Disclaimer: I don't own FT
It took them five full days to get back to Magnolia, fortunately with no problems. Erza however made sure she was sleeping as far away from Lucy as possible, still ashamed from the first night. Upon entering the guild building, they were met with joyous greetings. Once introductions had been made, the Fairy Tail mages treated Lucy no differently as they would one of their own.
"Ah, Salamander. You made it back in one piece," Gajeel shot, smirking, "you still owe me a fight."
Erza looked around. "Where is Master? There have been important developments."
"Right here," Makarov replied, descending the steps from the S-Class floor, "there have been three more attacks since you've been gone. I hope these developments can help us."
"Three more?" Gray parroted, shocked.
"Bastards..." Natsu scowled, "They're speeding up whatever they're doing!"
"Lucy should explain what we know so far," Erza stated, "she can explain it much better than any of us."
As everyone's eyes shifted onto her expectantly, Lucy pushed down her nerves and told them everything she knew.
"Hm," Makarov said, "this still doesn't help with the current attacks. Who is our enemy? How can we attack him?"
"He's probably a zealot of Moros, from what I've heard. I can't tell you anything about his plans, only that it will end in the battle that Lysander prophesied. I've tried to stay away from the main towns that could be attacked. If I was killed, then everything would be lost. The armour was the main priority, the battle should happen one way or another." Lucy replied.
"But we should find a way to stop the attacks, or limit the damage," Mira said, "if there's a chance, we should take it!"
"I'd love to smash that guy's brain in," Gajeel added, slamming a fist into his palm.
"Lucy-san? I could read through any books that could help." Levy offered.
'This must be Levy,' Lucy thought, smiling, "Well, if you're offering."
She pulled out a large stack of thick tomes from her rucksack, each one dusty, pages yellowed, "This is some light reading I never managed to catch up on. Maybe they can help with the attack, they were taken from the Magic Library."
Levy almost regretted asking, taking the books in both arms and waddling to a quiet place to begin her reading. "How... did... you manage... to carry these?!"
"But the armours are equally as important to collect," Lucy reminded, "even though no heirs survive, maybe we could extract the magic and use it in the end battle. Prophecies can sometimes be vague."
Makarov held his chin as he mulled the information over.
"Perhaps the Council have a device that can do such things. I will see them as soon as I can. Listen up, kids!" He yelled, getting the attention of the guild, "You're splitting into two groups. One is gonna be focused on defeating Rune and closing his portals when he opens them. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, you're going to find the rest of the armour. The less people you have, the less feet you can tread on."
"He's speaking to you as though you were a part of the guild." Erza noted happily. Natsu laughed and drew the girls into a hug.
"Are your instructions clear?" Makarov asked, receiving a plethora of nods, "Then get out there! We have a job to do! Go to the libraries, churches, anywhere, find out as much as you can!"
The members raised their hands, index fingers and thumbs outstretched, a last moment of unity before they headed out.
–
"Found anything?" Gajeel asked, leaning against the table as he watched the blue-haired girl scan through one of the huge books.
"Only a few things." Levy responded, suddenly feeling a presence right behind her. Gajeel had placed his arms on the table either side of her, head peering over her shoulder, breath tickling her face. She blushed as words caught in her throat.
"Well?" He urged impatiently, "what are they?"
'Such a meat-head,' She thought, sighing, "This book talks briefly about the legend, but not much more than what Lucy-san already told us. But it does note how Lysander's descendants began disappearing after fifty generations, all killed through mysterious means. They were probably assassinated."
"Why?" Gajeel asked, confused.
"I don't know," Levy replied, "there's not enough information on this legend."
"But it's a prophecy that is real. It predicts the end, so why isn't there more?" He continued.
"Maybe someone, or something, was trying to cover it up," Levy said, pencil tapping against her lower lip in thought, "it's like someone tried to delete it from history. Lots of information might have been destroyed by that someone for that purpose."
"To make it easier to let Moros take over or whatever." Gajeel concluded.
"The books don't mention anything relating to the attacks, though," Levy said, disappointed, "why do they use demons to attack the towns? If Moros won the battle between light and dark, then surely it would be a waste of time?"
"Ugh, this stuff gets my head messed up," Gajeel complained, rubbing his forehead, "I'll leave this to the smart people. I think with my fists."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Levy mumbled as he left the room.
–
"We should see Mary-sama before we do anything else," Lucy said, "I haven't seen her for a long time, but I know she can help us."
