Hey everyone (*dodges pitchforks and torches*) it sure has been a while (*gets stabbed in the leg*) I'll save my rambling for the bottom of this chapter (*gets kicked in the stomach*) sorry for the wait (*runs away screaming from flaming cannonballs*).
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Mashima's beautiful and creative brain.
Lucy's eyes shot open. Her body was telling her to run and her mind was already moving faster than a speeding bullet.
Where was she? What time was it? Why did she feel so sluggish? Since when did the oasis turn purple and blotchy?
The confused blonde blinked rapidly, trying to process all the sights around her. The area surrounding her wasn't a green, beautiful paradise anymore, but a shifting enclosure of deep purple haze that stretched on forever in every direction. Even the floor she was lying on was swishing back and forth, like someone was shaking a thin blanket beneath her. Her sleeping bag was gone, her friends were nowhere to be seen and she had a splitting headache.
It wasn't long before her panic forced out the sleepiness from her body, though it took her tired mind longer than she'd have liked to realize there was something binding her hands and feet together. They were metal cuffs of some kind, and when she pulled herself forward she heard the clanking of chains. The leash her cuffs were attached to was short, but it at least allowed her enough freedom to wiggle her body around if she wanted to.
"Lucy? You finally awake?" Natsu shouted hoarsely.
"Yeah… but I feel… terrible!" She croaked in return. "Where are you?"
"From what I can tell, you're somewhere behind me. How can you sleep that long? I've been trying to wake you up for ages!"
Lucy flipped herself around while following Natsu's voice to find him suspended in the air by chains. His bare back was facing her and each of his limbs were spread so that, with his spiky pink hair, he looked like a type of exotic starfish. "What happened to the oasis? Is Happy here too?" She asked, a bit of anxiety tinting her voice.
"Not sure-"
"Huh? I can't hear you!"
"I said I'm not sure!" Yelled Natsu in his typically obnoxious way.
"Jeez, sorry if I can't hear you from all the way over there! Your back's facing me and everything…" The celestial mage muttered under her breath. "Have you tried getting out of here yet?"
"'Course I have, but it looks like-"
"Are you two quite finished?"
The new voice echoed and bounced through the air like a wandering spirit.
"Who's there?" Natsu rasped, immediately trying to summon his flames, but to no avail.
"Don't get so huffy, child, I'm right over here."
Natsu whipped his head in the direction of the sound, Lucy following his gaze in a south-west direction to a particularly thick area of smoke some distance away. The figure that emerged was much different than either of them expected. It was a woman of medium height in her late forties, maybe early fifties, who looked like a perfectly average civilian. As she sauntered over, she gave an air of bolstering confidence like that of royalty, despite the slight hunch of her back and the plain cotton dress she was wearing. Her graying hair was swept neatly into a tight bun, and as she came closer it could be seen that there was an ashen tinge to her face and wrinkles at the corners of her mouth. Despite all this, Lucy couldn't help but notice how beautiful the woman was for her age, with all the grace of a retired noblewoman.
Natsu wasted no time. "Are you the one who trapped us here?"
"Well, despite this evil-looking dimension we're all in and the fact the both of you are chained up like dogs, meanwhile I'm the only one walking around free as a bird, I was simply hoping to sell you weary travelers some apples for your journey." The smile she gave was sweet enough to spawn cavities.
"Don't you fuck with us!" Yelled Natsu. He tried rattling his chains and didn't budge an inch. "Where's Happy?"
"Humph, I guess the act is over." She chuckled ruefully. "If by 'Happy' you mean that possessed, blue cat, then I tied it up and threw it somewhere for the vultures to pick at," the face she made was less than pleased, "it annoyed me incessantly with its talking."
"What?" The glare Natsu threw the woman's way was as hot as magma.
Anger started to boil through Lucy as well. "Who do you think you are?" She shouted at the mysterious woman.
"What, you don't recognize me?" The woman replied. "Tisk, tisk. Maybe this will jog your memory."
The air around her began to shift and shimmer until there was a thick layer of haze separating her and the two trapped mages in front of her. Slowly, the fog dissipated to reveal a surprising sight.
"The old janitor at the station..." Mumbled Lucy in shock.
"That's right, dearie." The air shimmered around her once more and she was back to her original form. "You are fortunate enough to be in the presence of the creator and sole ever user of Ancient Demon Apostle Magic: Lilith Jadis."
"Never heard of it n' I don't really care who you are," seethed Natsu, "but if you hurt one hair on Happy's head-"
"Didn't I tell you that he's fine so long as there aren't any birds around? And you should care about my magic, young dragonslayer, since I'll be killing you with it in just a moment."
Alternate dimensions, shape shifting and now apparently a magic that could be used to kill? "Just what kind of magic is that?" The confused celestial mage wondered out loud. It was a unlike anything she'd seen or heard of before.
