It took Lucy some time to find Natsu, and when she did, she was beyond relieved – mostly because she'd snagged Salutem and decided they'd not be staying with Yukino and Rogue despite Yukino's insistence of otherwise. Sting had been sent back to Sabertooth's guildhall and Rogue, who also felt that his partner had gone too far, had said they could remain within the territory. Lucy had thanked him, but mentioned they'd be out as soon as they could – mostly to avoid more trouble.
Happy was distraught, even when they tracked Natsu down nearly five miles away from Yukino's cottage. The feline's tail lashed this way and that, and Lucy frowned. Natsu didn't seem to care that they'd found him. He'd made himself at home beneath a rather large oak tree that had some fireflies buzzing around it in the dusk. It would have been pretty – had Lucy not been unnerved by the sharp, piercing eyes reflecting evening light at her from where Natsu sat at the base of the tree.
"There you are," Lucy said with feigned cheerfulness. She could hear the strain in her own voice. "I've been looking for you for hours." She swung down from Salutem's back, hissing when her knees stung, and took the stag's reins in hand. Happy got himself out of his own basket and bolted over to Natsu, giving a sound that Lucy thought was more canine than feline.
That cold feeling that had etched a place in her chest for the last few hours didn't go away, even when Natsu gave Happy a grin and said simply, "Hey, Lucy."
She left Salutem where he was and the stag seemed fine with it, ambling off to graze nearby. Lucy made her way over to the tree and settled down beside him, watching his face closely. Finally, she said, "You don't have to act like nothing happened, Natsu. Not to me."
He huffed, smoke curling around his face, and cast her a rather sharp look. "It's not something that we need to discuss," he said in a tone that told her she'd better not push the matter. "It's fine."
"It's not," Lucy retorted, determined.
She'd put too much work into this idiot to let one small-minded jerk ruin it.
"You can't lie to me," she added firmly, lifting her chin. "I feel what you feel, Natsu Dragneel, and I don't like what I'm feeling right now." He rolled his eyes, and looked away from her. She ignored the clear dismissal and said, "Sting's just upset. About Tenrou. You'd be upset, too, if you were in his position."
"Maybe," he said evenly, and Lucy frowned at the lack of emotion that accompanied the word. "I'm not a dragon though, so I can't say if I really would be or not."
"Liar," she challenged. "You're a demon, but you're not a heartless creature. Look at how upset it made you."
He gave her a look of exasperation, snorting loudly. She grunted in surprise when flames shot at her face. Waving them away, she glared, and he ignored her in favor of saying, "Do you really think I give a damn what he thinks? It's not like it's not happened before, Lucy. What do you think the dragons thought of me when I first came to Tenrou? Or what people thought of me during the Demonic Wars?" He rolled his eyes again. "It's not a new thing. S'what most people think if they find out what I am."
"But he didn't," Lucy said quietly, "find out what you are. He knows something's weird, yes, but he doesn't know that you're a demon. He's upset, like I said, and I guarantee in the next few days, he'll apologize. Everything will be fine, and maybe it'll be a bit odd for a while, but-"
She stilled when he gave a wicked grin, one she'd only seen when he'd discussed Igneel before their trip to Tenrou Island. "And what," he practically purred, "makes you think I'll forgive him, Lucy?"
She supposed it was something she'd forgotten about him in their time together. Natsu was notorious, she'd been told, for the grudges he could hold. He was an unforgiving creature who preferred to hold things against people rather than forgiving and moving on.
To see him wearing a look like that, so quickly after such a strange argument with someone he'd clearly liked only hours before…
It worried her.
What would Natsu do when he found out Lucy had been lying to him for so long? About what happened in Old Crocus? Would he take that look and attitude towards her, too?
Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lucy, and she hastily reigned in those thoughts. He could feel her fear, she knew, and she didn't want him questioning it. Not that it stopped him. "What?" he demanded, growling. "Why are you scared all of a sudden?"
"I'm not scared," she said firmly, "just…nervous about a few things, that's all." She took a deep breath, rubbing her temples. It was the truth, after all, and he reluctantly settled down. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Lucy said, "I told Rogue that we'd leave as soon as we were done with Mercurius Castle. We can stay in this area until the seventh, visit the land, and then go to the Archives as soon as we're done."
