Everybody's liking this story so far! XD I'm having fun with it as well! Thanks for reading and we have a long way to go before the ending!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
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Where is END? (Ch. 4)
Part 1: The Misery
It had been a full week since Lucy's first panic attack and it was just about to get worse. It was late at night/early morning and she was asleep with Natsu and Happy next to her, snoring away, somehow having the same dream. She had always enjoyed listening to them at night when she couldn't sleep. They'd mutter back and forth to each other about ridiculous things…and sometimes, it was her they were talking about.
Unlike those nights, Lucy was asleep when it happened; she woke up with a sudden start, shooting into a sitting position in her bed with her body shaking so hard, she felt like she was about to throw up.
"Hic!" Lucy gagged, covering her mouth with her hand. The pain she experienced from her first panic attack was down in the pit of her stomach, building up every second she held it down. She felt like a grenade, like she was about to explode. She was so hot, either from Natsu still asleep next to her or that cursed demon seed. It was probably the demon seed, but either way, she was felt like a flame.
A flaming grenade…
Lucy threw the covers off her, darting toward the bathroom. "Running makes it worse," she realized as the pain swelled twice as fast.
Lucy barely had time to knelt down at the toilet before she exploded. "Gah!" Reddish, black liquid rushed from her mouth into the toilet. "What is that?" Whatever it was, it was scorching hot coming out of her mouth; it burned the back of her throat.
Lucy's head had never pounded so hard in her entire life. It hurt so bad, her vision was going blurry; all she could see was the reddish, black liquid in the toilet. Scorching tears dripped down her cheeks, mixing with her strange puke.
Her body was burning! She couldn't stand it; she wanted to scream and would have if she wasn't throwing up. Lucy wished Gray was there now; she wished he was there to cool down the atmosphere – to cool down her flaming body.
Dang it! Curse that demon seed!
Lucy had finished throwing up – at least she had thought – and had fallen to the hard, white tile with a hard spasm.
This panic attack was different from the first one: she didn't throw up or cry last time, as unbearable as it was. It was a little more painful here, especially with the migraine, and she had thrashed and jerked from the white, hot pain more than last time.
"It's already worse? The second time?"
"G-gah-mmph!" No, no, Lucy. Don't scream; don't scream. Don't wake up Natsu and Happy….Don't scream…
With both her hands over her mouth, muffled cries bled through like the tears that left burning trails on her cheeks.
"No…no! go away! Go away, panic attack! Go away…Leave me alone…"
The panic attack began to spike up – it had been five minutes – as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Lucy curled into a ball, focusing on the small, dirty specks at the bottom of her toilet to distract herself. "I do need to clean the bathroom again…"
She rocked back and forth against the tile ground…
"I have no idea what time it is, but I bet you anything that Levy's up reading that book I gave her."
Muffled screams; burning tears…
"Oh, that's right! I bought Happy his favorite kind of fish today at the market. I forgot to give it to him. I'll have to do that in the morning."
White hot, painful spasms…
"I wonder if I will see my mom and dad when I die."
Black and red puke spilled through her fingers…
"I love you, Natsu…"
It had been a full minute and Lucy felt the spasms start to escalate down…but it still was unbearably painful.
"I love your pink hair…I love your onyx eyes…"
Blackish, red, hot liquid mixed with salty tears dripped to the floor and sizzled on the cold tile…
"I love your scarf that you wear all the time…I love your fiery personality…"
Shaking, pain, burning throat…
"I love the way you look at me, the way you smile at me; I love the way you talk to me and the way you protect me…"
Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream…
"Natsu…I'm sorry that I have to die…"
She began to breathe again…
"But I'm not sorry for taking your place…"
Then it was gone – five minutes later, fading away like a butterfly flying into mist.
At first, the tears kept flowing. Lucy wasn't in pain anymore, but she didn't want to move, nor did she want to bathe or wash off the sweat. She slowly took her hand away from her mouth – her palm was burning from the black and red puke – and stayed on the tile for nearly another five minutes.
Slowly, as she pulled herself to her feet, her long, blonde, ratty locks fall onto her shoulders. Lucy looked at her pitiful reflection in the mirror: she was extremely pale, like Mira's hair with eyes droopy with circles around them from either lack of sleep or the spasms. Leftover puke decorated her lips in a sickening dark color and dripped down her chin.
If she didn't know any better, she looked like she was about to collapse.
Yup, if anyone looked at her, they would know that she definitely just had some sort of attack.
Flushing the toilet and turning off the bathroom light, Lucy stumbled back into her dark bedroom; Natsu and Happy were still snoring away, oblivious to what had just taken place.
All she wanted right now was to sleep; the clock on the wall said three-thirty-four and she was physically and mentally exhausted.
But she couldn't; she had to see Porlyusica. After all, she promised her that she would no matter what time after her next panic attack and a celestial wizard never breaks her promises.
Slowly slipping on slippers, Lucy grabbed a coat and a flashlight, not bothering to lock her front door as she left. It seemed like an eternity before she reached Porlyusica's house in the forest; Lucy's entire body was sore, mostly from the attack, but the walk as well. She nearly collapsed at the front porch and had to lean against the railing for support as she mustered all the strength she had left in her weak body, banging against the wooden door.
