Author's note:
The following chapter was partially commissioned by a reader on Archive of Our Own. For details on commissions, see my profile page or PM me with your questions.
For now, enjoy!
Old Friends, New Blood
Everything was coming together: the thinning of Dark Guilds, the rumors of Tartaros's return, the narrowing search for a body molder, even a plan to turn Kyoka against the human imposter was forming in Seilah's mind.
Meanwhile, the robed figure trailed behind Seilah. She'd long become aware of its presence. It followed her through the winding woods, making laughable attempts to hide its footfalls on the sticks and loose pebbles. She'd have to pry its reason from its skull, before she saw to its murder.
The Cube loomed overhead. The sun was beginning to rise from behind the mountains, casting glimmering rays upon the top of Tartaros's floating base. Silently issuing a command to herself, Seilah lifted off the air and began floating towards the Cube's gravity field. Looking down, she issued the same command to her stalker. Soon enough, it left the treetops behind, its black cloak concealing its body and face in a shadow that was clearly not natural. All that showed were its yellow eyes and its mouth, unfazed by the sudden levitation.
When they plummeted to the ground, Seilah canceled her Macro command so the stalker would fall naturally. It didn't have time to pick itself up before she approached it on the broken stone and gave it a new command.
"Tell me everything you've learned, human."
The stalker remained on all fours. "Seven times ten is seventy, seven times thirteen is twenty-eight, seven times-"
"No, tell me-" Seilah paused. Her leer gave way to a confused frown. "Seven times thirteen is ninety-one."
"Yes," he replied, for though his voice was thin and wispy it was definitely male, "but seven times thirteen is also twenty-eight."
"...You are incorrect."
"I am not, and I can prove it."
"You are destined to fail, human."
"Firstly, no I'm not, and secondly…" He chortled. "I repeat myself."
Now Seilah was… mildly intrigued. "Show me, then."
The human's mouth stretched into a smirk. "Would you bet your life on it?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minerva rapped on the windowed balcony door, the sun setting at her back. Her cloak was wrapped around her body like a vampire, concealing the string bikini she chose as her temporary attire.
She knew the room within was occupied, and she also knew from interrogating Natsu that this was customary for visitors to do. That said, a little courtesy wouldn't have hurt.
Soon a white-clad silhouette approached the window inside, but hesitated when it got close.
"I was told this was how you receive guests," Minerva said, which technically was true.
The silhouette's hands parked themselves on its hips. "By who?"
"One of your old guildmates," Minerva said. "Natsu Dragneel."
Instantly the balcony door opened, and Minerva was greeted with a feast for the eyes.
Lucy Heartfilia.
Nothing special about her attire, but Lucy had the kind of body that could make most anything look tasty: huge tits, slender thighs, wide hips, a gorgeous face, long blonde hair, she had it all. This girl could've easily given Minerva a run for her money. That is, if Minerva's sultry body hadn't been reduced from an 11 out of 10 to… an 8.
"You've seen Natsu?" Lucy asked.
"That depends on whether you're inviting me in," Minerva replied. It was a gamble, sure, but Minerva's last interaction with Lucy had been what appeared to be an exercise in sadism, blowing Lucy up again and again to teach her not to question the power of Sabertooth (meaning Minerva). Minerva couldn't get what she needed on her own, nor could she force Lucy to tell her. She hoped Lucy's lingering feelings for Natsu would win out.
Which, it did. Lucy hesitantly stepped aside and gestured to her pink couch. "I almost forgot what knocking was like, from how many times I came home to find people waiting for me."
"Yes, Natsu told me that, too," Minerva admitted, walking in and lounging on the sofa. Her cloak spilled open on one side, giving Lucy an eyeful of Minerva's goodies. "So, to answer your question, I've been in touch with Natsu for a little while, ever since the Fairy-Tartaros Guild War ended. He's doing well. He's had to… lay low, to oversimplify it. I was more or less a rogue mage even before Tartaros took me. He doesn't want his old friends to get caught up in his mess, so we made natural partners."
Lucy, seated opposite Minerva in a comfy chair, looked down at the floor. "Oh… That's good…"
Not hardly, Minerva thought, keeping her expression neutral. He can ignore his old guild. I have a better idea.
"What about you?" Minerva asked. "Is Fairy Tail rebuilding?"
