Hello, Everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Unfortunately this is the final chapter but there will be an epilogue. Then this story will officially be completed. I do plan on making a sequel. Though it will be a while before I start work on it. I am glad to bring this to a close on such a happy note and begin on something that I have been excited about for a while. But enough of me rambling to myself. thank you so much for reading! If you have any ideas for the sequel please tell them to me! Anyway enjoy!~ Arzuera
"It's your own fault you know. This is the fastest way back to Oak Town and from there back to the summit. You wanted to get there as quickly as you could." Loki stated from where he was positioned. The celestial spirit commenced to glare at me in the train seat opposite from where I was. No sympathy for my current state of severe motion sickness whatsoever were in those eyes. Gajeel slumped in the seat next to Loki looking just as miserable as me. The moving train having the same horrible effect on him.
My stomach churned and my vocal comeback was cut short, as I clapped my hands over my mouth. The three of us were on our way back to the collapsed labyrinth that was the Dark Gauntlet. Though Loki and Gajeel didn't know the reason why we were heading back. I had planned on telling them about why I kidnapped Loki, on the train...Only to be quickly reminded of how much I hate trains. All they know is that I wanted to go back to the summit. Now that I think about it... Why is Gajeel even here?
Loki's eyes darken. "Are you really a dragon slayer? Because all I see is a pile of goo in front of me." He leans in and pokes my already upset stomach, making me groan. We were already almost to Oak Town because we had gotten on the second train about 45 minutes ago. The lion celestial spirit had not let up on tormenting me the entire time. "What was so important that you had to drag me all the way back to that place? I haven't got to see Lucy since all this shit went down and you kidnapped me before I had a chance to see her, at Porlyusica's." He stood and ground his foot into my squeamish stomach. An evil grin gleaming on his face. I think he was enjoying this a little to much but he had a point.
Not that I currently had the ability to stop him. Gajeel noticed Loki's treatment to me and grimaced. He promptly turned around so that his back was to us. Dammit, why did he have a way out? Steeling myself, I push Loki back and swiftly stand up. Ready to give him a piece of my mind. I see a glimpse of his face and then the train swayed violently from the wind outside. I hit the floor with a loud thud, clutching my stomach and my mouth. Nausea was all that was in my mind. All my willpower focusing on not throwing up the little food I had, in my stomach, all over the train floor. Loki laughed darkly and sat back down in his seat. Content in my misery. Bastard. I will get him back for all this.
...
After another agonizing 45 minutes, we arrived at the train station in Oak Town. The night sky glimmering above us. Gajeel slowly worked his way off the train and then gratefully hit the platform on the other side of the door. Loki, on the other hand, dragged me out of the train by my scarf. Stepping over Gajeel in the process. He dumped me unceremoniously next to a bench and sat on it. "Alright. You two recover and then Natsu you will tell us WHY exactly we are going back to that awful place."
I nodded meekly and rolled over so I was laying on my back, looking at the starry sky. It wasn't as bright as it was up on the summit. The night sky had become my friend when we all lived up in that cabin. I don't remember how many times I had went outside and just stared at the sky. It was something that helped soothe my uneasiness. Several times I would wish upon the stars for Lucy's safety. Thankfully, they seemed to have answered my wishes. A gust of wind blew across the platform, rustling my pink hair. The wind was nice and cool. It was a beautiful night.
With the cool wind's help, Gajeel and I made a quick recovery. Before they had a chance to question me, I had started up on the path that lead to the summit. Loki and Gajeel hot on my heels.
"Dammit, Natsu...why are we here?" Gajeel finally spoke up after the long ride. Loki made a sound of agreement but I continued up the path.
"Loki...we're heading back because if we don't... the only celestial keys Lucy will have is yours and Aquarius's. I figured you could help me out and I'm glad Gajeel followed because another good nose never hurts." I say without looking at them. "Don't you want to help Lucy out? If not that, then why not for your spirit friends whose keys are trapped?"
