First of all I want to apologize for leaving you hanging for such a long time! * Bows in apology * Long author's note coming to explain, feel free to skip it.
That being said this year has been... well it has been; Covid hit hard, I had to move my team to Home Office because I care for their well being... that put us all in a position to readjust a lot mostly with my partner and I sharing a work space and managing the barks and meows of our many pets (4 dogs and a cat back then, all rescued from difficult conditions) theeeen the new addition came in... a dog we found in the middle of a storm who had just... given up I guess, then it turned out he had a "venereal transmissible tumor" which is basically an STD for dogs that requires chemo which put a HUGE strain in our budget as in my country it translates to around 90 dollars per session. He needed about 10 sessions 1 per week so you can imagine my mind was somewhere else... then cherry on top of the cake, despite of us basically shutting down and not seeing almost anyone, not even going to the supermarket... my partner got a fever and 2 days later I did too, both tested positive for covid-19.
Now not to give you the story of my life... but if you put all that together along with my life struggle with anxiety and depression that just hit me too much... reality was surpassing fiction at that point for me and I just lost the will to write for a bit but I am trying to get back on my feet. SO, after the complicated summary of my year LOL I am here and I am hoping to finish this because I once promised I would never leave a story hanging...
Now as for some of the comments or IMs: Yes I agree this is super dark and OOC, I like my stories painful and raw (most scenes from hype imagination and nightmares tbh); I guess I like to think no matter how much shit slams someone we all have a chance to come out of it (Ah if I had a therapist he/she would be proud... or weirded out...)
I saw some comments about my English being weird lol, so YES English is not my "first language" I come from a multicultural household and I've spent my adult life studying languages so sometimes a wire will get crossed here and there and I don't really mind enough to pay too much attention to it. Like I've said before if I need to correct something let me know and I'll be happy to do so.
-A-
"Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you'd been before the fall."
― Jodi Picoult
"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."
― Kahlil Gibran
Previously:
Natsu tried hard to hold on to her energy but it faded as soon as it came, leaving him with a sense of loneliness and loss; he looked up again to look at Cai who was still smiling at his adoptive father.
The dragon slayer stared at the boy in awe… had his unique magic allowed him to know what had really happened? Was he simply imagining something that wasn't really there to sooth his soul?… he looked down and brushed his face and Elle immediately pressed her hand to his shoulder.
"Are you ok sweetheart?" He looked at her and then back at Cai "I…" his mind kept running away from him… had she really been there? The smile on the face of the boy with the faded eyes grew bigger, he nodded so slightly that it was almost imperceptible and then turned again to his brothers and sisters as if nothing had happened.
"I think I am… I'm ok"
Natsu kept brushing his fingers on that spot of his forehead, trying to hold on as much as he could to the feeling of her soft lips, as if trying to make the memory last forever.
It didn't matter if it had happened or not, it had felt real for him, and he would carb it in his brain because he knew it could be the last time he felt her like that; he could only hope that Lucy would stay asleep until after he was gone, because then… she wouldn't see what he had become.
It almost brought tears to his eyes, but he had to contain himself, he had to maintain his cold façade in order for his plan to work; it was hard… just the thought of Lucy's crying face after seeing the image she had constructed of him breaking in a thousand pieces before her eyes was devastating… she hadn't seen him since the day she almost died, she was almost gone when he killed Merryl, when he broke the slayers, and yes… she had probably heard of him killing some dark guilds and made excuses for him because that was the most Lucy thing to do… to justify his behavior and to try to make people understand him… he didn't deserve her, that, he knew.
She had always seen him as someone destructive, but as a dependable savior nonetheless, and coping with her disappointment when she realized he was no more than another monster that needed to be slayed was something he wasn't ready to do.
He hated himself even more in that moment because he knew all she had done for him… she thought he had saved her over and over but he knew… that extra energy in every battle, the drive to continue, the strength to move forward despite the broken bones, and to keep trying to keep his head above water had always come from her… his bright star in the middle of the darkest night.
It hit him then… the fear and sadness of realization that his soul had regained ground and expanded within him the moment he had felt her. There was a mix of feelings he couldn't explain but the most palpable one was fear for her life.
His attention got caught by the bright light and the explosive sound before him, and that's when he realized the fight for a spot next to him had started; He sighed heavily, hating fate now more than ever.
Natsu observed for a couple of minutes before rolling his eyes… After all, when you grew up with Fairy Tail, it was hard to be surprised by mere strength.
The first two groups of three had come and gone ending in an unquestionable decision; the fights had been so savage that the two women that lost had been lucky to get away with their lives and their limbs.
Despite now knowing he could in fact still feel, Natsu didn't seem to have any feelings about seeing the gruesome scene playing before him; he seemed somewhat bored and yawned every now and then despite both his grandmothers giving him a deadly stare.
The women were strong but he had grown up with stronger women back in the guild, there were very few that could match the fists of the she-devils he had shared a table with and the thought made him smirk a little.
In the end… he would have to kill everyone there, so if they died now it would just be less blood on his hands, not that he minded that much anymore; he had gotten used to the idea of killing, not that he enjoyed it because there were very few things he still enjoyed, but the more he killed the less he cared… At times it was almost as if his soul became numbed little by little and he thought maybe killing them all would finally release his soul into the ether while also releasing Lucy from the bounds of his fate.
There was one thing that did surprise him, and that was the lack of remorse on the faces of the four victors.
The two women from the second group had allied themselves into beating the third one, making the fight finish rather quickly and leaving very few unbroken bones for the poor woman facing them, and making him wonder what type of horrible people he was housing, but he knew… he had always known who they were.
The third fight was about to begin and he almost felt sorry for whoever would step into that grid… he had been on the receiving end of Erza's wrath more times than he cared to admit and knew this would end up pretty quickly.
Erza was a kind soul, loving and loyal to a fault… but once she unleashed her strength there were very few people who would be able to stand on their feet just by the mere pressure of the aura emanating from her.
The queen of the fairies stepped confidently inside the grid, eyeing her competition and looking just as fierce and glorious as her nickname suggested… a Titan among mortals.
Her red hair swayed with the wind while her unforgiving eyes marked the targets that would have to endure her anger… and she had plenty... after all, these women were not only bad seeds that had taken innocent lives, but they were also trying to take a man she considered her brother, to use him and his body for their benefit, and to take him away from Lucy… No… Titania was definitely not in a forgiving mood.
Erza knew the women's names from the sorting and acknowledged them as worthy opponents, but she felt confident in her ability and battle experience, she knew nothing would stop her from keeping him safe, not even death itself.
Leah, one of her opponents, stepped in after her; she was about a head shorter than the redhead, a bit leaner but well built; she had short purple hair with her bangs pulled back with a pin to avoid it from covering her small and sharp brown eyes; her tiny dark brown shorts stuck to her body like a second skin while her top was a loose off shoulder crop top that made her seem somewhat less dangerous and almost innocent… and a complete opposite of the woman that entered last.
Finally, the last one to enter was Ellis; a curvy blond, who seemed to be as built as Erza; the woman had long, toned legs covered by what seemed to be tight black leather pants and combat boots while her top seemed a bit less comfortable; the leather looking corset pushed her breasts up and criss crossed all the way to a "V" shape ending below her hips and left her well defined arms naked.
