Lucy's POV

I glared at Dashti, who's wolf ear sprouting from her skull were twitching in my direction as I pulled out another key. Loke had reached Iobo and they were trading blow expertly as Dashti watched me with a bored expression. Before turning and leaping towards Loke's unprotected back.

"Open, Gate of the Archer. Saggitarius!"

"Howdy-do!" Sagittarius said as he saluted. I quickly tapped his key to myself as I watched Loke trying to fend off both Dashti and Iobo. My clothes transformed into a green, form-fitting shirt and pant duo and I grabbed the golden bow that materialized in front of me.

This is no time to be hesitant, Lucy. I don't care if I haven't trained with the Sagittarius Form that much, I need to do this and help Loke! I said in a mental pep talk before running forward and pulling back on the glittering string of the celestial bow. Sagittarius took his position next to me and somehow I knew that he was aiming for Iobo, so I trained my eye on Dashti. As I aimed, she shot a beam of shimmering white light towards Loke, grazing his lion's ear and causing him to hiss in pain.

"Star shot!" I yelled as an arrow made up of magical energy appeared in my hand. I released the magic arrow and it zoomed towards Dashti. Instead of trying to dodge, Dashti turned and fired one of the silvery luna beams from her palm, although a much more reserved one than her spirits intense attack that had vaporized Capricorn.

The two attacks met and burst into smoke. I flinched when Dashti suddenly leaped through the smoke of the explosion but I quickly reset myself. This time, three arrows appeared as I pulled back the bowstring and I stood firmly in my spot as the princess rushed towards me with glowing fists. I released the trio of arrows and was amazed as Dashti flipped through the air, blasting each of the magic arrows before they could connect with her.

Not willing to give up, I continued shooting at her and she expertly detonated each of the arrows before they could touch her. We were at a standstill, but suddenly my bow began to flicker. I looked over at where Saggitarius had been standing back from Iobo and Loke as they fought and gasped when I saw the female spirit sinking her clawed hand into Sagitarrius's chest.

"No!" I cried out, desperately trying to shoot a magic arrow towards Iobo to get her away from Sagittarrius. Before it could hit though, a light began to emanate from where Iobo had pierced his chest and the spirit exploded, vanishing from this world and taking my star dress powers with him. Loke was struggling to stand from where he had fallen to the ground and I grit my teeth angrily.

Turning Loke's key towards me I quickly changed into the black dress that was my Leo Form and I immediately felt increased strength and awareness. I spun, dodging Dashti's attack as she soared through the spot I had just been in. Light began to glow around my foot and I glared at her fiercely.

"Regulus Lucy Kick!" I yelled out, slamming my foot up and under her chin. She flew away from me, spinning crazily through the air as she sailed past Gray and a brown-skinned girl who appeared to be using some kind of make magic as well. I didn't have time to watch his battle though.

Turning around, I began running towards Loke. He had gotten up and he and Iobo seemed to be in the middle of an intense fistfight. Their bodies were moving so fast as they punched and kicked that they seemed to be a blur. As I ran towards him I pulled out my next key, hoping that the battle would end before I ran out of magic completely.

"Open, Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio!" A familiar doorbell rang out and Scorpio burst out shouting his customary "We are!"

"Help Loke!" I yelled.

Something tingled from behind me. Trusting my instincts, I leaped into the air, completing a backflip and watching as a jet of power scorched the ground right where I had been standing. Turning around to face Dashti, I was momentarily confused as I saw large, cream-colored wings sprouting from her back and beating the air. A feather headdress circled the back of her head and she was wearing a cream, knee-length dress with a wide black belt as she glared down at me.

"Troublezome girl. Why won't you die?!" she growled angrily as she glared at me.

She swooped down from the air, holding out her hand and sending what looked like a wave of feathers towards me. I leaped backwards, panting from the exertion as I dodged her strange attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Scorpio was battling against a large flying spirit that had the body of a human female but had the legs and talons of an owl and her arms were huge wings in the same cream color as Dashti's.

Doesn't she ever get tired? I wondered briefly before tapping Scorpio's key to my chest.

"Star Dress, Scorpio Form!" I was instantly transformed into a ninja-esque white, red, and black skin-tight outfit with a red headband. "Scorpio, create a sandstorm, quick!"

"We are!" he yelled, whipping up a sandstorm to encase him, his opponent, and me.

As the sand whipped around me I felt my magic building and I jumped, feeling myself flying into the storm without effort. Dashti's wings flailed in the swirling winds and I zoomed towards her. Using the boosted speed that came from this form, I spun around Dashti, jabbing her repeatedly all around her body as I zipped through the air effortlessly.

