The screams weren't as frequent as before. The closer she got to the source, the more she could hear between the screams. Echoing sounds of faint sobbing and of things being thrown and smashed against walls. But it was the harsh, desperate sound of a voice pleading for it all to stop that had her heart strings in a knot as she walked.
Lucy didn't want to imagine what was going on to make Natsu beg and plead like that. Never in the time that she had known him, could she recall a moment when he had sounded so defeated. With each wailing plead she increased her pace until she was all but jogging slightly down the hall.
She had long since left the familiar passages by the library. In her quest to find Natsu, she had been forced to venture further into Cube. Ignoring her map and her fear of what she might find, images of her time as a captive kept surfacing in her mind, Lucy had discovered a room big enough to be a ballroom and a massive kitchen. Just like the rest both rooms were empty and any furniture inside draped with white sheets.
The entrance to this hall she now walked had lacked any doors. Near the kitchens in a dead end passage, it had seemed more hole than doorway.
It was hotter down here too. The walls plainer, more cave like than castle as the upper floors were. The spines had long since turned into jagged stalactites that resembled teeth. The floor was rough too, as if some kind of creature had tunneled these halls instead of a builder. It felt as if she had done nothing but walk down them for the past few hours. Her body tense, her feet and legs sore with exhaustion, fatigue, and lack of food. Every few second she had to stop to catch her balance, the cramps of hunger running through her, making her feel momentarily like jelly. Her mind exhausted yet strangely alert even though it had to be well past her usual bedtime.
There were no rooms or doors to pass by, nor any other hallways branching from this main one she seemed to be following. Nothing to mark her passage.
The lights had also stopped. Other than her lacrima light, she was blind to everything around her outside of her circle of light. Anything could be in the shadows watching her and she wouldn't know. Which was why she more than a hundred percent sure she was underground. Even at night you couldn't get this kind of darkness. This inky black shadow that clung to the walls like smoke and dust. That and the constant slight downward angle of the passage, which she knew the castle had not been tall enough to sustain for so long.
She didn't want to think of having to climb back up this passage, nor face the stairs to her tower. With a shake of her head Lucy pushed it all to the back of her mind, focusing on the noises ahead of her.
Her feet slowed as a steady hot breeze began to drift towards her. There was a soft glow coming from the end of the curving hallway. Her pace slowed as she approached it, unsure of what she was going to find in the process of rounding that corner.
When her feet touched the edge of the glow she shut off her crystal and tucked it back into her bag. Pressing herself against the wall she did her best to stay as hidden as possible as she peered around the corner. If Natsu was indeed in trouble her best bet was a surprise attack.
The room wasn't as big as she thought it would be. It was spacious, more wide than tall. The doors leading in had been left open. Though she guessed they, at one time or another, might have barred entrance. One of said doors was currently leaning against the wall, clearly ripped from it's hinges. While the other lay in pieces on the floor. Both sported deep gouges like claw marks and charred spots of wood.
Cautiously she stepped around into the doorway, pressing herself against the wall to get a better view.
Orange and yellow light flickered around the room and illuminated everything she could see from her limited vantage. Most of it came from a massive rounded fireplace located in the center of the far wall. It was built with gray and white stones, nearly blending into the gray wall and floor. A roaring fire, nearly to big for the hearth to contain, cast off enough heat she could feel the waves rolling off it from here.
Torches lined the walls adding the light where the fireplace could not reach. In one corner there was a few training dummies made of wood and straw, though one did sport some armor. Each looked badly used and in desperate need of repair. In an opposite corner stood two bookshelves. Filled to the brim with books, more piles lay about the floor surrounding a chaise lounge with a missing leg and torn fabric. Grimly, she noted that books had been stacked atop each other to fill in the missing leg of the seat.
A small spark of hope flashed through her though at the sight of them. Maybe the book of END could be amongst them. But just as quickly the hope faded. She doubted that END would be so careless as to leave his prized book lying about an unguarded room. Though she might be able to find something about END's origins amongst those stacks. Why else would he have books down here if not for the fact he hadn't wanted her to find them when she went through the library?
