At the ruins of a temple, Loke is fighting against Caprico after telling Gray, Lucy, and Cana to head off while he faces the enemy alone, but the Lion Celestial Spirit is having a hard time against the enemy who is also a Celestial Spirit as well.
"open the hero of Rubengard! San Jao Shin!" chanted Caprico as a man in armor and wield a spear appeared before striking down Loke, causing the Lion Celestial Spirit to cough out blood before the man in armor disappeared, leaving confused and shocked Loke on his knees.
"What...what was that?!" he gasped and looked at Capricorn
"The young, genius general San Jao Shin, who led the army of rebels in the civil war of Rubengard in X779, the records said that he went missing in battle, but it was false as I had captured him" replied Capricorn.
"You can...summon a human?! That's ridiculous!" said Loke in surprise
"Now, allow me to come back to my earlier question, the one you've so aggressively tried to take my attention away from. Let's talk about your Master." Said Capricorn, changing the subject
Loke grit his teeth and stood up. "What for?"
The goat raised his eyebrows. "So that I can make her my subordinate as well, obviously. I've already figured out that it's the woman with blonde hair."
Loke's face was the pure definition of a giveaway. He took couple deep breaths, assessing his damage.
"You wish to fight me one on one? Wrong. You've challenged me so that she could escape. Although you have technically fulfilled your task, finding this woman after I dispose of you will be a trivial matter to deal with. Your noble sacrifice will buy her an additional hour of life. How unsightly the duty of a spirit is..." said Capricorn before his eyes widen. "Wait a moment...this woman..."
Loke clenched his teeth and kicked the ground as hard as he could, before driving his fist deep into his opponent's stomach. Capricorn's figure bent in half, which allowed Loke to kick him underneath the chin and then strike his stomach once again.
"he found out!" thought Loke while gritting his teeth.
Loke's rush was broken by a powerful punch to the gut, that dropped him to his knees. Capricorn grabbed him by his suit and threw him to the side like a sack of potatoes, before wiping the blood off his lips.
"Your reaction only confirms it. That woman...is Layla Heartfillia's daughter!"
Loke quickly stood up and put up his fists, ready to strike again at any time.
"I shall not allow her to breathe any minute longer!" roared Capricorn, veins popping on his forehead. "Where is that woman?!"
"As long as that woman lives..." he grit his teeth and motioned his fingers in the air, with another gate opening before him. "Hunter of Belparaso: Samagui! Go and kill Layla Heartfillia's heir!"
The summoned human nodded and rushed into the island, or rather tried to. He was stopped by a powerful strike to the back of his head, that heavily rocked him and smashed him into the ground, forcing him to back to his world.
"Try again." mocked him Loke and adjusted his glasses.
Capricorn roared in fury and opened several gates at once, multiple fighters and warriors from different ages attacking Loke all at once.
The spirit merely cracked his neck and lit up his fist so bright it blinded Capricorn, despite his sunglasses. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that his summonings have been purified, their figures leaving small traces of smoke in the air.
Blind with fury, Capricorn threw himself and Loke and tried to hit him with a wide right hook. It was easily dodged by Loke, who ducked underneath it and plunged his fist in his opponent's stomach, before kicking him away. He ran after him and delivered yet another kick that landed on Capricorn's left cheek, and forced him to slide backwards on the balls of his feet.
"According to Crux, you've made a pact with Layla 20 years ago. I don't really know, nor care what kind of a deal you've made in the human world, but after Layla's death, your current Master should be Lucy – her daughter. Even if she doesn't know it herself." said Loke. "What the hell happened to you, Capricorn?" he asked with a gentle, concerned frown. Despite being enemies at the moment, he still cared for his old friend.
Capricorn's expression eased up and he exhaled gently through his nose, his body loosening up. "Taboo." he replied shortly.
Loke's eyes narrowed in slight confusion, as the goat started to chuckle to himself under his nose.
"Every magic has its tolls and limitations, rules that should not be broken. I broke one of those, I've committed taboo. As a result, I got this body!" he yelled and laughed in ironic fashion, creeping Loke out. "I'm a goat! Isn't that hilarious?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked him grimly Loke and took a step back, not particularly fond of what might follow this outburst.
