Crimzon: Well, those who guessed, guessed correctly haha, but ShiningStellar had it first. Woo, way to go haha. Also, Angel of Guilt. . . what is it that you don't get about it? Haha, anyways, all that aside . . . THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THESE REVIEWS! THEY ARE FUCKING AWSOME!
Happy: You sound excited.
Crimzon: Yesh . . . anywho, red, review, and enjoy and I OWN NOTHING!
~The Price to Remember~
~Nora's POV~
"Ne, ne, Nora-neechan!" a soft low voice calling from the doorway. I was sitting at our worn out kitchen table, drinking a cup of milk. The house around us was small and falling apart. No matter what we did to fix it, nothing helped. This house, it had an expiration date . . . a lot of things do.
"What is it, Eli?" My little brother, Elliot had run into the room with a wide smile on his face. His bright short red hair reminded me of flickering embers. Eyes as bright as the sun and pale white skin. The life we lived, we couldn't afford much. We were orphans and we wore the same rags every day. Our mother and father died a couple years ago and all we had left was each other. I was fifteen when they died and little Eli was only six.
"I heard the news, you're going to become an Earth Dragon Slayer?" his eyes were bright with excitement, but I knew his real feelings deep down . . . he was scared that I might leave him all alone.
"Who told you that?"
"Old Man Theo. He said that yesterday you stopped a cave from collapsing on some of the workers! I'm so proud of you, Nee-chan!" He was hiding his fear behind a toothy grin and it broke my heart that I would have to leave him behind. That's how things worked around here . . . if you showed potential of being a Dragon Slayer, then . . .
"Nee-chan?" my heart broke from the sound of his voice. I sank down to my knees and hugged him, crying into his shoulder.
"I know you're not happy, Eli . . . say it." His shoulder was shaking and I knew he was crying.
"Does this mean, you're leaving?" his voice was shaking and I could feel the tears dripping down his face onto my arm.
"I won't leave you alone, Eli. I promise never to leave you alone."
"Nora?" the scene in my head started to fade and it took me a moment to realize that it was just a dream . . . a painful memory of the past. I felt groggy as I sat up, placing a hand on my head, hoping it would stop the pulsing headache. I opened my eyes and found myself in the infirmary Lucy was in and then I found her, sitting in the chair next to the cot I was in.
"Lucy? Shouldn't you be resting?" I asked.
"Ne, Ne, Nora, so you're a Dragon Slayer?" asked Happy. I noticed the little blue cat standing at the end of the cot with the white one, standing next to him with her arms crossed.
"I heard that you were fighting another Dragon Slayer in front of the guild . . . was he the one that's after Lucy?" questioned Charla. I gave them an expressionless stare.
"Well, I wanted to thank you, Nora, for protecting everyone here at the guild. Who knows what that guy could have done had you not been here," thanked Lucy. "I mean, you don't even know us and you're doing so much for us."
"Yeah well, I was sent here to protect you . . . I just happened to protect the guild as well." I stated bluntly. Then I looked at the expression she gave me and for some reason, I felt bad. So, I added, "Besides, I'm part of the guild now, it's only right that I fight for it too." Her expression changed and she smiled and so did Happy . . . but Charla wasn't fooled. She could tell that something seemed off about me and I didn't blame her. If only they knew . . .
"Hey, she's awake," noted Erza as she walked in with Gray and Natsu.
"Lucy, shouldn't you be resting?" wondered Natsu. Lucy looked up at him and smiled.
"No, I'm ok now." She said. I noticed the look of sadness on Natsu's face. Judging by all of this, he hasn't told Lucy about her memories fading. Good. Had he done so, she'd probably panic and that would only make things worse for her, especially in her current state. I sighed.
"Natsu, why don't you go and take Lucy home. She'll be too vulnerable here at the guild and I think she'll be safer in her own home." He was about to argue and probably say, 'don't tell me what to do!' but before he could, Erza stopped him.
"That's a good idea. Natsu, take Lucy home and we'll meet you there later." Knowing hoe whipped he is by Erza, he didn't argue and nodded.
"Come on Lucy," he said as he reached for her hand, but this entire time, she had been starring off into space. "Lucy?" he called again. I noticed her eyes glazed over as she turned her head to look at him.
"Hey there, little Eli . . ." everyone stared at her in shock, mostly Natsu. Seconds of awkward silence passed and Lucy's eyes became normal again and she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, what are we doing?"
"Nothing, I'm taking you home, Lucy."
~Moments Later~
"It's getting worse, isn't it?" asked Gray.
"It's only day one and it's only going to get worse form here," added Erza. I was looking down at the covers, trying not to let the guilt get to me. Why should I care what happens? It's not my problem. I'm only here to make sure she doesn't die in the next six days.
"Nora?" I heard Erza say my name and I looked up. "Are you sure that there isn't anything we can do?" I looked back down and nodded my head. I wasn't lying . . . I really didn't know.
"Nora, can we ask you something. It has to do with your magic." Erza walked over and sat down in the seat that Lucy had sat in earlier. Gray was leaning against the nearby wall. Charla continued to stand at the foot of the cot with her arms crossed. Happy had left earlier with Natsu and Lucy.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You say you're a Dragon Slayer, but so are Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel and we've never seen them grow wings, so tell us, what kind of Dragon Slayer are you?" asked Gray. Everything within my mind seemed to stop as I tried to figure out the kind of answer I could give them. No matter what, the answer that came to mind was the only one and I knew that they weren't going to like it.
