Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT V: Ragnarok – The Faithful Encounter
Approximately X793
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Chapter 23: Alliance
It had been chaos almost immediately after Jellal came to the guild and announced the upcoming war. For one thing they had to prepare a lot of stuff, before they could leave, but they also had to repeat the story every time a new member entered the guild. It was exhausting and stressful, which fortunately meant for the celestial mage, that she didn't have time to be worried. However that also meant she never got a chance to talk to Natsu, because there was too much to do to take a break.
Before Lucy knew it, they had gathered everything and everyone which meant they were now travelling towards the designated place, where the final encounter would unfold the following morning. The thought made a shiver run down Lucy's spine, making her sigh heavily.
"You okay?" Gray asked in concern beside her.
"Yeah..." Lucy smirked trying to reassure him, but also herself "... I'm good"
"No you're not" Natsu snorted sounding mildly annoyed "None of us are"
"Huh?" she blinked before turning to exchange a glare with the pink haired kid.
"You heard me" he exhaled a shaking breath "None of us are fine with this situation, but it's how we face it that determines how we'll conquer it. I mean it's a goddamn war, so it ain't something to be taken lightly. However we need to keep strong and believe in our own conviction that humanity will win, or else it's a battle we've already lost"
"He's right..." Gray smiled triumphantly before placing his hand on Lucy's shoulder "... we'll win this no matter what it takes"
"I know you're right..." the celestial mage started, with a sad look on her face "but what if we have to pay a huge price to earn victory. As you said yourself this is war and that might mean casualties"
"I ain't allowing anyone to die" Natsu smiled before he placed his hand on Lucy's other shoulder "You can be sure of that"
"But..." she wanted to believe him she really did, but there was still this nagging feeling in her stomach that something really bad was about to happen.
"Don't worry Lucy" Happy said in his cheerful voice from down below "If things go wrong you can always use the same trick you did the last time we were in trouble"
"What trick?" the blonde asked but regretted it instantly, when she saw the playful grin on the cat's face.
"Well..." Happy started with a chuckle "Do you remember how you dealt with END?"
"Ohh..." her eyes widened when she realised, what the cat was implying.
"Lucy and Zeref sitting in a tree..." the cat sang teasingly "... k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"
"You..." blushing fiercely her eyebrow started to twitch in annoyance "Idiotic cat! I'm gonna..."
"No I'm gonna!" Natsu roared in anger as he started chasing the laughing cat, who spawned his wings and kept himself at a safe distance "Get back here, you... you... ugh! How dare you suggest something like that!"
"It worked on you so why shouldn't it work on him?" Happy chuckled "Could it be... no... no way!"
"What?!" Natsu growled.
"You're jealous!" the cat snickered knowingly, making the Dragon Slayer blush from the accusation.
"The hell I am!" Natsu growled.
A sigh escaped Lucy's lips as she followed the cat being chased with her eyes, trying her best not to let it affect her emotions. Fortunately for her she didn't hear most of what they were shouting at each other, because they were too far ahead of the group.
It didn't take long though before the two to stop their fight and once more united with the guild, Natsu obviously still steaming with anger.
They walked in silence after that, but it didn't take long before she noticed that once the fury had left Natsu's body, it was replaced with a sort of drowsiness, making him appear like he desperately needed sleep all of a sudden. Actually it was rather obvious from the way he kept yawning, while walking with his eyes half closed.
"You okay?" Lucy asked in concern as she eyed him up and down.
"Uh-huh..." he nodded lazily.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Naaw..." Natsu yawned and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands "... thanks for asking me though"
"You sure? I think I have a chocolate bar somewhere, maybe that could help...?" Lucy suggested "Or I could summon a spirit that can carry you"
The Dragon Slayer smirked "I ain't in the mood for chocolate and I'm afraid being carried by one of your spirits might evoke my motion sickness"
"Ahh... wait does that mean you see my spirits as transportation?" she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"No I just..." his eyes widened momentarily "... I just had an idea"
"Really?"
"Yeah I uhm... are you still willing to help?" he asked while looking in another direction.
"Of course" she smiled in encouragement glad there was something she could do.
"Well uhm..." Natsu rubbed his neck sheepishly "... I'm not sure it'll work but it's worth a try, right?"
