Rave Master Fan Fiction ❯ Upon a Shooting Star ❯ Chapter 14: Rage ( Chapter 14 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 14: Rage

Lucy sighed as she flopped on the bed in her room after the draining conversation with Gajeel and Juvia. [I can’t believe they remember…even if it isn’t everything like I do, but…who else remembers? Natsu? Gray? Erza? Gildarts remembers some because he definitely knows Cana is his daughter. Either that or he was just playing dumb in the other timeline.] She blinked and sat back up at hearing a knock on her door. The blonde got up and answered it, blinking up at Laxus. She flushed, their previous encounter still fresh in her mind. “L-Laxus? What are you-“The other blonde leaned on the doorframe. “What? I can’t come and see my teammate?” His eyes narrowed on her as he shook his head. “And what did I say about asking for it, Blondie?”Lucy flushed darker. “Sorry…I was actually about to contract my remaining spirits, the room should be big enough. Did you want to watch?” She stepped away so he could come in.Laxus, meanwhile, was mentally smacking himself and reminding that this was still a freaking thirteen year old. [Fucking glamour spell…this was such a bad idea…] He nodded and found the bed Lucy slept in the night before by scent before flopping back on it casually. “Gonna get on with the show?”Lucy facepalmed at his wicked grin and decided to start off on her silver keys. “Open, Gate of the Humbled King, Cepheus!”Cepheus appeared kneeling in front of her. He gracefully stood and crossed the distance between them to embrace Lucy, eliciting a growl from Laxus. “You have my utmost thanks for freeing me of that horrible woman’s control…” He spoke softly and pulled back, looking down with dark, almost black, eyes. “I posses the Gorgon’s Eyes as punishment for my hubris, call me whenever you must and I shall turn your foe to stone.” He bowed to her. “The King shall faithfully serve all those who follow your bloodline after for the service you have given to him.” He faded back, leaving Lucy shocked.Laxus frowned. “What service?”Lucy scowled. “On my mission before you dragged me here, where I fought Junelle. Cepheus was one of her victims to the Gem of Obedience.”Laxus blinked and settled back, at ease that it wasn’t anything to worry about other than excessive gratitude. “And the whole “serve your line” bit?”Lucy bit her lip. “It isn’t commonly done…and it’s a high honor for those that gain the allegiance of spirits that only have one key, like the Mythos and the Zodiac. Capricorn swore his loyalty to my mother’s line but…” She clenched her fists. “I’ll tell you later…I still have more contracts to make.” She took out another key, smiling at the harp on it. “Open, Gate of the Harp, Lyra!”A wailing girl launched herself at Lucy, hugging her tightly. “Thank you!!! Karen was so scary…and she seemed so nice at first and pretty…” Lucy hugged the spirit to her, shushing her as she stroked her hair. “It’s alright, Lyra, you won’t ever have to go through that again, I promise.”Lyra sniffled. “You mean that?”The Celestial Mage smiled. “So long as I live, I promise.”Lyra cheered. “Yay! I can be summoned twice a week, but not on Monday or Friday.” She kissed Lucy’s cheek. “Thank you so much for beating Karen.” She faded away.Laxus raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you’re getting popular.”Lucy blushed. “Well…unfortunately, most Celestial Mages don’t deserve to be called that with how they treat their spirits. Spirits have emotions and can feel pain just as we do, why should they be treated as tools because they can’t actually die?” Lucy huffed.Laxus blinked. “I guess that makes sense…” […she’s not weak, I already decided that, but her heart…]“Open, Gate of the Shield, Scutum!”The Lightning mage twitched at seeing yet another male spirit. [This one better not touch what’s mine…damn it, Laxus! Not for a few years more...]Scutum looked up, silver hair tied back in a low ponytail and dressed in full plate armor. “Lady Lucy, you have called me for a contract and I shall adhere.”Lucy waved her hands in front of here. “I try to work with what’s best for my spirits, Scutum, although…you are different from what I was expecting.”The spirit nodded. “I receive that often. I utilize Barrier Magic for defense of my master.”Lucy blinked. “Is Barrier Magic different from Shield Magic?”Scutum nodded. “Indeed. Shield Magic uses properties from the caster that were woven into the shield to cast spells to defend, whereas Barrier Magic retains a multitude of different abilities based on what I cast.”Lucy nodded in understanding. “I see, well, when are you available?”