The mage named Lilith smirked and gave a laugh of contempt. "I suppose this is the part where the 'villain' reveals their master plan to the two heroes. Since you'll be dead quite soon, I may as well ease your worthless conscious. My magic comes in two parts: mind manipulation and life draining.
"The manipulation part you've been exposed to ever since I spotted just how much lovely, youthful energy was stored in your bodies by chance on that train. All that you see in front of you is only a figment of your imagination. I cannot take the form of an old man, but your minds believe that I can. I can make you believe whatever I'd like, and whatever you imagine is also something I can choose to see for myself. This dimension where your magic is useless? I made you believe in it, therefore I can see you shackled in front of me as well. Do you follow?"
"So that entire oasis, it's just an illusion, isn't it?" Asked Lucy. The pieces were all starting to come together.
Lilith narrowed her eyes dangerously and said, "I knew you were a sharp one, unlike your boyfriend over here. The oasis itself is real, though everything in that clearing was more or less made up by this Natsu man." The named fire mage bared his teeth in annoyance, but the old woman just continued speaking. "I lured him with my magic by making him think he'd find something nostalgic in the clearing, then it was a simple act of having you believe you were seeing whatever he was seeing. The power of imagination really is a wonderful thing! Little did I know that his mind would recreate a dragon's cave he probably made with his father as a child. Isn't that right, dragonslayer?"
Although Lucy couldn't see Natsu's face, she could picture it distorted with rage. If the shaking of his body told her anything, it was that he was ready to pop like the lid on a steaming kettle. Now she understood Natsu's confusing behavior the night before. It must have been agonizing to see a reminder of his adoptive father when he wasn't even sure he was alive or not.
"I know you thought it was too convenient that you missed your station and managed to find yourself in a friendly desert oasis, little girl. That's why I drained your magic with lacrima while you were 'bathing' and tried to take away those spirit keys of yours."
"The monkeys?"
"Exactly. I may be old, but I'm not senile yet. I've lived to see much about the world and there's hardly a form of magic that I cannot recognize. In hindsight, perhaps I should have just waited till you were asleep to take them, anyway." Lilith pulled out a leather pouch from the folds of her skirt and shook it enough so that the faint jingling of keys could be heard. She then hooked the pouch onto a loop of string by the hip of her dress and patted it fondly.
"Oi, don't just blabber on and on like I'm not even here." Shouted Natsu. "If this is all just imaginary, then I believe none of this is real." He yanked on his chains as hard as he could, though he was surprised to find himself still rooted in place.
"Tougher than you thought, hm?" Lilith retaliated with a cheshire cat grin. "I've perfected this magic down to an art over countless of centuries. Did you really think escape was so easy with such an undisciplined mind like yours?"
Countless of centuries? That doesn't sound right. This woman can't be older than fifty-five! Thought Lucy franticly. The only explanation lay in the other half of her magic, so she asked cautiously, "What about the life draining part of it?"
The old mage's smile turned cruel. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that. What a smart little sweetie you are. The truth? I can steal the years of life a person has lived, and would have lived, too, if only fate had been kinder, by causing them pain. To put it simply, I drain the life force of people until there's nothing left, then I use it to make myself young and beautiful again. Perhaps a demonstration would help!"
Cold-blooded fear settled into Lucy's bones as Lilith clapped her hands together and said calmly, "Ancient Demon Apostle Magic: Feast of the Death Gods."
Tendrils of black smoke immediately shot from the ground and swallowed Natsu in a swirling vortex. He cried out in pain as he felt the smoke creep across his body like dry ice. The magic seeped into every pore of his body, slowly and agonizingly, stopping only when all the smoke had been absorbed and it felt like his innards had been raked to ribbons with frozen, beastly claws. A thin trickle of black ooze escaped the corner of his mouth as the dragon slayer's body sagged to one side, trembling like a leaf in an autumn storm.
"Natsu!" Lucy barely managed to force the word out of her. She could see Natsu clench and unclench his fists in an attempt to force the terrible feeling from himself, which seemed to melt away quickly enough judging by the steely look in his eyes.
She meekly started pulling on her own bonds so that she could come to her partner's aid, but chains proved to be too powerful for her to break through as well. Lucy couldn't stand how useless she felt! If she could at least find a way to escape the illusion while the witch was distracted…
As if she could read her mind, Lilith sneered, "Don't try to run away too quickly, little girl. Your turn will come soon enough."
Natsu exhaled sharply through his teeth, causing the old woman to focus her attention on him again. He gave a silent chuckle, which turned into a wheezy cough, before he hissed, "Is that all you've got?"
"Dearie, these are just my preparations." Closing the gap between them, Lilith let her face hover just inches from Natsu's. Her head tilted slightly to examine the goop, which was still by Natsu's mouth, before wiping it away absent-mindedly with her thumb and fixing him with a sadistic stare. "This is where things get interesting."