Erza eyed them carefully, stopping a bit to look at Ellis' arms; there were black markings on her forearms, like tattoos going all the way from her wrist to the inside of elbows. They looked like two parallel lines with foreign writing on the outside and a red thin line on the inside.
There was a glint in her eyes that Erza recognized immediately; her instinct told her that the woman staring her down was dangerous and the feeling made her grip her sword tightly which didn't go unnoticed for Natsu and the rest of their team.
That was the first time the so-called Demon King moved during the whole event. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands together while he observed the blond woman; she was gorgeous, of course but her eyes were cold and filled with hate.
Her chin was up while she smirked as if knowing something no one else did and although he had faith in Erza, he couldn't help his palms from sweating a bit… That woman smelled funny, and it was a smell that he recognized from previous battle experience.
He turned immediately to Gajeel who was already staring at him; his mouth formed a thin line and they both shook their heads before turning their eyes to the imminent fight.
As soon as both women looked at each other, Erza knew their plan was to attack together just as the previous group and it made sense… no one wanted a Fairy Tail wizard to end up getting their throne, so… she prepared herself to receive them as they deserved… Fairy Tail style.
The purple haired woman smiled and stretched her arms above her head before tapping the tip of her right foot twice against the floor and then did the same with the left one which told Erza which side she favored; she smiled at herself… Those tiny details were a key to every attack and not everyone had the cold mind or experience to notice.
Just as before, Leah tapped both feet again until getting into a bouncy rhythm before launching herself, and in a second she disappeared from sight; the purple haired woman was fast and zigzagged her way towards Erza trying to catch her by surprise and failing miserably; Titania had turned and ducked with perfect timing, and slammed her elbow to the girls ribs causing her to grunt and pushing her back to slam against the invisible wall.
Erza noticed little resistance on her part, the woman fell and rolled out of the way in a matter of seconds just before the redhead slammed the tip of her sword on the ground.
Just as she was about to pull her weapon from the broken ground, the redhead felt a stain like no other burning on the back of her leg and back and turned with her sword in hand swinging it viciously to hit her attacker… but there was no one there; what she saw made her blink a couple of times in confusion.
The fight had barely started, and she hadn't touched the blond woman, she wasn't even close to her but still; Ellis had a pair of onix claw like rings in her index fingers while her arms were bleeding, forming thin strings of blood that dripped from the thin red line tattoos on her forearms to the ground. the red liquid was weird looking… thicker than normal and fell at a slower pace; its dark color stained the floor it touched as soon as it made contact with it.
Erza jumped high and pushed herself towards the blond woman but before she landed she felt something wrap around her neck burning her skin and pulling her back; Titania fell on her back but composed herself quickly immediately turning to the speedster thinking she had been the one to attack her.
She brushed her hand on her neck and felt a sting that caused her to hiss, she looked at her fingers and saw blood, her blood… except it smelled different, almost acid.
The queen of the Fairies, stood up and scrunched her nose "I shouldn't be surprised; you looked toxic even from afar"
"You're better off surrendering now… Titania…" Erza smiled and swayed her sword with expert skill "I think it is too soon for you to say those words…"
"Stop playing with her, Ellis! Let's finish her off" the purple haired woman yelled while the blond rolled her eyes "I will decide when it's time to finish her off Leah, unless you want me to take both of you down"
Erza noticed right away how Leah stepped back and lowered her face with a scared look in her eyes which confirmed Ellis would be the one she had to be concerned about.
She watched her, waiting for her next move when Leah used her speed to run circles around her in an attempt to create a curtain to block her view; of course she was fast… but Erza had grown up Jet so she wasn't as unprepared as her enemies thought.
Just as she accomplished to strike the speedster with her sword, she felt a burning sting on her stomach, and this time she turned to see Ellis just as she shoot a gush of blood towards her; Erza barely had time to step to the side only getting a couple more drops on her arm while Leah caught most of the blast on her chest causing her to scream in pain.
"You just hurt your friend"
"Friend? Please… don't give me that sappy bullshit" Leah coughed and knelt but quickly stood up on shaky legs.
"She needs medical attention" Erza was getting increasingly upset; the girl had bad burns on her front but she was still trying to keep herself up. Titania turned to give her enemy with a sympathetic look "Just surrender, there is no need to drag this longer; you've fought valiantly"
"If she is as weak as to surrender now then she is better off dead"
The words only angered Erza more; these people had no loyalty to their own and for her, that was unforgivable. She moved fast, and jumped from spot to spot trying to avoid the thick and dangerous blood streams, and in a second, she summoned her heaven's wheel armor.
"Blumenblatt" Her swords appeared midst air and charged against her target viciously while she launched herself to attack.
"Death Shield" The darkened soil that was moist with her blood moved as if it had a mind of its own solidifying in a second to cover her before the swords made contact, effectively blocking her from harm.
Erza yelled with anger as she was about to hit the shield, thinking she could slice it with the two swords she now held in her hands but as soon as they made contact, the shiel changed states becoming a sandy liquid that flew to her face and got in her throat and nose.
She barely had time to jump away before a sword made of soil and blood could impale her; she coughed and noticed blood dripping from her mouth; her lungs were burning, and it was becoming harder to breathe.
Natsu's temperature was rising dangerously at the image of his almost sister while the energy from the grid started cracking; he knew his emotions were now linked to the slayers and vice versa and their combined anger was being released towards the field overcharging the grid.
The pinkette tried to control himself and attempted to command the rest to do the same, he didn't know if it had worked until he saw the energy blurs from the grid dissipating a little.
Leah's speed had decreased but she was still faster than Erza. She noticed then… the blood attacks were becoming slower and less abundant and she smiled to herself, despite her pain.
"Running low on fuel? You look a little pale"
Ellis clicked her tongue and snarled "Leah!"
The woman shivered but made her way towards her ally, and as soon as she was close enough, Ellis grabbed and slit the woman's left wrist with her onix claw/
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Her eyes turned red before she whispered "Baiser Rouge" . The blond woman smiled while taking Leah's wrist into her mouth and sucking the warm nectar emanating from her veins, leaving just a couple of drops that fell from the corners of her mouth.
Erza could see the purple haired woman was growing paler, her legs were shaking even more while she whimpered "You're using her to fuel your magic?!"
Ellis pushed her partner away and cleaned her mouth with the back of her hand "The thing with blood magic Titania… is that there's always a way to get more…" She tapped her feet on the ground, just as Leah had done before and launched, not towards Erza, but parallel to her while she extended her hands and fingers.
Titania turned quickly trying to force her eyes to follow her every move, but it was harder now… she could tell her strength was failing her as her sight became blurry.
"Dammit"
Natus' eyes widened; his instincts were too strong to fight them and without thinking he tried to pull himself from the chair only to notice his wrists were now restrained by blue mist; He turned to Nephele who was looking down at her feet.
"You…"
"I'm sorry love… you can't intervene" he tightened his jaw and looked up only to see all the blood that had poured from Ellis becoming dark strings… hundreds of strings connecting to her fingers and he felt panic deep within.
The strings wrapped around Leah's wrists and legs and moved her like a puppet while the woman screamed from the burning pain.
