A/N: Hello, everyone! Here's another chapter for you but before reading the story I would like to say or state a few things. I know my story's not the best but what I can say is that I accept constructive criticism because I know my story has flaws but saying something like 'shit' is considered hating. This is my version of what a LaLu should or could be. I know that I don't write as many fluffs as other writers do. I apologize for that and not living up to your expectations but I can only say that "I write to express, not to impress." I won't deny that I've been disappointed in the decline in my readers because if I do, that would be called hypocrisy of the highest tier but when the first time I ever post a chapter of the ASVTT, what I'm thinking is sharing my ideas to others and not hogging attention and being a fame whore.
On the other hand, I do appreciate those who supported the story because if it wasn't for them, I don't know if I'll be able to continue. I do appreciate their views and to that person who said that my story is shit, I do understand if you felt that way. I'm just offended because I write each chapter with effort and a lot of thinking and consideration. Thanks and you may now read...
Chapter 24
The freaking SS-Class behemoth appeared before them and boy, it was darn hideous. Not only did it happen to be one of Lucy's favorite monsters in this world, (sarcasm included) a Wyvern but it's also a big, fat ass beast that sprouted what looked like to be tattered pair of wings. Contrary to its 'regular' and 'normal' family members, this…this monstrosity sported a black overalls. Gothic Lolita bitch, that's what a pissed Lucy would call it. Not that she has something against goth lolis, it's just that that fashion suits humans or human-like people more than a draconic entity. However, there's still one thing worse than a goth loli wannabe and that was a goth loli wannabe that towers like Deliora and screeches like a demented banshee.
"I don't like this." Lucy spoke, rubbing her palms in her arms to keep herself warm and calm. It was useless though. She was in no way calm about this. She could feel her blood dripping from her ears listening to this monster. Somehow she was able to conserve Magic Power after she closed Loke's Gate but doing so, also returned his ring back to the Celestial Spirit World. Now, she doesn't know where else she would get a weapon to fight this thing. And hand-to-hand combats were out of the choices. She might have done a good deal with her last opponent but she's not a boxer. And even if she was, she's still amateur. She still has a long way to go and bruised knuckles weren't exactly a charming way to shut the screeching banshee from bitching.
"Well, it's fine by me. You can rest if you want." Natsu slyly suggested. Oh, come on, if Lucy couldn't know any better, this pink-haired idiot was taunting her to either give him the freaking spotlight or make a weakling out of herself. Both choices didn't sit well with her.
But before she could make a momentous comeback and put his team mate in his rightful place, Virgo sprouted from the ground carrying what looked like a simple brown belt. "Hime, take this." The maid handed Lucy the band and the blonde quickly examined it. The texture's velvety and it's thick. That's the only thing Lucy could ever think. She's not exactly a belt expert, you know. "This is called Ceinture du chasseur of the Orion constellation from the Celestial Spirit World. It will allow you to use a bow and the North Arrow and store your keys in its pocket."
"How would I know to shoot an arrow and more importantly, how can I fit all of the Keys in this small pocket?" Lucy pointed to the little compartment in the belt.
"Hime, the North Arrow is used as a navigational guide at night. It will 'navigate' its way towards your target even if its dark or you're blindfolded, hence the term 'night'. You will not miss. The pocket contains a large space within it can contain almost anything you want." The Maiden stated a matter-of-factly. This surprised Lucy. Not because of the weapon but because of the Spirit's attitude. When on Earthland did masochist Virgo become this blunt?
"Oh. Then how can I use it? I mean summon the bow." Lucy asked, still shocked.
"Put the belt around you and hold out your hands." Lucy did as was told. She laid it from her right shoulder across to her left waist, securing the buckle and held her hand. Golden light shimmered between her fingers and in a matter of seconds, it materialized and formed into a golden bow.
"Where's the arrow?" The blonde asked, confused. Okay, a bow's practically useless without an arrow except if you'll use it as a club or sword but considering that this bow's really thin, that option wasn't favorable.
"Hime, the arrow will appear if you pull the string and aim" Lucy tried it and sure enough, an arrow shimmered into existence as she pulled the cord, between her fingers was the fletching.
"Cool." Lucy praised.
"Hime, however, I can only let you borrow you this and not give it."
"Why's that?" Lucy whipped her head towards the maid, feeling like she has been played.
