hi guys! Chapter three already! Yay! I wasn't as quick on my oh her one as this... Speaking of that one... I'm very sorry I haven't updated it but to be honest I haven't touched it like... Mist likely all month! Yeah so i'm in trouble. I have been 'digital slapped' for not doing that story by an anonymous author *cough cough* xxltlchaosxx *cough cough* anyway now to the actual story... I will be doing a bonus chapter (these May be shorter than actual chapters) every five chapters (hopefully)
enjoy!
Chapter 3
In the alley way The salamander headed for there were some bins. He dug through the bins for a while and finally pulled out a huge rucksack from underneath a bin bag. He rummaged through his rucksack for a while and pulled out a cat. A blue cat. With white wings sewn onto it's back. Looking at him weirdly, as he set happy in between his neck and scarf like it was a hammock, she jotted down at least five questions about the cat into her head.
After running through six more damp alley ways, nearly tripping over three homeless cats and getting a high heel cramp in her toes, (she eventually pushed herself to bare the cramp until it became too much that she couldn't run... She expected the salamander to let her sling an arm around him and let her lean on him but... He just walked over bent down and picked her up in a bridal style and began to run again.) they finally reached the station. It took quicker than she thought it would. It was only 11:22! But she was happy that she got 8 minutes to sit at the train stop and talk to her new found, hopefully, friend.
"Who knew you could reach a train station in 7 minutes!?" Lucy exclaimed as the salamander set her down on a free bench at the platform and sat down next to her.
"I did... I've done it before." The salamander scoffed boastfully thrusting a thumb into his chest.
"Ok ok... You said you'd answer all the questions I would ask you..."
"Yeeeees~" the salamander answered carefully.
"First... What's your real name?"
"Really? We've met each other twice both times of which you have watched me murder a person or four people and your first question is what's my name?"
"Yeah"
"What happened to questions like 'do you believe in unicorns?' Or 'what did Santa Claus get you last Christmas?'" The salamander mimicked a girly voice clapping his hands together and looking at her cutely before turning back to his own serious yet happy face.
"Hey!" Lucy said lightly punching him in the shoulder. "Do not stereo type girls... Now answer the flippin' question like you promised!"
"Fine!" He sighed exasperated at the girl's persistence. "My name is Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."
"Ok Natsu. Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy. What age are you?"
"Um... I-I've never really thought about it I guess." Natsu admitted.
"Well when were you born?" (This is modern so it won't be an exact date!)
"The 5th of July 1997."
"So that means... Your 17?"
"Must be... I'm not good at numbers."
"Well... I'm 17 too."
"Oh? Cool"
"Next question... Why do you murder?"
"Ah... Well... That's hard to explain." He said scratching the back of his neck.
"Ok... I'll save that question for later... What did you do before you began murdering?"
"It was just me and my dad, Igneel." Natsu smiled to himself staring at the sky as if he was remembering the good times he had with his father.
"No mum?" Lucy asked curiously.
"She died." He said simply not fazed at all be what he said.
"Oh... Sorry."
"I didn't even know her... Apparently she was killed by a bunch o' gangsters."
"She was?"
"Yeah... And they were gonna take me to a lab and do experiments on me. Luckily dad stopped them and said he would do anything they wanted."
"What happened?"
"They made him sponsor one of their experiments. He promised and sent them £60 a month. With that he didn't have enough money to send me to school when I grew up so he taught me to read and write at home." He smiled looking like he was going to cry bit held it back. "First he taught me food names. I remember them all:
Hamburger
Stew
Soup
Chicken
Rice
Sausages
Curry
And so on and so on." After he said that a train pulled up at the station.
"11:30 on the dot!" Lucy cried happily looking at her watch. Suddenly Natsu froze on the spot.
"U-um..."
"What your not coming?" Lucy tilted her head looking at the uneasy Natsu.
"I-I'm not that g-good with Vehicles." Lucy bit her lip trying to stop the laugh that threatened to escape her lips. "I know. It's stupid so get it over with."Natsu said bracing himself for the blondes laughter. Lucy couldn't hold it in. She opened her mouth and gladly let the laughs flow out of her mouth.
"You! You! An infamous... Murderer... Has... Motion sickness!" She breathed in between laughs.
"What happened to 'how can you laugh at someone suffering like that?'" Natsu accused.
"This is... Dif-er-ent!" She gasped for breath after each syllable before breaking into fits of laughter again as she clutched her sides.
