Naval Battle

Natsu POV

All right! Time for the Naval Battle to start. I grin excitedly as my hands grip the railing of the balcony that me, Erza, and Gray are standing on. Lucy is going to rock this for sure! I mean she has Aquarius, right? Aquarius is like the queen of water. There's no way anyone could beat her. Juvia could be a tough opponent, but since she's from our guild, either way it'll turn out alright. Everything is going to go fine…but I can't help but notice the tense that has settled in my chest. I rub at the spot above my heart absentmindedly. Weird, maybe I ate too much, earlier.

The match begins and right off the bat Lucy pulls out a key.
"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!" Lucy shouts and summons her spirit. Aquarius appears and gives her usual sass before she lets out a huge wave in the water bubble and many competitors struggle to stay in.
"Alright, Lucy!" I cry out in delight.
"Hmm." Erza says
"What?" I ask in annoyance. Lucy's doing good, we should cheer for her! Erza is staring intently at the battlefield.
"Perhaps she should have waited to use Aquarius. That is her trump card after all."
"No, way! Just charge in head first. That's what I do, and I always turn out alright." I say jabbing my thumb toward my chest.
Erza rubs her face with her hand in annoyance.
"That's debatable. Maybe you're rubbing off on her too much, Natsu." I scoff at her. Pffft, as if that would be a bad thing.

"You guys, pay attention" Gray mutters, shifting our attention back to the battle. I only turned away for a second but already many of the competitors are knocked out of the ring and Aquarius and Juvia and going toe-to-toe in a battle of water. Suddenly Aquarius stops her assault, turns toward Lucy, says something quickly, and then poof! disappears. My jaw drops open in astonishment.
"What?!" I yell out to no one in particular. I mean, I know that Aquarius has always had a habit of abandoning Lucy, but did it have to be now of all times? Lucy, is facing some of the strongest mages in Fiore; she needs all of her powerful spirits. Not to mention this battle is important to all of us too. That damn Aquarius, I'll tell her off next time I see her for sure. Even if she is scary.
Lucy seems shocked too, but she quickly summons Virgo and Aries to help her. Suddenly, Juvia is about to do one of her new moves.
"I call this, 'Wings of Love, Gray-sama Love!" My head immediately swivels to see Gray's reaction. The Ice Queen's eyes widen, blood rushes up to his cheeks and he yells out in annoyance.
"Knock it off!" I can't contain my laughter anymore and I double over, holding my stomach to keep from exploding.
"HAHAHAHA. Gray-Sama Love! HAHAHA!" I laugh and point at Gray who is now completely pale and blank faced with his mouth open agape.
Despite having the stupidest name ever, Juvia's move is very effective and knocks out everybody except for that Saber Tooth chick and Lucy. Juvia turns toward us, most likely to see Gray's reaction. I don't think she's very pleased. But there's barely any time to acknowledge this. Juvia suddenly appears outside of the water arena in a mili-second.
"Huh?" I hear myself and almost everyone else in the crowd mutter. When the hell did that happen?
"Juvia's out!" The announcer's cry out in surprise. "Fairy Tail B gets 6 points!"
"Alright, you've got this Luce!" I yell even though she can't hear me. It's down to only Minerva of Sabertooth and Lucy. The 5 minute rule is put into place and I grit my teeth in anticipation. More than anything, I hope that's she's able to stay in for the rest of the five minutes. It would be horrible to get 0 points after working so hard and coming so close.

The timer starts, and that's when everything starts going wrong.

Minerva is acting all cocky, bragging about how SaberTooth is the number one guild. God, she's so irritating. She holds out her hand, ready to summon her magic.
"Try to withstand this Fairy Tail." She smirks. I get the strangest feeling that she's talking to us rather than Lucy when she says this. Minerva sends a huge wave of magic crashing into Lucy, which sends her flying backwards. Lucy lets out a yelp in pain. My hands grip the balcony railing a little tighter. Even at this distance I can feel the intense heat coming from the magic. It must be burning her. I grit my teeth and try to calm myself. There's nothing I can do to help her now. Besides, she'll summon one of her spirits soon and take out that bitch.

