Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT V: Ragnarok – The Fateful Encounter
Approximately X793
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Chapter 29: Dragon Slayers, part 4
Laxus wouldn't say it out loud, but the fight against Acnologia was not only hard but it was balancing on the edge of a very sharp sword, that could easily result in defeat or victory. When they had managed to wound the dragon they had all felt a tiny glimpse of hope, but after that it was like the devil himself had possessed the dragon making his attacks more lethal. Acnologia was treating them as his mortal enemies and delivering not only powerful attacks against them, but he was way quicker in dodging the incoming attacks, which was surprising considering the dragon's massive size. Actually it looked like it didn't hinder him at all, making Acnologia seem rather agile and flexible.
Honestly the fight was starting to get on the lightning mages nerves, mainly because he wanted to finish it in order to go protect the people he cared about. Sure he wasn't the sort of person who expressed his feelings that often, but when it mattered Laxus wanted to be there.
Evergreen, Freed, Bixlow... wait for me...
An image of Makarov entered his mind, making Laxus snort almost defiantly when he recalled the old fart suddenly dragging him into his office, when the rest of the guild was making preparations for the war.
Tsch, like hell he would tolerate what the senile goat had told him...
An uncontrollable anger manifested throughout his body, making him growl in defiance as lightning surrounded his clenched fist, before he yelled "Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!" and slammed his hand against Acnologia's claw, that seconds later was swatted away before it started coming down on him, making him leap backwards in other to prevent his body from being smashed flat against the ground.
Even something as basic as dodging was becoming harder and he knew he wasn't the only one struggling. The others were losing stamina and strength as time surely but steadily started to run out for the Dragon slayers, so they had to up their game and deliver some damaging attacks on the dragon before it was too late.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Lucy was breathing heavily through her mouth, when she managed to shove one of the grenades she had gotten from Jellal into one of demon's mouth, before it exploded sending a shower of blood, flesh and intestines everywhere. She wasn't as disgusted about her role as she had been in the beginning, but it didn't intrigue her one bit. Lucy respected life and would do anything it took if it meant everyone lived, so her actions were a direct contradiction to her philosophy. Of course this wasn't a situation where she should apply her own values, but it was still heartbreaking and cruel in her head.
So it might be weird, but her gentle nature couldn't prevent her from feeling somewhat guilty.
She didn't want to keep doing this... Lucy thought to herself, because not only was she sick of it mentally, but her body was starting to feel the weight of the fight. Her muscles was aching all over and in some places there were cuts and bruises from her not always being able to dodge in time.
A sigh escaped her lips as she removed some sweat and blood from her arms and forehead, which was a silly thing to do because almost every inch of her was covered the disgusting remnants of the demons.
Tired, no Lucy was starting to become exhausted by the violence surrounding her.
The celestial mage was trying to recover from her fight when she heard Happy grunting and moaning, signifying he was about to wake up, which made her spin around on her foot to look in the cat's direction.
"Mmm..." Happy grumbled as he nuzzled his head against Aries clearly thinking the soft thing he was rubbing was huge, lovely pillows and not the spirit's private area.
"I... uhm... I'm sorry... uhm..." Aries stuttered, her cheeks blushing in a fierce and crimson color, clearly embarrassed and uncertain about what she should do about the cat.
"Happy!" Lucy called before turning her head to scan the area, to make sure it was okay for her to run over to check Happy. When she was certain it was okay, she sprinted over to the cat who was yawning loudly with a small drop of drool dangling out of his mouth.
"Mmm..." Happy grumbled in a drowsy tone as he very reluctantly started opening his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked in concern while gently scratching the top of his head.
"Tiiired..." he answered and rubbed his eyes with his tiny paws "... mm..."
"Does your head hurt?"
"Mm-mm" Happy shook his head as he very slowly opened his eyes.
"That's good" Lucy smiled warmly, as she quickly turned her head to make sure everything was alright and they were somewhat safe.
