Natsu's eyes snapped open. Jellal looked up at him in concern as Natsu jumped to his feet, steam wafting off his body.
"Natsu, what is it?" He asked "What did you see?" The pink haired boy didn't respond but there was a cold, merciless look in his eyes Jellal had never seen before. The wizard saint unconsciously backed away from the fire mage in fear.
Loki. It had been Loki this whole time. Natsu thought to himself. He didn't doubt his own memory, knowing it to be the truth.
All Natsu wanted to do was get his hands on the celestial spirit, but his new cold rage forced him to slow down and think. He quickly found himself plotting and calculating. He had to find Loki and ask him why? Why had he taken her from them? But he knew no excuses the spirit gave would be acceptable, could possibly have justified his masters' murder.
Natsus' jaw clinched as he remembered Lucy hadn't been the only master Loki had killed. Guilt coursed through him as he blamed himself. How could he have ever trusted Loki, even called him a friend when he was capable of this!
Looking down at his hands Natsu envisioned them closing around his guild mates' throat, ending his life like he had ended hers. He didn't know exactly how you killed a Celestial Spirit, but he was suddenly determined to find out.
But before he did anything, Natsu had to break out of jail.
"How did you get in here?" Natsu questioned Jellal, who ignored the question put his hand supportively on Natu's shoulder.
"Natsu, whatever your thinking of doing; don't." Jellal told him, trying to make him see reason. "Just wait until after the trial, then Fairy Tail can help…."
"No." Natsu said firmly. He thought about how the others would react when they found out who really murdered Lucy "I can't involve Fairy Tail, they would only try to stop me." Natsu knew that if his guild found out that he was planning to kill Loki, they would try and stop him for his own good. Fairy Tail didn't believe in killing their enemies, no matter what they'd done.
Jellal removed his hand, looking at Natsu with confusion. What could Natsu have seen in his own memories to cause such a change?
"Tell me how to get out of here." Natsu ordered, his eyes shielded by the dark shadow of his bangs.
"No." Jellal said "If you escape now, it will just confirm your guilt in everyone's minds. I know it's hard, but you must stay here."
"Fine." Natsu said in a resigned voice. Jellal let out a breath of relief, having expected the fire mage to have been far more obstinate.
Suddenly Natsu turned and grabbed bars that confined him. They turned bright orange with the intense heat. Jellal tried to stop him by grabbing his arm, but pulled his hand away quickly with as yelp as the touch burned him. The bars got redder and redder until the metal started to drip in liquid form. Natsu stepped through the waterfall of burning metal, not flinching as it rolled off his skin.
He walked calmly down the hall and around the corner. Jellal could hear the screams of soldiers who tied to stop the fire mage echo back toward him.
He swallowed hard. Erza was going to be pissed.
Fairy Tail:
Natsu dropped stealthily onto the balcony and tip-toed his way into the guild. Luckily, everyone seemed to be gone or asleep and no one noticed as he snuck into Makarovs' office.
He found Lucy's key's in one of the desk drawers and felt a small shock run up his arm when he touched them. A thousand memories of Lucy with her keys assaulted him and he bit his lip to keep it from quivering. He flicked through the ring until he found the one he was looking for, and he removed it from the ring.
"Loki" He growled at the Key "Loki, get out here right now you bastard!"
"Natsu?" A high pitch voice asked from behind him. He spun around to find his little blue cat staring at him, slightly out of breath. "Natsu, what are you doing?"
"Happy." Natsu blinked, then he looked away unable to meet his friends eyes. "Go away. You shouldn't be here."
"I should be wherever you are." The cat told him innocently. "If I…. If I had been with you that night, then maybe Lucy wouldn't be….wouldn't be…."His big eyes were brimming with tears.
"It's not your fault" Natsu told him. He slammed the key in his hand against the desk, cracking the wood. "It's Loki's"
"You mean he….?" The cat's eyes widened as he comprehended what Natsu was saying, then they shot down into angry slits that stared at the little gold key.
"He killed her" Natsu nodded, the words sounding raspy and dark in his throat. "Now I'm going to kill him." Happy gasped and his gaze darted to Natsu, taking stock of how serious he was. Then his little blue paw formed a fist.
"Aye!" He said in the angriest voice Natsu had ever heard come from his friend. The sound of it broke what was left of his heart.
"No. Happy you have to stay here. I can't have you be a part of it."
"You weren't her only friend, Natsu!" Happy yelled. "I loved her too! And I'm angry too that she's gone." Natsu was taken aback at his best friends' rage. He was about to say something, but Happy wasn't finished.
"You can't just go after Loki by yourself! What if something happens to you? I'm not going to lose another friend! So you can leave if you want to, but I'll just follow you like I always do. You can hit me and knock me down, but I'll get right back up. Because that's what we Fairy Tail mages do!" The cat yelled with immeasurable determination.
Natsu slid down onto his knees in front of the blue cat and wrapped the feline in his arms. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he realized how much he needed his best friend. After a moment the two pulled apart, each wiping their eyes.
"Okay" Natsu said. "I guess it's you and me then, lets go get him."
"Aye sir!"