Lucy's knees drew together and a shadow fell over her eyes. From her pretty pink lips came three words that Minerva, in her life, never would've expected to hear.
"Fairy Tail disbanded."
The news caught Minerva off-guard. She'd spent seven years of her life watching Fiore's #1 guild crumble into irrelevance while Sabertooth ascended the ranks. In all that time, even with their guild master and entire roster of S-Classes lost at sea, Fairy Tail had persevered. Yet, down a guild hall but no casualties in what, on reflection, had been a one-sided massacre of Tartaros's demons, suddenly it was time to give up?
The news made Minerva angry. Her self-control was her best asset, yet even that didn't stop her fingers from slowly curling into a fist. To think what could happen in just a few weeks. It definitely explained Lucy's-
"Temporarily, but…" Lucy's lips began to tremble a little. "First the guild hall, then Natsu, and now..."
Minerva willed herself to relax. "Have you kept in touch with anyone?"
Lucy nodded. "You probably don't know her."
"You'd be surprised."
"Her name's Lisanna. I guess we can both relate to losing a guild out of nowhere."
But is she half as sexy as you, I wonder, thought Minerva. She felt her body heating up from staring at Lucy. The blonde didn't notice, but Minerva's eyes were diving deep into the canyon of Lucy's cleavage. The things she wanted to do to a perfect pair of tits like that…
"I'm glad you still have that," Minerva said, "which brings me to my reason for coming."
Minerva stood and turned away. "I might be able to point you in the direction of Natsu, if you want to see him again."
"You would?!"
Minerva was glad she'd hid her face. Her devious smile would've doubtless brought back traumatic memories of the Grand Magic Games.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The stalker gestured with his stick to the numbers he'd drawn on the ground.
"Seven times three?" he asked.
"Twenty-one," Seilah answered. He drew a 21 beneath his multiplication problem.
"Seven times one?"
"Seven."
He drew a 7 below the 21.
"And so, 7 plus 21 makes-"
"No!" Seilah was nearing the end of her rope. "That isn't how one multiplies!"
The arrogant smirk on his mouth made Seilah wonder if this human was, in fact, suicidal.
"Am I to understand," he asked coyly, "that the answers you yourself-"
"You are incorrect," Seilah warned, her robe fluttering with raw curse power. "You are also trying my patience, human."
"You keep using that word," he slurred, his insufferable grin mitigated only by the fact that the equally smug look in his eyes was covered by the magic of his hood. "I do not think it means what you think it means. Anyway, when in doubt, we always have basic addition."
He squatted down. "So, let us draw 13 seven times…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"But I need your help for something," Minerva continued. "You see, I'm trying to find someone. I only know them by reputation, but I was hoping you could at least point me in their direction."
"What makes you think I'd know where they are?" Lucy asked.
Minerva reached out and picked up the copy of Sorcerer Weekly that lay on the coffee table between them. Thumbing through the pages, she stopped on a story halfway through.
"'Destruction of Dark Guilds,'" she read. "'Crime Sorciere Responsible?'"
She looked at the blonde sitting across from her. "'By Lucy Heartfilia'."
Lucy frowned at that. "Crime Sorciere? Why do you want to find them?"
Minerva shook her head, which always felt a little different now that she had horns.
"Not them, specifically. Someone they know."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The stalker had drawn a septuplet of 13s on the ground, and was in the process of adding up the digits in the right column.
"-9, 12, 15, 18, 21…"
Then he went back up and started down the left column.
"22, 23-"
The stick flew from his hands as Seilah's eyes grew narrow. If she could, she'd have gored him with her horns.
"Do you take me for a fool?"
"I take you for someone who's never seen this routine." He shrugged. "I said I could prove it. I did not say the math would be conventional."
She wanted to kill him. She decided to kill him.
"I'm going to kill you, human," she said.
"Yet again, you call me-"
"Silence. Stand up."
He did so, sitting back on his heels and standing up straight. Seilah looked him over one last time, if only to memorize the insignia on his cloak. She knew she'd seen it before. Nevertheless…
"Gouge out your eyeballs," she commanded, "wherever they are. Then, gnaw off your hands at the wrist."
Two bolts of black lighting shot from his eyes and struck Seilah in the chest, just above her breasts. The worst pain she'd ever felt clawed and shredded her chest like a live bear had been unleashed inside of her. She wanted to scream, but all that filled her throat, as she fell to her knees, was her own demon blood.
