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kilannad · 1 year

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As the Stars Burn On Chapter 10

Ao3. Masterlist.

Fire of Shandora

Luffy cursed as Enel teleported away, barely into their fight. He’d been startled, for some reason, when Luffy had been unaffected by his lightning. Didn’t he know that wouldn’t work on rubber? Must be an idiot of some kind.

Still, now he needed to find him again. Damnit.

“Straw Hat!” Luffy turned at the call, finding none other than Aisa scrambling around the destroyed walls. Zoro’s fight must have been getting serious, because Luffy didn’t remember breaking most of those. Probably. “I can still hear Enel, so I’ll guide you to him.”

“Really? Great!” Luffy scooped Aisa up, settling her on his back so she could give directions. Like hell would he let the stupid lightning bastard get away.

☉

Lucy closed Sagittarius’s gate, cursing Mantra in her head. She hoped the stupid priest could hear it. She’d been warned that the priests could predict movements before they were made, but hadn’t truly realized how annoying it’d be in a fight. Her respect for Natsu defeating Cobra went up a little more.

Satori gave another stupid ‘ho ho!’ laugh that made her want to kill him. Lucy was burnt, bleeding, had flowers in her hair and was absolutely covered in fish guts. She had never quite hated anything as much as she hated these stupid ‘surprise cloud balls’ that were absolutely filling the air or the ridiculous ball man that controlled them.

“You know,” Satori said idly, jumping his way cheerily from one floating ball to the next, occasionally doing a pirouette that sent it spinning in her direction. She ducked one, only for a few birds to pop out and sing a little song. In her distraction, another floated too close before it burst into a hundred tiny glass shards. She gasped in pain, lunging backward. She overbalanced, but used her whip to catch herself on a vine and swing herself to another perch. “Your ability is truly fascinating. How is it you can summon servants to fight for you?”

She snarled, rage rising so quickly it left her dizzy. “They are not servants. They’re my friends and partners.” Lucy did a mental scan of her magic--she’d only used Sagittarius so far, and not for long, so she was doing well. Maybe it was time to take out the big guns. She found the Key she wanted easily, slashing it through the air. “Open, Gate of the Horse! Mă!”

In a clatter of hooves and golden light, she appeared with a war cry. Quick as a mustang, Mă grabbed Lucy’s arm and swung her onto her back, just in time to avoid an absolute barrage of clouds. Mă jumped off the branch, teleporting as they crested and appearing on another huge branch. Lucy gasped at the suck in her magic, but was glad for it when the mess of clouds exploded with a rain of rocks.

“And they have different abilities too,” Satori exclaimed. “How exciting! What a pity that God is not taking new followers.”

“I would never follow someone like him,” Lucy snapped. She patted Mă’s shoulder. “Thanks for the save.”

“Sure thing! I take it we’re kicking Ball McGee in the ass?”

“Yeah.” Lucy eyed him as he began sending another wave of clouds at them. Mă’s ability was teleportation in essence--Lucy doubted she could use any of the more advanced abilities with her power level. That was alright. Teleportation was all they would need. “And I know how we’re going to do it. Think you can lend me your power?”

With a bright, sparkling laugh, Mă pulled her scimitars out, snapping them together at the hilt so they created one double bladed weapon. “Always, Lady Lucy.”

☉

Laxus dodged another piercing attack, bringing his leg up in a high kick. The lightning attack hit the damn bird--Laxus thought it might be a huge vulture of some kind--sending it squawking. Before he could press the advantage, Laxus found himself once again stuck.

He snarled, sparking lightning all across his body. Sadly, the nature of cloud string was that it was still made out of cloud, and therefore absorbed lightning. His power lit the jungle spanning web up, and even burned away some of the thinning strands, but he was back to where he’d started; stuck.

Shura got control of his mount and swept up, but Laxus avoided him and the string trap as he’d been doing--by teleporting away. It was a stop gap measure, since Shura was staying firmly in the mess of webs which he was avoiding in a manner that could only be described as somehow. Laxus needed to defeat Shura, and to do that he had to get close, since the bastard was far too good at dodging his ranged attacks. He had a nasty suspicion that Shura and the other priests had experience dodging angry lightning users. The fact that he could predict movements didn’t fucking help.

Laxus wasn’t running low on magic yet, but that didn’t mean much; battles of attrition were always full of nasty turns. He’d just have to end this, once and for all.

☉

Luffy cursed as he fell off of Enel’s flying ship. He wasn’t entirely sure where the thing came from, only that Aisa had pointed to it as it rose out of a hill and said that was where Enel was. Now, after another brief exchange where Luffy had discovered that melting gold hurt, he had a giant ball of gold attached to his arm and dragging him down. At least Nami would be happy that he found the gold.

The black clouds puffing out of the golden ship did not inspire confidence though.

