"So, you're scared of the dark Lucy." Evergreen said, trying to goad her.
Lucy glared. "No. Why do you ask?" She said hands on her hips.
"Oh well I—"
"Can it Ever." Laxus warned.
Evergreen sniffed but canned it as Laxus said to do. Bickslow looked over at Evergreen. He hadn't said anything, but the entire time Ever was around the poor blonde she was getting more and more bitchy. He could see her soul seething, reds, greens and blacks were swirling around her. He mentally sighed. Freed wasn't any better. Murky yellows and reds were swirling around them. They both were banding together but not for the right reasons.
"Soooooo Cosplayer. How would your team be handling this?" Bickslow asked. He could see she was just down. Her soul droopy and blues filled her aura.
Lucy was puzzled. "Huh?"
"Erza and them." Bickslow said.
Lucy frowned. "Erza probably would have made us wait until the morning light. Made us get up early and look for clues. Find the monster and beat it up." She said, watching the ground carefully to not trip on rocks.
"It's simple and elegant." Bickslow clicked.
"Yeah, I guess so." She said, they finally had made it to the temple. She looked up. Tall columns had been broken down and eroded from the salt air and time. The temple looked faded as well. A large bulls head was on top of the temple.
"It's dark in there so everyone stays close." Laxus ordered. Everyone nodded. Lucy was shaking on the inside, not liking this plan at all. But she took a deep breath in, calming herself. 'This is what mages do, they did stuff they did not like all the time.'
Lucy was looking around. The temple was in complete ruins, her heart sank at that, she imagined at one point it was beautiful. But now all that was left was faded wall art, and broken pottery pieces. She saw large sculptures of bulls broken. She saw one massive old set of bull horns leaning against the wall itself. The column next to it looked like it had been scratched by them. The large piece of rock was damaged beyond repair. Lucy once read that deers would rub their antlers against trees. That was what it looked like to her. At the end of the room stood a large statue of the Minotaur carved into a large throne. The sculpture was massive. Chains hung down from the arm rest.
"Yikes, that looks too close to the actual thing." Lucy said staying close to Laxus. Laxus looked at it, "it's not my style. As far as room decor goes."
Lucy smirked. "What, you don't like your home being decorated by bull horns and broken pottery? Where is your respect for the classics?"
"It died out when the people invented things like underwear and pants." He shot back. "But you know I wouldn't mind going back to having women where no underwear and a toga. I like the easy access, and I doubt they leave little to the imagination. At least in my head they don't." He smirked.
Lucy glared at him. "You had to go and make this perverted, didn't you?"
Laxus smiled. He sniffed the air. "Let's split up." He said soberly, getting back to being serious.
"Excellent idea," Freed nodded. "Which way will we be going?" He questioned looking around.
"Lucy and I will go this way." He pointed at a passage. "The rest of you will go the other direction."
Everyone but Bickslow looked shocked. He knew that was going to happen. Freed looked like he was panicking. "But I always go with–"
Laxus stared at him, a blank expression was on his face. "And today that will change. Lucy you are coming with me." He started walking towards the passage. Lucy looked embarrassed and Freed looked defeated.
"Sorry–I–I'm sorry. I don't know why he chose me." She said to him, she was embarrassed.
"Blondie!" Laxus demanded.
Lucy looked annoyed now, "It's Lucy! We do this every single time! And don't do that! That whole bossy thing. I'm coming!" She said running after him leaving the Thunder legion behind still mostly in shock.
Bickslow, who wasn't in shock, shrugged. "You heard the man let's go."
"You're not shocked by this? Or outraged?" Evergreen asked. Bickslow looked at her with confusion. "Why would I be?"
"Because we were chosen over Lucy!" Freed blurted out.
Bickslow shook his head, "guys he's dating her now. Besides, he chooses you almost always over me. This isn't new to me at least."
"But it's new to me!" Freed said, sounding distressed. He was Laxus's right hand man. Not her! "He chose you to go with him to rescue her and fight Phantom guild and now this!"
Evergreen sniffed. "Is she even worthy enough to be around Laxus, what if something happens, can she even help him if he was in trouble."
Bickslows eyes glowed green annoyed. "Cut it out you two!" He pointed at Freed, "You're going to have to get used to us sharing him. He chooses us based on who he wants at the moment. He wanted me to come along and save Lucy. I have no idea why, but he did. And I started sharing him when you two came along!"
"Technically I was here first!" Freed blurted out, still in shock.
Bickslow grabbed his head. "Ok, that's true, I met Laxus, and we floated on and off out of each other's lives until we were like 19. Where, you–have been in his life consistently since you two were what? 17? Point is WE all have had to share him. And Ever let's be real you're going to have to get over being jealous and mighty of not being the only girl–"
"How dare you think I'm that–"
"Petty. Petty. Petty." His babies chanted.
"You are and you know it! I've seen your soul since she's been around; it's been as green as your dress, and you've been upset the entire time she's been here. He is dating Cosplayer. We have to share. He wants her around more than us right now. I'm sure eventually once she gets more trained up and comfortable being around us, we'll go back to our rotation but right now, he knows you guys don't like her. So get it together before he lashes out at both of you. Now come on!" He spoke
"Come on!" his babies chanted giggling flying through the air. Evergreen and Freed, annoyed, followed after him.
Lucy was walking with Laxus.
"You know you probably shouldn't have done that." She said, their hands were close enough grazing each other but not exactly holding hands.
"Freed doesn't get to decide who goes with me. I do. If he has a valid point I will listen to his ideas. But there's no reason you couldn't come with me in this instance." He responded dismissively.
Lucy nodded. "I think he is just upset that he has to share you with me. Sounds like he is used to being right by your side and now I'm here." She trailed off.
Laxus stopped. "Blondie, I want you here by my side and that's final." He said as if that was supposed to end the subject.
"It's Lucy." she said slightly annoyed, smiling at him, hands on her hips. He smirked looking down at her, he pulled her closer. "I don't know I like Blondie," he teased, "I like it when you get riled up, when I say it."
Lucy laughed, "is that so?" She said, her hands firmly on his chest, they leaned in closer to each other, their lips barely touching. "Maybe I should stop giving you the satisfaction," she whispered. Laxus was pleased, his dragon purring leaning in to kiss her. Lucy and Laxus were enjoying the magnetic pull the other one brought each other. A sound distracted them before they kissed. "What was that?" She whispered.
"I don't know." Laxus whispered looking around.
"Ok, new rule," She laughed leaning into him. "No kissing when we are trying to work."
Laxus had mirth in his eyes. "You're probably smart to make that rule. You seem to get easily distracted around me."
"Oh! I get distracted?" She laughed at the man.
Laxus nodded emphatically. "Get it together Blondie. You need to start being serious." He teased Lucy.
Lucy smiled at him. "Right back at you. But we still need to talk about this team thing!" She insisted. She was afraid she was going to alienate the other mages, while Laxus looked confused. There was no issue in his eyes. He was the leader, he got to choose who he wanted to explore creepy temples with. And he didn't trust his friends with Lucy quite yet. Bickslow couldn't protect her when Phantom kidnapped her. He reasoned it was better to have her around him. At least then he could be angry at himself. His dragon would freak out too much being away from her while exploring somewhere he didn't know what could happen to her. He wouldn't be able to concentrate and do his job. Plus, he wasn't sure if she was ready for this kind of mission. Her idiotic team tended to destroy things more than actually completing the job. If she were to do something idiotic around him, he could correct her. He had to learn to balance it all out but until then she was staying with him. He decided that. And that was not up for discussion. They also didn't seem to like her. He wasn't blind. He knew Freed and Evergreen didn't like her. But they would have to get over it. Lucy was his. And he was going to do what he needed to do to keep her around.
Laxus and Lucy stared at one another. Laxus looked at his feet. He held out his hand. Lucy took his hand. She could feel a humming and sparks coming through her hand. She giggled.
"What's funny?" He asked.
Lucy stopped; she didn't realize she did that out loud. "Oh! I-I-"
He stared at her. Waiting for her to answer.
