I am sooooo sorry that this took sooooo long!
I only hope that this chapter is good enough for you guys for now & that you'll love part two of this!
For now, enjoy today's chapter!
"Natsu! Let go of me!" Lucy demanded.
"No!" Natsu growled as his arms around Lucy's waist.
Lucy felt her nerves reach her near limit & began to struggle out of Natsu arms, but since he was stronger than her, it was almost useless to escape. She turned her head towards Gray, hoping that he'd help her, but he only had a smirk on his face as he watched her & Natsu. And he wasn't the only one. She turned to see that almost everyone in the Guild, (Minus, Erza, Wendy, Carla, & Juvia), were smirking at them with a glint of teasing in their eyes. Damn them all! Lucy sighed, how the hell was she supposed to go on her job now?!
It's been 4 days since her, um, talk with Anna & Lucy still felt weird about what Anna told her. Don't get her wrong, she trusts Anna, probably with her own life. But, there is just something...that feels wrong with what Anna told her. Luckily, Erza had suggested (More like demanded, Lucy thought) that they & two other female members; Juvia & Levy, could take a job in a far away town. It was especially good since her rent was due & the reward is 2,000,000 jewels!
The only downside to this job, was that it was for protection & capture of a Dark Guild, the entire Dark Guild. But, the girls were determined to complete the request. The plan was to gather their things & meet back at her apartment, although she questioned why. All she had to do was collect 3 days worth of clothes, but with a little extra just in case the job went longer than expected, & be ready, unless she wanted to face Erza's wrath.
Unfortunately, it seems that Lucy isn't gonna get to her apartment any time soon...
"Natsu!" Lucy pouted.
But, Natsu just growled in response.
Lucy just sighed & made Chibi-crying face.
This is gonna take a while...
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Lucy had packed the last of her clothes for the trip, feeling a familiar gloomy aura around Natsu, who was sitting criss-crossed on her bed with his arms crossed over his chest & a visible red bump on his head.
After a couple of minutes of Natsu holding, more like capturing, her & her pleas, Gray decided to take pity on his teammate & help her escape Natsu. Unfortunately that ended in a brawl between those two & causing the Master to slam his hand against their heads, for destroying almost all of the Guild's furniture.
Lucy turned around & walked towards Natsu, before plopping down beside him & rubbing his bumped head. Natsu glanced at her, his eyebrow raised in an almost adorable way.
"How about after I come back, I take you out to eat. My treat & all you can eat, I promise." Lucy swore while smiling.
Natsu grinned widely & with a tiny hint of blush, especially since Lucy promised him & all the food he can eat. But, then Natsu's grin slowly lessened, before his eyes dawned a small, almost unnoticeable, hint of seriousness in them.
Lucy, knowing him, noticed & asked, "Hey, are you okay?"
Natsu looked forward while biting his bottom lip slightly, he almost looked...hesitant? Lucy's eyebrow raised.
Usually Natsu was never hesitant or nervous about what he had on his mind.
What seemed like hours, mainly a minute, Natsu turned to Lucy; "Yeah, it's just...try not to 'Lucy Kick' me, okay." Natsu, somewhat, pleaded.
Lucy felt a bit worried about what he wanted to say, but nodded to reassure him.
Natsu breathed, "Okay. I, um...I kind of heard, somewhat, of yours & Anna's conversation..." Natsu said, hesitantly.
Lucy felt her heart drop at this. No, no, no! This is something she'd hoped that no one, especially him, would hear about her dream or, more likely, memories of the past.
Lucy gulped, time to face the music, "H-How, much did you hear..?" Lucy asked, scared to know the answer.
Natsu began to rug his neck, something he usually did when conflicted or nervous, "I didn't hear a lot...just the part about you have weird dreams about Acnologia & seeing Anna with him. Also...Anna told me a bit of their history together..." Natsu answered, almost awkwardly.
Lucy didn't know if she should be relieved that the fact that Natsu didn't hear any major stuff or angry that Anna told him something like-
"-I still can't believe that he'd kill her baby!" Natsu growled in anger.