"WOAAA!" Happy screamed in horror, making Lucy instinctively turn to see if something was attacking the cat. Not seeing anything harmful she was left standing with a baffled look on her face, blinking with huge and confused eyes.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Lucy asked clearly distraught by his sudden outburst "Does it hurt somewhere?"
"I... I..." horror struck the cat gulped loudly "... is that blood?"
"Oh... oh! Yeah it isn't mine, it's from those demons" the blonde smiled wanting to reassure the cat that she was in fact okay.
"Uhm... kay" Happy said in a sceptic tone before his eyes scanned the area seeing the huge amount of meat and blood that was scattered every, which made him shiver uncontrollably from the unpleasant sight.
"Yeah it's... not a nice thing to see, huh?" Lucy quickly scanned the area as well, knowing this wasn't the time for her to casually talk with the cat.
"Oy Happy?" Gray said as he finished a demon and spun around to exchange a look with the Exceed.
"Aye?" he answered, still looking shocked from taking in the scenario.
"You okay?" the ice mage continued before spitting a combination of saliva and blood onto the ground.
"Ye-yeah..." Happy tried smiling but it was obviously fake.
"Good..." Gray nodded "I was just wondering whether or not you intend on going back?"
"Back?"
"Back to Natsu" the ice mage's eyes momentarily glistened with something that looked like amusement.
"Ohh! Aye sir!" The cat lit up, like he had just gotten the biggest fish all to himself.
"Then can I ask you a favour?"
"Uh-huh" the cat nodded eagerly.
"Take her with you" the ice mage gestured with his head in Lucy's direction.
"What?!" the celestial mage burst out surprised by his request "Why?!"
"Well it's common knowledge that the idiot always works better, if it's for something he wants to protect" Gray smiled genuinely.
"But... I..." Lucy bit down her lips, uncertain how she felt about the situation.
"Besides this relieves you from having to eliminate demons, which is rather evident you don't take pleasure in doing" Jellal added as he took a short break from his fight to sent the girl a smile "So go! Rest assured we have this under control"
"And I know you're worried sick about the idiot, so do yourself a favour and go" Gray winked in her direction, his smile widening as he looked at her.
"You guys..." the blonde smiled wholeheartedly making small tears gather in her eyes.
"All right what are we waiting for, let's go!" Happy squirmed out of Aries' arms before he spawned his wings and quickly snatched Lucy.
"Wa-wait!" the celestial mage stuttered feeling perplexed when she saw her spirit vanish into the spirit world while her two comrades smiled warmly at her departing figure.
Knowing there was nothing she could do, but being carried to her new destination Lucy felt slightly sad to watch Jellal and Gray starting to vanish, but before she was too far away she took a deep breath and yelled.
"Take care you guuuys! I'll see you later!" her remark earned her a thumbs up from the two male mages, before they were both engaged in battle again.
Good luck you guys! The celestial mage thought, feeling grateful that she didn't have to explode any more demons, but anticipating that something far worse was ahead of her.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Natsu was embarked in battle when he spotted something in the corner of his eyes, that was flying directly towards their direction, however it took a few moments of dodging and delivering attacks, before he got a chance to get a more thorough look on the thing. Once he got enough time to do that, it didn't take long for him to recognise who they were, making him feel a wide range of emotions.
The feelings were so chaotic, that he didn't know which one was more dominant. That was until he watched Lucy and Happy land not that far away, making him curse in a low inaudible tone before he exchanged a brief look with Gajeel who started chuckling.
"We'll take care of this, go see that girl of yours" the iron Dragon Slayer smirked teasingly before smashing his saw looking hand that was engulfed in black shadows against Acnologia "We can keep his attention for a minute or two"
"Ya sure?" Natsu asked while dodging a wing from smashing against his skull.
"Just go!" Sting encouraged "Just come back quickly, so we can finish this bastard"
"All right" the fire mage smiled to himself as he managed to get away from the dragon before he started sprinting over to the duo.