"Sure?" Lucy blinked feeling confused about his reaction.
"Okay so I got this idea, from when you fell asleep while standing up, right? This is basically the same thing, just we walk while I take a nap"
"That sounds difficult"
"If it works then it should be rather simple" he smiled wholeheartedly before placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Uhm.. kay? What do you need me to do?" she blushed and inwardly congratulated herself from not stuttering.
He didn't say anything but instead placed himself on her left side, his right hand carefully trailing down her arm before placing it on her waist. Once there he removed his left hand from her shoulder and replaced it with his head.
"Now..." he took a deep breath before continuing "Place you hand on my waist, just like I did on yours" Natsu squeezed her waist with his hand, to imply what he meant. Not that he needed that, because it was rather obvious what she had to do.
"Uh-huh..." Lucy mouthed, her cheeks blushing fiercely as she placed her left arm around his waist.
"Perfect!" he chuckled "Hopefully this should keep me stable and capable of walking while I sleep"
"Ye-yeah..."
"Awesome!" Natsu yawned loudly before he closed his eyes "You're the best"
"You're welcome" she said in return and soon the Dragon Slayer was snoring peacefully against her shoulder.
This was gonna be a looong day, Lucy thought to herself secretly enjoying the situation way too much than she probably should. But heck who cared, it was comforting and calming her nerves and the Dragon Slayer got some much needed sleep. It was a win-win situation no matter how people looked at it.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Natsu was sleeping heavily for the first time in what felt like forever, when he felt someone gently nudging his shoulder.
"Nnngh..." he clenched his eyes harder together, ignoring whoever was trying to wake him.
"Natsu wake up" Lucy's gentle voice called.
"Mmm..." still refusing to open his eyes he rubbed his chin against her shoulder.
"We're here, so come on"
"Mooh..." complaining the Dragon Slayer opened his heavy eyelids. It took a second to adjust his eyes to the light, but once they did he noticed that there was a lot of people gathered all around him.
To his surprise it wasn't just their guild but a lot of other guilds as well. There were people all around from Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus and Mermaid Heel.
"It would seem almost everyone is here" Jellal stated as he approached the duo, Erza following close behind him "The only one missing is Twilight Ogre"
"... those guys..." Natsu snarled in anger and unconsciously pressed Lucy more firmly against himself, making her squeal from the sudden gesture.
"Is something wrong?" Jellal blinked since he didn't know how much harm said guild had caused Fairy Tail during the time gab.
"It's water under the bridge" Erza said in her stoic voice, her eyes glistening with anger.
"I.. I see" the blue haired flinched, being intimidated by the armored woman's sudden wrath, but fortunately he was saved by an approaching figure.
"Erik" Jellal gasped sounding relieved "How did it go at Twilight Ogre?"
"Bad I guess" The poison Dragon Slayer shrugged "They didn't wanna come"
"What? Why not?" the blue haired mage enquired.
"Dunno..." Erik sighed loudly "It was going fine until I mentioned who else would participate in the war"
"Ohh?" Erza mouthed sounding mildly surprised.
"Yeah" the poison Dragon Slayer smirked "I could hear their fear, when I said Fairy Tail would participate"
"I see..." Jellal nodded to himself.
"Cowards..." Natsu muttered in a low inaudible voice.
"It's a pity though" Jellal said while rubbing his chin "But hopefully our seven different fractions will be enough"
"I... I'm sure it will be" the celestial mage said, hoping in her heart it would be.
"Ohh..." the poison Dragon Slayer chuckled as he gave Lucy the escalator look "... you sly girl..."
"What...?" the blonde gasped in surprise.
"Nothing..." Erik turned to exchange a look with the Dragon Slayer "... nothing at all"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Natsu growled before removing his arm from around Lucy's waist so he could clench his fist, prepared to turn it into a fight.
"Tsch!" Erik snorted impatiently "I don't explain something so trivial to an idiot like you"
"The hell! You're gonna tell me even if I have to beat it outta you!" the Dragon Slayer snapped in anger.
"This is not the time nor the place to be fighting amongst ourselves" Erza said her eyes glistening once more with anger as an intimidating aura spawned around her "Do I make myself clear?"
