Chapter 19: March of Destruction

The ground starts to shake as the beam of light begins to expand.

"Were we too late?" Lyon says as he picks up Sherry bridal style.

"What the…?!" Natsu shouts. I gasp and take a step back, shading my eyes with a hand as the light get brighter and bigger.

"Whoa there, that's…" Gray takes a step back.

Lucy is too stunned to move. "I-I think we're in trouble…"

"Damn it!" Gray regains his stance. "Erza was inside that light!"

"No!" I step forward.

"I've never smelled anything so dangerous as this!" Natsu tenses. Large tentacle like columns starts rising out of the ground destroying the land they were under. "What in the world is this?! I don't get it!"

"It's coming out of the ground around here!" Gray says to my left.

"So this is what Nirvana is!" Lucy trembles in front of me.

"Can you even call it 'magic' at this point?!" I put my hands out slightly for balance as the earth quakes.

"Whoa, the ground is shaking…" Natsu almost falls over as it becomes more violent.

"Does anyone hear cracking?" Gray points out.

"I have a really, really bad feeling about this…" I stare at the ground below our feet. It feels like the earth is cracking and rising. Shit! I realize too late what is happening.

One of the structures rises up into the air with us on it. Natsu falls to his knees staring at the descending ground. Lucy screams as she tries to hold on. My eyes widen impossibly as I drop to all fours for balance. "I called it!" I am able to shout over everyone's screams.

Everything stops moving. I look around and see several tentacles similar to the one we are on. I smooth my hand over its bare surface. It seems to be made out of stone or some kind of ancient metal. I look up a ways and see a large center. It clicks that these are legs to hold up the main body. This is Nirvana?

I look at the others to make sure they are okay. They seems stunned but uninjured. "What now?" I turn to them.

Natsu jumps onto his feet and points up the leg. "We go up there and kick some ass!" I smile at his typical answer as Gray agrees.

I look towards Lyon and Sherry, observing their injuries. "You two should head back down, and see if you can find anyone else." Lyon nods and starts his careful descent with Sherry in his arms. I can see that Lucy is still shaken and weak from earlier. "You can go with them, too, Lucy."

She looks at me with wide eyes and shakes her head. "No! Erza is up there. I'm not leaving my friends behind!" My eyes widen at the outburst, but I calm down and give her wide smile.

I help her to her feet and look up towards the body. "Alright! Let's go kick ass!" I throw a punch into the air. Natsu takes the lead, running towards our goal. We all follow behind him, leaving a trail of dust behind us.

"We'll run up these and then bust up the main body!" Natsu shouts as he charges onwards.

"By the way," Gray takes the moment to look back at me and Lucy, since I am running at a pace to keep an eye on the blonde, "why are you guys in matching outfits?"

I laugh at Lucy's reaction. "Don't ask me!"

My stride falters as the leg starts to move. We all drop to our stomachs to prevent us from falling off. Natsu is the only one to fall unwillingly as his motion sickness takes hold.

"What do you think you're doing, Natsu?" Gray yells back as he start crawling.

"Get it together already, 'kay!" Lucy doesn't give him a break. I sigh as they continue climbing, but Natsu is too out of it to move.

"It's transportation, you know." Natsu is barely able to get out as he slumps further.

"It's moving, but it's not transportation!" Gray yells over his shoulder. "Think of it like that!"

We watch as Natsu closes his eyes and tries what Gray says. It seems to work as the green color leaves his face. "Got it!" I watch in surprise as Natsu jumps up and starts to slowly march up the leg. He doesn't make it far before he starts to waver and slump again. "I'm gonna hurl…" All of us sweat drop. So much for that.

"These are octopus legs!" Lucy tries a different tactic. "You're okay riding animals, right?"

"There aren't any octopus in the forest." Natsu decides at that moment to be smart and picky.

Lucy snaps at him. "Stop sweating the details!"

Natsu claps his hands on his cheeks a couple times and goes back to normal. "Okay! I'm fine now!" It seems to work till the leg we are on takes a step, which causes Natsu to slide to the side a bit.

"Idiot!" Gray lifts up slightly. "Don't let it get to you!"

I can see Natsu shaking as he tries to not let the motion sickness get to him. "I know! Leave it to me!" It takes another step, causing Natsu to slide more until he slips completely off.

We are all stunned for a second. "Natsu!" I dive after him as I yell his name. I'm stopped by a hand clamping around my wrist.

