Chapter 19: Luctor
Natsu's world blurred as they were unceremoniously hauled back to the Council building, both him and Lucy. Lucy's eyes had lost the spark he was so accustomed to; they merely stared blankly at the ground. He wanted to punch something, preferably someone, but his wrists were bound so tightly his hands were going cold, and aside from that a guard held each shoulder to keep him still. And, well, he had the feeling fighting back would make her more upset, and that, he couldn't stand to do.
Where had he gone wrong? Perhaps it was not sensing the incoming attack that immobilized him from the get-go. However, it was hard to smell the woman who matched the scent of the falling rain. He wasn't sure why Lucy didn't summon another Spirit, or why Loki didn't show up unannounced as he was wont to do, but it didn't matter. They had been caught and he had a chilling certainty that whatever mercy spared his life from the Council before, wouldn't stand now. And he dearly hoped Lucy would be spared the same fate.
Look what you've done now. You've dragged the princess into your mess and she's paying for it, he reprimanded himself. As they came closer to the headquarters, he could hear sounds of unrest floating around the building. Even at this late hour, the insurrectionaries were no less rowdy, and at the sight of him and Lucy, their anger peaked.
"The princess is in on it too!" someone shouted. They were speaking a familiar language and for once, Natsu was not relieved to know what the people around him were saying.
"What's next for our poor kingdom, huh?"
"Traitors as far as the royal family themselves."
Lucy shrunk back at every word, then a sudden glint appeared in her eyes and she raised her head. Bruises and blood marred her pretty features but she faced the crowds nonetheless. "I am not a traitor!" she shouted, drawing a few's attention. "Everything I've done has been to protect the kingdom!"
"Then why is the kingdom arresting you now?" an older man challenged, folding his arms. "Seems fishy ta me." Her face colored, visible even in the darkness.
"I—"
"Silence!" a guard said, then balked at himself for doing so. Lucy pursed her lips and kept her head high as they were marched up the steps of the Council building. It was a struggle and not just because of his injuries; whatever that Aria guy had done left Natsu with only the barest dredges of magic. He felt physically ill and the world kept blurring out of focus. He was certain if he was given a second's rest, he would instantly pass out.
Without knowing when it had really happened, he found himself in the Council's meeting room. Those fogies were still there albeit a little weary, but he figured that would make them sharper rather than lenient. The dark-haired woman regarded Lucy with knowing eyes. She said something to Lucy in the language he couldn't understand, and Lucy straightened her back and responded harshly. The Councilwoman then turned away as the lot of them convened.
"What did she say?" Natsu whispered.
"Not only are you a traitor, Princess, but a liar as well," Lucy repeated. "I told her everything I said at the time was and is true. I would never do anything to hurt my people." Ironically, the guard holding her hands jerked her in warning, causing her to hiss in pain. She was not at all cowed as she looked to the froggy attendant. She said something, then repeated for Natsu's sake: "Can we get a translator please? If Natsu is to stand trial, he must understand what is being said."
A blockheaded pink-hued Councilman laughed at the statement and pointed to Natsu with bared teeth. Natsu's teeth were infinitely scarier yet he didn't flinch at the sight of them. A muscle clenched in Lucy's jaw as she said, "Shawarma says this won't be a trial, only the execution of traitor and monster."
"Seriously?" Natsu looked at the guards with their unrelenting grip on his shoulders. They really believed he was a threat to the kingdom? No, well, he was, at least he had been, but he was…different now. How could he explain that? As it were, about as well as Lucy could cover her own ass. He would sooner take the execution himself than let her be dragged into this. She was only trying to protect her kingdom…and he was only trying to use her for selfish reasons. Maybe he did deserve this. Igneel would certainly be turning in his grave if he knew all he'd done to Lucy since her kidnapping.
"That goes against the Council's motto, however." Lucy and Natsu turned in surprise to see Loki having appeared behind the guards, pushing his way to the front. He had a confident smirk on his face but was visibly distressed at the scene before him, and there was a definite limp to his movements that didn't go unnoticed.
"Loki," Lucy murmured, but Loki simply rested a hand on her head.
"I, Leo the Lion, refute the claim of the princess being a traitor," Loki said. "And having been in the possession of Anna Heartfilia, establisher of this judicial system, I'd like to think I'd hold a certain amount of weight. I will serve as translator in the trial of Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia." He put a certain amount of emphasis on the word and his eyes narrowed dangerously at their podiums.
