Mental note that my housemates do not appreciate me singing the Jeepers Creepers song right after I spend a day of not talking to them-
Sorry, (not sorry) it has been a while. I've been busy once school finished. Applied for a new job, trying to migrate home for a week, dealing with a cramped house full of whiner babies, and marathoning one season of Game of Thrones each day. Much to be done, you see.
Soprana~
The moment the soles of his boots touched the villa roof, the crouching figure lightly dropped from the chimney, revealing the bemused expression of Zero looking eerie in the light of the moon.
Laxus paused in his calm approach, looking mildly annoyed with the identity of his foe."Oh, it is just you." He grumbled in disappointment, shoulders slumping with the weight of tension released.
The red eyed Templar chuckled, cracking his neck and brushing his hair out of his face with a condescending sigh. He was almost like a scholar scorned by a student, waiting for the chance to shove the pupil into a pile of shame at one wrong move. Laxus could hardly believe Sir Jose kept a man like this annoying gnat in his company.
"Ah, young Dreyar. I would be more cautious in writing off your enemies. You have the misfortune of crossing blades with me." The older man said, gloved fingers waiting at the hilt of his weapon with all the casualty of keeping a glass of wine near. "Your naivety might just leave you lifeless with your throat slit."
Laxus regarded the foe with a snort, turning his back on the Templar in contempt. "I want Jose, not a small flea. You are hardly stronger than your son was and I want a challenge on this night."
At the silent pause that was his answer, the blonde assassin looked over his shoulder with a sneer. "If you want to threaten and goad somebody, do it properly, Templar Swine."
Zero blinked before slowly smiling, a sick twitch to his eyes that told Laxus of a deeper insanity that took claim over the man. "So...It was you who murdered my son. No matter, he was dishonored from our surname, and I would hate for you to think ill of our proud family because of that whelp." A long and elegant sword was drawn from its scabbard, glinting brightly under starlight and far away flames. The Templar cackled, tossing the weapon from one hand to the other and betraying the sword's gift of light maneuvering.
They Dragon Assassin drew his own weapon, still not turning back to face his enemy. "What of Jose? Where can I find him after I finish with you?" The pair could have been discussing the weather with their tones.
Lord Zero snorted, rolling his heavily cloaked shoulders. "I saw that boy enter the prison. Unfortunately, he got the short end of fate. Sir Jose awaits to take any assassin's life with his blade."
With a booming laugh and a hearty kick to his step as he turned, Laxus faced Zero with a sneer. "That boy was Salamander, one of my greatest trainees. I await the moment Jose runs from that prison, screaming with his trousers sliced down to his ankles."
The pair faced off for a moment, and Zero shrugged. "We agree to disagree?"
Laxus answered with a swing of his blade, metal biting metal in a shower of sparks.
Taking care of guards was easy if he snuck up on them. With every man knocked unconscious, Natsu resisted the urge to take a burned out torch and doodle on each and every face. He made sure they were lined up on the walls so he could not trip on them, but now that all the goons were handled, he was certain he had to do one more thing before returning to Lucy.
It was like her lips contained some sort of energy that infected him. He wanted to run, to jump, to fight Erza, and swim around Magnolia a few times. What sort of sorcery had the woman cast upon him? He was laughing occasionally, acting like a fool on drink.
He really could not care how he became like this...as long as he had her.
A clang of metal startled him out of his haze, the pink haired man sneaking to a nearby window to peek into the courtyard about a story below.
Gray, accompanied by some brutes that looked like hired hands, twisted and flashed through throngs of guards. He moved with his weapon, dancing like a thorny ballerina, slicing down every man that stood against him.
A flash of metal from the rooftops drew his dark eyes. Laxus, easily trading blows with some dude was not what Natsu expected to see. Both of his brothers in arms had some worthy opponent, and now that Lucy was safely procured, all he had were lazy guards.
Watching a while before whining, Natsu turned away from the fight, grumbling about how others got to have all the fun. A small room caught his eye like a shimmer of gold in a riverbed, chests lining the wall in a parade of spoils for his time. Though he had refrained from stealing while in association with Fairy Tail, a little compensation for a lack of fighting was in order.
Plus, all the files would be useful for the Master.
With a slow slink, the young Dragon assassin slipped into what appeared to be the warden office, his eyes taking in the riches of information. Certainly Fairy Tail could find some use in guard postings and schematics of the prison for...future reference.
