Destiny's Demise
Chapter 11: The Discovered
Gray
Glass shattered into several shards, dropping all over the floors and computers. Ice stairs climbed up onto a platform through the hole in the wall. Gray, Valentine and Mana walked through the hole and down the stairs on the other side. Puddles of water could be seen as a grey murky liquid, obviously not the harmless H20 as they first thought. The shattered door also gave a both daunting and unexpected clue to the ice mage.
"What is it?" Valentine asked, staring at the charred piece of wood in the crouched wizard's hand, no bigger or wider than a nail.
"Natsu." Gray sighed, slinging the wood back onto the ground. The liquid from the puddle the wood fell into splashed and landed on his shoe. There were no viable signs of corrosion so the ice mage left it be, too preoccupied by other matters.
"What?" Mana questioned in surprise. Small brown eyes looked between the shattered sphere and splintered door. "You don't think he was the one to let it out?"
"He's definitely stupid enough to." Gray growled irritably.
"Natsu Dragneel; sounds just as Infamous as Fira explained." Valentine grumbled lightly, hesitating before he mentioned his wife's name. Once again, the emotions buried deep inside of him ripple and settled again.
"Trust me," Gray grumbled, rising to his feet. "He is." Black, liquid-coated boots passed through the crumbling doorway, snatching the candle next to the door and a solo chandelier laid in its own puddle.
"Come on, Mana; let's go." Valentine called over his shoulder, summoning the girl to his side, who cautiously made sure not to get any of the suspicious water on her.
They walked quietly through the dark corridors, listening to Mana's self-satisfying monologue every now and then. There were no turns on their walk down the passage way, just a low hanging ceiling and bare stone walls, dimly lit by the torch held in Mana's hands.
After a longer than usual period of silence, Gray came to an abrupt stop. Mana almost crashed into the ice mage, giving a startled yelp of surprise.
"What is it?" Valentine asked, almost immediately noticing the alert on the ice mage's face. A finger pressed to Gray's lips with a soft hush. Four other eyes followed his gaze into the darkness beyond.
The soft beat of air faintly grew, accompanied by heavy breaths and smothered shuffling on footsteps. They grew and grew with the intensity of the atmosphere.
"Ice make:," Gray whispered. "Axe."The coo lair took a bitter frosty turn, shooting Goosebumps up the other two wizards exposed skin. Magic rippled over the dark-haired man's strong arm, filling his hand with a growing ice sculpture. It stopped with a heavy frozen blade on the end acing the approaching noise.
Suddenly blue fur appeared from the dark shell. White wings frantically flapped in the air, propelling the cat forwards. A slight relief washed over the ice mage, realising it was only happy, disintegrating his magic. A second later he noticed the cat's eyes; dark eyes were lit full of fear. The pounding footsteps continued, when Gray realised that Happy was flying.
Valentine watched the figure immerge from the darkness like a wild cat. Claw-like fingers shot through the air, catching its prey with ease. All fours came down on the exceed's back, slamming it straight into the concrete. When it came to a sliding stop, its darkness cloaked figure disappeared.
"Happy!" Mana exclaimed.
The crouched figure lay pounced on to the limp blue body. Brown speckled, golden fur rippled under the glow of the torch light. His yellow fur chest was bare, with only a pair of black loose jeans hanging from his slender waist, decorated with hanging silver chains. "Gotcha." The assailant purred, peeling the limp body off the ground. Pale yellow eyes glared sadistically at the hanging blue cat, with knife-thin black irises. "My, my, running away while I was dealing with that fire idiot." He swung the cat carelessly by the tail before slinging it back over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Fire idiot?" Mana exclaimed. "What did you do to Natsu?" She snapped, taking a threatening step forwards. Valentine pressed a hand against her shoulder, keeping her safely back.
Pointed yellow ears perked from his short blonde mane, turning towards the direction of the sound. Pale amber cat eyes looked up at the girl curiously, only just noticing the onlooker's presence. A crooked grin pulled his lips apart, revealing the white needle-sharp fangs.
