Chapter XIII: The Flames of Wind!

If Lucy hadn't rolled away a second before Erigor's scythe slashed across her chest, she would've been opened up like a can. Instead, as she rolled on the floor, she managed to escape with her life-and a gash on her arm that was gushing red, hot blood. Clutching her basket that held Happy and her mother's book suddenly became a feat worthy of gods. She screamed in agony, and in her blind, terrified state of mind, scuttled away from Erigor with her one good arm. She trembled with bone numbing fear and pain.

Lucinda wasn't used to pain inflicted upon the body. She was used to the scars that no one saw, the marks of emotion and mental hurt. Her body, even though it had spent years lifting and shoveling and raising in the hot, damp sun of Magnolia, was delicate and gentle. Her skin was soft and un-puckered, not used to the pain that was throbbing in her arm suddenly. She screamed, trying to hold her arm and Happy. She didn't like blood, and feeling her own sticky, life essence seeping into her shirt caused her mind to swim and shake. Her situation was not good.

Erigor loomed over her, in all his massive height, a true Shiningami about to reap his next victim. He didn't see the poor Lucy as an innocent, sweet girl. All he saw was a body that would soon be a corpse, the next meal for his blood thirsty scythe. His blood itched to see her's spilled, he ached in his very bones to end her life. A twisted smile crept on his face, and he felt true pleasure sweep through him as he lifted the scythe for the last, lethal blow. Lucy in her agony and trepidation had no way to defend herself except for the tiny, valiant blue cat that threw himself across her in his own feeble attempt at protecting her. If Lucy had to die, Happy decided that he would go with her. He loved Lucy, she meant the world to him, and he didn't want to live without his oldest friend.

Erigor swung the blade, the edge of the scythe slicing through the air with a menacing hiss. Happy squeezed his eyes shut, and hugged Lucy, sobbing into her filthy shirt.

"Lucy" he whispered "Lucy, I'm scared"

Unconsciously, she wrapped her good arm around him in the few seconds between her and the blade.

Klang!

The sound of metal against metal filled the air. Erigor's eyes widened in anger at the offending sword that crossed his own. He traced the sword to an iron hand, and then, before he saw her face, he saw the waves of scarlet hair. His nostrils flared, and he growled at the offending intruder. Erza glared back at him with her steady eyes

"How dare you" she spit, her arm quivering against the strength of Erigor's

He chuckled "How dare I" he retorted with scathing mock "I will show you woman what happens to those who cross Erigor's path"

He shifted his blade to one hand, and with the newly freed one, he made a motion. The Yellow Paved Road was abruptly alive with dozens of bodies. They all had the menacing glow of Erigor. He removed his blade from the stale mate between Titania and himself, and stepped back, motioning for his men to move in

"Kill her" Erigor commanded "Make sure she's nothing more than a heap of scraps"

His followers surrounded Erza Scarlet with hungry anticipation. They were nothing more than the dregs of Eisenwald, thugs who wanted status and power in the miniscule hierarchy that was the dark guild village. They were nothing more than a hungry pack of wolves ready to do their leaders bidding, in hopes of being promoted.

Erza stood calmly, drawing her other blade. She held the twin swords at her side, and studied her opponents. There were thirty six in total. A smile crept on her face.

"Come" she ordered, putting herself between Lucy and the attackers. Erigor stood back and watched, waiting.

She was a beast of fighting, a goddess of war, the tamer of her blades. They all attacked her at once, and soon it was just a flurry of limbs and blade, magic flying and missing. In the midst of the gladiators, all that was seen was the flurry, the insignia of the fiery red hair. Her will to fight, the pent up energy that she had housed in the three years she had spent by herself in the tiny, disconsolate house was let loose. Erza's limbs sung with the movement, glad to move in the movements that she was queen of. She kicked and swung, punch and threw, cut and tossed, unbidden in her fighting. Her eyes danced with a wild fire, a complete and utter abandon that filled Titania's very metal core.

