Chapter 9: Natsu's lost years part 2
Three months had passed by since Natsu had been thrown in a cell and made into Grimoire Heart's personal guinea pig. After countless hours of Bluenote's torture, countless excruciating experiments and countless hours of mentally scarring torment, Natsu still refused to break.
"You're tough Dragneel. All the other test subjects have already died by this stage." Bluenote sighed.
Natsu didn't respond, instead he just sat in the corner of his cell growling as the curse spell wrecked his body.
"It must be awfully lonely in here all by you without the touch of a woman. As a treat for surviving we're giving you a cell mate. Our latest test subject. Do with her what you will." Bluenote spoke.
Two masked mages dragged in a petite young girl who Natsu thought was familiar. She had blue eyes and her amaranth hair was tied up in two short pigtails with orange bows. She wore a pale blue mini skirt and a pink, sleeveless top. She was dirty from being dragged around and Natsu could see the same blue marking on her that he had.
"You two have something in common." Bluenote said as he slammed the cell door shut.
"Chelia … Chelia Blendy…" Natsu was finally able to speak as the curse spell deactivated.
The young girl was slowly waking up as she had been conscious the whole time but remained motionless out of fear for the curse spell.
"Natsu, is that you?" Chelia asked lifting her head.
"Are you okay? Did they … did they touch…" Natsu tried to ask.
"No, no they didn't. But it's not like I still had my innocence for them to steal." Chelia cried.
"Chelia…" Natsu mumbled completely drained and unable to move. "Is your guild searching for you?"
The dragon slayer was holding onto slim hope that they would be rescued.
"No, I left the guild and then I ran away." Chelia answered.
"You too." Natsu laughed but hurt his damaged body as he did.
"You also ran away?" Chelia looked at Natsu confused.
"I got my heart broken and left everything behind because I was so angry. Then this bastard got me." Natsu revealed.
"It's the same with me. Lyon-sama told me he thought I was special and that he loved me. I gave him my… He was my first and then when he saw Juvia again he forgot about me." Chelia mumbled but Natsu was able to hear it.
"Chelia, it will be painful what happens next with these bastards and their experiments but stay alive, hold on, I promise I will get us out of here." Natsu said.
"There's no way out. Bluenote is too powerful, he beat me without even trying." Chelia shuddered.
"No, I will beat him and I will kill him." Natsu snarled.
"Natsu I …" Chelia was cut off by her curse spell activating.
The god slayer shrieked in pain as she felt her as if her body was being torn to shreds by blades of wind. The pain got to the point where she began convulsing. Natsu tried to move but his curse spell activated, immobilizing him. It was then Natsu saw it, through the anguish and suffering Chelia's latent god slayer magic was slowly healing her.
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Natsu's body was beyond the point of suffering, the pain he was feeling was on a whole other level but he still refused to be defeated. Under the immense gravity of Bluenote's magic and the pain of the curse he still stood not for himself but for Chelia.
As he was being physically worn down, Chelia was on the other end of the cell being mental destroyed by her own insecurities and nightmares.
"Stop it!" Natsu shouted.
"Make me." Bluenote challenged.
"I said stop it!" Natsu growled.
"Making your voice scarier won't stop me." Bluenote sighed.
In her midst of her nightmare the god slayer was able to faintly call out, "Natsu, help me…"
It was too soft for Bluenote to hear but Natsu's overly heightened hearing hear it clearly. Natsu's body became engulfed in red flames with yellow sparks of lightning but the flames burned darker and the lightning brighter. The Lightning Flame Dragon Mode activated for a moment before the pressure of it caused Natsu's body to give out.
"This was good for now." Bluenote smirked as he left leaving the two slayers in the cell.
"Natsu… Are you…" Chelia whispered barely able to think.
"I'm… here…" Natsu replied barely able to stay awake.
"What does… he... show you…?" Chelia asked.
"He shows me the greatest betrayal I've ever suffered over and over; he plays on the hate and anger that was already in my heart. He shows me my dreams and then shows me how I'll never reach them." Natsu answered.