I look up into the eyes of Gray. "Idiot! You'll fall too!" I watch as the dragon slayer shrinks and his scream starts to fade. My eyes start to sting from tears. A figure in the distance catches my sharp vision. Happy! He catches Natsu and flies up high, carrying him.

"Happy! Nice catch!" Lucy cheers.

"Man, that guy's gonna give me a heart attack…" Gray sighs, his grip slackens a little in relief.

I realize I am still hanging by Gray's hand with nothing to hold onto. "Um…Gray?" Fear starts to slip into my voice when I realize how high we really are. His hand tightens around my wrist, and with a grunt, he pulls me back up onto the top of the leg. I blush at the position he put us in.

I'm on my stomach, my bare back exposed to the cold hard planes of his chest as he brushes against me. His other hand is flat against the machine near my hip. My wrist still clasps in his hand. His breath is even cold against my shoulder. "Don't do that again." He practically growls in my ear. I nod numbly and crawl away with a burning face as soon as he lets my wrist go. I ignore his low chuckle and Lucy's giggle.

I look up and smile as Happy does aerial acrobatics with Natsu. I'm glad he's okay. We stand up and make it to the top of the leg just as Natsu and Happy hover nearby. "You guys head to the top like that!" Gray shouts. I stand at the junction where the leg meets the body and look up the practically flat surface. "We're going to use that hole over there!" I tilt my head to the left and eye the entrance Gray is talking about. Natsu and Happy take off.

I resist the urge to climb the wall and follow Gray and Lucy into the tunnel. It's a stone passageway that seems to be crumbling slightly from age. There is a bit of moss or ivy clinging to the walls. I walk past a still Lucy and Gray. Confused with their silence, I turn around to face them. Lucy's eyes are wide open as she feels the wall of the tunnel. Gray's hands are out in front of him as he squints his eyes.

"I can't see a thing!" Gray growls as his hand hits the wall. Lucy jumps away from the wall with a squeal when her hand touches a spider web.

I tilt my head in confusion. "Really? I can see just fine."

"Eeeh! Really, Mayen?!" They both look in my general direction slack jawed.

"Yeah." I look around. "Wait a second." I travel a little farther into the tunnel. I grab the torch, I had seen, off the wall. I take a few steps and grab another one from the opposite side. I rush back to them. "I found torches!"

They jump in surprise. "What the hell?!" Gray grabs his chest. "Make some noise when you move!" I blink at the reaction.

I shrug and hand each of them a torch. Lucy brings it close to her face. "How do we light them?" I sweat drop. Didn't think that far. I tap my chin.

"I have a lighter." Gray pulls a blue lighter out of his pocket (I don't know if they have lighters, but I know Gray smokes in the manga so he needs some way to light them). He lights his then Lucy's torch.

The light from the fire dances against Gray's naked chest. I turn away with a blush. "I-I'll take point." Without waiting for a response, I start walking deeper into the tunnel, letting my eyesight pierce the apparent darkness. I Ignore the burning gaze on my back.

"This place is seriously creepy." Lucy's voice has a tremor to it. We stop at a split. "Which way do we go?" Gray lifts up his torch, trying to look down the left passage.

I peer down the other. "Should we split up?" I glance over my shoulder at the others.

"Do you think we should?" Lucy looks back and forth between the tunnels nervously.

Gray stares at my back for a moment. I feel my cheeks flare up, so I look away and down the tunnel in front of me. "I think we should stay together. Who knows who else could be down here." I nod in agreement to his reasoning.

"Which way, then?" I turn back around with a hand on my hip. I chew on my lower lip as I look at our options. An idea pops into my head making a mischievous cat like smile to cross my face. Gray raises an eyebrow at my expression. I just give him a wink. "Hey, Lucy." She turns to me and blinks with a 'huh' as I smile sweetly. "Stick your arm out and point, please."

"O-Okay?" She doesn't question my request, but confusion is clear on her face. Gray catches on and smirks. His shoulder shake as he holds in a laugh. I take the torch out of her hand and hang it up in an empty holder. I grab her wrist and spin her in a fast circle. She squeals as she twirls around with her arm out. Gray and I bust out laughing. He's holding his stomach with one hand and leaning against the wall with another. I fall onto my ass with tears in my eyes. We really needed the break from the tension of the situation.

Lucy slows to a stop and wavers on her feet. She's pointing towards the right tunnel. I wipe the tears from my eyes as Lucy collapses against the wall trying to catch her bearings. Gray walks over to me still chuckling. He offers his hand to help me up and I accept. We share a smile and move to help Lucy up.

