After coming up with a game play, they all set out to find Oracion Seis. Lucy was confused at the lack of scents and turned around. Jura and Ichiya were gone. She furrowed her brows. She wondered where they could possibly run off too. Well, they were the strongest of each of their teams so it was likely they might of went of on their own to device a plan.
Lucy shook her head, worries disappearing. They were capable mages, and she hardly knew them. Lucy stuck close to Natsu and Wendy as they moved throughout the woods. All three of their cats flew around the three dragon slayers. Happy particularly close to Charle. Marie huffed and flew into Lucy's arms.
A hand then snaked around Lucy's waist and pulled her closer. Lucy frowned and looked up at Natsu. But he wasn't focused on her. That's when she smelled it too. New scents. And they smelled dangerous.
"Do you smell it Wendy?" The blue haired girl nodded and hugged on Lucy's arm. Then, Lucy felt something hit her gut. Air knocked out of her, she doubled over in pain. Seeing this, everyone went in guard while Gray and Erza ran over to the blonde in worry. Marie shook as she stared down at Lucy.
"Lucy-san!" Wendy gasped. Natsu's eyes widened. He stood in front of Lucy and looked around in a frenzy for whatever attacked the blonde. Wendy put a hand over Lucy's stomach, blue light surrounding her hands. Lucy held her stomach.
"Damn that hurt. Thanks Wendy. Whoever hit me was incredibly fast. I could only smell him for a millisecond before it disappeared. Everyone be on guard." The blonde huffed as she stood up.
"Oh I can hear it all. Anger, desperation, and fear." A group of people appeared in front of them. Lucy's eyes darted to each member until she made eye contact with one man. His expression was blank, as if he hadn't just attacked her. She pointed to him. And at that, he grinned.
"He was the one that got me! Watch out, he's fast!"
"You're a tough one, eh? But I can hear it, you're just as scared as a child." Lucy turned her glare at the man who said that. What did he mean he could hear it? Did he have some sort if super sonic hearing? And how can someone hear emotions!?
"Shut up, come on everyone," she turned. "Were here to fight the Oracion Seis, seems like they found us!" Lucy lifted a fist and went to punch the man across the face, but quickly changed directions to hit the woman they had with them. Though the man from before was there to block her attack.
"I could hear that one from a mile away..." he smirked. She snarled and leaned into him.
"Just who are you?"
"Cobra, of the Oracion Seis. And as long as I'm here, no one will do any attack without me hearing it." Lucy scoffed and jumped back from him. Natsu was next to her in a second. Lucy and Natsu had both Happy and Marie to lift them from the ground and get an advantage from the sky. They sucked up one breath and aimed it at a man who slept.
"Fire dragon roar!"
"Celestial dragon roar!" They grinned when the attack hit dead on, but gasped when the sleeping man was okay. And the attack redirected to behind him. Erza then screamed and stumbled back from Cobra who had a snake slither around him. That snake had just bit her! Purple began to spread all throughout her body.
"Fuck- Erza!" Natsu screamed as Happy dropped him on the ground. Everyone was distracted from this, and this gave another Oracion Seis member the change to use his heat to make the ground become liquid. Just as it was going to splash them, hard rock blocked it and created a dome around everyone. Everyone except Wendy and Happy.
"Where's Happy and Wendy!? Let us out, I need to make sure they're okay!" Lucy yelled. The man who saved them, Jura, shook his head. He and Ichiya were worse for wear. They must have been ambushed.
"We can't risk it."
"Dammit Jura, they're gone! I can't smell their scent anymore, so let us out." Frowning, he did what was asked and lifted them from the earthy dome. Lucy searched around for her furry companion and her newest friend. They were gone too. Only leaving behind one of Wendy's shoes. Natsu clenched his fist.
"We need to go now." Lucy nodded and tried to run after them, but was stopped by Jura.
"We must wait till the time is right." He reasoned.
"No way are we waiting around! They took Happy!" Natsu yelled. Charle crossed her arms and stared at the ground. Marie noticed her worry for the blue haired girl. She didn't blame her. If Lucy was gone right now, she wouldn't know what to do.
"Your friend is slowly dying of poison, correct?" Charle interjected. All eyes turned to her. "Wendy can heal her and save her life if we get her back right now. If not, there is no hope for your friend." Lucy and Natsu ran off after hearing this, along with Marie and Charle.
"Dammit. I'll go after them," Gray scoffed. He turned to everyone. "Don't do anything drastic, especially if Erza asks you too. I don't want to come back to an armless Erza." The ice mage muttered dangerously. He ran after Natsu and Lucy, quickly catching up with them.
