Virgo and Pisces

~*****~


Ballad grimaces as she keeps trying to heal the savage wound on my side that causes me to hack up blood and start wheezing every few minutes. "This is bad," Ballad murmurs. "You shouldn't have taken that hit for us..."

"It was highly irresponsible!" Carla admonishes. "Honestly, you're as bull headed as Natsu."

I grimace as I feel another surge of coughing hit my chest. "There's a small hole in your lung, Aria," Wendy hums. "It'll take some more healing just to get it closed."

"And no doubt the fighting caused more damage to it." Carla commented.

"You gonna keep barkin' at me or are you gonna say somethin' that would make this situation make sense!" I retort irritably. "Why would they suddenly lose their memories and attack Lucy. They loved her dearly."

Carla sighed. "I wish I knew... Will you be all right, child?"

Wendy nods. "I will. Why don't you go out with the others and see if you can help figure things out." Carla nods in response before trotting out of the room.

Ballad yawned. "Ballad can stay and heal me," I mention to Wendy after hearing a small snippet of the conversation going on outside from the brief time it had been open.

"I can't do that, she's such a little thing," Wendy mentioned. "I might not be much bigger, but I have a lot more magic power than her."

Ballad perked up immediately, gazing at me warily. "I know... but they'll need all the help they can get." I retort.

Wendy nods. "Okay. But come get me if you need help." Wendy says to Ballad. She trots out of the room, leaving us in silence.

"Miss, did you think of something?" Ballad asks.

I nod. "Remember that library that Erza, Cana, and Wendy went to during that stupid clock incident?" I ask. "Well, I'm betting there's something there that'll explain what the hell is going on. I have a thought that maybe one of those books will mention the Liberam ritual." I try to get up, only to hack loudly and catch myself on the bedside table.

"Miss, wait!" Ballad chirps. "You're still injured!"

I pat her head and open up the window. "I'll be fine. Take a nap, you can return to the healing once we get to the library."

"But you can't even read..." Ballad murmurs.

I chuckle. "Yeah, but I stole those nifty glasses from Levy a while back cause I wanted to learn. Turns out they're perfect for an illiterate gal like me." Ballad sighs before settling in the hood of my overcoat.


~*****~


I sit in the middle of a bunch of books, tossing books left and right as I use those nifty glasses to read through them quickly. I feel the tingle of Ballad healing the wound on my side, but don't remark on it at all. We both flinch in shock as the doors to the library open up. "THERE YOU ARE!" Lucy shouted angrily. "What is wrong with you?! You can't just run off with a hole in your lung! You idiot!"

I peer over at them and grin. "Sorry, I got restless and wanted to figure out why your spirits went bonkers."

"Hey, those glasses look familiar!" Levy complained.

I grinned wider. "And they work for someone who can't read, that's for sure!" Levy sighs and collapses on her knees once she gets to me and hugs me from behind.

"Don't run off like that, we were all worried sick. If it wasn't for Carla mentioning you jumping the gun on something, we would've wasted time looking for you." Levy states.

"Seriously," Lucy sighs. "Well, let's help out."

I get filled in on the details of what's happened since I left, and I couldn't help but laugh at the aspect of Natsu just leaping into the Celestial World for a fight. I flinch as I read through a book. "Hey, guys, listen to this! There are stories from long ago that tell of the Liberam ritual being performed. But they're just legends and cannot be verified."

"The name Meridies means south in the Meridisian Language. Duh, I know that already!" Levy exclaimed.

"According to this: The Liberam can only be performed in a specific location, known as the Astral Spiritus." Yukino hums.

I grunt irritably and start shuffling through the sloppy pile of books around me. "Does it happen to say where that is?" Lucy asks. "Can we go there?"

"It only says what it is, not where it is," Yukino answers. "Maybe there's an atlas in here that can tell us."

"What about you?" I hear Lucy ask. "Finding any info on the celestial globe?"

"No such luck, and all these books are worn and faded out, too," Levy sighs. "But it's gotta be in one of these old things."

I give a sharp yelp as a book lands on my head from the rumbling. "What's happening?" I snap.

"Unfortunately, I think I recognize this feeling," Lucy murmurs. We all let out shouts as we're thrown from the platform we're on. "Man, that hurts--"

"Are you doing okay, Levy?" Yukino asks.

"Yeah, I guess so. What about you, Aria?" Levy groans.

