Bon soir! How are all of my little baguettes today? Good, oui?
Okay, I'll stop the French – especially since I have no idea how to speak or write it – and just say this…
I love you guys very much and I am immensely grateful for your fantastic following of this story. This is its tenth chapter, and it's nearly reaching its hundredth review. I'd like it to reach a hundred with this chapter, but that's just being illogical. But either way, I am loving your support and I reckon that this fandom is the most fantastic one that I've been able to write, or daydream, about; the never-ending flow of genius ideas is a testimony to that.
So, thanks once more, and here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own the beautiful characters in this anymore than I own the fabulous storyline!
Warning: Fighting and language, most likely – this is me we're talking about, right? BTW, I don't regret anything I've done in this story! Not at all, hahaha!
3rd Person P.O.V.
After a quiet moment of scrabbling for her normal cheery disposition, only broken by a few tears and dark thoughts, Lucy slowly stood up. She fetched her discarded glove and tucked it into her belt, placing the other glove beside it when she removed it.
Taking a deep breath, and avoiding her scarred and injured hand, Lucy set off to find Cana. Or anyone, really. She had heard explosions earlier on, and could only assume that they were her nakama fighting the enemies invading their holy island.
'And meanwhile,' her thoughts sneered, 'you've been here snivelling like a little girl. Some nakama you are. Your friends are laying their lives down, and you're crying over some stupid scars. Man up, girly, and go and show your enemies what true fury is like!'
Slightly taken aback by this new wrathful, but strangely empowering, voice in her head, Lucy nodded hesitantly. The voice encouraged her some more, roaring out commands to bathe herself in the glory of victory.
Feeling enlightened now, Lucy placed a determined look upon her face before racing off, trying to find her next opponent to defeat. She'd beaten one already, what's another enemy as a trophy?
She deserved it, after all.
Half an hour had passed since Lucy had started running through the island, darting in between trees and following barely-seen trails before going off into forest once more. She had no idea where she was going, and she didn't really care; all she wanted to do was to stumble across one of her nakama's battles and help them out.
About ten minutes earlier, an explosion had rung out, making Lucy charge towards where she remembered the camp had been set up, and the blast had occurred; she only hoped that no one had been injured. Not long after it, though, another explosion had occurred; this time accompanied with a brilliant beam of light that had burst up towards the sky.
Worried by the massive surge in energy, Lucy had changed direction and had ran towards it, slightly mollified that this explosion was closer than the one that could've happened at the camp.
The blonde was panting by the time she crashed into the first person she had met in the past thirty minutes.
Squeaking slightly at the sudden sensation of falling backwards, having rebounded off the solid person, Lucy flailed her arms wildly, trying to find purchase in the air to stop her fall. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and Lucy's nose was filled with the sickly sweet scent of flowers as she was caught by an unknown person.
Her body was bent backwards, but not at an awkward angle. Oh, no. She was now dipped back in a romantic gesture, face flushed as she looked into the bespectacled eyes of a startling handsome man.
"Oh," the man said in honey-sweet tones, "I've seemed to have picked a delightful rose. How sweet." The man curved his mouth up in a bare imitation of a smile as his shimmering hair rustled softly in a breeze – like some sort of actor from a romantic movie. The ones that were perfect, no matter the shot.
The whole thing seemed surreal to Lucy, as it appealed to her romantic side. The blonde flushed some more, eyes wide and demeanour shy as the man straightened them both up, hands not leaving Lucy's waist. "My I ask this…perfumed flowers name?" The man beseeched, eyes glinting with amusement as he looked at Lucy's face.
Lucy's face! Lucy's Goddamn face! Not her ample boobs, or long, slender legs, or toned and bare stomach. Her face, like she was something with a soul, and personality! Honestly, the blonde felt so flattered right now that she could feel herself fainting dead away!
"Lucy…" the blonde murmured, still attacked by shyness. "And you are…?"
The man – who looked perfectly regal in his casual, fur-lined jacket, turtleneck shirt and pants. His hands gloved in white, and his silver glasses holding blue lenses, which tinted his eyes the same dark hue. It added a level of mysteriousness to him, as Lucy wasn't sure what exactly his eye colour was behind the deep depths – raised a thin, perfectly-manicured eyebrow in reply. "Lucy? That surely is a beautiful name. To match a beautiful face," he finished, brushing his fingers under Lucy's chin, which had her flushing prettily by the contact. "T-thank you. But you didn't say what your name was…"
The man stepped back from Lucy, hands (disappointingly) leaving her waist as he thrust his arms out wide with a flourish. "My name is Rustyrose! Admirer of beauty and all things that symbolise it!" His mouth curved in a devilish smirk that only appealed to Lucy more. "And member of Grimore Heart."
Oh…
Well, there goes Lucy's plans for falling in love and marrying this man.
Reacting quickly, the young woman went to snatch up her whip with her right hand, before remembering it was injured. She dropped her whip with a hiss, the canister holding the magical coil of whip rolling across the grass.
A booted foot stopped it. Rustyrose bent down and delicately picked up the black tube, admiring it as he held it up to his eyes. "Fascinating…"
Lucy didn't like his cultured movements, or educated speech anymore. It made her think of home, and the suitors that visited her there, and that just made her feel ill.
Licking her lips in her rising feeling of panic, Lucy quickly ran through a series of options of what she could do as Rustyrose tinkered with her whip – obviously he was toying with her. Was going to catch her unexpected when she relaxed herself at his seemingly absent stance and state of mind.
