I hope you guys are more pleased with me with this quicker-than-usual update for this story. I've been meaning to complete it, and I got around to writing this chapter, so I hope you like it and review to tell me what you thought :)
Glass Hearts
Chapter 8: Retribution Blade
After hours of searching Magnolia's very own, red-light district, Lucy was disgusted, surprised and exhausted.
On their venture, they had met one man with a deep red hair color and leaf green eyes. Thankfully, the man was kind and allowed Lucy to touch him to see if he was the guy they were looking for. Sadly, his features were a dark color than the man before and Lucy felt nothing from his touch. The celestial wizard even felt bad about accusing the gentle and understanding guy. He even offered to keep an eye out for anyone else fitting the description after laughing about how similar he was to it himself. When they asked him where his favorite place to relax was for inspiration, he said the beach, but recommended checking out a shop further on the outskirts; It was his friends who had dragged him down there for a stag party once. After wishing him goodbye, Team Natsu headed that way.
Wendy Carla, Natsu, Happy and Natsu waited in the street while Erza and Gray went inside the shop. Lucy watched the strange people that wandered by almost longingly. Natsu felt n aching pang run through him watching her look so down. Before he got the chance to cheer her up, Wendy touched Lucy's arm. Ever since Natsu started to grab her wrist to draw her attention, everyone started to do it too. Dark eyes turned to loo at the little dragon slayer, radiating a surprising amount of welcoming warmth through her black irises. Natsu loved the honey-brown eyes she normally had, looking at the pitch-black color against Lucy's pale angelic face made him feel uncomfortable.
"Lucy, I was just curious, but...um..." Wendy mumbled nervously, wondering if she should ask or not.
"Yes, Wendy?" Lucy smiled softly, reassuring the girl. Truthfully she was having a hard time making out Wendy's mumbling.
"Why did you learn to lip read?" Wendy wondered, speaking clearer. Lucy was slightly surprised at the question, as was Natsu and the two exceeds. Lucy puzzled one question for a few moments as all the surprised looks turned into curiosity.
"Hmm...I wonder." Lucy's eye brows furred as she tried to think back. "I can't remember."
"You don't remember?" Natsu and Happy exclaimed. "How could you forget?"
"It's not a common thing to learn and forget." Carla added.
"Well, I've known since I was young, but I can't recall when or why I learned it." Lucy shrugged. "Sorry Wendy."
"It's Okay" Wendy smiled, slightly disappointed. "I was just a little curious."
"Hey!" Carla exclaimed. "That guy's hair's red!"
Natsu leapt from his seat to see a man with vibrant red hair disappearing into the crowd. A second later, Natsu was already charging after the man in pursuit, soon followed by Wendy and Carla.
Lucy watched them disperse through the sea of people until they were out of sight, looking on at the crowd wistfully. Although she would have liked to be caught up in the action like usual, she felt like she would just be a hindrance since she couldn't use her magic. Happy as well, stayed loyally by her side, with the intention to protect Lucy as he thought Natsu might have told him if he had time before he left.
"Lucy~" Happy whined as the mage anxiously stared in the direction in which Natsu had let out a soft sigh, abandoning her waiting eyes on the crowd. Darken black-brown irises turned back to the expectant cat eyes looking up at her.
"Sorry Happy, did you say something?" Lucy asked gently, sitting on a bench next to the cat.
"No." Happy sighed, and Lucy's eyes trailed back to the mass crowd, before sighing again and turning back.
"Natsu's sure energetic." The stellar mage giggled surprisingly.
"It's because he wants to help you Lucy, as much as he can." Happy agreed, hopping onto the stellar mage's lap with a kittenish grin.
"Yeah, I know that." Lucy huffed, rustling Happy's fur.
"Because he liiikes you." Happy purred, rolling his tongue subtly so Lucy couldn't see it.
Happy chuckled, looking away he caught sight of two suspicious men approaching and felt the hair on his back stand on end. Their sly grins and hungry eyes locked onto the idle Lucy looking the opposite way, sending chills down the cat's spine. One wore a red suit with white stripes, and the other one wore the inverted version. Both had slick purple hair falling over their silk shoulders. They seemed reasonably weak, however, their disgusting expressions and the drool leaking from their lips as they watched Lucy made Happy feel worried. At first, he wanted to go and get Natsu straight away, but he couldn't leave Lucy alone with them, which just made him feel even more unease. Should he stay? Or should he go? The pressure to make a decision made him panic as the men were nearly upon them.
