26: you're the reason why your soul glitch.
Lucy slowly slid her hand out of Fake Natsu's grip and hugged it to her chest. "Natsu's not to blame for the death of Erza. It's my fault."
"Is it really?" Fake Natsu asked.
"I shouldn't have made that deal from the beginning that caused Erza to die," Lucy answered.
"But you wouldn't have had to make that deal if it wasn't for Natsu," Fake Natsu said.
Lucy bit her lip. "He brought me back to life. That's it. The things that went wrong after that was because of me. I opened the Book of END, causing the Spriggan 12 to come after me and use all sorts of dirty ways to get me."
Fake Natsu rolled his eyes. "Look at you making up excuses to justify his actions. Look. Natsu Dragneel was the one who pulled the trigger and killed Erza. Then, he straight up lied to your face because he knows how important she was to you. Don't you think you're abandoning your friend by letting him go?"
"I..." Lucy trailed off. She didn't know what to say.
"Honestly, Erza would still be alive if it wasn't for Natsu. If he had died that night, then the millions of lives lost over the centuries because of him would not have been lost." Fake Natsu scoffed. "You're even his next target. He's going to kill you, yet you still want to save him?"
Lucy started to back up and she clenched her fists. "I won't ask again. Where's Natsu?"
"He was dumb enough to fall for my illusion of you. He should be bleeding out to death on the floor of that cabin right now," Fake Natsu answered.
Lucy turned around so she could exit the bar. However, she was stopped by the villagers who had made a crowd around her and Fake Natsu.
"Move! I have to go to Natsu!" Lucy yelled.
"Just let him die," Fake Natsu said calmly.
Lucy turned to face him. "No!"
"He must be punished for the sins he's committed in the past, the sins he's committing in the present, and the sins he will commit in the future," Fake Natsu answered.
"I still won't let you hurt him!" Lucy cried.
"He killed Erza Scarlet," Fake Natsu said.
Lucy didn't say anything.
"You're still going to protect him?" Fake Natsu asked.
"At least..." Lucy looked down. "At least let me talk to him."
Fake Natsu crossed his arms. "Talk to him about what? What's done is done. My job is to weigh the weight of one's sins. Please allow me to do my job."
Lucy got on her knees and bowed down to the point her head was on the floor. "Please."
Fake Natsu stared down at her for a long time before sighing. "You have five minutes to run into the woods and find the cabin. Maybe, Natsu will still be alive by the time you get there. But once the 5 minutes are up, I will find you and kill you. No...the correct term is to take you to the Underworld where Lord Zeref is waiting for you."
"Thank you!" Lucy cried.
"You see, I don't lose anything out of this. I get to end the very being my own father Zeref was obsessed with for centuries and I'll get a promotion by capturing you. So while you may think you're inconveniencing me, you're really not." Fake Natsu sat down at the table. "Your 5 minutes have started."
The villagers made way for Lucy as she sprinted out of the bar.
I really wish he told me where the cabin was! Lucy thought to herself. She soon left the village and found herself in the woods. She looked around and dug her fingers into her hair. "Where's the cabin!? Where can it be!? I should know where it is since this is my past life! Ugg, I wish I had my memories back!"
Realizing that she was wasting time, she chose a random direction and ran. The further she ran, the more she panicked. Eventually, she spotted a cabin in the woods. She barged into the cabin and looked around.
"Natsu!? Where are you!?" Lucy yelled.
She looked down on the floor and saw that there was a trail of blood painted on the wooden tiles. The trail had started from the bed. The sheets were covered with possibly buckets of blood and a dagger with blood on the tip of the blade was sitting there. Lucy followed the trail until it lead her to Natsu.
Natsu was sitting against the wall with a hand over his heart. His head was tilted downwards and his skin looked pale.
"Natsu!" Lucy cried, kneeling next to him.
She quickly moved his hand off his heart and listened for his heartbeat. It was faint, but it was still there. Lucy started to cry tears of joy as she shook Natsu to wake up. "Don't die on me! You still have some explaining to do! You can't just leave me all alone here! Please, wake up!"
Natsu's hand that was originally over his heart slowly lifted up and grabbed Lucy's arm. "Sorry I'm late," she told him.