"Ahh... aye" Natsu felt himself shrink on the inside, but managed to keep up his façade in front of the others.
"I have to get going, I need to deliver some messages to Crime Sorciere" Jellal stated before nodding in Erik's direction "We should get going"
"Yeah, yeah..." Erik exhaled loudly and rubbed his neck.
"Will I see you again, before..." Erza said her voice bearing a hint of sadness.
"Yes..." the blue haired mage sent her a smile "I'll make sure of it"
Looking satisfied the scarlet haired woman nodded with her head and didn't say anything else, but just looked as the duo left the scene.
"So Lucy..." Natsu started before turning his head to look at her.
"I..." she nodded as her eyes seemed to catch something in the distance "Yukino is here! I'm sorry I have to go say hi to her"
"Wait!"
Unfortunately it didn't seem like she heard him and before he had a chance to stop her Lucy was gone.
Great... just great... he thought to himself before turning around to take in his surroundings. It didn't take more than a second before he realised that this was the same spot, he had been in ohh so many times in his nightmares where he encountered Igneel.
"Ugh!" Natsu groaned before he started massaging the bridge of his nose, as he had an unpleasant flashback to the bloody war. This time Igneel was screaming like he had in his nightmares and the sound was still so agonising, it made a single droplet of cold sweat trail down his forehead.
Not now... please...
"Ey you're finally here!" someone yelled before slapping his back, making the Dragon Slayer snap back to reality "I've been waiting forever to see you again"
"Sti-Sting?!" Natsu stuttered in surprise when he saw who had saved him from his flashback.
"Yup" the blonde kid smiled wholeheartedly.
"Hi!" Lector greeted and waved with his paw.
"Hey" the Dragon Slayer answered.
"So what's up? You seemed out of it for a second there..." Sting said sounding worried.
"It's nothing really..." he shrugged.
"You sure?"
"Yeah..."
"Mmm well okay" Sting smirked "We've got a lot of catching up to do don't we?"
"Uh-huh..." he nodded and before Natsu knew it, he was engaged in a long conversation with the blonde Dragon Slayer, who eventually dragged him along to meet his guild.
After that Natsu found himself occupied with a bunch of other people who wanted to great him in various ways and before he knew it the sun had set and everything seemed to quiet down as people gathered in groups to prepare dinner.
His stomach growled loudly from the many different smells that came from all around him and soon he took a route to different bonfires where he mooched various food. Once that was over with he casually strolled around and talked to even more people while cheering on their victory in the upcoming battle. However all of the socialisation eventually became got too much even for the amazing Dragon Slayer, making him feel completely exhausted.
"Ahhh" Natsu yawned loudly, making small tears gather in the corner of his eyes, as he lazily strolled back to the place their guild had gathered in a large group. A lot of people was already sleeping around a huge bonfire, others had brought a tent and was resting inside of them. Of course Natsu didn't bring a tent, because he didn't mind sleeping underneath the open sky. Besides it was more comfortable not being restricted inside a small tent.
As his eyes scanned the area he noticed Lucy was sitting with her back against a tree with a blanket wrapped around her body. She had her eyes closed, which meant she was either resting or sleeping. On her lap Happy was curled up like a ball, snoring peacefully with a bubble of snot dangling out of his nose.
Awww, Natsu thought to himself as he wandered over to them and sat down next to the blonde.
"Luce?" The fire mage asked but didn't receive an answer "Oy, are you awake?"
Still not receiving an answer he carefully looked her over and judging by the rhythm of her breathing, she was indeed fast asleep.
Another yawn escaped his lips as he stretched his arms above his body, making his muscles tingle in a pleasant way, indicating that all of his body needed to rest.
Sighing loudly he leaned backwards so his back was against the tree, before he closed his eyes.
Sleep... sleeping would be so awesome...
As he sat there Natsu was momentarily surprised when he felt something nudging against his shoulder, making him peek down only to see blonde hair trailing down his shoulder.
"... neat..." the Dragon Slayer whispered to himself as he gently placed his head on top of hers where he took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, getting him even more drowsy than he already was.
Scratch sleeping being awesome, this was bound to be amazing!
