Urano Metria
"Aries?" Lucy echoed, as she took notice of the pink spirit before her. She remembered what Loke had told her about her previous summoner, Karen. Was this really the spirit that Loke fought so hard for?
"Aries too?" Hibiki muttered. First Leo, and now Karen's other spirit. He remembered Karen's trouble with her Celestial Spirits, and how they had rebelled against her. Not that he could honestly blame them; during the period that Hibiki and Karen dated, he would notice the way she treated them, and it was not very good. But still…
"That's Karen's spirit!" Lucy said.
"Key word being 'was'," Angel answered, "I killed her, so I claimed this sheep as my prize." She patted Aries' head degradingly, as if the spirit were a pet. Loke visibly steamed in anger at this sight, but so did Hibiki.
This woman…. killed Karen? he thought She killed… my love? This mage, stole away Karen's life… He then shook his head. No! I can't think like this! If I do, I'll be taken by Nirvana!
Lucy inhaled, and then exhaled, as she pulled out Loke's key.
"I can't ask you two fight like this," she said, "Close…" However Loke held up his hand, gesturing him to stop.
"Don't act like that," Loke said, "She may be a friend of mine, but our summoners are different, and her summoner is a dark mage."
"I'm really sorry, but we are enemies, we must serve our summoners, and defeat our opponents," Aries said as her fists clenched.
"This is for our pride!" the two spirits declared, as they both launched at each other. Loke punched a golden charged fist at Aries, who summoned up a massive cloud of pink wool, which absorbed the blow. She then countered with a huge wave of wool. Loke dodged out of the way, as he leapt up, and slammed his fist into Aries' face, sending her flying. Lucy cringed at the sight, but Angel wasn't as dismayed.
"This is actually quite entertaining," she commented, "Its not always that two Golden Key Spirits clash. Maybe I should've brought a chair and a snack." Lucy glared daggers in Angel's direction, as she tightened her grip on Loke's key.
"Regulus Impact!" Loke said, slamming his fist at Aries again. A new wool wall appeared, seemingly blocking the attack, but the force still knocked her back, as she cried out.
"Wool Stampede!" Aries said, as she released a storm of wool, which took the form as a herd of charging sheep. Loke punched away two of the sheep, but got rammed (no pun intended) by another one.
"I'm really sorry!" Aries cried. Loke destroyed the last sheep, and sprung at Aries again, punching her in the stomach, sending her into a tree. The Ram girl (isn't that contradictory?), held out her hands.
"Wool Tidal Wave!" A huge stream of wood soared down at Loke, swallowing him, causing him to spill over the water.
"No… please," Lucy muttered, as tears began to well in her eyes. Loke then kicked Aries in the side with a Regulus infused kick, that sent her careening away.
"Well, I guess I she never really stood a chance against Leo," Angel said, "Its a shame, this was actually quite fun to watch." She then pulled out a silver key.
"Open, Gate of the Chisel: Caelum!" A strange device then appeared, hovering over the water, in some kind of strange sphere. There was then a blast of green energy from the sphere, which tore through both Aries and Loke.
"Loke!" Lucy cried. She attacked her own spirit? she thought What kind of mage is she?
"Forgive me… Aries," Loke said, as he began to fade away.
"You have… nothing to apologize for," Aries said weakly, as she also faded, "I'm just glad you found yourself a good… summoner."
"Aries!" Loke cried, as he reached for Aries, only for the two to fully fade all the way back into the Spirit World. Lucy just watched in horror.
"Good job, Caelum!" Angel said, patting the orb. Lucy looked at the orb in surprise, it was another Celestial Spirit.
"That's right," Angel said darkly, "I can summon two spirits at the same time. But I"m afraid thanks to Caelum, you won't be summoning your pet lion anytime soon."
"I… simply can't believe it," Lucy muttered.
"Can't believe what? Celestial Spirits can't die, so it doesn't really matter," Angel answered.