At the last second, his eyes flicked to the blonde. He felt such a shock at her expression, he might as well have been struck by lightening. Lucy was smiling. It wasn't soft or gentle, or even a sad smile. In fact, it was evil. Cold shivers skated down the cats spine in fear, but this time it was for the men.
"Lu-" Happy began.
"I know Happy." Lucy beamed a typically calm smile at the cat, before it turned sinister to the men again.
The leather moaned under Lucy's tight grip at the side as she waited tensely, with Happy watching motionless besides her.
"Hellooo, Darlin'" One man greeted, with a slight drunken slur to his words.
"You wanna come play?" The other man teased as his hand touched her shoulder.
"Good Luck!" Happy encouraged the men sympathetically, showing a victory sign. They gave each other a quizzical look as the cat slowly backed away. At that point, Lucy's murderous aura was so powerful, even drunk, they couldn't miss it. As she slowly ascended from the bench, the men stumbled backwards in shock.
"You sure you want to play?" Lucy growled, the evil pouring out from her as she glared down at the men. Frightened, the men tripped and fell onto their backs, shivering under her menacing aura. Lucy's whip cracked against the ground besides their feet as a sadistic grin licked her lips. "I know a game we can play..." The men shuffled back, their eyes locked on the blonde.
Lucy's head snapped up causing the men to flinch. "Do you want to play it?" She smiled innocently like a angel with a bright light glowing beautifully behind her. The grown men screamed, scrambling to their feet as fast as they could.
"Monster! It's a monster!" They bellowed, running for their lives. With a satisfied look, Lucy tied her whip back to her belt and sat back on the bench. Happy watched her with his jaw hanging three feet from his face.
"What?" Lucy shrugged innocently. Happy suddenly burst into fits of laughter. The shock of it caused Lucy to fall into her own rupture of laughing herself. They clutched their stomachs and rolled on the floor, laughing hysterically.
"Lucy, you were so scary!" Happy huffed through his gasps for breaths.
"They went screaming like a wet cat!" Lucy added. A calm silence fell as Happy watched Lucy with a blank expression.
Then they just broke into laughter again. The next few minutes went on like a loop; Happy and Lucy would calm down, catch each others eye again and just laugh.
It might have been because what happened was stupendously funny, or that it was just such a relief from the serious tension they had been under for so long that they just began laughing out their stress. Either way, they were both thankful for it.
While the pair were still in hysterics, a pair of sandals walked up next to them. Blackened eyes caught the pink-haired boy looked down at her with a perplexed expression. "Oh. Hey Natsu." Lucy sighed giddily, looking up at the boy.
"What are you guys laughing at?" Natsu asked curiously. Lucy looked over to Happy who was also staring back at her. A second of silence later, they both went back to floundering in laughter.
Eventually, they finally calmed down. The exhausted pair explained what happened through patches of laughing. Wendy laughed, slightly concerned at how frightening Lucy sounded. Carla sighed, only giving away the slight amusement from the small curl of her lips. Natsu, after a long moment, laughed too.
After that, Erza and Gray returned after finding an inconclusive search to find the giggling group, with Happy and surprisingly Lucy at the center. "What's going on here?" Gray groaned, wandering over. The group exchanged glances and began laughing again to a bemused Gray and Erza's surprise.
Eventually, Wendy ended up explaining what had happened while Natsu, Happy and Lucy laughed along the way. She also told them of the red-haired man they chased. They found out he had purple eyes and no tattoo/ guild mark, and came back.
Overall, their night searching for the man had been fruitless. Even though Happy, Wendy and Lucy were still in high spirits, the others were concerned.
Especially Erza. An anxiety was stirring inside of her. What Gildarts had told her made her uneasy about the dwindling time they had. Erza watched her friends stroll side by side ahead of her. Lucy laughed, giggled and smile, surrounded by people who all cared deeply for her. All Erza could think about was 'What will it be like after?' If what Gildarts said was true, could it be that she couldn't see the smiles of her friends ever again.
"Erza!" Lucy waved, calling from up the street. She hadn't realised, but she had stopped while watching her friends, more specifically Lucy, walk into the distance away from her. They all stood waiting after her, waving for her to hurry up and join them. A heavy sigh escaped Erza's lips, leaving her worries behind temporarily and catching up with her friends.
Finally, they made it to the last street of Magnolia's shady and degrading area. It was late, and soon the sun would be rising into a new day. However, it was still early morning hours and they were shrouded in darkness. The last house they passed was a quiet pleasant little restaurant, with the exception of the fact that every woman coming in or out had barely any clothing on at all.
