I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting here at my computer writing this, now would I? ;-)
Chapter 10
"Saviors"
Her eyes wouldn't open. But she didn't want them to. She could see the glare of the sun even through her closed eyelids, burning down on her once more, and she didn't want to face that. Far easier to lie here with her eyes glued shut. A shadow fell across Lucy's face, shading her, and she murmured her gratitude.
She tried to force her eyelids open but they were gummed shut in her swollen, battered face. She was vaguely surprised to realize that she wasn't dead, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Maybe, she thought, she was dead. If so, this certainly didn't feel like any idea of heaven she'd ever been told about and the alternative wasn't pleasant to contemplate. She didn't want to wake up, didn't want to open her eyes. The effort would be too great.
Funny, she thought, a few hours ago she didn't have the energy to roll over. Now a simple act like raising her eyelids was beyond her. It would be easier to just lie here sleeping and fade away from it all.
She heard the crunch of footsteps on the sand and rock close by her. That was strange; she didn't remember anyone else being here. Then a hand slipped under her head and raised it, resting it on what felt like a knee, so that she was sitting half upright. She sighed. She simply wanted to be left alone.
For one dreadful moment, Lucy thought it was Killen, come back to finish her off. But the touch was gentle and the voice nonthreatening. "Lucy?" it asked frantically. A moment later, the sound of several running footsteps drew near.
"Jet, did you-"
Jet? As in Jet of Fairy Tail's team Shadow Gear? What was he doing here? A second body fell down next to her, groping for her wrist, followed by a sigh of relief.
"She's got a pulse."
"Thank god!" a third voice exclaimed. The voice was feminine.
Jet. Jet was in Shadow Gear with Droy and Levy, so was it possible that the other two…? She felt someone's arms go around her back and under her knees as her broken body left the ground.
"Don't worry, Lu-chan," someone whispered into her ear. "You're safe now."
That was the last thing she could remember before unconsciousness claimed her once more.
"Y-You're…" Natsu stammered.
"ERIGOR!" Gray yelled.
Erigor smirked. "Long time no see, flies," he cooed. His gaze shifted to the raven haired youth next to Natsu. "Ah, Gray. Hot tempered today, aren't we? How," he stroked his chin in thought, "unfitting for an ice mage, no?" He chuckled.
Erigor was the leader of former dark guild Eisenwald. He was also referred to as "The Death God", which was fitting with his appearance. He carried a large, oak handled razor sharp scythe, long and deadly looking. His wild white hair glinted oddly in the sunlight, and tattoos were emblazoned across his bare upper body; arms and torso altogether. Dark outlines surrounded his eyes, trailing two horizontal diamond shapes down below them. A tattered scarf flowed out behind him in the wind like a cape, as did the likewise tattered robe bottom. He looked exactly as he had when Natsu had first encountered him. Except the tattoo on his chest was now a serpent eye on the surface of an octagonal web. And his usually beady eyes were… slits?
The Eisenwald guild members had been rounded up after their little performance involving Lullaby [1]. However, Erigor had avoided capture and remained wanted by the authorities. No one had heard of his whereabouts since. That is, until now of course.
"Where. Are. Our. Friends." Gray emphasized. It was not a question. More like a demand.
Erigor gave a howl of laugher. "And why should I tell you?" he questioned. "They're probably long gone by now, the pitiful weaklings. They wouldn't stand a chance against me and my companions."
"Why you little-" Natsu screamed loudly and charged at Erigor.
"Don't!" Gray cried. He grabbed Natsu and held him back. Natsu struggled against Gray's unrelenting grasp. "Lemme at him! Lemme at him!"
"Shut up, will ya?" Gray hollered. It seemed too coincidental to find Erigor out in the middle of the desert, he thought, when it just so happened to be the location of their mission. Another thing, he added, they had been seeing that same symbol on his chest quite a lot lately.
"What are you doing here?" Gray asked pointedly.