Dashti shrieked in anger, sending beams of the glowing feathers every which way as she tried to aim at my blurred body. I dodged and continued punching and kicking her, not understanding how she hadn't gone down yet.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded behind me and both Dashti's and my star dresses disappeared, along with the sandstorm. We dropped to the ground and I spun around, fighting back tears as I saw what looked to be a collision of lava and fire explode right where my spirits had been fighting. Loke reached out a hand towards me as his body vanished, returning to the spirit world. I looked over to see Natsu being flung back from the force of the explosion.

"Natsu! Loke! No!" I yelled, wondering how things had turned out so badly.

"Enough. I will not allow a child to beat me like thiz!"

I turned to see Dashti shakily get to her feet, her breathing sounding as labored as mine was. She glared at me angrily and reached for her belt. I noticed that a strange case was clipped to her belt next to her key pouch and when she opened it I blinked in surprise. It was a vial of clear water. Dashti plunged the key into the water and turned it, creating a portal.

"Open, Gate of the Dolphin. Delfini!" she said between gasps.

I reached a shaky hand to my belt. My magic was depleting quickly and I had lost Loke, my most powerful spirit. But an idea came to me and I hoped that I had the magical stamina to see it through.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!"

"Punishment, Princess?" Virgo asked, zooming through the portal that I had opened at the same time as Dashti's spirit burst through.

I had to do a double-take when I saw what the spirit looked like. It was a mermaid! She looked younger than Aquarius by far, more like a preteen than the goddess-like woman Aquarius was. Her hair was blonde with a gold tail and a sparkling orange bra that had threads of golden beads connected to a gold choker around her neck. The young mermaid giggled happily, seeming to swim through the air effortlessly as she did a strange happy dance.

"Oh, Dashti, thank you for calling me! Do I get to play? Do I get to play now?" The young mermaid asked with a giggle as she swam through the air swiftly, circling Dashti as she pointed the spirit's key to herself and transformed her clothes.

"Virgo, I need you to get the vial of water that Dashti has on her hip," I said quickly. I hadn't practiced much with Virgo's star Dress Form and I didn't know if tunneling would be helpful with this floating mermaid, but if I could get my hands on that water then I could put my plan into action.

"Right away, Princess," Virgo said, tunneling expertly through the ground and disappearing from view just as Dashti finished her transformation. She was now wearing a gold mini skirt with the same top as her mermaid spirit, but it was a deep red color instead of the orange the spirit was sporting.

"Delfini, concentrate!" Dashti snapped angrily. The mermaid instantly stopped her strange float-swimming and stood at attention next to her celestial mage.

They both lifted their hands towards me and I loosened my whip, trying to prepare myself for whatever was coming next. A wave of bubbles in the shape of miniature dolphins suddenly burst from their extended hands. I struck at the wall of bubbles with my whip, but even though several of them burst apart, thousands more continued forward and I found myself swept off my feet.

The bubbles had a strange, rubbery texture and as I felt myself being pushed upwards I found that I was having a difficult time breathing as the bubbles squeezed me tighter. Black spots began to enter my vision as I desperately tried to expand my lungs and bring in air. Suddenly, a gray chain crashed past my nose, popping hundreds of the strange dolphin bubbles and I gasped as air rushed down my throat and into my lungs.

"Catch, Princess!" Virgo called.

She threw the water vial towards me just as a wave of the suffocating dolphin bubbles covered her. I reached out, grabbing the vial before the bubbles could enclose me again and I whipped out my trump card. Inserting the key into the water vial just as Dashti had done, I twisted it firmly.

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

The bubbles surrounded me again just as the portal opened and Aquarius's elegant form rushed through. I gritted my teeth as the suffocating feeling began to drown me again, but as Aquarius fully emerged she lifted her large water container and whipped up a huge whirlpool of water, eradicating the bubbles surrounding both Virgo and me in one fell swoop. I dropped to the ground, gasping for air. I had just started to turn Aquarius's key towards my chest when she swooped towards me, looming over my squatting form and looking as furious as ever.

"What do you think you are doing summoning me in the middle of a desert, little girl? Huuuh?" Usually, Aquarius intimidated me quite a bit, but her anger actually relaxed me a little bit and I smiled tiredly up at her as I felt my magic beginning to reach its end.

"I won't do it again, Aquarius. But please, help me for now," I said, still slightly out of breath, as I touch her key to my chest. "Star Dress: Aquarius Form."

My outfit changed once again into a yellow and blue bikini top with a matching mini skirt. To my surprise, I felt a firm hand grab my upper arm and help me to stand. I smiled gratefully at Aquarius as she continued to glare at me. Virgo popped up from a tunnel she had dug and came to stand next to me.