"What are doing here Gray!? Go back to Erza, she needs you!" Lucy screamed. Gray gave her a hard look and turned forward, watching Natsu's back as he ran faster than the two.
"I know that! But I want to get those assholes back for doing that to her, that poison bastard..." Gray muttered angrily. Lucy sighed and turned to Marie and Charle.
"I know this is a lot to ask but I want you two to return to Erza. I trust the others, but I would just feel better if you were there to stop Erza from doing anything stupid." Charle rolled her eyes and stopped flying forward. Marie wiggled out of Lucy's grasp and stared down at her.
"Are you sure, Lucy?" Marie asked meekly. She really didn't like leaving Lucy but if she thought it was for the best...
"Yes please. We can handle this," she turned to Charle. "And I promise, we will get Wendy back. You can count on it." Lucy nodded her head, her expression concrete. Charle studied Lucy's eyes and felt her own softened. She crossed her arms and looked away.
"You better, come Marie. The redhead will need our help." Marie mumbled something incoherent and nodded, flying off with the other white cat. Lucy watched them go before turning back to the woods ahead of her. Natsu was busy tracking Wendy's scent, while Gray focused on controlling his anger towards Oracion Seis.
"Hey!" Natsu yelled back. "Her scent is getting stronger. She must be getting close." Lucy smiled. She was glad. If Wendy was nearby, so was Happy. She caught up with Natsu and walked side by side. Only to be knocked down by something. She grunted as something hit her from the ground. It was that same smell from before. Why was this guy only after her!?
"Dammit, show yourself." Lucy screamed, standing back up. Gray and Natsu stopped their movement and frantically searched around for something. Then a man appeared in front of Gray. It was that man from Oracion Seis. And he had incredible speed! Gray gasped as he covered his hand in thick ice.
Just in time to stop the speedy man from punching him. "The hell is your problem!" Gray growled. The man jumped back and grinned sharply.
"I'm Racer, the fastest man alive! This is where I have to stop you three." Gray darted between Lucy and Natsu before biting his lip.
"Ice make: Wall!" Gray announced, creating a huge wall of ice between Natsu and Lucy, and Gray and Racer. "Go you guys! I'll take care of him!" Lucy and Natsu nodded, running down a hill and away from the two.
"I hope he'll be okay..." Lucy sighed in worry.
"He'll definitely be fine, he's annoying but he's Gray," Natsu said with a smirk. Lucy giggled slightly. Just then, they came up to a small house in the middle of the woods. "Wendy is in there, I'm sure of it." Lucy nodded, she could smell her too. They ran up to the side of the building and lowered themselves. Lucy put a finger to her lips to shush Natsu as she stuck to the wall. She put her ear up to the wall and listened closely.
No one was there. Just Wendy and Happy. "It's clear. But we should still be careful." Lucy whispered. Lucy grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open. She heard a few gasps before making eye contact with Wendy. She witnessed as tears spilled from Wendy's face as she stood up and charged at the blonde. Lucy grunted as Wendy embraced her, as well as Happy.
"Lucy-san! I'm so sorry, I'll never be able to forgive myself but I couldn't help it! I just missed him so much!" Wendy sobbed. Lucy turned to Natsu and confusion, tangling Wendy's hair with her fingers. She let go of the small girl and bent down to Wendy.
"What's the matter Wendy?"
"I revived him...Jellal" Wendy hiccuped. She hugged on Lucy once more, not being able to look her in the eye. Lucy's eyes were widened considerably as the name left Wendy's tongue. Jellal...? Is Wendy talking about who Lucy thinks she is.
"W-Wendy...are you sure?" Lucy asked, voice barely audible. But Wendy couldn't answer, she was too upset. Happy sniffled and looked between Natsu and Lucy. He nodded.
"It was actually Jellal. He was revived for the purpose of activating this thing called Nirvana. If Jellal does this, anyone who wavers between good and evil will become the thing they are opposite. Meaning, for example, if Lucy was between good and evil, since she is good, she would become evil. But I don't get the point of it. And why Jellal, it just doesn't make sense!" Happy cried, wiping his damp fur. Lucy blinked at the blue cat, before grabbing him and pulling him close.
"Where is Jellal now?" She asked slowly.
"I don't know, probably trying to find Nirvana. But it was weird, he wasn't like he was at the Tower of Heaven. He seemed...nicer, more pure than before. And he didn't seem to remember us at all." Lucy frowned at this. What was Jellal trying to pull now. Erza was just starting to get over what happened. When she finds him...