He had obviously not faced a mind as sharp as Lucy's. Although she was slightly embarrassed about the way she had reverted to the lovesick, yearning schoolgirl as soon as she saw a mildly attractive-looking male, Lucy was determined to fight this man and defeat him. No matter what.
Quickly, and awkwardly, reaching with her left hand, Lucy attempted to grab her keys and summon a spirit – Virgo, perhaps – but found it stopped by a length of blue glowing rope.
"You're using my whip against me?" Lucy asked Rustyrose incredulously, brown eyes glaring into his own bespectacled pair. "How dare you."
"It's quite an interesting contraption," Rustyrose said, unconcerned by Lucy's anger. "It really didn't want to answer my magic's call – it's quite bonded to you – but I managed to convince it with sweet words and the beauty of my soul."
Just then, Fleuve d'étoiles sparked. Golden particles of magic dribbled from the container it was normally kept, and Lucy gasped in horror as it momentarily short-circuited. She took advantage of its weakness to pull her arm through the barely substantial strand wrapped around her wrist, but quickly began to yell at Rustyrose. "You broke my whip! How dare you! You bloody bastard! You'll pay for this!"
"Pay in what?" Rustyrose mused. "Magic? Heart? Soul? Pain? All are such poetic endings – all will be someone's end." The man continued to drizzle on, sounding like a poet stuck on a loop, continuously playing the same tune – in his case, suffering and beauty.
"Open gate of the Virgin: Vir-!" Just as Lucy was about to finish calling for one of her most loyal spirits, using her left hand, she suddenly found herself being held at sword-point. The blonde gulped, feeling the black blade press itself warningly against her throat.
Rustyrose smirked at the frozen girl, his right arm held out towards her. Halfway down, his arm turned into a solid black colour, the steel glinting in the sunlight that trickled through the trees canopy above. Instead of a hand, he now had a dangerously sharp and long sword that was split into five, each one looking like fingers, or claws, of a monstrous hand. The middle 'claw' was currently pressed against Lucy's throat. "Jet Black Sword."
"W-what the hell is your magic?" Lucy managed to gasp out, carefully of not letting her neck scrape against the claw currently pressed lightly against her jugular. "That sword…thing…just appeared out of nowhere!"
"My magic?" Rustyrose quirked his eyebrow once more. He then adjusted his glasses delicately with his left hand. "Well, it's a wondrous thing called; Arc of Embodiment. It's a magic that is simple in theory; if you're smart enough to understand."
Lucy scowled. "Your petty attempts to insult me aren't going to work; I've chewed up guys with more guts than you for breakfast!"
"My," sighed Rustyrose, "it seems my first impression of you was wrong; you're not a delicate flower at all. You're just as crude as those ruffian guildmates of yours that I dealt with mere moments ago."
Lucy could've swore that her heart stop beating at that instance. "W-what? Who the hell are you talking about?! You better have not hurt my nakama, or I'll-!"
"Or you'll what?" Rustyrose's words were easy, but there was a hard edge in his voice as the claws of his sword stroked Lucy's face, reminding her that her life was in his hands at that moment. "You can do nothing at this moment; you're simply a weak little weed that is going to be crushed under someone's foot someday. I'm just lucky that I get to be the one to crush you." At his words, the claw-like sword wrapped itself around Lucy's throat with a mere thought from Rustyrose. The tight and powerful grip that the sword had on Lucy managed to lift her off the ground, and the girl gurgled as her throat was slowly crushed.
"You are so much easier to kill than that buffoon and his little girlfriend with wings. She thought she was a fairy, could you believe?" Rustyrose scoffed to himself, managing to make it look regal and elegant, even though he was holding a girl by the throat as she scrabbled and scratched at it in a weak attempt to get free. "Preposterous, the both of them! That great ape of a man is too stupid to live in a world of beauty that will come with Zeref's arrival, and that woman's head is far too high up in the clouds to even be considered to live; even as a slave."
"Ev-evergreen…and Elfman…are worth t-ten of you…" Lucy gasped out, one eye rolling to glare at Rustyrose. "Y-you could…never kill them…!"
"Ah, but I already have, trash." Rustyrose smirked at Lucy, before his eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. "I grow tired of this. You are too weak to give me any challenge at all; I shall not have you sully my hands anymore."
With that, Rustyrose flung Lucy away from him with a flick of his Jet Black Sword. The blonde went flying away from him, unable to stop her momentum as she tried to blink the black dots from her eyes and breathe again. Powerless to move, she crashed into a tree. Her back bent as it hit the unyielding wood, and her head slammed back to hit the trunk with a sickening thud. Shavings of wood fell alongside Lucy as she collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap; like the discarded trash she was.
Disorientated, Lucy tried to lift her head and assess the situation she was in, but found herself dipping and swaying dangerously into the surface of unconsciousness. The mild concussion she had probably gotten from hitting her head played havoc with her senses; her eyes barely focusing, and her ears only catching snippets of what her enemy was saying to her.
"Amazing…still alive…some worth in you…but it's so sad that…to die in the Garden of Eden…No one will miss you, I'm sure." Rustyrose's voice began to come into focus once more a Lucy scrabbled for the feeling of her body lying on the ground, and the sticks digging into her skin – they meant that she was alive, and still had a chance.
