Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Fairy Tail whatsoever. That being said, welcome to the newest chapter of this story. Enjoy!

P.S: Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews. I appreciate it! It's nice to see that there's an interest in this story. It really does make me happy, because I enjoy working on this.

A/N: I rewrote this chapter because I read the original version later and ended up not liking how it was flowing. So enjoy Chapter 25 of Unwritten: Version 2.

Lucy's eyes fluttered opened as she found herself regaining consciousness. She felt a throbbing pain in her stomach and a pinch on her cheek. She groaned and sat up slowly. She looked down and saw blood on her clothing. Lucy frowned as she gently touched the wound, she had definitely been stabbed. The celestial wizard brought her hand to her right cheek and gently traced the short line. She had been cut there too.

After determining that those were her only wounds, she got to her feet while clutching her stomach. Her restraints had somehow been undone thankfully.

What happened to her? What happened to Natsu?

As if on cue, she heard someone wimpering. She turned around and saw Dimaria hunched over against the wall. Lucy gasped as she gazed as the wizard who had threatened her. Dimaria had wounds all over her body and her clothing had been torn.

"M-Monster."

Wait did she say something?

"M-monster."

"Monster?" Lucy asked. Whatever had attacked Dimaria most likely attacked Lucy as well. It was just that Dimaria hurt way worse than she was. The question is where was Natsu? Lucy didn't see him anywhere.

"C-could move...freely….h-hadn't seen anything like it….E.N.D…"

Lucy's eyes widened, Natsu was in danger. Whoever had attacked them probably kidnapped him. There was no way that...that Natsu himself….could...he was unconscious. Before she could put anymore thought into the situation, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and saw Happy flying towards her. He went right into her arms and Lucy hugged him back despite grimacing from the pain. He gasped and pulled away.

"Lucy you're hurt," He cried, panic written all over his face as he focused on the wound on her stomach.

"Honestly, it looks worse than it feels," She replied. That was not entirely the truth, but why make the exceed more upset?

"Lucy!" She looked up and saw Porlyusica heading towards them. She was being followed by Evergreen and Brandish. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the green haired wizard.

She's okay, thank goodness.

Porlyusica examined Lucy and pulled out some bandages.

"Alright child, stay still while I bandage you up," She commanded. Lucy did what she was told.

"We need to put this restraints on Mari as soon as possible," Brandish instructed. "She can stop time, which makes fighting her quite troublesome."

"I knew it was a good idea to grab these," Evergreen said as she pulled out some magic restraints and put them on Dimaria.

"What exactly happened here?" She asked when she was done.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Lucy answered. "I remember being captured with Natsu and….wait…" It came back to her in a flash.

"What is it?" Happy asked.

"She cut my cheek and then stabbed me," Lucy recounted. "Everything went black after that but I remember that now. Which means that…..Natsu…..no way." She looked back over at Dimaria. Could the monster she was talking about be…..

"Lucy, do you recall the tumor that formed within Natsu?" Porlyusica had finished treating Lucy's wounds and now faced her.

"Yes."

"Well, at the time I was under the impression that it was an anti-ethernano tumor that had developed due to Natsu overexerting his magic power," Porlyusica explained. "However, it turns out that it was something entirely different. Even I cannot determine just what exactly it is, but in response to this girl returning the tumor to its former size it is likely that it was awaken."

"What do you mean by it?" Lucy asked.

"A sinister, demonic power," Porlyusica replied.

"E.N.D," Happy stated. Lucy looked over at the exceed and they stared at each other for a moment.

"We have to go find him."

Natsu was burning.

It felt like his whole body was about to go up in flames the inside out.

As he took each step, his mind seemed to shut off more and more. He was losing control. He was losing his mind.

"Hey Natsu! Mirajane just put the Fairy Tail mark on my hand!"

"Thanks for everything Natsu."

"I'm just glad you're here."

Lucy…

Thinking about her only intensified the fire. It made whatever was trying to come out of him push harder. He felt the his hands become the claws of a dragon and scales appeared up his arms.

