Act 2

28

The Deathly Hallows

'Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.'
— J.K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

"Hey! Who invited you losers?" Natsu shouted out.

"Why...she did." The center newcomer purred, a knowing and cruel smirk curling her lips, "So sorry to have interrupted, but we really mustn't keep the master waiting."

"The master?" Lucy asked before she could stop herself, torn between nerves about these new people, and angry. Angry over them showing up when they did and over what they'd interrupted.

Now that she was thinking properly there was little doubt in her mind what would've happened had things between her and the dragon not been interrupted. And to her surprise she really wanted it to happen.

Natsu could still drive her up the wall, but he was no longer the jerk she'd known when they met. She actually liked this version. Quite a bit.

But these guys had to go and spoil it.

The one on the far right with the pointed ears and the bright red hair, grinned broadly and wickedly, "I think blondie's mad at you Hoteye." He chuckled darkly and cocked his head at her lazily.

"I'm Cobra. This is Angel and that's Hoteye." He smirked, "We're members of the Oracion Seis."

He said that the same way Natsu had when he'd told her his name. As if it was supposed to mean something important and scare her.

Just like then, Lucy blinked at him blankly, "Uh, okay? I assume that's a magic guild?"

The looks of complete shock on their faces had Natsu roaring with laughter beside her, "What?" She demanded in confusion.

"Oh man!" Natsu chortled despite the seriousness of the situation, "Your faces! Unbelievable! I had the exact same reaction!"

"What the hell?" The one called Cobra shot back at Natsu, "Why don't you stuff it you burned out firecracker!"

"What did you say to me?" Natsu growled, rising immediately to the other's growls. Lucy took a gentle hold of Natsu's arm to prevent him from flinging himself at Cobra. Angel just laughed and turned towards her companions.

"Hoteye, go intercept the other two. We don't want them interfering. Cobra and I should be more than enough to take these two. A half-powered dragon and a barely trained celestial wizard," Her smirk widened.

Almost caressingly, her gaze drifted down to Lucy's waist where her keys jingled on their ring. Greed flashed in the depths of her eyes, a superior smirk curling her lips up into a cruel expression.

Lucy placed a protective hand on her precious keys, a thrill of fear running through her as she watched the woman eye them. She was staring at them as if they were the most coveted treasures in the world. Belatedly Lucy realized, to some people they probably were.

The spirits within were counting on her to protect them, and she twisted her body away to hide them from the woman's gripping sight.

"Natsu, who are they?" Lucy asked. There was nothing in her book about anyone like these people.

He advanced a step forward, having settled the egg protectively behind some rocks and treasure to keep it out of harm's way, "Huh?"

Natsu lifted his fists, fire licking around his knuckles and trailing from his arms. It was a slow, lazy burn, but his eyes were sharp when Cobra matched his step.

Something in the strange man's jacket rippled and shifted, giving way to the diamond head of a large purple snake. It slithered down his body onto the ground, disappearing into the tall grass.

"They're a dark guild, partners with Grimoire Heart," Natsu growled, "They're the ones who tried to take you the day we met. They're both total Zeref fanatics."

Lucy started at that, her eyes flashing towards the pink haired man beside her. Zeref? Wasn't he-...

"Cobra is a dragon that runs around in the underworld, uncaring of territories," Natsu warned her with a flash of his eyes, "If you see him shifting, you need to get out of the way."

Lucy paled and nodded, not in the least interested in getting squashed by a dragon. Especially not one that was buddies with that creep Hades from Grimoire Heart.

"Right." She replied edging away slightly, figuring that if this was going to get rough then she needed to give Natsu a little more room to work with. Unfortunately, that also meant she was further away from his protection, but there was no getting around that. She eyed the two Oracion Seis members warily, not at all certain what the girl in white feathers would do while the two dragons growled at each other.

Her contemplation was taken out of her hands, however, when she was abruptly staring at a copy of herself.

"What?!" She exclaimed in shocked confusion.

"Lucy Heartfilia." Her doppelganger said in an analytical tone, "Twenty-three years old. Originally from the world Earth where she had no family or friends. Passed through the gates unexpectedly a few months ago and joined Fairy Tail. Has since been learning celestial magic from Leo and Jellal Fernandez."

