Hey guys! It was my 16th birthday yesterday, I am the same age as Levy when the manga started now :3, anyways, here's chap 21 :D
PREY AND PREDATOR
~21-MEMOIR~
I was a little kid, a little a kid. Even to this day I can hardly remember being that little kid. I was... happy. At first.
Then I fell ill.
I remember, a woman, with black hair, she was short, beautiful, slim, yet I think she became fat... her eyes. I remember those well. Her eyes were an amber colour, like leaves in autumn, burning with life, yet they became tired... it was my fault. Then he came.
I remember a man, but with pink hair. He had dark green eyes. They were big and sharp, not like my mother's, my mother's were sharp, and cat eyed. My father however, dark green eyes, big. He used to pick me up, and put me over his shoulder. I didn't laugh.
I remember animals. Cows, chickens,... before I used to play with them. After, I didn't even eat them.
There was also one other hair, like my mother's, he smiled so much, and used to pull me onto his back and run around. He called me heavy. I didn't retaliate.
Those three people, now they seem like a dream, I wish I could go back to them and tell them I was okay, I was human, not... not sick anymore.
But no... my name... no one knows my name.
Apart from me.
If I told Levy I could go back?
No... I died in their eyes. I am the lost son they shall never speak about. The mythical family member of that place. The person who is meant to be sitting at that chair, eating that plate of...
Not emotions.
Fifteen years ago that was. Fifteen years since I have been there. And all I remember is eyes and hair...
I can't go back there. It would bring a whole other world crashing down onto me. I need to stay with her. But I can't. But I can, if I agree to... no no. I can't let her die... no matter how much I wish I could agree to her plan. I love her so much. She can't die. I'll just go. Go...
If we had met some other how, if I had been a human...
I would of known what love was. I probably wouldn't of fallen for her straight away, I think she would of fallen for me first. She'd laugh and her cheeks would go pink, and then just to play with her I'd brush my hand against hers, make her hit it away, and I would probably smile, and despite wanting to play with her, I would of fallen for her.
I would of bought her too my parents. Introduced her as my friend. They'd be proud of me, tall, strong, and helpful. I'd definitely want to help around the farm. I'd tell my parents this is Lucy. My...'friend.' I'd say, knowing we were just that, but we were more.
Then one day I would kiss her. And she would trust me. Because I'd be human.
No Sting.
No cave.
No feeding.
Just me, her, my family, her family.
If only...
What's the celebration humans do? I saw it on TV. Lucy explained it to me. Two people who love each other get... married, married, that's the one. A suit and a dress, and two rings. There. That's what would happen. We'd get married, and both out families would be there.
They'd be happy.
Laughing.
I wouldn't feel it. I'd see it. No need to be a dragon to see it. The smiles. There would have to be smiles at our wedding.
She is so young... what have I done... she's willing to die for me, to risk her life in a way so extreme for me... yet she is only seventeen. I am nineteen, I should be behaving responsibly for her. Yet I am just... not helping...
I want a mother to talk too.
I want a father to consult.
I want my family back.
Natsu sat down on the couch in Lucy's sitting room, head in his hands. Why did he feel a certain unease in his heart? Where was she? Surely speaking to that guy wouldn't of taken that long...
"W-what do you want?" Lucy whispered, already knowing the answer.
"Natsu. What have you done to him?" Sting asked, as he leaned closer to her ear. She could feel his emotions, excitement, hunger, yet rage.
"I've done nothing to him." Lucy said. She felt strange... she felt-
"Lies. He is a dragon. He wouldn't run away with some human! What have you promised him?! What have you given him?!" He said, starting to shout, people were turning heads. He sighed, and lowered his voice. "Natsu wouldn't just... go off with a human like that." Sting said.
"Maybe he's more humane than you think?" Lucy said. Sting growled.
"Maybe. If that's the case you are making him humane. Therefore you have to die." He said. "And I guess I better kill you the right way. Let me feed." He said. Lucy shook her head, as he spun her around. "You can feel it already, can't you? The sorrow... because you won't see Natsu again, you won't get to make him human. You're gonna die." He said. Lucy's eyes clenched shut.
