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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
- 37
- 38
- 39
"A lion...is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any." - Proverbs 30:30

Chapter 38

Strongest
"You...you can help Luke stay alive in the Human World?" Loke felt a leap of hopefulness in his chest, but instant fear too. Such a promise surely came at a high price. "If you mean the curse placed upon Zeref, forget it!"
"Nay, not that," Kefira assured. "That was merely a prototype, a desperate attempt to save a boy with more than one foot already through Death's gate. It was Zeref himself who discovered a better means, something he could use should his children face similar problems. He had no progeny, but the research is still in his notes, which I can obtain...if thou wouldst help me in a small, insignificant matter."
"What?" Loke glared bitterly. He knew Kefira would never do anything without a steep price.
She smiled, seeing that she at least had his attention. "The notes lie within a secret vault far under the palace of Kohinur Keep. To get inside, one must be of the ruling family. If you want me to get those notes, fulfill thine oath from ancient times. Help my clan reclaim that which is ours. Then I may enter Kohinur Keep freely, retrieve his books of research, and save thy son's life."
"My oath...?" Loke's brow tightened as his memory skimmed over promises from long, long ago. "You want me to fight a war for you. You want to overthrow the current government of Kohinur!"
"A small coup d'etat which would have minimal repercussions in thy new homeland of Fiore."
"Kohinur has been at peace for four hundred years," Loke argued. "Why should I destroy that?"
"It would continue to be at peace, I swear it. Kohinur and Fiore were allies in ages past. It was thy duty to help us maintain that balance of power. I would be willing to forgive thee of thy sin, free thee of thy former duty, and as a show of my goodwill, save thy child. All I request is thy strength. Thy full strength," she corrected with a smirk.
Loke shook his head. "I won't call back Regulus. The ancient promise was that we were not to call them back unless the need was dire."
"And was it not thine own decision to determine what constituted a dire need? The Spirit World is rotting from within, the new king hath threatened the existence of the former king, and his demands shall destroy the first happy coupling between Human and Spirit in centuries. I witnessed thine argument with Lady Lucy. As a woman, I warn thee: push this point and take away her child, and she shall never in her lifetime forgive thee! Is this not indeed dire?"
"Leo," Haftorang said ingratiatingly. "Please consider more than just your own problems. If you are dissatisfied with the slow decay of the Spirit World, don't you think many others are as well?"
Loke shouted, "Then it's up to the Celestial Spirits to change that world! It's not reason enough to call back the Royal Stars. A single life—even my own or that of my son—is not enough to break such a solemn promise to a friend."
Haftorang looked angry now. "If the Spirit World loses the Lion, it truly would be a disaster beyond any in recent memory. Someone like me can be banished and no one would care, but someone like you, my king..."
"Don't call me that!" Loke bellowed, looking pained by that old title.
Haftorang managed to keep his face neutral. "I'm not the only one who sees you as the true King of the Heavens. I was merely the only one loyal enough to do something about it...old friend."
Loke stubbornly shook his head. "As a Celestial Spirit, my promises are my pride. I promised Regulus that I wouldn't call the Royal Stars back unless the Spirit World was threatened and I had no other choice. To break that promise just because some outdated monarch wants her palace and prestige back...even if it's for my son..." He looked over to Gray. "Am I wrong in feeling this way?"
Gray rubbed out the pain from one of his cracked ribs. "I can't say I understand all of this since I'm not a Celestial Spirit, and I'm not completely sure what the Royal Stars are besides what Lucy and Levy have said. Still, if you made a promise to a friend, then the right thing to do is to keep that promise."
"Even if it means I have to take Luke away from Lucy?"
"It was still a promise. These people are still the enemies. I'm just trying to protect Lucy, but right now..." He glared at the two foes. "...we have a bigger problem, don't we?"
Loke eyed Kefira and Haftorang with a worried expression. "I can't beat them on my own, Gray," he said softly so the other two would not hear. "Haftorang's magic is water-based. Your ice should work well against that. But Kefira's magic is what modern people call Lost Magic, and she knows dragon slayer techniques, amongst many other highly destructive forms of magic."
"I remember the fight at the run-down fort," Gray nodded. "She has that Leviathan ability, she knows Arc of Time, and she can summon demons."
