Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! Read at your own risk. There's still original stuff in here, but if you haven't gotten to this point in the anime/manga, then some things may be ruined for you. I advise catching up to the anime/manga if you haven't already (for more reasons than just reading my story)! Thank you and enjoy!
Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon
Chapter 39
Lisanna stumbled through the woods, panting heavily. She had still not recovered from her fight with Azuma and now she was trying to run as fast as she could with Mira's unconscious body in her arms. Her muscles screamed at her to stop and rest, but she refused to listen. The only thought going through her mind was that she had to get Mira some help. "Stay with me, Mira. Nikolias says that we can save you, so you better not give up on me."
She continued to push her way through the trees as the sky suddenly darkened and a heavy downpour began. Lisanna looked up to the sky as she ran. "Where did this come from?" she asked no one in particular. She shook the thought out of her head and focused on the forest floor. It was then that she saw the trees start to thin out. She kept running, only to find herself in a clearing much like the one where the old base camp was. However, she was intrigued to find a ratty and hastily built tent already set up. She ran towards the tent and was surprised by what she saw. "Levy!"
Underneath the tent and kneeling beside a makeshift bed was Levy. Tears were filling her eyes, but she wiped them away to look at Lisanna. "Lisanna, what are you doing here?"
Lisanna walked closer to the bed. "Mira and I faced one of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory. Mira fought as hard as she could, but she couldn't win and now she's really hurt." Lisanna looked down and her eyes widened. "Is that Gajeel?"
Gajeel was lying in the makeshift bed, unconscious. He was heavily bandaged and most of them were stained red from the multiple wounds that they covered. His breathing was shallow, but he was at least alive.
Levy nodded as more tears threatened to fall. "Yeah. He got hurt pretty bad taking on two of Grimoire Heart's members. He won the fight, but not without taking a lot of serious damage. He was still awake, but when I started to bring him to base camp, he passed out. I realized that I had to treat his wounds and let him rest, so I found this clearing not too far from the original base camp and set up a tent." She looked down sadly at Gajeel's sleeping form. "He's been out for a while now."
Lisanna gently laid Mira down beside Gajeel. "We need to give Mira some attention and quick." She began looking through the medic pack that was on the ground by Gajeel for anything that could help Mira.
Levy looked out at the rain. "This weather is suiting, don't you think?"
"Yeah," Lisanna whispered as she pulled out some bandages and antiseptic to begin treating Mira's wounds.
Levy returned her attention to the unconscious forms of Gajeel and Mira. "They'll be okay, right?"
"I'm sure," Lisanna nodded while applying bandages. However, nothing could be further from the truth. She had no idea. All she could do was help to treat their wounds and hope that they would recover.
"If you and Mira lost to your opponent, how did you escape?" Levy asked.
"I don't think he had any intention to fight us anymore once Mira went down," Lisanna said. "However, when he was about to leave, Nikolias showed up and started to fight him. He gave me the chance to get Mira out of there and try to get her some help before the fighting started up again."
"So there's no point in even trying to go to base camp?" Levy asked.
Lisanna shook her head. "Before Nikolias even showed up, the whole area was pretty much destroyed from our fight. Plus, as I was running, I heard and saw massive explosions. It's safe to say that the old base camp is gone."
"But what about the others?" Levy asked. "How will they know where to find us?"
"I have no doubt that Wendy, Natsu, and Nikolias could find us without a problem. As for everyone else, we can just hope that they're able to find the new base camp since it is so close to the original."
Levy lowered her head. "How can this be happening?"
Lisanna wiped her brow, having now finished with Mira's bandages. "I don't know."
Levy stood up. "Well the good news is that these two are at least still breathing, so I'm sure that they'll make it now that their wounds have been treated."
"Yeah, you're right."
"But still, how strong are these guys if Mira and Gajeel went down so quickly?" Levy asked, her fists clenched in frustration.
"They're really strong," Lisanna said. Tears started to fill her eyes. "Nikolias told me that it wasn't my fault that Mira got so hurt, but how am I supposed to believe that? If I was stronger, I could've been more helpful to Mira." She covered her face with her hands. "It is my fault."
"It's not anyone's fault," came a voice from behind.
Lisanna and Levy turned to see Elfman carrying an unconscious Evergreen. Both were covered in serious injuries and Elfman was barely able to stand. "Elfman!" Lisanna cried.
Tears poured down Elfman's face. "We're just not strong enough to beat them," Elfman said. "Grimoire Heart is just too strong."
"Big brother," Lisanna whispered.
"I'm pathetic," Elfman hissed. "A sad excuse for a man. I couldn't protect anyone from those bastards. Now Mira and Evergreen are badly hurt."
Levy looked to the sky. "It's time for things to change."
"What do you mean, Levy?" Lisanna asked.
"We need to come together. Why do you think we've been having so much trouble? It's because we're not fighting together as a family. We allowed our desires to become S-Class to blind us and separate us. We were all thinking about ourselves, but that's not what makes Fairy Tail as great as it is. We look out for each other and that's what makes us strong." Tears were flowing down Levy's cheeks as her voice started to waver from the sorrow. "Our enemy may be powerful, but we're Fairy Tail. We've gone through so much together. We stopped the Phantom Lord guild from destroying us. We pulled through when we were forced to fight each other when Laxus and the Thunder Legion threatened the guild. We stopped Nirvana and the Oración Seis. We stopped a lunatic from creating a Dragonoid. We survived Edolas and being transformed into a lacrima. We fought back the Bloody Moon guild. We can't let these new opponents beat us like this. I know that if we combine our strength and our feelings, we can't lose!" She closed her eyes and shouted at the sky, "PLEASE EVERYONE! WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER!"