Get up. Get up, Lucy. That little voice inside her head began to speak up again, encouraging her, beckoning her towards consciousness. Hurry up and get up! Fight back! You will not be defeated here! You swore on your magic and life as a Celestial mage that you would be strong – where's your strength, Lucy? Lucy of Fairy Tail, not Lucky Lucy of the Heartifilia Konzen! STAND UP AT FIGHT! SHOW HIM THAT-
"You should take me seriously…" Lucy breathed out shakily, senses focused, as well as her mind. Her body blurred into motion as she swept Rustyrose's feet from underneath him – as he had approached her with the intent of killing her off. The man fell down with a slight groan, and Lucy pounced on him.
Fighting with everything she had, not caring that she was fighting dirty, Lucy jumped on Rustyrose and began throwing punches left and right. It didn't matter that her right arm felt like it had been doused with fire every time she moved it, or that her vision swam in warped waves, or even that she could feel Rustyrose's sword bite into her skin here and there; she was fighting, and showing that she, Lucy of Fairy Tail, wouldn't go down without a fight.
Even if it cost her the life she had now, Lucy would avenge her fallen nakama, and ensure that no one else could get hurt by this mad man. So she growled, and bit, and scratched, and kicked, and punched, and did every single violent movement she had ever picked up from Erza on this man.
And it seemed to be working.
At least, until Rustyrose remembered that he could do magic, either than his sword.
With a strangled yell, Rustyrose dispersed his sword-arm and summoned up a golden shield on his left arm, promptly slamming it into Lucy's face, trying to throw her off. It seemed like it would work, as Lucy's face bent away from him, and they was a spurt of blood as her nose either began to bleed, or something broke in her mouth, but the girl's arms didn't leave their excruciatingly tight hold on his arms.
As soon as Rustyrose retracted his shield for another attempt at hitting Lucy in the face, the blonde was back into the motion of beating him with everything she had. The two rolled across the ground, bodies bouncing off trees and each other as they grappled for dominance. Rustyrose, with his golden shield and enraged face as he wedged his weapon under any area of Lucy he could get to, trying to pry her off him. And Lucy, clinging on tightly as she spat blood to the side whenever her busted lip filled up her mouth with the red liquid, legs thrashing and arms pin wheeling as she tried her best to physically beat her opponent into submission.
Under no account, was this battle something that would be considered to be worthy of high-class mages – of which both Rustyrose and Lucy were. It was gruelling, dirty, and most of all; raw. The emotions rippling off Lucy was palpable as her face contorted with determination and pain, each swing of her fist making the former expression waver, before hardening once more.
The two mages continued their fight across the ground, barely noticing when their roving battle sent them hurtling down a steep hill. They bounced harder than before as the slanted level sent them rocketing into the air, still trading blows, before landing solidly and awkwardly, usually making the battle pause for a mere millisecond as the two contenders tried to orientate themselves once more.
A vicious punch from Lucy had Rustyrose's glasses, perched still so jauntily on his perfect nose, shattering lenses and warping steel frames. The glasses cut bitterly against Rustyrose's pale skin, drawing blood that only added to the large amount that Lucy had already drawn. But, as karma was a bitch, the hand that Lucy had punched with was her right, and new, red-hot pain raced up her arm, making her abruptly scream shortly.
Taking advantage of this momentary weakness, Rustyrose slammed his shield upwards once more; this time, aiming for the tender skin underneath Lucy's chin. The golden, unbreakable shield struck true, and launched Lucy into the air with a snap as they reached the bottom of the steep slope they had been journeying on for the past few minutes.
Lucy landed, crumpled once more, in a heap a few metres away from the tiredly panting Rustyrose, as he lay at the bottom of the slope and tried to regain his breath, as well as composure.
After taking a moment to collect himself, Rustyrose stood up with a mild grunt, cuts, bruises, and his joints all protesting loudly at such a movement. He staggered over to still form of Lucy – the only sign that she was actually alive was the bare tremors wracking her body – intent on finishing off this blonde trash. Once and for all.
Breath leaving her in a massive gusty sigh, Cana stared in awe at the large chamber-like room she was in. "I found it…" she whispered, "Mavis Vermillion's grave."
Tiny particles of light drifted around her, winding in intricate dances that she couldn't follow the steps of. They seemed to guide her forwards, towards the simple moss-covered stone at the back of the chamber.
Reaching towards the grave, Cana, entranced by the mysterious stone, tried to touch the holy rock. Instantly, a golden barrier flared up around the grave, and an electric shock went up Cana's arm, making her yelp and draw back in surprise. Runes appeared around the grave, glowing softly in the chamber with an unknown source of power.
Cana barely noticed her knees touching the moss-padded floor, her eyes too focused on the runes that she was translating off from the barrier. "Here lies one of the three great magic of Fairy Tail: Fairy Glitter." Unsure of what this meant, Cana peered past the runes to read the engravings on the grave. "Mavis, it really is…Mavis. I've found the grave! I've won this trial!" The brunette gasped, delighted and yet, unsure. "I'm an S-class mage! At least, I should be."
Chewing her lip, the drunkard peered around the brightly-lit chamber, searching for something – anything! – to prove that she had completed the trial, and was now worthy to take her place as Gildart's daughter; as she should've years ago.
Her searching proving to be fruitless, Cana let out a cry of frustration. Her hands slammed into the stone ground in front of Mavis's grave. Tears began to prick at her eyes, the sensation that used to be so foreign, now familiar as the taste of booze; she had cried so much recently, enough to make it feel like she would never stop again.
