"Fortunetelling is among the most diverse disciplines; merely listing the various methods to focus this magic would be grounds for a separate volume. The general effectiveness depends on how attuned one is with their chosen method and how well-practiced the wizard. While fortunetelling itself truly lacks combat applications and is often treated with some disdain due to various charlatans, supportive applications are quite varied. I will not assume the existence of such a thing as fate, for I can not prove it, but a proper fortuneteller can glimpse the future or learn of past and present. Unfortunately, the future often changes after it was observed. It is recommended to double-check afterward for that exact reason."
-excerpt from "The Soul of Magic"
"My apologies," Wendy murmured. "I wish I could mend thy wounds."
The young woman trudged along with the rest of them. Laxus' heavy, fur-lined coat preserved her modesty, but it could not cover her shame. Lucy felt for her, currently clad in a spirit dress Virgo delivered from her world. She did not dare ask for another garment, what with how far above and beyond their contracts her friends already went tonight.
Lyon, meanwhile, cared naught for his nudity. He shrugged off the apolgy, too. "I know you'll get to it the moment you can, don't worry." He then proceeded to ruffle Wendy's hair; she let it happen this time, perhaps because his proximity still flustered her. It had done so ever since they started walking, unwilling to wait for a host of dark guilds to converge on them.
"But doth, erm, does it not hurt?"
He shrugged again. "Like I said, I had worse. Ul had us stand naked in the middle of snowstorms whenever we had them. The frostbite was nasty before I got used to it."
"Wendy!"
The shout announced a ball of fluff all but slamming into the blunette's face. She caught Carla with a happy cry and hugged her tight. Lucy left them to it and turned toward the faint light blinking above; Christina arrived.
Once human and Exceed finished their reunion, Carla ferried the coalition up one by one. Lucy agreed that keeping the bomber far away from ground level was the right call. She herself stayed on the ground to greet Levy, Gajeel, and a grimacing Sherry. Only the latter joined everyone up above, though. Lucy and her guildmates kept going, with Laxus immediately walking. "You would just slow me down," he grunted without prompting, then zapped away on a lightning strike. His exit was followed by shouts of alarm, then pain. Underlining the distant spectacle were flashes of light as well as loud buzzing, crackling, and the noises of breaking rock and wood.
Lucy exchanged glances with her friends. Levy shrugged, Gajeel grunted. They unanimously left him to it. Instead, the three continued to search for the remaining Oracion Seis wizards. Virgo followed her call again and searched underground while Gajeel led the way above; his nose twitched every once in a while.
"Wait," he said at some point. Almost an hour passed by then and Lucy felt her reserves dwindle. Gajeel stepped away from them and took a deep breath. Then he walked this way and that before stopping in direction of the distant mountain. "Brain came through here. Midnight, too. They went that way." He pointed the same direction he faced, almost exactly toward the pillar. It stood visible even against the night sky.
"So we know where those two are going," Lucy reasoned. She had no idea if they were already there. "Let's get on-board of Christina now." She plucked on her connection to Virgo to call her back. The maid arrived while Levy called their ride over.
"I found traces of shifted earth, but no indicator which direction our marks went," the pinkette explained. Then she went onto her knees, head bowed without even an ounce of shame. "Will you punish me now?"
Lucy heaved a sigh. She noticed the hint of eagerness in these requests long ago. She knew Virgo was a brat on purpose. At the same time, she really did not feel comfortable with the thought of actually doing anything to hurt her spirits. Yet especially Virgo did so much today.
"I need to talk this over with Natsu first. But sure, you can have your punishment."
"You could both punish me," she suggested without a moment of hesitation. At least she knew how to distract Lucy from her exhaustion, not that being flustered helped much. Lucy wordlessly sent her home.
Right after, Levy's arm wound around her shoulder. The blunette leaned against Lucy with a teasing grin. "What was this I hear? Are you being mean to your underlings?" She giggled, more so when confronted with an unamused stare. "Alright, alright. So you finally gave in?"
Lucy just groaned, slumping against her friend. "I want to do something nice for Virgo after tonight. She deserves it. They all do, really. But if she wants... that? Well, fine. I need to read up on how and what and...." she trailed off, sighing again. "And get Natsu on-board first."
"You think he'd complain?"
"I have no idea. He never struck me as the type to hit someone outside of a fight. Not like Gajeel," she quipped, only to wince in time with him. "Okay, sorry. Too far."
"'s fine," he muttered.
Levy glanced between the two of them. When she rolled her eyes however, Lucy knew something bad was coming. She almost felt sorry for Gajeel when his girlfriend attached herself to him instead. "Don't worry so much," she cooed, "I like it a little rougher."
"Have some decorum, harlot!"
And that was Carla, there to bring them onto the airship that once again hung overhead. Levy just stuck out her tongue, which earned her the honour of being last to board. Lucy went first, followed by an embarassed and thoroughly confused Gajeel. She patted his shoulder before slumping on one of the seats. Somehow, the control room had been transformed into an improvised living space; tired wizards were napping everywhere.
