Chapter 43

Demonic Flame: The Tie That Binds Us

...

Blood, sweat and tears trickled slowly off the bluenette's battered body, the tears pooled in her eyes blinded her vision. The memories and flashbacks from earlier on made her legs wobble and shake with every run she took. Erza was her closest friend, she considered her family. She always looked up to the scarlet haired woman with pride in her dark blue eyes. Crystal constantly wiped the salty tears that streamed down her bloodied cheeks harshly, fighting the urge to curl up in a little ball and cry her eyes out.

There would time for grief.

Not now. Not in the middle of a War.

But she couldn't help but think to hersel

For all these years, Erza had loathed her...

It made her stomach churn, pondering on what she did wrong...

Crystal shook her head, running towards a flight of cobblestone stairs that led upwards. The smell of roses, cinnamon and warm spices filled her nose. Another smell caught her attention but ignored it and ran up the stairs.

Once she arrived, she saw two of her comrades in freezing cold frost, frozen in place. The bluenette went around them, seeing they were indeed, Natsu and Lisanna. Natsu looked as if he were reaching out to something and Lisanna attempting to go after him. Crystal took out her sword and a small flame erupted at the tip till the whole length of it was covered in sapphire blue flames.

She moved the sword closer to the two, watching the frost slowly melt off their bodies and pool down at their feet below. When the frost was completely melted off, immediately, their arms went to hug their bodies as cold air came from their mouths. Natsu had a shock and terrified expression, looking as if he were to have a mental breakdown any second. Lisanna on the other hand, was worried about her pink-haired friend.

"Natsu, Lisanna..." Crystal spoke, putting her sword back into its holder behind we back "What happened to you two?"

Lisanna's teeth chattered violently with the intense coldness her body felt, goosebumps all along the white-haired woman's pale skin. Her purple-bluish lips parted to speak but she was interrupted by Natsu first.

"W-We were attacked- by someone..." The pinkette said but it came out more like a hiss of disgust, rubbing up and down his strong, tanned arms.

"Attacked by someone? Was it one of the ten?" Crstal raised an eyebrow at Natsu's strange behavior. Lisanna shook her head.

"W-W-We don't know f-for sure... But Natsu seems to know her very well judging by his expression when s-she attacked u-us."

"Her... So it's a woman..."

Before she could mutter another word from her blood-stained lips, warm-ish arms wrapped around her slightly trembling body. The grip on her was sorta tight, tight enough for the warmth radiating off his body to bring tears in her eyes once more, she closed her eyes as she tried to prevent them from falling, a constellation of tears upon her thick, black eyelashes. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to collapse in those strong arms and wail her eyes out.

A part of her wanted to curl up in a little ball and cry, the other half of her however, wanted to rush back to Erza and help her, wanting to hold the scarlet haired woman in her arms and declare how much she meant to her. This was not something the Blue Fire Dragonslayer could just bounce back and be all ready to go fight, facing her long lost Father.

This was heart-renching. She never felt this type of sadness is a long time, not since her childhood friend who died in the hands of Blaze, the man who stole her innocence at such a young age, robbing her of her virginity and a strong state of mentality. She felt tainted, disgusting...

The warmth that surrounded her left, snapping her out of the darkness that consumed her mind. She started to tremble, feeling vulnerable and helpless as she did before but a pair of hands resting on her shoulders made her jump, forcing her to look her pink-haired lover. Crystal flinched on sight, seeing those eyes staring intentively back at her with terror and shock, those lips she always longed for were a slight colour shade of blue mixed with purple.

"Crystala, listen" Natsu's voice held a tone of seriousness, a rare tone you'd hear from the bubbly Fire Dragonslayer, "What I'm about to tell you make shock you but I need you to be strong for me. Can you be strong for me?"

Crystal stared at him for a second before meekly nodding to his request.

"Good..." Natsu nodded also, letting a small smile come to his lips but the terror and shock still lingered on his features, giving Crystal uneasiness in her stomach.

"But before I do..." His pained expression quickly flipped to a concerned one, he eyed her body up and down, looking at all the bruises and slits on her porcelain skin.

"What the hell happened to you? It's obvious you got into a fight but with who?" Natsu gasped softly as the tears that were wielded up in her eyes spilled out from both corners of her eyes, burning the open slits on her cheeks.