"Sounds good," yawned Natsu, clearly done with conversation for the time being. He rocked back, leaning against his tree. He folded his arms and closed his eyes pointedly, and Lucy fought the urge to scream in frustration. He'd closed off again. She could feel it, the way he shoved everything aside like he was plowing his way through it, determined to not absorb anything that fleetingly crossed through him.
And almost as much as it frustrated her, it hurt her, too, to think that Natsu had expected something like this.
They spent almost a day in the same spot. Lucy found she didn't mind, even enjoyed the peace that accompanied it. She even coaxed an extended, longer than average lesson in the language of demons out of him. Sparring, however, was a bit of a nightmare. Lucy wasn't sure if he had decided to take a little frustration out on her, because as they meandered through Crocus on the morning of July 7th in the year of X795, she could feel little aches and bruises on every part of her body.
Natsu had taken Salutem's reins, and Lucy was grateful. The stag was a bit more excited than normal, as if he sensed something was different about the date. It was interesting to see Crocus on the anniversary of the death of the royal family, Lucy couldn't help but think, her eyes wide as she took in everything.
There were still some crowds in certain parts of the city. Lucy picked Happy up at one point so he wouldn't be crushed beneath them. Happy looked grateful as he purred at her, butting his head against her chin. Lucy craned her head, searching for Natsu, and felt a flicker of unease when she didn't immediately spot him or even Salutem in the crowds.
"Lucy!" shouted Natsu, and show spun around to find him patiently waiting a couple of feet away. He'd changed direction without warning. Grateful that even with his odd mood, he'd still taken enough pity on her to help, Lucy hurried over to him, puffing.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered when they slid out of the crowded town square and into a quiet alley that opened onto an equally quiet street. The further they walked, the less people there were until no one walked the streets at all and the houses grew old and ruined.
When they turned a corner, Lucy stopped, something in her chest churning with discomfort.
At the center of Old Crocus resided a massive circle of charred debris, three miles wide. Not even nature had come to retake its throne in where Mercurius Castle had once remained. Stone, ancient and crumbling, lay in pieces around them and Natsu wrinkled his nose as he took in all of the negative energy and magic that practically radiated off of it all.
"What do you think?" he asked. She said nothing, so he shrugged, figuring he'd not get an answer. But when her sadness pierced him, accompanied by the scent of salt on the air, he snapped his head around to look at her and found her staring at it all with tears rolling down her face. "Luce?"
"Sorry," she breathed hoarsely, hastily wiping her tears away with her arm, shifting Happy with care. "I'm sorry, it's just…can't you feel it? The pain that lingers here?" She took a shaken breath, unnerved by the space around her. "I never knew where Mercurius Castle stood. In my time, even this is gone, vanishing among the ruins of Old Crocus." Her breath hitched. "But I know now where it is. I always got the same feeling whenever I'd get near a certain spot." She glanced at him, her eyes still lined with tears, and he shifted uncomfortably.
Natsu hated when she cried.
Looking back at the ruins and somehow remembering what it had once looked like despite not knowing much about those who had lived in it, Natsu jutted his chin out and said, "We should get a move on. Igneel's magic really wrecked the place. Drew nasty things here. We don't know what could be around."
Lucy hummed her agreement and carefully started forward. Natsu stuck close, leaving Salutem to stand at the edge of it all. He took Happy from her a few moments into their hunt for anything that might be useful to them, letting the blue familiar settle comfortably onto his shoulders.
There was something else here, Natsu noticed, beyond all of the pain and anger and loss that resided on the grounds. Something completely different. He paused, looking around to try and locate it – and paused to study Lucy when he realized that it emanated from her.
She didn't look any different. Well, a little dirty after shuffling through an area still coated in ash years after it had burned. Black stuck to her skin, hair, and clothes, staining it. No doubt she'd be annoyed and inconvenienced by it later when she really noticed and thought about it. But there was something about her that seemed to almost glow in a way that made the darker instincts he shoved down perk up in interest.
It worried him, if he was being honest.
More so than most things tended to worry the Demon King, who could annihilate most threats that appeared before him.
Because the desire that curled through him to snuff that light out was incredibly off-putting.
Supposing it must have had to do with her ancestry and the fact that Anna Heartfilia had been rumored as a fallen star, Natsu forced his attention away, even when Lucy looked at him for answers about why he suddenly seemed so distressed.
They'd been hunting for a few more minutes when Lucy suddenly yelped, and a massive flash of panic raced through Natsu's chest. He whirled around and found that the space she'd been in only seconds before had become quite empty. "Lucy!?"