One by one they fell. Some men didn't get back up. Others, looking at Erigor's cold hardened face got back up only to be knocked flat on their back again.

And it was only with her twin blades that she fought. Her power hadn't even come close to reaching it's zenith. It was in this moment that the curse put upon her, the curse of being metal, having no heart, being empty, this curse came into use. When Erza wasn't fighting, her joints rusted, got stuck. But in this state, she could fight for hours, an un-dominated force that could not possibly be stopped.

Of course Lucy couldn't see this. She was going pale; the gash in her arm was deep and blood was oozing in a steady flow. She wasn't fighter, she wasn't used to it. Lucy was slipping, and Erza, in her wild abandon, didn't notice.

"Lucy" Happy gasped between his tears "Lucy, you're fat and a little stupid, but please don't go. I'm scared Lucy, I'm scared"

Somewhere deep in the forest, Natsu, Gray and Team Shadow Gear were plowing through. Only Erza had made it in time because she couldn't feel the branches nicking at her skin, couldn't stop to untangle herself from annoying branches. Natsu was at the lead; with his sensitive nose, he could smell blood.

Erigor watched with grim silence. He motioned his hands again, and a new wave of pawns leaped from their hiding places. He had nearly the whole village of Eisenwald with him. He nodded with assurance that he had more than enough men for this one wild woman. But, in his heart, with her swift defeat of his first line of men, he began to doubt. Who was this woman? What was she?

He glanced at the girl tucked behind Erza. She was still trembling, still bleeding

Pathetic waste of skin, he thought. I haven't even touched her and already she's down for the count. It'd almost be an insult to sully my scythe with her blood anymore

Then his eyes caught the ruby red slippers, and trailed up to the blonde hair, and something dawned on him. He gaped, and then, a wide, insane smile spread on his face.

She's the girl! The one who killed the Witch!

His hand inched towards Lullaby, the death flute that was safely tucked within his claok. He licked his lips in sudden ravenous wanting. The girl, she was worth much more to him now. If he had her, the daughter of the lost Queen-as it was rumored-one of the last Celestial Spirit wielders, then his goal for Lullaby would be completed with perfection.

He motioned for all his men to attack. He wanted the wild woman dead. He needed her gone, and he need Lucy alive now.

It was a small army against one woman. Even Erza's twin blades started having difficulty. Between one attack and another, she stopped, took a breathe, and stretched her hands out, dropping the blades.

"Dance, My Blades" She commanded. There was a new beacon of light, and dozens of swords appeared around her. With a flourish of her hand, they all zoomed away in their chosen direction. She took out a good portion of the attackers.

But, to requip and fight took time, and as Erigor watched with perceptive cunning, he saw that although she wasn't losing, his men were slowly gaining the advantage.

And then, it all came crashing down.

"Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

"Ice Canon!"

Fire and Ice rained from the heavens; or at least, it appeared to be. Erigor stepped back, anger filling him up. It was taking too long, his plan needed to be completed that night. The interlopers were nothing more than more cursed fools. A boy with pink hair and dancing fists of fire and a boy with cat like eyes and ears who wielded ice joined Erza in her fight. Erigor gritted his teeth, and yelled at his men to finish them off, lest they wanted to face his wrath.

How was he losing to three people? Erigor clutched his scythe, quivering with the defiance of these fools. They were winning, fire and ice and blade were overtaking all of his men.

A mop of blue hair dashed between the fight; Erigor didn't miss the small, petite girl who dashed to the blonde's aid. She gently dragged her away from the brawl, cradling her head in her lap. Two men flanked the blue haired girl.

His eyes widened when he saw the mark of Fairy Tail flutter on the blue haired girl's shoulder.

The battle needed to stop now. If Fairy Tail was involved, then he had less time then he thought. That stupid guild, that damned guild that meddled in everything would ruin everything. He barked an order that stopped all his men; they gratefully backed away, leaving the three fighters alone, panting and regaining their strength.