"Why…?" The girl whispered brokenly, "why aren't I S-class?" She snapped. Tossing her head back, curly hair flying, Cana howled to the cavernous ceiling lost in the clouds of shadow so high above. "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! I'VE SPENT MY LIFE TRYING TO BECOME S-CLASS, SO THAT I COULD FINALLY GET THE FATHER I WANTED! NOW WHAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO WASTE ANOTHER TEN YEARS OF MY LIFE?!" Heaving in a breath, Cana tried her best to continue. "I dedicated my life to learning magic, so that I could be a mage strong enough to be Gildart's daughter. I try and drink my sorrows away, and yet I keep getting reminded of my failure…"
Now feeling the tears tickle her cheeks, and slowly make their way to her chin, Cana hung her head. The mossy ground swam in and out of focus, the salty liquid coming from her eyes marring her vision. The girl continued to kneel there for a few minutes, until she couldn't ignore the sensation of buzzing by her side.
Sniffling, Cana sat back on her haunches and dipped her hand into her side bag. Foraging around for a moment, Cana drew the vibrating card out, coming face to face with a mini-caricature of Lucy, complete with 'HELP ME!' and a flashing arrow that directed her towards the blonde that was in trouble.
Cana cursed. "Now I've failed my friends…damn everything!" Choking down her tears, and the urge to tear the card into shreds in her frustration, Cana looked at Mavis's grave pleadingly. "I didn't mean to betray my friends…I swear. But, please, Mavis…could you help me? I don't know what to do anymore…but I just want to help me friends. Even if I'm a failure, I'm sure I can do something. Even with my mistakes, I hope that I can help my friends."
The brunette reached forwards once more, her hand going through the barrier with no resistance and brushing against the cool stone. "Please…help me fix my mistakes."
"Mistakes can better the heart, Cana." The softly-spoken voice seemed to echo around the room, coming from everywhere, and yet, nowhere. "I understand your heart now, and you are worthy to wield one of the three magics of Fairy Tail. I shall give you Fairy Glitter, but you must go and help your friends."
Eyes wide in surprise, Cana could only watch as golden magic wove itself around her arm, creating a tattoo of intricate proportions upon her arm. "Mavis…"
"Go, Cana."
Nodding briskly to herself, Cana stood up and turned, mind already racing as she tried to determine where she could find Lucy, with the card in her hands helping her along. 'I will save my friends with this power. No matter what!'
A blonde-haired girl watched her go, perched lightly upon her own grave. Her green eyes watched after one of her fairies, disposition sad and longing as her mind went through all the possibilities that could happen with the situation at hand; none of them were good.
Raising his arm, Rustyrose transformed it into his Jet Black Sword once more, gaze malicious as he looked down at the blonde curled up at his feet. His expression turned darker as he plunged his arm down, intent on plunging it through her exposed side, and tearing it through her weak lungs and fragile heart.
As his sword neared its mark, Lucy's eyes flew open and she kicked out at the man attempting to take her life. Her foot hit home on his leg before the sword could plunge into her side. Thrown off balance, Rustyrose's body jerked as he tumbled backwards, his leg making a tremendous cracking sound from the solid force from Lucy's ridiculously strong kick, having been honed to a dangerous degree by Erza's training.
Rustyrose howled in pain as his broken fibula brought him crashing backwards, but the sound was harmonised by a piercing scream of pain; female in pitch.
Having not kicked out early enough to complete move Rustyrose's sword aside, Lucy caught three of the claws with her side, the strong attack having carved through her like a hot knife through butter. The claws trailed blood through the air as Rustyrose fell, and Lucy screamed not long after, the pain receptors in her side having sent the pain of the injury to her brain, where it registered with an onslaught of agony that washed Lucy's conscious away momentarily.
Barely managing to see through the waves of pain crashing over her, Lucy caught sight of her opponent still so close to her, and attempted to crawl away. Her body protested immediately, and she let out a shriek muffled by the ground as the wound on her side flared up again. She could definitely feel warm blood wetting her side now, and that was a cause of panic as she continued to attempt to move away.
Next to her, Rustyrose groaned, his left leg completely immobilised by the broken bone attempting to bust its way out of his skin. The leg throbbed harder as he attempted to sit up, but he pushed it away; he had faced worse things and come out on top, this blonde trash was no different.
Quickly surveying his leg, and finding that the bone wasn't too displaced – it wasn't sticking out yet, after all – Rustyrose turned his attention on the heavily bleeding girl who was attempting to crawl away, her right hand scrabbling uselessly at the ground, the limb basically useless as the wrist was obviously strained.
Managing to grin maliciously through his pain, Rustyrose began to lurch towards her, his left leg dragging behind him, a dead weight. Lucy heard the scuffling sound of a body moving across the leaf foliage that cushioned the ground beneath her, and began to sob in despair; she wasn't going to win here, was she? She wasn't even going to survive. She was a failure, again! Even after all her training, all of her efforts to get stronger, to become someone worthy to carry the name of Fairy Tail, she was still a scared, and weak little girl.
Slumping forwards, all fight leaving her, Lucy managed to turn her head to the side, determined to look into her killers eyes as she died – at least then he would hopefully have trouble sleeping at night.
As she looked into Rustyrose's steely grey eyes, sparking with madness, Lucy could only feel sad at the fact that she couldn't help to protect her friends. She had faith, though, that they would pull through this ordeal and emerge victorious. They were Fairy Tail mages, after all.
