Little star bright

Star stuck

If she had been given the choice, she would not have spent the early morning hunting down criminals, but she was thankful for the small blessing that the fight was a quick one. It had been one of the easier dark guilds they'd fought. Falling one by one they were now on the retreat, but no one could ever say Fairytail didn't try to do all jobs thoroughly, so obviously they'd pursued. Besides, they should have known abandoning their guildmates to be rounded up and arrested would set Natsu off.

"Get back here you cowards!"

Ah, there he went. Lucy couldn't help a small smile as she watched her fiery friend charge ahead. He would easily lose them if they let him so she pushed herself forward, forcing herself to close the distance. She wasn't alone on the battlefield, her friends were around and tying up the other dark guild members, but she was the only one who bothered to chase after Natsu. She assumed they had more confidence in him then she did, or noticed her already backing him up and left it. Whatever the reason, she was soon behind him and Happy, as he haphazardly chucked fire in their direction, knocking some off their feet and slowing the others down. The flames left on the ground were being ignored, getting higher and higher as he charged through. The smoke alone could choke someone out if he continued. Another reason perhaps that no one followed him. But still, she couldn't allow this. If for nothing else then the complaints they'll get later about destroying such a beautiful landscape.

"I open the gate of the ram, Aries!"

In a whirl of pink Aries appeared at her side, fidgeting and looking away from her.

"Y-yes Lucy. How can I help you?"

She'd started to get more confident with her, but she got the feeling that it would be a long time before she could look her in the eye. Still, she was the perfect spirit for the job!

"Aries, can you use your wool like a blanket and smother the flames?"

Normally she wouldn't use wool for a fire, she wasn't crazy. But her other spirits were a bit more dramatic and explosive in nature, which could just add to her problems. Plus, Aries's wool was unique to her, if she wanted it to be flame resistant then all it took was a pinch of magic and it was so.

"I-I can try!"

The sheep spirit closed her eyes in concentration before a new type of wool circled in her hands. It was a deep orange, slowly growing bigger and bigger. At her command it broke apart and spread out, suffocating the flames before disappearing. She let out a cheer, giving the sheep spirit a big grin.

"Nice job Aries, knew I could count on you!"

"I-I try...but i would have been quicker if I was Aquarius"

The sheep spirit sighed, looking down at her feet, defeated. She shook her head in response, placing her hand on Aries's shoulder.

"Nonsense, you did great. I'm happy that it was you-" She was cut off by a loud explosion, followed by a plume of smoke in the distance. A small sigh escaped her lips as she faced the noise and destruction that was no doubt in front of her. "That sounds like he's caught up, let's make sure he doesn't hurt himself eh?"

"O-ok, let's go!"

With a small nod to her friend she charged forward, leading the way as they ran through the trees, edging ever closer to Natsu. They broke through a group of trees and found themselves in a large clearing. Standing in front of them, tall and proud, was the fire dragonslayer himself. He should be happy at his victory but he was currentl;y scowling, ranting at his enemies about leaving their allies behind. Well, at least he was consistent about that kind of thing. Happy was at his side, egging him on with insults of his own. She shared an exasperated look with her spirit before taking a quick glance around the clearing. There were barely any scorch marks or flames, so she supposed the fight had been over in seconds once he had actually caught up.

What a shocker.

She sighed, shaking her head. She'd have been really angry if they'd destroyed this place. It was decorated with a ring of trees and hedges, so flowers bloomed between and she could spot small animals hiding out in the shadows. The flowers created bright patches of colour throughout this wide, natural space and it would have been a crying shame to destroy it.

It's just all so pretty. The greenery, the flowers, the strange man in the bushes- Wait what?

She startled out of her own daydreaming with the realisation that yes, there was a weirdo in the bushes hurriedly putting on a gas mask. In his boasting and exuberance, Natsu hadn't noticed him, though that might have been a small blessing she soon realised. The man had a large mailbag filled with something and he was currently reaching for something inside. From what she'd learnt of this dark guild, they were being hunted for creating strange potions and gasses. They were made to any description and could do any number of things, ranging from the highly illegal to the mildly annoying, they weren't picky about their clients. They were also constantly experimenting new ideas and creations on nearby towns, causing havoc and misfortune as they created more and more new blends. Their alchemist was a genius, shame he was so corrupted.

But in any case, who knew how such experimental and unstable products would react to fire? No, she had to be the defense this time, lest they all get caught up in some big magical explosion or something. She darted forward, Aries wordlessly following her. She had to give it to her, she knew how to step up when it counted, despite her fears.

"Aries! Create an airtight wool barrier around Natsu and Happy! I'll try and go for a first strike!"

Aries stumbled for a moment, clearly concerned about her, before breaking away to do as she asked. Muttering apologies (to who, Lucy wasn't sure), before doing as she asked. Giving a stuttering explanation that they were being attacked before creating a defensive barrier around them.

She jumped in front as the stranger finally pulled out a small black, sphere, probably one of their newest inventions that he was trying to run away with. He gave it a quick test lob before tossing it at them, clearly hoping to catch her off guard and maybe get past the wool barrier. Well she doubted that would happen, she trusted Aries to protect her friends, so now it was down to her.

Time seemed to slow as her mind moved into hypergear to come up with a plan on the spot. Summon Horologium, use him as an airtight shield against the magical gas, then either wait it out or risk an early attack if it looks like he'll lob more. She had to get that bag away from him before any magic could be used to attack him, lest the whole thing reacted negatively and they ended up with ten heads or something.

She nodded to herself, reaching for her silver key and putting her sketchy plan into motion. However her timing was a little off, or perhaps a little too good. She had clearly failed step one as, in perfect slow motion, she watched in horror as Horologium formed around her...and the small gas bomb. It hit her in the stomach before releasing a dark coloured gas, quickly filling up the small clock cabinet. She began to hack and cough as it filled her lungs and shortened her breath. She could feel the magic burn through her veins, doing something to her as it pulsed beneath her skin. Her own magic left her and she felt more than saw both her spirits vanish, forcefully returning to the spirit world. She cursed as she stood on shaky legs but felt a thin sense of relief that the gass had been taken away along with Horologium, a last ditch act to protect them and she silently thanked him for it.

Her foe was clearly reaching back into his bag and she couldn't allow that. Through a fog addled mind and a body that felt heavy and sluggish, like she was an outsider trying to control something that didn't belong to her, she reached for her whip. Her attack was desperate, slow, one that was easily dodged, but it served as a big enough distraction. Happy, having apparently talked some sense into Natsu about using fire, flew past her. Well, she thought it was him, all her mind truly processed was a blue blur slamming into their enemy before her eyes closed shut. The magic took its toll and she absently felt herself collapse, like a puppet with its strings cut, but it felt so abstract, so far away. The last thing she understood were blurry voices yelling through a sort of thick haze, before everything went blank.