"Yeah yeah... Look we gotta get on before you kill yourself... Unfortunately."
"Look I have patches to help so don't worry." She said after calming down slightly but still having a weird grin on her face.
"Th-thanks." He said snatching a patch off her and entering the train. The patches helped immensely according to Natsu but the colour had already drained from his face and he buried his head in his arms leaning on the table in the compartment.
"So you were saying about your dad?" Lucy continued the interrogation. Natsu lifted his head from the table to look at Lucy.
"Oh yes. So um he taught me to read and write at home. After he taught me the food groups he said that we would start learning other words the next day. He did as he promised the next day and began teaching me small words and phrases like 'I saw the car drive down the road' and stuff like that." Lucy smiled at how great Natsu's relationship was with his dad. She wished her dad was like that with her. "The day after that was my birthday. He said it was a special birthday and that we were going to do something special."
"How was it a special birthday."
"I didn't know at the time... I was only seven." Lucy looked at him confused. "And so we went to a special restaurant that night and he spent money on anything that he knew would make me happy." Natsu reached for his rucksack and stuffed his arm into it. After a while his face brightened up and he pulled out his arm revealing in his hand a soft toy dragon. "This was one of the most special things he got me that day." He smiled. For a minute Lucy completely forgot he was a murderer as he set the cute red dragon down beside him.
"On the 6th of July he came home from the post office, he went there to post his money for the gangsters. He had a letter in his hand. He sent me to my room to play with my new toys as he read the letter. After a while I came down for tea and he didn't mention anything about the letter no matter how much I asked. After tea I went back to my room to continue my story with my new toys." The train abruptly stopped saying they were at clover and the next stop was Mongolia.
"After about an hour of playing I fell asleep. When I woke up and went down to see dad he wasn't there." Lucy could see him biting back tears. "I found a note on the table." Natsu dug back into the rucksack and pulled out a piece of paper. "But because I couldn't read I could only pick out a few words. 'I'm leaving... To save you... Find you... Love Igneel Dragneel.'" He read it out. Lucy was now also biting back tears now. "You can read can't you?"
Lucy looked up at him. He was smiling weakly at her. "Yes... I can... Why?"
"Can you read it for me?"
"Natsu I-I can't read this! It's personal." She rejected.
"I'd rather us both know what it says than not knowing at all." He urged holding out the note. Giving in Lucy took the note and started to read it. It was messy writing just like Natsu's but it was readable and that was all that mattered.
"My dear Natsu.
I know it's sudden but I am in dept to the guys who tried to take you. They will be coming for the two of us. I am going north to stop them or hold them back. Yes I'm leaving but I will come back. This is all to save you Natsu and ensure you live happily. Some day, I will come back and find you. Stay safe and know that I love you my boy.
Love Igneel Dragneel." Lucy looked up to see Natsu. He wasn't crying but his bangs shadowed his eyes and his face was the definition of depression.
"Natsu..." Lucy didn't know what to say... "I-I'm so sorry!" She cried while Natsu just stayed there frozen. Minutes passed and the train stopped as their signal to get off. After a five minute silence Natsu finally talked.
"After that I guess he failed his quest. The gangsters came to the house and lured me out by setting fire to it." Lucy looked at him, shocked he was willing to continue the story. Secretly she was hoping he would continue. It was just getting interesting. "I tried to escape through the back but they had the entire house surrounded. They took me to a lab and used me like a guinea pig. Of course there were others... I warmed up to a girl and a boy. Their names were Wendy and Gajeel. There was also another girl I was friends with called Lisanna. But she supposedly died during one of the tests.
They injected my skin with fire proof scale particles. That's why I made these triggers in my clothing. If I press one I immediately catch fire." He pointed to a small button on his trouser leg as an example. "They also gave me a serum to enhance my sence of smell and hearing and more pointed canines. Oh yes! And one more that made my bones and muscles extra strong."
"We were basically the only ones that survived the scientists' tests. They became suspicious and tested how much our bodies could take. They tortured us. Laughed at our screams. They didn't even talk to us. They just dragged us out of our cells and brought us to a room to run 'tests' on us."
"Me, Gajeel and Wendy eventually decided to rebel. We came up with a plan and I escaped. I don't know if the other two did but I did. I was 12 at the time." He said weekly. Lucy was horrified at what this boy went through. He had experienced loosing his father. Loosing everything.