Rustyrose reached the blonde, left hand wrapped around a large rock that he had tugged out of the ground. He would've preferred to kill her with his magic, but the earlier fight with the two idiots who bickered had left him tired, and the continuous switching between his shield and sword only amplified that. The effort of holding his body together and upright had also drained him as well, making him only strong enough to muster up a few images out of magic; there were illusions, though, and hardly something to kill someone with.
And so, raising the rock high above his head with both hands, Rustyrose braced himself for what he was about to do. The pain in his leg ebbed away as he looked into the dark brown eyes of the blonde he had been fighting for a while now. She glared up at him, daring to do the deed – he had to admire her spirit. She wasn't weeping or wailing about unfairness, or begging for mercy, like all the others he had killed. She was…not content exactly, or smug, or even sad or happy, it was a bit of all of those emotions.
Her eyes seemed to say that she was sad to go, but more than happy to have gone out properly; she was content with the knowledge that she had fought to her best ability. The smugness he was less sure about. But as a small smile lifted up her lips as his arms descended, Rustyrose could read her words in her eyes; 'Even if you kill me here, my friends will avenge me. For every injury that's on my dead body, they'll pay you back ten-fold. So laugh while you can, because you don't have much time left.'
Angered by those thoughts, Rustyrose let out a guttural yell as he slammed the rock down. It hit with a loud thud.
Cana stopped in the middle of the forest. The card…it…
Beginning to sob now, Cana rushed forwards again, following the direction the arrow had been going before it had cut out, and the card had…died.
(A/N: MWAHAHAHA! So tempted to leave it there, but that's just cruel, and I haven't wrote anywhere near enough to satisfy me!)
Trembling against the pressure of the gravity holding him down, Natsu tried to raise his head once again, but to no avail.
He was tired. That was it. He had already fought Gildarts in the morning, having being beaten down into submission by fear. He had then versed several of the monsters ravening the island, before facing down that freaky dark-haired guy, and getting his God-damn scarf turned black! If that wasn't enough, he had to verse that freaky dude who thought he had better fire powers than him! Ha, he'd shown him! But he had been injured in the process, and only Wendy's healing skills had meant he was still conscious and fighting, and his scarf was back to white.
Proceeding that adventure, Gramps was injured, and wouldn't even let him fight back in his honour! Then he had caught wind of that Zalty dude from Galuna Island, and it turned out he was a chick! What the hell? Didn't anyone stay the right gender here? But after chasing her scent down, and finding her with that freaky black-haired guy, Natsu didn't even get to verse her! Instead, he got fobbed off onto this weird sumo-looking guy who kept trying to steal one of Natsu's hair to do this voodoo stuff on him – according to Happy.
It had taken some skill and power – as that guy was strong, not matter how weird he looked – to defeat him, and Natsu was half-dead on his feet by the time Wendy caught back up to him and healed him.
Carla then had explained that there was a whole bunch of people hurt back at camp, and that they should head back to help protect them. Natsu had agreed, and he, Happy, Wendy, and Carla went racing off to camp, only pausing to send Doranbolt back to the Council's ships so that he could stall them from attacking.
After a short run towards the camp, the group had been waylaid by this total prick called Bluenote, who proceeded to sprout bullshit about how he didn't care about Fairy Tail, or Zeref, but merely wanted to find Mavis's grave and obtain the magic from it – whatever the hell it was, as Natsu had no idea what he was talking about.
Thinking that this guy was a total blowhard – all air and no fight – Natsu had charged at him, only to be knocked into the ground by an invisible force.
It turned out that the dude with the ape-like face used Gravity magic, and was really powerful; and judging by the way he tossed Natsu and the others around, the hot-headed mage had to agree.
Now he was lying in the bottom of a massive crater, glued down by Bluenote's magic. Wendy, Carla and Happy were nearby, all of them caught in his magic as well; it didn't look too good. But Natsu was determined to beat this guy. Even if it took all of his magic – from today and from what he could squeeze out from tomorrow – and he was injured beyond belief, Natsu would beat him.
Just as he was trying to peel himself off the stony ground once more and rush at Bluenote, a new figure came racing into the clearing they were in, and skidded to a stop at the rim of the crater.
Hazily wondering if it was his blonde-haired partner, Natsu managed to raise his head up some more, and focused his gaze on the newcomer.
Cana was standing there, body rigid as she glared across at Bluenote. Her normal laughing brown eyes were captured in a frozen state, their depths cold enough to burn as they stared into Bluenote's. Tears leaked from them continuously, and her body trembled from withheld grief as she did so.
"C-cana-san!" Wendy managed to squeak out, having managed to raise her head as well and look at the person who had entered the premises.
Barely sparing Wendy, as well as the others caught in Bluenote's magic, a glance, Cana focused her entire attention on Bluenote. "Did you do it?"
Slightly taken aback by the frigid tone, practically humming with anger, Bluenote tilted his head before answering. "I don't know what you mean by that."
"The hell you don't!" Cana snapped back, her cold image melting away as more tears poured out of her eyes and her trembling became more evident. "One of you Grimore Heart bastards did it, and you were the one closest to where the card was pointing to! So let me ask you again; were you the bastard who did it?"
"I'm afraid I still have no idea what you're babbling on about," rumbled Bluenote, not concerned by the brunette's anger. "I haven't touched any fairy trash either than these weaklings."
