The Battle of Spirits

The dragon, deemed "Smaug" by Igneel, opened its wings, as it let out a monstrous roar, breathing clouds of fire, as the volcanoes exploded around him.

(in the real world)

Natsu let out a pained cry on his knees, as the dragon roared within his head.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, as she fell to her knees, embracing him, "You've got to calm down!"

"What's happening to him?" Wendy asked, as she looked on worriedly.

"I don't now!" Lucy answered. She thought about what happened in the battle with Laxus, when Natsu went completely savage. Could it be happening again? For now, all Lucy could do was hold him. She could feel the heat emanating from Natsu's body, and it was becoming progressively more painful. But Lucy still held onto him. I'm not going to let go of you, Natsu! she thought I promised I'd be there for you! I promised I'd be your light! (Note: I'm not one of those guys who complains about what can be perceived as too much "nakama power", but I digress)s

Hibiki held up his hands, which began to glow.

"What are you doing!" Happy said as he floated in front of Hibiki.

"He's being affected by Nirvana!" Hibiki said, "If I don't knock him out, he's going to be consumed by that darkness!"

"No way!" Happy protested angrily, "Natsu doesn't have a dark side! He never has!" Hibiki frowned at Happy.

"Stand aside!" he instructed.

"Never!" Happy cried.

"I won't let you hurt him!" Wendy said as she stepped in front of Hibiki as well, holding up her arms.

"Wendy!" Carla protested, "You're honestly not going to let this happen!"

"I can't believe that Natsu has a dark side!" Wendy explained. Carla paused after that, as she stared at the ground. Hibiki finally lowered his arms, as he took a breath.

"I'm trusting you on this," he said, "I really hope you're right."

"I know we are!" Happy said.

Meanwhile, Natsu continued to cry out, as Lucy held him tight, holding him to her chest.

(in the mental world)

Natsu was on his knees, grabbing his head, as the fire burned around him. All around him, bellowed the roar of Smaug. He looked up, and saw images of Fairy Tail burning. He remembered Igneel telling him that Lucy would be his anchor. To that extent, Natsu focused entirely on his girlfriend, as a golden image of her appeared before him, smiling. Natsu tried to reach for it, only for it to be burnt away by the fire as well.

All the while, outside the swirling smog, Igneel watched his son. His face was grim.

"Come on Natsu, fight him!" he muttered, "You're stronger than this worm!" Natsu just let out another cry in pain, as he could feel Smaug looming over him.

(in the real world)

Lucy cried out, as she held tightly to Natsu, despite the burning pain.

"Please, come back to me!" she called. She then held Natsu closer, more to her stomach than her chest. That was when Natsu felt it.

There was some kind of warmth, coming from within her. The warmth it was… comforting. Natsu focused on that warmth, as he slowly wrapped his arms around Lucy, and held tight, pressing his face against her stomach, where the warmth seemed to be coming from. Lucy could feel the burning sensation fade away, as she smiled, and brought him close.

"That's my boy," she said softly.

"Damn," Hibiki said, "That was…" There wasn't a word he thought accurately described what he saw. Happy teared up, as he went over to Natsu, and hugged him as well. Wendy couldn't help but cry a little at the sight, and even Carla was awestruck by that, but she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"I hate to break this moment!" she spoke, "But we can't forget Nirvana going on!" Hibiki looked back up at the light, before nodding in understanding.

"She's right," he said, "We should probably make for the light, see if we can do anything."

"What about Erza?" Happy asked.

"I may be from a different guild, but I know Erza's reputation, and chances are, she can take care of herself," Hibiki said.

"What about Natsu?" Lucy said, as she held Natsu close, "I'm not leaving him."

"I guess we can carry him," Hibiki said, "I'll…"

"I've got him," Lucy said, as she hoisted Natsu up, his arm around her shoulder.

"Are you sure about this?" Hibiki asked.

"Since I met him, he's been carrying me and my burden," Lucy said firmly, "Its time that I should be the one to carry his burden." There was a brief pause.

"Okay so maybe this is a little literal," she admitted, "But my point still stands!"

"I'll help!" Happy said, as he floated over, and picked up Natsu's legs.

"Thanks, I think," Lucy said, looking at the awkward way Natsu was being carried.

