NATSU:
Lucy's chicken was absolute heaven. She was giving Mira a run for her money. The boxed were empty in mere minutes and I moved on to the dumplings. While I test-tasted the first one Happy finished eating his fish and flew over to me, watching me sniff the fat yellow dumpling.
"Are you ok, Natsu?" He landed on the table and looked up at me, his gaze worried.
"Yep." I managed around the dumpling. In reality I was far from okay. Sure, showing myself to the guild would give them a reason to stop searching, but I doubted anyone in that room really wanted me back. Seeing their shocked faces brought back the crushing truth: few could see past the monster. Even Lisanna's eyes held fear and suspicion. At one point I thought we had something between us, but that illusion broke real quick. The first week with the curse she had avoided me all together, like I was carrying a disease. It hurt. I knew Erza, Gray, Gajeel, and Wendy weren't as disturbed by my changing appearance but compared to Lucy they were just as bad as the rest of the guild. Something inside me sparked and a burning rage pushed its way into my head. I squashed it down, determined to not let the stupid curse win over.
Happy started filling me in on what happened during the month I went missing, starting from Lucy joining the guild. I was barely listening, my thoughts completely on the blonde girl. Sure, I nodded once in while when he paused, but I didn't really care what happened while I was gone. Lucy's image filled my head, her big brown eyes sparkling with hidden laughter. I really wanted to hear her laugh.
"Say, Happy, who found out where I was?" I interrupted his story about Kinana and some weird mushroom. He looked a bit put off but gave me a quick answer.
"It was Lucy! She said some weird stuff about maps and location spells and then she used my memory, but it worked." His tail flicked as he paused for a quick second. "She's the one who volunteered to go get you. I think she said something about her being new and unknown and the rest being celebrities. She said it would be easier for her to fit in because she didn't talk anyways and she knew how to be a lady. I didn't know that maids had to be ladies too…" He kept talking about maids and ladies. I took a moment to process what he'd told me. Lucy chose to go and save a complete stranger who was cursed even though it meant she would have to go back to the past she looked to be trying to escape. I blew out through my lips and dragged a hand through my messy salmon-colored hair. Happy looked up at me.
"What?"
"Nothing, just—" A scream followed by an explosion broke me off. Crashing through the door I saw the last of the golden dust that used to be Virgo be blown away. A hooded figure stood by the far tree line, a ball of black magic hovering above his hand. He flung it at my face and I dove to the side, the attack missing me by mere inches. Behind me our house took the hit, a corner exploding as the magic connected. I heard the figure smirk before a strange heat started to creep up my legs. Glancing down told me there was nothing there. In the second I took to check the figure moved for another hit, this one in close quarters. I felt flames encase my hand.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" My hand collided with his stomach and he flew back before hitting a tree and sagging to the ground.
"My, my, my, what magic power we have. Shame you can't control it, eh, Dragneel?" The figure spoke without a daze. Dammit. He jumped to his feet and we began to circle, him starting the movement and me following. "But that works for us, because it means you can't help your friends." A blast echoed through the air, carrying with it the screams of many people. I snarled at him and darted in for an attack but he vanished with a slight ripple. I froze, snarling. He didn't reappear. His words bugging me, I called Happy over and we ran to the guild. I knew those voices very well, for they belonged to my family.
LUCY:
I had no idea my street could be this packed. I found myself shoving people aside as I ran to the guild. After all, I had no idea how to get to Natsu's place without passing by the guild like we did the first time. I rounded the final corner in time to see the entire building explode, black smoke weaving and punching holes in the few walls that remained standing. People were screaming. Most were running. Pulling out my keys I took off towards the guild, hoping that Natsu could take care of himself.
"Open Gate of the Lion: Loke." I whispered, my voice rough from running. The orange-haired man appeared in a flash of golden light, running to match my pace. His formal suit moved with him, no signs of restraint or discomfort showing.
"I'll go help. Be careful, Lucy." He told me, a slight growl present in his voice. I nodded once and he sped up, leaving me behind. I was already picking out the second key. Definitely not Aquarius. I was pretty sure she said she was on a date with Scorpio and that was one deadly package I did not want to touch. Taurus was a pervert, but I would call him in I needed muscles for backup. Aries could help me if there were any injured, so I pulled out her key. Besides, she and Loke worked well together.
"Open Gate of the Ram: Aries." I small explosion of pink wool and she was there, running beside me. "Stay with me." I whispered. She nodded and we sped up slightly, our only goal being to reach the destroyed guild. To my surprise we were intercepted by a boy with spiky pink hair right outside the main gate. Natsu.
"What are you doing here, Luce?" He was snarling. I paused to catch my breath before giving him a calm answer.
"I knew Virgo had her gate forced closed, so I went to see what happened. Then the guild blew up." I tried to make my voice reasonable, like Papa always sounded. If what Crux said was true, agitation would only make things worse.
"But it's dangerous." He didn't want me to be there because it was dangerous. Go figure.
"So is everywhere else, Natsu. I'll be fine." I reached up and tapped his nose. It twitched slightly, almost making me giggle. Almost. "Go defend your family." He didn't want to leave, that much was obvious, but he went. Our relationship was strange and slightly messed up. I grabbed Aries' hand and pulled her towards the guild, following the Dragon Slayer. The inside was chaos. On one side stood the members of the guild, slightly battered and thoroughly shocked. On the other side was a small group of cloaked mages practically bleeding power into the air. Their hoods were up and on the cloaks a single symbol blazed, the white standing out against the black of the cloak. Grimoire Heart.