"Back off!" Natsu roared, jerking his head in the opposite direction in disgust. Lilith flinched and shrank back a bit. Shit, Natsu thought, I missed my chance to headbutt her!
This didn't please the dark mage one bit. Closing the distance between them again, she spat, "Listen, boy, we can either do this the easy way," the area around her hand wavered and a knife, which she brought to Natsu's throat, materialized out of thin air, "or the hard way." The knife turned itself into a large, rusted hook, the kind that was probably used to gut fish and small animals.
Things are getting bad, Lucy realized, this can't go on much longer or Natsu is done for! Damn, the chains are only imaginary and yet they're too strong for me to break through! Thought Lucy frantically. No, I need to calm down. She closed her eyes, let her body go slack and tried to block out as much of her surroundings as possible. Don't do anything drastic, Natsu…
Calm. Focus. Nothing is real. Lucy chanted the verses over and over again in her head. The celestial mage steeled her mind until she felt nothing cold touching her skin, no metal constricting her hands and feet and that her entire being was numb. She believed that nothing in the world could hold her down and that she was stronger than what everyone else believed of her too. She was the master of her own mind, no one else.
Calm. Focus. Nothing is real.
Calm. Focus. Nothing is real.
Calm! Focus! Nothing is real!
Something in Lucy's mind snapped. The chains were gone. She cracked open an eye and saw her swirling purple surroundings were replaced by an empty, grassy clearing and spiraling palm trees. She was free! However, now wasn't the time to celebrate.
With her waning energy, the celestial mage silently heaved herself into a crawling position and hid cautiously behind Natsu, who was, funnily enough, not suspended in the air, but just standing in a star position.
Lucy tentatively passed a hand through the gap between Natsu's feet to check whether the witch was paying attention or not, but the dark mage's face was too close to Natsu's to see anything else around her. As quickly as her bruised body would carry her, Lucy took the opportunity to quietly slink behind Lilith before she had a chance to notice.
Although Lucy's motions were lost on Lilith, Natsu's heightened senses picked up the noises of shuffling well enough to know her position.
Suddenly, the old woman took a step backwards and lowered her arm, causing Lucy to almost trip over her own limbs trying to get out of the way. "So," she said sweetly, "are you going to be a good boy, or will I have to paint the ground with your intestines?"
Natsu said nothing, instead pretending to focus his sights on a spot above Lilith's head. Following Natsu's vision, Lucy backed up into a spot where they could both make eye contact with each other. First, Lucy put a finger to her mouth to tell him to be quiet. Pointing to the keys at Lilith's waist, she made a snatching motion, pointed at him and silently tapped a fist onto her nose. Natsu understanded the plan immediately and nodded his head just a millimeter.
Lilith took this as Natsu's admittance of defeat, so she cooed, "Good, very good. Try to hold still, now."
Natsu could feel his blood boiling when he saw the hook replace itself with a knife again. To hell with not being able to use magic, he could use it if he wanted to! This was the only shot they had at beating her. As the old woman neared him, he pulled at the magic he knew was stored within him, pooling the reserves in his hands until he could hear sparks crackling. The witch's head shot up in surprise.
Now was his chance.
Natsu drew his head back and slammed his forehead as hard as he could onto the bridge of Lilith's nose.
The older woman was propelled backwards and fell to the floor while clutching her face with both hands. Seeing the blood seeping through her fingers, she turned to Natsu and screeched "How dare you! I give you a choice and you impudently stepped on my good will! Then let me show you what other ways I can put you at death's door!" Lilith shouted as she picked herself up off the floor, though the action was slowed considerably due to the blow to the head she received.
"Oi, you old geezer, stop screwing around and let me go already!" Natsu yelled.
"Why you-! I'll teach you to respect your elders!" Lilith, ready to explode with fury, took several menacing steps towards the dragon slayer. Using the momentum to help her, Lucy deftly unbuckled her keys and held them close to her.
Lilith continued without noticing, instead placing her hands together as if in prayer. "I only save this spell for my toughest victims, so be flattered, you worthless swine. Ancient Demon Apostle Magic: Sorrowful Awakening!" Black smoke billowed from the ground again, except this time it was enough to engulf him in a small tornado.
At first, Natsu tried to hold his own against the force of the ominous wind circling around him. He wrenched at his imaginary chains, making his veins bulge with exertion. The smoke started threading itself through his skin, tingeing wherever it touched a sickly grey color for a moment before disappearing. The pain was enough to make Natsu grit his teeth, but he had seen it all before.
Just when it seemed like the worst of it was over, a new gust of smoke snapped his head skywards and knocked the wind right out of him. He was forced to breath in the suffocating magic, coughing and hacking until he felt his eyes roll and his consciousness leave him. His body finally collapsed under its own weight and Natsu dropped to the floor like a bag of cement.
"Natsu!"