Just hearing those words stopped Lucy's emotion & her eyes widened.
W-What...
H-her...baby?!
"W-What..?" Lucy asked shocked, slowly turning her face towards Natsu.
Fortunately or not, Natsu didn't hear her shocked voice or her emotionless void face, mainly because he was still facing forward, & talked.
What he said next, made something in Lucy burn;
"She told me about how they used to be best friends & that when Anna was pregnant, he killed her baby in his dragon form! I mean, I knew that Acnologia can be cruel, but I didn't think he'd be capable of this kind of cruelty! He really is a monster!" Natsu said, growling at the thought of Acnologia killing a child of a woman he would consider a family member.
However, not noticing the silence as he spoke, Lucy could only watch him.
Why...Why would Anna say that?! Why the hell are the stories she told Natsu & the one she told her, were completely different?!
Lucy's right hand unconsciously made a fist.
Did she lie to Natsu? Or...No! She couldn't! She wouldn't!
Her right hand began to tremble.
But...could she have really...
In fear or anger, she didn't know.
...Did Anna lie to her instead?!
Lucy opened her mouth-
"Lucy!"
"Love Rival!"
"Lu-Chan!"
Lucy & Natsu both jumped at the sound of 3 familiar voices calling for a particular blond. They both looked towards the open window, courteously of Natsu, & looked down. Only to be faced with a smiling Levy, a happy Juvia, & a slightly irritated Erza. Then Erza looked mad when her eyes zeroed in on Natsu.
"Natsu!" Erza shouted, making the Fire Dragon Slayer jump in fright, "I thought I'd find you here. I'm taking Lucy on a job & you are going to let her be this instant! Now...GET OUT!" Erza yelled.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Natsu saluted, before climbing out the window. But, before he went fully, he turned his head towards Lucy; "Don't forget! You still owe me a special dinner!" Natsu said with a grin, before jumping out of the window.
Lucy watched him, her blond bangs covering her eyes.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Anger...
Betrayal...
Hurt...
Confused...
Those are only a few of the words that Lucy felt in her mind as she stared at the window, numbingly watching the scenery go by & tuning out the noise from her friends.
(Why...Why would Anna lie to me...?) Lucy asked herself in her mind, but had no answer.
Although it might have been Natsu that she lied to or Anna thought it was too painful to bring up. Especially since she saw Anna's hand, which Anna didn't notice Lucy seeing her action, go to her stomach when she told Lucy about the child that died during a dragon attack. But...
Lucy's teeth clenched slightly, unbeknownst to her or her friends.
Something in her gut & mind, told her otherwise. She felt that Anna lied to her.
Lucy frustratingly starts to pinch her temple with her eyes closed.
(I just don't get it...Why would she-) Lucy begins to think, only to stop as her eyes open slightly to the passing sights of the train, only to have her eyes widen, a strange pinching pain in head & a flash of white taking over her vision.
/
"Don't tell me, you actually have motion sickness." Anna says, while trying to keep her giggles in.
Across from her, was a green-faced looking Acnologia. He still somewhat had a serious, straight face, but sweat was dripping down his sharp-edged face & green across his cheekbones.
"Oh, *Gags*...shut it women!" Acnologia demanded, but couldn't continue thanks to the damn motion sickness! Sometimes, Dragon Slayer is a BITCH!
Anna only giggles, with a shade of pink across her face that wasn't there before. Only with a soft look on her face & her rubbing Acnologia's shoulder in a sort of comfort.
Acnologia saw her action, although it was hard considering that he wanted nothing more than to puke his guts out, & gave her his own soft smile.
/
Lucy gasped, her vision now returning & facing away from the window & moving her face forward. Only to witness the sight of her friend's concerned faces appeared to her.
"Hey, Lu-Chan...are you okay...? You seem...off." Levy said, a bit hesitant.
Juvia nodded her head, agreeing with Levy. "Yes. Love rival. you've been staring out that window for a while now. Even when the train stopped." Juvia said, tilting her head towards the window Lucy looked at only moments ago.
