8. The Trail
When Lucy woke, there was a pungent, acrid, odour hanging in the air. Her nose twitched in distaste, before burying itself in a pillow. The arms wrapped around her waist tightened slightly, then loosened again. Through the haze of sleep, she smiled. He doesn't want me to go.
On her next breath, a noxious, suffocating gas slipped past the cotton barrier and into her lungs. Lucy choked to life, sitting up fast enough to break the hold of the dragon slayer beside her. Eyes streaming, she tried to fan away the thick, black smoke encasing her head. "Natsu," she coughed, shoving his shoulder. "Natsu, wake up!"
The smell was much stronger now, and Lucy was struggling to breath. Through the black fog, she couldn't tell if Natsu had woken yet or not. She gave him another shove for good luck, and she realised what the smoke and the smell was. "Natsu, there's a fire!"
"Hmm? So what?" he murmured, tugging on her arm for her to return to the mattress. She barely managed to catch his response over her on coughing fit. She scowled viciously, and punched him in the side of the head.
"Fire, idiot! Get up! Get up!" she yelled, as he groaned and rubbed his temple.
"Jeez, Luce, I heard you the first time," he complained, sitting up. He looked around, confused. "Oops," he said very quietly, so she wouldn't hear.
Lucy scrambled out of bed, unable to see anything beyond the tip of her own nose, and huddled in the coolest corner she could find. "Then hurry up and PUT IT OUT!" she screamed at him. "Eat the fire or whatever you do! I'm going to suffocate, moron!"
"Ok, ok! Don't freak out," he whined, rolling out of bed. With a wave of his arms, the flames blew and blustered, shrinking and then extinguishing. The smoke vanished, and Lucy blinked repeatedly. As the tears cleansed her vision, she saw the singed sheets. There was a large hole, ringed by black, in the middle of their blankets. It was huge; the size of a large dog, or maybe a small horse.
"H-how the hell did that happen?" she asked, aghast. She walked over to the bed, running her fingers along the burn marks. The line of blackened cotton was very thin, and it looked very precise. Plus, it seemed to have come from nowhere. There was no lamp or broken wires that could have caused the fire in those sheets, and nothing above or around the bed. In fact, now that she thought about it, the only thing capable of causing a fire in their entire room was….
"You," she growled menacingly at Natsu. He whimpered and backed away a few steps, hitting a wall. Natsu gulped.
"I'm sorry, Lucy, I didn't mean to, I swear! Sometimes it happens every now and then, it was an accident, I-"
"You set fire to our bed," she breathed through her teeth. Taking a threatening step towards the cowering mage, Lucy, let fly. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"GAAAHHH!"
"Ok, so let's look at the facts," Lucy said, planting her hands on the table. Natsu and Happy sat opposite her, munching on a piece of toast. The pink-haired mage was decorated with all kinds of colours the human body was not meant to turn. Red, purple, blue, even a little yellow. Add in the numerous lumps on top of his bruises, and Lucy thought she'd made a piece of human art. She didn't feel a shred of remorse either, knowing his injuries from yesterday were fully healed and that Natsu was an exceptionally durable kind of person.
"We know that the ghosts are being summoned here by some kind of mysterious figure. We don't know who they are, so I say we nickname them for the minute. Suggestions?"
Happy's paw shot into the air immediately. "Ooh! Ooh! I know! Pick me Lucy!"
The stellar spirit mage frowned. "You don't have to stick your hand up, Happy, this isn't some kind of class. I'm not a teacher."
"But you're a know-it-all, and that's kind of the same thing," he shrugged. Lucy gave him an icy glare that had little effect on the exceed. "Let's call them 'The Bogeyman'!"
"No! Call them 'Ghostface'!" Natsu argued. His voice was muffled due to the swelling of his face.
"Bogeyman!"
"Ghostface!"
"Bogeyman!"
"Ghostface!"
"Bogey-"
"Actually, let's skip on the nicknaming thing," Lucy interrupted. "We have more important stuff to do. Anyway, this person is summoning the spirits for a resurrection spell that will bring a dark mage back to life. We don't know who it is, though." She frowned, allowing a moment for this to sink in.
"During the day, the summoner uses the town's sewer system to bring ghosts through to the hotel. At night, they can just come through the town. Since the spirits are being collected here, we can assume that the spell will also be cast here."
"We also know from talking to the fish-lady that that old guy, Mr Harrigan disappeared when the ghosts began to arrive. He owned a store that sold a load of dark, freaky trinkets and black magic. It also housed several of the ingredients required to complete the spell. However, we stopped the ingredients from being collected, meaning we probably delayed the ritual for a little bit."
