Chapter 42
His Final Passing
It wasn't as if I had woken up. It was as if I had my eyes closed, completely unaware, then they were suddenly opened. It was the most bizarre experience because I could not remember why I had closed them.
But calmness spread through my skin. When I glanced around, unsure where I was and how I came do here, that calmness was a cool wind that settled any stress or confusion I might have felt. My surroundings were… stark. In an interesting, sort of warm way. It was dark, but low flowing orbs surrounded the area for as far as I could see, illuminating the bare stretch of land like the moon illuminated the water.
When I turned my head, realising I was resting on my palms and behind, my eyes immediately went straight to the opening. It was like a door, with a bright, glowing golden light sneaking through its cracks. And the feeling it brought within me, my body associating it with pure happiness and serenity.
"You should go!" A small child-like voice shouted, but it was soft shout, one that was carried away by a wind I could not feel. I didn't question where it came from. I only nodded and shuffled onto my knees, then my feet. My legs burned with pain as I attempted to stand. It distracted me for a long moment, gazing down at my legs that were soaked with blood from the cuts on my skin.
What happened to my legs?
A cruel grin, on a familiar face raced through my mind before it vanished, along with the pain.
"You should go! Go!" The voice came again with a giggle, and I stumbled at first, agreeing with the direction. Whatever happened when I opened that door, it was going to be glorious. Maybe it was a room with a million books, and a warm fire.
I had a feeling I liked books.
And fire.
A fond smirk and deep dusky rose-coloured hair made an appearance in my thoughts and my movements stopped, as a big brush of warmth rolled over me. It made the calmness disappear entirely for a second, and I struggled to remember something important.
That vibrant soul, and warm lips and fingertips…
The warmth vanished with a wave of cool, beckoning me to continue my movements, as if promising that whatever I felt like I was forgetting, wasn't that important at all.
My body moved again, my footsteps light, but sure as I made my way to the door. It looked beyond welcoming, and I knew it within my soul that whatever behind there would not cause me pain, or sorrow. I didn't know why, but those two emotions… I felt like I had experienced enough of them.
A flash of brilliant scarlet red hair, a soft, barely there smile on red lips made me blink, surprised to find tears in my eyes.
Whoever grew that hair and wore that smile… she had experienced pain and sorrow also.
Maybe, alongside me?
"Stop wasting time! You won't be able to cross soon!" The child sounded distressed now, no longer beckoning me, but warning me. My movement began to stumble, my pace moving faster, but no longer strong and sure.
It felt like I was approaching a new beginning, a new start, leaving behind something very important. Like I was unpredictable and only wanted to find out what the door had to offer me, because where I was did not appeal as much.
A delighted crackling familiar laugh echoed through my ears, wicked but welcoming, and a smug little grin made my movement hurry, tears falling rapidly now.
It ached through me, this feeling of forgetting something, but being so blinded by the warmth and promise that my body couldn't stop.
I reached out to the door, preparing to fling it open, to get rid of this horrible, painful agony.
"If you open that door, those you are trying to remember… You will never see them again."
My grip tightened on the door as those words met my ears, clear and firm. I could feel someone approaching me from behind, as if they had been watching me run to this warmth the whole time.
"You are not ready to part from your life. That is what that horrible feeling is."
I closed my eyes tightly, rasping out, "I can't remember a life. I will not know what I am missing."
"You will." She responded, a soft touch on my shoulder making me jump, "You do. If you did not remember some things, then you would not be so hasty in trying to escape it."
My shoulders loosened, and my voice shook as I spoke, "I remember pain. And confusion. The uncertainty of everything, responsibilities that I never wanted but had been thrown at me. So much… sorrow. Within me, around me. Strangling me. And all I wanted to do… was…" My voice broke off, unable to finish the sentence, to finish the stream of consciousness that stemmed from the darkness I was positive this warmth would heal.
"Scream." I flinched at the word, but she continued, her voice soft but steady and unyielding.
"And you did scream, Lucy. The trials you faced, the scars that you left to fester, to pain you left to rot inside of you, caused your emotions to funnel into your Scream."
My hand weakened on the doorknob.
"I did not know any better."
"Yes. I know."
"I wasn't taught. I was lost. I had to learn myself and by then it was too late."
"I know."
The silence echoed between us, and I closed my eyes, biting back a sob as the memories I had tried to forget, that the warmth could have removed from me entirely came flooding back.
Ultear, Erza, Natsu. All the little friends and foes I had made along the way.
All the ones I had lost…
Half of my kingdom, Father…
Virgo.
