The Day in Between: The Garou Knights
Lucy took several satisfying gulps of delicious, refreshing water from one of Keaton's glass bottles. She poured a little in her hand and wiped her tired eyes with the cool liquid to get rid of the dirt and to keep her mind awake. After lugging Arcadios around for what felt like hours in the underground ruins that was built like a maze, the girl was exhausted. She was filthy too; her sweat soaked clothes, (which she had worn for two days straight), clung uncomfortably to her body and she was undoubtedly covered in a layer of dirt. She was desperate for a bath and a clean set of clothes to change into.
She splashed water on her hot, sweaty face. Focus, Lucy! she mentally growled at herself. Bath later. Survival more important.
"Try not to waste too much water, Master Lucy," said Keaton in a tired, hushed tone as he rested beside her. They both sat against a moss-covered wall that was once a part of a small building, hiding out of sight in the darkest shadows where the emerald flames barely touched. Arcadios was still asleep lying by their feet. "I only have one other bottle full of water with me and we might need to ration it for as long as we can until we're out of here."
Lucy wiped her face with the back of her hand, feeling guilty. "Sorry!" she quickly apologized, keeping her voice low. She corked the bottle and nudged it against the masked man's arm for him to take.
He grasped for the bottle in the dark, his metal fingers softly clinking against glass. Once he stowed it away, he brought out his star-pendant necklace, cupping the glowing crystal in his hands to limit the range of its light. He shifted to kneel by the sleeping knight's side and shook the man. When nothing happened, he resorted to lightly slapping Arcadios across the face a few times and saying the man's name.
"Doesn't look like he'll be waking up soon," Keaton sighed. He slid his mask up to his forehead and ran a hand down his face, obviously weary.
"How are you holding up?" Lucy asked out of concern as he carefully moved back to sit beside her, one hand bracing his broken ribs.
He made a vague gesture with his other hand as he answered in a casual manner, "I'm alright. Sore, tired, the usual."
Lucy frowned. It sounded like he got injured often and constantly lived with pain.
You survived seven years under the reign of mind-controlled dragons, Lucy mused with admiration. She was curious yet fearful to know what her future had become. What was Fiore like in his time? Was the land nothing but empty wastelands covered in death? Every city and town reduced to ash and ruins? What happened to Magnolia and the people she loved?
Seeing him hurt made Lucy think about Wendy and how the young Dragon Slayer would have quickly healed him if she was around. Was Wendy still alive during his time to heal his wounds? To protect him as she always did? It was heartbreaking to imagine the two children forced apart, their lives forever changed.
Lucy opened her mouth to ask but thought better of it. Instead, as she watched him stare at the glowing star in his palm, she quietly asked, "Where did you get that? It's beautiful."
A small smile graced his lips as blue eyes met brown. "This? You gave it to me," he said, holding it out for Lucy to take, "on my sixteenth birthday – well, not actually my birthday – the day I became Bacon."
Lucy held the star like a precious treasure, cupping it like Keaton had to hide as much of the light as possible to reduce the chances of being spotted in the dark. Blue Light Lacrima. It was delicately carved into the shape of a star and smooth to the touch. The coloured crystal was a rarity in Earthland. Jewelery and accessories made with blue Light Lacrima were usually over three hundred thousand Jewels on the market. How did her future counterpart get a hold of something so valuable?
"It used to be a lot brighter," Keaton continued, his smile gone, "But the Eclipse Gate drained most of its magic. It's a dying star… It won't be long until its light fades away." He stared ahead into the shadows, his expression turning into one of sorrow. "You called it the Star of Hope. 'It will guide you in the darkest night,' you said to me. And it always did."
Lucy smiled at the thought. To give such a special gift, it was definitely her that would come up with something like that. She made a mental note to remind herself to seek the same star pendent to give to Bacon later.
"You met the others before coming to rescue me, right?" Lucy questioned out of curiosity. "How did everyone react when they saw you? I bet everyone was just as surprised as I was."
Keaton slowly shook his head and kept his attention forward. "I… didn't meet up with them," he murmured, surprising Lucy. He lowered his head, eyes hidden in shadow. "When I first came here, I wanted so badly to see you all again… I was there during Wendy's battle and I saw you all in the stadium. I wanted to join you… but I knew I had more important matters to attend to. The only ones who know I'm here are Crime Sorcière and now you. I spoke to Jellal; told him the same thing I told you and asked him to help me."
"And you guys came up with the plan to blow up the Gate," Lucy concluded.
The swordsman nodded and drew a deep breath. "It could be a long shot, but it's the best idea we could come up with on such short notice."
The female Celestial Spirit mage furrowed her brow in slight anger. "Why didn't you guys tell us? We would have believed you and helped you!"
Keaton shook his head and glanced at her from the side, the corner of his lips curling into a smile. "I didn't want to take everyone's happiness away."
Lucy's expression softened. "Still, that–"
"I had to," he sharply cut into Lucy's remark, turning his head to meet her stare, "The more people knew about me and my plan to destroy the Gate, the higher the chances the one scheming all of this would find out. Jellal warned me of this and told me not to let anyone else know." He smirked. "Fairy Tail isn't well-known for keeping quiet after all."
The girl sighed, hating to agree with him. Thinking about it now, she knew Natsu and Erza – heck, every violent member of her guild who acted first and asked questions later – would have likely barged right into the castle, subdued every guard on duty, and hunted down the man responsible for the terrible future.
"I guess you're right…" Lucy mumbled, running a thumb over the star she held.
"Why don't you keep hold of it for now?" Keaton suggested when Lucy tried to give it back. "We should start moving again." He moved to kneel beside Arcadios. Just when he started to lift the sleeping man's arm, Arcadios began to stir. "Oh! Guess I was wrong."
Lucy joined Keaton as he slid his mask back on. They both hovered over the waking man with Lucy holding the glowing star high enough to illuminate Arcadios's face. The captain murmured something unintelligible before going back to sleep with a loud snore, much to Lucy's annoyance.
She did not want to haul the beast of a man around again, especially when she was tired and grumpy and currently being hunted by executioners. Growling, Lucy grabbed the collar of the man's torn shirt and shook him as hard as she could. "Captain Arcadios!" Lucy snarled under her breath, "Please wake up!"
"Uh, Master Lucy? Maybe you shouldn't bang his head that hard on the ground…" advised Keaton tentatively.
"If he doesn't wake up right now, I swear I'll–"
Arcadios groaned and brought a hand up to touch the back of his head. That was when Lucy dropped the man with an audible thud. The captain blinked sluggishly, slowly coming out of Cosmos's sleep spell. It was like waking up from a strong anesthetic; it took Arcadios at least a minute before his eyes began to focus on the blue light in Lucy's hand. Then he saw Keaton's mask and his whole face twisted into horror.
Keaton clamped a hand over the captain's mouth before he could make a sound. Lucy quickly leaned close and held the man's shoulders so the captain wouldn't struggle before he could recognize her face. "It's okay! It's me! Lucy Heartfilia!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper.
Arcadios blinked at her, his eyes wide, but no longer terrified as if waking into a nightmare.
"You need to remain calm and quiet, okay?" Lucy continued. She received a nod from the captain. She exchanged a look with Keaton and the young man withdrew his hand from Arcadios's mouth.
