Chapter 7: Natsu vs. Ventri
Lucy's head was pounding. She groaned and rolled to the side, touching one hand to her temple, the other to her hip. Her pouch was still there, which was a relief after everything that had happened throughout her night and morning.
Lucy sat up as the memories came flooding back, looking around the room for any sign of danger. There didn't seem to be any. In fact, the room she was in seemed homely and peaceful. She felt a wave of relief flow over her. She stood and stretched, taking a better look around. She seemed to be in a one or two room cabin. Glancing about she spotted a mixture of furniture for a bedroom and living room together. The only additional doorway was open revealing a tidy kitchen with a covered frying pan and a delicious smell coming from it. Her stomach growled loudly.
"Lucy," she scolded, "remember your manners."
She headed towards the exit, ignoring the loud protest her stomach gave. She pushed it open slowly, peering out to see the afternoon sun already high in the sky and the forest all around them. It seemed safe to exit. She took a deep breath, feeling the same sense of ease wash over her as she stretched her arms up in the sun. Her wrists had a few bruises from the ropes, but they'd disappear sooner or later.
"You're awake!"
Lucy spun left to face the voice, Loke's key in hand. Instead of finding one of her kidnappers, she found herself looking at an older man with kind dark eyes and scruffy hair and beard. His eyes twinkled at her surprise, his arms full of wood.
"Where am I," asked Lucy carefully.
"In the woods between Ermina & Tekka," the man replied, his face scrunched in concern. "You seemed pretty unharmed, but I was worried something happened before I discovered you. Do you know your name?"
"Yes of course," replied Lucy. "My names Lucy and I'm from Fairy Tail!"
"Good, good. If you remember that then there isn't any sort of permanent damage to your head or heart. The heart and head are where we keep all of our true self- our memories- good and bad." the man beamed kindly. "It is nice to meet you, Lucy. I'm Basileus. What brings you to these forests?"
"My friends and I were just passing through when we were ambushed,"Lucy explained. She scanned the tree line. "You haven't seen anyone else around have you?"
"Now that you mention it..." Basileus took a large step to the left to reveal the fallen figure of a man. Lucy gasped and moved forward to peer at him.
"That's one of the guys who kidnapped me," she said. He looked strange. She reached out and touched his neck, where a pulse should have been. She gulped, "He's dead."
Basileus nodded solemnly. "You see my confusion then. When I found you, you were both sprawled on the ground out cold. I checked both your pulses and found him dead and you knocked out. Any ideas what could have happened?"
"None," said Lucy, bringing her hand to her chin in thought. "He had a friend with him. Maybe something went wrong and that's who killed him?"
"Perhaps," Basileus agreed, though he eyed Lucy suspiciously. She held up her hands defensively.
"I swear it wasn't me," she said. "I passed out when their ropes tied me up and cut off my breathing."
"Well, there is only one thing to do," Basileus said ominously, taking a step towards Lucy. Lucy gulped and took a step back, touching her key and trying to think of a plan quickly. The forest was all around them, so if she needed to, she could rush into it. Hopefully she wouldn't get lost, although being lost would be better than being attacked. In fact, she might find Natsu & Erza if she fled the right way.
"We'll have to eat some breakfast and try to figure it all out," Basileus said beaming. He turned towards the cabin entrance. "Come on."
Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She was hungry and the man seemed alright, now that she was sure he wasn't attacking her. She let her eyes scan the tree line again. A flash of a white coat and a golden horn caught her eye. She took a step towards it, but the Unicorn turned and sprinted away and out of sight.
"Well, he must be an alright old man if the unicorn is near by," Lucy said cheerfully. "Besides, if he knows the forest he can give me directions to find Natsu and the others faster."
Her stomach growled in agreement as she hurried to a place at the kitchen table.
...
Before Natsu could respond, Ventri grabbed hold of the table they were sitting at and ran it into Natsu's stomach, tossing him across the room and making him spit out the kabob he had been working on. Happy hovered over head.
"Are you okay, Natsu?"
"Yeah I'm fine," Natsu replied, rubbing his stomach where the table had hit. "What's the big idea? You invited us to eat!"
"That was before I knew you were after the girl," Ventri said, bringing the table down to smash on top of Natsu's head. Instead, it hit Natsu's defensive arm, creating a crack in the table itself. Ventri lifted it again to repeat the action, but this time Natsu caught it with his hands, flames beginning to appear and singe the strong wood.
"You know where Lucy is," he growled. "Where is she?"
"In the name of the Five Sons of Imperium," Ventri called "I'll kill you before I reveal anything!"
"I'll make you eat those words," Natsu growled, increasing his flames so the table lit on fire, the piece in his hands turning to ash almost instantly.
Ventri paid no mind, pulling the table out of Natsu's grasp and throwing it to the side. From his hip he pulled the strangest sword Natsu had ever seen.
"Is that a giant fork," Happy asked.
"Come closer and find out, cat," Ventri called jovially as he lunged towards Natsu. "The Five sons of Imperium as always prepared for anything!"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist," Natsu called, engulfing his fist in flames and punching Ventri right in the stomach. To his suprise, his fist bounced off Ventri and ran back into Natsu's own nose, making him stagger back in suprise. Ventri's rotund belly simply jiggled as if made of jelly.
"What the hell," demanded Natsu flabbergasted by this development.
"Why are you called the Five Sons of Imperium,"Happy asked confused. "You all keep announcing it and no one is explaining anything."
"What the hell are you made of," Natsu demanded, pointing at Ventri's gut.