"Down here!" Her voice echoed, muffled. Pain throbbed in his body and he darted over to peer down into the hole that had opened up beneath her. He frowned; it hadn't been there moments before. He was more than confident about the fact that it'd not been there. Mostly because he'd been looking at the very same area only minutes ago.
She wasn't more than ten feet beneath him. She looked more annoyed than anything as the pain began to fade, mostly remnant from their sparring the night before. She had scraped her arm and knees, but was alright otherwise. "Can you get me out?" she said sharply, and he fought the urge to grin.
Her glower only grew when she felt the laughter he was trying to shove far, far down before it got him into trouble. "Natsu Dragneel!" she snarled. "This isn't funny!"
He couldn't help it then; a bark of laughter escaped him. "The look on your face though!"
"Stop laughing," she sapped, glaring up at him, "and get me out or I'm going to wander off into these tunnels and probably get lost!"
He stopped laughing then, caught off guard. "Tunnels? There were never tunnels in Mercurius Castle."
"Well, I can tell you right here and now that I'm looking at several tunnels that branch off from this one single cavern I've fallen into, and none of them have any light. So could you get me out before a shadow person comes crawling out of hiding?"
Natsu cocked his head, debating. "I've got a better idea." If there were tunnels no one had noticed…and Makarov had sent them this way…
"Don't you dare–"
Natsu hopped into the tunnel. His stomach churned at the odd drop as he dropped like a stone. When he hit the ground, he winced a little. Happy's claws tore at his skin when the feline hissed in protest, struggling to remain balanced. He landed in a crouch beside Lucy, smirking at her. "Hey, Luce."
She glared until he stood and stepped away, lighting himself on fire to give them some light. He eyed the ancient stone lining the tunnels around them as she climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. "Huh. It takes a lot to survive Igneel's fire. Must have been protected by ancient magic…might have been home to the Archives in the past or somethin'."
Lucy tipped her head back to study the piece of sky she could see from where they stood. "That's not really my concern. How the hell do you expect us to get out of here, Natsu?"
"You've got spirits, don't you? We'll figure it out." Natsu looked excited now, and despite the situation Lucy was anything but pleased to be in, she couldn't help but be relieved. At least he was in a better mood now, eager to explore this sudden adventure they'd been unexpectedly given. "Come on!" he started forward, choosing a random tunnel.
"We're going to get lost," complained Lucy, even as she hurried after him, not wanting to be left behind. Sensing her worries, he merely extended a hand that she immediately took. It was comforting to have his fingers wound in hers, and Lucy relaxed a little.
"No, we won't," he said with surprising patience, ducking around a sudden corner. "I'll get us back. Stop worrying so much, you act like I haven't done stuff like this. It's fun, Luce! And you clearly didn't know it existed, so who knows if it still exists in your time?"
Lucy admitted silently that he was right, but still. Her point stood. Normally, in her experience – well, from what she'd seen on TV or in books – tunnels like this would direct them to something big and nasty that would try to eat them. Lucy kept a tight grip on his hand as they wandered for a few minutes. When they took a random left turn what felt like ages later, Lucy couldn't say she'd ever seen Natsu as delighted as he was in that moment. "Lucy," he breathed, shaking her hand off to grab her arm tightly, and Lucy thought he was nearly vibrating with how excited he got at the sight before them.
She couldn't blame him; it was rather impressive once he'd cast flames around to light the area.
It was like a sea of riches. Clearly, it had been the treasury of the castle. Gold and gems and silver of every kind filled the massive room. Coins, necklaces, bracelets, arm bands, crowns, even gowns of shimmering cloths that Lucy were fairly sure would have been under immense lock and key had they appeared in her time.
"No," she said immediately when Natsu zeroed in on the nearest mound of riches, gripping his hand in an iron grasp that surprised even her. "Natsu, we can't steal any of this. For all we know, there could be a spell on the area. Right?"
He gave her a nasty little look that almost made her burst into laughter. "No one's using it," he muttered like a furious child.
"No, but it clearly belongs to someone."