"L-Lucy Heartfilia…" croaked the captain, his throat hoarse. He shifted his attention to Keaton, staring at the swordsman's mask for a moment before turning back to the female mage. "You two… are the ones the Garou Knights are looking for…" he grunted as he slowly sat up with their help. "Wait… what happened? I'm still alive?" He started to feel his body, surprised he wasn't a ghost. "But Cosmos… I thought for sure that I was done for…"
"I knocked her out right when she put you to sleep," Keaton explained. He handed the man his half-full bottle of water in which Arcadios didn't hesitate to drink from.
In one breath, the captain downed the entire contents of the bottle and sighed in relief right after. He looked more awake and energized, no longer slouching in his posture. "You saved me?" he exclaimed, staring at the masked swordsman in astonishment as he handed the empty bottle back, "From a Garou Knight no less…"
"Captain," Lucy addressed, making sure she sounded urgent, "No time for praise and all that. We need to get out of here. Can you lead us to the exit?"
The man clenched his jaw stiffly as he looked between the pair in trepidation. "No one has ever escaped Abyss Palace, Miss Heartfilia," he murmured, shaking his head grimly. "It's impossible. The Garou Knights are powerful mages and they are extremely thorough with their job as executioners."
"There are five of them, correct?" Keaton asked, unperturbed by what Arcadios had just told them.
"Yes. Five highly skilled mages trained to kill," the captain stressed, giving the masked man a hard stare.
"They are not together at the moment," the other went on, "They've split into two groups. We should be able to sneak past them. But first, we need to know which way we should be going."
Arcadios blinked in shock. "Sneak past them? How would you even know where they are?"
"I can detect their positions by their magic power," answered Keaton. To be able to sense and discern the magic energies of other living beings or objects at great distances was an extremely useful skill. Lucy was flabbergasted, yet again, when Keaton had told her that it was none other than Jellal Fernandes who had taught him the ability. "There are two travelling together and it won't be long until they find our location. Please, tell us which way to go. We can escape together."
The captain grunted and shook his head. "Even if you know their locations, escape is still impossible, don't you understand? The only way out is through the Abyss Gate and only the Garou Knights can open it. Each Knight holds a special key and you need all five of them together to unlock the Gate."
Lucy was about to swear – a bad habit she had picked up from hanging around Natsu for so long – but Keaton surprisingly beat her to it, murmuring under his breath the most vulgar curse word in Lucy's dictionary. With a heavy sigh – cut short by a pained hiss – the young man sat back and crossed his arms. "Well, there goes my plan," he grumbled. "Looks like we can't avoid having to fight them."
"What if we can convince them to let us go?" Lucy suggested. "Tell them the truth?"
Arcadios scoffed. "That won't work, Miss Heartfilia. None of them will listen to a word we say. We are criminals to them no matter how innocent we are. No one, in the history of Fiore, has ever escaped or been released from Abyss Palace." He faced the masked man, dark eyes scrutinizing. "If you choose to fight them, you are forfeiting your life."
"I'd rather fight to stay alive than be hunted like a cowardly animal," Keaton countered harshly. "Do you want your final moments to be down here, Captain?"
Lucy joined in. "You can't give up already, Captain Arcadios! You said so yourself that you're an innocent man. You and I have been wrongly accused of treason! We do not belong here!"
The man clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "It… It doesn't matter for me now. I've done all I can to protect our kingdom. It's up to my subordinate to keep Fiore safe."
"Does he know what will happen on the day of the eclipse?" Keaton demanded, straining to keep his voice low. Even though Lucy couldn't see his face, she could tell he was starting to get very frustrated.
Arcadios narrowed his gaze in suspicion. "What do you know about the eclipse? Just who are you?"
"I know what will happen when that accursed Gate is opened," snarled the young man as he rocked on his heels to lean right into the captain's face as if challenging the other. "The kingdom you wish to protect will be destroyed."
"Wh–" An armoured hand was slapped over Arcadios's mouth before he could even form a word.
Finger to his mask's smiling lips, Keaton quickly hushed the older man. In a whisper, he continued, "I am from the future, Captain, and the future is not a pleasant world. Thousands of dragons terrorize the land, hunting and killing every living person they can find. No town or city is left standing in Fiore and most of the land is barren and dead. Do you know where those damn dragons came from in the first place, Captain? They came from the Eclipse Gate!"
Arcadios pulled away from the other's hand, gaping in shock at the masked man. It took a little while for him to process everything that was said. His mouth was flapping like a fish out of water before he could form coherent words. "You're… from the future? W-Wait… What? The dragons came from the Gate? But… the Gate was supposed to be a weapon to stop the dragon invasion!" He suddenly narrowed his gaze at Keaton. "What is going on here? You're lying, aren't you? Who the hell are you?!"
Keaton hushed him yet again, angering the captain. "I'm telling the truth," said the swordsman, removing his mask to show his face. Blue eyes pierced green in a fervent gaze. "Do you recognize me? I think you've already met my younger self in this timeline."
"You did meet," said Lucy, hoping to clarify. "The youngest boy that was with us before we were apprehended by the guards, wearing the green cloak," she pointed at Keaton, "that is him in this time."
Recognition flashed across the captain's face when he looked the boy over, his eyes lingering on the swordsman's long ears. "It… It really is you. Then what you said–"
"Is true," finished Keaton.
Arcadios still didn't want to believe it, Lucy could see it in his eyes. The man rubbed at his temples and slowly shook his head. "I don't understand… We were forewarned of the dragon invasion. Ten thousand of them. From the sky not the Eclipse Gate! "
"Who warned you of the invasion?" Keaton inquired, frowning.
The captain breathed a deep sigh as he ran a hand down his tired face. "He gave us no real name, but called himself The Prophet," he began, dropping his gaze to his clenched fists on his lap. "Seven years ago, he somehow appeared out of thin air right before the throne of His Majesty. He spoke of the eclipse and the Festival of the Dragon King on July 7, X791 and gave King Toma… he gave him the blueprints for the Eclipse Gate. He told His Highness about the Gate's power, how it could store an unlimited amount of magic that could then be used as a powerful cannon to annihilate the dragons."
"The king believed him just like that?" Lucy asked in disbelief.
"No," murmured the captain with a rough shake of his head, "Not right then. I thought he was threatening King Toma and tried to arrest him, but he vanished just when I was about to make my move. It was a few months later when he appeared again and warned us of an assassination attempt on Princess Hisui's life. After we foiled the assassins' plans, we started to believe in The Prophet's words."
"It could have been staged."
"Don't you think I would have thought of that? I interrogated the assassins; gave them all Truth Potions so there would be no lies. None of them were affiliated with The Prophet."
Keaton brought a hand to his chin and furrowed his brow in thought. "This prophet, he must be the one behind all of this…" he said, his expression turning dark, "Where is he now? Do you know? What does he look like?"
Arcadios shrugged his bulky shoulders. "He was a tall man, but I never got a good look at his face. He wore a beggar's cloak with a hood that concealed his face in shadow. After the king agreed to build the Eclipse Gate in secret from the public, The Prophet disappeared and never returned. I can't tell you more than that, I'm afraid."
"He must be here, hiding somewhere within Crocus, waiting for the Eclipse Gate to open. He's the one controlling the fate of Fiore and we need to stop him!"
"And how do you plan to stop someone who has never been seen for seven years, boy?"