"You three" Erigor said, swaggering closer to them "You three are a nuisance."

Natsu jumped the gun first, stepping out before Erigor. He pointed a finger at him, his eyes blazing just as bright as the flames that engulfed him

"You" he growled "You hurt my friend"

Erigor gave a lopsided grin "You'll join her if you don't know any better"

Natsu slammed his hands together, a new stronger, brighter flame blazing around him. Natsu didn't care for much, but, he did know that he never wanted to see his friends hurt; he told Lucy that just a day ago. He thought about her sweet smile, her gentle touch, her weirdness, and the pure wrongness of her lying in a puddle of blood caused a surge of righteous defiance rise through him. He hated the tall man who stood before him, so overly confident of himself, so sure that just because he picked on Lucy, he could win against Natsu.

Gray and Erza stood back; they had gotten a silent message from Natsu. This was his fight, his brawl. Erigor was his, and his alone. He wouldn't need their help. Erza knew this, and although Gray didn't like Natsu, he acknowledged it.

Erigor's men stood behind him, tense and waiting. Gray and Erza stood back, a silent warning that if they dared attack, they would be ready.

Not to far away, Lucy was finally coming around. When she opened her eyes, it was to a hazy image of Levy's worried face staring down at her.

"Lucy, oh Lucy, I'm sorry" she said, rubbing Lucy's head

Lucy nodded, her head foggy and thick. The pain in her arm had been nulled and with help from Levy, she saw Jet and Droy leaned over her, quickly applying first aid.

"Lucy?" asked Happy hesitantly, climbing his way up her torso till he was nearly face to face with her "Are you alright?"

She smiled feebly "Of course I am" she replied; her got a little lighter.

Levy sniffed "Lucy, I'm sorry. We should've never left you."

Lucy tried to reassure Levy "It's OK. Remember, I volunteered for this, Levy-chan. So you shouldn't worry, I'll be fine" In a false show of bravado, she moved her injured arm up and down, suppressing the wince that accompanied it.

Levy gave a watery smile "I'm a wizard, for crying out loud. I should be helping Natsu and the others fight Erigor"

Lucy struggled to sit up, and met a gory scene. There were bodies littered everywhere, injured, bruised, knocked out, defeated. Blood dotted the bright Yellow Paved Road, fire scorched some of the brick, and ice cooled it over. There was Erigor, tall and lean, and a monster. Behind him, there were his goons. And then, there was her friends.

Lucy had never seen them in such a light before. When traveling, they were goofy and weird, strange in their looks and their personalities. Sometimes hot headed, but mostly kind and easy going. Almost normal; but now, she saw Erza and Gray standing a little ways off. Erza was wearing a magnificent armor that Lucy had never seen before. She was beautiful in the billowing skirt and chest coverings, her hair whipping around, her back straight, her sturdy and ready. Her swords was coated in blood, which horrified Lucy, but she stood so tall and proud, Lucy couldn't sully the powerful woman with the image of a monster. She had defended Lucy, and that was all she saw. And then there was Gray; he had a certain pose about him, that was light and nimble, ready to pounce at the slightest movement. There was an agility about Gray that normal people didn't have; for once, Lucy was reminded of a lion. A prowling, dangerous lion. She gulped, and once again, her feelings of being inadequacy returned. Her friends were strong. How would she ever amount to them?

And then, then there was Natsu. He was always the one quick to fight, to throw a punch or set something on fire.

When he fought with Erigor, it was amazing. Wind whipped around, with such gust and strength, Lucy had to cling to Happy to keep him still. Natsu's fire was having a hard time; with each gust, they sputtered and died out, and his attacks were reduced to mere physical injuries.

"Not so strong without you're fire, now are you?" Erigor taunted, laughing as he and Natsu swung at each other. Natsu gritted his teeth, dodged a swing of Erigor's blade by leaping into the air, swinging himself up side down and arching his back so that his head faced Erigor's own

"Roar!" he shouted "Of the Fire Dragon!"

