Hey guys! Sorry for not updating so long... I had my problems okay? If you hadn't noticed (and you probably didn't), I remade chapter 8 of this story since it was crappy as hell.
Enjoy this chapter, I hope you'll like it, love ya' all!
After Natsu calmed down from his outburst, Lucy sighed. Gajeel and Levy already left the cafeteria, while they were still there, looking at their food in front of them, but not even touching it.
She knew Natsu was sad. He experienced death, the death of his father that he loved so much, and he was supposed to be dead too. Even though she wasn't in good terms with her own father, she knew the pain of losing somebody, and she could feel the pain Natsu was feeling.
He saw his father covered in blood in front of him, with Zeref holding the crimson-red knife that chopped Igneel. Then, Igneel's dead body was incinerated in what was supposed to be an accident from which Natsu barely escaped alive. She shivered as th image of blood crawled inside her mind...
She looked sadly at Natsu, who was staring blankly at his food, his eyes a little red from the tears.
"Stop pitying me", he flatly said in a tired, cracking voice.
"I wasn't-"
"Yes you were", Natsu said after he coughed, trying to fix his voice. "Like everyone else. All you do is pity me, be sorry for me. Stop doing that."
"I'm just worrying, Natsu...", Lucy frowned. "I don't like the new headmaster... Does he posses magic, too?"
Natsu glanced at her, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Yes, he does... He is a Demon Creator. He creates demon vessels to serve him and do the bloody jobs for him. It's very rare for a demon creator like him to kill someone personally. Demon Creators usually send their demons to kill people..."
Lucy processed what he said, and glanced at her celestial keys Natsu gave to her.
"Have you... seen a demon before?", she hesitantly asked.
Natsu thought a little, then turned his head to her.
"Well... I remember we started getting visits from several weird-looking dudes before Zeref came... Igneel always locked me in the house, telling me to wait. I always rushed to the window to see what he's doing... and I always saw Igneel setting them on fire. They disappeared in thin air every time... Now that I think of it, they were probably Zeref's demons, attempting to kill Igneel and me... Maybe that's why Zeref came in person and killed him..."
Natsu's voice slowly faded out, as he closed himself in his little bubble of thoughts.
Lucy sighed and started thinking of what reason Zeref would have to kill Natsu...
Was it because Natsu was a Dragon Slayer?
Probably not, because that would make Gajeel his target too, and Zeref seemed clearly uninterested in killing Gajeel.
Then what was it? What drove Zeref to the conclusion that he had to kill Natsu? What did Zeref actually want? Will she lose Natsu too?
Then, an idea hit her head.
"Hey Natsu, do you think we could beat Zeref?"
Natsu looked at her for a moment, then his eyes lit up as his lips curved into a smile.
"That's it! Maybe we could try to beat Zeref! I think we could do it! Lucy, you're a genius!", he quickly and enthusiastically said.
Natsu pulled Lucy into a tight hug, repeating 'Thanks' over and over.
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled, hugging him back.
"What are you thanking me for?", she said softly.
"For giving me hope", he smiled.
"That was payback for when you gave me hope", she said.
He tilted his head in confusion.
"When was that?"
"When I met you, silly", she giggled. "I was so lost after losing my mother and being left here, but then you came and brought me the hope that it will be better..."
They stood in silence in the empty cafeteria as they began finishing their now cold food.
