24: to kill a god.


It was at the moment when Lucy realized that she was doomed.

Natsu said that August, Irene, and Larcade were the ones we should watch out for. I'm face to face with Larcade! Wait...maybe it's a different Larcade? Lucy wondered, carefully eying Larcade who was waring a calm and content expression on his face.

"Why so quiet?" Larcade asked.

Lucy gulped. "You're Larcade...one of the Spriggan 12, correct?"

"Yes I am," Larcade answered.

Lucy slumped a little in her seat before she helped herself sit up. Oh my gosh, it really is that Larcade, the Larcade I was warned to watch out for! If Natsu was here, then I'd be more at ease, but Natsu's in the painting! Ahhhhhh what do I do!? I didn't think that I'd have to deal with this! Fuuuuuuck!

Larcade tilted his head in interest as Lucy went through her internal conflict. "Is everything okay?"

Lucy jumped a little when his voice broke her thoughts. "Um, how's Natsu in the painting when he's not a dragon god anymore?"

"He may not technically be a dragon god at the moment but he still has a dragon inside of him. All I had to do really was paint his dragon's seal into the picture and now he's stuck in the world that I've created," Larcade answered.

"Is he safe? And the others?" Lucy asked.

Instead of answering her, Larcade simply smiled.

"Give me a verbal answer! Are they safe!?" Lucy demanded.

"Do you really want to know?" Larcade asked, resting his elbows on the table.

One of his hands rested on his forehead, someone covering one of his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes turned yellow and the pupils turned vertical. The yellow irises of his eyes started to glow a golden color and he shivered.

Lucy's eyes grew wide as she resisted the urge to runaway. "Y-Your eyes!"

As she stared at his eyes, she remembered that Natsu would always cover his eyes whenever he was eating someone's pain. His eyes must look he same as Larcade's. That's why he covers them. Then she realized something else. "You're eating pain..."

"I told you that I'm an Etherious demon and that I have other ways to get a god meal," Larcade said in a low voice.

Lucy looked at the painting, Dragon Paradise that was on the wall. "You're eating the dragon gods' pain right now!"

"Correct. You see, I can take away mankind's 3 basic needs for survival in any world I create and they are: sleep, eat, and lust. All I need to do is paint them into the painting or, in the dragon gods' case, the dragons that are inside of them. So right now, the dragon gods are going through intense hunger. They might be eating each other at the moment," Larcade said as he leaned his head back and let out a shaky groan. "Looks like God Serena is dealing with them."

"Who!?" Lucy cried, completely horrified.

Larcade sighed as he collected himself. Then, he faced Lucy. His eyebrows twitched but he was still able to keep a calm composure. "A failed attempt at being a dragon god."

"Failed? But I heard Irene puts a dragon inside of you. How can their be a failed attempt?" Lucy asked as she hugged herself to stop herself from shaking.

"The dragon has to accept you but the 8 dragons Irene put inside of him did not accept him so they were killing him but Zeref made him into a guardian and stopped the dragons from killing him. At the moment, he doesn't like the humans who the dragons accepted so I painted him, Natsu and the others inside of the painting. Currently, he's killing them to get his revenge," Larcade explained before muttering, "Idiot."

"You're not going to let him, your fellow Spriggan 12 comrade, out of the painting," Lucy said.

"Of course not. Once you go into the painting, the only way you can leave is through death. You're in there forever left to suffer in the paradise I've created for you," Larcade said with a chuckle.

All of the color left Lucy's face. "So there's now way for Natsu to come out?"

"Unfortunately not," Larcade answered, tapping his finger on the table.

"So for them, it's either be killed by God Serena or to suffer from intense hunger," Lucy said.

"Correct, but if you go to the Underworld with me, I'll put God Serena into an eternal and the dragon gods can kill them. Plus, they won't be able to feel intense hunger anymore. Your choice," Larcade answered.

"There's no good to any of this!" Lucy cried.

"Maybe, but would you rather Natsu dies or lives?" Larcade asked.

Lucy ran her fingers through her hair. "What's up with you people making deals with me? First Jacob, now you."

Larcade shrugged. "It's just easier for us that way. Making your death look natural takes too much time when you can get straight to the point."

