Morning came in a haze. The sun was just above the moutain peaks, easing layers of cotton blue sky with gold stratus. The townfolk were abundant about socializing amongst themselves.
The heroes, too, had risen, and Naofumi stepped out into the cobble streets with Lucy in tow. They were ready with only a few seconds to spare before they were summoned to fend off the verging wave. The black haired boy was nonchalant, more concentrated at the task at hand than his loud and cheerful counterpart behind him.
"I can't believe we're going to experience our first wave. I feel like I'm going to do pretty well! I've just been warming up this entire time." She exclaimed, recalling all of her hardships in Earthland. She had this. All those years fighting alongside Fairy Tail made her exceptionally stubborn, and she refused to humiliate herself again like she did a few days prior. She was stronger than that; she was sure of it. In heart, she was still a Fairy Tail wizard, and she would always win against all odds. New world or not, nothing could change that.
Her partner looked at her, faintly lightened by her enthusiasm. With his new armor and her new sword, they were better now than ever before. Though he was slightly insecure of him own ability, he was sure that sword or not, Lucy wouldn't back down with a hell of a fight. Not only from seeing her in action, but also because her willpower was tougher than nails. He wondered how someone managed to get hurt as much as she did yet never fail to bounce back. He made the mistake of comparing her to a roach one time, as she always found a way to come back. That joke was what earned him his first "Lucy kick" as she terribly named it. Name aside, it hurt. He wondered how mad she'd get if he blocked the next one with his shield. He'd have to see someday; most likely soon.
The time ticked down until the last grain of sand joined its brethren in the dragon hourglass. The blue sky flicked red instantaneously as if a light had been switched. They, along with the other heroes and their party in their respective locations, were enveloped in a modest golden light. Naofumi and Lucy reappeared at the edge of a plateau in a forest of dense sycamore trees. They gasped at the sight of surreal bleeding wounds tearing through the crimson sky in a rage of ravage colors. This shade was deeper than Erza's hair, Lucy thought. It looked like blood. Just below them, Naofumi spotted the other three heroes and their parties marching forward to fight.
"Lute village is right over there. We need to help them." Lucy urged, pointing at the familiar settlement. A flare erupted from them on cue— a sign that they had not been evacuated— and his eyes narrowed. The shield hero assessed their situation. The castle was farther away than he'd prefer. If they didn't intervene, by the time the royal knights arrived, the poor village would be flooded with malevolent creatures, and no doubt, more than just homes would be lost.
His ethics was not as terrible as anyone would ever believe, and he ran forward and yelled, "let's go!"
"Right!"
They arrived just in time for Naofumi to block the incoming sword blow that was about to end the life of a fearful man. The sound was loud, making their ears ache and a tremor to ring down his arm. Lucy retrieved her sword from its new sheath— though the sheath was unnecessary— and the hilt came alive in a starlight glow and took on the physical attributes of a starry sky. She sliced through the skeleton with ease. It crumbled into a pile of bones, and the celestial mage returned Sirius to its keeping. She noticed that her sword was more than effective, but she used it rather inexpertly. It was easy to swing a sword, but to do it skillfully, she could not. It wasn't like the scissor like katanas in her cancer stardress. She had a natural affinity for them anytime she was in their respective wear. However, she had never used a sword before, and it was obvious by how her swings weren't swift, deadly, or agile as she's other people do. She'd have to ask Virgo or Capricorn to help her out later. For now, she'd have to continue on with her keys and whip.
The man mumbled a quick thanks and ran for dear life. Lucy and Naofumi met eyes and nodded; thinking the same thing. "Open, gates of the Maiden and Ram! Virgo and Aries!" She chanted. Both spirits heeded her call and, with a quick nod, knew her wishes. Both darted off to evacuate and fight off any monsters terrorizing the village people. The purple haired spirit used her chains to bind and drag away any monsters chasing or lunging for any villagers, as well as making several pit falls for the hordes to accumulate in, while the pink haired spirit used a multitude of wool bombs to stop them in their tracks and use the enchanting softness of her it to calm down any people who needed it. Both Lucy and Naofumi shivered at how they were most likely going to have to fill the holes back in themselves at a more convenient time.
The shield hero's bright green eyes flicked, spotting a sickly amount of people still trying to escape and fight back against a foot army that consisted of loosely armored skeletons and swarms of yellow jackets. He needed to think of a plan and fast if he had any hope of saving them.
"Lucy, I need you to help evacuate. There's still a lot of townsfolk in the streets." He urged, and she gave a quick nod before disappearing after her spirits. Plan already in mind, he bolted for the watchtower at the center of Lute, passing by villagers admist the chaos and using his air strike and shield prison to save them from an untimely demise. While he dashed and shouted them to safety, he questioned his own actions.
