The Thirteenth Key
Chapter 6
The Celestial King
"You bastards! How dare you stand in my way!?"
"Shaddup!" Gajeel headbutted the bound man, knocking him onto his back.
"This is my power! I won't give it up! I won't!"
"That is Igneel's power!" Natsu shouted, grabbing Alexander and righting him again. "The second that Luce and Levy figure out how to correct this spell, you're losing all of it!"
"My library has over a thousand books, and you blew half of them up!" Alexander grinned triumphantly. "Do you really think that they can figure out the counterspell?"
Natsu was about to retort when Gajeel kneeled down, pressing his face into the demi-dragon's. "Listen punk. They've been gone for ten minutes. My Shrimp will have read every book you own by now. She can do it!"
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"I can't do it!" Levy wailed, standing amongst the literary destruction. "There's just not enough left!"
"This is a problem," Lucy said thoughtfully. They were up against a time limit here. If the spell went unchecked, Alexander would just grow more and more powerful. Even ignoring the problem of Igneel potentially dying, there was the threat of Alexander eventually overpowering them.
The two girls blinked as the area underneath them was suddenly turned into a large magical seal, radiating golden light. They balked, recognizing it as the same way Virgo had once transported them to the celestial world. Levy just had enough time to throw her arms around Lucy before they vanished.
They landed with a distressed squeal on the ground, the laws of comedy depositing the smaller girl on the bottom of the two-person pile. There was a brief squabble as they disentangled themselves, and then they looked up.
The Celestial King stood over them. They gawked at him, tremendous and terrifying, his starry cloak flowing upon an ethereal breeze.
"Tell me, old friend, why did you decide to go against our laws? Why did you contact the serpent? Why did you cast an illegal spell that damages the life of another? Answer me!"
Levy was trembling before the king's wrath, vaguely feeling like a bug to be stepped on. Lucy on the other hand stepped forward, face flaring violently red.
"Listen, you big oaf! They are your laws, not mine! I am free to pursue any spirit that I wish! And Ophiuchus did nothing wrong! Your laws are outdated and as pig-headed as yourself! I cast that spell to save my friend and I am trying to fix my mistake! At least before you called me here, you BAKA!"
"So this is how I die," Levy moaned, watching the king regard Lucy silently.
"Well said, my old friend!" The king declared, making the girls jump with the release of all of their tension. "It takes a lot for this old fool to admit that he was wrong, but thank you. Due to your efforts the thirteen spirits of the ecliptic zodiac have become one again. I thank you."
"I…It's alright," Lucy stammered, blushing slightly.
"There is a party, but with the time difference, you must not linger. Cruz!"
The spirit of the northern star appeared, thrusting two books into Levy's hands. One included details of how to reverse the spell she had cast on Alexander. The other was supposed to be a surprise of some kind. Levy flicked through it, but she couldn't read it. What a great gift! She thrilled over it, looking forward to the chance to decipher it.
"Farewell, my old friend!"
"Goodbye! I hope to see you again!" Lucy called.
"You will soon," the king replied. Before she could ask what he meant, they were back in the library. Gajeel was there, staring with a wide mouth.
"Where have you been!? It's been three hours!" He raged.
"Sorry!" Lucy cried, hurrying to study the spell.
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Things went rather quickly after that. With only a brief amount of reading, Lucy was able to learn the counterspell and quickly cast it on Alexander. He screamed with rage the entire time, held firmly in place by the two slayers. His scales and wings receded, his muscles withering.
"Damn you all," he hissed, head hung as Wendy began to tend to his injuries. Bereft of Igneel's power, his beating might prove serious for his life. "I deserve more! I am better than you! I promise you, blondie, I will have my revenge on you!"
Natsu stepped into his face, glaring with anger. "You got a problem? You hurt my dad, you hurt my girl. You want revenge? Try me sometime, big guy. I'm ready for you!"
"You got it, spawn of Igneel! I'll take my hate out on you!"