"She wasn't even fighting seriously," Loke muttered. "I'll delay her, but I'm not sure I can defeat her."
"Then I'll take on the fish."
"Stop him quickly, Gray...before he changes."
"Into what?"
Loke glared at the Southern Fish. "Into Fomalhaut, the Royal Star of the Southern Sky."
Gray's mouth dropped. "Wait, are you saying that fishman is a Royal Star?"
"He's merged with one. That makes him more powerful than me. If he changes, there's not a mage in this world that can stand up against him. You have to defeat him, freeze him, knock him out, something, before that happens."
Gray glanced over to him as Loke held his wrist in preparation for combat. "Can I trust you?" he asked in full seriousness.
Loke smiled over at him. "We're still nakama. I'm just trying to protect Lucy."
"Do you still love her?"
A light blush spread over Loke's cheeks. "I will for all eternity."
Gray smiled to see that happiness. He knew any feelings he had for Lucy paled in comparison to the depth of love Loke felt for the woman who saved his life. Then he gave Loke a little smirk. "You have shitty timing, you know that? You should've waited before hitting Lucy with crap like taking away her son. At least enjoy the reunion for a couple days."
"You're right, I wasn't thinking straight," Loke admitted. "Hearing that my son might die...any father would panic."
"And any mother would fight viciously to protect her young."
"True. It shows Lucy makes a great mother, and part of me is glad. Another part of me feels the urgency to save Luke before it's too late. Perhaps I wanted it over with too fast. No one's perfect."
"I still won't let you take Luke away for a few hundred years. That's absurd! But we'll settle it after we're done here. Partners again?"
Loke smiled gratefully and bumped fists with Gray. "Partners!"
"Are ye done planning?" Kefira asked in a droll voice. "I hope ye don't think ye can fight us. Just two opponents? It shan't last long enough for me to enjoy myself."
"We'll see about that," Gray glared as a blue magic circle formed in his hands. "Let's protect Lucy."

Lucy realized this definitely was not a cave; it was some sort of underground palace. The first few rooms she and Natsu passed through were built of gold, silver, copper, and precious gems embedded into the walls. Balls of lacrima floated on the ceiling and lit up as soon as someone entered a room. Ancient writing had been carved into walls and giant pillars that held up the ceiling. Lucy did not recognize the symbols, but she was sure Levy would love to study them. She wondered if this had been a temple or tomb.
Every new room was a few steps lower than the previous. Then they came to a room with multiple exits. Lucy paused in the golden room and looked at the three possible paths.
"I have no clue where we're even heading," she admitted.
"Mama!" From his seat in the baby backpack, Luke pointed past her face and straight ahead. "Dat one."
"That one?"
"Yah! Dere. We go dere."
She recalled what Hibiki said, that it would be her son who could find the Regulus Key. She went with his instinct and picked that route.
As they continued on and downward, the rooms became different. First they changed to a plaster surface rather than gold, and artwork was painted on them, scenes of armies and fights. One room was different. There was an obvious bed, although the mattress had rotted away centuries ago. The plaster walls were painted dark blue with white, yellow, blue, and red dots showings an accurate depiction of the night sky, all the constellations in their places. As she stood in the center and looked up, she realized something.
"This constellation," she pointed to the apex. "It's Leo. We must be on the right path."
"But there's no exit," Natsu said, glancing around. "Ooh, maybe it's a secret passage and we have to hit the right book or vase."
"There's nothing in this room but that bed," Lucy frowned. No books, no vases or jugs, no furniture at all. "Maybe it's a magic incantation."
"Open sesame!" Natsu tried, but nothing happened. "Abracadabra! Hocus pocus? Bibbidy-bobbidy-boo?"
"Mama!" Luke cried out excitedly, and he stretched his hands to the ceiling. "Up, up!"
Lucy looked at the painted sky again and realized one star was not painted. The Heart of the Lion, Regulus, was in fact a ruby. "Natsu, can you press that?"
He had to leap a little, but he managed to tap it. He tried three times, hitting it harder and harder. "It won't budge."
"Mama!" Luke cried out in frustration. "Up! Me go up!"
"You?" She looked over at him and saw his brown eyes looking serious. "I guess we can try. Natsu, you'll need to lift me."
She pulled Luke out of the backpack and held him in her arms. Natsu grabbed Lucy around the waist and lifted her up.