"I just." She let go of his hand. She smacked her face. "Just when I hold your hand. I always feel sparks and like humming."
Laxus stared at her. Lucy blushed furiously. "Sorry I guess it's dumb hormone teenage stuff." She wrung her hands. Laxus's lips turned upwards.
"Don't be. It's cute." He said blushing slightly.
"Do you?" She asked quietly.
Laxus looked down knowing what she was trying to ask. "Well let's just say, I feel it too."
"Really?" She perked up.
Laxus looked at her strangely. "Why wouldn't I? I wouldn't hold your hand if I didn't like it."
"Well—I just thought it was a byproduct of your magic. Or dumb teenage puppy love whatever!" She rambled.
Laxus smiled.
She smiled back, "kinda like when I kiss you, I feel this spark and pull, like it's a magnetic mind-blowing connection! I didn't know. I'm inexperienced as you know. Wasn't sure if it was just a first-time thing." She gestured.
Laxus laughed. "No, I don't think so." He was slightly nervous saying this. This was the first time in a long time he liked a girl. He could only count like three. Lucy was one of them.
"I feel a magnetic pull too."
"So, it's not weird?" She asked.
"God no. I hope not. I'll be honest, I remember my first kiss. Was nervous as hell. But being with you is different for me too. It's why I've been fighting with your team."
Lucy stopped. "Why are you fighting with my team?" She asked scowling.
"Because I actually want you around. But your team of idiots also want you around." He sighed.
Lucy was annoyed by that. "I'm not some child! And my teams aren't idiots!"
"Not saying you are. Plus, your body is too mature for that." He gestured to her boobs and hips.
Lucy wanted to smack him, but she blushed. "Laxus!" She cried.
"What just saying! And your team wants you. I want you. And it's just been a thing."
"So, what have you worked out?" She grumbled.
"An alternating schedule. Some missions with me or my team and some with them." He said brushing away a cobweb.
Lucy smiled. They walked through the temple room by room. Lucy watched as the rooms became more depressing. There were human bones littering the grounds. Broken pottery and trinkets in sporadic piles on the ground. Dried blood was sprayed on the walls. Dried pools of blood stained the floors as well. Some rooms had rotting corpses in them. She wanted to gag. Laxus himself grimaced. "How do you think I feel? And my sense of smell is better than yours." He had said to her.
"And why is that?" She asked curiously, holding her nose. She grabbed a torch off the wall. Laxus sent a zap to it. Luckily it caught on fire lighting their way.
"Well, I-I," he didn't know what to say. He wasn't ready to let her know he was a dragon slayer. Eventually he was going to have to tell her. Just not right now. "It's part of my magic." He said gruffly.
Lucy looked at him, side eyeing him. That wasn't a satisfactory answer to her. But it was an answer.
They came to a dead end. Two rooms lay ahead. "You take the one on the left and I take the one on the right," she said, holding the torch.
"Or, how about we go in one room together and the other room together." Laxus pointed out.
"Baka we've searched countless rooms now. Let's just do this, it will be much faster."
Laxus grumbled. "Fine but don't get into any trouble."
Lucy scoffed, "how would I get into trouble looking in a room."
Laxus glared at her. "You got kidnapped walking home and tricked into going to Galuna. Not to mention you were captured and drugged on a ship that was meant to put women into sexual labor. Your past decisions haven't always worked out best for your safety."
Lucy wanted to stamp her feet but realized that would be childish. "How dangerous could one room be?" She complained.
Laxus relented, waving at her to go. Lucy beamed, carefully she walked into the room.
Bickslow watched his babies clear through the cobweb infected corridors.
"Is it me or this place—" Ever began.
"Creepy? Yes." Freed resounded looking around.
"I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I hate it when we have these kinds of missions." Evergreen shivered, feeling the cold seep through her bones.
"You hate getting dirty." Bickslow teased.
The brunette rolled her eyes. Used to the man's antics. "Well yes. But besides that. It's always like I feel something is watching us."
"That's because they are." Bickslow shrugged.
Freed and Ever stopped.
"We are?"
"Yeah. There's tons of stuff down here restless souls."
"I shudder to think about it honestly." Freed responded.
"Have you seen-" she stopped.
Bickslow turned to her. "No but I can feel it. I don't think they are haunting it per say but they are here. You can just tell. Plus," he gestured to the blood-stained wall, "you can tell a lot of violence happened here. But I'm not exactly looking for them. With my sallet on it's much easier to ignore."
They nodded. Freed straightened his jacket. " I imagine these days it's easier to concentrate and do everyday life without seeing everything whether you wanted to or not."
"It has." Bickslow nodded in agreement.
"But the question remains, if you're not looking for them, and you feel so much, how bad is it down here?" Ever asked.
"Probably not good." Bickslow said.
They nodded; the sound of rattling chains distracted him. Freed motioned for them to be silent and to move forward. They had the same thought going through their brains. They needed to be silent. And figure out if that was the Minotaur or not.
Lucy was walking around the room. It seemed to be a room dedicated to altar worship. There should have been countless trinkets, coins and jewels here she would have thought. But instead, she found smaller piles of it. She had noticed a bright silver disc on the floor. It looked familiar but she couldn't place it. The sound of footsteps behind her scared her. She whirled around, out of the shadows a familiar old man appeared.
"Oh Petros! It's you!" You scared me! "Lucy laughed.
"I didn't mean to frighten you!" He looked around nervously. There was an empty sack in his hand. "Only to warn you." He whispered.
"These ruins are dangerous. You must leave at once."
Lucy nodded, "but we can't. We said we would help, and the best way to do so is looking around these ruins."
Lucy got distracted by the drawings on the walls.
"Petros what do all of this mean? Would you happen to know."
"Nick would be better at this than I. But it's the stories told by my people."
The ruins were covered in drawings, the one she was looking at had a man being gored by a bull. And one was a man under the moon. The rest of the pictures afterwards were too faded. But she saw one with a Minotaur chained to a wall.
"Maybe these temple drawings are a clue." She whispered. She made a note to summon Crux later.
Lucy walked closer to the wall when she felt she stepped on something. She bent down to pick it up. It was a silver coin. It had a bull on it. Olive branches decorated the sides of the coin. Lucy put it in her pocket to look at it more later.
"Go on without me Petros! I promise we'll be safe." She said cheerfully. "Laxus is nearby!"
Petros shook his head and left. He was worried about the celestial mage. With all that was happening, it felt like he couldn't stop what had happened all before.
Lucy looked around. She steadied her breathing. "Open gate of the southern cross!" She channeled her energy into the key. All of a sudden, a giant cross appeared before her.
He was waking up from a nap. "I-uhm miss Lucy!" He said straightening up. "W-what can I do for you?" He asked, leaning against his knees.
"I was hoping you could tell me about Helos and celestial magic."
"Well let me see what I can find," he said warily. She watched him fall asleep. It was how he processed so much information at once. Drool was coming out of his mouth. Lucy found it slightly disgusting. When he woke up, he coughed.
"Well privacy laws in effect, this used to be a place many celestial wizards fled to during the war with Alvarez. And during the time when the Alvarez empire was expanding its own borders. People came here to escape."
"Really? What happened to them, an older gentleman said he hadn't seen one in over 50 years."
"He is probably right, records stated that during the war, various kingdoms hunted them down."
"Why though?" She questioned.
"Magic as you know has not always been practiced as freely as it is in Fiore, there were witch hunts. Also, kingdoms from all around wished to gain the powers of the celestial spirits to prevent the Alvarez empire from swallowing them whole. And use them as weapons to defeat the other armies. Experiments were conducted as well on the mages. With their abnormally large containers they were seen as possible tools of mass destruction and how to harness them... Not to mention at the time there was speculation and curiosity on how celestial mages were able to trap spirits into the keys forcing them to work under contract. And the evil wizard Zeref worked to find a celestial mage too at one point in history."
Lucy nodded; she was frightened.
Lucy was mulling everything over. "Grandpa Crux, how did celestial magic come about anyways. You once told me that celestial spirits being here on earth helped inspire different types of caster magic by giving mages other ideas on different types of magic but didn't get into detail."
