. Between the Lines .
Lucy placed her hands on her hips, proudly looking around her apartment. It had taken nearly two hours, but she now had all of her furniture in her new home - though it was all bare of anything. Drawers were empty, the bed was only a frame without a mattress, and the beautifully crafted shelf that was settled in a corner of the room lacked the books that had once filled her old apartment.
She made a face. She'd have to ask her publisher to send her a copy of each of her books...damn she should have picked up a laptop while she was out!
Natsu examined their work as he rolled his shoulders, his onyx eyes scanning the furniture thoughtfully. "How much did you spend? I know we gave you all of our money to help so you could move, but...some of it looks kinda pricey, Luce."
"Not too much, surprisingly," Lucy answered. "The only thing that I spent more than normal on was the shelf over there." She shot him a pleading look. "Please don't burn my home down again."
"Hey!" he protested, huffing sharply. "That only happened 'cause you were attacked. You only had Plue, so someone had to protect you."
Lucy rolled her eyes but patted his shoulder gratefully. "And that was very kind of you. Now. Let's head back to your place and I'll make some dinner for you, okay? Just like I promised. I want to go to the guildhall tomorrow morning as soon as we wake up so we can see if we missed anything that might have happened to Erza or Happy."
Natsu scratched the back of his head, tugging the scarf away from his mouth as he said, "Eh, they'll let us know. Don't worry about 'em." He gave her that special Natsu grin, trying to look reassuring.
Lucy only eyed him, worried for the safety of of her new home. The last time he'd worn that grin, he'd nearly burned her clothes off.
Again.
It took them only a few minutes to leave the apartment, Lucy pausing to lock the door behind them as they went. They left the building fairly quickly and were soon walking along the canal. Lucy balanced on the edge of it with care, humming to herself, and Natsu walked close beside her, making sure she didn't fall into the water. His hands were clasped behind his head, his sandal-clad feet slapping against the ground as he walked in a comical way. "Don't fall," he warned.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'm not that clumsy," she retorted, but gave him a reassuring look that told him she wouldn't.
"You better not be, 'cause if I have to climb in after you, the water will boil." He gave a sheepish grin. "Canal and I don't get along."
"...Natsu," she said slowly. "It's not a person or anything. What do you mean you don't get along with the canal?"
Natsu shrugged. "Scares me to fall in there," he admitted. "Juvia used it against me once. I fell in 'cause Gray was an ass and tripped me and Juvia got mad when I threatened to burn his hair off. Thought I was gonna drown. Stripper thought it was hilarious."
Lucy couldn't help the giggles that slipped past her lips. "Oh, Natsu," she said affectionately, shaking her head. The pair fell into silence for a few moments. And then Lucy began to sing softly to herself, her voice rising and falling in a tune Natsu didn't recognize yet listened to with curious eyes.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Little one.
Forgive me,
For the things,
That so soon,
Must be done.
Forgive me,
Forgive Me,
Forgive me,
Precious one.
For the Dragons,
Need my help,
So the war,
Can be won.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Gentle one.
The darkness,
Will soon be gone,
And shine bright,
Will your sun.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Lonely one.
Death will come,
Guide your way,
To much more,
than your play.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Tender one.
For only when,
The keys have met,
Will my spell,
Be undone.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Helpless one.
You will fight,
And will win,
But from shadows,
you can't run.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Faithful one.
The Demon King,
Will rise again,
And your loved one,
Will be gone.
Natsu remained quiet for a moment after she'd finished, then asked curiously, "I've never heard that one. Where did you hear it?"
Lucy smiled warmly. "It's one my mother sang for me," she said softly, love filling her gaze. "It's such a sad story, but…" She shrugged. "It's the one I always loved the most. And it's the only one I remember."
"It is kind of depressing," Natsu agreed. He cocked his head thoughtfully. "You should sing it with Mira...we have karaoke night sometimes, and we always have competitions and voting. Dunno how Gajeel won the last one, sucker can't sing at all...I think Levy must have bribed everyone."
Lucy giggled. "Are you saying that I have singing abilities? You're hilarious. I can't sing at all."
"You're not as bad as Gajeel," he protested, flushing in his attempt at what Lucy thought might be a compliment. "I liked it. It was good."
"Well I'm glad you liked it, Natsu," Lucy said warmly, giving him a huge smile-
-right before something wrapped around her ankle, sending a painful jolt through her leg, and yanked painfully, dragging her down into the water of the canal. Something dark, or what felt like it was dark, filled the air around them, and Lucy had enough time to see the horrified and shocked look on Natsu's face before she was under water.
