It had been nearly a week since Lucy had last seen Natsu. Natsu never approached her, never spawned in her bedroom randomly. And Lucy never summoned him.
She was scared, honestly. But of what? she wasn't sure. She spent the days at his mother's side, helping her through treatments and soaking in her bright smile that gleamed at every chance. Lucy loved spending her days like this. If she didn't spend her days here with her mother, who would be by her side, what would she do?
When Lucy returned home and found someone standing in her bedroom once again, she wasn't as surprised as the other times. But it did surprise her when she caught a glimpse of their hair.
It wasn't her Natsu, nor Sting.
The man turned at the sound of the bedroom door opening, the slow squeak of the door loud as he slowly moved. Her eyebrows wanted to furrow, she wanted to remain calm and confused, but instead her heart beat skyrocketed, eyes widening.
The man's face was stoic, expressionless. It reminded Lucy of Natsu, along with the rust colored eyes that stared back at her. Lucy tried her hardest to remain calm as they made eye contact and it was held.
"Ah, the famous Lucy, hm?"
His voice was just as Lucy remembered, deep but nothing compared to what she formerly thought his voice would sound like. But now, his voice was deep and intimating. Lucy wanted nothing more than his eyes to turn away, his voice to hush, and for him to disappear from her bedroom.
The man spoke up at the lack of Lucy's response, clicking his tongue, "Well, you know me. If you don't, I am Emperor Spriggan. Don't ever call me that though, I'm Zeref" He paused, mumbling, "I'll kill you immediately if you call me that Emperor shit."
Lucy nodded once, her eyes falling. She knew the emperor, she knew from the dinner they had just last week. She didn't need introductions, it was clear. Lucy tried to clear her head and focus on the conversation, but questions like why Emperor or Zeref, was here filled in her mind.
"Not much of a talker? Well, luckily I'll spell it out for you." Zeref spoke up, his fingertips running over the length of Lucy's bed, "Natsu hasn't been home, hasn't been to Hell in days. He's going to die on Earth, possibly already could be dead."
Lucy's blood ran cold at the words he spoke, her arms falling limp at her sides, lips parting. She couldn't hide how the words effected her, the man before him drinking in every expression she made.
"He's never acted this way in the thousands of years that he's been alive." He paused, taking a few steps closer to Lucy, the mortal's breath hitching in her chest, "This started soon after you became one of his souls. But it's to my knowledge that he's not here, and hasn't been here, meaning I can't blame you for the death of my son" Soon enough he stood just a foot or so away from Lucy's shaking frame, "Or at least, I can't blame you yet.
Tears almost clouded Lucy's vision, but she blinked them away quickly. Her mind ran wild with thoughts of the demon who he summoned that rainy day, where all she wanted was to save her dying mother. Zeref smirked, watching the mortal's expression. He knew he struck a nerve.
"So, back in Hell, I'm going to use a spell, and force his body back to Hell. It's a violent spell that isn't ever used, but the occasion calls for it. And you're going to be there for it." As the last sentence was spoken, the room started to heat up, her vision blurring just as it had when Natsu and Sting had done this.
Just a moment later she opened his eyes, in a unknown location. It was clearly the palace, but she'd never been in this room. It was large, maybe three or four stories, like a library. Books lined the walls, all the way up to the very top of the room. It was so high, and dark, Lucy could hardly see the end of the books.
Many individuals stood in the room, some more familiar that others, like Sting. They stood in a circle around a grand fireplace, lined with stones all the way to the roof. It was beautiful, cozy even, but under these circumstances, Lucy couldn't appreciate it. All that filled her mind was Natsu's whereabouts, and what would happen when they forced his body back to the underworld. What he'd look like, if he'd be alive.
Zeref motioned for Lucy to step into the center of the circle of people, closer to the fireplace. she immediately stepped forward, feeling eyes on her the whole time.
"Let's start." Zeref spoke, grabbing a book from someone who stood near by. They wore dark clothing as everyone else seemed to, but many of the people in the room all wore slacks and button downs. They looked like workers, maybe they were.
Lucy listened as Zeref started reading from the book, perfect Latin flowing out. It reminded of Her of when she first summoned Natsu, the way Natsu critiqued her shit Latin, and called her annoying for summoning him over, and over due to thinking her pronunciation being terribly off. The memory would've brought a smile to her face if it wasn't for the feeling of eyes burning on her.
Her eyes flickered up from the dark carpet, and immediately locked with Sting's. He stood on the other side of the circle, expensive clothing covering his body, and standing tall as normal. The reflection of the fire danced in his dark eyes, he almost looked threatening.
Lucy quickly looked away and listened to the perfect Latin falling from Zeref's lips, hands nervously twisting as she awaited the end and for Natsu to appear before them.
Zeref took one last breath before he read the last of the page, his eyes looking up for a moment. It all happened suddenly, hands grabbing Lucy's thin wrists and pulling them behind her back, an arm wrapping around them and holding them back painfully. A shriek echoed in the room as she struggled against the weight of the person holding her.