Lilith whipped her head around and caught sight of Lucy not even a few steps behind her. The dark mage scowled. "You." Stomping over to the blond, Lilith grabbed Lucy by the hair and unceremoniously yanked her head to look upwards. "I should have killed you from the start. I knew you were trouble, but I thought I'd have a bit of fun by letting you watch your lover be murdered right in front of you. I will not be making the same mistake again. Sensory link!"
The witch's hand was engulfed by a pink light. She swiped Lucy's wrist with an explosion of yellow, then dropped the celestial mage to point her hand in the direction of Natsu, who had just finished absorbing the ancient magic and lay wide-eyed on the floor, immobilized. A shock passed through both Natsu's and Lucy's bodies as the bond was established in the form of a heart bracelet.
"It's a nifty trick I picked up a few decades ago." Lilith leered. "Now when he dies, you die too. It's killing two birds with one stone as they say."
Lucy had heard about this type of magic before from Juvia. Now all of her and Natsu's senses were connected. Already, she could feel her partner's turbulent emotions flooding their way across their new link. Doubt, fear, helplessness, solitude, abandonment. The feelings ripped through her like a hurricane. She clutched the side of her head and tried processing what the hell was going on. Was all of this really coming from Natsu?
"What… did you do to Natsu?" Lucy squeaked as more and more emotions poured into her quicker than wildfire across a savanna plain, filling her mind with smoke and bringing biting tears to her eyes. Anger, confusion, abandonment, abandonment, ABANDONMENT!
He left me.
There were voiced in her head chittering incessantly, sometimes merging together to form whole thoughts in eerie unison and sometimes screeching like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.
"What did you do?" Lucy screamed again.
Why did he leave?
"I didn't do a thing to him, dearest." Chuckling, Lilith crouched slowly in front of where Lucy was clenched in a fetal position. "Alright, I'm lying a bit there, but most of it is just him. Sorrowful Awakening taps into a person's innermost doubts and fears and intensifies them until they can't help but bubble to the surface. It doesn't matter how strong the feelings were to begin with, the magic will scratch away at your mind until you finally cave in to your own weaknesses. Of course, the weaker the emotions, the less they can be intensified. I would say this Natsu man has a wound that just won't heal by the look of how his mental defenses are holding up. Poor, poor sweetheart!"
He never cared about me.
With as much grace as a 50-something-year-old body could provide, Lilith got up and sashayed over to the fire mage. "As soon as he breaks completely, I'll be able to both of your life energies. Here, let me speed up the process." With that, she kicked Natsu in the ribs.
He wanted to leave.
Pain, on top of everything else, poured into the Sensory Link. Lucy's mind and sight were blacking out. The vision she was left with was of Natsu's terrified face. He was awake, but his eyes were glazed over and his mouth was parted in a silent scream. He didn't even react when he was kicked again in the same place, but it made Lucy cry out. That was a mistake. For a few seconds she struggled to breath. Natsu's ribs had been cracked. Each intake of air would send sharp knives through her entire chest. It made her breathing shallow and rapid. Intense lightheadedness quickly followed.
He never loved me.
Coherent thoughts were escaping her, but she knew what she needed to do. Natsu needed her, and she couldn't get to him alone, so in her head she pleaded and pleaded for the gods, or whoever was listening, to give her a chance. All she needed was a chance!
We need to… Get out of here! We need… Help…
Half her sight was missing now. Her eyelids sagged and she felt tired. Darkness was softly, caressingly calling her name when...
"Regulus Punch!"
Surrounded by a ball of brilliant light, Loke's fist connect with Lilith's face, sending her flying a good few meter. The next thing Lucy knew, she was being held in the arms of the lion spirit, causing pain to shoot through her side again. The sudden jolt was enough to bring her to her senses again.
"Princess, what is she doing to you?" He demanded. "I came as soon as I heard your call."
"Sensory l-link." Lucy whispered, swallowing dryly as the words caught in her throat. "Her magic… needs to… s-stop."
"Stupid brats…" Lilith was propping herself against a palm tree and cradling the side of her face. "Never know when to give up, do you?"
"She's a sturdy old coot, I'll give her that." Loke gently laid Lucy on her back as he said, "I'll be back for you, Princess. I'm not normally one to hit women, but if it means stopping your pain then I'll gladly do it." Glancing at his contractor one last time, he stood, readjusted his cuffs and stalked towards the witch with a glare that would put Medusa to shame. When Lucy was out of earshot, he snarled, "You'll pay for what you did to her!"
"I'd like to see you lay a hand on me, kitten!" Lilith spat.
Lucy eased herself onto her stomach in the meanwhile and clenched her jaw when she felt the hard ground press against the side of her chest, right where Natsu's fractured ribs were. As she willed one hand to claw itself into the dirt and pull her body forward, the walls of her skull felt like they were stretched to breaking point.
I'll never find him.
