AN: I'm sorry about the six-month late update! cries and bows down to the floor I deserve death… please forgive me! wails this time and bows again to the floor and kissing it
Chapter 8
Of Storms, Mayhems and Strangers
Lucy's scream was so high pitched, it will never go unnoticed. Of course, you can't ignore a several feet high tidal wave, too. Laxus and Syaoran had already stopped fighting and turned their attention to the deluge. All of their jaws dropped.
A few minutes ago, the people in the ship were just panicking. Now, everyone is hysterical.
"ABANDON SHIP!" the captain announced in a grave and shaky call.
"NOT YET!" Syaoran called back, as he frantically searched his tux for jufu. Any elemental jufu.
Fire, water, lightning… Curses! I'm out of wind jufu. Maybe I should use the card once more…
Meanwhile, Lucy took the chance and ran to her room. The way was perilous, with people running around and screaming several languages. All of them were frightened; some even prayed to their gods for help. Others screamed that the world was already going to end.
No, the world is not going to end, Lucy thought grimly. But our lives will.
She reached her room, got the keys in her luggage and rushed back to the scene.
Laxus just saw the girl made her way to somewhere. And the guy he was fighting before concentrated on the wave, most probably trying to find a means to stop it. He can't help, obviously, because the enemy is water. What would his lightning do, strike the surge a thousand times? It would do nothing. So he just sat on the nearest wooden crate and watch what would happen next. The lightning dragon slayer is too confident that he would survive this.
Before Syaoran could even strike the card with his sword, Lucy stopped him.
"Wait," she panted.
"What?" Syaoran barked, irritated. "Can't you see that our ship will be crushed by a force of nature?"
Lucy scowled. Can't he be civilized, even for just a little time? "I have a plan."
"What plan?"
"I have a request first," the celestial spirit mage implored. He just continued to glower at her. "Can you, um, summon water?"
Syaoran would've laughed. He, one of the most distinguished sorcerers of his time, was asked by a mere girl to summon water. As if that was a big challenge.
As a matter of fact, this girl Lucy looks too innocent to be a fighter, let alone stop a huge wave.
Let me see you're plan, wench.
"Whatever," he replied brusquely. Pulling out a blue jufu from his breast pocket, the male wizard struck it and chanted:
"SUUIRYU SHOURAI!"
A gush of water flowed from the piece of paper, drenching the floor and leaving puddles everywhere.
Lucy took her chance.
Pulling out a key from her array and making sure she was near the source of water, she casted:
"GATE OF THE WATER BEARER, I OPEN THEE!
AQUARIUS!"
She passed the key through the flow. The magic seal appeared, and a blue mermaid with an urn emerged.
Laxus was getting amused.
For the second time in a ten-minute span, Syaoran found himself gaping. He truly should not underestimate people. That girl, whom he thought weak and defenseless, could actually do something?
"What are you?" he asked, still dumbfounded.
Impressed with herself for astonishing her companion, she answered, "I'm a celestial spirit mage."
He continued to be amazed, until the mermaid smacked Lucy's head with her urn.
"WHAT THE HELL, BITCH?!" the celestial spirit cursed. "YOU INTERRUPTED MY DATE!"
Lucy rubbed her head. "I'm sorry but I need-"
Aquarius interjected angrily. "I DON'T FREAKING CARE ABOUT YOU NEED, WRETCHED GIRL! ALL I WANT IS TO GO BACK TO MY DATE AND BE DONE WITH YOU!"
The mermaid tried to go back, but Lucy stopped her. "Wait, just please listen to me. If you help us now, you can hastily go back and-"
Lucy was smacked again. This time she complained. "Can you please stop hitting me?! I could have a brain hemorrhage here!"
"Who would care?"
That stung the most. Lucy felt the whole impact of it. She just realized something.
No one would care.
No one would care. Everyone will forget me. They will just remember a poor celestial spirit mage who was once their ally, their friend, their teammate, but no more. She was just a fleeting dream; a shooting star, beautiful but swiftly gone… Not even my name would make it to history…
Right then and there, she collapsed and sobbed, covering her face with her hands. Her tears flowed like a river in the crevices of her fingers, and her sounds reverberated everywhere.
"Hey, I-" Aquarius tried to apologize but Syaoran barged in.