Suddenly, a fire arrow flew into the cabin and hit the wall. More fire arrows flew in and soon, the whole cabin was engulfed in flames.
"Burn, you demon! Burn!"
"We don't want you here!"
"Leave our people alone!"
Lucy started slapping Natsu on the cheek. "Wake up! Eat the flames! This place is on fir-" She started coughing before she could even finish. The 5 minutes must be up!
Having no choice, Lucy swung Natsu's arm over her shoulder and stood up. There's got to be a back door or something.
The minute she said that, the wall at the back of the house collapsed, creating an escape. Lucy dragged Natsu's body with her to the new exit that was in front of her. She had to climb over rubble but eventually, they made it. She checked to make sure Natsu was still breathing before she ran through the woods with his body.
"Have to get to the mountain. The shore is there...then I can get us out of here," she mumbled to herself.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it very far. She tripped over a rock and accidentally let go of Natsu's body. She felt something cut her leg and hissed in pain. However, she didn't have time to inspect it. She picked up Natsu's body and continued her journey to the coast.
The minute she arrived at her destination, she dropped Natsu's body onto the rocky coastline and cried out in pain.
"Ow...ow...!" She mumbled as she sobbed.
She sat down and inspected the cut on her leg. Apparently, it was deep and blood was gushing out. "I can't sit around. I have to get us out of here," she said through her tears.
She stood up but fell back down. "Aquarius!"
Then she remembered: Aquarius' gate had closed.
She banged her fist on the ground. "We're trapped! Natsu and I are really gonna die here!"
"Yes, you are correct," she heard Larcade say.
She looked up and saw Larcade sitting on a boulder with his hands put together in a prayer format. "Accept your fate."
Gray took a sip of his wine as the formal guests walked past him. He had gotten a call from Mirajane earlier that Wendy had randomly appeared in Fairy Hills, meaning that she was out of the painting. So, that means Wendy and the other dragon gods are out. But, where's Lucy?
He was carefully eying Larcade who was talking to the other guests. So that's a demon? Usually, demons would lurk in the shadows, looking for trouble to cause. They don't act out in the open like this Larcade guy. He seems too confident in his abilities...unless...he's END?
A waiter was walking around with a tray of wine so he took one of the glasses and walked over to Larcade. It's been a while since Lucy went into the painting. I'm going to have to force this guy to let her out.
Larcade noticed Gray walking towards him so he dismissed the people he was talking to and faced Gray. "Good evening."
"Good evening," Gray said, handing Larcade the wine glass.
Larcade took it and smiled at him. "Lovely evening, is it not?"
"Sure," Gray answered, putting his newly freed hand into his pockets.
"Have you had a chance to look around the gallery? I'm not the only artist around here," Larcade asked.
"Well, your specific painting caught my eyes. The person I was with was actually the one who won it in the auction. She's taking so long just to get a painting," Gray answered.
Larcade continued to smile his perfect smile.
Gray looked around to see if anyone was watching before he froze his wine. He made sure he was staring up at Larcade to see his reaction. "I want her out of the painting."
"So you're a Fullbuster," Larcade concluded from the demonstration.
"You know my family, so you must know what I do," Gray said as he placed his glass on the tray of another waiter who was walking by.
Larcade stared at him for a long time. "That makes perfect sense. You're a chess piece of my father."
Gray blinked. "Who?"
"Oh, nothing. You'll come to use soon so don't worry about it," Larcade answered.
Gray started the think about what Larcade mean but then he decided he'll think about it later. He had to help Lucy. "Can you release my friend from the painting?"
"I'm afraid I can't. I'm under orders to take her to the Underworld, and I'm settling a grudge with someone in there too," Larcade answered.
"Is it with Natsu?" Gray asked.
Larcade blinked. "How did you know?"
"I'm not surprised. Who would not want to strangle that guy? What's your relationship to him?" Gray asked.
"He's my uncle," Larcade answered. For a quick second, his smile turned into a frown. Just for a very quick second.
"So he's a dragon god and you're a demon?" Gray asked. How old is Natsu anyway? Unless it's one of those situation where the sibling who had a child has a large age gap from the sibling to the point where the sibling and the nephew are the same age, maybe the sibling being older than the nephew?
