Revolution
Chapter 4; Collapse
Erza, Wendy, Carla, Happy and Natsu all leapt up and awake.
"Then let's go!" Gray replied hastily throwing himself out of the bed and sweeping up his white coat over his shoulders.
"I'm coming too!" Natsu declared, slowly dragging his body steadily upwards.
"Stay here Natsu; you're still not strong enough." Gray turned at the doorway, about to follow Cana downwards.
"How long have we been asleep for?" He turned to Wendy. The girl looked at her watch.
"It's six, so about four hours." Wendy said.
"Four hours, and the seven earlier-"Natsu spoke.
"Only two of those seven count." Carla interrupted.
Natsu shrugged and continued. "That's still like seven-"
"Six." Carla interrupted again.
"Six hours." Natsu corrected himself. "That's all I need. Let me go! Please."
Gray hesitated, standing in the doorway watching the dragon slayer stand shakily in front of him. He looked to Erza and Wendy and Carla and Happy but couldn't make sense of what to do. One thing he did know is that there hadn't ever been a time he'd heard Natsu say 'please' once to him. It was a little thing, but it swayed his heart.
"Fine. Erza," Gray turned to the red-head and she was already swinging the dragon slayer's arm over her shoulder. "Let's go." Gray announced, driving out the doorway.
Cana said that Romeo, Wakabe and Macao had found her, and that Gray needed to get down there as fast as possible with the master. Everyone else had been relayed back to them through Cana and that her and Gray and everyone else were on their way there too.
When they arrived, they were so shock with what they saw that they could barely talk. Gray stepped out the carriage and shut the door immediately after him, locking Natsu and Erza in.
"Gray-" Erza began to speak.
"Don't let him out." Gray cut in.
"What do you mean?" Natsu growled, thrashing a foot forwards. Gray stumbled out the way as the door swung open and the dragon slayer stumbled outwards. "What is-?"
Natsu froze in his place, his eyes widening in utter shock. They stood before the grand cathedral in the centre of the city. On the cross hanging above the church...was Lucy. Her arms were strapped to each end, with the words painted in red over the doorway. 'One has been purged from the Devil's poison. The other does will be next.'
"Is that in-" Levy uttered, looking up at the writing.
"It's paint." Gajeel interrupted her, before she could speak.
"Lucy..." Erza uttered in horror, staring up at her.
Natsu burst forwards into a sprint, breaking through the crowd of village people and mages gathered around the gates. He tore through the gates with his fire bursting out of him. Strength swept from him and dropped him to his hands and knees.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted, running after him. But he didn't stop; the dragon slayer picked him up again and ran to the bottom of the building. But she was already three stories high. The dragon slayer slammed his body against the grand doors. If there was a stairway he could get to he could get to her. He threw himself at the doors over and over again but couldn't break through.
"LUCY!" He screamed, throwing himself over and over. Gray caught up with him, grabbing the dragon slayer and tearing himself back.
"Don't be an idiot, Natsu. There's a barrier there. You're going to get yourself killed!" Gray shouted in his ear. But Natsu was just hearing empty words. He struggled to break free of Gray, and Gajeel and Laxus appeared behind him, grabbing the slayer and tackling him back against the ground.
"LUCY!" Natsu screamed at the height of his voice.
Suddenly the doors shattered into thousands of pieces, crumbling into a pile of rubble. Natsu's dark eyes stared at the door in surprise, until a figure came into the corner of his view. He had broad wide shoulders, with a long dark cape and dark ginger hair scraped back. His gaze cast over his shoulder at the dragon slayer before disappearing into the building. "Gildarts." Gray uttered for the silent dragon slayer. He looked up and saw purple runes skating up the barrier in around the girl hanging from the roof.
The wall behind her shattered and the elder mage caught the limp blonde's body before she could fall to the ground. A few minutes later, the mage appeared with her in his arms. Gray, Gajeel and Laxus freed Natsu who leapt up as soon as he had the chance.
