IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN THE COVER PHOTO OR ANY OF THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!
HOLY CRAP WHEN DID WE REACH 196 FOLLOWERS?! YOU GUYS ARE LITERALLY THE BEST!
-Guys, it's finally summer! Sorry for my short little absence, I was busy studying for exams, but now that school is over I'm free to update this story whenever I want! I'm glad to be back.
Hope you enjoy this update!
-The Northern Continent : Brago-
Lucy sputtered as she coughed up another mouthful of blood. Her hands frantically pressed at the bleeding wound on her stomach, but her movements were limited due to the debris crushing her body, which was slowly forcing blood out of her stomach and up her throat where she would choke and cough it out, as she desperately gasped for air that couldn't seem to meet her lungs. Moving around only seemed to make thinks worse so the blond opted to wriggle her frostbitten toes as she pushed on the gash on her stomach in an attempt to keep herself awake, but even that was proving to be futile. Whether it was an effect of losing so much blood or just because of how cold it was outside, Lucy didn't know, but she was having a very difficult time staying awake.
As she lay, crushed underneath pieces of a home and slabs of concrete, Lucy was only aware of a few things; one of which was the contrast of temperatures. The air was freezing cold as thick snowflakes fell from the sky, making the ground feel like a slab of ice, but her blood was so warm as it pooled around her shivering figure. Another was how inviting falling asleep felt. Her body hurt so bad that anytime she moved, breathed even, immense pain shot throughout her nerves. If she just closed her eyes and succumbed to the warmth sleep provided she wouldn't be in any more pain, right? She wouldn't have to experience the burning sensation as blood gushed out of her wounds, or have to go through the terrifying experience of choking anymore. If Lucy just closed her eyes and fell asleep she wouldn't have to taste the metallic edge of blood in her mouth that made her want to gag and head spin. If she just closed her eyes and slept she wouldn't have to feel any more pain. And nothing seemed better than that offer in that moment of time.
Yet, for some reason, Lucy fought to keep her eyes open. Despite everything telling her to just give up and pass quietly, she kept her eyes opened and pinned on Deliora's form with blurry vision. Every time her eyes fell shut Lucy would see a flash of silver and they would bolt back open. A voice in the back of her head would say, "What's the point anyways? No one's going to come and find you. You left your only friend behind, and now look at you, you're all alone." And Lucy knew that this was true. She did leave Saiya behind and now she was stuck under a pile of debris bleeding to death. The chances of anyone finding her were close to zero, and even if someone did manage to find her, what would they do? No one in their right mind would willingly stop to help her with a demon so close by. What's to say that they wouldn't end up in the same position she was in? Lucy knew she was alone. She knew she left her friend behind. She knew countless reasons that all told her to just give up, yet the idea of Saiya flying by and seeing her dead body was unbearable. Lucy couldn't do that to her friend, and she wouldn't do that to herself! She would keep on fighting until her last breath.
Tears began to blur Lucy's vision and she had to bite her tongue to keep from letting out a strangled cry. "I-I'm s-so s-sorry S-Saiya!" She whimpered. "I-I k-know I s-should h-have l-listened t-to you, b-but I w-was s-so s-scared!" Lucy stuttered as the snow really began to fall. "I j-just w-wanted t-to p-prove t-that I c-could p-protect y-you!" The tears streaming out of her eyes made her face sting from the cold, adding to her immense pain, and that only made Lucy cry harder. She was completely overwhelmed by the fact that she had put herself into this situation; that she was the cause of her own demise. If she wasn't so stubborn in the first place and just listened to her friend's advice, she wouldn't be stuck under all this debris; she wouldn't be dying. "I j-just w-wanted t-to prove t-that I w-was strong!"
Lucy couldn't feel anything now; her body had gone completely numb. Black dots began to mar her vision until she could barely see, and Lucy could swear that this was the end. Her hands fell from her stomach, her body going limp, while her head fell backward. "Don't cry!" The voice in the back of her head had said. "You won't have to hurt anymore. Now you can just sleep. You'll finally be relieved of your pain." Without the energy left to fight, Lucy succumbed to the cold and let her eyes fall shut. Almost immediately she stopped breathing, and within an instant, everything came to an end.
"S-sorry..."
"Hey! Are you alright?!"
Gray pulled the girl out of the debris with trembling hands and resisted the urge to gag as he spotted the gaping wound on her stomach. It was spitting out blood nonstop, which would explain why most of her skin had been dyed a nasty red, at an alarming rate, and made him worry that she'd die of blood loss if he didn't find a way to stop it. Her chest was barely moving but if the small white clouds coming from her mouth told him anything, it was that she definitely was breathing, so there was still a chance at saving her life if he worked fast. In a state of panic, Gray pressed his hands against her wound in an attempt to make it stop bleeding. He flinched in surprise as she harshly cried out in pain and stumbled backward as her bloodshot eyes suddenly shot open.
Lucy wheezed as she pushed at her wound, hands fumbling from all the blood, as she tried to stop the bleeding. Her stomach clenched and a wave of nausea overran her senses when she saw all the blood. She glanced around in desperation for something that could close up the wound, or at least cover it to stop the bleeding, but only the remains of destroyed houses and buildings littered the street. With nothing around for her to use there wasn't anything, Lucy could do now. She'd been woken up from her peaceful sleep just so she could suffer through the same pain again, only in a different spot than before. There was no way to stop the bleeding.