Grandpa crux sighed, remembering everything he lived through long ago. I certainly don't remember all the details–"
"But you were there?" she asked.
He nodded.
There once was a priestess, she worshiped the Goddess Selene. She was beautiful and kind." He smiled. Nostalgia washed over him. "In fact, she wasn't that unlike yourself. She practiced all over, because back then Selene was worshiped in the sky. And the moon could be seen from all over. She traveled a lot..."
"What happened to her?" She asked curiously.
"Well, she died a long time ago."
Lucy was annoyed. "I know she died. But how did she help create celestial magic?"
Grandpa Crux smiled. "Well, she loved the stars. And the moon. She would worship openly to them. The spirits of the realm that their constellations shined down on saw her, saw her adoration for us. But at that time, we had no way of communicating with this world. If there was, there was never a point anyways. But she changed all of that." He sighed.
"The god of Thunder was madly trying to win her over. Trying to seduce her, he did everything, but she resisted him. I like to believe he fell for her. I say this because to me it's the only reason that ever-made sense. She was eventually told of our world by the Thunder gods wife. She was motivated then to find a way to us. Eventually I was told that she devised a spell that would bring herself to the stars, but it had a deadly consequence."
"And what was that?" Lucy asked, now her voice wavered. "What did the Thunder god do?"
"It would kill her slowly. Not knowing of the consequences, she used the spell to transport herself to our realm. As for your other question, I will answer that shortly."
Lucy laughed sitting on the floor. "That's awesome! The dying part is not awesome though. Did she love it?"
"More than you'll ever know!" He laughed.
"So, what happened next?" She asked.
"Well, it was interesting. It certainly caused waves for us in our realm but her love for us…Astounded everyone. I never got to meet her personally. But everyone who did loved her tremendously. But the spirit king warned her, if she did this repeatedly it would kill her."
"Let me guess she didn't listen?"
"Nope." He smiled.
"She kept on coming back. Sharing stories from her world and us sharing ours. From what I understand. Eventually it took a toll on her body. She was dying. And that was when the God of Thunder found out. He was livid. He ordered her to stop but she still kept going. During that time Leo grew close to her. Leo begged her to stop. But she wouldn't listen. So, he eventually took it upon himself to come straight down here. He was determined to find a way to come to her so she wouldn't die herself. Others tried to fall in his lead. But it proved to be unsafe for us as well. As you know we can't be in your world for very long. The ones who couldn't, she missed too much and continued to travel back and forth." He paused, remembering his old friend. Now he didn't know what became of him after his banishment.
He coughed, "well as she grew weaker, the Thunder god himself did something that surprised everyone. He went to the spirit king and asked for a favor. A favor to allow other spirits to come to her. With Hephaestus help they created the first set of keys. Allowing all spirits no matter what their ability to cross over. It was then that the rules between mages and the spirits were created as a way to protect us, and the mages involved. All 48 constellations she saw in the sky could now move freely to her with her magic. Where they served her for many years until her death."
"Wow, that's amazing. So, he really went on her behalf?"
He nodded, "from what I understand."
"That's amazing." She said in awe.
"So, he did that with nothing in return? That doesn't sound like any of the myths I heard about him."
"I like to think he loved her truly. He would visit her often from what I was told. That's the only reason I can come up with on why he did what he did. I was told he was with her when she died. But that's my take on it." He laughed. "That myth or story spread as she taught other mages about her magic and her spirits. People took it upon themselves to try and recreate those keys. Like Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, who created the brass keys.
"And that's how the other keys were made." She whispered.
"Yes, as more constellations were discovered, more and more mages attempted to create ties from our world to here. Most have been successful. And some took it a step further and created what you know as the blood and demon keys."
"That's amazing." She whispered, the idea of her being able to make her own keys was intriguing to her.
"Well grandpa Crux, would you happen to know anything about the Minotaur."
Grandpa Crux looked confused.
"I know it's a long shot. But it's the man that was half bull half man."
"Can't say I do. I heard of it once. Leo told me about it."
"What did he tell you?" She asked, this was important.
"Well—I." He paused. "Leo had mentioned that while he was with her a man came to see her. He had an issue. I believe the Minotaur was mentioned. But it's been so long ago I can't really remember all the details—I—"
He stopped hearing a sound. The temple started to shake. Lucy got up hearing it too. "Where is that? What's happening?"
Laxus came running into the altar room, alarmed.
"Blondie you, ok?" He asked, slightly panicked. The sound sounded far away but temple shaking had him concerned. He was worried about his entire team at this point.
Lucy nodded. The temple was continuing to shake.
"Time for me to go." Grandpa Crux rasped, whisked away in a beam of light. Lucy ran to Laxus. The temple's ceiling was collapsing.
"We have to get to the others!" Lucy cried.
Laxus ran holding onto Lucy's hand. He tried to locate his team by their smell.
"Do you know where you're going?" Lucy screamed over the temple collapsing. The wing they were in collapsed.
Laxus grunted. He pulled her arm, forcing her to make a sharp right. Lucy did her best to keep up with him.
Lucy and Laxus found the Thunder legion. Lucy gasped. Freed and Evergreen were fighting the minotaur!
Bickslow was boxing with the Minotaur. They were lunging at each other. Bickslow punched the Minotaur straight in the face. The Minotaur took a swing at the seith mage, but he dodged it. Bickslow in return tried to punch him but the Minotaur ducked.
"Any time now guys!" Bickslow screamed. As the Minotaur knocked him across the room.
Evergreen jumped into the air, "fairy bomb!" She screamed. The Minotaur screamed as blasts of light hit him. He screamed in pain. His eyes glowing red in the temple's dark room. Ever did a smooth backward flip in mid air. Her wings glimmering in the dark room. She assaulted the Minotaur with her fairy bomb. The Minotaur dodged out of the way. The bomb went off in a corner of the room.
The temple started to shake. Evergreen tried to dodge the falling debris but felt a chain being wrapped around her waist. She screamed in pain as the chain wrapped around her body. It felt like fire against her skin. The Minotaur laughed, pulling her down with the iron chain that was connected to the wall.
Freed lunged at the beast, his sword in hand he attacked. The Minotaur dropped the chain. He hissed, falling to the ground. Freed was about to skewer the beast when the Minotaur grabbed a shield that was lying nearby. Freed's sword came down hard on the shield making a loud sound.
The Minotaur pushed upwards, throwing the mage off balance. Freed recovered quickly though. He tried to swing his sword back at the Minotaur as it got up, but the Minotaur dodged.
Bickslow got up looking around. He saw Freed, he sent his babies to the beast. Energy beams blasting from them hitting his back. Loud screams of pain erupted.
Freed got up, swiping blood from his mouth. He was unsure when he obtained the injury. That's when he noticed Lucy and Laxus running up to them.
Evergreen screams of pain filled his ears. He saw the chain wrap around her body. Blood dripped from welts on her skin. Freed tried to rush to her but was stopped by the Minotaur. The Minotaur punched him so hard that he collapsed. All he could hear was ringing. His vision was slightly blurry. He saw something like a cow creature running to Evergreen. He saw it take an ax to her.
"No!" He screamed.
He saw it swing the ax down, freeing his teammate from the iron chains. Evergreen was still screaming in agony.
Laxus was seething, he sent a massive ball of lightning at the beast. Freed fell to his knees. He willed himself back up. He watched as Laxus, Bickslow and this other bull man worked in tandem to take the beast down. Bickslow and Taurus had it cornered to the wall near where a larger chain laid. Lucy was with Ever trying to get the rest of the chains off.
"Freed! Help me!" She screamed. She was struggling to lift the big heavy chains off of her. Freed stumbled towards her. Searing pain in his side but he didn't know why.
He bent down to help her get the chains off. That's when he noticed blood coming off of him. Lucy stared at Freed. Panic in her face. "Freed! Blood is just dripping down your face!"
Freed looked at his hair. There was indeed blood all over his hair and jacket. "We can't worry about that now. Miss Lucy. All we can do is get Ever out of here."
