Chapter 5 : Guilt
" Can you guys at least let me speak freely before attempting to main me?!" Serpe squeaked out with much difficulty, his legs barely touching the ground as Natsu grabbed him by his neck and held him up, sweat forming on the right side of Serpe's face from Natsu's flaming fist and his left side feeling as if it would freeze off any time from the almost freezing aura Grey was giving out not far from where he was hanging.
" Natsu," Erza barked, " Let him go."
Natsu's grip on his neck tightened, and Serpe started turning a shade of blue, " Not till he tells me why Lucy is laying there unconscious!"
The scarlet mage glowered at him, " How is he going to answer when you're choking the air out of him?"
Natsu looked tense enough to just rip the man before him to shreds, but relented reluctantly, dropping him onto the group rather ungraciously and then folding his arms, glowering darkly at Serpe.
" Now, before my friends here burn you to crisp, freeze up up and blow a hole through you," Erza stepped forward, her aura piercing through Serpe's skin like a thousand sharp needles and intensifying with each step she took closer to him, her dark brown eyes boring straight into him, " I suggest you get talking."
As much as Serpe hated to admit, this woman, the great ' Titania' he heard so much about, seemed just as scary and frightening as his own master. And as much as he loved his master, she could be pretty horrifying at times, he then paled and almost blacked out when the sudden thought of the both of them being friends popped up in his head, he involuntarily let out a terrified keening sound from his throat.
" How do i even start?" He wailed, grabbing his hair.
Just then, a huge block of ice came flying and whacked Serpe in the head, and a feminine voice deadpanned,
" Well, you could've just asked me for help."
With a bright flash of light, a translucent version of the woman in ice floated in front of the group, looking slightly amused.
The entire group took a surprised step back, gaping at the wraith like figure in mid-air that appeared out of no where.
" Oh." Serpe replied blankly, " I didn't think of that."
Tenebre's face remained impassive as she sent another block of ice at him, and sighed, " I swear it was a bad idea to call you out here in the cold.", glaring at the snake zodiac that immediately started dozing off when he got blasted into a surprisingly comfortable pile of snow.
" Oi, ghost-lady!" Natsu jumped forward, pointing an accusing finger at her, " Who are you and what are you doing to my Lucy?!"
Not far behind him, Happy snickered cheekily, noticing the slip of his tongue, rolling his tongue behind a blue paw, and causing a light dusting of pink to appear on Natsu's cheeks, " You liiiiiiiiiike her~"
" I mean no harm. I'm just showing her my memories," Tenebre simply replied, suppressing the urge to grin, "And my name is Tenebre, Tenebre Akarusa, and you must be Natsu Dragneel, son of The Flame Dragon King Igneel."
Natsu's eyes lighted up in excitement, nearly pouncing at her image as he said, " You know Igneel?! Where is he now? How do you know him?"
" Igneel and i have a... complicated relationship, but i guess you can say that we're friends. But i'm afraid i can't tell you where he is." Tenebre said a bit regrettably, looking away from the slightly deflated Natsu with barely concealed guilt.
Natsu noticed the flash of remorse that passed through her eyes, and his eyes instantly narrowed, but just before he could say anything else, Erza grabbed his shoulder, and whispered into his ear,
" Later. Lucy is more important right now."
A low growling sound came from his throat, he then clicked his tongue in annoyance and snapped his head to the side, grumbling loudly, " Whatever you are hiding, Teeny, i will get it of of you I swear."
" I will tell you, and the other dragon slayers the truth one day, but the time is not now." She nodded to Wendy, who still looked as if she were in shock, " Of course that includes you too, Wendy Marvell, daughter of the Sky Dragon Grandine."
She then deadpanned, " And my name is Tenebre, not Teeny."
" Whatever Tanebri."
" Wait, hold up!" Gray interjected, pushing Natsu to the side and taking his spot, the pinkette letting out a indignant cry at his treatment, looking suspiciously at the woman who knows too much, " Why do you act as if you know so much about us?"
" That's because i do." She then quickly added when she saw them take a startled, slightly uncomfortable step back, " Only a little more than what Lucy herself knows. Like all your different different adventures together, Lullaby, Deliora, Phantom Lord, all the way to the Tenrou incident. From those, i -"
Gray cut her off, looking even more bewildered and creeped out, the thought of this stranger knowing so much about him sent a disturbing chill down his spine, not from his own nakedness of course, " How? i mean, you're stuck in ice for Mavis's sake. You're not like another Juvia are you?", he finished with a rather horrified expression.
" No, i assure you, i'm not another Juvia Lockser, but i do now where she's keeping all your discarded clothes. Wait, that came out wrong..." She said when he looked even more freaked out, she than explained as simply as she could without causing any more misunderstandings,," I simply used the same method i'm using to talk to all of you now, by splitting my consciousness. So while a part of me is talking to all of you now, the other part of me is with Lucy's consciousness."