"Let's just say he'll be sleeping for a while." He purred, increasing his sadistic grin.
"You-"Gray exclaimed, lifting his hand and fist up into the air.
A gust of wind leapt up a second before the three of them could react. But Valentine didn't need a second to realise the wind wasn't caused by the cat-like attacker. There wasn't just one enemy, but two. During his realisation, he hadn't noticed his mistake. It wasn't 'the three of them' anymore; It was just the two of them.
Gray had vanished in an instant without even a whisper of noise.
Tense ocean blue eyes turned forward. A second figure appeared out of the darkness, fur rippling with the movement of his lean muscles. Rounded black ears grazed the hanging ceiling on top of the round jaguar face. Emerald green eyes narrowed on the blonde-haired man, contracting the black slit pupils. IN one arm, swung the unconscious body of the ice mage, so limp and still, it may have been possible he was dead.
A sharp squeal of fright choked in Mana's thought. Valentine sensed her sudden spike in fear, causing her entire body to shiver violently.
"Venus..." Mana uttered barely any higher than a whimper.
"Don't get distracted." Venus growled to his golden furred partner, significantly more human looking that the large overgrown black cat. "Go and take the dragon slayer to Master before he gets impatient."
"Don't get your whiskers in a twist; I'll go get him in a minute. I just had to catch this one first." The slender cat shrugged, gesturing to the fur ball hanging over his shoulders.
"You may try to disrespect me, but don't try disrespect my master's orders." Venus growled, his calm demeanor taking a threatening tone. "Mercury, go take care of him. Now."
Sharp golden ears pressed back against his head, wrinkling his nose in contempt. "I got it. I got it. Sheesh." Mercury muttered under his breath, disappearing into the darkness.
"You're Venus?" Valentine growled, setting his blue eyes on the overgrown cat. A rounded ear flickered, slowly triggering his black head to turn towards him. Green eyes looked from him, to the girl and back without showing any hint of emotion. Or it would be more accurate to say he was trying had to be emotionless. It made Mana feel a pang of surprise, when her thoughts tried to appeal to her that he had some humanity, even after what he had done.
A second line of thoughts overrode her last, reminding her that they didn't know exactly what it was he had actually done for certain. He had knocked Carla and her out, but Gray suggested earlier that Fira might not even be dead. Gray was unconscious in his arms, but there was no way of actually knowing if he was alive or just knocked out. All her thoughts began to jumped and overload, leaving her to fizzle out into reality.
When she did return, she immediately wanted to go back to her confusing thoughts. The weight of the atmosphere had double and kept on doubling with every passing moment. It was so heavy that even Mana didn't dare take a breath.
Valentine didn't wait long enough to starve the girl of oxygen, immediately launching his hand sup in front of him. Shapes began to blur into a momentary fuzz of movements too fast for the eyes to see, even for a cat's.
Chants poured from the man's mouth in a language Mana didn't understand and would never be able to articulate or narrate down on paper. It sounded deep and dark that pulled dread from the deepest parts of her heart. Fear struck her mind, afraid to see what might appear.
However, Mana was never able to witness the foreboding magic. That was because nothing happened. Alienating blue eyes stared down at his bare hand in shock and confusion.
"Your magic has been nullified." Venus explained with a calming, monotonous voice. "The liquid you had come into contact with was a magic-cancelling chemical. Both my partner and I had already been vaccinated against it. It was done in order to successfully capture the dragon slayer, the ice mage and you. It would have been impossible to fight at full strength with any one of you, let alone two at the same time. Certain extra measures had to be taken in order to have successfully retrieved all three."
"But how would you know we would come this way?" Mana exclaimed, refusing to believe they could capture them off-guard so conveniently.
"The soldier." Valentine hissed.
"But-"Mana whimpered. "They were fire troupe members..."
