Twist of Fate

Chapter Thirty-Six: Natsu

I leaned against the wall beside the door, arms folded over my chest as I watched Wendy sleep. This child, this… innocent child who had absolutely no idea of what lay beyond the walls of this coven. She was smart, smarter than I had been at her age, but she still had this ideal that everything would be okay in the end; she didn't see the danger that was lurking just above her head.

"Get rid of her," Laxus had told me just before leaving. "Unless you want to involve a child in all of this. Do whatever it takes to make sure she stays away from here until we bring Lucy back."

That was easier said than done, I knew. Wendy wasn't going to just up and leave because I asked her to. She was worried about me, more so now that Lucy wasn't around to—

Protect me.

I sighed heavily at the thought as a sense of dread started to sweep over me. I didn't want to be protected anymore; I didn't want to need to be protected anymore! I was so tired of feeling weak and helpless. I couldn't keep doing this.

"Wendy." I shook the girl awake, ignoring the sleepy look in her eyes as she gazed up at me confusedly. It took her a moment to remember where she was; her eyes moved from me, to the room beyond, and back before understanding lit her features. Slowly, she sat up.

"What time is it, Natsu?" she asked through a yawn.

"It's time to go, Wendy," I said in as level a voice as I could manage.

Her little brows pulled together and she sat up straighter. "Go? Where are we going?"

"Not we, Wendy. You."

I felt her body jerk slightly in surprise. "Me? Why? What's going on?"

"I need you to leave now," I reiterated. "Go back to your room, Wendy."

She fixed me with a look. "Natsu, stop it. Why are you asking me to leave? Are you… are you worried about Lucy?"

"No," I lied, "I just… don't want you here."

Hurt flashed in her eyes, making me desperately want to take the words back—to hug her and tell her that I would never ever want her to leave—but, I knew Laxus was right. Wendy couldn't be involved in this, and if she knew what I was planning to do, she'd never let me leave.

"I-I don't believe you!" she cried. Tears pooled in her eyes. "Natsu, I don't want to go. I'm afraid something will happen to you if I leave you here alone. I can help you—"

"I don't want your help, Wendy." My voice was cold and distant. I tried to keep my expression indifferent, but I wasn't sure how well I was doing. My emotions were raging inside of me, screaming at me to stop being an ass to an innocent girl. I didn't have a choice right now, I couldn't let anything bad happen to Wendy, too. It was bad enough that Lucy was a prisoner of Saber-bitch, I'd be damned if I let anything like that happen to Wendy, too.

She flinched at my tone, or maybe it was the expression on my face. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she pushed from the bed and backed away from me with an expression of pure grief and betrayal.

God… This kid, as if she hasn't been through enough already. An orphaned child, left for dead in a burning cabin; turned into a vampire as a young child; so many lost memories and lost faces.

The betrayal on her face was nearly enough to make me throw myself at her feet and beg for her forgiveness. I wanted to cry, too, could feel the tears stinging my eyes and threatening to spill over.

"Y-You don't… want me here?" she choked out the words, still taking slow steps backward.

"No."

"But—"

"Wendy," I cut her off before I could hear anymore of her heartbreaking words, "I want. For you. To get. Out." I emphasized the words, making them sound cold and harsh.

She flinched and the pain I saw written so clearly across her face was like a punch to the gut. But she argued no further. She spun on her heel and was out of sight before I could so much as take a breath.

"God…" I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, feeling like the total asshole I was. If Lucy were here, she'd no doubt kill me for what I'd just done. But I didn't have a choice! It was the only way to make sure Wendy left and didn't return until I was no longer around. I needed her to be safe.

I stayed that way for a long time, not moving or feeling much of anything. My thoughts were solely on the mission at hand. Laxus would return from wherever the hell he was and then we'd hash out a plan to save Lucy. This would work out; this would be a success. We would save Lucy and then—

And then… what? Then life would go on as it had before? I couldn't hide anymore, not now. The whole coven didn't know about me yet, but it was surely only a matter of time before they did. The Council knew already, and once this mission was over with, I had no doubts they would either keep me as a food bank, or kick me to the curb. I honestly wasn't sure which option made me more afraid.

