25: why try?
Gajeel was sulking the entire time as he dug a grave for God Serena with the iron shovel he had created. After checking one last time that God Serena was dead, he covered up the hole.
"Natsu...that pink haired bastard owes me...!" He grumbled. "I'm definitely gonna tell Lucy the truth the minute I see her..."
"Tell me what?" Lucy's voice asked from behind him.
"Oh, that Natsu killed your friend Erza," Gajeel answered.
"He what!?" Lucy's voice yelled.
Gajeel turned around and flinched. There was Lucy standing there with Wendy next to her. She looked beyond pissed off.
"Hey...! I remember you...!" Gajeel awkwardly exclaimed as he stood up. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-
Wendy's face had paled and she was shaking. "N-N-N-Natsu k-k-killed Erza...!?"
"Uh...um...you see..." Gajeel wracked through his brain to find an answer.
Lucy scanned the area. There was Sting still laying helplessly on the ground and Rogue was drooling in his sleep. However, there was no Natsu.
"Where's Natsu!? He has questions from me to answer! What do you mean he killed Erza!?" Lucy demanded.
Gajeel obnoxiously cleared his throat and stretched his arms. Then, he walked over to Sting and crouched down. "Yo, you good?"
Lucy scoffed. "Oh? Now you're ignoring me! What's going on!?"
"Look, blondie." He sighed as he faced Lucy. "If he didn't kill your friend, you wouldn't have the keys you have now." Then he narrowed his eyes. "Your friend was a necessary sacrifice."
"No she wasn't! Erza didn't have to be sacrificed! She did nothing wrong!" Lucy cried.
"Gajeel, please tell me this is a joke!" Wendy cried as she dug her fingers into her hair.
"Can we change the topic from some trouble Natsu caused as usual to the fact that my arms are broken and that I can't feel a thing!?" Sting yelled.
Everyone shot him a dirty glare.
Sting backed off like a puppy.
"Look. We can talk about this when we're out of this place," Gajeel said, standing up and facing Lucy. "Blondie. You got yourself in here. How do we get out?"
Lucy pointed to the path she and Wendy had taken in order to reach where they currently are. "Continue walking at that direction and you'll make it into the coast. Keep on walking into the water until you're completely submerged. The gate is the ocean itself. It'll remain open as long as I keep Aquarius' gate open. I can't do it for long so we have to hurry up."
"Okay. We have to start moving right now!" Wendy cried as she ran over to Sting to help him up.
Gajeel threw a rock at the sleeping Rogue. "Yo. You dead?"
Rogue snapped an eye open, causing Gajeel to flinch.
Lucy scanned the area again. "Where's Natsu? We can't just leave him here."
"He ran off over there," Gajeel answered, gesturing his head in the direction Natsu ran off to.
Lucy, you don't have time. Leave this painting, close my gate, reopen my gate, then come inside of the painting again, Aquarius' voice echoed in Lucy's head.
"But what if when I come out, Larcade's there? I won't be able to go back in again," Lucy said.
Rogue's eyes grew wide and he grunted a few times.
"Did you just say Larcade?" Sting asked.
"So you guys know who he is," Lucy said.
"Yo, that explains a lot! The intense hunger, the instant sleep! I'm so glad he hasn't used that lust thing on us yet!" Gajeel cried.
"I'm underage...I don't think he'll use that on me at least," Wendy said.
"Girl, you're thousands of years old!" Gajeel cried.
"So if he uses lust, would he make you really horny or something?" Lucy asked.
"I'm not really sure on how it works exactly since I don't mess with him or the Spriggan 12 unlike Natsu but I do know that he has the power to do that. He also has the power to create exact replicas of the person you're in like like with to seduce you," Sting answered.
Rogue grunted for a while but nobody was able to understand what he was grunting about. All they did was stare at him before continuing their conversations. Saddened, Rogue brought his knees to his chest and hugged his legs as he gloomily looked up at the mountain that was in the distance.
"Only a complete idiot would fall for a replica," Gajeel said.
"An idiot like Natsu," Sting added.
"Hands down!" Gajeel responded.
Lucy pushed aside her anger for Natsu and filled the space with worry for him. "You guys go to the shore. I'm going to find Natsu."
Make it fast! I can't hold on for long! Aquarius cried.
"I'll help," Wendy said.
"I won't. He can get trapped in here for all I care. That way he can finally stop ordering me around like he's my boss or something," Gajeel said.
"I also won't help. Natsu being trapped in this painting is for the best. Less innocent lives lost," Sting said.