Frantic eyes ran around be space of the room, all the sins and strangers who stood around just watching, never once budging.
What's going on? Why isn't anyone helping?
Grunts and cries, calls for help all spilled from Lucy as Zeref continued to read. Tears spilled from her eyes as she cried out in pain and confusion. As she continued to struggle against the man behind her, Zeref came to the end of the spell.
Lucy held her screams and whimpers back, the whole room awaiting Natsu's return. When Natsu gets here, he'll see this and make the man stop. He won't let anyone touch what's his. The thoughts ran wild in her mind for the few seconds, 20 turning to 30, and 30 turning to 50.
Just when Lucy thought it didn't work, her eyes began to deceive him Or so she thought. A ghostly grey figure appeared before everyone in the room, laying on the floor. A whimper fell from Lucy's lips as she watched how slow Natsu respawned, the dimension and colorslowly coming to him.
It was when his figure was all there, and he started moving, groans and quiet yelps coming from him that Zeref shut the book, and the arms that held Lucy in place held on tighter. Lucy wanted nothing more than to help Natsu, to ask if he was okay. But she couldn't.
Natsu's face was scrunched in pain, his neck bright red. It was an expression Lucy never thought she'd see on her strong demon. The one who rarely showed emotion.
Tears only continued to fall as she watched Natsu wither around in pain, a hand flying up to his chest to hold onto where the pain came from. It was terribly hard for Lucy to watch. Her eyes continued to fall to the floor as she sobbed, her arms only being pressed on and pulled harder, she couldn't watch. But then she'd look up, scared Natsu would disappear before her eyes
Zeref stepped closer to his son, his eyes cold. Lucy couldn't help but notice that everyone in the room's eyes were cold, emotionless. The emperor stopped just in front of Natsu.
It was when Zeref crouched down before Natsu, and rested his hand on his shoulder that Natsu's eyes opened. A gasp pushed from Lucy's chest. She blinked over and over, her vision had to be playing games on him. His eyes were fooling her.
But they weren't. Natsu's eyes weren't shining a bright red, nor a rust or burnt orange. They were brown, a dark brown. They looked just like Lucy's. Lucy cried out loud when Natsu's newly brown eyes locked with his. Lucy's arms felt like they were going to break as her body fought against the man who held her hostage. Her eyes never left Natsi's, watching as the once strong and emotionless demon yelled in pain, and her eyes softened.
"L-Lucy-" a groan of pain filled Natsu's body as he tried to call out for the soul before him, but, he kept going, "S-Stop, y-you'll g-get hurt-t." Lucy's breathing calmed just slightly as she heard Natsu whimper her name. It wasn't much, but it helped Lucy to focus. She stopped thrashing against the obviously much stronger stranger, and focused on her sin that laid on the floor.
"First name basis? You sound close." Zeref spoke up, his eyes running over his son's form. But Natsu didn't look at him, his eyes remained on Lucy.
"No response? That's not how you treat the person who created you." Zeref pouted, but something within Lucy told her, he wasn't actually upset. Not at all.
Zeref's hand reached out and grabbed Natsu's jaw, forcibly breaking Lucy and Natsu's eye contact. Zeref stared down at his son's face, the eyes that stared back at him far from what he had created thousands of years ago. They didn't look like his eyes, the eyes he gifted Natsu at creation. He didn't feel he was looking at Natsu at all. And he knew who's fault it was. He ruined his sin, his son, his creation.
"You weren't supposed to fall in love, Natsu"
The silence that filled the room was deafening. Lucy's eyes were wide, watching the interaction take place. Love? She could hardly breathe, the pain in her arms and back being nothing compared to the pain in her chest.
Natsu's head shook as best as he could, his eyes on the man who created him, "I-I d-didn't." He paused, his hands searching for something to grip onto as the pain became more intense, "I c-can't."
Zeref sighed, his hands tapping Natsu's cheek lightly once, then twice "But you did. You can deny it today, tomorrow, for all of eternity. But you did"
Natsu's eyes filled with tears, knowing that his father was right. He could never admit it though, and he wouldn't let it get to that point ever.
"You're not strong enough. No one mortal will satisfy you for eternity. You're not supposed to fall like this." Zeref paused, standing carefully as he looked down at his son, "You can't be a sin of mine while being this weakened."
His eyes slowly looked up, before landing on the shaking Lucy. It only took a few short strides in Lucy's direction before Natsu started to groan louder. He hated Zeref walking towards Lucy, and hated being completely no use. He wanted to help her, protect her, but he couldn't. He couldn't even protect himself. So he watched with softened, pained eyes.
Zeref stood before Lucy, his frame much larger than the mortal's. It made Lucy shake, weak in the knees. But she had to keep her body standing, or else the man behind her would break both her arms.
Zeref stood just inches from Lucy, before hissing out, "And it's your fault." He paused, his eyes firing up and becoming a brighter red, "You weakened him, did you think a demon could really love you?"
Lilies we back! and sorry...i love drama more than smut