Hey all!
Welcome to the newest chapter! Um, first of all, a big thank you to all the people who commented on the last chapter! I actually didn't imagine that so many people would want a sequel for this! But, seeing all the support, made me more inclined to actually make one! Um, if you want to know about this sequel I'll talk about it at the end notes so please look out for it!
Also, a quick message to the guest reviewer who said they keep my story up on a tab in safari, it's very sweet of you! My updating schedule is always on a Friday or a Saturday (Usually around night time in the UK) so hopefully you don't have to keep it up forever now! (It's probably annoying you that you have too) I also wish that this helps all my other anon reviewers who don't have a account but would like to keep up with this story!
This chapter turned out surprisingly long...I suggest you get comfortable with a massive bag of popcorn...Trust me.
Now, enough from me, on with the show!
CRASH!
Two burly opens smashed against the marble floor easily breaking through the material like a hammer bashing against open wood. Glazed eyes and small drops of salvia pouring out of the decayed face, as it jarringly pulled out it's arms from the broken floor, not seemingly affected by the effects of tearing through a hardened floor.
Ren let out sharp gasps from where he hovered, high up in the air, wings flapping a little too alarmingly slow. His energy was at it's wits end and he felt sluggish like he hadn't slept for day's. He knew the reason why he was loosing energy so fast. He had been using his magic continuously for a while now and it looked like the repercussions were finally starting to kick in.
If he hadn't reacted in time, he would have definitely been crushed beneath those arms.
The dead corpses were not just some mindless beings that were easy to run circles around. They were a lot stronger than a average mage, physically, and despite having their minds controlled, it looked like they were capable of some sort of 'thinking'.
"Damn it," Ren said, struggling to breath.
He knew very well he wasn't the only one in this position. Natsu, who was still on the ground below, seemed to be doing fine when it came to energy wise. Ren suspected it was because of the fire he had eaten from Keahi before. It must be still running in his system, with a force to be reckon with, seeing that Natsu was quickly recovering from the damage he received earlier. The heavy breathing he had been sporting was starting to ease out and he was managing to stand better.
The after effects of over using magic were always brutal, Ren had concluded. However it was the sudden attack against him, after the Lord's crazy rant, that had really caused Ren's reserved to deplete.
Each of the dead corpses had rushed towards him and Ren was instantly forced into flurried movements of dodges and sharp retaliation. The corpses also seemed to have a higher speed and sharper reflected. No matter what way Ren had tried to attack back, be it a snappy punch or a swift kicked, he was always blocked by them and failed to cause any significant damage. In the end, he ended up having to distance himself from them by flying high in the end.
Bad decision.
"W-Woah..." Ren said slowly, as his vision starting to blur.
He could feel his wings starting to freeze up, like someone was dipping them in ice cold water bit by bit at a time, and it was causing him to sway around too much in the air. His head pounded to a beat of a unknown drum and he felt like he wanted to hurl everything up from his stomach.
"REN!"
Lucy could feel panic laced through her body as she watched the unstable water dragon slayer. She didn't know quite why he looked so sick right now but she knew he shouldn't be up in the air flying right now. She managed to tear her gaze away from him and looked down to the crowd of dead people. They were amassed in a group of flesh, each individual mindlessly trying to climb on top of one another so they could reach the weak Ren in the air.
"We have to stop them," Lucy said out loud, ready to race to help Ren.
"You don't have to say that twice," Natsu replied back, a lot more loudly, before he charged to the group of dead corpses like a bull racing towards the object that made it agitated enough to strike.
Fire engulfed one of his fists, a startling blue in colour, and he slid it around in a clean attack. The fire grew only larger in size at the movement and it quickly encased a portion of the group, of dead individuals, in a heated blaze. Their were no screams or any sort of action to the attack which caused a slither of worry to run down Lucy's back. It was rather unnerving to hear nothing from the attack apart from the crackling roar of the fire and Natsu yelling out the name of his attack.
Once the fire had died down, Lucy was able to glimpse the aftermath. A couple of bodies lay across the floor, covered in black ash. The ones who were far enough away to not be encased in the fire stopped all their movement of trying to reach Ren who was still in the air. It was like they suddenly turned to unanimated objects, not even did they breath or the iris in their eyes move a single inch. It was almost like someone had pressed a pause button and the corpses were not unable to move.
A sudden twitch caught Lucy's attention. A look of horror started to fill the brown globes of her eyes as she watched as the burnt corpses starting to twist and turn on the floor. No way. She couldn't believe exactly what was happening in front of her eyes. The burnt and damaged bodies were slowly bringing themselves off the floor. They were...coming back alive.
"What? How?" Natsu yelled out, in complete surprise, fully expecting the bodies to be out of commission.
A abrupt, high-pitched laughter brought everyone's attention to the Lord.
"Fool," Lord started "These bodies are already dead. Passed on. Gone. You can't hurt or kill something that is already dead. No matter how much you attack them, they will always come. Burnt, sliced, obliterated…it does not matter. They will fix themselves. You can't stop them."
Natsu let out a annoyed sound at the explanation Lord gave, not pleased at all with what he just heard.
"Oh yeah? Then watch me! I'm taking these things down."
