Chapter Text
Lucy watched Natsu slick his hair back with heated hands to hold it in place. His vest hung open around his shoulders, scarf tied like a belt while he got ready. She was too worried about dealing with Alvarez to appreciate the view for long, but she did drag her gaze down the harshly pronounced dips between his muscles. Of course Natsu had always been trim but now he was properly thin. She didn’t like it. As soon as they were done with this round of drama she was feeding him until he softened once more. She frowned with her lip caught between her teeth.
“Natsu are you wearing that again?” she asked.
He furrowed his brows and glanced at her in the reflection of the mirror, “I don’t have anything else Lucy!”
“You have time to go home and grab something before we leave,” she pointed out.
Not that Natsu had seemed willing to be more than an arms length away from her since they got back, but she understood that. None of the others were really as okay as they were pretending. Happy was doing slightly better about the separation anxiety. Enough so that he was in the kitchen chattering with Wendy and Charla while they got ready in the bedroom. But her suggestion just made Natsu scowl heavily. She cocked her head to the side when she realized he was also flushed down to his jaw.
“What?”
He mumbled something while looking away.
“Come onnnnn!” she drawled.
He huffed a stream of smoke and repeated himself, “I may have burnt my house down okay!”
Lucy blinked once, twice, and a third time. The flush on Natsu’s face was even deeper now and bridged all the way down his throat. He pulled his hands out of his hair and gestured weakly like it wasn’t a big deal. But it was. Because that was his house.
“Natsu what the hell.” she said flatly.
“I didn’t mean to! It was just… a really bad day.” he muttered.
“How does a bad day-!”
She got cut off when he turned to glower at her properly. That dark look wasn’t something that was often aimed in her direction. Lucy clicked her teeth together and raised her brows instead. He hesitated for a moment before huffing and slumping in on himself.
“That was when Macao and Wakoba told me what happened. Lucy you gotta believe that I didn’t know,”
She took two quick steps forward to cup his jaw, “I know you didn’t Natsu. You’ve made that very clear, I don’t doubt you. I never have. I’m sorry for teasing you.”
Natsu looked into her eyes like he was judging how honest she was, if she truly believed the repeated insistence that he didn’t *know.* He leaned forward with a grumbling huff to rest their foreheads together. Lucy let her eyes slide closed and just took comfort in the closeness. The tang of smoke that was worked into his skin felt like coming home. She opened her eyes again when Natsu traced his hot fingers across the arc of his cheek. The slits of his pupils were soft and near rounded from how at ease he was. She caught his hand and kissed the smooth skin of his finger-pads. Wendy had managed to take care of the worst of the burn and frostbite scarring that Natsu earned but there was still some warping to be found in his skin.
“When we get back I’ll rebuild,” he decided quietly, “something a little bigger and better. Maybe a little reading nook, a desk for you to write at.”
Her heart melted, tears beading in her lashes, “I’d like that.”
Their noses bumped with how close they were, “a new perch for Happy, a skylight so you can stargaze when you’re supposed to be sleeping, I don’t think I ever showed you the hotspring that’s nearby-”
“Guys! You ready?!” Gray thumped his fist against the door.
Natsu pulled her into his chest and snarled in that direction. Lucy hid her burning face against his collarbone for a count of three before she felt brave enough to pull away. At least when she did she realized that Natsu was blushing just as much as she was. Her gaze darted to his chapped lips before Gray knocked again. Dammed Void. She clicked her tongue and pulled Natsu behind her into the main living area. She accepted the coffee Gray passed over with a quiet word of thanks. Wendy was finishing up breakfast while they got ready which gave her just enough time to summon Virgo.
“Would you mind also grabbing something for Natsu to wear? Perhaps three changes of clothes since we’ll be travelling fast and light, something good to fight in.”
“Of course princess,” Virgo bowed deeply.
“Aw come on Lucy, I want fancy clothes too!” Gray whined, “how come only the flamebrain gets them?”
“Wearing Celestial Clothing is often a sign of fondness and commitment for a wizard's partner. While Harems are quite common in royalty, Lady Lucy has shown little interest in creating one,” Virgo chirped.
Lucy hid her once more steaming face behind her hands. The others sputtered and laughed at her embarrassment once they got over their own. She pushed Virgo through her Gate with a pointed thread of magic. The Maiden promised to return shortly with the requested clothes. They quickly ate their way through their filling breakfasts and glanced amongst each other. The thin veneer of humor they tried so hard to maintain wore thin and sheer. Showing the fear beneath.