"Uff! You gained weight, Lucy."
"Shut up!" she snapped. "I'm carrying a baby, that's why."
Proto watched and stood below, ready to catch. "This is a very dangerous situation for Luke to be in," he protested.
Once Natsu held her steady, she lifted Luke up to the ceiling. He reached his pudgy hand up and placed it over the ruby heart. His hand glowed golden, and Lucy sensed a similar magic to Loke's flowing through her son. Suddenly, the wall where the constellation of Aries was painted shifted and moved to the side with the sound of grinding stones.
"No way! Cool!" Natsu cheered. "It really is a secret passageway."
"Naomi's fairy tale was right. It truly does have to be a Celestial Spirit to find it," Lucy realized in awe. "And not only that, but someone with Loke's magic."
Natsu set Lucy down, and they continued on through the passage. The corridor was made of rough stone with pointy stalactites hanging down from a low ceiling like hundreds of daggers waiting to skewer them. The atmosphere felt damp, and Natsu kept sniffing with a look on his face that showed he did not like something in the air. After a long passage, the corridor opened to a massive cave. Natsu lit a flame in his hand and held it aloft to light the room.
"It's beautiful," Lucy said in awe.
Natsu's blaze lit up the limestone cavern into a rainbow of gentle colors, all blending one into another: violets, scarlets, azures, verdant hues of smooth rock that had formed over millions of years. The stones reflected their kaleidoscopic beauty in a vast, glassy lake. In the center of the lake was a small island. A single stalactite and stalagmite stretched from island to ceiling with only a tiny opening between the two. It was hard to see from this distance, but there was definitely something between those two spikes glowing gently with magic.
"That must be it," Lucy whispered. "The Key to the Heart of the Lion." She began to walk toward it as if in a trance.
"Oi!" Natsu grabbed her arm and yanked her back. "Don't touch the water. It smells really horrible."
"He is right," Proto nodded. "Luke is in danger."
Natsu picked up a stone and tossed it into the lake. It hissed and steam rose as the rock melted.
"Acid!" Lucy gasped. "How do we reach the island?"
They searched around for a craft or another booby trap, but there was nothing around. Natsu tried some flame on the lake, but it let off a noxious fume.
"If there's no way to cross, how did Loke get the key to the island?" Lucy huffed after several minutes and no success.
"He's a Celestial Spirit," Natsu shrugged. "He just had to appear there, and he wouldn't have needed to worry about getting back to the shore because he could just poof back into the Spirit World."
Her eyes lit up. "Yes, of course! I could use my Spirits to help us."
Natsu frowned as she reached for her key chain. "Is that smart? I mean, you've spent the whole three months it took to get here not using your Spirit Keys because you were afraid they'd realize that we were heading to Kohinur."
"Yes, but we're underground, and since none of the Celestial Spirits know where the Regulus Key is hidden, none would recognize this place." She pulled out three Silver Keys and gripped them together. "I call upon the triple constellation: Carina the Keel, Puppis the Stern, and Vela the Sails. Unite and form thy true self. Open the Gate of the Argo Navis! Argo!"
Three puffs of smoke exploded above her. Three Celestial Spirits appeared and twirled together. With a bright flash, they combined into a huge ship with a mighty sail. On the prow was a figurehead of a maiden with long golden hair wearing a draping blue toga. She stretched with a yawn, then brushed some barnacles off her arms in annoyance. Across the hull was written the name Argo.
"Whoa! A transformer!" Natsu cried out.
Mercurial blue eyes flashed at him. "I am not a transformer. I," she said haughtily, "am Argo, the great ship of the heavens."
Lucy panted a little as she lowered the three Spirit Keys. "Argo is a bit of a challenge to normal Celestial Spirit mages because she involves calling out three Spirits simultaneously. They can't combine unless all three are summoned at the same time. They're only Silver Keys, but still...it can be tiring, and I'm out of practice," she smiled sheepishly.
"Maybe, but we're still stuck," Natsu frowned. "That lake is acid. Even if it's a Celestial Spirit, that'll hurt it too badly."
Argo huffed disdainfully and turned her prow toward him. "I will tell you this only once, little man. There is no substance I can't sail upon, even sand and solid rock. If I have to, I can even sail in the air."