Erigor held his arms out wide, as if he were trying to embrace the sky. "I seek salvation from the god of the Forgotten!" His voice carried in the wind, sending an echo throughout the area. "Lord Zephrion has granted me the power of immortality! The greatest quality of the gods! I shall never die! Never perish! I will live on, gathering magical power the world has never seen!"
"It's official," Natsu murmured. "He's lost it."
Erigor let go a wicked, crazed chuckle. His odd eyes bulged. "Now," he announced, drawing his scythe, "feel the power… OF A GOD!"
Erigor's hand was a blur of movement as he formed complicated gestures and signs.
"Storm Bringer!" he yelled, pointing two fingers at Natsu and Gray. A funnel-like vortex surged toward them, flinging sand into their eyes and temporarily blinding them. The two Fairy Tail wizards were hit head-on with the full force of the wind attack. Their feet left the ground and they were thrown spinning into the air. Natsu did a backwards summersault in midair and flames erupted from his feet, the force propelling him forward straight back towards Erigor.
"No matter how many times you use that move, it still pisses me off!"
SMACK!
Natsu's flaming fist hit Erigor straight in the center of his forehead, sending him skidding on his back through the sand. Erigor quickly recovered, catching himself onto his hands and bringing his legs over in a fancy backhand spring. A thin trickle of blood flowed down his face from where the blow had struck, but he was completely unfazed.
Erigor let out a high-pitched, wicked laugh. "That tickled."
Gray shakily got to his feet. The heat battered down on him like a physical force as the sun rose higher in the sky. The air itself was superheated and almost scorched his throat and lungs when he breathed it in, sucking the very oxygen out of the air so that he gasped and panted for breath.
The glare was another constant torture, forcing him to look at the shimmering distance around Erigor with his eyes screwed almost shut. Natsu, he knew, wasn't affected by the heat. But Gray had to take the full sting of it now that he had no source of protection from it. Ice and heat- bad combination!
Erigor spotted Gray and his grinned widened. Destroy the weakest link, and the rest shall fall. Gray could barely make out the blur of hand signs as Erigor prepared to attack again. Now or never, he thought. He formed his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the palm of his left hand. If he was going to go down here, he had might as well go down fighting.
"Ice make-"
"Storm- " Erigor never had the time to finish building his attack.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
It was like being hit by carrots, Erigor thought. Then he looked down to where the impacts had come from. Three cards jutted out from his side, blood pouring down and staining his robes and forming little puddles on the sand where they quickly dried to a dull brown in the insufferable heat. He looked back up. Natsu's foot collided with his face, knocking him back again. He crashed unconscious into the sand a second time, falling and tumbling head over heels.
"You guys okay?"
Gray whirled around to find himself face to face with none other than Cana Alberca. "What are you doing here, Cana?" he asked in disbelief. Then again, he didn't know if he was more surprised about her being here or that she wasn't hauling around a keg of something alcoholic. She flipped her cards around into a neat pile before shoving them roughly into the back pocket of her jeans.
"Master sent out search groups for you four." she said evenly.
"What d'you mean 'search groups'?" Natsu asked, clearly annoyed at the old man's actions. "We only left Fairy Tail five days ago."
Cana shook her head. "Natsu, you've been gone two weeks."
Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I'm kind of losing motivation to continue writing this since I tend to be a bit self-criticizing when it comes to comparing my writing to others. I really appreciate reviews to let me know how I'm doing, so please review. It means a lot. Hell, review about anything; comments, criticism, pointers, ideas, errors, what you had for dinner last night- whatever floats your boat. (or sinks it)
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! It's the 10th chapter!
To celebrate, I'd like to give a special thanks to Tare-chan and yukihane for being such awesome reviewers for TSoK! So thank you guys very much! :D
[1] See Fairy Tail volume 3.
*Question for readers: Do you guys think I should make my chapters longer? I feel like sometimes they're too short compared to other stories here on . Please let me know!
As always, thanks for reading!