Lucy knew that at first, there wasn't going to be an answer. The old lady was most definitely asleep, but her house was very small, the blonde didn't have to work very hard to wake her up.
She could feel herself about to pass out; she took a deep breath, raising her fist again.
*Bang! Bang!*
Lucy's knuckles tingled and she felt her head begin to hang, her vision was going blurry again, but this time, it was from exhaustion.
Suddenly, a light turned on in the house and the door was jerked open sternly.
"Now who in the world…Lucy?" The elder's voice was extremely harsh at first, but calmed as soon as she saw the celestial wizard.
"P-Porlyu..sica…" Woah, her voice was really hoarse, probably from her burnt throat….
"O-oh my! It happened, didn't it? C-come in! Come in!"
Lucy only took a step before collapsing. Porlyusica caught her in her wrinkly arms though, bringing her into the warm house and onto the bed.
Lucy was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
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Heat was all she felt when she woke up. It wasn't like Natsu's heat; this one was far more…sinister. It was far more lurking and haunting. It was nothing like Natsu's; his was more welcoming, loving, caring, and sheltering. This sinister heat was nothing like what Lucy was used to.
What happened?
As she opened her eyes, a wooden ceiling greeted her. Lucy looked around the room and her eyes landed on the back of an elderly, pink haired nurse.
Everything came rushing back.
She felt perfectly fine now, except for the heat that had greeted her as she woke up. It was still sneering at her, but the blonde ignored it and sat up.
"Porlyusica?" Her voice was back to normal as well.
The old lady turned around, "so you're awake, I see. How do you feel?"
"Hot," she replied, kicking the sheets off. She was still in her nightgown, "but other than that, I feel fine."
"Well that makes sense seeing that your temperature is over 106'F," she said, turning back to her alchemy stations. (41.1'C)
Lucy's eyes widened, "What?!"
"Yes…any normal human would be dead now."
The blonde looked down at her feet, "but I'm not…normal anymore."
The elder didn't respond to that. Instead, she walked toward Lucy, holding a white cloth. "What is this?" She asked.
The cloth was covered in the black and red puke Lucy had thrown up last night. Porlyusica must've wiped the leftovers from her mouth as she was sleeping.
"I threw that weirdly colored stuff up…"
"You puked? Did that happen last time?"
"No…what exactly is it?"
She sighed, "according to my tests, its human blood mixed with a little bit of demon blood."
Lucy didn't seem so surprised, but she stared at blood. "Well, the good news is that there's more human blood than demon blood because there's more red than black…That is a good thing, isn't it?"
"I wouldn't necessarily call it a good thing," Porlyusica said, walking back to her stations, "but it proves that you're more human than you are demon…at least for now. You had lost a lot of blood from throwing this up, which was why you were so pale, frail, and weak."
It was silent for a minute, giving Lucy a chance to look around. It was day out now, but she had no idea what time it is. Hopefully it was early enough to where Natsu and Happy were still asleep. Maybe she'd be able to get back home without them waking up and seeing that she's gone.
The old lady stuck a thermometer in her ears, mumbling as she pulled it out after it beeped. "The same as last night…106'F in both ears…" (41.1'C)
"Porlyusica," Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes as the nurse marked down the temperatures on her calendar. "What time is it?"
"It's two in the afternoon."
She nearly choked on air, "What?! Ooooh no! Natsu's gonna kill me for disappearing! Oh, all my friends will be so worried!"
"Stop panicking! You're giving me a headache!" The old lady shouted. "Natsu and Happy tracked your scent here this morning and I told them that you had gotten a cold early in the morning and didn't want to wake Wendy. I told them that you knew that I was awake and came here instead. They wanted to see you, but I told them that you were asleep and sent them back to the guild."
Lucy sighed in utter relief, "thank goodness! I-ow!"
Porlyusica had whacked her on the head with a broom. "This is the second time I've had to lie to Fairy Tail for you! I don't want to have to do it a third time! Do you understand me?!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!" Lucy rubbed the top of her head. There was definitely going to be a bump there. "I-I'm sorry I slept so late…"
"I force-fed you my drowsy potion – the one I gave you last time. It caused you to sleep heavier and for a few more hours."
"Oh, thank you," Lucy smiled, still rubbing the top of her head.
Porlyusica sighed, "thank you for coming to me, even when it was so late at night."
"It's no problem. I'm sorry I had woken you up."
"It's no big deal."
It was a big deal actually: Lucy had just recovered from a panic attack and judging from the dark circles underneath the nurse's eyes, she had stayed up the rest of the night helping her.
"I'll get out of your hair now," Lucy said, standing up. "I'll let you sleep." She needed to go home, shower, and change anyway. She was still in her nightgown drenched in sweat.
"Remember, cold showers."
"Yes, I've been taking cold showers."
"Good."
Lucy opened and smiled at her, waving, "Thank you for your help, Porlyusica."
"Just get out of here."
Lucy simply giggled at the harsh words, closing the door behind her.
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This was…really harsh, but at the same time, really fluffy. XD I hope you enjoyed!
-zEllie