Hoping to avoid the sick blonde woman he knew as Lucy, he jumped down to the bar and chuckled when the people nearby flinched at his sudden appearance. He then felt Happy float down onto his shoulder.
In his crouched position he felt a menacing glare on him, looking up he made eye contact with Mirajane, fury filling her wide blue eyes. He turned to jump off the bar but he was quickly blocked when she grabbed his ankle with a demon-like grip, "Trying to run away, are you?" He heard her sound out from behind him.
Turning around slowly he growled out, "What do you want Mira?" He kicked her grip off and jumped down to see her now fuming over the damage he created, he crossed his arms over his chest.
Mirajane copied his actions, crossing her own arms over her plentiful chest, "Seriously? You're going to ruin my bar and think you can walk away without paying for it!?" She screeched out, her demonic aura gaining in strength, the dark purple fog usually surrounding her becoming even darker. Natsu rolled his eyes only to create a bigger reaction from her aura. Natsu had come to learn pretty early on not to mess with Mirajane, while he was pretty certain he could beat her in a fight, he knew she was in charge of who got good jobs or not and he was definitely not trying to mess that up. Plus, Mirajane's aura was one of the only ones that he could actually bare. She looked at him waiting for his response.
Natsu looked down at the bar at an indent from where he landed, he didn't feel bad but realised he would have to pay for it… again. He sighed and uncrossed his arms, "Fine, just give me a quick job that'll cover the costs." He watched as her anger simmered away back to her usual bubbly self. The darkness of her emotional aura slowly retreating into herself. He always found it creepy that she could switch her emotions so quickly but brushed past it and watched her.
She turned around and rummaged through some papers, then paused when she found one, she read it thoroughly and smiled wickedly. She turned around and held out the piece of paper, "This should do it Natsu!" She sounded cheery but he knew she was cackling in her head the second his eyes read the title of the job, 'Unloading job', Natsu scowled at her handing the paper back, letting her know he refused to take such a menial job. Mirajane simply smirked and pushed it back into his hands. She then stepped back dismissing him but before Natsu could growl out in anger she turned around and teasingly spoke again, "Maybe you should learn your lesson and. Not. Break. My. Bar." She then disappeared into the kitchen leaving him to smoulder.
After a couple of moments, Happy finally spoke, "C'mon Natshuuu, let's just get this done with!" Natsu rolled his eyes and began walking out of the guild. At least he didn't have to fear running into the strange blonde woman.
When he left the guild, he walked over to the bridge nearby and leaned against it looking over the water. He pulled out the job listing which he had shoved in his pocket and read it more thoroughly. It was a job just on the edge of Fiore near Bosco which meant he could easily do the job and return within the day especially if he flew there. Natsu rolled his eyes at himself this time, maybe he should stop breaking that goddamned bar.
Not trying to dwell on it for too long, he and Happy walked to their usual spot. The top of a high hill nearby the guild. It was perfect for setting off for the skies as it was almost desolate enough to the point people wouldn't be frightened by him. He pulled off his overcoat, shoving it into Happy's bag, "You ready?" He asked, excited to be able to be in the air again.
He rolled his shoulders and crouched. In the blink of an eye, large black wings with red webbing popped out from his toned back and scales faded into his skin from around the centre of his back. His eyes slowly turned black and he grinned. These features advertising the fact that he was part dragon.
Taking a breath, he leaped and suddenly he was in the air. The wind blew his hair back and he felt at peace. He always liked flying, it gave him so much freedom, being away from all the noise and the people just felt right. When he was younger and he had first joined the guild, this was the only way he could diffuse his anger and soon became somewhat of a security blanket for him.
He quickly recalled the first time he took to the sky as a child. It was after some of his fellow guildmates had tried to get him to go ice skating, however he hated the cold as it always made him feel unsettled. When he told them to leave him alone, they told him he was a bad sport, of course he had felt embarrassed and decided not to tell them he didn't like the cold. It was even worse that all their emotions would spike and make him feel sick. The only way to get rid of them was to throw fire their way, which of course caused a bigger fight and he was forced to take a break outside of the guild.
He understood he was different to them but they constantly refused to see things from his angle and it infuriated him. The everchanging emotional auras of the kids around him were already too overwhelming and when they pushed him to try to do things he didn't want to do, he couldn't handle it. He blamed his demonic side, sometimes it made it hard to think properly and his bloodthirst spiked far too easily. Trying to shake the bad memories from his brain he looked to the side to see Happy still keeping up with him and then looked down to see he was already halfway there.
As he continued to fly his mind seemed to wander to the blonde woman who had turned up at his guild, she seemed to be really sick and her aura had changed somewhat. He hated how this was not the first time Lucy had plagued his mind but her turning up out of the blue was making him super curious. Suddenly he flinched, why was he thinking so hard about that woman, he didn't think about people this way. She means nothing.
All he needs is himself and Happy. Taking another breath, he looked down to find a park to land in, swiftly doing so.