Natsu staggered up to the mage, holding the girl in his arms. He stopped and stared at Lucy's quiet face, covered in dirt, bruises and blood. "Lucy..."Natsu uttered.
Slowly her eye lids fluttered, catching the dragon slayer and Gildarts attention. "Luce, Luce?" Natsu called repetitively.
Her eyes squeezed shut and slowly flickered open. Small brown orbs opened, with the light almost completely gone. Her lips moved a little, and a small whisper came out but even Natsu could barely hear it. Quickly he rounded up on her other side, pressing his ear close to her mouth. He felt the hot wisps of her breath on his hear, and the small threads of sound that came with it.
"R...un." She whispered.
"Run?" Natsu repeated. As soon as the words left his mouth, the ground beneath them suddenly began to shake.
Suddenly runes appeared all across Lucy's body and she shattered into a thousand glass pieces on the ground. He stood in shock, holding a few pieces in his hands. Everyone was stunned around him, even the shaking earth felt numb underneath him. His whole world had just shattered beneath him. His breaths panted and heaved from his chest. It felt like a weight was crushing down on his chest, and he could manage a single breath. A piercing sound was ringing in his ears and he couldn't manage to get it to shut up. And then he realized, that sound was his screams.
The stone beneath them burst and splintered. Other screams echoed around them as the Earth caved in, swallowing all the mages up with it.
Suffocating darkness wrapped around them. Grunts and the clatter of stone echoed around them. Gray felt a pounding ache in the back of his head. As he tried to turn it, he felt the grit grind on the back of scalp. A hiss of pain whispered out his lips as he tried to move his right arm. Something pressed down on it with the weight of a boulder. Even if he couldn't move it, he knew immediately that it was broken. Soot hung in the air and every breath he tried to breath clogged his throat.
"Gray?" A voice called on behind the annoying ringing that rose up in his ear.
"H-" Gray went to shout but instead fell into a series of coughs. "H- Here!" He managed to wheeze out. "I'm here."
Light burst through the darkness like a little white orb. His eyes squinted shut as the bright light came further towards him. It dimmed from a bright white into a soft glow as a blue-haired mage appeared besides him. "He's over here!" Levy called out. Gajeel reappeared next to her along with Gildarts. Both were in disarray with cut, bruises and bandages here and there. Gildarts set a hand on top of what turned out to be a clump of metal twisted over his arm. It shattered under the mage's hand and released the ice mage.
"I think my arms broken." Gray grumbled before Gajeel went to help him up. He hesitated as Gildarts slowly put his hand on the blue and black colored skin of his arm. Gray hissed in pain, and Gildarts gave a short nod of apology.
"Yeah, it's definitely broken." Gildarts agreed. "We'll just have to make do with a splint and bandages for know. Levy quickly wrote in the air and a thin piece of wood with the words 'splint' engraved into it appeared in the air. Gajeel handed the elder mage a bandage and Gray held in his tears of pain as Gildarts managed to bandage his arm to the wood, pressing it into the ice mage's chest and creating a temporary sling.
Gajeel helped the ice mage to his feet where they stood in their cocoon of darkness. From the sounds of their echoing voices, they were in a large tunnel. Gray looked up but almost tilted over before he realized it. Gildarts helped him get steady while his concussion tried its best to knock him over.
"Where are the others?" Gray grumbled.
"We've found mostly everyone. The others are trying to find Wendy, Carla, Master and Elfman at the moment." Levy explained.
"Where are we?" He then asked.
"We don't know. I think we've fallen into some kind of catacomb underneath the church and they sealed us in." Gildarts continued to explain.
"All we do know is that we haven't managed to find a way out." Gajeel added.
"I see." Gray mumbled. He watched slowly as Gildarts pulled out an Arcana card, one of Cana's he presumed, and told it that they are on their way to bringing back and that they had found the ice mage.
The moved slowly and carefully through the darkness, stepping over or walking around large pieces of debris here and there. Small foot prints illuminated the way, someone's magic he assumed.