Lisanna wiped away the tears that formed. "You're right, Levy. We need to fight as one. That's where our strength lies. I'm sure that once Nikolias comes back from his fight, he can round everyone up."
Elfman hobbled over to the makeshift beds and placed Evergreen down. "Nikolias was fighting someone?"
Lisanna nodded. "After Mira and I got beaten up by that Azuma guy at the first base camp, Nikolias showed up and started to fight him so that I could get Mira some medical attention."
Elfman looked like he got even paler. "Did you say the fight took place at base camp?"
"Yeah, why?" Lisanna asked.
"And Nikolias isn't back yet?"
"No. Elfman, what are you trying to say?"
Elfman looked at her. "I went to base camp to try and get Evergreen some help not too long ago. No one was there, but there was a lot of blood."
Lisanna's eyes widened. "You can't mean—."
"If Nikolias isn't here and no one was fighting over there," Elfman interrupted, "then could it be that Nikolias lost?"
"No way," Lisanna whispered while shaking her head. "It must have been the enemy's blood and Nikolias went off to help others. I'm sure of it." She tried to reason with herself, but it didn't stop the tears.
Elfman lied down next to Evergreen, his wounds aching and in need of attention. "I'm sure you're right," Elfman said as he tried to calm down Lisanna. "I mean, this is Nikolias. He could never lose to these guys."
Lisanna looked at him. "Yeah, you're right." She rummaged through the medic pack and turned to Elfman. "Let me treat your injuries."
"Evergreen first," Elfman demanded.
Lisanna stared at him, but eventually nodded. "Alright."
"You take care of Elfman. I'll take care of Evergreen," Levy said as she kneeled beside Lisanna.
The two worked quickly to heal their friends, both praying that more members would show up soon.
Cana took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "This is it. Path 'E'. Time to be S-Class." She began walking forward and into path 'E', hoping that Lucy was in fact right with her speculation of the location of the first guild master's grave.
For as long as she could remember, this was all Cana wanted—to become an S-Class wizard. Ever since she arrived at the guild and first began practicing magic, she dreamed of becoming strong enough to be an S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail. However, year after year, someone even stronger would pass instead of her; people like Erza and Mirajane. It was frustrating since she had joined the guild long before either of them.
Then, of course, Nikolias and Gracie showed up. The strength both of them possessed was like nothing she had ever seen and it was that strength that had Cana's heart pounding whenever she saw or talked about Nikolias. He was so powerful that without even needing to take the Trials, he was bumped to S-Class. It made sense to her, though. The last thing you want is a dragon going all out to try and pass a test. Also, she was grateful that he wasn't a participant because she knew that he would be near impossible to beat. Not only would he crush anyone in a fight, but with his strong senses, he could probably locate the grave with ease.
She wanted to be S-Class so that maybe Nikolias would think more of her. She understood that Nikolias loved Mira, but until they were officially hitched, she wasn't going to give up on him. However, there was another, much larger reason why Cana wanted to be S-Class.
"I will become S-Class this year," Cana said with a determined look, "because if I can become S-Class then I can look him in the eye and tell him the truth. I can finally feel like I deserve to tell him everything."
Cana kept walking forward until a bright light appeared at the end of the path. Cana's eyes widened. "No way. Is…Is that it?" She walked forward, almost like she was in a hypnotic trance, hoping that her long awaited dreams were finally coming true.
Natsu ran forward, fists ablaze. "I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked!" Using his fire as a means to create hand holds, Natsu began climbing the thick tree trunk towards the branch that Ultear was sitting on.
Ultear smirked. "Are you sure that's what the future has in store?" With that, the orb in her hand shot towards Natsu.
He saw this attack coming and leapt off of the tree, easily dodging the orb. "Is that the best you can do?"
Ultear simply chuckled as the orb redirected itself and began striking Natsu over and over at blinding speeds. "Oh come now, don't tell me that you were all talk?"
Natsu, whose guard was up, gritted his teeth. "You wish. FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" Natsu's flaming fist connected with the orb fully, completely smashing it. "How do you like that?" he asked with a victorious grin. However, his smile quickly faded as he watched the orb he had just shattered repair itself and multiply. Natsu watched cautiously as he found himself completely surrounded by orbs.
Ultear examined her nails. "Do you like it? Each of these orbs contains a possible future for you. I call it Parallel Worlds." She returned her attention to Natsu, a knowing smile on her face. "I have the ability to create an infinite number of futures and then compress them into one single future, like so." She held out her hand. "FLASH FORWARD!" Upon command, all of the orbs shot towards Natsu, each one crashing into his body with immense force and exploding. A cry could be heard from the cloud of smoke that was created from the attack, making Ultear giggle maliciously.
Natsu fell from the cloud of smoke and crashed to the ground, his body covered in new wounds.
"Natsu!" Happy cried.
Ultear looked down at him. "Don't tell me you're already done in? My, how disappointing. The fun was just beginning."