Seilah was panicking. What had he done to her? What spell was this?
"Oh dear, that does look painful," he… said? How? Seilah hadn't released her previous command to hold still.
"Yes, I do believe I pulped your windpipe," he continued, his mouth remaining still. All Seilah saw was the ground as she clutched at her chest. Her windpipe… Curse this humanoid anatomy of hers. Why had mighty Zeref given them humanoid bodies if they left such vulnerability?
"If only there were someone on hand who could fix that." His feet didn't move. "Someone adept at… 'modifying' anatomies. 'Molding' them, if you will. Someone who had a reasonable guess as to what was wrong with you. If only that someone could moo-ooove…"
Her concentration slipping, Seilah wordlessly released him from her curse. She was desperate; releasing her limiter in this state wouldn't mend her shredded insides, nor stop him from somehow circumventing… her…
Seilah slumped onto her side and felt the blood flow both ways, up to her mouth and down into her lungs. He was moving again, holding a small triangular knife in his hand, double-edged.
Which he then plunged into the flesh above her sternum.
Seilah looked up at him as he withdrew the cold steel, feeling more blood begin to flow. Tears mixed with her black ichor; the only time she'd ever felt so helpless was when her mistress Kyoka was on hand. She… She didn't want to die like this, alone and at the mercy of this…
"You're more human than I, it seems, so-called Goddess of the Chilled Moon," said the stalker, pressing the blade against his left palm. "I am not one to fall to such a wound."
Slicing into his hand, he quickly dropped the knife and cupped his hands.
"Fortunately for you, little orphan, neither am I one to speak to the soon-to-be-deceased."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy sat at her desk, arms folded and boobs resting on the wood as she stared at her typewriter. Normally, this would be caused either by writer's block or trying to decide if she should include something in her next letter to her mom. It was silly, since Layla Heartfilia had been dead since Lucy was 10, and that was even longer ago thanks to the time stasis on Tenrou Island. Still, today's cause was her own doubts and fears: about Minerva's credibility, about if Natsu was okay, and about the information Lucy had traded to learn… what? That she should go talk to Erza?
Lucy sighed and straightened up, feeling the weight of her chest pull on her back once more. Maybe talking to Mom was exactly what she needed. So, she pulled her typewriter forward and got to it.
Dear Mom,
I know it's hardly been a minute, but a lot's changed since I last wrote.
First, I was paid a visit by a rival guild member from the Grand Magic Games. Yeah, that one; Minerva. I'm glad you weren't there to see it, because she messed me up pretty badly. Still, I get the feeling that she's changed a little. Don't get me wrong, she's still dangerous. I could feel her undressing me with her eyes, and while I am flattered, it was also a little scary. I wasn't sure what to expect.
Speaking of expectations, I never thought giving up on my novel and becoming a journalist would be anything more than a dead-end job. The amount of really boring stuff I had to slog through, the number of times I sent Happy through someone's window to try and get me in for a better scoop, it all started to feel like I made a bad call. But after that, I am so, SO glad I did.
Now, Mom, before you blow up on me, hear me out:
That guy I told you about; Natsu? With the pink-hair and dumb grin always plastered on his face? I might actually get to see him again! Minerva told me how to find him… sort of. She said to ask Erza, because if she gave me the tip-off herself, something something being a former Dark Guild wizard. But, hey, if it means seeing Natsu, I'll take what I can get.
I miss him. Happy misses him, too. Poor little guy doesn't even make fun of me any more. It's great, because that means he won't ruin an interview or blow my cover, but still, it's not the same without Natsu. You'd understand if you knew him, Mom.
I'm going to see Erza soon. Really glad I kept in touch with her. With the guild gone, we need each other more than ever.
Love you always,
Lucy
Brushing some hair out of her face, Lucy folded the letter and creased it. She stopped. Thinking back, she unfolded the paper and picked up her pen again.
P.S. Do you think Fairy Tail will ever come back? I miss being in a guild.
Folding it a second time, Lucy sealed the letter in an envelope and put it in her box with the rest. Some day, maybe she would open these letters and read them again. Maybe she would read them to her children, if she ever had any.