"After a month of surviving by taking food from the open stalls the police caught me steeling a loaf of bread. They took me to the judge and he called that I was to spend two months in custody... Although I was too young to be in jail they brought me anyway but gave me a certain few luxuries. Like protecting me from fights or giving me extra food. In prison the other guys didn't take well for there being a kid on their turf so they would try and beat me up every now and again. I never talked to them... No matter what I just stayed silent. Luckily the guards saved me but the guys didn't give up. Not even after I left. You see most of the prisoners are there for life 'cause they stole money... A lot of money. I remember the first leader whisper in my ear 'when you come back... There ain't no one gonna protect you kid'." Natsu shuddered at the thought.
They had walked together until they found a hotel in the middle of Mongolia. As they entered Natsu continued his story. "I would rather DIE than go there again. Especially now that I won't be getting the pleasure of being saved by the guards next time." Lucy had listened intently to every word of his story.
"So that brings me to that other question that I asked. Why after getting out of prison did you start murdering?" Lucy asked thinking it would be easier to explain after telling her his entire back story.
"For revenge!" He smirked as they walked up to the desk.
"Um hi can I have a room with two beds please?" She asked a pink haired girl at the desk. She wondered how many pinkettes she would see during this summer.
"Y-yes ma'am I'll g-get you your k-key now... I'm sorry." The girl mumbled. Lucy glanced at her clothing. She seemed to be wearing a wooly dress with a matching wooly headband. Her dress had a badge on it saying her name was 'Amanda Aries'. The desk girl came back with a key saying room 121. "U-um enjoy your stay ma'am." She whispered adding on "I'm sorry."
"What sort of revenge kills random people?" Lucy asked as they headed to the elevator.
"Well they weren't random people! What sorta guy d'you think I am!?" Natsu scoffed as the lift started moving. Suddenly Natsu leaned over clutching his stomach with his right hand and putting a his left hand to his mouth.
"A very strange one I guess." Lucy said staring at the boy who got motion sickness in an elevator in a concerned but amused way.
When the doors opened on the right floor Natsu staggered out and collapsed onto the floor. The mysterious blue cat crawled out of the rucksack and to the boy meowing as he sat down and licked his paw calmly. "I knew I should've taken the stairs!" Natsu murmured as he got up off the ground and scooped up his cat.
"Ha ha! Yes" Lucy laughed unenthusiastically.
"Anyway" he said returning to his nonchalant mood. "I only kill the people I have seen sponsoring the scientists to keep working. The ones that kept the doctors killing innocent people." Natsu's face went dark for a second. They came to the door 121 and opened it.
There were two beds neatly made and a closet to keep their belongings in. There was a bathroom to the right of them and a table with a kettle, tea bags, two cups, a bunch of sachets of sugar, and spoons on it for people who liked tea in the morning. And a BALCONY! An actual BALCONY!
It was now 12:07 in the morning and Lucy felt like she would pass out... But no... She wanted to ask more questions!
"Ahh~" Lucy sighed as she jumped back first onto one of the beds. But Lucy's surprise Natsu just stared at them like they were objects from and alien planet. "What's wrong Natsu?"
"I've never really seen a bed so... Squishy." Natsu was telling the truth. The closest he had got to a bed like this was a prison mattress. And that was as hard as rock! Since his dad was poor he slept in a hammock there and on the floor in his cell in the lab.
"Really!?" Lucy gawked "well then enjoy the amazing luxury! These are really comfy!" She said patting the bed beside her signalling him to sit down on it. He carried out his order obediently and sat on the bed.
The foam mattress immediately sank with Natsu's weight bringing him along with it. "Woah!" He cried as he fell back into the bed. Lucy giggled as he struggled to haul himself up.
"So... What happend to the others? I mean Gajeel and Wendy." She asked after Natsu had struggled of the bed.
"Them? Well you see for serums to be checked that they are completely safe they inject five people with each one. The three of us have enhanced hearing and smell and pointed canines obviously we were the only ones who survived that. And then me and Gajeel were tested with the stronger bones and muscles... I think we absorbed most of that because the other three that tried that's muscles and bones grew so big that it tore their skin." Lucy grimaced imagining the image of a kid's muscles growing until it tore their skin.
"Then they tried to connect iron with Gajeel's blood cells. He lost an arm at that even though it worked. They decided to use that to their advantage and connect a chainsaw to his elbow and make him use that as his arm."