"Just because we don't have spies in theirs, doesn't mean they don't have spies in ours." Valentine bitterly explained. Mana immediately thought back to when Natsu-sama had been absent from the camp, thinking back to the spy she had a rendezvous with. It then occurred to her that Valentine probably didn't know, and thought best not to point it out to him aloud.
"But Gray used his magic earlier; the ice axe!" She said instead, still trying to argue. "Before Happy appeared!"
"Unfortunately, both the dragon slayer and ice-make mage have second origin, along with the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards, excluding the exceeds. " Venus replied with the same cautiously steady tone." The suppressant only works on their first origin. Once that is sealed, the second origin is immediately triggered."
"But how did you know Natsu would be there?" Mana persisted, desperate to find some evidence that they hadn't been in the enemy's hands all along.
"We knew he was pursuing your leader. With her scent, we were able to lure him down a whole of our creation." Venus explained.
"But...But..." Mana shook her head, feeling the horrible sensation of sickness and dread rise up her stomach and into her throat. "It can't be. We can't have been manipulated all this time. Valentine, it's not true, is it?" Purple hair fell down her back, looking up at him with desperation.
"Oi." Valentine snapped, turning his sharp blue eyes on the black cat. His voice lowered into a deep threatening growl, placing his body between Venus and the girl. "Aren't you telling your enemies a little too much?" Venus stated silent, staring at the man with level eyes that said everything. "Unless," Valentine continued. "You're not going to let us live long enough to tell anyone?" Once again, Venus stayed silent, not even making the sound of his breathing be heard.
"Valentine?" Mana whispered, trying her best to suppress the increasing panic of her heart.
"My spell is still active, right?" Valentine asked, not turning towards her.
"Yes..." Mana replied, touching her foot to the floor to test it. There was no pain or significant ache to tell her it had worn off, meaning the magic was still active.
"That means that this suppressant only stops us from forming new magic. That's alright." Valentine sighed. "It should remain active for a few minutes even after I lose my connection to it."
"Val-" Mana began but Valentine cut her off.
"I need you to do something for me." Valentine asked, his tone turning softer with a small hint of a plea inside. Mana couldn't bring herself to speak, her voice lost in a place far away for safe keeping. Instead, she could only manage a small nod. Despite having his back turned to her, he seemed to know what she did.
Suddenly Valentine moved like light, his arm darting through the air. Hard knuckles collided against the big cat's face with enough force to send him staggering backwards. A free black paw reached up to his face in surprise touching the aching area.
"Run, Mana!" Valentine roared.
His voice sent her blazing through the darkness in an instant, leaving the burning torch to clatter against the floor.
Valentine collapsed against the stone floor. Gusts of winds blew up and settled as the cat reappeared above him. The blonde man was hauled under his free arm, the other occupied by the ice mage, both lifelessly still. Narrow black pupils turned to the darkness, hearing the faint crisp of glass being crushed under quick feet, They turned back down to the dying flame on the floor.
"So," Mercury grinned, stuffing his hands into his torn trousers. "You let the little mouse get away. Or would she be better described a hare?" Golden cat eyes met an irritated pair of green ones, much to the cat's surprise and intrigue. "Oops, did I step on your tail?"
"Just go get her." Venus growled.
"Aye, sir." Mercury teased with a mock salute. The spotted half-cat disappeared in a flash, cutting the light out as he passed.
"A whippet." Venus muttered softly, watching the final red embers of wood cooled, allowing the darkness to swallow the corridors again.
Natsu
Natsu awoke to the startling clatter of metal. A pounding headache throbbed in his skull with the dull taste of iron on his tongue. Sharp stinging pulses of heat radiated from out his lower back. It brought back a rush of memories that only intensified his headache into a migraine.
Onyx eyes flashed down to his stomach, seeing clearly polished tan skin with only a few bruises and thin cuts; none of which were in the area he was certain he had been stabbed. Looking down, he also noticed that he was stripped of his scarf, vest and shoes, with only his pants on, shredded and charred from earlier.