☉

Lucy whipped another cloud ball towards Satori, watching as it ricocheted off of the one he sent and quickly dissolved into a mess. The priest, significantly more disheveled than a few minutes ago, cursed as he was forced to dodge. Mă sucked a ball heading for them into her sphere and it appeared behind Satori in the next moment, ramming into him and bursting into a mess of vipers. Only a quick grab onto a passing cloud saved him from plummeting to the ground.

Mantra, Lucy had figured out, could not predict moves that weren’t directed with intent. Which meant that Satori’s great weapons were also his greatest weakness. Now, if only they weren’t hundreds of feet into the air, she might feel confident. As it was, she was glad her mother had taught her to ride bareback, because only Mă’s speed and ability were saving her life. Lucy’s magic was starting to flag, though, and she knew she needed to end this soon. On the bright side, Satori seemed to agree if the mad rage glinting in his eye was any indication.

On the bad side, he showcased this by stringing together a snake of cloud balls.

“Mă,” Lucy warned, gripping the back of her jerkin tightly as they braced. The first ball hit them--an acrid smelling smoke screen which was ironically perfect. With a burst of magic, Mă redirected the rest of the string of clouds, and Lucy watched with watering eyes as they slammed into where Satori was standing. Gunpowder, a burst of sticky looking vines, and a trio of explosions all went off at once, sending him flying down below.

Mă jumped from branch to branch down to the ground, each step jarring Lucy’s injuries. By the winding cloud river, Satori laid unconscious. Vindictive pride swelled in her chest; she’d managed to defeat him all on her own. Maybe Laxus was right about her being stronger than she thought.

Lucy slid gratefully off of Mă, wincing at her ribs. They were probably broken, but that wasn’t the worst injury she’d ever had. So long as she didn’t need to fight anyone else seriously she should be okay. Laying down sounded like a great idea right about then.

“I hope Laxus and the others are alright,” she murmured.

Mă made a surprised sound, pointing up and away. “Is that Laxus?”

Lucy dragged her head off the ground. The sky was black with clouds now, and though she hadn’t thought much of it before, she had been hearing various bursts of lightning for the last few minutes. She’d assumed it was Laxus in his own battle. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Mă pointed to the sky above Skypiea proper, the cloud island that the Straw Hats had yet to visit at all--and the one their logpose had been pointing to. A black mass of clouds, visibly bursting at the seams with lightning, was hovering just above the tallest buildings. She’d never seen Laxus do anything like it; of course, Laxus had no reason to be over there. But he wasn’t the only lightning user on the island.

“Oh Mavis,” Lucy breathed, injuries forgotten as she scrambled to get back on Mă. “Get us over there now! We need to evacuate the people.” A lightning bolt shattered the ground where she’d just been standing, pain lacing through her body in a starburst. She didn’t let it slow her down.

Skypiea was filled with people and if Enel was filling the sky with massive amounts of lightning, it wasn’t for anything good.

☉

Laxus managed to complete his magic circle, the same one he’d used against Mystogan but far more wide reaching. With a shouted incantation, he filled the entire forest with light, so quickly even Shura and his stupid bird couldn’t avoid it. They fell to the ground shortly after and he was glad to stop for a breath. He’d used more magic then he’d meant to, but his injuries were minor. Ish.

The burn on his hip was likely to scar. At least it hadn’t damaged his Straw Hat tattoo.

A boom of thunder shook the very air, and he wrenched his head up. He hadn’t noticed during his fight, but it wasn’t just his power lighting up the forest and sky; the thickest storm clouds he’d ever seen were filling every inch of the horizon. Worse, he saw the center of the storm--a massive roiling ball of pure lightning--hovering above Skypiea. Even with the distance, he could sense the energy in it, greater than the Thunder Palace or any attack he could ever bring to bear. Likely greater than all of the magic in his body could produce at one time. A bolt of it shot down, destroying a tower of clouds.

Laxus was teleporting in the next second, traveling through the air as just another flash of lightning.

☉

Luffy ran up Giant Jack, dragging the ball of gold behind him. It slowed him down a little but it wouldn’t stop him. Far to the side, the storm clouds roiled, crackling with energy above an island he could just barely make out. They hadn’t had time to explore it yet, but he couldn’t worry about it right now. He trusted someone on the crew would figure it out--Laxus, probably. He’d been really annoyed when Luffy called dips on Enel; he’d wanted to at least try to take a bite out of the logia, which Luffy could appreciate.

He turned a corner and there, about even with his height, was the huge golden ship that Enel was flying, hovering right next to something caught on a floating island cloud. Something big and gold, moss covered but etched with markings Luffy didn’t know.

The Golden Bell of Shandora.