"Are you going to see your father too?" Erza asked. Lucy shook her head sadly.
"Not this time. When this is over, I promise I'll do it."
"Then we should get it done as soon as possible." Gray spoke with a smirk, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Let's go already," Natsu whined, bag packed already, "I wanna get back and kick Rune's ass."
"Such a simple mind." Gray chuckled, nevertheless following the pink-haired boy out of the guild building.
Once they arrived at the outskirts of the Heartfilia estate, it did not take Lucy long to locate the area where Gildarts and Laxus had been just days before.
"Ah, Mary. You've let the hut go a bit..." Lucy trailed, looking at the overgrown plants camouflaging the house, "or was this on purpose?"
"On purpose?" Natsu asked, hands threaded behind his head, "Why would she do that?"
"She knows too much." Lucy stated simply before knocking on the door. A groan could be heard before the door opened.
"You're friends of those two men, aren't you? I have a good feeling about that. You can tell them I fixed my door by myself, by the way, disrespectful little fleas-"
"Mary-sama, it's me. Lucy." Lucy interrupted, well aware of time being an issue. The old woman squinted and took a sip of tea.
"Oh Lucy! My, haven't you grown into a marvellous young woman! I didn't think I would see you again, thought maybe you'd been eaten by wolves or something. But I always had that feeling. Where are my manners? Come in, come in, all of you." Mary rambled, retreating back into her hut.
"We can't stay for long. I needed to know if you could tell us the location of the cuirass, greaves, helmet and shield." The celestial spirit mage asked quickly. The old woman nodded, taking another sip of tea.
"I understand. Your desperation, I can sense it. No need to be so worried, child. I'm in a strange moment of clarity right now, I can tell you where the cuirass and greaves are." She told.
"And the shield and helm?" Lucy pressed. Mary sighed.
"I'm afraid that they don't exist in this world." She revealed, looking at the youthful shocked faces.
"B-but how else are we meant to defeat Moros in the final battle?" Lucy asked, voice rising as she panicked, "We need all the relics! We need their collective magic!"
"Calm down, Lucy dear. You know I wouldn't send you on a meaningless quest. They exist. Just in another dimension."
"Like Edolas?" Happy chimed in after being unusually quiet, unsettled by the unfolding events. Mary nodded.
"Exactly like Edolas. But not Edolas. This dimension is linked to the armour pieces. If you collect them all, perhaps you will get a prize. I have a feeling it's a shield-shaped prize. Plus a helmet."
"So if we retrieve the cuirass and greaves, we should get the last pieces too?" Erza repeated. The old woman looked at her sharply.
"A skilled swordswoman, I see." Mary stated, eyes glazing over. Lucy placed a hand on her frail shoulder, lifting the tea to her lips.
"Please, Mary-sama. Tell us the two locations before you go again."
Mary managed to mark the two locations on a map before slipping away again into the vast realm of her mind. Lucy sighed sadly, kissing her cheek, leaving with her the armour pieces she had collected. Exiting the hut, the four gathered around the map.
"Both these locations aren't so far away," Erza observed, "maybe we should split up to get the pieces faster."
"I agree," Lucy said, "time is running short, we need these pieces. Then we can get them to the guild, and maybe if your Master has managed to convince the Council, we can extract the power."
"We'll get the greaves." Natsu decided, referring to himself and Gray.
"As you wish," Erza responded, "watch out for traps. Don't be too hasty. You're no use dead."
"Eh, you worry too much, Erza!" Natsu scolded playfully, grinning as he and Gray set off. The requip mage watched as their backs disappeared into the sunset.
"I guess we don't have the luxury of travelling only through the day." Lucy said, gazing at the orange sky.
"Unfortunately not," Erza conceded, "but I'm sure we can handle anything that comes at us."
"Definitely," Lucy grinned, flashing her full set of keys, "I won't let anything push me over."
"You've killed these demons before, haven't you? Laxus and I saw one outside Hargeon, killed in the same way some of the men in the cave had been killed." Erza said.
"You caught me," Lucy replied, holding her hands up, "Sagittarius has a mean shot."
–
As they arrived at the designated area on their map after a night's time of walking, Lucy and Erza observed their surroundings.
"This is a crypt," Lucy stated, walking to the doors. "Do you ever feel rude disturbing the dead?"
"Not if they're attacking me, which they usually are with the jobs I take," Erza replied, tracing her armoured fingers over a plaque on the wall. "Take a look at this, Lucy."