"You notice that he said 'my girl'?" Gajeel whispered to Levy. She shushed him irritably for potentially ruining the moment, remembering to tease Lucy about that later. Members from the council came to arrest Alexander. The entire time that he was being carted off, he and Natsu never stopped glaring at one another.
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They returned to the hotel that the girls had been using, renting out a couple more rooms. After a bit of underhand plotting from Levy, she arranged it so that Natsu and Lucy had one room, she and Gajeel another and Wendy was left to look after the Exceeds.
"Shrimp, are you gonna use the shower?" Gajeel asked. He was tattered, messy and needed a wash, but the prospect of getting his girl all wet and naked seemed like a worthwhile endeavour. Not that he'd actually seen her naked yet. This was a girl who needed to be treated right, but a little perversion never hurt!
"No," she replied distractedly. Never let the sexy times get in the way of a mysterious book! Why had Cruz given her this? Gah, she needed some of her translation tools. On the bright side, the celestial world did not appear to have its own language, so this should be of earthly composition. She frowned as she heard Gajeel suddenly make a horrified cry.
She looked around as he drew a ruined package from a pocket of his battle damaged clothes. She'd never seen him so close to the verge of tears, like a child who'd just seen a toy broken.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot that I had it on me in the fight," he mumbled. She stood up, curious, and reached up to take the package. Had he gotten her a present? She wasn't sure what to say. His last present had infuriated her as much as she'd loved it. She unwrapped the case and opened it, to see the glasses she'd wanted shattered inside. Her breath caught in her throat.
Gajeel was heartbroken to see her features fall. Damn it, he'd wanted to see her smile when he'd given it to her. He'd never seen anyone smile like Levy. Then she was crying! "No, no! Don't cry! I'm sure that I can get another!"
"Baka!" She shouted, throwing her arms around his chest and hugging him tightly. "Why are you saying sorry!?"
"B-but, you're crying," he replied, bewildered by the moment.
"I'm crying because I love you, you dolt!"
"Why would that make you cry!?"
"You bought something for me just because you thought I'd like it," she wept. "Why does someone with a face like yours have such a kind heart?"
"I'm not sure if that was a compliment," Gajeel said with a lazy grin, at least accepting the meaning that he'd purposefully cultivated a fierce warrior's demeanour over the years. He wrapped his sturdy arms around her shoulders, as she was already about as close as it was possible to be. "But if you liked it so much, I'll definitely buy you another pair."
"I don't need you to," Levy objected, burrowing her head into his chest.
"But I want to," he replied grinning down at her and lifting her chin to stare at her. "Only the best for my little girl."
"If you use 'little' there, it makes me sound like your daughter, not your girlfriend!" She replied, giggling. Ah well, she knew how to reward his kindness. Her size was a feature that bothered her, but she knew that Gajeel liked it. She wriggled in even closer. "Ah, but I'm so small! Feel how tiny I am!"
"Shrimp, stop it," Gajeel murmured, face flushing.
"I must be the smallest person in the world!"
"That's it!" Gajeel roared happily, tossing Levy onto the bed and pouncing.
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In the next room, Natsu and Lucy were being a bit awkward. Natsu was trying to remember the last time they'd been alone, without even Happy to break the silence. Lucy had just showered and changed into her sleepwear, and Natsu was studiously trying not to look.
"How did you know?" Lucy asked suddenly. "I mean, why did you come to rescue us?"
Natsu floundered. "Gajeel…and I…had bad dreams that you were in trouble. When we talked to Wendy and Charla, they suggested that it was due to our sixth sense as dragon slayers. That we could sense danger in our loved ones."
"So…Gajeel sensed Levy. That makes sense," Lucy said hugging her knees on the bed. "But why would you dream about me?"
"Don't ask stupid things," Natsu responded in an uncharacteristically antagonistic manner. "You know why."
"Do I?"
"It's never been so fun!" He snapped, his angry manner contrasting with the words. "Fairy Tail! It was never so fun before you joined!"
"Natsu, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I always wanna go on adventures with you! There's a giant world out there, and I want to see it all! But it's boring by myself! I wanna see it with you!"