His neck cracked with the force he used to look around, lightly stepping on his toes as if the tiles were wet stones in a raging river ready to swallow him down with one misstep. Once ascertaining the room was devoid of anyone but himself, Natsu set to work. Hurried hands tore at documents and sealed envelopes, pocketing coin and anything of value to the Brotherhood: letters, unfinished pardons, and the like.
All for Fairy Tail and his brothers. For Lucy. For her future as well.
The flickering shadows spoiled no secrets but the slip of rubber on stone gave away much more. Natsu had a moment to blink before he ducked, feeling the solid whoosh of a blade cut at a few of his hairs before biting into the wall with a shower of sparks and a clack like thunder.
The roll the assassin made hurt his spine, but when he whirled around and drew his sword, the sight of a panting and enraged Jose was quite a pleasurably shocking surprise. The man blinked again, taking in the greasy hair and the eyes filled with hate. Sir Jose, with his teeth bared and chest heaving.
A second more, and Natsu smiled with a snort. "Ew, I see your ugly mug up close now. Though I guess I get a good fight, so I should not complain much." With a dance of his feet, he shimmied enough to put the desk between him and the Templar Lord, grinning in excitement as he did so.
"All my brothers will be upset, pissed that I got the big fish but...maybe I bring them the clothes I slice off your shoulders? Your hair?" He taunted giddily, high from adrenaline and lust for battle. The tip of his sword bobbed with him, the flickering fires at his back shadowing his face and giving his pointed canines a sinister gleam.
Jose huffed before slowly dragging his sword along the wall to point at the assassin, hovering over the desk and the many candlesticks that lined its edges. "And I get a pup hardly worth dirtying my sword for. I wanted Dreyar or even Titania. Though, I will draw them to meet their deaths when I get rid of our little rat. Hang her perhaps? Or shall I just skip the trial and slit her throat before letting her fall from the roof where I know she hides?" His words quivered with demented glee at the prospect of bloodshed.
Instantly, all childish and mocking glee slipped off the Dragon Assassin's face like it was flushed out with water. All playfulness molded to steely caution and steady gaze. A true expression of seriousness crossed Natsu's face, darkening his aura into a cold fire that burned the hottest of all.
"You will not touch her ever again. I promise." He snarled softly, gaze pinning at the eyes of the Templar.
Jose snorted, rolling his shoulders as well as rolling his eyes. "You promise? I am so sorry, boy. I will be the one to take her head...or maybe-" he pretended to ponder, dropping his blade to tap the desk lightly before returning it to point, "I will take other things from her before mercifully ending her suffering. It is all a traitor could wish for."
Natsu struck fast, his blade stopped by a flick of Jose's wrist. The older man opened his mouth in delighted mockery, but Natsu hissed and let his sword fall to his side. "Lucy is going with me and she is going to be happy and live a long life free of her burdens. You?" He paused to lightly snicker. "You are just a slow, outdated old man."
With that, the pink haired assassin rose and pushed the entire desk with his right foot, shoving the furniture into Jose's knees and sending the Lord toppling back into many shelves of items: thus creating a monsoon of debris on his dark haired head.
Over the curses and splutters, Natsu cackled delightedly as he bobbed to and fro. "Gramps is more sprightly than you! Still second fiddle to the Dreyar legacy, I see. Such a shame. I will pass this along."
Jose struggled, kicking the desk away with a loud screech on the tile, shrugging books away as he rose with strands of hair in his eyes. The mustache curved with his sneer as he tore free from the pile, charging at Natsu with a battle cry.
Startled, Natsu barely had time to block before the rival blade came down, clashing with his own like a deafening bell chime. "I ought to teach youngsters the respect Makarov never had!" The Templar howled, kicking out and striking Natsu in the side. As the assassin wheezed and leaped away, he never took his eyes of Sir Porla stalking right after him, waiting for any opening to attack again.
Parry
Step
Parry
Feint
Step
Strike!
Laxus swung with all his strength, knocking Zero back a few feet with the velocity. The blonde never gave him a chance to recover. He followed like a wolf would a wounded prey animal, never letting up his strikes and jabs. The blades met with chimes of battle, sometimes showering sparks on the man as he fell backwards to his behind.
Guard up, Zero held fast as Laxus bore down. In a matter of movements, Zero's blade was sent skittering across the dark rooftop in a shining exit, Laxus pressing the edge of his weapon into the side of Zero's neck. "Any last words?"
