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Chapter 19
"Gate of the Crab, I open thee!" Lucy said in a strong voice and swung her key. "Cancer!" Rei, Alica, and the shadow mages looked at Lucy like she was an alien from another planet. The tall, crab-looking spirit appeared and snapped his little scissors before he got into fighting position. Rei smirked.
"Alica, dear," Rei said and put a hand on her shoulder. She nodded and lifted a hand toward Lucy.
"Alica, please remember!" Lucy yelled. In barely a second Alica hesitated, but then her eyes hardened again and a plant wrapped around the crab's legs. The spirit started to cut through the plant with his scissors. Alica's eyes narrowed and green strings shot out of the plant and wrapped around Cancer, making him unable to move.
Suddenly a pair of hands clenched around her shoulders and forced her into the wall behind her. Alica had been so busy with Cancer that she hadn't seen Lucy run toward her. The forceful push surprised her, and the plants around Cancer loosened.
"Remember him Alica! You loved him! Remember in the church, he ran from my side and kissed you, didn't you feel anything?" Lucy shook her, shouting. Alica looked up at Lucy with confused eyes.
"You remember don't you?" Lucy whispered.
"M-Mako…" Alica mumbled and her eyes filling with pain.
"That's enough!" Rei yelled and an invisible force yanked Lucy's body away from Alica. Lucy screamed and tried to protect her face before she slammed into the wall, but suddenly a body covered her.
"Cancer?" she yelled, before he could reply, they both smashed into the wall. Rocks and dust thickened the air around them.
"The effect is wearing off! We need to give her the medicine," one of the shadow mages told Rei. Rei nodded and took Alica by the arm.
"Time to go, my dear," he whispered sweetly. Alica looked up at him like a confused child, but nodded.
"Wearing off?" Lucy whispered.
"Yeah, but don't get too happy, girlie," Rei said, by the sound of his footsteps coming closer. Lucy felt her loyal spirit tighten his hold around her and tried his best to position himself to protect her. Rei's steps came closer and he laughed silently by the spirit.
"You don't have a chance," he said cruelly, and suddenly the spirit gasped in pain.
"Stop!" Lucy said and looked after the source. "Don't hurt him! Close the gate!"
The spirit disappeared instantly, and Lucy fell a few inches to the floor when his body became air. Suddenly Rei's hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She clenched her teeth by his rough hold.
"It's true that the effect will wear off eventually, and if you don't get the medicine, you will get your memories back," he said and a smile spread on his face, "but if you don't get the medicine…you'll die."
"What? No!" Lucy exclaimed and her eyes watered instantly, even more than they had been before. That meant that her guild and everyone else in the area would die if they didn't get the medicine soon! Rei smirked and shook his head.
"You're so weak," he said and shoved her into the wall. She cried out as her body slammed into the hard rock and concrete.
Out of nowhere a cascade of ice appeared and punched Rei away with so much force that he gasped in surprise. Lucy fell to the ground and hurried to straighten her arms out to take power off the fall, landing on her knees. She lifted her head and bit her lip.
"Lucy," Gray said breathlessly; his face was twisted in pain and his eyes were pleading with her as he talked between gasps. "Please…please…forgive me."
Mako suddenly appeared behind Gray, slamming to a stop just before he hit the ice mage. He held a hand over his heart, breathing like he had just run a marathon and a half.
"Where… the hell…did that speed...come from...huh?" Mako said, astonished and completely out of breath.
A few minutes before:
"Lucy!" Gray suddenly exclaimed and blacked out.
"Hey! Gray!" Mako said surprised, and caught the ice mage just before he hit the ground. His eyelids fluttered like he was having a bad dream. He gasped, and his hands clenched and unclenched in pain. Mako had no idea what to do, and simply laid his friend down gently.
"I…remember," Gray mumbled, almost inaudibly, and his eyes opened with such force that Mako jumped back and held out both hands in surprise.
"What?" Mako asked surprised, but Gray had already leaped to his feet. "How could I be so stupid? IDIOT!" Mako just stared, taken aback at the speed of the recovery.
Gray suddenly ran faster than Mako had ever seen anybody run. "Hey! Wait for me!" he yelled and hurried to follow.
Back to the present.
"G-Gray!" Lucy yelled and lifted her hand slightly. Her face spread in a smile, but it quickly faded again when she remembered what Rei had just said:
"It's true that the effect will wear off eventually, and if you don't get the medicine, you will get your memories back," he said and a smile spread on his face, "but if you don't get the medicine…you'll die."
You'll die…you'll die.
'So that means…if Gray starts to remember again he is going to die?' Lucy thought to herself and her hand started shaking.