"Today, we need to try and track down the summoner guy, and end this once and for all. I have a really bad feeling that they've already collected enough souls for the spell to be cast, which is why they sent Redclaw after the other ingredients then; because it was the final step."
"Are we all clear on that?" Lucy asked slowly, looking from Happy to Natsu. Their expressions were perfect mirrors of each other; blank. Lucy let out a sigh. "Let's just go. Natsu, I want you to see if you can follow that smell from earlier, the ghostly one. That should lead us to-"
"Congratulations! You saved us!" a voice wheezed from Lucy's right. Her head snapped around, and she let out a squeal. Mr Breichs' withered face beamed from a startlingly close proximity to hers. Lucy leaned back as far as she could, trying to get away from the old man.
"W-what are you talking about?" she managed to squeak out. That old guy was such a creep!
"The ghosts didn't come last night! You got rid of them," he said happily, leaning in closer to Lucy. She wiggled further backward to escape his looming face.
"We didn't do anything! Besides, they might just come back tomorrow night," she protested. What was he banging on about? Daft old weirdo!
"Nonsense, Miss…uh?"
"Heartfilia!" Lucy repeated, exasperated.
"Miss Heartfilia, don't be modest. Please, come around to the reception for your reward. You and your team have done a superb job."
"B-but… Oh… ok," she said quietly. She rose from her chair, and the old man turned sharply on his heel and tottered off. She looked to Natsu, who just shrugged. She heard his chair squeal as he rose too, following Lucy and Mr Breichs.
Lucy couldn't help but stare at his cloak as she walked. Today, it was a fluorescent green that made her eyes burn. Not as bad as the yellow from the day before, but it was still pretty bad. In addition to a distaste for his dress, she also felt a growing feeling of guilt in her stomach. Was she really going to accept money she didn't earn off a man who was probably mentally disabled? She wasn't cold enough for that. She had a conscience. There was no way she could accept it.
As she was led into the reception, she made up her mind. There was no way she'd be able to live with herself if she did. "Mr Breichs, I can't take your money for a job I didn't-"
"Here," he smiled, thrusting a huge bag into her arms, overflowing with jewels. "You've done an excellent job. I'll be calling you people for any future problems I have."
"I'm sorry, Mr Breichs, but I-"
"What are you still doing here? I told you that you can go. You got your pay, what more do you guild mages want?"
"Nothing, I just-"
"Hello, would you be interested in renting a room, Sir and Mam?" Mr Breichs suddenly asked pleasantly. Lucy stuttered for a moment, absorbing the complete personality overhaul she'd just witnessed. Did he forget who they were, or did he just pretend?
Lucy didn't know how, but she found herself walking out of the reception building with the bag of jewels in hand, and a bitter taste in her mouth.
She froze in her steps, looking to her team. "We can't take this, and he won't take it back," she frowned, looking to Natsu. "What do we do?"
He looked at her for a moment, thinking hard. Then, he just shrugged. "Just leave it on his doorstep then. Dump it and let's get away from here. That old guy gives me the creeps."
Lucy nodded; partly because of the idea, partly because Mr Breichs really was a creep. She dropped the bag at the door of the reception, and walked away, feeling hollow and disappointed, like she'd just lost something.
Lucy, Natsu and Happy sat on a bench at White shore train station, all in equal states of depression. The stellar spirit mage sat with her head in her hands. She sighed. "This feels wrong."
"I know," Happy groaned.
"I barely got to fight at all," Natsu lamented.
"Do you think we should do something? I don't know, go on one last hunt for a spirit?" Lucy suggested. "I think I'd feel a bit better if I at least knew there were no more ghosts roaming around."
"Maybe," Natsu shrugged. "But didn't you say that you thought all the spirits were already collected?"
Lucy baulked. "You were listening to me earlier? I thought you guys were completely spacing out!"
"I was," Happy added. He was ignored.
"I always listen to you, Lucy. You say smart stuff," Natsu grinned. Lucy returned it, before leaning into his shoulder affectionately. The little blue exceed gave them a funny look, that was then replaced by an evil one.
"Lucy likes Natsu! Lucy likes Natsu!" he sung, launching himself into the air pre-emptively to avoid Lucy's wrath. It never came. She stayed, content beside her boyfriend. Happy frowned, landing back on the bench. "Did I miss something here?"
"Yes. Lucy's my girlfriend now," Natsu said cheerfully, placing a soft kiss on Lucy's cheek, which immediately turned pink. Happy's eyes all but popped out of their sockets.