With those parting words, Natsu rushed towards the group of corpse with both fists engulfed with blue flames. This must have triggered the group as they finally started to move again like puppets on strings. Their attention was off Ren's whirling form in the sky and instead they focused on the fire dragon slayer. It was a flurried of movements as the fight began with Natsu charging right in the middle of the crowd. Lucy couldn't even see the pink haired boy as he was surrounded by the dead bodies that blocked her view. All she could see were the sudden sparks with beaming blue that few high over the crowds head.
"Let's go!" Keahi announced as he rushed towards the crowd.
The dead bodies must have noticed him coming as a few of them turned around from Natsu's direction to face Keahi. They let out a continuous line of snarls before their feet's dumbly started to pound against the marble floor as they too sprung towards the fire demon.
The two crashed in the middle with Keahi greeting with a large ball of flame.
Lucy took a couple of steps forward ready to take on the group herself when a sudden yell caught her attention. Her eyes instantly went to the location of the sound only to stop Ren in the air. She was just in time to see his wings abruptly stop flapping.
Her eyes widened into large, worried saucers, "REN!"
Her instincts took over and she rushed towards the area where Ren was. With his wings failing to support him, gravity took to work instantaneously. Ren's limp body started to drop to the ground faster than a race car whizzing through a track. Lucy realised at once that she wasn't going to make it in time to catch him. And, even if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop them both from sustaining damage. This wasn't going to end well.
Then something swooped over Lucy's head, going straight for Ren, causing her to falter in her stride. She watched with hope spreading across her body like flowers blooming on a trees branch's as a little ball of blue with wings managed to catch Ren by the top of his shirt before he hit the ground.
Happy.
Lucy had almost forgotten about the cat! She was so glad to see him there.
"Happy!" Lucy joyfully shouted as she finally reached the exceed as he lowered Ren to the floor gently as possible.
"Just in time," Happy started "I'm glad I made it. Lucky, Ren isn't as heavy as you Lucy!"
And just like that, Lucy's joy transformed into anger.
"Shut it you stupid cat!"
Before any other words could be exchanged between the two, Ren's voice spoke up.
"...Thank you, Happy."
At the sound of his voice, Lucy looked down at Ren who was just beside her feet. He looked a little paler and their were dark bags under his eyes. Did he always look this bad? Lucy couldn't remember. But, what she did know, was that she hated it. Ren shouldn't be like this. It caused her throat to swell up and her eyes to sting. Damn it, this wasn't a time to be emotional! She had to be strong, Lucy knew this. Then, why did she feel this way?
"Ren, are you okay?" Lucy asked, as he dropped to her knees beside him.
She reached out and put a comforting hand on his cheek. Ren felt unnaturally warm against her skin like a boiler reaching it's melting point. At her touch, Ren's eyes snapped to her face and he let out a smile that didn't reach his unfocused eyes.
"I'm fine, Lucy...I just have used a little too much magic." Ren said trying to sound assuring but failing miserbly at it.
The sound of his voice only caused her to freak out even more. He didn't sound fine at all. She knew very well that it was very dangerous for Ren to be this week. The Lord seemed to have something against Ren in particular and if he was to pull out any other surprises against Ren, Lucy was sure that the blue haired boy may not be able to defend himself.
Lucy eyes crossed around the area that surrounded her. Natsu and Keahi still seemed to be preoccupied with the group of dead bodies. No matter how hard or accurate they hit with their fire attacks, the bodies seemed to be able to come right back to life again. Even if either of the fire wielding beings burnt the bodies to nothing buy ashes, they somehow managed to regenerate their entire bodies again. Lucy suspected that the bodies indestructible abilities was just another trick that the Lord must have incorporated into the dead bodies somehow.
Lucy turned her head away from them and spotted Zolo hobbling himself towards Ren, Happy and herself. He was still way too wounded to put up any type of fight and he was relying heavily on his sword to walk as he was using it as a crutch. Lucy than brought her attention to Lord who was standing a safe distance away from any of them. He was quite close to the object that looked like a gate and was quietly laughing and smirking to himself as he had his eyes trained on Natsu, Keahi and the dead bodies. It really frustrated Lucy how casual…and just insane this man was acting! How was he able to do this? Why? Why did she seem to matter so much to him?
"Yo, blondie!"
Lucy ripped her gaze from the infamous Lord and turned around to see Zolo managed to reach her, Ren and Happy.
"Zolo, are you-" Lucy started only to get cut off,
"I'm fine," Zolo said firmly "I've been put through much worse of this."
"What do we do?...I don't know how we can win this." Lucy asked, knowing that she hadn't really figured out anything from her brief observation. She was always more confident with coming up with fighting tactics then actually physically getting into a battle but this was one time that she fell short on even this. She didn't know what to do in this situation or how to help...Or even how they could win.
Zolo let out a annoyed 'tskk' as his eyes zipped across his surroundings,
"Mind magic is...complicated. Think of it like this. Right now, all those dead bodies are in a hive mind. The Lord being it's centre. He's controlling everything."
"Then, your saying that if we defeat the Lord then the bodies will just go back to normal then?" Lucy deduced from Zolo's explanation.
Zolo nodded his once firmly.