When they made to the end of the footprints, he saw another orb of light, much larger than their own ahead. The closer they got, the more his eyes were able to see. There was a large fire lighting the center of the makeshift fireplace with almost everyone in the guild around it. Gray had to admit, he was slightly surprised there was no pedestrians that had fallen into the pit. Then again, if this 'Red Church' was targeting mages while trying to win the support of the people like every activist group, then he wouldn't be surprised if there was extra ensures taken to prevent normal citizens from falling in.
People were relieved to see the ice mage as he entered the cocoon and sat down by the welcoming fire. The air turned fresh and clear at runes rippled through the air of the barrier he walked through. Levy wrote 'Wood' in the air and dropped it onto the fire, and sat down besides Gray. It hissed and crackled before swallowing up the wood like a hungry creature.
"Gray!" Juvia cried happily and purposely shuffled right up beside him. Normally, he might have been irritated by it, but instead he was just glad that she was alright. She handed him a wooden cup full of water which he was welcome to, soothing his dry throat.
Cana sat by the top of the fire with nine cards lay out in front of her. And a smaller stack of cards beside that. She sieved through the stack and pulled a card out and passed it to Levy who passed it to Gray. "A contact card, in case you get lost." Cana explained shortly, and then moved her concentration back onto the cards.
"Who's gone out?" He asked.
"Mirajane, Evergreen and Lisanna went looking for Elfman." Cana said, and Gray noticed their three cards separated into one group, assuming Elfman's was in the pile of cards for those who hadn't arrived yet like his was. "Laxus, Freed and Bickslow went looking for the Master, and Erza, Happy and Dranbolt went looking for Wendy and Carla." The other six cards were separated into another two groups of threes. "Everyone else is here and accounted for."
"I see." Gray grumbled.
"Luckily no one was too badly injured." Levy gave a painful twist of her lips, which must have been some sort of sad but relieved smile. Gajeel returned and sat beside her, poking the fire with a piece of iron he'd bent into a fire poke.
"That's good." Gray nodded.
"According to Freed, the Lucy we saw wasn't the real one." Levy nodded softly. A small part of Gray unwound which he hadn't realized was there. The pain in his stomach settled somewhat. He remembered seeing Lucy laid in Gildarts arms and then suddenly she was broken into a thousand pieces, and then Natsu just-
"Wait, where's-" Gray went to ask.
"He's over there." Levy cut him off, knowing exactly what he was about to say. Gray turned to the corner of the group of people. Sat on the edge of the darkness, was Natsu. His knees were pulled into his chest with his arms resting above them. His chin leant on his top arm, looking out mindlessly into the darkness. Dark eyes were consumed by nothing and his face was almost expressionless. "He hasn't said anything yet. Gildarts was able to protect him from the fall so his body wasn't damaged any further, but even after what Freed told him...he's just been like ever since we found him."
"Natsu..." Gray uttered.
"Cana," One of the cards cut above the sound. Everyone turned to look at the girl.
"Hey Erza," Cana replied. "Have you found them?"
"We've found Carla and Wendy, and the Master was here too." Erza responded. Small relieved sighs chorused around the room.
Reedus stood up and nodded to Cana as he stood near a marked piece of rock with a white cross on it. With his paintbrush, he dipped it in a color with the words 'light paint' on it, which looked like Levy's work, and touched it to the ground. White footsteps illuminated the path into the darkness. So it was his magic with a combination of Levy's that Gray saw earlier.
"Okay, I'll contact Laxus, Freed and Bickslow, are you okay to make your way back here?" Cana asked.
"Yeah, the path back still looks clear but a wall just caved in recently." Erza explained.
"Got it, I'll check in with everyone." Cana nodded, picking out Laxus' card and Mirajane's. She called Laxus' card first.
"Yeah?" Laxus responded from his card. "We still haven't found the old man yet."
"We know, Erza found him with Wendy and Carla, you guys should head back." Cana suggested.
"Got it." Laxus sighed and his card hung up. Reedus moved over to another bigger marked rock with a circle on it, and repeated the same action with his paintbrush. Footsteps illuminated into the opposite direction, disappearing into the cloud of blackness. Cana set Laxus' card back into the group of cards with Freed's and Bickslow's, and called Mirajane's.
It rang for a long while and tension began to clot in the atmosphere. Finally she picked up and everyone reluctantly relaxed back into the warmth of the fire.
"Ca...Ca...na?" Mirajane's voice came through with the static crumpling through the sounds.
"Mirajane? Mirajane are you guys alright?" Cana spoke hastily, but clearly down the card.
"Cana?" Mirajane's voice cleared. "Cana? Are you there?"
"Yes, I'm here. Are you guys alright?" Cana spoke.
"Yeah, we're fine. We've found Elfman but the problem is he's on the other side of the wall that just collapsed. We want to move it, but I'm worried the rest of the wall might fall down." Mirajane explained.
"I'll go." Gildarts offered rising from his seat. He dusted off the plaster from his trousers and gathered up his cloak again.
"We'll come too then." Levy and Gajeel stood up, gathering up their own things.
Gray was about ready to get up before Levy shook her head with a small glint in her eye. "You stay here and wait until Wendy comes back to heal you." She said, and Reedus stood up with a paint brush in hand. He moved to the last rock with a square painted on it and touched the floor. Before the other three left, they lifted their boots one at a time for artists guy to paint them. As their feet sat back down on the ground they made little white footprints that faded as they lifted their foot again. They moved through the ripple of purple barrier runes and down the white footpath and disappeared into the dark cloud. Reedus drew a little triangle inside the square, which he assumed was the symbol for Gildarts' group. Even besides the little group cards, there was little shapes. A cross beside Erza's, a circle by Laxus', and a square besides Mirajane's. Now Cana set out three more cards from a larger pile Gray hadn't noticed and drew a triangle in the dirt underneath them. Their cards were set besides Mirajane's.
A few moments later, Laxus' group was the first to return from their path of light and sat tiredly down on the opposite side to the fire. Gray's eyes looked over them, each a little torn, bruised and covered in debris, and saw each of their gazes flicker over to Natsu. He still sat quietly in his own little world, swallowed up by some hidden emotion eating him on the inside. Laxus sighed and picked up the cup of water Freed fetched from the bucket of water someone must have summoned. The cup must have been made from wood girls magic, and Laxus drank from it indifferently with a calm expression.
Gray turned back to the pink-haired dragon slayer and thought back to before Levy left. She knew a broken arm wasn't a big injury to be bothered about. Plenty around him were worse injured than he was and even Levy had bandages all around the hand she was writing with. Levy, in fact, was telling him to keep an eye on Natsu. Gray was the only remaining one of the select few that had a chance of breaking down the dragon slayer's stubborn shield and keeping control of him. Erza, Happy, Master, Lisanna and Gildarts were all out rescuing someone or other, and not to mention the vacant Lucy.
It occurred to Gray that after everything, they were still weren't any closer to finding Lucy than they were before. In fact, they were probably further away. Gray picked up shop, leaving Juvia behind and moved towards Natsu. At first, she seemed like she might protest but once she saw where he was going she willingly gave up.
The ice mage settled down besides the dragon slayer, setting his empty cup besides another. He saw the dragon slayer's cup was full to the brink with water, and completely untouched. People glanced to the pair, silently hoping Gray could do something about the dragon slayer. But even the ice mage wasn't sure what he could do. Gildarts didn't seem to find any way with him. So until Gray could think of anything to say, he stayed silent.
It stayed like that for a long moment with only the muttering of the guild members and odd check-up calls from Cana hanging in the air. "Do you remember that time when Oracion Seis kidnapped Lucy to be a part of the Infinity clock?" Gray spoke at last, unsure of where he was going with whatever. People cast their gazes to him, other sat quietly still, just listening to his words. Natsu didn't respond, he just stared forwards. "We weren't able to get to her in time and she was swallowed up into the clock." Gray raked a hand through his hair, drawing his own knees up into a position similar to Natsu's. "When we finally realized we had to destroy it, we didn't know if we would blow up Lucy along with it." Gray caught sights of Natsu's grip around his arm tighten a little. "But Lucy didn't care. Rather than letting everyone suffer, she even helped destroy the thing herself while she was in it. She might say she was brave, but I reckon she was pretty stupid. Someone like Lucy-"
"Lucy isn't weak." Natsu interrupted. Gray stopped, staring at the dragon slayer in surprise. Other people turned in shock at the pink-haired boy. Gray had actually managed to get him to talk.
"Yeah, Lucy's strong." Gray agreed. "To have a resolve like that...She's definitely got to be strong." Gray felt the edges of his lips quirk at the edges, thinking back to the blonde. "When I heard about what happened to Lucy and what she did, I wasn't even surprised." Natsu's head shifted a little lower into his arms, his eyes looking down at the rippling surface of the water at his feet. "Lucy wouldn't think twice about sacrificing herself to save a friend. But at the same time, Lucy isn't one to go willingly. Lucy's strong right? And that why we're going to find her and she's going to okay." By now, Gray couldn't tell if it was him trying to cheer up Natsu, or trying to convince himself. He wasn't even sure if it mattered. "We'll definitely find Lucy, I promise."
Natsu's eyes squeezed shut, wrapping his arms around his buried head. "Okay." Natsu whispered. Gray rested his hand on the dragon slayer's shoulder, and gave it a short squeeze.
Suddenly a tremor swept under the ground from beneath them. Natsu's water shook and tipped over, splashing water all across their feet. Grey sand turned to an almost dark onyx as all the mages shouted in shock. As it came to a stop, Gray was almost immediately to his feet. "That came from Mirajane's group!" Gray exclaimed. Cana turned back down to her cards. She picked up Mirajane's and tried calling it, but it didn't pick up. She proceeded to do it with the rest of the group's cards, but not even Gildarts answered. "That's it." Gray snapped. "I'm going."
"I'll go too." Natsu announced, rising from his feet. Gray turned around and everyone else was surprised to see him standing. His gaze cast aside shamefully as well.
"Juvia, as well." Juvia proclaimed. Cana hesitated, but looked down to her cards in worry. She nodded and began pulling out Gray, Natsu and Juvia's cards from her large stack.
"Follow the footprints, and let me know if you find anything, okay." Cana warned as each of them got their feet painted. "Don't lose your cards." They nodded, stepping through the barrier and ran straight into the darkness after the white footprints.
Reedus proceeded to draw a star inside the triangle, as did Cana in the dirt beside the other three's card.
Gray's card rang ten minutes later as they slowed to a careful and cautious walk over the white footprints. He dug it out of his pocket and answered. "Cana?"
"Great, you can hear me." Cana answered back. "Erza's group has just returned."
"Good. Have you heard anything from the other groups yet?" Gray asked.
"No, I still haven't managed to get a hold of them, but you should be nearing them soon." Cana replied.
"Okay, I'll call you once I find them." Gray hung up and stuck the card back into his pocket. "Juvia can you see anything in front of you yet?"
"No Juvia hasn't seen anything." Juvia called from up in front. Natsu held a hand up with a fist like an orb of light, revealing their way.
"Natsu, have you seen anything yet?" Gray called back. Natsu didn't respond. "Natsu?" Gray turned around and the orb of light was suddenly gone. All he could see was the faint glow of the footprints. "Natsu!" Gray yelled. "Na-"
Something caught him by the back and he suck straight into the darkness of unconsciousness.
Next Monday; Crashing Waves
Natsu, Gray and Juvia, having been captured by the enemy, make a discovery inside their lair? But can they escape?
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-A-ccentric