There was no moon gleaming above them tonight. No God desired to witness the massacre spanning under their reign. There was no reason for light to shine upon them when fires blazed high above all. Ancient trees, sacred spots for creatures like himself, all turned to churn lifeless bodies. Each tree contained a story, each an old wrinkled fairy or a nymph that had long outlived its' days. Nothing escaped the devastation war brought.
Natsu had lived months among the Fae. He had witnessed all their rituals as they cared for the forest which held the bodies of their ancestors. He had prayed beside them in Gods long forgotten. Therefore, it pained him to be a spectator of such loss. It pained him to be one of the reasons fires raged uncontrolled. Everyone had anticipated that loss. Every creature had come to honour their loved ones. To leave offerings under each tree, close to the deep lakes and the calm rivers. They all had pleaded to be forgiven for the upcoming distraction and the forest had been kind enough to answer them. For the downfall of a mad man, many sacrifices were expected. Everyone knew it. Zeref's defeat would be paid dearly.
"What are you most willing to lose Brother?" Everywhere he went, loss loyally followed him. Natsu had been raised by his brother, so he was no stranger to his power. After seasons away from his side, he was astonished by how much one could grow. Zeref by no means acquired that foul-tasting aura through training. Natsu knew what he was capable of. He had been a witness to a part of it.
"Nothing, but this curse you've given me!" On his tongue, that revolting taste of death. His senses overflowing. Screams and cries of his comrades in his ears. Smoke and ash churned his nose. His magic was depleting. So much fire, so many flames swirling around them. Natsu was not sure if he could handle more.
Ash rose, stirring just above the ground. Neither advanced, both alert for the other's next strike. "It's not a curse! I've given you a gift, Natsu!" Always so confident. Never contemplating how he would affect others. If Zeref wanted, he took, even if he had to sacrifice everything. Power was his only goal, his only ambition. A Sorcerer to rule above them all.
"You made me a monster!" His throat throbbed. Natsu had dragon blood in his veins, yet he felt like collapsing any moment. A peaceful future was his only motivation. It was the idea of restoring everything that had been lost, that gave him strength.
"I revived you! Untouchable! Fearless! Powerful!" It was surreal how one's aura could become so suffocating. For just a moment he felt cold sweat on his neck. Maybe that was what Lucy described as fear.
Taking a step to the right, he tried to determine how delicate Zeref's patience was. "You created a weapon for your war!" Seeing him follow his steps, Natsu prayed for the Old Gods to be with him.
"And yet, which side is taking advantage of you?" That sentence made him waver. Zeref was not one to shout. He wasn't wrong though. From one's side to the other he flew. "What? No smart comeback?" Natsu bit his cheek not to react. His throat heated up. Smoke escaped through his bared teeth. "Where is your Queen?" Hopefully somewhere far away from Zeref. "Where is your new keeper?"
"Leave her out of this!" All his instincts screamed to defend his mate. To pierce his claws through Zeref's gut and finish him. And that's what he did. At least, attempted to.
"Never! She took my brother away from me!" Dodging flawlessly his attack, Zeref was already prepared for own of his own. Natsu narrowly ducked. He had been too sluggish.
"I left willingly!" Natsu didn't know why he felt the urge to shout this back. His mind though, wandered to Lucy's face - to her laugh and her tender touch - as he prepared a breath attack.
"To be used as a weapon against me!" He promised to never let Zeref's words affect him again. Natsu had fought against himself all those months by Lucy's side. She had been his beacon of light. "Brainwashed to believe all those hideous creatures should live freely! Uncontrolled!" Something boiled inside him, hearing that. His brother overlooked how powerless he was before he tempered with forbidden magic. He forgot that unlike all those beautiful creatures he was merely mortal. That a single well-aimed attack could end him.
Natsu would have missed it, as it was a minuscule detail. Fire, and not the one raging on the forest around them. His fire upon his brother's robes. It was something in all the chaos. "Don't you feel superior to things you could never graze Zeref!" Because in the end, it was different to have the power inside you through birth. Inheriting it than forcing it to submit to you.