With one last scream, they heard a thud. Lucy and Freed looked upwards to see that Laxus had blasted the monster into the wall. While Bickslow and Taurus wrapped the man in a similar chain that surrounded Ever.
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. Evergreen was trembling, her skin oozing. Lucy's heart sank.
"Pardon me, but good job! Air fiving Taurus!" She threw her hand in the air. Taurus smiled. "Anything for youuuuuuu." He smiled. " I'm here to protect that rockin little body of yours! And your friends too! Anything else I can do?"
Lucy turned red. "No, that's fine!" She noticed Laxus glaring at her and then her spirit. "You can go now." She waved. Lucy looked sheepish at Laxus. He looked like he was going to lose it. Lucy coughed uncomfortably.
She quickly bent down to help pick up Evergreen. She was barely conscious. "Don't worry Evergreen. We'll get you help!" She whispered. Evergreen was just mumbling. Freed went to help her. "Are you sure you're, ok?" Lucy asked.
"I'm fine." He said darkly. He winced at his own tone. He wasn't angry at her right now for once it seemed but at himself.
Lucy just nodded weakly. They both helped her up.
"Bickslow!" Laxus snapped.
"Yeah boss."
"Go carry Evergreen back to the taverna. I'll deal with you all later." He snapped.
Lucy swallowed. This didn't seem good at all. Lucy and Freed gently helped Evergreen into Bickslows arms. He carried her silently out of the room.
"Laxus-"
"Enough! Just help me get this Minotaur back to town. We gotta figure out what to do with it." Freed nodded. He helped Laxus carry the creature out of the temple.
Lucy stood there for a moment awkwardly. She was feeling a mixture of emotions. Laxus's temper didn't surprise her just now. But she didn't know what to do while he was having this fit of anger. She slowly made her way out of the room. Lost in thought.
Lucy arrived a little behind the other mages. She was deep in her own mind that she didn't pay attention to Laxus trying to get her attention.
"Blondie!" Laxus screamed.
Lucy jerked up scared. "I'm sorry I was just— never mind. What's up?" She asked cautiously.
Laxus was angry. And she could not tell if he was angry at her or the entire situation. He reminded her of when they first met on Galuna.
He took a deep breath, "I'm going outside to lock this beast in the barn. Until we find a way to kill this thing. Can you please stay here?" He stressed. Laxus was trying to not take his anger out on Lucy. She did nothing wrong. This entire trip he had been worried she would do something stupid and get herself hurt and be a liability to an extent. She was brand new to maging. He figured it would be her to do something stupid considering who her team was and destroy something. And here it was his own team that had screwed things up. An ancient temple was now in ruins that was probably priceless. And half of his team was out of commission. And not to mention one of her spirits was a total pervert and was ogling her. And that set him off more than he could have imagined. He thought Cancer was bad. But this bull spirit named Taurus was worse.
Lucy nodded. She didn't say anything. She sat on the chair that she had sat down earlier on to read. "I'll stay here and watch Evergreen." She said, smiling.
Laxus nodded quickly and walked away. His jacket billowed behind him. Lucy let out a long breath herself. She looked over at Evergreen. She sighed and called for Virgo.
"Yes princess." She said bowing.
"Can you bring me some first aid equipment? Evergreen got hurt."
Virgo peered over Lucy's shoulder. She saw the female mage passed out on the couch. "If that is your wish. Yes Ma'am. Is she ok?"
Lucy nodded. In a flash Virgo produced a kit. Lucy nodded her thanks. She was tired. Taurus had used a significant portion of her magic to help wrangle that Minotaur in. While she didn't do anything, Taurus had drained her of her energy. Grandpa Crux had done the same searching through the information he had on celestial mages. It all took on her power to get them here and do what she asked them to do.
Lucy was going through the box when an idea came to her. She called grandpa Crux.
When he appeared, he woke up startled. He looked around. "Oh, miss Lucy!" He exclaimed, laughing. "I didn't think you would be calling me back so soon."
Lucy smiled.
"Well as you can see, my—uh guildmate is hurt." She motioned to Evergreen. She winced internally. Calling her a friend. Just didn't sit well. "We were cut off earlier. And I thought maybe you could finish telling me that story. The one about the Priestess and Leo with the Minotaur."
Grandpa Crux's eyes lit up. "I'm glad you called me then. I took it upon myself to go and ask my minor counterpart if he remembered anything. He knows everything you need to know about everything I don't know." He laughed.
Lucy's eyes lit up. She started taking things out of the first aid kit. "Well please! Tell me!" She gushed.
Grandpa Crux made himself comfortable.
"Well as I was told, Eirini, that was her name, and Leo were in a city called Athens. Now a man had come to see them. He was in desperate need of help-"
Lucy listened to her spirit and as he told her of what had happened. She tried to help bandage some of Evergreen's wounds. A man had visited Leo and Eirini. After his home had been attacked by a neighboring empire and his village was destroyed. He began at night having strange dreams of being a creature. And he would wake up in the morning, not in his own bed or any bed. Some nights he couldn't remember anything. Some Having awful visions of a creature, terrorizing the night. It was like he was not able to control it. But then slowly he saw himself transforming as a man by day. And a Minotaur at night. He had come to her to see if she could help him. But apparently, she couldn't. She didn't know how to help him. So, the man had left them.
"So, they did nothing?" She asked surprised.
"Nope. There was nothing that could be done. She suggested that he lock himself up in a tunnel and chain himself to a wall. Even helped construct some, that way he couldn't hurt anyone, but no one knew what happened after that. He came back here, to Helos I found out.
Lucy gasped. "So, the man had lived here!"
"Interesting, isn't it?"
Lucy nodded.
"That may explain why he took the books!"
"The books?" Crux asked, confused.
Lucy filled him in on how the Minotaur had taken two books from her. One about celestial magic. The other is about the history of the Minotaur on the island.
"That is a coincidence." Crux murmured.
"Coincidence my foot!" Lucy exclaimed, "it's all gotta be related!"
Evergreen started to stir. Lucy looked down.
"I'll take this as my sign to go." He said bowing his head and disappeared. At that moment the Thunder Legion and Laxus had decided to reappear.
"So how did it go?" Lucy asked.
"Good, we used those chains to bind him inside the stable. He shouldn't be able to move. We were unsuccessful in trying to kill it. The damn creature has literal tough skin. We couldn't behead it or slit its throat. I guess we could have strangled it?" Laxus added as an afterthought.
"How's that you figure?" Lucy asked, ignoring the last part, that was too gruesome for her taste.
"Because those chains are meant to bind the creature, it will tie us over till we come up with a better plan." Freed said calmly. He was wincing. The blow he had to head earlier was causing him severe pain.
Lucy felt herself go cold, remembering what grandpa Crux had said, "she suggested he tie himself by a chain to the wall."
"The chains have a spell upon them. They cancel out a user's magic. Making them immobile. It's incredibly old. I'm surprised that the chains look as good as they do. It was in an ancient language. It took me a minute, but I figured out It should help keep the creature in place." Freed stated.
"Plus, Laxus put him in a hell of a coma. He won't be waking up for a minute. Gives us time to figure out how to kill it. Like Laxus said."
Lucy stared at the two disheveled mages, bloodied face and bruised. She nodded.
"Well, I say we should get something to eat." She said flatly. "We deserve a good meal at least."
Laxus had remained silent. He nodded and headed towards the taverna. Lucy watched him go. 'He's still angry.' She thought sadly. 'For her team this would be a win. The town wasn't destroyed, the monster tied up. But he still was angry.'
Lucy was sitting at the table with the rest of the Fairy Tail mages. They had informed Petros of defeating the Minotaur. He was elated, so elated he had offered to cook for them.
"Where's Nick?" Lucy asked.
"Oh, he went to bed hours ago. He doesn't sleep well these days. He always wakes up so exhausted" he laughed.
Lucy nodded. She watched as he set the platter down in front of her. "It's not much I'm afraid, but it's the specialty of the house! Stuffed grape leaves!" He beamed at her.