"Happy! I'm so glad to see you're fine!" Natsu said sincerely but his happiness was quickly replaced with worry when he took in the blood covering the blonde "Lucy you're..."
"I'm fine, this isn't mine" she smiled sheepishly "Sorry if I shocked you"
"Mmm..." he grumbled with a frown, his demeanour changing completely into being more angry but also slightly desperate as he looked towards Acnologia.
"What is it?" Lucy asked clearly knowing there was something on his mind.
"What were you thinking..." he started as an image of Happy being smashed away momentarily entering his mind.
"What...?"
"I mean what the heck are you doing here?!" Natsu growled his voice dripping with fury "You should be with the team not here"
"But..."
"Go back right now, ya hear me!" he motioned demonstratively with his arm, hoping to make his point more clearly.
"I..." she bit down her lips obviously hurt by his outburst and of course he didn't like it, but he honest to god would rather hurt her now if it meant she was far away from Acnologia's reach.
"We'll be fine so go!" Natsu sighed before he turned around, because he didn't like seeing the pain that was written on her face.
He seriously felt sick down to his stomach about his own actions and because of that he was momentarily distracted, which was rather unfortunate considering the circumstances.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted in a desperate tone before he suddenly felt warm arms wrap around his waist before his body was forcefully slammed against the ground, making him moan as the air got knocked out of his lungs.
"... ngh..." Natsu growled feeling rather annoyed, by suddenly kissing the ground with his face.
"You okay?" Lucy asked as she raised her body above his, giving enough mobility to him so he could turn around and look at her.
"Yeah... thanks" Natsu said while taking a few deep breaths through his mouth, trying to make his breathing more regular again.
"Good I..."
She didn't get a chance to finish that sentence as a huge and massive claw suddenly came swinging in their direction and once it was close enough, it snatched away her body so fast that the vision seemed more than a blur to the Dragon Slayer than reality itself.
Surprised by the sudden turn of events Natsu's air got caught in his throat, his eyes widening in horror as time seemed to stop, before he slowly turned to look in the direction the blonde was sent flying.
"Lucy!" he called in frustration, when he saw her back crash against a huge boulder, which caused a heartbreaking scream to escape her mouth.
Having only one thing on his mind, the Dragon Slayer quickly bounced into a standing position before sprinting in Lucy's direction, not paying any attention to the others who was still busy fighting the dragon.
Cursing profoundly in his mind he dodged a claw by placing a hand on it and projecting his body above it, not really noticing that the other Dragon Slayer's started putting more force into their attacks to ensure that they had Acnologia's attention, thereby giving Natsu the time he needed time to run over to Lucy.
It didn't take long before he reached her, making him skid with his feet using the momentum to bend down his knees, so he was skidding on his shins before eventually halting right next to the celestial mage.
"Sorry..." Lucy said in a low voice while smiling sadly in his direction, clearly trying to hide how much pain she was in, as she started chewing on her bottom lip.
"Don't say that!" Natsu shouted his voice filled with both anger and concern, as he eyed her up and down trying to take in her condition "And stop pretending that it doesn't hurt"
"Uh-huh..." a few droplets of sweat trailed down her forehead while her face started to twitch in pain.
"How's your back?" he narrowed his eyes and watched her flinch.
"It's... not that bad" she took a few shaking breaths, her body starting to shake uncontrollably.
"Lucy-san!" Wendy called as she approached them and sat down next to the blonde "You okay?"
"Ye-yeah..." the celestial mage answered before tears started trickling down her cheeks.
Not saying anything the tiny healer placed glowing hands above the girl to scan her body, to take in her state. It didn't take long for her to finish that task, leaving the healer sitting with her mouth wide open, clearly surprised by something.
"What?!" Natsu said in a bewildered tone looking at Wendy and Lucy in turn.