"Stop it, okay?" he tried to console both parties. Then he directed at Aquarius. "Can you block the wave?"
The celestial spirit turned, and nodded. She doesn't want to worsen the situation of her owner.
Using her urn, Aquarius collected the water from the sea and the deck. When she accumulated what she needed, the celestial spirit flung the water with every bit of force that she has, creating a wave matching the one coming to them.
Percy was getting nearer and nearer to the ship, when suddenly another huge wave met up with his.
"Crap," he muttered to himself. Probably those people saw him as a threat.
Well, who won't? You arrived in a wave which could crush their transportation, and you expect them to meet you with open arms?
With a wave of his hand, the water calmly receded.
Wait a minute. Who summoned the water?
Aquarius was aghast. In just a matter of seconds, her water attack diminished back to the ocean. "Who can do such thing?"
The wave just kept coming near.
Laxus observed what was already happening. If that wave is made by a powerful water-user, then he would readily accept the challenge. But why would a mage attack a ship? Maybe he's a criminal…
The lightning dragon slayer looked closely at the top of the wave. He saw a man effortlessly gliding through.
Hmmm…
Taking aim, he fired a lightning bolt.
"What the hell are you doing?" the guy named Syaoran snapped.
"Can't you see there's a guy riding the wave?" Laxus retorted.
The younger man took a closer look, and he saw it, just as the same time that the man deflected the bolt with a sword.
Sword? Laxus thought. A water slash requip mage? Nice. Consider that move of yours as challenge accepted. Let's see if you can survive a little longer than the card wizard.
He got on his feet and took a deep breath. Laxus channeled:
"ROAR OF THE LIGHTNING DRAGON!"
A large intense beam of lightning shot out from his mouth.
Can you repel that? Laxus deemed smugly.
He's strong, I'll give him that, Syaoran thought grudgingly, but he would never admit it out loud. He wouldn't give the man that kind of satisfaction. But the sorcerer's attention turns back to the girl.
Lucy was on Syaoran's arms, comforting her. He still doesn't know why did she break down, or why he is comforting her. The being that Lucy summoned went back to where she came from, still with a heavy heart. She never intended to hurt Lucy.
Syaoran didn't even notice that the celestial spirit mage was already down for the count. He tried waking her up, but to no avail. Maybe she's tired…
He laid her down quietly on the floor.
Now, it's time for battle.
"Whew, that was close," Percy muttered to himself as he fended off the assault. A threat I am.
He still continued surfing on the wave when he saw the people aboard the ship. Most of them were in a state of total pandemonium. But four people caught most of his attention: an unconscious girl, two guys and a mermaid.
Mermaid?
The mermaid then disappeared in a flash of light.
Hey wait, I didn't have your picture and autograph yet! His father and fellow demigods would never believe it. He saw a mermaid! The closest thing he saw was a siren, and he didn't even technically saw them because he was trying so hard not to hear them.
The demigod's amazement was short-lived when the biggest rocket of lightning made its way to him.
Double crap.
A few seconds before it hit him, Percy dove back to the sea. He lost all of his concentration that his wave retreated to the sea along with him.
He swam back to the surface. Luckily, the ship was at a swimming distance.
Just a piece of cake. Like a champion swimmer, he expertly maneuvered himself to get close to the ship. After which, he used the water to propel himself to the deck.
Percy descended on the deck with finesse, somersaulting and landing and the floor with ease.
The demigod was about to introduce himself when he was greeted by a fusion of wind and lightning.
"Hey, wait I-" Again he was assaulted, making him cut off his words and dodge. This was grating on his nerves.
Laxus and Syaoran just kept attacking. The sorcerer summoned the Windy card to hit and the dragon slayer showered lightning bolts to the stranger.
All that registered in the two men's minds is that he is dangerous.
When they deemed everything enough, they stopped and survey the scene if the stranger is still alive.
Much to their surprise, not even a single scratch was found in his body. Even though his orange t-shirt is in tatters and denims in a bad condition, he can still stand like nothing ever happened.
What infuriated the two men more is the fact that the stranger was smirking.
"That's all that you can do?" he dared them.
*.*.*
Gajeel, Mirajane, Pantherlily, Charle, Cana and Levy tried to follow the strangers who attacked Fairy Tail and kidnapped Wendy. But it wasn't easy. The unfamiliar persons apparently know what they're doing. They can easily cover their trail.