"This will be over soon… you can't escape from poison Titania, it will eventually get you"
Natsu chewed the inside of his cheek while balling his fists; he remembered what it was like to be burnt by Cobra's poison and although he had complete faith in Erza, his protective nature was screaming at him to get inside and pull her out of there.
He looked to the other side to see his friends' faces and noticed their angry expressions… they were all on the same boat and he wouldn't be able to control their emotions for too long… even if he did he could only account for the slayers… not for the rest of them.
"Right now, my poison is burning your lungs, it will soon make its way to your heart too"
Erza removed all her armor and was left in nothing but her regular clothes "Are you surrendering?" she smiled and shook her head "There is no need to use my powerful armors to take you down… you are not worth it"
The queen of the fairies leaped with the agility of a gazelle while dodging every attack; Ellis was moving Leah forcing her to fight and using her to shield herself from whatever attack Erza could strike with, suddenly Titania felt her neck being pulled by the strings of her own now acid blood; it felt as if her trachea was being ripped from her body.
She tried to pull herself away but the strings coming from her suddenly bonded with the ones Ellis had created until her middle was fully wrapped while she was slowly, and painfully pulled towards her opponent.
The strings kept wrapping on her as if trying to mummify her body only leaving her hands free and in front of her; once she was close enough Ellis smiled at her; she reached out and pressed her hand to Erza's cheek before rubbing her thumb on her lips.
"It's a shame… since Leah and I need to pass and she is in such a bad condition… I will have no choice but to kill you, I expected more Titania…" the blond woman got closer, knelt and cut open Erza's wrist before licking the blood that dripped from it "You're blood tastes like endless rage… and I will take all of it for myself"
Erza smiled for a second before whispering "You know… you should always keep an eye on what your enemy does… it may take you by surprise"
"You can barely move your fingers… not so scary now, are you?" she felt confident all the way to the point where she saw Erza's crooked smile, she stepped up and grabbed her face harshly "What's so funny little fairy?!"
Jellal smiled proudly and shook his head; he had known what she was doing as soon as she started leaping away from the blood "I'm betting she is going to regret leaving her hands free…"
"What do you mean?" he pointed back at Erza who was still smiling. She had enough room to place one hand above the other, her top hand having her middle and index finger spread out "Grand Chariot!"
As the seals revealed themselves and exploded, Erza was able to jump back freeing herself from her restraints, and although her skin was burned and bruised, it was definitely not the worst situation she had faced.
It didn't take long for the lights to cease, exposing both Leah and Ellis on the ground while Erza stood victoriously in the middle of the grid before it too disappeared, releasing her and her friends who had been used to power it.
Jellal immediately ran towards her and removed the hair from her face "Are you ok?"
"Been better… but overall ok" he gave her a half smile and took her to Wendy to take care of her wounds.
Natsu wanted to go to them and make sure she was fine, but he knew that would be out of character for his new persona; so he looked at Mal and moved his eyes discretely towards Erza and the knight needed no more instruction.
Wendy took her time to heal her and was surprised with the amount of damage she had to undo… the poison had acted quickly and had caused serious damage, but she knew Erza would be ok.
While everyone moved to get cleaned up, Natsu walked back inside and stood outside of Lucy's room for a minute; he placed his forehead on the door and sighed… she was close… too close and he wanted nothing more than to open the door, lay in bed with her to smell her hair and wrap her in his arms.
"Why don't you go see her?" he turned and shook his head at Miko "It won't do her any good"
"Maybe it will" Natsu snorted "It ain't that easy, kid…"
"Seems easy enough… you see… this is called a door, and that is a doorknob, you reach out, turn it and push and…"
"Very funny…" Miko got closer and rested his head on Natsu's side "You seem upset…"
"I think I look the same as I always do" Miko smiled and tilted his head "Well… yeah, but you are kind of always upset" Natsu snorted and poked the kid's side "When did you become such a smartass?"
"Can't you just tell me what's wrong?" Natsu sighed "My friend got hurt"
"But she is ok, isn't she? miss Wendy is taking care of her" he nodded "Yeah, but that's not the point. He knelt in front of Miko and grabbed his shoulders "My family is getting hurt, and they will keep getting hurt because of me… I'm causing them pain and I have been doing that for a long time"
"It's not your fault…"
"Miko… there comes a time in everyone's life when they need to take responsibility for their actions… this is all my fault, I caused this and if I had been smarter everyone would be home safely"
"Not me… not us" Natsu opened his mouth to speak but was shut down by Miko "If you hadn't done whatever you did, we would still be in our guild… with people that can't love us… you didn't ruin anything for us" tears fell down his face as he balled his hands "You keep trying to make everyone think you are bad… but…"
Natsu pulled him in and hugged him tightly. "I may regret how I did things but getting you out of there is something I will never ever want to take back, you hear?" he felt a slight nod and stood up.
"Uhm...Pops…" He looked up and then down to avoid Natsu's eyes "You love her… it shouldn't be this hard" the pinkette nodded and pulled Miko towards him before releasing him and walking away "It shouldn't… but some things are just not meant to be"
Natsu went to his room knowing the results had been clear and Erza along with Ellis and four other women had passed to the next round which was no surprise for anyone. It didn't take long for the rest to meet him in his room.
"You got anything good to drink?… this has been a long and weird ass day" Natsu nodded at Laxus "A drink sounds like a good plan…" he pointed at the cabinet next to his bed.
"You keep booze next to where you sleep? The fuck happened to you?" Natsu rolled his eyes and pointed at himself "Are you seriously asking that question?"
Levy stood up and waved her hand "I'm going to call it a night guys, you should save up your energy… there is no doubt we will have to stand in that grid tomorrow too"
"Go get some sleep shrimp… I'll catch up in a bit" she kissed him sweetly and smiled; the bluenette was glad that the Dragon Slayer had decided against joining her; it was still weird for her… to see him determined to stay at Natsu's side; they were friends no matter how much they denied it, but since their last fight something was different.
She pulled his hair which caused him to look up "Don't make me wait for you all night" he gave her a crooked smile and ran his eyes up and down her body "Wouldn't dream of it Shrimp" Levy giggled and walked away swaying her hips a bit more than needed which didn't go unnoticed for her now husband.
Natsu snorted and took a gulp from his drink "Who would have thought…"
"Got something to say, runt?"
"Nah…" The pinkette looked at his glass and brushed his thumb on the rim "Just think it's funny…"
"What?" Natsu looked up and shook his head "The stubborn and the asshole end up living happily ever after with two girls that are their complete opposite…"
"Mira is more stubborn than me…" The fire dragon slayer nodded "Bold of you to assume you're the stubborn one and not the asshole, but ok… you may have a point there…"
"Right, like you and bunny girl are so alike…" There was a second of silence where the sound of the ice cube from his glass melted a bit, causing a clunking sound "Except we don't get a happy ending…"
Neither knew what to tell him; both slayers refused to believe his words, but they felt the pain he was experiencing, and they knew he truly believed that.
"If you had a do over… what would you change?" Natsu looked up at Laxus and then allowed his weight to fall on the back of the chair.
"I'm not in the mood for a heart to heart sparky"
"It's just a question, moron"
"Man… that's a loaded question…" he sighed "I guess… I would have cleaned up my act sooner" he smiled to himself "You know… there was this time I was going to ask her out, and she knew… she got all dolled up and got to our meeting place…"
"Why didn't you?"