Lucy was a bit startled to know that not only about how she was in a sort of trace since the train stopped, but that she just had her newest vision about Anna & Acnologia together.
Lucy bit her lip slightly, before giving her friends a slight smile, "Sorry guys. I've just been...having a bit of trouble sleeping." Lucy says sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. It wasn't a complete lie.
Levy & Juvia smiled slightly at her, their eyes held a bit of understanding & sadness. Lucy wasn't surprised to see the look in their eyes.
It may have been a couple of months since the epic & dangerous battle with Alvarez War, Zeref, & Acnologia that some people, or in this case Fairy Tail members, would have trouble sleeping. Lucy even knew how sometimes Erza, when she would invite herself into Lucy's home, had some PTSD flashbacks & nightmares of the war & her time in the Tartaros dungeons being tortured. Lucy wasn't surprised if Levy & Juvia understood.
And to prove her point, Levy & Juvia wrapped their arms around Lucy in a tight hug.
"I get it, Lu-Chan." Levy whispered.
Lucy smiled, as she heard Levy & felt Juvia nod her head in agreement to Levy. She had really great friends.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
~1 Hour Later~
"Make sure to be aware! I don't want anything to get the drop on us." Erza commanded with a sword in hand.
Lucy, Levy, & Juvia nodded their heads firmly, serious expressions on their faces. Erza saw this & nodded her head back, before turning into a direction in the damp forest. The girls saw this & moved, but in different directions than each other.
Lucy activated her Taurus Star-Dress form & raised her hand up in a defensive position in front of her. From what she could see, there wasn't anything to attack her, but she couldn't drop her guard
(Let's just hope that these guys are only the powerful & dumb type of Dark Guild. I really don't want to deal with smart ones, especially today.) Lucy thinks, feeling her previous headache returning when she thought about the train ride & as her friend sent into town to discuss their job.
After her little vision from the train ride, that still bothered her, although she didn't show it in front of her friends, they had to travel to the mayor's office to discuss more details about their job. Lucy had hoped that the vision would fade away after beginning the mission & away from the train station. But, the torture of the vison didn't stop at the train.
After debriefing details of the mission, which was to capture & put away a small Dark Guild: Phantom Shadows, who've been terrorizing the village of Santina. Mayor Motorola led the girls to the forest, where the Dark Guild would mostly come from & that's when it happened. Lucy felt a familiar pinch & another flash of white, showing a vision of Anna & Acnologia together once more; They seem to walking through the forest, a map in Acnologia's hand while Anna almost looked bored & seemed to try & annoy Acnologia, who had a red tick mark on his forehead. It was definitely a strange sight that Lucy saw, until she was brought back to reality with a massive headache.
(Seriously, it was bad enough that I got these visions in my sleep, but now...) Lucy thinks, walking almost aimlessly.
A shadow flashed from above the trees, unnoticed to Lucy. She was still in, somewhat, deep thought.
(Hang on,) Lucy pauses, ultimately stopped walking s well, holding her right hand up with a single finger against her lips. The same look that she had when she had a plan to defeat Acnologia all those months ago.
The shadow stopped on one of the tree branches, while holding a knife in-between it's fingers.
(Why do I get these visions, when I was traveling to this town? And, why this town specifically?) Lucy thinks, curious on the information.
A hand leaned back, the knife glistening in the sun's reflection.
Lucy still didn't notice.
(What does this mean?!) Lucy thinks harder, narrowing her eyes in concentration.
The knife launched.
Lucy then felt a tug in her body, a feeling that wasn't hers, & her body moved. Lucy's eyes widen at this forced action.
"The hell?! Why did my body...?!" Lucy questions, only to pause & have her eyes widen more.
A knife was shown to her & from the looks of it, it was a type of poisonous magic knife.
Lucy was about to question where in the hell that came from, until she felt a presence of magic power coming right at her! She quickly dodged the impending magic. Which was great, because the minute she dodged it, a blast of forced wind slammed against the tree & broke it into tiny pieces.
Lucy then heard the sound of chuckling from the tree by her right side.
