Hey everyone! It's me, Mslead! I'm back! I hope you all behaved for Kytrin while I was gone! I'm actually glad I managed to make it back to see these last couple of chapters posted onto the site! She's done such an incredible job keeping the schedule up! I can't stress enough how much of a good job she's done. Without her, this story wouldn't have been up at all even with all the chapters pre-written!

Only three more chapters left guys!

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CHAPTER 45


Basilisk

In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk (/ˈbæsɪlɪsk/ or /ˈbæzɪlɪsk/, from the Greek βασιλίσκος basilískos, "little king;" Latin regulus) is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power to cause death with a single glance.


Gray panted harshly as he gripped the side of the nearest building tightly, and tried to force his vision to stop swimming so he could keep moving forward. He had to tell Lucy. And Erza.

He groaned as his knees buckled a little and he leaned against the same building he'd been holding onto. Whatever that demoness bitch had done to him had faded after he didn't even know how long, but he was still badly shaking from the after effects of it, and he suspected it was only willpower that had kept him upright since he'd come to.

"Are you alright sir?"

He blinked and looked over to see one of Lucy's new Knights staring at him in genuine worry. He couldn't remember the kid's name off hand, though he vaguely recalled he was a snow manipulator of some kind.

"Not even close." He rasped, "One of the Gates attacked. They've kidnapped Natsu. I need to tell Lucy..."

The knight's eyes widened at the information and in a flash he had one of Gray's arms over his shoulders and his hand curled around Gray's waist, "Where would Commander Heartfilia be now sir?"

Gray grinned somewhat grimly, and gave his directions.

"That's too far away for you to get there in this condition." The knight protested and Gray suddenly found himself being moved into a new set of arms as the knight passed him to his partner, "Take Captain Fullbuster to the hospital." He ordered, "I'll alert Commander Heartfilia."

Gray wasn't even given a chance to protest that he wasn't a Captain anymore before the knight ran off.

Meanwhile, Lucy was beginning to get worried. The party had dimmed about an hour after Natsu and Gray had left when it became clear they were taking too long.

Natsu normally could handle a quick sweep by himself. And there was nothing that would make him take this long. Especially not on their wedding day.

Something wasn't right.

Lucy stood up, gathering her dress around her hands, "I don't like this." She told Erza, "They've never taken this long before."

"Agreed," Erza nodded towards Mirajane, "We shall go investigate and drag them both back by their hair if need be."

Lucy stood up, letting her stardress quickly take over as her wedding dress faded away, "If you think I'm going to let to let you leave without me, that's not going to happen!"

Erza frowned as Lucy adjusted the bell to her Taurus stardress, but just before she could open her mouth to argue, the decision was made for the whole guild as the door burst open.

"Commander Heartfilia!" Eve exclaimed as he leaned against the doorframe to catch his breath, "It's Tartaros! They attacked and kidnapped Natsu and left Captain Fullbuster in bad shape!"

"What?" Lucy and Erza exclaimed at the same time.

"The attack must've been a lure." Erza growled, "They knew Natsu would come to defend the walls."

"That's nice to know, but we have to go after him!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We will." Jellal said firmly and locked gazes with Eve, "Rouse the council and muster the Knights as well as the guilds. It's time to put an end to this war permanently."

Eve saluted and sprinted off.

"Jellal..." Lucy started but he dropped a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you're worried, and you have every right to be, but an hour of co-ordination and preparation now could mean the difference between rescuing him and losing not only him but everything we fought for so far."

Lucy bit her lip. She didn't like it, but she knew he was right. They'd been preparing for this all year. There were plans and contingencies in place. Not activating them now would be the height of recklessness and could cost them everything.

She looked over her shoulder, where a pale looking Sting was trying to comfort his frightened sister. Her heart clenched at the sight, and she remembered with too much vividness that they had lost Natsu to the demons once already.

They all had to keep their heads. But how could they find him?

Natsu was on a floating airship getting further by the moment.

How could they hope to find Natsu when they didn't even know where Tartaros was taking him?

Unless...

Unless they could figure out where to go before them.

"Lucy?" Levy asked, seeing the fierceness entering her friends expression, "What're you thinking?"

Lucy looked at Levy, licking her lips and her heart racing. She didn't have a plan yet, but she knew Natsu better than anyone.

If Tartaros knew something about Natsu and where to take him, then she would too.

"I need your help and the notes we excavated on Natsu's tomb," Lucy pleaded with Levy. She grabbed her friends hand and looked up at Jellal, "We'll meet up with everyone soon!"

"Lucy! Wait where are we going?" Levy demanded.

Lucy didn't respond as she dragged Levy out, leaving the bewildered guild behind in her wake.