Natsu pushed himself off the ground. "Like hell I'm done." He wiped away some blood that was running from the corner of his mouth. "I'm just getting warmed up!" Natsu quickly collected flames in his hand and condensed it into an orb. He then aimed it at Ultear and cried, "FIRE DRAGON PULSE!" The orb shot from Natsu's hand at incredible speed towards Ultear.
The Time mage leapt from her perch just as the orb collided with the branch. However, she was surprised to find a wave of fire chasing after her. Completely caught off guard, the wave of concussive power crashed into her back sending her spiraling further into the air. 'I've never seen a move like that before. Where did he learn it?' Ultear used her orbs to gently bring her to the ground. "Impressive, Salamander. I must say, I never saw that move coming."
Natsu charged at Ultear, flames igniting his feet. "Don't think I'm finished yet. FIRE DRAGON TALON!" Natsu leapt at Ultear, his foot extended in an attempt to land a kick.
However, his attack was stopped—or rather, intercepted—by a large, fat, white man, who flew in the way of Natsu's kick. The kick struck the man in the face and sent him crashing into a tree near Ultear.
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that?" He then heard a groan on the ground in front of him. He looked down and his eyes widened in shock. "Lucy!"
20 MINUTES EARLIER
Lucy's eyes slowly opened, the feelings of sleep finally leaving her. She was expecting the bright light of the sun to blind her, but instead saw darkness. "Is it night time?" Fortunately, for Lucy, her brain registered what was going on as the darkness began to creep closer. Her eyes snapped open and she leapt away just before a massive foot smashed the ground where she had previously been sleeping. "What the hell?" Lucy asked in surprise as she looked at her attacker.
The man before her was extremely tall and fat. His skin was chalk-white and his hair was thick and black. He wore a strange outfit—if one could even call it that. It was just a blue and yellow cape, brown belt-like straps crisscrossing his large upper body, and a pair of black underwear and boots. The man looked at Lucy. "Oh, I see I missed."
Lucy looked around before looking back at the strange man. "Alright tubby, where's Cana?"
The man blinked. "Umm…maybe the bathroom?" he offered.
"I don't buy it," Lucy said. "You did something didn't you, fat ass?"
The man took a step back. "You don't have to be so mean, you know."
"Just tell me where my friend is!" Lucy demanded.
The man hid behind a tree. "You should be nicer."
Lucy palmed her forehead. "This guy is a moron."
"Hey, I'm not a moron!" the man defended. "I'm Kain Hikaru. And I may not look it, but I'm tough!"
"Sure you are," Lucy said.
Kain removed himself from the cover of the tree. "It's true! I'm strong! And because you mocked me, I'm gonna show you just how strong I am! You will fall victim to my Witching Hour Curse Magic." He began rummaging through his few clothes before whipping out a small doll. "Behold, Mr. Cursey! Now, give me a strand of your hair so that I can show you the terror of my magic!"
Lucy gave him a deadpanned look. "You do realize that by telling me that, I'm definitely not going to give you some of my hair, right?" Kain stood frozen for a while before a look of realization hit him. Lucy sighed. "There it is. Look, I guess no one really told you this, but voodoo is totally bogus. I think you're just delusional if you think you can fight me with your doll."
Kain took a step back. "Wait, are you calling me a liar?"
"Well, I didn't really say that, but…" she began, but stopped once she saw Kain pull out a thick strand of his own hair and put it into the doll. "What the hell are you doing, weirdo?"
Kain handed Lucy the doll. "Here, use it. Then you'll see the awesome power I possess!"
Lucy took the doll and examined it. She truly didn't believe in voodoo, but what was the harm in playing along with this man's delusions? She grabbed the doll by the arms and legs and pulled them taught.
Kain mimicked the action, finding his body stretching out uncomfortably.
Lucy noticed this and an evil grin plagued her face. She put the doll on the ground and spun it on its head. Kain was forced to mimic the action. "Hey, this is actually pretty fun!" Lucy said as she continued to manipulate Kain's body using the doll.
"Alright, it's my turn now," Kain sobbed.
Lucy shook her head. "Nope, it's sexy pose time now." She then forced Kain into a series of sexy poses.
Kain blushed and smiled with each pose. "You like what you see?"
Lucy sweatdropped. "You're not supposed to be enjoying this." Suddenly, she felt the doll leave her hands and was surprised to see Kain standing on the other side of her with the doll clutched in his massive hand. "Whoa, how the hell did he move so fast?"
Kain glared at Lucy. "You're really mean. I don't like people who don't share their toys."
"Oh whatever," Lucy said.
Kain charged at Lucy. "Time to kill you now!"
Lucy's eyes widened. She quickly got to her feet and ran with all of her might through the forest. However, she noticed that Kain was having no trouble plowing right through the thick trees, knocking over any that got in his way by thrusting out his massive hands. "This guy is fast and strong!"
"Come back! Don't run from my feelings for you!" Kain cried.
"And really delusional!" Lucy added to her own list. She grabbed at her keys. "Well if there's one spirit who can match this guy in all three of those things, it's you. OPEN GATE OF THE BULL! TAURUS!" In a flash of light, Taurus appeared and immediately swung his axe down at Kain. Kain was forced to stop and block the attack with his hands.
"Alright, Taurus!" Lucy cheered. "Go get him!"
