"Following tradition," said Loke, gesturing to Natsu, "it's the potential Guardian that goes first in my trial, Natsu." Natsu seemed to press back into the sofa, displeased for several reasons with the suggestion. For one, he wanted to know just what had Lucy so upset and for another, he wasn't too keen on telling her what he'd been hiding. Mostly because he hated himself for being a damn hypocrite. After all, he was always preaching to those around him about the concept of not lying, yet here he was.

Heat rose in his chest. Not Lucy's, whose heat was growing colder as panic set in. His own, filling him with panic. He didn't want to tell her. Couldn't tell her. When he threw a frantic look at Loke, the spirit was unsympathetic, but patient - willing to wait a thousand years, if need be, but unrelenting. Natsu would tell Lucy, no matter how long it took.

Why was this harder than telling her about his soul? Why did he have a harder time telling Lucy about this then he had when he'd spilled secrets that not even Igneel had heard? Lucy, his Marked One, who felt such fierce emotions for him that he'd drive himself to the end of the earth for her? Lucy, who trusted him more than anyone else in his broken, ugly world ever had?

Lucy spoke softly, breaking him from his panic. "Don't worry, Natsu," she murmured, ignoring Loke entirely. Her eyes were only for him. "Trust me. I don't...there's nothing you could say that would ever beat out the fact that you're END, right?" She gave him a weak, crooked smile.

Natsu stared at her, fighting the urge to simply kiss her. He felt the heat of desire curl in his gut at the simple way she said that - as if it were absolutely nothing that he was the Demon King. He was Natsu, first and foremost, and hers. Just as she was Lucy before she was a fallen star, or from another time, and his.

It eased his panic immensely, he realized. To know that Lucy had learned the truth of what he was and had not cared at all.

So, fighting the urge to simply burst into flame, he rasped, '"Your Keeper is not the only one who can see what the Fates offer...and I look forward to seeing you become like me when you lose her because of your own stupidity.'"

Lucy blinked at him, bewildered. "What?" she said softly, puzzled as she repeated the phrase to herself in her head.

"It's...it's what Acnologia told me." His voice cracked. "When we left the Pergrande Kingdom. When you Portaled us out. It's what he told me. He said that I would become like him when I lost...when I lost you. I don't know what he meant by it, but…" The mere idea of losing Lucy was almost worse than the idea that she'd been hiding something from him. Almost.

Loke's calculating gaze shifted to Lucy, who stared at him with eyes that radiated misery. She swallowed thickly, her voice quivering when she said, "Natsu...I've told you. You're not like them. Mard Greer, Acnologia...they're horrible people because they don't...well, in Mard Greer's case, didn't care for human lives. For the lives of the innocents around them. Acnologia is a monster, who fell victim to something we'll never understand."

When she looked to Loke at the last statement, he clarified, "It's the same as what happened with Layla and Igneel, except somewhat different. A short while before her death, Acnologia approached her with the intention of completing my test. All those centuries and they'd been reluctant to do so. Acnologia admitted that Anna was the only one he'd ever truly cared for."

"And Anna?" mumbled Natsu, finding that he was relieved to be done with his portion. If Lucy could trust him to not become like Acnologia, he could trust her regardless of what she was hiding from him. He was certain of it.

"She turned around and told him that she couldn't trust him anymore; not after hearing that he'd promised their alliance to the likes of Zeref. She told him that she'd thought him better than that, and then told him that she had witnessed a creature of Zeref's creation destroy three cities mere hours from where they stood, and that to be on the same side of such a creation was to destroy everything they'd ever worked towards."

Natsu's mouth went dry. He didn't need to ask to know what creature had done such a thing. Anna had seen him and thought him to be a monster, just as he feared everyone else would see him as. Shaking his head, he mumbled, "I don't know why Acnologia ever joined Zeref. After everything that happened…"

"He had a good heart at some point," agreed Lucy, her brow furrowed. She looked puzzled. "So what did Zeref do to get him to work with the Empire?"

Loke politely cleared his throat and said, "Back to the task at hand...Lucy. You accept what Natsu's told you?"

"Of course I do," she snapped, and even Loke jumped at the fierceness with which she spoke. Her eyes flashed warningly, as if daring him to ask such a ridiculous question again. "Why wouldn't I? Although I would like to know why you didn't want to tell me," she added with a frown at Natsu.