"Because just like I said, it is a navigational part within the Celestial Spirit World, a compass." Now this got Lucy's attention. Well, she can't do a thing anymore. Disappointed as she may be, she can't own it since it was needed for a greater purpose in their world, though there's still one thing she wants to ask.
"Why let me borrow it?"
"Hime, we Spirits trusts and supports you." And this made Lucy stop on her tracks, when the blonde didn't even move an inch for about the span of five seconds, Virgo continued, "Hime, am I to be punished for being blunt?"
"No. Thank you." Now, this was Virgo, always craving for punishment. Lucy smiled as her Spirit went back to their world. Gratitude for her Spirits welled up inside her. 'Thank you, Virgo for once again rushing here to my aid and thank you all, Spirits for supporting me.'
"Now that you've finally finished your internal dramatic monologue about your overwhelming gratitude to your Spirits, can we finally start this show on the road?" Natsu shot her a teasing smirk.
"Okay, Natsu! Let's see what you've got!" This banter between her and her friends made her finally accept herself as their equal, as their team mate. Scratch that I-will-not-show-off crap. She's definitely making her pink-haired idiot of a friend eat her dust.
"Now, that's more like it." Gray joined the conversation.
"Do I hear I fight breaking in?" They heard Erza in her condescending and highly hazardous tone and they immediately stood straight.
"Aye!" saluted the three of them. Speaking of which, someday, they'll have to ask this word's originator to join them in their laughs. They haven't felt like this in a long time and they surely wouldn't miss it for the world this time around. They looked at the redhead but she was grinning from ear to ear. "I'm just kidding you, guys. Let's finish this so that I'll be able to help Lucy in choosing the cake." Lucy smiled brightly.
"Can you keep up, Porn Star?" Natsu taunted.
"Not just keep up. I'll surpass you, Charcoal." Gray put on his stance as temperature around him dropped down. "ICE MAKE: LANCE!" Lances of ice directed towards the body of the Wyvern but shattered upon contact. The monster flapped its wings and hovered, screeching and readied itself to fly to them.
"Weakling." Natsu snickered. He activated his Fire Body Spell and soared towards the beast. "FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!" Engulfing the flaming sphere with more flames, he propelled himself towards the monster at high speed, hitting its groin with a headbutt. The force sent their opponent in the opposite direction with a pillar of fire but regained its balance when it flapped its wings.
With a shriek, the monster flew and lunged towards Lucy and Erza. Both women ducked as its belly were mere centimeters away from their heads. When the tail finally passed, they rolled to different sides and stood up to their battle stance.
"An air battle, huh?" Gray muttered. He took on a different posture and with swift flicks of his hands, he molded an animal. Though it wasn't his style to do so, learning Dynamic Ice-Make wouldn't hurt. It might even be advantageous when something came up like this situation, for instance. "ICE MAKE: GRIFFIN!" With a height that rivaled Lyon's Snow Tiger, the griffin stood as light made its ice features, lion body, tail and back legs; eagle head, wings and front feet talons, glitter. Gray quickly mounted his steed and soared towards their opponent. "ICE MAKE: SAUCER!" A giant spinning ice disk launched towards the Wyvern.
Despite its huge size, the Wyvern was a fast opponent, especially in the air. It dodged Gray's attacks without obvious efforts. With her smart, Erza concluded that it's impossible to beat when it while airborne, its element. Seeing that Natsu was able to land a blow at it groin, it can only be concluded that their best chance at defeating this monstrosity was either a direct attack or on the ground. Speaking of ranged attacks, Lucy won't be able to do much in this…wait, no. Lucy can actually hit it considering the special ability of her bow; the arrow will most definitely land a clear bull's-eye.
"Lucy, hit both of the monster's wings!" Erza shouted from the other side of the room.
"I-I can't. It's too fast." The girl was obviously panicking. A bow wasn't exactly in her arsenal, it's a whip.
'Stupid Laxus. Taking away Lucy's best weapon isn't the best choice. Whatever principle that Dragon Slayer has, it sure is demented.' Erza thought. "You will. Remember what Virgo said!" She shouted in the bellowing of the monster.
"I'll try!" The blonde shouted back. She poised the bow towards the freaking squirming monster in the air and drew back the cord. 'Wait, did Erza said wings? As in plural?' She panicked again. How can she shoot both wings at the same time if even one arrow she can't shoot? She's not exactly Sagittarius. 'Okay, calm down, Lucy. You can do this!' Imagining that there'll be two arrows, she focused on her target and released the fletching. The arrow launched into the air as light covered its arrowhead down towards its shaft, covering the fletching and leaving trails of purplish-pink in its nock. As it reached the monster, the light separated into two separate arrows, light still trailing behind them.