As Keaton carefully got to his feet, he huffed, "I don't know. I'll have to figure that out later. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. Now, are you with us or not, Captain?" He extended a hand for the other man to take.
Arcadios's face was unreadable as he stared at the offered hand. "Escaping… will not be easy," he said, shifting his gaze between the mages.
"We won't know until we try," said Keaton, glancing over at Lucy who gave him an assuring nod and confident smile. "I can tell the Garou Knights are strong, but I've fought much stronger beings in my lifetime. I will not be stopped by them, not when this world is in grave danger. I have traveled back to this time to change the future, Captain, and that is what I intend to do."
Lucy was impressed by his words and she wasn't the only one.
Arcadios gazed upon the swordsman with newfound admiration when he grabbed the boy's hand. As he was pulled to his feet, he said, "You've grown into a strong, brave warrior. You would make an excellent knight, boy. One I would be proud to have by my side." Standing at least one head taller, the captain reached out and placed a large hand on the young man's shoulder. "Thank you for showing me what true courage looks like. Let me help you as much as I can."
He quickly briefed them on the Garou Knights; spoke of their appearances and each of their abilities. There were three men and two women. Their weaknesses were unknown, but they had plenty of strengths. Individually, each could take out groups of soldiers. All together, they were an unbeatable force against a whole army.
Kama was the leader. A wielder of two scythes, he relied more on his weapons than his own magic for his executions.
Neppa was a large man capable of conjuring copious amounts of acid. His acid was so corrosive it could eat through the strongest steel in seconds.
Uosuke was the strange one with a fish-like face and abnormally large forearms. Arcadios feared him the most; "Not even the bones are left when he's done…" They were warned not to judge Uosuke by his odd, almost innocent appearance because he was the most dangerous Knight. He could alter the terrain on a whim by summoning whirlpools, icebergs, lava pools, and worst of all, he could control gravity.
Kamika was a woman with dark hair who used paper magic. Each colour of her paper had different magical properties, but unfortunately, Arcadios couldn't remember which colour did what.
Last, but not least, was Cosmos, the woman with pink hair. As Lucy had witnessed, Cosmos specialized in plant magic. She could summon different types of plants to aid her, including strangling vines and flowers that spewed toxic spores. She even had special spying flowers, which she had likely placed around the ruins to easily locate her targets. None of the plants growing in Abyss Palace could be trusted.
"Lucy and I will try to ambush the two coming this way," said Keaton as he clasped his feather cloak back around his shoulders. "Captain, you should hang back and stay out of sight."
The older man grunted in annoyance. "I wish I could be of more use to you both."
"You already gave us some vital information," said Lucy, giving Arcadios a cocky grin – one Natsu would probably be proud of. "Now we know what to expect from these guys. We won't be caught off guard."
Keaton's smirk was the last thing she saw before he put his mask back on. "Let's go. Lucy, turn the light off."
"Uh, how do I turn it off?" the girl questioned when nothing happened after she shook the Lacrima pendant a few times.
"Flick it hard," the young man replied.
And when she did, the world went pitch black for several seconds before Lucy's eyes could adjust to the faint emerald light provided by the distant fires. As she stuffed the necklace into one of her pockets, she held her breath and listened as Keaton began to whisper, "They're about ten minutes away from us. We will make our way around them to attack from behind and take them out by surprise if possible."
"If that doesn't work?" Lucy asked, starting to feel anxious. There were many things that could go wrong.
"One thing you've always told me was to always be ready for the worst case scenario."
She quietly giggled. It was definitely something she would say. "Best advice I've ever heard."
He laughed along with her.
Keaton led the way, moving as swiftly and stealthily as his injury would let him, maneuvering between the ruins in the direction of the flickering light up ahead. It took a moment before Lucy realized that some of the light was moving, which meant someone was carrying one of the green torches around. About half-way upon reaching the mobile source of the light, Keaton motioned for Lucy and Arcadios to be very quiet. They slowed their pace to avoid making too much noise with their steps.
Around a corner and through the broken shell of a building they went. When they passed through the small doorway, they sidled up against the outer wall of a neighboring structure.
Lucy's heart nearly skipped a beat when she heard voices echoing from somewhere far on the other side of the wall. She couldn't pick out any words but she could tell the speakers were both men.
With his hands, he silently told Arcadios to stay put and Lucy to follow. Both nodded.
Heart fluttering with nervousness, the spirit mage followed her future apprentice. She was no longer feeling exhausted due to the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had to be ready; any mishap could mean the end if the Garou Knights truly did not hesitate to kill their opponents. From the back pocket of her shorts, she quietly pulled out Keaton's ring of keys and held them tight, drawing strength from her spirit friends.
They were moving at a crawl by the time they got close enough to spot their two male targets. Backs pressed against the crooked stone of what remained of a house, they hid among the shadows cast by the emerald flame carried by the largest of the men.
Spiky blond hair, gorilla-like arms with a flaming torch in one hand and a green bottle of soda in the other; the big guy was Neppa the acid-user. The shorter one in the lead was armed, carrying twin scythes on his back and wearing a dark hood and a metal mask that covered the lower half of his face. He was Kama, the leader of the Garou Knights.
They were a good distance away from Lucy's and Keaton's hiding spot, walking through a wide open area littered with rubble. Keaton slowly and quietly took out his bow and pulled an arrow from his quiver. The bow he held greatly differed from the one he used as a child; it was slightly larger, the grip was guarded on top and bottom by curved spines, and the limbs were covered in a creature's pearly white scales with the ends forming the shape of feathered wings. Even his arrow looked different from a normal arrow with the sharp point made of some type of oily-black metal.
He shifted a little closer before he nocked his arrow and took aim. Lucy could hear her heart thundering in her chest as she watched the scene slowly unfold. She was tense, but unlike her, Keaton seemed so calm and focused. Looking at him now, it was almost hard to believe that he used to be the young, curious boy named Bacon.
The childish wonder that defined him had been replaced by a warrior's mindset. He knew what he was doing; he had to wait for the two Knights to walk by and show their backs to make their ambush somewhat of a success.
The two men were busy talking, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.
"Getting so late. Is it early morning now?" Neppa asked in his deep, loud voice, never removing the lip of his bottle away from his mouth. He took a swig of his drink and continued. "Cosmos should've waited for us, I told that woman."
"It's fortunate she only got a bump on her head and nothing more," replied the other, his voice muffled by his mask.
Neppa soundly smirked as he marched behind his leader on shorter legs. "Oh, she's got more than a bump, she's got a bruised ego. She's pretty pissed to be taken out by a lousy criminal. Must've been that yellow-faced rat we were chasing earlier. I'll betcha one thousand Jewels she'll tear him into pieces instead of sending him off to sleep when she finds him."
Kama snorted, "She mustn't lose her cool under these circumstances. If they are able to sneak behind her–"
Keaton fired his arrow, but it was no ordinary arrow soaring through the air. A second before he released it, he had powered it up with his magic, shrouding the tip in a deep blue mist. And within a heartbeat, he shot a second magic arrow. Both were aimed at the backs of the men, appearing as nothing but blue streaks.
