Disclaimer: I own this plot line and the OC's. Not Fairy Tail (sighs)….
Normal P.O.V.
"What do you mean 'as scary as Erza'?" Erza asked.
"Oh, please." Sting scoffed from where he was having a glaring contest with Cyrus. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed how freaking scary you are when you're angry."
Before Erza could reply, Rogue came back in and looked straight over to the other Sabertooth members. Any normal person couldn't tell, but he was panicked. So panicked that he didn't notice the whole guild was listening when he said "Lucy just almost killed a guy for hitting this little boy. She's losing control. And you need to do something about it soon, before she kills someone. I can't hold it back much longer, that magic isn't my specialty."
"That's why you called me here?" Cyrus asked them. "It's happening again so fast?"
"Will that be a problem, Mizuki?" Sting sneered.
"It might!" Cyrus yelled. "I just got back from a big mission! My power is drained and I didn't really have enough energy in the first place!"
"So what are you gonna do?" Rogue said. "Because we can't leave her like this and we have orders from the council to kill her if she loses control."
"Yeah, I can't kill Lucy, Mizuki!" Sting yelled. "I can't… I just… I just can't. And you're the only one in the world with the power to help her!"
"I don't want her dead either!" Cyrus yelled. "I just," He pressed his palms to his face. "It's not that I won't, it's that I can't. Even if I wanted to do something stupid like sacrifice myself, it wouldn't work because I would die before the end of the spell. And it won't work if it isn't completed!"
Erza grabbed them all by their collars and dragged them out, her teammates following after her. She dropped them outside where no one could hear them as easily. "Speak. I want to know what you're talking about, and I want to know now."
Sting sighed and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "Fine. Just, not here."
"Sting…" Rogue said.
"I know." Sting told his friend. "But they are her friends, and they have a right to know." He turned to Erza. "Come on."
They followed him back to their house… which was more like a mansion. They sat down in the living room, with Rogue drinking tea in the armchair, Gray and Natsu on one couch, Erza, Rei, and Wendy on the other. Sting stood against the wall and Cyrus took the other armchair.
"First," Rogue said, not looking up from his tea, "there will be no loud noises whatsoever, because Lucy is upstairs sleeping and she needs rest. Don't wake her up." He went back to sipping his tea.
"Okay," Sting sighed, looking utterly defeated. "Lucy… her powers have expanded greatly. I don't know what she did to get this strong; she was like this from the beginning. Well, not exactly, but she was strong enough to be an S-class mage of Sabertooth. She didn't accept at first, but after she came back from a mission with Mizuki, she was way stronger than normal. She challenged Minerva and won. After that, she became our strongest mage. Jiemma adopted her, because he wanted to be related to the strongest mage so he could brag. I don't think she was against it, but she didn't seem very happy either."
Cyrus sighed. "When Lucy uses her power, she only uses about 40% of it. Any more would seriously injure her opponent, and, Sabertooth or not, Lucy's heart is too big to allow her to kill someone. But that remaining 60% builds up inside of her, and she can't release it without killing someone."
Rogue put his empty cup down on the coffee table. "Unfortunately, it seems she can't hold it in without killing someone too. When it builds up too high, she changes into someone else."
"You mean like how that Hades guy changed into Zero?" Natsu asked.
"No." Rogue sighed. "This is all Lucy, it's just… her intentions… are evil. We call her Kurai."
"But you just said it was Lucy."
"It is!" Rogue said. "It's just… I guess you'd have to see it to understand."
Cyrus leaned back into the chair. "Her powers… they're almost…"
"Dark."
They all turned to see Lucy standing in the doorway. "What?" Erza asked.
"My powers. They're dark."
The room was silent. And then… "WHAT?!" they all exclaimed.
"Lucy, I know you wanted power," Erza said, "But this isn't the way to-"
"Oh, shut up." Lucy interrupted, silencing the Titania. "I didn't ask for them, stupid. They were given to me."
Erza blinked, and it seemed the whole room, minus Lucy, was holding their breath. "Tell me." Erza said and they all sighed in relief.
Lucy's eyes darkened. "I don't remember most of it."
"Tell me what you remember."