'Why would I risk my life for complete strangers? I don't owe these people anything.' Still, he was set on minimizing the damage of the area. A surge of the yellow jacket like creatures chased closely behind him in his pursuit, and he swept under a burning column to grab a loose torch and rekindle its flame. Dodging undead and insects alike, he finally was able to climb the ladder of the tower and rung the bell atop as hard as he could. The sound pierced through the air. A horde of skeletons accumulated at the bottom, chattering bones attempting to ascend. Naofumi drenched the closest bunch in oil. He tossed his torch into them, and immediately fire erupted, and the watchtower began to burn and crumble on one side. Using his rope shield, he latched onto a nearby post and landed on the ground with a cough. His clothes felt suffocating, blazing, and his lungs stung from inhaling too much fumes. Wood groaned behind him and he saw the tower collapse.
"Is that it?" He heaved.
"Sir Hero!" A male voice called. Naofumi turned to the source and saw a group of a dozen or so men running towards him. They all looked rather drained, but equally devoted to their proceed.
"Please, let us help you. This is our home. It's all we have. We want to protect it alongside you." Another declared once the overall group reached their savior, who had besides Lucy and her spirits, saved the village alone without another cardinal hero in sight.
The thought of taking them up on their offer and having them fight alongside him did cross his mind. They weren't much, but surely they could be of some use, right? As they always say, something is better than nothing. Still, despite what his head was telling him, Naofumi found himself not wanting to endanger them whether it benefited him or not. Something about that disgusted him to some degree; that deep down in his heart, he didn't want the people of this damned world to be hurt. That he didn't wish the worst for them like he did when he last walked into the Melromarc castle. He wished he knew why, and maybe he could ponder that later. His priority now was to survive rather than to debate his own morals.
He just shook his head at them. They were honorable men, truly. But no amount of honor could keep them safe from the waves and the horrors that came with it.
"Please, Sir H-" One began to plead, however, was cut off when a beastly golem like being draped them in with its shadow. It was far taller than any of them would ever hope to be, coated in spikes, metallic, and a piercing yet dead glare. Each movement filled the air with heavy clinks. Their hearts all sank at the sight. The golem swiped straight down like a hammer for nail. Its target was Naofumi. He blocked the blow with his shield with mere milliseconds to spare. The power of the monster was immense, and he found himself struggling to keep standing under weight. His body trembled and he couldn't help the grunt that escaped him.
"Go back! You have families! Do you really want to die here like this? Leave!" The hero ordered them all, standing his ground, but not knowing for how long. The men, seeing the sheer size of the thing, combined with the fact that a cardinal hero was struggling, ultimately ran back the way they came in guilt. He watched them all leave at a side glance, and once he confirmed that they were at a safe distance, called for his partner.
"Lucy!" His call was not left unheard. In an instant, heavenly light and stars erupted next to the monster, and a familiar lion spirit appeared to his aid. Not the person he expected to see, and he wasn't all too thrilled, but help was help.
"Regulus Impact!" The leader of the Zodiac roared. A magic circle materialized in front of him, and from it, the projection of a lion launched out and collided into the monster. It fell to the ground with an ear crushing thud-- bested so fast it was almost sad. Loke pushed up his glasses with that pretty boy grin of his, proud of his job well done.
"Guys!" A familiar voice yelled. They both turned to the source and saw none other than Lucy herself; no spirits in sight.
"My princess!" Loke glittered, waiting for her to completely reach them before scooping her in his arms. "Are you hurt anywhere, beautiful?" He dove in for a kiss jokingly. Lucy sighed at his usual flirting, stopping him with a hand to the face. Next to them, Naofumi was very grateful she did so. He didn't want to see his duo making out with anyone, especially in the middle of battle. It would be inefficient, and maybe he was just the slightest bit jealous. The green eyed boy cleared his throat rather loudly, making both of them face him.
"Don't interrupt my quality time with Lucy." Loke teased. Naofumi's eye twitched.
"She's my partner, and I need her help. So, could you put her down?" He said through clenched teeth. Once again, he found himself annoyed by the lion's advances on Lucy and his teasing of him. He wondered if he did that to every other man Lucy was affiliated with back in their original world.
"What? So you can have her all to yourself?"
"Loke, stop acting like a jealous boyfriend. We're in the middle of battle." Lucy corrected him, which earned him a humph as she was set down with care. They bickered a little before she closed his gate, and met eyes with Naofumi, who didn't look all too pleased. The blonde assumed it was the wave that had him irritated. She was similarly affected. The absence of the three other supposed heroes did not help their cause. She only hoped they were somewhere else dealing with the mayhem as well.