It was already a kind of normal for Wendy, though. The sky dragonslayer toddled around in an oversized dress that swished around her bare feet, seeing to the wounded. She since recovered enough Ethernano to treat Lyon's burns, too. Had she been any less than exhausted, working on his thighs and abdomen would have flustered her again; as it were, Wendy simply did it and decided to have a meltdown about his masculinity later. Much the same happened when Laxus joined them, scuffed but alright beside a few scratches. He arrived on his own power too, riding the lightning up and inside the control room.
For Sherry, she could do nothing. Wendy made a valiant attempt, but the migraine that kept her ally groaning and squirming was magical in origin. She relegated herself to making as little noise as possible on her rounds around the room, as did everyone else.
Then Eve handed Sherry a cup of tea. The moment it touched her fingertips, the liquid bubbled over and exploded across the room. The cup itself shattered into dust. Everyone stared at it, Sherry included.
"What just happened?" Lucy asked into the silence.
Wendy saw the miniscule grimace, but so did Lyon. He reached over and put a hand on his guildmate's shoulder. "She does fortunetelling with tea leaves," he explained quietly. "Looks like something went wrong there."
"I wa'nt ev'n try'ng," Sherry objected before groaning again and burying herself in blankets. Wendy fetched a glass of water for her next; the grateful woman gulped it down just fine.
The desire for sleep faded at this point; Wendy felt her second wind and kept on going. She might have considered at least a nap, but most of her companions were already resting. Not to mention she felt compelled to watch over Sherry.
Then however, a groan drew Wendy's attention to one of the cabins. It was accompanied by a deep hiss. Peeking inside revealed Cobra, now awake and slowly sitting up. He groaned again, raising both cuffed hands to rub his forehead. "Ugh, has anyone seen the mammoth that trampled me?"
Despite everything, she could not help but giggle a little. He sounded exactly like how she imagined some of the others waking. The sound made Cobra's head snap up; his serpent followed the motion. Wendy hesitated under their scrutiny, giving them time to react. But Cobra merely sighed. "Right, captive. We starting with the interrogation already?"
Her head tilted unconciously before she shook it. "Not as such, no." She quickly scampered away to fetch some bread and water from their rations. Cobra was surprised upon her return, but took the food without complaint; Wendy then climbed onto the cot he sat on. His serpent hissed, but she ignored it; they bound the mouth shut, so it could do nothing else. "Let me see the bruise, please."
Though clearly befuddled, Cobra did as told. His bewilderment only grew when she began to work on his swollen face; half of it was purple and must hurt terribly. Some quick pings of magic to his skull made Wendy sigh in relief. "Yonder is a miniscule fracture, but nothing truly broke. Thou were quite fortunate. The swelling ought to fade soon." She helped it along some, but not completely; he was still a captive after all. "Doth this hurt still?"
"Little bit," Cobra responded slowly. "But it's fine, I've had worse." He hesitated for a long moment before following up: "Thanks."
Wendy smiled and let him be; when she peered back inside for a moment, he began to arrange himself on the cot and scratched the snake's head.
While Christina slowly approached the temporary resting place of Jura's remains for collection and would then make for the distant mountain, two others remained underground.
Solano listlessly stared at the dirt wall in front of her; tear tracks ran down her face, carrying along smeared makeup. Now she just felt drained despite the errant naps. The angel sat grounded, uncertain if she even wanted to see the sky again. "You think we can grab the others and go far away?" she asked softly. "I don't care about Nirvana anymore. This is too much."
"I understand your feelings quite well," Richard agreed. His large arms squeezed her more tightly where she settled in his lap. The gesture spent some comfort, but not nearly enough. "Alas, Brain would not agree."
"Then we clock him out and drag him along."
A soft chuckle followed her words; it lacked mirth as much as hers lacked heat. Richard idly ran a hand through Solano's silver hair. "Perhaps we should," he conceded. "But for now you should rest some more. We need you claiming the heavens for any kind of success. I recall Christina in particular can remain active for three days without reloading her lacrima batteries."
"We don't have that kind of time."
"Agreed. Perhaps I should have spent the money to have them sabotaged after all."
She snorted weakly; the treasurer was back on his favourite subject. "You already had an aneurysm over Brain's bomb. Did you really want to die young, Jewel-for-brains?"
"In hindsight, I absolutely should have taken the risk, bird brain."
She giggled the slightest bit. Nowhere near an actual laugh, but it was enough to center Solano some. She leaned back against Richard and took a deep breath; the subtle flow of Ethernano all around kept tickling her senses. "Dig us out," she decided. "We're wasting your reserves hiding here. Let's get up and walking, maybe we reach Nirvana before them."
"It is a risk, but the better option right now. I concur." She missed his embrace the moment he let go to stand up, but soldiered through. They soon began to walk while Richard mused: "Certain capture once deprived of Ethernano, or potential capture upon resurfacing."
"Yeah."
Not that Solano felt much like talking. Her night was especially awful, even without any alcohol involved. Their usual drunken escapades were at least fun, even if they paid for them the day after. "If we make it out of this, I'm getting blackout drunk. You in?"