A new gust of wind blasted Natsu away, with his fire. He landed on the ground. Lucy's heart leaped into her throat. She noticed that one of the stitches on his face was loose and unraveling; she broke out in a cold sweat; he was breaking apart. The wind that Erigor manipulated was too strong, too much of a challenge for Natsu's fire. His element was out of touch in this fight. Lucy's muscle's seized up, her urge for him to win overpowering the pain in her arm.

"Give up, boy" Erigor laughed "You'll never win against me. Not against my wind. You'll die, you'll all die. Except the girl; I have a special goal for her. I'll sacrifice her to Lullaby, let her blood saturate Lullaby and give it strength, and I'll summon a demon straight from the book of Zeref and take over this stupid land and make it mines! The Queen won't rule me anymore, not ever again!"

Lucy's eyes widened, and she trembled at the thought of more of her blood being spilled, to cause more pain to Fiore

"Shut up" said Natsu; his voice was calm. Erigor blanched, his eyes narrowing at Natsu's insolence

Natsu struggled to his feet, panting, and wiped his face. One of his eyes was swelling

"You talk about sacrifice? You talk about summoning a demon from the book of Zeref? Why? So that Lucy can die? So that you achieve some stupid goal of taking over Fiore?"

Erigor pulled back his lip in a snarl

"All those people you put to sleep, it was to steal a little piece of their life energy, wasn't it? So that you could power up that flute, right?" Natsu continued

"You insolent litt-" began Erigor

"Why?" snapped Natsu "You just want to overthrow the Queen, right? Well that's what we all want to do. We all want freedom from the Queen. We all want our lives back."

"You can't understand!" roared Erigor "You can't understand the misery I go through! I will rule Fiore! I will summon a demon so powerful, that even the Queen can't stand up to the might of it!"

"That's not the way to go!" retorted Natsu "If you want freedom, if you want Fiore back to the way it was, then hurting people, talking about sacrificing someone, isn't the way to go. If you're going to restore Fiore through blood, then it'll never be the same! Not ever! You'll just build a nation on blood! And I'll be damned if that's Lucy's blood!"

Erigor's eyes widened "I will be free from the Queen. I will use Lullaby, I will win!"

A gust of wind shot throughout them all; it was so powerful, it sent Lucy flying back.

Only Natsu stood his ground. Lucy couldn't see it, but, his eyes now held the fire of his magic. They blazed with a passionate desire to fight, to protect, to make sure that no one was hurt. Natsu was an idiot, but in his heart, he was a hero.

The sheer force of his will was immense. It was will to fight that kept his standing, and it was his will to fight that brought his fire back. Erigor had lost his cool demeanor, had been shaken by Natsu's words. All he wanted was freedom, and Erigor was ready to do whatever it took to get it. He saw no other way in setting Fiore free. Natsu flew at him, and Erigor barely had time to shield himself with his scythe. The great Shinigami was pushed back, punched and pummeled until his scythe broke in two. And then there was nothing between him and the boy except flesh.

Lucy was in awe of Natsu. He was so strong, so brave. His desire to protect her filled her with warmth, and silently, she urged him to win, pleaded with whatever divine entity that would help to make sure he won. Every punch he took set her on edge, made her heart quicken. She winced when he took a blow, and gave a little cheer each time he punched Erigor. They were at a stale mate, but slowly, surely, Natsu was winning.

"Enough!" shouted Erigor, and with one last gust of his winds, he threw Natsu back. He wasn't going to loose to the likes of Natsu Dragneel. It was an insult to his proud honor, an insult to his ego, an insult to his standing as the leader of Eisenwald.

He ripped out Lullaby from it's little safe nest.

"You won't win" he spit, and brought the flute to his lips.

"No!" screamed Levy "No, cover your ears! COVER YOUR EARS!"

