Trapped
Princey
Lucy opened her eyes to the sight of a cheeky smile. She wasn't sure what time it was. It was early morning, she knew that much. No one was bustling outside; she couldn't hear the song of birds or see the sunshine through her window. It hadn't even reached daybreak, yet.
So why was there a pink-haired man three inches away from her face?!
She yelled in alarm without thinking, striking the guy and scrambling out of bed.
"Natsu!" The blonde growled, "Quit breaking into my house!"
"Whoa, whoa—what was that for?!" Natsu whined, rubbing the cheek Lucy had smacked him on.
The celestial wizard was standing a few feet from her bed, still shaking a little from the sudden surprise of her friend and still clutching her pillow. Dressed in pink pajamas and a rat's nest of a head of hair, she still had fire in her eyes towards the dragon slayer.
"For trying to get in bed with me, you creep!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up, and hurling the pillow in her hands at Natsu.
"Mmm? What's with all the noise…?" A tired voice yawned, and a blue cat slid out from somewhere underneath the pink comforter that covered Lucy's bed.
"Happy? You're here too?!" Lucy shrieked, "Get out!"
"Jeez, why'd ya' have to go and wake the beast, Nastu…?" Happy grumbled, his eyes narrowed sleepily as he rolled over.
"Well, it's not like I meant to!" Natsu defended, glaring at the lump in the covers that was his friend.
Lucy glanced at her clock her moaned. It was so late.
"Natsu, it's three in the morning—why are you here?!" Lucy demanded, annoyance and fatigue dripping from her voice. The dragon slayer started to answer but was cut off. "You know what, I don't care. Just get out of my bed so I can get some sleep. We have another job tomorrow. I'm still worn out from today."
Lucy stuck her thumb in the direction of the door to her apartment, "Out."
Natsu paused, blinking, and rubbed his eyes. "Okay. Sorry, Lucy," He said, a tired smile stretching on his face. It was then that Lucy noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and just how pale his face was.
He started shuffling out of her bed, lifting an already snoozing Happy in his arms and starting towards the door.
"Whoa, hey, are you okay? You don't look so good," Lucy said, putting her hand up to stop him from passing her. She saw the sweat on his fore-head, now, and the way his eyes were a little too wide, even if his eye-lids were drooping.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," He gave another tired smile. "Just a bad dream earlier, is all."
"Oh," She blinked, her anger melting a little and concern taking its place. "Is that why you came over here?"
"I dunno—can't really sleep tonight. Figured, that, maybe your bed would make a difference," Natsu admitted, shrugging and looking shyly at his feet.
Lucy was almost touched, when—
"It didn't though, and now I'm completely awake from a smack on the face," He pouted, sending an almost betrayed look Lucy's way. "Guess I'll be going, now. Sorry to wake you."
Natsu lunged backwards, falling through the open window Lucy had no doubt closed before going to bed.
"Bye," He smiled, waving as he fell out of sight.
"You jerk!" She called out after him, getting on her bed and poking her head out the window, and glaring into the night. "One day you're gonna get caught breaking and entering and guess who's not going to back you up!"
But he was already gone.
Lucy arrived a little late at the Fairy Tail Guild, the incident last night causing her to oversleep as she had tried to calm down before resting again. Which took a while.
Lucy didn't exactly like the new guild she's come to know. It was run down, and hardly anyone worked there, now, except for the select few that had been since the beginning and the people that had gotten off of Tenrou Island. She'd keep smiling through it, though. With the 'True Nightmare' nonsense behind her, it was good to have a few normal days before she'd be tossed into another long adventure she knew would eventually come.
She greeted some of the guild members, even hugging Levy before spotting Gray, Erza, Wendy, Carla, Natsu and Happy sitting at the bar eating breakfast.
Or, at least, most of them were.
"Hey, guys—uh," She paused, her eyes landing on the pink head face-planted in the face in front of him.