She concentrated on putting one hand before the other, her eyes trained doggedly on Natsu's curled up figure while she battled ruthlessly to keep the negative feelings from consuming her sanity.
He's dead.
On the other side of the clearing, Loke broke into a run, gathering his magic in his palms for another physical attack, to which Lilith only smirked. She clapped her hands together dramatically and shouted, "You men are all the same, only thinking with your fists after all the years I have lived to see. Do you really think I am that defenseless? Ancient Demon Apostle Magic: Ghosts of the Devil's Past!"
The celestial spirit stopped in his tracks as before him an army of thirty or so purple apparitions of horribly realistic rotting corpses appeared and surrounded Lilith in a defensive circle, effectively cutting him off from his target. He muttered a curse as he eyed the floating carcasses armed with various weapons of torture and destruction, ranging from elaborate swords to nailed clubs, and fully clad in barbed armor. Even the spear-tipped horns on their heads looked sharp enough to cleave his head right off if he wasn't careful.
Lucy, sensing her friend's distress somewhere in her overwhelmed mind, paused her pathetically slow crawling to look over her shoulder at him. Loke sensed her eyes on him and gathered his composure. There was no way that he would burden her further by cowering because a daunting new enemy had appeared. He had faced worse before, and would face enemies a thousand times more terrible before he was ready to let any harm come to Lucy.
Loke took a deep breath in, squared his shoulders and let out the pent-up air in a hiss. "Lucy," he called to her, "don't worry about me! Just focus on what you need to do. I'll handle the witch."
The finality of his words left no room for doubt. She wanted to call out to him, tell him that she put her faith in him, but all that came out was a dry cough. The lion spirit smiled briefly when he heard Lucy shuffling back into action.
"My, my, you've certainly surrounded yourself with fine, young men, my dear." Lilith giggled in a tone that was not quite sound. "If I always had that many men to sleep with, I probably wouldn't be the woman I am today. Mm, on second thought, I probably would be."
"Shut your filthy mouth." Loke growled. His hands clamped into fists tight enough to turn his knuckles white. This time, he would knock the wench out so hard, he couldn't guarantee she'd wake up without a few missing teeth, or maybe even some cracked bones. Permanently cracked bones.
Lilith laughed louder. "The insolence of youngsters these days. By all the gods, if I would have known those weak-looking children and that unnatural pet of theirs would have caused me so much trouble at that train station, I would have slit their throats and picked some other fools to torture!"
"Enough!" Loke roared. Taking up a fighting stance, he called on the power of Lion Brilliance to knock out the line of ghosts closest to him. He went through every one of his spells in turn, kicking and punching and fighting his way through the ranks, yet the corpses that he knocked out just got back up again, despite having gaping wounds exposing discolored internal organs or entire limbs missing. Nevertheless, he never let down his guard, never wasted unnecessary magic and never stopped fighting. If there was one thing chiseled in his mind more than anything else in that moment, it was that he would save his strength to unleash the greatest Regulus Impact he'd ever created on that beast of a woman. He would push through, and when he did, the reward would be oh, so sweet.
Lucy was just a couple of meters from Natsu now. He had curled himself into a ball on the floor at one point and lay there trembling. Like a frightened animal, his head was ducked into his chest with both arms covering a great portion of his face. The rest of it was covered by his knees tucked all the way up to his chin.
He was scared, he was angry, he was confused, and he was alone.
He hated me.
Lucy was so close she could almost touch him.
He hated me.
His feelings were growing stronger. With every new thought that entered her mind, her head throbbed like a herd of charging elephants. It was a pain the likes of which she wouldn't even wish upon her greatest enemy.
The worst part?
She knew exactly who he was thinking of. She had felt exactly the same as a child, that same godforsaken abandonment from someone close to her.
I was just a kid!
Lucy finally reached Natsu's body. She laid herself parallel to him, thankfully on her less painful side, and took one of his shoulders in each hand. With the last of her waning strength, she pulled Natsu closer to her until his head was somewhere near her neck.
"Natsu," Lucy croaked.
"Lu-cy...?" Came a barely audible reply.
"I'm here, Natsu. Look, I'm right here." She soothingly whispered while stroking his back, just like she did in the cave not even a few hours ago. "I'm right here."
As slow as a morning glory opening with the sun, Natsu began unfurling himself very slightly. Lucy guided his body so that eventually the both of them were pressed flat against each other. Carefully, she brought his chin up with one hand so that he could look up at her. His features were completely blank and tears rolled down his cheeks in wide streams, some merging with the goop coming out of his nose. He was the perfect picture of a crying mess.
For a short moment, Lucy feared he was already too far gone to see her face hovering just a few centimeters from his, or hear the soft encouragements she mumbled distractedly while cleaning his face with the sleeve of his own shirt, which she still had on from yesterday. It hurt her beyond belief to see him like this, so stricken with sadness and consumed by his own doubts and fears. It wasn't like Natsu at all.