"Well, well, well~" A Male's voice exclaimed with a slow clap, "I guess I should have expected it to be harder to take down a Mage, especially one from Fairy Tail." The Male said, jumping from the branch of the tree, but still staying in it's shadow.
Lucy landed on feet in a crouch-defensive position, before turning to the magic wielder. Even though he was in the somewhat shadow of the tree, but thanks to Lucy's focused eyes, she could see him as clear as day; He was older than her, fairly average height & build, black-spikey hair, brown eyes, a sort of ninja uniform that was almost similar to the one member of Sabertooth, & the unmistakable Phantom Shadow Guild mark on his face.
Not wasting any time, Lucy charged towards her enemy, only to have a fist coming towards her. Fortunately, having to dodge a bunch of flaming tables, flying bottles, & once or twice of Natsu's sleeping punches, Lucy knew to be prepared for an unexpected throw in front of her.
Lucy quickly blocked the punch, much to the surprised Dark Mage, & threw her own punch. It hit him & he came back with another punch, which got Lucy's shoulder.
It was an all out fist fight that was luckily an even tie, although Lucy's Taurus form helped even the scales of strength, it also somewhat gave her an advantage of pain.
As the battle progressed, the Dark Mage seemed to have missed a step & lost his footing, which Lucy took full advantage of.
(Hehe, looks like this guy is done for!) Lucy thinks, smirking slightly at her near victory.
However, as soon as it looked like Lucy was about to deliver the final blow, a gust of strong wind slammed against her stomach, causing her to throw up her spit & slam against a tree, breaking it in the process.
"Arghh!" Lucy groans in pain, before sliding down the now, broken tree.
Lucy wrapped one arm around her stomach as the other was put against the broken-tree. With a heavy pant & a drip of blood coming from the corner of her mouth, Lucy stared up at her enemy, only to see his hands out with holes in them.
Lucy wanted to punch herself. How did she miss that?!
Where else could that massive wind she saw before had come from!
"Hehehe!" The Phantom Shadow Mage laughed at Lucy's state, "As much as I enjoyed our game..." He said slowly, as he looked to use his hands once more.
Lucy's eyes widen, before glancing side to side. What the hell was she supposed to do?! The impact of the wind had done some real damaged to her & she couldn't move fast enough to escape his-
"BUT IT'S TIME TO DIE, FAIRY!" The Phantom Shadow mage screamed, before firing a massive blast of wind.
Heading straight into Lucy's direction.
Then everything went into slow motion as Lucy watched in horror, only to feel once more a familiar pinch in her head.
(No, no, no! NO! Not now-) Lucy begged, only to have a flash of white cover her eyes.
/
"ACNOLOGIA!" Anna screamed, her left hand clenching her bloody shoulder.
A massive wave of water headed towards the two powerful wizards direction, a small village behind them. It seemed that the waves of water would shallow them along with the small village behind them.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Anna continued to scream
A bruised & battered Acnologia, blood dripping down from his mouth & bandages across his stomach, stood in front of the impeding massive waves of water.
Acnologia turned his head towards his best friend; "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?!" He screamed, before facing the waves once more, "I'm stopping this shit!" He said with a determined look in his eyes.
Acnologia stretched out his arms from his side, with his eyes closed & his feet planted in a fight stance. A darkish-light began pouring from his palms into two balls, his eyes still closed. The magic then began to fuse itself into his palms, making his hand glow.
A sense of massive magic power was pouring from his hands.
His eyes then snapped open as he clapped his magic covered palms together in front of the massive waves of destruction. This clap caused a massive sound, that caused Anna to cover her ears from the exploding's noise & a bunch of trees near her to be ripped straight from its roots. But, that's not the only thing that was destroyed from Acnologia's magic power.
The massive waves that were a threat only a moment ago, were obliterated right in front of Acnologia, who smirked in victory.
/
"-Arghh! You bitch!" A male's voice yelled.
Lucy snapped her eyes back into place & was surprised that she wasn't dead, but instead alive & standing. Along with the fact that her enemy seemed to be the only one hurt & with tons of bruises all over his body instead & seemed to be bleeding almost intensively.