"You know, I've been starting to miss my human form." said Capricorn and licked his lips. "The timing is perfect."
Loke jumped back and lit up his fists, completely unwilling to participate in Capricorn's sick plans. The goat simply grinned and suddenly vanished in thin air, shocking Loke.
"Calm down, Leo. I can't afford to damage you any further, you know." the spirit heard a whisper behind him.
To his horror, it was Capricorn, who managed to get behind his back, his kick already in motion.
"What's wrong with this speed?!" gasped Loke under his nose, and felt his ribs bending under the pressure of the goat's kick. He was blown away like a ragdoll and smashed into the nearby wall, breaking it in the process. He clutched his torso and coughed aggressively, breathing coming with problems.
Capricorn cracked his neck and raised his hands, before chanting. "Human Subordination Magic: Humaraise!"
"I'm a spirit, remember?" groaned Loke and stood up to his feet. "This magic will not work on me."
"Yes, that itself is taboo. I am unable to cast this magic on someone who is not human." explained calmly Capricorn. "Those who do, however..."
The dots in Loke's head connected in an instant. "You bastar-"
"Fuse with their target!" finished the goat with a mad grin.
"So you're actually a human who fused with Capricorn?!" yelled Loke and dashed at the goat with his fist raised.
"That's exactly right! And now, I'm going to take your body, Leo!"
Loke punched Capricorn as hard as he could, the light from his fist lighting the ruins in bright-orange light. To his horror, he spotted a black, misty figure levitating over his old friend, that merely grinned and launched itself at him, before getting into his mouth.
After a couple of seconds of struggling, Loke gasped loudly and exhaled, before smirking to himself.
He looked down at his figure and examined his hands, before hissing in pain.
"Oh, that's right...The wound I, or rather he inflicted on me…Eh, not as annoying as I expected it to be." he murmured to himself under his nose and punched his left hand, before blowing into full out laughter. Loke's body has been possessed, and the previous vessel was now lying on the ground, unconscious.
"I'm finally human again..." he cried with joy and looked down at his old body. "Well, I guess I gotta thank you for all these years. Though, after taking a hit from Leo, you're probably gonna be out for hours." he then stretched his back and grinned again. "My name is Leo. My master is Lucy." he chanted to himself like a spell. "And by killing this whore...I shall become a complete human!" he finished, a mad laugh escaping his mouth.
The human in possession of Loke's body laughed to himself maniacally and looked at his new hands, admiring them.
"Lucy believes this body...Perhaps I should act? Yes, that's a great idea Zoldeo...Act, get close to her, and when she's vulnerable I'll kill her." he mumbled to himself with a smirk. "Or should I keep her as a pet? She is beautiful, almost like her mother...Yes, she'll be my pet first, then I will kill her when I get bored."
Suddenly, he felt excruciating pain in his torso, as something, or rather someone blew a hole in his stomach. Capricorn rises from the ground and struck fake Loke with orangish light.
"W-what the-" gasped the impostor.
"So this is Regulus at full strength...impressive." murmured Capricorn. "I'm forced to ask you to leave this body at once...Zoldeo-sama."
"That name…!" A dark grey aura emitted from the wound and launched into the sky, quickly forming into a shape of a man with an afro, who screamed in agony. The man fell to the ground before the spirits and began to whimper.
"Capricorn..." wheezed out Loke.
"My apologies for being this rough. I was unable to think of any other possible way of extracting him from your body." Capricorn apologizes with a slight frown.
"No, it's okay...I know that." replied Loke before he fell to his knees, and was quickly supported by his fellow comrade, who was now back to his senses.
"Why can you move?!" screeched Zoldeo from the floor.
"Just before you could take over his body, Leo gave me Regulus upon impact." explained Capricorn.
"You bastard...back then...you transferred your magic into him?!" said Zoldeo in surprise as Loke smirks. "It makes no difference! I will simply take you back, even if I need to force myself into-"
His threats were stopped by his body, which started to disintegrate. Before he could even comprehend what was happening to him, his body turned into ashes and scattered with the light breeze, leaving the spirits alone to themselves.
"I have lots of questions to you right now..." groaned Loke and stood up. "But I must go now, and you're probably not in the mood to talk right now."
