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Chapter 37: Anima
"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucy demanded vehemently.
The pair of fire-style slayers were standing on the stone bridge over the stream. Lucy had managed to catch up in time before Natsu could get far enough to interrogate him. Once she spoke, the Dragon Slayer stopped in place.
Natsu had his back facing Lucy, but didn't turn to face her. "I don't understand what you're asking, Lucy."
"You know damn well what I am talking about." Lucy growled. "Lisanna. Why didn't you tell me about her?"
"What's there to talk about?" Natsu replied, but his tone was flat. "It's none of your concern. She was Mira's youngest sibling and she died two years ago. End of story."
"None of my concern!?" Lucy exclaimed in fury. "Of course, it's my concern. There is so much to talk about it. I can see that much."
"Just drop it, Lucy." Natsu grumbled, leaning his head down. "It happened a long time ago."
Natsu didn't even make it two paces before a pair of strong yet slender arms circled from his back and around his torso. He was pulled till his back made contact with pair of impressively big 'pillows'. But most of his attention was on the strands of golden blonde hair just in his peripheral vision. They trailed from his right side where Lucy rested her chin on his shoulder, and the strength on the hold on him told Natsu she was not going to let him go. Not without a fight or without getting what she wanted.
"Please talk to me." It took Natsu by surprise when Lucy's tone took a soft, meek turn than the furious demand. "Please... let me help you. You say it doesn't matter or it happened a long time ago, but I know that isn't true. I know that you're still hurting so bad. It's painful like someone is squeezing your chest, but helps to talk. So stop hurting yourself like this. Stop hiding this pain from me. D-Don't lock me out. I'm your girlfriend, your mate! Don't I deserve that? Am I... Am I not..."
As Lucy's voice trailed off, Natsu felt a wet sensation on his right shoulder. His instincts made his body seize up at the implication. He was able to turn around as Lucy's hold wasn't so tight to restrict his movements, allowing him to face his mate. The Dragon Slayer grimaced at meeting the face of Lucy. There was none of that intense fire that matched his own or that righteous fury etched in a snarl. It all crumbled away into a pitiful sight of Lucy's face beet red, puffy eyes, and wet with tears still running down her face. His grimace grew profound knowing he was the reason that Lucy, strong and beautiful as she is, was crying because of him. But it was the words she spoke next that broke him.
"Am I... not good enough?" Lucy whimpered, trying to hold back a hiccupping sob.
Whatever dismay or irritation Natsu felt on the topic about Lisanna instantly shattered into massive amounts of guilt. He felt like such a total bastard in that moment. Lucy was his mate, and yet he made her cry anyway because of his own selfishness to keep the past in the past, or so he would think. Without needing to think, Natsu pulled the crying Lucy into a tight hug, letting her head rest in his chest as he trailed circles with his fingers on the small of her back to comfort her.
"Don't think like that." Natsu said softly, but the effect in his words was the same if he was screaming them. "You... are the best thing that happened to me. Heck, sometimes I think that I don't deserve you. And you're right. You of all people have to know. So please don't cry because of my stupidity."
Lucy sniffled as she pushed herself back slightly out of Natsu's embrace. She wiped her face with her left forearm, leaving her face without the stain of tears but still stark red. Her whimpering frown was replaced by a slowly, if struggling, smile and Natsu could see the fire reignite from the smallest spark in her brown eyes.
"See?" Natsu commented with a knowing grin. "When you are not crying, you look so much better."
"Natsu, don't say that out of the blue like that." Lucy groaned, her cheeks flushing with red out of embarrassment rather than crying.
"You may want to sit down with this." Natsu informed. "It's... very hard to talk about Lisanna after all this time."
Natsu then took Lucy's right hand gently and led her down to the ground where they sat at the edge of the bridge. Their feet dangled over almost touching the stream below. Looking down, the pair would meet their wavy reflections in the water staring back at them shimmering from the sunlight. Lucy took her eyes off the stream and directed her full attention on Natsu, waiting for his explanation while the Dragon Slayer in question stared at the horizon. But the aimless stare in his onyx eyes spoke otherwise.
