Chapter 10: Nolle Prosequi

Lucy found herself at an impasse. She could either let the ethernano continue to eat away at her until who knows how long, or she could put on the anti-magic cuffs and leave herself completely defenseless. It wasn't so much a choice between those two options, though, and a third: could she, or couldn't she, trust Natsu?

On one hand, he stole her away from the castle and refused to return her until it was too late. He threatened her life and Gray's life numerous times with no remorse.

On the other hand, humans treated him so badly his whole life that she couldn't imagine him feeling anything but hatred for them, apparently by Gray especially. And he was going out of his way to get help for her now.

But would things change if she essentially surrendered him her sword and shield?

"Well, Princess?" he prompted, bringing her eyes up from the manacles to his. His expression was the same one of self-satisfaction and pride she had gotten used to, but now, after that Unison Raid, she could see the little nuances, the cracks in his armor. He was just as expectant of an answer as she was.

Because of that Unison Raid, I'm still alive, she thought, looking away from him. To that side was a sharp drop, and beyond it was the ocean. It seemed that they had been hiking along the coastline for a long time, and the clouds above were greying in preparation for evening. And because of that Unison Raid…no, even before that happened, I understand him better. It's not even a matter of him becoming unpredictable if I refuse—it would turn him off humans forever, and moreover, it would break his heart.

"A dragon's never half-assed in anything that they do. When we rage, it's greater than Ankhseram; when we mourn, it's for all our long lives. And when we risk a friendship, not to speak of love, it's the utmost strength…or weakness…that we can ever possess."

She blushed—it felt like her imagination, but the words seemed so real… Regardless, there was no denying the passion with which Natsu handled everything. There was no question that should she prove herself still doubtful of him, it would be volatile, but amazingly, she found that more of herself was frightened for his state of being than her own.

"Natsu," she found herself saying. "It's okay."

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, I don't see what you're talking about." He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Are you going senile? You're awfully young to be."

"It's okay," she repeated softly. A bigger crack down the center.

"Didn't you hear me, or are you going deaf as well?" He was leering, but his brows were furrowed. "You still didn't make a decision. You don't have time to waste, you know."

She did know, she knew very well the stakes. And she chose.

"Put them on."

"What?" He hissed, eyes flashing, as she thrust her hands out to him. His claws went up, but they were trembling so badly she wasn't scared of an attack.

"Put them on my wrists," she said. "Do it, Natsu."

"Wha…What?" he babbled, losing all pretense of a predator and openly gawking with wide eyes. "You're really…you're really, truly…"

"Hurry up. As you said, we don't have time to waste."

"You're totally…" He saw her expression and frowned. "Okay." He picked them up carefully as if they may burn him, and after a moment of fiddling he slipped them around her wrists. They clasped shut on their own and she let out a breath as they quivered mildly against her skin. "It's done," he said solemnly, itching the back of his neck.

"Yes, it is." A pause.

"You really trust me this much?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but…the fact that I chose to do this means something, doesn't it?" He mulled over her words for a few seconds before laughing. It wasn't derisive, nor was it bitter—it was a delighted laugh, one she found she could very easily get addicted to. He rose to his feet and offered a hand, and she let him assist her in standing. "What will happen now?"

"The healer I know, she lives outside of Magnolia," he said. "It's some miles from here, but…it'll be faster if I can fly." She understood the implication: they would be spotted easier if he changed, and the response would not be friendly.

"Then we'd better go fast," she smirked. "Unless you can't?" He growled at the challenge, but it wasn't so much angry as annoyed, and grabbed her arm, not at all roughly.

"I'll show you fast."

He was fast, she couldn't argue with that. His wingspan as a man had to be at least twelve feet between the two of them, and when Lucy was sure he wasn't paying attention, she found that the patagium between the scaled phalanges had a leathery feel to it. The odd way he moved them, like he was swimming through the air, stirred up a breeze that had her hair lashing against her face and, since her face was in his shoulder, his cheek and ear.

"That's bothersome," he said.

"I don't have my hands free so I can't do anything about it."

"Then do me another favor and stop groping my wings? It's uncomfortable." She flushed and smacked his side. "Ouch! Why?"