"No... no please..." she moaned like a wounded animal. She knew it was a moment when she was vulnerable. Her dragon side was weak, her human side was up. He could feel her emotions. She was acting...human for once. He was confident. He was confident he could eat her.
"Ha, but you know what, Lucy? Dying's not that bad... all your troubles and worries...gone." He said, putting a hand to her cheek.
"S-stop." She said, crying, as she tried to resist to the happiness.
But wait! If he fed of her Dragon side, if she created sadness, then her dragon side would be even more weakened.
And then she could...die. Lucy focused on the blank piece of paper, and imagined sorrow, a marine blue ink, pouring onto it, Sting smiled as he felt it, and bought her mouth to his. She didn't want to kiss him, she wanted Natsu... but his lips found her none the less, and he fed of her.
She felt the emotion leave her, she felt Sting's emotions become more hazy as her Dragon side got tired. Then she felt dizzy. She tore herself from Sting with all her might.
"Lucy!" He growled, as she pushed him, with a giant effort. She started running, breathing heavily. Her human side was feeling weak too...
If her human side collapsed as well, then she'd-
Lucy fell to the ground, eyes open, with a last breath.
She'd die.
Natsu looked worridely out the window.
It had been a while, and Lucy still wasn't back. He sighed, and sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote control and jabbing the 'on' button down, as he had seen Lucy do it many times before. On came the TV with a slight zap. He sat back as the mindless babble of the teleshoppers telling him about some miracle electric salad cleaner. He tried to let the words wash over him, and stop the endless questioning in his head. 'When will she be back? Has something happened? How can I persuade her that I need to go for the best? How can I live without her?' The questions buzzed around in his mind, remaining unanswered. He closed his eyes hard, running his hands through his hair. God.. she had been so long! He looked up at the door impatiently? No? Was she not going to suddenly come in through those doors and smile at him, walk towards him, sit on his lap, arm around his neck and kiss him, saying that it was there last moments together, he had to go back up? Or would she come through, a sad look on her face, begging him to stay, to go through with her crazy plan...
Or would she not come back at all?
With an angered sigh, Natsu threw the controller onto the couch, and marched towards the door, grabbing a jacket Levy had given him from the coat rack next to the door.
Beep beep beep beep.
"Telephone." Natsu said to himself. What did Lucy do when the telephone rung? Picked it up. He walked towards the ringing object, and picked up.
"Hello?"
"Oh god Natsu! Natsu! It's Levy! God you need to come!" Levy's voice said from the other end. Natsu's heart seized up. He could hear sirens and people's voices around her. Levy was breathing heavily.
"What's happened?" He said, the words only just coming out of his mouth. There was a sigh.
"I-it's Lucy, there's been a-"
Natsu slammed the phone down, and grabbed his jacket, slipping it on, before turning the door handle and rushing outside, slamming the door behind him.
He didn't care if anyone saw his unnatural speed, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, with one thing on his mind. What's happened to Lucy? Had it been Sting? Did someone shout out that the disappeared girl was just there? Was it something to do with that guy that recognized her? Or was it just a trivial accident? He needed to run faster! As he ran through the alleyways, swirls of leaves flew up, before fluttering down again as the wind died down.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the avenue was there. He kept his run to a light jog, as he went towards the crowd of people. There was a siren wailing, and phones on, taking pictures. Natsu stopped.
"Levy!" He called, seeing the blue haired girl, on her tippy toes, tying to see over the crowd of people. She turned around, and once again, Natsu's heart jolted.
Tears were running down her face, her hand was clenching her jacket where her heart was, and her eyes were lost. She stumbled towards him. He bit his lip.
"Natsu... Natsu... she's-"
"Shh." He said, as he walked up to the crowd. He was tall, so he only needed to raise his head slightly to see the sight. When he did however, he couldn't breath, or move.
There were people rushing around the circle in the center of the crowd, where the ambulance was, rushing around someone's body.
Blond hair splayed around the stretcher, one arm lolling off it, and a person with their two fingers at her wrist. Her brown eyes stared, lifeless, in his direction.
