Hello, my friends! Glad to see you again! How has everyone been? I am only updating this short chapter today because my poor cat is sick right now and can't hold much down, we think it's a hairball but we're not sure. So here is the short chapter today, I'll write some more later after the furbaby has been taken care of.

As always: Hiro Mashima owns literally everything but the storyline.

Much Love,

BlackRose999

The Star Queen

Chapter Sixteen: The Herald of Doom

In Earthland

Natsu felt primal. His excitement over his bond still living within him only just eclipsing his need to understand where she'd gone, and why he still felt her. She lay dead, her body encased in lacrima, and yet their bond still lived within him. Why? Why would their bond, silent for a week, suddenly flare to life? Since he'd felt the surge of emotion through the bond nearly a week ago, their bond had remained silent. Unfeeling. He growled, slamming his hand onto the surface of the table before him.

He was doing exactly what Lucy had done, pouring over books and scrolls for any mention of the bond. He found several recounts of one's mark resurfacing after the death of their mate, with the main recollection explaining that the bond would flare randomly as it died. It did not mean their mate was living. He stood, feeling the despair return to him, and made his way downstairs, looking upon the lacrima that held his wife's body.

"Lucy… I miss you. I miss your scent, your touch…"

Tears falling quietly, he touched the smooth glossy surface, silently wishing he could touch her skin once again. His mind traveled back toward their children, and he resolved to live for them. For the only remaining piece of his beloved wife. Turning away, he sighed and made his way back upstairs to his children, passing Gajeel who held his son in hand. The muscled brute fed his son gently, his toned arms holding him like he was made of glass.

"How are you holding up?"

Gajeel regarded him with a knowing look, his attention half on Natsu and half on his son's bottle. Natsu, finding a sudden lump in his throat, gave him a half-smile.

"I'm coming to terms with it… Even though it hurts."

"That's expected, you lost the other half of your soul. I'd be a wreck too."

Natsu smiled, his eyes full of anguish. Gajeel allowed his son to drink the entire bottle, leaning him up over his shoulder to burp him. He'd gotten the hang of parenting rather quickly, Natsu noted. And silently he prayed he'd learn just as fast. He walked upstairs and into the back room, where his babies had been sleeping. No longer sleeping, his children cried and howled, making him sigh with exhaustion.

Knowing it wasn't their fault, he picked up Layla and Igneel in either arm, gently rocking them in the chair provided. It rocked back and forth, a lulling rhythm and before long the three of them dozed off into the dreamless slumber. The excitement of the world was forgotten to them.

Natsu woke first, hearing the gentle cries of Layla. He rocked in the chair more, hoping the movement would quell her long enough to let him sleep, and inadvertently woke Igneel, who immediately began crying. Standing, he laid them in their crib and racked his brain for any scrap of information that might silence them. Finding nothing, and their cries mounting, he grabbed at his hair and howled, screaming curses at the sky for stealing the mother they needed. Sinking to the floor, he kneeled before their crib, silently wishing his wife was with him once more.

"Natsu?"

Mira stood in the doorway, "The real one' he thought grimly, remembering the Yokai he'd burned to ashes. She brushed a lock of white hair away from her face and took in the sight of a tired and broken slayer. Finding pity, she walked forward and gently grasped his arms, shaking him lightly.

"You need to pull yourself together Natsu, you have children, weak, vulnerable children who need their father."

"I know that Mira, but how do you deal with the loss of your other half?"

She bit her lip, remembering the pain of losing Lisanna for the first time, and then the agony of losing her again.

"When Elfman and I thought we lost Lisanna for the first time, we were devastated. Elfman wouldn't eat, he just stared off into space at the chair she'd normally have occupied, and it became my responsibility to defend and provide for the family."

Remembering that night brought tears to her eyes, and she looked up in an attempt to stop the steady flow that threatened to gag her, before taking a great interest in the lines on her palms.

"I did so with a broken soul Natsu… I had lost the part of me that made me whole, I was a monster…"

Lip trembling, she looked up at Natsu with angry tear-filled eyes. Taking his hand in hers, she squeezed tightly, hoping to get the majority of his attention.