"But what if I don't want to make a deal!? I don't want to play around with people's lives!" Lucy cried.

"If you don't want to, then I'll get my way and that is to have all of the dragon gods, including Natsu and God Serena, die in my perfect world," Larcade answered, shivering. "Looks like one of them will die soon."

Lucy stood up and started to pace back and forth as she held back her tears. What should I do!? What would Natsu do!? She stared at Larcade who was clearly enjoying the pain he was eating. Natsu would kill Larcade on the spot, just like what he's done with the others. Killing Larcade would cancel out the spell, right? But what if it makes things worse!?

She stopped pacing and put her hands on the table. Being alive is better than being dead, she thought, hanging her head low. "Fine. I'll go to the Underworld with you."

Larcade smiled his perfect smile. "I knew you would be smart."

"But before we go, do what you said you would do. Put God Serena into an eternal sleep and remove the intense hunger from the others. Once God Serena is dead, I'll go with you," Lucy said as her fingers clenched.

"Deal," Larcade said, snapping his fingers.

Lucy slowly walked over to the painting. Once she was in front of it, she put her hand on it. "I'm sorry I couldn't free you," she whispered as a tear fell out of her eyes and ran down her cheek.

Then a thought came to her. It was risky but it could work. She dug into the pockets of the jacket she wore and felt that all 12 Zodiac keys were in there, 6 in each pocket.

Celestial magic is the magic of opening anything. Other than opening the spirit realm gate and summoning spirits, Celestial wizards can unseal things that are meant to be seal, open any lock, and many more. That means Lucy should be able to create some sort of exit for Natsu and the others.

But there were problems. First of all, Lucy still can't summon spirits and she needed them to tell her how to create an exit. The second problem was the fact that the world was a world create by Larcade who had complete control over what happened in there.

Lucy made up her mind and turned to face Larcade who no longer had his demon eyes out.

"God Serena is dead. And I kept my end of the bargain. The dragon gods are no longer suffering from intense hunger." Larcade held his hand out. "Now you keep your end of the deal and come to the Underworld with me."

"Actually, can I make some phone calls? I want to say goodbye to my friends before I go," Lucy asked, hoping that Larcade wouldn't be like Jacob who didn't let her make any calls.

"That makes sense," Larcade answered.

"Can I have some privacy?" Lucy asked, pulling out her phone.

"You have tops 5 minutes," Larcade answered before leaving the room.

The minute the doors closed, Lucy called Gray.

"You done yet?" Gray asked when he answered.

"Larcade is a demon!" Lucy cried, pulling out all 12 Zodiac keys.

"Woah! He is!?" He cried.

"And he's trapped Natsu and the others in some sort of painting so I'm trying to see if I can free them with my magic," Lucy answered.

Based on the sound of a car door closing, Gray was exiting his car. "How?"

"I'm not exactly sure but I have less than 5 minutes to figure it out. I just need you to keep an eye on Larcade. In fact, stall him if you can cuz it might take a while for me to free them. Once I succeed, you can kill him," Lucy answered.

"Okay. Send me a text or something. I'm entering the museum right now," Gray said before ending the call.

Lucy shoved her phone back into her pocket and stared down at the keys. "I know you guys might not like me at the moment, and that's fine. But I need you guys to help me save Natsu. He's saved me so many times. Not it's my turn to save him. If any of you guys know how to open entrances into fictional worlds, please tell me."

No response.

Having no choice, Lucy got onto her knees and started to rub her hands together in a prayer format. "Please tell me! Please! I beg of you!" She begged as she bowed her head over and over.

Suddenly, one of her keys started glowing. She quickly looked up and saw that it was the Aquarius key. The key floated off the table and over to Lucy. Lucy grabbed the key and stood up. A golden outline of a gate was created in front of her and the gate had a lock on it. Lucy put the key into the keyhole of the lock and turned right. The gate lit up as it faded away and Aquarius the water bearer came out.

Aquarius crossed her arms and inspected Lucy from where she stood. "You've grown, twerp."

Lucy dropped the key and put her hands over her mouth.

"Don't fucking drop my key!" Aquarius yelled.

"Aquarius...I opened your gate...and you still look the same from when I was a kid...!" Lucy whispered in awe.

Aquarius rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I heard your wish."