Farther away from them, several perfectly coordinated flare like objects sprung from behind bushes and buildings. "Watch out!" Thanks to his honned reflexes, Naofumi lunged for Lucy, wrapping himself and his cloak around her. She gasped at his sudden action and watched as he raised his arm above both of them. His shield grew in a dim light, and from it a blue, translucent protective dome enveloped their hugging figures. The flare like objects crashed into one another above their heads, creating firework like emissions that rained fire around the entire premise. Caught by surprise, the stellar mage watched a group of royal knights slither out from between the townhouses and find their ways to them. The man in the lead laughed as they approached.
"The Shield Hero? I didn't think you'd fend that off." He roared in even more laughter, in complete peace with the knowledge that he and his men could have harmed the legendary hero. Naofumi growled. He would bet that the man even wanted to.
"They don't even care if they hurt us or not." He whispered. Hearing this, Lucy's face twisted in anger, and when the dome dispelled she went right for her whip. Back on her feet, she unfurled it, cracking it one time to make it activate to its fullest potential as Fleuve d'étoiles. With quick work, the thong of the whip had wrapped and secured around the closest soldier's sword in the blink of an eye. Lucy tugged, causing the man's arms to quiver-- and in fear of being dragged off by her mastery and strength-- the knight let go of the blade. No one in the squad of men knew she was present. It was believed that the criminal they called the Shield Hero was alone in his struggle to defend their world. How could she have possibly been entangled with him? At her appearance they all grew nervous. Despite her lack of mention in their prophecy, the people of Melromarc had great respect for her. She was believed to be a gift, additional help and a sign of hope. Why else would she have been summoned along their heroes? Only she knew the true answer to that.
The sword skipped across the dirt like a rock on water as she reeled it in. Once it had finally reached her, her whip was already fastened and the blade under her foot. Everyone's eyes glanced down to it, then back at her furious expression.
"You knew we were here? How dare you! What took you so long?" Lucy bellowed. Sure, her and Naofumi along with her spirits had taken care of the village well enough-- or to the best of their ability in Naofumi's case-- but help from royal knights was appreciated. It was their job as same as it was their's to protect the innocent and minimize the chaos the waves were fated to bring. How could they arrive so late?
"Key Hero, it would be wise of you not to threaten a royal knight." The man she had stolen the sword from informed, sweat dropping, but still trying to intimidate her into submission. He didn't even seem to care enough to apologize.
"Answer me!" The blonde persisted. Before their situation could get worse, a heavy sigh escaped her partner's lips.
"Lucy, leave them be. After all, we could just let the zombies take care of them for us." He teased, a finger pointed ahead. The platoon of knights followed his finger and turned around to meet face to face with another one of the large metal creatures from before. It struck down just as the one who came before it, but again Naofumi was quick enough to block it and prevent it from harming anyone. The soldiers all backed up, their captain ordering them to aid the other three heroes instead. One knight in specific, with a rugged scar across the bridge of his nose, looked back to the two heroes as they began to march off. Something about leaving those two behind, heroes or not, didn't seem right. It was their duty to help them. Wasn't it?
"Lucy!" He called, and knowing exactly what to do, the celestial mage sprung into action. She transformed into her Cancer stardress, using the twin scissor blades to slice the monster's neck from two sides, decapitating it instantly. A little ways away, the scarred man yelled at his fellow men to get into formation to support the Key and Shield. All the men, except three, lit up with smiles or pride and followed their new orders and began to fight. The three who were unfazed shook their heads in disappointment.
"Leave them. We must go to the other Heroes." The captain scoffed as they disappeared into the sea of trees.
On the battlefield, much like a certain scarlet haired woman, the blonde switched from stardress to stardress in a matter of seconds as she took care of the skeletons and wasps that gathered around while dodging spears, spikes, and swords. Naofumi smirked, proud of her. He had one powerhouse of a girl by his side. He turned around to look at the knights who had stayed behind to help them. He appreciated them, and even helped keep them safe with a few airstrike shields when need be.
In a distant field surrounded by wood, Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki, and their respective party members struck down a number of beasts themselves. The enemies numbers depleted all over, until the last skeleton collapsed into a pile of bones.
"Too easy," Motoyasu started, flashing a cocky grin, "does anyone know where Naofumi is by the way?" He looked around, but the black haired boy was nowhere in sight. He shrugged.