"On that topic, you tried to kill me! No, correction, you sent your men to kill me!" Lucy cried.
"Ho ho. Look at you picking on an injured man," Sting said, eying Lucy up and down with a judgmental expression on his face.
"Guys, can we do something that doesn't involve us fighting for once?" Wendy asked.
Rogue grunted. As usual, nobody understood what he meant.
"Okay. My priority is to get all of you guys out. You guys start heading to the shore. I'm going to Natsu," Lucy said.
"And I'm helping," Wendy said.
"You getting out of this painting is helping me. If something goes wrong, you can get the girls and you guys can figure something out," Lucy answered.
"I thought you weren't going to help Natsu?" Gajeel asked.
"I'm helping Lucy, not Natsu," Wendy answered.
"But helping Lucy is helping Natsu," Gajeel said.
"Can y'all shut up!? I'm still sitting here with broken arms!" Sting yelled.
Once again, the bickering started. Lucy realized that she was wasting time so she turned around and ran in the direction Natsu had gone in.
The sunlight was peaking through the canopy of the trees and the birds were flying away. Animals were scurrying on the ground and a light breeze had fallen on the area. Things felt peaceful and as Lucy ran, she admired the surroundings. She had stopped when she saw a puddle of blood under a tree.
"Is this Natsu's blood...?" She wondered.
She then notice there was a trail of blood on the ground so she followed it. He was bleeding out...I hope he's okay.
"You're going the wrong way!" She heard a voice call out behind her.
She turned around and saw Natsu grinning at her from ear to ear. He didn't look injured. In fact, he looked perfectly fine.
"Natsu...how...?" She asked.
"How what?" Natsu asked.
Then Lucy remembered the fact that he had killed Erza. Her rage from before resurfaced on her. "Natsu, what the fuck!"
"What? What!?" Natsu cried, alarmed.
Lucy grabbed the collar of Natsu's robe and pulled him closer. She had to stand on her toes in order to be a little intimidating.
"Erza was my best friend! There are other ways you could have gotten the keys! Killing her was not part of it! I can't believe you! Uggg, I wanna keep on yelling at you but we have to get out of here. The minute we're out, consider whatever we have between us done! I don't want to have anything to do with you!"
Natsu blinked. "Look...I know that you're mad at me, but-"
"I'm not just mad! I'm beyond pissed off!" Lucy let go of his collar and turned away from him. "I can't even look at you right now!"
Her eyes were starting to water but she quickly wiped away her tears. The last thing she needed was to break down in front of him. Maybe Mira was right...maybe I should have put that scarf on Natsu. Erza would still be alive if I did.
"Um...who's Erza?" Natsu asked.
Lucy faced Natsu with a look that read that she was not playing. "Are you serious!? The pretty one with the red hair!"
"If I don't remember her, that means she's not important. Plus, why would I kill a human?" Natsu asked.
"What do you mean she's not important!? She's one of the most important people in my life!" Lucy cried.
Natsu grabbed her hand. "We can talk about this later. We're gonna be late."
Lucy blinked. "Late? Late for what?" Then it clicked in her head. "Oh yeah! We have to get out of here!"
Hand in hand, Natsu lead Lucy through the forest. When Lucy looked back, she saw that they were moving away from the mountain that was in the distance. The mountain is close to the shore, which means that they weren't heading to the ocean.
"We're going the wrong way," Lucy said.
"No we're not. I'm pretty sure that this way's the way to the village," Natsu answered.
"But we're not supposed to go to the village," Lucy said. Larcade painted a village into this painting? That's surprising.
"Yes we are," Natsu insisted.
"What are we going to do at some village?" Lucy asked.
Natsu stopped walking and faced her. "You seriously forgot?"
Lucy didn't answer and instead gave him a confused look.
Natsu smiled warmly. "You were the one who's been begging us to go see that play that's being held in the village."
"A play? But I don't like plays," Lucy said.
"You sure about that? Even in your sleep, you were talking about how badly you wanted to see the play." Natsu then thought about it. "What was it called again?"
As Natsu attempted to recall the name of the play, Lucy was standing there completely lost over what was going on. A minute ago, it was all about trying to get everyone out here. Now we're talking about some play?
"Oh yeah!" Natsu had finally remembered the name. "It's called The Tragedy of the Maiden in the Woods. It's really popular in the kingdom. Everyone's talking about it."
Lucy was absolutely uninterested. "Okay. That's nice. Can we go now?"
"Sure!" Natsu cried before he started walking in the direction of the village with Lucy's hand in his.
"No, not towards the village!" Lucy cried.
