CHAPTER 3:

VULCAN HELL

After consulting briefly with Makarov and Mirajane, Lucy had taken a coat with her. Natsu didn't really care about the cold, but apparently, despite the fact that it was summer, there were unseasonable blizzards on Hakobe Mountain. She and Natsu, along with Happy, were travelling in a horse-drawn carriage.

"You know," Lucy said as Natsu groaned, lying across a bench across from her, "you should try a ginger pill."

"Doesn't work…" Natsu groaned.

"Why? Have you tried everything that can treat motion sickness?"

Natsu glared balefully at her, or tried to. Unfortunately, it was hard to look genuinely threatening when you looked nauseous. "It's what Igneel did to me when teaching me Dragon Slayer magic. My senses are like a dragon's…and that means ultra-sensitive."

"I get it," Lucy said. "Which means your sense of balance is especially thrown out of whack by motion. What about flight?"

Happy shook his head. "When I fly him, he's okay. I think it's because dragons are used to flying."

"Anyway, why did you come along, Lucy?" Natsu said, before gagging briefly.

"A few reasons. I want to help that kid out, and besides, two mages are better than one, right? Plus, this is a chance for me to show Fairy Tail what I can do. Anyway, my magic also includes healing magic, so if Macao's hurt…"

"Good idea!" Happy chirped. "I saw you use that 'Cure' spell on Mira."

"There's three levels of that spell. The magic I use, aside from the Celestial Spirits, is battle magic. Many of them have multiple tiers. For example, when I was fighting off those slavers Bora employed, I used Thunder and Blizzard magic, specifically second-tier. So, first tier Thunder magic is simply 'Thunder', second tier is 'Thundara', and third tier is 'Thundaga'. I have those tiers for the elements of lightning, fire, and ice magic, along with curative magic. Here, let me test something. Esuna."

The restorative spell enveloped Natsu, who sat up, blinking. "Whoa, the motion sickness is gone."

"I tried it on you before, and it didn't work. Maybe it's only temporary, as your motion sickness is innate to your physiology."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I can feel it coming back. But…how often can you cast that?"

"Not that often. I have a fairly large pool of magic power, and it's not that magic-hungry, but if you are already succumbing to it, I don't think I can help. Maybe I could use a Stop spell to freeze you in time until we get to our destination…"

Natsu just shot her a glare.

She hadn't felt this cold since Narshe. At least being told about what the area was like allowed Lucy to get some warm clothing in advance. Natsu, for some weird reason, shunned the use of even a jacket, just wearing a vest and trousers. She had wonder, then, why wear that coat when she first met him?

Even so, the blizzard they were currently trudging through was unseasonable for the summer. As they walked along, Lucy asked, "Makarov said that Macao was looking for Vulcans, right?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I think there was an infestation of them recently." He then bellowed into the blizzard, "Oi! Macao! Are you there?! Or has a Vulcan killed you?"

Tactful, Lucy thought. But Natsu's shouts did have unexpected fruit: a mound of snow bulged and rippled, disgorging the distinct simian features of a massive, hulking Vulcan, a horn poking out from its head. It reminded Lucy a little of their belligerent Yeti companion, Umaro, back when she was Terra. Natsu dodged an attack from the beast, only for the beast to notice Lucy, and charge over.

"A human girl!" the thing grunted, a lecherous look on its simian features.

Part of Lucy, the part that was still capable of coherent thought, marvelled at the fact it could speak. Then again, some Vulcans could, apparently. The rest of her recoiled in disgust and horror at the lustful look on its face, and she snapped out her hands. "Thundara!"

The hulking beast was hurled back by the bolt of lightning. She held back the power a little because that part of her that was coherent knew that, if it could speak, it might have enough intelligence to tell them what happened to Macao. She relayed this to Natsu, who nodded. "Good thinking!" He then glared at the Vulcan. "Okay, you've got one chance. We're looking for a human man. Have you seen him?"

The dazed Vulcan got to his feet, and looked thoughtful, before gesturing Natsu forward. "Man? You want know about man?" When Natsu got close enough, the Vulcan batted him away and hooted in mirth. "Me not like men! Me like girls!"

"Then you're gonna love me," Lucy muttered, before she yelled "GRAVIJA!"

