The Fall: Act 1
Part 1
Lucy was tired, for an entire week she and everyone else were running away but was there a choice in the matter?
"Lucy get inside, get inside please!" Yukino yelled from inside the sewer. Lucy looked down and shook her head.
"I have to help them." Lucy replied and disappeared from the top of the manhole.
"Damn it!" Yukino cried out but Lucy didn't hear her.
Lucy looked around her as she tried to orient herself in the middle of the night; there was almost no building left intact in Crocus, Fiore's capital city, after the dragons were done with it. The city had simply ceased to exist since the day the eclipse gate opened.
'Damn it Lucy they said that they will be fine.' Lucy thought but she didn't believe it. In the distance she could hear the sounds of battle and she run towards it, all pretences of stealth now forgotten. 'Natsu, Cana, please be okay.'
It was a desperate plan but they all were in a desperate situation, many had already died by that point and many more would do so if they didn't get what was needed. One hundred volunteers escorted by all of the dragon slayers and most of the surviving mages would scour the city in the night, searching for food and medicine.
Most of the dragons left Crocus the moment they passed through the gate but many still remained in the gate's immediate vicinity, they hoped that the night would provide the necessary cover but the dragons wouldn't let things turn out as they thought it would. It was only natural, dragons have far keener senses than humans, it was foolish to believe that night would be any different than day for them.
They all scattered the moment the first dragon attacked, the dragon slayers and the strongest mages covering them but it wasn't enough, more and more dragons kept entering the fray and soon they all became separated. Natsu and Cana covered Lucy's and Yukino's group as they made their escape back to the sewers but Lucy couldn't just leave them behind. She run towards where she had last seen them only to hear the sounds of battle die out and the hideous laughter of a dragon she knew well.
"I love it when my food takes care of how it tastes!" Zilconis said out loud. "Who would have thought that Alcohol would make humans taste so good?"
"You bastard!" Lucy heard Natsu's pained scream even from that distance. "I will kill you!"
"Kill me?" Zilconis laughed even harder. "You humans haven't even managed to kill even one of us the past week and you say that you, beaten to a pulp and all alone, will kill me?" Lucy reached the battleground only to see Natsu pinned to the ground by Zilconis. "You are pathetic, the woman, who wasn't even a Dragon Slayer, had better chances at killing me than you did."
Lucy immediately hid out of sight and looked around, instinctively looking for Cana but she instantly realized that she was gone. She pushed her grief back and tried to concentrate on the current situation. Perhaps she could free Natsu from the dragon's grasp but they didn't have much of a chance when the dragon would attack again. She nearly screamed in shock when Yukino came next to her.
"What's going on? Where is Cana?" She whispered as low as she could and Lucy just shook her head in response. "Damn."
"We have to free Natsu and limit the dragon's mobility at the same time." Lucy whispered. "Aquarius can flood the place forcing the dragon to take flight but we can't do anything after that."
"Libra can force him to the ground but not for long. I will also have Pisces help Natsu when he is swept away by the water." Yukino replied.
"Sounds like a plan." Lucy took out one of her Golden keys of the Zodiac and submerged it the water canteen she carried for the past couple of days.
"Open gate of the water bearer; Aquarius." Lucy yelled and Zilconis who was about to finish off Natsu turned immediately to see what the commission was about only to see a wall of water rushing towards him. He immediately spread his wings and took to the skies, leaving Natsu to be swept by the flood.
"Open gate of the paired fish; Pisces." Yukino followed with her Golden Key and immediately the two stellar spirits in human form appeared and rushed to Natsu. "Open gate of the heavenly scales; Libra. Pin the dragon down Libra, don't let it fly freely." Yukino said and Libra immediately changed the gravity, forcing Zilconis to crash onto a ruined building.
"You damn bitches! I will enjoy eating you." Zilconis roared as he struggled to stand on all fours.
Lucy rushed to Natsu who was being supported by the two stellar spirits, both of them disappearing as she got next to him and offered him her shoulder.
"Fire…I need fire to kill this bastard." Natsu said with a trembling voice.
"There is no fire around, we can only see thanks to the moon. We have to go before he is able to move again." Lucy replied.
"The lacrima Jellal made, give it to me."
"It's too dangerous for you; it might kill you in the condition you are in."