"Absolutely." And that meant a lot, coming from the man who never drank to save on money.
An uneventful ascent later, they broke through the surface in a small clearing. Pre-dawn brightness announced the sun's approach as they began to wander; the mountainous tree loomed above, clearly visible even in twilight. Their dazed silence held as they walked, avoiding any other clearings. The canopy hid them from the Christina as she passed overhead; Solano felt the bubble of Ethernano clearly.
"You could catch them by surprise from here," Richard mused; he stopped to gaze upward, where the airship cruised along.
Solano just gave a noncommittal hum. "I don't have enough to guarantee success. If they catch our trail now, we're done for." He nodded, but folded only when she finished with her strongest argument: "Besides, Erik might be on there."
"A good point."
With that idea shot down, the two kept moving; Solano's feet hurt already. She wanted to stretch her wings, feel the wind brush through her greasy hair. By the time dawn broke properly, she felt the itch even stronger than before; sunlight warmed her face as she stopped in another clearing. Richard did too, watching Christina in the distance. The bomber circled their destination in a clear search pattern.
"Good thing they aren't bombing Nirvana," she muttered. "At least that part of their plan didn't change." Gemini had been a godsend as always.
However, she also felt refreshed by this point. They ate some of their nutrition bars, drank plenty of water, even found a small creak to wash their faces. Now that she saw Christina's pattern with her own eyes, the desire to fly grew stronger again.
"I think we can rush past them," Solano ventured with a glance to Richard. Her excuse did not fool him, but he nodded his agreement anyway. This actually coaxed a grateful smile out of her. Magic intimately familiar gathered, forming her favourite spell circle. It attached to her shoulder blades as always. "Aera!" And wings followed, pristine despite her disheveled state. Solano flipped back and clung to her friend; slender arms slid under his armpits and barely came back up over his blocky shoulders. Her legs wound around his waist, making her something of a demented backpack.
"Now I remember why I hate carrying you," Solano quipped.
Richard's chuckle was more felt than heard, but she paid it no mind. A surge of Ethernano to her wings sent them off.
The treeline extended all the way to their destination, forcing Solano to maneuver rapidly; she relished it, the challenge and adrenaline. They flitted through a final clearing just as Christina vanished behind the towering tree. Several gaps in its stony bark were lined with vines, creating a network over its entire lower half. Solano followed them until she found an opening large enough to fit, then dashed inside. But she did not stop there; ascending on foot would take far too long. Rather, she strained her reflexes to the limit and kept going at high speed; an entire ecosystem passed by without any thought spent on it. Solano focussed on dodging overhanging vines trying to entangle her; she danced around lesser trees having set root in their giant cousin. Higher and higher she ascended. Beads of sweat were torn away from her forehead as fast as they percolated, but her dress became sticky on top of being dirty.
Despite the hours she spent recharging somewhat, their ascent took everything out of Solano again. Her wings gave out just as she reached a wooden ramp. Richard landed on his feet while she slumped against his back. They both felt the sheer amount of power right above; it blotted out everything else to their senses.
Solano slowly slid down and came to stand. She breathed deeply, the wave of fresh air almost covering her own stink. "I need a bath," she muttered before taking the lead again.
Her bad mood did not last long, though; the offshoot that greeted them was nothing to how invigorating Nirvana itself felt. "Oh, this is wonderful! I didn't expect it to be like that."
Richard hummed in response, steadily striding along. "It is magnificent," he agreed. "I wonder the kind of sight we will have from above. We could make a fortune off of this with the correct strategy." He left a short pause. "Yet this is where the others went before they were cut off. Enemies may be nearby."
"But what enemies? They weren't in this area before. Unless they sent a lot more than the reports said."
In this very moment, they reached the glade that was Nirvana. The black dragon statue immediately drew Solano's gaze, but the words died in her throat when she saw the pair of bodies in front of it. Her eyes widened as all pleasant thoughts fled her body; she shouted for her friends and ran, only to be overtaken by Richard. He reached them first, sliding to a halt while echoing Solano's call and shaking the men in abject fear. Solano arrived a moment later, dread now clawing at her gut.
Alas, no amount of prayer or shaking changed their fate; rigor mortis already set in. No signs of battle, no nothing. They both collapsed here for no apparent reason.
Realisation slowly crawled into her concious mind. After just losing Sawyer, Solano could not keep her emotions contained at all; ugly sobs tore their way out of her throat. She bawled helplessly as her life slipped away from right under her fingertips. The people she cared about all died, one by one, and she was powerless to help them. All she ever wanted, taken away in a manner of hours.
Thick arms closed around the inconsolable woman, her last remaining friend's tears mixing with her own. They spent warmth and comfort to each other, shaking like leaves in a storm. They grieved together for who knew how long.
Some time after the tears ran their course and both slumped against each other, a faint buzzing disrupted their vigil. Both stared upward, where Christina crested the treetop. She rose higher in moments while the two survivors stared without truly comprehending. They rose reflexively and Solano reached for her brimming reserves. Then she hesitated.
