Fire.
That was the first thing Lucy saw upon opening her eyes. And a lot of it. The war against Alvarez wasn't going as well as she had hoped. They were being attacked from all sides and even first master Mavis didn't see a way for them to win. Natsu had left the guild several hours ago to fight Zeref with his secret weapon that he wouldn't tell the guild about. Lucy wasn't sure if he had won, lost, or even if the fight was over yet. While he was gone, the guild was attacked by Zeref's soldiers in an attempt to rescue the guild's captive, Brandish. The guild was evacuated and all mages able to fight were sent to the front lines, including Lucy.
Soon after leaving the guild, Lucy lost sight of her fellow guild mates and decided to wander off on her own. She had no clue where, or to whom, she was headed. But she did see the weaker opponents fly into the air with a trail of fire underneath them. Fire meant Natsu. Natsu meant safety. Or so she had thought.
She broke into a run. He might have needed her help if he were faced with a stronger opponent, which Zeref certainly was. Lucy could smell the smoke and burning ashes in the air intensify. She was getting closer. Then suddenly, she saw him.
His back was turned to her. Which would have made sense, if he were fighting someone. But there was not a single person in sight besides him. Not even his exceed partner Happy was anywhere to be found. As Lucy got closer, she knew something was off. "Natsu!" She called. "What happ-" She froze. The figure standing in front of her was not her guild mate.
He turned around slowly. His eyes were filled with blood lust. His usual toothy grin was replaced with a scowl. He gazed up and down Lucy slowly. "Pity Zeref left me all the small fries." He said in a deep tone.
"You're not Natsu." Lucy said, visibly shaking.
"Who could I possibly be then?" He asked with a small chuckle. "I'm Etherious Natsu Dragneel." His chuckle turned into a laugh, like that of a maniac.
"Etherious?" Lucy asked. She couldn't stop trembling. It was then that Lucy noticed who she was up against. Etherious Natsu Dragneel, END, Zeref's strongest demon. She opened up her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She was paralyzed in fear.
'Natsu' slowly walked towards her. "These pesky fairies keep causing trouble." He announced. "I wish I could get you all in one go, but I wouldn't mind going one by one." Lucy's hand moved to her belt. She gripped Loke's key, ready to summon him. But then what? She didn't want to fight Natsu, and she wasn't going to kill him. There had to be some other way.
"I know you're still in there, Natsu." Lucy attempted to sound confident, but her voice was still a little shaky. Either he didn't hear her, or he didn't care. He lit his fists aflame, it was his usual fire, but with some black sparks dancing in the flame. "You said you were going to protect my future!" Lucy cried out, tears pooling in her eyes.
This was it. This was the end of their adventure. Lucy let go of her key. It a last attempt, she ran towards her old partner and wrapped her arms around him. "Please, Natsu! You have to come to your senses! You don't want to do this!" She screamed while her tears streamed down her face. In response, he lifted his flaming fist above her head, then brought it down her.
Lucy screamed. His flames spread and soon covered her whole body. The pain was too much for her. The world around her spun, then faded to black. Right as she was about to close her eyes for the final time, she looked back up at the face of her murderer. Then the unthinkable happened. His bloodshot eyes became his usual onyx colored ones again. Only they were filled with fear. "Lucy!" He screamed. But it was too late. Lucy gave him a small smile, glad to see his true self one last time. She closed her eyes and her body went numb. "Lucy!" He yelled once again. "Lucy!" He couldn't stop screaming her name. She couldn't be gone. He checked her heart rate. No pulse. He places his hand over her face. No breath. "Lucy…" He began to cry. Sobbing at first, then bursts, then sobbing again. Natsu knew what happened. He did this to her.
He laid her body down on the hard ground. She deserved a funeral. No, she deserved to live. Flashes of the adventures the two had shared together flashed in Natsu's mind. He was guilty. It was his fault. He would never forgive himself. "We can still continue our adventure." Natsu whispered between sobs. His eyes focused on the corpse of one of the soldiers. Or rather, his weapon. Natsu quickly crawled towards the man, and grabbed the knife strapped to his belt. He moved back to where Lucy was and kneeled over her. "I'm so sorry…" He whispered, right before plunging the knife straight into his heart.
Lucy's eyes fluttered open. She was laying on something soft, so she figured it must be her bed. But after she fully opened her eyes, she saw a clear blue sky above her. She thought it was strange; she didn't usually sleep outside unless she was on a mission. Sitting up, she realized that she was laying on the ground, or rather, in some kind of field. Everything was gold, just like her keys. She moved her hands to her waist, but didn't feel her keys there at all.
It dawned on her then. She wasn't in her bed, or on a mission. She was in the fields of gold. She was in heaven. She had died.
Lucy stood up to look around her and noticed how the field went on for miles with not a single person in sight. "Hello?" She called. "Anyone out there?"
"Lucy!" A voice behind her cheered. She whirled her head around to see who was speaking to her. She was greeted by his warm eyes, bright smile, and his salmon colored hair blowing in the slight breeze.
"Natsu…" She whispered. He outstretched his hand and flashed his toothy grin.
"It's time to continue our adventure, Lucy." He said cheerfully. Lucy nodded in response and placed her hand inside of his, while smiling back at him. Their adventure wasn't over at all, it would continue on and never end.