Outside the airship, those scattered glowing letters started pulling themselves back together again!
Hades's brow furrowed; deep wrinkles creased his face as a rare look of real concern crossed it.
"A third-layer spell array?! Is there seriously someone hiding in Fairy Tail right now who can set up three chained spell circles at the same time?"
He knew he couldn't afford to stall any longer. He immediately turned to the goat-headed guy in the sharp suit standing beside him and barked, "Caprico, take the others and land on Tenrou Island now."
"Your top priority is to locate Zeref and bring him back."
"If you have to, use whatever extreme measures are necessary."
"As you command, Master Hades." Caprico gave a slight bow, flicked his hand, and a ripple of magic spread through the cabin. Urutia and the rest of the group blurred for a split second and then vanished completely.
Right after that, a sleek little jetpack popped out of Caprico's back. He leaped out of the airship and shot toward Tenrou Island like a bullet.
As he flew, tiny yellow balls the size of fingernails started raining down from his body. Get close enough and you'd see that every single one of those balls had a masked soldier inside, each one wearing the Grimoire Heart emblem and gripping a different weapon.
Meanwhile, above Tenrou Island, thick storm clouds were gathering so fast you could actually watch it happen.
BOOM——!
A low, rumbling thunder rolled through the clouds, and huge golden arcs of lightning danced inside them, lighting up the dark sky in flashes of gold.
CRAAACK——!
One lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel tore straight down from the clouds and struck a soldier the instant he broke free from his ball and hit the ground.
"ARRGH—!"
His scream cut off before it even really started. He didn't even manage one step before he was reduced to a charred husk in the blinding flash.
And that was just the opening act.
It was like someone had opened the floodgates of a thunderstorm. Countless more golden lightning bolts followed, pouring down like a torrential downpour of pure destruction.
They had eyes. Every single bolt zeroed in on a landing soldier with perfect accuracy, mercilessly mowing them down.
In seconds, screams, thunder, and the explosive crack of trees getting split apart turned the whole island into a scene straight out of the apocalypse.
A particularly massive bolt ripped through the air, heading straight for Caprico while he was still flying. He clicked his tongue, looking seriously annoyed.
He yanked hard on the controls; his jetpack carved a wild arc through the sky and barely dodged the deadly strike.
The leftover current still rocked his ride hard enough that he had to drop altitude and make a rough landing inside some ancient ruins below, totally losing air superiority for the moment.
Inside the airship, Hades stared coldly out the window at the one-sided lightning massacre happening over Tenrou Island and at his soldiers getting wiped out like dumplings hitting boiling water.
"This scale of magic power… and this level of precision… it's way beyond a regular Ten Wizard Saint."
He muttered to himself, eyes dark and thoughtful.
"That little brat Makarov's been hiding some scary cards up his sleeve."
He slowly turned and looked into the shadows behind him. "Bluenote, you go too."
"Caprico and the others can't handle whoever's controlling that lightning."
From the darkness stepped a tall man with long emerald-green hair tied back, wearing a white trench coat. He tilted his head up, feeling the raging thunder magic outside, and a wild grin spread across his face.
"This guy… can fly."
Without another word, he strode out of the cabin and vanished through the door.
Hades stood alone, staring down at the island still standing proud beneath the storm. Something complicated flickered in his eyes (old memories, a faint trace of regret), but it was quickly swallowed by pure, obsessive determination.
"No one is going to stop me from reaching the ultimate abyss of magic."
"Not even you… Mavis."
His voice was low and unshakable, echoing inside the empty airship.
"I have to awaken Zeref. Only he can usher in the true age of Great Magic!"
With that, he threw his huge cape back dramatically, walked over to the control panel, took the helm himself, and pointed the massive airship straight at Tenrou Island for the final approach!
"WAAAAH! What is going ON now?!" Lucy screamed, hands clamped over her ears as she sprinted down a forest path while thunder shook the ground.