"I am the Black Mage! The Great Sorcerer! Death itself!" Filled with excessive pride that's what Zeref was. "Bent the knee Natsu." Natsu was willing to do that only for one person. Lucy was his Queen, his mate, his light. She was the one to help him find a path during his most troubled times.
The attempt to concentrate his power led to the realization that the tides were against him. Maybe, in the end, the Gods were hesitant to forgive his sins. With hardly enough power to defend himself, he could merely watch as around his brother a dark arc formed. The hairs on his hands raised, as the aether around him, was sucked towards that thing.
"Have it your way brother." All that force unleashed in one immense wave that consumed their surroundings quicker than light. Time was a mere fictional construction as all that came closer and closer. His defences were shattering bitterly easy as his breathing deepened. His heart missed a beat at the realisation that this was the last thing he'll be a witness to.
Natsu assumed he would feel the scorching of death upon his flesh when that wave would reach him. He guessed the God of Death would be there to welcome him as an old friend after all the sacrifices he had brought to his temple. As his eyes opened, the sight in front of him took his breath away. That fog was just a hairsbreadth away, so alive. Pulsing even he could say, behind that glass-like shield that contained it. "You filthy, hideous, manipulative creature!" Zeref's thrill echoed throughout the quiet forest. It shook him to his very core.
And then there was light; so much light. All that force gradually resided back to its owner and not. Back to a small peddle, so black, so tiny, so powerful. And among all the chaos, among all ashes and fire and death. Among all that always pursued him; stood his Queen. So graceful, so radiant, so gold. Alive.
"Lucy?" If it was not in his nature, he would have ceased breathing fire. His throat ached with that single word. Natsu stumbled to his mate, even if his body resisted. It was the first time in a while he ever felt that exhausted.
"Natsu." Her dear voice calling his name was music to his ears. Lucy's eyes always so radiant, were now dimmed by fatigue. Those nights spend planning, restless for the impending conflict, smeared dark circles around her eyes. "Missed me?" To him, she was glowing.
"I thought I'll lose you." Natsu cursed his ash-filled nostrils for blocking his sense of smell. Engulfed in her arms, he missed her comforting scent. He could feel her palm on his cheek, wiping a stray tear.
"Let's go home." Just a peck under his ear, a small thing too precious at the moment when what they both needed was to feel each other there. Lucy rewrote his entire book. Brushed the very essence of that vile, demonic magic Zeref had secured Natsu's whole existence to. Every second after that had been a struggle against her fears. To be certain of his existence. To be confident she managed to fill the void required to keep his essence together.
"Can you walk?" Natsu felt her so fragile in his arms. Her magic always so warm under her skin, so inviting, had yet to mingle with his, yet they were both so drained he deemed it expected.
"Hold me?" It was a plea to hold her before her body betrayed her. Within her core, she barely sensed her magic.
"Always," His response brought a smile to her lips. How precious he had become through the passing months for her? He was her first love and as a piercing pain struck her gut, she considered him the last. All her weight was left for Natsu to bear when her feet gave up. "Are you ok?" His hands tightened around her.
Lucy's breath hitched. The air was lashed with the essence of death, the land drained from life and aether incapable of restoring among the wreckage Zeref had left. "I just need to breath." And not panic, yet how could she not?
Natsu lowered them to the ground. "Sure?" His own body came to terms with all the abuse he had tolerated, as he sat down with Lucy between his crossed legs.
"Yes." Her shaky breathing betrayed her lie. Lucy's heart wept as the realisation dawned on her. She was not going home. But she did not regret it. Cause Zeref was nothing more than a peddle and Natsu was free of his demons.
"Lucy?" He noticed how she dozed off. Her magic was cold, refusing his touch. And he knew right then that something was going extremely wrong.
"Just to breathe." Raising her hand to brush his cheek, she could merely whisper the words. "Just breathe." She was breaking. The pain was more than she could have ever pictured. That blaze of the stars burning within her was dwindling. During her existence, she had never felt so cold.
