Just reminder, because things are going to start getting weird really now, that this is an AU mix of FT and the real world and something of my own design. Also, I know very little about the Spriggans, so when they show up, I'm going to do my best to try and write them in character, but I haven't seen any episodes with them, so it's going to be a lot of guesswork.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
"You're awfully tense," Levy pointed out. Lucy was standing next to her, waving as the FairyTail bus finally pulled away.
Lucy didn't respond. Instead she watched the bus disappear into the trees as she thought about the conversation she'd had with the master.
"My child, is it okay if we talk?"
Lucy turned away from Dragneel as she finished reactivating the runes on his enclosure. "Hello, Master. Of course we can talk."
Makarov smiled as he turned and led the way through the shed. "It's about what happened last night."
"Oh, Master, please, I don't want to talk about," Lucy rushed to say. "I'm not upset with Cana, either, so please don't yell at her on my behalf."
"I've already spoken with her. I only reminded her that she should not judge you for still believing in your partner. Our guild was built on love and trust." He gave her a fond smile. "I have to say I am rather proud of you, actually. That you still believe in Natsu even after all this time."
"Master?"
"Natsu has gotten into more than his share of fights and been pitted against more powerful wizards than himself. It's hard to think that anything could defeat him."
"I don't think there's anything that could," Lucy said. "At least, not completely. He's always found a way to overcome any obstacle, eventually."
Makarov hummed a little in response. "There is one thing I'd like to warn you against, Lucy."
"What's that, Master?"
"I can respect that you have faith he will still return. Some days, I find myself thinking that it will be the day that Natsu walks through the front door of the guild, with his usual call of 'I'm back!' as though nothing has happened." He paused just before they made it to the door and looked up. "A part of me hopes, and still expects, that he will return, same as you.
"However, I am not holding my breath, waiting for that day." He looked at her sternly. "I would encourage you to do the same. Continue to believe in him, continue to hope that he will return, because someday he might. Just do not allow that hope to stop you from living your life. There is always the chance that he won't return, Lucy, and I do not want you to have wasted your life waiting for something that isn't coming, alright?
"I am proud of the work you are doing out here. As proud as I am of all my children, perhaps even more because you are doing it with so little help. Be that as it may," he added as he finished making his way to the door and outside, "remember that you have a life to live. Helping others is a worthwhile endeavor, but you must remember to do something for yourself as well. Whether that is visiting us, writing, finding other jobs or hobbies to entertain yourself- just remember to make time for yourself, alright?"
Lucy agreed to make sure she did, and Makarov gave her a smile as he squeezed her hand, the one with her FairyTail emblem. "And remember to come visit your family, alright?"
"Lucy?"
"Sorry." Lucy turned towards Levy. "Just got distracted." She pushed herself away from the railing. "Juvia is ready to leave. I'm going to get a transport set up for her tomorrow."
"Lucy-"
"I'll probably also going to set one up for Gray as-"
"Lucy." Levy moved in front of her friend and crossed her arms. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something has been bothering you all day. What is it?" Levy placed a hand on her arm. "Don't lie and tell me everything is fine, either."
Once she was sure the bus was gone, she turned towards Levy. "Dragneel's owner called."
Levy frowned. "What did he say?"
"Well…" Lucy blew out a breath. "He said he's coming to pick up Dragneel tonight and vaguely threatened me if I followed through with starting up an investigation into the dragon's treatment."
Levy's frown deepened. "He actually threatened you? What a jerk!"
"Levy…" Lucy looked away, towards where Dragneel was still in his enclosure. "I believe him. I believe he will do whatever he has to to get Dragneel back."
Levy watched her friend begin to descend the steps and walk towards the shed. "So what are you going to do?" she asked. The blonde didn't respond right away.
They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds in the yard coming from where Yukino was with her drakes.
"I can't just give him back," Lucy whispered. "And after finding out that he's somehow connected to Igneel…" She sighed. "I'm worried, though. He's going to show up tonight, and I don't know how many more of those 'employees' of his he's going to bring. I'm afraid…" Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked around. "I'm afraid of what he'll do to this place."
Levy grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Lu, he's not going to get the dragon, and he certainly won't wreck this place, I promise. You'll have me and Gajeel both here to help. And Erza promised to be here as well, remember? Her and Jellal were part of your team, they'd never abandon you at a time like this."