"Gajeel-san, can you smell them?" Mirajane inquired. "It was just approximately thirty minutes ago. They're not that far."
"I'm not so sure," Gajeel replied, sniffing the ground. "Maybe they went to the train station."
"Let's go then," Charle flew past them.
Levy pulled her tail. "Charle-chan, please, we have to be careful. You know what's at stake, right?"
Of course she knew. It was Wendy's life.
They arrived at the Magnolia Train Station where Gajeel caught scent of their tracks. Levy assumed that the train that had just left not too long ago was where Wendy was held hostage. From the station, one can still see the tail end of the train.
"We have no other choice," Mirajane said, with deadly conviction. "We will have to fly."
Pantherlily carried Gajeel while Charle took Levy and Mirajane used her Take Over magic to transform into the winged demon and lifted Cana. Together they soared to the train, hoping that their foes won't see them and Wendy is still safe.
Wendy was still inside the luggage. Although she was just there for a few minutes (or so she thought), she was already sweating bullets. How long am I going to be in here?
At last, the people who kidnapped her introduced themselves (while she was still inside the luggage) because she reasoned out that she should know them first, even just by name, before they kill her. They said to themselves, "Why not?"
She assumed that the man named Ban Midou was the spiky haired one, Ginji Amano was the cheerful blonde, Shido Fuyuki was piercing eyed one and Kazuki (she can't understand his surname) was the person who used strings.
She heard footsteps that interrupted her reverie.
"Hey, Juubei," she heard Ginji greet the new stranger. "Meet Juubei Kakei, Wendy-san." He tapped the luggage.
The man replied, but it was too low for her to hear a word he said.
"Did I hear samurai boy correctly?" Ban asked. "They followed us?"
Whatever the man named Juubei said, it clearly upset everyone. The sky dragon slayer even heard some of them grunt and curse.
"Those Fairy Tails are really foolish aren't they?" Wendy assumed that the long-haired man remarked this. He said the guild's name with much disdain. "They didn't even heed our warning."
Fairy Tail? They came to save me! Wendy thought optimistically.
"They're fast," one of them commented.
She heard one of them crack their knuckles. "It's a challenge then?" That was Ginji.
"They'll see what the Get Backers can do!" That was Ban.
Oh no…
Mirajane's team was in close proximity to the train when a barrage of needles almost hit them. They were not just ordinary needles; they were bigger, longer and white. Fortunately, they avoided them.
At the last compartment of the train, five figures were standing. Mira recognized four of them; they were the ones who attacked Fairy Tail.
"There they are," Mirajane remarked.
"They greeted us so warmly," Cana sarcastically said and sneered.
Gajeel just giggled creepily, too anxious to fight.
Levy was nervous, but in order to save Wendy, she has to fight. Master gave her this mission, even though they have other powerful members like the Thunder God Tribe and the other Take Over siblings. She doesn't want to put Fairy Tail to shame.
Their enemies attacked again, this time with blue lightning sparks.
"Lightning!" Charle exclaimed.
"Just like Laxus!" Cana was aghast.
Gajeel could feel Pantherlily shaking. "Wha' is wrong you-oi!"
The duo was going down to the ground.
Before the lightning could even do damage to them, Levy prepared her spell.
"Solid Script: Guard!"
A brown all-caps word GUARD hovered in front of them and protected them effectively from the lightning.
"Well done, Levy!" Mirajane praised.
"It was nothing," Levy replied shyly.
Pantherlily and Gajeel were now back to the air.
"What happened to you, Lily?" Gajeel demanded.
"Nothing." Pantherlily responded, albeit hesitantly.
Cana drew three cards from her bag. "Time for counterattack!"
"Heaven. Reverse Tower. Mountain. SUMMONED LIGHTNING!"
A green magic circle appeared, releasing rays of whitish-green light.
Before the beams could even hit the target, the kidnappers evaded and moved to the next compartment. Instead, Cana's spell hit the roof of the last section and destroyed it.
Their enemies were never wavered.
And so were they.
The group landed directly in front of the enemy team. Four mages and two cats versus five unknown individuals. Who's going to prevail?