"This is obviously the work of Lady Mavis. That's the only explanation. She definitely deserves the role of the author of fates," Larcade said instead.
"Lady Mavis? Like in the myths? Wait, is she real?" Gray asked.
"If I let Natsu and Lucy out, things would get entertaining...but then I'll get yelled at...to do or not to do, that is the question..." Larcade mumbled, spinning the wine in his wine glass. "And I have them right where I want them..."
"Are they okay?" Gray asked.
"Lucy is. Natsu isn't. In fact, he's dying," Larcade answered, studying Gray's expression.
Hearing that Natsu was dying didn't sit right with Gray. He's always argued with Natsu whenever the chance presented itself so he couldn't say that they were friends. However, he wasn't happy to hear the news. "But isn't Natsu your uncle?"
"Just because he's my uncle doesn't mean I have to like him. I'm supposed to be him but I'm a failure. All my father ever cares about is Natsu. It's always been Natsu, Natsu Natsu. Even this whole mission to get Lucy is all about Natsu," Larcade answered, handing Gray his wine.
Gray hesitated before he took the wine. "What do you mean?"
"From the beginning, we were never supposed to succeed. We're all just bloody sacrifices on my father's chessboard. Only August, Irene, and I know this," Larcade answered.
"Who's we? And by succeed, what do you mean?" Gray asked.
Larcade crossed his arms. "I purposely distracted Lucy so that spirit she used to enter the painting would leave her and so she would be trapped. I even bothered to tell her the story of what happened that night. And as for Natsu? I had fun putting him in the near death state he's in. However, if I hadn't distracted them, they would have gone out of the painting and Natsu would have killed me instead."
"...wha...?" Gray was completely lost.
"Think about it. What would you do if you find out that you were to die an unfair death?" Larcade asked.
"I'd find ways to prevent it," Gray asked.
Larcade nodded. "Exactly. I'm preventing my own death."
"It's unfortunate that you're going to die, but can't you think of another way?" Gray asked.
"You must really care about them," Larcade said.
"Lucy's like a sister to me. Natsu...eh...he's alright I guess," Gray answered.
Larcade thought about it. "If that's how you feel, then I'll gladly let them out. However, I have a condition."
Gray resisted the urge to do a happy dance. "What is it?"
"You must kill Natsu Dragneel," Larcade answered.
"What? Why?" Gray asked.
"Do you want me to die?" Larcade asked.
"Of course I do," Gray answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"And you were actually planning on killing me the minute Natsu and Lucy are released, correct?" Larcade asked.
Gray flinched. "How did you know?"
"It's basic common sense. And no, I'm not END. END is actually closer to you than you realize," Larcade answered.
"Do you know where END is?" Gray asked.
"It's more entertaining if you find out for yourself," Larcade answered before gesturing at Gray to follow him.
"Then you have no more use for me. Once you release Natsu and Lucy, I'll kill you. You're a demon, after all," Gray said.
"Fine. Go ahead and kill me. I was meant to die by the end of this anyway. As long as it's not by the hands of Natsu, I'm fine with it. But once I'm dead, the other will come after Lucy," Larcade told him.
"The others?" Gray asked.
"I'm just one of the Spriggan 12. You also know another member," Larcade answered.
"I do?" Gray asked.
Larcade simply smiled and put his hands behind his back. Gray handed the wine glass to a random guest before picking up his pace so he wouldn't be following Larcade from behind.
"I told Lucy that the only way out of the painting was through death, but I sort of exaggerated," Larcade said the minute they entered the room where the painting was hanging. "Other than death, you can leave via celestial magic or if I personally drag you out myself."
Larcade walked over to the painting and out his hands inside of it like it was some void. A few seconds later, he drew his hands out of the painting and in his hands were two beams of white light. He simply dropped the beams of light onto the floor and in a flash, Natsu and Lucy were laying on the floor.
"Lucy!" Gray cried, running over to them.