"We wouldn't have had fun if he was here." Myne said in between giggles, pushing herself against her much too proud companion, hand placed on his chest as always.
"I suppose you're right." The Spear agreed. Ahead of them, the three knights finally appeared before them. They puffed, looking a bit worn themselves.
"Isn't it a bit too late for you guys to be here?" Ren questioned. The knights shook their heads nervously, eager to please their cardinal heroes.
"Don't mind that! The king has rewards for each of you awaiting in the castle." The captain spoke with haste, trying to make them forget their extreme tardiness. It worked, as everyone in the field was consumed by pride and smug.
'Was that it?' Naofumi thought to himself for the second time, doing a quick scout for anything they could have missed and prayed the others had done their part. He was quite tired, and he sure that Lucy was, too, though she hid it behind a brilliant smile. The quick sound of something similar to a bell rang, and in an instant the red, rainbow blotched sky returned to its normal blue with dotted clouds. It was over.
The sky had morphed into a magnificent gradient of blush pink, molten orange, and raspberry. The sun, a blazing gold, was setting as it prepared kiss the horizon goodnight.
The emerald eyed boy looked on as the villagers of Lute began the slow and excruciating recovery that their town desperately needed. Women bandaged men, children held their charred toys, and dogs sniffed the remains of buildings. Most homes were spared of exceptional damage, albeit every had a scuff somewhere along the premise.
A stretch away the scared knight traded glances with him. Neither said a word, although the soldier seemed to have the desire to do so. He shook the feeling away, walking off with another smaller knight trailing behind him. Naofumi wondered what he wanted to say, but didn't have enough care to pursue.
"I checked everywhere. There's none left." Lucy broke his thought-- referring to the monsters-- walking towards him from behind.
"That's good. You did well." He praised, which earned him a smile from her.
"You did, too! Natsu would have burned all these houses himself, no waves needed." She joked as she reminisced the past. Natsu was a boy she seemed to talk about a lot, which didn't particularly bother Naofumi as he concluded they must have been very close. He didn't have to see it and that's all that mattered to him. Out of sight, out of mind. The fire breather wasn't the only one she would mention either, though. A lot of names that came up a lot were Gray, Erza, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Levy, Cana, and Mirajane just to name a few. Lucy was gracious enough to give him a run down of every person she talked about if he ever forgot, so he appreciated that. Sometimes he wished he could see, hear, and feel the things she had so he could understand her better.
"Sir and Madam Heroes!" Again, his thoughts were interrupted. This time by an elderly man who seemed to take the position of speaker of the people. A number of villagers had bunched up behind him. Both of them turned their attention to him. Naofumi arched an eyebrow and Lucy tilted her head slightly.
"Thank you both for your help. We wouldn't have survived without you." He thanked, and him along with all the other townsfolk bowed before them.
"Don't thank us, it's our job to make sure everyone is safe," Lucy's smile brightened as she spoke, as to reassure them even further. The elderly man returned it and they all stood straight again, "right, Naofumi?" She continued. She scoot closer to said boy and gave him a soft elbow to the arm.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He mumbled out. He was still bothered about how compelled he felt to protect others who weren't Lucy as demonstrated earlier in the day. The people of this kingdom betrayed him. How could he ever want to protect them? To ensure their wellbeing? Yet, somehow, he did. He didn't know why. He didn't really want to know why either. He just wanted the feeling to go away, though, something in his head told him it wouldn't.
"Still, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We wouldn't have been able to push those creatures back. Thank you." He thanked again, and he along with all the other townsfolk began to walk off one by one after a farewell bow. Lucy turned to face her partner.
"They were really nice! But a bath would be nicer." She exclaimed while she did a quick stretch, exhaling softly after. Naofumi glanced at her, rubbing the back of his head. He felt quite icky himself. He reeked of sweat, he imagined.
"Yeah, that does sound nice. Maybe there's a lake or something nearby." He wondered, trying to recall if they passed any bodies of water on their way there.
"We should ask. But, if there is, no peeking!" She joked and ran off to the nearest person to ask. Naofumi sighed and walked after her.
"You don't really think I'm that of a degenerate, do you?" He hollered to her. Did he really give that vibe off?
A/N: Sorry I didn't update this story for six months. I really find fighting/battle scenes extremely boring and difficult to write, so it really takes the motivation after me. It was the majority of this chapter and it took me a while before I could even start writing. I ended up watching a few "tips and tricks" videos and finding the motivation to finish this. And thankfully, it's finally out of my way until the next fighting scene lol. I guess I can only blame myself for picking an anime about apocalyptic waves. Sorry again, I actually do feel bad for everyone who waited.