“It's time. Lets bring Gramps home so that we can fix this,” Erza said.
They cheered and sailed out of her apartment. Only to quickly find themselves on the only reliable version of transport that made it to Alvarez. Lucy laughed quietly and rubbed Natsu’s back as he leaned over the boat railing. Gray patiently held a cool hand on Wendy’s forehead and rolled his eyes at her. Lucy hadn’t realized that Wendy was now powerful enough to be affected by the Dragon Slayer's weakness.
There was a lot that she missed in her time away.
Away. A fun word to sidestep saying dead. What made Lucy Lucy was dead even if her corpse and magic and Gate were being possessed by the Queen. It was her destiny but she found herself slightly more bitter about it than she should have been. Or maybe it was the perfect amount of bitterness. She really wasn’t sure. Nor was she sure how she really felt about what happened. And being trapped on the ship while crossing the sea forced her to dwell on it longer than she wanted. But by the time they reached Curacao she’d come to a conclusion for the time being. It was what it was. She could not change her path, but for as long as she was alive she was Lucy and nothing would change that.
Curacao Island was pretty though. The soft breeze carried the scent of damp sand and frying beach food. Lucy linked her fingers with Wendy’s and walked, swinging them between them. Wendy chattered happily about all the fun things they were going to do while on the island as soon as they got through the inspection point. Lucy pointedly raised a brow at the guard checking her out and twirled her bangs around her finger. At least while his eyes were on her curves it meant they weren’t being studied too closely.
Natsu huffed behind her, a small puff of smoke leaking from his nose. But they flashed their fake Guild Marks with happy smiles and tiny bikinis. She winked at the one who had been ogling her as they moved past. Lucy left Erza to contain Natsu while the guards harassed some little boy. The palm of her hand tingled, familiar weight draping to the sand. The crack of Berenice’s Locks split the air faster than her eye could track. The holy blade at the end cleaved his helmet down the center.
“Mest go find our guy!” she snapped, “Wendy you and the boy go find his father.”
“Aye!” Wendy chirped.
Mest simply nodded before flashing away with direct line. Lucy twisted over her own shoulder, whip following the line of travel to trip a guard that would have gone after Wendy. But one thing was always certain, guards were just low level peons. It was easy to deal with them while they waited for the others. Erza and Natsu started munching on star-mango gelato while it was calm. Erza had literal stars in her eyes as they ate. There might just be a fruit that replaced strawberries for her favorite.
Annnnd then the shop blew up.
Even while she was turning to get ready for another fight Lucy was wondering what they did to be so hated by the universe. Behind her Erza let out the kind of snarl that usually had the Dragon Slayers perking up with interest. They watched the man approaching with wary readiness. Despite his clapping and the wide beam on his face his power levels were immense. Lucy’s skin rippled uneasily.
“You are an A+ my dear!” he cheered.
Marin Hollow, a member of the Alvarez Defense Forces. Brandish Division. Something about him, his magic or his face or his voice she wasn’t sure, raked nails up the ladder of her spine. Lucy’s lip pulled back from her teeth, fingers tight around the ethernano handle of her whip. But this was exactly who they’d waited for. Lucy passed what Jewel she had on her to Gray for him to pay the shopkeep and tell him to run. Because before their eyes Erza’s requip failed. And suddenly the joking ease they’d faked for this whole time seemed brash and uncouth because Marin Hollow wasn’t even sweating.
“No no no! None of that nasty requirement doll! I am the master of Space, what I say goes here.”
Her head cocked to the side.
“What’s that mean?” Gray asked from her shoulder.
“By requiping, essentially you are grabbing something from a different pocket of Space. And that is my domain.” a quick glance at her- one that Lucy felt drag over her legs- “and that goes for you too dear. Celestial Magic is still Space Based.”
“Is that so?” her lips pulled back from her teeth.
“It would seem that the ma~aa~an does not understand his place my La~dy. Would you like me to rectify that?”
Marin Hollow gulped nervously and peered from the corner of his eye. Lucy perhaps had a childish adoration for Capricorn that made it nearly impossible for him to seem intimidating. But he was over seven feet tall and sneering at the poor squishy human.
“Wha- how?!”