I sighed heavily and pushed to my feet. I paced the length of the room, muttering to myself about the absurdity of the whole situation—the unfairness of it all. I didn't know what sick plan fate had for stealing everyone I loved from me—Igneel, Lucy, and now Wendy. Anyone I ever cared about, eventually disappeared. Granted, Wendy was my fault, not fate's, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

Another hour went by before Laxus finally came pounding at my door, and when I opened it to let him in I nearly slammed it right back in his smug ass face.

"No," I said with finality before he had a chance to explain or make excuses, "not happening."

Laxus stood in the hall with the blue-haired bastard at his side, Jelless or whatever the hell his name was. Both held similar expressions of arrogance that made me want to burn them to a crisp just so I wouldn't have to look at them anymore.

"Shut up and move your dumb ass out of our way," Laxus ordered before shoving me aside and walking into the room. I scowled as the other one stepped in too with a nod in my direction. "Now, shall we begin?"

"I'm not working with him!" I exclaimed, jabbing a finger in the direction of the man standing near Laxus.

"Jellal is the best strategist we have," Laxus offered in his defense. "He'll be invaluable in this mission, so shut the hell up and let us make a plan to save your girlfriend."

Girlfriend.

The word sounded strange, hearing it aloud from the mouth of a vampire—and an arrogant asshole at that.

"Whatever," I mumbled grudgingly. I couldn't let my dislike toward cocky assholes keep me from getting Lucy back. If this Jellar was going to help us, then so be it. Whatever it took to save her, I'd do it in a heartbeat. "So, anyone got a plan, or what?"

"Yeah," Laxus replied in a deadpan, "you're vamp-bait."

"..." I waited for him to continue. He didn't. "That's it?! That's all you've got?!"

The bastard just shrugged.

"Maybe we can use you as a bargaining tool instead," Jellal suggested in a casual tone.

I gaped in disbelief. "Seriously?!"

"Cool it, pinky, we're not gonna do that." Laxus rolled his eyes. I sighed in relief. "No one wants your dumb ass back anyway."

I scowled. "Do we actually have a plan, or were you just shitting me earlier?"

"I might have a plan," Jellal offered before Laxus could speak. I made a 'by all means' gesture and he continued. "We use you as bait, as Laxus said, but you're not going into Sabertooth coven."

"Wait, what?!" I pushed off the wall I'd been leaning against. "What do you mean? I want to help!"

"And you will," he replied calmly, "from the safety of these walls." I scowled at that but he ignored me. "Natsu, you will stand on Sabertooth's side of the border and just…"

"Look delicious," Laxus filled in.

"That would be helpful," Jellal agreed.

Seriously? I thought. Look delicious? That's all?

"Seriously?" I asked aloud.

Jellal went on, ignoring me. "You will wait on their side of the border until one of them picks up your scent. Laxus and I will stay hidden on Fairy Tail's border until we either hear or see someone from Saber coming your way."

"At which point we will jump in and save your human ass from becoming vamp-chow," Laxus finished.

I scowled. "So I just stand there and wait for someone to smell me? That's your big plan?"

They both nodded.

"It's the best way to get inside," Jellal explained. "Once we have the Saber-vamp in our sights, we will threaten him until he agrees to take us inside."

"And then you'll…what, walk around and hope you stumble across Luce?" I asked incredulously. Surely they had a better plan than that.

Laxus rolled his eyes. "You dumbass. Did you forget that we have exceptional smell and hearing? We can smell Her Royal Highness from miles away. Especially now." He gave me a pointed look.

"What?" What did I do?

Jellal chuckled. "It's nearly impossible to tell the difference between Her Majesty and this boy, Laxus."

Laxus shook his head and folded his arms stubbornly across his chest. "Nah. I can tell the difference. This human smells nothing like Queenie."

"Perhaps your sense of smell is getting weak in your old age," Jellal offered in a mocking tone.

Laxus seethed. "Why, you piece of—"

"So!" I exclaimed loudly to cut off their banter. "You're going to just waltz in there and sniff out Lucy?"