Lucy gaped as her copy smirked, "Has collected several zodiac keys, and possesses great magical potential, but still qualifies as barely trained."

"Oh well done Gemini!" Angel cooed approvingly, "Thank you!" She smirked cruelly at Lucy, "Crushing you should be fun. Jellal isn't known to train total losers!"

Lucy felt a chill go down her spine. She was in deep trouble.

The sensation of cold was felt by Natsu as well as his attention was drawn away from Cobra for a few seconds. His eyes were wide, his throat tight.

A celestial wizard?

Sure, there were others that existed, it was true. But one with a connection to summon the celestial spirits? And one like Gemini?

He didn't think that was even possible. The woman was dangerous and powerful. Which meant Lucy was in more danger than he first realized, "But how-"

A blow exploded under his chin, Cobra striking with deadly precision.

"I think you got other things to be paying attention to than what your little friend is doing!" Cobra jeered, sending Natsu hurtling into the ruins.

He growled as he climbed back to his feet, feeling a lead weight in his stomach as Lucy summoned Taurus to her side. Only to have the pervy bull completely distracted by Gemini's body double.

He couldn't concentrate on this now. Defeating Cobra was the priority, then he could help Lucy out. Combat against a powerful wizard like her - it was Lucy's first serious battle.

He just hoped Lucy could hang on until he was done.

The golden key he carried in his scarf warmed against his skin. It seemed Natsu wasn't the only one who wanted to fight.

Lucy hardly noticed as the two dragons began hurtling attacks and insults at each other with abandon. It was like a human sized version of the fight Gajeel and Mother Glare had gotten into, and just like that fight they quickly took it out of the immediate area so they could go to town.

In some ways that was a relief as it meant she wouldn't be collateral damage. In others it was a problem as it left her relatively alone with Angel. And it was becoming rapidly obvious that Angel was not only capable of summoning her spirits, she knew how to use them to their best advantage.

Something she was still learning how to do.

"Okay...Taurus didn't work." She muttered to herself as she pulled out another key, "Let's try Virgo. Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

"Impressive!" Angel purred, "You're able to summon more than one Zodiac in a row. It's just too bad it you can't summon multiple at a time. Not that it would do you any good anyway. Gemini!"

"I don't think Gemini will be able to stop Virgo as easily!" Lucy grinned, "Virgo! Punishment time!"

"Yes princess!" Virgo replied and began to move forward only to stop as Gemini held up a very familiar looking gold key, "Not going to happen this time."

Lucy's eyes widened as Virgo began visibly fighting the control that was re-directing her attack, "Princess! Look out!" She exclaimed, "I can't control it!"

"What?" Lucy yelped, and hastily slashed her key through the air, "Close! Gate of the Maiden!"

"You shouldn't have done that!" Gemini taunted as Virgo disappeared, and they slashed their copy of the key through the air, "Open! Gate of the Maiden!"

A hundred yards away, where Natsu and Cobra were still fighting as well, Natsu's key burned hotly. Lucy was in serious trouble and Leo was desperate to get into the fight. Lucy was a fabulous student, but she wasn't up to the level of the likes of Angel yet. It would take a miracle for her to get out of this alive, and he badly wanted to help make that miracle happen.

Cobra was a slippery bastard though, evading Natsu's attacks as swiftly as he dealt them out. Pointy eared little shit that he was, he taunted Natsu at every opportunity he had.

But Natsu, in his typical blind rage, had managed to slam a few hits on the dragon

Still, Natsu had to admit he was getting tired, and the poison from his attacks were starting to wear down on him. To a demon, it gave him resistance to it, but Natsu hardly was tapping into those powers. They were out of his reach just as much as his dragon ones were.

"Is that the best the great END can do?" Cobra jeered as Natsu went crashing into the ground. Rage pulsed through the fire dragon and he climbed back to his feet, panting out heavily through his mouth.

He snuck a glance over at Lucy, fighting for her life a distance away.

