Chapter 26: Normal POV:
She could hear coughing before she could feel anything. See anything. Before she could really process what was going on at all. Her body rejected the liquid she held inside that burned her lungs. When Lucy managed to open her eyes finally, she could see snow still below. But with leaves and branches sticking out instead of grass or dirt. She held her chest, as if holding it would make the pain cease. Lucy could feel small arms around her. But didn't know who's quite yet. She heard Freed's voice first, "It would appear so… Dead for a minute, Wendy had informed me." She didn't look up but she could see Freed's feet. Dead for a minute? Me? She thought, blinking the water from her eyes a few final times. Suddenly she heard Natsu. Two voices she least expected. She never thought she would hear again. Not this soon, anyway. As if soon mattered. It was irrelevant here. "You said she was fine, that doesn't look fine to me!" Natsu yelled. Lucy would have rolled her eyes if she had the energy. She was currently using all of it to sit up on her own. She realized now that it was Wendy's hand that was on her. Small and delicate. She could see Wendy behind her, smiling slightly. Likely being the one to bring her back from the dead. Lucy tried to smile, but it fell shortly after.
Lucy could hear Gajeel sighing, then speaking, "I told you, things don't work the same anymore, idiot. She could've been running around for an hour while we stood here for five minutes. Remember that thing I was talking about?" Lucy glanced up to see Gajeel gesturing at her. She caught a glimpse of everyone else from the guild excluding the Master, Laxus, Erza and Bickslow. Bickslow. Panic began to rise in her. Only the heated conversations to her side seemed to ease the qualm she felt. "She seems okay now." She heard Wendy say behind her. Now eyes were on her. All of them, staring at her. Her failure of saving Bickslow.
"Bicks.." She croaked, her throat burning from the water she'd forced out of her lungs with Wendy's help. Talking was going to be hard. But she needed to. She heard Natsu once more and ignored his question. It wasn't for her. "I only put them up as a precaution. Someone drowned Lucy and-" Freed began, but was cut off as Lucy repeated her question she was trying so desperately to ask. "Bickslow… Where…" She managed to say, her hand gone up to her chest to try and ease her pain. "Bickslow drowned you?" Freed asked her. If she didn't feel so sluggish she would have shot Freed a look of disapproval. Surely the man knew his own friend well enough.
A snort came from the crowd, however. Lucy's gaze landed on Gajeel as she leaned against Freed. Now standing. Gajeel chuckled. "You haven't been here long, have you?" Gajeel asked. Lucy understood the question. Better than anyone else. She was bitter. She was regaining her ability to function and listen better. Regaining her memories, the last moments before she had died. "This place's time is fucked. Leo told Lucy that some Anomaly is trying to steal time from her spirits. Long story. Bickslow would not drown Lucy. You can trust me on that one." Gajeel explained, doing the speaking for her. It felt wild to her. Over the years, the amount she had grown to trust this man even after he'd beaten her half to death on the orders of her Father. Breathing hurt, she found it hard to remain standing but was glad for Freed's help, even if he had very little idea of what was happening. It wasn't his fault, she couldn't blame him for not knowing. But she could blame herself for all of this. Somehow the Anomaly had decided it was all her fault. That it needed to kill her. Steal her spirits and their time. She still didn't understand. She did understand, though, that Bickslow was probably drowned in the ocean along with the rest of their past and future corpses. He would've died just like she did if he was in there for longer. The Anomaly wouldn't have pulled him out. Not without her. Even so, she couldn't get past the fact that he was most likely dead. She didn't want that. She didn't need that. She needed him alive. She needed him to help her. She needed him. The celestial wizard pushed off of Freed and dropped to the foliage below them. She then scuttled away from everyone and looked at them. Her body was shivering but she didn't notice until now. Everything had caught up to her being alive except for the temperature. It was sure she should still freeze to death. She pulled her legs in and held them close, trying to get more warmth. She stared at everyone staring at her, angry at herself. At the Anomaly. "Where's Bickslow?" She wailed, trying to deny the fact that he was most likely dead with her. Only he didn't get the luxury of landing near Wendy. "Freed, let me in so I can help her." Natsu begged. It was one of the more rare times she'd heard him speaking so calmly in a high stress situation.
Lucy watched Freed move to rid some sort of box around them. Like the ones she'd seen before. At the battle of Fairy Tail. The last time they were on this island. Then Natsu came to her and sat beside her. Instantly, she felt warmer. Like she was getting warmer still. She was certain she would've been steaming if she looked. But her focus was back on everyone else. Waiting for someone, anyone to answer her. She knew it was wrong. They weren't at fault. But she had nowhere else to direct her anger. "Luce, what happened to you?" Natsu asked her. The blonde knew she probably didn't look like she was in the best of shape. She… was dead after all. She felt tired. She needed to sleep but refused to. She needed to save them, even if she had no idea how to now without Bickslow's help. Her priority was the Anomaly and Bickslow all at once. He was part of the key to stopping it. Even if he used her. She didn't care. She… would've done anything for him. "Bickslow. Have any of you… seen… him?" She asked, her eyes glancing around. The snow below her was cold but quickly fading with Natsu being a human furnace.