Natsu groaned and rolled his shoulder as the owner of the shop left to collect his payment. Leaning on the counter he watched the customers of the little convenience store waddle around putting things in their baskets. It seemed everyone in this area was old or something. Scratching his head, he watched an old woman reach for the top shelf but fail, sighing he got up and decided to help her.
He easily grabbed the canned soup and handed it to her which earned him a couple taps to his butt and a wink which he hated. The old woman then walked off talking to herself, shaking his head he returned to the counter. The old store owner smiled and handed him his payment, thanking him in the process.
Natsu nodded and left the store immediately and decided he would head home and hand the money to Mira tomorrow. A part of him was scared of running into Lucy but another part of him wanted to bump into her. Shaking his head of the thought he made his way to the highest hill he could find as he prepared to head home the same way he had arrived.
Happy had received a fish from the store owner and was chewing on it excitedly, he had also decided he was too tired to fly and instead took to sitting on Natsu's shoulders. Looks like he would be flying for two.
When he finally returned home to his rundown home in the forest, he was relieved when Happy had woken up and walked himself home rather than having Natsu carry him. Natsu stretched and looked at his house sighing, his house was a wreck. There was moss growing up the small cabin walls and the red roof had tiles missing or cracked. This was all accompanied by the overgrown shrubbery and weeds around the path leading up to it. Not to mention the mess inside the house.
Instead of entering the chaotic house, he decided he would train in the dirt open space nearby. He liked the space because it was closed off by the trees yet there was plenty of light that brightened the area.
He first began by physically training his body, doing as many laps of the space as he could be bothered to do, he found pushing his body to the limit was the best way to train. After he got bored or running, he moved on to completing a mixture of push ups and pull ups as well as sit ups and planks and when he felt his body beginning to get exhausted, he did a couple more laps of the open space before sitting down to train up his Ethernano.
However, in the midst of meditating, he found his mind wandered easily to Lucy and her aura. Something was strange yet familiar about it and it made him feel unnerved. Suddenly he realised what he was doing and scolded himself for letting himself get distracted and continued back on his path.
When he saw that it had become dark, he headed inside.
Natsu had woken up somewhat early this morning and headed to the guild earlier than usual, leaving behind Happy who was still exhausted from helping out with the job yesterday. Despite all noise of the guild his sharp ears were able to pick up his name being spoken by a gentle voice, it confused him and worried him that someone was saying his name when he suddenly realised it was Lucy's voice. Pausing, he wondered if he should still enter the guild, who knows why she mentioned his name. Hearing Mirajane's voice alongside Levy's voice, he decided it was time to interject knowing that he would have to answer to somebody at some point. He hated people knowing his business and hoped Lucy hadn't blabbed about their encounter yet.
Pushing the large doors open, his eyes pinned her location amongst the busy guild. Lucy was sitting at the bar with crossed legs and her body leaned forward towards Levy, her actions had caused her top to rise and her skirt to lower revealing a good amount of her toned back, he shook his head of the distraction and instead watched as the barmaid and bookworm argued, he sped up his feet when he heard his name again. Arriving just behind her, he could now here her voice clearly.
"Guys, this is seriously getting annoying! Wha-"
"What are you doing here?" he suddenly interrupted.
He watched as Levy flinched and crumbled into herself in fear, the usual reaction she had to him. While Mira watched him with a look of surprise probably due to having being caught talking about him.
Lucy still sat in her chair, quickly spun to look at him, her mouth was open in shock and her face was pale but the one thing that stuck out to him the most was her aura. The previously heavenly aura he sensed had now been tainted with darkness. He tried to read where it had come from but it flickered in and out disappearing and reappearing just as soon as he attempted to figure it out. His brain desperately telling him how off this situation was.
Looking down at her face, his impatient nature came through as he spoke up again, "Well?"
He watched as a spark lit in her eyes and her emotional aura began to turn red. She suddenly stood and her brows furrowed, her legs shook as she struggled to stay up, "I didn't expect to see you here…" she finally said, looking at him confused.
He scrunched up his face confused, "What? But you just told them you were looking for me." He uncrossed his arms and looked back at Mira who was eagerly listening to their conversation, he was getting frustrated at how nosy the guild members were being and how blatant about it they were being too.
All of a sudden, her entire emotional aura turned a passionate red as she crossed her arm. He became intrigued: wasn't she the one interrupting his day? Then he looked back at her scowling face and watched as she spoke, "Who do you think you are? I came to Fairy Tail with my own purpose! I'm only looking for you because I'm sick and it's your fault!" She snapped back at him.
He raised a brow at this… His fault?
He thought about her words and the darkness he now sensed from her. Perhaps he really was at fault.
Looking back at her he watched as she fumed and for some reason, he couldn't help but smirk as he thought about how unintimidating she was to him, rather appearing cute.
He then heard her ask to talk in the infirmary and agreed that this conversation would benefit from continuing in private. He briefly noted how quiet the guild had gotten and entered the room anxiously, Lucy following after him.
Natsu was nervous which was unusual for him, but Lucy had turned up all pale and weak, fainting out of blue the day before. Now she was claiming it was all his fault. He waited and watched as she stumbled through the doors holding on to the shelf beside it. She sighed and regained her balance and walked over to the closest bed and sat down. He had situated himself against the wall nearby the door and continued to watch her breath deeply as an anxious expression took over face.