"I just wanted to know how they feel," she groused. Natsu was silent for a few seconds as he apparently thought about it. They flew very high to keep the clouds as a cover, and Lucy distracted herself with them, letting her hand pass through the chilled whirls like dipping her fingers in the coolest water. Right behind them was the sunset, and it almost seemed as if they were attempting to outrun it. "I wonder how bad it is at the castle, if Loki could take an injury such as that." She flexed her fingers, feeling the dried blood on her skin still, and blinked rapidly. "If he's…"

"He's not dead, if that's what you're concerned over," Natsu grumbled. "If there's anything I believe of that overgrown kitty cat, it's his ability to stick around when he's far from wanted. He'll come back to bother me another day, I promise you."

"It looked bad, and it was a magic arrow, Natsu! Magical articles do more damage to Spirits than solid ones. There is a high chance that he was mortally injured, or even d-dead now!"

"Lucy!" he yelled before easing the edge. "He's going to be fine. You are the number one priority, not your Spirit, okay? Ugh, you are so frustrating. Could you be a little more normal and act selfishly for once? It would make things easier to not have to worry about you guilelessly blundering your way into stupid situations."

"Wha— Be quiet!"

Natsu scanned the treetops before his eyes widened. She couldn't see any differences in the thick blanket of trees, but Natsu seemed able to. "She's here, somewhere in this area…" His wings snapped inwards, causing them to drop so suddenly that she gave an undignified squeak of surprise. She was briefly reminded of the first dive he had performed a few days earlier—had it only been a few days? She felt as if she'd had a journey to last a few generations.

They plunged through the canopy of greenery and landed in a collection of pine needles. Natsu's wings broke away into scales while the membrane in-between melded with his back beneath the cloak, which made her wonder if he was bare underneath. She turned to hide her blush at the thought even though little sunlight made it through the treetops' thick net. Why is this even bothering me? Gray strips all the time and I've never given it a second thought…!

He groaned, catching her attention. He had his arm braced against a tree trunk, his upper body slumped under its own weight. She hesitated before resting her hands on his back.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin'. I'm perfect," he said, giving her a half-smile as he straightened. She matched his smile at the effort before frowning.

"No, you're not. Tell me."

"Can we walk, please?" he complained instead, stalking off in the direction of heavier trees and with the sweet odor of sap lingering in the air. She followed closely behind, although it was hard to match his long strides when her legs were shorter and she wasn't as elegant with dodging tree roots and grounded vines.

"Natsu, don't be a child."

"I'm not a child. I'm far older than you and will live several of your generations yet!" His statement didn't have as much hostility as moodiness.

"Then act like it and tell me what's the problem here."

"I'm telling you that there isn't—" His stomach cut him off with a long and drawn-out growl. Lucy let out a short laugh at the abruptness of the noise, causing a pink blush to creep along his neck.

"You need your energy replenished, is that it?"

"Shut up, I'm fine," he grumbled. She frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"You haven't eaten since we left Hargeon. I don't think you've rested either, and you've been doing a lot of walking and flying. How long has it been since then?"

"I don't know and it doesn't matter because I'll be damned if I'm slowed by something so ridiculously human as—" His stomach rumbled again and his pointed ears seemed to sag a little. "—hunger."

"Natsu, why are you being so stubborn now, of all times?"

"Because it's not safe to stop for anything right now!" His voice rose before he began snarling, causing her shoulders to tense. "There's a Rune Knight coming, Laxus Dreyar." She wasn't personally familiar with Laxus, but she knew him to be one of the higher ranked soldiers in the royal guard and the grandson of Makarov, the kind ex-Colonel within their ranks.

"Why are we avoiding him?"

"Well you don't have to," he said pointedly, "but if he saw so much as a scale of mine…" Lucy understood the implication and touched his arm.

"I'll talk to him?"

"I don't think he'll wait to let you speak as soon as he sees me," he said while waving the idea off. "He's not like Fullbuster to spew his ideals and whatever before he lets the magic fly."

"You're speaking from experience?"

"Certainly," he said, suddenly making himself seem smaller. "In fact, Laxus was one of the original group charged with watching us dragons, hence the draconic Lacrima inside of him—fighting fire with fire, I guess was their intention. To be honest, I preferred that over these wizards-for-hire guys that filled in for a while, Oración Seis, with a man that used Poison Dragon Slayer Magic. Although Laxus isn't exactly a pushover either—far from it. I am not looking forward to running into him again, which is why I'm trying to reach our destination as quickly as possible. Afterwards, you can lose those cuffs and we can go our separate ways."