Lucy took a single step over the borderline between Magnolia's law-bound streets and the lenient party district. As she gazed upon the doors, the little restaurant, she caught sight of a man staggering out of the doors.
Long, black hair curled in around his sharp but smooth features on his small face. A red streak hid within his dark bangs. His slender body and small shoulders tilted forwards and back, with a dark, loose suit hanging tiredly from his shoulders. One ocean blue eye and another leaf green eye looked her way. As they locked eyes, her heart thumped wildly, the air being pulled room her lungs and her legs falling weakly under her weight.
"Lucy?" Natsu gasped, leaping forwards to catch her. His arms caught her weak body as she clutched onto the boy's scarf.
"It's him." Lucy wheezed. "It's him. I felt him. He's that way!" Lucy raised her weak arm point to her right. Onyx eyes followed her directions and then fell hesitantly back on her. "Go. Go get him!" Lucy growled, catching her breath, shakily standing on her feet. Everyone but Natsu and Happy darted in that direction. The dragon slayer hesitated, his arms still holding onto the blonde's arms.
"Natsu, please...please go get him." Lucy whimpered, tears pricked in her dark, onyx eyes. Natsu, weakened under her gaze, nodded.
"Happy!" Natsu called, releasing Lucy. "We'll be right back." Natsu whispered as her grazed past her, running into the crowds.
Lucy heaved a shaky groan, her eyes following after the dragon slayer. Cautiously, Lucy turned, staggering weakly to the alley way next to the small restaurant. Dipping out of the street, she fell against the walls. Her knees shoo underneath her with fast, heavy breaths.
"I'm surprised." A voice groaned heavily, between the sharp sounds of wheezing.
"Because we were able to find you?" Lucy asked, listening to the heavy footsteps draw closer. Shadows reeled back over the figure appearing from behind a dumpster. Dark hair, streaked with strands of red, fell over his jade green eyes with a blue tint. Muscles protruded from his strong body and thin shoulders.
"Not so much as the fact you tricked your friends and confronted me alone." His voice rasped. In a matter of seconds, his hair grew longer, fading back into it's natural bright red as it fell onto his broad shoulders. His black suits filled as his body expanded out, filling his dark black suit. Jade green eyes lost their blue and watched her sympathetically. Pale features shone under the moonlight, creeping into the alley.
"I'm not afraid of you." Lucy growled.
"I didn't say you were." The guy sighed, bending over to try catch his breath, leaning his hands onto his tights.
"What is this?" Lucy groaned, slipping further down the wall as her breathing was beginning to exhaust her.
"It's because I'm still a potential vessel and it's pulling towards me and I to it." The man explained.
"A vessel?" Lucy groaned, blinking her eyes to keep them open. The man opened his mouth to explain, but paused. For a moment, her just stared at the blonde, before turning his nose up to the sky and down again.
"Okay." The man groaned irritably. "I don't like brown-nosers."
"What?" Lucy wheezed.
"Your friend; he's been watching from that rooftop ever since you got here." The man explained, pointing his thumb upwards. For a moment, Lucy couldn't fathom what he was talking about. That was, until she thought for a few short seconds and realised just exactly who it was.
"NATSU!" Lucy snapped weakly. A figure jumped from the sky and landed softly in front of her. All she saw was his feet as er arms went weak, bowing lower to the ground.
"Seems you weren't able to fool him." The guy joked softly.
"Natsu...you idiot." Lucy grumbled faintly. Instead of speaking, Natsu gently fitted an arm around the blonde's waist, lifting her up. Lucy's head rolled onto the dragon slayer's warm comfortable shoulder. "You okay Luce?" Natsu smiled innocently.
Lucy gave him a long stare before sighing tiredly, losing the will to fight with him. "Yeah, I'm good; Don't worry."
"Is this the guy?" He asked.
"Yeah," Lucy replied weakly, her eyes slowly flickering to an almost close.
"I got it." Natsu replied, carefully sitting Lucy down against the wall. Just as he went to stand, Lucy clutched the white scaled scarf around his neck.
"Natsu...don't...remember, Levy said..said." She muttered, struggling to find the strength to form the words she wanted to say.
"I don't care how strong this guy is. I will make him pay for what he's done to you." Natsu growled. He thought she would be angry for him saying what he did, but instead, a small smile crept onto her lips. "I will protect you, Luce. We're nakama, right?" As her eyes felt shut, he thought Lucy was unconscious, but Natsu still felt the need to declare it.
"I hear you, Natsu." Lucy whispered surprisingly, and finally falling into a weak slumber.
