"Lucy! Watch out!" Gray cried as he jumped in front of the dazed blonde who lay on the floor and quickly summoned an ice shield. The blast melted straight through the barrier without slowing and barreled toward the young ice mage. Lucy barely registered it as the attack hit Gray directly in the chest before he had time to block and in seconds he was crumbled at the blonde's feet.
()
"You're hurt! I'll heal you, Lucy-san!" Wendy crouched over the wounded Lucy, her skilled hands closing the celestial mage's injuries swiftly. She got up after healing Lucy and was surprised by a mage charging at her. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy cried, but only a weak trickle of wind was produced. The dragon slayer's eyes became as round as saucers before, with all her energy gone, she took the attack full-force and was knocked back into the wall with a crash.
()
"You won't hurt my namaka!" Erza shouted, her swords flashing as she cut down arrow after arrow, her red pants flapping wildly in the downpour. Broken arrows lay askew around Titania's feet, but arrows kept coming and soon enough, several were able to make it past her iron defense. An arrow lodged itself in her upper arm, yanking her right arm back, weakening her defence for long enough for three arrows to bury themselves into the mage's side. One purple arrow managed to hit Erza's hip, the poison in the lacrima arrowhead releasing. The scarlet-haired woman clutched at her arrow, breaking the shaft in her struggles, lodging the venom-laced arrowhead deeper into her side. Titania fell, the toxin coursing through her body. Lucy stood behind her, unable to help as she scrambled to find her dropped keys.
()
Purple light filled Lucy's vision as pain racked her body. The light faded and Lucy smelled scorched flesh, knowing it was her own. She struggled to stand through the pain, even though just blinking sent waves of agony through the young mage. As violet light once again lit the gruesome scene, Lucy braced herself for the worst, clamping her eyes shut tightly and trying to disconnect her brain from her nerves. After a moment, the mage realized the pain did not come for a second time. Hesitantly opening her eyes, the blonde was just in time to see a certain pink-haired dragon slayer fall, his chest burning with faint wisps of smoke emitting from the burning wound. The celestial mage came to the realization that this man had taken the strike in place of her. When his head bounced as it hit the cold stone floor, Lucy couldn't contain her cry.
"Natsu!"
()
Lucy gathered the last drops of magical energy she had and retrieved two keys from her pouch, "Open! Gate of the Goat! Capricorn! Open! Gate of the Lion! Loke!"
The two spirits appeared in front of their master, only to be assaulted by the current state of their owner. Realizing that Lucy was running on the last of her energy, Loke and Capricorn quickly switched to holding the gate open themselves as not to drain anymore of Lucy's magical power. Together, the Zodiac spirits picked up the barely conscious blonde and her unconscious team-mates and started off to Magnolia, to Fairy Tail.
()
"Gray... Wendy... Erza... Natsu..." Lucy choked out, looking at her still unconscious namaka, cradling her injured arm.
Porlyusica looked at the distressed girl with a touch of sympathy in her normally cold eyes, "They're sleeping now. They'll be waking up within the next twelve hours." She had said before reverting to her old, cranky self, "Now get out and let the patients rest!"
Lucy scrambled out of the infirmary and when she had gotten out of the door, she turned around. In the rapidly shrinking crack of the closing door, Porlyusica brushed Wendy's blue bangs off of her forehead, gazing down at the young dragon slayer with concern coloring her reddish eyes. Lucy turned away as the door shut, walking out towards the guild hall, her own eyes moist before she blinked the still-forming tears away.
As Lucy came into sight, Mira, Levy, Juvia, and several others crowded around her.
"Lucy! You're awake! Let me get you a strawberry milkshake!"
"Lu-chan! Are you alright?"
"Juvia is glad to see that Lucy is awake now, but more importantly... Gray-sama is okay, right?!"
"Lucy, are you okay?" "Lucy! How are the others?" "How are you feeling, Lucy?" "Lucy!" "Lucy?" "Lucy."
The blonde in question smiled meekly and held up her good arm, "Guys, guys! I am fine, can you give me some space? Please? And Mira, a strawberry milkshake sounds delicious. With a hint of vanilla?"
Mira smiled brightly at the recovering mage, "Of course!" Lucy followed the woman to the bar.