The silence between was broken by Natsu sighing before finally speaking. "Lisanna... Well, the first to say about Lisanna was that she was my first friend. The very first one I had the moment Igneel dropped me in the middle of nowhere and I stumbled into Fairy Tail. I could go on how excited I was meeting so many people all at once, but honestly I was scared out of my wits. All the people I really talked to was just my dad. You can tell that I had no clue what to do to hang out with new people then."
"You still don't." Lucy quipped jokingly, knowing his go-to was either loud, explosively, or both.
Natsu agreed with a chuckle. "Yeah, but I'm not afraid of making friends out of strangers. That's what Lisanna helped me out with. I would have been lost if she didn't stand up for me. Imagine my surprise when Lisanna announced to be my first friend in the guild. Before I knew it, she was my best friend. We did everything together, fishing out in the woods, practicing our magic, and even helping me raise Happy like a mother when we found him as an egg.
"But... but then she went on a mission with her brother and sister. I wanted to go with them, but I didn't insist when Mirajane and Lisanna denied me. Still, I felt that something was off. That something had gone wrong. When Elfman and Mirajane returned heavily injured and without Lisanna, I knew at that moment I lost my first friend. I tried to deny it, but when Mirajane broke down in tears crying that Lisanna's dead... I felt something shatter in me that day. It's the one pain I can't just tough through. I felt so empty for weeks on end, right up till the funeral session where I stood in front of her grave. That's when I knew for sure that Lisanna was gone for good."
"Oh Natsu..." Muttered Lucy, her expression full of concern and worry for the Dragon Slayer.
She couldn't express herself in words, so instead leaned into Natsu to rest her head on his shoulder and softly grab Natsu's hands. His returning grip brought a light smile to her face and she could feel Natsu soften from his depressed state. For the moment, the pair stayed like that leaning into each other and basking in the warmth of the sun. It wasn't until a minute later Lucy broke the silence.
"Natsu... I know this pain." Lucy spoke soothingly, images of her father murdered in her home. "I know how it hurts. That soul-crushing realization when someone close is gone. But the worst mistake you can make is trying to hide it. No matter how much you bury it deep, it is always gnawing inside you. Cynthia helped through this when she found me. But I'm here. Lucy Heartfilia, your mate, is here so you don't have to keep hiding anymore."
"...Thank you, Lucy." Natsu replied in a murmur, and from her peripheral vision Lucy noticed the shine of a single falling tear.
Lucy smiled, this time relishing the impressive heat emanating from her Natsu's body. "Hmm, do you feel better?"
"I guess I do." Natsu answered, and Lucy's smile grew knowing his usual demeanor was coming back. "Is there anything you want to ask about Lisanna?"
Lucy held in a cringe when one question did come up and forced it out. "This... might be wrong to ask, but... if Lisanna was alive today, would you and her have become... Oh gosh, I feel such a bitch even saying it."
"What are you talking about if Lisanna and I were still together?" Natsu grunted as he made a confused face until his brain cells finally worked to reach the conclusion of Lucy's question and he let out a hearty chuckle. "By the gods, Lucy are you jelly at Lisanna and she and I would have ended up as a pair?"
Lucy blushed beet red in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound insensitive."
"No, no, it's alright." Natsu calmed Lucy. "Let's just say that Cynthia, Mirajane, and Erza have given me a stern lecture about the envy of the girlfriend. And to answer your question if Lisanna was alive today and what my relationship with her would be... I honestly don't know.
"But," Natsu paused as he took both of Lucy's hands and made direct eye contact with her warm brown eyes, "I don't ever regret having you as my girlfriend. You are the greatest thing that happened to me, and I would not trade you for the world. I love you, Lucy Heartfilia."