"I had been pacing around that tree for thirty minutes when I decided to check on her… I climbed up to her window and heard her talking to herself about how to let me down smoothly… you know… I wasn't her type, I had bad manners, not exactly an intellectual prince and all that... she was afraid to ruin our friendship and blah blah blah… so, by the time she got there I had talked myself out of it"
"So, if you had a do over" Gajeel pointed his glass at him "You would grow some balls"
"Says the one who proclaimed his love when he thought he was dying!" Laxus rolled his eyes and smiled… some things would never change.
They all felt it at the same time and stared at each other before Natsu sighed and finished his glass in one single gulp "Well… took them long enough"
As soon as the door closed behind her, Levy sighed; she wanted to spend time with Gajeel but she also had some catching up to do herself with a book that haunted her mind and that would not let her be until she knew what it held.
She walked down the long aisle and entered Lucy's room. The bluenette smiled at Loke before lying next to her friend on the bed "I hope you don't mind if I join you for a bit Lu" Loke smiled back "You think she can hear you?"
"I don't know… but I'd like to think she can" she pulled the book and her new pair of glasses and took a deep breath "Here goes nothing…"
"What do you expect to learn, Lev?"
"Shh… reading" he rolled his eyes and let his head fall on the backrest of the chair.
Levy's eyes roamed every page and while it did take a couple of minutes to adjust to the language, the glasses were working as expected; her knowledge in languages along with the one of the God of war started making things clear enough for her to realize that her worst fears were not even close to reality.
Her heart skipped a beat and she gasped before flipping another page, and another after that before going back to the first one and repeating the process while shaking her head "No way..."
"Levy?"
Ares sat in his sanctuary; he wasn't wearing his golden armor but soft white robes with gold and red embroidered details that resembled fire; he sat resting his chin on his fist and kept tapping his foot on the floor, counting the seconds until it was time to present himself to what could be the worst or best moment of his life.
The God of war had no regrets, he had known the risks when he turned against the Gods by helping his sister although none of them recognized her as such, he had known eternity was not guaranteed even for deities if they betrayed their leader, and he had… several times, or at least that's how they would see it.
He wondered if his father knew what he had been up to… he hoped not, but thinking about him knowing for the last four centuries was driving him nuts.
If he did know, then why hadn't he been punished? But if he didn't… then every word he said during their meeting would be crucial for not only his survival… but the one of the mortals that were now under his wing.
It was almost funny… how he had despised humans for so long only to be willing to risk his immortality for them. The truth was that he didn't see any of his actions as betrayals, how could he? Eons… that's how long he had played his part of being the whisperer, the manipulator or strings, the right hand of demise and pain… and he had enjoyed it.
He had seen mankind destroy themselves over and over with his help and he believed they deserved it for the most part; humans were selfish and had great capacity for destruction, they would claw their way to survival even if they had to sacrifice thousands.
The God of war, as his name stated, was always fond of a good fight… but his long existence had taught him a lot more than he expected… unnecessary death, the waste of precious life… Yes, humans were capable of horrible things, but what they would be willing to go through for love was something he had a hard time understanding; he had observed for so long that eventually he wondered if his actions had been the ones of a spoiled child using his position as an excuse to enjoy his selfishness.
He sighed… Time had never been a concern for him, something almost imperceptible and now it felt like he would still have to wait for another millennia to get things over with, although it was really no more than an hour.
The ticking clock seemed seemed to be his enemy, almost moving in slow motion until he felt the pull… the gift he had given the young woman determined to find the truth was being used and it was almost as if something appeared before him revealing the family secrets he now wish he didn't know… because not only was he not the only one who betrayed his father… but the real betrayal was probably what had started the tragedy that now unfolded before him… and suddenly an hour was not enough time for him to wrap his mind around what unfolded before him and the clock became even a worse enemy by ticking too fast for his taste.
A new battle started in his mind… holding this information would bring him nothing but pain; when he convinced himself that humans were capable of grand gestures in the name of love, he never considered creatures like himself could do the same.
"Oh no" Loke stood up and sat before Levy before pulling the book away "WHAT?!"
"I… can't say" she took a deep breath and went back to the first page "Look, if it's as bad as you make it out to be, I need to know"
She knew he was right, but feared what the information would do to every single one of them; Levy remembered Ares' words… they were not allowed to meddle with fate and as it turns out… that meddling was what had gotten them into this situation since the very beginning.
The bluenette sighed and gave him a quizzical look "Why do I have to tell you if you are clearly still hiding secrets from us?"
"What are you talking about?"
"There's something wrong with Lucy and you and Mal know it"
"That's different"
"Trust goes both ways…"
"It's not my place… I can't talk about it"
"You will have to tell us eventually, you know that right?" She could tell he was fighting hard with his conscience and Levy sighed before pointing her finger at a portion of the page "Fine, fine… this… explains where Aporia's power came from, you see this?" she pointed at some drawings mixed with weird letters and waited for him to nod "S-she made a deal with a God, and gave him her soul in exchange for the power to defeat her enemies and get revenge from the king"
"The king?" she nodded "Shiro's father… and Natsu's grandfather I guess"
"I can't imagine why a God would want her dirty mortal soul?" the bluenette shrugged "She's powerful for a human, he could have figured someone like her would come handy at some point, who knows"
"Ok… so?" she bit her lip and shook her head "She wanted more power each time… but she only had one soul to give, so he kept asking her for more until eventually she had nothing else to offer…"
"And then what?"
"He asked her for the one thing he had been forbidden to have again and that he couldn't get by himself…"
Loke straightened his back and gulped, bracing himself for the worse "A… new soul", he immediately slumped, and arched his brow, not understanding what it was all about.
"Why would a God need a witch to give him a new soul?"
"No, I mean a child's soul…" he frowned "Oh shit, so what… she was hunting down babies as a sacrifice? That's pretty sick… even for her"
She took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead "No Loke… he wanted a baby, for himself"
"Wait, wait… so you're saying that a God… an immortal, almighty creature wanted to father a baby? That's… not as scary as I thought"
She huffed and slapped the side of his head causing him to grimace "JEEZ! Do you need a minute?..." he blinked a couple of times before it dawned on him "Oh…"
"She mothered his child… which means…"
"Fuck… Fuck… you're not saying…"
"Her daughter…"
"But that would mean…" Loke felt his pulse racing and he suddenly felt lightheaded. He had faced powerful enemies, endured terrible loss… but this he was not prepared for.
"No, you're wrong, it can't be Levy! You need to read that again"
"Loke…"
"No, listen… there have to be documented cases of the Gods' progeny ok? But that's just not how it works!"
"The libraries are full of stories of the Gods and their mortal children! Why would this be any different?"
"A God can mate with a God, creating a very powerful immortal being! A God could mate with very particular humans and create a gifted half blood! BUT for someone to survive the power of two Gods... there is no way a mortal would be able to endure that; Natsu's father not only was the son of a Nymph created by THE elder God, but was also claimed by one! He would have died if his mother was a true half blood"
"Why is it so impossible?"
"Because humans have a limit to strength! That much power would drive them mad or consume them!"