“Whenever my master has need of me,” he stated blandly, voice still dull. Laxus twitched at the lack of…life in him.Lucy frowned. “I won’t have any of that master or owner business. You’re all my friends and should just call me Lucy, or Miss Lucy, or Princess. Anything but master.”Scutum bowed. “As is your will, Princess. If that is all, I shall go. Call when you require me.” He faded away.Laxus snarked. “Well, he was a ray of sunshine.”Lucy sighed. “Probably one of the ones most sought after…and treated as a tool. He could be that way as a defense mechanism.” She pulled out the fourth key, perking up in recognition. “Open, Gate of the Southern Cross, Crux!”A loud chime sounded and revealed the old cross, sleeping. He yawned and opened his eyes, blinking and then let out a loud whoop as he looped in the air. “Lucy, my girl! You found me again!” He hugged her.Lucy blinked in surprise, darting a quick look to see Laxus’ confused face as she patted Crux’s back. “Yeah, we can talk about that later…same contract as last time?”Crux nodded as much as he could. “Yes, yes, of course! That horrible Karen woman, always calling me lazy….I missed you a great deal, Princess.” His eyes glittered in mischief.Lucy smiled. “Glad to have you back. Do…” She lowered her voice. “Does anyone else remember?”Crux sighed. “Some, the Celestial Spirit King does but…he is just a bit upset with you for meddling in such things. He understands it wasn’t intentional on your part, but even so…Time is messy business. I shall go now if that is all.”Lucy nodded. “Of course, thanks for everything, Grandpa Crux, I’ll see you later.”Laxus narrowed his eyes. “What was that all about?”Lucy bit her lip. “A long story…”Laxus kept his eyes on her. “Will I have to drag it out of you, Blondie?”The blonde winced. “I’d…rather not…it’s…it sounds crazy, I’ll tell you when I feel like the time is right.”The Lightning Mage scowled. “Fine, don’t you have more keys to do or whatever?”Lucy nodded and pulled out another familiar key. “Open, Gate of the Compass, Pyxis!”The small red bird chirped and nuzzled Lucy. Lucy smiled as they worked out the details of their contract and sent him back when they were done. She then takes out the last familiar silver key. “Open, Gate of the Clock, Horologium!”Lucy grinned at the grandfather clock and slowly frowned as their meeting continued with him appearing to not remember her either. She sent him back with a perplexed look on her face, thinking that he should have remembered. She then sighed, realizing this wasn’t the same Horologium she knew as he wasn’t one of the Mythos. The blonde took out the next key.“Open, Gte of the Hunting Dogs, Canes Venatici!”Lucy gave a short shriek as she was tackled by two large greyhounds licking her face. Laxus sat up briefly, tensing, then saw that Lucy was fine. He settled back down as she finally shoved the dogs off her.Lucy panted, giggling as she scratched them behind the ears. “So, Asterion and Chara, when are you available?”The two gave a series of barks that Lucy apparently understood, and Laxus blinked as he realized he could understand them too. Lucy gave the two a pat on the head as she dismissed them. “I’ll need to carry around some jerky from now on if I’m going to bring them out…”She took out the last key and blinked, staring at the handle.“What now, Blondie?”Lucy ignored him and summoned Leo first. Leo bowed to her. “My warrior princess, you called for me?” He glared as he Laxus in the bed. “..would you like me to get rid of the Neanderthal?”Laxus twitched and growled. “What is the pussy doing here?” The two intensified their glare.Lucy sighed and tugged on Leo’s sleeve. “I thought you’d like to be here when I summoned the next key.”Leo frowned in confusion, but his eyes widened as he saw the key in her hand.“Open, Gate of the Little Lion, Leo Minor!”There was the customary chime…and a whimper. Lucy froze, turning chalk white as she took in the image before her. Beside her, Leo trembled in rage. Laxus…Laxus sat up, alert as he took in the tense atmosphere. He stood up and walked to Lucy’s side…and didn’t hold in his snarl as he took in Leo Minor’s quivering form.“Who the fuck would do something like this?” He clenched his fists, only relaxing when Lucy put her hands over his. “…As I said…there are Celestial Mages who don’t deserve to be called such…” She left Laxus and slowly approached the spirit, kneeling down. “Leo-chibi? My name is Lucy, please tell me how I can help you…” Her eyes teared up as eyes the same shade as Leo-chibi’s looked up at her, full of primal fear. The eleven year old trembled and backed away, scooting and curling into a ball as the lion ears on his head flicked warily. Lucy tensed at the rattle of chains and looked closer, seeing glowing chains attached to his feet and wrists. The blonde felt her heart break as she noticed the ragged clothes he wore and the wounds she could see, oddly not healed despite being in the spirit world.Leo rushed to Leo-chibi and tried to pull him to him, but winced as the chains flared, making the child scream and more wounds to appear. Lucy let out a sob and pulled Leo back. The older lion let out a cry, trying to reach the younger, but Lucy held Leo to her, also hearing Laxus’ feral growl and feeling his magic spark beside her. “Whoever did this…is a sick fuck.”