"Hey... what do we do?" her tone was softer than she ever wanted it to be. Richard glanced her way and Solano met his gaze, uncertain. "Do we, do we fight?"
His blocky brow furrowed in consideration while the airship continued its ascent. But in the end, he nodded.
"I see your point. This is our only chance to offer negotiations. We hold enough cards to be treated fairly. Nirvana is in our hands. You can bring this ship down, but then it will be a battle till the end." His eyes flicked to the dead before snapping back to her. Expression turned resolute, he made his decision: "Offer to parlay."
She wordlessly slipped Gemini's key from her pouch and opened the gate; the twins arrived without fanfare, each hugging one of her arms. Their attempt of consolation made her lips twitch upward, though it was nowhere near enough. She ruffled their heads anyway. "Take my form and fly up there. No aggression, we're offering parlay."
"As you say, boss."
"Sure thing."
Gemi and Mini touched hands and vanished in a cloud, from which emerged an exact replica of Solano. The original established their mental link moments later. Gemini took off without another word, though she could feel their sympathy.
Meanwhile, a rapid discussion held the Christina's control room. Everyone watched the singular Angel ascend, but the two factions failed to convince each other.
"If she gets up here, she can destroy the ship," Lyon argued. He gestured wildly for the approaching enemy. "Stop being difficult about this, we need to shoot her down!" Wendy and Carla both voiced their agreement; Lucy felt they were still mad about the abduction, though.
Either way, the blonde herself led the other side in this argument: "And I keep telling you, she could have shot us down from down there! She did not! We have a prisoner and the high ground, we can play more cards than just shooting them!" She was entirely too heated, but Lyon was far too stubborn about this; it reminded her of Gray and Natsu, if not in a flattering way.
"What about you three?" Lyon went next instead of responding. He turned to Eve, Ren, and Hibiki. "This is your ship. Are you fine with risking it like that?"
Thankfully for Lucy, the hosts shrugged somewhat uncomfortably; they did not want to be dragged into this.
Laxus stood at the door to the deck with a frown. It was he who broke down the entire discussion, too: "In case you missed it, she just landed."
All eyes turned to the windows, where Angel in the flesh waved at them coyly; she did nothing else, just stood there and waited. Even Lucy was confused about her behaviour. After observing a moment longer, she gingerly opened the door; Gemini confirmed their identity at once: "Hello again. Can I come in?"
"Sure."
The false Angel strode inside once Lucy retreated from the doorframe. She peered up at Laxus' broad form momentarily, which gave Lucy the time to study her. If the original was as disheveled as this one, then her night had not been much better than Lucy's. That was all she managed to conclude before Gemini addressed the room: "My lady wishes to parlay."
Even though she expected it, Lucy was still struck speechless for a moment. Oracion Seis had a history of decisive action; they never negotiated with their enemies before. The others were equally uncertain what to make of this offer.
Hibiki found his voice first: "Does this have to do with Brain and Midnight? What happened to them?" A glance to the main screen told Lucy that yes, both of them were still lying on the ground. 'Angel' scowled, then wordlessly tilted her head; she appeared to listen to something. Tension grew somewhat, but no one did anything hasty.
"Before I answer that," the spirit finally responded, "where is Cobra? And what state is he in?"
"Over here!" the man himself shouted from the cabin he occupied. Most of them glanced that way, where Cobra leaned out of the doorframe; his pet snake's head poked out right above his. "Not doing so bad beside the cuffs!" Gemini relaxed notably, but no one else responded to the quip. Cobra did not care either way. "So, what was that about the others? I'm kinda out of the loop, and sorry I got taken out so easily."
Gemini once again tilted their head as if listening. Lucy understood the moment their opponent deflated. "Brain and MacBeth are dead."
"What?!"
Cobra's shout almost rocked the room. Lucy winced. At the same time, she filed away Midnight's actual name. Gemini shrugged softly; they paid the general surprise no mind and focussed on their ally: "We don't know how. It wasn't these guys, there is no sign of a fight, no nothing. We lost contact last night and now we find them like this."
The trace of pain present in even Gemini's voice made her glance to the screen again; the real Angel's eyes were puffy, she realised. What was more, blotchy makeup had clearly been wiped off her face at some point. Some of it was still fine, but it stood out enough in direct sunlight. Hoteye appeared just as haggard, now that she looked for the signs. Neither of them seemed in any way happy as they stared almost straight at the camera. Lucy knew she should not, but she sympathised with them anyway.
Lyon, however, did not. "You come in here," he started slowly, only to grow louder, "talking about parley after killing Jura and almost blowing us all up? And expect us to just take it and let you off the hook?!" He almost lunged at Gemini, but Levy caught his arm; Gajeel grabbed the other one a moment later. "What the, let go! They killed Jura, we-" "Shut up!"
It was Gemini who stalked forward, eyes filled with fury. They jabbed a finger into Lyon's chest, screaming back at him: "It's not like we wanted any of this! You're the ones who came after us in the first place! If you just hadn't, then nothing of all this would have happened! They'd be alive! All of them! This is your fault!"