"After all these years… if you still think there's a limit to what Natsu can do, then you have not been paying attention…"
"Levy…" She shook her head "Ok… creating a creature with too much power, predisposed to losing his mind… ringing any bells? Someone hungry for power, looking for revenge and that lost himself on the way? Kind of sounds a bit like Zeref"
"He watched his family die! and what he could do was because of his power and Ankhseram's curse!"
"Was it?!" Loke opened his mouth to speak but closed it right away while he fisted his hands "What if that was just part of it? What if there was much more behind it and we didn't know? Are you 100% sure that this is not possible?"
"I… ok… let's say it's possible... Can we really believe it?"
"Let's be logical about this… Ares was not a real father to Natsu's dad… he adopted him and granted him gifts, just like Igneel did with Natsu; his body was a good match because he was after all the son of a Nymph who was created by an elder God although he had none of her gifts, so… he was a blank canvas… this means that for their kids one gift was granted while the other was inherited"
"That… it shouldn't… the magic buildup by itself would be..."
"Igneel stayed in Natsu for a long time… in order to prevent him from going mad and becoming a dragon, what if that stretched Natsu's magic container enough to sustain the strain?" Levy allowed her weight to fall on the bed "What if that's why Natsu didn't go mad… I mean, he did a little bit… but not because of that"
"I don't get it…" Loke rubbed his face with both hands "Natsu's body would have… I don't know… disintegrated by now!"
"Why?"
"Come on… think about it… on one side his Grandmother is a spirit of Nature… it depends on life and creation, his father was the adoptive child of Ares who is pretty destructive as it is! Adding that he was raised and trained by Igneel who also thought Natsu Dragon Slayer magic, and now his mother was the daughter of a powerful witch who mated with a God?!"
She widened her eyes and sat up "Wait a minute...Which God…?" The leader of the zodiac tilted his head "Which God did she mate with?"
There was an awkward moment of silence when something clicked inside Levy's head; she pulled the page she had ripped from the book before flatting it next to it and tracing it with her finger "That's not the worst part…" Loke rubbed his face and sighed "What…"
She bit her lip and pointed at the drawing "Natsu's mother died during a Dragon attack"
"Yeah… so?"
"Aporia went back to cut her open" Loke's face grew paler as she pointed to the next page on the book "She used black magic… to bring her back to life"
"That would never work!"
"It didn't… not as she expected" she traced her finger back and forward "What came back was not her daughter but an empty shell… a creature that trapped her daughter's soul but couldn't connect to it, and with power drawn from the depths of the underworld"
"The underworld?" she bit her lip and nodded "D-does that mean…"
"I think so…"
"Ok… so what we are saying is that our dorky, reckless, idiotic friend, for some bizarre reason… comes from a bloodline of both the God of the underworld and the God of War, while also being resurrected as one of his brother's demons, who was adopted by a Dragon… am I missing something here?..."
"Am… sounds about right…"
"This… is bad… really bad… If the Gods were to find out…"
"I know…" she was about to pull the page away when Loke pressed it down again "Why… is there a celestial circle there?" Levy's mouth became a thin line before she closed her eyes regretting ever showing him that page "It's not important right now"
"The hell is not! If Lucy is in more danger than we know I need to be able to protect her"
"We are all in danger, but this page is no longer a threat for Lucy"
"No longer?... so, it was at some point?"
"This speaks about the creature Aporia made using her daughter's body parts, ok? The only person this page can hurt, is Natsu…"
"Why?"
"Loke…"
"WHY!?" She winced at his tone but nodded and continued "Blood magic mixed with celestial magic… to enhance it…"
"Why would someone pulling power from the underworld need celestial magic? It's… like the magic of death and the magic of life… complete opposites"
"Exactly… only meant to bring stuff to life…" he looked at her with a clueless look on his face "What stuff?"
"Nightmares… fears…"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, it all sounded a bit too familiar and suddenly he blinked and opened his mouth but the words didn't come out immediately.
"Levy…" she nodded "That means this is way more complicated than what we anticipated"
"We really should let them know we're here, don't you think?"
"And what? Knock on the door? Jeez Rogue… it's not that simple"
"It really is… you're just still mad at Natsu"
"AM NOT!" Rogue sighed and shook his head "You're being a baby… we will eventually have to go in there and he probably knows we are close anyway… so…"
"Fro thinks so too"
Sting grunted and stood up "Fine… but if we end up dead, I'm going to kill you!"
"Do you seriously think he will kill us?"
"I probably wouldn't…" they turned to see Natsu standing right before them "I mean that would kind of suck after you took the time to come to visit"
"Lector! Fro!"
"Happy!" The felines flew to each other and laughed before landing in the middle of the slayers.
It didn't take long for Gajeel, Laxus and Wendy to come out of the shadows and for Carla and Lily to join the rest of the exceeds.
Sting stared at Natsu for several minutes before turning around and pacing back and forth without saying a word.
"If you are angry, there's a big line of people before you that are waiting to take a swing at me you know?"
"I'm not mad…"
"Sure…"
"I'M NOT MAD… it's just…"
"What?"
Rogue took a step forward and grabbed Sting's shoulder "We've always known that if someone was going to take the lead it would be him, it was painfully clear after Acnologia, and you know it"
The blond slayer pulled his shoulder away "That's not the point!"
"Sting…" Natsu looked at Rogue and shook his head "Let him…"
"You just took! You forced us into this… whatever this is!" Wendy took a step forward defensively "He didn't know!"
"Stop making excuses for him!"
"He's right" Everyone looked at the pinkette for a couple seconds "I didn't ask, I just took what I wanted and I made you two kick each other's asses and it doesn't matter what I did or didn't know"
"Why…"
"I don't know, because I could, maybe?"
"That's your answer?!"
"That's the answer you want from me, isn't it? Because it would make you feel less guilty from breaking away from this shitshow"
Rogue crossed his arms above his chest "And what's the real answer?"
Natsu took a deep breath and looked up to the sky "Because for the first time I didn't feel a thing… no regret, sadness or happiness and it was just too… freeing… but that didn't last, which is why I'm glad everyone is here" he sat down on the floor but didn't signal them to do the same.
"I appreciate the fact that everyone came when you felt I needed you, but I don't want you to be here out of obligation… so, you are all free to go if you chose to do so"
"You can't break the link! That's not how it works" Natsu shook his head "No, but I can make our connection really silent… as much as you need me to, and that will allow you to move on… either way it will only be for a couple of days, afterwards you won't have to worry about it"
"I won't leave you!" Wendy had tears in her eyes "Why would you ask us to?!"
"Child, listen to him…"
"No Carla!"
"I ain't going anywhere… Shrimp won't part from Lucy anyways… and I mean I don't mind staying for the ass kicking"
"I'm staying too…"
"I'm sure Mira is waiting"
"She is, but she also wants all of you back and they all want to be able to go back home… so…"
Sting focused on his link with him and saw a glimpse of sadness behind the cold exterior, but as soon as it came in went away and he allowed his anger to resurface. How could it be that 'his friend' felt just a little bit bad after all that had happened? "You're an idiot…"
"Not the first time I hear that"
"I won't stay" Natsu had hoped that would be his friend's answer, but it still hurt a bit more than expected to hear it from his lips.