Before he could finish yelping Capricorn grabbed him by the scruff and forced him down into the sand. Kneeling prostrated with scrabbling hands and a mouthful of grit. Simultaneously Capricorn lowered to one knee with his hand flat over his heart. Lucy graced him with a proud smile and nod. Marin attempted to lash out with that self same Space Magic but Lucy just slammed her own down atop it. She locked her knees to keep them from buckling and bore down harder. Marin yelped into the sand and fell still like a frightened bunny.
“When flaunting Space Magic, you should probably be sure you aren’t talking to me,” she sneered.
She sunk tooth and talon deep into the meat of his magic. Her magic poured through her Gate at her command but just keeping this one human contained was more than she expected. She was still waking, it was not a process that was quick or easy. For as long as Lucy Heartfilia’s mortal life stretched her power would not expand to its fullest depths. Not when that would shred through fragile humanity like wet tissue paper. But she could do this.
“How long can you keep this up?” Gray asked, one cool hand resting on the back of her shoulder.
Lucy twitched and pulled her mind back into herself. No drifting off into pondering when she was busy trying to keep them from getting killed. And Gray’s touch brought the fact that she was sweating with effort to the forefront of her mind.
“Not very long.” she admitted, “I have to predict every magical move he’s making and block them with my own power. And he does have a control aspect that makes this worse.”
Gray huffed and massaged the tension out of the back of her neck. She flinched and cracked her head to the side. The others did as well, to the lone figure that approached them. A young woman, wearing a bikini top and micro shorts under a cute floral patterned trench coat. It really worked with the harsh bluntness of her short bob and the cute little matching hair pieces she wore. But her magic power. Unlike anything mortal Lucy had felt. Very possibly surpassing even Gramps and Jura.
“Was Marin bothering you?” the woman drawled, “he can be such a Boar sometimes.”
Lucy took the strained silence as her opportunity. Light knew that the others had a habit of sticking their feet directly in their own mouths. She forced more power down on Marin to keep him from speaking too, cutting off his words with a startled squeak.
“He was being rude, is he one of yours?”
“Unfortunately. We just came because I have the strongest craving for Star-Mango Gelato.”
Lucy glanced at the destroyed shop pointedly, “there was a little drama before your pet got put in his place.”
The girl's fair face creased, an angry flush coloring her cheeks, “Marin you idiot!”
Lucy let up on her magic. He popped his head upright despite staying on his knees. The sand that poured out of his mouth garbled his first words but he spit and cleared his throat.
“My bodacious lady please! I was just trying to deal with these wizards, I think they’re working with that spy! I mean look at this loser!”
He snapped his fingers and Mest fell onto the sand. Lucy managed to keep from flinching but only barely. Somehow he’d lost the halter shirt he was wearing, and the glamoured Cait Shelter Guild Mark was erased to show theirs. That was probably a good thing to make them look like they weren’t connected. Lucy held up her hand to flash the fake mark stamped there with a shrug and hoped she didn’t look worried. Either it worked or the woman simply didn’t care because she just turned away with a scoff.
“I’m not feeling it anymore. I wanna go home.”
“Lady Brandish! The blonde is a Celestial Wizard!”
A flicker of that awful power shook the sand. Lucy managed to lock her knees before collapsing under it but just barely. Acting quickly she formed a passable image of a Key out of her own magic and held it up. Plu’s Key it turned out, shining silver in the light. She met Brandish’s eye when she turned with her best confused smile.
“This is my Nikora, I named him Plu!”
Brandish simply scoffed, “I don’t have an issue with all Celestial Wizards, just the one. And you can’t torture a corpse anyway. What’s your name Wizard?”
Uh oh.
“Zena,” she answered quickly, surety making the lie seem true, “my name is Zena.”
The others shifted behind her. Marin whimpered at the glare that was locked on him. By the time Brandish turned away Marin was scrambling after her with apologies falling from his lips. They watched her go in tense silence. They didn’t even try to come back for Mest, to question him or to kill him. When they were gone Gray swatted her by the shoulder.
“You gave me a damn heart attack saying that!” he scolded. “Why’d you lie to her anyway?”
She raised a single eyebrow, “please think about our Guilds track record and general luck when dealing with enemies. It’d be my luck that she has some kind of weird blood feud with my family and thinks Zeref is great for hunting us down.”
Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes but moved on to helping Natsu pick Mest up. They draped him across their shoulders while Erza cleaned the worst of the blood off of his scrapes and bruises. It would do until they could find Wendy again.
“Natsu can you sniff Wendy out?” Lucy asked.
“Yup, loud and clear. Follow me.”
They managed to find Wendy and the Exceeds reuniting the little boy that started everything with his father. Lucy watched their tearful joy with only the faintest burn in her eyes. For once it seemed like Gray and Natsu were more touched by the heartfelt moment that she was. Though considering what they’d both been through recently maybe that wasn’t that surprising. At least they were together though, that was the important part. And Wendy was able to heal the physical injuries Mest had quickly. But there was a haunted look in his eyes that Lucy didn’t appreciate.
“They killed our spy.” he said flatly.
She knew she didn’t like that look. Wendy flinched away from him and covered her mouth to hide her gasp. The older members just shifted uncomfortably. They knew the lengths that some people were willing to go.
“So what now?” Natsu asked.
“Alvarez definitely knows that we’re coming. I doubt that that woman believed a word we said, and the guards at the island just prove it. I can get us to the mainland from here but that’ll be all I’m good for for at least a few days.”
They all glanced at Erza, willing to give her the final call. After a long moment she sighed quietly and nodded twice.
“That is a good plan, we need to move quickly before Alvarez harms our Master.”
Mest nodded and waited for them all to link hands. Direct Line was technically a form of Spatial Magic, but it wasn’t one that Lucy could help with. Though she was surprised to realize that he was carrying them through Void Space. She caught a single impression of startled delight before they landed in a nice lush courtyard. Lucy stayed standing, looking over her shoulder to where that feeling lingered. It faded in the light but still. That was Zena. She smiled slightly, fond warmth filling her chest. Good to know that the Eternal Queen was still around and happy to see her.
Lucy helped lift a distinctly green looking Wendy and Natsu to their feets and dusted them off. They glanced around warily to try and figure out where they were. Mest was too busy being unconscious to actually tell them. She just hoped that he managed to get them as far as he wanted to before failing.
“Is this where we meant to be?” Gray wondered.
“I smell Gramps,” Wendy said, nose lifted to the air.
Natsu grunted in agreement, but his brow was furrowed. She kept a careful eye on the scales flecking across the arcs of his cheeks. Natsu shifted Happy over to her with a stern order to stick together. She ran her tongue down the backs of her teeth and willingly took an extra step closer to Wendy just in case. They moved swiftly yet silently, crossing the white tiles with steady footsteps. They followed Wendy’s nose since she had the best senses. Lucy’s head was the first to snap up, though the others copied it a heartbeat later. Raw dark magic pulsed across the land.
“Happy go!” Natsu snarled.
The fastest of the Exceeds, he bolted off of her shoulder fast enough to knock Lucy back on her butt. His Aera wings spread wide, nearly electric blue with how much power he dumped into them. Natsu grabbed her by the scruff and hauled Lucy to her feet before pushing her in front of him.
“Go go go!” her partner ordered.
They broke into runs without bothering to figure out why. That was the nature of their team, when one ordered them to do something in that specific tone they did it. In this case that meant running like there were demons of Tartaros on their tails. Though considering just what she thought that magic pressure was, perhaps that was a fair description. Lucy cracked out with her whip ahead of them and knocked a guard out of their path. Thankfully they weren’t all that far into the city and they were able to clear the outskirts quickly.
Happy shot ahead of them, hauling something small in his paws. Once they reached the tree line they realized it was Gramps. The old man sat on the ground crying quietly. Happy flitted anxious circles around him trying to ask what was wrong.
“Gramps!” Natsu called.
Makarov looked up to see them and only cried harder, “my children! My loyal kind foolish children!”
“Well I think that’s a bit rude,” she laughed.
Gramps jumped to his feet and stepped around Gray to stare at her, “Lucy?”
She went down on one knee and held out her arms for a hug, “rumors of my death were uh… slightly unfounded? It's a long story.”
He came into her embrace easily. The others piled all around him, patting his shoulders and rubbing his back. Wendy kept making that happy churr of a noise that seemed unique to the Slayers.
“My children,” Gramps repeated before pushing away.
“We need to move quickly. The ruler of Alvarez… he is no ordinary man bearing the name Spriggan.”
“It's Zeref.” Natsu said flatly.
