Natsu just wanted them to run faster.
He didn't like having to cut tail and run for help in the first place—he would have rather died fighting than letting that bastard, Jackal, take Lucy away, but after a bomb went off in Natsu's stomach he hadn't been in fighting condition.
He remembered the shouting, the defiant insults, and the glowing power of spirits as Lucy tried fighting the demon but Natsu had been face down in the dirt most of the time. Towards the end he had lost consciousness and had woken up to Happy shaking his shoulder while tears poured down his blue cheeks.
As soon as Natsu had been awake enough to realize Lucy wasn't with him, he was up on his feet and staggering through the woods in his tattered clothes. Carla had already returned little Wendy back to the guild at that point so at least she was safe. He would have gone the full distance, saved Lucy, and burned every demon from the book of Zeref into nothing but ash if his knees hadn't buckled and he'd fallen face first into the dirt.
That's when Happy had forced the dragon slayer to return to the guild for backup. Upon arriving, Natu barely explained the situation before falling asleep.
Twenty-four hours later, Natsu was running with a new ferocity towards the village where he had last seen Lucy. Happy and Lily scouted ahead. Behind him, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, and Levy struggled to keep up with his demonic speed.
There was a fire raging in his belly and he'd be damned if he let anyone lay a finger on Lucy's head.
The further he ran, the more familiar his surroundings became until he stopped in front of the old council member's home that was now nothing more than a crumbling pile of rubble. There was something wrong. The air was cold. And Lucy's scent wasn't present.
"Natsu?"
Natsu glanced down to Happy who was cowering behind his leg. Snorting in irritation, it was the first time that he realized that his whole body was trembling. His eyes burned with rage.
"We shouldn't have abandoned her," the fire dragon slayer started, his voice low but firm. Behind him, he could hear the others coming to a stop behind him; he could imagine them doubled over and panting. "IT'S OUR FAULT!"
"Natsu! You have to calm down first." Gray righted himself. He was calm and collected and all Natsu wanted to do was punch him in the face.
"How can I be calm when Lucy is missing?" He snapped back, sparks sizzling in his hair.
"This is where she was," Wendy murmured softly. She kneeled beside one of the larger fragments of the house that had collapsed. "It's weird though."
"What's weird?" Levy rested a comforting hand on Wendy's shoulder, frowning subtly as she knelt beside her. "Can't you sense Lucy?"
Wendy shook her head slightly; suddenly the rage that Natsu could feel rising in his insides began to boil. "No," she whispered sadly, cupping her face in her palms. "I can't."
Levy sighed sadly and looked to Gajeel with a hopeful gaze, but he just shook his head. "She's right. Bunny-girl has to be long gone."
Natsu was about to outburst again, but Erza growled as her armor switched. "Then search for clues! Lucy is one of us! We can't give up!"
"We never said that we were giving up." Gray shot Natsu a pointed look as if that was supposed to help reassure him or something. "It's only been a day so she couldn't have been taken that far. Besides, those Tartoros guys are probably going to use her as an incentive."
"And what if they don't Gray?" Every second they wasted time standing around, it meant Lucy could be getting further and further from them, a new second of pain experienced. Natsu didn't mean to get angry, but he found himself in a screaming match with Gray until Erza knocked them both on their butts.
"Everyone split up and scout the area," Erza commanded, extending her sword around the circumference of the area they were standing in. "Don't come back without something regarding Lucy."
"Aye, sir." Happy''s face was solemn like the rest of theirs.
Natsu was about to take off with Happy when something sweet wafted past his nose making him stop in his tracks and his pupils dilate. "Gajeel? Wendy?" He demanded urgently, casting a side glance.
Gajeel's nose was pointed toward the air. Something about his expression made Natsu feel nervous. "It's her."
Wendy looked just as perturbed, her little nose scrunched up and a frown pulling her mouth down. "Something's wrong."
"What do you smell?" Levy asked, resting a hand on Gajeel's upper arm. She must have noticed his uncharacteristically unnerved expression because she followed it up with a worried, "Gajeel?"