They both go silent and the rest of the hike is uneventful. The moon was high in the sky. Showering it's light on the trail and on us. Any animals that may have been about were silent. The only sound was the blowing wind that encircled us. It was eerie. No forest should be this quiet at night.
Eventually, the trees open up and the valley is before us. Well the spot where the valley should be laid before us. The fake town that had been hidden by magic had collapsed in on itself and a large hole enveloped the area. It fit perfectly in the confines of the magic barrier that had kept it hidden to those who were deemed to strong. I look to my left. The cabin that I had built still stood among the woods. Now dark because we no longer had a need for it. We would have to help Levi move all her stuff out before someone loots it. She had to bring a lot of books and the like to work on that script magic.
After letting my thoughts drift for a bit, my eyes wander back to the hole in front of us. There was no way to access the labyrinth beneath by normal means. The entrance was completely destroyed. As if sensing my thoughts, Gajeel made an annoyed sound. " It'll take us days to dig this out. Not to mention, we don't know where her keys are and that place was massive." He stretched and scratched the back of his head. "No offense but I'm not rooming with you two guys." he stated, his head jerking in the direction of the cabin.
Loki rolled his eyes. "Well, Natsu dragged us up here. He must already have a plan right?" The sound of a challenge radiating off his words. I puffed out my chest proudly and turned to them. Ready to say something amazing...AAaannnnd nothing comes out. They both look at me expectantly. Yet, my brain is completely empty. I dragged them all the way up here without thinking up anything on the way. Not that I really had had a chance to with Loki having his fun the whole way.
I started to droop down when looking at Loki caused my brain cells to work. "Loki! Couldn't you go to the spirit plane and have Virgo help us out? You could be here with us and Virgo could start drilling in our direction!"
"Out of the question." Loki said shaking his head. A spark of anger igniting in me.
"Why the hell not?!"
"Lucy is still recovering. It's one thing for me to be out. I'm just one spirit and I can stay out for a long time before it becomes a problem." Loki's eyes bore into me with a serious expression. "But to have two powerful spirits summon themselves...It would just drain her of the energy that she needs to recover."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Ugh...Natsu...We are all contracted to Lucy. Meaning when we summon ourselves it is with her magic. I am currently using her magic to stay out now. It's not a big deal because I'm not doing anything strenuous. But to have more than one..." He allowed his voice to trail off, as I finally understood what he meant.
I growled at the floor. "So you're saying we either have you out or Virgo out..."
"Yes. But we can't constantly switch. It would drain Lucy to quickly."
"Then why don't we start digging and have Virgo summon herself and come towards our vibrations?" Gajeel stated. My eyes widened. I had forgotten that he was still here. Loki looked as though he was tossing the idea around in his head then nodded.
"That would work." Loki turned to me. "Take care of my key. If you lose it..." He advanced on me so that our faces were centimeters apart. "I'll make sure the train ride back is a thousand times worse."
"Just GO already!" I yelled back at him, annoyed. Hiding the queasiness in my expression. Damn Loki is scary when he wants to be. The celestial spirit rolled his eyes at me and vanished into a brilliant light. Leaving just Gajeel and I in the clearing.
I catch Loki's key when the light fades and then hop into the pit. Gajeel dropping in beside me. It wasn't that much of a drop. We were only in up to our waists. With a grunt, Gajeel begins piling rubble in a corner and I do the same. Working in silence in the bright light of the moon above. The fact that no animals made any sounds still unnerved me. It was as if they sensed that something horrible had happened here. Then again, animals had a sixth sense about this kind of thing. This place will still ooze dark magic for a long time. The animals may never come back.
We get a decent hole going in the center of the area after a while. With a yawn, Gajeel straightens up and stretches. I ignore him and keep digging our hole. The rubble and dirt piling high behind me.
"Virgo should be out by now. Why hasn't she found us yet?" He grumbles to no one in particular.
It still slightly irks me. "That place was massive, remember? It might take her awhile to find our loc-"
"Shut up a moment... Hey."