"But, we need a way to get him. I doubt the bastard is going to let us get anywhere near him. I imagine anytime we do, he'd just sick those dead bodies on us. If we can just take out the Lord, everything should be fine." Zolo mused.
"Ah, this isn't fair!" Happy cried out "We are at a serious disadvantage!"
"I bet I could kick his ass...if I just had enough power. Ah, I need to eat water..." Ren coughed out from the floor, Lucy's hand still pressed against his cheek gently.
Lucy sighed feeling like time was against her. Natsu and Keahi couldn't fight off the group of corpses forever and they soon were going to run out of magical power and strength again. Happy was right, they were at a serious advantage. Time was of the essence and Lucy knew from all of them, she was the best bet of coming up with a plan that could work.
Another large cough brought her attention to Ren who was starting to look even worse. Her eyes soften. Ren had to be a priority first. She had to get him back to being fit and bursting with energy. But, how? Ah, what had Ren said? He needed to eat water...
Lucy let out a soft gasp, when the answer sprung to her head like someone had shot it straight into her brain.
"Hey, Lucy, what is it?" Happy asked as he watched a small smile spread against the girls lips.
Lucy didn't answer and instead spoke up with her own question,
"Ren, do you think you can make a small puddle of water with your magic?"
Ren frowned at the question, not entirely sure where it had come from. He still felt servery weak and he didn't actually know if he was up to the task. But, the moment he glanced at Lucy's smiling face the uncertainly melted away like running wax down a candle. If Lucy, believed that he could then that was more than enough for him to believe the same case.
"Yeah, I can!"
Ren struggled up into a sitting position and both Lucy and Happy were right their support him. Lucy placed a hand carefully on his back while Happy hold onto one of his shoulders. Ren let out a few shaky breaths as he brought one of his hands mid air, palm facing downwards. He concentrated heavily on that hand with what little magic he had left.
Water started to blob at the centre of his palm. Ren eyes narrowed at his limb as he tried to focus as much as magic as he had littering in his body to it. He was so used to using his water as a rampant weapon that he never really manipulated it in such a calming nature before. He was definitely not doing it right as while the water was gathering at his palm, he couldn't focus on dropping it on to the ground in a gentle manner. Seeing this, unnerved and frustrated Ren deep in his bones and he felt like giving up.
"Come on! Ren! You can do it! I believe in you!" Lucy's voice encouraged him.
Hearing her made a smile bloom across his features. A...real smile. He hadn't smiled so truly or realistically ever in his life. His smiles have been coming a lot more real lately and he was beginning to exactly understand who it was that was causing him to feel this way. He turned back to his hand and tried to gather up a lot for confidence. He could do it, he knew he could. And, with Lucy by his side there was no way he was going to feel.
With these thoughts in mind, droplets of water started to fall from his palm on to the ground. It took a while but gradually a small puddle formed below his hand.
"I...I can't anymore." Ren conceded, letting out a deep sigh.
His hands stopped glowing lightly, as he did when he used his magic, and the water vanished quickly. Ren inspected the puddle and it wasn't very big however the water was crystal clear.
"No, this is perfect! You did so well!" Lucy beamed at him causing Ren to smile, red flitting to his cheeks.
"Ugh, all this lovey dovely stuff is disgusting to watch." Zolo's voice abruptly spoke up, causing the moment to shatter.
He had a look of horror across his face as he eyed both Lucy and Ren on the floor.
"Ah, but they can't help it! Lucy and Ren liiiiiiiiiiiiiike each other so much!" Happy giggled, a paw cheekily covering his mouth.
"Will you both shut up?!" Lucy huffed, feeling her cheeks to flame up.
It was nice to have a bit of humour to break the tension. Natsu and Keahi were still fighting the hoard group of dead people however it looked like they were starting to slow down now, fatigue taking it's course. Lord was concentrating mostly on them too as well. Lucy figured it had to do with what Zolo had said before. If this was like a hive mind, with Lord being the boss, it's only natural he has to pay close attention to what was going to direct the bodies to do his bidding meaning he couldn't let his mind wonder on different things.
In other words, Natsu and Keahi were providing a useful distraction.
"Okay, now all I need to do is..." Lucy trailed off, as she put her plan into actions.
She reached down to the set of her returned celestial keys. Her hand easily found the one key she wanted, having done this so many times before. She was so close to her key's that she knew she could pick out any one of them with her eyes close.
Closing her hands on the right key, she brought it towards the puddle of water. Ren looked at her with curiosity having no idea what she was up to. Zolo seemed to have the same look but only for a fleeting second. Lucy suspected it was because he read her mind and had already figured out what she was going to do straight away. Happy's mouth was popped open slightly knowing exactly what was going on.
The tip of the golden key dipped into the water causing soft ringlets to spread across the area. It was little but more than enough. She twisted the key in the water causing the liquid to disperse even more. Lucy opened her mouth, the next words slipping easily out like it had done many times before.
"Gate of the water bearer, I open thee! Aquarius!"
Their was a bright glow for a small second before a whirlwind of water appeared out of thin air. This lasted only a little while before a beautiful mermaid appeared through the water. With long flowing blue hair and eye colour that matched the colour of her scales perfectly, she was a sight to behold. A stunning creature, barely dressed, but appeasing to the eyes.