"But they still feel pain, and they have their feelings!" Lucy yelled, "And yet you treat them like that! You dare call yourself a Celestial Spirit Mage?! Open, Gate of the Bull: Taurus!"
"MOOOO!" Taurus said, "I'm here to save you Ms. Lucy!"
"Do your thing, Gemini!" Angel said. Gemini turned into Lucy, and groped her breasts, much to Taurus joy.
"MOOOO!" Taurus said, as he flushed deep crimson. In that moment of hesitation, Gemini grabbed Caelum, which turned into a sword, allowing Taurus to be cut down.
"Taurus!" Lucy cried, only to double over in exhaustion, "My… my magic…"
"That would be the strain of summoning so many spirits when you don't have the power," Angel explained, "Its to be expected, seeing how weak you are." She then snapped her fingers, and Gemini began kicking Lucy.
"Lucy!" Hibiki cried, as he tried to jump to her aide, only for Gemini to whirl around.
"Please Mr. Hibiki, don't hurt me!" "Lucy" said, lifting up "her" shirt slightly. Hibiki let out a cry as he began to steam. In that moment of hesitation, Gemini cut him down.
"No, Hibiki!" Lucy called. She was then kicked again by Gemini. Angel let out a cackle.
"Being beaten to death by yourself, that's pathetic way to die!" Angel said. Lucy weakly rose onto her hands and knees, glaring at Angel.
"What's with that scowl?" Angel inquired, "I'm not fond of people who scowl at me."
"Release Aries!" Lucy instructed.
"Come again."
"She was treated so terribly by her previous owner, and now…"
"Oh shove it up your ass!" Angel answered, snapping her fingers. Gemini then used Caelum to slash across Lucy's shoulder, causing the girl to let out a cry of pain.
"She deserves to be with Loke!" Lucy explained, "We're the only ones who can grant then such happiness!"
"Alright, what do I get in return?" Angel answered.
"I'l give you all my keys!" Lucy said, "If my spirits were so miserable, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself!"
"Very well, then I guess I'll take your life. Gemini, do it!" The spirit held up Caelum, and got ready to bring it down, but for some reason, couldn't do it.
"What are you, hard of hearing?" Angel snapped.
"I… I can hear a beautiful voice in my head," Gemini said slowly. Echoing through their minds, Gemini could hear happy cries of a young girl, saying how she loved Celestial Spirits, how they were her friends, and how much she loved them.
"I can't do this," Gemini said as they teared up, "I can't kill a girl who loves Celestial Spirits as much as her!" Angel turned bright red at that.
"Get out my sight you useless pawn!" she snapped, as she waved her key, causing Gemini to off out of existence.
"I'll just kill you myself!" Angel said, as she grabbed Caelum. As she approached Lucy, Wendy watched from her hiding spot.
"Wendy! You have to take action!" Carla said, pointing.
"But…. but I'm not a fighter," Wendy said, "I don't think there's anything I can do!"
"Not if you keep acting like that!" Carla said, "If you want to be able to do anything in the future, then you have to at least some confidence!" Wendy just cringed.
"For now we've got bad guys to stop, and we can't do it without you." Wendy remembered Natsu's words, as she clenched her fists.
I can't hide here! she thought I have to fight! I have to contribute! She then rose to her feet, and slowly crawled from her hiding spot.
"Stop it!" she yelled. Angel looked in Wendy's direction.
"Aren't you that girl Brain wanted?" Angel asked, arching an eyebrow. Wendy tried to hold her ground, but she was downright terrified, shaking more than slightly.
"Wendy… run," Lucy whispered, as she looked up at the girl.
"I said to stop!" Wendy repeated, tears welling in her eyes.
"Look, we don't really need you anymore, and I'm not interested in expending effort killing you," Angel explained, before giving a "shoo" gesture, "Why don't you run along like a good little girl?" Wendy really wanted to do that, but she couldn't.
"No," she answered softly, "I won't run away! I won't let you hurt Lucy!"
"Oh very well," Angel said, "This girl wants to die, I guess I can oblige her!" She then turned in Wendy's direction, before jumping.