"Something in the air smells off," Natsu growled, taking up a defensive stance. "And I bet it has something to do with the bastards that took Lucy."
"It's not just the smell." Juvia swept her arm in an arc motion. "The air seems to feel denser too."
"Stand your ground." Erza came back to back with Natsu.
Then the voice of the person Natsu hated most at the moment purred, "Look, sweetheart. I told you they were going to beat us here if you didn't hurry up."
Natsu snarled up at where Jackal was perched like a cat up in the tree. But it was short lived as he recognized a familiar blonde perched up alongside him. "Lucy!" he yelled, relief washing over his body.
She may be at the enemy's mercy, but she was still alive. She wasn't injured. She wasn't suffering. Natsu intended to keep her that way.
"You'd better let her go, freak!" Gray challenged, producing a sword of ice. Natsu followed his example, fists combusting into flames.
The others took up offensive poses as well, but Jackal chuckled in amusement as if he were watching children play. "You have it all wrong, Fairy Tail! I'm not harboring her! She wants to be with me!"
"Like hell!" Natsu spat. Fists aflame, he ran at the tree with sheer force backed by adrenaline pumping through his veins more intensely than blood. He jumped at Jackal, but the demon dodged it easily and alighted into a different tree.
Below him, Gray, Gajeel, Erza, and Juvia had already started a barrage of attacks at Jackal. The tickling urge to go beat the snot out of that guy was immense, but Natsu slid down the trunk until he was beside Lucy on the branch. "Lucy are yo-"
He stopped when he was met with the familiar scent that was oh-so-Lucy, but like Gajeel had said, it was wrong.
"Who are you?" Lucy's voice was harsh as she pushed away his advancements.
Natsu sat back on his heels, dumbstruck. What was with her? What was with…. He zeroed in on her eyes and realized that her chocolatey brown irises were a shade darker and seemed to be glazed over. He blinked. What-? "Lucy-?"
She glared at him, and before he knew what had happened he was on the ground at the base of the tree. Had she just…? She just kicked him out of the tree!
"Oh ho ho!" Jackal chuckled to himself, settling beside Lucy on the branch. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and—wait, did she just lean into him? "I see you've met our newest creation over in Tartoros!"
"What have you done to her!?" Erza screamed, eyes lit by hatred.
Natsu's fist burst into flames. "You better get your hands off of her!" he screamed.
"Or what?" Jackal sneered condescendingly. He twisted his finger around one of Lucy's blond locks, pulling her close to his face so that he could run the tip of his nose against her cheek tauntingly. "She doesn't seem to mind, do you sweetheart?"
Lucy's eyes remained far away, but she smiled and giggled. "No?" It came out as a question, as if some part of her deep down wasn't okay with him touching her.
At that moment, Natsu felt an urge that he had never felt before in his life; he wanted to kill him.
All of his life, Natsu made it a strict policy to never allow his emotions get the better of him; all life was sacred, he would recite Igneel's words, but right now they were long forgotten. The anger and hatred that he felt for Tartoros was on a grand scale, far worse than what he had ever felt for anyone else in his life. These people, these demons hurt Lucy!
They would pay through suffering by his hand.
"Oh, Lucy," Levy murmured in horror off to the side.
"Tut tut," Jackal clucked his tongue and wagged his finger.
"SHUT UP!" Natsu leaped for the tree, aiming straight for Jackal with both of his flaming fists held high. He was going to take this guy out himself and leave it up to the others to recover Lucy. Jackal continued to sit arrogantly which only fueled Natsu's rage.
He was seconds from landing a punch when a minor glow off to the side slightly blinded him and then BAM! something crashed into him forcefully from the side and sent him sprawling back towards the ground.
"Natsu!" Happy caught him seconds before he would have hit the ground and dropped him on his feet.
"Thanks, bud-" Natsu stopped short when he saw the horrified look on Happy's face as he stared up toward the sky.
"No way." Gray's jaw dropped.
Off to the side, Juvia cried, "No, Gray! Look away from her!"