"You can?" Natsu suddenly exclaimed with a horrid sense of dread tying his stomach. If Lucy knew what he was saying with her eyes shut, it mean she could hear again, which also meant the spell had worn off. But it had only been two days? Gildarts aid we had two weeks? But, why was Lucy so quiet? "Don't worry Luce; I'll beat this guy and we'll get you back to normal again!" Natsu promised, reaching to brush a stray blonde hair behind her small ears. Onyx eyes watched her gentle face softly as he imagined Lucy smiling with happiness like the good old days, and sighed. With that image firmly locked in his head, Natsu stood.
The dragon slayer turned towards the man. Sympathy swirled in his dazzling green eyes that were cat-bright in the darkness. The man still leaned forwards on his knees, but turned his chin up to empathize with the dragon slayer.
Natsu's cold dark eyes glared with a plain, calm expression on his face. Small embers fluttered around his limps hands, jumping erratically against the dragon slayer's control. "I don't care who you are." Natsu spoke with a plain monotonous voice as he examined his hands tingling with flames. "I don't care if you're part of of some strong guild." Slowly, more little flames began to sprout more frequently. "And I don't care what you want to say."
Suddenly, Natsu flames erupted into burning orange flames, shadowing the sharp edges of Natsu's cold collected face. "However," The dragon slayer's eye traced to the slumbered Lucy and his flames dwindled a fraction. "You are the one who caused Lucy to be like this. You are the one who made Lucy suffer. You are the one responsible for taking away my best friend's smile!" Natsu growled, flames growing ever larger as they crept up his arms. "What you have done is unforgivable. I will not lose!" Natsu roared, his body bursting into flames. "Fight me!" Natsu hissed as his black eyes blazing with uncontrollable fury, set on the man with a furiously intense stare.
It was only a little, but the man flinched. He quickly controlled himself, returning a softer gaze and a simple smile. "Very Well." the man groaned, swinging his body up straight. Taking a deep breathe, the man closed his eyes, staring up into the sky stained a blood red from the city lights.
After a moment, the guy looked straight ahead to the dragon slayer, alight in golden-red flames. "If this is truly what you want to do, then I will not hold back." The man responded, his breath still weak and heavy. Still, a powerful aura began to burn from the man's body as his eyes turned serious.
The man's body began to move, and shift like a jigsaw. Dark ink coiled down his shoulders and around his arms like a snake. Jade green eyes rippled like water, turning a steely silver color. Long red hair trickled black and his skin turned pale white.
Natsu jumped as he saw his chance. Flaming fists screeched through the air with a hot hiss, burning the moist alley air. The man in his newly shaped body staggered back from his change with the burning stench of alcohol.
"IRON FIST OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu's hand extended forwards, his knuckles crashing hard against his fresh face with all his strength. Despite it, the man only shifted an inch backwards.
It felt as if the dragon slayer had tried to punch platinum steel and only scratched the surface. Quickly, the dragon slayer darted back, moving a few steps out of striking range.
Black, swirling tattoos glowed a bright silver across his face where Natsu had truck. The faint pink bruising from his face faded back into a pale white. The man didn't look satisfied at the dragon slayer's irritation and surprise, instead he still looked at him almost regretfully. But he still knew he had to honor a man's pride. So, he slowly, crouched imbalanced and low to the ground. His muscles coiled onto the concrete underneath him, and he pounced. His body moved so fast, he barely managed to drop low enough to just graze the boot grazing his face above him.
The dragon slayers mind went in slow motion as the man's body glided above him. Alert burst through the dragon slayer's body as he realised when he landed, it would put him closer to Lucy. That was something Natsu couldn't stand. Flames pushed the dragon slayer's hands fast enough to lock onto the man's ankle. Using the man's own heavy weight, the dragon slayer used his strength the swing. Natsu's arms tore the man out of the air, slamming him down.
The man his the concrete with a gasp as the wind was stolen out of his lungs. The concrete beneath them ripple and cracked in a delayed response, until suddenly, it gave way and the man became buried six feet under.
Natsu leapt forwards to immediately peer into the hole, but it was already empty by the time he looked. "Don't get ahead of yourself!" The man's voice appeared above his head. "SILVER CHAINS: STEEL HAMMER!" The man yelled. He had no time to turn around as a heavy weight slammed against the back of his head, sending him tunneling into the hole.
Natsu hit the broken stone fast and hard. Pain burst from his head all the way down his neck. But Natsu just ignored it, pulling himself back to his feet. "BREATH OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu roared, clasping his hands around his mouth and sending flames bursting up through the hole. Roaring fire burst into the air like a firework, causing the man to lean back a little away.