Lucy nodded, delighted. They smelled amazing. "These look amazing!" She complimented. She dug in. Her eyes widened. These were excellent. Flavorful and filling. Lucy watched the rest of the team eat in silence. Again, she felt awkward. This wasn't like how it was with her team at all.
She looked down while eating her meal. When it came time to pay for the bill. She motioned for Petros to bring the bill.
Laxus went to argue with her, but she stopped him. "I would like to pay; it means a lot that I get to come on this trip. I would like to pay this time." She said quietly. Laxus begrudgingly let her do so. Lucy smiled and grabbed her wallet. She pulled out enough jewel for the payment when the large metal disks and silver coin she found earlier fell out.
"Lucy what is this?" Freed asked, holding the larger metal disk. It was thin with a circle in it. "Oh—" Lucy said. "I found it at the Minotaur's altar room! Along with the other coin. You remember Petros, you were there with me." She started giving him the jewel to pay for their meal.
Laxus eyebrow raised. 'Why does this old man seem to be everywhere Lucy is or where the Minotaur is?'
Petros nodded, an older woman stared at him from the corner of her eyes. She was clenching a fist. Laxus watched this. 'Something weird is going on.'
"Maybe we should go and check out that temple one last time." He stated. Everyone turned to him surprised. He sniffed it. A familiar stench was on it. The Minotaur and someone else's but he didn't know whose.
"Are you sure?" Freed asked.
"Yes." Laxus nodded. "Look at this-" he handed the larger disk to Freed. "Keep this. I want to check out something."
Laxus got up. Bickslow and Freed went to follow him.
"You coming Cosplayer?" Bickslow asked.
"No! I-I think I'll head back and check on Ever" she stated.
Bickslow paused, Lucy read his mind.
"With the Minotaur locked up, I should be safe." She smiled.
Bickslow nodded and ran to catch up with Freed and Laxus. Lucy sighed. She asked for one box to go, taking something for Evergreen.
The older woman who was with them earlier stood and wrapped a plate. Lucy thought she looked familiar; she had the same face and eyes of Nick. "You're related to Nick, aren't you?"
"Yes." She said quietly. "He is my grandson." She said quietly.
"He seems very nice." Lucy smiled, taking the box from her.
"He's the sweetest boy who ever lived." She smiled, "he suffered so much. But he remains kind."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
"Well, his mother died when he was young. She was my daughter. He was still cheerful though. He continued to live. And his father, he was so close to my grandson. I think it broke him. He hasn't been the same. His grades are now failing, and he has been so stressed. Not even Rachel has been able to help him." She said crying.
"Rachel? The receptionist at the boarding home?"
She nodded. "She works for me. She's such a nice girl. I had always hoped they would be together. I know it causes her pain to see him so distraught."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Lucy said sympathy filled her. "I lost my mother too. It's a hole that doesn't go away."
The woman nodded. Petros came behind her. "It's ok Tia," he said, patting her shoulder.
"Were you close to Nick and his father too?" Lucy asked. Petros nodded. "I had known Nick's grandfather for years as a child. He went off to war and I was ineligible to go. I stayed here and helped Tia to take care of her and their son."
Lucy hummed. "Is he still around?" She questioned.
They both looked sad, Lucy regretted asking.
"He-he came back from the war not the same." Petros said. Tia looked outside towards the barn. "He died around the time the Minotaur first came here."
Lucy was surprised to hear that. "The Minotaur—what?"
Tia looked choked up. "He—he came back from the war. He was always as strong as an ox and stubborn like a bull." She laughed. "But the war had changed him. "He came back because his entire unit was killed by some creature. They were all slaughtered except him. When he came back, he was restless, refusing to sleep. The Minotaur arrived again."
"This is an occurring situation?" Lucy asked, surprised. She vaguely remembered Rachel saying it was a recurring problem.
"Oh yes. Every few generations, it comes back. My mother-in-law told me about it. When she was a little girl, it came. All the men in our village went hunting for it. By the time they found it and killed it, her brother had gone missing. And when it came back it took my beloved too. We were fearful! We thought it had died. But it hadn't! We had no idea what to do. But then it stopped. We never saw it again. Until now." She cried. Lucy began to cry. She hugged the woman. She was shocked. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. The old woman held tightly sobbing. When the old woman let go, she did.
"But now you have caught the monster! And we no longer need to worry! Future generations will be spared." Petros reassured Tia and Lucy.
Lucy wished she could share their joy. But something was bothering her. It somehow didn't all fit. Something told her it wasn't over just yet.
Laxus and the other two members of his team walked behind him. "Mind telling us why we're coming back here?" Bickslow asked.
"Because something feels off. I don't know what it is, but this town is not telling us everything."
Freed contemplated what he had said. "Like what?"
"Why is Petros always conveniently around when the Minotaur strikes? And why does this," he said holding the larger disk "smell similar to the other smell I was smelling in the Temple?"
Bickslow took it in his hands. "It's just a piece of metal-"
"Yes, but it has the same smell. I realized it by putting it together. One of the smells in the temple was the Minotaur. It made me nauseous. But the other smell smells like whoever had this on them. And it smelled similar to the old woman in the Taverna as well."
Bickslow and Freed nodded. They walked in silence.
"So, what the hell happened back there?" Laxus grunted.
"At the temple?"
"No at the jamboree!" Laxus hissed.
Freed looked disappointed. "We were fighting the Minotaur. I was setting up an enchantment to hold the creature down. But it broke free of my enchantment. I underestimated its power. Bickslow stepped in and fought it. When Ever tried to deploy her fairy bomb it blew up a part of the temple walls. None of us saw what the Minotaur had done with the chains catching Evergreen."
"A gross oversight on your part. Freed we can't afford to have rookie mistakes like that happen. You disappointed me. Evergreen. I'm disgusted. I thought you were training her better."
Freed felt the words cut through him like a knife.
"To be fair. The chains were made to contain and weaken the creature chained by them—"
Laxus whirled around on the balls of his feet, he was about to go on a rant of that was no excuse, and their failures were not going to be tolerated when he remembered what Blondie had told them. "Your way seems to have people who will sink or swim. Some will swim but others will just drown. Why don't you try uplifting mages."
Laxus was grinding his teeth. He didn't know how to do that. Trying to prevent himself from saying anything too stupid now. He promised he would be changing. But God all he wanted to do was beat them all senselessly. They had failed him. And he took that personally. Thunder struck the ground, his eyes glowed.
"That is still unacceptable! She needs to be prepared for all situations that could happen. And fight harder to not be subdued that easily. Because as you can see if it weren't for Blondie and I coming to the rescue, Evergreen would have probably died at the rate that iron was eating away at her body." He hissed through his teeth.
Freed and Bickslow were silent. 'That is the most rational and restrained I've ever seen him be mad before.' Bickslow thought.
"Now come on! We have a temple to explore!" He spat.
Lucy walked back to the taverna. The sun was rising in the sky. Slowly the stars were starting to fade away. She was rubbing her arms. She was slightly chilly. She was honestly relieved to not have to go with them to the temple again. She was tired. Calling on that many spirits with little to no sleep, energy and no food was exhausting for her. She was more than happy to use the excuse to watch over Evergreen. She wondered sadly if Laxus knew that, would he be disgusted and disappointed in her. She looked up at the sky. 'If I was tired after using them, could I really summon and work with the ones I desperately want.'
She wanted power. She wanted to be strong and not weak anymore. The incident with Phantom put some things in perspective for her. Plus, she wanted to not be weak so another man could do what he did. The idea of revenge on him played around in her head. She grimaced, that would be nice. To have him begging her the way she had begged him. To have him feel those same nightmares she had of him. "I wouldn't dream of practicing any other magic ever. But am I weak? Am I strong enough to do any of this? To have every key and do what I want to do?'
She saw Perseus shine down on her. She smiled. 'How I wish I could be like you. Fighting valiantly and saving the damsel and defeating creatures that seem impossible.' The constellation twinkled brightly at her before being taken over by beautiful shades of gold and yellow. She looked down, starting the long way back to the boarding house. When she got inside, she saw Evergreen was trying to sit up. She was hissing in pain. Lucy felt bad; she walked over. "I got you some food." She offered.