Natsu turned, and he felt his own jaw slack. Standing before them was Lucy—but it wasn't Lucy. Instead of the blue outfit and pigtails he was used to seeing her in, she was wearing a green dress that reminded him of a fairy and her hair was up in a high ponytail—wait, was her hair longer now?—and in one hand she held an enormous bow and across her back was a quiver of arrows.
Don't get him wrong, it was definitely Lucy—her body at least—but she was dangerous now. He would have even been impressed if it hadn't been for the glazed over look in her eyes and the fact that she was in a fighting stance against him and their friends.
Almost in a trance, Natsu drifted toward her until he was almost within an arms length. "You're safe now. Let's go, Lucy," he reached his hand out to her, but she slapped it away.
"Don't," she hissed.
Natsu felt the anger in him subside a little, her words like a bucket of cold water dousing his heart. "Listen, Lucy—"
Lucy zeroed in on his eyes. For the first time, the cloudiness that seemed to have been making her movements jerky evaporated to reveal her dark irises. "Who the hell is Lucy?"
Behind him, his friends gasped. Natsu himself felt like his heart had just been gutted. What did they do to her? "Lucy, no—"
"Don't call me that!" she screamed. Suddenly she roundhouse kicked him in the middle and he was lying in the dirt with Gray and Gajeel helping him up.
"Oh did I forget to tell you?" Jackal cackled. With the same cheery but vicious grin he'd been sporting ever since they met, he bounced over to Lucy's side and reveled in the dirty and horrified looks that the Fairy Tail wizards were shooting him. "She doesn't go by Lucy anymore. Now she's the great demoness, Celestia!"
"Demon, you're going to pay for this," Gajeel growled. His arm elongated into a steel battering ram.
Lucy flexed her bow, notching a golden arrow into place. "I'm going to have to ask for you not to touch Master Jackal. If you do not comply, I will be forced to take extreme measures."
Natsu rose from the dirt, keeping his eyes trained on the blonde girl before him. If it had been anyone else, they would have already been fried to a crisp, but this...how could he treat Lucy like an enemy?
"Lucy, don't you remember us?" Wendy cried. She pushed her way to the front of the group, seeming to be completely unaware of the arrow that was being trained on her. Tears welled up in her big brown eyes. "We're your friends!"
"Lucy!" Juvia stepped forward to create a barrier between herself and Wendy. "It's me, Juvia!" She made a move to step forward even further, but Lucy released an arrow that embedded itself in the ground inches from her foot. Juvia yelped and jumped backwards.
"I advise you not to come any closer," Lucy said sternly in the same voice Natsu was used to her using when defending one of their friends. How could this be happening?
Lucy shot another warning arrow, but Gray froze it mid flight and Erza cut it down with her sword. "I know you're not fully in control, but you need to snap out of it, Lucy!" He said.
Lucy's face scrunched into one of annoyance. "Maker of Ice, that is not my name!"
Jackal kissed her on the cheek, dragging his nose against her skin again in a way that made everyone else both uncomfortable and angry. "Why don't you show off your new abilities, sweetheart?"
Lucy's face twisted into a sadistic grin that looked wrong on her face. "With pleasure, Master."
Her body began to glow and her hair whipped around; in fact, it reminded Natsu of how Erza requips into her suits of armor. When the light faded, Lucy's outfit had changed again and this time she was wearing a short skirt and bikini top that resembled Aquarius. Without even waiting, she held her palm out toward Juvia and a wall of water blasted from her hand.
"Juvia!" Gray screamed, his eyes dilating. He reached his hand toward her but he was too late and she was swept away in the onslaught. When the wave subsided, he rushed to where she was thrown haphazardly at the base of a tree. Cupping her face in his hand, he whipped around to face Lucy. "How could you do this to your friend?"
Lucy cackled, twirling her finger near her head. A small vortex of water appeared above the tip of her nail. "I don't know who you're calling friend, Ice Wizard."
Gray growled, pouncing at Lucy as a spear of ice appeared in his hand.
"Gray, you can't!" Natsu couldn't move as Gray's spear resonated against Lucy's own water staff. How could Gray bring himself to actually fight Lucy like an enemy? Sure, Natsu was notorious for starting fights around the guild and he's had to fight his friends in the past, but this was different.