All she wanted to do was hug her best friend and cry with him until the pain was over, until she could see the smile on his face that she loved so dearly, though she knew from experience that a wound so deep could never be cured that way. It would only staunch the bleeding for a little while until the scar could reopen itself again.
I have to stay strong. Lucy thought inwardly. I won't let her take him! She gazed deep into Natsu's listless eyes and pleaded for him to come back to her. "Natsu," she cried hoarsely, "please look at me. Please hear me. You don't have to do this alone. Don't leave me alone or push me away. I want to help you!"
Remembering the sensory link on her wrist, she closed her eyes and tried to picture something joyful, or beautiful, or anything that could ward off the negative feelings so that she could reach him. When flowers and smiling faces failed her, she dug deeper inside herself for something she could use, and then she remembered...
Memories.
With a great effort, she blocked off her mind long enough to sift through what she remembered as her happiest memories: her mother's hugs, reading fairy tales with mama and papa before bed, the first time she summoned Aquarius by herself, picking daisies in the garden on a warm summer's day.
These were some of her earliest memories, back in a time when her mother was alive and the world seemed like a much smaller place, but they didn't stop there: her and Natsu running from Hargeon with guards on their tails, the time a sakura tree with rainbow petals came floating by her window, Natsu and Happy waiting for her to get home, the fateful day she hopped on a train instead of going on a date, the feelings she had during their hug after the Eclipse project. There were just too many to remember all at once. Once they started going, they just wouldn't stop.
Lucy let all of the emotions these memories gave her pour through the sensory link, hoping that somewhere in Natsu's hurting mind, he could also feel the warmth that he had brought her when she felt like her life had taken a turn in the wrong direction.
Relief coursed through her when his eyes grew as large as saucers and recognition dawned on his face. He was finally conscious.
"Lu-cy..." He said again, almost as if he couldn't comprehend her presence in front of him. For some reason, he felt Lilith's magic subside as he processed what was going on around him.
The blonde sighed in delight. "Yes, it's me, Natsu."
"Lucy, I..."
It looked like he wanted to say more, but the words just couldn't seem to form themselves. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.
Just as quickly as the reprieve came, it was torn up by a new wave of suffocating emotions. The walls of his mind were breaking and he knew it. He could feel the black magic in every part if his body. Like a parasite, it was destroying his mind, polluting his lungs and corroding his heart. He couldn't think, he could barely breath and his heart was racing quicker than a lightning bolt through the sky. His skin felt numb and he was vaguely aware of a dull throbbing in his ribs.
I meant nothing to him he was the only family I had and he left me alone and he wasn't sorry because he hated me he's gone he's dead and now I won't ever find him-
There was almost nothing left to shield him from the thoughts he had suppressed for far too many years of his life. Every intrusive thought ever constructed by his brain since the 7th of July, 777 was slashing at his defenses like thousands of feral beasts. His head pounded and he wanted release from this agony. The great Salamander of Fairy Tail, the man that never gave up hope even in the darkest of times, would succumb to his own inner demons on this day.
All was almost lost...
"It's alright, we'll work through this together."
And yet there was still hope, a single golden thread in a sea of black.
"Don't give up, Natsu. I won't let you! Fairy Tail needs you. We all need you."
Natsu's eyes refocused themselves on Lucy's face. Tears stained her cheeks, dirt was smudged all over her and there were bags under her eyes the color of ripe plums, but she was still the strong and beautiful Lucy he knew.
"Natsu, can you hear me again?" There was panic in her voice.
"Lucy."
Happiness blossomed in the her eyes. She was happy he was alive.
Faced with her caring stare, he felt himself unravel to the very core of his being. He couldn't help it. After all of these lonely emotions threatening to kill him, here was someone who didn't want to see him go. Here was someone trying to remind him that he had done good in the world and that he was wanted.
Fresh tears fell down his cheeks. He bunched the fabric around Lucy's stomach in both hands and started to cry. He didn't care what he looked like or that he was acting like a child, it was all too much for him and he needed to do it. Soft arms beckoned his body closer, leading him to bury his head in Lucy's chest. Words tumbled from his mouth between hiccuping sobs as he poured his heart out for the first time in his life.
"The day he left, I was crushed. He found me as a kid and I thought he loved me like a real son. He taught me everything I know. When he'd say he was proud of me it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. Everything I did back then was to make him proud or make him smile. I loved him, Lucy. And he just - hic - disappeared. He abandoned me without even a goodbye! I waited for him for weeks until I was sure he was gone. I told myself he was somewhere out there in the world. Even after what he did to me I was so determined to find Igneel because he's my dad, but every day that passed I kept thinking that maybe he could be dead. I've searched for years and I still don't know whether he's dead or alive. The more and more I think about it, the more it feels like he never wanted me to begin with.