An old guy with a long green mustache harrumphed but waved the matter off. He spoke in a weary voice, then Loki translated: "If you so wish a trial, whelps, then so be it. The outcome will be the same."
"A whelp, am I?" Natsu growled. "I have lived several of your lifetimes." He was ignored as the Council bickered among themselves for a moment, then turned to Lucy.
"Princess Lucy Heartfilia, what say you?" said a Councilman with a sheet of silver hair like rain. "You are charged with colluding with a known threat to the safety of Fiore."
"And who is that, exactly?" Lucy responded. "Not the dragon next to me."
"There is no good dragon," the woman said, and Lucy smirked at that, a private smile at some joke only she knew.
"Maybe you should get out more, Halloumi. From what I've experienced, Natsu Dragneel is no criminal. Misguided, certainly," and Loki smiled after repeating that while Lucy flushed a bit, "he has done and said terrible things to me…and I am not exempt either. But his only wrongdoing was being treated as a sinner, a threat to this kingdom, long after the common people have forgotten what his forefathers have done. Natsu Dragneel and his companions were imprisoned before they were even old enough to understand right from wrong, so how can you blame him for wanting the freedom he could never experience?"
"When we see a poisonous snake, do we not kill it immediately?" said the grey-haired man once more. "Because we know that given the chance, it will turn on us, and so has this dragon done. With a lapse in the castle's defenses, he broke through the prison and took you, Princess. He also has injured two royal guards in the process."
"And then he returned to help in the War," Lucy countered. "Against his own kind, Cozonac."
"On that note," Halloumi said, folding her hand, "how is he any different from the venomous snakes in our prison? Is he not just as likely to turn on us as they are?"
"No," Natsu spoke up. "It was never about taking revenge against you blockheads. My only goal was—is—to regain my family from the bastard who took them. The same one who wiped the floor with your precious security." Halloumi's face colored with rage and Natsu grinned sharply at the sight. "That Mystogun has my sister, he has the untapped magic of a dragon at his disposal. But rather than being concerned about that, you're occupied trying to take my head, the only person who's capable of tracking him."
"Listen, you—"
"I won't say I'm keen on protecting you lot—if anything, I believe your stupidity will end you long before I could." Lucy gave him a scandalized look and he shrugged. "But your lives matter to Lucy, which is why I intervened back then. So long as she wants me contained, I will be."
The mustached man spoke up this time—Natsu believed his name was Pani. "Princess, is this true? Have you domesticated this dragon?"
"I don't believe that," Cozonac harrumphed. "We tried multiple times when he was young—he was a feisty whelp then, and now he's a bigger pain."
"No, I didn't domesticate him." Lucy said the words with such contempt. "I befriended him, and that's made all the difference."
"But you have not tamed him," Halloumi pointed out. "He acts on your whims for now, but what about when that changes? We cannot risk that."
"Then again," said a younger man, stroking his naked chin, "we can't ignore the merits of training a dragon. Now that he's more docile, so to speak, perhaps he can be molded to our intentions." Natsu scowled at the mere thought but their ensuing bickering was on a lighter note.
"Natsu Dragneel," Halloumi said, then winced a bit as if repulsed by his name. "We have decided to pardon you on two conditions: you swear loyalty to the kingdom of Fiore, and you persuade your fellow dragons to do the same."
"I hope you're not talking about the ones in the dungeon," Natsu said with disgust. "I wouldn't call them fellow dragons. They hate my guts now more than you do."
"Those are you options nonetheless."
"What about the princess, huh? What about Lucy?"
Halloumi spoke again and the muscles in Loki's arms tensed. Though he was still visibly weakened, he looked seconds from punching the woman in the face. "She said," he spoke through his teeth, "the kingdom has no room, nor mercy, for traitors. Lucy is stripped of her name and title until her father returns to…deal with her."
Lucy had paled so much she was almost translucent, and there were shameful tears forming in her eyes. Loki had begun to growl deep in his throat and Natsu didn't blame him. For the first time, the two of them were of like mind, but for now, he cleared his throat and spoke to the lion. "Quit it. Snapping at them won't do anything but make the situation worse. I would love to go ripping some heads off, but I think Lucy's upset enough." Loki deflated at that and glanced in her direction. She had fallen to her knees without the support of the guards and her trembling hands went up to her mouth.