"Really?" She found herself sounding a tad disappointed.

"Yes, really. The kingdom is so occupied with fighting that I don't think they'll have manpower left to find me should I get far enough. I still need to recover Wendy, too, and wring the life outta that bastard Gajeel…" He dissolved into muttering under his breath that Lucy could barely hear as the distance between them grew.

"Natsu, slow down."

"Maybe you should speed up," he retorted resentfully. She opened her mouth for a snarky comeback when he came to an abrupt halt. It took a moment, then the wind changed and she caught the strong scent of sulfur in the air. Her body locked up as Natsu spun on his heel and tackled her to the ground just as the trees around them lit up with a brilliant show of white.

"Agaah!" he bellowed, lowering his head into the bend of her neck with a pained rumble humming in his throat. His elbows were down in the dirt on either side of her head, locking her in place, shielding them from the lightning that surged with immense power all around them. The attack passed over a moment and not a moment too soon as Natsu collapsed right after.

"Natsu!" she cried, grasping his cheeks and bringing his head up. The trees and shrubs all around them had been fried for who knows how far around. His skin was tough, but deep wounds showed all over from the lightning, and his cheek wound had reopened beneath the shredded cloth of the bandage. His eyes were closed at first, then he cracked them open with a moan. "How do you feel?"

"…Sautéed," he rumbled. If he still has a sense of humor, he's alright, she thought with a relieved smile, then scowled.

"Why would Laxus use such a dangerously widespread attack? He wouldn't hurt me—he's cold at times, but never brutal."

"Your…magic," he managed, voice hoarse, and she understood. Laxus didn't know that she was unable to use magic to protect herself and was thus casting riskier spells. "We've gotta…move…" He tried and failed to stand on his own, falling to one knee.

"Natsu, let me help you." He growled, bracing his fist on the ground before pushing himself up.

"No! I don't need…don't need your help." Then he snaked his hand around Lucy's waist, causing her to squeak in surprise as he drew her in close. "Before he recovers—" He kicked off into a run and lifted Lucy's legs into his arms as they went. With her hands bound, she couldn't push away either. She groaned.

"Why are you being so stubborn now, of all times?"

"Because I'm not being stubborn, you're just being weird!" he countered. "You…" He trailed off with a slight note of alarm, then he retreated and dove away as lightning struck the spot he would've ran into a half second later. He landed hard on his knees with the scent of sulfur strong in their noses. "He can see us. He's close." His voice crackled at the edges from scarcely masked pain.

"I'll be fine, Natsu."

"Laxus is fast, relentless, and no offense, but you run like a girl."

"I am a girl! And how would I not take offense?" He growled and took a step forward and his knees nearly gave out again. Whining under his breath, he released her to the ground and gripped her hand firmly instead.

"We're not far from Porlyusica's, so hurry it up," he said before running. He was slower now that he was incapacitated on top of faint, but still a bit too quick for her to keep up with without stumbling and faltering every few steps.

"Porlyusica? She is a dragon as well?"

"Half-dragon. Her mother was within Grandine's family, so when a dragon was gravely injured, Jude would send for her, with her extensive knowledge of us. I had to plan around that earlier and make it seem like we would die from sickness sooner than she could travel all the way to Crocus." The dragon witch, she recalled from much earlier, when she overheard her father and Gray speaking. They most likely meant this woman. "Although she doesn't have magic of her own, she is the best healer around…maybe even in all of Fiore."

"And she'll help humans?"

"Gods, no, she hates humans with a passion. But," he said to Lucy's grimacing face, a grin on his, "I'm very persuasive!"

Don't I know it, she thought, because he had persuaded her detestation of him into goodwill.

"Another one! Duck!" They dropped to the ground as a smaller lightning bolt raced down from the heavens and crashed into a thick oak's trunk, splitting it into sixths effortlessly. "That does it!" He growled and pointed at the treetops. A plume of fire burst from his finger and instantly incinerated the cover of leaves and vines, baring them to a ragged circle of sunlight. He gave a beastly half-smile as he curled his fingers into claws. "Here it comes," he rumbled as a pillar of lightning shot down towards him, landing on the ground with a force that cleared away all nearby trees for a few dozen feet. The lightning slowly took shape into a man, then the white jacket of the royal guard flapping from broad shoulders, short blond hair waving slightly in the gentle breeze. Eyes like amber flint narrowed at Natsu.