"I know, but Erza didn't know he'd be showing up early. They're not coming until tomorrow."
Levy flushed as she looked away. "Actually, she was planning on showing up tonight." She shrugged when Lucy looked at her with confusion. "She said she wanted to spend some time with you. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I feel like I should tell you now."
Lucy sighed. "Knowing that does make me feel a bit better, thank you."
"As for the others." Levy grinned and threaded her arm through Lucy's. "Who can honestly stand up against a dragonslayer's mate, let alone two?"
Lucy laughed, feeling a bit better. "I suppose you're right. And Dragneel has a say in who he stays with." They began to move forward again. "Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure he'll choose me." She thought about that look she'd seen in the dragon's eyes earlier in the day, but chose to ignore it. "Come on, let's go let him out. And Juvia and Gray, too. Might as well let them stretch out a bit since they're leaving tomorrow."
"Lucy?"
"Yeah?"
Levy squeezed her hand once more. "It's going to be okay."
Lucy smiled and squeezed Levy's hand before releasing it. "I know."
"Just out of curiosity," Levy continued, "why didn't you tell the guild? If they'd known, I bet every one of them would have stayed to help you."
The blonde shook her head. "It's not their fight, even if they are family. Plus," she gave her friend a wry smile, "if they were involved, my entire property would be destroyed." Levy gave her a weak smile in return, but before she could argue further, she was interrupted.
There was a sudden pop and Leo, in his regular form, landed on his feet in front of her. "Damn it, why is it also so uncomfortable when he does that?" he groaned as he leaned over to plant his hands on his knees.
"Leo?" Lucy put her hands on his shoulders to help steady him. "What are you doing here? Like this? I didn't summon you."
"I know." He straightened himself with a hiss. "Gah, I'm glad I don't have to do this much."
"Leo!"
"Sorry Lucy, but it's not fun being sent here by the king. It's different when we're summoned, or we come on our own, or open our own gate. It's a heck of a lot more uncomfortable when he does it."
Lucy stared at him in shock. "The Spirit King? Why did he send you?"
"To warn you." He was honestly relieved to see Levy standing at his master's side. "You're in trouble, Lucy."
"What? Why? What did I do?"
"You've pissed off the wrong person," he answered. "I'm afraid you're going to need some help with that dragon's owner."
Lucy felt her stomach drop. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he won't be persuaded with pretty words to leave the beast here. You're going to need help against him, Lucy." His mouth thinned. "He's the black wizard Zeref, the one who supposedly died years ago."
"What?" both girls shouted at the same time.
"That's not the worst part," Leo said. "He's also the father of some of the most destructive and evil demons to ever walk this earth."
"What?! How is- that's not-" Lucy couldn't seem to find the right words to ask what she wanted to know.
"The spirits have had to fight against him before, and the king has worked to try and prevent his creations from roaming around in the past, but we had no idea that he was still around.
"We've sealed away most of the demons he created a long time ago. They were experiments, and he didn't seem to care that we'd taken them. He only cared that we tried to punish him for creating such creatures. He's crafty, and we weren't ever able to catch him. After all this time, we thought he had died.
"I went to try and investigate the place that the dragon came from and found out that that wasn't true, and now I'm worried because he seems to still be experimenting. We haven't had any other problems with demons, so I'm guessing he got better at disposing of them once he was done."
"I… don't even know how he'd go about doing that," Lucy said.
"It's not important right now. What is, is that he appears to have been trying to combine his demons with other creatures."
Lucy's heart sank. "Like Dragneel."
"Yes." Leo hesitated, but then continued. "Lucy, he has complete control over the demons he creates, so any creature that he combines with a demon would similarly be under his control." The look he gave her felt like a warning.
"You think he can control Dragneel," Lucy said, figuring out what he wasn't saying.
"Yes. Even if you want him to stay, even if he wants to stay, all Zeref has to do is speak to the demon in him, however he does that, and that dragon would die for Zeref without so much as blinking."
Levy clenched her fists. "What can we do?"
"I don't think we can do anything," Leo said honestly. "If Dragneel is here when Zeref comes, he will either take his dragon and leave, or he will fight, and he will destroy you and this place for going against him." He frowned. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but this isn't a battle you can win."
Anger flashed through Lucy, and she lifted her chin. "That won't stop me from trying."
"Lucy-"
"Leo, I can't just let that man come take Natsu away."
