Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 65 - Lucy vs Axel

There was, truly, only so much Kip could do against the rising tide of a fellow Dragon Slayer and member of the Spriggan Twelve. Brandish promptly shrank each cavern he opened, and Axel barreled through all the walls Kip tried to create to block his way. Lucy felt useless in the fight, but none of her spirits were going to be any good other than provide a decent distraction for Axel. Plus, Maron could've lurked anywhere.

They'd made it to the second level of the tower, with two to go until the ground floor, where Kip would have complete control of their environment. The stone tower was already providing a ton of support for his efforts, though. Lucy stayed close while Kip opened up another gap in the wall and they sprinted through it.

Sweat poured down her face but her muscles didn't ache as much as they may once have. All of her training was coming through. Kip glanced over his shoulder and slammed his foot down. Lucy stole a look, too, right before the wall came up and obscured Brandish from their line of sight.

Lucy stopped and flourished one of her keys. "Hold on. There might be something I can do."

"We need to run!"

"We need Brandish off our tail if there's any chance we can get out of here. Kip. Do any of these rooms have sewage, a bathroom, anything?"

Kip swiveled his foot. Axel burst out another wall, landing among the falling dust and debris. Kip pointed to a nearby corridor, practically hidden from the rest of them.

"Destroy it!"

Axel lurched. Lucy swung about toward Axel.

Enough!

"Star Dress: Taurus!"

Kip closed his fist and the room Lucy had asked about collapsed. The pipes within the room burst, and water sprayed everywhere. Axel continued his attack, lurching toward them. Lucy made a similar move, charging in with a hard clenched fist before dodging around him, as he'd thought to plow across her.

She swung up, delivering a punch straight into his solar plexus that knocked the wind from him, and felt more satisfying than anything Lucy had experienced before in her life. Charged by the power of the Bull Spirit, Lucy flung Axel back through one of the walls Kip created.

Brandish stepped through, her steps cold, calculated. Lucy flurried the Aquarius key in front of her.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"

From the water constantly pooling out, a magic circle formed, and out from it sprang the enraged figure of a merwoman poised to punch Lucy in the head.

"You summon me out of a toilet?" Aquarius roared.

Brandish stopped, her jaw slacked and eyes wide. Lucy let out a small sigh of relief. So far so good.

The rubble where Axel landed shook and blew apart as he got back on his feet. Kip faced their opponents, heaving air from his chest. So much magical usage, on top of running up and down the tower, couldn't have been easy on him.

Behind them, the voices of guards began to grow louder. They hadn't been all that stealthy in the first place.

"What are you doing, Lucy?" Brandish and Aquarius asked at the same time.

Aquarius was forced to look at Brandish, and a soft expression blossomed across her face, too.

"Oh. Brandy. I—it's you. I haven't seen you since you were a little girl."

"You're rubbing it in my face, you little twerp," Brandish said. She pointed to Lucy. "I'll kill you for this."

"Aquarius, I'm begging you, tell Brandish the truth!" Lucy exclaimed.