With that, she got up to start her search for Natsu.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minerva skulked through the snow-capped forest, clad in some of her old fur-lined clothes, repurchased with her Succubus Eye stash. Sooner or later, she'd have to talk with Natsu about some kind of income for Tartaros as a guild. They could take jobs, but Minerva saw potential in that wonderful little toy that Kyoka had. She was itching to try it out herself, and she had a feeling that, if they could modify it a little, it could be their golden ticket to a ludicrous amount of money.
She paused, the snow surrounding the ankles of her boots. But would Natsu be willing to test it…
A howling gust of wind swept between the trees and flung stinging ice in her face. She was glad she'd taken time to trim her horns, else the wind would've made her top-heavy. Well, top-heavy in a way that wasn't related to her sweater-kittens. Plus, having less horn on her head allowed her to regain her old hairstyle, two bun-like loops hiding her demon status. This far out in the digs, surely no one would recognize her. Succubus Eye might have been a dark guild, but few people knew the junior members of the old Balam Alliance.
She spied a small village at the top of a plateau, lights and smoke peeking out from between the trees. According to the trail Lucy had started her on, Minerva would find her quarry nearby.
"Although," she muttered as another gust kicked up the snow around her, "why would anyone move out here willingly? Maybe you're not as smart as Natsu said you were."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"WRONG!"
The unlucky recruit was sent flying by the flat of the instructor's sword, crashing into a nearby training dummy and snapping its torso off.
The instructor lowered her blade. "Every blow must be swift, decisive, and swift!" she barked. "There is no room for hesitation in battle. Now…"
Sweeping her glare over the other royal rookies, Erza Scarlet sheathed her sword and beckoned another forward. "You, attack me."
Not wanting to be pulverized, the rookie lowered his helmet's visor and charged. He'd barely taken his third step when Erza was suddenly upon him, smacking him down with the flat of her blade and giving him a faceful of grass.
"Don't just run like some wild animal!" she barked. "If you're going to charge, then maintain your guard!"
"Erza?"
"WHO-"
Erza whirled around, ready to absolutely brutalize whoever failed to address her by her title of brigadier. However, her fist lowered when she saw who it was that was recoiling before her.
"Lucy?" Her steely gaze reasserted itself. "Who let you through the gate? Tell me! Once we're done catching up I will punish them severely!"
Lucy sucked in her lips to try and hide her smile. "Well…" She snickered. "You'd be punishing your princess, then."
"P-Princess Hisui?!"
Lucy shrugged, smiling. "Is there any other? I mean, Virgo calls me that, but you don't."
That only raised more questions, but even a knight-general like Erza couldn't arrest the royal family.
"So," Erza said, walking alongside her old friend, "what can I do for you, Lucy? I assume you didn't invoke the princess's authority just for a social visit."
"No, but it's still nice to see you again," Lucy said. She sighed. "Besides you, Lisanna, and Happy, I don't see much of anyone anymore."
"What of Elfman and Mirajane? Surely they wouldn't abandon their sister."
Lucy shook her head. "They're never around. Elfman apparently joined Quatro Cerberus-"
Erza whirled. "He WHAT?!"
"Yeah, that's what I said." Lucy chuckled. "Maybe he wanted to teach them about being a real man instead of just 'wild'. As for Mirajane, she's focusing on her pinup modeling. That and…"
Lucy leaned in close and cupped a hand around her mouth. "This is off the record, for now anyway, but I heard she's got a boyfriend."
"That's good to hear," Erza said, rounding on the blonde and standing in her path. "I'll ask you again, Lucy: why are you here?"
Lucy chuckled again, more nervously this time. She sensed more than a little hostility from Erza, like Erza was already on to her motives and was just waiting for an excuse to reprimand her. Or arrest her, since Lucy had a hunch that the only reason Erza could know of Natsu was if she'd learned it from Minerva. Given that Minerva was technically still an outlaw mage…
I really hope you're okay, Natsu, Lucy said. What kind of crowd had he gotten himself mixed up with? Natsu could handle himself in a fight, but if Natsu was involved with Dark Guilds as well, and Erza knew about it, then either Erza would be forced to arrest him if she ever saw him again, or Erza herself might be arrested for associating with criminals.
Lucy sucked in a breath. Here goes…
"Have you seen Natsu?"
Erza shook her head. "Not since the guild disbanded."
Lucy's journalistic intuition, which she hadn't realized she had a knack for until she started working for her favorite magazine, told her that Erza wasn't lying. However, it also told her there was more to the story.