“What any trainer does: break an animal’s spirit so it may be tamed.”Lucy trembled in rage. “That bitch…Junelle…she did this…Laxus, get me a recording lacrima. Now.” Her voice was cold.Laxus slowly nodded and left the room, jerking the door closed behind him as he left her to comfort Leo.Leo looked at Lucy in despair. “Who did this? Tell me!” He held her desperately.Lucy shushed him and stroked his hair, hugging him. “I’m going to send this to the Magic Council…I can only hope that they add punishment to her current sentence.” She took out Crux’s key with a grim look and summoned him.Crux blinked. “Lucy? What is…oh dear.” The spirit looked over Leo-chibi grimly. “You wish to know why he is like this?”Lucy shook her head. “No, I have a very good guess as to why that is, I need to know what those chains are.”Crux nodded and went to researching.Downstairs, Laxus finished terrorizing the front desk for a recording lacrima and was storming back to the room. Bickslow and Evergreen, coming back from their shift at the casino, blinked as they saw the foul mood Laxus was in.Bickslow waved. “Hey, Laxus, what’s eating at you?”Laxus sent them a glare. “…follow me.” He headed back up to Lucy and Evergreen’s room, the two following him in confusion.Evergreen opened the door with her key and the other two blinked at the scene.Bickslow stiffened, seeing Leo-chibi and growled. “What the fuck is going on?”Lucy slowly turned to look at him with stony eyes. “I summoned Leo-chibi and he was like this, I have Crux looking into the chains as they seem to repel spirits and just hurt him more.”Evergreen turned green, watching the child spirit tremble in pain and panic with the new people.“Ever, Bicks, go wait in the hall. The kid’s scared and more people are just scaring him more.” Laxus activated the recording lacrima to document the scene.Bickslow gently guided Evergreen out of the room, nodding as he took in the barely restrained fury Laxus was emitting. He shut the door behind him and held Evergreen as she broke into sobs.Lucy walked over to Laxus and placed a hand on his arm. “I hate this too…more than you can imagine…but being angry right now won’t help Leo-chibi.”Laxus let out a growl before hissing out a breath. “Whoever did this…they better hope I don’t find them.” He looked over at Crux. “What’s with him.”“He’s researching he chains…They’re what’s stopping Leo-chibi from healing.”“OH!” Crux’s eyes snapped open and the two blondes and lion spirit turned to him. “The chains are called Enkidu, able to bind even gods, according to legend.. They are poisonous to spirits and we cannot touch them, the effort causes a backlash to the one forced to wear them.”Lucy’s expression darkens. “She knew the others would try to help him…if this was how she broke the others…” Lucy shook her head and took a calming breath s she approached Leo-chibi again.The spirit backed away again with a whimper.“Shhh, shh…It’s okay, Leo-chibi…I’m just going to try to take those mean chains off…I give you my word, I will never harm you intentionally.” Lucy’s heart broke more as the boy just whimpered. She reached her hand out slowly and placed her hand on the cuff. Leo-chibi flinched and curled more. Lucy slowly wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and burrowing her face in his golden hair. The younger spirit blinked, feeling dampness seep to his scalp. He peered up at the Celestial Mage, feeling her shake against him. Laxus clenched his fist, growling at the scent of her tears. Leo looked over at him, serious. “You care for her…”“…” He managed to hold the recording orb steady. “That’s your kid brother, isn’t it.”Leo turned away. “…yes…”Lucy gently rocked Leo-chibi in her arms, humming her mother’s lullaby. The spirit slowly seemed to relax, reaching up to wrap his arms as much as possible around her. Leo sucked in a breath at the action, looking hopeful. Lucy backed away and lifted a cuffed wrist, cupping her hands around it. She closed her eyes and tried focusing her magic into it, drawing on the love she felt for all her spirits to channel into the binding chains.Chink.Leo’s eyes widened, seeing part of the cuff break. Leo-chibi’s eyes also opened wide, staring at Lucy in shock. Chink. Chink.More pieces broke off. Laxus sent a look to Crux. “…those are supposed to hold gods?”Crux nodded, rubbing his eyes. “Supposed to, yes…what Lucy is doing should be impossible…” His gobbed up and down as the chains shattered, the golden glow fading to reveal black metal that slowly evaporated.Leo-chibi held up his wrists, turning his arms over to examine them with a look of wonder on his young face. He looked up at Lucy, eyes brimming with tears. “Th-ank…you…”Lucy gave him a watery smile as she swayed in her spot, drained from breaking the legendary chains. “I’ll always protect my spirits, always. You don’t have to worry about the chains anymore.”