"You're going to have to try harder than that to-" The man began, watching the flames with boredom. He expected the dragon slayer to still be at the bottom of the hole, but before he could even speak, a figure leapt from the burning flames.
"TALONS OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu roared, his feet cutting through the flames towards the man's face. The broken flames leapt forward and joined with his attack, increasing his speed. The man took the force directly and was send flying back through the alley into the back concrete wall. Slower spirals of silver crept closer to his face, but Natsu wasn't going to let them fix him.
"WINGS OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu snapped, whipping his arms like flaming rope ahead of him. They crashed down against the man's shoulders, sending him crashing back through the wall. Natsu advanced straight after him.
They both came out onto an abandoned open lot with no one around and the buzz of the city naively behind them out of sight and sound. The man lifted himself to his feet, with silver wires once again wrapping around his body. They already began tieing the wounds close around his shoulders, but were slow in doing so.
Natsu noticed the man was slowing down. He could only heal while stationary, so he couldn't attack. It was probably Natsu only chance to take him down, and he would have to finish it with one move.
With all the dragon slayer's remaining strength, he pulled together all his magic, digging deep with in him. His lungs expanded as he took in a deep breath of air. "LIGHTENING FLAME DRAGON MODE!" Natsu roared, his body erupting into flames that lit the sky. Electric currents coiled and leapt around his flames, crashing against the ground around him.
With a cry, the fire and electric suddenly split in two. Flames span around one of the dragon slayer's hands, and the electric around the other. The man watched in his place as the dragon slayer's body radiated magical power, his green eyes stained a dark shade by the shadows cast by his flames. They watched as the dragon slayer crouched low to his feet.
The dragon slayer leapt into a sprint directly across the lot, launching forwards towards the man. "CRIMSON LOTUS!" Natsu cried, spinning his body in the air, causing a tunnel of electricity and flames to until into a tornado of fire. "EXPLODING LIGHTENING BLADE!" Natsu roared, flames crashing into the man's chest at an incredible force. The man was sent crashing through the lot into the the brick wall at the other end.
As the flames dissolved into the smoke stained skies, his unconscious body slowly crumbled from it's man hole in the wall onto the lot ground. Natsu dropped to one knee weakly, trying to catch his breath. Finally, it was over. But not quiet. Once the rest of the group come back after Happy had gone and fetched them on the dragon slayer's orders, they would take him back to the guild and then he would fix Lucy. LUCY!
Natsu quickly dragged himself to his feet and ran back to the alley as fast as he could. As soon as he arrived, he made his way to Lucy, quickly scooping her up into his arms. "Hey, Lucy." Natsu spoke softly, trying to rouse the girl from sleep. "Lucy." Natsu called again, giving her a soft shake. But she still didn't wake up. Slowly, Natsu was beginning to feel a sick feeling of dread and panic rise in his chest with every unresponsive call. "LUCY!"
"What's going on?" Gray exclaimed, coming up behind the dragon slayer. The rest of the group was on his heels, including Erza who came to an immediate stop the moment he set eyes on Lucy.
"She won't wake up!" Natsu shouted, looking between Gray and Lucy, still trying to wake her up.
"DAMMIT!" Erza burst. "It wasn't suppose to happen so soon!"
Everyone turned onto the red-haired armored mage with surprise. "What?" Natsu demanded.
"It doesn't matter. Where's the man?" Erza commanded.
"Down there." Natsu gestured to the broken gap in the alley wall, carefully scooping Lucy up into his arms.
"Right, Me and Gray will go get him. The rest of you get back to the guild now." Erza shouted, dragging Gray with her down the alley as fast as she could. Natsu nodded and the rest of the ground immediately began to race back to the guild urgently.
"Is Lucy going to be alright?" Happy uttered, looking flying over Natsu's shoulder.
"She'll be fine." Natsu reassured him, looking down at her tranquil, sleeping face. Maybe it wasn't just the cat he was trying to reassure. The dragon slayer promised to protect her, he vowed to get her back to normal, and yet, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was hope, that his best friend was really going to be okay.
Also, If you want to find out the true reason why Lucy knows how to lip read, you can find out in 'Shadows' which you can find by looking on my profile!
What's going on? Why won't Lucy wake up? And What did Erza mean? Find out in the Next chapter!
Next chapter; Lucy and the guild try to figure out what to do about Lucy while trying to get their mysterious perpetrator to answer some questions and help her. But can they make it in time to save her?
If you liked Glass Hearts try checking out some of my other stories.
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-A-ccentric