Lucy looked up at his proclamation. Her brows furrowed slightly in annoyance. "You have lots of nakama for that. Erza, Happy, Gray, Wendy."
"You know what I mean."
"If you're not gonna say it, then I am," Lucy replied fiercely, making Natsu wince. Wait, wasn't it the man's job to do this? "I love you, you moron!"
"I'm not a moron, I just seem that way when compared to other people! I mean, wait, what!?"
"I just told you that I love you!" Lucy screamed, standing to face him. "You're the best man that I've ever met! I've never met someone so passionate, so caring!"
Natsu looked at her for a long moment, trying to formulate a thought a bit more complicated than the average one that flitted through his brain. "Lucy. I have a lot of nakama. People that I love with all my heart and would die to protect. But…what I feel for you is different. The same, but more, deeper. Luce, I love you too."
"Natsu!" Lucy cried, relief flooding through her as she hurled herself into his embrace.
"I meant it, you know. I wanna always have you by my side when I go on adventures!" Natsu smiled down at her.
"You know, there was this mall…"
"Not that kind of adventure."
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Back in her apartment, Levy was happily working on the book that she had been given. On the desk rested her new pair of gale reading glasses, all slender and trendy. And so powerful! Even she couldn't use them for long without overloading. They were the best thing she'd ever been gifted.
Well, maybe second best, she thought with amusement, flipping her hood up idly.
She got a breakthrough when she realised that all the chapters were in different languages. How odd, it was as if they were trying to make sure that this book was never read. She continued for a long time, the sun rising high into the sky without her realising. At some point Erza barged in to force feed her lunch, knowing that the girl was prone to getting trapped in her work.
As the sun set, she began to realise the enormity of what she had in her hands. This book had the potential to make Lucy the strongest member of Fairy Tail! She had to go and tell her! Right now! She opened the front door to realise that it was midnight. With a gurgling stomach and a sleepy head, she conceded that it could wait until sunrise.
The next morning, Levy huffed her way to Lucy's apartment and banged hurriedly on the door. As it opened, she began to gabble and push in, only to slam into a well developed set of chest muscles.
"Natsu!?" She shrieked, looking down slowly to make damn sure that he was decent. "What are you doing here so early? Did you sleep over?"
"You could say that," he replied a little smugly, wandering back into the apartment. "You could say that I rode the one thing that doesn't give me sickness!" A chair hit him in the head and he keeled over to the floor.
"I leave you alone for two minutes and you're blabbing about our sex life!?" Lucy shrieked, damp and clad only in a towel.
"You've only been a couple for two days and you've already done…it?" Levy asked, facing flushing red like a beetroot. She and Gajeel hadn't done anything yet! Mostly because she was shy on the topic and Gajeel was determined to treat her right, to never hurt her again.
"No!"
"It was awesome!" Natsu laughed making air fondling gestures, before being hit by a table this time.
"Learn some decorum! We do not talk about those things to other people!"
"Not even Happy?"
"No!"
"Ummmm…," Levy stammered, trying to regain a certain level of sanity. Lucy looked at her, noticing the book in her hands for the first time.
"Is that the book that Cruz gave you?"
"Um, yes!" Levy replied, clinging to the conversation topic like a life preserver. "Lu-chan, this is big! The biggest news I've had for a while –minus this whole debacle – and it could make you the strongest member of Fairy Tail!"
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked with clear bemusement. Natsu had perked up at the mention of strength.
"Well, I think you were given this because you are the first person in living history to own the thirteen keys of the ecliptic zodiac. It proves that you are ready for the next step."
"The next step?" Lucy pondered.
"Exactly! You see, Lu-chan, this book details the location and the method of obtaining the Regal Key. In other words, the key that would allow you to summon the Celestial King, a spirit whose power is comparable if not stronger than a dragon."
Sorry for the bad NaLu. I find Natsu very hard to write. Shonen heroes tend to be more like elemental forces of nature than characters. Well, I've finished this story and set up the next one, because I'm loving these short, narrative driven stories.
I hope people enjoyed it, and that it wasn't disappointing.