WOW I've never seen so many people try to scratch our eyes out over the internet before. Haha, gotta say that was pretty funny.
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CHAPTER 47
Ares
Ares was the god of war, and son of Zeus and Hera. He represented the raw violence and untamed acts that occurred in wartime.
Natsu's blood roared in his veins, drowning out everything else as grief and denial both clawed their way through him. The bond was unraveling, and he couldn't stop it. He didn't really want to either. Not if it meant he would join her on her new adventure.
He never noticed the way his markings began to fade as he sat there, tears boiling down his cheeks, as the most precious thing in the world was taken from him.
He barely noticed Happy arriving with Wendy, and his small sister rushing to Lucy's side.
It wouldn't do any good. The bond was gone now. Lucy's warm magic no longer bound them together, and he'd never felt more cold and alone in his life.
That was when it hit him distantly through the overwhelming pain in his heart.
He was still thinking.
He should've shut off by now. Become a dead husk again. His soul torn from him and following Lucy on their next adventure together.
But he wasn't.
He was still there.
He felt numb, but he was still there. Still thinking.
Slowly, confusedly, he tried to raise his hand up and blinked when it actually obeyed him.
It took him a few moments longer to register that his arm was clean, and free of markings.
They were gone.
He was free.
But one look at the cost of his freedom, his love, had fresh tears trickling down his face. However, this time, the pain was accompanied by something else he was familiar with.
Fury.
Acnologia had destroyed the one good thing in his life for this?
This wasn't freedom. This was agony, and he didn't want it. He didn't want any of it.
"You killed her." He whispered roughly, but the sound echoed through the chamber, pausing the fight he'd been ignoring, "You killed my queen. The only good and pure thing in my life."
He looked up, his eyes raw and burning, "And why?" He asked, his voice cracking, "Because you thought I wasn't free? Because you thought she was beneath you?"
"LUCY WAS WORTH A THOUSAND OF YOU!"
He roared as fire erupted all around him, his pain and grief channeling itself into a wild rage that was directed entirely at Acnologia.
Natsu was blind to everything but Acnologia. The battered demon and broken Zeref meant nothing to him. There was only the one who had snatched his wife away from him before they could begin to live out their life together.
And now, now - after four hundred years, Natsu was no longer a slave to the commands of another. But never had he felt more imprisoned in his life.
He was on Acnologia before he could even take a breath, his hand closing around the other golem's face. Gripping down with his claws, his wings flaring out on either side of him, he smashed Acnologia down into the ground. Power mounting, he let out a sound that was more scream than roar when the earth broke under his strike.
Acnologia was not an enemy he could simply break apart with might alone though. And Natsu felt a jet of blue light blast him back several feet, a burn smoking in his chest.
"So, it seems grief is what you needed to finally break free," Acnologia studied, his expression narrowed as he took in Natsu's tear-stained face and wild eyes.
"Wake up you child!" Acnologia snapped, "You were meant to be a dragon! Not some dog on a leash for the whims of a human girl! I have saved you from a fate worse than death - she was just-"
"If you say she was just human one more time," Natsu boiled, his voice dropping down to a quiet rumble, "I will finish you in a way my father never did."
Acnologia narrowed his eyes at that. The fledgling wasn't kidding. His attachment to the human was unnatural, and beneath him, but irrespective of that it meant enough to the boy that he would even consider uttering a threat like that in the first place.
If the child actually worked out how to tap into his dragonforce despite his bastardized form and powers he would have a somewhat difficult fight on his hands. It was fortunate he had far more experience in fighting than Natsu possibly could have ever dreamed of.
He growled warningly as Natsu prowled closer while he thought, fire licking his body and a promise of death in his eyes, only to be brought up short when Natsu growled back in exactly the same way.
A challenge? Was the fledgling serious?
It seemed he was as Natsu leapt into the air and unleashed a wing attack right where he was standing.
Neither drake paid any attention to the tiny hatchling and her blue guardian pouring wave after wave of healing energy into Lucy's broken form.
Nor did they notice the fierce smile that broke out over Wendy's lips as Lucy's chest moved.
