Hey guys. This is my first Fanfic. I hope you enjoy! Ideally, this will be the length of an arc, but will probably be shorter than that. Be sure to favorite and follow!
The door to the infirmary opened, revealing a very familiar face. One that Lucy had grown to love.
"Hey Lucy! How you feeling?" Natsu asked with an uncharacteristically concerned look.
"I'm ok. Just… bummed about how my fight went." Lucy replied, shifting her gaze away from his beautiful face. "Oh stop it Lucy! You know he doesn't feel the same way about you. There's no point in getting your hopes up over nothing." she scolded herself. But nonetheless, she couldn't help loving his pure and innocent character, the way he fought with such passion for what he cared about. "I don't know what happened. My magic just… vanished." Lucy said.
And there it was. That burning passion. "I know it was Raventail. I'm gonna make 'em pay for what they did to you and Wendy!" Natsu muttered. He stood and punched the wall, crushing the outer layer of bricks.
Lucy's heart sank a little when he mentioned Wendy instead of ending at "you". Lucy knew she was being selfish, but that's just how she felt. Her heart trembled, at what she wanted to say. "Hey Natsu. Do you, uh… still like Lisanna?"
His face burned hotter than his flames. "Uh… no! We were just really close when we were little! I, uh…"
Lucy's spirits soared. She gripped bedsheets so tightly, her knuckles were white. "So then, who do you like?"
"Why… you of course. I love you Lucy." He said sweetly.
Lucy sat up in her bed. No one was in the room, except for Wendy. "So it was all a dream?" Then she looked at the wall. Lucy sighed in relief, as she surveyed the wrecked wall. "No, it was real. But did Natsu really mean what he said? I hope so." The memory of Natsu, tumbled around her head as sleep overtook.
6 months later
The church stood in a clearing in the forest. It was smaller than Kardia Cathedral, but still large enough to command some semblance of respect. The once beautiful church had fallen into ruin. The walls barely stood, the roof had begun to cave in, all that was left of the columns were crumbled stumps. There was something strange about the church. No plant grew within a twenty foot radius of the church. "Do you see it too, Erza?" Gray asked.
"Yes, Gray. I see it too. It has to be a sort of dark magic to prevent any sort of life." Erza replied.
"It reminds me of ol' cry baby himself." Natsu said.
"Oh yeah. Didn't Zeref's magic do the same thing?" Lucy asked.
"Aye!" Happy declared.
"Yes. It had a much similar effect." Erza replied. Her brow furrowed in concern, and her lips pursed.
Gray noticed an interesting fact, and said, "Hey Lucy. You realize you're doing it again, right?" while looking at her hand. She lowered her gaze at it, and smiled. "C'mon. You know if Natsu got into a fight, he would have to do it one handed?" Natsu and Lucy had been holding hands much more often in the last three months, much to the guild's surprise.
Lucy's face lit up in happiness. "I know, it's just a habit now. I mean, we are engaged."
Lucy sat up in my bed, and yawned. "I love my apartment. Even though I struggle to pay rent each month, it's still worth it." She rose, and began her daily routine, starting by checking for any surprise visitors. Lucy loved it when Natsu and Happy crashed at her place, she just hated it when they didn't tell her. Which was always.
After taking a nice bath, Lucy noticed a rose on my dresser. No note, just a normal, red rose. Wondering as to what it was about, she stepped through the door of her apartment and saw another rose. This time, it was stapled against the wall.
"Wait, a staple?" she thought. Lucy burst out laughing, thinking of Gajeel roaring, "Iron Dragon Stapler!"Just thinking of the typically serious Dragon Slayer performing such a menial task almost made her laugh until she cried. However, he had been more compassionate these days. Mainly around Levy… But then she thought seriously. Why was the rose on the wall to begin with? Even more puzzled than before, Lucy walked outside and almost screamed. There, plain as day, was a rose laying on the sidewalk. She looked around and saw more of them, in a somewhat straight line leading to my right. Lucy began to collect the roses, thinking, "Why let such lovely flowers to go waste?"
Following the trail, it lead her in the direction of Magnolia Park. By the time she had arrived, it was late in the afternoon. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful glow on the city. Lucy adjusted the bouquet of roses she had accumulated throughout the day, searching for someone else in the park. It seemed to be deserted, except for a lone figure in the shadow. Was that…? "Hey Natsu!"
"What's up Lucy!" he replied with a grin on his face. "Whatcha got there?" His face showed his bewilderment as to why Lucy was walking around with a bouquet of roses, which was a legitimate quest
"There was a trail of them leading from my apartment to here…" She said, realizing the implications of that statement.
Natsu grinned and pulled out a small black box from his pocket. Her heart thumped wildly as he got down on one knee. He opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. "Lucy Heartfilia. Will you marry me?"
Ever since that evening, as the whole guild heard of what had happened, those two had been by each other's side whenever possible. Of course Lucy had said yes. It was obvious she had loved Natsu since their first mission together. And to top off their bombshell, other couples had gotten engaged. Gajeel had proposed to Levy, and Erza and Jellal had begun dating. All of this romance had really messed with Gray's head. The friends he had grown up with were going to get married. It was too much for him to handle. Especially all the love looks they gave each other. Like the one that Natsu and Lucy were giving each other now.
"Hey you two!" Erza said sharply.
"Yes Erza?!" Natsu asked in his terrified voice. Almost married, and still afraid of Erza. Then again, I was too.
"We need to get back to the mission at hand."
"Yeah guys. This is serious. Why would the grass die like that?" Gray questioned. It didn't make any sense to him, other than some sort of dark magic.
"Well, then why don't we find out?!" Natsu declared. He stood, and took off for the building.
"Natsu wait up!" Gray yelled. "Man, his recklessness. One day it's gonna get him killed." Erza, Lucy, Happy, and Gray ran after him.
In typical Natsu fashion, he smashed through the door. When the rest of the party caught up with Natsu, we all stopped in shock. The inside of the church was larger than it should have been. It had about the same space as Kardia Cathedral, but that was impossible without magic. A short man was sitting on the floor. He had his hands pressed against the floor on either side of him. A magic circle radiated around him, glowing an ugly purple shade. The man was chanting in a low voice, a spell in some sort of ancient language. Surrounding him were four men. One was larger than the others. They turned to face us.
"Who are those guys?" Natsu inquired. "And who's the old man?"
"I don't know, but whatever they're up to, it can't be good." Gray replied.
"That spell. It's a dark magic. We have to stop it!" Erza said.
"We are the Four Henchmen of Reality. Arkos, Tharcas, Vertes, and Dirnies." The largest said. Each Henchman raised his hand when his name was spoken.
"The who?" Natsu said.
Gray said, "It doesn't matter. Let's get 'em!"
"Right!" the rest of the group yelled in unison.