"I am naïve. To think that I could have beaten her. She was centuries ahead of me. I played right into her hands like an absolute fool. A child."
"It is childlike to believe in hope… but it is also brave." The woman replied, her hand a heavy but comforting weight on my shoulder, letting me know I was not alone in my sorrow.
I could feel my walls crumbling, the dark deep depression and anxiety that I had pushed to the side for so long crawling up my skin like angry little termites. Ready to corrupt me from the inside out. Ready to tear me apart like a tree that had long since been abandoned to the climate.
But I still had enough energy within me to turn around and face the one who was speaking to me.
"Why you? I never knew you. It would make more sense for my mother, or even my father, to be the one here with me."
Leora Heartfilia smiled sadly, "It was me last time when you had to choose between an awakening and the eternal rest. The universe believes in balance, even if we do not understand what that balance is."
"Did I like you then?"
"You were much more spirited previously, child." Her big warm brown eyes stared into mine with enough sadness to make my own water, "You did not need me to discuss the options with you. You wanted to go back, and you did."
I squeezed my hands into fists, gaining the courage to say what I dreaded.
"The door behind me… it isn't the way back, is it?"
She shook her head then stated softly, "It did not even show itself the last time you were here. You ran straight for the pain of life."
"But it's showing itself now." It wasn't a question, and Leora Heartfilia did not take it as one. She simply shrugged, wearing those odd grey robes, her hair completely black, the markings along her skin glowing in the dim lighting.
"Many things can change in such a short period of time."
"Like the urge to return to my family, the ones I love? That will never waver."
"No, but certain things that are just as important do waver."
"Like what?" I demanded, angrily brushing my tears away, "What's more important than wanting to be with ones you love?"
Leora's eyes went hazy, as if lost in her own thoughts but she still responded firmly, "The ability and bravery to continue the path ahead. The unrelenting stubbornness to take the pain that is life. The sanity to survive it without causing more death than is needed."
"So, the universe thinks I will explode if I go back?"
"No. I could never presume what the universe thinks about any individual." She responded, flicking her eyes to the door behind me, "Just as the universe can never be completely sure if allowing a resurrection of a growing Banshee is the wisest choice for the world."
"If my family did everything right, then I am the last Banshee left. We cannot let the souls on Fiora rot even further, I need to be there to see them over!"
"The universe will wait for another if they believe your… spirit, is tainted with the same insanity that has caused many before you to fall."
I ran my hands through my hair, agitated, before asking angrily, "Is that why you left Acnologia? Because you couldn't handle it anymore, or because you just didn't want to?"
A brief flicker of anger pulsed through her eyes.
"I left Acnologia because it was the right time to do so."
"Fuck that! You left him at your graveside for god knows how long!"
"Enough. Perhaps the full story will suffice you better." Leora cut me off sharply, "We had twenty beautiful years together after the war. Where I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and we raised her. My own mother and father had long since deserted me by then, but it was agreed that upon my death, we would give the heir to my parents, to make sure that the Stars still a royal to continue the line." I listened closely, a little shocked that she was sharing as she turned her head away from me, her eyes faraway and misty, "Of course, we both expected we would have much longer time than that. My child was only two when I died. My last words to Acnologia were… that if this was my last awakening, he needed to give Lily to my parents. If he had not done that, then this chain of events would have never happened."
I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but she continued softly, "Lily gave birth to twins, Belle and Charity. Charity died shortly after her birth, by Virgo's hand but the other went on to marry and give birth to Anna, who destroyed all evidence of my existence and made Banshee lore practically extinct. Twenty or so generations later, Layla was born and then you. If he had not given Lily, right after he lost me… then there would be nobody there to take on Virgo. She had already killed my grand-daughter and had hence learned from her mistake. The universe waited decades, centuries, before bestowing the Banshee power to you."
"Why me?" I had become distracted from my original point in yelling at her about Acnologia, but I didn't care, I wanted to know if there was a reason that I had been given it.
Leora's eyes moved from the distance back to me, "Because, out of all the daughters born to the Heartfilian line… you were the only one with enough of a connection to dragon-kind to possibly survive the aftereffects."
"What?" I whispered, completely stunned.
She smiled a little, "The rumours of the beginning of Fiora, how dragons captured princesses, were not rumours when I was growing up. In fact, the Star kingdom was known for its gold-spun hair and beauty that was treasured for miles. However, when I first met my dragon, he was not interested in my looks at all." She laughed softly, as if remembering a fond memory, before stating, "Acnologia was my life-line Lucy. And for some reason, out of all the genes that convoluted the Heartfilian line for centuries before you, you were born with only two. And those were the two that had worked previously."