Lucy takes a few more hits of Minerva's intense magic, looking more and more battered after every one.
"What kind of magic is this?" Gray murmurs in astonishment and horror.
"C'mon Lucy, now's your chance! Counterattack." I say, mostly to myself. As if hearing me, Lucy reaches down to pick up one of her keys. Lucy reaches to her hip but her hand stops short and she looks confused.
Wait a minute… where are her…?
My stomach drops and my heart stutters as I turn my head to look at Minerva.
No… she wouldn't… would she?
It takes no time for my eyes to zero in on the shiny, gold and silver keys in her hand.
Yes. Yes she would. She really is that evil.

I grit my teeth as rage consumes. My vision turns hazy, as it often does when I'm really pissed off.
"That bitch!" I growl and clutch the railing harder. What kind of coward is she?! Not even giving Lucy a chance to fight. But it's still not over yet. Maybe Lucy can find a way to stay in for the rest of the five minutes. She may not always look it, but I know how strong she is. And I know how much she wants to win this.

"Hang in there, Lucy" I whisper.

Minerva blasts her with another wave of magic that sends her flying toward the edge of the arena. I suck in a breath through my teeth as she comes very close to falling out, but manages to stay in. I let out the breath I was holding.
"Oh?" Minerva smirks in surprise as Lucy refuses to give up.
"That's right Lucy, show them how strong you are." I smile at how hard our nakama is working for our team. Hopefully she can make it through the rest of the minute and a half.
Minerva uses another heat wave of magic on Lucy to push her toward the center again.
"No matter what kind of attack you throw at me…" Lucy starts to say but is struck again by more of Minerva's blows.
"…I'm gonna take it!" Lucy yells the last part. I feel my heart swell with pride for my teammate. When had she become so strong? It seemed like just yesterday she had been scared to face just one Vulcan. Now she was facing the toughest wizard in saber tooth, with no magic to protect herself, without any hesitation.
"Maybe it's time for me to put you outside." My heart seizes in fear. No…not when we're so close. Lucy clutches at her waist, where she has been hit repeatedly, but a look of sheer determination is on her face.
"If I lose now… I won't be able to face everyone who got me here. I can't betray everyone's feelings! That why…there's no way I'm gonna give up!"

"Lucy…" I whisper as I feel my heart clench. She cares so deeply for this guild and everyone in it. I can practically hear the love and devotion in her words. Minerva freezes and makes no more movements. The clock is running out.
"What's she planning?" Erza mutters. That bitch probably has something up her sleeve.
Or at least I thought so. Nothing happens and the time runs out. We're guaranteed at least 8 points.
"Yes!" I shout as a grin stretches across my face. I feel the worry pressing on my chest the whole match ease slightly. Now, Minerva just has to knock Lucy out of the ring and it'll all be over, and Lucy will be back up here with us.

I thought the end of the five minutes would mean the end of Lucy's pain.

But I was so wrong.

It was only the beginning.

Unexpectedly a dark aura began emitting from Minerva. I could practically feel the hostility from here and I felt ice cold fear run up my spine. But not for me.
Lucy… What was she planning on doing to Lucy?!
Minerva smirks again but there is something off about her expression this time. There's a new emotion on her face besides smugness and hostility. It's pure, genuine fury. Something Lucy said must have triggered something inside Minerva because I've never seen this usually calm woman loose her composure. Not even when I attacked her father and beat up her guild mates. I gulp as my throat tightens up. Everything in my body is screaming at me to grab Lucy and run. Take her away from here. Take her where this woman can never find her or harm her. Run, Lucy get away! My brain is screaming at her.

Minerva raises her hand and summons her magic once more.
She rains blow after blow of her powerful magic on Lucy and I can hear her scream in pure agony. It breaks my heart.

"Lucy!" I cry out because that's all I can think of to say. She's no longer just yelping in pain, she's shrieking, screaming; she can't hold it in any longer. The balcony railing is starting to crumble beneath my fingertips.

"You're arrogant, Fairy Tail!" Minerva sneers. "What do you know of us? We're the world's number one guild. We're Saber Tooth!"
She won't stop hitting Lucy with her magic. Why…Why won't she stop! Every blow on Lucy has an identical blow on my heart and I can't do anything to stop her. Lucy flies toward the edge of the arena, no longer able to try to stay in, and for that I'm very glad.