"Don't worry, Natsu's a lot lighter than you!" Happy said.

"Thanks no fully retracted," Lucy muttered.

"Let's get going now!" Hibiki said. With that, the group started advancing in the direction of the light.

(with Jura and Hoteye)

Jura was becoming progressively more confused, as he watched Hoteye thrash around. Is this the effect of Nirvana? he thought. He admitted he didn't know Nirvana's effects, but…

"Money… Money… I…," Hoteye stuttered, before he suddenly smiled brightly, with tears in his eyes, "I don't need it all!"

"EH!" Jura said, in an uncharacteristic face fault.

(with Lyon and Sherry)

The Lamia Scale duo was making its way back to the base, though considering Lyon's injury, they weren't making very quick progress.

"Hope Jura's alright," Sherry said.

"Come on, he could probably take any of the Oracion Seis no problem," Lyon said, "He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"I wonder how the others are doing," Sherry said, "No doubt they're fighting hard, as is love."

"What isn't with you?" Lyon said.

"But love is everywhere," Sherry said.

"I'm sure it… is," Lyon trailed off as he heard something. He looked over his shoulder, and saw a person approaching him. It didn't take long for Lyon to recognize him, and for terror to descend upon him.

"Sherry, run," Lyon hissed, as he pushed her off, and turned to face the approaching enemy.

"What is it?" Sherry asked. She looked over, and saw the person approaching them.

"Wait is that…," she began.

"One of the Oracion Seis! Midnight!" Lyon said, as he tried to take a battle stance, only to double over from his injury.

"Look, I'm doing this under obligation from my father," Midnight said,as he ran his hand through his hair, "I'd much rather be doing something else."

"Ice Make: Viper!" Lyon said, trying to summon the best attack he could considering his current state, which was a decent sized snake. However, the attack didn't even hit, Midnight just going around him like nothing.

"I prefer to fight stronger foes, honestly," Midnight said, "So what say we just finish things here?"

"You think I'm going to surrender?" Lyon asked.

"No, I think you're going to die," Midnight answered. He then held up his hand, but before he could attack, a massive branch struck at him, only bounce off the same invisible shield.

"I won't let you hurt Lyon!" Sherry said, as her Wood Doll smashed down again at Midnight, who just held up his hand. The wood twisted and bent, before it was torn apart.

"If you're so insistent, I'll finish you off first," Midnight said, as he turned to Sherry. Lyon tried to get up, only to fall to the ground, as the clothes around his wound seemed to tighten, as he grunted in pain.

"Rock Doll!" Sherry said, holding up her arms. A massive stone warrior erupted out of the ground, which punched down at Midnight. Midnight easily shifted out of the way, and the rock doll was turned inside out out by his magic. He then waved his hand at Sherry knocking her to the ground.

"Sherry!" Lyon cried.

"Let's get this over with," Midnight said, "Spiral Pain!" Sherry let out a cry, as she held up her arms in defense. However, in a flash, she was whisked away. When Sherry opened her eyes, she looked up to see Ren holding her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Ren? What are you doing here?" Lyon said.

"I was heading towards the light when I heard the commotion, and I can let my comrades go when they're in danger!" Ren said as he looked towards Midnight, and took his battle stance. Midnight just looked the Blue Pegasus mage over, and took a breath.

"Fine, I'll beat all of you," he said, "Now, who's first?" Ren let out a yell as he sprung at Midnight.

"Ariel Shot!" Several rocks were blasted at Midnight, only for them harmlessly bounce off of his shield.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"Far from it!" Ren answered, "Ariel Phose!" A giant cyclone appeared around Midnight, tearing up the area around them.

"You got him!" Sherry said.

"No, I didn't, Ren answered with a cringe. True enough, Midnight walked right out of the cycle as if it were nothing."

"Okay, I'm getting bored now," he sad, as his face turned dark, "Let's bring this to its conclusion!"

(with the others)

Lucy found carrying Natsu remarkably easy. If Sherry was here, she'd probably say it was the power of love. She was glad Happy as carrying Natsu's legs, since it probably made things a lot fast without having to drag him along the ground.

"How far do you think we need to go?" Wendy asked, as she tried to keep up with the others.