*.*.*
Hinata, Temari and Tenten woke up together. They expected that they were already inside the Akatsuki hideout, about to be tortured and killed.
Instead, they found themselves on a port.
The girls immediately got up and executed their respective battle trances; Hinata in the traditional Jyuuken stance, Temari with her giant fan unfolded, and Tenten clutching her scroll.
Something caught Tenten's and Temari's attention. Hinata was standing like she wasn't harassed by an Akatsuki member.
"Hyuuga-san, are you alright?" Temari and Tenten asked, full of concern.
Hinata just nodded. In truth though, she felt like crumbling down.
"But just a few minutes ago, you were under the Uchiha's technique," Tenten told her. "As far as I could remember, Kakashi-sensei has to be in bed for a few days after he was affected by the Tsukuyomi. That was even with the help of Tsunade-sama."
Translation: How could you be okay after that?
"Speaking of the Uchiha, there he is," Temari pointed to the cloaked man lying on the pavement. "Where are we anyway?"
Hinata activated her Byakugan, a technique of the Hyuuga clan that makes her see clearly around her even the pathways of chakra around the body. This technique makes the veins near the eyes more evident.
Before the other two could reply, Hinata spoke again.
"We've got another problem other than an unconscious Akatsuki member," the Hyuuga heiress muttered.
"And why is that?" Tenten asked.
"We're surrounded," Temari whispered.
Their gazes met with other strange, unfamiliar faces.
Gray knows that he has to be on guard.
Now with the three of the four new strangers fully awake, he predicted that this was going to be a awful fight. All of them were bruised, worn. But it makes no matter.
"Gray-sama," Juvia hovered behind him. She seemed afraid.
And who wouldn't be? While you're in the middle of a battle, three unknown persons just appeared in front of you. Then, when they woke up, suddenly they think you're the enemy and will attack you any minute.
The Ice Make mage tensed up as gets ready for the worse.
Natsu saw everything that was happening even in the middle of a fight with this Black Star. Even though both are terribly hurt, they still have the strength to continue fighting. So far, they were on par with each other.
"You bastard, don't ignore me-ack!" Natsu kicked his face before he could finish. He was getting irritated.
So as to finish everything, flames engulfed his hands as prepared for the final blow.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!"
Black Star was slammed to the pavement, grunting.
Natsu was about to go to Gray and Juvia when chains grappled his right foot and pulled him down to the floor. He groaned in pain.
It was Black Star, and his face was as harsh as Death. "Don't. You. Dare. Turn. Your. Back. On. Me. YOU BASTARD!"
The dragon slayer felt his body thrown upwards. When he was in mid-air, he turned around and saw that his enemy's hands were covered by a mysterious black energy.
Black Star was so fast, in an instant he was there in front of Natsu.
"PLANET DESTRUCTION CANNON!"
But Natsu reacted quickly. Using his flames, he sidestepped and landed a blow on Black Star, sending him back to the concrete. Based on Natsu's instincts, that move that his enemy made was fatal if it hit him.
Natsu went back to the ground just a few feet from Black Star.
"Hey, Star, down already?" Natsu taunted.
Black Star was then gone from his position.
"Nope, not a bit," a voice replied behind him.
What the-
Starry Night attacked him with a roundhouse kick. "Now, who's going down?"
"Why you ass-"
The said man was already making his previous move. This time, Natsu doubts that he was going to escape this.
"CERTAIN KILL: BLACK STAR'S BIG WAVE!"
The dragon slayer's loses his sight and all that he can see are unfamiliar symbols. After a few seconds it hit.
Laxus' lightning or Zero's piercing magic was nothing compared to this. All that Natsu could do is scream.
A dragon slayer's cry of pain sliced through the overwrought air.
"NATSU!" Gray shouted, but the son of Igneel was already down. Infuriated and surprised by Natsu's defeat, he casted:
"ICE GEYSER!"
A tornado of ice swept everyone from the ground, including the newcomers and the unconscious man.
But with just a strong gust of wind, the ice was shattered. Then it blew Natsu-copy and Gray and tossed them for a few meters.
"GRAY-SAMA!"
"BLACK STAR!"
Juvia was enraged. No one who dares to hurt Gray-sama will live.
She rushed to the fanned woman and hit her with whirlpool, causing her to crash to a wall.