"You don't want to do what I did, you don't want to be what I was. It hurts, it feels like your dying a slow immortal death, but it can heal. Live for your children, Natsu. Live for them, and you may just find peace in them."

Natsu fell apart, sobbing brokenly into her shoulder as she held him, piecing him back together once shattered portion at a time. He wept for some time, letting his pain, his fury, and his hope burn through him. She let him use her as a grounding rod, letting him bury his emotions into the earth as he regained some of who he once was.

It would do for now.

He spent the next few days training, taking time to see his children and remember his wife through his daughter. Soon, he fell into a comfortable rhythm, and slowly his broken heart mended enough to be useful again. He missed her, the smile on her face in the morning laying lazily in his arms, the spark of fury in her eyes when an enemy underestimated her, and the smell of her perfume whispering into his nose when he held her tight in the black of night.

But he allowed himself to latch onto his children, using their needs as a welcome distraction. He fed them, bathed and changed them, played games with them, and used his fire to make them gurgle happily when down. Through his children, the guild noticed a bit of the old Natsu breaking through to the surface, and silently thanked the stars for it.

Who knows, maybe they'll get their friend back before his time after all.

In the Celestial World

"Move your feet!"

Lucy panted with exertion, her dark eyes narrowed at Erza as her other heralds sat some ways away from the pitch and scowled. She needed to get better with her sword work, she was a natural at Knife Throwing and Archery, but Swordplay was something she didn't quite grasp. Ducking as Erza's weighted wooden blade soared through the air her head had just been occupying, she stepped forward and landed a solid hit to Erza's right leg, deadening it.

Cursing, Erza swung again, landing a glancing blow to Lucy's hand and forcing her to drop the sword out of reflex. Bending backward to avoid a swing to the neck, she rolled under the oncoming attack and retook her sword. Pivoting smartly on her right heel, she pushed the blade's tip into the small of her back, which promptly stopped her from moving.

"Very good Lucy, however," She suddenly whipped around and leveled her practice blade to her throat. "You still need practice." Scowling, Lucy backed off, and brushed the dirt off her. Her simple shift and breeches were demanded by Erza, who told her no amount of finery would protect her against an enemy.

"That's enough for today, you have duties to attend to, don't you?"

"I do, unfortunately, I have an audience request from a Celestial Mage of all things… I didn't even know you could travel to the Celestial world without an invitation."

The girls all exchanged looks, and Clara spoke up.

"You did, multiple times. And I remember hearing about the time you forced the previous ruler to bend to your will."

Lucy paused and snapped her fingers. Gone was her shift and breeches, replaced by a large wedding-like gown embroidered with golden filigree designs, short shoulder-sleeves, and a long train. Silently glad it worked this time, she regarded her heralds with a confused look.

"I never forced him to do anything, he realized he was wrong."

Giggling, Levy looked at her. "No Lucy, I read the journals the previous rulers left behind, you forced him."

"Journals? What journals? Did my mother leave one?"

Levy hopped down, her shortened half-dress floating down with her, she sported long black lacy thigh-high socks with black heels, shorts under her open dress, and black arm coverings that connected to a golden lock necklace. She looked the perfect mix of class and badass.

"Your mother left one, I left it on the vanity in your chambers."

Nodding, she turned and headed toward the throne room, vowing to read the journal later. Her heralds followed her, keeping a distance away, but watching the room around her protectively. She sat atop her throne, and they stepped down to the bottom steps, two on each side of her, and acted as the barrier between her and her subjects.

"Enter."

To Lucy's surprise, a familiar face appeared from behind the throne room doors, a face she realized belonged to the line of Kings. She inwardly cringed, for she'd wished to have never met him.

"State your name, and your grievance."

Sensing the queen's reluctance, her heralds stepped closer together, with two on the steps and two on the floor, forming a backward V. The man before her smiled, and regarded her with a cruel gleam in his eyes.

"I am Viktorian Maldrake, True King of the Celestial World, and I demand you step down."