I push myself upwards, groaning. "Never better. That hole in my lung is gone, so I can safely say that I won't be keeling over anytime soon."

"That was a major fall. What do you think caused it?" Levy asked.

Lucy stood up immediately. "Keep your guard up, everybody!" Lucy ordered.

My arm snatches upwards, catching the whip that cracks towards us. "Well, well--" I sigh. "We just can't seem to catch a break today. Whatcha need, Virgo?"

"Who? Me?" Virgo hums. "To give Lucy her punishment, of course."

"Keep looking, guys! I'll handle Virgo!" I shout.

"If you want to be punished so bad, then so be it!" Virgo barks, using the leverage I have on her whip and sends me up into the air. I grip the whip with my other hand, my feet slamming against the wall and I send her upwards, slamming her higher. "Goodness, fighting with you really gets my blood pumping!"

"Oh my, she may not act like her, but mean Virgo has some freaky kinks, too," Ballad stammers.

I shuck her towards Lucy. "Keep out of this, Ballad, if you get hurt, I might end up killing Virgo."

"Kill me? Please, keep threatening me, it really gets me going!" Virgo chirps, her cheeks flushing. I feel kinda bad to be destroying the library as I keep Virgo from going after the others.

"Man, fighting with a celestial spirit is a great work out!" I exclaim as I wipe the sweat from my brow.

"Yes, I would agree. You can take so much punishment! It'll be so sweet when I finally break you!" Virgo coos. "I'd love to stay and play, but I'm afraid I didn't come out here to punish you." She spreads her arms out, and a dangerous surge of power floods out of her.

I give a shout as the floor beneath me gives way, sending me hurtling downwards. I land harshly on one of the bridges, give a sigh of relief before I hear a familiar scream above me. I turn my gaze upwards, scream in shock before Natsu hits me head on, sending us crashing through ground again.

When the falling finally stops, I simply stare upwards in irritation. Natsu groans are muffled by his face being pressed so tightly into my chest, I worried he might be stuck. He tugs his head free with a gasp of air and sighs. "Man, that was the longest fall ever. What are you doin' here, Aria?" Natsu asks as he peers down at me. "And where is here?"

"We're in the normal world, idiot, now get off!" I snap as I conk him upside the head.

"Yeah, in a library, but I bet you've never even heard of one of those, have ya?" Happy chirped.

I sit up and rub at my head. "Man, I've got such a-- Wait, where is she?!" I bark as I look around.

"She's gone!" Yukino gasps as she approaches a long series of holes down the library.

"And she took the globe!" Happy cried.

"It's gone for real," Lucy sighed. "How in the heck are we gonna get it back?"

"Get what back?" Natsu asks.

"So, what I was gonna tell her... there's a catch with the ceremony," Levy mentions softly. "I was trying to tell her what it was. I saw a note in the catalog that listed the globe. Celestial Spirits can use the Liberam to gain freedom, but it comes at a hefty price. Their lives will only last twelve days once it is done."

"Are you serious?" I gasp.

"It's going to kill them?" Yukino stammered.

"It's not really freedom if you're not alive to enjoy it," Happy murmured.

I violently rub at my hair and sigh. "Let's get back to the guild, and fast." I order.


~*****~


We don't waste any time to get back to searching when we get back to the guild. When we get into Magnolia, Natsu the Bloodhound sniffs out a familiar scent. "Hey, pumpkins! I thought I smelled something familiar, but I wasn't expecting to see you." Natsu comments.

"Rockin' the dress, Mato!" Ballad cheers. "That your big brother or what?"

"Wait, I thought the pumpkin was the king?" I retort. "Did I get it wrong? If this is the king, which one should we bow to?"

"Don't ask that!" Levy admonishes me. "He brought a double to throw off assassins! If we bow, we might give him away!"

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Princess Hisui's voice rings out.

"It's only us, okay?" Arcadios exclaims as they tug off the pumpkins.

"Whoa! So Mato was actually the Princess and Arcadios switching off?" I exclaim.

Lucy sighs and pats my head. "Hardly, but you're trying." She mutters.

"But what are you doing here?" Yukino asks.

Princess Hisui just giggles as I pout. We lead her to a more secluded area. "Good to see you. It's been too long."

"Haven't seen you since I stole the kings--" Natsu starts but stops himself as I cast him a warning glance.