Evergreen sniffed. Tears in her eyes. "I'm not hungry." She said, trying to sit up. Lucy sighed and put the food down. "Let me help you—"
"No! I'm fine Lucy!" She replied.
"Evergreen your bandages are all bloodied. They need to be changed." Lucy argued. Evergreen looked down at herself. She was in fact bleeding. She ground her teeth. "Fine, you can help me."
Lucy sat down. And began to replace the bloodied bandages. Lucy was trying to help Evergreen. But Evergreen was resisting her. Lucy had finally had enough. She threw the first aid kit onto the table.
"Well, that was —" Evergreen taunted.
"You know I can't believe you dislike me so much you're resisting me helping you get first aid."
"Because I don't need you to help me. Lucy. I'm fine, I'm not in pain, just bleeding." She prattled.
"Oh really?" Lucy spat.
"Well then I'll put this away." She got up grabbing the kit. Evergreen tried to grab it but screamed in pain.
"Oh, you're not in pain, huh?"
Evergreen huffed in response.
"I really don't understand why you don't like me. I haven't done anything to you." Lucy said, sitting back down, taking out the gauze and ointments again.
"It's not that." Evergreen sniffed. "It's just that," what was she going to say? It was true she didn't like her. 'Who was this girl that had made her boss so upside down?'
"It's just what?" Lucy asked.
"I just don't know you. I'm not comfortable with people I don't know giving me medical attention if they aren't a nurse or doctor themselves."
"Well how about we start!" Lucy said hopefully.
"How about we don't." Evergreen responded. She sighed. "I appreciate the fact that you're willing to help me bandage up my wounds. But I don't know you and I don't care to know you." She insisted.
Lucy looked crestfallen. Evergreen felt slightly bad. She enjoyed being the only woman Laxus had by his side. She was by no means in love with him. But she prided herself on being the only woman Laxus had consistently kept around. And now some blonde was here. What if she was kicked out from the Thunder Legion? What if, well there were many what ifs. Lucy was a weak mage, and Laxus had just lost his mind for her. Doing things, he would not normally do, even for them. What if he replaced them all for her?
Lucy sighed. "Forget it. I had hoped we could be friends." She whispered, dabbing ointment on Evergreen's scratches. Evergreen flinched. She saw genuine hurt in the blonde mage's eyes.
A growl came across the room. "How did he get in here?" Evergreen screamed. The Minotaur had come out from behind the wall he was hiding behind.
"I thought he was locked up!" Lucy gasped. "Quick!" Lucy screamed. She tried to help Evergreen up.
"What are you doing?" She exclaimed.
"I'm too weak to fight him. Using grandpa Crux, Taurus and Virgo all in the span of the last few hours has drained my magic and you're in no condition to fight. We have to get out of here!" She exclaimed.
Evergreen nodded, trying to limp, leaning against Lucy. Lucy and Evergreen tried to make it out of the room when the Minotaur lunged at them.
Lucy screamed as she grabbed the knife off the table and then she kicked the table at the Minotaur. She took the knife in her hand and then proceeded to help Evergreen out of the room. Rushing as fast as she could with Evergreen. "This is a dead end." She hissed in frustration. The hallway ended abruptly. Evergreen grabbed a light fixture on the wall, she felt it move downwards. In shock they watched a door open. "You will be mine!" He hissed. "Well inwards we go!" Lucy screamed. They quickly got inside and watched the door close. They stayed silent for what seemed like ages.
"Do you think it's gone?" Evergreen whispered.
Lucy wasn't sure. "I don't know, where are we anyways?" She asked, looking around. There were lights that went down a ramp of sorts.
"Should we try and find a way back into the boarding house?"
"Well obviously?" Evergreen said, adjusting her glasses. "What else would we do?"
"Explore that?" Lucy said, nodding her head over to the tunnel that laid before them. Evergreen stared at the tunnel. She frowned. She really didn't want to do that. There was no way to know what was down here. She sighed, "let's check this wall first. Then go from there."
Lucy let go of Evergreen. The fairy mage stood up straight and leaned against the wall with her good arm. She began to knock or flip switches to see if the wall would move again. Evergreen knew there had to be a lever of some sort.
"What kind of place is this?" Evergreen huffed.
Lucy who had attempted to pull on a light fixture to see if that would work but failed. "Whatever this is. It's pretty intense. What if this has all something to do with the Minotaur?" Lucy asked.
"What makes you say that?" Evergreen paused.
"Well, I don't know, this entire island seems to be very interestingly connected to the Minotaur. And this boarding house with books on the Minotaur on this island is connected to what looks like a stone maze?"
Evergreen nodded, silently agreeing.
"And how much do you want or bet we'll find something down here if we just look hard enough?" Evergreen asked.
Lucy swallowed. She nodded. "Well let's go check it out." Lucy said, voice trembling.
Evergreen gave her a look. Lucy glared.
"Sorry if I'm not a fan of going into underground tunnels!" She hissed, helping Evergreen move forward.
Evergreen rolled her eyes. "Let's go."
Lucy nodded; they walked carefully down the stone ramp. "It's crazy. We haven't gone anywhere, and we're already lost!"
"I have to agree with you. And you're right. I don't like tunnels either. I don't like not seeing where I'm going."
Lucy hummed in acknowledgment.
"Thank you by the way for helping me get out of there. I realize you could have left me behind."
Lucy was shocked. "Why would I do that?"
"Well…I'm just saying you could have. I don't know who you are as a person."
Lucy nodded. "The thought never once crossed my mind. But maybe that should be a reason to get to know me just saying." She spat back venomously.
Evergreen remained silent. She leaned against Lucy. Her magic was slowly getting restored. When the Minotaur had wrapped those god-awful chains around her it had been agony. She was ashamed that he had lassoed her out of the sky. Both her and Freed had been beaten. The Minotaur had given them no time to do anything. When she had the upper hand, she quickly lost it as fast as soon as she gained it.
"This place is really like a maze." Lucy said.
Evergreen nodded. They were walking for what felt like miles. Lucy stopped noticing something on the ground. She looked at it, it was the books that the Minotaur had taken from her.
"What is it?" Evergreen asked.
"It's the books I mentioned earlier." She studied them. She gently made Ever lean against a wall. With what little magic she had, she summoned Plue.
He looked around shaking. Lucy smiled.
"Can you hold on to these in your world, until I need them?"
Plue nodded, he took the books doing a little dance. Lucy smiled; she was sweating.
"Are you ok?" Evergreen asked.
"Yeah, my magic is running low." She smiled weakly.
Plue nodded and disappeared with a flourish.
"So where are we?" Evergreen asked, ignoring the obviousness of Lucy being drained.
"It looks to me like it's some sort of Labrinth." Lucy looked around.
"But why would it be down here? I'm not a Greek mythology buff. But I didn't think the original was anywhere near this island."
"It wasn't. It was on the island of Crete. But I have an idea on why it's here." Lucy said gravely.
"And who's that?"
Lucy sighed. She told Evergreen what Grandpa Crux had told her. The man who had seek help slowly turned into the Minotaur.
"So, it was like an ancient form of take-over magic." Evergreen murmured.
"I don't know. I think it was more than that."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because it doesn't make sense. The man came back to Helos with the chains. And locked himself in the temple? It's all too neat. The Minotaur comes back every few generations. It doesn't make sense. I feel like there's a bigger picture. Something I'm not seeing."
Lucy and Evergreen tripped on something on the ground. Lucy and Evergreen screamed realizing they had tripped on human remains. "What are those doing down here?" She said aghast. Lucy leaned Evergreen against the wall.
"I don't know. But-" Lucy took a step towards them, she heard what sounded like wood breaking. Lucy screamed as she fell down a hole.
"Lucy!" Evergreen screamed.
Lucy hit the ground with a thud. She coughed, her knees and elbows screaming at her. She felt disoriented and unable to stay awake. She coughed as she passed out on the stone floor.