"You have a girlfriend? When did this happen?" He freaked out, looking around anxiously. "Are we still best friends? Do you like her better than me? Will you buy me a fish? Are you two telling everyone? Why didn't you-"
"Happy, shut up," Lucy muttered, smiling. She looked back to Natsu. "So, do we try track the scent, or take the train?"
Natsu's face turned an odd shade of green at the mention of 'train'. "Track, definitely track," he groaned.
"Ok, great. We'll just see if we can find that scent again, and follow it. Can you do that Natsu?" He nodded in response, getting up. Lucy slung her bag over shoulders, and copied him. Happy who still looked slightly distraught hopped down onto the ground as well.
Natsu held his nose to the air, sniffing. Lucy watched, feeling very jumpy all of a sudden. Was she ready to chase another ghost through a sewer? No, but she'd probably end up there anyway. When Natsu stiffened, she resigned herself to once again getting soaked with sewer filth. "The smell is still here. There's a ghost, but it's not as close this time. Come one, we have to run!"
Natsu bolted off into the distance, Happy and Lucy in tow. This time around, the stellar spirit mage was determined to find the summoner and end this thing properly. This time, they were going to do their job.
Natsu's nose led him down familiar streets and across familiar beaches. The team found themselves retracing their steps from the first night they arrived. However, when they reached the beach this time, they didn't stop. The scent was strengthening, and the aura was becoming more and more apparent as well. That old, faint magic hung in the air like a fog in the early morning. It was so easy to track, Natsu was surprised the others couldn't sense it.
He could see a familiar outline of wood cabins as he approached the hotel that wasn't really a hotel. The smell was almost suffocating now. It wasn't like the other two, it wasn't even in the same class. The original two scents had undertones from environments, the kind you could find in nature. This scent was so human, so different to the others. It almost made Natsu doubt what he was tracking.
He vaguely heard Lucy yell something as he barrelled past the lines of cabins. They hadn't explored this far into the premises before, and he didn't understand why they hadn't. The smells from this area were tinged with magic; there had been something going on here, something strange and unnatural. Lucy had said souls were being gathered for a dark spell, and this seemed like the right kind of smell.
As a small clearing came into view, Natsu's pace began to slow. He saw a bright green cloak that belonged the horrible old man who smelled weird. Magic circles emblazoned with runes turned slowly, while green-cloak stood in the centre. Another smell came to Natsu, the smell of the 'hired muscle'. Redclaw, the asshole who'd fought him was here too. There was something horribly wrong with this.
He heard Lucy take a sharp intake of breath, before reaching for her keys. She made a soft, growling noise in the back of her throat, before approaching.
"So," she murmured. "It was you all along. I should've known from the moment Natsu said you smelled funny."
Natsu and Happy frowned, sharing look. "Lucy, what are you going-?" Natsu started, before he heard Happy yell.
"He's The Bogeyman! Natsu, that freak was The Bogeyman!"
Mr Breichs turned to them and shook his head. With a sly smile, he addressed them. "You fools should have just taken the money and left. Now, you have to pay with your lives."
Lucy held a golden key up to the sunlight, but something invisible tore it from her grip. Natsu's fists burst into brilliant orange flames as Redclaw chuckled, and her keys flew into his hand.
"Long time no see, dragon slayer."
Before Natsu knew what was going on, something smacked him hard in the side of the head. Then it hit him again. And again. And again. He bellowed, and fire exploded outwards from his body, destroying whatever had been hitting him.
Then, something new took its place, something cold and hard that slammed into his temple with enough force to kill a normal human. Natsu slumped over, unconscious. The last sound he heard was Lucy scream.
MWAHAHAHAHA! Well? Who saw it coming? I feel delightfully evil now. We're reaching climax, people. Next chapter will be up in two days from now; meaning Sunday. There, we will have the epic finale battle, the horrific truth, and the final resolution!
To this arc, at least.
On a less psychopathic note, I will be taking a short break upon the completion of this arc. I think there are about two chapters left, so I'll finish at 10 chappies. I just need a little holiday; the non-stop writing for two weeks has been a bit of a challenge for someone with the an attention span shorter than a fingernail. I will be editing everything that is already uploaded, since I didn't bother when I first uploaded. So, I guess you guys get something out of my break as well.
I'll be back in about two or three weeks with a new story for Natsu and Lucy, don't you dare think this is over!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Once more, feel free to review and such. I shall eagerly read through them and feel good doing it. As a human being, I enjoy compliments, and as a human being who writes, I enjoy feedback and speculation on my work. Each little review gives me a delightful fuzzy feeling inside, like a kitten with really fluffy fur.
That's all.