" But essentially while half of me stayed with my physical body to keep it alive, the other part of me was watching over Lucy in astral form with my presence masked over so that i would not be discovered, but of course, powerful enough mages like your Master might still be able to sense me occasionally."
" I still don't get it."
Tenebre looked quizzically at Erza, " What?"
" Why go to such lengths to split your conscience, mask your presence and such to be by Lucy's side when you could just be there in person?" Erza demanded, her face was calm but her eyes burned with a furious light, " From what i've heard so far, you've been watching over her for quite some time already, you know how much she's been through, and you know what she hide beneath that bright smile of hers."
" So i don't get why you aren't be her side in the first place to begin with, to begin with, why are you in that block of ice anyway?"
Tenebre went silent for a moment, startled by the scarlet's sharpness, most would've already gotten lost in her speech earlier on, as proven by the blank looks on both Natsu and Gray's face, but with a slightly bitter smile, she replied,
"I wanted to be by her side, but after doing that to her mother, i didn't think i was worthy of it, and it simply did not feel right to be by her side after doing what i've done. Also because i did not want what happened to Layla to happen to Lucy."
" So i bided my time, trapping myself in ice in order to fufill my promise to Layla and waited for the right time to show Lucy exactly what happened to her mother instead the lies she was fed as a child just to prevent her from crying, and after that, i shall receive her judgement, her decision will then determine the path i take from then on."
Turning her gaze towards the entire group, she bowed low, her face filled with genuine remorse,
" I know this might seem a bit late, but i would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the both of us earlier on, is there anything i can do to make up for everything i've done?'
Natsu and Happy's ears immediately perked up at that, and they both shouted simultaneously,
" A lifetime of fish!"
" Tell me everything you know about Igneel!"
A fist flew.
"OUCHIE!" And a bump appeared on both their heads.
Erza gave them ' The Stare', and the both of them hugged each other in fear, clamping their mouths shut, their knees clanking against each other.
Erza cleared her throat, tapping her chin with a troubled, conflicted look while saying,
"As much as i would like to have a lifetime of strawberry shortcake for myself..."
"Hey..." Natsu eeped indignantly, he then promptly shut up at her death like gaze, and stayed that way as she continued,
" I would rather you repay us telling us or letting us watch what happened to Lucy's mother, only with Lucy's approval of course, but if she doesn't want us to intrude, it's also fine with us, but since the other part of you is with Lucy,do you mind asking her for us?"
"Give me a moment."
Tenebre closed her eyes, and after a few minutes, she opened them again and said,
" She has approved your request, any time all of you are ready, just approach my crystal and place your hand on it."
Looking at each other, Natsu, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy and Wendy all walked towards the crystal together at the same pace, and as a group, all their hands touched the cool surface of the crystal, their vision going black as they were transported into Tenebre's memories one by one.
Just before her world went black, Carla's breadth hitched as a vision flashed past her eyes, but before she could vocalize it, she was swiftly transported into the world of the past.
When Tenebre suddenly asked her is she would like to share her memories of her mother with her guild mates, Lucy thought she's be replaying the scenes back to them when they returned back to Fairy Tail.
She definitely didn't expect them to come crashing down on top of her in Tenebre's memory world to literally share the experience with them.
" Guh! " A whooshing sound came out from Lucy mouth when she got flattened, slapping the floor desperately for air as she squeaked, " Air air!"
Instead of getting off the rapidly blue-ing blond, they tackled her to the ground once again, scream shouting," Lucy!"
Only when they noticed a white bubble coming out her mouth did they finally let go of her.
" Luce!" Natsu grabbed her and shook her body, his face frantic with worry," Stay with me! I did not come here just to lose you again!"
Lucy jerked back to life, blinking rapidly as pink dusted her cheeks, stuttering, " W-What?"
" G-Gah-! I m-mean-!" Natsu stumbled over his own words, his eyes flitting side to side at everything but Lucy, the color on his face matching his own hair, almost camouflaging into it.
Happy snickered, quipping mischievously, " You liiiiiiiiike each other~" as Grey smirked at the both of them, Wendy just smiled knowingly and Charla and Erza just shook their heads at both their denseness.
" Anyway," Erza cleared her throat, capturing all their attention, and stared at Lucy sternly, almost barking at her, " Lucy."
The blond flinched back involuntarily, " A-Aye?"
' Titania' continued to stare at the blond for a moment, and Lucy felt herself shrink under her piercing brown gaze. She then slapped a hand on Lucy's shoulder, making her freeze up, sweating bullets as she thought of all the worse possible scenarios that could possible happen to her, and in her momentary distracted state, Erza pulled her in, Lucy's head ringing as she smacked against the hard, cold surface of her breastplate, and Erza sighed,
" Don't scare us like that again, do you have any idea how worried we were?"