"Distracted by your girlfriend in the middle of a fight?" Cobra laughed, lunging at Natsu again. He managed to instinctively twist to evade the claw sailing an inch from his face.

An opening.

"Fire dragon roar!" Natsu bellowed, a gust of flame erupting from him and landing squarely on the other dragon. Cobra took the blast right to the face and he went reeling away with a shout of pain.

Natsu climbed up to his feet as he watched Cobra go down, trying to put himself out. He could wait.

"Lucy-" Natsu gasped and sprinted towards her, seeing Angel laughing as Lucy tried to reason with her spirit, "Lucy!"

He didn't notice as Cobra's shouts of pain fell silent and a low growling took its place. Natsu's attention was only on Lucy and getting to her.

Lucy caught sight of him as she turned towards him, Natsu reaching a hand out for her, relief tearing through him at the sight that she was still okay. She was fine. Leo was wrong-

But her face went pale and the sun suddenly went dark as something large and towering rose up behind him.

"Natsu watch out!" Lucy screamed, and he turned, lifting his arms just in time for a massive purple claw to bare down on him, slamming Natsu into the ground.

The dragon pushed out all the air from Natsu's lungs, not giving him enough time to even cry out as the claws flexed around his body and jerked him to the left with enough force to make the bones in his neck groan in protest.

Had he been a normal human, he was sure to have lost his head. It was also a miracle that the poison dragon was a smaller kind. They tended to run that way, with their brightly colored scales to match their venomous nature. Small and quick. Those were traits unique to their brand of dragon unlike Gajeel's bulkier form.

Natsu groaned as Cobra's claw flexed around his ribs, bruising and digging into his flesh. Natsu's hands clutched at the scales, fingers digging into Cobra to try and drag him off.

"Still thinking about 'Lucy' are you?" Cobra hissed furiously, his towering form heavy and intimidating, "Don't worry, we won't kill the girl. She's important to our plans. We'll just take her, and make her a willing pawn."

His snout lowered to Natsu, a dangerous smirk stretching across his muzzle, "Won't that be perfect for you? Having Lucy so devoted to Zeref? After all he's your br-"

Natsu cut him off with a strong right hook to Cobra's face, the dragon's head snapping back, "Shaddup!"

As the dragon roared in petulant fury, Natsu dug the key out from his scarf. Panic was roaring to life through him. Trapped as Natsu was, he couldn't do anything to help Lucy. That just left-...

It wasn't really an option now, was it? Sagittarius or not, Natsu wasn't left with a choice.

He couldn't let those people get their hands on Lucy. Natsu wouldn't let them sully her.

"Lucy!" He roared to her, catching sight of how she was sprinting towards him and the venom spewing dragon. Did she really plan on trying to rescue him?

Impossible.

"Lucy stop!" He shouted and flung the treasure he carried with him down at her feet, "You gotta finish things with Angel! This key is strong enough to defeat Gemini and Virgo!"

Lucy didn't even hesitate as she dove for the gold key and snatched it up, "Thanks!" She cried as she dodged a blast from Angel's weird mechanical spirit and took off running.

She glanced down at the key, wondering what spirit would be that strong, and felt her jaw drop at the sight of Leo's symbol on it. Natsu had possessed Leo's key all this time?

That...certainly explained a lot.

But now was not the time to be dwelling on it.

"Open! Gate of the Lion!" She called, frantically slashing the key through the air, "Leo!"

They didn't have an official contract or anything, obviously, but from the way Leo popped out immediately, looking like he wanted to tear something apart, she guessed her teacher wasn't in the mood to quibble over details like that.

"It's alright Lucy." Leo growled, "I'll protect you."

"Not against three you can't!" Lucy protested and pulled out her whip. It wouldn't have done her any good before now, but now that the odds were evened up some she could use it.

Though she felt bad that she would be using it against Virgo as the spirit had been the one to teach her how to use the weapon in the first place with Natsu. She glanced at the pink haired spirit. Then again, maybe she wouldn't. Knowing Virgo she'd be thrilled at the 'punishment'.

Regardless she stepped up to Leo's side, "I told you before. I fight with my spirits. I don't hide behind them." She flashed the lion a fierce grin, and felt a flush of pride when he returned it with a nod.