Lucy reached behind her to link their hands. He squeezed her once gently before exhaling slowly. She knew Gramps clocked it by his raised brow but she just shook her head. They would gossip later. For now they needed to get the hell out of dodge.
“If we can get to the coast I know a way to get us back to Ishgar without any issues.” Mest mumbled.
He cracked one eye open to gaze blearily at them. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot with broken vessels but he’d done enough magic to get the whole group of them to where they were. They could do the work of getting to whatever quick way to safety he had set up.
“Makarov, if I'd known you were leaving I would have hurried up to finish your gift! You’re not going to run off without accepting it are you?”
They turned as one to face the man that approached. Dark skinned, messy hair that fell nearly to his shoulders, the Alvarez Empire sigil branded onto his shoulder. Lucy shifted in discomfort at the magical pressure he let out. On par with Brandish without a doubt, and thus one of the Spriggan Twelve. They were in for a tussle. She supposed that it wasn’t likely they’d get away without a fight twice. That wouldn’t be Fairy Tail luck.
“No! Ajeel!” Gramps yelped.
They readied to fight, weapons and magic leaping.
“We mustn’t fight! There is no chance of winning,” Gramps urged from behind them.
“Aw come on,” Natsu whined.
“You heard our Master, move! There’s a MPV in the treeline!” Mest hissed.
Erza flung a volley of blades at Ajeel to buy them time while they ran. Behind them Lucy could feel the mans power shift in time to his laughter. And when she glanced over her shoulder she realized that his body seemed to be made of sand in the same way Juvia was made of water. Lucy yelped and shoved a slow moving Wendy into the MPV and slammed the door shut. Erza took over driving with her impossibly deep pools of magic. In a short handful of seconds they were blasting across the terrain, much to the Slayers' clear disappointment.
“He’s coming,” Gramps murmured.
“What is that?!” Happy pointed out the window.
Lucy and Gray stuck their heads out to stare at the horrifying sand construct following them. It swung downwards with one massive fist and nearly squished them flat. From up front Erza swore and tried to push them faster to no avail.
“We need to stop it Lucy!”
She nodded in agreement. Gray went out the window closest to him while she attempted to clamber out the other around Natsu’s fathead. He bit her on the inner thigh out of some kind of strange protest. Lucy twisted his ear before accepting the hand Gray held out to haul her up onto the roof of the carriage.
“Don’t! He’s too powerful for us!” Makarov yelled.
“I’m not too sure about that Gramps,” Gray scoffed.
She watched him activate that strange Demon Slayer magic. The dark curse mark rapidly spread across his skin like spilled ink. He raised one dark brow at her gawking. Lucy winked and rose to her own two feet. She’d never figured this out on her own, but now after fully unlocking her Gate and using Zena’s guidance she could make it work. She reached through her Gate and yanked on one of the chains tethering her into this life. Sagittarius took form galloping at full speed alongside the MPV. He tossed a massive golden mechanical bow up to her. Lucy took a deep breath and pushed some of her own power into him.
The Star Dress took form around Its fragile shell, glowing green with the power of the Stars. It bared her teeth in a wild smile at the look Gray gave her. Lucy wrapped her fingers around the gut-thread of the bow and hauled it backwards. Every muscle in her back and shoulders made their displeasure known but she managed it. There wasn’t a true arrow held in place, but raw magical power in the shape of one.
“Star Shot!” she called.
Releasing the ‘arrow’ let dozens fly through the air. And joining them were the more that Sagittarius let fly with every draw of his own bow. The little sand-birds filling the air fell under the deluge. Gray meanwhile sent construct after construct at the man controlling the golem. Ajeel had already broken his way out of the iceberg Gray tried to lock him in.
“At least you’re giving me something fun before I kill you!” Ajeel crowed.
Lucy swore as he vanished from sight. In the carriage Gramps yelled for them to get ready. Just in time for all of the sand beneath them to come to life at the same time. Lucy got thrown from the roof and into the thrashing sands. She yelped and flailed to try and swim upwards against the current but it was a losing battle. At least until a large hand grabbed her wrist and hauled her upright. Sagittarius swung her up onto his back, fighting against the current as well. She spat the sand from her mouth and looked around desperately for the others but they were out of sight.
“My Lady, if I might suggest something. You need someone who is better suited for this environment,” Sagittarius panted.
She patted him on the flank, “I know. Thank you for the help!”