Stunned by how fragile Erza suddenly sounded, Lucy simply nodded numbly, and she then muttered rather sheepishly when Erza released her, rubbing the back of her head, " No promises, Erza, i do get into these kind of situations quite often, especially when i'm with all of you."
Erza grinned with mild amusement as she nodded, " It's all part of being a Fairy Tail mage.", she declared proudly.
" But this is one time i will not mind getting into trouble," Erza lifted as brow, intrigued at what caused the usually bubbly blond to look so serious as she said, " If it means that I can finally find out why and how my mother died, even if it mean hearing it from her supposed 'killer', even Master will not be able to stop me now."
" I suppose even i can't stop you as well?" Erza folded her arms, looking almost menacingly at the blond.
Lucy paled a little and gulped, " Y-Yeah!", she squeaked out.
Erza simple shrugged, slapping Lucy's back, the force of it alone sending Lucy tumbling forward, " I guess if we can't stop you, we might as well join you."
The scarlet then scanned the area, and her eyes zeroed in on the person the was looking for, " You are Tenebre i presume?"
"That's right."
" I would like you to answer a few questions of mine if you don't mind?" Even though she stated it as a question, her tone gave Tenebre impression that she didn't really have much of a choice.
" Go ahead."
" Firstly, where are we?"
" You're all in my memories, or my subconscious mind if you call it, i just transported a part of all your consciousnesses into mine while the other part stays in your body in the physical world."
Erza seemed satisfied with the response she got, she then continued, " Secondly, were you the one who posted that fake request?"
" Yes," Tenebre replied the scarlet, " I figured it was time Lucy knew all about her mother's demise, and of one other factor which shall not be mentioned now, so i sent that request through Serpe to call her here."
Erza nodded with her arms crossed, her eyebrows furrowed in thought, " Okay then, last question, do you know anyone by the name of 'Lunaria' ?"
Tenebre frowned, tilting her head to the side in mild confusion, " I don't think so? I've never heard of anyone by that name before, but it does sound very familiar..."
Several thoughts flashed through Erza mind as she pieced together several different bits of information, the rearranged words on the mission slip repeating themselves continuously in her head as if in warning, deciding that she needed to find out more before reaching a solid conclusion, Erza said,
" Thank you for answering my questions, now, i think you've got something you want to show to all of us?"
Tenebre flicked her wrist and their surroundings started to warp and shift, showing the familiar lush green fields of the Heartfilia residence, familiar to all but Wendy and Charla.
" Urm, where are we Lucy-san?" Wendy inquired timidly.
" We're at my previous residence," Lucy eyes glazed over in sadness as she smiled, " at one of the many gardens that we have, this one happens to be my mother's favorite garden."
" Ah, i see." Wendy said, staring wide-eyed at the huge towering mansion before her.
When it seemed like they were done walking down memory lane, Tenebre then continued, " This was 3 months after i met Layla, and when she 6 months pregnant with Lucy.
Tenebre's usually hard face softened a bit äs she reminisced, "She was different from all the other humans i've met before, she welcomed me with open arms, a complete stranger. There was something about her that made me open up myself to her no matter how much i tried to put on a mask, she had this thing about her that made me able to smile again, to feel and to emote again and she was also the one who gave me my name."
She gestured to the scene before her, and they saw Layla sitting down on a gilded garden chair, sipping on a cup of tea with young Tenebre was sitting opposite of her, perching uneasily on the edge of the seat.
Layla glanced at her from the brim of her teacup, and pouted, " Come on, are you still scared that i might beat you into a pulp for seating on even ground as me? Jeez, it's been 3 months already, you know i'd never do that."
Tenebre seemed to un-stiffen a bit, settling a bit more comfortably into her chair as she mumbled, " Sorry, just a force of habit."
Layla simple shook her head, sighing exasperatedly, she then put her cup down and leaned forward, " So, almost months have passed since i've met you, but i still don't know your name, mind introducing yourself to me, stranger?", she said almost teasingly.
Tenebre looked down at her lap, and whispered, almost sadly,
"I...I don't have a name..."
Layla leaned forward a little more, not catching her hushed words, "Hmm? What was that again?"
"I don't have a name." Tenebre said a little louder, looking up at Layla with a forlorn expression.
" What?! You don't have a name?!" Layla seethed angrily, "Who are your parents?! Bring them to me! What kind of parent don't give their child a name?!"
Young Tenebre looked back at her lap, and said, " Well, i think i should tell you more about me then..."
" For the next hour, i told Layla all that i knew about my life, and what i found out about my life that they erased from my memories, and that i didn't even know their names, Layla said nothing throughout my tale, she just listened with a completely straight face, and when i finished..."
Layla stood up, and wrapped her arms around Tenebre's body, her face scrunched up in an expression of both anger and sorrow for the girl.