"Listen, you," Taurus snarled at Kain. "You ain't getting anywhere near Miss Luuuuuucy. I'm next in line once she dumps that other guy."
"That is so not happening!" Lucy creid.
Kain started to drool. "Oh, yum! I'm so hungry and I haven't had steak in ages! Can I bite off a chunk of you?"
Taurus leapt away. "That ain't happening either."
"Oh come on, be a pal," Kain begged.
Taurus gripped his axe handle and charged again. "Not a chance!" However, before Taurus could even begin to attack, Kain thrust out his palm at incredible speed and hit Taurus in the head. He went flying back, completely knocked out.
"DODOSKOI!" Kain said triumphantly as he looked at his downed opponent.
"No way. How did he out muscle Taurus?" Lucy asked. "Taurus, are you alright?"
"Sorry, Miss Luuuuuucy, but I'm out. Good luck," Taurus said as he disappeared.
"Aw, the cow is gone," Kain said in disappointment. He then charged at Lucy again. "I can still kill you at least!"
Lucy started to run again, her mind working as fast as it could to come up with another plan. "I need to stop his movements. I guess I'll try this then. OPEN GATE OF THE ARCHER! SAGITTARIUS!" In a flash of light, Sagittarius appeared before Lucy and ran alongside her.
He saluted her. "Moshi moshi. What can I do for you, milady?"
Lucy pointed behind her. "We need to stop that guy from charging. Take out his fat little legs!"
Sagittarius nodded as he readied several arrows. "I'm on it, Miss Lucy." He pulled back on his bow and fired each of the arrows directly at Kain's legs.
Kain, without breaking stride, lifted his right leg. "DADASU TURN!" he cried as he swung his leg towards the arrows. To Lucy and Sagittarius' surprise, Kain completely deflected the arrows and sent them back at the two with even more force.
"He deflected them?" Sagittarius asked in disbelief as his own arrows pierced him and Lucy. "I'm sorry that I failed," he said before disappearing in a flash.
Lucy gritted her teeth against the pain. "Alright, try this one you freak. OPEN GATE OF THE SCORPION! SCORPIO!" In a flash of light, Scorpio appeared.
Scorpio was a tall, dark-skinned man with short hair that was half red and half white. He wore no shirt, but he had a red and gold-trimmed flower-shaped collar around his neck. Around his waist was a red cloak held up by a belt. He wore dark pants and bandages were wrapped around his forearms and legs. Out of his back was a large metal gun blaster shaped like a scorpion's tail. He held up his hands while folding down his middle and ring fingers and grinned. "Let's make this quick so I can get back to my girl. What can I help ya with, Lucy?"
"Take this guy out!" Lucy shouted.
Scorpio went down on all fours and pointed his tail at Kain. "You got it! SAND BUSTER!" From the barrel of his tail's gun, a powerful tornado of sand shot out and smashed into Kain.
Kain, however, easily blocked the sand with his massive hands. "I'm not the biggest fan of scorpion, but I'll make an exception this time and eat you. I could do without all of this sand, though."
"No effect?" Scorpio said in surprise.
Kain charged through the sand. "DODOSKOI!" He thrust his palm upwards, catching both Lucy and Scorpio and sending them into the air.
"Lucy, my sand ain't no use here, so I'm gonna be getting back to Aquarius now," Scorpio said as he disappeared.
"Scorpio!" Lucy cried as she landed less than gracefully on the ground. "Great. I'm running out of Spirits."
"Wanna know something cool?" Kain asked.
Lucy raised a wary eyebrow. "What?"
He held up his doll and changed it to iron. Additionally, Kain turned to iron as well. "My hair is still in Mr. Cursey, so whatever happens to him, happens to me, too."
"No way. You can change the properties of your doll?" Lucy asked in shock.
Kain ignored her question. "Mr. Cursey, I'm tired of being iron. Let's try…light!" With that, the doll became a shining light, allowing Kain to glow bright as well. He thrust out his hand. "SHINING DODOSKOI!" A beam of light shot out of Kain's hand and hit Lucy.
Lucy cried in pain as she felt the attack tear her clothes and her skin. She fell to the ground, incredible pain shooting through her body.
"Time to finish you off," Kain said, malice in his voice.
Lucy pushed herself to her feet, grabbing at her keys. "This guy may not be strong, but maybe he can distract him," she said to herself. She whipped out one of her silver keys. "OPEN GATE OF THE LITTLE DOG! NIKORA!" In a puff of smoke, a little white dog appeared before Lucy. It waved at Lucy and she waved back. "Hey Plue!"
Kain looked at Plue. "Oh he's so cute! Look how adorable he is! I just wanna eat him up!" He tried to grab Plue, but Plue leapt out of the way and into Lucy's arms. Kain ran towards Lucy. "Gimme the little dog!"
"No!" Lucy cried as she ran away yet again. "Plue, get out of here quickly!"
Plue nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Lucy looked through her keys while she ran. "Guess I'll try you next. OPEN GATE OF THE GIANT CRAB! CANCER!" In a flash of light, a tall and thin black man in a stylish outfit and sunglasses appeared next to Lucy. His black hair was braided in red cornrows that went towards the sides of his head. At each side of his head, the cornrows ended in the shape of crab pincers. Out of his back were six crab legs and he held a pair of scissors in each hand.