Lyon's anger flared higher in turn and Lucy saw where they were headed. She quickly interjected, forcing calm: "Lyon." Her voice cut the tension like a knife. "Stop." When he made to snap at her, she sighed. "Gajeel." Her guildmate covered Lyon's mouth before he could keep shouting, though he was struggling against the two wizards holding him. Sherry still suffered too much to be mad at anyone, thankfully. With all attention on her, Lucy sought Gemini's gaze. "Is that you talking, or Angel?"
The thunderous expression vanished immediately. Lyon fell limp after a few seconds, though he kept glaring daggers at both of them. Gemini hung her head. "Sorry. We adopt the headspace of whoever we turn into. Most of it, at least."
"Hold on a second," Cobra interjected next. He made his way to join them, hands cuffed in front of him. Laxus subtly positioned himself nearby, just in case. If he noticed, he did not say. "What was that about blowing them up? Did Racer use the bomb? Where is he, anyway?"
Gemini immediately flipped back into depression. "He lost and decided to play suicide bomber."
"What the... he's gone, too?" Gemini did not respond, but they did not need to. Cobra could see it in everyone's expressions; he sank to the ground, ashen-faced. "Sawyer, you idiot. What were you thinking?" His pet wound around him as if to offer a hug.
Lucy winced again. At the same time, she began to understand the situation; they all lost friends this night. Parlay meant nobody else would have to die. Glancing back at the screen and seeing the last two members of Oracion Seis again, she could not help but think of Juvia. Of Gajeel. "We can at least hear them out," she decided. Lyon grumbled and the hosts exchanged worried looks, but no one contradicted her. Lucy turned back to Gemini, expression firming up. "We demand the surrender of Oracion Seis. You will be brought to Fiore to stand trial for your crimes."
Gemini studied her silently while the Angel on-screen began to discuss with Hoteye. However she communicated with her spirit, Lucy realised it made a decent and versatile strategy. Now that she knew they were in contact, she also understood how Gemini could stay around them to keep up the futile masquerade.
"We accept." Gemini's agreement tore Lucy out of her considerations. She stared at the spirit, whose expression told her this was not all to it. "But we have several conditions to our surrender." She nodded at Gemini, who listened a moment longer. Hoteye kept talking to Angel while the spirit relayed: "First of all, you will ensure that our fallen members receive proper burials. Second, you guarantee none of the surviving members will be incarcerated or executed."
"Prison is where you-" "Lyon!"
Lucy rubbed her twitching brow. Shouting at her allies was not good, but alienating a highly dangerous group of wizards after they agreed to negotiate, to surrender, was even worse. She bid Gemini to wait and turned to the ice wizard with a sweet smile. "I believe Sherry will not be well with this much noise nearby. Would you escort her to one of the cabins and keep her company?"
He clearly understood why she said this, but also realised Lucy was right; the shouting would not help his friend's migraine or mood any. So after a moment of glaring, he folded and coaxed the groaning woman from her blanky cocoon. Gemini watched the two leave before turning back to Lucy. "Your fake smiles got pretty good."
"Years of practice," she returned absently and glanced around the room. The immediate acceptance of surrender bled a lot of tension from everyone. No one seemed willing to interrupt; in fact, the majority of Lucy's allies were looking her way for guidance. Even the hosts, who had to have some business knowledge of their own. Lucy addressed them first: "You have the list of confirmed incidents caused by Oracion Seis." Hibiki immediately started up his Archive. "As these crimes were committed by wizards, the Magic Council is responsible for administering punishment. What does the legislature say they would get if they confessed to all of them?"
Gemini fidgeted ever so slightly in the silence that followed. Hibiki frowned as he scrolled through the list and opened additional panes with law documents and precedents. "Fraud, murder, grand theft," he mused; his mutterings became indecipherable afterward. Then his attention turned back to Lucy. "We don't have any cases this severe, but several people received lifelong prison sentences for a lot less in the last ten years. Surrendering and confessing everything may afford some leniency, but...." he glanced back at the long list of misdemeanors. Lucy got the message.
"We can not guarantee the second demand," she then told Gemini. "As we are not in charge of the lawmaking."
"The Magic Council is not even functional," Gemini countered immediately. "They could not pass any judgement."
"She is correct," Ren added. "Under these circumstances, judgement would fall to the royal court." Whom Lucy could pull some strings with; she had not kept up with the many people she met as a heiress, but even just Hisui had quite some pull. At the same time, she really did not like causing a miscarriage of justice.
In the end, she settled on a half-truth: "I can still not guarantee anything. No one can. But what I can promise you is that I will try my hardest to meet your second demand."
Lucy knew the moment the real Angel began to scowl that she gave nothing on such a promise. But then something odd happened; instead of denying her or furiously discussing with Hoteye, she hesitated. Her frown slowly ceased. When she did speak with her companion, they both appeared thoughtful.
"We're not taking that, right?" Cobra inquired. Gemini shrugged.
"Your call, I just added my own thoughts before the mistress does something dumb. Lucy is a woman of her word. She is also a woman of Fairy Tail. If she fights for you, then her guild will follow. Right?"