The goat shook his head. "No, it is quite alright. It happened 20 years ago." He looked at where his captor was in silence, before continuing. "Miss Layla has become sick and could not continue her work as a mage. When that happened, she'd passed on her three spirits: me, Aquarius and Cancer, to their new Masters. Zoldeo-sama was the one who received my key. However, prior to this event, I had made another pact with Miss Layla. That if she ever came to bear children, I would provide them with my services until the end of time. At first, Zoldeo agreed to it, but was soon consumed by darkness, and in fear of losing me, he committed taboo."
"In other words, your Master has always been Lucy." deduced Loke. "So, how did she look to you?"
Capricorn looked into the horizon and smiled. "She is indeed Miss Layla's daughter. I can tell she treasures and loves her spirits very much."
Loke smiled. "Does that mean we can count on you to lend her your strength?"
"No." replied Capricorn before looking at Loke with a smile. "I cannot give her something that's always belonged to her in the first place."
Loke looks at his fellow spirit before he sighs with a smile before both heard loud thunder above and a lightning bolt strikes down an area on the island.
"what was?" said Loke before he saw someone flying in the air, only to get blown away by a powerful red beam.
At another part of the island, Erza and Juvia are facing against Meredy as the young girl's magic prove to be powerful and difficult to handle as it doesn't inflict wounds but causes the painful sensation to be sent to the whole body that got attacked, but that all ended when Juvia overpowers the young girl who uses some magic that connects senses and feeling together.
"you must live for the one you love! Don't kill yourself!" cried Juvia to Meredy who is also in tears that are getting mixed with the rain from the clouds above. "live! Please!"
Meredy merely made an agreeing sound while nodding her head before she got pulled into a hug by Juvia who holds her close.
Erza watched the two as she smiled to see Juvia changing the darkness in an enemy's heart before she could continue admiring the touching scene. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a red shine that caused her eyes to widen.
"LOOK OUT!" shouted Erza as she runs towards Juvia and Meredy before drags the two away, saving them from a red and black magic beam that nearly hits the two.
"w-what was that?!" said Juvia in surprise as Erza stands up and her gaze hardens.
"Natsu" said Erza as Juvia and also Meredy turns and sees Natsu walking in as the demonic man growls while the tip of his horns steams from unleashing the magic beam.
"w-what happened to, Natsu-san?! What is that form of his!?" said Juvia, unconsciously wrapping her arms around Meredy protectively.
Natsu growls before he lets out a roar and made a dash towards the group, Chitetsu drawn and its blade pointed right at Meredy.
Meredy's eyes widen to see the incoming blade before it got deflected upwards by Erza who wielded two swords in her grasps.
Erza grunted as her swords' blades cracks before breaking to pieces as the force of her swing and the sharpness of Chitetsu broke them.
"Natsu stop! She's no longer an enemy!" exclaimed Erza to the demonic man as he just responded with a growl before he swings Chitetsu to the side and swung the cursed katana forward at Erza who summoned a shield and blocked that swing but the power of it caused her to get thrown away. "Gaaah!"
"Erza-san!" shouted Juvia before she turns to look at Natsu who slowly approaches her and Meredy while staring down with glowing demonic eyes. "N-Natsu-san?"
Natsu growls lowly before he lifted his left claw up as black static started to dance his palm. The demonic man soon swung it at Juvia and Meredy, firing a bolt of black lightning at the two.
Juvia shielded Meredy as the bolt of black lightning soon curves and heads towards Erza who wore her Lightning Empress armor and wielded her lightning javelin that got hit with the bolt of black lightning as it was used as a lightning rod.
Erza holds the weapon before she started screaming in pain as the lightning bolt's electricity channels through her own body and shocks her. The scarlet knight fell into the water as she grunted in pain while her lightning javelin became ashes upon receiving the black lightning bolt.
"Erza-san!" shouted Juvia before she turns towards Natsu who growls as the bone tentacles move around his side, each one pointed towards Meredy who is being shielded by Juvia.
The bone tentacles strike towards Meredy, but Juvia intercepted by creating a thick wall of water around them. Juvia gritted her teeth as she uses her magic to push back the bone tentacles in the water, but the weird bone appendage pierced through her water all and went through.