Metallic ringing continued, catching his attention. Dark pupil looked up and across.
A black leather chair sat in the center of the room; a plain but incredibly large warehouse with no windows or doors. A steel gates were pulled down on his right, sectioning at least two thirds of the room away. Lights installed into the tall ceiling illuminated everything with incandescent white light.
Long steel chains sat in a two piles on either side of the black chair, looping up to the seat and across to the other side of the room. From over one corner of the black chair, Natsu noticed the edge of what seemed like a steel frame with chains connected to the top two corners. Ultimately, the chair was turned away from him, hiding whomever it was sat in its seat.
As Natsu tried to move his body, he became aware of his own situation. Two steel clasps pinned him back against a steel square, suspending him in a horizontal position. Fire-resistance braces held him down; two on his ankles, spreading his limbs uncomfortably far apart.
A long plastic tube filled with murky grey liquid was looped around an IV drop leading up, over his shoulder and into his neck, at the point where he was weakest.
Natsu felt a sick dread in his stomach, trying his best to summon his magic. But just as he dreaded, nothing happened. A reaction did eventually occur, just not the one he was trying to achieve.
The black chair swiveled round, turning to face the dragon slayer.
"Natsu," The voice called out happily. "So glad you could join us in time."
"Who are you?" Natsu growled as best he could, trying to fight the weakness so clearly shown in his body.
"me?" The man smiled, pushing back his messy brown hair away from his square glasses. Whatever coloured eyes he had, were hidden behind the light, glinting over their surface. The only other thing Natsu could see, was the pristine white lab coat buttoned and iron perfectly. Everything about him seemed meticulously clean, all except the mess o brown hair tied back into an attempted pony tail. "I'm just a scientist that's all." He shrugged with two open palms innocently facing upwards.
"Bull!" Natsu snapped. A trickle of sweat slid down his cheek, dripping from his chin and splattering against the stone floor. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"Firstly, I'll admit that I do like to dabble in other things now and then, but mainly I'm a scientist." The man sighed twiddling with a chain resting on the arm of his seat; chains that were looped back to the frame behind him."But, to answer your question that would be the side effects of Mercury's magic combined with the suppressant being pumped into your blood.
"Mercury?" Natsu repeated in confusion.
"Ah," The scientist exclaimed, pausing momentarily for thought. "You probably know him as your beloved, long-lost Lucy."
"What?" Natsu growled, jerking forwards against his hold. It didn't let him move much, but it was enough for him to show his anger.
The scientist brush his reaction aside, continuing with his elf-induced conversation. "Your little Lucy, who you so happily found in my basement, reunited after three long years is-"
"Natsu!" A familiar, feminine voice exclaimed. A door, cleverly blended into the wall, slammed open. Long blonde hair fell against her pale shoulder, big chocolate brown eyes staring at him in despair. "Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy cried, covering the distance between them at a rapid pace.
"Luce, you're alright!" Natsu exclaimed in relief.
"Oh, you're back. I suppose you got my message then." The scientist cheerily grinned, twisting his chair to face the girl. Lucy's dramatically relieved face faded as she turned to the man in the chair.
"Yeah, I let the girl go; She's not necessary, right?" Lucy responded with a tried shrug, wandering a little closer towards him.
"Luce?" Natsu muttered, confused at what was happening.
"Sorry dude," Lucy grinned, her voice dropping deep and heavy. Slowly her face began to distort, Her chin sharpened, golden fur growing across all her skin. Two gold ears sprung out against the blonde hair shrunk back into short spikes on her head like a mane. Long nails turned into razor sharp claws, with still noticeably human fingers, covered in light fur. Chocolate brown orbs turned into pale yellow orbs with knife sharp pupils. "I'm not Lucy." The half-cat grin mischievously, unveiling his sharp fangs tucked away beneath his lips.