Lucy made a cutesy sound between a whine and a whimper with some tears building in her eyes. Natsu thought he did something wrong by how much her hands were shaking, but his worries were silenced when Lucy leaned forward to plant a firm kiss on his lips. Only a second after did Natsu melt into it himself and reciprocated with small breaths of red fire. The Demon Slayer moaned both from the kiss and the taste of Natsu's flames, and knew the moment they started to get grabby they would not leave for a long while. They forced their hands back until the need to breath had them part with a trail of saliva connecting their lips.
Neither the fire slayer nor Happy noticed Gildarts peeking from his hut and giving Natsu a thumbs up.
"I can see why everyone gets so excited with these kisses." Natsu said.
"I can say the same about you." Lucy replied, wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck. "Practice makes perfect."
Natsu chuckled. "C'mon. Let's head back to the guild. See if we can pick up a quest to go on just for the two of us."
Lucy nodded and the couple got back up to their feet making their way back to the Fairy Tail guild. While on the way, Happy glided at Lucy's side till he landed on her right shoulder to perch on. The Demon Slayer gave a glance to the talking cat and noticed the certain relieved expression on his face.
"Lucy." Happy said. "Thanks for doing that for Natsu. He's really needed that for a long time."
"It was no problem, Happy." Lucy said. "Natsu's joy is enough for me. I'll make sure nothing ever makes him feel that pain again."
That was the promise she had to keep. In her heart, Lucy still held the need to find her father's killer close, but Natsu was at the very core of her soul. There was no way she will let go of him, and maybe get back what she lost long ago. The image of a little blonde girl laughing with her mother and her father smiling in the background came to the forefront of her mind from those thoughts, and suspiciously enough those parents had a likeness to herself and Natsu.
Those thoughts stopped when as Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were walking down the street with the guild hall in sight the sky turned darker than the blackest void. Rain poured down upon them, drenching their clothes but not mitigating their already impressive body temperature. Yet moments afterward their sight was engulfed in intense light from the sky above.
(Meanwhile)
Adrian was pissed at Carla again. If there was anyone that the God Slayer disliked it was the white talking cat's attitude to everyone, even to Wendy who raised from an egg. He could not understand why Carla was so shrewd all the time and talking to everyone in a berating manner as her default. Wendy, bless her kind soul, never really had any ill feelings to Carla and insisted that she did genuinely care for people. That did not excuse Carla for her mood today as she carried herself with an extra cold atmosphere around her when she should be trying to socialize with people.
"Would it really pain you to be nice to people, Carla?" Adrian said, barely holding a hiss.
In her worry, Wendy chose to confront Carla on the issue with her cold introverted nature towards the guild and chased her outside. Adrian followed behind if only to prevent Carla from saying anything too hurtful to Wendy. This led to the scene of the Sky Dragon Slayer, the Light God Slayer, and the Exceed standing in the middle of the street.
"I find no need to socialize with anyone from Fairy Tail." Carla responded curtly with her arms crossed as usual. "As long as Wendy is here that is enough for me."
Wendy sighed. "Why are you making this so hard? It's not a terrible thing to make friends."
"And it is no excuse to snap at people like your some haughty princess." Adrian added, one of his brows twitching.
Suddenly, the skies darkened cutting away the once clear blue sky and down came a rainfall. Adrian looked up with a suspicious scowl on his face from this frantic change in weather unless Juvia was in her gloomy mood again. Footsteps splashing on the wet pavement drew their attention to an approaching figure, wrapped in a dark cloak with multiple staves on his back. The rusty redhead God Slayer widened his eyes in recognition when he came into view.
'Mystogan!?' Thought Adrian in shock.
"No..." They heard Mystogan mutter as eyes hidden under the confining cloth stared at Wendy. "No, no, no. Of all the places you could have been, it had to be Fairy Tail. You shouldn't be here, Wendy."