Natsu and Lucy were no longer in traditional clothes and instead were wearing the clothes they had on before they went into the painting. However, they still had the cuts they get inside of the so-called paradise. Lucy's leg was still cut and there was blood trailing down. Her knuckles were bleeding from punching the rocky ground earlier. Natsu, on the other hand, was in a worse state than her. His skin had turned even more paler than earlier and there was still blood gushing from where his heart is.
"What happened!? Lucy, wake up!" Gray cried, shaking Lucy.
"Keep your end of the deal. Kill Natsu Dragneel. Otherwise, I'll put them back into the painting," Larcade ordered.
Gray created a Glock using his ice magic and pointed it at Larcade. "You lied to me! You said that Lucy's fine!"
"She's fine, trust me," Larcade answered before gesturing to Natsu with his eyes. "Do it."
"No," Gray answered, glaring at Larcade.
"It'd be wise if you listen to me," Larcade said as an aura of white light surrounded him.
He looked calm as he stared down at Gray but suddenly, a look of panic crossed his face.
Gray blinked. What now?
Larcade suddenly started to cough up blood and he backed up. "No! No! Father, don't do this!" He fell onto his knees on the floor. "Please! I beg you for your forgiveness! Please!" He was sobbing his eyes out like a baby as he begged and coughed out buckets of blood.
Lucy slowly opened her eyes. "Where...?"
She looked around and saw that she was no longer in the painting. She then noticed the look of horror that was painted on Gray's face. She followed his gaze and gasped.
"I'm not just a failure! I'm your son! I'm sorry! I promise I won't harm Natsu every again, just please don't do this! I also won't mess with the plan anymore! I know I spoke too much! Father! Please! Father!" Larcade begged.
"What's going on...?" Lucy whispered to Gray as she eyed the red blood decorating the marble floor.
"Does it look like I know!? And you owe me an explanation!" Gray whispered back.
"Explanation of what?" Lucy whispered.
"Spriggan 12?" Gray whispered.
Lucy inwardly cringed. "Fine. But right now, we have to get Natsu to the hospital. He's barely holding on."
"Okay," Gray whispered.
When Lucy tried to stand up, however, she felt pain in her leg where the cut was and fell back down. Gray tried to help her up but she stopped him.
"Get Natsu out of here!" She cried.
Gray nodded and picked Natsu up so Natsu was leaning against him. He looked back at Lucy before he dragged Natsu out of the room.
"No! Kill him! What are you doi-" Larcade was cut off by another coughing fit.
Lucy started to slowly stand up with aid from the nearby table. However, Larcade grabbed her leg to stop her from standing up. Caught off guard, Lucy kicked his hand off and fell back down.
With his growing puddle of blood, Larcade dipped his shaking finger into the blood and wrote a word on the ground. Lucy carefully watched as he did. The minute he finished writing, his hand sightlessly dropped onto the floor and he stopped struggling. He was now dead.
Lucy read the word that he had written: Anna
Random Fact: For those of you who watch Love Alarm, ima only say it once: Fuck Sun-Oh! Jojo X Hye Young for life! Season 2 coming out this Friday! If you don't know what I mean, watch Love Alarm
Wassup!? It's ya gurl sugarsugarrush!
Finally! They're all out of that painting! Uggg, I just wanted them out the whole entire time so I ended it the way I did. As an apology for ending it like that, I left a little hint for the shit that's about to go down...
Reviews:
Copperreign12- Your questions have been answered! And thank you so much!
So, I'm currently watching this one Kdrama called Vincenzo and although there are a lot of Italian stereotypes, the show is sooooo good! Ok Taec Yeon is in it too! Anyway, after watching the latest episode of Vincenzo and re-watching Man Like Mobeen and Triad Princess both for the one hundredth time, I'm inspired to do a gangsta/mafia story. I'm not sure on what I'm gonna do yet, but we'll see.
If I want to do a new story, I'll have to finish my other stories (Another Fairy Tail is in progress and should be out by this week. Left to Right is also in progress but the updates will be faster when I decide to finish watching La Reina del Flow. Dimension Hoppers will be out on March 10th). Still, the gangsta/mafia story sounds reeeaalllyyyy appealing
Okay! I'm having a huge suya craving (suya is a Nigerian snack that's so fucking good!) so ima end this and eat some suya! Don't forget to PM me or leave me some reviews! Later, yo!
