Lucy had never liked people touching her neck. Acnologia only reinforced that rule. His grip was uncomfortable, and she trembled as she dared a look over her shoulder. Natsu met her gaze, grim. She brushed against that part of him curled within her chest, trying to offer comfort where she could. He responded similarly, frustration flickering over his features. He'd lost the demonic features, growing impatient with them.
"What the hell are you sitting around for?" Natsu finally barked, fingers flexing. Acnologia had been standing there, staring at the gate for near an hour. Rogue's cries had died off long ago, leaving an uncomfortable silence that was louder than his screams could have ever been.
Acnologia's fingers tightened briefly and Lucy coughed softly at the feeling. Natsu clamped his mouth shut with a sharp exhale of smoke, furious. "There is a moment," Acnologia breathed, "when the sun dies each day. Just a moment. Only during that moment can the Gate open."
Lucy glanced at the sky. The sun was setting, sending beautiful colors splashing across it. She wondered if this would be the last time she saw such a thing. Her heart ached as she longed to grab the keys from where they were held. They jingled each time he moved, reminding her. She was meant to protect them. She supposed doing as she was told was doing just that for the time being.
Silence fell as they continued waiting, and Lucy wondered where everyone was. Where was Gray? Jellal? Anyone? Why was it only the three of them there? It was frustrating. For so long they'd fought to defend the world from this monster's actions, and now...no one was to be found. Even Happy wasn't there, though she suspected he was with Rogue, likely keeping an eye on the shadow dragon for Natsu.
Not long after, Acnologia shifted, grinning. "Now," he breathed, and shoved her forward. Lucy yelped, scraping her hands and knees on the rocks. She was mere feet away from the massive Gate. Her fingers trembled as she glanced up, aware of the inferno that spun back to life. Ignoring her fear, Acnologia used his foot to shove her over onto her back. From there, he grabbed her arm. Magic, black and radiant with hate, struck out. Blood splattered the stone gateway as it left a bone-deep wound carved into her skin.
Flame charred black once more as Natsu bared his teeth, his own arm aching with the sting of the cut. Lucy snapped her arm to her chest, rolling away as Acnologia left her to stand before the gate. He drew the keys from his cloak and snapped the ring used to carry them. He paused just once to look down at them with a shadow of fondness - and then scattered them at the ground before the Gate.
Rather than clattering to the stone, the keys froze in the air. Within moments, they'd shot skyward, burning brightly like little stars. Each slammed home into a circular lock that sealed the Gate shut. Lucy's stomach churned, face pale as a bone-deep sound escaped the Gate.
That lock had become undone.
Slowly, the doors on the Gate began to crack open. Light spilled from them, and Lucy swallowed thickly in fear as it burned her skin where it touched. Hastily, she scrambled back, away from Acnologia, who seemed to bathe in it. She sobbed in relief when she reached Natsu, and he uttered a sound of relief. He grabbed her arm and hoisted her to her feet. She buried her face in his shoulder, arms tight around his neck. His grip was just as crushing, one hand fisting in her golden hair.
"Should have been faster," he rasped in her ear. "Rogue told me. Five minutes is a long time when there's danger."
Lucy only tightened her grip.
With a loud boom, the Gates opened fully, and Acnologia weighed the locket in his hand. He wavered suddenly, looking wary, as if he wasn't entirely sure if he should go through with his own plan. As if he wasn't sure if he was ready to let go of that small treasure, which had once hung from the throat of his beloved Marked One.
Even the Gate quieted with the thud of a footfall.
Acnologia stilled, eyes narrowed, and turned his head to look as the creature came lumbering out of the dimness of sunset. Natsu swore loudly, retreating, and Lucy went with him, both exchanging wide-eyed grim looks. They recognized the creature immediately, taking in the black that seeped from various portions of its skinless, equine-humanoid hybrid body. The Nuckelavee seemed to pause, staring at Natsu and Lucy with rotten teeth bared. Natsu stiffened, preparing to have to fight both Acnologia and the Nuckelavee. Instead, the Nuckelavee suddenly turned its face towards Acnologia. It parted its jaws and screamed a challenge. Acnologia bristled, scales rippling across his face, and the locket he'd cradled fell from his hands, forgotten when the creature suddenly lunged at him.