"I..." Panic filled her face as she moved away from him harshly, holding the sides of her head as she let out a bloodcurdling scream, "ERZAAAAAAA!"

Her tears flowed rapidly down her cheeks, she couldn't hold it back anymore as she fell to her knees, wailing loudly up to the to open ceiling above. Natsu and Lisanna were both taken back at her sudden breakdown, seeing his lover cry like that stung his already weak heart. The pinkette sauntered towards her, kneeling down before the crying girl.

He didn't know how to approach her. For the first time, in such a long time... Natsu felt helpless with comforting Crystal. She didn't want affection, she wouldn't listen to reason either. She just sat on her knees, crying loudly.

The bluenette's hands went from gripping fistfuls of her sky blue hair that was stained with crimson blood to her face, hiding it away from Natsu as her loud sobs subsided into softer cries. She removed her hands, placing them on the floor as she sniffled up mucus that threatened to run down from her nostrils, her teeth gnashed.

"Erza... Erzaaaa..."

"What about Erza, Crystala? Is she hurt? When did you find her? If she injured, we need to help her!" Natsu instinctively went to wrap his arms around her trembling body but hesitated for a second when she looked up at him with bloodshot red eyes.

"Erza... S-she'd kick my ass if she saw me crying like this..." Crystal sniffled, "Especially since I'm crying over her... Jesus, she was right when she said I needed to grow up..."

"What?" Natsu was beyond confused now, he was before and now her saying these things made him even more lost.

"Erza and I..." More tears rolled down her cheeks, "We... Oh God, we..."

"It's okay..." Natsu soothed.

"We..."

Lisanna chimed in, "What is it, Crystal-san? Whatever it is, you can tell us."

"Y-you and Erza fought?!" Natsu asked in disbelief as he sat up, Lisanna right next to Crystal, comforting her.

"Two monsters fought! How are we not dead yet!? It was supposed to be the end of the world! THE END OF THE WORLD I TELL YOU!"

The sobs Crystal tried to keep within her throat slipped, she covered her mouth as Lisanna glared at Natsu.

"Natsu! Don't take this as a joke! That was probably a traumatizing event for Crystal-san!" The white haired woman scolded, rubbing Crystal's back in soothing comfort.

"Who said I was taking this as a joke? I'm dead serious! I'm surprised the world hasn't ended yet!" Natsu looked at Crystal, "Besides, Crystal's been through worst traumatizing stuff than this."

Lisanna gasped, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. How could he take such a matter so lightly? Just imagine being in her shoes, all alone, wandering aimlessly in a place Crystal don't even know until she found a person who she trusted but only to find out Erza wanted to kill you. Obviously, she didn't want to fight back, Erza was her friend since childhood! Forcing to fight someone who is practically like your sister to the death then after all that, she reveals things to Crystal that she never thought were possible then was forced to leave her behind after all that.

'Not everyone you laugh and smile with is your friend' The phrase Crystal never liked to believe, but she did, people warned her but she never listened, so she learned the hard way.

Boy, did she regret it. Greatly.

"How can you say that?! Crystal is suffering and all you can think about is the fight they had?! Honestly, what kind of boyfriend are you?!

"Excuse me?! I don't recall you being there with her all the time to comfort her when the demons inside her mind controlled her emotions, I was fucking there for her when Blaze kidnapped her! Where the hell were you?! I've seen her like this so many times in worst places, this isn't the most traumatizing thing she's faced!"

"Dammit Natsu! I was there! We both know how she was back then! Crystal needs you now and all you could think about is the fight they had!"

Crysal cringed at the yelling going back and forth.

"Oh screw off that with that!"

They both aruged back and forth for a long while that they both hadn't realized the soft warnings coming from Crystal. The smell that lingered around them when she got here had returned, and it was getting closer with each passing seond. She kept saying things like "someone's coming" or "you both should stop" but they never listened to her.

Then she had enough.

"WOULD YOU BOTH STOP IT?!" Crystal yelled a little too loudly, the two stopped clawing at each other's throats and looked down in shame before looked at Crystal.

"You're both acting like children."

"She started it." Natsu said for a matter-of-factly with a childish pout.

"I don't care who started it, apologize."