"I'll deal with Virgo." He growled, "You take care of that trigger happy blaster over there."

"Right." Lucy agreed as Gemini and Angel both stared at them in mingled horror and shock.

"He gave you Leo's key?!" Angel shouted in outrage, "How can he just give you a key like that?! They're priceless! Gemini do something!"

"But if we try to stop Leo we'll lose Virgo!" Gemini protested to Angel, "Lucy can't sustain two spirits at once, so we can't take control of him and have her here!"

Angel gave out an angry snarl as she raised her machine spirit, Chisel into the air, "I don't care! Leo is the real threat here! Get rid of that useless maid and take him out!"

Uncertainty flashed over Gemini's face, their dark eyes moving from where Natsu was currently being rag-doll shaken by Cobra, to where Lucy had her whip out and was avoiding Angel's blasts.

Leo's key and the Leader of the Zodiac, held by the dragon End. It was hard to believe he would let it go. Gemini could feel the confusion in Lucy's thoughts. The way his blind trust in her was infusing her with enough confidence and love for her spirits to give Lucy the courage to fight back.

"R-Right," Gemini hesitated, releasing their hold on Virgo and closing the gate. Their hand reached for their Leo key, hesitating for just a moment.

Long enough for a whip to wind its way across their wrists.

"Gotcha!" Lucy shouted with victory, yanking Gemini's hands away from the keys, "You're not getting your paws on Leo!"

Gemini, surprised she had even tried to protect a spirit she wasn't even contracted to, froze on the spot, unable to reach their keys.

"Gemini you useless-!" Angel screamed, but choked off when Leo closed the distance in a flash, taking the distraction for what it was.

There was a flash of light as Leo's strike connected with Angel, a blast of starry magic slamming into her and throwing her back.

Gemini's form wavered, bursting away as Angel's concentration broke and the gate closed. Lucy's whip fell to the ground once it had nothing to hold onto anymore, a sigh of relief rushing through her.

They did it.

"Well well, the girl managed to show some spirit after all," Cobra hissed, giving Natsu a bone crunching squeeze in his claw, "That was entertaining enough, but I think I've had enough fun for now."

Natsu wheezed a little at the tightening grip, but managed a smirk up at Cobra, "Might as well give it up. Lucy didn't lose to your pet celestial wizard, and I ain't losing to you!"

"No?" Cobra smirked down at his trapped prey, "You think so huh?" He leaned down close to Natsu's head, "Somehow I doubt that. For whatever reason you can't even access your inner flames to transform," He purred, and looked to where Cubellios was slithering out of the grass and creeping up on the exhausted blond as she spoke with her new spirit.

Natsu followed his line of sight, ignoring his distracting words and felt his heart stop. The snake! He'd completely forgotten about the snake in all the confusion. It was closing rapidly on an unsuspecting Lucy, and she was too tired to fight it. Leo was already fading back through the gate, just as unaware as Lucy of the danger.

"Lucy!" He cried as loudly as he could, which wasn't nearly loudly enough for his taste with Cobra stepping on him, "Look out!"

That caught the blonde's attention, but it was too late for her to react. Cubellios was nearly within striking range and closing rapidly.

"No!" He wheezed, struggling against the claws holding him down, "No! You can't hurt her!"

"Why not?" Cobra asked lazily, "She beat up Angel. Seems only fair to return the favor."

Natsu stared up at him and his terror suddenly morphed into fury. He grabbed hold of the nearest claw and shoved hard on it, "You. Will. Not. Touch. Her!" He snarled as he pushed, terrified and outraged in equal measure over the thought of the snake poisoning her.

Something within him roared in agreement and a familiar sensation of heat surged through him as red scales began popping out all over his skin.

The transformation Cobra claimed was out of his reach, ripped through him with such speed, the air rushed from Natsu's lungs, replacing oxygen with smoke and fire. His fury made him see red, and he was only distantly aware that his emotions were fueling his change.

His passion made the shift quickly, and if Natsu had the presence of mind to realize how strange that was - he would have remembered dragons never felt so strongly once they changed.