"Do you know where he went after that?"
Erza held up a hand. "Meet me outside the castle gates after sundown."
"...Why?"
"Because," Erza said, turning back to the grassy training field, "I need to speak as a friend, not a royal officer."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minerva couldn't wipe the devious smile off of her face. She hurried through the snow, leaving bootprints behind as dusk settled on the forest. Not that she needed night time to escape, she simply wanted to make it less obvious to anyone who might go looking for… If she was being honest, her kidnapping victim.
Minerva looked at the unconscious old lady who floated in a Territory Sphere behind her. Even after meeting her, no, especially after meeting her, Minerva was having a hard time believing the hype. Natsu had described a ruthless, cunning, powerful young woman (that already disqualified this crone she was toting) when he'd made the mistake of saying Minerva's ass was not, in fact, the greatest he'd ever seen.
"You're supposed to be a match for walking, talking volcano," Minerva hissed. The old woman couldn't hear her; five seconds after confirming her name and refusing to come voluntarily, Minerva had blasted her unconscious with the single weakest explosion she could muster. "You're lucky Natsu was so specific. If anyone else had told me about your magic, I would've told them to stop lying to me."
Minerva would change that. Tartaros was going to be home to some of the wildest kinds of magic Fiore had ever seen (and maybe the wildest sex toys Fiore had ever seen). Minerva couldn't help herself: she was in a guild, she was its de facto queen like she'd been for Sabertooth, and she wouldn't settle for anything but the best.
Minerva grinned and started to get horny, for the same could be said for her taste in sex partners. Glancing at her captive, Minerva's "gloved" hands started to drift between her legs.
Maybe just a quick rub…
"S-Stop right there!"
Instantly, Minerva was on guard. From behind a tree, no more than ten feet away, emerged a frightened, shaggy, middle-aged hunter, aiming a loaded crossbow at Minerva's chest.
"Y-" The man swallowed. "What have you done to Granny Leatherface? Where are you taking her?"
"'Leatherface'?" Minerva glanced at her unconscious hostage, for that might well be what the old woman could turn into. "Do you call her that to her face, or do you know better?"
"Doesn't matter!" squawked the man, who then began shouting. "Over here! I found-"
Twang!
The crossbow shot its bolt, but up into the sky. A Territory circle had opened beneath the hunter and dropped him along with a small flurry of snow… right into Minerva's clawed grip.
Her magically enhanced strength crushed the wooden body of the crossbow and tore the remains from the man's flailing hands. Then her hand was around his throat, her black claws pricking his skin and drawing blood.
"Now," she said menacingly, "what are you going to tell the rest of Granny's neighbors?"
The man couldn't answer; he was too busy blubbering.
"That's right," Minerva said, tossing him back. "Nothing."
The man rolled over and tried to flee, only to come face-to-curve with another Territory sphere, this one roiling and morphing angrily with unstable energy.
"Because if I suddenly find myself on a wanted poster," Minerva continued, "with any description of my claws, my powers, or my good looks, I'll know exactly who to look for."
Lengthening her stride, Minerva paused beside the terrified hunter, sunk to all fours in the snow.
"Besides," Minerva said, "if all goes well, you'll be doing your granny a favor."
Hoping he'd believe at least one of those two statements, Minerva frolicked through the snow until she found the spot where she'd decided to double back. Channeling her power, Minerva teleported herself and her prisoner to a nearby outcropping. "Nearby" for her meant within line of sight, so the tiny mountain of rock was still a good hundred yards from where she'd just been. She had no more need to hide her power, because she had no more need to fear someone stumbling upon her.
"You," she said to the old woman, "had better be worth it."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"'Remind me again why we're trudging through the mountains,' she complains."
Lucy was curled up inside her clock spirit, Horologium, as a cold wind battered at the spirit's magical wooden body. Erza powered on, seemingly immune to the freezing cold thanks to a special kind of armor that Lucy had never seen before. It was a tribal-type tunic that covered Erza's torso and thighs, with a midriff sash and neckline both being lined with white fur. White wraps covered Erza's forearms, though something must've been keeping the chill from her exposed skin. Beneath the split in the tunic's lower half, Erza wore black pants and light, shin-high boots. A pair of small angel wings crowned Erza's red hair, but most telling of all was the fact that no flap or feature of Erza's clothes was ruffled by the wind.