"L-Lucy..." He said, mustering everything in him not to shout her name or run through the crowd calling after her. It took him everything. His hands twitched, as he looked, fixated, as someone put a white sheet over her, covering her face, and those gorgeous brown eyes from sight. The stretcher was rolled into the ambulance, and doors were closed. Natsu looked back at Levy, his mouth open.
"What happened?" He said, his voice silent. She was still crying. He mentally begged her to stop, to stop making him want to as well.
"I-I don't know, I was walking along here and I saw a commotion, so-"
"She died, Natsu." Someone said, standing behind the pair. Natsu turned around calmy.
"Sting... Levy. Go to the house." He said.
"I-uh-who is he?" She said, stuttering, as Sting gave a boyish smile.
"Go Levy." Natsu said.
"What do you think about this, what was your name? Levy. She died because of mister stubborn here." Sting said, adding a slight laugh at the end. Levy looked confused, before she walked away.
"Why?" Natsu said, keeping his anger to a mild simmer.
"Why what?" Sting asked.
"Why do you want me back so much?" He said. Sting sighed.
"My my... doesn't family mean anything to you Natsu? We're brothers. We gotta stick together. Wendy's been devastated... Even Rogue has shown a bit of annoyance from your disappearance, and this is from creatures who usually don't show any emotions..." Sting laughed.
"I don't want to be up there. This is my choice." Natsu said.
"And we are saying you can't be down here. You're living in an illusion. You can't be human." He said. "You can't make friends. You can't. They die. Proof, bye bye Lucy." Sting said, mockingly waving in the direction the ambulance had gone. Natsu clenched his teeth. "Aw come on... don't be angry." Sting said.
"How did she die?!" Natsu shouted. If she had just collapsed, then maybe... then maybe...
"Does it even matter?! Come on!" Sting shouted back. Natsu sighed. There was no way out of this, unless...
"A week."
"A week what?"
"A week. Give me a week down here, to sort things out, you know..." He tried to remember the name. "What humans do when one dies... a funeral. At least let me go to her funeral. Then I'll stay up there, I won't ever come back down. I promise." Natsu said. Sting frowned.
"Fine. A week, or that girl... Levy, she dies." He said. Natsu nodded.
Levy opened the unlocked door, sobbing hard, before she collapsed onto the doormat. She cried, and cried. It couldn't be, it was impossible... She couldn't be... dead.
"L-Lucy..." She sobbed, before tears came once more. What did the blond guy mean? What did he mean she died because of Natsu? What did he mean,'she died'? She couldn't die! She hadn't died! It was a lie... all a lie.
"Levy." She heard Natsu say. She hadn't heard him come in. He kneeled down next to her, putting a hand on her back.
"W-what's going on?!" She shouted at him, pushing away from him, weary of him. "What's going on Natsu?! Why is Lucy dead?! Is it really your fault?!" Levy shouted.
"Levy, calm-" He said, approaching her.
"Get away from me! Why? Why? Why is she dead? It thought you were our friend Natsu! I thought we could trust you?! What happened? Did she die so you could stay here?! Is that it?! Who's next, huh? Who's next?!" She shouted. "Lucy! Cana! Who's next I said!" She screamed, tears coming fast and relentless. Natsu stood up, and looked away.
"N-no one is next. Levy, please, you have to listen to me, calm down!" He said, looking straight at her. She stopped, and looked up at him. He sighed. "There's a chance Lucy might not be dead... " he said.
"W-what?!" Levy said, between her tears.
"Just... Remember the note? Come back or she dies?" Natsu asked, Levy nodded. "Well... she insisted that I stay here. She came up with a crazy plan... It's a long story, but whilst we were at her father's place, we discovered that when one of her sides is too hungry, well normally you'd faint, right? But both her sides are independent on one another. One side faints, the other side collapses, making her seem dead. No pulse, no breathing, until she feeds. Her plan was to 'die' and make sure Sting knew, like that there was nothing to blackmail me with left. Then, I was to wake her up, and we were too run away... I was against it, I mean..."
"You love each other." Levy said, more of a statement than a question. Natsu sighed.
"Yes, unfortunately... I don't want her to run away from the life she has here, just for me-" Natsu was interrupted as Levy's palm came harshly into contact with his cheek, slapping him.