"AHHHHHH!" Natsu roared as fire encompassed his body.

He didn't deserve to love her.

He had failed her.

He had lost her.

Nothing would ever be the same again and it was all because of him.

"Zeref."

Natsu stopped as when he saw a figure standing in his path. It wasn't just any figure.

It was Gray.

"Move," Natsu demanded. The ice make wizard just stood there with the coldest look on his face.

"Is this the real you?" Gray asked. "Were you E.N.D this whole time?"

He didn't have time for stupid questions like this.

"Get out the way Gray."

"Answer me Natsu!"

"My name is Zeref Dragneel and I am your brother Natsu."

Zeref.

"Natsu."

Zeref.

"Natsu."

"Zeref," Natsu roared again and it shook the area surrounding them.

"You're so far gone, I don't think that my voice can ever reach you anymore," Gray commented. "Who knew? Who knew that my greatest rival was right next to me this entire time?" The ice make wizard balled up his fists.

"My parents and Ur are all dead because of Zeref's demons," Gray said. "Now even Juvia is too. W-who's next Natsu? Tell me! You're apart of that group. Who are you going to kill? Erza? Happy? Lucy-"

"Shut up!" Fire shot through the ground towards Gray, dodged it. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he began laughing maniacally as black markings appeared over half of his body.

"Well, I guess the line's been drawn," He concluded. "Don't worry Natsu, I'm going to make sure that I stop you dead in your tracks." He shot an attack which Natsu met. As soon as they collided, the area them blew apart as if hit by an explosion.

Nothing mattered anymore.

It didn't matter if this was his childhood friend.

All that mattered was killing the emperor.

All that mattered was killing Zeref.

After tying the laces on her boots, Lucy stood up.

"Alright, I'm going to find Natsu," She said. "Are you ready Happy?"

Her friend nodded, "Aye!"

"Be careful." She looked up and saw Brandish standing there.

"Thanks, you too." She then turned and hustled up the steps with Happy.

Her wounds still hurt, but they weren't as painful as they were before. Porlyusica had given her a magic solution that she had on-hand to reduce the pain. It wasn't much compared to what she could do if they were in the infirmary, but it was enough to get Lucy moving again and she was grateful for it.

She was worried, no doubt about that. A strange demonic power had taken over Natsu. She kept envisioning him hurting himself or someone else out there.

Suddenly, they were hit with a blinding light that was there and gone in one moment.

"What was that?" Happy asked when they came to their senses.

"I have no idea," Lucy answered, but for some reason she had a bad feeling about it. They carried on running.

"Lucy look!" Happy had flown up to get a better look and Lucy followed his gaze.

She gasped, "Oh no." They were still a little further away, but there was no doubt about it. She saw Natsu, he was fighting….

Gray.

It didn't look like their normal fighting either. No, it looked like they were actually trying to kill each other. Without thinking, Lucy took off running.

"Lucy wait-"

"Natsu," She called as she ran towards them. Natsu knocked Gray with a ball of flames through two walls.

"Natsu stop!" Lucy yelled as loud as she could and in that moment Natsu Dragneel stopped. He turned around and saw her. That's when she really saw how much his appearance had changed. He still had his pink hair, clothing, and scarf. Now, his eyes were a dark red and his arms were like the claws of a dragon. His body was patterned with scales. They didn't completely encompass his body, but they were present.

Still, that look on his face. That was Natsu, that was her Natsu.

"Lu-"

"Gray wait!" A beam of ice shot and hit Natsu square in the back of his head. Lucy felt herself being lifted into the air.

"Happy!"

"Lucy, we need to get out of the way!"

"But they're...someone has to stop them."

"I know!" They watched in horror as the area quickly became engulfed with flames and ice again.

No! No! No! What do we do?

That's when the attacks stopped and Lucy's eyes widened.

"Erza?" The scarlet haired Fairy Tail member was now standing in between them. She couldn't hear what was being said due to being too far up, but soon enough their friend pulled them in for a hug. She then let them both go.