"You poor girl, not having your own name is bad enough but not knowing your own parents name? That cruel, how could they do this to you?" She then let go of Tenebre and grabbed her shoulders, young Tenebre's eyes widening to the size of saucers as Layla proclaimed,
"Then i'll be your mother, and i'll give you a name to call your own."
She pondered for a moment, humming in thought, then her face lighted up, slapping her hands together she exclaimed,
" I've got it! Tenebre! Tenebre Akarusa shall be your name, it means Dark and Light respectively, you shall be the darkness within the light as well as the light within the darkness. It suits you perfectly, along with your heritage and your magic!"
Tenebre looked up slowly at Layla, a tear slid down her face as she smiled, a bright smile that radiated pure happiness.
" I like that name, thank you,Layla. Thank you."
Layla scowled, clicking her tongue at her, and said to a confused Tenebre,
"No, call me 'Mom' from now on, and this little one here would be your little sister, Lucy."
Tenebre almost fell off her chair.
" So suddenly?! Call you 'Mom'?! I-I-I can't possibly do that!" Tenebre said, furiously shaking her hands in front of herself.
"Come on, its not that hard! " Layla teased, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
" Urm...Mo...Mo, argh! I can't do it so suddenly, especially since you've just 'adopted' me!" Tenebre wailed.
Layla giggled, sipping her tea tea, after a few sips, Layla put down her cup, put her left elbow on the table and leaned her head against it,
"Actually, other than your name, there's also something else i've trying to ask you for awhile, what is your job?"
Tenebre spat out her tea onto the grass and coughed violently, she choked out,
"What did you just ask me?"
"Well... You've mentioned to me many times that you're busy with work and that's the reason why you you have a hard time coming to meet me, but all this while all you said was 'work' and 'business' but you've never really told me what exactly do you work as, and i'm really curious to know what it is! And if possible...well...Can i help you with that? Your job i mean."
Tenebre didn't even bat an eyelid when she said,
" No. It might put you and your family in danger, well, even more danger considering the fact that i told you who and what i am. And no you can't help me."
" And that is what i simply don't understand." Layla snapped at her, " What is so dangerous about your job that it could put the people around you in danger, that you come to me severely injured most of the time, that you continue to hide yourself behind that mask of indifference like that of a puppet?"
" You may be immortal, but you still have emotions, as limited as they are, to know how we mortals feel when we see one of of our love one bleeding out enough blood to stain the very ground they are standing on!"
Layla panted slightly when she finished, and Tenebre looked away in shame, but her face remained defiant, when Layla calmed down, rubbing her belly to sooth the fidgeting infant within, she continued in a weak voice, " I've never felt so scared in my life you know, when i saw you that time.
" Never have i felt so helpless in my life, so hopelessly... mortal."
Lucy looked shocked at the pained expression on her mother face, for even in her last moments Lucy has never seen her mother make that kind of expression before," What exactly happened to you?", she asked Tenebre almost accusingly.
The scene paused as a small segment in front of them parted to show another memory,
" It happened when i was settling a conflict between an angel and a faerie about a month before."
The entire group jumped up when a piercing high pitched scream suddenly came out from the mini screen.
" I don't think my wings are the best, I KNOW they are the best, what can you say about that, midget?" A lavender haired angel folded her arms, sneering hatefully at the chestnut-haired faerie before her,
"Midget?! MIDGET?! Oh no you did not-!" The faerie's face turned an angry red, the wooden staff creaking in her tightening fist, especially sensitive about her smaller then normal size as compared to other faeries.
Young Tenebre stood by the side, the only sign that showed that she was still physically present was the slight irritable twitch of her eyebrows every few seconds and the slight annoyed twitch of her eye, " Look-", she started to say, but was interrupted by the angel.
"Yes I did, I just called you a midget, midget!" The angel taunted, " What can you do about it, huh, M-I-D-G-E-T, MIDGET?!"
The fairy pointed her staff at the angel, her entire body trembling furiously in anger, her staff starting to flash a bright green," You ugly bitch!"
At that moment, Tenebre felt the tension surrounding the two finally snap when the angel's body started to glow a pale purple light, and she sighed, leaping forward to stop them, seeing that words would no longer stop them now.
" How dare you insult my flawless beauty!" The purple winged angel shrieked, " You shall pay for it!"
" Thorns of the Earth!"
" Judgement's Edge!"
Just as a bunch of black thorns broke through the marbled ground of the garden's of Arcadia, shooting forward towards the angel, so did a barrage of light spears, whistling through the air at the fairy.
As the attacks connected, a cloud of dust blew up, and blood splattered all over the cracked marbled floor.
"Did i get her?" The both of them asked themselves, but when the dust cleared, the faerie could only gasp in horror and the angel just tsked in disappointment.
"O-Oh my Oberon, since when were you here, Gatekeeper-sama?!" The faerie stammered, her knees knocking against each other in fear.