"He's been like this all morning," Gray grunted, who wasn't wearing a shirt but didn't seem to notice.
"Natsu didn't get any sleep last night," Happy explained, poking his friend's head, "He's really tired."
"That's odd," Erza said, her eyebrows furrowing, "Natsu cherishes sleep like no other. Rarely does he skimp on the opportunity to rest."
"Yeah, he loves a good cat nap," Happy giggled, obviously proud of his pun.
Lucy almost rolled her eyes, but everyone jumped as Natsu suddenly yelled in alarm and lifted his face from the food. He fell backwards, barely missing Lucy as he toppled, taking the stool he was sitting on with him.
Natsu was shaking, his eyes wide, glazed and staring at something beyond the bar that sat in front of him. Sweat covered his body, and his breaths came fast and panicked.
"Natsu, what's the matter with you?" Gray glared, his heart starting to calm from his almost-panic-attack.
The pink-haired dragon slayer made a noise of fear, which made all of his friends snap to attention.
Something was wrong.
Happy had only seen this look on him when he had faced Gildarts and broke down in defeat. It felt wrong to see Natsu like this.
"Natsu, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Wendy asked, her eyebrows creased in worry.
The dragon-slayer took a sudden gasp of breath, his form pausing before he started to slump over. He caught himself on one hand, the other curled in a fist and rubbing his eyes.
"Ugh…" Natsu groaned.
"It seems the worst of it has passed," Erza observed, standing from her seat. "Natsu, what just happened?"
"Huh…?" He answered blearily, moving his hands and forcing his eyes up to meet intense blue orbs.
"Jeez, he's really out of it," Gray muttered, masked concern slipping on his face.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lucy asked, leaning down and placing a hand on his clammy shoulder. His olive eyes then came to gaze into hers, and she became a little unnerved. The dark circles under his eyes were much more profound, now, and he could barely hold his eyes open.
Natsu stared for a few seconds before he uttered a tired, "Wha…?"
"Argh, wake up!" Gray shouted, using his ice magic and freezing a shard onto Natsu's leg.
The cold seemed to jerk the dragon slayer awake, who gave a yelp of alarm as a shiver ran through him.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Natsu growled, glaring. "Jeez."
"About time," Gray muttered indifferently, rolling his eyes.
"Natsu, are you okay?" Happy asked. "What just happened?"
Natsu looked up at the cat, his face creasing in confusion. "Uh, I dunno… Guess I dozed off, or somethin'…" He shrugged, hauling himself to a stand with a grunt. However, his friends noticed how he swayed on his feet.
"What? You don't remember? You just totally spaced out. You'd think you were being attacked, or something," Wendy said.
"Uh…Sorry, I don't remember," Natsu smiled nervously, putting his hands up in a shrug.
A sweat drop could practically be heard forming on his friends.
"This is like the fifteenth time, Natsu. What's going on?" Happy asked.
Lucy looked at Natsu, her eyes wide. "Is that why you're so tired? Does this keep happening?"
"Well," Natsu started, rubbing the back of his head, "I haven't been able to sleep since the night before last. I don't know; something keeps waking me up, I think." Even as he said this, his head nodded and he shook his noggin, batting it with a hand in order to stay awake.
"You look exhausted," Wendy said, "Maybe you should stay home today and rest instead of coming on the job with us."
"What?! No, there's no way I'd—"
"I agree," Erza interrupted, "You're in no condition to fight. And, should you be ill, you need to be treated."
"Aw, c'mon Erza!" Natsu whined, his previous exhaustion forgotten for a moment. "I can take anyone here and now! I've never felt better!"
Erza's face went dark. She loomed over Natsu. "Are you doubting my order?"
"N-no ma'am!" Natsu squeaked, shrinking under her glare. "I'll stay here!"
"I thought so." Erza's face slid back into her neutral expression.
Even now, Natsu was unsteady on his feet. He was swaying more noticeably, now.
