Chapter 7

The Doomed Couple of Zeref

~Gray~

What had happened to Lucy and why was her ribbon covered in blood? Gray examined the fabric. The stains not only looked old, but the ribbon was torn to shreds. Who or what could have done this to her? Gray searched the rest of the path but there was nothing to be found. He searched and searched again, but neither Lucy nor Natsu were anywhere. The sun had long past set before Gray decided to give up hope. They were gone.

He slowly walked to the guild, dreading the moment that he would have to tell everyone the bad news.

~Jellal~

Erza and Jellal entered the doors to the guild in excitement to tell everyone their good news. "I'm back!" Erza exclaimed as she gave a goofy happy-go-lucky grin. Everyone in the guild became quiet. Gajeel, who had been eating at a table nearby walked up to the peppy Erza and began to pinch her cheeks, moving them back and forth.

"Hey, I think Erza's drunk!"

Erza's expression hardened. "I'm not drunk, you idiot!" She kicked Gajeel, sending him flying across the room and onto a table, which by the way, broke to pieces under his weight. Erza held out her right hand to show a thin silver band. "I'm married."

Wendy ran towards Erza and gave her a warm hug. "You've been gone for two weeks! Everyone's missed you so much!"

Jellal cracked a smile. Erza, despite her harsh attitude, was loved by everyone in her guild. He looked at Wendy, how happy she was. He was sorry he did not remember meeting and helping her when they were little.

"Hi Wendy."

Her eyes met his. "Jellal?" She ran from Erza and jumped in his arms. "Jellal! I missed you so much!"

Jellal gave a pained expression as he ruffled her hair. "It's nice to see you too, kiddo." He put her down and turned to the scarlet haired girl who was now his wife, "I need to see your master."

Erza frowned and tilted her head slightly to the side, clearly confused, "Master Marakov? Why would you need to see him?"

"There are some important things he and I need to talk about."

Her eyes lit up like the night sky. "You mean like joining the guild? That would be wonderful! You and I could go on quests together and dates and we would have the most wonderful time!" she squealed, "Ooooh, I can't wait!" she grabbed his hand and dragged him to Marakov's office, opened the door, and shoved him in. "Be quick about it, there's so much to do!"

Jellal heard the door slam behind him. Master Marakov, a short old guy wearing what looked like a jester's hat was seated at a very large, very disorderly desk. "Sir, I have something important to talk to you about."

The man looked unmoved; expressionless," If it has to do with one of my children then I demand to know,"

"I'm pretty sure you have heard about me. I am Jellal Fernandez." He introduced himself.

"Yes, I know. Erza has told me much about you. Congratulations on your release and, um, marriage. It is very rare for something like that to happen." The Old man cracked a smile. "The door is one way sound proof, but only for my ears."

Jellal ignored the man's comment and continued. "Well, sir... I wasn't exactly released…"

"You mean you escaped?"

"Yes, but out of good reason. I needed to talk to you about something in private, and without the presence of Erza. She wouldn't have been able to handle the information."

"And why not? She is quite a strong girl."

"I know about her affections for me. What I am about to tell you would break her heart. I love her deeply and I do not want to see her hurt."

"Oh dear," Marakov sighed. "Tell me young one."

"After I went to the prison, my memories of the past began to return. I don't like what I've done and I now know that I was possessed by Zeref. But as my memories have returned, so has zeref. I can feel the hatred returning. I cannot control it."

Marakov's eyes went wide. "Oh… my…."

"My execution date was scheduled for the day that Erza came to see me. I had wanted to say one final goodbye, but they came too soon." Tears began to form in Jellal's eyes. "I should be dead by now! I couldn't stand all the hurt and emotional agony Erza would have felt if I had suddenly left her. I saw her when she thought I had died. I love her and I want you and the rest of the guild to take care of her. With my current situation, I won't last like this much longer, which is why I need to go to the Universal Library of Magic. Now that I've escaped, I feel that there is more to this than meets the eye. I want to be able to live happily with Erza."

~Erza~

After the first minute of waiting for Jellal to come out of the master's office, Erza became impatient. "Argh!" She growled, "What's taking so long!?"

Mira came up to Erza's table and handed her a double chocolate cake. Erza attacked the cake with her fork and stuffed half the cake in her mouth. "Ahm geffig ihmpatein!"

"Erza dear," Mira said cautiously, "You might want to swallow before you say something."

Erza swallowed. "I said I am getting impatient! Jellal is taking forever!"

"He has only been in there five minutes," Gajeel pointed out, "Don't get your panties in a wad."

"it's not my panties you need to be worrying about!" She yelled, "Watch your mouth or I will hang you by yours on the top flag pole!"

~Jellal~

"I'm sorry," Marakov told Jellal. "We can't do that just yet. As you said, there is probably more to this than we know."

"Why not?"

Marakov handed a pendant to Jellal. "Take this. It will hold back Zeref temporarily. There is someone I need to consult with before you go."

~Natsu~

It had been about four weeks. Lucy still had not woken up from her Coma. Natsu was getting worried. Panic had flooded him when he saw Loki carrying her, severely wounded and unconscious to him.

"She went after you." He had said. Snowed in, and unable to leave, they both had taken her to a hidden cave near the edge of the forest. They both cared for her for four weeks, scared that her body was too weak to make it through the snow storm, and because she still had now woken up, they were about to give up hope.

"Tomorrow would have been Lisanna's 18th birthday." Natsu sighed.

"Still thinking about that?" Loki asked. "You never got to her grave to investigate. I'll stay here and care for Lucy. You go look around for a bit. The snow is clearing up."

"Thanks man." Natsu said.