The red eyed man sneered. "Assassin's have honor now? Well, I hope your little lad bleeds out on Jose's sword. I hope your death swiftly follows. I hope that that old git Makarov chokes on his own blood as-" With a swipe, the words were cut off and Zero fell back with a gurgle, limbs jerking once before his body lay still.
Sucking in the fresh air, Laxus stepped away from the corpse to look towards the prison with a stone face. From within the walls, a flicker grew brighter and stronger as it devoured the first floor.
With his stomach dropping like a lead counterweight, Laxus sheathed his sword. "I thought he grew out of that?" He hissed in frustration, seeing flames foster into resistance.
He rolled out of the way just as the blade came down where his head had been. Frantically, Natsu kicked out, tripping Jose to stagger and grasp at a oil lamp on the wall. His sword lay against the far wall, struck from his hands in a dirty disarming trick from the Templar. His wrist still hurt from the pressing thumb on his pressure point. Laxus had not taught how to resist such dirty tricks yet, and Natsu felt hot fury at his incompetence.
He was fighting with pure instinct now.
With a swift click, the assassin brought our his hidden blades in his cuffs. With a wild and graceless slash, the weapons bit into the back of Jose's legs, bringing the man crashing down...oil lamp included.
The flammable liquid splashed along the tips of Natsu's boots, but mostly soaking the floor before igniting. Jose yelped and scooted away from the growing flames, eyeing Natsu as the assassin stood. Flames licked at the tips of his boots as he straightened, blades still drawn and onyx eyes alight. The fires grew between them, seemingly coiling to the strongest will.
Jose finally felt fear as Natsu took one step forward. He scuttled farther as Natsu took another. The fire followed, almost parting to let the pink haired Dragon Assassin pass, flames at his boots and going no further. The Salamander is what they called him, the fire in his moves and eyes like the fires that devoured cities whole. Now, it burned before the Templar, unkempt and fueled by emotion.
The inferno spread and still he could not move from the torn ligaments in his legs. Nails scratched stone in desperation to escape, but a solid boot to his chest halted all movement and pinned him to the floor by weight alone.
The assassin leaned close, blades out as flaming boots pressed into Jose's sternum like a lead weight. Only then did Jose speak, voice hoarse and weak. "P-Please..."
Natsu only stared back, bringing the right hidden blade to touch the hooked nose of his fallen enemy. "You are not worth tarnishing my morals for. Crawl away like the scum you are. You will never hurt Lucy again...or any of my brothers. If so, well...you will see me again quicker than you can roll off your ass." The threat came as a hiss, but the blade retracted and a fist met the jaw of the Templar Lord.
The crack of bone echoed over the crackles, the weight leaving Sir Jose's chest. The man heaved and rolled, scooting away from the fire as his dark eyes scanned the room.
Not an assassin in sight.
His fight ended up in flames. Old habits die hard, he supposed.
Natsu raced up the stairs, taking two at a time. He zipped past awaking guards and confused prisoners holed up in cells, moving ever so closer to completing his promise. When he burst out of the final door, he saw her there, hovering nervously over the ramparts with twisting hands. Her tattered clothing and wounds faded away into the moonlight shine of her hair falling free from her messy bun.
He stalled when she whirled around to stare at him, a relieved smile at her lips. "Natsu-" she breathed softly, shoulders relaxing slightly.
"Did you or did you not set the building on fire?" she added with a snap, fingers gripping the pouch harshly as her smile turned to pursed lips. Her state made her no less fearsome...and funny.
"Erm...I may have?" He tried hesitantly before snorting, "Whatever! We need to go jump of a building." Stomping up to her and taking the pouch from her grasp, he ignored her huff and the flick she gave his head.
"That does not sound reassuring!" She snapped, watching as the man opened the pouch and extracted the device within. A large canvas unfolded accompanied with a leather handles and wires. Such a confusing contraption baffled the blonde but Natsu seemed to know how to work its wonders.
"Okay Luce! Ready?" He finally chirped, grabbing her hand to drag her gently towards the edge. Bravely, she followed up until the ledge, freezing at the sight of the long drop waiting for them.
"Uh, Natsu...I am not so sure-" She hesitantly began, squeaking in fright when he yanked her arms to wrap around his shoulders. Gripping his cloak in fright as his hands coaxed her legs up and around his waist, Lucy buried her face into his rumpled hood cloth as she felt him shift to take hold of the two handles that will connect him to the device. Just him and his hands held the parachute. Nothing else.