Kain started to drool again. "Crab! How yummy!"
Cancer turned to Lucy. "What can I do for you, baby?"
Lucy pointed to Kain. "Give that creep a nasty haircut."
Cancer prepared his scissors and leapt at Kain. "You got it, baby!" He then went to work, snipping at Kain's hair with incredible speed. After a few seconds of fast snipping, he leapt away. "How do you like your new do?" Cancer then noticed that his scissor's blades were worn and cracked. "What happened to my babies?"
Kain scratched his head. "Please, my hair hasn't seen shampoo in ages. You can't cut through it with those things."
Cancer turned to Lucy. "There's nothing I can do here, baby. I'm out." He then disappeared in a flash of light.
Lucy narrowed her eyes at Kain. 'What can I do here? Taurus, Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Cancer all couldn't beat him. Loke's out of power still. Probably the same goes for Capricorn since he fought Loke. There's no water, so I can't use Aquarius. I don't think Gemini could do much here either. That leaves me with Virgo and Aries.' She reached for her keys once more. "Alright, your turn now. OPEN GATE OF THE RAM! ARIES!" In a flash of light, Aries appeared before Lucy.
Aries fidgeted slightly. "Umm…what can I do to help you?"
"Alright you better have food for me. You've denied me steak, crab, horse, dog, and scorpion. If I don't get something to eat, I'll collapse!" Kain complained.
"Sorry," Aries said with a sad look. "I wish I could help you."
Kain was taken aback. "Wait, why are you apologizing to me?"
Aries started to sob. "Because you're in pain and there's nothing I can do for you." She put her head in her hands. "It's all my fault." She turned away and ran. "I'm so sorry!"
"No don't go!" Kain cried. "I hate to see you cry. Don't you know how much I love you?"
"You do?" Aries asked.
Lucy couldn't tear her eyes away from the sickening scene. 'What the hell is going on here?'
"Will you hold me in you strong arms?" Aries asked.
"Of course I will!" Kain exclaimed.
"Oh Kain!" Aries said as she ran into his arms.
"Let's be together forever," Kain said as he embraced her.
"And I've seen enough," Lucy said as she tried to keep her stomach from turning over. "Lay it on him, Aries."
Aries nodded and aimed her hand at Kain. "WOOL WALL!" A thick cloud of pink wool shot out and covered Kain.
"Nice one, Aries!" Lucy complimented. "Who knew you were such a good actor?"
"Leo told me how to do that," Aries said. "He told me that if I cried, a man would become putty and I could perform a sneak attack. He said it would make me useful."
Lucy sighed. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with Leo later, but you did great Aries. Thanks."
Suddenly, Kain broke out of the wool, tears running down his enormous face. "How could you do that to me, my love? I know I may have come on a bit strong, but why did oyu have to betray me? Why must everything I love leave me?" He thrust out his palm. "DODOSKOI!" The force of the hit made Aries disappear and had Lucy rolling down a hill. He grinned as he held up his doll. "Mr. Cursey, can you become cotton for me?" Upon command, Mr. Cursey's material became that of cotton, causing Kain to fly up into the air.
Through all of her tumbling, Lucy could see that Kain was now airborne. "You're kidding. He can fly, too?"
Kain floated high in the sky, watching Lucy tumble. Once he was satisfied with his position, he held up his doll. "Now, become iron, Mr. Cursey!" The doll became iron and Kain began barreling towards the earth. "IRON RUSH!"
Lucy landed on the ground, her multiple wounds screaming and keeping her from getting away. 'Not good,' she thought as she braced herself.
And just as Kain was about to crash into her, a fiery foot connected with his enormous head and sent him flying into a tree trunk.
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that?" He then heard a groan on the ground in front of him. He looked down and his eyes widened in shock. "Lucy!"
Lucy looked up. "Natsu?"
Natsu knelt beside her. "Lucy, what are you doing here? And why are you covered in injuries?"
Lucy struggled to her knees. "I was fighting that big fat guy. He's really tough."
Natsu looked over at the recovering Kain. "He doesn't look tough. Is he one of the Seven Kin?"
"Probably," Lucy nodded.
Natsu helped Lucy to her feet. "Can you stand?"
Lucy nodded again. "I think so."
Over on the other side of the battlefield, Ultear looked at Kain. "What are you doing here, Kain?"
Kain rubbed his sore head. "I was fighting that girl there when I ended up over here."
"I see. Well then, we must make quick work of both of them. I must get Lord Zeref back to Master Hades," Ultear said.
"Hey that's great! I didn't know you found him!" Kain exclaimed.
"We're not gonna let you take him!" Natsu shouted over to them. He then turned to Lucy. "Whaddya say, Lucy? Let's take these guys out together."
Lucy blushed. "Sounds good to me." She tore off a piece of her clothes and used it to tie up her hair. "Nothing would make me happier."
Natsu heated up his hands and used that heat to spike his hair in the front to keep it out of his eyes. "This is the way it should have been from the beginning; the two of us teaming up."
"Don't forget about me!" Happy cried.
Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand. "Let's do it! I'm all fired up!"
Lucy squeezed his hand. "Right!"
Kain clenched his jaw. "Stop acting all lovey dovey!" He stomped his foot. "Ultear, let me take care of these two. You get Lord Zeref back to the ship."