Every giant boom made her scrunch her shoulders and shiver.
"First a huge storm, and now lightning like it's the end of the world!"
She glanced up nervously at the sky full of writhing golden serpents.
"This has to be magic, right? Who casts that many lightning bolts all at once like it's raining?! That's insane!"
Walking beside her in his suit, Loke chuckled and answered, "Yep. That's Laxus's magic: Thunder Palace."
"Not only can it mess with the weather on a massive scale, it uses the lightning particles everywhere in the air to scan, lock on, and fry any target it wants."
"Didn't you see how it cleaned up all those enemies dropping from the sky in one go?"
"Wooow…" Wendy, walking on Lucy's other side, stared up at the sky with sparkling eyes.
"That's amazing! Doing such precise, wide-range attacks from that far away…"
She tilted her head toward Loke, looking a little confused. "But… Mr. Loke, aren't you Lucy's celestial spirit? How do you know so much about the other guild members?"
"Because it's love!" Loke instantly struck a pose he thought looked super cool and winked at Lucy. "Everything about Lucy is—"
"Hey! Cut it out! We're in the middle of a crisis; quit saying weird stuff!" Lucy snapped, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly fell out.
She sighed at Wendy. "Ignore him. Loke joined Fairy Tail a long time before I did because of… special circumstances, so he's been around the guild way longer and knows everybody's abilities."
"Ohhh, I get it now!" Wendy nodded.
Then her face clouded with worry as she remembered Ur's frantic expression before they split up.
"I hope Miss Ur is okay… I really want her to find her daughter and make up…"
Hearing that, Lucy let out a long sigh too, looking totally done with life. "Yeah… who would've thought Ur's daughter was one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory—and the leader, Urutia, no less?"
"This family drama is way too complicated."
She rubbed her temples. "Why do I always end up dragged into world-level crises the second I step outside?!"
"We've already tangled with two of the three big dark guilds in the Balam Alliance! Please tell me we're not gonna piss off Tartaros next…"
The more she thought about it, the more depressed she got. "Right now I should be lying on Tenrou Island's beach, soaking up the sun, sipping a cold fruity drink, celebrating passing the exam (even though technically I didn't pass it myself)!"
"Not running for my life through a forest in a thunderstorm!"
Loke laughed softly at her miserable face and offered, "Lucy, if you really don't wanna fight, we can leave Caprico to someone else—like Erza, who's probably nearby anyway."
"No way! I've got this!" Lucy shot back instantly.
She straightened up, eyes blazing with determination, and punched her fist into her palm. "Saving a celestial spirit who's being controlled against his will is a celestial spirit mage's duty and honor!"
Wendy giggled at how fast Lucy's mood flipped, then thought for a second and asked excitedly, "Miss Lucy, if we manage to make a contract with Capricorn this time, you'll have ten of the twelve Zodiac keys, right?"
"Yep!" Lucy's eyes instantly turned into sparkling stars; all her gloom vanished. "There are only twelve golden keys in the whole world, and I'll have ten! It's a miracle!"
"You don't think… maybe it's got something to do with me impulsively joining that super sketchy 'Church of Chaos' a while back, do you?"
Right then, they rounded a corner hidden by thick vines.
Up ahead, at the entrance of some crumbling stone ruins, a goat in a black suit slowly stepped out.
Loke's smile vanished; his eyes sharpened. He moved half a step in front of Lucy and Wendy and whispered, "Heads up—that's our guy. Capricorn, Caprico."
"Got it! Leave it to me!" Lucy grinned, pulled out a golden key, spun it in front of her, and called:
"Open, Gate of the Twins—Gemini!"
Golden light exploded outward. When it faded, Gemi and Mini were hovering in the air.
"Gemini—copy me!"
"Piri-piri~!" The two little spirits touched Lucy's shoulders.
Poof! A huge cloud of white smoke swallowed her up.
When it cleared—there were now two completely identical Lucys standing there!