"What the…" Lucy was surprised by the sudden splitting. She can't believe her own eyes. Even Sagittarius can't do such thing.
The Wyvern immediately noticed that there are two separate arrows heading its way so it abandoned its current fight with the both men and soared higher into the ceiling, breaking it and allowing the sunlight through. It flew higher into the sky, casting shadows on the whole stadium. However, the arrows were continuously following it. The beast let out a green beam from its mouth that swallowed both light.
"Still not enough." Lucy squinted and adjusted her eyes in the sunlight to see if the arrows did their job. They didn't. Both purplish-pink lights were quickly snuffed out by the green beam in just a second.
"Natsu follow it!" Erza commanded the already mid-air mage. That monster went overboard. It could endanger the audience now that it was released from the castle. Noticing that Lucy was the only person that doesn't have any form of flight, the redhead whipped her head towards Gray. "Gray, take Lucy into the rooftop. We'll fight it there." Titania then requipped back into her Flight Armor and followed Natsu in the mid-air battle.
"Lucy, come on." Gray landed the griffin beside her, moving further in the back to make space for Lucy to sit in. Lucy obliged because if she didn't, she'll be left here. And stairs don't actually look amazing. Besides, she knew that Laxus will throw a fit when he sees this. Sweet revenge for waking her up and taking the whip.
"WHAT! DON'T YOU DARE, LOVE RIVAL! DON'T YOU DARE!" Juvia seethed and shouted and threw a freaking tantrum in her seat, waving the microphone in her burst of anger. Lucy glanced at her and smirked. Seeing that the blue-haired mage was ticked it off, she knew that she hit a nerve.
"OI! YOU EXHIBITIONIST! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" Then another voice came up from the commentators' stand and it was none other than the fiancé who was red not in embarrassment but in rage. He's gripping the microphone like he's gonna break it in pieces but considering Laxus' history with small objects, he might. Lucy just threw stuck her tongue out which infuriated him more.
"Come on, Gray." Lucy sat in front of the raven-haired man and motioned for him to fly towards the fight, while ignoring the loud protests of her two jealous guild mates. Gray just obliged, sighing then he noticed that the girl in front of him was squirming.
"What're you doing?" The raven-haired inquired.
"I'll try to hit again." Lucy balanced herself as they ascended towards the roof, gripping the ice griffin's body with her legs firmly even if it freezes the soul out of her. The release of the arrow then brought another trail of light and separated into two that darted towards the monster.
Noticing that the same thing was coming over, the beast flicked its tail and redirected the arrows towards the redhead and the pink-head.
"What the hell was that, Luce?!" Natsu complained as the projectile almost hit his crotch. Not exactly the best target for any hormonal male. Erza remained silent and focused as she deflected the incoming arrow with her sword.
"Don't blame me. Blame that monster." They have finally landed on the rooftop and Lucy instantaneously pried herself off of the ice creature before it froze her ass to death.
"Stop that. We need to stop that monster before it gets to the people below." Erza said in a dark tone that shut the hell out of the two from bickering.
"Aye!"
"ICE MAKE: ICE CANNON!" Still riding his mount and flying over the monster, Gray procured long-barreled cannon and fired a cannonball to distract the Wyvern. It did the job and managed to have the beast right where he wanted it to be. Jumping from the griffin, he created what probably, the largest cage he had ever molded. "ICE MAKE: PRISON!" The cage covered it in all sides but with its strength and loud cry, it quickly shattered.
"ARGHHH!" Gray's strained groan reached Lucy's ears. The blonde whipped her head towards the man and saw her team mate being swatted by the Wyvern's tail outside of the roof, knocking the living daylights out of him and making him plummet in over a hundred feet. Lucy tried to catch him by the railing but he was too far, so she jumped to follow.
"Gemini!" With the Magic Power she managed to conserve, she summoned the twins, following beside her as she too was falling. It's just a theory that she had ever since she tried to make unique spells for her Spirits but hey, if Gemi and Mini could copy different persons at once, namely Erza and Mira then, maybe they could somehow do this. If they copy Happy and use the Aera Spell, they're in deep trouble because the real Happy can only carry a single person and The Twins will have to carry only one. They were two, Lucy and Gray. 'Whatever, I just have to have faith on them.'