The white haired woman frowned slightly before looking back at Natsu and mumbled an apology, he did the same with her. Crystal got off of her knees and wiped the salty tear steaks imprinted on her cheeks.

"You wanted to tell me something, Natsu?"

The scent was coming closer. Natsu flinched as he took a quick wiff of the air surrounding them, coming to terms that who had them incaged in frost was actually true. He didn't want to believe it.

If he felt this way, Crustal would definitely feel much worst.

"Listen, I-I..."

He got choked up, the temperature around them dropped massively.

"You what?" Crystal tilted her head to the side a bit, her eyebrows furrowing. The expression on Natsu's face seemed pained and distressed. She wanted to ease that tension but something within her forced her not to.

"What's wrong, Dragneel? Frost got your tongue?" A third voice joined in.

Crystal's eyes went large, her mourh galling as she dared not turn around to see who that voice belonged to. Her body started to tremble as panic-induced fear took over her body but she fought strongly against the urge, spots were flashing in front of her eyes as dizziness swayed her body around.

"You..." Natsu glared, his blood boiling as he saw how Crystal had frozen up.

"Awww, how rude... You even forgot my name? Why do you look so angry?"

Oh no, angry was an understatement. Seething, was more like it.

"I... I know that voice..." Crystal shivered, "I know that smell..." The bluenette slowly turned around, once she was completely turned around to see the person with that voice and familiar scent, she shuddered and gasped at the sight.

A woman with long, straight black hair that was held up in a high ponytail, it reached her lower back. Dark hazel brown eyes staring back at her with an evil glint. Crystal's eyes travelled down her body, she was flat-chested. She was in a one piece suit that had her legs exposed that was a gun-metal gray and had a red ruby in the center. A black, transparent veil coming going down the back that had sparkles embedded into them, the one-piece itself was a sweetheart neckline with black transparent sleeves that went all the way down to her wrists and slightly over her collarbone.

Her shoes were boots that reached her knees, they were a gray colour and were high heels. The woman had an evil sneer that greatly complimented her outfit.

She smelled like coconuts and a hint of blackberries...

Crystal's voice got lost in her throat, "Kiyoko..."

Kiyoko gave her a nasty smile, "Nice to see you, Crystala."

The pink haired man moved towards his lover, standing behind her as he encased her into his arms protectively, glaring daggers at Kiyoko. He growled loudly like an animal defending what was theirs, sure, Crystal could more than handle herself but he couldn't fight the urge to protect her from anyone. Even if it was her friend, he would never forgive anybody who purposely hurt Crystal.

Never...

His eyes flashed a golden yellow as his fangs sharpened, the grip around her body grew more rough. Crystal stood there in complete shock, she never understood this.

All that came to her mind was why... So that's what she was gonna say. That was all in her mind, question marks filled her brain.

"Why..?" Her voice cracked as she moved away from Natsu's grip and towards Kiyoko, her legs wobbling with each step she took toward her.

"Why!?" She asked with more assertiveness, her shock quickly turning into anger as her hands palmed into fists.

"Why..?" Kiyoko gave a maniacal laugh, "I'll tell you why... It's because of you... All of this is because of you..."

"Because of me!?" Crystal growled, "What the hell were you thinking!? It's one thing to become an assassin but a dark one!? And to this guild, no less?!"

"Don't act as if you even give a damn about anyone but yourself. Master always talked about you, he always loathed and hated you yet while saying that, he had hurt in his eyes. The only reason I'm here is to eliminate you..." Kiyoko gave her a small smile, "You shouldn't even be on their side... Do you know how much Master loves you?"

"Loves me?" Something within Crystal snapped, her pupils becoming smaller as they looked dark and hollow, the sparkle in them disappeared. Whenever this happened, she was pissed. Fuming with rage.

"You're too fucking funny, Kiyoko..."

"I'm not laughing...See, this is the problem with you. You're too damned stubborn! God, you have no idea how much I hate you!" Kiyoko's teeth gritted, "You took everything away from me! If it weren't for you...! You...! That day, the day you were in that burning house... I lost everything!"

"I took everything from you?!" Crystal gave Kiyoko a sadistic smile, "You have no idea what lost is..."

"I have no idea what lost is?! By you being in that house alone, Yukiko rushed inside there to save your pathetic ass! Consumed by all the smoke and ash, calling put your name and putting that shit into her lungs!" Tears wielded up in her eyes, "Yukiko got Lung Cancer! Lung Cancer! My only fucking family died! Yukiko died!"