Lucy sighed and massaged her temples. She closed her eyes. "After I left Fairy Tail, I went to another city. I don't know where, I just wandered around for awhile. I didn't really have a plan. It was dark, and… I was tired. Someone… I think he stepped out from an alley or something, but I was so tired."
She swayed, but stayed upright. Her eyes were still closed. "He said something, but I didn't hear him. I think… I think he said something about power. How I could have it if I wanted it. I told him no, I would get it the natural way. But he wouldn't take no for an answer."
She opened her eyes, and looked at Erza. There was sadness in her eyes that Erza had never seen on her before. "I was so tired; I just wanted him to go away! And he… and he… he… gave me something. And he said, "sleep." And I did. After that… I can't remember much. I kept waking up, and I saw him moving around, but it was dark and I kept going back to sleep, and when I woke up again I had this." She swept her hair back so they could see a tattoo on her neck behind and below her ear. It was a cross, which looked carved into her skin, with puncture wounds around it. Not really a tattoo at all. It was a scar that marked her as cursed.
Lucy fixed her hair back. "Ever since then, there's been a heavy weight on my chest. It made it hard to breathe for a while, but I got used to it. But my powers… this thing…" Her hand went to her scar. "They're unnatural, and it hurt every time I use my powers. The weight kept getting heavier, and I finally collapsed from it. In the middle of a mission. In the middle of a fight, I collapsed."
"So… what happened?" Natsu asked her.
She looked at him, surprised, as if she'd forgotten he was there. "Cyrus came in and saved my sorry ass, that's what happened." She laughed. "And, he took the weight away. For awhile anyway."
They all turned to look at Cyrus, who was deep in thought. "How heavy is the weight now, Lucy?" he asked quietly.
Shocked, Lucy widened her eyes and stepped back. "What do you mean?"
"How close are you to collapsing now, Lucy?"
"I-I'm fine!" She insisted. "It hurts a little, yeah, but it's nothing to worry abou-"
"Please. You can barely stand there." He said.
"No! Really, I'm fine."
Cyrus P.O.V.
Lucy is a liar. I've known her for four years, she was my best friend. I can tell when she's in pain.
But… I also know that if I push her any farther she'll either kick my ass or collapse on the spot.
So I left her alone. I had more important things to do. I had to save her life.
Lucy P.O.V.
Cyrus knows too much. Baka. He sees what he shouldn't be able to see. But I can't be mad at him. I've tried before. It doesn't work.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid!
I hate him! He can go die! Just die!
But he can't, because I would hate him for it.
He's so screwed.
I walked out of the room after him. He went one way and I went the other. I went to the door and opened it. The energy drifted in to me. I could feel it all. Tension. Anger. Fear. Sadness.
Pain. I felt their pain. Fairy Tails. I felt it. Damn it!
"Sting, Rogue, come on! We're going! There's another fight at Fairy Tail!" My teammates were at my side in an instant, and we were walking down the street to Fairy Tail. No rush, Fairy Tail can protect themselves from those guys.
That's what I thought. But…
When I got there, there were only two people still standing and they weren't from Fairy Tail. The guild members were all down for the count. I didn't see anyone from Josho oni around. Had Fairy Tail been taken out by just these two people?
"Bastard." Laxus growled, pushing himself up and staggering forward. Gajeel, Juvia, Mira, and Freed stood up as well, but they were worse for wear. They all were. I put out a hand and held my partners back. I hate sacrifices, but I need to know what I'm up against.
One of the figures threw their head back and laughed. It was Cana. Damn it, it was Cana! She held up a card, and a black mist flew out. The dark cloud went and hovered over Mira, Gajeel , and Juvia. Freed moved away quickly, and wasn't affected when the cloud sucked the power from the three Fairy Tail mages.
"That's quite enough playing, Cana. The real guests are here now. So, I'll need you to keep them busy while I converse with Miss Heartfilia."
Lucy growled, not because this man was an evil bastard, but for the use of her last name. The man smiled, and Lucy's eyes widened. "No way…"
The man snapped his fingers, and they both disappeared.
Natsu launched himself at Cana, but missed and hit the ground rolling when she flipped away. She landed a few yards away. Cana smiled at him and waved goodbye as the hooded figure appeared next to her, grabbed her arm, and disappeared.
And across the battleground, with blood spilling out of the corner of her mouth, a beaten and battered Lucy fell to her knees. "Damn…"
