Hello my lovely readers!
Wow, thank you all so much for the reviews! I still get excited every time I get one ^_^ Here's a nice action-packed chapter!
Also, please excuse my slightly crappy writing this week; I've been sick the past week and fight scenes have never been my forte so I hope it's okay!
Last Chapter
Before Levy could elaborate, a piece of paper taped to a large book shimmered into existence right in front of the group. The novel was thick and old and an ancient script adorned the front cover.
Lucy gasped. "What the…"
"Don't touch it yet," Erza instructed, her eyes wary and alert. "It could contain a curse of some sort."
"What does the note say?" Wendy asked, peering curiously at the paper only to be pulled back by Carla. "Carla!"
"I have a bad feeling about this, Wendy," Carla said, her voice shaky. Mira and Erza glanced at one another as Levy examined the writing.
"It says…'Time to play, Fairies. Who is the lamb being led to the slaughterhouse? The game has only just begun.'"
"It has to be a trap; it indirectly tells us how to return the memories!"
"How could it be a trap? Just give them back to Luce!"
"They could do something wacko to her!"
"She's already wacko!"
"Hey!"
"Quiet!"
The squabbling group silenced as Erza's stormy eyes glanced at each of them. Lucy cowered under her gaze, still staring at the book in apprehension. Regardless of what Levy's investigation had said, she didn't trust it not to contain a curse or something and start shooting laser beams at them. The redhead took the book from Levy's arms, her stare fierce and determined.
"We will follow the book."
"What!?"
"Erza, it's a trap!"
"See? Even Erza agrees!"
"Quiet! The only reason we are following its instructions are because it is our only clue at the moment," Erza declared. "We must all be on our guard. Do not go anywhere unaccompanied. Groups of three at least."
Natsu squinted at the book in her hand. "Where exactly are we following the book?"
"Idiot! Didn't you listen before?"
"What'd you call me, icicle?"
"You heard me, flame-face!"
"Shut it!"
Erza glared at the two before nodding gratefully in Lucy's direction. "Alright. Gajeel, Levy, Lily, Juvia; you're group one. Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray; group two. Wendy, Mira, Carla and myself will be group three. Laxus, you and the Raijinshu can be group four."
"As for the direction, Natsu…" Levy gestured at the book's title, Venti Incantamentum Scriptum. "The title says it all."
Natsu blinked.
Levy sighed. "Venti! Roman gods of the winds. They each had a cardinal direction so we should travel east, west, north and south. This book is written in an ancient language called Latin."
"Yes." Erza nodded approvingly. "Are there any other clues?"
"Hm…I believe there are some shrines at the furthest point of each direction in Fiore. They're our best bet."
Erza nodded. "We depart tomorrow morning."
"Help...get me...off…"
"Stop whining, flamebrain! We're almost there!"
Lucy sighed as the two boys bickered. Again. They had been arguing all morning, when Natsu wasn't too busy puking his guts out, and Lucy couldn't wait to get off the carriage so they could just go to the shrine and ask whatever guardian lived there for a way to get her memories back. Happy was happily eating fish in the corner when the carriage came to an abrupt halt.
"This is as far as I take you!"
"Thank you!" Lucy climbed out with Happy as Gray lugged Natsu out of the carriage. Lucy waved as the farmer continued on his journey and the four stared at the path in the forest that faced them.
"Let's go," Gray said, with a wary glance at the dark trees. The group continued their journey west, past towering waterfalls and caves of stalagmites and stalactites until they stopped in front of a small shrine.
"Is this it?" Happy flew towards the shrine, peering inside it curiously. "It's so small."
The shrine was not what Lucy was expecting. It was a lot smaller than she imagined, with a domed ceiling and pillars instead of walls supporting it. It was completely round and inside, there was a small statue of the god Favonius perched on a block of stone. A small fire burnt in a hole in the slab of stone and Lucy felt a strange magical presence as soon as she entered.
"Don't let your guard down," Gray warned, walking inside the shrine. Lucy kept her hand on her keys, curious eyes exploring the building.
"Huh?" Natsu walked towards the stone statue and picked up a note. "Hey, check this out."
"What's it say?" Lucy made her way to the statue, hands tightening on her whip.
"Looks like they're...directions."
"We've finally arrived! I wonder how the others are doing," Lucy sighed as they reached the place they had been directed to. Night had fallen so they couldn't do much else. She sat down next to the fire Natsu had made when a voice made her jump.
"Lucy-san?"
"Wendy!? What are you doing here?" Lucy looked at the dragon slayer in shock as the rest of her group came into view. "I thought you went to the north!"
"We were told to come here from a set of instructions," Mira replied, taking a seat next to Lucy and warming her hands by the fire. "I'm not sure what Minerva's playing at."
A small laugh came from the forest next to them.
"Who's there?" Erza said warily, sword drawn. A figure stepped out from the shadows.