Ventri let out another laugh, lunging towards Natsu, pinning him to the wall in between the two sharp edges of his forked sword. "The Sons of Imperium are the guardians of our land while the King is away. My siblings and I are dedicated to keeping the kingdom alive and well until his return."
"The king from the unciorn story," Happy asked.
Natsu ignited his feet in flames, using the force to propel himself out from between the fork. In the air, he moved his foot in a roundhouse kick, making contact with Ventri's chest this time. Again, Ventri's body took the impact like jiggly gelatin, sending the force right back at Natsu who found himself spinning in the air until he crashed uncomfortable on the floor again. This was getting obnoxious!
"How am I suppose to fight you if you're made of pudding," Natsu demanded leaping up again.
Ventri ignored him, looking up at the hovering cat before him. Faster than it seemed possible for a man so large, his arm shot out and grabbed Happy's tail, pulling him from the air and peering at him. "Ah! You've met my brother Abaddon or Compassio I see. Yes, I suppose that king is the same as my father, though you can't always believe children's stories." A creepy smile that Happy did not like at all pulled across Ventri's face. "Are you a tasty cat?"
"NATSU," Happy called. "HE'S TRYING TO EAT ME!"
This time Natsu's fist hit Ventri right in the jaw, making him drop Happy's tail and stagger back, touching his jaw with a pout.
"Your brother said that the king was corrupted by the unicorn," Natsu said, eyes narrowing at Ventri. His anger was rising at the same rate as his body temperature, making flames begin to engulf him as he watched the round man shift his forked sword from one hand to the other. "Is he using Lucy to try and get the unicorn like he used that little boy before? Is that his plan?"
Before Ventri could respond, Natsu was rushing at him. Right hook. Left hook. Quick jab to the nose and jaw, all the while using his flames and first to aim for Ventri's head and avoid his massive jiggling gut. It seemed to be working as a strategy, but then Ventri's hand grasped Natsu's leg and pulled him down against the ground, hard enough to dent the stone below.
"I told you not to believe everything in children's stories," Ventri said, wiping some blood from his nose. He took his forked sword and spun it before bringing it down on Natsu's figure. Natsu's flaming hands reached out and caught the blades, focusing on rising the heat to attempt to melt the sword. He could feel the metal cutting into his hands and a line of blood trickled down his arm.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu called, spraying flames into Ventri's face and finally forcing the large man into the air. His body flew in an arc until it landed on the floor where he lay motionless.
Natsu sat up, looking at his hands, which were both cut in the center. He shrugged, wiping the blood on his pants. He'd had worse.
"Lucy is going to be mad you grabbed a sword with you hands," Happy teased. "Especially when you could have used dragon roar before."
Natsu paled at the thought of Lucy scolding him for his lack of planning. "I'll have Wendy fix it up before she sees. Just so long as someone doesn't tattle," Natsu said giving Happy a firm look. Happy covered his giggling mouth, but nodded in agreement.
Ventri groaned across the room. Natsu hurried over to him, peering down at the man, whose face was now very burnt and bruised.
"Where is Lucy," Natsu demanded. "What's the king want with her?"
"The king doesn't want her for anything," snapped Ventri. "The duty of the Five Sons of Imperium is to keep the kingdom alive and well until the king returns. My siblings and I are dedicated to do what is best for this land and to bring the king home."
"Lucy would be really good at figuring out what that means," Happy said, crossing his arms in thought.
Natsu brought his flaming hand down hard on the stone just next to Ventri's face, making him flinch. The dragon slayer's face was so dark and focused that it made even Happy shiver.
"Where," Natsu said menacingly slow, "is Lucy."
"In the forest," Ventri snapped. "If she's still alive at all."
"Oof," Happy said turning away as Natsu lit his fists again. "That was not the right thing to say."
...
"Such travels and adventures you've shared with your family," Baselius announced, eyes dancing as he poured himself and Lucy some tea. "There is a legend in this forest that creatures of love reside here and watch over the goodness of the world."
"Unicorns," asked Lucy, taking a sip.
Baselius nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if you saw one. I can tell there is a lot of goodness in your heart. Unicorns like that."
"But I heard they can corrupt a heart as well," Lucy said. "Though I'm not sure what that means, exactly."
"Corrupt a heart? No, no." Baselius frowned in thought. "A unicorn can only empower, it can never oppress or destroy. Only humans can corrupt a heart and mind. I came here years ago to get away from them and protect the forest and its creatures. There are plenty of unsavory humans in the forest and neighboring kingdom. Keep guard of your heart and the unicorn will protect you from them though."
Lucy nodded, puzzling over this idea, but before she could ask him to elaborate Baselius changed subjects and began telling his own story of when he was young and running through the forest, chasing what he was convinced was a fairy (only to find it was a lightning bug). Snug in their protected cabin, with the merriment of new friendship around them, neither Baselius nor Lucy had slightest knowledge that they were being watched.
From the small window just beside the sink, the man watched the blond take a sip of tea, her eyes straying from the cup to the old man's face. The lurker managed to move out of sight just before her eyes trailed to the window. He wished the girl's presence would hurry the unicorn's arrival, though he supposed killing Abaddon had slowed that plan. He turned the dagger impatiently in his hands and it gleamed, clean from the blood it had a few hours ago.
Perhaps she just wasn't feeling the right emotions to lure the thing closer. After all, a unicorn would always come to assist those it had chosen.
"I'll help her along a bit," the man smirked, tucking his dagger back into the sheath and peaking again into the window. "Then, once I've dealt with the creature, I won't need you or that dreadful old man any more."
Thanks so much to FireShifter & Ushindeshi for the reviews! I hop you & everyone else enjoyed this chapter. Fight scene are always so tricky to do.
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