Juvia shielded Meredy as some of the bone tentacles scratches her back and shoulders, causing blood to escape through her wounds.
"Juvia!" shouted Meredy as the Water Mage grunted in pain before her hair got grabbed by Natsu who pulled her up then throws her away.
Juvia fell to the water before she grunted and looks at Natsu then at Meredy
"Meredy..run! run!" shouted Juvia as Natsu is after her life.
Meredy looks at Natsu as the demonic man holds Chitetsu up in the air before pointing its blade forward as the sharpness shines, the demonic man looks at Meredy with glowing red eyes before he swung Chitetsu down.
Letting out a scream of fear, Meredy closed her eyes and lifted her hands up as she believed that she would die at the hands of Natsu and his blade, but her death never came.
Meredy slowly opened her eyes and sees Gildarts appearing out of nowhere, the man holding back Natsu's right arm and Chitetsu from getting near Meredy.
"hey, Natsu. You're bullying a kid? That ain't nice" said Gildarts before he caused a magic pulse to push Natsu away as the demonic man got a few inches away with drag marks following his feet.
"…Gildarts-san" muttered Juvia, seeing the Crash Mage.
Gildarts glance at Juvia, then to Erza who is slowly getting up while dripping with water before Natsu who looks at him with glowing red eyes.
"me and the others were on our way back when we got a bad feeling for no reason. Never thought that my gut feeling went damn straight right about something bad" said Gildarts facing Natsu as the demonic man lets out a growl at the Crash Mage. "Natsu. You….you let yourself pay another contract with him?"
"a contract?" thought Erza, hearing what Gildarts said as it intrigued and made her curious.
Natsu growls before he let out a roar at Gildarts as he dashes straight towards him, only to make a turn as his target is Meredy.
"I'm not letting you!" shouted Gildarts as he swung his hand down to the ground, causing the ground to shatter and break, creating a wall of rocks in front of Natsu who swung Chitetsu and cuts it down.
Gildarts holds out his right hand and a ball of light formed upon his palm before he grasped it and punched the fist right at Natsu's side, causing the demonic man to be sent flying to the forest nearby before crashing to a boulder that shatters into pieces.
Dust blew out before Natsu came flying out of the dust as the demonic man went straight for Gildarts who reach out his artificial left hand to the side as it glows with white magical energy.
Natsu swung Chitetsu forward as Gildarts punched his left fist out, both S-class mages strikes their attack against one another as it caused a powerful shockwave to blow out.
Erza holds onto the ground before she catches Juvia's hand, the rain mage getting blown away from the powerful shockwave.
"I always knew a day like this would come" said Gildarts while gritting his teeth as his artificial hand pushes back against Chitetsu's blade. "but I never thought that it would come so fast"
The two power soon canceled each other out as Natsu and Gildarts flew back from one another.
Gildarts got into a battle stance while Natsu got down as he squatted while having one hand on the ground before the demonic man dashes right at Crash Mage who did several hand gestures, causing the ground in front of him to shatter in cubes before they all flew up towards Natsu. Natsu disappeared as Gildarts attack missed.
The Crash Mage spins as he blocks a flaming kick from Natsu who appeared behind, the power behind the kick so strong that it causes Gildart's foot to be grind into the ground. Gildarts grunted before he took hold of Natsu's ankle and threw him over his head, crushing him into the ground.
Erza watched in amazement as this is the first time she has ever seen Gildarts in an equal fight against someone.
Natsu got up as he growls before he roars, flames ignite his whole body before all the flames started focusing on the tip of his mask's horns, forming a sphere that is growing larger by the second before it fired a powerful magic beam right at Gildarts who dug his right foot back and his left foot front, the Crash Mage clenches his right hand's fist tight before he punches it forward at the coming attack.
The magic beam got split apart into several cube like pieces before they all exploded, causing smoke to fly right at Gildart's face. Before long, the ground shook hard as the smoke flew away to reveal Gildarts and Natsu, both in a standoff as the Crash Mage caught Chitetsu's blade in a Shinken Shirahadori.
Gildarts gritted his teeth as his right hand is bleeding because of how sharp Chitetsu's blade is. The Crash Mage moved the blade to the side before he sends his left elbow right at Natsu's face, causing the mask and a piece of its horn to break.