The wings erupted from his back, tail slithering out between Cobra's claws as his body shifted and grew. A deafening roar of challenge bellowed from Natsu as flames poured from him. It was like he was burning his very soul as he broke free from Cobra's surprised grasp.

And he was back, a hulking form, larger than Cobra and quick enough to wrap his jaws around the poison dragon's throat. He took advantage of Cobra's surprise over his transformation and threw him down, his claws sinking down over that strong neck to keep the thrashing dragon's snout and tail away from Lucy.

It was a good thing too, because Cobra released a roar of poisonous gas that caused everything alive near them to wilt and die. But Natsu paid no attention to the poison burning into his scales.

He let loose a narrow jet of flame, straight between Lucy's legs and through her fluttering skirt. The screech she let out was both hilarious and distracting and Natsu almost choked on a laugh that broke through his haze of anger.

It hit the ground directly in front of the snake, a path of fire cutting the snake's approach off from Lucy and giving her enough time to get out of the way.

Cubellios' hissed in protest, reeling back as Cobra watched in panic for his reptilian friend, his tail lifting, sharp and pointed to slash into Natsu's hind. But the fire dragon was past feeling the pain of those strikes. Fiery golden eyes snapped down to Cobra, sharp fangs bared down.

He had him by the neck. If Natsu was so inclined, he could kill him and be done with it.

But at Lucy's desperate look, his rage faded and he roared warningly in Cobra's growling face. He would be lucky this time. As much as Natsu wanted to grind his face into the ground, he had to get Lucy out of there.

Who knew how long it would take Cubellios to find a way around his flames. Or how long his body would stay like this.

He slashed his claws across Cobra's face as he pushed forward to close the distance between himself and his partner. Claws extended, he scooped Lucy gingerly into his arms. Ignoring her surprised shouts, his wings snapped open to catch a hot breeze to lift him into the air, flapping them powerfully.

His tail slithered down, scraping into the ruins, not caring how damaged he made them as he curled it. Inside the dirt he carried, was the small egg he took care to hide earlier.

Natsu didn't plan on sticking around. And he knew Gajeel would have heard his roars. The other member of the Oracian Seis had been there and willing to fight. No doubt Gajeel had his hands full with that member. As annoying as it was to regroup, Natsu knew their best chance of keeping one another safe, especially Lucy, Levy and Wendy, was as a team.

He didn't know what little Wendy could do. But Lucy was out of commission from magical exhaustion, and Levy was tired. On his own, Gajeel shouldn't have a problem facing the weird grid-faced sand guy. But in town it could be tricky.

But who knew if there were any other dark guild members lurking around.

Besides, he had to protect his nest.

Unbidden, Lucy's words crept up to his mind. Words he heard her speak to him several months ago.

'Even monsters have something, someone, to protect'

Maybe she was right after all.

Hush. We're running out of book titles. XD

Ohohohoho, fun times ahead. That's for sure. Only ONE chapter left in Act 2! This story has also officially been COMPLETELY WRITTEN. It is 65 chapters in total. (Probably, maybe 64). Act 3 is by far my favorite section of the story. We are almost halfway through the story!

This was huuuuuge.

SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! - ThatBrunnette (You are very welcome!) - guest account (I hope this didn't kill you TOO BAD. Omg, first Wendy and Happy, now Sting and Rogue. YOU GUYS WANT EVERYONE. haha, nah they'll show up in Act 3 at some point.) - GraceRoyal (You are actually NOT the first person to ask this, so don't feel like a perv at all. Yeah there will be a Nalu lemon. It'll show up in Act 3) - Mo0nyMoon (we live to torment) - Guest (We LIVE to torment you guys. I count the day I post. I hope this fight scene satisfied you a bit. We really couldn't spread the focus out in the fight scene because of how fast paced everything went) - bluebirdeyes (Oh yeah, we LIVE off the tension. HAHAHA) - OgaxHilda (I'm super glad you liked it! Don't worry, be patient my child. Everything you want from this story will soon be upon us!) - CrimsonLightKey (SHOOT! Kytrin! They've grown wise to our tricks! Yeah, it was a fun way of introducing them as dragonslayers as a sort of middle finger to elitist dragons.) - Snavej (hahaha, the lil' shits of dark guilds. That's who.) - wonderlust714 - rrrRANDOMmm - Avengerika (Well, almost-kisses are all a part of learning to luuuurbe.) - Haus of Lexy (OHHHHHH! I think I've read your fic before! That was Kytrin's idea actually, and I remember thinking 'Huh. I've read that in a fic somewhere...' but I couldn't place where. I won't lie, dragon siblings are totes amaze.) - panicatthediscofreak7 (NAAAAH, not Cobra. fufufu) - Angela-the-neko - Skylovesdragons (I'm glad you liked the sneak peek! I try to throw one in every time you guys blow my mind!) - Etrinity (IT'S TOO SOON TO MAKE NATSU AND LUCY HAPPY. THEY MUST SUFFER MORE. You are the second person to suggest the Jiggle Butt Game. Ommmg.) - fanficlove2014 (You are very welcome. Yeah it's definitely some fast thinking on Lucy's part naming them dragonslayers. There will be more Nalu moments on the horizon!) - Sara lovelymusic - shvartzit (Ooooooh my gooood. I hope you're okay! Your poor lil' EYEBALLS. Well I hope they will be okay, and we will continue to update this fic while you recover.) - Mooshoon (we live to terrorize you) - Animallover (Lucy is full of interesting ideas! Natsu understands love, but he doesn't quite think he's capable of it. Or at least that's MY opinion. I think Grandina came from the subtitles in the dubbed version...? I thinkkkk? I'd have to ask Kytrin.) - Dark-Angel-of-Wicked-Chaos17 - Crash8573 - FireShifter - Aurora (I think the point of Lucy's magic getting snuffed out like that was to show the utter strength of one of Zeref's TINY demons. Like that lil' muppet shit managed to wipe Lucy with a single attack. That's not a Raven Tail member, but one of Zeref's pals, so that actually doesn't surprise me one bit. Lucy's character isn't really meant to be the strongest mage. She's meant to be the voice of the audience and give us a role into the story. So I actually think her character has been balanced very well in the story :D ) - wishyouweremedontya (Oh reaaaaaaallllly? Pay up, I demand brownies! And what do I get if they don't kiss after the next two chapters? fufufu 8D) - KittyCrow12 (Maybe he'll join eventually. The twins will make an appearence eventually. somewhere in Act 3) - sunshine-melodi - kirby42280 (Hahaha, that's a really funny idea) - Midnight (Lisanna is alive, she's just a background character though. And Lucy will develop her magic as the story progresses) - 1212tiger1212 (patience! This is a slowish burnnn) - the-clumsy-one - Wonderwomanbatmanfan - Ahrix - Little Red (uhm. What. Cobra? There's... no cobra here...) Amelia Loves Anime
- Mechanical-Rose-Sama (The kiss will happen. Eventually.) - Saracasim - ThatOneExoticPotato (Don't worry, when they finally kiss, it's going to be absolutely breathtaking. HAHAHAHA) -Princessatj (...:D *pushes you into the mud* No we don't want you dead. We just want you to be crippled by FEEEEELS) - Moon Stone Tiger Lily (*chants* one of us, one of us) - AwkwayrdFT (awww! Thank you so much! I'm glad you feel that way!) - SakuraPetal91 - Chouxes (omg you REALLY want the lemon, don't you?) - artistofthemind - Guest (Welcome to the nest!) - DIGIKO12 (Ooooh, you poor fool. Catching up with us! Hahaha. We're super glad you liked it!)

Almost 50 reviews again! Here's another sneak peak! You all spoil us so much! :'D

Checking over her shoulder to ensure Natsu was still busy, Lucy retrieved it from its hiding spot. Hesitant fingers ran over the old leather cover.

It was still warm.

Once again, the book had updated.

Her grip tightened around the spine and she opened the book, looking at all the new pages that had appeared since the last time she had read it. There was so much new material to read.

Her heart thumped with sudden nerves and fresh guilt.