Like Rei had read her thoughts, he started laughing loudly and cruelly. While all this happened, Alica's expression changed, and no one noticed.
"R-Rei?" Alica whispered. Rei immediately stopped laughing and turned his head toward her. His eyes softened and he nodded.
"M-Mako!" Alica said and she lifted her trembling hand. The tall boy finally became aware of her presence and his eyes brightened, his face breaking into a wide smile.
"Alica! You remember me!" he said and ran past Gray.
"Hey, wait!" Gray yelled and tried to grab the reckless boy, but Mako dodged under his fingers and headed blindly toward the girl. "Idiot!"
"Long time, no see, Mako," Rei said and lifted his hand. A beam of light hit Mako and he gasped in surprise before he fell to the ground, hard.
"No!" Alica yelled and her eyes suddenly filled with tears as a thousand memories ran through her head at once. Mako's voice started to echo in her head.
"I don't want a lot of girls."
"Stop it! You don't have to fight anymore, I love you!"
"You're so silly!"
"Alica, I don't care about my father."
"Please, run away with me!"
"I love you!"
"I love you!"
Suddenly someone laid his hand on her shoulder and her eyes focused on reality again. It was Rei; he smiled gently to her and blocked her view.
Gray saw his chance. He formed his hands in the familiar way and summoned all his powers, aiming for the pale man.
"Ice Make: Lance!" he said, putting as much venom into his words as he could muster. Rei whipped rounh and stopped his attack like it was nothing. Gray stepped back on his heel and then shot himself forward with his hands formed in a new move.
"Ice Make: Hammer!" he yelled and a huge hammer appeared out of thin air. He grabbed the handle and got ready to swing. Rei was in his sight, he was ready to hit, when suddenly a stream of pain ran through his head and he gasped in shock. His body became limp; the hammer slipped out of his hands and fell to the ground with a loud thud that destroyed the floor, before the hammer shattered too, a million ice shards glittering as they shattered.
"Gray!" Lucy yelled and pushed herself back to her feet, starting to run towards him.
"Stay back!" Gray roared, commanded, and she stopped in her tracks. Rei laughed loudly and Alica peeked terrified out from behind his arm. Gray punched the floor, gritting his teeth against the pain. He couldn't lose. He lifted his body from the floor and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"No, stay down, I insist," Rei said amused and an invisible force hit Gray and forced him back to the ground.
"Stop it!" Lucy yelled and started looking through her keys. She couldn't use Virgo and Cancer, Plue was no good, Not Lyra, and there was no water to summon Aquarius. She looked at the only three keys she would have benefit of; Taurus, Sagittarius and Loki.
"Gate of the Bull, I open thee!" She said and gently sliding Loki's key in her pocket; she couldn't use Loki in this fight at all. She lifted her key and yelled the bull's name, "Taur–argh!" She cried out in surprise and pain when her keys were punched out of her hands. Rei laughed again and lowered his hand.
"Don't ruin my fun," he told her and sent another attack toward Gray. Gray bit his teeth together stubbornly, refusing to scream.
Suddenly a portal of black light and smoke appeared and another shadow mage came out of it. Rei's lips spread in a grin. "Did you get it?" he asked eagerly. The mage nodded and offered him a small white bottle, some kind of liquid sloshing visibly inside. Rei snatched it out of his hand and turned to Alica.
"Alica dear," he began and reached the bottle toward her. She took a step back and her eyes flickered. "This will make all the bad memories go away," Rei continued in a soft voice and took her hand to gently place the bottle in her shaking palm.
"Alica!" Mako broke in, fully conscious again, and tried to make his voice as powerful as possible. Alica's hand clenched around the bottle, but she turned her head to look at him. His eyes were soft when their gaze met. "It's okay, don't be scared."
"It hurts," she whispered and clenched a hand around the skin over her heart.
"You don't have to fight anymore, Alica," Mako said softly, the sound of his voice for Alica's ears alone. "Remember how we met? You were about to stab, right?" Mako laughed half-heartedly.
Alica's eyes widened as the memories shot through her mind.
They had seen each other at a bar. Rei was at the bathroom and Alica sat all alone; she was only 6 or 7 years old. Her hair hung messily down her scared face. She looked like she was about to cry, but no tears were seen.
"Hallo, I'm Mako," a voice suddenly said and Alica lifted her knife instantly. The boy stepped back. "What are you doing?" he asked surprised and took another step away. Alica took a deep breath to calm herself, but didn't lower the knife.
"I didn't try to scare you," Mako said and lifted his hands in innocence. "I just came here to cool down, and saw that you were alone too. Do you mind?" he asked politely and pointed at the chair. He was so stupid, sitting next to a girl with a knife.
"You're reckless," Alica hissed at him. "Can't you see that I'm dangerous?"