The fight was mindless. Natsu poured everything he had in each attack. Even though tears burned in the back of his eyes, he didn't let himself cling back to the grief that had consumed him before. He needed to defeat this enemy here and now. Acnologia had not only taken away Lucy from him, but if he was allowed to go on, he would keep taking away the things Lucy had loved most.
Their family, their friends. Everything they had fought so hard to repair.
He wouldn't let any of her endeavors go in vain.
But Acnologia was a tough opponent, and even though he had been encased for four hundred years, it seemed all of his skill came back to him as fluidly as if he had never stopped for a single day. Natsu was blasted back, his wings bending awkwardly under his body as he slammed into the cavern wall. The whole temple trembled violently while Acnologia advanced towards Natsu.
He spat out blood that had begun to collect in his mouth. It was difficult for him to climb back up to his feet, because for every blow he landed on the dragon, Acnologia dealt him three more. It wasn't a fight he was winning at any rate.
But he was determined to win for Lucy. That alone was more than enough for him to push back to his feet and rush back at the older dragon with a deafening roar. Snarling, he caught Acnologia around his waist, the dragon slamming back through a wall Natsu blasted through. They ended up back into the main chamber, Natsu skidding on the balls of his feet.
His claws bit into the earth, all of the chemicals Tartaros had pumped him full of had begun to rush into his head. In truth, he was actually beginning to feel a little ill.
Nausea boiled up inside him as he thought. Okay make that more than a little.
He gagged a little as his throat tightened and he dropped forward as he clutched at it. What was happening to him?
The answer came almost immediately.
The etherious from before. He'd been pumped full of it. He wasn't sure why the effects were only kicking in now, but it felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach and throat as the warring elements inside him made their displeasure known.
He fought back against them though. He had a fight to win. For Lucy. For her dreams. He would see his queen's dreams of peace and prosperity come into being.
"Natsu..."
His eyes widened in shock at the soft word, and he swung his head around to where an exhausted looking Wendy was grinning triumphantly as she helped Lucy sit up, and then stand.
Natsu's entire world stopped as he stared at them in disbelief. Lucy was alive? His queen was smiling at him? His heart thumped powerfully with hope that he wasn't dreaming as Lucy's grin widened at him.
"You can do it Natsu." She murmured. Her voice was weak and tired sounding, but there was absolutely no mistaking it.
Happiness burst through Natsu with so much force he literally erupted into a joyful roar as power exploded from him and brilliant red scales began covering his body.
The sheer fact that she was there standing in front of him, made him forget all of his pain. He clutched his second wind like a lifeline, his desire to enact revenge falling to the side in a flash. It was washed away by Lucy's smile, and he surged forward.
Faster than even Acnologia could blink, Natsu had him wrapped up in a vice grip.
Just as quickly as the beat down happened before, Natsu had turned the tables with the strength unleashed by the combination of the etherious flooding his body and Lucy's encouragement.
It had been just one sentence, but it was precisely what he had needed to hear.
He couldn't feel her, he couldn't sense her. But Natsu didn't need to. Not to understand what she was telling him without having to say a word.
Natsu had the might of his dragon heritage on his side, coupled with the power of a demon. A power Acnologia's own bias would not allow him to access. It had taken a very long time for Natsu to accept who and what he was, but it was enough for him now.
Managing to twist Acnologia around, Natsu wanted nothing more than to end this fight so he could go see how his wife was doing. So he gathered all of his strength, pouring his magic into his gut as he opened his mouth.
"Fire Dragon..." He growled as he sucked in air, pulling the struggling Acnologia into the air, "King's..." His eyes danced with wicked glee at the way Acnologia paled, "ROAR!"
He released Acnologia as soon as the massive column of flame struck, and watched with satisfaction as the bastard was blasted through the various temple layers and into the air. He didn't wait to see if the other golem would regain his senses enough to counterattack though as he spread his wings and flew after him as fast as he could move.
To his mild surprise, the force of the roar pushed Acnologia far enough to slam into the underside of Tartaros.
Perfect.
"Fire Dragon King's Demolition Fist!" He roared as he gathered all his remaining power and plowed directly into both Acnologia and Tartaros as hard as he could.