"Yeah," said Natsu pointedly, "you. This has gotta be the royal treasury, and since you're the Lost Star–"
"Yes, just spit that into the air when we have no idea what else is down here," muttered Lucy, rolling her eyes. Still, she wandered a bit further in, too, admittedly interested in what resided down in this place. She paused in the midst of it as Natsu shouted from across the treasury that he'd found a solid gold replica of a dragon's egg, beyond excited and demanding that he be at least allowed to keep that at the very least. He sounded rather like a child, she couldn't help but think, amused.
Had things gone differently…
This really would have all been hers, Lucy realized, not entirely sure of what to think. She remembered some of the harder moments in her life, when she'd been near the point of homelessness, when she'd had no money and had been so behind on rent, she'd not been sure she could even afford to eat… It was almost laughable now, knowing that all of this would have been hers.
She wondered what the world from her time would think if they knew Lucy Heartfilia was the famous Lost Star.
"Luce!"
Lucy jumped, not seeing Natsu coming, and quickly looked to her left. She found him watching her through slitted eyes, suspicious of the odd emotions that roiled through him. When they vanished with ease, he lost that suspicion and instead thrust something into her hands. "Look!"
Lucy eyed the massive golden egg he'd handed her. "You weren't kidding," she said. "This does look like some kind of giant golden egg…"
Natsu's eyes sparkled. "It must have been Layla's. It's forged with Igneel's magic, out of gold from his personal hoard." He touched his scarf as he spoke, and Lucy was taken aback by the lack of aggression that had once accompanied the name of the Fire Dragon King. It still lingered a little, but not nearly as much as it once had.
Lucy held the egg up to catch the light and let out a soft breath as she took in the carefully etched designs and images. "This is beautiful," she murmured. She smiled softly at it before glancing at him. "We should find a way to send it to Tenrou, Natsu, as a gift of thanks for not killing me."
Natsu made a face. "That means going back, and we can't do that."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure some day, we'll see the dragons face to face. We'll keep it until then."
Natsu's eyes widened, and Lucy was – again – reminded of a child. "We get to take it?"
"No," she corrected, even as he hastily yanked the pack he'd been wearing from his shoulder and began to toss things out to make space for a useless golden egg. Lucy quickly gathered anything he dropped out of the bag – mostly because some of it was hers, and she didn't really want to be stuck in one set of clothing because of an egg.
Hoisting the bag back onto his back, Natsu rocked to his feet again and peered greedily around him. "No more," Lucy warned. "Now come on, let's get out of here. With our luck, we're going to get found out by something that would eat us for breakfast."
He gave her a grin that was all sharp, jagged teeth. "They can try."
At least he's in a good mood again, thought Lucy, shaking her head.
She turned to leave –
And yelped when she hit the ground – hard.
"Luce?" Natsu called, peering down at her, and it took Lucy a long moment to realize that she'd fallen into a hole. Again. Except this one had opened up underneath her. "You good?"
She knew that this time, he didn't find it funny. Rather, he found it aggravating enough that smoke was curling from his nose and there was cold rage bubbling up in her chest. "I'm fine," she rasped, rocking upright. She rubbed her sore hip, looking around. The pit that had opened up was just barely large enough that she considered herself lucky to have not hit her head. "What–"
"Thievery is not permitted in the treasury of Mercurius Castle."
Natsu, perched at the edge of the hole, spun around, flames already curling around his fists. Happy's eyes glowed warningly from where he remained perched on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu rumbled lowly in warning, not daring to draw on the black magic that tried to coax itself free.
"Natsu?" Lucy called anxiously. "Natsu, what's going on?!"
He said nothing, focusing all of his attention on the woman before him. "Who the hell are you?"
Her blue eyes narrowed, and she neatly knelt, splaying her fingers over the ground. "You of all people should know not to steal from the royal treasury, Master Natsu," she said simply, and quite suddenly, Natsu was falling, too.
And some stuff truly starts! I'm so excited. I love the next few chapters. I've been on a writing spree again, too, and I'm so excited to announce that I've officially written Leo/Loke's arrival and fully intend to write out some fun romance stuff soon. ;)
On that note my warning starts: next chapter, we meet the necromancer.
Thanks to reviewers (Meow Orbit, stranger1999, Guest #1, ckc14, aquarius592, Eyriegirl, madaraswife, ToukaKanekiUlle, WhatAnimeHasTaughtMe, Lodemai04, FairyTailxFanGirl, Lissuin, MnMAllyn, NaLuFireSpirit, BeautifulSamurai, Alexia Colette, and Kaito1412!) as well as those who favorited and followed!