Lucy cleared her throat and got down to business. "Is it possible for me to get Natsu and the others out of the painting?"

Aquarius studied the painting. The painting was of a bunch of dragons flying in the blue sky and under the sky was a forest. There was a mountain in the distance and clouds near the mountain. At the foot of the mountain was the ocean.

Aquarius pointed at the ocean. "Since my powers are water based, it would be best if we opened the entrance of the gate in the ocean. With my powers, I can hold the gate open but you must hurry up and get whoever you want out. Larcade is controlling the land in the painting and if he realizes you're in there, it would mean trouble. Plus, you've summoned me and the longer I'm out, the more magic power you will use up until I'm forced to return to the spirit realm and when that happens, you will be stuck in that painting forever. You understand?"

Lucy nodded. Then a question came to her mind. "You've never come out before, no matter how much I beg you to. Why now?"

"Look, as far as I'm concerned, Layla is my master, not you," Aquarius said.

"So why are you coming out now?" Lucy asked.

Aquarius stared at Lucy for a while before sighing. "You're Layla's daughter. She'd hate me if I just ignored you."

"I see," Lucy said, putting the rest of her keys in her pockets.

"I know you're going to try to open the spirit realm gate so you can talk to your mom. Good. I really think you should talk to her," Aquarius said.

"Can you help me convince the other spirits?" Lucy asked.

"I'll try to get them interested but ultimately, you need to be the one to convince them," Aquarius answered.

Lucy faced the painting. "Makes sense."

"We've wasted two minutes," Aquarius said.

"Oh yeah! How do I enter the painting and open a portal?" Lucy asked.

"See it as a possession but not. I'll enter you and you'll have my powers. That means you'll be able to control all bodies of water like it's nothing. The portal must be opened in areas with water like lakes or rivers. From out here, trace a medium onto a spot on the ocean that's in the picture. That way when you're inside of the painting, all you and the others have to do is jump into the ocean," Aquarius said before walking through Lucy like a ghost.

Lucy's outfit changed from the dress she was wearing for the auction to an outfit related to Aquarius. She looked down as the outfit.

"Trace the medium! Hurry, you don't have time!" Aquarius' voice echoed in her mind.

Lucy walked over to the painting and held her finger up. "Is there a certain way I'm supposed to trace the medium?"

"Just trace a random one!" Aquarius cried.

Lucy immediately remembered the medium she had used to open the Book of END. Quickly, she traced the same medium onto a spot on the ocean of the picture that was closest to the mountain. As she traced it, it started to glow a blue color and Lucy was immediately sucked into the painting.


Holding a basket filled with herbs, Wendy, who was wearing traditional clothing from a few centuries ago, approached the shoreline closest to the mountain that was filled with rocks instead of golden sand. She sighed. "One minute I'm unpacking my stuff. The next minute, I'm trapped here. I wish I can go back..."

Suddenly, the ocean in front of her started to glow a blue color. Wendy backed up while clutching her basket of herbs close to her chest. "What's going on!? Another Spriggan 12 member!?"

Fog started to surround the area and in the fog, the silhouette of a person was shown walking out of the ocean and onto the shore.

Wendy slowly set her basket of herbs on the ground next to her and stood in position. "This time, I'll fight you!"

"Wait, Wendy!?" A familiar voice cried.

The fog disappeared and the person who had just walked out of the ocean was Lucy. With a large smile, Lucy ran over to Wendy and engulfed her in a tight hug. "I can't believe it actually worked!"

"Lucy! How are you here!?" Wendy asked, hugging Lucy back.

"Celestial magic," Lucy answered once the hug was broken. "I have less than three minutes to find everyone and take them to safety. Can you take me to the others?"

Wendy nodded and grabbed her basket. "They're not far. They've just dealt with God Serena so they have wounds right now. I'm collecting herbs to help heal them."

"But don't you have that spell that can heal people?" Lucy asked.

"I do, but it's temporary," Wendy answered.

Lucy studied Wendy. "How are you not hurt?"

"A lot happened and it's only been...wow. It's been day the whole time. The sun hasn't change its position at all. How are we here once you think about it?" Wendy asked.

"Larcade Dragneel trapped you guys inside of a painting, but don't worry. I'm here to let you guys out. We just have to hurry up," Lucy answered.