Seconds before the front mage unleashed the spell I felt it coming.
"Aries, cover the wall behind the Fairy Tail members. Side switch." I whispered. Aries nodded, her eyes already focused. The Grimoire Heart mage sent a shockwave of magic through the air, causing the unprepared to fly back.
"Wool wall!" Aries' voice bleated slightly as she summoned a wall of pink wool. The good guys crashed into its softness and it quickly enveloped them, hiding them completely from the enemy. It was one of the tactics Aries had developed with Loke, one that enabled our side to breathe and regroup. Rushing behind the wall I nearly collided into Wakaba as he dropped to the floor. Loke slid by me as he headed out to capture the attackers' attention. Most of the members followed, led by Erza. A collective war cry rang through the destroyed guild hall. Running the length of the wall I pulled out the few stragglers and checked for major injuries. Luckily, the worst I found were too small to be a major threat. Turned out that most of those who didn't rush out were slightly dazed from the initial shockwave and rushed to join their guildmates on the battleground the moment they could piece themselves together. Within minutes Wendy and I were the last ones left. Aries' wall faded and I could clearly see a pink-haired idiot attacking the mage who had sent out the shockwave. A smile played on my lips. So much for telling him to take it easy. Someone from Grimoire Heart opened a portal to allow a mass of foot soldiers stream into the guild hall, swamping the outnumbered Fairy Tail mages. Charla took Wendy to the more heated parts of the battle while I pulled out fleuve d'etoiles and went to pick off some maggots. I was quite a relaxing experience. After a quick check with me Aries dove into the mass of bodies to find Loke. They were a good team and I was pretty sure they also happened to be an item. I smacked a couple more screaming idiots into silence with my whip. Strangely, I was reminded of tossing my winter sweaters into the box. Then confusion descended. Literally.
Some where in the crowd Levy screamed, "Everybody down!" as a vile green ball of magic burst in the hands of a cloaked mage. Barely anyone followed her directions. The green spread through the room and when it hit me my brain went into overdrive. Faces swam in my eyes, shifting and changing until I couldn't tell friend from foe. I shut my eyes and grabbed my hair, a splitting headache raging through my head. A scream rang in my ears and it took me a moment before I realized it was mine. I never screamed. It wasn't lady-like. Memories from my upbringing joined the onslaught, telling me that a lady should gasp, not scream. A lady shouldn't be heard. A lady should be protected. She shouldn't have to scream. I was sinking and running out of air. More memories. Mama and Papa kissing. Mama, pale and dead. Tears streaked down my cheeks. Papa scolding me and my little sister, Michelle, staring at me with her button eyes from a chair. Rolling hills of the Heartfilia estate. Fairy Tail. I didn't know where I was or who I was. How old was I? I didn't know. It was too much, too confusing. Warm hands grabbed my shoulders. Only Natsu's hands were that warm…
"LUCY!" My eyes shot open to stare at his, one completely black and the other a beautiful onyx. Worry battled with anger in his good eye. My headache subsided and I found myself again, pulling out of the confusion. He brought me back. My legs crumbled under me, unwilling to support me any longer. He caught me in a warm hug and I leaned on him, grateful for the support. Then I noticed his scales. Glistening red was creeping onto his shoulder, the bandages torn. His right shoulder.
"Luce, you ok?" His tone was worried.
"Natsu, your scales." I whispered. He glanced at them for a second before turning back to me.
"It's fine. What happened?" He asked. My brain, still slightly fried, began to work furiously. He wasn't affected. Looking around I could see that everyone else was, with the exception of Erza. Then again, she had that eye of hers. Her break had been short lived because the moment the cloaked mages saw her standing and sane they bombarded her from all sides. Why wasn't Natsu affected? Was he also immune? If not, why did they spare him? A passage from a spell book came to me.
"It's a very powerful spell, Confusion Bringer. It brings up memories and jumbles them all together in a person's head. If they stay like that for too long they could go insane or lose their memories." I nodded at the Fairy Tail mages on the floor, eyes shut and hand pulling at their hair. From the jumbled mess Mira rose, her Demon Halphas form in its full glory. With a snarl of rage she flew at the Grimoire Heart mages, throwing deadly magic as she went. The memories I saw were old, some even partially forgotten. "The caster is extremely powerful. Be careful."
Natsu was about to give me a retort when a spell hit him in the back. His back arched slightly under the force. My legs pushed against the floor to support us both as he fell on me. The scales slithered down his right arm at a record speed. I risked a glance to see who hit him. One mage had his arm extended in our direction. The shockwave chap. For a second a spell illuminated his face and under the hood I saw… nothing. Just a swirling black void. I was pretty sure Grimoire Heart didn't have a faceless member, unless their rambling master had an experiment-gone-wrong on his record. Who were these people? A small increase in pressure on my shoulder told me Natsu was up. Pushing off he stood in front of me, like he was protecting me from the faceless mage. A part of me agreed completely with his actions while the other got lost between being touched and being annoyed.
"Looks like we found the treasure, Dragon Slayer." Faceless laughed. What treasure? The cloaked mage did a quick maneuver with his hand and a portal opened by Natsu's head. A thick black collar shot out, shutting firmly around his neck. For a second he froze before silently crumpling to the floor. The scales stopped going down his arm. Somewhere Loke shouted Aries' name and I felt their gates forcibly shut. It took a monster-sized bite out of my magic. I doubled over, my chest heaving as I tried to recover from the spirits. Another wave of Confusion Bringer hit me and I welcomed the floor face first, already lost in my own memories.