☉

It didn’t take Laxus long to get to the island proper, coming down into a mess of chaos. Men in white uniforms and two blonde women were directing an evacuation, a riot of people with wings swiftly stampeding through the streets and towards the docks.

“Laxus!”

He turned at the shout and saw that one of the blondes he’d dismissed in a brief glance as a local was actually Lucy. She was wearing the same sort of half shirt half dress that the locals did, in a deep red color, but it had clearly been pulled over her shirt and skirt in a hurry. She smelled of fire and blood, and favored her right side, but didn’t seem otherwise harmed. Tension bled from his shoulders and he reached for her before he could stop himself.

Lucy slammed into his side, right on the burn, hair frazzled. Laxus swallowed back his hiss of pain and put up with it until she pulled away. “The clouds-”

“I know,” he assured her. He looked up, another bolt shooting from the sky. He jumped to intercept it, swallowing the energy down. The boost of energy made him feel better, but this didn’t seem like something that a little snacking could fix. A pity it was his only option. When he landed, he pushed Lucy towards the fleeing refugees. Most of the town seemed to have emptied out, which he was grateful for. If he fucked this up- “Get going,” he ordered.

“What? What about you?” He didn’t say anything, only looked up. Was the ball of lightning getting closer? Lucy sucked in a sharp breath, horror and realization playing across her features. She’d always been too smart for her own good. “Are you nuts?!”

“I’m their only shot,” he told her.

“A dragon slayer can’t eat energy stronger than their magic,” she snapped back. He didn’t try to argue that his magic was stronger than some little logia. It’d be a lie and they both knew it; the maelstrom above their heads crackled as if in answer. It didn’t change the facts though.

“If that attack hits, this island will be vaporized. Their homes, their livelihoods, all gone in a blink. I can’t let that happen.”

“You will die!” Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she lunged forward to grip the edges of his coat. He let her shake him back and forth. “Natsu barely had a few mouthfuls of ethernano and was sick for a week; if you try to consume all of that energy at once, your magic container will crack and you will die.”

“And I can’t stand by and do nothing while a city is threatened!” He bit his lip as soon as the words were out. He hadn’t meant to let that slip, but already he could see the understanding pass over Lucy’s face.

He’d threatened Magnolia with destruction by lightning. He’d willingly destroyed and held his home hostage, had let his power and insecurities control him. Laxus would be dead before he let that happen to someone else.

“Miss!” One of the white hatted officials ran up. “Everyone else has been evacuated and I’ve sent men to speak to the Shandorans. We need to leave.”

Laxus detangled Lucy’s hands from his coat, pulling back. She didn’t look away from him, but a stubborn set came to her jaw. “Go ahead, Captain. I’m staying here.”

“Lucy-!”

“If you’re going to do this then I’m not leaving you,” she spat. The local captain looked between them, but gave a brisk salute and headed off to the final ship. Above them, the clouds gave another clap of thunder.

“Don’t be stupid,” Laxus argued, panic rising in his chest. If he wasn’t able to swallow all the energy before his container cracked, then it was highly likely that there would still be some destruction. Lucy could be caught in the crossfires.

“I’m not being stupid,” she countered, reaching out and pulling his shirt up to press her hand against the tattoo of their jolly roger. “I’m trusting you to do this.” She swallowed, meeting his eyes. He could feel her shaking, but she didn’t waver in her decision. “And I’m trusting you to survive it. Us Straw Hats are good at doing the impossible, right?”

A lump rose in his throat and he did his best to memorize how she looked. Her hair was frizzing, she had a split lip, was covered in blood and something else that absolutely reeked, but her eyes showed only trust and determination. Laxus had never seen someone so beautiful. “Right,” he finally managed. Thunder boomed, louder now, and the energy in the air reached a wild crescendo. They were out of time.

Laxus swung his coat over Lucy’s shoulders, wrapping it tightly around her. She practically swam in it, but only nodded when he ordered, “Keep that on you. And take cover.”

For a moment she hesitated, and Laxus had the stupid urge to kiss her, since he likely wouldn’t have a chance in the future, but decided that was an asshole move. He was trying to avoid being an asshole these days. In the end, Lucy backed up and took cover behind some overturned carts and Laxus was faced with the task before him.

The only chance he’d have of this working is if he emptied his magic reserves first, to allow the best chance to absorb all of Enel’s attack. Except he had no good place to discharge his power--he couldn’t throw it into the sky, because it’d only mix with Enel’s and then make it impossible for him to eat; he couldn’t send it into the ground without destroying the island he was trying to save; to one side of the island were the refugee ships and to the other was Upper Yard and all his crew.

Laxus didn’t have time to consider his options, so with a wild prayer that Mavis still watched him even though he wasn’t a Fairy anymore, he did the only thing he could do; he pumped his magic into the air.