Wendy nodded before leading Lucy to where the boys were.

"When we all first came here, we fell out of the sky and landed in different areas. I landed near the ocean so nothing bad happened to me. I was really hungry for some reason but luckily there was fish from the ocean. It still wasn't enough so I went deeper into the forest. That was where I found the others. They were getting completely beaten up by God Serena but then God Serena suddenly fell asleep and we all stopped feeling hungry. I left so I could get herbs to heal their wounds so they should still be where I left them," Wendy explained.

Lucy scanned the place. If it weren't for the fact that this was some sort of prison created by a member of the Spriggan 12, she would have liked to stay here for about a day, completely cut off from the troubles of the real world.

"Um...Lucy?" Wendy started.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"When we leave this place, I'm going to continue to pretend that I don't know Natsu," Wendy answered.

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"I see Natsu like an older brother so I have a lot of respect for him but I know he's in trouble. I would like to help him but what can I do? There's nothing much that I can do in this situation," Wendy answered.

"I see, but what does that have to do with you pretending to not know Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"I feel like it's better for me to pretend to not know him so he wouldn't bother to try to get me to help him. That way, he won't be disappointed when my help turns out to be useless," Wendy answered.

"I guess," Lucy responded.

A few feet away in a clearing in a forest stood Gajeel, Natsu, Sting, and Rogue. They were gathered around God Serena's dead body and they were also wearing traditional clothing from a few centuries ago.

"Yo, can you back the fuck up!? You're getting your blood all over it!" Natsu yelled at Gajeel.

Gajeel touched his forehead then drew his hand back. Hos forehead was still bleeding.

"Man...if only if I can feel my arms..." Sting mumbled.

"Imagine breaking your arms. Couldn't be me," Gajeel smugly said.

Sting shot a glare at Gajeel.

Natsu kicked God Serena's lifeless body like it was nothing but a sack of potatoes. "Yo, you know what we should do?"

"What?" Gajeel asked.

"We should cut off his head then put it on like a stick or something like a trophy!" Natsu cried.

Gajeel slapped Natsu across his face. "Hell no!"

Natsu was about to charge at Gajeel but he started coughing up blood.

"Imagine coughing out blood. Couldn't be me," Sting smugly said.

Natsu and Gajeel glanced at each other.

"Truce?" Gajeel asked.

"Truce," Natsu responded through his coughs.

The both of them charged towards Sting who couldn't do much since his arms were broken. Sting was pushed to the ground and Natsu and Gajeel kicked him, creating more bruises on him.

"Respect your elders, twerp!" Gajeel yelled.

"Man, I been wanting to do this for a long time!" Natsu yelled.

Rogue was watching the whole thing from the sidelines. His neck was broken so Wendy made a makeshift neck brace for him. However, it hurt to talk. All he could do was grunt. He tried to get the others' attention but they didn't hear his grunts. Eventually, he gave up and sat under a tree. He noticed there was a sugarcane plant so he snapped off a piece and smelled it. He was debating on whether he should try to eat it or not.

Natsu and Gajeel soon stopped attacking Sting and walked over to the body. They looked at Rogue but he had fallen asleep.

"I'm not dealing with the dead body. You know how many Spriggan 12 dead bodies I gotta deal with plus Erza's dead body?" Natsu asked.

"I knew it!" Gajeel cried.

"Knew what?" Natsu asked.

"You killed Erza," Gajeel answered.

Natsu eyed Gajeel suspiciously. "How did you know...?"

"Nah, it's just obvious. With Erza dead, things suddenly went your way. You know, you got the keys and an excuse to comfort blondie," Gajeel answered.

"It's a secret. Nobody, especially Lucy, can know," Natsu said.

"I'll keep it a secret if you deal with God Serena's body," Gajeel said.

"What!? But I don't wanna deal with it! Why can't you deal with it!?" Natsu yelled.

"Bruh, why should I deal with it!?" Gajeel yelled.

"Cuz you're younger!" Natsu yelled.

"No I'm not! I'm older!" Gajeel yelled.

"Okay, what year were you born and the month!?" Natsu yelled.

"Like I know exactly! That was how many centuries ago!? I've been stuck at this age for centuries!" Gajeel cried.