Just when Lucy thought it was as easy as that, both executioners twirled around the instant the second arrow was fired. Kama's reflexes were as quick as lightning as he deflected Keaton's blue arrow with the blade of one his scythes. As Neppa spun on his heel, he swung his torch-carrying arm outward and conjured a bright purple liquid that acted as a shield. When the magic arrow struck the purple wall, it flashed with a blue light and steam. Pale blue ice soundly formed, freezing every drop of the purple liquid in a matter of seconds. Neppa's now frozen shield shattered on the ground like glass. Both Knights weren't taken by surprise, judging by the sneer on Neppa's face and the ferocity in Kama's sharp eyes; they had been expecting something like a sneak attack.
With both scythes in his hands, Kama was already charging straight for Keaton and Lucy's hiding spot before Lucy could even blink. He was like the grim reaper in appearance with his huge, deadly blades glinting by his sides and his dark cloak flapping behind him.
Keaton growled and fired a third ice-powered arrow at the oncoming Knight, but Kama easily deflected it yet again, sending the arrow into the darkness where it burst and froze something out of sight.
"Fools!" shouted the executioner, "There is no mercy for sinful cowards like you!"
The masked swordsman quickly put away his bow and stepped out of his hiding spot while shouting, "Lucy!"
She nodded, understanding from his urgent tone that it was time to fight. Gold key in hand, she called forth her chosen Celestial Spirit; "Open the Gate of the Lion!" However, just like with Gemini, Loke didn't appear right away. She cursed and hung back as Keaton and Kama clashed weapons.
The masked swordsman was now equipped with his red shield in his right and his smaller sword in his left. He was blocking and evading Kama's relentless onslaught; the man's large scythes moving at a blurring speed, constantly aiming for the young man's neck. The cavern rang loud every time black steel struck crimson.
Keaton was forced to say on the defensive, but no matter how strong Kama swung his twin weapons, Keaton's guard never weakened. He was unyielding, as sturdy as his shield and as swift as his arrows. When Kama pulled back his scythes to perform a guillotine maneuver, Keaton quickly switched to the offensive and rushed forward, thrusting his sword at the Knight's exposed belly.
Lucy, so mesmerized by the incredible battle, didn't get to see what happened next because she heard Loke yell, "Lucy! Look out!" before she was roughly tackled to the ground.
She heard something splash and violently hiss before she caught a whiff of some noxious fumes that stung her eyes and burned her nostrils. Strong arms carried her away from the bubbling, smoking pool of purple acid that none other than Neppa could produce.
"Huh? Where'd you come from?" she heard Neppa exclaim out of surprise.
"Loke! Thank you!" said the Celestial Spirit mage the moment she laid her eyes on her savior. "That was a close one."
"Sorry, I'm late," replied the great lion as he flashed his master a handsome, but also apologetic smile. He lowered Lucy on her feet, straightened his tie, and stepped protectively in front of her to face the large Knight glowering at them behind his bottle. "I sensed you were in trouble a little while ago, but something was preventing me from opening my gate. And then the strangest thing happened when you called for me, another gate opened, but it was–"
"In another location?" Lucy finished for him with a raised her brow. When he nodded, she asked, "The same thing happened to Gemini. Didn't they tell you guys anything?"
"Well, when they came back to the Celestial Spirit World, they were about to tell us this 'awesome surprise', but then you summoned me. So… no. Is this the surprise? Seeing Master Lucy covered in dirt with every hair out of place? You're still beautiful, by the way," he quickly added when he sensed her glare at the back of his head, "Way prettier than," he pointed at Neppa, "that ugly fellow. So why are you down in this cave and what's going on over there?" He nodded in the direction of Keaton and Kama who were both busy dancing and talking with their weapons to notice Loke's presence.
"Ugly?" Neppa growled at the insult, his small eyes narrowing to angry slits. "You're going to regret that once I melt your stupid little face off, spirit!" He plunged the pointed end of his torch into the ground and left it erect as he stomped towards Loke. He raised his beefy arm and punched hard into the ground with enough force to make a crater.
"Explain later! Fight now!" Lucy shrieked as she felt the ground rumble beneath her.
Loke twisted around, grabbed his master's arm and leapt to the side just in time to avoid a geyser of hissing acid that appeared right where they were standing only seconds ago. Lucy cringed at the horrible sound as the corrosive liquid quickly ate away every stone it touched. One drop on her skin would leave a permanent scar or even worse.
Neppa growled and swept his free arm, conjuring more of the purple liquid and sending it towards the pair in a deadly spray.
Muttering a string of colourful expletives, Loke picked Lucy up yet again and dove behind a pile of rubble for cover. Their broken stone barrier noisily hissed the instant it came in contact with the acid, making Lucy panic. Loke decided to smother her from above to shield her from any stray splashes.
"Ah shit! This stuff burns like hell!" Loke snarled as he hastily wiped at the back of his neck with the sleeve of his suit.
Lucy coughed at the strong fumes and covered her mouth and nose. "Let's find some more cover! Over there!" She pointed and grabbed Loke's arm to lead him towards an old building made of rotted wood and chipped stone. They ran behind it, using it as a temporary shield against Neppa's dangerous magic.
Loke shed his suit that now had little holes from where the acid had eaten through. He swore under his breath. "I won't be able to attack him and keep you safe at the same time. His magic is hard to avoid," he growled, hissing in pain when he felt his burned neck.
Lucy held up Gemini's key and took a deep breath. Exhausted as she was, she still had the magic energy to call forth another spirit. "Then we need a little more help."
The twins appeared immediately right after she called for them unlike the first time. They hovered before her.
"Master Lucy! Are you fighting those executioners?" Gemi asked, dancing alongside his brother.
"Shall we take on the form of Master Link?" asked Mini.
Loke raised an eyebrow at the twin spirits. "Master who?"
"Remember the awesome surprise we wanted to tell everyone back in the spirit world?" Gemi began.
While the brothers started to explain, Lucy quickly pondered over Mini's suggestion. Keaton had the power to freeze Neppa's acid with his arrows. That would be useful in stopping his magic and giving Loke an opening to get close to attack.
"Do it," commanded Lucy, interrupting the twins' before they could reveal Keaton's true identity. "Transform into Keaton."
"Keaton? Now who's this guy?" Loke asked, confused.
"He's Master Link!" chanted the twins right before they connected their stubby arms. In a bright flash of white, the little spirits merged together and in their place was the swordsman from the future donning the smiling fox mask and feathery cloak.
"Oh, that guy fighting the other dude," murmured Loke with a nod. "Now who is he, exactly?"
Neither Lucy nor Gemini got a chance to answer because they heard the awful splashing and hissing of Neppa's acid when it struck the other side of the building they were hiding behind. "Don't think you can run and hide from my magic!" the Knight bellowed.
"I have a plan!" whispered Lucy. She quickly told her spirits what to do as their barrier began to noisily dissolve and crumble from the purple acid.
Gemini nervously scratched the side of their masked face after hearing her strategy. "We haven't tried using Master Link's magic yet. We don't know if we can use it since it's so different from ours."
Loke raised his brow but didn't say anything.
"What?!" Lucy exclaimed, clutching the sides of her head in panicking horror. It was such a perfect plan! There was no changing it now with their last wall of defense starting to disintegrate. "At least try! You have to be able to! Come on, let's do it!"
"Aye, Master Lucy!" said Loke and Gemini in unison.
Gemini split away from the group, dashing to the right to merge with the shadows while Lucy and Loke went left, rounding the corner and out in the open where Neppa could spot them.