She had no control over herself. She didn't want to fight. She wasn't their enemy.
And yet, Gray was still fighting her. She was fighting back. And all Natsu could do was stare because he couldn't bring himself to see her that way.
Lucy blocked another blow aimed for her head, an evil smile spreading further across her face as Jackal called out encouraging words. "Not bad, Ice Wizard," her eyes began to glow yellow as the moisture in the air seemed to converged around her until two whirlpools bigger than anything Juvia or Aquarius could muster were on either side of her. "But you're not near good enough!"
She hissed in glee as the full force of her whirlpools slammed into his body, tossing him further than Juvia had traveled when she was attacked. "Gray!" Wendy and Levy ran to his side, trying to probe out a response.
"He's unconscious, but alive," Wendy reported, keeping her hands over his body to heal his topical injuries.
"Thank Mavis," Levy sighed, looking up to Gajeel sadly.
"Do you really think you can destroy a demoness?" Lucy questioned smugly. "I'm a deity. I have learned to bond with the celestial spirits, taking on their abilities with power far stronger than you can imagine! It's probably best if you all turned around and went on your way. You're never going to return to your guild if you don't surrender now."
"Lucy," Erza held her sword low but firm, "I don't want to fight you! But I will if I must."
"Oh, Titania," a dark shadow crossed Lucy's face. No longer did she have an arrogant tone, replaced instead by one of anger. "How many times do I have to remind you simpletons that I am NOT LUCY?"
Her body glowed again and then she was standing in a cow patterned bikini top, leather bottoms that were like pants on her left leg and shorts on her right, and her hair was up in two buns. A terrifying whip appeared in her hand.
Erza requipped into her Purgatory Armor, taking on a firm stance with her weapon held tight, but Natsu knew that she was hesitant to hurt Lucy. A little more hesitant than Gray at least. "Gajeel, Natsu—"
She couldn't finish before Lucy's whip had snapped out to get her. At the last second, Gajeel's steel arm saved Erza from getting her face injured. "What are you doin', Salamander?" He muttered, throwing an elongated punch that she easily dodged. "Fight!"
"But it's Lu..cy," Natsu hissed, arms trembling at his side.
He hated that he was just rooted to the ground, unable to move or even speak. He watched as Lucy fought Erza and Gajeel by switching back and forth between her Virgo and Taurus forms and how she took down Levy, Happy and Lily with her Aries form.
But it was when Wendy and Carla were targeted with the Scorpio armor did Natsu finally break away from his daze. Wendy flew backwards into the air with a blast of sandy wind, Carla not far behind her as they heaved toward the sky. It would be a high jump and rough landing, but he knew he had to get her.
He used a boulder as leverage and vaulted up towards them, catching Wendy in his arms bridal style before landing harshly back on the ground. Carla alighted beside them. "Wendy," Carla gasped, hovering over the bruised dragon slayer.
"Carla?" Wendy tried for a smile, but simply closed her eyes and her breathing became even.
Without a word, Natsu propped the small girl against a tree beside Juvia. He'd let it go too far and now not only had Lucy been corrupted, but now all of his other friend's were aching when he could have easily prevented it. "Lucy," he said, a fire burning in his eyes.
Overhead, Jackal cackled as he doubled over in the boughs of the tree. "Only the the dragon slayer remains? All I see is a coward!" His pupils grew small with bloodlust. "FINISH HIM, CELESTIA!"
Lucy glowed again and this time she took on a formal look with her hair piled high and held in place with a flower along with a flowing black dress with a slit up the side. "Behold, mortal. My most powerful demoness form, the form of Leo!"
Fire danced along her collarbone.
Natsu kept his gaze on her level. He needed to demobilize her without hurting her, take out Jackal, and then try to figure out how to bring her back to her senses. She wasn't the enemy.
She wasn't his enemy.
They watched each other, taking in each other's stances for a few seconds, before Lucy attacked with a fiery whip. The flames didn't hurt, but the sting of the whip against his ribcage was rather unwelcoming.