Off to the left of the room, almost in the center but not quite, was what looked to be a pile of furs. A sort of canopy hung above it, attached directly to the ceiling. Long sheer panels of red and gold fabric fell to the floor, pooling along the edge of the bed. Around it were pillows and elaborately embroidered blankets. It sat amongst a circle of jagged pillars that looked to crude to have been done by any kind of artist or skilled laborer.
With no sign of her captor she quietly tiptoed to the other side of the doorway. With a gasp Lucy hesitantly stepped into the room. Fingers brushing the stone wall as she peered around the bed to look at the item that had caught her attention. A maid uniform. But not just any maid uniform, her maid uniform! The one she had worn with Happy and Natsu on her first quest as a fairy Tail mage. Her first quest as a member of their team. Tears sprang to her eyes and she had to hastily wipe them away.
She also spied Natsu's hammock hanging from the ceiling amongst piles of trinkets and things she recognized as Natsu's momentoes from his adventures. More tears pricked her eyes as she stared at the papers strewn about across the floor and pinned haphazardly to the wall. Some were quests that she had gone along with Natsu and Happy on, other were from before her time at Fairy Tail.
Stepping further in she gaped as she took in the wall directly behind the bed. She hadn't thought much of it at first, to intent on looking over Natsu's possession and lost in feelings of nostalgia to notice it. But now as she stared, her mouth hanging open, waves of vertigo began washing over her. She couldn't look away.
Instead of what she had thought was a wall, just as blank as every other wall in this dismal fortress, was instead four large floor to ceiling windows. She hadn't realized they had been windows until a cloud had passed by, it's slightly white glow breaking up the black background. As she looked more closely she caught the faint twinkle of lights in the far off distance, reminding her she was floating on a island in the sky. Once the cloud passed she noticed the stars, staring in awe and wonder at the sheer beauty of the night sky.
With no city light to pollute the darkness she had a near perfect view of the stars. It reminded her of all those times she, Happy and Natsu had laid out in a field during a mission, camping out beneath the night sky. Sure she had complained about it at the time. A girl like her didn't have to like sleeping in the outdoors with all those bugs crawling all over you. But it had been nice, even with ants filling her sleeping bag looking for the fish Happy had stored in it. She could close her eyes and be there right now, rolling over to look at Natsu's face as he snored. The barely there memory of reaching out and holding his hand. It was hard to remember, but if she thought hard enough she could almost remember the feel of his calloused hand gently grip her own.
Stepping closer to the windows, mindful that at any minute END might catch her in what was very obviously his room, Lucy . The windows didn't give a clear view up. Obviously they were facing out of one of the sides of Cube. She could only see a few constellations with the limited view of the windows. Still the sight of virgo and leo's constellations made her heart ache.
She had made it as far into the room as the bed when there was a roar of pain. Ducking behind the pillars near the bed Lucy looked around in a panic. The sound had echoed around her, making it hard to tell where the noise had come from. Head whipping back and forth, eyes darting around the room she finally noticed a double archway tucked away into the same wall the entrance to the room was.
It was shadowy past the entrance into what might be a hallway, making it very hard to see inside. Positioning the pillar between her and the doorway Lucy was careful to keep as hidden as possible, peering around the column gingerly to see if maybe the roar had come from the room.
She hadn't seen END anywhere else in the room, hiding behind any of the many things or broken pieces of furniture scattered about. Eyes trained on the dark she almost didn't see the figure moving amongst the shadows. Stiffening she went down into a crouch using the column for support by bracing both hands against it.
END staggered from the darkness, clothes torn and bloody. He was clutching and pulling at his hair. His eyes were wide, pupils blown, skin streaked with dirt. He mumbled as he walked across the floor with no real destination, just stumbling along as he talked quiety.
Crap! He's gonna find me! If he keeps walking this way-
With a scream END gripped his head, dropping to his knees sobbing. He shook his head, body rocking back and forth as he begged for it to stop. To end. For it to all go away. With a jerk he yanked his hands from his hair, claws going to his chest where he scratched and dug at his skin and shredded clothes. With another roar he fell forward, forehead slamming into the floor. He continued yelling, tipping his head from side to side to gouge his horns into the floor, leaving fine, thin gouges in the marble.
"Stop. Please just make it stop!" he roared. A sob escaped his lips as he pushed forward with his knees, hands going fom his chest to the floor so he could dig his claws into it too.