When the white-haired barmaid presented Lucy with her milkshake, the blond took the glass gratefully and took a long, luxurious sip of the frozen drink, letting the familiar taste calm her nerves. She heard Levy sit down next to her at the bar, but she did not turn when the bookworm ordered a drink for herself (Iced green tea and blueberries). Lucy placed her glass on the counter and spun around on the stool, leaning against the bar top. The young mage looked up at the guildhall and observed her guild mates as they meandered around, going about daily life.
Elfman and Ever were trying to be discreet by talking behind a pillar, but Elfman was too big and the green of Ever's outfit just made them even more conspicuous. Macao and Wakaba were arguing over some bet and Droy was stuffing his face just down the table. Both Jet and Gajeel were looking at a certain bluenette sitting next to Lucy and Romeo was playing with Asuka. Bickslow and his 'babies' were begging Freed to play with them, but Freed was too busy fawning over a bored Laxus to comply. Lucy allowed her head to loll back toward the ceiling before closing her eyes and letting her thoughts drift. Images from the previous day's fight surfaced, the smell of blood, sweat, and burnt flesh filled her nose and she could hear the screams and the maniacal laughter.
"Lu-chan? Are you sure you're okay?" Levy's voice had Lucy's head popping back up and her eyes snapping open.
"Levy-chan." Lucy complained, her hand clutched over her rapidly beating heart, "You scared me."
Levy looked at the blonde in concern as her mouth twisted into a frown, "You had a pained expression on your face and you were shivering." When her best friend did not respond, the bookworm's expression softened, "It was that bad?"
Lucy nodded softly before taking another long sip of her milkshake, after which she heard the call from across the guild.
"Levy! Droy and I found a good mission!"
Levy smiled apologetically at her friend, resting a hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Sorry Lu-chan. I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'kay? We have a nice long chat over some ice cream."
"Yeah. that sounds nice." Lucy returned the smile before the bookworm ran off to meet her team. "Ne, Jet, why do we have to start a job now? I mean, it's already so late..."
Her smile dropped off her face as Levy walked out of the guild, the sunset illuminating her and her celestial mage looked up and down the empty bar counter before allowing her thoughts to once more wander. Lucy was seeing the man's face as he laughed at their pain for about the thousandth time before she heard:
"Hey, Lucy, can I ask you a question?"
Lucy looked up to see Lisanna taking a seat next to her, "What's up, Lisanna?"
Lisanna held the blonde's chocolate gaze with her own sapphire ones before breaking eye contact and saying, "Well... how exactly did Natsu get burned? I would ask him myself, but seeing as he's not exactly conscious..." Lisanna trailed off, meeting Lucy's gaze once more.
Lucy gulped, "Well... the man we were battling..." Welcome to my playhouse "We were overpowered and all heavily injured..." Hahaha! This is the most fun I've had in ages! Your pain is so delightful! "I had been bombarded with his magical blasts and I was at the end of my rope..." I just love the smell of burning flesh! "Just as he was about to finish me off with one more blast..." You'll make a wonderful doll for my collection! "Natsu stepped in the way..." I won't let you hurt Lucy anymore. "And took the blast without any defense... He fell..." Natsu! NATSU!
Lisanna looked at Lucy, who was shaking her her boots, terrifying images whizzing past her vision. Lisanna's mouth twisted into a frown, "Oh. So it's your fault."
Lucy's head snapped up, her brown eyes wide with surprise. Lisanna just looked down at her as she stood, her blue eyes looking distastefully at the blonde. The white-haired woman turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she made her way toward the infirmary. Just as the heavy wooden door closed, Lucy heard the remark of youngest Strauss sibling.
"Pathetic."
The blonde was unable to do anything but sit slumped at the counter, her milkshake melting. After a moment, she blinked slowly and rose in a daze, her eyes clouded over. She walked out of the guild and through the streets of Magnolia, just wandering. Lucy didn't walk along the edge canal and the men in the boats didn't call out to warn her. Her mind did not register anything as she walked up the stairs to her apartment or as she unlocked her door and walked in. The only thing Lucy remembered between Lisanna disappearing into the infirmary and arriving at her home was Lisanna's words. They echoed in her head like a broken music box, playing over and over and over.
"So it's your fault."