"Cool!" Natsu laughed. "Bit of an attitude problem, though."
A gangplank lowered from the side of the ship and dropped down to the cave floor. "All aboard."
Lucy began to climb up the ramp with Luke and Proto, but Natsu hesitated. She looked back in confusion. "Not coming? I might need you over there."
"Uh...there's no way I can ride, too. I get sick with transportation."
"I am not mere transportation," the figurehead huffed proudly. "I am Argo."
"Argo is a friend," Lucy tried to reason. "It's like riding with Happy."
"Ah, I see," Natsu nodded. "That's something altogether different!"
Lucy sighed wearily as she sat against the railing encircling the ship. "I still don't see why you get sick when I have to carry you."
Natsu climbed onto Argo's deck, and the ship yelled at him for stomping. He immediately began climbing into the rigging, and Argo screamed at him to get down, then threatened to drop him overboard into the acid if he did not behave. After a minute of playing around, Natsu sat obediently perched right on top of the prow, which still annoyed the blonde figurehead. Finally they set sail over the acidic lake.
During the gentle ride, Lucy felt the strain of calling upon three Celestial Spirits. She kept quiet, not wanting to worry Natsu, but she realized she really was out of shape. Those three months of only calling upon Capricorn once had really done her harm, plus even before then, she had not needed to call upon her Spirits too often. Other than cleaning that hotel for Blue Pegasus, she had not been on a mission since August, before she learned she was pregnant. Now it was July, almost a full year.
Thinking about that made her think of Loke's words, his cold attitude, wanting to take Luke away. She bitterly admitted that she had feared something like this. After all, her son was half-Spirit, so it made sense that he would need the Spirit World as much as the Human World. However, she had always thought they could work out some balance. Loke did not need a long time in the Spirit World to recharge his vitality. Even if he stayed out for an entire day, just a few minutes or hours in the Spirit World was all it took to recover.
"Shouldn't it only take minutes?" she asked to herself.
Natsu looked over at her mumbling and hummed a question.
"Am I traveling too slowly?" Argo asked. She tugged at her toga, glaring at Natsu as if he might be using his position to stare down her clothes.
"Ah, no, not that," Lucy assured. "I was just thinking, with my son going back to the Spirit World, Loke said he would need to stay there until he's ten years old. Shouldn't it take only a few minutes to regain his vitality?"
"Oh, you mean the trial," Argo realized with a sad note. "I admit, I don't know many of the details. It was quite rare for a trial to be called, and even more rare for all of the Celestial Spirits to be gathered to witness it. That hasn't happened since...since...well, I'm not sure. Probably since the thirteen Ecliptic Zodiac Spirits were officially reduced to twelve and Ophiuchus' Gold Key was taken away."
"That huge metal-mouth snake?" Natsu gawked. "What did it do to deserve that?"
"Ophiuchus attacked and nearly killed Scorpio," Argo explained. "That was back when Scorpio was a Royal Star. You simply did not attack a Royal Star, even if you're the all-powerful Snake-Bearer! After that, his new blackened Spirit Key was hidden, Ophiuchus was imprisoned due to his enormous destructive strength, and he slipped away into legend. However, about your son, Lucy, I can tell you this," Argo went on. "Every Celestial Spirit is different. The Zodiacs are powerful and can regain their strength quickly, especially those meant for battle. Some of us are usually only used for a few minutes and can return and rest at our leisure. However, if a Spirit has been out for a very long time, it takes longer to heal. I am the Ship, so when I am called out as Argo, it's usually for a lengthy voyage. Because of that, I am built to last up to three months in this world. That would be fatal to most Celestial Spirits, and especially for a Silver Key Spirit. Yet that is my design. Because of that, I recharge slowly. I demand one month between voyages to recover, and I can only be used three times a year. Each of us are different."
"Even still, it shouldn't take ten years," Lucy pouted.
"In the trial, the Lion asked that you be allowed to visit as soon as it's safe and demanded that Luke be allowed back to the Human World as often as his health allows. These stipulations were granted by the Spirit King."
Lucy looked away. "I still don't like it."
Argo shrugged her arms dramatically. "Not my concern. I'm not like those ninnies who fawn over the Lion all the time. By the way, land ho," she said just moments before crunching into the island, jolting Natsu almost off the prow. When he cried out in shock, Argo glared up at him. "Stop looking down my toga, you pink-headed perv."