"'Cause Wendy was way younger than us and she came later... After Lisanna died to be exact... She only got one other 'treatment' as the scientists like to call it... That or medicine. We lived being told we were being used to test medicine for the outside world. But anyway. Yeah... Wendy was given something that gave her far stronger lungs." (See what I did there?)
"Wow! But wait... You guys were only tested on three times? Surely there were more tests than that!"
Natsu scoffed at that. "What you think they get the serum right first try?" He removed his waist coat (which by the way Lucy only payed attention to now... PROMISE!) which revealed his sides. There were loads of tiny holes that had pierced his skin. He then took off his scarf (truly unfashionable yet Lucy noticed he made it work in some way) which was evidently, when he took it off, there to cover more marks and a deep cut badly sewn together. "All these marks represent one time they tried one of the three medicines on me."
"And... What happened here?" Lucy asked pointing to the scar.
"That was the point when they tried to further develop my resistance to fire by making my throat and insides fire proof. I struggled away from the fire they were holding close to my face while they attempted to inject me with the treatment. As two scientists held my mouth open I struggled even more... They wanted me to EAT the fire! They missed where they were meant to inject it and cut through my neck." He explained.
"Ouch!" Lucy cringed thinking about that image.
"Yeah... But I survived and that's all that matters right now. The last person I'm gonna kill is my sponsor." He said. Lucy was shocked that he didn't care for the past that much... Well technically he did... He cared enough to kill but she sensed that was for his dad more than for him. For all those years unwillingly paying jerks to do experiments on kids like his son. "His name's Duke Everlue. He watched most of my experiments and also demanded we were tortured to test our limits. I've been waiting for this moment ever since I was released from prison." He smiled as an evil aura grew over him and his eyes burned with passion.
"Ok!" She yawned. "Last question for today... What's with the blue cat and why does it have wings on its back?"
"Oh... Happy?" He reached over and gently lifted the blue cat up and set him on his knee as he began to massage his back. "He was like me... He was an experiment along with two other cats. While I was making my escape I saw him following me... So I decided to bring him with me. Happy's my best buddy now!" Natsu smiled ruffling the cats head as Happy purred in agreement. Lucy couldn't believe that he was a murderer now... He was too... Adorable.
"Aww~" Lucy cried as she opened her suit case and pulled out her long sleeved cotton pyjamas. "I'm gonna get changed... Do you have anything to sleep in?" He shook his head and climbed into bed, sinking down into the soft mattress. "I see... Well I'm gonna get changed." Lucy disappeared into the bathroom locking the door behind her. Natsu buried his face under the covers. He had never felt this comfortable and safe in something so soft. He hadn't felt this safe since-
since his dad. It hurt. His chest clenched and his eyes stung with tears begging to be released from the prison of his eyelids. He had held them there for years. 5 to be exact. Why was it happening now? Was it the letter? Was it just because he had revealed his past to someone when he hadn't even thought of it except for when he is killing someone? Happy hopped up onto Natsu's stomach and crawled over to lie beside the boy's head.
Natsu felt like grabbing his best friend and crying into the cats back. But that would be unfair to Happy... He would turn his back on him for a month. He remembered last time he he blew his nose on the cat he wouldn't do anything while the boy was in sight.
He was despicable! 'Dry your eyes Natsu! What's the matter with you!?' In truth he didn't know. He was just so SAD! But if there was one thing he hated was sympathy from another person. That was always awkward for him. That was probably because he was rarely shown it. He was always happy with his father so he never needed sympathy from him. I fact the only time he was shown that was from Lisanna before she died.
She was usually cheerful around him but when he was taken to be 'tested' on she would cry until he came back. Then she would come over and ask what happened 'oh you poor thing... You know I will always be here for you Natsu!... Someday we can escape together Natsu...' She was always saying things like that. Her voice echoed through his head making his tears fight even more to break through his defences.
He subconsciously gave in and suddenly his cheeks felt damp. He made no attempt to wipe them away. He let them fall freely as the taste of salty water slipped through his lips and fell down onto the pillow beside him. Happy shuffled in closer to Natsu as if to say 'you can cuddle me but don't even think about treating me like a tissue!' Natsu obliged gladly and hugged his best friend close to his chest. That was until he heard the door to the bathroom unlock...