"Princess," Laxus said, acknowledging her without glancing in her direction. "And the son of Igneel, still on his rampage."

"That's what you call it now?" Natsu growled, smoke streaming from the foliage beneath his bare toes. "Go away, Laxus. I don't want or need you here." But Laxus was already done talking and had his arms spread at his sides.

"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" A lance sort of weapon made from lightning flew from his hands with incredible speed. Natsu planted his feet in the earth and grabbed it, although electricity zapped up and down his arms as a result. He gave a wicked laugh as he shredded the lightning with his bare hands, leaving the skin shredded and bloody as well.

"You should've started with your best, Laxus. Like this, I'll take you down with one hand! Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" He swung his claws at Laxus, who blocked with a single arm.

"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!" Laxus swung his free hand, and even before it connected Lucy knew the damage it would cause. His fist collided with Natsu's chest, lightning surging from the impact and sending him flying. Lucy's reflexes acted quickly and she jumped out of the way as he slammed into a tree where she was standing, then smashed through that one and into a rock formation directly behind, so hard it split down the center.

"Ooh, that smarts." He groaned before his head dropped to one side.

And he gets owned! she thought in exasperation. Laxus took no more than a single step forward before Natsu was back in action, blood dripping from his open-mouthed grin.

"Nothing better than a battle to get your blood flowing, right?" he said in a half-growl, swiping an arm across his face. His teeth were stained red, making him look like a shark after a feeding frenzy. Fire streamed from both wrists as he lunged forward with a defiant roar. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

Laxus had to two hands to block Natsu's, but the attack didn't even budge him, same as before. He reared back slightly with more lightning building around him, more specifically his face. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

Natsu was launched up instead of forward, blasting through the hole he created earlier and into the sky. He didn't get too far before righting himself and shooting flames from his feet to accelerate his descent. The flames sputtered out as he drew close and he latched onto Laxus's face with his claws, steadying that elbow with his other hand. "Fire Dragon's Grip Strike!" Flames exploded from his hand and consumed both of their forms, forcing Lucy to retreat a few paces to avoid the heat. The blackened trees were reduced to ash as his fire rolled through the woods, but even as she felt the heat over her skin, she didn't feel any pain.

"Is that all you've got?" Laxus scoffed as the flames abruptly vanished. Natsu's eyes were wide as he hit the ground, most of his cloak blackened and shredded from Laxus's earlier attacks and his exposed skin scratched and ashy. "I'll make this fast then, considering we're needed back at the castle." He pumped a fist in the air as Natsu stared on, shocked still. Lucy slowly realized that he wasn't stunned, but completely drained of magic and energy—he was even trembling with the effort of remaining standing. "Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction! Lightning Dragon's Raging Bolt!"

This bolt of lightning was unlike all his previous ones. It was like judgment from Ankhseram itself, white and hot and reeking of enough ethernano to replenish five Mages. Natsu took the attack head-on with a bellow of agony, and although it didn't last too long, Lucy knew that it didn't need to. The magic energy vanished shortly before Natsu collapsed, eyes rolled back and mouth smoking.

"Just when I thought he'd give a challenge." Laxus sighed, stepping over his body towards Lucy, who retreated on instinct. "Come on, Blondie, it's not safe around him."

"…On the contrary," Lucy said when she found her voice, giving him a hard look. "I am safest around him. And he was in the middle of taking me somewhere important." Not that it mattered to any further extent with a good twenty percent of the forest being wrecked from their little spat. If there had been someone living there, they had either fled or perished already, dragon or otherwise.

"What?" he said with a slight scowl—well, he always scowled because he was a largely unpleasant person. "Did you hit your head or something? He snatched you from the castle, and moreover, he's been hoarding you for a few days now." Still, she avoided him as he drew closer, highly conscious of the anti-magic cuffs sapping her strength in the back of her mind. "You're making this hard on yourself. I'd hate to use force, but—"

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Arts—Revision." Both their heads snapped towards Natsu as he was quite suddenly on his feet, head bowed. His right fist clenched before blazing up with orange and crimson combustions, but his left was…crackling? "…Crimson Lotus…" The crackling intensified until it was full-on golden lightning swirling about his arm, and he dug his right foot into the earth as he raised his arms. He spun in a circle with arms outstretched, creating waves of fire and lightning as he went. They swirled together before melding into a mixture of gold and orange, not quite with the precision of a Unison Raid but close enough.

