5 : 27% left." She announced emotionlessly, paying no heed to her nakama who fought to save her.
Pheles spared her a quick glance, then back at the three, " Oh, it looks like your princess here doesn't have much time left."
This time, there was nothing to stop Natsu as he leapt from his spot, feet ablaze as he propelled himself at Pheles, pulling his flaming fist back, eyes alight with a murderous fury, he roared.
" PHELES!"
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Time Left : 2 hours
AN : Sup ya all! Now, imma make this quick since i'm pretty sure no one actually read these ANs, i know i take a long time to update and such but hey, with a laptop that refuse to work and a really shitty situation i'm inevitably involved in, i pretty much have my hands full at the moment.
And as much as i love writing these fics and how writing these fic are like a sanctuary for me, the thing about life is that it pretty fucking hard to reach any kind of peaceful sanctuary especially in this time and age where everything's going to shit.
Gah, i'm going off topic.
Okay, the main point is that i really REALLY appreciate the fact that ya all are still sticking with me even though i'm still quite an inexperienced writer and i really thank ya all for doing so from the bottom of my heart ( even though some people that i know say i'm heartless and lack the ability to love, pfft ). I really wish i could reach through the screen and give ya all a huge bear hug, but seeing that it's pretty much impossible to do so, imma stick with giving ya all better written and longer chapters instead.
So kudos to every single one of ya and i hope that you'd continue to join me on my journey to the end of this fic and through many more fic to come! I would really like to hear more about all of ya and get to know you lot a whole lot better so feel free to drop me a PM or maybe leave a review!
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~