Lost Echoes, part 10
Kavi and Natsu searched the vault thoroughly. Finally, they found a small vial containing a glowing blue liquid. "This has to be it", said Kavi. Despite his own instructions, he picked it up. He'd left his comrade across the room and thought nothing of it, but that decision would come back to haunt him. As he palmed the frail bottle, the torches flickered violently. Tensing at his own folly, he turned to find Natsu. "Salamander, where are you?", he called, the flames having dimmed. An unsettling laughter crept from the darkness. Adjusting his glasses, he called, "Natsu?". The lights returned to normal. Natsu stood over a large pile of golden treasures with back turned. Shaking the unusual occurrence, Kavi stepped forward. "Not another inch!", yelled Natsu angrily. "What's wrong? Are you all right?", asked Kavi cautiously. Natsu glared over his shoulder, taking on an aggressive stance. "This is mine. You got yours!", he growled. Kavi glanced at the vial. He must have made a mistake. Something was happening, but how could he fix it? "Natsu, you're not yourself. Just calm down", he said soothingly. Natsu turned to face him, a deranged look in his eyes. "Not myself? How would you even know?", he laughed darkly. Kavi carefully took a step forward, noting the nervous tic on his ally's face as he did so. "I told you this is mine! Don't make me kill you", seethed Natsu.
Holding his ground, Kavi took another step. "The temple's done something to you, but we can fix it. I just need you to think this through", he explained. "I don't need to think about anything. You need to get away from my gold", sneered Natsu. Granted Kavi didn't know the wizards of Fairy Tail well, but he was sure this wasn't Natsu's normal behavior. Calmly, he held out his hand. "Is greed more important than finding your friends?", he inquired, keeping direct eye contact. Natsu seemed to waiver for a brief moment. Shaking his head, he shouted, "Stop messing with my head! They would want me to have this!". Kavi offered a kind smile in the face of the salamander's rage. "You're making fun of me, aren't you? That smug grin of yours is pissing me off!", yelled Natsu, readying his fists. Kavi shook his head. "No, I'm trying to help you. Just hear me out", replied Kavi. Refusing to hear another word, Natsu ran forward and punched Kavi hard enough to knock his glasses to the floor. Kavi took a deep breath and waited for the offending fist to retreat. Natsu looked at him in question. "I won't fight you", stated Kavi. Cracking his knuckles, Natsu grinned, "Fine by me." Lost to all reason, he rained down a heavy barrage on his new friend, unaware of his own actions. Forgetting he was fighting another dragon slayer, he was confused as why his opponent was still standing with that calm look in his eyes.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you defending yourself?!", snapped Natsu. "I have no reason to harm you", replied Kavi serenely. Annoyed, Natsu crushed his glasses below his shoe. "Doesn't that piss you off? Now your precious books are useless!", he taunted, trying to egg him on. "They can be replaced", stated Kavi. Pushed to his boiling point, the insane dragon slayer tackled his comrade to the ground and hailed down punch after punch. This went on for several minutes. "What's wrong with you?! Stop looking so damn peaceful!", shouted the deranged mage. His irrational behavior was getting worse. He growled like a feral beast and even clawed at his pinned victim. Seeing the red aura in his eyes, Kavi knew this was his last chance to get through. "Listen to me. What about Happy? What about Fairy Tail?...What about Lucy?", he asked. It almost seemed like a breakthrough, but things quickly turned sour. The thoughtful expression on Natsu's face faded into some form of primal hatred. "You can't have them! They're mine!", he seethed. He attacked, savagely scratching at Kavi's torso. Unpacified, he went in for the kill, the only way such a beast would. He bit down hard on his victim's throat. The fact that no blood seeped out only served in infuriate him further. After several failed attempts to rip out the jugular, Natsu sat back and stared at the ripped clothing. Kavi's collar had been destroyed, revealing his scales beneath. Natsu stared in confusion, logic trying to tame his irrational rage. Kavi met his eyes and evenly said, "Now do you see? My mother saved me again. What would your father say if he could see you now?".