"Just hang on Natsu. Fight," She whispered, "Fight until we get there."

-::-

Flying somewhere above Fiore, Natsu groaned, a flood of liquid filling his lungs. He coughed and spluttered, but quickly realized he was totally submerged.

He opened his eyes, catching sight of his reflection in a tube. Natsu recognized where he was, and his fingers twitched at the thick tubes and fleshy cords twisting around his body.

His eyes flared, feeling etherious and demon particles flowing through his body. The pulse of heat that moved through him made him feel sick, but it was only because he remembered waking up in a tube like this before.

This was their regeneration chamber. It seemed they wanted to make him a willing puppet. Not that it would really help them. The only one who could control him was Lucy.

But whatever they were pouring into him definitely made him feel on edge. A little too close to his demon roots.

That could have interesting effects. Interesting enough he wasn't sure what the effects might be. He was absolutely certain that as long as Lucy was alive his wife could control him, and he could never harm her, but that was the only thing he could be certain of.

Unfortunately, he wasn't together enough yet to actually yank out the tubes and break out. Kyoka had not held back once they'd made it back to Tartaros for his mocking insults about Zeref.

He actually wasn't sure how he was still in possession of his wits all things considered. Maybe Mardy had stopped her after he'd passed out?

It wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. They couldn't damage him but so much until they found their precious creator. Not that they knew about the consequences of that, and they probably wouldn't care if they did. He knew for a fact they were all convinced of their superiority to pretty much everyone except Zeref.

The odds of them believing a 'mere' golem could destroy them were slim to none.

He flexed his fingers a little, trying to test his movement, and felt a surge of relief hit him when they responded. Good. He was recovering then. A little more and he would be able to break out. Hopefully.

He had no interest in a reunion with Zeref, and even less of a desire to see Acnologia again.

He just hoped that whatever they were doing to track them down through him was difficult to work with. Because if he wasn't able to escape he would need every second for his angry wife and nest to catch up and rescue him.

He let out a sudden shudder when his magic suddenly surged, the etherious in his system lighting him up like a torch. His mouth dropped open, a grunting snarl barely escaping his chest.

It was smother by the liquid he was submerged in, as his body twisted of its own accord in the tank. His heart gave a frightened lurch over the spasms.

They didn't hurt, but he hated not having control over his body for even a second.

Slowly, his wings began to force their way out of his back, painfully adjusting bone and muscle before he forced himself to relax and let the transformation instinctively take over.

His tail slithered out, and Natsu was grateful for Tartaros penchant of stripping their victims naked for a moment. That would have been uncomfortable to say the least.

He glared at his reflection, his full, spiraling markings spreading over his cheeks and neck, curling over his shoulders and just past his collarbone.

They intentionally pushed him into his demonic form. But why?

The answer came moments later as the door slid open and Mard Geer prowled inside with Kyoka and that irritating little brat Lamy.

"Ah, look who is awake." Mard Geer purred as Natsu glared furiously at him, "And with so much more vigor than before. It's hard to believe you are the failed creation of our master."

Natsu couldn't speak, so he settled for baring his fangs at the other demon.

"Mmmmmmm... quite a temper you seem to have developed there Natsu." Mard Geer smirked as he stepped up to Natsu's tube and studied his tattoos with interest, "We shall have to work on adjusting that."

Natsu's tail lashed threateningly, but Mard Geer ignored it in favor of studying the markings intently, "Lamy I want pictures of all the markings."

"Yes sir!" Lamy crowed eagerly, and Natsu had to fight back the urge to shudder at the leer she sent him. Her looks were even creepier than his memories let on.

"No doubt you're wondering just what your markings have to do with anything." Mard Geer smirked, somehow looking down his nose despite being below Natsu's level, "The answer is... nothing really. At least not ordinarily. However, Zeref was clever enough to embed a spell into your markings so they could be used to locate him. You should be proud. You're finally going to serve a more useful purpose in bringing our master back."

Natsu's eyes went wide, his eyes scattering down to his arms where he could see them floating beside him. His markings...? All demons had markings in one way or another. Even the etherious ones of Tartaros. Although Natsu had to admit, his were a bit more obvious than the normal ones.

Were they really a way of locating Zeref?

In his heart, he knew it was true. It was a cold certainty that rocked him to the core of his being.

He knew that, just as much as he knew Mard Geer would have everything he needed to find Zeref - and by extension, Acnologia.

He had to escape. He had to stop him before he made a horrible mistake.

Natsu's hand balled into a fist and he reared it back, slamming his knuckles straight into the tube wall. A long crack splintered down the side, the thick liquid he was suspended in began to ooze down the side.