"I'm sorry but we have to roll her over, I need to see her injuries since this is a... delicate situation" Wendy said her hands shaking for a second before she placed them on each side of the blonde's neck "Natsu-san can you hold her waist as we roll her over and place her on the ground. You gotta make sure her back doesn't twist or moves, not even a millimetre, you hear? Carla I need you to place cloth for her neck, to make sure it stays in the same position"
"Sure" the Exceed in human form nodded and took her coat off, ready to place it underneath the girl's head.
"Okay, you ready Natsu-san? In three, two, one" Wendy said in a firm tone as they started moving the girl. As they did Lucy let out an agonising scream, before she bit down her lip again.
Gulping loudly the fire mage felt an unpleasant shiver run down his spine because he had never heard her scream like that before and it was absolutely terrifying.
"There you go" Wendy said in a caring voice before she scooted behind the girl and placed her glowing hands above the celestial mage's back.
In his mind Natsu knew it was a bad idea, especially when he saw the huge amount of blood that was covering the boulder, but he couldn't prevent himself from crawling over to Wendy where he got a full view of the damages done to Lucy's back.
Fucking hell! Natsu growled like a ferocious animal, when he saw the deep claw marks that not only had ripped her skin, but torn the meat apart on her back. Furthermore there was something that didn't look right about her spinal cord, which he suspected was because it was dislocated in some places.
Honestly it was nothing less than a bloody miracle she had survived.
".. you... can heal this right?" the Dragon Slayer growled in a low tone, that was dripping with malice.
"Ye-ye-yeah..." Wendy stuttered obviously frightened by his sudden change in demeanour.
"Good..." Natsu whispered as he got into a standing position and moved over to Lucy's head. She was now sopping freely, her face drenched with tears and sweat.
He was the culprit... he did this to her...
An image from when he had been out of control entered his mind, from when it had been his claws that had caused her pain and suffering.
Pay... he would pay for what he did to her!
His anger seemed to intensify until it was almost consuming his rationality, but when he looked down and saw Lucy in her fragile state the anger immediately vanished replacing it with sorrow and a sort of helplessness. Actually it made his heart leap painfully to watch her look like that and the only way too soothe it was coming closer to her, which he did as he gently started caressed her cheek with one of his hands, the other one he used to remove some stray hair that was sticking to her face.
"I'll get him for this" his voice was filled with warmth as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek "I promise you he'll pay"
Lucy couldn't answer because the adrenaline that had somewhat numbed her in beginning was gone, making the girl suffer from intense pain that was logically affecting her mind.
Anyone who dared harm her would be punished... if he had to kill that person, then so be it.
Stomping towards the battle, his eyes shone in a ominous red colour, portraying his inner feelings as he let out another furious snarl.
"Laxus!" Natsu roared before he spotted said mage, who turned to look back at him.
"What?!" the lightning mage shouted back in return.
"Go protect them!"
"Why?"
"Just do it, okay?!"
"What?!"
"I said get your fucking ass down here and go protect them! Please!"
"Fine!" Laxus managed to get away from the dragon and soon stood in front of Natsu "Now calm the hell down or you'll end up doing something reckless"
"Yeah, yeah sure" he answered not particularly caring what the older mage said to him. No, it was time to punish that goddamn oversized reptile for hurting Lucy.
Ohh he would get that son of a bitch and he would use all the power he could get to see it was done with his own hands. It was time for the dragon to learn what a slayer could do.
Launching himself with a ferocious growl, he let some of his consciousness reach out to the golden sphere in his mind, but he was evicted immediately and rather forcefully from that place.
What the...?
He tried once more but got the same result, making him curse in a low inaudible voice.
I can't let you enter... a familiar voice spoke inside his mind.
What?! Why not?
Remember what fuels the curse? His demonic counterpart asked.
Yeah anger, d'uuh
Remember my warning?
I... ohh...
Yes and in your current state the curse will consume you and I can't allow that.
Tsch! Fine! Whatever...
Fortunately Natsu had other ways to power up, so with that in mind he raised his power until he evoked Dragon Force that made scales spawn across his body.