Natsu roared in anger, and wriggled around on the ground, raring to clamber up the side of the crater and punch this bastard in the face! Now, if only this magic would release him…
"Well," hissed out Cana, "if you won't tell me who did it, I'll just have to pry it from your beaten lips!" The girl raised her arm, baring an intricate swirl of black that made up a tattoo-like thing on her arm.
'Cana's never had a tattoo,' mused Natsu, 'I wonder how she got one here? Is there a tattoo place or something on the island? I want one then!'
Meanwhile, Bluenote sucked in a sharp gulp of air. "That's…"
"Fairy Glitter," smirked Cana, "the magic that's going to beat your ass into the ground!"
Bluenote schooled his expression back into a blank, careless one. "Trash like you could never control such power; give it to me and I won't hurt you or your friends too much." He then flexed a hand out to the side, pushing the captured Fairy Tail mages into the ground deeper to emphasis his threat.
"Mavis gave me this power herself," growled out Cana, cocky expression turning to anger and despair once more. "And I'm going to fix my mistakes using it. I'll fix mistake number one by turning your ass into dust!"
"And what mistake might this be?" Bluenote asked, curiosity barely appearing in his voice.
"Abandoning my partner," Cana bit out, eyes flashing dangerously.
Perking up at this sentence, Natsu turned with a confused look towards Cana. "What do you mean you abandoned Lucy? Where is she, Cana? Why'd you abandon her? What's happening to her now?" Pausing to take a breath and think, Natsu reconsidered his questions. "Nah, I don't need to worry; Lucy's plenty strong, she's probably fine. She has that playboy lion as well, if anything goes wrong."
At his words, Cana turned an expression onto him that he couldn't pick out; was that, pity? The brunette shed more tears towards Natsu, before turning back towards Bluenote, fire in her eyes. "I'll defeat you here! Right here, right now!"
"You can try," scoffed Bluenote, "only a mage with true power can wield Fairy Glitter; you don't look like you can meet the cut, fairy."
"Oh, I'm bound to surprise you."
"Hmph, we'll see."
Wendy stared up at Cana as she faced off with the Grimore Heart mage, face etched with concern. "Cana-san…"
"She'll be okay, Wendy." Happy assured the girl from his sprawled position behind her. "Cana's a Fairy Tail mage, and she seems really angry; that never bodes well for our enemies."
"Happy is right," Carla agreed reluctantly. "Cana would not be so foolish as to challenge an opponent who could easily beat her. She seems angry and determined to win; those are both dangerous mixtures for whoever she faces."
Slightly mollified by these responses, Wendy relaxed slightly, body sagging into the ground once more as she gave up to the Gravity magic pinning her down. Natsu wasn't so easily placated. All he kept seeing was that flash of sadness and brokenness in Cana's eyes as she looked at him, and studiously skirted around answering his questions about Lucy. Was Lucy…okay?
Gritting her teeth, Cana flung several cards towards Bluenote, intent on blowing him sky high before taking him down with Mavis's magic. However, Bluenote merely exerted his will and flicked a few fingers, sending the cards sailing off course, where they blew up several trees and carved new chunks into the landscape. "Pathetic."
"I'll show you!" Pulling out several cards, Cana continued to fling them at the Grimore Heart mage, explosions, bursts of elements, and puffs of smoke obscuring the downed Fairy Tail mages sight of the duel.
In the smokescreen, Cana continued to throw everything she had at Bluenote, biding her time and hoping to weaken the man as she did so. The man, on the other hand, was growing bored as he continued to bat the cards away. Some he flung away, and they crashed harmlessly into the forest before setting off whatever spell they held. Others, he simply imbedded into the ground at his feet, negating the magic as easily as breathing. Three landed at his feet, and he scoffed in disgust. "You are weak. So much that you can't even throw cards straight."
"Oh?" Cana raised any eyebrow, face still gleaming with tears, before she flared her magic out. Instantly, a magic circle bloomed into life underneath Bluenote's feet, shocking the man. "What is this?"
"That's to keep you in place," Cana commented scathingly. She then drew three cards and waved them at him. "These are to send you into a world of pain!" She tossed them with a flick of her wrist, and they dug into the ground at the cardinal points. Concentrating her magic, Cana activated her spell.
A wave of hot fire exploded around Bluenote, and instantly began to weave itself around him, reaching out with fiery tendrils to place burning kisses against his skin. The man frowned and attempted to bat it away, but found whatever spell she had cast beforehand was keeping him in place.
Focusing now on disabling the trap and keeping the fire from burning him, Bluenote didn't notice Cana begin to summon up an enormous amount of magic, her right arm beginning to glow with a brilliant light.
"For Lucy…" she whispered, before leaping up above the flames and aiming her arm down towards Bluenote, who could barely be seen in the inferno of fire she had summoned. She activated Fairy Glitter.
Gleaming light erupted around Cana before blasting down towards Bluenote, enveloping the surrounding area in a holy glow. Wendy, Carla, Happy, and Natsu watched with wide, awed eyes, but Natsu's was wider and more shocked; for…Lucy?
When the glow died down, it revealed Cana flipping neatly in the air before landing on the ground lightly, arm smoking slightly as she glared down balefully at her defeated, and, also, smoking opponent. She was sure she would've lost if she wasn't so determined, or driven; she had felt his magic break her entrapment spell and begin to push against the power of Fairy Glitter. But the anger and pain she had felt from losing Lucy meant that she had the drive to push on, and overwhelm Bluenote. Whereas, if she didn't have the push of avenging her friend and saving her nakama's lives…well, it wouldn't have ended so successfully.