Finally, Lucy realized where she was. She turned to see the ocean from high in the sky. She could see much smaller trees below them. She could see the clearing in which they all held hands. She could see the ship. She heard Freed from behind her, "He's not up here, Lucy. You fell into Wendy and I… out of nowhere, it seemed. You were lucky Wendy was here when she was." He affirmed for her. Lucy was grateful, but she felt the tears fall from her eyes. Staining her cheeks. It was hard for her to focus on things when every second counted. When every second was worthless but meant so much here. "No. No no no no no…" She faltered, getting up to walk to the edge of the tree. She looked over the edge. Her eyes watching the ship bob in strangely calm waters. "Bickslow's still out there. I need to get him! He's…" She paused, knowing she was right. He was out there. Dead or still dying. Her heartbreak caught inside her throat and she stopped a sob, her lungs still burning. It was worse if she was to break down, she knew it. "He was in the water with me." She dropped to her knees, "He should've gone with me. Here. I must've let go." She let her sob escape, as painful as it was. It compounded with the fact that she was coming to terms with letting Bickslow die.
"Luce?" She heard Natsu behind her. The man reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. Lucy flinched but didn't remove his hand from her shoulder. Instead, she placed her hand on top of his. She turned around to face him and hugged him on the tree. Crying painfully into his shirt. She wondered how long she'd be here for. She wondered if the Anomaly would just send her through the same agonizing process with Natsu if she didn't let go of him. She knew she wouldn't fare better with Natsu with her. She was certain he could only save her from freezing to death. As much as she admired him for his unyielding strength and determination, she knew fire wouldn't save them from this. Juvia could save her from drowning. But water wasn't the answer to it either. Maybe alone, they weren't the answer. She could move freely with them, not Bickslow. The trick was holding onto them. "Don't let go, Natsu." She told him, trying to stand up. Though tears still ran down her face, she needed to move. She needed to get to the clearing. She needed to know that was the spot.
Her imagination came back to her as she stood, staring at the large clearing far below her. The doe she was, running from a relentless ball of swirling shattered pieces of sky. Chasing her deep into the dark woods. Her wolf had disappeared, snapped from reality. Though every puddle she ran by only showed all the different ways he'd left this world. She needed some way to be on the offensive, not the defensive. The longer she ran, the more would be hurt in the process. Woodland creatures around her disappearing the further she went. The darker it got. The doe ran until it eventually tripped and fell, breaking it's leg. Now it was limited, it was now or never. She needed a way to end this before the sphere cut her to bits and ripped out her soul.
Lucy wobbled her way to Gajeel and Juvia with Natsu's help. She told them to hang onto either her or Natsu. She then moved to Levy and Lisanna. Elfman. Freed and Wendy. She stopped before Gray, watching the man cry. His eyes cast down, staring at an ice box. "Gray?" She asked softly, her tears only slowing down. She tried to give a soft smile. She knew something was wrong. More than Bickslow being gone from her, Leo had already told her someone else was gone.
With a deep breath, Gray took Lucy's hand, holding it as he looked at her, then at Freed and Wendy. "It's Cana." He lamented, "She's dead too…" Lucy immediately looked to Freed. She had realized she told Bickslow's friend that he had died and offered no condolences. She was so hung up on it herself. Now it was Cana. Her sweet, drunk friend, Cana. More grief took a strike at her heart and had her weeping. "Cana… no." She whimpered, glad now, that Leo had not told her who it was. She would've been worse off. But none of this could stop her from trying to save more of them before they all died. Herself again, included. Lucy took deep, lengthy breaths. Trying to calm herself. She watched Gray move towards a box, letting go of her hand. She felt panic as he did. Knowing the Anomaly wouldn't give her a chance to get him back. The celestial wizard cried and grabbed the man's wrist, stopping him. "No!" She insisted, "Please, don't let go of me, either. I know Cana is gone. But we have to fix this before we lose anyone else."
Gray turned back to her and looked angry, but she understood. "I know. Gray, I'm so sorry. I need you. I need your help. We can come back for her." She hated leaving what seemed to be left of Cana. Even Lucy was aware the box was too small for an adult to fit into. She could see that he didn't look happy about it, but nodded anyway. She could take silence from him if it meant he lived. She knew she might have also lied to Gray. They may never see Cana's body ever again if this thing won. Lucy noticed a theme, from the last time they were here. They held hands to survive… it seemed they were doing it again. She wondered if that was part of it all. Reversing the whole thing. The trouble was not having the same amount of people. She hoped it wouldn't matter, that they could do something about it. Either way, Lucy felt a smidgen of hope again. Her desperation to fix this seemed to hold potential once more. Even if Bickslow was gone, she… she felt like she could at least try something.
"Can you make us a slide to the parting down there? It looks like there's fog or something…" She asked Gray. He wasn't happy about it, but he did nonetheless. All at once, the group of them all holding hands still, slid down the icy slope.