Chapter 22 : Price
" Why isn't she breathing?!" The silence was broken by Natsu's anguished cry, looking at the group with frantic eyes, " Her soul's returned to her body, so why isn't she breathing?!"
" That mortal's soul is incomplete."
All eyes turned to gaze at the black mass in the air slowly floating towards then, taking up the basic shape of a man when it landed beside Natsu.
" Too much of her magic has been sucked from her soul. The mortal won't live long. "
The fire dragonslayer snapped, " You're a god aren't ya?! Can't you do something?!"
Natsu felt the god's gaze rather than seeing it as the god had no face, and resisted to urge to cringe under the immense pressure of his presence, " I can only grant your wish if you are willing to make the appropriate sacrifice in return, the price you pay has to be equivalent to the weight of your wish, no more, no less."
" So tell me mortal, are you willing to give up your life for her? "
The reply was just on the tip of Natsu's tongue when a disgruntled voice cussed from the far end of the room, making all heads turn in that direction.
" What the fuck happened here?!"
" Gajeel! A little help?" A breathless plea came from behind him and he grunted in response, grabbing the thing behind him and clambering over the remains of the massive oaken doors, then tossing the pudgy man forward, who rolled a few times before flopping to a stop, his eyes blankly looking upwards as froth collected in his slack mouth.
" Eagh." Meredy cringed, " What did the guy do to you?"
Gajeel growled, turning his head to the side and spitting out a wad of reddish substance, subsequently pulling Levy to his side by grabbing her shoulders.
" He touched something of mine."
A touch of pink dusted Levy's cheeks, but she remained silent, occasionally conjuring up the word 'IRON' for him to chew on.
Grey, Juvia, Elfman, Lisanna, The Raijinshuu, Laxus and Mirajane then choose that exact moment to drop down from the open ceiling, with Wendy, Stilla, Charla and Stilla following closely behind them.
Wendy's eyes immediately zeroed onto the body laying on the pile of rubble and Lucy's body in Natsu's arms, gasping in horror, " Oh no...Were we too late?"
A bright flash of light came from her right and spat out two white haired figures, the slightly shorter one looking back venomously at it at their rough treatment, " What the hell? Did ya girl's powers run out bro- Uh oh.."
" What?" Jackal pushed his brother off him, spluttering, " Her powers are infinite, how can it possibly run out? What? What are you looking at-"
His head turned to look at the direction Shakal's eyes remained trained at, the moment his bright red eyes landed on the mangled body behind him, a strangled gasp came out from his mouth, " N-No..."
" Jackal-" His name slipped off his brother's lips in a disbelieving whisper, but just as he reached out to grab his brother, Jackal crumbled to his knees before the body and shook his head in denial,
" No no, how can this- She the damn Gatekeeper, she can't be killed, she's all powerful, she's immortal!"
" Bro, she's-" Shakal placed a hand on his shoulders, but it was quickly swiped away with a furious flick of Jackal's hand as he snarled at him,
" NO! Don't say it, don't you dare say it-"
" She's dead brother!" Shakal snapped back, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking his body roughly, " Face it brother, you can't deny the fact when its just in front of your fucking eyes!"
Jackal's body slumped into his brother's embrace as if all life was sucked from his body, his eyes remained trained on the body of his beloved, as Shakal repeated those dreaded words once more.
" The Gatekeeper is dead."
Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, her eyes remained trained at the fading figure before her.
A translucent hand reached out to cup the side of Lucy's face, a small resigned smile curved up Tenebre's lips, " It had to be done, Lucy. I needed Deus's powers to defeat Madonna and to fix the damage she did to the Void."
" Along with more time, part of my wish was to give you more time."
" You have to hurry Lucy!" Tenebre urged, the urgency in her voice increasing with every minute she faded away," Quickly find the part of your soul that doesn't belong to you, in order to get back the fragments of your soul that were once a part of you!"
" How? How do i find something that doesn't belong-"
She stopped abruptly, and her eyes widened in realization, " Of course, the memories of my body!"
Snapping her eyes shut, she fell to her knees and flattened her hands to the inky black surface she stood on. Inhaling, she focused all her magic into the palm of her hands, and released it all with a sharp exhale.