"That was not funny!" Lucy complains as we start down the chosen passage.

"But it worked." I pointed out with a giggle. Gray chuckles next to me as Lucy sulks behind us.

We walk for a few minutes, but we have to stop as we come to a dead end. "Oh, no. We went the wrong way." Lucy gasps. Gray touches the wall blocking our way. My brow creases in confusion. This doesn't make sense. I look around and something catches my eye just outside the reach of their fire light.

"Wait, Gray bring your light over here." I motion for him to move with me. The torch bathes a rope and wood ladder in light. I look up following it as it climbs up the wall to a ledge.

Lucy comes over as well. "A ladder?"

"Whoever made this must've built it like this to confuse intruders." Gray holds his torch up, trying to see the top.

"The ledge is pretty high up." I tell him. "You should go first Gray. That way if something happens you can help lift us up." He nods and hands his torch to me. He tests the strength of the ladder before starting his climb. Lucy and I watch with baited breath as he ascends the rickety ladder. I watch the way the muscles of his back move. He shouts when he makes it to the top, making me shake my head clear. I blow the torch out and throw it up to him for him to relight. A warm glow comes from the ledge showing how high the climb really is. I turn to Lucy. "Your turn."

She backs away, shaking her head. "No…No way. You go."

I sigh and look at her. "Lucy, it's safest if you go next. Gray is at the top to help you up, and I am at the bottom to catch you."

She stops to think for a second, before nodding slowly. I take the torch from her as she starts her climb. The rungs creak and whine as she climbs. It takes her longer than Gray to get to the top where he reaches a hand out and helps her over the edge. Once sure she is up, I toss the second torch up like the first. My eye sight adjusts, and I see the ladder without any problem. "We're ready, Mayen." Gray shouts down.

"I'm coming up, now!" I call as I take my first step up. Half way up a loud snapping sound makes me stop. I look up a few rungs from me and see the ladder starting to unravel. My eyes widen. A short scream tears from my throat as I fall.

"Mayen!" The mixed horror filled screams of my friends echo in my ears.

Out of reflex my body twists itself around, and I land on my feet with bent knees, completely unharmed with a dust cloud settling around me. My eyes are wide from shock; my heart pounding in my chest. I pant as I call up to them. "I'm fine!"

I can hear their sighs of relief and Lucy asking about what I'm going to do. I step up to the wall and place both hands on it. It's not as smooth as the surface outside, there are nooks and crannies everywhere. I look up at them, judging the distance. "I'm gonna climb it!" Ignoring their shouts of not trying it. I grip the wall and find a good foot hold. Putting my weight on the stones, I test to see if they'll hold my weight.

Once satisfied, I start climbing with the ease of a natural climber. I can feel their eyes watching my progress with worry. I bite my lip in concentration. My muscles seem to move on their own from memory, like I use to climb all the time, but I don't remember it. It does feel right to be climbing with my own hands instead of a ladder, though.

The light of their torches is brighter, now, so I look up and see that I am almost there. Lucy and Gray's faces are looking over the edge at me with worry shining in their eyes. Gray's hidden better. He reaches his hand out as I get close enough. My fingertips brush his as the stones under my feet crumble. All our eyes widen. In that crucial split second, Gray leans over the edge and grabs my hand as Lucy grabs around his waist Together they lean back, pulling me up with more force than necessary. Lucy flies backwards, and Gray lands on his back.

I close my eyes as I fly up over the edge. I land on something hard as a grunt meets my ears. My eyes snap open. My legs are on either side of Gray's waist, my thighs brushing against the cool skin of his exposed sides. My hands are splayed over his pecs. My nose brushes against his. I'm frozen in shock, blood flooding my cheeks as his eyes open. We stare at each other as both of our faces heat up. A groan from Lucy snaps us out of it, and I fling myself off of him and to my feet. I refuse to look in his direction as I hear him getting up.

I help Lucy stand from her tumble. She brushed the dust off her clothes, and we start walking down the tunnel again. The silence is thick as Gray and I refuse to look at each other. Lucy doesn't seem to notice it. There's a small light up ahead. "I think that's an exit!" Lucy runs forward. We follow closely behind her.

We find ourselves in an ancient stone building. Lucy and Gray put out their torches and leave them on the ground. I'm the first to step out into what looks like a city made of stone. "So, where are we?" Lucy says as she comes up behind me on one side and Gray on the other. "It definitely looks like a city of some sort."