Natsu was getting impatient, he didn't have all day to just sit and watch this woman. So, he cleared his throat gaining her attention.
She bit her lip and looked down at her hand, "Right… despite our argument outside…" Still fiddling with her hands, she looked up at him and with a sad genuine smile, continued, "You look well."
Natsu saw her light blue aura, and it reminded him of the morning after, the sad expression, the guilt. Everything. His usually calm heart, beat louder at the sight of this beautiful sad woman. He said nothing but nodded at her.
She licked her lips and tilted her head, "Do you want to sit down?" She asked nervously.
He shook his head, "No, just. Lucy, why is your sickness my fault?" He sighed finally asking what she had been dreading.
She gulped and nodded, "So a while back, I thought something was strange, but honestly, I figured it was only the flu and the symptoms were so strange…" she trailed off.
He was taken aback not sure how to respond, he simply nodded and let her continue.
She took up a serious expression and met her eyes with his, "Natsu, I don't know why this is all happening, but yesterday… Porlyusica told me that I've been suffering from magic deficiency. Normally I could've rested until my Ethernano got restored…" She then paused, and looked at him to see if he was still following along.
While all of this was making sense as to why she looked the way she did, Natsu didn't understand what this had to do with him. Still, he nodded and she continued.
"But I've had all these symptoms ever since we met and I should've been better by now had that simply been the case. Porlyusica said that there must be something still with me causing it..."
Natsu's brain couldn't help but immediately think about whether or not he was about to be accused of giving her an STD. This was annoying as he was clearly innocent but just as he went to inform her, he was clear of any disease, she raised her arms up to her neck and moved some of her hair to one side, he stilled.
"What is this?" She asked with an annoyed look on her face. She pointed to a strange faded bite mark on her throat, it didn't look painful but it was strange. Rather than normal human teeth marks there were two small circular puncture marks and for some reason Natsu felt something familiar from it.
"Porlyusica told me she sensed something from this-" she said pointing to the mark, "-and you're the one who gave it to me. So, please tell me what is going on."
Natsu was surprised and confused, he couldn't remember giving that to her but he could feel a part of himself there, and his brain ached at a memory that just couldn't come through fully.
He decided he needed a closer look and so, slowly walked towards her, as he approached, she leaned back on her hands shyly, her hair falling back into place. Her eyes followed him as he stood right in front of her. Her head tilted slightly back to keep eye contact.
He awkwardly looked down at her and asked, "Can I see it again?"
She bit her lip nervously and nodded. Lucy began to move her hands in order to brush her hair away but Natsu was already gently tucking her hair behind her ear. Lucy blushed and Natsu almost chuckled at her cute actions.
Trying his best not to get distracted at how soft her skin was and how good she smelt, he focused hard on the mark. He unconsciously brushed a rough finger over the mark causing her to shiver and close her eyes simultaneously tilting her head to give him better access. The situation felt electric and he could see Lucy felt the same as her emotional aura took on a small pink hue which signified her excitement. This was of course until he felt a burst of darkness ripple from the mark, it seemed Lucy had felt it too because she scrunched her face up uncomfortably and her face paled slightly, still she said nothing and continued to let him examine her. However, her emotional aura returned to its neutral and stressed hue.
He gulped as the darkness felt familiar and continued to show itself to him, it was almost as if it was drawn to Natsu, like it wanted to reunite and grow into something bigger.
Then it suddenly dawned on him, it hit him quick and fast.
He felt sick. What had he done to this woman? Natsu could see it clear as day now, Lucy had been injected with a part of his darkness and it was growing restless, it wanted to grow and spread into the pure heavenly side of Lucy's natural mental aura.
How had this happened? When did he inject her with the darkness? For the life of him he could not remember biting her at all let alone giving her a part of him, the worst part of him. Stepping back, he watched as she slowly opened her eyes and innocently stared back at him.
She moved her hair back into place, "Natsu?" She asked, noticing the sudden dread that appeared now on his face, "What happened? Did you figure it out?" She nervously asked.
Natsu simply stared at her not knowing how to respond, how does he explain to her that he has injected her with a part of his vile darkness, that if they can't figure out a way to get rid of it, she will slowly transform into someone she would not be able to recognise.
Disclaimer: All credit to Hiro Mashima for creating Fairy Tail! I only own the plot to this story! Sorry for anyone I may have insulted with topics in this. Also don't mind the grammar, I'm not a professional writer I just do this for fun!
Hey! Thanks for reading this chapter! And also thank you so much for the amazing comments and of course all the favourites and follows. I really appreciate the support!
So, here it is! The reveal! Sorry for the long wait I've been busy with family and stuff but… we finally know what has happened to Lucy! This was a shorter chapter than usual but I've decided to split this section into two chapters so that it flows the way I want but don't worry! I'm hoping to upload the next chapter soon.
So, what do we think? What does this mean for Lucy? Do we love or hate Natsu right now? Let me know what you think, I love reading the comments, they're super helpful!