"Wendy!" Lucy cried. Wendy thought as fast as she could, as an image of Natsu's technique flashed into her mind. She then inhaled as much air as she could, and….
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" she cried. The force blew Angel away sending her into a tree.
"Wendy!" Lucy said in surprise.
"You little brat!" Angel said, she rose back to her feet. That moment of interference probably saved the day, as it allowed Hibiki to approach Lucy, and grab her head.
"Hibiki, what are you…," Lucy began.
"Just hold still," Hibiki answered, "I'm going to use my archive magic to give you a one time transfer of how to cast a top-level spell!"
"What in the hell!" Angel said, "What is this?"
"All these symbols, what are they?!" Lucy cried out, as all this information flooded through her head.
"Sorry about this," Hibiki said weakly, "But I owe you so much for using your light to save me from the dark." With that, he passed out. Lucy remained on her knees, as she lightly glowed.
"I'll kill you all!" Angel said, as Caelum hovered over her, and began to charge up. But Lucy rose to her feet, as she continued to glow, spreading her arms. Natsu….
"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens…" All this time, you have protected others, including me…
"All the stars, far and wide…" And I have always had to hide behind you…
"Show me thy appearance… With such shine. Oh Tetrabilos…" But now I will not hide behind you, but stand with you…. Glowing orbs began to hover around her, as if the very universe was coming too her aide.
"I am the ruler of the stars… Aspect become complete… Open they malevolent gate." From here on out, you and I will fight side by side! Natsu began to stir slightly.
"Oh 88 Stars of the heaven… Shine!" Natsu opened his eyes, and looked at Lucy.
"Urano Metria!" All the energy gathered from the celestial bodies immediately crashed into Angel, who let out a cry of pain as she was blasted away.
Lucy began to shake slightly, as she began to fall over, only to be grabbed by Natsu before she hit the water.
"What happened?" Lucy asked herself, as she looked around. Wendy and Carla were staring at her in all, as Hibiki lay passed out in the water.
"You damn bitch!" Angle said, as she sprung up, carrying Caelum. She was beaten up more than pretty badly, and looked like she was barely standing, and yet she was refusing to go down.
"I won't… let you… win," she forced out, a maniacal grin on her face, "The Oracion Seis… can… not… lose!" Lucy tried to move, but she found herself unable.
"Now die!" Angel said, as she held up Caelum in gun form. However, before she could fire, she was consumed by dragon fire, blowing her away.
My prayer, to be an angel, and bring my sister with me to heaven.
Natsu wiped the side of his mouth, as he puffed out a cloud of steam.
"Now one blasts my girl," he said. He then ran to Lucy.
"Lucy!" he called, picking her up, "Are you alright?" Lucy smiled up at Natsu.
"Somehow," she answered. Natsu then carried her to the shore, and set her down gently. He then walked over to where Happy was frozen, and melted him.
"Gray! Why are you…," Happy stopped, as he looked around, "What happened?"
"You're so foolish," Carla said.
"You really rose to the occasion, Wendy," Lucy said as she sat up, looking at the Sky Dragon Slayer.
"Well, I didn't really do that much," Wendy answered.
"You used Dragon's Roar," Lucy said, "I'd certainly call that something!"
"You used Dragon's Roar?" Natsu asked, "That's awesome!" Wendy just blushed.
"You need to be healed!" Wendy said, going up to Lucy, and started her healing.
"You were pretty awesome too, Luce!" Natsu said, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulder.
(with Brain)
Brain doubled over, as he grabbed at his face. Another one of his tattoos began to fade away.
"Angel has fallen as well?" he asked, "That can't be." He clenched his fists angrily.
"I won't let your death be in vain, Angel!" he said, "I will obliterate the light!"
(down the river)
A beaten, but very much alive Angel floated down the river.
"I'm not dead," she muttered.
(further in the forest)
Erza was running as fast as she could. Since she overheard what the others said, only one thing was on her mind. So Jellal's alive? she thought Why would he be here? There wasn't any real reason Erza could come up with for why he would be here. But that wasn't really what was on her mind, though. Can I even face him?