Eyes wide, Lucy watched him in horror. Is it END? Is END torturing him?
She was half tempted to get up and call out to him. Maybe Natsu was in control right now. Maybe she could help him or find out how best to free him. She began to rise to her feet, stepping out from behind the pillar when a soft breeze blew past her, rustling her skirts and making the plates chime softly on her skirt.
A breeze?
Natsu stilled, making Lucy freeze mid step, eyes trained on him like prey desperate not to be caught by a predator. .
"Lucy." he said softly.
It didn't sound like a question. Stepping back behind the pillar she watched him sit back on his heels and take a deep breath. Eyes closed he began whispering her name over and over again. When he opened them his pupils were no longer blown but his gaze seemed to glaze over. He stumbled to his feet, turned, and made his way past the bed.
Keeping the pillar between them she watched him walk past to the corner with all his old stuff crammed into it. His hands wandered over the items, fingers gently stroking the pages of all there completed job posters.
He stopped in front of her maid uniform. His hands seemed to hesitate as they reach out. With a gentleness she hadn't seen in him before, he tentatively touched the cap that had gone on her head. He was mumbling now under his breath, hands ghosting over the uniform. Then just as suddenly he took a step back. Shaking his head his hands went to his body, patting down over his chest and across his pants.
Eyes wide with horror he stared at himself as if seeing himself for the first time. He gave a anguished sob, shaking his head.
"Lucy!" he whispered. "No, no, no…..not Lucy…no"
Then he screamed, arms outstretched and tensed, fists clenched into tight white knuckled balls. He darted for the windows and a cry bubbled up in her throat for him to stop. As he rushed the glass Lucy stepped from behind the pillar to shout. Then darkness seemed to explode from END's back, expanding out and away from his body. The ink began to solidify just as he hurled himself at one of the windows. Then the dark sky swallowed him up and he was gone.
Lucy raced to the windows only to stop a few feet from them. These were not windows. They were large arch ways. Some sort of magical field was keeping the clouds from coming in but now that she was closer she could feel the cool breeze and smell the clean air over the hot smell of the fire and burning wood. Her legs shook, memories of falling from a tower swallowing her for the briefest of seconds before her mind snapped back to reality.
More roars echoed into the night. With a start she watched a dark figure streak up past the window in a blur. Stumbling back she managed to bite back her cry of alarm when it hit her. END…..END was flying!
She had to get out of here before he came back. Whirling on her feet she ran for the door, only to skid to a stop when the mounds of books caught her eye.
She raced over to the piles and began hastily grabbing books, hoping that maybe one of them might help or that she might at least get a chance to come back down and grab more before Natsu or END noticed.
Shoving them into her bag she ran for the door. She was completely submerged in the black inky darkness of the hallway when she remembered to grab her lacrima light. She didn't stop running though. Slamming one shoulder into the wall she used it to guide her as she fumbled for the crystal.
When her fingers finally closed around it she wanted to sob. Clicking it on she let the light bath her. Glad to see that she was alone and that no monsters or members of Tartarus had showed up in her moment of vulnerability.
Pushing aside her exhaustion she ran. She didn't know how long she had to run, just that she needed to get as far away from that room. Something was inside of Natsu causing him pain. Did that mean END wasn't Natsu?
I've been right all along, haven't I? What else could explain what i just saw. END is not Natsu.
Thoughts raced through her mind nearly as fast as her feet moved beneath her. She fell several times, the angle of the incline catching her feet as she tried to move as fast as her tired legs could go. When the light at the end of the spiraling tunnel finally came into view she wanted to shout with joy.
She skidded into the light filled hallways and began to run for the library. She hadn't yet explored this lower section of the castle. She needed to reorient herself with the floor plans so she could make it back to her room. Her lungs burned but she pushed herself. She didn't want to be caught near END's tunnel to his room.
Rounding the corner to the library Lucy came to a skidding halt. The library doors were burst open, wooden and splintered pieces of the door scattered all across the floor. Wide eyed, she shook as she stared at the wreckage.
END. This must be END. He might be looking for me and he had simply burst through the doors instead of being a normal person and just opening them.