"Royal intelligence has too many eyes and ears in the capitol for me to give you directions," Erza called back. "To see Natsu again, I must show you, Lucy. There's no other way."
"'We could've at least taken the low road,' she grumbles." The clock spirit was Lucy's middle-man since the seal of his magic was, among other things, completely soundproofed.
"Be patient, Lucy," Erza assured her. "The elevation is necessary. You'll see why soon enough."
"'Hopefully before'-"
Horologium's relay was cut off when he popped out of existence, his contracted time with Lucy ran out. Lucy was dumped on her generous behind on the bare, frigid rock.
"Aa-aa!" Lucy sprang to her feet like something had bitten her. "It's still summertime! How is it this cold?!"
"Come closer, Lucy."
The blonde hurried to catch up to Erza… and found the wind was gone. Sure, it was still cold, but at least that cold wasn't pressing against her face and hands. Even with the fur parka and thigh-high winter boots she wore, a daughter-of-a-merchant city girl like Lucy wasn't exactly thick-blooded.
"My Wind God Armor," Erza explained. "I'm simply steering the harsh wind around me."
Lucy was amazed. "This is…" Then she was annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me you had this?"
"I was about to," the redhead said, taking Lucy's hand, "but you called your spirit before I could."
"Well, yeah, but I meant after I called him."
Erza hauled on Lucy's arm and picked up the pace, clearing three feet of stone with every stride. "I know how much your spirits love you, Lucy. Why cut their time with you short?"
Lucy opened her mouth, then closed it again when she realized she was being kind of selfish. Erza was right: her spirits liked being called, liked feeling useful.
As they rounded a flat cliffside path that crumbled and cracked as they strode upon it, Lucy was about to ask if they had any more upward climbing to do. Instead, a bright light engulfed Erza and suddenly Lucy was flying through the air, screaming and clinging for dear life onto Erza.
"ERZA I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIIIS!"
Dangling below her friend, holding on with both arms, Lucy was sure that Erza knew what she was doing, but that didn't stop her from freaking out from the sudden sense of gravity.
…which promptly turned sideways and sent them both hurling towards a land in the sky right in front of them.
Erza oriented herself to the new gravity as Lucy gaped in awe. "Is that… Tartaros's floating base?"
"It is." Erza slowed their descent, dropping Lucy when they were about six feet from the ground, before flashing and changing back into her usual Heart Kreuz breastplate and skirt. "Now you see why I couldn't tell you how to find him. The kingdom and new Magic Council have both kept watch on the Cube since Tartaros fell. It's practically harmless as it is, simply floating around the continent."
Lucy looked around nervously, then at the ground, far away to her left. "So, they know we're up here?"
"Only because I told them," Erza explained, surveying the still-ruined landscape of the Cube's surface. "I cited your journalism as a reason to escort you here. They won't think twice about our trespass."
Lucy pointed at the sky on her right. "So, what, we head to the top and go from there?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Lucy swallowed as she took to following Erza yet again. She had a bad feeling about this little venture. Why would Erza need to know where the Cube was, to find Natsu, if the Cube kept moving?
Her answer came when she and Erza had crossed the corner (and the disorienting effect of multiple gravity fields) and made for the location of Tartaros's old guild base. There, they spied what appeared to be a squat, roughshod tower, no more than two stories high, crenelated on top and looking like it had been poured into a giant mold.
Above the front, and so far only, entrance, the symbol of Tartaros loomed. Lucy knew it right away, but it was a little different than she remembered. The crossed hammer-like things were the same, but the L-shaped lines below them, previously resembling tobacco pipes, had been expanded in scale. The tips of the long ends met at the bottom, and the short ends lined up with the tops of the hammers. In fact, looking closer at it, the symbol looked like someone's roundabout way of drawing a heart.
"So, where do we go from here?" Lucy asked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Deep within the Cube, a hooded figure perked up. His yellow eyes flashed for a moment as he pinched the side of his black hood and pulled it close to his ear. The enchantment he'd put on his features was gone, as a show of good faith… and of power. For, as he'd said, knowledge was power, so he guarded all knowledge about himself carefully.
"A-sounds like," he said, his voice taking on a faux foppish air, "a-there's someone at the door."
That same foppishness carried over to his movements as he swung his head to look at his two companions. Kyoka remained nonchalant, her arms folded across her enormous bust. Seilah, standing next to her so Kyoka was between them, was also nonchalant, though he took note of the fact she leaned away from him as he shimmied a step closer.