"Kyoka," Mard Geer commanded sharply.

At once, Natsu's mind began to fill and cloud over with pain, his nerves twisting into knots as he felt like holes were being blown through his body. For every pulse of the particles and etherious running through him, it was like shrapnel was being fed through his veins.

Kyoka's magic was fierce, causing his body unimaginable sensation as he gasped, choked, and gargled in his tank.

His vision began to fade once more, his mind retreating away from the pain dominating it.

Until all he could see was blackness.

-::-

Meanwhile, back in Magnolia, Lucy frowned as she poured over Levy's notes, "There's something I'm not seeing." She grumbled, "But it's right in front of me. I know it."

"Well, let's try taking a step back." Levy suggested, "What do you know right now?"

Lucy took a deep breath and set the papers down, "I know that there's something about Natsu the demons have been after that will lead them to Zeref. Based on Natsu's memories, I think it has something to do with him being a golem. Zeref specifically mentioned when he sealed Natsu away that he would be able to find him."

She tapped the pictures Levy had gotten of Natsu's markings, "I think it has something to do with the markings on him. Those are the only thing he shares in common with Acnologia besides being a dragon. The problem is, I can't work out the connection between the two."

Levy frowned a little, "Well, if you think the markings are important, maybe they give some indication of where Zeref is?"

Lucy frowned, "But Natsu had the markings from the beginning. They weren't added later."

"No." Levy agreed, "But they wouldn't have to be. Zeref is an unparalleled script mage. If you assume the markings represent the spell script bringing Natsu to life, then as long as you knew how they were written it would be easy to adjust them to contain other information too."

Lucy blinked at that, "Could he have turned Natsu's markings into a map of some kind?"

"It's a possibility," Levy said after a moment, "If they were a map though, they would only fully emerge in his full demonic state - which would explain why they would need him."

Levy huffed as she rifled through their papers and maps from the old temple. She pulled out a worn map, which was the one she had used to find Natsu's tomb to begin with.

"Now this map is one from four hundred years ago. Natsu's time when he was enslaved to the demons," Levy waved the worn parchment in front of Lucy's face before unrolling it and placing a translucent, modern map directly on top of it.

"I was able to guess where Zeref originally put Natsu by this, and find out where Natsu's tomb was depending on moving terrain and just the environment changing." Levy hummed and twisted the map around.

"It can't be as simple as laying Natsu's markings down on top of this map, is it?" Lucy asked quietly.

Levy shrugged and shook her head.

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" she asked.

Lucy grinned fiercely at her friend and quickly shuffled the images, thankful Natsu's markings had been transcribed to a similar translucent sheet as well. She aligned them carefully, and her eyes widened.

"Levy... am I seeing that correctly?" She asked in a whisper.

"I... I think you might be. Align the modern map with it too?"

in: Lucy nodded and overlaid the modern map on top of the other two, "Gods..." She breathed, "It's Galuna Island. That marking on Natsu looks exactly like Galuna Island."

"And look there!" Levy exclaimed, "The lines around it flow towards a specific point on Galuna!"

"The temple." Lucy whispered, "It has to be. The demons there said that Galuna still had an ancient holy temple there. They couldn't visit it because they weren't strong enough to penetrate its magic, but I doubt passive magic that old would keep out Zeref or his high level demons!"

She looked up excitedly, "And didn't the demons mention there was an underground network of caves and waterways underneath it?"

"They did!" Levy grinned as she continued to study the map for other clues, "And look here and here." She gestured to other portions, "These markings fit perfectly for what would've been landmarks at the time! Straight from where we found Natsu to Galuna!"

Lucy felt hope surge in her. They'd unlocked Natsu's markings. It seemed so simple now, and she had to wonder why they'd never made the connection before.

Part of her wanted to be wary. They couldn't afford to get this wrong. Not even a little bit. But there wasn't time to double and triple check. They would have to trust their feelings on this, and her gut told her this was the answer.

She looked at Levy who seemed to understand the conflict she felt, and nodded firmly, "I think this is it Lucy. The odds of it being anything else are too low."

Lucy took a steadying breath and nodded as she got up, "Let's tell Jellal and Erza then."


30 REVIEWS EQUALS A SNEAK PEEK!

She froze, not only at the sight of Mard Geer's back to her, but the large tomb beyond him that probably contained Zeref himself.

Her blood ran cold as she realized that Mard Geer was busy performing a ritual that would wake up the darkest wizard in history, his darkest creation, and turn them both loose on the world.

They didn't have much time.

She glanced over at Natsu, who had spotted her and was staring at her in mingled surprise and delight. She lifted her finger to her lips. She raised her whip and cracked it down sharply, "Earth Wave!