Expect when she shone her still active lacrima inside the library she didn't see any blown out windows to indicate that END had come crashing into the library looking for her. And if he had come in this way and bothered to open and close a window, why hadn't he done so with the door. Stepping closer to the library doors she shone her light further into the room, refusing to step one foot inside of the now very creepy feeling room.
The hairs at the base of her neck began to prickle. Her mind brought up memories of being chased out of her room, of that mystery force or presence that had her instincts screaming at her to run. She heard a click of something against the floor behind her and whirled with a scream, bring her lacrima light up to bash whoever was behind her in the head.
END caught her wrists in one hand.
"Oh thank the heavens!" Lucy exclaimed as she sagged, eyes rolling shut with relief. Even if it was END, she would rather face him then the thing that had tried to attack her.
When he said nothing she opened her eyes to take him in. He was breathing hard, looking no better or any worse than when he had hurled himself out of his's room moments before. His face was contorted in a mixture of anger and confusion as his eyes took in the scene around them. Brows furrowed, eyes glittering with malice.
"What happened?" he finally asked, his voice hard and threaded with anger.
Lucy sputtered. "I don't know!"
Shit, wrong thing to say. Where else could you have been, Lucy!
END brought her hand down to chest height, a puzzled and wary look on his face.
"Then what happened? Where were you? Did you not hear anything?"
"I….I...I don't know. I left the library when it got dark, i went further down the hallway." Lucy gestured in the direction of END's room. "I was looking for the kitchen, but no one was in there. When i came back, the doors were like this."
The closest to the truth was probably the best thing. She couldn't very well admit that she had just been down in his room watching him either fight off END or have some sort of weird breakdown.
He looked at the hallway in the direction she had pointed. Suddenly he gave her arm a shake.
"You stay out of that corridor. If you need something, ring the bell pull and tell the room what you want."
Lucy's anger flared. "So not only am i to be your prisoner, i am to stay locked in my tower now too!"
"It is safer if you stay in your room. And need i remind you, you came here of your own accord, willing to be here." his hand tightened on her wrist, slowly pulling her closer to him.
Lucy yanked. "I came here to free Natsu! Not to be your toy to play with as you like."
He growled at her, lips pulling back to show just the smallest hint of his fangs and teeth. "Why are you here?"
Lucy gave another yank. "You know how i know you're not Natsu? Natsu would never treat me like this. My father would, and Natsu knows that."
His eyes flicked back up to her, nostrils flaring as he took her in. Then suddenly he let her go, turning away from her he punched a hole in the marble wall. His fist went clean through, leaving a black gaping hole.
Lucy flinched. Eyes wary she backed up from END, watching as he laid his forehead on the wall and took several calming breaths.
"I merely do not want you hurt. Your room is safe, i cannot say that for the rest of this castle. Especially not with- nevermind. The point is, you need to stay in your room." he straightened, turned to her and leveled her with a hard look. "You are not my kept plaything. I merely could not bare it if something happened to you."
"If you wanted me to stay in my room, why give me this key then? Why give me access to the library?"
His brows furrowed. "I did no such thing. What key? How did you come across it?" He closed the space between them in three long strides. Hand held out he demanded to see it. "Show me this key?"
Lucy hesitated, then slowly reached into her bag, careful to keep the flap over her arm to help conceal the contents in her purse. She gripped the solid metal, pulled it out and handed it to END with a great deal of effort.
He turned it over and over in his hand, sniffed it then bit the end. When he was done he tapped it to his palm a few times then pocketed the key.
"Hey!" she began to protest.
"I should hardly think you need a key to a room without any doors. Regardless, though, you should stay in your room. If you want books, i'll have some brought up to you."
Chewing her lip, Lucy folded her arms over her chest and scowled at him. "Is this why you came down here, to ruin all of my fun?"
"You weren't in your room. I got worried. So i came looking for you. I told you, it's not safe in the castle. I don't have the best control over it. "
"What do you mean by control?"
He eyed her warily, then chose to ignore the question and step into the library. He seemed to be, scanning the room and Lucy wondered what he was thinking.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, turning back to face her.
She shook her head but stopped when she saw him gesture to her knees.
"You scraped your knees up. How?"
"I tripped when i was walking around earlier. Wasn't watching where i was going."
He nodded. When he began walking away, and not in the direction of her room, Lucy panicked.
"Wait, END."