"Are you saying?"
"My mother had an affair with a dragon, but that is another story that will never be told. All you need to know is… The nymph is your kingdoms heritage, the Banshee is your soul but the dragon… that's in your blood."
Absolutely floored by this discovery – and not sure if I was going to remember it at all – I had to ask, because it was killing me not to know.
"But what about Acnologia? Why didn't he… kill himself to be with you?"
"Because dragons have one belief that they stick to no matter what. It is an old, foolish belief but it is one that you could assume is their very religion." Leora stated, shaking her head, "It is that 'all happens for a reason.'"
"But he stayed by your grave…"
"He had no purpose, until the exact year that you were born."
"He stayed alive… for me?" I whispered, and she smiled sadly.
"He sensed that a daughter, one that held his own species in her blood had been reunited with the world. And all that was unknown to him became known."
"That's over six hundred years… Did he stay by your grave for that long?"
"He kept a part of me with him, but he did roam for many years before your birth. Chasing down Virgo, with an intent to kill or be killed. Meeting the young vampire. Then finally, all his questions had been answered." Leora stated softly, her voice so quiet, and I knew that the worst was yet to come. That whatever she was about to say next… it would not be something warm and fuzzy.
"He was to assist you in finding Virgo, killing her then finally, he could be with me."
My third awakening was not left with a foggy mind that was unclear on what happened.
No, I remembered everything.
The fight, my last words to Erza because I knew Ultear and Natsu would disrupt the plan, falling, dying, trapped in that void room with Leora, my ancestor and feeling like my heart had just been ripped out of my chest.
Leora's final words to me.
"When you came here and went for the door, I felt that it was too late for you. However, I was wrong. Your naivety will never be a flaw Lucy, it is something that fuels your bravery and your morals. Never use it as a slight against yourself."
Even as my eyes flickered open to find a bedroom, with healing salts and potions all around me, my hand slapped over my eyes the very next second. Purpose and power thrummed through my body like a live wire.
Stupidly, I did not want to see anyone until I saw him.
On shaky legs, and an even shakier reason for existence, I slid out of the bed. My weight almost buckled, but I caught myself, taking a deep breath in. My power jumped around, so unlike my second awakening where it just zapped all from me. But I had a feeling that until I did what I came to do, it would stay there, ready to do what it intended to do.
The door opened, and I tensed ready to hear the shouts that I was finally awake. And as much as I wanted to see everyone, to hold them and get yelled at for dying again, I couldn't bear it at the same time.
"Lucy…" Yukino's voice whispered, disembodied because I could not see her.
"Yukino, I need your help." Out of all the people that could have walked through the door, I thought it was fitting of fate to bring Yukino in.
"Did you want me to get Natsu? Of course, of course you do. You should like back down though, you really don't look steady." She sounded worried, and very tired. I could only imagine where she had been staying all this time. It made me wonder how many days I had been out, because it had only felt like hours in that void.
"No." I whispered, "I need you to help me get to Acnologia."
"What?" Her hand touched my wrist and I smiled, despite the tears sprinkling my eyes and the hand covering it.
"I need to see Acnologia."
"I think the old lady will want to check you out first." Yukino sounded so confused, and I almost sobbed, knowing that once she figured it out, she would either attack me or alert someone. But a small part of me hoped she would help.
"Yukino… I need to see him. He needs to…" My voice broke, and my body shook as my power flared, sensing that it was almost time.
Yukino soft intake of air made me flinch back, ready for her to start screaming or throwing me around. But then, small soft hands guided my other arm around her shoulder and she was moving, helping me walk.
"Right. Okay. He's… this way." Her voice was shaking also, and I never felt so horrible. She had to know now, but she was still helping. Still leading… me to him. We moved quietly, and she stopped a few times, waiting for someone to pass by, or seeming to gain her footing.
"It won't be long before someone from the staff catches us then we'll have the full might of an over-bearing, worrying pre-fiancé and his kingdom on us." Her light attempt of a joke made me laugh a little, but it dried out into a sob.
I heard her sniffle quietly, and she spoke again, "We won't even have any chance to take them on, I haven't tapped a vein recently and you're doing this weird thing with your sight. We're up that creek without a paddle."
I sobbed again, tightening my hold on her, trying to convey how sorry I was that I had to do this.
We luckily didn't run into anyone, and I could feel the air grow colder, more potent with power when a door swung open.