Mako laughed loudly and Alica could see all his shining white teeth. Her teeth had never been so white. He had to be rich.
"I'm not scared of a girl," Mako said and pointed at her.
"Go away!" Alica demanded. Mako's eyes glinted with annoyance.
"You're rude!" he stated and crossed his arms. She glared angrily at him. He held her eyes for a couple of seconds, before he sighed.
"Fine, see you," he said and turned to leave. He was so strange. What was a young boy like him doing in a bar anyway?
In a flash the image changed.
She was still young, though more of age 9 now, outside with Rei. He yelled at her for missing the target and pushed her to make her try again. She lifted her shaking hands and a small plant came from the ground. She made it shoot up and tried to hit one of the flying plates Rei held up with his powers. She almost got them every time, but he kept moving them around.
"I just can't," she said with tears down her cheeks.
"You're a failure," he said and hid his eyes in the palm, "run around town, to make up for it."
"But the town is big," Alica said and sobbed.
"Go!" he said annoyed. Alica sobbed again and started running.
The next image happened a few minuets later:
"Hey! Watch out!" Mako yelled when Alica ran into him. Alica fell backwards in exhaustion and landed hard on the ground. "What are you doing?" Mako asked annoyed and hurried to help her up.
"Y-you're that boy," Alica whispered, "from the bar."
"Oh yeeeah," Mako said when he recognized her, "You're that girl who tried to stab me, right? Haha! Nice to see you again." he said with a grin.
The next image popped up.
"That Rei-or-what-ever doesn't sound really nice," Mako said. He and Alica were sitting on the ground. Alica stared at her feet and wrapped her hands tightly together around her drawn-in knees.
"He's not that bad," she whispered.
"What was your name again?" Mako asked.
"A-Alica," she answered. "I'm a dark mage."
"What's that?" Mako asked and tilted his head. Alica looked up and Mako's lips spread in a smirk. "Sounds cool."
Alica blushed and looked away.
"I wish I could be a mage, but my dad wants me to be a boring person," Mako said and smiled half-heartedly.
They saw each other in secret for three years. That is, until…
"Little punk!" Rei yelled and grabbed Mako's arm. Mako cried out in pain.
"Let him go! Please!" Alica yelled and tried to make Rei let go of the struggling Mako. The moon was high in the sky. Alica had snuck out of the base to see Mako, and Rei had followed.
"How dare you seduce her?" he said and made a stream of pain run trough Mako.
"Don't hurt him!" Alica screamed and tears streamed from her eyes.
The next image changed to a darker place.
Alica sat in her room and cried harder than she had ever done before. She hadn't been able to help Mako. Rei had tortured him for hours and she hadn't been able to do anything. At the end he had left the bleeding Mako on the cold street and dragged her home.
"Mako," she sobbed and went to the window.
The next memory changed in a beam of light.
"Mako!" she yelled and pressed him closer. He was all torn up, but he looked at her with sparkling eyes.
"I love you Alica!" he told her, eyes confirming his statements. "Let's run away!"
"We can't! Rei will find us…and your dad…"
"I don't care about Rei! I don't care about my father!" Mako said and held her face between his hands. She had never felt so scared… and so happy.
"I will fight for you 'til I die," Mako said and ran his hand through her hair.
Alica came back to reality with a gasp in shock. A tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away with a small sigh.
"I–I remember it…all of it," she said and the bottle fell from her fingers. Rei hurried to catch it, but Alica didn't even look at him.
"Alica," Rei said and his voice had hardened.
"I love you Mako," Alica whispered before her body fell limp to the floor. Rei was close enough, but he didn't bother to catch her, and she hit the ground loudly.
"Alica!" Mako cried out in shock and jumped to his feet.
"She needs the medicine," Lucy yelled and Mako turned his head toward her. "Everybody needs it. It will keep her memory erased, but it will save her." Lucy's voice was thick with sadness.
"B-but…" Mako said shocked. Rei leaned against the wall a small distance from Alica and opened the bottle. A smirk formed on his lips.
"I know," Lucy said and tears formed in her eyes too. "I know." Gray had passed out too and Lucy lifted her body from the floor and hurried to his side. Mako breathed heavily and clenched his teeth together, hands balling into fists at his side. Rei looked at him with a smirk.
"We have to make the choice," Lucy said and took Gray's head in her arms; his eyes fluttered wildly under the lids and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "We can give them the medicine, and make them forget their times with us forever…or," she paused, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Or we can let them die."
"N-no," Mako said with disbelief, dropping to his knees beside his beloved's head. "No, there must be another way."
"Nope," Rei said haughtily, smirking at his pain. "There is no other way punk. So what's it going to be?"
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