Natsu shrugged, fighting the heat that threatened to rise to his cheeks. He didn't know why he was embarrassed about it. "I dunno," he muttered. "Just seemed like bad luck. Sometimes, when you talk about stuff like that, it makes it more likely to happen." He had no proof of it. But he'd dared to talk about Zeref's workings once, and look what had ended up happening.

He thought Lucy would reassure him that she agreed, or that she supposed it did happen on occasion. He even expected a small laugh or something similar.

Instead, he was met with a pale face that turned towards Loke; she looked nearly desperate when she realized that Loke was patiently watching her, a kind and sympathetic expression on his face. "Maybe we should just fail the test then," she rasped, and Natsu felt something churn in his gut. He was sure it was fear; he just didn't know whose. Maybe they were both scared of whatever secret Lucy was hiding.

"You have to complete it," said Loke quietly. "You cannot back down now, Lucy. Magic doesn't work like that. Nor will it allow you to take the test again, regardless of the reasons why you chose not to complete it."

Lucy shook her head, her fingers curling into fists until her nails tore at the skin of her palms. "I can't. I can't." Her voice broke and Natsu found that fear was most certainly his as he felt her horror building in his chest. He'd never been one for lying, he knew, but surely it couldn't be too bad? It couldn't be any worse than what he'd hidden. Lucy wasn't like that. She didn't hide things, didn't lie. He'd had full faith in her from the moment he'd talked to her about what he was.

So why was the guilt bubbling up so immensely painful? As if it was crawling from every inch of her?

"C'mon, Luce," he said hoarsely, and her terror-stricken dark eyes shot to his. He gave her a weak, crooked smile. "I told you I was the Demon King, right? Can't be any worse than that. 'Sides. If you can not care about that, then I won't care about whatever it is."

A choked, strangled sound left her. "You say that now…but I know you, and I know how you think, Natsu, and…" She buried her face in her hands, whispering, "You'll never forgive me."

It was as if his soul had plummeted straight to Hell itself. "Not possible," he said immediately. Nothing could be so bad as to deem his Lucy unforgivable. Not when it was tearing her up so badly.

Loke remained quiet, his face unreadable. Lucy pleadingly looked to him, but he relentlessly stared at her, waiting to hear what she'd hidden. They stared at one another long enough that Natsu shifted and rumbled in impatience. "Luce," he said finally, "come on. Just get it over with. It'll be fine, whatever it is."

Lucy slowly shifted her gaze to Natsu's and held it. He cocked his head pointedly. Finally, after a very long pause, Lucy curled into a ball. She tucked her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them - as if she was trying to hide in herself.

"'Peace continued until the year seven-ninetey-four,'" whispered Lucy, and it took him a moment to realize she was reciting something she'd memorized and thought over for what had to have been years. "'In which starts what will now be known as the Lost Years. I, the author and final Keeper of the Archives, have omitted these years from this record of history for reasons known only to those who did not have their memories erased. This erasure of memory was the last order given by Makarov Dreyar, the final officially declared guildmaster of Fairy Tail, although the god that lives within the guild took over his position-'"

"Makarov dies?" Natsu interrupted, stunned. "That's what you've been hiding?" The idea made him incredibly unhappy. Despite Makarov's betrayals, despite his sudden desire to hide things from Natsu...he'd let Natsu join the guild. Had given him a home when he'd left his previous one. He didn't want Makarov to die as everyone else had.

"Hush, Natsu," said Loke, not taking his eyes off of Lucy, who had begun to openly sob as she spoke. Natsu bit back a sound of displeasure, wanting nothing more than to curl around her, even as she resisted his attempts at silent comfort.

'"History, in my version of it, continues at the end of last year: seven-ninety-seven. It hurts me to write this, and I hope that whoever reads this, if for whatever reason, this series of records is removed from my Archives, understands that it's…'" Lucy's voice cracked. "'It's not his fault. It falls upon me to report the following-' Loke. Loke, I can't," she suddenly broke off, her voice rising in hysteria.