“Ashfar!” Leo cried out as he raced over and tightly hugged the younger boy to him, stroking his hair and nuzzling him. Lucy smiled as the two reunited and sighed tiredly, sitting back. Laxus turned off the recording lacrima and knelt next to her. “Junelle will pay for this…although I don’t think the Magic Council will be happy I broke one of their artifacts…”Laxus snorted. “Fuck the Magic Council, those things needed to be destroyed.”Ashfar peeked up from his brother’s arms and looked shyly at Lucy. Lucy smiled back. “Go back to the spirit world and rest up, I’ll call you when you’re ready to make a contract.”Leo nodded and ushered Ashfar to close his gate. He turned to Lucy and knelt on the ground before bowing his head forward to the ground. “I can’t thank you enough…Lucy, I solemnly vow to protect you and yours until the day I fade away, my service is yours. You saved my little brother from fading…and I really can’t-“Lucy held up her hand. “It’s alright, Leo. I wanted to help. No one, human or spirit, deserved that to happen to them, especially a child.”Leo nodded. “My vow still stands…I’ll go now though, you used up your magic breaking Enkidu and need your rest.” He looked at Laxus. “Take care of her.”Laxus nodded and picked Lucy up to put her in bed, with minor complaints from the other blonde. Leo nodded to him and went back to the spirit world to check on Ashfar.“Get some sleep Blondie, we have a big day tomorrow.”Lucy nodded. “Right…the robbers, I’ll contract Aries and Taurus after this then…”Laxus nodded. “I think Ever wants back in her room. Night, Blondie.” He exited the room and met the concerned gazes of his teammates, Freed joining sometime while he was in the room.Bickslow looked concerned. “Is everything alright with the kid? We heard a scream.”Evergreen wiped at her eyes. “Please tell me we’re going after the bastard that did that to him.”Freed frowned. “I tried getting more information, but Evergreen was inconsolable and I was unable to glean much. What happened?”Laxus sighed. “The kid is fine, he was being held by something called Enkidu. Blondie broke the chains off him though and they disappeared. He’s going to be fine with his big brother looking after him now.”Evergreen and Bickslow sighed in relief as Freed paled.“L-Miss Heartfilia was able to shatter the Chains of Enkidu? That…that’s impossible…”Laxus shrugged. “Well, she did it. Don’t know how outside of using up practically all her magic.”“That explains the buildup we felt…”Laxus nodded. “Let’s get to our room, yours is clear, Ever.”Evergreen nodded and went back into the shared room.The guys went to their own room to settle for the night.Freed sat on the edge of his bed, watching Laxus. Laxus sighed in irritation. “Yes, Freed?”Freed steepled his fingers, leaning on his knees. “You’ve…changed on this mission, Laxus-sama.” He smiled. “It’s a good change, however.”Laxus blinked and rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He flopped on his bed.Bickslow set his visor to the side. “Freed’s right, you’re different. Sunshine’s gotten to ya.” He gave a pervy grin.Freed choked, remembering earlier where he saw Laxus drag Lucy into a closet. He then started weeping. “Oh, Laxus-sama! How could I not see it! You gave in to depravity…forgive me for not stopping you!” Freed lunged off the bed and glomped Laxus, causing the teen to freak.“Freed! Get the fuck off me! And what the fuck are you talking about?!” Laxus tried prying the younger teen off of him with a disturbed look on his face.Bickslow…keeled over on the couch, laughing hysterically.“Bicks! Get your fucking ass up and help me pry Freed off!”“HAHAHAHA! Don’t know what set him off, but funny as shit!” The Seith Mage kept laughing.“Bickslow!”
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Author’s Postscript:
SSD: Whew. That…took a MUCH different turn than I was expecting as I wrote it. Err…Lucy?Lucy: *fuming* I am so going to make Junelle pay…how could she do that to Leo-chibi!?SSD: *sweatdrop* She did view them as animals…Lucy: Which is just wrong! Even if they do have some animal traits, they aren’t animals!SSD: You’re awfully quiet over there, Laxus.Laxus: …let’s just say some things are being shoved into perspective…Lucy: *looks concerned* Are you alright?Laxus: I’ll be fine, Blondie.SSD: Yeah…sorry about the dark chapter but…it really did run away from me. This was supposed to be light and fluffy…not…yeah…anyway, hope you review, I eagerly await them. Bye!