"He killed Cana…He also said that he was the one who killed Elfman, Lisanna and Mirajane the first day he got here…" Natsu didn't take his murderous gaze off Zilconis as he spoke. "Give it to me and I will kill him…"
"You are just delaying the inevitable." Zilconis laughed as he started walking towards them, crushing everything in his path. "I can already feel the spell weakening."
Lucy looked at Libra and Yukino both looking exhausted from the effort. Without thinking she grabbed the Lacrima crystal from her backpack and gave it to Natsu. "Please live." She said crying as Natsu ate the crystal; he immediately started to convulse violently and fell to the ground. "Natsu!"
"It looks like I won't have to go far for desert." Zilconis said as he stood above them, licking his mouth in anticipation. He made to grab Lucy with one of his clawed palms but Natsu instantly took Lucy on his arms and dodged Zilconis's attack.
"Natsu…" Lucy said as she looked at him, his skin covered with scales while flames flowed out of him, she didn't feel burned where the flames touched her skin, just pleasant warmth. "So this is Dragon force…"
"You bastard…You won't be able to eat anyone from the grave!" Natsu yelled as he let Lucy down and rushed toward the dragon who replied with his dragon roar, Natsu met the attack with his own roar and when the two attacks met they cancelled each other out lifting a cloud of dust as they did. When the dust settled, Natsu was nowhere to be seen.
"Ha! It looks like he run away." Zilconis said triumphantly. "And he even left me a couple of snacks to keep me occupied." Zilconis looked Lucy and Yukino with a gluttonous expression.
"Fire Dragon's Claw." Natsu's attack hit the dragon from above, causing Zilconis to cry out in pain as his wings were burned to a cinder.
"That's it you puny human, I am done playing with you." Zilconis roared as he rolled on the ground in order to get Natsu off him.
"Playing? Playing? For the past week we haven't been playing you bastard." Natsu screamed as he jumped off and attacked Zilconis again. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist."
"Argghhh." Zilconis screamed in pain. "How can you be so strong, minutes ago you couldn't land a proper blow." Zilconis cried out as he stumbled but Natsu didn't reply as he landed blow after blow on the dragon. Zilconis went into a desperate counter attack but Natsu was too quick, he dodged and weaved through the Dragon's attacks, delivering even more blows as he did so.
"Stay still you damn human, so I can kill you."
As if replying to Zilconis's taunt, Natsu stood in front of him and with his hand he challenged the dragon to attack him.
"You are fucking dead!" Zilconis roared as he attack with both of his arms.
"Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" Their attacks collided in mid air and for a moment it seemed like they would cancel each other out again but suddenly Zilconis's arms were severed from Natsu's attack, he passed through them and headed straight for the dragons head. Zilconis barely managed to take an expression of shock before Natsu went through his head like a bullet.
Exhausted from the effort and soaked in dragon's blood Natsu fell to his knees next to Zilconis's corpse panting. Lucy rushed to his side while an exhausted Yukino fell to the ground right after she closed Libra's gate.
"Natsu you did it." Lucy hugged him as she got to him but Natsu kept a solemn look on his face.
"I did it…but Cana…" Natsu returned the hug and they both stood there, silent, as tears flowed from their eyes. It the distance they could still hear the sounds of heavy fighting as the rest of the dragon slayers and mages fought for their lives.
"I have to go help the others." Natsu finally said.
"I will help you!" Lucy replied in an instant.
"No…You are both too tired to go on." Natsu gently pushed Lucy away.
"But…" Lucy felt the wet blood in her arms and looked at Natsu in confusion as the dragon's blood was somehow absorbed by the dragon slayers skin.
"It feels weird." Natsu said as he observed it. "It's the same sensation as when I am eating fire but far more intense."
"Bathed in dragon's blood." Lucy muttered. "Rogue and Sting said that it makes Dragon Slayers stronger when they are bathed in dragons blood."
"You will both go back underground." Natsu said as Yukino stumbled next to them. "Tell them what happened."
"But Natsu, you can't do this alone." Lucy complained.
"Lucy please… I can't lose you as well." Natsu said causing her to momentarily blush.
"I…We will tell them what happened…" Lucy managed to reply as she stood up and went to Yukino's side.
"I will go help the others." Natsu said as he rushed off into the night.