*・゜゚・*:.。..。.:*・'(*゚▽゚*)'・*:.。. .。.:*・゜゚・*
Meanwhile...
Lucy closed the door softly and let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know how long she could hold it in. At first when he talked about his dad and him getting on Lucy had thought that he had had everything! That made her want to throw her fist at him and scream in his face about how lucky he was but then...
Then she heard about how his dad left and he was taken away to be tortured. How his best friend died and then the scientists basically began treating him and his two friends like toys... Just to be played with until it's structure was completely broken and useless.
Useless. Why did she feel that way? She wanted to ask him more but she suspected it would be too much for him... Especially after the note.
After about five years of that (yep she did the maths) he escaped with his new bestie... A cat. Man he must be lonely to have a cat for a friend. His other friends were missing and he had nowhere to go. Just like her. One year ago, she knew it wasn't as long as Natsu but, she ran away from home because she wanted TRUE love. Not a betrothed. A TRUE love. Like in the movies. Cinderella! Snow White! Sleeping Beauty! Beauty And The Beast! And Romeo and Juliet... Well possibly not that one. She didn't want to kill herself. She kept on thinking about what to do about Natsu.
She still was finding it quite hard to believe he was the salamander! Maybe after his last killing he could... Change? Like become a... Not 'normal' but you know... A citizen? A... Well whatever it was she meant. Maybe he could go to school with her. 'He has his own life Lucy! He might want to gallop off to find his dad or his friends!' She knew that but the very moment he asked to come with her to Mongolia she felt like she had to protect him...
She suddenly noticed she hadn't even touched her clothing. So she got dressed and slowly but surely unlocked the door. And eased it open...
*・゜゚・*:.。..。.:*・'(*゚▽゚*)'・*:.。. .。.:*・゜゚・*
"Natsu?" Natsu suddenly paused when he heard the girl's voice. 'Why now Lucy?! You just had to come out now!' He thought to himself. He wanted to frantically wipe away his tears and answer but if he did that... What? He just didn't want to answer. He wished there was an invisible sound proof wall between them so that he could just let his emotion run free.
"Natsu? Are you asleep?" Lucy asked. He must be because her next answer was complete silence. Lucy left her new 'friend' in peace and climbed into bed after turning the lights off. She fell into a deep sleep.
Natsu heard the blondes footsteps walk towards the lights. The sudden darkness scared him slightly. He always had the stars to lull himself to sleep. He heard a rustle as Lucy climbed into bed and then heavy and peaceful breaths. She was sleeping. Natsu hoped Lucy was a heavy sleeper. He flung the warm sheets, that covered him in a protective and comfortable shell, off him and he swung his feet over the side of the bed as he crept towards the door leading to the balcony. He slid the door open and tiptoed out.
The fresh air breathed upon him chilling his bones inside out. The look of the stars shining down on him comforted Natsu. Although the bed gave him a comforting sense of safeness the stars just seemed like they would just shoot down their amazing light at anyone who tried to hurt him. He supposed that it was the fact they always appeared at night time. They never ever failed to show up. Even the sight of them stopped his tears from falling.
Natsu looked down from the balcony and watched as the occasional car speed past the building completely ignorant of the existence of anything but the road and where they were going. He glanced back at the hotel room. The dim light of the stars barley touched a single place. Happy and Lucy were lying down on separate beds sleeping.
Natsu's eyes became heavy and muscles began to loose strength of will to stand. Gladly Natsu lowered himself to sit down on the hard concrete leaning his back against the rails. It wasn't as comfortable as the bed but he didn't care. The stars were there and they promised to take care of him. If he was safe he was happy to sleep in a compost bin for all he cared.
Natsus eyes closed and his muscles rested as the stars traced themselves into his dreams.
Well guys another successful chapter so yay!
and also you guys... I have seen a lot of comments on how dumb Lucy is to ask and take directions from a murderer... Well I guess she is stu- *hit on the arm by Lucy*
Lucy: Nu ugh! Don't call me that! I only agreed on acting to this because I'm a nice person!
Me: I know I know *cough cough* andalsobecauseyouwantedtospendtimewithnatsuwhowasallfortheidea *cough cough*
Lucy: what was that *bushes hand past her keys*
me: nothing nothing!
Lucy: good. Now *turns to the audience* about why I trusted the murderer is because as I said... I'm a nice person and give people chances...
*argument to be continued*