The urgency in his voice gets my attention and I look up at him. Gajeel is gazing at something behind the mountain peak. He looks at me. "Do you see that?" The iron dragon slayer points in a direction and my eyes follow his hand. Only to widen in surprised. I see it too.
Soft light was dancing on the other side of the peak. Because of the bright moonlight we almost missed it. A dark feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach. There shouldn't be anyone but us on this mountain. We share a look and abandon our hole. Heading in the direction of the soft light. Thank god there are so many trees.
Gajeel and I had entered stealth mode, using the surrounding forest as cover. It doesn't take long for us to reach the light that was opposite from where we were. We dive quietly behind a large bush and observe from a safe distance. Several robed people were walking in and out of a cave, that laid in the side of the mountain. The light being the many torches that lined the trail. Flames flickered brightly, casting the figures in an even more ominous light. The robed people were carrying things out of the cave and piling it onto carts that were nearby. I look at Gajeel and his face confirms my suspicions. These were more of the Dark Guild that had made this place. I thought we had wiped them out but apparently we were wrong.
A violent tremor caused the ground to shake around us. Several robed people fell from the tremors. Attempting not to drop the precious items they carried. That didn't stop several from failing and the breaking sound of lots of fragile things followed the small earthquake. They cursed among themselves and looked around. Alarm on their faces and they began to search the area.
We ducked lower into our bush so they didn't spot us. "What the hell was that?" Gajeel muttered under his breath. His eyes trained on the people ahead of us. The pose he held was like that of a cats. He was ready to strike them down where they stood.
"That had to be Virgo. She must have drilled through something that caused more of the labyrinth to collapse in on itself." I hiss out. Anger boiled within me. These people made Lucy do horrible acts. Countless lives were lost and many people suffered. It looked as though they were preparing to continue whatever they were doing here elsewhere. A growl escaped under my breath.
There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.
I launch out of the bushes once the robed men stop searching the area and get back to whatever they were doing. Gajeel cursing at me as he followed behind. It doesn't take me long to clear the distance between me and the bastards. After a couple long strides, I throw my arm back and jack the nearest guy in the face as hard as I can. He lets out a surprised shout before being launched off his feet. The poor jerk was sent sprawling into some of his buddies behind him and they all collapsed in a heap. Breaking the artifacts that they all had been carrying.
Shouts of alarm spread like wildfire from the men as they all whirled around to address the two dragon slayers. Gajeel knocked out a few that were unfortunate to be to close. A lot of them started running in fear. Panic stuck on their pale faces. Just before I go to attack another, one of them steps forward with his arms raised. The glyphs on his body glowed and a circle appeared under our feet.
My legs wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried. I looked back at Gajeel. He was stuck in the same boat I was. The glyphed bastard muttered under his breath. A violent eruption cracked the ground under our feet causing the floor to cave in where we stood. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled as we both fell into the dark abyss.
The robed figures getting further and further away until the hole entrance was just a spec, in the distance. It took us a few moments before we both hit the ground hard. Gajeel grumbled curses at me. Sitting up and rubbing his head. I throw some large rocks that had fallen on me and stand up. An unnatural darkness filled the area. There was no doubt about it. We were back in the Dark Gauntlet.
"Well...We're in here again...So now what?" Gajeel stated as he looked around the room. Our eyes had yet to adjust to the pitch black of the room we were in.
"The fuck should I know? I guess we either find a way out or start looking for Virgo." I grumble back at him.
"Dammit..." He did not look to happy.
Just then a tremor started and the ground between us erupted in a brilliant display of dust and rock. I grabbed my scarf and held it over my mouth, so that I didn't choke on the dust. Gajeel wasn't so lucky. His violent coughs rang out and echoed across the room.
"There you are, Masters. I should have known that the big vibrations were coming from you two." The dust cleared and there stood Virgo. She watched us with her unwavering eyes.
"Hey, Virgo! It's been a while." I say as both I and Gajeel approached the celestial spirit in the maid outfit.