To Lucy's dismay, they ended up at the village. The bustling village was filled with the villagers going on about their day to day lives. Many were at stalls buying things such as charms, cloth, herbs, and many other items. There were restaurants as well so people were seated at the outdoor tables. Children were running around the place and some of the adults scolded the kids. People with wagons and animals like cows and horses were able to maneuver easily through the village thanks to people making room for them to move.
Because there were so many people, Lucy moved closer to Natsu and tightened her grip on his hand so she won't lose him. "We can see like a minute of the play then we can go," she told him.
"Come back here with my money!" An elderly woman who was operating a vegetable stall was yelling at a young, suspicious man who was running through the crowds. It was obvious that the man was the thief.
Natsu let go of Lucy's hand. "I'll be right back." Activating his super speed, Natsu charged at the thief and tackled him to the ground.
People quickly crowded around the two of them. Lucy was pushed back thanks to the storm of people so she wasn't able to clearly see what was going on. When she had managed to squeeze through people to make it to the front, the thief was on his knees and rubbing his hands together as he begged Natsu for forgiveness. Natsu, who held a few silver coins, was laughing triumphantly.
The villagers started cheering for Natsu as he handed the coins to the elderly woman who had joined the crowd.
"Aiyo, thank you, Natsu!" The woman cried.
"If there are any other people out there bothering you, just tell them that you know Natsu. They'll back off. But if they don't?" Natsu pushed his fist into his palm. "I'll make them!"
"Okay, can we go now?" Lucy asked, walking up to Natsu.
The woman faced Lucy. "There's class tomorrow, right?"
"Um...sure," Lucy responded, unsure of what the woman meant.
The woman smiled and pulled out a small peach color pouch from her robes. She glanced at Natsu for a quick second before slipping it to Lucy. "A talisman for the bedroom."
"What!?" Lucy yelled.
The elderly woman laughed. "Get married already and make lots and lots of babies! I'll take care of your children when you're busy!"
Lucy felt that it would be rude not to accept the talisman so she took it and bowed. "Thank you so much."
Natsu looked over her shoulder. "What's that?"
Lucy hid the talisman behind her back. "Hey, don't we have a play to see 1 minute of before we leave?"
"Oh yeah! It's about to start!" Natsu cried.
They made their way to a building that was similar to a bar. There were tables on the first and second floors and in the center of the building was a large stage. Natsu scanned the bar to look for a place to sit as it was crowded.
Twerp, what are you doing here? Aquarius asked Lucy.
"We're seeing 1 minute of this play. Then, we're leaving," Lucy answered, quiet enough so nobody could hear her and think that she was talking to herself.
Ahaha, that's so funny. Get the fuck out of here now. You're running out of magic. But if you want to stay in this painting, be my guest, Aquarius said.
"What!?" Lucy cried.
"I found us a table!" Natsu cried, dragging her up the stairs to the second floor.
"Actually, we can't stay here!" Lucy cried. Unfortunately, her voice was lost to the hundreds of voices that filled the bar.
Lucy and Natsu arrived at a table and the minute they sat down, the play began.
Dancers filled the stage along with the actors. At first, Lucy wasn't interested and was about to tell Natsu that they should leave when she recognized the scene that was playing. The scene was of the main character meeting a man under a tree.
Natsu said that we first met when he was laying under a tree, Lucy thought as she started to pay attention to the play.
A nice story of a man and woman living like a married couple in a cabin in the woods was being played out in front of her. Lucy quickly deducted that it was the story of her in her past life with Natsu.
One scene showed an actor who was playing a king, most likely King Glaucus since he was king at that time. The dancers, dressed in red and gold for their 5th quick outfit change, danced around the king before they all clustered together. Then, they separated, revealing an actor dressed in all gold with a bunch of sun symbols on him and a golden goblet. The king bowed down to the actor in gold who had circled around the king.
"I am the god of the sun. Listen to my words. Your betrothed is living in the woods," the gold actor said.
"O great dragon god, I had been led to believe that she was dead," the king actor sad.
"She has been alive all this time. She is living with a demon. You must drive that demon out in order to live in harmony with your betrothed, the maiden in the woods," the gold actor said.
"But how can I do that?" The king actor asked.
"The maiden is heading back to her family so she will not be at the cabin. But the demon will still remain in the cabin and he plans to take her to the Underworld so she can be with him forever. Take your soldiers and burn that demon alive," the gold actor said before handing the golden goblet to the king actor. "Drink this wine. It will give you strength to kill that demon."