Loke said nothing, only stared at her, and Lucy sobbed harder, rocking slightly in her terror. Natsu's mouth was dry. She had never acted in such a way. She'd never feared him in such a way, and he absolutely hated it. "What? Lucy, what?"

"'At the end of the year seven-nintey seven,'" she sobbed, barely able to be understood, "'the son of the Fire Dragon King fell victim to his grief and annihilated the city of Crocus - now fondly called Old Crocus.'"

He barely heard her as she finished her recitation, as she explained that the Demon King revealed himself to the world and was sealed away. As she explained how he was given a Keeper and Guardian, to ensure that he remained as such.

Two years.

Two. Years.

She had known since before she'd even met him that he was the one who destroyed the city of Crocus. Had known right from the start that he would become the very nightmarish monster he had tried so very hard to avoid becoming.

Lucy had known.

And she had lied to his face when he'd asked for more details about Crocus, had dared to look him in the eye and tell him that she didn't know what happened to Crocus.

The world stilled as he giggled. The sound bubbled up from his chest, every inch of him frozen to the bone in a way that he'd never thought possible. Loke began rising to his feet, wary, and just as suddenly, the hysterical laughter was gone and Natsu was baring his teeth, glaring at Loke with a ferocity that made the celestial spirit flinch. "Sit down."

Loke carefully seated himself, eyes blazing as they darted between Lucy and him - as if judging whether or not he'd need to interfere. Happy, still perched on the sofa, mewed anxiously at him. Natsu ignored him.

"Two years," he breathed. "For two years, we've been trying to stop me?" He paused, and then grinned maliciously at her, his jagged teeth on display. "Is that why you were doing all of this?" He made a wild gesture. "Not because of Acnologia, but because you knew I'd go out and kill all those people?"

She merely wept, and each ragged breath she sucked in only froze him further, only angered him more. What right did she have to be upset like she was? She'd turned against him, had made him believe so many things.

Something in his chest splintered.

Natsu had truly believed he'd found someone who'd not care. Who'd looked at him, known what he was - and had seen past it. He'd believed her, had let her worm her way in. He'd told her everything, even regarding his book. He'd even considered entrusting her with it. Instead, she'd just been trying to get a handle on him. She'd been trying to get control over him without the book, trying to trick him into her hands so that when the time came, she could force him to stop. He'd cared for her, more than he'd ever cared for anyone else.

He thought he even might have even understood what people meant by "love."

That 'something' shattered.

"You used me," he breathed.

"No," she began to protest but he snarled at her, just as he had snarled at Loke, not wanting to hear a word she tried to utter. What else would it be but a lie? he couldn't help but think bitterly. He found himself retracing everything she'd ever told him. Every word, every touch, everything.

All lies.

"You were going to use me," he continued, smoke beginning to pour from his face. "To stop the destruction of the Eclipse Gate, and then you were going to make sure I didn't ruin Crocus. And then you were going to just up and leave, go back to the future and leave me here thinking that I wasn't good enough to keep you here.

"I gave you my soul," he rasped, sliding a hand into his pink hair and curling his fingers into a fist, yanking at the strands as if it would distract him from the agony of his soul falling to pieces in his chest. He hoped she felt the same - hoped she could feel the pain that radiated through him, the horror and rage and betrayal. "I don't remember it, but I trusted you with it." He spat at her, disgusted with himself.

Lucy shook her head, blonde hair sticking to her tear-slicked face, but as Natsu rocked to his feet, smoke turning to flame, inky marks breaking out over his skin, he could have cared less about it. He ignored the wide-eyed look his familiar was giving him, ignored how Happy suddenly hurtled himself from the sofa to wait pointedly at his feet.

He could have sworn the world shuddered as that ancient, lethal magic crept to life. Red flame charred black and threatened to kindle to an uncontrollable inferno, threatened to turn into a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path, until nothing but smoldering ash remained.

The Demon King paused when he felt magic rise up in the town around him, rising to test the threat that had arisen in its midst. He grinned as he merely melted it all, not caring who came hunting. Let them come look at the creature in their midst; what did it matter if they found out what he was? She'd have told them all anyways.