The executioner was sneering in delight having flushed his targets out of hiding. Bottle still clenched between his teeth, he chortled and said, "You should stop putting up a fight. This is the end of the line. No criminal can escape my acid."
Loke once again stood protectively in front of Lucy. "You're a sick bastard, you know that?" he growled angrily. He cracked each of his knuckles as he eyed his opponent, eager to wipe the smile off the Knight's ugly face. "You're the real criminal here, pal. Wanting to harm a pretty girl is a serious offence!"
The executioner guffawed, never taking his bottle away from his mouth. "She won't be pretty for long once I'm done with her."
"You…" Loke seethed, his mane of hair bristling, "I'm going to make sure you never get that chance."
"You think you can stop me? Many have tried and none have ever succeeded against me." Neppa held up his free hand and formed a glob of purple acid that hovered above his palm. "Even the strongest armour is no match against my magic. What good is your own skin and flesh? The instant my acid touches you, you're dead."
"Then let's see if you can get me first!" Loke roared, lunging straight for the big Knight.
"Big mistake!" laughed Neppa as he summoned a large amount of corrosive liquid before him and sent it splashing towards the great lion in a big, purple wave that swallowed everything in its path. "Try to avoid this one!"
Lucy prayed to every merciful god for her plan to work as she watched the deadly liquid rush towards Loke and her. Loke kept running fearlessly towards it, confident that they were not going to fail.
Just when the acid wave was seconds away from slamming into the lion, Lucy saw three deep blue streaks that flew over Loke's head and collided with the purple liquid at various parts, each erupting with brilliant flashes of blue. Pale, crackling ice magically formed within a blink of an eye, encasing and freezing all of Neppa's magic.
Loke was already leaping over the ice before the executioner could even realize what had just happened. Right fist engulfed with golden light in the shape of a lion's head, Loke pulled back and punched the stunned Knight squarely in the face with a shout; "Regulus Impact!" The magic lion exploded with blinding energy and a mighty roar that shook the cavern. The blow was so strong Neppa was sent crashing through a number of ancient structures, completely destroying some and badly damaging others, before finally coming to a halt somewhere in the distance, leaving a trail of dust clouds and debris.
Lucy cheered and went to join Loke, who was massaging his sore hand and wearing a satisfied grin. Gemini stepped out from their hiding spot with their copy of Keaton's bow still in hand. "Great job, guys!" Lucy praised her friends. "I had faith in you both."
"The plan actually worked," said Gemini, sounding quite happy.
Loke breathed a big sigh of relief. "Thank the Spirit King it damn well worked," he said, grabbing Lucy's hands and giving her an affectionate smile. "It was Master Lucy's smart plan after all!"
The girl gently shoved the love-sick spirit away. "Both of you, go and make sure Neppa will stay down for a while and search him for some sort of key. We'll need it to get out of here."
The Celestial Spirits nodded and followed the trail of destruction. Lucy overheard them continue their conversation from before just as they disappeared from view. The girl was curious to see Loke's reaction when he found out the identity of Gemini's current form, but she needed to check on Keaton first.
It wasn't difficult to find the swordsman and Kama. All she had to do was follow the clangor coming from the battling warriors. By the sound of it, they were still going strong, making the cavern ring with clashing metal and battle cries.
Lucy spotted the dueling pair near the very edge of the open area where the light from Neppa's emerald torch could not reach. She saw one of Kama's scythes dropped on the torn ground, its sharp edge spotted with blood. One of Keaton's knives was lying not too far away and it too glistened with something dark and wet. She went to pick it up and nearly dropped it the instant she touched the cold blood staining the black leather hilt.
Slowly and cautiously, she approached their fight, flinching every time their weapons met. Sparks flew whenever their blades struck shield or scythe, briefly lighting up their masked faces. And each time, Lucy took note on how they were faring against each other.
Keaton was favouring his right leg and Kama's left arm was stiff and bloody by his side.
With his shield, Keaton deflected Kama's horizontal swipe and tried to move close to counter with a downward strike, however, due to his wounded leg, his movements were hindered. The leader of the Garou Knights easily dodged the short blade wanting to cut him by jumping back, putting some distance with a single bound.
They stood apart to catch their breaths, eyes locked on each other, both unaware of Lucy's presence. They panted heavily from exertion, but neither was ready to fall in defeat.
"Give up," snarled Kama between breaths, his sharp eyes boring into the other, "With an injury like that, you no longer stand even against me."
"And yet, here I stand," Keaton shot back, a sneer evident in his tone. He kept his shield up and his sword lowered by his side, prepared to defend against the executioner's next move.
Kama growled and shifted into an attacking stance; gripping the shaft of his scythe with both hands and holding the blade over his shoulder. "Your skill is admirable, I will admit," he said, his voice low. "No vile criminal has ever earned my praise. It's disappointing that you are a man of sin. Allow me to cleanse your soul and give you an honored death!"
He leapt towards the other, willing to put all his strength behind his next attack.
Keaton flinched into what Lucy thought was a defensive stance. But then she felt his magic surge and saw his sword start to shine with bright blue energy that lit up the area and both fighters. Skin tingling, she recognized the spell immediately and could only watch in stunned silence as their battle had finally reached a climax.
Blue turned into fiery red a split-second before Kama was within range. Yelling with all their might, both fighters swung their weapons at the same time; Kama going for a lightning-quick sweep from the side and Keaton rapidly spinning on his heel to perform his powerful spin attack. Their blades collided in mid-strike with an ear-deafening clang, but only one would come out the victor.
Keaton's magic flared out like deadly fire, knocking the Knight's weapon out of his hands. Then in one quick motion, Keaton spun around once more on the same heel, moving along with his carried momentum to slash his fiery sword across Kama's exposed torso.
The leader of the Garou Knights let out a pained cry as he was thrown back from the blow. He flew a good distance away from the other and crashed hard against the ground before skidding to a stop. He didn't move right after.
Keaton snarled in pain when he had to put weight on his injured leg when he tried to regain his balance. Unable to tolerate the agony, he fell on his side and groaned.
Lucy quickly ran to him while shouting his name out of worry.
"The other guy?" he asked after she helped him sit up.
"He's been taken care of, I think," Lucy answered. She took out the swordsman's star pendant to provide some light to see more clearly. "I sent Loke and Gemini to make sure he's out for the count and to grab his key."
He nodded as he dug into his pouch for something. "You're not hurt. That's good. I see it went a lot better for you," he said with a little laugh. He ripped open the hole in his bloody pant leg to reveal the terrible gash that heavily bled. Lucy covered her mouth and gasped in horror at the sight of it.
Keaton, on the other hand, only sighed, acting rather annoyed instead of horrified at such a wound. He quickly pulled out one of his bottles, inspected it to make sure he had the right one, and then uncorked it. Inside wasn't a liquid but some sort of clear, thick, translucent goop that he scooped up with his hand and smeared over the bleeding gash on his thigh. It had a strong herbal scent to it that oddly reminded her of Porlyusica's home.
She frowned and searched around for something that could be used to bind his wound. He beat her to it by proceeding to cut away the ends of his long tunic with a knife, making a few long strips, in which he used to bandage his leg.
"Will you be okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, don't worry," he pulled up his mask, wiped the sweat off his face, and gave her an assuring smile. His gaze fell on the fallen Knight as he started to put away his equipment. "I didn't expect his scythe to fly back to him right after he tried throwing the damn thing at me."