"Unlike them, I'm a fully awakened Dragon Slayer. I, along with others, was trained nonstop by Dragons that were kept hidden from the world," I stopped and heaved a sigh. "Once our training was complete . . . we were forced to do the unforgivable." I felt the tears well up then and immediately shut up. Without saying anything else, I got up from the cot and went to get my shoes on when I felt Erza's hand on my shoulder. I turned and noticed the look in her eyes as worry and confusion.
"What did they make you do?" she asked. I turned back and started for the door. Before they could try to stop me from leaving, I gave them their answer.
"In order for us to become fully awakened Dragon Slayers . . . we were forced to kill the one who trained us," and with that last thing said, I left the room without another word heard from them.
~At Lucy's home~
~Lucy's POV~
"Ne, Lucy, you sure you're ok?" asked Natsu for the hundredth time since I got home.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Is everything alright Natsu? You seem worried about something?" I asked. He just seemed to be hiding something from me and it was starting to bother me that there was something he was keeping from me.
"No, I'm just worried. That thing we fought in that cave was weird."
"Well, don't worry Natsu, I'm okay now." I assured him as I walked over to my closet and got out a fresh pair of clothes. I was in desperate need of a shower.
"What ya doing, Lucy?" asked Happy as he flew over to look over my shoulder.
"I haven't showered since before that job we went on, so I'm taking one now." I said as I grabbed my clean clothes and a towel then made my way to the bathroom. Before closing the door, I took a quick glance at Natsu who had already made himself comfortable on the couch, but his expression . . . it worried me.
I stood there under the hot water, letting it wash away the dirt in my hair. I had removed the bandages from my arms and legs and the burns were still there. They were odd though. They had a weird pattern, like it had come from an octopus. Not only that, but I kept having these weird blackouts and whenever I'd come to my senses, everyone's looking at me as if I did something crazy. I just don't understand it . . . what's happening to me?
Once all the dirt was washed away, I turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around me. I stepped out and stood in front of the mirror. I brought up my hand to wipe away the fog from it, but when I did, I let out a scream. There, in the reflection, was a shadow with a smile filled with razor sharp teeth and blood red eyes. It stared back at me, blood running down from its eyes, head tilted off to the side. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep from shaking. I wasn't dreaming, this was real, but what was this thing in the mirror? It started laughing manically and then, it started to reach out through the mirror and the moment I felt its clammy finger touch my forehead, I screamed bloody murder.
~General POV~
~With Natsu~
"Happy, stop going though Lucy's things," murmured Natsu. Happy stared back at him in shock.
"But you do it all the time!" he argued back.
"Yeah well . . . just stop," was all he could say. It was quiet between the two when all of a sudden, Lucy's apartment filled with her screams. Natsu jolted up and bolted for the bathroom. He banged on it, asking if she was alright, but there was no answer and then, she screamed again.
"Lucy! Lucy, what's going on!" he yelled repeatedly. Lucy still didn't respond and then, he heard a loud thud. Without any hesitation, he backed away then rammed himself into the door, breaking it open. He looked around the bathroom frantically when he saw her on the ground next to the wall, curled up in fetal position. She looked up at the worried Dragon Slayer, tears running down her face when she realized that all she was in was a towel.
"No, get out! Get out, get out, get out!" she yelled, throwing random item at him. Natsu backed away and shut the door between them. Although he was worried, he respected her privacy.
"Lucy, let me in," he asked.
"No!" she yelled, sounding embarrassed.
"Please let me in, Lucy . . . I promise I won't see anything." She didn't respond this time. Natsu then grabbed his scarf from around his neck and brought it up to his eyes, tying it like a blind fold. He then felt around for the door handle and walked through the doorway. Lucy looked up at him and noticed that Natsu was using his precious scarf as a blindfold.
"Natsu . . ." Natsu followed the sound of her voice and crouched down right next to her. Lucy couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She rushed into his arms, tears running down her face as she cried from fear and frustration. Natsu didn't say anything except hold her.
"Natsu . . . What wrong with me?" she cried. With each sob, Natsu clenched his teeth. "What's happening to me?" she cried again. Natsu tightened his grip on her. "I-I'm scared!" she yells as the tears Natsu's been holding back spill over his eyes. Happy stood in the doorway, sobbing quietly since Natsu had just told him what was really happening to their dear friend Lucy.
Crimzon: I hope everyone likes this chapter. I don't really have much of an opinion on it. I like what I did with the beginning and the end. Also, the whole thing with 'killing the ones who trained them' I did not get that from the manga. Haha, it was one of those obvious things everyone thinks of cuz of the fact that they are called Dragon Slayers . . . I figured they'd be crazy strong if they slay the dragon who trained them and then I read the manga chapter and I'm like "ugh, now people are gona think I got it from the manga" and I rlly am not trying to use stuff from the manga. I'm just going along with what pops up into my head haha. So, cuz of that, ima change it up a bit later on in this fanfic and I can't wait till I get to that future chapter. So please review and I hope you all enjoyed.