Natsu getting pushed back from Gildart's elbow strike gave the Crash Mage the opportunity to send a magic coated right fist right at the demonic man's stomach that causes Natsu to reel back.
Gildarts soon grabs Natsu's right arm with his right hand and Chitetsu's blade with his artificial left hand as he started to pull the two apart.
"Erza! Juvia! Help me pull them apart! Hurry!" shouted Gildarts as he uses all his strength to pull the katana from Natsu's right hand, the two are fused and is hard to pull them apart.
Erza and Juvia look confused for a few seconds before they snapped out of their thoughts and quickly went to Gildarts and Natsu as Juvia and Erza started helping in pulling Chitetsu from Natsu.
Natsu growls and then roars before his bone tentacles lunge out to the sky before coming down right at the three.
"lookout!" exclaimed Meredy as she raises her hands up, sending her magic blades right at the bone tentacles as she cut them off the roots.
"thank you! Meredy!" exclaimed Juvia before she focused on pulling Chitetsu apart from Natsu with Gildarts and Erza as they are slowly ripping the two apart.
Natsu growls as he pulled back his left hand and his claw grew long and sharpens before lunging right at Gildart's side, piercing through his waist. Gildarts grunted as Natsu's claws drew out blood.
"Gildarts!" said Erza in a gasp.
"don't mind me! Focus on pulling these two apart!" exclaimed Gildarts as they just keep on pulling Chitetsu out of Natsu's grasp and they succeeded. Chitetsu flew into the air as the cursed katana spins before coming down to the ground and pierced its blade to the ground a few feet away from the group.
Natsu's eyes went black as the skeletal armor on his body started to turn to ashes and only left Natsu who is unconscious.
"place him down slowly" said Gildarts as he grabs Natsu with Erza and Juvia before they set him down to the ground.
"Gildarts, how did you know that by pulling Chitetsu away from Natsu would stop him?" said Erza, wanting to know how he knew the way to stop Natsu's rampage.
"it's a long explanation that even I would have a hard time trying to explain it in words" said Gildarts before wincing a bit as his side is bleeding when Natsu pierced it with his claws. Shaking the pain off, Gildarts just holds his hand over the wound before looking at Erza and Juvia. "but what I can tell you two is that cursed weapons like Chitetsu caused their wielder to transform into what the curse personified"
"personified?" said Erza with a slightly confused face.
"Chitetsu's curse give power to its wielder but in exchange for blood, so what I can tell is that anyone who is given his power becomes one with Chitetsu, so in word" said Gildarts before glancing at Natsu who remained on the ground, not moving at all. "…Chitetsu's Curse 'power of blood' turns the wielder into a monster inside his blood, meaning that Natsu became what his heart personified"
"what his heart personified? But what kind of personification is that?!" said Juvia, not understanding how and why such transformation even happened to Natsu.
"I don't really understand it as well, but for now.." said Gildarts before he looks at Chitetsu, the cursed katana remained in its place a few feet from the group. "..can't let Natsu use that guy again or he'll become that monster once more"
At another cliff area that is nearly close to the ocean, Gray is in the forest as he is tailing Ultear who has somehow taken hold of Zeref and is in the middle of bringing him away.
Gray has been hiding behind some bushes as he has been tailing Ultear, the moment he saw her. He tried to keep himself hidden but because of Meredy's maguilty sense, he felt happiness, sadness, pain, and lots of weird feelings because of it.
"What the hell was that..." Gray murmured to himself. "Creepy. I just hope she hasn't-"
Gray took a peek only for his eyes widen and he jumped back as Ultear is standing right in front of him, Zeref not being carried in her arms no more.
"damnit!" Gray punched his palm as he was about to prepare in using his magic when Ultear raised a hand up to him while smiling.
"There's no need for this, I am not your enemy, Gray." Said Ultear as this made Gray's eyes squinted and narrowed at her
"How the hell do you know my name?" demanded Gray.
"It is only natural I know the name of my mother's disciple, is it not?" asked Ultear as this made Gray's eyes widen.
"y-you couldn't be…" said Gray as Ultear nodded
"My name is Ultear." Introduced Ultear to the man "I am Ur's daughter."
That's a wrap!
Bye bye