"She..." Crystal covered her mouth, "She died..?"

"It's all your fault! YOU STOLE MY HAPPINESS AWAY FROM ME! YOU BASTARD!"

Crystal's heart sank, her eyes drooped and her shoulders slumped at the horrible news that Kiyoko has bestowed upon her. The bluenette attempted to walk over to her but was blasted away by a funnel of frost, the walls of the building they were in had complete frosted over, the temperature dropping low that it made Crystal and Lisanna shiver.

Natsu stood in front of Crystal, his eyes narrowed at Kiyoko as he looked ready to fight.

"I will not hesitate to fight you Kiyoko... You're an enemy of Crystal and my guild but since I give people second chances, I'll give you one last chance to stand down and tell us where Taskimada is."

"Not Kiyoko... I am Neo-Kiyoko. The Queen of Frost, one of the ten in the Demonic Flame guild..." Kiyoko smirked, "I challenge Crystala Dragnela to a duel of the death."

"As if! Kiko dying isn't anyone's fault! That's how she is! Crystal never asked her to come and save her! Crystala is my responsiblity! Not yours!" Natsu defended.

"Miss Sleeping Beauty has been hiding behind you for so long now! Let her decide if she wants to duel me! It's only fair since this bitch was the one who killed the only family I have left!"

"What? 'Only family'?" Crystal frowned, "What do you mean by that? What about your parents?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, I do not wish to tell you either."

The white haired woman jumped in front of them both, her clothes were changed into her white tigress take-over form. She used her body as a shield to protect Natsu and Cryhaired "You guys go. I can handle this."

Kiyoko scoffed, "Psssh, don't make me laugh."

"Lisanna... We can't leave you behind like this!" The pink haired man protested against her decision.

"Come with us and just leave her! Kiyoko will not backdown from this and I need my energy for Taskimada! I don't want to fight anymore friends not do I want to lose any more either!"

This didn't seem fair to Crystal. First it was Erza and now Kiyoko? Knowing that Tukiko had risked her life for her made her feel all sort of emotions... She knew the blonde had problems with her lungs already but ah didn't think it was that bad! When Kiyoko told her that, it was like a dagger stabbed her in her already blackened heart that had scars over it. The bluenette knew Kiyoko needed some closure, it was understandable...

She had to make a decision. Her dark blue eyes slowly went towards Lisanna then back at Kiyoko. She looked up at her lover, seeing the burning rage on his features.

"Lisanna... I always considered you as good friend... I always wondered how you and Natsu would look as a couple even if I would always get super jealous afterwards. Thanks for putting up with my bullshit..." Crystal took out her sword and gave Natsu a nod, the both ran for it in the direction Kiyoko came from. The black haired woman obviously ran after them but was stopped by a pale blue, transparent barrier. She banged her fists on it, angry tears running down her cheeks.

The sky blue haired maiden placed a hand where her fist is, pressing her forehead against the barrier.

"I'm truly sorry for everything, I hope one day you can forgive the pain I caused you, friend... The tie that binds us will never break, I can guarantee you that."

Crystal smiled at her friend before running towards Natsu, dashing into the direction Kiyoko came from. Loud explosions and shouts came from beneath their feet that made the ground shake, pieces of the building falling off. The explosions came from outside the building as well.

"You okay?" Natsu asked, "I know how hard it must be for you."

"It was... She was driven by anger and rage even when that explosion was Taskimada'a fault, one day she'll realize that."

...

"One day."

I hope you all enjoyed! Sorry this chapter was a bit short and no, my stolen tablet was not returned to fuck whoever took it. I'm using my phone and yes, it's an IPhone but a really old version of it, like back when YouTube use to look like a radio. Yep, IPhone 3. It's just a replacement for a new one I'm supposed to be getting. (I had this phone since last year August)

So yep! :) Can't put any emojis sooooo yeahhh. I was so hyped to see that I can actually update my stores on this old piece of shit. I have exams coming up on Wednesday so yeahhh... I will not be updating both stories for a while till it's done.

I really hope you enjoy and leave a review saying if you did and what you liked about it! That's all for now, see you soon! Byeeeee! (I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, help)