He stopped but didn't turn to look at her, just angled his head enough so she could side the side of his face.
"You say this castle isn't safe."
He didn't move. Half of her said it out of fear. She didn't want to be alone. Not if that evil presence was lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce. She eyed him, her plan half forming in her mind as she spoke.
"Will you...walk me to my room then?"
He turned then to look at her fully. "What's wrong Lucy? I'm not good enough to keep you company unless you need protection?"
She grimaced, visibly flinching at the betrayal and anger in his words.
"The Natsu i know would never leave a friend in need."
He snorted. "You've made it very clear I am not your Natsu. You will be fine on your way to your room. Whatever broke down the library door is gone and i would have sensed anything lurking in the hallways to your room."
The words were icy, full of venom and he all but spat them in her face. Lucy swallowed, her goal clear in her mind on what she needed to do, even if she wasn't going to like it. Just as END turned on his heels to walk away she called back out to him.
"You know, Natsu." it took all of her to call him that, knowing that he wasn't, knowing the real Natsu was trapped inside END. "You make it really hard for me to admit when i'm wrong."
He froze. Head whipping back to lock eyes with her. They were wide and showed every ounce of doubt and shock he was feeling.
"Wrong?" he mumbled.
She nodded, dipping her head to stare at the ground as she kicked pieces of wood away with her bare feet. It was easier to lie, to formulate her plan, if she wasn't looking at him. Even if he wasn't the real Natsu mentally, physically it was hard to keep her heart on the straight and narrow. The way his eyes were so full of hope.
"I'm not saying it again."
She didn't look up again, not when she heard his audible intake of breath or the sound of his feet softly padding across the floor to her. She kept her eyes to the ground even when his own feet came into view. It was him that made her look up. Maybe it was the guilt creeping into her mind over what she was about to do, that even though it was for his own good it was still in a way betraying Natsu.
He curled one finger under her chin and forced her head up to look at him. She didn't need to act when the tears automatically sprang to her eyes. His face was so full of hope and longing and relief. As his eyes darted back and forth between hers she wanted to cry at the sight.
"You believe me?" his voice was a soft whisper.
She shrugged. "I'm trying to. You have to see it from my point of view though. It's a lot to take in."
He nodded slowly. "I know."
Lickling her lips she gently pulled away from his touch and took a small step back.
"Just…...you just have to work with me. Your a lot different from before."
He nodded, again slowly and still eerily quiet.
"So. Will you walk me up to my room?"
END stiffened, took a step back and eyed her. "Why all of a sudden?"
She stared back at him. "What?"
"Why do you believe me now? Why suddenly have this change of heart when just the other night you called me a monster?"
Mouth hanging open, Lucy scrambled for a logical reason. Deciding to settle on a half truth. "I guess I knew you were Natsu from the start. Call it intuition. I just didn't want to believe it was true."
"So why now?"
"When you love someone, it's hard to hate them even when they turn into something you can't accept."
He nodded. "I didn't mean to attack Fairy tail. I had to-"
Lucy shushed him with a hand laid on his face. Her hand shook violently with the effort to not pull away from him, out of fear of the destructive power he could wrought, and the deep regret slowly forming in the pit of her stomach that she was turning her back on her Natsu. Even if it was for just long enough to get to the book of END. END sighed and leaned into her touch.
Turning she took half a step in the direction of the tower. END took a hesitant step forward and then another. Eventually they began to walk, side by side, back to her room. It was silent at first until Lucy thought she would go crazy from the tension that seemed to be bubbling up between them. Another reasons he knew this was the real Natsu. She had never been tense around him, nor suffered a long awkward silence.
"So, being as you're not wearing your nice clothes, want to do some demolition for me?"
He looked at her, one eyebrow arched in question. "You Want me to destroy parts of the castle?"
"Not parts. Just one thing. A statue."
"A statute?"
She nodded. "It's creepy and eerie to walk past, even in the daylight."
He laughed and his hands went back behind his head. A pang of nostalgia shot through Lucy like a flash of lightning. Then the wave of guilt assaulted her.
Get a grip. This is for Natsu's own good. She said to herself, repeating it over and over.
Maybe if she said it enough her heart would begin to believe her. How else was she to justify befriending her enem.
End goal, Lucy. Think of the end goal!