Everyone clamped their hands over their ears when Erigor brought the tiny, shriveled thing to his lips. He blew out, and Lucy couldn't hear the first few haunting notes that came from the flute. She did see the way his men crumbled to the ground. And Natsu, Natsu who hadn't covered his ears, was beginning to stumble and fall.

He had protected her, and it was that knowledge that drove Lucy to stand and run to him, to throw herself besides him and clamp her own hands over his ears. His eyes had grown heavy, and he had been on the fringe of passing out.

Lucy was fully exposed to the tune of the flute now. It was a low, dark, haunting melodic tune that sucked her in to it's monotone rhythm. Her eyes dilated, and she felt the magic sweep through her. It was ancient, and old, and it gripped around her, around her mind. She began to get droopy, and sleepy, her very energy being sapped from her. She gave Natsu a tired, wane smile before she slumped against him, sucked into Lullaby's trap

"No" he removed her hands from his ears.

"STOP IT!" He yelled at Erigor. Erigor continued to play, ignoring the plea. Natsu himself was beginning to feel the effects of the death flute.

He had to stop it, Natsu realized. He laid Lucy on her side, and struggled to his feet. It was a terrible endeavor. He felt like he was struggling against the weight of the sky itself; Lullaby's magic was clawing at him, dragging him down, and his will was try to stand. Each step towards Erigor felt like molten lead, and it took forever to take three steps. His fire came slowly, but when it did, his shoved all his energy into it, and with a battle cry, threw everything he had into the punch that knocked Erigor flat on his back.

Lullaby skittered from his hand; Erigor tried to roll over and clawed at his instrument of doom, but Natsu made it there first, bringing his foot down on the thing with crushing finality. It shattered beneath his weight.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Erigor bellowed, watching his hopes and dreams, twisted as they might have been, crumble.

"Shut up" snapped Natsu, and with his last grain of energy, he kicked Erigor in the back of the head. His head snapped forward, and he was knocked out in the next second.

Natsu sank to the ground, his energy gone, his magic spent. He could barely keep his eyes open when he saw Team Natsu running towards him. Glancing at Lucy, and then at Erza and Gray, he found that he approved of his little band of misfits. They'd work just fine together. And then, he too was gone.

"She did an amazing job" Levy said, cradling Lucy's sleeping head in her lap "I hope she recovers quickly"

Erza nodded in agreement "Yes, she's a strong girl. She's not strong in physical strength, but Lucy has her own strength."

Levy smiled somberly into the fire; it was well into the night. They were camped not to far from the battle between them and Eisenwald, which was why the fire was so small and it was still so cool. They'd left a terrible mess back there; Eisenwald had been completely beat, and Lullaby destroyed. Levy had known that with such a disruption, Crownies would have been there soon, and then, if the case was serious, the Queen herself. And in their current situation, they didn't need that kind of attention. They left Erigor to his fate.

Levy had been sure that once Lullaby was destroyed, it's effects would work off. Only she and Erza were still awake; Levy felt horrible, she hadn't done much. The situation had just spiraled so quickly out of control, she hadn't had time to process what was going on until they had time to calm down. Thinking about it now, she found it insane. Lucy being injured, Erigor and Eisenwald making themselves known, Lullaby being destroyed, and Natsu being the hero. If she hadn't been there first hand she wouldn't have believed it herself.

Things like that didn't happen often. Many people were too afraid of the Queen to attempt such an insane attempt; but, they were out there, and although everyone believed it was the Queen's job to stop such vagabonds, Levy knew that really, it was Fairy Tail's job. Her guild's duty was to fight the dark forces that tried to overtake Fiore, and in the end, overtake the ultimate dark force-the Queen herself. She rubbed Lucy's head. With the appearance of this strange girl, and Natsu's return, somehow, Levy knew things were not going to be so quite anymore. Fiore was uneasy, not at rest. Things were turning, ancient evils were popping up. Lullaby was just the beginning. More dangerous artifacts would fall into the wrong hands, more desperate oppressed people would turn dark and attempt to save Fiore in their own twisted light. Levy sighed heavily; she wished she had known what Fiore was like before the Queen, what peace was known as, what practicing magic freely felt like. She'd heard tales of the old Queen, of Igneel, of better days.