The question went her way with a sly smile. Lucy could not help but chuckle as she nodded. "Correct."
"This includes Blue Pegasus," Hibiki added. "Though if I may ask, why do you seem so focussed on dodging prison? Execution I get, but the other one is a tall order." He had a point, though from the grimaces from Cobra and Gemini, it was sore subject.
"We all have our hangups," Cobra told the room while his friends were still strategising below. "Angel in particular hates being in cramped places. But when we formed Oracion Seis, we swore that no one will ever shackle us ever again." There was a quiet intensity to his short speech that told Lucy all she needed to know. It drew her curiousity as well, though.
"So you were imprisoned before... all of this?"
"More enslaved, but yeah." His flippant response did not hide the fact he clearly dreaded these memories. Lucy's chest constricted, even before Cobra continued: "Brain saved us from the tower. Taught us everything we knew. Led us. It's why we call him Brain."
Had he been her guildmate, Lucy would have hugged him by now. As it were, she felt the gesture would not be appreciated. It took some time to wrestle her aching heart under control. Then Lucy truly registered what he said. "Hold on. You said a tower? The Tower of Heaven?"
Angel and Hoteye fell silent. Gemini's gaze snapped to Lucy, just like Cobra's focussed on her alone. "The one. How do you know about it?"
Lucy hesitated. This was an incredibly personal matter she brought up around quite a few new acquaintances. At the same time, she saw a chance. "A friend of mine used to be kept there, too. Erza Scarlet?" They obviously recognised that name and Lucy forged on: "If it is any consolation, the tower is no more. I helped tear it down."
None of the three gave any indicator of their feelings on that. Lucy would have loved to let them come to terms with it first, but she was pressed for time. "And you said Brain recruited you? How old were you then?"
"Ten-ish?" Cobra ventured. "We aren't all the same age." He glanced to Gemini, who tilted their head once again.
"Eleven for the mistress, ten for the sandman."
"Yeah, sounds about right. We've been doing this for a bit over ten years now."
"I see." Lucy tapped her chin. Children of their background, coerced into evil long before they could make any independent choices. They were adults now and the legal code was clear in that regard, but still. Instead of seeking Hibiki's gaze, this time she sought Laxus'. "Do you think he would speak in their favour?"
Her guildmate grunted, almost but not quite hiding his smile. "He will." Levy was smiling also, and even Gajeel understood.
"Who?"
"The master," Lucy told Cobra, then corrected herself. "Well, he isn't anymore. Saint Dreyar, now." Then she turned back to Gemini: "Very well. I guarantee we will shield you from the worse outcomes of a trial. We will ensure the dead receive their proper rites. Do you accept these conditions?"
There was only a moment of hesitation. Gemini received a faint nod from Cobra and Angel got the same from Hoteye. "We accept," the spirit stated.
"Good. Now we will land so I can shake your hand in person."
Lucy motioned to Ren, who went for the controls. All leftover tension bled away as the Christina began her descent; the fake Angel dissolved into Gemi and Mini, who both settled in front of the window to watch. Cobra shuffled away to lean against the nearest wall, still pale. Wendy did similarly, though she appeared more thoughtful; Carla was hugged to her chest. Levy and Gajeel were talking quietly in the back.
Into this moment of respite, Laxus stepped next to Lucy in front of the main screen. "You're not half bad," he drawled. She glanced up at him, but found no trace of the compliment. If anything, her surprise drew a snort from her fellow blond. "Perfect fit for the guild."
While perplexed, Lucy still had her wits about her. She decided to engage him in his own way: "Right back at you. Good work out there."
A grunt was all the answer she got. The two of them stood front and center as their ride touched down. Neither Angel nor Hoteye reacted to that, nor to the entire coalition force disembarking. The moment she left the airship however, Lucy had to stop and take a deep breath. Nirvana's soothing aura wiped away her weariness; she felt her internal Ethernano replenish at a ridiculous rate, too. So fast in fact, that she quickly realised they would have had a nasty fight on their hands without a surrender.
But now was not the time for doubts. Lucy allowed herself to stretch, feeling refreshed after this long, long night. The deaths still weighed on her mind, but she needed to focus. Paying only a token amount of attention to Wendy's exclamations ("Such a fresh breeze!"), she strode toward Angel and Hoteye. Both met her gaze evenly, but were taken aback when Lucy offered her hand like she said she would.
After a moment, Angel took the proffered limb and shook it firmly. Hoteye did the same a moment later. "I would say 'nice to meet you'," Lucy quipped gently, "but under these circumstances, how about 'Hello'?"
Angel huffed, just as Gemi and Mini landed on her shoulders. The twin sprites played with her white bangs. "See?" Mini chirped, to be replaced by Gemi: "We told you."
"Yes, yes. Shut up."
A doubled "Nope" followed Angel's demand. The twins took to the air and circled her head a few times before flying off to study the dragon statue; Wendy sat in its shadow as well, eyes closed and breathing deeply.