"That, is for not staying with her!" She shouted, on her tippy toes, so she could seem a bit more intimidating. Natsu looked shocked at her. She raised her hand again, and slapped once more. "That! Is for being thick as a wall! She isn't doing this just for you! She is doing for herself too! She wouldn't run away with any man! She wouldn't put her life at risk for any man! She needs to be with you, Natsu! This is for her too!" Levy shouted. She raised her hand once more, and instead of slapping, just placed her hand on his cheek. "And this, this is for loving her, and caring about her." Levy said, before she put her arms around him. He just looked down at the blue haired girl. "She better be fake-dead, or else I will kill you by the way." Levy muttered. Natsu gave a smile, and patted her head.
"I get it." He said.
"It's probably going to be on the news. I'll watch." Levy said. Natsu nodded, and walked upstairs.
He went into his room, and sat on the bed, before closing his eyes.
Her lifeless eyes.
He opened them again, and sighed.
Sting knew about Levy... The situation was now unescapable. He'd wake Lucy up, then go back to the cave. On his own.
Lucy...
The day passed in silence, Levy watching the news, waiting for some info on how she died. The evening came, and Natsu finally came down from his room.
"Perfect timing, the evening news is coming on." Levy said, patting the space of couch next to her. He walked over, and sat down, as the chime for the news played.
"Welcome, to the early evening news. First of all, we shall talk about the breaking news, the return of Lucy Heartfilia, missing teenager."
"So this is the news, huh?" Natsu said.
"Yeah, she's been all over the news, along with Cana recently. They're calling it the dragon affair..." Levy sighed.
"What? How come?"
"Watch on." She said.
"Lucy Heartfilia disappeared on the fifth of July, whilst on a school trip up the mountains close to her hometown, Magnolia. Many of her classmates said that there was a forest fire, and some sort of wind turbulence, which led investigators to believe she may of died in the fire, her body yet to be discovered... But some other of her classmates claim it was in fact, a creature that turned into a man, before turning back into, what was described, as a dragon. The police think that use of low class drugs may of caused this rumor. Shortly afterwards however, when a volunteer search party consisting mainly of Lucy's friends went up there, another girl went missing. Eighteen-year-old Cana Alberona, a close friend of Lucy's. Once again, the witnesses described a beast, that turned into a man.
But earlier today, on one of the four main avenues in Magnolia, a girl who has been identified as Lucy Heartfilia collapsed onto the street, unfortunately, she showed no signs on life. Here we have doctor Carol Rowen updating us on the reasons Lucy died."
Levy and Natsu leant closer to the screen.
"Thanks to blood analysis, we managed to find out that Lucy died of malnutrition. This can lead us to suggest that in the confusion of the forest fire, Lucy got lost in the forest, and only managed to find her way back recently, before collapsing of hunger, and dying. This suggestion may seem far-fetched, but many cases like this have happened before. I would also like to personally pay my respects to Lucy's friends and family."
Natsu leant back, and sighed
"One less worry." He said.
"What do you mean, one less, surely she's going to be okay now?" Levy asked.
"Now we know her dragon side must of failed her. What if, during the time before her funeral, her human side fails her?" Natsu asked Levy. She gasped.
'She'd...die..." Levy whispered.
"Yes... Which is why you need to hurry up and organize your human burial." Natsu said to Levy. The girl nodded.
"I'll get her friends involved... So this is what'll happen, right? An empty casket, after you've woken her up?" Levy asked.
"Yes. Before the funeral, just before any of the guests arrive, I'll wake her up, and we'll leave... " Natsu said, knowing his true intentions were to leave Lucy, and go alone up to the cave. Levy couldn't die either.
Levy left, and Natsu was left alone in the house. He was worrying every single moment about Lucy, whether she was okay, if she would survive... He sighed, and went to bed.
There my lil biscuits. The next chapter, 22, is a short one, so I might post it on the middle of the week, because I won't have internet the next weekend coming... so you shall get chapter 23, the last one, on the 26 of September. Wow, almost finished, huh ^^ Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, many bisous :* :*
NEXT CHAPTER! We take a tour in Lucy's memories...