Aquarius eyes darted around for a few seconds, glancing at each person before they landed on Lucy.
"Tch…"
"Hey, did you just 'tch' me?!" Lucy yelled out at Aquarius, slightly annoyed by the reaction she had gotten.
"Stupid girl...The first time we meet each other properly after being apart from three month and you dared to call me from a small, shitty puddle?!" Aquarius said slowly.
Lucy gulped as she saw the mermaid's eyes narrowed to thin strips of blue and her mouth turn into a thin, tight line.
"You have some nerve, don't you?! EH? Don't you?!" Aquarius shouted at Lucy, menace and promise of pain dripping from her voice.
"A-Ah, Aquarius I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Lucy cried, fearing for her life.
Zolo's abruptly laughter interrupted them both and caused them to look at him,
"I like you! Are there any other celestial spirits like her?" Zolo announced, grin stretching across his face.
This only caused Lucy to sweat drop. Of course, Zolo would only like someone who looked like they were going to kill her. On the other hand, another small conversation was going on between Ren and Happy:
"Happy...It's a fish..."
"Aye Ren..."
"...Do you think she tastes nice?"
"I've been wondering this since the moment Lucy summoned her from the first time..."
"Okay enough!" Lucy shouted, bringing all gazed onto her "Aquarius, it's your time to shine! I need you to give water to Ren! It's the blue hair boy on the floor next to me!"
"Tch,"
"Don't Tch me!"
"Fine," Aquarius said as she raised up her urn and it began to shine from the hole "...I'm happy. To be back to you. It's nice to see you again, you stupid girl."
Lucy's eyes widened at Aquarius words. They may have been short and simple but she knew that it meant a lot for Aquarius to openly announce this. It caused a warm bubbly sensation to fill the pit of her stomach. She really was happy to be reunited with her celestial spirits again.
A loud roar spilled from Aquarius mouth splitting Lucy from her thoughts. She watched as the celestial spirit whipped her arms back, mouth wide open, the urn glowing heavily.
"Wait! Aquarius! That's going to be too much-"
It was too late. Waves of water spilled out of her urn casing Lucy's surroundings. Lucy felt herself get splashed with water and was lifted off her feet by the sheer amount of water that appeared around her with no end in sight.
She heard multiple screams along with her own, from Ren and Happy mostly. Lucy suppose she should have seen this coming, being washed away, but being away from her celestial spirits must have made her forget a few little things. She supposed Ren, Happy and Zolo must have also be caught in the waves as well.
Suddenly, the water around Lucy started to disappear inch by inch. It didn't take a lot of time before the water surrounding herself vanished from sight leaving her soaking wet on the ground floor. Lucy let out heaving breaths as she tried to get her bearings again. Zolo was laying not too far from her, on his back with a majorly pissed off look on his face. Lucy quickly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with the demon and face the consequences. Happy was also nearby, fur slicked back from the water and a amazed look on his features
But, what caught Lucy's attention, the most was the blue-haired boy standing upright right in front of her. Ren was completely the opposite of how he was beforehand. A large grin was stretched across his lips that caused his blue eyes to sparkle. The colour on his skin had returned and he looked brimming with energy. He was soaked just like the rest of them, clothes sticking to his skin which caused Lucy to look away with a blush across her cheeks at the sight of his form being outlined due to the liquid.
"That was delicious!" Ren said loudly, a arm coming up to wipe across his mouth.
"Did...Did you just drink all of my water?!" Aquarius asked with a ludicrous look splattered across her face.
"Yup, I ate it!"
"You can't eat water." Aquarius deadpanned, "Who the hell are you?"
"Oh, didn't you know? That's Lucy's boyfriend!" Happy yelped loudly, wings sprouting out so he could fly in the air, and he shook his body to try to and get the water out of his fur.
"What?!" both Ren and Lucy shouted at the same, voices estranged.
"Oh? The stupid girl finally got herself a boyfriend?"
"It isn't like that!" Lucy denied, feeling her cheeks turn molten. God damn it, was it Happy's life mission to embarrass her 24/7?
"Yeah, Lucy's right!" Ren agreed "We're just partners!...Wait, not like that type of partners but more like that kind of partners that are always together - no wait! That didn't come out right either. We're just really close! But not like that type of close- We just..." the rest of Ren's sentence trailed off into confusing mutters that didn't make much sense. His face was flushed beet red and his eyes were darting anywhere but looking at Lucy's direction.
Lucy couldn't help find the situation...cute. She hadn't seen Ren this flustered before. It was a new side of him for sure and one Lucy didn't mind seeing. He was really cute acting like this. Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? Happy had teased them about this before and it didn't seem to have affected Ren as much as it had this time.
Was...there a reason for it this time?
Aquarius watched as the blue-haired boy made a bigger fool out of himself as the seconds ticked by. She glanced to her side to see Lucy stare at Ren with a soft and serene expression she hadn't ever seen the blonde hair face before. Aquarius let a small smile grace her features at the sight. So, Lucy had found people to make her happy? She felt relief knowing this...to know that she wasn't all alone for the three months they were apart.
"HOW?" a new voice screamed, voice earth shatter "HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO CALL A CELESTIAL SPIRIT?
The sudden interruption nearly caused Lucy's heart to jump out of her chest. Her eyes quickly closed onto the original of the shattering scream only to land on Lord. His chest was going up and down in a ridiculously fast pace and his damaged face was scrounged up in frustration and aggravation. Due to his attention being somewhere completely different, his mind must have slipped from the dead bodies were controlling. All of them were now in a stand still not moving a inch since they had no orders at the moment. Natsu and Keahi had somehow managed to get out the crowd during this time and were now standing on the outer edge next to one another. They looked worse for ware now, having dealt with them for quite some time. Both sporting heavy casualties and were close to not being able to keep the group at bay for much longer. It was pure luck that the dead bodies had finally stopped.
"Soren..." Aquarius said out loud, shock drenching her tone.
"What?" Lucy said at once, hearing the name spill from the mermaid's lips.
Aquarius eyes were wide open and a expression Lucy had never quite seen on the celestial spirits. Her jaw was slacked as she started at the Lord and her body went still.
Why did Aquarius just say a name? Why was she acting like this? Lucy couldn't make anything out about this sudden reaction.
"What's happening? Why did you just say 'Soren'?" Ren asked, sounding equally confused as Lucy had.
Aquarius didn't answer and Lucy watched as her eyes darted around the room, examining it for the first time. When she first summoned Aquarius, she didn't seem to be too interested of where she was which was usual, however this was the first time she saw Aquarius seem so panicked. Finally, Aquarius eyes stopped on a object on the far end of the room.
"The gate...It's here..." Aquarius said, voice low.
Now, Lucy was even more distraught. What the hell was happening? Why did Aquarius know about the gate? How did she even know about it? Nothing made sense anymore and this worried Lucy.
"How did you manage to get your celestial spirits back!?" the Lord hissed, finally tearing Lucy's attention from her celestial spirits odd reaction "You shouldn't have been able to get them back! You shouldn't have them at all! How? How? How?! I can't read your mind's... WHY CAN'T I READ YOUR MINDS?!"
"Please, bastard, I'll never let you get through to us now." Zolo scoffed up loudly, still leisurely laying on the floor soaked with water.
Lord let out a low sound, almost like he was screaming. Both his hands went up to his head and his face squashed up like he was in pure agony.
"Lucy..." Aquarius started "You need to leave here now."
"What?" Lucy said, eyes ballooning into two big saucers.
"It's dangerous for you to be here."
"What? Why? Aquarius, your not making any sense."
"It doesn't matter. You have to leave. You, cannot, I repeat cannot open the gate."
"Aquarius!" Lucy spoke up swiftly causing the mermaid to stare at her due to the blunt tone of voice she just used "I'm not leaving here. Not now. Something big is happening here and it's revolving around me and I don't know why! But, for some reason, you do! I want to stay here and fight with my guild. But, if you know something I don't and it will help us, you have to tell us Aquarius. Please, I'm begging you!"
There was a moment of silence where Aquarius looked like she was fighting some sort of internal battle. It lasted for a few seconds before she let out a annoyed sound as she came to a decision.
"Fine..." Aquarius started "this man knows your mother."
"My mother..." Lucy trailed off.
That wasn't what she was expecting. Not even in a million years did she imagine Aquarius to say that once. She looked from her towards the Lord. He still held his head in his palms. Her mother knew him? This awful man who hurt others that were even loyal to him? Suddenly, abrupt laughter began to spill from his lips which caused Lucy's heart to thud deeply within her chest.
"Yes, yes, yes," Lord chanted, like he had finally thrown away his sanity "Ruined…It's all ruined now that she has summoned you. My plan carefully...now ruined. Ah, life is so cruel. Yes, yes, yes. How could this have happened to me?"
"What the hell is happening to this dude? He's acting so god damn crazy way more than before!" Natsu piped up from his position.
"The side effects of mind magic," Zolo spoke up from his position on the floor "He's been using it relentlessly on a lot of people over the last few months. It must have finally taken the toll on him. Using too much mind magic can disrupt the users mind. In other words, they go bat shit fucking crazy."
"Not true!" Lord said, quickly standing up straight, voice suddenly calm and normal sounding "I am fine...But, shall I begin explaining? No need to answer that. Everything is now ruined. I should explain my glorious plan to you all."
"Told you, bat shit fucking crazy."
"I used to know your mother," Lord started, completely ignoring Zolo's remarks "Layla Heartfillia was a incredible mage. She was powerful, mysterious and incredibly intelligent. I used to know her as a child."
"H...How did you know each other?
"They knew each other before your mother met your father...before she joined Love & Lucky guild...Lucy, there are a lot of things about your mother that you don't know..." Aquarius answered.
Lucy swallowed at that point. She knew very well for it to be true. Her father rarely ever talked about her mother and there was no where to really go for any information regarding the matter. All she was ever left it was her own imagination of the type of women her mother was.
"Layla Heartfillia had a interest a young age. I don't know why particularly...but she had a keen need to find out about gates in this world. There are many like the one you see before me, each with a different reason and purpose. Layla was intrigued on the matter and wanted to find out the origins of each of these gates. So, while she was young and still healthy, she decided to go on a journey to discover more about these intriguing objects." Lord explained.