"Jeez, you'd think he wouldn't be this tired it's not like he fought a war yesterday. All we did was take out a couple thieves, Natsu, are you really that spent?" Gray scoffed, "Looks like your flame's gettin' real low."
"What'd you just say?" Natsu growled, facing off to Gray, "I could take you even if I was asleep."
"Oh, right!" Gray smirked, "You can hardly stand!" With that, the ice maker gave Natsu a shove, and he stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet and landing hard on his back.
He let out a grunt of pain, a strange sensation shooting through his body.
"Gray!" Lucy exclaimed.
"What, I didn't even push him that hard!" Gray defended, clenching his fists, though he didn't know whether to feel satisfied or worried about Natsu going down that clumsily.
"Natsu, what's wrong?" Erza suddenly asked, interrupting Gray and Lucy's argument.
The pink-haired man was trembling again, his eyes wide, staring up at the ceiling, and his teeth bared in fear.
"Oh, c'mon, Natsu, you're overreacting," Gray said, rolling his eyes again. His smirk shattered, however, when a scream ripped through the air—Natsu's scream.
He gripped his head, rolling onto his knees before his back arched in pain.
"Stop…!" He cried, and everyone froze when he lifted his face from his hands and they saw tears forming in his eyes. "Stop, don't hurt them!"
"What're you talking abou—" Gray was interrupted as a burst of flame was suddenly hurled towards him. He dodged and the fire slammed against the wall of the bar. "Whoa, chill out, man!"
Lucy watched as Natsu stood, with flame enveloping his entire body. The blonde backed away as the heat singed her skin from a few feet away, and she saw how his eyes were out-of-focus—as if he were looking but not quite seeing.
"I'll burn you to…the ground," Natsu's sentence fell away as his flame dissipated, his eyes rolling backwards as he started to fall forward. Thinking quickly, Lucy rushed to catch him, hooking her arms under his causing his head to hang limply. Lucy carefully lowered both of them to the ground, Erza helping her prop him up against the bar.
"Natsu," The red-haired warrior said, shaking the dragon slayer's shoulder. "Natsu, wake up."
"What… just happened…?" Carla asked, her white tail twitching nervously.
"I… I dunno…" Lucy replied, "He said something about Gray hurting someone."
"What?" Gray exclaimed, looking offended, "I didn't hurt anybody!"
"Looks like you just did," Happy retorted, gesturing to his fallen partner. Even now, the pink-haired man twitched as if restless, and his eyes moved underneath his eye-lids, his face contorted in pain.
"What is going on down here?" A gravelly voice suddenly sounded behind the group, and they all looked to see Makarov staring them down. "I sense a strange magic here."
"Magic?" Wendy echoed.
"It's gotta be Natsu," Lucy suddenly said, moving over so that the guild master could see his member.
Makarov visibly flinched at the sight of the boy, gasping as his eyes widened.
"Get away from him, now!" He growled. Confused, the group stepped away from Natsu, and, as if on cue, Natsu's eyes shot open in alarm, his voice erupting in a strangled cry of panic.
At the commotion, the rest of the guild drew their attention to the scene, and Makarov ordered them back.
"This is dark magic," the guild master explained, his voice tense. "It's rooted deep within Natsu. He's being drained of his magic energy."
"What?!" The group collectively exclaimed.
"How? What's doing this to him, Master?" Erza asked, watching as Natsu continued to writhe in pain.
"All I know is that this has been inside of him too long. He won't last much longer," Makarov said, and the shock heightened in the room. "Just look at him—he's at his last stand."
"Well, what do we have to do to stop it?!" Gray demanded.
"Maybe my magic could help him!" Wendy suggested, "It's worth a try!"
Makarov's eyebrows furrowed. "Without knowing what caused this I can't say how to reverse it. Whatever spell or curse is doing this it is too deep into his magic. A simple spell may very well speed up the process of his demise of kill him altogether," He explained, and turned to the group of friends. "You must tell me, when did he first start showing signs of this spell?"