"N-Nani?" Wendy sputtered nervously, pacing back till she was a step behind Adrian. "Who are you? How do you know who I am?"
Instead of speaking, Mystogan pulled back at the clothes covering his face, revealing the exact match to the one known as Jellal complete with red tattoo mark on his right eye. Wendy and Carla looked visibly shocked, thinking this was the Jellal who had escaped prison. Adrian knew otherwise, knowing full well even Jellal had little to no chance escaping confinement from the Magic Coucil, but still tensed for combat as his arm reached for the Ten Commandments.
"I am not the Jellal that you think I am." Mystogan corrected as if sensing Wendy's thoughts. "But I am the one that helped you. Do you remember when I found you all alone, cared for you till I found you a home in Cait Shelter?"
Only then did it finally clicked in Wendy's head. Flashes of memories where she was taken care of by a boy with blue hair. Who smiled as warmly as the fires in the camp where they slept through the cold nights. The boy, now a man, that helped her when Grandeeny had disappeared until he disappeared as well. It all too much once tears were pouring out her eyes and would have collapsed to her knees if it weren't for Adrian giving her support. Said God Slayer was leveling a venomous glare at Mystogan with his right hand now grasping the handle of his buster sword.
"Listen to me!" Mystogan warned in a grave manner. "You have to leave Magnolia now. The Anima has grown too strong that I can't repress it. You have to leave before this entire town is destroyed."
"What the hell are you on about?!" Adrian exclaimed. "Why are you talking about the town's destruction all of a sudden?! What the hell is going on!?"
At Mystogan's words at the doom upon Magnolia, Wendy got back to her wits. Her tears stopped and her whimpering ceased as a new clarity was given to her at the news. Carla, on the other hand, looked to have swallowed a potent lemon.
"What about Fairy Tail?" Wendy asked. "What will happen to them because of this 'Anima'?"
Mystogan grimaced. "They will die."
"No." Wendy muttered in horror as flashes of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and the other members of Fairy Tail played at the forefront of her head. "No. I can't let that happen. There has to be something that can be done."
"Don't try it." Mystogan exclaimed. "It's already too late. All that it can be done is save your own life. You have to leave right now!"
"I can't be called a mage of Fairy Tail if I leave my friends to die." Wendy argued with a tone of finality, and for moment her eyes turned into a vicious onyx.
Before Mystogan could try again to convince Wendy of the futility of it all, the Sky Dragon Slayer bolted back down the street to the guild hall. Carla and Adrian were already behind her to follow her example, but the God Slayer was caught by Mystogan before he could take another step. He turned back to face the Jellal lookalike with an angry scowl, but was stopped when a bottle of pills was shoved to his hands.
"It seems it is futile to stop you." Mystogan said in a tone of defeat and acceptance. "Keep these close to you. You will need them when you get there."
"Oi, what do you mean?" Adrian demanded to know, but Mystogan had disappeared in the dark of the pouring storm.
Before Adrian could give chase either towards Mystogan or back to Wendy, the sky above unleashed tremendous light that even his own sight winced from it. In an instant, the buildings, people, and even the ground he stood on broke apart into particles ascending to the sky above. It all happened in an instant, and when Adrian opened his eyes he was met with the horrific sight of a flat wasteland stretching for miles. Instead of the pavement, Adrian's boots sunk into snow-like powder that was falling down from the sky like the post destruction of a battlefield.
"Oh no - WENDY!" Adrian panicked.
He sprinted down to where he knew the guild hall should be at the shores of the lake. Instead of the great castle, there was still that stretch of snowy ash. In the middle of it was a head of blue hair that could only belong to Wendy and Carla flying beside her. The sight served to make Adrian go faster till he was a black blur.
"WENDY!"
At Adrian's shout, the Sky Dragon Slayer turned around in his direction. Her face was stained with freshly shed tears, but the grief momentarily disappeared at the sight of Adrian. Tears still streaming down her face, Wendy leapt for her kneeling position and met Adrian in an embrace so tight as if her life depended on her.