"Let's not worry for now, Erza needs your help Wendy. She was bit by a snake and needs your healing right away." Lucy said, grabbing Wendy's arms. Wendy gasped and ran passed everyone, immediately going in the direction of Erza. Lucy smiled slightly and ran after her. Happy sped passed both Natsu and Lucy and grabbed Wendy by the back.
"Good idea, buddy! Take her there quickly!" Natsu grinned.
"Aye sir!" Happy laughed. He flew off, becoming out of sight quickly. Lucy and Natsu were able to catch up to them, going around where Gray and Racer were fighting. Once they were back to where Erza was, they slowed down their movements. Lucy knelt down to Erza and wiped her forehead with a handkerchief. Wendy placed her glowing hands over Erza's arm and started to heal her.
Lucy gasped as the purple surrounding her arm started to fade away. She turned to a Blue Pegasus member, Hibiki. "Anyway, why is everyone gone?" She asked him. He was busy typing in a computer that his magic generated. Looking serious, he turned to Lucy.
"They went off to find the rest of the Oracion Seis. As you can see, I'm not that strong so I stayed behind. But don't worry, I'm tracking every one of them." Lucy nodded and went back to watching Wendy and Erza. Finally, the redhead was getting better and losing the painful expression on her face.
"Thank you so much Wendy. You saved her life." Lucy sighed. Natsu nodding along with her. Charle scoffed.
"Have you not noticed Wendy's condition. She is exhausted from helping your friend. So please do not have any one of your men get hurt because she won't be able to help!"
"Charle please, I'm okay. And with what I did back there...this is the least I could do." Wendy muttered. Lucy gave Wendy a small smile.
"Please, this isn't your fault. We can figure this all out together. But in the meanwhile, it would be best If me and Natsu got into the fight. Happy, Charle, and Marie can stay here with you while you watch over Erza. Hibiki, can you do me a favor and make sure they'll be okay?" Lucy asked. Hibiki nodded and gave the blonde a dazzling smile. Only to notice Natsu's glare. Immediately turning back around, he continued to nervously work on tracking everyone.
"We'll see you guys later, good luck!" Natsu yelled. He ran off towards a river, Lucy chasing after him. He jumped into the water, noticing a raft tied to a rock. Curiosity rising, he climbed on the wood raft and stood up, smiling at Lucy. Lucy's face became filled with dread as she noticed Natsu was getting sicker.
"Natsu! Get down!" Her mouth hung wide open when Natsu's face went green. He fell down on the raft and moaned from the sickness he was feeling. She shook her head and crossed her arms. Then, she smelled something off. She looked up at...Gray!? Who was standing on the raft with a grin on his face.
But it didn't smell like him. Whatever was posing as Gray, smelled of space and earth. Like what her spirits smell like. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the thing that looked like Gray. Instead of speaking, she charged at the imposter and punched him across the face.
"Oh wow, I see that nose does live up to its standards." A feminine voice giggled from behind Gray. Lucy staggered back from Gray and stood her ground on land.
"Who are you, and who is this spirit?" Lucy questioned, glaring at what looked like Gray.
"Ah yes, I heard you were a celestial mage like myself. Well, this isn't very fun. I wanted to show off my beautiful magic. But oh well! This is Gemini, one of the twelve zodiac. She takes on the forms of anyone matching me in power and they can even take the thoughts of said person. For example," The woman smirked.
"Lucy- strong, aggressive, and pretty damn cute!" The fake Gray grinned. Lucy couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks. She didn't think Gray thought she was cute. Though when she noticed Natsu's expression, her mind became clear. Despite his clear motion sickness, he glared up at that Gray dangerously. Lucy had the urge to smile, but just crossed her arms to stare at the woman instead.
"What's your name? I saw you were part of Oracion Seis, but that's the extent of my knowledge." Lucy hummed.
"I am Angel. A beautiful angel, worthy of the world!" Lucy resisted rolling her eyes, keeping them trained on her instead. "I do believe this is a fitting death for you. To see an Angel before death is good luck you know?" Lucy snickered at Angel's words.
"You'll kill me? I'd like to see you try," Lucy grabbed Loke's key from her pouch and called him out. "Open, gate of the lion: Leo!" The flirty lion popped out with a smile, staring at Lucy. She raised an eyebrow.
"Princess!" He tried to hug her, but the blonde pushed him back.
"We don't have time for this! Just fight her!" Immediately reverting back to his serious stance.
"You got it, princess!" Loke smiled. Angel smirked and called out a key of her own. And out popped a pink haired woman, it was Aries. Loke dropped his demeanor, his jaw dropping at the sight of his old time friend.