Ultear looked at him. "Are you sure?"
Kain nodded. "It'll be a piece of cake…mmm cake."
Ultear went over to Zeref and lifted him onto her back. "Very well. Hurry back to the ship once you have finished redecorating the forest with their entrails."
"Trust me; when I'm done with them there won't be enough of them left to fit in a thimble," Kain said.
Ultear grinned. "Good luck then." She then walked off.
Natsu clenched his jaw and released Lucy's hand. "Like I said, you ain't taking him anywhere!" He charged forward, intent to stop Ultear.
Kain, however, easily blocked his path and thrust out his hand. "DODOSKOI!" His palm connected with Natsu, sending him backwards.
"Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy asked worriedly.
He wiped some more blood from the corner of his mouth. "Yeah don't worry about it." He then looked at her. "Lucy, I can take care of this tub of lard. I need you to stop that woman from taking Zeref. We can't let them take him."
Lucy hesitated. She didn't want to leave Natsu all by himself, especially since she knew how powerful Kain was. That being said, she knew that they couldn't let Grimoire Heart get Zeref. In the end, she knew she had to trust that Natsu would be alright. "Right," she nodded and took off. However, she only got a few steps in before she froze.
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were gonna go?"
"I…I'm trying, but my body won't move," Lucy said.
Natsu stood up. "How can you not move?"
"I'm not sure."
Kain chuckled as he held up his doll, revealing that instead of his thick black hair, there was a fine blonde hair sticking out of the doll's head. "This may be why."
Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "I don't get it."
Lucy's eyes widened. "No way. When did you get that?"
"I was able to snag this when we were fighting," Kain explained.
Natsu blinked. "I still don't get it."
"Maybe this will help you to understand," Kain said as he got an evil glint in his eye. He then took his doll and made it do a series of sexy poses. Lucy, of course, was forced to mimic each pose.
Natsu felt a trickle of blood leave his nose as he watched each pose. 'Damn, that's hot,' he thought. "Hey Lucy, are you sure that now is the time for this?"
"It's not like I have a choice, Natsu," Lucy shot at him.
"That's right, she has no choice," Kain grinned. "That's the power of my Witching Hour Curse Magic." He then moved his doll so that Lucy's fist was out and forced her to charge Natsu. "Just watch!"
"Natsu, look out!" Lucy cried as she had no choice but to follow the action.
Natsu leapfrogged Lucy, putting his weight on her rear to position himself for a counter. "Take this, you bastard. FIRE DRAGON RO—." However, he was stopped by Lucy's foot smacking him in the face.
"Natsu, I'm so sorry!" Lucy said as she was forced by Kain to land another kick, this time to his chest.
Natsu tumbled on the ground, but was able to quickly get back up. However, he couldn't prepare for another attack, for Lucy was charging again. "Oh come on!"
"I'm sorry!" Lucy cried again as she unleashed a flurry of punches at Natsu.
Natsu put up a block, not wanting to hurt Lucy. "Alright, that's enough." He quickly ducked under Lucy and went up behind her, putting her in a headlock so that she couldn't move her arms. "Come on, Luce, you're stronger than this guy. Don't let him boss you around."
"I can't fight it, Natsu. It's his magic," Lucy defended. "You know I wouldn't do it on purpose."
"I know."
Kain released an agitated moan. "Stop acting like a couple!"
"What do you expect? We are a couple," Natsu said matter-of-factly.
Kain stretched out his doll so that Lucy could easily escape Natsu's grip. "Then I'll let her be the death of you!" He then moved his doll's body so that Lucy was forced to hug Natsu tightly. "Your love will end your life!"
"Lucy, too tight," Natsu said as he struggled for air.
"I can't stop," Lucy said.
Suddenly, from the sky, Happy appeared. He swooped down and grabbed the doll from Kain's hand. "Yoink!" he exclaimed as he flew back up.
"Mr. Cursey, no! Why must everything I love leave me!" Kain said as he watched his beloved doll fly away.
"Good job, Happy!" Natsu cheered as Lucy was able to release Natsu.
Happy snickered as he looked at the doll. "I wanna try it now!" He then positioned the doll's body so that Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck.
The two looked at each other, blushing.
Natsu gave his signature grin. "Well, while we're here," he said as he leaned in and captured Lucy's lips for a quick kiss.
Lucy happily returned the kiss and giggled once he pulled away. "You know, this wasn't really the time."
"Eh, so what?" Natsu said nonchalantly. "Consider it my payment for taking all of that abuse."
Kain was furious after seeing that. "DODOSKOI!" he cried as he thrust his palm at Happy. The attack landed, sending Happy spiraling into the air. The doll also went spinning away, forcing Lucy to spin in circles as well.
Kain ran for his doll. "Hold on, Mr. Cursey, I'm coming!" He lunged for his doll, but before he could grab it, Natsu ran forward and snatched it away. However, the force of Natsu's grab forced Lucy to go sliding across the ground.
"I'm gonna make you pay for hurting Lucy, fat ass!" Natsu shouted. "FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" Natsu threw a fire enveloped fist at Kain, who easily dodged it. "Now try this. FIRE DRAGON TALON!" He swung his foot to try and catch Kain off guard. Again, Kain easily dodged.
Natsu, of course, didn't notice that with each move that he made, Lucy was being thrown about. "Natsu, easy!" Lucy cried as she started to feel a bit dizzy.