"ADRIAN!"
Hearing the muffled sobs and sensation of wet tears on his torso, Adrian returned the hug rubbing circles on the small of Wendy's back. Meanwhile, his face contorted in frustration, his teeth gritted that there was nothing they could've done to save anyone. Makarov, Gray, Cana, Erza. Everyone was gone all in an instant.
"Who could have done this?" Adrian spoke his thoughts outloud.
A rumbling in the ash drew their attention. Adrian immediately tensed for a potential threat while Wendy summoned some courage and readied to release a breath attack. There was no need when two heads came out gasping for breath and being none other than Juvia and Gray.
"Damn, what the hell happened?!" Gray cursed as he climbed out, revealing he was shirtless. "Holy shit, where's the guild?"
Juvia did not have words for the level of devastation before her. There weren't even signs of destruction and that made it all the more morbid. She was internally glad that her lovely Gray was still alive, but the friends she managed to make were all gone. It was so terrible she automatically clung to the Ice Demon Slayer. Gray didn't have the heart to push the water mage away.
"Hey guys! What the hell happened!?"
Five pairs of eyes looked in the same direction and brightened at the sight of Lucy, Natsu, and Happy rushing towards them. Even Gray couldn't keep down the relieved smile when he saw Natsu alive and well. Lucy sped right towards Wendy to glomp the poor girl to her bosom and began checking her over like a worried mother hen.
"Thank goodness you're alright, my little darling." Lucy said, near to the point choking Wendy from her bosom.
"This can't be everyone that made it." Natsu said in frustration. "Cynthia! Cana! Mira! Erza! Please, anyone say something."
With their enhanced hearing, the gathered slayers heard muffled groaning under the ash. Natsu joined by Juvia and Gray wasted no time getting to the source and started furiously digging the survivor. The deed was quickly done thanks to Juvia using her black waters to wash the ash away. Gasps escaped their lips when they found Erza buried in the ground, but unlike the rest lacked any strength to pull herself out.
"Erza!" Gray exclaimed as he and Natsu grasped the redhead by her arms. "Are you alright!?"
While the increased groans from Erza indicated as a response to Gray's words, she could not muster the strength to speak words. Already it was a chore for her to open her eyes at all, much less stay conscious.
"C'mon Natsu, help me get her out." Gray said, getting a nod from Natsu.
The slayers hefted Erza out of the ash in a second, but her whole body appeared to be limp. It was hard to see Erza so weak, especially Natsu and Gray having grown up with her. They set her down gently with the ash acting as a cushion for her. At that point, everyone else crowded around the S-class mage with Wendy kneeling at her side to revitalize Erza.
"Erza, stay with us." Lucy said.
"Gods, what happened to you?" Wendy said mortified. "All of your magic has been drained dry."
Erza groaned, barely maintaining to keep her eyes open thanks to Wendy. "I... don't know. One moment... we were in the guild... and the suddenly this light engulfed everything. What happened... to everyone?"
"That's something I want answers too." Gray grumbled. "Why were we spared? Where did everyone else go?"
"They went through the Anima." All eyes turned to Carla who answered. "That's the fate of everyone who are no longer here. All because of that anomaly between dimensions."
"You mean that thing up there." Adrian mumbled, gesturing to the storm above them.
Wendy stared at Carla in bewilderment. "Carla, how do you know about this?"
"In order to explain this, I need to reveal this." Carla said hesitantly. "You see, beings like myself and Happy are not native from here. We in fact come from an entirely different world."
"...What!?"
"EHHH!?" Happy exclaimed in utter bewilderment. "I'M AN ALIEN!?"
This chapter took longer than I wanted it to. As you can see, a lot of changes to this arc are here with Gray, Juvia, and Lucy being unaffected by the Anima because of their slayer physiology. But what is the mystery with Erza's prescence?
Up next is Chapter 38: Edolas.
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