"We—uh…" Gray stuttered. "We noticed it just now. I mean, he was kinda woozy walking up here, I guess, but other than that I don't have a clue."
"Wait, Natsu showed up at my house last night saying he couldn't sleep. He looked kinda bad but I figured he was just tired. He said he'd had a nightmare," Lucy said, trying to recall anything else of importance. "Happy, you were with him before then; do you know what could be doing this?"
"He started acting funny right after we'd went to bed; he woke me up yelling about something and when I asked him about it he said he'd had a bad dream. He kept having bad dreams the rest of the night. It was like every time he closed his eyes he'd have a nightmare," Happy explained.
"So it is dark magic—this is a night-trap spell," Makarov said, "It drains the victim of all magical power and transfers it to whoever the caster is. As for the nightmares, the magic is preventing Natsu from sleeping so that he can't rest and replenish his energy. A wizard's magic is part of them, I'm afraid that if this keeps up much longer, Natsu won't last more than a couple of hours—especially if this has been going on since yesterday. It's not usually that anyone lasts more than three hours under this spell."
Makarov stared sadly at Natsu, who was starting to doze off again, unaware of his surroundings, and looked hard at Lucy. "You're on his team," the old man said, "You must tell me who you were fighting yesterday. What was your mission?"
"To retrieve a stolen item from a band of thieves for a client," Lucy stated, nervous with the master's eyes boring into hers. "It was just a wimpy old crew; they were almost nothing."
"Oh, c'mon! Is that the best you got?!" Natsu sneered, his olive eyes flashing in golden light of the setting sun. He gave a shark-like grin as his body erupted into flames once more, and he charged at three bandits huddled together nervously. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He roared, and all his flames focused onto his hand and slammed into the band of thieves, and they were sent flying.
"Ste-rike!" Natsu laughed, bashing his fists together triumphantly. He ran up to them as they landed on top of each other, and pulled the biggest one up by the collar of his jacket. "You gonna give up what's not yours, bub? Or can I have a little more fun? I can still go for a turkey," He grinned darkly.
"A-alright! H-here! Take it!" The bandit stuttered, stuffing a hand into a pocket and pulling out an orb of sorts with black designs covering it.
"Heh, too easy," Natsu snickered, and took the orb from the trembling man's gloved hands. When Natsu touched it his fingers tingled, and a shiver went up his spine. "Cool," He smiled, and turned back to face his three comrades. "I got it, guys! Let's get out of here! I'm starvin'!"
With all of the gang members defeated, Natsu waved the white and black orb teasingly at his foes. "That was almost too easy! I didn't even get to put on my bowling shoes!" He laughed.
"Enough," Erza said, suddenly beside him and making him jump, "I'll be taking this," She said, taking the orb from Natsu's grasp and into her own armored hands.
"I cannot thank you enough for bringing this back to me. It has been in my family for many generations. It is priceless and is meant to be kept only by pure hearts," A man with a wiry white beard smiled.
"You're quite welcome. It was a simple task finding it, but I suggest finding a safer place to ensure it does not get stolen again." Erza said.
"Yeah," Gray nodded, "If pure hearts can only touch it, then I don't wanna know what happens when something else does."
"Wait a minute, you mean those that aren't pure can't touch it? What?" Lucy questioned.
The old man smiled. "It is simply an old saying my father told me as his father before him did. Here is your pay. I do wish you a safe journey home, and you are welcome any time here," He said, and handed the group a sack of jewel.
"Gee, thanks, mister!" Happy giggled.
The man smiled cheerily as the group departed and set on their journey home.
When Natsu suddenly started getting drowsy, no one had thought anything of it, blaming it on the journey and the train-ride to the current town.
And, oh, how it would cost them.
(A/N): Fairy Tailllll...?
Yeayyyy...? Nayyyyy...?
Lemme know haha