" Since the very start." Tenebre deadpanned, immobilized in her spot by the spears and thorns pierced through her body, her blood pouring through her wounds and splattering into the growing puddle on the ground, and if possible, the faerie's face turned even paler at the sight of it.
The angel's body glowed once more, glaring darkly at the intruder, " Tsk, i wasted precious magic on such a worthless being, oh well, i'd just do it again."
Just as she was about to let loose a second wave of spears, she froze, falling to her knees as she felt Young Tenebre's blood lust at it's full capacity, feeling Tenebre's cold eyes staring down at the her and struggling to get words past her throat.
Even the faerie was not left unscathed, falling into a sniveling heap of pathetic-ness the moment she felt the first wave hit her.
Tenebre calmly accessed the damaged made to her body, and one by one she pulled them out, thorns and spears making their way out from her body with several loud wet squelching sounds, tossing them nonchalantly onto the the growing puddle of blood on the cracked marble floor. With several holes, scrapes, deep cuts and gashes all over her body, Tenebre looked at both of them with a cold, hard glare.
" Seeing that this is the first offence from the both of you, i shall be lenient, so return to your respective worlds the moment i release you and i will not raise this matter during the Worlds Conference."
Two gates appeared behind both of them, and Tenebre suppressed part of her aura, just enough for them to regain feeling in their legs, and the faerie bolted from her spot, tripping over her own jelly-like legs to get as far as she could from the Gatekeeper, looking over her shoulder fearfully and screeching loudly, " Y-y-you monster!", once last time before leaping into the gate back home.
Instead of running away, the angel's face morphed into one of anger and resentment for her wounded pride, " How dare you, an insugnificant failed product-"
Before she could finish, Tenebre appeared in front of her, chocking the angel a bloodied hand, the angel struggling and flailing around as she was lifted off the ground, her eyes bugging out from Tenebre's vice-like grip on her neck.
" Last chance, the moment i let you go, either you get out of my sight and return back home, or i'd make sure you'd only see the fires of Gehenna for the rest of your life."
With that, Tenebre threw the angel to the ground, and the angel fled, tossing a hate-filled glare in Tenebre's direction then jumping into the gate back to Arcadia that snapped shut the moment her vile presence passed through it.
When she was finally alone, Tenebre let out a breadth she didn't know she was holding, hacking out some blood on her hand at the same time, and sighed heavily,
" Now, time to fix their mess."
Her hands glowing bright violet, she casted, " Restore.".
The cracked on the marble ground closed and smoothed and all stray thorns and spears disintegrated into thin air, bringing the spilled blood along with them, leaving the area completely blood and damage free, as if it's never been damaged in the first place.
Once that was done, Tenebre slapped her hands together and huffed, plunging straight into the dark void that appeared beside her, leading her straight to the Heartfilia mansion.
Once out, Tenebre felt all her weariness fade away when she emerged from the void and into Layla's bedroom, feeling slightly more rejuvenated just being in Layla's presence, unintentionally letting a smile through when she called out to the blond lady,
" I'm here, Layla!"
The said person turned around in shock at Tenebre's sudden appearance, but as quickly as the smile that graced her lips when she recognized Tenebre's presence, it disappeared just as quickly as she paled when she gave Tenebre's entire body a once over.
Just as a drop of blood dripped down from Tenebre's fingertips and onto the lush carpet, Layla screeched, her arms flailing around wildly as orders shot forth from her mouth at a panic-driven speed, her retainers running around just as frantically to fulfill her orders,
" Get me a surgeon, a doctor, a healer, somebody! How on Earthland-?! Someone get me a stretcher or something!"
Tenebre tilted her head to the side in confusion at why her friend looked so panicked, it was not till another drop of crimson dripped onto the ground did she finally take a glance down at her own body,
" Oh." She merely said, her blank expression showing that she completely forgot all about the holes and scrapes on her body.
" You!" Tenebre tried not to flinch at Layls's sharp tone towards her, " You're bleeding all over the carpet! How did this happen?! On second thought, don't answer me, sit down, lie down-"
Young Tenebre put both her hands in front of her in an action of appeasement, " There there, no need to fuss Layla, just give a two hours or more and i'd be good as new, i'll fix the mess i made on your carpet as well-"
Layla stopped her with a single look, and Lucy winced, she knew that look, it was her mom's signature 'listen to me' look, she's only seen her use that look when she wanted to get something through to her father.
Lucy looked over pitiably at Tenebre for being the recipient of the look, and Tenebre simply rubbed the back of her head in mild amusement, murmuring,
" It took three whole hours to heal up completely, two healers and three doctors to prove that i was fully healed, and a rather unwilling promise to stay in bed for another three days to convince her to stop fussing over me."
Just as Young Tenebre in the screen got stripped down involuntarily for Layla to fully inspect the severity of her wounds, Present Tenebre quickly closed the screen to not let them see something too unpleasant, but not fast enough before the team managed to get a full look of her bare, battered and bloodied back.