"Sorry, Luce," Natsu said. However, this was enough of a distraction for Kain to counter.
Kain ducked surprisingly low for a man his size and landed a head-butt to Natsu's chin. "Die now, you PDA jerk!" He thrust out a powerful Dodoskoi that knocked the wind out of Natsu and then another powerful Dodoskoi that sent him crashing into a cliff. Natsu fell to the ground, but the force of his crash caused dozens of heavy boulders to fall down on top of him. The doll fell out of his hand and landed a foot away.
"Natsu!" Lucy cried.
Natsu pushed on the boulders with all his might, but they wouldn't budge. "I'm stuck!"
"I'm coming, Natsu!" Lucy said, but suddenly felt very weak. She fell to her knees. 'No. I can't run out of magic power. Not now when Natsu needs me.'
Lucy never even realized that Kain had walked up behind her.
"Lucy run!" Natsu cried. But it was too late.
"DODOSKOI!" Kain cried as he thrust his meaty palm down at Lucy, pushing her roughly to the ground. She cried in pain as her body broke through the hard earth.
"LUCY!" Natsu roared. He pushed and pushed with even more power, but he was making no progress. It didn't matter, though. He would keep trying because he knew that he couldn't lose Lucy.
"Don't you hurt Lucy!" Happy cried as he charged Kain. He tried to punch him, but his tiny fists were nothing more than feathers to the massive man. Kain chuckled and flicked his hand, sending Happy crashing into a tree. "Sorry Natsu," he muttered as he fell to the ground. "I tried."
"Lucy, listen to me!" Natsu called out. "You need to get up and run and don't look back. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine as long as I know that you're safe. Just get out of here before anything else happens."
"No way," Lucy mumbled.
"Luce…," Natsu whispered.
"I won't leave you, Natsu," she said.
Kain picked up his foot and continued to slam it into Lucy's back over and over again. Lucy cried out in pain with each strike.
"Lucy, please!" Natsu begged.
"Natsu, listen to me," Lucy said. "I want to stay by your side forever. No matter the challenge, I want to fight with you." Kain reached down and picked Lucy up by her head. However, Lucy was still smiling. "Nothing would make me happier than being with you because I love you. I love you, Natsu."
"Stop talking like that," Kain demanded as he started to squeeze Lucy's head.
"Knock it off!" Natsu roared. "Don't you dare hurt her!"
"Careful what you say," Kain warned. "You wouldn't want me to accidently squeeze too hard, would you?" He put more pressure on Lucy's head, causing her to shriek in pain.
Natsu gritted his teeth. 'What can I do? I can't get out of these rocks and any long range attack would hit Lucy, too. What do I do? I have to save Lucy!' It was then that Natsu noticed Kain's doll lying on the ground nearby. 'That's it!'
"I guess I'll see how flat I can squish her head," Kain said. The next thing he knew, Lucy's foot struck him in his face, forcing him to release her as he fell back.
"How did I do that?" Lucy asked. She then looked over to see Natsu with Kain's doll in his hand. "The doll!"
"Hey, no fair!" Kain complained. "How dare you use Mr. Cursey against me like that! Just for that, I'm gonna kill the girl now! DODOSKOI!" He thrust his palm forward to try and deal a critical blow.
"I don't think so, pal!" Natsu said as he made Lucy dodge by making the doll bend backwards.
Lucy watched the attack sail over her head. "Careful, Natsu. I'm not meant to bend like that."
"Sorry, Luce," Natsu said while grinning. "How about you dish it out this time?" He took the doll's hand and thrust it out, making Lucy land a powerful punch to the side of Kain's face.
Lucy smiled. "Yeah, that felt good!"
Natsu then got a sneaky grin. "Hey Luce, you trust me right."
Lucy gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah, I trust you. What are you planning?"
Natsu surrounded his hand with flames and lit the doll's right hand on fire. "I'm thinking about some fireworks."
Lucy looked at her right hand and was shocked to see it was on fire. "What the hell?"
"Now we're talking! FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" He made the doll's hand jut out, making Lucy land a flaming punch into Kain's chest.
"Wow, that was kinda fun!" Lucy said. "No wonder you like doing this."
Natsu snickered. "Let's keep going then. Happy, catch!" He threw the doll to Happy, who caught it in the air. "You know what to do."
Happy nodded. "Aye! MAX SPEED!" Happy's wings glowed blue as he rocketed into the sky, the doll clutched in his tiny paws. As he flew, Lucy was forced into the air as well.
"Alright, I don't like this as much," Lucy whined as she watched the world get smaller down below.
"Here we go!" Happy said as he shot towards the ground with Lucy forcibly following him. Because he was flying down at such high speed, the doll caught fire, causing Lucy's body to become shrouded in flames as well.
Natsu thrust his fist into the air. "SECRET TECHNIQUE: LUCY FIRE!"
Lucy screamed as she landed a powerful, flaming kick to Kain's face. The power of the kick was enough to send him flying and knock him unconscious.
Natsu laughed. "We did it!"
Lucy panted, trying to recover from the fright of flying through the air in such a manner. "Yeah, but can we not do that again?"
"Oh c'mon Luce, how was that not fun?" Natsu asked.
"Because I'm not interested in becoming barbeque!" Lucy shot at him.