Evergreen was panicking. She didn't like the mage, but she didn't want her falling through a hole in the ground. She looked through it. She released some fairy dust down the hole. It glowed shimmering downward. It had more levels. She hadn't realized how deep this place went. She now was worried. "How far underground are we?"
"Lucy, can you hear me?" She called.
There was no answer. Evergreen swallowed. She picked herself up limping. She screamed in pain. Her legs were in pain. She trudged forward. 'I have to find a way down there!'
She walked around, trying to find a way down the labyrinth and she screamed in frustration. She had no idea where she was going. She looked around and saw a grate. Curious, she willed her magic to produce her wings. She felt the top of the grate. There was air coming through it. Hope filled her body. "Don't worry Lucy! I'm coming."
Evergreen struggled to get the grate off. She flew into it. She threw more fairy dust down. She saw it fly down. It looked like Lucy had only fallen only 3 floors down from her if she recalled correctly. She fluttered down and found another grate. It led to the floor she wanted. She walked for a minute through the hallways until she found the hole in the ceiling, she was looking for, but Lucy was gone, the knife she had earlier was on the ground. Her heart sank. 'Where did that idiotic mage go?"
Evergreen rested against another lantern when she felt it go down. She jerked in surprise as another ramp descended downward.
"Maybe she went up here?" She limped upwards and found herself back in the throne room of the Temple. Evergreen was shocked.
"Ever is that you?" Bickslow called out.
Evergreen turned around. "Yes but—"
She stiffened seeing Laxus.
"What are you doing here?" Freed asked. "We thought you were with Miss Lucy."
She laughed nervously. "I was until I wasn't."
Laxus stiffened. "And what does that mean?" He said calmly. By now his anger had been so furious, he was calm.
Ever, rubbed her arms. "Well, we were back at the boarding house, when the Minotaur came through a door.
The men stared at her. "That's impossible. He's locked up in the barn." Freed refused to believe that.
"Well not anymore!" She glared. "He chased us, Lucy and I ran and found ourselves a door that led to a maze. We couldn't find a way to go back. So we were trying to find a way out, when she fell through one of the floors."
She watched Laxus carefully. He stared at her, she couldn't read his expression. "I tried to go through what seemed like a ventilation shaft for air to move down there and when I got to the spot where she fell, she was gone. I ended up here not long after that."
Bickslow looked at Laxus. He was either really chill about the situation or he was going to murder them all one of the two.
"Well, we all better hope Lucy is ok down there. Cause if she's not." He laughed, "I really don't think I need to finish that statement. Because not only will I be furious with you, but when her flame-brained team hears we lost her and could not find her in a labyrinth. They'll lose their shit on you."
"We'll find her. What is the worst they could do to me?" She scoffed. "They are weak and soft. Like you say they are-"
Laxus stepped onto the throne, looking downwards. "Well, if I don't kill you, I'm sure Titania and Natsu will have no problem carving you up and frying your ass with gray sufficiently chillin it for later use. And I won't stop them."
Evergreen swallowed; fear filled her.
"Now let's get down there. And find my girlfriend, which now two members of my team have been unsuccessful in making sure nothing happens to her!" He said calmly. He jumped down the hole reaching the floor of the labyrinth. Smelling the air, luckily the spot where Ever had been at, still had Lucy's smell in the air. He followed her scent. Her scent, like the string that guided Thesus out of the maze all those years ago. He paused smelling the air, the scent of the Minotaur now filling the hallway. He scowled, "I swear if that thing harms Lucy. I'll do what I should have done in the first place. Kill it."
Lucy was being chased by the Minotaur. Lucy stopped looking back, she saw the Minotaur fast on her heels. "Yikes!" She started running again. Lucy screamed when she saw she was backed into a dead end.
The Minotaur lunged at her. Lucy saw the light fixture hanging above him. It looked like it was made of iron. "Well, if iron hurt you last time!" She reasoned. She cracked her whip at the light fixture. Pulling it down. It landed on top of the creature with a hard thud.
The Minotaur was pinned under the light fixture, but Lucy knew that wouldn't last long. Lucy felt a rumbling. She tried to steady herself when she saw a ramp fall out of the ceiling. It headed outside of the maze. Lucy booked it up the ramp as the Minotaur started to get up.
Lucy felt the spring bounce, the ramp started to go back up. She watched in horror as the beast pulled down the ramp. Lucy sprinted across the field she was in. Lucy saw a cave and bee-lined to it. In the corner of her eye, she saw Virgo pop out of her seal. She tackled the beast in her monstrous form. Lucy skidded to a halt.
"Virgo nooo!" She screamed. Lucy watched Virgo Throw the Minotaur across the field.
"Run! I'll find you." She screamed her voice several octaves lower. Lucy nodded and ran.
Lucy staggered into the cave. Loud humming and whisper rang through the cave. It sounded like a chorus singing softly. Virgo was behind her. "That thing has been chasing me." She gasped. Her back and chest hurt from all the running. 'When will I learn and just start wearing bras that support my back and chest!'
"Are you alright princess? Did that thing hurt you?" She said returning to her normal form. "No but I'm in pain. Virgo I don't have the magic to—"
"Don't worry. I'm here of my own free will." She stated.
Lucy was about to say something when Virgo and she heard something.
"What's that?" Lucy whispered.
"I don't know princess. Let me go out and check. If something is coming after you, do you want me to stop it?"
Lucy looked at her spirit in shock.
"No! I want you to give them a tea party!" Lucy said sarcastically.
"Is that what you wish?" Virgo dead panned.
Lucy felt her eye twitch. She couldn't tell if she was being serious or just dry. Virgo seemed to fluctuate between sarcasm and a drier sense of humor than most of her spirits to the most literal being on this plane of existence.
"No! Just if something is after me for all future references and you're around, dispose of them."
Virgo nodded. "Stay here princess."
Lucy hid inside the cave; she heard a manly scream and the sound of Virgos chains rattling.
"Oh no!" Lucy heard the man say. She recognized the voice. It was Petros! She ran quickly out of the cave.
"My olives!" Petros cried, as he watched his olives roll down the side of the cliff. He was hanging upside down by his ankles.
"What's going on?" Laxus asked, walking over to Lucy. He felt relief flood through him. He had witnessed Virgo throwing the Minotaur halfway across the field and ran into a cave.
Lucy blushed. "There's been a bit of a misunderstanding." She looked at Virgo, who just shrugged.
"I thought you had an attacker, Princess. Shall you punish me?"
Evergreen and Freed looked at one another. "Punish?"
Bickslow smirked checking out Virgo, and her dangling chains. "What punishment are you dealing with?" He wagged his tongue suggestively.
Lucy's face became impossibly red. "N-none you're thinking of!" She stammered.
Laxus rolled his eyes. Now familiar with Virgos antics. All of Lucy's spirits seemed to be freaks. Aside from Plue. As he watched Petros dangling in midair from a tree branch. He began to scream.
"Get me down!" He screamed.
"Yes, Mister Petros!" Lucy cried. "Virgo release him!"
"As you wish Princess." She said, her chains retracted from the man slowly easing him down and on the ground.
Lucy saw Evergreen. She smiled in relief. "You're ok! I'm so glad you're ok!" Lucy laughed. "When we got separated, I tried to find you, but I found the Minotaur instead."
"So, we heard." Freed replied dryly.
Evergreen almost smiled at that. The girl's genuine reaction to her being alright was endearing.
Lucy nodded and turned to look at Petros.
"Petros, why are you here?" Lucy asked, helping him up. Petros sighed. "You beautiful idiotic girl." He murmured. Lucy's face was still on fire.
"Come I shall show you." He waved them all over. They walked into the cave. He grabbed a lantern lighting it. He lit several more. It took the mages a minute to adjust to the new light. They looked around, there were barrels everywhere.
"This is my olive storehouse."
Lucy looked around amazed. "Gee, it looks more like a bomb shelter to me."
"It was." He spoke. He ignored the Thunder Legion. Which annoyed them immensely.