"I don't see how that has anything to do with you." Happy blurted out from his position in the sky.
"Ah, yeah your right you strange, blue flying cat," Lord said simple "But, it has a lot to do with my own father. My father was an architect you see. Although, he never liked to create his own inventions but rather examine old buildings. Doesn't make him a architect, but those are just details. He was particular interested in older objects the most. So, it was only natural for his and Layla's path to cross eventually, right, right?"
No one said anything back to him.
"They met each other and began to work with one another. They discovered gates and travelled over the land. It wasn't for a long time, perhaps two years the most, however they worked well as a team. But, there was one gate that intrigued them the most on their journey."
Lord stopped in his explanation to look back at the gate behind him to gaze admiringly at it.
"This gate was also the gate that ended their journey too..."
Lucy gulped and no one dared to speak out just in case the Lord would stop in his rant.
"Once both Layla and my father found this gate, they got to work on it. This gate was unique. Do you see the markings along the outer edge of the object? Writing from a very old language. It say's 'Here, Here... I call upon those who read...This gate holds a formable power beyond it's world. For those who seek, for those who need, for those who want...The answers lay beyond this gate. Open thee."
Lord let out a small, contended sigh at the words.
"The reason why this gate is so interesting is because it has special clauses to open it. My father and Layla had discovered that a ancient celestial mage had created this gate to keep a incredibly magnificent being behind it. They created rules to make sure that the being couldn't be freed by just anyone. Those ruled are written on the edge on the object. Only another extremely powerful celestial mage could open the gate."
Lord stopped in his explanation to look at Lucy,
"Your mother was ideal," Lord said, directly keeping contact with Lucy as he spoke those sickening words "However, she refused!"
"It was too dangerous!" Aquarius butted in "There was no real information on what was behind this gate. Your mother didn't think it was necessary and thought the risk was far to great. In her journeys, she never intended to open any gates whatsoever! She only wanted to find out the meanings behind them. Soren, whenever your father had suggested to open gates before Lucy's mother always refused. However, with this one, he wouldn't take no for an answer!"
"Because this one was meant everything!" the Lord hissed "This one was meant to change everything. Father could had finally...become someone important! Mother left him and dumped me with him because she thought he was good for nothing...that he was useless...That we both were useless. But if he could just open one of these gates...Then it would be different. We could gain fame and fortune. This gate before you was perfect!"
"At what cost? Huh?" Aquarius demanded.
"It doesn't matter," Lord said as he flicked his hand as it to throw away Aquarius question "I was a mere child at the time and lived with my father. I met and knew Layla very well and was close to her. She betrayed us both. After she had refused to open the gate, my father had took matters in his own hand and tried to do it himself. He tampered with the gate to try and get it to open...it didn't work...The gate destroyed him for going against the rules. Disintegrated at this very spot. Right in front of my very eyes."
Lord head tilted down as if he was rethinking the moment but instead looked up,
"I begged Layla to open the gate. It was my only chance to complete my fathers dream. I told her it was for that reason...yet...she still refused! She said she couldn't and she apologised. She said that she would stay by my side in return and hoped that I could forgive her one day. But, how could I? If it wasn't for her my father would still be alive. If she had just opened the gate, my father and I would be in happy, contended lives.
"You became obsessed with this gate, just like your father was," Aquarius interrupted "At every moment for the next few months, you would bring up the gate and opening it. Layla moved you both out of here to start a new life and change. It didn't work out. Not long after, you ran away and came back here. Like father like son, you tried to open this god damn gate. It retaliated the same way and tried to destroy you. If Layla hadn't figured it out and followed you back here, you would have been dead. She saved you."
"It's because of her that my face is destroyed!" Lord yelled out suddenly, voice outraged "If she had not came in the way, I would have been fine. She damaged me on purpose. And after doing this to me, she up and left! Just like mother had...Just like father had!"
"She had too..." Aquarius said "You...were too far gone. She thought it would be better to be separated from you. She never wanted too...Lucy, your mother only wanted what was best. That's why she had put another cause into the gate. Another rule. Since she was a celestial mage, it was easy for her to 'add' on another part to what was already written."
Lucy was trying to digest all of this at once but it was just so much. All of this felt so surreal and she didn't know what to feel. It felt weird knowing this about her own mother, to hear so much about someone who was elusive all her life. Zolo was still staring at the celling, on his back, lost in thought. Keahi was staring at Lord showing no emotion on his face. Natsu, on the other hand, had so many emotions crossing over his visage it was wonder he hadn't broken any muscles yet. Ren looked extremely confused and...sad...at what he was hearing.
"What was the rule?" Lucy whispered, although she had a feeling she knew what it already was.
"Only the kin of Layla Heartfillia are allowed to open the gate willingly."
Once the words flittered through her ears, it all made sense to her. Why she was needed...why she was the only one. But, she wondered why her mother even put this on her in the first place? Why make such a cause?
"The key word to this clause is 'willingly'," Lord started his explanation again "Her kin has to do it of their own free will...willingly...They want to open this gate. It's the only way to open the gate. There can be no force involved. I believe Layla put this part in to protect her future children from coming in harms way."