The Gemini-Lucy pulled out two golden keys of her own and crossed them in front of her:
"Open, Gate of the Archer—Sagittarius!"
"Open, Gate of the Maiden—Virgo!"
Two more pillars of golden light slammed down.
Sagittarius appeared with his giant bow, and Virgo popped up looking as calm as ever.
From a distance, Caprico's eyebrows shot up. "Double opening… and performed by a copy?"
"There's actually a celestial spirit mage here who can pull off double gates?!"
Wendy clapped both hands over her mouth, eyes wide. "Gemini turned into Miss Lucy and can summon spirits too?!"
"Exactly!" Lucy winked proudly and whispered, "I only found out they could do this after I asked. This way I can bring out four spirits at once!"
"Caprico's magic is Human Subordination—it's super effective against humans, weakens us, and can even reflect our attacks."
"So my own power is useless against him, but Gemini are spirits, so they're immune!"
"It does burn through my magic like crazy, though…"
"L-Lucy… Heartfilia?" The second Caprico heard that name, his whole body froze like invisible strings had yanked him still.
Memories flooded back. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes locked onto the blonde girl in front of him.
Her face slowly overlapped with the gentle, powerful blonde woman sealed away in his memories…
"Lady… Layla?" The name slipped out before he could stop it.
Lucy smirked. She and Gemini moved in perfect sync, each spinning a golden key over themselves:
"Star Dress: Gemini Form!"
"Star Dress: Taurus Form!"
Two massive golden magic circles enveloped them.
When the light faded, Lucy was in a blue-and-white jester-style outfit, while Gemini-Lucy wore a black-and-white battle maid dress.
Then Lucy clapped her hands together at her chest, thrust them forward, and three-colored lights—blue, cyan, and red—flared around all the spirits:
"Vernier!"
"Arms!"
"Re-Raise!"
Wendy felt the familiar magic and gasped, "That's… my support magic?!"
"Bingo!" Lucy looked up excitedly.
"Gemini Form lets me use the magic of anyone Gemini has copied before!"
"It's only about half strength, nowhere near what Gemini can do at full power, but still!"
"That's still incredible!" Wendy's eyes were full of stars. "It's like Miss Lucy is a perfectly coordinated team all by herself!"
"Heh heh, you're not wrong!" Lucy scratched the back of her head, grinning. "We've got a tank, an archer, support, and an assassin—full party!"
Then her shoulders slumped and she whined, "It's just… all of them are draining my magic pool at the same time…"
"Lucy Heartfilia," Caprico called out in a low, intense voice.
Lucy automatically went "Huh?" before realizing the enemy was talking to her.
She snapped her head up and met his gaze. Even through the sunglasses she could feel a burning stare locked on her, giving her goosebumps. She hugged her arms and backed up two steps. "W-what do you want?! I-I'm warning you, I'm not easy to mess with!"
Virgo sidled up next to her, hands politely folded. "I understand, Princess. This type of person is called a pervert."
She tilted her head. "Are you two perhaps engaging in some strange kind of play?"
"NO WE ARE NOT! And there's a kid right here—stop saying weird stuff!!"
Wendy tilted her head, big question mark floating above her. "Play… what's that?"
Before Lucy could figure out how to explain, Caprico suddenly threw his head back and let out a loud, manic laugh.
"Hahaha—HAHAHA!"
"To think I'd meet Layla's daughter here, like this! This has to be—"
He cut himself off, eyes blazing with fanatic light behind his shades.
"Even President Hades is smiling on me!"
"Mom?!" Lucy's heart skipped a beat; her brows slammed together.
"You knew my mom?!"
"Lucy, stay cool!" Loke stepped forward, pushing his glasses up, golden light already gathering around his fists.
"Don't let him mess with your head! Right now we beat him and free Capricorn from the control—that's when we'll get answers!"
He didn't wait for a reply. Loke shot forward like a golden streak, fists roaring toward Caprico!