Inspired by Heinoustuck and Kagerou Days...
"With Blackbirds following me I'm digging out my grave They close in, swallowing me The pain, it comes in waves I'm getting back what I gave" ~ Linkin Park (Blackbirds)
Natsu covered his mouth as tears streamed down his face. Happy was holding him up several feet in the air so he couldn't see what was going on. Natsu was shocked. He closed his eyes hoping that what he was seeing was a dream, but the sight didn't disappear. He grit his teeth, this was supposed to be a simple mission. They were supposed to defeat a small Dark Guild. They were weak... but their guild master wasn't. He guessed that this is what happens when you try to defeat a guild that is next to a cliff.
"Lets... land..." Natsu said slowly.
Happy was confused as to why Natsu was speaking so slowly, but did as he asked. They landed and he let go of Natsu and then saw the sight that Natsu was seeing.
Lucy Heartfilia was laying there limb, her head was beside a large bolder, she was at the bottom of a cliff that next to a long, deep river. The bolder had a long trail of blood that went from the top of it to the bottom. The smell of blood filled the air as if to mock him. The blood that pooled underneath her trailed to the river that was by the cliff from which she fell.
Lucy's keys were nowhere to be found.
Natsu's mind replayed the events that lead to the loss of her keys.
"I just don't understand, Lucy!" Natsu growled at the blond.
She huffed, "Think of me as a walking guild and my Celestial Spirits are the members. Its simple, I use my magic to summon them, and they help me – how ever if we're in a fight, I don't just summon them, I fight with them – thats why I have the whip."
"It sounds more like you're using them..." he grumbled. "Why don't you learn some real magic so that way you aren't so damn useless with out them?"
"I like my magic the way it is!" she shot.
Natsu snorted, he forcefully took her keys away. "If you really think that, then lets go on a mission with out them and see how you do!"
Why did he do that?... Why?
If he didn't take the keys away then she could've used Aries to give her a soft landing when she was blasted off of the cliff.
Idiot...
Natsu took one shaky step toward the body but then a magic circle appeared near her. The magic circle was black but glowed a bright scarlet suddenly someone appeared... but they didn't look human...
The stranger looked humanoid. They had black wings and had feathers around the base of their neck. One wing looked to be cut in half, and there was a sword through their chest. They had jet black hair and they wore a plague mask – the kind that looked like a long bird beak. The wings, feathers, and mask gave the illusion of a large crow. The person wore a white t-shirt with red sleeves, along with black pants and shoes. Blood dripped from it's neck, and the sword had blood stains as if it had been used to kill but never cleaned. There was a dark aura around this person... whom ever they were.
"How sad..." said the stranger. He walked over to Lucy's body. "Lucy Heartfilia, the last of Heartfilia legacy. And the only person in decades to ever own ten of the zodiacs, and have their respect, not to mention the privilege of meeting and gaining the respect of the Celestial Spirit King... Such a shame that she had to die so young..."
The stranger grabbed the sword but was stopped when Natsu spoke up.
"Hey, who are you and what are you going to do to Lucy?"
The stranger looked over at Natsu, red eyes visible through the dark lens of the mask.
"Ah, Natsu Dragneel, orphaned by the Haruno family in the universe that mirrors this one from Paradox Space. Raised and abandoned by the king of the Fire Dragons, Igneel. Your life will be taken in a time that I shall not say..." the stranger said bluntly, the words that he spoke made Natsu get a cold chill down his spine, he wouldn't forget his voice. "You ask who I am? I have many names... but I won't tell you them... I guess you could say that I am Death... and I am Time... Others say that I am a Knight... I don't see why... As for what I am going to Ms. Heartfilia – I am going to take her soul to the afterlife, where she will relive her memories until she realizes that she is dead – and when this happens she could wonder the memories of others and make friends... this she will do for all eternity..."
Natsu didn't know what to say, however Happy spoke up.
"Y-You cant do that!" Happy exclaimed, "She's our friend! She has to stay here with us!"
The stranger tilted his head, "Strange. Happy, hatched and adopted by Natsu Dragneel. Orphaned by a family of banished farmers in the world of Edolas. You tell me that you and Heartfilia are friends. Friends don't make fun of each other to the point of resentment. She resents you – that is very clear. Not to mention, you are speaking for her killer..."
"Her killer..." Happy said cautiously.
The crow pointed at Natsu. "Yes, he made the decision that would lead to this moment. He chose to take her spirits, thus giving her the inability to summon any of her spirits... not to mention the one that would've prevented her from making contact with the ground causing her death... If she had her spirits this possibly would've never happened... But then again it is her time. She was meant to die. It was her destiny to die today... with or without her keys."
Natsu grit his teeth. "But you cant take her! I wont let you!"
"You have no choice." the stranger said. "She is dead, her soul just needs to be taken – that is unless you want her to feel what it is like to decompose... slowly causing her soul to go insane and be reborn as a madwoman, possibly a raging murderer with a taste for the blood of fairies..."
Natsu's eyes went wide.
"After all...," the stranger continued, "Fairy Tail was the one place that she was made fun of the most. Constantly being called a whore in coded words such as Cosplayer and Bunny – never getting any respect from the people that are always talking about the importance of family. Not even being trusted to go on a job all on her own, when yet an ten year old can... Not to mention one being the cause of her death – why wouldn't she want to spill a little bit of Fairy blood?"
Natsu swallowed the lump in his throat. "Wait, a while ago you said that you can control time..."
The stranger nodded, "Yes..."