Lucy's eyebrow rose in shock & curiosity; Why the hell was he injured..?
The Phantom Shadow Mage seemed to answer her question, but give her even more questions.;
"How the hell were you able to move?! Or even countering my attack?!" He yelled, struggling to stand up, "You shouldn't even be standing, much less making MY attack go against me!"
Lucy blink. What did he mean by-
Wait...
Lucy looked down, her eyes widened in shock & somewhat, fear. She realized what he meant;
Her feet were planted the exact same as Acnologia's feet in her vision. Not only that, but, as she looked at her hands, it became even more shocking. Her hands were in the form of a clap in front of her, along with the destruction of trees by her enemy.
Lucy's head began to slowly head down as were her hands, not caring about her vulnerable state for an opening attack or her enemy.
She copied what she saw in the vision as she was having the vision...
(H-How...) Lucy thinks as she begins to panic as she looks down at her shaken hands, her eyes dimmed a bit in fear.
How could she have-?!
"Ow!" The Phantom Shadow Mage's voice yelled in pain.
Lucy looked back up from her internal shock, only to see a Japanese Cloth-armor Erza, along with a slightly bruised Levy & Juvia. Lucy guessed she was in too much shock to notice them arrive. Nor the panicked faces of her friends when they came across Lucy's bruises.
"Lu-Chan!" Levy exclaimed in concern, that brought Lucy out of her sort of daze, "Are you okay?! What happened?!" Levy asked concerningly, while Juvia checked Lucy's bruises.
Lucy blink, before speaking slowly, "I-I...I got caught off guard & he managed to get a good hit. He then sent a massive wind magic at me-" Lucy paused to hear Levy & Juvia gasp, along with a glance at a very angry Erza, who stared at the unconscious Dark Mage.
"Love rival, that sounds horrible!" Juvia exclaimed, her hands covering her mouth.
Lucy nodded numbly, before continuing; "Yeah, was pretty scary. But, then..." Lucy pauses, biting her lip, "...I managed to send his magic back at him. I guess it was in the heat of the moment." Lucy says as she looks at her friend's reactions.
Levy & Juvia still had a somewhat worried look on their faces, but looked proud at her. As for Erza, saying that she looked proud was a very big understatement, she looked at Lucy as if an ancient warrior.
Lucy felt confused by this. Why was Erza-?
Although, she must have not hidden her confusion well, because Juvia saw this & explained;
"From what Erza told Juvia. That man," Juvia says, as she points at the still unconscious Dark Mage, "He is one of the Phantom Shadow strongest guild members. So that means, you are stronger than him, Love rival!." Juvia said, excitingly.
Lucy felt surprised by this news, but also felt a bit proud of herself for handing the Dark Mage well.
"Yes. I am so proud of you, Lucy." Erza said, grabbing Lucy's head & pushing it into her suffocation breasts.
Levy & Juvia sweat-dropped at the site & felt a bit of pity for their friend.
Lucy felt herself sweat-drop a little. (Well...I guess I should thank Mavis, that she isn't wearing her heavy armor...) Lucy thinks, somewhat thankful that it's Erza's suffocating breasts instead of her armored breast plates.
After a minute or so, Erza released Lucy from her suffocating captivity. Lucy was able to breathe once more & saw the pile of unconscious Phantom Shadow wizards.
Lucy felt a massive amount of sweat-drops covering her head; She should have expected a pile, especially if you're a teammate of Erza & if these guys make her angry.
Erza, oblivious of Lucy's sweat-droppings, turned around & walked towards the pile of unconscious Dark Wizards; "Well, I say we head back into town & rest up our injuries. I do not know for sure if that's all the members of the Phantom Shadow's Guild, but we'll check in the morning. If there aren't any, we head home. Agreed?" Erza asked.
The others agreed & started to follow Erza out of the forest. However, Lucy was following more slowly & behind, deep in thought.