Acnologia's form was half-shifted when they collided, and Lucy blinked at Natsu's muffled, startled laugh. He grinned wildly at her, and even as he did so, black ink snaked up his arms and slithered over the bridge of his nose. He was going to join in. "I bargained with it," he said simply, and Lucy gaped at him. "Through the Dullahan. If it left us alone, I'd feed it Acnologia."
"You're crazy," she breathed, even as a hopeful smile slid over her lips.
He bared his sharp teeth and pressed his forehead to hers. They stared at one another for a moment. Just one moment as he silently relayed his intentions. She nodded and pushed away from him, retreating as Natsu let that ancient, black magic swallow him whole. He became encompassed in flames the color of tar, and screamed as he lurched forward to join the fray. Lucy watched, a shiver running down her spine at his inhuman jerky movements. She couldn't recall ever seeing him fall this far back.
A thrum in her blood made her look at the Gate. It seemed to thrive off of all the magic and power that had come to play, clashing violently at its doorstep. The Gate itself gave off massive amounts of power, and continued to grow with each passing moment.
The Nuckelavee was rather small beneath the mass of a fully grown dragon, as was Natsu, but that didn't stop either as they did their best to down Acnologia. Natsu's cruel, cold magic flooded her body and senses. He had forgone any sense of humanity. Now, he was END, the demon that had torn through civilizations and terrorized people at the Empire's beck and call centuries prior.
Lucy took a moment to dwell in that feeling, her heart aching at the way Natsu had locked himself away from her. She could feel nothing but vicious delight as Acnologia screamed, black flame burning through scale and flesh. Whatever was happening, it was working.
So, she turned her attention back onto the Gate. How was she supposed to get it closed? She doubted bleeding all over the keys would do anything. She couldn't reach them either. The keys had to be put to the side for now, though every muscle in her body longed to find a way to get them back. For now, protecting them meant closing that Gate.
Hands on her shoulders nearly drew a scream from her. She snapped her head around and found an apologetic, but kindly smiling Jellal. His eyes roved freely, searching for an answer to the problem he already recognized. She got the feeling he had nothing. "Forgive us," he said firmly as Erza plunged past them in a flurry of metal. Weaponry flashed in and out of her hands, and her body was clad in heavy armor as she joined the fight. "We had to fetch the Nuckelavee. I thought it would be a help in this situation when the Fates whispered the idea to me."
"You thought right," breathed Lucy. She snapped her head back towards the Gate. "Jellal, how the hell do we close this thing?"
"I don't know," said Jellal, regretful. Lucy bit her lip, feeling her heart swell with panic. Something buckled in the world around them. The Gate's work, she was sure. The Gate was trying to do something the longer it remained open - no, not something, nor was it trying to. It was succeeding, devouring the magic that freely fed it, growing stronger with each passing second.
Panic would not help.
Slowly, Lucy took a deep breath, and then let it loose.
Acnologia stumbled, body crashing into the side of the Gate, and the answer came clear as day.
"We always thought," Lucy whispered, "that the Gate fell when Crocus did, but that was never explicitly said. Today, the Eclipse Gate will fall. And the magic will take Acnologia with it." She grinned at Jellal, proud. Surely, if the Gate fell, then the magic would, too? She tore deep into the bond she shared with Natsu, and she felt that cruel demon turn every bit of attention it could offer on her. Icy-hot talons raked along her back, ripping and shredding in the very way he'd apologized profusely for months before.
But he was listening, and looking - for he'd reared back like a serpent preparing to strike, gleeful red eyes locked on her.
Lucy needed to only point as Acnologia crashed into it again, and he understood, barely avoiding a massive blast of magic Acnologia unleashed in his outrage. The blow annihilated the surrounding area, killing whatever it touched..
Again, and again, and again, Natsu began to shove and tear and push and rip with his flames to try and knock Acnologia off kilter. Each blow he landed slammed home and rocked Acnologia's massive body harder. The Nuckelavee seemed to latch on, and began targeting weak points that would assist, and Erza continued to tackle the process of getting past Acnologia's jaws when they snapped at her to lash out at his eyes.
Each crash sent rock tumbling to the ground.
Magic rose and rose, choking them.