"Should we be concerned that he only really talks to Lucy?" Bickslow whispered.
"Not yet. But I'm starting to get annoyed." Laxus growled.
"Back in the days of the war, with the Alvarez Empire, people hid in caves like these. They bury their treasures and even to this day not all of them have been found. You know, young lady, many people in my culture were the founders of your magic, Celestial Magic."
"Really?" Lucy gasped.
"Mhmmm, it was my people who helped name the constellations."
Lucy looked around the cave in wonder. She wondered how many celestial wizards possibly hid keys in places like these.
Laxus was looking around the cave. He went by a pile of ashes. He gingerly touched them. They were still hot. He took his hand quickly away.
Petros looked around nervously. "We should not stay here too long. The Minotaur is still out there."
"You're right," Laxus said, getting up. "It's getting late. We can do some more searching later. Looks like the Minotaur is now changing its tactics and isn't just going out at nighttime."
"Sounds solid. Let's head back to the boarding house." Freed said.
Lucy was about to walk with them when she felt this pull, it was more insistent this time. There was a humming in the air. She turned around, she had heard the same sound earlier. It sounded like a chorus singing. She followed it.
Laxus noticed Blondie wasn't following them.
"Laxus everything ok?" Evergreen asked.
"Yeah. Where's Blondie?" He asked in a steely tone.
"I thought she was behind us." Bickslow said.
"Want us to search for her?"
"No. I'll find her. You guys go back to the boarding house." He turned around and started back towards the cave. He looked inside and saw Blondie walking further into the cave.
"Oi! Blondie!"
She kept on walking.
"Blondie!"
She kept on walking. Lucy was in a trance of sorts. Following the sound. She walked further into the cave. "Blondie!" She heard, but it sounded farther away.
She followed the sound. Laxus was getting impatient. "Lucy!" He screamed. But she kept on walking away. Laxus ran after her. He caught her, he was shocked at what he saw, her eyes looked glassy. Like she wasn't fully there, and her eyes were glowing a faint blue, shining from within them. She continued to resist him.
Laxus paused and decided to stand aside. She walked further into the cave. "Lucy?" He asked, concerned.
Lucy walked further and went into another cave inside the cave. Laxus was about to go in when the cave closed behind her. Laxus panicked.
"Lucy!" He screamed; he tried beating his fists against the wall. It wouldn't budge. He started hurling spells at the thing. It wouldn't budge. The force of the spells were shaking the walls in the cave. Rocks were falling around him, but he didn't care.
"Lucy!"
Lucy was walking until she stopped, she looked over and saw a glowing soft light in the ground. She bent down to the ground, something inside her told her to dig. So she started digging in the ground. Until she felt a cold metal object. She looked down when she finally had it in her hands. She felt like she was shoved into a cold lake. She gasped for air. Her senses came back to her. She felt the cave shaking.
She looked around wildly. "Wha-what? Where am I?" She asked. At that moment she heard a large crash. She screamed looking around. She saw Laxus running up to her. He was sparking all over.
"Blondie, I swear to God!" He was pissed. She looked confused. "What are you doing here Laxus? Where are we?"
"I should be asking you that! What the hell was going on with you?"
Lucy wasn't sure. "I heard this music, and I just followed it. It felt like I was in a fog almost." She whispered.
Laxus was concerned. "What's that in your hands?" He demanded. He winced not meaning to sound so aggressive.
Lucy looked down; she felt a hum in her hands. "It's a key." She looked at it. It was a dark iron color. "I don't recognize it though."
"One of your celestial keys?"
She nodded, staring at it. It had a shield, and helmet, the handle was a sword. And if she looked closely something was on the shield. She could feel it on her thumb pad.
"I don't know Laxus. I think it was wanting me to find it."
Laxus nodded, he walked over and picked her up.
"Laxus! I can walk!" She huffed.
"I'm not taking any chances. In case you hear some other bull shit."
Lucy huffed. "You will put me down now!"
Laxus growled but did what she asked. She walked beside him. She reached out for his hand. He took it and they walked back to the boarding house.
"What key is that Blondie?"
"I don't know. But I'll find out soon enough." She said, looking at it in the sunlight. On the shield was a head. A head that had snakes. She looked at it. "Who are you?" She whispered.
"Do you think it's a demon key?" Laxus asked out of curiosity. He took the key from her. He held the key gently in his hands.
"No, this is made of iron, and the demon keys are supposed to be dark, darker than black, to represent their evil energy." Lucy murmured. Lucy and Laxus had caught up to the Thunder Legion.
"What are you doing, I thought I said-" Laxus began.
"We were concerned about you and Lucy." Bickslow argued.
"Well, he was." Evergreen said defensively. She tried to hide the fact she was concerned for the mage. She didn't want to like her or care about her!
"Yeah! I'm sorry. I think I was called to find a key!" She beamed holding it up.
"Cool! Know what it is?" Bickslow asked.
"No. But I'll have to wait until tomorrow." Lucy said.
"Well, I for one, think we should turn in for the night or is it daytime now?" Evergreen sighed. She was in pain. She was leaning against Freed.
"I would have to agree. We will be better equipped to handle this when we all have had some sleep and food to eat."
"Excellent idea." Laxus agreed. "I said that earlier. Now march."
The Fairy Tail mages made their way back to the boarding house in silence. Or maybe they hadn't. Lucy couldn't tell you. The hum of the key before her kept her in its clutches.
"Just what are you?" She asked. "Who are you?"
Lucy and Laxus crawled into the bed.
"We should really take a shower!" She whispered.
Laxus laughed at her. "No, right now is the time for sleep."
"So how am I doing overall?" She yawned.
"Pretty good for a blonde with big tits." He laughed. He knew that joke would rile her up.
Lucy's eye twitched. "Was that a dumb blonde joke?"
"No, a blonde joke is A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette were all lost in the desert—"
Lucy smacked him hard.
Laxus laughed holding her close. "You did good babe. I have not gotten to see you in real action yet though." He sighed. "I can honestly say I didn't expect any of this to happen."
Lucy opened one eye. She wasn't sure what he meant by that.
"My team getting their asses whipped surprised the hell out of me."
"Well, it's gotta happen once in a while, right?" She rushed.
"No. If they want to make S Class and do these kinds of missions they have to be prepared. I won't be here to save everyone's ass. Except yours." He sighed.
"So, I'm guessing that someday taking a mission by myself will now be impossible?" She laughed.
"Probably." He murmured. "It's a custody battle already between your team and I like I said earlier."
Lucy closed her eyes; she was laughing internally.
"You're a valuable commodity." He winked at her, lifting his head.
"Me?"
"Oh yeah your time and attention are valued at a high rate. I'm going to have to fight Team Natsu on missions after this."
Lucy nodded.
"Tell me something, Blondie—"
Lucy nodded. "Are you happy with how everything is turning out?" He kissed the top of her head, the smell of her hair lingering in his nose.
"Yeah I am. Just confused about what's happening. I feel like there's something we're missing."
Laxus sighed. "Same."
"So, you feel it too?"
She could feel Laxus nodding.
"I'm also just tired. Summoning so many spirits back-to-back with no food or rest it took a lot out of me."
Laxus stopped moving. Lucy momentarily panicked. 'How is he going to react to that?'
"Well then it sounds like we need to get some sleep. I'm sure Virgo wiping out the Minotaur in that field drained a good chunk of your magic." He reasoned.
Lucy nodded. She didn't want to mention at that moment that last trick was done by Virgo herself. Not her.
"Get some sleep babe. We'll feel better after a nap." He mumbled.
Lucy nodded and curled up around Laxus. The sound of his heartbeat lulled her into a deep sleep.
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not my best work. I took some creative liberties here. I am trying to figure out how to prolong this chapter out to where I get to where I want it to go. The thunder legion is weak but stronger than Lucy, but also not strong as Laxus, and I gotta get the Minotaur to hit that sweet spot. Not sure if I succeeded. Aoi Hikari kenzou Thank you for the kind words and thank you to the guest reviewer!