Its effects were instantaneous, everything stopped moving for a split second, then with a huge pulse of magic, a myriad of tiny golden lights lit up the darkness around her.
It was as if she was standing in her very own universe.
The dual colored haired woman grimaced, clutching onto the spot above her chest where her image was particularly brighter then the rest of her semi-opaque body, " I can't hold time back for long, quickly Lucy!"
Sweat beaded on Lucy's forehead as she concentrated, sifting through every golden orb that represented every single memory that's engraved in her body.
A single orb flickered just oh so slightly, and Lucy's eyes flicked open, her hands sinking into the glassy surface and grabbing hold of it with a strained, but triumphant grin, " Got ya!"
The moment her hands came in contact with it, she immediately found herself transported to an unfamiliar field of green, her golden hair billowing up from the sudden gust of wind that came from her right.
And she came face to face with herself.
" Who are you?" They both asked at the same time.
The Rooster spirit came from behind Serpe and dumped his burden down as well, rolling his shoulders with a groan, but other than that his face remained impassive, his grave expression being mirrored by all of Tenebre's other spirits as they all gathered around their fallen master.
Jackal remained frozen in his spot beside her, leaning into Shakal's body for support as his broken eyes remained trained on his fallen beau.
" We're still contracted though." Anguis looked at himself and the rest in confusion, " The bond is still there?"
" Sweet spirits, how did these get here?!"
Adonis held up a glowing ring of keys hesitantly in utter bewilderment, looking back and forth from the spirits, to the jangling key ring, to Tenebre and back again.
At the same time, several Archive loading bars appeared above Erza's head, and her eyes widened in disbelief at the inventory screen that appeared in front of her.
" 7 new armors and 17 new weapons added."
" What the fuck is happening here?!" Serpe jabbed a finger at the ring of keys ans casted an accusing glare at the formless god, the urgency in his voice increasing with every word, practically hissing, " Where is Tenebre? Where is our master? Where is she? She can't be dead!"
" Serpent Celestial Spirit." The god acknowledged, " Your master's alive..."
Jackal's snapped up, looking up almost reverently at the deity with a desperately hopeful expression.
" Why do i sense a 'but' ?" Serpe looked uneasily at the god in temporary human form.
" But in order to fix the disturbances caused by that woman, she needed my powers. However, to grant that wish, she has to detach herself from all physical attachments of the worlds. She can never be seen, heard or felt by anyone ever again.Her spirit will be trapped in the Void with me for eternity."
" That is the price she paid in exchange for my powers, to be the Eternal Guardian of the Worlds."
The god then gestured at a mangled figure lying on top of a pile of rubble, Serpe catching a glimpse of silver and black from the corner of his eyes, " All that's left of her is that empty shell of what was once her physical body."
" But-! That's just-!" Jackal mouth opened and closed as the words refuse to come out, remaining lodged in his throat.
" Too much?" The god took the words right out of Serpe's mouth, " No. The price she paid was right. I can only take as much as I've given, no more, no less.
" Then take mi-"
" That wish is void." That short but sharp sentence shut Serpe up, " Your life is insufficient. You can't pay the price to bring the Gatekeeper back."
" Then what use are you as a god when your power's for nothing?!" Serpe shouted in his despair, turning his back on the deity.
" Careful spirit." The surface of the god's shadowy form rippled in a warning manner, " We gods can only do so much in accordance to the rules of the universe."
" Then what about Lucy?" Natsu interjected, " What can i do to save her?"
The god tilted its dark fog-like humanoid head in Lucy's direction," You can't. The price to pay for that wish can only be paid by the mortal herself."
From beneath her semi-closed lids, the stars in Lucy's eyes started to glimmer and shine.
The blond lady before her answered her first, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Lucy with a rather amused smile on her face, " I'm Lucille, Lucille Heartfilia. And you are?"
" H-Heartfilia?" Lucy squeaked, turning sheet white. " Lucille?!"
Her mild whirled, how was she seeing her mother's great-great-great-grandmother, her ancestor, in one of her own memories? Unless of course...
" This isn't my memory, but one that has already engraved itself into my soul...?" She though aloud as she came to a realization, her face lighting up, " Which means-!"