"It's your fault."
"Your fault."
"Pathetic."
"Lucy! You're back!" The blue Exceed cheered as the blonde shuffled into her apartment, "How's Natsu?"
Lucy's head snapped up and her chocolate eyes were clouded with confusion before she recognized the bright Exceed flying above her. It took her a moment to register his question and she looked up at him with dead eyes before replying, "He's still asleep."
"Oh." Happy said, deflated, "So he's still out, huh."
The Exceed turned his back on the dazed blonde and hovered in the air, wrangling with his thoughts. Carla flitted about, musing about just why she couldn't go home just because Wendy was still unconscious. She looked up at the blonde woman as she walked in, her mouth open as if she were going to say something, but the blonde's zombie-like aura had her closing her mouth.
Silence fell about the small apartment as the three worried about their injured namaka. The sunset illuminated the quiet room in red light and the slight breeze brought a certain chill to the air that reached deep into the residents bones. The curtains flapped gently in the wind, but no one bothered to get up and close the window. Lucy blinked and brought her eyes to Happy, who was shaking where he was flying, tears welling up in his eyes, and she recalled what he had went through in that hell.
"Natsu, get up. Natsu, you always get up to defeat the enemy. Natsu, you have to get up." The Exceed cried, tugging on his partner's shirt, "You have to get up... NATSU! PLEASE, JUST GET UP!"
"What do we have here?" the man approached Happy, a malicious glint in his eyes, "A cute little cat calling for his master. Well, let's hear you call for him some more!"
Yellow light shined around the man's finger and hit Natsu's unconscious body, over and over and over, making little red marks appear. Where the light hit twice, the wound would start trickling blood. Happy looked up at the man, hurt and anger burning in his wide black eyes. "How dare you..." The Exceed muttered, "How dare you!" Happy charged at the man, small, blue fists flying.
The man cackled and hit Happy, sending him flying across the room. Happy rose, dazed and injured, but once again charged at the man, determination set like stone in his eyes. The blue Exceed was knocked back over and over, first with magical blasts, but eventually with just a flick on the man's wrist, but still, Happy stood up and ran at the man. Tears clouded Happy's eyes as he kept flying at him, as he kept shouting, "Make Natsu wake up!"
"Damn that man!" A small thud was produced as Happy hit the wall with his small fists, shaking some small bottles on a nearby shelf.
Lucy blinked up at him in surprise, she had never seen Happy so... frustrated. He had a black aura surrounding him as he cursed the man over and over, punching the wall. Carla closed her eyes and listened to Happy's ranting, her own fists clenched in anger. Her brow became more and more furrowed before her eyes snapped open and she shouted, "Happy! Enough! Saying mean things about... that man won't make the problems go away!" The Exceed's brown eyes swam in tears, "It won't heal Natsu, it won't heal Wendy! It won't kill that man either! We can't do anything!" Carla broke, her voice cracking and her tears overflowing as she fell to the ground, shaking her white head that she held in her paws.
Happy was about to defend himself, but then he was the two women's faces; Carla bawling, drowning in her own tears and Lucy's eyes dead, void of even the slightest bit of moisture. Defeated, the Exceed allowed his wings to fade as he floated to the ground, landing on his back. Staring at his tiny paws, his eyes welled up with tears, "Natsu... Come home okay, got it." The tears plopped on his hands, first the occasional tear, but then it grew into a waterfall.
"WAHHHH!"
Author's Note:
I feel that the "Lucy leaves" StiCy stores get a bad rep due to some bad writing within the idea. I personally think it's a wonderful story idea and this story's goal is for me to write a "Lucy leaves" StiCy story following along similar lines as other, which pretty much entails that Lucy leaves Fairy Tail in angst or hurt, a fair amount of times because of Lisanna, she meets Sting, joins Sabertooth, and then goes and kicks some ass. I'm not saying my story will follow along those exact lines, but it will be similar. I'm not trying to make fun of the other stories, but I want to see if people like my writing style and if I can manage to pull off a decent "Lucy leaves" story.
ALSO:
I would love to see your guys' interpretations of the antagonist whom Team Fairy Tail fought, and one lucky design will be featured, but all others will be featured at one time or another. If you would like to submit one, you can find my email on my profile.
R&R!