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Lion's Pride	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 10067 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I make no money writing this. I do it for my own pleasure. Any lyrics are my own or I received permission from the artist.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
"A lion sleeps in the heart of every brave man." - Turkish Proverb

Chapter 12

Another Roar

Lucy had Loke lying in her lap as she sat on the tiny prison cot and languidly brushed back his bushy bangs. He slept with his hands folded together over his chest, a contented smile on his face, as a low purr of happiness rumbled deep in his chest. She strained to listen above. The fight was still raging. It felt like hours had passed, and she had long ago given up moaning about being hungry.

Suddenly, she heard rapid footsteps approaching. "Lucy?" came a shout.

Loke woke up, and Lucy scrambled off the cot. She felt miserably weak, her legs refused to work, and she collapsed into a pile on the floor.

Loke looked over the edge of the cot in worry. "Lucy? Are you okay?"

She proudly refused to give in to her weariness and pulled herself across the floor to the bars. "Gray?" she called, yet her voice was too weak to shout without quavering. Her lips felt dry and cracked, like days had passed without a sip of water. "We're down here."

More stomping, and finally she saw the raven-haired mage. She laughed and wept as if she had not seen him in months. He skidded to a stop when he saw her and took a step back.

"Shit!" he muttered. Lucy looked like a skeleton. Her arm bones showed through translucent skin, her face was gaunt with dark circles under her eyes, and much to his horror, even her boobs had shrunk. He shook his head to overcome the shock. "No time. Natsu and Gajeel are taking on the queenie chick. We got rid of the demons finally. Erza, Levy, and Wendy managed to distract the fish-head so I could sneak down."

"All of you came?" she asked in shock and happiness.

"More, but most are beaten too badly. Your maid Spirit was hit hard and vanished."

Lucy dropped her head. "Poor Virgo. Did I leave her out?"

There was a massive boom above, and the fortress rumbled hard enough to knock Gray off his feet. Part of the ceiling caved in, and Lucy covered her head as rocks fell.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" An umbrella of ice blocked the small cave-in from crushing Lucy and Loke. "Stupid Natsu! Where are the keys to this place?"

"Haftorang has them. The Fish."

"Damn! Okay, I'm gonna try something." Gray went to the lock and put one hand over it. A stream of ice filled the empty areas of the lock and formed around the mechanisms inside. He twisted it, but it would not move.

"It's a magical lock," Lucy told him.

"That makes things harder. Get back a little." He grabbed two bars. "Freeze!" Ice spread from his hands all over the metal bars until they crackled. Then Gray took a step back and kicked the bars hard. Three kicks and they shattered. "Can you fit through?"

"I'm too big, but Loke can. Come on, try to get up." Lucy pulled on the Lion Spirit, but Loke fell in a cry of pain.

"I'll have to carry both of you out of here, won't I?" Gray realized, calculating if he could sneak in twice.

"Get Lucy," Loke insisted, straining to sit up. "She's far worse off than I am."

"No I'm not. I'm just a bit hungry."

Both Loke and Gray looked sadly at how horrifically starved she appeared to be.

"Right, I'll get you both. Ice-Make: Sled!" A shimmering sled of ice took shape. "Ice-Make: Floor!" The floor of the fort froze over, creating a long blue and white ice ramp all the way down the corridor for the sled to ride upon. "Let me get a couple more bars busted."

While he froze the metal bars, the fort rumbled again. A rock fell and hit Lucy on the head before Loke could grab her and shield her with his body.

"You know," she laughed weakly. "I don't use my Celestial Spirits as shields."

"This is the Shield of Love," he declared, giving her a flirtatious smile.

She blushed and looked aside in embarrassment. "Geez! What are you talking about?"

The frozen bars shattered, and Gray managed to step through. "Lucy, you're first." He lifted her into his arms and was shocked by how little she weighed, even with a heavily-pregnant belly. He cautiously stepping over fallen rocks, through the broken metal bars, and gently placed Lucy onto the seat of the sled. He removed his white jacket and laid it on the icy seat. "Sorry if it's cold." Then he turned to get Loke.

The fort seemed to tilt, and bits of the ceiling collapsed. Lucy screamed, and Gray barely had time to form a shield over them both.

"Natsu, stop it!" Gray hollered at the ceiling.

"Loke!" Lucy shrieked.