"There's no way of knowing for sure," Hibiki answered, "But its probably within 5 miles, maybe less."

"Do we have a plan about what we're going to do when we find it?" Carla asked.

"We'll figure it out when we get there," Hibiki answered. Lucy looked at Natsu on her shoulder. With all due respect to Hibiki, no one in this group seemed to be particularly capable fighters. The strongest one there, Natsu, was out of commission, and if they encountered one of the Oracion Seis…. it made the blonde more than a little nervous.

"We should look for some of the others, shouldn't we?" she asked.

"Aye!" Happy said, before turning, "And look, its Gray!" Everyone looked over, and saw the Ice Mage standing by a nearby river.

"Gray!" Happy called, as he flew towards him. The others starting following after him.

"Happy!" Gray said, "Good to see you!"

"What happened?" Happy said, "I heard you beat one of…" He was abruptly silenced when he was frozen in an ice cube.

"Happy!" Lucy said, "Gray, what are you doing!"

"I noticed you're carrying Natsu," Gray said, "Good, this makes this easier: Ice Make: Lance!" Several lances of ice lashed out, as everyone dived out of the way, causing Lucy to drop Natsu in the process.

"Gray, what's…," she began.

"Piri! Piri!" Gray muttered, as his eyes glowed menacingly.

"Wait!" Hibiki said, "That is most definitely not Gray!"

"How observant." From the trees casually walked Angel, an obnoxious sneer coating her face.

"Its one of the Oracion Seis!" Carla cried.

"Angel!" Hibiki said.

"Well done, Gemini," Angel said, as she advanced, "Soon enough this will be done, and we can move onto the rest of the vermin."

"Not if we beat you first!" Lucy said, pulling out one of her keys, "Now open, Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!"

"Howdy do!" the horse-clad archer said as he popped into form, "What will you have me do?"

"Take her down!" Lucy instructed, "Show her what happens when you mess with us!"

"Yessiree!" Sagittarius answered, as he notched several arrows, and launched them at Angel, only for the Gray imposter to intercept them, and form an ice shield, which easily stopped the arrows.

"Ice Make: Javelin!" A massive shaft of ice then launched at the group, which Hibiki deflected by creating some kind of screen with his Archive Magic. During this, Wendy had dove behind a tree, was trembling in fear while watching.

"Sagittarius!" Lucy said.

"Will do!" The spirit launched another several arrows at the faker, only for he to create another wall of ice. Lucy cringed.

"This isn't getting anywhere," she muttered.

"Why not we change tactics?" Angel answered, somehow hearing her, "Gemini, let's make things steamier." The fake Gray smiled menacingly, before poofing away. Now standing there was…. Lucy?

"The hell!" Lucy snapped.

"Hey! I'm Lucy!" the being said.

"Of course you're not!" Lucy answered, "I'm the real one!"

"Then why do I have these?" the imposter said, before pulling up her shirt, exposing her self.

"KYAH!" Lucy cried. The males were slightly… less dismayed.

"Do you really have to do that!" the blonde cried.

"Sorry boys," the fake Lucy said, "But these belong to Natsu!"

"I don't belong to anyone!"

"Now Sagittarius!" the imposter continued, "Do you're thing!" Hibiki suddenly had to launch himself out of the way to save himself from being arrowed.

"Sagittarius!" Lucy cried, "What are you doing?"

"I…. I don't… know," Sagittarius forced out, "My body seems to be moving on its own!"

"Well go after that!" Lucy ordered, pointing at the clone. The spirit whirled around to point his arrows at the imposter

"You can't shoot at your master, can you?" "Lucy" said, as she took a sexy pose. Sagittarius knew that wasn't really Lucy, but for some reason, he couldn't shoot at her.

"I… can't shoot at my summoner," he said slow.

"This, is the power of Gemini," Angel commented, spinning a golden key through her fingers, "Now how do you think it will go when your horse skewers you?" Sagittarius then slowly turned to point his bow at Lucy.

"Ms Lucy," he said slowly.

"Close, Gate of the Archer!" Lucy said, waving her key. With a flash of gold light, the spirit evaporated. Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," she whispered.

"Ah," Angel said, "This is going to be less fun." She then snapped her fingers. The fake Lucy then turned into two blue-imp like creatures.