A glimmer of light glinted from the distance and both of them looked up.
A single drop of silver fell from the heaven and dropped, falling swiftly yet surely towards them.
Like a bolt of lightning, Lucy suddenly knew what she was here for, and what she had to get.
Without even glancing back, she bolted up the hill, a bewildered cry coming from her predecessor's lips when she did so, running up the green slopes with a hand outstretched reaching out to it.
As soon as she took the first step towards the falling silver orb, the surroundings behind her shattered, and beyond that was a wall filled with a multitude of swirling eyes, all staring at her. The moment she caught a glimpse Lucille's face merging into the wall and into one huge brown eye, Lucy gulped, her legs practically a blur as she ran.
The dark wall rippled and from each empty space between every eyes, hands emerged, their eager fingers twitching and cracking towards the running blond as a loud, disembodied groan roared out menacingly, " YoU SHall nOt EsCapE, HeaRtFilIA!"
Her lungs burned, her legs felt as if they were ready to fall apart, sweat rolled and stung her eyes.
Desperation grew with every step she ran, after one slip and she almost fell into the bottomless pit that lay beneath the layer of grass her feet prodded on, and with the nagging feeling that catching that speck of silver would change everything.
She absolutely can not fail.
With a strangled scream and one final push, she leapt, grabbing the silver teardrop with both hands and tumbled down.
And she found herself back where Tenebre was.
Or what was left of her.
" It's all up to you now, Lucy, and Deus." Her voice echoed, the lines that made up her face turning up into the semblance of a smile. " A single choice to change your fate and those who would live after you."
" Take this as my last gift from me to you... Live, Lucy, live long and happy, and... as a rather selfish wish of mine, i hope i remain in your thoughts. I'll always be watching over you..."
As soon as she faded away, Lucy gasped at the immense pressure that suddenly pressed down on her, and a huge black mass appeared before her, excluding such immense power she almost couldn't breath.
" One chosen by the Eternal Gatekeeper, name your wish..."
Lucy's body glowed and Natsu looked startled down at her when she started to levitate up from his arms, her eyes opening to reveal a single brown eye and a single glimmering deep silver left eye.
" Is there anything i can do?" The pinkette grabbed her hand, clasping it close to his chest, looking determinedly at her, then turning to look at the god. " There must be something i can do."
.
.
" I don't suppose i can bring Tenebre back?" Lucy tried.
All she received as the god's monotonous reply, " That is a wish beyond your jurisdiction."
Lucy thought silently for just a moment, and she spoke.
.
.
" The mortal requires a guide to return back to the land of the living, are you willing to sacrifice a part of yourself to link her to you?"
Natsu's hand on hers tightened, his other hand coming up to brush away strands of hair from her ace. Before turning his steely gaze to look at the deity.
.
.
Lucy looked up, resolve hardened eyes on the black mass before her, speaking confidently, " Then i offer this power to you, Deus, the power to look into the future..."
.
.
" I made a promise to protect her future, and i made another to Tenebre to watch over her." He spoke firmly,
" I don't intend to break those promises anytime soon."
.
.
" ...in exchange for the power to continue living in the present with my family. For Tenebre, i will live. For my family, i will survive and be happy."
" For... For Natsu, i will love."
" Is that your wish, mortal?"
.
.
" I'll gladly take any risk, if it's for Lucy."
" Is that your wish, mortal?"
.
.
.
" That is my wish, god."
.
.
.
A glimmering silver teardrop appeared on the god's right, on the left a flickering flame burning bright with the light of life flared up, and every entity throughout the worlds heard the voice that reverberated through space and time.
" The deal has been made."
AN : A rather short chapter, but this pretty sums one of several parts that would lead to the end. A part of me is happy that despite the torrential waves of shit i get from the real world i still managed to see through this till the end, but the other part of me is crying tsunami worthy amounts of tears that it's actually ending.
Oh well, all things must come to an end, like life and all things on the earth. Mavis am i feeling sentimental-ish or what?
As usual, all forms of feedback is welcomed, i really enjoy hearing from all of you, it gives me feels, like warm-fuzzy-omgican'tican't-hugs-myself kinda feels!
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~