" Sorry you had to see that." Tenebre apologized, looking both apologetic and amused at the squeamish expressions on the team's faces, only Wendy seemed a bit less so, seeing that she's the guild's resident little nurse.
" It's fine." Erza waved it off, the only other one that didn't look very affected by it. " What happened next?"
Tenebre continued, nodding apologetically in Lucy's direction, the blond simply waved back in a gesture to 'continue on', smiling weakly whilst still looking a little sick,
" I returned straight to work after my three days 'vacation', much to Layla's dismay. I continued to visit her, that's for sure, but we never mentioned anything about that scare i gave her, until that day that is." She said, pointing up at the paused image of the scene they were watching before, and as if on cue, the scene started to play out once more, as Layls's face reanimated back to life.
Layla half-glared at Tenebre with the barest of tears forming in her eyes, Tenebre snapped her head her head guiltily to the side to avoid looking at her, a bitter taste in her mouth knowing that she was the cause for her friend/ new mother's tears.
They stayed in silence for a good couple minutes, and finally Tenebre relented, sighing heavily, seeing that Layla wasn't going to give up anytime soon, not after going this far.
" Fine, i give."
Before Layla could get her hopes too high, Tenebre quickly added,
" But on one condition."
Layla's eyes hardened, her back straightening and she folded her arms, as if preparing herself to receive a business proposal, something she's very familiar with.
" From the moment i finish telling you the details of my job, i'm personally appointing myself as your household's personal guardian, you will report to me if you receive any kind of threats or feel like you're being watched. Can you promise me this, Layla?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Layla couldn't help but crack a smile, looking at Tenebre in amusement,
" I get to know about you, and the most powerful person i know off become my bodyguard, its a win-win situation, how can i possibly refuse?"
Tenebre seemed rather surprised at her answer, and couldn't help but let a smile through as well, but she quickly wiped it away, and continued,
" So do you promise?"
Layla nodded, " I promise, and you know i never break my promises."
Seemingly satisfied with her response, Tenebre expression then changed to that of complete seriousness,
" It all started..."
The current Tenebre waved her hands, and the scene shifted away, " I guess there's no need to hear what you've already seen."
" So you told her everything?" Lucy inquired.
Tenebre nodded in affirmation, " Everything from what i do to who it involves. When i was done, and after much persuasion, i gave in, finally allowing her to assist me in matters where the Celestial World was involved."
" So she was like your Celestial World assistant?"
" I guess you could also call it that." Tenebre said, shrugging her shoulders.
" Right, moving on." The dual haired woman flipped the air in front of her as if flipping through a book, " Skipping through the next three to four years cause nothing much really happened, when i wasn't there, i would send one of my spirits there to watch over your family in my stead, years passed just like that, uneventful, but thankfully peaceful."
" But it didn't last long."
"I wish you could spend more time with Lucy, Tenebre." Layla said, a soft smile on her lips as she watched little Lucy scamper after a small blue butterfly, squealing in delight every time she clapped her hands together, thinking she's caught it, only to pout and run after it just as enthusiastically again when she realize she didn't catch it.
Layla and Tenebre sat not far away from the little bubbly bundle of energy, basking in the soft sunlight as the grass where they sat at danced lazily in the cooling breeze the blew by.
" Oh Mavis, this is embarrassing..." Lucy covered her flaming face, looking through her fingers as she watched her young self flop onto the grass after tripping over her own feet, her pink skirt flipping up to reveal her white frilly bloomers.
" Should i have skipped this part?" Tenebre asked, scratching the back of her head sheepishly and bowing her head apologetically in her direction.
" It's a bit too late to say that..." Lucy shivered uneasily at the coy looks and Cheshire Cat grins on her teammates faces, suddenly dreading the time she has to return to the guild.
All thoughts of escape escaped her mind when she heard young Tenebre's voice in the screen say in the same sheepish tone, " As much as i would like to, i'm already pushing Marie's patience by coming here so often with whatever extra time i have, the first being when i told her that you'd be helping me with the minor issues in the Celestial Spirit World...".
Layla giggled at the comical horrified expression that Tenebre made, after she calmed down, she prompted as she wiped off a tear, " And...?"
Tenebre's face turned serious at this, unconsciously ripping a random leaf into shreds, a nervous tick she developed over the years, " But it's only going to get harder for me to visit you now, there's trouble brewing in the Dragon World, there's talk about a revolt against training Dragon Slayers or getting close to humans in general, so i might not be visiting little Lucy and you for quite a while."
Just as she was about to say something else, she saw a blond blur from the corner of her eyes, and her lips tweaked up a bit, pretending not to notice and then acting surprised when she was tackled into the grass, acting as if she got run over by a huge horde of dragons as she face contorted in an exaggerated expression of defeat, " And the little knight slayed the beast once again!", she pronounced dramatically, her hands flopping to the ground with a flourish.