The fanned woman's companion came in next, unfurling an oversized scroll. She made some hand seals, and an assortment of knives, shurikens and other sharp objects appeared with a puff of smoke.
Everything then rained down at her.
Much to the woman's surprise, her weapons just passed through Juvia's water body.
"Ordinary weapons don't do me any harm, woman," Juvia informed her smugly, but before she could even counterattack, bullets pierced her and the weapon woman.
Those are no ordinary bullets!
While she was caught off-guard by the gunshot, the drenched scythe user tried to slash her, but it harmlessly passed through her water body again. They don't learn do they?
"WATER SLICER!"
An arc of water knocked the girl down and her body crashed with the gunner boy, making him topple to the ground along with the girl.
Juvia was tired, her breath getting faster and heavier. Using consecutive spells was tiring.
She sensed someone rushing to her, possibly an attacker. The water user turned, and found out that it was the third of the newcomers.
The raven haired woman thrust her right palm to Juvia's direction.
"EIGHT TRIGRAMS VACUUM WALL PALM!"
A wave of force slammed on Juvia. If the Natsu-copy's technique was painful, this was equal to it. It sent her flying, and when she fell down to the pavement, she was already unconscious.
Gray saw the woman who just attacked Juvia crumple to the ground. As far as he could see, everyone here are most probably tired, hurt, worn or a combination of the three. He too couldn't even stand up.
Erza please, help us…
That was his last thought before he went out cold.
*.*.*
Erza tried to run as fast as he wind with her Flight Armor. Her present companion, Dante, sprinted with her.
Why can't this man leave me alone?
She still doesn't have any answer to that. Ever since that man found her in a manhole, he didn't leave her alone.
You're my little tour guide, right?
The requip mage shook her head to delete the disgusting thought. As if I'm going to be your tour guide. Dream on!
Dante thinks otherwise. In fact, maybe his life-long mission now is to annoy the hell out of her, just by existing!
"Hey, don't you think you're too late?" Dante asked, out of the blue.
"And why would you think of that?" Erza snapped.
He pointed to the port's direction. "The explosions had stopped."
He was right. "Well, I'll go anyway."
"Then I'll follow you," Dante grinned.
Erza just shook her head. Hopeless…
When the duo reached their destination, Erza gasped. All that she can see everywhere are destruction. Cracked pavement, burning houses, razed objects unidentifiable through the naked eye… the list was almost endless.
She was about to go on raging at Natsu and Gray for all the devastation they apparently did. But she saw both of them lying on the ground, unconscious.
And so are Juvia and Happy.
But she wasn't prepared to see other unidentified persons surrounding them. Only one was awake. It was a guy in a black suit.
He was aiming his twin guns at her.
*.*.*
"Mystogan-san," Jellal asked his Edolas counterpart. "Where are we going now?"
"We just have to get away from here first," Mystogan replied.
They continued running through the forest, trying to escape the Rune Guards.
"Why did you help me escape?" Jellal asked, curious.
Mystogan paused. He replied, "Bacause you are the only person I know who is powerful enough to help me."
"To help you on what?"
They went face to face. "To help me defeat my father."
Jellal tried to decline. "But there are other people who can help you. Makarov-san, Natsu-san, Erza…"
"They can't help me now," Mystogan uttered. "Master Makarov can't leave the guild. And Natsu-san and Erza-san are on a mission."
Jellal silently agreed. But then he spoke, "I'm a criminal and now a fugitive. What can I do to help you? By this time, I am being hunted by the Reformed Magic Council. Nothing can stop them."
Mystogan gave him something to think about. "How can they arrest you if you're not in Fiore, huh?"
"Which means-"
"You know for a Wizard Saint, you're slow," Mystogan smiled. "Of course, we're getting out of here."
"To where?" Jellal wondered.
"To King's Landing."
*.*.*
Lelouch Vi Britannia walks down the road to a castle, a castle that is soon to be his. Many plans come into his mind, but he has only one goal:
Lucy Heartfilia.
That curseful woman said her name is Lucy Heartfilia, and she is the key. The key to the Order's success…
He laughed loudly and madly. Lelouch can't wait to have her at his clutches.
*.*.*
AN: End of Chapter Eight. Up next: The Order of the Tempest. I'll try to type it faster!