Lucy and Natsu leaped off the ship and onto the rocky shore of the tiny island. Nothing was on it but that spiky stalagmite. A box hovering between it and the low stalactite gave off a faint golden glow. Lucy walked toward it with hypnotic fascination. She did not stop until she stood right in front of the small treasure chest with a lock in the shape of a lion's head.
Natsu tugged on her sleeve and whispered worriedly. "Hey, should you really just take it? Shouldn't you send Argo back? She might figure it out."
"Didn't you hear her?" Lucy whispered back, still staring transfixed at the box. "Argo demands a month between voyages, no matter how brief they are. If I send her back, we'll be stuck on this island, and it sure doesn't look like we can fish for our food in this lake." She began to reach out to the box. "I just have to chance it."
Her hands entered the glowing light, and suddenly the pulsing radiance got brighter. She had to look away, and Natsu shielded his eyes. Luke cried out, causing Proto to leap up onto Lucy's shoulders to cover his eyes protectively. Slowly, nearly blind, Lucy reached onward until her fingertips touched the box. She grasped hold of it firmly and pulled it out of its hovering location. It felt like pulling something heavy through water. She prepared herself for something weighty. Sure enough, as she felt it break free from the barrier, the box fell heavily into her hands. As soon as it left the two spikes, the glow vanished. Lucy blinked out the spots in her eyes, then looked at her hands holding the tiny treasure chest.
"I have it," she breathed.
Natsu watched her with a gentle smile, waiting for a reaction. For a moment, Lucy had no clue what to do. Now that she finally had what they traveled for three months to get, she felt...disappointed. She had the Key to the Heart of the Lion, but she wondered if she still had her beloved Lion's heart.
"Lucy?" Natsu asked tenderly, seeing the struggle in her face and pouting with sympathy.
"Yeah, I...I'm okay." She wiped a tear aside. Natsu hugged her around the shoulder, and she leaned into him, glad to have such a loyal friend. "Let's head back."
They turned and reboarded Argo. The figurehead stared at the tiny, hefty box suspiciously. In the end, she decided not to ask what it was. Her job was to get them from shore to island and back again. That was all the Ship would worry about. What suspicious actions her owner was up to was no concern of hers.

Meanwhile, the fight outside raged on. Haftorang and Gray were in a battle of water versus ice on a scale that far surpassed what Juvia had been able to do when he fought with her. Already, he had a gash across his arm from one of Haftorang's spitting attacks that shot the water out faster than a bullet. Gray had been lucky his ice shield deflected it a few centimeters, otherwise that shot would have blasted straight through his chest. Still, he figured he was being toyed with by this fishman. Loke said he had some more powerful transformation. Gray had hoped to end things fast like Loke suggested to he could help fight the former queen, yet many minutes had passed and he had not even scratched the Celestial Spirit.
Kefira and Loke were also having a lopsided battle. His suit was torn apart, his face filthy from getting thrown to the ground too many times, and one particularly bad attack had amputated his arm. The ragged ends of his suit coat swayed as he staggered, and green spirit particles dripped from the wound only to dissipate before hitting the ground. Despite the grievous injury, he refused to return to the Spirit World. If he left Gray alone with these two, he would definitely get killed.
"Swallow thy pride and surrender, Leo," Kefira said with a worried pout. "I can't bear to see thee in such pain."
He dropped his head as dizziness threatened to swoop him back to the Spirit World. He looked at the severed arm and clenched his jaws stubbornly. "Not yet!" He still had his Regulus Ring on his remaining arm, and he raised it in preparation. "O Regulus, grant me your strength." He flinched as the power surged through him, but he refused to give up. If he did not stop her, there was no chance for Gray to win. "Regulus Blast!"
The golden light shot out at her, and Kefira nimbly leaped away, smirking as if she was playing a game of Tag with a child.
"Regulus Impact!" he yelled again, and he made a swinging punch at her that shot out a radiant head of a lion.
She ran over into the lapping ocean waves, hoisting her purple skirt up out of the water, splashing the waves, and laughing as if she was having mere summer fun. However, the golden glowing lion's head twisted back around and came at her again.