"Sting…" Rogue came closer but stopped at his friend's next words "Not unless you fight me first"
Natsu looked up and saw the young, blond dragon slayer's eyes filled with determination "I won't"
Gajeel took a step forward and poked Sting's chest "Runt, you have no idea of what you're talking about, ok? Believe me, if you were no match for Salamander before, you're sure as hell not a match now"
"He didn't beat me" Natsu stood up and patted his clothes without saying a word "You beat Rogue and then… forced him to fight me… we couldn't fight with all our strength because you were forcing us to hurt each other"
"Then you're free to go"
"Fight me!"
"I SAID NO!" the sound of his voice resonated inside their brains due to the link, which caused Sting to take a step back, but even then, he didn't budge.
"Ok, then I guess I'll have to follow your scent all the way to wherever the fuck you are and start punching whoever is there"
Natsu's eyes widened; the amber in his eyes started flickering dangerously. He knew if Sting did that his plans could be ruined, he needed things to stay just as they were and that wouldn't happen unless his friend was put back into his place.
"Not a good idea…"
"Well then I guess you have a choice to make, don't you?"
The pinkette fisted his hands and as soon as he did the air was covered with an energy that almost made everything freeze in place; the sound of the crickets ceased immediately and even the wind stopped blowing.
Laxus, Gajeel, and Wendy gulped and took a step back, knowing this was something they couldn't get involved with.
"Leave…" Even when Natsu wasn't looking at him, Sting felt as if his eyes were staring right into his soul; he felt small, like a tiny version of himself standing in front of an enormous dark shadow and he couldn't help his knees from shaking a bit, but his determination was bigger "N-no…"
He took a deep breath and dashed towards Natsu with his fist up; he felt as if he was launching himself towards the jaws of a hungry beast, but his pride pushed him to continue.
Just when he was about to touch the pinkette's jaw, the slayer looked up with a scrunched nose, releasing a snarl that showed his now bigger than normal fangs.
Sting pulled himself back just in time; black flames started coming from Natsu's feet, engulfing him little by little.
The rest of the slayers pulled back even more and shook their heads in sadness before looking down.
The Fire Dragon Slayer cracked his neck before allowing his majestic wings to pull out breaking the air around him and making a sharp sound; the wings were covered in back and red diamond shape scales that seemed to be bleeding fire from the lines joining them; the cracking sound of breaking bones made way for a pair of horns to come out of the pinkette's skull and from his elongating fingers that turned into black looking claws while his eyes turned completely amber with red and black lines in them.
Sting's jaw was open and shaking, this resembled nothing to the man he once knew. A sudden energy flare shook him to his core while he saw it moving from Natsu's feet and covering the ground surrounding him, killing the soil beneath his feet.
It pained him to admit Gajeel was right… he hadn't been a match to Natsu before, and he was sure as hell not a match now. He was angry; once again the pinkette was taking from him, forcing him into a decision that had already been made for him and he felt the anger boiling inside him.
First, he was forced to follow, and now forced to leave…
He was about to snarl back when he noticed… even with Natsu controlling their link, the release of energy was too much, making their connection as clear as water, it was like an exposed nerve and he hated himself even more from not noticing the depth of the man's pain before and right there his anger dissipated leaving him only with a crushing pain in his soul.
His friend, the one who had pulled him out from the claws of death on more than one occasion, the one with a face splitting grin and the quick comebacks… was in pain, so much pain that he wondered how the man had managed to keep his heart beating.
It almost felt as if with every beat, Natsu's heart teared a bit… like if every nerve was being stabbed with the sharpest knife simultaneously.
He reached out with his very soul trying to make sense of everything, and even with Natsu trying to pull back and his lack of acceptance to the link, he could tell… this was killing him; Sting had felt pain in his life, a lot… but nothing compared to what the pinkette was experiencing; it was clear that he was ripping himself apart over and over, not only with physical pain but guilt… so much guilt.
He took a deep breath and shook his head "Natsu…"
"No…"
"Just stop…" Natsu walked closer to Sting; the deadly energy moving with him until it was barely an inch away from the blond, but he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt, his friend would not hurt him; his shivering had stopped, his knees were steady and his determination was not wavering anymore.
"You wanted a fight… didn't you? Come on… fight me"
The blond man reached out, moving past the deadly barrier and making Natsu stumble back, but not before Sting's hand reached his shoulder; it felt like burning but he could tell Natsu's energy had pulled back trying to protect him.
"I'm staying…" he looked back at Rogue who was still shocked by what he'd seen "W-we both are"
Natsu sighed; he could tell they meant it and knew there was very little he could do to change their minds "You don't have to" it took a couple of seconds but slowly his temperature went back to normal while he changed back to his normal appearance.
"Like we would leave your stupid ass to make a mess without us… you'll probably end up killing yourself in the process"
"That's… kind of the plan…"
Natsu knew this conversation would take more than a couple of hours and several arguments, but if Sting and Rogue were planning to stay, there was no other choice.
Ares was pacing back and forward; all his strategic skills were useless in this situation and he knew nothing good would come out of it, no matter what choice he made.
Everything made sense once the tiny bluenette had started reading that damned book, and he wished he could take back time to make Natsu's mate leave the book where she had found it, because sometimes ignorance was bliss.
Mal appeared in a flash of lights and bowed respectfully before him "Is it time?" Ares stopped and sighed with a heavy heart "It is…"
"Shall we go?"
"No… listen I need you to do something for me while I go…"
"I thought I was going with you… to keep you safe"
"You and I both know that there's nothing that can keep me safe, I need you go keep the boy and his mate safe"
"But…"
"But nothing… they are the most important thing in the world right now, you're only priority… but listen, while I'm up there I need you to go to Hades' sanctuary"
"How am I supposed to get there undetected?!" Ares smiled and got closer to him "He will be too worried about other things to notice you're there"
"What am I looking for?"
"Go into his throne room… there's a black fire pit in his domain… look for it, I need you to learn whatever you can from it"
"Ehm… it's fire… what more could we learn from it?"
"You'll know when you get there, ok? Just… do this… for me" Mal nodded although he didn't understand what the task entailed; fire was their dominant element, they knew everything that there was to know about it, but he would comply, no matter what.
The God of war sighed and surrounded himself with energy; it was time to face his destiny and he knew there was no way to avoid what was coming.
He emerged in a grand circular hall with twelve big pillars, a throne-like chair before each, each one with the markings of one of the Olympians. His eyes immediately found Hades already sitting on his spot.
The redhead walked towards his uncle and gave him a courteous nod "Uncle…"
"You've made your point painfully clear, boy… there's nothing else to discuss" Ares leaned closer to his ear and took a deep breath before whispering "Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss… you had a very beautiful daughter… It's a shame my son and her were taken so young… I wonder, where did her soul end up?"
Hades' eyes widened in shock, and before Ares could walk away, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer "Was it you?" Ares could feel his uncle's energy creeping up his arm, but didn't flinch "Were you the one who kept her from me?"
It all clicked and now he was sure his hunch had been correct; Hades may have known what happened to her daughter but he didn't know it all. He smiled and placed a hand above his uncle's "No… but I have a pretty clear idea of who did… and I'm afraid you won't like the answer"
"Why would I believe a word from your lips?"