Lord was met with silence after he said that.
"It didn't work out...I knew of this rule and set about a plan to bend it. You came into my radar the moment you were born Lucy. I couldn't take you at a young age due to your mother's protection and I certainly couldn't take you when you entered Fairy Tail. I had to wait. You see, while the rule about you being Layla's kin to open the gate was fulfilled the other rule of it being a powerful celestial mage was not. I had to wait until you came into your magic, until you would be strong enough to open the gate. Three months ago, I believed you to be ripe with power, enough to open the gate."
"I don't get it. Why didn't you just control Lucy's mind to get her to open the gate then?" Ren questioned, not understanding why Lord didn't just take the easy way and do this instead.
"I couldn't," Lord said through gritted teeth "The clause prevented me from doing so. Lucy has to open the gate willingly, remember? She wouldn't be doing it willingly if she was under the influence of my magic. I had to make sure that Lucy wanted to open this gate with her own free will. So, I put up a plan. I would make Fairy Tail kick her out of the guild. I had to make Lucy open. She would be broken and bruised...and trusting. If someone from my guild would, let say help her, she would be grateful. We would have form a bond and...Lucy would be a 'willing' friend to open the gate when told too."
"Lucy would have never ever opened it even if you had done that!" Happy yelled out firmly at hearing those words.
"Oh, are you sure about that?" Lord asked back with a tilt of his head "Lucy accepted entering Scarlet Destiny easily. She also accepted the fire demon's key with ease and opened the realm to him. What's to say she wouldn't have open the gate for us if we told her a poor being was trapped behind it? While I couldn't use my mind magic on Lucy, lies on the matter would work. She would still be opening the gate 'willingly'."
Lucy tried to imagine it from Lord's point of view. What would she had done if things had gone in his plan? And, she hated herself for the answer that stuck itself in her brain...She knew she would have eventually opened the gate.
"Everything went exactly to plan and Fairy Tail kicked Lucy out of the guild. We couldn't exactly determine where she would end up but I had Kyron trail her. The only thing was...we didn't get to her on time. Someone else did," Lord said before he made contact with Ren "You did...You were a useable outcome. We didn't believe anyone would be in the forest so our movements were careless and Kyron didn't trail Lucy as close as he should have. We believed we would get to her first...We were wrong. You had gotten to Lucy before we could, water dragon slayer, and took her to your guild. And, we couldn't get to Lucy because of that."
"Why didn't you just manipulate our minds and make us leave Lucy behind? Or not make her stay?" Ren questioned back.
"Oh, that's on me!" Zolo pipped up from his place on the floor "I've got mind magic, same as the bastard. If he had even began to mess with even one of our minds, I would have noticed instantly and stopped it. So, that made it out of the question for the Lord. He couldn't influence us to get rid of her and our guild then took her in as a team mate making her unreachable."
"Exactly," Lord agreed, albeit sounding annoyed "I couldn't manipulate anyone's mind. So...we came up with a different plan. If we couldn't go to Scarlet Destiny then we would bring them to us. We started to kill guild members of good guilds so we would come up on the Magic Councils radar. It took a while but we finally made them become worried about us. Mind magic also helped the matter a great deal. We were able to get Scarlet Destiny to take on this mission and lead them here to us with Lucy in tow."
"Why Fairy Tail then? What does this mean for us? Why bring us here as well?" Natsu asked.
"Easy," Lord said with a bark of laughter "We wanted revenge. On both you and Scarlet Destiny for coming in our way. We wanted to destroy both guilds for keeping us away from Lucy. So we made sure you came along here as well."
"So...you manipulated our minds? That's impossible! What about Elfman?! He died! I saw it!" Natsu yelled out thinking about the memory crystal and what was in Lisanna's mind.
"Fake," Lord said simply "I put that in her mind. Fake memory. It's gone right now because of Scarlet Destiny mind mage."
Natsu couldn't believe what he was hearing. It made his heart wrench and puke everything out of his stomach. They were getting manipulated...meaning he had hurt Lucy for no reason? He had hurt a team member...no a friend...no a family member?!
"Then, where is Elfman?" Natsu yelled out.
"Alive and well," Lord started "We actually used a special crystal to send him back to the past. He could be useful and we wouldn't have risked having him dead. But, we couldn't keep him here just in case he ever escaped. So, we had to make sure to keep him alive but far from him to ever cause any trouble. Sending him back into the pass, where we could ensure he would never interfere, was the best option."
"But...But..." Natsu blubbered "W...Why did you do it? Why did you manipulate our minds to thinking Lucy killed Elfman?"
"Easy...What's with all these easy questions you are asking me?" Lord laughed "I did it because it was the only way to get Lucy kicked out of your guild. Fairy Tail is a loyal guild with close comradeship. You wouldn't kick anyone out for a simple reason. It had to be a big reason...something downright heinous. The only thing that would do it would be if one of your members seriously hurt another. Elfman was just a individual we chose out of the blue along with Lisanna as our...spokesperson as you will. It had no meaning to who it was as long as it looked like Lucy killed someone."