I don't care about the points anymore. I don't care about the competition anymore.

What does it matter if we're the top guild anyway?

I'd rather be last place then have Lucy be tortured like this

I just want her out of there.

With me. Where I can keep her safe.

But suddenly Lucy teleports and she's flying toward Minerva instead. I watch in horror as Minerva kicks Lucy in the back, nearly breaking her spine. And now she's not even bothering to use magic anymore. She's just beating Lucy senseless. Raining down kicks and punches on her defenseless body. For the first time in a long time I feel tears threaten to appear in my eyes. Why won't she stop?! Her grudge is against me, not Lucy! She should take it out on me and not resort to this. How cowardly can you get.
I'm desperate now. Please, please just let Lucy go. Stop hurting her. If you don't stop she could… she could… no.
"Stop it!" I scream out in frustration and agony.
And then I hear it.
Laughter.
Fucking laughter. I feel an anger unlike any other I have ever experienced rise in me.
I turn my head to the side and give the nastiest glare I've ever given to the people of that horrible guild.
"Sabertooth." Gray, Erza, and I all growl in disgust.
"Do you know what it means to insult Saber Tooth? I'll teach you with her body." Minerva won't stop hitting Lucy with all she's got. If she keeps going like this, Lucy really might… die.
No.

Anything but that. You can have me. You can beat me to a bloody pulp and I won't resist. But don't kill Lucy.
Lucy, who would never speak bad of anyone, who could never hurt anyone who wasn't our enemy, who always puts others before herself.
Lucy who talks to much, who's super weird, who's face lights up when she reads a book, who's always cheering me up and making me smile.
Please don't take her away from me. I need her.

As if hearing my silent pleading, the referee mercifully ends the competition. And then everything is chaos. Everyone shouting about medical attention, but the only thing I hear is the announcer say one thing in particular.
"Lucy hasn't moved in a long time. Is she alright?!"
I've never been so afraid in my life. Not when I faced Gildarts, not the countless times I've stared death in the face, not even the time we were almost destroyed by Acnologia.
That had absolutely nothing on this gut-wrenching, heart-stopping fear of living in a world without Lucy Heartilia.
And suddenly there is nothing else in the world but me and her.
"Lucy!" I scream.
And I'm running. Running as fast as my legs can possibly carry me as Minerva drops Lucy from the water bubble. I barely make it in time to catch her with Gray, right before she hits the ground. I can hear her heartbeat and feel her unsteady breathing and I feel like the world is right again and I manage to take in a shaky breath.

But I know that she is nowhere near okay.
She needs medical attention.
"Are you okay?! Hang in there!" Gray pleads with her. Wendy and Cheria arrive and they quickly begin saving Lucy. I jump to my feet, even though it pains me to leave her side, I know there's little I can do for her right now. But I can destroy the bastards who did this to her.
"How could you do this to her? You bitch!" I scream at Minerva who's smirking knowingly at me.
Erza arrives now and she looks almost as angry as me.
"What're you staring at?" MInerva mocks us. When we just continue to glare she repeats herself.
"I said, what're you staring at? I acted within the rules of the competition." Minerva says smugly
"Rules, you say?" Erza says furiously. "You mean torturing an opponent who has already lost?"
"The crowd loved it, didn't they?" Had they really enjoyed that? I had been to preoccupied with Lucy's suffering to even notice the people around me.
"Anyway, Lucy should be thanking me. I made that worthless, piece of trash girl, second place." My vision turns red and I can feel the anger inside me threatening to burst out as I take a threatening step forward.
"What did you just say?!" I growl.
But before I can take another step, three more Saber Tooth members appear and take a defensive stance between us and Minerva. And now we're having some sort of staring contest and I try to take another step forward but Erza pushes me back.
She's steps in front of us and says, "I don't care that you're the number one guild in Fiore. I'll just say one thing: You people have made an enemy of the number one guild you don't want to anger." I couldn't have said it better myself.

They are going to regret the day they ever laid a finger on Lucy.

I'll make sure of it.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be a little shorter and it will be on the infirmary scene. Please let me know what you thought!

Love,

Jacky