"Natsu," Lucy rasped, dark eyes desperate as she tried to snag his wrist. "Just...just let me-"

In one smooth movement, he stepped forward and dragged her up by the front of her clothes, not caring when pain singed his skin where he burned her. She hissed in surprised pain, shoving at his hands and only burning herself further. He bent his head to hers, eyes locked on hers, until he was a mere breath away. He grinned again, smoke puffing out over her face. Happy whimpered beneath, winding anxiously around Natsu's ankles.

"Hey, Lucy," he breathed, and she stilled, agony flickering over her features at the cold, unfriendly way he crooned her name - as if she were a maggot he'd pulled from rotten food he still intended to eat. "Maybe I should just give you to Acnologia." He cocked his head in a predatory fashion, eyes scanning her face carelessly. "You've already decided what happens to Crocus, right? So maybe I'll just decide how to eliminate the problem myself. If Acnologia rewrites history like you said he wants to, then I'll never have to have met you, and I won't have a reason to do it."

Pain was replaced by sorrow. He narrowed his eyes further when she merely pressed her hand desperately over his cheek, and ignored the absolutely ridiculous, infuriating spark of heat that still bled in through it all. "History can't be rewritten, Natsu. Not in the way we want. And maybe the future's not fixable. But we can still change something-"

Natsu snapped his jaws, satisfied with the way she flinched. When Loke growled, rising to his feet again, ready to intervene and losing patience with what was happening, Natsu simply tightened his grip on Lucy and didn't hesitate to turn his head towards him. Pain shot through his jaw as he nearly unhinged it in his eagerness, dropping it as far as he could and gathering power.

"Natsu, stop," Lucy rasped, recognizing what he was going to do. "Please-"

He fired off the blast with as much strength as he could muster, laughing shrilly when Loke vanished in a violent flash of light, golden ichor-like blood showering the room. The wall collapsed behind where he'd stood, and Natsu felt the entire building shudder beneath his feet as he closed his mouth. Distantly, he could hear Lucy's scream ringing in his ear, but he ignored it, not caring. Annoyance shot through him; Loke had purposefully left, had let himself be hurt. After all, he could withstand Natsu's magic.

He let go of her. She tumbled face-first over the side of the sofa they'd been sitting on together. She yelped as she landed sharply on her arms, barely managing to save herself from smacking her head on the floor. Happy was forced to leap aside, meowing in protest. She peered up at him in shocked horror, and he only dropped to crouch before her, bracing his elbows on his knees.

"You know," he purred, "what the best part of all of this is?"

She said nothing, simply staring at him numbly. Natsu felt pride, just knowing that she was waiting for him to leave, so she could summon her little celestial spirit friends and figure out how to get him back under her thumb - make him trust her again. He nearly rolled his eyes; there was no way in hell he'd ever trust anyone after this. Even someone like Wendy had to have some kind of ulterior motive.

"History can't be rewritten, little brother, and certainly not in the way we wish it to be. But we can bend the future, even just a little, to fit our desires."

"Zeref told me the same thing right before he turned me into the monster you apparently want me to be," he told her, and then rocked to his feet, eyeing the apartment around him. With a small snort, he stepped over her, not caring when Lucy quietly dropped her head to the floor and wept. He made a sound of irritation when Happy, instead of trailing after him like he should have, crouched protectively over Lucy's head and glared balefully at him, as if accusing him of making a mistake. Natsu shrugged, not caring.

His Marked One had betrayed him. Why shouldn't his familiar, too?

He hummed as he stretched his arms out before him, flexing his fingers and watching the ink that curled around them.

Natsu let the world around him turn to ash and smoke and blood.


The chapter everyone's been waiting on! It went exactly as well as everyone expected, eh? Don't worry, there's plenty more things to come. ;)

Thanks to reviewers (stranger1999, XxCelestialAssassinxX, FairyTailxFanGirl, Kedo, valerioux, Uchida Akira, AthomeinFairytail, nerdalertwarning, Glassgirl, Bookwork129, Guest #1, Lucy Goddess of the Stars, Meow Orbit, polinar, Alera33, Akari-Iwahashi, Sele de la Luna, Kisa7221, PersephoneQOTU, Lissuin, Surfy, BeautifulSamurai, itsxoi, madaraswife, EraticMind, rao hyuga 18, Delirium0629, halobeast-117, and Guest #2!) as well as those who favorited and followed!