Virgo bowed politely to us. "That it has. Thank you for going through the effort to bring our keys back to Princess Lucy." She pulls out the wallet key ring and offers it to me. The keys glistened in the small amount of light that drifted in from above. The only keys missing where Aquarius's and Loki's. I take the key ring and pulled out Loki's key. Attaching it to the ring like the others and it fell among its friends in a series of small clinking noises.
"It's nothing. She probably didn't expect to get these back so soon. With this she can just focus on her recovery. She won't have to worry about her spirits." I said without looking at Virgo or Gajeel. My eyes fixated on the keys in my hand. The celestial spirit nodded and a bright light started to envelope her. "WAIT WAIT!" I yelled, reaching out to her.
The light stops. Leaving Gajeel and I temporarily blind. "Yes?" she asked, cocking her pink head to the side.
"Before you go...Could you help us out of here? There are cultists up there who are a part of this forsaken place. We don't want them to get away." I said as Gajeel moved around Virgo so that he stood beside me.
Virgo closed her blue eyes and said nothing for a moment. "The Princess's magic will run thin but I should be able to tunnel you out. If not, I plan on leaving before my presence causes more harm than good." she opened her eyes and stared at us." In which case, you will have to finish digging the rest of the way out. I do not wish to harm my Master. So make sure you get our keys back to her, will you?"
"You can count on me!" I wink at her and she nods her head. She walks over to the nearest wall, Gajeel and I not far behind. Without any warning, she dives at the wall like a professional swimmer and starts drilling a hole to the surface. I clamber into the hole after her with Gajeel stooping to follow.
Virgo worked fast and efficient. We broke the surface after about 5 minutes. The fresh air and the cool breeze a welcome relief to the stifling atmosphere, of the room we left. She stood by the hole she had made, as we both hopped out. Ready to strike at any of the robed bastards. Only...No one was here.
The trail had been hastily abandoned. Boxes and artifacts littered the area. Light only came from the moon above because the flickering flames of the torches had been snuffed out. "DAMMIT! THE BASTARDS GOT AWAY!" I roared. Quickly, I sniffed the air and moved to pursue the sons of bitches. A hand clasped my shoulder and pulled me to a halt.
"Leave it be, Natsu. We'll hunt them down later." Gajeel spoke up as I whirled around to face who had stopped me. I growled at him.
"They can't have gone far! We can go after them an-"
"And what? Beat them up? Natsu they have all of Fairy Tail on their asses. They aren't going to get very far." Gajeel released my shoulder. "I want to go after those sadistic bastards as much as you do but we need to bring Lucy peace of mind first."
I huffed at him...but he was right. The boiling anger that briefly consumed me left as I thought about Lucy. FUCK! I left her all by herself! Why am I just now realizing this?! Dammit! Regret quickly consumed me. "You're right...Come on, let's get back on the train and head back."
"I shall leave it to you. Loki will make an appearance once Lucy's magic has recovered a little but for now.. Good bye." Virgo bowed to us and in a flash of light she was gone. The light fading from her key on the key ring. Leaving us to hike down the mountain.
...
The hike and the train ride was uneventful. Gajeel and I kept quiet the whole time as we shared in our motion sickness. We got off the train in the town before Magnolia. It was closer to Porlyusica's and neither of us wanted to be on the train any longer than needed. I almost was stuck on the train because it began to depart while I was still on it.
If it hadn't been for Levi flagging down the conductor, I would have been off on an uncomfortable ride to Magnolia. It surprised us that she was here. She smiled brightly at us, as she helped us to a bench.
"So did you find Lucy's gate keys?" she asked. Her eyes bright with hope. I pulled them out and showed them to her. Wondering how she even knew what our impromptu mission had been about. The blue haired mage let out a squeal of delight. "Oh Lucy is going to be so happy! Are you going straight back to see her? I could go with yo-"
"No. You and I are headed back to Fairy Tail." Gajeel cut her off.
"What? Why?" her voice dripped with defiance.
"Because you need to tell the guild some rather disturbing news...It would be easier if you helped Gajeel out." I said trying to get her annoyed expression to change.
Gajeel stood up and looked down at Levi with soft eyes. "We weren't the only ones on that summit. They came back."