"When we saw the dragon graveyard, I was so scared I'd see him there, or when the Eclipse gate opened. What if I he showed up and he hated us like the other dragons? What if I find him one day and he doesn't even remember me? What if he's dead, or I find him and he runs away again? I don't know if I can take it!"
Of course he'd run away. It's not like he ever loved-
"STOP IT!" Screeched Natsu at the top of his lungs. His brain was ready to burst.
The scream was loud enough for Loke to whip his head around in their direction. Terror flooded every fibre of his being. What was going on over there?!
One of the apparitions took this chance to swing its barbed mace at Loke's stomach, letting out a bone-chilling roar as it arced the weapon above its head and downward at an impossible speed. Instinctively, the lion spirit jumped backwards upon hearing the noise, though not quick enough to avoid a deep gash in his thigh. Loke cried out as blood spilled thickly from the cut, even when he put pressure on the wound with the palm of his hand. The corpses around him gurgled and clicked in pleasure.
"He's finished." Lilith leered. "There can't be much fight left in him. Soon their lives will be mine for the taking. You'd better give up now, kitten, before you die for a lost cause." Though she didn't seem to be in much better shape as she barely kept herself upright, she gave a short bark of laughter. Apparently, that proved to be too much for her, since she dropped to her knees and vomited until the spinning in her head slowed considerably. She lost concentration for a moment, causing some of her front-most soldiers to waver and disappear.
"If you think the fight is over, then you obviously know nothing about Natsu, or Lucy." Loke said without hesitation. "And if you think a couple of Halloween decorations like these will be enough to kill me, then you're as senile as I thought!" He roared.
As Lilith recuperated, Loke set his sights on the smaller density of corpses dead ahead of him. It was then that he saw an opportunity. If he could just break her concentration, it would grant him a window to attack her directly.
Instead of attacking the apparitions, he aimed a Lion Brilliance at the top of the palm tree Lilith was trying to support herself with once more. The leaves burst into flames and quickly started falling to the ground around her. She let out a terrified shriek and fell to her knees, trying to shield her head from the embers by throwing up her arms defensively. All of her apparitions began to waver, so Loke punched through as many ghosts as he could manage, taking down at least half of the corpses permanently before Lilith could compose herself. The soldiers in the rear responded to the loss rapidly by replacing the front line, though the circular barricade was only one soldier thick now.
Loke finally had his chance, though he had to act quickly before she called on more corpses. Hang on, Lucy. He prayed. I'm almost there!
The named celestial mage lay stock still at the other end of the clearing, startled by Natsu's sudden outcry, but she soon recovered. She was both surprised that Natsu had chosen to confide in her and relieved that he had regained his will to live. It gave her hope that they could escape Lilith's magic yet.
"Natsu, I need you to listen to me." She implored him with a voice full of fire. "I don't know Igneel as well as you do, but I do know this: Igneel loves you with all his heart. Even though you can't see him or feel him, he's always right there besides you. I can tell whenever you use your magic that wherever he is, he's watching over you and keeping you safe.
"No matter the reason he left you, I'm sure he never did it to hurt you. Sometimes life takes an unfortunate turn and people leave you behind, even if they love you more than life itself." Lucy took a moment to clear her quavering voice. "Believe me, I know how it feels. When my mother died and my father... well, something inside me fell apart, too. But that's why we stand up and move forward, so that their memory can live on with us.
"As long as you keep Igneel in your heart, he can't be evil. I know that if he showed up in front of me one day, I wouldn't be scared, I'd be happy because it'd mean you could see him again. Until that day comes - no - even after that day comes, I can't let you die, Natsu! I can't let you die…" She whispered. "I'd be too lonely without you..."
Natsu blinked slowly. The truth in Lucy's words and the honesty of her feelings pumping through the sensory link were overflowing him, keeping him on the brink of sanity as his last defensive walls were being chipped away by the ancient magic.
"Regulus..."
Loke charged at the barricade of corpses before him. At the last second, right before he reached the front-most soldier, he leaped backwards and let a few apparitions fall over each other trying to get a swing at him, making them expose just enough of Lilith's body to make a clear target.
"... IMPACT!"
The immense lion-shaped beam of light rocketed towards the witch. The corpses that tried to cover the hole revealing their mistress were too late, and whatever limb or weapon they tried to defend her with was carried along with the attack. Loke barely managed to glance at the horrified look on Lilith's face before the Regulus Impact hit her square in the face, knocking her skull back against the scorched trunk of the palm tree.
"Impossible…" The heathen muttered. Her knees gave way beneath her. "Impossible…" She said again as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Lilith was finished.
One by one, the corpses howled a terrible scream and evaporated into thin air. The lion spirit breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He had done it, and now the magic in Natsu's system should be leaving him as well.