"…Exploding Lightning Blade!"

A whirlwind of his flames and Laxus's lightning surged towards him with the strength and speed to burn away the sediments and mulch below and turn all nearby trees into wood chips. The attack reached Laxus and finally affected him, bringing him up off his feet and into the tempest, and Lucy expected the same of her before Natsu's hand clamped around her amidst the fire and electricity, bringing her back into a run.

"While he's stunned," he panted, glancing over his shoulder briefly at the plume of magic still obscuring their view. He was travelling even slower than before and Lucy could more easily run at his side.

"What did you do?" she asked. "How did you use Lightning Magic?"

"I ate his," he responded, resting a hand on his exposed stomach with a grimace. "Tasted like shit too. It's not good for me to eat anything but fire, and now it's Lightning Magic on top of Celestial Magic…" A gnarled tree root came up, and while Lucy skipped over it, Natsu stumbled for the first time. "Ugh…"

"How far are we now?" Her voice trembled from nerves as she took his arm. He didn't protest, just leaned against her gratefully, which said a lot of his condition.

"Not very far away," he mumbled into her head. "Not far…"

"Natsu, stay awake," she urged as he slowed. "I can't carry you if you pass out."

"Mm, gotcha, Luce." It was quiet after that as Lucy found herself as weak as he was, probably because her body wasn't used to going without ethernano for so long. She wondered how, conversely, he could function with so much in his body now. "Ya know, I was kinda upset when you were talkin' 'bout Fullbuster."

"I can see that. You two haven't the best relationship." Although he was conscious and speaking, the slurred quality his voice had taken meant that he was more than a little gone already.

"It's not that exactly… It's that, you said you love him." He wrinkled his nose as if the mere sound of it was like raw sewage.

"So? You love Gajeel and Wendy, don't you?"

"I didn't think that you meant that sort of…" He hummed under his breath faintly before Lucy was blindsided by his entire body weight. He wasn't as heavy as he would've been in dragon form, thank the gods, but it felt like a good twenty-five percent of that mass still carried over.

"Natsu!" She hissed and dug her fist into his neck. He coughed a few times before opening his eyes again. "Stay awake, I said."

"I'm awake, I'm awake." He raised his chin a bit. "There, just through those trees." She followed his hand into an expansive clearing that had seen better days. Half of it was incinerated with charred trees standing guard and ashy piles of leaves and unlucky woodland creatures on the dirt. Beyond that was an overgrown tree, one so large that it seemed the whole forest had grown around it. It lacked leaves, but there were two lopsided windows and a slightly battered door set in its trunk. "Right there. C'mon, Lucy, before Laxus comes back."

They did an awkward three-legged hobble to the door, as Natsu was too tired to really walk and Lucy couldn't support his weight fully, so getting to the tree alone was a daunting task. She was sweating by the time they made it, and Natsu had to reach over her head to knock. "Go away!" cried an elderly woman from inside, and the door didn't even budge open.

"Porlyusica, it's me, Natsu." Natsu leaned his weight against the chipped wood.

"I smell a human with you. I don't want to see them."

"Please, she needs your help. She's the princess—doesn't that mean anything?"

"Part of the royal family that imprisoned you all?" she pointed out deprecatingly.

"Great persuasion techniques you have there, Natsu," Lucy deadpanned as he grimaced. He pushed away from her to stand on slightly shaky legs and pressed his face into the wood. He glanced at her once from the corner of his eye, seemingly deliberating something before speaking again, this time in a tongue completely unfamiliar to her. It was older than Fiorian, older than even Ishgalan, most likely as old as the dragons themselves.

"…Here." He stepped away with a slight smile as the door clicked before swinging open. "Before I change my mind."

"What did you tell her?" Lucy whispered. He shrugged a shoulder with a more relaxed expression than before.

"The one thing a dragon can't refuse—well, not without being a total dickwad," he said vaguely. She stared at him for a moment before working up the nerve to ask.

"Will you tell me someday?"

"What? You're weird," he commented, scrunching his face up slightly, and just when she was going to protest, he grinned and nudged her shoulder with his. "Yeah, sure." And if her heart beat a little faster when he said that, it was because he also leaned his weight on her again and she felt like fainting.