Even Natsu was tiring by the time Acnologia finally tipped over, screaming his fury to the world. Lucy wondered what Crocus thought of the commotion taking place just outside its city limits. But the thought was washed away with a shout of triumph when the Gate's frame gave way.
With a great crash, the dragon broke the base of the Gate, and heavy debris tumbled down, taking the door with it. Rock slammed into the earth hard enough to knock Lucy and Jellal off their feet, and Lucy scrambled to get out of the way of one large piece that nearly crushed her beneath it. Triumph was replaced by fear for Natsu, though she knew he was alright. Outside of an aching body and a few cuts that stung her skin, he was okay.
It took some time for the dust to settle, and when it did, it left Lucy coughing as she crawled atop a particularly large piece to investigate the result of their work.
Acnologia lay still among the fallen debris, body heaving with the effort to breathe as he thrashed to free himself from the weight of the rocks that crushed him. Blood flew as he lifted his head and bellowed his fury to the world, unleashing more magic that tore through a section of fallen rock and scattered it. Lucy threw her hands over her head to protect herself, and Jellal slowly crept over to stand with her, watching. When Lucy tried to step forward to find Natsu, he stopped her.
Ancient magic tore through the air like bolts of lightning, crackling over their skin. Lucy hissed at the feeling, and couldn't imagine what Acnologia must have felt when he suddenly screamed, body shuddering and thrashing. Within moments, the magic was gone and Acnologia moved no more.
The Nuckelavee waited with cold calculation for the magic to fade before falling upon the dragon's corpse like a starved man. Lucy blanched when it used its nails to pry through scale and reach the flesh beneath, tearing great chunks out with both equine jaws and hands, which then shoved more into its other mouth. Lucy couldn't see Natsu among the debris, nor could she see Erza. Jellal hastily went to find his Guardian, worried, and Lucy took a deep breath to calm her nerves. They'd won. She couldn't believe they'd won-
Magic tore at her like a sudden gale from a hurricane, knocking her back off her feet. Lucy grunted as she caught herself, nearly whacking her chin on the rock she'd been standing on. Her eyes darted back to where the Gate had once stood, and her lips trembled when she realized what she was looking at.
The Gate had fallen.
But the magic lingered like a slow-creeping plague. The space around the Gate had blackened, killed as the life was pulled from it. Even rocks were beginning to crumble and disappear into nothingness, eaten away by the hungry magic. "What is that?" Lucy whispered. The Gate should have closed-
No, she realized with a sinking feeling in her gut. The Gate would have never closed. She'd come through it long after its destruction, after all.
Her mind hastily sought an answer, her fingers digging into stone as she shoved herself upright. Lucy swallowed thickly. It could be closed. Spetto had taken her through it after all, and it had closed behind her when she'd come through two and a half years prior.
Ah.
"We know not what happened when you were lost once more, but we will be waiting, and we pray for your sake - and his sake - that you will return to us."
Someone had to go through before it would shut.
The realization struck her with such sorrow and agony that she nearly crumpled back to the ground. She fought back a scream even as hot tears slid down her cheeks and she forced herself to start crawling through the debris. She had no choice. She didn't have time to find someone else who'd be willing, and didn't have time to tell Natsu why she was doing what she was doing. Maybe if she was lucky, Jellal would witness her decision and reassure him that she'd done this herself. She had to do this to protect the keys, and the world she'd come to think of as home. For if she didn't, they'd be eaten away, too.
Natsu would be eaten away.
It hurt. More than anything, it hurt to realize that the Natsu who was suddenly paying her attention didn't care, too bogged down by old black magic that fed off of violence and blood. Even so, buried deep was something small and warm. Natsu was struggling to regain control of himself, struggling to turn that demonic part of him back off after unleashing it in such a way. She hoped he'd figure it out on his own. Or that he found someone else who could help him.
It hurt worse to realize that she'd not get to say goodbye. She'd thought they'd have six more months before anything bad happened and they were potentially separated. She supposed she should have known better than to expect such luck.
She stopped before the glow that had burned her skin, so much smaller, but more intense now. Without the Gate's frame to guide it, it had become a small burst of power - a Portal, to another time and place. She studied it, wiping her tears from her eyes, and paused when a small gleam caught her eye.