Levi's eyes grew wide in fear and concern. "What?! Who was there?"
"Come on, shorty. I'll tell you on the way back." He wrapped an arm around Levi's shoulders and moved a little ways down the platform before stopping. "You better go get those keys to that little cheerleader and make sure those mountain friends of ours didn't decide to pay a visit."
I nod and without a word stand up and dash off to Porlyusica's.
...
It didn't take me long to get there. I didn't even have to think of where to go in this darkness. My legs were on autopilot and before I knew it I was standing outside the tree house. The lights in the top part of the house were out but there was a dim light filtering from the ground floor. A piercing scream ripped apart the silence of the blood ran cold. That was Lucy's scream. Without thinking, I barge into the pink medic's house. Breaking the lock on the door and almost knocking it off it's hinges. It slammed against the wall with a loud bang.
"STUPID BOY! DON'T BREAK MY DOOR!"
I was greeted to the shrill voice of the pink recluse and flinched. Stopping in my tracks. Another scream filled the room and I looked at Lucy. Her body was tossing and turning in the bed. It writhed about, her head thrusting violently from side to side. I looked from her to Porlyusica. Worry and fear evident on my face. "Relax, boy. She is just having night terrors. Not that there is anything I can do about it." Porlyusica actually looked somber when she said that. Despite hating people, she didn't wish bad things on them.
I moved over to the bed that Lucy thrashed about on. On instinct, I sat on the edge of the bed and leaned in. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as I did. She flinched and a searing pain started in my heart. I moved my face so that my lips were centimeters from her ear. "Luce...Lucy... I know you can hear me. It's me, Natsu. Everything is alright..." As I whispered softly in her ear, I moved from my position on the bed to Lucy's other side. So that my back was to the wall. Her body stopped writhing about and I wrapped my arms around her. Pulling her to me and hugging her tight.
Tears stained her cheeks. Without thinking, I wiped them away and her eyes groggily blinked open. "Nat...su?" her voice was rough and cracked. She must have been screaming for a long time. Quickly, I dug out her gate keys and held them in front of those stunning brown orbs. Her eyes grew big in astonishment but tears followed immediately after. With a shaking hand, she took the keys and held them to her chest. "Thank you, Natsu..." her voice trailed off. The astonishment in her eyes were replaced with fear, as whatever terrified her in her dreams came back to her thoughts. She quickly looked at me. "Natsu...I was back in the gauntlet... I was all alone...You were gone and I-"
"I'M not going anywhere." I gently nuzzled her forehead before kissing her cheek reassuringly. "I'm never letting you go again." As if to prove my point, I squeezed her tight and molded my body besides hers.
Her eyes drooped from exhaustion. "Promise...?" her voice so low only my keen ears could hear.
"I promise."
With that, Lucy rested her head next to my chest and drifted back to sleep. Whatever terrors that were tormenting her didn't return. A movement behind her caught my eye and I looked up to see Porlyusica watching us. My cheeks burned in embarrassment and I steeled myself. Had she just witnessed all that? I jsut broke into her house...Fuck. She's gonna kick me out of her house... The pink medic grumbled to herself. "Now there will be two people in my house..."
"What do you mean?" I asked completely confused. I was still waiting for her to kick me out.
"This is the most peaceful she has been since you dropped her off. I don't like having people here but I do need my sleep. So you are staying until she no longer needs you for comfort or she is done with her treatment." The pink recluse stated before gingerly closing her front door while mumbling darkly to herself. I'm probably going to have to fix that. It's a good thing I had gotten a lot of practice in on the cabin...She then headed upstairs to her room leaving me and Lucy alone.
I looked at her sleeping form and nuzzled her again. Then I reached over to the lamp by the bed. Grabbing the cord. "A dragon never lets go of his precious treasures...He will fight to the death to protect them." I whisper in her ear and pull the cord. Darkness enveloping us both.
Levi: awwww how sweet! Why don't you say things like that, Gajeel?
Gajeel: *blushes and looks away*