"What's new?" Happy asks.

"Yeah, you're a long way from home. What's up?" I add.

"I was about to ask you just that," Arcadios retorted. "We're on our way to Fairy Tail's guild hall. That is, we were until we found you here."

"So, what brings you out this far, some kind of guild business?" Princess Hisui asks.

"It's... a long irritating story," I mention. "And we don't really have the time to tell it."

"Actually, I'd like to get your take on this," Lucy remarks. "Natsu, Aria, Happy, Ballad, and I were on a job when I discovered my zodiac keys had become unusable. It turned out that the job we took was faked by the same spirits I was trying to summon. But they'd all changed: They'd forgotten their time with me and said our contracts were void. We've done some research since then, but we found out they're planning to hold an old ritual called the Liberam, in a place called the Astral Spiritus. This ritual is supposed to grant them complete freedom. What I don't think they realize is that this so called freedom comes with a price! If they go through with it, then just after twelve days, all of them will die!"

"So that's why we're out here," Yukino hums. "We've been searching for the Astral Spiritus. And from what we've read, it should be somewhere to the south of Magnolia."

"How tragic," Arcadios hums. "We're aware there have been changes in the Celestial World from our own research, but to think that the spirits took action so soon."

"The truth is... These major changes in your spirits' personalities, they're a result of my mistakes." Princess Hisui explains sullenly.

"No way, this isn't your fault!" Lucy exclaims.

Princess Hisui turns her gaze back onto the city with a somber expression. "The Eclipse Project. That's what warped your spirits' minds." Arcadios explains.

"But how could that be?" Yukino asks.

"I thought it was just destroyed!" Levy mentions.

"It was, Natsu threw a friggin' dragon at it." I retort.

"Correct. It was destroyed, but... By then, the damage was done." Princess Hisui sighs.

"You mean, to the spirits?" Natsu asks.

"Yes." Princess Hisui sighed.

"You wizards cleaned up the worst of the mess that our Eclipse Project created by destroying it. This sent the dragons we'd accidently brought forth back to their own time. But activating a dark artifact of that caliber had an effect on nature itself." Arcadios explained sullenly. "Eclipse is the cause of the unusual weather that we've all borne witness to."

"So, the Eclipse gate thing caused all that crap as a side effect from being activated?" I ask.

"Yes, and that only covers part of the trouble it's caused us," Arcadios retorts. "We believe that the aftershock of the Eclipse's activation has crossed over into the Celestial World."

"It's really that powerful?" Yukino asks.

"So powerful, our Celestial Spirits forgot all about us?" Lucy adds.

Princess Hisui's gaze lowers. "The Eclipse Project pushed the world to the brink of destruction. And I was the one that opened that gate. That alone was completely unforgivable. But now I've harmed the Celestial World, too. Because of me, your spirits could die."

Ballad began sniffling as she patted at Princess Hisui's arm. "You came all this way to say sorry for that?" Natsu asks. "You were tryin' to help, right? There's no crime in making an honest mistake. So stop feelin' guilty!"

"Yeah, nobody's mad at you, it was an accident!" Happy says reassuringly.

Princess Hisui smiles down at the two cats trying to comfort her. "Thanks. After the games, I was sad. Depressed, rather. The weight of responsibility for all the pain I'd caused was too much to take. But then something Natsu once said came back to me. Snapped me out of it."

"So what did he say?" Happy asks.

"You sure it was me?" Natsu asks.

"Yes..." Princess Hisui smiles. "You said, I'm gonna keep fighting to live today. Those words... They gave me the strength to keep on moving forward. And what's more, they were fresh in my mind when I learned that the Celestial World has been harmed as well. What you said kept me strong. I could've sulked or cried, but instead, I made special keys to fight for today."

"Keys?" I echo.

Arcadios produces a case and pops it open. "How do they work?" Lucy asks.

"These keys are capable of forcibly closing a Zodiac Spirit's gate." Princess Hisui hums.

"You can do that with these?" Natsu asks.

"Awesome! If we use these keys, then we can send the spirits back to the Celestial World without having to fight!" Lucy mentions. "This way, we save their lives without hurting them!" I clam up. What if Virgo mentions how I sucker punched her in the library, that might make Lucy pissed. I swallow lightly and scrunch up my shoulders.

"If they can't reach Astral Spiritus, then they won't be able to do their ritual." Yukino hums.