Lucy banished Sag and dropped the Star Dress. Scorpio and Gemini were quick to answer her summons next. Gemini mimicking Scorpio to better have a chance in the sand.
“Not wicked!” Scorpio yelped.
“Stinky stinky!” the twins complained.
“All three of us might be able to control this with enough time but we won’t be able to get your humans out,” Scorpio said.
She nodded, the Scorpio version of Star-Dress pulling hard on her magic, “Scorpio you and I will control this as best as we’re able. Gemini I need you to get the others to the surface.”
“To the surface! To the surface!”
Both Spirits nodded and started to do as they were ordered. It was more difficult than she would have expected. While using Star Dress her magical power was boosted, and Lucy was now more powerful than she had ever been. But if she attempted to go head to head with Ajeel she would have lost. Instead she had to let most of the heavy lifting fall to Scorpio. She focused on finding the threads of the Sand Mages power and either cutting them off or looping them back in on themselves. Around them the swirling sand pit started to destabilize.
Gemini managed to get to her side with Wendy in tow. The girl cast a spell that wrapped Lucy’s head in a bubble of clean air. The sand attacking her lungs and eyes abated. Wendy squirmed under her arm to hold Lucy up while she dumped more and more power into what she was doing. Mainly she was just rushing directly into the end of her magical power though. Something needed to change quickly.
“I smell ozone,” Wendy whispered.
She glanced upwards. Clouds were starting to swirl over their location. There was only one Wizard they knew with that kind of power and specialty. Gemini apologized into her mind before their Gate closed, worn out. Scorpio was still standing but he was clearly flagging.
“You gave it a good shot, but no one has ever escaped my Ant-Lion trap!” Ajeel crowed, “I can’t even tell you how many wizards I’ve killed this way, so don’t go thinking you’re special for this. Entire cities have been devoured by my sand. You’re just a bunch of losers like everyone else I’ve killed!”
Heat blasted past them, vaporizing the sand in one go. It barely touched them but it still made Wendy hiss and shove against it with a spring cool breeze. Lucy hovered close to her back in the safe zone she created. Over their heads she could see Charla carrying Makarov and Happy with Gray. So that was at least two of them out of the way, and obviously Natsu was kicking around. They just needed to find Mest and Erza. Which was made much easier by the sand getting banished into shards of glass.
“My sand!” Ajeel warbled in shock.
Lucy closed Scorpios Gate and released Star Dress. She held herself steady through the headrush with a hand on Wendy’s shoulder. Her power levels were probably only halfway to her threshold, she was good to keep making summons. But the large use of power in one go made her a bit dizzy. It passed while Ajeel ran his mouth and she ignored his bullshit. Instead Lucy just kept an eye on the darkening clouds overhead.
“I’m not afraid of no Gods!” Natsu’s snarled shout reached her.
Wendy and Lucy glanced at each other before sniggering quietly. If anyone was going to say that and mean it then it would be him. And really, what God was going to try and convince him otherwise? Happy landed on her shoulder and started pulling them backwards. He could only barely pick both of them up off the ground, but Wendy helped push them faster with a quick little breeze. As soon as they were in reach Gramps grabbed the whole group and held them to his expanded chest.
Lucy yelped and tried to twist out of the tight hold but there was barely any room to move. She was pretty sure it was Erza who was behind her because there was definitely a pommel bruising her spine. And Natsu was face down in her chest yelling. With their limited ability they tried to fight free to no avail. And though they couldn’t see it, Lucy could sense some kind of massively overwhelming attack bearing down on them.
“As long as I draw breath you will not hurt my children!”
“Dammit Gramps let us go!” Gray yelled.
“Don’t worry old man, your corpses will keep eachother company for the rest of time.”
Their limited space was crushed even tighter. Gramps braced himself with a deep groan. But before they could beg any more Wendy trilled sharply. Against her chest Natsu stiffened and made an odd little clicking noise. Lightning boomed all around them, the roll of thunder immediately after strong enough to make her bones rattle. Gramps grunted and went to one knee. But the attack was gone before it hit them. And when they were given enough space to wiggle free they looked up to see the Christina high above. And the Lightning Dragon Slayer standing at her prow.
“Laxus!” Wendy trilled.