He shifted stiffly on the ledge, and the woman did not dare to peek. Her limbs trembled as her constricting hold did not budge. Whispers were muttered into his clothes, and Natsu thought he heard a few prayers muddled in with her mumbles.
"Together." He said softly, feeling her squeeze her legs in response. It was really terrifying to stand at the ledge of a long drop, but Natsu had done wilder jumps without parachutes. Lucy had not.
Then, he jumped.
They fell a few feet before the air caught the chute, and Lucy let out a few muffled cries as the decent jolted to a glide. They swung between the handles as they glided and Lucy chanced a peek above to the prism shaped parachute and the clear night sky. Then, her gaze turned to the still far away ground and the slow flowing canal they breezed over.
Wind whipped at her hair and bare skin, sending chills down her spine. She could feel her arms quiver from strain and previous wounds but her legs held fast. Under her hold, she could hear Natsu measure his breathing as his fingers locked and ached on the handles from the extra weight. They were not birds born to fly or keep to the air, however.
Not soon after passing over the canal and descending to the cobblestone street, Lucy felt her strength leave her legs and arms, causing her to slide down inch by inch. Natsu was not much better off. His pinky fingers lost hold, casting too much weight on his remaining fingers.
A split second ticked by before they both lost hold and tumbled to the ground in a graceless and crumpling fall.
Sharp and blinding pain knocked into Natsu's knees and shoulder as he crashed to the ground, rolling roughly from momentum. Through his ringing ears, he heard a cry that sounded like Erza. One thing stood above all else in his mind. Lucy was no longer holding him nor did he hear her.
Dazedly, fingers pulled at stone. Arms shook under stress as the Dragon Assassin forced himself to rise, his vision swimming and making him slightly nauseous. "L-Luce?" He blubbered, his tongue dry and useless. His left elbow failed, sending his face slamming into the ground.
Someone pulled at his shoulder and Natsu resisted punching out in defense. He could hear Erza try to steady him. He could hear a far away call from Gray. The only one he wanted to hear...was Lucy.
"Luce?" He tried again, sight clearing enough to see a body lay a few yards away, motionless. Golden hair splayed out on the stone street, more scrapes festering an angry red on her pale skin. Lucy did not respond or even twitch.
Panic reached his chest unlike anything else as he scrambled clumsily to her side, inspecting her peaceful face. Trembling hands reached out to brush her cheek gently, checking her breathing and heart rate.
Alive. She was alive.
"That fall knocked her out. It was a couple stories, after all." Erza piped in from behind him, hazel eyes scanning the surroundings as her comrade displayed his uncharacteristic tenderness and foolishly left his defenses down. Her hands rested on her hidden daggers, feet shifting every few seconds.
Instantly, his serious actions clicked back into place. Without looking to Erza, the pink haired man gently scooped the unconscious blonde up into his arms, resisting throwing her over his shoulder like every other person he carried before. Lucy needed gentle handling at the moment, for he spied the growing bruises from her impact.
She had enough trouble to endure upon awaking.
The red headed assassin regarded him with a curious look but moved aside anyway, leading him to the passageway that would connect to the catacombs. From there, they could travel unseen and unhindered through the catacombs of Magnolia. It would be the safest form of travel now that the city would be in a uproar. Word that Lady Lucy had been arrested definitely would have spread by now.
Gray waited by the passage entrance, pushing aside the rotting wooden plank door that sealed the path before entering first. A torch rested waiting, lit and burning with light. Natsu followed, wrinkling his nose at the wall of stench that greeted his sensitive sense. Musty and cold. Mildew festered at the crumbling bricks, puddles of last season's rain lingering in mud before they came upon the stairs that sank deep into the earth.
Lucy flinched and gave a tiny sound of displeasure before slowly turning her head into his shoulder, digging her face into his warm clothing and resting near his racing heart. Silently, his fingers tightened at her shoulder and under her knees, assuring himself that he had her now and the threats that once held her were now null. Lucy was safe...and now with her friends.
Outside, the sun rose slowly over the horizon, illuminating the prison that smoldered and withstood the flames on the first floor, the sky staining black with smoke. Prisoners scampered free from confines, scattering away from guards and returning to the city to proclaim the escape of Lady Lucy Heartfilia, with the aide of the shadows that served her justice.
As always, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. One of these days I'll do personalized replies: BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY