Fire is catching

Chapter 38

Authors Note: Hey guys :) Sorry for not updating for so long but school is absolutely killing me. But since I'm on fall vacation right now I finally got to write another chapter. So I hope you enjoy reading it

Gajeel is standing there, towering over Mira who is lying on the floor defenselessly. His arms crossed and a grumpy expression on his face he asks: "Let me repeat this once more, WHO THE HELL BROUGHT YOU HERE!"

"I told you a million times already, I crawled here by myself okay?" her voice is surprisingly calm and steady.

He takes a few big steps towards her and bends down to look her directly in the eyes: "I don't believe you. I know you've been part of our alliance and Erza wants to keep you for a little while longer but I don't like you, you know that, right? All you've been doing is drag us down. I could just snap your neck and tell the others you were already dead when I found you. A small little lie, sounds pretty tempting to me…Or you could just tell me who brought you here and where that person is now…It can't be the shorty with the blue hair, she already bit the dust yesterday, so who the hell is it?"

Instead of answering, Mira just crosses her arms and looks away. He takes a few steps towards her and grabs her chin, forcing her to look up at him: "Listen up sweetie, we both know that those games are slowly but surely coming to an end, there ain't that many people left you know. Three careers and some other little small fries and they don't stand a single chance against us, so sooner or later it'll come down to us three. And don't take it personally but you're not like Erza and me, you don't have what it takes to win those games. So in the end the redhead and me will be the last ones standing and I'm not gonna say that it'll be easy cause hell, even I am scared of that woman, but my point is that whether you tell me or not who your little helping hand is he or she is going to die anyway, sooner or later. So why don't you just tell me and stay alive a little longer instead of keeping that mouth shut and dying right away."

"So you think that's a good idea, huh? That I'm going to sell out my friends just in order to stay alive for a few more days in this hell? If I'm going to die anyways why should one of my last actions be a selfish one like this? Why should I sell out my friend if in the end it'll lead to the same thing? The two of us are going to be dead, that's what you're saying, right? So what good does it do to save my own skin? I'd much rather be kind as I go."

"Pfft, that's bullshit. And you know why? Cause people are scared of death, you know? And they'd much rather hang on to their pathetic little lives, no matter how awful they are, just because they're too afraid to find out what awaits them on the other side."

"Well it may be true that people, including me, are scared of death, but right now, it's not death that's standing in front of me, it's you. And I am not scared of you Gajeel."

That evil grin spreads on his face again, a grin that sends cold chills down my spine.

"Oh, but you should be."

I just stand there, unable to move. Even if I had control over my body I wouldn't know what to do with it. Honestly, what should I do? The brave thing would be to run towards Mira and stand and fight by her side. But I still remember the things Gajeel did to Wendy, did to me, and I can't face him, I simply can't. I'm too weak. But I can't run either, fear has me glued to the ground. So I just stand there, observing the situation from a safe distance like the pathetic coward I am.

At least, until Mirajane sees me. I can tell by the slight widening of her eyes, the surprised expression that rolls over her face like a wave on a sandy beach but is gone in a matter of seconds. Gajeel is too dull to notice it, but I do. Her eyes are telling me a single thing: RUN.

But I can't. How could I leave her? After all the things she told me about kindness and understanding, how could I just abandon her?

"It's not about her, it's about you, isn't it? You just don't want to admit to yourself that you were unable to protect yet another person, right? When are you finally going to get it Lucy? You're cursed, anyone that gets close to you dies, that's just the way it is. You have to accept it, so just go. Run off and save yourself, like you always do. You have to. You can't afford to think of anyone but yourself in here so stop acting like the big savior because let's be honest here, every time you tried to help someone, they died. That's what happens in this arena, everyone dies. So if you want to be the one person that doesn't you need to stop putting other people's needs in front of your own. You're not doing anyone a favor."

"But I don't want to…I'm not made for a life like this", I tell the voice inside my head, "I don't want to abandon all the humanity that's left inside of me…"

"So you want to help her? You want to go out there and fight a battle you know you're going to lose? What's the point? You can't help her, it's too late for that already."

I can't come up with anything smart to respond to that so instead I just ignore what the dark part of me keeps whispering in my ear and stand there, looking at Mira. She's just staring back at me with a gaze that says more than a 1000 words. "Go, you helped me a lot, so let me repay the favor. I can handle this on my own. You need to leave before he spots you, so turn around and run. Don't look back. Please."

But I can't. I know that he's going to kill her. But I also know that if I try to stop him he'll kill me. And I've used up my amount of miracles. I should've died long ago. That knife Erza threw during the bloodbath should've struck me and I would've died a long time ago. But I didn't. And ever since then, no matter how helpless the situation was, no matter how certain I was that I was going to die, something, someone was always there to save me. Every time a small miracle saved my life, somebody else had to lay down their own one, somebody had to pay the price. And it can't go on like that any longer, it's time I step up and become the savior instead of being the one that is being saved.

I push the bushes that keep me trapped aside and yell: "Hey Gajeel! It's me you want, right? Well then come and get me!"

His head snaps around and his vicious eyes light up with delight as he sees me: "Blondie…long time no see"

"Lucy, no! You need to go!"

"Shut up Mira" he says while slowly walking towards me, "This is more than I could've asked for" he growls while licking his lips.

"Hey idiot, what makes you think you can look away? You shouldn't let your opponent out of sight you know?" Mira purrs with a voice that doesn't seem to even belong to her.

And then, everything happens at once. I see how she inserts a magic coin into her arm with a smooth flick of her hand and suddenly a blazing light fills the walls of the small cave.

The words "Satan Soul Halphas" cut through the air and instead of the sweet and fragile Mirajane, a demon-like figure is hovering above the ground. It has light blue wings and huge scaly hands with long, sharp claws. A dark and light blue striped body suit only covers very little of her perfect, glowing skin. The blue metal boots that go up to her thigh look like a second skin and a reptile-like tail is cutting through the air like a whip. Her hair is still the same except for two sharp horns that somehow appeared. Her face is partly covered in blue scales and her dark lips are twisted into a dangerous smile. Her eyes have suddenly gone dark and instead of the soft kindness I only see bloodlust in them now.

She seems like an entirely different person and if I wouldn't have known her before I'd be scared to death, hell even now she gives me goose bumps.

So this is what she meant when she told me that she used to be different, an aggressive warrior, always looking for a fight. I can see that now, that dangerous glare that could be enough to kill somebody. She is intimidating. Scary. Dangerous.

Now, I also understand how she got her high score, she may seem sweet and friendly but she has a dangerous side to her too.

Gajeel also seems to be taken by surprise by her sudden transformation, but quickly masks his expression and replaces it with his usual evil grin: "So this is why Erza wanted to keep you, huh? I have to give it to you, I didn't expect that, didn't know you had it in you. But a fancy outfit won't be enough to bring me down you know?"

"Oh I know that, alright." She says with a smile almost as vicious as Gajeel's. "Which is why you need to leave Lucy, this going to get ugly."

This time, I don't hesitate. I know that she wouldn't hurt me but she's intimidating enough to not make me talk back to her.

"Not so fast blondie, you're not going anywhere."

"Hey? Where do you think you are going? You should focus if you want to stand the slightest chance against me!" The demon Mirajane shoots through the air, grabs Gajeel with her talons and throws him through the air. He hits the ground with a massive crash but quickly gets up again, brushing off the dirt.

"Okay then, you wanna play? Well sorry to tell you but you're gonna lose"

"We'll see"

Even though I sense her massive magical capacity I also see that Mirajane is not at her best. She's good at hiding it, but she's still injured. Yet, I can't help her, I realized that now. This is her battle and I need to leave.

While the two careers are absorbed into their battle I quickly make a run for it. As my legs carry me away, the battle sounds slowly start to get quieter until I can't hear a thing. A few tears roll down my cheek as I keep repeating: "Please Mira, let Mira win, let Mira win, let Mira win."

I keep running until my legs give in and I simply fall to the ground. Unable to move any further I crawl into the high grass and sit there staring at nothing and everything at the same time. I'm unable to eat or drink since that would require me standing up which I am absolutely not able to do, so I just sit there, my arms resting on my knees and watch the sun as it rises to its highest point and then starts sinking again. In the early afternoon I hear the sound of a canon but the loud BOOM doesn't even startle me. I keep myself together by fixating a single point and thereby fighting back the tears. "Maybe it's not Mira. Please don't let it be Mira."

But then again, if it's not Mira, whose death am I hoping for? Does anyone deserve to die? And even if that's the case, do I have the right to decide who should live and who shouldn't?"

I just ignore my thoughts and the feelings that are about to make me explode and instead focus on my breathing. The rising and falling of my chest, the action that keeps me going. It's funny how you automatically breathe without realizing it but once you concentrate on it, it becomes an extremely difficult task. I have to force myself to keep breathing, in and out, in and out. When another canon goes off in the distance I am ripped out of my trance. I look around, not knowing where I am and what happened. After a few blissful seconds everything comes back to me and this time nothing is able to stop me from crying my soul out like a little baby. Crying won't help anyone, won't bring anyone back, but I don't know what else to do and I feel like if I don't cry my heart is going to jump through my chest because of all the pressure that's making me feel like my skin is going to explode. I crumple to the floor, a little miserable bundle of flesh and look up at the sky. As it's getting dark and the anthem starts playing I see her face in the sky. It's the first one that lights up. Her pretty face with the eyes that are smiling even if the mouth isn't. She was too good for this arena, too good for this world.

Maybe it works that way. All the good people in this arena die and the rotten ones stay alive, are tortured a little longer. And the worst one, the most pitiable, is left alive and named 'the victor'. They have the honor of having to live with all the haunting memories of the arena for the rest of their lives. They'll be forced to appear on TV, forced to confront the parents of the kids they killed, forced to smile at the people that are organizing this terror. And every year they have to send two more children into the games and are forced to watch them die. For the rest of their lives, they will be constantly reminded of what they did and maybe that's the worst punishment anyone could ever get. Because the games never stop for them. They continue. For years and years until they die as well. There are no victors.

That would explain why I, a stupid selfish cowardly girl, have managed to stay alive for so long. I'm just being punished for all the bad things I did, am being held prisoner in this arena that's like my cell. I know that I deserve this, but I can't stand it anymore.

I stay awake looking at the sky all night long and when the sun is rising again I don't get up. I don't even try to move or anything, I just stay there, laying on the ground doing nothing but existing. I don't feel like I'm inside my body, I have abandoned it a long time ago and now I'm just somewhere far, far away, floating around through the absolute nothingness. I can feel my head aching and my stomach grumbling but the sensation is strangely numb so I just ignore it. Instead, I keep on doing nothing.

But even though I'm in the middle of the open field, not even trying to hide nevertheless defend myself, nobody makes an attempt at killing me. Just another proof that I'm not allowed to die yet, that whatever is controlling our world is keeping me trapped inside this awful life.

The only thing I keep repeating inside of my head is "When will this finally be over?"

It is impossible to think about nothing. Even if you're trying to think about nothing you think about wanting to think about nothing and that's something isn't it? So as I lay there I don't think about nothing but I don't think about things I should think about.

Questions like: "What are my family and friends going to think of me?" or "How long will the game makers tolerate my behavior before they send a fireball at me?" or even "Do I just plan on letting myself die of dehydration?" don't even cross my mind. I just live in the moment and don't care about anything at all.

That is until I have this weird dream.

After not having slept for way too long I pass out in the middle of the day lying in the hot noon sun. I guess what I see is a mixture of a dream and an illusion caused by my lack of sleep, water and food which is probably why it feels so incredibly realistic.

I wake up feeling very dizzy and oddly lost. After looking around I find out that I am seated at a bar. It is standing in a huge hall filled with several long tables and seats. There are a lot of colorful banners hanging from the ceiling and the building is filled with lots of people that are happily chatting, drinking and enjoying their lives together. At the far end of the hall is a big board that has several sheets of paper pinned to it. Those papers ask for bizarre services like hunting monsters or lifting curses. What the hell is this place?

"What's wrong Lucy? Just returned from a tough job?"

I turn around, surprised to hear my name spoken out aloud. Mirajane stands behind the bar, holding three glasses filled with beer and smiling at me. She looks completely healthy, no scratch, no dirt, nothing. Her silky silver white hair covers her shoulders and she wears a long red dress with cute bows.

"Mira?" I stutter, completely flabbergasted. I don't understand…why is she still alive and where am I?

Before she has the possibility to respond someone drops down in the seat next to me and balances their arm on my shoulder. When I turn to see who it is I stare into the face of no one else than Natsu himself, flashing a pointy teethed goofy grin at me.

"What are you doing here?" I blurt out.

"Yeah I know haha, I'm early today but I wanted to grab some food, I'm starving! Can I get a sandwich Mira?"

"Sure, give me a second. You want something too Happy?"

"Aye Sir !" says a blue cat with tiny white wings that's sitting on the counter of the bar.

A talking cat? Mira, who is supposed to be dead, as a waitress at some kind of bar? Natsu sitting next to me and treating me as if we were hanging out each and every day? I don't understand a single thing, what is happening?

"So Lucy, are you down for another job? I saw that they're some new interesting requests. Wanna do one with Happpy and me or do you want to take Erza and that god damn ice princess Gray along?"

"A job? What kind of job?"

"Well I don't know, something fun. I saw that a small village was struggling with attacks from Dark Guilds, we could kick their butts!"

"The reward is pretty high as well so you'll be able to pay your rent for once!" adds the blue cat with a sneaky grin on its little face.

"A Dark Guild?" I repeat, still not getting what's going on.

"Yeah there's been tons of them lately", sighs a boy that has approached us. It's Gray, shirtless Gray to be specific.

"Yeah well we already claimed that job so back off ice cube idiot!"

"What did you say flame brain?"

"You heard me" growls Natsu and the two of them started bickering.

"And they're at it again…boys…", says Levy and sits down to my left. To my horror Gajeel stands behind her and I can't help but shriek out of fear.

"Haha did I scare you blondie?" he sneers.

"Oh stop it Gajeel", says Levy in a scolding tone but she's smiling, as if the two are close and not enemies.

"What's going on?" I whisper, nervously looking around. I am surrounded by my fellow tributes but they all seem to get along, they are happy, having fun under the same roof, leading some kind of normal life.

"Lucy? Can I talk to you for a minute?" A girl with long curly blonde hair that wears a pink dress that goes down to her ankles reaches out for me to take her hand and draggs me into a quiet corner of the hall."

"You seem a little off today", she says with raised eyebrows, "Is everything okay?"

"I…I don't know…I don't know where I am, I don't know what's going on. I was in the arena laying on the floor and suddenly I'm here and I don't know how that happened, I don't understand."

After carefully studying me for a while her expression softens: "I thought so. Even I, a girl that is trapped between life and death, can't tell you what's happening to you. All I can say is that our world is probably a lot more complicated than we thought it was. But you're not the Lucy that belongs to Fairy Tail, you're not our Lucy and I need to ask you to leave. But I wish you all the best for your life and I just hope that you have friends like the ones you have here. "

I look over to the small group that is gathered at the bar. Levy happily chatting with Gajeel, Mirajane preparing drinks behind the bar while humming a tune under a breath, Natsu and Gray playfully fighting while Erza tries to separate them with her mouth set in a straight line but her eyes looking at them with sisterly love. They all seem to be so happy and just normal. Living the normal life they never got to experience. Suddenly Natsu locks eyes with me and for one moment he looks at me as if he knows. Knows about me and that all of this is just a dream. But then he cracks a smile, waves at me and shouts: "Come on Lucy, an adventure is waiting for us." And believe me when I say that in this second I want nothing more than run over to him and go find that adventure. I just want to be part of that group of happy friends. I just wish for the life of that Lucy they all know to actually belong to me.

I wake up with a start and immediately cough heavily. My head is spinning and my throat is so incredibly dry that it feels like I am choking on sandpaper. I look around for some water but there is nothing to be found. For one second I want to turn to Mirajane to ask her to get me a glass of water, but she isn't standing behind the counter. In fact, there is no one around. I am alone in a field of high grass. I am in the arena and I'm not exactly alone, I'm in the hunger games with only a couple of other tributes left to fight to the death. I rub my head and sit myself upright, this was the weirdest dream I've ever had. And it leaves that nagging feeling inside of me, as if I have left a part of me in that dream world.

What the hell is going on?

Authors Note: Things are getting a little more complicated as the games are slowly reaching its climax. Please tell me what you think about this chapter and I'm hoping to see you in the next chapter!

Natsu: Okay wait, wait, wait Author. You know I usually don't like to think things through but this is starting to get too complicated for me. What the hell is going on with that parallel-world-in-the-dreams-thingy?

Lucy: Oh come on Natsu we already talked this through in the meeting this Monday…

Natsu: Yeah…about that….I don't actually remember the meeting all too well…I don't know why but I must've spaced out or something

Lucy: Huh?

Author: He fell asleep, after the first five minutes. How the hell did you manage to get through Math class if you think that my highly interesting seminars are boring?

Natsu: Never went to school

Author: Well that explains a lot…

Natsu: Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!