"I'm glad you're safe," she said, handing him his dropped knife. She was greatly relieved that they had won their first battles against the Garou Knights. There were three left; how were they going to defeat them when Keaton had sustained another injury?
He thanked her for returning his knife and used the torn end of his tunic to clean the silvery blade before sheathing it.
Lucy jumped to her feet in alarm when she heard Gemi and Mini call her name upon their return. Back in their original forms, the twins were zooming towards her, leaving trails of glittering light with Loke not too far behind.
The twins were both carrying a large, black iron key. "I think we found the key you wanted," said Gemi as the spirits dropped the item into Lucy's waiting hand.
The blonde girl pursed her lips as she examined the key. It was slightly larger than a Celestial Spirit key and heavier than it appeared to be. Engraved on the bow was the gold Royal Emblem of Fiore. "Looks important so it must be it," she surmised.
"It's the only key we could find on that guy," said Loke with a shrug as he strode past them. Wordlessly, he crouched beside Keaton, pushed his blue-tinted shades up to his forehead, and leaned right into the young man's face for a better look.
Keaton didn't flinch away from the other invading his personal space. Instead, his blue eyes brightened and his lips curled into a familiar smile. "Hello, Loke."
The lion blinked in bewilderment before he grinned. "Well, well. Little man, it really is you!" he exclaimed, moving back to look the boy over from head to toe. "I don't freaking believe it… You're all grown up! So you came from the future, huh?"
The twins flew in opposite circles around the men. "Told you it was an awesome surprise!" they shouted in excitement. They stopped to hover above the lion's head and started their synchronized dance.
Loke chuckled. "Yeah, quite a shocking tale. Seriously, I really can't imagine you being my next master."
Keaton's expression became serious; his youthfulness instantly replaced by a mature, battle-hardened man. "That may never happen. If we can destroy the Eclipse Gate before the day of the eclipse, the future will turn out differently, hopefully for the better. That is, if we can escape this place."
The lion gripped the swordsman's shoulder. "We'll get out of here. Link, right? Much better name than 'Bacon'."
The other chuckled at the comment. "Agreed. But Link is my past name. I prefer to be called 'Keaton' instead."
"Why Keaton?"
The boy lightly tapped his fox mask and formed a wistful smile. "Because I grew up and survived in this world as Keaton, not Link. Uh, do you mind lending me a hand? My leg has gone numb and we should be getting out of here. The other three Knights heard the commotion and are now heading our way. We need to think up a plan before we can go up against them."
"Oh. Here, I got you." Loke draped one of Keaton's arms over his shoulder and helped the wounded swordsman stand. With his wounded leg gone completely limp, Keaton needed Loke to support him.
"Gemi, Mini," Loke addressed his fellow Celestial Spirits, "Head back to the spirit world. I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on these two."
The twins nodded and disappeared.
"There are actually three of us," said Lucy. As if on cue, she heard heavy footsteps running towards them. Heart-skipping a beat, she twirled around and was glad to see it was only Arcadios.
As the captain made his way over, he was carefully looking around the area, noticing all the damage to the ground and buildings. He paused for a moment to eye the frozen acid wave and glanced warily at Kama's weapon lying on the ground. "I-I heard all that noise and… Did you do it?" He found his answer when he spotted Kama lying motionless off to the side. His jaw dropped to the ground. "You defeated Kama?!" he shrieked, surprised, amazed, and stunned all at once. "I… I-I would never have thought… Wait, what happened to the other Knight? There was a second person with Kama, wasn't there?"
"That big, ugly, acid-spewing guy?" Loke questioned with a raised brow and cocky sneer. "I'm pretty sure I knocked him into next week. He won't be getting up for a while."
Arcadios didn't notice the great lion until now. "Who are you?"
"Loke, good sir. I'm one of Master Lucy's Celestial Spirits."
Arcadios nodded and introduced himself before inquiring about the Knights' keys.
Lucy held up the black key the twins had given her. "Is this one?"
The captain was extremely ecstatic that Lucy was afraid he was going to have a heart-attack. "Yes! That's it! There should be five of them and they are all identical. Each Garou Knight has one. Did you get the second one as well?"
"Not yet," replied Keaton, turning his attention to Kama. "Had to tend to my injury first before I could search for it."
"I can get it," said Lucy. But before she could take a step, Keaton stopped her.
The injured warrior dug into his pouch and handed her the bottle that had the thick, clear goop. "Put some on his wounds. It's a salve that'll stop the bleeding and numb the pain for a few hours."
Arcadios asked the same question that sprang to Lucy's mind; "Are you sure about this? The man tried to kill you."
Keaton nodded and turned his weary gaze on the fallen Knight, looking rather guilty. "I didn't come to the past to kill anyone. I just want to save everyone's future."
Lucy nodded in understanding. "Leave him to me," she said as she strode over to the unconscious man. Out of caution, she prodded Kama's foot with her shoe to make sure he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. She gasped when she shined some light over him, seeing the awful wound Keaton had inflicted with his spinning attack. Kama was wearing plated armour throughout the entire battle and it did little to protect from Keaton's magic blade. The metal had been slashed wide open from side to side and the flesh beneath bled profusely. In spite of his injury, he was still alive, but his breaths were quick and shallow.
After wrapping Keaton's necklace around her wrist to free her hands, Lucy did as Keaton had asked and carefully smeared the strong-smelling gel-like medicine over the executioner's bleeding wounds. Once finished, she wiped her hands on her shorts and began rummaging through Kama's belt pouches for his black key. Meanwhile, she listened to the men converse.
"We could ambush the other three if we wait for them to arrive here," suggested Arcadios.
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Loke, "The kid's in no condition to fight another battle right now. He can't even stand!"
Keaton grunted. "The salve's numbing effect will last at least four hours. I might be able to walk right after."
"We can't wait that long. What if Kama and Neppa recover by then? You won't be just dealing with three Knights," argued the captain.
"I'm pretty sure it'll be a couple days before either of them will be getting up," Loke pointed out.
"We need to be careful from now on," advised Keaton, sounding tired, "Our ambush didn't work against Kama and Neppa. They were expecting a surprise attack and I can only assume the other three are well prepared for one too. With their leader down, how do you think they will respond?"
Arcadios groaned. "I really don't know… This would be the first time Kama has been defeated. If they are arrogant enough, the remaining Knights will likely continue their hunt for us to avenge their fallen comrades."
"Knowing these types of people, they're going to be pretty mad when they find out what happened to their pals," murmured Loke.
"Definitely gonna hunt us down," sighed Keaton.
Lucy's fingers finally grasped onto something that felt like a key in one of Kama's back pouches. Smiling, she returned to her companions. "I got it. Let's find a safe place to hide. We can think of something then," she suggested, giving Keaton his bottle back.
The three of them looked at Arcadios until he finally agreed. The group of four left the area, moving in the opposite direction of the approaching Knights at a speed that Keaton could manage with Loke's support. Lucy was in the lead, using Keaton's pendant, still wrapped around her wrist, to light their way ahead. Striding silently beside her was Arcadios who appeared to be deep in thought, judging by the furrow of his brow. Behind her were Loke and Keaton; the swordsman was leaning heavily against the lion, dragging his wounded leg and hopping with the other.