"That's right," Princess Hisui nods. "If it's part of our world, you could keep them from it indefinitely."

Lucy beams. "Cool! We're saved!" Levy cheers.

"I'm confused though. No offense to the Princess, but this sounds like it entails highly advanced magic. How could a non-wizard make those keys?" Yukino asks.

"Yeah, fair question," Lucy retorts. "Forcing a gate to shut is pretty difficult in itself, but making keys that do it for you?"

"Wow, I'm surprised you don't feel it, Lucy, being a celestial wizard and all," I mention as Princess Hisui takes the keys from Arcadios. Lucy stares at me in confusion. "Her magic, it's Celestial magic, too." Everyone gasps as they sling their gazes onto Princess Hisui. "Seriously? She used the Zodiac keys to open the Eclipse gate, remember? Not to mention the bit of magic she had to extract from me to do it. Only Celestial Wizards could do that."

Princess Hisui hums. "Yes, that is correct. There is one thing that prevents us from using the keys just yet. First we'll have to--" She's cut off by a savage gust of wind that plucks the case right from her hands.

We sling our gazes upwards in shock. "You're too kind! We only just met and you're giving me presents?" A strange looking spirit chirps.

"Hey! Give that back, you little weirdo!" Natsu exclaims.

"Very well done, my boy!" A woman's voice rings out. The ground rumbles below us before we're sent flying by a large shark with lipstick.

"It's a fishy!" Happy cheers. He hums curiously before turning back. "Is this something I can eat?"

"It's a shark, dummy!" I exclaim.

"Who the heck are they?" Natsu groans.

"You're as nimble as ever, my sweet baby boy!" The shark chirps to the strange spirit.

"Stop talking to me! You gross old hag!" The spirit snaps.

"Gross old hag?!" The shark whines. "How could you be so cruel?! Firstly, I'll have you know I'm a very youthful mother!"

They begin arguing and it clicks. "It's Pisces." I hum.

"Yes, that is correct," Yukino nods. "I'd know them no matter how they looked."

"I'll say, they've changed a lot," Lucy mentions.

"Looks like their relationship took a turn for the worse," Natsu comments.

"They're not gonna taste anywhere near as good when they're like this," Happy states.

"Would you just drop the whole eating them bit already?!" Lucy cries. "Their true forms were nearly human. I guess Eclipse changed them as much as it did my spirits..."

Yukino rushes forward. "Pisces! Please, give us back those keys!"

"Say what?" The boy retorts.

"Who're you?" The shark asks.

"Pisces! Listen! I know you've forgotten me, but I'm your Celestial Wizard and I need those keys to help you!" Yukino explains.

The boy scoffed and turned his back on her. "We might've had to do what you told us once, but we don't anymore! You ain't got a contract!"

"Try to get this through your head. We're done with you!" The shark exclaims.

"Do you really mean that?" Yukino murmurs.

"We have what we came for, Sweet-Pea. There's no reason for us to hang around here anymore." The shark reminds the boy.

"But I haven't gotten to play with them yet." The boy retorts. "I feel like fightin'! You're Natsu Dragneel, right? Come at me, bro!"

"Why don't you point your webbed fingers somewhere else, ya thievin' weirdo!" Natsu shouted back. "I'm about to pound on your face till it looks exactly like it used to! While I'm at it, I'm gonna take back our frickin' keys!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy chirped as he flew Natsu up to fight.

"Catch me if you can!" The boy scoffed.

"You know that he can't, boo-bear!" The shark cooed.

"We need to help him out," Lucy explains.

Yukino holds her hand out. "You should let me handle that. Why don't you hang back here and help protect the Princess."

"You sure?" Lucy asks.

"Even without the Zodiac, I have spirits that can fight." Yukino explains.

"And right now, you don't, so stay here," I retort as I roll my shoulder around. "C'mon, Levy, we'll help Yukino."

"All right, then," Lucy sighs. "Take care!"

Just as we approach the shark plops in front of us. "Sorry, but I can't have you interrupting my sweet-pea's playtime! If you wanna help your friend then, first beat me! Not that you can!"

I swat my arm against her side and knock her sideways. The shark wails about me being cruel as I turn my gaze over my shoulder. "You guys wanna deal with the giant tuna? I'll go after Natsu."

Levy chuckles. "You sure like showin' off, don't you?"