(I could really use a nice hot bath~) Lucy thinks, as she internal moans at the thought of a nice, hot bath-
Unexpectedly, Lucy bent over in pain, while gripping her right arm & biting her lip, making sure that her friends didn't hear her.
Luckily, they we're talking amongst themselves & didn't notice Lucy's unexpected pain.
Lucy thanked Mavis for that, before turning her attention to her twitching right hand. She raised her eyebrow with a questionable look on her face, before she slowly rose up & began to remove the accessory of her right glove & the glove itself..
Since she was battling in her Taurus armor & was injured in it, she hadn't noticed that she was still wearing it & forgot to deactivate. But, that wasn't exactly her main focus right now.
(I know that the jerk injured me pretty badly, but I don't think he injured my right arm-) Lucy begins to think, before stopping herself.
Everything felt again in slow motion, except this time, no pinching pain in her head or white flashes appearing before her eyes. However, her eyes usually spark began to dim & held much fear as she stared at the site in front of her. She slowly raised her right hand up as she stared at in fear;
Almost reaching to her elbow, faint traces of dark blue lines were wrapped around her arm, almost covering her pink Guild mark. The worst part however, was that it almost looked like he's color markings-
Lucy began to tremble as she stared at the disgusting marking on her skin.
These marking were almost identical to the one's she had, when she was rewriting the book of E.N.D, but-
Lucy felt another surge of pain & gripped tighter on her right arm. She concentrated on opening her eyes again, trying to fight the pain.
-This felt SO much worse than those markings.
Lucy managed to open her eyes once more, only to see that the marking somehow got dark.
(What the hell is going on..?!) Lucy thinks as she slowly stands up, not taking her eyes off her hand for not even a second, (First the visions from the train & the one in town, then ME actually coping ACNOLOGIA'S attack & using it in my reality! Now there's THIS! What the hell does this-) Lucy thinks, before being interrupted.
"Hey, Lu-Chan! You coming?!" Levy yelled in concern & waved her hand.
Lucy looked up fearfully, before letting a very small sigh of relief to only see that Levy far away & didn't notice Lucy distress. Lucy breathed softly, before waving back at Levy;
"Yeah!" Lucy yelled as she waved, trying to not let the fear in voice be heard, "I just thought, I saw something. It turns out it was just a bird. I'll be there real soon!" Lucy yelled, feeling horrible for lying.
Lucy saw Levy smile before heading back forward, probably to tell Erza & Juvia that she was coming real soon. Not breaking her promise, which a Celestial Wizard never does, Lucy looks at her right hand one more time, before putting her glove back on. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to see her right hand, for now, she'll have to keep her Taurus Star-dress for now, until she gets a glove for her arm. She knows that it will probably drain her magic & her energy a bit, but she would rather risk that than for her friend to see her, um...problem.
Lucy begins to walk-run towards her friends, while deep in thought;
(For now, this remains a secret. At least until I get answers. Though, I won't get answers back home...) Lucy thinks, as she images a certain blonde relative.
Her hand gripped a bit at Anna, before thinking about the very start of her earlier visions & her new problem.
(Maybe, just maybe...This town might have a clue about my visions &...this.) Lucy thinks as she glances at her covered right hand.
If there is one thing that she knows about herself, it's that she's one stubborn Heartfilia.
Next time on, "The Heartfilia Curse"; After the startling development of her visions & the strange marking appearing on her right arm, Lucy goes to the town's library to search for answers, anything to solve her questions. Especially since this town seemed to have triggered her visions. Then, after hours of looking for any clues, Lucy discovers something familiar about this town & the connection it has to her visions or repressed memories of the past?! Not just that, but a woman of this town seems to understand Lucy's dilemma & seems to understand almost, if not, everything about Lucy's feelings & questions. This woman seems to have all the answers. Not only is this woman, somehow, helpful, she manages to let Lucy talk about something she never talks about to anyone, not even Natsu...And why she feel the way she does about HIM. What could this mean for our Lucy? What is this mysterious conversation that she talks, not even Natsu, about?
Find out next time on, "The Heartfilia Curse"!