"He shows me how Lyon left me in an instant for a chance with Juvia. He makes me remember every painful memory and it eats away at all the good ones." Chelia spoke. "How long have we been here?"
"I don't know. Without the sun it's hard to keep track of days." Natsu responded.
"I think it's working Natsu, I can't remember what it's like to be happy. I just feel hollow and angry but stronger." Chelia confessed.
"No, you can't give up. You have to hold onto something, you have to stay strong." Natsu gritted his teeth.
"What are you holding onto? I hear you when they make you suffer through those nightmares. Everything is gone, you have nothing left. They've worn you out. What are you holding on to?" Chelia asked with tears in her eyes.
"You. I'm holding onto the promise I made. I'll save you." Natsu smiled weakly.
"Then I'll hold onto you Natsu. When you save me, I'll become your new family and I'll never betray you." Chelia replied.
"Knock knock." Natsu coughed.
"Who there's?" Chelia asked.
"Egg." Natsu answered.
"Egg who?" Chelia played along.
"Eggcited to meet you." Natsu delivered the punch line as best he could.
"That's so cheesy." Chelia giggled.
"I know, Gajeel told me that one." Natsu recalled.
"You talk about him a lot, that Gajeel." Chelia noted.
"Oh, I guess I do. If he could hear me now he'd call me pathetic for sure." Natsu laughed.
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Natsu could feel it; he could feel the vast power Bluenote was trying to unlock. The pain was immeasurable but the power threatened to overwhelm it. Natsu's last shred of humanity was all that stood between him and losing his soul completely to the despair and darkness that Bluenote had been cultivating.
"I'm impressed, you survived six whole months Dragneel; you even managed to coach the god slayer into surviving her first three months." Bluenote complimented.
"I'm going to kill you…" Chelia cursed.
Natsu was lying battered on one end of the cell while Chelia was on the other end trying to pick herself up.
"You're up so soon after having your mind worked over. Your recovery time has improved significantly." Bluenote mentioned.
"What did you do to Natsu?" Chelia demanded to know.
"Today we focused on showing him betrayal and emphasized the betrayal that broke his heart. We also showed him how happy the rest of Fairy-Tail is living without him." Bluenote responded.
"You made up a story about the guild being better without him…" Chelia gritted her teeth.
"I wonder if he told you this part. Gray was the one who encouraged him to confess to Lucy and then Gray stabbed Natsu in the back by sleeping with Lucy after Natsu confessed. He blames the both of them but Lucy more because he feels that she toyed with his heart by asking him to wait when all she was going to do was fool around with Gray." Bluenote revealed.
"You've been through our minds numerous times; you must have seen how much we want to kill you." Chelia glared.
"I would like to see you try." Bluenote replied unleashing a gravity push that crushed Chelia against the wall.
With the two slayers down, a masked wizard placed two bowls of porridge in the cell though the iron gate as Bluenote left.
"Remember when you used to force feed us that stuff while we were still recovering from the curse spell." Natsu laughed hollowly turning towards Chelia.
"That's the only way they could get us to eat that rancid slop." Chelia smiled half-heartedly.
"Knock knock." Natsu coughed.
"Who there's?" Chelia asked.
"Harry." Natsu answered.
"Harry who?" Chelia played along.
"Harry up and open the door." Natsu delivered the punch line as best he could.
"They get cheesier every time." Chelia giggled.
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A full year had passed for Natsu and nine months for Chelia. Chelia had finally reached breaking point and they were done. Mentally and physically, she could no longer stand anything. Natsu barely sat up using the wall to keep his body from falling over while Chelia just lay on the ground near him. They had been like this for two days now.
"Knock knock." Natsu muttered softly.
There was no response from Chelia.
"Knock knock." Natsu whispered.
Still there was no response, Chelia just remained motionless.
The ear piercing sound of the rusty hinges on the iron cell gate opening didn't faze either Natsu or Chelia who remained unmoving.