"You bet!" I exclaim as I lift up the shark and toss her farther away. "Have fun!" I arrive just in time to see Natsu eat dirt. "Man, you're lame," I mention as I poke at Natsu.

"Oh yeah?! You try takin' on the slippery little fish freak!" Natsu exclaimed with a flush on his face.

"Like that ugly rat can keep up with me!" The boy exclaims.

Ballad hummed. "You probably shouldn't have challenged her," She mentioned lightly.

The boy just flinches as I suddenly appear in his face, claws brandished. "Time for a haircut, punk!" I exclaim. My claws tighten over the case on his back as I sucker punch with the other.

"There's no way!" He exclaims as he flies off into the sky.

I hold up the case teasingly at Natsu, brows wiggling. "Okay, okay, you did beat Jet in a race." He complains. "That's so not fair! Stop showin' off!"

I plop the case into his hands and run off. "Where are you going?!" Happy cried.

"There's still a shark to deal with, remember?!" I shout back. I leap over the ledge, leg angled upwards. "Hey, momma!" I exclaim. The shark's gaze flies upwards before I slam it into the ground. "Get out of here!" I haul her large body around and send her soaring into the sky after the boy.

"Show off!" Levy laughs.

I beam as I lift my arms up and stretch. "A work out! That's just what I need! Man, that was fun! Oh, by the way! We stole the keys back!"

"She means, she did," Happy chirps as he carts the grumpy looking Natsu back.

Natsu sat on the ground immediately, crossing his arms. "Now that we have the keys back, you can show us to use them on Pisces, right?"

"Yes, but to achieve a Celestial Spirit's closure key, we must first ensure that the spirit absorbs magic from it's celestial wizard." Princess Hisui explains. "But also the Spirit has to lose the will to continue fighting."

"We got fishies inbound!" Happy cried.

"Gee, you'd think they'd learn their lesson!" Natsu exclaims, seemingly recovered from his pouting. "I got this, guys, get back!"

"Don't worry! My mom's not angry at all!" The boy exclaims from atop the angry looking shark.

"Fire Dragon..." Natsu's cheeks swelled up.

"Mommy..." The shark's face swelled up.

"Roar!" The two bellow and let loose two extremely powerful looking attacks that collide and cancel each other out.

"You stinker!" The shark exclaimed. "I think the only thing that will change your attitude is a shark skin body press!"

We all leap out of the way as she slams into the ground. "Got it!" I hear the boy bark.

"Oh no!" Levy gasps.

"He stole them all over again!" Happy cried.

"I'm sick of that little punk!" I exclaim loudly.

"Since ya asked us too, we'll take these off your hands!" The boy laughs as he holds up the case with a teasing grin. "Cool? Cool!"

"Take care~" The shark cooed as she zipped off with unimaginable speed.

I sigh loudly and palm at my head. "Okay, so the shark is a speed demon.... What else is new?"


~*****~


"Sorry, Princess," Lucy apologized.

"It's fine, I won't let this stop us," Princess Hisui hummed. "I've made those keys once before. The second time should be easy."

Arcadios offered her a kind smile. "I admire your spirit, Princess."

"You fought bravely, sir. How are you?" Princess Hisui asked.

"Well, I emerged from the fight unharmed," Arcadios responded. "I do, however, owe you a sincere apology."

"An apology? For what?" Princess Hisui asked.

"I realize that it was presumptuous of me to do so," Arcadios explained as he produced the pumpkin helmet he wore earlier. "But I thought something like this might happen, so I switched out your keys with fake ones."

I begin laughing boisterously, pointing at the case. "Wow!" Ballad chirped as she peered down at them. "So they didn't swipe the real keys after all!"

"You're a wily old guy!" I mention through my laughter. I wipe at my eye as I begin to settle into amused chuckles.

"Since we have the closure keys, we just need to figure out where the Astral Spiritus is." Lucy beamed.

"Then we can stop the Liberam ritual!" Yukino chirps.

"Which reminds me, there was another reason why we were on our way to Fairy Tail earlier," Princess Hisui hummed. "We know where the Astral Spiritus is."

"For real?! Well, that makes things easy, huh?" Lucy chirps.

"Yes," Princess Hisui nodded with a smile.

"Let's move! Those spirits ain't gonna beat themselves up!" Natsu cheers.

"Aye, sir!" Happy shouted.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top