"Well, what if you send me back so I can prevent this from happening..." Natsu asked.
The crow snickered. "Did you not hear me before? She was meant to die today... But if you insist on this, I'll send you back, but you and I will be the only ones with the memory of what happened here..."
"I insist alright." Natsu said.
"Remember this, Mr. Dragneel – someone has to die...and what you see is exactly what you're going to get..."
Natsu woke up with a start. It was twelve o' clock starting off the afternoon, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He got up and was going to brush his teeth when he saw something in the mirror... A black feather was in his hair... His mind then played out what had happened in the off-shoot time line.
He almost chocked.
The ticking of the clock echoed loudly throughout the house... Why did clockwork have to be so loud?
He hurried his routine and made his way to the guild, knowing that Happy was already there. The heat of the summer was dreadful. When he got there, he heard the conversation that would slowly decide Lucy's fate...
Erza and Grey were discussing Celestial Magic. They began to talk about how there were many people who abused their spirits and how it was much like slavery. Natsu began to intervene.
"In all honesty, I don't think that its like that..."
Erza and Grey raised an eyebrow while Happy listened in.
"How so?" Erza asked.
"Well..." Natsu said, remembering what Lucy said in the other time line, "Look at Lucy, she fights along side her spirits; in a way she is like... a mobile version of Fairy Tail! Yeah! She has Loke with her and not to mention she has like, what? Fifteen keys? Ten of them being Zodiacs! Plus she knows the Celestial Spirit King – so she probably we'll respected by Celestial Spirits everywhere. Its a wonder why the king didn't just give her the other two Zodiac Gate Keys!"
He hoped that it would work...
Erza and Grey exchanged looks.
"Now that I think about it... You're probably right, Natsu..." Erza said before getting emotional, "Some one should hit me for my foolish doubt!"
Grey rolled his eyes, "Yeah, you're probably right. Maybe we've just been running into too many bad Celestial Wizards..."
Natsu sighed.
When Lucy arrived they began to look at the jobs on the mission board. They chose the same one from the alternate time line.
When they arrived at their destination and began fighting the dark guild. Natsu saw the crow-guy, who was watching the scene. The crow looked over at Lucy who was fighting along side Loke. Natsu got a really bad feeling. A dark wizard shot a beam of magic that caused an explosion that sent a chunk of earth hurtling at Lucy. There was a sickening crunching sound accompanied with the sound of a splatter.
The smell of blood filled the air, Natsu felt like he was choking on it. He couldn't take it, he began to slightly wobble from the dizzying sent that his strong nose took in. The smell and the splatter body of Lucy Heartfilia would forever haunt his mind.
The crow began to mock him, "What you see is exactly what you're going to get."
Natsu continued to fight the dark wizards with the fury of fire.
"Oh, how sad. Lets try again... Come on, one more time. Lets go." the crow said with a chuckle.
Natsu woke up with a start. It was twelve o' clock starting off the afternoon. The ticking of the clock was mocking his ringing head. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. When he was in the guild and argued for Lucy, he refused to hear of a mission. If they didn't go on a mission Lucy wouldn't die.
He was walking around town with the blond – they were both talking about her magic and how she was like a walking guild. Natsu began suggesting that she should practice using more offensive weapons like Cat-o-nine-tails and such. As they were walking past a construction sight which was building a large sky scraper.
Natsu couldn't help but notice the heat of the day. He then saw people looking at the sky. He saw that the crow was among them, the creature looked at Lucy. Natsu did the same and wasn't prepared for what he was going to see. Stabbing holes and splitting her in two, a support beam fell from above and impaled her. There was a scream that echoed from the crowed.
Natstu felt like he was choking because of the smell of the blood of his friend. Tears began to roll down his face. He was shaking like a leaf.
The crow began to mock him, "I bet you wish you asleep but it isn't a dream."
Was it just him or did she smile?
Natsu hurried to Lucy's place with such speed that it was down right impressive from his usual speed. He burst into her house and convinced her to go and walk with him to the forest near his place. She asked him why not walk about Magnolia but he insisted.
As they made their way past the frist tree upon entering the forest. He saw the crow.
It chuckled, "Nice try..."
Natsu felt his heart drop to his stomach.
As they continued to walk, sure enough, there was a vulcan waiting for them. Lucy didn't expect to be hit across the head with a tree trunk.
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" the crow asked, "Its a cycle. As long as she is with you, she dies."
How many times has he repeated this day? Five... no... defiantly longer than that... Ten? Yeah. Ten years worth of tries. The crow just seemed to enjoy the sight of Lucy dying. The laughing from the crow was haunting his mind
Natsu went through the day in a blunt manor. Until the moment of truth came.
A dark wizard shot a beam of magic that caused an explosion that sent a chunk of earth hurtling at Lucy. He pushed her out of the way, causing her narrowly dodge the chunk of earth, but hitting him instead.
The smell of blood filled the air, and Lucy felt as though she was choking on it.
For once did he not hear the crow speak or laugh.
"Is that the best you got? How sad. Lets try again."
Lucy woke with a start. She was breathing heavily. She curled up and listened to the sound of the clock. She had been having really bad nightmares ever since a certain Dragon Slayer died. She looked at the clock seeing that it was different – it was purple and the word 'Just' on it. She looked away from it and saw that there was a black feather in front of her.
"Tick, tock." said a mocking voice, "Time is of the essences Ms. Heartfilia. Some one has to die. Who will it be, will it end with him or will it end with you?"
She didn't answer.