Smirking Natsu closed his eyes and before he knew it, he was sleeping without any dreams or nightmares, giving him some much needed rest before the upcoming battle.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Lucy was abruptly wakened at the crack of dawn, by people shouting while urgently running around.
"What's going on?" she asked and to her surprise Natsu was sitting beside her, his eyes wide and alerted by the commotion.
"It's time" Happy said his tiny body shivering "They're coming"
"Ohh..." Lucy's eyes widened as she got into a standing position and scanned her surroundings with her eyes. The Dragon Slayer copied her movements and stood beside her a second later.
"You guys" Erza shouted before placing herself in front of them "We need to get moving, come with me"
"Ye-yes" Lucy nodded feeling both scared but oddly enough also determined as they made their way to the front of the people who was already gathered there. The battle formation of the guilds was rather simple, since they were all gathered in teams prepared to support each other if the need for it occurred.
"We're here" Erza stated to Gray, who looked slightly on the edge for what was about to happen.
"Yeah..." the ice mage sighed.
"Don't worry Juvia's got your back" the water mage said in encouragement, before she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not worried..." the ice mage pouted in defiance.
"It's okay to be worried and it's okay to feel nervous" Erza stated with a nod " That only proves you're human and ready to give it your all, to protect the things you hold dear" her eyes darted and momentarily rested on Jellal's figure.
"Yeah!" Natsu agreed.
"We can do this!" Happy raised a clenched paw.
Lucy didn't say anything but smiled widely, because Erza's encouragement momentarily filled her with determination.
After that they watched the sun rising in silence, as it slowly covered everything in a warm soothing light. It was almost poetic how the whole beautiful scenario would eventually be destroyed with fierce battles and potential deaths. It was such a contradiction that Lucy felt her stomach sink, before a sense of melancholia washed over her.
Could they really win this on humanity's behalf? Would anyone die? Was this the last time all of the guilds was assembled with all of their members?
These and lot more thoughts, spawned in her head making a few lonely tears trail down her cheeks.
"It's gonna be fine" Natsu smiled widely in encouragement before grabbing her hand with his own and giving it a squeeze "I've got your back"
"Yeah.." she smiled sadly back at him before wiping her face with her free hand.
"Any time" he gave her hand another squeeze, this time she returned it by doing the same thing to his hand.
Not long after that they saw a lot of silhouettes approaching them from one direction. At first it was hard to determine who it was, but it looked like a huge army guided by a single long haired man. From another direction a single person spawned and before Luce could see who it she heard Natsu growling beside her.
"Zeref..." the Dragon Slayer snarled earning a quick glance from Luce as she looked in the same direction as he did, which was the person walking alone.
Was he seriously gonna fight them on his own?
"Don't let your guards down, Zeref is up to something" Mavis gentle voice rang in her head all of a sudden, making her turn around to find the first guild master, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked in concern.
"I just thought..." Lucy started before shaking her head "never mind I'm just imagining things"
"You're weird"
"No I'm not, you're weird" she countered earning a small chuckle from the Dragon Slayer.
Not knowing what else to say she watched the approaching army. There was something off about the way they moved. It was like they were staggering, like it was hard for them to move.
"Fucking shit!" Natsu spat in disgust before pinching his nose with his free hand "Ugh, that's nasty"
"So you're smelling it too Salamander?" Gajeel asked before taking a breath through his mouth
"What is it?" Lucy asked, not sure she if wanted to know the answer.
"Of course I can smell it, you dumbass!" Natsu growled impatiently.
"Ohh yeah? But if you're so smart, then tell me what it is" the iron Dragon Slayer snarled.
"Well corpses obviously" the fire mage answered.
"Tsch, I see why you would think that, because of the rotten stench, but what makes you so sure it's corpses?" Gajeel enquired while crocking his eyebrow.
"They have this unique smell..." Natsu answered his eyes glistening with sadness "Each of them smells the same, because their scents have left their body. They reek with something cold, because their souls are gone, removing every trace about who they were in real life. It's like... the smell of death"
"How horrible" Lucy sank, uncomfortable by the fact that the army approaching them was moving corpses.
"And how would a goody two shoes like you, know what a corpse smells like, huh?" Gajeel snorted.
"It doesn't matter" the fire mage exhaled a shaking breath "I just do, okay?"