"Oh ho!" she giggled, barely dodging as it impacted a nearby boulder and crushed the stone into shards. "More, Leo! Play with me more!"
"Damn you," he hissed. "You're making me use that attack again. So be it! Regulus Solar Flare!" A solid golden beam shot out, and with it went almost all of Loke's remaining magic.
Kefira looked stunned for a moment, then quickly lifted her hands. "Aurora's Shield!" A barrier even brighter than Loke's beam formed in front of her and just barely blocked the strike. Still, it shoved her back over the sand for over a meter.
While Kefira was on the defense, Loke spared a glance over to Gray's side of the beach. As he feared, although ice magic had a higher chance of hurting Haftorang, Gray was simply not powerful enough. If the Southern Fish had been fighting seriously, Gray probably would have been dead within the first minute. Still, even the fishman's half-hearted attacks were powerful.
Loke grimaced as he realized that Kefira's playful antics and Haftorang still using only his usual water attacks proved that they were merely toying with the two of them. Which meant they had another goal on this island.
Lucy!
But does she know the Key to the Heart of the Lion is here, or is she only searching for Lucy? If she knew, she would finish us off fast and go after it before Lucy has a chance to use it. I almost hope Lucy finds it and summonses Regulus back to this world. Last time we went up against Kefira and Zeref, it took all twelve Zodiac Spirits and an army of mages to defeat them, and that was before Haftorang reclaimed the Fomalhaut Key. Kefira is definitely stronger than she was back then, and if Haftorang calls upon Fomalhaut, his full power is equal to the Black Dragon Arcnologia. Just the two of us...even if Natsu and Erza fought too...even if all of Fairy Tail combined fought them... Could we win?
Kefira smirked as she lowered her shield. "Is that all? Or art thou lost in pondering? A Jewel for thy thoughts?"
Loke tensely gritted a smile through the pain. "Thinking of the old days."
"Good memories, I hope," she said with a genuinely amiable smile.
Seeing that gentle expression on her face, Loke could picture the two of them as they were four hundred years ago, close friends, fighting partners, passionate lovers. He had known her since she was born and knew that when her father passed on, this raven-haired beauty would inherit his Regulus Key. Yet she qualified for it long before her parents' untimely death. He had comforted her in her grief, holding her as she wailed for her dead parents, and she turned to him in desperation. That was when they became far more than just owner and Spirit. They became lovers. For ten years, he was hers; he admired her and truly loved her for a time. She was one of the mightiest queens in Earthland, he the King of the Heavens and most powerful Celestial Spirit in the Spirit World. Even when her advisers warned her that she should marry and sire an heir, she refused to leave him. Yet in time, being queen made her colder, more serious, not as fun for the playful Lion...and that was when Naomi entered the palace. He wondered for a moment...
"If I had never betrayed your love, would you have taken this path in life? Would you have supported Zeref or fought against him? If he hadn't received your help...no," he realized softly. "If I had stayed with you instead of running away with Naomi, Zeref never would've been born."
"True," Kefira smirked. "One could say this all started with thy betrayal and disloyalty toward me. Tell me: were three years of marriage worth the wars, the madness, the indiscriminate slaughtering of millions that thy son unleashed? And in the end, thou wert betrayed as well. Perhaps thou wert the strongest at one time, Leo, but even the Lion and King of the Heavens must face karma eventually."
"Mistress-s-s," Haftorang hissed. "She's coming."
Loke's eyes widened. He sensed it too. Lucy was almost at the opening of the cave, and he felt the Regulus Key with her. She hadn't used it!
Of course not, he admonished to himself. He had taken the Regulus Ring back just in case Gray and Natsu tried to fight him about taking Luke away. Even if she had the Key to the Heart of the Lion, she could not use it without the lapis lazuli shard in his ring.
Kefira sighed in disappointment. "Time to end this. I have not been leaping around like a gazelle purely out of fun, although sparring with thee again brings back fond memories." Kefira raised her hands in an arcing sweep. Clouds gathered overhead, and the sky darkened into a threatening color. "Fear not, Leo my lover. Return to the Spirit World and rest. I shall summon thee back under thy full power. Then we shall be united once more, Kohinur and the Lion, as it always was and as it should always be."