Lucy couldn't believe the cruel words she was hearing. It was a blessing to know that Elfman was still alive and well as well as it being made clear that she wasn't a culprit but the way that the Lord had revealed all this left a bitter taste in her mouth. It wasn't fair! This wasn't how she wanted to prove her innocence! Not with Natsu looking like he was going to have his mind exploded at any second from sheer guilt and remorse.
"What about me, Carla, Lily and Wendy? How come we never turned our backs on Lucy? How come our minds weren't manipulated into throwing her out of the guild and hating her?!" Happy yelled, eyes strained with fury wondering if he had found a hole in the plot.
"Oh, I got this one!" Zolo yelped from the floor "Whenever anyone comes to our guild that's new...I always take a look into their mind just to make sure they are all well and good. However, it was a little different when you four entered. For some reason, I can't really manipulate you exceeds minds. I can read it just fine but not manipulate it. I think it's because your not actually mages and a Exceeds mind may be built up different to what a mage is. Whatever the case, I can't manipulate it. As for the dragon slayer girl, I could manipulate her mind...but it didn't stay for very long. It was almost like...she healed herself. Yeah, that's right! I could manipulate her mind but the effects wouldn't last. It was the same scenario that goes for the shy kid in our guild. For some reason, they can...heal themselves from our mind manipulation. Overall, I'm guessing that it's because of this the bastard over there couldn't do you guys."
"Then..." Lucy started feeling like she was now entering this game of they ask and receive a brutal answer from Lord "What about my key's? Why have Fairy Tail take them away?"
"Simple," Lord started "I couldn't risk them here. Your celestial spirits would know exactly who I am or what this gate behind me is. I couldn't allow you to keep those keys just in case you ever summoned them here and they caught site of what was really going on behind the scenes. They would take you away or clue you in and I would never have the gate open. It was better if you were separated from them so I made sure Fairy Tail did it for me with a little manipulation."
Lucy felt sick to the stomach. All of this...all of this pain, suffering, heartbreak, torture, agony...over what?
To open just one god damn gate?
"There! Is that all of it covered? Have I explained everything of my brilliant plan? Are you amazed? Are you thrilled by all that I have done!?" Lord said, pride deep within his voice.
"Soren..."
"How could you...?"
"This isn't fair..."
"You bastard..."
"I'll never forgive you..."
"None of this is right..."
"I...I can't...believe any of this..."
Everyone in the room came with their own opinion at once. Most didn't know if it was better to be in the dark because the whole truth was so much worse now that it had come into the spotlight. It all seemed incredibly unbelievable and insane for someone to plan to this extent. But, seeing the madman in front of them kind of made it real. This who the Lord truly was.
"I won't open the gate for you...I never will!" Lucy announced, heated gaze on the Lord...No...on Soren.
Soren let out a spark of laughter at that. He took a sudden step forward and suddenly all the dead bodies twitched together at once, limbs flying out. This caused Natsu and Keahi to take a couple steps away from them.
"My, my...but you will my dear Lucy. Once I kill all of these people here I'm going to manipulate your mind to forget anything that happened over the last three months. It shouldn't hopefully affect the clause and it should still allow you to open the door 'willingly' afterwards. I'm not going to be forcing you to open it with my mind so it should work. Lies work...and this will be a lie in your mind, if you will."
"No you won't!" Natsu started up "I've had enough! No more manipulation. I won't allow you do it anymore!"
Soren cocked his eyes to his head as he studied Natsu. Suddenly, a sly smile slipped across the deformed man's face and he raised up a hand.
"You know what, fire dragon slayer?" Soren started "Your right. It's time I stopped the mind manipulation on you once and fall. Well, on you and the rest of your guild that is..."
"You can't!" Zolo voice jolted out, a unknown tone which held a hint of worry, and he managed to bring himself to a sitting position on the floor "Don't! Releasing mind magic just like that can be seriously harmful to a mind! You could damage it beyond repair. Don't do it!"
It was too late though.
A single snap sounding across the area caused many minds to tear at once.
And done! Whew this was a long chapter. I seriously didn't plan it to be!
Ah, well, I hope you enjoy it! Finally, everything of my plot get's explained here and hopefully it's lived up to your expectations...Did it? Please let me know in the comment sections since this is a really important chapter. Thank you if you do! I hope I did okay on this and it all makes sense...Also, the author kind of forget Happy for the last couple of chapters so sorry if he suddenly comes out of the blue here! I honest to god forget he existed and didn't write about him in the last few chapters at all. Just pretend he was there the whole time!
Oh and now about the sequel!
I'm going to do it! Only because of how many people actually wanting one and I want to make you all happy so I am. But, while thinking of a sequel, I was always confused on what to do. Do you guys want a sequel with a original plot (so basically what I did for this story) or would you like to see the sequel following on from Fairy Tail storyline (which would be the lead up to the 7 year gap) so it would follow the exact plot of Fairy Tail but with Scarlet Destiny characters impact.
Please let me know! I'd love to hear your opinions the most after all.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Next chapter will be all about Fairy Tail coming to terms with what they did and you get to find out if Jared survives or not! (PS: STILL UP TO YOU GUYS SO LET ME KNOW IN COMMENTS)
Until next time...See yh!