Inside the dungeon cell, the ceiling had crumbled, burying Loke from the waist down. The Spirit strained to pull himself out, but he was trapped. Gray cursed under his breath and ran forward. Before he could reach the bars, the building creaked and crumbled a little more. Gray barely managed to jump away before some rocks fell and shattered on the ground in front of him, blocking his path.

"Get her out," Loke yelled. "I'll work on freeing my legs, just get her to safety."

"I'm not leaving you," Gray said stubbornly. As he stomped forward, more ceiling fell.

"Gray," Loke barked with an edge of desperation. His face softened, and his emotions slowly calmed down. With levelheaded determination, he told the ice mage, "I'm leaving the safety of my child into your hands. Please, Gray, get her somewhere safe."

Gray paused in bitter debate, but another rumble made up his mind. "Got it. I'll be right back. Try to get some of those rocks off of you."

"Loke," Lucy protested.

He smiled sadly. "I'll see you soon, Leonita."

"No!"

Gray positioned himself behind the sled and gave it a hard push. He jumped onto the back and steered as it slid down the icy pathway, whirling up stairs and through corridors. Lucy looked behind her and shouted for Loke, but she could no longer see him.

Loke watched until they were out of sight. Grimly, he looked down at the rubble that had trapped him. He threw off a few stones, but quickly gave up with a shake of his head.

"What a mess," he muttered to himself. "Can't even feel my legs."

He looked at the icy ramp wistfully, thinking he heard Lucy shouting his name in the distance. At least she was heading toward safety. That was what mattered most! He dropped his head, and while his eyes were lowered, he looked at his ring. He traced the blue stone with distant longing.

"Right now, Regulus, I really wish you could..." However, he could not bring himself to say it.

A pain struck through his chest. Loke felt himself wavering again. He held out his hand and saw the spirit energy going in and out of existence.

"Dammit," he sneered angrily. He looked at the icy ramp again. "Lucy..." He wished he could call her back, see her just one more time, and give her a proper kiss goodbye. He sighed in misery. "I am so...so sorry!"

Slowly, Loke did something he had not done in centuries. He removed his ring! He held the silver band up to a stream of sunlight that pierced the dusty dungeon darkness and watched how the blue stone gleamed. It brought a weak smile to his pale, drained face. Then, once more, he looked at where Gray had swept Lucy away.

"Take care of her, Gray," he whispered. Then he squeezed the ring between his fingers and closed his eyes as a tear dripped down. "Lucy...sayonara."

Lucy thought she would get sick on Gray's sled. Why did his ramp have to make such dangerous turns? This was worse than the roller coaster Levy once forced her to ride at the Magnolia Harvest Festival. She was fairly certain one of the rules was No Pregnant Women!

"Just hang on a little longer," Gray urged, straining to focus the sled to minimize the ride's effects.

In no time, their sled reached the exit of the fort and slid out into the sunshine. Erza and Wendy were just about to come in.

"That fish took off, and the woman drew Natsu and Gajeel away from the fort," Erza explained.

"A little too late," Gray frowned. "It's caving in. Loke's buried. Get her." He pointed to Lucy wrapped up in his coat.

"Yikes!" Wendy yelped. "Lucy? Is that you?"

"What do you mean?" the skeletal woman asked in confusion.

Erza grabbed Lucy up into her arms. The blonde yelled ouch as the plate armor hit her protruding bones hard.

"We'll take her," Erza decided. "You get..."

Suddenly, the stone fort crumbled. Erza leaped away fast with Lucy screaming. Charle swooped in and grabbed up Wendy, but Gray was caught in the rubble.

"Lucy! Keys!" Wendy was up in the air now, but she threw the ring of Spirit Keys down to Lucy. She grabbed one fast.

"Open the Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" The pink-haired maid reappeared. "Get Gray, hurry!"

"Yes, Princess." Virgo dived into the dirt, dug a fast hole, and suddenly Gray was sucked down into the ground with a yelp. When the Maiden reappeared beside Lucy, Gray was in her arms...and stark naked.

"How did you lose your clothes like that?" screamed Lucy.

"I don't know," he snapped. "Ask your Celestial Spirit."

"Will I be punished?" asked Virgo.

"Later. Can you dig Loke out?"

"Not without knowing precisely where Brother is located. Otherwise, I may damage him worse."

Lucy paused in a small tremble. "Don't you sense him? I thought Celestial Spirits can sense one another."

"I'm sorry, Princess. I don't sense Brother in the ruins."