While Levy and the hosts were busy exploring the glade and its ecosystem, Laxus and Gajeel walked Cobra over to them. He offered an awkward wave, only to be caught in a tight hug from Angel; Hoteye grabbed them both. None of the Fairy Tail wizards commented and let them have their moment. In fact, the men wandered away to secure Brain and Midnight. Lucy almost snorted, well aware they felt awkward with the touchy-feely stuff.
Once the three surviving members of Oracion Seis were done with their reunion, she spoke up: "So, here is what I am planning. It may be in bad taste, but if we blame everything on Brain, we can probably get you off lightly." She immediately had their undivided attention; Angel and Cobra frowned, but Hoteye contemplated her words more evenly. Lucy went to elaborate: "If I understood it correctly, he recruited you as children. You had no real choice in the matter, either. That will get you a lot of sympathy if we play it right, but we need to explain your situation to the judges. And, well." She almost glanced to where Brain was put in a body bag this very moment. "He already passed away, so even if we shift most of the blame on him, there is no way to actually punish him."
They mulled it over for a time. "I don't like it," Cobra commented first, to a nod from Angel, "but you make sense there. Lots of folks have kids and can empathise. Think we get let off with a fine?" He glanced to Hoteye, who shuddered for some reason.
Lucy shrugged. "I am not quite sure. As it is, you will definitely not be able to continue as Oracion Seis. I hope that much was obvious?" Slow nods followed, but she felt she ought to spell it out: "We can get you off that way this time, but if you go and commit more crimes afterward, I doubt there will be any mercy. For now, complying with us without a fuss will probably earn you points, too. Because, well."
She slowly pulled two sets of magic-suppressing handcuffs. The request went unspoken, but neither wizard hesitated for more than a moment. Hoteye allowed to be cuffed first while Angel called back the twins and rubbed their heads. They faded away a moment later, then the final opponent was officially captured. Lucy smiled gratefully.
"I was meaning to ask," Lyon interjected with a hint of a growl, "how did you even know we were here?" He strode up to them alongside the hosts and Sherry; his own guildmate massaged her temples, but the pained noises had subsided. Nirvana apparently helped with that, too.
Angel tried for a dismissive motion before remembering she was handcuffed. "Your masters discuss their plans in the middle of a border town, surrounded by hired help. We buy one of the staff members every year, and rarely the same one. I went there myself as a barmaid when we weren't known yet."
Lucy raised her finger at that, but had to lower it. "You know, that is a fair point. I need to speak to the master about that."
"Probably, yeah."
The women exchanged weak smiles, though Lucy's did not hold long. Putting Angel in cuffs was one matter, but there was something else she had to request. "I know I should not ask this, but... would you allow me to hold onto your keys?"
The older woman stiffened immediately, growing almost defensive. Lucy held her gaze nonetheless, pleading silently to trust her. Angel thought for long seconds before sighing and offering her hip. "In my pocket."
"Your dress has pockets?"
The question had come unbidden, but it at least distracted her. "Yup," Angel chirped, "one of the best purchases I ever made. Should have made it self-cleaning, though."
"Ah yes," Cobra quipped, "the folly of stinginess." He then nudged Hoteye with his elbow.
Lucy was no longer paying attention to them by that point. She gingerly extracted a keyring from Angel's pocket and stared at it. Four silver keys clicked against each other, as well as not one but three golden ones. Her mind raced at the implications. "Three zodiacs?" she could not help but ask; Angel was clearly smug. With no response forthcoming, Lucy swallowed her surprise to ask the other question on her mind: "Did you learn any gates without the keys?"
The smugness vanished as swiftly as it appeared. Angel shook her head decisively. "No. I focussed on Aera most of the time. There's no way I could have spent years studying a gate at the same time." What an odd way to phrase it. Taking a year to study a zodiac gate was about all it took; Lucy knew that as a fact. Before she could comment however, Angel kept going: "And just so you know, no, there is no shortcut to Aera. Either you force yourself through the practice or you don't get good at it."
This gave her pause until she remembered the conversation that previous evening. Coupled with her earlier display over Gemini, this painted a clear enough picture for Lucy. "And that technique where you connect with a spirit? How does it work?"
"How does your Star Dress work?" was the counter question. Angel arched an eyebrow at her, making Lucy feel small despite the fact she stood taller.
After considering for a moment, she decided to offer a compromise: "I based it on Body Enhancement magic." Carefully omitted were the months of study put into her work, as well as the substantial help from Zeref.
Either way, Angel seemed to accept her offer. "Mine uses Telepathy as a base. I never had a knack for it, but it mixes surprisingly well with Celestial Spirit magic."
"Oh, that's really smart." Lucy's praise came unbidden, but she truly was impressed. There really was so much wonder still left to be discovered in her beloved discipline. Angel preened, seemingly cheering up a little bit.
That was, until a hand landed on the keyring Lucy still held. She stiffened, pulling back with an immediate glare for Hibiki; he did not even look at her. No, his eyes were squarely on the keys, face ashen.
"Is that Aries' key?" he asked quietly.
