Alright, guys. This is where the plot really kicks off and things start to happen - just a heads up, this fanfic is going to be a part of a series...a particularly long one. Special thanks to everyone who reads, votes and comments!
XOXOXO
"Why'd I have to get stuck chasing this guy?" Lucy grumbled to herself as she ran wildly through the woods in pursuit of one of the dark wizards that her and the team had been paid to capture.
In the distance, she could hear Natsu's fire exploding, and she knew that whoever he had moved on to fight was in trouble. She just hoped he didn't take it too far - he always did, and for some reason, her rent money always seemed to take the blame for it.
"You'll never catch me, stupid fairy!" The guy taunted, leaping into the air just as a tree fell in Lucy's path.
Lucy braced herself, placing her hands onto the tree and jumping over it - clearing it with ease.
"Oh really?" She whispered to herself, "This guy must think he's something special, huh?"
He stopped, turning to look at her, his fists glowing purple with magic energy.
"You and your friends are really gonna regret messing with us," He sneered, "We're not the type to take attacks lightly."
A crash sounded in the distance, and Lucy smirked.
"Sounds to me like your guild is the one who's really paying the price." She reached to grab for her keys, "So, tell me, what exactly are you here for?"
He clenched his fists, glaring, "Now why would I tell you that?"
She glanced at his fists, and the still developing magic power growing on them, and made her move.
"Open, gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" She cried, swinging her key in her arm in a form of command.
The bubble-gum haired spirit appeared between the two of them and immediately turned to Lucy.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Princess?" She asked.
"Princess?" The dark wizard mocked.
Lucy blushed, "You think you could trap him?"
"Of course, Princess!" Virgo tunneled into the ground without another word, just as the man sent a bolt of his magic at her.
Lucy dove out of the way just as Virgo appeared before him.
"A celestial mage, huh?" He tutted, "I've had enough of your kind!"
Lucy didn't have time to be confused at his comment as he prepared to send another shot, but Virgo was quicker, she tunneled into the ground once more, and Lucy watched as the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared. Virgo had created a pit. He let out a loud thud as he crashed down, and she saw his bag go flying.
Virgo appeared once more at her side.
"Is there anything else you need, Princess?" She bowed her head.
Lucy felt a bead of sweat drop on her forehead, "No, thank you. You can head back now."
Virgo nodded, fading out of sight, "Very well, Princess."
"I bet you've really had enough of my kind, now!" Lucy exclaimed, walking over to the pit.
He glared up at her, "Screw you, fairy. When I get out of here I'll-"
"You'll what?" She returned the expression, "This is what you get when you mess with Fairy Tail!"
In the distance, she saw his bag, nearly all of its contents laying strewn out of it. What got her, though, was a larger object, that looked almost as if it could be a teddy bear. She couldn't be sure though, with how far away it was, so she let curiosity get the best of her and decided to go over and investigate.
"Where'r you going?" He shouted after her, "You can't just leave me here!"
She ignored him.
When she got to the collection of his things, she crouched down, swiping the doll up from the ground.
She had been wrong about it being a teddy bear.
The longer she stared at the doll, the more familiar it became to her, and within her, she felt a spark begin to alight and her blood began to boil.
Curly brown hair, which was now patchy in some places, and striking green eyes. Made of porcelain.
She hadn't seen it in years, or thought about it - hell, she hadn't even remembered it until now.
She squinted, and returned to her feet instantly, running over to the pit, the doll clutched in one hand as the other worked to free her whip.
Without saying a word, she lashed her whip out, striking the man in the face.
"How did you get this?" She screamed down at him, her voice darkened as she felt her anger building within her, "Where did you find it?"
He yelped in surprise, bringing a hand up to nurse his cheek, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"This doll!" She shrieked, "It doesn't belong to you! Where did you get it?"
"Wha-" He started but she cracked her whip on him again, working it so that it wrapped around his body.
"Open, gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" She whipped out the key in a rush.
When he appeared, before he even had the chance to say anything, Lucy handed him the whip.
"Pull him up!"
Taurus caught on to the urgency in her voice, and did as she said, yanking the man out of the pit that Virgo had dug.
Lucy softened as her spirit turned to smile at her, "Anything else I can help you with, Miss Lucy?"
She shook her head, "Thank you."
She took hold of the whip's handle once more as Taurus disappeared, and pulled on it tight, constricting the tool further around the man's chest.
"This," She all but growled, holding out the doll, "Where did you get this?"
He moaned in pain, his face scrunched up. Through the expression, though, Lucy could see his smirk.
"A friend gave it to me," He spat, "What's it to you?"
She narrowed her eyes, "Tell me the truth!"
"What's it to ya, fairy?" He paused to let out a cough, "That doll there's got nothing to do with you."
"Elara Abbey," Her words came slowly, but fiercely as she remembered her friend clearly for the first time in years, "This belongs to her. It doesn't belong to you!"
"So, tell me," She tightened her grip on the whip's handle, "How did you get your hands on it?"