"No...oh please, no," she whispered and looked at the settling dust. "Nooo!" She tried to get out of Erza's arms and run to the fallen fort, but she only got two steps before collapsing. "I...I can't even walk. I can't...Loke!"

Gray scrambled to the rubble. "Loke," he shouted. "Oi, Loke!" He listened, but the rocks were still settling. "Come on, Loke, give us a shout. Where the hell are you?"

"Loke!" barked Erza. "He couldn't have...no, he wouldn't get defeated that easily. He has to be safe." In determination, she turned to Virgo. "Go find him!"

"I'm sorry, Warrior Queen, but his presence is not there. Will I be punished?"

Wendy began to sniffle. "No...he can't be..."

"You damn feline bastard," Gray yelled furiously. "You can't vanish now. Remember what you told me? You said you can't leave her! Just now, you said you'd see her soon. Are you a liar?"

"Gray," Erza pouted with tears coming to her eyes.

"You left me in charge of your child. How dare you without asking my permission!" screamed Gray. "Natsu and I are competing for that role. You get your ass right back here and pick one of us properly. Loke! Pl-...please!" he begged, looking around helplessly. "She doesn't need us, she needs you! She...needs you, dammit!" His head fell as grief settled in, but not before a spike of anger shot through him like a flame through ice. "You can't leave her, you sonuvabitch!"

Wendy sobbed miserably. "Gray, stop."

Tears streamed down his face as his whole body shook in grief. The soft sound of Lucy's sobs behind him made his blood boil in rage.

Suddenly, Gray roared to the sky, a loud and reverberating shout, animalistic, fraught with emotion. It was unlike anything they had ever heard from him, almost as if the Spirit of the Lion had now passed on to him. Lucy looked up in shock at the sound. It rumbled the ground and made the leaves quiver. Then the roar faded, and it was a normal human's cry of frustration. Gray fell to his knees and stared up to the heavens.

"Dammit!" he yelled and punched the ground so hard, the dirt cracked around his fist.

"Loke..." With that, Lucy suddenly passed out.

Charle set Wendy down beside Lucy. The girl immediately got to work, but she frowned at the condition of her patient.

"She's not well at all. I can keep her alive, but she needs emergency attention."

Gray stared as the last bits of his icy path melted away. "I wasn't quick enough," he whispered. "If I had broken the bars faster...if I had gotten them out before the ceiling fell... Dammit, I wasn't fast enough!"

Amidst this, Natsu strolled forward. "Yo! That queenie chick disappeared again. Hey, you got Lucy out. Awesome! Who broke the fort?"

Gray's eyes narrowed menacingly. "You did," he whispered.

Natsu did not quite catch it and hummed questioningly.

"You damn flame-brained bastard, never thinking, always going overboard even at the cost of your friends," he sneered. "It's your fault. It's all..." he screamed, getting his magic circle ready, "...your fault! Ice-Make: Arrows!" A dozen icy arrows shot at Natsu, and one grazed him across the leg.

"Oi! What's wrong?" he shouted in surprise.

Gray punched his fist into his hand, and a glowing circle formed. "Ice-Make: Geyser!" He slapped both hands onto the dirt, and a tower of ice shot up from the weeded ground. Natsu just barely managed to leap out of its way.

"Bastard," Natsu yelled, getting angry now. "Lucy's out, and she's fine, so what's your problem?"

"But Loke..." Gray's magic faltered.

"Loke?" Finally, Natsu saw Erza's grimace and Wendy's tears. He realized what Gray meant, and his face dropped. "No way!" He ran to the pile of shattered stones, grabbed them, and began throwing them aside. "What are you doing standing around crying? We've gotta dig him out."

Gray realized he was right. This was not the time to place blame or fight. He and all the others shouted for Loke and dug through the rubble while Erza carried Lucy in her arms with Wendy following, wiping her tears away and sniffling.

End of Chapter 12

Rhov's Corner:

Sayonara - a Japanese farewell used when you do not expect to see the person for a long time...or ever! It's different from the more casual "ja ne" that you would use for friends at the end of a school day, or coworkers you plan to see on Monday morning. Whenever someone says "sayonara," I tear up instantly. This was the hardest chapter to write, and the quickest. I wrote it in less than an hour. I had to get that sad scene out of my head. Then I cried into a pint of mint chocolate ice cream.
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Lion's Pride