Loke was right. Lucy watched in awe as black smoke seemed to steam off of Natsu's skin till there was none of it left. The chattering voices ceased and the pressure in Lucy's head was fizzing away like the bubbles in a soda bottle that had been shaken too hard. Despite her contentment, Lucy felt drained, both physically and emotionally.
"Princess, are you alright?" Called Loke, limping hurriedly to Lucy's side.
"I'm fine." Lucy replied. She turned her head towards the spirit but she didn't dare to let go of her hold on Natsu. Seeing the drying blood on Loke's pant leg she asked, "Are you ok? Is Lilith…?"
"I'm ok too, just a little beaten up. Lilith won't be moving for a long while. I think I might have 'accidentally' given her a concussion. More importantly…" He shifted his gaze to the pink-haired mage wrapped in her arms.
Following Loke's line of sight, Lucy slightly distanced her body from Natsu's to take a look at his face. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply, so Lucy gauged that he was probably sleeping off the effects of the magic.
"I'd love to let him rest, but we can't stay here." She said determinedly. "I hate to ask this of you, but do you think you could find Happy? Lilith said she tied him up somewhere in the area and I don't have enough magic to call on Virgo. In the mean time, I'll wake Natsu and try to get him standing."
Loke agreed with a nod of his head. "No problem. I hate to say this," said Loke, "but maybe we should get the Magic Council here to pick up that horrible old woman. Powers like hers aren't meant to exist in this world. She should be kept in a place where she can never take another life again."
"You're right… I can use the emergency communication lacrima I have in my bag to contact them, as long as my stuff is still around here somewhere."
"I'll keep a look-out for your bag. Keep safe while I'm gone." With that, Loke started off slowly into the jungle while calling Happy's name every few steps of the way.
Lucy turned her face back to Natsu's sleeping form. His peaceful features were almost enough to lull her to sleep as well, though she forced her eyes to stay open and shook Natsu by the shoulders as hard as she could.
Onyx eyes opened and blinked rapidly a few times, adjusting themselves to the sunlight around them. The brightness made him moan exasperatedly.
"Natsu, Loke took out Lilith but we can't stay here for long. Can you stand?"
Lucy made a move to push herself off the ground with her good side and found that the agonizing pain caused by the sensory link was replaced with a minor ache. Her whole body shook, however, as she brought herself to sit on her knees. She really had used up every last ounce of energy left in her.
"Lucy…?"
"Hm?" She hummed and faced him again, expecting to see him squinting his eyes in displeasure and in the next moment hear him whining about how he wanted to sleep.
Though what she saw in his eyes wasn't anything close to what she expected.
It wasn't joy, relief or even annoyance.
It was pure and barely latent fear.
Oh yeah, I went there. Hahaha, wasn't that an adventure? And dun, dun, DUN - the mean author leaves the chapter at another cliffhanger! I've got to admit, I had a lot more fun writing this chapter than I should have in all honesty, considering the amount of angst I decided to throw in there (I hope it's not too OOC but then again, when combining angst + Natsu you kinda have to be). Personally, I would like to have dug into excruciating detail when it came to Loke's fight with the corpses (aka utterly gruesome bits like internal organs splattering here and there and burning skin and the like), but I think it's because I'm getting over excited about the new Game of Thrones season and I didn't want to bother anyone unnecessarily with anything like that. I'm guessing most of you started this fic without wanting to read things like that, nor have I made myself a popular enough author for people to expect those details from me, so I decided to leave it out. Expect relationship development next chapter as compensation.
Now, as for the reasons why this chapter was so garsh darn late:
1. I've been lazy. Well, not in the way you'd normally think. In November I'd taken up a full-time internship (yep, the whole 9-5 business), which ended just two weeks ago about. By the time I got home, I was so unmotivated that even my tumblr account started to suffer.
2. I basically scrapped the first 3/4 of the chapter several times until I was satisfied. Yeah, that took up a lot of time.
3. I'm in the process of planning out what the next stages of my gap year will be, and boy is it more stressful than I thought it would be!
4. **IMPORTANT: I NEED A BETA READER** please please please if anyone is interested in becoming a beta reader for PLOT and CHARACTERIZATION purposes mostly then PM me and I will look at your beta page. Thanks in advance :)!
Moral of the story is: thank you so so so SO SO SO much to the people that took the time to follow, fave and especially REVIEW my story and to motivate me to keep on writing, instead of dropping it like I tend to do with most of my fic ideas nowadays. Instead of replying to reviews here I'll try to PM each user individually some time in the future, but special shout-out to WhiteWinterStar, summer, , Natsu, FTW FairyTailWonders xD, nalu fan, Wat, Guest, Akari Ito, HailsStorm, MissArnie, Katie, Guest and TekoloKuautli!
P.S. I think in a day or two I'll permanently make the alternate ending for chapter 1 to be the official chapter one. But then agaaaaaain - *switches relationship status to 'it's complicated'*.
~Luclipse