Little Lucy giggled and jumped excitedly on young Tenebre's lap, " Ne ne, Tene-nee, can we go up into the sky tonight pwease~? I promise not to run away from lessons today!"
Tenebre picked the little blond girl up with ease and sat her upright in front of her, smiling sadly, " Sorry Lucy, but not today, nee-san has somewhere else she needs to be tonight."
Lucy looked at her with watery puppy dog eyes, " Pweety pwease?"
Layla chuckled seeing Tenebre struggle to find the correct words not to trigger the waterworks , then flicked Lucy's nose lightly, putting on a mock stern look, " Now now, what did i say about pestering your nee-san?"
" You said to not to pester her when nee-san busy with work." Little Lucy recited, then pouted in the end of it, " But i wanted to see the stars up close today..."
Tenebre smiled apologetically, and ruffled Lucy's hair, " Next time, hmm, Lucy?"
" Promise?" The little blond girl sniffed, putting out her pinky.
Grabbing her pinky with her own, Tenebre said, " I promise."
" Now, i think its time for your nap time dear, off you go, Spetto-san's waiting for you." Layla nudged little Lucy in the direction of their home, and after waving goodbye to Tenebre and giving Layla a kiss on the cheek, she scampered away into the waiting arms of Spetto, who was waiting for her at the mansion's back door.
Once Lucy was out of their sight and, Layla looked at Tenebre and said,
" How bad is it?"
Tenebre shook her head and sighed,
"Very. There's even talk about a civil war about to happen, a war between the dragons."
Tenebre laid down on the grass, with both her hand behind her head and continued,
" So far the only thing that's preventing war from happening is my position as Gatekeeper, but as i speak, those who oppose living together with humans are probably plotting against me, finding a way to get rid of or to distract me so that they can go all out."
Layla looked troubled for a moment, then she scooted over to Tenebre and lifted her head onto her lap, and while stroking her hair, she said,
" Well, don't overexert yourself okay? Just remember, we'll always be here for you."
With a small smile, Tenebre said, " Yeah...", sinking into Layla's warmth.
The next moment, Team Natsu found themselves smack in the middle of a war-ravaged battle zone, loud deafening roars echoed from all corners of the flaming carnage as the dragons battled. But one in particular caught their attention.
" Is that a human?" Wendy covered her mouth in an horrified expression.
The 'man' let loose a guttural roar, transforming before their eyes. His skin rapidly turned black as onyx scales tore through his skin, the 'man' screamed as his bones bent and cracked, morphing into a completely different structure, his teeth fell out as razor sharp fangs took their place.
He let loose a ear-splitting roar, wind blasting in all directions when he unfurled his newly developed wings and rose to the sky, startling bright blue patterns painted his jet black body, blending well with the carnage and destruction around him.
" This is what happens when you give humans the power of dragons, my dear Gatekeeper!" The Black Dragon's chest rumbled darkly in laughter, his beady white eyes trained on the battered figure on the surface below, " They themselves become the dragon!"
" By bathing in the blood of all the dragons you massacred! " Tenebre yelled, standing above the bloody pile of dead dragons he slaughtered, holding her bleeding side as dragons all around her either ran away in terror or continued to tear each others throats apart.
" Aye," The man-turned-dragon bared his teeth in a semblance of a smirk, " And now to finish the job of getting rid of the rest!"
He shot up to the sky, and roared, his voice cutting through the clamor of battle, his black-blue wings spreading out ominously, the heavy aura of death and the sickening scent of dragon blood he reeked of made all the dragons freeze in their spots in fear and trepidation, and he proclaimed,
" Dragons, listen up and and listen well! My name is Acnologia, The Dragon King! Bow down before me, or die!"
As if to make a point, Acnologia inhaled and roared, blasting a torrent of bright white light, even though he did not charge up the attack, that small roar was enough to wipe out every thing that was beneath him, blowing them into nothing but dust.
When the dust cleared, in the middle of the blast zone was a huge cracking dome that broke the moment to fulfilled its purpose, and below it was Tenebre, and she was in terrible shape, panting raggedly as she let her hands drop back to her side as she fell to her knees, her armor was in shambles and she had deep, bleeding gashes all over her body, looking as if she herself took a bath in blood, her own.
" Gatekeeper..." One of the dragons hushed, but Tenebre shut her up with a hand.
" No, get out of here, NOW!"
With what strength she had left, she opened up a huge gate behind her, and stood up, staggering for a moment, " I'll hold him off, go go go!"
Without another word, the dragons lumbered as quickly as they could into the gate for dear life, as the Black Dragon continued it ruthless rampage, slaughtering all the dragons in his wake.
Tenebre charged at him, blasting off the ground with her wings and hurling herself after him, slamming down on his back with so much force, and with a little help of Gravity Magic, he howled out in pain and whirled down, smashing deep into the earth.
At the same time, Tenebre screamed loudly, spreading her bleeding arms wide and casted, " Chains of the Damned!".