Although the pain in Keaton's leg was numbed, he still had his broken ribs to deal with. He was hurting; Lucy could hear it whenever he took a sharp breath, but he didn't complain or slow them down too much.
The Celestial Spirit mage led them through the maze of ruins, making sure to keep some distance from the flickering emerald lights where Cosmos's plants tend to grow. It was roughly an hour later when they finally stopped due to Keaton starting to pass out.
They hid within a barren shell of a small home that had a carpet of moss and a missing roof. The group huddled around a corner with Keaton resting against the wall. He was exhausted, but refused to sleep.
"The three remaining Knights are searching for us," he told them, trying to rub away the weariness from his eyes with the heel of his hand, "I can't rest now."
"I know, but we can't have you fainting on us," stated Loke, sitting beside him to keep a close eye. "When's the last time you actually got some sleep? You look awful."
The swordsman scoffed and looked off to the side. "I dunno… It would be some time before I came here. Maybe four days ago? It doesn't matter…"
"Four days?!" Lucy nearly shrieked. "How are you still alive?!" Or the better question would be, how was he still a tolerable person to be around? Whenever she missed a few hours of beauty sleep, she was like a grouchy bear who couldn't stand being around another person.
Keaton lightly shrugged, ignoring Lucy's over-the-top reaction. "I've gotten used to having little to no sleep for long periods of time," he answered. His expression became distant when he quietly added, "Less nightmares that way…"
Arcadios cleared his throat to gain their attention. "So what is our plan?" he questioned, looking at each of them in turn. "One idea I have is to devise some sort of trap we can lure them into."
"Hmm, a trap…" Loke rubbed his chin and pondered over it.
"Could work," began Lucy, "But what kind of trap can we set up?"
"Oh!" Keaton quickly sat up straight only to regret it after. After grimacing from the ache of his broken bones, he said, "I have bombs we could use. That narrow road with the tall buildings we passed through earlier, we could set up a trap there."
"Cause the buildings to topple over them. Might work," commented the captain with a nod.
Keaton frowned at the sound of that. "I want to trap them… not kill them."
Arcadios smirked humorlessly. "Mere rocks won't kill them, boy. The Garou Knights are the toughest executioners in this kingdom. Don't give them the chance to counter or else you won't be walking away from this next battle."
"He's right," agreed Loke. "Strong mages don't die that easily. I thought you knew that already."
Anger flashed in Keaton's blue eyes. He opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it, his anger gone in an instant. He was back to his tired self. "If… If that's true, then I suppose we could blast the buildings and trap them underneath," he said.
Lucy smiled with confidence when she said, "I know how we can lure them in there."
Over the next hour, the group worked on setting their trap in the aforementioned area. While Keaton was still immobile, the other three went around and hid the boy's bombs, which were heavy, hand-ball sized, dark blue spheres with a fuse, at structurally weak spots outside of the ancient buildings. They had a good limit of thirty bombs and they had to be placed close enough to each other for a chain explosion.
Once that was set up, with ten bombs to spare, they all moved into position. Keaton hid out of sight at the end of the path with his bow in hand while Lucy, Loke, and Arcadios remained on the other end. Loke was wearing Keaton's fox mask, green floppy hat, and feathered cloak as a disguise. The Garou Knights, other than Neppa, as far as Lucy was aware of, did not know about Loke and were only hunting after Lucy, Keaton, and Arcadios.
The three purposely chatted out loud and threw stones around to make noise.
"Footsteps," Loke warned some time later, pointing in the direction they were expecting their targets to come. "Does everyone remember their lines?" he teased and threw one last rock really hard against a far wall. The clatter of stone echoed far and loud.
Lucy heard a woman's voice, "Did you hear that? They went this way!"
It wasn't long until Lucy saw Cosmos with the other woman named Kamika and the odd-looking man named Uosuke come into view.
It was time to put on their show.
Lucy screamed at her companions, "Run! They found us!" and bolted in the other direction.
Loke cursed out loud and followed her while Arcadios pretended to stumble and urged them both to hurry.
"There they are!" Cosmos shouted behind them as she gave chase, her voice shrill with anger. "There's nowhere to run, you rotten scum!"
Lucy's group rounded a sharp corner and dashed towards the narrow path rigged with explosives. Leg muscles burning and sides starting to cramp, she mustered everything she had to run as fast as she could from the pursuing Knights. Right when she left the blast zone, she saw a flash of fire coming from up ahead. It flew in her direction; an arrow engulfed entirely in flame. For a brief moment, she felt the fire's heat lick her skin just as it soared past her, missing her by an arm's length. She didn't stop running and she didn't look back when she heard the first deafening explosion which was quickly followed by a second one, followed by a third, the forth, and so on.
The earth rumbled and her ears rang with every exploding bomb. It felt like there was an earthquake when the buildings started to collapse on the three remaining executioners.
However, just when she thought things were working out as planned, there was always something waiting to ruin it.
"Terrain Effect: Gravity Zone!"
The thunder of falling rubble suddenly stopped. Lucy twisted around and gasped in shock when she saw all the dust and broken stone now levitating in midair instead of crushing the Knights. In the center was Uosuke, smiling his strange smile and sitting crossed leg in midair with his abnormally large forearms held out before him, controlling the gravity in the surrounding area. Cosmos and Kamika were floating beside him, both struggling to orient themselves in zero gravity.
Cosmos, while hanging upside down, pointed a finger indignantly at Lucy's group, her beautiful face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You filthy criminals are going to pay for everything you've done!" she snarled. "No one hurts a Garou Knight and gets away with it! So unforgiveable! I'm going to punish you lowly criminals myself!"
Floating on her back, Kamika looked disappointed. "Well, alright," she grumbled and crossed her arms nonchalantly. "Go ahead and have all the fun."
Ignoring her, Cosmos twisted around to right herself, looked towards the darkness above them, raised her arms above her head, and yelled, "Grow Flow!"
"Oh no!" Arcadios gasped in horror.
Lucy flinched into a defensive position, ready to defend against whatever spell the pink-haired woman was going to throw at them. It turned out she wasn't prepared because she did not expect an enormous flower bud sprouting from the ceiling right above them. Five, massive, bright blue petals unfurled, revealing a vivid purple center with a gaping black hole in the very middle. The entire flower was at least the width of several houses and its black core around two houses wide.
The next thing Lucy knew, her feet were no longer touching the ground. She yelped in surprise and uselessly flailed her limbs in the air as the giant flower started to suck her up like a powerful vacuum. Dust, rubble, loose stone – whatever wasn't stuck to the earth – were all pulled into the black void in the flower's centre.
In her screaming terror, she looked frantically around for her companions and found Loke and Arcadios helpless in the air along with her. She saw something burst into flame in the corner of her eye.
She spotted Keaton stuck in the same situation not too far away from them and he was busy lighting and hurling the rest of his bombs that were eagerly swallowed by the flower's gaping hole. A heart-wrenching second later, there was a deafening boom as Lucy's world exploded in burning fire and she was thrown into the dark abyss.
Sitting outside of an ice cream parlor, Mirajane smiled in content after finishing the last bite of her strawberry and banana sundae. It was a really warm day, the perfect weather for ice cream. After setting down her plastic spoon, she was surprised to find Bacon had hardly touched the chocolate fudge sundae she had bought for him. He was playing with it more than eating it, stabbing the quickly melting, goopy treat with his spoon and making a mess of the table they sat around. Seated across from him was Asuka and she had already devoured her yummy dessert and was now curiously watching the other people waiting in line for ice cream.