"When I left you two days ago to attend to my business you were in those exact same positions." Bluenote tried to joke.
Natsu and Chelia couldn't summon the will to even curse their captor.
Using his gravity grasp he forced Natsu to his feet and pinned Natsu against the wall.
"I know you can hear me Dragneel." Bluenote tightened his grasp on Natsu.
"I was just enjoying some rest." Natsu replied.
"Have you noticed it by now?" Bluenote asked.
"Noticed what?" Natsu mumbled weakly.
"You've seen it first hand;Chelia's power has grown exponentially. She's surpassed you despite starting out after you. I can attribute her success to the fact that she has her sky god slayer magic's healing factors." Bluenote explained.
"I've never noticed any of this." Natsu feigned ignorance.
Bluenote reached into his coat and pulled out a large tanto-like blade and tossed it to the ground next to Chelia.
"That is a magic blade; it was forged using black magic. Any wound inflicted by that blade can never heal." Bluenote explained.
Natsu was unsure of what was happening.
"Chelia, if you pick up that blade and drive it through Natsu's heart I will let you go. Your freedom for killing Natsu, I give you my word." Bluenote proposed.
"You must be crazy if you think she'll do that." Natsu tried to laugh.
"Think about it Chelia, your freedom for his pathetic life. You can walk out of here, go back to your old life or start a new one. What you do with your new found power is up to you. Become a force for either good or evil; even use it to come after me for revenge." Bluenote spoke.
The god slayer stirred and after forty eight hours her tiny body finally moved. Chelia grabbed the blade before lifting herself to her feet. The pink haired girl stumbled around before coming face to face with Natsu.
She didn't speak as she lifted her trembling hands and raised the blade to Natsu's chest. Her eyes were hollow and empty, devoid of any emotion. Natsu could see it, the seriousness of the murderous intent that she held within and knew what would happen next.
"No, no Chelia, don't do this." Natsu pleaded and cried.
Chelia reversed her grip on the blade and drove the magical weapon into her own chest. The god slayer stumbled backwards before collapsing to the ground.
"That was unexpected. I did not imagine she would be so pitiable." Bluenote scoffed.
In that instant the last shred of humanity that Natsu had been holding onto snapped. Natsu's latent magical power that had been developed through the course of this torture finally exploded. Natsu became engulfed in crimson red flames and blindingly bright golden lightning. With his power he was freed from the gravity grasp.
The curse spell activated to restrain Natsu but the dragon slayer fought it. The seal became like acid, burning his body and most of his skin including his guild mark off as it was erased.
In a display of speed even Bluenote couldn't fathom, Natsu was upon him. The dragon slayer stood before Bluenote, mere centimetres away with hand in the dark wizard's chest. Bluenote fell to the ground as the lightning and flames around Natsu died.
Natsu then fell to his knees and crawled over to Chelia. The pinked haired girl was crying but had a smile on her face.
"I'll take out the blade and you can heal." Natsu coughed.
"No, Bluenote was right. A wound inflicted by this blade can't be healed." Chelia mumbled.
"Why did you do it?" Natsu demanded to know.
"I considered his offer, even though it was for a moment I considered his offer. I promised I wouldn't betray you and I wanted to keep my word." Chelia answered.
"Don't say that, I'll get you out of here and get you help." Natsu cried.
Chelia lifted her hand and Natsu grabbed it. The god slayer then used all the remaining magic she had left in her dying body to heal Natsu, growing the skin back over his body.
"Natsu, promise me…" Chelia whispered before her eyes glazed over her heart finally stopped.
The image of Chelia's pleading face and her dying words were scarred into Natsu's memory. Natsu could feel nothing but a hollowness inside him, where there was good now there nothing but despair and rage. In his rage was the core of everything, the betrayal he had suffered at the hands of the two people he considered his best friends.
Natsu looked over his shoulder and saw that Bluenote's body was gone. The dragon slayer then picked up Chelia's body and prepared to leave that forsaken cell.