"Finally, we're ourselves again!" one of them said.

"Yeah, that guy was cold, and that girl was really weird!" the other agreed.

"Why does everyone think I'm weird?" Lucy muttered to herself.

"Those are Celestial Spirits!" Hibiki said.

"She's a Celestial Wizard too?" Lucy asked.

"Behold the Twins, Gemini!" Angel explained, as she held up her key, "You two did well, but you are no longer needed, so be on your way!"

"Alright Ms. Angel!" the two imps sounded together, before poof-ing away.

Lucy thought about her options in the mean time, before a thought popped into her head. She was near a river, that meant water, which in turn meant…

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" Lucy said, as she put her key into the river. The water surged up, as Aquarius came into existence.

"Damn I hate freshwater!" she said, glaring at Lucy.

"For once can you save it?" Lucy asked, "I'm in trouble, can't you deal with this girl!"

"Geez, you're so annoying, no wonder you haven't got a boyfriend," Aquarius said. Lucy fumed at that.

"Newsflash, I do have a boyfriend!" she yelled, pointing at Natsu, "Now stop your whining, and help me!"

"Fine, if only to get this over with, and get back to my beau!" Aquarius said, turning to face Angel. But the white-haired dark mage just grinned darkly.

"I take it back, this could actually be fun," she said, as she pulled out another gold key, "Now open, Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio!" From a flash of white, emerged a guy dressed in red, with a mechanical scorpion tail, and hair that was split between red and white.

"Wicked!" he said.

"Sweetikins!" Aquarius swooned.

"SAY WHAT!" Lucy cried.

"Aquarius, my little mergirl!" Scorpio said, as he and Aquarius embraced, "Its great to see you again!"

"My time without you has been so miserable," Aquarius said dramatically, "I'm so happy to be with you again!"

"W…wait," Lucy said, "This is the boyfriend you've always gloated over?"

"My boy is far superior to your's," Aquarius said, sticking out her tongue at Lucy.

"Tell me again, how old are you?" Lucy said.

"We're going on a vacation," Scorpio said, "We've got to cherish our time together."

"Yes, my dear," Aquarius said. With that, they both flashed away.

"Ah, how sweet," Angel said.

"How did you even know about that?" Lucy said.

"You call yourself a Celestial Mage, and you don't even both to learn about your servants?" Angel said. Lucy noticed the way she referred to her spirits are "servants". But she couldn't focus on that just yet.

"Alright, time bring out the big guns!" she said, "Now open, Gate of the Lion: Leo!" Loke then flashed into form, as he adjusted his ring.

"Glad to be back, Lucy," Loke said, before making a face, "Though I'm a tad disappointed you chose Natsu over me."

"Can you give that rest?" Lucy asked, "Now we've got trouble!" Loke turned, and grinned at Angel.

"Hate to bash on pretty ladies, but when the pretty ladies are doing evil, they have to be stopped!" he then jumped at Angel, who didn't break her smile, as she shifted out of the way.

"Leo, eh?" she asked, "That's pretty impressive actually. Leo is one spirit most Celestial Mages would kill to get access to! Now I have all the more reason to kill you!"

"And I have all the more reason to beat you!" Lucy said, "Because I will never let you get access to my keys!"

"And I thoroughly concur!" Loke said, "Now taste the power of Regulus!" He then charged his fist, as she charged at Angel, only for the mage to sneer, as she pulled out another key.

"Open, Gate of the Ram!" she yelled. In a flash, and a strange "bah" echoing out, a girl dressed in a white, wooly outfit appeared. She had pink hair that was curled in a fashion not entirely indifferent to Juvia's old style, though it was fluffier, with a pair of horns on her head. She fidgeted nervously.

"I'm sorry for being late, ma'am," she said. Loke stared at the girl, shaking slightly.

"Loke?" Lucy asked.

"This battle is decided," Angel said, "And I've been looking for a reason to bring this sheep out!"

"Aries?" Loke mumbled.

Note: Can you guess what that warmth in Lucy is?

I hope this fight was to your satisfaction. Next one should see more of it, of course. I hope to bring Wendy into fight more, as I'm sure everyone else does.

On an unrelated note, please check out my most recent story "Emperor of Sirius". And be sure to review this, as well as that.