A little concerned, Mirajane rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at Bacon's face hidden under his hood. "What's wrong, Bacon?" she asked the boy, "Don't you like the ice cream here?"
He glanced at her and shook his head. "It's not as good as yours," he answered quietly and resumed to poking his dessert.
"You're right. It's missing something," said Mirajane, looking thoughtful.
"There was no cherry!" Asuka pointed out, pouting her lips. "I like the cherries you put on top! They're the best part!"
Mirajane smiled and wiped the chocolate syrup staining the cute girl's face. "You're right! There's no cherry! And no cake to go with it!"
She turned to Bacon, expecting him to agree, but the boy didn't react to her comment at all. Her smile fell. She knew the quality of his treat wasn't the only reason he didn't want to eat it. He was very upset about last night's incident.
Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Gray, Lucy, the three Exceeds, Romeo and Bacon had all gone exploring some ruins Gajeel had stumbled upon during his match against the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. It was quite an adventure they had, discovering a dragon graveyard, meeting a dragon ghost, and finding out about the kingdom's secret plan to use a time-travelling door to travel to the past to defeat the Black Wizard Zeref and Acnologia. However, in the end, Lucy was detained and thrown into prison for treason while the rest of Fairy Tail was kicked out of the castle.
Since morning, Fairy Tail had been occupying the newly renovated Bar Sun specifically reserved just for them. They had been discussing and strategizing to prepare for tomorrow's final event for the Games as well as trying to figure out how to rescue Lucy without getting caught. With Mavis Vermilion lending her knowledge and ideas, Fairy Tail's plans seemed to be coming together.
It was around mid-afternoon when Mirajane had noticed Bacon alone at a table, clearly upset about something. With everyone too focused on the Games and Lucy, no one paid too much attention to him and he didn't seem to care what was going on around him. Hating to see him so sad, Mirajane took the boy and a very bored Asuka, with her parents' permission, out for ice cream at the parlor down by the corner of the street. She had already volunteered to be on the rescue team, so it wasn't vital that she needed to stay and hear out the rest of the guild's plans.
Sweets usually cheered Bacon up, but this was another one of those rare cases where sugar did absolutely nothing to bring back his smile. Mirajane reached out and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about Lucy," she told him with an assuring smile, "We'll make sure she comes back to us."
He only nodded as he stared at his sundae, which was now mostly a chocolaty-vanilla soup overflowing in his plastic cup.
The silver-haired mage frowned. Something else was definitely on his mind and Mirajane had a feeling it was related to what the group had discovered in the graveyard that they may have forgotten to mention.
Mirajane wanted to ask Bacon about it, but she couldn't do it out in the open. Too many eyes and ears. It was best to talk to him in private, but she wasn't sure if he would open up to her like he would with Wendy. It wouldn't hurt to try.
Seeing that he wasn't interested in eating his ice cream soup, she stood up and said, "Let's head back."
"Okay!" said Asuka, hopping off her tall chair and running around to Bacon's side. "Want to race back?"
The boy slowly slid off his seat and shook his head.
Asuka crossed her arms and pouted. "Aw, you're no fun!"
"Be nice, Asuka," Mirajane lightly scolded, "Bacon's feeling a little down. How about you try cheering him up?" She started to clean up the children's mess and threw away their trash. She tried her best to wipe up all the spilled ice cream on the sticky table with the unused napkins she still had left.
The little girl looked apologetically at the older boy. "Oh…" was all she uttered before she hugged him.
Bacon blinked in surprise as he asked, "Asuka, what are you doing?"
"Auntie Mira asked me to cheer you up so that's what I'm doing!" she answered with a giggle. "Hugs always cheer me up when I'm sad."
"Thank you, but I'm not sad…" he replied. He returned her hug anyway and cracked a smile Mirajane was hoping to see.
"You feel better though, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Yay!" cheered the little girl. She let him go and then ran behind him to hide under his cloak. "Let's go back to everyone like this. They'll wonder where I am. Momma and Daddy will think I disappeared!"
Bacon's smile widened and he decided to play along. "They are going to be very worried when they can't find you!"
"When they do, I'll jump out and yell 'Surprise!'"
"Oh, they'll be very surprised for sure," said Mirajane. She chuckled at how silly they looked.
Asuka, appearing as a big lump under Bacon's green cloak, started to hop up and down in excitement. "I can't wait to see their faces! Let's go! Let's go!" She urged the older boy to start walking.
Laughing, Bacon moved forward with Asuka trying to keep in pace behind him.
"Don't go so fast!" the girl exclaimed, tugging on his cloak.
"Alright. Hey, don't pull!"
Mirajane smiled and followed right behind them. She was suddenly joined by someone she had least expected to meet out in the open. Her smile became sly. "Mystogan," she coolly addressed the man now striding beside her, "So good to see you! A certain someone has been worried about you for the past few days. Where have you been?"
Her former teammate grunted. "Busy with preparations," was his mumbled response.
She glanced sideways at him and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. She raised a curious eyebrow and lowered her voice. "Preparations, you say? Related to you-know-what?"
He nodded discreetly.
"So you've found out what it is?"
He nodded again. "And much more."
The way he said that piqued Mirajane's interest. She leaned close to him and whispered, "And you're here to report about it?"
He shook his head, his eyes falling on the children strolling ahead of them. Bacon must have sensed his gaze because the boy glanced over his shoulder and blinked at the man in confusion for he had never seen or met 'Mystogan' in person, but he had met Jellal once. Without a word, the boy turned back forward because Asuka was bumping into him.
"Not exactly," was Jellal's answer to Mirajane's question. "I've encountered… a problem and I may need Fairy Tail's help in the matter."
Mirajane slightly frowned. "We've encountered a problem of our own," she said, "Lucy's been–"
"I know what happened," he interrupted.
"You do? How'd you find out?"
"I've been working with someone," he replied, now whispering. "An informant. He told me about it as well as the necessary information concerning you-know-what. But he's… I believe he's been captured and thrown into the dungeons at the castle."
"Oh." Mirajane's lips curled into a devilish smirk. "Lucky for you, we've been a little busy devising a special mission that involves a little rescuing."
He raised his brow. "Is that so? Tell me about it."
She nodded at Bar Sun that was coming up ahead. "I'm sure everyone will be eager to share the details," she said with a wink and a smile.
A/N: In response to Thunder Dragon's review:
Thanks for your ideas, Thunder Dragon! I actually have something similar planned. However, I have to say no to Link using his transformation masks. Link doesn't have any of his masks that he had obtained in Termina and one reason I'll give is because, after saving Termina from Majora, the souls of the masks were allowed to pass onto the afterlife to rest. And in Zelda-style fashion, the instant Link left the magical world of Termina, all the masks he had collected disappeared. It's a cool idea, I will admit, but I do not plan to have his masks spontaneously appear.
You know how Lucy can gain the power of her Celestial Spirits in the latest manga arcs? I'm thinking of having Link learn the same ability with the spirits he will eventually befriend. Specifically with one special spirit that'll appear later on.
I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter!
Please don't forget to review! I really want to hear your feedback, especially with all the changes I've done to this arc. Are you guys liking it? Detested by it? Do you want to stab me in the eyes and hope I never write again? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!