There was always a certain amount of lightning in the air from the atmosphere. On Skypiea and Upper Yard, it was concentrated, which only now did Laxus think was Enel’s doing. So he pushed his magic out along those same pathways. Out and out, careful not to overload any one area and accidentally create a full bolt of energy, Laxus dumped his magic into the air. Down he spun into his core, into his second origin, and out he dragged it all. It made him dizzy and left him feeling pulled in a hundred directions, like he was spreading himself thin over the sky. Words filtered in, disjointed and confusing.

“I am glad to call you my friend, as our ancestors did.”

“God, please protect us.”

“Straw Hat! My name is Gan Fall, and I can help you.”

“Robin! Are you okay? Damnit, Chopper, wake up!”

“You dare to defy me?! I am God! And this imperfect world will fall.”

“I won’t let you get that bell!”

Again and again, some voices familiar, others totally alien. He could hear them all, was connected to each of them, for a few precious seconds. This, Laxus realized, must have been how Enel used his Mantra to hear everything on the island.

The realization was ripped from him as all of his magic disappeared. He gasped, darkness pushing the edges of his vision, pain racking his body. He clung on to consciousness with every inch of his will. He couldn’t fall yet; not while Lucy stood behind him. Not while the Skypieans were begging for a miracle.

Above him, the sky flashed with light. Hell rained down.

Laxus opened his mouth as the power erupted, pure destruction barreling towards him. He sucked in, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of energy. It fought and burned going down, crackling against his skin. He didn’t stop, only reached out and grabbed and grabbed, unwilling to pause for even a second.

Pain like he had never known it radiated from every inch of his being. Laxus felt as if his veins and nerves were dying one by one; his very magic aching with the sudden influx of power. He took every watt into his body, felt it fill his second origin, his core, up and up until it was too much, until he was too full and was about to burst. Still he didn’t stop, not while Skypiea was at risk.

It was the longest three seconds of his life.

By the time it was over, the clouds were black and empty of power, floating gently above the island. Shopfronts and homes stood unharmed all around him, brightly colored banners cheerily lining the street. Laxus faltered, his knees buckling, lightning sparking freely across his body. His ears were ringing and everything hurt; all around him his awareness was both all encompassing and quickly fading. Too full still, magic falling away from his body like dropping petals. A bolt shot off him, and he barely gained enough control to shoot it up.

Something touched him, and he pulled his eyes open--when had they closed? Lucy sat in front of him, which was wrong for some reason. He knew. Too dangerous. He couldn’t control-

“-release.”

He blinked, sluggish. His whole body was encompassed in lightning, yet she didn’t let go. Only held onto his wrists.

“Have to…energy…up.”

Lucy flinched, tears running down her face. She was hurting but Laxus couldn’t figure out why.

Magic bubbled in his chest and energy surged across his body, into the air.

Oh. He hadn’t considered what he’d do with the energy when he had it. Then again, he had expected to be dead right about now.

“Laxus!” The voice cut through. Lucy’s voice. Why was she still holding onto him? He had to be hurting her. “Send the magic up. You have to let it go.”

He could do that. If Lucy was asking then it had to be important. He just needed to send the magic back. One attack should do it.

“Please, Laxus.”

He pulled back from her, tipping his head back so he was looking at the sky. The clouds were falling away, blue coming through. If he hit that it would be okay. Then he could rest.

Opening his mouth was painful; pulling on the magic burning its way through his system was worse.

Still he did it.

☉

Enel turned away from Luffy, scowling at the still standing Skypiea.

“How?!” he snarled. Luffy clung onto the old man as he guided his weird bird horse around the flying ship. Enel absently slung a javelin of lightning their way, but they avoided it easily. “How could anyone stop the Raigo?”

From Skypiea, a pillar of lightning sprung into the sky, bright yellow and crackling with power. Luffy didn’t need super hearing to know it was Laxus’s roar attack.

“Hey Enel!” Luffy yelled. He reared his arm back, letting the gold act as a counterweight. “You know what they call Laxus on the Blue Sea? The Thunder God! And there is no way-” the bird rushed forward, then dropped away, slinging Luffy forward. Enel turned to look at him, rage painted across his face. “-we’ll let you destroy this island!”

Luffy hauled the golden ball forward, slamming it into Enel’s gut with all the strength he could muster. He slammed back, over the railing of the ship and still further, into the side of the huge golden bell. The ball on Luffy’s arm broke away, Enel falling unconscious as he tipped into the sky. The ship stopped flying, dropping down like a rock. The bell tipped over the edge, falling last and loudest. Luffy laughed, bright and satisfied when he heard the ethereal song of the Golden Bell.

And for the first time in four hundred years, someone lit the Fire of Shandora.

#as the stars burn on #fairy tail fanfic #one piece fanfic #laxus dreyar #lucy heartfilia #laxus x lucy

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