"Well done, Fairies. I didn't think you'd get this far."
"Why'd we get sent to the same place?" Laxus frowned as he and Gajeel glared at each other.
"It's probably a trap, stupid."
"Don't talk to Laxus that way!"
"Everyone, be quiet!"
The rest of the group turned to look at Levy, who was facing the trees. "I think there's someone there…"
"If you think there's someone there, don't go yelling about, shrimp!"
"Don't call me shrimp!"
A green-haired woman stepped out from behind a tree. "Oh, did I interrupt a lovers' quarrel?"
"It's a trap!" Erza shouted as Minerva sent explosions in their direction. The group scattered as bits of wood and fire rained upon them before Erza, Natsu and Gray charged simultaneously. Minerva smirked at them.
"Watch out!"
Wendy's cry came too late. In a split second, Gray had replaced Minerva and Erza and Natsu, unable to stop in time, crashed into him.
"Gray!"
A cry of pain sounded over the explosion of attacks that had occurred and Minerva gave a humourless laugh.
"You're all too predictable!" She gave Lucy a Cheshire-cat grin. "Time for the main event."
"Roar of the Sky Dragon!"
Wendy's attack shot straight at Minerva but Minerva simply swapped places with Carla in a flash.
"Carla!"
The Exceed's voice was lost as Minerva aimed a volley of explosions towards Lucy, Wendy, Mira and Happy. The four flew backwards with a loud crash.
"No! Roar of the Fire Dragon!"
Minerva waved her hand and the heat of Natsu's attack was deflected as he flew into the forest with a sickening crack. She walked slowly to where Mira lay.
"Haven't you done enough, Minerva? You've already stolen Lucy's memories; there's no need to do anything else!"
Minerva sneered at Mira. "I was humiliated. In front of all of Fiore, I was humiliated. This is simply a small taste of what is to come. Don't think that your little heart-wrenching speech will do anything to change that!"
"So this is all just to, what, make a statement?" Lucy shot at her, wincing as pain flared in her arm. Minerva scoffed.
"It's too complex for you dull creatures to understand." She placed a foot on Lucy's arm and smiled in satisfaction as the blonde cried, tears of pain welling in her eyes.
Mira sighed, a look of grim determination in her eyes. "So be it. Satan Soul!"
Lucy gasped as the pain was relieved and watched with wide eyes as the two mages fought, darting about so quickly that she could barely follow them with her eyes. From her right, a red blur charged into the battle.
"Dance, my blades!"
"Evil Explosion!"
Minerva deflected the spells but flew back from their force. Erza flew forward.
"Blumenblatt!"
Minerva smirked and dodged each sword. Before Erza could react, Minerva threw a punch into stomach and the redhead flew backwards into the trees.
"Erza!"
Mira snarled at Minerva and flew forwards with vicious intensity until Minerva appeared behind her. Mira gasped as Minerva's hand grasped her neck.
"You may have her memories but what will happen to your precious dragon slayers when they give them back? Maybe they'll…explode?" Minerva cackled as Mira's eyes widened. The dark-haired mage's hands moved to create a strange symbol that burnt a dark purple before it imprinted itself on Mira's body.
Mira's scream pierced the night.
"Dammit, who is this chick?" Gajeel dodged his own iron dragon breath as Laxus and the Raijinshu performed a simultaneous attack that was also reflected back.
Levy and Lily observed from the sidelines but the mages were all moving too quickly for her to notice much. The woman glanced at her and the smile she gave sent chills down Levy's spine. The woman vanished.
"Wind Tornado."
Her unseen attack encompassed the entire group and all Levy could hear was her own screams. The pain twisted felt like knives to her skin and her throat felt raw from screaming. Finally, she felt the pain stop and she fell to the ground. For some strange reason, she could still hear screams.
A hand grasped her shirt and yanked her into an upright position.
"You know what to do, don't you, shrimp?" The voice was soft, mocking, and she felt indignation well up inside of her at the name but she couldn't muster enough energy to reply.
"You know what the dragon slayers have to do…you've read it all before." Realisation dawned.
"Maybe consult your little demon friend before you do anything though. I'm sure she has valuable information. Sweet dreams."
Levy felt the woman's other hand move, a bright green light and then pain so intense she couldn't even think.
She must've blacked out because when she regained consciousness, she was lying on the floor and she couldn't move a single muscle. But, vaguely, she heard a familiar dragon slayer.
"Levy!"
Let me know what you think!
Also, a brief summary on my OC:
Name: Mikino Takara
Magic: Elemental magic (control over the four elements), Illusion magic
Age: 22
Hair colour: Forest green
Eye colour: Dark blue
Relatives: Parents (deceased), younger sister (missing)
Job Status: Freelance mage
Relationship with Minerva: Mikino currently works Minerva and has previously worked random jobs for other dark mages/wealthy people. Mikino has agreed to work for Minerva for (currently) unknown reasons.
Until next time :)