Gajeel sat in the shadows and watched the blue cat fly off carrying the fire mage. He though briefly about stopping them, or waking up the rest of the guild. He knew that the Bunny girl wouldn't have like it if she could see her team going out on a mission to avenge her death. But then he thought about what he would have done, if he had been in Natsu's place and someone had hurt Levy.
"Give him some hell from me, Flame head" He whispered to the dot disappearing in the distance.
Two day's later- Sabertooth:
Rouge sat in his usual spot with feet up on the table, casually reading the newest copy of sorcerer weekly. Lector and Frosch were sitting on the table near him watching Sting entertain himself by playing with a rubber band.
"So did they catch him yet?" Sting asked, looking over to Rouge who didn't look up from his reading. A small frown formed on the corners of his mouth.
"No. It's like he completely disappeared"
"Who would have thought it" Sting continued sadly. "I mean, Natsu of all people." He sadly shook his head thinking about his childhood idol and his crime. He had never really interacted much with Lucy Heartfilia, but he remembered how Natsu's face would light up when he talked to her. She had been a really cute….no, beautiful girl. Part of him still refused to believe that she was gone.
Yukino came and sat beside them. The Celestial Mage had taken the news of Lucy's death particularly hard after they had gotten so close after the Grand Magic Games.
"Her poor spirits" She said. "They must be so heartbroken."
Just then there was a crash as glass shattered and a fireball slammed into the center of the room creating a large crater in the stone floor. The whole guild jump up and prepared for battle as a figure engulfed in flames stood. Two terrifying eyes stared out from the flame in Sting's direction.
"Natsu!" Sting said shocked as the fire diminished leaving the figure recognizable. The Fire mage stalked toward Sting while his blue cat swooped down to fly levelly above Natsu's shoulder.
Sting braced himself, ready for the onslaught of fire and fists that he had experience before. He was surprised when Natsu brushed him aside and moved past him.
Natsu grabbed Yukino's arm and she yelped from the heat of the contact. Forcing her hand open, he shoved into it a small golden key.
"Open it." He commanded, the dragon's scales and green eyes slowly receding, but he kept his intense stare trained on Yukino.
"Wh-what?" She asked both terrified and confused. Here was the man who had killed her friend, was he here to kill her too?
Sting grabbed Natsu and pulled him away from Yukino, but the fire mage didn't seem particularly bothered.
"He wants you to open the Gate to the spirit world." Happy informed her, and she looked down at the key with growing understanding. Then she stomped her foot and shook her fist at Natsu.
"Why should I do anything for you? You bastard, you killed my friend!" Natsu growled deeply and the sound reverberated through the guild hall, he seemed unable to answer for himself, so Happy did it for him.
"Natsu didn't kill Lucy. Loki, the spirit whose key that is, was the one who did it."
Yukino stared down at the key in horror. The whole guild was silent as all the members of Sabertooth watched the drama unfold.
"What will you do to him if I open it?" She asked Natsu, who was beginning to regain control of himself.
"Ask him some questions, including why he did it." Natsu told her truthfully. He had not yet found anything about how to kill a celestial spirit, but he couldn't wait any longer. He would beat some answers out of Loki the second he appeared.
Yukino nodded coming to a decision.
"Open gate of the Lion: Leo!" She shouted and there was a slight shimmery haze in the air where Loki should have appeared. Natsu looked around, thinking he'd missed something but Loki was nowhere to be found.
"What happened?" Rouge questioned. Yukino shook her head, also confused.
"I don't know, he should be here."
"Loki!" Natsu screamed "Come out, you coward! You have a lot to answer for!"
"Natsu, he's not here." Happy said disappointed. This had been their one idea. If Yukino couldn't call Loki out of the spirit world, then they had no way to reach him.
"Oh, no. He's not getting away from me that easily!" Natsu shouted. He threw flaming punches at the place where Loki should have appeared. The members of Sabertooth stood back, alarmed at the apparently crazed Fire mage who was randomly attacking the air. Then one of his punches connected with something invisible within the haze. There was a loud Crack and a whooshing sound as air got sucked in. The members of Sabertooth stood back in awe.
"Did he just punch a hole into the spirit world?" Sting asked Yukino. The girl just stood with her mouth hanging open, amazed by what she was seeing.
Natsu curled his fingers into the cracks and pried the opening wider using all his strength. When it was wide enough, he pushed one leg through.
"Natsu wait!" Yukino cried. "You can't go in there, the spirit world will kill you. It will drain you magic just like our world dose to a spirit, but since time is different there it will happen a lot quicker."
"How long?" He asked through gritted teeth. He was still holding open the tear between the worlds, which was trying desperately to repair its self.
"At the most; three spirit days." She told him. He nodded to himself, he could do three days.
"Happy?" he asked the Exceed with a look that made it clear that if he wanted, this was the time to turn back.
"Aye sir!" The cat called with determination. Natsu flung himself fully into the crack and Happy flew after him. There was a snap as the portal closed, leaving no evidence it had ever been there. There was stunned silence throughout the hall, which was broken by Rouge.
"So…..who wants to be the one to tell Fairy Tail about this?" He said. Everyone touched their index fingers to their noses and shouted as quickly as they could "Not it!"
********SPOILER***************************
(A/N: Don't worry, he's not going to kill Loki. And I'm sorry if that suddenly got a little dark. It should be much happier from here.)