He glanced at the middle-aged woman floating in the molding tube, her face and limbs filling out more every hour. Thanks to the small tube of black fluid being fed into her veins, the unconscious woman would awaken with a power and vigor unknown in her previous life as a dark wizard. Of course, it was only thanks to him that they'd been able to acquire an IV line in the first place. Plan B had been… Well, open wounds and elderly women weren't known to mix.
However, neither were house guests and known murderers.
"Oh, very well, I'll get it," he said with facetious annoyance. Pivoting on his heel, he strode to the chamber's exit and up the stairs.
Watching him leave, Kyoka couldn't help but notice Seilah's body language. "Even if he's powerful, Seilah, you shouldn't fear him. He knows his place."
Seilah remained fixated on their patient/recruit in the tube. "I fear no human," she said, "but that… thing…"
Kyoka could see a microexpression of anxiety forming on Seilah's serene features.
"...it scares me."
A shout reached their ears; Kyoka recognized the voice. After all, how could she forget the human who'd bested her?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Natsu!" Erza bellowed again. "I know you're in there! It's rude to keep your friends waiting!"
Another few seconds went by. Nothing happened.
"Are you sure he's living in the Cube?" Lucy asked. "Why would he?"
"You'll understand after you see him," Erza replied, growing irritated. She clenched her fist. "If I have to lay waste to everything that stands between us and our dear friend…"
Just then, a sound of something came echoing up from inside the makeshift fort. It was faint, but it sounded like singing. Annoyed but curious, Erza stomped through the portcullis archway (it couldn't be called a gate with no door) and found a waist-high slab, a pile of dirty tapestries, and a hole in the ground with a staircase leading down. The singing was coming from within.
"Ter-raveling life, the traveling life for me… regal company-"
Footsteps heralded someone coming up. Lucy stood behind Erza, slowly unclasping her key ring from her belt pouch and getting ready for whoever was squatting inside the Cube.
"Pahdon the dust, from the upper ker-rust…" sang the voice, before fading off for a moment. Then, "Pooort OUT! Starboard HOME! POSH with a capital…"
From inside the stairwell emerged what the girls assumed was the singer. He was above-average height, about six feet, clothed neck-to-knee in a skin-tight body suit of some kind. The suit was lined with black feathers, like those of a raven, and from the knees down were laced a pair of shiny boots. His body was muscular but not bloated; he was bigger than Lucy remembered Natsu being, but only slightly.
His face was hidden in the shadow of his cloak. What little Lucy could see were his yellow eyes, his mouth, and his chin, the latter lined with a cropped goatee.
"Who're you?" Lucy asked.
He held up a finger. "No no, I think you mean to ask who I claim to be. Except, you've never met me, have you?"
Lucy looked back at Erza. This guy was already giving her the creeps, what with his weird introduction and a voice like a knife through a cloud of smoke.
"No?" Lucy answered. "Look, that doesn't matter right now-"
"Of course it does," he said, interrupting her. "As much can be gleaned from who someone claims to be as can who they are. For example, I'd bet money that I know who you are, Lucy Heartfilia-"
Lucy stiffened a little. Now she was really creeped out.
"-and you, Erza Scarlet," he finished, pointing at the redhead. "So, why ask who you are when I already know? I should instead ask who you claim to be." His smile drooped into a purse-lipped expression of boredom and dread. "Or why, pray tell, you are here."
"We are here to see our friend Natsu!" Erza said. "If you know where he is, you will take us to him."
His expression didn't change. Lucy had it wrong: it wasn't boredom, it was discomfort.
"Do you know where he is?" Lucy asked, her hand flipping open the key ring on her belt.
"I… How to put this… I am not where he is, because I know where he is, and I believe I speak for all of us-" His finger traced a circle in the air. "-when I say that no one here wants to be there right now."
"What for?!" Erza said, drawing her sword and pointing it at the stranger. "Speak! Is he in trouble?"
"Not him," he muttered, his eyes bulging as he shook his head. "Someone might be…"
"Enough riddles! Take us to him or I shall make my own path through this floating Cube!"
He shrugged, resigning himself to whatever fate he foresaw. "I tried to warn them…"
"Oh, quit complaining!" Lucy barked, falling in behind Erza as they followed the stranger down the hole in the ground. "If you really didn't want us to see him, you'd just tell us what he's up to."