Lucy blinked. Wait. She started to put two and two together. Natsu said that I was supposed to marry the king then get sacrificed. Okay, so that's where betrothed is coming from. But the king was told by a dragon god that I'm living with a demon? I mean, that explains why the king and his guards came that night and burned the cabin down with me in it.
Soon, a scene showing an actress who was playing Lucy showed up. She was dancing with the dancers who were all dressed in green clothing and, based on the song she was singing, she was on her way to her family's home. Then, the actress faced the other way, saying that she had forgotten something.
The next scene was of the actress playing Lucy inside of the cabin. She was clutching onto a white scarf and was laying on the ground. The cabin seemed to be on fire and the actor playing the king was surrounded by actors dressed as soldiers. Dancers dressed in orange were dancing and singing about how Lucy was burnt alive because she was mistaken for the demon.
Watching the scene, even though it was just a play, was hard for Lucy. Her eyes were wide and she couldn't stop shaking. She felt cold sweat dripping down her neck and she felt that she was getting suffocated. The whole bar was spinning and if it wasn't for Natsu quickly pulling her into a hug, she would have blacked out.
She tightened her grip on Natsu's robe and started sobbing. Natsu gently ran his fingers through her hair.
"It's okay. I'm here," Natsu said softly before looking down at Lucy. "Look at me."
Lucy slowly looked up at Natsu.
Natsu rested his forehead against her forehead and closed his eyes. "You have nothing to worry about. I'll always be with you."
Lucy was suddenly made aware of how close they were to each other. In the past, she would have pushed him away. However, she didn't feel like doing that. She stared at his soft looking lips and lightly brushed her thumb against it. As a result, Natsu removed his forehead from her forehead and stared down at her. Lucy moved to retract her hand away from Natsu but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"...um..." Lucy shyly looked down.
Natsu moved closer to the point there their lips where a nanometer away. "Can I?" He whispered, slightly tilting his head.
Lucy closed her eyes as her form of "yes." She slightly parted her lips.
I can't hold on anymore. You're on your own, twerp. Good luck trying to get out of this painting, Aquarius said as Lucy's outfit transformed from the outfit she had on earlier to a traditional outfit.
Lucy's eyes shot open and she pushed Natsu away. I'm still trapped in Larcade's painting!
"He also has the power to create exact replicas of the person you're in like like with to seduce you," Sting's voice echoed in her mind.
Natsu was looking down at her with a confused look on his face.
"Where's the real Natsu?" Lucy demanded.
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.
"All of the dragon gods except for Wendy were injured because they fought God Serena. You were one of them. But the you sitting here in front of me has no injuries. Plus, I'm in a world that Larcade has complete control over. You're a replica of the real Natsu," Lucy explained.
Suddenly, every single person in the bar stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Lucy.
"I need to find the real Natsu!?" Lucy cried, standing up.
The villagers pulled put out axes, swords, and other items that could be used as weapons and started to slowly make their way towards Lucy.
"Why are you looking for that demon when he's the very reason why you're suffering in this life?" The fake Natsu asked her. "Just stay in this world with me. I haven't done anything to betray you, unlike that demon who's going to burn you alive when you leave this world."
The fake Natsu stood up. "Also, he killed your friend and lie to you. You know what they say. An eye for an eye..." He grabbed Lucy's hand and kissed it. "...a tooth for a tooth."
Random Fact: I forgot that I should post a new chapter so I stayed up to work on this...oops. And speaking on this topic, I desperately need to finish my other stories...
Wassup!? It's ya gurl sugarsugarrush!
Yo, I was falling asleep while working on this cuz it's so late! I had to listen to Awake by Tkay Maidza and JPEGMAFIA on repeat to keep myself awake towards the end!
Reviews:
Copperreign12- Awwwww thank you so much!
Amanny- You're question has been answered!
Oh yeah. So...I got two endings in mind. One is a happy ending and one is a sad ending. Why do I have two endings planned? Bruh, I don't even know myself. I'm looking at the notes for this story and scratching me head wondering "how did it come like this?" No lie, these stories be writing themselves! Anyways...I'm currently stuck on which ending I should give this but later on along the line, I'll decide. There's a specific chapter that's really important. It will determine which ending this will get. Happy ending? Sad ending? I don't know yet hehehehe
Have any of y'all seen Kill La Kill? For those of you who have seen it, y'all know Senketsu? Aquarius in this chapter was like Senketsu but not. I dunno, I was getting Senkentsu vibes from her in this chapter
Okay, ya gurl need sleep so ima end this! Don't forget to PM me or leave me some reviews! Later, yo!