"The Lysander family crypt," Lucy muttered, "it's surprising this is still here. Maybe the legend not being well known was a blessing."
"If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't find this," Erza added, referring to the location of the crypt. It was situated at the bottom of a deep ravine, hidden from view. "It looks like it's built into the cliff too."
Lucy went to the door once more, trying the brass handles only to find it was held shut by a chain.
"Well, we can always get past that," she grinned, key in hand. "Open, the Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"
"What hairstyle do you desire, ebi?" the spirit asked upon summoning, scissors clipping together.
"Nothing today, Cancer," Lucy replied politely, "but I need you to cut through that chain."
"Not a problem, ebi." He assured, and in a flash the chain was chopped cleanly in several places, dropping from the handles to rest limply on the floor. Lucy dismissed him with a smile of thanks as he passed back through his gate.
"Here we go." Lucy announced, pulling the handles, the doors begrudgingly creaking open.
All they could see past the doors was darkness. Lucy took the first step into the shadows, unable to detect any traps. Candles suddenly illuminated the crypt.
"What's this?" Erza asked, seeing candles in alcoves accompanying skeletons burn away. "Some sort of automated magic?"
The requip mage entered the space, feeling an odd sense of relaxation. Upon hearing a distinct lack of footsteps accompanying her, she turned to face Lucy, whose face was white as a sheet.
"Are you okay?" Erza inquired, concerned. She could see Lucy's legs shaking.
"I-I've never been good with dead bodies and skeletons..." The celestial wizard admitted, able to see coffins and bones lining the walls, "I almost died from fear getting the boots out of that coffin, I had to get Loke to grab them."
"We all have our weaknesses," Erza consoled, holding out a hand to the girl, "but as long as you're with me, I won't let them get you."
Lucy blushed before taking the offered hand, finally able to get her quivering limbs moving. They held hands as they investigated the crypt, realising that it was far larger than either of them had envisaged.
"It's only right that the core piece of the armour is in the Lysander crypt." Erza said, stopping at a door at the end of the crypt. Lucy perked up.
"It's behind this door, I know it." She stated, finally letting go of Erza's hand and pressing both hers against the rotting wood.
"Since the main door didn't have much security, the cuirass should be heavily guarded." Erza warned, sword in hand. She signalled for Lucy to open the door.
The door opened to a small, mostly empty room lit by scented candles. The stone walls were white, the floor undamaged. At the back of the room stood an old mannequin, its wood sagging under the weight of an ivory cuirass, engraved with brown, decorative swirls. It seemed to glow.
"Wow," Lucy uttered, walking to the mannequin, "I never thought it would look like this."
She suddenly fell backwards with a thud as she neared the armour.
"Lucy!" Erza called, running to her side, "What's wrong?"
"There's some sort of... barrier on the armour," Lucy responded, rubbing her back which had taken the fall, "see for yourself."
Erza cautiously approached the cuirass, arm outstretched. She was closer than Lucy had gotten, and did not feel any different than she had before.
"Why isn't it affecting me?" She asked, confused, as her fingers touched the front of the cuirass.
"Maybe it's your magic protecting you," Lucy suggested, "or maybe whoever sealed this didn't like celestial spirit mages. Just grab it and let's go."
Erza complied, lifting the armour from the mannequin carefully and holding it in her arms. Ancient letters seemed to glow within the ivory panels. Whispers suddenly filled the silence of the crypt.
"E-E-Erza!" Lucy stammered, pointing at the open doorway. "D-dead people!"
Sure enough, every skeleton and partially preserved body they had seen on their trek through the catacombs seemed to be marching towards them. Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she crawled to the back of the room.
"The enchantment must have been lifted when I took the cuirass from the mannequin. It must have also triggered the Lysander bodies to attack. I knew everything seemed too simple." Erza muttered, giving Lucy the armour to hold, equipping her Heaven's Wheel armour.
"D-Dead people..." Lucy repeated, stiff with fear, crushing herself into the corner.
"Looks like I'm dealing with you alone," Erza said to the marching bodies, "so be it. Blumenblatt!"
Two swords in hand, she charged into the mass of decay, slicing quickly as hands tried to grab her. The enemies she missed were cleared up by the many swords following her. The amount of attacking bones did not seem to decrease. A sword suddenly clanged against her own two, a mummified body donned in Rune Knight armour scowling fiercely at her. The eye sockets glowed an eerie blue, wiry hair still attached to whatever skin was left on the brown skull.