As he took in her appearance, Gray's stomach churned with a foreign feeling that was oddly familiar. Her lips were a dark blue while some of her extremities were turning a nasty purple hue from frostbite. Strands of her blond hair were now red from soaking in some of her blood, sticking together as an effect of being frozen from the cold, and her skin was so white from blood loss that it resembled the snow falling from the sky. Her clothes were shredded and torn which exposed more of her skin to the cold, increases her chances of frostbite, and worst of all, the wounds that littered her skin didn't seem to have an end and were coated with thick layers of dirt that would likely lead to an infection.
Without thinking Gray's body moved on its own as his brain formulated a quick plan. His hands tore off a good portion of the bottom half of his shirt and he daringly reached out to thread it underneath her body, behind her back, and around her stomach, to form a makeshift tourniquet that would close off her wound and temporarily stop the bleeding. Lucy glanced at him in confusion as he took a deep breath, hands hovering above her stomach, and yelled in pain as he suddenly tightened the cloth, forming a tight knot around her stomach.
"I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure that should stop the bleeding. For a little while, anyways." The boy explained as he slowly helped Lucy sit up straight, shrugging off his jacket in the process. "You lost a lot of blood, though, so you should take it easy until you see a professional." Leaning forward, he draped his jacket over her shoulders and helped the girl slip her arms into the sleeves. "My name's Gray, by the way. I found you trapped under that debris a while ago and barely managed pulled you out. How'd you get trapped under all that mess, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Aren't you going to be cold?" Lucy bit back almost defensively as she dodged the question. She was confused why someone had suddenly stopped to help her. Was he looking for something in return for his kindness, or was he really helping her out of the goodness of his heart?
Gray pulled himself to his feet, offering the blond his hand, and shrugged dismissively. "Not really. I have, well, had, this crazy mentor who made me and this other kid stand outside in the snow with barely any clothes on. It was supposed to be for training or something like that." He confessed. "So I'm used to the cold by now. You, on the other hand, look like you've been having a hard time adjusting to it." The boy added as he gestured to her hands, which were turning blue.
For a moment, silence fell upon the two as they sat in the middle of the street. Lucy tucked her hands into the pockets of the jacket and broke the silence with an awkward cough. "Lucy." The blond murmured as she glanced in the other direction.
"Sorry?"
"My name," She repeated with a small scowl. "is Lucy. It's common knowledge that you give someone your name when you introduce yourself. You told me who you were, so I'm telling you who I am. It's the polite thing to do, you know.." Lucy said. Her face flushed slightly as she felt Gray's intense stare on her face, and she quickly looked at the ground as a way to avoid his curious gaze. "You wanted to know how I ended up under those rocks right? A little while ago my friend and I got into an argument and I ran off like an idiot. I was so determined to fight that thing that I ran off without thinking, and-!"
"Wait a minute! Did you just say that you tried to fight Deliora? You're a wizard?!" Gray asked with wide eyes as he seized the girl by her shoulders.
Lucy grimaced slightly at the action because it caused the tourniquet to rub against her wound, but answered his question nonetheless. "Yeah. I use Dragon Slaying Magic and Celestial Spirit Magic." Gray looked at Lucy in disbelief causing her to grind her teeth in annoyance. "And yes, Dragons are real." She added. "Anyways," Lucy said in a sharp tone. "I ran off without thinking and tried taking that demon on by myself. I got a couple of good hits in and managed to lead it away from most of the people of this town, but I let my guard down for one second and got blown backward by its tail. I broke through three houses before being crushed by a broken wall. I guess something cut me because the next thing I knew I was bleeding all over myself. I passed out, you found me, and now here we are."
"You're pretty brave facing Deliora on your own like that. I bet your friend would be proud of you."
Inside the jacket, Lucy's hands clenched into fists. "I doubt it. She told me that I'd end up hurting myself and I did. I betcha I look pretty stupid."
"Sometimes people won't always understand that you just have to do certain things. Even if they end up getting mad at you, you still have to do what you were meant to do." A flash of Ur and Lyon passed through Gray's head and he straightened out his back with a sigh. "I suggest that you go find your friend and get out of here. It's not safe for you to be around here, especially with that wound of yours." He advised.
"What about you?" Lucy called out as Gray started to walk away.
"Me? I have a score to settle."
Somehow Lucy found herself repeating what her friend had said so many times as Gray got further down the street. "You can't be the hero all the time." Her words seemed to strike something within him because the boy froze and glanced at the blond from the corner of his eyes. "Just think about that before you do something stupid. There's no guarantee that someone will always be able to save you if you do end up getting hurt."
"I know." He gulped.
"That's good."
Lucy rose to her feet, and just like that, they both went their own ways. They were strangers who met purely by chance so she felt no obligation to tell Gray how he should live his life, or to even let him know if the choice he was making was the wrong one. She was familiar with what was going on in his mind which is why Lucy turned her back on him and walked away. Gray could make his own choices on how to live his life. She didn't have the right to give him any advice. So they both walked down opposite ways of the street, not knowing that a few years from now their stories would intertwine again, just in a very different way.
"Be careful, Gray."
A/N: OK PLEASE DO NOT HATE ME! I KNOW THAT THIS UPDATE WAS REALLY SHORT BUT I NEEDED TO GET LUCY'S MEMORY OUT OF THE WAY SO THAT I CAN GET BACK ON WITH THE STORY!
I'm going to work on the next chapter right after I upload this one, and I promise that it will be a REAL update! I just really want to get back on with the Galuna Island Arc and get deeper into the story, which I bet that you guys want that too!
If I don't update later tonight I'll have it up by tomorrow!
Happy Summer Everybody!
-xxTheNightmareBeforexx