"That I could," he admitted wearily, "but I don't think… Mmmm… To say why would negate my reason for the secrecy."
"Hey, speaking of secrets, what's your name?"
"My name?" He favored one side on the next stone step, so Erza and Lucy did the same. The step had a crater smashed into it, probably from the guild war. "Well, I suppo-ooose…" He smacked his lips. "Yes, I suppose. Call me Raven… hurst."
Lucy was nonplussed. "That's not your name."
"No, but, it will do."
Rolling her eyes, Lucy couldn't figure this guy out. First he was creepy, then worried, then… whatever this was. Ravenhurst was-
"Ugh, seriously, what's your name?" Lucy demanded.
"Hmmm, you're right. Sir Ravenhurst isn't… My name is Ravenlord."
"Like that's much better?!"
"Oh look, the throne room," Ravenlord said, stopping at a large wooden door, somehow intact despite how fierce the fighting had been inside the Cube. Lucy had been so caught up in his weird hang-up about names that she hadn't noticed when he'd led them off the stairs and into a dark, dungeon-like corridor.
"Final chance," Ravenlord warned them. "Either open the door, or wait for him to come… out." He snickered.
"Out of the way, bird-man!" Lucy pushed him aside and leaned on the two doors. When they didn't budge, Lucy whipped out her celestial key of the Golden Bull. "Star Dress: Taurus Form!"
Lucy held the key to her chest. It glowed, spinning a pair of crisscrossed spell circles out of itself and around her. They collapsed in on themselves and enveloped Lucy's body with light. When the light vanished, Lucy had changed in a similar manner to Erza's Requip magic.
Instead of her parka, Lucy now wore a cow-patterned bikini top, lined with fringe, and matching sleeves. Brown fingerless gloves complimented her sharp toe boots. Her pants left one leg uncovered, mimicking the dark-light motif of her upper half.
Speaking of, Lucy's body was a little more muscular, her biceps and shoulders having more definition to them than before. Her hair had wound itself up into two buns, though a few locks still hung loose.
Ravenlord had hand cupped to his eye, blocking his view of the door. Erza wondered why, along with this sudden fervor from Lucy, when Lucy heaved back and shoved the doors open. Right away-
"Shit, here it comes!"
They'd finally found Natsu.
…naked, covered in sweat, his hands around the throat of a grogling, moaning, spit-dripping Minerva Orland as she lay draped over the throne of Tartaros, her head hanging upside-down over the arm rest as she performed a sword-swallowing trick with Natsu's… His…
"AAAaaaah!"
Minerva gagged as Natsu doubled over, the thing in her throat starting to slide out. Her hands grabbed him by the hips and pulled him back in as she furiously slurped and sucked. Sweat dripped off of Natsu's jaw and nose onto her bare melons. Her throat bulged as she swallowed… and swallowed… and swallowed before pushing Natsu off of herself.
As Minerva massaged her throat, Lucy glowed and changed back, horrified beyond belief. "...N-Natsu?"
Author's comments:
Not what I originally had in mind for this chapter, but then again, what I originally had in mind was holding me up from putting words to page. It involved a lot of girl-on-girl seduction and three-way action, but it was also really hard to figure out. Despite what some reviewers might think, I don't write lemons at the expense of a character's consistency.
If y'all haven't figured out who the old and now middle-aged woman in the tube is, I'd like to pre-emptively thank the writer Natsu Is Awesome for giving me a MUCH better idea on how to work her in to the story. My original idea involved time travel and multiple dimensions and so much convoluted crap that it would've made H.P. Lovecraft's head spin. Even I can't fully recall the original plan, it was that complicated. So, not only do I have an easier time of writing it, but one of my favorite Fairy Tail characters gets to enter the story a lot earlier than I thought.
And that, dear readers, is why you should leave a review: if not to tell me your thoughts on the story or most recent chapter, then to tell me what you want and make me realize how needlessly hard I'm making it on myself.
Like LadyNerfyNerf, for example. You left me a review asking for Lucy, and you got her!
As for your review, claymoredj, Natsu's growth to overpowered status will be less conventional than simply gaining more spells or new forms.
Until next time! And by that, I mean whenever the money comes in for Chapter 8, which is slated to be a full commission. See you then!