"Lucy!" Natsu gasped, his jaw dropping wide open. "You turned into a cat!" He exclaimed.
"You stupid idiot!" The cat exclaimed in anger and disbelief.
"It really is Lucy!" Natsu continued with a sigh of relief and confusion. Mercury couldn't find any word to express how stupidly irritating the dragon slayer was. Meanwhile, the scientist chuckled lightly, cleared amused by the situation.
"As I was saying," The scientist cleared his throat, breaking the tension. "The Lucy you saw was a fake."
"A fake?" Natsu questioned, still watching the cat person curiously.
"Yep, a fake." The scientist confirmed, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair and interlocking his fingers. Shiny glasses peered over his pale knuckles with a soft curl of his lips. "Mercury has the power to manipulate illusions through memory. Bu successfully downloading the memories of a person, he is able to perfectly imitate his target to the point he can even trick those who are closest to them."
"It was an illusion?" Natsu uttered, dark eyes falling heavily on the brown speckled cat. Suddenly, Desmond's words reappeared in the back of his thoughts, ''Dreams and reality; Not one without the other, yet never joined together. Only can they cross over the broken finger that hides beneath the fangs of the white tiger's cotton sheath.' And he finally understood what it meant. His dream to see Lucy had clouded his reality, allowing him to be caught by an illusion. A dream cannot be reality, and Natsu should have realised that. Broken fingers, meaning lies and white tiger's cotton sheath; The wolf in sheep's clothing, with the dagger, lying in the west. The Lucy he saw was someone pretending to be her, and he believed it and ended up thinking he had gotten himself stabbed.
He should have known all along; but Natsu really was an idiot. "But-"
"How did I get Lucy's precious memories, you ask?" The glasses man continued. A hand reached down into his lab coat pocket and returned with a closed fist. White fabric settled back into his chair, lifting the small object between his fingers.
Even at such a distance, Natsu's vision allowed him to clearly see what it was; a crumbled piece of cylindrical metal, no thicker than a thumb. From the fur of his pink eyebrows, the scientist could easily see the confusion.
"This," The scientist said. "Is the bullet that had travelled through the stomach of your beloved Lucy those many years ago."
"What?" Natsu snapped, jolting forwards against his holds.
"A cat's nose is a marvellous thing. I had mercury find this precious little gem for me." The scientist continued wondrously. "Although it hadn't been a through and through shot, or else this bullet would have hit you too. I managed to find it discarded in the Earth several days after it was fired, though no body accompanied it."
"So Lucy –the real Lucy- is alive?" Natsu asked, his dark eyes searching for some kind of answer to the question he had been asking himself for so long.
"That, dragon slayer, is something I do not know." The scientist sighed almost sympathetically. "I can tell you the bullet I fired was aimed and calculated perfect so it wouldn't hit any major organs."
"Wait." Natsu intervened, his dark eyes turning an ice cold with a hot burst of incredible intensity. The scientist looked vaguely surprise. Mercury on the other hand, slunk slowly back towards the glasses man, putting distance between himself and the dragon slayer. "What do you mean, 'the bullet you fire'?" Natsu growled with a voice so deep and threatening, the temperature of the air appeared to turn ice cold, despite the thermometer o n the far wall still reading 27 degrees Celsius.
"Who else do you think fired that gun?" The scientist shrugged with the same matter-of-fact tone.
A image flashed before his eyes, taking straight back to that very moment. The crash of the gun, the man pointing the barrel...the glint of his glasses. Old deep rage suddenly rose to the surface, almost overwhelming the dragon slayer. After all that time of not knowing who was responsible, to suddenly be face to face with the culprit, brought up all the emotions he had buried so deeply over the three years.
"It was you."
Next Monday; Chapter 12; The Revelation
As more about the past comes into clarity, it leads to a heart-breaking revelation for Natsu and his emotions
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-A-ccentric