"Alright, fine," Natsu said. "Just help me out of here, okay?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah okay. Come on, Happy, help me out."
"Aye!" Happy said.
The two grabbed onto Natsu and tried their best to pull him out, but they were having no luck.
"Wow, you're really in there," Lucy said as she pulled Natsu's head.
"Yeah but soon my head is going to detach, so take it easy!" Natsu snorted.
"Hey, I'm just trying to get you out of there," Lucy defended.
"Too bad Natsu can't just use his fire to get out of there," Happy said.
Natsu stared at Happy before grinning. "Oh yeah! My fire!"
Lucy sweatdropped. "How did you forget that?"
"Who knows? Anyway, steer clear!" Lucy and Happy backed away as Natsu collected his fire into an orb in his hand. "FIRE DRAGON PULSE!" he roared as he fired the Pulse at the boulders. They all shattered from the force, freeing Natsu from their weight. He got up and stretched. "Woo, that feels a lot better!"
Lucy went over and hugged Natsu. "I'm glad you're alright."
"Yeah, but we can't really worry about injuries right now," Natsu said while hugging her back. "We need to find that Ultear woman and stop her from taking Zeref back to their Master."
"Can you smell where they went?" Lucy asked as she left his embrace.
Natsu took a seat on a rock while shaking his head. "No, something is blocking the scent." He clenched his fists. "I bet Nikolias could find him."
"Well, Nikolias is an actual dragon. Remember that his nose is sharper, so don't beat yourself up over it," Lucy said in a comforting tone while putting a hand on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes. "Still, I should be able to smell him out."
Lucy looked into the forest. "Well if we can't find Zeref, maybe our first move should be to find Cana. She disappeared on me and I'm concerned that she may be in trouble."
"Alright, but do you have any idea where Cana might be?" Natsu asked.
Lucy's gaze turned to the ground. "No, I have no idea."
Natsu crossed his arms. "Well then that could be just as hard to figure out as where Zeref went."
"True," Lucy said. "So I guess if we had to choose between the two, trying to find Zeref would be first. After all, Grimoire Heart's plan seems to focus on Zeref."
"I say we go find them," Natsu said, his expression becoming very cold. "We have a score to settle with those bastards for what they did to Gramps. When I find those guys, I'll make 'em wish they never came here and messed with Fairy Tail."
Lucy snapped her fingers. "Hey we may not need to smell them out, Natsu!"
He looked at her. "How do you figure?"
"Remember what that woman said to fatty before she left? She told him to get back to the ship when he was done. I bet that's how they even got here and that's where we'll find their members and Zeref. I'm sure that it's also somewhere near the island's shore so that they have easy access to it."
Natsu's eyes widened and a big smile split his face. "Hey, you're right! That's brilliant, Lucy! Wow, smart and pretty."
Lucy blushed. "Stop, Natsu."
Natsu jumped up. "It's true, though. Alright, let's go find their ship!"
Lucy nodded. "Happy, do you think that you could fly up and see where their ship is?"
Happy scratched his head. "I would, but I'm all out of power."
"You too?" Lucy said with disappointment. "So much for that idea."
"No it's okay, Luce. You're idea can still work," Natsu said. "We'll go back to check on Gramps and Wendy. While we're over there, we can ask Lily and Carla to fly up and look for the ship. We could hit two birds with one stone."
Lucy clapped her hands. "That would work!"
Natsu took her hand. "Well let's go then. We don't have a moment to lose."
"Yeah," Lucy said as she squeezed his hand.
The three ran off towards the area where Wendy was watching the Master.
Gray continued through the forest, frustrated grunts leaving his throat on a regular basis. He was having trouble finding anyone from Fairy Tail to help out or anyone from Grimoire Heart to fight and it was starting to agitate him.
"Yeah, splitting up was fucking brilliant," Gray mumbled. "There's no one out here, friend or foe. We were better off staying together, but nooooo. We had to separate. Geez, what the hell has gotten into Cana? I don't think I've ever seen her in such a rotten mood. She needs a drink like nobody's business. I hope she's not going cold turkey. That'll be miserable for everyone."
Gray heard a sudden rustling in the bushes to his right. He quickly dove behind a tree. "I wonder who's there?" he whispered to himself.
From the bushes, a beautiful woman with long black hair emerged, an unconscious man on her back. She smiled as she walked. "Soon, Lord Zeref. Soon you shall be yourself once again."
'Lord Zeref? That's the Lord Zeref?' Gray wondered. And then he got a good look at the woman's face, causing his eyes to widen. 'It can't be. It's not possible. Is that…Ur?' He shook his head. 'Don't be stupid, Gray. Ur is gone. Besides, this woman is with Grimoire Heart. Even if she does look like Ur, Ur would never side with someone like Grimoire Heart.' He followed the woman from the cover of the bushes. 'Still, I need to figure out who she is. I guess splitting up wasn't the worst idea after all.'
Hey everyone! I apologize for the long update, but things came up and as you could tell, it was a long chapter. Hopefully, I get better with my updates.
Anyway, I forgot to do it last update, but here are the results of the voting so far for the next main arc:
Gracie-2
Starry Sky-0
Both-3
Keep voting guys. Remember, I would like to write what people would enjoy reading.
Enjoy the chapter and talk to you soon!