She ran towards him and on impulse, his entire body burst into flames. Lucy staggered backwards, looking like she was mildly in pain. Even though he felt bad, Natsu didn't relent on his flames, but instead made them burn brighter and hotter.
"You bastard!" She screamed. In her palm a small ball began to glow. When she pressed her palms together, a huge blast of golden fire washed over him.
At first, he didn't notice that it burned. All he recognized was the sweet scent of the fire that was definitely Lucy; then the flames enveloped around his upper body and the sizzling of flesh began. Jackal laughed maniacally at Natsu's screams of agony. When the flames died away, Natsu was on his knees and elbows, cheek pressed against the dirt.
His body felt broken and charred and his jacket was nearly non-existent. He wasn't sure how that fire was so powerful—Loke wasn't even a fire spirit so what was that about?—but he was hurting more than he needed too.
He was stronger. He knew he was stronger.
But underneath the brainwash, the girl who was beating him senseless was still Lucy. She was still in there. He refused to believe that his best friend was nothing more than a demon possessed shell of the girl he used to know… the girl that he's pretty sure he might actually have fallen in love with.
Wait, what? Natsu's eyes shot open, mildly aware of Lucy drifting towards him. When did that happen? When had he fallen for his best friend?
Natsu clawed at the grass and dirt filled his nose as he breathed. He remembered the weird feeling he got when they first returned from Tenrou Island after their seven year absence and how he just wanted her to feel safe. The way he wanted her to know he was there for her when her dad died. The way he didn't mind dancing with her at that ball and why he felt angry when Gray tried dancing with her instead.
Most of the stuff in the beginning he had just dismissed as being his way of helping him cope with the lost years, but as Michelle repeatedly hurt Lucy and the terrifying battles they faced during the Grand Magic Games, Natsu couldn't help but develop more confusing feelings.
He just didn't know what to call it until now. Love? Love.
Lucy crouched down in the dirt yet her dark dress remained spotless. "Has the mighty Fire Dragon Slayer finally admitted defeat?" she hissed, grabbing a handful of his rosy hair and jerking his neck backward.
It was in that instance that he made a choice. His quick movements caught her off guard which made it easier for him to grasp her wrist in one hand, cup her face in the other, and then smash his lips against her pink ones.
He had never considered kissing Lucy until this point, mostly because he was blind to his own feelings until it was basically too late. But if life was anything like the stories Lisanna would read to him as children, then true love's kiss would break the spell.
Lucy's mouth was soft and inviting despite how angry and callous she had been. Her mouth moved with his as if she enjoyed it and a small bubble of hope manifested in his stomach. He dropped her wrist to cup her face with both hands and deepen the kiss, but she took that opportune moment to shove him back onto his rear.
Even though she still sported the hardened look of the demoness Celestia, tears were brimming in her eyes. Natsu felt the bubble inside him pop and his stomach dropped. The kiss didn't work.
Jackal jumped down from the tree. His face was flush, most definitely from all of the crazy laughing he had been doing. "Good show, sweetheart. Something tells me you were holding back a little bit, but overall, good work." He brushed her cheek with his index finger. "Let's get back to the Cube and report to Kyôka." His hand lingered for a moment, much to Natsu's disgust, before running off into the woods.
Lucy turned to leave, but Natsu grabbed her hand to stop her. "Lucy, please," he begged, holding her hand in his weaky. Only rarely has he ever felt the need for tears, but right now was one. He already thought he was going to lose Lucy to Michelle and then to Sabertooth —he couldn't lose her now to a bunch of demons. "Please," he murmured again, "don't go with him, Lucy."
Lucy blinked, tears running down her cheeks. For a moment, Natsu thought he had finally reached her, but then she pulled her hand away and whispered coldly, "I'm not sure who the hell this Lucy is you keep going on about, but she's dead. It'd be better if you just forgot about her."
And then she was gone, a flame being extinguished in the night.
Natsu fell to his knees and his own tears created piles of mud below his face. He supposed it was foolish to think that he was the prince to save the princess. He was just a dragon after all.