The question stopped Lucy from slapping his hand away. She still snapped at him after confirming with a glance: "Yes, now let go of... wait." Her sudden annoyance faded as she remembered the history of that particular key. She still tore the ring out of Hibiki's grasp because one just did not touch a keyring without persmission, but her mind raced. Lucy sought Angel's eyes. "How did you get this key? Aries', I mean?"
The silence and scowl that followed were answer enough. Hibiki's expression darkened in turn while Lucy began to fear the worst. Then Angel began the downward spiral: "Took it from her last contractor's cold, dead hands. Do you have a problem with that?"
"That depends," Hibiki ground out. "Did you kill her?" The other hosts had joined them as well, neither of them quite happy. Everyone was around them, really.
"No."
Lucy was about to sigh in relief, but Angel was not done: "But I would have if Gemini hadn't been faster. The bitch deserved it."
Hope had never died faster.
Hibiki shouldered Cobra aside and grabbed the collar of Angel's dress, pulling her up close to his face. "Say that again," he growled, "say Karen deserved to die one more time."
"Was that her name?" Angel returned sweetly, all but smirking in his face. The mirth faded right after, though; she drew back and headbutted him. The shock dislodged Hibiki's grip and pushed him back a step, enough for Angel to unbalance him. He fell, staring up at the now bleeding woman; Lucy covered her mouth, reminded of the cuffs cutting off any means of protection. If this escalated...
"Now listen here, pretty boy: I don't care who she was in general, or who she was to you. What I know is that this waste of skin prostituted Aries."
Now this, this gave Lucy pause. Hibiki hesitated as well, giving Angel time to push him down with her foot. She leaned down, almost palpable hatred pouring off her entire being. "The sweetest, kindest of the zodiacs, treated like a piece of meat. For money. The only reason I even know is that Gemini took it from her memories. Aries still hasn't recovered even after years. It took me a year to just coax what happened out of her." She paused, suddenly focussing on the guild mark stanced onto his suit's arm. "Right, she was Blue Pegasus too, wasn't she? Just so you know, the only reason I haven't obliterated your entire guild is that Aries begged me not to. She insisted none of you were like this. Despite the fact not one of you stepped up to stop the madness. I killed her, and if you told me she reincarnated, I'd go and strangle the baby in its crib!"
Lucy stood in shock. She knew it was bad from what Loke told her, but she never thought it was this bad. Her state of mind rivalled that of Angel. In the same position, she would have at least broken every bone in Karen Lilica's body.
A faint warmth grew around her fingertips. The silence lay heavy after Angel's rant as everyone grew tense; Hibiki stared up at the hate-filled woman while his guildmates stood in indecision. Lucy's gaze turned to the ring in her hands; the golden key in question was wiggling ever so slightly. Even now, it drew a faint smile to her lips; ever so polite. She gently detached the key and focussed.
"Stars above, listen to my call."
Her solemn words cut the tension like a knife. All eyes were on Lucy. "I seek audience with the ram. Open the gate to heaven and appear before us, Aries!"
A flash of light followed, revealing Aries herself. As shapely as Lucy remembered from her dream during the tournament. She was clad in a white one-piece dress made of cotton and pale yellow thigh-highs. Only her bright pink hair displayed actual colour, bunched up around her neck. A pair of tiny horns poked out of her head and curled downward over her ears.
After a moment of gathering herself, Aries walked forward. "It is true I was not treated well," she murmured while producing a wad of wool. "I do not resent Karen for what she did, even though everyone tells me I should." She then began to wipe Angel's forehead clean, gently dabbing the slowly closing wound. "But at the same time, I never want to go back. Never. I do not like it, but I was happy when our contract broke. I was happy that she died."
Her words were meek, but no one interrupted. Aries met no one's gaze the entire time. Lucy was just about ready to hug the poor girl, but held back. "And are you happy now?" she asked instead. "With Angel?"
A bandage was wound around said woman's head; she no longer stepped on Hibiki after Aries maneuvered her a few steps away. When the pinkette turned back to Lucy, she wore a beaming smile. "I know no Angel. We contracted on her actual name and I am as happy as I could ever be." She paused there, growing the tiniest bit mischievous. "Though I would love to play with children again."
Then Aries slowly shook her head to dislodge the thought. Now that she was done with Angel, she helped up Hibiki. "Hello again. Hello, Ren. And hello, Eve. It is our first time meeting, are you a new member of Blue Pegasus?"
"Ah, y-yes," he murmured, clearly embarassed. "Joined last year. Nice to meet you."
She offered each of them another smile and stepped back to Lucy, who still held her key. "We can not undo the past, no matter how hard we try. I know you will not agree on right and wrong here, but please, do not fight. Can you do that for me?"
She sought first Angel's gaze, who looked away. Hibiki did the same a moment later, inadvertently meeting Angel's. Both frowned at each other before nodding tersely.
Lucy sighed in relief and squeezed Aries' shoulder. She had done what none of them could in that moment. "Thank you," she whispered. Then louder, for everyone to hear, Lucy announced: "I think we all need some time to clear our heads. How about we settle down to rest for two hours, then head back home?"
No one had any objections.