"A-Aries..." Loke muttered. Aries stared at Loke with a certain longing, her cheeks becoming red. She held hed hands together in nervousness.
"Leo...we finally meet again." Aries squeaked out, tears coming to her eyes. Lucy frowned severely at the both of them and turned to glare at Angel.
"How'd you get her key?" Lucy interrogated.
"Do you still believe that Aries was still somehow in contract with that woman. What was her name...Karen? Oh yes, the woman I killed. After killing her, i took all her keys. And my was it incredibly easy if i say so myself, seemed she was already weak before fighting me." Angel laughed, looking directly at Loke. The spirit sucked in a breath and gazed sadly at Aries. From behind them, Lucy could feel a dark energy that surrounded them. Looking confused, Lucy turned around to find Hibiki, the cats, and Wendy. They had followed them!
And Hibiki wasn't looking so good. He was angry, furious even. Lucy gasped, remembering what Happy said about Nirvana. If Hibiki can't control his anger, things are going to get a thousand times harder. "Hibiki you idiot, don't go there!" Lucy yelled. She gazed at Loke next. "Loke you ain't fighting Aries, I won't allow it!" She yelled, but a hand from Loke shut her up.
"We are both contracted to a different master which means if they fight we do too."
"Yes, we may be friends but we are on different teams now. I may not be a combat spirit, but I will try my very hardest." Aries said, her soft tone becoming firm. Loke and Aries set out in a fight, Aries using her wool bomb and Loke using Regulas Impact on her. It was becoming a stalemate, but that was because Loke was holding back. Lucy could tell.
This upset Angel apparently, because she called out a silver spirit. She smirked as the spirit began to transform and aim at Loke, but through Aries. Lucy's eyes widened as she noticed the way Angel waved at Lucy. "Aries, look out!" Aries gasped as she felt pain in her left side. She looked down to see that the silver spirit blasted through her and right at Loke. Both ended up being pierced.
"Leo!"
"Aries!"
Both spirits cried out. Lucy watched with tears as her friends disappeared. Angel scoffed and smirked at Lucy.
"Why're you so upset? They can't die no matter how much we tortured them. They'll be fine." Angel laughed. Lucy clenched her key and put them away. Her fist swirled with magic.
"That doesn't matter! They still feel pain and they deserve to be treated like human beings! No spirit should be subjected to pain!" From beside Angel, Gemini frowned when looking at Lucy. She seemed so genuine with her words. They then looked at Angel. She was less then impressed.
"Whatever, Gemini! Get her!" Gemini followed her orders and went to punch Lucy, still morphed into Gray. But Lucy dodged their attack and aimed for Angel. Once magic surrounded her body, the sky then became dark. Lightning filled the sky, and the stars were clear. As if it was midnight. Lucy wasn't sure if it would work, but this was her strongest attack. She had to make the most of it.
And it was working. Angel looked terrified.
"Celestial dragon secret art! Falling stars!" Brights, buring balls of fire began to crash down from the sky. All directed at Angel. The woman screamed as the attack hit her dead on. Angel stood there for a minute or two, clothes torn and battered. She fell backwards, landing into the water. She glanced up at the bright sky once more.
"Is this...what it feels like to be an angel? It's nice..." Angel mumbled, a defeated smile on her face. Lucy grinned brightly and turned to Hibiki and the rest. They smiled back at her. But Wendy gasped, pointing to behind Lucy. Lucy gaped and turned around, she totally forgot about Natsu. And with all the commotion, his raft was starting to drift away.
"Grab my hand!" He looked weak, but did it. Lucy jumped on the raft as they raced down the river. Lucy gurgled as she felt herself become weak, just like him. Lucy held onto Natsu in fear as they continued to speed down the raging river. But Lucy screamed when she saw the waterfall in front of them. Just as they came to the end of the river, Lucy grabbed Natsu by the arms and hauled him over the waterfall.
Once the water hit her body, there was nothing but darkness.
...
"Ow, where...where am l?" Lucy mumbled to herself as she rubbed her sore head. Noticing the wet hair but dry clothes, she looked down. Her outfit was changed. She was wearing a blue dress, with an orange heart in the middle. She looked to her right to see Natsu passed out. Wearing a matching version of her outfit. Seeing that, her heartrate sped up. This must of startled Natsu awake, because his eyes opened. Lucy turned away, trying to calm her frenzied heart.
"What happened?" Natsu said as he stood up. Bringing her up with him, he watched her look around for something. She smiled when she saw someone familiar.
"So it was you Virgo..." Lucy hummed. The spirit bowed to her.