A bright light glowed in the sky. Seven orbs burned brilliantly with lightning-like energy drawing lines from one to the other until the shape of the Big Dipper took form. Beams attacked the ground, punching holes into the sandy shoreline. Gray leaped away from two of the hits and bumped into Loke. The strikes pounded into the ground, sending sand flying everywhere in a blinding series of explosions and forcing them to the center of the attack.
Kefira closed her eyes. "Judgment of the Seven Stars..."
"This is bad!" Loke warned, and he tried to shove Gray out of the attack zone.
Gray's face looked stricken as he stared up at a humongous magic circle forming in the sky, eclipsing a huge portion of the island and sea. "Seven Stars...? Wait, isn't that Jellal's form of magic?"
"Get out of here!" Loke screamed.
Kefira waved her fingers in a pattern, and the magic circle glowed blindingly bright. "Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot!"
A powerful burst of light descended from the magic circle and crushed Loke and Gray. The ground below them sunk down, and they slipped down into a sudden sand trap. Gray sank and tried to swim through the sand, yet the magic coming from above was crushing every bone in his body.
"How...the hell...does she know...even this?" Gray struggled to say as he began to sink into the sandpit.
Loke yelled loudly at the tremendous force crushing him. As Gray watched, the Celestial Spirit lost cohesion of his body and melted away into wisps of energy.
"Loke!" he bellowed in horror.
Meanwhile, just at that moment, Lucy and Natsu were watching from the cave entrance. They saw Gray sinking, struggling to keep his head above the sand, and stretching his hand upward desperately as if he could grab hold of something to stop himself from going under. Lucy covered her mouth when she heard Loke howling just before vanishing in agony.
"No!" she whispered. "L-Loke?"
Natsu's mouth dropped as he saw the attack. He remembered getting hit by Jellal's Grand Chariot. It was a miracle he survived the attack. Yet the magic circle in the sky now was far larger than back then. "She knows dragon slayer magic, Lost Magic, and Heavenly Body Magic? She beat Loke and Gray together? Just who is this lady?"
The spell ended, and the dusty clouds of sand began to settle. On the beach was a massive crater, and water from the ocean began to dribble down into it with each wave. Loke was gone, and all they could see of Gray was a limp hand stretched up through the sand at the bottom of the crater. Natsu's mouth was still hanging open, and Lucy had begun to weep. Out on the shoreline, Kefira nonchalantly dusted some grains of sand off her purple gown.
Haftorang looked troubled by the wanton destruction. He glared at Kefira with disapproval and a little terror at the sheer strength of her magic. Then he sighed, reluctantly resigning himself to continue following her for now despite her flaws. He dropped his head in sadness for his old friend Leo the Lion.
"She didn't have to go that far."

End of Chapter 38

Rhov's Corner:
Missed me? I'm alive, this isn't Rhov's ghost. Although if I die, I'll haunt one of you to finish this story for me.
I love caves. As a child, my family took a trip to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. It left me in awe. The Ju Long Tan Cave and Reed Flute Cave in China are two places I want to see before I die and were the inspirations for this cave. You can see Reed Flute Cave at bit.ly/HgiPoE. It's really gorgeous.
If you've read Chapter 280, you've seen Ophiuchus, the Snake-Bearer, known as the "Thirteenth Zodiac" since part of that constellation lies on the ecliptic. The idea of a thirteenth Zodiac was propagated by the 1995 book The 13 Signs of the Zodiac by Walter Berg and Mark Yazaki, a bestseller in Japan. Since then, Ophiuchus often appears in Japanese pop culture, like Final Fantasy. I came up with the idea of adding Ophiuchus weeks ago. Guess I'm reading Hiro-sensei's mind again! ^_^ I had to postpone publishing this chapter so I could figure out how to rewrite Argo's little explanation, since the original anecdote no longer fit into what we've seen of this 13th Zodiac in Chapter 280. I decided to explain it as he was "removed" from the official Zodiacs for doing something bad, since he's pretty bad-ass. Then I was stuck on WHY was he removed. Off to research mythology! Aratus' poem Phaenomena describes Ophiuchus thus: "...he, steadfast with both his feet well set, tramples a huge monster, even the Scorpion, standing upright on his eye and breast." So I thought it'd be fitting if Ophiuchus lost his official position and slipped away into legend after a brawl with Scorpio.
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Lion's Pride