When he reached the grave, he began to look around. Nothing looked different of tampered with. He walked toward the little house Lisanna had made when they were little. It brought back so many memories. Natsu's heart grew heavy. He then realized that someone was in there. A man. The person who had been seen around her grave.

He walked in. The man was sitting patiently, like he had been waiting for Natsu's arrival.

"Sit." Then man instructed.

"What do you want?" Natsu snarled, "Who gave you the right to come in here?"

"Three people: me, myself and I. Now sit. I have something to tell you."

"Make it quick." Natsu huffed.

"I can give you something that you want. For one small price."

"Whatever it is, I don't want it."

"What if I told you I could bring back your dear Lisanna?"

"Impossible."

"Not for me. I am a soul man. I can bring her back to life."

"What is your price?"

"Oh, just about anything, you must give something to get something. I'll take an arm, a leg, sight, hearing, smell, taste, or maybe your life. Any one is acceptable."

Natsu couldn't believe what he had heard. "You're a monster! If you think you're getting something from me, you're wrong! No one is stupid enough to give in to that."

The man just gave a weird grimace. "You may not be, but someone will be." He warned.

Natsu walked out of the house and back to the cave. "Crazy man…" he muttered under his breath.

As he entered the cave he heard Loki gasp in awe.

"What's going on, man?" Natsu asked.

"It's Lucy. She is finally waking up!"

Natsu knelt down beside her. She was still asleep, but murmuring something. Her voice slowly got louder and clearer.

"Natsu…" She whispered, "please don't be mad with me anymore… The wolves… they are attacking me… come save me…." She went quiet again. A few minutes later, they heard her scream. "Natsu, Natsu!" she tossed and turned in her sleep. " Don't let them hurt me anymore! Help me! Natsu!"

"Natsu! Go wake her before she starts to freak out!" Loki screamed.

In panic, Natsu did the first thing that came to his mind. He leaned over her and shook her shoulders. "Lucy! Wake up! It's only a dream! You're safe!" She began to wake up. Lucy opened her eyes.

"Natsu..." She began to cry. "You saved me…" She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck in attempt to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her to provide comfort. She began to cry, "I was so scared." She sobbed, "I thought I was going to die, I thought you weren't going to save me. You aren't mad at me anymore?"

Natsu shook his head.

She eventually stopped crying. Loki fed her some hot soup and within a couple of hours, she was back asleep. Natsu decided that it was the best time to talk to Loki. "Man, why did I have to let her think that I was the one who saved her?"

"Because she was emotionally unstable! Did you think that it would have been a good time to tell her that all her hopes of you being her knight in shining armor were trash because I was really the one who saved her?" Loki asked. "I mean, I know your heart belongs to Lisanna, but at least think about Lucy for a minute. I have feelings for Lucy. Not fake feelings, like the ones I had for all those girlfriends, real feelings. Do you think it didn't pain me to see all her hopes placed on another guy?"

"You have a good point there. Still, I think it would be best to let her know the truth tomorrow morning."

"Okay, let's try to be nice about it though. I don't want her heart crushed."

"Deal."

"Now tell me about what you saw at Lisanna's grave."

~Lucy~

Lucy began to drift out of her sleep. She heard words and phrases, but truthfully did not have any idea of what they were talking about.

"Now tell me what you saw at Lisanna's grave." She heard Loki say

"I saw this … and he said ... Lisanna for…" Natsu said

"That's a … price to pay to bring someone back to life!"

Someone could bring Lisanna back to life? And for a price to pay? They must have meant money. Lucy had about 180000 jewels in pocket money. Maybe this man would take that.

"I know, right? I don't think … price."

"I agree man, I agree."

"I think I'll go back tomorrow and tell him how I feel about this"

Maybe she could pay the man and get Lisanna back as a repayment to Natsu for saving her life. But he said he was going back in the morning. She would have to get up early in the morning and beat him to it. Lucy had made up her mind and went into a deep sleep.

~Natsu~

"yeah, " Loki said, "You tell him that his price is bogus and no matter how much we want Lisanna back, "

"I will." Natsu told him. "I'm getting tired. See you in the morning Loki."

~Lucy~

Lucy got up early, even before the sun rose and found her way to Lisanna's grave. She saw a man in a hut and assumed he was the man Loki and Natsu were talking about.

The man saw her and gestured for her to come to him. "Hello, Lucy. I've been waiting for you."

"How do you know my name?" She asked.

"As a soul man, it's my job to know about all souls."

"Oh."

"I know why you are here too."

"I'm here to revive Lisanna."

"And are you willing to pay the price?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" he questioned.

"Yes."

"Would you like to pay before or after?"

"After. I want to see her for myself before I pay."

The man said a few words and a white haired girl slowly appeared in the room. The girl opened her eyes.

"Are you Lisanna Strauss?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, how do you know my name?" The girl asked.

"I'm friends with Natsu! I'll be glad to take you to him!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I've revived her," The man said, "Now you will pay the price!"

Lucy reached her hand in her pocket and pulled out all 180000 Jewels. "Here." She handed the money to the man.

He laughed eerily, "Do you not know?" He asked, "I do not take money. I take what is most important to you! Let your sight be gone!"

Pain filled Lucy's head. She screamed in agony as Lisanna ran over to her in panic. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and everything went black.

Hello Readers! I am slowly but surely getting myself back on track! Tomorrow there is no school because it might snow! I will continue to work on this. I am already done revising up to chapter 13 :D

Thank You: Dreamgirl32, Adorable Reader, and ValinNight for writing reviews! They are appreciated :D

Lots of love and thanks for reading!

-ashlieswifty