"You don't have to…" Ares waved his hand and summoned a golden cup; he placed his hand above it until it was filled with a fiery liquid then he turned his attention back to his uncle.
"Drink at your own risk… but be aware, once you do there's no way back"
It didn't take long for the rest of the Gods to join; the atmosphere was thick and dangerous, but he knew… whatever had to happen would.
It had in fact taken hours to explain the whole situation to Sting and Rogue, and saying they were not pleased was an understatement; both slayers had mentioned Natsu's plan was mad, that he wasn't seeing things clearly and that there had to be another way… but he wouldn't budge.
Sting had gone on and on about how selfish he was for subduing them and taking the lead if he was planning to die, and made it clear he wouldn't let it happen, it didn't matter that Gajeel and Laxus had shut him up several times, he just couldn't accept the fact that the plan would end up in them losing Natsu.
He knew it was crazy, but he believed with his very heart that it was the only way to assure everyone was left alone.
With him dead, the Gods wouldn't have to worry about Lucy, because in the end whatever stupid prophecy they had, referred to both of them, there was also the matter of his deal with Shiro, and after sealing the blood bond and killing everyone he would die as well which would complete his task… With Aporia and the dark guilds gone, Shiro wouldn't need to hold fairy tail hostage, all charges would be cleared and his family would be safe to go back home.
It didn't help that now he thought he was worse than poison, and that everything he touched was meant to perish… his mind kept going back to Zeref and how he had forced himself to not care about life in order to preserve it.
Natsu was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling… he couldn't sleep, and he hadn't for days now, not for more than a couple minutes at a time and always with someone around… not since he had gone into that dark room in the underworld and faced the dark fire.
His mind kept going to the beginning of this whole situation… it had taken a quick mission by himself, no longer than a day away and just because he wanted to get some jewels to help Lucy with her rent, but that had ended up with him shaking Fukuro's hand… the curse had driven him mad and caused things with Lucy to spiral… he couldn't help but think that if he hadn't gone then none of this would have happened, no nightmares, no fighting with Lucy and causing her to leave, no meeting Merryl, no Lucy's wedding… nothing… maybe then he would have given her everything they wanted… a nice home, a white picket fence, kids… everything they could dream of… everything she deserved.
The pinkette remembered Fukuro Tatsuma's last moments, yelling and pleading for mercy and swinging between sanity and madness; the man had said at some point they were not so different and in that moment he didn't want to believe it, but he wasn't so sure now… in the end, they had both succumbed to darkness.
Before he realized, it was already morning and time to put on his best angry face to continue with the charade that was now his life.
Business went down as usual, except that people were of course eyeing the recently acquired dragon slayers; he had calmed the guild leaders by saying they were now in possession of six Dragon slayers and that it was equivalent to having a full army, although they still had their doubts.
Whatever claims they had were sent away by Natsu's angry aura, because in the end, none of them could battle him for the throne.
The combats continued as usual, and even if it took a strain on his friends to keep the grid up, it had become easier with both Sting and Rogue assisting. The fights had been brutal, leaving two dead women and one too damaged to continue, despite the medical treatment her guild had to offer, it would still take weeks for her to get back on her feet.
As a combatant, Erza was not required to form part of the group sustaining the grid, and so, she made it her task to remain close to Natsu to make sure everyone knew they wouldn't have a chance to get close to him while also taking the opportunity to analyze her competition.
From the last groups she only had to be concerned about two of them; Nadia and Tais were built as Amazonians, but if that wasn't enough their magic was out of the ordinary.
Nadia had the ability of persuasion, her last combat had been won by demanding one of the contestants to bash her head on the floor repeatedly until she couldn't hold her own weight, while Tais had the ability to immobilize her opponents with a single touch which had allowed her to kill her opponent immediately.
She was lost in her thoughts waiting for him to meet her in their favorite spot; she sat below the Sakura tree, obsessively fixing her white skirt and rechecking her picnic basket to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
"He's late…" it seemed she'd been waiting for hours, looking at the clear blue sky when she heard the branches above move, causing some leaves to fall on her head. She looked up and saw a head full of pink hair and her heart skipped a bit.
A tall, built man jumped down from the enormous tree and patted his clothes, but once he turned around, disappointment hit her… he was not the one she was waiting for.
"You look sad, little one…"
"No, just… I thought you were someone else"
"Oh…" he seemed intrigued and sat a bit too close to her, "And who may that be?"
"A friend"
"Do you mind if I keep you company while you wait? It's awfully lonely here" he smiled then… a face splitting grin which for some reason made her smile "Sure… hungry?"
"I wouldn't mind a bite" she opened the basket and pulled out a couple of sandwiches and tea. They were quiet for a couple of minutes before she felt uncomfortable.
"Are you here by yourself?"
"Hey!" he turned his head and waved "Not really, I'm here with my family"
"Oh that's nice, are they your brothers?" The pinkette laughed loudly "Please, that old man has some centuries on me"
"Hey hey! Not that old"
"Sure pops…" he smiled and patted the third man on the back "This is my son"; she stared at him for a moment knowing he looked vaguely familiar.
"Wow… well you don't look as old to have a son my age!"
"He's a bit older than you actually… my youngest should be around your age"
"Is he coming too?" the man smiled "Nah, he's not supposed to yet… he's… busy…"
"Too busy to spend some time with his family? Well he sounds like a jerk" the elder man laughed loudly "He can be, but I think you would get along with him"
The Fairy Tail group was sitting on the ground getting some rest and eating some well deserved lunch to refuel, while Natsu walked with the kids in the flower garden that had stopped drying as soon as the kids came back; Neri had childishly said the flowers probably missed them, but Natsu knew the little girl had been close to dying, just as her siblings, and with her magic gone the garden had no way to sustain itself.
It was almost odd for them to hear Natsu laugh again, it wasn't a big laugh like his prior self, but a more contained one… but still, for them it was something.
"Ok, I'm just going to say this… being a battery for that fighting rig sucks balls…" Rogue laughed at Sting's word choice and rolled his eyes "Yeah, but I think we did the right thing"
"Of course we did, I don't know what we are going to do but we need to find a way to convince him dying is not the way to go"
"Can you two idiots shut up?" Laxus gave them an angry look before he pointed his finger at them "This is not the time or the place to discuss that"
They saw one of the girls running out of the flower field before she hid behind Gajeel who looked somewhat annoyed while his wife giggled.
"I ain't a shield!"
"Shhhh! Uncle Gajeel be quiet!"
"Unc… NO, I'm either Gajeel, or Blacksteel, or… Mr. Redfox but I am NOT your Uncle Gajeel" the tiny girl giggled harder "You're very funny Uncle Gajeel" he was about to retort when Natsu came out of the garden with Miko and Teiga following behind.
It was a funny image for everyone; Adae was hugging his right leg while Cai hugged his left one "Have you seen a very tiny pixie?"
The slayers were staring at him as if he had grown another head while the females covered their laughter "You know, a pixie! really tiny, short hair, likes to hide and smells like flowers"
Neri giggled from behind Gajeel causing him to roll his eyes "No… No… I don't think we have…"
"Are you sure?! I could swear she came this way" Neri jumped out of her hiding place laughing "SURPRISE PAPA!" she ran towards him and without thinking he pulled her up and nuzzled her "There you are, you can't go hiding behind lugnuts, he could squish you"
"Papa, Uncle Gajeel would never squish me!"