Barbed, flaming chains erupted form the ground around the flailing dragon, ensnaring it as the sharp barbs bit into the tough hide and pinned him to the ground like a chain mummy, the unholy flames of Gehenna burning Acnologia as he roared and struggled against his bonds.
Sweat and blood poured off Tenebre's body, her body trembling in effort to keep Acnologia restrained, and possibly weaken him as much as she could, to buy time for the rest of the dragons to flee.
But even she had her limits, and she knew that, so she made a split second decision, she sent a strong wave of wind at the remaining dragons and shoved them all in and slammed the gate shut behind them, promptly falling to the ground after that, finally giving in under the immense strain from her magic and wounds.
The chains disintegrated and Acnologia was freed from the Gravity Magic pulling him down, regaining his footing, he shot back up into the air, his furious eyes glaring at Tenebre, his injured wings flapping awkwardly, deciding against fighting the Gatekeeper notorious for her regenerative abilities and also for consideration of his wounds, Acnologia growled,
" You will regret this, Gatekeeper. I might not have defeated you today, but i will make you suffer. And i think i'd start with that mother of yours."
With that, he disappeared from her sight, as if he had merged into the darkness of the sky and becoming one with it.
Tenebre's eyes widened in horror when she realized the meaning behind his word, " Mother... NO! LAYLA!"
Dragging her body, she literally threw herself into into the rift she ripped open in the Void hastily, hurtling through the seemingly endless darkness, her mind set on one destination.
She landed with a wet flop on the carpeted floor of Layla's room when she got spat out of the rift, gritting her teeth, she stood up shakily, and stumbled over to Layla's bed as quickly as she could.
" Layla!"
Tearing away the covers, Tenebre fell to her knees and seethed, completely oblivious to the fact that her blood was slowly seeping into the carpet and that she was soiling Layla's bed sheets with her blood soaked hands.
" I was too late..."
Layla was deathly pale, her sweat making her clothes cling onto her skin and making the material slightly translucent, but it was enough for Tenebre to see the tattoo above Layla's heart.
A dragon wrapped around a heart, strangling it in its tight embrace. A cursed tattoo.
Tenebre sank to the ground,
" Goddammit!" Tenebre roared in her fury, angry at her own incompetence.
"Tenebre..." Layla whispered,
Tenebre was at her side in an instant, clasping her bloodied hand to Layla's clammy outstretched ones.
" By the looks of things, i say this has something to do with you." Layla said in a weak voice, " Mind filling me in?"
Tenebre froze, and when she spoke, her words heavily laced with guilt and anger, guilt for letting this happen to Layla when she sworn to protect her and anger at herself for not fulfilling her promise.
" Its... a curse, one that will slowly sap away your magic, and magic like like the very soul of a mage, so you'd... wither, slowly, and eventually pass away of a supposed 'heart disease', there's no cure or remedy for this."
Layla was silent for a moment, her face was completely impassive, then she asked,
" How long do i have?"
Tenebre gestured using all five of her fingers,
" At the most, 5 years."
Layla became quiet again, she then sighed, and let out a sad smile, sitting up slowly.
" Well, i knew i'd die one day, but i never thought the time would come so fast. Oh well, i have to live the last 5 years of my life to the fullest hmm?"
After hearing those words, Tenebre felt the severity of it all slap her in the face several times more, because she was the cause of everything, she's nothing but bad luck, bringing trouble and death to those around her.
But before she sank further into her pit of self-loathing, she felt Layla grip her hand with a little more strength, and looking up at Layla had an unreadable expression on her face, Layla took a deep breath, and said,
"Can i ask you for a favor,Tenebre?"
As the others were watching the scene intently, Charla mind wandered back to the vision she saw before she entered Tenebre's memories.
Flashback ( Charla's POV )
What is this?
Magnolia on fire.
Buildings collapsing.
Fire and rubble everywhere.
Dead, bloodied bodies scattered around.
Fairy Tail in shambles.
Exhausted guild members everywhere.
An evil laughter.
"LUCCCCCY!"
Who's shouting?
3 figures.
It's Natsu!
Why is he crying out Lucy's name is such pain?
Is that Lucy in his arms?
What happened to her?
Someone else is crying out her name too?
That's the lady we saw just now!
What is she doing there?
What exactly is happening here?
Wait!
Don't fade yet!
Before i knew it,my vision faded away,and everything went black.
End of Flashback ( Normal POV )
" What exactly was that vision about? I have a bad feeling about all of this..." Carla thought, looking at Tenebre, a sense of dread for the future sending a ominous chill down her tail.
Gosh,typing a few thousand words on my phone is hard! But at least i made it in time! Yay!
Hope ya all enjoyed this chappie and to all NaLu fans ( me included ), no worries, the fluffy moments would be coming soon! So just keep hanging on people!
R&R!
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~