Leo's heart skipped a beat. "Lucy, that's not Natsu." He thought back to the bodies he'd found in that lab, to the small box of clothes he'd found that had smelled of Natsu. The smell had been old, years old, and with no other living specimen in the basement, he'd realized that Natsu must have been used and discarded among the other subjects. "And… I think you should know that Natsu is gone."
Lucy's heart stuttered. "What?" she whispered.
"Zeref… I think Zeref started that rumor about him having a brother. I don't know if it's true or not- I mean with what happened with the dragons, it's possible- but I know Natsu went to where he is." He pulled a bag out of his jacket and handed it to her. "The lab was… a mess, Lucy. I don't know how many beings lost their life there, but I know that Dragneel is the only surviving specimen left, which is why I know Zeref will be coming back for him."
Lucy couldn't hear him over the sound of her heart breaking. The bag in her hand contained the clothes Natsu had been wearing when he left the guildhall all those years ago. She pulled them out and could faintly, oh so faintly, smell the campfire and sulfur smell that always followed Natsu around. The same smell that faintly clung to his old scarf. "Natsu…"
Levy and Leo were still talking, but Lucy couldn't hear them.
She'd been wrong.
Natsu wasn't coming back.
He was dead, and this proved it. That monster had killed him. She didn't know why Zeref had targeted Natsu, but she refused to let him get away with taking her partner from her.
Suddenly, Lucy lifted her head and focused on Leo again. "What about the dragon?"
"What?" Leo asked, turning from Levy.
"The dragon." She clutched the bag between her hands. "Where did the dragon come from?"
"I don't know," he answered. "I tried to find out what I could about what was going on in the facility, but I didn't get any specifics on where any of the creatures had come from."
"That's because… that's because it is Natsu." She tried to get moving so fast, she tripped on the gravel beneath her feet, so Leo reached out to catch her. Lucy barely noticed, intent on getting to her house. "Natsu is the dragon!"
"What?" Leo ran to keep up with Lucy, Levy close behind. "What are you talking about?!"
"His scales," she hollered over her shoulder. "He has Igneel's scales! The only way that could be is if the dragon was Natsu!"
"Lucy, that doesn't make any sense!" Leo stopped as the kitchen door slammed shut behind his master. "What is happening?!"
Levy stopped next to him. "Is it not possible, then?"
Leo blew out a breath. "I don't know. It's not magic I'm familiar with."
"So it is?" Levy raced up the stairs and picked up the books she'd left there earlier after speaking with Wendy. "Leo, I found books that had spells and information in them about transforming people into other creatures. The notes said that the creature had to be a magical being and the person had to be a wizard." She flipped the pages to one with a diagram. "I spoke with Wendy about dragons and drakes while she was here, and combined with what this book says, I think that it is possible."
"Then how do you propose we change him back?" Leo snarled. "Because that would be the only way to prove that it's him."
"I don't know," Levy said, a little taken back by his attitude. "The books didn't indicate that the wizard would lose their memory. I was thinking that Zeref must have done something extra to have caused that."
"This isn't happening." Leo's hands yanked on his hair. "Ugh, why am I such an incompetent spirit!"
"What are you talking about?" Levy asked. "You're not-"
He whipped around and cut her off. "My master has spent years mourning the loss of her husband and partner, and now thanks to my thoughtless words, she suddenly thinks that he's hanging out on her property as a dragon who doesn't remember who he is!"
"Leo-"
"You don't get it." He turned furious, heartbroken eyes her way. "We spirits feel what our master feels. We got to suffer with Lucy these last few years, every single day that she missed him, worried about him, mourned him, we felt all of it. When this inevitably crashes and burns, she's going to be even more upset than if she'd just accepted my word that he's gone!"
"Leo, it isn't your fault," Levy said, trying to console him.
"Yes it is, and the fall out from this will be, too." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I knew him leaving was a bad idea. I knew something terrible would happen, and I was right." He ground his teeth together. "I should have stopped him from going."
Lucy flew out the door, startling both of them. She jumped down the stairs to the gravel driveway, Natsu's scarf in hand, and raced towards the shed.
Dragneel was Natsu.
And she was going to prove it.
If you're interested in Soul Eater, I'm also posting what was going to be a one shot today. I have some more I want to add to it, but for now, I just had to get the idea started and out of my head. Go check it out!