"Uncle Ga… NO… he is lugnuts, or metalbreath, or… lightning rod… but NOT uncle Gajeel! Never uncle Gajeel!" the kids laughed and ran away towards the field, and as soon as they did, Natsu's expression changed to a somber one.
"Erza I'm pulling you off the battles"
"Excuse me?" he scrunched his nose and shook his head "People died"
"I am not people"
"Can you not fight me on this?! I need you to be ok, and… they will need you to be ok" it dawned on them, he was still making plans for a perfect death.
"I will be ok, and you will too"
"They will need a village, Luce will need one too and the village doesn't work without you"
"Have you stopped to consider that it doesn't work without you either?" He smiled "Nah… I break everything I touch, I'm sure you'll do just fine without me"
The sun stung her eyes and she blinked a couple of times to adjust; she looked around feeling something wasn't right; she looked down at her skirt and stretched it for what felt like the thousand time to get rid of the wrinkles but paused her hand feeling she had done that before.
She looked up and noticed she was sitting under a big Sakura tree; it was confusing… she didn't remember why she was there but noticed a basket in front of her; she was curious so she opened and noticed a lot of food.
"Who would eat all of this?" she felt a sharp pain on her head and in her mind she saw the back of a man with messy pink hair and for some reason she smiled and the words left her mind without her thinking about it "He's late…" it seemed she'd been waiting for hours, looking at the clear blue sky when she heard the branches above move, causing some leaves to fall on her head. She looked up and saw a head full of pink hair.
A tall, built man jumped down from the enormous tree and patted his clothes. He looked familiar but she didn't know who he was.
"You look sad, little one…"
"No, just… waiting for someone… I think"
"Oh…" he seemed intrigued and sat a bit too close to her for her comfort, which for some reason she found oddly familiar "And who may that be?"
"Oh… well…" she had the name on her lips… she knew it… didn't she? But if she did then why couldn't she remember him? "I… he's…"
"Are you sure you are waiting for someone?"
"I… guess I'm not sure…"
"Maybe you are in the wrong place; he may be waiting for you somewhere else" she scrunched her nose not knowing how to respond.
"Do you mind if I keep you company while you wait? It's awfully lonely here" he smiled then… a face splitting grin and something sparked in her head, but she didn't know why "Sure… hungry?"
"I wouldn't mind a bite" she opened the basket and as soon as her hand connected with the sandwiches she tilted her head, knowing something was not right
"Are you here by yourself?" he shook his head before cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand "Waiting for someone"
"Who?"
"My family… well part of it at least, my father and my kid, I mean I guess he is really not my father and in all honesty my son is not really a kid anymore, but hey… he'll always be a baby to me" she giggled, her mother used to tell her she would always be her baby. She rubbed her forehead in confusion, she remembered her mother but knew nothing of her, and it was all too confusing for her.
"Dad!" he turned his head and waved his hand "Hey! You two are super late!"
"Relax a bit, would you, runt! We were sightseeing"
"It's a freaking forest pops! How many trees do you have to see before you get bored!" She placed both hands to her head and held her breath; the familiarity of their word choice and the petty argument was striking something in her mind, something she couldn't quite place.
"Are you ok?" She looked up to see a redheaded man with an 'X' shaped scar across his right cheek and another one crossing his eye "Y-yes… I am"
"What's your name?" she opened her mouth to speak but didn't find any words, and for some reason she felt tears threatening to fall from her face "It's ok, sometimes our brain takes time to adjust and heal, you will know when you need to know" the redheaded man smiled at her and for some reason she found his reassurance comforting and warm.
She noticed the other male had remained quiet; he had lean, dark eyes that matched his hair and he kept avoiding her eyes at all cost "Hi…" he opened his mouth but turned away quickly before hugging his legs "Hi…"
"You look sad…"
"I'm fine…" she felt something weird inside her stomach; the blond woman stood up and made a beeline until she sat herself right in front of him "You don't look fine" she tried to reach his face but his words stopped her in her tracks.
"You're not supposed to be here"
She felt a bit annoyed by his comment "And where am I supposed to be according to you?"
He turned slightly and gave her a sad smile, his eyes were filled with pain and it made her ache "You need to wake up Lucy…"
"Dammit Zeref, could you not…."
"Zeref?" She blinked a couple of times in confusion, she knew she had heard the name before "Shit…"
"Now you've done it pops!" the pinkette stood up and started pacing "You were supposed to do this slowly!"
Zeref sighed and turned fully towards Lucy "You really do need to wake up"
"Wake up? Am I not awake now?" He shook his head "You haven't been for a couple of days… the longer you stay here, the harder it is to leave… you forget"
"I haven't forgotten anything!"
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm waiting!" Zeref grabbed her hand tightly "For who?"
"I… he… that's none of your business!" she pulled her hand hashly and bit her lip "Son, you need to stop pushing, she's not ready"
"You are all mad!" she stood up and made her way into the forest, pushing branches away with her hand and trying to catch her breath until she saw a clearing in front of her.
She ran faster until she pushed past the last branches, only to arrive at the same spot she had left behind "What…"
"Back so soon?" the redhead slapped the back of the pinkette's head "Is not like she would get lost!"
Zeref was getting tired and walked towards her again "You need to focus! we don't have much time before you forget again"
"But you're all here and you remember stuff…"
The pinkette sat down again and sighed before signaling her to do the same "We can't stay for long"
"Where are you going? Can't you take me with you?"
"We can't little one… you see, you don't belong where we are going, you need to go back" she was confused, but before she could try to make sense of everything the sky turned gray and lighting broke the peace and quiet that surrounded them.
"Dammit…" the three men looked up to the sky with sadness, and she didn't understand why but she felt it too. The wind became violent and when she looked up again, the beautiful tree she was leaning on had no leaves, it's color had become dull and even the grass looked paler.
She felt a sharp pain on her chest and couldn't hold her tears anymore. Lucy placed both hands on the trunk of the three seeing how it's lively color faded and it's surface started cracking "Make it stop!"
"Lucy! You need to wake up!"
"I'M AWAKE!"
"You're not! You need to go back!"
"GO BACK WHERE?!" They didn't want to tell her… they feared forcing her brain would be too hard. She stood up and fisted her hands on her sides "This is not funny!"
"Being alone is never fun Luce" She gasped and grabbed her chest; her brain was going 1000 miles per hour and suddenly his voice made its way inside her head 'It's always more fun when we are together, Luce'
She closed her eyes and tried to hold on to the sound of his voice while she kept pressing her chest until it came down on her like a bucket of cold water. The sound she heard was like a bell, and with every cling something popped into her head… her falling figure from the tower, him clinging to the rails on the magic games, his tears, his smile, his kisses…
"Natsu…" Lucy fell on her knees "Natsu…" she didn't want to stop saying his name; the fear of forgetting again was too big "Hold on to it little one, don't let him go…"
The blond hugged her middle and took a deep breath, this had happened before… and every time she forgot they came to her to remind her "I need to get out of here… h-he… I need to go!"
"Then wake up Lucy…"