Suddenly, he enveloped himself in his magic, and Lucy watched as her whip suddenly uncoiled itself from around him at his will.
He brought himself to his feet, fists clenched at his sides, a wicked sneer on his face, "Elara's put us through a lot of hell, so I think it'd best be wise of you to give that back. Wouldn't want to get hurt, now, would you?"
What did he mean by that? What could she have possibly done to piss off a dark guild?
"Where is she?" Lucy held her ground, her grip on the doll remaining firm.
"I don't know, fairy," Lucy noticed a fierce breeze beginning to pick up, "Why don't you tell me?"
She took a step back, "If I knew, I wouldn't ask you."
"Yeah?" He laughed, a purple aura beginning to surround him, "Well if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!"
He lunged for her, but she was quick to dodge, sticking a foot out just in time to trip him up. As he crashed to the ground, she pulled out her gate keys.
"But which one do I use?" She whispered to herself.
She could hear the man growl and knew that she had to think fast. And then it hit her.
"Open, gate of the Lion: Loke!" She called out. Within seconds the former Fairy Tail wizard stood before her, in a suit as he always was.
He smirked at her, pushing the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose up in a way Lucy guessed was supposed to be attractive, "Anything I could help you with, Lucy?"
"Help me take him down," She pointed at the man who had brought himself up from the ground, "He's got a lot of explaining to do!"
"I don't owe you nothing!" The man growled, his purple aura intensifying.
"Purple Haze: Abolish!" He screamed out, waves of purple exploding from his body.
"Lucy look out!" Loke cried, grabbing her into his arms before leaping into the air.
Lucy held on tight as they crashed back down to the ground, though Loke kept her safe.
He set her down on the ground gently, before turning to the man, his own fists beginning to glow with light.
"Regulus Impact!" The spirit charged at the man.
I can't just sit here and do nothing! Lucy's mind screamed at her.
She sprang into action as Loke's attack hit the man, whose name she still did not know, her whip out and ready once more.
She began her attack with a thrash directed at his legs in the hopes to sweep him onto the ground again, but to her surpise and Loke's, he caught the whip, using it to pull her towards, sending her crashing to the ground at his feet.
"Lucy!" Loke gasped, running towards her.
"Purple Haze: Magic Lance!" Lucy looked up in time to see the man's magic morph into the weapon, and shut her eyes tight, waiting for its impact.
"Lucy!" Loke repeated himself as the lance shot through the air.
Before it could hit her, Loke dove, tumbling over the top of her just in time to take the hit himself.
"Loke!" She cried as Loke sputtered, the force of the spell used on him having been greater than he expected.
She let out a low growl, forcing herself up from the ground. Finally, she dropped the doll in her hands grabbing the man by the neck.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Loke fading out.
Her glare was enough to send shivers down the man's spine, and deep in his heart, he was expecting some form of attack, something magical.
What he was not expecting, was for Lucy to swing her leg back, only to deliver it to him in the form of a drop kick to his nether regions.
He collapsed to his knees, and Lucy smacked him, grabbing him once again by the collar of his shirt.
"Now," She demanded, "Tell me how you found that doll!"
For a minute, he just stared at her, the two of them finding themselves in a battle to see who would back down first.
"I'm not telling you anything." He spit at her shoes, causing her to flinch. He glanced to the side, seeing the doll where it lay on the ground.
Before Lucy could register his movement, he had shoved her to the ground, and leaped onto the doll, grabbing it into his possession.
"Hey!" She screamed angrily, lunging after him, "Give that back!"
She landed on top of his back, grabbing for his hands.
"Get off of me!" He commanded, thrashing his body about wildly in an attempt to shake her off.
"Not until you give that back!" She insisted, clawing at his fingers.
"Like hell!" He retorted, rolling onto his back with Lucy still on him.
She cried out in pain at his weight suddenly on top of her, but didn't give up her fight. There was no way in hell she was letting him get away with the doll that she was sure he was crushing in his giant hands. She wouldn't let him.
She struggled underneath him, until she finally managed to grab hold of one of the doll's arms.
"Got it!" She yelled, squirming her way out from under him.
He kept his grip on the other half of the doll, and soon the two found themselves in a game of tug of war.
"Let go!" She demanded, pulling against him.
Suddenly, a distinct ripping sound tore through the air, and both of them fell back.
Lucy groaned, clutching the doll to her chest.
Cotton flew through the air as Lucy sat up in the realization that the doll's left arm had torn off from their force, and that it now lay in front of her, once perfect porcelain shattered on the ground.
She looked around for the man, blinking, but he was nowhere to be seen.
She hugged the doll, and felt tears gathering in her eyes.
"Elara." She whispered.
The memories flooded back to her, and she remembered all of the times that she had played with her, all of the times she had sat with Elara, talking about nothing in particular, and all of the lessons her mother had given the two of them.
She couldn't believe she had ever forgotten.
The tears fell.
XOXOXO