Something inside Natsu snapped. He grasped his head in his hands and fell sideways to the floor. Ignoring his wounds, Kavi calmly sat up and watched closely. A loud scream echoed throughout the vault as Natsu fought to regain his senses. Once he stopped shaking, Kavi set a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right, Salamander?", he inquired with genuine concern. Slowly, Natsu sat up and struggled to focus his vision. He stared at the blood covering his hands in alarm. "What happened?", he asked shakily. Looking up, he had his answer. Kavi was bleeding from several places, but he maintained a calm expression. "I think the temple just tested us", he replied. The multicolored flames that lit the torches flickered to a normal orange hue. Natsu looked back to his hand. He could feel his magic returning. A quick test of lighting a finger confirmed it. He glanced toward Kavi who sat with a distant look. "Did I hurt you badly?", he asked sheepishly. Kavi twitched one ear, something Natsu didn't know he could do. "I can hear the others. They're below us...Several floors below us", he stated. Natsu grinned, glad Kavi's magic had returned, as well. He got to his feet and offered a kind hand to help him up. Kavi accepted the gesture without ill will. Natsu handed him his shattered spectacles with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me..", he trailed. Dusting himself off, Kavi replied, "No need to worry about it. You weren't yourself. Besides, it's the past now. We should focus on finding the others. There's no telling what this place might do to them." Natsu nodded, glad Kavi as so level headed. "Which way?", he asked. Kavi set his hand on the floor and sent out a pulse, getting a mental image of the building. "This way", he said, leading. He set his broken glasses on the table where he had found the vial. A fair enough trade on things considered. Now, he had to find his friends.
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Elsewhere, Yona and Lucy had found a chamber with similar tubes to when they first entered the temple. "No names", observed Yona, inspecting them closely. Lucy looked around for anything helpful. In the shadows, she found what looked like a torture rack. It was stained with blood from a long time ago. A pedestal nearby was covered in decaying notes in the same ancient language as the library books. The next thing she found made it clear where she was. A robed skeleton laid on the floor, reaching one arm out as if crying for help. Set deep in the rib cage was a ritualistic dagger. They had stumbled onto Valentine's death site. A shiver ran down her spine at the realization. Yona stood over the remains with a mix of emotions. "This must be the asshole that did it", she said solemnly. She, too, had figured out where they were. In one swift movement, she stopped her foot over the skull, shattering it to pieces. "Yona", uttered Lucy in shock. The dragon slayer sneered at the dead man. "He deserves worse. Just look what he did to Valentine! And who knows how many other people he tormented?!", she seethed. Kicking the bones, she added, "And worst of all he almost caused me not to exist!". She snorted with her arms crossed. Lucy couldn't help, but grin faintly. It was true. If the assistant had died, Kaur and Yonaguni would never have been born. Once again getting a chill, she said, "Let's get moving. I don't like it here." She turned to face her friend, but Yona wasn't there. Lucy quickly scanned the room. She found Yona silently praying over the table that once held Valentine against his will. Stepping beside her, she joined in prayer. It was the least they could do. After a moment, Yona sighed. "Okay, where to now?", she asked, eager to move on. Lucy really wasn't sure. They were walking blindly through the complex. A faint 'tink' caught their attention.
Lucy quickly grasped her key ring and stared at it in wonder. Valentine's key was trembling. "What the hell does that mean?", asked Yona bluntly. "I don't know. I've never seen them do this", replied Lucy. A familiar voice spoke out behind them. "I think he's trying to show you the way out", offered Loke. "Who're you?!", demanded Yona, taking on a defensive stance. "it's okay! This is Leo, a spirit", explained Lucy, trying to avoid an incident. He offered a friendly smile and said, "My friends call me Loke." Yona stared at him as if contemplating her next move. Stepping close, she poked him several times. "So this is one of the zodiac?", she thought aloud, continuously prodding him. He snickered, either amused or simply being tickled. She took his laughter for insult and stood directly in front him, staring him in the eye. "What's so funny?!", she snapped. "Yona, please. He's a friend", pleaded Lucy. "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to such a greeting", he teased. He took her hand and turned up the charm. "Any friend of Lucy's is, of course, a friend of mine, and so pretty, too", he said, leaning to kiss her hand. She quickly pulled it free and slapped him hard across the face. "What kind of pervert are you?!", she yelled, her face bright red. Lucy tried not to laugh. It was about time his womanizing caught up with him.
Adjusting his glasses, Loke sighed, "Spurned yet again". Several more 'tink' noises resounded, reminding him of why he came. "You think Valentine's trying to point the way?", asked Lucy, unsure. He stared at the white key with an intense sense of sadness. "He doesn't want you to be here longer than you have to", he replied. "You met him?", inquired Yona, slowly calming herself. "I know of him", said Loke. Avoiding further detail, he held out his hand. Lucy gave him the key. Grasping his hands around it, he closed his eyes and a bright glow emanated from his grip. He handed back the key with a grin. "I loaned him some power. He should be able to navigate this place for you now." Yona peered over with interest. "You can do that?", she asked, still unsure of him. Lucy added the key back to her ring. Sure enough, it pointed almost straight out. "Awesome!", cried Yona, slapping Loke hard on the back. He shuddered at the impact, but played it off with a smile anyway. "Just follow his directions. He'll keep you safe", said Loke, fading back to his own world. Yona shrugged with a sigh. "All right, Valentine. Lead the way", she said, pushing Lucy in the direction his key pointed. With luck, he would know the shortest route back the surface.
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To be continued...