She kicked off of Gramps’ shoulder and took flight with small white wings. Lucy made a face and turned, intending to ask Gray if that was new. But based on the gobsmacked look he was making she assumed it was. Wendy made it a good hundred yards in the air before she faltered and Charla caught up to carry her the rest of the way. Still though, that level of advancement in just a year was more than impressive; it was down right astonishing. And such a casual use of Dragon Force brought to mind Sting and Rogue more than Natsu or Gajeel.
Ajeel formed himself out of the scattered sand from his first attack yelling obscenities. Lucy had enough time to cover Natsu’s ears for him before the next bolt of lightning hit. She squinted through the glare of the light show. He took her hand when the noise passed and held tightly. Charla came back down, joined by Elfman and Lily. Charla carried Erza, Elfman grabbed Gray and Mest with a wyvern based Beast Soul, Lily grabbed Lucy and Gramps, and Happy carried Natsu. It was impressive that Lily managed to fly so well with his eyes pinched shut and his ears pinned flat to his skull, but they made it to the ship while Laxus rained down attack after attack.
Once aboard the ship Ichiya was quick to spin them around and get them the hell away. Laxus continued to lay down cover fire until they were out of sight before turning back to face them. But Lucy was more interested in the presence she could sense below deck. She clenched her jaw but maintained composure when Sorano practically floated into sight. Still in all that gaudy white and feathers, without any of Yukino’s innate charm or kindness. Honestly she was a little surprised to see her alive when Hibiki was also onboard.
“You’re dead!” Mest protested, pointing weakly.
“Oh darling you should know it’s not so easy to kill an Angel,” Sorano sighed.
Lucy caught her response between her teeth. At her side Gray elbowed her anyway. She swatted at him but didn’t try to stir the pot any more than she already had. Especially when the gauzy panels of Sorano’s dress parted to show the magic circle still carved around her belly button. The deep red coloring of it just reminded Lucy of the gore of her ‘angels.’
“Sorano was our spy in Alvarez,” Mest explained, “but when I went to our meetup point it was covered in blood and everything was broken!”
“Oh yes, I had a little tiff with some guards. I thought it was best that I cleared out and took refuge in my mobile base. When the Christina pinged my radar I joined them to see what all the commotion was about.”
“Well… glad to see you’re alive?” Mest said awkwardly.
“My attacks weren’t hitting at the end,” Laxus informed them gruffly.
“Like you missed or like Ajeel was gone?” Erza asked.
“There was some kind of barrier, I can feel the difference.”
“Something that stood up to your attacks has to be impressive indeed,” Gramps said.
Laxus just scoffed, but he seemed pleased. Men. Well, emotionally stunted men she supposed. At least Laxus wasn’t as much of a prick as he had once been. And he came hand in hand with Bickslow. Who picked her up in a bear hug and swung her around in a few circles before setting her back down. Lucy laughed brightly and swatted at his shoulder. Despite the fear of Alvarez, and knowing that Zeref was going to be after them soon, she was glad to see her friend again. She looked over at the sound of an annoyed hiss and realized Laxus had his elbow propped up on Wendy’s head leaning his weight down on her.
“So what now? I’m hungry and Ichiya can’t cook,” he asked.
“We go home,” Gramps said quietly, “and I right the wrong I created by separating all of us.”
They cheered loudly, arms thrown up in the air. With the Christina it didn’t take long to get back to Magnolia. They jumped down to ground level and stared up at the building that greeted them. In the time that they were finding Gramps the Guild had managed to fully rebuild the Hall. Natsu danced in place at her side, nose visibly twitching. As soon as the doors were pushed open he was off like a shot to investigate everything to see if the changes were up to his standards. Lucy rolled her eyes at him and found a seat at the bar.
She held Plu in her lap, playfully flapping his cold little ears back and forth while he watched the peanuts Lisanna flicked across the bar. She kept him from eating them, not wanting to think about what happened when a Spirit ate mortal food. Or if a celestial puppy would get an upset tummy from it. She took a deep breath and traced her fingernails against the woodgrain.
It was going to be a war. Zeref would come for them, one way or another. Because he wanted the Lumen Histoire, because he wanted to go after Natsu, because they slighted him by fighting one of his generals, the reason didn’t matter. He was going to come for them and they were going to suffer for it. Twelve wizards at the power of Brandish and Ajeel, his armies, and Zeref himself. They didn’t have a hope of beating them easily. But they would still stand and fight. Because that was the Fairy Tail way. She had given too much to lose here and now.
Fairy Tail Victorious.