She picked it up and smoothed her fingers over the hard gold that made up Anna's locket. It had popped open in the fight, partially crushed, and she ignored the sting of glass shards cutting open her finger as she brushed them away to look at the picture within. It was a painting. A painting of Anna and Acnologia, side-by-side. And, much to her surprise, Acnologia was smiling.
Once, he'd been a person of warmth. Something had happened during the Demonic Wars, something they'd never figured out. He'd sided with the Empire and lost Anna, and had become a cold, cruel creature who sought only death and destruction. She'd wonder why he'd done it for the rest of her days. Well, seconds.
A thought occurred to her, and Lucy furrowed her brow. Why go after the locket? Maybe, as a reminder of what he was working for? No, Acnologia hadn't seemed that nostalgic. He'd wanted to change things, but he'd not needed a locket to remind him of that. The loss of his Marked One would have been enough to guide him. So why did he need a locket?
Lucy weighed it in her hand and looked at the Portal before her, ignoring the way it ate at her, drew more blood from the cut that Acnologia had sliced into her arm. "Why?" she whispered aloud. The chain swung wildly as another gale of wind threatened to draw her into the Gate's power unprepared.
She smiled when it hit her, throwing the locket aside.
It was a Portal.
A very, very powerful Portal, that had to be guided with more precision than mere thoughts.
Maybe she had to leave. She didn't have a way of guiding herself back to the future. But...she could certainly guide her way back to someone who could potentially help her. Lucy slowly touched the cuff on her arm, the one she'd kept even after realizing she was no longer human. She jerked it free with a touch of the magic that seared through her veins at the behest of the Portal in front of her, and then studied it.
Where Layla had been, there had also been Natsu, and so many others who would help her.
"Please work," whispered Lucy. She tossed it into the Portal.
There was a moment of peace as the Portal digested what it had been given, and then the wind grew stronger, pushing her forward. Lucy swallowed thickly, taking a moment to draw on every ounce of love she felt for Natsu. She pushed it at him, shoving it all towards the increasingly frantic man she cared so deeply for. He tore into their bond like a rabid animal, seeking, using it to help drag himself from the void he was stuck in. She let him, relishing in it one final time.
Lucy cast one more look over her shoulder, searching the debris. It was as if the world had gone still. She didn't even see him, standing among it. She hoped he'd be alright without her. He knew what not to do in the future regarding Crocus. She was confident he'd manage. He'd hurt, but he'd be alright. And some day, if he truly was immortal, maybe he could find a way back to her again.
"Goodbye, Natsu," Lucy breathed, and then stepped into the Portal.
It was cold - a bone-deep cold that spread to her fingertips in an instant. It was different from other Portals, too. Lasting far too long, but gone far too quickly. She saw flashes of stars and lights, felt the tug of shadow people. True loss struck at her, reminiscent of Aries's test. She felt as if she'd never be whole again, a new kind of pain ripping through her chest.
And then...she was falling, plummeting right out of the Heavens like a real fallen star.
Rather than screaming, Lucy closed her eyes and wept for what she'd lost.
IT'S HAPPENED! OOF I've been waiting for so long. The next chapter is quite possibly my favorite in all of ODAS, too. ;)
Also, had like fifteen more chapters written. Decided they needed redoing and here we are, scrambling to stay on top of it all so you guys get your updates on a regular basis. So far so good. ;)
Meow Orbit, regarding consequences for harming Keepers...I messaged you, but also wanted this here for everyone else: there are no consequences for harming Keepers/Guardians (excluding the Keeper of Visions, for they're not guarding something outside of themselves). Regarding the Archives, Gate, and keys, however, there are consequences as you can see. ;)
Thanks to reviewers (Feli 123, XxCelestialAssassinxX, Guest #1, Uchida Akira, AthomeinFairytail, lcr0718, uhhzy, TigerArrowgirl, helloimsandy, Glassygirl, madaraswife, valerioux, stranger1999, Subzerodx, Jcat007, Bookwork129, guest #1, SistershoOk, Rose, LayLay lives, Klaus, itsxoi, Skibblez, BTL lover, Meow Orbit, Sele de la Luna, Lodemai04, vamoooooooooooooose, zizi08, and Kisa7221!) as well as those who favorited and followed!