Natsu barely heard her. His eyes were focused on the ebony veins covering her arm. He knew very well what they were. "No…" They needed help. They needed help because he now comprehended why he felt so warm. "No…" Why he sensed his soul whole. Why his soul was resting peacefully within him and not probing for where his book was. "Help!" Those black veins clinging to his loved one's arms struck him. They felt alien to his fingers, not a piece of who he was.
"Natsu." Her voice was wavering. Those captivating blossoms decorating her hair withered.
"You'll be fine." Natsu did not know if it was to reassure her or himself. He couldn't go home without her. Someone would come to heal her. Nobody ever let them down.
Stroking his cheek, she offered a smile. Even in her last moments, she desired not to see him wrecked. "Love…" His eyes locked on hers. The message was unmistakable, yet he denied it.
"No, you'll be!" He was stubborn by nature. Dragons were all the same in the end. Brave, joyous, proud and loyal. So faithful they only choose one partner to spend their entire existence with. Lucy felt a tear rolling at the thought of not spending the rest of their existence together.
"Natsu…" Enlacing their fingers, she had his full attention. On her skin moisture gathered as his tears run. So warm and pure, they burned her skin as more of that vile magic drained her.
"We'll go home! We left a game of chess unfinished." His whispered plea cracked her heart. She wished she could satisfy his demand, join him for one last game. The Fates had selected how their story would conclude though. "Lucy, please don't go." Her heart was being tormented both by the demonic magic and Natsu's broken voice.
"I won't be far." Even in her final moments, she couldn't bring herself to be pessimistic. Fates sealed her death the moment Lucy set her eyes on that book. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was not prepared to close her eyes and never again be able to gaze upon his cheeky grin.
"No! I want you by my side!" His voice was erratic, raspy from all the ashes and burdened with so much sorrow. He could not lose her. He wanted to be by her side forever. Natsu wanted to feel her more. To hold her more. To kiss her, cherish her, make her laugh. "Please…" His ears captured the sound of footsteps. For once, he felt no need to conceal his weaknesses as he turned panicked towards the young dragon. "Wendy! Please!"
Even if she was here, she couldn't do anything. Lucy seized her wrist when she sensed her magic flaring. The Queen knew that offering false hope to the young dragon would only make her grieve harder upon her passing. Wendy was too young, to have fought in a war. Too young to have witnessed so closely loss. And as her mother carried her away, her lover's grief grew. "Natsu, I love you."
"I don't," Deep ugly sobs surpassed his body. "I don't just love you!" Each attempt to regain his breathing shook them both. "I can't lose you!" He couldn't believe that he ever was capable of loving someone as much as he did.
"I know." They had numerous things left to do. A whole eternity would be too little time together. "I'll meet you in the next life." Lucy hoped the Fates were merciful enough to at least provide them with another opportunity to meet again. Natsu felt her hand drop from his cheek. Her eyes closed one final time as the first rays of the sun grazed the lifeless plains.
"No… Lucy please." Her body lay in his arms still. Her last smile nonetheless adorned her face. And unlike every Fae, who upon their passing, went back to the nature they so greatly tended, Lucy's body would never follow. It was unfit to bring life, to shift into a tree or even a tiny blossom. She preserved her form, nestled tightly in Natsu's arms. "No," It was too much for him. "No!" Lucy should be there. His Queen was supposed to be comforting him, as she did each time, he doubted his existence. "Lucy…" As he felt a hand gripping his shoulder, Natsu opened his eyes looking at the horizon.
And the sky was enchanting, precisely like his Lucy. Painted with the most delicate brush of a gifted artist. From a warm pink, till the pale blue of the gradually vanishing night. Fragile hues, all so stunning. They had never missed a sunrise together. Lucy had once told him that dawn is the blush of your lover. Then, she taught him that it's also the colour of life, that of a new beginning. Natsu now realised what she implied. That's why he grieved; he could never forgive the world for taking her away. Because Lucy was his sunrise.
A/N Thank you all for reading. I would love to hear your opinion, both from everyone who just stumbled upon this story, as well as those who returned after all those years.
Take care,
Love Melpomene