Nats smugly smiled. "I remember the year and month I was born! The 7th year and the 7th month of the reign of Queen Hisui!"

Gajeel pointed an accusing finger at Natsu. "Yo! I was also born then!"

"You're making it up! You just said you don't know exactly!" Natsu cried.

"Cuz these days people use years and dates and shit! Back then we didn't!" Gajeel cried.

"I'm not dealing with God Serena's body! What if he randomly wakes up again!?"

"Dude, I'm pretty sure he's dead! We killed him the minute he fell asleep!" Gajeel yelled.

They looked down at God Serena's body. He was covered in so many cuts, burns and bruises that he was unidentifiable. There were even a bunch of sharp pieces of iron that was lodged into his chest that was obviously done by Gajeel.

"Okay. Rock paper scissors," Natsu said.

"Fine," Gajeel said.

They held their hands out. "Rock, paper, scis-"

Natsu immediately ran away.

"Yo! The fuck is wrong with you!?" Gajeel yelled after him.

"Have fun dealing with the dead body!" Natsu yelled back.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Gajeel yelled. His yelling was so loud that the birds in the trees all had to fly away.

Once Natsu was certain that he was far away from Gajeel, he leaned against a tree and started to cough up blood. He touched his abdomen and realized that his cut had reopened. He crouched down onto the ground. "Fuck..."

Suddenly, a twig snapped in front of him. He stood back up, ready to kill whoever was in his presence. Then he froze.

The person in front of him was Lucy.

"Lucy! What are you doing here!? How are you here!? What's going on!?" Natsu cried.

"Are you okay!?" Lucy asked, running over to Natsu.

"Oh...yeah..." Natsu answered, remembering that there were cuts all over his body.

Lucy moved his hand that was pressed against his abdomen to study the cut. "I saw a cabin on my way here. Maybe there's some things to treat this in there," Lucy said.

"It's fine," Natsu insisted.

Lucy gave a him a look that let him know that it's her way or no way.

"Take me to the cabin," Natsu decided.

Lucy put her hand over his abdomen to stop the bleeding as she lead him to the cabin. As the approached it, Natsu noticed that it looked familiar. Wait, isn't this the cabin I used to live in with Lucy?

Lucy kicked the door open and rushed Natsu inside. "Okay, let's see..." Lucy mumbled, looking around the place.

Natsu carefully sat down on the nearby bed in order to prevent his large cut on his abdomen from ripping open some more. "Check the cupboards."

Lucy complied. Just as he said, there were some traditional medical supplies. "How did you know that they were in here?"

"I'm not really sure how I should answer that," Natsu responded. He knew there was no way that he had gone back in time. He figured that he was in some world but he didn't know why.

Lucy grabbed as many medical supplies as she could and sat next to Natsu. "Open your robe," she said, facing him.

"W-Why?" Natsu asked, unconsciously bringing his hands to bring the open collar of his red robe closer.

"Okay. Bleed out until you die," Lucy answered with sass.

Natsu reluctantly opened his robe, revealing his toned chest and his abs that were decorated in cuts that were bleeding out.

Lucy got to work. Using the traditional medicine she found, she moved closer to Natsu and rubbed the medicine onto his cuts. Natsu carefully watched her. At first, he was stiff but he ended up relaxing after a while.

Slowly, Lucy lifted her head up at Natsu and saw that Natsu was watching her. They started to lean closer to each other and Natsu placed a hand on her cheek. He closed his eyes and tilted his head a little bit to the side. With her eyes closed, Lucy slightly parted her lips.


Random Fact: I think Lucy's Zodiac sign is Aquarius. Just think about it. Aquarius was the first Zodiac spirit she summoned in the anime/manga, she's very close to Aquarius out of all of the Zodiacs, she got her Star Dress Aquarius dress first, they just vibe together

Wassup!? It's ya gurl sugarsugarrush!

It's Lucy's turn to do the saving! Mwahahaha

Reviews:

Amanny- Thank you so much!

Copperreign12- Awwww thank you so much!

qmclean- Thank you so much!

Once again, I've been debating for days on how to end this chapter. Ugggggg

Time to close this so I can get some sleep! Don't forget to PM me or leave me a review! Later, yo!