All three of us faced Dashti and Delfini just as the princess was summoning another spirit, this one named Mapache. It was the size of a ten-year-old girl wearing a kimono but had the facial features and fur-covered skin of a raccoon.

"What is this disaster zone? How will I ever get everything clean?" the spirit called Mapache mumbled as she rubbed her paws together fretfully.

As we faced off against our opponents, Delfini's eyes suddenly went huge and I readied my whip. Suddenly she rushed towards us, but to my shock, she went straight for Aquarius and glomped her.

"Aqua-nee!" Delfini squealed in delight, rubbing her face against Aquarius's neck. Aquarius's expression became stony and without mercy she shot a concentrated stream of water directly at Delfini's stomach, knocking her back towards Dashti, who seemed utterly disgusted by her spirit's behavior.

"You're having me fight that annoying brat?! What are you doing in Prekt, little girl?" Aquarius asked angrily, shooting a huge spurt of water as Dashti sent another wave of suffocating bubbles towards us.

"It's a long story, Aquarius. But we need to beat her quickly," I said, as I felt my magic continuing to slip away. After summoning almost all of my zodiac spirits and using several different forms of Star Dress I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"Understood, Princess," Virgo said, immediately tunneling into the ground and heading towards the new spirit.

"Mapache, clean the maid. Delfini, get up now and attack!" Dashti yelled as she once again countered Aquarius's water spell with her deadly bubbles.

"No way! Fighting Aqua-nee is no fun!" Delfini whined, pumping her arms up and down like a spoiled child.

"Who are you calling sister, huuh?" Aquarius growled, shooting a jet of water towards Delfini. I was shocked when the little girl immediately put up a defensive barrier, diverting the water attacks direction hardly without effort.

"It's not nice to attack me when I'm not ready, Aqua-nee! I'm going to tell Scorpio on you," Delfini said, pulling down the skin under her right eye and sticking her tongue out at Aquarius. I shivered slightly as Aquarius's fury became palpable and she raised her water container up above her head.

"What was that?" she growled, rushing forward to attack the smaller mermaid.

My attention had been so focused on Aquarius that I hadn't even noticed that a flood of dolphin bubbles was nearly at me. A shimmering water barrier burst into place around me, popping any bubble that tried to attach itself to me and I looked at the barrier in amazement. Aquarius had told me this was one power of her Star Dress, but I had never been able to activate it before.

"Your zpiritz are undizciplined. I'll be shure to care for them properly when I defeat you," Dashti growled as she moved towards me, sending wave after wave of killer bubbles against my water barrier.

Glaring angrily at the approaching princess, I took a deep breath and bent down. With more power than I had been expecting, I launched myself into the air, breaking through both my barrier and the hoard of dolphin bubbles trying to suffocate me. As I hovered for a few precious seconds in the air I held my hand out and concentrated.

"Aqua Metria!" I yelled. The ground underneath Dashti's form changed from stone to what appeared to be murky liquid. Dashti yelled in frustration as she struggled to get out of the quicksand-like trap that my magic had created. The liquid ground spun around her, sending her in a dizzying spiral that made me feel a little nauseous as I remembered all the times Aquarius had used this exact move on me.

With a final burst of magic energy, I clapped my hands together, sending the liquid ground on the edges of the spiral towards the center and crashing into Dashti's form. She screamed as the attack surrounded her then exploded. I dropped from the sky, stumbling slightly as I landed just as Dashti's body fell to the ground with a 'whump.'

Feeling exhausted, I looked over to see that the Mapache spirit had somehow trapped Virgo underneath her and was scratching ferociously at her back. As I moved to help her though, the spirit suddenly winked out of existence. Virgo stood up, brushing herself off as if the attack hadn't been tearing her skin to ribbons, and gave me a small bow.

"It appears you are victorious, Princess," she said gesturing to where Delfini had also just disappeared in the middle of attacking Aquarius. "To conserve your magic energy, Princess, I would suggest you close my gate for now"

"Thank you, Virgo," I said sincerely before waving her key and closing her gate, allowing her to return to the spirit world. Aquarius was growling angrily at the spot she had last seen Delfini, and I considered closing her gate as well when another huge explosion rang out from a few rows into the main part of the city.

"Aquarius, can you help me for a little longer?" I asked tiredly. Aquarius glared at me, her blue eyes flashing angrily.

"That brat is going to tell Scorpio that I couldn't defeat her. Where's someone I can pummel?" she asked with a growl. I pointed towards the flashing explosion in the direction that Natsu had flown a while ago.

"That way."

A/N Okay! On to the next battle! I just need to decide who should go next :P Thank you @boredBRAIXEN for helping me decide on the order of the battles! If anyone else has a request for which fairy tail mage you would like to see battle next, please let me know!