An orb of dark energy formed above the Vulcan, only for it to dodge. It charged at her, grunting, "You mine! You mine, girl!"

Okay. Time for Plan B, Lucy thought, before she summoned up a familiar energy, and let it surge through her body. The power of Trance, unleashing her full Esper form.

The Vulcan skidded to a halt, and stared, its lecherous expression growing even more so. She knew why. It effectively made her naked in the middle of a blizzard, but that didn't matter. Her body was glowing magenta, her hair becoming a mane down her back. Tufts of violet fur stuck out around her body. Her eyes had become golden and inhuman, her hands and feet bestial paws. Her face was still recognisably human, even if slightly more animalistic.

Even so, that was no excuse for Natsu to come charging out of the snowdrift and try to attack her. As she dodged, he yelled, "Dammit, more monsters! Hold still!"

"Natsu, it's me!" Lucy yelled in annoyance, her voice distorted by her transformation. "I'm using one of my powers. It's called 'Trance'."

"Aye, it's true!" Happy yelled. "I saw her do it!"

And you couldn't have spoken up earlier, because…? Lucy thought, only for the Vulcan to lumber over, and peer at her.

"…You ugly now. Look nice again!" the Vulcan said petulantly.

"You're the ugly one!" Natsu roared, before smashing the Vulcan with a burning haymaker.

"Natsu, can you eat any magical fire?" Lucy asked.

"Well, duh."

"Okay, think quick! FIRAGA!" The fire spell engulfed Natsu in flames that would have scorched almost anything else. But almost as soon as the conflagration burst into life, it was gobbled up by Natsu, who grinned.

"Thanks for the grub. Damn, that's some of the tastiest fire I've ever eaten," Natsu said. And with that, he began dashing around the Vulcan, before sending him skyward with a punch. Lucy took to the skies, and met its eyes.

"Gravija," she hissed. And then, an orb of dark energy enveloped the Vulcan, who screamed in pain as it was slammed to the ground by the gravitational force of the spell.

Lucy noticed that the creature wasn't getting up. It looked pretty battered, in fact. "Is it still alive?" she asked.

Natsu nodded. "Just out cold. Hang a mo, what's happening?"

When Lucy swooped down for a closer look, she saw the Vulcan glowing, and then, its skin began to change. In a flare of light, a handsome man with short dark hair, and looking the worse for wear, appeared. "That's Macao!" Happy yelped.

"Take Over magic," Lucy mused. "I didn't know Vulcans could do that." She landed next to Macao and checked him over with Scan. "He's pretty badly wounded," she said quietly.

"Can that magic you were talking about do anything?" Natsu asked.

"It should be. Curaga." A whitish green glow enveloped Macao, and his wounds closed. His face screwed up in pain.

Natsu winced at his comrade being in pain. "If you didn't do that…well, that wound on his stomach, I would've had to cauterise that shut."

Macao regained consciousness, his eyes flickering open. "…Natsu?" he rasped. His eyes flickered over to Lucy. "And you…are…?"

"Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said, coming out of Trance, as the immediate danger seemed to be over for the time being. "I only just joined Fairy Tail. Are you okay, Macao?"

A painful laugh wormed from his lips. "Whatever healing magic you used, it can't heal my wounded pride, and my shame. I managed to get nineteen of those bastards. But the twentieth used Take Over magic. I can't face Romeo like this, a failure."

Twenty Vulcans…all on his own. Okay, Lucy, as Terra, had done not dissimilar feats, but even so, it was still amazing. Okay, he could have died thanks to the twentieth one, but even so…

"Shut up!" Natsu snarled angrily. "You're not gonna die here! We're taking you home right now! Got it?!"

And so they did. On the trek back home, Macao revealed his reasons for taking on the job: Romeo had been bullied by some children, who had badmouthed wizards in general, and Fairy Tail, and Macao, in particular. Romeo had asked his father to prove himself with an amazing job. No wonder the poor kid had been distraught: he probably thought he had sent his father to die.

They soon got back to town, and they found Romeo, who looked delighted to see his father back, though it then fell into tears. He hurried over and embraced his father. "Dad, I'm sorry for…"

"No, I'm sorry I worried you, son," Macao said quietly. "But next time those brats make fun of you, ask them whether their dads could take down nineteen monsters solo. Just say that."