(somewhere else)
"So Nirvana is able to alter a person's personalities?" Jura asked.
"Indeed it is, oh yeah!" Hoteye answered. Since Nirvana appeared, his personalty had completely inverted, and in all honesty, Jura found it somewhat disturbing.
"This is actually just the first stage," Hoteye further explained, "The black light forcibly reverses the alignments of those stuck between "good" and "evil"."
"So you were fighting between light and dark?" Jura asked.
"Indeed," Hoteye said, "I did have a feeling that I was doing wrong, even if it as all for money."
"You sound surprisingly happy considering the circumstances," Jura commented.
"Everything was the for sake of my brother!" Hoteye said excitedly.
"You're brother?"
"I lost him long ago. But I thought that if I could gain enough money, I would be able to find him again." He then smiled at Jura.
"And seeing you again brings back all kinds of warm memories, memories I thought were lost," he said.
"Do I look like your brother in anyway?" Jura asked, also smiling.
"Far from it," Hoteye said, "You actually more closely resemble a potato my brother and I tried to grow!"
"A potato!" Jura snapped.
"Now, in the name of love, we will defeat Brain, and the Oracion Seis!"
(with Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy)
"That should do it!" Wendy, as she wiped her brow, having finished healing Lucy.
"Don't strain yourself, child," Carla said.
"After finishing with these Oracion Seis bastards, I'm going to teach you how to fight!" Natsu said, grinning, "I'm going to make you as tough as me!" Wendy looked Natsu over, and an image of a musclebound, masculine version of her popped into her head, and she whimpered slightly.
"I'm actually not that fond of fighting," Wendy confessed shyly.
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Jellal?" Lucy asked.
"You never told me about him either," Carla said. Wendy averted her eyes slightly.
"Its a bit of a long story," she said, "But it was after Grandeeney had left me. I was all alone, and helpless, until Jellal saved me. He was wandering around as well, so we both ended up traveling aimlessly for a month or so. But one day, he said something about 'Anima'."
"What's an 'Anima'?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know, but he said it would be too dangerous for me to stay with him, so he left in the care of Cait Shelter," Wendy explained, "I never saw Jellal after that, until today. Though I heard about the Magic Councilman who looked like him, and all the horrible things."
"Horrible things is a bit of an understatement," Lucy said.
"Aye! He was really mean!" Happy said.
"Watch it tomcat!" Carla scowled.
"Its okay, I know what he did," Wendy said, "I know what he became, but the one I knew was so kind."
(at the source of Nirvana)
Jellal stood before Nirvana, watching silence. Cobra was also watching, but he was barely containing his excitement. We're so close! Cobra thought I can hear the light falling to pieces! All that needs to be done is to let him finish, take him out and….
"Jellal!" Said man, as well as Cobra, looked over. Erza had landed before them, looking straight at Jellal.
"Erza," Jellal whispered.
When the hell did she get here?! Cobra mused angrily How couldn't I hear her coming? She can't be going after Jellal, could she?
"The hell are you doing here!" Erza yelled.
"I don't know," Jellal answered slowly.
"I don't accept that!" the scarlet haired mage snapped, "Now answer my damn question!"
"Erza… Erza… Erza," Jellal muttered, "That's all I can remember." That caught both Erza and Cobra off guard.
"Do you know who I am?" Jellal said, "And please…" He then looked up at Erza. All that was on his face, was desperation.
"Please tell me who Erza is!" he cried.
Note: Something I remember one author commenting, was that Lucy is a great character when not sued as fan service or ship tease. Personally, I couldn't disagree more. I think Lucy is a great character the way she is. She's the straight woman to Fairy Tail, and we witness the story through her eyes in many respects. We also get more than enough times to see her shine, like this one.
Speaking of which. I hope you liked this take on Urano Metria. I thought considering her current relationship with Natsu, she may have some musings about that.
Be sure to review.