"Yes, big brother Leo told me you might need my help. When I came out, I saw you two soaked and decided to give you some clothes from the spirit world. And I made sure you both matched." The sneaky spirit smirked at Lucy. The blonde whined silently and leaned her gaze down to the ground.
"So it was you who saved me Lucy?" Natsu asked. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Jeez Natsu, you were motion sick, not blind." Lucy scoffed. Natsu rubbed the back of his head and gave her a blinding smile.
"Well anyway, thanks for saving me back there!" His attention was all on her at that moment. Lucy didn't even know what to do with herself then. She shifted awkwardly and leaned away from him.
"You act so weird sometimes..." Lucy mumbled. Natsu laughed and brought her in for a hug. Lucy squeaked and squirmed, but he didn't seem to notice. Once he let her go, he looked down at her.
"Do you know what's been happening so far? We got split up from the others but since I was out for quite a long time, i was hoping you would know more." Natsu said as he walked along the woods with Lucy. She sighed and shook her head.
"No I don't know much. I don't even know if Erza is okay, but I'm guessing so since Wendy and the others caught up with us. So my guess is that Erza is after Jellal. Hopefully she can get to him before he activates Nirvana." Lucy explained. And just as Natsu was going to retort, a noise from between the trees distracted him. A woman stumbled out, falling to the ground. It was Sherry. She looked up at Natsu and Lucy and glared at them...or what it seemed.
"You killed Lyon-sama!" She yelled as she pointed between them. They looked behind to see Gray standing there. Lucy was confused at first, but when she could tell it was actually Gray, she nodded at him.
"I'm not dead." Lyon said as he came out of the bushes. Gray gasped and ran to Lyon.
"How did you survive that?"
"Well, I threw the bomb off us at the last minute and got away from Racer. I think he's alive but after I woke up I couldn't find him anywhere." Lucy frowned as she darted between the three mages. What the hell were they talking about?
"Can you guys explain?" Lucy asked. Gray nodded.
"While I was in a battle with Racer, I came in contact with Lyon and we both decided to defeat him together. Well, during then we figured out that Racer wasn't actually fast, he was just slowing everything down around us. So to defeat him, Lyon got out of his range of magic and hit him with some ice eagles. But Racer had a bomb strapped to him. And to save me, Lyon pushed himself and Racer off a cliff. I thought he was dead and I guess so did Sherry." Gray sighed.
Sherry laid there as she stared at Lyon. A smile came to her face before she passed out. Lucy shook her head and crossed her arms. Well it seemed Racer and Angel were defeated. About the others, she hoped everyone else beat them. Lucy cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention.
"I'm glad you two are catching up, but we should get back to everyone else." Just as she finished her sentence, the earth below her began to shake. Lucy grunted, feeling her feet give out. Natsu managed to grab her before she fell, he settled the blonde straight and looked to where the shaking was coming from. It was a huge ball of metal that lifted from the ground, six legs connected to the ground. Natsu felt himself become sick when it took the first step.
"We should probably get going. I'm assuming this is Oracion Seis's doing." Gray said. Everyone agreed and ran to where the moving robot like thing was at. During their sprint, Lyon managed ro disappear, but no one had really noticed. Lucy and Natsu's face went green as they climbed the legs. "By the way Lucy, what's with the matching outfits?" Gray asked Lucy with a raised eyebrow.
"There is a time and place to explain that, but not here!" She told him. He laughed and kept climbing. As they all made it to the top, they gaped at what was on the surface. It was a whole village that was just lifted off the ground. And in the village, was Wendy and the cats.
"Wendy! Marie!" Lucy yelled. She ran to the two and grabbed them, bringing them in for a hug. "I'm glad you all are safe!"
"Lucy!" Her voice was muffled due to her digging her head into Lucy's chest. She also saw Natsu and went to him and hugged him. He gave her a small smile while he pat her head softly. Wendy then stood back and explained to everyone that three Oracion Seis members were left, that one even turned to their side. It happened that Cobra was one of the ones left.
"I can go after him." Lucy said with determination. She cracked her knuckles, thinking about the man that hurt Erza.
"No Lucy." Natsu said simply.
"But why Natsu?!"
"Because I'm going to beat him. You stay here with everyone else and protect them." He told her under his breath. He pulled her close by grabbing her waist. Her eyes widened as she peeked up at him.
"N-Natsu...?"
He leaned forward and beamed at her. "Stay safe." He told her quietly. Then, after calling for Happy. He was gone. Lucy placed her hand over her heart and gulped. Then, as if snapping out of a trance, her eyes filled with fire. Anger rolling off her in waves.
Had he done that on purpose!?