Romeo nodded, smiling again, before saying thanks to Natsu, Happy and…even Lucy. Lucy smiled as she waved farewell to father and son. Hopefully, they could spend some time catching up…

Back at Fairy Tail, while Natsu and Gray embarked on more bickering, Lucy went over to talk with Mirajane and Makarov, telling them about what happened. Happy came over too, wanting to avoid any potential fight between Natsu and Gray. It was Happy who told them about Lucy's Trance ability, which got Mirajane and Makarov interested. "And what do you do when you enter Trance?" Makarov asked. "Is it Take Over, or general transformation?"

"It's more like an innate transformation," Lucy said. She eventually decided to tell Makarov and Mirajane what she had told Loke, so she paid for Happy to have some fish, and go elsewhere. She then told Makarov and Mirajane a little of her past, in generalities.

Makarov frowned. "Another world, you say? While I cannot talk about the existence of reincarnation, I do know about the possibility of other worlds. So your magic belongs to another world entirely?"

"Yes. It's mostly combat magic. An Esper, as I said, is not dissimilar to a Celestial Spirit. It means I can effectively summon them without a Gate Key, though I try only to summon those that I have a Gate Key for, as a courtesy. I can also communicate with them while they are in the Celestial Spirit Realm. I can even pass through it, despite being human."

Mirajane looked impressed, but also pensive. "What did it feel like going into Trance for the first time?"

"…Terrifying," Lucy said bluntly. "I didn't know what I was at the time, and I lost control, flying far away. It took my friends finding the Magicite, the corpse if you will, of my father to get me to come to terms with myself."

"I'm sorry. I…I'm familiar with that sort of thing," Mirajane said quietly.

Makarov nodded solemnly. "Mirajane, like her siblings, are masters of Take Over magic, like the Vulcan you encountered." He looked at Mirajane, who shook her head. "Her story is hers to tell, though, and you are still a newcomer, though I have to congratulate you on working well with Natsu. Perhaps before long I could recommend you for the S-Class mage exam. However, power isn't everything. Even with memories of a past life, you still need experience."

"I know, I know. I'm not going to risk my life foolishly, not to mention anyone else's life." She looked over at Natsu, who had finished bickering with Gray, and was eating something burning. "Natsu, though…"

"Yes, Natsu is impulsive and reckless, even by our standards," Makarov said sagely. "But he is also one of our finest warriors, who would never turn down someone in need. He's also very principled, though if I were you, when I find somewhere to stay in Magnolia, I would make it as secure as possible. Natsu doesn't really have a concept of private property, and would break into a friend's house and mooch off them if he felt so inclined."

"Noted," Lucy said.

Later, Lucy sat down next to Loke. "You okay?" she asked.

"As much as I can be," the Celestial Spirit said. "I mean, you gave me a lot to think about, but I know the King. I know how he treated what happened with Karen. And don't get me wrong, Karen was a bitch, but she didn't deserve to die because of what happened."

"Mistreating Celestial Spirits like she did?" Lucy asked. "Aries told me what happened. Okay, I had to coax it out of her, but even so…you aren't tools, you're people, no matter what anyone else thought. Maybe she didn't deserve death per se, but she was long overdue some karma. Believe me, I spent most of one life being exploited. I don't like people who do that. I can forgive them if they repent, but…" She shook her head. "Never mind. I can summon Aries later, in privacy. Then, you can decide whether you want to make a contract with me."

Loke nodded solemnly. "All right. Later tonight, I'll get you to bring Aries out. To be honest, I think my time is getting close. I'm not sure how much longer I can stay in this realm. If the King has rescinded my banishment…then maybe I can forgive myself for what happened, even if you think there's nothing to forgive."

Lucy thought about that. She understood where he was coming from: Celestial Spirits were meant to be loyal to those who summoned them, so causing, even if indirectly, the death of their summoner was anathema. But she also felt he had been punished enough. He would punish himself from now on, through self-reproach, even if she personally thought he didn't need to.

Still, if Lucy was lucky, she'd get a new Celestial Spirit out of this. Even if Loke didn't agree, though, she had the feeling she had made a friend of him for life, and that was even more valuable…

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

The Vulcan incident admittedly didn't fill up much wordcount, hence Makarov and Mirajane, as well as Loke. I'm intending for a Lucy/Loke ship in this story, actually.

No numbered annotations this time.