Lucy kicked desperately, struggling to free herself so that she could swim to the surface, but realized within seconds that whatever had her didn't plan on letting go. She screamed in her mind, panicking when her gaze blearily met glittering black eyes that eyed her hungrily.
Delicious, a voice purred in her mind, A little fairy to munch on…
Lucy blanched, then let her hand drop to the keys at her hip. Without pausing, she withdrew the one golden key she had. She slashed it through the water in front of her face, eyes flashing. Please work!
Cancer materialized just as the water around them heated up dangerously, nearly boiling hot. Yet she couldn't seem to feel pain from the heat, only the pressing need to breathe. Natsu, Lucy thought. He was the one who was messing with the water, forcing it to heat up. The creature didn't seem to appreciate it, hissing and trying to drag her further downward.
Cancer put a stop to that wordlessly, using the strange scissors in his hand to cut through the appendage that had wrapped around Lucy's ankle. The second she was free, Lucy scrambled to swim to the surface. She broke through to the open air above the water, gasping desperately for breath in the chilly evening. "Natsu!" she coughed.
The fire mage looked enraged from where he was currently kneeling on the edge of the canal. His hands had plunged into it, the water around him boiling at a dangerously hot level. His eyes snapped up at her voice, and he didn't hesitate to reach for her hand as she swam towards the edge. She reached for it, grasping it tightly-
-and was promptly dragged down again, this time taking an angry dragon slayer with her.
Cancer had vanished, and Lucy realized distantly that she felt exhausted. She wasn't used to summoning the Zodiac Spirit just yet, and it had sucked up a large amount of magic to do so. Water flooded her mouth and nose, and she kicked to try and free herself again before something flaring caught her attention.
Her eyes widened in shock despite the stinging the water brought with it.
She didn't think it was possible for fire to form underwater, but Natsu had done it. This flame, however, seemed a little bit different than any other fire he'd produced so far. It was darker than the usual flames, more red than orange and yellow, laced with what might have been darker colors.
And he didn't hesitate to throw it at the creature trying to drown his partner.
The creature released Lucy a second time, but didn't move to try and fight again. Instead, it disappeared in a mass of bubbles that stung when they brushed against the blonde's flesh. Natsu grabbed her arm and hauled both of them upwards.
Both panted desperately for air when they broke the surface, eyes wide with alarm. Natsu's hair had been plastered across his head, and the second he'd managed to catch his breath, he was rasping, "You okay?"
"Y-yeah," Lucy stammered, her hand clutching his forearm. She trembled slightly, shocked by what had just happened. "W-what was…?"
"Dunno," Natsu answered, picturing the strange looking creature in his mind. "Not something I've seen before...c'mon, we gotta get outta the water. You'll get sick." He swam over to the edge of the canal, waiting for Lucy to grab the side before releasing her and hauling himself out. As quickly as possible, he helped her to climb out as well. The celestial mage trembled violently from the chill in the air and exhaustion, swaying on her feet. Frowning, Natsu glanced around to make sure no one was nearby - he silently thanked the solitude of this area - and lit himself aflame so that he was dry almost immediately. Lucy instinctively shifted closer to the heat, shooting him a grateful look as he fixed his scarf.
"Note to self," Lucy mumbled faintly, glaring at the canal. "Don't walk on the edge anymore."
Her companion snorted, increasing the heat so that she'd dry faster. "You don't say. Damn it, told you to be careful."
"What?" she retorted. "It's not my fault there was a thing in the water." She shivered hard, and grimaced. "Come on, let's head back. I want to get into something warmer and eat...can we contact the guild through that card?"
"Yeah. Should still work...damn it!" he groaned. He withdrew a card that had grown soggy and ripped, as if it was made of paper. He crumpled it up and threw it into the canal with a scowl. "I told Cana to make it waterproof! Guess we'll have to wait til tomorrow...your foot okay?"
"I'm fine," Lucy said firmly. "Just...I'm cold. And tired."
Natsu finally let the flames die down - and not a moment too soon. A pair of women scuttled around the corner, chattering excitedly to one another. The blonde woman paused to peer curiously at the wary looking man and the shivering woman, and the dark-haired one stared at them with narrowed eyes, as if suspicious. Natsu glared at both of them, and the blonde woman quickly looked away.