"Ohh yeah? Seems like you have a good story up your sleeve. Make sure to tell me about it once we get back, you hear?" Gajeel said before spinning around on his heels and walking back to his team.
"You okay?" Lucy asked when she noticed that Natsu's eyes looked slightly haunted.
"Yes..." he rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second, before turning to send her a smile "...thanks"
"You're welcome" she gave his hand a squeeze earning one in return.
When the army was close enough they could all smell the rotten stench, but they could also see the empty and emotionless eyes all of the approaching soldiers had.
All of a sudden the unknown long haired man swung with his arm, making all of the corpses stop. After that the man walked over to Zeref, where they looked like they exchanged a few words, before both of them casually strolled over to the alliance of guilds.
"Natsu..." Zeref smirked "... the time is about to end, not only for you but for all of humanity"
"Like I'll allow that to happen" the Dragon Slayer snarled in anger.
"Now, now be polite" the dark mage chuckled "After all you know who I am now don't you?"
"It doesn't matter who you are, we will win this meaningless fight" Natsu countered, his eyes momentarily looking sad and betraying his determined statement.
"We'll see" the dark mage smiled warmly towards his brother "After all Igneel did have so high hopes in you"
"Zeref let's start this shit already" the unknown man with long hair grumbled in a hoarse voice "My patience is already at it's limit"
The sound made Lucy flinch and shiver, because it was reeking with cruelty. Besides the man's aura was so ominous it made her feel uncomfortable. Actually it was like she had felt this presence before...
"I see you brought your own army" Zeref said as he took in the huge mass who was cackling in a weird and nasty way. Actually it was like death had robbed them of the ability to speak, so they could only communicating by using primal noises, which was rather frightening.
"Yes..." the man smiled wickedly "... humans are filthy animals but once you remove their souls, they can be quite competent in serving as a distraction"
"You did what?!" Lucy said in outrage "But that's impossible, the only one who has ever done that was..." her eyes widened in horror.
"And yet again your intelligence surprises me" Zeref glanced in her direction "Not even the Dragon Slayer's has caught on to his scent since he isn't in his usual form"
"What the heck is he talking about?" Laxus said as he took a step forwards.
"Blah blah! This is boring!" the long haired man groaned.
"Yes..." Zeref exhaled loudly "... let's begin" as he said that the dark mage motioned with his arms and suddenly a black and purple coloured sphere spawned.
"What is that...?" Lucy wondered and a second later her question was answered as creatures emerged from what seemed like a portal to another dimension or place.
"My precious creatures... my secret army of demons" Zeref answered as a lot of black and red scaled creatures spawned. All of them looked the same, crawling on four legs with black and red scales covering their bodies. In a way they looked like lizards that had mutated and became the same size of a horse. All of the creatures had radiating yellow and ominous shining eyes and claws that was lethally sharp. Other than that they had multiple horns sticking out from their head, all of them looking pointy and dangerous. As if that wasn't enough, the high-pitched scream they made was so unnatural and foreboding with death, it sent a shiver down Lucy's spine.
After those demons had spawned, more came through the portal but these all looked different. Of course they all looked frightening, but they all had different features and appearances, which indicated they were stronger than the first creatures that emerged.
"Finally! The time has come for me to once more show you why I'm the Dragon King!" the unknown man said before his body started to change and before they got a chance to react, he had turned into the huge and massive dragon known as Acnologia "Attack my filthy army!"
The snarling corpses army launched themselves and as they did Zeref commanded his demons to attack as well. It didn't take more than a heartbeat before the humans joined the battle as well, with fierce and heartfelt battle screams.
It's time, Lucy thought to herself as Natsu released her hand and started running in the direction Zeref had been only moments ago.
Her hand still felt warm from it being intertwined with the Dragon Slayer's, clenched in determination as she grabbed her keys.
The fight for humanity's survival had begun...
A/N: As I said this is really where things becomes different from the manga XD
I mean I added freaking zombies to the universe! That's something, bwahaha!
And yes Natsu is thinking: "man I never got a chance to talk to Lucy before hell broke loose", so it'll be fun to see if that'll have an effect in the future.
So yeah... that's it! Have a nice weekend y'all!
/H