Sighing, Cana looked up into the blue sky and hoped that Lucy was proud of her; wherever she may be.
The moment of silence and quiet sadness was broken by the sounds of Happy cheering as he peeled himself off the ground, running over to help Carla, and then Wendy, upright as well. "Cana did it! That weirdo's defeated!"
'Weirdo…' Natsu thought as he stood upright, eyes trained on Cana as she stared up into the sky, barely seeming to notice the tears running down her face once more. "Cana…!" The girl turned as her name was called, eyes dark. "…What is it, Natsu?" She sounded reluctant to talk to him, and Natsu felt his stomach drop out a bit, a strange sensation for him. Why, he hadn't felt this way since…he thought Erza had died.
Swallowing such thoughts, Natsu looked hopefully up at Cana. "Where's Luce? You said that you, uh, abandoned her, but you must've just lost her, right? Lucy's always getting lost, that weirdo! So I'm sure we can find her alright! I mean, you had a card that could find her, yeah? You can just bring it out and we can go find her!" Natsu's grin was so wide that his eyes were squeezed shut. "So let's do it!"
Cana didn't speak. Instead, she pulled out a card and chucked it at Natsu's feet.
Confused, the fiery mage picked it up and fiddled with it. "What the hell is this? It's a blank card, Cana, what am I supposed to do with this? The finder cards you use have people and stuff on them, this is blank. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
Perplexed by what the two were talking about, the other three gathered, two exceeds and one little girl, and walked closer so that they could scan the card, and hear what Cana would say next, which sent one of their stomachs dropping and hearts breaking.
"That was Lucy's card. It directs me to wherever she is when she's in trouble." Cana's voice sounded dead as she spoke, eyes reflecting her tone. "I followed it a while ago after finding Mavis's grave, but halfway here…it died."
"Your cards never usually malfunction, Cana." Chirped Happy, poking at the card with its blank sides. "What'd you do to screw up?"
With her eyes trained on Cana, Carla's mouth twisted down in sadness; she understood. Ever since she had heard of these exams, her sixth sense had been going haywire. When she had arrived on the island, a feeling of dread had been welling up inside her. This was merely the overflow of that.
That vision Carla had experienced before going on that job with Lucy, Wendy and Juvia was of the exams, Carla knew that now. The end image was the one she was going to see soon, it made sense now; Natsu screaming.
Screaming, no. He was howling in despair, and now that she was thinking back over it, she remembered the tears in his eyes. Yes, he had been informed then, just as he was about to be now.
"I didn't screw up, Happy." Cana's voice was thicker, like it was harder to put her words out. "The only time my cards fail is when I don't have enough magic, and they usually just don't activate, not turn off like that. The only time a card goes like that is before I put a function on it, or whatever it's tied to…disappears."
"What do you mean, Cana-san?" Wendy asked, confused about the whole situation.
"I MEAN LUCY'S DEAD, OKAY?!" Cana suddenly burst out. Her eyes were clenched shut as more tears poured out, and her head tilted down as she flexed her hands into fists. "MY CARD FAILING MEANS THAT SHE'S DEAD, AND I'M THE ONE WHO FAILED! I FUCKED UP, OKAY? I LET MY BEST FRIEND DIE, AND NOW I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HER BODY IS, OR EVEN IF THERE'S ONE TO FIND!" Heaving out breaths now, trying to find any oxygen to replenish her lungs, Cana found herself screaming out in anger and frustration, her cries echoing back to Gildarts as he smashed through the last of the trees, prepared to fight the Bluenote-guy who was obviously hurting one of his more favoured guildmates.
However, when he emerged from the tree line, Gildarts found himself in a clearing with a massive crater in it – signalling that the battle had, in fact, already begun, as he had thought. An unknown man (the presumed Bluenote) was lying near the edge, body and clothes smoking with his eyes rolled up into his eyes, showing the whites, with burst capillaries arcing their way across them.
Looking away from the slightly nauseating sight, Gildarts caught sight of Cana standing not too far away from the man, hands balled up against her face as she wept her eyes out – obviously she hadn't taken defeating her opponent so well (Gildarts assumed that she was the one to defeat him, as she was closest and there was still a residue of magic clinging to her). He stepped forwards to head towards her and comfort her, but found himself distracted by a howl of anguish that came from the crater.
Prepared to face an opponent, Gildarts was shocked when he saw Natsu, kind-hearted, always cheerful Natsu, scream in rage and sadness. Flames licked their way up his arms and legs, and Carla and Wendy had to drag away a completely shell-shocked Happy, lest he got burnt. The two females were crying as well, tears running down their face as they each held one of Happy's paws as he began to tremble violently.
Just what had happened here?
"Cana…" Gildarts spoke up tentatively, not sure how to approach the situation, with Natsu screaming in the background and being engulfed by flames and all. "What's happened? What's going on?"
"Dad," croaked out Cana, sniffling as she wiped snot from under her nose. "Lucy…she's gone."
"Gone?" Gildarts repeated, before he suddenly caught on to what Cana had said just before. "Wait. Dad?"