"Yes," Jellal answered with a nod. "We will get to Lucy as fast as we can and get her back out, hopefully before anyone from Sabertooth realizes we're in there."

"Can you use whoever you threaten to get inside as a hostage?" I suggested.

Laxus snorted. "Sabertooth ain't like us, kid. Not one of them gives a shit if their own gets snatched or killed. The only thing they care about is making their coven bigger and badder. Their ultimate goal is to become number one."

"What's standing in their way?"

"We are," Jellal answered with a vague gesture around the room.

Oh. Right.

So Fairy Tail was the top dog—er, vamp—and Sabertooth wanted to overtake them. It made sense, somewhat, why Minerva would be especially angry that their Queen had taken me in. I knew without a doubt that the main reason Minerva wanted me back was more out of a perverse need to have absolute control. If Lucy had me, then she couldn't control her or me. Minerva hated feeling out of control. I'd learned that fast while living with her.

I recalled how her father had turned up that last day and tried to kill me. The way he'd spoken to her… I'd never seen another vampire talk to the Queen that way. I almost pitied her in that moment—almost. Her dad was a scary dude… I didn't think anyone deserved to be treated like that, even someone as evil as Minerva. Maybe she was the way that she was because of how she'd been brought up. If she grew up with a demon father, it was no wonder she turned out just as bad.

Even so, that was no excuse to take it out on innocent people—like me and Luce. And if it came down to it, I'd choose Lucy over her in a second. Even if I have to go straight through Minerva to get to her.

"...hear what I said, idiot?" Laxus was saying.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts from my head. "What?"

"He said you'd better not follow us inside Sabertooth if you value your pathetic human soul," Jellal repeated helpfully.

"..."

"Yeah, so don't even fucking think about," Laxus warned.

They want me to sit back and wait for them to rescue Lucy. How the fuck am I supposed to do that? I can't just wait around for them and hope for the best! I have to do something; I have to save her.

"Hey, Nalu—"

"Natsu," I corrected automatically.

"—I can see the idiotic thoughts churning in that dumbass brain of yours," Laxus said, "so just rewind those thoughts, and reset your brain. Your only job is to attract Sabertooth onto the surface. Once we step in, you leave. Run your happy ass back to the coven and fucking stay there. We'll take care of the rest."

"You… want me to stay at your coven?" I asked in disbelief. "Even though I'm a human?"

"Tch. I don't want you to," Laxus corrected, "but Queenie will cut my head off if I just let you go."

"Oh, so you're afraid of hurting our darling Queen's feelings," Jellal quipped, smirking.

Laxus balled his hands into fists. "Say one more word, Blue!"

Jellal's smirk grew, but he said no more.

Stay behind like a fucking coward… I thought as the two argued around me. If something happens to Luce because I was too chicken-shit to go in and fight for her, I'd never forgive myself. I have to do something.

But what if I just get in the way and screw everything up for them?

Or, maybe the Saber-vamps will be attracted to my scent and they'll come find me, leaving Laxus and Jellal alone to find and rescue Lucy.

Then again, Laxus and Jellal could smell me too and that would ruin everything…

Gah!

My thoughts were spinning, unable to come to any solution that would help. I couldn't sit back and just hope that everything would be okay, but I couldn't just rush in there, either.

Maybe…

Yes! I knew what to do. I would give them an hour to go in and find Lucy, and if they weren't back by then I'd go in myself. Of course, I would keep this change of plan to myself, in case they decided not to let me help at all.

"What time do we meet?" I asked.

Jellal was the one who answered. "Tomorrow night, just after sunset. That's when we get our Queen back."

A/N: Dun dun dun~ XD So everyone has been so quiet lately! Where is everyone?! Hiding? Lost? Mad at me for all the cliffhangers? Don't be mad, all! You gotta let me know your thoughts on this one. What do you think is going down? Can anyone predict the end? It's drawing near, folks! Maybe 15-20 more chapters left, give or take. It's inevitable, guys. It has to happen. BUT... actually, no, that's top secret information *seals lips* I plead the fifth! XD Anyway, some feedback would be awesome, so let me know what you think and how you're all doing!