"Happy, we can go down now," Lucy prompted and the exceed brought them to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the surface, Lucy ran straight for Natsu and grabbed him as he fell. She looked at his face, he was back to normal. His eyes were no longer red and there were no scales on his body. His hands had even turned back to normal as well. Lucy watched as he looked up at her in wonder.

"Lucy?" At the sound of his voice, she could feel a tear roll down her face.

"It's me," She said with a smile on her face. He lifted his hand and gently touched the bandaged cut on her cheek.

"Really you?" She put her hand over his.

"It's really me," She answered. "You sure do know how to make a girl worry you idiot." She saw a hint of a smile on his face.

"L-"

"Natsu!" Happy jumped right onto his best friend and gave him a huge hug.

"I'm so happy you're okay," He cried. Natsu chuckled before his eyes finally closed.

"Natsu?" She sighed, "Well, I guess it's to be expected." She picked him up and put his arm over her shoulder. Juvia, Wendy, and Carla had joined them as well. Though, Juvia seemed to now be apart of the injured along with Gray and Natsu.

"We should take them back to Porlyusica," Lucy suggested. Everyone agreed and the two exceeds grabbed the other two injured.

Erza gasped, "Everyone get down!" They were thrown backwards by a huge explosion. When the dust and debris cleared, a woman appeared in front of them. She had long red hair and a giant staff of some sort. Lucy spied the Alvarez empire insignia on her outfit.

"It's been far too long Erza," She stated. Lucy looked over at Erza.

"Do you know her?"

"I don't," She answered before addressing the woman. "Who are you?"

She smiled, "I am you and you are me."

Erza frowned, "No idea what you're talking about."

"Guys, get Gray, Natsu, and Juvia to safety," Erza instructed.

"Got it," Lucy said as she stood back up with Natsu. Happy had Gray while Carla picked up Juvia.

"What are you going to do?" Carla asked.

"I plan on confirming the true meaning of this woman's words," Erza replied as she prepared herself.

"And I'll lend you a hand," Wendy said. The group broke apart and the injured were brought to Porlyusica. Brandish got started on shrinking wounds.

"Gray and Juvia are going to be fine," Porlyusica informed them. "Despite severe external injuries. In Juvia's case, we have Wendy to thank."

"The problem lies with Natsu doesn't it?" Carla guessed. Porlyusica looked over at Brandish.

"The mass inside his body has become impossible for me to alter with my magic," Brandish explained. "It is a powerful something that has completely transcended my own magic power."

"It's ability to move even while suspended, the pure, unbridled aggression with its killing intent laid bare," Porlyusica continued. "The likes of this is beyond my abilities as well. There's absolutely nothing I can do." Lucy took in their words.

"That thing is a demon, there's no other way to describe it." Lucy had almost forgotten that she was there as well.

"Don't talk about him like that," Lucy stated. "You're wrong." Dimaria lifted her head.

"Do you even know anything about him?"

"I know more about him than the likes of you ever could," Lucy countered.

Dimaria chuckled, "So naive. People don't know as much about the ones around them as they think. Everyone has hidden sides, even the ones you consider precious friends and comrades. Isn't that right Randi?" Brandish glared at her.

Lucy frowned, "That may be true, but Natsu has no hidden sides. He is violent, reckless, and generally uncooperative. Yet he's as straightforward and honest as they come. That's why I believe he has no hidden sides. He was the impetus of me joining Fairy Tail"

"She's head over heels in love with him Brandish," Evergreen commented.

"What! No I'm not," Lucy argued.

"Wait they're not already together? I assumed from the way they've acted that they were already shacked up," Brandish stated.

"Yeah, we all thought that they would get it on event-"

"Can you two please be quiet?" Lucy asked louder than she meant to.

"Sorry." Lucy sighed and looked down at Natsu. What were the going to do?

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Everyone paused when they heard someone walking down the steps. A woman dressed in blue and white robes stood in front of them. She was wearing a high collared cloak and her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail.

She looked around, "Oh good, it looks like I'm right on time." Lucy's mouth dropped.

"It's you."