Below him, his battered and bruised guildmates watched in shocked awe as the underside of Tartaros exploded in a massive column of fire. A column that seemed to be spreading until it burst through the other side, crumbling the cube that had been the demon's pride and joy.
Beneath the temple Zeref watched the destruction through the new skylight Natsu had created with a small smile, "Well done Natsu."
Acnologia's body dropped heavily down, back into the temple. He was unconscious, but shockingly still alive even after all of that.
Natsu's wings snapped open, catching himself on the updraft his heat had created.
Slowly he lowered himself down, his tail twitching through the air to guide himself as his bare feet finally touched the ground again.
Natsu felt exhausted, his legs feeling like jelly. The scales that had covered him until then had begun to recede.
But the job was done. Acnologia was defeated, and the symbol of the demon's power was destroyed. Natsu didn't even pay attention as Zeref snapped his wrist out and black chains crawled over acnologia's body. Silvery, blue tattoos reformed over his face and along his arms
Or rather arm.
It seemed in the explosion, while Acnologia had survived, it was not in all one piece.
Natsu for his part couldn't care. He sprinted to Lucy, who was pale and being supported by Happy.
His hands grasped at her cheeks, a desperate smile lighting his face as he held her carefully. His claws just skimmed the surface of her skin and he pressed his forehead into hers.
"You're alive! I felt the bond disappear! I thought you were gone!" Natsu babbled.
"It was a near thing brother." Wendy replied for Lucy as Lucy was far too busy hugging Natsu in relief, "The bond broke because her magic was needed to save her life."
She smiled happily, "It's a good thing it did though. It gave me enough time to stabilize her."
Natsu looked over at his sister and dragged her into the hug as well, "Thank you." He whispered as he dropped a kiss on top of Wendy's head, "Thank you."
Wendy just smiled happily as she hugged Natsu in return.
"This was not what I'd planned for our wedding night you know." Lucy mumbled after a few moments of relieved silence, "I like the you naked part, but the battle part I could've done without."
Natsu laughed, reminded that he really did need a pair of pants, "Just think of it as postponed for now." He grinned, "And hey, it's all over now right? We can do that other wedding when we're healed and have that wedding night!"
Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of frantically running feet. They looked up in time to see Sting, Rogue, and Gajeel leading their guildmates into the cavern. Most of them looked to be pretty torn up, but since they were there and the Tartaros demons weren't that meant they'd won.
That was more than good enough for Lucy as she smiled at them and leaned against Natsu, "Hey guys."
It was true they all looked a bloody mess, but even Lucy's weight on his shoulder made Natsu's stomach lurch.
His vision turned black around the corners and he gripped Lucy's arm. The voices of his guild mates and nest swam in and out of his ears, almost like they were speaking another language.
So much so, in the confusion, as their worried family surrounded them, he couldn't even lift a hand to point out the figure moving behind them.
Zeref, quietly disappearing with Acnologia.
He opened his mouth to warn them, but his body, tortured, exhausted, and filled with chemicals had finally had enough.
He could feel hands catching his chest as Natsu forgot why he was trying to stay awake in the first place.
Everything went fuzzy and black, unconsciousness sweeping him away.
kukuku... See, that wasn't so bad was it? Alright guys! SEE YOU IN OUR FINAL CHAPTER!
Now since we normally have our sneak peeks for the next chapter, if we get the count, we will show a sneak peek of our new fic, Wild Aces! In the meantime, enjoy the sneak peek from our last chapter!
30 REVIEWS EQUALS A SNEAK PEEK!
He sat up abruptly, groaning a little when his blood rushed to his head as he did, and reached for her, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Lucy assured him as she gently pushed him back down onto the bed, "After you passed out Sting and Rogue transformed and carried us all back to the nest for healing. Not that it was any prettier here, but the demons that attacked the nest were flattened after they got the news that Tartaros had been destroyed."
She shrugged a little, "In the end, they wound up bringing Porlyusica in to help with the healing. It's been non-stop busy ever since." She laughed a little, "I only got to avoid most of it since I was still almost as injured as you."
Natsu's eyes tracked over the bandage still wrapped around her head, a quiet growl dragging from his chest. His hand reached out to trace his fingers against her forehead.