"Perhaps an opponent to get serious with," Erza taunted, "come."
The body needed no more encouragement as it lifted its greatsword and swung it at her once more. Erza parried the attack with ease before she responded with a swipe at an open leg. The former Rune Knight managed to step backwards just in time, effectively avoiding the tip of her sword.
The other walking dead saw that Erza was distracted and took advantage, stumbling towards the huddled form of the blonde girl. The red-haired mage looked at the situation, as she dodged another clumsy swing of the greatsword.
"Lucy! Overcome your fear and they can't hurt you!" She cried, the moment of distraction causing her to be smashed in the head by the butt of the greatsword, ears ringing, falling to her knees.
'Overcome my fear... overcome my fear... she just took a blow to the head just to say that... to encourage me,' Lucy thought, gripping her keys tightly in a clenched fist, 'so I'd better say thanks.'
"Gate of the Lion! Gate of the Bull! Open!" She ordered, finding the inner strength to stand firmly, pushing down her fear. Two forms emerged, already prepared to attack.
"Long time no see, Lucy," A suited man said, hands covered in orbs of light, "I see there is no time for small talk."
"I will protect you and your beautiful body, Lucy-san!" Taurus roared, axe cutting through the dead with ease.
The two spirits made quick work of the corpses as Erza's battle continued. Shaking her head to eliminate the ringing and smiling confidently, Erza managed to stand.
"I'm tired of being here now," She told, charging forward, "it's time for you to rest again."
Slashing her sword in a pentagram shape, the body fell to pieces in front of her, skull rolling away with its eyes extinguished. Requipping back into her normal armour, Erza made her way to where Lucy was.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Lucy replied, picking up the cuirass with difficulty, "this is heavy... how is your head?"
Erza touched the sensitive lump on her cheekbone, "It's nothing, I shouldn't have let my guard down."
The ceiling above them began to rumble loudly. Erza stored the cuirass in her pocket dimension, grabbed Lucy's wrist and began to run.
"This place is going to cave in!" She shouted over the noise, almost tripping over fallen rocks. Lucy looked back and saw large rocks crush the room where they had been just seconds earlier. Darkness started to catch up with them as candles extinguished themselves. A large piece of stone fell from the cracking ceiling and smashed against Lucy's knee. She screamed in pain as she fell down, dragging Erza to a halt. She tried to stand up bravely, but the injured knee buckled under even the smallest amount of weight.
"Go, Erza! I don't want you to die in here because of me." Lucy said, resigning to her fate.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Erza shot back through gritted teeth, "comrades do not leave each other to die. We either live or die together, and nobody is dying today!"
Erza whisked the girl on to her back, Lucy gripping around her neck tightly as each step jerked her knee, causing agony every second. Rocks were slashed apart by a sword to clear the way as they eventually neared the entrance. With a determined growl, Erza lunged for the doors, slamming her shoulder into them and barrelling into the late morning air. The momentum sent her and Lucy tumbling as the requip mage stumbled under her own speed on the grass. Behind them, the crypt disappeared under tonnes of rock as the cliff face collapsed on top of it, erasing all signs of its existence.
Lucy opened her eyes and saw brown ones staring right back at her. Her cheeks flushed as she saw how they were laid on the grass, herself on top of Erza. Her heart thudded painfully from both the adrenaline pumping through her body and emotional realisation.
"T-thank you for saving me." She stuttered, the pain suddenly returning to her knee. She gasped and rolled on to her back. Erza sat up, observing the badly swollen leg.
"We need to get back to the guild. Wendy could heal this for you," She told, "but at the same time you need to rest as much as you can. You haven't slept for quite a while."
"B-but we don't have time to rest. And you haven't slept either." Lucy started, attempting to stand up once more, only to be pushed down gently by Erza.
"Don't worry. Both of us will rest for a few minutes. I will wake you up before we need to go." Erza said, laying down once more. Lucy seemed satisfied with this compromise, and allowed herself to relax despite her throbbing leg.
'I won't fall asleep, I'll just have... a little... break...' She thought as she drifted into unconsciousness. Once Erza heard her breathing even out, she stood up, slinging the rucksack over her shoulder and picking up the blonde. She carried her bridal style all the way back to Fairy Tail, at the same time wondering why her heart wouldn't stop beating so loudly.
I think we can all relate to Lucy's fear of the walking dead. Yikes.