"Piri Piri. Have you made a decision yet?" She heard them as she caught Gray around his chest, visibly hugging him from behind.
"I will kill you, Love Rival!" A faint female menacing voice echoed from below and an obviously male growl followed.
"Yeah! Copy Happy's wings and make 'em bigger!" She shouted as her hair continuously whipped in her face. The Twins then circled around her and in a puff of smoke; there embedded on her back was a pair of pure white wings. She immediately flapped it to avoid colliding with a nearby gargoyle and noticed something. Gray's heavy. Curse this man's growth spurt.
"Lucy, am I already in heaven?" A groggy voice finally spoke.
"Huh? No."
"Then where the hell did you got those wings?!" He exclaimed.
"Gemini. No time to explain. I'll throw you upwards. Ready?" Lucy looked up as they neared the rooftop. She sped up to build momentum and using her arm strength, she hauled the man into the air.
"Ready, go! ICE MAKE: WINGS!" A pair of ornate ice wings sprouted from his back, boosting his ascent into the sky. "Natsu, Erza! Let's fight this bitch in the air!" He called out to his two other team mates.
"But…" Erza started to speak.
"Fine!" Natsu cut her off and gave a thumbs-up.
"Very well, let's put all of our strength in our final attack." Erza agreed. "REQUIP: NAKAGAMI ARMOR!" Gold and blue armor covered her body in a flash of light.
"FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW!" Natsu abandoned his Fire Body Spell in favor of putting all of his Magic into this attack. He ignited his feet and cut the air with his speed towards the Wyvern and assaulted it with powerful fire-enhanced kick in the face. Still having not enough, he put forth more effort and used another offense. He punched it in the cheek. "FIRE DRAGON'S FLAME ELBOW!" Intense, bursting flames materialized in his elbow, boosting the striking power and sent the beast ten feet to the opposite direction. It howled in pain. "Erza!"
"NAKAGAMI STARLIGHT!" Utilizing the large, golden halberd, Titania thrust herself towards the monster and swung the weapon with brute force. The impact darted the monster towards the waiting Gray. "Gray!"
"ICE-MAKE: ICE BRINGER!" Two molded ice swords appeared in both of Frost's hands and as the target neared, he slashed it in a cross-pattern. "Lucy! ICE-MAKE: COLD EXCALIBUR!" He procured an extremely large broadsword and hit the monster in the body to send it towards Lucy. The weight made him struggle but pushing himself to his limits, he swung the blade and managed to dispatch it towards the blonde.
Midway in its propulsion in the air, the monster regained its balance and took a stance to fire another beam towards the most probable target and that it Lucy. A large green beam homed itself towards the blonde.
"Lucy!" came the panicky voice of her team mates. Lucy closed her eyes and exhaled, concentrating herself. Two arrows weren't enough but what if she fired more than two? She heard it, the whooshing sound it made as it cut through the air. She has no more Magic Power left, except for the one that's keeping her in air. If she took that away, she'll plummet to her death. Not a smart move. She opened her eyes and poured the majority of her Spirit Energy in the arrow. Well, she's a hundred feet in the sky, people won't actually notice the difference.
"LUCE!" Natsu's voice resounded and she braced herself for the backlash this attack will make.
"If two won't do, then a hundred will! GO!" She released the fletching. A large purplish-pink ripple-like light appeared in the tip of the arrow. And when the whole arrow was released, a large burst of light with the same color enveloped it like a thick beam. The recoil knocked her into the rooftop as she watched as her large arrow collided with the Wyvern's beam. It struggled but overpowered the green light and when its attack dissipated; her beam separated into hundreds and thousands of arrows and punctured the beast all over its body, making it dissipate in a large billow of black smoke.
"AND. THE. WINNER. IS. LUCY. DREYAR!" And Lucy knew who that voice belonged to. And considering the strained, furious snarl in his tone and the emphasis on the Dreyar, there will be hell to pay. And she's the one that needs to pay.
A/N: Note:
Ceinture du chasseur is the french for belt of the hunter. (As in Orion's belt)
North Arrow is a part of the constellation of Orion. It is really used a navigational guide at night especially in the Sahara desert where there are not many natural signs.
The idea of the hundreds or thousands of arrows was from the Light Regen of Uryu Ishida of Bleach.
The color of the arrows,the ripple-thing it made when it shoots and the 'you-will-not-miss' part is from Kagome Higurashi's Sacred Long Bow of Mount Azusa.