"Father," she whispered. She was hauled back to her feet and her and Natsu were hustled to the door. He saw Loki continuing to argue with the Council before the doors were shut. "My father…oh, Natsu, what will he say?" She turned to him with huge eyes and he sighed.
"I can't get your hopes up, sorry." Because he knew her father, and he knew more or less how much their interaction would break Lucy's heart. As much as he would love to bust some heads and whisk them both away from this situation, he couldn't. Mostly because his magic was restrained, but also because he couldn't decide how Lucy would react.
They were thrown into two different cells and bound by runic walls. Natsu couldn't see Lucy but he could feel her despair. The sensation was like a dragon-sized weight on his heart and he sagged against the wall. His untreated injuries stung, especially the wound on his back which was scraping against the rough concrete, but he didn't care. If he had flown faster from Era—if he had detected Juvia's approaching—if he had protected Lucy as he promised, but he protected her about as well as he protected Wendy—
"Ironic, isn't it?" The voice startled Natsu until he realized it came from the wall behind him. It sounded vaguely familiar. "You helped the kingdom and the princess kick our ass, but nonetheless they throw you in here, same as us."
"Ah, it's you. Viper, was it?"
"Sting," he snapped.
"I know the kingdom's full of blockheads, you don't need to tell me that. But these blockheads also managed to lock you up, so shut your trap."
"Well, it's more interesting to speak to you than stare at the dust in the air. They didn't even have the decency to put Rogue next to me."
"That makes sense. Wouldn't want an escape happening," he said bitterly. Sting chuckled at that.
"Sorry, not all of us have the princess to give us an edge. Feisty girl, by the way. Is she your mate?"
"What?" Natsu said louder than necessary, then cleared his throat and forced his voice to a normal volume. "No, uh, she's sorta…a free spirit, I suppose."
"Makes sense." Sting sighed as he seemingly readjusted himself. "So are you, a full-blooded dragon. Yet you turned your back on freedom in order to help her."
"Why do you care? Why are you talking to me at all? I thought you hated me."
"Hate's the wrong word. We did cut a deal with the Council some odd years ago to leave them be in exchange for your safety. But if you ask me if I'm miffed that you went and kicked my ass—"
"Hold on. I was a part of that treaty?" Natsu asked, brow furrowed.
"Of course. I guess no one told you anything. The safety of you three as a whole was the idea, but mostly it was about you. Rather, the threat you pose if the kingdom had enough brain cells to use you."
"What, the stupid brainwashing?" he said with disgust. "Yeah, that failed years ago."
Sting didn't reply immediately, then he burst into laughter. "They really left you in the dark! I'm talking about something even older. Before Igneel was captured, the elder dragons gave him a certain task: find an object which threatened human and dragonkind and destroy it. It's a story my father told me quite often, and Rogue knows it as well."
"Okay? I don't follow."
"He couldn't destroy it, that's the thing. So he went and sealed it up where it would be safest, in the dragon who he was certain had the means to protect himself. He sealed it in you, Natsu Dragneel, and that power inside you can wipe Era, Ishgal, and a quarter of Bosco off the map in one fell swoop."
Natsu's head was spinning as he leaned closer to the wall. Igneel sealed something inside him? Before they were taken by the kingdom, he supposed, which would mean he was too young to remember it. If Sting was even telling the truth, but what reason would he have to lie? Slowly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer, he asked, "What did he seal inside me?"
"Hey, not everything come free. Break me out and I'll tell you everything I know."
"I can't even break myself out, dipshit."
"You did it a first time."
He did, but on the cusp of his rage at Mystogun. As irate as he was at the situation, he was more despaired than anything, an echo of Lucy's feelings. "Don't think there'll be a second time," he said, then sighed. "Glad to have this talk though. Ya know, I never got to meet any new dragons. What's it like out there?"
"Not any Shangri-li, I'll tell you that. Especially where we live, it's a bunch of shit people who value strength over character. Rogue and I, we've definitely not made the best choices over the years, but we never lost sight of the dragon's spirit."
"Dragon's spirit," he repeated, closing his eyes. "Yup. That's all we have left."