This was it... it was time to finish it once and for all.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Gildarts had succeeded in finding Cana and was thrilled to see that she was doing fairly well. All though he honestly wasn't that fond of the fact that his beautiful and amazing daughter, was in a team that only consisted of two other guys. As a man himself he knew all too well how perverted and obscure people could get when confronted with the opposite gender, so the situation far from intrigued him.
In the beginning Gildarts didn't know what he would do once he found Cana, but after seeing the circumstances his beloved child was in, it became pretty clear what he had to do.
There was no way he would allow her to be with those creeps!
Huffing like he was insulted by the sight, he quickly snatched Cana's wrist and started dragging her with him, leaving Mest and Richard alone to battling the incoming demons. Of course she struggled against him and said a lot of insulting words, that was so profound even Gildarts own mind somehow managed to censor it.
"Gildarts!" Cana eventually called without the usage of any swear words.
"Yes what is it?" he answered before turning around to wink at her, making an imaginary heart spawn beside him.
"Ugh" the girl flinched in disgust but he took it as a sign of affection from her, making him smile wholeheartedly.
"Anyway..." Cana rolled with her eyes "Care to tell me where we're going?"
"Ohh..." Gildarts blinked not sure how to answer that"... we... uhm..."
"Go on say it" Cana sighed clearly not satisfied with his answer.
"Well..." he stopped walking and started scratching his chin in thought, debating in his mind what to do next "... uhm... I don't know?"
"Idiot..."
"... you're being too harsh against your old man" he sulked, deeply wounded by her accusation.
"Well you are" Cana smirked teasingly before she hit his shoulder "It's clear from the direction we're going that you wanna go to Acnologia and make him pay for what he did to you"
"I... I am?" the older mage blinked, because he hadn't reached that conclusion himself yet. Of course he had thought about it, but he barely realised that his own body was unconsciously going in that direction.
"Yes you are" his daughter nodded "You wanna go there so badly to settle the score, that you aren't even noticing where you're going. That's so typical of you"
"You... you really care about me don't you?" Gildarts said in a jolly voice before engulfing Cana in a tight hug "I'm so proud of you, my precious girl!"
"Sh-shut it" Cana blushed but returned the hug briefly before the older mage stopped the embrace.
"Come on, let's join forces and kill some demons" Gildarts extended his hand but she didn't grab it.
"What?! No!" she shook her head.
"No?"
"We're going to Acnologia"
"But... he's too dangerous and I can't leave you here all alone"
"Tsch! Come on you need to get back at that crocodile, for harming your body and attacking us on Tenrou Island" Cana tilted her head to side "It's painfully clear that it's something you need to do and I'm not gonna prevent you from doing that"
"But..." Gildarts countered having a bad feeling where the conversation was going.
"I can take care of myself you know, but since I know you're a silly old romantic idiot, who is constantly worrying about me, then do yourself the favour and take me with you"
"I can't do that!"
"Sure ya can! Cana smiled in encouragement "I promise I won't get in your way and I'll make sure to leave the fight against Acnologia to you and the Dragon Slayers"
"You sure?" he asked, feeling rather sceptic about the idea but acknowledging that it had potential since it would give him the opportunity to get even with the dragon, while simultaneously having Cana nearby.
"Of course, so stop being such a big pussy, kay?"
Hearing her heartfelt encouragement made all the uneasiness that had been lingering in his heart disappear, before stars of affection started glistening in his eyes.
"You..." Gildarts sniffled "... you're the best daughter a man could get! Let's go"
Grabbing her hand they started their journey towards the gigantic dragon, while trying their best to avoid getting into any of the fights that they passed by. It took some time and effort but eventually they managed to reach their destination, where new stuff was destined to unfold.
A/N: Turn up the volume and dance!
I know I've said this before but things will start to really escalate soon, because it's so easy to turn the whole fight/war into something that's super lengthy and I don't want that. Sure I want it to be long but I don't want it to be too long either.
So yeah! I might have the next chapter ready sometime next week, it depends on my muse and if I can get enough coffee to keep me happy ;)
/Hejmdal