Porlyscuia's voice swam through the air, "You shouldn't be up! Why wasn't I-" Power flowed through my bones and I knew, I just knew, it had triggered the change.
"Where do you want to go?" Yukino asked softly, ignoring Porlyscuia entirely and I whispered back, my voice so quiet that I could barely hear myself.
"On the bed."
She lifted, helping me and I crawled onto the bed. I sat to the side of him, reaching out hesitantly to touch his chest, then his left cheek, then his left eye. His low grunt made me flinch back.
"Why are you poking at me?"
His voice made my shoulders hunch up, and Yukino whispered to me, "He woke up a few hours ago. He's… not any better but, I'm sure you know that."
"Okay." I whispered in reply, just as Acnologia stated in usual loud way.
"Why are you both whispering about me like I'm not here? I imagine this is what it's like to have annoying children who are about to do something horrible to me while I'm sleeping." His words made my heart ache, squeeze and tremble. This was a thousand times worse than Virgo, and I had no idea why.
"You're cruel." I stated, just as I felt Natsu enter the room. His warmth filled me, and while my heart leapt out to him, I was so focused on keeping my hand over my eyes that I didn't turn around. A few more people entered the room but by now, my power was so loud and poised in my ears, I could barely sense anything past it.
Acnologia didn't respond for a long moment, which prompted me to sob out, "I wish I had never met you. I didn't want your help. You're selfish, and cruel to put this on me. To makeme do this."
"Lucy." His voice softened into that fatherly tone again and I felt tears trickle down my cheeks, touching my hands as they went.
"You should have gotten somebody else. You should have… been kind."
"It was always going to be you. It's symmetry."
"Its damaging is what it is!" I shouted, sobs leaking out of my lips painfully, "You kept going on and on about how I needed to use my power wisely, not to let my emotions control it… but you didn't think that this was going to impact me in worse ways?"
"There is no controlling the first scream. It's as natural to you as breathing."
"You are a bastardly, idiotic, cheating no-good reptile!" I yelled breaking down further when I heard Yukino join in, "You never smile, you're always moody, your personality is absolutely horrid, and you need to learn how to bathe properly you piece of infested swine crap!"
"Getting insulted and torn to pieces on my literal death bed… Yeah, this is exactly what I imagined having kids would be like." Acnologia stated quietly, his voice amused and oddly… touched, which made me even more angry. I wish he would be mad that I was going to do this, that I had to do this, but he knew it was coming.
He knew.
"Two unlikely daughters. One destined in the stars, and one given through blood. How life throws crap you never wanted, but definitely needed at you."
"Because all happens for a reason, right?" I snapped out, sobbing quieter when I felt his hand touch my hair softly, pulling me in for a hug.
"Exactly, Lucy."
He then spoke to Yukino, "I never really wanted you for your debt. Your company, whilst extremely aggravating was enough. But your debt has been repaid now. You brought her to me, and as an old man, that has seen a lot and lived through worse, I could never thank you enough."
Yukino's muffled sobs, and the way Acnologia shifted to give her a hug made my crying increase tenfold.
"Lucy… uncover your eyes."
"This will haunt me for the rest of my life, you know, that right?" I whispered, sniffling as my hand slowly began to drop from my eyes. His face swam into my blurry vision, his skin paler, a frown marring his lips and brows.
"I hope you remember it everytime you kiss that dammed prince of yours. Make your old man proud, trash his hoard for me." I took a long moment to study his face, an unwillingly, pained smile on my lips.
Then my eyes found his.
I latched my arms around his neck, and I gave him a tight squeeze, my throat closing up and aching with all the crying.
"Thank-you. For everything."
He pressed a kiss to the side of my forehead, "This is enough. Remember, I'm cruel."
My soul left my body and I tucked my head into his neck, just as the wave of the Scream rushed up my spine.
Okay so,
I am late yes but only by a day or so? It's mainly because I had a plan for this chapter and when I sat down to write it, I decided no, I like this way better and so I had to tweak a few things
The next chapter will be the last, and then if I get enough comments asking for an epilogue, I'll do that as well.
I can't wait to hear what you think – seriously, so excited for it because so many things that have not been answered since the beginning now just got answered
I'm not gonna lie, I teared up writing Acnologia dying
As always, not edited but I am looking for someone to re-read and help me edit/tweak the whole story for me, send me a pm if interested
Please leave me a comment and look out for the next chapter which is due tomorrow!
As always guys, stay fresh
xo freshprincess