The dark-haired one did not. She only smirked, a smug look crossing her lovely pale face, her dark eyes sparkling with amusement.
Natsu tensed angrily, looking ready to launch himself at her, but Lucy put a stop to that by weakly grabbing his arm. "I think…" she said distantly, her voice slurred. "I'm going to pass out."
Effectively distracted, Natsu turned his head away from the woman, his eyes landing on her. "Luce?"
Suddenly, she tipped over, nearly falling back into the water. He managed to catch her by the waist before she could, dragging her to safety with startled eyes. "Lucy!" he repeated, worried. His gaze darted towards the women, but they were gone, and he swore at the fact that he might not be able to use their phones. The phones weren't waterproof, and dropping it into a canal was a lot different then dropping it in a puddle.
Still, he tried.
Natsu shoved his hand into his pocket and withdrew his phone, only to discover a melted mess. He scowled, tossing it, too, into the canal before hesitantly reaching into Lucy's pocket. He scrounged around in it before withdrawing her own phone - and grinned when the phone lit up. He scanned her contact list, scowling at the fact that Gray's number had been put in it, but called it nonetheless.
"Lucy?"
"Natsu," Natsu corrected with a smirk. He hoped the wards around the guildhall didn't mess with the connection this time. They needed it to work. "Just got attacked by some weird thing we've never seen before...dragged Lucy into the canal."
"What?!" Gray sounded furious. "Is she okay?"
"Fine, just passed out 'cause she summoned that crab guy." Natsu sent his partner an affectionate look, studying her face for a moment before looking back to the water. "Killed the thing...looked something like an octopus with a fish body. Tentacles all over the place."
"...just what I wanted to hear," Gray muttered, disgusted. "Take her back to your place. Just left the guildhall, but I'll go back and let Master know what happened. I'll inform Erza and Happy, too...make sure you don't get attacked again."
"Yeah, yeah," Natsu growled. "Like I'd let that happen." He hung up, shoving the phone back into Lucy's pocket. The young woman didn't move, her breathing soft against his arm, limp in the awkward position he held her up in. He sighed heavily. "Damn it, Lucy. You need to get your act together."
With that, he swung her up, carrying her carefully, letting her head loll against his chest as he set off for his house.
Her lips curved into a smile as she stepped away from the body of the woman she'd just abandoned. Blood dripped from a wound in her gut that had slowly drained her of life, but the first woman didn't seem to notice as she dug a handkerchief out and wiped the blood from her fingers. She studied the body. It'd be found come morning, when the baker stepped out to throw out yesterday's stale bread.
She tilted her head, pressing her lips together in thought as she set off down the street, drawing her hood up. She let her magic flared for a moment, letting any mages in the area know that she was there, but then disappeared, hiding her. She didn't need to be discovered yet...not until she'd accomplished what she'd set out to do.
She hummed to herself quietly in thought, turning a corner. Her ambush had failed to kill anyone, but she'd certainly succeeded in capturing the attention of the Fairy Tail mages - not that her magic hadn't already. Black magic was easy to detect for those who knew what to look for.
"Thank you for lending me one of your lesser pets, Master," she whispered to herself, smirking. "It was incredibly helpful...the blood of a celestial mage is rare. It will sell for a high price, allow me to step into the ranks of a guild strong enough to accomplish what I've been wanting to do for years."
She grinned. "Prepare yourself, Gray Fullbuster.
"For you took my mother from me."
Pretty sure you can guess who that girl is! And dangerous things are happening...fishy-octopus thing attack. Never thought I'd say that.
Fun Fact!: That song that Lucy sings is actually an original song written by me and my lovely editor! We've called it Forgive Me, and I'll be putting a link on my profile for anyone interested in hearing the tune of it. No words will be sung, though they are on the music. You'll simply have to hit play and read along! ;)
Reviews:
Shidake: Little Gray stealing is the cutest thing though. He was just hungry and had to live. As for stealing with Mira...that is a very bad idea though, I agree. Gray was probably missing a few brain cells at that moment.
ilftnatsu: I can't stop laughing at the idea of Laxus questioning about the pizza man. My goodness, that would be the funniest thing ever. XD
AngelEmCuti: Thank you! My friend and I had a rather difficult time figuring some things out with it! :)
Celestial Valkyrie: Thank you!
TigerArrowGirl: NaLu moments are the best. You have precisely twenty five chapters until you see Loke! :D