She rubbed Lucy's head again. Perhaps, she would know what those days were like sooner than later.

They arrived at the site not to long after the perpetrator's had fled. Tetra was not pleased at all; the Anti-Magic Council's duty's were becoming heavier every day.

What met Tetra, Siegrain, and the Chief when they arrived at the scene was ghastly. Men lay strewn everywhere, beaten to bloody pulps by some monster. They were fire marks, and ice coverings, and the lingering feelings of magic. Lots of it. Tetra's frown deepened until it felt like it was nearly etched into her very skin.

After surveying the mess, she stomped up to the Chief

"You see" she brandished her hand about in the senior's face "You see?"

The Chief nodded in sagely agreement; even Siegrain could not deny what was so obvious

"They were here" he said "The girl named Lucy; I can feel hints of a strange magic. I think it's Celestial Spirit Magic. And Natsu Dragneel was here too."

Tetra nodded vehemently "Yes. And there was Ice Magic used too. And...Requip"

The Chief plucked his magnificent beard thoughtfully "It seems our band of wanted criminals has gotten larger. We can't slim it down to who she is traveling with now, but they are dangerous."

"Not so dangerous if they took care of Eisenwald for us" said Siegrain, which earned him a searing glare from Tetra

The Non-Magic Council had known about Eisenwald for some time now. They hadn't had substanial evidence to arrest them upon, for they hadn't known about Lullaby, but now, as they investigated and found the crumbled remains of the death flute, the fate of Eisenwald was not good. Erigor was still knocked out cold as they arrested him

"How on earth did he manage to obtain such a device?" asked Siegrain, scratching his head "This is top secret; it was kept firmly under lock and key"

"Well not firmly enough" said Tetra sourly "He has wrecked serious damage. His punishment will not be lenient."

Siegrain shook his mop of royal blue hair; he looked relax.

"And what about the hunt for Lucy?" Tetra turned to the Chief

He shook his head dolefully "The Queen has ordered her capture. And her execution of sight"

Siegrain's eyes widened "Death on sight?" He questioned "That's a harsh punishment for a girl"

The Chief nodded "We don't know who she is. The Queen deems her a threat, a massive threat. And who knows what this girl is like? We cannot afford the luxury of forgiveness. She must die for the sake of Fiore."

He stared at the crumbled body of Erigor and the instrument that could've really destoryed the fragile hold of the government "Times are changing now. The Queen knows this; Fiore is growing with unrest. The Queen's hold must be strong, or she will lose her people. No forgiveness can be given to lawbreakers, and no one so dangerous as Lucy should be allowed to live"

When Lucy began to stir, it was to the sound of Levy's voice. She felt like she was struggling through a thick cloud of miasma, and it hurt to open her eyes. Groggy and tired, her body aching in a million places, and her arm still throbbing, she was not fond of being woken up. When her eyes opened, the sharp lance of light turned her vision red. She blinked, and gave Levy the best smile she could muster up.

Levy looked like a whole new person. Throughout their short, troublesome travel, she had always had an air of worry with her that downed her beauty. But now, she smiled fully and her eyes sparkled with joy.

"Good morning, Levy" Lucy said automatically, though she didn't know if it was morning or not. "Where are we?"

Beneath her, she felt something soft, something familiar. A bed.

Levy squeezed Lucy's hand

"We're in Fairy Tail, Lucy"

Authors Note: A little late for an update, but what the heck, why not? And plus, thus ends the Erigor Arc! What will be next? Galuna Island of course! Till, then, TAH-TAH! Review, fav, follow, but most of all, read! Oh yeah, P.S. Shinigami=Death God. :)