A strangled laugh came from Cana's lips, a poor imitation of her usual brash laughter. "Yeah, imagine that. It took my twelve years and my best friend's death to tell you that I'm your daughter; sad, isn't it? After mum died, I went to the guild to find my father, but when I met you, and found out you were so powerful, I…I couldn't say anything. How could I, Cornelia's meek little daughter, be Gildarts, Fairy Tail's most powerful mage's daughter? It was unheard of! And I kept working up the courage to tell you, but you were always on jobs, and I was still too weak, and I-"
Cana's babbling was cut off as Gildarts rushed forwards to hug her, his musky smell enveloping her alongside his warm tattered cloak. "Cornelia…she was the only woman I loved and married, you know? If I knew that I had a daughter…things would've been so different."
Surprised, Cana could only stare forwards with wide eyes. Slowly, realisation came to her, and she smiled softly, new tears appearing her eyes – this time, of happiness – before she hugged her father back.
She had waited so long for this. This moment was…horrible.
Ears tuning back into Natsu's screams of rage and anguish, and the faint sounds of sobbing, Cana quickly pulled away, tugging her arms from Gildarts's unwilling grip.
"Cana. Sweetie, what's wrong?" Gildarts tilted his head, brow furrowed in concern as he looked over his child's sad face. "What is-oh." Now he remembered. "Lucy. That blonde-haired girl. You said she was gone, right? Is that why Natsu's going berserk?' The well-aged man turned around to see Wendy, as well as the two exceeds, had scrambled out of the crater, and were huddled to the side together, tears pouring down their face as they watched the spectacle going on inside the crater.
Gildarts frowned at the massive ball of flame that was Natsu, the flames obscuring all sight of the rose-haired boy. He knew that after Lisanna had 'died,' Natsu had disappeared into the forest for a whole week, and had destroyed a large portion of it by the time Gray had found him and dragged him out, but this was ridiculous. He wasn't handling this well at all.
Mind made up, Gildarts slid down the crater, marvelling at how strong the flames were, as the heat burnt at his stubble from twenty metres away. Approaching the ball of fire, he pulled up his magic and went to work with exploding the flames. It took a while, and he got burnt several times, but Gildarts managed to completely disable the flames around Natsu, finally revealing the boy.
He was hunkered on the ground, not making a sound anymore, just letting the tears roll down his face and hit the ground, where they hissed and evaporated due to the superheated ground. He let out a whimper, before rubbing furiously at his eyes, a growl building in his throat. As Gildarts got closer, he could hear the whispered mantra that was being emitted under Natsu's breath.
"Lucy's not dead. Lucy's not dead. Lucy's not dead."
The words went around in a loop, never missing a beat unless Natsu added in a 'Lucy would never die!'
Sighing in sadness – although Gildarts didn't know the girl well, he had heard several stories from an excited Natsu whenever he had come around in the last week, and the other guildmembers had said wonderful things about her – Gildarts stepped in front of Natsu and placed a large hand on his shoulder, barely wincing at the sizzling sound and sensation he got from placing the appendage against the burning boy. "I'm sorry, Natsu."
"She's not dead!" Natsu yelled out, standing up and slapping Gildarts's hand away, eyes ablaze in his fury. "Lucy couldn't be! She would never die! She wouldn't die because…because…"
"No one's immortal, Natsu," Gildarts rumbled quietly, voice solemn. "Everybody leaves us at one point, and we all simply follow. No matter what we say, or do, they all go on, into the next world. Your friend, Lucy, she's a Celestial mage, right? So I imagine she's gone up into the stars, alongside her spirits, and is roaming the heavens now, excited to be bright amongst the stars she loves so much.
She's probably sad, too, that she had to leave you, but I bet she's making it her job to watch over you, and making sure that you don't go and do something crazy, like you always do." Gildarts smiled at the boy, eyes crinkled shut. "Lucy's going to watch you from the heavens, okay? And maybe, one day, you'll go and see her in the stars as well. Everyone's day comes, but until then, you stay strong and smile for her, so that her star shines brightly down on you forever."
Eyes shining as his nose ran and tears dribbled down his face, Natsu looked up at Gildarts. "But I don't want her to be a star; I want her to be right here, by my side, as Lucy of Fairy Tail. I don't want to look up at the sky every night to find her, I want to look to side and see her straight away." He broke off, wiping at his eyes. "Lucy isn't meant to leave without me! We're partners! You can't leave a partner behind, that's not how it works!"
"I know, Natsu." Brushing a hand against his spiky locks, Gldarts could only smile sadly, knowing what the boy was going through. "The world isn't always fair, and sometimes it takes things from you-"
"But Igneel was already taken from me!" Natsu burst out, too tired to catch aflame again. "I don't want to give anything else up any more!"
"It's hard, but that's how the world is." Gildarts looked over to where Cana was watching him, body wracked with sobs. "Sometimes it will give you gifts; in which you'll treasure them forever, even they don't want you to, or they try and hide." Cana's smile was painfully thin and watery, but it was a start. Gildarts then looked over to where Wendy was holding Carla as they cried, and Happy gazed pitifully at him, dark eyes obscured with tears. "And sometimes those gifts are taken from us, and they are lost to us forever. But you must remember," he smiled at Happy, "the memories and feelings those gifts have given you will never go away. They are yours to keep, and even the world, or fate, can't take that away from you."
Gildarts finally looked back at Natsu, eyes sad. "So even though life feels horrible now, you have to remember to cherish what your gift has given you, and never let that part go. When it rains, look for rainbows. When it's dark…look for stars.
Look for your star, Natsu, because I'm sure she'll always shine beautifully for you."
That was an interesting chapter, wasn't it? I changed a lot of things here. Ah well, hope you liked it. :D